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Washington, Oct 3 : Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's allies have said the billionaire is a "genius" if he paid no federal income taxes for 18 years.

According to the New York Times, it received some of Trump's 1995 tax documents revealing $915 million losses that allowed him to legally avoid paying taxes, BBC reported.

The real estate mogul's camp refused to confirm or deny the report, but said the filing was "illegally obtained", while Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign called it a "bombshell".

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the New York Times article was a "very good story" because it showcased the "genius" of Trump and that it would only underline Trump as the best qualified to ease tax policy on working people.

According to BBC, there is no evidence at this point that Trump did anything improper.

Rudy Giuliani, a close adviser to Trump, said the Republican was an "absolute genius" if he avoided taxes.

"A lot of the people that are poor take advantage of loopholes and pay no taxes," the former New York mayor said on Sunday. "Those are loopholes also."

Trump himself played down the report on Sunday. "I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for President and am the only one who can fix them. #failing@nytimes," he tweeted.

During the first presidential debate last Monday, Clinton attacked Trump for not releasing his tax returns, as all previous White House candidates have done since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

The Democrat suggested he was hiding "something terrible" and that he had perhaps not paid any federal income tax. He replied: "That makes me smart."

The New York Times in its article said three pages of documents were anonymously sent last month to one of its reporters who had written about Trump's finances.

A former accountant for the property tycoon, Jack Mitnick, whose name appears as Trump's tax preparer of the filings, said the documents appeared to be authentic copies of portions of the 1995 returns, according to the newspaper.

Trump's campaign did not directly address the authenticity of the excerpts, but the New York Times said his lawyer had emailed the newspaper arguing that publication of the records was illegal.

The Republican candidate's camp accused the New York Times, which has endorsed the Democratic candidate for President, of being "an extension of the Clinton campaign".

Trump, the campaign added, was a "highly skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required".

"That being said, Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes, along with very substantial charitable contributions."

The Clinton camp said Trump embodied the "rigged system" of an unfair US tax code.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement: "This bombshell report reveals the colossal nature of Donald Trump's past business failures and just how long he may have avoided paying any federal income taxes whatsoever."

Clinton has already disclosed nearly 40 years of federal income tax returns, while Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, has made publicly available 10 years of his tax returns.

At a Saturday night rally, Trump appeared to accuse Clinton of marital infidelity.

"Hillary Clinton's only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself," he told thousands gathered in Manheim, Pennsylvania.

"I don't think she's even loyal to Bill if you want to know the truth. Why should she be, right?"

Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin has debuted his impression of Trump on Saturday Night Live, parodying the candidate's pronunciation of China, among other things.

Sporting a blonde wig and a lip-puckering scowl, the actor appeared on the comedy show alongside SNL regular Kate McKinnon as Clinton, using a walking cane.
Islamabad, Oct 3 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif here on Monday chaired a meeting of all parliament leaders to discuss the situation at the border with India and the Kashmir issue.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry briefed the all-party leaders' meeting about the latest situation along the Line of Control, Radio Pakistan reported.

The meeting was convened with the agenda to give a message that the "entire nation is united when it comes to defence and integrity" of Pakistan.

Tensions escalated between India and Pakistan following recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and after the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Earlier, 19 soldiers were killed as militants attacked an Indian Army camp in Uri town of north Kashmir on September 18. India has blamed Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group for the attack.
Kolkata, Oct 3 : Science and technology ties between nations working together is the key to addressing global challenges and these associations transcend administrations, says Sethuraman Panchanathan, the first Indian American to be appointed to the US National Science Board by President Barack Obama.

As the arrow points up to India-US collaborations in recent years, science and technology is increasingly assuming importance as an ambassador to build relationships, Panchanathan contended.

"By partnering with people who understand the context across the globe, we can solve grand challenges much better, more efficiently and at a much greater speed. I find that science and technology is becoming increasingly a significant platform for people wanting to work together and I see a lot more promise in the future for strong collaborations between India, the US and across the globe," Panchanathan told IANS in an interview here.

Asked about apprehensions on the present ties being affected with Obama's presidency coming to an end, Panchanathan asserted: "Science and technology typically transcends administrations. S&T focuses on problems that we are all trying to solve."

Combating climate change and clean energy are the new grounds covered during Obama's presidency, domains which involve scientists, energy experts and cutting-edge technology ventures.

Leadership from both the countries helped galvanise global action to combat climate change and culminated in the historic Paris Agreement reached last December -- which India ratified on Sunday.

"We are already working together on global-scale problems like climate, sustainability, rapid urbanisation and energy. While there may be some cultural and geographical variations, the fundamental problem to be tackled is the same.

"But in order to tackle problems that are global, science and technology advancements only in one country cannot alone solve such problems," explained Panchanathan, Arizona State University's executive vice president of the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development.

Earlier this year, India and the US signed an agreement for a new LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) project in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington. The agreement was signed between India's Department of Atomic Energy and US' National Science Foundation (NSF).

The LIGO Project aims to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool.

"India can be a significant contributor in this area; so we are trying to bring people together. Like LIGO, there are many areas we have common interests. They are common interests, not competing interests, and to make progress at scale and speed we need to bring our intellectual prowess together towards finding real solutions," Panchanathan, an IIT-Madras alumnus, said.

Known for his expertise in designing assistive technologies and accessible environments for the differently-abled, the computer engineering and informatics expert highlighted how domains like haptics (the study of touch to convey information such as nonverbal communication) are gaining traction.

"We use vision and speech a lot but we don't use much of touch-based feedback. It's an under-explored area and there's are a lot of opportunities to augment our perception by being able to take haptic cues and integrate them with audio-visual cues.

"To me science and technology is a great ambassador... to build relationships across the globe because it is about people who have a common agenda, who get excited by working together and solve larger problems that impact humanity," Panchanathan added.

(Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana.g@ians.in)
Mumbai, Oct 3 : Positive global cues, coupled with value buying and higher crude oil prices, lifted the Indian equity markets on Monday.

Healthy buying was witnessed in automobile, capital goods and banking stocks.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) surged by 126.95 points or 1.47 per cent to 8,738.10 points.

The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 27,997.29 points, provisionally closed at 28,243.29 points (at 3.30 p.m.) -- up 377.33 points or 1.35 per cent from the previous close at 27,865.96 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,273.02 points and a low of 27,919.89 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls -- with 2,224 advances and 663 declines.

On Friday, the Indian equity markets closed flat as investors were seen reluctant to chase prices after tension between India and Pakistan escalated, and due to an outflow of foreign funds.

The barometer index had inched up by 38.43 points or 0.14 per cent, while the NSE Nifty marginally gained 19.90 points or 0.23 per cent.
Paris, Oct 3 : Reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who was here to attend the Paris Fashion Week, was reportedly robbed of jewellery worth six million euros and more, at gunpoint, but she was unharmed. She fled the city on Monday morning, a few hours after the armed robbery by men dressed as police officials.

The incident took place on Sunday night.

"Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening, by two armed masked men dressed as police officers. She is badly shaken but physically unharmed," said Kim's spokesperson Ina Treciokas, mirror.co.uk reported.

Kim, 35, is said to have been "tied up, bundled into the bathroom and had a gun held to her head" in the harrowing armed robbery. She was later rescued after the robbers fled the scene.

A box containing jewellery worth up to six million euros was among items taken, a police spokesman said, according to bbc.com.

It is being claimed that the robbers managed to access Kim's room after forcibly handcuffing the building's night guard and making him direct them to the star's room. They then proceeded to 'tie up' the reality star at gunpoint and lock her in the bathroom with her bodyguard before escaping on bicycles.

The "Keeping Up With The Kardashian" star has been enjoying Paris Fashion Week with her family, but it is said that her children Saint, nine months, and North, 3, were not in the hotel room at the time of the incident.

Her husband Kanye West was informed about the incident in the middle of his performance in New York. He immediately stopped the show on the pretext of a "family emergency" and left the stage after apologising to a confused crowd of fans.

Later on Monday morning, Kim fled Paris. She was spotted boarding her private jet covered in a black scarf and hiding her face from cameras. She was surrounded by security at the airport, the mirror.co.uk report said.

Her bodyguard Pascal Duvier joined her on the jet, as did her personal assistant, who remained close by throughout.

The plane took off from Le Bourget airport early Monday morning, according to a source, but her destination was not confirmed.
New Delhi, Oct 3 : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe will arrive here on Tuesday on a three-day visit.

He will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday, according to the External Affairs Ministry.

His visit assumes significance as India last week pulled out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit that was scheduled to to be held in Islamabad in November citing Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism in the region.

The Indian move came after the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army garrison at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 19 soldiers.

Following India's move, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan also followed suit citing the same reason, virtually isolating Pakistan in the region.

Sri Lanka has not pulled out but has said that a Saarc Summit would not be possible without the presence of India.

On Wednesday, Wickramasinghe will also hold meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

Later in the evening, he will call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister will attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday before leaving for Colombo in the evening.
Washington, Oct 4 : US President Barack Obama will cast his ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Chicago this month, he told Democratic supporters in a fundraising solicitation on Monday.

"Later this month, I'm going to head back to Chicago and cast an early vote for the next president," CNN quoted an email by Obama.

The President is scheduled to travel to his hometown on Friday to raise money for Democrats.

"There are millions of people across the country who are still making up their minds. And those are the voters who will decide who succeeds me," he wrote on the sidelines of a fundraising solicitation.

He added that those who want to elect Clinton, need to hustle as hard as they can to connect with the undecided voters before their ballots are cast.

To promote the concept of early voting, Obama voted for the incumbent Democratic governor, Pat Quinn, a few weeks before Election Day in 2014.
Jammu, Oct 4 : Pakistan army on Tuesday resorted to heavy mortar shelling on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu region.

Police said Pakistan used 120mm and 82mm mortar shells to target Indian positions in Kalsian (Nowshera) sector of the LoC in Rajouri district on Tuesday morning.

"The Indian army effectively retaliated Pakistan shelling and firing. After appropriate response from the Indian side, Pakistan army had stopped shelling now," the police said.

"Heavy exchanges continued for over an hour in the area creating panic among the residents," police added.
Tallinn, Oct 4 : After months of political stalemate, Kersti Kaljulaid was elected as president of Estonia by the parliament on Monday, a media report said.

Kaljulaid won 81 votes in the 101-member parliament, Xinhua quoted the Estonian Broadcasting Corporation (ERR) as saying. A minimum of or 68 votes, or two-third of the parliamentary seats, was required.

Kaljulaid will become the country's first female president. She is the Estonian representative to the European Court of Auditors.

Kaljulaid won the opportunity after rounds of voting failed to produce a winner.

On Saturday, a 335-member electoral body could not elect a new president, as neither former Prime Minister and former EU commissioner Siim Kallas nor former Education Minister Mailis Reps won the necessary majority of votes.

The election then passed on back to the Riigikogu, the Estonian parliament, which proved unable to elect a president in the previous voting. Both Kallas and Joks said they would not run anymore.

Kaljulaid turned out to be the only hopeful when things got complicated.
Washington, Oct 4 : Fifteen years after US government launched "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks, a majority of US voters are concerned about possible terrorist strikes in the country, a new poll said on Monday.

According to the new Morning Consult poll, 56 per cent of the US voters think it is at least somewhat likely that a terrorist attack will occur in the US over the next few months.

While less than half Democrats say that the US is safer now, an overwhelming majority of Republicans think otherwise, the poll found, with more than seven in 10 Republicans saying that a terrorist attack is somewhat or very likely, Xinhua cited the findings.

The poll came as the country was on high alert against terror attacks after three bomb attacks occurred last month.

Nearly 29 people were wounded in a blast on September 17 in New York City, hours after another pipe bomb exploded on the same day along the route of a Marine charity run in the US state of New Jersey in what authorities believed was a planned attack.

One day later in New Jersey, an explosive device inside a suspicious package at a train station exploded while being examined by the authorities.
Srinagar, Oct 4 : The Kashmir Valley remained shut for the 88th consecutive day on Tuesday and life remained paralyzed as authorities made heavy deployments of security forces here and other areas.

Officials said sufficient deployments of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police were made here as well as all district headquarters to maintain peace.

Separatists had called for protests by women across the valley on Tuesday.

Women were asked to assemble and occupy city squares, market places and traffic inter-sections to register peaceful protests.

Separatists had been issuing weekly protest calendars calling for shutdowns, rallies and marches since July 9, a day after top militant Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight with the security forces.

Schools, colleges and universities remain closed in the valley for the last 88 days.

Main markets, public transport and other businesses were also largely shut during this period.

Train services between the valley and Bannihal town in the Jammu region were also suspended for the 88th day.

Security was beefed up for Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister, Naeem Akhtar, who was warned by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit to refrain from opening the educational institutions after he tried to do so.

Around 90 people have died and over 12,000 injured during the ongoing unrest in the valley -- worst after the 2010 violence in Kashmir.

In the last one week, however, the intensity of violence during protests decreased.

More than 300 youths were rounded up by the security forces whom they call -- "habitual stone-pelters, who incite mobs to violence and then watch from the flanks".
Jammu, Oct 4 : The Pakistan Army started heavy mortar shelling on Indian positions at three places on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

According to the police, after violating the ceasefire in Kalsian area of Nowshera sector in the morning, the Pakistan Army has started heavy shelling at Indian posts in three places in Rajouri.

"Pakistan Army has started indiscriminate heavy shelling on the LoC at Jhangar, Kalsian and Makri areas of Nowshera sector," a senior police official said here.

According to the official, the shells have fallen close to civilian areas.

"Indian Army has been responding appropriately and no loss of life has so far been reported.

The police said that shelling and fire exchanges still continue on the LoC at Jhangar.
Mumbai, Oct 4 : Legendary actor Jackie Chan starrer "Kung Fu Yoga" will hit the screens on January 28 next year.

Actress Amyra Dastur, who will be seen sharing screen space with the "Rush Hour" star, shared the release date along with the film's first poster on Twitter.

"'Kung Fu Yoga' all set to release on the 28th of January 2017! Wait for it," Amyra posted on Tuesday.

"Kung Fu Yoga", a Sino-Indian project, is a part of the three-film agreement signed between the two countries during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India.

The film also stars actor Sonu Sood. It is reported that the Hindi film stars have performed some adrenalin-pumping action sequences and even a Bollywood number, choreographed by Farah Khan, for the movie.

Directed by Stanley Tong, the action comedy film is also shot here and Iceland, where Jackie got Amyra a farewell cake, as a warm goodbye gesture from him.

This is not the first time that "The Legend of Drunken Master" star will be starring along Indian actors. Chan has previously collaborated with Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat in his 2005 film "The Myth".
Mumbai, Oct 4 : Actress Kriti Sanon, who is set to begin work on her next project "Bareilly Ki Barfi", received an encouraging message from director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari for the movie.

The film also stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao.

"My companion for the next 45 days! Off to Lucknow! Thanks Ashwiny for that lovely note," Kriti wrote on her Twitter page on Tuesday.

She also posted an image of the final script draft of "Bareilly Ki Barfi", with a note by Tiwari, who last directed "Nil Battey Sannata".

The note read: "Dear Kriti. Have a blast with this story and enjoy the process. Together let's have a blast and hope you enjoy working with me. Love and hugs. A."

The film, which stars Ayushmann as the owner of a printing press, Rajkummar as an author and Kriti as a straight-forward and liberated girl, is tipped to be a romantic comedy rooted in Uttar Pradesh.

The film is being produced by Junglee Pictures and BR Studios.
Mumbai, Oct 4 : Value buying and short covering kept the Indian equity markets buoyed during the mid-afternoon trade session on Tuesday.

Healthy buying was witnessed in oil and gas, IT and metal stocks.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 23.50 points, or 0.27 per cent to 8,761.60 points.

The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 28,377.64 points, traded at 28,322.91 points (at 2.00 p.m.) -- up 79.62 points, or 0.28 per cent from the previous close at 28,243.29 points.

The Sensex has so far touched a high of 28,402.65 points and a low of 28,251.37 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bulls -- with 1,528 advances and 1,178declines.

On Monday, both the key Indian indices had soared on the back of positive global cues, coupled with value buying and higher crude oil prices.

The barometer index had gained 377.33 points, or 1.35 per cent, while the NSE Nifty surged by 126.95 points, or 1.47 per cent.

Initially on Tuesday, the benchmark indices opened on a higher note in sync with their Asian peers.

However, caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy announcement capped gains.

"Short covering and value buying supported the equity markets upward movement. Broadly positive Asian and European markets too supported the day's rise," Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.

"Investors' risk taking appetite has been enhanced despite a slight downfall in global crude oil prices and the negative close of the US markets on Monday."

According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, the CNX Nifty traded with sideways sentiments due to profit booking.

"Bank Nifty also traded sideways due to profit booking ahead of RBI monatory policy decision. IT stocks traded firm on buying support," Desai said.

Desai added that volatility in USD/INR futures prices and RBI monetary policy decision are likely to make Indian equity markets volatile in the second half of the session.
Kabul, Oct 4 : Afghan security forces on Tuesday continued clashes with Taliban militants in Kunduz city in the country's northern region, police said.

On Monday, the Taliban launched a coordinated attack on the city to recapture its control, 250 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul, triggering fierce clashes with the security forces.

"The clearing operation has been continuing. The joint Afghan security forces have managed to clear several districts, including downtown areas overnight from militants," a senior police officer Mahfuzullah Akbari told Xinhua news agency.

The militants seized the main intersection of the city for a short time on Monday before being driven back by Afghan army troops.

Most of the streets remained deserted on Tuesday morning as sporadic clashes continuing and the government forces backed by helicopter gunships have been targeting Taliban positions, according to witnesses.

"The ongoing operation will take more time as the situation in the city is tense. The security forces are moving cautiously as the militants are using private properties as bunkers, they are using civilians as human shields," a provincial security source said on condition of anonymity.

At least three civilians were killed and more than 50 persons injured since the fighting began on Monday, the source said.

The Taliban, which ruled the country before they were ousted in late 2001, have renewed armed insurgency, staging ambushes and suicide attacks, killing combatants as well as civilians.

They have intensified attacks over the past couple of years since early 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed the full security responsibility from Nato-led troops.

The Taliban also stormed several districts in southern Uruzgan, Helmand and neighbouring Farah province on Monday.

The clashes in Kunduz came as an international conference is expected to be held in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, October 5, with development and economy of the war-hit country on top of its agenda.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Tuesday staged a protest outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence accusing him of a pro-Pakistan stance on the recently conducted surgical strikes by the Indian army. They demanded his resignation.

Hundreds of BJP supporters, led by Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, gathered outside the Civil Lines residence of the Chief Minister and raised slogans against him.

They shouted: "Jo Hafeez Saeed ka yaar hai, desh ka gaddar hai (Those who are friends with Hafeez Saeed are traitors)."

Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Youth and minority morcha also joined them.

The Delhi Police had to resort to mild force to disperse the protesters.

This came a day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Kejriwal on Monday urged Modi to "expose the false propaganda" being spread by Islamabad.

Despite differences, Kejriwal had hailed Modi for taking strict measures against Pakistan.

In a short video message, Kejriwal had focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strikes were ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control. He had urged Modi to fight Pakistan's propaganda "just like we have been fighting Pakistan on ground".

The special forces of the Indian army on September 28 night carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK) and destroyed seven terror launch pads.
Paris, Oct 4 : Sanofi-Pasteur -- a unit of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi -- that manufactures the only approved vaccine for dengue said on Tuesday that the vaccines has received approval in 14 countries.

Recent approvals for Dengvaxia granted by health authorities are those from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore have already granted it the approval.

"We're pleased to see the growing medical and public health recognition for the vaccine," Su Peing Ng, head of Global Medical Affairs for Sanofi Pasteur, said in a statement.

"With this new tool in hand, public health communities in dengue-endemic countries now have additional means to achieve the WHO objectives for 50 per cent reduction in mortality and 25 per cent reduction in morbidity due to dengue by 2020," Su Peing Ng said.

Notably, the Latin American Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases recently published its support for dengue vaccination. National medical societies in Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico recently also recommended vaccination with Dengvaxia, a company statement said.

In the clinical study population nine years old and older, the dengue vaccine has been documented to prevent two-thirds of dengue cases due to all four serotypes of dengue.

The dengue vaccine also prevented eight of 10 hospitalisations due to dengue and 93 per cent of serious dengue cases like the deadly hemorrhagic form of the disease, over the 25-month study follow-up period of the large-scale efficacy studies conducted in 10 endemic countries in Latin America and Asia.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : The BJP Delhi unit on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of acting as "Pakistan's spokesperson" and held a protest outside his official residence here to press for his resignation.

Hundreds of protesters, led by Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, raised slogans against the Chief Minister outside his Civil Lines residence.

Activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the minority cell also joined in the protest.

They shouted: "Jo Hafiz Saeed ka yaar hai, desh ka gaddar hai (friends of Hafiz Saeed are traitors)." Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is a co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and chief of now-banned Jamaat-ud-Daawa.

The Delhi Police later used mild force to disperse the protesters.

On Monday, Kejriwal hailed Modi for taking strict action against Pakistan and urged him to "expose the false propaganda" being spread by Islamabad.

In a short video message, the AAP leader focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strikes were ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control. He had urged Modi to fight Pakistan's propaganda "just like we have been fighting Pakistan on ground".

The Congress had said that by retweeting Pakistan's false propaganda, the AAP leader had actually given credence and publicity to Islamabad's point of view that no surgical strikes ever happened.

"He is talking like a spokesperson of Pakistan and speaking in Saeed's language. He is also demoralising the military of India," Upadhyay told reporters.

"The (Indian) Director General of Military Operations held a press conference to announce the surgical strikes. He (Kejriwal) is raising questions on the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, which doesn't behove of a person in his position," Upadhyay said.

"He should feel ashamed and resign," the BJP leader added.

Upadhyay said the BJP will intensify its protest against Kejriwal.

The Indian army on September 28 night carried out surgical strikes across the LoC and destroyed seven terror launch pads.

The strikes followed a terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of Kashmir on September 18, in which 19 soldiers were killed.
Mumbai, Oct 4 : Actress Radhika Apte inaugurated the first corporate store for the watch brand Swatch here on Tuesday.

On the occasion of the store's opening at Phoenix MarketCity - Kurla, the team of the brand showcased their new collections -- Fall Winter 2016 and Sistem51 Irony.

"I am floored by the sheer grandness of the store and the plethora of choices that it offers," Radhika said in a statement.

The watch brand will open its own mono-brand boutiques in different cities in India, and plans to open additional Swatch shops in the coming years.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : International rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir to revoke the ban on a daily newspaper, saying it is "against the spirit of democracy and freedom of press".

Kashmir Reader, an english publication, was banned on Sunday by the Jammu and Kashmir government, calling it a threat to the "public peace and tranquillity".

"Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir must revoke an order to stop the printing and publication of Kashmir Reader," Amnesty said in a statement issued here.

It said that the order passed by the District Magistrate did not "specifically mention any news item in Kashmir Reader that incited violence".

Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty International India, said: "This vaguely-worded shutdown order suggests that the newspaper is being targeted for its reporting."

"The media plays a crucial role in reporting human rights abuses. The government has a duty to respect the freedom of the press, and the right of people to receive information. It cannot shut down a newspaper simply for being critical of the government," he said.

The order said that the newspaper contained "material and content, which tend to incite acts of violence and disturb public peace and tranquillity".

Since the July 8 killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, the Kashmir Valley has been on the boil, resulting in the killing of nearly 90 people in clashes with the security forces.

The state government had also slapped a blanket ban on the publication of local newspapers in Kashmir for three days.
Dharamsala, Oct 4 : Barely days ahead of a UNEP summit in Rwanda in which 190 countries will discuss ways to protect the rapidly thinning ozone layer, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday noted with concern the damage that carbon emissions are causing by inducing global warming.

The spiritual leader, who is also an active environmentalist, was, however, confident that "if we really make the effort, change can be achieved".

During a discourse here to a group of Taiwanese on the pleasures of life, the Buddhist monk cited the example of the damage to the ozone layer and the effective steps taken to reverse it.

"If we make efforts to reduce carbon emissions, to curtail our use of fossil fuels, switching instead to clean sources of energy, such as solar and wind power generation, it will offset and repair the damage already done," the Nobel Peace Laureate said.

Top of the agenda for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) summit in Rwandan capital Kigali, from October 10 to 14, is a major amendment on phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in refrigeration and air-conditioning which will ultimately help in avoiding up to 0.5 degree Celsius in global temperate rise.

HFCs are 10,000 times more potent in trapping heat in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide, say studies.
Lucknow, Oct 4 : The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court bid goodbye to its 100-year-old court complex in Qaiserbagh here on Tuesday and finally shifted to the new sprawling campus in Gomtinagar that was inaugurated on March 19 by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur.

The flag-hoisting by Governor Ram Naik, which was attended Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, marked the official transfer of the bench to the new court complex.

Earlier Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Dilip Baba Saheb Bhonsle termed the transfer of the Lucknow bench to the new campus as a moment of both "joy and sadness" as the old building was witness to many a historic event.

The old building should be converted into a museum, it was suggested.

Lawyers performed a special 'puja' and many were seen clicking selfies in the new building.

The construction of the building began in 2010 and was expected to be completed by the end of 2014. It, however, was completed in 2016. The delay resulted in a cost escalation from Rs 650 crore to Rs 1,300 crore.

The new building has 57 court rooms compared to 29 in the earlier complex. The entire campus is Wi-Fi enabled and is centrally air-conditioned and has all the modern facilities. The campus has a 6,900-square-metre record room which can house 18 lakh files at a given time.

The cars of the judges can drive up to the first floor and the library has a capacity of 3 lakh books.

This is the second iconic building to be put in use in the last two days.

On Monday, the Chief Minister had inaugurated the Lok Bhawan -- the seat of power in Uttar Pradesh -- built at a cost of a whopping Rs 602 crore.

This building will house the office of the Chief Minister.
Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Oct 4 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the AAP was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the surgical strikes in Pakistani territory and wanted him to give a "befitting reply" to Islamabad's claims that no such operation took place.

"Pakistan is spreading false propaganda on surgical strikes and is telling the international media that no surgical strikes took place. The Prime Minister should give Pakistan a befitting reply," Kejriwal told reporters here.

"We all know that surgical strikes were conducted. In my video, I had appealed to the Prime Minister that we all will have to give Pakistan a befitting reply over its propaganda on surgical strikes.

"We all support the Prime Minister in this endeavour," he said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is on a short visit to Jodhpur.

"We will support whatever steps he (PM) takes (on exposing Pakistan's propaganda)," he said.

Kejriwal's remarks came after Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked him for supposedly seeking proof of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC).

Kejriwal said: "I am very sad to know that Ravi Shankar Prasad is saying that I am doing politics over this issue. It is the BJP which is doing politics.

"Why is the BJP so much rattled if we say that we have to give a befitting reply to Pakistan on its false propaganda on surgical strikes?"
Agartala, Oct 4 : The Tripura Police on Tuesday denied media reports that a large number of paramilitary forces were withdrawn from the north-eastern state for deployment on the western borders of India.

Even though no security threat prevails at present on the India-Bangladesh borders in Tripura, paramilitary forces have been directed to maintain strict vigil, state Director General of Police K. Nagaraj told the media here.

"We have asked the BSF (Border Security Force) and other central paramilitary forces to maintain strict vigil on the India-Bangladesh borders and adjoining villages," he said.

A senior Home Department official said the Home Ministry had directed all north-eastern states to ensure strict vigil in the region, which shares borders with China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

"Both central and state intelligence networks have been further strengthened to monitor situation in all eight north-eastern states. Senior security officials were asked to review the situation regularly," the official added.

Nagaraj said additional security arrangements have been made for the Durga Puja festival beginning from Friday, including deployment of over 7,500 security personnel.
San Francisco, Oct 4 : Microsoft paid its Indian-born CEO Satya Nadella $17.7 million -- which is down three per cent from last year -- during the company's most recent fiscal year, a media report said on Tuesday.

"The decline was the result of a modest drop in Nadella's stock-based compensation, which totalled $12 million during the year ended June 30. His base salary of $1.2 million was unchanged from the prior year," The Seattle Times reported.

Nadella and the four other executives whose compensation was detailed in the company's annual proxy statement made at least 100 per cent of their cash bonuses, which the company attributed to Microsoft's business performance and returns to shareholders.

Kevin Turner, who left Microsoft as Chief Operating Officer in July, was paid $12.9 million during the fiscal year -- up six per cent from 2015 -- and was the second-highest paid executive officer.

"In response to concerns about subjective standards leading to inflated paychecks, Microsoft has been adding financial- and performance-based metrics to its executive-compensation formulas," the report added.
Amritsar/New Delhi, Oct 4 : The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday seized an empty boat belonging to the Pakistan Rangers after it drifted from across the border into the frontier district of Amritsar in Punjab, a senior BSF officer said on Tuesday.

The boat, painted in green and carrying a Pakistani flag, was washed into the Indian territory by the Ravi river that flows into India from across the border.

He said the boat will be returned to the Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday.

"BSF troops deployed in forward area observed a boat coming from the Pakistan side in the Ravi at around 4.45 a.m. today (Tuesday). BSF troops stationed at the ferry point of Border Out Post Rear Kakkar seized the boat," BSF Deputy Inspector General R.S. Kataria said.

"A thorough check of the surrounding area revealed nothing suspicious. A flag meeting with Pakistan Rangers was held, wherein they accepted that the boat belonged to the Rangers New Balam BOP and had drifted into India side. It will be handed over to Pakistan Rangers on October 5," the DIG said.

The boat seizure comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control.

BSF Director General K.K. Sharma said: "There was excessive water flow in the Ravi, due to which the boat accidentally drifted to the Indian side."

The Indian Coast Guard on Sunday apprehended a Pakistani boat with nine crew off the Gujarat coast.
Jammu, Oct 4 : Fresh firing across the de facto border between India and Pakistan on Tuesday intensified military tension between the already tense neighbours with Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha warning that the situation on the Line of Control (LOC) was still "live".

The Indian Army alleged that Pakistan troops opened unprovoked heavy firing in at least three places on the LoC -- a ceasefire line that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries. Cross-border shelling also occurred along the International Border at Akhnoor sector in Jammu.

No injuries were reported from the Pakistan mortar shelling at Indian border posts in Jhangar, Kalsian and Makri areas of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district. The heavy exchange of fire continued for several hours and was continuing till Tuesday evening.

A police officer said many shells landed near civilian areas in Nowshera, a border area located on the banks of Manawer river, some 125 km from here.

The officer said the Indian Army retaliated and fired at Pakistani posts. Any damage on the other side of the ceasefire line was not known immediately.

Across the LoC, the Pakistan Army made similar allegations, saying Indian troops "resorted to unprovoked firing" at 4 a.m. on Tuesday.

"Pakistani troops befittingly responded to the unprovoked Indian firing... in Bhimber sector," an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.

As the border tension intensified, Arup Raha, chief of the Indian Air Force, said "things are still live" at the frontier.

"It would not be right for me to give a perspective now," Raha told reporters in New Delhi, refusing to take any questions on India's cross-border surgical strikes late last month targeting militant launch pads in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

Raha said the Indian Air Force had "evolved" and was prepared to face a two-front war, in case it broke out simultaneously with China and Pakistan.

"We are always ready and we will be ready... The IAF has the capability to be deployed for offensive operations. Today, the IAF has the strategic reach and can deter a conflict," he said.

India said its Special Forces destroyed at least seven terror launch pads and killed an unknown number of militants and their sympathisers in the September 29 cross-border raids.

The surgical strikes were launched to avenge the killings of 19 Indian soldiers in the September 18 terror attack at an Indian military base in Uri town in Kashmir's Baramulla district.

India said the four attackers, who sneaked into the Uri camp and were killed in a gunfight, infiltrated from Pakistan. Islamabad denied the allegation.

The heavy exchange of fire on Tuesday was the latest in a series of violations of border truce signed in 2003.

Since the Uri assault, the militaries of the two countries have been regularly firing at each other daily across the LoC and the International Border.

On Monday, three civilians were injured in a similar exchange of fire in Poonch district.

India shares 50 kms of International Border and 740 kms of the Line of Control with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. The boundary, manned by paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) runs through Jammu district and the LoC, which is not an internationally-accepted frontier, cuts across other regions of the state.
Jaipur, Oct 4 : The first flight of an intra-state air service from Jaipur to Jodhpur and Udaipur was launched on Tuesday from here.

Rajasthan's Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje along with Gopaldas Ji Maharaj of Dadu Dayal sect flagged off a 9-seater aircraft of Supreme Airlines from Sanganer Airport State Hangar to Jodhpur.

"Bikaner and Kota too would soon be connected by air," Raje said speaking on the occasion.

She said the state achieved another milestone on Monday when Scoot Airlines of Singapore started direct flight from Jaipur to Singapore.

The state government has tied up with Supreme Transport Organisation Pvt. Ltd. to operate air services between different cities in the state.

A state government statement said that in the first phase, flights have been launched from Jaipur to Jodhpur and Udaipur. For both these flights, minimum airfare has been fixed at Rs 3,499 per passenger.

"Afterwards flights would be operated from other cities as well," a civil aviation department official told IANS.

As per the agreement, Supreme Air Lines would operate intra-state flights for six days in a week with 9-seater Cessna Caravan-C 208B aircraft.

Several locations of world-class tourism, religious, historical and heritage importance would benefit by these air operations.

According to travel industry pundits, peaceful atmosphere coupled with lots of sightseeing places and shopping are some of the reasons attracting tourists to these Rajasthan cities.

On an average, Rajasthan attracts over 12 lakh foreign and over two crore domestic tourists every year.

Travel pundits hope that these kind of air services would certainly help in giving a fillip to tourist footfall.

"In fact, tourists had to travel by road and so were avoiding some of the places in Rajasthan. Now with good air connectivity, they (tourists) would be able to see more cities and spend more time in the state. It would certainly give a boost to tourist arrivals," Surendra Singh, a travel agent, said.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday reiterated support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the surgical strikes and accused the BJP of doing politics over the army operation.

Speaking in Jodhpur, Kejriwal again urged Modi to give a "befitting reply" to Islamabad's insistence that no such operation took place and New Delhi was lying about the September 28-29 surgical strikes.

"Pakistan is spreading false propaganda on surgical strikes and is telling the international media that no surgical strikes took place," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader told reporters.

"The Prime Minister should give Pakistan a befitting reply," he said.

Kejriwal's comments followed a spate of aggressive criticism by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the Delhi Chief Minister of raising doubts about the surgical strikes across the Line of Control.

India said it carried out the operation and destroyed terrorist launch pads following the September 18 attack by terrorists on an army camp which killed 19 soldiers at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kejriwal said: "We all know that surgical strikes were conducted. In my video, I had appealed to the Prime Minister that we all will have to give Pakistan a befitting reply over its propaganda on the surgical strikes."

Earlier, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Kejriwal of supposedly seeking proof of the surgical strikes carried out by the army.

Hundreds of BJP activists also staged a noisy demonstration in New Delhi against Kejriwal, demanding his resignation.

Kejriwal said: "I am very sad to know that Ravi Shankar Prasad is saying that I am doing politics over this issue. It is the BJP which is doing politics.

"Why is the BJP so much rattled if we say that we have to give a befitting reply to Pakistan on its false propaganda on surgical strikes?"

The theme was echoed by AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who urged the Prime Minister to quash the propaganda of the Pakistanis. He said: "There are no questions on the integrity of the PM or the valour of the army.

"In his video, Kejriwal saluted the Prime Minister... He said the Indian Army enhanced the prestige of the country through the surgical strike...

"We said the Prime Minster should put an end to the claims by international and Pakistani media by revealing the truth about the surgical strikes.

"Is it wrong to salute one's Prime Minister or hail the Indian Army? Neither did we question the Prime Minister nor the army," the AAP leader said.
Pune, Oct 4 : Given the increasing scarcity of water, the planning and management of water resource and its optimal use has become a matter of the utmost urgency, and the state governments are expected to play a greater role in this, Vice President Hamid Ansari said here on Tuesday.

"India is facing an acute water crisis due to large population leading to a stress on available water resources, poor water quality and dwindling groundwater supplies due to over-extraction," Ansari said while speaking at the centenary celebrations of Central Water and Power Research Station.

He said that since water is a state subject under our Constitution, the state governments are expected to play a large role in these efforts, he added.

"Water stress has a bearing on various sectors of Indian economy including the agricultural, industrial, domestic and household, power, environment, fisheries and transportation sectors. The interplay of various factors that govern access and utilisation of water resources need to be considered and it becomes incumbent that we look for holistic and people-centred approaches for water management," Ansari said.

"The biggest concern for our water-based resources in the future is the sustainability of the current, and future, water resource allocation as water becomes more scarce," he added.

Ansari said that in the coming years, the impact of climate change on hydrological cycle and the water availability in our country is likely to become a central question before national planning agencies.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : The Delhi Police has busted an inter-state gang of contract killers, who were involved in the sale and supply of illegal firearms, police said on Tuesday.

They said one of its members identified as Guddu Singh, 39, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Monday from Khajoori Khas area of Northeast district. Eight improvised semi-automatic pistols with as many magazines were recovered from his possession.

According to police, the gang had recently got a Rs 1-crore contract to kill a person in Baghpat and had taken half the amount in advance. The planning for the contract killing was being done by Suresh and Mohit, the key members of the gang.

"Guddu arranged weapons, which were to be used for the killing, from his old contact Shamshed in Kolkata, while Mohit was tasked to arrange one more person, who could provide them a car to use in the crime," a senior police officer said.

Police arrested Guddu after a tip-off that he would be coming to Khajoori Khas area to supply firearms to one of his aides.

During the interrogation, he revealed that he was previously involved in over half-a-dozen cases of murder and other serious crimes.
Kolkata, Oct 4 : Hasan Imam, a prime accused in the terrorist attack on the American Center here 14 years ago, was remanded to police custody till October 15 by a local court on Tuesday.

Imam was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Bihar's Aurangabad district on Saturday and was flown to the city with personnel of the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police on Tuesday.

Imam is alleged to be a member of the "Asif Raza Commando Force" (ARCF) that carried out the attack on the American Center on January 22, 2002. Security agencies claims ARCF has links with the terror group Harkat-ul-Jihadi-e-Islam or HuJI.

Two motor-cycle borne terrorists sprayed bullets randomly on security personnel posted at the gate of the American Center. At least six police men were killed and 16 others injured in the attack that sent shockwaves across the city.

The agencies have claimed that the ARCF wanted to avenge the death of Asif Raza, founding member of the Indian Mujahideen. Raza was gunned down by the Gujarat police in Bharuch district in December, 2011.

Imam is said to have arranged for the motorcycle used by the attackers in the American Center incident.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday created a flutter at a tourism event here by asking Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti if she considered slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani a terrorist, and said that tourism and terrorism cannot go together.

Mishra refused to share the stage with Mehbooba and walked out of the event after making his comments.

"Can tourism and terrorism go together? How will tourism grow in India? Before leaving she (Mehbooba) has to tell us if she considers Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru terrorists," Mishra said.

Some people in the gathering stood up to protest and asked Mishra to desist from making such remarks.

But the minister said he would leave only after saying what he has to, and it would not take much time.

"It cannot happen that you (Mehbooba) do not accept that Burhan Wani was a terrorist, and seek boost in tourism," Mishra said.

"You say Afzal Guru is not a terrorist, and that he should not be hanged. And then you seek boost in tourism. How will tourism grow? It won't grow," he added.

"There are some very strong emotions that I want to share. It is very painful that terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir. When they (terrorists) attacked Baramulla, two of them ran away. Where have they gone? Someone must have given them shelter," Mishra said. He was referrring to the Sunday night terror attack on an army camp in Baramulla, in which one BSF trooper was killed and one injured.

"Last year in November, there was Pakistan flag on Mehbooba Mufti's house. When Burhan Wani was killed, Mehbooba said had she known about the operation, she wouldn't have let him be killed; that it was a mistake," Mishra added.

"I don't feel like sharing the stage with Mehbooba Mufti, I will go out," he said before walking out of the event.

He was speaking at 'Bharat International Travel Bazaar', which was attended by Mehbooba Mufti and Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.

Delhi government was a co-host of the event.

Later, addressing reporters, Mishra said, "If Mehbooba doesn't answer these questions then the BJP will have to answer. What is the compulsion to keep such people on the chair who don't love the nation, and don't recognise Burhan and Afzal as terrorists."

"Why is BJP supporting those who give shelter to the terrorists," he asked.

Asked if the party agrees with his views, the Delhi Minister said that not just his party, but the entire nation, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is asking these questions.

"Who is giving shelter to terrorists? There are people who sympathise with terrorists and these people include Mehbooba Mufti. We all know it," he said.

"Mehbooba Mufti is anti-national... She is not willing to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. She is not willing to say Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru are terrorists. It is betrayal of the nation to keep her sitting on the CM's chair," he added.
Brussels, Oct 4 : US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that the United States would not be abandoning the Syrian peace process despite the break in talks with Russia.

Washington announced a suspension in talks with Russia just hours before Kerry's speech at a Brussels conference celebrating US-European Union relations, Efe news reported.

The US remained committed to a cessation of violence throughout the whole country, Kerry said, adding that this would only be possible with the grounding of Russian and Syrian warplanes in certain areas.

He said that in order to return to the negotiation table, Russia would have to meet international law and fulfil publicly made agreements.

Further, the Secretary of State accused Russia and Syria of being the only actors in the Syrian war who had yet to agree to the delivery of international aid into besieged areas of the country.

Tensions flared between the US and Russia in September when Washington heaped responsibility onto Moscow for an alleged airstrike on a humanitarian aid convoy en route to embattled areas of Aleppo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is allied to his beleaguered Syrian counterpart Bashar Al Assad and provides aerial support for the Syrian Army operations to regain control of rebel-territory, Efe news added.

Kerry lambasted the military cooperation between Moscow and Damascus and accused the Russian leader of association with a "man who has been responsible for torturing 10,000 people (...) as well as orchestrating this extraordinary slaughter of his own people".

Both Washington and Moscow maintain tactical communications to facilitate military operations against various jihadist groups.

Since the end of the internationally brokered ceasefire in September, violent clashes have escalated across Syria, claiming the lives of hundreds of people, including civilians.

Security and human rights departments within the UN have called upon the international community to address the fallout of the heightened aggression but have had to face increasingly frosty diplomatic ties between Russia and the United States.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : The BJP on Tuesday dubbed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders as "anarchists" after Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra confronted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on the issue of terrorism at an event here and later walked out.

"This party is working like an anti-national party, whether it is the case of Jawaharlal Nehru University or the case of its Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is acting and speaking as the spokesperson of Hafiz Saeed," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit chief Satish Upadhyay told IANS.

"They are demoralising the soldiers of our nation. They are anarchists and they are spreading anarchism," Upadhyay alleged.

Upadhyay's remarks came after Mishra created a flutter at a tourism event here by asking Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti if she considered slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani a terrorist and said that tourism and terrorism cannot go together.

"Can tourism and terrorism go together? How will tourism grow in India? Before leaving she has to tell us if she considers Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru terrorists," Mishra said.

"It cannot happen that you (Mehbooba Mufti) do not accept that Burhan Wani was a terrorist, and seek boost in tourism," Mishra said, before staging a walkout.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mehbooba Mufti and the Bharatiya Janata Party are ruling Jammu and Kashmir in an alliance. The Aam Aadmi Party leader's comments were apparently directed at the PDP-BJP ruling alliance.
Dhaka, Oct 4 : A month before the terror attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital, a consignment of AK-22 rifles and some small arms reached the militants in Dhaka hidden inside mango baskets, a media report said on Tuesday.

Of these arms, three AK-22 rifles were used in the attack on the Dhaka cafe, while another rifle was used for the security of cafe attack 'mastermind' Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who was also the head of New Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror outfit.

Investigators say they have finally been able to trace the route of the smuggled arms, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Sources in police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit said these arms came from outside Bangladesh and the members of New JMB outfit used them in terror attacks, in Bogra and other northern districts.

"We have finally learned the source of the AK22s supply and have been also able to identify the group primarily," Monirul Islam, chief of CTTC, told the Dhaka Tribune.

"A drive is underway to arrest this group's members."

The CTTC chief said these AK22 rifles, recovered at different times in drives, mainly entered Bangladesh through the Chapai Nawabganj border, located on the north-western part of Bangladesh. The consignment was received there by an arms smuggling group, which later sent it to Dhaka inside mango baskets, he said.

Missing New JMB leader Nurul Islam Marjan, who was the field-level coordinator of the July 1 cafe attack, received the consignment in Dhaka and delivered it to the militant den in Bashundhara Residential Area.

"A large amount of mangoes came to Dhaka from Chapainawabganj in baskets at the time and the militants took advantage of that to elude law enforcers," added the CTTC chief.

An arms expert in the CTTC, requesting anonymity, said the recovered AK22 rifles were not originals.

"The New JMB members use modified versions. They do this to carry the rifles around easily," the official said.

"We have also come to know that the modification of these arms was done in Munger city in Bihar state of India and then they came to Chapainwabganj border," said the official.

"A seal from a factory in Bihar was found on the three AK22 rifles recovered after the Gulshan terror attack," he said, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Gulshan attack killed 23 people, including 17 foreigners and two police officials, on July 1.
Manila, Oct 4 : Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he would "eventually" cut ties with the United States.

Duterte again hit out at the United States and its President, the European Union and the United Nations for using human rights to criticise his campaign to curb the illicit drug menace in the Philippines, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I am very emotional because America has certainly failed us," Duterte added.

"I will be re-configuring my foreign policy," Duterte said in a speech before the Jewish Association of the Philippines in Makati City.

He added, "Eventually I might in my time break up with America. I would rather go to Russia and to China."

In another speech earlier, Duterte vowed to continue the war on drugs amidst the "hypocrisy" of the US, the EU and the UN.

"I will not stop despite the hypocrisy of the EU, and America and Obama. They seem to refuse to understand," Duterte said.

Duterte said he has no plan to stop his rant against his critics.

Duterte again apologised to the Jewish community. "I am not one of the racist member of this republic," Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

"But it was only because that they pictured me to be killing so many persons of the drug problem. And I would say that it is true but not all were killed with their hands tied behind their backs. That would have been an exaggeration," he explained.

On October 2, Duterte apologised to the Jewish community who were outraged by his comments that made reference to Adolf Hitler who ordered the cold-blooded killings of the Jews.

"I would like to make it (clear) now, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered," Duterte said in a speech in Bacolod City in the central Philippines.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday took exception to the public display and ill-treatment of bodies of killed stray dogs in Kerala on September 26 as it sought response from the state government on the issue.

Giving three weeks to the state to file its response, a bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said: "Needless to say, it will be an obligation of the state of Kerala to see that the orders passed by this court are followed scrupulously and there is no public demonstration in the manner in which the photographs depict."

"We do not intend to comment on the same at present."

The court said Kerala government's response would be supported by an affidavit by the state Chief Secretary.

The court had, on earlier occasions, said that authorities would adhere to the law in addressing the issue of street dogs.

The court order came as it was shown some photographs with caption 'Kerala politicians beat street dogs to death, hang them on a pole and take out a parade'.

Youth activists said to be aligned with Kerala Congress (Mani) of former state minister K.M. Mani killed around 10 canines, trussed a few and and hung them from a pole and took out a march in Kottayam on September 26.

Police later said a case had been registered against 15 activists of the Youth Front (Mani), an offshoot of Kerala Congress (M).

The protesters displayed the killed dogs in front of the head post office in Kottayam.
Kolkata, Oct 4 : A two-day conference of state Power Ministers will start from Friday at Gujarat's Vadodara to review various schemes and programmes pertaining to energy and mines sector, an official statement said.

The conference, which will be inaugurated by Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, is to be organised on the sidelines of the International Energy Conference-SWITCH Global Expo organised by the Gujarat government, said an Union Power Ministry statement.

Ministers and Secretaries of the states and union territories and senior officials of the coal, power, renewable energy and mines sectors and public sector undertakings under them are expected to attend the conference.

Issues such as implementation of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), National Electricity Plan, issues related to open access, compliance of renewable purchase obligation (RPO) by the states, policy interventions for hydro development, import substitution of coal, and many others are expected to be discussed.
Mumbai, Oct 4 : Bollywood actress Radhika Apte on Tuesday expressed solidarity with the Indian Army.

"All I feel is that what is happening is absolutely disastrous. What has happened is beyond our comprehension because we were not there. You can sympathise and talk about it only. I have no words," She said at the launch of Swatch watches on Tuesday.

Asked about banning the Pakistani actors the "Parched" actress said that she doesn't want to indulge herself into the matter.

The 'Kabaali' star also spoke about the recent racial offence made against her co-actress Tannishtha Chatterjee on a popular comedy show.

"I believe in a lot of different things. If you are talking about cracking a joke on colour, I am completely against it. They didn't comment on my colour but called me lizard or something which I found funny. However, I completely support Tannishtha," Radhika said.

"Honestly I knew about the show. If they had done something like body-shaming me, I also would've protested. I spoke to them on backstage. I think Tannishtha wasn't aware of the show but the statement she made I agree with her 200 per cent," she added.

Radhika said, she has finished shooting for "Ghoul", "The Ashram" and "Bombairiya" which will releas in December.

Directed by Ben Rekhi "The Ashram" also stars actors like Kal Penn and Melissa Leo. "Bombairiya" is directed by Pia Sukanya and also stars Akshay Oberoi and Siddhanth Kapoor.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Expressing alarm over the politics-money nexus, former West Bengal Governor and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Tuesday said Indian politics was in danger.

"Today, politics is in trouble; the word politics now suggests intrigue, manipulation and rivalry, every conceivable form of rivalry ranging from simple envy to most complicated and psychopathic jealousy," said Gandhi, who was conferred the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award at the Vigyan Bhavan here.

The 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award was conferred on Gandhi for excellence in public administration, academics and management.

"Politics has come to being something which simple people are wary of and keep a distance from. The word politicians are in even greater trouble. It conjures the image of a person who is one thing in appearance and another in reality," Gandhi said durign his acceptance speech.

"This is more than a pity -- it is a tragedy," said the former diplomat.

Observing that politics not long ago meant "public service of the highest order", Gandhi said unlike earlier, politicians now make calculated moves.

"Politicians of today don't walk, they make moves. Like chess players -- some moving sideways and then leaping forward; some take two steps at a time, replacing the one ahead," he said.

Reflecting on corruption, Gandhi questioned why the country did not get the Lokpal.

"Why is Lokpal still eluding us? Why are whistleblowers still in danger?"

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, who presented the award to Gandhi, hailed late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for his leadership role during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Reminiscing his memories of the 1965 war as a school boy, Justice Thakur said: "War is a very very scary and unnerving experience. I have seen how bodies of the soldiers lay scattered on the ground. I have seen severed legs of soldiers being eaten by dogs. It's very unnerving."

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Deputy Prime Minister and BJP veteran L.K. Advani were among several dignitaries present on the occasion.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : The Royal Air Force's world-renowned acrobatic team, Red Arrows, will be performing at the (Indian) Air Force Day on October 8, the British High Commission said.

"I'm delighted that the Red Arrows are visiting India. Those who followed Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's visit to London last year will remember the flypast they put on in his honour, decorating the skies of London in the colours of the Indian flag," said Defence Advisor, Brig. Mark Goldsack, in a statement from the high commission.

"The visit celebrates the strong historical bond and a close relationship between the RAF and the Indian Air Force. The Red Arrows fly the Hawk aircraft, which is both a British and now Indian success story," he said.

India has purchased 123 Hawks to date, 99 of which have been built under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, using parts supplied by BAE Systems and engines supplied by Rolls Royce.

More than 600 IAF pilots have been trained so far on the Hawk 132 AJT and the first batch of the three Indian women fighter pilots is being trained at present on them.

"The Red Arrows will help showcase teamwork, engineering excellence and the best of British in advanced manufacturing and aerospace shortly before the first ever India-UK TECH Summit which takes place in New Delhi from 7-9 November. The TECH Summit will highlight excellence and collaboration between India and the UK in innovation and technology," said the statement.

It said the Red Arrows are honoured to be invited to perform an aerial salute to the Indian Air Force on Air Force Day in front of IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.

"Indeed, we feel privileged to have been invited to perform a display in honour of the Indian Air Force on Air Force Day," it quoted team leader, Squadron Leader David Montenegro, as saying.

Apart from flying, while they are in Delhi, the Red Arrows team will be welcomed at an evening reception hosted by the British High Commissioner on October 5. The crews will also visit schools and universities to talk about hi-tech education and training opportunities in Britain.

The visit to India is part of a major 60-day tour of the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions by the Red Arrows.

Upon returning from their Far East part of the tour in November, the Red Arrows are planning to deliver further aerial displays in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

In their biggest overseas tour in a decade, the Red Arrows will undertake more than 20 displays and a series of flypasts.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Union Information & Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition for "speaking the language of Pakistan" and seeking proof of India's surgical strikes across the border.

"Some people are today speaking the language of Pakistan..... There is no need of any proof of Pakistan aiding and abetting terrorism," asserted Naidu speaking at a launch ceremony of book "Modi's Midas Touch in Foreign Policy" by former diplomat Surendra Kumar.

The minister asserted that soon such political leaders would "realise their mistakes" in endorsing the views of Pakistan.

A visibly-irked Naidu said Islamabad has never "walked the talk" for seeking a peaceful solution to problems and also in reference to the "assurance" it gave in 2004 that its territory would not be allowed to be used for terror activities.

He said that "India wants peace with all neighbouring countries including Pakistan", but added that Islamabad has not reciprocated the Indian gestures of friendship especially during last two years.

Naidu said some leaders are indulging in "irresponsible talk" by demanding proof of surgical strikes as these only show their "lack" of confidence in and respect for Indian army.

The strong remarks come in the wake of demands from some Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including P. Chidambaram and Arvind Kejriwal, that the government needs to give proof of the recent surgical strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the last two-and-a-half years, has shown "incredible skill" in making new friends and establishing stronger bonds with old friends.

He said Modi has particularly given new dimension in the foreign policy in his dealings with African countries and while visiting and interacting with smaller Pacific Ocean based island nations and Indian diaspora across the world.

"Such leadership has changed the scenario," he said and specially mentioned about improved ties with countries like Iran and United Arab Emirates.

Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had hailed Indira Gandhi for defeating Pakistan in the 1971 war, Naidu said the nation needs to stand united when forces inimical to India and its progress are bent upon disrupting the socio-economic fabric of the nation.

"Political considerations should be kept out of security operations," he said.

Former diplomat Lalit Mansingh, who also spoke, however, said the book was written little ahead of its time as it says "India cannot conduct surgical strikes or use drones".

"I do not blame the author Surendra Kumar for this. Circumstances have overcome him. Now you have to eat your words," said the former Foreign Secretary.

BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and Tarun Vijay also spoke at the event.
New Delhi, Oct 4 : As the Congress asked the Narendra Modi government to expose Pakistan's false propaganda on surgical strike by Indian army across the LoC, its senior leader P. Chidambaram on Tuesday asked for the release of video recording of the military action as proof.

He said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had deliberately taken political ownership of the military action (across the Line of Control on September 28-29 night), unlike what the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

"Having taken the political ownership for the cross-border action and having publicised it so much, it is only to be expected that people will demand that the video (of the surgical strikes) be released. So, I am sure the government has thought through about the consequences of taking the political ownership for a purely military action."

"... let the government respond to the demand for releasing the videos," the former Union minister said.

"Such cross-border pre-emptive actions have taken place in the past. At least one such strike has been confirmed by the then army chief General Bikram Singh in January 2013. There have been others, but I don't want to get into details," Chidambaram told CNNNews18.

Chidambaram attributed non-publicising of military action in the past to the UPA's "policy of strategic restraint".

"Our government took the call that cross-border action should be a military call and it is for the (army) generals to say what they want to say. We did not take political ownership of military action. This government has taken that responsibility."

"We pursued the correct strategy -- our policy was strategic restraint. It is, of course, the privilege of every government to adapt or modify policies. If the NDA government modified or altered the polices of strategic restraint, it's their call; they have to face the consequences," he said.

Meanwhile, on the question of Pakistan's denial on the surgical strikes, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: "There has never been a reason to raise a question or doubt the statements by the Director General of Military Operations on the surgical strikes. The government needs to call the Pakistani bluff and false propaganda by using all information, evidence and instruments at their disposal."
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Two members of a child trafficking gang were arrested here and a minor kidnapped girl rescued from their clutches, police said on Tuesday.

The accused have been identified as Sanjay Rai, from Bihar's Motihari district, and Vinod Kumar, a resident of Netaji Nagar in Delhi.

Police said the 14-year-old girl, 14, a resident of Sarojni Nagar in south Delhi, was kidnapped on August 30 by Vinod when she was going home from tuition. Vinod told victim that her father had met with an accident and he had sent him to take her to hospital.

Police said Vinod later handed her to four youth waiting in a car and they drove her to Labladpur village in Madhuban district of Bihar.

"Police registered a case following a complaint given by victim's father on September 2 in Sarojini Nagar police station that his daughter did not come home after leaving the tution centre on August 30," said a senior police officer.

"During investigation, police found that the victim on September 28 made a call to her father and informed him that she had was being held captive somewhere in Bihar. Police traced the location of phone in Labladpur village at Bihar with the help of surveillance and rescued the minor while arresting Vinod and Sanjay," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, Ishwar Singh.

He said Sanjay had also forcefully married her. Sanjay revealed that a woman, Sukho Devi, is also involved.
New Delhi, Oct 5 : Two men were arrested here for trying to kill a Uttar-Pradesh based politician, police said on Tuesday.

Police said the accused have been identified as Joginder Kumar and Jeetu, both resident of Sabzi Mandi area in north Delhi. Joginder is involved in 100 cases of theft, robbery, dacoity and under the Arms Act.

According to police, they took a contract to kill Santosh Kumar Tripathy, an aspiring MLA candidate of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, with Rs 5 lakh from his relative and former employee Dashrath Mishra, who now runs a transport company in Bhalaswa Dairy.

Police said Tripathy complained to police on August 25 that as he was going to Daya Basti at around 11.45 p.m. when some unidentified person shot at his car with a intention to kill him.

"During investigation, police received a tip off that the persons who shot at Tripathy's car are Joginder and Jeetu. They were arrested near to Red Fort after a trap was laid at Shanti Van road following a tip off," said a senior police officer said.

"They revealed to police that Dashrath who was thrown out from job and was insulted by Tripathy, had given them contract to kill him and gave Rs 50,000 in advance," said Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Ravindra Yadav.

Yadav said Joginder was also involved in a case of firing at a police party in 2010.
The numbers are small but the implications significant. A pair of academic researchers has tossed a conflict-of-interest grenade in the laps of the leaders of the federal Food and Drug Administration. Is there too much of a revolving door between Big Pharma and many of the top experts who play vital roles in giving the regulatory thumbs-up or thumbs-down to our medicines?

In a letter published in the prestigious British Medical Journal (now known as thebmj), two doctors on the faculty at the Oregon Health and Science University say they studied FDA experts who approved cancer and hematology drugs from 2001 through 2010, finding that a quarter of them since have left the agency and now work or consult for Big Pharma firms. They chose these specialists to scrutinize because their own expertise is in blood cancers, and because theyd heard a lot about the revolving door but had seen no documentation of its actual extent.

If you know in the back of your mind that your career goal may be to someday work on the other side of the table, I wonder whether that changes the way you regulate,Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist and assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University, told National Public Radio, adding, Are you more likely to give [companies] the benefit of the doubt? Are you less likely to beat them up hard over [issues like using bad comparisons in drug studies]?

He said his own experience tells him that there is great subjectivity in difficult decisions about cancer medications and whether they should advance to public use. He said he and other experts hope the FDA can be a firewall against harmful drugs, and that its experts need independence to make this so.

The researchers said they looked via publicly available sources at FDA experts only if they participated in significant reviews of cancer and hematology drugs, and they did not try to back-track to see specific recommendations by given experts, especially those who went to Big Pharma employ.

Other researchers and the FDA itself downplayed the Oregon data. They said the process is sufficiently complex and involves multiple parties such that, combined with tough agency personnel regulations, no single individual can disproportionally affect drug decisions. An FDA spokesman also noted that agency rules protect confidential discussions and data, there are required cooling off periods before federal experts can go to private industry, and that, among elite scientists, the job options would be select, including as a regulator or in an industry.

As someone who has represented many clients harmed by dangerous drugs that inexplicably made it to the market, often with insufficient warnings on them or with apparent lack of due diligence about their injurious qualities, I am skeptical of the FDAs dismissal of the Oregon researchers work. It is admittedly not as deep or as solid as it could be. But it sends up a troubling warning, and it would be calamitous to the American people to learn later that FDA experts, indeed, are in a revolving relationship with the industry theyre supposed to regulateto the detriment of patients and the public. As a former president remarked often, trust but verify. The FDA is big and sufficiently well-funded by taxpayers that it should be providing the transparency and buttressing its credibility by having open, published data on this issue.
A double chin is often genetic among young people and it usually doesn't respond to exercise. CoolSculpting is now an option for young, busy professionals who dont have time to recover from surgery. In just 1-2 treatments, CoolSculpting neck contouring treatments lets patients say goodbye to their wobbly necks. Our Necktober special provides an opportunity for people who dont like their double chins or fatty jowls to do something about it.

MilfordMD Cosmetic Dermatology Surgery & Laser Center in Milford, Penn. is celebrating October with a Necktober CoolSculpting special. Patients who book CoolSculptings popular neck contouring treatments in October will save $150 on each CoolSculpting CoolMini treatment they purchase.

From what weve seen with CoolSculptings CoolMini neck contouring treatments is that most patients say goodbye to their double chins or wobbly necks in just one to two treatments, says MilfordMDs Medical Director and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Richard Buckley.

Chiseled necklines are a sign of youthfulness; while undefined necks can make us look older than we are. CoolSculpting technology, which is the number one noninvasive fat reduction treatment in the world, requires no needles, no surgery and results in little to no downtime. CoolSculptings recent addition, the CoolMini, addresses unwanted fat around the neck, leaving patients with a more contoured, youthful neckline, according to Dr. Buckley.

Double chins and fatty jowls are sore subjects for many. A 2014 American Society of Dermatology Surgery suggested 68 percent of adults are not satisfied with the looks of their necks, due to chin or neck fat.

A double chin is something that even young people can have. Its often genetic, and the fat around the neck does not usually respond to weight loss or exercise. Many try to cover it up with turtleneck shirts or scarves, Dr. Buckley says. Thats no longer necessary. CoolSculpting is an option for even young, busy professionals who dont have time to recover from surgery. Its a non-invasive procedure that can make a big impact on how young and vibrant a person looks.

CoolSculptings fat freezing technology earned the FDAs approval to treat extra fat around the neck in September 2015. Cosmetic surgeons have been using CoolSculpting as a noninvasive body sculpting option to sculpt the abdomen since 2010 and 2015 for the thighs. CoolSculptings approval for the neck was a game-changer because prior to that, people who wanted to rid their necks and jowls of fat had to resort to Kybella injections to dissolve neck fat, liposuction or invasive neck lift surgery.

CoolSculptings miniature CoolMini applicator clamps down on the unwanted neck fat, numbing the area and freezing the fat cells below the skin. Patients usually need one to two 60-minute in-office sessions with the CoolMini to achieve a 20 percent reduction in localized fat, according to the cosmetic surgeon.

Patients generally experience little or no discomfort during the procedure and downtime tends to be minimal to none, Dr. Buckley says. Its important for patients to understand that the results of CoolSculpting arent noticeable immediately. Rather it takes a few weeksusually about three weeksfor the fat cells to die and for the body to naturally rid itself of those cells. Patients will continue to notice a slimming down of their necks until about three months.

Fall and winter are the perfect times of the year to have CoolSculpting CoolMini neck contouring treatments because, by spring and summer, patients necks, chins and jowls should look more sculptedwell after turtleneck season and in time for the warmer months.

Necktober provides an opportunity for those peopleyounger and olderwho dont like their double chins or fatty jowls to do something about it, Dr. Buckley says.

About MilfordMD Cosmetic Dermatology Surgery & Laser Center:

The MilfordMD Cosmetic Dermatology Surgery & Laser Center offers state-of-the-art highly specialized procedures in laser and cosmetic surgery and aesthetic skin care. In addition to its extensive laser surgery capabilities, MilfordMD offers physician designed skin care products for home use. Milford Pennsylvanias MilfordMD Cosmetic Dermatology Surgery & Laser Center is sought out by patients from around the world for expertise and innovation in cosmetic treatments performed by Richard E. Buckley, M.D. and Marina Buckley, M.D.

MilfordMD Cosmetic Dermatology Surgery & Laser Center is located at 303 W. Harford Street, Milford, PA 18337. Tel: (800) 664-1528. For real patient video testimonials, visit our MilfordMD YouTube channel.
Sit-Stand TaskMate Go from HealthPostures Health Postures 6300 series workspace solutions are sleek, cost effective and adjustable. In addition to relieving back and neck pain, the sit stand solutions improve worker energy and productivity.

Standing computer desk ergonomics developer, HealthPostures, announces that it will be amongst the key exhibitors at the National Ergonomics Conference and Expo. Location of the conference and expo is Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Dates of the expo are November 15-18, 2016.

An experienced ergonomics specialist will represent the sit stand solutions firm during the four day event, fielding questions from other exhibitors, speakers and attendees. Among the best stand up desks developed by HealthPostures that are slated for display at the conference are the 6200 TaskMate Journey, the 6100 TaskMate Executive, the 6350 TaskMate Go with Dual Monitor and the 6360 TaskMate Go Laptop.

Health Postures 6300 series workspace solutions are sleek, cost effective and adjustable. In addition to relieving back and neck pain, the sit stand solutions improve worker energy and productivity. Workers have also reported losing weight after they started using the ergonomics products.

The 6100 TaskMate Executive is one of the more popular HealthPostures' solutions that support healthy stand at desk initiatives. A telephone holder, copy holder, adjustable keyboard tray, extended platform work surface and adjustable standing desk are product features. Associated benefits are ease of movement, a high desk for standing and comfort during prolonged sitting or standing. HealthPostures' products come with a five year warranty. All HealthPostures' products are designed and made in the United States.

At the National Ergonomics Conference and Expo, HealthPostures joins hundreds of other industry leaders in the ergonomics and safety fields. 2016 ErgoExpo speakers are senior leaders at their organizations. There is Melissa Afterman, Senior Principal Ergonomist, VSI Risk Management & Ergonomics, Inc.; James Mallon, Executive Vice President at Humantech; Dr. Lynn AcAtamney, Director of Ergonomics, ATUNE Health Centres, Australia and Todd Baker, Principal, Empowerment Ergonomics.

Morning and afternoon workshops and an opening night reception are offered. Opportunities to take advantage of breakout sessions and door prizes will also be available. Exhibitors are encouraged to register early; the 2015 exhibitor space sold out. Sponsoring the expo are major corporations and local organizations like Microsoft, eurotech, AliMed, PowerPusher, Atlas and ergoGenesis. Training on how to obtain the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE) is slated for the final day of the expo.

About HealthPostures

Founded in the 1990s, HealthPostures LLC (https://healthpostures.com) has been a leader in the workplace solutions space for more than two decades. The company specializes in the design and manufacturing of workplace solutions like adjustable computer stand for desk, computer monitor stands for desk, sit stand keyboard designs and ergonomic sit stand chairs. Products that HealthPostures develops may help to relieve back and neck pain, headaches and other musculoskeletal disorders. A primary mission of HealthPostures' is to "strive to provide quality products that will help transform your sedentary life so you have a healthy way to work." Sought after ergonomics stand up desk equipment, including popular electric standing desks products, that HealthPostures designs include surface Taskmates, the TaskMate Go Laptop, dual monitor sit stand work stations and Stance move seat extensions. The company's strong reputation and proven products and accessories continue to attract regional and national distributors and resellers.

Contact:

HealthPostures LLC

16801 Industrial Circle

Prior Lake, MN 55372

800-277-1841

https://healthpostures.com

Resources:

http://www.ergoexpo.com/
LVI Enjoying more activities with less reliance on contacts of glasses has made life easier for me and for many of the patients we have helped at LVI locations nationwide.

The LASIK Vision Institute (LVI) announced today that it is opening a new laser eye surgery center in Lubbock, Texas. LVI has more than 70 LASIK centers in the United States, and the company has performed more than 1.1 million laser vision correction procedures.

The new LASIK center in Lubbock is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to ensure the best possible care for each patient. LVIs highly trained and experienced independent surgeons will help eligible patients improve their vision and enjoy more of their lives with less dependency on glasses or contacts.

Safe, affordable and high-quality vision correction is an incredible service that we offer, said CEO Ben Cook. Enjoying more activities with less reliance on contacts of glasses has made life easier for me and for many of the patients we have helped at LVI locations nationwide.

The Lubbock LASIK center will also service the neighboring towns of Guthrie, Plainview, Midland, Sweetwater, Abilene and many others. The center, the eighth LVI facility in Texas, will be located at 5307 West Loop 289 Suite 105, Lubbock, TX 79414.

Patients interested in learning more about LVIs services are encouraged to schedule a free LASIK evaluation.

About The LASIK Vision Institute

The top national provider of laser vision correction, The LASIK Vision Institute (LVI) operates a growing nationwide network. The company utilizes safe, FDA approved, advanced LASIK technology. LVIs highly skilled LASIK surgeons have performed more than one million procedures. For more information, visit The LASIK Vision Institute.
Pariveda Solutions, a leading provider of strategic consulting services and technology solutions expertise, has been ranked 39th on The Dallas Business Journals 2016 Middle Market 50 list. This ranking represents the first time Pariveda Solutions has been honored as part of the Middle Market 50.

Each year, The Dallas Business Journal sets out to identify the fastest-growing middle market companies in North Texas. Known as the Middle Market 50, this list includes both public and private companies with annual revenue between $25 million and $750 million and is ranked on a weighted growth index from years 2013 to 2015.

The Dallas Business Journal reported that 40 of the 52 honored companies are growing organically  including Pariveda.

This achievement speaks volumes about our companys continued ability to innovate and grow, a result of our commitment to developing the talent of our people, said Mike Evans, Office Managing Vice President of the Dallas office. Our people consistently provide strategic solutions to our customers and make it a priority to put forth an outstanding effort. With that level of effort, we are able to keep growing.

It is a great accomplishment for our Dallas office to be named to the 2016 Middle Market 50 list, said Bruce Ballengee, Pariveda CEO. Our growth continues to rise year over year, and this recognition is welcome as it shows our offices continuing to provide excellent work while striving toward the mission of developing people.

The official rankings were announced on Thursday, June 23, during a special event at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas.

About Dallas Business Journal

Founded in 1977, Dallas Business Journal is the leading source for local business news, research, and events in the DFW area. In addition to our weekly print publication, we also offer a digital edition, the annual Book of Lists, free Daily Email Update and other industry specific newsletters, and networking and awards events including the Best Places to Work, 40 Under Forty, Best Real Estate Deals, and Women in Business. We are a division of American City Business Journals, the country's largest publisher of business publications. It is owned by Advance Publications, a private publishing company that also owns Conde Nast magazines and Newhouse Newspapers.

About Pariveda Solutions

Pariveda Solutions, Inc. is a leading management consulting firm specializing in improving our clients performance. We are complex problem solvers who provide strategic consulting services and custom application development solutions for mobility, cloud computing, data, portals and collaboration, CRM, custom software, enterprise integration and user experience needs of our clients.

Pariveda Solutions and The Business of IT are trademarks of Pariveda Solutions, Inc.
Lice Troopers is now a certified vendor of the Miami-Dade Public Schools We take pride in being a resource for school administrators, parents and the community when it comes to head lice.

Lice Troopers is excited to announce that the company is now a certified vendor of the Miami-Dade Public Schools. The school district is the fourth largest in the country and one of the largest businesses in the state. It aims to establish relationships with and offer opportunities to a variety of local and trusted businesses.

Were honored, to say the least, because we take pride in being a resource for school administrators, parents and the community when it comes to head lice. Our certification by the school district shows parents that we are not just an effective treatment center, but a trusted local partner, CEO, Arie Harel stated.

For Lice Troopers, this certification means a better connection with some of their most frequent clients-- school-aged children and their families. The company specializes in an all-natural lice removal treatment and chemical-free products that are 100% safe for all ages. And since schools are a major breeding ground for lice epidemics and children 3 to 11 years old are the most common hosts according to the CDC, this type of relationship with the school district is important.

On the other hand, the certification of a company that offers these services is equally important to parents. Miami Dade Public Schools has policies in place that enforce children being excluded from school if they are found to have nits or lice. So having a company that is recognized by the school board provides parents in the district a trusted, safe and local solution to head lice in the case that their child is infested.

For more information, visit http://www.licetroopers.com or call 800.403.5423.

Lice Troopers is the all-natural, guaranteed head lice removal service that manually treats and removes head lice safely and discreetly in child-friendly treatment centers, or other chosen location. Providing safe solutions for frantic families, the Lice Troopers team has successfully treated thousands of families with pediatrician-recommended services that may be reimbursed by many major health insurance carriers, flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts.
Grant-A-Starr Foundation Nears $1 Million in Donations to save childrens lives through early diagnosis.

The Grant-A-Starr Foundation (http://www.grantastarr.org) announces that it is approaching a major milestone of raising $1 million in donations to save childrens lives through early diagnosis. Since 2006, the Foundation has been raising money to support world-class projects at Texas Childrens Hospital and Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital, each focusing on research for the advancement of diagnostic testing to detect early childhood diseases.

One of the key fundraising events, the Annual Grant-A-Starr Foundation Gala is generously hosted by the Cordua Family at their flagship restaurant Artista, located at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts in downtown Houston. Now in its 3rd year, the Grant-A-Starr Foundation Gala will take place on November 10, 2016. It will be emceed by Ms. Jacquie Baly, President of BalyProjects LLC and leader in Houston regions business and policy communities for more than two decades. Also, for the third consecutive year Houstons leading artist Edgar Medina will paint live at the Gala for auction at the end of the evening.

The Foundation was started to celebrate the life of my son, Grant Starr, an otherwise extremely healthy and energetic seven-year old, who contracted a seemingly common viral infection, said Rod Starr, Founder of the Foundation. Attempting to identify an elusive virus was a time intensive and heart wrenching process, and the virus that attacked him remains unidentified to this day. Tragically, Grant passed away on the afternoon of August 9, 2005  58 days after being admitted to the hospital.

While great strides have been made in medicine, the technology needed to quickly identify and treat new strains of bacteria and viruses is severely lagging. The Foundation continues to honor Grant by raising funds, all of which are tax deductible and go directly to the important projects at Texas Children's Hospital (with Baylor College of Medicine) and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (with The University of Texas Health Science Center) for research for life-saving advancements in diagnostic testing.

The Texas Childrens Microbiome Center and the Department of Pathology at Texas Childrens Hospital are extremely grateful for the tremendous support of the Grant-A-Starr Foundation during the past decade, said Dr. James Versalovic, M.D., Ph.D., Pathologist-in-Chief, Texas Childrens Hospital. The Foundations support has enabled us to translate discoveries of the human microbiome into new diagnostic tests that serve many children and families in Houston and Texas. This support has enabled Texas Childrens to expand and refine the rapid diagnosis and treatment of children with serious and newly emerging infections.

To learn more about Grant-A-Starr Foundation, visit http://www.grantastarr.org. To support the Foundation by donating for the advancement of diagnostic testing to detect early childhood diseases, click here. For more information, please contact Mike Ball, Managing Director of GASF at mball1958(at)gmail(dot)com, or 713-819-3449.
Matthew Salem, Marketing Manager at SCIEX Separations

The ability to collect high-resolution, quantitative data, while obtaining comprehensive characterization of protein therapeutics is crucial when eliminating risk to patients or the organization. Gathering this data takes significant time. However, the capacity to simultaneously shortening the overall analysis time without compromises improves performance for individuals and institutions.

The innovation that comes with the Fast Glycan Labeling and Analysis Kit from SCIEX, researchers can run glycans up to 5x faster than HILIC. CE-SDS analysis for molecular weight or purity determination has also been shortened while maintaining 3 logs of dynamic range (with UV detection) by cutting sample analysis time in half with the High Speed CE-SDS method. Lastly, Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE) obtains high resolution charge heterogeneity information in significantly less time than traditional cIEF assays while simplifying your sample preparation.

During the course this free webinar with SCIEX, entitled Run Your Assays Faster: Getting the Quantitative Answers You Need For N-Glycan, CE-SDS, and Charge Heterogeneity Applications Without the Wait, users will be introduced to the Fast Glycan Labeling & Analysis Kit and method. Through this method, webinar participants will discover how to achieve CE-SDS analysis twice as fast. Participants will also learn about rapid charge heterogeneity applications with CZE, while reviewing the importance of precise quantitation in biologics characterization.

Marketing Manager for SCIEX Separations, Matthew Salem, will be the speaker for this webinar.

Salem received his bachelors degree in chemistry from the University of California at Davis, focusing primarily on analytical chemistry techniques. He went on to get a Master of Biotechnology degree from San Jose State University, during which he took both science and MBA level business courses. After moving to the Separations group within SCIEX, Salem began managing the marketing for the standalone capillary electrophoresis products, including the PA 800 Plus instrument.

SCIEXs webinar, hosted by LabRoots at no cost to users, will be presented October 19, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. EDT. To get the full details of this webinar, learn about continuing education credits and registration, click here.

About SCIEX:

SCIEX helps to improve the world we live in by enabling scientists and laboratory analysts to find answers to the complex analytical challenges they face. The company's global leadership and world-class service and support in the capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry industry have made it a trusted partner to thousands of the scientists and lab analysts worldwide who are focused on basic research, drug discovery and development, food and environmental testing, forensics and clinical research.

With over 40 years of proven innovation, SCIEX excels by listening to and understanding the ever-evolving needs of its customers to develop reliable, sensitive and intuitive solutions that continue to redefine what is achievable in routine and complex analysis. For more information, please visit sciex.com.

About LabRoots:

LabRoots is the leading scientific social networking website and producer of educational virtual events and webinars. Contributing to the advancement of science through content sharing capabilities, LabRoots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities. Founded in 2008, LabRoots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning, and is a primary source for current scientific news, webinars, virtual conferences, and more. LabRoots has grown into the worlds largest series of virtual events within the Life Sciences and Clinical Diagnostics community.
CDI LLCs commitment to enhancing its portfolio of cybersecurity solutions with the addition of Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform speaks volumes to CDI LLCs dedication to helping its customers prevent successful breaches.

Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC) today announced it has become a Palo Alto Networks NextWave Silver Partner, offering customers the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform. As a member of the Palo Alto Networks NextWave Channel Partner Program, CDI LLC will not only strengthen its portfolio of security solutions, ultimately enabling customers to more efficiently protect and guard against evolving network security threats, but also provide customers with application workload security for CDI LLCs managed cloud and other public cloud infrastructures, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

The Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform, made up of its Next-Generation Firewall, Threat Intelligence Cloud, and Advanced Endpoint Protection technologies, provides CDI LLCs customers with the ability to protect against the most dangerous cyberthreats to corporate and software-defined cloud infrastructures, helping to prevent breaches at all stages in the attack lifecycle.

With a new wave of technology giving rise to an explosion of more intelligent applications, IT vulnerabilities have become more prominent, said Ralph Carter, chief architect, Network Solutions, CDI LLC. By joining the Palo Alto Networks NextWave program, CDI LLC can expand its professional services offerings to include security solutions that provide deeper protection from virus and malware threats, security misconfigurations and other vulnerabilitieswhere traditional firewalls and IPS solutions fail to protect, he added.

CDI LLCs commitment to enhancing its portfolio of cybersecurity solutions with the addition of Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform speaks volumes to CDI LLCs dedication to helping its customers prevent successful breaches, said Todd Palmer, vice president, Americas Channel Sales, Palo Alto Networks. By bringing on new channel partners, like CDI LLC, we both benefit in expanding our reach by delivering next-generation security solutions to enterprise organizations.

About Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC)

CDI LLC was founded in 1995, with corporate headquarters in Teterboro, NJ, as well as office locations in New York City, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta. As one of the nations top 500 business IT solution providers, the firm architects, deploys and manages multiplatform hybrid IT solutions, including traditional IT, public, private and hybrid clouds, to a wide variety of industries. CDI LLC continually focuses on achieving client satisfaction by developing and implementing comprehensive and innovative technology solutions that enhance day-to-day business automation and workflow processes.

For more information, visit cdillc.com or call 1-800-234-5531. Follow us for continual coverage on Twitter @cdillc or YouTube.
It is always good news when site selectors choose Ohio

The Site Selectors Guild announced today that the 2018 Annual Conference will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 18-21, 2018. This conference will attract economic developers and site selection consultants from around the globe to the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza.

Cincinnati is an exciting destination for our 2018 Conference. Cincinnati is rich with history and the citys urban redevelopment will make it shine for 2018, said Gary Yates, the Guilds 2018 Annual Conference Committee Chair. We look forward to partnering with REDI Cincinnati to make this a memorable conference for Guild members and economic developers.

JobsOhio and the Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Cincinnati are the hosts for the 2018 Annual Conference. This is the first time the conference is being held in Ohio.

It is always good news when site selectors choose Ohio, said JobsOhio President and Chief Investment Officer John Minor. Along with our local partners, we look forward to welcoming some of the worlds foremost economic development leaders when the Site Selectors Guild membership visits Cincinnati.

The annual conference is an opportunity for site selection leaders to share trends and insights into economic development and the state of business. Professional site selectors often serve as a barometer for the overall economy - when companies are growing and expanding, they turn to site selectors for location advisory assistance. If projects slow down or stop coming in to site selectors, it is an early indicator that business may be headed for a downturn.

Greater Cincinnati is proud to host the 2018 Site Selectors Guild annual conference, said Johnna Reeder, president & CEO of REDI Cincinnati. Our region is a hidden gem  Im confident guild members and economic developers will be blown away by their experience here.

Excellence in Economic Development Awards

The Site Selectors Guild annual conference also features the Excellence in Economic Development Awards. Award candidates are Economic Development Organizations (EDOs) nominated by Guild members and are selected based on mastery of process; ingenuity and creativity; going above and beyond; political acumen; staying power; and personal and caring touch.

About The Site Selectors Guild

The Site Selectors Guild is a professional association comprised of the world's leading site selection consultants. The mission of The Site Selectors Guild is to advance the profession of international corporate site selection by promoting the profession and providing education, networking and other services to those involved in the industry. All members of The Site Selectors Guild have been nominated and approved by their industry peers. As the first and only group of its kind, the Site Selectors Guild brings together a dynamic network of site selectors from around the world, combining their talent and expertise to create an invaluable resource, unmatched in its quality, for both corporations seeking site selection assistance and economic development organizations.

For more information, visit http://www.siteselectorsguild.com or follow @siteselectguild on Twitter.
By partnering with Vision Group Holdings, I will be able to focus even more of my attention on the most important aspect of my job  my patients.

Industry leader Vision Group Holdings (VGH) announced today that it has acquired Fisher Eye & Laser Center in Naples, Florida. The company, headquartered in West Palm Beach, operates numerous laser eye surgery centers in the state of Florida, but this will be the first LASIK center in Naples.

VGH operates the well-known brands The LASIK Vision Institute and TLC Laser Eye Centers, as well as many others. Between all its brands, VGH has successfully completed more than 3.3 million laser eye procedures, making it by far the largest provider of LASIK in North America.

A full-service facility with state-of-the-art technology, Fisher Eye & Laser Center has already established itself as an outstanding center for vision correction. Its attentive staff will continue to provide high-quality service to all of the centers patients.

Dr. G. Brit Fisher III, the facilitys independent surgeon, will remain at the center as well. As founder of Fisher Eye & Laser Center, Dr. Fisher has been performing vision correction procedures in Naples since 1999, and he will continue to treat each of his patients with the care and respect they have come to expect.

By partnering with Vision Group Holdings, I will be able to focus even more of my attention on the most important aspect of my job  my patients, said Dr. Fisher. This will allow us to help more Floridians see more clearly while ensuring that each of them gets the personalized care they expect from Fisher Eye & Laser Center.

Vision Group Holdings CEO Ben Cook added: Dr. Fisher is an extremely skilled and experienced surgeon. He and his associates provide superior service, and we could not be more pleased to welcome them to our growing network of LASIK providers.

Fisher Eye & Laser Center will continue to operate from its current location at 875 105th Avenue North, Naples, FL 34108.

To learn more or to schedule an appointment, visit http://www.fishereyecenter.com.

About Vision Group Holdings

Vision Group Holdings, based in West Palm Beach, Florida, oversees and manages two of the leading LASIK surgery providers in the world: The LASIK Vision Institute and TLC Laser Eye Centers. Between the two brands, the company has performed over 3.3 million LASIK eye procedures. Vision Group Holdings, the largest LASIK provider in North America, serves multiple markets in the United States and Canada, making it extremely convenient for patients to find a location that is both nearby and well suited to their specific needs.
Martin Drake

USAePay, a GorCorp company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Drake to President. In his new position, Drake will continue to oversee the reseller channel while maintaining an active role in strategic product and project planning, operations and legal.

An industry veteran with over 17 years of experience, Drake joined USAePay in 2009 as Vice President of Business Development to assist with key strategic initiatives to drive growth for the company. Working closely with a team of Channel Sales Associates, Drake has been responsible for building and cultivating reseller relationships, developing partnership agreements and introducing new products and technology to the sales force.

From day one, Martin Drake has been an integral addition to the USAePay team, says Ben Goretsky, CEO. We feel privileged and excited to have him in this new position and look forward to the continued value that he brings to our company.

Drake is an active contributor to the payments industry, involved with regional acquirer association shows and the Electronic Transaction Association (ETA).

About USAePay

USAePay is a family-owned business based in Los Angeles, California. For more than 15 years, the company has been assisting merchants with payment processing solutions to fit their needs. USAePays payment gateway supports most of the major platforms in the credit card industry and works with some of the leading check platforms. USAePay is pleased to work with most of the larger merchant service banks in the US and Canada. For more information, please visit http://www.usaepay.com or call 866.USA.EPAY (872-3729).
Bird B Gone continuously innovates and strives to provide the highest quality, most effective, efficient and reliable bird control methods on the market.

Showcasing its expanded lineup of bird control products, services and support capabilities, Bird B Gone will be at Pestworld 2016 on October 18-21, Booth 800 at the Washington Convention Center/Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Seattle, WA.

Known as a manufacturer of quality bird control products, Bird B Gone revolutionized the bird control industry in 1992 by inventing and patenting the first plastic bird spike. The company continuously innovates and strives to provide the highest quality, most effective, efficient and reliable bird control methods on the market. It has issued 42 patents worldwide and 35 pending applications. At Pestworld 2016, Bird B Gone will unveil its new netting and installation tools, new training videos that show, step by step how to install their new Solar Panel Bird Deterrent Mesh, and how to install Bird Net 2000 in commercial/industrial settings like big box stores.

Bird-B-Gone has the experience, knowledge and expertise to assist customers in choosing the right product. Their bird control engineers have more than 90 years of combined hands-on experience. As the world's largest manufacturer of professional bird control products, Bird B Gones expanded line of bird deterrents is designed to solve a wide range of bird problems in commercial, industrial and residential settings. The products address not only the type of bird but where they land and what they do.

Manufactured in the United States, their products meet the highest standards of quality in the industry, BirdBGone products go through an extensive quality control process before being shipped. Each product is hand inspected and signed as its packaged. This allows the company to offer the industrys longest guaranteesas long as 10 years on some products. As a GSA Advantage Approved Vendor, Bird B Gone products are specified by architects and government agencies.

Bird B Gone offers training and support for all aspects of bird control, including on-site training and technical support. The company regularly hosts free training courses through BirdBGone University, which teaches everything from quoting a job to product installation. Classes are taught by bird control specialists at the BirdBGone training facility in Santa Ana, California. Those who attend receive a Certificate of Completion, which can also be applied as credit hours toward a Pest Control Applicators License in many states.

For those who lack the time, resources or expertise to solve their bird problem, BirdBGone can connect them with a Certified Authorized Installer. The company has trained an extensive network of Authorized Installers who can install their line of professional bird control products around the world. Bird B Gone works closely with their installers to make sure they are qualified to solve pest bird problems and to provide the kind of customer service that has made Bird B Gone a leader in the industry.

Be sure to visit Bird B Gone in Pestworld 2016, October 18-21, Booth 800 at the Washington Convention Center/Sheraton Seattle, Hotel Seattle, WA.

Bird B Gone is the worlds largest manufacturer and distributor of bird control products, providing effective and humane solutions to a bird-free environment. The company provides advice; training and installation support for those who need help with these and other bird control measures. For the complete line of products from Bird B Gone, call 1-800-392-6915; fax: 949-472-3116 or visit our website at http://www.birdbgone.com, e-mail: nobirds(at)birdbgone(dot)com.
Using Hand Gestures to Interact in Virtual Reality A well-produced VR experience can be as transformative as learning chemistry in a lab versus reading a textbook

All three ASCO VR installations saw an unprecedented level of engagement by convention visitors, generating constant lines of curious attendees hoping to explore the virtual scientific environments. This success was a result of the PIXACORE team leveraging the latest head-mounted technologies from Oculus and Samsung; creating rich and immersive 3D, 360-degree environments; emphasizing user experience; allowing use of participants natural hand gestures and gazing; and designing attractive and functional physical booth setups.

Sanjiv Mody, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of PIXACORE, knew they had created compelling VR experiences that would engage physicians, but he was not expecting anything close to the level of involvement that he witnessed at the 3-day oncology conference. We thought VR would be a draw because of its novelty, but what we didnt expect was that average length of engagement would exceed 8 minutes, and that more than 20% of the attendees would spend more than 12 minutes! said Mody. In the 10 years Mody has attended various healthcare conferences, he has never witnessed such quantity and quality of engagementproving that VR, when done right, can be a very powerful interactive medium. This is an awesome way to learn about complex science, exclaimed a physician after spending 15 minutes in VR interacting with cells using hand gestures.

Virtual reality has very rapidly shifted from a promising prototype to a viable platform that the healthcare industry will adopt to better understand the science, communicate diseases and therapy options to patients, train medical and industry professionals, and treat certain psychological disorders declared Mody. A well-produced VR experience can be as transformative as learning chemistry in a lab versus reading a textbookits totally immersive, highly engaging, and interactiveall of which are not possible in any other medium. Its revolutionary. Until you actually try it for yourself, you cant truly grasp the potential and power of VR!

We are seeing more and more pharmaceutical and biotech marketers turning to VR to engage their prospects and clients, with the added benefit of significantly improved retention and comprehension of the material presented. Mody said.

PIXACORE recently published a white paper, Virtual Reality: An Introductory Guide to a Game-Changing Medium for Healthcare, that explains VR technology, terminology, and hardware options, all in the context of the healthcare industry. A second white paper, Virtual Reality: An Indispensable Medium for Healthcare Marketers, covers more advanced topics, including examples of VR applications, and potential pitfalls to avoid. Both white papers are free and available for download now at PIXACORE.com/virtual-reality-augmented-reality.

About PIXACORE

PIXACORE is a fully integrated, digital marketing agency focused on the healthcare, biotech, and pharmaceutical industries. With decades of industry experience and specific expertise in the VR and AR (augmented reality) applications, PIXACORE is uniquely positioned to help healthcare brands and organizations evaluate, ideate, design, and create innovative experiences that reenergize and rethink what customer engagement means.

PIXACOREs full-service digital marketing capabilities include: research & insights, strategic & tactical planning, multichannel marketing, digital & social media, search, mobile, UX design, content marketing, relationship marketing, CRM, CLM, experiential marketing, and marketing analytics. Services related to VR/AR development include: experience strategy and design, technology considerations, visual and sound design, intuitive interactions creation, event planning, hardware rental, technical and at-event support, custom app creation, and end-user distribution.

PIXACORE is located in the heart of New York City at 15 West 39th Street, New York, New York. For more information, go to http://www.pixacore.com/virtual-reality-augmented-reality

Contact:

Anisha Mody

646.688.278

MediaRelations(at)pixacore(dot)com

http://www.PIXACORE.com
With the unveiling of the first module of our Conga Contracts solution, Conga Redlining, we are excited to show off the future of contract lifecycle management and engage with customers in real-time to experience their excitement first-hand.

Conga, a go-to application provider for businesses looking to optimize their Salesforce investments, is excited to unveil its latest product offering today at Dreamforce 2016, the worlds largest software conference. Conga Redlining, the first app in the new Conga Contracts offering, allows teams to send, track, and manage changes on a sales contract or agreement in real time within Salesforce, improving efficiencies and boosting sales productivity. Attendees will be able to see the new product in action this week by visiting one of the four Conga booths at Dreamforce.

In addition to launching Conga Redlining, which is purpose-built for the Salesforce Lightning experience, Conga will be demonstrating the latest releases of its existing product suiteall well-tuned for Salesforce Lightning, including Conga Composer, Conga ActionGrid, and Conga SalesConnect.

Comments on the news:



Were always excited for Dreamforce, and this year Conga is coming to the event after a particularly momentous yearwith several strategic acquisitions, cutting-edge product developments, and celebrating 10 years of helping customers optimize their Salesforce investments, said Conga CEO Matthew J. Schiltz.

With the unveiling of the first module of our Conga Contracts solution, Conga Redlining, we are excited to show off the future of contract lifecycle management and engage with customers in real-time to experience their excitement first-hand, noted Vice President of Product Management Doug Rybacki. Our customers rely on Congas suite to improve operational efficiencies, accelerate the sales cycle, and facilitate the entire customer lifecycle. So, we work hard to create new solutions to address customer pain points. Salesforces App Cloud played a key role in building the new Conga Contracts Redlining app quickly and easily.

Congas presence at Dreamforce comes on the heels of the companys 10-year anniversary of providing solutions to customers via the Salesforce AppExchange. The company has also completed a major rebranding project, highlighting its continued focus on helping enterprises remove roadblocks to optimize their CRM strategies in a seamless and secure way.

Individuals interested in learning more about Congas applications may visit http://www.getconga.com or come by any of the four Conga booths at Dreamforce  404, 235, 1830 and 1908.

About Conga

Conga developed its suite of enterprise-grade applications to help businesses using the Salesforce Sales Cloud remove systems and process pain points and fill the gap in Salesforce out of the box. The Conga Suite, which includes Conga Composer  a top paid application on the AppExchange  simplifies and automates data, documents, contracts and reporting.

As a Salesforce Platinum ISV Partner, Conga is committed to providing its customers with enterprise-grade infrastructure, security and solutions. In fact, more than 8,000 businesses in 45+ countries across all industries rely on Conga applications to fully utilize their Salesforce data, including Hilton Worldwide, Schumacher Group and CBRE.

The company is privately-held and based in Colorado with global operations in the UK and Australia. Learn more at getconga.com or follow Conga on Twitter: @getconga.

Salesforce, App Cloud, AppExchange and others are among the trademarks of Salesforce.com, Inc.
Paul Hillsburg Whatever the case, we want whats best for your loved one.

Amada Senior Care, premier provider of non-medical in-home care and assisted living placement counseling, recently opened a new office in Central Massachusetts. Amada franchise partner Paul Hillsburg comes to the senior care industry with a background in business development, management, and financial planning. The grand opening of Amada Central Massachusetts will be held on Saturday, October 1st.

Amada provides in-home caregivers to help seniors with non-medical activities of daily living. Some of the services we provide are dressing, bathing, meal preparation, light housekeeping, and even medication reminders, Paul said. We want to help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible. In some cases staying at home may not be the best option for the senior. In those situations, we help you find other options, whether it be an assisted-living or an independent living community, he said. Whatever the case, we want whats best for your loved one.

Paul said one of the biggest concerns seniors and their families have is finding a way to pay for care. Amada Central Massachusetts specializes in using life insurance policies, long-term care insurance policies, and Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits to help seniors fund their care, Paul said. We are experts at the many options available and will work with you to help determine the best option for you and your family, he said. We will find the best solution for your care needs.

The grand opening of Amada Senior Care Central Massachusetts will take place on Saturday, October 1st. The office is currently looking for qualified full and part-time caregivers to work with their clients. For more information, you can visit their website at http://www.AmadaCentralMass.com or call 413-930-4400.

About Amada Senior Care

Amada Senior Care is committed to enriching lives. We provide nurturing, compassionate non-medical in-home care and guide families through the many senior housing options available for assisted living. We also offer expertise in handling long-term care insurance claims and in certain forms of government aid, including Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits. Headquartered in San Clemente, California, Amada was founded in 2007, and is currently assembling an elite team of franchise partners to expand our business on the national level. For more information, visit amadaseniorcare.com.
Craig Tippets We will help you find the best solution for your unique situation.

Amada Senior Care, premier provider of non-medical in-home care and assisted living placement counseling, recently opened its newest office that will serve the Southern Utah region. Owner and CEO Craig Tippets has a background working with seniors in assisted living communities. The grand opening of Amada Southern Utah will be held on Tuesday, October 4th.

Amada provides in-home caregivers to help seniors with non-medical activities of daily living. Some of our services include dressing, bathing, meal preparation, light housekeeping, and medication reminders  things that help you age in your home as long as possible. Craig said. In situations where a seniors care needs no longer allow them to stay at home, Amada also offers senior housing advisory services - a form of counseling that helps seniors find the best assisted living environment for their unique situation.

Amada Southern Utah also helps seniors and their families navigate the process of funding the care they need. Many families worry about how they will pay for care, Craig said. At Amada, we are experts at that. Whether its a long-term care insurance policy, veterans benefits, or a life insurance policy, we will help you find the best solution for your unique situation.

While working in an assisted-living community, Craig built meaningful relationships with the elderly residents, many of whom referred to him as their grandson. That always meant a lot to me because I was very close to my grandma growing up. She lived with us for 20 years, and we were best friends, Craig said. Because of those experiences, Im really excited to work with senior citizens and help you and your loved ones during what can be difficult years.

The grand opening of Amada Senior Care Southern Utah will take place on Tuesday, October 4th. The office is currently looking for qualified full and part-time caregivers to work with their clients. For more information, you can visit their website at http://www.AmadaSouthernUtah.com or call 435-248-0800.

About Amada Senior Care

Amada Senior Care is committed to enriching lives. We provide nurturing, compassionate non-medical in-home care and guide families through the many senior housing options available for assisted living. We also offer expertise in handling long-term care insurance claims and in certain forms of government aid, including Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits. Headquartered in San Clemente, California, Amada was founded in 2007, and is currently assembling an elite team of franchise partners to expand our business on the national level. For more information, visit amadaseniorcare.com.
EGO POWER+ 56V LIthium-Ion Snow Blower When manufacturers build tools and accessories that break the mold, they deserve recognition. Professional consumers need to know which tools are a cut-above and breaking new ground," Clint DeBoer, Executive Director of the Pro Tool Innovation Awards

Tool and accessory winners of the PTI Awards were decided based on their level of innovation, power, and value. These are best-in-class products that are truly ahead of their time.

The following EGO 56V Lithium-Ion products are recipients of the prestigious Pro Tool Innovation Award: EGO POWER+ 21 Snow Blower, EGO POWER+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower, EGO POWER+ 21 Self-Propelled Mower and EGO POWER+ 15 String Trimmer

"When manufacturers build tools and accessories that break the mold, they deserve recognition. Professional consumers need to know which tools are a cut-above and breaking new ground," said Clint DeBoer, Executive Director of the Pro Tool Innovation Awards. "These are the tools that should really be in every tradesman's toolbox. They can save you time, money, and even make the job easier or more ergonomic."

A panel of judges made up of tool professionals from across the United States weighed in on entries from top global manufacturers. Here's what the judges had to say about the EGO winners:

EGO SNT2102 POWER+ Snow Blower

When Pro Tool Reviews got a sneak peek at the EGO 56V Snow Blower, they got to use it against other battery-powered and entry-level gas options. This wasnt a bottom of the barrel comparison thoughthese were well-respected models within both ends of the industry. Using the EGO even against gas power almost seemed unfair. The fact that EGO is getting this much power and packing this many features into a Lithium-Ion powered snow blower instantly pushed them to the front of the pack. http://egopowerplus.com/collections/power-snow-blowers/products/power-snow-blower

EGO LB6002 POWER+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower

It seems like EGO never sits still long enough to let someone else take over as an industry leader when it comes to battery powered OPE. While others are trying to earn legitimacy with commercial crews, EGO owns the homeowner market. Their new backpack blower is a great example of why. Pushing 600 CFM up to 145 MPH with an ergonomically sound backpack system, EGO brings the large acreage homeowner into the system with the power they need, but without breaking the bank. http://egopowerplus.com/collections/power-blowers/products/power-backpack-blower

EGO LM2102SP POWER + 21 Self-Propelled Mower

When Pro Tool Reviews did their Lithium-ion lawn mower shootout last year, they were impressed that so many mowers had reached real legitimacy when it comes to run time and power. Like they tend to do, EGO stepped it up from there and delivered the first self-propelled model on their 56V platform. They built it on the foundation of their successful first generation mower, leaving features we lovelike the fold up storage and one-handed height adjustment. http://egopowerplus.com/collections/power-mowers/products/21-inch-self-propelled-lawn-mower

EGO ST1502-SF POWER + 15 String Trimmer

Sometimes you just get it right, and thats what happened for EGO when they developed their 15 String Trimmer. Need proof? This model came out on top of a very competitive group in Pro Tool Reviews Lithium-ion String Trimmer Shootout, beating a couple of well-known commercial brands in the process. What makes this EGO brushless trimmer so great isnt that theyre doing things no one else is doing. They are, however, combining most of the best available features and packaging it at a price thats almost too good to be true. Theyve also reduced vibration to really low levels. http://egopowerplus.com/collections/power-string-trimmers/products/15-inch-string-trimmer

For further information about EGO, please visit http://www.egopowerplus.com

About the Pro Tool Innovation Awards

The Pro Tool Innovation Awards (PTIA) are an annual awards program judged by a panel of professional tradesmen in the electrical, plumbing, MRO and concrete fields as well as general contractors and builders. The Pro Tool Innovation Awards seek to discover and recognize the most innovative tools in the residential and commercial construction industry across a wide variety of categories. The Awards are backed by over a dozen print and online media sponsors, including its founding member, Pro Tool Reviews.

Visit protoolinnovationawards.com for more about the Pro Tool Innovation Awards.
Penn Community Bank, Bucks Countys leading independent, mutual financial organization, is pleased to announce that Vice President Linda Cooper has been named to the board of directors of the Bucks County SPCA.

Cooper has been working in the banking industry for more than 29 years. She currently serves as Penn Community Banks Vice President of Retail Operations, managing the operational aspects of the banks 22 branches across Bucks County. Always an animal lover, she has focused her volunteer efforts on animal-assisted therapy, visiting area nursing homes with her German shepherd. She has been involved with animal-assisted therapy for more than 20 years.

Im honored to help lead the Bucks County SPCA, said Cooper. Ive seen firsthand the joy that animals can bring to people, and Im thrilled to support this wonderful organization that does so much good for both the people and the animals of Bucks County.

Many of Penn Community Banks executive leaders donate their time and talents to service and community organizations across the greater Philadelphia area. As an organization, Penn Community Bank supports many local nonprofits, including United Way of Bucks County, Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County, Vita Education Services, Bucks County Opportunity Council and Bucks County Housing Group.

Todd Hurley, Chief Relationship Officer for Penn Community Bank, said of the appointment, We all have a vested interest in helping the communities across Bucks County to thrive. Lindas appointment to the board of directors of the Bucks County SPCA continues our work to build beneficial relationships with the groups that help make this a great place to live, work and play.

The Bucks County SPCA assists animals in need and prevents animal suffering through rescue, rehoming, cruelty investigation and prosecution, and community outreach. The independent nonprofit operates shelters in Lahaska and Quakertown and offers public training classes and temporary boarding for pets referred by a social service agency during emergencies and donates pet supplies to food pantries.

About Penn Community Bank: Penn Community Bank holds more than $1.8 billion in assets and employs more than 300 people at 22 bank branches and two administrative centers throughout Bucks County. As an independent, mutual financial institution, Penn Community Bank is not publicly traded and operates with its long-term mission in mind: to help businesses grow and prosper, to support individuals and families throughout their lifetimes, to strengthen the local economy, and to partner with local organizations to act as a catalyst for positive growth in every market it serves.
The MS3 win represents PLIs ability to rapidly move into adjacent DOD markets leveraging existing processes and supporting infrastructure

Phoenix Logistics, Inc. (PLI) has been awarded a prime contract to provide Medical Simulation Support Services (MS3) for the US Armys Program Executive Office for Simulation Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI). The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a combined, maximum ceiling of $70 million dollars over five years and represents continued momentum for PLIs products and services strategy.

We are happy to bring our extensive logistical competencies to bear in support of the Program Manager for Medical Simulation (PM-MedSIM), said Greg Williamitis, senior vice president for PLIs Critical Infrastructure Division in Orlando, Florida. Our team has proven themselves with PEO-STRI over the past year and we look forward to continuing the support through the MS3 Program."

PLI will be responsible for providing procurement, kitting and delivery of medical simulation equipment to the Department of Defense (DOD) and other affiliated agencies at multiple medical training facilities throughout the US and abroad. The program will be managed by PLIs Critical Infrastructure Division in Orlando, FL. PLIs President and CEO, Al Funderburk, noted, The MS3 win represents PLIs ability to rapidly move into adjacent DOD markets leveraging existing processes and supporting infrastructure. He went on to state, We are proud of our entire team and very focused on supporting PM MedSIM over the coming years.

Contract details can be viewed on fob.gov.

About Phoenix Logistics, Inc.

Phoenix Logistics is a privately owned aerospace and defense company made up of talented engineering, logistics, infrastructure and IT experts who reliably solve technical and programmatic problems related to aerospace design and manufacturing and delivery of critical infrastructure (Medical, Energy and Transportation). PLI provides a comprehensive range of products and services to aerospace providers and the US Government
One world many threats

San Bernardino, Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Nice  dreadful attacks by Islamic terrorists are being discussed by 9 of the leading figures in US and Global Counter Terrorism. Founded in 2006, the 11th annual Conference will be at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center on October.

We are proud to be hosting the 11th annual conference, as part of our commitment to providing First Responders with vital information sharing about the terror threat in the USA, said Henry Morgenstern, President of Security Solutions International.

While the US has done very well against terrorism threats since 9/11, and certainly our counter terrorism abilities are enviable, recent efforts to blur the causes of terrorism and assign blame to violent extremism is weakening the ability of our agencies to counter the threat. Since Fort Hood, and onwards to Chatanooga, there has been a tendency to blur the real source of the problem, said Morgenstern.

Police Officer Joe Witty of LA Police SWAT who will detail the multiple assault in the Paris attacks that occurred on November 13th 2015, and the MACTAC response developed by LAPD, Orange County and others.

Professor Ryan Mauro of the Clarion Group will speak on the influence of Radical groups in the USA on Counter Terrorism training and go over a case study of media management for law enforcement based on problems faced by NYPD.

Robert Dougherty former CIA undercover officer will give, based on their publications, the ISIS planning for attacks in the USA.

Dr. Robert Rail will cover specific community vulnerabilities in view of any attack and how it can bring a community to a complete collapse, discussing ways to avoid this.

Colonel Behram A Sahukar, an Asymmetric war specialist from India, will speak about the Expanding Threat of Islamist Terrorism in South Asia and the Middle East and its impact on India-US-Israel security ties.

Paul Goldenberg CEO of Cardinal Point will speak about Global threats, local impacts: addressing the threat of violent extremists in today's environment.

David Bogolub is an expert in WMD. He will be presenting a scenario on a WMD incident, one of the greatest fears of Countries faced with the threat of CBRNE terrorism.

Tom Black will speak about protecting your family against Terror attacks and is a combat veteran Navy SEAL and Private Military Contractor of over 23 deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.

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cleverbridge, a provider of global subscription billing solutions, announces its Bronze sponsorship of SoftSummit 2016 to be held October 12 at the San Jose Marriott in San Jose, California. Now in its 14th year, SoftSummit will discuss strategies for gaining market share, protecting revenue and future-proofing business models against the risks and costs of constantly changing technology.

Hosted by Flexera Software, the leading provider of next-generation software licensing, compliance, security and installation solutions for application producers and enterprises, SoftSummit is a premiere industry event for software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers. The one-day event will cover a wide range of topics including software monetization trends and best practices, getting products to market faster, making acquisitions work faster, streamlining inefficient back-office processes and turning technology (e.g. cloud, virtualization, IoT) into an opportunity rather than a threat.

Its a great pleasure to continue our support of SoftSummit, as its always a thought provoking event with lots of opportunities to network with some of the industry's best and brightest, said Mark Begin, director of partner development, cleverbridge. As software monetization continues to evolve and grow dramatically toward subscription billing, traditional models need new solutions to transform, optimize and profit. Because of this, companies are continuing to turn to cleverbridge as we help them monetize products and services more effectively and maximize customer lifetime value.

Schedule a meeting with cleverbridge at SoftSummit 2016 to learn how we can help you maximize recurring revenue streams and provide the best possible customer experience by contacting inquiry@cleverbridge.com. To learn more about cleverbridge, please visit http://www.cleverbridge.com.

About cleverbridge

cleverbridge provides global subscription billing solutions that help companies build long-term customer relationships and grow recurring revenue streams. With its flexible, cloud-based billing and monetization platform, cleverbridge integrates seamlessly with client systems, simplifies subscription business models and delivers an optimized online customer experience. Leveraging cleverbridge expertise, technology and services, clients monetize products and services more effectively, rapidly expand their global subscriber base and maximize customer lifetime value. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, cleverbridge has offices in Chicago, San Francisco and Tokyo. For more information, visit http://www.cleverbridge.com.

About Flexera Software

Flexera Software helps application producers and enterprises increase application usage and security, enhancing the value they derive from their software. Our software licensing, compliance, cybersecurity and installation solutions are essential to ensure continuous licensing compliance, optimized software investments, and to future-proof businesses against the risks and costs of constantly changing technology. A marketplace leader for more than 25 years, 80,000+ customers turn to Flexera Software as a trusted and neutral source of knowledge and expertise, and for the automation and intelligence designed into our products. For more information, please go to: http://www.flexerasoftware.com.
Expanding its executive team by adding four new positions to its senior team, FIT4MOM - the worlds largest wellness company with programs exclusively and thoughtfully designed for moms - continues its impressive growth. Following months of consulting with the company and seeing strong advancements financially and culturally, Ash Robinson has been hired as chief executive officer. In a new position to the company, Whitney Benjamin has been hired as senior director of content and product, while Farel Bischoff Hruska has been promoted to global fitness director and Erin Rymsa has been promoted to vice president of franchise operations.

Entering its 15th year in business, FIT4MOMs chief founding mom Lisa Druxman realized it was time to evolve the business and her role. That in order for the company to reach its mission of serving one million moms, she needed a CEO and senior team who understood the market space of the modern mom, how to reach her and how to successfully scale the business. Druxman is evolving her role to focus on developing FIT4MOMs expanding instructor and franchise teams, developing new product lines and direct to consumer verticals, and touring the companys various locations throughout the country.

This company strives to be a leader for working mothers so we can create positive change in our society for all modern families, said Druxman. Thanks in huge part to Ashs leadership and our new team, we have a work environment that is inclusive of motherhood and the talent we are able to attract, keep and engage is priceless as a result.

As CEO, Robinson brings a perfect blend of franchise business ownership and COO experience, having grown her own 50-unit franchise brand which was acquired by Kidville in 2009, where she was brought on to lead the company. While Robinson was COO for Kidville, Inc, she provided executive leadership of its franchise division, supporting the overall growth of the consumer brand, and inspired a culture of collaboration and results. The company was rooted in early childhood education and marketing to moms in the same stage of life as FIT4MOM clients.

I want to amplify FIT4MOMs mission and Lisas vision, said Robinson. I want women who work here and invest here as franchisees to earn more with their hustle hours, yet do so with ease and grace. I want to own the conversation on mom's well being online and in our local communities. I want to preserve the organic goodness of this brand, while showing the world that FIT4MOM is the Hero of Motherhood, which is the real core of the brand our community of franchisees and instructors have created.

The talent at the helm of FIT4MOM is rounded out with newly named global fitness director Hruska, who has been in the fitness industry for more than 20 years and is one of the most accredited and experienced trainers in the prenatal and postnatal industry. She has been with FIT4MOM since the beginning, and leads the development and training of the companys 3,000+ instructors. Also a veteran to the team, but in a new role, is VP of franchise operations Rymsa. She brings more than 15 years of experience in program development and training in the private and public sector and will oversee all franchisee initiatives from their onboarding to their ongoing success and training, while managing operations for the entire company.

Benjamin, a wellness marketing industry veteran, has been hired to the new position of senior director of content and product, where she oversees all aspects of FIT4MOMs product and service offerings, in addition to branding and marketing. Benjamin is helping to shape how the story of FIT4MOM is told and ensuring the companys products and programs truly deliver on making mamas healthier and happier.

To join the FIT4MOM village, visit http://www.fit4mom.com and learn more about the fitness programs offered, how to become an instructor or how to start a franchise.

About FIT4MOM

Founded in 2001, FIT4MOM is the worlds largest wellness company with programs exclusively and thoughtfully designed for moms. When mama joins the FIT4MOM village she truly learns to take care of herself through fitness and nutrition, often for the first time. She can mentally and physically prepare for motherhood in FIT4BABY, regain her fitness with her babe(s) by her side in Stroller Strides or Stroller Barre, or push herself through high intensity interval and nutrition training in Body Back.

In more than 1,300 locations nationwide, FIT4MOM has built a real village of fitness professionals that nurture the total wellness of mothers. Equipping moms with the tools of self-care and connectedness, allowing her to find her own strength in motherhood, and evolve in the family and career of her choosing. With FIT4MOM women discover their greatest inner and physical strength, connect with like-minded mamas, and find a sisterhood in motherhood that is greatly lacking in todays modern world. For more information visit http://www.fit4mom.com or become a fan at Facebook.com/CORPFIT4MOM.
Personalized Children's Book Promotes Unity to Stop Bullying and Spread Love When I first read the book, I cried with relief. Finally -- a children's story about bullies like Trump which resonates with both me and my daughter. Past News Releases RSS

Today Live Well Media announced the publication of a personalized children's book to promote peace at a time when many are deeply troubled by Donald Trump's bullying behavior. SPREAD LOVE WHEREVER YOU GO is a colorful picture book. It features clever rhymes and fun illustrations to deliver an engaging message on the power of love and unity. This personalized children's book is ON SALE for $15.95 on LiveWellMedia.com.

Author Suzanne Marshall was inspired to write this multicultural children's book due to the rise of "Trump Anxiety"  a phrase coined by the media to describe the negative impact of Trump's bullying behavior on mental health.

"With anxiety in the air, it's important to reassure kids that love and unity can make a difference," says Marshall. She designed the book to offer humor and comfort to parents and children who are feeling overwhelmed by inflammatory rhetoric, bullying and cyber-bulling this election season.

"When I first read the book, I cried with relief," says Hannah, a concerned parent in Florida. She and her daughter have been dismayed by Trump's divisive rhetoric. "Finally -- a childrens story about bullies like Trump which resonates with me and my daughter."

According to a recent NBC/WSJ poll, nearly 70% of voters "have concerns about Donald Trump's comments on women, immigrants and Muslims" A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center suggests that the "Trump Effect" may be increasing bullying among our nation's children.

Marshall notes that the issue of bullying and cyber-bullying extends far beyond Trump. Bullying statistics on StopBullying.gov reveal that "about 49% of children in grades 4-12 reported being bullied by other students at school" in a 2011 study.

Marshall hopes SPREAD LOVE WHEREVER YOU GO will empower kids to stop bullying, spread love, and feel greater peace of mind. This personalized children's book features a diverse group of kids who come together in a positive way to stop a bully. (The bully in the story happens to have fuzzy orange hair).

"The personalization of the book makes it especially fun for kids," says Marshall. "The recipient of the book becomes the hero of the story."

Marshall, who founded Live Well Media three years ago, is passionate about empowering kids. Live Well Media's portfolio of personalized children's books includes bedtime stories and coloring books for kids with positive affirmations, inspirational quotes, and uplifting stories. Along with SPREAD LOVE WHEREVER YOU GO, the following personalized children's books can be purchased at LiveWellMedia.com.


The Boys from Joppa a book by Maine writer L. E. Barrett may have ushered in a new era of pulp fiction. The newly published book is a strange brew of fiction, historical events and unforgettable characters. In the early 1960s, Hallowell, Maine was a sleepy small city on the Kennebec River. Dip Barrett ran a beer store where he socialized with local criminals and took bets for horse racing tracks around the state. His business and the community are turned upside down when the body of a young man is found in the Kennebec River, a poker game leads to a major robbery, a young wife is seduced into a private sex club, a 16 year old boy finds love with a much older woman, a young mans suicide is a mystery to everyone, and the town drunk becomes a criminal master mind.

The Boys from Joppa is historical pulp fiction at its best. A throwback to the trashy novels of the 1940s to 1960s where women craved love, men were tough, and violence was a business opportunity. The type of memorable situations and vivid characters found in the works of Steinbeck and Doctorow who dont just exist on the page of a book, but take up residence in your life. The book is insightful, funny, thrilling and sexy without pretense. This masterfully told tale will have you turning each page with an eagerness to read more and more. The books power coming directly from its intriguing characters, an imaginative plot and a seamless story.

The Boys from Joppa is the first book in the Kennebec River Trilogy. Book two, Dummers Lane, and book three, The Valley of Good and Evil transport the characters and the plot from their finely crafted roots in The Boys from Joppa to the last thrilling page of the trilogy, this book can only be classified as a must read for fans of pulp fiction, romantic fiction, action fiction, realistic plots and a first-rate adult read.

L. E. Barrett originates from Hallowell, Maine and lives in Monroe, Maine. He received a Bachelors Degree from Northeastern University in Boston, MA and a Masters Degree from the University of Maine in Orono, ME. The Boys from Joppa is currently available through local book stores and all large internet book sites.
Supporting MSA Researchers The sense of urgency felt by MSA patients and their loved ones is a big motivating factor for all who participate in the research grant process. Past News Releases RSS The Multiple System Atrophy...

DriveAwayMSA Benefit Scheduled for...

The Multiple System Atrophy...

The Multiple System Atrophy Coalition, the leading nonprofit funder of multiple system atrophy (MSA) research, is excited to announce its Board of Directors has awarded $532,000 to 10 research projects this year. With the addition of this years award total, the MSA Coalition has directed over $1.25 million in its three-year research granting history to scientists around the world in pursuit of a cure for this devastating neurodegenerative disease. The 2016 research projects and recipients are as follows:



Global MSA Registry & Natural History Study: Lucy Norcliffe-Kaufmann, Ph.D. (New York, NY) and Gregor K. Wenning, M.D., Ph.D. (Innsbruck, Austria)

The role of hemoglobin overexpression in molecular pathology of MSA: Michael Janitz, M.D., Ph.D. (New South Wales, Australia) and Ronald Melki, Ph.D. (Paris, France)

COQ2 mutation and methylation dysfunction leading to alpha-synuclein pathology: W. Scott Kim, Ph.D. (Sydney, Australia), Glenda Halliday, Ph.D. (Sydney, Australia) and Poul Jensen, M.D., Ph.D. (UAarhus, Denmark)

Unravelling the mechanism of alpha-synuclein seeding in oligodendrocytes: Maria Xilouri, Ph.D. (Athens, Greece)

Targeting alpha-synuclein pathology with the molecular tweezer CLR01 in MSA: optimization of drug delivery and biochemical analysis: Nadia Stefanova, M.D, Ph.D. (Innsbruck, Austria) and Gal Bitan, Ph.D. (Los Angeles, CA)

GRK2 targeted knock-down as therapy for multiple system atrophy: Erwan Bezard, Ph.D. (Bordeaux, France)

Nilotinib for treating MSA: a preclinical proof of concept study: Pierre-Olivier Fernagut, Ph.D. (Bordeaux, France) and Wassilios Meissner, M.D., Ph.D. (Bordeaux, France)

A serum miRNAs signature as potential biomarker for MSA: Anna Maria Vallelunga, MSc (Salerno, Italy) and Maria Teresa Pellecchia, M.D., Ph.D. (Salerno, Italy)

Inside the gait  a new era on the horizon for atypical parkinsonian disorders: Gregor K. Wenning, M.D., Ph.D. (Innsbruck, Austria)

Toward the in situ proteome of normal and pathologic alpha-synuclein in human neurons and glial cells: Vikram Khurana, M.D., Ph.D. (Boston, MA)

A laymans summary with more information about all funded MSA research projects is available on the MSA Coalition's website.

Never did I imagine we would one day be able to say we have awarded over $1 million in research grants, said Judy Biedenharn, Board Chair of The Multiple System Atrophy Coalition. When we started our research grant program three years ago we had a little over $200,000 available. Just 9 researchers sent in proposals that year from which we funded 5 projects. Its really exciting to see the continued growth of this research program which has gone hand in hand with the increased fundraising efforts of so many families. Donations large and small have made all of this work possible.

This year 36 letters of intent or project pre-proposals were received and reviewed by the MSA Coalition's Scientific Advisory Board. The board, made up of leading scientists and clinicians in MSA research, ensures the MSA Coalition identifies those projects that are most likely to move the understanding of multiple system atrophy and its underlying causes forward. Out of those 36 pre-proposals 22 were then chosen and invited to submit full proposals to the final competition.

As our research program has expanded we have had to change our methodology to keep up the pace. In early 2015 we consulted with another non-profit and they very generously allowed us to adopt their grant peer review process, stated Pam Bower, Board of Directors Secretary and Research committee co-chair. Having this framework to follow has helped us ensure every proposal is vetted appropriately by three totally independent reviewers with no connection to the project. Maintaining this high standard of fairness and transparency is very important to us and the end result of being able to provide research funding to 10 high merit projects is a very satisfying conclusion to a many months long process.

Funded projects include investigation of new biomarkers that might allow earlier and more accurate diagnosis, pre-clinical validation of potential therapies using transgenic MSA mouse models as test subjects as well as in-depth scientific studies pursuing the underlying cause of MSA. Awards were granted to investigators working in neurodegeneration disease research labs around the world including the United States, Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy and Greece.

The sense of urgency felt by MSA patients and their loved ones is a big motivating factor for all who participate in the research grant process, noted Larry Kellerman, Board Member and Caregiver Representative. Every board member has a personal connection to the disease and represents thousands more anxiously waiting to receive some good news. The funded projects are seen as the best approach to arriving at positive results and thus are a reason to hope.

Besides performing the research, the recipients of the grant dollars are also required to submit an interim and final report on their project. Those reports provide a window into the progress being observed by the researchers and can lay the groundwork for other researchers and for future funding opportunities. Since these awards are considered seed grants they may lead their recipients to submit proposals to other, larger funding agencies to continue their work.

The Multiple System Atrophy Coalition first established a dedicated MSA research fund in 2011. In 2013, the organization launched its MSA Research Grant Program and recruited a world class Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) made up of leading scientists and clinicians in the MSA field. The goal of the MSA Research Grant Program is to identify and fund MSA research projects that have potential to uncover the cause, discover disease modifying treatments, and hopefully lead to a cure. Through a rigorous peer review process, the SAB ensures that The MSA Coalition is funding the most promising next steps that can lead to breakthroughs in MSA research. At present, a minimum of 75% of every donation received by The MSA Coalition goes directly into the research fund. The remaining 25% goes toward much needed support and education programs including a toll-free support hotline (1-866-737-5999), educational materials, an annual patient/caregiver conference (also live-streamed on the internet), continuing medical education about MSA for healthcare professionals as well as important advocacy and awareness initiatives.
Compiling information and statistics from The Telegraph, Transport For London, Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police, the Simply Holiday Deals infographic, found at http://simplyholidaydeals.co.uk/travel-blog/beware-londons-top-tube-stations-for-pickpockets-infographic/, reveals that Kings Cross St Pancras station is the worst spot for London tube station thefts. Between January 2015 and February 2016 alone, passengers reported 215 pickpocketing crimes.

Other hotspots for crime include Victoria Station, Oxford Circus and Liverpool Street, further emphasising the need for travellers and local commuters to remain vigilant with their belongings.

Statistics advise that the average value of each crime is over 400 and that women are more likely to be targeted than men. Further to that, passengers are more likely to be pickpocketed at the end of the work week, on Fridays.

Following a complete rundown of alarming statistics, the infographic provides detailed instructions for beating pickpockets. These include installing tracker applications, best practices for monitoring belongings and where to report a crime.

We have seen British staycations grow in popularity due to many factors, including the weakening pound and terrorism threats throughout the world, said Brian Jones, Managing Director of Simply Holiday Deals.

As more Brits are staying at home and finding alternative holiday ideas, London is always top of mind for a break, as a world-class city. We want everyone to be safe, regardless of whether theyre getting away for a long weekend or are one of the 8 million plus Londoners living there. Not only did we want to publish the tube stops with the highest risk to increase awareness, but to provide tips to keep everyone safe.

Simply Holiday Deals, http://simplyholidaydeals.co.uk/, is a comprehensive online travel destination, providing UK members with the best holiday deals from across the web, holiday guides and up-to-date travel advice.
SCRAP40 celebrates 40 years of service to San Francisco's teachers, students, and artists. SCRAP40 will be a tremendous party, celebrating SCRAP and Anne Marie's vision and tenacity which enabled us to survive and serve for forty years.

October 20th is rapidly approaching, and with it, the SCRAP40 Gala Celebration. SCRAP40 marks the 40th anniversary of San Franciscos unique icon of education, art and the environment, SCRAP. It will honor SCRAPs founder and Jefferson Award winner, Anne Marie Theilen, as well as the staff and volunteers that have kept SCRAP a vital part of the community for four decades.

The evening will focus on reuse, education, art, food and fun. The zero-landfill event will be among the first to enliven the recently restored Bayview Opera House. While guests mingle in the Opera Houses grand ballroom, they will be surrounded by decorations made from reclaimed materials. Some will participate in making artful masks form reused materials. All will enjoy passed hors d oeuvres, fine wine and locally crafted beer while the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Jazz Combo entertains. Throughout the evening, brief TED-like talks will provoke more conversation.

SCRAP40 is a benefit and celebration of SCRAPs 40 years of helping teachers, artists, and the environment. Each year, nonprofit SCRAP diverts more than 200 tons of usable materials from landfill, and makes them available, at little or no cost, to thousands of teachers, artists, nonprofit organizations, and others. SCRAP also conducts workshops, classes and field trips for people of all ages.

Sponsors and supporters of SCRAP40 include the San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco Department of the Environment, Fivepoint, SFArtsED, Tower Properties, Airbnb, Building Resources, Cole Hardware, Ultimate Cookie, FLAX Art and Design, and Germany-USA Career Center.

SCRAP40 is expected to sell out, so get your tickets soon. It takes place at the Bayview Opera House, 4705 Third Street, in San Francisco. SCRAP40 will start at 7:30 on October 20th, and will finish at 10 PM. Tickets donations range from $25 to $200, and are available at SCRAP40.eventbrite.com.

In conjunction with SCRAP40, SCRAP is sponsoring a show of art made from reclaimed materials. RECLAIMED: elevating the art of reuse, will show at the beautiful SF Arts Education Gallery at the Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco from October 1-23. The opening reception for this exciting, juried art show will be October 8th. There is no cost to attend. More info at scrapartshow.org.
The collapse of a soft story building during the Northridge Quake. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. Everyone knows that major earthquakes are inevitable.

Optimum Seismic President Ali Vahdani recently published an article in Apartment Age Magazine, addressing the growing demand and regulation surrounding earthquake retrofits in Southern California.

The article, Seismic Retrofits: Now Mandated for Apartment Owners!" is reprinted below, with permission from the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, publishers of Apartment Age Magazine. To view the article, (beginning on page 50), click here.

Seismic Retrofits: Now Mandated for Apartment Owners!

Twenty-two years ago, Southern California suffered one of its deadliest and most destructive earthquakes: a 6.7 magnitude jolt that killed more than 60, injured more than 9,000 and caused as much as $25 billion in widespread damage.

Freeway overpasses crumbled.

Gas and water lines snapped, creating an apocalyptic release of both fire and flood in the streets. Blackouts were widespread. Even the U.S. Postal Service halted delivery for days.

But perhaps the most stunning example of the Northridge Quakes destructive power was the collapse of the Northridge Meadows Apartment building, which crushed 16 residents and flattened cars in the ground-level parking of the soft-story structure.

The disaster prompted a sweeping call for stricter building codes throughout California: a mandate for seismic retrofitting of non-ductile concrete frame buildings and wood structures with soft-story conditions.

Many years and several large-scale earthquakes later  and after decades of controversy  the Los Angeles City Council late last year approved the nations most sweeping seismic regulations, affecting some 15,000 buildings in the city.

Building owners have seven years to retrofit their wood buildings with soft-story conditions, and 25 years for non-ductile concrete frame structures.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has begun issuing courtesy letters to the owners of these buildings, advising them of the required upgrades per the ordinance:



The orders will come on a rolling basis, with the citys largest apartment buildings  those with 16 or more units  getting the first wave of orders.

Structures with three or more floors but less than 16 units will come next, followed by all others.

Owners of soft-story buildings will have one year from the date they receive their order to either submit proof that the building doesnt need retrofitting, or plans for retrofit or demolitions.

Within two years, they must obtain permits to get the work done.

All work on soft-story structures must be completed within seven years of receiving an order, the ordinance states.

A Shared Financial Burden

This January, the Los Angeles City Council agreed that renters and apartment owners may equally share the costs of earthquake retrofitting, a decision that put an end to contentious debate over one of the most far-reaching mandatory retrofit laws in the nation. Similar ordinances in other cities are expected to come.

The Structural Engineers Association of California estimates there may be as many as 100,000 buildings in Southern California facing comparable mandates as other cities and counties consider adopting retrofit laws of their own. Already, L.A. County, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and many others to the north are in the process of considering similar laws of their own.

The law in the City of Los Angeles allows apartment owners to split the costs of seismic retrofit work with their tenants with rent increases of up to $38 per month to cover half the costs of a retrofit.

Todays actions will save lives, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told the Los Angeles Times when the vote was passed. Im not interested in making history or having the toughest laws. Im interested in preserving our citys ability to survive and thrive after an earthquake.

Many are reluctant to get the work started, but here are some reasons why its best to act promptly:

Retrofits Protect Your Assets

Earthquakes are a certain occurrence in California. Its not a matter of if a major quake will come, but when.

Geophysicists at NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab recently determined that there is a 99 percent probability that a major quake will rock California in the next 2  years, and that Southern California is extremely likely to experience a magnitude 5.0 quake or higher during that time.

Yes, soft-story property owners have seven years to get the work done, but no one is advising anyone to wait until the last minute.

Everyone knows that major earthquakes are inevitable, said Earle Vaughan, a longtime apartment owner who for the past 15 years has served AAGLA as a director. I have already completed a retrofit on my property because I know it will not only be needed down the road, but it protects my tenants and investment from anything that may happen in the near future.

Indeed, seismic retrofits are the best option an apartment owner can take to protect his or her investment.

The University of California at San Diego, home to the worlds largest outdoor shake table, has done repeated tests replicating the effects of a quake on a variety of structures.

They recently conducted experiments on the performance of soft-story structures  buildings constructed over ground-level parking  and found that retrofits are quite effective in helping to control or even prevent damage.

Other studies show that retrofits can be cost-effective, too.

Researchers at Caltech recently determined that for every dollar spent in retrofitting soft-story structures, property owners could expect to save up to 7 dollars, and that study didnt include loss to contents, alternate living expenses or deaths and injuries  all of which would have significantly increased the cost-to-benefit ratios.

Retrofits Can Save Lives, Reduce Liability

This should be everyones No. 1 reason for completing a retrofit, but the reality is that we all gamble with life and limb when it comes to forking out money for things that are uncertain.

Case law has now set a precedent that puts the responsibility for death, injury or property damage in the hands of the property owner.

Owners of the Northridge Meadows Apartment complex  the structure that collapsed during the 1994 Northridge quake, settled multiple claims filed by the families of the victims.

Similarly, the 1989 Loma Prieta quake resulted in building owners paying out millions in damages to the families of people injured or killed from failure of their buildings to withstand the earthquake.

A more recent case out of Paso Robles found property owners liable for the deaths of two people during the San Simeon earthquake of 2003. A jury awarded the families of the victims $2 million, concluding that the property owners were negligent for not making the building safer. A state appeals court upheld the verdict in 2010.

Even though the earthquake itself was an Act of God, the courts found the property owners negligent because the structure had been identified by the city as requiring seismic retrofits and that even though the deadline to do the work had not yet passed, the owners should have taken prompter action for safetys sake.

Legal experts found the decision profoundly significant, comparing it to the hypothetical case of a building without sprinklers or fire extinguishers being struck by lightning and catching fire.

If you have a building that is susceptible to collapse and youre aware that it requires retrofitting to withstand an earthquake, you may be liable.

As a property management company, we are very concerned with limiting liability issues for our clients, said Irma Vargas, of RST and Associates. We have started early on seismic retrofits because we wanted to be proactive in addressing this issue for the safety and protection of both the owners and the residents of our properties.

Early Action Reduces Haste and Waste

Optimum Seismic is the L.A. areas leading retrofit company and AAGLAs Preferred Supplier. We participated in the development of the citys retrofit policies  bearing in mind that structural engineering, cost analysis and risk management were all important pieces of the solution.

We have completed more than 1,600 retrofits on various types of buildings in the state of California, and demand is increasing.

There is too much work to be done by any one company, but the reality is that heightened demand will drive up price and spark an influx of startup companies who may not have the professional expertise and experience necessary to get the job done right.

Give yourself the time necessary to go through the retrofit process carefully.

Optimum Seismic is teaming up with AAGLA to host a series of public workshops on the subject in various districts throughout the city to inform people about the law, various options available, and recommended steps.

We will also be reaching out to you, the readers of Apartment Age magazine, with regular updates providing step-by-step instructions on everything from start to finish.

Ali Vahdani, a State of California Licensed Professional Engineer, has more than 35 years of experience in building and structural retrofits. His is president and founder of Optimum Seismic, a leading seismic engineering and construction firm serving all of California.

ABOUT OPTIMUM SEISMIC

Optimum Seismic is the Preferred Supplier of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles for earthquake retrofit engineering and construction and has teamed up with the organization to host informational seminars throughout the city of L.A. to educate building owners about the law, the typical retrofit process along with information about financing, risks and liability and tenant habitability plans. For a list of upcoming events, call AAGLA at 213-384-4131 or email AAGLAseminars@gmail.com.

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The JX Peterbilt parts and service team accepts the Peterbilt Platinum Oval award at the annual PACCAR Parts and Peterbilt Parts and Service Meeting. Its a group effort, says Eric Jorgensen, JX President & CEO. I wanted all 30 plus members of our parts and service team up on stage."

JX Peterbilt was honored with this years Platinum Oval Parts and Service Award at the 2016 annual PACCAR Parts and Peterbilt Motors Company Parts and Service Meeting. The recent conference, held in Orlando, Florida, was attended by dealer parts and service managers, as well as dealer executives.

JX was one of two Peterbilt dealerships awarded with the Peterbilt Platinum Oval out of more than 300 dealers across North America. All the JX representatives in attendance went up on stage to accept the award the night of the ceremony.

Its a group effort, says Eric Jorgensen, JX President & CEO. I wanted all 30 plus members of our parts and service team up on stage, because each one of them plays a major role in our success.

Performance criteria for the award included parts purchase growth, retail sales growth, absorption, PACCAR MX Engine technician staffing, and service profit contribution.

PACCAR Parts is proud to recognize dealers that have demonstrated excellence in parts operations and customer service, said David Danforth, PACCAR vice president and PACCAR Parts general manager. They embody our dealer network and continuously exceed customers needs.

Greg Torosian, JX Service Director, attributes the honor to JXs recent focus on technician training, staying lean, and their emphasis on recruiting and retaining top talent. Over the past year, JX has devoted significant resources to Associate training across all departments, especially service.

We have good teams in place, across all our locations. Its a testament to how well we operate, says Torosian, but we also have so much more room to improve and grow in the future.

About JX

JX Enterprises is a family-owned, locally-operated group of more than 19 full-service truck dealerships and support services across the Midwest. JX Peterbilt, JX Financial, JX Leasing, JX Truck Center, JX Hino  Chicago, and ALLTrux Capital are all subsidiaries. JX prides itself in their ability to help customers by providing transportation solutions to fit their long- and short-term goals. JX Enterprises was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Hartland, Wisconsin. Visit them at http://www.jxe.com.
Students are most comfortable communicating through text and video chat, so its only natural that colleges offer the ability to connect with them through virtual events, Dr. Jonathan Mathis, director of the National Honor Societies

In May 2016, CollegeWeekLive, a unique virtual engagement platform where students and colleges meet online, and the National Honor Society (NHS) collaborated on a successful pilot fair, connecting NHS students and higher education admissions professionals through video presentations and online chats. The pilot event saw strong results; more than 1,500 NHS students and 21 colleges and universities participated.

[During the May event] We were very impressed with the quality of the questions asked by the NHS students, Jamie Hansard, associate director of undergraduate admissions at Texas Tech University said. They were clearly engaged and interested. We found the event very worth our time.

Based on the high level of student engagement and depth of the conversations seen in the pilot fair, the need for an additional event was clear. The second National Honor Society Virtual College Fair is scheduled for 2PM10PM EDT on October 20, 2016. The event will bring schools and prospective students together during the busy fall recruitment season. Throughout the National Honor Society Virtual College Fair, schools will be available to provide information and advice on everything from degree programs to dorm rooms.

NHS students are being recruited by countless institutions across the country, Sumant Mauskar, president of CollegeWeekLive said. Were pleased to give these students an opportunity to connect directly with schools of interest to them, in an online channel they prefer. This is a great way to spark conversations, helping colleges and students alike find the best match.

The National Honor Society Virtual College Fair is a free event for NHS students, and attendees can participate in the fair from desktop, laptop, and mobile devices.

Students are most comfortable communicating through text and video chat, so its only natural that colleges offer the ability to connect with them through virtual events, Dr. Jonathan Mathis, director of the National Honor Societies, including NHS, the National Junior Honor Society, and the National Elementary Honor Society said. Were thrilled to offer these resources to NHS members so they can have meaningful conversations with admissions counselors as they make important college decisions.

For more information about exhibiting at the National Honor Society Virtual College Fair, please contact colleges(at)collegeweeklive(dot)com or 800-828-8222.
This new policy goes above and beyond FDA requirements and we remain committed to providing safe, quality donor sperm and eggs to achieve our mission of helping to provide the gift of family.

Cryos International Sperm & Egg Bank continues to lead the way in proactively preventing the possible transmission of the Zika virus by further implementing policies in advance of the FDA-issued Guidance for Industry for blood banks. Effective immediately, Cryos is screening all sperm and egg donors for Zika, including all donations made since August 1st.

In March of this year, the FDA issued a guidance recommending the deferral of any donor or potential donor who traveled to or had sexual relations with anyone who traveled to any area with active Zika transmission. Cryos implemented this policy in February, one month before the FDAs mandate. Beginning August 1st, Cryos implemented a policy to not release any sperm or egg deposits until there was a donor screening test available.

While the FDA has not approved a donor screening test for tissue banks, they have issued several Emergency Use Authorizations (EAU) for various test kits used to detect the Zika virus. These test kits are currently being used by blood banks, public health officials and physicians to screen patients for the virus, said Corey Burke, Tissue Bank Director of Cryos International  USA. All Cryos donors who made deposits on or after August 1st have now been tested.

We take our position in the industry very seriously. With a global presence, we feel it is very important to ensure all sperm and egg donors are free of Zika prior to releasing the specimens for sale, said Angel Tillis, Vice President of Cryos International  USA. Even though it is not yet an FDA requirement, the availability of the Emergency Use Authorizations makes it possible for us to begin testing now.

On September 3rd, the FDA issued a Guidance for Industry for blood banks. In that guidance, they recommend that all donors be screened using one of the EAU diagnostic kits, in addition to screening donors for travel and health history. Historically, the FDA has issued guidance for blood banks a few weeks before the recommended guidance for tissue banks. We expect that the guidance for tissue banks, when issued, will mirror that of the blood banks, Burke said. Prior to beginning his work in embryology and andrology, Burke worked with Mosquito Control developing testing used to detect West Nile virus in captured mosquitos. This background gives him a unique understanding of Zika and the possible spread to the mosquito population in Florida. We are glad to be nearing the end of mosquito season, he said.

Cryos will continue monitoring the situation as it evolves. This new policy goes above and beyond FDA requirements and we remain committed to providing safe, quality donor sperm and eggs to achieve our mission of helping to provide the gift of family. Our clients safety and peace of mind is our priority, said Tillis.

For questions regarding Cryos donation and screening policies, please visit usa.cryosinternational.com or call 407-203-1175.

About Cryos International

With 30 years experience and delivering to more than 80 countries, Cryos International  USA is a trusted industry leader. As the worlds largest sperm bank, and first free-standing, independent egg bank in the United States, Cryos aims to ensure a wide selection of high-quality, extensively screened donor sperm and eggs from all races, ethnicities and phenotypes. An extensive network of clients and medical institutions worldwide has helped Cryos achieve the highest number of registered pregnancies in the world assisted by donor sperm. To Cryos, high quality and professional service has always ranked as the most important issue in our relations with clients. Cryos continuously works hard on improving and expanding its services. To Cryos  its personal.

For more information about Cryos International, visit usa.cryosinternational.com.
At Fastspot, all we care about is being a great partner to our clients and to one another.

Interactive design agency Fastspot ranks among the 5,000 fastest growing companies in the country, according to Inc. Magazines 2016 list, garnering position 1,980.

The Inc. 5,000 list ranks privately-owned businesses based on the past three years revenue growth. Fastspot took the #24 spot among Baltimore businesses and the #42 spot among Maryland businesses.

From 2012 to 2015, Fastspot experienced 188% growth, grew its team from 13 employees to 23, and expanded its client base to include organizations such as Yale University, Fords Theatre, and the University of San Francisco. In 2013, the agency relocated to Mill No. 1, an historic cotton mill, which was rejuvenated for commercial and residential use. Fastspots space was designed for the rapidly growing company by Alexander Design Studio.

Fastspot is an award winning agency, recognized nationally for the successful strategies and solutions we provide for our clients, said Tracey Halvorsen, Fastspots Chief Visionary Officer and President. The trust our clients put in us and the immense, collaborative skills of our team generate outstanding results.

At Fastspot, all we care about is being a great partner to our clients and to one another. We are driven by an enthusiastic and supportive workplace, where our creative culture encourages constant growth and innovation, Halvorsen continued. Fastspot specializes in large-scale web-based strategy, design and development for higher education, museums, cultural organizations and associations.

For more information about Fastspot, please visit Fastspot or follow us on Twitter at Fastspot, and on Facebook.

Interactive digital agency Fastspot was founded in 2001. The company has helped build numerous brands, including the Walters Art Museum, Bucknell University, George Washingtons Mount Vernon, Kenyon College and the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Fastspot provides communications and marketing strategies focused on interactive and digital spaces. We design and develop large-scale products, engaging brands with audiences. Fastspots work is consistently present in prestigious award programs, such as the Webbys, the CASE Awards and the W3 Awards. Fastspot combines a high level of creativity with an unparalleled level of user experience focus, and a skill set within interactive technologies which delivers work that delights, nails business objectives and is sustainable.
Hailee Steinfeld Top 10 Looks in InStyle Magazine, October 2016 It is also gratifying to see Jill Milan, the only all-vegan fashion brand to be carried for red carpet appearances, be chosen by such high-profile celebrities and their stylists."

Jill Milan, a provider of luxury fashion and accessories, announced that InStyle magazines ranking of Hailee Steinfelds Top 10 fashion looks selected as the No. 1 choice a look featuring Jill Milan. Ms. Steinfeld wore the winning ensemble to the MTV Video Music Awards. All 10 choices appear in the October issue of InStyle.

We were honored Ms. Steinfeld and her stylist chose Jill Milans clutch to complement her Stella McCartney jumpsuit, said Jill Fraser, founder and CEO of Jill Milan. It is also gratifying to see Jill Milan, the only all-vegan fashion brand to be carried for red carpet appearances, be chosen by such high-profile celebrities and their stylists. Ms. Steinfeld was styled for the Video Music Awards by celebrity stylist Karla Welch.

The autumn season has been eventful for Jill Milan. The brand was nominated in the Favorite Fashion Brand category by Veg News, with the results to be announced in the magazines holiday issue in November. Jill Milan was also featured in the October issue of Veg News by sustainability guru Ashlee Piper in her piece Cool Couture.

The disc-shaped Oxford Clutch Ms. Steinfeld carried to the MTV event is entirely handmade in Florence, Italy, of fully recyclable Italian stainless steel, and the logo serves as the clutchs latch. All Jill Milan products are free of animal-based materials such as leather, fur and wool  Ms. Fraser, who is a longtime vegan and supporter of animal welfare initiatives, was inspired to found Jill Milan because she was unable to find high-quality, luxury handbags that were not made of leather or other animal-based materials. Jill Milan was named Vegan Business of the Year by Vegans Are Cool.

Jill Milan appears frequently on the red carpets of Hollywood, New York and Europe. Other celebrities who carry Jill Milan include Academy Award winners Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence, who carried Jill Milan to multiple premieres for their films. Among the celebrities carrying Jill Milan for red-carpet appearances are:



Amy Poehler carried the Art Deco Clutch when she was both nominee and presenter for the Emmy Awards.

Singer Miranda Lambert carried Jill Milan to the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington D.C. in December and previously carried the brand to American Country Music Awards.

Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld carried the Disc Clutch to the MTV Video Music Awards and the Holland Park Clutch to Vanity Fairs Oscar Party.

Kerry Washington of televisions Scandal carried Jill Milans Holland Park clutch to the White House Correspondents Dinner and has carried Jill Milan to a number of her film premieres.

Katie Lowes, Ms. Washingtons Scandal co-star, carried Jill Milan clutches to the Golden Globes and the Emmy Awards.

Singing duo Maddie & Tae have carried Jill Milan to New York Fashion Week and to the Country Music Association Awards where their debut video for Girl in a Country Song was recognized as Music Video of the Year.

Actress Margot Bingham carried the Holland Park Clutch to the SAG Awards.

Joanne Frogatt of Downton Abbey carried the 450 Sutter Clutch to the Golden Globes.

Actress Ginnifer Goodwin carried the New Canaan Clutch to the Peoples Choice Awards.

Sarah Hyland of the ABC series Modern Family carried the Art Deco Clutch to the Peoples Choice Awards and to a Golden Globes party.

Laila Ali carried the Laurel Canyon Clutch to the Soul Train Music Awards.

Actress Jena Malone carried the Art Deco Clutch to the premiere of her film Hunger Games: Mockingjay  Part 1.

Felicity Jones of The Theory of Everything carried the Laurel Canyon Clutch to the Hollywood Film Awards.

Jane Fonda carried the Holland Park Clutch to the premiere of her film This is Where I Leave You at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Actress Jessica Lucas carried Jill Milan to the screening of her latest show, Gracepoint.

Actress Katharine McPhee carried the 450 Sutter Clutch to Entertainment Weeklys pre-Emmys Party.

Rashida Jones of the NBC series Parks and Recreation and Bryce Dallas Howard of the film The Help carried Jill Milan clutches to the Golden Globes.

Actress Fiona Gubelmann of televisions Wilfred carried Jill Milan as a presenter at The Genesis Awards and to numerous premieres.

Jordana Brewster, star of Dallas and the The Fast and the Furious film franchise, has carried the New Canaan Clutch.

Actress Hilary Duff carried the Holland Park Clutch to the iHeart Radio Awards.

Nicole Anderson of ABC Familys Ravenswood carried Jill Milan to a SAG Awards pre-party.

Singer Carrie Underwood carried the Jill Milan Holland Park Clutch to the CMT Artists of the Year awards and attended the American Music Awards carrying the 450 Sutter Clutch.

Actress Celina Jade carried the Nob Hill Bag to the premiere of American Dreams at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Actress Stana Katic of televisions Castle carried Jill Milan to the Game of Thrones premiere and to the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Jaime King, who as a model appeared in such fashion magazines as Vogue and Mademoiselle, and as an actress appeared in films including Pearl Harbor and Sin City, carried the Octagon Clutch to the Critics Choice Awards.

Countess Michelle Czernin von Chudenitz is seen frequently in red carpet appearances carrying Jill Milan evening clutches.

Actress Kristanna Loken, whose films include Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and who has appeared on televisions Burn Notice and The L Word, carried Jill Milan to the FilmBall in Vienna, Austria.

Jill Milan handbags have drawn growing attention from influential fashion media. W Magazine has covered Jill Milan in multiple issues, recognizing the Octagon Clutch and Art Deco Clutch in its Most Wanted feature, and The Zoe Report recognized the Newbury Street Portfolio for its ability to go from the office to cocktail hour.

About Jill Milan

Jill Milan is a luxury provider of cruelty-free handbags, apparel and fashion accessories. Made of exquisite materials, Jill Milan handbags are crafted in Italy by artisans who have created handbags and accessories for some of Europes best known fashion houses. All Jill Milan products are free of animal-derived materials, and the company contributes to animal-welfare organizations. Jill Milan, founded by Jill Fraser and Milan Lazich, is the only luxury handbag line entirely free of animal-derived materials which regularly appears on Hollywoods red carpets. Visit Jill Milan on the Web and follow Jill Milan on Facebook.

Jill Milan and the Jill Milan logo are registered trademarks of Jill Milan LLC, and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. Emmy is a trademark of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, October 11 from 1:30  3:00pm ET, min will bring together three expert speakers from the magazine-media industry to discuss current native advertising strategies and best practices among publishers at a webinar titled, Maximizing Revenue with New Native Advertising Strategies. The webinar comes at a pertinent time when experts predict that native advertising will drive 74% of all advertising revenue by 2021.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

-Adam Ochman, Executive Director of Branded Content, Time Inc.

-Jim Lehnhoff, VP of Brand Strategy & Services, Slate Custom

-Kate Appleton, Branded Content Director, AFAR Media

More Information

The webinars agenda is set to cover topics including: how to package and price native content, how to deliver custom solutions to partners, how to leverage social media during a native ad campaign and how to utilize programmatic ad technology to deliver scale. To view the full agenda, visit: http://www.minonline.com/webinars/maximizing-revenue-with-new-native-advertising-strategies.

Participants of mins webinar will be able to engage with the speakers during a live Q+A portion after each presentation. Furthermore, webinar registration enables access to the webinar from five different logins, meaning that sales teams are encouraged to attend together.

For questions about the webinar or registration, please contact Zoe Silverman at zsilverman(at)accessintel(dot)com.

About min:

min is the industry's trusted source on the consumer and b2b magazine business, reaching thousands of media executives through print, online and in-person events. For more than 60 years, min has been serving the magazine and media community with unparalleled coverage of this ever-changing industry. For more information, visit http://www.minonline.com.
Joshua Lowenthal, President of FreeConferenceCall.com I am committed to empowering this talented team to realize its full potential, lead change and strengthen the love customers have for this brand -- Joshua Lowenthal, President of FreeConferenceCall.com

FreeConferenceCall.com, the most recognized conferencing and collaboration brand on the planet, today announces its long-time COO Josh Lowenthal has been named president of FreeConferenceCall.com.

At FreeConferenceCall.com, Lowenthal will continue to oversee all retail and wholesale worldwide operations, global expansion strategy and business development opportunities. In his new role, Lowenthal takes on responsibilities for the overall business strategy, leading the companys vision and stimulating innovation in product development, marketing and sales, profitability and market leadership.

Josh has played an instrumental leadership role amplifying our global footprint by establishing new strategic partnerships with international carriers, said David Erickson, founder and CEO of FreeConferenceCall.com. Elevating Josh into this position ensures that we will continue down a path of expansion and innovation, finding new ways to grow our world-class services, bolster our high-quality network and add additional value to our customers and the global communications ecosystem.

FreeConferenceCall.com is one of the top three U.S. conferencing providers and one of the top five in the world. The company operates in 60 countries on five continents, connecting more than 40 million callers each month. It has experienced a steep growth trajectory, more than doubling its minute volume and workforce in just five years. Under Lowenthals direction, the broad suite of products and services offered by FreeConferenceCall.com will be poised for even greater success across global markets in the years to come.

In addition to helping carriers expand their service portfolios with a reliable, cost-effective network solution, Lowenthal is also overseeing the growth of FreeConferenceCall.com For Business. This newly launched solution for mid-market and enterprise customers delivers mission-critical conferencing and collaboration products and services at disruptive prices.

I am honored to lead FreeConferenceCall.com into the next exciting era, said Lowenthal. We will continue our focus on execution in product and technology development to remain a leader in the conferencing and collaboration arena. I am committed to empowering this talented team to realize its full potential, lead change and strengthen the love customers have for this brand.

Prior to joining FreeConferenceCall.com, Lowenthal served as founder and CEO of various telecommunications start-ups: West Africa-based AVAD Networks, TeleJunctions Conferencing and Flash phone pioneer Yakfree.com. Lowenthal earned a bachelors degree from Cornell University and attended the University of California, San Diego, where he earned a masters degree in international affairs. He currently serves on the advisory board of directors at Children Today and lives in Long Beach, Calif., with his wife and three daughters.

For more information or to sign up for a free account, visit FreeConferenceCall.com.

About FreeConferenceCall.com

FreeConferenceCall.com is the most recognized conferencing brand on the planet with users in more than 800,000 businesses, including nearly all Fortune 500. Service offerings around the globe with unlimited use include: high-quality HD audio conferencing screen sharing, video conferencing, audio and visual recordings, customized greetings, security features, desktop scheduling and mobile applications. Mid-market and enterprise customers can take advantage of FreeConferenceCall.com For Business: high-quality, reliable and secure conferencing and collaboration services complemented by 24/7 customer support, enterprise account management teams, consolidated billing, customized user analytic reports, employee rollout and training and white-label services.

FreeConferenceCall.com was founded by David Erickson in 2001 and is based in Long Beach, California.
Best in Biz Awards logo

(PRWEB) October 03, 2016 -- October 3, 2016  Best in Biz Awards, the only business awards program judged solely by members of the press and industry analysts, announced today the complete panel of judges in its sixth annual North American awards program.

Best in Biz Awards uniqueness stems, in part, from the composition of its judging panels. Only writers, journalists, and contributors to business, consumer, financial, trade and technology publications, as well as broadcast outlets and analyst firms, are invited to serve as judges each year. Structured this way, Best in Biz Awards is able to leverage the expertise and experience of an influential group of national opinion makers to determine award winners.

The 49 confirmed judges on the Best in Biz Awards 2016 panel include:

1. Accounting Today, Michael Cohn

2. AdWeek, Angela Natividad

3. Associated Press, Kim Cook

4. Atlanta Tribune, Kamille D. Whittaker

5. Bismarck Tribune, Kat Bryant

6. Business News Daily, Nicole Fallon Taylor

7. Chip Design Magazine, Dave Bursky

8. CIO Dive, Naomi Eide

9. CNET, Chris Matyszczyk

10. Computerworld, Barbara Krasnoff

11. Computerworld, Thornton May

12. Computerworld, Tracy Mayor

13. Connecting Women Radio, Faten Abdallah

14. Consumer Affairs, Mark Huffman

15. Data Breach Today, Mathew Schwartz

16. ECT News Network, Jack Germain

17. Entrepreneur, Linda Lacina

18. eWeek Channel Insider, Frank Ohlhorst

19. Forbes, Hugh McIntyre

20. Hartford Business Journal, Keith Griffin

21. Healthcare Innovation News, Mari Edlin

22. Inc., Douglas Cantor

23. Information Week, Kevin Casey

24. InfoWorld, Fahmida Rashid

25. Investment Advisor Magazine, Melanie Waddell

26. Investment Advisor Magazine, Bob Clark

27. Journal Times, Mick Burke

28. King Features Syndicate, Dale Dauten

29. L.A. Biz, Annlee Ellingson

30. Lab Reviews, Jonathan Roubini

31. MakeUseOf, Gavin Phillips

32. MediaPost, Laurie Sullivan

33. Multifamily Executive, Kayla Devon

34. NerdWallet.com,, Ellen Cannon

35. Network World, Keith Shaw

36. Nutmeg Consultants, Ken Werner

37. Portland Business Journal, Andy Giegerich

38. Security Products Magazine, Ralph C. Jensen

39. South Florida Business Journal, Brian Bandell

40. Statehood Media, Kevin Max

41. StayAdventurous.com, Craig Zabransky

42. TECH50+, Gary M. Kaye

43. Tech-Gaming, Robert Allen

44. The Penny Hoarder, Kyle Taylor

45. Tripwire, Joe Pettit

46. Wall Street Journal, Candace Taylor

47. Wired, Chris Null

48. WLRN, Gina Jordan

49. ZDNet, Charlie Osborne

Short biographies and photos of the 2016 judges can be found on the Best in Biz Awards website at: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2016-judges.

Entries in Best in Biz Awards 2016 are being accepted until the extended entry deadline on October 7, 2016, in more than 60 categories, including Company of the Year, Fastest-Growing Company, Most Innovative Company, Most Customer Friendly Company, Best Place to Work, Executive Team, Technology Department, Executive of the Year, Enterprise Product, Consumer Service, Most Innovative Product  Healthcare, Product Line, App, Blog and Website of the Year. Judging in Best in Biz Awards 2016 will take place in October and early November, with the judges scoring used to determine winners for each category. Winners will be announced on November 30, 2016.

About Best in Biz Awards

Now in its sixth year, Best in Biz Awards recognizes companies for their business success as judged by established members of the press and industry analysts. Best in Biz Awards honors are currently conferred in two separate programs: North America and International, and in more than 60 categories, including company, team, executive, product and PR and media. Entries for Best in Biz Awards 2016 are currently being accepted from all companies based or operating in North America until the extended deadline on October 7, 2016. For more information, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com.
This play will stir passions and demystify attitudes about race and racial bias.

Live Garra Theatre presents the World premiere of "A Matter of Perspective," by C.G. Gardiner, on Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 8:00 pm, at Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD, 20910. The play depicts eight people deliberating the fate of a young black man arrested by two white police officers. Their deliberation will reveal deeply rooted prejudices, and a broken American justice system.

"A Matter of Perspective" crystallizes the divergent perspectives that exist in the citizenry of America. The playwright offers an introspective look at the role jurors might play in such a trial. The play runs through Sunday, October 16th, with matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday, at 2:00 pm. The audience is invited to stay for post-show discussions following the matinee performances. Press night is Thursday, October 6. Tickets can be purchased at http://livegarratheatre.brownpapertickets.com for $20; $15 for Seniors and Students. Tickets are available for $25 at the door.

Live Garra Theatre Artistic Director, Wanda Whiteside says, This play will stir passions and demystify attitudes about race and racial biases. "A Matter of Perspective" may be the most seminal work produced yet that confronts white privilege while black lives shatter in America. Im reminded of the Langston Hughes poem Dream Deferred: What happens to a dream deferred: Does is dry up like a raisin in the sun or sag like a heavy load  or does it explode?

Also this season, North of the Drinking Gourd, and coming in February: Fool in Love, the life of Frankie Lymon. The play opens on February 9th, and runs through February 26th. It will be directed by Thomas W. Jones III, under the musical direction of William Knowles. Anthony Manough will star as the legendary Frankie Lymon, the young Rock 'n' Roll star whose meteoric rise was cut short too soon.

Live Garra Theatre, a 501 (c) 3 organization, endeavors to illuminate all facets of a multicultural society, fostering cross-cultural understanding. The organization is a member of the Theatre Consortium of Silver Spring, and operators of the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre adjacent to the AFI Theatre, across from the Fillmore Theatre -- the Theatre wing of Silver Spring.

# # # #
Yoga could help reduce symptoms for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, according to a study published by Georgia State University researchers in the International Journal of Yoga Therapy.

The research focuses on the effects of yoga on three people with the disorder and whether or not yoga could be helpful and serve as an alternative or additional treatment option.

When people have this diagnosis, they worry a lot--uncontrollably--about the future, which causes physical symptoms like muscle tension and trouble sleeping, and their lives and their relationships are impaired because of it, said Jessica Morgan Goodnight, former graduate student at Georgia State and lead author on the study. Psychotherapy usually works really well for anxiety disorders, but it doesn't seem to work as well for Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

The researchers found yoga tended to reduce worry, the main symptom of the disorder.

Two participants showed decreases in daily worry ratings after they started yoga and reported less worry on a daily basis, said Goodnight. The third participant was steadily increasing worry before starting yoga, but the increasing trend ended and began leveling out after she started practicing yoga.

The findings show yoga has some promise in helping people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder reduce their symptoms. The researchers say pilot studies like this pave the way for more conclusive research to be conducted in the future.

It's nice to provide options for people with mental health conditions to try to reduce their symptoms and increase the quality of their lives, said Goodnight. My research is a first step showing yoga could be an option for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Provide employees with accurate, bite-sized content at their exact point of need.

Prositions, a leading training content producer and distributor, will release its latest performance support library (in partnership with dummies, the worlds bestselling reference series and a Wiley brand) at the HR Technology Conference on October 4th, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Based on the popular dummies book series, these micro videos (1-3 minutes in length) quickly step employees through visual how-to examples for MS Windows, MS Office, Google, social networking apps, and other computer literacy topics.

Most employees already know the basics of how to use MS Windows and Office, so why serve up a two-hour training course when all they really want and need is a quick two-minute tutorial says Frank Russell, CEO of Prositions, Inc. Usually, employees will just go out to YouTube or Google to search, but that content isnt curated in one, safe location and sometimes it can be more confusing than helpful. With our easy-to-use library you can now provide employees with accurate, bite-sized content at their exact point of need. This can save organizations hundreds or even thousands of hours of wasted search time.

According to research by Interact, 19.8% of business time is wasted by employees searching for information to do their job effectively. The new dummies Performance Support Library helps employees solve their everyday computer problems in under two minutes, via an easily searchable and centralized source for accurate information and expert guidance from the worlds most trusted how-to brand.

These new dummies micro videos can transform the hard-to-understand into the easy-to-use, exclaimed Jill Dillenburg, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Prositions, Inc. Its a high-quality product at a great price, delivered to the end user in a way that is very convenient.

The dummies Performance Support Library includes over 1,100 micro videos covering a broad range of the most commonly used technologies, delivered in a format thats perfect for todays learners. With flexible delivery methods and pricing structures that include unlimited access for 12 months, organizations can dramatically decrease the amount of time employees spend searching for answers to their technology questions.

About Prositions, Inc.

Prositions, Inc. is a leading provider of learning content and performance support libraries. It also offers a complete range of consulting, software, content, and service solutions. MentorString, their award-winning, cloud-based software application enables organizations to leverage virtual mentoring, engage in secure collaboration, and access high-quality individual development plans with integrated training content from industry-leading authors and producers. For more information about Prositions, visit http://www.prositions.com

About Wiley

Wiley, a global company, helps people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Our online scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, combined with our digital learning, assessment and certification solutions help universities, learned societies, businesses, governments and individuals increase the academic and professional impact of their work. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to our stakeholders.

HR Technology Conference and Exposition

HR Technology covers all the latest trends  SaaS, The Cloud, social, mobile, analytics, video, gamification, Big Data and MOOCs  as well as the more traditional technologies. Whatever is changing the way work and HR gets done is what is featured. It is also home to the worlds largest Expo of HR technology products and services.
APC 21.5" Large Area Display (LAD) APC has developed the leading redundant avionics display head solution for 5th generation aircraft as well as 4th generation aircraft requiring upgraded display architecture. This upgraded 2150 DHA offers an exceptional improvement in technology and well

The next generation 8 by 20 inch product was launched in 2014 and incorporates such improvements as higher saturation color filters and 10 bit color depth affording 1024 gray shades. This multi-patented technology advances the state of the art in fully redundant display technology, offering independent power and video paths for each of the two displays, residing on a single Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display (AMLCD) substrate. There is no gap down the center of the display.. This key attribute allows a single continuous image to be displayed across the full 20 inch width of the AMLCD as well as allowing separate windows of information to be moved from one side to another without a non illuminated portion of display in between display halves.

The APC DHA incorporates a separate day mode/night mode backlight to provide stunning day mode chromaticity while also able to operate with NVIS goggles in night mode. This backlight architecture minimizes power required for day mode operation as well.

APC also offers a proprietary redundant resistive touch panel that can be laminated to the front surface of the AMLCD. The touch panel architecture implements a dual channel controller, accounting for the potential of one touch panel element failure, to ensure the touch panel is still fully functional. APC assures gloved hand touchscreen operation is possible, while also maintaining sunlight readability and reducing EMI emissions through use of resistive technology.

The APC model 2150 is offered in several flexible configurations, ranging from an AMLCD with driver cards attached to a full display head assembly (DHA) that meets both tactical fighter as well as rotary wing environmental requirements.

Nearly all military tactical fast jet cockpits in the US, and many worldwide, include APC displays, as do multiple helicopters, armored vehicles and tanks, said Jamie Boulet, Manager of Business Development for APC. APC has developed the leading redundant avionics display head solution for 5th generation aircraft as well as 4th generation aircraft requiring upgraded display architecture. This upgraded 2150 DHA offers an exceptional improvement in technology and well proven redundant architecture to the F-35, which APC has supported since first flight.

In order to meet all optical and video performance requirements under demanding environmental conditions, APC continues to be progressive with its material and design choices. Combining these technologies together yields the most advanced, fully functioning display to enhance situational awareness and precision, and reduce risk in all situations while reducing weight, power, and cost.

For further information, please contact Jamie Boulet, 470-336-0465; jboulet(at)american-panel(dot)com
Dalys Keith, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Mid-Atlantic. We are incredibly excited that three of the most experienced, talented and successful REALTORS on the East Coast have joined the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty team.

Three highly skilled real estate professionals recently joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Mid-Atlantic region: Mark Gaetjen in the Oakton, Virginia Branch, Dalys Keith in Bethesda, Maryland, and Steve Strohecker in Federal Hill, Maryland.

We are incredibly excited that three of the most experienced, talented and successful REALTORS on the East Coast have joined the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty team. Mark, Dalys and Steve all share a commitment to service and professionalism that align perfectly with our vision and values, said Mid-Atlantic President and CEO Kevin Wiles.

Gaetjen has 15 years of real estate experiencehaving closed $500 million in sales volume during that time period. Gaetjen joined PenFed Realty because of its respected reputation and exceptional national and international marketing support. Prior to real estate he worked as a Class A Contractor, offering home improvement as well as home financing services in the D.C. Metropolitan area.

Keith has 14 years of experience in the industry. Keith began her career as a family case worker in East Harlem, helping children as part of an outreach program with the New York Founding Hospital. From there she joined Grey Advertising as a media planner. Keith then shifted her career to radio and television as an NBC Radio executive before moving into the real estate industry in 2002. My past and current experiences have taught me how to solve pressing issues, manage expectations, and negotiate the best deal for my clients, said Keith.

According to Keith, she joined the company after meeting management and sales professionals, and because of the companys global presence and consistent rankings as one of the worlds most respected companies. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realtys relaxed atmosphere and superior level of professionalism appealed to me as a way to strengthen my professional growth, Keith said.

Strohecker is a third generation real estate sales professional with 41 years experience in the industry. He joined his grandfathers firm in 1976 that was known as Security Realty Co. Strohecker launched his career from the familys main office just south of Baltimores Inner Harbor. Stroheckers passion has been focused on the renaissance in downtown Baltimore. Today, he is part of what is now known as the Federal Hill area in Baltimore. With numerous renovations and housing projects completed, Strohecker continues to help families find homes in the area and enjoy the likes of Fort McHenry, Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium and all the diverse cultures found on the peninsula. Strohecker also enjoys helping new agents.

I find great satisfaction in mentoring millennial agents, he said. Joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty has given me the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge with this new generation of agents.

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty is a full-service real estate company with annual sales volume of $2.8 billion with 1,700 sales agents and 50+ offices providing complete real estate services nationwide. PenFed Realty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PenFed Credit Union (PenFed). PenFed is a financial institution with $20 billion in assets and more than 1.5 million members. PenFed Realty is also a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brokerage network, operated by HSF Affiliates LLC. Visit PenFedRealty.com. Equal Opportunity Employer: m/f/v/d. Equal Housing Opportunity.
West Corporation, a leading provider of communication services, today announced a white paper addressing school safety best practices. Developed in recognition of America's Safe Schools Week, Oct. 16-22, Five Layers of School Safety provides detailed information for schools and school districts on safety practices that address five specific areas of emergency response planning: plan administration, staff training, exercises, technology and culture.

The paper is co-authored by Gary L. Sigrist, Jr., a nationally known speaker, consultant, author and expert on emergency preparedness, and Scott Poland, Ed.D., an internationally recognized school psychologist and crisis expert

.

School leaders recognize that it is crucial to have a robust school safety plan. This white paper offers them a blueprint for developing that plan by outlining the variety of safety risks that need to be addressed as well as staff training, exercises and drills, hardware and software for monitoring and communicating, and the relationship between safety and school culture, said Sigrist. Five Layers of School Safety will be available to download from the SchoolMessenger.com website on Oct. 18.

Also in preparation for Americas Safe Schools Week, West is hosting a webinar for school and district leaders addressing school safety on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 12 p.m. ET. The webinar will feature both Sigrist and Poland.

Now is the perfect time for school district leaders to evaluate safety preparedness at their schools and be sure their emergency plans are up to date, said Poland. This webinar will address topics, such as increasing student involvement, that will help districts safeguard the well-being of their entire school community.

All webinar attendees will receive the Five Layers of School Safety white paper when it becomes available. To register for the Oct. 12 webinar, visit http://bit.ly/Oct2016SafetyWebinar

About Wests Education Group

Wests Education group, part of West Corporation, is the trusted provider of SchoolMessenger solutions. Thousands of schools and other educational institutions in all 50 states and Canada depend on SchoolMessenger products and services. From notifications and websites to custom mobile apps and social media, school leaders have relied on the SchoolMessenger platform since 1999 to engage with their communities in multiple languages and on any device. To learn more about SchoolMessenger products, visit http://www.schoolmessenger.com or call 888.527.5225.
The MIAMI Association of REALTORS (MIAMI) promoted South Florida at Indias largest real estate event, NAR-INDIA, to advance the growing trend of local Indian buyers and investors. MIAMI met and provided printed reference materials with important South Florida market facts to top Indian and global brokers at the 8th annual event held Aug. 13-14 in New Delhi.

MIAMI also participated in a FIABCI India program in Bangalore, the center of Indias high-tech industry, from Aug. 15-16. FIABCI is the International Real Estate Federation that helps real estate professionals conduct international business with each other.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and ranks among the largest foreign buyers of U.S. real estate, MIAMI CEO Teresa King Kinney said. Indian home buyers and investors are increasingly purchasing Miami real estate because of our growing job base, robust technological hub, diversity and world-class educational opportunities.

Indian Investment in U.S. Real Estate

India is the third-largest foreign buyer of United States residential real estate, according to the 2016 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate conducted by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). India spent $6.1 billion in 2016, which trailed only China ($27.3 billion) and Canada ($8.9 billion).

Florida had the largest share of international sales (22 percent) in the United States. An impressive 50 percent of all foreign transactions in Florida take place in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Indian buyers are not concentrated in one American state, the study found. Most Indian buyers purchased properties to use as a primary residence where they most likely found jobs and many also invest in commercial and investment properties.

Miamis Growing Indian Community

South Florida has long been one of Americas top regions for international home buyers, and Indian consumers are becoming a larger part of it.

Asian Indians are the second largest nationality within the Miami Asian population (Chinese rank first with almost 13,000 residents). Asian Indians (9,512 residents) account for 23.2 percent of the total Miami Asian population, according to 2010-2014 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Miami has added local Indian restaurants and the demographic has increased its representation at local universities. The student population at the University of Miami, which is ranked among the top 45 colleges in America by U.S. News & World Report, is 5.6 percent Asian. UM offers a semester abroad for students in Manipal, India.

Indias interest in South Florida is also evident in foreign property searches on http://www.Miamire.com, MIAMI international search portal. India has ranked among the top-10 international countries searching for Miami real estate for the past 34 months.

The last time India didnt finish among the top searchers was September 2013. India had the ninth-most web searches of Miami real estate in July 2016, according to the most available data. India had its highest finish in February 2014, when it had the fourth-most web searches.

NAR-INDIA and FIABCI India Bangalore Program

The 8th annual NAR-INDIA convention, held Aug. 13-14 in New Delhi, had quality programming, educational sessions and networking opportunities. NAR-INDIA, an independent body formed seven years ago, represents 28 member associations and more than 20,000 brokers in India.

The FIABCI program, held Aug. 15-16 in Bangalore, attracted Realtors and stakeholders from 24 countries. Developers and Realtors visited tech parks and residential and commercial complexes.

Participating at NAR-INDIA and the FIABCI program in Bangalore is part of MIAMIs increased efforts to promote South Florida around the globe. In 2016, MIAMI has participated and/or exhibited and presented at MIPIM in France, FIABCI World Congress in Panama, Gran Salon Inmobiliario in Colombia, China North America Global Summit in China and NAR-India in India. This fall, MIAMI presented to top brokers at FIABCI France. It will exhibit at the Salon National de lImmobilier in Paris and InmoExpo in El Salvador.

About the MIAMI Association of REALTORS

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 96 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward Council, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents more than 42,000 real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S., and has official partnerships with 137 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.miamire.com
ProMIS Neurosciences (ProMIS or the Company), a company focused on discovery and development of precision treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced it has issued a new scientific white paper entitled: Critical Insight - Toxic soluble Amyloid beta oligomers (prions), not plaque, drive pathogenesis in Alzheimers disease. This is one of a series of commentaries from the ProMIS scientific team offering insight on the Companys emerging product portfolio and Alzheimers disease (AD) science in the popular press.

The recent Nature publication discussing the results of Biogens PRIME study, completed in 2015, focused on the role of aducanumab in reducing plaque burden in AD. However, there is now an extensive and growing body of literature supporting that toxic oligomers (prions) of Amyloid beta (A), and not plaque, seem to be the primary drivers of neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in AD, said Dr. Elliot Goldstein, ProMIS CEO.

Both Biogens Nature article and a poster on aducanumabs binding properties submitted a year later at the Alzheimers Association International Conference (AAIC, June 2016), are consistent with the current understanding of AD pathogenesis. The investigators on the aducanumab study indicated that the apparent clinical benefit observed in PRIME could be explained by the binding of aducanumab to oligomeric forms of A. The authors also state that reductions in toxic A oligomers, rather than reduction of plaque, may have had a more functionally relevant impact on cognition in the PRIME study.

Commenting on the PRIME study Dr. Johanne Kaplan, ProMIS Chief Development Officer, stated: The scientific literature and results of prior clinical trials suggest the ideal monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutic specifically binds the neurotoxic prion-like strains of A; with no binding to A monomers to avoid reduced efficacy due to off-target binding, and no binding to plaque to avoid the edema (brain swelling) associated with disruption of plaque.

ProMIS has identified multiple therapeutic candidates against five A epitope targets that do not bind monomer (a sixth target is under evaluation).

As announced on Sept. 13, 2016, generation of mAbs against the first three epitopes yielded candidates with the desired target profile of selective binding to soluble toxic oligomers from AD brain extracts, with little or no binding to monomers or plaque in AD brain tissue. Analysis of antibodies against the other three epitopes is ongoing.

When Biogen announced clinical data from the PRIME trial almost two years ago it created a very positive reaction stated ProMIS Executive Chairman, Eugene Williams. The data also demonstrated areas where there could be significant improvement over aducanumab. ProMIS is making great progress in developing a mAb product portfolio that delivers those improvements to generate better drugs for AD patients.

About ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc.

The mission of ProMIS Neurosciences is to discover and develop precision medicine therapeutics for effective treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimers disease and ALS.

ProMIS Neurosciences proprietary target discovery engine is based on the use of two, complementary techniques. The Company applies its thermodynamic, computational discovery platformProMIS and Collective Coordinates  to predict novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes (DSEs) on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique "precision medicine" approach, ProMIS Neurosciences aims to develop novel antibody therapeutics and specific companion diagnostics for Alzheimers disease and ALS. The company has also developed two proprietary technologies to specifically identify very low levels of misfolded proteins in a biological sample. In addition, ProMIS Neurosciences owns a portfolio of therapeutic and diagnostic patents relating to misfolded SOD1 in ALS,

and currently has a preclinical monoclonal antibody therapeutic against this target.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release may contain certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information please consult the Company's website at:

http://www.promisneurosciences.com

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NATIONAL Equicom

Michael Moore

Tel. 858-886-7813

mmoore(at)national.ca

Abby Garfunkel

Tel. 403-218-2887

agarfunkel@national.ca

or contact

Dr. Elliot Goldstein

President and Chief Executive Officer, ProMIS Neurosciences Inc.

Tel. 415 341-5783

Elliot.goldstein(at)promisneurosciences.com
We desperately need public support at this time to be able to help Jacmel, as well as our partners in other impacted communities across Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.

Operation USA, a Los Angeles-based international relief agency, announced today that is assessing needs in Haiti and surrounding countries as Hurricane Matthew makes landfall. The agency is planning to deliver recovery aid as needed to affected communities, and will rely on staff members as well as long standing partners to facilitate the distribution of funds and materials.

Hurricane Matthew is currently being reported as a Category 4 storm, with experts predicting catastrophic damage to Haiti. Areas of Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba and possibly the United States will also be impacted. The storm is expected to maintain strength throughout its slow journey, bringing sustained heavy rainfall and winds up to 140 mph.

As of Monday afternoon, authorities were working rapidly to prepare for the approaching storm, bracing for floods and mudslides in several areas. In Haiti, officials closed the border, cancelled school across the country and began evacuating people from coastal areas. The Port-au-Prince airport was also closed as of Monday.

We have close ties to the Haitian community, as we have worked in Jacmel since the major earthquake that devastated the country in 2010, said Richard Walden, CEO, Operation USA. We know firsthand how vulnerable these communities are, and this storm is sure to exacerbate conditions for many families who are still recovering from the earthquake and cholera epidemic. We desperately need public support at this time to be able to help Jacmel, as well as our partners in other impacted communities across Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.

Operation USA has worked in Haiti since 2008, and has remained committed to the community of Jacmelwhere the agency rebuilt an eight-building school campus in partnership with Honeywell after the 2010 earthquake. OpUSA has also previously worked in Jamaica and Cuba. The agency will work with long-standing partners in affected communities to deliver aid quickly and efficiently in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.

HOW TO HELP:

Donations to Operation USA will be allocated directly to relief and recovery efforts in Haiti.

Donate online at give.opusa.org, by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, PO BOX 36188, Los Angeles, CA 90036-0188.

Donations can also be made via text message: text AID to 50555 to donate $10. Text donations are collected for the benefit of Operation USA by the mGive Foundation and subject to the terms found at http://www.mGive.org/t.

Corporate donations supporting recovery and rebuilding efforts  bulk quantities of disaster- appropriate supplies, transportation and shipping services, shelter, power generation, water purification and medical supplies  are also being requested.

United Airlines miles can be donated to Operation USA through United Airlines Charity Miles program at http://www.united.com.

ABOUT OPERATION USA:

Founded in 1979, Operation USA supports health and education programs in order to help children and families at home and abroad recover from disasters. Focusing on under-served and overlooked communities, and working with partners around the world, OpUSA empowers communities to recover, build resiliency and thrive. Learn more at http://www.opusa.org.

Richard Walden, President and CEO of Operation USA, is available as an expert source on disaster recovery.

PRESS CONTACT:

Mary Dolan

Operation USA

mdolan(at)opusa.org

323-413-2353

###
Brian Shultz, CIO of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is being commended for his innovative and advanced technology skills. His goal at Cruise Planners has been to create seamless opportunities for the travel agents to focus on selling travel while creating tools to make everyone more efficient and effective."

This year Brian Shultz, CIO of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, the nations largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the industry, is being commended for his innovative and advanced technology skills.

Shultz has been named as a 2016 CIO Awards Finalist in the South Florida Business Journals 2016 Technology Awards. This program recognizes CIOs who lead their organizations in delivering business value and innovative use of technology. This comes on the heels of him being awarded Top Workplace Professional, being recognized by Sun Sentinel.

We are so proud of Brian and all that he has accomplished with Cruise Planners technology  keeping us cutting edge, said Cruise Planners CEO and co-founder Michelle Fee. His goal at Cruise Planners has been to create seamless opportunities for the travel agents to focus on selling travel while creating tools to make everyone more efficient and effective. He has fulfilled those goals and then some while being a strong leader.

During the past five years, Shultzs team has grown from four to more than 20 people as he leads one of the largest technology teams within the home-based travel franchise industry. Under Shultzs leadership his team recently introduced a variety of new products and technologies, expanded the companys infrastructure and grew the user base by nearly 25 percent.

As such, Cruise Planners launched eREZ Mobile, which is one of the most technologically advanced mobile applications within the industry. This app makes it possible for travel agents to run their business from virtually anywhere in the world. In addition, Shultzs team also launched Cruise Planners Mobile which is an app for customers. The consumer app allows travelers to access their itineraries, book trip add-ons and connect with their travel agent. On his IT team, Shultz has introduced new roles and processes in order to improve efficiency and increase output.

Brian hasnt just made an impact on Cruise Planners, he has made an impact on the industry as a whole, Fee said. He developed a strong team that challenges each other to improve and create the best technology in the industry.

About Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative

Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is the nations largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry. Cruise Planners operates a network of more than 1,400 franchise owners who independently book amazing vacation and travel experiences for their clients. The Florida-based Home Office Team positions a nation-wide network of franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing, booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industrys top executives. The company continues to be lauded and has been named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 13 consecutive years. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, has been ranked as the #1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 5 years in a row, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel since it started ranking companies.

Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. with more than 22 years of experience, Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line. Accolades include numerous Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly for the past seven years, American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award for 11 consecutive years (2004-2014), American Express Agency of the Year (2010), Royal Caribbean International Chairmans Award (2015), Royal Caribbean International Presidents Award for Overall Achievement (2012 and 2014), Royal Caribbean International Home-Based Partner of the Year (2007-2013), Norwegian Cruise Line Franchise Agency of the Year (2011-2015), Celebrity Cruises Field Sales Account of the Year (2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Account of the Year (2013-2014) and Celebrity Cruises Southeast Region Travel Agent Partner of the Year (2010), American Express Vacations Best of the Best Globe Award (2008-2015), Globus Family of Brands Premier Agency Partner (2009-2014), Platinum Member of the 500 Club for Sales Excellence (2014), Platinum Circle Member with Viking River Cruises (2009-2012), Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection Top Producer (2008-2014) and Regent Seven Seas Cruises Top Producer. Cruise Planners is one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according to Franchise Business Review, has been named one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprise magazine and is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. For more information, visit http://www.cruiseplanners.com.

Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting our media room, following us on Twitter @Cruisitude or on Facebook. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers should locate a travel advisor near them. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit our franchise website.
"We are pleased that Josh has joined the Chicago Freight Car team. He possesses extensive leadership experience aligning brand awareness with strategic growth goals, and in business development and customer satisfaction."

Chicago Freight Car Leasing Co., a premier lessor of railcars to industrial, agricultural, and food products shippers and railroads, announces that Josh Chesser has joined the company as vice president of Sales & Customer Support. In this role, Josh will serve as the sales and customer support leader of Chicago Freight Car Leasing (CFCL).

Josh brings more than 22 years of railcar industry experience to CFCL. Prior to joining the company, he was vice president of Sales and Marketing Services for Salco Products. In this role, Josh was responsible for global sales, marketing initiatives, brand awareness, and customer satisfaction. Previously, Josh held several other roles with progressive responsibility within Salco, beginning in operations.

We are pleased that Josh has joined the Chicago Freight Car team. He possesses extensive leadership experience aligning brand awareness with strategic growth goals, and in business development and customer satisfaction, said CFCL President Paul Deasy. We are confident that Josh will help us grow our business and deepen our commitment to our customers.

ABOUT CHICAGO FREIGHT CAR LEASING CO.:

Chicago Freight Car Leasing Co. (http://www.crdx.com), a business unit of Sasser Family Holdings, Inc., is an independent railcar leasing solutions company that has been delivering quality products, reliable services, and a commitment to an outstanding customer experience. The company maintains a diverse railcar fleet supporting the needs of industrial, agricultural, and food products shippers and railroads throughout North America.

Sasser Family Holdings, Inc. is a 4th generation, family-held transportation asset services and management company with roots dating back to 1928. In addition to Chicago Freight Car Leasing Co., other subsidiary business units and investments include Union Leasing, CF Rail Services, CF Asia Pacific Group PTY Ltd., NxGen Rail Services LLC, and Xced Aviation Services, LLC.
SumTotal, a leading provider of unified HCM solutions proven to drive organizational performance, will be previewing its upcoming release of the SumTotal Talent Expansion Suite at this weeks HR Technology Conference.

The latest release of the SumTotal Suite features an all new SumTotal Onboarding solution that transforms an often manual, siloed series of actions into a unified and engaging experience that expedites performance by bringing critical HR information, learning, curated content, talent processes and collaboration together into one personalized view for every new employee. The latest release also features new capabilities that empower employees to better understand their career mobility options within the organization and seamlessly connect to tools that help them close gaps in preparation, as well as equipping managers to drive team performance, recognizing revenue through learning delivery and delivering an engaging mobile learning experience.

Todays HR and learning leaders play a more critical role than ever to help manage and drive organizational performance, and they are being challenged to look beyond traditional HR to impact all areas of the business, said Bill Donoghue, Skillsoft CEO. Our Onboarding solution follows on the back of our latest Talent Expansion Suite delivering a beautiful consumer led, cutting edge, personalized experience for new employees, with increased efficiency, collaboration and performance. This release also focuses on internal mobility, empowering employees to identify potential career moves and provides them with relevant, impactful training.

During this weeks HR Technology Conference in Chicago, SumTotal will be previewing the upcoming release of the Talent Expansion Suite in its booth (1222), and SumTotal executives will play an active role in the conference agenda:

The Evolution and Future of HR Analytics Technology

SumTotal VP of Global Product Strategy & Business Transformation, Morne Swart, will participate in this interactive panel discussing the exciting implications of next-gen analytics for HR practitioners.

Time: Thursday, October 6, 11:00 a.m.

Getting the Most Value From the Vendor Demo: The Experts Tell You How

Join Mara New, SumTotal VP of Global Sales Support, for a discussion with other leading HCM vendors around how you can get the most value from the solution demo process.

Time: Thursday, October 6, 4:00 p.m.

American Cancer Society's Journey to Becoming a Self-Developing Organization

The American Cancer Society set out to harness the passion of their people through integrated development initiatives aimed at keeping employees engaged and growing within the organization. Join John Ambrose, SumTotal General Manager, and Angela Rose, Director of Talent Process and Systems at American Cancer Society, as she shares the critical steps in their journey and how they overcame challenges along the way.

Time: Friday, October 7, 9:30 a.m.

SumTotal, an industry-recognized leader in the HCM solution space, will feature a schedule of in-booth product demos, demo stations to accommodate custom demos, in-booth private meeting space and a unique augmented reality experience for attendees to try.

For additional information on SumTotals unified suite of learning and talent solutions, please visit our website, and follow the conversation on social media using the hashtag #HRTechConf and on Twitter at @HRTechConf and Instagram @HRTechConf. Also, visit the HR Tech Facebook page.

About SumTotal Systems

SumTotal Systems, LLC, a Skillsoft company and a leading provider of integrated HR solutions, is increasing the performance of some of the worlds most successful organizations. SumTotals people-focused Talent Expansion applications, available on premise and in the cloud, enable contextual, just-in-time development designed to help organizations discover, develop and unleash the hidden potential within their workforce and business ecosystem. Today, more than 3,500 organizations, including several of Fortunes Best Places to Work, rely on SumTotals award winning solutions to empower their employees. Follow @SumTotalSystems at twitter.com/sumtotalsystems and on Facebook at facebook.com/SumTotal.Systems for more learning and talent management tips and perspectives.
Medic-CE is a leading provider of online continuing education for EMS and firefighting professionals. The Medic-CE and Career Step combination of tools is the only unified solution in the market that enables EMS professionals to meet all of their didactic continuing education requirements in one place.

Career Step, an online provider of career-focused education and professional training, is pleased to announce its acquisition of Medic-CE, LLC, one of the leading providers of online continuing education for emergency medical service (EMS) and firefighting professionals. This acquisition expands Career Steps professional training offerings into another sector of healthcare.

At Career Step, we continue to focus on helping people improve their lives and advance their careers through education designed for real application in the healthcare arena, said Steve Tober, Career Step President and CEO. The acquisition of Medic-CE enables us to take our education and innovative training one step further. We are now able to combine Medic-CEs robust learning and record management system and its considerable online continuing education course library, with our live online, instructor-led training, which we added this past January through the acquisition of Code3 CME. This combination of tools is the only unified solution in the market that enables EMS professionals to meet all of their didactic continuing education requirements in one place.

Founded in 2006 and based in Houston, Texas, Medic-CE currently serves more than 75,000 individual learners and 200 EMS and fire agencies. The company offers self-paced online continuing education that is written and developed by subject matter experts. All of the EMS programs are nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Pre-Hospital Continuing Education (CAPCE) and are accepted by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT).

With high-quality courses and easy-to-use technology, Medic-CE has grown to become one of the largest providers of EMS online continuing education over the past eight years, said Richard Ezzeddine, MD, co-founder of Medic-CE. Teaming up with Career Step provides a unique opportunity to rapidly expand our course offerings and further enhance our technology as well as become the first company to offer virtual instructor-led training through an advanced learning management platform. Our ultimate goal is to increase customer satisfaction and ensure we continue to be a pioneer in the online EMS continuing education space.

Career Steps acquisition focuses on improving the experiences of its learners within the EMS field. The online format aligns with Career Steps portfolio of education products, and the acquisition simplifies continuing education by providing the opportunity to meet all didactic training requirements through one vendor.

As an emergency medical services and fire educator with nearly 20 years of experience, I understand first-hand the challenges departments face delivering healthcare education to their staff, said Judson Smith, Career Step Vice President of Continuing Education. This is why I am so excited for the time savings and convenience that will be provided for these agencies with the 24/7 access to online instructor-led training as well as self-paced curriculum within one platform. In the business of saving life and property, this is extremely valuable to our fire and EMS professionals.

Career Step will run the Medic-CE business as an independent brand and entity within Career Steps Professional Training Division. The transaction closed September 30, 2016, and Hogan Lovells US LLP acted as exclusive legal advisor to Career Step. More information on the available products can be found at Medic-CE.com.

About Career Step

Career Step, a portfolio company of Denver-based equity firm Revelstoke Capital partners, is an online provider of career-focused education and professional training. The company has trained over 100,000 students for new careers, has more than 150 partnerships with colleges and universities nationwide, offers a variety of continuing education courses for healthcare professionals and has educated more than 8,000 health information professionals through its Professional Training Division. Career Step provides training for several of the largest and most respected healthcare employers in the nation and is committed to helping students and practicing healthcare professionals alike gain the skills they need to be successful in the workplaceimproving lives, advancing careers and bettering business results through education. More information can be found at http://www.careerstep.com or 1-800-246-7836.

About Medic-CE

Medic-CE, a Career Step company, provides accredited online continuing education for EMS and firefighting professionals. Founded in 2006, the company currently serves over 75,000 learners and 200 fire/EMS departments. More than 200 hours of continuing education are available through the companys powerful learning management system. The company also offers the Code3 CME Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) Solution and the option for departments to add their own in-house continuing education and instructor-led courses to its sophisticated yet simple learning platform. More information is available at Medic-CE.com or 1-877-458-9498.
Roundup, the worlds most widely used herbicide, is now at the center of a Multidistrict centralized federal litigation.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation of the United States issued its order centralizing these cases in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Hon Vince Chhabria will preside over the litigation there.

The Judicial Panel decision came just 2 business days after the Panel heard arguments on centralization.

Monsanto Co., manufacturer of the herbicide, opposed the transfer of cases filed in federal courts in Nebraska California, Hawaii, Louisiana and elsewhere. Twenty-one lawsuits filed in 14 federal judicial districts across the country were consolidated. The panel was notified of another 16 related actions pending in 12 districts.

All responding Plaintiffs supported centralization under the Multidistrict litigation rules. Monsanto argued that individualized facts and informal coordination of discovery efforts were preferable to centralize to judicial supervision. The Judicial Panel noted, "We are not persuaded by either argument."

The panel noted that glyphosate is the central active ingredient in the herbicide, and that all of the cases entail an overarching query  whether glyphosate causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in persons exposed to it while using Roundup.

Domina Law Group pc llo filed one of the earliest Roundup cases included in this consolidation, DOMINA, ET AL. v. MONSANTO COMPANY, C.A. No. 4:16-03074, on behalf of four Nebraskans  3 farmers and in agronomist.
John Burton and Jim Brulte have shown themselves over the years, as legislators and party leaders, to be savvy strategists and straight shooters, said Diaz. Im looking forward to hearing their insights and predictions."

The University of San Francisco (USF) and The San Francisco Chronicle are teaming up on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. to host, Whats at Stake on November 8?, an evening of conversation focused on the political landscape, including the 2016 presidential election. The Chronicles Editorial Page Editor, John Diaz, will moderate the discussion with two former legislative leaders who now chair their respective state parties, Democrat John Burton and Republican Jim Brulte serving as panelists. The public is encouraged to attend this free event taking place in USFs McLaren Conference Center (2130 Fulton Street) from 7:00-8:00 p.m., preceded by a reception from 6:00-7:00 p.m. All are welcome.

During this evening of conversation, Burton and Brulte will offer their perspectives on the upcoming presidential election, the races and propositions in California, the role of media in shaping public opinion, and their assessment on the current state of American politics. This conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A session led by James Lance Taylor, politics professor and director of African American Studies at USF.

John Burton and Jim Brulte have shown themselves over the years, as legislators and party leaders, to be savvy strategists and straight shooters, said Diaz. Im looking forward to hearing their insights and predictions on one of the most unpredictable elections in modern times.

Whats at Stake November 8? features a seasoned moderator and panelists, promising to be an evening of lively discussion on the current local and national political climate. John Burton has been chairman of the California Democratic Party since April 2009, and previously served in the California Senate Assembly, the U.S. House of Representatives, the California State Senate, and as the President Pro Tem of the Senate. He has called himself the last of Californias true liberals.

Jim Brulte has been chairman of the California Republican Party since March 2013, and previously served in three presidential administrations. He was appointed by two California governors to state boards. Capitol Weekly wrote that over the last 15 years, there has been no more enduring force in California Republican politics than Jim Brulte.

John Diaz has been the Editorial Page Editor for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1996. Previously, he was the editor of political coverage for the Denver Post, and served as a Washington correspondent for the Donrey Media Group that covered Congress and federal agencies for its newspaper and broadcast stations. Diaz has won both state and national awards for his opinion writing.

Those interested in attending should RSVP here.

For more information, please contact Anne-Marie Devine Tasto, USF senior director of media relations, at (415) 422-2697 or abdevine(at)usfca.edu.

About The San Francisco Chronicle

The San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfchronicle.com) is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by Hearst Corporation in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. With name-brand voices and a keen editorial eye, the Chronicle is an authority that still surprises. Follow us on Twitter @SFChronicle.

About USF

The University of San Francisco is located in the heart of one of the worlds most innovative and diverse cities, and is home to a vibrant academic community of students and faculty who achieve excellence in their fields. Its diverse student body enjoys direct access to faculty, small classes, and outstanding opportunities in the city itself. USF is San Franciscos first university, and its Jesuit Catholic mission helps ignite a students passion for social justice and a desire to Change the World from Here. For more information, visit http://www.usfca.edu. Follow us on Twitter @USFCA.

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ChefsBest Honors America's Best Tasting Foods

In a concerted effort to help executive chefs, managers and buyers secure high-quality products for restaurants, hotels, universities, airlines and hospital cafeterias, ChefsBest has expanded its award recognition for brands competing to become top suppliers in the foodservice industry.

Like other recognition by ChefsBest, Excellence Awards are granted to foodservice suppliers following evaluation by Certified Master Tasters using Sensory Attribute Quality Analysis, the same proprietary judging method used when determining prestigious and nationally recognized ChefsBest Best Taste awards.

TreeHouse Foods, a food and beverage leader in the United States and Canada, recently became the latest company to earn the recognition. The company earned tops in quality in the foodservice salad dressings and pickles product categories for Rods by Naturally Fresh buttermilk ranch, bleu cheese, and Caesar salad dressings, and Schwartzs dill pickle spears and dill pickle slices.

Brands including Cargill, Rothbury Farms and Ruiz Foods have also earned ChefsBest Excellence Awards in their respective categories for foodservice products.

We know executive chefs, managers and buyers take cost, availability and personal relationships into account when they create their supplier lists. They also understand that quality plays a large part in enticing customers to return to their establishments, said ChefsBest CEO Lisa Liguori. The ChefsBest Excellence Award for foodservice brands gives competing brands a leg up on generic products, many times before they even make contact with buyers, and it helps to justify premium pricing.

Similar to the ChefsBest Best Taste Award, only one Excellence Award is given in each product category.

The move to include foodservice is one of several made by ChefsBest in the past year to open its coveted recognition to more brands, and in turn, help buyers, chefs and customers make more informed decisions.

Most recently, ChefsBest announced a new Quality in Craft Award for brands with under $1 million in annual sales. Previously, only those considered leading national brands were eligible for ChefsBest evaluation.

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About ChefsBest

ChefsBest identifies and honors the best tasting grocery products in order to support the companies that make them and the people who choose to select them. Through its headquarters in San Diego and the Center for Taste in San Francisco, the organization has judged thousands of grocery products and bestowed its Best Taste and Excellence awards on the highest-quality products since 2000. Through ChefsBest, brands can unlock coveted ad claims and consumers can garner insight they need to purchase the best-tasting and highest quality ingredients. ChefsBest awards are a nationally recognized trust mark used by numerous brands, both in and out of the grocery aisle. For more information, visit ChefsBest.com.
Applied Systems today announced the introduction of Applied Epic, the fastest growing cloud-based broker management system, to the U.K. insurance marketplace. Utilised by more than 60,000 brokers in North America and five of the top twelve global brokerages, Applied Epic delivers the most technologically advanced software application to independent brokers to enable faster growth and profitability in a changing insurance marketplace.

Purpose-built for insurance brokers, Applied Epic is a single, integrated and open application that provides essential capabilities to better manage customer relationships, sales opportunities, eTrading, financial accounting, and policy administration across all lines of business, reducing time and expenses spent managing separate, disparate systems. The application offers a comprehensive view of client and prospect information and internal operations through an intuitive user interface, enabling users to make more informed decisions about their business and capitalise quickly on new opportunities. Applied Epics advanced software architecture enables seamless integration with third-party applications and provides scalability for brokerages with multiple locations to manage expansion and business growth with ease.

Key capabilities of Applied Epic include:



Multichannel customer service capabilities: Applied Epic seamlessly integrates with Applied CSR24, Applied MobileInsured and Applied Mobile to enable omni-channel eTrading and customer service, including email, SMS, client portal and mobile apps.

Business process management and automation: Applied Epic provides greater business process management capabilities and pre-built workflows with myEpic, enabling brokers to automate, adapt and reassign the most frequently used workflows to ensure consistency across all users and locations to maximise profitability.

Superior management information and reporting: Applied Epic delivers exceptional insight into a brokers financial performance through market-leading reporting and best-practice accounting.

Customer relationship and sales automation capabilities: Epic Sales Automation enables brokers to view, monitor, track and forecast new business opportunities and renewals directly within the application, eliminating the need to invest time and expense in separate solutions.

Modern architecture to support growth: Applied Epic is built upon native cloud technology to provide the flexibility brokers require operate in todays digital environment.

After an initial launch in the U.S. market, Applied Epic was then successfully localised and launched in Canada, including Quebec. Western Financial Group, owner of the largest property and casualty distribution network in western Canada, was the first Canadian brokerage to launch Applied Epic to integrate its more than 120 network locations and over 1,500 employees located throughout Canadas western provinces, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

On their selection of Applied Epic, Joe Sirianni, executive vice president of Network for Western Financial, said, Changing management systems is a large undertaking for any business, so Western Financial spent significant time researching various vendors and conducting formal functional reviews to find a system best suited for our digital transformation. Applied Epics flexible architecture provides visibility into all of our data and standardised reporting required for our business. In partnering with Applied to bring Applied Epic to the Canadian market, we have been able to drive significant business results and take our business into the future.

In todays connected world, brokers require an advanced management system that can automate and standardise business operations and enhance customer service via a single application to drive growth and profitability, said Reid French, chief executive officer, Applied Systems. Applied Epic enables brokers to manage multiple lines of business while maintaining a single view of their clients and prospects, as well as enable integrated mobility and servicing to ensure staff and customers have anywhere, anytime access to insurance information. With more than 30 years of innovation and service expertise, Applied has a proven track-record of delivering successful innovations across international markets, and we are extremely pleased to be partnering with a leading broker to introduce the advanced capabilities of Applied Epic into the market, as well as driving further digital transformation of the broader UK insurance industry.

About Applied Systems

Applied Systems is the leading global provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Recognised as a pioneer in insurance automation and data exchange between brokerages, insurers and their clients, Applied is the worlds largest provider of agency and brokerage management systems, serving customers throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applied enables millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.
In this increasingly complex world of connected devices, consumers cannot take it for granted that their devices remain safe, secure and private. As people acquire more devices, the long term risks to their family and community rise exponentially.

In support of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the non-profit with the mission to enhance online trust the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) today released the OTA Consumer IoT Security & Privacy Checklist. The checklist contains steps consumers can take to help increase the security, privacy and safety of their connected home and wearable technologies, which are also referred to as Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

OTA recommends consumers utilize this checklist to regularly reassess their security and privacy settings on their IoT devices. Not unlike changing the batteries on a smoke detector once a year, consumers should tune up and optimize IoT device settings regularly. While many people cite safety as a top reason for buying smart devices and homes, conclusive research shows that security and privacy concerns are the biggest barriers to IoT adoption. OTA hopes that by having consumers play an active role in their smart devices security and privacy, it will not only increase the security and privacy of those devices but also boost consumer confidence in them.

In this increasingly complex world of connected devices, consumers cannot take it for granted that their devices remain safe, secure and private year after year, said Craig Spiezle, Executive Director Online Trust Alliance. As people acquire more devices, the long term risks to their family and community rise exponentially.

Millions of consumers are the victims of identity theft and online scams each year, and many may not realize that the smart devices that make their lives easier can also make them more vulnerable, said Bob Ferguson, Washington State Attorney General. OTAs recommendations are an important step toward helping people protect their privacy and personal safety.

From connected home to health and fitness devices, consumers are realizing significant benefits from the Internet of Things, but the devices growing complexity and popularity make them difficult to manage. As devices age and become unsupported, many risk becoming insecure while still collecting and potentially sharing vast amounts of personal data. Below are OTAs consumer security and privacy recommendations:

1. Inventory all devices within your home and workplace that are connected to the Internet and network. Router reports can help determine what devices are connected to your network. Disable unknown and unused devices.

2. Contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to update routers and modems to the latest security standards. Change your router service set identifier (SSID) to a name which does not identify you, your family or the device.

3. Check that contact information for all of your devices are up-to-date including an email address regularly used to receive security updates and related notifications.

4. Confirm devices and their mobile applications are set for automatic updating to help maximize protection. Review their sites for the latest firmware patches.

5. Review all passwords creating unique passwords and user names for administrative accounts and avoid using the same password for multiple devices. Delete guest codes no longer used. Where possible implement multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of your accounts being taken over. Such protection helps verify who is trying to access your accountnot just someone with your password.

6. Review the privacy policies and practices of your devices, including data collection and sharing with third parties. Your settings can be inadvertently changed during updates. Reset as appropriate to reflect your preferences.

7. Review devices' warranty and support policies. If they are no longer supported with patches and updates, disable the devices connectivity or discontinue usage of the device.

8. Before discarding, returning or selling any device, remove any personal data and reset it to factory settings. Disable the associated online account and delete data.

9. Review privacy settings on your mobile phone(s) including location tracking, cookies, contact sharing, bluetooth, microphone and other settings. Set all your device and applications to prompt you before turning on and sharing and data.

10. Back up your files including personal documents and photographs to storage devices that are not permanently connected to the Internet.

As millions of cars, apps and household devices connect to the Internet, we need to discuss the privacy implications and resolve key questions about data ownership and management, said Washington State Chief Privacy Officer, Alex Alben. For the IoT to thrive in the long term, consumers will have to trust that their data and concerns about personal privacy are addressed, and OTAs recommendations are a positive step to accomplishing this.

In todays ever connected world BBB believes it is not only vital, but ethical for businesses and organizations to safeguard their intellectual property, financial information and customer data, said Tyler Andrew, Better Business Bureau serving the Northwest CEO. Recommendations, like those provided by the Online Trust Alliance, are imperative for the protection of consumer and company information.

Nearly 100 organizations including private businesses, consumer and privacy advocates, international testing organizations, academic institutions, and U.S. governmental and law enforcement agencies contributed to the development of the OTA Consumer IoT Security & Privacy Checklist. These organizations also helped develop the OTA IoT Trust Framework, a set of principles providing guidance to device manufacturers and application developers. The framework is at https://otalliance.org/IoTindustry and checklist is at https://otalliance.org/IoTconsumer.

About OTA:

The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) is a non-profit with the mission to enhance online trust and user empowerment while promoting innovation and the vitality of the Internet. Its goal is to help educate businesses, policy makers and stakeholders while developing and advancing best practices and tools to enhance the protection of users' security, privacy and identity. OTA supports collaborative public-private partnerships, benchmark reporting, and meaningful self-regulation and data stewardship. Its members and supporters include leaders spanning the public policy, technology, ecommerce, social networking, mobile, email and interactive marketing, financial, service provider, government agency and industry organization sectors.
The VNA Rummage Sale, with two acres and 26 departments of merchandise, will take place on October 7, 8 and 9, 2016 at the Far Hills Fairgrounds in Far Hills, NJ.

Two acres, 75,000 square feet, and 26 departments of bargain-priced merchandise are waiting for shoppers at the VNA Rummage Sale, which will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 7, 8 and 9 at the Far Hills Fairgrounds, located at the corner of US Route 202 and Peapack Road in Far Hills, New Jersey. The sale is open 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, rain or shine.

The VNA Rummage Sale has shopping opportunities for all ages and interests. The variety of high quality merchandise includes clothing and accessories for children and adults, furniture, home goods, pet supplies, artwork, toys, sporting goods, fine and costume jewelry, antiques, kitchenware, appliances, electronics, lighting fixtures, books, cameras, vintage items, musical instruments, vinyl records, fabric and sewing accessories, holiday decorations and more. Goods, all donated by members of the local community, are sorted, checked for cleanliness and damage, and organized on racks and shelves by more than 400 volunteers.

Proceeds help the VNA give all families equal access to the agencys full range of home health and hospice care services, regardless of their ability to pay. Funds raised also ensure that all members of the community can benefit from important and innovative programs uncompensated by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance.

What to Know:



Rain or shine.

Parking and admission are free. Handicap parking is available.

Credit cards (Mastercard and Visa), cash and checks are accepted in all departments. Photo identification may be required for credit cards and checks).

Short walking distance from the NJ Transit Far Hills Station.

Food is available for purchase, cash only.

Flu shots will be available on Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. The vaccine is $25 or free for anyone with Medicare Part B. Managed Medicare Plans and private insurance are not accepted.

For directions and more information, go to http://www.visitingnurse.org/news-and-events/rummage

About VNA of Somerset Hills

The Visiting Nurse Association of Somerset Hills and its subsidiaries provide individuals and families with comprehensive, high quality, cost-effective home and community healthcare services, regardless of ability to pay, using partnerships where appropriate. The VNA is a charitable, tax-exempt home health agency and hospice certified by Medicare, accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) and licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Credentials include recognition as a 2015 HomeCare Elite Agency, award to the top-performing Medicare-certified home health agencies in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.visitingnurse.org.
Stetson Logo What is most important to growing a business is growth in sales  it is the fuel to driving business forward.

Stetson University School of Business Administration announced plans today to launch the Centurion Sales Excellence Program that will offer a major and a minor in sales beginning in the fall of 2017.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales are at the core of profitability for many businesses. The overall demand for sales positions is projected to grow by five percent annually through 2024 from approximately 15.4 million to 16.2 millions jobs.

On average, graduates of sales programs experience, on average, over 90 percent job placement in the previous two years, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The program was made possible by a donation from Stetson alumnus, Leopoldo Fernandez, in honor of his father, Genaro Fernandez Centurion.

Any living entity needs to grow to survive, and business is no exception, explained Fernandez. What is most important to growing a business is growth in sales  it is the fuel to driving business forward.

With his generous gift, Mr. Fernandez enables current and future Stetson business students to develop the very skills that were critical to his own phenomenal success as an entrepreneur, said Neal Mero, Ph.D., dean and professor of management in the School of Business Administration. Few skills are more important than that of being an effective and persuasive communicator, and that is the key to the success of our students. We are honored that he has founded the Centurion Sales Excellence Program and are confident that this program will have lasting impact on our students success.

Fernandez credits his selling ability for his business success and says he founded the Centurion Sales Excellence Program to enhance the professional careers of all students. Although he learned selling skills as part of his professional experience he believes that he would have been even more successful had he learned sales skills earlier in his education, according to Mero.

Students in the Centurion Sales Program will learn how to meet the needs of consumers and sell products and services with multiple sales courses as well as courses in communication and negotiations. Advanced sales students also will participate in training of beginning sales students. Fernandezs gift also helps fund the development of specialized sales training labs that will be designed on campus to create an environment that will help further sharpen sales skills.

Although Fernandez enrolled at Stetson University in 1964, he first served in the U.S. Army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. He graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant at the Engineer Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in March 1969. He was a Distinguished Military Graduate and was honored with the Leadership Award of his graduating class. Fernandez went on to graduate in 1973 from Stetson University School of Business Administration where he majored in accounting and finance and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. As an entrepreneur, he founded TelePizza, opening 800 stores in six countries and securing a 64 percent market share of the pizza restaurant and home delivery in Spain within 11 years. He later bought a controlling interest of Jazztel, a full telecom operator in Spain, offering cellular and land line services. As a result of the success of Jazztel and Tele-Pizza, Fernandez became the only entrepreneur in the Spanish market to place two companies from start-up, or from near bankruptcy in the IBEX 35.

About Stetson University

Founded in 1883, Stetson University is the oldest private university in Florida, providing a transforming education in the liberal arts tradition. Stetson stresses academic excellence and community-engaged learning, and consistently earns high marks in national rankings. Stetson encourages its students to go beyond success to significance in their lives, the lives of others and their communities. Stay connected with Stetson on social media.

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uBiome is completely committed to meeting the most exacting standards. We were determined to put ourselves through the tough requirements for accreditation by the CAP, and the whole team is very gratified that our hard work has paid off.

Following a rigorous on-site inspection, the leading microbial genomics testing company, uBiome, has been awarded accreditation to its San Francisco clinical laboratory by the highly respected College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Accreditation is only awarded to facilities meeting the highest standards of quality in laboratory services. With this recognition, the uBiome laboratory joins the prestigious ranks of some of the most prominent clinical laboratories in the world.

Although seeking accreditation from the CAP is voluntary, the U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, which began in the early 1960s, as being equal to or more stringent than the governments own inspection program, which is known as CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments). uBiomes laboratory became CLIA-certified in 2014. CAP accreditation is internationally recognized and seen as the gold standard for laboratories, above and beyond CLIA certification. Since so few CLIA-certified labs are also CAP-accredited, it now places uBiomes laboratory among the top 2.75% facilities in the USA.

During the CAP accreditation process, inspectors examine the laboratorys quality records, laboratory staff qualifications, validation of tests and systems, equipment, facilities, the safety program and overall management.

Dr. Jessica Richman, co-founder and CEO of uBiome, says: uBiome is completely committed to meeting the most exacting standards. We were determined to put ourselves through the tough requirements for accreditation by the CAP, and the whole team is very gratified that our hard work has paid off.

Dr. Zachary Apte, co-founder and CTO of uBiome adds: The microbiome is an emerging field and we are one of the first clinical labs to explore its possibilities for human health. CAP accreditation is extremely well-respected, and we are pleased that we were able to meet their standards.

The College of American Pathologists, with more than 18,000 members, is the worlds leading organization of board-certified pathologists. Its goal is to serve patients, physicians, and the public by encouraging, promoting, and supporting excellence in pathology and laboratory medicine. Pathology involves the examination of specimens of all kinds, in order to study and diagnose disease.

uBiome is the leading microbial genomics company. Funded by Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and other leading investors, uBiome pioneered the field of microbial genomics starting in 2012. Their Scientific Advisory Board includes Dr. Joseph DeRisi, MacArthur Genius Award Recipient and UCSF Professor; Dr. Atul Butte, Director of the Institute for Computational Health Sciences; Dr. Pablo Valenzuela, Inventor of Hepatitis B Vaccine and Founder of Chiron; Dr. Alan Greene, Leading Physician and uBiome CMO; Dr. Jonathan Eisen, UC Davis Professor; Dr. David Agus, Professor of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Southern California and Best Selling Author; and other leading physicians and scientists.

Contact:

Julie Taylor

julie(at)ubiome(dot)com

Ph: +1 (415) 212-9214
Katie Pettibone, Western Region Vice President for the American Insurance Association (AIA), released the following statement today in response to California Governor Jerry Browns veto of AB 1922. The AIA-sponsored legislation streamlined the contracting process for large employers and insurers workers compensation policies. AB 1922, which passed the legislature with no opposition, was introduced in response to onerous new regulations that went into effect April 1 for high-deductible workers compensation policies.

Ms. Pettibones statement follows:

AIA was pleased that Governor Brown recognized the need for continuing reforms in the workers compensation system by signing AB 1244, a bill that combats workers compensation fraud, and SB 1160 which among other things reforms the lien process. While the governors veto of AB 1922 was disappointing, his veto message recognized the importance of allowing more time for the new regulation to take effect and did not oppose a future iteration of the bill.

AB 1922 was strongly supported by both legislative houses, where not a single no vote was cast. We view this and the Administrations willingness to revisit the issue, if there are problems for companies in the implementation of the new regulation, as a win.

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Celebrating its 150th year in 2016, the American Insurance Association (AIA) is the leading property-casualty insurance trade organization, representing approximately 350 insurers that write more than $140 billion in premiums each year. AIA member companies offer all types of property - casualty insurance, including personal and commercial auto insurance, commercial property and liability coverage for small businesses, workers' compensation, homeowners' insurance, medical malpractice coverage, and product liability insurance.
L.L.Bean's Iconic Bean Boots Were going to be infusing a bit of the Maine spirit and L.L.Bean brand into Long Island. People who may have only shopped with us through our catalog or web site will now be able to see and feel the essence of L.L.Bean in person.

Internationally recognized outdoor retailer L.L.Bean, best known for its Bean Boot, everyday free shipping and 100% satisfaction guarantee is set to expand its retail operation with the opening of its fifth New York store, scheduled to open in the spring of 2017. The L.L.Bean store will be located at the Smith Haven Mall, which features over 140 stores and a variety of dining options, located in Long Islands Suffolk County in Lake Grove, New York. The 16,000 square-foot store will feature an assortment of active and casual apparel and footwear, as well as outdoor lifestyle gear including hiking, fly-fishing, kayaking and winter gear and camping products. The store will employ approximately 70 people. This will be L.L.Beans fifth store in New York and its 31st retail store outside of Maine.

Were going to be infusing a bit of the Maine spirit and L.L.Bean brand into Long Island, said Ken Kacere, senior vice-president and general manager of retail at L.L.Bean. People who may have only shopped with us through our catalog or web site will now be able to see and feel the essence of L.L.Bean in person. Were thrilled to be coming into Suffolk County. Theres numerous bike paths, paddling and fishing on the Nissequogue and Connetquot Rivers, Long Island Sound or in Great South Bay and several other excellent opportunities for outdoor recreation.

And this fall, just in time for the holidays, L.L.Bean will be opening a 10 x 20 pop-up shop just outside the entrance of the future store entrance. The new location is currently hiring and will employ 15 people. The new preview pop-up shop will open mid-October.

Our pop-store will give customers in Suffolk County a sneak-peak at some of our great outdoor outerwear and our iconic Bean Boots, as well as a taste of our brand in preparation for when we open our permanent location in the spring of 2017, continued Kacere.

L.L.Bean made the decision to continue to expand its retail presence into New York as part of its overall retail expansion plan and due to the stores proximity to several abundant natural resources and multiple opportunities for many outdoor activities, as well as a population base that enjoys regularly engaging in a variety of outdoor pursuits. The store will allow the people of Long Island to experience first-hand everything that the legendary outdoor retailer has to offer, such as quality merchandise, a welcoming shopping environment and a large roster of ongoing demonstrations and clinics on a number of outdoor topics.

Of particular note will be the inclusion of L.L.Beans Outdoor Discovery Schools, which will offer demonstrations, clinics and introductory hands-on activities like snowshoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, archery and fly casting, all designed to make it easy for people to engage in outdoor activities for health, fitness, and recreation. L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools courses are offered at every L.L.Bean Retail Store. In 2015, over 140,000 people participated in these programs.

We are thrilled to welcome the first L.L.Bean store on Long Island to Smith Haven Mall, commented Christopher Brivio, general manager for Smith Haven Mall. The addition of L.L.Bean will complement our impressive collection of retailers and we expect the brands high quality apparel, footwear and lifestyle gear will be very well-received by its loyal devotees and new customer base alike. We look forward to the pop-up shop opening in October followed by the permanent locations debut in spring 2017.

About L.L.Bean, Inc.

L.L.Bean, Inc. is a leading multichannel merchant of quality outdoor gear and apparel. Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, the company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe. Still family owned, Shawn Gorman, great grandson of Leon Leonwood Bean, was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2013. While its business has grown over the years, L.L.Bean continues to uphold the values of its founder, including his dedication to quality, customer service and a love of the outdoors. L.L.Bean products are rigorously tested, guaranteed to last, and always shipped free. In the past five years, L.L.Bean has donated over $6 million toward conservation and land stewardship. The 220,000 sq. ft. L.L.Bean retail store campus in Freeport, ME, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and welcomes more than 3 million visitors every year. L.L.Bean can be found worldwide at http://www.llbean.com, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram.

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This month, Pearson will host a complimentary Professional Development Webinar Series for mathematics and statistics educators. Featuring live webinars from October 4-27 and recorded webinars that are available on demand, this series is part of Pearsons year-long Learning Makes Us Professional Development Webinar Series, which is designed to provide educators with the latest educational trends, learning designs, pedagogical approaches and research in higher education and the professional world.

Educators who register and attend a live webinar will have the opportunity to earn Acclaim professional development badges, a web-enabled version of a credential, certification, or learning outcome.

Examples of upcoming webinars and registration details can be found below:

-Title: Flip Your Liberal Arts Math Class Without Flipping Out

When: Tuesday, October 4, 3:304:30 p.m. ET

Presenter: Professor Denise Nunley, Scottsdale Community College

What: This webinar will walk through the benefits and implementation of a flipped classroom, and suggest solutions that can work well for liberal arts math courses. Click here to register.

-Title: New Developments in Developmental Math

When: Tuesday, October 11, 3:004:00 p.m. ET

Presenters: Professor Gary Rockswold, Minnesota State University and Professor Terry Krieger, Rochester Community and Technical College

What: This presentation discusses research, ideas, and philosophies for making math more accessible for a larger portion of our student body. In addition, a new Interactive Developmental Math (IDM) program will be discussed and demonstrated. IDM allows students to be guided interactively through an entire course similar to how a live tutor would teach. Click here to register.

-Title: Student Success for Non-STEM Students at Des Moines Area Community College Using a Pathways Approach

When: Wednesday, October 19, 3:004:00 p.m. ET

Presenter: Professor Dan Petrak, Des Moines Area Community College

What: Pathways is a national movement of offering alternative mathematics courses and curriculum for Non-STEM majors at the Community College level. This interactive webinar will present the rationale, methods, and outstanding results of this approach at Des Moines Area Community College. Click here to register.

-Title: Teach with Data: How GAISE, Technology, and Twitter Changed My Statistics Course

When: Tuesday, October 25, 3:004:00 p.m. ET

Presenter: Professor Rebecca Wong, West Valley College

What: Using the GAISE guidelines, this presentation looks at how technology and social media can help students make sense of, thrive in, and level the playing field in a data-rich world. Click here to register.

About Pearson

Pearson is the worlds learning company, with expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. We believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives. For more, visit http://www.Pearsoned.com.

Media Contacts:

Scott Overland, scott.overland(at)pearson.com, 202-909-4520
In short, higher education usually paysbut far more for some graduates than for others." - Mark Schneider

Majors matter. That simple mantra is sound advice for Minnesota students as they prepare for college and the workplace beyond.

A new report conducted for the Minnesota Office of Higher Education by College Measures, a division of the American Institutes for Research (AIR), examines the salaries by major of graduates up to four years after they get degrees or certificates from Minnesota public colleges and universities.

As the cost of higher education increases, so does the pressure on students to choose a major that will lead to a good-paying job, said Commissioner Larry Pogemiller, Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE). This website offers data-based trends specific to Minnesota that can help students and families make informed decisions.

As a nation, we are fixated on the reputation of certain top-tier schools said Mark Schneider, a vice president and institute fellow at AIR. But in terms of return on investment, there is far less variation across graduates than one might expect. Choice of major has a far more dramatic impact on what students earn after graduation than where they go to college.

The reports associated website, Education Pays for Minnesota, allows prospective students to engage in a deep investigation into the wages of graduates from different majors throughout the state. For example, they may compare the wages of graduates from every psychology program in every public and many private universities in Minnesota, or compare the wages of graduates with degrees in different majors (sociology or math, for example) at a single institution, like the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Similarly fine-grained data can be found at different credential levels, allowing a comparison of wages earned by students in, say, mathematics at the associates, bachelors and masters degree levels.

A consistent theme of the report is the disconnect between the popularity of certain majors and future earnings potential. For example, psychology is one of the most popular majors in Minnesota. Yet even the median wage of the highest paid graduates with bachelors degrees in psychology, those who attended Argosy University/Twin Cities, was lower than the statewide median for all graduates with bachelors degreesby nearly $2,000. Graduates with bachelors degrees from nearly every one of the psychology programs in the state had median wages that were lower than the median wages of all graduates with associates degrees, regardless of major.

A similar trend can be found at the masters degree level. Median wages of those who earned graduate degrees in social work ranged from less than $45,000 (St. Cloud University)which is only $2,000 more than the statewide median wage for all graduates with associates degrees and almost $3,000 less than the statewide median wage for all graduates with bachelors degreesto about $54,000 (Augsburg College), which is almost $20,000 less than the median wage for completers of all graduate degrees.

By contrast, graduates in many health-related majors earn higher wages, as do technicians at nearly every level of higher education. Despite a push to increase the education of nurses, requiring them to have a bachelors degree, graduates with an associates degree in nursing are well rewarded in the job market, earning a median income of $62,011, well over the statewide median for all bachelors degree programs, $47,659. Students who earned a bachelors degree in nursing are among the highest paid graduates, earning about twice as much as the lowest paid graduatesthose with bachelors degrees in fine arts.

The report also found that the shortage of graduates in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields does not translate uniformly into higher wages for graduates in these fields. For example, biology is by far the largest STEM program in the state. However, the wages of graduates with bachelors degrees in biology were about $4,000 lower than the statewide median wage for all graduates with bachelors degrees. But graduates with bachelors degrees in mathematics had the third highest median wages among the largest programs, around $9,000 more than all graduates with bachelors degrees.

In short, higher education usually paysbut far more for some graduates than for others, Schneider said.

Pogemiller cautions, however, that while this data is important, it only reflects one aspect of the value of postsecondary education.

The benefits of some degrees in terms of earnings may not become evident for as many as ten years after completion, said Pogemiller. There are also important social and critical thinking skills learned in college that are needed to solve the increasingly complex problems our world faces. Our democratic system relies on an educated populace.

Degrees of Value: Differences in the Wages of Graduates from Minnesotas Colleges and Universities is available at http://www.air.org.

About AIR

Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit http://www.air.org.
This award is a testament to our employees who exemplify what it means to give back, supporting causes that strengthen our communities and the lives of the people who live in them. - Robert N. Trunzo, CEO and president, CUNA Mutual Group

CUNA Mutual Group was honored today as a recipient of a Distinguished Performer Award for Community as part of Deloittes Wisconsin 75 program. The annual list recognizes the states largest private companies and showcases their impact on Wisconsins economy and communities. A recognition breakfast was held at Pier Wisconsin in Milwaukee to honor the 75 companies.

We are truly honored to be recognized as a Distinguished Performer for Community and a part of Deloittes Wisconsin 75, said Robert N. Trunzo, CEO and president, CUNA Mutual Group. This award is a testament to our employees who exemplify what it means to give back, supporting causes that strengthen our communities and the lives of the people who live in them.

CUNA Mutual Groups employees and corporate foundation play a major role in Madison and the surrounding communities through sponsorships and grants, strategic leadership support, employee volunteerism and advocacy. The company focuses on four large community campaigns each year, including United Way, JDRF, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and March of Dimes.

Last year, CUNA Mutual Group employees volunteered more than 5,000 hours at numerous organizations across all of the companys office locations, including Waverly, Iowa, Dallas/Fort Worth, Great Bend, Kan., as well as remote staff and the Madison area.

CUNA Mutual Group hosts or sponsors more than 75 local nonprofit events each year. The company pledged $1.2 million for the Madison Metropolitan School Districts Forward Madison initiative to address the racial achievement gap, and is the second-largest corporate donor to United Way of Dane County.

CUNA Mutual Group is proud to be a part of the credit union movement  a purpose-driven industry. The company focuses on supporting credit unions and helping members build better financial futures for their families. Community is very much a part of the companys mission.

For more information about CUNA Mutual Groups foundation and community efforts, visit: http://www.cunamutual.com/about-us/community-support.

About CUNA Mutual Group:

CUNA Mutual Group helps people plan, protect and invest for their future  regardless of their financial standing. The company was founded more than 80 years ago by credit union leaders who were looking for an insurance partner they could trust. Today, CUNA Mutual Group helps credit unions and hardworking Americans build financial security through commercial and personal insurance products; lending and payment security solutions; and risk management, retirement, investment and marketing services. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.cunamutual.com.

CUNA Mutual Group is the marketing name for CUNA Mutual Holding Company, a mutual insurance holding company, its subsidiaries and affiliates. Life, accident, health and annuity insurance products are issued by CMFG Life Insurance Company and MEMBERS Life Insurance Company. Corporate headquarters are located in Madison, Wis.

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CORP-1607069.1-0916-1018 bank

 2016 CUNA Mutual Group, All Rights Reserved
DeCapua Home Were proud to be a part of giving back to those who protect us...

This past September, Sioux Chief Manufacturing was proud to be part of a day that changed the life of U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant, Khris DeCapua, and his wife and daughter.

The day was a Key Ceremony at which SSGT DeCapua was handed the keys to his brand new home, courtesy of Operation Coming Home, and Lennar Homes- Carolinas.

Kansas City-based Sioux Chief, partnered with Price Brothers Plumbing, Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina to provide rough-in plumbing for the new home.

Sioux Chief donated PEX fittings, water heater connectors, and stub out support brackets, among many other products.

Were proud to be a part of giving back to those who protect us, said Joe P. Ismert, Sioux Chief owner. We were also pleased to partner with Price Brothers on this important project.

Sioux Chief, as well as the other sub-contractors and major material suppliers involved, were each given a gold coin and a plaque thanking them for their support.

Those two items will be displayed at Sioux Chief in a prominent place, promised Mike Stallings, Director, National Sales. They represent Sioux Chief's commitment of giving back to the men and women serving in the military that have made sacrifices for all of us to protect our freedom and values.

DeCapua, who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered multiple injuries in a Humvee explosion and other encounters with the opposing forces.

It was a feeling of pride knowing that we at least played a small part of lifting the burden of housing off his shoulders so he could concentrate his efforts in trying to live a normal life and raise his family, Stallings said.

Stallings said Sioux Chief will continue to support organizations like Operation Coming Home and Operation Finally Home, and was especially honored to be a part of making a new life possible for SSGT DeCapua and his family.

President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush sent a personal letter to SSGT DeCapua that was read during the ceremony thanking him for his service and sacrifice for his country.

More About Sioux Chief:

Since 1957, Sioux Chief has manufactured innovative plumbing products. It is a leader in providing rough plumbing solutions for residential, commercial, industrial and government applications. Sioux Chiefs comprehensive product line is comprised of three core groups: Supply, Drainage and Support. Sioux Chief products are sold to qualified wholesale distributors and retailers worldwide. The company is headquartered in Peculiar, Missouri  just outside of Kansas City.
Florida Business Consulting travel to NYC for business conference I am a strong believer that every successful business is built on foundations of solid leadership

Florida Business Consulting travelled to New York City for a busy weekend of business education and networking. CEO at Florida Business Consulting, Eric Martin was invited to speak at a business conference being held at the Crowne Plaza White Plains on Sunday 2nd October. The 4-star hotel has 17,000 square feet of functional meeting space and 17 meeting rooms making it an ideal venue for the business conference which was attended by hundreds of sales and marketing professionals from all over the US. Eric Martin addressed the attendees on the subject of leadership, a topic which the entrepreneur and business owner is incredibly passionate about. I am a strong believer that every successful business is built on foundations of solid leadership and that is something I have implemented at Florida Business Consulting, said Mr Martin.

After the conference Eric Martin along with a number of Florida Business Consultings employees were invited to an exclusive networking event aboard a luxury yacht. Florida Business Consulting were joined by some of the most successful sales and marketing professionals in the country, making it a prime opportunity to build new networking connections.

About Florida Business Consulting: http://www.floridabusinessconsulting.net/about.html

The Miami-based marketing specialists argue that leadership and networking are two of the major attributes that result in business success. Leadership is something that they teach their employees through workshops and seminars and they encourage the development of networking connections through attending industry events. The firm encourages their employees to regularly attend networking events and build a diverse network of individuals who are at different stages in their career.

Based in Miami, Florida Business Consulting specializes in bringing brands and consumers closer together through face-to-face marketing. Working on their clients' behalf, the firm conducts thorough market research to pinpoint the most promising markets for their clients' brands. Then, after identifying key consumer groups the firm delivers their clients' campaigns directly to consumers, opening up the opportunity for one-on-one communication. This personalized customer experience helps drive brand loyalty, increases sales and helps consumers to make more confident and informed purchase decisions. Eric Martin is passionate about sharing his knowledge with budding entrepreneurs and fellow professionals and has had a number of speaking engagements this year.
Succeed Management Solutions, LLC

Succeed Management Solutions, LLC has released two Hazard Communication Awareness training courses for employees and managers. Both trainings comply with the final GHS requirement that went into effect June 1, 2016, including current labeling requirements and the 16 standardized sections of an SDS. Employers need to be in full compliance by updating alternative workplace labeling and their written hazard communication program, and having their employees trained on additional identified physical or health hazards. Employers must also ensure facility hazards are properly addressed and adherence to all other elements of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) is achieved.

The final installment of the GHS regulation has many companies still working to achieve full compliance. In May 2016, a fragrance manufacturer in Pennsylvania received six serious violations for exposing workers to chemical hazards. One of the serious violations included failing to maintain safety data sheets with required safety and health information. Proposed penalties totaled over $60,000 (OSHA News Release, 05/31/16). Updating safety data sheets is crucial to ensure hazards are understood and employees know how to work safely with materials in the workplace.

Succeeds updated Hazard Communication Awareness for Employees course focuses on how to read safety information found on labels, new labeling requirements for hazardous chemicals, and how to use safety data sheets (SDSs) to determine related hazards and controls. The new Hazard Communication Awareness for Managers course describes how to develop and implement a written hazard communication program in an organization, how to properly audit your program, and downloadable template policy documents.

The trainings include embedded quiz questions and videos for employees to actively apply their knowledge to ensure understanding of and compliance to the new GHS requirements. These courses are an easy and efficient way for an organization to achieve compliance, keep the workplace safe and avoid fines.

As with all Succeed courses, this training can be assigned to employees via Training Track, an application that is designed to automate all aspects of an employee training program. Training Track is one of the available applications in Succeeds web-based Risk Management Center. The Risk Management Center also contains other OSHA-required programs, training materials, and integrated software solutions.

Organizations can also access the trainings via OpenSesame: Hazard Communication Awareness for Managers - English, Hazard Communication Awareness for Employees - English

About Succeed Management Solutions, LLC

Succeed is the recognized leader in providing web-based Enterprise Risk Management solutions. Thousands of organizations use the Succeed Risk Management Center as a holistic solution to improve their risk management programs, implement web-accessible employee safety training programs, increase efficiencies, and lower the frequency and severity of claims and associated costs.

The Succeed Risk Management Center contains a suite of software applications that help manage claims and OSHA reporting (Incident Track), behavior-based safety programs (BBS Track), hazard communication and Safety Data Sheets (SDS Track), Return to Work programs (Job Description Track), employee training (Training Track), and third party insurance compliance (COI Track). Succeed also offers support services, such as managing Certificates of Insurance, Safety Data Sheets, and creating custom training courses.

Succeed Management Solutions, LLC also publishes a blog that contains safety tips, toolbox talks, training shorts, and more.
Henry Sandate It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of the Board of Trustees for JCCC. Past News Releases RSS Johnson County Adult Education...

State Farm Agent Henry Sandate...

Johnson County Community College (JCCC) began the Fall 2016 semester with a new Trustee on its Board: Henry Sandate was recently appointed to fill the vacancy from a slate of several candidates. His service began on July 1, 2016, and Sandate will be up for re-election in November 2017. It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of the Board of Trustees for JCCC, said Sandate.

Additionally, the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation recently held its Annual Housing Conference where the Argentine Neighborhood Development Association (ANDA) was presented the Preservation in Housing Award for its senior housing development. Sandate is Chairman of ANDA, which has made a significant impact in the Argentine community in housing, commercial development, infrastructure, and healthy lifestyles.

The development includes the conversion and rehabilitation of two historic properties in the neighborhood: the former Simmons Funeral Home and El Centro building, said Sandate. Both properties are historic and were gutted and converted to quality housing for seniors. The Simmons building is a Designated Federal Historic Building and El Centro is on the State of Kansas Designated Historical Properties list. The Simmons building will have seven units and El Centro will have eleven units.

ANDAs mission is to revitalize Kansas Citys Argentine neighborhood, a mature urban neighborhood with a stable population that was showing signs of decay despite the community vitality and loyalty of its residents. ANDA was formed in 2004 to revitalize the neighborhood and counteract the symptoms of decay.

About Henry Sandate, State Farm

Henry Sandate State Farm offers auto, home and property, life and health insurance, as well as annuities. For more information, please call (913) 438-2299, or visit http://www.hsandate.com. The office is located at 10281 W. 87 Street, Suite 102, Overland Park, KS 66212.

About the NALA

The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361.
Young Marines receives $50,000 donation from GLOCK Our program is focused on leadership, good citizenship and a healthy, drug free lifestyle. GLOCK has been a strong and long term partner in helping to achieve those goals."

The Young Marines, a national youth organization, received a $50,000 donation from GLOCK on Saturday, September 24, at the GLOCK Annual Shoot & Gunny Challenge XII in Griffin, GA.

Presenting the check to the Young Marines was Josh Dorsey, vice president at GLOCK. The check was accepted by Bill Davis, national executive director and CEO of the Young Marines. He was joined by Gene Overstreet, 12th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, and a member of the Young Marines board of directors.

Our program is focused on leadership, good citizenship and a healthy, drug free lifestyle," Davis said. "GLOCK has been a strong and long term partner in helping to achieve those goals."

The Young Marines will use the donation to help fund the National Leadership Academy that each year attracts more than 250 youth members of the Young Marines from across the country.

The Young Marines is an organization focused on developing character in the young men and women of our nation, said Dorsey, who spent 20 years in the United States Marine Corps. GLOCK is excited to support the programs mission in developing the mental, moral and physical character of todays youth and tomorrows leaders.

About the Young Marines

The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501c(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, age eight through the completion of high school. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral and physical development of its members. The program focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline, so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

Since the Young Marines' humble beginnings in 1959 with one unit and a handful of boys, the organization has grown to 281 units with 9,600 youth and 2,400 adult volunteers in 40 states, the District of Columbia and Okinawa with affiliates in other countries.

For more information, visit the official website at: http://www.YoungMarines.com.

About GLOCK, Inc.

GLOCK is a leading global manufacturer of firearms. The simple, safe design of GLOCKs polymer-based pistols revolutionized the firearms industry and made GLOCK pistols a favorite among military and law enforcement agencies worldwide and among pistol owners. In 2016, GLOCK celebrated its 30th Anniversary in the United States. Renowned for featuring three safeties, GLOCK pistols offer users of every lifestyle confidence on which they can rely. GLOCK, Inc. is based in Smyrna, Georgia. https://us.glock.com/
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The National Book Foundation will conduct a study of translation in the United States. The study will be funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The study, to be overseen by former NBF director Harold Augenbraum, will examine translation trends in America, including how much work in translation is published and purchased, how the availability of translated works affects readership, and how the network of translators in the U.S. functions. Additionally, the study will look at how the availability of translated work affects the way people read.

Peter Bearman, director of Columbia University's social science research center Incite, and Rebecca Guenther, former bibliographer at the Library of Congress, will assist in the study, as will a number of other professionals in publishing, translation, and bibliography.

The National Book Foundations Board of Directors believes that working to explore how translated work can and does impact American readers is hugely important, NBF board chairman David Steinberger said in a statement.

The study will count and analyze the number, and diversity, of translated works published in the United States, focusing on factors including the languages and countries from which the works originate and the characteristics of the publishers publishing them. By focusing on these factors, the NBF hopes to translators, publishers, and readers with data on the availability and range of translated books in the American marketplace.

"The National Book Foundation has long had the mandate of supporting and celebrating the best in American literature," NBF executive director Lisa Lucas said. "But we are also a nonprofit organization devoted to enhancing the cultural value of good writing in Americawhich means that as an institution, we have to think about all readers and all literature."

"Better understanding how we read work in translation, and how we might further promote the reading and availability of such work, acknowledges that we live in an increasingly interconnected world," Lucas added. "This project is also an opportunity to strengthen our ties to organizations that are already deeply engaged in this work."
The nature of Daniel Slagers recent acquisition may mark an industry first. The Milkweed Editions publisher paddled in a canoe through a chain of lakes and rivers in northern Minnesota to meet with two wilderness guides and adventurers, Dave and Amy Freeman, to discuss a book proposal and negotiate a contract. Now, Milkweed will publish A Year in the Wilderness by the Freemans in the fall of 2017.

Slager said the Freemans had documented their camping trip over the past year in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (where motor vehicles are forbidden) to raise awareness about the environmental dangers posed by sulfide-ore copper mining. Several multinational mining companies have applied for permits to drill on state and federal lands near the BWCA--which divides Minnesota from Canada-igniting controversy throughout the region.

The Freemans traveled via canoe, foot, ski, snowshoe, and sled-dog team for 366 days, taking photos and blogging about their experiences. Their essays were published in National Geographic Adventure, Canoe & Kayak magazine and on social media. They were also featured in a segment on the Today show. A documentary film about their year, Bear Witness, will premiere on October 15 at the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, Mich.

Slager, who followed the Freemans adventure from the beginning, was intrigued by their undertaking and envisioned them writing a book about their experience. The appeal of such a book, Slager noted, is also helped by the fact that, over the course of their year in the wilderness, the couple's social media followers grew from 20 people to half-a-million.

I didnt want someone else to scoop me, Slager said of his decision to seek out the Freemans on the trail, as opposed to waiting for them to come home.

Slager, who initially contacted the couple via email, drove 250 miles from Minneapolis to the small town of Ely in August. There, he met with half-a-dozen of the couple's supporters, who were there to supply them with provisions. Slager joined the group and paddled with them 20 miles to Nina Moose Lake to meet with the couple at their campsite.

Ive made house calls all over America, Slager said, But I had never paddled into the wilderness to get a book. It was fun; thats why this is an interesting job.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind - A Purdue-affiliated startup has developed a low-cost, low-maintenance slow sand water filter technology to better provide clean and safe drinking water to schools and communities in developing countries around the world.

Maji Safi International LLC, which means clean water in Swahili, was founded by John Maiyo, a doctoral student in Purdues College of Engineering; Chad Jafvert, a professor of civil engineering and environmental and ecological engineering; and John Howarter, assistant professor of materials engineering and environmental and ecological engineering. The company currently installs groundwater wells, provides ceramic filters, and slow sand filters in Western Kenya where safe water is not readily accessible.

Access to clean water is a huge problem that many countries and communities face around the world, especially developing countries, Maiyo said. Around the globe, twice the population of the United States lives without access to safe drinking water, and globally one-third of all schools lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation.

The unique Purdue technology used by Maji Safi is a slow sand filter that utilizes containers filled with sand and water. At the bottom of the container is a water collection plate, designed at Purdue. The sand provides a large surface area on which microbial growth occurs that metabolizes the dissolved and particulate organic material in the water. The point-of-use slow sand filters are made from readily available five-gallon plastic pails or 55-gallon drums.

Typical slow sand filters use gravel layers at the bottom of the filter as the water collection zone; however, our filters do not use gravel. Instead, we use a porous plastic plate enclosed within a mesh bag, Jafvert said. Weve found this method to be much simpler to use and maintain. There is only the sand to sieve and rinse, instead of sand and different gravel sizes. It provides easier maintenance and makes for easier filter transportation and final assembly.

Once water is treated by a filter, a small amount of chlorine is added to the water for final disinfection, producing clear, colorless, drinkable water.

Maiyo said that after 30 minutes of contact with the chlorine, the water is ready to drink. People and children in schools come up to the filter systems with a cup to get a drink, and the schools are able to use the water in their kitchens or for cleaning, he said. Because the filters are operated in batch mode, water is generally added three times each day, providing for an eight-hour contact time between the water and microorganisms in the filter. Each 55-gallon drum filter can process 200 liters of water each day. With five filters installed at one school, this meets the needs of over 400 children and teachers at the school every day.

Howarter said the filters are ideal for rural communities.

The materials needed for these filters are very basic and can be found in the countries we aim to serve. The idea is that the microorganisms do the work to remove organic materials from the water so the only energy demand is pouring water into the filter, he said. Our particular design allows for the filters to be easily transported and does not require any particular expertise for final construction at the point-of-use. As a disinfectant, chlorine is very inexpensive in the countries where we have installed filters, so there is no huge investment required by the communities to use the technology.

Maji Safi has installed 10 large slow sand filters in rural schools in Kenya, and Jafvert and Howarter have installed similar filters in Colombia, Tanzania, and China.

Our team, as well as many of our undergraduate and graduate students, has traveled to these countries to install the filters, and weve been able to see that the children and teachers use the filters every day, Jafvert said. The first filters we installed in Columbia in 2011 are still being used today, so thats a good sign.

Maji Safi International was born out of Purdues involvement in AMPATH, a consortium of North American academic health centers led by Indiana University working in partnership with the government of Kenya to provide access to various health care. Technology used by Maji Safi International LLC has been licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. The company is a member of the Purdue Startup Class of 2016. Purdue has 27 startups based on Purdue intellectual property that were launched in the 2016 fiscal year.

Jafvert said the initial work on the technology was done through a $40,000 gift from the Kimberly-Clark Corp. The group also received $10,000 from Purdues Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences through an H20 grant written by undergraduate students who participated in the research, $10,000 from the Purdue Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, and additional support from AMPATH.

Maji Safi plans to make further improvements on the filters based on feedback from the communities.

Were working to improve water delivery, water chlorination and chlorine detection, as well as automating the filters so that water can be pumped directly from local streams to the filters, Howarter said. Were also working on a device that connects to a smartphone to tell users what filters arent working properly so adjustments can be made remotely instead of having to visit the schools in person.

Maiyo said the companys next steps involve marketing the filters to other schools.

Everything weve done so far has been through funding, but now that weve installed the filters in a few schools and they have seen the filters potential, were hoping other schools will be willing to purchase them, he said. It would be great if a private organization or government agency would fund this project to allow us to install water filters in many schools. Weve heard from multiple community leaders, and the feedback is always, How can we get more? So now its just a matter of finding funding to be able to do that.

Maji Safi aims to implement filters in 1,000 schools over the next 5-10 years.

We started out with a goal of providing filters to just four schools as demonstration projects, and now that thats done and has proved to be successful, were working on scaling up, Maiyo said. A filter in Kenya costs about $50 in materials, with labor and transportation as additional costs, but that filter will last five to 10 years, so the overall cost is very low. Were open to partnering with a local manufacturer in Kenya or elsewhere who would be willing to do a trial run of parts manufacturing for 1,000 filters, which would be a huge step forward.

The company also is seeking support from people who would like to sponsor one or more schools, which would enable Maji Safi to install filters and provide clean drinking water to the students, teachers, and community members.

For information on other Purdue intellectual property ready for licensing and commercialization, visit http://www.otc-prf.org. For more information about available leadership positions, investing in a Purdue startup or licensing a Purdue innovation, visit http://www.purduefoundry.com.

About Maji Safi International LLC

Maji Safi International LLC is a startup providing safe drinking water solutions to developing countries around the world. The company has licensed a slow sand water filter innovation from Purdue.

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at innovation@prf.org.



Purdue Research Foundation contact: Hillary Henry, 765-588-3586, hkhenry@prf.org

Source: John Maiyo, jmaiyo@purdue.edu

Chad Jafvert, jafvert@ecn.purdue.edu

John Howarter, howarter@purdue.edu
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A Purdue-affiliated startup is developing an affordable, solar-powered crop drying device. The technology could provide smallholders and small to medium agro-processors in developing countries, and small organic farms in the United States, a way to reduce post-harvest losses and add-value to their crops using renewable energy.

Klein Ileleji, an associate professor in Purdues School of Agriculture and Biological Engineering and his wife Reiko Habuto Ileleji, a Purdue alumni who earned her Ph.D. from the College of Education, co-founded the startup JUA Technologies International LLC to further advance and commercialize the technology. The name of the company comes from the Swahili word jua, meaning sun.

The innovation was developed with funding from USAID as part of a $5M USAID Feed-the-Future Lab for Post Harvest Handling and Food Processing led by Purdue University. One of the objectives of the project is to develop affordable grain drying technologies, with focus on maize value-chains in Senegal and Kenya.

Klein Ileleji said smallholder farmers around the world often suffer great losses in the quantity and quality of crops due to inadequate drying.

Crops harvested in their fresh state tend to have a lot of moisture, which doesnt permit long-term storage, so drying is the first step taken to preserve crop quality and prolong shelf life, he said. In many developing countries, like Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, farmers cant afford or dont have access to drying machines; thus, their crops spoil and become unusable. More so, maize or grains and oilseeds in general, can have severe health implications if not dried properly due to aflatoxin, a toxin produced by mold. Aflatoxin consumed can cause cancer and even deaths in infants and the elderly.

Aside from the health risks and losses associated with inadequate drying, farmers also dont reap the opportunity to capture value from dried commodities, like dried fruits you find in cereals or sundried fruits and vegetables, and have to sell their fresh crops in a highly glutted market.

Ileleji said the dryer has many features that make it run more efficiently than current devices and dries a larger variety of crops.

In drying we want to achieve three things: high temperatures, high air-flow rate and low humidity. The dryer has eight fans placed at the bottom of the dryer that pulls heat down through thermal collectors at the top directing airflow through stacked drying trays in the drying chamber, he said. Cooling fans located in the back of the unit bring ambient air to cool the chamber when pre-set temperatures are exceeded in places where temperatures can get extremely hot, so the crop doesnt cook before drying,

The crop dryer has three different air inputs from the thermal collectors, when usually there is only one. This ensures even air distribution throughout the dryer. The dryer also provides a high air exchange rate, with the air being changed every four seconds.

Our device uses vinyl curtains around the drying chamber, allowing direct solar radiation to contribute to heating of the chamber, Ileleji said. Having crops dried in an enclosed chamber helps to keep insects and other animals away from the crops, thus providing better phytosanitary conditions than currently used open-air sun drying methods.

Ileleji said the device also will encompass a smart control console, which enables the user to select various drying modes and temperature settings based on crop or product type.

The heart and the brains of the system will be in the control console. We have been testing drying temperatures based on the vitamin content for different fruits and vegetables. All our tests are based on the nutritive value, so the temperatures can be changed automatically on the smart control console to fit the particular type of commodity, he said. The cooling and drying fans will be modulated automatically so users can set a temperature that they want the fans to run at, which can be modulated from the feedback of temperature and relative humidity sensors of the drying chamber conditions. The device also has charging ports for small electronic devices, which is essential in developing countries where constant power is not always readily available.

Technology used by JUA Technologies International LLC has been licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. The company is a member of the Purdue Startup Class of 2016. Purdue has 27 startups based on Purdue intellectual property that were launched in the 2016 fiscal year.

JUA Technologies is currently testing maize, carrots and mangoes in West Lafayette, Indiana; maize, vegetables, sweet potatoes and bananas in Kenya; and processed cereal meal, maize, carrots and mangoes in Senegal. Ileleji said he also sees potential for this dryer in the cocoa industry. Devices will be shipped to Nigeria and Ghana for tests with grains, fruits and vegetables, and cocoa in the near future. Once commercial manufacturing of the units begins, the company hopes to deploy 3,000 units within three years.

JUA Technologies plans to connect companies that purchase and sell dried crops with farmers who grow them in the community. The company also sees value in collecting data to determine energy use in crop drying.

Ileleji acknowledges many Purdue resources that have helped him make this company possible.

This company began when I attended a course in faculty entrepreneurship at Purdue, and it opened my eyes to the possibility of turning my research into a product and company. I then participated in the Entrepreneurship Leadership Academy, which gave me the confidence to further pursue it, he said. I learned about the Purdue Foundry and its Launchbox program, so I enrolled and really began my first steps of putting plans into writing. All these opportunities and my mentors really allowed me to think about things globally and gave me the confidence to take on this endeavor.

JUA Technologies plans to further develop the dryer and test more crops. Ileleji is working with African-based manufacturers to scale production and is seeking manufacturing partnerships in other countries and company board members to help give guidance.

For information on other Purdue intellectual property ready for licensing and commercialization, visit http://www.otc-prf.org. For more information about available leadership positions, investing in a Purdue startup or licensing a Purdue innovation, visit http://www.purduefoundry.com.

About JUA Technologies International LLC

JUA Technologies International LLC is a Purdue affiliated startup developing solutions to prevent post-harvest losses for smallholders and small to medium agro-processors in developing countries, and small organic farms in the United States.

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at innovation@prf.org.



Purdue Research Foundation contact: Hillary Henry, 765-588-3586, hkhenry@prf.org

Source: Klein E. Ileleji, ileleji@purdue.edu

Reiko Habuto Ileleji, reikohab@gmail.com
WASHINGTON (AP)  The United States isn't exactly the economic doormat Donald Trump decries in his campaign rhetoric.

"Our country is in deep trouble," Trump said in Monday night's debate with Hillary Clinton.

"We are in a competition with the world, and I want America to win," he said in a speech last month. "We don't win anymore."

The U.S. economy does face serious challenges: An aging workforce, low worker productivity, still-sluggish growth, stagnant pay and a steady loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs  a loss that's brought pain to many American communities.

But the facts don't bear out Trump's assertion that the United States has become a global weakling, an economic pushover exploited by its competitors. Whether measured by its pace of expansion, job gains, financial might, global competitiveness or sheer size, the U.S. economy remains the envy of much of the developed world.

"Over the past 10 years, the U.S. has done better than pretty much any other advanced country, certainly the European competitors," says Daron Acemoglu, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Consider:

 The United States ranked third out of 140 countries in the World Economic Forum's economic competitiveness rankings, just behind Switzerland and Singapore. China comes in 28th, Japan sixth and Germany fourth. (The report evaluates countries' policies and institutions  in such areas as education, health care and finance  to see whether they make the economy more efficient and contribute to prosperity.)

 Though Trump complained Monday about America's "regulations on top of regulations," the U.S. ranked No. 7 out of 189 countries in the World Bank's "ease of doing business" survey. By contrast, China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, was No. 84.

 The United States has outpaced other advanced nations collectively for each of the past four years and likely will do so again in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund.

 American employers have added jobs for a record 71 consecutive months and added a robust average of 204,000 a month over the past year. Unemployment has sunk to 4.9 percent  essentially what economists call full employment. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid has been fewer than 300,000 for 81 straight weeks. It's the longest such streak since 1970, when the labor force was only about half as big as it is now.

"Among developed nations, the U.S. is the best performer by far," says Sung Won Sohn, an economist at California State University Channel Islands.

Some of Trump's specific complaints don't hold up to scrutiny. He has asserted that "the United States has the highest business tax rates among the major industrialized nations." On paper, the corporate tax rate  35 percent  does look onerous. But few corporations actually pay that rate because they capitalize on deductions, credits and loopholes in the tax code. Take those into account, and the effective U.S. corporate tax rate is around 27 percent, in line with global averages.

Still, Trump's message resonates in Rust Belt communities that have lost industrial plants and in Southern mill towns whose garment factories have vanished along with jobs. Since 1979, the United States has lost over 7 million manufacturing jobs, though factory employment has risen slightly since bottoming in 2010.

Trump blames unfair competition from China, Japan, Mexico and other countries for the devastation. But in many cases, advances in technology are the biggest factor in the job losses: Robots and other machines allow factories to produce more with fewer people.

Machines that use increasingly sophisticated technology reduce the incentive for companies to go overseas in search of cheap labor. So some companies have been bringing jobs back to the United States.

The Reshoring Initiative, a nonprofit that lobbies manufacturers to bring jobs back to the United States, says companies were moving an average 220,000 jobs a year to other countries a decade ago, after subtracting jobs that returned to the U.S. or were created by foreign investment. Now, it says, the number of jobs being taken abroad is roughly offset by jobs being brought back or created by foreign investment.

What's more, China, which Trump argues is outfoxing the U.S. on trade, is losing its cost advantage.

"Rapidly rising real wages indicate that the end of cheap labor in China is at hand" a report this year by economists David Autor of MIT, David Dorn at the University of Zurich and Gordon Hanson of the University of California, San Diego concluded.

Sohn says the biggest long-term threat to the United States is its inability to live within its means. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the federal debt  excluding what agencies borrow from each other  will climb from $14.1 trillion this year to $23.1 trillion in 2026 as baby boomers retire and tap Social Security and Medicare. The debt reflects years of annual budget deficits  the gap between what the government spends and what it collects in taxes.

On Monday, Trump promised to deliver the biggest tax cuts "since Ronald Reagan."

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Trump's proposals would add $5.3 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade, versus $200 billion for Hillary Clinton's plans.

"We're on a dangerous path," Sohn says.

If Trump were elected, he said, the deficits likely "would go up significantly, which would make the situation worse."
While on a trip in Arizona three years ago, Rothacker, 61, of Wildwood, hired a taxi cab to drive him 5 miles into the desert. The driver stopped and Rothacker said "drop me off here," paid and sent him on his way.

"He looked at me and said 'you're crazy man,'" Rothacker recalled.

Armed with a jug of water, Rothacker walked back into town.

He's a huge fan of the desert landscape. So much so he turned his green yard into a desert scape of rocks, gravel and cactuses.

Rothacker admires the decor of the desert and describes it as clean and fresh.

"You won't see a weed," he said.

He likes looking out and seeing the green of the cactuses all year.

"I had thousands of flowers here, beautiful flowers, but when the end of July, beginning of August comes, everything kind of dies off," he said.

Rothacker estimates he removed 160 tons of dirt to level his yard. He replaced it with 260 tons of rocks and gravel.

At first, Rothacker's neighbors thought he was crazy, but now he claims he gets nothing but complements.

He recruited three friends to help with the desert transformation. It took about a month to complete the project that cost about $13,000, he said.

With 13 varieties of cactuses, Rothacker admits the winter will be challenge.

"There are five I have to pull in for sure," he said. "The other ones will survive if I do the right steps with them."

Most of his cactus plants come from a friend who lives in Florida. All of the smaller rocks were put in place by Rothacker and his friends.

"Nothing professional. We did it with sweat and muscle and got it done. It's just friends who did this," Rothacker said.
The Quad City Federation of Labor will hold its 25th annual AFL-CIO Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday with four new inductees.

The banquet at the Radisson Quad City Plaza Hotel in Davenport begins with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. followed by a program at 7. In addition to the induction ceremonies, comments by U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City, also are planned.

Tickets for the dinner are $40 per person; tables of 12 are $480. For reservations, contact Joshua Schipp, AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison at 309-738-6536 or email solidarity@quadcityfed.com.

The Hall of Fame honors exemplary service to local unions, the central labor council and the American Labor Movement. With four new members, the Hall of Fame swells to a total of 94. New inductees are:

* Ronald J. Kinzer, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union Local 111 (posthumous induction)

A 30-year member of Local 111 as an ironworker, he served in a variety of positions  including trustee, recording secretary, vice president, president, Political Action Committee member and apprentice coordinator  before retiring in 1991. He gave much time to volunteer activities and, in 1997, was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, serving one term. He died unexpectedly June 19, 2002.

* Rory Washington, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Local 81.

Since elected to the post in 2002, he has been executive director of the Tri-City Building & Construction Trades Council. He also has been co-chair of the Illowa Labor Management Council and secretary treasurer for the Illinois Prevailing Wage Council. A 37-year union member, he was elected to the Local 81 Executive Board in 1988 and was business manager from 1995 until 2002.

* Joe Farrell, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.

His union career began in 1978 at WG Block ready mix in Maquoketa, where a union organizer invited him to a meeting about becoming a Teamster. The entire crew was laid off indefinitely the next day, the first of three times he was fired for organizing activities. He joined the Teamsters in 1980, joined IUOE Local 150 in 1999 and was hired on staff in 2003. He retired as business agent/organizer on July 1. He is also a volunteer firefighter in DeWitt and a board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters, among other volunteer activities.

* Bonnie Carey, United Steelworkers Local 105.

She worked at Alcoa in a variety of capacities for 30 years, starting in 1978, and has remained active in union activism since her retirement. At Alcoa, she was the first woman to run the computer numerical control mills, among other positions, and dedicated countless hours toward ensuring safety, including training of new employees, truckers and crane operators. She was on many safety committees and, for the union, was the Rapid Response Coordinator, the Women of Steel Coordinator at USW Local 105, a trustee and a political coordinator for both Local 105 and Eastern Iowa. After retirement, she established the charter for Steelworker Organization of Active Retirees 11-4 of which she is president. She also became Iowa SOAR coordinator and organized seniors in nine states.
Following discussion Monday, Bruce Peterson told other Port Byron trustees that in two weeks he hopes to bring a motion before them to put a referendum on the ballot to change from partisan to nonpartisan village elections.

Only the voters can determine if the board should be partisan or nonpartisan, Mr. Peterson said. We have to ask the voters if we want this to happen. We need to approve a motion to put it on the ballot.

Earlier Mr. Peterson said that by law people who work at the Arsenal cannot run in partisan elections because they are federal employees.

Patrick Stroebel, a current board member, has been appointed to the board twice but could not run for election, Mr. Peterson said.

Mr. Peterson added that he believes it seems appropriate to bring this before the board now as East Moline has put nonpartisanship on the ballot this year and this choice could possibly deflect turmoil in Illinois politics.

In other business:

 It was announced that at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 there will be discussions open to the general public at the Planning and Zoning Committee meeting about the possibility of including residential TIF funding. Members of the TIF committee will be present to answer questions.

Mayor Kevin Klute also charged the Planning and Zoning Committee and the Economic Development Committee to collect the data concerning the number of residential lots within the TIF.

 The trustees approved Kari Rozeboom, Heidi Sallows, and Amanda Coryn as members of the newly chartered Green Committee. Sarah Ford is chairperson.

 It was announced Flu Shots will be given Oct. 21 in Village Hall from 1 to 3 p.m.

 The Little Free Library will be located across the street from Village Hall near the gazebo.

 The Zoning Board of Appeals on Oct. 12 will consider a request from Bob Wells Garage in regard to setback. On Nov. 9 it will hear a request from Alissa Mueller and Jason Bert to convert one of the two front yards of their new house on their corner lot to a side yard.

 The board is looking into complaints about lack of refuse pick up in some parts of town.
The official, who was briefed on the investigation, said investigators estimated the train was moving between 20 and 30 mph when it crashed into Hoboken Terminal last Thursday.

The official was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The speed estimate is based on the extent of damage, not on data from the train's instruments.

Federal safety investigators said Tuesday afternoon that they had recovered a data recorder, a video recorder and the engineer's cellphone from the front car of the train. National Transportation Safety Board investigator James Southworth says they don't yet know if the recorders contain any useful information. The instruments have been sent to an agency lab for analysis.

A second data recorder, which was in the locomotive at the rear of the train, wasn't functioning on the day of the crash and didn't record speed, braking or other information about the trip, the NTSB has said.

The cellphone was found in a backpack in the cab of the front train car.

At a briefing Tuesday, NTSB investigator James Southworth declined to address the train's speed. "We're not prepared to make that statement right now," he said.

One woman standing on a platform was killed by debris as the train smashed through a concrete-and-steel bumper and knocked out pillars, causing a section of the station's outdoor roof to collapse.

More than 100 people were injured.

The train's engineer, Thomas Gallagher, told investigators that he had no memory of the crash but said he was operating at 10 mph as he approached the station, said T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Gallagher, 48, said he only remembered waking up on the floor of the engineer's cab, Dinh-Zarr said Sunday during the most recent public briefing on the investigation.

Federal regulations require commuter trains to have working recorders. The regulations require they be inspected every 92 days. It was unclear when the nonworking recorder, which officials said was installed in 1995, had been last inspected.

The commuter rail service has not responded to requests for comment.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte said Tuesday she "misspoke" when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children, a tortured response that Democrats moved quickly to exploit in the competitive Senate race.

The Republican presidential nominee's past week of fat-shaming a beauty pageant winner and mocking imitation of an ailing Hillary Clinton combined with his past criticism of Hispanics, women and the disabled has put vulnerable GOP senators on the spot.

Ayotte, who is locked in a tight race with two-term Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, told a debate audience Monday evening that she "absolutely" would tell a child to aspire to be like the New York real estate mogul. A short time later, her campaign issued a statement in which Ayotte reversed herself and said she misspoke.

The freshman senator reiterated that point on Tuesday before taking a turn behind the counter at a McDonald's in Hudson, New Hampshire.

"I misspoke last night. While I hope that all children aspire to run for president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I would not hold out either of them out as a role model for my children," she told reporters.

Democrats seized on Ayotte's answer and pressed her to explain what about Trump children should emulate. Hassan has worked to tie Ayotte to Trump, who is trailing presidential candidate Clinton in the state. Ayotte, who has tried to distance herself from Trump, has said she wouldn't endorse him but would vote for him.

Another vulnerable Republican senator, Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey, said Tuesday that Trump is not a role model, nor is Clinton.

"Not for my kids and I don't think for most American kids, for a variety of reasons, but honestly, neither is Hillary Clinton, I mean, the serial dishonesty, the repeated lies to the American people, to the families of Benghazi victims, the list is endless, and the serious ethical challenges," the senator said after an event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. "Neither one of them is a role model, which is part of why this is such a frustrating presidential election for so many people."

Toomey has declined to endorse Trump despite being pressed repeatedly about his party's nominee. Questioned why Trump is not a role model, the senator issued a blistering attack on the candidate at the top of the Republican ticket.

"Let's just say the vulgarity and gratuitous insults of people. This is not exactly the way I encourage my kids to behave," he said.

Republicans are struggling to hold onto their Senate majority, with GOP incumbents in swing or Democratic-leaning states the most in jeopardy.

On Monday night, Ayotte seemed to be caught off guard when asked by one of the moderators whether she saw Trump as a role model for a child. At first, she sidestepped the question by saying she would tell a child to aspire to be the best person they can be and seek to run for the presidency. When she was asked again, she said she believed Trump "can serve for president" and "so absolutely I would do that."

Another moderator then pressed Ayotte to explain why she wouldn't endorse Trump if she felt that way.

"I've had some disagreements with him. I've been quite clear about those disagreements," she said without providing specifics.

Hassan pounced on Ayotte's answer, saying this was just another example of the senator "trying to distance herself from Donald Trump."

"At the end of the day, she is still saying she is going to vote to put Donald Trump in the situation room with access to our nuclear codes," Hassan said. "She is going to vote to make him the leader of our country and somebody that our children will be exposed to as the president of the United States."

The Hassan campaign also put out a digital ad that highlighted Trump's recent criticism of a former Miss Universe who gained weight, his mocking imitation of Clinton's health-related stumble after a Sept. 11 memorial and his other attacks on women and the disabled.

"Kelly Ayotte should explain to the people of New Hampshire exactly what about Donald Trump she thinks our children should emulate  the sexism, the ripping off of small businesses, insulting our nations' heroes, refusing to pay taxes, being a billion dollar loser in business?" Democratic National Committee Committeewoman and former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan said.

Sullivan also dismissed Ayotte's efforts to clarify her comments several hours later, saying she only did so after realizing what a "horrible mistake she had made" and one that "could cost her an election."

"You can't really walk something like that back," Sullivan said.
Almost 50 Illinois counties have filed lawsuits against Democratic Governor, JB Pritzker, and the ill crafted SAFE-T Act. Introduced in the General Assembly by the Illinois Black Caucus, the Act passed the Democratic-led General Assembly in the wee hours of Jan. 13, 2021. Amongst many of its weaknesses and deficiencies, the Act eliminates cash bail, emboldens criminals, and makes it even more difficult for law enforcement to keep offenders off our streets. Public Safety personnel and States Attorneys across our great State have decried the legislation, noting that it was drafted and written with very little constructive input from Public Safety leadership, from either party; potentially impacting every Illinois community with dangerous consequences. Allowing perpetrators to bail out of jail, based on their good word that they will be glad to return to court is laughable, at best, and both ludicrous and dangerous, at worst. Soon after the SAFE-T Act was passed at the State level, the Republican-led Henry County Board drafted a resolution, requesting that the General Assembly repeal and replace the SAFE-T Act with a new criminal justice bill, this time with input from professional law enforcement, States Attorneys from across the State, and other Public Safety officials. We unanimously passed our resolution on May 19, 2022, and encourage all County Boards in Illinois to follow our lead. Our Republican-led Board in Henry County believes we all, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, deserve effective and fair law enforcement in our communities.
CALDCs Halloween Celebration A Real Treat! The Central Astoria LDCs 7th annual Batty Over Halloween Celebration held on Sunday, October 23rd was a real treat for everyone who came out. Despite...

Meng Brings NASA Astronaut To Queens On October 17, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) brought NASA astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim to Queens where he met and spoke with students at Francis...

Celebrating Columbus The Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Queens (FIAO) held their annual Columbus Day parade in Astoria, on Saturday, October 8, during Italian Heritage Month. The...
"This stuff has been asked and answered time and time again and we can just get on with it which is why I'm not pulling my bill," Chloe Swarbrick said.

2 hours ago
Sirugue also confirmed that French National Railways (SNCF) will also order a batch of six TGVs for Paris - Lyon - Turin services. Power cars for all 21 trains will be built at Belfort, securing the medium-term future of the plant, which employs 480 staff.

The TGV orders are options from a framework contract previously awarded by SNCF and have an estimated total value of around 650m. The value of the locomotive contract has not been disclosed.

In return for the orders, Alstom has agreed to invest 40m in the Belfort plant in three stages by 2020. This includes 30m for the development of a new diesel/hybrid locomoitve by 2018, 5m for the development of the site's mainteance business, and 5m to help the site diversifty production into other locomotive types or electric buses. From 2021, Belfort could play a role in the production of the next-generation TGV.

Alstom announced on September 7 that production would cease at Belfort in 2018 due to a lack of orders. However, the closure was put on hold following the intervention of president Mr Francois Hollande, who is facing a presidential election in April.

The batch of 15 Euroduplex sets will be deployed on the Bordeaux - Toulouse - Marseille - Nice and Montpelier - Perpignan routes, taking advantage of the expansion of the high-speed network. The Nimes  Montpellier bypass is due to open in December 2017, while the Sud Europ Atlantique high-speed line is due to be extended from Bordeaux to Toulouse by 2024 as part of the 8.3bn Grand Southwestern Railway Project (GPSO). A 150km high-speed line linking Montpellier with the Perpignan - Figueres - Barcelona high-speed line is expected to open around 2030.
The tender calls for the supply of 15-20 vehicles, which will be maintained by the manufacturer for a minimum of 10 years. The contract will include options for additional vehicles and the extension of the maintenance term by up to 30 years.

Transtechs competitors in the tender included CAF, Pesa and Stadler Rail Valencia.

Transtech submitted a bid of 3.2-3.8m per vehicle based on a 37m-long LRV, with the price depending on the final order volume.

The Tralli consortium of VR Track, YIT and Pory Finland was selected in June for the contract to build the 23.5km line from Tampere city centre to the University of Tampere and Hervanta.

Both the rolling stock and construction contracts are due to be signed later this month after Tampere City Council has made a final decision on whether to proceed with the project. Construction will start next year and Phase 1 will open in 2021.
Union Pacific's 'Living Legend' No. 844 steam locomotive will travel more than 1,200 miles one-way to celebrate the Oct. 22 opening of Big River Crossing in Memphis, Tennessee. The trek is the first multi-state venture since the locomotive's three-year restoration.

Housed in Union Pacifics Steam Shop in Wyoming, No. 844 underwent a major overhaul and made its return to the rails for Cheyenne Frontier Days in late July.

No. 844 will traverse Union Pacifics main line through Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee beginning Oct. 13. Brief stops are scheduled throughout the 19-day roundtrip journey.
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The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation.
Following the Mexican Governments hand-out of over ten million digital TV sets to ready the population for the countrys analogue TV switch-off, accusations of corruption have been made.





An investigative report published by the Wall Street Journal says that the Governments purchase of 24 DTT-ready TV sets in 2014 and 2015 was riddled with corruption in the latter stages, as some contracts to purchase thousands of TVs were awarded in no-bid procedures.According to the report, contracts for almost two-thirds of the sets went to local electronics wholesaler Comercializadora Milenio SA, in partnership with its sister company, domestic television manufacturer Diamond Electronics SA. And at least in one case, Diamond won a no-bid contract for the purchase of 460,000 televisions granted in late November, just weeks before the analogue switch-off carried out on 31 December 2015.Industry sources consulted by Rapid TV News during the switch-over process had shown surprise at such an investment  $1.3 billion  to subsidise TV sets for the population. Indeed, Mexico was the only Latin American country to make such a move, although other governments did distribute set-top boxes to some on low incomes.Despite the financial investment, DTT has failed to get reach every corner of the country. According to the latest reports, around 22% of homes  25 million people  havent switched over to DTT due to lack of technology and coverage.
Spains production and distribution house, Tres60 Grupo, has appointed a new CEO and general manager after Giovanni Rier stepped down.





Immersed in a phase of expansion and looking to increase its presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, Tres60 Grupo has decided to create two positions out of the role left by Rier. Juanjo Garcia, the current director for business development, has been appointed CEO, while Arturo Rodriguez will take on the role of general manager.According to the company, the new appointments wont majorly change the groups strategy. Over the last three years, Riers leadership focused on business diversification and international expansion, which will also be the main focus for the new board.Garcia has been part of the company since 2013, leading Tres60s business strategy. Before joining the company, he worked as director of Canal 9s Minut a Minut and production director for Audiovisual Sport.Rodriguez joined the company in 2015 as financial director, having previously worked for Atresmedias laSexta and Mexicos Grupo Televisa, among other TV companies.Tres60 distributes Turners content and channels in Spain and Portugals pay-TV markets and has also joined forces with Eurocom for LATAM-focused broadcasting projects.
Indian video streaming service Spuul has added over 100 movies to its Punjabi content library, following a number of deals with studios and distributors.





Content will be added to the subscription video-on-demand ( SVOD ) service from Lokdhun, Unisys, Daddy Mohan Records, Speed Records, Kumar Films, and Yellow Music, to join existing Punjabi, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and other Indian regional language titles.One deal will provide the SVOD platform with the exclusive digital premiere of Atishbaazi Ishq, starring Mahie Gill and Roshan Prince, within a week of its theatrical release in early November.We enjoy the patronage of a large number of Punjabi users across the globe. Adding Punjabi language content to our already vast Hindi catalogue is a natural progression. Considering the huge improvement in the quality of Punjabi films being produced today, they are appealing to a much wider audience, said Rajiv Vaidya, CEO, Spuul India.We are excited to provide to our 18 million viewers across India, Pakistan, Canada, Australia and NZ, UK, US and Middle East with better, newer and fresher Punjabi content, he added.Currently, the most popular and highest grossing films in the Spuul catalogue are Jimmy Shergills Vaisakhi List, Jatt & Juliet 1&2, and animated blockbuster Chaar Sahibzaade
Keshet International (KI) and New Form have announced a partnership to distribute three of New Forms millennial- and youth-targeted digital scripted series.





KI will offer New Forms comedy, sci-fi adventure and dark thriller series, all of which are available or soon to premiere in the US on go90 as part of a 20-plus title MIPCOM slate. KI will seek out both linear TV and digital opportunities for the series internationally.New Form has been at the forefront of creating original premium digital content for new over-the-top (OTT) players in the US, said Sebastian Burkhardt, SVP, digital & acquisitions, KI . With these three remarkable new series, we now have the unique opportunity to expand their reach beyond the booming US market to both linear TV networks  with reformatted 30- and 60-minutes versions  and OTT services throughout the rest of the world. All of which are keen to reach millennial and youth audiences with quality content.Partnering with Keshet on the international distribution of three of our signature series is a significant step forward for our long-term strategy of creating, producing and distributing high quality programmes that have wide millennial appeal across multiple viewing platforms around the world, said JC Cangilla, SVP, business development, New Form. Keshet is widely respected in the international market as a leader in discovering entertaining new formats, narratives and talent.Two of the three New Form series appearing at MIPCOM have already premiered on go90 in the US. In the high school comedy Mr Student Body President, a charismatic student body president and his Machiavellian chief of staff give high school politics a new meaning as they battle for power over pep rallies, gossip and grades, with all the ambition and fervour of hardened Washington operatives.And the Streamy Award-nominated sci-fi adventure MISS 2059 is an intergalactic sci-fi adventure about a beauty queen on Earth who is mistakenly selected to represent humanity in a life-or-death Galactic tournament.KI will also offer COLD, set to premiere in the US on go90. In it, 16-year-old Isla Wallis returns to her remote home town to discover the truth about what really happened to her family. Now, alone and abandoned in the icy wilderness, Isla will be pushed to the edge of survival as she fights to expose the killer and save more than just her own life.Additionally, KI will be adding a home-grown series, Aces, to the list of digital offerings on its full MIPCOM slate. Created by Moti Adiv, Yoni Zicholtz and Jonathan Bar Ilan and produced by Keshet Broadcasting, Aces quickly became Israels No 1 digital series and subsequently migrated to Keshets linear channel. The show provides a comedic fly-on-the-wall peek into the world of five poker buddies when they let loose during their Friday night card game.
Russian court upholds recovery of $790 from Yandex

MOSCOW, October 4 (RAPSI)  The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has upheld the lower courts ruling to recover 50,000 rubles ($790) from Yandex as compensation to Silver Rain radio station for violating brand rights, the court documents read on Tuesday.

On July 8, the Moscow Commercial Court ruled in radio stations favor. According to Silver Rain, its conflict with Yandex began in June of 2015 when Yandex. Radio service used musical content and logo of Silver Rain without permission. The radio station initially tried to resolve the incident peacefully. In March, however, it filed a lawsuit against Yandex.

Press-service of Yandex said that during the launch of Yandex. Radio one of the offered categories was Like on radio with references to various radio stations. According to Yandex, this category did not use logos or broadcasts from those stations and were used to help users in their choice of music. This category was closed after several radio stations approached Yandex.

Yandex. Radio was started in June 2015. Service is free and offers a collection of radio stations with different moods, of different genres and from different timelines.
ECHR awards 12,500 in compensation to Moscow riots activist Belousov

MOSCOW, October 4 (RAPSI) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has granted 12,500 in compensation to Yaroslav Belousov, who was convicted of participation in Moscow's 2012 Bolotnaya riots.

On Tuesday, ECHR published its ruling in two applications filed by Belousov. The Court held that four articles of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated by Russian authorities in Belousov's case.

Public protests erupted on Bolotnaya Square in May 2012. The rally culminated in clashes between protesters and the police. Over 400 people were arrested and scores were injured when protesters briefly broke through police lines.

Belousov, a student of the Moscow State University, was arrested in June 2012, charged with participation in mass disorder and using violence against officials and put in detention. He claimed that mass disorder had not taken place, insisting that there had only been isolated clashes between protestors and police. He also maintained that the object he had thrown struck nobody.

Belousov spent over 20 months in pretrial detention. His motions to vary the preventive measure have been repeatedly dismissed by court.

In February 2014, Moscows Zamoskvoretsky District Court found Belousov guilty along with seven other opposition activists and sentenced him to 30 months in prison. Later, his prison term was reduced to 27 months. He was released on September 8, 2014.

Belousov lodged the first application with ECHR in December 2012. The second complaint was brought into the court in September 2014.

The applicant claimed that he had been placed in detention unjustifiably, in violation of Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of (Convention).

He also complained over poor conditions of his detention and in the courtrooms relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment).

Moreover, Belousov insisted that Article 6 (right to a fair trial), Article 10 (freedom of expression), Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) and Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the Convention had been violated as well.

ECHR ruled that Russia had violated Articles 3, 5, 6 and 11 of the Convention.
Warren Buffett made headlines in 2014 when his company, Berkshire Hathaway, helped finance the purchase of Tim Hortons Inc. by Burger King. Mr. Buffett was a well-qualified advisor to the transaction, having had significant previous experience with whoppers. However, the whoppers he has been involved with previously are not of the fast-food variety. Over the past several years, he has made some very dubious and disingenuous public statements regarding federal taxes. Given his credibility, each of these assertions has been taken as gospel. However, when subjected to the bright light of fact-based research and analysis, these assertions fall apart.

Let's take a look at three of his most famous tax whoppers.

Whopper #1: Buffett's 2010 "Federal Tax Rate" was less than one-half the rate paid by his fellow office workers.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has made the enactment of the "Buffett Rule" a key plank of her tax platform. The "Buffett Rule" stipulates that any taxpayer making more than $1 million per year must pay a minimum federal tax rate of 30%.

The "Buffett Rule" has, as its origin, an Op-Ed piece written by Warren Buffett and published in the New York Times in August, 2011. In his essay, Buffett asserted that his 2010 "federal tax rate" of 17.4% (on taxable income of almost $40 million) was less than half of the 36.0% average rate paid by his fellow office workers. Based on this alleged 18.6 percentage point "federal tax rate" differential, Buffett called for significant tax hikes on the "super rich".

The concept of the "Buffett Rule" entered the political landscape shortly thereafter, where it has remained, unchallenged, ever since. Polling conducted in 2012 indicated that upwards of 67% of those polled supported the enactment of the "Buffett Rule".

However, Buffett's analysis of his and his office workers' 2010 "federal tax rates" is completely flawed and disingenuous. Here's why:

(1) Buffett included payroll taxes in his analysis. Roughly 15.4 percentage points of the 18.6 percentage point alleged "federal tax rate" differential Buffett claimed arose due to his inclusion of payroll taxes in his analysis.

Payroll taxes are not income taxes. Rather, they are taxes paid by taxpayers in order to qualify for future retirement income (Social Security) and health care (Medicare) entitlement programs. Historically, Social Security taxes have been assessed at a rate of 6.2% on only a limited amount of wage income ($106,800 in 2010). This taxing mechanism assured that most taxpayers paid roughly the same dollar amount of Social Security taxes each year. Because of this, taxpayers with higher wage income or with high levels of dividend and capital gains income (such as Buffett) seemingly paid a lower percent of their total income in payroll taxes. Medicare taxes have been imposed at a rate of 1.45% of all wage income.

In Buffett's case, his 2010 payroll tax bite represented 0.02% of his total income. For most of his office workers, the payroll tax bite was 7.65%, yielding a "federal tax rate" differential of 7.63 percentage points between Buffett and his fellow office workers.

This apparent payroll tax rate differential (between high-income and low-income taxpayers) becomes totally irrelevant when it is understood that all taxpayers who qualify for these programs, regardless of income level, receive roughly the same Social Security and Medicare benefits upon retirement.

The Social Security tax mechanism assures that equal taxes are paid in exchange for equal future benefits. As such, there is nothing unfair about this mechanism.

Including these taxes in a comparison based on the total income of almost any two taxpayers yields a tax rate "difference" - by virtue of basic math. However, this difference is meaningless in the context of the analysis. Worse, it is intellectually dishonest to include it.

Buffett's sleight-of-hand lies in his including "payroll taxes" in his analysis to exaggerate the alleged "federal tax rate" differences he's attempting to demonstrate. Buffett's sleight-of-hand morphs into deception when it is understood that he included, in his "federal tax rate analysis", employer-paid (matching) payroll taxes in order to double the 7.63 percentage point "federal tax rate" differential attributable to payroll taxes (noted above) to 15.36 percentage points.

(2) Buffett ignored, in his "federal tax rate" analysis, taxes he bore as a one-third owner of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest corporations in the world. Berkshire Hathaway had taxable income of $19.1 billion in 2010, and, using its average corporate income tax rate over the previous 5-year period of 25%, it will ultimately pay federal taxes of $4.8 billion on this income.

Given his one-third ownership interest in the company, Buffett's share of Berkshire Hathaway's taxable income and federal income taxes paid were $6.5 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, in 2010.

There is no debate that corporate income is taxed twice, first at the corporate level (via the corporate income tax return) and then at the individual shareholder level (via their individual income tax returns) as dividend income is received. Moreover, shareholders bear these corporate income taxes, regardless of at what level they are paid.

Buffett ignored his share of the massive federal income taxes paid by Berkshire Hathaway in 2010 in compiling his "federal tax rate" analysis, presumably because these taxes (and income) do not appear on his individual federal tax return. But this is just smoke-and-mirrors. These numbers should have been included, and, due to their sheer magnitude, Buffett's corporate tax rate of 25% becomes (nearly) his effective federal income tax rate.

(3) Berkshire Hathaway paid federal taxes beyond corporate income taxes in 2010, primarily in the form of payroll taxes. It is estimated that the company paid in excess of $1.2 billion in payroll taxes in 2010, and Buffett's share of these taxes was $0.3 billion.

Buffett ignored these taxes as well in compiling his "federal tax rate" analysis. If they are included, as they should be, his "federal tax rate" jumps to 29.7%.

If you're keeping score, Buffett overstated the average "federal tax rate" of his office employees by 15.4 percentage points by erroneously including payroll taxes. If these taxes are removed from the analysis, as they should be, the average "federal tax rate" of his office workers in 2010 falls from 36.0% (as Buffett claimed) to 20.6%.

In compiling his own "federal tax rate", Buffett ignored the massive amount of corporate income and payroll taxes he bore as a one-third owner of one of the world's largest companies. If these taxes are included, as they should be, his "federal tax rate" increases to 29.6%.

Warren Buffett's claim that his 2010 "federal tax rate" was roughly 18.6 percentage points lower than the average rate paid by his office employees is completely wrong. In reality, his tax rate was 9.0 percentage points higher than theirs that year.

Whopper #2: High tax rates drove the massive job gains experienced in the 1980s.

In the same NYT Op-Ed piece, Buffett made this statement:

"And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what's happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation."

This statement is patently absurd. In making this assertion, Buffett conveniently ignored the impact on job growth of both 9/11 and the Great Recession, neither of which were caused by the Bush tax cuts, which were enacted in 2001.

But the biggest fallacy in Buffett's statement is its clear implication that the strong job growth experienced in the 1980s and 1990s (and they were strong years) was fueled by relatively high federal tax rates during those years. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, enacted in the summer of 1981, took federal tax rates on ordinary income down 25% across the entire income spectrum. The highest marginal tax rate declined from 70% to 50%.

The rate on capital gains income was taken down to 20%. Further tax cuts, enacted in 1986, brought the highest marginal tax rate on ordinary income down to 28% (and yes, Reagan had to agree to an increase in the capital gains rate to 28% to get this overall tax cut package passed). It was Reagan's historic tax cuts that fueled the massive job growth of the 1980s and 1990s, not high federal tax rates, as implied by Buffett.

Whopper #3: Ultra-rich taxpayers experienced a one-third tax cut over the past two decades while their incomes increased seven-fold.

In December, 2015, Buffett yet again made a very misleading tax assertion, this time at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Omaha. NYT.com, in its reporting of the event, wrote this:

Mr. Buffett began his remarks at an event in Omaha with some stark statistics. In 1992, the top 400 wage earners in the United States made an average of $46.8 million each, compared with $335.7 million in 2012, Mr. Buffett said, using the most recent statistics available based on income tax returns.

"This group," which includes Mr. Buffett, who is worth an estimated $66.7 billion, "had their income increase sevenfold," he said, adding, however, that "their tax rate has fallen (from 26.4 percent) to 16.7 percent, so they got a one-third tax cut as their income went up 7 to 1."

The biggest flaw in this assertion is the fact that the bookend years of the tax rate comparison are 1992 and 2012. This period encompasses the Clinton (!) and Bush tax cuts, in which capital gains rates were reduced from 28% to 15% and the top marginal tax rate dropped from 39.6% to 35%. Okay, fair enough. But what this period fails to encompass is 2013, which is very convenient for Mr. Buffett (and his agenda) given the fact that a large federal tax increase went into effect on January 1, 2013, focused exclusively on high income taxpayers. In this tax increase:

 The top income tax bracket on ordinary income increased from 35% to 39.6%.

 The tax rate on capital gains income increased from 15% to 20% for high income taxpayers.

 The tax rate on dividend income increased from 15% to 20% for high income taxpayers.

 A new 3.8% tax was imposed on unearned income (capital gains, dividends, and interest) for high income taxpayers.

These new and higher tax rates increased the effective federal tax rates of the top 400 earners by roughly 7.0 percentage points, eliminating almost all of the 9.7 percentage point tax rate decline (from 1992 to 2012) as noted in Buffett's assertion.

There is another disingenuous aspect of this instance of Buffett's tax rate deceit. Astute investors, faced with an 8.5 percentage point or 58.7% increase in their capital gains tax rates in 2013, took steps to accelerate capital gain income into 2012. Corporations, knowing that many of their shareholders faced a 58.7% dividend tax rate increase in 2013, accelerated dividend payments into 2012. Wage and salary income was accelerated into 2012 as well.

This acceleration of income caused an artificial spike in top 400 income in 2012, which in turn spiked the multiple by which the top 400 earners' incomes increased from 1992 to 2012 (7 times, as noted by Buffett). However, if 2011 is used as an endpoint year, thus eliminating the 2012 income spike, the top 400 income earners' income increase is reduced to 4.7 times 1992 income, a significantly lower (by 34%) and far less politically charged number.

It is absolutely unconscionable that Mr. Buffett, speaking in 2015 and using tax metrics covering the period from 1992 to 2012, called for higher taxes on the super-rich while totally ignoring the fact that a massive tax increase had already been imposed on high-income taxpayers in 2013.

Conclusion

Taxation is an issue that should be the subject of spirited, honest, and healthy debate between competing ideologies. By all means, let's argue about tax policy and the merits of raising or lowering taxes on taxpayers at all income levels as part of this debate. But please, let's not resort, as Mr. Buffett has now done at least three times, to putting forth disingenuous and intellectually dishonest commentary in support of our respective positions. The American electorate deserves better.
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As Hurricane Matthew, currently a Category 1 but originally a Category 4 storm, whips along the Atlantic Coast, citizens of coastal Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina are evacuating for safety.
FILE - In this June 27, 2010 file photo, Agnes Nixon arrives at the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Las Vegas. Nixon, the creative force behind the popular soap operas "One Life to Live" and "All My Children," died Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, in Haverford, Pa. She was 93. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

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By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Agnes Nixon, the creative force behind the edgy and enduring TV soap operas "One Life to Live" and "All My Children," died Wednesday. She was 93.

Nixon died at a Haverford, Pennsylvania, physical rehabilitation facility close to her Rosemont home, said her son, Bob Nixon. She had checked in to gain strength for a planned book tour, he said.

She had just completed her memoir, "My Life to Live," on Sunday, a week before it was due to publisher Penguin Random House for publication in early 2017, her son said.

"She was really a great wife, mother and human being  but above all, a writer. She was writing up until last night," he said, and had called him with a few changes for the book.

The cause of death was not immediately known, he said.

Nixon suffered a stroke four years ago with serious complications, her son said, but she fought to regain her health. He confirmed her birthdate as December 1922, despite media reports that she was 88.

"I am devastated to learn that we have lost Agnes. I adored her and admired her and I am forever grateful to her!" Susan Lucci, who starred as Erica Kane on "All My Children," said in a statement.

Nixon created, wrote and produced the long-running ABC daytime serials, which were canceled in 2011 as the network bowed to the reality that soaps had faded as a daytime TV force. (Both subsequently had short-lived online runs.)

"All My Children" aired for nearly 41 years, while "One Life to Live" made it to 44 years. They were set in the fictional Philadelphia-area towns of Pine Valley and Llanview.

Social issues including child abuse, AIDS, alcoholism and gay rights made their way into the series' story lines. Erica Kane was the first regularly appearing TV character to undergo a legal abortion, in 1973.

In a 2003 episode of "All My Children," Bianca, who was Erica's daughter, and the character Lena shared what was billed as daytime TV's first same-sex kiss.

"The theme of 'All My Children' from the beginning is the belief that, as God's children, we are all bound to each other by our common humanity, despite our many personal differences," Nixon told The Associated Press at the time. "The Bianca story is our latest effort to dramatize that belief."

"Agnes' impact on daytime television and pop culture is undeniable," said Robert Iger, chairman and CEO of ABC parent The Walt Disney Co., in a statement. "She was the first to champion socially relevant topics, and the towns and characters Agnes brought to life leave an indelible imprint on television that will be remembered forever."

Nixon, a native of Chicago, was mentored by the grande dame of the soap opera genre, Irna Phillips, back in the radio age.

She was writing for a TV soap, "Search for Tomorrow," as early as 1951. In the late 1960s, while raising a family and serving as head writer for "The Guiding Light," Nixon created a "bible" detailing "All My Children."

The show was rejected by CBS, but after Nixon breathed new life into NBC's flagging "Another World," she was approached by ABC to create a new serial. That was the start of "One Life to Live," which earned such solid ratings in its first year that ABC asked for another.

"I said to my husband, 'I can't think of another one,'" Nixon told the AP in 2013. "He said, 'How about "All My Children"?' So I opened the desk drawer and took out the 'bible' and sent it to ABC. They said, 'Boy, that was fast work!'"

The stories and characters of Nixon's fictional worlds never ended for her, Bob Nixon said: "It might not have been on the air but it was in her head."

Agnes Nixon was married to the late Robert Nixon, and the couple's four children are among her survivors. Services were planned for Saturday in Rosemont, with a private burial to follow.
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2016 file photo, Norma Hernandez wipes her eyes as she talks about being raped when she was 13, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. The emotional stories of women who say they were sexually assaulted more than a decade ago by comedian Bill Cosby prompted Wednesday, Sept. 28, California state lawmakers to approve a bill to eliminate the state's 10-year limit on filing rape and related charges. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

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By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  The emotional stories of women who say they were sexually assaulted more than a decade ago by Bill Cosby prompted California state lawmakers to approve a bill to eliminate the state's 10-year limit on filing rape and related charges.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he has approved the legislation to revoke that limitation.

Beginning next year, the bill will end the statute of limitations in certain rape and child molestation cases. It will also end the time limit on older cases in which the statute of limitations has not yet expired.

The new law, SB813, will not, however, help women who made allegations against Cosby dating back more than 10 years, including some from the 1960s.

Cosby has repeatedly denied the sex abuse allegations made by dozens of women nationwide. He is facing just one criminal case stemming from sex abuse. A trial is set to begin in June in Pennsylvania.

Defense lawyer Angela Agrusa has said Cosby's accusers have stirred passions even though their stories of abuse have not been investigated by police.

California lawmakers sent the statute of limitations bill to Brown without a single dissenting vote.

State Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, credited intense lobbying of lawmakers and the governor by advocates who "kept the fight alive for the countless rape victims that have already spoken up and also those that have yet to come forward."

The bill's signing "tells every rape and sexual assault victim in California that they matter and that, regardless of when they are ready to come forward, they will always have an opportunity to seek justice in a court of law," she said in a statement. "Rapists should never be able to evade legal consequences simply because an arbitrary time limit has expired."

Seventeen other states already have no statute of limitations on rape, according to the California Women's Law Center.

In June, Colorado doubled the amount of time sexual assault victims have to seek charges from 10 to 20 years, a decision also prompted by the Cosby allegations. Nevada extended its time limit from four to 20 years last year after testimony by one of Cosby's accusers.

Advocates say victims may need years before they can bring themselves to make an allegation to law enforcement. Several women said during a spring legislative hearing on the California bill that they did not come forward sooner because they were traumatized or afraid no one would believe them.

However, if they wait 10 years, victims find "the door to the courthouse is slammed in her face," said high-profile Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who represents 30 women who say they were sexually assaulted more than a decade ago by Cosby. None can bring criminal charges because the time limit has expired.

Civil rights groups and public defenders countered that extending the time limit could lead to false convictions as evidence disappears and memories fade among victims and witnesses. They say it's not fair to expect a suspect to recall an alibi decades later.

It could even be counterproductive, California Public Defenders Association representative Carolyn George argued, because the time limit encourages victims to come forward and investigators to move quickly.
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SAN ANTONIO (AP)  A former television reporter in Texas must serve more than three years in federal prison for stalking an ex-boss and the executive's wife.

Gabriel Robert Caggiano of Los Angeles was sentenced Wednesday in San Antonio. The 57-year-old Caggiano in March pleaded guilty to stalking.

Investigators say Caggiano in 2008 was fired from a Corpus Christi TV station for threatening behavior. Prosecutors say Caggiano in 2015 harassed  with voicemail, texts and social media  his former boss and the man's wife, who had since moved to San Antonio.

The ex-journalist was arrested last November. Caggiano, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison, also had been a TV reporter in Austin and San Antonio.
FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2002 file photo, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, N.M., where agents for the Federal Air Marshal Service undergo training. Incidents of unruly passengers on planes are increasing, and more effective deterrents are needed to tackle the problem, a global airline trade group said Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. There were 10,854 air rage incidents reported by airlines worldwide last year, up from 9,316 incidents in 2014, according to the International Air Transport Association. That equates to one incident for every 1,205 flights, an increase from one incident per 1,282 flights the previous year. (AP Photo/J.R. Hernandez, File)

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By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP)  Incidents of unruly passengers on planes are increasing, and more effective deterrents are needed to tackle the problem, a global airline trade group said Wednesday.

There were 10,854 air rage incidents reported by airlines worldwide last year, up from 9,316 incidents in 2014, according to the International Air Transport Association. That equates to one incident for every 1,205 flights, an increase from one incident per 1,282 flights the previous year.

Incidents have been rising almost consistently since 2007, when the association began tracking the issue. That year airlines reported 339 incidents to the association.

A majority of incidents involved verbal abuse, failure to follow crew instructions and other anti-social behavior. Eleven percent included physical aggression toward passengers or crew or damage to the plane. Alcohol or drugs were a factor in 23 percent of the cases. In the vast majority of incidents involving drugs or alcohol, the substances were consumed before boarding or imbibed secretly on board, the association said.

Training staff in airport bars and duty-free shops to sell alcohol responsibly, including avoiding offers that encourage binge drinking, can cut incidents by half, the association said, citing an initiative by Monarch Airlines at London's Gatwick Airport.

Airlines already have strong guidelines and crew training on "the responsible provision of alcohol," the association said.

A woman in England pleaded guilty in June to assaulting an easyJet pilot. Prosecutors said she punched the pilot in the face after he deemed her too intoxicated to fly. In another case, a male passenger allegedly urinated on fellow easyJet passengers as they were waiting to deplane after landing at Edinburgh.

Six men involved in a drunken brawl during a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Thailand in July were ordered off the plane after it diverted to Indonesia.

An American Airlines pilot tackled one passenger to the floor after he tried to force his way off the plane as it taxied to the gate in Charlotte, North Carolina. "You don't put your hands on my flight attendant!" the pilot can be heard yelling on a video taken by another passenger. The unruly passenger was arrested and charged with being intoxicated and disruptive.

Charlie Leocha, president of Travelers United, an advocacy group for airline passengers in Washington, said he knows of no changes in the way alcohol is sold in airports or on planes that would account for the increase in the rate of incidents. But he noted that the increases correspond with efforts by airlines to squeeze more passenger seats onto planes by shrinking legroom and seat width.

"We've always had alcohol sold at airports, we have always had alcohol served on aircraft," he said. "The only difference today is that people now have less space and they are required to interact more intimately with other passengers."

Other recent incidents include a Los Angeles-bound Delta Air Lines flight diverted to Tucson, Arizona, escorted by two Air Force fighter jets, after a passenger refused to return his seat. The following month, the FBI and Hawaii state sheriffs arrested a 35-year-old man who allegedly bit a flight attendant on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Pago Pago in American Samoa to Honolulu.

Airlines also want more countries to ratify a 2014 treaty that closes gaps in laws for dealing with unruly passengers. So far, only six countries  Bahrain, Congo, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Guyana and Jordan  have ratified the pact.

"More are needed in order to have a consistent global approach to this issue," said Alexandre de Juniac, the association's director general.
This Aug. 26, 2016 photo provided by the National Park Service shows fresh tire tracks illegally made by a vehicle crossing earlier illegal tracks on the Racetrack Playa at Death Valley National Park, Calif. The NPS is trying to track down the motorist who defaced the remote dry lake bed, famous for its mysterious moving stones. (National Park Service via AP)

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DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP)  Federal investigators have identified a person of interest as they hunt a driver who took an illegal joyride on a fragile, dry lake bed in Death Valley National Park, leaving 10 miles of swerving tire tracks.

The damage was done about six weeks ago. Park spokeswoman Linda Slater said Tuesday that a witness to the off-road drive notified authorities. Park rangers are investigating.

Motor vehicles are banned from the site known as Playa Racetrack, where visitors can see how wind and ice push rocks that leave lengthy trails in the lake bed.

The tracks are shallow but broke the crust of the lake bed.

Slater says there has been discussion about how to reduce the damage but only a rare rain that covers the lake bed will erase the tracks.

___

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
Alayna Shulman/Record Searchlight

U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, left, and Democratic challenger Jim Reed face off in a forum for candidates for the 1st Congressional District on Monday in Anderson.

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By Alayna Shulman of the Redding Record Searchlight

At a political forum Monday night in Anderson, First Congressional District incumbent Doug LaMalfa blamed most of the area's woes on the federal government "that big blob" that neglects the rural way of life  while challenger Jim Reed blamed his opponent's hand in congressional gridlock for many of the problems facing the district.

The League of Women Voters forum at Anderson High School saw LaMalfa, R-Richvale, square off against the Red Bluff democrat yet again after the 2012 race that saw the republican incumbent beat Reed.

The audience of about 20 people submitted questions to the pair ranging from climate change to homelessness to the role of guns on campuses. In answer to many of them, Reed said LaMalfa's role as a politician who refused to pass a budget in time to stop government cuts  also known as the partisan-fueled "sequester"  is to blame.

He also made a subtle reference to that belief in his opening remarks, saying partisan politics are to blame for the area's woes.

Reed went on to call it "just wrong" for LaMalfa to reportedly say he wouldn't do anything to stop congressional gridlock until a republican president is elected, then brought up the issue again to explain what he believes is wrong with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

"I blame (delays in appointments) on the sequester," Reed said. "Our Congress has got to get with it."

LaMalfa's role in the sequester also came up during Reed's closing remarks, when he said the chief difference between him and LaMalfa is that the republican "actually wants the federal government to fail."

LaMalfa's chief gripe, on the other hand, was federal legislation that he believes harms the economy.

That included opening remarks that touted the "big opportunities" of timber and biomass jobs if more of them were available to locals, and the need for a president who will fight "a lot of corruption" that's rife in the veterans affairs department.

LaMalfa then went on to criticize laws based on the "hysteria" that's "way beyond reasonable" around global warming and, in turn, harm the economy.

He also said the country's "unfair" tax rate needs to change because it makes businesses move off-shore, and that "class-envy" can't be part of the equation.

LaMalfa's disenchantment with "that big blob" also popped up when someone asked about homelessenss, which he partially blamed on strict rules for nonprofits that he said force them to limit services.

Reed, on the other hand, blamed homelessness on Ronald Reagan's time as California governor and root issues of substance abuse and mental illness going unaddressed.

Some other ways the candidates differed include:

 LaMalfa believes in "peace through strength," noting a large military can be a deterrent to those who want to harm the country, while Reed said the military could stand to be downsized.

 Reed wants to change the "tax loopholes" that allow companies to pay less in taxes than citizens, while LaMalfa complained how current rates are unfair to businesses.

 Reed said he's for a $15 minimum wage because most of the wealth in the country is held by only a few, while LaMalfa said that wage "takes the entry-level job and makes it disappear," which then "takes away opportunity."

 Reed disputed LaMalfa's repeated complaint that a greener California will cost jobs.

 Reed said guns should "absolutely not" be allowed at schools, while LaMalfa said gun-free zones tend to be "safety-free, too."

 LaMalfa said more students should be encouraged to attend community college instead of four-year schools until tuition goes down, while Reed said the answer to high college costs is not taxing students who also work.

The election for the First Congressional District is November 8.
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There seems to be a lot of lamentation over the 2016 presidential election, the TV commentariat and Facebook punditry declaring it the race around which the American Republic will rise or fall.

I can easily nominate 1856 as a bit more bizarre and transformational a presidential race.

It was a three-way race, with a new party, the Republicans, becoming forged from a coalition of Northern Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats, whose main plank was to thwart the extension of slavery into the new states and territories.

The new party needed a boost, so it had its convention, patriotically, in Philadelphia. It chose a celebrity, John Fremont, to run.

Fremont was "The Pathfinder," who led five expeditions to map out the West from the Rockies to the Pacific. He had married the belle of Washington, 17-year-old Jessie Benton, the favorite daughter of the longest-serving Democratic senator, Thomas Benton of Missouri. Jessie saw the potential of her husband's exploits, and like a 19th-century Kris Kardashian for her Bruce Jenner, she re-edited his otherwise-dry journals and spread them around Washington, making them best-sellers.

The Know-Nothing Party is said to have gotten its name because its partisans would say they "know nothing" when asked about secret meetings. Its main plank was against most immigration, particularly the Catholics streaming in from Germany and Ireland. The Know-Nothings nominated the last Whig president, Millard Fillmore, who desperately wanted to get back into the White House.

Nine of the last 12 presidents had been Democrats so they felt a bit confident nominating their oldest warhorse, James Buchanan, of Lancaster, Pa. Buchanan had the longest governmental resume in presidential candidate history  member of the state legislature, congressman, U.S. senator, minister to Russia and Great Britain, and secretary of state.

Buchanan's connection to Philadelphia was the saddest moment of his life. He was engaged to Ann Coleman, the daughter of the richest man in the state. Gossip, though, had placed him admiring a beautiful young woman at his friend's house, and Ann broke off the engagement. In her grief over the breakup, she and her younger sister went to Philadelphia to visit their older sister. Ann complained of a cold, so she stayed home one night while the other sisters went to the theater. When they arrived back home, Ann was in hysterics. By morning, she was dead at age 23  the rumor being that she had committed suicide over the breakup.

In 1856, because the Democrats were better funded and more established, Buchanan won in a walk-off. There were lots of brickbats back and forth, primarily about slavery, race and immigration, fortified by many campaign songs. Buchanan's sister-in-law's brother was the Jay-Z of his age, Stephen Foster, the most well-known songwriter in America.

President Buchanan saw his "mandate" as settling the slavery question. Two days before his inauguration, Congress passed his Tariff of 1857, stifling Northern manufacturing by making foreign goods cheaper. Three days later, the Supreme Court case he influenced, Dred Scott v. Sandford, was decided. Roundly thought of as the worst Supreme Court decision ever, it nullified previous compromises and fortified the Fugitive Slave Law, essentially keeping everyone in bondage no matter where in the country they lived.

Those two actions ended up thwarting the 20-year run of growth in the country because people didn't know where to locate vis a vis slavery. Railroads, which had been the main movers in the boom, ground to a virtual halt and many went into bankruptcy, as did a number of industries dependent on them. The Panic of 1857 was quick and deep, with every bank in New York effectively closing.

Buchanan took a hands-off attitude, saying those who speculated deserved their economic fate. He believed the country would revive when people went back to real work, like the plantation owners in the South.

Buchanan had said he would be a one-term president, but in his wake, he refused to support his longtime rival Stephen Douglas, which allowed the Democratic Party to split into three, handing Abe Lincoln the presidency. Seven states seceded during the time between Lincoln's election and inauguration, thus on Buchanan's watch.

Pennsylvania's only president was, sadly, the Worst. President. Ever.

Robert Strauss is the author of "Worst. President. Ever: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents." Readers may send him email at rsethstrauss@verizon.net
Blue Sky tested out Ubers new on-demand food delivery service. See how the company performed on speed and quality. (Blue Sky) (Chicago Tribune)

Uber has pulled the plug on its "instant" food delivery service in Chicago, an option that let consumers choose from a short list of meals for lunch and dinner for speedy delivery.

The ride-hailing company launched UberEats here in April 2015, originally promising lunch delivery from a pre-set menu to the Loop and River North within 10 minutes. Uber later launched a standalone UberEats app so customers could order from full menus of local restaurants, as well as the existing selection of Instant Delivery items for lunch and dinner.

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The company ended the "instant" part of its food delivery service in Chicago on Friday. It has also pulled that option out of Austin, Toronto, Washington D.C. and New York City.

The wider UberEats program, which delivers from hundreds of restaurants in Chicago, remains. Delivery time from that service averages 35 minutes, the company said.

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"We started with speed and a limited selection of menu items," the company said in a statement Monday. "Since launching Instant, UberEATS has significantly expanded from allowing people in downtown to pick 4 to 5 meals during the lunch hour to offering thousands of items at all hours of the day, and throughout the city.

"We will now be focusing on how we can bring customers an even better selection of on-demand meals, delivered as fast as possible," the statement said.

mgraham@tribpub.com

Twitter @megancgraham
After at least 50 women got in touch with me, I realised that housewives had suddenly discovered that WhatsApp could give them a whole new profession, says Keya Sarkar.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com.

I havent exactly been able to figure out the reason, but have definitely noticed a trend -- of an explosion of unorganised sector retailers in the last six months. Now with Durga Puja and Diwali round the corner, these retailers are a frenzied lot.

Although I have been in the business of handloom and craft of Santiniketan for over a decade now, never have I witnessed such a demand for our products from resellers. But my training in economics keeps me from thinking of myself as some design diva whose products are being so appreciated and makes me look for the macro reason for this sudden spike.

For a few years now, we have been getting a steady stream of orders from brick-and-mortar stores, which produce some of their own stuff and probably source some from vendors to complete their offering. Simultaneously, we have been getting orders from online curators.

Sourcing sounds a tad downmarket and doesnt leave space for contribution by the reseller. Curating is a superior word as it probably justifies better the resellers margin. These online platforms have their own constraints as each product needs to be replicated according to the first picture in the post. I am sure they themselves realise the pitfalls of such a constraint but for the moment are tied to the diktats of the business model they have chosen.

Then there are those that have neither brick-and-mortar stores nor online platforms but do occasional pop-up shows with curated supplies. They are practitioners of the Japanese just in time inventory, so they pay as close to their pop-up shows as possible and earn it back with returns during the two-day show.

But at least they have a business model. As more and more Bengali non-resident Indians call me to buy products -- as they have set up businesses in the countries of their residence -- I wonder how in this day of the internet, businesses of arbitrage can prosper. But after at least 50 women got in touch with me, I realised housewives had suddenly discovered that WhatsApp could give them a whole new profession.

They need to physically do nothing to either source or sell. And it is a business model that requires no capital. You get the vendor to WhatsApp you their catalogue, share it with friends and family at inflated prices and when anyone likes a piece the WhatsApp expert just does an idhar ka maal udhar (taking goods from one place to the other) and earns a little pocket money.

If I complain about the advent of WhatsApp and the ridiculous uses its being put to, my friends and acquaintances are often surprised. Arent you happy it has opened up possibilities for you to sell more, they ask.

I would be, I say, if these new business tycoons knew a little more about the commodities they were dealing in. The questions they ask or the demands they make let on how little they know of fabrics and techniques, how they are made, how long a process takes. Not to mention that I need to employ a person for full-time catalogue WhatsApping.

But the reseller who stumped me was a woman from Kolkata, who kept taking the train to buy a few products from our shop. The only request she would make, when she got to know me, was to let me know in advance when she was coming and what stocks I should have a variety of for her to choose from.

Then one day she WhatsApped me to say the stock that I keep aside for her should not have our label! Which label should they carry then, I asked disbelievingly. But she had hung up already.
The company launched eight products across price points under its new range of consumer laptops, targeting professionals, gamers and students

Lenovo is refreshing its consumer personal computer (PC) product line-up ahead of the festive season, to boost demand amid slowing growth in the Indian PC market.

On Monday, the company launched eight products across price points under its new range of consumer laptops, targeting professionals, gamers and students.

Lenovo India marketing director Bhaskar Choudhuri said: We are refreshing our PC line-up. The PC market in India is not growing much. So in order to create demand, we are rolling out innovative PCs that bring more to the table for consumers and address the unmet needs of consumers.

This is in line with the companys evolving philosophy of increasingly launching products that can be differentiated from the rest, by giving consumers improved user experience.

The company was looking to bring new users and expect some increase in demand because of the festive season, said Choudhuri.

Normally, we see a spike in sales when schools and colleges start, which is when a lot of students buy PCs. With our new portfolio, we are targeting students as well as those who like to watch HD quality videos, gamers, professionals on the go and those who like fashionable products. Lenovo had witnesses a decline in market share in India and in the global market.

According to International Data Corporation, Lenovo stood third with 16.1 per cent of the PC market share in the second quarter of 2016, witnessing a decline of 12.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter over Q1 2016.

HP came first with 28.4 per cent market share, followed by Dell at 22.2 per cent. Overall PC shipment for Q2 2016 stood at 2.14 million units, declining 2.2 per cent over Q2 2015.

Globally, Lenovo maintained the number one position in the worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter of 2016, despite a 2.2 per cent decline in units over the last year, said research firm Gartner Inc. This was the fifth consecutive quarter of declining global PC shipment for Lenovo.

The computer maker had 20.5 per cent market share in the global PC market in the second quarter of 2016, followed by HP and Dell, which have market shares of 19.1 per cent and 15.2 per cent, respectively. Worldwide PC shipments had declined 5.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 over the previous year.

Lenovo acquired IBMs personal computer business in 2005 and became one of the leading players globally in the personal computer business. The company is now eyeing the number one position in the India market, said Choudhuri.

Similar to the Indian smartphone segment, where players have brought premium features to affordable products to appeal to the mass market segment, we are trying to bring premium PC features like the Yoga form factor (convertible laptops that can be used as tables as well), better video quality and better gaming experience to the affordable range of consumer PCs. In the long run, we are eyeing the leadership position in India, he added.

Photograph: Bobby Yip/Reuters
After reaching a deal with ANZ in a six-year tussle, Pankaj and Radhika Oswal have left Australia and plan to start a new venture in New York

Indian industrialist couple, Pankaj and Radhika Oswal, have left Australia, perhaps never to return, after settling a multi-billion-dollar legal stoush with one of Australias leading banks, the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group.

The commercial settlement, the terms of which are confidential, reached on September 22 resolves the A$2.5-billion claim made by the Oswals against ANZ over a dispute about the receivership and sale of Burrup Fertilisers, a subsidiary of Burrup Holdings, in 2010.

It has cost ANZ over A$200 million, tens of millions in legal fees and a dent in its reputation. In a statement, ANZ announced that the net pre-tax impact of the settlement will be reflected in an additional provision charge of approximately A$145 million to be taken at the full year 2016 results.

ANZ chief executive officer Shayne Elliott wrote in an internal email to staff, which was provided to Business Standard: We took the view that in these quite unusual and complex circumstances the residual risks for ANZ were too great in the Oswal case.

Given this, the size of the claim and the potential for court interest to apply, the amounts were so large that we felt we could not expose our shareholders to that risk. I want to assure you though that we dont take these decisions lightly and however difficult it may be to pay money in a case like this, our responsibility is to protect our shareholders interests for the long term.

The case had been running for six years and the hearing in the Supreme Court of Victoria lasted 11 weeks, which is considered by many to be the longest in the history of the Court. The trial before Justice Julie Dodds-Streeton involved three separate proceedings being heard together in the Court.

Two of the proceedings were filed in 2011 and the other in 2012. The hearing began on 30th May 2016, with some 50 lawyers present in the Court, and continued until it was adjourned for settlement discussions on August 17th.

The solicitors acting for the Oswals told Business Standard, For our clients, their decision to bring the proceedings was a matter of principle. They are very satisfied with the settlement and pleased the matter is over.

Starting a new chapter

The Oswals left for Dubai, where they had relocated from Perth after their 65 per cent shareholding (Pankaj owned 30 per cent and Radhika 35 per cent) in Burrup Holdings was placed in receivership, soon after the settlement was reached.

In an email message through their spokesperson, Radhika expressed her gratitude for the Australian justice system. She said, The main thing is that it allowed us to tell the story behind what happened at Burrup.

We hope that the full story might lead to changes in the way people are treated in circumstances similar to ours. Most Australians cannot fight the big end of town, but I hope the Australian people and the authorities consider the issues that were raised.

She is planning to start a not-for-profit organisation devoted to womens empowerment and said that Pankaj needed a few months to deal with some family legal matters in India before considering his next business venture.

But it wont be in Australia, she said, adding That is a bit sad because he always believed there were great opportunities in the Australian energy and resources sectors and he would have continued to invest in other circumstances. But I think he is disillusioned about how the system can work against outsiders in Australia.

The couple along with their two daughters, Vasundhara, 18, and Riddhi, 12, will probably move to New York.

We love the city and we love that New York - like Australia - was made by and for immigrants. The last six years have been painful and emotionally draining so it is time to start a new chapter in our lives, Radhika added.

Breaking down the legal saga ANZ has agreed to pay Pankaj and Radhika Oswal more than $200 million The Oswals had sued the bank for as much as $2.5 billion over ANZs seizure and sale of their majority stake in Burrup Fertilisers in 2010 The bank said the settlement would cost an additional $145million this year The Oswals have also settled a separate legal dispute with the Taxation Office that had stopped them from leaving the country The family wants to move to New York and start a new business Radhika also wants to start a not-for-profit organisation for women

Loved and loathed

During their time in Australia, the Oswals were admired and envied, and then their reputation took a hit in 2010 as ANZ called in a guarantee signed by the couple over their stakes in Burrup after it emerged that Pankaj had allegedly provided ANZ with forged letters of support from European banks to secure the $1 billion in additional funding.

They had come under the spotlight not only for their business dealings, but also for their lavish parties and construction of a A$7- million mansion nicknamed Taj on Swan river in the swanky Peppermint Grove suburb of Perth, which was left half-finished after Burrup went into receivership.

Demolition of the Taj on Swan commenced on Monday. The Peppermint Grove Shire Council had issued a demolition order as the Taj site had been abandoned, no building licence was current or was being sought and the Oswals could provide no firm time line to re-apply for such a licence or demonstrate the financial capacity to complete the dwelling, the Shires Corporate Services Manager Paul Rawlings told Business Standard.

At this stage the Oswals support our decision and they have indicated that they will reimburse the Council up to the estimated demolition cost supplied by the contractor. However, the Council has deemed this project high risk and, given our statutory rights under the Western Australia Building Act, requires an undertaking for full reimbursement of demolition costs whatever they will ultimately be.

This remains a sticking point and negotiations have slowed, if not stopped. Nevertheless, the demolition will proceed and, if necessary, the Council will seek reimbursement through the Court system, Rawlings said.

Mired in legal tangle

The Oswals have been involved in a quagmire of legal proceedings in Australia. In 2000, when Pankaj, the grandson of one of the great Ludhiana textile magnates and son of Abhey Oswal, set out to build one of the largest fertiliser plants on the rock-strewn Burrup Peninsula in the resource-rich state of Western Australia, the young chemical engineer had not taken money from his father, but he had borrowed from rich friends and from banks to establish Burrup Fertilisers in 2000.

ANZ first lent money to the Oswal/Burrup Group in 2005. Elliott wrote in an internal email to staff, This case has been far from usual since we first lent money to the Oswal/Burrup Group in 2005; lending which peaked at one point at over A$1.3 billion.

You will all know from the media coverage that our lending was based on forged documentation provided by the Oswal/Burrup Group. This obviously sits with great difficulty at a bank with normally very well managed credit processes but there were also difficult judgement calls that had to be made in the complex recovery process in 2010 and 2011.

According to local media reports, the court was told that senior ANZ executives allegedly used derogatory racist remarks, Pankaj was allegedly physically assaulted by a bank official during negotiations, and Radhika was allegedly threatened that if she didnt sign over her Burrup stake to the bank, the couple would go to jail and their two daughters would become orphans.

In a statement, Elliott says, ANZ does not accept many of the claims made in court and we completely reject the allegations made against our staff. However, we believe the settlement is the right decision for shareholders bearing in mind the residual risks in a case of this size and complexity.

The couple has also struck a confidential deal with the Australian Taxation Office, bringing to an end Federal Court action over a more than $100m tax bill.

Photograph: Andrew H Walker/Getty Images
'Will this surgical strike of ours put an end to Pakistani terror?'

'And if not, what will we do when the next terror strike happens?'

'Will there be another surgical strike or will we have to do something bigger?'

'How big does it have to be to get Pakistan to totally stop,' asks Aakar Patel.

IMAGE: Indian troops in Kashmir.

What is the long term implication of India's attack on Pakistan?

One of them might be that there is another war between us, which would make it officially the third war, if it is long, or the fifth, if it is short.

We fought first in 1947-1948 when Jinnah sent a tribal army of Pathans to conquer Kashmir, and seized what we call today PoK and the Pakistanis call Azad Kashmir.

Then Ayub Khan was instigated by his foreign minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to send intruders into Kashmir again in 1965. Shastri responded by sending tanks across the international border towards Lahore. That war ended with a peace brokered by the Soviet Union at Tashkent (today in Uzbekistan).

It also ended partly because both countries ran out of air force spare parts. Fighter planes are high performance machines which use very expensive parts which are used up quickly. For this reason, poor nations cannot afford to fight modern wars beyond 10 days.

Today India is much more powerful and richer than Pakistan and so this situation has changed. But then we both have weapons of mass destruction now which we did not in Shastri's time.

Only six years after the Tashkent peace we divided Pakistan in the 1971 war to create Bangladesh.

In 1999, we cleared Pakistan's Northern Light Infantry jawans at Kargil. Though about 1,000 soldiers died, 500 on each side, the Kargil conflict is not classified as a war because neither nation officially declared war.

This time, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered retaliation, the conflict seems to be contained.

India used very cautious language when announcing the surgical strike. We also assured Pakistan and the world we were not planning further action.

However, since we have already fought them so many times there is always a possibility that we will go to war again.

The problem with war is that populations get bored of it soon. I do not mean they get tired of war, in the sense that their sons are dying or that the economy is bleeding. I mean they actually get bored.

The First World War was fought in trenches. Long and unmoving lines that began in Belgium (a wretched nation that wanted no part of the fighting but became a battlefield because it was located between the combatants) and ended at Switzerland.

These long and unmoving lines remained for years. Between 1914 and 1918, the Germans were facing off against the French and British they hated who were in trenches 150 metres apart.

What was going on behind them? Nothing. People were going to pubs and restaurants in the evening, to work in offices and factories and fields in the morning, children were going to school and families were going off on their annual vacations.

All this time, and for four years, a couple of kilometres from thousands of French and Belgian towns and cities and villages, millions of men were shooting and bombing one another.

How many people were killed? More than one-and-a-half crore (15 million). What was the result of the war? That is difficult to say.

The national borders remained more or less the same, all the economies were gutted. Some regimes changed. The Russian empire died and the Communists took power. The Austro Hungarian empire ended and so did the German empire.

But all of these were changed from within. No country benefited from the all of the killing.

I wonder if our conflict with Pakistan will be different.

Will this surgical strike of ours put an end to Pakistani terror?

And if not, what will we do when the next terror strike happens?

Will there be another surgical strike or will we have to do something bigger?

How big does it have to be to get Pakistan to totally stop?

We cut their country in half, but they still have not learned the lesson we want to teach them. Will they learn it if we cut them in half again? That will need a lot of killing and dying however. I wonder if even we will get bored.

Will we continue with our lives when after a while, there is nothing 'new' in the news and the latest killings are just the same as the ones of yesterday and the day before?

Will we be going about our business, coming back home to watch the TV channels discuss the latest development in the Indrani case?

I think so because that is the nature of the human being and that is the nature of war.

Aakar Patel is Executive Director, Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are his own.
'It stands to reason that if a CM is hospitalised for long durations, and is perceived to be not fully functional, that it is the governor's Constitutional duty to ascertain by diligent efforts and arrive at a dispassionate conclusion about the CM being physically fit and mentally alert to discharge his/her Constitutional obligations,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.

The hospitalisation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa entered the 13th day on October 4.

All indications are that her stay may be further extended. This holds the seeds of a Constitutional impasse.

There are mixed signals about the precise nature of Jayalalithaa's illness and the likely period of her stay in hospital.

The state governor came to the Apollo Hospitals on October 2, and according to the statement issued on his behalf, he visited the CM in the ward with a basket of fruits, was briefed in detail by the attending doctors and found her 'recovering well.'

There was no mention in the statement about her continuing to discharge her functions as the CM.

However, in their various interactions with the media, some members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam of which Jayalalithaa is the general secretary have said that she is attending to whatever official matters are being brought for her decision or instructions.

So far, there is nothing that dispels such a claim. It has, therefore, to be presumed that there is no breakdown in the running of the government and it is being carried on in accordance with the Constitution.

On the flip side, though, the Apollo Hospitals, where she has been admitted, has issued a statement that she is under respiratory support and under treatment for infection of an unspecified nature, and that she has been advised to remain in the hospital for a few more (number unspecified) days.

She is said to be responding to the 'comprehensive' course of treatment. The 'line of management' of her condition is said to have been discussed with, and endorsed by, Dr Richard John Beale, consultant intensivist of the London Bridge Hospital, who was flown in on September 30 from London and reportedly went back on October 2.

The London Bridge Hospital Web site mentions Dr Beale's areas of specialisation to be intensive care management, acute lung condition, acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure, sepsis and clinical nutrition.

Any one of the above listed areas, other than clinical nutrition, even if it has even a remote relevance to the chief minister's condition, can involve prolonged hospitalisation, if a possibility of a recurrence is to be completely ruled out before discharging her.

An indefinitely prolonged stay in the hospital weakens the presumption about her attending to her duties, or even about her ability to do so.

It additionally raises the prospect of not only uncertainties in administering a complex state like Tamil Nadu, but also the CM's authority and power being used by others purporting to stand in for her.

There is no provision in the Constitution giving the prime minister or the chief minister the power to authorise on his or her own any other functionary or person to exercise his/her functions on their behalf.

Any such alternative arrangement will have to be by way of reassigning the portfolios and amending the rules of conduct of business with the governor/President's approval.

It stands to reason and common sense, therefore, whether it is the CM or the PM who is hospitalised for long durations, and is perceived to be not fully functional, that it is the Constitutional duty of the President or governor, as the case may be, to ascertain by diligent efforts (discussions with attending doctors, obtaining independent second opinion, making any further general inquiries from knowledgeable people) and arrive at a dispassionate conclusion about the CM or the PM being physically fit and mentally alert in the needed measure to discharge his/her Constitutional obligations.

If that conclusion is that of the state or the country heading for a situation militating against the smooth running of administration or resulting in a Constitutional breakdown, it is equally the bounden duty of the governor or the President to have the incumbent replaced.

This may be done either by calling upon the political party whose elected leader he or she is to elect another leader, and appoint him or her as the CM/PM, or by choosing a person in his discretion who is likely to command a majority support in the state assembly or Parliament.

The Jayalalithaa instance points to the urgent necessity of incorporating in the Constitution an amendment laying down the responsibility on the governor/President somewhat on the lines stated above to get over similar piquant situations in future.

It is worth recalling here that there was a similar lacuna in the US constitution in respect of disability of the US president to discharge his duties and functions. It was plugged by the 25th amendment only on February 10, 1967, nearly 200 years after the adoption of the original constitution.

By virtue of the amendment, 'Whenever the vice-president and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the vice-president shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as acting President.'

B S Raghavan is a retired IAS officer who served as the Director, Political and Security policy planning, in the home ministry between 1961 and 1969, and headed the National Council Secretariat under Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.
'Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the 'surgical strikes' has been a timely move as it helps tensions to 'de-escalate',' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

IMAGE: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with his Pakistan counterpart, Lieutenant General Nasir Janjua (retd) in Bangkok in December 2015.

When I came to know on the evening of October 1 (Saturday) that according to the grapevine in Islamabad, a 'top aide' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had contacted a 'key man' in the Pakistani capital the previous day (September 30, Friday) to convey to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that India did not want to further escalate the tensions, it did not come as surprise.

So, I posted a line on Facebook. The curious part was that no one doubted its veracity -- as if the expected had happened.

Now we know the Friday prayer turned out to be between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Lieutenant General Nasir Janjua (retd), as per Monday's disclosure by the advisor to Sharif on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz.

Of course, the fog around the 'surgical strikes' of September 29 deepens. (Pamela Constable of the Washington Post probably reflected the assessment of the US security establishment in her story last weekend titled 'In Kashmir, doubts that Indian soldiers actually infiltrated across the border'.)

However, the 'surgical strikes' addressed the public outcry in India over the Uri attack, which, in turn, created the space for the government to engage with Pakistan.

Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the so-called 'surgical strikes' across the Line of Control must have RSS backing. That is to say, Modi's famous speech at Kozhikode on September 24 was not a flash in the pan.

Modi realises that a re-engagement with Pakistan is an absolute pre-requisite for bringing about some modicum of 'normalcy' in Kashmir. This sound advice must have originated from President Pranab Mukherjee whom Modi met twice lately.

Pakistan is indeed in a position to aggravate or help ease the three-month-old crisis in the Kashmir valley. And it is in India's interest to preserve the 2003 ceasefire on the LoC even in its tattered form.

The 'big picture' would be that for Modi personally, it will be a political disaster if India becomes a national security State, which is almost inevitable if the 'surgical strikes' transformed as a 'new strategy' toward Pakistan, as many hardliners advocate.

For, that would entail mothballing the development agenda, or at least settling for an abridged version. Which would hold consequences in the 2019 poll.

The heart of the matter is that we have tied ourselves into a knot. A danger point has been reached in our demonising Pakistan and increasingly believing ourselves in all that crap.

Pakistan no doubt faces a host of problems -- like India too does -- but it is not about to collapse.

Pakistan suffers from a bad image internationally, but it is far too important a regional power to be 'isolated' by the world community.

Pakistan has had a bumpy ride with the United States lately, but that is because it took a conscious decision to strengthen its 'strategic autonomy.'

Pakistan faces difficulties as regards administering PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan, but there is no groundswell of opinion favouring India in those regions.

Pakistan has an urgent need to stabilise Baluchistan in view of the imperatives of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, but the situation is far from critical.

Pakistan has a political economy where the army enjoys institutional pre-eminence, but it is not as if the army can ride roughshod over others on matters of policy-making, being an institution that is rooted in the nation.

Pakistan may lack financial resources, but the military has not allowed the deterrent capabilities vis-a-vis India to get eroded.

Pakistan's military might have had a corporate interest in the past in fuelling tensions with India, but this is not necessarily the case anymore.

The bottom line is, Pakistan has a 'thinking' army leadership. The current leadership is completely sold out on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The military's priority is internal security.

Its approach to the Afghan situation, therefore, is changing. The stabilisation of the southern regions of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan under a friendly regime in Kabul is the top priority.

Besides, China expects Pakistan to be a responsible player. Thus, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's recent induction into Afghan politics underscores how despite President Ashraf Ghani's warm ties with Delhi, Pakistan does not want the national unity government in Kabul to collapse and has a congruence of interests with the US, China and Iran on this score.

Certainly, terrorism is the core issue. Pakistan is in denial mode, but then, it thinks India too is in denial mode.

Fundamentally, what is lacking is a transparent conversation regarding Pakistan's security concerns vis-a-vis India, which could conceivably lead to a moratorium on covert actions directed against each other.

We call it Pakistan-backed 'terrorism'; Pakistan calls it Indian 'subversive activities.'

Essentially, the sooner we pick up the threads from Sharm-el-Sheikh (where then prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani tried to set the ball rolling), the better.

All in all, therefore, Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the so-called 'surgical strikes' has been a timely move insofar as it helps tensions to 'de-escalate.'

The real challenge lies in making the overture into a constructive initiative. For that to happen, the guns must fall silent on the LoC first.
'Military operations demand the highest degree of secrecy.'

'Those who are demanding transparency in military operations must understand what military operations are all about.'

General Shankar Roy Chowdhury was chief of the army staff from 1994 to 1997 when he retired after 40 years of service.

The general is furious after some politicians questioned the army's surgical strikes in Pakistan on September 29.

"These people are definitely anti-national to question the army's surgical strikes," the general told Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

Some politicians are questioning the army's surgical strikes in Pakistan.

Let me choose my words very carefully without taking names. The political leaders who are questioning the cross border strike of the Indian Army in Pakistan have plenty of company.

Many others are also questioning the same thing. To begin with the Pakistan army, the ISI (Pakistan's directorate of Inter Services Intelligence), terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

So many are saying the Indian Army never carried the cross border surgical strike. Politicians are also questioning it. They are questioning the one-hour presentation of the Indian Army's director general of military operations. I think they are in good company because Pakistanis are doing the same.

Do you think by questioning the Indian Army, these politicians are taking an anti-national stance?

Of course. I am also saying it is treachery.

Do you think it is time to stand together as one nation behind our army and our prime minister?

I really don't care what these politicians do. There is lot of anger in the Indian Army against politicians who are making such treacherous anti-national statements in such times.

These comments came possibly because the Pakistan army took international journalists to PoK to claim there was no surgical strikes. Why not give the proof of the surgical strikes and shame Pakistan?

Pakistan will not be shamed, so just forget about that. Pakistan is an enemy country, so leave that out.

Showing the Indian Army and Indian Air Force videos of the strike will be a tremendous breach of security because it would reveal how the operations were carried out.

Everyone will come to know how the Indian Army carries out (anti-terror) operations. We cannot make a public display of how we carry out strikes (against terrorists).

So it is in the national interest that we do not show these videos?

It is in the interest of the nation, if the nation understands. It is in the interest of the nation if our politicians understand it (as) the Indian Army understands it.

And if someone speaks to the DGMO of India as opposed to the DGMO of Pakistan he will say the same thing.

Earlier governments approved such surgical strikes by the army, but those governments did not highlight such strikes.

I will not speak on this issue, if you don't mind.

Opposition parties say the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is trying to gain political mileage out of the surgical strikes by the Indian military.

I will not speak on this issue except to remind today's politicians that when the Indian Army was fighting the Kargil War in 1999 precisely the same thing was happening.

The Congress, then in the Opposition, was trying its best to praise the Indian Army, but not support the government. The BJP was in power then too.

These are games politicians play and let them keep playing, but they should not be treacherous to the nation.

As far as special operations are concerned, I would not like to speak further as it is a case of national security.

The argument here is we are a democratic nation and therefore we need to have proof of the surgical strikes.

I have to say that it is a very foolish idea. Military operations cannot be carried out with transparency. Military operations demand the highest degree of secrecy.

Those who are demanding transparency in military operations must understand what military operations are all about. It is foolish to expect transparency in active military operations.

What do you think the armed forces are feeling after these politicians accuse them of a 'fake operation'?

There is anger, extreme anger and resentment against those who are questioning this surgical strike.
Amid heightened vigil, an empty Pakistani boat was on Tuesday seized by Border Security Force troops from River Ravi in Punjabs Pathankot sector.

We have captured a Pakistani boat which had washed away to this side in River Ravi along the International Border in Pathankot sector, a senior BSF officer said.

He said it was an empty boat.

The boat was probably washed away due to rising water level in River Ravi in Pathankot sector, he said.

The seizure comes at a time when there is heightened vigil due to increasing tension between India and Pakistan.

The seizure comes two days after a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard on October 2.

Coast Guard Ship Samudra Pavak apprehended the Pakistani boat having nine crew members off Gujarat coast during patrolling.

There were alerts then that two other suspicious Pakistani boats are moving towards either Gujarat or Maharashtra from the Karachi port.

Coast Guard Ship Samudra Pavak apprehended the Pakistani boat having nine crew members on board at around 10.15 am today (Sunday) off Gujarat coast during patrolling, the defence minister had said in a statement.

Preliminary information indicated the people on board were Pakistani fishermen.

However, the boat and the crew members are being escorted to Porbandar for further investigation, the release said.

Earlier on Friday, the Coast Guard had said that sensitive sea areas off Gujarat coast have been sanitised and surveillance enhanced following India's surgical strike on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

The Coast Guard had also advised the fishing community and other stakeholders to maintain enhanced vigil and report any abnormal activity either at sea or in areas close to the coast.

Image for representation only.
The Border Security Forces on Tuesday said "tension" prevails along the western front in the wake of surgical strikes conducted by Indian forces and it has witnessed movement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles very close to the Indo-Pak border in the recent past.

As part of measures to beef up overall security, the border guarding force has also reviewed the preparedness of security mechanisms along the eastern front with Bangladesh so that terrorists are not able to use that country to sneak into India and launch attacks.

"No doubt, the overall vigil has been increased (along western borders). All the defence and security forces establishments are on their highest alert. There is tension on the western border..we are having active engagement (with Pakistan) at the Line of Control and we are receiving shelling from the other side. However, we are in supportive role at the LoC (to army)," BSF Director General K K Sharma told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the BSF and their Bangladeshi counterparts Border Guard Bangladesh, as part of the bi-annual talks that concluded in New Delhi on Tuesday, also did "touch upon" the security situation post the surgical strikes conducted by army across the LoC and that both the forces are on "high vigil."

"There is no new input (about Bangladeshi territory being used by terrorists)...however, vigil has been increased along the Indo-Bangla border too," he said.

Sharma added that while there is "tension" at the International Border that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, there has been no ceasefire violation till now in these areas.

"We have noticed UAV coming 100 meters up to the border...may be they (Pakistani forces) want to check our preparedness but I can assure you that we are fully capable of giving a befitting reply and we will not allow any nefarious design of terrorists to succeed," he said.

The BSF chief added the force has not issued any order for vacating villages on the border and such directives may have been issued by the respective civil administrations of the states.

"We are even allowing Indian farmers to go to their farms which are beyond the Indo-Pak fence. We have never said vacate villages, people may have shifted out as precautionary measure. Now, people who had gone are coming back. There has been no untoward incident at the IB till now," he said.

Talking about a recent incident at the Attari-Wagah retreat ceremony, Sharma said an incident was reported where a "stone" was thrown towards the Indian side but it did not hit anyone and the matter was brought to the notice of their counterparts Pakistan Rangers.
Hillary Clinton is leading her Republican rival Donald Trump by four percentage points after their first head-to-head debate, a latest national poll has said.

In the CBS News/The New York Times poll, the Democratic presidential nominee has the support of 45 per cent of eligible voters as against 41 per cent supporting Trump.

In the same poll conducted last month the two were tied at 42 per cent.

In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump by three percentage points.

According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton on an average of recent national polls has maintained a lead of 3.1 percentage point.

The CBS News / The New York Times poll said the first presidential debate has had a more positive impact for Clinton than for Trump.

Likely voters who watched the first presidential debate are twice as likely to say the debate made them think better of Clinton (32 per cent) than worse (16 per cent), it said.

As per the poll, Trump (49 to 38 per cent) continues to lead among men, while Clinton (51 to 33 per cent) leads among women.

Meanwhile, a poll released by the Quinnipiac University said that Clinton is leading in Florida (five points), North Carolina (three points) and Pennsylvania (four points).

However, she trails by five points in Ohio.

All four are battleground states, also known as swing states, in which both Democratic and Republican candidates have a good chance of winning.

Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters
A consignment of weapons used during the Dhaka cafe attack that killed 20 foreigners, including an Indian girl, was modified in India before it was transported to Bangladesh in mango baskets, a media report has claimed.

"We have come to know that the modification of these arms was done in Munger city in Bihar state of India and then they came to Chapainwabganj border," Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime chief Monirul Islam said.

"A seal from a factory in Bihar was found on the three AK22 rifles recovered after the Gulshan terror attack," Islam was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

A month before the terror attack in Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, the consignment of AK22 rifles and some small arms reached the terrorists in the Bangladesh capital.

Of these arms, three AK22 rifles were used in the attack while another rifle was used for the security of Neo Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the paper said.

Investigators are now saying they have finally been able to trace the route of the smuggled arms.

"We have finally learned the source of the AK22s supply and have been also able to identify the group primarily," Islam was quoted as saying by the paper.

"Now, drive is underway to arrest this group's members," he said.

Missing New JMB leader Nurul Islam Marjan, who was the field-level coordinator of the July 1 cafe attack, received the consignment in Dhaka and delivered it to the terrorists' den in Bashundhara Residential Area.

"A large amount of mangoes came to Dhaka from Chapainawabganj in baskets at the time and the terrorists took advantage of that to elude law enforcers," Islam added.

The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the cafe attack. But police believe that Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which is close to the IS, was involved in organising the attack.

Photograph: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Getty Images
The meeting comes as India continues its attempts to isolate Pakistan in the South Asian region after the attack on its army camp in Uri.

India, in its effort to reach out to its South Asian neighbours except Pakistan, will be hosting Sri Lankas Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe this week. Wickremsinghe will arrive on Tuesday on a three-day visit.

Colombo, apart from three other members countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, had also pulled out of the Islamabad Summit of the regional grouping to show solidarity with India.

Wickremsinghe will be leading a delegation for the Indian Economic Summit. During his visit, Wickremsinghe is slated to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Surface Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

While mortar shelling across the Line of Control continued on Monday, government sources confirmed that the National Security Advisor, Ajit Kumar Doval, had a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua. It is a development being seen as an effort to deescalate the tensions between the two neighbours.

In Islamabad, Sartaj Aziz, the advisor on foreign affairs to the Pakistani PM, confirmed to the media that contact was established between the two NSAs. Aziz said the two sides agreed to reduce tensions. Militants attacked two adjoining camps of the Army and Border Security Force late Sunday evening in Baramulla. A BSF personnel was killed in the attack. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said in Srinagar that security forces were giving a befitting reply to such attempts by Pakistan-based terrorist groups. The home minister is on a two-day visit to Leh and Kargil.

In Islamabad, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday chaired a special meeting of all parliamentary leaders to brief them on the situation on the LoC. The meeting comes in the wake of Indias surgical strikes across LoC on terrorist launch pads last week. Opposition parties said they were with the government on meeting any challenge from India and called for forging national unity at the current critical juncture. They said India cannot unilaterally revoke the Indus Water Treaty.

Meanwhile, Russias Ambassador to New Delhi Alexander M Kadakin, on Monday defended Indias surgical strikes across the LoC.

Greatest human rights violations take place when terrorists attack military installations and attack peaceful civilians in India. We welcome the surgical strike. Every country has right to defend itself, Kadakin told a news channel. He said India does not need to worry about Russia-Pakistan joint military exercise, the exercise did not take place in Pakistan-occupied Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

-- With inputs from Agencies

Image: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe is slated to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Surface Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari during his visit to India.
The Madras high court on Tuesday ordered state officials in Tamil Nadu to submit information regarding Chief Minister J Jayalalithaas health by Wednesday, 12 days after the chief minister was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai.

People are anxious to know about the health condition of the chief minister as some information is already in public domain, a division bench orally observed when a public interest litigation filed by social activist K R Traffic Ramaswamy came up for hearing. Ramaswamy wanted to know the real facts surrounding the chief ministers illness and treatment being given to her.

The CMs followers have been collecting each day outside the hospital praying for her good health.

However, rumours of her health and her well-being have been circulating with the Opposition -- the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham  asking the state government to publish images of the CM.

But, the state government has not released any official statement on the same. A bulletin released by the hospital on Monday said the health of the chief minister continues to improve.

Earlier, the Tamil Nadu police filed a case against an unknown person for allegedly circulating rumours about the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremos condition.

The case was filed under various sections of the IPC, including those dealing with public mischief and promoting enmity between classes.

Police said it was lodged on the basis of a complaint from AIADMK IT Wing secretary G Ramachandran, who alleged that the rumours were being circulated from a Facebook ID, 'Tamizhachi', suspected to be of a woman residing in France.

Police also warned rumour-mongers of strict legal action.

Image: AIADMK women workers take part in a spiritual procession of milk pots to a local temple praying for a speedy recovery for party supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Chennai. Photograph: PTI
A political slugfest on Tuesday erupted over India's surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC with Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam calling it "fake", provoking stinging criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party even as his own party said it "totally dissociates" from his remarks.

"Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. olitics over national interest(sic)," Nirupam tweeted, icking up a row over the emotive issue.

The Congress leader went on to demand "some evidence" to prove the surgical strikes did take place and accused the Centre's ruling BJP of indulging in politics over the issue.

With patriotic sentiments running high amid soaring tensions with Pakistan, Union Minister Uma Bharti said leaders who cast "doubt over the army's surgical strike should take Pakistani citizenship".

"Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about surgical strike, they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan," Bharti told reporters in Pune.

The Congress had on Monday asked the government to put forth "credible" evidence of last week's surgical strikes, carried out by the Army across the LoC, to "expose" Pakistan which has denied any such action.

Congress senior spokesman Anand Sharma had also sought to dismiss the claim that the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads was the first such retaliation by the Indian Army, insisting that it had responded earlier too "as per the need or provocation".

"Around a week ago when the DGMO on behalf of the government announced that a surgical strike has been carried out against the Pak terror camps in PoK, we all supported. Honourable Sonia Gandhi supported, Rahul Gandhi supported, even I personally supported it.

But the way BJP has put banners all over the country, the way surgical strike is being politicised, used for political benefit and simultaneously from all over the world questions are being raised on the reality of the surgical strike, we have the questions to ask the government," he said.

Nirupam said the government will "have to come with some evidence" without compromising national security to give reply to the whole world.

As the row erupted, Congress dissociated itself from Sanjay Nirupam's remarks, saying it had taken a serious note of those.

"Congress dissociates itself from Nirupam's remarks and has taken a serious note. It's time for the government to expose Pakistan's malicious propaganda. The evidence should be made public," said party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also in line of BJP fire for his remarks "seeking proof" of the anti-terror surgical strike in PoK with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asking him not to belittle the armed forces by getting influenced by Pakistani "propaganda".

At a press conference in Delhi, Prasad said the AAP leader should answer whether he believed in the Indian Army or not.

Kejriwal should not "belittle the great leadership, courage and sacrifice of armed forces under the garb of seeking proof," Prasad said, and alleged that he had given Pakistan a chance to question the army's assertion.

"It was most painful and unfortunate that the AAP leader was in Pakistani media headlines on Tuesday as his remarks yesterday gave it a chance to question Indian army's claim," the BJP leader said, wondering why he was being swayed by Pakistani propaganda.

India has been successful in isolating Pakistan politically and diplomatically but Kejriwal is being guided by Pakistani media reports, Prasad said.

In a televised speech yesterday, Kejriwal had "saluted" Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ordering the surgical strike but also referred to some international media reports and an UN group observations, both of which appeared to question its authenticity, as he asked the Prime Minister to "unmask the Pakistani propaganda".

However, rejecting BJP's criticism, Kejriwal accused it of playing politics over the strike and said why was the party "scared" when he had only asked the Prime Minister to counter the false propaganda by Pakistan.

Maintaining that Aam Aadmi Party believes that surgical strikes did take place, Kejriwal said in Jodhpur that in his video message yesterday he had only appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give a befitting reply.

In a rare gesture, Kejriwal has yesterday "saluted" Modi for the surgical strikes by the Army on terror launch pads across the LoC. At the same time, he had urged the Centre to counter the smear campaign by Pakistan and international media.

"I have supported the Prime Minister, applauded the army. I only said that Pakistan is spreading false propaganda in the world that surgical strikes did not happen. We all believe that surgical strikes took place," Kejriwal told reporters at the Jodhpur civil airport.

"Pakistan is spreading the propaganda across the world and international media is running this that surgical strikes did not take place. I had only appealed to the PM that a befitting reply should be given to Pakistan.

"If I said that we have to counter Pakistan's false propaganda then why is the BJP so rattled and scared? We all have to counter Pakistan's propaganda and we should all, irrespective of the party, strengthen PM's hands in this," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal's remark, apparently doubting the Indian army's claim, drew criticism from social activist and his former mentor Anna Hazare, who said,"I condemn it. This concerns the country, its people. We must trust the army's words. We should not doubt what the army has said."

Hazare is himself an army veteran who saw action during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.

Though Surjewala said the party had taken a serious note of Nirupam's remarks, he steered clear of questions whether show cause notices would be issued to him and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who had also raised doubts over the strikes.

"Indian National Congress disagrees completely with the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. It has taken a serious note," Surjewala said, insisting that the party had "full faith" in the bravehearts of Indian armed forces. about conducting the surgical strikes.

He noted that Sonia Gandhi had unequivocally supported the army and the government on the issue of surgical strikes as for taking steps for demolishing terror infrastructure being used against India. "We reaffirm the same".

Insisting that there never was a reason to raise a question or doubt the statements by the DGMO on surgical strikes, he, however, said government needed to "call the Pakistani bluff and false propaganda" on the issue.

This, he said, should be done by the government using "all information, evidence and instruments at the disposal of Indian state".

Apparently seeking to take the sheen out of the army strikes last week under the Modi government, Surjewala said "We are proud that even in the past our forces successfully conducted such surgical strikes on numerous occasions".

He said such assaults had been mounted when Congress-led UPA was in power. Surjewala said Indian forces had taken such action on September 1, 2011, July 28, 2013 and January 14, 2014 "giving a befitting reply to the enemy".

"In its maturity, wisdom, and in the interest of national security, Congress government avoided making loud claim for the effective response and action of Indian Army, which had the full support of political leadership," he said against the backdrop of BJP projecting the military action as a reflection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'strong' leadership.

The army had conducted surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads along the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK.

The next morning, the DGMO had given this information to the media at a press conference.

Pakistan, however, has been dismissing the claim as "fabrication of truth" and said India was creating "media hype" by re-branding cross-border fire as surgical strike.
Diocese agrees to revoke molester priest's return to the priesthood and keep him away from children.

George Joseph reports from New York.

In a landmark victory for victims of priest sex abuse, the diocese of Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu signed an agreement with Megan Peterson, who was molested by Reverend Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, when he served in Crookston, Minnesota, in the US in 2004-2005.

Bishop Dr A Amalraj signed the agreement which says that Jeyapaul, 61, will not be returned to the ministry and will not have access to youth and young people.

The bishop also agreed to suspend or revoke Jeyapaul's privileges. The diocese will give semi-annual status updates of Jeyapaul's location and ministerial status for six years.

After that it will give annual reports until Jeyapaul is removed from the priesthood.

At a press conference in St Paul, Minnesota, Peterson and her attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan along with Barbara Blaine and Peter Isley of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests announced the settlement in the first-ever 'nuisance case' against an overseas diocese in a US Federal court.

After his extradition from India to the US in 2014, Jeyapaul pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse of a minor girl.

He was sentenced to one year in jail, and was later deported to India last year.

In January this year, Bishop Amalraj lifted Jeyapaul's suspension from the ministry.

After learning of Jeyapaul's return to the priesthood, Peterson filed a federal lawsuit, alleging 'nuisance' against the diocese of Ootacamund for returning Jeyapaul to active ministry and exposing innocent children to his predatory ways.

Speaking about his reinstatement, Peterson said earlier, 'I felt abused and degraded and victimised all over again. It felt like a slap in the face to me and other survivors of clergy sex abuse across the globe. I have information that Jeyapaul is a serious offender and I am choosing to act and spread the word and protect those kids in India.'

Though jurisdiction was an issue, the diocese was willing to settle the issue, attorney Anderson told the press conference.

Jeyapaul came to the Crookston diocese in Minnesota in 2004, and was assigned to the Blessed Sacrament Church in Greenbush, about 340 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

In 2005, he left for India as his mother was seriously ill. The charges were filed only after he left the country.

Crookston Bishop Victor Balke wrote to the Ootacamund diocese about the allegations and later to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.

Bishop Balke raised concerns about Jeyapaul's continued service to the church. Though the Vatican favored defrocking of the priest, the decision was left to the bishop of Ootacamund, who held a canonical trial and sent Jeyapaul to a year in a monastery.

Bishop Amalraj said he could not take any other action without proof.

In 2006, Balke wrote a second letter to the Vatican, saying that Jeyapaul had been accused of molesting a second girl. Balke followed this up with the Vatican demanding strong action. But nothing happened and Jeyapaul continued working in Ootacamund.

In 2007, a criminal complaint was filed in Roseau County, Minnesota, against Jeyapaul's sexual abuse of a minor female. County Attorney Lisa Hanson, who was prosecuting the criminal case, filed a petition for extradition. Interpol was notified.

In 2012, Jeyapaul was arrested and lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi. He challenged the extradition order in the Delhi high court, which rejected it.

In 2014, he was extradited to Minnesota to face criminal charges. In May 2015, he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual abuse of the second girl, not Peterson. After serving one year in jail he was deported to India in 2015.

A civil case against the Crookston diocese by Peterson was settled with the diocese paying $750,000 (about Rs 5.02 crore/Rs 50.2 million).

IMAGE: Abuse victim Megan Peterson, centre, at a press conference in Minnesota. On the blackboard at left are images of the accused, Joseph Jeyapaul
United States President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are adorable.

And heres another reason we find the couple, adorably amazing.

All loved up! US President Barack Obama put up this image on Twitter.

On Monday, the US president and his wife celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary and the US president celebrated the special milestone by giving his lovely wife not one, but three sweet shout-outs on social media.

Obama first uploaded a photo of him and Michelle at his first State of the Union address on Twitter, writing, Side-by-side for 24 years. Heres to many more. #HappyAnniversary.

The US president then took to Facebook and posted a candid photo of he and Michelle dancing together with the caption, Dancing through 24 years. Happy anniversary.

May they always be dancing! The Obamas really give us relationship goals. Look how in love they are. Photograph: Barack Obama/Facebook

Records show the photograph of them dancing was taken at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Concert in Oslo, Norway. President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize that year for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

The romantic president also posted an image on Instagram of the two of them together captioned Happy Anniversary.

Can't keep my hands off of you. The Obamas are close to being the perfect couple. Photograph: Barack Obama/Instagram

Aww, these two really gives us relationship goals.
Amidst the ongoing hostilities with Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Modi government will not allow anyone to dent India's honour and every citizen has faith in the country's armed forces.

Singh, who is on a two-day trip to Ladakh, dismissed queries about doubts being raised by some quarters on the surgical strike carried out by the army on the terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"I have not read any such statement. Desh ke bache, bache ko sena par bharosa hain aur garv hain, aur rahega (The entire nation has faith in our armed forces and are proud of them and it will remain so)," he told reporters in Kargil.

"Our government will not allow anyone to dent the country's honour and prestige at any cost. We will ensure that the country's head is always held high," he said.

Asked about the demand for Union Territory status for Ladakh, the home minister said he has listened to the people of Kashmir, Jammu as well as Ladakh but a decision will be taken only on the basis of consensus.

"We always try that any decision is taken only on the basis of consensus," he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party's ally Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday expelled its Leh district chief Tashi Gyalson from its basic membership for signing a memorandum submitted to Singh demanding Union Territory status for Ladakh, saying under no circumstances will it endorse any move aimed at dividing the state.

The head of PDP's Disciplinary Committee Abdul Rehman Veeri expelled Gyalson for violating the party's whip, a party spokesman said in a statement.

The Union minister said during his trip to Ladakh since Monday, 21 delegations of political parties, religious groups and civil society members have met him and placed before him various demands.

"We will try to resolve their problems as much as possible. If there are issues concerning other Ministries (of central government), we will write to them or tell the concerned Ministers," he said.

The home minister said he paid homage to the martyrs at the war memorial at Drass.

This is Singh's fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir ever since the unrest began in the state following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8.

Singh had led an all-party delegation to Srinagar and Jammu on September 4-5.

The leaders of various political parties met over 400 people who came in 50 different delegations representing various sections of society in Srinagar and Jammu.

Earlier, the home minister had visited Srinagar on August 24-25 and July 23-24. Singh was accompanied by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officials.
Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, who arrived in New Delhi on Monday evening, chose an unconventional way to travel.

Instead of the standard VIP motorcade, the Singapore PM hopped onto a chartered bus to reach his hotel in the national capital.

During his five day visit, Lee will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee and

attend a reception for Singaporeans based in India. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on him. During the visit, he will be hosted for lunch by Modi and

the two leaders will hold bilateral talks to explore ways to bolster ties between the two countries.

Lee is accompanied by his wife Ho Ching, a number of key ministers and senior officials.

Lee will also visit Udaipur on October 5-6. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will call upon him and also host him to a lunch.

In Udaipur, Lee will attend the launch of Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training as part of skills development collaboration under the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership signed in November 2015.

Besides that, he will also witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation on tourism and urban solutions between Rajasthan government and Singapores International Enterprise.

An agreement on a Capacity Building Programme in tourism and hospitality between the state government and Singapores Cooperation Enterprise will also be signed.

Lee last visited India in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.

-- With inputs from PTI

Image: Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong waves as he takes a seat in the bus from the airport to his hotel in the national capital. Photograph: PTI
Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks seeking proof of the anti-terror surgical strike in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday asked him not to belittle the armed forces by getting influenced by Pakistani propaganda.

However, Kejriwal rejected BJPs criticism, accusing it of playing politics over the anti-terror surgical strike and said why was the party scared when he had only asked the prime minister to counter the false propaganda by Pakistan.

At a press conference, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Aam Aadmi Party leader should answer whether he believed in the Indian Army or not.

Kejriwal should not belittle the great leadership, courage and sacrifice of armed forced under the garb of seeking proof, Prasad said, and alleged that he has give the neighbouring country a chance to question the armys assertion.

It was most painful and unfortunate that the AAP leader was in Pakistani media headlines today as his remarks yesterday gave it a chance to question India Armys claim, the BJP leader said, wondering why he was being swayed by Pakistani propaganda.

The question being asked in a way raises question over the action of Indian Army. I must say that. If Pakistani media is saying something, then why an India chief minister is being influenced and seeking proof?

Arvind Kejriwal, you are in the headlines of Pakistani newspapers. Do you know it? At a time when the whole nation is speaking in one voice, a chief minister has said something that has given Pakistani media and people a chance to question India Army action. There cannot be more painful and unfortunate thing, he said.

Politics is different but nothing should be said that demoralises our army and makes it feel humiliated, he said.

India has been successful in isolating Pakistan politically and diplomatically but Kejriwal is being guided by Pakistani media reports, Prasad said.

In a televised speech on Monday, Kejriwal had saluted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ordering the surgical strike but also referred to some international media reports and a United Nations groups observations, both of which appear to question its authenticity, as he asked the prime minister to unmask the Pakistani propaganda.

Prasad said the government does not take seriously reports of sponsored-media, apparently referring to Pakistan armys decision to ferry reporters to the Line of Control to bolster its claim that no surgical strike by the India army occurred there.

India, he said, had briefed ambassadors of many countries and they have taken note of the Indian armys operation.

Maintaining that the AAP believes that surgical strikes did take place, Kejriwal said that in his video message on Monday he had only appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give a befitting reply.

I have supported the Prime Minister, applauded the army. I only said that Pakistan is spreading false propaganda in the world that surgical strikes did not happen. We all believe that surgical strikes took place, Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

Pakistan is spreading the propaganda across the world and international media is running this that surgical strikes did not take place. I had only appealed to the PM that a befitting reply should be given to Pakistan.

If I said that we have to counter Pakistan's false propaganda then why is the BJP so rattled and scared? We all have to counter Pakistans propaganda and we should all, irrespective of the party, strengthen PMs hands in this, Kejriwal said.

Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said Pakistan is insulting Bharat Mata and the Indian army through its propaganda, but the BJP is settling score with Kejriwal.

I am amazed that Ravi Shankar Prasad instead of unmasking Pak Propaganda is questioning AK. Shows BJPs bankruptcy of ideas (sic), Ashutosh tweeted.

Prasad also targeted senior Congress leader P Chidambaram over his reported comments on the surgical strike and said he was also speaking in Kejriwals voice.

"Is he also joining the bandwagon of raising doubts over the capacity of out soldiers," the BJP leader questioned.

The Union minister referred to Congress President Sonia Gandhis statement and her deputy Rahul Gandhis belated public praise of the prime minister as both the opposition leaders had strongly backed the governments move.

Prasad asked Sonia Gandhi to clarify if Chidambarams views reflected the partys opinion and if not, then she should restrain such leaders.

The BJP leader also condemned actor Om Puri for insulting remarks against soldiers.

Asked about differing comments of actors over whether Pakistani artistes should be allowed to work in India, he said the country should speak in one voice.
Freedom of the Press 2016 - Denmark

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 28 September 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Denmark, 28 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f361e94.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Free

Legal Environment: 2 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 6 / 40 (1) (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 4 / 30 (1) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 12 / 100 (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 5,676,025

Freedom in the World Status: Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 96.0%

Overview

Denmark enjoys a vibrant media environment in which journalists cover a wide range of viewpoints and are largely free from legal restrictions and threats from government or nonstate actors. However, journalists continue to work in the shadow of the 2005 controversy over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, and in February 2015 an assailant shot and killed a participant at a free speech event in Copenhagen. The Danish press engaged in discussions regarding self-censorship during the year, with several publications openly citing fear of attacks as a daily concern.

Key Developments

In February, Danish-Palestinian Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein killed two civilians in two related incidents, the first at a free speech event attended by a Swedish artist who had penned controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. El-Hussein was subsequently killed by police.

The attacks combined with the January shooting at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo led several Danish publications to openly cite concerns about violence against the press.

In March, Denmark confirmed that it would keep its antiblasphemy law in place, which had been a subject of ongoing debate.

Legal Environment: 2 / 30

Freedom of speech is protected in Section 77 of the constitution, and the government generally respects this right in practice. However, legal restrictions exist for libel, blasphemy, and racism. Discussions about removing legal restrictions for blasphemy continued at the start of the year, but in March 2015 Denmark confirmed that it would keep its antiblasphemy law in place.

A new access to information law entered into force in 2014. The controversial law prevents access to documents that are shared between ministers and their advisers. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) expressed concern over provisions that could limit transparency in government and legislative proceedings. The new law sparked demonstrations by thousands of protesters.

In March 2015, a high court upheld a ruling against Nils Mulvad. Mulvad and fellow journalist Kjeld Hansen had been sentenced to fines of 2,500 kroner each ($460) in 2014 for violating the criminal code by disseminating private, health-related information about individuals when they published a story on MRSA infections in Danish pig farms. The journalists had requested further information on infected farms from the National Health Board, and in 2014 the Danish Ombudsman said that the information should be released. However, a farmers' interest group prevented disclosure by initiating a court case against the state and demanding the names be kept secret. The high court doubled Mulvad's fine (Hansen did not appeal); his case will be brought before the Supreme Court.

Print, online, and broadcast media are regulated by the Danish Press Council, whose eight members are jointly appointed by the president of the Supreme Court and journalists' associations. Participation is mandatory for broadcast media and print outlets that publish at least twice a year. Online media that choose to register receive the legal protections afforded to traditional journalists. If an outlet is found to have committed an ethical violation, the council can order it to publish the ruling; failure to do so can result in a fine or up to four months in jail, though these sanctions are rarely imposed.

Political Environment: 6 / 40 (1)

The aftermath of the 2005 controversy over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad still affects the Danish media, both in terms of direct threats made against journalists and media houses and through a considerable chilling effect on coverage of related issues. The cartoonist at the center of the Muhammad cartoon controversy, Kurt Westergaard, continues to receive round-the-clock protection by the authorities after a failed assassination attempt in 2010.

In February 2015, Danish-Palestinian Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein killed two civilians in two related incidents and injured five police officers in Copenhagen. The first shooting occurred at a free speech event called "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression." Attendant Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had penned controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in 2007, was presumed to be the main target. The second shooting took place hours later in front of a Copenhagen synagogue. El-Hussein was subsequently killed by police.

The attacks took place five weeks after a deadly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had also published cartoons lampooning the prophet Muhammad. Both incidents led to discussions in the Danish press regarding self-censorship, with several publications openly citing fear of attacks as a daily concern in the editorial process. The newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the original Muhammad cartoons in 2005, declared that it would no longer publish this type of drawing due to fear of violence.

In spring 2015, free speech advocate and former newspaper editor Lars Hedegaard was charged with revealing the identity of the perpetrator of a 2013 assassination attempt against him. The suspect, a Danish citizen, was arrested in Turkey in 2014 but was allegedly released by Turkey in exchange for 47 hostages held by the Islamic State militant group. There has since been no indication of the whereabouts of the alleged assailant.

In general, physical harassment and threats against journalists are extremely rare.

Economic Environment: 4 / 30 (1)

The private print media are vibrant, though many papers have clear political sympathies. Two of the three largest daily newspapers, Politiken and Jyllands-Posten, are owned by the same company, though they have separate editorial boards and journalistic staff and different political leanings. The third, Berlingske, also runs the state-funded public service channel Radio24syv. The costs of establishing and operating media outlets are prohibitive. Government subsidies and a value-added tax (VAT) exemption are vital for the press, and state support is available for struggling newspapers. The public broadcaster DR (Danmarks Radio), dominant in both radio and television, is financed by a license fee. TV2 is a privately run but government-owned television network, while the private station TV3 broadcasts from England due to advertising regulations. Satellite and cable television are also available, as are a variety of internet-based news outlets. In 2015, 96 percent of the population had access to the internet.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom of the Press 2016 - Cuba

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 28 September 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Cuba, 28 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f361eba.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Legal Environment: 28 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 35 / 40 (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 28 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 91 / 100 (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 11,139,000

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

Freedom in the World Status: Not Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 30.0%

Overview

Cuba has the most repressive environment for the media in the Americas. The Cuban government continues to suppress dissent, including harassing, intimidating, and detaining independent journalists. Despite enthusiasm about the warming of relations between the Cuban and U.S. governments that was announced in December 2014, there have been few notable improvements in Cuba's human rights or press freedom climate.

Key Developments

Several independent journalists were fired or subjected to short-term arrests and other forms of harassment as a result of reporting deemed unfavorable to the government.

Following the July release of one journalist from prison, two reporters remain in Cuban jails for crimes that they claim are retribution for critical reporting.

Although internet access remains severely limited, during the year the government continued a slow process of broadening access to online information sources by establishing a series of Wi-Fi hotspots.

Legal Environment: 28 / 30

Cuba has the most restrictive laws on freedom of expression and the press in the Americas. The constitution prohibits private ownership of media outlets and allows free speech and journalism only if they "conform to the aims of a socialist society." Article 91 of the penal code prescribes lengthy prison sentences or death for those who act against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state," and Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy imposes up to 20 years in prison for acts "aimed at subverting the internal order of the nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system." Cuba's legal and institutional structures are firmly under the control of the executive branch. Laws criminalizing "enemy propaganda" and the dissemination of "unauthorized news" are used to restrict freedom of speech under the guise of protecting state security. Insult laws can carry penalties of three months to one year in prison, with sentences of up to three years if the president or members of the Council of State or National Assembly are the objects of criticism. The 1997 Law of National Dignity targets independent news agencies that send their material abroad by authorizing prison sentences of 3 to 10 years for anyone who, in a direct or indirect form, "collaborates with the enemy's media."

In recent years the government has undertaken a number of small gestures that indicate potential for a narrow media opening. In January 2013, the country removed exit visa requirements for citizens traveling abroad. Since then, several prominent Cuban opposition journalists and bloggers have traveled out of the country  most notably Yoani Sanchez, who has made multiple trips abroad. Nevertheless, passports are still issued at the government's discretion and have been withheld from select journalists for state-defined "reasons of public interest." In particular, journalists who formerly served jail time for alleged antigovernment activities have been denied the right to exit Cuba. Further, some journalists who have traveled abroad, including Roberto de Jesus Guerra, founder and director of independent news agency Hablemos Press, have complained of harassment and confiscation of documents upon their return.

Political Environment: 35 / 40

For years, independent or critical Cuban journalists and bloggers have suffered harassment for their reporting on topics deemed sensitive by the government. However, since the strong international repudiation the Cuban government received in response to a wave of imprisonments in 2003 (known as the Black Spring), such harassment now more often takes the form of arbitrary short-term detentions, beatings, threats against journalists and their family members, internal deportations, house arrest, "public repudiations," and demotions. Due to their unofficial and short-term nature, these tactics generate less international condemnation.

In October 2013, news editors who were considered less hardline were assigned to head the country's two major newspapers, the Communist Party paper Granma and Juventud Rebelde, the paper of the Communist Party's youth wing. This was seen as part of the Cuban government's self-described process of promoting generational renewal to modernize the papers and reduce media censorship and secrecy. Some state media have recently offered more criticism of problems in the country, including corruption and misuse of resources, although outright criticism of the government or political system does not occur. Self-censorship in the official press is rampant, and investigative reporting is nonexistent. Problems with state policies are often blamed on "social indiscipline" rather than the system or its leaders. Reporting on foreign events is filtered through the lens of the Cuban government's foreign policy objectives, with governments in countries such as Syria and Venezuela receiving sympathetic coverage in Cuban state media.

A number of publications associated with the Roman Catholic Church are occasionally critical of the government and have emerged as key players in debates over the country's future, including Espacio Laical, Palabra Nueva, and Convivencia.

Additionally, in recent years Cuba has witnessed incremental growth of citizen journalism, an increase in the number of independent bloggers, and the appearance of a small number of independent, island-based news outlets  including the sites Havana Times, Periodismo de Barrio, On Cuba, and 14ymedio.

Government attempts to silence dissidents continued in 2015, particularly during events that drew international attention to the island. In January, Boris Gonzalez Arenas, a former professor at the International Film and Television School who also worked with the independent news outlet Diario de Cuba, was fired from his job after his opinion columns were deemed to be "against the Cuban state." In June, independent journalist Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca denounced a series of short-term arrests and beatings he had suffered at the hands of Cuban state security for his coverage of marches by the Ladies in White, a group of spouses and relatives of persecuted dissidents. In an interview with 14ymedio, as well as in letters to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and Reporters Without Borders, he described being held for periods of hours or days  without being officially processed  by state security agents, as well as the state tactic of confiscating cell phones, cameras, and flash drives and deleting the data they contain.

Independent journalists reported being temporarily held or deported, having their equipment confiscated, and having mobile phone service cut off. One independent Cuban reporter, Miriam Leiva, was detained for four hours in September to prevent her from meeting with Pope Francis, despite an invitation from the Embassy of the Holy See in Havana. In addition, of the 3,522 prisoners released as a gesture of good will during the pope's visit, none was a journalist, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

In July 2015, Angel Santiesteban Prats, a writer and blogger, was released from prison after serving two years of a five-year prison sentence for assault and trespassing. He alleged that the charges were fabricated by the authorities in retribution for his blog, Los Hijos Que Nadie Quiso (The Children Nobody Wanted), which was critical of the government. In November, he was briefly re-detained on charges of alleged armed robbery. The arrest came the day after Santiesteban reported on a hunger strike being carried out by another independent journalist and former political prisoner, Lamberto Hernandez Plana.

With the release of Santiesteban, two journalists remained in prison in Cuba at year's end. Yoeni de Jesus Guerra Garcia of the Yayabo Press agency, first detained in October 2013, was sentenced in March 2014 to seven years in prison on charges of illegally slaughtering cattle  charges he claims were fabricated due to his reporting. The second, Jose Antonio Torres, a former correspondent for Granma, has been detained since 2011 and was sentenced in July 2012 to 14 years in prison for espionage after he published articles denouncing irregularities in the management of an aqueduct project in Santiago de Cuba and critiquing the installation of a fiber-optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela. However, during the year Torres was granted certain privileges, including weekend passes to visit family. Both prisoners claimed they had been subjected to deprivation and violence while in prison.

Economic Environment: 28 / 30

The government owns virtually all traditional media except for a number of underground newsletters. It operates three national newspapers, five national television stations, six national radio stations, and one international radio station, in addition to numerous local print and broadcast outlets. All content is determined by the government. In January 2013, the government permitted the broadcasting of Venezuelan news channel Telesur on the island. While the channel does not criticize the Cuban government, it does give viewers a view into the outside world. Cubans do not have the right to possess or distribute foreign publications, although some international papers are sold in tourist hotels. Private ownership of electronic media is also prohibited. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church's publications and the few independent outlets that operate do provide some alternative to the government media.

Cuba has one of the lowest internet connectivity rates in the world, despite some improvements in 2015. The majority of users can reach only a closely monitored Cuban intranet consisting of e-mail addresses ending in ".cu" and a few government-controlled and approved websites. The penetration rate for real access to the global internet is estimated to be around 5 percent, and continues to come mostly through outdated dial-up technology. Broadband access is available to an estimated 1 percent of the population; despite the activation of the $70 million ALBA-1 fiber-optic cable project between Cuba and Venezuela in 2013, connection speeds remain extremely slow for all but the most privileged users. Faster internet connections are available at tourist hotels and foreign embassies, and though it is technically illegal, many independent journalists take advantage of the service.

Recent developments have resulted in significantly expanded internet access on the island. By July 2015, the government had opened 35 Wi-Fi hotspots in public spaces where users can connect to the internet, and pledged to establish more. These complemented the 118 "internet salons" opened by the government in 2013. In addition, in June the state-owned Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) announced that it would reduce the hourly price of access to $2 an hour, from $4.50. This is still prohibitively expensive in a country where the average monthly salary is $23, but government figures claim that each access point services 55,000 users per day. However, users must show identification and sign a pledge not to engage in "subversive" activities online. The government prefers that internet use be conducted in public locales; home access is available to foreigners and to members of select professions who pay a premium for the privilege. In an important change, in 2014 ETECSA began providing access to e-mail via cell phone and activated 565,000 new mobile lines, although these accounts are monitored by the government. During the year the U.S. government made several policy changes to allow greater engagement between U.S. corporations and Cuba with a goal of facilitating greater internet access on the island, but no concrete infrastructure projects have been announced, given the restraints imposed by the U.S. embargo.

Despite these developments, many users rely on black-market channels to access the internet. These include unauthorized "mesh" networks that use private Wi-Fi networks to communicate and share information, alternative methods of tweeting, and the underground distribution system of digital files known as el paquete (the package); the latter has come under increasing criticism from the authorities, who have attempted to launch state-sponsored alternatives. The regime threatens anyone accessing the internet illegally with five years in prison, and the sentence for writing articles deemed "counterrevolutionary" for foreign websites is up to 20 years. However, the authorities do not have the means to engage in systematic filtering. Twitter is accessible to a small number of Cubans via mobile phones or so-called speak-to-tweet platforms, in which residents may anonymously call a phone number abroad and leave a message that will be turned into a tweet. However, this platform costs about $1.20 per tweet.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom of the Press 2016 - Chile

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 28 September 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Chile, 28 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f361eca.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Free

Legal Environment: 8 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 13 / 40 (1) (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 8 / 30 (1) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 29 / 100 (2) (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 18,025,000

Freedom in the World Status: Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 72.4%

Status change explanation: Chile's status improved from Partly Free to Free due to a reduction in the level of violence and harassment faced by journalists while covering protests and demonstrations.

Overview

Chile hosts a relatively open environment for press freedom and journalism. A lack of media diversity, particularly in the print and radio sectors, and the ongoing existence of criminal defamation laws hamper these freedoms somewhat. Nevertheless, unlike most other countries in the region, journalists face low levels of violence, intimidation, and harassment.

Key Developments

Two journalists were sentenced for criminal defamation, prompting them to appeal their cases to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Community radio stations, which face steep obstacles to registration, continue to be subject to service interruptions and confiscation of equipment.

Legal Environment: 8 / 30

Freedoms of speech and of the press are guaranteed under Chile's constitution. Many of the weaknesses in the media environment stem from press laws and ownership structures that originated during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet (1973-90), which governments in the democratic era have been unable or unwilling to reform. Criminal defamation and desacato (insult) laws have been used to silence journalists sporadically since the country's return to democracy, often leading to public outcry. In June 2015, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the convictions of Bruno Sommer and Sebastian Larrain, directors of the newspaper El Ciudadano, who were sentenced to 540 days in prison for a 2013 article about a former member of congress that the courts deemed slanderous. In October, Sommer and Larrain brought their case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), arguing that their conviction violated their freedom of expression rights as well as past IACHR rulings in similar cases.

Chile's Law on Transparency of Public Functions and Access to Information, enacted in 2008, continues to serve as a useful tool for journalists, who report that government agencies generally respond to requests for information in a satisfactory manner. A 2015 report from the governmental Transparency Council showed that between 2009 and June 2015, about 300,000 public information requests were submitted, and in 2015 alone the agency expected to receive 3,000 appeals from citizens regarding rejected information requests. The same report noted that 166 violations were found during transparency audits of government institutions, resulting in fines of $80,000.

The community radio sector is significantly weakened by Article 36B of the General Telecommunications Law, a legal provision that criminalizes the operation of unlicensed community media. Although the law was originally passed in 1982, Article 36B was not added until 1994. The law imposes fines and imprisonment for broadcasting without a legal frequency, a condition that applies to most community media operators, and has been used to arrest or harass station operators. Community radio stations in southern Chile  an area primarily populated by the indigenous Mapuche people  have frequently been singled out due to their role in protests against commercial forestry and hydroelectric projects in the region. Authorities raided various community radio stations in 2015 on the pretext that they were broadcasting illegally. For example, in February authorities confiscated the equipment of the Mapuche station La Voz de Nueva Braunau, in Puerto Varas, and four radio workers were detained overnight. In May, Chile signed an agreement with the IACHR requiring the state to implement a series of measures aimed at promoting free and inclusive broadcasting. The resolution stems from the case of community radio station Melinka Estrella del Mar, in the Aysen region, which had its power cut off in 2003 after angering the local mayor.

In 2010, the Community Radio Law was passed to create a legal framework for the operation of the sector. Although the law was criticized as privileging media with outside funders such as evangelical church groups and municipal governments, it was seen as a positive step because it established a legal category for community media and amplified the permissible wattage for low-power stations. Implementation of these regulations has been held up in part by the failure of Chile's largest commercial radio network, Iberoamericana Radio Chile, to cooperate with the communications regulator, the Subsecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel), on the reallocation of frequencies.

In May 2014, the Digital Television Act was adopted after five years of debate. The act aims to diversify the media landscape, reserving 40 percent of the television spectrum for community, local, and regional operators. It also gives the public Television Nacional (TVN) a second regional frequency intended to broadcast a mix of TVN and locally produced content with a cultural and educational focus. An implementation plan to control the five-year switchover process to digital broadcasting was approved in April 2015.

Political Environment: 13 / 40 (1)

While the state does not exert political control over the media or engage in censorship of content, some journalists and outlets have at times practiced self-censorship or displayed political bias on sensitive topics, such as social protests or the human rights violations that occurred under Pinochet.

Although Chilean reporters are rarely subject to violence and intimidation by state agents, the militarized carabineros police force has been known to target photographers and reporters during street protests. Freelance photographer Felipe Duran, known for covering conflicts between the government and the indigenous Mapuche population, was arrested in September 2015 and accused of illegal weapons possession. Local journalists' and civil society groups criticized his 45-day preventive detention as incompatible with freedom of expression and due process norms. Also in October, a military judge summoned a journalist from weekly newspaper the Clinic to testify in an effort to discover his confidential sources related to articles detailing a web of corrupt officials within the military.

Economic Environment: 8 / 30 (1)

The economic viability of independent media is challenged by the concentration of private ownership and advertising, as well as de facto government support  in the form of state advertising purchases  for a commercial newspaper duopoly. Lack of diversity remains a particular problem in the print sector, in which a significant share of political and policy debate occurs. About 90 percent of newspapers are controlled by two privately held commercial groups, El Mercurio and Copesa, which also receive the bulk of state advertising expenditures.

Radio frequencies are concentrated in the hands of just four media groups, with the Spanish-owned Prisa Group, which operates Iberoamericana Radio Chile, controlling roughly half of the radio market. Many press watchdogs view the implementation of the Community Radio Law and the addition of measures to ease the technical requirements and application process for new outlets as an indispensable step toward increasing the plurality of voices in Chilean media. The 2014 passage of the Digital Television Act could also have the effect of increasing media competition, though the television system in general already features some ownership diversity among the seven free-to-air channels, including the autonomous TVN, which by law is pluralistic and self-financed to ensure its independence.

Concentration extends to the mobile internet, as just three companies control about 95 percent of the market, and more than three-quarters of the residential broadband market is controlled by two companies. There are no government restrictions on internet access in Chile, and the penetration rate was 64 percent in 2015.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom of the Press 2016 - Angola

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 28 September 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Angola, 28 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f361ef3.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Legal Environment: 20 / 30 (1) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 30 / 40 (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 21 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 71 / 100 (1) (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 25,000,000

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

Freedom in the World Status: Not Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 21.3%

Overview

Media in Angola operate in a highly restrictive environment, which worsened in 2015 as arrests of independent journalists increased. Authorities repress coverage of sensitive subjects like government corruption and human rights violations, and independent journalists are monitored and harassed by state agents. Few independent media outlets have national reach, leaving government-owned media as the most widely accessed news sources. Online sources are becoming increasingly important sources of critical news, though not many people have internet access outside of urban areas.

Key Developments

In June, 15 young activists, including some journalists, were detained on charges including sedition over their participation in a book club at which they were discussing a book about civil disobedience against authoritarian rule.

The government prevented independent journalists and members of civil society from investigating a botched police operation that reportedly led to a massacre in Huambo province in April.

Legal Environment: 20 / 30 (1)

While the constitution protects freedom of speech and of the press, laws regarding state security and defamation impede the free practice of journalism. A 2010 state security law allows for the detention of persons who "insult" the Republic of Angola or the president in "public meetings or by disseminating words, images, writings, or sound." Defamation and libel are crimes punishable by imprisonment. The government has repeatedly rejected international recommendations to decriminalize libel, slander, and defamation. In December 2015, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos expressed concerns about the spread of slander and "morally offensive content" on social media networks, and called for new legislation to "prevent the emergence of such practices."

The government has used laws to harass members of Angola's dwindling independent media. In 2014, a group of generals brought a criminal defamation case against Rafael Marques de Morais, director of the online news site Maka Angola, claiming $1.2 million in damages. This was the latest in a series of lawsuits connected to Marques's 2011 book, Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola, in which he accused several military officers of engaging in torture and other human rights violations, in collusion with private mining companies. Marques was charged with a total of 24 counts of criminal defamation. In May 2015, he agreed to a settlement with the generals and was told that charges would be dropped. Days later, prosecutors reversed course and Marques was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

In June 2015, 15 young activists were detained on charges of state security crimes, including sedition, in connection with their participation in a book club at which they were discussing a book about civil disobedience to authoritarian rule. Members of the group, known as the Angola 15, were subjected to violence while in detention, and several, including rapper Luaty Beirao and journalists Domingos da Cruz and Sedrick de Carvalho, have participated in hunger strikes to protest their confinement. The group was held in pretrial detention beyond the legal limit of 90 days before being transferred to house arrest with ankle monitoring in mid-December. Their trial began in November, and has been repeatedly delayed. As evidence of the group's alleged plot to overthrow the dos Santos administration, the prosecution introduced a Facebook page in which they had jokingly proposed appointing each other to cabinet positions in a hypothetical alternative government. The group's trial was ongoing at the end of the year.

While covering a peaceful protest against the detention of the Angola 15 in August 2015, Marques was repeatedly detained and released, and his camera equipment was repeatedly seized and returned, in what seemed to be confusion among security forces over how to treat the internationally known journalist. In September, Marques had another brush with authorities. Immigration Services seized his passport and placed him in temporary holding at the airport on his return to Angola from a trip to South Africa. Marques was told that an error related to older orders banning his movement out of the country was responsible for the incident.

Angola enacted a freedom of information law in 2002, ostensibly granting citizens access to government-generated documents. Nevertheless, in practice, accessing information remains extremely difficult for independent journalists and news organizations that do not possess government ties. Key parts of the freedom of information legislation, such as the creation of a monitoring commission, have not been implemented.

Political Environment: 30 / 40

Dos Santos's ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) continues to give preferential treatment to state-owned media. Interviews with top politicians and state officials, as well as access to information related to the government, are usually granted only to progovernment or state-run outlets. Such outlets tend to either ignore opposition activities, or to report unfavorably on them. Outlets openly critical of the government can face pressure. Human rights activists and independent journalists have accused the government of using its control over the media to suppress coverage of a bloody April 2015 police raid on a Christian sect based in Huambo Province; activists claim that many members were killed by police following a botched attempt to arrest their leader.

Self-censorship by journalists at both state-run and private outlets is commonplace. The coercive environment created by the government and security forces has even extended to Portugal, where oil wealth has allowed Angolans, including President dos Santos' daughter, to make large investments in media and other companies. In Angola, the sudden closure of Semanario Angolense by its unknown new owners in 2014, and its failure to recommence publication in 2015, leaves Folha 8 as the country's only remaining private, independent newspaper with significant circulation.

Independent journalists are regularly monitored and harassed by state agents. In 2015, many came to fear that they could be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention at any time. Foreign journalists whose reporting threatens to tarnish the image of the dos Santos regime have also been subject to harassment and intimidation. Those who seem likely to cover sensitive issues related to the government, corruption, or human rights have had difficulty obtaining visas to report in Angola.

No journalists were known to have been murdered in 2015. However, Luanda-based Guinea-Bissau journalist Milocas Pereira, who disappeared in 2012 while reporting on possible Angolan military involvement in a coup in Guinea-Bissau, remains missing.

Economic Environment: 21 / 30

The government both owns and keeps tight control over the largest media outlets in the country, including the newspaper Jornal de Angola, the television channel Televisao Publica de Angola (TPA), and the radio station Radio National de Angola (RNA). Few other outlets have national reach, making these government-owned media the most widely accessed news sources. While several privately owned newspapers operate, most are owned by individuals with connections to the government or ruling party, and they are distributed primarily in urban areas. The denial of state and private advertising as a method of pressuring independent news outlets continues to be a problem. Authorities and private owners have occasionally seized entire editions of newspapers that carried stories critical of the government. With fewer independent newspapers in circulation, blogs such as Maka Angola and Central Angola 7311, and news portals like Rede Angola and Club-K, have become some of the most viable sources for critical reporting on the MPLA regime.

Internet penetration in Angola is low, at 12 percent of the population in 2015, largely concentrated in urban areas.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
In Geneva, Ban reiterates call to end Syrian conflict; reflects on tenure as UN chief

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as UN News Service, In Geneva, Ban reiterates call to end Syrian conflict; reflects on tenure as UN chief, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3974c40e.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

3 October 2016 - Speaking at a press conference in the United Nations Office in Geneva today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once again called for the political will to end the Syrian conflict, while also sharing his reflections on the nearly 10 years he spent as the top UN official.

Mr. Ban, who is ending his tenure as Secretary-General on 31 December, said that an emphasis on preventive diplomacy is one of the characteristics that defined his time in Office.

"The United Nations, during my period, has paid more attention to preventive diplomacy, rather than just [] trying to solve the problems once a fire has broken out," he said. "Once something has broken out, it has its own dynamics to spread and it is very difficult. That is why I have been really emphasizing the importance of preventive diplomacy."

There are, of course, many fires still burning. I think these are all because of the lack of commitment to peace by the leaders of the world, particularly leaders of parties to conflict

Yet, violence is continuing in places like Syria, Yemen, Libya and Occupied Palestinian Territories.

"There are, of course, many fires still burning. I think these are all because of the lack of commitment to peace by the leaders of the world, particularly leaders of parties to conflict," Mr. Ban said.

He stressed that the UN has made many efforts, such as mediation, facilitation and good offices provided by his Special Envoys and Special Representatives.

"I think I have appointed the [most] Special Envoys, Special Advisors [and] Special Representatives, and we have established some preventive diplomacy teams. Within 48 hours, whenever there was a problem, we have been sending our mediators," he said.

Mr. Ban explained that for Syria, he appointed top-class diplomatic negotiators, "starting from my distinguished predecessor Kofi Annan, then Lakhdar Brahimi, and Staffan de Mistura."

"By any standards or criteria, they belong to some of the best diplomats," he said, emphasizing that it is not their lack of ability, but the lack of political will among the parties that is allowing hostilities in Syria to continue.

"I am deeply troubled that even almost after six years of the United Nations' heavy engagement, we are still seeing violence continuing," he said.

Syrian people are divided largely in two and Syrian armed groups have still more divisions among themselves, the Secretary-General said. Then, regional powers are divided and the Security Council is divided. This has provided a "perfect storm" for the Syrian crisis to continue, he explained, urging unity among these divided groups.

Mr. Ban reiterated that there is no military solution, and the parties have "first" obligations while countries with influence are also responsible for ending the attacks.

"All must act for the 13.5 million Syrians who desperately need help - and for stability in the region and our world," he said.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses a press conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

In Yemen, four out of five people need assistance to survive - more than 21 million people. "All parties must cease all military activities. Targeting civilian areas is a violation of international humanitarian law," he stated.

On the Middle East, he recalled that "during my time, unfortunately, three wars have taken place in Gaza. It is unprecedented that in such a short period of time, what has taken place so often, [between] late 2008 until 2014."

"I sincerely hope that they [leaders of Israel and Palestine] should sit down together and engage seriously," he stated.

Seeking unanimity undermines UN decision-making

Mr. Ban highlighted the need to improve decision-making at the UN, which he described as at times operating like "an executive board" with 193 members. "That is far more than a typical executive board - especially because each of those 193 countries thinks they are the chairman," he noted.

Too many good ideas needlessly die from insisting on "unanimity" when all that is needed is "consensus" for progress, he warned.

The Secretary-General has called for the General Assembly President, Peter Thomson, to explore, with his successor, the establishment of a high-level panel to find practical solutions that improve decision-making at the UN.

Next Secretary-General should have far-reaching vision, compassion and flexibility

As for the next Secretary-General, Mr. Ban said it is UN Member States that will elect his successor. That said, speaking from his own experience, she or he should have "a very far-reaching vision for the future, people and planet" and "compassion for the many people who belong to a vulnerable group, poor and sick, and people with different sexual orientations or socially, economically weak."

"At the same time, one needs to have a sense of balance: How to balance between the visions, ideals and reality on the ground. That, you may call it flexibility, but flexibility, not for the sake of flexibility, but for the better common good," he said.

During the last 10 years, he said he expressed regret on two issues. "One is sexual violence and exploitation committed by United Nations peacekeepers and UN staff which should never have happened, should have been prevented much earlier," he said. "We have taken 'zero tolerance' policies, but sometimes it has not worked well. For that I express my deep regret."

The other is the cholera epidemics in Haiti, he said, stressing that the UN has a moral responsibility. As for measures to treat the patients, stop these epidemics, and support the families of the victims, he will table a new proposal to the General Assembly soon, he added.

About unforgettable events, he said "it is very hard to just choose one or two. There have been many moving, touching moments that I really felt as a human being, not only as Secretary-General."

"There have been so many heart-breaking moments, when I saw so many people suffering from unnecessary conflict, unnecessary death which can be prevented," he said. "All these crises which we are now experiencing could have been resolved had world leaders paid more attention to prevention."

Mr. Ban said as Secretary-General, he has visited Switzerland more times than any other country in the world. "This Palais des Nations is my second home," he said.

Geneva is the UN's starting point to lead the world's response to humanitarian suffering, human rights abuses, pandemics, labour problems and more, and it also generously hosts important mediation processes, he said.

Also today, the Secretary-General attended a tree planting ceremony for the second-generation hibakusha, delivered remarks at the opening of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and addressed to the students and faculty of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (HEID).
Ban appoints Hubert Price of US as head of the UN support office in Somalia

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Ban appoints Hubert Price of US as head of the UN support office in Somalia, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3977940e.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

3 October 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Hubert Price of the United States as Head of the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS).

In a biographical note, the Secretary-General highlighted that Mr. Price brings to the new position more than 20 years of experience in UN peacekeeping operations, most recently as Director of Mission Support in the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) from 2010 until 2015, and later as Acting Assistant Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support until June 2016.

From 2003 to 2004, Mr. Price served as Chief Integrated Support Services in the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), followed by two years as Chief Administrative Officer in the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI). He then served as Chief Mission Support in the UN Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) from 2006 until 2010, which included periods during which he simultaneously acted as interim Chief of Staff.

A retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Armed Forces, Mr. Price has been part of UN peacekeeping operations since 1994, serving in a variety of capacities in Mozambique, Angola and at the UN Logistics Base (UNLB) in Brindisi.
'Bunker-buster' bombs in eastern Aleppo mean children not even safe underground, UN experts warn

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as UN News Service, 'Bunker-buster' bombs in eastern Aleppo mean children not even safe underground, UN experts warn, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3982d40e.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

3 October 2016 - The killing and maiming of children in eastern Aleppo by the Syrian Government and its allies is not only a brutal abdication of international human rights obligations, it will have a long-lasting impact on the young victims for generations to come, United Nations child rights experts warned today.

"Even if the war were to end today, it will take decades to recover from the destruction wrought on Aleppo and across Syria and the psychological wounds to heal from the trauma inflicted on these children," said Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

"We are probably not talking of a lost generation, but quite possibly of lost generations," he added in a news release.

Mr. Mezmur recalled that Syria and Russia had both ratified the Child Rights Convention along with its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

"This doesn't solely mean not recruiting and/or using child soldiers," he underscored. "It means not targeting children in situations of armed conflict; it means not attacking places such as schools and hospitals, which might amount to war crimes under international humanitarian law."

Yet in eastern Aleppo, "this is what we are seeing," he pointed out.

Children are not only being seriously injured but are trapped amid the continuing bombardment

"Children are being killed and maimed. Airstrikes are hitting the few remaining hospitals. The use of bunker-busting bombs means children cannot even safely attend schools that are underground," the child rights expert added.

The Geneva-based Committee recently heard detailed accounts of visiting Syrian doctors on the scale and extent of casualties among civilians as they struggled to treat the abhorrent injuries of the children.

"Children are not only being seriously injured but are trapped amid the continuing bombardment, unable to escape and receive life-saving medical care," stressed Mr. Mezmur, adding: "The stunned, bloodied face of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh sitting in an ambulance after being pulled from the rubble horrified the world, not least because it showed that war is all this child has known in his short life."

Mr. Mezmur noted that the Convention has been ratified by 196 States and the Optional Protocol (OPAC) by 165.

"We call on Syria and Russia, as well the international community, to show they abide by their human rights obligations set out in those treaties and find a way to end this raging conflict now. Omran must not be an adolescent or even a young adult before he knows what peace is," concluded the chairman.

The CRC is composed of 18 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the State parties to the Child Rights Convention along with that of two Optional Protocols, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Independent experts and Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
As Colombian voters reject peace deal, Ban pledges UN support as country seeks way forward

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as UN News Service, As Colombian voters reject peace deal, Ban pledges UN support as country seeks way forward, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f399c640e.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

3 October 2016 - In the wake of a referendum that defeated the peace accord signed by the President of Colombia and the country's largest rebel group just days ago, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended the parties for their determination, saying he believed peace could still be achieved and that all Colombians who had committed to ending the 50-year conflict should not be discouraged.

"Following the result of the plebiscite, the Secretary-General welcomes the public commitment from the Government of Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) and all of the country's political forces to continue working to end the armed conflict and build a lasting peace, said a statement issued today by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

It added: "After more than five decades of war, the Colombian people deserve no less."

Exactly one week ago, the Secretary-General and a host of senior UN officials travelled to Cartagena to witness the signing of the peace agreement that was the culmination of a historic four-year negotiation between the Government and the FARC-EP to end the longest running conflict in the Western Hemisphere.

Those talks, hosted in Havana, Cuba, led to agreements on key issues such as political participation, land rights, illicit drugs and victims' rights and transitional justice. Among other developments, the Government and the FARC-EP announced in May an agreement to release and reintegrate child soldiers from the opposition force. The parties also announced the establishment of a gender sub-commission to bolster the voice of women in the peace process.
UN torture prevention body urges Kazakhstan to enhance prisoner rehabilitation

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN torture prevention body urges Kazakhstan to enhance prisoner rehabilitation, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f39a4740c.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

3 October 2016 - The United Nations' torture prevention body has urged Kazakhstan to focus more on the rehabilitation of prisoners rather than punishment, as part of efforts to ensure that people deprived of their liberty are protected against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

"We note that Kazakhstan has significantly reduced the number of people deprived of their liberty and improved conditions of detention, but the prison system continues to overemphasize restrictions and punishment, rather than reintegration and rehabilitation," said Victor Zaharia, who headed a first visit to the country by the Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT), in a news release.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) the SPT delegation presented its confidential preliminary observations to the Kazakh authorities at the end of the 20 -29 September visit. Among the places the experts visited were prisons, prison camps, remand centres, police stations, guardhouses, correctional rehabilitation centres, psychiatric and forensic institutions and other detention facilities.

"We welcome the fact that we were granted prompt access to information and documents, as well as to places of detention where we were able to conduct private interviews with persons deprived of liberty," Mr. Zaharia said in the release.

Highlighting the importance of granting similar access to the national independent monitoring body, known as National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), he added that "full access to all places where people are or might be deprived of their liberty is key to the effectiveness of the NPM, and hence preventing the torture or ill-treatment of detainees."

SPT members carried out private and confidential interviews with law enforcement officials, medical staff and persons deprived of their liberty. The delegation also met Government officials and representatives of civil society, and held discussions with the country's Human Rights Commissioner, who has been designated to function as a national preventive mechanism.

The SPT will submit a full report to the Government, containing its observations and recommendations on prevention of torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. As with all other States, the SPT is encouraging Kazakhstan to make this report public.

The other members of the delegation were Arman Danielyan, Marija Definis-Gojanovich and Paul Lam Shang Leen.
UN: Demand End to Unlawful Aleppo Attacks

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, UN: Demand End to Unlawful Aleppo Attacks, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f39c284.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The United Nations Security Council should demand that Syrian and Russian forces immediately halt unlawful attacks in eastern Aleppo and ensure that aid workers can safely deliver humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the city.

Since September 19, 2016, Russian and Syrian forces have bombarded opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo. The attacks included the use of barrel bombs, cluster munitions, and incendiary weapons, and damaged or partially destroyed at least five hospitals in six separate attacks, Human Rights Watch research shows. According to the UN, the offensive has killed about 320 civilians, including over 100 children.

"Using massive firepower in residential areas where thousands of civilians are trapped is reckless and could amount to a war crime," said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch. "The Security Council should immediately adopt a resolution demanding an end to the slaughter. And Russia, itself involved in the bombing, should refrain from using its veto or risk further sullying its record as a permanent member of the council."

Doctors, hospital staff, activists, journalists, and photographers told Human Rights Watch by phone that aircraft have attacked opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo relentlessly for nearly two weeks. Air-dropped munitions hit a hospital known as M10 on September 28, and again on October 1. Describing the latest attack, the head of the hospital administration said, "The attack destroyed the laboratory and the generators, and damaged the intensive care unit and the patients' wing." The M10 hospital had to temporarily halt its operations because of the damage, he said. The attack killed at least one person and wounded at least 10, local residents said.

Describing an attack on the M2 hospital on September 28, the hospital administrator said: "A rocket struck the entrance of the emergency department, killing one person and injuring a nurse, whose body was covered in shrapnel injuries. The material damage was really bad. The walls keep crumbling. No one cares, no one listens, no one is stopping this waterfall of blood."

Interviews with local residents, photographs, and video footage also show that Syrian or Russian aircraft have dropped cluster munitions and incendiary weapons on opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo. Only Russian and Syrian aircraft are conducting airstrikes in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo.

A sustained attack on the Shaar district on September 30, for example, included the use of incendiary weapons, which set several buildings ablaze, including three hospitals. Staff at the three hospitals described fires that were difficult to extinguish. Journalists who arrived at the scene a few minutes after the attack filmed burning remnants from an incendiary weapon, which they shared with Human Rights Watch.

On September 25, cluster munitions killed four civilians and injured others near the Saif al-Doula roundabout in the Salaheddin district in Aleppo, said a journalist from the area who knew those killed and shared a photo of a cluster munition remnant with Human Rights Watch. Syria Civil Defense, a volunteer group working in opposition areas, reported that cluster munitions had killed three civilians and injured 20 in Salaheddin district on September 25.

Most countries have banned the use of cluster munitions because of their inherently indiscriminate effects and the danger that unexploded submunitions pose to civilians after an attack. Neither Syria nor Russia are parties to the treaty banning cluster munitions.

Only Russia is party to the protocol that prohibits the use of air-dropped incendiary weapons in areas with concentration of civilians. Russia has previously expressed concern about inappropriate use of incendiary weapons in Syria.

Since 2011, Russia, together with China, has vetoed four Security Council resolutions to protect the Syrian government from condemnation and the threat of sanctions  and to prevent the Security Council from referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

As of September 2016, 112 countries, including a majority of UN Security Council members, had endorsed the Accountability Coherence and Transparency (ACT) Code of Conduct, pledging not to vote against a credible draft resolution aimed at preventing or ending serious crimes under international law, as well as supporting timely Security Council action to address such grave abuses. Further highlighting global momentum in favor of restraint in using a Security Council veto, 99 countries support a French and Mexican initiative calling for permanent Security Council members to voluntarily pledge not to use the veto in situations of mass atrocities.

In certain cases, there are grounds for asking UN member states to recuse themselves from a Security Council vote. Article 27 of the UN Charter stipulates that "a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting."

Council members should support any resolution that would condemn in the strongest terms the unlawful attacks in Aleppo and demand an immediate halt to such attacks by all parties and allow UN and other aid agencies immediate, safe, and sustained access to civilians in need, Human Rights Watch said. Such a resolution should remind all parties of the duty to permit civilians to safely leave an urban area under siege, deriving from the absolute ban on starvation under the laws of war, as a method of warfare. A resolution should also underline the importance of accountability for serious crimes committed by all parties involved in the conflict in Syria.

The Security Council should also welcome UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's decision on September 30 to investigate the September 19 attack on a UN humanitarian aid convoy near Aleppo, and should request a public briefing for the Security Council on the outcome.

Human Rights Watch has long called for a UN arms embargo, individual sanctions on those responsible for the use of chemical weapons and other atrocities by all sides in Syria, and referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court.

Deliberate or reckless attacks against civilians and civilian objects committed with criminal intent are war crimes. The laws of war require the parties to a conflict to take constant care during military operations to spare the civilian population and to "take all feasible precautions" to avoid or minimize the incidental loss of civilian life and damage to civilian objects. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on September 28 that those using indiscriminate weapons in Aleppo "know they are committing war crimes."

Security Council Resolution 2254, adopted on December 18, 2015, called on all parties to the conflict in Syria to "immediately cease any attacks against civilians and civilian objects as such, including attacks against medical facilities and personnel, and any indiscriminate use of weapons, including through shelling and aerial bombardment."

"The Security Council should not remain silent one more day about the unlawful assault on Aleppo," Charbonneau said. "Council members should put their condemnation on the record, in a resolution, to remind Russia and Syria that the world is watching and that other council members will not be bystanders while Aleppo descends into hell."

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RSF reiterates call for protective mechanism after Dutch journalist killed in Libya

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 October 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF reiterates call for protective mechanism after Dutch journalist killed in Libya, 4 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f39d894.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Dutch journalist Jeroen Oerlemans' death at the hands of an Islamic State sniper in Syrte yesterday, just three months after Libyan photojournalist Abdelkader Fassouk was killed in Benghazi, has again underlined the urgent need for more protection for journalists.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call for the creation of the position of special representative of the United Nations secretary-general for the safety of journalists, so that this crime does not go unpunished, as so many others have.

"Another journalist has been fatally shot in Libya for the sake of the right to information," said Yasmine Kacha, the head of RSF's North Africa desk.

"Given the extremely complex political and security situation in this country, his murder - like the nine other murders of journalists in Libya since 2011 - will very probably remain unpunished. The existence of an alert mechanism within the UN Security Council, such as the one proposed by RSF, could make a difference."

Witnesses said that, although wearing a bulletproof vest, Oerlemans was hit in chest by a sniper's bullet that entered through the side of his body and lodged beside his heart.

Joanie de Rijke, a Dutch journalist who was working with Oerlemans in Libya, told RSF: "I am horrified by the news. Jeroen was an extraordinary man. We had worked together for several years and his professionalism never wavered. This is a great loss for the entire profession."

De Rijke is currently in Tripoli waiting for his body to be repatriated.

Oerlemans had covered most of the wars in the Middle East during the past ten years. He and British war reporter John Cantlie were abducted together by jihadists in northern Syria on 19 July 2012 and were freed eight days later by the Free Syrian Army. Cantlie was subsequently kidnapped again.

Many journalists and NGOs joined RSF in June in calling for the creation of the post of special representative of the UN Nations secretary-general for the safety of journalists. The goal is to establish a concrete mechanism that enforces international law and thereby finally reduces the number of journalists killed every year in connection with their work.

Libya is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
The Human Rights Council takes responsible action to prevent the worst in Burundi

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 30 September 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, The Human Rights Council takes responsible action to prevent the worst in Burundi , 30 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f39e1f4.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

By adopting a resolution that condemns the serious crimes committed in Burundi, the UN Human Rights Council took responsible action to try and prevent the worst as the country is sliding further towards violence and the risk of genocide is real. This resolution also establishes an international commission of inquiry, which will be able to transmit evidence it gathers to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and contribute to bringing those responsible for crimes to justice.

The resolution adopted today is based on the final report of three independent experts who investigated the human rights violations committed in Burundi since the beginning of the crisis, which was triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's will to remain in power beyond his second constitutionally-mandated term. Their report indicates that "given the country's history, the danger of the crime of genocide also looms large."

The resolution strongly condemns the gross and systematic human rights violations committed in Burundi - including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and acts of torture -, some of which may amount to crimes against humanity. It also condemns the widespread impunity in the country and acts of incitement to ethnic violence and hatred.

The resolution insists on the fact that accountability for those responsible for crimes - most of whom are members of the security forces and Imbonerakure [1] - is central to efforts to put an end to the escalation of violence. The commission of inquiry will be tasked with identifying alleged perpetrators of violations. Finally, the resolution raises concern over the consequences that the situation in Burundi may have on regional stability, and calls for action to prevent an intensification of the crisis. The African Union, The East African Community and the United Nations have all acted in accordance with their respective mandates; they should immediately take further concrete action to stop a regionalization of the crisis.

Since the beginning of the crisis, in April 2015, FIDH and Ligue ITEKA have raised the alarm with African and international institutions on the gravity of the violations committed and their possible repercussions on regional stability. At the Human Rights Council, our organizations advocated for the holding of regular public debates on Burundi and for a special session dedicated to the country. The resolution adopted today is in line with these efforts, which have allowed for a documentation of violations and increased international pressure on the Burundian authorities.

Footnotes

The ruling party's youth league, whose one of the branches has formed a militia that has been responsible for grave human rights violations since April 2015.
The DRC under scrutiny: the Human Rights Council places the country at the center of its attention

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 30 September 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, The DRC under scrutiny: the Human Rights Council places the country at the center of its attention, 30 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f39f9d4.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The UN Human Rights Council placed the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under scrutiny today by adopting a resolution that puts the country at the center of its attention. This strong political move was essential to respond to the human rights crisis that is unfolding in the DRC in the electoral context, as all signals are red and violence keeps on mounting.

The resolution that was adopted today expresses deep concern over the violence committed in the context of elections, including the use of disproportionate force against demonstrators who demand that President Kabila leave office at the end of his second constitutionally-mandated term, on 19 December 2016. It also raises increasing restrictions on fundamental freedoms, in particular arbitrary detentions, threats against civil society, journalists and members of political parties, and restrictions to freedoms of expression and assembly.

The resolution provides for the holding of public debates on the DRC at each and every regular session of the Council in 2017. It also opens the door to further action - including through a special session, which FIDH called for in July 2016. This increase in the attention given to the DRC is in line with the asks we formulated ahead of the Council's 33rd session, which ends tonight.

On 19 September, FIDH, its member and partner organizations in the DRC, and member organizations of the #MonVoteDoitCompter coalition called on the Congolese authorities to put an end to the repression and to guarantee freedoms of expression and assembly, as large-scale demonstrations were ongoing in various cities of the country, including Kinshasa, to call for President Kabila's departure in December 2016.

However, law enforcement forces renewed their brutal crackdown on demonstrations, while the latter had been authorized by the government. According to the information we gathered, between 19 and 20 September several dozen civilians were killed by law enforcement in Kinshasa. Officials used lethal weapons and fired live ammunition at the crowds. Over one thousand demonstrators, including political opposition and independent civil society members, as well as journalists, were arbitrarily arrested and detained, some of them incommunicado. Many of them are still being held. Men, some of them wearing police uniforms, participated in the sacking of various opposition party headquarters - four of these (UDPS, FONUS, ECIDE et MLP) were burned down. The headquarters of two pro-President parties were also targeted. In other cities, including Kisangani and Goma, human rights activists were arrested. Among them are four members of the Filimbi movement in Kisangani, namely Attorney Ms. Cathy Bosongo and Messrs. Simplice Kapipa, Gauthier Kasonya and Abedi Radjabu. They remain in detention. It was reported that some of them were subjected to acts of torture.

Our organizations urge the Congolese authorities to put an end to the repression of those who oppose President Kabila's bid to stay in power and to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained persons, including those who are held incommunicado.
Egypt: Fear that adoption of new draft NGO Law will endorse a "no human rights" era

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Egypt: Fear that adoption of new draft NGO Law will endorse a "no human rights" era, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3a0104.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

With the approval by the Cabinet of a draft NGO law, authorities are attempting to eradicate existing human rights groups and preventing the set-up of new ones thus virtually banning the conduct of human rights work by independent civil society groups, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership) said today. As the State Council has now been referred the draft for legal review, human rights groups in Egypt continue to face intensive judicial harassment, aimed at eradicating the human rights movement as a whole.

On September 8, 2016, the Cabinet approved a new draft NGO law, which if adopted in its current form will further shrink the space for civil society in Egypt. The draft law retains restrictive provisions already existing in the current NGO Law (No. 84/2002), in particular giving the Ministry of Social Solidarity authority to approve or reject NGOs' licensing. It also provides for new impediments likely to result in the suppression of independent human rights work by civil society. It establishes a security/governmental committee called the Coordinating Committee, which would include General Intelligence Services (GIS) and representatives of the Interior Ministry, to approve foreign funding of Egyptian NGOs, to give international NGOs (INGOs) licenses to work and to approve the opening by Egyptian NGOS of new branches nationally and abroad.

The draft law also limits NGO work to "development and social objectives", leaving great uncertainty as to the legality of the conduct of human rights work. In addition, the draft law imposes a hefty minimum capital to set up an NGO, establishes a specific tax for foreign funding, bans activists who have received prison sentence from forming their own NGOs, requires INGOs to conduct work that meet social needs and conform to State development plans, subjects the opening of new offices in the country to the Ministry of Social Solidarity's approval and deprives individuals from any right to remedy.

The approval of this restrictive NGO draft law is in line with the ongoing tremendous deterioration of the working environment for civil society in Egypt, especially within the framework of criminal case No. 173, known as "the foreign funding case", which has seen the constant harassment of a significant number of Egyptian human rights groups and their members since June 2013. Within this case, on September 17, 2016, the Cairo Criminal Court handed down an order to freeze the assets of five prominent human rights defenders and three NGOs [1] and at least seven travel bans have also been imposed on leading Egyptian human rights defenders since 2015. If indicted under this case, hundreds of Egyptian human rights defenders could be condemned to up to 25 years in prison, and at least 37 NGOs would also be closed.

Since late 2011, civil society in Egypt has been the target of a crackdown, with authorities tightening their control on human rights activities in the country. The recent draft NGO law, along with the decision of the Egyptian Court on case No. 173 are only the latest attempts by Egyptian authorities to silence human rights activism in the country, specifically against civil society groups exposing state abuses.

Footnotes

[1] See the Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 004 / 0615 / OBS 049.7, published on September 19, 2016. In June 2016, another judge had already frozen the assets of another rights NGO, Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (AITAS) and its director, Ahmad Samih in the context of the same criminal case.
Immediately drop sedition case and all proceedings against human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Immediately drop sedition case and all proceedings against human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3a0984.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The Thai Government should immediately drop all proceedings against human rights lawyer, Sirikan Charoensiri, including the specious accusation of sedition, which apparently relate to her organization's representation of 14 student activists peacefully protesting in June 2015, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership), Protection International (PI), Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), Fortify Rights, and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), said today.

On 27 September 2016, Sirikan Charoensiri, a lawyer and documentation specialist at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), received a summons from the Thai Police following accusations that she violated Article 12 of the Head of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Order 3/2015, prohibiting the gathering of five or more people for political purposes, and Article 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, a 'sedition'-type offence. According to the summons, the accusations are made by an army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Pongsarit Pawangkanan.

Sirikan Charoensiri received the summons, dated 20 September 2016, when she returned to Thailand after attending the 33rd Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva where she conducted advocacy on the human rights situation in Thailand on behalf of FORUM-ASIA and the ICJ. Sirikan Charoensiri did not receive an earlier summons, dated 14 September 2016, the police claimed had been sent to her apartment, as she was not home at the time.

Sirikan Charoensiri has already been charged with two offences under the Criminal Code of Thailand: "giving false information regarding a criminal offence" and "refusing to comply with the order of an official" in relation to TLHR's provision of legal aid to 14 student activists - the new summons appears to relate to the same case.

International Commission of Jurists:

"The army's accusation that Sirikan Charoensiri has violated the frequently abused sedition law with its extremely serious penalties and risk of a military trial is indefensible and must be withdrawn immediately. The fact that the authorities have made these accusations more than one year after TLHR's clients were charged with sedition in the same case suggest the accusations have been made in retaliation for her high-profile national and international human rights advocacy since the military coup," said Wilder Tayler, Secretary General of the ICJ.

Human Rights Watch:

"It's outrageous that Thai authorities are even considering charging lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri for defending her clients, and it will be doubly so if they haul her before a fundamentally unfair military court. By seeking to intimidate lawyers who represent government opponents, the Thai junta is showing its deep-seated fear of the rule of law,"

said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International:

"The new accusations against Sirikan Charoensiri once again demonstrate the willingness of Thai authorities to retaliate against lawyers and activists engaging in the important work of defending human rights and the rule of law. The Thai government should reverse course and take seriously its obligation to protect the independence of lawyers and their freedom to defend their clients without fear of retaliation, and to create an environment where all are able to freely and safely speak out about human rights violations," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development:

"Summoning human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri for a sedition-type charge under Article 116 of the Thai Criminal Code is a clear case of retaliation against human rights defenders who advocate for the human rights situation in Thailand after the coup in May 2014. If indicted, Sirikan Charoensiri's legitimate human rights work might be hindered by possible travel restrictions to take part in international human rights advocacy work given that prior permission to travel abroad has to be obtained from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO),"

Betty Yolanda, FORUM-ASIA Director.

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT):

"The accusations against Sirikan Charoensiri are a blatant and calculated attempt to thwart her legitimate work as a human rights lawyer. The crackdown against human rights defenders, including pro-democracy activists, has to stop and all accusations and charges against Sirikan Charoensiri must be immediately dropped," said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary-General.

Protection International:

"The number of legal cases brought against human rights defenders for reporting and addressing human rights violations is increasing in Thailand, and women human rights defenders are especially at risk. Since the beginning of the year, eight out of the ten human rights defenders who have been charged with criminal offences are women," said Liliana De Marco Coenen, Executive Director of Protection International.

Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada:

"The addition of new accusations against Sirikan Charoensiri is alarming, as they appear to be a reprisal for her work as a lawyer and a human rights defender. Thailand approved the General Assembly resolution calling on all nations to protect human rights defenders and must now meets its international human rights obligations by ensuring the immediate withdrawal of all accusations against Sirikan Charoensiri," said Gail Davidson, Executive Director of LRWC.

Fortify Rights:

"Targeting Sirikan Charoensiri for her legitimate work as a human rights lawyer is yet another attempt by the authorities to foment a climate of fear. Thai authorities should treat human rights defenders as valuable members of society rather than enemies of the state," said Amy Smith, Executive Director of Fortify Rights.

International Service for Human Rights:

"The spurious accusations against human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri should be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. Thailand has a clear duty to protect human rights defenders under international law and standards and so it is particularly concerning that these accusations may be in retaliation for her human rights advocacy since the military coup," said Phil Lynch, Director, International Service for Human Rights.

Background

The 20 September 2016 summons did not set out any precise grounds for the accusations, but they appear to relate to TLHR's provision of legal aid to 14 student activists who were arrested on 26 June 2015 after carrying out peaceful protests calling for democracy and an end to military rule.

If ultimately indicted for these alleged offences, Sirikan Charoensiri is likely to face trial in a military court as they appear to pre-date the Head of NCPO's 12 September 2016 Order 55/2016 phasing out the prosecution of civilians in military courts.

Article 12 of Head of NCPO Order 3/2015 (which prohibits the public assembly of five or more people for political purposes) carries a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 10,000 Thai Baht or both. The 'sedition'-type offence under Article 116 of the Thai Criminal Code carries a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment.

Head of NCPO Order 3/2015 and Article 116, which impose broadly worded and ambiguous restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of peaceful assembly violate Thailand's legal obligations under international human rights law and are inconsistent with basic rule of law and human rights principles. For example, Article 116 criminalises any act carried out "in order to raise unrest and disaffection amongst the people in a manner likely to cause disturbance in the country."

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a Party, guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the prohibition of arbitrary arrest or detention.

The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders affirms the right of everyone to peacefully oppose human rights violations. It prohibits retaliation, threats and other harassment against anyone who takes peaceful action against human rights violations, both within and beyond the exercise of their professional duties.

The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provide that governments are to ensure that lawyers are able to perform their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.
Turkmenistan: Six conscientious objectors sentenced in 2016

Publisher Forum 18 Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as Forum 18, Turkmenistan: Six conscientious objectors sentenced in 2016, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3a5734.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Courts have sentenced five Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors in 2016 to two-year suspended prison terms for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. A sixth received a one-year corrective labour sentence. Turkmenistan ignored OSCE calls for the new Constitution to recognise conscientious objection.
Kenya Unveils New Strategy for Tackling Terror

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Publication Date 30 September 2016 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Kenya Unveils New Strategy for Tackling Terror, 30 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3ad3e4.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Kenya has launched a new strategy aimed at preventing violent extremism, unveiling it against a background of increased threats from Somalia's al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab, home-grown militants and, more recently, suspected Islamic State (IS) sympathizers (The Star, September 16).

President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the strategy on September 7 in a speech from State House Nairobi, which was itself recently targeted in a series of grenade and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks linked to suspected al-Shabaab members (Capital FM, September 7).

Kenyatta has vowed the new National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism (NCVE) will marshal people from across all sectors - government, civil society, the private sector, etc. - in support of the country's counterterrorism efforts. [1] The plan, with its emphasis on deradicalization over heavy-handed tactics, is seen by Kenya's counterterrorism experts as critical to dealing with the terror threats the country faces.

Implementing a New Strategy

Kenya's National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), which is run by the office of president and coordinates all government counterterrorism efforts, will implement the NCVE. Heading it up is NCTC director Martin Kimani. An experienced diplomat, as well as a military educated and regional security expert, his role is to ensure smooth coordination with regional and global partners.

Kimani was previously the permanent representative and head of mission to the United National Environmental Program (UNEP). A good deal of his experience comes from having worked as director of the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism, an agency of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) based in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, an organization that works to prevent conflict in the Horn of Africa. He has also held senior positions at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC and worked in various capacities in currency and bond trading, political risk analysis, policy development and regional security (The Standard, January 11).

Kimani's time heading up the NCTC has been relatively successful. On his watch, terror attacks in Nairobi, Mombasa and Garissa have declined, and the scale of attacks witnessed along the border with Somalia have been reduced. These are mainly ambushes and "night raids." On September 21, for example, al-Shabaab fighters attacked Hamey Police Station in Garissa County, killing two police officers. The militants stole guns, ammunition and a police land cruiser (The Standard, September 21). Over 4,400 rounds of ammunition, an MG3 machine gun, two G3 rifles and a VHF radio set were also taken (Daily Nation, September 26).

Emphasis on Deradicalizsation

For years, Kenya's anti-terrorism efforts have focused largely on the deployment of the security forces, with the country sending troops into Somalia in 2011. Inside Kenya's borders the police have heightened border surveillance and carried out raids in neighborhoods in Nairobi and Mombasa, as well as in Garissa town (The Standard, April 14, 2014). Yet al-Shabaab has continued to pose a significant threat, evidenced by the Garissa University attack in April 2015 and the attack on the Westgate Shopping Mall on September 21, 2013.

The NCVE, which adds prevention and counter-radicalization elements to existing anti-terror approaches, has the prevention of extremist groups from radicalizing ordinary Kenyans as one of its key aims. A statement on the NCVE from the president's office stresses the importance of the rehabilitation of Kenyan nationals who are former al-Shabaab combatants. [2]

This is a welcome change in focus. In 2015, reports suggested that nearly 700 combatants who had earlier left to fight for al-Shabaab in Somalia had quietly deserted the battlefields and returned to Kenya. Some left the radical group to take advantage of a Kenyan government amnesty, announced by Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery in April, while others left the jihadists after the lucrative deals al-Shabaab promised them turned out to be less remunerative than expected (The Star, October 21. 2015).

With the influx of former militants, it is perhaps unsurprising that experts have concluded there has been a shift in the principle terror threat Kenya faces - from that posed by Somali militants, to that posed by home grown terror cells (Daily Nation, March 10).

Security Forces 'Infiltrated'

Increasingly Kenya's security agencies have highlighted the problem of radicalization within local communities. In schools over the last few years, school heads have grappled with concerns that al-Shabaab agents have penetrated their institutions, allegedly influencing students and recruiting some to their cause (The Star, August 7). Near the Somali border, the police have on several occasions arrested students travelling to Somalia to join the ranks of militant groups and in some cases have rounded up students allegedly intending to join IS in Libya and Syria (Kenyans, February 19; The Star, August 2).

At first the radicalization and recruitment efforts targeted youth in majority Muslims regions like Nairobi's Eastleigh neighborhood, northern Kenya and the coastal region of Mombasa, but this appears to have changed. Militants now also recruit from non-traditional Muslims regions. Factors such as poverty, unemployment and a lack of opportunities for young people are seen as the drivers of radicalization, but another important factor may be grievances around marginalization as a result of race or tribe (Daily Nation, July 4, 2015).

Meanwhile, reports also suggest that members of al-Shabaab's Amniyat, the group's intelligence wing, have targeted the security forces. In July, a police officer killed seven of his colleagues at a police station in Kapenguria, West Pokot County in what has been portrayed as a lone wolf attack. The officer was later gunned down by members of the elite Recce squad of the General Service Unit (GSU) following an eight-hour siege at the police station (Daily Nation, July 14).

Investigations have since shown that the officer had a network within the service. According to some reports, he had attempted to bribe other officers to release a terror suspect held at the station, while his bank account is said to have contained more than $30,000 that could not be properly accounted for (Daily Nation, July 14; The Standard, July 14).

In August, a police raid targeting a former Recce elite squad officer who had deserted the force discovered three AK47 rifles and 178 round of ammunition. The operation followed reports the officer had been radicalized and was planning to attack a GSU camp in the Ruiru area near Nairobi, which hosts the elite squad (The Star, August 4). He had reportedly been seen attending the radical Riyadha Mosque in Nairobi, where hardline sermons are preached.

Under Scrutiny

Kenyan military efforts in Somalia have had some success in countering al-Shabaab, but fresh thinking on anti-terror strategies in Kenya is clearly to be welcomed.

Kimani appears well placed to facilitate the planned coordination with regional partners the NCVE envisages; and the emphasis on deradicalization efforts is pertinent given the number of former al-Shabaab fighters returning to Kenya.

Nevertheless, recent reported incidents of radicalization within the security services are a troubling development and a reminder that Kenyan counterterrorism officials will need to monitor just how effectively its new strategy plays out.

NOTES

[1] See the statement from the Kenyan president (September 7)

[2] Ibid.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Chechen Diaspora Suffers as West Seeks Common Ground With Moscow on Fighting Terrorism

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Mairbek Vatchagaev Publication Date 29 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 157 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Chechen Diaspora Suffers as West Seeks Common Ground With Moscow on Fighting Terrorism, 29 September 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 157, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3ae524.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Against the backdrop of Western sanctions against Russia, European countries are increasingly trying to defend their cooperation with Moscow by saying it is vital for their efforts to combat international terrorism. Chechens, who are scattered across Europe, often become targets of such cooperation. The Chechen diaspora in Europe is fairly sizeable. No precise figures exist, but they are likely to be in the six digits: there are probably at least 150,000 Chechens living across Europe (Caucasian Knot, April 5). The largest Chechen diaspora is in France, and is comprised of about 40,000 people. The second-largest Chechen diaspora, with about 30,000 people, resides in Austria. The third largest-about 20,000 members-is found in Belgium.

It is still difficult for Chechens to leave the Russian Federation. As of September, nearly 1,500 Chechens have for months been stranded at the border between Belarus and Poland, in the hopes of crossing into the European Union (Dosh, September 27). The causes behind Chechens' departures from their homeland in the North Caucasus differ among individuals. Nonetheless, European authorities appear to have grown adamantly opposed to all Chechen refugees. The way Russians portray Chechens domestically is automatically projected on the Chechens in the West, as well.

For example, one would think that the sanctions the West imposed on Russia would make extradition of Chechens from the EU to Russia less likely. In fact, such extraditions have intensified. In 2016, from France alone, the authorities deported 17 Chechens to Russia. Mansur Kuduzov is the latest person to date to be extradited from France to Russia. Kuduzov did not become an Islamist in Chechnya and then move to Europe; he arrived in France as a child and radicalized there (Rfi.fr, September 9). So, French authorities should ask themselves why some refugees to their country are radicalizing once in France, instead of integrating into their new society. Extraditions continue even though a French court expressly outlawed the return of Chechens to Russia (Onkavkaz.com, July 8).

After the rise of several high-profile Chechen commanders within the Islamic State, European authorities started to watch the movements of Chechens more closely, especially when they visit Turkey and Egypt. A well-known Chechen journalist, "M.A.," who works for a highly regarded European radio station and is a legal resident of Austria, visited Turkey in the spring of 2016 on business, related to her professional activities. After her return, she had to explain to the authorities why she had gone to Istanbul. In another case, a 22-year-old Chechen, "I.A.," went to Turkey in 2015 to marry a Chechen female from Istanbul. Upon his return to Paris, the French police detained the young man and kept him in detention for one year, accusing him of ties to the Islamic State. A court eventually determined that the investigators had no real reasons to keep him in prison, and he was released in the spring of 2016. In May 2016, a Chechen family from Belgium was traveling to Egypt. The police allowed the wife and her children to continue on their journey, but the husband was detained and has been kept in detention ever since. The Belgian authorities have tried several times to put him on a plane to deport him to Moscow, even though the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in Strasbourg, suspended the Chechen suspect's deportation procedure after his wife lodged an appeal. Brussels admits the Belgian security services had not detected any suspicious behavior from the detained man before. And the flight crew refused to transport the man to Russia after they saw how cruelly he was beaten up, allegedly by the Belgian police in broad daylight. Another Chechen, "V.D.," is currently in an Austrian prison, where he is being held for alleged plans to join the Islamic State. The authorities built their case against him purely on the basis of the testimony of a young girl. Such cases are far from unique, and they are increasingly becoming commonplace throughout Europe (Author's interviews, September 28).

These developments do not help Chechens integrate into Western European societies. Overall, the Chechen diaspora has a reputation for hard work and the pursuit of a good education. And yet, Chechen emigres are constantly finding themselves having to incessantly prove they support democracy and reject the Islamic State (Inosmi.ru, March 3).

It would be incorrect to assert that the population of Chechens in the West is homogenous or that there are no radicals among them. However, radicalization among Chechens in Europe is negligibly small, and there is actually no supporting evidence for Chechens being more vulnerable to radicalization-apart from the stereotypical image of the warlike Chechens who fight in the Middle East. For example, to date only a handful of Chechens have been sentenced to prison terms in Europe on charges of radicalization or engagement with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, even though there are thousands of radicals in European countries (Inosmi.ru, March 3; BBC News, April 27).

The European security services' policies toward Chechens indicate that European governments are trying to find common ground with Moscow and bypass the sanctions regime. European powers may be trying to use Chechens as a channel of communication with Moscow, behind Washington's back. Despite the sanctions, ties between the Russian and Western security services have been intensifying. Even in Turkey, some Russian citizens who were in prison for crimes committed in the country were suddenly released in the spring of 2016. Western countries seemingly compete with each other to provide as many services to the Russian government as possible despite the sanctions. But such policies are unlikely to succeed, because Moscow traditionally regards concessions as a sign of its opponents' weakness.

- See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/chechen-diaspora-suffers-west-seeks-common-ground-moscow-fighting-terrorism/#sthash.T04rlwcv.dpuf

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
The Taliban's 'Double Act': Will the New Leadership Strategy End Infighting in the Group?

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Waliullah Rahmani Publication Date 30 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, The Taliban's 'Double Act': Will the New Leadership Strategy End Infighting in the Group?, 30 September 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b2594.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

On September 8, 2016, the recently appointed Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada released his Eid al-Adha message. While much of the language is familiar - he terms the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan a puppet state working for foreign infidels imposing their will on the country - the tone he adopted is very different to that of his predecessors, stressing religiosity and even talking of a "new era" into which the Taliban has entered (Chekad, September 9)

Akhundzada's Eid message addresses issues of governance and public relations, as well as moral issues affecting fighters within the Taliban ranks across Afghanistan. He claims in his message that his group of fighters controls vast tracts of Afghanistan that are in need of governance and he orders his commanders and various council members in the field to govern the people in those areas with "justice and equality."

He calls for them to implement sharia but also to build trust with the local inhabitants, including preventing Taliban fighters from treating citizens badly. In the final two paragraphs, he points the finger at Afghans who support and work for the government of Afghanistan and calls on them to leave their government jobs. Lastly, he calls on the international community, referring to the Taliban's political office and saying: "We want to have relations with international players and address their concerns and questions regarding us so that, in the future, we protect our country from harm by others, and nothing bad should take place in others' affairs from our country."

The message appears more inwardly focused, directed at the Taliban's rank and file in Afghanistan, and this internally-focused Eid message may have its roots in the threatened splintering of the group that began when Mullah Mansoor, Akhundzada's predecessor, took over leadership of the group in July 2015 (Khabar Online, April 9)

Three months after Mansoor's death, it would appear the risk of fragmentation within the Taliban remains a major issue for the group. Certainly Akhundzada's Eid message suggests the issue continues to take up the time and energy of the insurgency's new leadership.

Under New Leadership

Following Mansoor's death in a U.S. drone strike in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan in May, Akhundzada was named as the Taliban leader, the figurehead of the insurgency in Afghanistan. The announcement was made on May 25, with the group at the same time naming Akhundzada's deputies - Mullah Yaqub, the son of Mullah Omar, as the Taliban's first deputy leader, with Sirjuddin Haqqani, the son of Jaluluddin Haqqani and leader of the brutal Haqqani Network (HQN), named as second deputy leader (al-Jazeera, May 26). Both are young and from well-known Taliban leadership families.

Prior to taking on the leadership of the group, Akhundzada had been the deputy Taliban leader. Under Mansoor, he was an ideological guru of the insurgency. He was not known for his military mind, instead his focus was on legitimizing the Taliban's tactics, including its use of suicide attacks, through his fatwas (Islamic religious decrees), attempting to give the violent acts some basis in sharia and painting them as a route to paradise.

Mansoor had been a divisive figure within the Taliban. His appointment, which followed the delayed disclosure of the death of the then Taliban leader Mullah Omar in 2015, had encountered considerable resistance from many Taliban commanders, with a group of some of the most influential figures forming a breakaway group under Mullah Rasool (BBC, November 4, 2015). While Mansoor was militarily-speaking a strong and established figure, he lacked religious legitimacy and was deeply uncharismatic. For the first time, the Taliban had been in danger of fragmenting into smaller groups.

By contrast, with his established religious background, Akhunduzada was seen as someone who could unify group. He had the religious credentials deemed necessary for acceptance among the leadership and field commanders of the Taliban.

The 'Real Mastermind' Behind the Insurgency

During the discussions over who would replace Mansoor at the head of the insurgency, Haqqani was considered to be a leading candidate to replace Mansoor by many informed circles in Pakistan close to the ISI, Pakistan's military intelligence agency that is alleged to have supported HQN (Express Tribune, May 22).

Despite his role as second deputy leader, many policy makers and media pundits see him as the guiding hand behind the Taliban's strategy in Afghanistan, and the true commander of the insurgency (AAN, February 10). He has for more than a decade run the HQN, a branch of the Taliban with a strong terror network in the large cities of eastern Afghanistan and in the capital city of Kabul. Under Haqqani, the HQN has waged some of the most bloody and sophisticated suicide operations seen in the capital for at least for the last six years (Tolonews, January 22).

Since 2003 Haqqani, who has a bounty of up to $10 million under the U.S. Rewards for Justice Program, has moved steadily into the central command structure of the Taliban from a position on the sidelines of the insurgency (Khabarnama, September 7). He has managed to run the most brutal terror network in Afghanistan under the Taliban banner with a degree of sophistication and success.

As the head of HQN, Haqqani has been able to put pressure on the Afghan capital leaving parts of it in lock down for hours through suicide operations. With focused attacks, such as the one targeting the aid organization CARE International, he has gained the attention of the international media (FirstPost, September 6). The attacks have instilled fear in Afghan citizens, affected the Afghan economy and disrupted the activities of international organizations in Afghanistan. They have also raised the profile of the Taliban among militants and prompted the United States to add the HQN to its list of designated terrorist groups in 2012. It may well be this notoriety, Haqqani's high profile record as one of the most wanted on the terror lists in Washington, which prevented him from assuming Taliban leadership.

In a surprise move following the announcement of his role as a Taliban deputy leader, Haqqani released an audio message in which he hinted at a possible openness to peace talks, as long as they were held in accordance with sharia (Express Tribune, June 15). But Pakistan's ISI and other backchannel contacts of the Taliban believe that under Haqqani's leadership the already stalled peace would be unlikely to occur at all.

Some analysts believe that Pakistan is pushing for this slow "Haqqanization" of the Taliban. Some say that by making Haqqani the second in command of the Taliban and associating him with the peace talks, he is being protected from the United States and its international allies (Indian Express, May 8). However, an increased association of HQN with the Taliban is likely a move that will prolong the Afghan conflict rather than progress any negotiations.

While there may be some acceptance of Haqqani within the second rank of the Taliban leadership, the upper echelons of the group are not ready to give their blessing to Haqqani who is young and lacks religious credentials. Haqqani also does not share the leadership's Southern Durrani ancestral roots - the Taliban leadership and founders come from southern Afghanistan and their roots are in Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan province. It is still too early to talk of a transformation of the leadership of the group to an easterner like Haqqani.

Uniting the Taliban

The new Taliban leadership is following a two-fold policy of unifying the Afghan insurgency by weakening the splinter groups that threaten it, and expanding the conflict across Afghanistan. This dual strategy means there are roles for both Akhundzada and Haqqani.

As he stated in his Eid message, Haibatullah wants his field commanders and council members to expunge from their networks criminals and offenders, and promote confidence-building measures. He plays a unifying role as Taliban leader with the potential to issue fatwas that could be expected to delegitimize splinter groups and overly ambitious commanders no longer interested in serving in the Taliban ranks.

Meanwhile, Haqqani can focus on expanding the insurgency to multiple battlefields in Afghanistan. Since May 2016, with the Taliban under this new command, the group has focused on fighting in large numbers in the battlefields as well as targeting high-profile targets with suicide operations in Afghanistan's major cities and provincial capitals. His successes as commander-in-chief have been mixed, however, as Taliban forces were ultimately prevented from capturing the cities of Helmand and Uruzgan provinces in the south, and are facing heavy casualties and defeat in northern provinces of Kunduz, Takhar and Balghan.

Akhundzada and Haqqani's "double act" has also yet to see lasting success in terms of unifying the insurgency. The Taliban's major splinter group, under the command of Mullah Rasool, still has a significant presence in western Afghanistan and has waged brutal attacks against Taliban forces loyal to Akhundzada (Khaama, June 22).

Another group known as the Mullah Dadullah Front (Mahaaz-e-Dadullah) has reemerged following the death of its leader, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, killed during infighting in Zabul province last year (Pajhwok, November 12, 2015). Mullah Emdadullah Mansoor, a nephew of Dadullah, now leads the group. As conflict season in Afghanistan this year draws to an end, it appears that despite escalating the geographical scope of the insurgency, the Taliban's new leaders have been unable to bring the splinter groups to heel.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Kenya: Seeking Partners for a New Terror Strategy

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Alexander Sehmer Publication Date 30 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Kenya: Seeking Partners for a New Terror Strategy, 30 September 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b2f84.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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Jordan's King Abdullah has promised greater counter terrorism support to Kenya during a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi. The visit has received a good deal of publicity in Kenya, where the two leaders were photographed greeting each other on the tarmac of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, both dressed in military fatigues (The East African, September 26). The two leaders then viewed an anti-terrorism training exercise, with units from both the Kenyan Defense Forces and the Jordanian military simulating a response to an aircraft hijacking and an attack on a village (Daily Nation, September 26).

Kenya is keen to obtain greater international support for its anti-terrorism efforts. Nairobi's recently announced National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism revises efforts to tackle extremism at home and calls for greater coordination with international partners (see Terrorism Monitor, September 30). The Jordanian visit offers some well-timed publicity for President Kenyatta in this respect.

Nairobi already receives anti-terror support from the West, including from the United States as part of the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism, or PREACT. Nevertheless, Kenya's relationship with the West on terrorism issues is not always a comfortable one. Kenyatta has shown himself happy in the past to use the so-called war on terror to put his Western allies under pressure, warning in May that Kenya could scale back its military engagement in Somalia if international partners did not help fund its efforts (Africanews, May 22). That was likely posturing on the Kenyan president's part - al-Shabaab poses a more immediate threat to his country than to the West - but the tactic appears to have had some success, with the European Union recently stepping in to ensure African Union troops in Somalia receive their pay (The Star [Kenya], September 26).

Meanwhile, rights groups accused Kenya's U.S. and UK-trained Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) of rights abuses and extrajudicial killings, and Western security officials privately complain Kenyan security services frequently ignore their recommendations. Despite the tensions, the relationship with the West is crucial for Kenya. For all the fanfare in Kenya, the anti-terror aspect of the Jordanian deal centers on training for Kenyan military pilots, while trade ties were the major focus of the leaders' meeting (Africanews, September 26).

For Jordan, King Abdullah's visit was more an opportunity to open up an African market to Jordan's defense and other industries; certainly that is how the monarch's trip was framed back home (Jordan Times, September 26).

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Philippines: Colorful Language but Little Action on Abu Sayyaf

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Alexander Sehmer Publication Date 30 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Philippines: Colorful Language but Little Action on Abu Sayyaf , 30 September 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b3744.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called for U.S. military advisers in the country's south to be withdrawn on September 12, arguing that they were targets for Abu Sayyaf militants operating in Mindanao (Daily Inquirer, September 13). The comments come amid a torrent of anti-American rhetoric from Duterte, which has included insulting President Barack Obama and vowing to end joint military exercises (Daily Inquirer, September 28). For all his colorful language, however, there has yet to be any official signs of disengagement with the United States (Daily Inquirer, September 29).

The ramping up of this kind of language maybe partly because Duterte is courting Chinese investment, including for a proposed railway system in Mindanao, something China appears minded to do (Manila Bulletin, August). The focus on China has even led Duterte to indicate he could set aside a longstanding dispute between the two nations over islands in the South China Sea (Daily Inquirer, February 29).

In fact, such a concessions seem unlikely as it would call into question Duterte's nationalist credentials, and row back on comments he made during his election campaign when he assured voters he would jet ski to the islands and plant his country's flag there himself (Asian Economist, April 27).

Similarly, Duterte can ill afford to have U.S. advisers pull out of Mindanao.

U.S. forces have been in Mindanao since 2002, aiding the Philippines' military in its fight against Abu Sayyaf, and while more than a decade of military operations has failed to dislodge the group, U.S. involvement has immeasurably strengthened the Philippines' military's effectiveness. Joint operations ended last year, but a small number of U.S. military advisers remain and it is these that Duterte wants removed.

Since taking up the presidency in June, Duterte has maintained a relatively conciliatory stance towards Abu Sayyaf, focusing instead on his violent and much criticized anti-drugs efforts. Now the Philippines' president appears set to change tack.

At the beginning of the month, a bombing claimed by Abu Sayyaf killed 15 people in Davao, where Duterte used to be mayor. In the aftermath of the blast, the Philippines' president, speaking from Laos where was taking part in an ASEAN meeting, vowed he would "crush" the militants and "eat" them alive (Philippine Star, September 7).

Should the Philippines' president attempt to tackle Abu Sayyaf in a similar manner to how he has dealt with drug dealers, he may feel constrained by his U.S. military allies, but such a move would surely seem unwise. Possibly Duteret's comments are simply bluster. Certainly it remains to be seen whether they herald any real change, either in relation to the U.S. advisers or in terms of his strategy for taking on the militants.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Younger Crowd Will Not Rejuvenate Putin's Court

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Pavel K. Baev Publication Date 3 October 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 158 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Younger Crowd Will Not Rejuvenate Putin's Court, 3 October 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 158, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b3e04.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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News and rumors of appointments and dismissals at the top levels of the Russian government have proliferated in recent weeks. And these continue to eclipse the tragic escalation of the war in Syria as well as efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to limit oil production and push up prices. Speculation keeps swirling about Sergei Kiriyenko's possible move from the general director of Rosatom to the presidential administration or about Alexander Bastrykin's resignation from chairing the Investigations Committee. So far, the unpredictable cadre reshuffling has defied attempts to find a pattern (Gazeta.ru, September 27). Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's statement about the low effectiveness of the "awkward" state machine has added to expectations of long-overdue reforms in the overgrown bureaucratic structures (RBC, September 30). What is clear, however, is that the replacement of the "old guard" in many positions of power with younger favorites has greater significance for the transformation of President Vladimir Putin's authoritarian regime than the recent parliamentary elections. But the overall content of this transformation remains muddled. The abrupt dismissal of Vladimir Yakunin, an outspoken member of Putin's inner circle, from the position of CEO of Russian Railways in August 2015 appeared to kick off the reshuffle process. Since then, further shakeups among the president's loyal courtiers have proceeded faster than Kremlin-watchers were able to invent explanations (Forbes.ru, September 29). Some political veterans, like the heretofore head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Mikhail Fradkov, are being eased into retirement with offers of minor sinecures. Other early-1990s-era business-political operatives from St. Petersburg, like Viktor Ivanov, have been unceremoniously dumped. Yet other "trusted lieutenants," like Andrei Belyaninov from the Federal Tax Service, were exposed as embezzlers (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 6). Putin evidently is willing to forgo his reputation of a loyal boss; the logic of his choices defies the model of usual behavior of an ageing autocrat. One unique feature of this cadre renewal is that it is arguably not happening where it is most needed. The energy sector, for instance, is affected not only by low oil prices but also by poor management, which has caused a steady increase in operational costs. And yet, Gazprom's head, Alexei Miller, Igor Sechin of Rosneft, as well nearly all other Kremlin-connected beneficiaries of this revenues-generating business have so far remained safe from the "purges" (RBC, September 23). The financial sector, weakened by Western sanctions and discredited in a series of money-laundering scandals, is also undisturbed by the reshuffling. Indeed, Sergei Roldugin, who was personally implicated in the "Panama papers" scandal, was even awarded a state honor (Moskovsky Komsomolets, September 22). Russia's high-technology sector, which has shown dismal results despite significant investment, has also seen no personal responsibility. Rather, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin keeps promising spectacular scientific achievements in the indefinite future (RIA Novosti, September 20). Russia's federal budget is experiencing a severe contraction, but no meaningful economic reforms are likely without a change of leadership in these key sectors (Gazeta.ru, September 30). Another feature of the on-going "changing of the guard" at the top is the steady gain of political power by the Federal Security Service (FSB), which initiated a series of decapitating attacks against its competitors in the Ministry of Interior and the Investigations Committee (Ezhednevny Zhurnal, September 27). Russian media outlets are even discussing purported plans to expand the authority of the FSB and give it back the old Soviet name Ministry of State Security (Kommersant, September 19). This leak is most likely deliberate misinformation, as it would hardly make much sense for the FSB to take over the SVR (as rumored), which has just received the ambitious former speaker of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin as its new director (Grani.ru, September 23). Putin would probably also not wish to hand control of the Federal Protective Service (FSO) to the FSB (another stated rumor), even though the bodyguard service's influential chief (since 2000), Yevgeny Murov, was sent into retirement last May. The FSO, and in particular its key department the Presidential Security Service (SBP), which has seen three new chiefs in as many years, has been the main source of cadre for Putin's appointments. This illustrates his recent tendency to promote subordinates way above their level of competence. As of yet, Viktor Zolotov, the former chief of the SBP, has not particularly distinguished himself as the head of the newly created National Guard; and bodyguards like Yevgeny Zinichev or Alexei Dyumin have so far been mediocre regional governors, despite enjoying favorable media coverage (Politcom.ru, September 30). The replacement of seasoned "heavy weight" Sergei Ivanov with a meek paper-pusher, Anton Vaino, at the top of the presidential administration might result in a sharp drop of power traditionally concentrated in this office (Moscow Echo, September 26). The departure of many familiar faces from Putin's entourage and the decline of several key institutions, from the Investigations Committee to the presidential administration, has raised the influence of several remaining veteran siloviki (security services and defense personnel), if only by default. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stands out in this regard with his track record as a political survivor. He was able to protect his current ministry and the Ministry of Emergencies, which he headed previously, from any purges (Moscow Echo, September 23). Shoigu's main problem, however, is the hugely overblown defense budget. He may have to exhaust a lot of his political capital in the struggle to protect rearmament projects against inevitable cuts (Kommersant, September 17). It is unclear-both for pundits and perhaps for Putin himself-to what degree he is in control of these cadre reshuffles and power redistribution schemes. Squabbles among feuding clans in the special services drive the politics of resource ownership in Russia. And as cash flows thin out, the clans, like the interior affairs department in the FSB, are increasingly disinclined to appeal to Putin as the supreme arbiter. At the same time, his new appointees understand perfectly well they are much more disposable than Putin's old "friends" who are fast becoming history; the demand for scapegoats in this situation of a deepening recession will thus continue to rise. They will, therefore, seek to monetize their uncertain positions of power as soon as possible, thus turning the struggle against corruption into a farce. The blend of greed and fear produces neither loyalty nor efficiency, leading to a deterioration in the quality of management in many key structures. Putin banished all contemplations about a possible successor, but his cadre experiments compel the few remaining old-timers and the many surprised over-achievers to nonetheless take it into account. - See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/younger-crowd-will-not-rejuvenate-putins-court/#sthash.k8gHqZGf.dpuf

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
India Alarmed by Implications of First Pakistani-Russian Joint Military Exercise

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author John C. K. Daly Publication Date 3 October 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 158 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, India Alarmed by Implications of First Pakistani-Russian Joint Military Exercise, 3 October 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 158, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b4394.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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On September 24, Russia and Pakistan began their first-ever joint military exercises, "Friendship 2016." Roughly 70 personnel from a mechanized infantry brigade based in Russia's Southern Military District are participating in the 16-day exercise along with 130 Pakistani troops. The two countries' Armed Forces are holding joint drills at the Army High Altitude School in Rattu, in northern Pakistan, and at a special forces training center in Cherat (Mil.ru, September 26). The extensive South Asian press coverage of the exercise dwarfs the modest size of the maneuvers. However, Pakistani, Indian, Russian and foreign analysts are all speculating on the larger implications of this new bilateral military collaboration. The military exercise is the first in the two countries' modern history. During the Cold War, Moscow and Islamabad were on opposite sides of this protracted conflict. And since the Soviet era and beyond, Russia's closest traditional ally in South Asia has historically been India, not Pakistan. This Russo-Indian alliance extends to the military sphere. From 2004 to 2014, Moscow has supplied 75 percent of India's foreign arms purchases (Voenno-Promyshlennyi Kurier, March 26). The two countries have also been involved in a number of joint arms manufacture projects, including the BrahMos missile. The BrahMos is a "fire and forget" stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It has been deployed in the Indian military since 2007 (PTI, May 27). An evident casualty of the Russian-Pakistani bilateral exercise was India's hope that Moscow would show solidarity with New Delhi in the wake of the September 18 militant attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir. Eighteen Indian military personnel died in this attack, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad (The Deccan Herald, September 27). Nevertheless, Pakistan's ambassador to Russia, Qazi Khalilullah, portrayed the exercise in a positive light, saying that the joint military drills indicated "a desire on both sides to broaden defense and military-technical cooperation" (The Express Tribune, September 23). In an obvious attempt to put the Russo-Pakistani Friendship 2016 drills in context and assuage Indian concerns, beginning on September 23 Russian troops held the "Indra 2016" joint anti-terrorism exercises with Indian military personnel. These were held at the Sergeevskii training ground, in eastern Siberia's Primorskii Territory (Nezavisimaia Gazeta, September 26). The same day the bilateral exercise with India began, the Russian foreign ministry's Deputy Director for Information and Press Iuri Matter said that Russia was not holding its exercise with Pakistan in "so-called Azad Kashmir" or in any other "sensitive or problematic areas like Gilgit and Baltistan." He added that Russia holds similar exercises with other countries in the region (Diplomaticheskaia Panorama, Interfax, September 26). Despite Moscow's attempts to soothe tempers on the South Asian subcontinent regarding the bilateral Russo-Pakistani exercise, diplomatic repercussions have already followed. Specifically, Indian officials confirmed they asked Moscow to make a choice between Pakistan and India (The Times of India, September 25). That said, for the foreseeable future Russian-Indian military collaboration is likely to continue, if for no other reason than the fact that a number of the weapons systems New Delhi is seeking are unavailable elsewhere. Last month, an Indian delegation visited Russia to discuss leasing a nuclear-powered attack submarine for the Indian Navy (Arms-expo.ru, September 14). Within that context, the bilateral military exercises may also be viewed as Russia seeking a toehold in the Pakistani armaments market. Indeed, Islamabad's relations with Washington over purchases of the F-16 fighter have been troubled, leading the Pakistani government to consider purchasing Russian Su-35 fighters instead (Nezavisimaia Gazeta, September 26). What is unknown at this stage is how Russia's foray into Pakistan will be seen in China, traditionally Pakistan's closest regional ally. China sees Pakistan, not rival India, as an integral component in its ambitious "One Belt, One Road" trans-continental transportation infrastructure program, announced last year. Beijing has already committed $46 billion to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a sum equivalent to roughly 20 percent of Pakistan's annual GDP (The Daily Pakistan, September 27). The centerpiece of the initiative is the planned development of Pakistan's Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea, which will help open up post-Soviet Central Asia. As such, this Pakistani port will be in direct competition with India's preferred project: improving Iran's Chabahar seaport, located 45 miles west of Gwadar (The Hindu, June 7, 2016; see EDM, December 4, 2015). Whether the joint Russian-Pakistani bilateral military exercise leads to a subsequent deepening of diplomatic, economic and military relations between Moscow and Islamabad remains to be seen. What is certain at this stage, however, is that India's concerns over its relations with Pakistan continue. Moreover, according to reports in the Indian media, in early September Chinese troops allegedly entered nearly 30 miles into Indian territory, in a remote area of Arunachal Pradesh (The Times of India, PTI, September 26). Illustrating the increasingly important role of Russian weaponry, the month before the incursion the Indian government ordered the deployment of BrahMos missiles along its frontier with China (PTI, August 3). In the wake of the Friendship 2016 exercise, Moscow can at the very least expect New Delhi to seek clarification on the relative importance to Russia of its relations with India, as opposed to Russia's newfound interest in military collaboration with India's archrival Pakistan. - See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/india-alarmed-implications-first-pakistani-russian-joint-military-exercise/#sthash.HhIQTPCh.dpuf

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Will Mirziyaev Initiate Long-Awaited Reforms in Uzbekistan?

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Umida Hashimova Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Will Mirziyaev Initiate Long-Awaited Reforms in Uzbekistan?, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b48c4.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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With Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev settling into Uzbekistan's top spot as interim head of state following the death of President Islam Karimov (see EDM, September 8), questions have been mounting about the new leader's background and what Mirziyaev-era Uzbekistan will look like. According to forecasts, he is almost certain to win the upcoming December presidential elections. But once in power, will Mirziyaev maintain the iron-fist policies pursued by the late Karimov, or will he bring about long-awaited reforms and finally address some of the country's chronic issues, ranging from inadequate utility services to fighting corruption? Analyzing Mirziyaev's first two weeks in office (September 8-24) as the interim president may help outline the emerging direction his leadership is headed. Immediately after taking over as Uzbekistan's interim president, most experts assumed Prime Minister Mirziyaev would follow the line drawn by Karimov. Indeed, in his first public address in his new role, Mirziyaev assured he would continue Karimov's policies (Kun.uz, September 9). Moreover, Rustam Azimov, the finance minister and so-called "second front-runner" for the leadership of Uzbekistan, called the prime minister the political son and heir of the late Karimov (BBC-Uzbek Service, September 14). And yet, the steps Mirziyaev has taken to restructure and reshuffle the ministries, as well as some of the laws he signed and decrees he made so far, indicate that the new leader may not fully agree with all of Karimov's political legacy. Mirziyaev seems to have his own vision for the government, apart from what he inherited (Gazeta.uz, September 14). A policy divergence was clear within the first days of Mirziyaev's interim presidency, when he undertook a reshuffling of government agencies and started filling them with individuals close to him. He spared some well-known government officials, such as Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov and National Security Service head Rustam Inoyatov, either because they are valuable members of his government or simply because he is not yet able to make a move against them. But he restored two officials to their previous positions: Abdulla Aripov returned as Minister of Youth, Culture and Information after having been demoted in 2012, and Samoydin Huseynov was again named governor of Bukhara province, a position he previously held for 15 years before being dismissed by Karimov in 2011. Both men were originally sacked for alleged corruption (Uzreport, September 14; Kun.uz, September 22). It is unclear whether their reinstatement by Mirziyaev was meant to imply a restoration of justice to those individuals, or whether the interim president was simply bringing in people he believes would be loyal to him. Another noteworthy point is that from the outset, Mirziyaev has been focusing on domestic issues-an area of policy he is most intimately familiar with, since this was what he worked on all of his professional life under Karimov. He has instead largely left Uzbekistan's international relations to Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, who represented Uzbekistan at the recent Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) heads of states summit (September 16-17) as well as at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, which opened on September 13 (Uzreport, September 17; Kun.uz, September 19). Meanwhile Mirziyaev was able to focus on domestic matters by visiting several regions of Uzbekistan. Specifically, he signed various decrees on developing domestic infrastructure (new metro stations and a road in Tashkent), on a roadmap to develop the Tashkent region (a long-neglected part of the country), and on a cadre reshuffle within government-owned companies (Kun.uz, September 20; Uzreport, September 20; Kun.uz, September 23). According to the six priorities outlined by Mirziyaev, his administration will mainly focus on economic issues (Kun.uz, September 9). Those priorities include macroeconomic stability encompassing national currency stabilization, a strong banking system, a reduction in external borrowing, an increase in exports, support for small- and medium-sized businesses, job creation, as well as international communication and road infrastructure. Indeed, during the first two weeks of Mirziyaev's time in office, a special agreement was signed to revamp trade with Kazakhstan after a special delegation from Astana, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Asqar Mamin, held meetings with the interim Uzbekistani president (Kun.uz, September 23). Mirziyaev also issued a decree to reduce (from 50 percent to 25 percent) the requirement to sell foreign currency earned from the export of agricultural products (BBC-Uzbek Service, September 20). The changes initiated by Mirziyaev in September are beginning to address several issues long neglected by Karimov. But the underlying question is whether any major long-awaited reforms will follow. Will the new members of Mirziyaev's team emerge as champions of reform, or were they put in place simply to ensure loyalty to him? At the end of his second week in office, Mirziyaev launched a "virtual reception"-a page on his government website where regular Uzbekistanis can submit online complaints and suggestions. This is an indisputably modern and, at the same time, bold move-particularly given how little interest the late Karimov publicly showed in the real domestic situation of the country (BBC-Uzbek Service, September 8, 27). Due to Karimov's insulated and inward-looking governing style, after 25 years of independence Uzbekistan has become a country in which top officials and ordinary people rarely interact. It now remains to be seen whether Mirziyaev's "virtual reception" can be a first step toward mending and restoring communication between the people and their government in order to appropriately address Uzbekistan's biggest problems. Any transition period usually raises more questions than answers, and in a politically closed country like Uzbekistan compelling answers are in even shorter supply. Two weeks in office is a short period on which to base, with any certainty, predictions for where Uzbekistan is headed. But clearly, no two leaders rule their country in exactly the same way. Mirziyaev's policies could certainly be designed to maintain the political balance put in place by the late Karimov. Yet, some of his preliminary actions point to cautious attempts at economic reforms and perhaps even a new direction for the country. The question is whether or not he will be willing to keep this momentum going. - See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/will-mirziyaev-initiate-long-awaited-reforms-uzbekistan/#sthash.0PB1fzpQ.dpuf

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Georgia Reaches Out for the Ethnic Vote

Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Saddam Aliyev & Edita Badasyan Publication Date 2 October 2016 Citation / Document Symbol CRS 826 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Georgia Reaches Out for the Ethnic Vote, 2 October 2016, CRS 826, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3bc514.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

On the eve of Georgias October 8 parliamentary elections, political parties have been courting the rural minority vote more than ever before.

Although ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia have traditionally cast their votes for the ruling party of the day, experts say this is likely to be different this time.

According to the 2014 census, 233,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis and 168,100 Armenians live in Georgia, around 14 per cent of the total population. Most live in the Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli and Kakheti regions in the south and east of the country.

While Armenians and Azerbaijanis living in Tbilisi and other large cities tend to be fairly well integrated, this is not the case with the minorities in the countryside.

"Before the majority voted for the party in power," said Giorgi Sordia, director of the Tbilisi-based NGO Centre for Research of Ethnicity and Multiculturalism. "This was because of the undeveloped political culture. The party that was in power was associated by them with the state and this is how they expressed their loyalty to the state."

This tradition began to change after the opposition won the 2012 parliamentary elections.

Sordia said he had noticed a greater sense of activity when recently visiting ethnic minority communities the regions of Kvemo Kartli, Adjara, Kakheti and Samtskhe-Javakheti.

"They have an interest in participating in the elections because there are expectations for change," he said.

"Now, the authorities of the ruling party will no longer receive 90 per cent support of the ethnic minorities," Sordia said.

Local teachers and officials have traditionally held enormous authority in village communities, particularly among Azerbaijanis. When they told people who to vote for, villagers listen and do as they are told.

Since 2014, the younger generation has become more aware of their rights and more assertive.

"We can say that we were forced to vote for the ruling party in the past, but after the last elections, everything has changed and the people have woken up," said Senan Kurbano, a student from the village of Talavera in the Bolnisi district.

"Everything changed after the last elections thanks to the activity of the main parties - the United National Movement and the Georgian Dream coalition - as voters, officials and teachers started to have conflicts of interests and began to support different parties," Kurbano explained.

"I will vote, but certainly not for the older candidates," added Nina, 32, from Akhalkalaki. "Honestly, I am tired of seeing all the same faces in the same places. If we choose the old candidates, then nothing will change here.

"We are tired of the clan system, which also supports the Georgian authorities," she continued. "We need an innovator, because we need change."

There are 42 political parties taking part in the election. Of these, 25 will compete separately and the remaining 17 are distributed into six blocs.

Georgia has a unicameral parliament with 150 seats, of which 77 are filled by proportional representation. The other 73 are elected using a first-past-the-post system. Lawmakers serve a four-year term.

The country is divided into 73 districts, each of which elects a member of parliament by direct voting. A further 77 lawmakers are voted in via proportional party lists.

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), ethnic minorities make up the majorities in 12 of the countrys 73 districts.

The population in these areas is either predominantly Armenian or Azeri or mixed with Georgian.

A CEC representative, Sophia Sichinava, told journalists and NGOs on September 19 that the CEC had prepared ethnic minority representatives as potential members of the precinct election commissions.

One of the most acute problems among ethnic minority voters is their lack of knowledge of Georgian, the state language.

Thus Armenian and Azeri-speakers have been employed In the CECs information centre so that voters can receive the material they need in their own language. Information and video materials appear translated into Armenian and Azeri on the CECs website.

According to the CEC, there are 207 Georgian-Azerbaijani precinct election commissions, 133 Georgian-Armenian precinct election commissions and four Georgian-Armenian-Azerbaijani precinct election commissions.

HOPES OF SUCCESS

Rima Gharibyan is a representative of the Open Borders NGO in the town of Akhalkalaki in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.

She said that not only had candidates from various opposition parties come to the region and to fight for the ethnic minority vote, two local people had been nominated by local initiative groups as candidates. Such a move was unprecedented.

The opposition parties had hope of success in the regions, whereas four years ago when the last parliamentary polls were held they did not, Gharibyan continued.

"Today, in contrast to previous parliamentary elections, people are interested and they go and meet with opposition candidates. In the past, only journalists went to the [meetings with] opposition candidates," she said.

The current parliament has three ethnic Armenian deputies - Ruslan Poghosyan and Henzel Mkoyan from Georgian Dream and Samvel Petrosyan, an independent. Another three deputies are ethnic Azerbaijanis - Mahir Darziev and Ali Mamedov of the Georgian Dream coalition and Azer Suleymanov of the United National Movement.

Some members of ethnic minorities are running on party lists in the upcoming election.

Of the more than 850 candidates competing for the 73 mandates, 12 are ethnic Armenians and 22 Azerbaijanis. Among the candidates in the proportional vote are six Armenians and six Azerbaijanis.

However, lawmakers from ethnic minorities have a reputation for being inactive and failing to promoting special community interests.

Many locals complain that the authorities pay no attention to those living in the countryside and where little ever changes. There are few opportunities for young people and a lack of cinemas, theatres and cultural centres.

People in these areas also worry about poor roads, problems with water and gas supply as well as healthcare.

Although the ethnic vote is likely to be mobilised, it will take time to overcome these perceptions.

Pavel lives in Ninotsminda, a district centre in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti where many Armenians live.

The town is in full election mode, with party political posters hung in the streets and slogans daubed on walls.

Pavel said he will definitely vote although he is sceptical about the results.

"Since we are a small city and region, everyone knows each other. I have heard that those who want to be in the opposition or want to give them their voice have been warned that there will be problems later," he said.

"But opposition parties are generally passive," Pavel added. "The residents have no information about them, who they are, what their programme is. Honestly, we do not believe in fundamental and real changes."

Saddam Aliyev and Edita Badasyan are IWPR trained journalists in Georgia.

Copyright notice:  Institute for War & Peace Reporting
The "miracle babies" preacher tying British regulators in knots

Publisher IRIN Author Emma Supple & Ben Parker Publication Date 3 October 2016 Cite as IRIN, The "miracle babies" preacher tying British regulators in knots, 3 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3bd6d4.html [accessed 31 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

When "Mrs. E" found herself unable to conceive, desperate, she approached a member of her congregation. She had recently joined a church in the UK headed by Kenyan preacher Gilbert Deya.

Mrs. E, who was granted anonymity by British courts, was taken under the wing of Deya's wife Mary, and, after a number of counselling sessions, she travelled to Kenya for a second opinion. In October 2003, she returned to the UK with a child.

Mrs. E said she believed the child was a "miracle baby", but in November 2004 a judge in London found otherwise: he said the role of the Deyas was not miraculous, but "simple". The child, known only as "C", had no biological connection to Mrs. E. In the process of being convinced of a miraculous birth, the court heard that Mrs. E had been physically assaulted and money had changed hands. "C" was taken into the care of British social services as a victim of suspected child-trafficking.

While Mrs. E may have been guilty of naivety and wishful thinking, the Deyas' motive was, the judge told the court, "one of the most base of human avarices: financial greed".

Mrs. E's story lies at the heart of the troubling saga surrounding Gilbert Deya Ministries and its flamboyant and outspoken leader  one that appears to have tied British charity regulators, the Kenyan police, and the international justice system in knots for more than a decade.

During a month-long investigation in London and Nairobi, IRIN interviewed UK charity regulators and representatives of the victims, obtained land registries and legal documents, and trawled through public records, social media posts, and news reports. Here's what we uncovered:

At a glance

Despite a series of red flags, the UK Charity Commission has still not shut Gilbert Deya Ministries down

Deya's charity continues to flourish and recently sold London property worth 3.8 million

It spent no money on "charitable activities" last year; its books described as "a cocktail of bad accounting"

Attempts to extradite Deya to Kenya on child-trafficking charges have stalled

12 alleged child victims in Kenya stuck in care and legal limbo for more than a decade

When questioned, Deya called IRIN's reporter an "evil Satanist"

The preacher

Deya is a 63-year-old, Bentley-driving preacher. The self-styled "Archbishop", who claims to perform healing miracles at his services across the UK, has raised millions in donations and tax breaks since his charity opened in 1997. The charitable status of his church has already been investigated twice, and he has been fighting extradition to Kenya for years.

Allegations against Deya initially surfaced in the Kenyan media in 2004 and he has been wanted by Kenyan authorities since his arrest in the UK in 2006 to face allegations of child-trafficking. Police in Kenya allege that Deya's "miracle babies" are part of an international baby-snatching ring, connected to disappearances from hospitals in Nairobi.

A timeline of Gilbert Deya Ministries

Deya's wife has been in and out of court and prison in Kenya on child-trafficking charges. Mary Deya was initially arrested in 2005. In 2007, she was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing a child and one year for obtaining a false birth certificate. She was convicted in a second case in 2011. In 2014, Kenya's high court upheld her conviction, and, finally, in 2015, Mary Deya dropped a further appeal and continued to serve her time.

Gilbert Deya Ministries describes itself as a Christian charity that aims to spread the word of God. Its website, which presents Deya as a visionary ordained by God, refutes the "negative publicity" surrounding Deya's "miracles" stating: "the truth remains he has never [been] found guilty by the court of law in the UK".

In his 2003 book "Curses of Sexual Sins", Deya declares AIDS a curse, calls homosexuality an "abomination", suggests infertility may be caused by "generation curses", and tells the reader he can help them with "miracle babies".

When IRIN approached Deya and asked him about the allegations against him, we were told to never call the number again with such "negative foolishness".

"Can you just write that Bishop Deya said he doesn't talk with those people that are idiots; evil Satanist people like you," he told IRIN's reporter.

The missing babies

Kenyan police allege that several children were sold to Deya by women living in slums in Nairobi. According to Radik Malinskow, who works for child-trafficking charity HAART in Kenya, poverty has a large part to play.

"Some of those woman have several children to feed and often they find it difficult to accommodate a new child," he told IRIN. "The poverty in the slums is very high. Women find it very difficult to cope with the lack of economical resources and some of them have to survive on one or two dollars a day."

IRIN's investigation found that the 12 child victims of the alleged trafficking in Kenya cannot be adopted or moved out of their care homes until Deya is successfully extradited, and his case heard, according to Kenyan law. As such, the inability of British and Kenyan law enforcement to move forward in Deya's case has left the children in limbo for more than a decade.

"When they were brought here, they were between the ages of six months and two and half years. That was back in 2004," an employee at The Nest, the children's home in Nairobi, told IRIN on condition of anonymity.

Although the children have been in safe custody and attended good schools, many of them have now surpassed the age where they might be adopted. "Their birth certificate reads Gilbert Deya as a parent," the employee told IRIN.

Kenya has been on the US Department of State's watchlist for the last five years for failing to make sufficient efforts to tackle its child-trafficking problem. In 2010, the country introduced a Counter Trafficking Act, which brought in stiff penalties including life sentences for culprits. However, Malinskow said that a lack of implementation means perpetrators still believe they can get away with it.

"If you are trafficking drugs, there is a high chance you will be arrested and jailed for a long time," he said. "If you are trafficking people, there is a good chance you will walk away with a small fine."

Creative accounting

Despite the controversy surrounding the child-trafficking allegations and Deya's possible extradition, his ministries have raised more than 10 million ($12.98 million) in the UK over the past decade, some of it public money from British charity Gift Aid tax breaks.

Gilbert Deya Ministries, which is based in London, has a number of churches across the UK, as well as a branch in Belgium. Publications by Deya and his church say there are also branches in India, Zimbabwe, and the United States. Deya has published books, maintains an extensive social media presence, and at one point ran a TV channel carried by Sky. Billboards for his tour in August this year in Manchester, UK, promised "unusual miracles".

In 2014, Deya's ministries had an annual income of more than 864,000 (some $1.4 million at the time). About 90 percent of this came from donations. An analysis of the ministries' accounts on the Charity Commission website reveals "a cocktail of bad accounting", according to Joe Saxton from nfpSynergy, a consultancy firm for charities. Typically, 70 percent of a charity's spending is on "charitable activities", and about one or two percent on governance costs. But, according to Gilbert Deya Ministry's own accounts, it spent nothing on "charitable activities", and its governance costs for 2014 were around 30 percent of its income.

"An awful lot of questions have come out of the accounts," said Saxton. "There are strange patterns of expenditure like writing off bad debts, and things that I can't think of a logical explanation for."

Regulatory failings

The England and Wales Charity Commission came under scrutiny in 2013 when a damning report by the National Audit Office found that the regulator failed to "identify and tackle abuse of charitable status." According to the report, even taking into account the limited resources that the commission has, it was still failing to carry out substantive regulatory work. The harsh review led to the commission vowing publicly, in 2015, to take "robust and decisive action where necessary, making better use of data and being bold in its use of statutory powers".

British charity regulators are already on the defensive after a series of recent scandals. These include a high-profile case involving Kids Company, a charity that was given millions of pounds of public money from successive governments despite years of allegations of inappropriate "therapies", lavish spending, and serious abuses of power. And the Scottish Charity Commission recently came under fire when a Sunday Post investigation revealed that trustees of Skotia Aid, a charity set up to help needy children in Sierra Leone, had for years used a business rates loophole to line their pockets whilst giving almost nothing to the children they were set up to help.

The Charity Commission launched two previous investigations into Gilbert Deya Ministries, in 2000 and 2004, but never shut it down.

In an email to IRIN, the Charity Commission confirmed that the 2004 investigation followed media interest in relation to the allegations of child trafficking. When IRIN asked for a record of the previous probes, we were told that the 2004 investigation was never made public as it may "cause severe prejudice to the charity" and was deemed "not to be in the public interest".

The Charity Commission closed its 2004 enquiry in September 2006 after it was satisfied that Gilbert Deya Ministries had made significant improvements. "The trustees took steps to review and improve the charity's financial systems and governance, ensure that charity funds are properly applied, file outstanding audited accounts and protect the charity's reputation," the charity commission told IRIN.

But following the investigation, accounts on the Charity Commission's website reveal that Gilbert Deya Ministries was late filing its accounts two years in a row. For 2012, the charity provided the regulator with its accounts 453 days late. The previous year, the accounts were 152 days late. Alongside this, the "charitable activities" expenditure, compared to its governance and legal costs, has dropped significantly. Its most recent accounts, in 2014, declare that it spent 0 on "charitable activities" in that year.

In August, the Charity Commission announced the latest investigation into Deya's operations, referring to issues related to "safeguarding"  a term used in connection with protection of children  whilst also raising concerns over the charity "selling olive oil to which it attributed healing qualities". It also said the trustees "have failed to report serious incidents to the commission and to provide adequate responses to the questions raised". Deya remains one of six trustees of the charity in the UK.

According to The Charities Act, the commission can remove charity status if it no longer considers an organisation a charity, or if a charity has ceased to operate.

Still in business

Whilst the controversy surrounding Gilbert Deya Ministries persists, the charity continues to grow. Official land documents obtained by IRIN reveal that the charity made more than 3.8 million ($4.95 million) from the recent sale of its property in Peckham, London. It has since moved its headquarters to a Greater London suburb, Sutton. Posts on the Gilbert Deya Ministries Facebook page claim that the charity also purchased 3.54 hectares of land in Sutton, on which Deya says he aims to build a hotel and a petrol station.

Meanwhile, attempts to extradite Deya to Kenya to face child-trafficking charges appear to have stalled. The Kenyan authorities requested his extradition in 2007. Deya appealed, stating that the extradition would breach his human rights and suggesting that his connection to Raila Odinga, the previous prime minister of Kenya, meant he could face torture back in his native country. Although he lost the appeal, the Home Office has never followed through with the extradition. In 2014, Kenyan media reported that one sticking point was that the UK had requested that Deya be held in one of two higher-standard prison facilities.

The most recent development came in early 2016, when the UK Home Office told Deya's local MP that it was "considering further representations from Mr. Deya" claiming that his extradition would breach the European Convention on Human Rights.

"I have been pressing Home Office ministers to take action on this truly dreadful case for many years," the MP in question, David Lammy, a member of the opposition Labour Party, told IRIN.

"Clearly there needs to be a review of how this despicable child trafficker and fraudster has been able to run rings around judicial and regulatory systems for so many years," he said. "We should never forget that Gilbert Deya's victims are innocent children who will have to live with his actions for the rest of their lives."

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Yusuf in Nairobi)
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Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Title West and South Kordofan COI Query Response: (1) Inter-communal violence in West Kordofan, (2) Impact on the civilian population: humanitarian situation and internal displacement in West Kordofan (3) Cattle-raiding in West and South Kordofan (4) The ability of the State authorities to prevent and protect victims or would-be victims in West and South Kordofan

Publication Date 20 September 2016

Country Sudan

Cite as Asylum Research Centre (ARC), West and South Kordofan COI Query Response: (1) Inter-communal violence in West Kordofan, (2) Impact on the civilian population: humanitarian situation and internal displacement in West Kordofan (3) Cattle-raiding in West and South Kordofan (4) The ability of the State authorities to prevent and protect victims or would-be victims in West and South Kordofan, 20 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3c8494.html [accessed 31 October 2022]
Michel Porro | Getty Images. Jim Cramer explains the relationship between Apple and the Federal Reserve, and why it could benefit from a rate hike.

There's no guaranteeing that following the curriculum of the CEO of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will make you the next CEO of Apple , but it also couldn't hurt.

For Tim Cook , the most important classes he took in school included wildly different subject matters.

Early on, math was the most important piece of his education, Cook said in an appearance at the Utah Tech Tour on Friday. Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch moderated a conversation with Cook, which included questions from the audience.

Cook attended college at Auburn University, located in Auburn, Alabama, and studied math and engineering to pursue his goal of becoming an engineer.

But after years of these technical classes, Cook decided that engineering courses weren't enough.

"There were so many things that should be considered in most complex problems that you needed the view of strategy and of society and what society's main issues were so that the engineering would be applied to things that it should be applied to," said Cook.

Cook applied to Duke University for business school. While there he took an ethics class that he says profoundly impacted him.

As he embarked on his career, and in particular as he began work at Apple in the late 1990s, Cook realized that the most sophisticated developments have equal parts technical and human elements.

"For Apple, we believe strongly that the most important things in life stand at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts," Cook said. "It's the intersection of those things that you can do really profound things for people that really enriches their lives. And so I think, for me at least, it was important to have a broad view of both."

Since finishing his formal schooling , Cook said he continues educating himself and particularly values learning about art and music.







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Havre, MT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/04/2016 --Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC, a licensed family counseling firm based in Havre, announced it has partnered with BizIQ, a digital marketing company based in Phoenix, Arizona that works with owners of small businesses across North America.



In this new collaboration, Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC will focus on improving its web presence and continuing to build up its customer base throughout Montana. BizIQ employs a strategy focused mostly on search engine optimization, helping customers more easily find companies like Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC when using Google to search for local businesses. Additionally, BizIQ has created a new website for the family counseling firm, with a new marketing campaign that includes two blog posts per month and a number of other initiatives to encourage stronger connections between the practice and its clients.



The new website developed by BizIQ for Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC emphasizes the creation of relevant, informative content related to the firm's services. All of the new content on the website is written by professional copywriters. The site also provides multiple channels through which potential clients can reach out and learn more about family counseling in Montana.



"For the past decade, I've been working hard to establish good professional relationships with people throughout Montana," said Ellen Savage of Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC. "With more people than ever using the Internet to find businesses and family practices like mine, it was important to take appropriate measures to improve my web presence. I'm grateful for the skilled assistance BizIQ has provided so far, and look forward to seeing the results!"



About Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC

Founded in 2006, Ellen Savage, MS, LCPC, DCC is a licensed clinical professional counseling service featuring the work of Ellen Savage, a professional qualified to provide a wide variety of services for individuals, families and other groups.



For more information, visit http://www.ellensavage.com/.



To learn more about BizIQ and its expertise regarding local search engine optimization, or to view its extensive list of service options, please visit http://www.ebiziq.com/.
Bowen Island, BC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/04/2016 --Without access to a healthy climate, children will be bereft of their fundamental rights to life. A perfect storm is brewing due to this happening at a time when the screen generation is being raised with less meaningful contact with nature.



Right now, the future stewards of the environment are growing in a world of change and distraction. As they play endless games on their screens, the world's forests are disappearing, temperatures and sea levels are on the rise, and more extreme weather is in the forecast. Ten of millions of lives and the lives of generations to come are sure to be impacted as they are set-up to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of climate change.



The ChariTree Foundation on Earth was founded ten years ago; it was founded by Andrea Koehle Jones. She explained, "ChariTree grew out of my wish to help children and the world."



There is so much uncertainty in the world, so instead of waiting around for leaders to agree on appropriate solutions, Koehle Jones was inspired to act to create a program to encourage kids back outside to be part of the solution.



Koehle Jones thinks one of the best ways to teach environmental education is to give kids a tree of their own to plant. She said: "It's about learning to care for something beyond yourself while learning about self-sufficiency, reforestation, trees as future food sources and so much more."



When children receive a Wish Tree through their school, camp or other children's organizations, they get to plant it and make a wish for the world. Every time they return to visit or care for their tree they can make more wishes - for anything! They can write their wishes on 100% recycled paper and tie them to their tree or simply say their wish by their tree.



Here are just a few of those wishes.



Aidan, Hamilton, Canada says:

"I wish I had super powers to save the earth and save people."



Lisa, Copenhagen, Denmark says:

"I wish more people would plant trees."



Courtney, Camden, the USA says:

"I wish that this tree will grow to be strong."



Debbie, Calgary, Canada says:

"My wish for the planet would be to bring more natural beauty to all the cities. I wish for our empty boulevards to be planted with evergreens, and remind us that with more nature that our world will be a much better place."



Shannon, West Bolton, Canada says:

"I wish everyone would deeply understand that trees are the lungs of the earth, and we all breathe together"



Wilfred, Kenya says:

I wish that these seedlings will grow to transform society and the world at large and make it a better place to live.



"I am so proud of every child that has planted a tree in the last ten years," said Koehle Jones. "These kids are going to be changemakers," she continued.



"Helping a child plant a tree might seem like a small thing but imagine if all children were given an opportunity to plant a tree," said Koehle Jones. "What if children in Syria or Somalia or Canada - anywhere were given this opportunity? The benefits would directly impact those children and children everywhere."



The ChariTree Foundation strives to give as many children as possible a tree of their own. It's about supporting environmental education programs for children by giving kids a tree to plant at their home, camp or school that is native to their region ~ and an opportunity to connect with nature and contribute positively to the world.



So far, more than 100,000 children have received trees, and Koehle Jones hopes to give millions of children trees in the future.



"Without healthy trees and forests, the earth cannot sustain life. There's something so hopeful about planting trees," said Jones. "I'll never forget the children we planted trees with in Africa and I'll never stop trying to bring more children trees."



Andrea runs the charity from a tiny office on an island off the coast of Vancouver. She volunteers her time and works with a small group of volunteers devoting 100 percent of donations to running ChariTree's children's tree projects.



"I am so grateful to all the volunteers, and donors who have helped The ChariTree Foundation grow over the last ten years," said Koehle Jones.



She hopes more and more people will hear about The ChariTree Foundation and will donate to support the project. "We plant trees based on the amount of funding we bring in through donations and requests for trees from children's organizations.



To learn more about the ChariTree Foundation and to offer support, please visit www.charitree-foundation.org



About The ChariTree Foundation

The ChariTree foundation was set up by Koehle Jones. It has the aim to make the world a better place for children and generations of children to come.
Shania Twain coming to Indianapolis on first tour in nearly five years
A judge in federal court in Abilene last week entered a final judgment against three men in a fraudulent oil and gas investment program.

Judge Sam R. Cummings found that Paul R. Downey of Naples, Florida, and his son Jeffry P. Downey of Abilene misrepresented their company, Quest Energy Management Group Inc. of Albany, to raise $4.9 million from 17 investors.

Furthermore, John M. Leonard of Naples and Chicago made $406,000 in commissions while working as an unregistered broker soliciting investors for Quest.

Cummings ordered the Downeys to give up the $4.9 million plus $1.1 million in interest. In addition, each was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $178,156, and each was barred from serving as officers or directors of any company that reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The court ordered Leonard to give up commissions, plus $89,063 in interest and pay a $178,156 civil penalty.

In its civil lawsuit filed against the Downeys and Leonard, the SEC said that between January 2010 and May 2011, the Downeys used Quest to fraudulently offer preferred Quest stock and limited partnership units in an entity called Permian Advanced Oil Recovery Investment Fund I, LP. The lawsuit stated the Downeys misled investors about the financial viability and health of Quest and the debt and projected petroleum production of oil and gas leases.

Paul Downey founded Quest in 2005, was its chief executive officer, sole shareholder and one of two directors. Jeffry Downey was the other director, its president and chief operating officer.

In July, Cummings issued a summary judgment against the three men. The final judgment was handed down Thursday.
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By Staff Report

Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas Board will present a $20,000 Workforce Investment Fund grant Tuesday to Abilene Funeral Home.

The fund was created by the local Workforce Solutions board to support small business with fewer than 100 employees by providing funds for customized training, upgrading skills of current employees, developing new training programs, creating new high-skill or high-wage jobs, or retraining employees for new or emerging occupations, according to a news release from the board.

The funeral home will train an additional licensed funeral director/embalmer. A current employee will begin an apprenticeship training program under the current licensed funeral director. Training is to include 2,000 hours under the direction of a licensed funeral home director and 72 hours of classroom instruction.

The Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas board is one of 28 in the state. It is charged with oversight and policy-making responsibility for workforce and training programs in a 19-county region.
Incident reports released Monday by the Abilene Police Department:

Assault, 1100 block of North Mockingbird Lane, Sunday

A man was arrested after he allegedly scratched and punched his girlfriend in the face, causing visible injuries. A witness to the event provided police with a story, as well, police said.

Driving while intoxicated, 5100 block of Lamesa Avenue, Monday

A man was arrested after driving his vehicle into a house. Police said the man appeared intoxicated upon their arrival and he failed field sobriety tests.

Criminal mischief, 400 block of Pecan Street, Sunday

A woman told police her neighbor tore down her fence separating their property, causing $400 damage. She said the neighbor did not have permission to do so.

Assault, 1200 block of Yeomans Road, Sunday

A woman reported a man shot her in the leg with a BB gun, causing redness.
Students attending the college fair at the Abilene Civic Center on Monday may have been surprised at the number of institutions represented. Many ended up speaking to representatives of colleges they had never even heard of.

That shouldn't be too surprising. Besides the local and area colleges, others represented included George Mason, Schreiner, Colorado Christian, Our Lady of the Lake, Austin College (located in Sherman), University of New Mexico and Southwestern Assemblies of God.

Amanda Wiskow, college advisor with Abilene Education Foundation, said more than 60 schools had signed up to be represented. A few tables were still vacant when the event began. Wiskow said one representative had a flight delay and would probably show up after the event began.

A national organization puts together a schedule of similar events each year, she said.

'We get put on the schedule. This is their busy season; we're a stop along the way,' Wiskow said. 'For some of (the recruiters), this is their third stop today.'

In past years, between 600 and 800 students, many accompanied by parents, have attended the event. LaQuiera Gantt, also a college advisor with AEF, said they were expecting close to 800 students Monday.

'One of the great things about this, it allows students to have a one-stop shop to visit with schools across the nation,' she said. 'A lot of our students don't have the opportunity to visit 50 schools.'

Kendrick James, a Cooper High School senior, saw the potential of the event to help himself and fellow seniors.

'It helps them start,' he said. 'A bunch don't start looking at schools until it's too late, so it helps them get started.'

James said he didn't 'have a clue' what he would do after his senior year. At the other end of the spectrum was Nicholas Speer, a student at ATEMS, who was pretty set on TCU, 'where my sisters went.'

He has plans to major in biology before getting into DNA testing and genetic modifications. But he saw the advantages of the event.

'Some kids probably wouldn't even think about all these colleges; they'd just think of one or two,' he said.

Hailee Fikes of Wylie High School saw the advantages as well. Still a junior, she was looking ahead.

'It gives a bunch of seniors and juniors an idea what they want to do in life and how to achieve that. It's a good experience,' she said.

Miguel Olivo, an Abilene High senior, went in looking at two schools. He came out with five in mind.

Speaking of Texas State, new to his list, the prospective business major said, 'I didn't expect a lot from them, but it sounded interesting.'

Noemi Salinas attended with her high school junior daughter Celeste Sanchez and found plenty to ponder.

'It's a lot of good information. Kids get a lot of feedback,' Salinas said. 'For me, it's financial aid, what all they can help with.'

Added Sanchez: 'There was a lot of colleges I didn't know about.'

New this year was a table set up specifically to answer questions about financial aid. Bridget Moore, director of financial aid at Hardin-Simmons University, said a general presentation was made in the past. She believes the new format may be more helpful.

Questions ranged from applying for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which began Saturday for the 2017-18 school year, to more general questions about where to search for scholarships, how to apply and what financial information must be provided on an application.
Global Samaritan Resources is accepting monetary donations for Haiti hurricane relief.

Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm, made landfall Tuesday morning in Haiti with 145 mph winds.

According to a news release from Global Samaritan, 100 percent of funds collected will go to help in Haiti. Global Samaritan works with LiveBeyond, in Thomazeau, Haiti. LiveBeyond is on the ground in Haiti providing health care and safe water solutions.

Global Samaritan will send SaveStraw mini-water purifiers and, if needed, large shipments of fortified dehydrated food to help after the storm.

Donations may be sent to Global Samaritan, P.O. Box 3431, Abilene TX 79604.
TYE  Property owners made it clear they wanted their concerns to be heard in the Dyess Air Force Base Joint Land Use Study during a workshop Monday night at the Tye Community Center.

The workshop is the first of three that will help draft proposals to the Abilene City Council.

'The burden is going to be put on property owners,' said Randahl Lohse, when the workshop was opened to comments from the audience.

Lohse said a JLUS in 2008-09 originally left property owners unable to control their land until he and others were able to convince the Abilene City Council to put a moratorium on the JLUS until a suitable compromise could be reached.

'We can live and function on our land with those regulations,' said Tom LeVieux, an Air Force veteran who will serve on the Policy Committee for the JLUS as a representative from Tye. 'But now we're going to have to fight for those changes all over again.'

Lohse said the original JLUS in 2009 left property owners unable to make improvements on their land.

'We couldn't build a house on our land even if it burned down,' he said. 'I understand about subdivisions and hotels. Tye doesn't have the infrastructure to do that.'

Celeste Werner, the program manager for Matrix Design Group, the Colorado Springs-based company doing the study, assured Lohse and others that the study would seek their input.

'These are valid concerns,' she said of the comments she received from the audience. 'I would ask you to be part of the process.'

She said her company had already interviewed 40 property owners about their concerns.

Lohse said he didn't want his criticisms to be taken as complaints about Dyess or Abilene.

'I'm not anti-Dyess or anti-Abilene,' he said.

The JLUS looks at 25 compatibility factors ranging from air quality to water quality and including anti-terrorism, noise and infrastructure. The purpose of the first workshop was to inform the public about the study and to solicit comments.

Werner said two committees, the Policy Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee, would work together to make the proposals, and the study area would be the seven miles from the runway. The concerns from the audience notwithstanding, Werner said the almost universal response from people in Abilene about Dyess was positive.

'One thing we found was that, 'We love Dyess Air Force Base,' but they did have concerns,' she said.

Col. Mike Miller of Dyess praised Abilene and Tye for their support of the base.

'I'm here to tell you that there's not another installation that has a relationship with a community like Dyess has with Abilene and Tye and the surrounding communities,' said Miller during a presentation about the Dyess mission. 'I can't tell you what an honor it is to serve here, but more, what an honor it is to serve in this community.'
AUSTIN  In light of several high-profile incidents where confrontations between police and members of the public escalate to the point of violence, a key lawmaker plans to offer legislation requiring high school students to pass a course on how to interact with law enforcement officers.

'We must all come together to develop the best strategies to improve relations and trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,' said state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

Whitmire's committee will hold a hearing on the proposal in the Capitol on Tuesday and will take testimony from members of law enforcement and from community activists. His bill is still in the drafting stages but is expected to be introduced near the time lawmakers return to Austin in January.

Police confrontations have taken on an added dimension in recent years because many are captured on cellphone video and posted online. Some, like the June 2015 incident involving an officer in a Dallas suburb pushing an African-American teenage girl to the ground during a pool party, have taken on racial connotations.

Whitmire's bill would apply to all students in public high schools regardless of race. Scott Leeton, a Corpus Christi police officer and head of the local police association, said any such course should emphasize the need for compliance on the part of someone stopped by an officer.

'Keep in mind that when an officer stops someone, he has a reason,' Leeton said. 'It might not always be apparent to the person who's stopped, but it's best to listen to the officer and to follow his directions. That makes everything much more safe.'

But Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney who is president of the Texas NAACP, said there is a high level of police mistrust by many members of the African-American community, regardless of their age. He cited as an example the 2014 incident in Ferguson, Missouri, that sparked national outrage when a police officer shot and killed a teenage shoplifting suspect.

For many African-Americans, there's an assumption that the same thing could happen to them, he said.

'I have had a gun pulled on me (by a police officer) when I was 10 years old,' said Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney, recalling an incident where he was wrongly suspected of stealing a car. 'I think this would be a good start.'

Bledsoe said the NAACP for several years has worked to train parents and others about how to respond to interactions with police. Like Leeton, Bledsoe said the goal should be compliance rather than confrontation.

He referred to a two-page guide called 'The 411 on the Five-O' for dealing with police that includes a list of do's and don'ts. For instance:

Do stay calm and keep your emotions from getting the best of you. Be courteous even if the police officer is not. You will only give the officer more ammunition against you if you begin yelling, arguing or refusing reasonable directives.

Do carry identification at all times and be prepared to produce it. Do keep your hands where the police officer can see them.

Don't run.

Don't touch the police officer.

Don't make any statements about the incident without first having spoken to an attorney.

But Bledsoe also expressed concern that Whitmire's proposal would leave it to the Texas Education Agency to draft the curriculum for the training course. He said that the process for developing a course would need to include contributions from the diverse segments of the state.

He also said any legislation should also include enhanced training for law enforcement.

Twitter: @JohnnieMo
Fugitive leaker Edward Snowden has wanted to come in from the cold for years after revealing the federal government's mass surveillance programs.

From his haven in Russia, Snowden now pleads for a pardon, a request dovetailing with the recent release of the Oliver Stone movie Snowden, which opened to mixed reviews and modest-size audiences. Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, remain insistent that Snowden surrender and stand trial on espionage charges that carry potentially decades of prison time.

But there is a better, third option: a negotiated plea agreement.

This would produce an outcome suited to balance accountability, in the wake of Snowden's theft of 1.5 million government records, with the public service he achieved.

Snowden's leaks exposed or confirmed the breathtaking scope of government surveillance programs instituted after the 9/11 terror attacks. One program vacuumed up the telephone 'metadata'  numbers called, time and duration of calls  of virtually every phone call. Another program aggregated the Internet habits of millions of people. Snowden's disclosures generated a valuable debate on the limits of government intrusion into daily lives, one that altered the way the U.S. government spies on its people.

Congress last year finally changed how the metadata system worked. Intelligence analysts now need a court order to access the public's phone call data, and the information remains with telecom companies rather than the NSA.

Even former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder  under whose watch espionage charges were brought against the fugitive  admitted during a podcast in May that Snowden 'actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in, and by the changes that we made.'

Yet none of what Snowden achieved would be admissible in court were he to stand trial. There are no exemptions in the World War I-era Espionage Act for leaking government secrets to promote a greater public good. When Daniel Ellsberg faced a jury in 1971 for illegally leaking the Pentagon Papers, his defense lawyer was barred from asking Ellsberg about what drove him to violate the law.

If the Snowden case went to trial, the prosecution would be able to introduce evidence of harm caused by his leaks, and there are plenty who believe this is true. A House committee issued a report last month asserting that Snowden 'caused tremendous damage' to U.S. security.

Snowden's public-interest argument could be raised in the punishment phase, although by that time a judge would be confronted with stiff federal sentencing guidelines urging potentially decades of prison. Snowden faces two counts of violating the Espionage Act and a third charge of theft of government property. Each allegation carries a punishment of up to 10 years, and the prosecution could bring more charges before trial.

From his exile in Russia, Snowden says he is 'willing to pay costs to do the right thing.' He should drop his hopes for a pardon. Instead, prosecutors should begin discussing with Snowden's lawyer how to fairly balance the service he so clearly performed for Americans with an appropriate punishment for the laws he so clearly broke to do it.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff.
Today in history: On Oct. 4, 1965, Pope Paul VI gets a rock star reception on his visit to New York City. It's the first visit to the United States by a serving pope. The pope goes to St. Patrick's Cathedral and meets with both Cardinal Francis Spellman and President Lyndon Johnson. He also addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations and a Mass at Yankee Stadium. And there was time to see the Vatican Exhibit at the New York World's Fair. About 1 million saw him in person and 100 million more on TV.
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Refugees seeking shelter after fighting between the Myanmar military and the Shan State-South Army broke out in early October, 2016.

Thousands of refugees fled Mong Kung township in Myanmars troubled Shan State as fighting broke out between government forces and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) over the weekend.

According to a spokesman for the SSA-S, the fighting broke out when Myanmar army units attacked a drug-rehabilitation camp managed by local villagers in an area under their control.

We did not deploy troops at the camp as it is managed by local villagers, SSA spokesman Lt. Col. Sai Mein told RFAs Myanmar Service. They came and attacked us on the night of October 1, and then they got more troops to attack us again.

Sai Mein accused the Myanmar military of releasing criminals held in the rehabilitation camp, but it is unclear what precipitated the attack.

Officials with the government and the Myanmar military failed to reply to RFA requests to comment on the attack.

Sai Mein told RFA that the attack is a violation of the nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) that is part of the countrys bid to end decades of civil war that has bedeviled the Southeast Asian nation.

Sai Thureain Oo, a Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) central executive committee member, told RFA that the SNLD placed about 2,000 refugees in monasteries near the Tonlaw village, but that the refugees need food, clothing and blankets.

Sai Aung Myint Oo, of the Shan Youth Organization, said the organization had been contacted by about 1,500 refugees, mostly old men, women and children who are afraid to return to their villages.

I dont think the fighting will continue, as we heard both sides are negotiating, but refugees are still afraid of going back home," Sai Aung Myint Oo said. There will be many difficulties for the long term, such as for kids going to school, although they are still OK with help from people of neighboring townships.

With the onset of winter, the hardships for the refugees are likely to get even harder, Sao Aung Myint Oo said.

As the weather is getting cold, they are having difficulty getting blankets and running into trouble using water and the toilet, Sao Aung Myint Oo said.

Reported by Aung Moe Myint and Kyaw Thu for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.


Faced with Chinese demands to sharply reduce the population of Sichuans Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, monastic officials have offered nuns facing expulsion the chance to volunteer for removal, saying that those who step forward will be sent to places where they can continue their studies, sources in the region say.



Of the 2,000 nuns now ordered to leave the large study center located in Sichuans Serthar (in Chinese, Seda) county, 400 come originally from Golog (Guoluo) prefecture in neighboring Qinghai province, with 300 coming from Qinghais Yulshul (Yushu) prefecture and the rest from other areas near Sichuan, a local source said.



Speaking on Sept. 23, monastic officials at Larung Gar told nuns threatened with eviction that anyone registering their names for removal by Sept. 28 would be transferred to monastic institutions elsewhere in Serthar or in Sichuan's Nyagrong (Xinlong), Dege (Dege), or Draggo (Luhuo) counties, and that senior teachers would be sent there to look after them.



Anyone not volunteering for transfer would be understood to be at risk of forced removal by Chinese authorities, with no guarantee they would be permitted to resume their studies, monastic officials said.



That deadline has now passed, with no information immediately available regarding the number of those volunteering for removal.



However, at least 100 Larung Gar monks and nuns who had come originally from the Tibetan regional capital Lhasa or elsewhere in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) were loaded onto buses on Sept. 29 and sent away, sources said.



Dwellings demolished



Many thousands of Tibetans and Han Chinese study at the sprawling Larung Gar complex, which was founded in 1980 by the late religious teacher Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok and is one of the worlds largest and most important centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism.



The order now to reduce the number of Larung Gars residents by about half to a maximum level of 5,000 by Sept. 30 next year comes from higher authorities, with Chinas president Xi Jinping taking a personal interest in the matter, sources told RFA in earlier reports.



Chinese work crews meanwhile continue to demolish monastic dwellings at Larung Gar, with 550 houses torn down between July 20 and Sept. 23, a source at Larung Gar with close knowledge of the situation said.



Local sources had said in earlier reports, now believed to be in error, that as many as 600 had been destroyed in the first week of demolition alone.



Rights groups have slammed the government-ordered destruction at Larung Gar, with New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) saying that Beijing should allow the Tibetan people to decide for themselves how best to practice their religion.



If authorities somehow believe that the Larung Gar facilities are overcrowded, the answer is simple, HRW China director Sophie Richardson said in a statement in June, when the plan to destroy large sections of the complex was first announced.



Allow Tibetans and other Buddhists to build more monasteries.



Reported by Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.




This file photo shows workers at a PetroVietnam facility. An editor at the state-run PetroTimes was fired after publishing reports defending a government official accused of mismanagement while he was an executive with the state oil company..

A Vietnamese editor working for a state media outlet was fired when he apparently crossed the line on free expression by publishing excerpts from an exiled dissident who runs a popular blog on sensitive topics.

Nguyen Nhu Phong, the editor of state-run website PetroTimes, was fired and stripped of his press card "for committing wrongdoing in press activities, the Ministry of Information and Communications said in a statement late Monday.

The ministry did not elaborate on the reason for Nguyen Nhu Phongs firing, but local journalists told RFAs Vietnamese Service that the sacking came after excerpts of an interview with exiled blogger Nguoi Buon Gio also known as Bui Thanh Hieu.

Nguoi Buon Gio is one of Vietnams most well-known bloggers, who documents human rights violations through films, photos and short texts. He is a fellow of the Writers in Exile Program of PEN Germany, and now lives in Germany.

In the excerpts, which have since been taken down from the website, the activist reportedly shared documents defending Trinh Xuan Thanh, a government official accused of mismanagement while he was an executive with PetroVietnam, the state oil company.

PetroVietnam is the trading name for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, the company owned by the Vietnamese central government that is responsible for all oil and gas resources in the country. PetroVietnam is the country's largest oil producer and second-largest power producer.

The official decision did not elaborate on the reason Nhu Phong was fired but everybody knows that he published the interview with Nguoi Buon, whose articles about Trinh Xuan Thanh have been posted online, freelance journalist and blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh told RFAs Vietnamese Service.

Trinh Xuan Thanh is a hot topic in Vietnam because his story focuses on anti-corruption and more people read Nguoi Buon Gios blog to find out information about the case than read heavily-controlled state media, Huynh Ngoc Chenh explained.

According to his PEN Germany bio, Nguou Buon Gios blog reaches up to 15,000 visitors per day even as the government attempts to suppress it.

Vietnam actively suppresses press coverage, but firing a top editor is a rarity because most toe the party line.

People who work for the partys newspapers have to follow orders from the party in all their articles, Huynh Ngoc Chenh said. The media can only write about big corruption cases when there is a signal from above. In reality, no journalist can do investigative reports.

Other journalists in the country speculate that Nguyen Nhu Phong likely stepped on some sensitive toes by publishing the excerpts.

This is his karma because he has made himself unpopular with many people. His newspaper ran biased articles, said one journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The decision made us curious about the real reason. It is like an order from the party, the journalist added. Maybe Phong was over confident that nobody would ever touch him, but in the end, the editor-in-chief is just like a pawn in a chess game.

Reported by Cat Linh for RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
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Afghan security forces said they have cleared Taliban militants from the center of the city of Kunduz, but that fighting continues on the outskirts. Taliban gunmen attacked the northern Afghan city on October 3. (RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan)
Fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban militants has moved into a second day in the northern city of Kunduz.

Taliban fighters launched an assault on Kunduz early on October 3, about a year after briefly capturing the city.

Officials said on October 4 that fighting was still going on in the outskirts of Kunduz but that its center had been cleared of militants.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said gunmen were hiding in residential homes, making progress slow and difficult.

Kunduz police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh reported that "hundreds of militants and three members of the government security forces had been killed in the fighting.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the toll.

The Taliban assault came ahead of an international donor conference starting in Brussels later on October 4, where Afghanistan's international partners will discuss aid to the country.

Based on reporting by dpa, AP, and AFP
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.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Putin's speech can be described as "for Freud," referring to psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud.



"The person who invaded a foreign country, annexed its land, and committed genocide accuses others of violating international law and the sovereignty of other countries? One truth: The person who started a wind will get a storm. The storm is coming," he said on Twitter.

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 International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging Ukraine to show progress in fighting corruption and pushing through other reforms.

Tackling corruption and reducing the influence of vested interests on policy making remain key challenges, the Washington-based lender said in a report published on October 3.

Progress in tackling corruption, privatizing state-owned enterprises, and advancing pension reform has been slower than envisaged against significant political resistance, it added.

The report also warned that resistance to reform will derail the conflict-wracked countrys economic recovery and bailout program from the IMF.

Ukraine received $1 billion from the IMF last month, its third tranche of money under a $17.5 billion bailout program.

The disbursement had been delayed for a year due to political upheaval and slow progress on implementing reforms.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg
Mohammad Nayeb-Zehi was among the hundreds of worshippers who gathered on September 30 at the Great Mosalla, a religious site in Iran's southeastern city of Zahedan, for Friday Prayers.

Just hours later, the 16-year-old's family learned he was dead.

Nayeb-Zehi was among the scores of people gunned down by security forces in a brutal crackdown following anti-government protests in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchistan Province, which is home to the country's Baluch minority.

"He was a simple laborer and not political," Nayeb-Zehi's brother, Ahmad, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda in a telephone interview from Zahedan, adding that his sibling had been shot in the heart. "We're in pain, and we cannot accept it."

The crackdown in Zahedan came amid weeks-long nationwide protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died on September 16, days after she was detained by Iran's morality police.

In Sistan-Baluchistan, public anger at the authorities escalated amid reports that a 15-year-old Baluch girl had been raped by a police official in the province's southern port city of Chabahar.

The violence erupted soon after protesters gathered outside a police station near the central mosque in Zahedan. Members of the crowd chanted anti-government slogans, and some threw rocks. Security forces responded with deadly force by firing on the crowd from the station, according to witnesses.

Security forces also raided the central mosque and the nearby Great Mosalla and opened fire on worshippers using live ammunition, rights groups said, adding that many were shot in the head, heart, neck, or torso, revealing a clear intent to kill or seriously wound.

At least 94 people were killed and 350 wounded on that day, referred to as "Bloody Friday," according to the U.S.-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. At least 13 minors were among those killed, including Nayeb-Zehi.

The victims were overwhelmingly Baluch -- a mostly Sunni ethnic group that has long faced disproportionate discrimination at the hands of the Iranian authorities.

"He was martyred inside the Mosalla while holding his prayer mat," said Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi.

Nayeb-Zehi's family first visited Zahedan's Khatam al-Anbia hospital, hoping he was among the wounded. They later found his body in a seminary at the Great Mosalla.

"We entered a room there and saw about 10 bodies," said Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi. "[Mohammad] was among them."

He said the authorities prevented the family from filming the scene. "I told them this has to be documented, it has to be published by international media," he said, adding that footage later emerged on social media showing the gruesome scene at the seminary.

The family refused to send Nayeb-Zehi's body to the morgue. Instead, his body lay in the living room for around 24 hours before he was buried.

"We said he was martyred and there was no need for an autopsy," said Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi.

The authorities accused Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant group, of attacking the police station. The group is recognized as a terrorist organization by both Iran and the United States and has previously claimed deadly attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan targeting Iranian security forces.

But local and independent sources have rejected the authorities' claims.

The authorities have also reported a much lower number of fatalities, announcing that only 19 people, including several members of the security forces, were killed.

Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi said the authorities were "rubbing salt into the wounds of the people" by claiming "terrorists" were involved.

He said he witnessed a military helicopter shooting at civilians near the Great Mosalla. "I haven't even seen such scenes in Hollywood movies," he said. "A helicopter was shooting at people. A lady was shot in front of my eyes."

RFE/RL could not verify his account. But activists have accused security forces of shooting at protestors from helicopters.

"I don't know what the intention of this crime was," he said. "Our only demand from the establishment is for the murderers of our [family members] to be punished."

The killings have led to widespread anger in Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest provinces.

Anti-establishment protests have been reported in Zahedan since the crackdown, including on October 14 and October 21, when protesters took to the streets after Friday Prayers and chanted "Death to the dictator."

During his Friday Prayers sermon on October 21, influential Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the September 30 killings.

"We are surprised by the silence of the high-ranking officials," he said in his sermon, which was posted on his website.

"Scores were killed here without any reason. I don't have the exact number. Some have reported 90, some say less, some say more," Ismaeelzahi added.

He also said people will not be satisfied until "those who killed the people" are brought to justice.

The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center said the events of September 30 amounted to "a massacre of protesters by security forces."

"The government's total denial of responsibility for the massacring of citizens by its security apparatus is consistent with similar past denials and is evidence that internal calls for investigation of such crimes are insufficient," said the rights group, which documents human rights violations in Iran.
Firms from Kazakhstan and Russia have signed a deal on uranium-enrichment services.

The agreement was signed on October 4 in Astana by representatives of Kazakhstan's uranium operator Kazatomprom and Russia's Center for Uranium Enrichment during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Kazakhstan's capital.

According to the document, Kazakhstan and Russia will jointly take part in projects conducted under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the future.

Kazakhstan is the world's leading uranium producer, but does not have uranium enriching facilities.

Altogether, 56 business agreements valued at a total of $3 billion were signed at Astana's Forum on Interregional Cooperation that was attended by Russian and Kazakh businesses.

Putin and his Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev also attended the gathering.

Based on reporting by RIA and Interfax


A Kyrgyz court has begun a retrial for ethnic Uzbek activist Azimjan Askarov, who had been jailed for life in a case that has drawn international criticism.

Askarov was sentenced in 2010 for stirring up ethnic hatred during deadly clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks and of complicity in the death of a policeman during the violence.

The Supreme Court revoked the sentence in July and sent the case back to a lower court for review in light of "new circumstances that appeared in the case."

Askarov, who says the case against him was politically motivated, pleaded not guilty to the charges as hearings opened at the Chui Regional Court in Bishkek on October 4.

The court ordered him to remain in custody pending investigations.

Earlier this year, the UN Human Rights Committee urged Kyrgyzstan to release Askarov, finding that he had been arbitrarily detained, tortured, and denied his right to a fair trial.

More than 450 people were killed -- most of them ethnic Uzbeks -- and tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the 2010 ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan.

With reporting by AP
Moscow summoned the Dutch ambassador on October 3 to complain about a criminal investigation last week that concluded that a missile brought in from Russia shot down a passenger jet flying over eastern Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 on board as it was flying from Amsterdam to Malaysia, the investigation found.

Criminal investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine said they had "irrefutable evidence" that a Buk missile hit the plane and was fired from a part of eastern Ukraine then controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

Russia reacted angrily to the allegations and sought to shift the blame onto Ukraine for not closing its airspace during intense fighting -- prompting Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders to summon Russia's ambassador last week to complain about Moscow's "unacceptable" comments.

In a tit-for-tat move, the Russian Foreign Ministry on October 3 said it explained to Dutch ambassador Renee Jones-Bos why the findings "could not be recognized as satisfactory by Russia."

The Dutch Foreign Ministry responded by calling again for Russia's cooperation in bringing those responsible for firing the missile to justice.

Based on reporting by AFP, TASS, and Interfax


The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic has expressed concern over the "harsh sentences" handed down to two prominent media personalities in Kazakhstan.

In an October 4 statement, Mijatovic said the sentences could "pose a threat to media freedom" in the country.

Seitqazy Mataev, head of the Kazakh Journalists Union, and his son Aset, the director of the KazTAG news agency, were sentenced on October 3 to six and five years in prison, respectively.

Both have denied the charges of misappropriation of funds and tax evasion.

Mijatovic said the sentences could lead to the closure of the Kazakh Journalists Union and KazTAG, which she said "could be detrimental to media pluralism in Kazakhstan."


Gunmen on the outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan have killed four Shi'ite women from the ethnic Hazara minority after stopping a passenger bus that they were traveling on.

Another woman sustained serious gunshot wounds in what authorities described as sectarian-motivated killings.

Anwarul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for Balochistans provincial government, said the attackers stopped the passenger bus on Quetta's Kirani Road on October 4 as it was returning to a neighborhood known as Hazara Town.

Kakar said one of the gunmen barged inside the bus and started shooting after identifying the women as ethnic Hazara.

Balochistan's Chief Minister Nawab Sanullah Khan Zehri condemned the attack and ordered an investigation into the mass murder.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Shi'a have been targeted before by Sunni extremists in Quetta's Hazara Town.

In February 2013, 64 people were killed and more than 180 injured in Hazara Town by a bomb attack at a market on Kirani Road.

With additional reporting by The Express Tribune


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Protesters from Pakistan's Baluch ethnic minority demanded the release of a kidnapped community activist. They marched through the streets of Karachi on October 4, more than two months after activist Wahid Baloch disappeared. (RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal)
Hundreds of refugees and migrants began a 200 kilometer protest march from the Serbian capital to the Hungarian border on October 4. They are demanding that Hungary let them pass through the country so they can reach Western Europe. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)
A court in Russia has sentenced a Turkish citizen to four years in jail after finding him guilty of being an active member of the Islamic State (IS) extremist organization in Syria.

The North Caucasus Regional Court in Rostov-on-Don on October 4 also found Atac Firat guilty of forgery and illegally crossing the border.

Reports said Firat pleaded guilty to the charges.

After spending three years in Syria fighting alongside the IS militants, Firat traveled through Turkey in 2014 to reach Russia using faked documents.

The court ruled that Firat continued cooperating with IS militants in Syria via the Internet after he set up residence in the Russian city of Krasnodar.

Russian authorities arrested Firat in October 2015 as he was trying to return from Russia to Turkey using a faked travel document.

Based on reporting by RIA and Interfax


Russia says its embassy compound in the Syrian capital has come under shelling from rebels.

The Foreign Ministry said on October 4 that the embassy in Damascus was shelled the day before.

No one was harmed in the mortar fire, which the ministry said apparently came from an area controlled by two "terrorist groups" fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Moscow, a key Assad ally, considers the shelling to be "a consequence of actions by those such as the United States and some of its allies who are instigating a continuation of the bloody conflict in Syria by catering to militants and extremists of various sorts," a statement said.

The situation in Syria has deteriorated considerably since the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-brokered cease-fire two weeks ago.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa


Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected U.S. reports that two officials traveling with diplomatic passports were drugged while attending a conference in St. Petersburg last year, suggesting instead that they might have had too much to drink.

The statement, made on October 4 by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, came in response to concerns made public by the U.S. State Department a day earlier about what it said was increased harassment of U.S. diplomats in Russia over the past two years.

RFE/RL reported October 3 that the incident with the U.S. officials occurred during a UN anticorruption conference in St. Petersburg in November. One of them was hospitalized, in what officials later concluded was part of a wider, escalating pattern.

According to one U.S. government official, and another former official also knowledgeable about the case, the U.S. diplomats were part of a delegation of Americans attending the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, held on November 2-6 in St. Petersburg.

The U.S. government official told RFE/RL that investigators concluded that the two Americans -- a man and a woman -- were slipped a so-called date rape drug, most likely at a bar in the St. Petersburg hotel where they were staying.

One of the Americans was incapacitated and brought to a Western-style medical clinic in the city for treatment, and to have blood and tissue samples taken in order to determine precisely what caused the sudden illness. However, while the person was at the clinic, the electricity suddenly went out and the staff was unable to obtain the necessary tissue samples, the official said.

The individual was then flown out of the country for further medical treatment, but by then it was too late to gather proper samples, the official said.

Because the U.S. officials in attendance at the St. Petersburg conference were not top-level State or Justice officials, the State Department decided to take a quiet approach to the incident. A formal note of protest was lodged, the official said, but Russian authorities asked for evidence that the person had been drugged, and the Americans lacked samples.

When investigators sought timesheet records for personnel working at the hotel where the U.S. officials had been staying, the hotel managers said there were none for that particular period of time, the official added, a claim that also raised suspicions.

In the end, the U.S. government official told RFE/RL, the response given by Russian officials to the investigators looking into the drugging was: without more evidence, theres nothing more we can do.

In his statement published on the Foreign Ministrys website, Ryabkov denied that U.S. officials had lodged any protest, but also said Russian authorities had conducted some sort of investigation that concluded no Americans sought medical treatment in St. Petersburg at the time.

Ryabkov suggested that the Americans had merely drunk too much.

Even then, having quickly responded to the relevant information from the U.S. Embassy, we requested that [they] specify the claims, but we received nothing, not even the names of the victims. An investigation conducted by the Russian [authorities] showed that during that period of time, no Americans sought assistance from St. Petersburg medical institutions, he said.

If they had, contrary to expectations, had a little too much to drink in a hotel bar, then they only would have themselves to blame, Ryabkov said.

Ryabkov asserted that Russian diplomats had also been subject to harassment, saying that U.S. intelligence agencies had stepped up efforts to recruit informants or spies.

Ryabkov asserted that U.S. intelligence agencies had stepped up efforts to recruit Russian diplomats to become informants or spies. He also repeated Moscows longstanding complaints about what Moscow portrays as the illegal U.S. abduction of Russian citizens from third countries.

Thats a reference to arrests in recent years including those of Viktor Bout, who was convicted in a U.S. court of arms trafficking, and Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted of drug trafficking. Both were arrested in third countries and extradited to the United States.

Moscow has sought for years to have them released, and earlier this year, Ryabkov suggested that they might be swapped for U.S. citizens being held in Russian prisons for various crimes.

The State Department told RFE/RL that U.S. diplomats had seen increased harassment since 2014, a statement that was reiterated publicly by department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau on October 3.

"We remain troubled by the way our diplomatic and consular staff have been treated over the past two years. We have raised our concerns at the highest levels," Trudeau said. "In particular, the harassment and surveillance of our diplomatic personnel in Moscow by security -- personnel and traffic police -- has increased significantly. As weve said before, we find this unacceptable.

In June, the issue gained new attention when an American entering the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was tackled by a Russian guard. The American was identified by the State Department as an accredited diplomat, and said he had shown his identification to the guard under normal procedure.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials, however, said the guard, who was employed by the country's main security agency, the FSB, was only doing his duty: protecting the embassy from what he deemed to be a suspicious person who, they said, was also wearing a disguise.

Later, Moscow claimed the American was a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover, a common technique used by many countries, including both Russia and the United States.

The incident was captured on video, and the footage was later aired on Russian television.

In the aftermath, Moscow and Washington each kicked out two of the other side's accredited diplomats in tit-for-tat expulsions that were reminiscent of the Cold War.
An aide to Vladimir Putin says the Russian president will visit Turkey on October 10 for talks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Presidential aide Yury Ushakov made the remark on October 4, adding that Putin would also speak at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul during his visit.

The World Energy Congress is scheduled from October 9 through October 13.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that a meeting between Putin and Erdogan could take place in Turkey during early October.

Relations between Turkey and Russia broke down for about seven-months after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in November.

But relations have improved since a failed coup attempt against Erdogan by Turkey's military in July.

Putin and Erdogan last met on September 3 in China's southeastern city of Hangzhou on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies that was being held there.

Shortly after those talks, Russian and Turkish defense officials reached an agreement for closer military cooperation in Syria.

Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, Reuters, AP, and AFP


ON MY MIND

We seem to have crossed a rubicon.

Moscow's relations with the West, of course, have been on a downward spiral since Russia's annexation of Crimea and intervention in the Donbas in 2014. But for the past year, some Western officials held out hope that a deal could be struck with Moscow to end Syria's civil war. But Russia's bombing of two hospitals in Aleppo last week not only ended a fragile cease-fire Moscow and Washington had negotiated -- it seems to have ended any illusions that the Western powers can work with Russia in Syria.

As a result, the United States has declared Syrian peace talks dead. And Russia has pulled out of a 16-year-old agreement with the United States to reduce stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium. Russia is also reportedly planning to increase military spending by $10 billion.

It's not quite the Cold War yet, but the standoff between Russia and the West is about to get even more tense.

IN THE NEWS

Russia plans to increase defense spending by 679 billion rubles ($10 billion) and cut the welfare budget by 375 billion rubles ($6 billion).

The Ukrainian parliament is considering requiring visas for Russians entering the country.

Moscow summoned the Dutch ambassador on October 3 to complain about a criminal investigation last week that concluded that a missile brought in from Russia shot down a passenger jet flying over eastern Ukraine.

A Moscow court has found prominent Russian-Israeli blogger and web pioneer Anton Nosik guilty of extremism and fined him half a million rubles ($8,000) over a blog post titled Wipe Syria Off The Face Of The Earth.

The trial of five men charged with the murder of outspoken Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov has begun in a Moscow military court.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suspended a 16-year-old deal that called for reducing some of Russia's and the United States' stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium, citing "Washington's unfriendly actions toward Russia."

The United States says it is suspending talks with Russia on trying to end the violence in Syria and accused Moscow of not living up to its commitments under a cease-fire agreement.

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said Russia must treat former Soviet republics as full-fledged members of the international community.

Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko is being held in custody in Russia on espionage charges.

Russia's United Nations Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow would like to see a woman and an Eastern European take the top UN job after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon leaves next year.

Ramzan Kadyrov's press service has denied reports that there was an assassination attempt on the Chechen leader in the spring.

Kersti Kaljulaid, a former member of the European Court of Auditors, has been elected as Estonia's president.

WHAT I'M READING

Russia And Europe's Extremists

I'm very much looking forward to Anton Shekhovtsov's forthcoming book on Russia's contacts with the European far right.

And the good news is that he has released a chapter, one focusing on the Russian media's ties to extremist forces, to give us a bit of a teaser.

Duplicity In Syria

Richard Gowan of the European Council on Foreign Relations has a piece in The American Interest looking at Russia's double dealing on Syria.

"The meltdown over Syria followed a predictable pattern. Russia has consistently manipulated UN diplomacy over Syria, getting U.S. diplomats and UN mediators bogged down in negotiations to distract from military developments on the ground," Gowan writes.

And Thanassis Cambanis, a fellow at The Century Foundation and author of the books A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah's Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel and Once Upon A Revolution: An Egyptian Story, has a piece in The Atlantic asking if Russia has finally crossed the West's red line in Syria.

"Perhaps Russia has been searching for the Wests actual red lines all along, exploring how far it could go in Syria without provoking any push back from the United States and its allies. Maybe it finally found them after it bombed the UN aid convoy in September," Cambanis writes.

The Morality Police

In a piece in The Spectator, veteran Moscow correspondent Owen Matthews looks into Putin's moral crusade and Russia's puritan streak.

"Putins Russia is fast becoming a very puritan place. Ever since returning to the presidency in 2012, Putin has pursued an increasingly religious-conservative ideology both at home and abroad, defining Russia as a moral fortress against sexual licence and decadence, porn, and gay rights," Matthews writes.

"Putins puritanism has grown hand-in-hand with the personal influence of two key conservative ideologues: his personal confessor Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov and the mystical geopolitical thinker Aleksandr Dugin."

Corrupt Corruption Fighters

A new post on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Wall web portal takes a look at the case of Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, the anticorruption official who was arrested for -- you guessed it -- corruption.
The United Nations Security Council sought to salvage a cease-fire in Syria after the United States announced it would no longer work with Russia to do so, but Moscow quickly moved to block the UN effort.

France and Spain sought the UN council's approval on October 3 for a measure that would immediately stop the air campaign over the Syrian city of Aleppo, where dozens have been killed by devastating air strikes in recent days, but Russia said it had "no chance of working."

The UN's envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he "deeply regrets" the failure of U.S.-Russian diplomatic efforts to revive a cease-fire but said he will continue to push "energetically for a political solution" and "will never abandon the Syrian people to a destiny of endless violent conflict."

France's UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said, "We consider that this is our responsibility to do absolutely everything we can do, everything humanly possible to unite the Security Council behind our efforts to end the martyrdom in Aleppo" with the suspension of all air strikes.

But Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for the month of October, quickly raised objections.

A resolution "singling out aviation, where terrorists [on the ground] would be allowed to do whatever they want, would not be a very attractive proposition," he said.

"I am not even sure many other Security Council members would like to see a resolution on cessation of hostilities that has no chance of working. If you pass a resolution, you expect something to happen."

Churkin declined to say whether Russia would veto the measure in a council vote later this week but repeated that grounding planes would constitute a unilateral disarmament that Moscow will not accept.

"Stronger concerted action against terrorists" would be a better way to address the crisis in Syria, Churkin said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, backed by Russia warplanes and Iranian support, have been battling to capture eastern Aleppo, the rebel-held half of Syria's largest city, where more than 250,000 civilians are trapped.

The relentless Russian and Syrian air campaign since a tentative cease-fire collapsed last week has badly damaged hospitals and water supplies.

The draft UN resolution expresses "outrage at the unacceptable and escalating level of violence and at the intensified campaigns, in recent days, of aerial bombings in Aleppo" and demands that "the Syrian government end all aerial bombardments, in order to facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault blamed Russia for air attacks over the weekend on the largest hospital in rebel-held Aleppo, as well as strikes on White Helmet rescue volunteers whom Syria and Russia have labeled as "terrorists."

"I call on Russia to take responsibility. The bombardment of hospitals is a war crime. Is Russia going to bear the responsibility for such intolerable acts?" Ayrault asked.

British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said he hoped the draft cease-fire resolution will be adopted in the coming days but acknowledged that "even that is not going to not end the war" that has killed more than 250,000 people in 5 1/2 years.

"What will end the war is not another piece of paper. It's a change of mindset, it's a change of heart, and it's a decision, actually, to fulfill every single existing obligation. And if everyone around the Security Council table did that, then the war in Syria would be over very rapidly," he said.

While the UN debated the new cease-fire measure, Moscow and Washington exchanged blame for the failure of their diplomatic effort to revive peace.

The United States, in suspending the talks on October 3, said Russia had failed to live up to its commitment in a tentative cease-fire agreement reached on September 9 to halt fighting and ensure that aid reached besieged communities in Aleppo.

"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments...and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby.

"Everybody's patience with Russia has run out," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charged that Washington was unwilling or unable to keep its part of the deal requiring it to separate so-called moderate rebel groups it supports from the designated terrorist group Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, which is allied with other rebel groups in Aleppo.

Zakharova said Washington also failed to persuade rebel groups under its influence to pull back from Castello Road, a key artery that was envisaged as the route for providing humanitarian aid to Aleppo under the September 9 tentative deal.

"Washington's inaction enabled militant groups in the city to regroup, get weapons, and mobilize their resources," she said.

"Washington simply did not fulfill key conditions of the agreement," Zakharova said. "After failing to fulfill the agreements that they themselves worked out, they are trying to shift responsibility on to someone else."

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, Interfax, and dpa


Uzbekistan's new leader, Shavkat Mirziyaev, is already making a difference in regional politics in Central Asia. In less than one month, Mirziyaev has moved to improve ties with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and in so doing has sparked hopes for a new era of regional cooperation.

Under former President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan was an obstacle to regional integration. Uzbekistan lies at the center of Central Asia, bordered by all the other Central Asian states and also sharing an approximately 160-kilometer border with Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has proven to be a knot at the heart of the region.

Tashkent's relations with its immediate neighbors have ranged from bad to horrible. Ties with Turkmenistan warmed after the country's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, died in late 2006, and in the last decade Karimov seemed to finally find some common ground with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, which eased Uzbek-Kazakh relations.

But the Uzbek government has always been hard on eastern neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

When Mirziyaev took over as Uzbekistan's leader on September 8, Uzbek police had been occupying a hill in Kyrgyzstan, Ungar-Too, for more than two weeks. The Uzbek forces detained four Kyrgyz nationals who were working at the television relay station on Ungar-Too and refused to free them, angering Kyrgyz villagers in the area and the government in Bishkek.

Problems between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan include land, border demarcation, and, most importantly, water -- and the three things are often intertwined.

On September 9, Uzbek troops released the four Kyrgyz nationals.

Mirziyaev did not attend a CIS summit in Bishkek on September 16. Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov went instead and arrived one day early to meet with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev.

On September 20, the Uzbek police withdrew from Ungar-Too. The same day, the pro-government website Uzdaily.uz reported that from September 14 to 20 a working group of officials from both countries had been reviewing questions of border demarcation in 23 disputed areas along the common frontier.

And then, on October 1, a government delegation from Kyrgyzstan made up largely of officials from Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abat, Osh, and Batken provinces, which border Uzbekistan, visited the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon to take part in events dedicated to Uzbek-Kyrgyz friendship.

Tajik Tensions Ease

Uzbek-Tajik ties have probably been the worst bilateral ties across Central Asia. All railway traffic bound for or leaving Tajikistan must transit Uzbek territory and Uzbek authorities have on occasion held up, and in cases turned back, shipments to Tajikistan -- particularly shipments of construction materials for Tajikistan's hydropower plants. Both countries have tried and convicted their own nationals on charges of spying for the other country.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended Karimov's funeral in Samarkand on September 3 and met with Mirziyaev. At the end of September, Tajik media enthusiastically reported on Uzbek Foreign Minister Komilov's September 23 speech at the UN General Assembly, which, for once, did not include any mention of Tajikistan's plans to build the Roghun hydropower plant. Roghun has been a major sticking point in relations between the two countries.

Komilov traveled to Tajikistan on September 29 and met with President Rahmon to discuss renewing the railway and air links, and economic ties in general, between the two countries. Flights between Tashkent and Dushanbe were suspended in 1992 and trade between the two countries was only some $10 million in 2015, which was actually an increase of more than 50 percent compared to 2014.

Komilov did mention he hoped the two countries could find a fair and mutually advantageous solution to water and energy problems. He also gave an interview to Tajik television, saying it was time to renew "long-interrupted" ties.

On September 30, the pro-government website Podrobno.uz reported a meeting of the Uzbek-Kazakh border demarcation took place from September 26 to 30 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Prodobno.uz noted that a similar meeting took place in Almaty on February 18 to 27 this year, and that the process of demarcating the Uzbek-Kazakh border has been under way since 2003.

These are all hopeful signs that Uzbekistan under Mirziyaev, who seems certain to be elected president in the December 4 election, might come out of its regional isolation and become a productive regional partner.

Turkmenistan went a similar route when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov took over after Niyazov's death. Turkmenistan succeeded in improving relations with all its Central Asian neighbors, including Uzbekistan -- not an easy feat considering Niyazov had all but said publicly that Uzbek authorities were behind an assassination plot against him.

More 'Carrot,' Less 'Stick'

That said, there are possible reasons for this new Uzbek diplomacy.

In the case of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, water has always been one of Uzbekistan's key interests in relations. In the past, Uzbekistan cut off supplies to natural gas to its two eastern neighbors when Tashkent was displeased with moves in Bishkek or Dushanbe, as almost always happened when either country spoke about building large hydropower plants on the rivers that flowed into Uzbekistan. Tashkent has maintained that construction of those huge hydropower plants threatens the water supply to Uzbekistan's agricultural fields.

That form of pressure no longer works, since both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have turned to their abundant domestic supplies of coal to wean themselves off Uzbek gas. In Kyrgyzstan's case, Bishkek sold the state natural-gas company to Russia's Gazprom which uses gas from sites it has helped develop in Uzbekistan to serve the energy needs of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is still far from constructing the Kambar-Ata hydropower plant, the project that angered Karimov's government. Tajikistan might be closer to realizing the Roghun hydropower plant after the Italian firm Salinin Impregilo expressed interest in the project earlier this year.

So, Uzbekistan's new softer line toward its fellow Central Asian states might be a signal that Tashkent is willing to try the "carrot" rather resorting to the "stick," as it has for many years now.

Uzbekistan might also be considering the benefits of looser border controls, which could open the way for it to take advantage of its geographic position and become the main trade hub in Central Asia.

Based on material from RFE/RL's Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek services. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL
Chesterfield police have released photos of an armed man who robbed a 7-Eleven store last week.

The incident happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sept 29 when a man pulled out a gun and demanded money from the clerk at the store at 12120 Harrowgate Road. The gunman escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

No one was hurt during the robbery.

The suspect is described as a black male; 20 to 25 years old; about 6 feet to 6 feet, 2 inches tall; and with a heavy build. He was wearing a gray hoodie, black jacket, dark pants, and a red cloth covered his face.
A Richmond man caught with 15 grams of heroin was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday.

Marcus Freeman, 29, pleaded guilty in June to a charge of possession with the intent to distribute heroin and was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck.

Court documents show that on Dec. 3 a Richmond police officer and a Virginia State Police trooper stopped a dark-colored vehicle driven by Freeman that was seen running a stop sign on Richmonds North Side.

Freeman was asked to step outside the vehicle and officers noticed that he appeared nervous and began to move his right hand toward the center console.

Freeman was ordered to show his hands and he complied, placing both hands on the steering wheel before he again moved his right hand toward the console. One officer grabbed Freemans left arm and as he was being pulled from the vehicle, he was still reaching toward the center console.

After Freeman was outside, a search of the area near the console turned up a Glock semi-automatic pistol with a 30-round magazine. As a previously convicted felon, Freeman was barred from possessing a firearm and was placed under arrest.

In seeking a tough sentence, the U.S. attorneys office cited, among other things, Freemans suspicious movement toward the center console.

One need look no further than the evening news to know that a different set of officers in similar circumstances could have led to a much more tragic result in this case, wrote prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum to the judge.

Two large rolls of cash totaling $10,234 were found on the drivers-side floorboard. A digital scale with a powdery residue was found in a cup holder in the center console.

Freeman became agitated when officers began to search him. A search dog alerted to Freeman and a search warrant was obtained for Freemans body cavity. An X-ray at an area hospital revealed a foreign object in his rectum.

Due to defendants resistance to allowing officers to remove the foreign object, law enforcement had to restrain defendant and ultimately recovered a plastic baggie with an off-white substance from his buttocks, according to a statement of facts signed by Freeman when he pleaded guilty.

Lab reports later confirmed the substance to be approximately 15 grams of heroin, according to the statement.

A canine officer alerted to Freeman as having the odor of narcotics coming from his person. An X-ray conducted at a hospital revealed that Freeman had a foreign object in his rectum. Lab reports later confirmed the object to be a package of approximately 15 grams of heroin.

Freemans lawyer, Carolyn V. Grady, wrote in a sentencing memorandum that not long before Freeman was stopped by police on Dec. 3, Freeman had suffered serious gunshot injuries, and that because of this previous incident, Marcus did not react well to this show of force as he was in great pain.

Grady wrote that Freeman was shot in the right leg and left side of his chest last year, previous to Dec. 3. The bullet in his leg remains there causing radiating pain in his hip and leg. No further information about the shooting was available.
A former Dinwiddie County sheriffs deputy who fatally shot his intoxicated brother after he threatened the deputy and his family with a gun was essentially cleared of any criminal wrongdoing Tuesday after a judge withdrew a murder charge against him.

After an earlier dispute, Brandon D. Coles had retrieved his brothers service pistol from a bedroom and refused to drop it when Deputy Terrell Coles  seeing no alternative  shot his brother, fearing not only for his life but that of his fiancee and infant child.

Terrell Coles then frantically tried to save his 25-year-old brother, pleading with him to stay alive as he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. But the single gunshot wound to the jugular was a fatal injury, and he died.

At the urging of Dinwiddie Commonwealths Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill, substitute Judge William Bill Boice of Dinwiddie Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court set aside a second-degree murder charge against Terrell Coles after the prosecutor concluded he had shot his brother in self-defense on Aug. 21.

In seeking the dropping of the charge, Baskervill followed the recommendation of a special Dinwiddie grand jury that was convened in September to investigate the Aug. 21 killing.

There being reasonable and sufficient basis to find and conclude that Terrell Coles acted in self-defense, prosecution of Terrell Coles for murdering his brother would not serve justice nor would it serve public safety, Baskervill wrote in her motion to withdraw the charge. Rather, it seems ... that to proceed any further in prosecuting this matter would be unjust.

In mid-September, the special grand jury came to a similar conclusion, finding there was a reasonable and sufficient basis to conclude that Terrell Coles shot and killed his brother in self-defense, according to a copy of the panels report.

The grand jurors advised Baskervill not to prosecute Coles and move to have the second-degree murder charge against him dropped. The panel decided further prosecution efforts against Terrell Coles are not warranted or not advised, the report said.

Coles, 24, was employed as a deputy at the time of the shooting but was subsequently fired. He had been with the department since June 30, 2012.

There are few scenarios that I can imagine much more difficult than what Terrell had to deal with, said defense attorney Ed Riley. If it had just been Terrell that his brother was threatening, it may have not come to that. But when the gun was swung toward his fiancee and their child, it escalated to the point that he felt it was not only him in danger, it was them. And I think unfortunately and sadly, he didnt have a choice.

Riley praised Baskervill for carefully examining the circumstances of the case. To her credit, she really didnt shy away from her responsibility to ensure justice was done.

In her court filing, Baskervill provided this account of the shooting based on evidence, statements, interviews and body-camera footage:

Terrell Coles and his brother attended a neighborhood barbecue on Saturday, Aug. 20, and Brandon Coles became intoxicated. A dispute arose between the brothers about internal family issues related to criminal charges that had been filed against Brandon Coles in Petersburg, and that he had no stable address and was unemployed.

Terrell told his brother he was not heading down a good or safe path but remained supportive. But Brandon Coles remained defensive and aggressive.

Terrell Coles then left the gathering and walked a short distance home in the 15700 block of Allen Drive. He was inside the house with his fiancee and their infant child when Brandon Coles arrived a short time later.

Brandon Coles asked to borrow a phone charger, and Terrell Coles sent his brother into a bedroom to get one. When Brandon Coles returned, he was holding Terrell Coles service weapon issued by the Dinwiddie Sheriffs Office.

Terrell Coles instructed his brother to put the gun down, but Brandon Coles apparently refused and began making aggressive comments and gestures. Terrell Coles then walked into a bedroom to retrieve a second gun, his personal weapon, and ordered his brother to drop the other gun and leave.

But Brandon Coles continued to speak and gesture aggressively.

Fearing for his life and the life of his fiancee and child  and seeing no alternative  Terrell Coles fired his gun once. The shot struck Brandon Coles in the jugular area, killing him almost immediately.

Terrell Coles then immediately called 911 to report what happened and began to frantically administer CPR on his brother, begging him to stay with me and hang on. His frantic pleas can be heard on a recording of the 911 call he made to authorities, as well as a second call his fiancee made.

When the first deputies arrived at the scene, video footage from body cameras the officers were wearing showed Terrell Coles continuing to perform CPR and pleading with his brother to stay alive.

Terrells performance of CPR, captured on body camera footage by both first responding officers, is entirely medically correct, thus suggesting he was not impaired by intoxication, Baskervill wrote, adding that Terrell Coles had consumed some alcohol that evening.

One of the deputies recovered a gun near Brandon Coles body, which turned out to be Terrell Coles service pistol. The officer also recovered Terrell Coles personal firearm from a table in the kitchen.

Only one shell casing was found, and its location corroborated Terrell Coles version of events.

Given Terrells passionate focus on trying to save his brother, heard on the 911 calls and observed by the responding officers, and based on conclusions drawn by trained investigators, as well as the undersigned seasoned prosecutor, it is highly implausible  quite truly impossible  that Terrell had somehow staged or manipulated the scene in any self-serving way, Baskervill wrote.

In interviews with state police investigators, who conducted the investigation at the request of Dinwiddie Sheriff D.T. Duck Adams, Terrell Coles recounted the same events with consistent sincerity and credibility, the prosecutor said.

Such pure evidence of self-defense is quite rare, Baskervill wrote. Yet Terrells actions throughout the tragedy are remarkable in that they are exactly what one would expect an actor to do in a case of self-defense.
A King George County man accused of shooting at two Spotsylvania County Sheriff's deputies and wounding a police dog Sunday is in custody.

The Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office said Joseph Conway, 34, was arrested Monday night in Richmond. Conway is charged with two counts of attempted capital murder and possession of a firearm as a felon.

The sheriff has called a news conference for this afternoon to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, Dux, the K-9 dog Conway is accused of shooting, is expected to make a full recovery from two bullet wounds he received while trying to apprehend the suspect. Dux, a 2-year-old German shepherd from Hungary, is expected to be released from the animal hospital this week.

Sheriffs Maj. Troy Skebo said Dux is considered a hero among his law enforcement colleagues for his actions Sunday night.

K-9 Dux should be commended for his heroic actions during his attempt to capture a fleeing armed suspect, said Skebo. The outpouring of community support has been overwhelming and very much appreciated.

According to police, a county deputy stopped a vehicle shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday for a minor traffic infraction. The driver, Derek Williams, pulled into the Sheetz parking lot off Lafayette Boulevard and eventually was taken into custody without incident after police realized he was wanted in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania.

Police said Conway, a passenger in the car, got out of the vehicle and got into a physical altercation with the deputy before running off. Police have declined to say what spurred that confrontation, but Skebo said Conway was not wanted by police at that time.

A second deputy whod shown up to assist released Dux to go after the fleeing suspect. Sheriffs Capt. Jeff Pearce alleged that the suspect turned and began shooting at the dog and the deputies. The deputies were not injured.

Pearce said the deputies returned fire, but it appeared that the suspect was not hit. Police declined to say how close the deputies were to the suspect when the shooting began.

Spotsylvania deputies, assisted by dogs and officers from Fredericksburg, state police and the Stafford Sheriffs Office, surrounded the area and spent much of the night looking for Conway.

Police initially thought Conway was within the surrounded area, but by Monday Skebo said it was clear that Conway was well beyond that area.

He said detectives are still following up on every lead and tip and are anxious to take Conway into custody.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who campaigned this morning for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine at Virginia Commonwealth University, will be one of Kaine's guests at tonight's debate at Longwood University.

Jackson urged students to register to vote ahead of Virginia's Oct. 17 deadline.

In addition to Kaine's wife, former Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton and Kaine's parents, Al and Kathy, Kaine 's guests will include people who symbolize the push in Virginia for civil rights and gay rights.

Kaine's guests for the 9 p.m. debate include:

* Okianer Christian Dark - Kaine represented Dark when he was a young civil rights lawyer in Richmond. Dark, an African-American, was then a professor at the University of Richmond when she was denied an apartment based on the color of her skin. Kaine sued on her behalf and the case was settled out of court.

* Carol Schall, Mary Townley and Emily Schall Townley - Carol Schall and Mary Townley, a Chesterfield County couple, were in the forefront of the fight for same-sex marriage. Emily is their daughter.

In 2008, Carol Schall and Mary Townley legally married in San Francisco. But the 2006 amendment to Virginia's Constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman prohibited recognition of their marriage in Virginia. In 2013 they signed on to Bostic v. Rainey, the federal court case that ultimately succeeded in overturning Virginia's marriage amendment.

* Jackson, a civil rights leader for decades, is founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

* Henry L. Marsh III - Marsh, a former state senator, was the first African-American mayor of Richmond, elected by fellow members of the City Council in 1977. Kaine later served as a Richmond council member and mayor.

* Lily Habtu - She was a Virginia Tech student who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the April 2007 attack. Kaine, who was governor at the time, spoke at a memorial service on campus after the shootings and later signed an executive order to bar people found to be mentally ill from possessing guns.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., will also be at Longwood for the debate.
WASHINGTON

Only in the strangest-ever presidential election could a former beauty queens weight be considered a deal-breaking issue of, if I may, gargantuan proportions.

Pretend its two weeks ago: Who is Alicia Machado?

Now: How happy is Alicia Machado?

If I werent paid by the word, Id be speechless.

The former Miss Universe of 1996 has risen from the ashes of former fame to become the nom du jour thanks to some delight-inducing opposition research by the Clinton campaign. As everyone now knows, Donald Trump was once nasty to Machado, whose coronation as the most beautiful figure in the world apparently coincided with the arrival of her appetite.

According to Machado, who has appeared on numerous talk shows, Trump called her Miss Piggy, eating machine, and Miss Housekeeper, by which we are to infer that he was cruel, lacking in compassion  though he says he interceded when pageant officials wanted to fire her  and a classist, racist, misogynist ogre.

Im sorry. Who didnt know?

More baffling than the fact of the political twist well naturally call weightgate is the breathless, hand-over-mouth reaction, primarily, it must be said, among the media and the Clinton campaign  not that Trump hasnt participated in giving this story rather good legs.

News flash: Donald Trump was mean to a beauty queen, who, contra her contract, according to him, gained too much weight. Pardon, but have The Deeply Offended been circling the moon the past 20 years? Trump didnt suddenly become a jackass; he didnt suddenly begin treating women as chattel; he didnt suddenly show his nasty attitude toward those he considers beneath him.

If his long-ago comments to Machado, resurrected by a very clever Hillary Clinton during the first presidential debate, have provided enlightenment to anyone over the age of, say, 10, well then, just awesome sauce. For the rest of the polity, this is hardly revelation.

Its just ol Donald being ol Donald  then, still and always.

What makes this dusty offense resonate now?

Ostensibly, its because our daughters, our granddaughters, wives, sisters and selves have body-image issues. Thus it has always been, though lately (meaning the late 20th century to the present), weve become more attuned to how girls and women feel about their bodies  and, of course, what the president of the United States can do about it.

This isnt to make light of eating disorders, which are serious health concerns. But this episode in political unreality demands perspective. Plainly, Clinton tossed in the Machado tidbit knowing that Trump would seize the bait and get tangled in the nets. He cant help himself, as any witness to recent history knows.

That he would double- and triple-down, tweeting in the middle of the night four days later, is more than Clinton could have hoped for. Early Friday morning, Trump apparently couldnt sleep for thinking about it and tweeted that Clinton had been duped into mentioning his comments about the disgusting Machado.

Keep it up, Donnie, and Machado will have her own reality show before you get yours back.

Clintons expectation, which is somewhat sexist in itself, was to capture the womens vote by exposing Trumps bullying of Machado. This expose would be especially effective, presumably, because every woman in America has uttered the words: Does this make me look fat?

I once asked my father this question when, three months after giving birth and still wearing 30 extra pounds, I donned a cashmere poncho with Western-ish markings to greet friends I hadnt seen in years. He sized me up and replied: No, you look like three Indians in a teepee. We died laughing. The old man raised us to survive a harsh world but not so much with sensitivity training.

Clinton also hoped to gain the support of millennials, who, were told, are more recent to the body-image struggle  just possibly exaggerated by constant self-documentation?  and are also more sensitive to older generations attachment to stereotypes and -isms.

Whether voting-age women will clamor to vote Clinton because of remarks Trump made nearly 20 years ago will keep the commentariat chewing the fat for a bit. The meat of the matter, meanwhile, is what Trumps remarks then and now tell us what is crucial in a presidential election: The man cant control himself.

This should be enough.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering farm ownership microloans, creating a new financing avenue for farmers to buy and improve property. These microloans are especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, U.S. veterans looking for a career in farming, and those who have small and mid-sized farming operations.

The microloan program, which celebrates its third anniversary this month, has been hugely successful, providing more than 16,800 low-interest loans, totaling over $373 million to producers across the country. Microloans have helped farmers and ranchers with operating costs, such as feed, fertilizer, tools, fencing, equipment, and living expenses since 2013. Seventy percent of loans have gone to new farmers.

Now, microloans will be available to also help with farm land and building purchases, and soil and water conservation improvements. FSA designed the expanded program to simplify the application process, expand eligibility requirements and expedite smaller real estate loans to help farmers strengthen their operations. Microloans provide up to $50,000 to qualified producers, and can be issued to the applicant directly from the USDA Farm Service Agency.

This microloan announcement is another USDA resource for Americas farmers and ranchers to utilize, especially as new and beginning farmers and ranchers look for the assistance they need to get started. To learn more about the FSA microloan program visit www.fsa.usda.gov/microloans, or contact your local FSA office. To find your nearest office location, visit http://offices.usda.gov.

Submitted by Jean Hazlegrove
Six hundred Salem and Roanoke fourth graders are converging on local parks Oct. 4-5 as the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy kicked off Roanoke River Days, a week of fun and educational programs.

Roanoke River Days are hands-on, feet in the water, SOL-based field days for area elementary school students to learn about clean water, from the mountains to the coast.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, students from all four Salem elementary schools are meeting at Roanoke Countys Green Hill Park to rotate through educational stations. Theyll see what lives under rocks and in the mud in the Roanoke River, learn about the importance of trees, play nature games and discover how pollution gets into our waterways.

Were very excited to offer  Salem students this opportunity, said Meagan Cupka of the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy, the organizer of the event. Living at the top of the Roanoke River watershed means we have an obligation to keep the water clean as it journeys to North Carolinas Albemarle Sound. Teaching children about keeping our water safe for drinking and recreation is so important, because these are the ones who will make decisions about our environment in the future.

The Roanoke River Days program reinforces lessons taught in the classroom by fourth grade teachers and helps students meet the requirements for certain SOLs.

The Roanoke River Days program began with a similar program in Botetourt Countys Chesapeake Bay watershed called Bay Day, now in its fifth year. That program is funded by Virginias Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund through Chesapeake Bay license plate fees. The Blue Ridge Land Conservancy expanded the program to Floyd County with a New River focus in the spring thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of the New River Valley, and will host Roanoke County students at Camp Roanoke later this month. The Roanoke County program is funded by a grant from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

For more information, contact Meagan Cupka at 589-3109 or email mcupka@brlcva.org.

Submitted by David Perry
Standing between two 18-wheelers in the parking lot of a trucking company near Ashland, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said hes looking forward to heading a little further south Tuesday morning for a little bit of a debate with Democratic counterpart Tim Kaine.

"Hillary Clinton's record on foreign affairs alone could take up the whole 90 minutes. And it wouldnt be a pretty picture, Pence said Monday to a crowd of hundreds at a rally held at the Cox Transportation Services facility in Hanover County.

While the Indiana governor said he expects much of the vice presidential debate, which will be held on the campus of Longwood University in Farmville, to focus on the visions and the choice at the top of the ticket, hes also hoping to contrast his record with Kaines time as governor of Virginia.

"When Tim Kaine was governor, he couldnt get a roads bill passed, Pence said. In Indiana, we're the crossroads of America. I actually signed into law $2.5 billion in roads and bridges and infrastructure for Indiana.

The campaigns only vice presidential debate comes in another troublesome week for Donald Trump, who is fending off new questions about his taxes after The New York Times reported over the weekend that the businessman claimed a $915 million loss in 1995. The Clinton campaign referenced the tax story in a statement on Pences Ashland stop.

This week in Virginia, Mike Pence will have to defend Trumps offensive statements and reckless business practices that devastated working families and communities, said Clinton campaign spokeswoman Sarah Peck.

As he opened his 30-minute speech that focused largely on familiar themes of American strength, law and order, and the economy, Pence laughed as he said the media is doing half of Hillary Clintons work for her.

"It is kind of funny. It's like almost every day they come up with something new and different, Pence said.

It's like: 'Now we've got him. He said this. We can parse that. He tweeted this. And they think theyve finally got him, and then they turn on the television the next morning and Donald Trump is still standing stronger than ever before and fighting for the American people.

In an interview before the rally, Rep. Dave Brat, R-7th , also mentioned media bias when asked for his thoughts on the state of the race and the widespread perception that Trump lost the first debate with Clinton.

"Trump is correct. The system is rigged. I couldn't get any press and any stories and I beat the House majority leader, Brat said, referring to his shocking 2014 primary win over Eric Cantor.

Addressing the crowd before Pence Brat called Ashland the epicenter of that campaign and said the presidential race boils down to which side will be better for small business. He compared his 100 score from the National Federation of Independent Business with the groups 17 rating for Kaine.

Brat also offered a brief analysis of what Republicans will have to do to win Virginia for the Trump/Pence ticket.

"Fairfax County has a million people. How are they going to be voting up there with all the cronies and lobbyists and lawyers?, Brat said. We have to outnumber that vote. The 7th District and the rest of the state has to outperform. So I think I'm going to do OK. But that's not what matters tonight.

John Cox, the trucking companys founder and a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, said the business he started in 1982 wouldnt have succeeded without the deregulation of the trucking industry. A similar endeavor today, he said, wouldnt be so easy.

People want to be left alone to seek their own American dream just as I did a little over three decades ago, said Cox, who didnt run for re-election in the 55th House District in 2013 and recently passed his company to new leadership.

Pence seemed to acknowledge that he lacks Trumps star power, saying his running mate is charismatic, bigger than life, very interesting.  And then theres me.

But he added that he and Trump have similar family stories, noting that they are both descendants of immigrants and self-made businessmen.

"We were both raised to believe that to whom much is given, much will be required, Pence said.
FARMVILLE  When Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Gov. Mike Pence face off at Longwood University on Tuesday for the first and only vice presidential debate, university President Taylor Reveley will not be in the audience.

With limited seating in Willett Hall for the debate  about 500 seats, with 100 of those designated for students, Reveley gave up his ticket so one more Longwood student could attend the historic event.

President Revely is going to do his opening remarks tomorrow and then he is going to leave the debate hall so a student can have his seat, Longwood senior Alex Jolly said. I just think thats something you wouldnt find somewhere else. When he said that last night, it made me truly proud to be a Lancer.

As more than 2,000 members of the local, national and international media converge on Farmville  a town of about 8,000 people  for the debate, the town and university have been thrust into the political spotlight with a little more than a month left until Election Day.

Students milled about campus Monday as crews from national news stations set up sound equipment, lighting and stages from which network anchors will analyze the 90-minute debate moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News.

Students on Stubbs Mall stood in line for free Longwood T-shirts, and plastic, party sunglasses as they waited for comedy troupe Second City to kick-off a performance on stage.

The shirts read: History is made at Longwood University.

While Longwood students are out of class as part of a weeklong fall break, many returned to campus before debate activities kicked off on Sunday. That evening included a pop-rock concert and the lottery for coveted student tickets into the debate hall on Tuesday.

About 800 students registered for tickets and more than that are volunteering in some capacity to help with various debate events. Longwood, a public university, has about 5,000 students.

I got really excited watching the first presidential debate and hearing Longwood University on national television, graduate student Michelle Kassel said. It was like a one sentence shout-out, but it was like this is real and its happening here.

As Kassel and her friends waited in line for a caricature picture of their group, they cautioned reporters against stepping on blue drawings of the Longwood Rotunda painted on campus sidewalks.

Dont step on the spirit of Longwood, one of them hooted.

The debate in Kaines home state will be the third presidential or vice presidential debate to take place in Virginia. President George H.W. Bush debated Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton in 1992 at the University of Richmond and Jimmy Carter took on President Gerald Ford at the College of William and Mary in 1976.

The Commission on Presidential Debates selected Longwood for the vice presidential debate more than six months before Hillary Clinton selected Kaine as her running mate.

Since then, Longwood has invested more than $4 million into campus improvements and covered the university with red, white and blue banners commemorating the momentous occasion.

Away from all the media fanfare Monday, several people strolled through the Robert Russa Moton Museum devoted to the civil rights movement that helped bring the vice presidential debate to Farmville.

The debate commission chose Farmville and Longwood for the debate, in part, because of the towns Civil War and civil rights history.

The Civil War wound down on the north side of Longwoods campus just before Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered down the road in Appomattox.

On the south end of campus, 16-year-old Barbara Johns and her fellow students walked out of their all-black high school in 1951 because of the conditions of their school compared with white schools. The school was turned into a museum about 20 years ago.

Joan Johns Cobbs was 13 years old when her sister incited 455 students to walk out of the high school, an incident that eventually became one of five cases across the country incorporated into the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.

I didnt dare not follow because she was bossy, Cobbs said Monday. Cobbs, the shy sister in the family, worried about how her parents would react when they heard about the walk-out. They were shocked, but Cobbs said the behavior was not unusual for her free-spirited sister.

After the Supreme Court ruled that separate was not equal in public education, Prince Edward County closed its public schools for five years in an attempt to fight desegregation.

Johns story isnt well-known beyond Farmville, said Cainan Townsend, the museums director of education and public programs. The spotlight of the vice presidential debate can shed more light on the towns complicated and compelling history, he said.

The museum is launching a civil rights walking tour Tuesday to coincide with the debate. The tour will visit historic locations across town that correspond to Johns 13-year legal fight for equality.

Im glad Farmville will start to be known for more than the Facebook game, Townsend said.

The vice presidential debate will air from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on all major television networks and some cable channels. The debate will be split into nine 10-minute segments on a various topics.
RICHMOND  Several dozen demonstrators launched the first of three planned days of picketing at the Capitol on Monday, taking aim at Gov. Terrys McAuliffes support for a pair of controversial pipelines and what was seen as tacit endorsement of coal-ash pond closures that critics contend dont go far enough to protect ground and surface water.

Im down here because Im interested in protecting our environment, said Scott Ziemer, 66, a retired builder from Crozet. I think we should be moving to keep oil and gas in the ground.  I think we could do more. I think Terry could do more. This is our biggest issue facing us as people. Its not going away. Its going to get worse.

Chanting Yes you can stop the pipelines, yes you can stop the coal ash, and Yes you can save our coastlines, the protest, organized by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a Maryland-based nonprofit dedicated to fighting global warming, wound its away around the Capitol, passing the Executive Mansion and picketing on Broad Street until about 1 p.m.

Were here to say, Governor, you have not heard our voices on the coastlines, you have not heard our voices in Northern Virginia, you have not heard our voices in the mountains, you have not heard our voices in Virginias great cities, so we are bringing our voices to you today,  said Mike Tidwell, the groups founder and director.

Brian Coy, a spokesman for the governor, said McAuliffe has met with the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Southern Environmental Law Center on Dominions proposed 600-mile, roughly $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which will run from the Marcellus shale fields of West Virginia through Virginia to the southeastern coast and into North Carolina.

Another pipeline, the EQT-developed Mountain Valley Pipeline, would extend almost 300 miles from Wetzel County, W.Va., to an pipeline hub in Pittsylvania County.

Members of his administration, including his natural resources team, have had many additional meetings with a wide variety of groups on the issue, Coy said. In fact, administration staff met last week with the SELC and the Shenandoah Valley Network. They have also met with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Appalachian Voices. The governor and his staff continue to engage with groups and individuals from all perspectives on these issues.

Organizers said the protest drew nearly 50 people from across the state, including Nelson, Buckingham and Augusta counties, all along the path of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, which includes a compressor station in Buckingham County.

We have sinkholes all over Augusta County. Its going to be a disaster, said Mary Louise Fisher, who lives about 10 miles south of Staunton and is a member of the Augusta County Alliance, a group opposed to the pipeline.

McAuliffe said on a radio program last week that, even if he wanted to, he couldnt stop the pipeline project, which is in the midst of a lengthy environmental review process by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Kelly Trout, a spokeswoman for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said activists want McAuliffe to take his thumb off the scale of regulatory decisions on water and air quality permits by state agencies on the pipeline project, which was the focus of the first day of the protest.

We appreciate that there are many different views on the pipeline, said Aaron Ruby, a Dominion spokesman. There are some folks who are opposed. But there are tens of thousands of people and businesses from across Virginia who support this pipeline.

And they recognize that this project is vitally important to allowing Virginia to transition to cleaner sources of electricity to provide home heating for a growing population and attract new industries so our economy can grow and we can create good-paying jobs.

Tuesday will focus on plans to close coal-ash ponds in the state, which have been triggered by new federal regulations governing storage of the waste from coal-fired power generation. Dominion Virginia Power is closing ponds at four facilities and Appalachian Power is closing ponds at two.

Dominion and Virginias Department of Environmental Quality have insisted that the permit process, which heretofore has governed draining and treating water from the ponds prior to discharge into waterways like the James River and Quantico Creek, will protect human health and aquatic life.

The third day will focus on the risks posed by rising sea levels.
By Olof Swahnberg and Helena Soderpalm

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ericsson <ERICb.ST> is cutting about a fifth of its Swedish workforce and hundreds of consultants as demand for its network equipment shrinks and competition from China's Huawei <HWT.UL> and Finland's Nokia <NOK1V.HE> intensifies.

The 3,900 job cuts remove most of Ericsson's remaining manufacturing presence at home, where it had 5 percent of global production, and come before it has found a new chief executive to replace Hans Vestberg, who was pushed out in late July as major investors revolted over the Swedish firm's performance.

Failure to offset waning demand for telecom equipment has caused Ericsson shares to lose a quarter of their value this year and politicians and unions had scrambled in recent weeks to save jobs at the company, which was founded in 1876 as a maker of telegraph equipment and is one of Sweden's biggest employers with a global staff of 116,500.

"It is a knife in the heart," Swedish Enterprise Minister Mikael Damberg said on Tuesday. "I feel for the affected families and municipalities."

Ericsson still has the backing of prominent Swedish investors, the Wallenberg family-backed Investor <INVEb.ST> and Industrivarden <INDUa.ST>, but is under growing pressure for being too slow to take full advantage of the global explosion in data traffic, enterprise networking and cloud computing.

Last year, the company joined forces with U.S.-based Internet router maker Cisco <CSCO.O> to fill a gap in its product line and sell combined network solutions to bolster sales.

But the partnership has yet to announce any major sales breakthrough and some investors have expressed concern over whether the collaboration will deliver.

Ericsson's <ERICb.ST> deputy head of strategy Mikael Back said new product innovation was a bit slower than anticipated although the partnership was going largely according to plan.

Story continues

"A little bit of what I think people are disappointed about is that the creation of fantastic new things is taking a longer time than we had expected," Back, who has served as deputy head of Ericsson's strategy for over four years and first joined the company in 1994, told Reuters.

The Cisco tie-up is a test of Ericsson management's claim that it does not need a big merger to match Nokia's acquisition of Alcatel Lucent.

"There isn't a silver bullet which can solve everything," Back said when asked about big M&A, adding that organic growth remained at Ericsson's core.

Ericsson and Cisco aim to generate an extra $1 billion in sales apiece by 2018 by integrating IP and wireless solutions and collaborating to create new products, an ambition acting CEO Jan Frykhammar said still stands.

PIGGY BACKING?

In its quarterly report in July, Ericsson said that through its partnership with Cisco more than 30 deals had been closed to date, a good start towards reaching its 2018 sales target.

However, some worry about the lack of real sales figures to prove the partnership is working.

"It is difficult to say what it generates sales-wise, if Cisco helps and sells or if they just piggy back on Ericsson," said Inge Heydorn, a fund manager at Sentat Asset Management which invests in telecom and IT shares globally but currently holds no Ericsson shares. "Because this is not known...there is definitely a concern."

One former high-ranking manager at Ericsson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he sees problems with the partnership as both firms sell directly to some key telecoms operators and sales cooperation is difficult.

A more limited fixed line partnership with Cisco in 2004 failed to generate any real value due to disagreements between sales forces, he said.

Back said this time both firms had been working on better cooperation.

"For the team out in the field, it may not be natural to cooperate from day one, so we must push them and Cisco must push them. But I think we saw that problem very early," he said.

Ericsson said in addition to 3,000 job cuts in production, research and development and sales, 900 consultancy positions will go. But to soften the blow, it will hire about 1,000 researchers and developers in Sweden over the next three years.

In July, Ericsson said it would step up efficiency measures due to a tough market, having already announced a 9 billion Swedish crown ($1.1 billion) cost-cutting programme in 2014.

(Additional reporting by Johan Sennero and writing by Mia Shanley, Editing by Mark Potter and Alexander Smith)
The year 2016 is all about referendums in several countries and their adverse impact on stock markets. In June, Brexit derailed the global market momentum (read: UK Votes for Brexit: ETFs Winners & Losers). And now it is a NO vote to a peace accord between Colombia's government and the country's largest rebel movement  the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)  that can deal a blow to regional securities. However, the extent of damage should be of a lesser scale than what we saw during the Brexit referendum.

On October 2, Colombians discarded a peace pact between the government and the FARC by a narrow margin, with 50.2% of the population being against a peace agreement and 49.8% favoring it. Bloomberg noted that the turnout was only 37%. The outcome came as a shock as several polls indicated at least 60% Yes votes.

As soon as the Colombian voters rejected the peace accord, Colombia ETF Global X MSCI Colombia ETF GXG dropped more than 2.2% on October 3. This is because this negative outcome means a return to a five-decade conflict, as per President Juan Manuel Santos.

The poll was to decide if the guerrilla army should be considered in Congress and agricultural reform and be offered lesser punishments for crimes if they surrender their weapons, as per Bloomberg.

Why Was a Yes Vote Important to Market?

One of the directives of the accord was solid investment in rural areas. Since Colombias economic progress has so far been limited to the urban section, an overhaul in rural lands should boost economic activities and thus Colombian equities. Also, yes voters expected a step-up in social programs, including health and education, as well as infrastructure development.

However, the opposition, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, may consider lighter penalties for several former FARC leaders, who were accused of crimes like drug trafficking and kidnapping. However, they cannot be exempted from punishment.

Story continues

Market Impact

The outcome of the referendum results wreaked havoc on government bonds and the currency peso. Market watchers main worry is that with lesser support, president Santos might find it difficult to pursue the tax legislation  slated for October  required to fix issues in public finances, going by an article published in Bloomberg (read: 4 Best ETFs to Buy for Q4).

According to the finance ministry, Colombia would see one percentage point higher growth rate every year, if the FARC did not frighten away investors and the war did not shift government spending away from more fruitful uses.

Since during the peace treaty, terror threats cooled off a bit in Colombia, markets had reasons to cheer for the yes vote. Notably, the Colombian GDP grew 0.20% in the second quarter of 2016 over the prior quarter. GDP growth rate in Colombia averaged 1.04% from 2001 until 2016, as per tradingeconomics.

ETF Movements

GXG is up 24.4% so far this year (as of October 3, 2016) while iShares MSCI Colombia Capped (ICOL) has added about 22.7% in the year-to-date frame (as of October 3, 2016). ICOL shed about 3.3% on October 3, 2016 (read: Best Latin America ETF Bets for 2H16).

What Lies Ahead?

Since the president called for a meeting between all political parties including the no clan on how to move ahead from this stage, investors can expect more events in this peace agreement going forward. Apart from political doldrums, Colombia ETFs would seek support from commodity prices as the country is a solid destination to play any surge in the oil, gold, coal and coffee. Thanks to the latest OPEC move on a likely oil output cut in November, Colombia ETFs may see gains ahead if oil prices keep rising (read: 3 Country ETFs Soaring on Hopes of Oil Output Curb).

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THE level of detail an alleged child abuse victim gave in evidence about defendants who claim they have never met her was pretty impressive, a prosecutor told a jury.



In her closing speech at the trial of eight men on child sex offences, Miss Michelle Colborne said the issues between the prosecution and defence were that defendant Sageer Hussain says hes not the Siggy who befriended and raped the woman.



Miss Colborne continued: Ishtiaq Khaliq - he says he's not the Ishy who behaved the way described by the three female complainants.



Asif Ali is not the Ali who raped the central complainant and Mohammed Whied says hes not the Whiddy who sat on the bonnet of his car and encouraged Siggy to rape her as well.



These four men say they are not the men the central complainant describes, yet they all fit the description of them given you may think.



The court has previously heard Ali, Whied, and Sageer were cousins.



They are on trial at Sheffield Crown Court with five other men for sexual offences said to have occurred in 2003 when the central complainant was 13.



Khaliq is also charged with indecently assauting two other women between 1999 and 2001, which he denies.



Miss Colborne said the men all fitted the nicknames, ages, areas they lived in Rotherham and family information the main complainant, now 27, gave.



This information came from the woman, not from any media coverage, said Miss Colborne, who added that despite the complainant not picking Whied out on a police ID parade, she had still given other correct details about him.



The prosecutor said the alleged victims level of detail was pretty impressive if she had never met Ali or Whied.



Miss Colborne said: Asif Ali confirmed in his evidence, because neither Sageer nor Whied got in the witness box, that the three were cousins, close in age and that hes the son of Qurban Ali, who is blind.



The prosecutor added that the complainant even pointed out to the police that they had arrested the wrong Ali during their investigations.



Why did she stop police arresting the wrong man if she's just making life difficult for men in general? asked Miss Colborne.



Miss Colborne said Sageers barrister would argue she identified him as her abuser because she had seen him on television in around 2014, but that this defence was flawed because she had told police in 2003 that Sageer had raped her.



Sageer shook his head throughout the prosecutors speech.



Miss Colborne added that co-defendant Basharat Hussains defence would argue she had never met him, but the jury had already heard he has convictions against two different girls for what the complainant has accused him of doing  sexual assault in his blue Subaru car.



It assists you in assessing these convictions make it more likely shes telling the truth and has identified the right man, the prosecutor said.



Miss Colborne asked the jury to think about the evidence given by the central complainants parents about how they had received threats, pleaded with authorities for help and moved abroad to escape the men's clutches on their daughter.



If she had made it all up, if everything was a lie, who were these men phoning the house? Her mobile phone? the prosecutor asked.



Who were the men threatening to gang-rape her mum if she had made it all up?



For two years the family were telling social services, the police, anyone that would listen that their daughter was suffering.



She needed psychiatric help, was home schooled, suffered from mental health difficulties.



If she has made it up, shes watched her family suffer, let her parents sell their home, their business, leave the UK all for lies about men who say they have never met her.



Defence counsel for each of the eight defendants will begin their closing speeches to the jury tomorrow.



The defendants deny all the charges.



The trial continues.



Child sex abuse trial: the defendants and charges


Mountain Province Diamonds announces 3Q 2022 production and sales results Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. has announced production and sales results for the third quarter ended September 30, from the Gahcho Kue Diamond Mine. According to the company, 1,451,455 carats recovered, 7% lower than Q3 2021, and a 15% increase...

Hong Kongs jewellery export dips 17.6% in September Hong Kongs government data revealed that exports of jewellery, goldsmiths and silversmiths wares were down 23.1 per cent year on year to HK$18.24 bn which is around $2.32 bn during September 2022.

Diamcor more than doubles Q2 revenue Diamcor generated gross revenues of about $3 million from its operations in the interim period ended September 30, 2022, compared to $1,4 million for the same period in the previous year. The company is still conducting trial mining exercises at its...

IBJA commits to Declaration of Responsibility & Sustainability Principles The Indian gold industry has signed a Declaration of Responsibility and Sustainability Principles, convened by the LBMA and the World Gold Council, which expresses a commitment to operate responsibly and sustainably, based on a clear set of shared goals...
Our technologies  CVD machines and growing technology  are game changers, asserts Arnaud Flambeau, Executive Chairman, 2DOT4 Diamonds LLC Arnaud Flambeau is the Executive Chairman of 2DOT4 Diamonds LLC, Dubai, a fully integrated lab-grown diamonds company. The Company provides rough 'as grown' diamonds, in-house polished IGI certified loose polished diamonds and high-quality...

Stargems brings the DaVinci system to Botswana Stargems, which was founded by Shailesh Javeri in 1981, has diversified into manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and tendering or auctioning of diamonds and diamond jewellery.

It is also one of the leading players in the manufacturing, wholesaling...

Coloured diamonds are the best investment option if anyone would like to invest in diamonds Dr Sergio Calqueiro, the President and Managing Director of the Dubai-based Foz Gold & Diamonds Trading has been dealing in polished diamonds, gold, Import & Export, International trade and development for the past six-plus years. Sergio is also the...

What Jagersfontein diamond mine staff should have done to avoid the dam wall collapse A mine dam wall at South Africas Jagersfontein diamond mine in Free State province recently collapsed twice within two weeks, killing one person and damaging properties. The dam at the disused mine held liquid waste from a tailings reprocessing operation...
South Korea landed a current account surplus of $5.51 billion in August, the Bank of Korea said on Tuesday - following the $8.67 billion surplus in July.

The goods account surplus narrowed to $7.30 billion, compared to $10.78 billion in July.

The services account deficit shrank to $1.45 billion, from $1.53 billion the month before.

The primary income account surplus widened from $0.05 billion in July to $0.61 billion in August, in line with an improvement in the income on equity account.

The secondary income account saw a $0.94 billion deficit.

The financial account showed a $7.70 billion increase in net assets in August.

There was a $2.16 billion expansion in assets in the direct investment, after their $2.20 billion growth in July. Direct investment liabilities increased by $1.66 billion compared to the $1.25 billion increase in the month previous.

Portfolio investment assets grew by $8.37 billion in August, up from their $4.62 billion expansion in July. Portfolio investment liabilities meanwhile showed an increase of $1.62 billion, down from $4.53 billion the month before.

Financial derivatives posted a net decrease of $1.18 billion.

In the other investment there were increases of $1.84 billion in assets and $3.31 billion in liabilities.

Reserve assets expanded by $3.09 billion.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Shares of Dynavax Technologies Corp. (DVAX) rose as much as 26% on Monday on news that the company has received anticipated requests for information from the FDA review team in connection with the pending Biologics License Application for HEPLISAV-B Hepatitis B Vaccine.

The company noted that the review team's questions are in line with its expectations.

Last month, the FDA notified the company of the cancellation of the Advisory Committee meeting to review HEPLISAV-B Biologics License Application, which was scheduled for November 16, 2016. The FDA had also informed then that the remaining questions will be addressed between Dynavax and the review team via the normal process.

The FDA's final decision on HEPLISAV-B is slated for December 15, 2016.

DVAX closed Monday's trading at $12.48, up 18.97%.

Dermira Inc.'s (DERM) phase III trial of CIMZIA in adult patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis has met the trial goals.

In the trial, dubbed CIMPASI-2, CIMZIA demonstrated statistically significant improvements in two co-primary endpoints say, the percentage of patients who achieved a 75% or greater disease improvement from baseline and the percentage of patients achieving at least a two-point improvement on a five-point Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) scale to a final score representing clear or almost clear skin, at week 16.

Two more phase III trials of CIMZIA are underway, and results from these trials are expected by the end of the first quarter of 2017.

CIMZIA is currently approved and marketed by Belgium-based biopharmaceutical firm UCB Pharma S.A. for the treatment of numerous inflammatory diseases in multiple countries, including the United States. The drug is not approved for psoriasis. In July 2014, UCB granted Dermira an exclusive license to develop Cimzia in psoriasis in the USA, Canada and the European Union.

DERM closed Monday's trading 3.58% higher at $35.03.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (JAZZ) has initiated a rolling submission of the New Drug Application for Vyxeos, an investigational agent for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. The company expects to complete the submission of the NDA by early 2017, and will request a priority review.

Vyxeos came under Jazz' fold when it acquired Celator Pharmaceuticals in July 2016.

Vyxeos, if approved, would be the first new treatment demonstrating a significant advancement in treating AML in over 20 years, noted Jazz.

JAZZ closed Monday's trading at $121.91, up 0.35%.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MACK) is laying off 20% of its workforce immediately, and eliminating more than $200 million in expected costs over the next two years as a major part of restructuring.

In line with this restructuring, the Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of President and CEO Robert Mulroy, effective immediately. Gary Crocker, Chairman of the Board, has taken over as interim President and CEO.

MACK closed Monday's trading at $6.04, down 4.88%.

Shares of Spectral Medical Inc. (EDTXF.OB) (EDT.TO) plunged nearly 85% on Monday as its phase III pivotal trial of Toraymyxin medical device for the treatment of patients with septic shock did not statistically achieve its primary end point of absolute reduction in mortality at 28 days.

However, the clinical data demonstrates a positive benefit for patients in septic shock and a significant improvement in cardiovascular function was observed, says the company.

The company plans to meet with FDA to discuss regulatory pathway towards potential approval for Toraymyxin.

Toraymyxin is designed for the extracorporeal treatment of whole blood, to selectively adsorb endotoxin present in the circulation.

EDTXF.OB closed Monday's trading at $0.19, down 84.64%.

VIVUS Inc. (VVUS) has granted Metuchen Pharmaceuticals LLC, a fully-paid, perpetual license for exclusive rights to commercialize STENDRA in the U.S., Canada, South America and India, and has received $70 million in return.

STENDRA was approved by the FDA in April 2012 for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in the United States and sold under the trade name SPEDRA in the European Union.

The rights to commercialize STENDRA in the U.S. and Canada and their territories were previously held by Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Endo International, plc, (ENDP).

In December 2015, Auxilium notified VIVUS of its intention to return the U.S. and Canadian commercial rights for STENDRA. The license agreement between Auxilium and VIVUS for STENDRA U.S. and Canadian commercial rights was terminated on September 30, 2016.

VVUS closed Monday's trading at $1.15, up 0.88%.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Ericsson (ERIC) said that it plans to cut 3,000 jobs in Sweden as it curbs production to cope with shifting and stagnant demand for wireless-network equipment. But, the company said it intends to recruit about 1,000 R&D positions in Sweden over the coming three years, mainly from universities, to support the company's competence buildup in new technology and customer domains.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Chief Strategy and Chief Technology Officer, said, "We have a clear goal that our R&D in Sweden should be world leading, not least in next generation systems. In the short term we have to reduce the number of positions in R&D, primarily within administrative roles. At the same time our intention is to bring in new competence in new technologies. Therefore, we intend to recruit approximately 1,000 engineers in Sweden, primarily from universities, over the coming three years."

Ericsson today has about 16,000 employees in Sweden. The proposed reduction affects about 3,000 positions, of which about 1,000 positions in production, approximately 800 in R&D and about 1,200 in other operations.

The proposed reductions will impact operations on the following sites in Sweden: Boras, Goteborg, Karlskrona, Kumla, Linkoping and Stockholm. Ericsson intends to make significant reductions of operations in Boras and Kumla.

Ericsson noted that it will also make general cost reductions and take out external costs, primarily by reducing the number of consultants in Sweden by 900, but also through general reductions in operating expenses.

Union consultations on the proposed changes in Sweden are ongoing. The process will have a step by step approach and, for the majority of the operations, is expected to be concluded during the first quarter of 2017. The process related to the operations in Boras and Kumla is expected to be concluded during the second half of 2017.

Ericsson intends to continue the discussions with the Swedish union representatives about the need for competence development, flexibility and transformation.

The cost and efficiency program targeting savings of SEK 9 billion during 2017, is progressing according to plan. In addition, the company announced on July 19, 2016, additional activities to reduce the annual run rate of operating expenses, excluding restructuring charges, to SEK 53 billion in the second half of 2017. This is to be compared with SEK 63 billion for full-year 2014 and equates to double the previously targeted savings in operating expenses. At the same time, the company announced its intention to intensify activities to reduce cost of sales and adapt operations to a weaker mobile broadband market.

Total restructuring charges for 2016 are, as previously communicated, estimated to

SEK 4 billion - SEK 5 billion.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
October 4 is celebrated as National Taco Day, and you can grab deeply discounted tacos, free sides like chips and salsa and even taco-theme greeting cards.

Chevy's Fresh Mex, Taco Bell, Green Leaf's, Qdoba and many other Mexican themed restaurants are offering deals for today.

Chevy's Fresh Mex is conducting a contest at the Clifton and Linden, New Jersey locations to celebrate National Taco Day. Any customer who finishes a 4-pound taco within 30 minutes will earn free tacos for one year.

Meanwhile, Del Taco is offering three value tacos for $1.29 between 3pm to 11pm at participating Del Taco locations. Green Leaf's will give one free Baja Street Taco to every customers who spends $5. Taco Bell will give special greeting cards. Qdoba Mexican Eats is offering free drink or an order of chips and salsa with entree.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
With just five weeks to go until the U.S. presidential elections, investors are still uncertain who will take the White House: Trump or Clinton.

But investment banking giant Credit Suisse says theres at least one way for investors to protect themselves in both scenarios: Bet on the defense sector.

We believe that defense stocks embody a large number of our favorite themes and offer some hedge to the U.S. presidential election and increasing global political tensions, the team of analysts led by Andrew Garthwaite wrote in a Monday note to clients, saying the hedge would be strongest against a Donald Trump presidency.

The team noted that both Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have suggested raising the military spending cap. Trump has expressed plans to increase defense spending by 15%. Those funds would go toward increasing active Army and Marine troops, as well as boosting the number of fighter crafts in the Air Force by 100 to 1,200, and building another 75 surface ships and submarines for the Navy for a total of 350.

That would result in another $80 billion to $90 billion in additional spending from Obamas 2017 defemse budget, Garthwaite wrote.

Trump has also suggests that under his presidency, the U.S. would back NATO members only if they too increased military by 2%.

Hillary Clinton on the other hand has been more vague regarding her military spending policies, though the candidate has been known for her more hawkish policies during her time as Secretary of State. During the campaign cycle, Clinton has also suggested raising the spending cap by ending defense sequester cuts for both defense and non-defense in a balanced way on her website. Clinton has also voiced support for net-centric warfare, which suggests investments in technology that strengthens information sharing among U.S. military branches.

More From Fortune on Investing During the Presidential Elections:

Story continues

Additionally, military spending is also likely to ramp up outside the U.S, as global political tension continuing mounting, the Credit Suisse team wrote. Russia and China have been continuing their joint naval exercises, while in June, NATO countries conducted the largest war games in Eastern Europe since the Cold War. Despite pressure to lower their budget deficits, many European countries have also continued to increase defense spending. Last year, 16 NATO member states decided to increase defense spending. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently appointed a defense minister known to be rather hawkish, Tomomi Inada.

Credit Suisse listed three U.S. traded Buy stocks that can report defense as more than 50% of their revenue: , , and .

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
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 ...
By AFP

The Four Seasons flagship hotel in Toronto was sold to Shahid Khan, the Pakistani-American businessman by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal for R2.3 billion ($225 million Canadian dollars)



Toronto - Its business as usual at the luxury Four Seasons hotel in Toronto, where one super-wealthy foreign owner has replaced another, in a deal worth R2.3 billion ($225 million Canadian dollars)

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's company sells the Four Seasons hotel in Toronto for R2.3 billion ($225 million Canadian dollars, $170m USD)

Kingdom Holding Company said it sold the hotel to Shahid Khan, the Pakistani-American businessman who founded auto parts maker Flex-N-Gate and owns English Premier League club Fulham.

KHC said it had made a profit of 17 million Canadian dollars from the sale of the hotel, which it bought four years ago for 200 million Canadian dollars.

"This transaction marks yet another success for KHC's value realisation strategy from our high-quality hospitality investments," said Prince Alwaleed.

"We are particularly pleased to be passing ownership of this property to Mr. Shahid Khan who is known for his passion for the Four Seasons brand," he said in a statement.

"Kingdom continues to be a stakeholder in this asset through our interest in the management company Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts which will continue to operate the hotel."

Prince Alwaleed owns 95 percent of KHC, a vast global investor with shares in the Euro Disney theme park, Apple, News Corporation and the US banking giant, Citigroup.

The company also owns a string of luxury hotels including the George V in Paris.
Our leaders are sleepwalking, thats how Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International, describes the reaction of world leaders to the refugee crisis.

More than 65 million people have been driven from their homeswhich is more than any time since World War II. Among them are more than 21 million refugees from three countries ravaged by war Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Shetty tells Yahoo Finance that Septembers United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants ended in abject failure because leaders missed an opportunity to make specific commitments to help end the suffering of refugees across the world.

Days later, US president Barack Obamas Leaders Summit on Refugees in New York did only slightly better, according to Shetty, but still fell far short of what is needed to address the global refugee crisis.

States attending Obamas summit committed to increase funding by $4.5 billion. Fifty-one US companies also pledged to donate, invest, or raise more than $650 million in aid.

That total includes a $500 million donation from investor and philanthropist George Soros. Shetty points out that Soros individual donation is $200 million more than the country of China has donated to the refugee crisis.

We cant underestimate the importance of money to aid the crisis, Shetty said, but wealthy countries cant just commit money and walk away.

According to New World Health, China is the second wealthiest country in the world, when comparing total individual wealth. The United States ranks first, while Japan is third.

Amnesty International is asking these and other rich countries to host more refugees.

Currently, more than half of the 21 million refugees are being hosted by smaller, neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

According to the German newspaper, Die Welt, Germany took in about a million refugees in 2015. Thats more than the US has taken inin the past decade.

Shetty says the popular belief that people dont want refugees in their countries is not necessarily true. A recent Amnesty International survey of 27,000 people in 27 countries found that 4 in 5 people would welcome refugees into their countries and even consider taking them into their homes. Shetty says the results show how governments that are turning their backs on refugees are badly out of touch with reality.
In the last 24 hours, India reported 1,326 new Covid-19 cases and eight cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. ...


Traders are looking for the iShares MSCI Mexico Index Fund to rally by Thanksgiving.



optionMONSTER's monitoring system detected the purchase of about 10,000 November 53 calls mostly for $0.84 today. This represents fresh buying, as volume surpassed the strike's open interest of 3,556 contracts.



Long calls lock in the price where investors can buy stock, allowing them to profit from a rally with limited capital at risk. Their cheap cost can also generate significant leverage on a percentage basis if shares move in the right direction. (See our Education section)



EWW is up 1.06 percent to $49.68 in afternoon trading and has risen 4 percent in the last week. Overall option volume in the fund is twice its daily average so far today, with calls outpacing puts by a bullish 6-to-1 ratio.





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Female Body Found in Field Outside Lafayette

Autopsy reveals she died of Homicidal violence.



Lafayette, Oregon



(LAFAYETTE, Ore.) - A death investigation is underway after a female body was found in a blueberry field near the City of Lafayette.

On Sunday, about 1:14 pm, the body of a female was found by a few citizens who were driving through the area. Once they realized what it was they contacted authorities.

The Yamhill County Sheriff's Office and the Dayton Fire Department arrived on scene about 1:20 pm. A short time later, the Oregon State Police Forensics Division was called upon to help process the scene.

Monday, October 3rd, an autopsy was conducted on the unidentified female by the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office. The medical examiner has determined the cause of death was by homicidal violence.

Police say the persons identity has not yet been determined; however it does not appear to be connected to any recent missing persons from the area.

The investigation is ongoing and currently being worked by the Yamhill County Major Crimes Response Team (MCRT) with the assistance of the Yamhill County District Attorney's Office, the McMinnville Police Department, the Newberg-Dundee Police Department, the Oregon State Police and the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office.

If you have information, please contact Det. Justin Brester at bresterj@co.yamhill.or.us; reference case number 16-2561.

_________________________________________
$25K in Gannett Foundation grants go to central Kansas organizations

Four local organizations are receiving a total of $25,000 as the Gannett Foundation invests in community-building initiatives in north-central Kansas.
The San Diego biotech company Histogen has agreed to license its experimental hair-regrowth product in mainland China shortly after receiving a $6 million equity investment from a Chinese business.

Tests have shown that the product, called Hair Stimulating Complex, can help hair regrow when its injected into the scalp.

In August, the privately held Histogen received the investment from Pineworld Capital Ltd., an affiliate of Huapont Life Sciences, to continue development of the technology. Last week, Histogen announced the license agreement with Pineworld Capital.

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Histogen has been exploring the use of Hair Stimulating Complex for male pattern baldness. Its also considering whether to conduct clinical trials of the product for preventing hair loss among patients who undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

The product consists of proteins that stimulate hair follicles and promote hair growth, said Gail Naughton, Histogens CEO and board chair.

Huapont is the leading dermatology company in China, Naughton said. They have tremendous expertise in drug development, and also their sales force calls on the top-tier hospitals as well most of the (mid-level) hospitals in China. So they are well-prepared to leverage this strength in other dermatology products.

Naugton has a Ph.D. in cell biology from New York University Medical Center. She formed Histogen on the basis of her observation that cells grown under simulated embryonic conditions, such as low oxygen and suspension, make growth-promoting proteins.

The hair-restoration market in China is estimated to be 150 million people  nearly 100 million of them men, Naughton said. Histogen will focus on men first, but plans to ask Chinese regulators for permission to do a Phase 3 (late-stage) clinical trial of the product for both men and women.

The company also hopes to start a doctor-sponsored study for chemotherapy and radiation patients whose hair hasnt grown back.

The growth factors in (Hair Stimulating Complex) have been shown in animals to reverse hair loss caused by radiation and chemotherapy, Naughton said.

In addition, we have been talking with some investigators about using the product prophylactically, with women who are at Stage 3 and Stage 4 ovarian cancer. With Taxol treatment, virtually 100 percent of the women lose their hair, Naughton said.

The physicians feel, based on their analysis of our data, that if they give the (Hair Stimulating Complex) prophylactically prior to and along with the Taxol, it might very well prevent the hair loss.

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
An upstart airline said this week it will soon offer charter flights from Carlsbad to San Jose starting at $499 each way.

Irvine-based JetSuite said it will fly four roundtrip flights a week from McClellan-Palomar Airport to Mineta San Jose International Airport. Each will leave Carlsbad at 7:45 a.m. and have a return flight from San Jose at 5 p.m. Flights will be offered on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The company said it will use a Phenom 100 that can hold four passengers and plans to start service Oct. 17.

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Carlsbad is a hidden gem, said JetSuite CEO Alex Wilcox by phone on Tuesday. There have been several attempts to initiate new service out of there, but I think it has been kind of a victim of airline consolidation . . . smaller markets have been dropped and Carlsbad is no exception.

San Diego County spokeswoman Alex Bell said the company has approval to fly out of the McClellan-Palomar Airport, which the county owns.

Bell said because JetSuite uses a private jet terminal it does not need to use the commercial terminal or go through Transportation Security Administration screening.

There are no corresponding flights from Carlsbad right now, but a roundtrip flight from San Diego International Airport to San Jose would cost around $146 on Alaska Airlines with a two-week notice. Buying a ticket on the same route with just one days notice would run about $500.

A roundtrip flight on JetSuite from Carlsbad to San Jose will cost $998 or more.

Wilcox, one of JetBlues founding directors, said the value is in not having to drive through traffic to San Diegos airport and spend hours at a terminal. He said passengers can show up at the plane 15 minutes before takeoff.

The company advertises its planes as more spacious than most commercial flights and its planes cabins have soft leather. Wireless Internet, baggage, free drinks and snacks are included in the price of the ticket.

Its more about how you value your time, Wilcox said. If youre someone that needs to get up there for a day, get something done and then come home  and dont want to spend two or three hours at an airport  then this is for you.

He said the company will consider adding bigger planes, which will be cheaper for customers, depending on how demand is in Carlsbad. He said the airline got the idea to come to North County when potential customers called JetSuite to see if it would consider starting a flight from there.

Were really testing the market, he said of plans to fly through December. If the (passenger) loads are good, well add bigger airplanes and more frequencies.

Wilcox said JetSuite owns the $4 million Phenom 100 it will use for the Carlsbad trip.

The company will fly out of the Atlantic Aviation private terminal at 2100 Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad and fly to Atlantic Aviations San Jose location. The flight should take roughly 75 minutes.

JetSuite doesnt disclose its exact security procedures, but said it does do background checks on passengers just like any major airlines would do. It also says it has some on-the-ground security.

JetSuite has been in operation for nine years and has mostly served as a way for customers to charter a jet for themselves. It launched its new service for general passengers, JetSuiteX, in April in order to reach a wider part of the market, which includes Carlsbad. It uses a mix of four, six and 30-seat planes.

It already operates flights from Concord, Calif., to Burbank, Calif., and Las Vegas; and will also add flights from San Jose to Burbank on Oct. 17. It is also adding a flight to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Montana in December.

phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar
Global energy investment declined by about 8 percent last year, according to a study from the International Energy Agency (IEA), but the drop does not indicate any slowing in the changes transforming just about every sector of the industrys landscape.

Investment is reshaping the energy system, said Laszlo Varro, the agencys chief economist, who delivered a presentation Monday at the University of San Diego. Investment is the lifeblood of the energy system.

The overall dip in investment was largely due to the slump in oil and gas exploration because of the global oversupply of crude, the IEA study said, but investments in renewable sources such as wind and solar stayed robust.

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The impact of renewables for the electricity industry is an incredible game-changer, Varro said in an interview with the Union-Tribune. It is changing the industry and leading to new products and new approaches.

Renewable energys biggest impact is felt in the electricity system, where Varro said 90 percent of renewable investment  almost $300 billion of the sectors $320 billion  was concentrated.

But at the same time, that means the impact of renewable energy in the transportation sector remains limited.

The energy transformation is not proceeding with an equal speed, Varro said. It is highly asymmetrical.

But in the space of less than a decade, wind farms and solar panels have increased on a global scale.

Today, some of the most promising success stories about wind and solar are in Mexico, Peru, Morocco, South Africa  countries which five years ago I wouldnt have imagined getting into the race, Varro said.

Just last week, the Mexico-based subsidiary of Sempra Energy won solar energy projects totaling 141 megawatts at auction.

The changing energy landscape in California, Varro said, can act as a template for the U.S. and Europe. The state has dramatically ramped up investments in renewables but at the same time is on the verge of shutting down its only remaining nuclear power plant (Diablo Canyon) while a years-long drought has slowed hydro-power.

California is one of the many regions where new low-carbon investment, wind and solar, have to run very, very hard to compensate for the decline of old, low-carbon (nuclear and hydro), Varro said. But wind and solar are fundamentally different technologies and their operation in the power system requires a paradigm shift in how the electricity system operates.

Improvements in energy storage, it is thought, can help fill in the gaps. In 2015, the IEA report says energy storage investment grew to $10 billion but the agency said that remains nowhere near big enough to allay the fears of a shortfall in dispatchable capacity.

Despite the woes associated with the global glut in crude, oil and gas still made up the largest segment of energy investment  46 percent, twice as much as the next-highest sector, power generation.

And the downturn has forced shale oil producers in the U.S. to become more efficient and reduce costs. The companies that survived really got their acts together, Varro told the audience at USD.

Among some of the other findings in the IEA study:

Boosted by record spending in its power sector, China regained its position as the top investment market. China spent $315 billion in energy supply, surpassing the U.S. by $35 billion.

Energy efficiency investment increased 6 percent in 2015, despite falling energy prices. More energy-efficient appliances and improvements in residential lighting standards helped account for the gains.

Investment in nuclear surged in 2015 but most of it came from China, where the government is trying to wean itself from coal-fired generation. In the U.S. context, the biggest low-carbon energy source by far is nuclear power, Varro said, but added, the prospects for a nuclear renaissance in the U.S. are not bright.

While coal is on the decline in Europe and the U.S., Asian markets comprised 85 percent of global coal power investment, largely because of costs. The infrastructure investment cost for a 1-gigawatt power plant in Asia, according to IEA figures, is almost six times higher for a natural gas plant than for a coal plant.

The Paris climate summits goal of keeping average temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) will be a challenge. Technological progress in the energy industry can get us there but we are not talking about a magic wand technology that solves the problem, Varro said.

So what kind of energy future does Varro see?

In 20 years, we are going to certainly have a higher share of wind and solar, a smarter, more IT-based energy system, significantly more electric cars but with the current energy policy environment we are not on track to achieve climate stabilization in the next few years.
A Camp Pendleton Marine commander was recognized for his volunteer work in the community with an award from the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Col. Reginald Hairston, commanding officer of Camp Pendletons Security and Emergency Services Battalion, received the 2016 Military Advocacy Award from the North San Diego County chapter of the nonprofit Oct. 1 at its Blue and Gold Freedom Fund Awards Gala.

Nominees for the award are chosen based on their volunteer work in the community, particularly over the past year, and its impact.

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Hairston was commended for his extensive involvement in the community in addition to his military service.

Hairston has been involved in numerous volunteer efforts locally, including the 2016 Law Enforcement Torch Run to support Special Olympics,. He received an honorary award from the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity during its 80th Grand Conclave in Las Vegas.

He is known for his willingness to help out and his count on me if you need help attitude, said Satia Austin, president, of the NSDC NAACP.

The award was presented by retired Chief Warrant Officer Gerald Hampton.

When Hairston accepted the award, he spoke about the importance of acknowledging those who came before him and the support he has received.

Colonel Hairston joined the Marine Corps in 1988. His assignments included chief, Assessments Branch, International Security Assistance Force, Kabul, Afghanistan from 2009-10. He took the helm of the Security and Emergency Services Battalion on base last year.

Hairstons military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal.
Southern Californians learn to live with the risk of earthquakes.

But over the last week, anxieties were particularly heightened, and the natural denial that is part of living in earthquake country was harder to pull off.

A swarm of seismic activity at the Salton Sea that began a week ago prompted scientists to say there was an elevated risk for a big San Andreas fault earthquake. By Tuesday, that risk had lessened, and the California governors Office of Emergency Service said that the earthquake advisory period was over.

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But the impact of that warning was still being felt. For some, it meant checking quake safety lists. Others looked at preparing for the Big One, such as bolting bookshelves to walls, installing safety latches on kitchen cabinets and strapping down televisions.

EQ Advisory period ends for S. California but being prepared is always important! https://t.co/0a0X1Ggrk7 pic.twitter.com/ZUhMc5qbza  Cal OES (@Cal_OES) October 4, 2016

Our earthquake risk is real and it isn't over! Have a plan to communicate and reunite with your family after an earthquake. https://t.co/jKZ9Dsv5To  LA City Emergency Management Department (@ReadyLA) October 4, 2016

San Bernardino, which is on the San Andreas Fault, took the unprecedented step of closing down City Hall through Tuesday over concerns about how the structure would fare in the big quake.

We havent had an alert like this, Mark Scott, San Bernardinos city manager, said. Were not trying to suggest that the alert is an impending catastrophe. Were just trying to use an abundance of caution. We care about the safety of the public and our employees.

The city had already been planning to vacate the seven-story building within the next few months.

The City Hall building was constructed before the Sylmar earthquake in 1971, according to Scott. After that earthquake, he said, seismic codes changed significantly.

Other earthquakes have changed California seismic codes even further, to the point where the current City Hall building in San Bernardino is an example of everything you would not build today, Scott said.

A 2007 report noted the potential instability of the building in the event of a major earthquake, Scott said.

The estimated cost of retrofitting the building is more than $20 million, Scott said.

For a bankrupt city, thats a tough challenge, Scott said. Were looking at alternative approaches, rather than doing $20 million worth of work.

The risk of a big quake was highest during and directly after the quake swarm, experts said.

Thomas H. Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, said Monday afternoon that the earthquake swarm about 150 miles southeast of Los Angeles has been decaying away nicely. Its been tailing off.

I would say the risk is declining, Jordan said. Of swarm activity at the Salton Sea, it really hasnt been very active in the last couple of days. Its been pretty quiet.

U.S. Geological Survey research seismologist Rob Graves said he thought the elevated risk of a San Andreas earthquake has largely receded to the background level of risk found in any given week.

Its getting pretty close to the background level  which is not zero; theres always a chance of having a major earthquake, Graves said. Its been almost a week since the swarm activity has subsided, and so thats about the time window wed be looking at for its effects to diminish.

Seismologists have been closely tracking a swarm of earthquakes just south of the end of Californias mighty San Andreas fault, which experts consider overdue for a major earthquake, with a magnitude of 7 or greater.

Any significant seismic activity near a major earthquake fault is a cause for concern, scientists say, because of the fear it could awaken it and trigger a massive temblor.

The San Andreas faults southernmost stretch has not ruptured since about 1680  more than 330 years ago, scientists estimate. And a big earthquake happens on average in this area once every 150 or 200 years, which is why the region is long overdue for a major quake.

Last Tuesday  Sept. 27  the U.S. Geological Survey issued a statement that the chances of a magnitude 7 or greater earthquake being triggered on the southern San Andreas fault over the next seven days were as high as 1 in 100 and as low as 1 in 3,000.

Without the swarm, the average chance for such an earthquake striking on any given week is 1 in 6,000, according to Jordan.

That seven-day period ends Tuesday morning.

The swarm began just after 4 a.m. on Sept. 26, starting earthquakes three to seven miles deep underneath the Salton Sea.

The biggest earthquakes hit later that morning  a 4.3 and then a pair later at night, another 4.3 followed by a 4.1. There was another burst of activity the following night.

It marked only the third time since earthquake sensors had been installed in this area in 1932 that the area had seen such a swarm. And this swarm had more earthquakes than events in 2001 and 2009.

Earthquake experts say its important that the elevated risk of a major event from a seismic swarm be clearly communicated to the public.

For San Bernardino, the quake swarm was just latest reminder of the seismic risks the city faces.

San Bernardino has one of the largest concentrations of unreinforced masonry buildings in the state that are at risk of particularly intense ground motion.

I was shocked to hear that, because Ive been in several other cities and a lot of cities [retrofitted unreinforced masonry buildings] 30 years ago, Scott said.

ron.lin@latimes.com

Twitter: @ronlin

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UPDATES:

10:45 a.m.: Updated with announcement by the California Governors Office of Emergency Services that an earthquake advisory has been lifted.

4:35 p.m.: Updated with details about the closure of San Bernardino City Hall.

This article was originally published at 2:15 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2016.
A homeless man is awaiting extradition in connection with the slaying of a Canadian actor inside a Hollywood Hills home last month, police said.

The suspects name was not released. He is thought to have no local criminal history, but was involved in a prior assault case outside of Los Angeles County, said LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman.

Richard Hong, 41, was found dead Sept. 23 in a residence rented to Canadian TV personality George Stroumboulopoulos. Hong had apparently been staying in the residence.

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The coroners office described the cause of death as head trauma.

LAPD Capt. Cory Palka took to Twitter Monday night to announce that an arrest had been made relating to the incident.

As a result of the evidence obtained that the suspect left at scene, as a result of cameras that the community had, they were able to track him down and make an arrest, Palka told KABC-TV.

Police said the case began when officers received a call about 2:15 a.m. on Sept. 23 about a burglary in progress in the 6700 block of Milner Road. When the officers arrived, they found Hong dead at the scene.

Stroumboulopoulos, the renter of the residence, said he was in New York at the time.

The victim is a dear friend of mine, who was staying at my place while I was away, he said in a statement. I am heartbroken.

Staff writer Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.

For more California news, follow @brittny_mejia

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DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in a phone call that it was essential for oil producing countries to take a decision to raise the price of oil and stabilise the market, Iranian state news agency IRNA said.

Iran and Venezuela are both members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which agreed at an informal meeting in Algeria last week on modest oil output cuts in the first such deal since 2008.

How much oil each country will produce is to be decided at the next formal OPEC meeting in November, when an invitation to join cuts could also be extended to non-OPEC countries such as Russia.

"All countries should help the committee of experts to take decisions in (OPEC's) November summit that raise oil prices," Rouhani was quoted as saying by IRNA on Monday.

Rouhani added that OPEC members should also negotiate with non-OPEC members to stabilise the market.

Venezuela, grappling with an economic crisis aggravated by low oil prices, has lobbied hard in recent months for OPEC and other oil producers to discuss cutting output.

Maduro said he had a long and positive conversation with Rouhani.

"We promised to stay in permanent coordination to keep consolidating this agreement with OPEC and new alliances with producer countries like Russia," the leftist leader said in a televised broadcast on Monday.

Attempts to reach an output deal have been complicated by political rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are fighting several proxy wars in the Middle East, including in Syria and Yemen.

Oil prices jumped more than 5 percent last week as many traders said they were impressed OPEC had managed to reach a compromise after years of wrangling, especially between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Additional reporting by Diego Ore in Caracas; Editing by Adrian Croft and Andrew Hay)
In a little over 24 hours this weekend, police officers fatally shot two people in South L.A.: an 18-year-old man they said turned toward them with a gun in his hand and another who allegedly pointed a realistic-looking replica at police.

After protests, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck on Monday displayed images of the weapons and said the officers had feared for their lives.

But in a time of heightened scrutiny over how officers use force, particularly against African Americans, police are finding a gulf between what many officers consider a justified shooting and the views of some protesters and residents.

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The shootings came after several weeks of controversial police killings across the country, including in Charlotte, Tulsa and El Cajon, all of which were at least partly captured on video. The weekends shootings in Los Angeles inspired protests that stretched from South L.A. to the mayors Windsor Square home and the LAPDs downtown headquarters.

In the black community, its not about individual shootings  and the police dont understand why, said Connie Rice, a prominent African American civil rights attorney who has advised Beck. Its about the whole nation, the buildup  more than a century of what the community has experienced as accumulated abuses at the hands of law enforcement.

Building trust among black Angelenos has been a top priority for the LAPD since the riots that erupted 24 years ago after four officers were acquitted in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. Even some of the LAPDs toughest critics admit the department has made strides since then.

Los Angeles, however, has not been immune to the national outcry over police shootings. Critics have rallied against controversial killings by officers in South L.A., Venice Beach and skid row. This summer, activists camped outside City Hall for more than a month to protest the deadly police shooting of a woman who carried a knife.

On-duty LAPD officers have shot fewer people this year than during 2015, but a higher proportion of those shootings have been fatal, according to a Times analysis. On-duty officers have shot 20 people this year, killing 16, or 80%. Last year, officers killed 21 of the 36 people shot, about 58%. Over the last decade, fatal shootings have hovered between 12 and 26 annually.

All of the people fatally shot this year were armed with either a gun, a replica gun or some other weapon, such as a knife or a pair of scissors, according to initial reports from the LAPD. Last year, 12 of the 21 people killed were armed with either a firearm, a replica or some sort of knife.

Lou Turriaga, a director of the union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers, questioned what alternative officers have when faced with a firearm. Two LAPD officers have been wounded by gunfire this year, one in Boyle Heights and another in the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts.

If it was your loved one that these suspects were pointing a gun at  your son, your daughter, your wife  what would you have our police officers do during those moments? Turriaga said.

Plenty, according to activists and those who knew Carnell Snell Jr., the black 18-year-old shot and killed on 107th Street on Saturday afternoon. Many have questioned the police account, including whether Snell had a gun. Even if he did, some said, police should have tried to use a Taser or bean-bag shotgun before pulling the trigger.

Its like, what are you guys going to train for? said Tyquise Lazenby, a 28-year-old friend of Snells. You guys have non-lethal weapons and youre not using them at all.

Saturdays deadly shooting of Snell became the latest local touchstone in the national debate about policing and how officers use force, particularly against African Americans.

Beck told reporters Monday that officers were working near 108th Street and Western Avenue about 1 p.m. when they spotted a light blue Nissan that had paper plates. The plates didnt match the year of the car, Beck said, causing officers to think it may have been stolen.

As the officers watched the vehicle, Snell, sitting in the back seat, looked toward them, then ducked as if to hide from them, Beck said.

1 / 32 Its a shame that his life ended at 18 years old, said Carlena Hall, center, a great-aunt of Carnell Snell Jr., who was fatally shot by LAPD police in South L.A. At left is Tranell Snell, 17, Snells sister, and at right is Debbie Washington, his aunt. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 32 Marian Petersen, 71, whose last protest was in the 1965 Watts riots, marches down Central Avenue to the LAPDs Newton Division station after officers shot a Latino boy Sunday night. (Allen J.Schaben / Los Angeles TImes) 3 / 32 Protestors march down Central Ave. to LAPD Newton Division to protest officers shooting a Latino man Sunday night. Protestors started at the site where police fatally shot a man Sunday in South Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 32 A protester holds a sign in front of the LAPD Newton Divison station on Monday night. Protesters started their march at the site where police fatally shot a Latino man Sunday in South Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 32 Carl Winzer lights candles at the scene where 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr. was fatally shot by Los Angeles police officers. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 32 I literally watched my brother catch his last breath, said Tranell Snell, 17, the sister of Carnell Snell Jr. I literally watched him, begging him to stay alive for me. Please, please, I begged my brother. Please! They let my brother sit there, sit there and die. They did not care. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 32 Mike Miller sits amid dozens of candles that mark the house where 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr. was fatally shot by Los Angeles police officers on Saturday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 32 Jamari Brown, 13, holds a sign with other protesters at the site where a Latino man was fatally shot by officers Sunday night near 48th Street and Ascot Avenue. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 32 LAPD officers arrest a protester in the lobby of the police headquarters on suspicion of failure to disperse after Chief Charlie Beck gave details to the media about the shooting death of Carnell Snell Jr. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 32 LAPD Chief Charlie Beck speaks at a press conference addressing two recent officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 32 Protesters shout at police officers inside the lobby of LAPD headquarters while Police Chief Charlie Beck provides details about the officer-involved shooting death of Carnell Snell Jr. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 32 Protesters shout out their messege inside the lobby of LAPD headquarters after Police Chief Charlie Beck gave details to the media about the officer-involved shooting death of Carnell Snell Jr. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 32 LAPD officers move media and protesters away from the lobby of police headquarters after three protesters were arrested on suspicion of failure to disperse following a morning press conference. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 32 The Los Angeles Police Department disperses the crowd along 107th Street in Los Angeles. Four activists were arrested by LAPD. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 32 An activist is arrested by LAPD Sunday night after police gave orders to leave the area along 107th Street. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 32 Police officers talk with family members and residents along 107th Street, while dispersing the crowd along Western Avenue and 107th Street in South Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 32 An activist is arrested by LAPD after they gave orders to clear the area along 107th Street. Protesters were rallying after police shot an 18-year-old in South L.A. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 32 Police disperse the crowd along Western Avenue and 107th Street in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sunday night. Four activists were arrested by LAPD. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 32 Los Angeles police disperse the crowd along Western Avenue and 107th Street in South Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 32 LAPD disperse the crowd blocking Western Avenue after a vigil is held for Carnell Snell Jr., 18, who was fatally shot by police Saturday after a vehicle pursuit, in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 32 A women confronts the LA County Sheriif blocking the street after a vigil is held for Carnell Snell Jr., 18, who was fatally shot by LAPD police Saturday after a vehicle pursuit, in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 32 Jeromy Jackson lights candles at a vigil for his friend Carnell Snell Jr., 18, who was fatally shot by LAPD police Saturday after a vehicle pursuit. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 32 Los Angeles County Sheriffs officials monitor protesters at 108th Street and Western Avenue after a vigil was held for Carnell Snell Jr. on Sunday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 32 A young woman leaves blue and white balloons at a sidewalk memorial to Carnell Snell Jr. on Sunday afternoon. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 32 Neighbors brace a distraught Monique Morgan as she visits the scene where her son, Carnell Snell, 18, was fatally shot by police. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times ) 26 / 32 Monique Morgan, the mother of Carnell Snell, is comforted by a neighbor as they look at a makeshift memorial for Morgans son. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 32 Bullet holes mark a steel gate at a residence along 107th Street in South Los Angeles, the scene of an officer-involved shooting on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016. Police shot and killed Carnell Snell Jr., 18, after a brief car chase that ended near the intersection of 107th Street and Western Avenue in South Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 32 Monique Morgan, in blue shirt, pleads with Los Angeles police to let her see her son, Carnell CJ Snell Jr. Police fatally shot the 18-year-old man in South L.A. on Saturday, authorities say. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 32 A protestor holds up a sign in South Los Angeles after an officer-involved shooting. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 32 A crowd gathers at Western Avenue, where they voiced their frustration with police. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 32 Police line up along Western Avenue in Los Angeles after the shooting. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 32 Los Angeles police try to keep the peace. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

The officers started to follow the car, which slowed down, Beck said. As officers activated their lights and sirens, he said, the car slowed more and Snell got out, holding his waistband as if he was supporting something.

Thinking Snell was holding a gun, the officers chased him, Beck said. At some point during the 200- to 300-yard pursuit, the chief said, the officers saw Snell pull out a gun and hold it in his left hand.

They chased him to a driveway in the 1700 block of 107th Street, where Beck said Snell turned toward them, the gun still in his hand. Police opened fire.

Snell died at the scene.

Beck said a .40-caliber handgun was found no more than five feet away from Snells body. The gun was fully loaded, Beck said, indicating it wasnt fired.

The officers did not have body cameras, the chief said, but a video from a nearby business clearly shows Snell running with the gun in his hand.

Beck acknowledged the anger surrounding the weekends shootings and said he believed some of the reaction has been compounded by other police killings around the country.

We have all seen police-involved shootings that defy justification in other municipalities. I have seen them where I am at a loss to understand why, he said. I think that affects what happens on the streets of Los Angeles.

After Snells death, scores of people gathered near where he was shot. Some shouted profanities at officers. One man complained about police helicopters and sirens keeping him up at night. Others said they were tired of being repeatedly stopped by officers  they dont do that in Beverly Hills, one man said.

Graffiti covered buildings near the intersection. Rest well Carnell, one message read. LAPD was written next to his name, the letters crossed out with an X.

On Sunday, during a second night of protests, news spread of another deadly police shooting in South L.A. Coroners officials have not yet identified the person killed, described by police as a man between the ages of 18 and 22.

About 5 p.m., gang enforcement officers were investigating a report of a man with a gun near 48th Street and Ascot Avenue. The officers spotted someone matching that description  a Latino man with a gray sweater and black pants  and began to approach him, Beck said.

The man then turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, the chief said, prompting police to open fire. Paramedics took the man to a hospital, where he died.

The gun, Beck said, turned out to be a replica weapon, with its orange tip covered by black paint or pen.

Those officers were wearing body cameras, Beck said. The chief watched the video Monday morning, saying it clearly supports the officers accounts.

Tiffany Peterson, 45, said she watched Sunday afternoons shooting from a window in her familys home across the street from Ascot Elementary School. Peterson said she saw the man run down the block and stop when officers got out of their car. The man appeared to put his arms by his side, though Peterson said she could only see him from his waist up. She said she did not see him with a gun but could not see his hands. A parked vehicle partly obstructed her view of what happened, she said.

One of the officers fired without warning, she said.

They jumped out of the car and they didnt tell him to freeze or nothing, Peterson said Monday. They just shot him.

She said police fired again when the man was on the ground.

Peterson was among a group of people who marched Monday evening from the scene of the shooting to the steps of the LAPDs Newton station, briefly snarling traffic along Central Avenue. The group repeatedly chanted for authorities to release the names of both the man who was killed and the officers who shot him.

A few police officers watched the demonstration from the buildings lobby, but no arrests were made.

Beck said the body camera footage clearly refutes reports that the man was shot while on the ground.

That did not happen, he added.

An LAPD spokesman said the department had no plans to make the video from the body cameras or the business public. In the past, Beck has said he generally would not release recordings, citing the privacy of people captured on the footage and the need to protect the integrity of investigations. On Monday, Beck said he, the Police Commission and the district attorney are discussing the possibility of releasing video and other evidence in the right way at the right time.

As Beck addressed a room full of reporters, a crowd of protesters marched into the lobby of the LAPDs downtown headquarters. Their chants  Let us in!  could be heard as the chief spoke.

Police ultimately declared an unlawful assembly inside the lobby, telling the group of about 25 people to leave or risk arrest. Protesters chanted Snells name and demanded Becks firing before officers formed a line and slowly moved them out of the building.

Three people were arrested, the LAPD said. Police arrested four people the night before during a protest not far from where Snell was killed.

Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, was among those arrested.

Carnell Snell was an 18-year-old who was somebodys child, she said after she was released from jail. He deserved to live. He deserved to see his life beyond his 18th birthday.

Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.

kate.mather@latimes.com

cindy.chang@latimes.com

james.queally@latimes.com

For more breaking crime and police news, follow us on Twitter: @katemather, @cindychangLA and @JamesQueallyLAT

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UPDATES:

8:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background about LAPD shootings and reaction from South L.A. residents and activists.

3:30 p.m. This article was updated with additional reaction from South L.A. residents.

1:05 p.m. This article was updated with additional details from Becks news conference and comments from attorney Connie Rice and people who live in the neighborhoods where the shooting occurred.

This article was first published at 1:05 p.m.
In the summer of 2015, Christian Moyer was just another teenager sweating through an SAT prep class when he was faced with a question he couldnt answer. It had nothing to do with reading, writing or math and everything to do with life.

We were looking at this section about college essays, and one of the prompts was, Tell us about a struggle you have had in life and how you overcame it, said Christian, now a 17-year-old senior at University City High School. And I realized how fortunate I was not to have any struggles in life and how other people dont have as much as I do.

That is when the answer came through loud and clear. The inspiration for what to do next came from Barefoot Sunday, an annual Newbreak Church event that asks church members to wear new or gently used shoes to a service and plan on leaving them behind. The shoes are then donated to San Diego charities that help people start over.

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A longtime member of Newbreaks Tierrasanta church, Christian decided to start collecting shoes for the San Diego Rescue Mission, which is one of the Barefoot Sunday charities. The mission offers care, shelter and rehabilitation services to the homeless, addicted, abused and poor. When he dropped off his first batch of shoes, Christian got a tour of the downtown mission with community relations and events manager Michelle Smith. The tour helped him discover that this one small gesture has a massive ripple effect that goes straight to the heart of helping.

Christian Moyer, a senior at University City High School, stands next to several containers of shoes he has collected from friends and family to donate for the homeless served by the San Diego Rescue Mission. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune )

Some of the people we see will wear the same pair of shoes until there are no bottoms or tops on them. This makes a big difference for them, said Herb Johnson, president and CEO of the San Diego Rescue Mission. With the children, many of these kids have never had a good pair of shoes. Some of our clients, their shoes look like they have been around the world a couple of times. We always need shoes.

Christian started collecting shoes last fall. He hit up friends, neighbors and family members for donations. He posted a note on the Nextdoor.com online social network. His family put a bin on their patio for easy drop-off. He even raided his own closet.

Since starting his shoe drive, Christian has collected 160 pairs, which he catalogs on an Excel spreadsheet. The shoes that are not used by the missions clients are sold in one of the organizations thrift stores, with proceeds going to support the missions programs.

A lot of volunteers, they wait to be told what to do or they wait to be asked. But Christian started this on his own, Smith said. When I think of him, I think of someone who is willing to step in and do something, even if his friends arent doing it. He stood out as someone who is willing to forge a path because he thinks its valuable.

Over the past year, Christian figures he has donated at least 10 pairs of his own shoes to the mission. In addition to freeing up some room in his closet, donating the shoes has given him the kind of feel-good payback that made it even easier to ask other people to start purging their wardrobes, too.

Most people are pretty happy to give, Christian said during an interview in the missions City Heights thrift store and donation center, where he dropped off a few bins full of shoes. Its nice because it makes them realize how many shoes they have that they dont wear, and it probably makes them feel as good as it makes me feel. I like helping other people in practical ways. When I can see a need being met immediately, that gives me joy.

The shoe drive was his own idea, but the giving-back philosophy is a family affair.

His parents, Karen and John, began volunteering before Christian and his younger sister, Julia, were born. By the time he turned 6, Christian was joining his parents in Newbreaks volunteer activities. He has helped feed the homeless, collected canned goods for the hungry, participated in neighborhood beautification projects and volunteered for the Surfrider Foundations beach cleanups.

And when the San Diego Rescue Missions annual Sleepless San Diego fundraising event kicks off on Saturday, Christian and other members of his Youth Impact Team will be on hand to help with the service events, including feeding the homeless and cleaning up community parks. The volunteer call is going out to all of San Diego, and once again, Christian Moyer is tuning in.

My parents always taught me to do unto others as you would have them to unto you. If I was in a hard situation, I would want someone to talk to me and help me,  said Christian, who hopes to study business in college. I just see homeless people as regular people who are down on their luck from losing their job or having an addiction. Everyone has needs, and some people need more than others sometimes.
Hundreds of Haitians who camped out overnight on a street near the U.S. border awoke early Monday, exhausted but determined to present themselves at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Despite last months announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that Haitians who show up at the border face detention and deportation, the flow has continued, and Tijuanas shelters are overflowing with people awaiting their turn.

A lot of people have sold their land, their car, to pay for the journey, said Johnson Tima, a 28-year-old migrant from Gonaives in northern Haiti, standing outside the Desayunador Salesiano Padre Chava, a shelter and soup kitchen. We come because of the situation in our country.

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Tima, who arrived in Tijuana late last week, expects to stay in the city over the next three weeks as he awaits his Oct. 27 appointment at the San Ysidro Port of Entry for processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.

Olivier Virmont, right, who lives in Oceanside looks on as a young man tries on a jacket that is among the clothes that he brought down in his car to give to the Haitians and other migrants at the Padre Chava soup kitchen in Tijuana. (John Gibbins / The San Diego Union-Tribune )

On Monday morning, hundreds lined up outside the shelter by a small trailer operated by Mexicos National Migration Institute, which stamps the Haitians Mexican travel document with a date for processing at the busy U.S. port.

Since May, San Ysidro has been the setting of an unprecedented flow of Haitian migrants like Tima without U.S. entry documents, more than 4,300 from October 2015 through Aug. 31. Most have come by land from Brazil, where they moved to find work after Haitis 2010 earthquake.

The U.S. government suspended deportations to Haiti after the earthquake, and those arriving at the border without documents typically have been released on a humanitarian parole as they wait to appear in U.S. immigration court.

But on Sept. 22, Homeland Security announced that Haitians would no longer receive special treatment, and face an expedited removal process that involves detention and deportation.

But in Tijuana, few seem to have been dissuaded by the news, and several said they were not certain what it meant.

A lot of them know, and that makes them anxious, said Margarita Andonaegui, administrator of the Padre Chava shelter. Its generated a lot of stress, weve had many with psychosomatic symptoms, a lot of them with stomach pain. But even so, they want to go.
The Mt. Soledad Memorial Association has been quietly raising funds to replenish the nearly $1.4 million it recently used to purchase the half-acre veterans memorial site from the federal government.

Former California Gov. Pete Wilson, a retired U.S. Marine and a trustee of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, is honorary chairman of the campaign. On Monday, he came to announce a $500,000 pledge by San Diego developer Doug Manchester that formally kicks off the campaign.

Now that litigation over the cross has run its course and ownership has transferred to the not-for-profit caretaker group, the association needs to concentrate on the memorials ongoing operation and maintenance.

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Its to-do list includes safety improvements such as handrails and lighting, an upgraded user-friendly directory for locating plaques, educational outreach and, perhaps some day, public restrooms.

Lou Scanlon, association president, says eventually they will have to add wall space to display more plaques highlighting honorably discharged veterans.

Currently, there are more than 4,400 with space for about 2,200 additional plaques. Without expansion, in four or five years, the memorial could reach capacity.

Trivia question: What two men never served in the U.S. military yet have honorary plaques in the memorial? (See answer at foot of column.)

Under the Dome: Can it be that the new downtown library is already celebrating its third birthday?

As the library turns into a multi-story party venue Oct. 7, Katie and Dan Sullivan are chairing the gala for the third time, this year aided by Rochelle and Bill Bold. Joan and Irwin Jacobs are joining Audrey Geisel as honorary chairs.

They have reason to celebrate. One of the librarys innovation lab programs was picked up by ABC World News, which aired a segment on Calramon Mabalot, then 9. He made an artificial hand using the librarys 3-D printer for teacher and library visitor Nick Sissakis, born with only one hand.

The innovative library programs include an IDEA lab and, in its La Jolla branch, a high tech life sciences lab.

Israeli ties: Many San Diegans saw Shimon Peres, who died last week, when he was here in San Diego 20 years ago. On Oct. 5, 1996, Perez addressed INSIGHTS, a San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce confab at the S.D. Convention Center.

He was one of a stellar line-up of speakers that included Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter, Leah Rabin, Madame Jehan Sadat and Jack Kemp, all on the same day. San Diegans Bill Geppert and Mel Katz remember it well. They co-chaired the gathering.

Senior Scout: Retired banker Kim Fletcher, 89, is being honored by the San Diego-Imperial Council of Boy Scouts as its 2016 Champion of Scouting.

The former chairman of Home Federal Savings & Loan, who twice served as United Way president, will be feted at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Hilton Torrey Pines.

Trivia answer: Winston Churchill and Bob Hope.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
A construction worker renovating a home in Escondido walked in on an armed intruder Monday morning, police said.

The worker returned from a lunch break and found a masked burglar in the hallway of the home on Mockingbird Circle, west of Canyon Road, Escondido police Lt. Kevin Toth said.

Confronted by the worker, the suspect pulled out a gun, Toth said. The victim ran away and called police about 11:45 a.m.

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The suspect left in an unknown direction. Toth said it was unknown whether anything was taken from the home, which is being renovated.

The homeowner was gone at the time of the break-in, Toth said.

The intruder was described as a man with short hair, wearing a button-up shirt, tie and dark pants.

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
The small group of people who had gathered in a parking lot midday Monday, at the spot where Alfred Olango was fatally shot by an El Cajon police officer last week, said they were determined to keep the protests going but wanted to keep them peaceful.

Were not out here for no negative stuff, said Bianca Olivas, who said she had been Olangos girlfriend until they broke up two months ago.

Olivas, who lives in Los Angeles, said she planned to keep showing up to the lot behind Los Panchos taco shop  where a shrine to Olango, a Ugandan immigrant, has been erected  until there is justice. Until then, she said, she is trying to keep the energy positive.

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She even interrupted a man who was talking to reporters about his own negative experiences with police.

I dont need nobody else to die, she said. Not for Alfreds cause.

Olango, 38, was shot and killed last Tuesday after his sister and others called police about him acting erratically. Two officers arrived, and police said Olango pulled an object from his pocket and aimed it at one of them.

Officer Josh McDaniel fired a Taser at Olango. Officer Richard Gonsalves fired his gun, fatally wounding the man. The object in his hand turned out to be an electronic cigarette.

Days of protests followed, with hundreds marching in the street. At least 22 people have been arrested, including 17 Saturday night, mostly for failing to disperse after police declared an unlawful assembly.

The area at Broadway and Mollison Avenue was much calmer Monday afternoon, with around a dozen protesters standing where Olango had fallen. Candles, photos and signs bearing Olangos name were placed on the ground beneath a white awning and on a curb.

After being closed for days or shutting down early, businesses reopened. Several shop owners and managers said they hoped to get back to business as usual.

Life is happening as normal, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said Monday.

When authorities on Friday released cellphone and security videos of the shooting, it helped quell some of unrest that had been brewing among the mostly peaceful protesters, Wells said. Although some arrests did occur, he said the violence in El Cajon never escalated to the degree that it did in other cities where police fatally shot unarmed black men. He mentioned Ferguson, Mo., Dallas and Charlotte, N.C.

We just didnt see that here, Wells said, adding that releasing the videos was the right thing to do.

Olangos family and others had been asking police to release videos of the shooting  a still photo from one of them had been made public the day after the incident but some said it didnt show a complete picture of what had unfolded.

Police Chief Jeff Davis said he and others, including Wells and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, decided to release the videos partly for safety reasons because some of the protests had become violent.

Five men were arrested during Thursday nights demonstrations, one on suspicion of hitting a San Diego police officer with a brick. Law officers from several local agencies used tear gas and pepperball rounds to disperse a crowd that was jumping on cars, smashing vehicle windows, and hurling rocks and bottles at officers and sheriffs deputies.

Rodney Stowers is one of the people who has been protesting fatal shooting of Alfred Olango by El Cajon police. Hes shown at a memorial at the site where the shooting happened. (Peggy Peattie / San Diego Union-Tribune )

Rodney Stowers said he was arrested Thursday for failure to disperse. He posted bail and was back at the scene of the shooting Monday afternoon.

Its been a little rowdy, he said. Its a little peaceful right now.

Stowers, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, said he did not hear the deputies and police order demonstrators to leave the area that night. He played a video clip on his cellphone from a TV news report, showing several deputies hitting him with batons.

I had my hands up, he said. I was backing up.

Stowers said he plans to continue to protest and is calling for a boycott of El Cajon, urging black people to spend their money elsewhere. He said he hopes the demonstrations are peaceful  for the protesters and police.

Officers came under attack, and some were killed, during protests in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La., earlier this year.

Its just time for some kind of change, Stowers said. (Police) dont know how it feels to feel powerless over your situation for your whole damn life .

The mayor said law enforcement had done an amazing job during the protests, with officers and deputies showing respect to the demonstrators. Chief Davis is a pro, he said, adding that he had called Sheriff Bill Gore Monday morning to thank him for his departments response.

Wells said he wants to continue meeting with local leaders within the black community to discuss issues related to race and policing. And he said he expects there to be a larger community event to discuss the issues sometime, although no plans have yet been formalized.

When the City Council meets on Oct. 11 for the first time since the shooting, Wells said the meeting will likely have a heavy turnout with people there to talk about the incident from various perspectives.

Im going to let people talk as much as they want.  Thats how we learn, he said. Thats how we get better.

El Cajon Shooting On Now Dumanis rules El Cajon police shooting of Alfred Olango justified 2:09 On Now Justice for Alfred Olango 1:33 On Now Video: Protests in the weeks following Olango shooting 1:43 On Now El Cajon City Council Meeting 10.11.2016 1:49 On Now Protest still present after El Cajon Shooting 2:49 On Now Video: Faith leaders, demonstrators rally in El Cajon 3:32 On Now Video: Rally after El Cajon shooting 1:45 On Now Video: Prayer vigil draws crowd in El Cajon 1:12 On Now RAW: Full video of Alfred Olango officer involved shooting 1:46 On Now Angry crowd grows after man is shot by police in El Cajon 1:15

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
A man fatally shot on a street in Otay Mesa early Saturday has been identified as 48-year-old Miguel Angel Villalobos, a homicide lieutenant said.

Villalobos, who grew up in National City, lived in Imperial Beach with his family, San Diego police homicide Lt. Manny Del Toro said.

Investigators are looking for a white Nissan or Honda vehicle in connection with the shooting, Del Toro said Monday.

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Someone called 911 shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday to report a man wounded on Picador Boulevard near Caminito Quixote, police said. Residents told police they heard the sound of gunshots and a vehicle speeding away.

Officers found Villalobos unconscious, and he died despite life-saving efforts. Police said he had suffered a gunshot wound to his upper body.

Police have not provided any suspect descriptions.

Anyone with information was asked to call San Diego Police Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.

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Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A Superior Court judge has decided in favor of a former UC San Diego student who has spent five years fighting a cheating accusation that led to his expulsion.

Student Jonathan Dorfman was accused of copying answers from another student during a chemistry test in 2011. Because of a previous incident on his record, he was expelled after an investigation by the school.

A ruling issued Friday means that if Dorfman re-enrolls and the school brings the same accusation against him, it will have to provide previously withheld evidence that might have proven his innocence.

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Investigators in an academic disciplinary hearing never identified the student Dorfman was accused of cheating from or even if that person, identified in the hearing as Student X, was sitting in the same room as him during the exam five years ago.

School officials in the case claimed they did not know where the student was sitting, but only that the exams matched in a way that was statistically improbable.

Dorfmans attorney, Robert Ottilie, suggested that Dorfman might sue the school for damages if he discovers that investigators knew Student X was not sitting near him, but pursued a cheating charge anyway.

The judge ris requiring the school to identify Student X or drop the case against Dorfman.

This is a total victory for John, and he couldnt be happier, Ottilie said.His record is cleared. Any mention of this is eliminated.

Attorney Michael Goldstein, who represented the University of California in the case, was unavailable to comment on the case. An assistant at the Office of the General Counsel for the University of California said he was away until Wednesday and nobody else familiar with the case was available.

After Dorfman was expelled following a series of disciplinary hearings at the school, he sued to be reinstated in August 2012, arguing that he had been denied due process because relevant evidence was withheld.

An initial judgement was issued in favor of the school, and Dorfman appealed.

In September 2015, an appellate court ruled that UC San Diego had violated Dorfmans rights by withholding relevant evidence. One judge on the appellate court called the lack of testimony from Student X an enormous omission, and another said investigators were stacking the deck in favor of UC San Diego by withhold the evidence.

Judge Judith Hayes heard from attorneys on both sides of the case in a judgement hearing last month and asked them each to submit a proposed judgement. On Friday, she announced she had selected Ottilies, with additional language.

Ottilies suggested judgement stated that the school could not proceed with a new hearing unless Student X had testimonial knowledge about the case.

Hayes expanded on what Ottilie wrote to say that the university could not conduct further hearings in the case if Student X is unavailable to testify or doesnt remember where he or she was sitting during the test.

At the August hearing, Goldstein said the school was seriously considering having a do-over hearing on the same charges if Dorfman returns to UC San Diego.

Ottilie said if the school does re-open the case, he will immediately ask for the name of Student X, as allowed in the judgement.

Theyve claimed that for five and a half years, its been too burdensome for them to contact Student X, he said. Im going to show them how easy it is.

Ottilie said he thinks the school had contacted the student, but they didnt use the evidence because it didnt help their case. If Student X confirms what he suspects, Ottilie said Dorfman may sue for damages.

If we find out that they called Student X and they knew what Student X was going to say and they concealed it, then were going to the Board of Regents and disclose this whole sordid mess and ask that everyone responsible be held accountable, he said.

A Nov. 8 hearing has been scheduled to consider Ottilies request to have the University of California pay his court fees, which he said are about $200,000. He estimates the University of California already has spent $300,000 on the case.

The case has been closely followed by the students advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which called it one of the more unusual and important due-process cases this year.

One of the important aspects of the case is that its demonstrative of how corners are cut in campus disciplinary proceedings, said Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director for FIRE,

Schools really take the attitude that theyre going to do what theyre gong to do, with or without evidence, he said.

The cheating investigation began after a professor became suspicious after noticing that Dorfman had altered his Scantron, a paper sheet used to answer multiple-choice questions by filling in bubbles. The professor distributed several versions of the test, which were matched with Scantrons by letters A through D.

Dorfman said the letter on his Scantron did not match the letter on his test, so he changed it from A to D. He was one of 618 students who took the test, and some were sitting in different rooms during the exam.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

760-529-4939

@GaryWarthUT
Facing his toughest re-election challenge ever, Rep. Darrell Issa is contesting a TV ad that accuses him of personally benefiting from his actions in Washington, claiming it is deceptive and threatening to sue his opponent.

A letter from the Vista Republicans lawyer says that Democratic challenger Doug Applegate defamed the incumbent congressman in a television commercial and demands that Applegate pull the ad from airwaves and publicly apologize. Issas attorney also sent Applegates campaign a draft copy of a libel complaint it says it is poised to file.

The ad claims Issa personally benefited from some of his actions in Congress.

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Two big congressional races start TV ad campaigns 

Applegates and the campaigns actions are not only deceptive and wrongfully damaging to Congressman Issas reputation, but also threaten to compromise the integrity of the election, the Sept. 29 letter from Randy Evans, a prominent Republican attorney, says.

On Tuesday, Issas campaign also took issue with a new Applegate commercial the incumbent says misrepresents his stance on funding for emergency workers who provided help after the 9/11 terrorists attacks.

Applegate, a retired Marine colonel-turned trial lawyer, said in a statement that hes not backing down from his first commercial.

Im a Marine Colonel who volunteered to go to Iraq in 2006 and spent a good chunk of my tour in Ramadi. Congressman Issas money and lawyers dont scare me one bit. Its incredible that someone whose career consists of conducting costly, partisan investigations is so thin-skinned, he said.

On Monday Applegates lawyer, Andrew Werbrock, replied to Evans and said the matter can only be seen as a misguided attempt by Mr. Issa to bully and intimidate my clients into silence, because Mr. Issa does not like the content of the advertisement.

The dispute over the ad involves a 2011 front page New York Times article headlined Helping His District, and Himself. Issa has long contested the accuracy of the article, and after its publication issued a press release asking for 13 corrections in the report. The newspaper corrected three errors  including one caused by inaccurate information in Issas foundations IRS records and another from bad information from the county assessor  but the articles central premise that Issa personally benefited from his official actions in Congress remained.

The article Issa disputes says, in part, that the congressman has secured millions of dollars in Congressional earmarks for road work and public works projects that promise improved traffic and other benefits to the many commercial properties he owns here north of San Diego. In one case, more than $800,000 in earmarks he arranged will help widen a busy thoroughfare in front of a medical plaza he bought for $16.6 million.

Issa sold the property in January 2012 at a $1.6 million loss and the earmarked funds were not spent on the road project.

Evans, Issas attorney, took issue with an ad that Applegate aired last month on network and cable television in Orange and San Diego counties. The ad ties the 16-year-incumbent to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and brought up claims from the 2011 article.

Evans letter says Applegates ad takes serious liberties with the article and makes it appear that a line from the commercials narrator came from the newspapers report when, in fact, it does not.

You have to be accountable whether you are the New York Times or a regular citizen. If you are going to say something untrue, you have to take the consequences on that, including damages, Evans said in an interview.

If Issa successfully sues and receives damages, the draft complaint says the money would be donated to a charity that helps injured service members.

In the commercial, a newspaper-like graphic appears while a narrator says Issa gamed the system to line his own pockets, steering millions in taxpayer money to properties he owns.

Evans said that this line appears in the commercial as a quote from the newspaper, when, in fact, it does not actually appear in the articles text.

By approving and sponsoring the Advertisement, the Applegate Defendants have sanctioned a lie, the draft complaint says.

Werbrock, however, said its clear that its not a direct quote from the article, but rather accurately reflects the articles claim that, as a member of Congress, Issa took official actions that inured to his personal pecuniary benefit.

There are discrepancies between the draft libel complaint and letter compared to the content of the ad itself. The commercial is misquoted in the draft complaint in the letter, and a copy of the New York Times article does not appear in Applegates ad as claimed, but rather a graphic of a generic newspaper. The differences between his letter and draft complaint dont matter, Evans said.

Evans said his client is considering legal remedies ranging from an injunction to stop the ad from appearing to a lawsuit seeking damages from Applegate and his campaign manager. But Werbrock said if Issa does bring the matter to court, Applegate and his campaign will take their own legal course of action.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841

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DUBAI (Reuters) - A Red Cross worker kidnapped 10 months ago in Yemen was freed on Monday and taken to neighboring Oman, Omani state news agency ONA and the ICRC said. French-Tunisian, Nourane Houas, a staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Sanaa, had been kidnapped along with a Yemeni man by unidentified gunmen who intercepted their vehicle in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The man was released hours later but Houas held in an unknown location. ONA quoted an Omani foreign ministry official as saying France had asked Oman to try to locate her. "The concerned authorities in the sultanate, and in coordination with some Yemeni parties, managed to find the aforementioned woman in Yemen and transferred her to the sultanate this evening, in preparation to repatriate her home," ONA said. The agency gave no further details. The ICRC confirmed Houas had reached Oman after being freed with Omani help. We are relieved and thankful that Nourane is now back with us, safe and sound, Alexandre Faite, ICRC head of delegation in Yemen, said in a statement. Her abduction was a terrible ordeal for her, as well as for her family, friends and colleagues. And it has obviously dealt a real blow to our humanitarian work in Yemen. The Gulf Arab sultanate has several times used its good ties with Yemen's dominant Houthi group to free Western nationals who have gone missing or been detained in Yemen. Sanaa is controlled by the Houthi militia, an Iran-allied group which seized control of much of Yemen from September last year. The capture of Sanaa provoked armed intervention in March by a Saudi-led Arab alliance, which has since been waging an air campaign against the Houthis and allied troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Two ICRC employees were shot dead by unknown gunmen in September last year in the northern province of Amran. The two Yemeni nationals had been returning from an aid project in the northern province of Saada. On Aug. 25, gunmen raided the ICRC office in the Yemeni port city of Aden, which is controlled by the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, forcing the agency to temporarily suspend its activities there. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Andrew Roche)
Thirty-five out of nearly 3,000 federally funded housing agencies, including the San Diego Housing Commission, accounted for 22 percent of spending on outside legal services, with inadequate oversight to make sure the costs were reasonable and necessary, a new audit concludes.

According to a report last week by the Office of Inspector General, 2,922 agencies funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spent $590.7 million on legal help in the five years between 2010 and 2015.

More than $131 million of that  22 percent  was paid by 35 housing agencies, even though they only make up 1.2 percent of the federally funded housing agencies nationwide, the audit said.

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HUD officials stated that they did not monitor or review housing agencies legal costs for reasonableness because the amount spent on legal costs is small in comparison to HUDs overall budget, the report states.

The audit made no mention of the San Diego Housing Commission, other than to include it among the 35 agencies, and to total the local agencys $6.5 million in legal spending over five years.

Auditors focused on other participants in Moving To Work, a program created in 1996 that allows more flexibility in promoting affordable housing, especially for clients who seek or secure employment.

Philadelphia officials paid excessive legal fees totaling more than $30.5 million and an apparent conflict of interest existed in the awarding of five contracts totaling $29 million for legal services to a firm that employed the son of the chairman of the authoritys board, the report said.

In Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington D.C., the audits found that those agencies did not always make payments for outside legal services in compliance with applicable requirements, it added.

Federal housing officials said Moving To Work participants should be expected to incur higher legal fees due to their more innovative strategies, the report said.

The report recommended that HUD require Moving To Work agencies to detail anticipated and actual legal costs in annual plans and reports. HUD opposed the suggestion.

The San Diego Housing Commission will continue to fulfill the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments reporting requirements for Moving to Work Annual Plans and Reports, the commission said in a statement. SDHC agrees with HUDs comments about the audit recommendation and will abide by any decision HUD makes in response to the audit.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
Regarding Hillary Clinton is the safe choice for president (Oct. 2): So, you chose Hillary Clinton and her liberal, progressive policies? Shame on you.

Whatever happened to smaller government and lower taxes? You are definitely tied at the hip to the ultra-liberal Los Angeles Times. Did we see this coming? Of course, and dont ever again pretend to be a conservative newspaper.

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy.

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E-mail letters@sduniontribune.com

Mail: Andrew Kleske, Reader Outreach Editor San Diego Union-Tribune P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191.

You can also leave a comment below

You could have avoided making a choice by stating you couldnt support Donald Trump, but that you do support conservative policies.

Elaine Holloway

El Cajon

I find it very difficult to believe that any clear thinking, rational, America-loving individual, who read the U-T editorial and the Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times article The Trump question (Oct. 2), would vote for Donald Trump.

If any who are Trump supporters are still not convinced of the dangers to our country under a Trump presidency, they should consider other conservative sources that have endorsed Hillary Clinton, such as the Arizona Republic, which has never before endorsed a Democratic candidate for president, the Dallas Morning News and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Additionally, the 27-person editorial board of USA Today, for the first time in its 34-year history, voted to take a position in a presidential election, urging its readers to reject Trump as, among other things, a dangerous demagogue.

Michael Witte

San Diego

Your endorsement of Hillary Clinton shows you have lost your moral compass. Hillary Clinton is a deceitful, lying person who should be in prison for her mishandling of classified material.

Bill Broadwell

San Carlos

Your editorial says it all, and says it very well. Bravo! As a self-confessed liberal and two-time Barack Obama voter, I would have been disappointed if John McCain had won the presidency in 2008, or Mitt Romney in 2012.

Disappointed, but not fearful; both, I knew, were patriotic Americans who would operate within the broad umbrella of what we understand America to be.

But a Trump victory in 2016? I fear for the republic.

Ron Bonn

Tierrasanta

According to the leftist editorial staff at the U-T we need a new liar-in-chief to take the place of the last one.

Rather than a safe choice we need a president who has the ability to keep us safe and keep his word  both of which disqualify Hillary Clinton.

I was miffed when Donald Trump missed a golden opportunity at the debate when the subject of cybersecurity came up and he didnt say  You dont really want someone in charge of cybersecurity who doesnt even know how to e-mail.

We selected the last loser as president based on ethnicity and now you want to choose one based on gender. How about selecting on ability, experience in the real world and strength? Vote Trump!

Richard Cole

Encinitas

I understand the position that was conveyed in your editorial

However, your closing statement, This paper has not endorsed a Democrat for president in its 148-year history seems intended to convey some surprising shift in the editorial conscience of San Diegos major newspaper ... after a century and a half, the editors are compelled to speak up for the safe choice in the election.

Is it possible that the acquisition of the U-T by the same media group that owns the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune is having an impact on the local press?

In the interest of full disclosure, you might insert the fact that the 148-year history of the U-T includes new ownership as of 2015.

Bernie Brady

Pacific Beach

Shame on you for endorsing Clinton for the presidency. For starters, she sure does not have a better temperament than Trump. Just ask those who have heard her verbal assaults on those who have had the audacity to say no to her.

Sure, she traveled to all those countries around the world, but not for the benefit of Americans but for the benefit of the Clintons. And she certainly is not a champion of womens rights. Just look at all the cover-ups of Bill Clintons infidelities.

And what will she do when troops call for help in the middle of the night? Just ask the families of the Benghazi men. Shell do nothing. All that comes out of her mouth is lies, lies and more lies. Shell sell America out from underneath us.

Karen Souther

Imperial Beach

Thank you for putting our country first. I dont believe the U-T is choosing a political side, but choosing our country first and can see the risk of a President Trump.

I believe the U-T, USA Today, Arizona Republic and others are acting brave and responsibly even though they risk a lot. By making this endorsement the U-T is making a loud statement: The U-T is not swayed by a political affiliation, but by patriotism.

Betty Sanchez

Chula Vista

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Vice presidential candidates Mike Pence, Republican, and Tim Kaine, Democrat, are set to square off in their first and only debate at Virginias Longwood University where CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano will act as the moderator Tuesday night.

Who will be watching?

While vice presidential debates certainly have value to voters in the upcoming Nov. 8 election, viewership is expected to fall short of the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump that drew a record of 84 million viewers on Sept. 26.

If you do plan on watching, here are five things to watch out for.

1. Who? What? When? Where?

The vice presidential debate will be held at the Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (Pacific Time).

2. Where to watch the debate on TV.

Similar to the presidential debates, viewers can watch the vice presidential debate on local channels such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and PBS Newshour, as well as cable channels like C-SPAN,CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. You can also watch a live-stream of the debate on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/twitter/status/782632032815886336

3. Who are Mike Pence and Tim Kaine?

Mike Pence is the vice presidential nominee on the Republican Party ticket. He is the current governor of Indiana and was previously a U.S. congressman where he led the Republican Study Committee. Pence, 57, famously describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." Pences Twitter account is @mike_pence.

Tim Kaine is the vice presidential nominee on the Democratic Party ticket. He is a U.S. senator from Virginia, where he also once served as governor. Kaine, 58, is fluent in Spanish largely due to the time he spent in Honduras doing missionary work. Kaines Twitter account is @timkaine.

https://twitter.com/cspan/status/781928955234357249

4. What issues should we expect the candidates to address?

Vice presidential candidates often act as the echo of the presidential nominee, championing the tickets position on many policy issues. What will be interesting to watch is whether either of the two will say something that contradicts their presidential nominees positions.

Tim Kaine is likely to be pressed on issues related to scandals stemming from Hillary Clintons email server and the Clinton Foundation. He is also likely to be pressed on his views on abortion (Kaine is a practicing Catholic) and previous reports of the various gifts he accepted as governor of Virginia.

Mike Pence is likely to be asked about Donald Trumps temperament and controversial remarks about Hispanics, Muslims, women and members of the military who suffer from PTSD. He is also likely to be pressed on his views on trade policy and whether Trump should release his tax statements.

5. How to join the conversation?

You can follow the conversation with us on Twitter at @sdutIdeas or by following these hashtags: #VPdebate, #Debates2016, #Debates and#Decision2016. @sdutIdeas will be sharing San Diegans reactions to the debate in real time, so follow along with us during the debate.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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Lost in the noise and excitement of a presidential campaign is the quieter contest for the vice presidency. With few exceptions (the 2008 competition between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin being one), it never draws the same public interest as the presidential race because its really not a contest between vice presidential candidates.

The vice-presidential hopefuls are more or less surrogates for their presidential running mates. And once elected, the vice presidents job doesnt draw much fascination from the public. The VP presides over the Senate, attends public functions not important enough to merit the presidents attendance, and, of course, remains ready to step into the big job if the president is killed or incapacitated.

Long before he ran for president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried out for the Veeps job. Hed been appointed assistant secretary of the Navy in 1913 and worked in that capacity through the First World War. Shortly afterward, he was offered a chance to campaign with the Democratic presidential nominee of 1920, James M. Cox.

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Being chosen as Coxs running mate was a step up for FDR, but he was under no illusions about the importance of the VP position. He envisioned bigger things for the office. And so, in 1920, the Post published his article, Can the Vice President Be Useful? in which he suggested a new role for the vice president that would help make Congress more efficient.

We arent giving away anything by telling you that no one took up Roosevelts suggestion. Still, its an intriguing idea to give the VPOTUS more substantial work for the positions $230,700 annual salary.

Can the Vice President Be Useful?

By Franklin D. Roosevelt, Reported by Donald Wilhelm

Excerpted from an article originally published on October 16, 1920

There is probably no better example of what might be called the industrial waste at Washington than is shown by the traditional conception of the duties of the vice president. Here is a man supposedly fully capable in an emergency to act as President of the United States; who has been nominated and elected by exactly the same procedure as that surrounding the nomination and election of the president himself. No precaution which the framers of our Constitution could design was neglected to assure the people that their vice president would be chosen with the same care with which the president is chosen and elected to office by the will of the majority of the citizens. Yet the only official work devised for him to do is to preside over the Senate, which is in session hardly more than half of each day and hardly more than half the days of each year, and, moreover  notably during long set speeches  is often presided over by a senator called to the chair by the vice president.

I believe that Washington must be reorganized, that voters will insist upon it, and I hope sincerely that the vice presidents job will be one of those which will be attended to. Just what the added duties of the vice president will eventually be, of course, no one can forecast. The most one can do certainly is to suggest the background of the office and of the government and indicate what might be done in the foreground, by the vice president especially.

Clearly, at the very outset, two facts are evident: First, such functions as the vice president may perform strictly in relation to the Senate are for the Senate itself to decide; second, the reorganization of the governmental machinery cannot be achieved in any event by the Senate alone, by Congress alone, or by the president and the department heads alone. All must lend a hand if reorganization is to be achieved at all, and the vice president with the rest.

In a large sense the first step must come in betterment of the relations between Congress and the White House. I think the first count in the nations bill of complaint is that the legislative and executive families are all but disastrously too far apart when they are of different political faiths, and still too far apart when they are of the same political faith. In some countries having a parliamentary form of government  England, for instance  the prime minister, who bears analogy to our president, and the members of the cabinet have access to the floors of their legislative bodies, where, though they cannot, of course, vote, they can yet outline personally the pros and cons of their policies. It is worth noting that President Washington several times occupied a seat on the floor of the Senate in order personally to make his views known. Years later, an attempt was made to encourage this practice and to establish it by joint resolution. Again, it is worth noting that President Wilson, in order to present his views to Congress most successfully, personally addressed it on various occasions. The question accordingly comes to mind: Cannot the vice president so utilize his high office as to help bridge the dangerous and increasing gap between Congress and any administration?

The Family Feud

It is my thought that reorganization itself, not only of all the factors that bear on the relationship of Congress with the office of the president but the reorganization of the executive departments themselves, can never be achieved until Congress and the White House are in closer touch. Certainly no commission of experts called in from outside by either Congress or the president can succeed with the gigantic problem of reorganization of this, the biggest and most intricate business in the world.

The proof is in: President Taft tried and signally failed after his commission had all been ground up between the upper and the nether millstones. It is certain that no Congressional commission can succeed in reorganizing the executive departments and bureaus without the cooperation of the president and the heads of the departments and bureaus, though such a body as the Congressional Commission on Reclassification of Government Personnel, which does not disturb the various entities, might succeed in its particular task. And certainly no president can achieve reorganization of even the executive departments without such cooperation from Congress as will result in necessary legislation. It follows, in other words, that harmony is the shibboleth.

The question, then, that occurs to one at this juncture is: Would it be possible for the vice president, who is not tied down to a desk, to help? Especially in relation to problems where the jurisdiction or control does not rest in one department but partly in one and partly in others? In other words, wouldnt it be practicable for the vice president, at the request of a department head or at the request of the president, to study such a situation and report?

Anyone who has grappled with governmental inertia will understand why such suggestions are in point. Like most young men, when I went to Washington I felt that the traditional inertia in the departments was not a real thing but rather an excuse for laziness. I discovered very soon that though it is intangible and therefore all the harder to grapple with, it is as real as anything in the world, as real a thing as if it had flesh and blood, though you can never put your finger just here or there and say: Here is the monkey wrench in this machinery!

Liaison Service

It has been said very frequently, by executives in Washington, and others, that the trouble all lies with Congress.

But the broader view is that the trouble is the result of lack of plan, or, more accurately, our inability to adjust our tremendous growth to the old, existing plan; and running that idea back, you soon discover that the dire need of adjustments  in other words, the dire need of reorganization  is largely due to the wide gap between the executive and the legislative families.

We return thus to our starting point  the need of utilizing every possible aid in overcoming the gap between Congress and the executive branch of the government  and the desirability of making fuller and more satisfactory use of the vice president in overcoming that gap; in Congress, where his duties and prerogatives are in the hands of the Senate, and in the White House and executive departments, where his usefulness depends largely upon his relationship to the president and his willingness to aid the president.

There is hardly any limitation upon the ways in which the vice president might be of service to the president. He might serve as an executive aid to the president, and in that capacity could easily enough, even if he did not possess such executive authority as might without a Constitutional amendment be granted him, exercise considerable influence through his close relationship with the president. He could, at the request of the president, serve in relation to the determination of large matters of policy that do not belong in the province of a member of the presidents cabinet. He might serve as a kind of liaison officer to Congress and aid perhaps in carrying the large burden of interpreting administration policies to Congress and to the public.

Conclusively, when one has thus considered the background of our government and realized the urgent need of accomplishing reforms in the foreground, the desirability of making fuller and from every approach more satisfactory use of the vice president is apparent. The question, then, resolves itself into the problem of ways and means. And in meeting the problem of ways and means, the most that one now can do is to trust to American resourcefulness.
New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/04/2016 -- Adhesives and sealants are the most versatile bonding agents available today and are used by automakers to make cars lighter and tougher. Adhesives are made from precise blends of synthetic rubber elastomers, resins and agents or additives used to enhance certain characteristics, depending on the end use. Automakers today use aluminum and composites that cannot be welded together but have to be glued to hold the body parts together even at top speed and high pressure. Adhesives do not lose strength and hence are used for these applications. Adhesives bonding renders the vehicles quieter, more durable and safer and are replacing conventional joining techniques such as welding, riveting and bolting.



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Adhesives find numerous applications in the automobile industry and have revolutionized the way automobiles have been designed and built. Adhesives are used to assemble rubber, metal, glass, plastics and numerous other materials during the manufacture of automobiles. Adhesives help prevent the ingress of salt, dirt and water in the car body shell. Adhesives help in improving body stiffness and durability and provide improved crash performance. Every stage of production of an automobile, whether for non-load-bearing body components or structural parts, uses adhesives in one form or other. Adhesives are used in manufacture of engines, body components, gear boxes and mounted parts such as wing mirrors, seats and steering wheels. Interior applications include tray systems, safety systems, seating systems, as well as sub assembly and acoustical material assembly. In addition, adhesives are used for direct glazing, where they contribute to an increased rigidity of the car body.



Adhesives can be applied with high speed on the production line, which results in cost reduction and savings. Hence, adhesive consumption per vehicle is expected to increase, as automotive designers continue to exploit the cost saving potential of adhesives. In addition, adhesives help to cut down on noise, vibration and harshness characteristics. Adhesives improve fuel efficiency of automobiles and provide enhanced performance which is a key driving factor behind the advancement of adhesives in the automotive industry.



Consistent growth and presence of wide range of suppliers, distributors and manufacturers are the some of the characteristics of the adhesives market. Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America hold potential for growth. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region for the adhesives industry due to growing demand for adhesives in South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Australia and India.



North America and Europe are saturated markets and will grow with a low compound annual growth rate in the near future. The adhesive market in the U.S. has lost ground to China due to migration of manufacturing facilities to China but the country continues to play a significant role in the adhesives market.



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The industry remains fragmented, with numerous medium-sized companies with a high level of customization, particularly in the highest-value adhesive segments. The cost of producing adhesives is attributable to the cost of the raw materials along with the requisite service component of training customers and helping them resolve manufacturing issues. Some of the key players in this market are Sika AG (Switzerland), The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Bayer (Germany), Henkel (Germany), BASF (Germany), 3M Company (U.S.), Ashland Specialty Chemical Company (U.S.), H.B. Fuller Company(U.S.), Hindustan Adhesives Limited (India), ExxonMobil Chemical Company (U.S) , Dynea International Oy (Finland) , Forbo Adhesives Switzerland (Switzerland), Hexion Specialty Chemicals (U.S) and Covalence Adhesives (U.S.) among others.



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To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.



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Windsor Mill, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/04/2016 -- The Aeolian Islands or the Isole Eolie, as it is commonly known in Italy is one of the most beautiful chains of seven islands in Italy. It is also one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in Italy. However, planning a holiday in one of the most beautiful places, the Isole Eolie is not easy as there is a dearth of information on transportation facilities and the prices of ferries and so forth



Milazzo is the fastest ferry port which is located in the northern Sicilian coast town. It is easy to find ferries to Isole Eolie at cheap rates from Milazzo. The city is infact the first stop before reaching the Aeolian Islands. There is a hydrofoil ferry to reach the island. There are a number of buses that run from the train station to the port at regular intervals. However, there is a train station to the south of the Milazzo port. Taxis from the station to the port are quite expensive. The AST bus lines are cheap and reliable.



There are two ferry companies that operate out of Milazzo. However, the Liberty Lines operates daily and ferries passengers many times in a day. The southern side of the port has secure car garages which can be utilized by people arriving by cars. Cars can be parked securely at different price rates for different time periods. There are free bus services from the car park to the port too.



At the Milazzo port, there is a ticket office with an ATM counter and a snack bar that offers espresso coffee and snacks. One way trip to the island costs 20 euros approx. Although there are ATMs and cash counters at the island, it is safe to withdraw cash from the port in case the Italian ATMs are non-functional.



"Travelling from Isole Eolie to Milazzo was one of the most pleasant experiences for me. Isole Eolie is a beautiful place to visit in Italy. Ferrying from the port to the island was really awesome. I have been waiting to visit these exotic islands for many years. I am really glad that I took the chance when I got it. I believe that it is one of the best Italian holidays to Isole Eolie I have ever had," comments a recent tourist.



To know more about ferrying from Isole Eolie to Milazzo, please visit the website:

http://www.banksitaly.com/catching-a-ferry-to-isole-eolie-from-milazzo



Ferrying to the Isole Eolie from Milazzo is a remarkable experience as the Aeolian Islands is a beautiful destination in Italy.



Media Contact:

URL: http://www.banksitaly.com/catching-a-ferry-to-isole-eolie-from-milazzo
Windsor Mill, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/04/2016 -- Buying goods and services from an Italian Shop is not an easy task if one purchases goods or services with a credit card. The reason is that there are very few accepted credit cards in Italy. Therefore, a person's shopping can be a big hit or a miss depending on the card he or she uses. It so happens most of the times because of the compatibility issues with the foreigner's credit card with the network of banks in Italy. Though some of the high end shops and restaurants near tourist locations display the form of payments on their front windows before any tourist enters the establishment, there is still a long way to go in terms of clarity on the cards that are accepted in Italy. Therefore, it is very important that a tourist checks for the accepted cards of payment signs at the front of the shop if he or she intends to purchase with credit card or debit card.



It is really embarrassing to sit in a cozy and high end Italian restaurant for a meal later in the night and finish the dinner only to find out that the plastic card carried by the tourist is of no use. This is a very tricky situation which most of the tourists face in Italy. They end up hunting for Italian ATM's to be able to pay for the Italian dinner. Finally, it leaves a very bad taste for both the customer and the restaurant owner. It is highly recommended that before a customer leaves for a holiday to Italy, he takes a few credit card types with him. Even if the tourist has only one bank account, he can purchase a pre-paid credit card which is marked with VISA or MasterCard with the currency already converted in Euros. Another easy way to prevent being caught red-faced at the Italian restaurants or shops is to make sure that one has enough cash before he goes out for shopping or dining.



One can find the nearest Italian banks near all the important and popular Italian tourist destinations at http://www.banksitaly.com/buying-goods-and-services-from-an-italian-shop



For the people who belong to the US and are traveling to Italy, the Bank Of America has a global ATM alliance with a BNL bank in Italy. This makes it possible for the tourists to use the BNL ATM in Italy without incurring a US $5 international ATM fee. Similarly, for Australians, Westpack bank is a part of the Global ATM Alliance and has an agreement in place with the Deutsche Bank. Germans have BNP Paribas bank tied up with BNL Banca Nazionale Del Lavoro in Italy.



URL: http://www.banksitaly.com/buying-goods-and-services-from-an-italian-shop
Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/04/2016 -- Urban transport is moving forward in one of the world's most progressive nations, Singapore! This really isn't a surprise, as Singapore is known for its commitment to progress via technology. With this in mind, a Singapore company, nuTonomy, will be testing the globe's very first totally autonomous taxi system within Singapore. Singapore is a city-state which is an island and it's an ideal place to check out a whole new approach to getting from Point A to Point B. This new testing program will run for two years and it starts in 2017.



Automated driving is one of the key innovations that nuTonomy is exploring. As well, its services are focused on connection and a host of analytic processes which happen off-board and off-vehicle. nuTonomy was formed a few years ago and it utilises technology which was developed at MIT.



Autonomy is a big trend in the automotive world. However, no one is quite sure when it's going to be used on a high level for personal mobility. The higher level would mean that drivers don't really have to be aware of what's happening in order to get where they need to go. They won't need to pay attention as they normally would, as their vehicles will be computerised in order to provide driverless features.



The concept of autonomy which nuTonomy is testing in Singapore is all about giving people the chance to relax, instead of focusing on braking, parking and highway driving. If the system is adopted, customers will call for taxis which are self-driving and then give the taxi a destination. At this point, the car will do all of the work, without a driver.



Naturally, safety will be a key component of any successful autonomous taxi service in Singapore. This is why extensive testing will be needed. Driverless technology makes a lot of people nervous and it's safe to say that nuTonomy will need to prove that its system is safe before people feel comfortable using it. However, Singapore's government visionaries always look to the future and this means that they are willing to give nuTonomy a shot. They realise that driverless technology is the wave of the future and they support its safe and careful development.



If things pan out and the system is proven safe, people in Singapore may be able to enjoy a more relaxing travel experience within the city. They will be alone as they travel, so they won't need to chat with drivers. They may collect their thoughts and relax, knowing that cars which are guided by sophisticated computer systems will get them where they are going.



Testing Will Be Extensive



Testing will last for two years, so the team at nuTonomy will have plenty of time to look at every detail and work out any bugs. While there are no guarantees, it's possible that this form of technology will herald a new sort of taxi system in this city-state. If so, it may not be the only place which embraces autonomous taxi services.



About Morris Edwards

Morris Edwards is a content writer at companyregistrationinsingapore.com.sg, he writes different topics like The Most Innovative Economy In Asia: Singapore, How Startups Like Uber Raise Billions, Driverless Cars will be a reality within 10 years in Singapore and all topics related to Company Registration.



Contact:

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Singapore Company Incorporation Consultants Pte Ltd

Telephone: +65 66531211

Address: 10 Anson Road International Plaza #27-15, Singapore 079903

E-mail: info@companyregistrationinsingapore.com.sg

Website: http://www.companyregistrationinsingapore.com.sg/
Goffstown, NH -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/04/2016 -- SPS Spindle Parts & Service, LLC, an authority on everything spindle-related, has had a customer-first mentality since day one. This is one of the many reasons that they have become such a specialized authority across New England. SPS's employees follow a strict code of company values to ensure all clients get treated like family. The first pillar of ethics followed by the company is their dedication to honesty. By setting realistic expectations, the company builds valuable relationships with its customers that results in return business and new referrals. The company also strives to reinvest into their company to provide their team members the correct tools to get any job done.



Effectively communicating with clients is not their only objective. SPS Spindle also believes in listening to the customer's concerns to quickly resolve any issues. "By promptly assessing and fixing our clients' machines, it results in them being able to get back to their baby. Their business. Their livelihood. We like nothing better than being able to assist our partners and clients with their spindle needs," says Michael Gunski, President of SPS Spindle Parts & Service, LLC. Customers can talk to the company's employees via telephone or online. SPS Spindle has even implemented an online Return Merchandise Authorization form to assist with clients who order parts that they do not need.



Improving the business-customer relationship is an ongoing challenge, and SPS Spindle is up for the task. The specialized business carries numerous products to rebuild spindles for machines of all sizes and purposes. The company also offers on-site spindle repair services to expedite time-sensitive situations. Interested parties are encouraged to visit http://spsspindle.com or call 800-892-6258.



About SPS Spindle Parts & Service, LLC

Providing high-quality spindle repair services, SPS Spindle Parts & Service, LLC offers new spindles and spindle products on their website, which assist with increasing machine tool performance while decreasing downtime. The company takes an active role in helping build their surrounding community, participating in helping advance the regional and national trade associations. The company is headquartered in Goffstown, New Hampshire.



For more information, please visit http://www.spsspindle.com/.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/03/2016 -- Wine lovers of Malaysia have a reason now to rejoice because GoWine is making available to them the best wine in Malaysia. GoWine takes pride in asserting that they have a passion for wine and that is the reason they make it a point to get their supplies of wine directly from Italy.



The company further points out that Italy is a country where wine in intertwined with the culture and lifestyle of people. In other words, wine has an important role to play in the lives of the people of Italy. GoWine proudly says that they are originally from Italy, having been born and raised there and hence, there is no wonder they prefer to get their supplies from that country and offer that wine online in Malaysia.



The company continues to add that by offering their high quality wine in Malaysia, they want to share their passion with their discerning Malaysian customers. In other words, they want to bring a small piece of Italy to the homes of these customers.



The company assertively says that they import all their wines directly from Italy. They make it a point to visit the vineyards of the country periodically for selecting the best products for their customers because they believe in the dictum "customer is God."



About GoWine

GoWine in Malaysia is making available to wine lovers of Malaysia the best wine that is got directly from Italy. People behind GoWine, having been born and raised in Italy, prefer to get their supplies from that country because wine plays an important role in the lives of Italian people. The company visits the vineyards of Italy periodically for choosing the best wine for their customers.



For Media Contact:

Name: GoWine Malaysia

Address: No. 9, Lorong Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur

Phone: +60 12 639 8100

http://gowine.com.my/
[DHAKA] A new diagnostic technique to determine dehydration caused by diarrhoea in children is more reliable and accurate than existing methods, say scientists who were part of a US-Bangladesh team that developed it.

The DHAKA (acronym for Dehydration: Assess Kids Accurately) score was tested on 496 under-five children under a validation study and the results published in Lancet Global Health, last month (August).

According to the study, the DHAKA score is significantly better in performance than the current standard, the WHOs Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).

Adam Levine, principal investigator of the study and associate professor of emergency medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, tells SciDev.Net that the DHAKA score will help doctors and nurses better diagnose children with dehydration from diarrhoea and improve their management.

Levine said his team compared the DHAKA score with the IMCI algorithm and found the former significantly more accurate. This means that if doctors or nurses use the DHAKA score to assess the degree of dehydration in children with diarrhoea, they will be right more often than if they use the WHO IMCI algorithm.

Levine and co-scientists, including those from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), originally derived the DHAKA score in 2014 when they statistically determined which clinical signs best determined dehydration severity. They included general appearance, breathing anomalies, skin pinch slackness and production of tears.The DHAKA score showed significant accuracy, sensitivity and specificity in identifying no dehydration, moderate dehydration or severe dehydration. The definitive measure was made by comparing a childs weight before and after full rehydration.For the newly published study, Levine and his team performed another set of tests and validated the DHAKA score by testing its predictive value on 496 children determined to be suffering from acute diarrhoea.Nur Haque Alam of the icddr,b, who is also a co-author of the study, says the DHAKA score was particularly useful in identifying severe dehydration, because we check for fewer parameters compared to the conventional method and in shorter time.Levine says follow-up research was needed to see if the DHAKA score is easier to use and more reliable than the WHO IMCI algorithm when used by nurses at rural health centres. National and local health policy makers will need to review both diagnostic methods in order to determine which is best for a particular setting, he says.
A recent study shows that the off coast of the Big Island of Hawaii has an astonishing and unusual rich deep-sea ecosystem. This puzzles the federal researchers as the ocean waters of Hawaii are surrounded by barren ocean landscape.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration together with the researchers stated that the abundance of sea life sampled in a certain stretch of water off the Big island points of a thriving deep-sea habitat. They spotted the ocean waters with ample of fish that includes dragonfish, sawtooth eels and several mysterious deep-sea creatures, according to Maui News.

The researchers are looking for the reason of the thriving of the marine life in the waters. This is because much of the ocean surrounding Hawaii is among the least productive water in the Pacific, according to Jamison Gove, the lead researcher and a NOAA oceanographer.

University of Hawaii News reported that the biologists theorized that Hawaii was an evolutionary graveyard for marine fauna including the other marine creatures for 30 years. On the other hand, with the new research, the marine biodiversity of Hawaii is radiating back across the ocean. They are spreading their genes and adapting to new environments.

So, what could be the reason of the so much productivity in the waters of Hawaii now? The researchers believe that part of the reason for the thriving of marine creatures is because of the way the seafloor dramatically rises as it reaches the island. They said that it brings nutrients up and generating food for a wide range of sea life.

The team also discovered that surface slicks, which are the narrow, glassy channels of water that are visible in the coastal ocean waters, produce an "oasis in the desert." They pull together marine creatures such as baby sea turtles, young reef fish, coral larvae, plankton and other sea creatures. On the other hand, these slicks also collect plastic and land debris that could be harmful to the marine creatures.

The Conservation International and the University of Hawaii also conducted an expedition in Hawaii Islands. They said that the areas are also rich in marine diversity for the same reasons. "There will always be the unexpected when you go into the deep ocean," said Greg Stone, the lead scientist of the expedition.
The researchers from Princeton University examined the ice cores gathered in Greenland and Antarctica to identify the levels of the oxygen over the last 800,000 years. They discovered that the concentration of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere have declined by nearly 0.7 percent.

The study was printed in the journal Science. It also indicates that in the past 100 years, the atmospheric oxygen has dropped by 0.1 percent due to the burning of fossil fuels, which expends oxygen and generate carbon dioxide.

On the other hand, the drop in the atmospheric oxygen over the past 800,000 years did not change the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This becomes a paradox to the scientists and they tend to apply the theory for how the atmospheric carbon dioxide, global carbon cycle and earth's temperature are associated on geologic timescales, according to Science Daily.

John Higgins, the co-author of the study and an assistant professor of geosciences in Princeton explained that the oxygen record could tell a change in the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere and ocean. On the other hand, he said that the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels aren't changing because the earth has had time to respond via better silicate weathering rates. The researchers theorize that the reason for the lack of carbon dioxide is due to the series of slow chemical reactions between the atmosphere and rocks, which is called silicate weathering.

Daily Mail reported that the drop in oxygen level is due to an increase in erosion. This leads to freshly exposed sediment being oxidized by the atmosphere thus reducing the atmospheric oxygen levels. Another factor is the interaction with the oceans. With the global warming, the oceans cannot absorb oxygen. On the other hand, cooler waters could take in more gas.

"Understanding the history of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is intimately connected to understanding the evolution of complex life. It's one of these big, fundamental ongoing questions in Earth science," said Prof. Higgins.
Creepy clowns have been making headlines during the past months. Reports say there have been sightings of clowns scaring people in 10 states in America. Amidst these happenings, psychologist Frank T. McAndrew tries to explain the origin and reason why clowns scare so many people. Ronald McDonald is not an exemption, for many people hate him as well.

In his article published in IFL Science, McAndrew recalled that the clowns have gone as far as chasing people with machetes and knives, luring children and women into the woods, and yelling at people from cars. Likewise, they hang out in cemeteries and appear in country roads in the middle of the night.

McAndrew likewise said that this is not the first time there has been numerous clown sightings in the United States. In the 1980s, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman came up with "The Phantom Clown Theory", which discusses about the numerous cases of clown sighting leading to mass hysteria. It is important to take note that only children witnessed the incidents that sparked such cases. McAndrew said it is impossible to tell which incidents are hoaxes and which are bona fide tales of clowning around.

Additionally, a study conducted in England in 2008 revealed that only a small number of children like clowns. In fact, experts concluded that despite being a common practice, decorating children's wards in hospitals with pictures of clowns may lead to the opposite of a nurturing environment. This can also explain why many people actually don't like Ronald McDonald.

In connection to this, BBC reported about an 11-year-old girl in Athens, Georgia being arrested for bringing a knife in school. She did it because she was afraid of social media reports about clowns attacking children. In recent weeks, there have reports of clown attack in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Meanwhile, McAndrew pointed out that for thousands of years, clown-like characters have been around. According to history, clowns and jesters have been used for satire and making fun of powerful people. Moreover, the word "clown" first appeared in 1500s. Shakespeare used the term in describing foolish characters in some of his plays. It was only over the last 150 years that the familiar circus clown arose.

Lastly, the thought about creepy clowns and their psychopathic behaviors consumed the collective unconscious of Americans due to the capture of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. He regularly painted pictures of clowns and appeared as Pogo the Clown at children's birthday parties. The authorities discovered that Gacy had killed approximately 33 people.
Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, has won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The Nobel Foundation announced on Monday, October 3rd that Dr. Ohsumi was the recipient of the award for his ground-breaking experiments with yeast which revealed a major function in the body's defenses where cells degrade and recycle their parts.

According to Live Science, autophagy, from the Greek words "auto" and "phagein," meaning self and to eat, is a process that allows cells to destroy their own parts and essentially recycle them. There weren't a lot of information about cells' odd behavior until Dr. Ohsumi's "brilliant experiments" in the early 1990s.

The Nobel Foundation released a statement saying that the scientist had identified genes in yeast that were vital to autophagy, which showed the regulating mechanisms of the process in yeast. Dr. Ohsumi's studies also showed that the same mechanisms were used in human cells. The prize committee said in its statement that understanding autophagy or "self-eating" has led to a better understanding of diseases including infectious diseases, cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's and Parkinson's. "Ohsumi's discoveries led to a new paradigm in our understanding of how the cell recycles its content," it said.

Dr. Ohsumi was born in 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan and has been a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology since 2009. After receiving the news that he won the Nobel Prize, he told Kyodo News agency that he was "extremely honored" to get the prize. Also, in a different interview with NHK, Dr. Ohsumi also said, he had "always wanted to do something that other people wouldn't do", reported New York Times. "I thought the breakdown (of cells) would be interesting, and that was my start," he said. His discoveries led to a better understanding of how cells recycle their contents and showed how autophagy can play a key role in other physiological processes such as a cell's response to infection or starvation.

Reports said that the discovery dates back to the 1950s, when scientists found out about a specialized section, or organelle, inside cells that break down proteins, carbs, and lipids or fats. The Nobel statement stated that after some time, researchers found that other organelles were sometimes found whole inside this specialized section called a lisosome. These researchers were sure that there had to be a transport system that brings these fairly large cell parts to the compartment. Researchers also said that these travel vehicles, now called autophagosomes, carried "cellular cargo" to the lysosome to be broken down.

Chister Hoog, a professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, told Reuters the work helped explain crucial processes in human development, from growing up, to aging to succumbing to disease. "In the very early stages (of a human's development) your organs and your whole body are constantly being made over again, you are growing. So you need to get rid of the old stuff and generate new structures," he said. "When you undergo aging, you have structures that have to be taken away and this, autophagy, is the principle that gets rid of them.

Hoog also added saying that if the system, the genes, and proteins involved in autophagy, gets affected, it will no longer be possible for the body to take care of its waste which can lead to the accumulation of these wastes and will eventually lead to the development of different types of disease.
Leaders from different countries are gathering to solve the climate change. World leaders were warned by scientists to focus more on the movement against global warming, for the Earth is getting warmer every day. If not, the Earth will reach a dangerous warming level.

During the Universal Ecological Fund conference in Argentina, six scientists who were past leaders in the international climate conference joined them to hand-in a brief report. They said that the promise made by 190 nations in the Paris agreement to examine the carbon pollution's cuts and curbs is not enough.

The six scientists also warned that if the heat-trapping gasses will not be solved soon, the Earth will be warmer by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050. Basing on their report in 2009, the world leaders agreed that they wanted to stop the warming of 3.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels. But, the temperature now, is 1.8 degrees higher. If the temperature will rise another 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit mark, the Earth is in the dangerous warming level, according to Indian Gazette.

Sir Robert Watson, the lead author of the report form the University of East Anglia, said "The pledges are not going to get even close if you governments of the world are really serious, you're going to have to do way, way more," as reported by New York Times.

Robert Watson and his colleagues calculated that if the carbon pollution will continue with just the emission cuts, the Earth will hit the danger mark in 2050. Their team also suggested that the danger level will be delayed for 20 more years if nations will campaign to cut the carbon pollution emission a little bit more.

Meanwhile, the head of Earth system analysis at the Potsdam Institute in Germany, Stefan Rahmstorf, shared that "It is a good summary of what is common knowledge in the climate expert community but not widely appreciated by members of the public and even policy makers, so indeed it is a useful reminder notice to the world about what is at stake."
Incidents of exploding gadgets and electronic items have become common in the last few weeks. It began with exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 while the phones were connected to chargers, then came the news of explosions in Samsung washing machines. Now, it's the iPhone 6 Plus that exploded in a student's pocket and caught fire while he was in class.

David Hlavaty, a student of Rowan College in Burlington County, New Jersey, said that his iPhone 6 Plus exploded while it was kept in his back pocket. The accident burnt a hole in the pocket and the handset was completely ruined.

"Right as class was starting, my phone started smoking in my pocket. It was a fire," the student told 6ABC, further stating that he felt a "crazy, hot burning" in his leg.

Rebecca Bookbinder, a classmate of Hlavaty, witnessed the incident unfold and gave a statement to Tech Times about what had exactly happened. She said, "Out of nowhere, we heard a fizzing and a popping sound. Suddenly a great mass of smoke comes out from his pocket".

Hlavaty has claimed that the handset in question was owned by him for the last six months and did not have any problems or damage except for one crack. It is being speculated that since the phone was kept in the back pocket, Hlavaty may have sat on it, and lithium batteries present in such devices are susceptible to burst into flames in case they are mishandled.

Hlavaty had to throw his phone on the floor as it was "super hot" and had to be kicked away because it was on fire.

A school spokesperson has confirmed the news to be true. A teacher reported the incident to the public safety authorities around 9.45 a.m. The fire was already blown out when the public safety arrived but the smell of smoke was still there. The class was shifted to another room for the remaining lecture.

Apple said they can not comment on the matter right away, but assured that they will carry out a detailed investigation since consumer safety is most important. Apple's latest model, iPhone 7 also made headlines when it caught fire recently but it appears to be an isolated case.
A 44-year-old British man may be the first person in the world to be cured of HIV. He is one of the fifty people who is currently trialing a cure for HIV through a therapy created by scientists from five different UK universities that targets the disease even in its inactive state.

According to The Telegraph, Scientists told The Sunday Times that right now, the virus is completely undetectable in the man's blood, though they think that could be a result of regular drugs. However, if they find that the dormant cells are also cleared out it could represent the first complete cure. Trial results are expected to be published in 2018.

"This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV," said Mark Samuels, managing director of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure. "We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and it's still early days but the progress has been remarkable."

It was also reported by The Independent that the clinical trials, funded by the NHS, are the results of joint efforts by doctors and scientists at five different universities including universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London and King's College London. The man, whose identity has been kept anonymous, said: "I took part in the trial to help others as well as myself. It would be a massive achievement if, after all, these years, something is found to cure people of this disease. The fact that I was a part of that would be incredible."

Imperial College London consultant physician Sarah Fidler warned the public that there is still a long way to go. She said that they plan to continue medical tests for five more years, but depending on trial results, they aim to keep exploring the treatment that could be revolutionary, Inhabitat reported. It is still not yet known how the other 49 people responded to the therapy, or if the virus will return in the British man, but the researchers remain to be hopeful.

National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure managing director Mark Samuels said, "This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV. We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and it's still early days but the progress has been remarkable."

HIV, which stands for "human immunodeficiency virus," is primarily transmitted through sexual contacts or by using infected needles. The virus weakens a person's immune system by destroying T-cells which are important to fight disease and infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that about 36.7 million people are living with HIV around the world. Antiretroviral therapies target and prevent actively infected cells. Unfortunately, they still leave millions of dormant infected T-cells in the body. This means that the existing treatments can effectively control HIV but do not cure the disease.

Only one person has ever been cured of HIV. He is Timothy Brown, also known as the 'second' Berlin Patient, who received a stem cell transplant from a patient with natural immunity to HIV in 2008.
Congress just granted a billion dollars to fight the war on the Zika virus, and even though most people believe that it's too little and much too late, the Health and Human Services Department is assured everyone that the money will be well spent.

CNN reported that the department secretary, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, along with other key public health officials declared that they did not wait for legislations to come up with a budget because "the threat was too great." Instead, they redirected hundreds of millions of dollars from other priority funds to control activities and vaccine, as well as look after diagnostic research and development.

The money that they redirected could not be recovered either. Burwell shared that the damage occurred because of the funds they took will continue to take its tall. She also added, "Throughout the entire department we won't be able to backfill, whether it's from our Ebola research or funds that we had to take from the Administration for Children and Families or SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)."

President Barack Obama called for the congress to provide funds for the fight against Zika back in February, but partisan arguments kept the issue on a lockdown. It wasn't until the disease found its way to the US mainland that congress acted and allocated for the $1.1 million - far less than the $1.9 billion asked for.

Assistant HHS Secretary Nicole Lurie mentioned that there was a need to start work early on in the outbreak, especially with outside companies that could help bring a vaccine or a rapid diagnostic test to the market, but because of the delay of the funds, manufactures have walked away from negotiations. The Washington Post detailed the amounts to be received by various health departments, drug manufacturers, and research groups. If things go as planned, then additional funds may be released to allow the next phase of research for finally stopping Zika.
"Life sucks in the bear country," said Todd Orr as he started to detail his unfavorable experience. The Montana hiker suffered a double bear attack, and took to Facebook even before he received treatment. He wanted to warn the people in the area and remind them to keep safe.

According to CNN, Orr was on an early morning hike in the Madison County, Montana; and scouting for an elk on Saturday. Upon stepping into an open meadow, a grizzly bear spotted him. Orr said he yelled numerous times so the bear would realize he was human. Such act was not effective, for the bear attacked him. This is despite him giving the animal a full charge of bear spray on her face.

The first attack lasted for several minutes, with each bite feeling like a sledgehammer with teeth. Thinking it was over, Orr tried to go to his truck that was three miles away. He was already bloodied and bruised. But after 10 minutes, the bear was behind him again and he faced another attack.

While Orr knew he would survive the first attack, he wasn't so sure about the second. Like in the first attack, the bear bit his arms and shoulder. But unfortunately, a bite during the second went down through his bone. Consequently, his hand went numb and his wrist and fingers became limp and unusable. He tried to lay still for fear of provoking a fatal blow from the animal. After standing on top of him for more or less 30 seconds, the bear left. Several minutes after, Orr took to Facebook and drove himself to the hospital. He was just thankful he was alive.

CBS News reported that there was no chance Orr has made this up. This was according Chief John Moore, head of the police department in Ennis. He met Orr at the hospital and said all the pictures and videos posted online are legit. The officer likewise felt impressed and called Orr a warrior after driving himself to the hospital and staying strong despite suffering a double bear attack.
JOHNSONVILLE, S.C.  The 65-Mile Yard Sale scheduled for Friday and Saturday connecting the Johnsonville, Lake City, Kingstree and Hemingway areas has been cancelled.

The Johnsonville Area Chamber of Commerce released a statement Tuesday afternoon.

After many, many texts and calls between Johnsonville Area Chamber of Commerce committee members, we feel it is in the best interest of your safety and the safety of potential shoppers to cancel this years 65-mile Yard Sale due to the threat of Hurricane Matthew landfall along the S.C. coast, the release states.

At a Tuesday press conference, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she plans to issue an evacuation order Wednesday so that 1 million people can safely leave the coast. Unless there is a major shift in the storms track, Haley said she will finalize the order Wednesday morning.

Further plans regarding the yard sale will be announced later. The Chamber release encourages people to watch the Johnsonville Chamber of Commerce Facebook page for future events and details about future plans for the yard sale.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Delmae Heights Elementary School Principal Roy Ann Jolley had a tough time fighting back tears.

After a hug from Florence School District One Superintendent Dr. Randy Bridges, Jolley struggled with the news that she had just been named the districts principal of the year.

With many of her colleagues and staffers showing support for her Monday afternoon in the schools media center, the Florence native and longtime educator was at a loss for words. As the tears flowed, she got plenty of hugs.

Bridges joked that the best thing he could do was to get out of the way, telling the crowd that hes enjoyed his interactions with Jolley during his tenure.

And she has always been very passionate about providing excellent education opportunities for all children, he said.

Jolley once again choked up and then found the words.

I shared with the team the other day that to even be included to be considered by your peers  just to be considered for it is itself a reward enough, Jolley said. What can I say? I love what I do. I wouldnt do anything else. Im looking at the faces of the individuals standing out there that Ive worked with over the years and who have always been so supportive. Children are my passion  thats all I can say. And thank you.

Jolleys initial foray into the world of education began 43 years ago as a classroom assistant at Holmes School, now known as Lester Elementary. A graduate of Wilson High School, she later became a teacher at Holmes and stayed there 17 years. From 1992 to 2000, she served as curriculum coordinator at Briggs Elementary. In 2000, she was named to her present post.

Ive never worked in any other school district, said Jolley, who earned her bachelors and masters degrees from Francis Marion University. Im a product of Florence School District One.

In a news release, Bridges called her a lifelong learner who is constantly looking for ways to improve the teaching and learning environment at Delmae.

This school district and community are indeed fortunate to have her as an educational leader, he said.

For Jolley, what makes the recognition extra special is the respect and admiration she feels for the other principals in the district.

I know what an excellent job they do, she said. To be here is. 

Dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, she once again was at a loss for words.
FLORENCE, S.C.  A year ago today, the historic 1,000-Year Flood was just beginning as Hurricane Joaquin spun off the South Carolina coastline and combined with another system to dump billions of gallons of water over a three-day period.

Portions of the Pee Dee  mainly along the Lynches River, Black Creek and Black River  eventually saw some heavy flooding, causing millions if dollars in damage, including $4.4 million in Florence County alone.

Florence County had a little more than 6,500 citizens apply for federal assistance. More than $10 million in federal aid was doled out.

Aid included loans, grants, temporary housing, temporary disaster unemployment, emergency food assistance and money damage to personal property such as vehicles.

Though it took months to complete, all roads and bridges in the Pee Dee region damaged by flood waters have been repaired.

A 1,000-year flood doesnt necessarily mean one massive flood every thousand years; its more accurately described as a 1-in-1,000 chance that a catastrophic flood event can happen in any given year.

With Hurricane Matthew on course to possibly hit the South Carolina coastline, local first responders say they are prepared for the worst.

Florence County Emergency Management Department Director Dusty Owens said the 1,000-year flood showed that they were well prepared but also showed where they could improve.

Going into that storm, we had a good idea of which areas would be inundated and which roads would be cut by flood waters, he said. Through that weve learned, more areas are impacted by rising water, and thats given us the ability to closer monitor more high-risk areas and get a plan together sooner.

Owens said his department has secured funding for more river flood gauges, which will help with flash flood detection as well as large-scale flood events.

We realized a need for more gauges, especially along Lynches River, Owens said. Lynches River runs the length of Florence County, and theres only one flood gauge on that river. It takes water about two days to travel from Effingham down to Johnsonville, so reports showed flood levels going down when in reality they were still rising in parts of the county.

The flood left 19 people dead in South Carolina, though none of those were in the Pee Dee. Owens said Florence County citizens were hardest hit financially.

Most people didnt have flood insurance or adequate insurance to cover losses, and many of the federal grants and loans were not enough to cover the full loss of property, Owens said. There was about a $2 million shortfall in this county between damage to personal property and actual compensation. There are a lot of people, even as we speak, who have not fully recovered.

Florence County Emergency Management encourages citizens to be proactive and plan ahead for emergencies. The optimal preparation gives each person in the household enough to survive for 72 hours.
SOuth by SOuth lawn

Last March, President Barack Obama issued a challenge to techies gathered in Austin for the South By Southwest festival: Stop ignoring Washington as uncool and put your talents to work on new approaches to solve some of the big problems that were facing today. Tuesday, the president followed up on that invitation by bringing a bit of SXSW to the South Lawn of the White House.

The day-long South By South Lawn, much like Austins annual gathering, featured free tacos, musical performances, and art and tech demonstrations scattered around. (Most unsettling among the last: 69, a nine-minute virtual-reality recreation of the experience of solitary confinement in prison.) It also included a lineup of panels meant to advance this tech-in-society conversationnot all of which succeeded in unearthing major new insights.

Real problems, vague solutions

Much like SXSW, SXSL required attendees to choose between competing panel tracks. I opted for the two most policy-focused talks, Fixing Real Problems, and How We Make Change.

The former was the obvious sequel to Obamas SXSW challenge. Unfortunately, it didnt do much to answer the question of its subtitle: How can we harness technology to solve our biggest, most stubborn problems?

It wasnt that panelists Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, Coalition for Queens founder Jukay Hsu, Transmedia Capital managing partner Chris Redlitz; and EpiBone founder Nina Tandon didnt have interesting stories to tell.

Redlitz had the most unusual story; his Last Mile project began by teaching San Quentin State Prison inmates to code and has since resulted in the launch of a tech incubator in that California jail. EpiBone grows bone transplants from human cells in labs. Butterfield recounted his efforts to break his group-chat firm out of Silicon Valley like attracts like hiring practices. Hsus organization works to train New Yorkers without college degrees in tech fields. yielding enormous improvements on their lifetime earnings.

Story continues

But the conversation stayed vague about just what companies should do to become part of the solution for problems like a hiring monoculture in the tech industry. Steep housing costs earned a nod from multiple panelists but little discussion about tech firms responsibility for a problem they have helped create in places like the Bay Area and New York. The role that targeted advertising and marketing tools might play in making politics more divisive didnt come up at all.

One unintentionally revealing moment came in the middle of a discussion about the relationship of tech firms and the government, when Butterfield said he was on his second trip to Washington ever. If tech wants to solve some of our biggest problems, it cant stay a stranger to the capital.

Credit: Rob Pegoraro

Change takes patience

The second panel, How We Make Change, had the unfair advantage of an electrifying introduction from Rep. John Lewis (D.-Ga.). Lewis recounted his decades of civil-rights activism and urged attendees to follow his lead: It is time for each of you as young leaders to get in troublegood trouble. Get in the way!

The conversation afterwards between Campaign Zero co-founder Brittany Packnett, Workers Lab CEO Carmen Rojas and Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson benefited from perspectives that varied with their time in the field.

At one end, Wolfson could put myself out of a job, as he said, when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last year, a mere 32 years after he wrote his law-school thesis on that topic. At another end, Packnetts work to lower police violence and Rojass workers-rights efforts have long roads ahead.

So while Wolfson could share some optimism about how things can work outyou can lose forward, he said of the years his group only claimed isolated victoriesPacknett noted that her voice sounds hoarse because I have a bruised lung from tear gas.

Social media figured in the conversation less than you might have expected. For instance, the way Facebook (FB) can amplify or quiet some topics, intentionally or not, didnt get unpacked. But Packnett did give surprising credit to the social networks On This Day: While that feature has drawn criticism for dredging up unpleasant memories, she said it regularly inspired her by evoking her first meetings with people like the mother of Ferguson, Mo., police shooting victim Mike Brown.

A presidential finish

The day wrapped up with a discussion between Obama, Texas Tech University climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and actor Leonardo DiCaprio about global warming. The president observed that as a problem with long-term consequences of inaction but short-term costs to avert them, climate change is almost perversely designed to be really hard to solve politically. Hayhoe noted that its making existing weather patterns more extreme in Texasbut that while people have been denying that trend, wind power has grown to provide 10% of all electricity in Texas, half of it on some windy nights.

The conversation turned to how to make the case for action on global warming. Hayhoe said throwing more data on the table doesnt work in todays splintered politics. Rather, she said, we should return to the basic principle of taking care of your home. She said you simply had to care about that unless youd signed up for Elon Musks trip to Marssomething she called crazy.

DiCaprio quietly interjected: I did. Hayhoe apologized and the president made his own observation of the outspoken actor: I think hell acknowledge hes crazy.



Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
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Keppel has repeatedly denied allegations that Skorniki had paid bribes to secure contracts from Petrobras and Sete Brasil. The allegations are part of Brazils Operation Carwash corruption investigations, which saw the arrest of Skorniki in February this year.

Keppel said that following internal investigations it recognises some of the transactions associated with Skorniki might be suspicious.

Keppel has notified the authorities in the relevant jurisdictions of its intention to cooperate and work towards the resolution of the underlying issues arising from or in connection with the transactions, Keppel said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange.

The Singapore-listed company said the issue remained under review and it would make further announcements where appropriate.

Keppel reiterates its zero-tolerance stance against any form of illegal activity, including bribery and corruption, involving its employees or associates, it added.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed dry bulk shipowner is selling a panamax newbuilding for $21.5m and a kamsarmax for $24.5m to Hajioannou chairman and ceo of the company. The vessels are being built in Japan and are due for delivery in first quarter 2017.

Safe Bulkers will record an impairment loss of $16.6m on the transaction, which it said was done to substantially preserve its liquidity position. Consistent with our efforts to preserve liquidity through arrangements with our commercial lenders and maintenance of a lean operational profile, these transactions have allowed the Company to continue to minimize its cash outflows for capital expenditures, said Loukas Barmparis, president of Safe Bulkers.
Even with the bunker market leadership position firmly held, Singapore cannot afford to rest on its laurels, especially when business attitudes are changing to focus more on technological advancement, operational transparency and being environmentally friendly  factors that have historically been lacking in the bunkering market.

Simon Neo, an industry veteran who has also opened up his own bunker broking firm Piroj International, believed that sharpening operational efficiency and investing in technology are important for Singapores bunker market to stay ahead of global ports.

Going forward the industry will have to invest more in technology which means players will have to invest more money into its system. This will be a big challenge as not many are ready to invest so much money into a business that has a high need for cash to purchase oil but with very low profit margin, Neo said.

A bunker supplier typically makes only about $2-3 per tonne based on the price of around $250 per tonne of bunker fuel, translating to merely 0.8-1.2% net gain. There are times when suppliers make less than $2 per tonne depending on market conditions. The high upfront costs, low returns business model of bunkering gave rise to malpractices in the forms of supply shortchange, kickbacks and the infamous cappuccino effect, tarnishing the reputation of the bunkering industry.

With estimates suggesting that marine fuels consumed by the worlds fleet is going to increase to approximately 350m tonnes by 2020-2030 from around 300m tonnes today, Singapore will continue to have a sizable market share to protect and benefit from.

A breakthrough that Singapore is looking forward to is the mandatory use of mass flow meters (MFM) to carry out bunker deliveries in the port from 1 January 2017, to be enforced by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The benefits of using MFM in bunkering include enhanced transparency to reduce malpractices and disputes, greater efficiency with time savings and higher productivity for quicker bunker tanker turnaround without the need to expand port capacity.

The use of MFM has been proven to reduce bunkering time by about 2-3 hours per vessel and increase bunker tanker turnarounds to 10-12 times a month from the present eight on average.

All accredited bunker suppliers and licensed bunker tanker operators in Singapore need to conduct bunker deliveries using MPA-approved MFM systems from 2017, or risk existing the business, the local port authority has affirmed. Neo believed that enough time has been given to bunker suppliers and barge operators on the regulatory requirements, and many industry dialogue sessions were held over the years to help players understand the new operating procedures.

Those bunker tankers that are not fitted with MFM will not be able to supply bunkers for marine fuel oil but they can still supply marine gas oil if the tanks are cleaned and suited to deliver marine gas oil, he said.

By the start of 2017, there will be around 132 fuel oil bunker tankers fitted with approved MFM to carry out bunker deliveries, allowing Singapore to continue meeting demand volumes each month. Based on a turnaround time for each bunker tanker of 10 times a month and each loading of around 3,000 tonnes, Singapore port is able to cater to 3.96m tonnes of bunker sales per month or 47.5m tonnes a year, according to Neo.

I am not saying we will hit this volume for next year. What I mean is Singapore do have enough capacity to deliver more fuel oil going forward even after the implementation of the MFM, he said.

In 2015, Singapore sold a record 45.2m tonnes of bunkers, an increase of 6.6% year-on-year. In the first eight months of 2016, bunker sales reached 32.7m tonnes.

The voluminous bunker sales would be supported by a shrinking number of accredited bunker suppliers in Singapore, as the supplier landscape is consolidating for the past few years. Those suppliers that have exited the market were primarily smaller companies with negligible sales volume, prompting them to resort to taking the easy way out in conducting their businesses  by renting out their MPA-approved Bunker Delivery Notes (BDNs) to unlicensed companies for them to carry out bunker deliveries.

Such malpractices would blur the lines of recourse of fuel buyers and is a recipe for tainting the image of Singapores bunkering market, one that is fiercely protected by MPA.

Several accredited suppliers have had their bunkering licences revoked by MPA over the past few years due mainly to the misuse of BDNs. The first clamp down by MPA on such errand accredited suppliers started in mid-2012, and efforts by the authority are ongoing.

As last count shown on MPA website, there were 58 accredited bunker suppliers, compared to more than 80 some years back. Despite the decreasing number of accredited suppliers, Singapore port supplies more bunker volume today then in those years when there were more suppliers.

I do believe that by the end of this year 2016, we will see a few more players exit the market as the market consolidate itself and there will also be those who do not want to stay or continue in this industry exiting the scene, Neo said. Though we have seen that there was a huge reduction of accredited bunker suppliers over the past years, this was actually good for the industry.
The launch of physical supply operations in Antwerp followed Gulf Petrochems start of its Rotterdam operations earlier this year. The two operations in Antwerp and Rotterdam now give Gulf Petrochem a strong footprint in Europes key bunkering region  the ARA (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) market.

Neil Lamerton, global head of bunkering at Gulf Petrochem, said: Entering the Antwerp market only serves to reaffirm the groups commitment to grow the business off the back of a very successful start in Rotterdam.

Further to this, our latest expansion now allows us to supply our customers with consistently high quality products and customer service to match with a fully-fledged, first class ARA service, he said.

The new Antwerp operations will be able to supply a range of marine fuels such as 380 cst and low-sulphur gas oil, from two dedicated time-chartered bunker tankers with capacity of 3,000 dwt and 1,600 dwt.

Our operations in Antwerp will be handled from our established office in Rotterdam which also undertakes worldwide back-to-back bunker and cargo trading, as well as housing the groups West Africa desk supplying the Ports of Tema and Takoradi respectively, Lamerton said.

Gulf Petrochem said its recent ARA expansion will compliment its growing global footprint in bunker supply which to date includes all ports in the UAE, West Africa, Gulf of Kutch, Indian ports of Kandla, Sikka and Vadinar, as well as the expansion of the Singapore and London offices.
More evidence this week that we're living in a sci-fi pulp novel, circa 1959: General Motors has announced that they've built a new pickup truck for the U.S. Army that runs on hydrogen fuel cells.

Working with the Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC), the automaker has finished development on the three-ton Chevrolet Colorado ZH2, which stands six-and-a-half feet tall and is a full seven feet wide. Reinforced inside and out, the truck rides on a set of heavy-duty 37-inch tires and a specially modified suspension.

RELATED: How Hydrogen Fuel Is Made

Plenty of fuel-cell vehicles are in various stages of development around the world -- the Toyota Mirai is on display this week at the Paris Auto Show. But the lack of infrastructure for refueling has proven to be a major obstacle for fuel-cell passenger vehicles.

For military purposes and deployment, however, hydrogen-fueled vehicles make more sense. An interesting breakdown over at Wired details the potential advantages. The military could potentially extract hydrogen directly from the jet fuel it already uses. Or it could simply swap in tankers of hydrogen fuel for delivery within the existing supply and distribution system.
Members of a major international treaty have called on the United States, Mexico and China to work harder to end the trade in a species of fish called the totoaba -- because the fishery is driving a species of porpoise toward imminent extinction.

Measuring about 5 feet from its snub nose to the top of its tail, the porpoise -- called the vaquita (Spanish for "little cow") -- is limited in range to the upper Gulf of California. Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, it's now, following the extinction of the baiji or Yangtze River dolphin in 2006, the most endangered marine mammal in the world. In 1997, an international team of scientists estimated that just 567 vaquitas remained; 15 years later, that figured had dropped to 200. In 2014, the number was estimated at just half that, with fewer than 25 reproductively mature females. In May of this year, the number dropped still further, with just 60 now estimated to be alive.

The reason is the totoaba, a large species of fish that is also endemic to the Gulf of California and which is itself critically endangered. Totoabas were heavily fished in the 1940s, but overfishing and habitat change caused an estimated 95 percent decline in their numbers. The decline of vaquitas began when the totoaba fishery was at its peak, as they drowned in nets set to catch the fish. The much-diminished porpoise population continues to be affected, because even as totoaba numbers declined, their value increased.

The reason for the ongoing interest in catching the totoaba is its swim bladder, which can fetch up to $20,000 in China, where it is valued both as a delicacy and for alleged medicinal properties. The fish are caught in Mexico, generally trucked to American ports and then transported to Asia.

RELATED: Mexico Uses Drones to Protect Vaquita Porpoise

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto imposed a two-year ban on gillnets in April 2015, established a 5,000--square-mile vaquita protection area, deployed a navy patrol ship and agreed to compensate fishermen for foregoing the use of gillnets. Two months ago, the government launched three drones to scour the area day and night. Yet still the fishery continues: navy sailors told AFP earlier this year that they continued to find gillnets every day, and the Mexican environment ministry said that 600 nets had been seized during the past year.

A team of scientists did manage to spot a number of the elusive porpoises in 2015 -- perhaps as many as 25. They may prove to be among the last to do so: it has been estimated that, at present rates of decline, the vaquita will become extinct by 2018.

WATCH: Should We Bring Extinct Species Back to Life?
As powerhouse Hurricane Matthew continues on its slow but steady track across the Caribbean toward Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba, experts caution that the storm's impact could be devastating.

The 13th named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season is also the strongest storm since Hurricane Felix in 2007. Matthew briefly reached Category 5 hurricane status - with winds exceeding 157 mph (252 km/h) - on Oct. 1, NASA reported. Matthew dropped to Category 4 strength soon after, with maximum sustained winds calculated at a still-dizzying 140 mph (225 km/h) on Oct. 3. And high-speed winds are only part of the threat that the storm poses to Haiti, with storm surges and "life-threatening rain" also anticipated, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Florida. [Hurricanes from Above: Images of Nature's Biggest Storms]

The NHC describes Category 4 storms as producing "catastrophic damage" -- snapping and uprooting trees, severely damaging even well-built homes, causing sustained power outages, and rendering much of the area in the hurricane's path uninhabitable, perhaps for months.

Storms as strong as Matthew are rare in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and for hurricanes to build up to Matthew's current intensity, several conditions must be met, according to Chris Lancey, a science and operations officer at the NHC.

RELATED: Hurricane Matthew Looks Monstrous From Space

Lancey told Live Science that there are several key "ingredients" in the recipe for a powerful hurricane. The first requirement is warm ocean water - "the warmer the better," Lancey said. And it can't just be a shallow layer at the ocean surface, he added. Warm water provides the energy that fuels a growing tropical storm - the higher the water temperature and the more warm water there is, the more energy the storm has to tap into, and the faster its winds can blow.

Another important factor that fuels hurricane strength is an abundance of moist air. While hurricanes form in the tropics - where moist air is generally abundant - dry air originating over Africa and western Europe frequently finds its way into hurricanes and weakens them, Lancey explained.

"If dry air is sucked into a hurricane, it disrupts the thunderstorm activity and causes them to stutter," he said.

The final variables that can make or break a hurricane are wind shear - rapid changes in wind speed or direction at certain atmospheric heights - and whether it hits land. In both cases, the hurricane's structure is disrupted, which weakens it. For a hurricane to reach Category 4 or Category 5 strength, all of these variables must come together at the same time - and that simply doesn't happen very often, Lancey told Live Science.

WATCH VIDEO: How Do We Know When Hurricanes Are Coming?
Research pharmacists at Detroit's

The research hospital recently chose McCreadie's

HFHS spokesperson Brenda Craig says an initiative to expand the hospital pharmacy's offerings, and a

"Vestigo is a necessary tool for that expansion," Craig says. "[It] will increase efficiency through the use of automation for many of the day-to-day activities in our [IDS], including dispensing, drug accountability, and revenue generation."

While Vestigo had all the functionality the hospital was looking for, not having to look very far for it didn't hurt. Craig says McCreadie's close proximity to Henry Ford made it easier to talk about the project and see the system in action.

"We have also collaborated with the McCreadie Group for other systems in the past and have maintained a great working relationship with them," she says.

Launched in 2005, Vestigo is a web-based software designed specifically for hospital pharmacies that do clinical research trials. By providing a standardized workflow, simple user tools, and accurate data collection, Vestigo automates labor-intensive processes and helps keep pharmacies compliant with regulations. And since Vestigo is a web-based application, there's no hardware or software to maintain.

Henry Ford Health System is McCreadie Group's second Michigan client for Vestigo; the first was the University of Michigan Health System. Vestigo is used by more than 70 clients nationwide.

Michael Schlesselman, McCreadie Group's director of research products, says Vestigo will provide HFHS with flexibility and efficiency as it grows its pharmacy program and involvement with clinical trials.

"It allows the hospital pharmacy to focus on providing great service to the clinical research team and patient rather than manually completing required paperwork," he says.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 ANGARA CALLS FOR SOBRIETY AFTER DEBATES, WALKOUTS IN SENATE HEARING "Every little action we take within view of our countrymen, can either elicit respect for, or diminish trust in, the Republic's hallowed institutions. I call on our colleagues, myself included, to exercise restraint, calm, sobriety and mutual respect in all our dealings with each other." Senator Sonny Angara on Tuesday has called for restraint and mutual respect among senators in the conduct of Senate probe on drug-related killings which, he said, should find ways to improve law enforcement and the justice system. The fifth Senate hearing on alleged extrajudicial killings in connection with the government's war on drugs, which lasted for 13 hours on Monday, was marked with heated arguments that led to Senator Leila De Lima walking out of the proceedings. Senator Dick Gordon, who presided the hearing, slammed De Lima for allegedly hiding information on the kidnap for ransom case against self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, accusing her of "material concealment." De Lima denied all accusations and asked for an apology but Gordon refused to do so. "I rise today in response to what has been going on in and out of the halls of the Senate. In my 12 years as a legislator, I do not recall ever rising to respond to current events. Maraming beses po tayo tumayo para mag sponsor ng panukalang batas o committee report o resolusyon. Pero ngayon lang po tayo tumayo para mag komento sa mga nangyayari sa Senado, partikular na sa Justice Committee," said Angara in his privilege speech. "Every little action we take within view of our countrymen, can either elicit respect for, or diminish trust in, the Republic's hallowed institutions. I call on our colleagues, myself included, to exercise restraint, calm, sobriety and mutual respect in all our dealings with each other," he said. Angara said the hearing should be an opportunity for the Senate to find ways to improve law enforcement and the justice system, and to strengthen the Rule of Law and the respect for the law. As the public focuses on the personal attacks against the senators or the resource persons, the lawmaker pointed out that many important issues and realities were brought up during the hearing particularly about the state and the weaknesses of the country's law enforcement agencies. Such weak points include the delays in the issuances of search warrants, lack of PNP training facilities, and difficulty with policing PNP's own ranks. It was also revealed during the hearings that eight out of 10 cases filed in PDEA end up being dismissed and that it takes, at the very least, a decade to convict those who are charged on illegal drugs. Angara also urged the government to train law enforcers properly so as to have respect for basic rights and due process. "I do suspect that there is a great temptation to exact swift justice on the part of our law enforcers given the difficulties encountered in securing convictions against known drug pushers or criminals," he said. "Let us focus on making justice real to our people. Yung ramdam talaga nila at ramdam din ng mga may masasamang balak, na kung sila'y nagkasala, sila ay mapaparusahan. Let us work to move our justice system in the right direction, and to restore public trust in our institutions. Justice must be swift and certain and above suspicion," Angara added.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 SEN. ANGARA'S PRIVILEGE SPEECH ON EJK HEARINGS Mr. President. Distinguished colleagues. I rise today in response to what has been going on in and out of the halls of the Senate. In my 12 years as a legislator, I do not recall ever rising to respond to current events. Maraming beses po tayo tumayo para mag sponsor ng panukalang batas o committee report o resolusyon. Pero ngayon lang po tayo tumayo para mag komento sa mga nangyayari sa Senado, partikular na sa Justice Committee. ROLE OF THE SENATE The Senate is not an institution of our own invention. Mula nung panahon ng ninuno natin meron ng Senado. Nung panahon ng ancient Rome and Greece, ang Senado ay dapat tumayong konseho ng mga nakaka-alam, mga dalubhasa o eksperto. O ang tinatawag na council of wise men. As we celebrate the Senate's 100th year tomorrow, let us remember that the people have traditionally looked up to the Senate in times of difficulty, as a check on dictatorial tendencies, as a prober of anomalies in government, as a voice for the unlearned and the oppressed who have nowhere to turn for counsel. The Senate has produced many of our country's finest men and women. Men like Ninoy Aquino, father of our last President and uncle of our hardworking colleague the chair of education, Senator Bam. Men like Jovito Salonga, Lorenzo Tanada and Jose Diokno who fought for democracy and freedom. Men who thought and planned big, dreamed big dreams, and built institutions. Just the other week we lost Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. ROLE OF LEGISLATIVE INQUIRIES Deliberative bodies have existed practically since time immemorial and will no doubt continue to exist. Inherent in the power to legislate is the power to investigate. Kaakibat ng ating mandato bilang Senado na mag-balangkas ng batas ay ang kapangyarihang magpatawag ng mga pagdinig, para magabayan tayo sa paglikha ng makabuluhang batas. Legislative inquiries such as those before the Justice Committee to look into alleged extra judicial killings no doubt serve a purpose, and to this representation, that purpose can be only to: First, find ways to improve law enforcement and the justice system. Senator Lacson, as a former police chief and having come from the ranks, said that he knows and understands their psyche, knows their frustrations over a flawed judicial system with unsympathetic, sometimes corrupt prosecutors. I was encouraged by the line of questioning of the Minority Leader, Senator Recto and my seatmate Senator Joel Villanueva during yesterday's hearing, where they sought to elicit information regarding the weaknesses in law enforcement and the dispensation of justice, and more importantly perhaps, they sought to promote SOLUTIONS! Second, to strengthen the Rule of Law and the respect for the law. A civilized country must train its law enforcers properly, to have respect for basic rights and due process. Mr. President I do suspect that there is a great temptation to exact swift justice on the part of our law enforcers given the difficulties encountered in securing convictions against known drug pushers or criminals. The work of the Justice Committee is of tremendous importance in today's society. We must dig deep to know what the weak links are. Is it in the arrest stage? The investigation stage? The prosecutorial stage? Saan po ba nakakalusot ang mga criminal? Bakit po tumatagal ng husto ang mga kaso sa korte? Bakit maraming nakakalusot sa asunto? Nakakakuha po ba ng abogado ang mga mahihirap? Patas ba ang laban? Paano mapapabilis ang takbo ng mga kaso? INSTITUTIONAL DEFICIENCIES AND REFORMS In fact, throughout the conduct of the EJK hearings, many important realities and points were brought up--particularly about the state of our law enforcement agencies. We learned about delays in the issuances of search warrants. Gen. Dela Rosa said that the time a judge issues a search warrant greatly varies--ranging from three (3) days to several months. This varying period hampers not just the PNP's anti-drug initiatives, but in fact their operations in general. We heard about the difficulties the PNP face with empowering their personnel. Gen. Dela Rosa cited the lack of PNP training facilities. COA reports that the PNP needs 3,000 more vehicles--as those existing are either personally owned by the police or loaned from LGUs. The PNP reportedly needs 18,000 short firearms and over 16,000 vehicles just to meet the ideal 15 minute-response of the 911 emergency service. We also learned that 8 out 10 cases filed in PDEA end up being dismissed and that it takes, at the very least, a decade to convict those who are charged on illegal drugs. We should look into Sen. Pangilinan's suggestion to convene the Joint Judiciary Executive Legislative Advisory Council to iron out issues and gaps to speed up and modernize the justice system. The Senate can lead, but it cannot fight the battle alone. Mr. President, the work of the Justice Committee is bigger than you, or me, or the President, or the Chairman, or any other senator. It should not be reduced to a game of my witness is better than your witness. Our work here should transcend our political affiliations, because what we do here today and tomorrow, though they may not echo through eternity, will certainly have lasting effect on the public and our institutions. Tumitingala po ang taumbayan sa Senado para hanapan ng solusyon ang matitinding suliranin ng lipunan. A sad day indeed if our people lose faith in the people who seek to protect them and if our people do not wish to go through established institutions to seek redress. Let us focus on making JUSTICE real to our people. Yung ramdam talaga nila at ramdam din ng mga may masasamang balak, na kung sila'y nagkasala, sila ay mapaparusahan. LET us work in the coming weeks and months and years to move our justice system in the right direction, and to restore public trust in our institutions. JUSTICE must be swift and certain and ABOVE suspicion. I am confident we can do it Mr. President, kaya natin yan. I look around the room and I see 2 former Secretaries of Justice who were both eminent law practitioners; I look at the current Chairman who labored for over 12 hours yesterday leading the Committee and am reminded of his days as Chairman of SBMA, when discipline was all around Subic. Simpleng bagay, nirerespeto ng taumbayan ang speed limit dahil alam nilang mahuhuli sila at kung mahuli, walang lusot. I see beside the Chair his co-Chair, the gentleman Cavite a former head of the Philippine National Police, who is also known for his no nonsense approach. Add to this the brilliant presiding officer of our institution who also previously chaired the Justice Committee. As I said earlier, the gargantuan task of reforming our justice system cannot be accomplished by this body alone. We will need the help of the other branches. Mr. President, the collective experience and wisdom of the aforementioned individuals coupled with the idealism and energy brought by our young colleagues (cite whoever in hall) is surely a great resource waiting to be tapped in the service of building better legal and judicial institutions. We remember the words of Jose W. Diokno: "Yet justice must somehow be done or attempted to be done if society is to hold together. The alternative would be anarchy or dictatorship; and having experienced both, we Filipinos want neither. The question of what justice is is more than theoretical; it is imminently practical--and urgent. Somehow we must seek to answer it, however short of the perfection our answer may be." This is why I rose today Mr. President, because every little action we take within view of our countrymen, can either elicit respect for, or diminish trust in, the Republic's hallowed institutions. I call on our colleagues, myself included, to exercise restraint, calm, sobriety and mutual respect in all our dealings with each other. Cognizant of the great purpose we are called upon to serve and to do justice to every Filipino. Thank you.
Bam: Senate to review gov't foreign policy

The Senate will soon conduct a review of the government's foreign policy to clarify the direction it wants to take in terms of international relations, according to Sen. Bam Aquino.

Sen. Bam said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, expressed willingness to conduct a hearing on the matter.

"There was openness on the part of Sen. Cayetano to have the hearing, so I hope he will schedule it soon," said Sen. Bam, who filed a Senate Resolution No. 158, urging the government to clarify the country's stand on different foreign policy issue. Sen. Bam stressed the urgency to conduct an investigation amid President Duterte's threat to end the Philippines-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

"Mahalagang malinawan tayo kung anong direksiyon ba ang nais tahakin ng pamahalaan pagdating sa foreign policy," said Sen. Bam.

Aside from the EDCA issues, government officials also issued contradicting statements on different foreign policy issues, such as joint maritime patrols and the stationed American troops in Mindanao.

"I hope we can clear up these statements soon so that our strategies to protect our territory and develop our economy are aligned with the administration," Sen. Bam stressed.

As provided in Article 2, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution, Sen. Bam said a clear strategic foreign policy is integral to the country's development.

"Our relations with members of the international community have bearing on our ability to protect our territory and environment, develop our economy, and promote the welfare and well-being of our citizens," Sen. Bam stressed.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 Cayetano on Matobato testimony: we were taken for a ride

Backs motion to terminate EJK hearings "The Filipinos were taken for a ride here... I don't want the international community to think that this is the kind of country we are running." Senator Alan Peter Cayetano had this to say as he backed a move calling for the termination of the Senate hearings on the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country. Cayetano on Monday (October 3) strongly expressed doubt over the questionable credibility of self-confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) member Edgar Matobato, who appeared before the probe to testify against President Rodrigo Duterte. During the proceeding, several senators lashed out at Senator Leila De Lima for leaving out a vital information that the wife of Sali Makdum, a suspected international terrorist allegedly killed by DDS members, filed a kidnapping for ransom case against Matobato in 2000. De Lima herself admitted that she knew about Matobato's case as early as September 2, when she first interviewed the witness, but she still allowed him to testify on September 15. Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson questioned the alleged "material concealment" of the vital information to the committee members. This has also led Cayetano to back a motion made by Senator Manny Pacquiao to terminate the proceedings. "I am sad that we are ending this way... I second the motion of Senator Pacquiao that we terminate the hearing on the resolutions and privilege speeches, even," he stressed. Cayetano for his part called out De Lima, former Justice Committee chair, for allowing the witness to testify before the hearing without having gone through the proper vetting process. He also questioned his fellow senator's failure to disclose Matobato's kidnapping case filed at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Cayetano lamented how Matobato's allegations against the President had caused irreversible damage to the country's reputation in the international community. "Mr. Matobato was allowed here without vetting him and without disclosing that case. [International media] put on their front page and put on their shows that the Philippine President is a mass murderer and... that [he] fed his enemies to the crocodiles. May I quote Senator [Panfilo] Lacson in his statement, that it's toothpaste that you cannot put back in," he stressed. "I'm not saying this because the President is my running mate, or because I'm for the President, but because he represents the country. I don't know how, but I challenge these foreign media, now put on your front page that this witness also took you for a ride because you printed it without checking first and cross-examining this witness," he added.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 Cayetano pushes for longer PH passport validity

Calls for a hassle-free passport application process Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is pushing for the establishment of a seamless and hassle-free processing of passports for Filipinos here and abroad. The senator on Tuesday (October 4) expressed his support to lengthen the validity of Philippine passports from five to ten (10) years. Cayetano chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which conducted its first public hearing on the proposed measures to extend the validity of passports. This proposal is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's earlier directive to amend Republic Act No. 8239, otherwise known as the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, which sets the validity of passports to five years. The President, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), lamented how Filipino passport applicants have to endure long lines or even stay overnight as the government can only cater to a limited number of applicants per day. The senator stressed the need to simplify the application system in order to ease the people's burden of having to renew their passports every five years, and to prevent backlogs and delays in the issuance of passports. "We're here to have the first low-lying fruit output from the legislative and the executive, which is the issuance of passports - how to make it easier," Cayetano said. The senator also stressed the need to make the passport application process easier for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and other marginalized groups, including Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens. "OFWs, PWDs, and senior citizens should be given priority, not because they want special treatment, but because they have special needs," Cayetano explained. Cayetano said OFWs in particular should be given priority because any delay in the processing of their travel documents could cost them their jobs abroad. He said he plans to visit the one-stop center for OFWs located in Clark, Pampanga in November to see how the systems and services can still be improved to address migrant workers' concerns. Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay also backed the proposal to extend the validity of Philippine passports. "Let me just say that the Department of Foreign Affairs has no objection to the proposal to increase the validity of passport from five years to 10 years," he said during Tuesday's hearing.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 Cayetano to colleagues: speed up discussions on teachers' additional allowances Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has called on his colleagues at the Senate to fast-track the passage of a measure that would augment public school teachers' allowances. Cayetano on October 4 urged the Senate Committee on Education to start conducting hearings on the proposed Senate bills seeking to sufficiently increase teachers' salaries and benefits. "With the dawn of real change initiated by the new administration, now is the perfect time that we give our teachers the proper services that they deserve from the government," Cayetano said as he underscored the observance of National Teachers' Day celebration on October 5. Last July, the senator filed Senate Bill No. 75, which aims to provide additional support and compensation for educators in basic education. The bill seeks to grant public school teachers P9,000 in additional monthly compensation by the end of three tranches in three years. It will be much higher than the approved 12-percent salary hike for public school teachers granted by the previous administration, that provided teachers will only be a little more than P500 per year adjustment per year. "Despite their important role in society, Filipino teachers don't receive the appropriate salary grade that they are entitled to," Cayetano said. "[SBN 75] is in response to their clamor for the urgently needed support, considering that their present compensation package places them in a peculiar situation of being just within the present poverty threshold," he added. 'Ensure implementation of Magna Carta law for teachers' Cayetano's bill also directs the Department of Education (DepEd) to grant teachers an annual bonus to answer for the unpaid benefits due to them under Republic Act No. 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers Act. SBN 75 further seeks to give teachers an annual medical allowance of at least P1,000 and to authorize the Local School Board to provide them with additional support in the form of allowances and other remuneration funded from local school board funds.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 Drilon on increase in PNP, AFP pay: 'How about civilian employees?' Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin M. Drilon on Tuesday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to grant a P3,000 additional allowance to about 1.3 million civilian employees - including public nurses and teachers - following the recent increase in the combat duty pay and combat incentive pay for soldiers and policemen. "I urge the President to extend his generosity that he has showered our uniformed men and women to our equally deserving and dedicated civilian personnel," Drilon said. "It is only timely and proper that we provide relief to civilian employees, whose purchasing power has eroded through the years, by way of an additional allowance of P3,000 per month," Drilon said. Under the Executive Order No. 3, the combat duty pay of the officers and enlisted personnel of the AFP and uniformed personnel of the PNP is fixed at P3,000 per month from the previous rate of P500 per month for the enlisted personnel of the AFP and the P340 per month for the uniformed policemen. The President also granted an increase in the combat incentive pay of the members of the AFP and the uniformed personnel of the PNP who figure directly in actual combat against members of various insurgent, terrorist and lawless elements, shall be entitled to additional Combat Incentive Pay of Three Hundred Pesos (P300.00) per day. The budget for these increases amount to about P4.06 billion from September to December of this year and P12.2 billion for 2017. The senator said that he agreed with the President that "there is an urgent need to increase the said benefits to improve the living conditions of the men in uniform." But Drilon said such is also true with the civilian employees "who are having a hard time to cope with the rising cost of living." The senator said the additional allowance shall be given on top of the mandatory allowance currently received by all government employees, referring to the Personnel economic Relief Allowance (PERA) that amounts to P2,500 per month. From September to December, Drilon estimated the budgetary requirement at approximately P15.73 billion, saying that "the amount can be sourced from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund (MPBF)." Annually, it will only cost additional P47 billion in government coffers, which can be lodged under the MPBF or in the agencies' respective budgets, Drilon added. Drilon said that if the President grants this proposal, the Congress can include the amounts necessary for the grant of additional allowances to both the uniformed and civilian employees in the 2017 national budget.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 PRIVILEGE SPEECH OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS

#EVERY WOMAN Mr. President, I rise on a point of personal and collective privilege. I rise as Senate Chair of the Committee on Women, as senator, but most importantly as a woman. Last Thursday, during the committee hearing for the budget of the Commission on Human Rights, I was jolted by news of the passing of Miriam Defensor Santiago. Sen. Miriam was many things to many people. To those with whom she crossed swords, they would likely remember her sharp unrelenting tongue. To her family and close friends, she was a loving wife and mother. To the millennials of this country, her biting wit and pick-up lines are the stuff legends are made of. To her supporters from various generations, she was and I quote, "the best President we never had." To me, I choose to remember her as an ally and fellow traveler in our long struggle for reproductive health. In her I saw the tenacity required to shepherd important and historic legislation into fruition, and with her -- as well as the legions of women advocates -- I saw the importance of the women's voice in pushing policy. Because love her or hate her, one thing is certain: Miriam Defensor Santiago is a woman who made sure her voice was heard. She paved the way for women like me who believed that there was a glass ceiling that needed to be broken, an old boy's club that needed to be penetrated because this club sought to make decisions about our bodies, our health, our lives and our futures without our consent. In this club, women are either outsiders who must request to get in, objects of spectacle whose existence and agency are defined according to the men in their lives, or recipients of tokenist favors. Buhay na buhay pa din ang Old Boy's Club sa gobyerno. This Old Boy's Club phenomenon is alive and kicking. At its most benign, it manifests itself in statements like, "of course I will yield to the beautiful senator..". Then it can progress to catcalling and rape jokes. Sabagay, hindi lang ito sa Pilipinas. In America, their presidential candidate just called a woman Miss Piggy. At its worst and ugliest, this Old Boy's Club in the Philippines seeks to shame a woman senator into silence by threatening the release of a video purported to capture her in a sexual act. Now, Justice Secretary says, we are not going to present anything about the sex video. We are not in possession of any video. Mr. President, we have yet to know from the House of Reps. If they indeed will cease and desist from this threatened assault on a fellow legislator, the victory will be of the netizens, women writers, women representatives, women senators who said: Enough! Whether you think the video is fake or not is of no moment. What you think of the drug-related allegations leveled against her is of no moment. Isang usapin lang ang inilalatag ko sa inyong harap ngayon: will we allow the House of Representatives to show the sex video allegedly showing Senator Leila de Lima? In the first place, the release of the video would be illegal. It is in violation of Republic Act 9995, or the Anti-Photo or Video Voyeurism Act of 2009, which requires the consent of the person in the video before its release or distribution. The House Speakership and the Committee on Justice will be party to the commission of a crime under RA 9995. It is, for all intents and purposes, a sex crime. Do we allow our colleagues in the House to be party to a sex crime? Do we allow a fellow senator to be the victim of a sex crime? But, Mr. President, the legality or illegality of it is not the core issue that I want to get to: it is the systemic and structural machismo that pervades our political culture. The double standards that are so ingrained in our life that they become invisible tools of oppression. Sa paggiit ng opinyon: Pag lalaki, assertive and decisive. Sinasabi ng lipunan, take a bow. Pag babae, hysterical and shrill. Sinasabi ng lipunan, take a break. Sa pag-abante ng career: pag lalaki, go-getter. Pag babae, bad mother. Kaya naman: Pag ang lalaki may sex video, macho, matinik. Pag babae, malaswa, malandi. Mr. President, we could still be about to cross the rubicon. If we stand by in silence while our colleagues in the House perpetrate this indignity against a fellow senator, we have chosen vulgarity over civility, misogyny over basic respect and decency. We are telling our daughters that they can be shamed for their sexuality, in ways that that their brothers or husbands will never be. We are telling our little girls that their sexual choices are fair game and that their bodies can be policed. Sino ang susunod? Sino ang susunod na gagawan ng pekeng sex video? Sino ang susunod na hihiyain sa madla? Ako? Si Senator Nancy, si Senator Grace, si Senator Cynthia o si Senator Loren? O ang babaeng iniwan ang nambubugbog na partner at bilang ganti ay inupload ang sex video nila? Kasi pwede na. Sabi ng kongreso, pwede. Mr. President, Sen. Leila has her political battles and many of you might disagree with her positions. So be it. But on the singular issue of the sex video, the battle is bigger than Leila. It is about respect and decency between institutions. It is about chipping away at the structural misogyny that pervades our culture. Most of all, it is about raising little girls who believe that they can define themselves with no fear of shame, and who believe that their bodies and their lives are theirs and theirs alone. This is not just about Sen. Leila. This is about every woman. Thank you, Mr. President. Please check against delivery
Press Release

October 4, 2016 SPEECH OF SEN. GRACE POE ON PHILIPPINE TRANSPORTATION

EU-Philippines Business Summit 2016

04 October 2016 Magandang umaga po, Good morning everyone. Thank you for inviting me to speak on the state of transportation in our country. As you are well aware of, in 2015, Manila was voted the worst city to drive on Earth by Waze users in their Global Driver Satisfaction Index poll. This year, it is Cebu, which is also a highly populated city. Overall, the Philippines is ranked 13th as the country with the worst road quality due to poor high-speed roads density and road issues density. Currently, passengers in Metro Manila have the choice of taking three mass transit urban railway lines (the LRT 1, 2, or the MRT 3) and a commuter mainline railway (PNR) as an alternative to commuting by bus. However, with an average of 1.35 million passengers daily[1], and with industries expanding to areas outside those serviced by these lines, it is obvious that the country lacks a reliable mass transit system. In a 2013 study done by the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM), we have the least number of railways compared to six of similarly busy cities in the world - Tokyo, London, Berlin, Seoul, Beijing, and New York. The MRT, which services around 572,000 to 600,000 passengers daily, breaks down so often that it has become a risk for commuters to ride the train. In the same study done by AGHAM, a total of 3.48 injuries were recorded for every 100 million passenger-miles of the MRT, which is 2.78 higher than the 0.7 injuries in US trains. During our past hearings in the Senate, we learned that Metro Manila has a land area of 636 square kilometres, and therefore, the ideal road network should be around 8,295.7 kilometers. However, our current road network is only at 5,220 kilometers. This means that we lack around 3,000 kilometers of roads, which is roughly the distance between Manila to Tokyo. We also learned that EDSA has a capacity of 6,000 vehicles per direction per hour. But in July 27, 2016, the MMDA recorded 7,500 vehicles per direction per hour in EDSA. That amounts to an excess of 1500 vehicles per direction per hour. The Philippines is also characterized by infrastructure underinvestment and infrastructure underspending. Our average infrastructure budget was only at 3.4% of GDP from 2011 to 2016, below the ASEAN average of 5.0%. The Philippines ranked 81st out of 140 countries in transportation infrastructure quality, last among the ASEAN countries. Should we build more roads to accommodate cars or should we resort to smarter use of our existing road network, by lessening the volume of cars, and prioritize high capacity vehicles? Our traffic problems are no means confined to land based transportation. We also have to deal with port congestion resulting in slower movement of goods by sea, and air traffic problems resulting in flight delays, putting a dampener on our tourism industry. If I could describe the traffic problem in the Philippines in word it is this: Paralysis. Traffic paralyzes us. It is no wonder that we lose approximately 3 billion pesos a day, with Metro Manila residents spending 1,000 hours a year in traffic, while other countries in the world spend only 300 hours. Our goal should be to establish a safe, reliable, affordable, and accessible transport system, where the commuter is provided with the comfort and dignity in travel that he or she deserves. I envision this transport system to be a part of, and connect, a network of progressive, sustainable, and livable communities, that are well planned and immaculately executed. So in one community,you have in your community a hospital, a school and a place to work To realize this vision, our government must embark on the development of quality, appropriate, and sufficient infrastructure. We must also maximize usage of our existing road networks through smart governance. Let us take advantage of technology and internet communications to provide us with innovative and data-driven transport solutions. What can also help traffic is if we are allowed to work on our homes, telecommuting is not new but here in our country, while we advocate for that. But it is not possible to have that because of slow internet. That's why part of the emergency powers that we are going to propose is to have their cell sites approved in the soonest possible time. To be able to build one cell tower, we need at least 25 signatures from the local government and it takes about almost a year to facilitate one permit. If we have about 15,000 cell towers now, we need at least 45,000 cell towers so the connections will be better. It is also imperative that we engage in comprehensive rural development in order to stem the unabated migration into Metro Manila and other urban cities. But as we generate employment and business opportunities in the countryside, we must still establish a national transport system to efficiently ferry people and goods from the provinces to the cities. To address the public's needs we cannot rely on one mode of transport alone. Our transport system should be intermodal so that all forms of transportation, from trains, to cars, to jeepneys and tricycles, will be used to complement one another and service the public in a rational manner. Mobility must be inclusive, giving particular attention to sectors with special needs. We must promote cheaper forms of mobility by building pedestrian walkways and safe bicycle lanes. A sound transportation system must be situated within a more comprehensive long term economic development strategy. The private sector and various transport sectors must be able to participate in this plan's formulation. The Executive branch, through the DOTr, is now proposing that Congress grant them emergency powers to expedite the implementation of a mass public transportation plan in heavily urbanized areas. The Senate Committee on Public Services, which I chair, has conducted three hearings and one TWG already on the proposed bills. Like our kababayans, I too, wish to experience an improved transportation system within my lifetime, such that it will not take me an hour or more everyday from my house in Quezon City to the Senate. In the previous administration, infrastructure agencies have failed to spend programmed budgets on-time. Between 2011 and 2014, the government failed to spend the budget for infrastructure by an average of Php 50 billion per year. To make full use of its budget, there must be enough technical staff on hand to properly plan and execute vital projects. Government agencies should be fixing themselves without delay, emergency powers or not. While I agree on the urgency to pass a transport emergency powers legislation, I have some reservations as to the list of projects DOTr presented during the hearings. In the interest of transparency, and as requested by the Minority Leader, I will be conducting a fourth hearing to give the DOTr an opportunity to present in detail how they plan to implement certain projects and an opportunity to explain why some of their projects, which apparently have nothing to do with traffic decongestion, are included in their proposals. For example, they seek emergency powers to procure license plates and establish a national emission-testing center. Do they need to wait for an emergency powers law before they can accomplish this? How do they intend to implement the BRT line project along EDSA? If they construct a BRT line there, will this not create a bottleneck as it reaches Shaw boulevard, because there are only two lanes for vehicles on each side? Will the BRT use existing city buses or will they require a new type of bus for this project? The list of projects submitted by the DOTr also provides for port decongestion in Manila, but does not include any proposed project for Subic and Batangas ports. We cannot simply grant emergency powers and say, "bahala na" or "it is up to you." It is incumbent upon us to supply strict public scrutiny on how the power granted to them will be used. But beyond any set of details, timetables, and other project particulars, what we need more than ever is visionary leadership. We need someone to stay the course. We also need someone with great political will to execute these plans. USec. Gavieta spoke about the inter-modal transport system. The Southwest Bus Terminal was awarded to Megawide, a reputable construction company but our stakeholders weren't consulted about it. At least those we talked to, the ones that own provincial buses. This is supposed to be an intermodal transport system but did they talk to the bus companies to ask how many buses are actually parked there at a given hour? Did they actually talk to jeepney drivers to discuss how many of them will be parked there? As you know, some of our farmers will be coming from the south and the cannot carry their goods in a city bus so we need some jeepneys and UV Express. These are the things that we have reservations on that we need for them to explain how interconnected will this really be? Will we have a train line in these terminals? I recall when I inspected the temporary Southwest Integrated Bus Terminal a few months ago and reported its dismal state. It was filthy; there were piles of trash everywhere. The restrooms weren't decent. The waiting area was locked because the airconditioning system didn't work. It was poorly lit and of course we reported this to the MMDA. In the next few weeks, I was pleasantly surprised that the MMDA leadership under Chairman Orbos acted upon this report and improved the situation at the terminal. You don't need emergency powers to be able to fix some things that are already there. We need it for certain issues like permit processes, we also need it to prevent unnecessary lawsuits. Certain things can be done quickly. Programs, projects, and activities will take on a life of their own if they are bound together and driven with greater meaning, foresight, and imagined outcomes. Outcomes will turn into legacies, and legacies into a restoration of public trust in our agencies and in the people who run them. Thank you.
Press Release

October 4, 2016 Senate OK's resolution to oppose plans to show 'sex video' in House probe The Senate adopted today a resolution that sought to oppose plans of showing an alleged sex video of Senator Leila de Lima in the ongoing probe of the House of Representatives on the drug trade within the New Bilibid Prison. Senate Resolution No. 184, introduced by Senator Risa Hontiveros along with Senators Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar, was unanimously approved during the plenary session headed by Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III. Hontiveros is the chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality. After a motion by Senate Majority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, all other senators were made co-authors of the resolution. According to the resolution, the proposal to show the alleged "sex" video attributed to De Lima "is illegal, violative of inter-parliamentary courtesy and decency, and an affront to women's dignity." "Showing this video violates Republic Act 9995 or the "Anti Photo or Video Voyeurism Act of 2009, and Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Law," the resolution pointed out. The resolution said that proceeding with the showing of the video would violate the time-honored principle of inter parliamentary courtesy, given that "Sen. De Lima is a sitting senator and should therefore not be subjected to the ridicule and ignominy of a purported sex video." "Most importantly, it is a blow to our collective struggle to uplift the dignity of the woman, respect her agency and her autonomy over her own body, and is a form of slut-shaming that will not set a good example for the country," the resolution said. Hontiveros said in her privilege speech that the resolution addressed the core issue regarding the video: "the systemic and structural machismo that pervades our political culture." "If we stand by in silence while our colleagues in the House perpetrate this indignity against a fellow senator, we have chosen vulgarity over civility, misogyny over basic respect and decency," she said. During the session, de Lima thanked the senators for their support of the resolution:"In all sincerity and humility, I wish to express my profound appreciation to my dear colleagues for this gesture. Maraming maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat." Several House members have earlier stated that the video, which allegedly depicted the senator in "acts of a sexual nature," can be used as evidence in relation to de Lima's links to the drug - related activities at the Bilibid Penitentiary.
Supervisor Norman Yee would like to keep his job for another four years, but hes going to have to defeat four challengers to do it.

Running against Yee in District Seven are city street safety director Ben Matranga, real estate agents Michael Young and John Farrell, and content manager Joel Engardio, who lost to Yee in 2012. Their key issues  ranging from increased policing to reducing the budget  reflect the values of the more conservative southwestern San Francisco district.

District Seven includes neighborhoods west of Twin Peaks like Forest Hill, West Portal and St. Francis Wood. It consists mainly of single-family homes and has seen few new developments in recent years. Low-slung dwellings line neighborhood streets, and family businesses fill merchant corridors along West Portal and Ocean avenues.

Yee, who lives in Westwood Park, beat labor leader F.X. Crowley in 2012 by only 132 votes. Since then, his record includes getting 12 police officers added to patrol the district, expanding senior services, growing participatory budgeting and working to redevelop Balboa Reservoir into housing.

Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, Yee typically works under the radar to pass legislation, unlike some of his more outspoken colleagues on the board.

With a second term, Yee says he would focus on building family housing, clarifying zoning codes for the districts main business arteries, and renovating parks in Golden Gate Heights and West Portal.

I have already shown that I provided leadership and brought services into the district that hasnt been done by anybody else, Yee said. I work with the community to create the results that they want.

But opponents criticize him for not always working with Mayor Ed Lee and for a voting record thats more to the left than some in the district would like. Yee, who predominantly votes with the progressive bloc, supported termed-out Supervisor David Campos controversial measure to create an Office of Public Advocate, similar to one in New York City. He also supported a ballot measure that would require developers to sell or rent 25 percent of units in new buildings at below-market prices, which Lee initially opposed.

Norman is the one who is supposed to take care of claims by the residents, said Farrell, who is no relation to Supervisor Mark Farrell. I will be District Sevens public advocate. Why would he support spending millions of dollars on something hes already supposed to be doing?

Farrell has held several city jobs, including stints as the mayors budget analyst and the financial director for the Treasure Island Development Authority. His main issues include making public transportation more reliable, curbing budget increases and increasing policing.

Engardio is running for the second time to represent the district. Raised by a single mother in Saginaw, Mich., Engardio has lived in San Francisco with his husband for 18 years. This fall, he created a small uproar when he suggested that bicyclists in San Francisco be required to have insurance, registration and special licenses  a plan from which he quickly backtracked.

Growing up on a shoestring budget taught him how to smartly use resources, he said.

My mother and grandmother taught me how to make things happen, he said. Our city budget has doubled. We need to look at every measure to see where we are spending that money. (Supervisor) Katy Tang and I would be a great team of budget hawks.

Matranga has also promised to tackle the growing city budget, along with quality-of-life issues like public safety. He was born and raised in the city and now lives six blocks from the West Portal home he grew up in. A street safety director for the city, Matranga has been endorsed by the citys three major safety organizations, including the police and fire departments.

Young, who served as a diplomat and Army officer overseas for more than a decade, said he would bring his negotiation skills into the Mayors Office of Budget. In an advertisement, Young lifts weights while overlying text explains his intentions to increase policing in the district, balancing the budget and do ... heavy lifting at City Hall.

Political consultant Jim Ross, who isnt affiliated with any of the campaigns, said Yee should have few issues winning re-election under the ranked-choice voting system.

There is power in incumbency, he said. Yee might be more progressive than his district on some votes. But people are pretty happy about his being responsive to the issues and concerns of people in the neighborhood.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn

District 7

Norman Yee

Age: 67

Occupation: Supervisor

No. 1 issue: Strengthening the police force

Ben Matranga

Age: 33

Occupation: Street safety director

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.

No. 1 issue: Hiring more police officers

Joel Engardio

Age: 44

Occupation: Content manager for a tele-medicine company

No. 1 issue: Reducing the citys budget

Michael Young

Age: 43

Occupation: Realtor

No. 1 issue: More community policing

John Farrell

Age: 57

Occupation: Realtor

No. 1 issue: Public safety
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As hundreds of students from Castlemont High in East Oakland filed into the campus auditorium Monday morning for an assembly, they had no idea that an hour later they would head back to class with up to $16,000 each in college scholarships.

Outside, city and school officials smiled and hugged as they announced a $2 million investment at the school that expands the Oakland Promise initiative, a citywide effort to triple college enrollment in the next 10 years.

Each current Castlemont student, from freshmen to seniors, is now eligible to receive money and a mentor to get them through college. The larger aim, officials and supporters said, is to shift the educational arc of one of the more disadvantaged communities in the city.

Today is the day we are planting the flag of hope in East Oakland, said Mayor Libby Schaaf. This $2 million means that we get to walk into this assembly and tell every student attending Castlemont High School, Weve got you covered. College is your birthright.

The announcement was made possible by three families who anonymously donated the funding through the San Francisco Foundation, which supports community programs in five Bay Area Counties. The East Bay College Fund will administer the scholarships and provide the mentors.

Scholarships and mentoring support are especially critical to students who face barriers in getting a college degree, said Castlemont Principal William Chavarin. Many students, he said, either choose not to go to college because they cant afford it or quickly wash out of college, overwhelmed while trying to navigate the system.

The city launched Oakland Promise in January, an ambitious and expensive cradle to career plan that would invest in students in several ways: $500 college savings accounts for every Oakland child born into poverty, $100 college funds for every kindergartner, Future Centers at every middle school and high school, and increases in college scholarships and mentoring.

Currently, 10 percent of Oakland high school graduates finish college. City officials want that number to jump to at least 30 percent by 2026.

The effort has already doubled the number of students getting financial aid and mentoring from the East Bay College Fund, which served 300 new graduates from Oakland this year  up from 150 in 2015. The program is seeking to reach 400 to 500 more this spring.

Next year, Oakland Promise organizers expect to begin opening the $100 college savings accounts for every kindergartner at 18 elementary schools, as well as the $500 accounts for children born into poverty.

While the city has raised $22 milion of the $38 million needed to launch and fund these programs over the first four years, officials said the goal is to build enough voter support and philanthropic donations to cover $35 million needed yearly to keep it going.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

At Castlemont, city and district officials promised students who plan to go to community college up to $1,000 per year, with trade-school attendees eligible for support as well.

Teenagers headed to a four-year college can garner up to $4,000 a year to help fill the gaps that arent covered by financial aid or other assistance, paying for transportation, health insurance, fees, books or other needs. Oakland Promise piloted the scholarships last year for juniors and seniors at Oakland High and Coliseum College Preparatory Academy.

Thomas Logwood, a Castlemont alumnus, knows how much such help can mean. He was among a handful of graduates to receive one of a limited number of East Bay College Fund scholarships in 2013.

Like many young people who are first in their family to attend college, he struggled his first year, suffering from culture shock at UC Santa Cruz and overwhelmed by the academic load. He failed a class and was on the brink of losing his spot.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

But East Bay College Fund staffers advocated for him, and he not only stayed in college but thrived. He is set to graduate in the spring with a degree in sociology and a minor in education. Logwood, who was profiled by The Chronicle in a 2013 article on the odds against young black males in Oakland, wants to be a school counselor.

Logwood drove from Santa Cruz for Mondays announcement, proof that with some financial and personal support, every Castlemont student can go to and finish college.

This is a huge gift, he said. One of the biggest reasons were underrepresented is money. Well have more Castlemont Knights in college now.

Castlemont senior Abril Barragan said shes among the college-bound.

My mom has a dream  this dream is often referred to as the American Dream, she said. My education is her American Dream.

Many of her peers appeared less enthusiastic, perhaps unconvinced that the investment was real. Oakland students have seen a lot of broken promises in the past. Devin Smith-Lane, though, was optimistic.

We dont usually get things here, she said. We appreciate it. I think I can speak for everybody when I say that.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @jilltucker
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Oaklands pot permitting system, the focus of a rancorous debate at City Hall, was designed as a form of reparations for the U.S. war on drugs: In awarding licenses for marijuana businesses, it gives preferential treatment to people with past pot convictions.

But state law empowers regulators in Sacramento to deny licenses to such people  and a cannabis business needs both a city permit and a state license before it can operate.

Now some legal observers are wondering whether Oakland has given false hope to a group that officials say they are trying to help.

I definitely see the possibility of a permit being issued to a potential licensee in Oakland, and then they dont get the state license, which means they wouldnt be legally authorized to operate a business, said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda.

Bonta was the lead author of the states Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which established regulations for cannabis businesses as the state heads toward legalizing recreational pot. He said he agrees with the sentiments behind Oaklands equity permit program, which prioritizes licenses for former offenders and people who live in certain parts of East Oakland with high numbers of marijuana arrests.

Michael Short/Special To The Chronicle

I think they have the right spirit, he said. But I do think these (rules) have the potential to fall down.

A spokeswoman for Californias Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation said state regulators may deny a license to people who have committed a crime related to the business they seek to enter.

That does include a felony conviction for the illegal possession, sale, etc., of controlled substances, including cannabis, bureau spokeswoman Laurel Goddard wrote in an email. We will be looking at these on a case-by-case basis.

Although it passed by a unanimous City Council vote in May, the equity permit program has become a point of contention among city officials and people in the cannabis business  and now four of the councils eight members have proposed changing it.

The program, pushed by council members Desley Brooks and Larry Reid, sets aside half the citys permits for people who fit a narrow set of criteria: either they were jailed on marijuana convictions in Oakland within the past decade, or they have lived for at least two years in one of six designated police beats where marijuana arrests were highly concentrated in 2013. Two of those beats are in Brooks East Oakland district, two are in Reids, and two straddle both districts.

Equity applicants must own at least a 50 percent stake in the business for which they seek a permit.

Critics of the program say it will scuttle the citys pot trade. They say few people will qualify for equity permits and that everyone else will be left waiting in line, because the proposed law stipulates that one equity permit must be handed out for every general permit issued.

That problem could be exacerbated if state regulators deny licenses to equity-permit holders with marijuana convictions, Bonta said.

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2016

Its one thing to be permissive and say, Hey, a felony wont count against you because we dont want to carry forward wrongs of the past, Bonta said. Its another to say, affirmatively, that youre going to get something because you had a felony conviction.

Naresh Channaveerappa, an attorney in Modesto who represents cannabis businesses in Oakland and other cities, contends that its unconstitutional for Oakland to give preferential treatment to anyone seeking a permit, including an ex-convict.

Anyone who is harmed by this preferential treatment has legal ground to challenge it, Channaveerappa said.

Despite the potential conflicts with state law, some advocates in Oakland want to extend the equity program to even more people with records  for drug crimes committed more than 10 years ago, and in cities beyond Oakland.

I know that in other cities, having past convictions is a barrier to entry, which is unfair to everybody, said Terryn Buxton, a cannabis consultant whom Brooks chose to represent her district on the citys Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

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Whether youre a street dealer or you run a farm in Humboldt, you shouldnt be frozen out, Buxton said.

Brooks, who did not return phone calls, says the equity program is the only way to combat systemic racism in the booming marijuana industry. Most of those incarcerated for drug crimes are still black and Latino, while the top marijuana entrepreneurs are mostly white, Brooks says.

In a recent Facebook post, Brooks vehemently opposed the Cannabis Regulatory Commissions attempts to make more people eligible for equity permits. She accused members of the commission and their supporters in the industry of trying to dilute the program.

Council members Dan Kalb, Abel Guillen and Annie Campbell Washington have suggested scrapping the program that they voted for in May and creating a different system that still offers loans and assistance to people with marijuana convictions, without explicitly favoring their applications over other would-be pot business owners. Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan has proposed expanding the equity permit program to include more police beats and more people with marijuana convictions.

Joe DeVries, who is an assistant to the city administrator and helps run the city Cannabis Regulatory Commission, said he consulted state regulators this year about Oaklands intent to provide licenses to formerly incarcerated people.

They seemed amenable to working with us, he said, acknowledging that those conversations took place before Brooks introduced the equity program.

But now the citys cannabis permit system is on hold while the council members squabble over whether to change it. And the states deadline is looming: Oakland has until January 2018 to put together a system that works and get all of its cannabis businesses permitted.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @rachelswan
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An Oakland public school created to serve African American males will shut down in January, just 18 months after it opened.

The 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Community School, a public charter school, struggled financially and suffered administrative turnover as well as loss of enrollment during its three semesters of operation. Its last day will be Jan. 24.

The school, located at the former Thurgood Marshall Elementary campus in the city's southeast hills, had 120 students at the start of this school year and 75 this week.

Short of funds

"Our problem is a lack of money, not a mismanagement of funds," said Dr. Mark Alexander, a member of the school's board of directors. "This is the responsible thing to do."

Alexander believes the closure will be a hiatus to give the school time to reorganize, determine what went wrong and reopen in the next year or two.

"It's a setback for us," he said. "We've come too far to let this dream go."

Families and students were distraught this week after learning of the closure at a parent meeting Wednesday night.

"It's just very unfortunate to see something this positive to go in that direction after helping so many in the community," said John Cravanas, whose 6-year-old son is a first-grader at the school. "It is a devastating blow in our household."

On Thursday morning, Laura Pierre smiled as she watched the students perform skits and sing at the school's Kwanzaa celebration. She has two grandsons at the school, a preschooler and a second-grader.

She hadn't told the youngest one about the closure yet, "with Christmas coming and all." Even as she started searching for a new school with midyear openings for both boys, she was hoping for a miracle to keep the school open.

She knew that whatever school they landed in, it would not be devoted to the specific needs of African American boys, as was 100 Black Men Community.

Structure, mentors

"Our boys need more structure; they need more ground," she said. "They had mentors here.

"Just think of the fear, going to a new school and not knowing anybody."

The school opened in September 2012 with 95 students in kindergarten, first and fourth through sixth grades, created by 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Inc., a professional organization for African American men. It hoped to grow into a K-12 school with 900 students over the next several years.

In August, The Chronicle documented the first year of the school's operations in a series titled "Even Odds."

It is one of a handful of public schools across the country designed specifically to serve African American boys, who are more likely to post lower test scores, miss more school days and drop out than virtually all other subgroups of students.

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The school offered African American male mentors and more time in the classroom to excel in science, math, technology and art. The students were provided with breakfast, lunch and snacks. The school also focused on discipline, rituals and a curriculum that acknowledged the role of African Americans in history and society.

Parent Tisha Richardson said she'd like to see the school reorganize and open again.

"I would seriously consider coming back," said Richardson, who has a fifth-grader at the school. "I believe in the idea of this school."

It's unclear what it would take to reopen the school and whether its current charter, valid through 2017, would remain intact or whether the school's supporters would have to reapply to the Oakland Unified school board for new authorization.

That would have to be sorted out after the school goes through an independent review, Alexander said, to audit the finances and survey parents, teachers and others to determine how to reopen the school on more stable ground.

"These kids are so worth it," Dr. Alexander said. "There is still a tremendous need for this school.

"We're going to build a great achievement on the ruins of temporary failure."
Wait until the residents of Brisbane see the resolution that will be put before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. It suggests that San Francisco ought to investigate the possibility of annexing the entire city of Brisbane.

That sound you heard was the towns 4,000-plus residents simultaneously hitting the roof.

Brisbane has been under fire from housing advocates for a plan to develop Baylands, a 684-acre plot next to Highway 101, with millions of square feet of commercial space  but no housing.

A group of San Francisco advocates went to the Brisbane City Council meeting Thursday to encourage the panel to adopt a mixed-use plan, meaning a development with both housing and commercial/industrial use.

There was also some discussion among San Francisco movers and shakers, including the Chamber of Commerces Jim Lazarus, about whether it would be possible for either San Francisco or San Mateo County to annex the Baylands site. The boards resolution takes the idea up a notch.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

I grant you, the notion of exploring annexing Brisbane is provocative, said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who is sponsoring the resolution with Supervisors Jane Kim and David Campos. But, then again, the statements of the elected officials in Brisbane are provocative, too. What comes around, goes around.

Brisbane Mayor Cliff Lentz has been trying to walk back his quote from last week in which he appeared to be saying that his city would green-light a lucrative commercial project and let San Francisco deal with the mess:

Theres all this housing on the S.F. side, Lentz was quoted as saying. Well provide the commercial  S.F. will provide the housing.

Lentz says he was only expressing what some people were saying, but he wouldnt have been the first Brisbane official to take the attitude, Keep moving, stranger. After all, the Brisbane Planning Commission recommended Aug. 25 that no housing be allowed on this site.

In addition, a city-produced document on sustainability says, There will be ample housing in the new developments planned across the border in San Francisco for those working in the Baylands who wish to live nearby.

It didnt seem to be very neighborly, Peskin said. Theres a larger regional policy issue. San Francisco has been the leader in the creation of both market-rate and affordable housing. For Brisbane to shirk responsibility deserves a strong response.

So if Brisbane thought this controversy was going away, it was mistaken. The City Council postponed a vote on the Baylands plan Thursday and may not take it up again until spring. That plan proposes more than 8 million square feet of commercial space  and zero housing.

I think all of us need to protest that, said San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, whose district includes Brisbane. Its easy to take all the revenue and not take any responsibility for the people.

Traffic is a Dream, sort of: Its October, when San Franciscans gear up their annual complaints about Salesforce clogging up the streets with its meetings. We just endured Oracle Open World, and Salesforce is holding its Dreamforce event this week.

Each year, Howard Street is closed to traffic and transformed into a pop-up village for Dreamforce and Oracle OpenWorld. But because Howard is a primary east-to-west corridor, the effect on transit can be gridlock. Cars coming up Third Street are often blocked by drivers turning in front of them off Howard.

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However, this year the streets nearby seem less jammed. Part of the reason seems to be that two lanes of Howard are closed off. Cars are directed to turn right on Third and stay in the two right lanes. That means drivers coming up Third have the two left lanes for themselves.

I called the Municipal Transportation Agency to congratulate them on their new strategy. But spokesman Paul Rose said the same traffic-calming measures were used last year. So maybe were just getting better at October.

By the way, Dreamforce is expected to have 170,000 registered participants. As of Monday, a Dreamforce pass was selling for $1,799. And they were sold out.

Drag queens for Wiener: Supervisor Jane Kim got lots of attention for her martial-arts video. Now Scott Wiener, her opponent in the Nov. 8 election for state Senate, has come up with his own, very San Francisco, version.

Wiener has recruited some of the citys most talented drag queen performers who sing and dance to a song about how Wiener does the work. You can see it at www.scottwiener.com/dothework.

As a campaign email says: You wont see this in Nebraska.

C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cwnevius
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California regulators, it turns out, take a dim view of Tesla Motors Autopilot  not the self-steering system itself, but the name.

In draft regulations released late Friday, the state Department of Motor Vehicles said car companies should not use the terms self-driving, automated or auto-pilot in advertising unless their cars are capable of driving themselves without human passengers paying attention.

For Palo Altos Tesla, that could pose a problem.

The companys Autopilot system, available in both the Model S electric sedan and Model X SUV, can steer on its own and change lanes. But the human driver is supposed to remain ready to take the wheel whenever needed.

The fatal crash in May of a Tesla driver who appeared to be watching a Harry Potter video while Autopilot drove his car made the need for that requirement clear.

Due to its need for human supervision, Teslas Autopilot rates as a level-two version of self-driving technology, based on a scale used by the government and the auto industry. The California draft regulations say only cars rating level three, four or five can be advertised as self-driving or capable of functioning on auto-pilot.

Level-three cars can drive themselves under certain conditions without human occupants paying attention, while level-five cars are fully automated, driving themselves under all conditions.

Tesla is reviewing the draft regulations and will provide input to the DMV as appropriate, a Tesla spokewoman replied, in an emailed statement. Autopilot makes driving safer and less stressful, and we have always been clear that it does not make a car autonomous any more than its namesake makes an aircraft autonomous.

Tesla has come under pressure before to change the Autopilot name. Consumer Reports in July argued that the company should stop using that name, saying it could lull drivers in a false sense of safety.

Its really a driver-assist technology, and it was being advertised as Autopilot  that was outrageous, said John Simpson with Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group that has been critical of Teslas Autopilot deployment. The advertising regs are exactly whats required.

Tesla last month updated Autopilot to rely more on its cars built-in radar, and CEO Elon Musk claims the system is already safer than human drivers.

Tesla is not the only automaker to face such pressure. Mercedes-Benz in July yanked a television ad for its 2017 E-Class sedan that asked, Is the world truly ready for a vehicle that can drive itself? The car features automated steering and parking, but drivers are still required to pay attention.

The draft regulations issued Friday contain some elements likely to please automakers testing autonomous vehicles in California, while other proposals address concerns raised by consumer advocates.

In a break from previous drafts, the new proposal would allow companies to test on public roads highly autonomous cars that dont have a human in the drivers seat.

However, those cars would need to be in constant contact with a remote operator monitoring the tests. And any company performing such tests would first have to secure the permission of the city or community where those tests would take place.

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The cars being tested would need to comply with a set of 15 federal guidelines issued last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The draft California regulations also spell out the conditions under which automakers could begin selling fully autonomous cars in the state, should they pass their tests.

In a nod to privacy advocates, automakers would need the written permission of car buyers before using any of the information generated by their self-driving cars, unless that information was either rendered anonymous or was used for the safe operation of the vehicles.

We know a driverless vehicle is going to be able to gather a tremendous amount of data, Simpson said. So the question then is, What is that information going to be be used for?

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
At last weeks presidential debate, Donald Trump famously expressed concern about somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds hacking into computers. In a speech Monday in Virginia, he sought to clarify his views on cybersecurity, saying it would be an immediate and top priority, and that a Trump administration would call on the Department of Justice to create a task force to crush this still-developing area of crime.

The speech was a rare foray into technology policy for the Republican candidate. Where Hillary Clinton has filled a nearly 7,000-word briefing on hacking, net neutrality and other technology topics, Trumps views have largely come across through tweets and cable-news soundbites.

The nations next president could help establish policies that affect how Silicon Valley operates and the speed at which innovative products become available to consumers. The presidents stance could also sway how foreign governments treat American tech companies abroad, and strike a balance between privacy and the governments need for data. Here is how the two candidates match up:

Cybersecurity: Trumps speech Monday contained few specifics beyond the creation of a task force. A team of military and civilian experts would also, he said, review the governments systems and make them as secure as modern technology permits. Cybersecurity attacks from China, Russia and North Korea and non-state groups are among our most critical national security concerns, he said.

The speech went slightly beyond the debate, in which Trump said the security aspect of cyber is very, very tough, but that the U.S. should do better. Trump drew fire this summer from Clinton and national security experts for encouraging Russia to find 30,000 unreleased emails from Clinton. He has also resisted identifying Russia as the country that breached the Democratic National Committees emails, in contrast to many experts.

Clinton also plans to prioritize cybersecurity. In last weeks debate, she said the federal government under her command would take action in response to foreign hacking attacks. Were going to have to make it clear that we dont want to use the kind of tools we have, she said, adding: But we will defend the citizens of this country. She would enforce the use of security tools (like multifactor authentication), encourage government departments to consider bug bounties, in which the government pays hackers to show their systems vulnerabilities, and invest in emerging cybersecurity technologies.

Net neutrality: Clinton said in her briefing that she supports the principle that Internet service providers cant charge publishers and app makers different amounts for delivering videos, apps and other media to consumers, often called net neutrality. She backs the FCCs decision in 2015 to stop broadband carriers from slowing down the Internet for some sites while charging others for faster service. A federal appeals courts backing of that decision, which came down in June, was cheered by people in the tech industry who rely on a speedy Internet to run their products.

Hillary would defend these rules in court and continue to enforce them, according to Clintons campaign website.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But registered Republican Roger Royse, who works in Menlo Park and hosted a forum with GOP candidates last year in Silicon Valley, said he thinks Trump would not support net neutrality. In 2014, Trump tweeted that net neutrality will target conservative media. While net neutrality doesnt actually police content, Trump has said he aims to cut down the governments regulation of businesses in general.

His position is consistent with conservative and Republican ideology in that less regulation is better and there should really be good reasons before you let government start regulating something, said Royse, who hasnt decided if he will vote in the presidential election but is leaning toward voting for Trump.

Other regulations: Trump has not specifically mentioned the tech sector in his job creation plan, but some analysts believe his emphasis on reduced regulation would be favorable toward technological advances like self-driving cars, an emerging field that faces questions from privacy advocates and on topics such as how insurance will be applied.

Staying the course for (Trump) might actually be very supportive of the technology sector, said Professor Steven Weber at UC Berkeleys School of Information. If he believes the tech sector is a source of economic growth, he aint going to kill the golden goose.

Still, Trump has criticized tech companies, including Apple. After Apple refused to assist the FBI in getting data from an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters last year, Trump said Apple should help the governments cause. Apple said in a court document that complying could set a dangerous precedent for conscripting Apple and other technology companies to develop technology to do the governments bidding in untold future criminal investigations.

Boycott Apple until such time until they give that information, I think thats a great idea, Trump said at a South Carolina event in February.

Clinton has walked a finer line, saying she supports creating a commission on data security and encryption that would be made up of people in the public safety and technology fields.

Hillary rejects the false choice between privacy interests and keeping Americans safe, according to her campaign briefing.

JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

Tim Cook, Apples CEO, co-hosted a fundraiser for Clinton in August and has also hosted a fundraiser for House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican. Cook has said that the government overreached in the Apple case, which was ultimately resolved when the FBI paid outside hackers to find a way into the shooters iPhone.

As a general rule, Clinton definitely sees technology as a great tool, as a great tool kit to deal with economically and just making the government work better, said Linda Moore, CEO of TechNet, a bipartisan organization that represents the tech industry. In an interview last month, she said that her group was eager to hear a technology agenda from Trump, but we havent seen anything out like that yet.

Free speech online: Clinton has also pushed for an open Internet abroad in countries like China and Russia that sometimes block access to the Web. Services like Twitter and Facebook are banned in China, for example.

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Trying to keep the Internet open is an ongoing struggle with more oppressive regimes around the world ... who want to be able to shut it down at will (and) interfere with peoples freedom, Clinton said at a San Francisco event in 2014. But she also wants to stop the Islamic State from continuing to use the Internet for recruiting, and she has urged social media companies to close terrorist-linked accounts.

We have got to shut down their Internet presence, which is posing the principal threat to us, Clinton said at a New Hampshire town hall last year.

Trump has also voiced concerns about people being recruited online by the Islamic State. In December, he said he would like to talk to Bill Gates , the Microsoft co-founder, about possibly closing off parts of the Internet. (Gates is a Microsoft board member and adviser to CEO Satya Nadella, but lacking a day-to-day role at the company, its not clear how he would direct Microsofts Internet operations in the way Trump proposed, let alone affect the Internet more broadly.)

I sure as hell dont want people who want to kill us and kill our nation (to) use our Internet, Trump said in a CNN Republican presidential debate.

But fundamentally, some analysts question whether Trump understands what tech is about (outside of using Twitter). The Republican candidates reference in the first presidential debate to the cyber and enthusiastic praise of his 10-year-old sons computer abilities crystallized this for many.

Trump, not surprisingly, appears to have no coherent policy and little understanding of the issues, said John Simpson with the privacy advocate group Consumer Watchdog.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @thewendylee

Candidates on Islamic State, Silicon Valley

Hillary Clinton (September 2016) : We have to also do a better job of combatting ISIS online  where they recruit, where they radicalize, and I dont think we are doing as much as we can. We need to work with Silicon Valley, we need to work with experts in our government.
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San Francisco police made multiple arrests in a child pornography distribution case that spans several cities, officials said Monday.

Five suspects from three California cities were taken into custody in connection with allegedly distributing child pornography from June to September, police said.

In March, San Francisco Police Departments Internet Crimes Against Children Unit started an investigation into several people uploading child pornography involving children under 10 years old onto websites.

They first identified San Francisco residents Gary Waite and Danica Morais as suspects in the case. Waite, 38, was arrested on the unit block of Jones Street in San Francisco on June 28. He was charged with possessing child pornography and distributing child pornography, police said.

Investigators learned through Waites arrest that he was allegedly providing child pornography to 36-year-old San Francisco resident Lorenzo Brown.

Brown had been saving the pornography Waite had sent, authorities said. Brown, who had already been in San Mateo County Jail on burglary charges, was additionally charged with possession of child pornography.

Morais was arrested on the 100 block of Topeka Avenue in San Francisco on June 29. She was also charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

Authorities arrested two more suspects in Southern California after Moraiss arrest.

Internet Crimes Against Children investigators in Los Angeles served a search warrant on a home on Wilshire Boulevard on August 16. They arrested 35-year-old Justyn Tomblyn on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

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In mid-September, investigators in Sacramento County served a search warrant at a home that led police to arrest Michael Brown, 42, on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

Any potential victims or people who had noticed suspicious behavior from the suspects were asked to call police at (415) 558-5500.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Brant Ward/The Chronicle

Two people fought each other at MacArthur BART Station Monday, holding up a train during the evening work commute, officials said.

A report of the incident came in about 5:20 p.m., said BART spokesman Taylor Huckaby. Officials initially said someone had been assaulted with a Taser, causing the train to be held up about 18 minutes as police investigated.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are probably busy consulting with their lawyers, but in a civilized world, one of them ought to find the time to write a thank-you note to Donald Trump.

The would-be presidents hurling of mud last week at former Miss Universe Alicia Machado refocused the attention of millions of Americans away from the Brangelina marital miseries (and other equally mesmerizing matters), and toward the widely shared everyday misery that puts most everyone on Machados side: an encounter with the bathroom scale.

Streets of San Francisco:

At Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on Saturday, Will Parrinello saw an elderly cigarette-smoking man offering his lighter to three Millennials trying to light a joint in the breeze. If the cops come along, he said, I can get busted for smoking a cigarette in the park, while you three can legally smoke pot. Looked like all no-smoking rules were suspended for the day; I saw plenty of cigarette smokers, even HSB staffers.

Meanwhile, heres some usable strategy for next years HSB. If youre headed home on foot, eastward through the park, the de Young restrooms await, in the area where admission fee/membership is not required. Sometimes a flush feels like the lap of luxury.

Renter Mark Abramson is one of the many San Franciscans avidly following news of the sinking and listing Millennium Tower. If I spill any liquids while Im cooking in my apartment, says this Castro district resident, they run directly to the northeast corner of my kitchen, under the stove. So I feel like Ive got a pretty good deal with rent control and all, having that feature without paying a fortune for it.

Over the (recent) years, several readers have sent pictures of the city sign near Duboce and South Van Ness designating Isis Street, the top of which says end. Thanks to Bob Levy, however, for forwarding a pic of the familiar sign below the stop sign thats below the street sign. If we cant end Isis, he said, lets stop Isis. And if that fails, well, we can always tow them away.

The array of institutions that bought tables for Friday nights tribute to San Francisco Performances founder Ruth Felt  retiring after 37 years running that arts-presenting organization  is an indication of the place she holds in the cultural community: the Paul Taylor Dance Company, SFJazz, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Community Music Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, American Conservatory Theater, Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Opera.

Veteran arts administrators cited the impresarios risk-taking and entrepreneurship. She did it, said former Symphony manager Peter Pastreich, interim executive director at ACT now, by establishing really, really strong relationships with the artists. She has a great eye for talent, and a great ear  and shes one of the bravest people I know. Concert performers expressed their affection from the stage. Even 26 years ago when I was working in the San Francisco Opera PR department as a writer, said composer Jake Heggie, Ruth welcomed me. When Ruth believes in you, you really know it.

And from patrons of her programs, there were kudos, too. Ive never come to one of her events, said Jennifer Norris, assistant managing director of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, where she was not standing in the lobby greeting people.

The honoree proclaimed herself deeply touched, and noted she was wearing a 17-year-old dress shed bought for a previous San Francisco Performances occasion, which she said is an indicator of common-sense planning. A woman whos spent a career toiling in the arts keeps a limit on extravagance.

Turning to the audience with affection, she didnt say goodbye, but instead, Ill be with you there, starting soon.

Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, who is known as The King of Love and whose new novel is Two by Two, appears at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa on Thursday, Oct. 6. Sparks has such avid fans that one woman is driving 16 hours from Corona (Riverside County) to get a book autographed.

Asked about the plot in a TV interview, Sparks said it begins with this guy and life happens. Should be another best-seller; thats the exact same description as Robinson Crusoe, War and Peace and Portnoys Complaint.

Open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

Its not horrible. Its avant-garde.
Its about time Kevin Diedrich opened a bar of his own.

The veteran bartender, a Chronicle Bar Star in 2011, has had an unlucky run in recent years. One after another, at the hotel bars Burritt Room, Jaspers and BDK, Diedrich built programs that generated big buzz early and then swiftly, for various reasons, didnt work out. In the case of BDK, Diedrich formulated his most ambitious drink list to date  only to have the restaurant close, due to new hotel ownership, within months in 2015.

Now for the first time, Diedrich is an owner. In June, he opened Pacific Cocktail Haven near Union Square with partners Andy Chun and Jan Wiginton of Sidecar Hospitality (Schroeders, Press Club, Elite Cafe). For once, its safe to say he wont be going anywhere soon.

The result is that one of our citys brightest bar talents can finally spread his wings, hone his distinctive drink style and take a few risks that might not have been available under his previous employers.

Theres definitely a lot more freedom now, Diedrich says. At Burritt Room, we were trying to be very hotel-ish. At Jaspers, we did a beer-cocktail thing. At BDK, we were more upscale. At PCH, he can do what he wants, though he believes the cocktails conform to the styles and flavors hes always done.

Bold, focused fruit flavors are a Diedrich signature. The Lime in da Coconut ($13), for instance, is based on a lychee-coconut milk puree, blended with lime zest, vodka and a kind of pistachio orgeat (the nuts are oven-toasted to bring out the oils, cooked down and salted). Inspired by an ice cream recipe Diedrich once saw online, it recalls a milk shake in its texture. While its flavors approach an extreme, explosive fruitiness, theres no added sugar.

John Storey/Special to the Chronicle

Similarly, what distinguishes the Sherry Cobbler ($11), one of the most memorable drinks on the PCH menu, is an amplification of that classic cocktails traditional fruit flavors. Instead of the mere customary orange slice, Diedrich adds rich orange marmalade. And whereas a Sherry Cobbler is typically made with amontillado Sherry, Diedrich blends together equal proportions of syrupy-sweet Pedro Ximenez, aromatic palo cortado and full-bodied oloroso Sherry. Creme de noyaux emphasizes the drinks sweet, intriguing nuttiness.

Hardly a drink on the PCH menu lacks at least one provocative element. The Santorini Summer ($13) features yogurt liquor and tzatziki; the Kansai Flip ($13), red beans; the Miso Old Fashioned ($13), miso. The Bobby Burns ($12) is pretty much a traditional Bobby Burns, but Diedrichs presentation is his own: Served in a martini glass alongside a dividend (a small refill bottle set in a glass of ice), its a holdover from his hotel-bar days.

PCHs logo is a pineapple  because its the universal symbol of hospitality  and that fruit makes frequent appearances in the menu. The large-format punches ($78-$90), intended for five to eight people, come in pineapple-shaped vessels. The KoOlina Swizzle ($13) combines pineapple with rums, banana, bitters and (actual) orgeat, garnished with a dehydrated pineapple disc that somewhat resembles a mushroom. Its flavors are deftly balanced, if familiar.

More unusual is the Saffron ($13), in which grilled pineapple highlights the savory, herbal notes of saffron-infused mezcal, its succulence countered by bitter Campari.

Theres something distinctively of-the-moment about the fruit qualities of these drinks, which have more than a few things in common with those of Louies Gen-Gen Room: exuberant in their fruit expression, but restrained in their sweetness. Its a smart way to showcase fruits fundamental complexity.

As with just about everything in San Francisco these days, the word tiki comes to mind, though Diedrich rejects the label. I dont think I have any real connection to tiki, he insists, pointing to the savory aspects of many of his drinks, and the inclusion of emphatically non-tiki ingredients like vodka and mezcal.

Rather, Diedrich says he relates to Asian flavors. The bars name is meant to point westward. Even his Naked Mai Tai ($13), a nod to his Japanese Hawaiian wifes heritage and their frequent trips to the islands, omits the most quintessentially tiki elements of a Mai Tai (citrus juice, sugar, tiny umbrella) in favor of simplicity: rum, Triple Sec, orgeat and bitters, served over one big ice cube in a rocks glass.

John Storey/Special to the Chronicle

And anyway, ascribing these drinks to a genre doesnt do justice to the long, idiosyncratic journey that led to PCH.

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When Diedrich took over the space, formerly beloved industry hangout Cantina in December, he initially operated his bar as a pop-up called Turnkey at Cantina. It was a temporary thing to feel out the space, introduce ourselves to the neighborhood, he explains, and get a little more capital.

The Turnkey menu was a Kevin Diedrich Greatest Hits album, which served the dual purpose of buying Diedrich more time to develop new drinks and playing to the nostalgia of neighborhood customers who remembered certain drinks from Jaspers and Burritt Room. (That spirit endures; about 20 percent of the PCH menu now are Greatest Hits.)

He couldnt afford to be closed, so construction happened in the mornings, with service resuming every night. Fortunately, mid-construction is an aesthetic that many San Francisco drinkers seem to respond to. It was a good excuse, Diedrich says. If people came in and half a wall was missing, wed just say, Were a pop-up, and theyd be like, Oh, OK.

I dont think Id ever do another bar this way, he adds. Getting here at 4 a.m. (demolishing), Sheetrock, drywall, then washing everything and making drinks at 5 p.m.

For him, as for us, it was worth the wait.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob

What: Sherry Cobbler ($11), Lime in da Coconut ($13), Saffron ($13)

Where: Pacific Cocktail Haven, 580 Sutter St., S.F. (415) 398-0195, www.pacificcocktailsf.com

When: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday.
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If I were a betting woman, Id put money on jianbing becoming the next big food trend. The eggy northern Chinese crepe has recently taken New York by storm and is now making inroads in the Bay Area. You can find them in a few places around San Francisco, the East Bay and the Peninsula, but some of the best and most consistent can be found at a pop-up called Tai Chi Jianbing, where Cheng Hu is making organic versions of the street food he grew up with.

Jianbing was once described to me as a Chinese Crunchwrap, which is as neat an explanation as any for the savory snack, which gets its crispiness from fried wonton wrappers. They start with a ladle of thin batter made from mung bean, soy bean and all-purpose flours, spread thinly onto a circular griddle in the manner of a dosa or French crepe.

When the dough has set a bit, Hu cracks two free-range eggs on top and scrambles them slightly, then sprinkles them with chopped green onions, cilantro, cumin, red pepper flakes and black and white sesame seeds. The crepe is then flipped over, and Hu applies chile-garlic and thick soy sauces as well as the fried wonton squares, and toppings like frankfurters, dried tuna and barbecued pork.

Finally, Hu folds the crepe around the fillings, making for a neat little packet that displays the scrambled eggs, herbs and spices on the outside, and inside contains all the meaty, saucy bits between crisp wonton layers. One is enough for a breakfast or lunch, or a hearty snack shared between two people.

Hu, 29, started making jianbing because he couldnt find any restaurant in the Bay Area that was serving them to his satisfaction. He grew up in the city of Shenyang in northeastern China, near the Korean border, and went to college in Indiana before following his girlfriend to San Francisco.

But he didnt lose his taste for dishes like jianbing, which are a daily part of life on the streets of northern Chinese cities like Shenyang and Beijing. Hu started making them and other elusive native dishes at home; then his girlfriend encouraged him to try a pop-up.

He consulted with a jianbing master in Beijing and launched his pop-up, Tai Chi Jianbing, in June on Noriega in the Outer Sunset. In September, he moved the pop-up to its current location, at Nabe, a popular hot pot restaurant at Ninth and Irving in the Inner Sunset. There, Hu sets up his crepe stand nearly every morning, right in front of Nabes floor-to-ceiling front windows, and hopes that curious passersby in the busy corridor will give the unfamiliar food a try.

First-timers should start with the traditional crepe, just egg and fried wonton; its a medley of soft and crunchy textures with subtle flavors from the spices, herbs and sauces. Those with heartier appetites, or who are willing to deviate from tradition, should opt for the tuna or pulled pork varieties. Both proteins are done in the dry, Chinese tradition, and with filling added, its more like a meal than a street snack, especially when its warm off the griddle.

Currently the menu of crepes is supplemented with only marbled, marinated tea eggs and warm doujiang (a GMO-free soy milk). But Chen hopes to soon start offering more northern snacks like Chinese hamburgers  marinated meat in a crisp, flat bun  and steamed buns similar to xiao long bao. He also hopes to increase a South Bay following at his pop-ups second outpost, on Tuesdays at Inteanet in Cupertinos new Main Street development.

Mostly, hes happy to bring local eaters a new food to obsess over. I think people in San Francisco really like new things, he says. Im really trying to give the American customer a new image of Chinese food.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Anna Roth is a freelance writer in San Francisco. Email: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annaroth

What: Traditional crepe ($8.50), tuna rousong crepe ($10), warm soy milk ($3.50)

Where: Tai Chi Jianbing at Nabe Restaurant, 1325 Ninth Ave. (at Irving Street), San Francisco, (415) 215-9385. www.taichijianbing.com

When: 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
Gov. Jerry Brown has been busy working through the stacks of bills on his desk. His choices of what to sign  and what to veto  offer a fascinating window on how California politics are changing.

First, heres a way in which theyre not changing: Brown remains stingy with the purse strings, and all indications show that California voters appreciate his approach.

Many of Browns vetoes were for plans that would have cost the state money. Brown said he wasnt turning many of these bills down because they were bad ideas, but because their cost needed to be weighed within the states regular budget process.

That line of reasoning held even for his vetoes of some bills we advocated, like AB1838, which would have extended the foster care infant supplement to expectant mothers.

We can appreciate the principle of restricting expenditure-related bills to the budget process. Which is why we were disappointed the governor signed SB1234, which will create a new savings plan for almost 7 million Californians who work at jobs that offer no retirement benefits.

SB1234 requires employers who dont provide either pensions or retirement savings plans to enroll their employees in the state plan, which puts 3 percent of their wages into an account, unless the employee opts out. Its difficult to fault the state for wanting to help these workers, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet. But were concerned that SB1234 may cause great expenditures for California down the line  by creating an expectation for future officials to pay up for more retirement expenses if something goes wrong with contribution choices.

One thing all Californians can agree on is the need to reform the California Public Utilities Commission. Brown signed a package of bills that offer a reform plan. The biggest change is that commissioners will be required to disclose their private correspondence with utility officials. Coming after revelations of extensive, back-channel communications between these two parties, this reform will be a welcome change indeed.

On criminal justice policy, Brown signed SB1143, which ends long-term isolation practices for juveniles in custody. He also agreed to limit civil forfeitures by signing SB443. AB2466, which will restore voting rights to convicted felons serving their time in county jails, is another significant shift. And while we were disappointed to see a veto for SB1157, which would have required jails to offer in-person visitation options for family members, Brown said he wants to come up with a more flexible solution.

Browns overall approach to criminal justice is clear and correct: The longtime trend toward mass incarceration must give way to reforms that make the system less expensive, more equitable and more likely to lead to rehabilitation.
If voters need another reason to reject Donald Trump, the candidate himself is supplying it. A bombshell revelation shows he may not have paid federal taxes for 18 years after a near billion-dollar loss in 1995.

The tax scheme isnt denied by Trumps campaign. It adds damaging numbers to the mystery over the billionaire developers financial dealings. It explains why hes refused to make public his recent tax returns as every presidential candidate has done for four decades. He has too much to hide.

The tax dodge is another disturbing moment in a disastrous campaign. He worsened his debate performance by sending out a string of middle-of-the-night tweets attacking a Miss Universe beauty queen who criticized him. As usual, those rants carried little substantiation. His undisciplined conduct underscores the fact that he completely lacks the composure and judgment the presidency requires.

The tax disclosures are a more objective standard. Yes, its totally legal. His development business racked up enormous losses shown on papers sent anonymously to the New York Times. Theres little doubt about their authenticity since the financial figure who prepared the paperwork acknowledged their veracity.

Tax experts said the enormity of the loss meant it could be carried forward for up to 18 years, allowing Trump to pay nothing during that period. His supporters, angry at Washington insiders and stalled economic life, should be so fortunate as their candidate, who can deftly exploit tax laws that are far beyond an average taxpayers reach.

Trumps campaign isnt denying the mind-boggling sum. Unrepentant as always, Trump bragged that he brilliantly used tax laws to his advantage. Of course, when the tax return was posted, investors and contractors working with Trump took heavy losses that werent so easily manipulated.

Another part of his financial world received a deserved slap. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Trumps personal foundation cant collect donations in the state because it hasnt legally registered.

This error is especially telling because Trump has gone after Hillary Clinton on the donations her family foundation collected while she was secretary of state. But his own conduct in operating his charitable entity is even more flawed and outside the rules.
Life is too short for too many black men in Oakland.

Crime, poverty and the brutal code of the streets are claiming the lives of far too many black men in that city.

As reporter Jill Tucker is writing in her series about African American males in Oakland, they're disproportionately more likely to have all kinds of trouble in school than their peers of other races, and their murder rates are shockingly high. Homicide is by far the leading cause of death for African American males ages 15 to 34 in Oakland.

Oakland can do better. It has to do better.

The solutions aren't always going to be easy or comfortable, as Tucker found.

In 2010, the Oakland Unified School District became the first in the United States to form a department specifically dedicated to improving outcomes for black boys.

The African American Male Achievement Office has classes and programs specifically for these young men, and it sponsors a charter school that's attended by only black boys. The charter school has hired noncertified teachers and trying less punitive forms of correction for students who are disruptive.

All of this has drawn controversy - and it's given these boys an environment where they feel welcomed and protected. That's a rare thing in Oakland, and it should be encouraged.

That doesn't mean that everything the office will try is going to be perfect, or that programs won't need adjustments. But it's a welcome experiment, and it's certainly better than the status quo. As time passes and community involvement increases, Oakland may be able to discover some innovative solutions to help black boys all over the Bay Area achieve.

Mayor Jean Quan and other civic officials must do more around this critical issue, and we urge community leaders in Oakland to support the achievement office and the young black men in their communities. Too many lives are being wasted.
The Bay Areas current economic boom is based on the explosive growth in mobile apps and services that rely on reliable and robust wireless networks. Every company, from the giants like Google, Apple and Facebook to the smallest seed-funded startup, is building its strategy around smartphone apps, cloud computing and mobile data  creating enormous demand on our wireless infrastructure.

Unfortunately, our wireless networks are not keeping pace with demand, and we rank poorly in both performance and coverage metrics. Local government and carriers need to do more to streamline creation of the vital infrastructure needed to meet the growing needs of our economy.

Reliable and robust wireless networks are critical resources for our citizens, and failing to provide them is no different than failing to provide clean drinking water, natural gas, sewage service or electricity. Yet we must also respect the need for minimalist, quiet, and aesthetically considered wireless facilities. Care needs to be taken that wireless sites are designed to align with historical and cultural preservation efforts.

In the past, the thinking was that wireless networks are luxuries for the wealthy  the stereotypical multitasking businessperson with a smartphone. In fact, they are critical systems for our daily lives and a key tool to bridge the digital divide. Mobile devices have replaced laptops and PCs in many homes. Families in poverty, unable to afford both mobile data and wired broadband subscriptions, often opt for mobile data only.

To address this challenge, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, through its wireless communications initiative, has formed a coalition among the wireless industry, local governments, businesses and residents working together to improve our regions wireless network infrastructure.

Lacking additional radio spectrum to meet demand and projected growth, wireless network operators have begun using technologies that augment the existing tower network with low-power wireless sites that cover only a few blocks. For every tower, there may be dozens of these low-power sites deployed along city streets on light poles, utility poles and building roofs.

Almost all cities have policies for tower site applications, but many have not modified ordinances and application processes to account for these new low-power technologies. Laws enacted by Congress and the California Legislature now require cities to respond quickly to permit applications for wireless sites. Unlike towers, the low-power technology involves deploying in multiple locations, which makes detailed application reviews a challenge. If the mandated state and federal time frames are exceeded, cities risk losing control over these projects  and/or being sued.

Leaders must embrace these new low-power wireless technologies, and quickly draft and adopt policies that allow cities and towns to retain control over their deployment while remaining compliant with federal and state laws.

Deploying a world-class wireless network is vital to ensuring that all of our regions citizens have reliable and robust access to voice and data communications. Municipal leaders and wireless network operators should partner to build these networks in a way that supports both the technological goals while maintaining our quality of life and local aesthetics.

Our shared goal should be to go forward together in partnership between industry and local governments, to create a world-class wireless network in Silicon Valley that serves the interests and needs of all citizens.

We urge our regions citizens to email or call their city council members and other local government leaders, asking them to swiftly enact supporting ordinances and create streamlined applications that will make these modern wireless networks a reality.

David Witkowski is executive director of the wireless communications initiative at Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Dave Hodson is partner and director of development at Skype/Microsoft.
It took only 15 seconds for the 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake to claim more than 50 lives, injure nearly 4,000 people, and cause an estimated $6 billion in property damage.

Although the 1989 quake might seem like a long time ago  and much work has been done to seismically retrofit, reinforce and strengthen buildings and infrastructure since then  the devastation should continue to serve as a catalyst for taking steps to ensure we are prepared when the next Big One hits.

With experts continuously warning of pressure building on both the San Andreas and Hayward faults, one of the most important next steps is the implementation of a public earthquake early warning system. Thats why the American Red Cross and Pacific Gas and Electric Company hosted an Earthquake Early Warning Summit in San Francisco to discuss this important technology.

One such technology is ShakeAlert. Pioneered by a coalition of university and agency partners, ShakeAlert uses seismic sensors and advanced software to warn of an impending earthquake. Depending on a quakes magnitude and epicenter, ShakeAlert can give a couple of seconds up to a minute of warning that shaking is about to occur.

Within that time, trains could be stopped, surgeries suspended, and people could drop, cover and hold on before the strongest shaking occurs. Those precious seconds could help reduce damage and casualties.

This first-of-its-kind summit for PG&E and the American Red Cross brought together representatives of public and private organizations including HP Enterprise, Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Facebook, Kaiser Permanente, the Salvation Army, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the California Governors Office of Emergency Services, among others.

Jennifer Strauss from the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory gave a passionate presentation on the history of warning systems and provided an inside look at how ShakeAlert works. In her view, the technology and much of the hardware and software are in place. Whats needed, according to Tina Curry, the deputy director of the governors office, who also spoke at the summit, is a financing strategy and maintenance plan.

The Office of Emergency Services, which is ultimately responsible for developing a system, estimates it will take $30 million to get the system built (which includes ShakeAlert costs) and approximately $18 million to $20 million ongoing. Capital costs, education about the system, alert delivery and automation are included.

The public rollout of ShakeAlert is a few years away  and private companies are working on similar earthquake warning technology  but because a major earthquake in the Bay Area is inevitable, the issue comes down to making this vital technology available before the Big One hits.

The key will be funding and implementation.

Similarly, the Office of Emergency Services is assembling an advisory board, which will work to establish governance and develop a system implementation framework. We encourage Californias business leaders interested in joining the board or simply learning more about it to visit www.caloes.ca.gov, so that together we can build the best possible earthquake early warning system for California.

Trevor Riggen is regional CEO for the American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region. Barry Anderson is vice president of electric distribution at Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Interest in shaking?

Contact Jennifer Strauss at jastrauss@berkeley.edu to learn more about joining Berkeley Seismological Laboratorys Earthquake Research Affiliates program.
Theres little doubt that Hillary Clintons presidential campaign will hammer Donald Trump through election day on a report that he would have been able to avoid paying personal income taxes for 18 years, thanks to $916 million in business losses that were listed on a leaked fragment of his 1995 tax return.

But beyond the short-term impact of that story, reported over the weekend by the New York Times, is a larger issue that affects millions of Americans: how the wealthy use tax laws to preserve their spot on top of the economic ladder.

And on that scale, neither the Democratic nor Republican nominee is proposing to do much to remake the system.

Theyre not changing the fundamental way we tax income, said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center who has analyzed the candidates plans.

Its really a missed opportunity, said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

If Trump avoided income taxes  and he has yet to deny the story  there was nothing illegal about it. The tax system allowed him to declare financial losses in his real estate holdings in the mid-90s and carry them forward to offset his tax liability well into the 21st century. Nothing about that tax law has changed since 1995.

One of Trumps top campaign surrogates, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said that if the GOP nominee took advantage of the law to escape taxes, it illustrated his genius. Trump himself all but confirmed the Times story and gave himself a pat on the back during a campaign appearance Monday in Pueblo, Colo., a state vital to both candidates.

As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company, my investors and my employees, Trump said. I mean, honestly, I have brilliantly  I have brilliantly used those laws.

Because he knows how to use the tax rules to his advantage, Trump added, hes the right person to reform them.

Fixing our broken tax code is one of the main reasons Im running for president, he said. Ive been saying from the beginning of this campaign how ridiculous, complex and, yes, unfair the tax system is. It is an unfair system and so complex that very few people understand it.

However, Trump is proposing little that would fundamentally reform the system. His tax proposal would largely benefit the richest Americans, as 44 percent of its cuts would go to those in the top 1 percent of income distribution, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.

And theres nothing in the Trump plan that would restrict anyone from taking advantage of the business-loss provisions that put the self-proclaimed billionaire in a position of being able to avoid paying income taxes for nearly two decades.

This just sounds like a tax break that isnt available to middle-income Americans, Gardner said. It reinforces the fears and beliefs that are rampant among voters this campaign season that the system is rigged against them.

Clinton used the story about Trumps taxes as the centerpiece of her campaign appearance Monday in Toledo, Ohio, another state thats in play for both candidates. She talked about how the tax code rewards corporations for outsourcing jobs and their profits overseas instead of investing here in the United States.

And it is riddled with loopholes that let the rich get even richer and make income inequality even worse. It tilts the playing field further against small businesses that cant afford lawyers and lobbyists, Clinton said.

However, analysts said that although Clinton would tax the wealthy more heavily and close some loopholes, her plan wouldnt amount to a major structural change.

Not at all, Gardner said.

Clinton wants to codify the Buffett rule, named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The Clinton supporter has pointed out that even though he has earned billions of dollars, he pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. Clintons proposal seeks to ensure that everyone who makes more than $1 million annually must pay at least a 30 percent effective tax rate.

Her tax plan would also include a 4 percent surcharge on people who make more than $5 million a year. She would change laws that enable high-income money managers and hedge fund directors to shelter income.

The total impact of these tax breaks is going to be limited, Gardner said. She would blunt the aggregate impact of a whole bunch of different tax breaks, but she doesnt eliminate them. She is doing the politically easier thing. Each of these tax breaks has a constituency, and they would start howling if their loophole got eliminated.

Even though both Trump and Clinton occasionally echo the populist tone that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders sounded during his campaign for the Democratic nomination, neither has fully embraced that level of systematic reform, said Jeff Weaver, who managed Sanders campaign.

Weaver praised Clinton for advocating for more progressive tax proposals on many fronts. But he added that she could go further.

The issue of tax fairness is fundamental to taking on the rigged economy, Weaver said. If we are going to take care of the many needs we have  for veterans, for college tuition  the wealthiest Americans have to pay their fair share.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
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If you think you loved the David Hockney exhibition held at the de Young Museum in late 2013, consider its effect on the local co-curator of the show, Richard Benefield. Benefield has served in several key roles at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (the de Young umbrella institution) in his four years there, including two stints as acting director. Now, it has been announced he will begin a new job in January  as executive director of the David Hockney Foundation. Im over the moon, he said by phone.

Benefield was the first director of San Franciscos Walt Disney Family Museum, a position he held from 2008 to 2011. Earlier, he held administrative positions at the art museums of Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard University. He and his husband, John Kunowski, will move to Los Angeles, where the foundation is headquartered and where Hockney lives.
As San Francisco gears up for Fleet Week and the kickoff to Dreamforce, weather experts were forecasting that Tuesday mornings drizzly, cloudy skies will clear up and temperatures will start to heat up.

The high in San Francisco on Tuesday is expected to be 64 degrees and San Franciscans can expect an incremental rise in temperatures through the remainder of the week.
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Google underscored its rapid move into hardware at a San Francisco event Tuesday, as it introduced a new Pixel smartphone and a variety of other products.

The phone, which comes in 5 or 5.5-inch display and starts at $649, will be the first to incorporate the Google assistant, an artificial intelligence-powered digital assistant that can pull information from the web and play music on command. The assistant works across all of Googles apps, including YouTube and Google Photos. The assistant can also gather information from the apps on a phone, allowing the user to make a reservation through Open Table by speaking to the assistant.

Google said Pixel will be have the best smartphone camera ever made. It will take photos in HDR +, with a 12.3 megapixel rear facing camera and zero shutter lag. Google said Pixel users will get to store their full resolution pictures on Google Photos for free. The phone comes in black, blue and silver colors and is available for pre-order Tuesday in U.S. Australia, Canada and United Kingdom.

Googles Rick Osterloh said now was the time for Google to integrate its assistant within its own hardware.

The rise of volume and complexity of all the information makes it so this is the right time to focus on hardware and software, Osterloh said.

Osterloh also poked gentle fun at competitors like Apple, which has become known for good-quality camera features in its iPhones, saying, "Theres no unsightly camera bump on Googles new phone.

Pixel will be the first phone to operate with Googles virtual reality platform, Daydream. The companys headset, called Daydream View, will come in three colors, the company announced: snow, crimson and slate. It works with a controller that tracks a users movements, allowing them even to draw in a virtual reality world. The headset and controller will sell for $79.

Clay Bavor, Googles vice-president of virtual reality, said that Daydream View is 30 percent lighter than similar devices and fits over eyeglasses.

Google also touted its new stand-alone, voice-operated device, called Google Home, which is a rival to the Amazon Echo. Google Home, which ships starting in November and is priced at $129, allows customers to ask it questions such as Can dogs each chocolate? or How do you get wine stains out of a rug? It will spit out an answer. The company said the devices ability to scour the web for answers and its deep knowledge across all its products, including maps and languages, makes it the preferred choice over competitors.

This is really, really hard and only something Google can do and were constantly improving it, said Googles Rishi Chandra. The device can also read back a users schedule and can be used to control Internet-connected home devices like Chromecast.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee
Samsung Biologics Co. is seeking to raise as much as $2 billion from a South Korean initial public offering, taking an important step toward its goal of becoming the worlds largest contract manufacturer of biological medicines.

The listing of the business, which makes complex drugs called biologics, will help the countrys largest conglomerate tap a new source of growth. With the smartphone market nearing saturation, Samsung Group, which controls more than 50 companies with interests from TVs to finance, has invested in areas such as pharmaceuticals.

Its drug making arm will offer about 16.5 million shares priced between about $102 and $123 each, according to a filing Tuesday. The proceeds of one of South Koreas biggest IPOs will go toward expanding capacity, investment in new technology as well as debt repayment, the company said. Samsung Biologics will gauge demand for the share sale Oct. 26-27, with a final price to be announced on Oct. 28.

Samsung Biologics will use the proceeds to expand our manufacturing capacity and to further invest in research and development to aid in developing bio-medicines, it said in its filing. The proceeds will also be partly used to repay debt and improve the companys financial structure, it said.

Korea Investment & Securities and Citigroup are the IPOs lead managers. NH Investment & Securities, JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse Group are helping arrange it.

Biologics are made up of organic substances such as hormones, antibodies and other proteins. They are more complex to research and manufacture than other drugs, but can address treatable conditions with higher efficacy and fewer side effects. The global biologic medicines market is projected to exceed $390 billion by 2020, according to an IMS Consulting Group report funded by Novartis.

The Samsung offering will add to the $1.9 billion raised from IPOs in the country this year, down from $2.5 billion during the same period in 2015. Seouls Doosan Bobcat is slated to take investor orders in October for an IPO worth more than $2 billion, potentially South Koreas biggest in more than six years.

In December, Samsung Biologics began construction on a $722 million plant, its third, saying it was aiming to become the worlds largest biologics contract manufacturing organization. It has announced production agreements with companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb and a unit of Roche Holding. Once the plant is in operation, Samsung Biologics expects it will reach more than $895 million in operating profit.

Samsung C&T and Samsung Electronics are major shareholders in Samsung Biologics.

Samsung Electronics, the maker of Galaxy mobile phones, plans to sell 5.5 million Biologics shares in the IPO. The company faces rising competition from new models of Apples iPhone. In September, it began a recall affecting millions of its Galaxy Note7 phones because of faulty batteries prone to overheating and catching fire.

Natasha Khan and Jungah Lee are Bloomberg writers. Email: nkhan51@bloomberg.net, jlee1361@bloomberg.net
On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear an insider trading case for the first time in two decades, and it will once again have to weigh the issue without a definition of the practice from Congress.

The case involves a grocery wholesaler named Bassam Salman whos accused of trading on tips from a brother-in-law who worked for Citigroup. Prosecutors accused Salman of making nearly $1 million from trading on information involving Citigroup mergers, and he was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy and fraud.

The question the Supreme Court has to decide is this: In order to prove insider trading, is it necessary to show that a tipper like the brother-in-law got cash or something valuable in exchange for the tip  or is it enough to show the tipper and tippee were close family members?

There is another question that the case itself raises, though: Why doesnt the United States have a specific law on the books to regulate insider trading?

What there ought to be is a statute on insider trading, University of Michigan Law School professor Adam Pritchard told Yahoo Finance. The SEC has resisted that. The agency has pushed back against an insider-trading statute, in part, because murky rules give it more leverage during settlement negotiations, Pritchard contends.

Congress lurking in the background

In the absence of a specific statute, the SEC can file civil cases involving insider trading under anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws and the Justice Department can file criminal cases using the same laws  since insider trading can be either a civil or a criminal action. The SEC paved the way for many insider trading cases in 1961, when it ruled that two key fraud provisions of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 applied to corporate outsiders like Salman.

Following the 1961 ruling by the SEC, lawmakers have introduced laws to ban insider trading but none have passed. Meanwhile, the European Union has a very clear and a very broad law banning insider trading, Peter J. Henning, a professor of law at Wayne State University, told Yahoo Finance.

Story continues

Congresss own inaction on the issue is lurking in the background of the insider trading case the Supreme Court will hear this week, Georgetown Law professor Donald Langevoort said.

Everybody has said it is something of an embarrassment that in the US, which 50 years ago invented the law of insider trading, Langevoort said, were now essentially the only country in the world that doesnt regulate it by statute.

Without a specific law on the books to regulate insider trading, its been largely up to the courts to define what constitutes insider trading, as it must do in the Salman case. The Supreme Court took its first modern-day stab at defining illegal insider trading in a 1983 case called Dirks v. SEC, ruling that insider trading could involve quid pro quo or an insider making a gift of confidential information to a trading relative or friend.

More than 30 years after Dirks, the US appeals court in New York shook up the world of insider trading when it ruled that friendship alone between a tipper and tippee wasnt enough to establish fraud. Some lawyers contended that the New York case, US v. Newman, actually changed the law though others argue the case is consistent with Supreme Court precedent.

In light of the disagreement about Supreme Court case law, one might argue that Congress should step in once and for all to ban  and define  insider trading. But that doesnt seem likely.

A political nightmare

While the SEC may have resisted an insider trading statute, Wall Street would also likely push back against a law specifically banning the practice. That would make it difficult to pass an insider trading ban, especially in light of the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision, which makes it easier for corporations to spend money on political campaigns, Langevoort, the Georgetown professor pointed out.

Its a political nightmare, in a post-Citizens United world, especially, where money talks as loudly as it talks, the hedge funds and Wall Street are going to be up there looking out for their own interests, Langevoort noted. And their own interests are not in aggressive insider trading enforcement.

That said, he noted, if the Supreme Court were to issue an opinion that narrowed the definition of insider trading  in favor of Salman, the grocery wholesaler  it could spur Congress to act.

When the Supreme Court hears the Salman case on Wednesday, and when it issues its decision later in the term, it will do so without one of the justices who decided to take it up in the first place: Antonin Scalia.

The late justice was particularly keen on hearing an insider trading case, and he may have used the Salman case as an opportunity to make it harder for prosecutors to bring those charges.

Erin Fuchs is deputy managing editor at Yahoo Finance.
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San Francisco police made multiple arrests in a child pornography distribution case that spans several cities, officials said Monday.

Five suspects from three California cities were taken into custody in connection with allegedly distributing child pornography from June to September, police said.

In March, San Francisco Police Departments Internet Crimes Against Children Unit started an investigation into several people uploading child pornography involving children under 10 years old onto websites.

They first identified San Francisco residents Gary Waite and Danica Morais as suspects in the case. Waite, 38, was arrested on the unit block of Jones Street in San Francisco on June 28. He was charged with possessing child pornography and distributing child pornography, police said.

Investigators learned through Waites arrest that he was allegedly providing child pornography to 36-year-old San Francisco resident Lorenzo Brown.

Brown had been saving the pornography Waite had sent, authorities said. Brown, who had already been in San Mateo County Jail on burglary charges, was additionally charged with possession of child pornography.

Morais was arrested on the 100 block of Topeka Avenue in San Francisco on June 29. She was also charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

Authorities arrested two more suspects in Southern California after Moraiss arrest.

Internet Crimes Against Children investigators in Los Angeles served a search warrant on a home on Wilshire Boulevard on August 16. They arrested 35-year-old Justyn Tomblyn on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

In mid-September, investigators in Sacramento County served a search warrant at a home that led police to arrest Michael Brown, 42, on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

Any potential victims or people who had noticed suspicious behavior from the suspects were asked to call police at (415) 558-5500.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
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As the University of California begins the search for a new chancellor at UC Berkeley, a group of faculty on Tuesday identified a candidate theyd love to see get the job: Robert Reich.

Reich  a former U.S. labor secretary under President Bill Clinton who teaches at Berkeleys Goldman School of Public Policy  is an intellectual of the left and popular with faculty and students alike. As the Occupy movement surged in 2011, Reich delivered a speech about social justice on the Mario Savio steps of Sproul Plaza that drew more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff. Hes since been a visible presence on campus, joining such student efforts as the fight to win higher wages for fast-food workers.

Robert Reich? That would be really cool to see. Ive been to protests with him  he shows up and talks about labor violations, said Iman Sylvain, a doctoral student in microbiology who is one of more than a dozen students, faculty, staff, alumni and foundation representatives serving on the chancellor search committee that meets for the first time Thursday.

The Berkeley Faculty Association, a more activist group of professors than the larger Academic Senate, put forth Reichs name Tuesday as part of its Statement of Principles calling for greater transparency in the chancellor search and highlighting their desire for a new direction in campus leadership.

UC Berkeley is wrestling with a $150 million budget deficit, its administrators have repeatedly meted out soft discipline to high-profile employees who violate sexual harassment policies, and many students and faculty say theyve lost trust in the administration. In the face of such struggles, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in August that this will be his last year at the helm.

The faculty association not only wants students and employees to play a role in selecting the new chancellor, but it wants the person to favor a range of values popular with students and professors: stopping the hiring surge of senior managers, capping executive salaries, increasing student diversity, and raising the focus on good teaching and research.

And it wants Reich to run the show.

He symbolizes all that is good and great about Berkeley, said sociology Professor Michael Burawoy, co-chair of the faculty association. He represents an alternative vision of the university, away from the treacherous path of the last two decades, he said, referring to the idea that Berkeley has tilted away from its roots as an affordable university of the people and toward an elitist institution.

Associate Professor of English Celeste Langan, also a co-chair, called Reich clearly committed to public service and the public good.

Neither had asked Reich if he would serve. Reich, who writes an opinion column that appears in The Sunday Chronicle, had no comment, an assistant said Tuesday afternoon.

UC President Janet Napolitano, who also serves on the chancellor selection committee, was not available to comment, said her spokeswoman, Dianne Klein, who added that committee members would not comment on potential candidates anyway.

Klein defended the transparency of the universitys search process, however, noting that there is a wide consultation process, and anyone can nominate candidates.

The new chancellor is expected to be named in March.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
American Honey: Sasha Lane plays a teenager who travels with magazine salespeople throughout the Midwest and ends up breaking the law, partying and falling in love.

The Birth of a Nation: Nate Parker co-wrote, directed and stars as Nat Turner in this biopic about the famous slave rebellion of 1831.
David Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for discoveries in condensed-matter physics that have transformed the understanding of matter that assumes strange shapes. All three were born in Britain but work in the United States.

Using advanced mathematical models, the three scientists studied unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films. Their findings have relevance for materials science and electronics.
The American (and Canadian) dream hasnt really changed in the past 50 years. You go to college, find a job, get married, buy a house, have a couple of kids and retire at 65. Its pretty straightforward, but what would happen if that model were flipped upside down? If you skipped a few steps and went straight to retirement?

It sounds impossible, but its a reality for Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung, a Canadian couple who retired at 31 and are traveling around the world.

Shen and Leung, now 33, both worked as computer engineers making about $60,000-$70,000 annually. They had been aggressively saving money since about 2006, got married in 2010, and by 2012 the newlyweds had saved $500,000 to use as a down payment on a house in Toronto. But when it came time to find the perfect home, they were shocked at how expensive and limited the options were.

When we went house hunting there were so many bidding wars and so many realtors doing shady stuff. There were a lot of games, Shen told Yahoo Finance.

There is this shared madness that everyone participates in, even though its stupid, Leung added. It caused us to look for another option.

Plan B

After doing some research, they discovered the concept of financial independence referred to as the 4% rule. With this system, investors attempt to build a portfolio large enough to extract 4% every year to cover living expenses. This method is often used by people planning for retirement, but Shen and Leung simply sped up their timeline.

By saving and picking smart investments, that initial $500,000 turned into a $1 million portfolio by 2014, making the couple millionaires by 31. It sounds impossible, but they were were able to reach their goal by following these five simple investment rules:

Invest using low-cost index ETF funds No stock picking or following hot tips. Avoid actively managed mutual funds. Pick an asset allocation that balances volatility based on risk and distance to retirement. You sell whats high and buy whats low.

Story continues

With their new financial freedom, Shen and Leung quit their jobs and planned to travel around the world for a year.

Kristy Shen exploring Switzerland.

Their adventure started in the US, with visits to Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and then they headed across the pond to the United Kingdom. When all was said and done, Shen and Leung traveled to 15 different countries throughout Europe and Asia during their yearlong adventure. They returned home to Canada in Spring 2016 to see loved ones and plan their next steps.

When we came home, we realized our portfolio had grown and that we had actually made more money than the cost of the trip  so it was basically free, Leung said.

During that first year of travel we actually saved money. We spent $40,000 compared to the $50,000 we would have spent living in Toronto., Shen said. So why wouldnt we just travel forever?

So in August 2016, the couple set out on their next global adventure. They started in Japan and are currently in Vietnam. They plan to ride out the Canadian winter on the beaches of Malaysia and Thailand before heading home to spend next summer with their friends and family.

To keep their budget in line, the couple is strategic with the cities they visit. If they spend a few months in the United Kingdom, they will spend the next couple of months in a country like Vietnam, which is much less expensive.

Shen admits the couple also loves to travel hack by using credit cards to earn loyalty program points for free flights. We saved $6,000 on our travels just by using credit card deals, she said. The couple also frequently uses Airbnb when traveling through Europe, because they say hotels cost nearly twice as much. And finally, even though Shen and Leung are officially retired from their jobs, the couple still enjoys finding creative ways to make moneyby keeping a blog and writing childrens books.

Silencing the critics

Bryce enjoying Belgian waffles inBelgium.

There are plenty of naysayers who question the legitimacy and even the sanity of what Shen and Leung are doing  including her parents. My parents are very traditional and see buying a house as a better investment, Shen said. They thought we were crazy, and our relationship is still pretty strained.

Other people have expressed their belief that the couple would have been better off buying a house. Leung says they analyzed and compared their costs, and in the end, buying a house just would not have been profitable. We broke down the costs involved with owning a home, including things like property taxes, maintenance and a mortgage, he said. Even if the house made $120,000, all of those costs would eat up up 95% of the profit.

As a couple, they are pretty passionate about what they call the Millennial Revolution, which encourages young workers to become financially independent and to live the life they want, not the life they think they are supposed to want.

Sure, their methods are on the extreme side, but it does appear that Shen and Leung have a finger on the pulse of whats going on with todays millennial workforce. According to a study by LinkedIn, millennials who graduated between 2006-2010 are expected to change jobs four times by the time they reach 32.

The idea of people working at Ford for 25 years is laughable now. We are told that it makes sense to buy a house, but it reduces your mobility, and if a job becomes available across the country you cant take it because youre tied down to a house, Leung said.

The couple during a trip to Scotland.

But Shen and Leung arent the only ones avoiding the housing market. Many people around the US are still recovering from the Great Recession, which caused millions to lose their jobs, and forced students to rack up large amounts of student loan debt just to attend college. Perhaps thats why many millennials are putting off buying a house. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, more adults 18-34 are living with their parents instead of living on their own or with roommates. The research looked at data from 2014 and found that 32% of young adults were still bunking up with mom and dad. This was the first time in 130 years that this living arrangement outranked other options.

Indeed, it looks like the same rules that applied to the baby boom generation do not apply to millennials.

Weve broken all of these rules and its been awesome. I have zero regrets, Shen said.

Whats next?

The future is wide open for Shen and Leung, who plan to travel for as long as possible, staying in cities where the cost of living is low. They do want kids one day, and say that theyll continue to travel even when they have a toddler. If or when they do decide to plant some roots, it will be in a city of their choosing and buying a home wont be a big concern.

Freedom is the best thing. Being able to do what you want without having to listen to a boss  being able to wake up and do what you want. Its the best thing ever, Leung said.

Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance.

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Ankara (AFP) - Turkey on Tuesday suspended 12,800 police officers over alleged links to an Islamic preacher accused of masterminding the failed July coup, and cut broadcasts of a pro-Kurdish television channel under its controversial state of emergency.

Tens of thousands have already been arrested or lost their jobs under the three three-month state of emergency which was declared days after the July 15 coup and was extended on Monday a further 90 days to last well into 2017.

Officers entered IMC TV headquarters and cut broadcasts after it was ordered, along with several other outlets, to be closed last week under the emergency laws over accusations of supporting Kurdish militants.

A total of 12,801 police were suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, including 2,523 police chiefs, the police headquarters said in a statement.

In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers.

A Turkish official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the suspensions, adding that the individuals would continue to be paid two-thirds of their salary "pending further investigation".

The action was taken over suspected links to the movement of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen which Turkey blames for the failed putsch in July which sought to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Gulen, an ally-turned-foe of Erdogan who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Ankara's accusations.

Supporters of the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet (service), insist it is a loose grouping of individuals committed to peace and helping people through education and charities.

- Crackdown widens -

According to Anadolu, 1,350 of the police officers suspended were working at Ankara police headquarters, which came under attack from the air on the night of the coup.

Among those dismissed, a 26-year-old police officer shot himself dead Tuesday in Mersin, a southern city on the Mediterranean coast, Dogan news agency reported.

Story continues

Tens of thousands of people in the judiciary, civil service, military and education sector have been suspended while 32,000 suspects have been placed under arrest on charges of links to the movement.

A total of 70,000 people had been investigated, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said last month, adding that the "process" continued.

From teachers to former generals and admirals, from bakery magnates to journalists, the investigation into the failed putsch has touched almost all aspects of Turkish life.

Also under the state of emergency, Turkish police raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all transmissions while it was live on air.

Before it was cut, staff members in the news studio chanted "free media will not be silenced" while applauding their management.

The channel is not accused of supporting the coup but of broadcasting "terror propaganda" for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It has ridiculed the charges.

Later on Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators including journalists from the channel and other outlets subject to closure orders last week gathered near Taksim Square in Istanbul to protest against the raid.

Despite a heavy police presence, they did not intervene as protesters shouted "IMC TV cannot be shut down" and carried placards saying: "Free media cannot be silenced", AFP correspondents said.

Activists accuse the government of exploiting the emergency laws to launch a crackdown beyond those accused of being coup-plotters or connected to the movement.

More than 100 media outlets have been closed down since July while dozens of reporters have been detained or arrested including prominent journalist and writer Ahmet Altan.

The government's crackdown has also alarmed Turkey's Western allies, including the European Union, which have warned Ankara that it must act within the rule of law.

- 'No matter who' -

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said those found guilty would face punishment "no matter who they were" during a speech to parliament in Ankara.

"(But) we will never allow those who are innocent to face any grievances."

The decision to extend the state of emergency by three months was announced on Monday after a cabinet meeting.

Erdogan previously suggested that it might be necessary for the state of emergency to be kept in place for at least 12 months.

Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin strongly denied the government was acting arbitrarily under the emergency.

"The president previously said something important when the first emergency was introduced: this is introduced for the state and not against the people," he said in an interview with Haber-Turk television.
Despite the parliament's recent rejection of an abortion ban, right-wing party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said, "We will strive to ensure that even difficult pregnancies will result in birth so that the child can be baptised, buried, and have a name" (AFP Photo/Marcus Ericsson) (TT News Agency/AFP/File)

Warsaw (AFP) - The head of Poland's governing rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) said in an interview Tuesday the government may not back his sworn enemy Donald Tusk for a potential new term as EU president.

The men had long been political foes, but PiS boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski also blames the former Polish government headed by Tusk for the plane crash that killed his twin brother in 2010.

"I don't imagine the government will back Donald Tusk for a second term in the European Council," Kaczysnki said in interview with the Polska The Times newspaper.

Although he holds no government office, PiS party leader Kaczynski is widely regarded as the real powerbroker of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo's administration.

"There are investigations underway, in the parliament and from prosecutors, that might result in charges (against Tusk)", Kaczynski added.

"Is this the sort of person who should remain at the head of the European Council? I have major doubts."

Tusk, whose term ends in May 2017, quickly retorted on Twitter with a challenge to a debate.

"So, perhaps a debate Mr Chairman? On Europe, on Poland, on your allegations. I am at your disposal," he wrote.

Already Kaczysnki's biggest political adversary, Tusk became personal enemy number one after the 2010 jet crash in Russia that killed 96 people including his twin brother, then Polish president Lech Kaczynski.

The surviving Kaczynski accuses Tusk's government of being responsible for the crash, at least morally.

When the PiS -- which supports the theory the plane was brought down in an attack -- took power in October 2015 it re-opened the inquiry into the causes of the disaster.

Kaczynski has long said that he believes foul play caused the crash. Polish and Russian investigators have never found any evidence to support the claim.

Szydlo did not contradict Kaczynski's statement on a second term for Tusk when she spoke at a press conference, saying she also "imagined" the government would withhold backing from him.

Tusk took office as the head of the European Council, which groups the 28 EU leaders, in December 2014 for a 30-month term. It can be extended for a total of five years in power.
Rick Osterloh

Google SVP Rick Osterloh, who was hired in April to head up a new hardware group, outlined the vision for the company's gadget ambitions on Tuesday.

And he promised that Google's big hardware effort is not just a passing fancy.

"This is a natural step and were in it for the long run," Osterloh said.

The former Motorola executive made his first public appearance as Google's hardware czar on Tuesday at the company's big launch event, which included the new Pixel smartphone, a virtual reality headset, and a $129 smart home speaker, among other things.

Osterloh's job won't be easy of course, and Google has a lot to prove. The company has experienced several high-profile setbacks in its hardware ambitions over the years, not least of which was its acquisition and subsequent divestiture of the Motorola phone business.

Google CEO Larry Page said at the time that the reason for selling Motorola was because he realized that to succeed in the business "it helps to be all-in when it comes to making mobile devices."

But Osterloh insisted that Google is serious this time.

"Youre going to hear much more from our team in the coming months and years to come," Osterloh promised.

Perhaps seeking to imbue the new hardware effort with a proven formula for success, Osterloh seemed to draw inspiration from one of its main rivals.

"We believe the next big innovation is going to take place at the intersection between hardware and software with AI at the center of it," Osterloh told the crowd.

Many were quick to noe that the line was reminiscent of Apple founder Steve Jobs' famous phrase about designing products "at the intersection of technology and liberal arts."

NOW WATCH: Microsoft just unveiled a $37 Nokia phone





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Joe Biden

At a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Florida on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden berated Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in an impassioned speech about the mental-health issues some veterans face when they return from war.

Every one of those warriors left behind an entire family, a community for us  52,419 wounded, but as a veteran can tell you, there are over 200,000 coming home with unseen wounds, Biden said.

Biden, whose son Beau served in the US armed forces and died of cancer in 2015, said taking care of returning veterans and their families is a "sacred obligation" for America.

He was responding to comments Donald Trump made Monday during a panel at the Retired American Warriors PAC in Herndon, Virginia. At the event, Trump suggested US veterans who deal with mental-health issues aren't as able to cope with the consequences of battle.

"When you talk about the mental health problems  when people come back from war and combat," Trump said, "and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can't handle it."

Trump's comments were interpreted by some as insulting to veterans who endure psychological and emotional trouble post-war. Biden appeared to take issue with the suggestion that some veterans are not as strong.

"Where the hell is he from?," Biden asked rhetorically. "I don't think [Trump] was trying to be mean. He is just so thoroughly, completely uninformed."

In a New York Daily News cover story, the mother of a veteran who died after a battle with PTSD called Trump's comments "absurd and ignorant."

The Trump campaign responded to the criticism, calling news outlets the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton," and saying the Manhattan billionaires words were taken "out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans  an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice."

Story continues

Watch Biden's remarks below:

NOW WATCH: Watch the brutal Hillary Clinton ad that pits Trump against himself





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Cody Pickens/The Marsh

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has described himself as one of the few in Sacramento thats intentionally funny. The veteran public servant, whos worked as a teacher (and was San Franciscos first openly gay teacher in 1975), school board president and city supervisor, also has a nongovernmental honorific to his name: the mother of gay comedy. (Ammiano has been a stand-up comic since 1980, most notably at the Valencia Rose Cabaret.)

In his new solo show at the Marsh, Mincing Words, Ammiano takes a comic look back at his years in government, chronicling squabbles at the Capitol and his own crusades for LGBTQ, immigration and labor rights, among many other progressive causes.
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The long-running feud between Elon Musk's space company and its fierce competitor United Launch Alliance took a bizarre twist this month when a SpaceX employee visited its facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and asked for access to the roof of one of ULA's buildings.

About two weeks earlier, one of SpaceX's rockets blew up on a launchpad while it was awaiting an engine test. As part of the investigation, SpaceX officials had come across something suspicious they wanted to check out, according to three industry officials with knowledge of the episode. SpaceX had still images from video that appeared to show an odd shadow, then a white spot on the roof of a nearby building belonging to ULA, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

The SpaceX representative explained to the ULA officials on site that it was trying to run down all possible leads in what was a cordial, not accusatory, encounter, according to the industry sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The building, which had been used to refurbish rocket motors known as the SMARF, is just more than a mile away from the launchpad and has a clear line of sight to it. A representative from ULA ultimately denied the SpaceX employee access to the roof and instead called Air Force investigators, who inspected the roof and didn't find anything connecting it to the rocket explosion, the officials said.

More for you Lawmakers say SpaceX rocket explosion investigation should not be 'politicized'

The interaction between SpaceX and ULA has not been previously reported. It is the latest odd development in the mystery surrounding the explosion of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sept. 1. The rocket blew up while it was being fueled ahead of an engine test fire, creating a huge fireball that charred the launchpad and rattled buildings miles away.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive, has called the failure "the most difficult and complex" the company has ever had. About a week after the explosion, he pleaded with the public to turn in video or audio recordings of the blast and said that the company has not ruled out sabotage as a factor.

"Particularly trying to understand the quieter bang sound a few seconds before the fireball goes off," he wrote on Twitter. "May come from rocket or something else."

Since then, SpaceX, which is leading the investigation with help from the Air Force, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration, said it is narrowing down on the cause of the explosion, focusing on a breach in a second-stage helium system.

At a conference in Mexico this week, Musk said that finding out what went wrong is the company's "absolute top priority," but he said what caused the explosion is still unknown.

"We've eliminated all of the obvious possibilities for what occurred there," he said. "So what remains are the less probable answers."

He didn't say what those might be.

The Air Force's 45th Space Wing, which is helping SpaceX with the investigation, declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing.

A SpaceX statement said that the "Accident Investigation Team has an obligation to consider all possible causes of the anomaly, and we aren't commenting on any specific potential cause until the investigation is complete."

SpaceX and ULA are heated rivals that are competing over national security contracts that together are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. For nearly a decade, ULA had a monopoly on those contracts as the only launch provider certified by the Air Force.

But in 2014, SpaceX sued the Air Force for the right to compete. Last year, the parties settled and SpaceX was finally granted its certification. As a result, ULA fired its chief executive and hired a new one who vowed to compete with SpaceX.

This week, 10 Republican House members, many friendly to ULA, told NASA that SpaceX should not be leading the investigation and that authority should be turned over to the federal government.

Even though the investigation continues, SpaceX has said it intends to return to flight as soon as November, a timeline that has drawn industry skepticism.
Television comedy thrives on obnoxious characters. From Ralph Kramden to Archie Bunker, to Jimmy and Gretchen from Youre the Worst, weve found bad behavior good for the funny bone for decades.

HBOs new half-hour comedy, Divorce, tests the limits of when behavior becomes too obnoxious to be funny or even tolerable. The series, premiering on Sunday, Oct. 9, stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church as a suburban couple whose marriage goes kaflooey after he discovers shes been having an affair.

The series was created by Sharon Horgan, the creator and co-star of the superb comedy Catastrophe, who at least deserves credit for trying something different in crafting a darkly turgid comedy-drama about a tiresome couple behaving badly.

But theres a very fine line between funny annoying and annoying annoying, and Divorce crosses it. Actually, Parkers well-shod feet cross it most frequently. Granted, she has the bigger challenge with her character, since Frances extramarital affair is the cause of the seemingly irreparable rift in her marriage.

Roberts reaction to the discovery of Frances affair is to change the locks on the house. Eventually, she gets back in, but they stay in separate bedrooms and come up with some silly excuse to tell their kids about why theyve relocated.

They try couples therapy and mediation, but while the scenes work well enough, there are multiple points when you will find yourself wondering why Robert and Frances continue to say things that only exacerbate their problems when more constructive alternatives are obvious.

Of course, couples lash out when one half discovers the other half is fooling around. But Frances doesnt want the family to break up, so why cant she convincingly say anything to Robert to express regret for having cheated and offer credible commitment to trying to repair the damage?

Thats a script problem, but while Church can overcome it, Parker doesnt have the acting chops to do the same. Her whininess reaches such a lofty pitch, youre surprised birds arent tumbling dead from the trees outside the family home.

Even if Parker were more capable, you really dont want to spend much time with either spouse. Church has several funny, convincing scenes, including one in which he tries to share his marital problems with his workers on a construction site. But it isnt enough to make us interested in the outcome of the marital negotiations.

And dont get me started on Frances unhinged friend Diane, overplayed, as usual, by Molly Shannon, who has managed to shoot her husband (Tracy Letts). Unfortunately, the poor sap recovers.

In Steve Falks Youre the Worst, Gretchen (Aya Cash) and Jimmy (Chris Geere) are insufferable but overcompensating for too many past heartbreaks, so we end up liking them. In Difficult People, Julie (Julie Klausner) and Billy (Billy Eichner) are egomaniacs who are so completely unaware of anyone but themselves, they are comically winning.

Frances and Robert are just irritating, and you really need more character complexity and a better actress for irritating to be funny. They deserve each other, but, alas, they dont deserve us.

David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle and co-host of The Do List every Friday morning at 6:22 and 8:22 on KQED FM, 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento. Follow him on Facebook. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV

Divorce: Comedy. 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, on HBO.
KABUL  Afghan officials said Tuesday that their commando forces had reclaimed the main city square in Kunduz from the Taliban and were making gains elsewhere in the vital provincial capital, where the insurgents overran central neighborhoods Monday.

Residents and local police officers reached by telephone said that clashes were continuing, with the insurgents focusing on the police headquarters and the governors compound.

Ahmad Javed Salim, a spokesman for the Afghan army special forces in Kunduz, said a small team of U.S. forces was on the ground near the governors compound to guide air strikes if necessary.

They are not fighting the Taliban; they are here to manage the air support, Salim said. We asked the United States forces for air support, and now we and the U.S. forces are in the planning stage.

But a member of the U.S. military was killed Tuesday in Nangarhar province, about 300 miles south of Kunduz, while on a mission against Islamic State fighters, the Pentagon said.

Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said the service member had been killed by an improvised bomb that exploded during a foot patrol. Cook declined to identify the person or provide the branch of the military in which he or she served, pending notification of family.

He did say that this was a combat situation.

It was the third death of an American soldier in hostile fire in Afghanistan this year.

Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said he could not provide details on the current disposition of enabler and train, advise and assist forces in Kunduz because the operation was still under way.

Cleveland said the U.S. forces had not carried out air strikes directly on the city but had one air-to-ground engagement via a helicopter this morning in the west of the city, adding that the helicopter dropped off Afghan forces to join the fight.

Asadullah Omarkhel, the governor of Kunduz province, said the militarys clearance operations would continue until the city and its surroundings were free of insurgents.

The armed opposition are using peoples homes as shields, and that is why our clearance operations are slow, to make sure civilians are not harmed, he said.

The New York Times contributed to this report.
CAIRO  Aid groups are racing to prepare for what they are predicting will be the largest humanitarian crisis in recent memory, with a million people expected to flee the northern Iraqi metropolis of Mosul once the countrys military and its foreign allies open their offensive to seize the city from Islamic State militants.

The planned operation to take back Iraqs second-biggest city could trigger one of the largest man-made disasters in years, said Bruno Geddo, the U.N. refugee agency representative in Iraq.

The conflict in neighboring Syria has affected more people, leaving 13.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance. But the Mosul offensive is unique in that aid agencies know roughly when it will start and that it will displace a massive number of people at once.

Representatives of the various forces have said the operation will start between mid-October and mid-December, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently specifying Oct. 19.

The U.N. made an emergency appeal this summer for $284 million to deal with the crisis but so far has received less than half. The United States has pledged $130 million, said Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

Were facing this enormous tsunami coming at us, Grande said. Were racing against the clock to be as ready for it as we can be, knowing that we have funding constraints, capacity constraints, and that we still need to get more supplies into the country.

If a million people were displaced for a year, the cost of caring for them would be $1.8 billion, she said.

Islamic State seized control of Mosul in June 2014 during a campaign that soon put the militants in control of a third of Iraq and Syria. Iraqs army has been fighting to recover. Backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and tens of thousands of paramilitary fighters  some supported by Iran  Iraqi troops this year reduced the militant groups territory by a quarter, according to the group IHS Conflict Monitor.

Across Iraq, about 3.3 million are already displaced, including 1.2 million from the area surrounding Mosul. Of the more than 1.2 million who remain in the city, nearly a third are children, and a fifth are single mothers, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, Grande said.

Many are expected to flee on foot, leaving most of their possessions behind.

Already, 66 camps throughout Iraq house nearly 700,000 people displaced by violence.

About 150,000 families have fled the Mosul area since fighting intensified in June. Most forgo the camps to live together in apartments or take refuge in abandoned schools or churches.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti  The towns and villages of Haitis southwestern peninsula battened down as best they could early Tuesday for a nightlong lashing by life-threatening winds, rains and storm surge unleashed by powerful Hurricane Matthew.

The dangerous Category 4 storm was also dropping heavy rains on other parts of Haiti, the hemispheres poorest country where many people live in flimsy shacks in areas prone to flooding. Heavy rain also fell on Jamaica and dangerous rainfall was a threat for the Dominican Republic, which adjoins Haiti.

Matthew had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph late Monday, and forecasters said its slowly advancing center would likely pass near or over Haitis southwestern tip after dawn Tuesday. It would continue on for another landfall expected in the lightly populated eastern end of Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba, said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the center. People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because thats where we have seen loss of life in the past.

Haitian officials spent the day Monday trying to persuade shantytown residents to take advantage of shelters being set up. Some people took up the offers, but many refused, saying they feared their meager possessions might be stolen.

If we lose our things, we are not going to get them back! said Toussaint Laine, an unemployed man who lives with his family in a shack in Tabarre, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, the capital.

Authorities also went door to door in the south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storms threats. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

We are continuing to mobilize teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of Haitis civil protection agency.

Many Haitians live in flimsy houses set up in risky places. In an unregulated sprawl of shacks built on hillsides near the northern edge of the capital, some poor families did what they could to reinforce their tin-and-tarp home and hoped for the best.

I know my house could easily blow away. All I can do is pray and then pray some more, Ronlande Francois said by the tarp-walled shack where she lives with her unemployed husband and three children.
PARIS  Armed robbers forced their way into a private Paris residence where Kim Kardashian West was staying, tied her up and locked her in a bathroom before making off with more than $10 million worth of jewelry, police officials said Monday.

The reality TV star left Paris on Monday morning a few hours after the incident, and flew to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. From there she traveled in a motorcade to her apartment building in downtown Manhattan, where there was a heavy security presence.

Paris police were hunting for five suspected assailants after the robbery, which has raised new concerns about security in the French capital after a string of deadly extremist attacks.

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, suggested possible imprudence from Kardashian in showing her valuable jewels on social networks and a possible lack of security in the private residence.

Clearly when you have a star like Kim Kardashian, who has, I think, more than 48 million followers on Twitter ... I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as in Paris. It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these goods that the attackers targeted, Primevert said.

Primevert said the robbery was the result of people who obviously posed as policemen.

The thieves entered the 19th century luxury residence in Paris chic eighth district after the concierge let them in around 2:30 a.m. local time, according to two police officials. Handcuffed and at gunpoint, the concierge led them to the starlets flat.

The robbers tied up Kardashian and locked her in the bathroom before escaping on bikes, the officials said. A spokeswoman for Kardashian said she was unharmed. She was in Paris attending fashion week shows.

The officials said the five stole a jewelry box containing valuables worth $6.7 million as well as a ring worth $4.5 million.

Kardashians stylist was also in the residence at the time, and alerted police, but Kardashians bodyguard was not present, according to the prosecutors office.

Police said her family was placed under police protection at the George V hotel after the incident. Kardashians husband, Kanye West, abruptly ended his performance at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York on Sunday night. He canceled performances scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday and will resume his tour Friday in Chicago.
KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa  On the edge of South Africas largest wildlife reserve, the line between poacher and park ranger can be uncomfortably thin. Sometimes, Marianne de Kock watches it disappear.

She oversees young South Africans during a yearlong ranger training and, on the final day, she looks graduates in the eye.

Have you ever poached? she asks. Some admit they have. Give me three poachers names, she says. And they do.

As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in Kruger National Park, nearly the size of Israel, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter.

The carcasses of more than 450 poached rhinos have been found in the park between January and the end of August, and elephant poaching is growing. Both are top issues at the conference of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, which ends Wednesday in Johannesburg.

The aim is to use local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. In the two South African provinces where the park is located, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the official unemployment rates were 29 percent and 18 percent early this year.

While well-off tourists with expensive gear bounce through the park on game drives and stay at upscale lodges, their money often doesnt make it to villagers. Poaching becomes an attraction.

At the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of the park, a new government-funded job program is training 119 young men and women living in marginalized areas to become field rangers and guides in wildlife reserves that are often near their homes.

You get the poorest of the poor, de Kock said. Some who apply have never heard of wildlife conservation. They just want a job.

The applicants first must pass a weeklong, military-style selection course that includes not being allowed to sleep more than two hours at a time. By day three, people are dropping out.

Those selected are taught how to track, shoot, navigate and live in the bush, sometimes lying camouflaged in the grass for days at a time.

As new rangers, the graduates will earn about $475 a month. No training is foolproof; there have been cases of Kruger rangers and park staff involved in poaching in the past.

Id die for this, Wisdom Makhubele said of his work in conservation. This is our legacy. We have to look after it.
The United States formally suspended talks with Russia about the protracted Syria conflict on Monday because of the Russian militarys role in the assault on the besieged city of Aleppo.

The U.S. also shelved plans with Russia for the joint military targeting of jihadis in Syria, the State Department said in a statement.

The U.S. step reflected aggravated tensions with Russia on a range of issues and raised new challenges over how to de-escalate and resolve the Syria war, which has killed roughly half a million people since 2011.

The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities, John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said in the statement, referring to the agreement on Syria reached with Russia on Sept. 9.

The decision was announced less than a week after Secretary of State John Kerry threatened to suspend the talks with Russia aimed at reviving the cease-fire agreement. That deal collapsed after a few days, with each side blaming the other, as Syria and its Russian ally intensively bombed rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the northern Syrian city that has become a focus of the war.

Roughly 275,000 civilians are trapped in those areas, including an estimated 100,000 children. Hundreds of people there have been killed in the past week, international aid groups say.

Even though talks have been broken off, the U.S. military will continue to deconflict its air operations with the Russian military, the State Department said.

The formal suspension of the talks left the troubled diplomatic efforts to halt the war in further disarray.

The suspension came as France was pushing the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution that calls on the Syrian government to halt aerial bombardments and let in humanitarian aid.
Budget Bills Unsettled

Various budget proposals put forward by House Republicans and Senate Democrats are designed to close a shortfall in the states general fund and restore operating reserves, but

on the best approach. Democrats, who adjourned on Sunday, are due back at the Roundhouse on Thursday to hash it all out and send something to Gov. Susana Martinez.

Republicans Cut Film Industry Tax Incentives

On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee

$20 million for the next 12 months. That could go a little way toward shoring up the states budget, but industry insiders worry that Hollywood producers could start looking for better deals out of state. They point to Louisiana, which saw a decrease in productions when they made similar cuts.

Death Penalty Bill Advances

After removing the words mentally retarded from a measure to restore the death penalty in New Mexico, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee

Gov. Susana Martinez initiative to a full floor vote, perhaps as early as today. Its unlikely the measure will be heard by Senate Democrats when they get back to Santa Fe to focus on budget issues.

Martinez Job Performance Numbers Drop

The governors proposal to bring back the ultimate punishment may be popular, but her own

, as 44 percent of those surveyed by the Albuquerque Journal say they disapprove of her job performance.

Martinez had a 69 percent approval rating in a Journal Poll conducted in September 2012, nearly halfway through her first term.



Its difficult for governors to maintain popularity for two consecutive terms, said Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., who pointed out that New Mexicos two previous governors, Gary Johnson and Bill Richardson, also saw their approval ratings dip during their second terms.

Crazy Endings

Speaking of former Gov. Gary Johnson, Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight suggested if Johnson were somehow to win the Land of Enchantments five electoral votes in November, the

where neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump get the required 270 votes and send the race to the House of Republicans. New Mexico had not been expected to be a swing state this year, but as the race narrows that status appears to be changing.

The New Mexican Accused of Union-Busting and Intimidation

A cluster of protesters gathered outside the front door of The Santa Fe New Mexican on Monday, Oct. 3, to publicly

with what they say is discrimination, intimidation, harassment and union-busting at the newspaper, reports SFRs Elizabeth Miller.

The group gathered largely in support of Janette Perez, who says she was recently fired from the newspapers production department after voicing complaints when she felt shed become the target of inappropriate comments from another supervisor.

Tree Kills Park Visitor

An unidentified female tourist visiting Bandelier National Park

Monday when she was struck by a falling tree.

Santa Fe Reporter
A federal judge last week ruled that the Susana Martinez administration did not violate the rights of the Pueblo of Pojoaque when it instructed gaming vendors to stop doing business with the tribe's two major casinos, Buffalo Thunder and Cities of Gold.

Judge James Browning's opinion, issued Friday, deals yet another blow to the Pueblo of Pojoaque in its long-running dispute with New Mexico over the state's cut of casino dollars.



The tribe last year crossed into legal limbo when it refused to sign a new compact that would increase the state's share of gaming revenue. Pojoaque governor Joseph Talachy maintains the proposed agreement would take away crucial funds from social services, utilities and tribal payroll.



After Pojoaque's negotiations with the state crumbled, it used a provision in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to negotiate directly with the federal Department of the Interior for a new compact.

New Mexico last year filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department challenging that provision, a case that's awaiting a highly anticipated decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Pojoaque filed suit against the state in 2015 after the state Gaming Control Board sent citations to vendors who continued selling equipment to the tribe, claiming their doing business with non-compacted casinos violated New Mexico law. The tribe argued that action represented "a throw-back to one of the darkest times in the history of the European conquest, when the pueblos were required to pay a tribute tax, whereby the Spanish confiscated the pueblo's maize and other resources."

Judge Browning's ruling reverses a court injunction against the state that prohibited it from sending citations to vendors doing business with Pojoaque.

"The Defendants have taken no direct action towards Pojoaque Pueblo, nor have they asserted any authority on Pojoaque Pueblo's lands. The Defendants have not regulated Pojoaque Pueblo; they have only regulated New Mexico licensees," Browning wrote.



Matthew Fletcher, a Michigan State law professor who runs Turtle Talk, an authoritative blog on indigenous law, says the ruling sends a strong message. "

"It shows New Mexico can't stop Indian gaming, but they can do anything they want to stop it from making it profitable. They can pinch vendors to try to force tribes to negotiate or capitulate," Fletcher says.



Michael Lonergan, a spokesman for Gov. Martinez, said in a statement, "We agree with the District Court's decision to dismiss Pojoaque's claims. As we've said all along, Pojoaque is operating its casinos in violation of federal law and taking advantage of the smaller gaming tribes that have negotiated in good faith and managed their facilities responsibly."

The tribe has already given notice to appeal and plans to seek an emergency order to prevent New Mexico from sending more citations that could hurt the bottom line at Buffalo Thunder and Cities of Gold.



Governor Talachy could be reached for comment.



10/5/16: This story has been updated with comment from Matthew Fletcher and the Martinez administration.

Santa Fe Reporter
New Zealand has become one of the first batch of countries to ratify the new global climate change pact hammered out in Paris last December, heralding the country's return to global carbon markets four years after abandoning them.

Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett announced the ratification this morning ahead of attending next month's annual global climate change summit, to be held in Marrakech, Morocco.

New Zealand effectively walked away from global markets in 2012 when the country decided against adopting carbon emissions reductions targets through to 2020 using the rules adopted under the Kyoto Protocol, the now-defunct agreement that governed emissions reductions by a limited number of developed economies up until 2012.

That prevented major emitters from accessing very low-cost, low-quality international carbon credits that flooded out of the former Soviet bloc and saw carbon prices under New Zealand's emissions trading scheme fall to 50 cents a tonne and lower at times. Since agreeing to the new Paris pact and announcing an end to subsidies for major emitters, NZ Units in the ETS have risen to about $18.80 a tonne.

New Zealand attracted international criticism for failing to adopt new Kyoto-based targets, preferring instead to push for a new global pact, the bones of which emerged at Paris last year and commit the country to cutting its carbon emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

However, the detailed rules of the new pact have yet to be negotiated.

New Zealand had not initially intended to ratify the Paris agreement so quickly, but momentum among major signatories including the United States and China forced the government's hand, since failure to ratify early could have locked the country out of the rule-making negotiations.

Rules on the treatment of a range of important carbon offsets, such as the use of plantation forests as carbon 'sinks', are vital to New Zealand's efforts to meet its 2030 commitments.

"A significant benefit of the government ratifying early is that it guarantees New Zealand a seat at the decision-making table on matters that affect the Paris agreement at the next United Nations climate change meeting in Marrakech in November," said Bennett.

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October 31st Morning Report


The New Zealand dollar rose to its highest level against the British pound in decades as the governing Conservative party said it would focus on controlling immigration, rather than securing tariff-free access to European markets in its negotiations to leave the trading bloc.

The kiwi traded at 56.82 pence at 5pm in Wellington, from 56.52 pence at 8am and 56.10 pence yesterday. UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday said negotiations to secure Britain's exit from the European Union would begin at the end of March. The British finance minister, Philip Hammond, has also scrapped his predecessor George Osborne's target of a surplus by 2020. Britain has been running a deficit since the financial crisis erupted in 2008. The trade-weighted index rose to 77.42 from 77.14 yesterday.

The kiwi's previous post-brexit high against the British pound was 56.37 pence on July 8.

Nick Tvedt, senior corporate FX dealer at NZForex in Auckland, said the kiwi's spike against sterling was "follow through from what we saw at the weekend, these comments from Theresa May that Article 50 would be invoked which dashed suggestions Brexit could be pushed out until as late as 2019 perhaps."

The new Australian Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe, announced his first policy review at 4:30pm Wellington time, maintaining the target cash rate at 1.5 percent. In a slightly more detailed commentary that supplied by his predecessor, Glenn Stevens, Lowe said that "household consumption has been growing at a reasonable pace, but appears to have slowed a little recently."

He added that "turnover in the housing market has declined ... growth in rents is the slowest for some decades."

The kiwi edged up to 95.07 Australian cents from 94.97 cents prior to the announcement, and 94.94 cents yesterday.

Tvedt said the market moves "were small for a post RBA move, there just weren't any flows in the cross. The Aussie is a bit more offered on the announcement, but really Lowe's comments are very specific to Australia."

The kiwi rose to 72.86 US cents from 72.65 yesterday. The local currency will be influenced by the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction due to take place overnight, with some market participants expecting whole milk powder to be flat at best.

The kiwi was little changed against at 4.8600 Chinese yuan from 4.8453 yuan yesterday. It gained against the euro, rising to 65.08 cents from 64.65 cents and was up against the Japanese yen, reaching 74.52 yen from 73.64.

The two-year swap rate rose three basis points to 2 percent, and ten-year swaps rose six basis points to 2.5 percent.

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October 31st Morning Report


Lawyers for Australian businessman John Grill's Wilaci investment unit have argued that A$33.6 million in late payment fees it wants from Pyne Gould Corp subsidiary Torchlight Fund No 1 LP weren't penalty fees in the Court of Appeal this morning.

Last October, Justice Matthew Muir in the High Court ruled the Torchlight unit didn't have to pay the fee on a A$37 million loan from Wilaci, which "so significantly exceeds the loss likely to be caused by the breach that it qualifies as extravagant and therefore unenforceable," saying the A$2.17 million per month fee "was undoubtedly extravagant in relation to any such loss."

Wilaci loaned the funds to Torchlight on Aug. 22, 2012, to help the Pyne Gould entity through what managing director George Kerr described as "a very tight liquidity situation" when Bank of Scotland International was leaving Australasia and calling for repayment from its debtors, including Torchlight's Australian real estate investment, RCL Group. A high-profile dispute with the Financial Markets Authority made it more difficult for Kerr to recapitalise Torchlight.

The loan was due to be repaid by Oct. 26, a deadline Torchlight missed, although Wilaci didn't immediately call on the loan, rather it managed the repayment through seven tranches between October 2013 and May 2014.

Justice Stephen Kos, president of the appeal court, said he had summarised Wilaci's appeal case in five points. Wilaci has relied on the Australian Federal Court's 2015 decision in Paciocco v ANZ Banking Group, where it was found that late fees charged by the bank on credit card payments weren't penalties and therefore were enforceable, in its arguments in the High Court and the appeal court today.

"The first is that in Paciocco, to be a penalty, the sole purpose of the provision must be functional," Justice Kos said. "The test is not simply whether the provision is designed to incentivise payment on the due date. Third, the relevant interests of the innocent party go beyond simply breach damages otherwise payable. That may be particularly in the case where the parties are substantial, sophisticated commercial entities. The trend seems to be to constrain the doctrine rather than to expand it, and it is easier to justify the doctrine in a consumer context rather than a commercial one."

Wilaci is also arguing that to be a penalty, the fee charged "would need to be out of all proportion to the innocent party's legitimate commercial interests," Justice Kos said, which the appellant's Sydney-based lawyer, David Jackson QC, agree with.

Justice Forrest Miller grilled Bruce Stewart QC, one of Pyne Gould's lawyers, on whether Grill's capital had been placed at risk

"Now we're talking about $37 million being at risk, and we're gauging the reasonableness of this fee against that context. Isn't this your essential problem? We're not talking about damages on the assumption that $37 million has been repaid, we're talking about $37 million being at risk," Justice Miller said.

Stewart said that didn't affect whether the payment was a penalty or not, but Justice Miller said it was important to the question of whether the payment was "extravagant or unconscionable."

Justice Kos questioned why Torchlight's Kerr had not taken a loan elsewhere when the fund couldn't pay back the money within the 60 day loan period.

"Sixty-one days into the transaction, he could have taken this to another banker and got a presumably more expensive funding option," Kos said. "Instead he has essentially gained the prospect of being able to set aside the continued financing effect on the basis it's a penalty. He gets the money on that basis - 1.5 percent above market - that's a very cheap rate in the circumstances."

Stephen Hunter, the other lawyer for the respondent, said the capital wasn't necessarily at risk despite the fund not meeting the payment obligations as Torchlight had assets but not cash.

"When we're talking about a fee for late repayment, you have the damages recoverable in law, which in this case is either the cost of getting the money elsewhere or the interest costs Wilaci itself was incurring from Credit Suisse, which was $1.8 million - measure that against the penalty, which is $31 million," Hunter said.

The hearing is set down for two days and is continuing.

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October 31st Morning Report


Summerset Group lifted third-quarter sales 21 percent from a year earlier as the opening of the main building at the retirement village's Wigram site in Christchurch attracted new residents.

Sales of occupation rights rose to 196 in the three months ended Sept. 30 from 162 a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement. Of that, new sales jumped 48 percent to 125, while resales fell 10 percent to 71.

"The past nine months has seen good growth for Summerset and strong demand for our offering," chief executive Julian Cook said. "Wigram village's main building in Christchurch opened in September, contributing to strong third quarter sales."

The retirement village operator and developer lifted first-half earnings 44 percent to $24.7 million as it generated a record 185 sales in the second quarter, and said it expected that momentum to continue with a new village set to open in Auckland's suburb of Ellerslie this month.

Summerset's year-to-date sales were 16 percent higher than a year earlier at 502, of which new sales were up 27 percent to 308 and resales up 2.6 percent to 194. The company said it had only 21 unsold resale stock as at Sept. 30.

The company's shares last traded at $5.30 and have gained 31 percent this year, outpacing the 13 percent increase on the S&P/NZX All Index over the same period. The stock is rated an average 'hold' based on five analyst reports compiled by Reuters, with a median price target of $5.60.

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October 31st Morning Report


Shining light on domestic violence

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the theme for this years observance at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, is Shining a Light on Domestic Violence.



One in three women and one in four men have experienced physical violence by a partner within their lifetime according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.



The goal of domestic violence awareness month is to educate the community and encourage people to think about what domestic violence is and what it looks like, said Patti Busser, 20th Medical Operations Squadron family advocacy outreach manager.



Domestic violence is typically considered aggressive behavior toward a spouse or partner and can include physical, emotional and sexual abuse.



Although women ages 18-24 are the most common victims of domestic violence, everyone is susceptible.



With domestic violence theres no age group, theres no income level, theres no race, gender, or religion thats immune to it, said Busser. We see it in every walk of life so its something we always have to be aware of.



Some signs of domestic abuse include recurring bruises or injuries on the victim or a partner displaying extreme jealousy or controlling behavior.



The thing I always tell people is if your gut is telling you something is wrong, something is wrong, said Busser. You may not necessarily want to pick up the phone and call 911, but you might want to ask a few questions - Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?



Busser said if an individual witnesses an incident they should call 911.



Dont put yourself in danger, said Busser. But doing what you can to assist not only saves lives but could help a victim know they are not alone and there are people who care enough to help.



Base resources are available to all Team Shaw personnel and family members who may be experiencing domestic violence.



A lot of the women and men I talk to dont know there is additional help for them, said Lillian Hadley-Small, 20th MDOS family advocacy domestic abuse victim advocate. As an advocate, Im like their wingman. As their wingman, it doesnt matter whether theyre in or out of uniform, civilian or military.



For local domestic violence counseling, contact Family Advocacy at (803) 895-6201 or the Chaplain Corps at (803) 895-1106. For immediate help, contact the Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate 24/7 Line at (803) 306-7558. The 20th Fighter Wing legal office is also available to provide information to victims about legal options to protect themselves, and can be reached at (803) 895-1560.






BENGALURU: The past few years has witnessed a drastic change in the way of travelling. Nowadays, people especially youngsters dont wait for booking tickets in buses to travel, whereas, they prefer to make travelling more adventurous using motorcycles. The youth today believes that a motorcycle with a tank full of petrol can actually reach their destination in a convenient time. Moreover, bikers are also venturing and exploring more and more destinations using two wheelers.

The Times of India city reveals that a 20 year old engineering student will endure a solo bike trip from Bengaluru to Kanyakumari with a motto of spreading the awareness to preserve wildlife. As a part of the National Wildlife Week, Suhas N will start the journey on October 4 earmarked as the World Animal Day and end it by October 14. Suhas N will also deliver talks about vulture and tiger conservations in schools while en-route and also distribute stickers with wildlife conservation messages imprinted on it to school children.

A student of RNS Institute of Technology, Suhas was gifted with his Benelli TNT 250cc bike five months ago, where, he had already travelled 7,000 km in it. Talking about the journey, Sushas said I will begin my journey on World Animal Day from Bengaluru and travel via Pune, Surat, Mumbai, Mangaluru, Alappuzha to Kanyakumari. He also agreed to share the live updates of this journey on his YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Being an animal lover, Suhas also took part in the Wild life Walk organized at Cubbon Park that marked the start of Wildlife Week. Save Tiger First co-founder N Ashok Hallur commented on this by saying that "It's good to see youngsters understanding the need for such awareness campaigns and dedicating their time and energy for the same."

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BENGALURU: At midnight on 2nd October, some terrorists attacked the camps of 46 Rashtriya Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF). The attack was carried in the Baramulla, a region in northern Kashmir. BSF lost one of his brave soldiers, Nitin Kumar in the counter-attack operation. This attack has happened four days after the Indian Army conducted a surgical strike at the terrorist launch pads across the LoC in the Pakistan region. The Times of India reported about the latest updates on Baramulla terrorist attack.

On 2nd October at 10:30 P.M., few terrorists tried to gain entry into the camp of 46 Rashtriya Rifles through the adjoining BSF camp. Two BSF soldiers noticed and confronted them. During the encounter, terrorists throw grenades in which one BSF soldier was martyred and another one was heavily injured. The martyred soldier Nitin Kumar belongs to the 40th battalion of the BSF whereas constable Pulwinder was injured heavily in the confrontation.

Later, a fierce battle between the army and terrorists was carried out, in which two terrorists were killed and the remaining was able to flee the scene. Baramulla is a place between Srinagar and Uri, where on 18 September, 19 soldiers were martyred in a terrorist attack. Senior officials of BSF immediately rushed to the scene and monitored the situation. Security forces launched a search operation in the whole area to find other infiltrators, but they didnt find any.

Central Home Minister, Rajnath Singh was briefed about the attack by the officials of BSF. Rajnath Singh and Ajit Doval, national security advisor, had a meeting about the attack and later instructed the forces about what action should be taken in the future. All security forces across the Indo-Pak border are on high alert and instructed to neutralize any suspected activity.

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BENGALURU: Finding itself in the mire and the sword of Contempt of Court hanging over its head, Karnataka has decided to release some water of the Cauvery to Tamil Nadu, to escape the wrath of the countrys highest court.

Last week, the Supreme Court had asked Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs of water from October 1 to October 6. The Karnataka government had responded by saying that it was not possible to release more water because of scarcity of drinking water in the state.

The modified resolution takes into account the concerns of farmers in Mysuru and Mandya along the Cauvery basin. It is expected the government might submit before the apex court that its order to release water could not be implemented as the state legislature has mandated it.

Karnataka is also expected to file a petition before the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice UU Lalit for a review of all its earlier orders including the release of water. The state has already opposed the formation of the Cauvery Water Management Board and sought a review of the order.

Irrigation Minister MB Patil said that, some water will be released for farmers in Karnataka and across the border. Playing on the popular sentiment, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the interests of the state will be protected at all cost, while also stressing the need to obey the highest court of the land.

Todays decision might be seen as a token gesture to please the highest court of the land which has said that Tamil Nadu farmers must get more water from the Cauvery river which originates in Karnataka and runs through Tamil Nadu.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Tompkinsville will feel more like Stars Hollow on Wednesday, when Every Thing Goes Book Cafe transforms into a mini Luke's Diner for the anniversary of the first episode of "Gilmore Girls."

Those references will make more sense to anyone who was glued to their cable TV in the early 2000s when the CW show aired: The now-cult classic brought magic to the mundane lives of a high school smarty pants and her unrealistically cool young mom.

Now, the show will see a revival on Netflix, and coffee shops are following suit: About 200 cafes around the country are celebrating the October 5 "Gilmoreversary" by giving away 250 cups of free coffee, courtesy Netflix.

They'll be considered Luke's Diner pop-up shops, after the famous townie hang-out in the show.

Everything Goes -- which is celebrating it's own anniversary soon (see below) -- will participate Wednesday. The coffee shop on 208 Bay St. will give the coffee away from 7 a.m. to noon.

The "Gilmore Girls" reboot hits Netflix with many of the same cast members on November 25 at midnight. It will include four 90-minute episodes.

As for Everything Goes, the quirky neighborhood cafe, book store and performance and art space, it's celebrating its 11th anniversary with a three-day-long festival this week.

A huge line-up of artists is set to celebrate the occasion, which also includes film screenings, refreshments, poetry art and more. Throughout the festival, there will be an art show on exhibition from Florence Barry.

Here's the lineup:

THURSDAY OCT 6

7 p.m. AURORA KIRTAN

7:30 p.m. CHRISTINE DIXON

8 p.m. "ELEKTROMOTIF" with Marguerite Rivas, Doug Principato, Andre Martinez

9 p.m. TBA



FRIDAY OCT 7

7 p.m. DRUMMING CIRCLE for World Peace

7:30 p.m. POETRY DANCE with Melissa West, Anjoli Chadha and Eva Damrosch

8 p.m. JEANNINE OTIS and LARRY MARSHALL Voices In Song

8:30 p.m. NORTH SHORE FOUR

9 p.m. TBA



SATURDAY OCT 8

3 p.m. GERA CLARK Flute Meditation

3:30 p.m. AHMED SHAREEF DREAM BAND

4 p.m. FILM: "PRICE OF THE TICKET" - about JAMES BALDWIN's life, readings and Q&A hosted by JIMMY WRIGHT, local African American scholar with a focus on political activism

6 p.m. BIRTHDAY PARTY

7 p.m. JULIE BENTSEN and JUSTIN DUBITABLY and Their Puppets

7:30 p.m. VINCENT VOK Songs of a Poet

8 p.m. MYSTIC MONTAGE Music and Movies

8:30 p.m. THOMAS FUCALORO and the POETRY PEOPLE

9 p.m. KLEYKO AND PATCHES

9:30 p.m. PHOEBE BLUE and the MAKE BALEAVES
This Accuweather map shows the track of Hurricane Matthew. (Accuweather.com)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti early Tuesday morning, bringing winds of more than 140 miles per hour, drenching rains, and a storm surge that damaged homes and property.

At least one death has been reported so far.

The eye of the violent Category 4 storm was just 35 miles off the western tip of Haiti at 5 a.m., the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, pounding coastal villages with strong gusts.

One man died when a wave crashed through his home in the beach town of Port Salut, Haiti's civil protection service said. He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said.

After passing through Haiti, forecasters expect Matthew to churn toward Cuba, where it is expected to move near the the island's coast Tuesday afternoon. The storm could dump up to 20 inches of rain on parts of Cuba.

The U.S. State Department is warning Americans in Cuba to find immediate shelter, if they haven't already made travel plans.

The hurricane has already caused cruise ships to change course and has prompted the governors of Florida and North Carolina to declare a state of emergency.

Meteorologists have been watching the storm, hoping Matthew would largely miss the East Coast, but the latest extended forecast shows that the hurricane has made a westward turn toward the lower East Coast.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for the entire state. Florida could be under a hurricane or tropical storm watch sometime Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

The National Hurricane Center emphasized that, "it is too soon to specify what, if any, direct impacts Matthew might have on the remainder of the U.S. east coast farther north." Any local activity from the storm, forecasters said, would not be felt until the weekend, or possibly the early part of next week.
Veterans.jpg

Assemblyman Michael Cusick speaks at a press conference at the Staten Island Marine Corps League in Sunnyside to announce tax exemption legislation for veterans. With Cusick are, from left to right, Councilwoman Debi Rose, Councilman Steven Matteo and Sen. Andrew Lanza. (Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Michael Cusick's office)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Here's a recap of what some of Staten Island's lawmakers have been up to recently.

TAX EXEMPTION FOR VETERANS

On Monday, Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) and Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) held a joint press conference at the Staten Island Marine Corps League in Sunnyside with Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) and Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) to announce that legislation, which authorizes the New York City Council to grant a property tax exemption for veteran homeowners in New York City, has been signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Additionally, Matteo announced that he has drafted and will introduce legislation in the City Council which would grant this exemption for the tens of thousands of veteran homeowners in the City of New York.

"This veterans' property tax exemption will provide a modicum of financial relief for those New Yorkers who have sacrificed so much, defending this country and securing our freedoms," Matteo said. "It is the least we can do, and our veterans deserve no less. I am honored to shepherd this bill through the Council, along with my Staten Island colleagues, to ensure that our veterans can take advantage of this benefit."

In 2013, the governor signed legislation to allow school districts across the state to provide the alternative veterans' exemption against school taxes. However, since the City of New York does not have a school board, there was no mechanism to grant this relief to veterans in the five boroughs.

This led Lanza and Cusick to author and pass the law announced Monday.

The legislation reforms this inequity and allows the New York City Council to pass a local law to extend the alternative veterans' tax exemption to school taxes.

"While I believe that our original legislation covered the City of New York, Senator Lanza and I authored this bill to make it crystal clear that the City Council has the authority to offer this exemption" said Cusick.

Lanza said: "This law grants qualified veterans in NYC, upon approval of the City Council an exemption on their school taxes. It is only fitting that we show our commitment to military veterans who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedom. As the proud sponsor of this bill, I think it is important that we demonstrate our unwavering commitment to honor and properly recognize our veterans' service to America."

Rose said: "We all owe our veterans a tremendous debt. And while we can never fully repay it, I hope that what we're doing today will make a difference in their lives. This legislation is necessary because New York's property tax exemptions for veterans do not include school taxes, which leaves our veterans with a bill that can reach $400 dollars for a single family homeowner. ... I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation with Minority Leader Matteo, and we plan to make its passage in the City Council swift so that our city's veterans can begin to enjoy this well-earned exemption."

The South Shore Business Improvement District recently announced its latest additions and services. (Photo courtesy of the South Shore BID)

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

The South Shore Business Improvement District (BID) recently announced its latest additions and services in Annadale, Eltingville and Great Kills.

"I'm proud to be here today and see the progress being made on the South Shore," said Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore), who attended the press conference in Annadale. "This project has been years in the making and today we launch what will ultimately make our community a better place for small business owners and patrons alike."

Over the last few weeks, 58 banners have been hung in the towns, 20 BID branded trash receptacles have been placed, private sanitation services have been enlisted, beatification projects have begun to make areas more appealing, and a comprehensive online business directory has been launched.

"It's taken us a few months to officially get up and running," said Gary Fleming, president of the South Shore BID. "Today, however, we are proud to announce that we are here, and ready to serve the businesses and patrons of our District."

A BID is a vehicle that allows business and property owners within a designated area to work collaboratively to subsidize services they deem necessary, such as sanitation, beautification, security and marketing, to ultimately increase the areas economic vitality.

CHANGES TO EMERGENCY ALERTS

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer recently announced that, after his push, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an order to finally modernize the Wireless Emergency Alert System (WEA).

Following the Chelsea explosion, WEA notifications were sent to millions of New Yorkers to help aid in the search for the suspect while he was on the run. Schumer lamented that the information provided to New Yorkers in the notification was limited because of a 90-character restriction on WEAs that also does not allow for multimedia images or links.

Schumer's announcement means that wireless notifications will now be allowed to include embedded URLs, which will lead directly to photos of suspects. Moreover, the FCC has increased the maximum length of messages from 90 to 360 characters, and it has put into place rules for better geographic targeting of notices, so that the right people will see them.

"The FCC is doing the right thing by quickly improving its wireless emergency notification system to match today's technological capacities," said Schumer. "This new revamp means our Wireless Emergency Alert system will finally be as smart as our phones, as it will be able to deliver multimedia messages that may contain information that can save lives. ..."

WEA is a public safety notification system which delivers geographically-targeted message alerts reporting imminent threats to safety or life.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was a long journey by boat, but all eight pieces -- that once put together will form the four legs of the NY Wheel -- arrived at Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

"The first major components of the Wheel are arriving," said New York Wheel founder and CEO Rich Marin at a press conference at Brooklyn Marine Terminal on Tuesday.

"These pieces came in yesterday and they are being unloaded today. ...One piece weighs 275 tons," he added, noting all work on the wheel is being completed by union crews.

The cost for the legs and installation is roughly $15 million of the $580 million project to construct a 630-foot observation wheel on the St. George waterfront, which is scheduled to open in April 2018. The project will create more than 350 construction jobs, and nearly 500 permanent jobs, said Marin.

"I think we can officially say these are the biggest legs in New York City, which only goes to show the NY Wheel has a leg up on its competition," said Edward Burke, deputy borough president.

"Not too long in the future, whenever there's a film made or a newscast in New York City, that first shot will be of the NY Wheel as it looks over the panorama of New York Harbor. This will join those great icons of New York -- Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center, Empire State Building and Staten Island Ferry," he added.

Said Maria Torres-Springer, president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation: "This is a historic day. ...Once the NY Wheel is up and running on Staten Island it will spur job opportunities, and will be a very unique iconic destination for visitors and residents alike."

She noted that the NY Wheel's use of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal reactivated the facility after many years of it not being used.

"This is the first cargo that has come into this facility in over a decade," she said.

NY WHEEL LEG FACTS



The legs were crafted on the Adriatic Coast of Italy by Walter Tosto.

"There are eight pieces, two pieces per leg -- each about 150 feet long and those eight pieces are painted the color of the Wheel, nautical or marine white," said Marin to the Advance last week.

He said the legs will be stored at Brooklyn Marine Terminal until they are brought to the Wheel site by barge.

"We will have our lay down (storage) area there. They will stay there until they are ready to be barged over to our (Wheel) site," said Marin.

"This lay down area is where our Wheel construction people will do the prepping of all of the components. Everything they use will come in through that terminal. There is a regular dock there. We don't have a regular dock at the Wheel site; we have a jetty," said Marin.

Initially, the legs were estimated to arrive Saturday, but they made it to Brooklyn Marine Terminal on Monday.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- On second thought ...

A man who two months ago rejected prosecutors' plea offer in connection with a mugging in Tompkinsville last year reversed course on Monday.

Tyquan Victor pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree robbery with respect to the Oct. 22 incident.

According to an indictment, Victor, a 16-year-old co-defendant and others who remain at large are accused of forcibly stealing a cell phone and Mexican currency from a victim at about 10:30 p.m. on Victory Boulevard and Corson Avenue.

Victor, then 18, had initially balked at the offer because it was contingent upon him admitting to attempting to forcibly commit the theft while aided by the 16-year-old and others.

However, he reconsidered and agreed to allocate to those facts, said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the case.

In exchange for his plea, Victor will be sentenced Nov. 17 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to 42 months in prison and five years' post-release supervision.

The co-defendant's case is pending in the same court.

Victor has troubles elsewhere.

He has a case pending in Bronx state Supreme Court in which he's accused of possessing dangerous prison contraband and criminal weapon possession, apparently stemming from an incident on Rikers Island earlier this year.
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Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) Former National Palace Museum (NPM) director Feng Ming-chu () said on Tuesday that she has resigned from her position as an adviser to Beijing's Palace Museum in the wake of allegations that she might have violated the nation's revolving door regulations and restrictions on public officials traveling to China.
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An independent review of the ANU School of Music has found it is plagued by a legacy of distrust, emotional stress, years of poor management and behaviour, sliding academic standards and financial pressures.

The six-month consultation project, led by former public service commissioner Andrew Podger, called for a complete overhaul of governance, funding, academic direction, enrolments, staff culture and community engagement.

Former public service commissioner Professor Andrew Podger was commissioned by vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt to provide a way forward for the school. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

Professor Podger called on ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt to publicly acknowledge that the university had failed to manage challenges and had allowed distrust and emotional stress to "fester" over a number of years.

"It is clear to me that the status quo is unacceptable," Professor Podger said. "It is not attracting the numbers of high potential students the national university should and normally does expect.
The former director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, had the idea to select 100 objects from the museum's vast collection and through them tell a history of the world. If for Keats an object served as an excuse for a personal romantic daydream, the curators at the museum have interrogated the selected objects with greater empirical rigour, although arguably the values and prejudices of the British system still prevail.

Keats had seen an engraving of the "Sosibios Vase", a Neo-Attic marble volute krater, which had been signed by the Rome-based Athenian sculptor Sosibios and had belonged to Louis XIV before it entered the collection of the Louvre.

John Keats wrote his Ode on a Grecian Urn almost two centuries ago, where the poet meditates on a painted Grecian vase that unlocks an ancient civilisation that, because of this object, remains for us forever alive and distantly accessible. The concluding verse of the ode is one of the most famous in the English language "'beauty is truth, truth beauty'  that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

Olmec Mask Greenstone, 900-400 BCE, Mexico in A History of the World in 100 Objects, National Museum of Australia Credit:Trustees of the British Museum

The only Australian object from the British Museum is a 20th century Aboriginal pandanus fibre basket, which is included as object No.5, in the section on the beginnings, before civilisation and the cities appeared. It has been selected because similar baskets are depicted in Arnhem Land rock art dating back more than 20,000 years. This is the familiar Stone Age people surviving into the present times mythology with which many of us feel uncomfortable. In this exhibition, the millennium of Byzantine civilisation is represented by a late and fairly mediocre Cretan painted icon, a disappointing choice considering the incredible strength of the museum's collection in this area. Communism, which people may consider had some sort of impact on the history of the world, is marked by a Russian revolutionary ceramic plate from 1919. The selection is idiosyncratic and, in many areas, we are not seeing the great gems in the British Museum collection.

While one does not anticipate that the Elgin Marbles would be made available for loan to Australia, although I did notice them on loan to the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg last year, the show that has come to Australia has a handful of outstanding objects plus many representative examples. Key items from the original 100 objects show, including the Rosetta Stone, the Warren Cup, the Parthenon Centaur and Lapith, Hokusai's The Great Wave and the Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent, have not made it to Australia.

Showstoppers at the museum in Canberra include an Assyrian relief from Nineveh (although not one of the lion hunt); the granite statue of Ramesses II; an exceptionally fine bronze head of Augustus with inlaid glass eyes; an excellent marble bust of Sophocles; the marble Mithras statue; one of the superb Sasanian silver plates  the one of the king hunting; an Early Christian sarcophagus with Jonah and the whale from the 3rd century; the Irish Bell Shrine of St Conall Cael; a selection of six of the Lewis Chessmen (out of the 78 chess pieces in the British Museum) and a gorgeous Benin brass plaque depicting Oba with Europeans.

I have little doubt that a different person would end up with a slightly different list of highlights. What is interesting is not only the selection of objects, but also the construct that the British Museum imposes on the history of the world. About a century ago, the visionary thinker H.G. Wells published his immensely popular The Outline of History: The Whole Story of Man, which sold more than 2 million copies and was translated into many languages. As a child, I found it an inspirational read, a book in which one great mind tried to make sense of the path taken by humankind, starting with a quest for a common purpose through to the development of a free intelligence and the rejection of theories of racial or cultural superiority. The British Museum show and its examination of material objects from stone tools and stone axe heads through to credit cards and solar-powered lights, charts a history of progress through technological change. The other interwoven theme is a sense of awe for the diversity and creativity of "things" that people have made throughout history for all sorts of different purposes. The selected objects appear like snapshots of various artefacts that humans have made over the millennia.
As everyone slowly emerges from winter hibernation, it seems Canberra cupid has come out to play.

Apparently Georgia Love's journey on TV to find her prince charming has given people matchmaking fever, with two separate events planned for October.

Georgia Love has a whole bunch of potential suitors on The Bachelorette Australia - the hunt is on for Canberra bachelors and bachelorettes.

Beef and Barley in Kingston is hosting a Bachelor night on October 27. It's not easy to find eligible single gentlemen in Canberra, but the burger joint claims they have "three handsome gentlemen" who are searching for their own bachelorettes.

Any single ladies can enter the mix to win the ultimate prize in bachelor-land - the rose. And supposedly a date with one of the gents.
A feather duster? A damp newspaper? Wet lettuce?

CBD is still trying to figure out the best way of describing what hit Commonwealth Bank boss Ian Narev in the thoroughly tame banking inquiry on Tuesday.

It was hardly the grilling CBD was promised. We had even brought out the office teppanyaki set. If only Sam "Dasher" Dastyari  Australia's former minister for showbiz, a repayer of Chinese funding and a good hand at bank bashing  wasn't well and truly on the backbench.

Things started off with former director of the Packer family's PBL and Mark Bouris' financial services house Yellow Brick Road director David Coleman nursing Narev through the first batch of questions. Coleman, the Liberal Member for Banks and banks, is the chair of the standing committee.
The price of developable land in Clayton has spiked after a Chinese developer paid a record sum for the Elco Foods headquarters on Centre Road.

Richland Developments and Investment paid $10.98 million for the high-profile 6378 square metres property at 1380-1388 Centre Road.

The Elco headquarters at 1380 Centre Road Clayton has sold for $10.98 million Credit:Nicole Lindsay

The price equates to $1722 a square metre. The deal was negotiated by CBRE agents Mark Wizel, Julian White and Chao Zhang on behalf of Elco Foods.

Elco Foods director Emmanuel Kotis said the result more than doubled the $4.9 million valuation Elco obtained in May, 2015.
When The Age examined Inside AirBnB's data at the start of this year, there were 1,068 apartments in the City of Melbourne used year-round as short-stay accommodation. That number has now risen to 1,347.

"It is much harder to get a conversion (booking) now that there are so many properties on the market," property manger of Beyond a Room, Linton Wood, said. When he first started managing AirBnB properties on behalf of owners, the occupancy rates were up to 95 per cent because of the hype around AirBnB, but competition was much harder now, he added. Attractive properties with quick-responding hosts can maintain occupancy rates around the industry average of 65 per cent, Mr Wood said.

While the average price for a night's accommodation in the CBD has stayed at $189 per night, the flats booked most frequently have dropped their prices to about $167 per night and earn an average of $2,802 per month, according to Inside AirBnB. This site is run by Murray Cox, a New Yorker motivated by a dislike of the impact the booking site had on his own neighbourhood.

"The data was revealing about how many residential properties were being illegally converted into hotels, and relevant to other neighbourhoods in New York City, or other cities around the world, and so I created the site to easily browse, understand or download the data," he told Fairfax Media earlier this year.

In the Port Phillip area there were currently 832 houses or apartments kept empty for AirBnB listings, and similarly with 450 properties in City of Yarra, 422 properties in City of Stonnington, and 140 in the City of Moreland.
The shared office trend has expanded across the country rapidly in recent years and the only impediment to growth is finding appropriate locations

WeWork, the US giant, is the most recent to open in Australia, at 5 Martin Place, owned by DEXUS Property and Cbus Property, in Sydney's city core. It is its 99th worldwide office and next month it opens at 100 Harris Street, Sydney.

New offices at WeWork, which designed the space ealong with local external consultant TomMarkHenry at 5 Martin Place, Sydney.

Plans to increase its footprint nationally are in place, but it will be a measured roll-out, according to its directors.

Henek Lo, general manager for WeWork in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Sydney said Sydney is a great start for the group's presence in Australia.
My column last week focused on the headwinds facing the European banking system and the broader implications of Deutsche Bank's fall from grace, including the decline in its stock price by more than half.

Let's now take a closer look at factors that are specific to the bank, including what may happen, and what probably won't, starting with the scary - but in my view implausible - prospect that Deutsche Bank's woes could become a "Lehman moment".

The phrase is derived from the traumatic effects of the 2008 global financial crisis. A Lehman moment denotes a "sudden stop" to the global economy - that is, a simultaneous collapse in trade, investment and consumption. The proximate cause is the loss of trust within the financial system as institutions disengage, worried about "counterparty" risk in interactions with their peers. The means of transmission within the banking system become clogged, credit dries up, and even the most creditworthy borrowers have difficulty arranging simple trade financing.

These events are the economic equivalent of a heart attack. If it is not treated quickly, many other organs of the body lose their ability to function normally, spreading cascading failures throughout the system.
But it turns out those scrolls were not up for grabs by anybody. Although I came top  did I mention that I came top by quite a distance?  I didn't receive the scrolls. That prize was given to the best Christian, although that particular criterion was not in writing and, perhaps even in those days, someone was self-aware enough to recognise the intellectual poverty of that decision.

The top student would receive a tiny box of scrolls, which had those same New Testament verses written on them in teensy-tiny writing. And when you opened the box, what you saw was the end of the scrolls, so it was teensy-tiny circles facing upwards. There is no commandment to say you shouldn't covet scrolls if they are up for grabs.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson

Regular readers may know I'm Jewish. Or what people who have no idea call "culturally" Jewish. That's meant to make my Jewishness less significant, as if regular sex with a lapsed Catholic should somehow wipe away all my family history; or disconnect me from it. Following all the rules doesn't make you more or less of something, except more or less observant. I'm less observant but I am Jewish. I even say so on my census form despite my fear of surveillance.

Shanah Tovah, by the way. It's Jewish New Year and Shanah Tovah is the regular greeting for this time of year. Yom Kippur is around the corner and  public service announcement  don't wish people a happy Yom Kippur. It's the Jewish Day of Atonement and so we're busy atoning. In my case, extremely busy. At the same time, it's the Islamic New Year.

Now, I bring you news about Jews and Muslims because I know it will make some of you very uncomfortable. Research published by Matteo Vergani, a research fellow at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, using recent data from the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes, showed that nearly two-thirds of Australians felt concern  to varying degrees, from 21 per cent who were very concerned to 15 per cent slightly concerned  about a Muslim marrying into their family. One-third would also have reservations about a Jew marrying into their family, where 5 per cent would be very concerned to 16 per cent slightly concerned.

So much concern. Vergani doesn't have more data on why Australians are so ignorant  except to explain that's exactly what some of you are. Ignorant. His research shows that the more you know about a religion the less likely you are to be a bigot. Accurate knowledge breeds tolerance, as opposed to those who "think" they know what Muslims believe (and Matteo assessed accuracy of knowledge by using a quiz). What he does know about Australians is this: about 40 per cent believe practising Muslims pose a threat to Australian society and 36 per cent believe Muslims should be searched more thoroughly than others in airports and stations.
George Barris, who has died aged 94, was a photojournalist and friend of Marilyn Monroe who took some of the last photographs of the actress just weeks before she was found dead, aged 36, in 1962.

The two of them had met eight years previously in New York City, during filming on location for The Seven Year Itch. The first picture Barris ever took of her was of her rear, as she leaned from the window of a building on 61st Street. The click of the camera shutter took her by surprise; when she turned to identify the photographer, Barris snapped another dozen shots in quick succession. "We both laughed," he later recalled, "and the ice was completely broken." For the next few days he followed her around as part of a freelance assignment, taking more shots and asking questions as he went.

Photographer George Barris attends a book signing for his work "Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words" in 2012. Credit:Getty

Barris' relaxed approach produced some of the most striking imagery of the actress at the height of her fame. It also typified their personal relationship. They shared the same star sign (Gemini) and many of the same interests. Barris, for his part, found her easy to talk to and unusually lacking in artifice, despite her status as a sex symbol and rising actress of Hollywood's golden age.

"She was no phoney or snob," he recalled. "Although she was then 28 years old, she looked and acted like a teenager." By the time she and Barris met again to collaborate on a book about her life and work, she had become a sex symbol with 30 films to her name and had just received a "World Film Favourite" Golden Globe Award at the March 1962 ceremony.
The political adage says you do not call an inquiry unless you already know the outcome. That's why Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull chose a parliamentary grilling of big bank chief executives rather than a royal commission.

The consensus now is that Commonwealth Bank of Australia boss Ian Narev, who has previously copped the blunt of the attacks out of Canberra, got off lightly. Credit:Andrew Meares

The economics committee, which began the first annual review of the big banks on Tuesday, has six Coalition, three Labor and one Greens member. The government MPs came armed with questions that were meant to be tough enough to show that the exercise was not just political theatre.

The Coalition's preferred outcome ranges from no action to window dressing to at worst a one-stop-shop banking tribunal that would handle customer complaints.
Cold Feet

Seven Television revivals can be a risky proposition, particularly if the resuscitation is performed on a fondly remembered, era-defining hit that spawned five seasons, countless awards and many a high-profile career. James Nesbitt stars again in the revival of Cold Feet. Cold Feet began almost 20 years ago in the UK - a lifetime in pop culture years - at the height of Cool Britannia and in the pre-hashtag era of 'water-cooler' TV, when you had to wait til you got to work the next day to talk about the previous night's viewing. Created (and largely written) by screenwriter Mike Bullen, who drew on his own life experiences, the program's "dramedy" style was pioneering for its time, intertwining comedy with serious life issues and using pop music of the day. Focusing on the lives of three couples, the show became a massive hit in the UK, eventually broadcast in more than 34 countries (and remade for American audiences), was the subject of many an analytical think-piece and merchandise, soundtrack albums and even spin-off books.

James Nesbitt. Credit:Jonathan Ford There was Adam (James Nesbitt) and Rachel (Helen Baxendale), a new couple, Adam's friend Pete (John Thompson) and Jenny (Fay Ripley), married with a newborn, and a rocky road ahead of them, and Karen (Hermione Norris) and David (Robert Bathurst), the slightly posher friends, with slightly posher domestic problems of their own. There was adultery, struggles with family life, economic woes and even testicular cancer, and 'the gang' became a loved part of the television landscape. But after five series, Bullen felt it was time to retire his 30-something characters, going out on a bittersweet high with the shocking death of favourite Rachel in an episode that drew almost 10 million viewers (still an extraordinary number today) in 2003, leaving fans across the nation weeping - and, unimaginably today, unable to tweet about it. Bullen had apparently been approached over the years by ITV to revive the gang, but until recently hadn't felt it was the time. Now, 14 years later, with the characters grappling with more middle-aged concerns, he finally felt he had something new to say. And so, 14 years after Rachel's death, Adam, who has been working around the world, is coming home from Singapore to Manchester (looking more stylish than ever), to announce to the gang - all now nudging 50 - and son Matt (Ceallach Spellman), 15 and getting into trouble at boarding school, that he's getting married. To Angela, (Karen David), a woman 18 years his junior. Cue much hand-wringing from Kate and Jenny, convinced he's making a mistake. Back home, Adam finds things have changed; best mate Pete is struggling financially, working two jobs to keep afloat, and David, who married his divorce lawyer Robyn (Lucy Robinson), is unhappy in his marriage.
Former Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane has been recruited by the Commonwealth Bank as an adviser.

The arrangement was confirmed at Tuesday's appearance of CBA chief executive Ian Narev before Parliament's economics committee.

Mr Loughnane, husband of former Tony Abbott chief-of-staff Peta Credlin, stepped down from his role leading the party's headquarters shortly after Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister.

Mr Narev was the first banking executive to face the government's recently established system of annual public hearings, designed to keep the banks in check and take the heat out of Labor's calls for a royal commission into the sector.
The Australian Federal Police has dropped its investigation into the copying of former speaker Peter Slipper's official diary and won't charge controversial former MP Mal Brough or staffer James Ashby.

Police raided the homes of Mr Brough and Mr Ashby, now chief of staff to One Nation senator Pauline Hanson, in November 2015.

Mr Slipper said on Tuesday his lawyers has been informed by AFP assistant commissioner Shane Connelly that the investigation had been closed. In a letter, Mr Connelly said a review found the available evidence was insufficient for any potential prosecution.

A one-time staffer for Mr Slipper, Mr Ashby accused his former boss of sexual harassment, sparking Mr Slipper's sensational resignation as speaker in 2012.
Dodgy private colleges will be banned from receiving taxpayer money and student loans capped under a sweeping redesign of the scandal-plagued vocational loans scheme by the Turnbull government.

The overhaul, to be announced by Education Minister Simon Birmingham on Wednesday after being approved by cabinet on Tuesday, will wipe an estimated $25 billion from federal government debt over the next decade.

The cost of the VET FEE-HELP scheme ballooned from $325 million in 2012 to $2.9 billion in 2015 under relaxed rules introduced by the previous Labor government.

Media outlets, including Fairfax Media, have revealed how unscrupulous operators got rich by saddling vulnerable students with large debts by enrolling them in courses they were unlikely to complete.
The party is over for the cowboys, shonks and shysters who grew drunk on billions of dollars in taxpayer funding through the government's failed vocational education scheme.

The great equaliser of the Gillard government turned bipartisan disaster cost the public at least $2.9 billion in 2015, while students in some of Australia's poorest communities have been saddled with debt they will never repay for courses they never needed.

"It is hard to avoid, whoever put this scheme together did not think it through very much," Federal Court judge Nye Perram said in July.

Justice Perram was generous. This scheme was not thought through at all.
The federal government is caught up in a second data privacy scare, this time involving a massive data-set on more than 96,000 of its public servants amid fears their confidential information might not be secure.

In the second potentially serious Commonwealth data breach to become public in less than a week, the public service's workplace authority has confirmed that it has withdrawn the data gathered in its massive annual employee census from public view.

96,000 public servants may have been affected in the most recent data privacy scare.

It is feared that identification codes for departments and agencies could be used to identify the individual public servants who filled in the census, the largest workplace survey undertaken in Australia, on condition of anonymity.

The data has been taken down from official websites to be washed of any features that could be used to breach the privacy of government officials.
The man accused of murdering Sydney nurse Mary Louise Wallace allegedly drove a young woman he met at a wine bar to an isolated reserve, locked the car doors and raped her with his hands clutched around her throat.

Robert John Adams then allegedly drove the woman to his home, trapped her in his bedroom and violently raped her at least twice as she cried and begged for him to let her go.

Mr Adams, 64, is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court, accused of killing Ms Wallace, 33, more than three decades ago.

The Crown's case is that Mr Adams had a "tendency to strangle women for sexual gratification", and attempted to strangle Ms Wallace in a bid to have sex with her without her consent.
When Ali Jammas came out of his Sydney home to collect his wheelie bins a hooded gunman got out of a Silver Subaru and ran towards him. Mr Jammas was fired at six times and four bullets struck his body. Mahmoud Barakat and supporters leave the NSW Supreme Court during his trial. Credit:Louise Kennerley He crawled into his house on Thorpe Place where he collapsed and later died on July 12, 2013. Police later charged Mahmoud Barakat, 31, with Mr Jammas' murder.

But on Tuesday, Mr Barakat was found not guilty of murder by a jury following a two-week trial in the NSW Supreme Court. At the start of the trial Crown prosecutor Peter McGrath SC told the jury that a silver Subaru WRX was central to the circumstantial case against Mr Barakat. Mr McGrath told the court that Mr Barakat was seen on CCTV footage collecting a Subaru WRX from his friend David Younes' house on Wednesday, July 10  two days before Mr Jammas' murder. He also explained that Mr Barakat was captured on CCTV footage returning the car to Wycombe Road, Yagoona, about half an hour after the murder. "The accused walked to Mr Younes' front gate and put something in the letterbox  he then drove away," Mr McGrath said.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has played down a delay in setting up a delivery authority for Brisbane's crucial $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project.

The opposition on Tuesday attacked Labor for failing to meet the October deadline to set up the body, which was recommended in its as-yet unreleased business case.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad says a Cross River Rail delivery authority will be introduced soon. Credit:Michelle Smith

Deputy LNP leader Deb Frecklington questioned what was behind the delay.

"Considering the minority Palaszczuk government need to pass legislation through Parliament before this authority can be set up, it raises serious doubt over Labor's promise to build Cross River Rail," she said.
Fire crews are battling a fire at a house near a primary school in Brisbane's inner east.

Thick black smoke was pouring high into the air above Balmoral as firefighters fought to bring the blaze under control.

A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said the flames were contained to the garage but had spread to some rubbish outside the two-storey building.

Firefighters were called to the house on Collings Street, near Saint Peter and Paul's Catholic School, about 2.20pm, and brought the fire under control about 2.45pm.
It's been a while since Zoe Ventoura has been a regular face on Australian television.

After shooting to fame in the acclaimed Aussie drama Packed to the Rafters she made a dramatic exit in 2010 in one of the most watched episodes of an Australian drama ever.

Zoe Ventoura and Daniel Macpherson married after meeting on Wild Boys. Credit:Instagram / @danmacpherson

A national day of mourning followed, only rivalled by the death of Patrick from Offspring, when Ventoura's character Mel Rafter was killed in a tragic car accident.

Ventoura went to Los Angeles in a Packed to the Rafters filming break and received a good response, so she elected not to renew her Rafters contract, opting instead to pursue opportunities in the United States.
An observer trained in recognising the signs of driver fatigue should be included on school excursions that include driving trips, a coroner has recommended.

Coroner Wallace Bain made the suggestion in his inquest findings into the 2014 road deaths of Australian teenager Gabriel Conor Runge and teacher Andre Daniel Vogel.

Australian teenager Gabriel Conor Runge was 17 when he was killed in a crash in New Zealand in 2014.

The pair were killed on State Highway 5, near Reporoa, when the van Vogel was driving during a school trip crossed the centre line and collided with a Fonterra milk tanker.

Mr Bain's final report outlined the schedule of tramping and driving Vogel undertook while in New Zealand with one fellow teacher and seven students from the Noosa Pengari Steiner School in Queensland.
A school lockdown has been lifted as police continue to hunt for a gunman on the run south of Brisbane.

They were called to bushland in the Logan suburb of Kingston after a 19-year-old man was shot in the leg.

The lockdown at Kingston State College was lifted just before 12.30pm.

Steven Asanuma, who was visiting his uncle near the site of the shooting, said a man came running out of the bush yelling for help.
On the cusp of what it calls an "inflection point" in the history of computing, Google has unveiled a conga line of new devices in its biggest ever single hardware launch.

The devices  smartphones, a virtual reality headset, a smart speaker, Wi-Fi router and an upgraded version of its Chromecast streaming gadget  were rolled out today at an event in San Francisco for (eventual) worldwide distribution.

The "inflection" was described by Google chief executive Sundar Pichai as the moment at which advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence have filtered out of the labs and into real world applications.

"When I look ahead at where computing is headed, it's clear to me that we're moving from a mobile-first to an AI-first world," Pichai said. "Our goal is build a personal Google for each and every user."
The developer of a clever sticker pack for iOS has been told by Apple that he has to change how the stickers look and act or else the stickers will be pulled from the App Store.

The sticker pack is called Phoneys and as iMessage sticker packs go, the idea is pretty clever: The stickers are designed to look like blue iMessage bubbles. You can place the stickers over texts your friends send. On their device, it will look like they have typed something they have never said.

Phoneys are little blue stickers with phrases that you place in your conversation, and on your contact's phone it will appears as though they typed it.

Adam Howell first had the idea for Phoneys right around the time iMessage launched and he launched the sticker pack last week.

After write-ups in TechCrunch and a mention by popular blogger John Gruber, the $1.49 sticker pack shot to the top of the Top Paid and Top Grossing sticker packs for iMessage.




A Sydney-based gambler linked to an investigation into match fixing in the NRL set up a company with suspended jockey Danny Nikolic as its director, a tribunal has heard.

Jockey Danny Nikolic (centre) outside court before an earlier hearing. Credit:Jesse Marlow

Nikolic's lawyer on Tuesday told the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal there was no evidence of any link between the Caulfield Cup-winning rider and Eddie Hayson, whose name has been linked to a match-fixing probe by NSW police.

But defence counsel Julian Burnside, QC, told the tribunal Mr Hayson had set up a company, EKPH, with Nikolic as a director, despite the rider having never signed any documents about the role.
It's time to dump the lord mayoral limousine and take public transport, get a cab or walk, every candidate in contention to lead Melbourne City Council has said  except incumbent Robert Doyle.

And one of Cr Doyle's key opponents at this month's election has also demanded the state government limit Melbourne's popularly elected lord mayor to two terms.

Robert Doyle beside his lord mayoral limousine. Credit:Clay Lucas

Cr Doyle is running for a third term  if he wins he will have spent 12 years in the job.

Councillor Ken Ong has been the council's planning chair, and is now running for lord mayor. Cr Ong said that, if he won, he would dump the mayoral driver and walk.
One of Victoria's biggest drinking water storages is spilling for the first time in four years after repeated heavy rainfall over a soggy catchment.

Lake Eppalock, on the Campaspe River near Bendigo, started spilling on Monday morning and is likely to do so for at least another week.

Water levels in the man-made lake built in the early 1960s have surged over recent weeks, with the storage receiving more than double its average September inflows last month.

The dam is one of eight managed by Goulburn-Murray Water that are spilling. Others include Lake Nillahcootie, near Mansfield; Laanecoorie Reservoir, west of Bendigo; and Tullaroop Reservoir, near Maryborough.
Colombia's Senate leader Mauricio Lizcano, third from right, and other lawmakers of the government coalition, prepare to read a statement after a meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos, at the presidential palace in Bogota. Credit:AP But for many others, the reason the deal failed was an emotional one. The agreement had always been a tug of war between peace and justice, and in the end, the demand for justice won. "Sometimes, it even seemed like they knew they got off easy," Diana Hurtado, 37, a dog walker in the capital, Bogota, said of the rebels. "When you see photos from Havana, they are laughing." Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos holds his ballot paper in the referendum. Credit:Getty Images In some ways, Santos may have been a victim of the country's success against the rebels. Before running for president, he served as defense minister, pursuing the FARC in every corner of the country and even into Ecuador, where he launched a raid that killed a rebel leader in 2008.

As president, Santos said that those successes, and his continued military campaigns against the FARC, had created the pressure that pushed the rebels to the negotiating table and kept them there. A supporter of the peace deal signed between the Colombian government and rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, wave a flag during a rally in front of Congress, in Bogota on Monday. Credit:AP So why, many Colombians demanded, did the government accept a deal in which most rank-and-file FARC fighters would be able to walk free? Even worse, they argued, was the fact that those who committed war crimes would face reduced sentences under the agreement. Government negotiators repeatedly insisted that the rebels would leave the discussions before accepting harsher terms. The talks dragged on for four years in Havana. Even the transitional justice system in which FARC leaders would either be granted amnesty or given reduced sentences took 18 months to sell to the rebels. A woman reacts after learning about the rejection of a peace deal with the FARC. Credit:Bloomberg

Humberto de la Calle, Santos' chief negotiator, said in an interview before the vote that it would be impossible to negotiate a deal to include prison time for FARC fighters, a demand made by many of the deal's opponents. "It's honestly the worst option - it's not possible," he said. "I don't think the FARC will say, 'OK, no, I'll accept prison.' That's a joke." Colombian voters rejected a peace deal with FARC rebels, apparently saying "no" to an accord in a shocking upset that risks renewing 52 years of war and is likely to rattle investors across Latin America. Credit:Bloomberg Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the rebels had made concessions, too, including dropping longstanding demands for radical land and economic reforms as a condition for peace. They also agreed to a six-month timetable to abandon arms, despite concerns that they might be hunted by paramilitary groups. "In the FARC's view, they gave up a lot of ground," Isacson said.

People wave flags after learning about the rejection of a peace deal with the FARC following a plebiscite in Bogota. Credit:Bloomberg Pollsters struggled to explain why the result had defied the forecasts. Cesar Valderrama, the director of Datexco, who had predicted a double-digit win for the agreement, said the "no" vote had risen in reaction to the celebratory signing ceremony that took place before Colombians went to the polls, an act of political stagecraft that apparently backfired on the government. Many "yes" supporters also believed the referendum was coasting to victory, so they did not feel the need to vote, Valderrama said. "They already felt like winners, and as winners, it wasn't necessary to vote," he said. Even those who backed the "no" campaign said they were stunned by the result.

"I always said that the difference wasn't going to be much, but I never thought we were going to win," said Santiago Valencia Gonzalez, a right-wing Colombian congressman representing the northern Antioquia region, which voted against the agreement. Valencia said the Colombian right would begin pressuring the government to pursue peace on new ter "I think it's a great opportunity for Santos to listen to us," he said in an interview in Medellin. Some who voted for the deal said they liked the idea of peace a lot better than the specifics of the agreement. Jose Barbosa, the owner of a bakery in northern Bogota, recalled fleeing a region of central Colombia because his neighbour's sons were being recruited by rebels and he feared that the same would happen to his children. But Barbosa, 59, said he had been pragmatic at the ballot box. "They got too many concessions, but the rebels aren't going to give up arms if their backs are against the wall," he said.

Voters like Solano felt differently. When she was an infant, armed FARC fighters came to her family's farm in a rural area and demanded food and other provisions. When her family refused, they were driven from their land, and the rebels stole their cattle. Years earlier, her grandfather had also been evicted by the rebels. "My parents can't talk about this without tears," she said. Solano eventually began studying graphic design here in Medellin, a right-wing stronghold of Alvaro Uribe, the influential former president who led the charge against the peace deal and described Santos, his former defense minister, as a "traitor" for granting amnesty to FARC fighters. She now works as a cashier at a sprawling restaurant that overlooks the city from the mountains. Before the referendum, she took a 10-hour bus ride to cast her vote in her home region, Santander, where the FARC had twice evicted her family.

After voting on Sunday morning, the entire family, more than 50 people, gathered at her grandfather's home in the city of Bucaramanga. As they discussed how they had voted, only one of them, Solano's brother, said he had cast a ballot in favour of the peace deal. After the gathering broke up, Solano took the long bus ride back to Medellin. She learned the outcome when her mother called her in the morning. "I don't think it's a reason to make you happy," she said. "I think it's a reason to think about things." She said she was not sure what would happen next between the government and the rebels. Loading
Bogota: Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas vowed to maintain a ceasefire and keep working together, despite having been defeated by voters who rejected the hard-negotiated deal to end their 52-year war.

As the shock referendum result plunged the South American nation into uncertainty, any hope for a renegotiated peace accord now seems to depend on whether the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could accept tougher sanctions against them.

A supporter of the peace deal waves a flag during a rally in front of Congress, in Bogota, Colombia, on Monday. Credit:AP

"No" voters, who narrowly won Sunday's plebiscite, want assurances the rebels will hand in cash from drugs, spend time in jail, and earn their political future at the ballot box rather than get guaranteed, unelected seats in Congress.

Both President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, the top FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, put a brave face on the referendum setback after four years of negotiations in Havana between their teams.
Bangkok: The fate of nine young Australians who stripped to their Malaysian flag-themed swimwear at the Formula One racing track on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur will be decided amid heightened political tensions in the deeply conservative nation.

Scandal-hit Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is moving to shore up support in the country's Malay-Muslim heartland as a nationwide campaign backed by almost 100 non-government-organisations gets under way to try to force him from office.

Mr Najib has been willing in the past to stoke nationalist and Islamist sentiments for the sake of his own political career and that of his long-ruling United Malays National Organisation.

He could see some political gain in his government taking a hard line against Australians who were obviously having fun at the end of the grand prix without thinking through the consequence of their actions in the deeply conservative nation.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association will be hosting for the second year in a row an all-encompassing Job fair on October 29th, 2016 at the University of St. Maarten from 10am to 4pm. With this initiative, the Association attempts to bring together job-seekers and employers to find a suitable match.

Job Seekers will have the opportunity to meet with businesses from various sections of the current industries on St. Maarten. Mainly representatives from Hospitality establishments large and small, also job placement agencies, will be present to offer their vacancies and to give general information regarding the types of jobs that are available in these industries.

Job-seekers are encouraged to register online on the SHTA website. Registration only takes a few minutes and the possibility of uploading a resume will be available online as well. Participating businesses can pre-select candidates based on their resumes for interviews that can be conducted prior to or on the day of the fair. As part of the preparation and to encourage job-seekers to be properly honed for the application and interview process, The SHTA Job Fair will also include educational sessions on interview skills, resume writing, and other critical skills to secure employment, which will be available for each job seeker at no cost to them.

We encourage each participant to attend one of the educational sessions. The useful information being provided by the session facilitators will benefit job-seekers in their application procedure, thus increasing their chance of success. The information being provided in the educational sessions has been compiled from the business communitys observations regarding those who seek employment. This means that current requirements and observation points will be conveyed to the attendees. In addition, the educational session will include information on how to present yourself for an interview. Tips and techniques will also be provided on how best to communicate and sell yourself as a candidate for the job that you are seeking, said SHTA. Educational institutions such as the University of St. Maarten will be on hand to provide information regarding upgrading of academic and practical skills.

Businesses who would like to participate are encouraged to register for a space at the fair. Space has become quite limited. Any interested establishments are requested to register on the associations website. Registration fee is set for $100 for SHTA members and $200 for not-SHTA members.

Some of the companies and/organizations that have already registered for the event are as follows: Department of Labor, Sonesta Group of Companies, Divi Resort, Oyster Bay Beach Resort, Simpson Bay Resort and Windward roads.

Registration for both job seekers and businesses can be done via the website www.shta.com/Events. You will be directed to the Job fair where you can select the appropriate form. The SHTA is dedicated to bringing quality to all aspects of life on St. Maarten by promoting sustainable economic development for its members in cooperation with the social partners and the creation of a fair marketplace. For more information please contact our offices at or visit our website at www.shta.com
China Keli Announces Q1 2017 Results With Quarterly Year-Over-Year Revenue Up by 6.7% With Loss Recorded

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA  (Marketwired)  10/03/16  China Keli Electric Co., Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ZKL) (Keli or the Company) today announced the financial and operating results for the three months ended July 31, 2016.

For the three months ended July 31, 2016 (Q1 2017), total revenue was $3,606,267, an increase of 6.7% over Q1 2016 of $3,381,208, caused by the increase in revenue from products sales. Gross profit in Q1 2017 was $689,201 representing 19.1% of revenue which decreased 48.7% over Q1 2016 of $1,344,840, which was 39.8% of revenue. Operating expenses were $1,233,216 in Q1 2017, a decrease from $1,320,744 in Q1 2016, caused by the decrease of sales related commission expenses. The decreased financing costs of $299,298 in Q1 2017 ($332,333 in Q1 2016) further decreased the total expenses. Although the total expenses decreased, the Company recorded a net loss of $696,414 in Q1 2017, compared with a net loss of $246,748 in Q1 2016 because of the significant decrease of gross profit. Basic and diluted loss per share (EPS) were -$0.008 in Q1 2017, compared with -$0.003 in Q1 2016. EBITDA was negative $110,566 in Q1 2017, a decrease from $323,794 in Q1 2016. After accounting for an unrealized foreign exchange translation loss of $301,047, the Company reported total comprehensive deficit of $997,461 in Q1 2017, compared with total comprehensive income of $348,633 in Q1 2016. The Companys unrealized foreign exchange income on translation of the Companys functional currency to its reporting currency is subject to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the RMB and the Canadian dollar in each reporting period.

As of July 31, 2016, the Company had total cash and cash equivalents of $603,090 compared with $462,107 as of April 30, 2016. Accounts receivable was $16,980,333 as at July 31, 2016, an increase of 13.5% compared with $14,962,003 as at April 30, 2016, which was attributed to the slow cash collection from the customers during the period. The Companys working capital deficit increased to negative $9,378,788 as at July 31, 2016 from negative $8,439,892 as at April 30, 2016.

The functional currency of the Company and its subsidiaries is Chinese Yuan (also known as Renminbi or RMB). The financial and operating results of the relevant periods have been translated into Canadian dollars. Depending on the magnitude of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, the impact on the financial and operating results may or may not be material.

Full financial results of the Company for the three months ended July 31, 2016 are available on SEDAR at .

About China Keli Electric Company Ltd.

China Keli Electric Company Ltd. specializes in the manufacturing and installation of electrical components and equipment, including pre-assembled mini substations, electrical controllers, pressurized and vacuumed switchgears and circuit breakers.

For further company information please access our website:

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about Kelis business are more fully discussed in the Companys disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada. All amounts are stated in Canadian dollars unless noted otherwise.

Contacts:

China Keli Electric Company Ltd.

Philip Lo

Chief Financial Officer

(86) 13632 173732
Appcast Launches Premium Publishers Solution to Help Employers Optimize Job Ad Performance

CHICAGO, IL  (Marketwired)  10/04/16   , the first programmatic, pay-per-applicant job advertising exchange, today announced the launch of Appcast Premium Publishers, its latest solution to help employers put their job ads in front of the right candidate, on the right site and at the right time. With this innovation, the company facilitates how businesses find the best talent, with full control over where their job ads are posted.

Recruiting today requires a great deal of agility, and the ability to focus on the sources that attract the most qualified talent can make a significant improvement in a companys hiring process, said Chris Forman, founder and CEO of Appcast. With Appcast Premium Publishers, recruiting teams continue to benefit from our tried-and-true programmatic engine to extend their reach into thousands of job sites, while sponsoring key jobs on the publishers of their choice. The result is a fully customizable approach for advertising jobs, enabling employers to continually fine-tune their recruiting strategies.

Typical online recruitment advertising requires a great deal of time, effort and investment, ensuring job ads are placed on the sites most likely to attract top talent. Since its founding in 2014, Appcast has revolutionized this process, leveraging data and automation software to help employers distribute and optimize their job postings across thousands of job sites and publishers to improve recruitment outcomes. Delivering the first pay-per-applicant job ad exchange, Appcast enables employers to advertise their open jobs risk-free and pay only when a jobseeker applies.

Recognizing the opportunity to provide users with greater flexibility to optimize their spend, Appcast developed its Premium Publishers option. This new feature allows users to target their Appcast budget to promote jobs on the top-tier sites they trust most. As a result, recruiters benefit from greater control, choosing where jobs get sponsored and optimized.

Additional features of the solution include:

: Users can choose to optimize jobs on the sources they want, or rely on Appcasts algorithms to determine the best-performing publishers for their job ads.

: Premium Publishers enables users to select how they want to spread their Appcast budget across the sources they trust most.

: Appcast provides detailed reports by job and publisher through the Appcast dashboard and in users own applicant tracking system (ATS), delivering clear insight into source performance.

: Premium Publishers requires no additional setup or configuration, accessible through the Appcast dashboard, while providing a single invoice and no long-term contracts.

The company will also demonstrate this new solution at the , held at McCormick Place in Chicago October 4  7, 2016. Attendees can learn more about Appcast Premium Publishers at Booth No. 1048.

Appcast is using data and programmatic targeting to revolutionize the global recruitment advertising industry. From its namesake pay-per-applicant job ad exchange to its market-leading recruitment media optimization platform, Appcast is changing how more than 500 leading employers, ad agencies, and job boards attract high quality job seekers. To learn more, visit: .
HITEC Brings Most Efficient UPS Power Solution to DCD Converged Canada

Posted by Publisher Networking

ROSENBERG, TX  (Marketwired)  10/04/16  , the inventor of diesel rotary UPS, today announced the company will be exhibiting its at DatacenterDynamics Converged , October 12 (Booth #23). The PowerPRO is the industrys most reliable and efficient continuous power system and preferred choice of more mission-critical facilities and data centers around the world.

Experience most efficient #UPS #powersolution for #cloud   Booth #23 @dcdconverged #DCDCanada #datacenterpower

DCD Canada and Cloud Symposium is co-hosted by the Toronto Cloud Business Coalitions (TCBC) Cloud Symposium and brings together business and technology executives responsible for the IT, data center and cloud services infrastructure required by the business. The PowerPRO UPS solution is the ideal fit for the events attendees who seek an uninterruptible power supply solution, offering lowest total-cost-of-ownership (TCO).

All data centers need to preserve as much floor space as possible for revenue-generating IT equipment  and cloud providers are no different, said Ranjan Misra, President of HITEC Power Protection Inc. HITEC offers the smallest DRUPS system footprint with the maximum return on investment in the shortest time frame. We are eager to share our insights and experience with attendees at this years Cloud Symposium event.

To learn how your company can benefit from HITECs PowerPRO series, visit HITEC at DatacenterDynamics Converged Canada Booth #23 or schedule an appointment for a free TCO and power analysis by contacting (800) 794-9398 or emailing: .

HITEC Power Protection is the world leader in continuous power solutions with over 1600 systems installed globally. With U.S. offices in Texas, California, and Virginia, HITEC delivers UPS solutions that are designed to fit local market requirements and the business-critical needs of its customers. HITEC guarantees customer service support through an integrated network of highly qualified service engineers and backed by its Regional Support Centers and Global Helpdesk. For more information, please visit.

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Jackie Abramian

BridgeView Marketing (for HITEC Power Protection)

603-570-7533
harmon.ies Collage Wins 2016 CTIA Emerging Technology Award

BOSTON, MA  (Marketwired)  10/04/16  harmon.ie, a leading provider of user experience products for the workplace, today announced that its topic-centric app, Collage, has been chosen as a top enterprise solution at the annual CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) awards. Collage was recognized as the second place winner out of five finalists in the Mobile Enterprise Innovation category during an awards ceremony at the CTIA Super Mobility 2016 event on September 8th in Las Vegas. Collage uses machine learning technology to help workers overcome information overload, enabling them to concentrate on their most important daily activities and this award distinguishes Collage as a cutting-edge mobile product and service.

It is an honor for Collage to be recognized by the CTIA awards committee for its innovative technology, said Yaacov Cohen, co-founder and CEO of harmon.ie. Todays digital workers deal with a daily deluge of information making it difficult to focus on what matters most. Collage is a vital tool to help workers stay productive and sort through the information overload. Collages unique approach of integrating directly into workers email comfort zone is exactly the kind of solution the CTIA E-Tech awards were created to highlight and were thrilled to be among the winners.

Collage integrates directly into the Outlook email client and uses a topic driven interface to identify related notifications from a range of business applications, document management systems and social tools like Office 365, Salesforce and more. This enables workers to see the big picture and then take action from within the application, without losing focus or context by being forced to toggle between different applications. Collage uses artificial intelligence and incorporates Microsoft Graph recommendations into its patent-pending machine learning technology to allow information workers to easily focus on their top priorities directly from their email comfort zone.

The E-Tech awards are announced at CTIAs flagship Super Mobility 2016 event, which highlights everything wireless in one place. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the awards program that recognizes the top, cutting-edge mobile products and services transforming networks, businesses and more. Over 70 finalists were chosen across 15 different award categories. CTIA is an association that represents the U.S. wireless communications industry, with a membership consisting of wireless carriers, suppliers and manufacturers.

Find a full list of winners .

harmon.ie provides a suite of user experience products that empower todays distributed workforce to get work done on their own terms. We put people first, insulating them from technology complexity, enabling information workers to complete many workplace tasks directly from the friendly confines of their email client. For Microsoft customers, harmon.ie increases the adoption and return on investments for SharePoint Online and on-premises by bringing it directly into Outlook. Thousands of enterprise customers count on harmon.ie to provide seamless information governance, collaboration, knowledge retention and email and records management using SharePoint, Office 365 and other Microsoft collaboration tools. harmon.ie is a Microsoft Partner of the Year Finalist and an IBM global partner.

Follow harmon.ie on and

CTIA Super Mobility 2016 (CTIASuperMobility2016.com) is the largest mobile event in America and the only B2B marketplace dedicated to demonstrating products and strategies for smart cities, mobile-first enterprises and connected consumers around the globe. For three days, more than 30,000 technology and business professionals, 1,000 exhibiting companies and dozens of collocated partner organizations gather to discover next-generation technologies, people and ideas transforming everything wireless. Powered by CTIA for 30+ years, this award-winning trade show advances the associations commitment to foster wireless innovation and enable connected life. CTIA Super Mobility 2016 takes place September 7-9, 2016 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA.

Nick Sneath

Scratch Marketing + Media

617-714-3521
AVST Now Part of Arrow Systems Integration Monitoring Solution

FOOTHILL RANCH, CA  (Marketwired)  10/04/16  (AVST) has announced its CX-E platform is now supported in Arrows Prism OneView remote monitoring and management solution. Prism OneView from Arrow Systems Integration brings customers a single pane of glass to monitor and manage the performance of all of their technologies  from Avaya, Microsoft, Cisco, and now AVST.

Arrow, an AVST Elite Partner, is committed to providing customers with the very best in cutting-edge, world-class communications technology solutions. Prism OneView Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) features built-in discovery for more efficient asset management  measurably increasing uptime. With Prism OneView, customers gain a quick and easy view into all elements of their unified communications (UC) environment  including mobile, desktop and data center infrastructure. Its also customizable to meet the needs and the goals of the individual customer.

AVST customers can now leverage Arrows Prism OneView to proactively monitor the health of their UC network, reduce outages and accelerate resolutions, making their CX-E platform more efficient. We are excited to announce to our enterprise customers a technology to help optimize their UC operations, said Denny Michael, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at AVST.

AVSTs UC solution, CX-E, is the industrys most interoperable UC platform. CX-E applications include secure voice messaging, unified messaging, automated attendant, IVR, mobile client, speech-enabled personal assistant, call center, fax, and notification.

For more information about AVSTs products, visit the companys website at .

With more than 30 years of continuous innovation, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) is a trusted developer of software-based enterprise-class Unified Communications (UC) solutions.

Our mission is to design, deliver and support communications solutions that transform the productivity of individual workers, teams and enterprises while leveraging the value of their existing and evolving IT infrastructure.

Thousands of businesses worldwide rely on AVST to meet their mission-critical communications requirements, align their business with key trends and, with the world-class interoperability and flexibility of AVSTs UC solutions, provide a bridge to their digital future.

Headquartered in Orange County, California, AVST maintains facilities in Seattle, Washington, Victoria B.C., Canada and the United Kingdom and has remote sales offices throughout the United States. AVSTs UC solutions are sold and supported worldwide by an extensive network of resellers and OEM partners. To learn more about AVST, our products and partners, please visit or you can follow us at , or .

Stephanie Olsen

Lages & Associates

(949) 453-8080
Datacloud Europe 2017 launches its new agenda setting programme for data centre and cloud

Posted by Publisher Networking

London/Monaco 4 October 2016  BroadGroup, is delighted to announce the launch of Datacloud Europe (http://www.datacloudcongress.com/) the premier networking and deal making event for EMEA data centre and cloud leaders, their customers and investors which will take place in Monaco June 6-8th 2017.

Datacloud Europe 2017 presents its most extensive programme to date. 180 expert speakers will be addressing new agenda setting enterprise hot topics:

Blockchain

Open source

Data center automation

Software defined everything

Data analytics  and emergence of fast data

Internet of Everything

Artificial Intelligence  Virtual Reality

Webscale impact

Modular use of edge computing within the IoE environment

Finance and investment

The conference will also play host to the second Invest in Data Centre Africa Summit which will run in parallel to the main event in Monaco. Last years inaugural event generated huge interest from major players and investors alike. This year it is set to be even bigger.

In addition, the Datacloud Awards, now in its 10th year, will take place on the evening of 6th June before the conference with a gala awards ceremony and dinner hosted by a special celebrity guest. The Awards will recognize excellence and innovation across the industry.

Datacloud has established itself as Europes only must-attend data center and cloud business forum and expects more then 1800+ attendees at the 13th annual event. More than 100 international businesses will showcase on the exhibition floor and attendees can participate in interactive sessions, cutting edge discussion, live demonstrations and unparalleled networking.

With an unparalleled focus on Enterprise end-users looking to deploy IT assets in Europe and internationally, the event is designed to create new business opportunities for the high number of C-level attendees who attend Monaco every year.
Talent Plus, Inc. to Share Leading Assessments at HR Tech This Week

Posted by Publisher Hardware

LINCOLN, NE  (Marketwired)  10/04/16  is offering a sneak peek at its online assessments to HR Tech attendees (booth #1357) during the HR Tech Conference 2016, Chicago, Ill., Tuesday, October 4, through Friday, October 7, with instant feedback and opportunities to win.

As the Leading Talent Assessment Partner in the industry, Talent Plus uses its own science to select and develop its own associates. Both clients and Talent Plus have found these highly validated assessment and interview tools to be the foundation for . Moreover, the content of Talent Plus assessment tools is the precipice for development. Understanding your own talents and ensuring managers understand the talent of team members is at the heart of an employees journey  from a current role to a future one.

Were thrilled to showcase not only at HR Tech this year, but to highlight our associates. Our client partners are aware of the service aptitude and partnership they experience with our associates each day and this year we are showcasing our people alongside our science. Forward thinking HR leaders are looking for ways to select the best and then to develop and retain those highly talented employees, offered Kimberly Rath, Talent Plus President and Chairman. Its an opportunity for our team to share as well as learn from peers, connect with recognized industry experts and thought leaders as a leading HR technology solution provider. Its the largest event to showcase how organizations are utilizing innovative technology solutions to solve business challenges.

HR Tech Conference Co-Chair, David Shadovitz, commented, Technology is transforming every aspect of HR, from talent and performance management to benefits and compensation  enabling HR leaders to address in a much more meaningful way their organizations most important priorities.

Talent Plus, Inc. is the Leading Talent Assessment Partner in the industry and an internationally recognized management consulting firm with over 400 clients in 20 countries delivering interviews in more than 20 languages. Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Talent Plus also has an office in Singapore. For more information, please visit .

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Cydney Koukol

402.489.2000
Street car expansion spur plans.

More support than we expected

Ian Budd and Newport City Commissioner Beth Fennell are spearheading efforts to raise local awareness and funds.

We can learn from the past

The Cincinnati Streetcar launched Sept. 9 as an unqualified hit.The line carried almost 200,000 people in its first three weeks. Extra vehicles were pressed into service for Oktoberfest weekend, resulting in more than 29,000 rides. The following weekend saw more than 18,000 rides for the Cincinnati Bengals first home game and for MidPoint Music Festival. Service was extended until 2 a.m. after last weeks Thursday night Bengals game to accommodate fans.Real progress in Cincinnati is finally coming to fruition with the streetcars debut, says Ian Budd, who runs ICB Audio and Video in Cincinnati and has lived in Newport since 1979. And hed like to see it expand.Most sensible people see that it will be more successful if its expanded up the hill to the UC area," he says. "A longer route that also includes Northern Kentucky will serve more people, give the line more scale and make it more attractive to potential users.Budd chairs the Northern Kentucky Streetcar Committee . He and other supporters are convinced that a spur from Cincinnatis streetcar line across to Newport and eventually to Covington will benefit both sides of the river.Supporters champion connecting the regions two largest employment centers, saying a streetcar line up the hill would trigger millions of dollars of new mixed-use development geared to downtown workers, UC students and staff and uptown hospital employees.And thats a trend thats playing out nationally.Launched in May, the Kansas City Streetcar line is so overcrowded that officials plan two separate route expansions and will buy two more streetcars to add to the existing four. That line is most closely compared to Cincinnatis because theyre similarly sized Midwestern cities using the exact same streetcar vehicles  though Kansas Citys line is permanently free to ride because operations are funded by a local sales tax.Meanwhile, the federal government recently announced a $500,000 grant to the Atlanta Streetcar to study expanding its single downtown line with 16 miles of new routes, and it awarded $1 billion to extend San Diegos light rail system by 11 miles.Every modern streetcar or light rail system launched in the U.S. has expanded or is seriously talking about expanding, says John Schneider, Cincinnatis longtime rail transit advocate. Some are more successful than others, but what they all have in common is that the starter lines turned an abstract idea into a tangible product that removed all the initial doubts.A consensus is forming in Newport, at least in certain circles, about returning streetcar service to Northern Kentucky and attracting the kind of economic development action that currently surrounds the Cincinnati Streetcar.The Northern Kentucky Streetcar Committee envisions that a connection from Cincinnatis streetcar line at Second/Third and Main streets in front of Great American Ball Park would cross the Taylor-Southgate Bridge to West Newport. That area near Newport on the Levee and the Newport Aquarium is poised for explosive growth when the AA Highway (State Rt. 9) extension opens near the proposed site for Corporexs Ovation residential/office/retail complex.Budd and Newport City Commissioner Beth Fennell visited Washington, D.C. in February to make contacts, get feedback on the streetcar idea and learn about next steps. They met with officials from the Department of Transportation, the Federal Transportation Administration and the offices of Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie.The Department of Transportation suggested that the group apply for a DOT grant to do a proper feasibility study on the streetcar extension, which the committee did. Budd says hell find out soon, perhaps by the end of October, if the effort results in a $300,000 grant.We might have to go back again, but we wont be discouraged if we dont receive the grant on our first try, he says. Were in a much better position now that the Cincinnati Streetcar is running and were asking to add on to a successful existing line instead of starting from scratch.The federal government will fund these types of transit projects only if local sources contribute as well, Budd says, and so he and his committee have been meeting with elected officials, corporate leaders, neighborhood groups and other stakeholders to explain their concept and seek support.Budd says hes been pleased that so far, unlike the years of political bickering that threatened to derail the Cincinnati Streetcar project, the Northern Kentucky streetcar concept has been warmly received.Weve had no negative responses at all, no anti-growth rhetoric like in Cincinnati, he says. Im not sure why, but we seem to work together well in Newport and Campbell County. Youre never going to get 100 percent buy-in on anything, but weve found more support than we expected.On the official planning front, OKI has included phase 1 of the Northern Kentucky Streetcar on the recommended NKY projects list in its 2040 Regional Transportation Plan . The areas transit agency, TANK, is waiting to see if the broader community embraces the concept.TANK is aware of public support for the Northern Kentucky Streetcar because weve met with them and explained our project, Budd says. Now we need to do a full feasibility study to prove its validity.TANK hasnt included a streetcar or any type of rail in its long-range planning goals , General Manager Andrew Aiello says, but hell continue to listen to this discussion and offer technical expertise as needed.Ultimately, our community and our elected officials will decide if this or other rail projects become a reality in NKY, Aiello says. Regardless, its great to hear yet another discussion about how public transit can encourage economic development and improve access to jobs.Economic development and growth are at the heart of all public transportation projects, especially streetcars, Schneider says. He points out that the first page of his first report on reintroducing rail transit to Cincinnati 15-plus years ago specified that the main goal was repopulating the regions urban core.Streetcars and light rail arent about tourism or nostalgia or giving Cincinnati a cool factor, Schneider says. Theyre part of the development puzzle along with housing, offices, parks, attractions. They help make living downtown more affordable by allowing you to maybe live without a car, and then instead of spending $10,000 a year on gas, maintenance and parking you spend it on other things in your neighborhood and in your city.Transit-oriented development has been building communities across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky for generations, especially during streetcars heyday in the first half of the 20Century. The history of Northern Kentuckys Green Line is a prime example.Bellevue native Nick Rechtin is a retired teacher who enjoys researching local history, serving as a tour guide for retirees and driving the Southbank Shuttle through Cincinnati, Covington and Newport. He thinks the success of Northern Kentuckys original streetcar network can help build support for Cincinnati Streetcars southern expansion.The Green Line was the result of mergers among various early local streetcar systems, which at their height served Ludlow, Covington, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton along the riverfront; travelled as far south as Ft. Mitchell, Latonia and Ft. Thomas; and navigated downtown Cincinnati streets before making Dixie Terminal their home base at Third and Walnut. The last Green Line streetcar ran in 1950.Rechtin says Ft. Mitchell civic leaders pushed for an extension of the early streetcar network out to their remote community in the late 1800s, hoping to connect locals to jobs in Covington and Cincinnati, and to develop more housing and businesses for an expected influx of new residents. They invested in a private right-of-way from Covington that became Green Lines route #1, which literally helped put Ft. Mitchell on the map.The same thing happened in Ft. Thomas, which helped develop route #11 up the hill along the private right-of-way and onto its streets. TANKs bus route #1 follows almost the same path today as the streetcar did, serving Ft. Mitchell on its way to Florence; bus route #11 still connects Ft. Thomas to Cincinnati, Covington and Newport.Rechtin says that city fathers 100 years ago probably didnt understand they were promoting transit-oriented development, but their legacy is evident across the region. Park Hills, for instance, was developed as infill housing around a streetcar stop between Devou Park and Ft. Mitchell, and two original tiled-roof streetcar stations remain standing in a small park on Amsterdam Road.Those communities were developed in a planned, thoughtful manner, which is why theyre still here, Rechtin says of how the Green Lines history resonates today. We can learn from the past and get beyond simple nostalgia. In sum, we can continue to widen our streets and highways or build toward density and a human scale.Budd is confident that the streetcars return to Northern Kentucky is a matter of when and where, not if.Most of the hard and expensive work is already done in Cincinnati, he says. They built a maintenance facility, bought the vehicles, worked out an operating contract to run the system and introduced the concept to a skeptical public. To get streetcars to Newport, all we have to do is lay tracks and string electric wires, which could go very quickly once we start.
Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker has suspended four players for their role in roughing up Michigan players in a stadium tunnel after losing a game. Tucker announced Sunday night that linebacker Tank Brown, safety Angelo Grose, defensive end Zion Young and cornerback Khary Crump were suspened immediately.
5 seats up for election on St. Joseph County Council, majority at stake

Five of the nine seats on the St. Joseph County Council are up for election
than one premier and the Fraser Institute applauded the move.





Now you can add another name to the list: Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.





On the heels of Environment Minister Catherine McKenna's revelation that Canada will not seek stronger targets for reducing carbon pollution beyond what the Harper government laid out last year, Trudeau's Liberals now say they're sticking with Harper's reduced health transfers too.





Speaking to CTV Question Period's Evan Solomon Sunday, Liberal

"We are committed to renegotiating, to re-engaging on the health care accords, on the Canada health transfer, with the provinces ... We need a federal government that is willing to sit down and work with the provinces, not dictate at the provinces but set clear targets and expectations."


Reporter who quit live on air over marijuana facing 54 years in prisonPostmedia NetworkFirst posted: Monday, October 03, 2016 02:13 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, October 03, 2016 02:51 PM EDTA reporter who became a viral sensation after she quit her job live on air in protest of Alaska's marijuana laws is facing decades in jail for running a cannabis club before the state legalized the drug.Charlo Greene, whose legal name is Charlene Egbe, was wrapping up a segment during a live broadcast for KTVA in September 2014 on marijuana when she announced that she was the owner and operator of the Alaska Cannabis Club, signing off by saying, "as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but, f--- it, I quit."Before the drug became legal for adults in February 2015, Greene's club would match medical marijuana cardholders with others. The Anchorage Police Department raided the club twice last year and the 28-year-old is now facing 14 drug charges relating to the club's activities before the law changed, according to The Guardian.The charges carry a maximum combined penalty of 54 years."I just found out I'm facing an additional 6 felonies  30 more years. That 54 years in prison for a plant (sic)," Greene wrote on Facebook.Since being arrested, Greene says she feels abandoned by the cannabis community and referred to her case as a "modern day lynching.""I dedicated my life to fighting for the cannabis plant and the people behind it. Now that I could lose the rest of my life because of cannabis, it feels like the people I fought for have abandoned me. I've never felt more alone," she told High Times. Greene has pleaded not guilty to the charges.Charlo Greene in the process of quitting live on air in favour of the Alaska Cannabis Club. (YouTube/Alaska Cannabis Club)
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Although planets surround stars in the galaxy, how they form remains a subject of debate. Despite the wealth of worlds in our own solar system, scientists still aren't certain how planets are built. Currently, two theories are duking it out for the role of champion.

The first and most widely accepted theory, core accretion, works well with the formation of the terrestrial planets like Mercury but has problems with giant planets. The second, the disk instability method, may account for the creation of these giant planets.

Scientists are continuing to study planets in and out of the solar system in an effort to better understand which of these methods is most accurate.

The core accretion model

Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was a cloud of dust and gas known as a solar nebula. Gravity collapsed the material in on itself as it began to spin, forming the sun in the center of the nebula.

With the rise of the sun, the remaining material began to clump up. Small particles drew together, bound by the force of gravity, into larger particles. The solar wind swept away lighter elements from the closer regions, leaving only heavy, rocky materials to create smaller terrestrial worlds like Mercury. But farther away, the solar winds had less impact on lighter elements, allowing them to coalesce into gas giants. In this way, asteroids, comets, planets, and moons were created.

Like Earth, the metallic core of Mercury formed first, and then gathered lighter elements around it to form its crust and mantle. Mercury, like other planets, likely collected the more nebulous pieces that would form its atmosphere. Unlike its siblings, however, the planet's small mass (Mercury is the smallest of the planets) and close proximity to the sun kept it from keeping a firm hold on the gases. Interactions with the solar wind constantly strip the planet of its thin atmosphere, even as it provides an influx.

Exoplanet observations seem to confirm core accretion as the dominant formation process. Stars with more "metals"  a term astronomers use for elements other than hydrogen and helium  in their cores have more giant planets than their metal-poor cousins. According to NASA, core accretion suggests that small, rocky worlds should be more common than the more massive gas giants.

The 2005 discovery of a giant planet with a massive core orbiting the sun-like star HD 149026 is an example of an exoplanet that helped strengthen the case for core accretion.

"This is a confirmation of the core accretion theory for planet formation and evidence that planets of this kind should exist in abundance," said Greg Henry in a press release. Henry, an astronomer at Tennessee State University, Nashville, detected the dimming of the star.

In 2017, the European Space Agency plans to launch the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS), which will study exoplanets ranging in sizes from super-Earths to Neptune. Studying these distant worlds may help determine how planets in the solar system formed.

"In the core accretion scenario, the core of a planet must reach a critical mass before it is able to accrete gas in a runaway fashion," said the CHEOPS team. "This critical mass depends upon many physical variables, among the most important of which is the rate of planetesimals accretion."

By studying how growing planets accrete material, CHEOPS will provide insight into how worlds grow.

The disk instability model

Although the core accretion model works fine for terrestrial planets, gas giants would have needed to evolve rapidly to grab hold of the significant mass of lighter gases they contain. But simulations have not been able to account for this rapid formation. According to models, the process takes several million years, longer than the light gases were available in the early solar system. At the same time, the core accretion model faces a migration issue, as the baby planets are likely to spiral into the sun in a short amount of time.

According to a relatively new theory, disk instability, clumps of dust and gas are bound together early in the life of the solar system. Over time, these clumps slowly compact into a giant planet. These planets can form faster than their core accretion rivals, sometimes in as little as a thousand years, allowing them to trap the rapidly-vanishing lighter gases. They also quickly reach an orbit-stabilizing mass that keeps them from death-marching into the sun.

According to exoplanetary astronomer Paul Wilson, if disk instability dominates the formation of planets, it should produce a wide number of worlds at large orders. The four giant planets orbiting at significant distances around the star HD 9799 provides observational evidence for disk instability. Fomalhaut b, an exoplanet with a 2,000-year orbit around its star, could also be an example of a world formed through disk instability, though the planet could also have been ejected due to interactions with its neighbors.

Pebble accretion

The biggest challenge to core accretion is time  building massive gas giants fast enough to grab the lighter components of their atmosphere. Recent research on how smaller, pebble-sized objects fused together to build giant planets up to 1000 times faster than earlier studies.

"This is the first model that we know about that you start out with a pretty simple structure for the solar nebula from which planets form, and end up with the giant-planet system that we see," study lead author Harold Levison, an astronomer at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Colorado, told Space.com in 2015.

In 2012, researchers Michiel Lambrechts and Anders Johansen from Lund University in Sweden proposed that tiny pebbles, which were once written off, held the key to rapidly building giant planets.

"They showed that the leftover pebbles from this formation process, which previously were thought to be unimportant, could actually be a huge solution to the planet-forming problem," Levison said.

Levison and his team built on that research to model more precisely how the tiny pebbles could form planets seen in the galaxy today. While previous simulations, both large and medium-sized objects consumed their pebble-sized cousins at a relatively constant rate, Levison's simulations suggest that the larger objects acted more like bullies, snatching away pebbles from the mid-sized masses to grow at a far faster rate.

"The larger objects now tend to scatter the smaller ones more than the smaller ones scatter them back, so the smaller ones end up getting scattered out of the pebble disk," study co-author Katherine Kretke, also from SwRI, told Space.com. "The bigger guy basically bullies the smaller one so they can eat all the pebbles themselves, and they can continue to grow up to form the cores of the giant planets."

This Messenger photo of Mercury shows wrinkle ridges around a network of troughs that formed when the volcanic plains were stretched apart. The wrinkle-ridge ring, about 100 km in diameter, is formed over the rim of a so-called ghost crater. (Image credit: NASA/The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/Smithsonian Institution)

A change of pace

Studies of Mercury reveal that its core is significantly more massive than expected in relation to the rest of the planet. With a radius of between 1,100 to 1,200 miles (1,800 to 1,900 kilometers), the mostly-iron core stretches through 75 percent of the planet's diameter and makes up a significant amount of its volume. The crust, on the other hand, is only 300 to 400 miles (500 to 600 km) thick.

After Mariner 10 made three flybys of Mercury in the 1970s, its strange composition, including the bulky iron core, led to a wealth of theories about how the planet may have formed. One suggested that, if a larger Mercury formed quickly enough, it could have consolidated before the sun reached its peak. Elevated temperatures from the young star could have then cooked away much of the light crust, leaving only a small shell around the planet.

When NASA's MESSENGER mission observed Mercury, however, it studied the surface composition. It found that ratios of thorium to potassium were similar to other terrestrial planets. While thorium is a stable element, potassium is more volatile, easily baked away by higher temperatures. MESSENGER's findings suggest that the planet was not subjected to extreme heating or early evolution but formed much like other terrestrial worlds.

Instead, Mercury most likely suffered a violent event early in its life. Scientists theorize that the original planet, more massive and thicker crusted, could easily have been struck by a large body in the violent early solar system. Such a collision would have blown much of its crust into space, leaving behind a massive core enclosed by only a thin shell.

Collisions would have been frequent in the early solar system. One recent theory suggests that Mercury may have been the "last man standing." According to planetary scientist Kathryn Volk, ten at the University of British Columbus, several baby planets could have once orbited near the sun, but a series of collisions destroyed all but Mercury.

"In a highly destructive regime, we're left with one survivor," Volk told Astrobiology magazine.

Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Twitter @NolaTRedd or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+.

Related:
Jo Cox MP death: Murder accused Thomas Mair refuses to enter pleas

BBC News4 October 2016A man accused of killing the Labour MP Jo Cox refused to enter pleas as he appeared in court.Thomas Mair, 53, from Birstall, remained silent when asked to plead at the Old Bailey on four charges relating to Mrs Cox's death.Mrs Cox, 41, who was a married mother-of-two, was shot and stabbed in Birstall, West Yorkshire, in June.In the light of Mr Mair's silence, the judge ordered that not guilty pleas should be entered on his behalf.The defendant is accused of murder, grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon - a dagger.He appeared via video-link from Belmarsh Prison and spoke only to confirm his name.Members of Mrs Cox's family were in court to witness proceedings.The judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, adjourned the case for a further hearing on 28 October and a provisional date for a four-week trial has been fixed for 14 November.Mrs Cox, who was elected MP for Batley and Spen at the 2015 General Election, was about to attend a constituency surgery when she was killed on June 16.Her death prompted what her family described as an "outpouring of genuine grief and sympathy" The then Prime Minister David Cameron said Mrs Cox was a "bright star" and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described her as "a much loved colleague".She had grown up in the area, attending Heckmondwike Grammar School, before attending Cambridge University.Prior to entering Parliament Mrs Cox had worked for a number of charities including Oxfam, Save the Children and the NSPCC.
Tim Doucette, who has about 10 percent of the typical visual abilities, is an amateur astronomer and co-founder of an observatory that caters to people with different visual abilities.

Tim Doucette was born with congenital cataracts, rendering him totally blind. He underwent numerous surgeries before he turned 20 to remove the lenses of eyes as well as scar tissue. A side effect of the surgeries was that his pupils were permanently dilated. He now has 10 percent of what is considered typical vision.

Doucette is also the co-founder of an observatory in Quinan, Nova Scotia, that caters to a wide range of visual abilities.

The Canadian town, located 3 hours west of Halifax, is near several dark-sky preserves, and now plays host to tourists from places such as Africa and Spain, thanks to the dedicated work of the Doucettes. Doucette and his wife, Amanda, built a wooden dome from the remains of an old cottage and set up a 14-inch (36 centimeters) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope inside of it. They now host up to 10 people at a time year-round who come to look at the moon, planets and deep-sky objects. [10 Biggest Telescopes on Earth: How They Measure Up]

The observatory is a short walk from the Doucettes' backyard, and on the land of one of their relatives.

"This sort of observatory was supposed to be a retirement project," Tim Doucette told Space.com. "I could see it materialize when we had plans to move here [two years ago], so it was pretty exciting."

Doucette said he wants his visitors to leave the observatory with a better appreciation of the Earth and humanity's place in the cosmos. He also has made it his mission to bring that love of astronomy to anyone, even if they have a visual disability, he said.

The observatory built and operated by Tim Doucette and his wife, where they cater to people with a range of visual abilities. (Image credit: Tim Doucette)

Different views

Surprisingly, Doucette's vision impairments have given him a unique advantage in pursuing amateur astronomy. Unlike most people, he can see in ultraviolet light, since the lens of the human eye filters that kind of light and his lenses were removed.

"For example, the Ring Nebula  some people look at that and see the ring part of it and maybe one of the stars in the middle," he said, adding that he can see more detail.

Doucette provides "astro-tours" to people who visit the observatory, and said he can customize the tours for many visual disabilities. When he used to live in Moncton, New Brunswick, in Canada, he once hosted an astronomy session for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. One of the visitors had very low vision and could see only black and white, so Doucette suggested the man look at the moon. The visitor was able to see the moon's craters, which he recognized from his youth.

"It was quite emotional, and a good feeling to help him out," Doucette said.

Expansion plans

Most of Doucette's visitors find information about him online, but he has also received referrals from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia and the Starlight Foundation.

Doucette operates the observatory year-round, for half of each month, when the moon is at its darkest. He takes care of doing the tours and showing guests astronomical objects, while his wife provides snacks.

Even when winter temperatures outside dip to -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius), Doucette assures visitors that body heat from 10 people will keep the dome toasty for a while, even with the top open.

Sometimes, the Doucettes will have bigger groups on site if there is something extra to see. An example was the Perseids meteor shower, when some people watched the show outside the dome while others stayed inside to look through the telescope.

Doucette said he is already thinking about next tourism season. "We're looking at having kind of a sleeping-under-the-stars experience. People are looking for a place to camp and spend the whole night under the stars."

He said he also plans to offer more alternatives when cloudy nights arise, and perhaps one day add on to his small dome so that more people can use the telescope.

For more information about the Doucettes and the observatory, visit http://www.deepskyeye.com/.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
"Spaceman" (Crown Archetype, 2016) by Mike Massimino (Image credit: Crown Archetype)

Former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, known for flying on two space shuttle missions to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, will appear live with Space.com Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT) to discuss his new memoir and take questions about his career and what it's like in space.

The new book, "Spaceman" (Crown Archetype, 2016) (opens in new tab), coming out Oct. 4, follows the dramatic story of Massimino's path to space and what it was like to fix, in his words, "the greatest scientific instrument ever built" from an orbiting perch hundreds of miles above Earth. You can tune in to the live discussion on Space.com's Facebook page.

The video will appear on the Facebook feed starting right at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), and you can post questions in the comments for him to answer. [Read an excerpt of "Spaceman" here.]

Since his time at NASA, Massimino has proven a devoted science communicator  he is the senior advisor for space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, teaches at Columbia University and even appeared on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory". In "Spaceman," he details the challenges and successes of his work with NASA, and offers a vivid look at what it's like to go to space.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
As Hurricane Matthew swirled over the Caribbean yesterday (Oct. 3), the International Space Station caught a glimpse of the massive storm. The space station flew over the Category 4 hurricane at 4:10 p.m. EDT as the storm made its way north through the Caribbean Sea.

The International Space Station (ISS) spied on the potentially deadly hurricane from a safe orbiting altitude of 250 miles (400 kilometers) using the lab's onboard, Earth-viewing cameras. ISS astronauts then tweeted the video shortly afterward. [Watch NASA's video of Hurricane Matthew here: Powerful Hurricane Matthew Seen From Space | Time-Lapse Video]

Cameras on the International Space Station captured this view of Hurricane Matthew yesterday (Oct. 3). (Image credit: NASA)

Early this morning (Oct. 4), the storm made its first landfall in western Haiti, bringing winds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h) and a torrential downpour that forecasters said will amount to more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rainfall. Hurricane Matthew's eye is expected to reach Cuba later today, and some forecasts predicted the eye will reach the east coast of the U.S. by Friday.

On Sunday (Oct. 2) at 5:46 a.m. EDT, NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite measured Hurricane Matthew's clouds and rate of rainfall. This 3D image illustrates the heights of the cloud tops as well as the levels of precipitation. (Image credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce)

The ISS wasn't the only satellite observing the hurricane from space. NOAA satellite GOES-East has also been keeping an eye on the storm. Because this satellite has a geostationary orbit, it provides continuous imagery of the eastern U.S. and the Atlantic Ocean by constantly hovering over the same region.

NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite offers a less realistic, but much more colorful, view of the storm. The satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew on Sunday (Oct. 2) at 5:46 a.m. EDT and measured the precipitation expected to hit Hispaniola. The satellite estimated a downpour rate of at least 6.4 inches (163 millimeters) per hour and measured cloud tops as tall as 9.9 miles (16 km).

This animation of NOAA's GOES-East satellite imagery from Sunday (Oct. 2) to today, shows Hurricane Matthew moving through the Caribbean Sea and making landfall today over western Haiti. ( View video on YouTube .) (Image credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project)

"Heaviest rain was seen well to the east of Hurricane Matthew's center," Hal Pierce, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement. "This area of strong, convective storms has been persistent over the past few days. This area of intense rainfall is due to convergence between the trade winds (prevailing easterlies) and the wind flow from the south with Matthew. This area of heavy rainfall with Matthew may cause devastating torrential rainfall as it moves slowly over Haiti."

Hurricane Matthew, an exceptionally powerful storm, will continue to slowly creep toward Cuba and the Bahamas before likely hitting Florida by the end of the week.

To watch the latest views of Earth from the ISS, check out our live stream of the ISS cameras and use our satellite tracker to monitor the station's location.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Church of the Holy Spirit is jumping into fall 2016 by sponsoring its annual Fall Festival Oct. 9.

The festival is not only a fundraiser, it also serves to honor those who have served the church and St. John the Baptist School in Plattsmouth.

This year, longtime parish members, 82-year-old John and 78-year-old Marsha Kriskey, were chosen as the Fall Festival Honorees. John was born and raised in Plattsmouth and officially joined Holy Rosary Church when he was seven years old.

John and Ken Aylors were the first acolytes at Holy Rosary Church, before it combined with St. Johns Catholic Church in 1975 and became Church of the Holy Spirit. There havent always been acolytes in the Catholic Church, John said.

Serving as an acolyte helped cement Johns love of the Catholic faith. He married Marsha in 1961 and she converted to Catholicism and the two moved to Plattsmouth in 1962. They attended Holy Rosary Church together until Church of the Holy Spirit was established.

I found through John a place of worship where I could find peace and God my Father, Marsha said.

Together, they have five adult children, Jean Marie, Jakki, Mary Beth, John Michael and Tom.

All of our children graduated from St. John the Baptist School. We also have 13 grandchildren and five great-grandsons, Marsha said.

When their children were grown, Marsha began taking courses at a business college. She learned about computers, took a typing class and an English course. She was hired part-time at Lutheran Family Services in Bellevue. Within a year, I was full-time. I was there 17 or 18 years, she said.

John worked as a union carpenter in the Metro area. He worked on buildings all over Omaha including Woodmen of the World and University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Life threw John some proverbial punches in his life. While working on the power plant near Brownville on Dec. 26, 1976, John fell 40 feet while hanging over the side of the plant with a belt. Their youngest son, Tom, was only a year old.

The church was wonderful to us at that time. John was in the hospital for three months, Marsha said.

Neither John nor Marsha underestimates the power of prayer and their faith when trouble strikes.

Its got me out of a lot of jams. It was always there for me. I just didnt realize it, but all I had to do is put out my arm, John said.

He went back to work. He had a family of seven to feed, Marsha said. His faith has gotten him to where he is today. Job never gave up on God. I think thats like John. He never gave up on God.

In February, John fell ill and was moved to Hillcrest in Bellevue, and then to Golden Living in Plattsmouth. John Michael and Tom traveled from Texas to be at their fathers side during this difficult time. The family relied on prayer to help him pull through.

The power of prayer has Him sitting with you right now, Marsha said.

John is out of the hospital in much better health. Weve been really blessed, Marsha said.

Throughout their 55 years of marriage, Marsha and John were very active in the church and its auxiliary organizations.

John marked his 60th year in Knights of Columbus in 2016. I joined May 4, 1956, he said.

Both have attended and been on Cursillo teams, an apostolic movement founded in Majorca, Spain, by a group of Roman Catholic laymen in 1944.

Cursillos focus on showing Christian lay people how to become effective Christian leaders over a three-day weekend. The weekend includes 15 talks, some given by priests and some by lay people. Cursillos stress personal spiritual development.

Marsha was the first womens Cursillo candidate in the Lincoln diocese. John was the second mens Cursillo candidate in the Lincoln diocese.

Marsha also served as president, vice president and secretary of the PCCW. At one time, I had the funeral dinners. Thats when we made hot ham, mashed potatoes and green beans, she said.

She also served as a housekeeper for The Rev. Msgr. Hain and The Rev. Msgr. Paul Witt. I cooked and cleaned for them for six months. I still stay in contact with Monsignor Witt, she said.

In retirement, they enjoy visiting other Catholic Churches. Weve been to a lot of places, Marsha said. One of our best experiences was spent in July in Duluth, Minn. We stayed at the University of Minnesota but the rooms didnt have air conditioning. Then we found St. Scholastica University where they had newer apartments and air conditioning. We went to Mass everyday with the sisters.

The Kriskeys feel very fortunate to be chosen as this years Fall Festival Honorees. I feel in my heart that it is a thank you for John being such a faithful servant, Marsha said.
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In December 1955, I saw a movie I have never forgotten. On reflection, it certainly may have been one of the sappiest movies I would ever see, but I loved it because I was a third-grader and the movie was about a favorite, small-town teacher. The teacher in the movie insisted that every student greet her properly every day. Their morning greetings became the title of the movie, Good Morning, Miss Dove. When Miss Dove was hospitalized, her former students returned to give well-deserved thanks to their favorite teacher.

I was reminded of that movie the other day as I talked with a local doctor. He said that he admired teachers and the work they did, but he did not understand why education is so conflictual, when it is so important. Yes, education is disputed, but exactly because it is so important. Both parents and teachers understand that education is the most important determinant of a students career choice and satisfaction, lifetime earnings, and overall well-being and future success. The choices that are made about virtually every aspect of education are open to critical questioning or opposition. Decisions do matter. Parents, grandparents, teachers, and taxpayers all have a stake in the success of our students. And those voices do not always agree.

Targets of Criticism

That level of continual questioning, criticism, and, often, opposition is a daily burden to those who work in our schools. It is every citizens right to question and criticize decisions that may not be sound educational practice. And, ironically, the ones who work every day to make sure students get the very best education are often the targets of criticism from every quarter: parents, taxpayers, their principals, and society. Teaching is not easy and very often, a thankless job. Or so it seems.

A Nebraska author, Bess Streeter Aldrich, wrote Miss Bishop, a best-selling book that was also later made into a movie, Cheers for Miss Bishop. It is the story of a teacher who is forced into retirement after many years of teaching. As many (and perhaps most) teachers do, Miss Bishop reflects on a life of service that did not result in great honors or riches. What opportunities had she missed by being a teacher? In true Hollywood fashion, the movie ends with many of her students, now very successful, coming back to honor her work. Many movies have been made about the important work of teachers. We know these teachers by their movie names: Mr. Chips, Mr. Holland, Miss Dove, Miss Bishop, Miss Barrett, Mr. Thackeray, and many more. But how do we honor and thank our real teachers?

We simply need to say thank you to our teachers for the work they do. We say it out loud and often. Its that simple.

Thank You is Rarely Heard

So, cheers for you Miss Bishop, or Miss Dove, or Mr. Black, or Mrs. Lance, or Dr. Alvarez, or any of thousands of names that you carry as the American Teacher. You are the model for movies and books and accolades, but your work is known best (and appreciated most) by those generations of students that come through your classroom. You never hear Thank you from most of these students. Their mothers and fathers will say it as they talk about how much you cared about their children, how much they have grown up, have learned, and how much their children still talk about you. The students say it years later as adults when they tell their own children about the difference that you made in their lives. And some may say it when they remember a movie or a book that reminded them of how critical the work is that all teachers do every day for the students of America. So, thank youand for what you do: Cheers, Miss Bishop!

Founded in 1867, the Nebraska State Education Association has nearly 28,000 members statewide.
Pope Francis is against gender identity teachings, but he still wants the world to have sympathy for trans people. Pope Francis often makes controversial moves and statements when traveling abroad.

While the pope was received like a rock star in America, he caused an uproar by meeting with Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who made headlines by the fighting against same-sex marriage. He also rattled some conservatives by meeting with Yayo Grassi, who is openly gay and is a former classmate of the pontiff from Argentina.

This week while flying back from a three-day trip to Georgia and Azerbaijan, the pope shared his thoughts on gender identity teachings after meeting a father, who shared an interesting story with him.

The pope said that he recently met a French man, who told him that his young son, stated that he wanted to become a girl. When the father asked the child, why did he say something like that? He responded saying he had read about a girl who became a boy and wanted to do the same. The pope told the journalists onboard the flight:

This is against nature. It is one thing when someone has this tendency  and it is another matter to teach this in school. To change the mentality  I call this ideological colonization.

While he is against gender identity teachings in schools, the pope said he still spends time with transgender people and tries to guide them towards Jesus Christ. He went on to tell reporters that homosexuals and transsexuals should be treated like all other humans  with love and respect.

He also asked that trans people be welcomed and integrated into the church and society. He added:

It is no magic power which comes down from heaven and nor is it a special force for solving lifes problems.

The pope urged reporters:

Please dont write The pope blesses trans. Please.

Over the summer, Pope Francis made similar remarks where he said gender identity theory is terrible, he stated:

Today, in schools they are teaching this to children  to children!  that everyone can choose his or her gender.

New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBT advocacy group, slammed the pope by saying:

The pontiffs remarks are further evidence that church officials need desperately to educate themselves about the lives and experiences of LGBT people. Nobody chooses a gender identity. They discover it.

The pope also spoke about the 2016 election campaign saying, the people are sovereign. He added:

I never say a word about electoral campaigns.The people are sovereign. I will only say: Study the proposals well, pray and choose in conscience.

The popes ideological colonization remark has sparked an intense conversation online.
Flint, Michigan is now battling Shigellosis after a water crisis and outbreaks of Legionnaires disease. This week, officials in Flint, Michigan confirmed what had long been suspected in the city. Many residents have been diagnosed with Shigellosis.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), there are 84 people, who have contracted Shigellosis, also known as bacillary dysentery or Marlow Syndrome. At least 27 individuals with the diarrheal disease have been taken to local hospitals.

Data showed that children are the ones mainly hit by the infectious disease. The youngest person with bacillary dysentery is a 17-month-old baby. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said that 53 of the residents fighting Shigellosis are from the Flint city area. According to experts, Shigellosis mainly affects children, military personnel, and travelers. It is an illness caused by infection by bacteria of the genus Shigella that:

is frequently found in water polluted with human feces, and is transmitted via the fecal-oral route. The usual mode of transmission is directly person-to-person hand-to-mouth, in the setting of poor hygiene among children. Shigella is one of the leading bacterial causes of diarrhea worldwide and is a top pathogen causing moderate-to-severe diarrhea in African and South Asian children.

The same experts say that the illness is easily preventable by making sure that vaccination records are up to date. It should be said that there is no licensed vaccine targeting Shigella as yet. Moreover, washing hands and properly cooking meals are also helpful. Residents in that area are also advised to take extra sanitary precautions with foods such as dairy products, vegetables and salads, and meat.

Other simple precautions involve having a good personal hygiene and keeping infected children out of daycare and schools. The symptoms of Shigellosis include cramps, diarrhea, fever, blood, pus, or mucus in stools or tenesmus.

Many residents spoke to the media saying that since the Flint water crisis that was discovered in 2014, they have stopped using the water to cook and shower. Some of those people say they have faced serious health issues and are fearful of the water.

Delano Whidbee, who has two young girls, said he only uses baby wipes on his children. Another resident stated that he drives to his familys home out of Flint for a daily shower. Jim Henry, Genesee Countys environmental health supervisor, added:

People arent bathing because theyre scared. Some people have mentioned that theyre not going to expose their children to the water again.

Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech researcher, who put the spotlight on the Flint water crisis, explained:

Hot water kills germs, but people are not running hot water through the filters, out of fear it will decrease the life of the filter, and its contributing to the spread of disease.

Aware that it has failed the people of Flint, Michigan in the past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a wash your hands campaign to fight Shigellosis. Henry explained:

During the time that MDHHS refused to communicate with us regarding Shigellosis, we had several more cases, which MDHHS knew about because they are reported. However, for weeks the state MDHHS stopped communicating and assisting [the county] regarding all disease investigations, including Shigellosis. This action directly compromised the safety and health of our communities.

A spokeswoman for the MDHHS hit back by saying:

It is entirely irresponsible  to attempt to portray MDHHSs efforts regarding the Genesee County shigellosis situation as somehow lacking. MDHHS has been fully engaged in this effort.

The recent developments in Flint might put more heat on local officials.
Today U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberrys office open, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 641 N. Broad St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Lewis-Clark Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1:30 p.m., Keene Memorial Librarys east building. The program will be on Pearl Harbor.

National Vodka Day celebration, 2 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club. All vodka drinks will be sold for $1 all day long.

Parent-teacher conferences, 5-8:30 p.m., Johnson Crossing Academic Center, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

TOPS 58, 6-7 p.m., St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Fremont. Weigh-ins are from 5:30-6 p.m. For more information, contact Nancy Wit at 402-727-6745.

Narcotics Anonymous open meeting, 6:30 p.m., Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 540 W. Eighth St., Wahoo.

Narcotics Anonymous It Works Group, 6:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Education Building, west of the church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Enter through the rear door.

Fresh Hope Support Group, 7 p.m., Fremont Healths Health Park Plaza, Room 5. The faith-based support group is for those suffering from mental illness or family members and/or caregivers.

Presentation by Juan Melendez, 7 p.m., Room 304 of the Anderson Complex, Midland University, Fremont. Melendez spent 17 years on Floridas death row for a crime he didnt commit. The public is invited to hear his story.

Al-Anon meeting, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club front room, Fremont. This support group is for families and friends of alcoholics.

Narcotics Anonymous open meeting, 8 p.m., United Faith Church, 218 W. Gardiner St., Valley.

Wednesday

Fremont Newcomers Coffee, 9:30 a.m., Nye Square Wellness Center. Visitors are welcome.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Pork tenderloin dinner, 5:30-7 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club. A full meal is $8 plus taxes and a half meal is $4.50 plus tax. Everyone is welcome.

Fresh Hope Support Group, 7 p.m., Trinity Lutheran School, 16th Street and Luther Road, Fremont. The support group offers faith-based help for those with mood disorders and for loved ones trying to understand. For more information, call David and Wray Lynn Trost at 402-480-1777.

Narcotics Anonymous Library Group, 7 p.m., Keene Memorial Library East Building, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Thursday

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Storytime, 10-10:30 a.m., Keene Memorial Library auditorium, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Kiwanis Club, noon, Fremont Golf Club.

Parent-teacher conferences, 1-4 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m., Johnson Crossing Academic Center, Fremont.

Presbyterian Women, 1:15 p.m., The Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, Fremont. Refreshments will be served and a program will be presented called Fashions for Every Occasion. All women in the area are welcome.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Grief support group, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Fremont Healths Health Park Plaza.
The launch follows an exclusive agreement between Genus ABS and Geno, the world-leading supplier of Norwegian Red (NR) genetics, and precedes the launch of HYVIG across several other countries this autumn.

Speaking on behalf of Genus ABS, Andrew Thompson EMEA Director stated,

We have seen the popularity of crossbreeding increase year on year as some customers are now seeking an alternative breeding strategy to purebred breeding. These producers are looking for robust, easy to manage cows with superb fertility and health traits; and that is exactly what HYVIG delivers".

HYVIG is a unique dairy crossbreeding system which will help producers create a herd of problem-free cows and will fit any system perfectly. It combines the unique genetics of the Norwegian Red breed including its proven fertility, health and feed efficiency, with Genus ABS TransitionRight Holstein genetics, whose daughters carry condition, are strong, not too tall, and are well above breed average for SCC, fertility and lifespan.
The sale was conducted by the UKs largest livestock auctioneering company, Harrison and Hetherington, in conjunction with Rural Chartered Surveyors Vickers and Barras, on behalf of RG Russell and Co. Ltd.

All lots offered for sale saw keen bidding from buyers which ensured a buoyant trade throughout the sale. Topping the sale was a 2012 Claas Lexion 630 Combine Harvester which sold for 96,000. Other leading items included; a Cat 75C Challenger Tracked Tractor and a 2005 Case 1155CVX Tractor which both sold for 15,000; a John Deere 6910 Tractor selling at 14,200 and a 2004 Cat TH 3300 Forklift for 13,300.

Also on offer was an excellent selection of well-maintained implements which proved to be in high demand. Included was a Vaderstad Rapid A400 Drill Unit selling at 13,000, Kuhn 5 FR Plough 11,500, Welger RP520 Baler selling at 7,600, Vaderstad 500 Carrier at 7,200, Simba 3.3m Cultipress at 6,300, Vaderstad Rollers at 1,800 and a KRM Packer Roller at 1,800.

Speaking after the sale Sales Director Scott Donaldson said:

With a huge variety of well-maintained agricultural vehicles and machinery on offer, the sale was certainly a success. There was an extremely large attendance of buyers which resulted in lots being highly contested.
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STAMFORDIn the southeastern part of Haiti this week, Emanuel Doreste of Stamford said Tuesday he is hunkering down and getting spotty reports about the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Matthew battering the southwest region of the country.

As of yet the Category 4 storm has brought rain and wind to the town of Pernier where Doreste and other Stamford and Norwalk residents are visiting an orphanage near the city of Petion Ville. In the south and west of the country, 145 mile per hour winds are driving torrential floods of coastal towns and cities.

I have many friends on the south side of Haiti and things are looking ugly, Doreste said. I dont know what will happen later here(in Pernier) but everything is quiet outside with no rain.

One of the most alarming pieces of news is the main route to southern Haiti is cut off bridge at Petit-Goave washed away during the storm, Doreste said. The wash out could impact post-storm efforts to provide aid to people, Doreste said.

I dont really know what strategy you are going to use to reach the south but the Haitian police and security force will probably find a way though the southern part of Haiti; right now there is no way to reach it, Doreste said.

The storm, Hurricane Matthew hit the southwestern coast of Haiti early Tuesday, unleashing destructive winds and torrential rains that are expected to devastate a country still rebuilding from an earthquake six years ago.

Forecasters have issued hurricane warnings for Floridas Atlantic Coast and South Carolina which are in the potential path of the storm as it passes through the Caribbean. South Carolina is expected to evacuate up to a million people.

Angelucci Manigat of Stratford the publisher of the Haitian Voice newspaper said he expects Fairfield Countys Haitian American community to begin organizing a relief effort for their native country this week.

Manigat spoke to his brother Alix Manigat by phone on Monday but has been unable to reach him on Tuesday. Alix Manigat lives in Gressier near Port Au Prince,Haiti where media reported flooding. But many other area residents with ties to the southwestern part of the country where rains are heavier are concerned about the lives of their loved ones, he said.

Port Au Prince is not the most effected and people are trying to get in touch with people in the communities at greatest risk but communication is difficult, Manigat said.

Hurricane Matthew is the first Category 4 storm to hit Haiti since 1964.
NORWALK, Conn.  A tense standoff that started at the Colonial Village housing project in Norwalk took a strange turn, ending when officers found the Ronny Mejia-Santana, 23, in a different part of town Tuesday evening.

Police said a he had barricaded himself in his apartment at the housing complex earlier Tuesday afternoon, after he was reportedly threatening people with a knife. A barricade was set up on Suncrest Road and nearby residents were evacuated at about 4 p.m.
Whenever an existing technology tool suddenly becomes more accessible to a greater number of people, it is said that it has been democratized. In recent years, the ability to immediately access vast amounts of digitally available on-demand business information (often via mobile means) has truly become widespread, which has in turn led to the democratization of business intelligence technology.

A simplified explanation of the role of business intelligence (BI) is that it enables organizations to use data to improve their decision-making processes. Business intelligence technology generally describes the software, hardware, and platforms designed to allow businesses to retrieve, analyze, transform and report data.

BI itself is nothing new, and large corporations around the world have been utilizing its various forms for decades. The concept of BI emerged circa 1996, when a Gartner Group report stated that By 2000, Information Democracy will emerge in forward-thinking enterprises, with Business Intelligence information and applications available broadly to employees, consultants, customers, suppliers, and the public.

However, previous to the current era of democratization of BI (starting about five years ago) smaller organizations were essentially precluded from being able to really benefit from BI.

Many large corporations will typically employ a chief data officer to take charge of BI, a function that spans (at least on paper) operational and departmental silos. The chief data officers work with CIOs overlaps with a chief privacy officer, CSO, CTO, etc. Pre-democratization those smaller organizations and companies just didnt have the means and resources necessary to collect and interpret large amounts of data let alone deploy it as BI in any sort of meaningful or coherent way.

However, as everyone who pays attention to such things knows, we are currently in the era of big data, a new-world paradigm where companies are able to efficiently capture and analyze data at volumes that were both impossible and unthinkable just a few years ago. These advances are making it possible for SMBs to share in the insights that data analysis brings -- often without the need for data warehouses, large IT staff or expensive hardware. Pre-democratization of BI, only blue chip companies with expansive IT departments really had ready access to data results, and SMBs were relegated to relying on observation and gut instinct, which, even when honed through decades of experience and wisdom, was a pretty risky way to make big decisions. Now, the playing field is becoming level.

Related: The 4 Biggest Business-Intelligence Challenges Facing Entrepreneurs

The mainstream SMB community is only now experiencing the reality of Gartners aforementioned Information Democracy prediction, according to Jim Hare, an Industry Analyst at Gartner who researches BI and Advanced Analytics. Until public cloud options were available, most SMBs simply relied on using Microsoft Excel or reporting capabilities built into the applications they were able to afford to use.

Hare continues, We also have a trend in the growth of SaaS-based analytic applications focused on solving domain and industry vertical business needs, with users able to quickly setup and use these SaaS analytic applications without involving IT. And, these analytic apps tailor the analytics and information delivery for the role of the userrather than requiring the user learn the tool.

On that note, one interesting company clearly riding the BI democratization wave is a venture-backed startup called Sisense, which says its mission is to simplify business analytics for complex data.

Our entire focus and claim to fame is helping business people who choose to deal with data that is complex . . . without any IT investment, any data warehouse, says Amir Orad, Sisenses CEO. The company, headquartered in New York City with an R & D Center in Tel Aviv, has over 1,000 clients in 50 countries, ranging from SMBs to giant conglomerates.

SMBs, in fact, make up over 50 percent of Sisenses business. According to Orad, this makes perfect sense, because especially modern SMBs, newly formed SMBshave way more data because they started their companies in an era where you track everything, log everything, theyre using the cloud 24/7, and they need to make sense of it all.

How does this particular group use BI technology to mine data for insight answers? By way of one example, we consulted James M. Levine, director of analytics for Act-On Software, Inc., a four-year old company that develops digital solutions for the marketing profession. Levines job is to provide analytic resources for the company and its executive team.

Related: Look for These 5 Business Intelligence Tool Attributes to Effectively Drill Into Big Data

Finding a BI tool with the ability to scale and grow with a business is critical in driving value, Levine says. The company uses Sisense tools to help them gain better insight into the various data gathered and to automate the generation of time-and-labor intensive reports. During Act-Ons four-year relationship with Sisense, a central web portal for all data has been created, executives have direct access and visibility into real-time metrics for performance improvement, and the company is able to take a proactive approach to preventing churn and reducing sales loss. Critical data showing the lifecycle of a customer and allowing intelligent predictions that drive change to the Act-On business model has been a plus, Levine says. Only one additional analyst was needed to help Levine support his entire organizations data analysis needs after implementation of the Sisense solution, without which it would have taken 15 to 20 analysts to provide the same value, he says.

We have been able to build and design tools and processes within Sisense that have replaced other vendor tools and saved us money in the process. For example, we deliver commissions to our sales reps through Sisense, eliminating the need for a commission delivery tool, Levine says.

The Data fits.

It is not just high tech SMBs that are benefiting from the democratization of BI, Orad says. We have a client that designs and makes very expensive shoes, and although they are a small, boutique factory, they have one particular significantly complex data challenge.

There are at least 10 data needs for each individual shoe design such as the model, leather, size, etc. I never knew it could be so complex. They sell custom shoes and need to know which shoe they can offer in real time by making analytical decisions on the fly. So, someone smart in this tiny shoe factory said We have all this data, if we can decide analytics quickly, we can supply our customers much more rapidly by relaying via mobile phone which shoes can be readily available.

Any structure of data for each shoe, i.e. any information from sales to inventory, anything that is numbers, letters, names, etc. can be sliced and diced by the Sisense BI tools. This tiny shoe factory is a perfect example of how even the smallest boutique now enjoys access to the same powerful technologies as large corporations.

Related: 3 Enterprise Business Intelligence Trends That Can Benefit Your Business

According to Orad, Sisense tools are designed to be used by people who need to consume and analyze large amounts of databut have little or no prior experience in data crunching.

Hare said traditional BI platforms required IT to install a data warehouse, integrate it with the transactional applications, model the data, and build dashboards and reports for the business users, and run reports that often took hours, making it impossible to interact with the system. By then, information would often be days or weeks old.

With modern BI tools, the performance is significantly faster, Hare says, allowing business users to interact with data and gain more real-time insights. This means business users are now empowered to build their own dashboards, explore data, collaborate and share results more quickly with the rest of the organization.

Currently, the biggest challenge SMBs face while implementing BI and analytics tools is the lack of a skilled workforce, because most of the blue-chip well-established BI solutions require full-time database administrators (DBAs) to implement and maintain them. Any BI solution that requires a lot of IT intervention, generally, those are not the right ones for an SMB, says Hare.

SMBs need to look for self-serve BI solutions that are SaaS or cloud-based to minimize the need for IT resources to deploy and maintain the tools.

With new tools like those from Sisense and other BI tech companies, crucial data that supports real-time decision making across every level of an organization is quickly available -- without prepping the data or making requests to someone in IT to pull the info.

By putting the data in the hands of those who make the decisions by using systems that can crunch big data without the need for expensive hardware or an IT background, the democratization of business intelligence is here, its real and it is spectacular.

Related:

The Democratization of Business Intelligence

What My Nocturnal Toddler Can Teach Us About the 'Internet of Things'

The 4 Biggest Business-Intelligence Challenges Facing Entrepreneurs



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
STAMFORD  The citys police department is investigating a scary clown threat posted on social media this week, Superintendent of Schools Earl Kim told parents in a robocall Tuesday afternoon.

Kim did not describe the threat, but he said it was similar to the nationwide phenomenon that is sweeping the country as Halloween approaches.

There have been sightings of creepy clowns in multiple states, including Iowa, New Jersey, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and many others. This week, it seemed to hit Connecticut full force.

Fairfield University, Quinnipiac University, and New Haven public schools are among those plagued with rumors, mostly spread by social media, of nefarious clowns on their premises. Officials have quickly dismissed the rumors and many seemed both annoyed and puzzled by the onset of clown mania.

Kim said Stamford police are investigating the social media post to determine its source and credibility.

In the meantime, we remain alert to any suspicious behavior and are reporting it to authorities, he said in the robocall. I ask that you and your family members do the same. Please report any threatening messages to the police and do not post them or forward them to others.

The superintendent also asked families not to buy any clown costumes this year.

Given the frightening nature of these threats, especially for our younger children, I encourage you to avoid purchasing scary clown costumes through the upcoming Halloween season, Kim said.

Sgt. Robert Didato, of the Fairfield University Department of Public Safety, said the university began receiving calls Monday night from parents concerned about clown rumors at other schools in the state.

We reached out to other universities, and were able to substantiate that no acts of crimes were committed by any clowns, he said.

The department posted on its Facebook page that there were no clowns on campus. Not long after that posted, Didato said, two students with clown masks reportedly began walking around the campus. They thought it would be funny, Didato said.

The students were found and the masks were confiscated.

noliveira@hearstmediact.com
T he speech by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, at the Conservative Party conference yesterday was no doubt written by one or more of his team, but it ought really to have been credited to Lewis Carroll.

In his Alice Through the Looking Glass, he has the White Queen proudly boast: Sometimes Ive believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

The Hammond version presented to the party faithful yesterday in Birmingham asked them to believe six impossible things before Brexit. And like most audiences at party conferences, they did.

But should the rest of us? Lets list a few and see.

First, he said we were embarking on Brexit from a position of strength because since 2010 the British economy has grown faster than any other economy in the G7.

However, as was pointed out here only last week, citing analysis published by the Centre for European Reform, if growth is calculated with reference to what things cost in each county and what the money can actually buy, then the UK is behind Germany, Spain and France among the European countries, to say nothing of those G7 counties across the Atlantic  the USA and Canada.

In fairness, later on Hammond in effect confirmed that he did not really believe the figures himself when he referred to Britains lamentable productivity performance  the measure of value added per hour worked  and admitted that we lagged not just behind America and Germany but behind even France  and Italy too.

Second, he said that his Government would create the most outward looking, most dynamic, most competitive, highest waged, highest skilled and lowest tax economy in the world.

Well there are six interesting challenges in that one sentence but none of that can happen with the low productivity he has rightly identified as the core problem.

It is the reason that the British economy is seriously uncompetitive. But, he added, the good news is that we know how to do productivity.

This will come as a surprise to most students of the UK economy and his political forebears, all of whom recognised the problem and none of whom found a way to tackle it.

However, his optimism is based on the fact that the value added by a London worker is higher than in the rest of the country.

Thus all we have to do is make Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Leeds as efficient as London.

The snag is that Londons high value added is largely a function of the London-based financial services industry.

That industry will be hard hit by the loss of access to European markets and some firms are already working on moving to the Continent.

Financial services will take a big hit. If the productivity gap narrows between London and the North it will be driven by London falling, not Birmingham rising.

Third he talked about our world-leading universities and how innovation will drive the economy forward. There is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Britain to cement its role as a leader in tech innovation.

Well that was certainly what was beginning to happen but the brutal truth is that many of our most brilliant research scientists are already beginning to look for work abroad because so much research money comes via the EU and they want to go where they know it will be secure.

As we wring our hands about people wanting to come here, our real problem will be persuading our brightest and best not to go abroad.

As a fourth and related point he said we would go on attracting the brightest and the best from the rest of the world.

But this does not ring true either, because as economist Doug McWilliams pointed out in his book The Flat White Economy, which tells the story of Londons tech boom centred round Old Street and Shoreditch, half the entrepreneurs and employees driving it come from outside the UK.

McWilliams makes the telling point that most came here without jobs which is why they are prepared to earn next to no money working in start-ups and using coffee shops as offices.

But in a world of tough immigration controls which Hammond promised early in his speech, they would never get into the country.

The unemployed, even if young and clever, rarely qualify under a points-based immigration system, and they are the type of people too who would not bother to try. The next wave will probably go to Berlin instead.

Fifth, he talked about the fact that we were not building enough houses and fell in with Communities Secretary Sajid Javids claims that they would double the rate of housebuilding by 2020.

Well, at present we build fewer than 150,000 houses a year. We have not built 300,000 houses a year since before Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 and even then only because half of them were financed by the local council and built for rent. That has been ruled out this time.

Whatever they say at the Tory Party Conference, no one in the building industry believes housing output could expand even to 200,000 because of chronic labour shortages, and 300,000 is cloud-cuckoo-land unless they are all pre-fabs.

And remember that at least half those working on building sites in London come from Poland and Romania, and the more sterling drops, the less they have to send home and the more likely they are to move abroad.

Sixth, was a statement breath-taking in its audacity from a Chancellor and a Government about to embark on the biggest and potentially most reckless economic gamble this county has ever seen.

Conservatives, he said, have a great and solemn responsibility because we alone carry the burden of ensuring that Labour can never again wreck the British economy.

But on reflection that is something you could actually believe, even before breakfast.

Brexit, as outlined by Theresa May on Sunday, might so wreck the economy there will be nothing left for Labour to destroy.
D eutsche Bank shares finally rallied today as Jamie Dimon came to the aid of his stricken rival.

The JPMorgan chief, perhaps the most powerful commercial banker in the world, insisted in an interview with US television that there is no reason Deutsche cant resolve its troubles and return to strength.

Dimon, regarded as close to the Obama administration and the President, claimed most of the problems afflicting Deutsche were caused by government rather than management.

Deutsche is in settlement talks with the US Department of Justice over the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

The Justice Department wants $14 billion. Shares in Germanys most important lender rose more than 1% in in Frankfurt today.

They rose 16 cents to 11.75, dramatically down on the year high of 27.98.

An unconfirmed report from the US said Deutsche could succeed in more than halving the level of the fine wanted by the US authorities.

Most banking analysts still think it will have to raise cash from shareholders to successfully move on from a crisis that has engulfed a firm vital to companies large and small across Europe.

That is worrying investors who are nervous of the shares even at these low levels.

Deutsches British chief executive John Cryan has blamed speculators for driving down the shares far below what he insists they are worth.
S adiq Khans deputy mayor for business today urged the Prime Minister to act faster on her preparations for the Brexit negotiations, now that she has set a short timeframe for triggering Article 50 to leave the EU.

Rajesh Agrawal said Britain was nowhere near ready to begin negotiating with the EU, especially now that Theresa May has set such an early date to start the talks.

The Prime Minister must give more detail than what we have seen so far, he said.

We only have six months to come up with a detailed plan of what we want and how were going to set about getting it.

We must be well prepared. We must be clear about what we want and how we are going to go about getting it, and I havent seen a big plan around that so far.

He was speaking to the Evening Standard as the pound continued to fall in reaction to news of the early date for Brexit negotiations to begin.

He said it was vital that the PM establishes a clear structure for how the various interest groups can have input into Britains negotiating stance: London businesses must have a strong say, he said.

They pay almost a third of the taxes in this country. Almost a quarter of GDP output comes from London, so they must have a strong voice at the negotiating table. But we dont even know what that table looks like right now. We certainly need to see more details.

He added: Whos going to be around the table? What is the structure? All we know is that by the end of March next year well trigger Article 50, but we need to know more than that.

Yesterday, Khan urged May to reconsider her decision to rule out London having a seat at the negotiating table.

Agrawal added: We need to be sure about what we want, because this is a 40-year-old relationship with Europe. We are so intertwined, there are so many contact points between the UK and the EU. We have to analyse that rather than rush into anything.

Agrawal said London businesses needed to maximise access to the single market, passporting rights to trade in the European Union, and access to talent in Europe.
T he Arctic is melting, forests are burning and the world is warming up. Such problems are hard to think about while jostling for a seat on the Tube, or trying to remember what exactly to pick up for dinner on the way home. But some of these things are more connected than you might think.

The Evening Standards campaign against food waste will help save both money and the planet. Perhaps a third of the worlds food  1.3 billion tonnes  is wasted each year. The latest estimates suggest Europeans threw out 88 million tonnes of food in 2012  173 kg per person. The wasted items were worth 125 billion. Europeans take pride in being green, yet in fact they chuck away only slightly less each year, per head, than North Americans or Australians.

Squandering food also means squandering much of the water, fertilizer, feed, oil and other items needed to produce it in the first place. The amount of water used to produce unwanted food is enormous: a volume equivalent to the annual flow of Russias huge Volga river, according to the UN.

Leaving meat on your plate is worse than almost anything else. Producing a kilogram of grain requires 1,500 litres of water; a kilogram of beef requires 10 times as much. And emissions from farming add up. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest polluter in the world (after China and America).

Shops and restaurants need to work out what to do with their waste. In this respect, at least, Europe is leading the way. In February France passed a law requiring supermarkets to donate unwanted items or face a fine. In August, Italian lawmakers made it far easier for supermarkets to give out waste food by changing tax rules.

Knowing what is being thrown out, and where, remains a challenge everywhere else. This is why it is important that Sainsburys supports The Evening Standards campaign against food waste, and why its plan to release its data on waste is a useful step forward.

Technology can also help. Several apps exist to connect outlets which have too much food to groups with too little. One app, FoodCloud, based in Dublin, links up local homeless shelters and food banks with a nearby supermarket. About 740 stores across Britain and Ireland are involved, including ones owned by Tesco and Aldi.

FoodCloud keeps track of precisely what type of food needs collecting, where and when, so that items arent left lying around and the food remains safe to eat. There are also ways to help without a smartphone, such as asking to take away leftovers from a restaurant meal (and actually eating them the next day).

Most food waste is thrown out by households, and confusion over what labels on packets actually mean makes the problem worse. The EU rolled out best before and use by labels in 2014. The first type of label gives the date by which food can still be eaten, even if it is past its prime. The second type tells people when it is no longer safe to consume something.

Theresa May announced last weekend that she wants to change the system in Britain. Campaign against waste, and eat all your greens, if you want to do something for both poorer families and the planet as a whole.

Miranda Johnson is environment correspondent for The Economist
T his is the Middlemarch party conference, serious and provincial. Brexit looks like the Key to all Mythologies, an epic work which nobody has yet got to grips with.

Thank heavens, says one Remainer, that Cabinet is now a formal process rather than a forum. It means the Brexiteers will now come under scrutiny not only from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, who yesterday injected some chilly economic realism into the hall in Birmingham, but also from the Attorney General.

For the next two years, from Government to the EU itself, it is all going to be about the fine detail.

Many who voted Leave were motivated by controlling immigration. Others were fed up with London. Ironically, we all will have to learn to be more like immigrants now and the London model must become the national one.

The productivity gap between the South East and the rest of the country is gaping. London is used to the 24-hour economy, powered by immigration. This is not the same in the provinces. A relative who came to a birthday party in Norfolk at the weekend was told by the local taxi firm that drivers fancied a night in so the service was cancelled. Post-Uber, this seems bizarrely anachronistic.

If we want British jobs for British workers we are going to have to stop being choosy. Author Fay Weldon is dead right when she says women can find work as cleaners. Or care home workers, or fruit pickers. This looks like phase two of the welfare revolution that Iain Duncan Smith started.

The Protestant work ethic in London must become a national movement. We live to work rather than work to live. The new Work and Pensions Secretary, Damian Green, wants more older people in the workforce (starting with the present Cabinet) and to encourage the disabled who can work to be allowed to do so.

The numbers of registered disabled is around seven million, many of them suffering from mental health problems. Yet we know work can counter depression. Last week the Labour Party conference addressed the new world of work by asserting more rights. But European employment laws are going on the pyre.

The gig economy is on its way. Brexit means this: Work Harder.

Foreign aid is not just truck- and-chuck

The other evening I chaired a discussion on foreign aid at the LSE between the managing director, global policy and advocacy, of the Gates Foundation Joe Cerrell and the LSE professor Tim Allen. Should foreign aid be conditional, and how should it be distributed?

Shadow international development secretary Kate Osamor said last week no ifs, no buts about assisting those in need. She is also uneasy about linking with trade, which has shades of colonialism. But she sees foreign aid as a kind of soft power. On Sunday, Boris Johnson declared Britain a super-soft power. He named the BBC as a beacon. Coincidentally, the BBC is sharpening up its trade export of programmes on the back of its global reputation.

It is not unreasonable to hustle to be first in line for trade deals where there is goodwill. Sierra Leone and Nepal are good examples. The UK operation to fight Ebola was founded on good principles. The armed forces, the department of foreign aid and the NHS joined up effectively. When I went to West Africa in 2015 there really were Union flags being waved on the streets.

Post-Brexit, where the UK as a global trading nation becomes of paramount importance, the relationship between aid and trade needs attention. Liam Fox pointed out the discrepancy of Kenyan farmers being unable to sell their produce to the protectionist EU but being compensated by aid.

I met a Department for International Development-funded group called TradeMark East Africa recently which sees a Brexit opportunity for free trade at last. It favours building trade routes rather than giving aid handouts. This is a different vision of aid from the basic truck and chuck, a transition from dependency. I reckon we need a version of Iain Duncan Smith to look at foreign aid reform.

At the LSE talk, Cerrell conceded that the entrepreneurial mindset likes a challenge and tends to prefer personal rather than state control. But it is bold and visionary to think we can research and innovate our way out of disease and poverty. The Francis Crick Institute is a more powerful beacon of hope for change than the Government.

Crossrail, a beacon of our ambition

The disappearance of former Chancellor George Osborne from the limelight means we see far fewer hard hats and high-vis jackets around the place. It is not Theresa Mays style and she may not wish to draw attention to the glorious development of London right now.

So with hard hats going spare, I went to look at the Crossrail station in Liverpool Street. It is a marvel of ambition, purpose and skill. It leads the world in urban transport engineering. China is desperate for our expertise and will take our designs and our workers if there is a loss of will to continue with Crossrail 2.

Londons population is heading for 10 million, twice that of Scotland. Lets not punish London for being a global magnet and an engine of the economy.

Is Conference just one big dating game?

The American Conservative party worker behind me in the security queue at conference spoke to her male chum with statistical curiosity rather than judgment: So what proportion of Conservative men would you say were gay, 95 per cent? She said party conferences were, in her experience, dominantly gay dating nights, leaving her stranded. Is it the banter? The fixation with dominatrix/ mother figures, hence maybe the appeal of Theresa May, or even Mrs Thatcher before her? When David Cameron championed gay marriage he claimed to be widening the party base. It turned out that he was playing to the gallery.
A 20-year-old man was killed in a shooting at a block of flats in east London.

Armed police and paramedics rushed to the building in Bethnal Green after reports of gunfire on Monday night.

The victim was found with injuries and pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting shortly afterwards, sparking a murder investigation.

Officers arrested two men, aged 21 and 29, in connection with the incident.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at around 8:40pm on October 3 to reports of a shooting at a block of flats in Florida Street, E2.

Whilst officers believe they know who the deceased is, they await formal identification.

"A post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.

Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to contact police via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
I ts the biggest event in Londons movie calendar, the London Film Festival is now in its 60th year. With over 12 days of cinematic treats in store, its place to get the inside track on the biggest blockbusters and cult classics in the making before anyone else. Heres what to see:

1. City Of Tiny Lights

Riz Ahmed in City of Tiny Lights

Fresh from his enigmatic and engaging turn as a young murder suspect in HBOs The Night Of, Riz Ahmed is back on home turf.

In City of Tiny Lights he plays a private eye on the case of a missing girl in Britains multicultural capital, a role which promises to add to this phenomenal actors ever-growing reputation. The film itself also possesses enough flair to launch London neo-noir as a bona fide genre, plus look out for a cameo from Billie Piper.

13 October, 9pm and 14 October, 2pm

2. Lo And Behold, Reveries Of The Connected World

Lo And Behold: Reveries of the Connected World trailer

With his Bavarian-accented voiceovers and digression-filled interviews, Werner Herzog is a documentarian like no other.

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World

Following up on the magnificently lyrical Cave Of Forgotten Dreams, in Lo and Behold explores perhaps the most Herzogian topic yet: the past, present and future of the internet. The screening on 13 October is also followed by a Q&A with the man himself.

13 October, 6pm and 14 October, noon

3. The Handmaiden

The Handmaiden trailer

South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) stuns with every cinematic outing and his latest thriller looks set to be an instant classic.

The Handmaiden

The twisty-turny story of a long con sent awry by true love, The Handmaiden is based on Sarah Waters 2002 novel, Fingersmith. Chan-wook and his production designer Ryu Seong-hie have relocated to Thirties Korea, in the process creating sets so exquisite, youll weep at the very sight of them.

7 October, 5.30pm and 8 October, 11am.

4. Free Fire

Free Fire trailer

In 1970s Boston, two Irishmen (Cillian Murphy and Michael Smiley) attempt to buy an arsenal of guns, setting the scene for a bloody shoot-out and dialogue thats just as rapid-fire.

Free Fire

Director Ben Wheatley and his writing partner Amy Jump are already firmly established as Britains most exciting filmmaking talents and with Free Fire, co-starring LFF favourite Brie Larson, it just gets better.

16 October, 7pm and 8pm

5. A Quiet Passion

A Quiet Passion trailer

The historical drama used to be the stuff of cosy Sunday evenings in, but these days its also home to cutting-edge creativity.

A Quiet Passion

In A Quiet Passion, cult British director Terence Davies (see Of Time And The City to have your mind blown) brings the story of Emily Dickinson to the screen, while former Sex And The CIty star, Cynthia Nixon, delivers a witty and sensitive performance as the 19th-century American poet. 10 October, 6pm and 12 October, 11.30am

This article was brought you in association with Hiscox Home Insurance, providers of expert cover for valued homes, art and high-value items. Visit hiscox.co.uk/home to find out more.

For more Hiscox:

How to look after antiques and valuables

Take a tour of the home of the future

What does David Bowie's art collection say about him?
W hen he published his scoop about Elena Ferrantes identity on Sunday, Italian journalist Claudio Gatti underestimated the loyalty of readers. After months of investigation Gatti revealed in the New York Review of Books that the secretive author of the Neapolitan novels was Anita Raja, a German translator who lives in Rome. But instead of being lauded for his journalistic skills Gatti has been roundly criticised by fans who have developed a fierce protectiveness of Ferrante, and ignited debate about how much we need to know about authors.

Jonny Geller, literary agent and joint CEO of Curtis Brown, says: The publishing community feels its a shame  very different to the Robert Galbraith/J K Rowling reveal.

The broad consensus in London is that expressed by the Times Literary Supplement. Its editor, Stig Abell, wrote about why his publication would have respected Ferrantes wishes to, as she put it, not feel tied down to what could become ones public image. To concentrate exclusively and with complete freedom on writing and its strategies.

Ferrante elaborates on why she chose a pseudonym in Frantumaglia, a collection of writings by and about her thats out next month, at the same time as her childrens book, The Beach at Night, hits the shelves.

Karolina Sutton, another literary agent at Curtis Brown, sees the readers as complicit in Ferrantes desire for anonymity and says most of them are accepting and respectful of this request, however fragile it is. This disappointing intrusion felt like an act of deliberate destruction rather than an act of journalistic duty  a badly-intentioned spoiler which delighted no one. Sutton sees the method and approach behind the reveal as the antithesis of the qualities youll find in Ferrantes novels, which are deeply private, nuanced and revealing in a very different way.

But anonymity arouses natural human curiosity. John Mullan, professor of English at UCL and the author of Anonymity: A Secret History of English Literature, says: If an anonymous (or pseudonymous) book is successful, the search for its author is always intense. Before the 20th century, when anonymity in published fiction was common, authors knew this. If they were going to be popular they would be outed.

Books to read in 2016 1 /10 Books to read in 2016 Click through our gallery to discover the best beach reads for summer 2016... Shutterstock / wavebreakmedia The Girls by Emma Cline Clines debut novel first started to make noise in 2014 when the unknown 25-year-old sold her manuscript for a reported $2 million as part of a three-book deal. Now that the book is finally out, its fast becoming clear why it was so hotly anticipated. Beautifully written, this unflinching account of 14-year-old Evie Boyds enticement into a hippie cult is loosely inspired by the Manson murders of the late Sixties. But if youre looking for the next Helter Skelter, Cline has put the grisly details on ice, focusing instead on a coming-of-age story that will reacquaint you with your teenage self: angry, unheard and passionate. Fans of The Virgin Suicides and The Bell Jar will struggle to put this down. Youll Grow Out Of It by Jessi Klein Comedian Jessi Kleins hilariously candid autobiography offers a relentlessly funny collection of real-life stories and the lessons shes learned from them. These include her transformation from tomboy to tom man, attempting to find watchable porn and identifying the difference between being called maam and miss. If you liked Amy Poehler's Yes Please, this is a must-read. Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality by Debbie Cenziper and Jim Obergefell Keep the spirit of this months Pride celebrations alive by reading this fascinating and moving story of the lovers, lawyers, judges and activists behind the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that led to one of the most important civil rights victories in history - the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Both inspiring and unforgettable, these accounts will stay with you long after youve finished reading. Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life by Kim Addonizio Kim Addonizio's wisecracking debut memoir is a hilariously salacious account that reflects on writing, drinking, dating and her wildest years as a young writer. She captures moments of inspiration at the writing desk and adventures on the road- from a champagne-fuelled sexcapade to sparsely attended readings at remote Midwestern colleges. Barkskins by Annie Proulx At over 700 pages, this book isnt for the faint-hearted, but youll breeze through it thanks to its brilliantly genius characters. Based on the taking down of the worlds forests, the book centres around the greedy and vengeful descendants of wood-cutters over 300 years who seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse. The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley Scooping the coveted Debut Novel of the Year accolade at this years Costa Book Awards, this Gothic work has earned praise from a host of literary critics and writers, including Stephen King who described it as an amazing piece of fiction". Set in 1976 it follows a familys annual stay in an old house in Lancashire, a place gripped by the mystery of the death of the local priest. The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock Set in Alabama in 1917, Pollocks novel follows dispossessed farmer Pearl Jewett and his three young sons. Several hundred miles away in southern Ohio, a farmer Ellsworth Fiddler lives with his son, Eddie, and his wife, Eula. After Ellsworth is swindled out of his family's entire fortune, his life is turned upside down, throwing him onto a tumultuous trajectory that will directly lead him to cross paths with the Jewetts. Dark, violent and funny, this book will be like nothing else youve ever read.

In the 18th and 19th centuries publishing anonymously was considered good manners by some, according to Mullan, to try to keep the gap between your life as an author and the rest of your life. It wasnt just women: Sir Walter Scott was the best-selling novelist in Europe but went to great lengths to keep his identity concealed.

Mullan sees an echo of Charlotte Bronte in Ferrante: Bronte wanted to avoid anyone thinking her novels were autobiographical  or even particularly feminine. Even when her identity was known, she wouldnt play the author.

Curiosity about the authorship of a book is always good for its sales, adds Mullan. There has been a spike in Ferrantes sales, along with the spotlight going on the Rose Theatre Kingston, which is showing the first adaptation of the Neapolitan novels next year.

But that is beside the point. For Sutton, the success of these books was not built on a publicity stunt which needed exposing. The mystery was not manufactured for greatest effect. Most of us found Ferrante through, first, word of mouth and then word on the page. The books and their effect on us are what matters.

Foyless head of marketing Simon Heafield has been talking to upset readers and says: They fell in love with the books without knowing about their author. The mystery of her identity added a further layer of intrigue, as well as some fun in guessing who it might be. Readers are often defensive of authors that they love, so many will see it as a shame that these wishes could not be respected. He suggests that the idea of writing anonymously offers some comfort, in a world in which everything can be known.

Daniela Petracco, who works at Ferrantes publisher, Europa Editions, says: Ferrantes works operate on many different levels and connect deeply with readers from different backgrounds and nationalities. Mullan suggests a positive angle to what we now know: The great thing is that fiction that many assumed was based on the life of its author turns out not to have been. Hooray! Other readers chose not to pay attention to names. What matters to them is the story of two girls growing up in Naples, told by a woman who wanted to be known as Elena Ferrante.

Follow Susannah Butter on Twitter: @susannahbutter
I f the rings and dings of mobile reminders have you dreaming of a better, more organised life, maybe its time to ditch the apps in favour of the Bullet Journal: a lo-fi way of keeping your schedule in check.

The Bullet Journal is a DIY planner of sorts that supposedly turns any notebook into a master to do list and calendar. Blank pages are filled with daily, weekly and monthly tasks, schedules, journal entries and whatever else your particular life requires.

It's like the planner equivalent of the KonMari cleaning method: both promise that anyone can organise their lives and both approach tasks with mindfulness. But rather than looking for a spark, the Bullet Journal is about getting the stuff thats worth your time done.

Brooklyn-based product designer Ryder Carroll started to create the Bullet Journal system when he was a struggling schoolboy in Vienna, Austria. Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder at a young age, he ended up creating a way of note taking that helped him focus on multiple things during a shorter period of time. This became rapid logging  a core technique and what Carroll calls the "language" of the Bullet Journal. He officially launched bulletjournal.com in 2013 and since then, the analogue system has gained massive popularity in the digital world.

The appeal of the Bullet Journal is the opportunity to create a planner that reflects a persons unique needs, life and ways of thinking and many users claim its the reason behind increased productivity.

Best books on mindfulness 1 /14 Best books on mindfulness Find your inner peace with our pick of the best mindfulness and meditation books... Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world This bestseller will get you in the right frame of mind for 2016. Based on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)  a successful form of brief meditation this book's success relies on the way in which authors Mark Williams and Danny Penman optimistically focus on adding joy to your life as opposed to ridding it of unhappiness. 10.50, Amazon, Buy it now Anti-Stress Dot-to-Dot Always thought that dot-to-dots were an activity for children? Apprently you're wrong be wrong  the pictures in this book, featuring elegant buildings and nature scenes, will relax and focus your mind in a way you never thought a dot-to-dot book could. 5, Amazon, Buy it now I Am Here Now This will help enhance both your observation and creativity; with an audio track (featuring musings from mindfulness teacher Tara Brach) and a field notes page for recording purposes, I Am Here Now will enable your thoughts and emotions to take on a new lease of life. 7, Amazon, Buy it now The Mindful Workplace What better time to deploy the theories of mindfulness than at work? This book, filled with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques, provides an eight-week training course to keep your workplace attitude at its peak. 30.50, Amazon, Buy it now Get some headspace This book from Andy Puddicombe, founder of popular digital health platform Headspace, attempts to get people to take ten minutes out of their day for meditation purposes. Once the technique's been learned, these skills will stay with you for the rest of your life. 10, Amazon, Buy it now The Mindfulness Colouring Book Much like the dot-to-dot book above, this pocket-sized adult colouring book is the perfect activity for a 10-minute breather. Consider your stress and anxiety soothed. 4, Amazon, Buy it now The Little Book of Mindfulness In this day and age, it's more important to be in the moment than ever  this book will help you with that. From Dr Patrizia Collard, these brief practices will rid your day of stress and have you feeling more optimistic. 4, Amazon, Buy it now Body Calm The saying mind over matter derives from the idea that our minds have the power to control our bodies if we really want them to. Equally, mental stress can have a damaging effect on our bodies. Newbigging teaches us a new self-healing meditation technique to help keep our bodies healthy and to understand the source of common stress and anxiety triggers. 11, Amazon, Buy it now The Power of Now The Power of Now has become one of the most famous mindfulness books out there. Helping us to tap into our innermost Being, Tolle guides us through various techniques to help us understand that the present moment is all that really matters. 8, Amazon, Buy it now A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled An ambassador for mental health awareness, Ruby Wax OBE has helped to make mindfulness accessible to all. Having suffered from depression herself, in this book she explores how modern living is causing us more stress and anxiety than ever as we know and see too much. Included are mindfulness exercises and tips for everyone from babies to adults; all with sound underlying scientific reasoning. 4, Amazon, Buy it now

From habit trackers to Gratitude Logs and the seemingly complex Calendex (a calandar-index hybrid yo), Bullet Journal devotees have come up with different ways to record their lives. Many share photos of their pages, or spreads as theyre called, with a community obsessed by the system on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and the like.

At the time of writing, there are over 250,000 images tagged with #bulletjournal on Instagram alone.

List making is a way to act upon the pre-occupation with unfinished tasks (known as Zeigarnik Effect'). As such, writing tasks down frees up mental real estate for other, more immediate needs according to a Science of Us interview with behavioural neuroscientist Daniel Levitin. Furthermore, a 2014 study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that taking notes by hand  as opposed to typing on a laptop  boosts memory and aides in the ability to understand concepts.

But with all the beautiful Bullet Journals and spreads out there, starting your own can be pretty intimidating. Much like planning a wedding after looking at Pinterest for fives minutes. To soothe your soul, we reached out to Carroll and two popular Bullet Journallers, Boho Berry blogger Kara Benz and Tiny Ray of Sunshine blogger Kim Alvarez, for tips on how to get started and how to keep going.

Is your #bulletjournal ready for #march ? A photo posted by Ryder Carroll (@bulletjournal) on Mar 2, 2016 at 7:25am PST

Dont Be Intimidated by Perfect and Beautiful Bullet Journals

Despite what you may often see on Instagram, Bullet Journals are for everyone  even for those without an artistic bone in their body.

[Newcomers] think they have to be neat when really, life is super messy, says Alvarez, [and] for a lot of people, their Bullet Journals are really messy.

As tempting as it may be, theres no need to rush out to buy special fountain pens, rolls of Washi tape or cool Japanese highlighters. And while there is an official Bullet Journal (which is made in collaboration with German notebook makers Leuchtturm) its currently sold out. Carroll hopes to have them in stock by October but you shouldnt wait for then to start.

Its really not about how the Bullet Journal looks, its about how effective it is and what kind of impact it has, reminds Carroll.

Just grab a notebook and a pen, and get started.

Visit bulletjournal.com and read it over and over again

A Bullet Journal can become whatever you need it to be, but its not always easy to figure out what that is or what it looks like.

I always recommend going to bulletjournal.com and going through their Getting Started series because that will give you solid building blocks when creating your own system, says Benz.

Here, youll learn how to rapid log (a method of note taking that uses signifiers), the process of migration, and the four main modules: the Index (a Table of Contents), Future Log (items youll do further on into the future or some day), Monthly Log (items to get done this month), and Daily Log (your day-to-day tasks).

Appropriately enough, theres also a handy Getting Started printout available on the site. Designed by Alvarez, the printout has been translated into 14 other languages by fellow Bullet Journallers  cheers guys.

Carroll suggests sticking with the system hes laid out for two months as its meant to be so easy that it can be done with minimal amount of effort.

Once you start to understand how the Bullet Journal will help you get more stuff done, then should you start playing with habit trackers, collections and other ideas.

Ask Yourself, Is This Really Worth My Time?

Migration is one of the cornerstones of the Bullet Journal system. This is where you take a look at all the tasks you have and havent completed at the end of a calendar month (or whatever length of time works for you) and decide whether you should copy incomplete tasks over to a new spread.

[The Bullet Journal] is very much designed to be a mindfulness practice. The idea is that youre constantly holding yourself accountable for the ways that youre spending your time, says Carroll.

As he puts it, if you dont want to take the three seconds to copy a task again, maybe its not worth your time: For me, personally, time is the most valuable thing in the world.

But as life would have it, there are just some things you cant ignore. Alvarez suggests breaking down tasks that you find yourself copying over and over again."

So even if its something as simple as make a doctors appointment, maybe try writing down the exact steps like, find out the number, call at 2pm, explains Alvarez. Make it really specific so that its so simple you dont have to overthink it and its right there in front of you.

My September setup!  A photo posted by Federica (@feebujo) on Sep 8, 2016 at 6:01am PDT

Keep It Simple

When [new users] see so much inspiration, theyre like, okay, I want to do a sleep tracker, and I want to do a habit tracker, and I want to do this, and I want to do that, says Alvarez. Pretty soon they overwhelm themselves with all these different ideas.

There are many different ways to bullet journal and while theyre not wrong, they also shouldnt stop you from being productive. For Carroll, filling in your Bullet Journal should never feel like a chore: It should always feel like, a) fun, and b) like its having an impact all the time. You should feel better for using it.

Since simple means different things to different people, Benz suggests pre-planning how you want to set up your Bullet Journal in order to figure out exactly what you want to achieve with it.

Dont Sweat The Small Stuff

There are some days where you cant do all the things and maybe you just need a little break, says Alvarez. Having some time away helps you come back to it with some fresh new insight to what you really want to do with your Bullet Journal.

Creating a Bullet Journal is a highly personal and flexible system and will evolve with your own life and needs. You may need it more on certain days and not at all on others and thats okay.

Sometimes having those blank pages lets you think back to those times [where you didnt write something] and go, okay, what changed here? Is there something I could fix or tweak to get back into it?  explains Benz.

Be Part Of The Community

Always feel free to reach out with questions, advises Carroll. One of the most beautiful parts of the Bullet Journal  and what keeps me motivated all the time  is the community. Its really a rare kind of community thats incredibly positive and incredibly supportive. I think thats why its become so very popular because everyone wants others to succeed.

Carroll recently launched two series on the bulletjournal.com blog that look at how professionals and parents use Bullet Journals. Alvarez and Benz also both run their own blogs where they share their own methods, tips and fun challenges (they host the #RockYourHandwriting challenge with other Bullet Journallers). Theres also a Bullet Journal subreddit, a Google+ community, and many other spaces dedicated to the Bullet Journal system.

Last week #bulletjournal#bulletjournaling#bulletjournaljunkies#bulletjournallove#bulletjournalcommunity A photo posted by Federica Santaroni (@feeneve) on May 23, 2016 at 4:57am PDT

Make It Your Own

At the end of the day, the Bullet Journal is all about you: it reflects your schedule, your list of tasks and, as Carroll puts it, how you find clarity and answers to questions you may not have answers to.

Its fine to take inspiration from others but tweak it where you need to so that it works for you, advises Benz. So if drawing in your Bullet Journal helps you come back to it, then great. But if you like the look of jet black ink on paper, then thats fine too.

It has to be yours, explains Alvarez. Its not what anyone else is doing. Its what works for you. Its what you need in your life at the time, and what you need now may change in a couple of weeks or a couple of years. And your Bullet Journal will adapt along with you as your life changes.

After all, a Bullet Journal stops being a Bullet Journal when it doesnt work for you.

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B ang in the middle of Colombia you find a region so diverse in climate and landscape that it is no wonder that the Andean region is loved by national and international tourists alike.

In a ten-day trip between Medellin and Cali, I found myself up mountains, in deserts, rainforests, coffee plantations and amongst 900BC ruins.

The only constant was the friendliness of the people I met along the way. Here's how I made my way across the Colombian Andes in 10 days.

Saltento: for trekking

My first stop was the mountain town of Salento, a hub for hiking. Start by taking a Willys Jeep up into Valle de Cocora, notorious for its strikingly tall wax palm trees. From there, an hours walk, crossing seven rope bridges and getting a feel for the forest trails, you find yourself at Casa Colibri, the house of the humming birds.

Willys Jeeps / Annie Ross/Exerk

For full trekking immersion, head into the Nevados National Park with Salento Trekking on a multi-day trek to one of the summits - some snow-capped, others not. Enjoy the high altitude valley views, sightings of toucans, condors and hummingbirds and learn about the flora native to each of the seven ecosystems in the area.

Wax palm trees in Valle de Cocora

Accommodation during the hikes is at local family fincas with pigs, chickens, sheep, dogs, cats, turkeys, cows and horses all in close proximity.

In Salento town, Luciernaga Hostel offers excellent private and dorm room accommodation, and just down the hill, for those looking for more peace and quiet, the traditional Rancho de Salento is the place to rest your head.

Rancho de Salento / Annie Ross/Exerk

Buenavista: for coffee tours

A couple of local buses later and I found myself in a village aptly named Buenavista (good view). There I toured the coffee plantation, sorting house, laboratory and onsite cafe of San Alberto, a super premium coffee plantation.

Coffee tasting / Annie Ross/Exerk

The in-depth tour at San Alberto is one of the highest quality in the Coffee Region, lasting 2.5 hours, complete with sensory tasting in the laboratory. Neighbouring Cafecultur also host an informative coffee tour for those on a slimmer budget.

While in Armenia, the hub for Salento and Buenavista, I made the short trip to the pretty hilltop town of Filandia, a smaller, less crowded version of Salento and well worth a day trip.

Desierto de Tatacoa: for star gazing, walking and biking

After the mountains and coffee region, I travelled south to the second largest desert in Colombia, Desierto de Tatacoa. Reached by colectivo (shared jeep transport) via Neiva, the tiny town is alongside the two main attractions; the observatory and the labyrinth.

Biking in Tatacoa Desert / Annie Ross/Exerk

A wonderful nightly star gazing talk is hosted at 7pm and a couple of hours in the red sand canyon labyrinth was my highlight. Setting off at 6am, I walked the labyrinth (guide is optional), before renting a mountain bike to explore the sights further a field. A guided motorbike ride can also be organized upon arrival if youd rather not cycle in the desert.

There is accommodation for all budgets and tastes. Starting with the most basic, you have hammocks and rooms at Sol de Verano Dona Lilia, conveniently close to the observatory, a step up, El Penon de Constantino has a natural spring pool and traditional cabins. The Bioluxury hotel, Bethel, takes you upscale with creative desert architecture.

Bethel Bioluxury hotel / Annie Ross/Exerk

San Agustin: for horse riding and statue exploring

San Agustin town sits in fertile volcanic land and is renowned for its thousands of 1st-8th century megalithic statues. Relatively little is known about the statues but a wander around its UNESCO Archaeological Park is a must.

A horse ride trip to visit the other sights gives you a flavour of the age and cultural significance of the tomb statues.

Be humbled by the Estrecho del Rio Magdalena, a spot 30 minute drive from San Agustin town where Colombias longest river gets squeezed through a 2m wide rock formation. Stay on the outskirts of San Agustin town to enjoy the serenity of the mountain  Casa de Francois was my chosen spot.

Horse riding in San Agustin / Annie Ross/Exerk

This 10 day trip can be (and was) done on a shoestring staying in hammocks and dorm rooms and taking local buses. There are also excellent hotel and private car offerings if desired. Pure! Colombia provides expert travel advice on the region should you require help in organising your trip.

For more on travelling and working in Colombia, head to Annies blog at exerk.com and follow her on Instagram @exerkyourself
A busy Tube station was evacuated and the surrounding roads placed on lockdown this afternoon as police investigated a suspect package.

Passengers were forced to leave Hammersmith Tube station and the streets surrounding it were cordoned off after the suspicious item was discovered shortly after 2.30pm.

On Twitter, witnesses reported hearing a controlled explosion and office workers said they told to stay indoors.

Account director Ben Chajet, 37, told the Standard: "We received a company-wide email notifying us that the police had cordoned off the area and that we had to stay in the building until further notice and that we must stay away from the windows.

Officer workers were told to stay indoors / @YaggoYo

"We got the all clear after approx 30minutes. One of my colleagues mentioned that the police had done a controlled explosion.

"Shortly after that we were told that the area was now clear and that we could leave and enter the building as we pleased."

Another office worker Ben Rabinovich wrote on Twitter: The whole office is now staring at the police cordoning off all of Hammersmith because of "a suspicious bag" - Productivity has plummeted.

Another named Mike de la Victoria said: Cannot leave the building. Suspicious package found nearby.

Police officers outside Hammersmith station / @zhu_belinda

Dave Tovey tweeted: "Explosion just heard in Hammersmith. Hopefully controlled."

Another user, tweeting under the name RP, said: "An explosion just went off at Hammersmith station."

Sinai Fleary wrote: Absolute chaos outside Hammersmith station right now. Police everywhere. Broadway evacuated. #Hammersmith.

A Met Police spokesman confirmed officers were investigating a suspect package and that local road closures were in place.

British Transport Police said on Twitter: "We are at Hammersmith station alongside @metpoliceuk after a suspicious item was discovered. Updates to follow."

Officers later added: "Hammersmith station and surrounding area now reopening after a security alert. Incident is not suspicious. Thank you for your patience."

The incident was stood down and the roads reopened at about 3.15pm.

Transport for London said trains would not call at the station while police dealt with the suspect package.
A man who stabbed a victim 25 times with a broken glass in a violent frenzy has been found guilty of attempted murder.

Matthew Baker, 28, was convicted of launching the vicious, unprovoked attack on a man he had met at a friends house in Dagenham.

Police were called to address on Lewis Way around 1.40am on March 21 last year after reports of a man suffering serious injuries.

Officers quizzed Baker and the female who were at the flat and both claimed the victim was injured after an unknown group of males had forced entry to the flat.

Both were questioned and the female eventually admitted that Baker had been responsible for the attack, using a glass to attack the victim.

He was subsequently arrested and charged.

The 23-year-old victim was rushed to Royal London Hospital where he underwent life-saving surgery to multiple stab injuries.

Barking and Dagenham CIDs DS Martin ODonnell said: It has never been fully established why Baker carried out such a vicious attack but what is clear is that this violent assault very nearly ended in the death of a man.

It is only thanks to the skills of medical staff at the Royal London Hospital that the victim survived.

"This has been a protracted and challenging investigation for police but I am glad that justice has finally been served and Baker will spend a considerable amount of time behind bars."

Baker, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of attempted murder at Snaresbrook Crown Court today.
A pensioner who flouted a lifetime ban on owning pets by turning her north London home into an animal house of horrors could be jailed.

Dulcie Seago-Madi, 73, was banned in November last year from owning any animals when RSPCA inspectors discovered 16 malnourished and diseased dogs in cages at her squalid house.

She was given a four-month suspended sentence and the sick animals were taken away to be rehomed.

But less than a month later, Seago-Madi had nearly 50 cats roaming around her urine and faeces-soaked home in Crouch Hill.

Squalor: a dog at the house / RSPCA

Dogs were also in desperate need of food and water and an African grey parrot had not been fed for days.

Inspectors also found a dead hedgehog in a bedroom, animal carcasses and a tortoise that was not being properly looked after.

Prosecutor Dilichi Onuzo told Highbury Corner magistrates court yesterday that one cat had to be put down. The whole place was covered in faeces and urine, there were bowls out but no sign of water in them.

Seago-Madi pleaded guilty to breaking the ban on keeping animals, and welfare offences.

She could be jailed when sentenced next month.
S ainsbury's boss Mike Coupe has a reputation as a guarded, thoughtful man who eschews publicity, very much in contrast to his predecessor Justin King.

So when he sticks his head above the parapet to level criticism at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, you can be sure the food industry  and Defra  will take note.

Asked if Defra should do more to tackle food waste by calling on all supermarkets to go naked and publish their food waste data, Mr Coupe was emphatic. Absolutely, he said. This is an area where Defra should act. But I would go beyond merely setting guidelines. Supermarkets must be made to follow suit so we can compare performance on a fair and consistent basis.

He went further. We take a view that the more level the playing field the better, so I would also subscribe to the principle that it should be applied to fast-food outlets and restaurants, and perhaps later to manufacturers too.

Government legislation, he admitted, had played a decisive role five years ago in dramatically cutting the surplus food supermarkets send to landfill by imposing penalties for non-compliance. So did he think that the French system  where supermarkets that fail to set up food donation partnerships suffer penalties of 3,000  was the recipe for real change in the UK?

Our food for London campaign What is it? This 1 million-plus initiative seeks to redistribute surplus food to tackle food poverty. What are we doing? 1. Backing the scale-up of The Felix Project  our flagship charity  which picks up surplus produce from food suppliers and delivers it to a range of charities that provide meals for those in need. 2. Awarding grants to groups through an open grants programme. Who can apply for grants? If you are a charity, community group or social enterprise tackling food waste and/or using fresh food to address food poverty, you can apply for a grant of up to 20,000. Apply by November 11 to The London Community Foundation at: londoncf.org.uk/grants/food-for-london.aspx Who are our backers? We have raised over 800,000 for Felix from Citi, Sainsburys, Lush founders Mark and Mo Constantine, the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund, a hedge fund boss and the Felix Byam Shaw Foundation, which has pledged to match money raised for The Felix Project with up to 750,000. The 320,000 grants programme is funded by Citi, D&D London and the Dispossessed Fund. How you can help The Felix Project is looking for more: Food suppliers including supermarkets, wholesalers and food outlets. Charities which provide meals for those in need and could benefit from free fresh food. Please email Daisy@TheFelixProject.org

I dont think that would be helpful, he said. Better to encourage supermarkets to compete to be leaders on tackling food waste and come to the party voluntarily. But would they? Yes, the industry in the UK is tremendously customer-focused and we can act, he said. We collectively reduced the amount of salt we put into our products, for example.

Until recently, only Tesco had published its food waste data with Sainsburys becoming the second supermarket to do so when it released its food surplus  including a breakdown of how much it donates for human consumption  exclusively to the Standard as part of our investigation. Our ground-breaking expose showed Sainsburys donated 7.6 per cent of its surplus compared with 4.5 per cent for Tesco. Taken together, the top 10 supermarkets donated a risible 3.2 per cent of the total retail food surplus.

Sitting in a meeting room in Sainsburys Holborn Circus headquarters, the normally taciturn Mr Coupe went on the front foot, insisting there was nothing to stop all the major supermarkets furnishing Defra with this information. Under the Courtauld agreement, supermarkets already provide this data to [waste charity] Wrap who undertake to keep it hidden, he said.

Why had Sainsburys decided to come clean and release its data? Customer pressure, he said. Fifteen years ago, I suspect it barely registered, but today, when we survey our customers about our corporate and social responsibility, food waste is consistently the number one issue. Plus we feel we have a good story to tell.

Mr Coupe admitted that while Sainsburys had made progress since he took the helm in July 2014, it still has a long way to go. In the last year we have more than tripled the number of Sainsburys stores with food donation partnerships, from 215 to 833, and the volume of food donated has risen from 1,200 tonnes in 2014/15 to 2,935 tonnes in 2015/16. But we are still, as the Standard pointed out, only donating 7.6 per cent of our food surplus. And that is not where we need or want to be.

His vision is to quadruple food donations. Our surplus is 38,767 tonnes and of that 50 per cent is reusable though to get to that figure is not practically achievable. So what is feasible? Probably 25 per cent. Over how long? A three- to five-year timescale would not be unrealistic.

But to make that happen, he said, supermarkets need ways to redistribute the food  and thats where consolidators like Felix can make a difference. Mr Coupe was referring to The Felix Project, the flagship charity at the heart of the Standards drive to repurpose surplus food to tackle food poverty, and which has attracted financial backing from Sainsburys.

I welcome the Standards campaign because it forces the issue, he said. At the same time, he is keen to avoid the debate becoming too simplistic. The logistics are complex, he said. I read Ruth Rogers talking in the Standard of the difficulty of giving her 120 daily River Cafe customers a choice of dishes whilst also avoiding waste, so consider our challenge with 27 million customers. This country can be five degrees one week, 35 degrees the next, raining one minute, sunny the next. We have to manage that volatility of demand. On the whole we do a good job.

Does he think food poverty can be beaten in London? Yes, for sure. Its a matter of willpower. If the will is there, if the organisation is there. I dont think there is a one-size-fits-all solution. And of course, that is where fantastic new initiatives like Felix can be a big help.

On Monday, he will make a rare public appearance on the Evening Standards food forum to debate solutions to food waste. Is he looking forward to it? He smiled wryly. Lucky me. Up there with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. He laughed. That will be an interesting conversation.@cohenstandard

Join the debate at Standards forum

Readers are invited to apply for free tickets to our Food Forum on Monday, October 10, at which an expert panel will seek solutions to the issues of wasted food and hunger in London. The panel includes broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, campaigner Tristram Stuart, Sainsburys chief executive Mike Coupe, chef Ruth Rogers, Richard Swannell, of waste charity Wrap, and Jenny Costa, founder of sustainable food brand Rubies in the Rubble. Mayor Sadiq Khan will open the event.

When: 7-8.30pm, October 10

Where: Kings College,

Franklin-Wilkins building, Waterloo Campus,

150 Stamford Street, SE1 9NH.

Doors open 6.30pm. Free admission but ticket-only.

Tickets: standard.co.uk/foodforum
A paramedic committed suicide after being struck off for sending revenge porn of his ex-girlfriend to his workmates, an inquest heard.

Guy Tanner, 43, who had a history of depression, started a relationship with the colleague in May 2010.

They separated after three years but continued to share a flat for financial reasons.

Mr Tanner secretly set up a webcam and filmed her having sex with another colleague. He then harassed her, telling her she had a week to resign, before distributing intimate pictures and videos of her in 2013.

He was struck off after losing appeals to get his job back.

He fell seven months behind with his rent and emailed his victim the day before he died to say he had cared so much for her and was sorry. Bailiffs found him hanged at his home.

Southwark coroners court heard he left notes and claimed he was bullied by former bosses.

His victim, who cannot be named, told the inquest he had suffered from depression. She said: I do not believe there was bullying.

London Ambulance Service deputy director Paul McKenna chaired the panel which dismissed Mr Tanner.

He said: There were four allegations of gross misconduct where he distributed pornographic images and videos. He also made threats of harassment. Mr Tanner admitted three of the four charges.

A verdict of suicide was recorded.

For confidential support on mental health call the Samaritans on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or attend a local Samaritans branch.
L ondoners were stuck in heavy traffic in a second day of delays caused by the closure of Tower Bridge for repairs.

Roads close to the bridge were deemed a mess yesterday as the citys other bridges struggled to cope with commuters trying to cross the river.

There were further delays this morning as drivers and cyclists moaned about long delays along diversion routes.

This week is the start of a three month closure for Tower Bridge while repair work is carried out. It is set to reopen in the new year.

Congested: Bermondsey Road was clogged with traffic. / Roger Manser.

The Rotherhithe Tunnel was described as utter chaos yesterday while London Bridge and Southwark Bridge were choked up northbound with many drivers reporting they were late to work.

Cyclist Graham Fisher said his journey across London Bridge was absolutely terrible and called it an accident waiting to happen as bikes jostled with lorries.

Transformers set filming on Tower Bridge

Mr Fisher, who commutes from Peckham Rye to Toynbee Hall in east London, said: I came up Bermondsey Street and it was completely, completely chaos.

Closed: Cyclists are told to dismount and so wheel their bikes across the bridge. / @roggys Twitter

It was absolutely gridlock. Even on a bicycle it was difficult to get around. You have got some quite large vehicles.

Then you go up to London Bridge and Tooley Street and its just completely utter chaos. It kind of felt like an accident waiting to happen.

Mr Fisher added: I felt a bit vulnerable really. Its just the volume of roadworks combined with the volume of heavy goods traffic combines with the volume of cyclists, it was just quite frightening.

Old Kent Road was described as chockablock while Jamaica Road and the Highway were both packed with traffic.

Clogged up: The diversion routes were busy with traffic. / @TheMrsNatG Twitter.

On social media people complained of delays to their morning commute.

On Monday Peter Martin said on Twitter: London Bridge already packed with vehicles at 7.15 this morning. Its going to be chaos by 8.30.

One person took to Twitter to say: I cant live like this for the next 2 months.

London cabbies also complained on social media of the disruption they would face from the closure, complaining the problem is worsened by lane closures on other bridges.

Guiseppe Gonzalez, who passed Tower Bridge on his morning run, said police were stationed at both ends of the bridge checking cyclists were dismounting before crossing the bridge.

A spokesman for Transport for London said traffic on the diversion routes was busy but flowing.

More than 40,000 vehicles and pedestrians cross the 122-year-old bridge daily.

Northbound traffic will be diverted over London Bridge and Southwark Bridge will take southbound traffic.
M ore than 20 people were trapped in a packed Tube station lift for an hour on Sunday night after the emergency door failed to open.

Marusca Cirulli, who was one of the passengers locked in, has described her terror and called the lift a mortal trap and tragedy waiting to happen.

One of the passengers, a little girl, had to urinate in a plastic bag while another woman suffered a panic attack, she said.

The lift, at Elephant and Castle Tube station, cut out just before it reached the ground on the Tube level on Sunday evening.

Crowded: Over 20 people were inside the faulty lift. / Marusca Cirulli

There was some kind of bump, Ms Cirulli, from Eltham, told the Standard as she described the moment the lift broke at around 6pm.

Staff arrived and tried to open the emergency door on the side of the lift  but it was completely jammed.

Their emergency door did not open as it was faulty and stuck, she said.

Agitated: The emergency door on the side of the lift failed to open. / Marusca Cirulli

The lift was about two metres by two metres, it was quite packed in there and everybody was standing.

It was stressful, one girl started to cry and had a panic attack. There was a doctor in the lift with us and they tried to calm her down. The rest of us, we got agitated.

London Fire Brigade were called and at around 7.30pm the lift was fixed, freeing the anxious Tube passengers and allowing them to continue their journey.

But 41-year-old Ms Cirulli said she is worried about the condition of the lifts because of the emergency exits failure to open.

It is obvious that they do not regularly care of maintaining the emergency exit, she said.

That lift is a mortal trap and a tragedy waiting to happen.

If there would have been a fire or any other issue on the outside, we would have died like rats as nobody was able to free us.

Another woman who was one of the 21 trapped, Emma Parker, said on Twitter: It took an hour and 20 minutes and the emergency door wouldnt open. Bloody useless.

The London Ambulance Services HART team said: Tonight we attended a faulty lift full of people at Elephant and Castle.

They said all passengers were safe and well.

A TfL spokesperson said: "We apologise to our customers who were stuck in a lift at Elephant and Castle station on Sunday evening. Our station staff immediately followed procedure and contacted our Emergency Response Unit, the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.

"The team worked to release people as quickly as possible, which took around 65 minutes. Our station staff were in constant contact with the customers to offer reassurance and to keep them updated on the situation. When people were able to leave the lift our station staff were there to meet them and check their well-being.

"The lift got stuck in the lift shaft at around 6.18pm with 20 people inside. People were released from the stuck lift at around 7.23pm."
A Londoner and two other British scientists have been given the Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries about strange matter.

Trio Duncan Haldan, David Thouless and Michael Kosterlitz have today been announced as this years recipients of the prize and will share the 8m kroner (727,000) winnings.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences named them at a press conference in Sweden and the Nobel Committee said their work opened the door on an unknown world.

It is hoped the discoveries will pave the way for designing new materials with unusual properties.

Winners: From left to right David J Thouless, Duncan M Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz. / AFP/Getty Images

Professor Haldane, who was born in 1951 in London, said: "I was very surprised and very gratified.

"The work was a long time ago but it's only now that a lot of tremendous new discoveries are based on this original work, and have extended it."

The three scientists, who now all live and work in the US, used maths to explain unexpected behaviour in states of matter which are rare.

Prize-winners: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award recipients today. / REUTERS

Professors Kosterlitz, from Aberdeen, and Thouless, from Bearsden in Scotland, looked at phenomena which arise in flat forms or two dimensional forms of matter.

Acting chairman of the Nobel committee, Prof Nils Martensson, said: "This has paved the way for designing new materials with novel properties and there is great hope that this will be important for many future technologies."

Thors Hans Hansson, one of the members of the Nobel committee, used a bagel, pretzel and cinnamon bun to try and explain the work the trio of scientists have done.

He said the only difference to someone working in the field of topology  which is what the scientists did  is the number of holes.
A strain of the MRSA superbug has been found in pork being sold at two UK supermarkets.

British-produced minced pork on sale at Asda and Sainsburys was found to be contaminated with the bacteria, according to a University of Cambridge study.

The strain, which can cause serious illness and potentially death, is rife on Danish farms but has reportedly not been found in British pork before.

It is most commonly passed on between live animals but poor hygiene practices or undercooked meat can see it passed on to humans.

A spokeswoman for the study, Emma Rose, said scientists are now concerned about the possibility of a pandemic spread in the human population.

This form of MRSA is able to cause serious and potentially fatal infections in humans, and as the bacteria is resistant to antibiotics, it is extremely difficult to treat, she said. What's more, even more dangerous variations are emerging as the superbug evolves.

Out of 97 pork products tested, two from Asda and one from Sainsburys were contaminated with the bug.

A Sainsbury's spokesman said the strain found in the tests was very uncommon and that it was working with farmers to ensure antibiotics are used responsibly and are taking advice from leading industry experts.

An Asda spokesman told the Daily Mail: Our customers can be assured that we are working closely with industry groups and farmers to make sure that antibiotics are used responsibly in farm animals. We are doing all we can to promote good animal health and welfare conditions without relying on antibiotics.
T heresa May is to opt out of human rights laws to protect UK soldiers from being chased through the courts in unfounded abuse claims.

The PM said the move will save taxpayers millions of pounds in legal fees and end an industry of vexatious claims.

Hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have seen legal claims against them over allegations of mistreatment of combatants and prisoners  sometimes over a decade after the supposed events happened.

But by opting out of parts of the European Convention of Human Rights, troops fighting abroad at times of war will be protected from the lawsuits.

In the past there have been concerns the EU human rights law has threatened to undermine how well the armed forces operate.

Opt out: Prime Minister Theresa May is announcing the plan at the Conservative Party Conference. / REUTERS

The changes are being announced at the Conservative conference in Birmingham.

Mrs May said the Ministry of Defence has spent more than 100 million on Iraq-related investigations, inquiries and compensation since 2004.

Last month she raised concerns about the industrial scale of claims lodged with the Iraq Historic Allegations Team, which was set up in November 2010 to look into allegations of murder, abuse and torture of Iraqi civilians by UK military personnel between 2003 and 2009.

IHAT has considered claims relating to more than 1,500 individuals, ranging from ill treatment during detention to assault and death by shooting.

Some 326 cases have been settled with the payment of around 20 million in compensation.

But there are concerns as to why some servicemen are facing investigation even after having been cleared of wrongdoing by criminal courts.

The European Convention allows countries to suspend their duty to observe certain human rights in times of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation.

This opting out procedure, called derogation cannot be used in respect of the right to life and prohibitions on torture, slavery and retrospective criminal penalties.

Mrs May said: "Our armed forces are the best in the world and the men and women who serve make huge sacrifices to keep us safe.

"My Government will ensure that our troops are recognised for the incredible job they do. Those who serve on the frontline will have our support when they come home.

"We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts.

"Combined with the biggest defence budget in Europe, the action we are laying out today means we will continue to play our part on the world stage, protecting UK interests across the globe."
O ne of the most dangerous hurricanes in years has begun wreaking havoc in Haiti.

The leading edge of Hurricane Matthew, a category four storm, has drenched the Caribbeans poorest nation, flooding streets and sending people scrambling to emergency shelters.

The centre of the storm is expected to pass over south-west Haiti today before heading to another land mass in eastern Cuba.

Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 40ins of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country.

Dramatic footage of Hurricane Matthew from space

In Tabarre, a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, officials spent Monday urging shanty town residents living next to a muddy river to take shelter at a school.

While some went, many who have been living there since a huge earthquake in 2010 refused to leave out of fear their few possessions might be stolen.

Richard Pasch, from the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, said: "We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba.

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"People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past."

Haiti's civil protection agency has already reported the death of one fisherman in rough water churned up by the storm, while another is missing.

Hurricane Matthews death toll is now at three, after a man died on Friday in Colombia and a 16-year-old was killed in St Vincent and the Grenadines on September 28 when the system passed through the eastern Caribbean.

Authorities went door to door in Haiti's south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

In Port-au-Prince, schools were closed while cars lined up at petrol stations and shoppers cleared shelves at supermarkets as rain fell.

In Jamaica, which lowered a hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning as Matthew tracked closer to Haiti, many people chose to stick out the rough rain and winds at home.

A security guard sits outside a store boarded up for protection in Jamaica / AP

Local government minister Desmond McKenzie said all but four residents of the Port Royal area near the Kingston airport refused to board buses and evacuate.

Matthew briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

The US hurricane centre said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would threaten the US east coast.

A hurricane warning was posted for much of the Bahamas, where the storm was expected to move along the eastern length of the island chain starting early on Wednesday.

As of 11pm (4am GMT), the storm was centred about 100 miles south of Tiburon, Haiti, and 190 miles south west of Port-au-Prince. It was moving north at 7mph.

Cuba's government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces and removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to keep them from falling due to heavy wind.

Matthew's centre was expected to make landfall in Cuba about 50 miles east of the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities evacuated about 700 spouses and children of service members on military transport planes to Florida.

The US installation has a population of about 5,500, including 61 men held at the detention centre for terror suspects.
T he thieves who robbed Kim Kardashian at gunpoint were after multi-million pound jewellery she had flaunted on social media, police said.

The reality TV star left Paris on a private jet just hours after she was robbed of jewellery reportedly worth 9 million at an exclusive private apartment building.

It has now emerged that she feared she was going to be raped when the men first stormed into her bedroom, taped her mouth and grabbed her by the ankles, according to TMZ.

Police in the French capital have described the incident as "extremely rare" and said the robbers were focused on "possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media".

An instagram post by Kim Kardashian showing her 30 carat engagement ring (KimKardashian/Instagram ) / KimKardashian/Instagram

Four days ago, Kardashian, wife of rapper Kanye West, posted a close-up photograph of a huge diamond ring on her left hand captioned with three diamond emojis.

The couple arrive at their home in New York after Ms Kardashian's horrific robbery ordeal in Paris / Rex Features

The TV star, who was attending Paris Fashion Week, was "badly shaken but physically unharmed" after masked men dressed as police officers robbed her, her spokeswoman said.

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, told the Associated Press: "This is the result of people who obviously posed as policemen and who assaulted Ms Kardashian in a private hotel in her room by threat of a weapon.

"This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide. Do not confuse what happened to Ms Kardashian and probably was the result of an organised team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame (cathedral) or another tourist spot in Paris."

She said the losses were estimated at several million euros, adding: "Clearly when you have a star like Kim Kardashian who has, I think, more than 48 million followers on Twitter ... I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as in Paris.

"It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these goods that the attackers targeted."

Only two of the five suspects forced their way into the apartment, in the eighth district of Paris behind the Madeleine church, according to the city's prosecutors' office.

Two police officials told the Associated Press that robbers tied up Kardashian West and locked her in the bathroom before escaping on bikes.

Kim Kardashian was targeted in a raid by a 'highly organised' armed gang

Kardashian West's husband, rapper Kanye West, was performing at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York when he was told the news on stage.

He abruptly stopped his set, in the middle of his song Heartless, and told the crowd: "I'm sorry, family emergency, I have to stop the show."

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Just days before the attack, Kardashian West heaped praise on her German bodyguard Pascal Duvier after he protected her from a notorious celebrity prankster who tried to accost her while she was entering a restaurant.

She wrote on Twitter: "My security @PascalDuvier is a G."

Kim Kardashian at Paris Fashion Week 2017 1 /16 Kim Kardashian at Paris Fashion Week 2017 Raid terror: Kim Kardashian at a Paris fashion week show shortly before she was held up Rex Kim Kardashian attends the Balmain show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Kim Kardashian in the front row at Balenciaga show, Spring Summer 2017, Paris Fashion Week, France Rex Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble attend the Off-white 2017 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show AFP/Getty Images Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Riccardo Tisci and Kim Kardashian at Givenchy show, Spring Summer 2017, Paris Fashion Week Rex Kim Kardashian at Balmain show, after party, Spring Summer 2017, Paris Fashion Week Rex Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian are seen looking amazing as they step out to dinner at Alaia in Paris Splash News Kim Kardashian and Kanye West out and about in Paris Rex Kim Kardashian out and about in Paris Rex Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the Off-white 2017 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show AFP/Getty Images Kim Kardashian in the front row at Balenciaga show, Spring Summer 2017, Paris Fashion Week, France Swan Gallet/WWD/Rex Kim Kardashian attends the Givenchy show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Hours before the armed raid she shared a photograph of herself on Twitter, with Duvier in the background, captioned: "This guy is always in my shot!".

He was photographed accompanying Kardashian West's sister Kourtney on Sunday night and has since been seen climbing on to the private plane in Paris.
T he US National Rifle Association (NRA) has mocked Kim Kardashian for being pro-gun control after she was allegedly tied up and held at gun point by masked robbers in Paris.

The reality TV star apparently feared she was going to be raped when two men dressed as police officers stormed into her bedroom, grabbed her by the ankles and taped her mouth.

Instead, they stole a ring and a jewellery box worth a combined 9 million from her exclusive private apartment building in an upmarket neighbourhood of the French capital.

But not everyone has shown sympathy to Kardashian, wife of rapper Kanye West. The NRA, a pro-gun advocacy group, took to Twitter to criticise the stars stance on gun control in a series of sarcastic posts.

It wrote: Wait, criminals held Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in Paris? How is that possible? Does anyone know if they passed a background check first?

Its shocking that these criminals did not subject themselves to Paris strict #guncontrol laws before committing this awful crime.

Kanye West leaves the stage citing family emergency

The posts have been retweeted over 2,000 times.

Kardashian, who had been in France for Paris Fashion Week, made her views on guns public in June when she wrote on Twitter that it was so scary that firearms are so easily available.

She also said: Under current federal law people on terror watch lists can legally buy guns  this is called the Terror Gap.

She has now flown back to the US to be with her husband Kanye, who was in the middle of a gig in New York when he was informed of the incident by an aide and immediately cancelled hi set.
Y ahoo has been accused of spying on users by scanning millions of email accounts secretly for the US government, sources say.

According to Reuters, Yahoo built a custom software programme to search incoming emails for specific information.

A pair of former Yahoo employees claim that this was requested by either the National Security Agency or the FBI.

US law allows the country's intelligence agencies to order the release of customer data that they believe could prevent a terrorist attack, among other reasons.

Companies can challenge such orders behind closed doors in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The report from Reuters adds that it is unknown just what user information Yahoo handed over.

Experts say that the case is the first of a US internet company agreeing to search all incoming messages for a spy agency.

A statement provided by the tech giant read: Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States.

Last month, a group of hackers stole personal details from around 8 million UK Yahoo accounts.
H ollywood star Ben Stiller has revealed that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in 2014 and underwent surgery to remove his prostate.

The Zoolander 2 actor  who was 48 when he was diagnosed  said he has opened up about his battle with the disease to encourage men to speak to their doctors at an early age.

Speaking on the Howard Stern Show alongside his surgeon he said: It came out of the blue for me. I had no idea. At first, I didnt know what was going to happen. I was scared.

It just stopped everything in your life because you cant plan for a movie because you dont know whats going to happen.

Stiller said he spoke to a bunch of different doctors, including Robert De Niros before undergoing surgery to remove the prostate.

On Tuesday, Stiller tweeted a lengthy blog post describing his battle with the disease alongside the caption: So, I had cancer a couple of years ago and I wanted to talk about it. And the test that saved my life.

The actor revealed he was diagnosed in June 2014 and was declared cancer free on September 17 of the same year.

He described the three month period as a crazy roller coaster ride and said he soon realised that one of the key learnings is not to Google people who died of prostate cancer immediately after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Stiller said his survival was down to a thoughtful internist who gave him a baseline PSA test when he was 46  four years before the American Cancer Society recommends.

He wrote: If [the internist] had waited, as the American Cancer Society recommends, until I was 50, I would not have known I had a growing tumour until two years after I got treated.

"If he had followed the US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, I would have never gotten tested at all, and not have known I had cancer until it was way too late to treat successfully.

Zoolander 2 London Premiere 1 /20 Zoolander 2 London Premiere Cast and crew Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Penelope Cruz, Christine Taylor, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig and Justin Theroux Dave Benett Leading the glamour Penelope Cruz on the red carpet Dave Benett Suited and booted Ben Stiller arrives at the London premiere Dave Benett Braving the cold The Zoolander team don't seem bothered by the chilly weather Dave Benett Star style Penelope Cruz looks glam in a shiny silver gown Dave Benett Posing for the cameras Kristen Wiig poses on the red carpet Dave Benett Blue Steel Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson give their trademark pose Dave Benett All that glitters Penelope Cruz head in to see the film Natalie Dormer attends a Fashionable Screening of the Paramount Pictures film "Zoolander No. 2" at Empire Leicester Square Dave Benett Neelam Gill attends a Fashionable Screening of the Paramount Pictures film "Zoolander No. 2" at Empire Leicester Square Dave Benett Zoolander 2 twitter feed showing the picture taken at the film's UK premiere in London of Ben Stiller's successful bid to break the record for a photo taken by the world's longest selfie stick Ben Stiller Myleene Klass, Lara Stone, Camilla Rutherford, Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Will Ferrell, Valentino Garavani, Matt Johnson, Christine Taylor, Penelope Cruz, Owen Wilson and guests break the longest selfie stick world record at a Fashionable Screening of the Paramount Pictures film "Zoolander No. 2" at Empire Leicester Square Dave Benett Will Ferrell attending the Zoolander 2 UK premiere, held at the Empire, Leicester Square, London Ian West/PA Myleene Klass attends a Fashionable Screening of the Paramount Pictures film "Zoolander No. 2" at Empire Leicester Square Dave Benett Millie Mackintosh attends a Fashionable Screening of the Paramount Pictures film "Zoolander No. 2" at Empire Leicester Square Dave Benett

Stiller addressed the controversies surrounding the test, which he described as painless and asked: Without this PSA test itself, or any screening procedure at all, how are doctors going to detect asymptomatic cases like mine, before the cancer has spread and metastasized throughout ones body rendering it incurable?

Or what about the men who are most at risk, those of African ancestry, and men who have a history of prostate cancer in their family?

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"Should we, as the USPSTF suggests, not screen them at all?

Follow @StandardEnts or like us on Facebook for more news.
K anye West is reportedly ready to find the men who attacked wife Kim Kardashian during a robbery in Paris.

The rapper, who was performing at a concert in New York when his wife was attacked by five armed robbers, is thought to be desperate to find out the identity of the gang.

According to People magazine, the superstar is currently at home with his other half, but is keen to fly to Paris to help Police with their investigations.

Kanye is ready to fly over there and take care of it himself. He wants to find the men who did this to his wife, a source said.

The couple arrive at their home in New York after Kim Kardashian's attack / Rex Features

But he knows that the best place for him to be right now is with Kim. She needs him now. He wont leave her.

In the early hours of Monday, the reality star was pulled out of bed, bound and gagged and robbed of reportedly 9 million worth of jewellery.

Police in the French capital have described the incident as "extremely rare" and said the robbers were focused on "possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media".

Kanye West leaves the stage citing family emergency

The entire family are thought to be on a social media lockdown in the aftermath of the attack after Kardashinans Snapchats are thought to have led the gang to her Paris residence.

None of the Kardashians or Jenners have posted anything on their social media accounts of websites since the attack.

According to TMZ, Kardashian feared that she was going to be raped when the men stormed into her bedroom , taped her mouth and grabbed her by the ankles.

Only two of the five suspects forced their way into the apartment, in the eighth district of Paris behind the Madeleine church, according to the city's prosecutors' office.

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Two police officials told the Associated Press that robbers tied up Kardashian and locked her in the bathroom before escaping on bikes.
K im Kardashians bodyguard Pascal Duvier has vowed to track down the men who attacked the star in her Paris apartment.

The personal security guard, who was at nightclub Arc while Kardashian was bound, gagged and robbed by five men on Sunday night, has said that they have messed with the wrong one.

Speaking to MailOnline, Duvier said: The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard.

We have tips and leads and we will find you. That I promise you...you messed with the wrong one.

Robbed: Kim Kardashian was attacked and robbed in her Paris apartment / Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

While a number of people have blasted the bodyguard for not being present at the time of the attack, Kardashian publically praised him just a week ago.

After prankster Vitalii Sediuk attempted to grab Kardashian in the street, Duvier intervened and pinned him to the ground.

My security @PascalDuvier is a G, the reality star wrote on Twitter.

Kardashians former bodyguard Steve Stanulis spoke to Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, saying that he believed the robbery to be an inside job.

As the facts keep coming out, the more I hear and the more stuff unwinds... 100% it's an inside job. They knew exactly where to go. They knew exactly where to find the jewellery, he told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.

Kanye West leaves the stage citing family emergency

"The main security was out with the sisters. Of course they were showing all this jewellery on social media and snapchat - it was the perfect storm to get robbed.

When Morgan asked him if he thought Duvier was up to the job, he said: I happen to know Pascal very well, and he is the epitome to what a security should be.

Knowing them, you don't tell Kim or Kanye what you should do. They tell you what to do and it goes from there.

In the early hours of Monday, Kardashian was pulled out of bed, bound and gagged and robbed of reportedly 9 million worth of jewellery.

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Police in the French capital have described the incident as "extremely rare" and said the robbers were focused on "possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media".
L ipsy launch

This week I went to Michelle Keegans launch of her latest collection with Lipsy at Nobu. HOW divine is this white lace top!

I had my make up done by my favourite Laura at Tom Ford in Harrods.

I love the eye shadow and glowy skin! My earrings are from Rosie Fortescue Jewellery.

Lacy look: Rosie Frtescue at Michelle Keegan's Lipsy launch / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram

Jet setter

I was super excited to fly to Dublin on Friday to shoot with Irish Tatler. I cant wait to see the final images, it was such a fun shoot and the clothes from Arnotts were divine.

It was essential to wear my Friday jumper from Chinti and Parker!

Friday feeling: Rosie chilling out in Dublin / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram

Eating out

After the earliest start, and being super tired from my photo shoot, I was starving and theres nothing better than a feast from the comfort of your hotel room! I had spoken to friends about the best restaurants and I was blown away.

The burger and sweet potato fries from Bunsen Burger were out of this world, not to mention the blue cheese salad and spicy wings from Elephant and Castle. It was a serious feast and I loved every moment!

Fast fod: Rosie couldn't resist trying out the local restaurants / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram

Hostess with the mostess

On Saturday I had the pleasure of hosting two fashion shows at Arnotts for their Style Sessions. I had such a great time, everyone was incredibly friendly and the fashion shows were amazing.

I wore this dreamy jumper from Tara Jarmon, skirt by Pinko and heels from Kurt Geiger, all from Arnotts.

Hosting duties: Our columnist was on hand to host two fashion shows / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram

Getting lippy

My beauty products of the week this week are MACs Liptensity lipsticks. The colours are long lasting and moisturising and I cant get enough of them!

LOccitane has also launched a candle in collaboration with Marie Claire to raise funds for the education of girls and young women in developing countries. The flame is a symbol of hope, a beacon of knowledge spreading the light of understanding and education throughout the world. The candle is available here.

Exciting news

Check out my blog post for an exciting competition.
K im Kardashian is back in the US and on a social media blackout following her attack in Paris on Monday morning.

The reality star, who reportedly had 9 million worth of jewellery stolen during a raid on her apartment, is yet to speak out about the ordeal,which saw her dragged from her bed, bound and gagged by five men.

While the Kardashians stay silent about the attack, police are still hunting the gang who committed the crime.

Heres everything we know so far:

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian at Paris Fashion Week ahead of the attack / AFP/Getty Images

1. It was a planned attack by an organised gang

According to French authorities, Kardashian was attacked by an organised gang of five men who were dressed as police officers.

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, told the Associated Press: "This is the result of people who obviously posed as policemen and who assaulted Ms Kardashian in a private hotel in her room by threat of a weapon.

Kanye West leaves the stage citing family emergency

"This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide. Do not confuse what happened to Ms Kardashian and probably was the result of an organised team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame (cathedral) or another tourist spot in Paris."

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2. It happened in the early hours of Monday morning in the 8th arrondissment

The attack happened at 2.25am on Monday morning when the gang gained entry to the luxury rented mansion after threatening the concierge with guns.

He was handcuffed and forced to open the apartment door, which is when the men made their way into Kardashians bedroom.

They reportedly dragged her out of bed, bound and gagged her and put her in the bath. They then locked her in the bathroom.

3. Jewellery and phones were stolen

Stolen? The reality star's 3,5 million ring was posted on Snapchat hours before the robbery KimKardashian/Instagram ) / KimKardashian/Instagram

According to the prosecutors office, the gang stole jewellery and a jewellery box thought to be worth around 9 million.

They also thought to have taken two phones and the stars new replica engagement ring, which is worth 3.5 million.

4. Her security wasnt there

Not there:Boydguard Pascal Duvier was at a nightclub durign the attack / Rex

Kardashians personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier was at a nightclub called Arc at the time of the attack, accompanying Kourtney Kardashian.

Speaking to MailOnline, Duvier said: The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard.

We have tips and leads and we will find you. That I promise you...you messed with the wrong one.

5. What happens next

Kardashian is now back in New York with husband Kanye West, who was performing in the city at the time of the attack.

West is reportedly keen to return to Paris to help police with their investigations, but will remain with his wife for the time being.

Police are currently checking phone records and doing background checks on anyone the star has come into contact with over the last few days as well as the CCTV footage of the masked intruders leaving on motorbikes.
M ichael Gove has been urged to delete his Twitter account after a rather random tweet about controversial comedy Mrs Browns Boys.

The Tory MP, whose posts have been decidedly lighter in tone since he lost his place in the cabinet in July, inexplicably expressed his love for Brendan O'Carrols sitcom on Monday night.

Mrs Brown's Boys #puregenius, he wrote on his offical Twitter account.

The former Education Secretary was immediately met with an outpouring of derision and disbelief.

Call me overdramatic but "Mrs Brown's Boys #puregenius" is without a doubt the worst thing Michael Gove has ever said, wrote one person.

The only thing less funny than Mrs Brown's Boys is the image of Gove's horrific face chortling at it, posted another.

Popular: Mrs Brown's boys is a huge success with audiences / BBC

Come on. Not even Michael Goves worst enemies want him to like Mrs Browns Boys, one Twitter-user wrote.

If we'd told Gove that we'd have to pay more to import Mrs Brown's Boys if we left the EU, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess, someone else posted.

Despite being slammed by critics, Mrs Browns Boys is hugely popular with audiences and was recently voted the most popular sitcom of the 21st century in a BBC poll.

Gove says he has no charisma

O'Carroll said that he was "lost for words" at news of the show's enduring popularity with audiences - despite not being a hit with critics.

"It vindicates the fans' belief in the show. They have kept us on the air - it certainly wasn't the reviewers," he said.
S ixty years ago, at the apex of Hollywoods Golden Age, theres no way an actor of James Marsdens range and appeal would have arrived at this point without ever appearing in a western.

Yet this once-staple genre had fallen out of favour, until a 21st-century revival began to gather steam with HBOs Deadwood, last months surprisingly good remake of The Magnificent Seven and, most ambitiously, the epic, big-budget new HBO series Westworld, which arrives on Sky Atlantic this evening.

Oklahoma-born Marsden, 43, plays the straight-shooting stranger Teddy Flood and is pleased to have caught the wagon train this time around.

My mum and everyone have always said, When are you gonna be in a western? When are you gonna get to wear a cowboy hat? So theyre very pleased.

In fact Westworld is untypical, even among the convention-busting neo-westerns.

James Marsden stas in the eagerly-awaited Westworld / Victoria Will/Invision/AP

Those who remember the original 1973 film with Yul Brynner will know that the premise, dreamed up by Jurassic Parks Michael Crichton, is a sci-fi-thriller hybrid, with the action shifting between the Old West adult theme park of the title and the futuristic lab where a team, headed up by Anthony Hopkins as Dr Ford, creates and maintains the lifelike robots which inhabit this strange place.

Hopkins and Marsden are joined by Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Borgens Sidse Babett Knudsen and Thandie Newton.

There are feature films in this years Oscars race with less impressive cast lists, while the scale of the production is mind-blowing, even for those who worked on set every day.

As Marsden recalls: When I showed up and saw the giant train that theyd brought in  an actual working train  and this western town, and scenes with like 300 extras I felt like I was doing a John Ford film.

Marsdens wide-ranging CV affords him this kind of perspective on the industry.

Hes appeared in blockbuster franchises (as Cyclops in the X-Men movies), intelligent indies (Interstate 60, The D Train), broad comedies (Zoolander, Anchorman 2) and swoony romances (27 Dresses, The Notebook), but hes particularly adept at roles that subvert his leading-man looks, such as the Disney prince made flesh in 2007s Enchanted.

Westworld - Teaser Trailer - HBO

I was always more comfortable introducing some level of self-mockery  that was always more interesting, he admits, though these performances never reveal even a hint of this self-consciousness on screen.

Google his name and youll find a raft of adoring blog posts that demonstrate Marsdens talent for making each audience member feel as though theyre discovering his hidden comic talent for themselves.

Westworld is on Sky Atlantic on Tuesdays at 9pm

Its a quality that has enabled him to avoid life as the good-looking mannequin, becoming instead what he calls a Swiss Army Knife guy, who does all kinds of different things.

The extent to which human actors have  or dont have  agency in the big theme park of life is one of Westworlds many thought-provoking seams and the cast had plenty of downtime on set to settle in for some deep-and-meaningfuls.

Anthony Hopkins in the brand new drama (HBO ) / HBO

We were left out of the loop as far as where the series was going, and we all had our own little theories about what would happen.

I remember there was a moment when Evan and I were sitting around the coffee truck sort of expounding on all of it and Evan suddenly goes: Oh, shit! Were the robots! And I think Jonah [show-runner Jonathan Jonah Nolan] overheard us because he had this big smirk on his face, like: Yeah, theyre figuring it out, theyre not the dumb actors we thought they were!

Marsden also shares sci-fis inherent wariness of new technology. One of the greatest lines that I keep quoting is from Jurassic Park, when Jeff Goldblum says that the scientists spent so long thinking about whether they could that they never bothered to worry about whether they should.

"I think that speaks a lot to our day and age, when were so quick to put the technology out there for everyone to buy and get excited about and send each other emojis.

Best TV dramas 2016 1 /38 Best TV dramas 2016 The Missing The addictive and twisty second series of the BBC's crime anthology series BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky Dark Angel Joanne Froggatt stared as Victorian mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton in this ITV drama ITV Close to the Enemy Stephen Poliakoff's post-war drama thriller BBC/Little Island Pictures Ordinary Lies The BBC anthology drama returns with more twisted tales BBC/Red Productions/Adrian Rogers The Night Of Riz Ahmed stars in HBO's critically acclaimed crime mini-series HBO Cold Feet The classic ITV comedy-drama returns - and it's just as good as it ever was ITV Victoria ITV have given Poldark some stiff competition with this period drama about a young Queen Victoria ITV Poldark The BBC's hit drama returns with more brooding, and less naked scything BBC/Robert Viglasky One of Us The BBC kept everyone guessing with this claustrophobic four-part whodunit Ripper Street The fan-favourite Victorian police drama returned for Series 4 BBC/Tiger Aspect 2016/Bernard Walsh The Secret Agent Toby Jones led the cast in the BBC's Joseph Conrad adaptation BBC/World Productions/Mark Mainz/Matt Burlem The Living and the Dead The BBC's gothic romance debuted in full on iPlayer BBC Preacher AMC's adaptation of Garth Ennis' cult comic book is available week-by-week on Amazon Prime Amazon / AMC Versailles A raunchy royal romp around the court of King Louis XIV, spicing up Wednesdays on BBC Two Canal +/ BBC Locked Up The Spanish prison drama came to the UK thanks to Channel 4's Walter Presents series Channel 4 / Global Series Peaky Blinders The Birmingham-set gangster thriller was more popular than ever in its third series BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky The A Word The BBC gave us a nuanced and emotional take on autism BBC/Fifty Fathoms Marcella Anna Friel stars in ITV's British take on the Scandi-noir thriller ITV Grantchester James Norton is back as the crime-solving vicar ITV / Lovely Day Stag The comedy-thriller from the team behind The Wrong Mans is both hilarious and chilling BBC/Des Willie/Hal Shinnie/Matt Burlem Vinyl Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger present a glossy drama about the Seventies music industry HBO American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson Cuba Gooding Jr leads an all-star cast in a dramatic re-telling of the 'trial of century' BBC/Fox Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire returned as Sgt Catherine Cawood for a second series of the gritty crime thriller BBC/Red Productions/Ben Blackall The X Files Mulder and Scully return for a brand new set of mysteries War and Peace The BBC's epic adaptation of the Russian literary classic BBC/Mitch Jenkins Call the Midwife The BBC period drama moved into the Sixties for Series 5 BBC/Neal Street Productions/Sophie Mutevelian Dickensian Charles Dickens' most famous characters collide in this historical soap BBC Jericho ITV's British western set in the wilds of Yorkshire Silent Witness The hugely popular detective drama returns for a 19th series

This mild case of technophobia is set off by an otherwise sunny outlook. He even has a positive spin on a subject as ripe for catastrophising as the upcoming presidential elections.

Its so easy to just jump on the negative and smash people and go Our countrys over! Whats going on? Everyones defecting to Canada! he laughs.

But Ive never seen more people invested in an election before. Its got people having conversations about whos going to be our next president and I think thats fantastic.

Next up hes co-starring alongside Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones and Alec Baldwin in Shock and Awe, Rob Reiners film about a group of journalists covering George Bushs planned invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Its a serious and potentially controversial, with shades of All the Presidents Men and Spotlight.

It might be considered a departure had Marsden ever been the kind of actor to follow a set career path. As it is, hell continue to forge his own way with a Teddy Flood-like frontier spirit.

I think it goes back to who I was growing up. I never felt that I was a leading man type in high school.

I was always the goofy guy who was getting attention from girls who could make them laugh by doing impersonations of, like, Saturday Night Live sketches ... I was more James Stewart than James Bond. But James Marsden, most of all.

Westworld is on Sky Atlantic on Tuesdays at 9pm.
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Uzbekistan's new leader, Shavkat Mirziyaev, is already making a difference in regional politics in Central Asia. In less than one month, Mirziyaev has moved to improve ties with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and in so doing has sparked hopes for a new era of regional cooperation.

Under former President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan was an obstacle to regional integration. Uzbekistan lies at the center of Central Asia, bordered by all the other Central Asian states and also sharing an approximately 160-kilometer border with Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has proven to be a knot at the heart of the region.

Tashkent's relations with its immediate neighbors have ranged from bad to horrible. Ties with Turkmenistan warmed after the country's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, died in late 2006, and in the last decade Karimov seemed to finally find some common ground with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, which eased Uzbek-Kazakh relations.

But the Uzbek government has always been hard on eastern neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

When Mirziyaev took over as Uzbekistan's leader on September 8, Uzbek police had been occupying a hill in Kyrgyzstan, Ungar-Too, for more than two weeks. The Uzbek forces detained four Kyrgyz nationals who were working at the television relay station on Ungar-Too and refused to free them, angering Kyrgyz villagers in the area and the government in Bishkek.

Problems between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan include land, border demarcation, and, most importantly, water -- and the three things are often intertwined.

On September 9, Uzbek troops released the four Kyrgyz nationals.

Mirziyaev did not attend a CIS summit in Bishkek on September 16. Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov went instead and arrived one day early to meet with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev.

On September 20, the Uzbek police withdrew from Ungar-Too. The same day, the pro-government website Uzdaily.uz reported that from September 14 to 20 a working group of officials from both countries had been reviewing questions of border demarcation in 23 disputed areas along the common frontier.

And then, on October 1, a government delegation from Kyrgyzstan made up largely of officials from Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abat, Osh, and Batken provinces, which border Uzbekistan, visited the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon to take part in events dedicated to Uzbek-Kyrgyz friendship.

Tajik Tensions Ease

Uzbek-Tajik ties have probably been the worst bilateral ties across Central Asia. All railway traffic bound for or leaving Tajikistan must transit Uzbek territory and Uzbek authorities have on occasion held up, and in cases turned back, shipments to Tajikistan -- particularly shipments of construction materials for Tajikistan's hydropower plants. Both countries have tried and convicted their own nationals on charges of spying for the other country.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended Karimov's funeral in Samarkand on September 3 and met with Mirziyaev. At the end of September, Tajik media enthusiastically reported on Uzbek Foreign Minister Komilov's September 23 speech at the UN General Assembly, which, for once, did not include any mention of Tajikistan's plans to build the Roghun hydropower plant. Roghun has been a major sticking point in relations between the two countries.

Komilov traveled to Tajikistan on September 29 and met with President Rahmon to discuss renewing the railway and air links, and economic ties in general, between the two countries. Flights between Tashkent and Dushanbe were suspended in 1992 and trade between the two countries was only some $10 million in 2015, which was actually an increase of more than 50 percent compared to 2014.

Komilov did mention he hoped the two countries could find a fair and mutually advantageous solution to water and energy problems. He also gave an interview to Tajik television, saying it was time to renew "long-interrupted" ties.

On September 30, the pro-government website Podrobno.uz reported a meeting of the Uzbek-Kazakh border demarcation took place from September 26 to 30 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Prodobno.uz noted that a similar meeting took place in Almaty on February 18 to 27 this year, and that the process of demarcating the Uzbek-Kazakh border has been under way since 2003.

These are all hopeful signs that Uzbekistan under Mirziyaev, who seems certain to be elected president in the December 4 election, might come out of its regional isolation and become a productive regional partner.

Turkmenistan went a similar route when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov took over after Niyazov's death. Turkmenistan succeeded in improving relations with all its Central Asian neighbors, including Uzbekistan -- not an easy feat considering Niyazov had all but said publicly that Uzbek authorities were behind an assassination plot against him.

More 'Carrot,' Less 'Stick'

That said, there are possible reasons for this new Uzbek diplomacy.

In the case of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, water has always been one of Uzbekistan's key interests in relations. In the past, Uzbekistan cut off supplies to natural gas to its two eastern neighbors when Tashkent was displeased with moves in Bishkek or Dushanbe, as almost always happened when either country spoke about building large hydropower plants on the rivers that flowed into Uzbekistan. Tashkent has maintained that construction of those huge hydropower plants threatens the water supply to Uzbekistan's agricultural fields.

That form of pressure no longer works, since both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have turned to their abundant domestic supplies of coal to wean themselves off Uzbek gas. In Kyrgyzstan's case, Bishkek sold the state natural-gas company to Russia's Gazprom which uses gas from sites it has helped develop in Uzbekistan to serve the energy needs of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is still far from constructing the Kambar-Ata hydropower plant, the project that angered Karimov's government. Tajikistan might be closer to realizing the Roghun hydropower plant after the Italian firm Salinin Impregilo expressed interest in the project earlier this year.

So, Uzbekistan's new softer line toward its fellow Central Asian states might be a signal that Tashkent is willing to try the "carrot" rather resorting to the "stick," as it has for many years now.

Uzbekistan might also be considering the benefits of looser border controls, which could open the way for it to take advantage of its geographic position and become the main trade hub in Central Asia.

Based on material from RFE/RL's Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek services. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.
The relationship between Romania and Germany is currently "at its best and most intense" in history, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos told a reception party on Monday extended by the German Embassy in Bucharest to celebrate the German Unity Day.

In his speech, Ciolos mentioned the historical significance of the 1990 reunification of the two Germanys, calling it "proof of the German people's regeneration capabilities." He added that the moment paved the way for new opportunities in the European design. "It paved the way for a European reconstruction that we ought to continue today," said Ciolos.He added that Romania wants to contribute toward the creation of a more prosperous Europe that can preserve and consolidate peace and also to provide new prospects for the region."I want to assure my German friends that Romania will be a member state that has very well understood the responsibilities incumbent on it and that will play its part proactively and honestly for the development of the European Union," said Ciolos.At the same time, he said the relationship between Romania and Germany is at its highest. " I do not know when else the Romania-Germany relationship was better or my intense than this moment now," added Ciolos.He said Germany is Romania's main trade partner, mentioning the automotive industry to the point. "We have reached a point today when I would not exaggerate when saying that any automobile made in Germany has a component made in Romania, one way or another," said Ciolos.He also mentioned the Romanian-born ethnic Germans, saying about them that they are as many Romanian ambassadors.In his speech to the reception, Ciolos underscored the involvement of Romania, together with Germany, in the European project after the UK pulls out of the EU, known as Brexit. "After Brexit, we see clearly that Germany, alongside other European countries wishing for a European future, once again takes over the leadership, political leadership included, and Romania has joined Germany in the process," said Ciolos. AGERPRES
Deputy Adrian Gurzau can be placed under pre-trial arrest, according to the Deputies' Chamber decision on Tuesday. Mircea Dolha, a member of the vote count committee, said that 238 MPs were present in the plenary sitting and they all cast their vote. Out of these, 124 voted in favour of Gurzau being placed under pre-trial arrest and 114 voted against.

The vote was secret, with balls. Previously, the Deputies' Chamber had decided against Adrian Gurzau being placed under pre-trial arrest. On Monday, the Chamber's legal committee approved the Justice Minister's request on detaining and placing MP Adrian Gurzau under pre-trial arrest, charged with influence peddling in the Carpatica Asig case.

Agerpres
Transparency is like a medicine through which we can heal corruption, European Commission Deputy Secretary-General Paraskevi Michou said in a Tuesday meeting at the Government with Romanian Minister for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue Violeta Alexandru.

According to a Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue (MCPDC) release sent to agerpres, the most recent measures for increasing transparency and practicing good governance taken by the Government were discussed with the non-governmental organisations and the business environment at the Government seat on Tuesday, during a joint meeting of Minister Violeta Alexandru with EC Deputy Secretary-General Paraskevi Michou,

Paraskevi Michou showed interest in the active measures for increasing transparency and practicing good governance in Romania, the release reads.

"The presence of the Deputy Secretary-General is related to the manner in which the European experience on transparency can support the concrete results, obtained by Romania's Government in this area, with an obvious interest of the European institutions for the evolutions in Romania in the area of participating governance, including in the direction of increasing transparency on the decisions concerning public policies," the release reads.

According to MCPDC, on this occasion Paraskevi Michou said that the efforts in the transparency area must continue after the elections this year.

"Transparency is like a medicine through which we can heal corruption. The efforts in the transparency area conducted by the team of the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue must continue after the elections this year. This Government has set a standards of decision-making transparency proving, through the measures taken, that governance can be participating," she said.

At the same time, the most recent measure in the transparency area is the MCPDC initiative approved by the Government last week on creating the Single Register of Interest Transparency (RUTI) on a government level. RUTI is a solution under which decision-makers can know and get the involvement of specialist groups in the civil society during the entire process of drawing up public policies. The online platform which will technically back this demarche will be launched in mid-October.

"The current form of the Single Register of Interest Transparency recently approved by the Government shows the Executive's commitment to the final goal, that of practicing a good governance meant to eventually lead to increasing the quality of the public policies. This demarche must continue in the years to come, as RUTI represents one of the main prevention measures provided in the National Anticorruption Strategy, an approach through which we ensured the minimum conditions for the main initiatives in the transparency area of the current Government to continue," Minister Violeta Alexandru said.

In the discussion with the EC official also invited were representatives of some NGOs, namely the Centre for Independent Journalism, Funky Citizens, the Foundation for the Development of the Civil Society, Transparency International Romania, but also of companies' associative structures : AmCham, the Foreign Investors Council and the Romanian Lobby Registry Association, the release also reads.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Lazar Comanescu, on Monday received the ambassadors of the European Union's member states accredited in Bucharest for a working lunch organized by the Embassy of Slovakia, the country that holds the EU Council's rotating Presidency, says a release by the relevant ministry.

The meeting, according to the source (MAE), was the perfect occasion for a an exchange of opinions on the latest developments and EU agenda's current topics: the future of the EU in the context of the recent Bratislava summit; the Brexit matter; migration and internal security; terrorism; regional situation and Eastern Neighborhood developments, with emphasis on the Rep. of Moldova.The minister said that in the reflection process on the EU future, Romania upholds the European project's strengthening, the cohesion and solidarity, based on the respect of fundamental values and principles. He advocated the keeping of the EU unity based on a positive agenda, of a jointly assumed vision, grounded on concrete projects.In order to overcome the current situation, a growing effort is needed to make the EU action credible again, through factual outcome capable to give an answer to the European citizens' expectations, the crisis of confidence being probable to worsen should a quick, efficient answer lacks, stressed Comanescu. He reiterated Romania's support for a comprehensive approach of the migrant phenomenon at EU level, reminding in this respect the substantial contribution of our country to the joint efforts in the migration's administration and in ensuring the internal security of the EU and of its external borders.He mentioned in this context Romania's target to join the Schengen Space.The officials have also tackled the situation in the eastern neighborhood of the EU, Romania insisting upon maintaining the Eastern Partnership as a EU agenda's priority, in the context of the implementation of the revised European Neighborhood Policy and of the New Global Strategy of the EU. Bucharest is giving an increased attention to the wish of Rep. of Moldova to get nearer to the European Union, translated in the political support and consistent contribution in the bilateral assistance granted to the neighbor country, Comanescu added.The Romanian diplomacy's head also reviewed the main aspects resulted from the participation in the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the MAE release adds. AGERPRES
Romania has got a national research strategy, said President Klaus Iohannis on Monday evening in a meeting with the media, 'but it needs to adjust this strategy to certain situations' so that the country's existing research facilities could be valorized.

The head of state gave the example of the Oncogen Centre of Timisoara where medicine research is done, but authorities running this centre are not yet cleared who's dealing with what, who's managing what in such a research project."

Ciolos: Romania-Germany relationship has never been better



"It is vital to attune the situation as soon as possible, otherwise we risk to lose them (the centres - author's note). Once completed, an investment if not maintained or efficiently exploited is fading away. This adjustment must be done by a smart government capable to understand that the country could not be sliced into small pieces, each of it administered by a ministry; we have to understand that certain matters, bureaucratic most of the times, are managed jointly, that they should be cancelled in the inter-ministry area or among several entities. This is what we are talking about when saying we want to eliminate bureaucracy and make procedures simpler," said Iohannis.



The Oncogen gene and cell cancer therapy centre with the Timisoara County Hospital was opened a year ago. It is the only centre of its kind in the country and European-level research could be performed with its excellent, modern equipment.AGERPRES
Charleville Vineyard, Winery and Microbrewery announced Monday that it is expanding its brewing operation from Ste. Genevieve County to St. Louis with Charleville Brewing Co. & Restaurant, which will open early next year at 2101 Chouteau Avenue in Downtown West.

The whole idea is to connect with the (St. Louis) community, says Tait Russell, director of operations for Charleville and the son of its founders, Jack and Joal Russell.

The new project continues the growth of Charleville's brewing operation, which in 2014 added a 10,000-square-foot building to its Ste. Genevieve facility, quintupling production.

Coming to St. Louis has been on our minds for a couple of years, Russell says. (But) when we were under construction on our expansion, it wasn't feasible to start two projects at once.

The Ste. Genevieve facility currently includes both a 30-barrel and a 7-barrel brewhouse. Charleville will move the 7-barrel system to St. Louis, where it will be used to brew draft and limited-release beers.

For the new brewery and restaurant, Charleville is partnering with Paul and Wendy Hamilton, owners of Eleven Eleven Mississippi, Vin de Set, PW Pizza and 21st Street Brewers Bar.

Russell says Charleville reached out to the Hamiltons about the new brewery's restaurant operation while still searching for a location. During that discussion, Russell says, Paul Hamilton mentioned that he had recently bought the building at 2101 Chouteau, directly across South 21st Street from the complex housing Vin de Set, PW Pizza and 21 Street Brewers Bar.

All the pieces came together, Russell says.

Charleville is aiming to open by spring 2017.
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Be on the lookout Friday for Hollywood veteran Michael Rapaport, who will be about town to promote his latest project, which is promoting Snapple tea.

Rapaport, best known for his recurring roles in "Justified," "Boston Public" and "Prison Break," has been visiting U.S. cities that have been major presidential campaign stops or debate locations. (The debate in St. Louis is Sunday.)

In this role, Rapaport shoots videos, conducts taste tests between Snapple's two new flavors, Red and Blue, and encourages debate on any topic other than politics.

His tour bus will post in the Delmar Loop, but he will be at various STL locales on Friday to shoot Facebook videos and his podcasts, "I Am Rapaport."
Before he died, Diane McKinney made her brother a promise.

It was August and her brother  McKinney asked that I not use his name  was lying in a coma in a hospital bed in St. Charles. He had been found by paramedics unconscious in his car, which came to rest oddly in a parking lot, with the engine still running. It was a hot day, and the air conditioning was running full blast. In the back seat were five boxes of strawberries, being kept cold by dry ice.

Her brother owned a delivery business, but he rarely dealt with produce and almost never with dry ice. While at the hospital as her brother lay in a coma, McKinney started typing dry ice and toxicity into Google on her phone. She was convinced the dry ice somehow contributed to his death.

The doctors said that was unlikely. Her family was slow to believe her.

She would not be deterred.

When I went in to say goodbye to him, I promised him I would make sure this didnt happen to anybody else, McKinney says. My obligation to my brother is to make sure people know about this. He died because he didnt know.

McKinney, who is 64, lives in Ellisville and works for the Rockwood schools, where shes a coworker with my wife. When she brought her story to me, I, too, was skeptical. Death by dry ice seemed like one of those urban myths that would soon be unraveled by snopes.com or some other myth-busting website.

But while rare, deaths from exposure to carbon dioxide from dry ice in a closed atmosphere do happen.

An assistant medical examiner from New York, Edward Martens, wrote about the phenomenon in his 1940 book, The Doctor Looks at Murder, which, among other deaths, looked at those of five longshoreman found in a sunken boat carrying fruit kept cold with dry ice.

The National Institutes of Health maintains several scholarly articles that have examined such deaths. Whats common among them is that the people who died were in a closed space with no flow of outside air.

McKinney is sure that is how her brother died.

That morning, her son, who worked for his uncles delivery company, called his mom, worried. They couldnt find McKinneys brother. He had left to make the strawberry delivery but hadnt checked in and wasnt answering his phone.

When McKinney finally got an answer it was a nurse at the hospital. Her brother was in a coma.

We realized pretty quickly that it didnt look good, she said.

As she started telling others about her dry-ice theory, family members, including her husband, were skeptical.

They thought I was grasping at straws, she says.

But her brother hadnt had a heart attack or a stroke, the doctors said. His coma was unexplainable.

Heres how Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum describes how dry ice can be a silent killer:

Mostly this is nothing to worry about  unlike its chemical cousin, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide is not acutely poisonous  and, in fact, the chilly vapors lifting off dry ice have been used to create fog effects in places ranging from theaters to Halloween parties, she wrote in the Scientific American in 2011. But there is a risk. Carbon dioxide is denser than oxygen-rich air and can, notably in confined spaces, essentially displace the breathable atmosphere, settling into its surroundings like an invisible but suffocating blanket.

Earlier this year, a delivery driver in Columbus, Ohio, escaped the fate suffered by McKinneys brother.

Wade Carman was making a delivery of goods kept cold on dry ice. The package on dry ice had broken its seal and was leaking carbon dioxide into the vehicle, which had the windows closed and air conditioning on, according to a Fox 28 television report. When he didnt arrive at his destination, a co-worker tracked the vehicle by GPS.

Carman had passed out but was revived.

Someone had found him passed out on the side of the road, his wife, Wendy Carman, told the television station. They said if it had been a couple more minutes  he wouldve died.

McKinney knows there may never be definitive proof that dry ice killed her brother.

But shes sounding the alarm bells anyway.

Its happened to too many people, McKinney says. I just want to get the word out so people are warned.
ST. LOUIS  Police and federal agents made a series of early-morning raids and arrests in the St. Louis area Tuesday that targeted a major manufacturing and smuggling ring that was bringing in up to 20 pounds of methamphetamine a week, officials said.

The 18-month investigation resulted in the arrest of 36 people and the seizure of 190 pounds of meth worth more than $3 million, one kilogram of heroin, 16 guns and more than $1 million in cash, they said.

Most of the meth came from Mexican superlabs and is more than 90 percent pure, said Jim Shroba, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in St. Louis. The ring smuggled both drugs and the bulk cash that sales generated, he said.

Shroba said an investigation that began with the arrest of a mid-level, multi-ounce dealer in St. Francois County had taken down a vast conspiracy of people.

Dana Nichols, assistant special agent in charge of the St. Louis office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said investigators had not yet traced the seized guns and did not know if they were connected to other crimes. Nichols did say that she expected firearms charges to be filed.

In a news conference Tuesday afternoon, shotguns, pistols and a semi-automatic rifle were displayed alongside bundles of drugs and cash.

Shroba said properties were searched Tuesday in the 2800 block of Progress Avenue in Caseyville, the 700 block of Benton Street in Valley Park, the 4500 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in St. Louis, and the 4400 block of Delor Street in St. Louis. The investigation also involved Jefferson and St. Charles counties.

A federal grand jury indictment against 39 men and women last week was unsealed Tuesday after the arrests began. Shroba said 49 people were targets of the investigation, and some were already behind bars.

The 21-page indictment describes the actions of couriers of drugs and cash as well as dealers, enforcers and suppliers.

Shroba said that the most prominent defendants are Israel Amigo Angeles-Montezuma and Alan Cardenas, who were the primary sources of the meth.

Angeles-Montezuma is a native of the St. Louis area but was arrested in California, Shroba said.

Neither man has an attorney listed yet in court files.
LINCOLN COUNTY  This countys only circuit judge took office in 2013 without ever handling a jury trial. By the end of that year, she would make mistakes in a murder case that later caused the reversal of Russell Farias conviction and an enduring controversy.

Now, after unrelated criticism, the Missouri Supreme Court is deciding whether to suspend Presiding Judge Chris Kunza Mennemeyer for six months.

In disciplinary hearings, she and others opened up about problems and complaints.

The result was a rare look at the inner workings of a courthouse, and the challenges a new judge faces. It also featured rare public criticism of a sitting judge that portrayed her as stubborn, condescending and less than credible.

The Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline recently recommended six months of unpaid suspension after finding that she intentionally kept defendants behind bars as a power play against public defenders.

The commission also said that Mennemeyer filed an unfounded disciplinary complaint against the head public defender in Lincoln County in retaliation for one his boss had filed against her.

The judge has denied both claims. Her lawyer, Paul DAgrosa, declined to comment for this article, saying, I dont think it would be appropriate. This matter is not settled yet.

Mennemeyer joined the bench with almost no trial experience, obtained no training on how to be a judge and had no mentor after becoming one, according to the hearing transcript.

One experienced Lincoln County lawyer, called to testify on Mennemeyers behalf, spoke of a toxic environment, where court staff, the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers dont play well together.

The lawyer said both he and the judge blamed resentment over her unexpected election victory in 2012.

Even her own courthouse was no sanctuary, as Mennemeyer testified that she avoids the shared courthouse kitchen to escape gossip about her and relatives.

It just wont stop, she said.

Little trial experience

The judge, who is in her mid-40s, is a Lincoln County native.

Her campaign biography said she was co-valedictorian of Troy Buchanan High School, with a bachelors degree in math and science education in 1993 and a law degree in 1997, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She promised to bring common sense to our court system.

Mennemeyer is married to a local pastor, and has children from a prior marriage.

Her first job out of law school was in Clayton, reviewing leases for a real estate law firm. Her second, also in Clayton, was similar.

In 2001, the then-prosecuting attorney in Lincoln County asked her to join the office.

She told the commission that she spent nine months as the assistant to the assistant prosecutor, handling traffic and juvenile cases, watching interviews of abused children and revoking licenses in DWI cases.

From there, she moved into private practice. Over a decade, she focused on estate planning, landlord-tenant matters and what she termed criminal light  traffic tickets, mostly things where I figured there would be a (plea) recommendation (from prosecutors), and it wouldnt be a court hearing type case. I did do a few DWIs if they were first offenses, she told the commission.

I had never done a jury trial, she said, although she said she did handle one or two pleas in felony cases.

She was once appointed a second string municipal judge, she testified, but I never served.

In the 2012 Republican primary, she ran for circuit judge against a public defender, and won. In the general election, she faced Associate Circuit Judge Ben Burkemper, who had been unopposed in the Democratic primary.

All the right stuff

Mennemeyer told the commission that Burkemper had all the right stuff. He was part of a politically connected family of lawyers who knew a lot of people. He also was a member of the right party, she claimed, in a county where you could have hung it up if you ran as a Republican before things changed around 2010.

Im nobody, she said. I wasnt supposed to win. It was that simple.

She called the general election very contentious, very nasty and very personal but did not elaborate.

Burkemper told a reporter in an interview, I dont know what she would be referring to. I thought it was a very clean election.

Mennemeyer won by just 231 votes out of 29,371 cast, or less than 1 percent.

As the only circuit judge in the 45th Judicial Circuit, which covers Lincoln and Pike counties, Mennemeyer also is presiding judge, with additional administrative duties. There are three associate judges.

Once elected, Mennemeyer said, she did not lack confidence as far as being able to do the job because  when I started private practice, I started from nothing. And, really, to me, it isnt that anybodys expected to know everything. You just have to know how to find the answer. You have to be able to work hard.

She then added a caveat. Criminally speaking, I dont think I knew enough to know what I didnt know.

Her first trial, a civil case in her second week, left her feeling better about going forward.

I did a lot of reading. I tried to look at the issues ahead of time, ramp up, and after I did that, I think I felt a little more confident like, wow, that was really hard, she said.

Burkemper said that becoming a judge is a tough challenge for anyone. Becoming presiding judge, he said, is a much larger responsibility.

Not supposed to win

Its not clear when things started to go wrong for Mennemeyer, but both she and William Cheeseman, a longtime local lawyer who was called by her lawyer to testify at the hearing, blamed the election.

From Day One she did not have a lot of local support, Cheeseman said, because she wasnt supposed to be the one that won.

Mennemeyer said she faced gossip that she slept with every man, woman and child in the county to win the election. It didnt end with her. She said that relatives  including her children  were verbally attacked, too.

She has been in an ongoing dispute with county commissioners who do not want to pay for her hiring of a juvenile court lawyer.

And brothers of a woman who died in 2014 made claims in a probate case that while in private practice, Mennemeyer improperly gained control of their sisters assets. Mennemeyer has denied the accusation.

Mennemeyer also faced a dispute with the public defenders office that led to the disciplinary hearing.

She believed the office did not have the authority to enter certain cases without a judges order. Local and state leaders of the public defenders office disagreed.

In early 2014, Lincoln County Circuit Clerk Grace Sinclair approached an associate judge and told him that Mennemeyer was delaying some criminal cases by up to 60 days to block the appointment of public defenders.

Mennemeyer was upset that public defenders were often filing motions to disqualify her from hearing their cases, according to commission findings, and wanted to foil them. By delaying cases, she could cause them to miss the deadline to seek a new judge.

The commission eventually concluded that Mennemeyer intentionally delayed the cases of eight people from 60 to 79 days each because of the dispute, meaning the defendants spent extra time in jail.

Mennemeyer told the commission that Sinclair only made that claim because she is a Democrat and a friend of Burkemper.

Sinclair, in a telephone interview, said, It had nothing to do with that.

I was just stating the facts and being honest, she said. Sinclair said she always had good working relationships with other judges but characterized her relationship with Mennemeyer as not as good.

Election effect disputed

Burkemper, in a telephone interview, said the usual adversarial system of criminal law was more adversarial than it needed to be in Lincoln County, and he blamed a lack of communication.

Burkemper stepped down as associate judge in December 2013 to work for the Missouri attorney generals office and is now administrator of the St. Louis County Family Court.

Cheeseman, the lawyer who testified for Mennemeyer, also blamed intra-office relations.

The atmosphere of the public defender, the prosecutors office, the clerks office, the court itself, the judges, it just seems like it is not meshed where were all doing the same thing in the same direction at the same time, he said.

And I dont know where it started, he added. I dont know how to fix it. Dont know if it can be fixed.

Cheeseman said that in Mennemeyers courtroom, Sinclair sits just feet away but the two do not interact. Everybody can see that, he said.

Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Leah Askey said, I have no issues with anyone I work with. She declined further comment further on the case.

A strong rebuke

Mennemeyer faced strong criticism from the disciplinary commission, which includes judges, lawyers and others.

During Mennemeyers testimony, Judge Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer, of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, called her stubborn and said she had a very condescending attitude toward the Public Defenders Office, toward anyone who disagrees with you.

Rahmeyer also said it appeared as if Mennemeyer digs in when confronted.

After Mennemeyer said during the hearings that she was unclear about what a particular statute allowed public defenders to do, Rahmeyer responded: Did you ask anyone else in the judiciary whether your interpretation of (Chapter) 600 made sense?

Rahmeyer added,  what will it take to get you so that you read the statute or talk to some judges or get some input that guides you better?

Jim Smith, the commissions counsel, recommended that Mennemeyer get a mentor, Rahmayer noted, adding, I dont know if you will listen.

Rahmeyer and the commission chairman, Skip Walther, appeared skeptical when Mennemeyer said that she had asked some judges about the issue.

Barely mentioned in the hearing was the trial of Faria in the murder of his wife near Troy, Mo. He was convicted by a jury and spent 41 months in prison before an appellate court ruled that Mennemeyer deprived him of a fair trial by refusing to allow evidence against an alternate suspect. Faria was acquitted by a visiting judge in a retrial.

That alternate suspect, Pamela Hupp, is now charged in St. Charles County with a different murder that officials say appeared to be calculated to throw suspicion on Faria.
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man has admitted fatally shooting a homeless man in downtown St. Louis last year and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Tyjuan L. Snipes, 23, of the 3900 block of Chippewa Street, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and armed criminal action as part of a plea agreement with Assistant Circuit Attorney Matt Martin. He was originally charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Police said Snipes fatally shot Michael Jackson Jr., 28, about 1:30 p.m. April 24 at 14th Street and Lucas Avenue. Court records say Snipes got out of a car at the intersection, approached Jackson and punched him. As Jackson ran, Snipes shot him once in the back, killing him, because Jackson owed him money.

Police released surveillance video after the shooting that showed a suspected gunman walk from the scene before leaving in a white Ford Focus.

Police said the day of the shooting that they believed it was drug-related and that the men had fought over a bag before Jackson was shot. Jackson was homeless, police and friends have said.
CEDAR RAPIDS | Her message was short, direct and powerful.

In less than a minute, gun violence survivor and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gave gun control supporters their marching orders.

Stopping gun violence takes courage, Giffords, 46, told about 75 people gathered in Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids Tuesday morning. It was a stop on her 2016 Vocal Majority Tour of 14 states leading up to election day. The courage to do whats right. The courage of new ideas.

Gun safety legislation is an idea thats time has come, according to legislators, candidates and representatives of local organizations.

Its time to start flipping how we talk about gun violence, said State Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, D-Cedar Rapids, who is unopposed for re-election.

Its not about us coming for your guns, she said. Its about coming together as a community to find solutions to keep our kids safe.

Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt that left her with severe brain injury, acknowledged that it wont be easy.

Giffords was elected to Congress from an Arizona congressional district in 2006. In 2011, as she was leaving a meeting with constituents, a shooter injured her and 12 others. Six people were killed.

She resigned from Congress in 2012 and has been leading efforts to pass gun control legislation though Americans for Responsible Solutions, which she co-founded.

Ive seen great courage when my life was on the line, she said. Now is the time to come together, to be responsible, Democrat and Republican, everyone. We must never stop fighting. Fight. Fight. Fight.

Be bold, Giffords said. Be courageous. The nations counting on you.
JEFFERSON CITY  Chris Koster, the Democratic candidate for governor, said Tuesday he is canceling negotiations about a second debate until his Republican opponent releases his tax returns.

Koster, who released income tax returns for 2012 through 2015 last week, is giving Republican Eric Greitens until Thursday to make detailed personal financial information public, saying it is an absolute condition of further debate talks.

Your campaign and Mr. Greitens have repeatedly accused your opponents of financial conflicts, improper tax behavior and lying. It is time for your candidate to live up to the standards of transparency he places upon everyone else, Koster campaign chief Andrew Whalen wrote in a letter to Greitens campaign manager Austin Chambers.

Polls show Koster with a lead over Greitens in the run-up to the Nov. 8 election. Traditionally, front-runners are loathe to schedule debates on the premise that the forums only provide challengers more exposure.

In a letter in response, Chambers said Koster's ultimatum was an "excuse to hide from the people."

"In the last debate, crooked career politician Chris Koster made a fool of himself, and now he's running scared," the letter noted.

The Greitens campaign has sent mixed messages on whether it would release the former Navy SEAL's tax returns. Chambers' letter Tuesday made no mention of a plan to release the documents.

In August, after the Post-Dispatch requested the tax information from both candidates, Chambers said it was a matter of collecting the information.

We're in the process of getting tax return documents together, he wrote in an email.

Asked about a release date a week later on Sept. 2, Chambers said, I havent made a decision on timing yet.

On Sept. 19, Chambers again hinted that the campaign would be releasing the returns. In an email, he expressed concern about whether the newspaper would be putting the returns online.

You won't be releasing copies of the returns right? he asked.

On Sept. 21, Chambers again suggested that the release of Greitens returns was contingent on Koster doing the same.

Have you received Koster's returns? Chambers said.

Koster, who is serving his second term as attorney general, released his last week, showing he made $113,000 in 2015, most of which was his salary as a statewide elected official.

Following the release of Kosters records, Chambers told the Springfield News-Leader that Greitens and his wife, Sheena, were planning to talk about releasing their tax returns over the weekend. And, he suggested that a final decision hadnt been made.

Its certainly something theyre considering. Theyve got to make that decision as a family, Chambers said.

Monday came with no response from the Greitens campaign.

The issue of tax returns has been a thorn in the side of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps campaign for months. On Friday, the New York Times reported that leaked 1995 returns showed Trump had lost nearly a billion dollars that year, putting him in the position of not having to pay federal taxes for the next 18 years.

As head of the charity he formed, records show Greitens earned $175,000 until he quit the job to run for governor. Tax records would show how much Greitens earned in 2015 from public speaking events, book royalties and other income.

Greitens, for example, earned as much as $16,500 per speech while on the speaking circuit last year.

His wife, Sheena, earns $63,000 as an assistant professor at the University of Missouri and the two own a home in St. Louis worth an estimated $500,000.

Koster and Greitens have shared the debate stage once this election season. The duo were expected to debate at least one more time before voters go to the polls.

Koster said the release of Greitens information would show that no conflict or inconsistency exists between Mr. Greitens actual financial history, his campaigns rhetoric, and his suitability to act as governor.

Chambers said Greitens wants at least four more televised debates.
Missouri officials say a paving company is responsible for turning Hazelwood's Coldwater Creek a milk-white color over the weekend.

The discoloration was caused by a "concrete additive product called Modifier A/NA" attributed to the St. Peters-based company Paving Solutions, according to a statement released Tuesday afternoon by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The statement indicated that the contaminant has a "low toxicity level for human and aquatic life."

The department has issued an abatement order to Pavement Solutions which states that the company has accepted responsibility and is beginning to remove contaminants with a vacuum truck.

On Friday, Pavement Solutions notified the MDNR emergency spill hotline of a release of "approximately 2,000 gallons of a liquid concrete additive" that occurred after a truck hauling the product was involved in an accident near the intersection of Airport Cargo Road and James S. McDonnell Boulevard.

The MDNR press release states that the company initially reported that the spill was properly cleaned and disposed. But on Sunday, Coldwater Creek turned an opaque white color, launching an investigation into the cause.
DES MOINES  Democratic challenger Patty Judge called out GOP incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley, accusing him of telling a downright lie Monday in blaming her for the cancellation of a planned televised debate that would have aired statewide on Iowa Public Television on Oct. 20.

Judge said it was Grassley who took the unprecedented action last Friday to back out of the IPTV debate, which is a traditional, long-standing venue for face-to-face meetings of candidates seeking Iowas most prominent statewide public offices.

Judge said she initially wanted the IPTV debate to originate in Davenport so every part of the state got a chance to see the candidates, but when the statewide station said the event would take place at its Johnston studio, she agreed to accept conditions she said Grassley already had approved.

Thats when Grassley rescinded his acceptance without giving voters a reason, Judge said, and announced he had accepted an Oct. 19 debate invitation from Quincy Media Group for a televised debate at Morningside College in Sioux City and a broadcast debate sponsored by WHO radio but would not participate in an IPTV debate due to a format dispute.

Later Friday, IPTV officials announced they had canceled the Iowa Press debate for the U.S. Senate race after Grassley, the six-term GOP incumbent from New Hartford, had rescinded his acceptance of IPTVs invitation, leaving Judge, D-Albia, as the sole participant.

We are disappointed the debate will not be available to all Iowans on our air, online or in our studio, IPTV Executive Director and General Manager Molly Phillips said in a statement, which indicated Judge had accepted an invitation on Sept. 23 and Grassleys campaign issued an Aug. 5 press release announcing his participation in an hour-long debate.

Monday, Grassleys campaign issued a statement calling Judge, who also served as a state senator and state agriculture secretary, a debate dodger with a clear record of snubbing Iowans, and urging her to accept the WHO Radio debate which all Iowa voters could access online.

Patty Judge has an unfortunate history of dodging debates and chronic absenteeism on the campaign trail, starving voters of critical information about where she stands on the important issues facing our state and nation," said Grassley committee campaign manager Bob Haus in a statement. He said she should accept the radio format instead of engaging in more politically motivated stalling tactics.

Grassley said the Oct. 19 debate immediately would precede a Trump-Clinton presidential debate and be broadcast on KTIV in Sioux City, KWWL in Waterloo/Cedar Rapids, KTTC in Rochester, Minnesota, WGEM in Quincy, Illinois, as well as online, offering the opportunity to reach the greatest number of Iowans. He also blamed Judges request to locate the IPTV debate in Davenport as the format snafu that prevented an agreement.

Judge, in a teleconference Monday, gave a blunt response to Grassleys contentions, telling reporters: "Thats absolutely a lie. You know, Im not even going to try to sugar-coat that. Thats just a downright lie.

We had said we would like to have that in Davenport. However, we were told by Public Television that that wouldnt work for them. We said fine. We agreed to the public television debate. Grassley had already agreed. After we agreed to the same terms and conditions that he had previously agreed to, he pulled out, and thats the straight truth, Judge said.

Judge said it is an embarrassment to democracy that voters in central Iowa, southwest Iowa and the Quad-Cities television markets wont have an opportunity to watch the candidates answer the same questions on the same stage. She said she would accept the WHO Radio debate if it were also televised and she called for both candidates to participate in a televised debate on KCCI-TV co-sponsored by The Des Moines Register.
CEDAR RAPIDS  State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald thinks the president of Wells Fargo Co. should be fired, but doesnt plan to close the Iowas account with the bank that keeps the states checking account, if you will.

Wells Fargo is under fire from federal regulators and Congress after it was learned its employees opened more than 2 million accounts that may not have been authorized by customers.

The company agreed last month to a $185 million civil settlement for restitution and fines, and has fired more than 5,000 employees. CEO John Stumpf has agreed to give up $41 million in unvested stock awards, but not to step down.

I think its horrendous that the president of Wells Fargo would not take financial responsibility, Fitzgerald said Monday. If he didnt know, he should have. Its outrageous. A responsible board of director should fire him.

However, Fitzgerald a nine-term Democrat, isnt planning to suspend dealings with Wells Fargo like his colleagues in California and Illinois have done.

To react on a whim would be irresponsible, said Fitzgerald, who was elected 34 years ago and is Americas longest-serving state treasurer. We signed a contract. It would not be appropriate for us to break the contract.

The decision is Fitzgeralds and Gov. Terry Branstad has no plans to ask him to reconsider, according to the governors spokesman.

On an average day, Iowa has more than $3 billion in idle cash that Fitzgerald and his staff invest overnight, for a few days or for years.

Occasionally, weve bought a few securities from them if they had the best deal for our taxpayers, he said.

Fitzgerald is confident the state is getting what it is paying for because his office monitors accounts every day.

Were not like most citizens who dont check their back account every single day, he said. We do the math on every single transaction, so we know were being treated correctly.

Last year, Iowa paid Wells Fargo about $290,000 in banking fees, Fitzgerald said. Banking services contract are awarded on the basis of competitive bids about every five years.

So just by definition because we picked the lowest bidder, there would be a cost to the state of Iowa if we broke the contract, he said.

The security of the states accounts and Iowans private information, such as Social Security numbers, is another concern.

Theyre handling billions of dollars and high-level information, Fitzgerald said. We go through a pretty sophisticated look-see to see who has best security.
Martin Williams, a mechanic at the British Motor Museum, with the Mini Minor he will drive at the Queens birthday parade. (Submitted photo)

A MINI Minor owned by the British Motor Museum at Gaydon is to play a starring role in a special parade next month to mark the Queens 90th birthday.

The parade, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Motor Group and the All-Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group, will take place leading to the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on Saturday, 15th October.

The museums Mini Minor was the first ever production model of the vehicle to roll off the Cowley production line on 8th May, 1959, with the registration plate 621 AOK.

Designed by Alec Issigonis, the car had its engine installed transversely with the gearbox in the sump and featured front-wheel drive. Its price from new was 537 and its top speed was 72mph.

The car will be driven in the parade by Martin Williams, one of the museums mechanics.

Martin said: I am very excited about this opportunity, I only joined the museum in June and feel very honoured to be able to drive the Mini as part of the Queens birthday celebrations.

It will be one of 90 vehicles representing the best of the British motor industry, all of which will be inspected on behalf of the Queen by Prince Michael of Kent.
An installation by Chinese-born British artist and social commentator, Aowen Jin, will be unveiled at Compton Verney in October.

SHE has been named by The Times as 'one of tomorrows great artists' and now Chinese-born British artist and social commentator, Aowen Jin, will be creating a unique installation at the historic Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park as part of the Museums at Night festival in October.

Compton Verney won the Museums at Night Connect competition, beating off four other museums and heritage venues across the UK to win an Aowen Jin artist event for the venue.

Her installation, The Ritual, will open on Saturday, 29th October and runs until 13th November.

In The Ritual, Aowen will bring the magic of Chinese spiritual tradition alive within the Compton Gallery hall and chapel by shaping it into her own sacred sphere.

In this expanse she will use illusion to create a massive phosphorescent rice field installation which visitors will see shine, glow and fade as they cast light over it with UV torches.

During the show visitors will be given a bowl of rice to participate in the ritual and create an offering in the main hall.

In the evening, they will be given UV torches to reveal the magic, as the specially-treated rice reacts to UV lights and glows in the dark.

Glowing rice trails will guide visitors to various artworks spread across the grounds, leading to the gallerys newly-refurbished Capability Brown chapel and crypt where they will uncover a series of works by Aowen and other artists that she has curated.

Aowen explains: The artwork was inspired by Compton Verneys impressive collection of Chinese bronze works, dating back almost 4,000 years. Vessels that were used for ancient rituals dominate these artifacts. I am creating a contemporary show that reflects the culture, tradition and history behind these objects, which is now largely lost.
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE: ARI) announced the Company closed four commercial real estate loan transactions totaling $325.5 million and funded $16.6 million for previously closed loans, bringing year-to-date total capital commitment and deployment to approximately $749.0 million. ARI also announced the Company closed a new credit facility with Deutsche Bank to fund first mortgage investments.

Commenting on the new transactions and the facility, Scott Weiner, Chief Investment Officer of the Companys manager, said: Over the past few months, ARI built a strong pipeline of commercial real estate debt investments in anticipation of the approximately $400 million of investable capital the Company generated from the acquisition of Apollo Residential Mortgage, Inc. (AMTG) and the subsequent sale of AMTG assets. As a result, ARI had a very active September and closed four first mortgage loan transactions totaling $325.5 million, representing a mix of property types and locations. In addition, ARI closed a new credit facility with Deutsche Bank to finance first mortgage loan investments, further diversifying the Companys funding sources and providing ARI with incremental financing to fund our active investment pipeline.

Investment Activity

ARI closed a $133.0 million first mortgage loan ($128.0 million of which was funded at closing) secured by a 735,382 square foot office building located in the North Michigan Avenue retail corridor of Chicago which will be redeveloped into a mixed use project. The floating rate loan has a two-year initial term with two two-year extension options and an appraised loan-to-value (LTV) of approximately 58%. The loan has been underwritten to generate a levered internal rate of return (IRR)(1) of approximately 14%.

ARI closed a $105.0 million first mortgage loan ($78.1 million of which was funded at closing) secured by a newly- constructed, 612-key full service hotel located in the Times Square district of New York City. The loan is part of a $215.0 million financing which consists of ARIs $105.0 million loan and another $110.0 million pari passu loan. The floating rate loan has a two-year initial term with three one-year extension options and an appraised LTV of approximately 62%. The loan has been underwritten to generate a levered IRR(1) of approximately 14%.

ARI closed an $80.0 million first mortgage loan (all of which is expected to be funded by year end) secured by a to-be-developed data center in Manassas, Virginia which has been substantially pre-leased on a long-term basis to a credit tenant. The loan is part of a $365.0 million financing which consists of ARIs $80.0 million loan and additional pari passu notes totaling $285.0 million. The fixed-rate loan has a three-year term and an underwritten, as-stabilized LTV of approximately 55%. The loan has been underwritten to generate a levered IRR(1) of approximately 14%.

ARI closed a $7.5 million first mortgage loan secured by a 6,500 square foot retail property. The loan is cross-collateralized and cross-defaulted with the $121.4 million of financing ARI has provided to the same borrower in connection with the aggregation of retail parcels for redevelopment in downtown Brooklyn, New York. The total floating rate financing has a remaining six month term and an appraised LTV of approximately 60%.

Funding of Previously Closed Loans - Since July 27, 2016, ARI has funded $16.6 million for previously closed loans.

Loan Repayments  Since July 27, 2016, ARI received $122.9 million from loan repayments and condominium sales. The loans that fully repaid include a subordinate loan on an office building in Michigan, a first mortgage predevelopment loan for a condominium conversion in New York City and a subordinate predevelopment loan for a condominium conversion in London.

Credit Facility

ARI entered into a master repurchase agreement with Deutsche Bank AG (the DB Facility) to provide up to $300.0 million of advances in connection with financing first mortgage loans. The DB Facility has a one year term with two one-year extension options and will accrue interest at a per annum pricing equal to the sum of one-month LIBOR plus an applicable spread.
AT&T Internet Services (NYSE: T) has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America on the National Internet Contract (NIC).

The agreement covers nearly 1,200 CWA-represented wireline employees in 16 states who work on areas of AT&T's business related to products such as IPTV and DSL. It will be submitted to the union's membership for a ratification vote in the coming days.

The agreement is the latest to be reached covering union-represented AT&T employees. The company has now reached 19 agreements with the CWA and IBEW in 2015 and 2016, collectively covering over 95,000 employees. Among other recent agreements:

Three tentative agreements reached on Sept. 29 covering over 2,100 CWA-represented former DirecTV employees in 15 states in the company's Midwest, Southeast and Southwest regions.

One ratified on Sept. 1 covering over 20 IBEW-represented employees in California.

One ratified on Aug. 30 covering over 40,000 CWA-represented AT&T Mobility employees across the country.

Two ratified in August 2016 covering about 3,000 IBEW-represented former DirecTV employees in 14 states.

One ratified in April 2016 covering over 9,400 CWA-represented AT&T Mobility employees in our Southwest region.

Three wireline contracts ratified in December 2015  one with AT&T Southeast wireline operations, and smaller regional contracts covering AT&T Billing Southeast and Southeast Utility Operations  totaling about 24,000 CWA-represented wireline employees in the region.

Two ratified in June 2015 covering about 16,500 CWA represented wireline employees in our Midwest and Legacy T (also known as AT&T Corp.) contracts.

More information will be posted on www.att.com/corewirelinebargaining as it is available.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to a new three-year collective labour agreement (CLA) with unionized employees at its Tasiast mine in Mauritania.

As previously announced in its Q2 2016 results news release, the Company and the Government of Mauritania have also agreed to a "Mauritanization" plan to increase the number of local workers at Tasiast, a requirement under Mauritanian law. Tasiast resumed normal mining and processing activities in mid-August after resolving the expatriate work permit issue, which was part of the Mauritanization plan agreement.

The new CLA and Mauritanization plan underscore the strong ongoing partnerships Kinross continues to build in the country with both its employees and the Government.
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (OTC: RHHBY), announced that it has received a second Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, Alecensa (alectinib). The latest BTD was granted for the treatment of adult patients with advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not received prior treatment with an ALK inhibitor.

The J-ALEX study that supports the second Breakthrough Designation for Alecensa showed superior efficacy versus the standard of care, crizotinib, in Japanese people with advanced ALK-positive disease, said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. The decision by the FDA to grant a second Breakthrough Therapy Designation is recognition of the clinically meaningful improvement in efficacy and safety that Alecensa brings to the care of people with advanced ALK-positive lung cancer who have not received prior treatment with an ALK inhibitor.

The FDAs Breakthrough Therapy Designation is designed to expedite the development and review of medicines intended to treat serious diseases and to help ensure patients have access to them through FDA approval as soon as possible. Alecensa received its first FDA BTD in June 2013 for people with ALK-positive NSCLC whose disease progressed on treatment with crizotinib.

Alecensa was granted accelerated approval by the FDA in December 2015 for the treatment of people with ALK-positive NSCLC who have progressed on or are intolerant to crizotinib. ALEX, a global, randomized Phase III study, is ongoing, comparing Alecensa to crizotinib as an initial (first-line) treatment for people with advanced NSCLC whose tumors were characterized as ALK-positive by a companion VENTANA ALK (D5F3) CDx Assay immunohistochemistry (IHC) test developed by Roche Tissue Diagnostics. This study is part of the companys commitment to convert the current accelerated approval in people with ALK-positive, metastatic NSCLC who have progressed on or are intolerant to crizotinib to a full approval as an initial treatment.

About J-ALEX

The J-ALEX study conducted by Chugai is an open-label, randomized Phase III study that compared the efficacy and safety of Alecensa to crizotinib in Japanese people. The J-ALEX study enrolled 207 people with ALK-positive, advanced or recurrent NSCLC who had not been previously treated with an ALK inhibitor. People were randomized to the Alecensa group or the crizotinib group in a one-to-one ratio. Results include:

Alecensa reduced the risk of disease worsening or death (progression free survival, PFS) by 66 percent compared to crizotinib (HR=0.34, 99 percent CI: 0.17-0.70, p<0.0001).

Median PFS was not reached in the Alecensa arm (95 percent CI: 20.3 months-not estimated) versus 10.2 months in the crizotinib arm (95 percent CI: 8.2-12.0).

Grade 3-4 adverse events (AEs) occurred with greater frequency in the crizotinib arm compared to the Alecensa arm (27 percent vs. 51 percent).

The most common AE occurring with > 30 percent frequency with Alecensa was constipation (36 percent). The most common AEs for crizotinib were nausea (74 percent), diarrhea (73 percent), vomiting (59 percent), visual disturbance (55 percent), alteration in taste (dysgeusia; 52 percent), constipation (46 percent), and an elevation in liver enzymes called alanine transaminase (ALT, 32 percent) and aspartate transaminase (AST, 31 percent).

About Lung Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, it is estimated that more than 224,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016, and NSCLC accounts for 85 percent of all lung cancers. It is estimated that approximately 60 percent of lung cancer diagnoses in the United States are made when the disease is in the advanced stages.

About Alecensa

Alecensa is a kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of people with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or are intolerant to crizotinib.

This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response (DOR). Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

Important Safety Information

Everyone reacts differently to treatment with Alecensa. Its important to know the most serious and most common side effects with Alecensa.

A doctor may lower the dose or stop treatment with Alecensa if any serious side effects occur. Patients taking Alecensa should contact their doctor right away if they have any of the following side effects.

Alecensa may cause serious side effects, including:

Liver problems (hepatotoxicity). Alecensa may cause liver injury. A doctor will do blood tests at least every 2 weeks for the first 2 months and as needed during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they experience any of the following signs and symptoms:

Feeling tired

Feeling less hungry than usual

Yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes

Dark urine

Itchy skin

Nausea or vomiting

Pain on the right side of stomach area

Bleeding or bruising more easily than normal

Lung problems. Alecensa may cause severe or life-threatening swelling (inflammation) of the lungs during treatment.

Symptoms may be similar to those symptoms from lung cancer. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they have any new or worsening symptoms, including:

Trouble breathing

Shortness of breath

Fever

Cough

Slow heartbeat (bradycardia). Alecensa may cause very slow heartbeats that can be severe. A doctor will check a patients heart rate and blood pressure during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they feel dizzy, lightheaded, or faint during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor if they take any heart or blood pressure medicines.

Muscle pain, tenderness, and weakness (myalgia). Muscle problems are common with Alecensa and can be severe. A doctor will do blood tests at least every 2 weeks for the first month and as needed during treatment with Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they have any new or worsening signs and symptoms of muscle problems, including unexplained muscle pain or muscle pain that does not go away, tenderness, or weakness.

Before taking Alecensa, patients should tell their doctor about all medical conditions, including if they:

Have liver problems

Have lung or breathing problems

Have a slow heartbeat

Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Alecensa can harm an unborn baby. Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor right away if they become pregnant during treatment with Alecensa or think they may be pregnant Women who are able to become pregnant should use effective birth control during treatment with Alecensa and for one week after the final dose of Alecensa Men who have female partners that are able to become pregnant should use effective birth control during treatment with Alecensa and for three months after the final dose of Alecensa

Are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Alecensa passes into breast milk. A patient should not breastfeed during treatment with Alecensa and for one week after the final dose of Alecensa. Patients should talk with their doctor about the best way to feed their baby during this time.

Patients taking Alecensa should tell their doctor about all the medicines they take, including prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Patients taking Alecensa should avoid spending time in the sunlight during treatment with Alecensa and for seven days after the final dose of Alecensa. Patients taking Alecensa may burn more easily and get severe sunburns. Patients taking Alecensa should use sunscreen and lip balm with a SPF 50 or greater to help protect against sunburn.

The most common side effects of Alecensa include:

Tiredness

Constipation

Swelling in hands, feet, ankles, and eyelids

These are not all of the possible side effects of Alecensa. For more information, patients should ask their doctor or pharmacist. Patients should call their doctor for medical advice about side effects.

Report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Patients and caregivers may also report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.

Please see additional Important Safety Information in full Prescribing Information, including Patient Information.
PHOENIX, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BillingTree, the leading provider of omni-channel, integrated payments solutions to the healthcare, ARM and financial services industries, has announced a majority recapitalization of the Company by Parthenon Capital Partners ("Parthenon") in partnership with BillingTree's senior management team. Founded in 1998 with offices in Boston and San Francisco, Parthenon is a growth-oriented private equity firm that partners with and invests in leading management teams and their companies.

"We are excited about this new chapter for BillingTree and are poised to significantly accelerate the growth of the Company," said Edgars "Edz" Sturans, President and CEO of BillingTree. "We look forward to working closely with Parthenon to leverage their expertise in the payments arena to further strengthen our existing customer relationships, expand our existing proprietary product offerings and grow our service footprint into adjacent industry verticals."

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, BillingTree was established in 2003 to meet the market's growing need for a vertically-focused provider of integrated payments solutions. Serving the healthcare, ARM and financial services sectors, the Company has experienced significant growth over the past few years, growing payment volumes at a compounded rate of nearly 40% per annum since 2013. In 2015, the Company announced the launch of Payrazr, a proprietary, web-based solution suite comprised of a payment gateway, consumer portal and virtual terminal, among other features. Following the growth investment from Parthenon, BillingTree will continue to focus on industry-specific strategies via integration with leading software partners in the Company's core verticals, a customer-first service culture, and a variety of value-added offerings, such as the Company's compliance suite.

"We are excited about the opportunity to partner with BillingTree," said Zach Sadek, a Partner in Parthenon's Boston office. "We have long believed that integrated payment solutions and industry-focused software and service capabilities provide tremendous value."

Brian Golson, Parthenon's co-CEO added, "We are thrilled to partner with Edz and the outstanding BillingTree executive team to further the Company's impressive history of growth and sector leadership. The Company delivers significant value to its clients through a customer centric culture, market-leading technology and unique value-added services. We look forward to working together to build on the Company's strong momentum."

Marlin & Associates acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to BillingTree and Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. acted as legal counsel to BillingTree in connection with the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis, LLP acted as legal advisor to Parthenon Capital Partners in connection with the transaction.

About BillingTreeBillingTree (mybillingtree.com) is the leading provider of integrated payments solutions to the healthcare, ARM and financial services industry verticals. Through its technology-enabled suite of products and services, BillingTree enables organizations to increase efficiency and decrease the costs of payment processing while adhering to compliance regulations. Leveraging more than a decade of market experience, BillingTree is dedicated to growing payments with technology through an integrated omni-channel offering, suite of proprietary products and value-added services, and a Company-wide focus on delivering extraordinary customer service.

About Parthenon Capital PartnersParthenon Capital Partners (www.parthenoncapitalpartners.com) is a leading mid-market private equity firm based in Boston and San Francisco. Parthenon utilizes niche industry expertise and a deep execution team to invest in growth companies in service industries. Parthenon seeks to be an active and aligned partner to management, either through recapitalization transactions or by backing new executives. Parthenon has particular expertise in financial and insurance services, healthcare technology and services, and business services, but seeks any service, technology or delivery business with a strong value proposition and proprietary know-how. Parthenon's investment team has deep experience in corporate strategy, human capital, capital markets, and operations, thereby enabling the firm to pursue complex, multi-faceted value creation opportunities.

Contact: Dave Yohe Jamie Kightley VP Marketing IBA, PR for BillingTree BillingTree Tel: 561.228.1940 Tel: 602.443.5948 [email protected] [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150409/197638LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/billingtree-closes-significant-growth-investment-from-parthenon-capital-partners-300338478.html

SOURCE BillingTree
MASON CITY  A Mason City artist wants the publics help to name a mural in progress at the Mason City Community Theatre.

Keely Hertzel is asking for input as she and around 30 volunteers complete a colorful addition to the buildings north side.

With mural, Mason City boy scout, artist gets chance to make mark MASON CITY  A mural in progress at the Mason City Community Theatre is giving a 21-year-old

The project is the focus of Mason City High School senior Nathan Hannas Eagle Scout project.

Hertzel said she hopes to finish the mural by the end of this week.

Those interested in suggesting a name can leave a comment on the theatres Facebook page or call 641-424-6424.
NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines invites all travelers to come learn more about the airline and experience its innovative and customer-centric approach to service and design at a special pop up in San Francisco's Union Square. The KLM Pop Up will showcase the airline's leading amenities and service by offering visitors the opportunity to experience the World Business Class, a virtual reality simulation of the KLM Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the chance to win roundtrip tickets to Amsterdam. The pop up will be open October 14-22, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 445A Sutter Street.

"The KLM Pop Up embodies the helpful, friendly, and innovative values of the airline, bringing to life the high standards of customer service KLM is committed to offering across all passenger touch points," said Eric Caron, Vice President and General Manager, Air France-KLM USA. "The Bay Area and West Coast are important and rapidly growing markets for the company, and we look forward to animating how KLM design and digital innovation offers our passengers best-in-class service and travel experience."

Visitors of the pop up will have the opportunity to earn up to five entries for KLM ticket giveaways with an RFID bracelet that allows them to check in at five interactive stations throughout the pop up. Each station highlights signature KLM features including: 24/7 social servicing, sustainability, vast global network and best-in-class products. Visitors will also be able to relax in a lounge and enjoy coffee and Dutch stroopwafels on special days. Parents are invited to bring their kids to enjoy a Kid's Corner featuring games and KLM's cartoon plane mascot Bluey.

Starting October 10th, San Franciscans can also be on the lookout for KLM throughout the city with the launch of a Helpvertising campaign that will include free water bottle distribution, KLM crossing guards and billboards that help people take a great selfie or even find their lost pets. The campaign is aimed at creating awareness of KLM's focus on customer service and how much KLM cares about its customers.

KLM, the world's oldest airline still operating under the same name, is the definitive leader in social servicing and sustainability. Recently, KLM became the world's first airline to offer full customer service on Facebook Messenger and launched bio-fuel flights from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. KLM offers daily direct flights between San Francisco and Amsterdam and recently added more capacity to the route in May with the addition of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. KLM currently services eight gateways from the United States to Amsterdam, and will introduce service from Miami on November 1, 2016.

To find out more about the KLM Pop Up, please follow #KLMcares on social or visit popup.klm.com.

CONTACT: Helen Ames/ Sarah MahaneyFinn Partners212-715-1600[email protected]

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/klm-announces-pop-up-in-san-francisco-300339038.html

SOURCE KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The head of one of Burundi's opposition parties has been released, days after he was arrested for what police said was collaborating with "armed gangs", a spokesman for an opposition coalition said on Tuesday.

The central African state has been in a political crisis and sporadic violence for more than a year, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015.

At least 450 people have been killed in violence that first erupted during protests against Nkurunziza's re-election bid in April last year.

Gervais Niyongabo, chairman of the opposition FEDES-SANGIRA party and one of the few opposition leaders still able to work inside Burundi, was detained in the southern Makamba region on Sept. 28, police said.

FEDES-SANGIRA party was among the opposition groups to boycott last year's elections.

"It was but a police fabrication to arrest him, given that his native village is known as an opposition stronghold," Pancrace Cimpaye, spokesman for the opposition grouping CNARED, said.

Police and government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Opponents accuse Nkurunziza of violating the constitution and a peace pact that ended a civil war in 2005. The government accuses opponents of stirring unrest, and accuses them of backing rebel groups, which officials call "armed gangs".

On Tuesday, Burundi's government said it had dismissed a U.N. decision to set up a commission of inquiry to identify perpetrators of killings and torture, saying it was based on a one-sided account of events in the country.

(Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 25, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo authorities have delayed elections to make sure the country is better prepared for them, President Joseph Kabila said on Tuesday, answering accusations that the government is dragging its feet to help him to cling onto power.

Congo's electoral commission said on Saturday it expected polls to be delayed until December 2018.

"We have decided to delay the elections to avoid locking out a huge number of people - most of them young voters," Kabila told reporters in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar Es Salaam.

"As many as 10 million unregistered voters could miss out on the chance to vote if we proceed with the elections."

Congo has not had a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. Protests over Kabila's perceived attempts to extend his 15 years in power have led to clashes with security forces several times in the past year.

Scores of people have been killed in the violence.

Supporters of Kabila, who was in Tanzania to discuss oil exploration in Lake Tanganyika on the two countries' borders, deny he is behind the delays, which they say are due to logistical and budgetary constraints.

Opposition parties met in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the current political impasse. In a statement, they reiterated their complaint that "the electoral process is blocked at the will of Mr Joseph Kabila".

Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi warned of more protests if Kabila fails to step down and hand over power before his mandate expires on December 19.

"On September 19th, we gave a warning to Mr. Kabila," he said, refering to violent protests in which at least 50 people, mostly demonstrators, were killed.

"On October 19th, we will give him a yellow card - a yellow card signifying that December 19th will be the red card."

Diplomats fear increasing anger among Kabila's opponents is fuelling a political crisis could trigger a repeat of civil wars that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003. Kabila brushed off such concerns.

"There is no political crisis in Congo ... what is happening at the moment is just some political tension ahead of elections, which is a normal thing in many parts of Africa," he said.

(Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Additional reporting by Aaron Ross in Kinshasa; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Louise Ireland)
A picture of environmental rights activist Berta Caceres is seen during a demonstration in demand for justice for her murder outside the Embassy of Honduras in Mexico City, Mexico June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

By Chris Arsenault

RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Court papers relating to the murder of high-profile Honduran land rights activist Berta Caceres have been stolen, the United Nations said, urging government officials to quickly recover the documents and investigate how the theft occurred.

Local media reported that the documents were stolen on Sept. 29 in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Caceres, who had received death threats over her work campaigning against the encroachment of hydroelectric dams and mines on indigenous lands, was killed in March.

It is unclear how the theft of the documents will affect the prosecution of the case in the Central American country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

"If this is how the state is handling evidence in the case, then how can we trust their final outcome?" said Candido Mezua Salazar, a colleague of the environmental rights activist.

"Immediate action is needed to safeguard the rights of communities living in Honduras," Salazar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via email late on Monday following the release of the U.N. statement.

Caceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for her struggle to prevent the construction of a $50 million dam that threatened to displace hundreds of indigenous people.

European lenders who had backed the dam project froze their investments following international outcry over the murder.

In May, Honduran officials arrested four people in connection with the activist's murder, including an employee of the company whose dam project she helped block.

More than 100 land rights activists and environmentalists have been murdered in Honduras since 2010, the U.K.-based campaign group Global Witness said in March.

"The general climate for land rights activists in Honduras is increasingly critical and feels worse now given the theft of Berta's case files," said Salazar from the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests.

(Reporting by Chris Arsenault; Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
By Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former navy chief of Guinea-Bissau who was arrested three years ago in a U.S. drug sting off the West African coast was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison, most of which he has already served, for conspiring to facilitate the shipment of cocaine to the United States.

Former Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, 70, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan after pleading guilty in May 2014 to conspiring to import narcotics into the United States.

Na Tchuto has been cooperating with authorities in the time since, Berman said, a factor the judge considered in sentencing Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief of staff, who was a fighter in the country's 1956-1973 independence war.

He has been incarcerated since April 2013 and is expected to receive credit for good behavior, meaning he could be released immediately, his attorney, Patrick Joyce, said at the hearing.

"I don't have a lot to say besides saying that I'm sorry for my act," Na Tchuto said, through an interpreter, before Berman handed down his sentence.

Poverty-stricken Guinea-Bissau, on the west coast of Africa, is viewed by U.S. authorities as a major way point for South American-produced narcotics that are then shipped on to locations in Europe and elsewhere.

In 2010, U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Na Tchuto a drug kingpin after what it said were long-held suspicions that he was a major drug trafficking facilitator.

In 2012, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began a probe targeting drug trafficking in West Africa, using informants posing as representatives of South American drug traffickers.

Prosecutors said Na Tchuto and two of his aides, Tchamy Yala and Papis Djeme, met with the informants from 2012 to 2013 to discuss the shipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from South America to Guinea Bissau that would be sent onward.

In meetings, Na Tchuto said it was a good time for the drug transaction given the Guinea Bissau government's weakness following a recent coup, and he sought a $1 million fee per 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, prosecutors said.

Na Tchuto, Yala and Djeme were arrested on a luxury yacht off the country's coast in April 2013, after being asked to meet with purported members of the organization the informants claimed to represent, prosecutors said.

Djeme and Yala pleaded guilty and were sentenced in 2014 to prison terms of 6-1/2 years and five years, respectively.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
By Aziz El Yaakoubi

SALE, Morocco (Reuters) - Moroccan authorities said on Tuesday they had foiled a planned suicide attack on Oct. 7 parliamentary elections after the arrest of a suspected Islamic State militant cell of 10 women earlier this week.

The Interior Ministry said on Monday that for the first time a group of female suspects had been arrested, the latest in series of militant cells the North African kingdom says it has broken up.

Morocco is holding a parliamentary election on Friday in which the Islamist PJD party is favored to win after five years leading the ruling coalition in a constitutional monarchy where the king remains the ultimate authority.

"One of the women was seeking more visibility and was planning an operation on the election day," Abdelhak Khayyam, head of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial arm of the domestic intelligence service, told reporters in Rabat.

"It was a suicide attack and we found bomb-making materials," he said, without giving further details.

Khayam said that among those arrested were four teenagers and some had already married Islamic State militants in Syria on the internet. The cell was operating in several Moroccan regions including the cities of Kenitra and Tangier, authorities said.

The interior ministry said the arrest of the women reflected an Islamic State effort to involve female militants in attacks in the kingdom. It said they were inspired by the brother of one of them who was involved in bombings in Iraq earlier this year.

The BCIJ has actively tracked alleged militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-2015.

Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and Maghreb neighbors Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria's civil war. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts say.

Nearby Libya has also become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Islamic State has taken advantage of widespread chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte.

The Moroccan government believes 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militants in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, while 286 have been killed in battle.

Morocco, an ally in the Western campaign against Islamist militancy, has suffered attacks itself in the past, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh when an explosion tore through a cafe and killed 15 people, mostly foreigners.

(Editing by Patrick Markey)
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of ruling party Law and Justice attends a news conference about Brexit in party headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

By Marcin Goclowski

WARSAW (Reuters) - The head of Poland's ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, launched an attack on Tuesday on European Council President Donald Tusk, an old political foe at home, saying he should not be allowed to serve a second term.

Tusk, a former head of the center-right, pro-European Civic Platform party, served as Poland's prime minister for almost two terms before resigning in 2014 to take the top European Union job.

His mandate as council president, in which he chairs summits of EU leaders, expires at the end of May 2017, although he is expected to seek to stay on in the post.

Kaczynski, head of Poland's nationalist-minded Law and Justice (PiS) party, said in a newspaper interview that the current PiS government would not support Tusk staying on.

That was because Tusk might find himself facing charges, Kaczynski said - apparently referring to his failure as prime minister to stop the Ponzi scheme Amber Gold which shook the country in 2012. PiS dominates a parliamentary panel set up to investigate the case.

Despite Kaczynski's words, a PiS government cannot stop Tusk renewing his mandate as long as a majority of EU leaders back him, which seems likely.

Most appear satisfied with Tusk's performance and are keen to avoid more instability as the EU starts negotiations over Britain's decision to leave the bloc.

But the comments highlight the conflict between the Polish rivals that could complicate Tusk's candidacy.

"The Polish government will not support Donald Tusk for the second term in the European Council," Kaczynski told the Polska The Times newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday. "Tusk is a major problem."

"There are investigations going on in Poland in the parliament and in the prosecutors' office that may lead to pressing some charges against him. Should such a person be the head of the European Council? I have serious doubts."

"His further stay in Brussels is highly risky, mainly for the European Union," Kaczynski told the paper.

Tusk responded on Twitter by challenging Kaczynski to a public debate "on Europe, Poland and your insinuations".

Kaczynski believes Tusk shares some responsibility for a 2010 plane crash in Russia in which his twin brother and then-president Lech Kaczynski was killed along with 95 others. Tusk was prime minister at the time.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Hugh Lawson)
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 4, 2016

DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware 001-05424 58-0218548 (State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation) (Commission File

Number) (IRS Employer

Identification No.)

P.O. Box 20706, Atlanta, Georgia 30320-6001

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrants telephone number, including area code: (404) 715-2600

Registrants Web site address: www.delta.com

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) issued today an Investor Update which is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.

Delta also issued today a press release reporting September 2016 financial and operating results. The press release is attached as Exhibit 99.2 to this Form 8-K.

In accordance with general instruction B.2 of Form 8K, the information in this report (including the exhibits) that is being furnished pursuant to Item 7.01 of Form 8K shall not be deemed to be filed for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, or otherwise subject to liabilities of that section, nor shall they be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as expressly set forth in such filing. This report will not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information in the report that is required to be disclosed solely by Regulation FD.

Statements in this Form 8-K and the attached exhibits that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effects of terrorist attacks or geopolitical conflict; the cost of aircraft fuel; the impact of rebalancing our hedge portfolio, recording mark-to-market adjustments or posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts; the availability of aircraft fuel; the possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub or gateway airports; disruptions or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; our dependence on technology in our operations; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third party regional carriers; failure or inability of insurance to cover a significant liability at Monroes Trainer refinery; the impact of environmental regulation on the Trainer refinery, including costs related to renewable fuel standard regulations; our ability to retain management and key employees; competitive conditions in the airline industry; the effects of extensive government regulation on our business; the sensitivity of the airline industry to prolonged periods of stagnant or weak economic conditions; uncertainty in economic conditions and regulatory environment in the United Kingdom related to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union; and the effects of the rapid spread of contagious illnesses.

Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2015 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2016. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of October 4, 2016, and which we have no current intention to update.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

Exhibit 99.1 Investor Update Exhibit 99.2 Press Release dated October 4, 2016 titled Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for September 2016

2

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. By: /s/ Paul A. Jacobson Date: October 4, 2016 Paul A. Jacobson

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

3

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit Number Description Exhibit 99.1 Investor Update Exhibit 99.2 Press Release dated October 4, 2016 titled Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for September 2016

4

Exhibit 99.1

1 Overall Commentary Guidance Fuel Deltas expected fuel price of $1.47 - $1.52 includes taxes, transportation, and refinery results. CASM - Ex Delta excludes fuel and certain other expenses from its unit cost guidance. Other expenses include the costs associated with third - party Maintenance Repair and Overhaul, Delta Global Services, MLT Vacations, Delta Private Jets, and refinery cost of sales to third parties. Delta expects to record roughly $250 million of other expenses in the September quarter. The revenue associated with these expenses is included in Delta's guidance for cargo and other revenue.  Delta expects a September quarter operating margin of approximately 18 - 19%, which includes 1.5 points of impact, or $150 million, from the August outage.  Consolidated passenger unit revenue (PRASM) for the month of September declined 3.0% year over year, as close - in domestic yield pressures moderated slightly with the implementation of lower Fall capacity levels. Delta continued to face a supply - demand imbalance in the Transatlantic and headwinds from prior year Yen hedge gains in the month.  For the September quarter, unit revenue is expected to decline ~7%, including ~1 point of pressure from the technology outage.  Non - fuel unit costs including profit sharing for the quarter are expected to be flat versus the prior year, as Deltas cost discipline and productivity efforts allowed it to overcome a roughly 0.5 point CASM - ex headwind from the outage and produce a result consistent with initial guidance.  Delta returned ~$650 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in the quarter, bringing the total for the year to more than $2.6 billion. September Quarter 2016 Operating margin 18  19% Cargo and other revenue $1.35 - 1.45 billion Average fuel price per gallon $1.47 - $1.52 Profit sharing expense ~$325 million Non - operating expense $75 - 100 million September Quarter 2016 vs. September Quarter 2015 Passenger unit revenue Down ~7% CASM - Ex including Profit Sharing ~Flat System capacity Up ~1.5% October 4, 2016  Note: Information for the September quarter 2016 in this investor update is adjusted for the reconciliations below.

2 Forward Looking Statements Profit Sharing Deltas employee profit sharing program for its ground and flight attendant employees currently pays 10% of the companys adjusted annual pre - tax profit up to the prior years adjusted annual pre - tax profit and 20% above that amount (adjusted pretax profit for 2015 was $7.35 billion). Deltas employee profit sharing program for its pilots currently pays 10% up to $2.5 billion in adjusted annual pre - tax profit and 20% above that amount. Profit sharing expense is accrued at a blended rate based on the companys estimated profitability for the full year. Taxes Our September 2016 quarter results will reflect a 34% tax rate. There will be no material impact to cash as Deltas net operating loss carryforwards will largely offset cash taxes during the next few years. Share count Delta expects approximately 744 million diluted and approximately 740 million basic weighted average shares outstanding. Statements in this investor update that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward - looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward - looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward - looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effects of terrorist attacks or geopolitical conflict; the cost of aircraft fuel; the impact of rebalancing our hedge portfol io, recording mark - to - market adjustments or posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts; the availability of aircraft fuel; the possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; the restrictions that financial covenants in our fin anc ing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one o f our hub or gateway airports; disruptions or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; our dependence on technology in our operations; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third party regional carriers; failure or inability of insurance to cover a signi fic ant liability at Monroes Trainer refinery; the impact of environmental regulation on the Trainer refinery, including costs relat ed to renewable fuel standard regulations; our ability to retain management and key employees; competitive conditions in the airlin e industry; the effects of extensive government regulation on our business; the sensitivity of the airline industry to prolonge d periods of stagnant or weak economic conditions, including the effects of Brexit; and the effects of the rapid spread of contagious illnesses. Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward - looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10 - K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2015 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10 - Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2016. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward - looking statements, which represent our views only as of Oct. 4, 2016, and which we have no current intention to update. Non - GAAP Reconciliations Non - GAAP Financial Measures Delta sometimes uses information ("non - GAAP financial measures") that is derived from the Consolidated Financial Statements, but that is not presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (GAAP). Under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, non - GAAP financial measures may be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. The tables below show reconciliations of non - GAAP financial measures used in this presentation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Forward Looking Projections. Delta is unable to reconcile certain forward - looking projections to GAAP as the nature or amount of special items cannot be estimated at this time.

3 Operating Margin, adjusted We adjust for the following items to determine operating margin, adjusted, for the reasons described below: Mark - to - market ("MTM") adjustments and settlements. MTM adjustments are defined as fair value changes recorded in periods other than the settlement period. Such fair value changes are not necessarily indicative of the actual settlement value of the underlying hedge in the contract settlement period. Settlements represent cash received or paid on hedge contracts settled during the period. These items adjust fuel expense to show the economic impact of hedging, including cash received or paid on hedge contracts during the period. Adjusting for these items allows investors to better understand and analyze our core operational performance in the periods shown. Refinery Sales. Delta's refinery segment provides jet fuel to the airline segment from its own production and from jet fuel obtained through agreements with third parties. Activities of the refinery segment are primarily for the benefit of the airli ne. However, from time to time, the refinery sells fuel by - products to third parties. These sales are recorded gross within other revenue and other operating expense. We believe adjusting for refinery sales allows investors to better understand and analyze the impact of fuel cost on our results in the periods shown. Average Fuel Price Per Gallon, adjusted We adjust for MTM adjustments and settlements to determine average fuel price per gallon, adjusted for the same reason described above under the heading Operating Margin, adjusted. Non - Fuel Unit Cost or Cost per Available Seat Mile, Including Profit Sharing ("CASM - Ex") We adjust CASM for the following items to determine CASM - Ex, including profit sharing, for the reasons described below: Aircraft fuel and related taxes. The volatility in fuel prices impacts the comparability of year - over - year financial performance. The adjustment for aircraft fuel and related taxes (including our regional carriers) allows investors to better understand and analyze our non - fuel costs and year - over - year financial performance. Other expenses. Other expenses include aircraft maintenance and staffing services we provide to third parties, our vacation wholesale operations, and refinery cost of sales to third parties. Because these businesses are not related to the generation of a seat mile, we adjust for the costs related to these sales to provide a more meaningful comparison of the costs of our airline operations to the rest of the airline industry. (Projected) 2016 2015 Operating margin 17.7% - 18.8% 19.9% Adjusted for: MTM adjustments and settlements 0.2% - 0.1% 0.9% Refinery sales 0.1% 0.2% Operating margin, adjusted 18% - 19% 21.0% Three Months Ended September 30, (Projected) Three Months Ended September 30, 2016 Average fuel price per gallon $1.48 - $1.55 MTM adjustments and settlements (0.01) - (0.03) Average fuel price per gallon, adjusted $1.47 - $1.52 (Projected) 2016 2015 CASM (cents) 12.27 - 12.43 13.07 Adjusted for: Aircraft fuel and related taxes (2.36) - (2.45) (3.05) (0.36) - (0.38) (0.45) CASM-Ex 9.55 - 9.60 9.57 Year-over-year change ~Flat Other expenses Three Months Ended September 30,

Exhibit 99.2

CONTACT: Corporate Communications 404-715-2554 news archive at news.delta.com Investor Relations 404-715-2170

Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for September 2016

ATLANTA, October 4, 2016  Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today reported financial and operating performance for September 2016.

Consolidated passenger unit revenue (PRASM) for the month of September declined 3.0% year over year, as close-in domestic yield pressures moderated slightly with the implementation of lower Fall capacity levels. Delta continued to face a supply-demand imbalance in the Transatlantic and headwinds from prior year Yen hedge gains in the month.

The companys financial and operating performance is detailed below.

Preliminary Financial and Operating Results September consolidated PRASM change year over year (3.0)% September mainline completion factor 99.9% September on-time performance (preliminary DOT A14) 90.2%

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 180 million customers each year. In 2016, Delta was named to Fortunes top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fifth time in six years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented five consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 319 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industrys leading transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, and Facebook.com/delta.

1

Monthly Traffic Results (a) Year to Date Traffic Results (a) Sep 2016 Sep 2015 Change Sep 2016 Sep 2015 Change RPMs (000): Domestic 10,492,828 10,033,433 4.6% 98,598,338 95,099,589 3.7% Delta Mainline 8,803,704 8,383,784 5.0% 83,031,624 79,476,392 4.5% Regional 1,689,124 1,649,649 2.4% 15,566,714 15,623,197 (0.4%) International 7,104,670 7,321,704 (3.0%) 64,504,930 64,952,154 (0.7%) Latin America 1,198,483 1,197,187 0.1% 15,336,733 14,718,884 4.2% Delta Mainline 1,160,942 1,161,536 (0.1%) 14,909,836 14,424,198 3.4% Regional 37,542 35,651 5.3% 426,897 294,686 44.9% Atlantic 3,894,697 4,045,049 (3.7%) 31,367,616 31,668,434 (0.9%) Pacific 2,011,489 2,079,468 (3.3%) 17,800,581 18,564,836 (4.1%) Total System 17,597,497 17,355,137 1.4% 163,103,268 160,051,743 1.9% ASMs (000): Domestic 12,314,567 11,825,266 4.1% 116,173,659 110,719,609 4.9% Delta Mainline 10,208,853 9,757,357 4.6% 96,672,823 91,311,749 5.9% Regional 2,105,714 2,067,909 1.8% 19,500,837 19,407,860 0.5% International 8,481,874 8,602,314 (1.4%) 76,968,107 77,845,663 (1.1%) Latin America 1,412,476 1,473,714 (4.2%) 18,092,570 17,758,956 1.9% Delta Mainline 1,362,778 1,428,291 (4.6%) 17,560,897 17,384,212 1.0% Regional 49,699 45,423 9.4% 531,673 374,744 41.9% Atlantic 4,773,640 4,679,481 2.0% 38,714,343 38,472,994 0.6% Pacific 2,295,758 2,449,119 (6.3%) 20,161,194 21,613,713 (6.7%) Total System 20,796,441 20,427,580 1.8% 193,141,767 188,565,272 2.4% Load Factor: Domestic 85.2% 84.8% 0.4 pts 84.9% 85.9% (1.0) pts Delta Mainline 86.2% 85.9% 0.3 pts 85.9% 87.0% (1.1) pts Regional 80.2% 79.8% 0.4 pts 79.8% 80.5% (0.7) pts International 83.8% 85.1% (1.3) pts 83.8% 83.4% 0.4 pts Latin America 84.8% 81.2% 3.6 pts 84.8% 82.9% 1.9 pts Delta Mainline 85.2% 81.3% 3.9 pts 84.9% 83.0% 1.9 pts Regional 75.5% 78.5% (3.0) pts 80.3% 78.6% 1.7 pts Atlantic 81.6% 86.4% (4.8) pts 81.0% 82.3% (1.3) pts Pacific 87.6% 84.9% 2.7 pts 88.3% 85.9% 2.4 pts Total System 84.6% 85.0% (0.4) pts 84.4% 84.9% (0.5) pts Mainline Completion Factor 99.9% 100.0% (0.1) pts Passengers Boarded 14,991,797 14,547,837 3.1% 138,704,972 135,159,161 2.6% Cargo Ton Miles (000): 171,034 184,732 (7.4%) 1,474,098 1,657,257 (11.1%)

a Results include flights operated under contract carrier arrangements
MASON CITY  An Ashley Furniture HomeStore could be coming to the former Kmart property in Mason City.

Sale of the property to Mighty Mites, Mason City LLC, whose managing member is Furniture Mart founder Bill Hicks, closed on Friday. The sale price was $3 million.

Furniture Mart, which has corporate headquarters in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, shares the same address as Mighty Mites.

The company has 38 stores in five states. Many of those stores operate under the name Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

Troy Eichmann, CEO of Furniture Mart, told the Globe Gazette the company has not made a final decision on what to do with the property.

We are evaluating it at this time, he said.

An Oct. 30, 2014, article on the Furniture Today website quotes Jim Heinitz, then-CEO of Furniture Mart, saying the company had plans to open four additional Ashley Furniture stores in cities like Davenport, Coralville, Mason City, Dubuque and Cedar Falls.

Since then an Ashley Furniture HomeStore has opened in Cedar Rapids and Davenport. Others are located in Spirit Lake and Sioux City.

The former Mason City Kmart store, located at 2006 Fourth St. S.W., closed in April 2014.
MASON CITY  The craze of creepy clown sightings has hit Iowa, but so far resulted in only one alleged incident in Mason City.

An employee of a Southbridge Mall store said she spotted a person dressed as a clown acting creepily outside her store. The clown was allegedly chased away by a security officer.

Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said the department sent two cars to investigate the report, but couldnt find the alleged clown.

Police called to Southbridge Mall for suspicious individual MASON CITY | Mason City police were called to Southbridge Mall for a "suspicious subject" ar

Thats not the case in Waterloo, where police say they received nine clown-related calls on Monday night alone.

Waterloo Police Lt. Greg Fangman said many of those reports were third-hand sightings and several involve social media and Internet threats.

No arrests were made.

According to Fangman, other clown-related calls in Waterloo include:

A resident heard people outside their home and feared they were clowns.

A passerby called police after spotting two people in clown costumes at the strip mall on Sovia Drive at 2:48 a.m. Thursday. Two officers were sent but they were unable to locate any clowns, and people at a laundry in the mall said they hadnt seen any clowns in the area.

A resident received an anonymous phone call in which the caller said something about knowing all about their family. Apparently clowns were mentioned.

A clown entered the McDonalds restaurant on La Porte Road and then left, prompting workers to lock the doors, Fangman said.

Mason City residents shouldnt panic if they run across someone dressed as a clown, and should only call police if that person is doing something suspicious, Brinkley said.

People do all kinds of fun things to get attention, said the police chief, a self-described practical joker. So, if theyre just sitting on a park bench staring at people, probably not a big deal.

If someone is acting suspicious, regardless of how theyre dressed, residents should contact local law enforcement, he said.

We would be happy to interview the clown, Brinkley said.

The reports in Waterloo and the lone alleged sighting in Mason City are just a few of countless suspicious clown incidents reported across the country.

Brinkley hopes mimes arent the next craze.

How are we going to interview them and find out whats going on?
MASON CITY  The craze of creepy clown sightings has hit Iowa, but so far resulted in only one alleged incident in Mason City.
CHARLES CITY  The attorney for a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his Marble Rock home in May has asked that her clients 1986 murder conviction not be brought up during his trial this week.

Stephen Carl Brodersen Jr., 47, who now lives in Greene, allegedly raped a female house guest visiting from out of state.

He is charged with felony third-degree sexual abuse. If convicted he could face up to 10 years in prison.

The jury for Brodersens trial was seated Tuesday. Testimony will begin Wednesday morning in Floyd County District Court.

Brodersen was convicted of murder in Maine when he was a teen. According to court records, he was released from prison within the past 10 years.

Nellie OMara, Brodersens attorney, stated in a motion filed earlier this week that because the murder conviction was in 1986 it was too long ago to be related to his current sexual abuse charge.

She also requested that none of her clients previous criminal charges be brought up at trial.

In her response to OMaras motion, Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey stated she wants to introduce evidence of the murder conviction for purposes of explaining to the jury the victims state of mind and reason as to why she did not struggle or fight the defendant during the sexual assault.

Ginbey also stated the murder conviction is admissible according to Iowas rules of criminal procedure because Brodersen was released from jail less than 10 years ago.

Judge Christopher Foy had not ruled on OMaras motion as of late Tuesday afternoon, according to the online database of Iowa court records.
Crowds of people have gathered at Salisbury Wharf to see the biggest ship ever to enter the Port of Tauranga.

The Aotea Maersk marks the first call on the New Zealand coast of a larger class of container ship making the run from West Coast South America to Asian ports.

Its arrival at the Port of Tauranga marks the beginning of a trade partnership between Maersk, the Port of Tauranga Ltd and Kotahi which have collaborated to provide the shipping, the facility, and the cargo volumes to make regular port calls at Tauranga worthwhile for a ship of the Aotea Maersks 9,640TEU container capacity.

Aotea Maersk is 347m long, 43m wide and draws about 14m. Tauranga is the only New Zealand port in which it will fit, and thats only after the port has spent about $350 million over recent years deepening and widening the harbor channels and buying new cargo handling gear, preparing for ships of its class.

Aotea Maersk, the largest container ship to ever visit New Zealand waters capable of carrying 9,640 TEU, was officially welcomed to the Port of Tauranga by Transport Minister Hon Simon Bridges today, marking a new era in ocean freight.

Maersk Line Oceania Managing Director Gerard Morrison says the company is able to bring in the larger ships as it becomes the first container line to successfully tie New Zealand to its global mainline networks.

The arrival of the Aotea Maersk marks a step change towards creating a network that is more fuel-efficient on a per-container basis whilst also significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the ocean freight component of the supply chain."

The Aotea Maersk is deployed on Maersk Lines enhanced Triple Star service which now offers a fast weekly connection to North Asia providing New Zealand exporters with a sustainable, direct service to important markets including Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan. The Aotea Maersk, one of 11 vessels in the service rotation, will be capable of holding more than double the number of containers of ships that currently dock in New Zealand. The ship is 347 metres in length  longer than three rugby fields, end-on-end.

Kotahi Chief Executive David Ross says the Aotea Maersk arrival was a great step in the right direction to ensure New Zealand achieves a secure, sustainable export supply chain.

Seeing this vessel arrive puts into perspective what can be achieved by working in collaboration with logistics and infrastructure partners, exporters, importers and the wider industry. It recognises Maersk Lines commitment to the New Zealand market, he said.

Port of Tauranga Chief Executive Mark Cairns is pleased to see the Ports recently completed $350 million infrastructure upgrade being utilised so promptly.

The arrival of larger ships to our waters is a key milestone for New Zealand on its journey to become a more efficient trading nation and will enable New Zealand to better compete with export nations which already have big ships on their main trade routes."

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller welcomes the arrival this morning of the huge megaship Aotea Maersk in Tauranga.

"This enormous vessel is opening up huge opportunities for Bay exporters and the wider country.

"A direct line from Chile to China via NZ is something our forebears could only imagine and now we have the opportunity to build off this to become a true Australasian port hub.

"The countries that are opened up to more efficient and frequent trading through this route will benefit our local kiwifruit industry hugely who have deep trade connections to all those countries," says Todd.

"But its more than kiwifruit and other local export opportunities, it signals Tauranga has come of age as a truly global port. A huge congratulations to Mark Cairns and his staff for their drive and foresight and to the wider community for their support of this vision."



The Aotea Maersk pulling into port. Photo: Andrew Campbell.





Photo: Andrew Campbell.



Photos: Chris Callinan.
Bay of Plenty doctors will be among more than 3000 intending to strike for 48 hours on October 18.

The industrial action follows unsuccessful negotiations with DHBs over working conditions.
One week out from an important vote for New Zealands biggest company Fonterra, chairman John Wilson is urging farmers to back changes to the co-operatives governance and representation.

The changes will ensure Fonterra can stay focussed on making the most from farmers milk and growing farmers wealth.
The National Government needs to live up to its commitments and allocate 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on development assistance, says Labours spokesperson on Pacific Climate Change Sua William Sio.

The second State of the Environment Report for Oceania by Caritas highlights that neither New Zealand nor Australia are halfway yet to reaching commitments made in the 1970s.

The Catholic Churchs Agency for Justice, Peace and Development says the 0.7 per cent target was set under the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals.

We dont even know where this Government sits on working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals launched in 2015 which New Zealand and the United Nations signed up to and are committed to achieving.

While Mr Key and his Government have said New Zealand would provide up to $200 million for climate-related support over the next four years, the majority of which will benefit Pacific nations, the report spells out this potentially represents a drop in climate finance, relative to the previous two years.

Caritas says the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated to them that the climate-related expenditure for the year ending June 2016 is approximately $44.6million.

This compares with an example in the report of New Zealand allocating about NZ$255 million a year over the next five and a half years to the Waterview urban motorway connection in Auckland. This encourages more cars, and potentially higher carbon emissions.

The report also reaffirms the struggles of hunger and thirst for clean water experienced by a growing number of Pacific people as a consequence of climate change effects. This is what I saw on the ground when I visited Tuvalu and Kiribati on my climate change fact-finding mission in March, says Sua William Sio.

SOURCE: Office of Sua William Sio

/assets/images/site/political-beat-bannerzzz.jpg
Five years ago today the containership Rena drove itself onto Astrolabe reef at about 17 knots, ensuring it was stuck fast - and opening a cascade of environmental damage that engrossed the nation.

Rena was a panamax container ship, 236m long, 32m wide and weighing in at 47,231 tonnes deadweight, with a cargo capacity of 3,351TEU, twenty foot equivalent units.



The video, dubbed should it stay or go?, shows the Rena when it first grounded and whether or not politicians felt it should stay on the reef.
The Iowa Safe Routes to School program is encouraging Iowans to join students, teachers, and parents to help fight the obesity epidemic by walking to school Oct. 5.

Schools across Iowa will be hosting events that day, known as International Walk to School Day.

The 2016 goal is for over 125 schools to participate by hosting a Walk To School Day event.

Last year, 77 Iowa schools registered at www.walkbiketoschool.org and www.iowahealthieststate.com/events/annual-walk.

Assistance is available from the Iowa Safe Routes to School Program and the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.

Questions? Contact Troy Carter, safe routes to school director, at 319-631-3933 or troy@iowabicyclecoalition.org.
Two Tauranga men apprehended in a drug bust at Dunedin Airport last month have been denied bail.

Jay Tarahina Kiwi, 32, and William Johnathon Wiki, 34, were jointly charged with possession of a Class A controlled drug  methamphetamine  for supply when they appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Tuesday.

The pair have been accused of couriering large quantities of the drug on a domestic flight on September 9. Both have denied the allegations.

Wiki is alleged to have thrown away two bags containing 5 grams and 99g of methamphetamine outside the airport terminal when confronted by uniformed police.

On the same day, police carried out a search warrant on a car at a Tauranga house belonging to Kiwis cousin and discovered 506.45g of methamphetamine.

Crown prosecutor Craig Power says both men were patched members of different gangs, with Kiwi allegedly connected to dealers in the Bay of Plenty.

The mens Auckland-based counsel said Wiki may end up pleading guilty, while Kiwis case was likely to go to trial Fairfax reports.

Both men have been remanded in custody until December 1.

- Stuff.co.nz
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has announced that applications are now open for the 2017 Endeavour Fund with a series of roadshows to be held this week for potential applicants.

The Endeavour Fund is New Zealands biggest contestable scientific research fund, Mr Joyce says. $209 million in research funding was allocated in the just-completed 2016 round, and a similar amount will be invested in the 2017 round.

The Endeavour Fund invests in excellent research that has potential to positively transform our economic performance, create environmental sustainability and integrity, and help New Zealand society.

The roadshow sessions being run by MBIE are a great opportunity to provide potential applicants with the information they need to complete applications that demonstrate the impact and excellence in their research.

The Endeavour Fund, previously known as the MBIE Contestable Science Fund, is one of the Governments main mission-led science investments.

The National Statement of Science Investment (NSSI), published late in 2015, set a ten year strategic direction for the science and innovation system, including a review and refresh of the Contestable Fund (Endeavour Fund).

The Fund was renamed as the Endeavour Fund in 2016 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Captain Cooks landmark scientific voyage to New Zealand.

The change of name reflects its mission to support transformational research, science or technology and to give effect to the Vision Matauranga policy.

There are two routes for applying for the funding: Smart Ideas and Research.

Smart Ideas  Generating Ideas. Fast-fail support to catalyse and rapidly test promising, innovative research ideas with high potential for benefit to New Zealand.

Research Programmes  Developing Ideas. Supports the development of ambitious, excellent, well-defined research ideas which, collectively, have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealands future in areas of future value, growth or critical need.

The Endeavour Fund provides the opportunity to invest in ideas that will positively benefit New Zealand. The priorities that are signalled through the Investment Plan demonstrate the economic, environmental or social objectives and give flexibility to our applicants and to those assessing application and deciding on funding, Mr Joyce says.

More information is available here.

Source: Office of Steven Joyce.
Unrivalled in her ability to house over 150 guests, those arriving on the 70m Lurssen were welcomed by extensive outdoor deck space to enjoy the last of the Mediterranean summer sipping crisp rose from Chateau d'Esclans, the finest champagne from De Watere and smooth vodka from Titomirov.

In a bid to showcase Martha Ann to potential clients, Frank Grzeszczak, Sales Consultant & Partner US at IYC, introduced the yacht in all its stature against the backdrop of glittering Monte Carlo: the perfect scene for such a lavish vessel.

Those on board were graced with Martha Anns attention to detail which includes a swimming pool with swim up bar, a choice of 3 decks on which to soak in the evening and elegant interior by Italian designer Francois Zuretti.

With space anything but limited, guests were free to stroll between platforms, indulging in delicious canapes and revelling in a different atmosphere from the 180 degree panorama on the upper deck to the beach club, home to an extensive array of watersports equipment that was on show for all to see.

As the opulent evening progressed, attendees noted how perfect the boat truly is for a party of this kind, how the atmosphere was building amongst new friends and the feeling of excitement they felt to spend the penultimate night of MYS 2016 taking in all the delights that Martha Ann has to offer.

Superyachts.com would like to thank our sponsors for the evening. Martha Ann is available for both sale and charter through IYC. Contact Frank Grzeszczak or Katya Jaimes.
MASON CITY  Two Mason City men who have turned their lives around since entering the Cerro Gordo County Drug Court program were honored Tuesday at the courthouse.

Bryen Servantez and Aaron Nixon were ordered to complete drug court as a condition of their probation after being convicted of felonies.

Nixon now works for CDI, a Mason City body shop, and speaks to those participating in Prairie Ridge Addiction Treatment Services.

I dont know where I would be if it wasnt for drug court, he said.

Nixon said he has grown more in the past 1 years than he has in his entire life.

You guys are my family now, he said, addressing the drug court officials and the other drug court participants who were at the ceremony.

I have definitely made a change in my life for the better, said Servantez, who is now working as a Pizza Hut delivery driver.

He said he could not have done it without the support of his family and friends.

Now that Servantez and Nixon have successfully completed drug court, they are on regular probation.

How awesome is this? said Judge James Drew.

Those attending the ceremony applauded when Drew noted Nixon has been clean and sober for 288 days and Servantez for 363 days.

There are a lot of people lifting you up today, Drew told the graduates.

Although Drew said those who enter drug court dont always have such a happy ending, four people have graduated from the program since May. Another graduation ceremony is planned for November.

Probation officer Gretchen Hollander said the program has been very rewarding, very exciting.

Cerro Gordo County used to have a community panel-based drug court that was discontinued in 2010 due to judicial budget cuts.

A new, judge-based drug court program began in January 2015. Participants meet with Drew once a week for 12 to 18 months.

The other members of the drug court interdisciplinary team  the county attorney, a probation officer, a substance abuse counselor and a defense attorney  as well as other drug court participants are present during these meetings with the judge.

Nationwide, 75 percent of drug court graduates remain arrest-free at least two years after leaving the program, according to the Second Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.
MASON CITY  The Mason City School Board has selected a firm to start its search for a permanent superintendent.

The board unanimously selected Ankeny-based Grundmeyer Leader Search during a special session Monday. Board member Lorrie Lala was not present.

The district will pay the firm $7,700. It is run by Trent Grundmeyer, a Drake University professor and former Hampton-Dumont High School principal.

According to an invoice provided to the board, costs for the search include $1,100 for conducting stakeholder surveys and meetings to establish desired qualifications with students, staff and the public and $1,250 for recruitment costs.

It also includes $900 for calling multiple references, $1,500 for initial interviews, $1,750 for formal interviews, $500 for firm recommendations to the board, $250 for contract negotiations and $400 for miscellaneous travel costs.

The district will pay for advertising, copies of interview packets and background checks.

Per interim Superintendent Mike Pencas contract, the board would need to make a selection no later than January.

The search will include internal and external candidates. Typically, it is narrowed down to two to three finalists, Human Resource Director Jodie Anderson told the board.

During the meeting, the board also passed a resolution to keep candidates names secret until the finalists are announced.

In June, Penca was hired with a one-year contract with a $163,000 salary to replace former Superintendent Anita Micich, who left the district in a contract buyout.

His contract requires Penca to receive a board review by Dec. 31, 2016. According to that agreement, the board must notify him by Jan. 16 if he will be hired permanently as superintendent.

In September, the board drew up a list of preferred qualities with School Administrators of Iowa Executive Director Roark Horn.

The boards list included: trustworthy  behaving the same in all situations, integrity, humility, energy, energy, unsatisfied with the status quo, marketing the school to all stakeholders, transparency, the ability to make decisions, motivate, good communication and perceptive, the ability to admit to mistakes, selflessness, confidence, well-qualified and a visionary with expertise in how to implement improvement.

Its top priorities would be humility, trustworthiness, integrity and decision-making abilities. The board wrote it would seek a long-term person and vested member of the community.

Transparency and community involvement is huge for us, said President Janna Arndt after the meeting.

In other business, the board approved a $6,000 proposal for Mason City architectural firm Bergland + Cram to draw up a plan for air conditioning at the Hoover and Jefferson Elementary buildings.

The vote was 5-1. Board member Doug Campbell voted against the measure.

Last month, the board rejected a proposal to allow firms Bergland+Cram and Modus Engineering to draw up plans for air conditioning add-ons for both buildings, citing concerns on unknown costs.

Typically, the cost for that review is about 8 percent of a total project budget, Facilities and Safety Coordinator Todd Huff told the Globe Gazette at the time.

A facility committee identified the project as one of two priorities in the districts master plan, Penca previously told the Globe Gazette. The second would be adding an auxiliary gym at the high school, offering space for fitness and a weight room.

The elementary schools are the last district buildings without air conditioning. If approved, the goal is to add the system next summer with it being operational for the 2017-18 school year.
GARNER  Combining Hancock and Winnebago countys emergency dispatch and jail operations could save up to $108,000 annually, an official says.

Currently, Winnebago and Hancock counties spend a combined $774,000 to operate separately. Based on estimates provided to the Hancock County Board of Supervisors on Monday, a combined operation could cost $666,000.

Its about $108,000 less than if we were to combine the two budgets today, said Andy Buffington, emergency management coordinator for Winnebago and Hancock counties

He compiled the estimates at the request of supervisors from the two counties, which met jointly in August to discuss the possibility of consolidating dispatch and jail operations into the Winnebago County Public Safety Center under construction in Forest City.

The public safety center is expected to be completed in February.

Buffington will present the same information on Tuesday to the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors.

There are no formalized agreements. No votes have been taken.

Hancock County Sheriff Scott Dodd said he believed the move could provide a better service to residents.

We would have a better-staffed 911 center, he said. There may be two operators working at one time for, lets say, most of the busy portions of the day rather than currently, we each staff those with one person.

So, in emergencies we would have at least two people there to handle those, whether its for law enforcement, fire department, ambulance service, whatever the issue might be.

However, he cautioned that any savings in operations could be eroded if theres a spike in the number of prisoners at the jail.

The Garner facility typically averages about nine prisoners. Five or six of those are Hancock Countys and the rest are from other counties which pay Hancock to keep them, Dodd said.

That fluctuates, Dodd told the supervisors. This morning I had 14 inmates.

Hancock County would have to outsource its inmates to Winnebago County if it merges dispatching duties because its dispatchers occasionally do double duty as jailers.

Buffingtons projected budget was based on seven dispatchers, a scheduling assistant and a supervisor.

He said there currently are six full-time employees and two part-timers in Hancock County, and five full-time dispatchers and a part-timer in Winnebago County.

A task force or committee may be necessary to hammer out details such as how to hire employees for the center and how to transfer accumulated vacation or sick pay for county dispatchers that apply for new positions and are rehired at the joint center.

The latter was a particular concern for Buffington and the supervisors.

If were gonna start everybody at day one then Im not in favor of this at all, Buffington said. Just because when youve got people that have four weeks of vacation and all this sick time and you say Im just taking that all away, or Im paying you for it, that would be horrible to do.

Maybe we should find that out, because thats our concern, too,  said Hancock County Supervisor Florence Greiman. Because, if Im an employee here for 20 years and all the sudden Im starting and not having my vacation, Im done. Because then Im done everywhere. Im starting fresh everywhere.

If Winnebago County is interested in continuing discussions, Buffington said, the next step would be to call another joint board meeting within the next few months.
LANTRY | Grossly emaciated wild horses are dropping dead of starvation and other causes on a South Dakota ranch that is supposed to protect them, according to a former ranch employee.

Colleen Burns took her allegations against the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burro public Thursday by posting 16 pages of written documentation and photographs on a website, and by linking to the material from her Facebook page.

The photographs show severely thin horses, some of them dead, with their ribs and hip-bones protruding. Some have grotesque wounds and injuries or wildly overgrown, untrimmed hooves. A few had been eviscerated, presumably by wild animals.

Burns estimated the death toll to be more than 30 since June. The Dewey County, S.D., sheriff confirmed he is investigating the situation.

I find it hard to breathe when I think back on what's happened here, Burns said in an interview with the Rapid City Journal.

Burns was the senior project manager for the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, which cares for hundreds of wild horses on a rural Lantry ranch within the boundaries of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in north-central South Dakota. Burns said she was fired Thursday after publicizing her allegations, and she posted her termination letter on Facebook.

The letter was from Karen Sussman, the president and longtime leader of the society.

I just fired her, so Im sure that shes a disgruntled employee, Sussman said via phone. She was in charge of managing the horses.

Sussman then said she was too busy to continue talking, but she promised to call back. That call did not come prior to deadline, and a reporter's follow-up phone message and email were not immediately returned.

The Society has since posted photos on its Facebook page and website of well-fed, healthy-looking horses eating hay.

Burns, who began working for the society in April 2015, said the organization moved to South Dakota from Arizona 16 years ago. Since then, according to Burns, the number of horses on the ranch has grown from 260 to 650, all of them rescued from various places in the West. The animals have been allowed to breed freely, Burns said, with no management plan to keep the numbers in line with available grazing or winter hay.

She said the horses are split into four groups, including three wild herds in pastures and a fourth group consisting mainly of orphaned foals in smaller enclosures.

Since the birth of dozens of foals earlier this year, Burns said, there has been insufficient grass in the pastures to support all the horses. That factor, coupled with the societys financial inability to acquire sufficient hay, led to a dire situation in which some horses went without feed for up to three days at a time and began dying in mid-June.

Burns said she tried to spur Sussman into action, only to suffer a breakdown in their relationship. Burns then took her complaints to society board members, one of whom tried to help but met resistance and resigned. Another board member rejected Burns claims and scolded her, Burns said.

All the while, according to Burns, the horses received no veterinary care and were looked after only by herself, Sussman and two ranch hands. Burns said she finally contacted the South Dakota state veterinarian, who visited the ranch earlier this month with Dewey County Sheriff Les Mayer.

Mayer, reached Thursday by phone, said the societys pastures are devoid of grass and are overrun by prairie dog mounds.

Its basically bare ground, Mayer said.

Mayer said he ordered Sussman to feed the horses daily or risk a citation or arrest. Since then, Mayer said, his office has visited the ranch every day and has confirmed that Sussman is complying with the order.

The ranch is in Dewey and Ziebach counties, about 110 miles northeast of Rapid City. Mayer said he has turned over the information he has gathered to both counties prosecutors. One of them, Dewey County States Attorney Steven Aberle, said in a Journal phone interview that he has received reports about the matter, but he declined to comment further on what he called an ongoing potentially criminal investigation.

Sussman is separately facing a felony grand theft charge in nearby Perkins County stemming from an alleged bad check she wrote for $9,394 while buying hay. She applied for a court-appointed attorney and was assigned one on the day of her initial court appearance Tuesday. If convicted on that charge, she faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

The nonprofit societys financial difficulties, meanwhile, are reflected in its publicly available IRS forms. In recent years, the organization reported raising around $700,000 in contributions and grants annually, but it routinely operated at a loss, including the 2012 tax year when expenses exceeded revenue by $166,794.

-- Seth Tupper is a reporter for the Rapid City Journal. Like the Globe Gazette, the Journal is owned by Lee Enterprises.
One of the problems facing the technology industry right now is the critical lack of strategic thinking. Hedge fund managers and activist investors increasingly are directing companies, forcing tactical decisions that raise stock prices over the short term, largely by destroying the firms long-term viability. What makes this trend particularly problematic is that most top executives dont seem to understand they are destroying their companies until its too late.

This also speaks to Joe Tuccis and Michael Dells recent partnership as a massive effort to remove that threat from both of their companies. Rather than once again picking on a firm like HPE, which is a showcase for this horrid foundation for decision making, I thought it would be interesting to explore the Trump and Clinton campaigns. My contention is that had either candidate thought strategically, neither would have run for the office of president.

Ill close with my product of the week: an interesting Samsung smart refrigerator that may define the future of the smart home  and fortunately is without any exploding battery risk.

Thinking Strategically vs. Tactically

We often define tactical and strategic thinking by time. A tactical decision tends to be more reactive and implemented with a 12-month window, while a strategic decision tends to be proactive and implemented over a far longer period.

Deciding to date someone would be tactical, while marriage should be strategic. Id argue that marriages often fail because they often are entered for tactical reasons. The parties are thinking more about how much they like to date than about how well their goals and ideals will align in the long term.

In the case of this years election, both candidates want to be president  likely for different reasons. Both started with powerful brands that were leveraged successfully into building businesses or getting stratospheric speaking fees and funding global and very lucrative charities.

This reflects a downside that I doubt either fully assessed. Unlike a typical politician who isnt as well compensated, both Clinton and Trump have huge assets tied to their names, as well as reputations that are at risk, regardless of whether they win or lose. Neither can exit this process without incurring most of the damage now.

They are both effectively locked into a path that will leave them badly damaged with respect to personal wealth and influence once this process concludes, regardless of the outcome. That is likely because neither really thought through the risks and rewards strategically.

Donald Trumps Brand

Trump entered the election process with a very powerful personal brand and a reputation for being both very successful and very rich. His brand is placed on all of his properties  not an insignificant portion of which are casinos, where patrons  particularly Asian patrons  connect his brand with winning.

However, much of this is a false front. He is neither as rich nor as successful as people believe him to be, and he actually seems to be operating very close to collapse. He isnt alone. Others, like Elon Musk, also operate on a razors edge between impressive success and catastrophic failure.

The perception that Trump is a success is likely his most valuable asset and is most responsible for keeping him in private jets and penthouse suites, as opposed to a nice house in the country and a neverending issue of paying the rent.

If Trump loses, he will have lost to Hillary Clinton, who isnt seen as a strong politician because she basically was anointed by her party. Thanks largely to Colin Powell, she also is viewed both as incompetent and unsuccessful, particularly by Trumps base.

This doesnt just make Trump a loser but a super loser, having lost to Clinton, who lost to Obama and is seen as unelectable. This means he not only will have virtually eliminated the perception that he cant lose, but also will be seen as a person who cant win. The impact on his income should be not only dramatic but also significant enough to shift him from profit to loss. The resulting loss as people avoid his casinos and brand in general could be catastrophic.

If he were to win, things wouldnt get much better. Hed enter not only with the Democrats but also a critical mass of Republicans against him, and no real political experience. That suggests his presidency would be catastrophically bad, and with his personal brand seriously damaged by the election process, he could face financial collapse while in office. The result would be the absolute destruction of his brand and further deterioration of his image from that of a successful billionaire to that of a punchline.

Youd think, given the risk, that exiting the process might allow him to recover his brand, but that seems doubtful. As president, hed at least have access to resources that would help him recover it, but his unwillingness to learn from his mistakes suggests that outcome is exceedingly remote. He is kind of screwed.

Hillary Clintons Reputation

Clinton entered the campaign as one of the most powerful women in the world. Largely seen as successful as a senator and particularly as secretary of state, she could have enjoyed a long successful career as a very highly paid speaker, power broker and charity manager. The election process so far has reduced her perceived power as a power broker. Her positions against Wall Street have devalued her considerably as a speaker, and her charity is at risk of being positioned as a liability to many current contributors.

So, even before the election process is complete, the perceptions that formerly surrounded her will have been badly, if not critically, damaged  destroying much of the financial engine under her relatively high income. Recall that the Clintons complained that his term in office effectively broke them financially.

If Clinton should lose, thing would get worse. Already increasingly seen as unable to do what is necessary to accomplish key goals, she will have lost to Trump, who is positioned by his party as unelectable. This suggests that anything he does in office that damages the country likely will be blamed on her inability to execute.

Trump is known to be vindictive, and that behavior, backed with the power of his office and access to still-confidential information on both Hillary and Bill, could result in a level of brand damage and potential criminal charges and litigation that would be unprecedented in their lives, if not the history of the nation.

There is an unacceptably high chance this not only could result in her being broke again, but also facing a high risk of a jail sentence. I expect that Trump would pull no punches in seeking to get even with her for the damage he would perceive she had done. (Trump doesnt accept that he makes mistakes, and hell likely blame his own financial problems on Clinton.)

If she wins, things also get worse  though likely not as much as in Trumps case, because Trump effectively would be neutralized as a threat. Still, she would face a Republican majority that hates her more than they hate the current sitting president, as well as a not-inconsequential number of Sanders supporters who think she cheated to get the job.

The effort to neutralize her will be unprecedented, both from within and without her party, and her now-historic inability to execute likely would define her term. There is a very high probability that she would be forced out of the office early (the same is true of Trump) and a near certainty that she would be tarnished further by her aging husbands increasing inability to make prudent decisions (also highlighted by Colin Powells leaked email).

Exiting the White House, she could be in even worse financial shape than the last time but lacking the vitality, due to age, to recover. Granted, as in Trumps case, things would be marginally better if she were to win rather than lose  but strategically, this looks like a lose/lose outcome for both candidates.

Wrapping Up

The strategic decision at this point would be for both candidates to meet and agree to withdraw, focusing on brand recovery and partnering for mutual brand recovery, given that both have the same problem. There is zero probability of that happening, not only because both candidates are unable to think strategically, but both also because both are likely at the point where they are more likely to shoot each other than to partner.

Plan B would be to work far harder  not only to ensure a win, but also to ensure the ability to execute the office of president successfully. That means aggressively reducing the conflict in their own parties  not through rhetoric alone, but by embracing proactively critical aspects of the elements positioned against them, and turning them from liabilities to assets.

In addition, both candidates would need to address their own core behaviors more aggressively. Clinton has to focus more on sharp execution and Trump on doing his homework instead of skating. Both need to be ready to enter the office running and be fully capable of avoiding the mistakes that have crippled both candidates careers and campaigns. At the heart of this is the willingness to accept mistakes and faults, and prioritize addressing them.

Since neither candidate seems willing to do that either, I expect that regardless of who it is, the winner eventually will have deep regrets about running  if theyre not harbored already. Had they thought this through strategically  like the computer in the movie War Games eventually did  both candidates would have concluded that the only truly good decision would have been not to play in the first place.

One other point: More people, particularly politicians, should practice thinking strategically. It would lead to a lot more good decisions and far fewer catastrophic ones.

At our house, Im typically the person who falls in love with a new high-tech appliance and then deals with what often is an unexpected bad outcome. However, this Samsung smart refrigerator was my wifes idea  and so far, it is a good one.

Samsung 4-Door Flex RefrigeratorWith Family Hub

The idea of a smart refrigerator has been around for some time. Over the years, Samsung has introduced a number of them, both with built-in PCs and built-in tablets, that for the most part have truly sucked.

Part of the problem has been that Samsung service typically sucks, and this class of product has tended to be complex and unreliable. However, the company has improved over time with regard to reliability, and there is an increasing number of third parties that can service the product (though I would always buy an extended warranty).

What makes the difference is that this new offering not only is stunning to look at, but also has significant value, thanks to the integration with other Samsung products, as a smart hub for IoT devices.

While still young, this product can be used to sync in real time with Samsung TVs (playing the same program in the kitchen that the family is watching in the living room); program compliant Samsung stoves and appliances; and control compatible IoT devices.

Running about US$1,500 more than the same refrigerator without a display and with a price of just under $4K this isnt a cheap date, but it is more impressive in place than comparably priced Sub Zero and Viking appliances.

In short, if you want to impress people, this thing does it in spades. This is finally a good representation of what is coming, and it is a fascinating way to move from paper sticky notes into a digital messaging future.

Because this is a great early showcase for IoT, but mostly because this is one of the most impressive devices in a home that is nearly wall-to-wall tech, the Samsung RF8K9580SG Smart Refrigerator is my product of the week.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) today announced that on Wednesday evening, November 2, 2016, after the market closes, it expects to report results for the third quarter of 2016.



On November 3, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time, Healthcare Realty Trust expects to hold a conference call to discuss earnings results, quarterly activities, general operations of the Company and industry trends. Simultaneously, a webcast of the conference call will be available to interested parties via an Internet link at www.healthcarerealty.com under the Investor Relations section. A webcast replay will be available following the call at the same Internet site address.

Conference Call Details

Domestic Dial-In Number: 1.877.507.5522

International Dial-In Number: 1.412.317.6077

Replay Conference Call Details

Domestic Dial-In Number: 1.877.344.7529

International Dial-In Number: 1.412.317.0088

Conference ID: 10093987

Healthcare Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust that integrates owning, managing, financing and developing income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States. As of June 30, 2016, the Company had investments of approximately $3.4 billion in 202 real estate properties located in 30 states that total approximately 14.5 million square feet. The Company provided leasing and property management services to approximately 10.0 million square feet nationwide.

In addition to the historical information contained within, the matters discussed in this press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks are discussed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Healthcare Realty Trust, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 under the heading Risk Factors, and as updated in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed thereafter. Forward-looking statements represent the Companys judgment as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
Federal authorities have been investigating reports that hackers targeted the mobile phones of a handful of Democratic Party staffers, according to a Reuters article published last week.

The news follows a series of breaches in recent months that revealed emails and other personal information of party staffers and other Democratic officials.

The FBI has launched an investigation into the attacks, which party officials believe are linked to Russia. Several members of Congress have raised suspicions in recent weeks that Russia might be attempting to interfere with the U.S. elections.

In addition to cyberattacks on Democratic Party operatives, recent breaches of state election systems are suspected of having Russian connections.

Possible targets were asked to turn over their phones so an image could be made of the devices, the latest reports indicated. Data retrieved from Democratic Party staff emails may have been used to access the mobile phones.

CrowdStrike, a Cybersecurity firm that investigated prior cyberattacks involving the DNC and other targets, declined to comment for this story.

The alleged mobile phone hacks reportedly involve malicious software infecting the devices. The data probe could involve photos, contacts, text messages, phone logs and other items.

DNC officials did not respond to our request to comment for this story. FBI officials declined to comment.

High Alert

A variety of means can be used to infect software, said Christopher Budd, global threat communications manager at Trend Micro.

For mobile, the one unique vector is getting people to install what they believe are legitimate apps from spoofed or otherwise misrepresented app stores, he told TechNewsWorld. However, theres no indication that a malicious app was involved in this case. Its a little harder to get malicious software on a mobile device, but it can be done.

News of the investigation adds to the heightened state of alert about the integrity of various U.S. election systems. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, recently released a statement on alleged Russian hacking activity against various systems.

Based on briefings we have received, we have concluded that the Russian intelligence agencies are making a serious and concerted effort to influence the U.S. election, they said. At the least, this effort is intended to sow doubt about the security of our election and may well be intended to influence the outcomes of the election  we can see no other rationale for the behavior of the Russians.

The orders for such activity could only come only from very senior levels of the Russian government, Feinstein and Schiff maintained, and they called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to order an immediate halt to the activity.

Shoring Up Defenses

In wake of attacks on election databases in Illinois and Arizona, 18 states have accepted an offer from the Department of Homeland Security to help them make sure their election systems are secure, Secretary Jeh Johnson testified in a Senate committee hearing last week.

In those cases, suspected overseas hackers compromised the personal information of up to 200,000 voter records in Illinois and also attacked the election infrastructure in Arizona. However, no individual records were compromised.

The Illinois breach involved a suspected SQL injection attack, officials confirmed. Arizona election officials have linked the attack there to suspected Russian actors.

DHS last month issued a warning to state election officials about possible threats to their respective systems and offered to provide additional security measures, including cyberhygiene scans of their respective Internet-facing systems, and risk and vulnerability scans by on-site experts.

The public should have confidence in the election system, despite concerns about recent attacks on the DNC and infrastructures in Arizona and Illinois, said Thomas Hicks, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Because of the decentralized nature of the American election administration system, there is no single, uniform national system that would affect the outcome of election results for the November 2016 presidential election, he testified late last month before the Subcommittee for Information Technology for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Suspected Russian hackers, including the teams known as Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear, have been implicated in earlier hacks on the DNC and other federal agencies.

A spearphising attack on Bellingcat, a website backed by a group of citizen journalists involved in the probe of MH 17, carries the hallmarks of Fancy Bear, according to ThreatConnect.

The attacks, which date back to last year, targeted individual emails, and were similar to the attack on White House staffer Billy Rinehart, whose stolen information recently was splashed onto DCleaks, suspected of being a Russian-influenced operation.

There is no way to easily tell the intentions of the hacks targeting Bellingcat and its journalists, said Kyle Ehmke, senior threat intelligence researcher at ThreatConnect.

Certainly there are a range of actions that could be enabled, he told TechNewsWorld, based on the information they are seeking to secure.
Leaks about Googles expected family of Pixel smartphones, reportedly manufactured by HTC, on Monday reached a crescendo ahead of the companys Tuesday press event.

Google is poised to announce two smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, according to specs published by UK retailer Carphone Warehouse.

The Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch 2,560 x 1,440 pixel AMOLED display and a 3,450 mAh battery; the Pixel has a 5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 AMOLED display and a 2,770 mAh battery.

Both have a Gorilla Glass 4 screen, a 12-MP rear camera with 1.55-micron pixels and an f/2.0 aperture, an 8-MP front-facing camera, a one-touch fingerprint sensor and 4 GB of RAM. They will be offered with 32-GB or 128-GB storage options.

Both use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor.

Google Assistant reportedly is a major feature of the devices.

This is a major disruption, said Werner Goertz, research director for personal technologies at Gartner.

Google realize the Nexus concept worked up to a certain point, but now they have to take tighter ownership of the end point, which is the smartphone  not the PC or tablets, he told TechNewsWorld.

Butting Heads With Apple

With the Pixel, Google is approaching the capabilities of the iPhone high-end devices, said Michael Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.

Think of it as the iPhone for the masses, he told TechNewsWorld.

Both the iPhone 7 and the Pixel line max out at 128 GB of storage, for example.

Of course, the iPhone 7 Plus can go up to 256 GB, but I bet the Google price point is much lower, Jude said.

Pricing tags currently being tossed around peg the Pixel at about US$350 and the Pixel XL at $650, according to David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research.

If true, thats substantially cheaper than an iPhone, and I think it puts the XL on a par with Samsungs S7, he told TechNewsWorld.

The bang-for-your buck argument is very important in the Android ecosystem, as its becoming so much more difficult to differentiate on hardware, McQueen pointed out. With brands like Samsung, LG and Huawei all very much vying for shelf space in the market, Google needs to come out with something different.

Pure Android

Speculation is rife over whether the Pixel family of devices has an SD card.

There is some contention over the SD slot, McQueen told TechNewsWorld. When Samsung took it out of their higher-end devices, there was an uproar, and now, its put back in the S7.

However, most smartphones can now back up to the cloud or email or text any file to another machine, Frosts Jude pointed out. Except for additional storage, [SD cards] make no sense.

Pixel will let Google showcase all the new features and functionalities that are included in [Android Nougat], and how the tightly integrated hardware helps create an improved user experience, McQueen suggested.

The Pixel family will run Android Nougat at its purest, said Ramon Llamas, a research manager at IDC.

This is just a flagship for Google, and a way to show what Android Nougat is supposed to look and feel like, he told TechNewsWorld.

Pixels Target

The Pixel will appeal to a limited number of people, because the marketplace as a whole doesnt understand or appreciate what its all about, Llamas predicted. It will appeal to developers the most.

Google hasnt been very successful with smartphones in terms of volume sold, ABIs McQueen noted. On the other hand, its chief aim with the Nexus line was to showcase the device for the Android ecosystem.

The change in Googles branding of its smartphones may signal Googles attempt to make Android a more unified experience on its own products, McQueen speculated. Androids a highly fragmented platform and some consistency would be welcomed.
Google has invited members of the press to San Francisco to showcase what's expected to be a wealth of new products. On the docket - or at least, what is rumored to be on the docket - include two Pixel handsets, Google Home (the search giant's answer to Amazon's Echo) and a 4K-capable Chromecast.

It's also possible that we'll see Google announce a new Wi-Fi router and perhaps even a new operating system called Andromeda that's said to combine elements of Android and Chrome.

The event kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / noon for those on the East Coast.
It could be extremely hard to keep up with Joneses when it comes to consumers getting their hands on the latest iPhone. Unless the consumer has joined Apple's iPhone upgrade program to be able to get a new unlocked iPhone every year, it can get extremely pricey to purchase the new device - just take the $969.99 Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus for example.

Most customers are locked into two-year plans with their carriers and are unable to upgrade for free until it's time for a contract renewal and the device is paid off. T-Mobile customers might pay for the Un-carrier's Jump! program, which for a fee every month, allows them to upgrade to eligible devices throughout the year.

Since Apple typically announces the launch of its new smartphones during a press event in the spring and then in the fall, chances are many customers picked up the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models. But there are a few ways to be able trade in or sell a 6 or 6s model in order to upgrade to the 7 or 7 Plus.

Here's your complete guide to doing so.

Online Price Comparison Services

SellCell.com is a really useful service for selling you old phone quickly and smartly. The platform is the US's largest online phone, tablet and electronics trade-in price comparison site. The company compare over 30 industry leading buyback companies across 1000s of models of phones, tablets, smartwatches, macs & wider tech. As SellCell compares prices for old phones across a huge part of the buyback market they always guarantee that they get the user the best price for their old tech. The service is simple and hassle free! All the user has to do is search for the make and model of the device and within seconds they will be presented with prices across all leading buyback companies in price order. It saves time, money and get the user the guaranteed best price. It's definitely a service to try if you want speed, reliable buyers and to be paid quickly.

Apple Upgrade Program

One of the easiest ways to trade in an old model for a newer iPhone is to take advantage of the Apple Upgrade Program. This program allows customers to finance the phone (for as low as $32.41 per month), interest-free. The smartphone comes unlocked so that the customer can use it with any carrier and has AppleCare+ protection.

Think of it as Apple loaning the iPhone to you though, because after one year, you can upgrade to the newest model. That means even you have to trade in the phone for a new phone. Those who don't want to wait a full year can upgrade early with an "advance payment" at the six-month mark.

While this might sound like a good deal, it's essentially the same as getting the iPhone 7 through a carrier plan. Still, when it comes to trading in an iPhone, using the iPhone Upgrade Program is probably the best. While the monthly payments aren't so cheap, you do get a new unlocked iPhone every year, with Apple's customer service and protection.

Carrier Trade-Ins

If you don't want to go to the Apple route, all the the major carriers offer trade-in programs to its customers.

But out of all the carriers, T-Mobile makes it the easiest with its Jump! and Jump! On Demand programs. The Jump program is a 24-month payment plan that lets you upgrade to a newer device after you pay off half of the phone's cost. The Jump! On Demand program is for 18 months and allows you to upgrade three times a year, whenever you want.

The only downside to JUMP! is that you can't sell your current phones since they aren't really owned until completely paid off. To pay off the phone to sell it in the future makes paying for a Jump! program a waste of money.

T-Mobile also offered a free 32 GB iPhone 7 to those who traded in their iPhone 6, 6s, or 6s Plus during the new device's preorder window. The Un-Carrier also offers customer $300 in credits when trading in an older device.

AT&T customers aren't so lucky when it comes to trading in their device. You will have to start a payment plan, which will be around $27 per month for 24 months. If you trade in your old device when signing up for a plan at AT&T, the carrier says it will give a $300 gift card depending on which model and what condition it is in.

Sprint also offered a trade in program during iPhone 7 preorders, but now customers will have to settle for a $27 payment plan. Keep in mind that carriers also charge an activation fee for turning the device on, which is important to remember even if you purchase an unlocked model after buying and selling somewhere else.

eBay And Other Online Services

If you have already paid off or purchased an older model like the iPhone 6 or 6s, another route is to sell it online to get money back in order to buy the iPhone 7.

Since there have been global shortages on the Jet Black models, these (and the Matte Black) are easily being listed on eBay for over a thousand dollars. While you won't get that much for a Rose Gold iPhone 6 or 6s, these models can get eBay sellers anywhere from $250 to $800 depending on the model and storage.

The best way to see how much you can get for your phone is to search for your model on the site in the sold listings to see what it generally goes for.

Just make sure that the phone is a good condition with as minimal scratches and other damage done to it as possible. It also helps to have the original box and all the accessories. Go for the gold if the box to this phone has never even been unsealed.

There is also another website called Gazelle that lets customers buy pre-owned phones or sell their current ones for cash. After answering a few questions, the user is asked to ship the device to Gazelle, which will then pay them via PayPal, a check, fit cards or on Amazon.

The bad news is that you just might not get as much back as you'd like. For example, a 128 GB T-Mobile iPhone 6 that is in "good" condition will give you $142 back. A "flawless," unlocked 128 GB iPhone 6s Plus will get you $325.

Then again, you could always sell your iPhone on Craigslist to get cold, hard cash. The risk here is that Craigslist in general can be shady, with the user never knowing who they are about to meet in person.

In-Store Options

If you don't mind visiting your local Apple Store, there is the option to trade in your iPhone 6, 6s or Plus models in-store. With Apple's iPhone trade-up program, you can get store credit that can be applied to that iPhone 7 Plus purchase. An iPhone 6 can get a customer up to $225, whereas an iPhone 6 Plus will get you $250. The 6s can get you as much as $275, and the 6s Plus, $315.

Best Buy also offering trade-in offers, but the customer is only getting a store gift card for doing it this way, so it might not be the best option.

Photo: Yanki01 | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The movie, television and recording industries have put in a massive amount of effort into shutting down various types of file sharing and torrenting websites, only to see new alternatives pop up as soon as the offending sites were shuttered. Is the industry engaging in a never ending game of whack-a mole in its attempts to combat piracy?

The most obvious example of this phenomenon is The Pirate Bay. The torrent site was famously pursued by legal authorities from numerous countries, and ultimately its offices were raided, servers seized and its founder jailed, and yet the site has still continued to operate under multiple alternative URLs. In fact, it is more popular than ever and promotes itself largely based upon its resiliency.

While it is true that some file sharing site shutdowns have been effective, such as the recent closure of Kickass Torrents, former users of the site have simply migrated to other sources, including identical clones and mirrors made available to those who prefer the late website's user interface.

The folks at Digital Music News have just uncovered another prime example of the apparent futility of pursuing file sharing websites. MP3 Skull, one of the largest music file sharing sites on the web, was shut down in February after a huge lawsuit was filed against it by the Recording Industry Association Of America. The RIAA's lawyers won a $22 million judgment and a court ordered injunction for the site to be shut down immediately.

Despite the fact that the shutdown occurred, MP3 Skull is still operating, and garnering more than 10 million pageviews per month. That's because instead of running at its prior shuttered domain, mp3skull.com, it now operates at a different domain, to which all Google searches for the website are directed. To add insult to injury, the site now operates not only as a direct .mp3 file download site, but also as a stream ripper, allowing users to convert videos from YouTube into .mp3 files for permanent download.

Tech Times recently reported that the music industry is now targeting a similar stream ripping site, YouTube mp3, and has just filed a massive lawsuit against it. Even if the industry prevails and manages to shutter that site (the outcome is unclear as the site's home country of Germany has already proclaimed it perfectly legal), it seems obvious that other sites will soon pop up in its place.

So how does the industry combat the proliferation of piracy and copyright violation? Is it by targeting the users as opposed to the providers? Apparently not, as a recent study found that legal threats to users of file sharing sites have almost no effect on their activity. The study concluded that providing more useful and competitive alternatives could be a more successful approach.

"Specifically, one strategy to combat unlawful file-sharing would be to provide easy access to information about the benefits of legal purchases or services, in an environment in which the specific benefits UFS offers are met by these legal alternatives," according to the report.

Photo: Jakov Vilovic | Flickr

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NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has spotted a record breaking gamma-ray binary named LMC P3 close to Milky Way galaxy.

LMC P3 is the brightest of about five gamma-ray binaries found by far and it also gets the credit of first gamma-ray binary detected in a galaxy outside the Milky Way, where our planet Earth exists. The brightness of the system is attributed to gamma rays produced as a result of interaction between a massive star and the crushed stellar core. Gamma rays are known to be the "highest-energy form of light."

When a neutron star or a black hole interacts with a normal star it results in cyclic emission of gamma rays, such light emitting systems are referred to as gamma-ray binaries. The luminous gamma-ray binary is detected in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) just next to Milky Way. The orbital period of the system is reported to be 10.3 days.

Robin Corbet, lead researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland noted in the press release that NASA's Fermi Telescope has detected a brightest gamma-ray binary outside the Milky Way Galaxy. Corbet added that about five such systems found earlier are from Milky Way and nothing is as distant as the new one.

The researcher noted that gamma-ray binaries are significant because the emission output is observed to change during each orbit and sometimes with time. Therefore detection of such systems is of great help to have a clear understanding of many such emission processes linked to gamma rays.

LMC P3 is reported to be lying inside the debris of supernova explosion in LMC. The LMC, which is a small galaxy, exists at just 163,000 light-years away from Milky Way. Earlier in 2012, the researchers from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, found an x-ray source in the supernova orbiting a young star many folds bigger than the sun. The scientists back then named it as high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB).

"The source is significantly more luminous than similar sources in the Milky Way, at radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths," reports the study published in The Astrophysical Journal. "The detection of this extra-galactic system, but no new Galactic systems, raises the possibility that the predicted number of gamma-ray binaries in our Galaxy has been overestimated, and that HMXBs may be born containing relatively slowly rotating neutron stars."

Guillaume Dubus, from Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France said that it is a huge surprise to have found a gamma-ray binary in another galaxy when there are lot of such systems in our own galaxy waiting to be detected.

Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Flickr

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Facebook is preparing to inject a hefty sum of money in Odense, Denmark, where the company is deploying a new data center of massive proportions.

The enterprise aims to raise three large server buildings that are said to occupy 184,000 square meters (2 million square feet) in the commercial area of Tietgenbyen.

Documents show that Cassin Networks ApS is in charge of the construction site, as the company purchased the 500,000-square meter (5.4 million square foot-) patch of land for as much as 68 million Danish kroner ($10 million). Insiders from the company hinted that Cassin Networks is actually a facade for Facebook, which aims to expand the number of its overseas data centers.

Facebook already has two data centers placed outside of the United States. Just recently, Mark Zuckerberg, the helm of Facebook, shared images from the massive Lulea data center in Sweden.

The wheels are in motion for starting construction on the Odense data center. Reports indicate that a fence already guards the perimeter, and security personnel were deployed to the site. The contractor for the project is Mace, an international consultancy and construction company.

Cowi, an international consulting group with important know-how in engineering, environmental science and economics, drafted the official VVM report (an environmental impact assessment) of the project. According to the VVM assessment, Cassin Facebook aims to build an administration building, three server rooms, a substation as well as emergency power generators.

The server rooms will cover 92,000 square meters (1 million square feet).

Although the financial investment in the new data center is based on guesswork, Facebook is thought to put a lot of money in the Odense facility.

The Lulea data center, which started working three years ago, counted an investment of about 3.8 billion Swedish kroner ($450 million). From that sum, about 1.5 billion Swedish kroner ($175 million) went directly into the national economy via supplies, construction work, technical and mechanical assistance along with logistics services.

An important slice of the total sum went into computers at net services, which the company had to import from outside Sweden. Looking at the construction plans for the Odense data center, it seems that the Danish facility will be larger than the Swedish one.

Facebook also started work on a data center in Clonee, Ireland, where the company will invest about $220 million.

So far, no authorities in Denmark commented on the Odense data center or the (un)official big tech brand behind it.

What do you think of Facebook's accelerated extension in Europe? Let us know in the comments section below.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Making use of Apple Maps when traveling by Amtrak in the United States is going to give iOS users more information about all the routes.

Last year when the routes for Amtrak were first added to Apple Maps in iOS 9, it was welcomed by many who were hoping for more information about intercity routes. At that point, the Amtrak routes added were concentrated in the Northeast Corridor and many were hoping that other areas would be included soon. The Amtrak routes added last year included those covered by the Acela Express trains and the Maple Leaf, which travels from New York to Toronto, Canada.

In the Oct. 2 update to Apple Maps, there was a major revision to Amtrak routes - finally those in the Midwest, Northwest, South, and West of the United States were added. With this addition, the entire network of Amtrak's routes in the United States is covered by Apple Maps and this is going to be immensely beneficial to those who use trains to travel between cities.

With the latest update to Amtrak routes in Apple Maps, several cities like Montreal and Vancouver have also been included, which is going to be especially useful to those going to Canada. Other important northeastern routes include those such as Adirondack, which extends from New York and Montreal.

However, in spite of Apple Maps providing iOS users with extensive transit options, the service is only now catching up with Google Maps. PhoneArena points out that the lackluster performance of Apple Maps even led Scott Forstall, who previously headed Apple's mobile software division, to leave the company in 2012.

Several updates later, the app is now being heralded as one of the best elements of iOS. New features like the ability to find where cars have been parked have been catching user's attention. This particular feature to find a parked car was added when iOS 10 was released in September. It relies on an iPhone sensing when a user stops driving their car and parks it. The location of the parked car is then stored on Apple Maps and the user will get a notification to help them find their car later.

Other major changes that arrived on Apple Maps in iOS 10 include a "Ride" option that can be used to get on a car that is operated by services like Uber. For the full list of Amtrak train routes that were added on the latest Apple Maps update, it is available here - hat tip to MacRumors for the info.

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TORONTO, Oct. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The City of Fountain Valley, California has selected Echologics to assess the condition of its water distribution mains to help maintain its water infrastructure, prioritize pipe replacement and reduce the amount of treated water lost to leaks.



Echologics will assess the condition of up to 75 miles of pipe over a 5-year period using its condition assessment technology. The mains that will be inspected will be of various diameters and materials, including asbestos cement and mortar-lined pipes.

The majority of Fountain Valley distribution mains were installed in the 1960s and 1970s, and the condition assessment program will be used to develop a pipe replacement program.

We want to have a plan in place before any issues arise that could disrupt service, said Mark Sprague, Field Services Manager with the City of Fountain Valley. Sprague added that the non-invasive aspect of the technology was a key factor in deciding to partner with Echologics.

By not having to introduce anything into the distribution system, we reduce the risk of losing treated water during the assessment process, which is especially beneficial when we are experiencing a drought, he said.

Echologics condition assessment solution is the industrys first approach that can identify the condition of both distribution and transmission mains, while simultaneously searching for leaks, all without the need for large excavations or service disruptions. This ability enables utilities to address issues or have plans in place before leaks disrupt service.

Acoustic sensors are attached to existing contact points, such as fire hydrants, valves or directly in contact with a pipe. A sound wave is induced in the pipeline and travels along the pipe. The acoustic sensors capture the time it takes the sound wave to travel between two sensor stations and computer algorithms determine a condition grade of good, moderate or poor for the inspected section.

Fountain Valley is proactively managing its water infrastructure to ensure that its residents continue to have access to safe, clean drinking water, said Marc Bracken, vice president and general manager of Echologics. Our condition assessment technology will help them make informed, data-driven decisions about how to prioritize capital spending and improve customer service.

Echologics is a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA).

About Echologics

Echologics, a Mueller Technologies company, is a developer of water infrastructure diagnostic technologies for water loss management, leak detection and pipe condition assessment. Echologics is dedicated to helping water utilities reduce water loss with subsequent benefits in monetary, environmental and health costs to their communities. For more information, visit www.echologics.com.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) is a leading manufacturer and marketer of products and services used in the transmission, distribution and measurement of water in North America. Our broad product and service portfolio includes engineered valves, fire hydrants, metering products and systems, leak detection and pipe condition assessment. We help municipalities increase operational efficiencies, improve customer service and prioritize capital spending, demonstrating why Mueller Water Products is Where Intelligence Meets Infrastructure. The piping component systems produced by Anvil help build connections that last in commercial, industrial, mechanical, fire protection and oil & gas applications. Visit us at www.muellerwaterproducts.com.
Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are made by HTC, but it seems that Huawei was the first option and turned down the offer.

Each year, Google launched Nexus devices made in collaboration with various OEMs. This year, the company is shifting from the Nexus branding to the Pixel moniker, but the OEM collaboration scheme is still on.

Google put HTC in charge of the new Pixels manufacture, but a new report points out that Huawei was actually the first choice. Huawei made the Nexus 6P last year, and Google reportedly wanted the OEM to extend the collaboration to this year for the Pixel and Pixel XL.

The Nexus 6P was widely considered one of the best smartphones in the Nexus lineup, and it's still successful, but apparently the collaboration between Google and Huawei was initially supposed to be bigger than it ended up to be.

As Android Police reports, Google got Huawei on board with the promise that the Nexus 6P would be available on all four major carriers in the United States. If that were the case, it would've helped Huawei expand its presence on the U.S. market.

Having a high-end flagship like the Nexus 6P available on all major U.S. carriers would've marked a major milestone in the OEM's efforts to conquer the U.S. market, but that didn't happen.

Moreover, Google and Huawei reportedly planned a "multi-hundred-million dollar" advertising campaign for the smartphone, and the Nexus 6P should've seen a more hyped launch like this year's Pixel hype.

Things changed in the process, however, and the Nexus 6P did not see the wide availability it was supposed to. The handset launched on the Google Store and Huawei's own website, but it was far from the wide U.S. launch and all-carrier availability Huawei likely hoped for.

Google reportedly told Huawei that it wanted three devices this year, and they would all bear Google branding, without the name of the OEM anywhere on the device. That didn't sit well with Huawei's goals and Huawei CEO Richard Yu reportedly ended the talks himself.

Nevertheless, the relationship between Google and Huawei has unlikely been damaged, and there are even rumors of an upcoming Huawei Nexus tablet. That could be the third device Google planned for this year, as HTC is in charge of just two devices: the Google Pixel and Pixel XL.

Ironically, the new Pixels are expected to hit multiple carriers and even surfaced on Bell Canada, so Huawei might've had the exposure it wanted had it accepted Google's offer.

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Microsoft is apparently killing off its Band fitness tracker line, pulling the Microsoft Band 2 from its store with no plans to release a new model.

The original Band and its successor, the Band 2, are reportedly enough for the company, and Microsoft is now giving up on its fitness tracker dreams.

The newer Band 2 has now been completely removed from the Microsoft Store, indicating that Microsoft has stopped production altogether. The device is also gone from Best Buy, albeit Amazon is still selling it until it runs out of stock.

Moreover, ZDNet reports that Microsoft has no plans to refresh the line with a new iteration this year, so a Band 3 is not in the cards. The company has also reportedly dissolved the team behind the Microsoft Band, casting further doubts on the future of the wearable.

In addition, the Microsoft Band software developer kit (SDK) is no longer available either, but that's not very surprising, considering that the Band 2 is gone.

Microsoft launched the original Band back in 2014 and released the new and improved Band 2 in October 2015, so many were expecting a new iteration this time.

However, ZDNet reached out to Microsoft and received confirmation that the company did indeed sell through its existing Microsoft Band 2 inventory and doesn't plan on releasing a new Band wearable this year.

"We remain committed to supporting our Microsoft Band 2 customers through Microsoft Stores and our customer support channels and will continue to invest in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS and Android devices," Microsoft further told ZDNet.

Consequently, even if Microsoft is dropping the Band line of hardware altogether, it will still keep offering its Health service and supporting existing devices. The company wants to push its Microsoft Health as a platform for health and fitness insights for all devices and operating systems, so the Band 2 demise will have no impact on that.

That said, Microsoft did not specifically say that it will never introduce another Band wearable, but for now it does look like the end of the line for the fitness tracker.

With no Microsoft Band 3 this year, the company is expected to focus its efforts and resources on its Surface line, the Xbox consoles and its much-touted HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headset, which is still in development.

It remains to be seen what the company has in store, but we'll keep you posted as soon as we get more details.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Federal authorities have, for the first time, added bees to the list of species that would be given protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave seven species of yellow-faced bees that are native to Hawaii islands an endangered status. The Xerces Society, the conservation group that advocated for the bees' new designation, said that these are the first bees in the country to be included in the endangered species list.

Once among the most populous species of insects in Hawaii, the yellow-faced bees experienced a sharp drop in number over the past century. The population decline is blamed on humans destroying bee habitats and using crop dusting that are toxic to the pollinators. The bees also face threats from non-native species.

Invasive bees from India, for instance, now settle in habitats where the yellow-faced bees used to thrive. This non-native species also compete with the yellow-faced bees for plants. The population of the yellow-faced bees are likewise threatened by alien ants that feed on their larvae.

Loss of these bees is feared to impact the ecosystem.

The bees are not just the species in Hawaii that would get federal protection. Wildlife authorities also assigned endangered species status to other animal and plant species found in the Hawaiian Islands. These include the band-rumped storm-petrel, the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly, the anchialine pool shrimp, as well as 39 species of plants.

"These species are all affected by habitat loss and invasive species," said Mary Abrams, FWS field supervisor for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. "Listing these species as endangered will help draw attention to the threats that have brought them so close to extinction, and allow us to begin the process of bringing about recovery."

Of the 49 species, 48 are are endemic to Hawaii. Nine of these plants are only found in Kauai while the 22 of the animal and plant species occur on the main island of Hawaii and one or more of the other islands. The bird species band-rumped storm-petrel is also found in Japan, Galapagos and subtropical areas of the Atlantic but wildlife authorities proposed to list only the Hawaii population that thrive on the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lehua and Kauai.

"Implementing an ecosystem-based approach to the proposed listing allows the Service to better prioritize and focus conservation and recovery actions in Hawaii," said FWS acting field supervisor for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office Kristi Young.

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Well, now it can be said: Xiaomi's 4K Android TV Mi Box is officially available in the United States. This came after reports revealed that the device was already on display at Walmart last week despite being listed as an upcoming device at Xiaomi's website.

As Tech Times previously reported, Mi Box was sold for $69 and the official announcement confirmed this figure. It is now available to U.S. customers via Mi.com and at Walmart stores.

"This is a significant milestone for Xiaomi, as it is our first opportunity to demonstrate to consumers here in America the power of what makes Xiaomi extraordinary: our promise of innovation for everyone," Hugo Barra, vice president at Xiaomi Global said in an official statement. "We believe everyone is entitled to benefit from technological breakthroughs, and Mi Box is a reflection of that belief."

Google also heaped praises on the device, with no less than Sascha Prueter, the head for Android TV, extending the team's excitement over the Chinese company's initial foray into the U.S. market.

A number of observers have cited that the Mi Box is a steal. Indeed, for the price point, it is possibly one of the best streaming devices to hit the market. Xiaomi, for instance, can stream 4K resolution at a staggering 60 frames per second (fps).

What this means is that it is up there with Amazon TV and Roku, and thoroughly trounces Apple TV, which can only manage 1080p at 60 fps. No one needs reminding that the latest Apple TV's base model retails for $149.

Under the hood, the Mi Box has a 2GHz quad-core chip, Mali 450 GPU and 2 GB of RAM.

The Mi Box also ships with a Bluetooth remote that is also outfitted with voice recognition. This technology enables voice search and command. The remote can also serve as a controller when playing games that are available for Android TV.

There is only 8 GB storage but it can be offset by the availability of a USB port to plug in additional storage module.

The streaming device runs on Android TV 6.0, which means it can support Google Cast. For the uninitiated, this feature allows Android users to beam or cast contents from their devices right to their TV and speakers.

What is even cooler is that the Mi Box will come with what Xiaomi called as special perks, complementing the live streaming TV experience. These are add-on services and contents provided by partners such as Sling TV, Pandora and VUDU. These purportedly cost a total of $76.

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The Android 7.0 Nougat has been rolling out to Nexus devices for some time now, but owners of a few older Nexus models had to muster more patience than others.

The Nexus 6 came running Android 5.0 Lollipop, but it seems the smartphone will finally get the Android 7.0 Nougat goodies in an OTA update.

Nexus 6 owners saw a hefty delay waiting to receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update, but recent news hints that the 2-year-old Google device will be seeing the latest Android OS "in the coming weeks."

Google made available the factory images for the Android 7.0 Nougat, alongside the OTA update, and users can get them online. Reports are pouring in about Nexus 6 phones receiving the much awaited update.

Keep in mind that the newest Android OS edition comes packed with the most recent security patch for October. The update, which carries the build number NBD90Z, is quite consistent and counts about 860 MB in size. This means that you should make sure you have enough free space and a stable Wi-Fi connection when downloading and installing it. Checking to make sure your phone is charged before updating is also recommended.

Those who are a bit fidgety can manually download and install the OTA update. Google also allows users to get the factory images for Nexus devices in case they would be needed.

Users who don't want to do the installation themselves simply need to wait for the update to reach their phone. Keeping an eye out for the notifications helps, as rollouts happen on a rather constant basis.

Unfortunately, Google did not make any comment about its latest OS reaching Nexus 9 LTE.

The company also kept mum about the reasoning behind keeping Nexus 6 owners from getting the Nougat, but company insiders familiar with the matter are hinting that it has to do with battery drain.

There are quite a few reasons why users are cheering when they see the Android 7.0 Nougat landing on their phones.

The new OS brings a revamped UI and improved notifications, a quicker access to what is important via Instant Apps and enhanced power saving. What is more, Nougat is designed to work on non-flagship devices, meaning optimized system requirements are in store.

Taking a page from the Chrome OS playbook, Android Nougat will feature seamless updates. The developers of Nougat are offering users Google Allo, the new messaging app that reinvents texting, making it more user-friendly and embedding cool features within the app.

Last but not the least, Quick Switch and Multi-Window will open a gateway to multitasking and productivity.

Photo: Sam Churchill | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, a species native to California that was put on the endangered species list in 2014, is making a comeback in the Yosemite National Park.

The amphibian, Rana sierrae, was once found abundant in the western mountain range. It started disappearing during the latter part of the 20th century and was added to the endangered list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of concerned officials, the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog population in Yosemite National Park has increased sevenfold over the last 20 years.

Roland Knapp, the lead author of the study that reported the said findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog is not a rare species of amphibian that became endangered but one that had been present in large numbers. The biologist at the University of California enthusiastically described the recent increase in the frog population as a "dramatic turnaround."

The frog species started vanishing following the stocking up of non-native fish in the park's lakes by the fishermen's organizations. The predatory trout that preyed on the frog's food also feasted on the tadpoles and frogs themselves. In addition, a kind of fungus in the frogs' habitat appeared around the 1970s, which put the species further at risk. The fungus was seen in wet areas where the amphibians lived but not deep under the water that served as the habitat for predatory trout.

The scenario gradually reversed over the past 20 years after the park stopped stocking up non-native fishes in the lakes, reported Knapp and team. As for the fungus threat, it is believed that the frogs are no longer susceptible to the fungal disease because they were able to develop resistance following decades of exposure.

Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, noted that halting non-native fish stocking up processes didn't just reverse the decline of the frog population. Efforts put in by Knapp in removing such fishes from lakes have a huge role to play in protecting native biodiversity in the park.

"If you take a species that was once so abundant out of a food web, you're going to have a whole series of unintended consequences," Knapp said, in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor. "For example, we know that when the frogs disappear from one of these sites, the garter snakes, which are one of their major predators, also disappear. By restoring frogs to these habitats and to these food webs, we restore the entire food web."

Photo: California Department of Fish and Wildlife | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New Nokia Android smartphone named Nokia D1C spotted on Benchmarking website

The fact that yesteryears uncrowned king of mobiles, Nokia has been looking to make a comeback is well known and the only question before the Nokia fanboys (I included) is when the new Nokias new Android smartphones will be available to buyers. We have already reported here about how Nokia is planning a comeback to the market with not one but two Android smartphones.

Ever since, we had reported on the leaked press renders of the new Nokia smartphones, we have been inundated by messages, both here and our social media for further news about Nokias forthcoming Android smartphones. Well, there is a good news of sorts for all Nokia lovers. A benchmark that was recently spotted on GeekBench suggests that an Android-powered device dubbed the Nokia D1C is in the works.

The Nokia smartphone spotted on Geekbench is not the expected Nokia flagship Android smartphone by any means. The benchmark suggests the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 430 processor clocked at 1.4GHz, and the multi-core score of 3120 and is tentatively labelled as Nokia D1C. It is not quite the specifications Nokia fans will be expecting but nonetheless its a proof that Nokias Android foray is real.

However, good news is that Nokia fans and other smartphone buyers may be able to lay their hands on new Nokia Android smartphones by end of this year if the benchmark reports are correct. Who would blame them for eagerly waiting for Nokias Android smartphone comeback? We all remember the good old days when we could easily throw a Nokia 3310 at somebody and then pick up the phone to start speaking again. Also, the battery on Nokia mobiles that lasted weeks could easily better the half day battery life we manage to squeeze out of our current crop of Android smartphones.

Hopefully, the Nokia Android smartphone comeback is expected to live up to the fans expectations and deliver really rugged smartphones that can withstand minor drops which current crop cant.
If you believe all the hype around 5G  and there's plenty of it  it will deliver multi-gigabit, low latency broadband to mobile devices. That mobile device may look like an automobile rather than an actual phone, but it's hard to say exactly what users are going to get when the smoke clears. Regardless of the final speeds, 5G is going to force the entire network from edge to core to get an overhaul  otherwise what's the point of 5G in the first place?

First, let's set aside the 5G is needed for IoT meme. Providing an overlay network using low-power radios and devices for the Internet of Things is a separate project and specifications from the blazing speeds promised are being demonstrated in various bits and pieces by AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon along with Ericsson, Nokia, and various Asian network equipment manufacturers. At some point, someone in the market department is going to split 5G into 5G-IoT and 5G-Fast, where 5G-Fast is the heir to LTE after LTE is milked for every single megabit of speed possible through existing licensed spectrum, plus whatever it can steal, er, borrow from Wi-Fi bands.

The world of 5G-Fast promises translate to using millimeter-wave technology  basically line-of-sight  which may or may not be licensed, depending on the country and regulation in place  with latency on the order of under a millisecond or less. Compare that to 4G LTE with operational latency on real world networks in the ballpark of 50 to 60 milliseconds or so. Available speeds on an LTE network depending on what version of tech, with download speeds possible in the 400 to 450 Mbps range on some carriers, such as T-Mobile.

LTE has plenty of room for speed growth. Telstra, Ericsson, and Qualcomm pushed the state of the art, demonstrating download speeds of 979 Mbps with upload speeds of 129 Mbps during recent test results announced in September. It's a given that hardware vendors and carriers want to squeeze out up to 1 Gbps using aggregation of various radio frequency bands, multiple antennas, and advanced data encoding schemes already in use on the wired side of the world.

I figure LTE upgrades now and in the pipeline will keep the wireless industry busy until 2020  the year we should see formal standardization of 5G. Standardization is important because it means interoperability. Carriers dont want to be locked into a single vendor, no matter how fast or good the technology.

Between now and 2020, carriers have four separate problems to address in preparing for 5G-Fast. The 5G-Fast ready network will need faster network speeds, more cells, more fiber, and lower network latency. Supporting multi-gigabit wireless speeds at the edge of the network will require 100 Gbps and faster speeds on backhaul with terabit and faster at the core. Maxing up LTE speeds to the 1 Gbps range will lay the groundwork for supporting 5G class multi-gigabit speeds at the edge.

Moving into multi-gigabit speeds also means shorter range, line of sight or near line of sight cell distribution at the edge, given the use of millimeter wave radio frequencies. If you thought the discussion of small, nano, and picocells for LTE deployments was fun, you will love 5G hardware and hate the planning necessary for optimizing 5G-Fast cell buildouts. In-building coverage will get more interesting and complex.

To support all of these new cells will require more fiber in more places while a traditional cell tower will end up being a 100 Gbps to 1 Tbps hub. Verizons long hiatus on fiber deployments was broken in part with the companys need to deploy more fiber in Boston for supporting LTE.

Lowering latency will likely be the biggest challenge for service providers. Existing infrastructure is built around LTE 50 millisecond latency, not 5G-Fasts promise of 1 millisecond. Current network designs will need to be modified in order to support lower latency, as well as take into account additional back-end latencies added with more cells to support 5G line-of-sight. If the core network cant keep up with 5Gs lower latencies, its going to be an issue somewhere down the road.

Edited by Alicia Young
The winner of the Brazilian presidential elections on Sunday, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), assured that he would work to put his country back on the international... | Read More
French English

BONDUELLE

A French SCA (Partnership Limited by Shares) with a capital of 56,000,000 Euros

Head Offices: La Woestyne 59173 Renescure, France

Business registration number: 447 250 044 (Dunkerque Registrar of Businesses)

2015-2016 Annual Results

Strong results in line with the objectives set

for the Bonduelle Group for FY 2015-2016

On the 30th of September 2016, the Supervisory Board, under the chairmanship of Martin Ducroquet, reviewed the statutory and consolidated financial statements for FY 2015 - 2016 as presented by the General Management and certified by the company's statutory Auditors.

Consolidated Accounts

(in  millions) 2015-2016 2014-2015 Variations Turnover 1,967.7 1,981.8 -0.7% Current Operating Result 103.5 111.5 -7.2% Net Result 53.7 69.2 -22.5% Net Financial Debt 440.6 512.4 - 71.8 M Leverage ratio(1) 2.47 2.73 -26 bp ROCCE(2) 10.3 % 10.7 % -40 bp

In an ever-chaotic climate - shaped by the lack of any upturn in consumption and price war in Europe, economic crisis in Russia and Brazil, high currency fluctuations - the Bonduelle Group reported another FY of growth on a like for like basis(3). In this ever-demanding environment accentuated by the strong basis of comparisons from 2014-2015, the group's current operating profitability at constant rates remains virtually unchanged. These performances, higher than the announced objectives at the beginning of the FY, underline the resilience and efficiency of the group's strategy in terms of diversification both in terms of technology (canned, frozen, fresh processed) and in terms of geography (2/3 Europe, 1/3 non-Europe), by brands (national and distributors' private labels) or even by distribution channel (retail, food service, industrial sales).

Global Turnover

New FY growth on a like for like basis(3)

Activity by Geographic Region

Total consolidated turnover

(in  million) 12 months 2015-2016 12 months 2014-2015 Reported figures Like for like basis(3) Europe Zone 1,274.9 1,281.3 -0.5% -0.4% Non-Europe Zone 692.8 700.6 -1.1% 8.2% Total 1,967.7 1,981.8 -0.7% 2.4%

Activity by Operating Segments

Total consolidated turnover

(in  million) 12 months 2015-2016 12 months 2014-2015 Reported figures Like for like basis(3) Canned 959.3 1,023.6 -6.3% -1.8% Frozen 596.9 561.9 6.2% 9.-% Fresh processed 411.5 396.3 3.8% 3.8% Total 1,967.7 1,981.8 -0.7% 2.4%

Over FY 2015-2016 (1st of July 2015 - 30th of June 2016), the group's turnover reached 1,967.7 million of Euro, an increase of 2.4% at constant exchange rates. The growth is therefore greater than the objective initially announced of a 2.-% increase in turnover on a like for like basis(3). After taking into account the negative impact of foreign exchange rates - mainly the Russian rubble - the turnover was down to 0.7% on reported figures over 12 months.

Europe Zone

The Europe zone, representing 65 % of the total turnover, recorded a virtual stability on a like for like basis(3) for the entire FY (-0.4%). Remarkable results were recorded for the retail sales of branded products (Bonduelle and Cassegrain) in canned, frozen, fresh processed and in food service with the return of growth in both volume and value for the frozen operating segment, giving rise to market share gains. The sales growth of branded products was offset by the lower sales volumes and price declines observed in the canned operating segment for private labels, segment where, given the current market conditions, the group has decided to restrict its activities.

Non-Europe Zone

The Non-Europe zone (35% of the total turnover) confirmed over this FY its growth area status with an annual increase of 8.2% on a like for like basis(3). Given the adverse exchange rates impacts, the zone recorded a decline of 1.1% based on reported figures.

In Russia, despite declining markets, the group reported, over this FY, a positive turnover growth thanks to an appropriate pricing and promotional policy, whilst still keeping its products accessibility and market shares.

In Northern America, the group continued to consolidate its positions both in Canada and USA, notably fuelled in Canada and for the sales to the US coming from Canadian plants by the competitiveness of the American/Canadian dollar parity.

In Brazil, the group successfully repositioned the Bonduelle branded canned range as a locally produced premium range moving from volume growth to a more differentiated and added value offer.

Current Operating Profitability

Maintained profitability in an ever-demanding environment

(in  millions) 2015-2016

Reported figures 2014-2015

Reported figures Variation at current exchange rates Variation at constant exchange rates Turnover 1,967.7 1,981.8 -0.7% +2.4% Current Operating Profitability 103.5 111.5 -7.2% -1.8% Current Operating Margin 5.3% 5.6% -30 bp -20 bp

For FY 2015-2016 the Bonduelle Group's current operating profitability was down based on reported figures, once again affected by unfavourable exchange rates (mainly the Russian rubble), to stand at 103.5 million of Euro. At constant exchange rates, the current operating margin reported virtual stability.

This performance is the result of:

a slight downturn of the current operating margin (3.8% against 4.2% last FY) in Europe due to a pretty high basis of comparison (good harvest for summer 2014), underactivity costs and a price decline in the canned operating segment for private labels, masking the confirmed improvement of the business profitability for the fresh ready-to-use and processed mushroom segments.

A remarkable resilience of the current operating margin (8.-% against 8.3% last FY) in the non-Europe zone, despite the impact of inflation on some cost components coupled with limited price increases aimed at preserving market shares in Eastern Europe and the additional costs incurred until early 2016 by fire at the Tecumseh plant (Canada) that took place in 2014.

The Bonduelle Group continued to invest in its brands, the marketing-media budget increasing by 8.5% at constant rates.

Net Result

Net result decrease impacted by exceptional items

The net expense of non-recurring items stands at 7.6 million of Euro and essentially includes the restructuring costs of the industrial facilities in the Nord-Picardie area (France) coupled with the proceeds from the sale of the plant buildings of Benimodo (Spain) following the transfer of shareholding in UCR.

The net financial debt amounts to 21.4 million of Euro against 19.3 million of Euro last financial year. Regarding borrowing costs, the group benefited from the lower rates and the ongoing deleveraging of the group. This result also comprises a net foreign exchange gain and the loss recorded from the disposal of ownership interest in the UCR joint venture.

The result of the companies consolidated by equity method close to balance and with an income tax expense at 20.5 million of Euro, the net result for this FY stands at 53.7 million of Euro, i.e. 2.7% of the turnover.

Financial situation

A solid financial situation

A strong cash flow generation linked to a good control over investments and working capital have, once again, enabled the group to improve its financial ratios, and conversely, to record a return on capital employed (ROCCE(2)) at 10.3% before tax.

Considering the group's operational profitability evolution and 2016-2017 outlooks, the General Management will request at the Shareholders' Meeting on the 1st of December 2016, a dividend distribution of  0.43 per share, stable when compared to last FY.





30th of June 2013 30th of June 2014 30th of June 2015 30th of June 2016 Net debt (in millions of Euro) 591.9 524.6 512.4 440.6 Gearing(4) 1.15 1.04 0.98 0.78 Leverage ratio(1) 3.27 2.95 2.73 2.47

Highlights

Bonduelle SCA has changed its Supervisory Board

Martin Ducroquet was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bonduelle SCA at the close of the Combined General Shareholders' Meeting on the 3rd of December 2015. He succeeds to Isabelle Danjou whose term of office has been renewed. Marie-Ange Verdickt joined the Board and replaces Daniel Bracquart. The Supervisory Board of Bonduelle SCA consists of 4 women and 4 men, reflecting a perfect gender parity.

Martin Ducroquet, graduated from ESCP Europe Business School (1997), worked for Siparex Private Equity for about 10 years notably as Investment Director. He is the founder and director of Tactus, a high tech company specialised in sales of goods and services, notably in the digitized and connected kitchen sector.

Marie-Ange Verdikt, graduated from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Bordeaux (1984) and a member of SFAF (French Society of Financial Analysts), started her career as an auditor for Deloitte and a management controller for Wang. She joined Euronext as a financial analyst and was then in charge of the financial analysis office. From 1998 to 2012, she worked for Financiere de l'Echiquier as equity fund manager, specialised in French and European mid-caps.

Pierre et Benoit Bonduelle SAS Holding to exercise BSAAR

Pierre et Benoit Bonduelle SAS, holding 170,962 warrants as of the 22nd of December 2015, representing 82.65% of the remaining redeemable equity warrants in circulation, exercised them on the 23rd of December 2015, at the unit price of  20 per share, reinvesting the net proceeds of the sale of the block of warrants on the 27th of March 2015, as mentioned in the press release of the 21st of April 2015. This exercise has led to the delivery of 683,848 existing treasury shares allocated to the cover of the redeemable equity warrants.

The combined holding of Pierre et Benoit Bonduelle SAS and the Concert resulting in a situation requiring a mandatory public takeover bid, a request for a waiver to the obligation to file a mandatory public takeover bid has been made to the AMF before the exercise of the warrants. This request for waiver was accepted on the 22nd of December 2015.

Following this exercise, Pierre et Benoit Bonduelle SAS, Bonduelle SCA main shareholder and General Partner, held directly and indirectly 29.80% of the capital and 38% of the voting rights. The family's shareholders acting in concert hold 48.01% of the capital and 59.22% of the voting rights.

Divestiture of the interest in UCR

The Ardo and Bonduelle groups, leaders in processing frozen vegetables in Europe, finalized on the 15th of April 2016, the plan in which the Bonduelle Group is to sell to Ardo its equity stake (50%) held in the Ultracongelados de la Ribera (UCR) joint venture co-owned with Ardo, as announced on the 3rd of February 2016.

Ardo retroactively acquired all Bonduelle shareholding on the 1st of January 2016 along with the real estate assets of the site located in Valence, up to then property of Bonduelle. The sales of the interest, previously accounted by equity method in the financial statements of the group, will result in a pre-tax net charge of 2 million of Euro on the 30th of June 2016. This transaction will, however, have no impact on the group's financial net debt.

Shutdown of the plant based in Russy Bemont (Nord-Picardie, France)

The plan for restructuring the canned industrial facilities in the North of France as announced at the company's central works council, on the 25th of January 2016, led to the shutdown, in Russy Bemont, of the production activities in June 2016 and of the logistical activities end of September 2016. Redeployment offers within the group have been proposed to the 62 employees affected. A non-recurring charge of 9.4 million of Euro was recorded in the financial statements on the 30th of June 2016 to cover the costs of the job-saving plan and the depreciation of the installations and equipment concerned.

Changes in the group's organisation

To take into account the size of the commercial and agro-industrial activities in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, the maturity and weight of this area, on the 1st of July 2016 all those activities were brought together to create a dedicated business unit: Bonduelle EurAsia Markets (BEAM), directly represented on the Group's Executive Committee.

In addition, a "Prospective et Developpement" unit has been created. The unit's mission is to go beyond the group's existing temporal and geographical horizons. It brings together long term R&D activities, numerical technologies, international sourcing and manages the group's geographical expansion, outside the existing business units. It also aims at creating and building relationships with innovative companies sharing the group's strategic ambition of to be "the world reference in "well-living" through vegetable products".

Outlooks

Despite no significant evolution of the economic conditions, the group was aiming at a growth of sales and current operating profitability at constant exchange rates of +2% to +3%. Taking into account the 2016 very difficult harvesting conditions in France, Russia, United States and Brazil, with an estimated financial impact of 7 to 8 million of Euro, the group sets its current operating profitability objective at 98 to 99 million of Euro and its operating profit stable at 96 to 97 million of Euro, both at constant exchange rates, for FY 2016-2017. The Bonduelle Group supported by its financial structure and its business resilience will continue to look for new external growth opportunities both in current areas and business segments as well as in new ones that are in line with the group's ambition of being "the world reference in "well-living" through vegetable products".

(1) Net financial liability / Recurring EBITDA

(2) Current operating profitability / Capital employed

(3) At constant scope of consolidation and exchange rates

(4) Net financial debt / Equity

Next financial events:

- 2016-2017 1st Quarter Turnover: 2nd of November 2016 (after stock exchange trading session)

- Annual General Meeting: 1st of December 2016

- 2016-2017 1st Half Year Turnover: 1st of February 2017 (after stock exchange trading session)

- 2016-2017 1st Half Year Results: 2nd of March 2017 (prior to stock exchange trading session)

Find the complete annual results and the financial notices calendar on www.bonduelle.com
This announcement contains inside information 04 October 2016 07:00 ASTRAZENECA REPORTS TOP-LINE RESULTS FROM THE BRILINTA EUCLID TRIAL IN PATIENTS WITH PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE Brilinta did not demonstrate a benefit over clopidogrel in a symptomatic peripheral artery disease patient population AstraZeneca today announced top-line results from the EUCLID trial. Brilinta (ticagrelor) did not demonstrate a benefit over clopidogrel in a symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) patient population and therefore did not meet the primary endpoint of the trial. The EUCLID trial included 13,885 patients in 28 countries and is the largest cardiovascular (CV) outcomes trial to date conducted exclusively in symptomatic patients with PAD. It evaluated the treatment of Brilinta 90mg tablets twice daily versus clopidogrel 75mg once daily for the prevention of atherothrombotic events (a composite of cardiovascular death, heart attack or ischaemic stroke). The primary endpoint of the trial was the time to first occurrence of any such event. Based on preliminary analyses, safety data is consistent with the known safety profile of Brilinta. Sean Bohen, Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca, said: "The proven benefits of Brilinta in acute coronary syndrome and post-myocardial infarction patients are established and remain unchanged. We are disappointed that the EUCLID trial results showed Brilinta did not demonstrate a benefit over clopidogrel in this specific symptomatic PAD population." Full results from the EUCLID trial are expected to be presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, Louisiana in November 2016. About Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) PAD is the third most common cause of cardiovascular complications (largely myocardial infarction and stroke) in the world. PAD is a chronic and progressive clinical manifestation of a systemic atherosclerotic vascular disease and a predictor of future vascular events. However, only a limited number of PAD patients receive the recommended treatment advocated in international guidelines. There is no cure and patients endure a high risk of serious cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. About EUCLID EUCLID (Examining Use of tiCagreLor In paD) is a global, event-driven, double -blind, parallel group trial involving approximately 13,800 patients in 28 countries, and was run for AstraZeneca by The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), part of the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina. The EUCLID trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of long-term treatment with Brilinta 90mg twice daily compared to clopidogrel 75mg once daily for the prevention of atherothrombotic events (a composite of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction and CV death) in patients 50 years of age with symptomatic PAD, defined by ankle-brachial index (ABI) 0.80 (at enrolment) and lower extremity symptoms, or by prior lower extremity revascularisation more than 30 days prior. About the PARTHENON programme PARTHENON is the largest-ever AstraZeneca CV outcomes programme, involving nearly 85,000 patients at high risk of CV events (MI, stroke and/or CV death) due to their underlying disease. Through the PARTHENON programme, AstraZeneca aims to address unmet patient needs by enhancing scientific understanding of the potential role of Brilinta in the treatment of atherothrombotic conditions. It includes five key trials covering broad patient populations across varying timescales. The trials encompass a wide range of CV disorders, including coronary artery disease (PEGASUS-TIMI 54), acute coronary syndrome (PLATO), stroke (SOCRATES) and patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of CV events (THEMIS). About Brilinta Brilinta is a direct-acting P2Y12 receptor antagonist in a chemical class called cyclo-pentyl-triazolo-pyrimidines (CPTPs). Brilinta works by inhibiting platelet activation and has been shown to reduce the rate of atherothrombotic CV events, such as heart attack or CV death, in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Brilinta 90mg is indicated to reduce the rate of atherothrombotic CV events in patients with ACS [unstable angina (UA), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)]. Brilinta 60mg is indicated for the treatment of patients who have suffered a heart attack at least one year prior and are at high risk of developing a further atherothrombotic event. Treatment with Brilinta 60mg may be started as continuation therapy after an initial one-year treatment with Brilinta 90mg and aspirin or other dual anti-platelet therapy. Brilinta has been shown to reduce the rate of a combined end point of CV death, MI, or stroke compared to clopidogrel. The difference between treatments was driven by CV death and MI with no difference in stroke. In patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention, it also reduces the rate of stent thrombosis. About AstraZeneca AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Respiratory, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases, and Oncology. The Company is also selectively active in Neuroscience and Autoimmunity. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information please visit: www.astrazeneca.com CONTACTS Media Enquiries Neil Burrows UK/Global +44 203 749 5637 Vanessa Rhodes UK/Global +44 203 749 5736 Karen Birmingham UK/Global +44 203 749 5634 Rob Skelding UK/Global +44 203 749 5821 Jacob Lund Sweden +46 8 553 260 20 Michele Meixell US +1 302 885 2677 Investor Relations UK Thomas Kudsk Larsen +44 203 749 5712 Craig Marks Finance, Fixed Income, M&A +44 7881 615 764 Nick Stone Respiratory +44 203 749 5716 Henry Wheeler Oncology +44 203 749 5797 Christer Gruvris Neuroscience & Autoimmunity +44 203 749 5711 US Lindsey Trickett Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases +1 240 543 7970 Mitchell Chan Oncology +1 240 477 3771 Toll free +1 866 381 7277 Adrian Kemp Company Secretary AstraZeneca PLC -ENDS-
HOUSTON, Oct. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evolution Petroleum Corporation (NYSE MKT: EPM) today announced the redemption of all of the outstanding shares of its 8.5% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock (the Preferred Stock, CUSIP: 30049A206; NYSE: EPM.A). The Preferred Stock will be redeemed on November 14, 2016 at $25.00 per share, plus all accumulated and unpaid distributions from October 31, 2016 (the last dividend payment date before the redemption date) through the redemption date, for an aggregate redemption price of approximately $25.082639 per share.

The total redemption amount of approximately $8 million will be funded with cash on hand. With working capital of $28.6 million as of June 30, 2016, the Company will have substantial liquidity after the redemption. Further, with the Companys existing undrawn credit facility, we have access to capital at a much lower cost, should we need it.

Notice of the redemption will be mailed to the holders of the Preferred Stock next week. The redemption and paying agent for the redemption is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the Agent). For more information, holders of the Preferred Stock may contact the Agent at 917-262-2378 or write to the Agent at 17 Battery Place - 8th Floor, New York, NY 10004, Attn: Corporate Actions Department.

Evolution today also declared a monthly cash dividend on its perpetual non-convertible 8.5% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock. The dividend is for the month of October 2016 and is payable on October 31, 2016 to holders of record at the close of business on October 14, 2016. The payment will be 1/12th of the 8.5% annualized amount, or approximately $0.177083 per share, based on the $25.00 per share liquidation preference. We expect preferred stock dividends will be treated as qualified dividend for income tax purposes.

About Evolution Petroleum

Evolution Petroleum Corporation develops petroleum reserves and shareholder value by applying conventional and specialized technology to known oil and gas resources, onshore in the United States. Our principal asset is our interest in a CO2-EOR project in Louisiana's Delhi Field. Additional information, including the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, is available on its website at www.EvolutionPetroleum.com.

Cautionary Statement

All forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding potential results and future plans and objectives of the Company involve a wide range risks and uncertainties. Statements herein using words such as "believe," "expect," "plans" and words of similar meaning are forward-looking statements. Although our expectations are based on engineering, geological, financial and operating assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and we can give no assurance that our goals will be achieved. These factors and others are detailed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our periodic documents filed with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
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Buc-ees, the popular Texas chain of convenience stores, has dropped plans to open its first Louisiana location in The Greens at Millerville development in Baton Rouge.

Jeff Nadalo, who serves as general counsel for Buc-ees, said in a statement the privately held chain needs a critical mass of stores to overcome the costs associated with expanding and operating in a new market.

To date, we have only been able to secure one site, Nadalo said. As a result, we have decided not to move forward in Baton Rouge.

Buc-ees, founded in 1982, operates 31 convenience stores, and the chains smiling beaver mascot is prominently featured on signs along Texas highways. The stores are known for their massive size  some top out at 60,000 square feet with 120 gas pumps  and super-clean restrooms.

Nadalo said Buc-ees does want to grow outside of Texas, and mentioned the possibility of stores in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. But he said the chain needs to pursue a growth strategy that makes sense for the business, its employees and its customers.

Monroe developer buys site in The Greens at Millerville off Interstate 12 A Monroe developer has bought nearly an acre of land in The Greens at Millerville with plans

The Greens at Millerville is being built on the site of the old Fairwood Country Club at the intersection of Interstate 12 and Millerville Road. Plans call for 320 apartments and 393,000 square feet of retail and office space to be built on roughly 54 acres. Tenants in the development include Richards Honda, The RV Shop, Zaxby's and Golden Corral.

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The last remaining shelter for displaced victims of August's devastating floods is set to close at noon Wednesday.

But that doesn't mean the 99 people still in the shelter will just be tossed out on the streets, American Red Cross officials promised on Monday.

"Our number one priority is to make sure everyone has a safe place to go," said Todd James, an American Red Cross spokesman. "And we're making good progress on that through (case)work with our partners."

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services reported that 99 people were still living in the Celtic Studios shelter as of Monday. They have been living in one of the sound stages of the vast complex.

That number will be down by at least 2 on Tuesday after Joseph and Tharisma Brooks move out of Celtic and into an apartment on Rush Avenue in Baton Rouge.

The couple, who was homeless and living under the Interstate 110 bridge on North Boulevard when the flooding occurred, has been depending on the services of American Red Cross since the disaster relief organization opened a shelter at the Baton Rouge River Center downtown back in August. That facility shutdown shelter operations Sept. 15 and its remaining inhabitants were transferred to Celtic.

"It was a challenge figuring out our next move," Joseph Brooks said Monday afternoon. "A lot of hotels were booked because of the flood. If there was availability at some apartment complexes, there were long waiting lists and some just weren't taking applications."

Katherine Courville and her fiance hope to soon move into a mobile housing unit the Federal Emergency Management Agency installed on their flood damaged property while they struggle to repair their home.

"We're waiting for them to set up all the utilities," she said about why they haven't moved in yet. "They're trying to find a hotel for us if we can't move in by Wednesday."

Red Cross officials efforts were busy Monday trying to find temporary solutions for the remaining flood victims. Most of two walls in the expansive living space were lined with tables where case workers and officials from local nonprofits and faith-based organizations worked in groups to try to assist those still in need of housing.

Red Cross officials say most flood victims have moved into apartments or managed to find hotel rooms as shelters across the region gradually shuttered operations over the past several weeks.

James said every family has a unique situation that poses challenges in finding suitable temporary housing. Some struggle to afford the little rental housing that is available, he said, while others insist on options that will keep them in close proximity to jobs and the local schools their children attend.

"We're making good progress. Last week we had roughly 250 people staying in the shelter. Last night it was less than 100," he said.

At one point shortly after the region was hit with historic flooding, an estimated 11,000 flood victims and evacuees were temporarily housed in shelters.

James said the Red Cross on Monday hadn't worked out a contingency plan yet on how the organization will deal with shelter occupants who may still be without housing options. Those conversations will likely happen soon though, he said.

"We're not going to close without anyone have a place to go, but we do need to give the facility back to Celtic," James said. "But this is not a surprise. We've well prepared them for this. But whatever we do, we want to give them a place to go that's not another cot in a shelter."
Baton Rouge's mayoral candidates tangled at a debate forum Monday night over issues of whether the Baton Rouge Police Department needs drastic change, how to handle the future of the St. George incorporation movement and whether raising the minimum wage would help or hurt the community.

More than 100 people packed into the Louisiana State Archives Building for the most serious and telling debate yet for the mayor-president's race.

The leading five candidates -- State Sen. Mack "Bodi" White, State Rep. Denise Marcelle, independent candidate Darryl Gissel, Metro Councilman John Delgado and former State Sen. Sharon Weston Broome -- spent two hours answering questions about topics as widely known as traffic and as obscure as zoning codes.

Although asked not to clap or respond during the debate, the audience was particularly reactive when the candidates were asked whether they would change the Baton Rouge Police Department's use of force policy.

Moderator and radio show host Jim Engster also pressed the candidates on how they would respond when the U.S. Justice Department releases its report about the shooting by police officers of Alton Sterling, which was captured on a cellphone video and spurred protests this summer.

Broome, a Democrat, said she wants to implement new training, de-escalation tactics and other practices detailed in President Barack Obama's task force on 21st century policing.

"I am going to make sure that the police chief embraces the vision of change that I have," said Broome, a Democrat.

Broome said she disagrees with imposing a requirement that police live in East Baton Rouge Parish. However, she said would like to create and offer incentives that would cause more of them to stay in the parish.

Delgado, who frequently called out his competitors throughout the night, voiced strong disagreement.

Delgado has vocally opposed residency requirements and said Broome's incentives plans would not work because civil service rules prevent the police department from paying different salaries to officers with the same rank.

"If something needs to be dismantled, it's this myth that police officers are bad people who are just sitting around, targeting innocent African-Americans throughout this country," Delgado said, inciting jeers from the crowd.

Marcelle said the use-of-force policy needs reconsideration, and agreed that the mayor and police chief need to be on the same page. She referenced being in the crowd during protests after Sterling's death, and said she would do the same in response to the release of the Justice Department's report.

"We can't have a mayor that's absent from that," Marcelle said.

Gissel said the Justice Department's report should give the mayor direction on where the parish needs to go next with policing. He said the city-parish should expect to pay a hefty bill to hire more officers and achieve community policing, but that the price would be worth it.

White said police officers need to understand that their job is to investigate and make arrests, but not to be the prosecutors, judges or juries who hand down the verdicts about whether an offender is guilty. He also said people need to have faith in the system.

White was pushed into the spotlight later in the evening, when Engster asked about the candidates' views on the failed movement to create the city of St. George in the southeastern part of the parish in 2015. St. George backers have said they hope to resurrect the movement to create the city in 2017.

Delgado and Broome both referenced their opposition to St. George and contrasted themselves with White, who pushed for the creation of a separate school district in the Louisiana Legislature for the people of St. George.

White said he wanted to "set the record straight," insisting that he did not push for a new city but wanted to help his constituents create a new school system because seven of their ten schools were failing. He said his colleagues in the legislature had told them the only way they could get a new school system was to create a new city.

"I don't want any new cities in this parish as mayor-president," White said.

White was also the only candidate who pointed out problems with passing a "fairness ordinance," which would prohibit Baton Rouge businesses from discriminating against the LGBT community. He said he would not want to create "special classes" in Baton Rouge, though he disagrees with discrimination.

Marcelle, who sponsored the original fairness ordinance that failed at the Metro Council, said she'd push for it again as mayor, and Delgado and Gissel agreed.

Broome's answer to the question was less clear. She said she would work with "stakeholders" to come up with something that meets "the ultimate goal."

Broome and Marcelle agreed that they would want to raise the minimum wage for workers in the city-parish, saying it's important to pay people a living wage.

But Delgado and White disagreed, saying that implementing and raising a Baton Rouge minimum wage would create a bad business climate. Delgado said a minimum wage would force out businesses "faster than any hurricane or flood."

"If we start making the minimum wage for this parish for a company, all they have to do is either go out of business or move across the parish line," White said.

Gissel said the city-parish likely would not have the political will to raise the minimum wage. He added that people need to know more about which training programs are available to them, which can help them improve their education toward higher-paying jobs.

"The next mayor's key job is to convene all the different factors in this community," Gissel said.

For one of their final questions of the night, the candidates were asked to grade outgoing, three-term Mayor-President Kip Holden's administration.

Gissel said Holden has had a great vision for Baton Rouge and helped to move it forward, and gave him a B. Delgado agreed that Holden has been an effective mayor and gave him an A minus, saying he had to give the minus because of Holden's recent absences in Baton Rouge.

White said he would give Holden an A for the first six years of his administration and a B or a C-plus for his last six years. Marcelle said she would give Holden an A for his leadership downtown and a C for what he's done for the rest of the parish.

Broome was the harshest critic of the night, saying she would give Holden a cumulative grade of a C based on his combined three terms, a comment that drew jeers from the audience.

The Louisiana Center for Health Equity, League of Women's Voters and a number of other organizations sponsored the debate.

The debate's sponsors said that to participate, candidates had to be polling at least 5 percent and had to have raised at least $15,000. There are 12 candidates running for mayor-president in the Nov. 8 election.
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Dale Dwayne Craig, who was a week shy of his 18th birthday when he fatally shot LSU freshman Kipp Earl Gullett during a 1992 carjacking, should remain behind bars for the rest of his life, a state prosecutor said Monday.

Now 42, the convicted triggerman is currently serving a sentence of life in prison without parole for the slaying of the 18-year-old Gullett.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2012 Alabama case declared automatic life terms for juvenile killers unconstitutional and said they are entitled to hearings to try and show they are capable of reform.

In response to that ruling, the Louisiana Legislature in 2013 gave judges handling murder cases with juvenile defendants the option of making them parole-eligible after serving 35 years in prison.

Then, in January, the U.S. Supreme Court used the five-decade-old case of 69-year-old Henry Montgomery, of Baton Rouge, to make its 2012 decision retroactive, giving hope to Montgomery, Craig and some 300 other Louisiana inmates serving life terms for crimes they committed as juveniles.

Montgomery was convicted in the 1963 shooting death of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Deputy Charles Hurt. Montgomery was 17 at the time.

Craig's attorney and lawyers with the state Attorney General's Office met privately Monday with state District Judge Bonnie Jackson to begin mapping out how Craig's hearing will be conducted.

An initial hearing is scheduled Feb. 1. A full-blown hearing will be held sometime after that date.

"We believe Dale Craig is the rarest of offenders who deserve life without parole," Brandon Fremin, chief of the Attorney General's Office criminal division, said outside Jackson's courtroom.

Gullett, of Pineville, was abducted at gunpoint from the Kirby Smith Hall parking lot on the LSU campus on Sept. 15, 1992 and shot to death at an isolated construction site on South Kenilworth Parkway. He was beaten, pistol-whipped and shot after begging for his life, according to trial testimony.

Craig's attorney, John Landis, declined comment after Monday's meeting with Jackson other than to say the scope of the full-blown evidentiary hearing will be determined Feb. 1.

Prior testimony in the case indicated Craig was born into a dysfunctional family and that he used drugs and experienced psychological problems.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III disqualified his office from handling the matter because Moore, when he was a criminal defense lawyer, represented one of Craig's co-defendants.

Craig was one of four men convicted in Gullett's slaying. They ranged in age from 16 to 19 at the time.

Craig was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1994 and condemned to die, but the Supreme Court turned his death sentence into a life term when it banned the execution of juveniles in 2005.

James Conrad Lavigne was found guilty of second-degree murder of Gullett in 1995 and sentenced to life. Roy Maurer and Zebbie Berthelot pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1995 and received 20-year prison terms.

Sin court laying figure back A Baton Rouge man who served prison time after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 1992 s

Maurer and Berthelot testified against Craig.
NOUN MODIFIERS CAN MODIFY SLIGHTLY FAR AWAY NOUN

INTRODUCTION

OFFICIAL EXAMPLES OF CORRECT SENTENCES

noun modifiers do not modify the immediately preceding noun

Emily Dickinsons letters

which

hearings

which

HOW FAR AWAY MODIFICATION MAKES SENSE

GMAC accepts the usage of noun modifiers modifying a slightly far away noun

Simple Example

Mr. Smith, who

Mr. Smith

who

Complex Example

Supreme Court

which

13#29

Emily Dickinsons letters

which

GMAT Prep

hearings

which

GMAT Prep

great navigators

gathering

WHEN FAR AWAY MODIFICATION IS NOT POSSIBLE

Simple Example

Mr. Smith

who

the last meeting, who

Noun modifiers, as the name suggests, modify noun entities. They are generally placed as close to the noun entity they modify as possible to avoid any ambiguity in modification. This is necessary for the sentence to convey the logical intended meaning.In practice, placing the modifier as close to the noun entity as possible has become placing the modifier immediately after the noun entity they modify. Now most of the times, this practice helps us arrive at the correct answer choice. However, this does not mean that a noun modifier should ALWAYS modify the immediately preceding noun. There are several instances in which a noun modifier modifies slightly far away noun.However, since test takers blindly follow this practice or rule, they eliminate answer choices if they see that it does not make sense for the noun modifier to modify the immediately preceded noun. And in certain instances this may result in elimination of a correct answer choice. If you have experienced this while solving SC questions, then this article will be an eye-opener one for you.Following are the twoin which the. They actually modify the noun that is placed slightly far away1:to Susan Huntington Dickinson,were written over a period beginning a few years before Susans marriage to Emilys brother and ending shortly before Emilys death in 1886, outnumber her letters to anyone else. ( 13#29, Choice E)In this sentence, the noun modifier which were written correctly modifies slightly far away noun  letters. It does not modify immediately preceding noun Susan.2: Although she had been known as an effective legislator first in the Texas Senate and later in the United States House of Representatives, Barbara Jordan did not become a nationally recognized figure until 1974, when she participated in theon the impeachment of President Richard Nixon,were televised nationwide. (GMAT Prep, Choice B)In this sentence, the noun modifier which were televised correctly modifies slightly far away noun  hearings. It does not modify immediately preceding noun Nixon or impeachment.The above two sentences confirm that. This usage is not uncommon in and GMAT Prep SC problems. So lets see how it makes sense for the noun modifier to modify a noun that does precede it.Lets start with simple sentences to understand the working behind this usage:1. The committee chosewas the most experienced member, to lead all the management-related operations.Needless to say that in this sentence, the relative pronoun who, a noun modifier, modifies the immediately preceding noun Mr. Smith. The relative pronoun clause is giving some extra information about Mr. Smith, the entity it modifies.2. The committee choseof Left Block,was the most experienced member, to lead all the management-related operations.Many of you will right away discard this sentence as incorrect because who is not preceded by Mr. Smith, the noun it should logically refer to. Well, this sentence is absolutely correct. There is no modification error here. Here who correctly modifies Mr. Smith.This is so because the newly added prepositional phrase of Left Block is a modifier that modifies Mr. Smith. So it is placed next to that entity. This prepositional cannot be placed elsewhere in the sentence without violating the structure and the meaning of the sentence. So now instead of just Mr. Smith in sentence 1, we have a noun phrase in sentence 2  Mr. Smith of Left Block. In this scenario, who has the liberty to jump over the preceding preposition phrase (modifier) to modify the HEAD of this noun phrase  Mr. SmithAdditionally, who was the  cannot logically and grammatically modify the immediately preceding noun  Left Block. The National Association of Large Distribution Businesses, known as Anged, appealed to thein Madrid,then asked the Court of Justice for a ruling on how to apply European law covering working times.This is a sentence taken from an article in nytimes.com. In this sentence, the relative pronoun which is correctly modifying Supreme Court even though it is preceded by a noun entity Madrid. This modification is absolutely sensical because the prepositional phrase in Madrid cannot be placed anywhere in the sentence without violating the structure and the meaning of the sentence. In this case, we now have noun phrase Supreme Court in Madrid and hence, which has the liberty to jump over the immediately preceding prepositional phrase(modifier) to modify the head of this noun phrase  Supreme Court.Again, logically it will not make sense for which to modify Madrid. Madrid is a place that will require where to modify it.Here we will discuss the correct sentences of the two official problems that we mentioned in the beginning of the article and will see how in both the sentences the noun modifier modifies the noun entity that is not placed immediately before it.1:to Susan Huntington Dickinson,were written over a period beginning a few years before Susans marriage to Emilys brother and ending shortly before Emilys death in 1886, outnumber her letters to anyone else.Let us quickly get the meaning of this senetnce. This sentence talks about EDs letters to her sister in law SHD. These letters that were written over a period starting from a few years before Susans marriage to Emilys brother and ending shortly before Emilys death outnumber Emilys letters to anyone else.Now let's analyze the modifier. In this sentence, relative pronoun which correctly modifies letters, a noun entity that is not placed immediately before which. Now letters is followed by a prepositional phrase to SHD that modifies the letters. It tells us who the letters were written to. This prepositional phrase cannot be placed elsewhere in the sentence. So we have a big noun phrase preceding which  EDs letters to SHD. In this case, which has the liberty to jump over to SHD and modify the head of the big noun phrase. This modification leads to no ambiguity at all.Furthermore logically and grammatically it does not make sense to say that SHD was written over a periodThus, the closest noun cannot be modified by this modifier.2: Although she had been known as an effective legislator first in the Texas Senate and later in the United States House of Representatives, Barbara Jordan did not become a nationally recognized figure until 1974, when she participated in theon the impeachment of President Richard Nixon,were televised nationwide.As always, let's begin with the meaning first. This sentence talks about Barbara Jordan. She was known as an effective legislator first in Texas Senate and then in US House of Representatives. However, she became nationally recognized figure in 1974, when she participated in the hearings on the impeachment of President Nixon. These hearing were televised all across the nation.Now it's time to understand the role of teh modifier. In this sentence, we have two relative pronouns. The first relative pronoun when modifies the preceding noun 1974. However, the second relative pronoun which does not follow the suit.The sentence says that Jordan participated in hearings. What were these hearing about? These hearings were on the impeachment of President Nixon. The prepositional phrase on the impeachment modifies the hearings while of President Nixon modifies the impeachment. The modifiers appear after the entities (all nouns) they modify. Hence, together we have a huge noun phrase the hearings on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.Note that none of these prepositional phrases can be placed anywhere else in the sentence. So here, which comfortably jumps over both the prepositional phrases to modify the hearings, an absolutely acceptable usage.Both the above examples explain how the relative pronouns can modify a slightly far away noun. The thing to keep in mind is that this rule is applicable to all noun modifiers. Following is an example of another GMAT Prep problem in which in the correct answer choice, verb-ing modifier modifies a far-away noun.3: Like thewho first sailed around the Earthinformation about its size and the curvature of its surface, astronomers have made new observations that show with startling directness the large-scale geometry of the universe. (Choice D)After reading this one, almost all of you will say that gathering is a verb-ing modifier that is placed after Earth and is not preceded by a comma. Hence, it must modify Earth. This modification makes no sense because Earth dis not gather information. The great navigators did. This sentence is incorrect. BUT IN REALITY, this sentence is absolutely correct. Here is why.Structurally, who first sailed around the Earth is a clause. Here who stands for the great navigators. Now together the great navigators who first sailed around the Earth is a big noun phrase (refer to the mini article on noun phrases and Noun modifiers).Many of you may argue that this entity contains a who clause. How can we classify as a noun phrase. We can classify this as a noun phrase since it has a noun at its head. It is of the construction  Noun + Clause.The head of this big noun phrase is the great investigators. Now the who clause that modifies the great investigators cannot be placed anywhere else in the sentence. This gives gathering, a noun modifier, the liberty to jump over the preceding modifier and modify the head  the great investigators. Hence, gathering in this sentence is correctly modifying the great investigators.Futhermore, logically earth cannot gather information.So now we know that noun modifiers not only can modify the immediate preceding noun but also can modify a slightly far-away noun. The modification completely depends on the context and the structure of the sentence. However, there can be instances where such modification will not be possoble. In such cases, a noun modifier cannot jump over preceding modifiers to refer to the head of the noun phrases.Lets take a few examples:Lets bring back the simple example that we discussed earlier. In this example, it makes sense for the noun modifier to modify a slightly far-away noun.1. The committee choseof Left Block,was the most experienced member, to lead all the management-related operations.We have already seen how who correctly modifies Mr. Smith in this sentence. Compare this with the following sentence:2. The committee chose Mr. Smith inwas the most experienced member, to lead all the management-related operations.If you notice, structurally there is no difference between sentences 1 and 2. In both, Mr. Smith is followed by prepositional phrase. However, the second sentence is not correct. Here who ends up modifying immediately preceding noun the last meeting, resulting in modifier error.This is so because in the last meeting does not modify Mr. Smith. It rather modifies the action chose. When did the committee choose? It did in the last meeting. This prepositional phrase can actually be placed right in the beginning of the sentence, after The committee, or before Mr. Smith to convey the intended meaning. Hence, here who cannot jump over the preceding noun. Notice how per the context of this sentence, the expression Mr. Smith in the last meeting is not a noun phrase. Contrast this with the noun phrase in the original sentence Mr. Smith of Left Block.Here is a small exercise for all our readers. Analyze the following two sentences and tell us which one is correct and which one is not and give reasons for the same.1. The decision of the European leaders to use the Continents bailout funds to recapitalize struggling banks would provide help to banks without directly adding to the sovereign debt of countries, which has been a problem for Spain and potentially for Italy.2: The decision of the European leaders to use the Continents bailout funds to recapitalize struggling banks would provide help to banks without directly adding to the sovereign debt in the coming months, which has been a problem for Spain and potentially for Italy.Thanks.Shraddha_________________
Albert Woodfox admitted he'd long felt conflicted about the choices he had to make to be free.

Speaking to students and supporters at the Southern University Law Center on Monday, the Angola 3 member, who won his release this year after over four decades in solitary confinement for a killing he has maintained he didn't commit, Woodfox said at some point he began to think differently about negotiating with the law, and with life.

+13 Released from Angola, Albert Woodfox savors freedom after decades behind bars For the first time in nearly half a century, Albert Woodfox was allowed to sit up front.

On Feb. 19, standing in shackles in a St. Francisville courtroom, Woodfox pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the 1972 stabbing death of Angola prison guard Brent Miller, ending a long prison term that had become an international rallying cry for advocates seeking to abolish solitary confinement.

"The internal struggle for me was, I had spent 43 years of my life never backing down, never compromising what I believe in," he told the standing-room-only crowd.

Woodfox, who helped found the Black Panther Party chapter at the notorious Angola prison and says he was persecuted for advocating for fair treatment of inmates, said he felt tortured by the feeling that if he agreed to a plea deal, he'd diminish his credibility in telling others to not give up in their struggles.

A no-contest plea functions as a guilty plea.

"Somehow my daughter and my grandkids and great grandkids coming to visit gave me the strength to say, 'Yeah, you're not compromising on anything. It's not a plea of guilt. This is a plea for freedom.'"

Miller's family, who attended Woodfox's plea hearing in February, objected to the deal that led to his release, saying it was done with disregard to their pain over the loss of their loved one.

At 69, clad in a Black Lives Matter shirt, jeans and sneakers, Woodfox looked at ease in the room of mostly young people, joking about how he texts and emails and is still adjusting to being able to instantly ping someone as far away as Japan or Australia.

He's still debuting his second act in life, one in which he spends time with family and travels the world, speaking about the brutality of prison life and smiling for pictures with supporters, a fist in the air.

One of those supporters Monday included U.S District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana, which is based in Baton Rouge. Brady embraced Woodfox after the event and posed for the camera.

In June of last year, Brady issued a stunning order saying that Woodfox should be immediately released and barred from being retried in Miller's killing. Woodfox, who saw his first two convictions in the slaying thrown out because of flaws with the grand juries in the proceedings, was facing a third trial in the fatal stabbing. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Brady's opinion in November, clearing the way for the retrial, but Woodfox instead made the no-contest plea and was released.

"I did what a judge is supposed to do," Brady said after Woodfox's talk.

Woodfox was also joined Monday by his 52-year-old daughter, Brenda Pool, who lives in her father's hometown of New Orleans and often visits with him. She said Woodfox also spends time in Houston, with his brother.

Woodfox said his daughter played a large role in his decision to agree to a plea deal after so many years of resistance.

"I felt as though my daughter deserved to have a father in her life," Woodfox said. "My brother, who is my rock, would visit me without fail for 44 years. He talked to me about the conversations he had with my daughter and she told him she didn't have a daddy, and I can't tell you the depths of pain that I experienced from just hearing that from him."

Woodfox added that though he secured his release in a different way than he'd imagined, it was still a win for him, Herman Wallace and Robert King Wilkerson, now known as Robert King. Together the trio had earned the moniker of the Angola 3 because of their exceptionally long stays in solitary confinement. King was released in 2001, and Wallace was released in 2013, a few days before his death.

"No matter what you do, you are not gonna break me. They tried, but they failed. I am free, Robert is free, and Herman died a free man," Woodfox said.
Three of the five greater Baton Rouge area public school districts that had schools suffer flood damage in August have lost enrollment compared with a year ago, including previously fast growing Central and Livingston Parish, according to preliminary enrollment numbers released Monday.

The state of Louisiana designates Oct. 1 and Feb. 1 as official enrollment days. Enrollment numbers from those days drive the vast majority of the funding Louisiana provides public schools via the states Minimum Foundation Program, or MFP.

The numbers released to The Advocate on Monday are likely to change slightly as first the district, then the state double check them for accuracy. Final Oct. 1 numbers won't be released for a few months.

East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes stand to lose the most money according the preliminary counts as their enrollments declined by 607 and 432 students, respectively. Central schools lost just 22 students compared with a year ago.

Ascension Parish, on the other hand, gained 128 students, while the city of Baker reversed a slow enrollment decline and added 50 students. Ascensions five flood schools, however, lost 127 students collectively while flooded Baker High School added 32 students.

Ascension has a state-issue letter grade of an A while Baker has a C. Baker is one of the smallest school districts in Louisiana, with about 1,500 students.

Livingston had 15 schools take in floodwater, the most of any school district in the greater Baton Rouge area. Ten have since reopened, including Springfield High School on Monday.

Eight of East Baton Rouges 77 schools flooded badly enough that they've yet to reopen. Twin Oaks Elementary is first in line, scheduled to reopen on Oct. 10.

Livingston Parish Superintendent Rick Wentzel said Livingston was expecting to grow its enrollment before the flood. He predicted that the A-rated school district would recover many of its lost students in time for the Feb. 1 count.

I know personally five families, their children are in Covington and Mandeville while they are trying to rebuild their houses, Wentzel said.

Student enrollment in East Baton Rouge Parish public schools, the second largest school district in the state behind Jefferson Parish, has been on a long-term decline. On Monday, the C-rated school district had 41,433 students, down from 42,240 on Oct. 1 a year ago. That number as well was down 578 students from 2014.

Much of the decline can be traced to increased competition from charter schools, which are public schools run by private organizations via contracts, or charters.

Two new charters schools opened this year, Apex Collegiate Academy and Laurel Oaks Charter School, while previously approved schools have students. They bring the number of charters within East Baton Rouge Parish to 26.

While the city of Central suffered severe flooding, only one of its five schools, Tanglewood Elementary, suffered flood damage. Tanglewood is under renovation and is scheduled to reopen in January.

Like Wentzel, Superintendent Michael Faulk is expecting Central, which has an A letter grade from the state, to return to its long-term growth trend as families rebuild and return to Central.

Ascension, Baker, Central, East Baton Rouge and Livingston schools have 20 schools with severe flooding. Collectively, their enrollment is down more 1,100 students compared with a year ago. Twin Oaks, where students were reassigned to three locations while the Baton Rouge school is under repairs, lost the most as enrollment dropped by more than a third, from 542 to 339 students.

Four flooded schools added students.

Enrollment at Park Forest Middle had by far the biggest growth, increasing from 699 to 792 students, though it already had 62 more students enrolled before the floodwaters hit Aug. 12.
HAVANA  Gov. John Bel Edwards on Tuesday signed a series of agreements with Cuban officials, signaling a commitment to deeper trade relationships with the country as relations between it and the United States move toward normalization.

The memorandums of understanding are largely ceremonial as U.S. trade with the Caribbean island nation remains restricted, but leaders say they set the stage for Louisiana's major ports to have a significant role if or when those restrictions are lifted.

"We have a lot of work to do looking ahead to the day the embargo is lifted, and I think we all recognize that's the direction we are heading in," Edwards said after a meeting with some Cuba's top trade diplomats in a hotel conference room in Havana.

Edwards, a Democrat, this week set out on a five-day mission to Cuba, along with nearly 50 other business, agricultural and educational leaders, as the state looks to deepen its trade relationships with Cuba.

Gov. John Bel Edwards to travel to Cuba next week for trade mission Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is scheduled to travel to Cuba next week as part of a trade 

It's the governor's first foreign trade mission since taking office in January. He said he began plotting it during his transition team's efforts even before taking office. Kathleen Blanco, also a Democrat, visited Cuba in 2005 when she was governor.

"This has been high on my priority list," Edwards said.

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, who is on this week's trip, traveled to Cuba in June to lay the groundwork for the trade mission.

"There's so much we can do together," Strain said. "We're working very hard in Washington to get them to lift the embargo, so we can have great trade together."

Edwards said he has not had a chance to have deep discussions with the state's Congressional delegation about the need for legislation to officially lift the trade ban, but he expects those discussions will happen in the coming weeks. U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, traveled to Cuba earlier this year.

Louisiana has led all states in exports to Cuba over the past decade, totaling more than $1.4 billion since 2006.

But officials say they see significant room for growth as the U.S. moves toward opening up trade opportunities with Cuba. President Barack Obama signaled a shift toward better relations in 2014 and bipartisan legislation has been proposed in Congress to officially lift the ban, though it has not passed.

"There is just so much that Louisiana has to offer," Edwards said.

The Louisiana Legislature this year instructed economic development officials to cultivate even deeper trade relations with Cuba, particularly in the agriculture sector.

Maria dela Luz B'Hamel Ramirez, Cuba's director of trade to North America, said that while relationships still have a long way to go in normalization, the country sees significant opportunities with Louisiana.

"The re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba mark the beginning of a path toward bi-lateral trade relations," she said.

The signing was heavily covered by Cuban press, who took photos of Edwards as he marked each with his signature.

Louisiana ranks first in the number of transit points for agriculture exports from the U.S. to Cuba, but isn't the largest source of those products to Cuba, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

Others on the trip include officials from the state's major ports in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, south Louisiana and Lake Charles; LSU researchers; and business and agriculture leaders.

Edwards and the Louisiana envoy arrived on Monday and are scheduled to return Friday.

After airport delay, Gov. John Bel Edwards trade mission makes it to Cuba HAVANA  Gov. John Bel Edwards stepped off a plane into what felt like back in time after a 

"While we're here, we're eager to explore ways in which we can really develop our partnership to make sure it's mutually beneficial so that every opportunity is explored to the fullest," he said.

He said that Louisiana's had deep ties to Cuba before the now five-decade ban on most exports, except some food and medicine.

"This is going to put us in a position to regain that relationship," he said. "It ought to be a strong relationship."
U.S. Senate candidate Charles Boustany filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against the author of a book that has become a highly-charged issue in the campaign.

The book, citing an unnamed source, said Republican Boustany was involved with at least one prostitute killed in Jefferson Davis Parish.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the 15th Judicial District Court in Lafayette Parish, asks for unspecified damages and an injunction banning further publication of the "defamatory" material.

"Dr. Boustany is defending his integrity and the honor of his family," said his attorney, Jimmy Faircloth.

"He was not at all happy about having to file a lawsuit," Faircloth added. "But sometimes you have to stand up for yourself."

The legal action was filed just over a month before the Nov. 8 primary in the U.S. Senate race.

Grace: Sensational allegations leave Boustany in treacherous spot As a long-unformed U.S. Senate contest enters the homestretch, its safe to say that weve w

Boustany, a Republican, is the 3rd District congressman from Lafayette and is considered one of the half dozen leading candidates.

The book has sparked debate in the campaign, and Boustany last month blamed GOP rival John Kennedy, who is State Treasurer, for spreading allegations in the book.

Kennedy's campaign officials have said they only circulated information about the book like they do other stories.

+2 John Kennedy wont stop pressing prostitution claims involving Charles Boustany State Treasurer John Kennedy said he wont back off asking about allegations that his oppone

Named in the lawsuit are Ethan Brown, the author, and Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher.

Brown said Monday evening he has not seen the lawsuit.

"I stand by what I wrote in the book," he said.

The book is called "Murder in the Bayou."

It is about the unsolved homicides of eight prostitutes in the southwest Louisiana town of Jennings from 2005-09.

Brown wrote that an unnamed source in October 2012 told a task force officer investigating the killings that Boustany was involved with at least one of the women.

The author did not name his source, saying he feared for her safety.

The Advocate and other news organizations have been unable to confirm the claims.

Boustany held a news conference last month and called the allegations "wholly and completely false."

Asked about the legal action being filed in the middle of the U.S. Senate race, Faircloth said, "Dr. Boustany would have filed this lawsuit if he was an un-elected official because it is false."

Boustany and the 23 other contenders hope to succeed retiring Sen. David Vitter, a Republican from Metairie.

A runoff is set for Dec. 10 unless any of the candidates exceed 50 percent of the vote next month, which is not expected.
After years of controversy, the state Office of Motor Vehicles on Monday started issuing Real ID-compliant drivers licenses, for those who choose one, without much hubbub.

Of course, were only a couple hours in, said OMV Deputy Commissioner Staci Hoyt, but it has gone without a hitch.

Louisiana House passes Real ID legislation offering alternative compliance Louisiana lawmakers are eyeing another way to issue identification cards that would comply with a federal security measure and make it easier 

The state issues about 1 million licenses a year and 60 percent of people seeking licenses will opt for a state driving permit that also allows the holder to board airplanes and enter federal facilities, Hoyt said, basing her estimate on the experiences in other states that offer drivers the option of choosing whether to become federally compliant.

The lines were long at the OMVs main office in Baton Rouge, but workers there said it was no busier than the first Monday of any month when the most people try to come in and take care of vehicles registrations and drivers licenses before they expire.

Many people were unaware that they could now choose to become Real ID compliant. Agents at the reception desk handed out paperwork that explained the choice and the requirements.

First time applicants will need to produce documents to prove identity, such as an original or certified copy of their birth certificate or an unexpired U.S. passport or Permanent Resident card along with a social security card and voter registration card, and two documents verifying home address. OMV will make copies and store the information in a secured database. The drivers license will have a gold star that shows it complies with the federal standards.

A driver opting out of Real ID still will have to provide the same types of documentation to prove identify, but the submissions wont be scanned. In the alternative, a valid Louisiana drivers license can take the place of some identifying documents. The license the driver will receive will include a note that it will not be accepted as identification for federal purposes.

Residents dont need a Real ID-compliant license or identification card just yet. But on Oct. 1, 2020 Louisiana residents will have to provide a federally recognized form of identification, such as the Real ID license or a passport, to board domestic flights, Hoyt said.

The federal Real ID Act of 2005 was designed as anti-terrorism legislation and is the product of President George W. Bushs National Strategy for Homeland Security panel. State-issued drivers licenses are used by most people as identification. The Act required states to follow set procedures and collect specific documents to ensure that the holder of a drivers license is who they said they are.

Monday ended years of haggling over the issue. In 2008, Louisiana banned compliance with the law on the grounds that it amounted to federal overreach on state authority and intrusion into individual lives.

Louisiana REAL ID debate ends, with new law offering option to drivers Louisianas debate about the federal REAL ID security law appears to be over.

Over time the Office of Motor Vehicles began collecting the documents and setting up the systems  such as photographing the person seeking the drivers license at the beginning of the application process  that federal authorities required. But the state stopped short of fully complying with the Real ID Act.

La. IDs not in line with U.S. Though officials are hopeful the new law will be postponed, Louisiana travelers might need t

The Legislature passed a bill that overturned the ban in 2014. Debate was harsh. Robert Adley, who was a state senator at the time, noted that his stepmother had emailed all his colleagues condemning his support of the bill. Adley is now a top aide to Edwards.

Then Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the measure after The Eagle Forum, Louisiana Family Forum and the Tea Party of Louisiana cited concerns that the bill would compromise Louisianas sovereignty.

Gov. John Bel Edwards made compliance with Real ID one his main legislative goals when he took office in January. He appointed Karen St. Germain, the state representative who had sponsored the 2014 bill, as commissioner of the state Office of Motor Vehicles.

Louisiana House passes Real ID legislation offering alternative compliance Louisiana lawmakers are eyeing another way to issue identification cards that would comply w

A measure allowing drivers to choose whether to have a Real ID compliant license cleared its final legislative hurdle on June 1, but 21 representatives voted against the bill.

Edwards was the first to receive the Real ID-compliant license, St. Germain said.

As will be the case with many who want to use the licenses as identification to board airplanes or enter federal facilities, the governor had to pay $17 for a duplicate that was compliant. Its because Edwards had renewed his expiring license before Monday  his 50th birthday was on Sept. 16.

Edwards was able to use his new drivers license to board a plane to Havana, Cuba.
HAVANA  Gov. John Bel Edwards stepped off a plane into what felt like back in time after a two-hour flight and more than four hour plane delay on Monday.

Cars from the 1940s and 50s zipped by the narrow streets of Havana.

Chickens and stray dogs roamed parking lots.

Faded pink, purple and blue-painted buildings nestled next to large shabby office buildings dotted by window-unit air conditioners.

Communist murals and slogans marked fences and the sides of buildings.

Edwards, a Democrat, is in Cuba this week as part of a 50-person envoy to promote trade and other partnerships with the island nation as it works toward normalization of relations with the United States. The group is scheduled to return on Friday.

Gov. John Bel Edwards to travel to Cuba next week for trade mission Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is scheduled to travel to Cuba next week as part of a trade 

It's the governor's first foreign trade mission since taking office in January.

Hurricane Matthew, which hit Category 4 levels on Monday, was expected to strike the eastern edge of Cuba, but much of the Louisiana delegation's events, including meetings with dignitaries and Cuban business leaders, are scheduled to take place in Havana on the western side of the island.

Others on the trip include officials from the state's major ports in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, South Louisiana and Lake Charles; LSU researchers; and business and agriculture leaders.

Louisiana has led all states in exports to Cuba over the past decade, totaling more than $1.4 billion since 2006.

But officials see room for growth as the U.S. moves toward opening up trade opportunities with Cuba. The U.S. has banned exports, except food and medicine, for the past five decades. President Barack Obama signaled a shift toward better relations in 2014 and bipartisan legislation has been proposed in Congress to officially lift the ban.

The state Legislature this year instructed economic development officials to cultivate even deeper trade relations with Cuba, particularly in the agriculture sector.

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain leads 94-member trade mission to Cuba Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is flying out of New Orleans on Tuesday morni

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, who is on this week's trip, traveled to Cuba in June to lay the groundwork for the trade mission.
Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON--Lee Circle in New Orleans, La. Thursday, July 9, 2015 where an 1884 monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee was placed in what once was Tivoli Circle.
Are the British coming? Speculation swirls over N.O. airport announcement

Are British coming? Speculation swirls over N.O. airport announcement
'Low-barrier' homeless shelter in N.O. facing early opposition for one key reason

'Low-barrier' homeless shelter in New Orleans facing early opposition for one key reason
All Vikings clubs will have a hotline for problem gamblers and drinkers while staff will undergo compulsory mental health training as part of a joint campaign between the group and Lifeline Canberra.

On Tuesday, Lifeline launched the first training session of its new harm minimisation program called 'Play within your limits'.

Viking Group Operations Manager Patrick Keogh with Training Coordinator of Lifeline Canberra Alisha Tarrant, after announcing a joint campaign to help the community deal with issues such as problem gambling and drinking. Credit:Jay Cronan

The training - which Vikings Group pays staff to complete - covers techniques for identifying members at risk of alcohol and gambling abuse as well as other issues including loneliness.

A 'personal support phone' easily located by signage will be available at the reception of the four south-Canberra Vikings clubs between 10am and 5pm from Monday to Saturday for people to seek help from a Lifeline crisis supporter.
Has anyone noticed how badly designed the entrance is to 10 Downing Street? writes Bruce Hyland, of Woy Woy. "In a recent TV clip, I saw a distinguished visitor almost pitch into the street, stumbling over the absurd steps outside the front door. Even conceding that the Brits are shit at house design, surely they can solve a problem as simple as this."

Anti-marriage equality stickers (C8) aren't new says Stephen Ballantine, Green Point. "Usually imported from that home of "equality" (the US), anti marriage equality hatred is pretty entrenched over there."

Surely the last word on dogs: (C8: almost) "When we lived in Prague for a year dogs ruled. The front seat on bus/trams was reserved for dog plus owner; sickly sentimental expressions on fellow metro passengers meant someone was carrying a spoilt pooch in a trendy bag or leading a massive hound. They were very well behaved; dogs too." Nola Tucker, Kiama.

"Many years ago, I was travelling to Cairns by plane, reveals Norman Carter, of Roseville Chase. "We stopped at a small airport, and waited for a passenger. A scruffy little dog emerged from the one-room terminal building and wandered up to the plane. "Are you comin'?" I said. In reply he cocked his leg at the steps and wandered back to the terminal. The bona fide passenger turned up some time later.

Is my local fish shop the only one in the world to have had a brand new white rolls Royce (illegally) parked in front of it this afternoon? asks Sue Jay, Drummoyne.
Illustration: Andrew Dyson In economics it is considered a market failure when damage to a third party or the environment is not included in the cost. In the case of native forestry, taxpayers are actually paying for the destruction. Whether it's south-eastern NSW, East Gippsland in Victoria or the Tarkine in Tasmania, it's the same old story. Logging must be a front in the culture wars, because it sure ain't about economics. Vica Bayley from the Wilderness Society, in the Styx Valley in southern Tasmania. Credit:Peter Mathew The annual reports for the various state forestry businesses reveal logging native forests is marginally profitable at best, and a sinkhole for taxpayer money at worst.

Forestry NSW's 2015 annual report boasts a "landmark result" because its hardwood division, mainly native forests, recorded an operating profit for the first time in 10 years. The corporation's overall profit was because of its substantial softwood plantation business, boosted by the housing boom. VicForests, which isn't in the plantation business, made a modest profit of $4.7 million in the 2015 financial year, but this is not consistent across the state. In 2015 leaked documents revealed the East Gippsland logging operations lost up to $5.5 million a year. Meanwhile, Forestry Tasmania went from being tens of millions of dollars in the red at the end of 2014 to a profit the following year. But this was mainly because it decided its forests had gained $37.9 million in value, then reported that as revenue. The profit also included $14.4 million in direct government subsidy. The Tasmanian Liberal government made an election promise to end $95 million in subsidies to the logging industry, but it's struggling to follow through. On the very first day of the 2016 financial year it gave Forestry Tasmania $30 million to repay debt. The government claims this is not a subsidy because it comes in the form of an equity transfer from the state-owned electricity business.

Meanwhile, the Tasmanian government has called for projects using "forest waste" to generate electricity to apply for grants under its new Wood and Fibre Processing Innovation Program. There's $1.25 million up for grabs and applications closed at the end of August. Let's be clear  "forest waste" is not truly leftovers. It can sometimes be up to 80 per cent of the forest harvest. It gets worse. Thanks to the changes to the Renewable Energy Target, burning native forests can now count as renewable energy, even though it takes 80 years of regrowth to replace the carbon store. And of course, Tasmania has plenty of clean hydro-power. The problem is especially politically vexed in that state because Tasmanians think the forestry industry is more important than it is. In fact, native forestry only generates about 1 per cent of the gross state product and provides 1000 jobs, less than 0.5 per cent of total employment for the state, according to a 2013 report for the Australia Institute.

Tasmania's tourism sector and aquaculture are worth far more in the long term, and both rely on the state's clean, green image. By the way, the report was authored by Andrew Macintosh, the person appointed by the Abbott government to oversee the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). The truth is  and Macintosh has written on this too  native forests are worth more unlogged. Of course, forests are more than a number in a ledger, but even in pure economic terms you can assign value to forests' role in biodiversity, water quality and sequestering carbon. One way for state forestry organisations to convert that to actual money would be to accept carbon credits from the federal government for not logging forests. This is payment for sequestering carbon under the ERF. It was set up in 2011, but still exists under the government's "Direct Action" plan,though it famously now includes payments to polluters to reduce emissions. Last year's ERF white paper explicitly states that local and state government entities can apply.

There are already private landholders in Tasmania earning good money from the ERF for not logging their forests, but no state forestry corporations so far. Forestry NSW mentioned it wanted to explore ERF possibilities in its annual report a year ago, but this has not yet eventuated. There's some speculation it wants credits for producing long-lived wood products rather than ending logging. Victoria offers a glimmer of hope. Last month the Forest Industry Taskforce, which includes groups such as The Wilderness Society and the CFMEU, requested a methodology for earning ERF credits. The taskforce represents all Victorian state forests east of the Hume Highway, though the main focus has been on the Central Highlands because of the endangered Leadbeater's possum. If an ERF method is established, it could be valid nationally.
The NDIS is a major social reform in Australia. The last time we saw something on a similar scale was the introduction of universal health care for all Australians in 1975  Medicare. The introduction of Medicare was not without its challenges, but universal healthcare is now considered a fundamental and essential part of our lives.

Jeremy had the opportunity to start communicating for the first time with an iPad app. He now does a local coffee run where he takes coffee orders from local business people, fulfils them and makes the deliveries. And six months ago he was unable to communicate with the wider community.

The NDIS is about ensuring people with disability can get out and about in the community  it's about getting them to work, to school and to cafes and restaurants so they can catch up with family and friends. It's about getting people with disability being able to be part of the workforce, getting an education and spending money on food and drinks  in other words, being part of the economic, social and cultural fabric of our lives.

It isn't just making life equitable for people with disability. It's also making it possible for them to participate in every-day life with their families. In the Hunter region, a family has used the NDIS package to take a support worker for their family member with disability with them on family holidays. This gives real meaning to the term "family holiday"  it's hardly that if the person with disability cannot go away with their family.

And the NDIS is even allowing parents of children with disability to work full-time. One family, through the NDIS, now has support after school and during the school holidays for their daughter with disability, which allows both parents to keep working full-time; in doing so, they are able to contribute to the economy through paid employment and paying taxes. And their daughter gets to spend her holidays doing things she loves like hydro therapy.

Given its scale, there will be implementation issues for the NDIS. There will be challenges in rolling this out across the country. And there will be doubts. Yet we have had other massive social reforms that are now so embedded in our society that we cannot imagine life without them (the conversion in 1966 from metric to decimal anyone?). The NDIS needs to be seen in this light  it needs time to become a part of our lives and, more importantly, to provide the equity of access to people with disability that has been denied to them for so long.

Alastair McEwin is the disability discrimination commissioner.
Another whale has been rescued from a a shark net off the Gold Coast, with rescue teams releasing the calf within an hour of it coming into grief.

The whale was trapped on Tuesday afternoon off Surfers Paradise.

Sea World spokesman Mitchell Olivey said they had a crew head out to the whale, but the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol had freed the whale before the Sea World crew arrived.

Comment has been sought from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott appears to have backflipped on his opposition to Britain's exit from the European Union, telling a London audience he was "quietly thrilled" Brexit had succeeded.

Mr Abbott broke with conservative eurosceptic ranks to support Remain prior to the poll. "Britain's challenge now is to save Europe, not leave it," he wrote in a piece for Rupert Murdoch's The Times.

But in a speech delivered at a high-powered business breakfast on Monday, the former PM changed his tune, conceding a latent desire to see his country of birth leave the union.

"First a confession: I was one of the many luminaries to warn Britons against Brexit. Unlike most of them, though, my argument was not that Britain needed Europe but that Europe needed Britain," he began.
One of Australia's biggest political donors, the National Australia Bank, has quietly announced it will stop giving money to political parties.

According to the bank's policy statement on political donations, the board of directors "resolved in May 2016 that the making of any political donations would cease with immediate effect".

All of Australia's major banks, including ANZ, Westpac and the Commonwealth, give generously to both sides of the political aisle. NAB's move, if honoured, would make it the first to eschew the practice.

"NAB does not make donations or contribute funds to any political party, parliamentarian, elected official or candidate for political office," the policy document states.
Congratulations. If you are anything like the Americans in a study by a Cornell University professor, your weight will reach an annual low this week or the next. But don't get too excited - you'll most likely get fatter soon.

Later this month, the numbers on your scale will begin a long climb past Christmas holidays, peaking around New Year's Day, according to research published last month as a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Loaded: Weighing up the year. Credit:iStock

What is worse, those extra holiday kilograms tend to stick around for quite some time.

"Anything that happens in these next 10 weeks, on average, takes about five months to come off," said professor Brian Wansink of Cornell's business school. He conducted the study with Elina Helander of Tampere University of Technology in Finland and Angela Chieh of Withings, a company that sells connected health-monitoring devices.
Yawning may not increase the oxygen level in your blood, but it does slightly lower the temperature of your brain. The motion of opening your jaw wide sends more blood up to your brain, while the deep inhalation of cool, ambient air ensures that the blood flow is relatively cool. Intriguingly, yawning behaviour decreases when the ambient air is warm, as it is in summer - because that air would fail to cool down your blood and brain.

"When you're tired, the brain is a bit warmer," Barone explained. "So the theory here is that your body is trying to reverse that."

That could also help explain why yawning is so contagious among certain animals: Oxygen levels are generally a personal thing, but it's the ambient temperature that dictates whether a yawn will effectively cool down an active brain or not. So if one member of the group starts yawning to cool down, it makes sense that others would unconsciously take the hint. Come on in, guys, the air is fine.

"If I see a yawn, that might automatically cue an instinctual behaviour that if so-and-so's brain is heating up, that means I'm in close enough vicinity, I may need to regulate my neural processes," Steven Platek, a psychology professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, told Smithsonian Magazine. Platek's research suggests that humans are more likely to yawn in response to others if they score high on tests of empathy, though other studies have failed to find a correlation. Some data suggests that you're more likely to catch a yawn from a close friend or family member than from a stranger. That doesn't seem to be the case for other animals that experience "yawn contagion," which makes some researchers believe that contagious yawning is tied to the sort of interpersonal empathy that separates us from much of the animal kingdom.

Not all scientists have accepted that yawns exist to cool the brain down: Some argue that the lack of yawning during warm periods is a count against the thermoregulation theory, suggesting that the mechanism is purely psychological - not physiological. In other words, it's just some kind of empathetic social cue we've evolved to signal... something. It seems unlikely that loads of animals would evolve a physical mechanism to signal tiredness or boredom to their families, but maybe it's a vestige of some other social cue.
Wearing a Fitbit is not making you any healthier, according to a study of 800 workers in Singapore who wore the activity-tracking devices over a year.

Even when cash incentives and charitable donations were offered to members of the study, users did not increase their activity levels enough to improve health.

Within six months, 40 per cent of participants stopped wearing the devices. This blew out to 90 per cent at 12 months.

The findings published today in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal may disappoint scores of Australians who have invested in the devices but won't come as a surprise to many in the fitness industry.
It has disaster written all over it  claims made by an individual of historic child sexual abuse involving high-profile suspects.

The investigator knows there will be no independent forensic evidence, probably no witnesses and certainly no confessions.

Police can only tap telephones after satisfying a Supreme Court Judge of the need for such action. Credit:Paul Rovere

The people in power will have access to the best lawyers and will try and cook your career if you start making half-baked allegations. But if you shelve the investigation there will be whispers that you weren't trying too hard.

And in this case one of those named was a senior police officer - well liked, well respected and with a spotless record.
Senior police bugged the phone of a former high-ranking colleague and set up a top-secret taskforce after an alleged victim of sex abuse claimed he was part of a paedophile ring.

Tip off Fairfax Media's investigative team via our confidential, secure online system

But Taskforce Mercader was disbanded in June 2015 amid allegations from some police that phones had been improperly tapped and information withheld from the judge who approved the bugging operation.

Not everyone aware of the Taskforce Mercader's work considered it was operating in accordance with the rules. Credit:Paul Johnston

Taskforce Mercader was launched in September 2013 as one of Victoria Police's most secretive operations. It involved shocking historical child sex abuse allegations made against a "high-profile" and extremely well-connected ex-policeman with contacts across the force and government.
The New Zealand arm of Youi, Australia's fastest growing insurer, has been fined the maximum penalty of $100,000 by the country's insurance self-regulation body after allegations of dodgy sales tactics.

The New Zealand fine comes after allegations Youi's Australian arm had billed some customers without consent, revealed by Fairfax Media in August.

Youi's New Zealand arm has been fined $100,000.

On Tuesday, Youi accepted and agreed with the NZ fine and offered a public apology. The insurer said it had conducted a company-wide audit and refunded affected customers.

"We have made some mistakes and acknowledge that even one is simply too many," chief executive Danie Matthee said.
For all the concern about young women turning away from science and technology, a snapshot of gender equity in NSW has revealed an unexpected bright spot.

More women than men completed postgraduate degrees in fields relating to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in 2014 - 32.9 per cent compared with 30.7 per cent, according to the Women in NSW Education report.

But there is otherwise not a great deal of progress to celebrate in the report, released on Tuesday by Minister for Women Pru Goward.

"If we want to achieve gender equity and a more diverse workforce, we need to continue encouraging girls to study STEM subjects and work in industries reliant on those skills," Ms Goward said.
Queensland prosecutors have been told to appeal a judge's decision to allow disgraced greyhound trainer Tom Noble to avoid jail time for his key role in the live baiting scandal.

Tom Noble, 69, was handed a three-year wholly suspended sentence for using live animals to bait dogs at his Churchable property, north of Gatton.

Tom Noble walks out of the Ipswich District Court after his sentencing hearing for 15 counts of serious animal cruelty stemming from the greyhound live baiting scandal was adjourned. Credit:Jorge Branco

The trainer strapped or helped strap possums, piglets and rabbits to a lure arm at his unregistered training track 15 different times across two months in 2014 during sessions attended by as many as 30 trainers.

In sentencing on September 6, Ipswich District Court judge Alexander Horneman-Wren noted multiple occasions when unmuzzled dogs had to be pulled from dead or injured animals after they were sent hurtling around the track.
Harvard University and Technion researchers have used a metre-long petri dish to show the frightening speed at which bacteria can evolve and develop resistance to modern antibiotics.

They found it took bacteria just 11 days to spread from a section of the petri dish with very little antibiotic to a section with 1000 times the amount.

Drug resistant super-bugs are now a "fundamental threat", according to the United Nations, and are linked to 50,000 deaths across Europe and the US each year.

Professor Roy Kishony of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School said his team was inspired by a movie to build the giant petri dish they dubbed the "microbial evolution and growth arena" or MEGA.
Motorists will be spared new tolls on existing roads with the state government rejecting a key road-pricing proposal to reduce congestion.

A proposal to charge a $5 levy on motorists entering Melbourne's CBD was considered but not recommended by Infrastructure Victoria in its 30-year masterplan.

Premier Daniel Andrews' rejection of tolls on existing roads rules out the possibility that Melbourne will follow London's lead and introduce a congestion tax.

The report from Infrastructure Victoria recommended variable tolls to cut peak traffic.
Anxious parents and time poor GPs are sending children to specialist doctors for constipation, bed wetting, and concerns about how tall or short they are, contributing to long waiting lists for care in public hospitals.

New research has pointed to the trend which coincides with concerns many parents are bypassing GPs to take their children to hospital emergency departments for minor conditions.

Parents overreacting: Children sent to specialists for bed wetting and height concerns.

A survey of 73 paediatric specialists who work at the Royal Children's and Monash Children's, has revealed three quarters thought a referral could have been managed by the referring GP. Waiting times for specialists' appointments at the hospitals can exceed six months.

Paediatricians from both hospitals told Fairfax Media that these conditions included constipation, which can be treated with laxatives prescribed by a GP, as well as headaches and concerns about height and weight.
A teenager had his skull cracked in an attack by a member of a rival gang inside a Melbourne youth detention centre.

The 17-year-old, an inmate at the Melbourne Youth Justice Centre in Parkville, was king hit by another teenager shortly before midday on Monday.

Housing affordability advocates are set to call on the government to turn the youth justice centre into affordable housing. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The victim is believed to be an associate of the Apex gang, a group blamed for a spate of home invasions and carjackings across the city.

As a result of the attack, which is understood to have come from a rival gang member, the teenager fell down some stairs and cracked his skull.
A jury has been shown CCTV footage of a deaf trio allegedly discussing in sign language how to kill a man as they enter the apartment building where he fell to his death.

Warwick Toohey, Jake Fairest and Georgia Fields have all pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Toohey's former housemate, Robert Wright, in January 2015.

Warwick Toohey was found unfit to stand trial by a Supreme Court jury after just a few hours' deliberation. Credit:Eddie Jim

The three profoundly deaf and intellectually disabled defendants appeared before the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday for the first day of their special hearing before Justice Jane Dixon. Juries had previously found the trio unfit to stand trial.

Prosecutors played CCTV footage of the trio entering the lobby of the Ringwood building on January 15, 2015 and talking to each other as they waited for a lift to go up to Mr Toohey's apartment.



Prosecutor Christopher Dane, QC, said an interpreter would give evidence that the discussion focused on whether the victim should be strangled or fall to his death.



Mr Fairest, he said, is shown saying "Can strangle neck area, what do you think?"



Ms Fields replies: "I think falling is better."



Mr Toohey signs to Mr Fairest: "Strangle risky."



Ms Fields then signs: "Fall good, fall good."



Mr Toohey signs to Mr Fairest: "You first go in grab, you say 'hello, how are you', grab and push forward."
Police are concerned for the welfare of a 16-year-old schoolgirl who has been missing since early September.

Jasmine Lea Thomson has not made contact with her family since she disappeared from the Bayswater area last month.

Missing: Jasmine Lea Thomson Credit:Victoria Police

There are worries for her welfare due to her age and the length of time that she has been missing, police said.

"Police also have concerns about who she may be associating with," spokesperson Amara Bostock said.
Victoria Legal Aid would get a massive funding boost, and have a vastly-expanded role in administrating the state's legal services, under a shake-up of the sector being considered by government.

Attorney-General Martin Pakula on Tuesday released the long-awaited Access to Justice Review, outlining how the state can boost vulnerable people's access to justice.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 17: Legal professionals from across the state are seen at a Rally For Legal Aid fundraiser outside the County Court of Victoria on May 17, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Fairfax Media) Credit:Vince Caligiuri

The report found that community legal services that cater for disadvantaged Victorians were chronically under-resourced, and the prohibitive cost of legal services was the greatest barrier to people getting help with their legal problems.

It is not only disadvantaged Victorians who miss out on legal assistance due to the high cost of hiring a lawyer, however: just 8 per cent of Australians qualify for legal aid, the report found.
Many of the priest's victims gave evidence at an emotional pre-sentence hearing in Geelong last month.

The victims, many who were abused at the hands of Claffey while he was parish priest in Ballarat, detailed the self blame, suicidal tendencies and failed relationships that have plagued their lives since Claffey's abuse.



One victim, who was also the victim of disgraced paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale at Apollo Bay, told the court he knew he had to be careful about Claffey because "there was something creepy about the way he looked at me".



"I felt dirty and complicit in what had happened  if only I had the courage to speak out to save other children," he said.



Another victim, who was forced to strip and cough, and was later fondled by Claffey while he was the parish priest at Our Lady Help of Christians in Wendouree during the 1980s, said he spent half his life being angry, the other half sad.



"I used to pray for a lot of things, I don't pray anymore because I've lost my faith, or rather it was taken from me," he told the court.



"I've grown into a man who believes he cannot be loved. I feel ashamed but it's you [Claffey] who should feel ashamed."



A third victim, who was abused by Claffey at Wendouree two days after his brother died, told the court he only returns to Ballarat to clean the plaque at his brother's grave.



"Not one day goes by when I do not think of what happened," he said.



Of the 12 victims, seven lived in Ballarat when they were abused. Others were abused by Claffey while he was a Catholic priest at Warrnambool, Portland, Apollo Bay and Ecklin South between 1970 and 1992.



Ten victims were male and two female of ages ranging from six years to 16.

Former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns told the Geelong Magistrates Court last year that he remembered Claffey "had been misbehaving ... in a sexual way", but said he didn't remember details.



AAP, Ballarat Courier
Customers and staff at a Big W store in Melbourne's west were evacuated on Tuesday after clothes were set alight in the middle of the store.

Firefighters were called to the Big W store in Central Square shopping centre at Altona Meadows about 6pm.

Embattled Big W chain is facing more upheaval as Woolies is working to turn around its fortunes. Credit:Glenn Hunt

It is understood there were two small fires in separate areas.

"There was smoke in the store," Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokeswoman Heather Stockton said.
The worst seems to be over for Wangaratta, with the Ovens River expected to slowly recede on Thursday morning.

Major flooding was expected to occur along the Lower Ovens River near Wangaratta late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The State Emergency Service had earlier said it expected the river to peak between 12.7 to 12.8 metres.

SES state duty officer Andrew Murton said the water had peaked at Wangaratta at 9.30pm on Wednesday and was expected to recede.
The Australian Medical Association says the declaration of a 'Code Yellow' at Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on Monday shows WA's health system is not coping with increased demand during winter.

A code yellow means that a hospital has an internal issue that disrupts its service.

The victim was taken to hospital and is in a stable condition. Credit:Lavinia Clarke

The North Metropolitan Health Service, which includes Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, confirmed the code yellow was declared around 3.30pm due to a capacity issue and lasted around four hours.

A spokesman said an issue in the Emergency Department triggered the code yellow, with management juggling patients around to free up beds and discharging appropriate people so others could still be brought in.
WA Police have called for calm in the outback town of Kununurra after 17 cars were stolen from a dealership prompting threats of vigilante action against the children allegedly involved by angry locals.

The threats come after the recent eruption of racially-charged violence in Kalgoorlie.

Racial tension boiled over in Kalgoorlie after a teenage boy was killed. Credit:John Wibberley/ABC

That followed anger over the death of Aboriginal teenager Elijah Doughty who was on a stolen motorbike when he was allegedly ran off the road by its owner, a 55 -year-old man charged police charged with manslaughter and not murder.

Elijah's death prompted complaints by local Aboriginal people about a vigilante culture in Kalgoorlie fuelled by racist online postings and Kununurra police are concerned at stopping anything similar occurring.
The parents of a 27-year-old Mandurah man allegedly killed in a so-called 'coward's punch' attack are calling on the state government to fast track legislation that would double jail time for the offence.

According to witnesses, Mr Goodwin was playing pool at Silver Sands Tavern in Mandurah around 4.30pm on September 20, and had his hands in his pockets, when another man punched him in the face, causing him to fall back and hit his head on the corner of a wall.

Paramedics found him unconscious a short time later.

After a two-day manhunt, Madora Bay man Jake Mosley was charged with grievous bodily harm.
A man who was shot by police during an alleged fight in Broome is in a stable condition in hospital after being flown to Perth for medical treatment.

Police say they were responding to reports of an armed offender in the Kimberley town on Monday night when the shooting occurred.

The man's condition is not considered life-threatening. Credit:Quentin Jones

They say a group of people, including one person allegedly armed with a knife, were embroiled in a fight when the 66-year-old man was shot.

The man, from the remote Aboriginal community of Balgo, was taken to Broome Health Campus, where his condition is not considered life-threatening.
Jakarta: Indonesian immigration authorities have arrested an Australian man for allegedly running a coffee shop and bakery on a university campus while only holding a tourist visa.

Sayegh Ghassan was arrested on Friday while serving meals at Gus Kitchen at the Depok campus of the University of Indonesia.

Credit:Ross Duncan

The head of Depok Immigration office, Dudi Iskander, said the Australian could face up to five years' jail and a maximum fine of 500 million Rupiah (about $50,000) if a court found him guilty of violating immigration law.

"We received information from people that there was a suspicion of immigration violation by a foreigner," Mr Dudi said.
Donald Trump is dominating the headlines again today. While some question the amount of coverage dedicated to the Republican candidate's antics, there is no questioning the importance of the US presidential election to the rest of the world, the absurdity of the process and Trump's ability to hog the limelight.

As Paul McGeough writes this morning, Trump's women problem is now coming home to roost. It is a genuine crisis.

Another important analysis comes from B.J. Bethel, who tells us the gamers behind GamerGate share online DNA with internet trolls pushing for a Trump presidency.

Back in our backyard the plot of the Australians arrested stripping off at the Malaysia Gran Prix thickens. It has now come to light that Christopher Pyne staffer Jack Walker was among them. Our South-East Asia correspondent Lindsay Murdoch says their fate could potentially provide ammunition for scandal-hit Malaysian PM Najib Razek who has been quick to stoke nationalist and Islamist sentiments for the sake of his own political career in the past.

Other must-reads today:
Pakistani Zulfiqar Ali is on death row in Indonesia "I have sent a very strong letter to President Jokowi three days ago and strongly advised the president to immediately provide clemency to Zulfiqar Ali," Dr Hafid, who is now a commissioner with the National Commission for Human Rights told Fairfax Media. However a spokesman for the Attorney-General, Muhammad Rum, said the executions would still be carried out. "The plan is still on, it was only postponed," he told Fairfax Media. "We haven't decided on the time." Since his death was mysteriously postponed, Mr Ali, who has cirrhosis, has been ferried between hospital and a jail on Nusakambangan, the island where Indonesia carries out its executions. He and another of the condemned prisoners, Indonesian Merri Utami, have repeatedly asked to be transferred back to the jails where they were incarcerated prior to July's executions.

Ms Utami, whom supporters say was a victim of human trafficking, has been kept in an isolation cell at a jail in Cilacap, the closest town to Nusakambangan. "She is in isolation 24/7 except for two hours of church time each week," her lawyer, Afif Abdul Oyim told Fairfax Media. "Her daughter spoke to her and told us her health has been impacted by the isolation. Emotionally, she is still traumatised by the execution day. Sometimes she will hear her cell doors opening, like the one she heard during execution night. She has no activities all day in isolation. It adds to the stress." But Mr Rum said the nine male prisoners would remain on Nusakambangan and Ms Utami would stay at the women's jail in Cilacap. "They are already there, so they stay there," he said.

Mr Ali's wife, Siti Rohani, is worried this means her husband will be taken away from her again soon. "We are hearing there is going to be another round of executions by the end of the year," she said. Mr Ali said he was forced to confess to the heroin after being tortured by police: "They beat me like an animal. They showed me we will shoot you with a gun. Many things they did to me. They didn't allow me to talk to my embassy and talk to my lawyer." He was sentenced to death in June 2005 even though the prosecution had only demanded life imprisonment. Dr Hafid said the sentencing was shortly after the arrest of the Bali nine on drug smuggling charges. "There was emotion in Indonesian society at that time that narcotics cases should be punished much more."

He said he had provided four main reasons why Indonesian president Joko Widodo should grant clemency. These included that Gurdip Singh had recanted his allegations of Mr Ali's involvement, Mr Ali had been in hospital the day the prosecution alleged he had bought the heroin, prosecutors had only requested a jail sentence and another accomplice had received a much lighter sentence. Former president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie also wrote to Mr Joko asking that he save Mr Ali's life. But the couple have been told nothing officially of Mr Ali's fate since the night of the July 29 executions when he was asked what he wanted done with his remains. "They asked me in front of my wife, in front of my children, where do you want to be buried?," Mr Ali said. "[They said] better you are buried in Indonesia. [They] do not want to allow me to go back to Pakistan."

Ms Siti wept as her husband recounted telling his family "it was better to let him go" in the lead up to the executions. "I am tired because of this system, these people, this everything," he told her. "Better ok, if you want to kill me, shoot me, finish this problem." On July 29, executioners took from his cell "one black guy in front of me", a Nigerian, who was later shot. Mr Ali, waiting in his isolation cell on Nusakambangan, told himself "This is my number, this is my number". But the executioners never came back for him. "Around 1am I got a text from the prison governor saying 'Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God) Bapak (Mr Ali) is safe," Ms Siti said. "But we couldn't be sure about it because the prosecutors didn't say anything, they were there  but they just stayed silent."
Manila: Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told US President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the United States had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, "I will break up with America". It was not clear what he meant by "break up".

During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

"Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Duterte said.
Women gather at the Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland on Black Monday. Credit:AP "This is a barbarian proposal that will move Poland back to mediaeval times," Barbara Nowacka, the leader of a liberal initiative, Save Women, said in a telephone interview. "The worst thing is that this barbarity finds approval in the eyes of those in power." Black Monday was the high point of protests that began two weeks ago. On social media, tens of thousands of Poles have posted pictures of themselves wearing black and staging demonstrations. Dressed in black women carry a reproduction of the famous Leonardo Da Vinci painting, Mona Lisa, symbolising femininity, as they protest a proposed total ban on abortion. Credit:AP/Alik Keplicz Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski dismissed the protesters, saying, "Let them have their fun".

"There is no such problem as a threat to women's rights," he said in an interview with a private radio station, RMF-FM. "If someone thinks that there are no greater concerns in Poland at the moment, let them be." Polish women protest against a Polish legislative proposal for a total ban on abortion, near EU headquarters in Brussels, on Monday. Credit:AP The protests have won the approval of numerous Polish employers, including restaurant owners, museum and gallery directors, the deans of several universities and mayors of a couple of large cities, all of whom allowed their female workers to take a day off. The protest idea was inspired by the story of Icelandic women who paralysed their country in 1975 by not going to work, and skipping housework and child-rearing tasks, to protest unfair employment practices and wage discrepancies. The women who participated in those protests sent the women in Poland a video message of solidarity, encouraging them to stand up for themselves and telling them in Polish, "Jestesmy z wami" ("we are with you"). On Facebook, Kenyan women also sent a message of solidarity. Polish women shout slogans during a demonstration during the nationwide strike. Credit:AP

The solidarity protests were also staged in other European cities, including Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris and Barcelona. Poland introduced a restrictive abortion law, known as the "abortion compromise" and championed by the Roman Catholic Church, in 1993 after the collapse of Communism. A sea of umbrellas on Black Monday in downtown Castle Square, Warsaw. Credit:AP The church, which continues to be a powerful influence in this predominantly Catholic country, is often accused of exerting pressure on politicians. It actively supports the proposed legislation, though church leaders have said they oppose punishing women. According to official figures, about 1000 legal abortions are performed in Poland every year. Estimates of the number of illegal terminations vary widely, from 10,000 to 120,000, from anti-abortion and abortion rights organisations.

"The abortion compromise was supposed to curb the number of illegal terminations and increase the number of births in Poland," Nowacka said. "It has failed miserably on both accounts. We need a new law that actually corresponds with reality." Critics of the legislation, which is supported by senior members of the right-wing government, argue that if the bill is passed, doctors will stop performing invasive procedures on pregnant women, even to correct a fetal defect, unless the woman's life is directly threatened. That is the only exception under which doctors could undertake a procedure and avoid prosecution if it ended in a miscarriage. Dr Romuald Debski, the head of gynaecology and obstetrics at Bielanski Hospital in Warsaw, said every invasive procedure carries a minor risk of miscarriage. "This would be the end of prenatal diagnostics," Debski said in an interview. "I couldn't do basic prenatal tests, like the amniotic fluid test that allows me to determine whether I'm dealing with certain genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome. Should the procedure go wrong, I could end up in jail. I won't risk that." "If I have a patient with preeclampsia, who is 32 weeks pregnant, I will have to let her and her child die," he was quoted by the BBC as saying.

Tomasz Latos, a member of the governing Law and Justice party and head of the health committee in the Polish Sejm, or lower house of parliament, said viewing the legislation as a threat to prenatal diagnostics was "either an act of ill will or incompetence". "No one is saying that this bill will be even passed in the end," he said. "Our senators are preparing a separate bill." Katarzyna Plutowska, 44, and Malgorzata Zyra, 39, took a day off from their accounting jobs to join a demonstration near the Palace of Science and Culture in Warsaw. "Due to the protest, our entire office is closed today," Plutowska said. "You cannot change the world from your couch, you know." London-based rights advocate Anna Blus noted in an analysis on Amnesty International's website: "At demonstrations across Poland protesters have held up coat hangers as a reminder of the primitive and dangerous methods of self-induced abortion women would be compelled to resort to."
Vice-presidential debates tend not to get the same billing as the top of the ticket ones, but that does not mean they do not matter.

From Lloyd Bentsen famously dressing down Dan Quayle as "no Jack Kennedy" in 1988 to Admiral James B. Stockdale, H. Ross Perot's No. 2 in 1992, waxing existential to show his outsider status, running mates have a penchant for providing memorable moments. Although voters tend to cast their ballots based on who will sit in the Oval Office, a strong showing or a blunder by a vice-presidential hopeful can provide a boost or be a drag on a campaign.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin winks during the 2008 debate against Joe Biden. Credit:AP

As Governor Mike Pence (Republican, Indiana), and Senator Tim Kaine (Democrat, Virginia), prepare to take the stage on Tuesday, we take a look back at how some of their predecessors have fared.

A Hatchet Man

Political nicknames have been all the rage in 2016, with Donald Trump calling his rivals crooked, low energy and more.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local pastor and missionary had been living in Mozambique for the last eight years when God called him back home to Grunthal.

Nearly two months ago, Rick Neufeld stepped into the role of senior pastor at the Grunthal Abundant Life Fellowship (GALF)a non-denominational church he watched his father help build from the ground up.

In June 2015, Neufelds father, Dave, died in a plane crash. Dave Neufeld pastored at the GALF for 30 years, overseeing the churchs expansion from its first gatherings at South Oaks School to congregating in its current building on Provincial Road 205.

ADRIANA MINGO | THE CARILLON Senior pastor Rick Neufeld stands behind the pulpit at Grunthal Abundant Life Fellowship.

It is quite scary stepping in to a role that his father held for three decades, Neufeld said, particularly because most pastors dont stick around that long.

Its been scary because most pastors dont last more than five years and my dad was here for 30 years. Then he dies. When somebody dies, all of a sudden they have no flaws, said Neufeld.

Not only are you coming to fill a pastors role who has been here for 30 years instead of five, now hes also perfect. So, youre this punk kid, if you will, saying Im going to be a pastor now! You worry about stuff like this, because you recognize that these are shoes I cant fill.

But filling his fathers shoes isnt Neufelds goal.

My first Sunday here, I told everybody, God didnt tell me to fill dads shoes. Dads shoes are too big for me. Im not here to fill his shoesIve actually got bigger shoes to fill. Im here to fill the shoes of Jesus, said Neufeld.

My goal isnt to do things like my dad. Everybody knows Im not here to do things like my dad. Im going to do things the way Jesus did things. So, if Jesus fed the hungry, Im going to do that. Jesus shoes are much bigger than dads.

Becoming a missionary and pastor wasnt necessarily to follow in his fathers footsteps either, Neufeld said. Though he grew up in the church because of his father, Neufeld said hes experienced God do some incredible things in his life and it comes down to loving and serving God with all his heart.

God led me to go to Africa. We prayed about it and prayed about it. Dad took me to Mozambique when I was youth pastoring in Killarney, so I just felt that was what God wanted, said Neufeld.

While working with SAM Ministries in Mozambique, Neufeld and his wife, Heather, trained pastors, worked with orphans, and ran a school of 280 children.

It was basically built on the idea of love God, love people, said Neufeld. If you go to church, but your church is doing nothing, youre doing something wrong, because God said nobody should be hungry, nobody should be cold, nobody should be naked, nobody should be lonely.

The Neufelds adopted two children, Tendai and Ryan, while living in Africa.

When Neufeld came home to Grunthal for his fathers funeral last year, he went back to Africa with no intentions of leaving again.

Ill be honest, I didnt want to leave Africa. Theres no greater job than doing [missionary work there], said Neufeld.

Neufeld is a self-described redneckrough around the edges and not your typical pastor. But this, he said, made Africa the perfect fit for him.

We had two children at our school die from crocodile attacks. I was the resident redneck, so I was the only one who was willing to find this crocodile and kill it. That was my job, said Neufeld.

I got to do the whole lets teach you about the Bible, but I also got to go swimming in the water to find a crocodile, said Neufeld.

In the past year, Neufeld had been asked several times to come back to Grunthal.

I remember talking to my wife. I said, I dont want to go home, but I feel that God is telling us to go home. She cried and said, no, he said.

After praying about going home for two weeks, Neufeld said he revisited the idea with his wife. She said no again. After another two weeks of praying, Heather finally said God wanted them to go home.

Neufeld and his family flew back to Canada on Aug. 4. Neufeld was behind the pulpit preaching the following Sunday.

We didnt want to come home, but I know God has something in store. I know something great is going to happen, but I dont know what it is, he said.
Cardinal Health, Inc. operates as an integrated healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home. The company operates in two segments, Pharmaceutical and Medical. The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded and generic pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products. The segment also provides services to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers for specialty pharmaceutical products; operates nuclear pharmacies and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; repackages generic pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter healthcare products; and offers medication therapy management and patient outcomes services to hospitals, other healthcare providers, and payers, as well as provides pharmacy management services to hospitals. The Medical segment manufactures, sources, and distributes Cardinal Health branded medical, surgical, and laboratory products and devices that include exam and surgical gloves; needles, syringe, and sharps disposals; compressions; incontinences; nutritional delivery products; wound care products; single-use surgical drapes, gowns, and apparels; fluid suction and collection systems; urology products; operating room supply products; and electrode product lines. The segment also distributes a range of national brand products, including medical, surgical, and laboratory products; provides supply chain services and solutions to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare providers; and assembles and sells sterile, and non-sterile procedure kits. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.
Delek US Holdings, Inc. engages in the integrated downstream energy business in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Logistics, and Retail. The Refining segment processes crude oil and other feedstock for the manufacture of various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum-based products that are distributed through owned and third-party product terminal. It owns and operates four independent refineries located in Tyler, Texas; El Dorado, Arkansas; Big Spring, Texas; and Krotz Springs, Louisiana, as well as three biodiesel facilities in Crossett, Arkansas, Cleburne, Texas, and New Albany. The Logistics segment gathers, transports, and stores crude oil, intermediate, and refined products; and markets, distributes, transports, and stores refined products for third parties. It owns or leases capacity on approximately 400 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines, approximately 450 miles of refined product pipelines, an approximately 900-mile crude oil gathering system, and associated crude oil storage tanks with an aggregate of approximately 10.2 million barrels of active shell capacity; and owns and operates ten light product distribution terminals, as well as markets light products using third-party terminals. The Retail segment owns and leases 248 convenience store sites located primarily in West Texas and New Mexico. Its convenience stores offer various grades of gasoline and diesel under the DK or Alon brand; and food products and service, tobacco products, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and general merchandise, as well as money orders to the public primarily under the 7-Eleven and DK or Alon brand names. It serves oil companies, independent refiners and marketers, jobbers, distributors, utility and transportation companies, the U.S. government, and independent retail fuel operators. Delek US Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen France SAS, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Suzhou Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel Ireland Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Brooks Instrument Shanghai Co. Ltd, Buell Industries Inc., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS Australia Pty Limited, CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures Australasia S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Coeur Shanghai Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Denison Mayes Group Limited, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., E2M Production B.V.., E2M Technologies B.V.., E2M Technologies Inc.., ECS Cable Protection Sp. 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Telecom Argentina S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Argentina and internationally. The company offers telephone services, including local, domestic, and international long-distance telephone services, as well as public telephone services; and other related supplementary services, such as call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, caller ID, voice mail, itemized billing, and maintenance services. It also provides interconnection services, such as traffic and interconnection resource, dedicated Internet access, video signals transportation in standard and high definitions, audio and video streaming, dedicated links, backhaul links for mobile operators, data center hosting/housing services, dedicated links, layer 2 and layer 3 transport networks, video links, value-added services, and other services. In addition, the company offers mobile telecommunications services, including voice communications, high-speed mobile Internet content and applications download, online streaming, and other services; and sells mobile communication devices, such as handsets, Modems MiFi and wingles, and smart watches under the Personal brand. Further, it provides internet connectivity products, including virtual private network services, traditional Internet protocol links, and other products; data services; and programming and other cable television services. The company was formerly known as Cablevision S.A. and changed its name to Telecom Argentina S.A. in January 2018. Telecom Argentina S.A. was founded in 1979 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Christian Diors new creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, made a very smart, strategic move when she sent a model down the runway Friday in a white slogan T-shirt that read, in faded black letters, We Should All Be Feminists.

As the first woman to take on the creative director role in Diors 70-year history, Chiuri marked her debut in Paris with a very populist (and popular) message at the moment, at a time when were seeing more women heads of government than ever before and more women running Paris fashion houses than ever before.

Social media blew up with a #weshouldallbefeminists hashtag, and Dior strode into the cultural mainstream.

Indeed, Chiuris T-shirt perpetuates feminisms fashionable reign, led by the likes of Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer and, in the U.K., Caitlin Moran. Chiuri and Dior instantly scored points with women around the world, while also reviving a debate about whether fashionan industry known for policing womens bodiescan ever be truly feminist.

Chiuri (and, by extension, Dior) has embraced the word and the message, but to what end?

Chiuri made sure her front-and-center row was stacked with female power players: Jennifer Lawrence, Carla Bruni, Rihanna, Kate Moss, Bianca Jagger, Karlie Kloss, and Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie were all there.

Fans of Adichie will recognize the Dior T-shirt slogan from the writers essay and related TEDx talk, We Should All Be Feminists, which went viral after Beyonce sampled passages from it in Flawless. (Naturally, the song was part of the shows soundtrack.)

Adichies presence at the show lent weight and credibility Chiuris feminist rallying cry. I strive to be attentive and open to the world and to create fashion that resembles the women of today, Chiuri wrote in her show notes.

Given the enormous popularity of clothing with feminist sloganeering at the moment, Chiuris Adichie-inspired tee certainly resembles todays womenboth what theyre wearing and what matters to them.

The Future Is Female, a slogan that originated from 70s radical feminism, was recently revived by Otherwild, a retail space and graphic design studio in Los Angeles and New York.

Ever since October 2015, when Cara Delevingne and then-girlfriend St. Vincent were photographed wearing navy sweatshirts with the slogan printed in bold white letters, Otherwilds The Future Is Female products have attracted a cult following. So too have brands like Its Me and You, whose high-waisted, full coverage underwear with feminist scrawled across the butt have made the much-maligned granny panty cool again.

The Dior tee also evokes a longer lineage of political sloganeering in high fashion, most notably the slogan tees by designer Katherine Hamnett in the 80s (Stop Acid Rain, Protest and Survive, and the anti-nuclear 58% Dont Want Pershing tee she wore to meet Margaret Thatcher at Downing Street in 84, among others).

Vivienne Westwoods 1977 Destroy teeemblazoned with a red swastika and an upside down image of Christ on the crosswas even more controversial (it never made an appearance in her runway shows).

More recently, Kenzos Spring 2014 collection featured environment-championing No Fish, No Nothing tees, while Jeremy Scott sent models down the runway in orange mesh tops printed with phrases like Earth Sucks that same season.

Karl Lagerfeld staged a feminist protest at the end of Chanels Spring 2015 show, though messages like Ladies first! and History is her story! were splashed on posters rather than the clothes themselves.

Dior is now the latest high-fashion brand to convey a political message, which clashes with some of the decidedly anti-feminist issues in the fashion industry.

That excessively thin models still dominate runways is certainly one of them. Dior may have championed intersectional feminism this season, highlighting Adichies history of examining the question of racism and the place of women in its press notes, but the fashion industry is frequently criticized for its lack of racial diversity.

If typical high-fashion prices are any indication, only a select few will be able to afford Diors feminist tee. (A Dior spokesperson told The Daily Beast that pricing was not yet available.) And if the T-shirt isnt part of a larger campaign, does a feminist slogan on the runway accomplish anything more than hashtag activism (which is to say: not much)?

In this case, feminism was simply powerful inspiration for Diors new creative director. If feminism is indeed cool, one can imagine it becoming even more so when Delevingne and other celebrities are inevitably photographed wearing Diors tee.
With just over three months left in office and all eyes on the 2016 campaign, President Obama can do pretty much whatever he wants these days. That go-for-broke mentality helps explain Mondays South by South Lawn event, modeled after the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

President Obama was inspired to bring a SXSW-esque event to the White House after attending the Interactive part of the festival this past March in Austin, where he discussed, among other issues, the FBIs attempt to get Apple to unlock iPhones and the fate of Edward Snowden.

Earlier in the day, South by South Lawn featured panels on innovation and feeding the future, musical performances by The Dap-Kings and The Lumineers and, because they are now contractually required to attend every major event in America, the Stranger Things kids. But the main event was Monday evenings discussion between Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio about the actors new documentary Before the Flood, which makes its U.S. debut at the White House tonight.

The documentary, which will air on National Geographic channels October 30, finds DiCaprio traveling around the world in an attempt to put a human face on the threat of climate change. It features appearances by everyone from John Kerry to Elon Musk to Pope Francis, along with Obama himself, who can be seen discussing this issue in front of the Washington Monument with the actor in the films trailer.

When DiCaprio won his first Academy Award for The Revenant last February, he used his acceptance speech to make the case for action on this issue. Climate change is real. It is happening right now, he said. Its the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

On Monday, DiCaprio and Obama were joined by climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe from Texas Tech University. DiCaprio, who took on the role of interviewer for the evening, began by thanking Obama for his extraordinary leadership on environmental issues. If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts, the actor said, noting that anyone who doesnt agree with the settled science should not hold public office. That comment, a clear dig at candidates like at Donald Trump who has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China, was met with loud cheers from the crowd in attendance.

In turn, Obama told DiCaprio that he is very proud of his administrations record on climate action, citing last years Paris agreement as an example of the progress being made. But he also admitted that even if every country held up their end of the bargain, it wouldnt be enough. "Climate change is happening at a faster rate than what was predicted even 5 years ago, the president said, adding that were in a race against time. While the idea of a carbon tax also got a big ovation from attendees, the president admitted the likelihood of any immediate action in that area is still a ways away.

Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in with his two cents on Twitter during the event.

Asked by DiCaprio what can be done to get Americans who are generally apathetic about climate change to embrace it as an urgent issue, Obama said the natural inclination of political systems is to push that stuff off as much as possible. He said it will ultimately take innovation and technological breakthroughs in energy production and storage to make a real difference in peoples behavior. But in the short-term, he advised those of us who care deeply about climate change not to be dismissive of those with real concerns about the economic impact of something like a carbon tax.

The science may tell us we dont have time to compromise, Obama said, but that is the only way that progress will happen, a message he conceded would be frustrating for a lot of people to hear. Doing better might not be enough, the president said, but if we get enough better, that's ultimately how we end up solving this problem."

Choosing to take a back seat to those who know more about the issue than him, DiCaprio said so little during the panel that you could almost forget he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. There was one point, however, when Obama managed to work in a joke at the actors expense about being mauled by a bear. But just as George Clooney can get the media to pay attention to corruption in South Sudan, DiCaprios mere presence made more people think about climate change today than Obama might have done on his own.
GREEN ISLAND, Egypt  The smugglers forced the last 100 frightened migrants to board a listing ship at knifepoint. They were 12 kilometers (8 miles) off the Egyptian coast and the battered fishing boat was already packed. The smugglers snarled death threats at the appointed captain who refused to set sail for Italy because, with over 450 people on board, the vessel was dangerously overloaded.

One well call Mohamed, because he is only 17, is an impoverished Egyptian tuk-tuk driver who waited on the bow of the crammed ship with a dozen of this friends as the fight erupted. It was 4:00 a.m. and nearly light but the new influx of passengers had sparked panic on deck.

The battered ribs of the ship began to groan as the shifting weight rocked the vessel violently to the side. Locked inside a fish refrigerator in the hold, dozens of people clawed at the walls to get out.

Mohamed and his 15-year-old friend, whom well call Osman, were the first to jump into the churning water after failing to coax their best friend Karim, also 15, to join them. Karim, like many others on board the boat, could not swim.

From the water I saw something snap on top and the boat suddenly flipped on its side. It was as if it was sucked under the waves, Mohamed said days later from his impoverished hometown of Green Island, east of Alexandria.

We watched people drowning each other to get air. The living were floating on the dead, he added, his voice cracking.

Osman spotted Karim, 15, clutching onto a water bottle. He was slipping. We tried to reach him. But I looked back and he was gone.

The two boys, who swam for seven hours looking for land, were among the 163 people dragged out of the water by fishermen, who came to their rescue when the Egyptian coastguard failed to show up.

An estimated 300 people from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Syria, and Somalia drowned that morning of Sept. 21, although only 202 bodies have so far been recovered. On Tuesday, 33 corpses, some unrecognizable after a week on the sea floor, were pulled out of the hull of the ship, which was finally brought to the surface and towed to shore.

Dozens of Egyptian children like Mohamed were onboard, part of an increasing number of minors leaving alone for Italy, because they cannot be repatriated under Italian law and so can stay to make money to send home.

Over 16,863 unaccompanied children have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Italy so far this year, nearly double the 8,354 who traveled last year, according to an email sent to me by Save The Children. Over 2,666 of those unaccompanied minors were Egyptian, more than triple the 854 who traveled in the same period last year.

Desperation is driving families to urge their young sons to take the deadly 10-day sea trip. A crumbling economy in Egypt, fueled by five years of unrest and political oppression, means few have opportunities if they stay.

The official youth unemployment rate crept past 30 percent this year although in rural areas like Green Island it is nearly double that. Battered by a collapse in key industries like tourism, and amid a burgeoning dollar crisis, companies and factories have had to close and work has dried up.

For the poorest that means there is no way of even raising the funds to purchase a ticket for the migrant boats to Italy. Increasingly, children are signing their lives away to traffickers promising to pay back the crippling $5,000 fees from their pitiful earnings when they get to Europe, tying them to traffickers for years.

From Green Island alone, villagers claimed at least 1,000 boys have tried to make the crossing this year. Most of them signed IOUs with the Egyptian smugglers. On the boat that sank on the 21st there were at least 40 from the area.

Like the other 24 million people who live under poverty in Egypt, Mohamed, an illiterate orphan and the youngest of six, can barely put food on the table. Both his father, who died eight years ago, and his mother, who died a few years before that, likely perished from Hepatitis C. The family had no money to pay doctors to find out.

Living in a squalid single room with his five siblings, Mohamed felt the pressure to provide for his family.

Im the youngest but I have a responsibility. I drive a tuk-tuk making about two Egyptian pounds [20 cents] per day. (A tuk-tuk is a three-wheeled motorized rickshaw.) The village has no opportunities. Thats why he thought of traveling.

Im just 17, the Italians cant turn me away. Were the only hope, he said.

Green Islandwhich is nothing like the idyll conjured by the nameis located just east of Rosetta, where the ill-fated ship departed, and it is an ashen mess of corrugated iron roofs and red brick sheds.

Children scamper barefoot across a thick blanket of rubbish that gently rots in the heat along the banks of the Nile canals. Young girls wash dishes in the putrid water, balancing wide aluminum pots on their heads. The area is crisscrossed with the narrow dirt tracks. It smells of an open sewer mingled with the impenetrable stink of a chicken coop, a blend of animal, vegetable, and mineral rot.

Mohamed and his friends are gathered in a battered barn inexplicably full of broken chairs. Despite narrowly escaping death and losing several friends they are talking of trying again.

Two middle-ranking smugglers and a local broker drive the migrant traffic from Green Island. Osman knows them personally and names them.

Because of his connections, Osman secured a discount ticket of $2000, which he would pay back out of his earnings in Italy. Mohamed, not so well known to the smugglers, had to pay $1,000 of that up front, money he gathered from all his relatives and has now lost.

Osman is the only boy in his family and, despite still being in school, is expected to pay his fathers mounting medical bills. The 60-year-old has liver disease, has just completed open heart surgery, and still needs further treatment.

A group of us talked and we convinced ourselves one day, Osman said. They had received messages from other boys in Italy who had made the journey, boasting about work and money.

Most of these young migrants have tried multiple times to cross. Young fisherman Haitham Mohamed, who lives on the other side of the village, famously claimed to have tried the journey 50 times.

He succeeded in getting to Italy last September, only to be repatriated home because at 20, he was too old to seek asylum as an Egyptian. He planned to lie about his age when he boarded the boat from Rosetta, an increasingly common practice for Egyptians trying to get a foothold in Italy.

Just two hours before the ship sank he called his mother to tell her it seems easy this time. Then, No one bothered us, no police or army. Ill call you when I get there. That was the last she heard from him. His body was never found.

His older brother Alaa, 30, one of the fishermen who has been recovering bodies, said Haitham felt he had no choice.

He earned just a dollar a day. What do you expect him to do? Anyone who is trying to travel will give you the same answer: We are not living here, so why not risk death?

Smuggling in Egypt is an increasingly profitable business, traffickers can make almost three-quarters of a million dollars per boatload. Aside from the cost of the dilapidated vessel and a $400 bribe to the security forces or coastguards, they have little overhead. Two boats currently leave a day from Egypt, according to Ghaly Shatata, a local aid worker monitoring the crisis.

We are going to see more people crossing, particularly with the increase of children, who are speaking to their friends back home via social media boasting of the better life abroad, he said.

Aid workers warned that the smugglers, both in Egypt and Europe, have identified Egyptian minors as a lucrative new market.

Although the largest number of unaccompanied young people arriving in Italy are Eritrean, they tended to transit through Italy to be reunited with family and friends based in other parts of Europe. The Egyptians stay put, leaving them to the mercy of the traffickers.

Egyptian youth in particular are at risk of exploitation. They are subject to child labor and criminal activity, including drug dealing, to repay their debts, said Save The Childrens Valentina Bollenback.

She described Egyptian boys working seven-day weeks washing cars, waiting tables, or running market stalls in Italy for as little as $2 an hour.

The traffickers use social media like Facebook to convince them they can lift families out of poverty. The children, eager to make money, dont realize they are being exploited, she added.

If the children do not pay the smugglers back, their relatives are threatened at home. Families of the missing, who a week after the sinking were still visiting Rosettas overloaded morgues, called it a mafia.

The smuggler made me and my uncle sign blank checks as a kind of contract for my two sons, daughter-in-law, and her four children, said Naima Fatah, 53, a distraught grandmother looking for the bodies of her toddler grandchildren.

None of them paid, but promised to pay back a percentage of their earnings. They were threatened, she said.

The entire family perished at sea last Wednesday. The smuggling broker, a local woman in the village, has since fled.

We have nothing left, she Naima Fatah, sobbing.

The fear of what happens if they do not pay the smugglers is forcing these young migrants to flee reception centers in Italy or skip school, which is mandatory when they get to Europe, another relative said.

My son traveled without paying any of the $2,600 which he knew we didnt have; he took an incredible risk, said Mohamed, 51, whose boy, 15-year-old Sameh, survived the shipwreck.

Children who are traveling know when they get to the other side they have to run away from the reception centers or schools to find work quickly, he added.

Across the Mediterranean in Sicily, Egyptian teenagers who have successfully made the crossing admitted to The Daily Beast they were forced to quit the care homes and find work.

I dream of going to school but I have to face reality, said Ahmed, 16, from Fayoum. We were talking in a corner of an NGO-run center for unaccompanied minors on the Italian island. He said, despite the excellent treatment, he would have to leave soon.

We come here to work and that is what I have to do.

Back at Rosettas tiny port, hope was fading for hundreds camped out along the waterfront, waiting for news of their missing loved ones.

Local citizens, refusing to be named for fear of backlash from the authorities, blamed the government for not creating jobs and providing enough incentives for people to stay in Egypt. They said it was telling that the coastguard failed to spearhead a search and rescue operation, instead leaving the grim and grueling recovery job to penniless fishermen, and the drowned to their fate.

The state has abandoned us, how much more proof do you need? said one man bitterly, pointing at a corpse-strewn fishing boat.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who stormed to power in 2013 with the military overthrow of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, once enjoyed unprecedented and seemingly unrelenting popularity. But the cult of personality surrounding him is fading as the countrys woes grind on. On Monday, addressing the migrant crisis, he begged Egyptian youth to have hope and stay put.

Why are you leaving your country? Are there no job opportunities? No, there are, the former military chief said from Alexandria, just a few kilometers west of the shipwreck.

Egypt, he warned cannot be a state of refugees.

He vowed to find the smugglers and bring them to justice. At least four men of the vessels crew have been arrested on charges of manslaughter and trafficking. There are arrest warrants issued for a further five.

But back on Green Island, Sisis pleas fall on deaf ears.

The Egyptian authorities couldnt even be bothered to save us when we were drowning and calling for help, said Osman, who added that the security forces were often bribed to turn the other way and so are implicated in the smuggling business.

Why would we trust them to help us now?
Did Dr. Phil McGraw blow up the one good thing Steven Avery had going for him?

For the past several days the Dr. Phil show has been hyping a pair of interviews with the subject of Netflixs documentary series Making a Murderer and his brand-new fiancee Lynn Hartman. But since those episodes taped late last week, it appears their relationship has ended.

Avery, currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Teresa Halbach at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin, revealed his engagement to Hartman, who began writing to him in prison earlier this year, last week. But then, just before Dr. Phil aired part one of a two-part special on their relationship, he ended it through a Facebook post on his official family discussion page.

In the statement, shared via another former fiancee , Avery referred to Hartmann as a golddigger who was only interested in him for money and publicity, claiming she received at least $5,000 for the Dr. Phil special along with additional payments for other media appearances. The Daily Beast reached out to CBS for confirmation, but did not immediately hear back from the network that produces McGraws show.

These latest revelations cast an awkward light on the episodes that aired Monday and Tuesday afternoon, in which Hartman can be seen gushing over her love for her sweetest little teddy bear whom she believes  like so many others who watched the series  was wrongly convicted of Halbachs murder, just as he was wrongly convicted for rape decades earlier.

"I haven't been in love my whole life. It's not the same as the others. Everything is all different with her," Avery told Dr. Phil at one point, suggesting that he did not have genuine feelings for yet another former fiancee Jodi Stachowski, who stood by him for the trial depicted in Making a Murderer. In a TV interview just a couple of weeks after the show premiered , Stachowski said she no longer trusted Avery, saying behind closed doors, hes a monster.

Confronted with footage of Stachowski saying she now believes Avery is guilty of the murder as well as physically assaulting her, Hartman was quick to defend her man, saying people deserve second chances. For his part, McGraw suggested Hartman was attempting to rationalize any negative things she has learned about Avery and spent much of the second half of Tuesdays show trying to talk her out of marrying the convicted murderer, calling her naive for thinking theres no chance hes guilty.

Is their love already on the rocks? McGraw asked viewers at one point, introducing a taped segment in which Hartman is shown awaiting a call from Avery that never comes. This led him to surprise Hartman with a live phone call from her fiance. She instantly burst into tears when she heard Averys now-iconic voice and laughed when Avery said he doesnt believe shes with him for the fame.

Avery denied physically abusing Stachowski and when McGraw asked him point blank if he murdered Teresa Halbach, he maintained his innocence just as strongly as he did throughout Making a Murderer. He also expressed gratitude over the recent news that a federal judge overturned the conviction of his mentally-challenged nephew Brendan Dassey. The truth is coming out and sooner or later, he said. All the truth will come out.

There were laughs all around at the suggestion by Avery that Brad Pitt will play him in a fictional film version of his story, but its not as far-fetched as it seems. If, post-divorce, Pitt were to put on a significant amount of weight and nail Averys unique Wisconsin dialect, it could be the type of role that delivers him a still-elusive Academy Award.
Tonya Weiss was so notorious for stealing from the elderly that police used audio of the Sweetheart Swindler in training sessions, but that didnt stop one elder care company from hiring her.

Ohio-based Nightingale Home Support and Care is accused of hiring the convicted fraud, who had just left prison for the most recent in a decades-long string of crimes targeting elders. In a new lawsuit, a Nightingale client said she conducted a more thorough background check than the elder care company, simply by googling Weisss name.

Rosa Rideout, 83, hired Nightingale Home Support for in-home care in September 2015. But she quickly became suspicious of her assigned caregiver Tonya Weiss. After Rideout allowed Weiss into her home, her personal and family belongings allegedly began disappearing, she claims in her suit. Rideouts bank account began showing unusual charges. Someone was changing the names on Rideouts property deeds, transferring their ownership without her knowledge.

Rideout puts her damages at over $25,000and she says the thefts were completely preventable.

Had Defendants performed even a quick google search on their employee they sent into Plaintiff Rideouts home, they would have discovered her criminal past, Rideouts suit against Nightingale claims.

A simple search could have revealed Weisss incriminating nickname. Police called her the Sweetheart Swindler for her reputation of squeezing lonely elders for cash since the 1960s. While living part-time in Florida in 1997, Weiss was convicted of scamming $490,000 from a 91-year-old man. Simultaneously, she was facing accusations of swindling thousands from nine senior citizens in an Ohio alzheimers care center.

While in an Ohio prison serving out sentences for both cases, Weiss pleaded guilty to additional charges of obstructing justice, forgery, and aiding an escape, over her involvement in an unrelated 1995 prison break. Weiss had forged documents allowing inmate Thurman Green to escape prison, a break police only discovered after Green struck and killed a 16-year-old with his car after escaping prison. Weisss guilty plea allowed her to leave prison early, although she made a speedy return in 2001 on a theft conviction against a 75-year-old widower.

But prison didnt stop Weiss from scamming. From behind bars, Weiss picked new marks from the local newspaper, writing letters to two elderly men who had placed personal ads.

Shes as slick as a whistle. Shell talk the shoes right off your feet, Luke Hilton, one of Weisss targets told the Columbus Dispatch after Weisss 2003 indictment over the nearly $30,000-plus she stole from him and another elderly man.

Often Weiss posed as a caregiver. While working at the Columbus Alzheimers Care Center in the 1997, she found was guilty of stealing over $170,000 from patients, some of which was stolen from patients mail.

What a pedophile is to children, Tonya Weiss is to the elderly, investigator Dave Kessler told the Columbus Dispatch after a 2012 conviction on new fraud charges.

And it appeared Weiss could not stay away. Shortly after her release from a 32-month sentence, she was back stealing from the elderly, Rideout claims. It is unclear whether she is under criminal investigation for her latest alleged heist.

Reached by phone, a Nightingale employee appeared surprised by news of the lawsuit. Oh wow, the woman said, not giving her name before transferring to the voicemail of a supervisor who did not return a request for comment.
It was at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 that Linda Yellen met Dennis Hopper. Yellen is a producer with twenty credits, including such well-regarded low budget movies as Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number and Liberace, and she and Hopper were soon deep in movie-talk.

A crowd coagulated around them.

It became so absurd that I said to Dennis, This is one of the best film festivals in the world. I wonder what its like at the worst?

Hoppers reaction was unexpected.

He said, Thats a very funny idea. If you like Ill do it.

I said, Seriously?

He said, Of course! If I like the script.

It took Yellen two months. She called the movie The Last Movie Festival and the character she created for Hopper was a movie producer called Nick Twain.

Hes a once-great producer, Yellen said. He knows all the tricks and has to turn around the greatest failure of his career. Otherwise hell never work again.

This was, as Yellen knew, a provocative role to offer Hopper. He had well and truly been thereand less than a year and a half after their first meeting he would die, at the age of 74.

Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1936 and was still a child when the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. As a child he liked painting but determined to become an actor, so moved in LA in his teens and shortly got cast in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean in 1955. He was in another Dean movie, Giant, the following year.

In 1961 he married Brooke Hayward, who he had met while playing opposite her on Broadway. His youthful interest in art resurfaced and he became a collector of contemporary art, as he revealed in a 1999 interview.

He bought a Warhol Campbells Soup Can print off the wall of the dealer, Virginia Dwan, for $75 and posed for one of Warhols Screen Tests series in New York. He also bought a camera became an excellent photographer.

In 1963 Hopper shot a youthful Warhol, David Hockney, Henry Geldzahler and Jeff Goodman as a foursome and would shoot portraits of the artists Ed Ruscha and Roy Lichtenstein.

Brooke, the daughter of the producer Leland Hayward, was the first of Hoppers five wives. They divorced in 1969, which was a busy time for Hopper, because being also when he directed Easy Rider, the movie in which he co-starred with Peter Fonda, and which he credited with introducing cocaine to America.

The overwhelming success of Easy Rider enabled Hopper to lay back. He partied for about four years said Yellen. He was producer and director on his next project, The Last Movie, and starred in it as Kansas.

It was released in 1971, got a prize at the Cannes Film Festival but was trashed by the critics, and youll find it listed as one of 20 Banned or Otherwise Unavailable Movies You Can Only Watch Online where it is described as such a flop, the studio tried to erase its memory from the face of the earth.

Hopper abandoned Hollywood and spent much of the 70s in a haze of drugs and alcohol.

The rebuilding of Hoppers movie career began when he played a pothead photojournalist in Coppolas Apocalypse Now.It continued with such movies as Blue Velvet.

He and Yellens project was greenly and they began shooting in 2009. It should be noted that, as with The Last Movie, an impending divorce darkened the shoot, but Hoppers divorce from his fifth wife, Victoria, was way uglier, with her questioning his mental balance and Hopper accusing her of stealing his art.

The shoot nonetheless was tranquil.

He was extremely polite, says Jacqueline Bisset, one of the co-stars, a Brit, and longtime Los Angeleno. He kept to himself. There was a certain tension about him.

No problems?

None at all. He could be a little testy. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The shoot was close to the part of Forest Hills, Queens, where Yellen grew up.

We would walk around my old neighborhood and talk about anything but the film, she said. I once asked him if there was anything that you never did that you wished you had done. He said, Ive never gotten relationships.

She confirmed Hopper had occasional spurts of ill-humor, one occasioned by the fact that it was a low budget movie, and she wanted to work quickly.

I had given him eight pages of dialog. And he was furious, she said. She added wistfully, He was shooting pictures all the time. He had so many pictures and so many rolls of film. We all long for those pictures.

The Last Movie Festival, is appropriately replete with sly movie references, as when the baby agent, as played by Joseph Cross, somewhat channels the Tim Robbins character in Robert Altmans The Player, the movie which shattered the industry wisdom that movies-about-movies always cratered.

But the most striking such reference has an eerily unintended reference and that is when Nick Twain, played by a gleaming and robust-looking Dennis Hopper, is talking about his beginnings in Hollywood, which included work on King Vidors movie, Solomon and Sheba, and how the star, Tyrone Power, had died during the shoot.

The baby agent asks the Hopper character whether Solomon and Sheba was a hit?

No. It was a flop, he says.

Dennis Hopper took a break before the shoot was finished to do a commercial in Italy. He returned very unwell. He thought he had SARS virus, Yellen said.

Hopper still had scenes to shoot but wasnt up to it and left to recuperate in Taos, New Mexico, where he shared a house with his children. He lived in a rebuilt cinema, Yellen says. How appropriate is that? We were in touch all through his illness which was three months, four months at most.

Hopper died on May 29, 2010, at his home in Venice, Los Angeles.

The cause, Yellen learned, was a recurrence of prostate cancer.

Yellen, who had recently lost her father and a couple of close friends, one being Lynn Redgrave, was so stricken that she decided the movie was a goner.

The death of a star affects each movie project differently, Tyrone Power vanished from Solomon and Sheba and was replaced by his friend, Yul Brynner.

Natalie Wood, who drowned before shooting had finished on Brainstorm she was replaced by a stand-in on a few scenes and by sound-alikes for voice.

Bela Lugosi overdosed on formaldehyde after Ed Wood had only shot a few reels of Plan 9 from Outer Space. The lore is that Wood replaced him with his dentist to whom he owed money, ignoring the fact that he was a foot taller.

When Heath Ledger died, The Dark Knight was already being edited and when Philip Seymour Hoffman died most of his part on The Hunger Games: MockingjayPart 2 had been shot.

But you can kinda see in the last scenes that theres something missing from his performance, Yellen said.

Her down mood on The Last Film Festival dissipated. This was in part because of frequent inquiries about what was happening to Dennis Hoppers last movie and mostly because so much material existed.

Other actors on the project, who included Bissett, Donnell Rawlings and Leelee Sobieski, supported a Kickstarter campaign, which raised the necessary moolah, and Yellen settled down to post-production. There were plenty of out-takes with Dennis, she said. And theres so much else going on in the movie. I dont think you ever do not feel his presence. It is seamless, also sexual and rowdily funnyso much so that I rather wondered what the reaction has been from the circuitry of film festivals. Had there been any resistance, I asked.

As it happens, yes. We have found great sensitivity, Yellen said. Some of the bigger film festivals have felt it was indecorous to make fun of a smaller film festivals and have privately told us that. Rather than just join in the fun of it they have felt it was politically incorrect. And some of the smaller film festivals have felt that it maybe it shows too much. Because most film festivals are in the business of bringing business to that community, they dont want anything that shows that it might be anything less than grand.

That said, The Last Film Festival will be in the Santa Fe festival at the end of October.

Dennis spent a lot of time in Santa Fe and Taos. And Taos is where he is buried, Yellen said. The movie just opened in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Dennis was buried in an American-Indian graveyard, Yellen said. You know what happens at Jim Morrisons grave in Pere Lachaise [the famous Parisian cemetery]. I can see that happening with Dennis. People will bring bandanas from Apocalypse Now, bottles of Jim Beamthings that reference that extraordinary career.
VIENNA  Victor Orban, the right-wing leader of Hungary, offered his people a simple formula: Come and vote in a referendum against allowing in more asylum-seekers and you will be safe from terrorism in your country.

Prime Minister Orban also promised that if people did not show up for the migration referendum on Sunday, Hungary would have wasted more than $36 million, which is what the authorities were spending to organize the vote to reject the European Union quota of 1,229 refugees. That was the price to stop terrorism, according to Orban. (According to critics, that was $30,000 per head of anti-humanitarian spending.)

As often happens in Europe these days, the results were confusing, and unsettling.

Orban had compared migrants to poison. Hungary would give Europe the finger, he said, vowing to change Hungarys constitution so the European Union would have no right to impose any rules on the country without its parliaments approval.

This is the same country, remember, that just a dozen years ago celebrated its membership in the EU. Now it wants to restructure the whole thing.

In the event, voters did not turn out en masse to support Orban. Only 43.3 percent or 3.58 million participated in the referendum on Sunday, which means the vote is not binding. But 98 percent of those who did vote said no to accepting more migrants.

Hungary, as we know, is not the only country where far-right leaderswho are inspired by, and inspiring growing xenophobiahave pushed for more autonomy from Europe.

In neighboring Austria up to 52 percent of the electorate supports the far-right Freedom Party. Here in this country of graceful architecture, beautiful landscapes, and the worlds best music, right-wing nationalism is on the rise.

Last week in Vienna, European leaders met for an emotional talk about the fate of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Germany has grown tired of its role as a lonely humanitarian hero dealing with the largest wave of immigration in Europe since World War II. It has done its duty by opening its doors to 2 million people and now, other EU countries will have to jump in, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the gathering of EU prime ministers and heads of state.

Merkel, whose party has suffered scathing losses at the polls in regional elections, seemed defeated by criticism for her generous migration policy. She suggested the EU cut deals with developing nationsAfrica, Pakistan, and Afghanistanto send those rejected from European asylum back home.

None of her fellow leaders were inclined to take up the relay. The key EU decision makers complained that their countries economies were suffering, that the immigration crisis made people think more about their private property and national identity.

The politicians agreed that this would be a good time to close the western Balkan route for good, as European Council President Donald Tusk demanded the participants in the talks looked for somebody to blame, and Hungarys Orban criticized Greece for failing to protect its borders. Austria continued to pressure its neighbors to close their borders to asylum seekers.

The elephant in the room, the rising far-right behemoth, was dancing in triumph in Vienna.

Young Austrian editors, journalists, publishers, and entrepreneurs worry about the future of their democracy. Indiana Leibovici, a publisher, said he no longer trusts any television news: The TV propaganda is full of political manipulations. I do not watch local television. I do not watch Russia Today, either, he added when we talked. My main concern is the rise of the Nazism-inspired far-right wing, Leibovici said.

The refugee haters are united in one anti-immigration fist, including politicians from Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and France, some of whom are known for their fascist if not indeed Nazi backgrounds. And Moscow is encouraging them every step of the way.

The more that politicians from France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, or other EU countries grow radically right-wing, the more chance there is that they will lobby on behalf of the Kremlins interests, says Anton Shekhovtsov, a fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

The Freedom Partys candidate, Norbert Hofer, has a very good chance of becoming Austrias next president when elections finally are held Dec. 2.

At the peak of the immigration crisis, 10,000 refugees a day were coming into Austria and far-right politicians quickly saw their opportunity. Like Donald Trump with his wall, and Orban with his heavily guarded razor-wire barrier on Hungarys southern border, they promised a crackdown on immigrants.

As Alexander Warzilek, the head of the Austrian Press Council told The Daily Beast, the Freedom Party has had the migration topic on their agenda for decades and now the Austrian people are scared.

There is a sense that the millions of Muslims fleeing the wars in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan will bring violence with them like an infection, and the proven presence of a handful of jihadists among them has been exploited endlessly by the demagogues of the right.

We are in greater danger than we can imagine, Antal Rogan, a Hungarian cabinet minister proclaimed on Monday. If the EU has its way, he suggested, immigrants would be put in every town and village in Hungary.

Russia plays a far from constructive role in all this.

One of the leading figures in Austrias Freedom Party, is Russian-speaking Johann Gudenus, who frequently meets with top Russian and Belarusian politicians and businessmen in order to establish better relations with the Kremlin.

Speaking at a press conference in January, Gudenus praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for acting in the interests of Russias people and called for European leaders to act the way Putin does. They should act as their peoples expect them to act and not in the Americans or NATOs interests, Gudenus said. He insisted that the U.S. dictated to Europe when economic sanctions were implemented against Russia after it annexed Crimea.

If the EU on the one hand implements sanctions against Russia, a European country, and on the other hand negotiates membership with a non-EU country, Turkey, such an EU is taking a dangerous route, Gudenus said.

(Gudenus father, John Gudenus, gained a certain notoriety in 1995 when he denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers during the Holocaust. Ten years later, rather like Jean-Marie Le Pen in France, he was still playing this sinister rhetorical game. Asked whether gas chambers actually existed in the Third Reich, he answered: I believe we should debate this topic with all earnestness and not be forced to answer the question with yes or no.)

In June, 2014, soon after not a single one of the UN states supported Russias annexation of Crimea, the younger Gudenus was invited to Moscow by State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin. There, Gudenus blamed the EU, NATOs hostage, for Ukraines crisis and praised the Kremlins policy.

Hungarian leader Orban also has approved Putins illiberal democracy: Russia is not an enemy of Hungary. Its our partner, Orban said earlier this year, standing alongside Putin and promising that soon the EU would cancel its economic sanctions on Russia.

There a multiple ironies here. Even as Europes far-right leaders in Hungary, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and even Germany have pushed to close borders and jettison dreams of a united Europe in favor of old nationalisms, and even as Moscow works to crush separatists inside the Russian Federation, the Kremlin has encouraged groups that would fracture even the old nation states of Western Europe. Russia has hosted the worlds unrecognized republics, including separatists from Catalonia, Northern Ireland, and even from the United StatesCalifornia and Texas!

Why did the Kremlin choose to make allies with right-wing parties and separatist leaders? The Kremlin needs some other card, besides gas, to wave at the West and say here is who we have for our friends and allies, says Alexander Verkhovsky, the head of the Sova Information and Analytical Center in Moscow.

A majority of the population does not support Russias own far-right parties, including Rodina and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. As for the ultra-nationalist movements that were popular four or five years ago, some of them got arrested, others escaped to Ukraine.

The Kremlin banned Hitlers Mein Kampf (recently re-published in Germany), but it cultivates the far right in Western Europe and the United States, says Shekhovtsov to create alternate mechanisms allowing it to expand its influence.

Such is the situation at this point that one hears from liberal Europeans a curious sort of optimism founded on pessimism: The far right will win, the argument goes, but it will fail.

Once the far-right party leads the government, Austrian entrepreneur Michael Plankensteiner told The Daily Beast, people will quickly start to realize that they are not able to change things for the better just by making simple statements that express current fears.

In Austria, at least, that reasoning may soon be put to the test.
Officially, the so-called Islamic State (widely known as ISIS) is on the run: its manpower reduced in the Middle East, its troops pushed out of their Libyan strongholds. For President Obama, who conceded that bungling the aftermath of the 2011 Libyan intervention was the worst mistake of his presidency, the gains made in North Africa represent an eleventh hour redemption. Headlines are declaring that ISIS is in retreat. But the question to ask is: retreat to where?

In an essay translated by the Quilliam Foundation, an ISIS supporter identifies Libya as a strategic gateway from which pandemonium could be wrought in the southern Europe. Even more than Syria, the fate of Libya is likely to color the next presidents foreign policy. While Syria has been a whirlpool, sucking in the most toxic elements in the region, Libya is a sandstorm, spreading its mayhem outward. According to the ISIS supporters essay, Libya is the key to Egypt, the key to Tunisia, Sudan, Mali, Algeria and Niger too.

Among the many mistakes made during the 2011 intervention, a significant blunder was the failure to ask where Gaddafis supporters had fled. Within months, hundreds of Tuareg combatants turned up in Mali, bearing machine guns and portable missile systems from Gaddafis stockpiles. While traveling with nomadic salt merchants north of Timbuktu, I witnessed their arrival: My guide pointed out the unfamiliar tents, complaining there were too many strangers in the desert. A few weeks later, a German tourist was murdered and his three companions kidnapped; the police chief in the town where I was staying insisted on an all-night motorbike patrol to make sure another kidnap didnt take place. Few realized at the time, but Malis nightmare had begun.

The impact of the Malian crisis is being debated in the Hague this month, where Ahmad al-Faqi Al-Mahdi is due to be sentenced for damaging mankinds heritage in Timbuktu. Long-standing smuggling routes have been hijackedthe same routes that will carry ISIS deeper into Africa. The jihadist groups operating in Mali saw no limit to their territorial ambitions, and nor does the Islamic State; the difference is that ISIS has real financial clout, operating capability, and a powerful brand. If it can break through the dusty membrane of the Sahel, it will have access to sub-Saharan Africa and the potential to reach across the continent, exploiting a tangle of marginalized communities, just as it exploited the Anbar tribes of Iraq and Gaddafis support base in Libya.

It shouldnt be like this. As the U.K. Foreign Affairs Select Committee judged last week, the 2011 Libyan campaign was marked by a failure to develop a coherent Libya strategy, leading to political and economic collapse, a surge of unmanaged migration, and increased terrorism. In the U.K., the rap falls on David Cameron, but in the U.S. it is Hilary Clinton who is under fire, lambasted for her claim that Libya is a work in progress. Not that her rival has much to boast about. Donald Trumps Libya pronouncements are as inconsistent as his migration mathematics or his position on NATO. He swings from charging Clinton with implementing the 2011 intervention, to advocating an escalation in U.S. military involvement, to bragging of his business links with Colonel Gaddafi.

Inconsistent or compromised: It doesnt bode well for Americas power-broking role in the region. Which is problematic, because positive leadership is needed, now more than ever. ISIS needs to be contained, not displaced. Key to this is securing the backing of local leadership, from tribal chiefs to national governments, quashing corruption, and improving the quality, not the rate, of investment. Billions of dollars have been thrown at too many countries in North Africa, without benefiting the most destitute, vulnerable communities.

On an international level, care must be taken to avoid the proxy warmongering that has destroyed Syria. There, a horrific parody of the Cold War braces Russian fighter jets and CIA-backed rebels against the long-running Sunni-Shia saga led by Saudi Arabia and Iran. A nation once celebrated for diversity, now fettered by sectarianism, is drowning under the superpower chess game played across its surface. Africa is next.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been spreading their influence, funding Wahabist preachers, supplying the welfare that local governments are too tangled in corruption to dish out. Chinas economic presence levers infrastructural investment against the exploitation of cheap labor and resources. France has a huge role in West Africa, where its three-and-a-half-year-long military campaign is motivated, in part, by the uranium mines in Niger (which provide a third of the uranium for its lucrative nuclear industry). Anyone who thinks North Africa hasnt got proxy war potential needs to look at the map again.

Other players are gathering, lured by North Africas untapped resources. The region has tremendous economic promise, however jittery the political forecast. But tackling its problems are key. The West benefits from its uranium, phosphorus, oil, and other resources, but also feels the impact from jihadism, narco-trafficking, and mass migration. We need to engage with this region, not turn our backs on it. Confronting what Obama calls the shit show, and the myriad conflicts blasting around it, is essential. Otherwise these disasters will continue to spread, scattering the next U.S. presidents foreign policy on the winds of another Saharan sandstorm.

Nicholas Jubbers The Timbuktu School for Nomads: Across the Sahara in the Shadow of Jihad will be published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing in November 2016.
Kim Kardashian told French police she feared she was going to be raped by the gang of masked raiders who stormed her luxury Paris apartment, according to shocking new details unfolding of the brutal, six-minute raid in which as much as $9 million worth of jewelry is thought to have been stolen.

According to a report on TMZ, Kardashian had her wrists and ankles bound with zip ties and duct tape before being dumped in a marble bathtub.

Speculation that the robbers had inside help is also increasing.

Police and the Kardashian family dont believe it was a coincidence that Kim was bodyguard-less at the time the robbers showed up and somehow made their way into her apartment. They think the robbers were tipped off it was the right time to strike, reports TMZ.

According to multiple reports, Kardashians robbers knew their way around the apartment perfectly.

Reports say the robbers kept shouting ring, ring as they hunted for the gigantic diamond engagement ring Kanye West gave herand which she was seen flaunting on Instagram this week.

When Kardashian arrived back in the States, she was pictured walking into her house without the ring on her finger.

Kardashian has been pilloried by some who have foolishly accused her of inviting the robbery by flaunting her wealth on Instagram.

Steve Stanulis, who provided security for Kimye during New York Fashion Week in February, told the New York Post, The only person to blame for this incident is Kim Kardashian. Kims social media and her Snapchat is her undoing. When she is posting, Here I am, and this is the $5 million ring I am wearing, heres where I am going, you are basically inviting someone to rob you.

However, celebrity friends such as James Corden have rushed to Kardashians defense. Corden tweeted: People making jokes about @KimKardashian tonight would do well to remember that shes a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend. Be nice or shut up.

TMZ reports that Kims phone was snatched out of her hands before she could call for help, but her friend and stylist Simone Harouche heard noise and called the stars personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier, who was out at the time at a nightclub with her sister Kendall.

He arrived just after the robbers fled.
Paul Orzulak, a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, was Joe Liebermans speechwriter on the 2000 presidential campaign. He is a founding partner of West Wing Writers. He tweets at @orzulak.

One of the great untold stories in the annals of vice presidential debates happened 16 years ago this Wednesday, when Democratic nominee Joe Lieberman squared off against his Republican counterpart, Dick Cheney, at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. What is generally seen as one the most positive and civilized debates in recent electoral history was actually an act of political jiujitsu by Cheney so cunning that it should serve as a cautionary tale for Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as he prepares to take on Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in their only vice presidential debate tonight.

Its hard to remember after Cheneys performance in the White House, but like Kaine and Pence, both Lieberman and Cheney entered the 2000 debate with reputations as fundamentally decent men who shared a talent for sounding reasonable in conversation. Both were seen as more statesmanlike than their respective running mates, Al Gore and George W. Bush, who had engaged in a particularly nasty debate two days before. As with all VP debates, the task for both was to defend the people at the top of the ticket while putting their opponents on the defensive. The media, political pros, and even the candidates wives were expecting a night of fireworks.

As a long-time member of Congress who held several executive positions including secretary of defense, Cheney was seen as an effective salve to the concerns that voters had about Bushs inexperience and tendency to make outrageous statements. He also had a direct style when answering questions, which made him seem trustworthy (again, this is all before Iraq). But those of us on Liebermans debate team knew that Cheney was a wolf in sheeps clothing: Beneath the reasonable rhetoric was one of the most extreme voting records in Congressional history. When voters were exposed to his positions, his credibility, along with his tickets poll numbers, dropped like a stone.

At debate camp, the senator practiced and honed effective attacks against Cheneys record, in a more in sorrow than in anger style that was Liebermans trademark. As a man who despised negative campaigning, he wasnt comfortable with being aggressive. But he knew how to do it. As debate night arrived, he was ready. He had worked out exactly how to put Cheney on the defensive.

Ten minutes before the debate began, the two candidates sat next to each other at a half-moon table across from moderator Bernie Shaw, as the format dictated, and chatted. Lieberman would be the first to speak. Shaw welcomed the audience and turned to the senator for his opening statement. After some opening pleasantries, to our surprise, Lieberman said, My 85-year-old mom gave me some good advice about the debate earlier today. She said, Sweetheart, be positive and know that I will love you no matter what your opponent says about you. Well I am going to be positive tonight. Im not going to indulge in negative personal attacks. Im going to talk about issues that matter to the people of this country.

And that was it. For 90 minutes, there wasnt one mention of Cheneys recorddespite at least a dozen opportunities when mentioning a Cheney vote would have put the lie to one of his answers. The two disagreed on multiple political issues, but left it at that.

When Lieberman came off stage, we asked why he changed direction. He said, When we first sat down, Dick leaned over and said that his people wanted him to go negative, and that he had practiced attack lines. But he didnt want to do it. He thought the American people deserved better, and I agreed. So I kept it positive.

Cheney knew that Lieberman was a fundamentally decent guy, and he played that sense of decency to his advantage. He knew that the senator wouldnt go negative if he stayed positive. For his part, the Republican pushed back against Gores record firmly until the 70-minute mark, when, as Time put it, he finally bared a tooth or two, icily drum-beating eight years of all talk and no action, and Lieberman actually started to get miffed.

When it was over, ABCs George Stephanopoulos called it a model debate. Shaw called it eavesdropping on a conversation, while many praised its civility. All of it played to Cheneys advantage: Polls showed that by a two-to-one margin, viewers declared him the winner. Today, it is remembered as one of the only VP debates that shifted the polls in the week afterward.

What should nice-guy Kaine take away from Liebermans experience? That to be civil, you dont have to be gentleand that staying positive doesnt mean staying away from your opponents record.

Like the Cheney of old, Pence has a reputation for staying friendly and sounding reasonable in debates. If you simply listen to him, youd hardly know that hes one of the most far-right running mates in recent history, a candidate who was ranked by Nate Silver as between the third and seventh most extreme member of Congress for 12 consecutive years.

It would be a disservice to voters tuning in tonight if they didnt know that the man defending Donald Trump for calling a Latino beauty contestant a fat pig was also a man who introduced the first bill in Congress that called for Planned Parenthood to be completely defunded; that the man defending Trumps attacks on trade deals has been one of the greatest champions of free trade as both a congressman and governor, where he actually led trade missions to China; and that the man defending Trump as a job-creator signed an LGBTQ bill so offensive that it cost his state an estimated $250 million in jobs and growth.

As we learned in the eight years Dick Cheney was vice president, extreme voting records arent just a history of whats past, but a harbinger of whats to come. I hope Tim Kaine remembers that when hes on stage with the man who has called Cheney his vice presidential role model.
Donald Trump made much of the violence in President Obamas hometown during the first 2016 presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.

Clinton might have noted in reply that Chicagos murder rate last year was topped by the murder rate in Indianapolis, where Trumps running mate, Mike Pence, resides as the governor of Indiana.

Pence himself should be asked about it during Tuesdays vice-presidential debate with Tim Kaine. A pre-debate fact check shows the murder rate in Indianapolis reached 16.9 per 100,000 in 2015 with 144 murders, the most in that citys history. Chicagos rate came in slightly lower, 16.7 per 100,000, with 468 homicides in a city with more than three times the population.

In both cities, around 80 percent of the homicides involved firearms. Chicago police note that some 20 percent of the guns recovered in crime scenes there were purchased in Indiana, where access has gone from easy to even easier.

Pences most notable actions as governor with regard to firearms include arranging for the National Rifle Association to train the Indiana National Guard in carrying concealed weapons. Pence also signed laws that legalized sawed-off shotguns, permitted people to keep guns in vehicles in school parking lots, and retroactively barred a 1999 suit by the city of Gary against gun manufacturers.

Back in the 1990s, Gary was known as the murder capital of America. But its homicide rate has declined of late, by some estimations because even criminals there have joined the exodus for better opportunities elsewhere. Law-enforcement officials have suggested that migrating drug and robbery crews from Gary have contributed to the rise of killings in Indianapolis.

Earlier on the same July morning that Pence met with Donald Trump along with Ivanka and Donald Jr. and Eric at the governors mansion, a man was shot multiple times in the immediate vicinity of an ATM. A woman named Simona Jordan who lives near the scene of the shooting offered a local TV reporter an appraisal of Indianapolis, whatever the causes of its present condition.

You cant go to the bank, you cant go to the grocery store, its just not safe no more, she exclaimed.

The following week in Indianapolis, three people were found shot to death in close proximity to a sleeping 18-month-old baby, the dead including the childs mother. The week after that saw nine people murdered in the city, three in one 24-hour period.

September again saw nine people murdered in a single week. The total on Sept. 26 stood at 116. This was 18 more than the 98 at the same point last year, suggesting that 2016 may top 2015 as the citys all-time bloodiest.

And the number almost certainly would be even higher were it not for the efforts of a faith-based anticrime organization called the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition. The groups leader, Rev. Charles Harrison, says that while many of the citys homicides are related to drugs and gangs, a considerable number are the result of personal disputes that in earlier times might have been settled with fists.

They go right to the guns, Harrison told The Daily Beast on Monday. Everyone on the street now feels the need to have a gun, so everybody is carrying a gun, so when you have these disputes people are already packing. Just people getting into disputes, it leads to gunplay.

In an effort to stem the violence, Harrisons group resolved last fall to target three areas that the Indianapolis police had designated hot spots. The group began by bringing together all the interested parties in each, including the residents, the police, the schools, city officials, and businesses.

Everybody, Harrison said, adding that the collective goal was fighting crime and redirecting the lives of our young people.

The focus was on preventing homicides involving those 14- to 24-years-old. Young men who previously had been on the wrong side of the law were organized into patrols that defused potentially deadly situations and directed anyone interested toward a jobs program.

Jobs are the key, Harrison said.

By Harrisons count, the three targeted areas had reported 30 homicides in 2015 prior to the groups efforts. Two of the areas have not witnessed a single homicide in the 14-to-24 age range over the 11 months since the group commenced its efforts. Two of the areas have gone without any homicides at all.

None, Harrison said.

Harrison told The Daily Beast that he had explained all this to Pence when the governor joined him on one of the patrols on July 12.

He really seemed interested, Harrison recalled.

But the very next day, Pence met at the governors residence with Trump and the stunted adults we call Trumps kids. Trump announced by tweet two days later that he had chosen Pence as his running mate. Pence had accepted.

I wish he wouldnt have Harrison said Monday.

Meanwhile, one person who underestimated the dangers of Indianapolis was the 17-year-old who arranged to sell a cellphone via the online site OfferUp early Sunday morning. He took the precaution of arranging to conduct the transaction in a parking lot directly adjoining the back of the Indianapolis Police Departments Southeast District headquarters. He also brought along an older man.

But neither the sidekick nor the proximity of the police station prevented the two supposed buyers from pulling a gun. The 17-year-old tried to run and was shot. He was rushed to the hospital and at last report the medical staff had managed to keep his name from joining the list of homicide victims.

Maybe somebody at Tuesdays debate will ask Pence how even a parking lot behind a police station is not safe in the town where he now officially resides.
In Farmville, Virginia, two guys you might have heard ofDonald Trumps veep contender, Mike Pence ; and Hillary Clintons, Tim Kainewill square off Tuesday night to see who can gut the other in the most affable way.

Pence and Kaine are both experienced debaters, and surveying several hours worth of their debate tapes makes one thing clear: At the years one and only vice presidential debate, both contenders will smile their way through a bloodbath.

Pence, in particular, never frowns in debates.

He alternates between a series of smiles and a neutral expression that is both serious and sincere, like an acquaintance gently telling you some terrible news.

His smiles vary:

 A confident smile while describing his economic plan to help Indiana, in his first gubernatorial debate in Indiana, in 2012.

 A kind smile to the single mom who asked a question about how the state could help her raise her two kids and get a business degree, at the second debate.

 A tight smile when responding to an opponents attack on his record in the third.

Pence faced two opponents during his run for governor in 2012. One was libertarian Rupert Boneham, a former contestant for the CBS show Survivor who showed up for each debate looking like he had just returned from the island. The other was Democrat John Gregg, a former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives who did not have a lot of love for then-congressman Pence.

During his three debates with Gregg and Boneham, Pence frequently gestured with his arms and hands to emphasize points. He often alternated between addressing the questionerbe it the moderator or a voterand directly addressed the camera.

He rarely, if ever, got rattled. Indeed, he seemed to relish rebutting attacks.

When Gregg attacked Pence (and the red truck he drove around the campaign trail) for opposing the auto bailout, Pence waited politely to respond and then smiled.

Well, John, first thanks for admiring my truck. I know all the folks at the GM plant here would like me to remind you they sell a whole lot of them, and you are welcome to buy one too, Pence said. Its a great vehicle. Ive enjoyed campaigning in that truck for the last six or seven months around the Hoosier State. Its been just wonderful.

Let me speak to this issue, he then continued. Youve thrown a lot of definitions my way, and one of them is career politician. People do deserve to know you spent 16 years at the statehouse. Thats four more years than Ive spent in public service. And I honor your service, I honor any men and women who are willing to serve.

He then went on to happily defend his position on the auto bailout.

Tim Kaine has approached debates with a comparably sunny demeanor, touting his relentless commitment to compromise. At every possible opening, he has talked up his willingness to work with RepublicansRepublicans in the legislature, Republicans in the George W. Bush administration, Republicans galore. And even on the most contentious issues, Kaine looked for ways to find a happy compromise.

Dont like abortions? Kaine doesnt like them either. Want to keep them legal and accessible? So does he!

I do believe in the sanctity of life, he said at a gubernatorial debate in September 2005. I am pro-life. But I believe that there are tried-and-true ways to reduce abortion other than criminalizing womens health-care decisions. I trust women to make their health-care decisions. I dont think government needs to make health-care decisions for women, but we can reduce abortion if we stop making this a political game and do the things that are tested and tried.

Those things included increasing womens access to contraception and encouraging adoption.

In a 2012 debate with George Allen, Kaine took a similarly equivocal approach to the issue.

These are issues that are very much about womens empowerment, he said. You cant have a strong economy for women if you take their choices away.

Still, Kaine made it clear that he personally was no fan of abortion.

As these two well-matched running mates prepare to face off Tuesday night, dont expect Trump-like outbursts or lawyerly explanations when a simple explanation will do. Instead, expect a vigorous defense of their respective running matesin ways that are extremely firm and extremely nice.

At some point during the evening, Pence will condemn personal attacks. Hell talk about being a Hoosier, and how his experience as a Midwesterner has made him wise to the problems in the U.S.

Pence will have to defend his mixed record in Indiana. Before signing on with Trump, he was in the re-election bid of his life, in part because he pushed legislation that many believed would have let businesses discriminate against LGBT people. Businesses threatened to boycott the state over the bill, called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and it cost the state an estimated estimated 12 conventions, and $60 million. It cost Pence plenty of goodwill, too.

Kaine eschews that kind of combativeness. Instead, hes likely to name-check Virginia historical figures and touch on local economic concerns.

In previous debates, hes layered on those references pretty thick. When he squared off against Jerry Kilgore during the 2005 gubernatorial contest, he defended his liberalism by calling himself a Thomas Jefferson liberal.

If you like Jefferson, Im probably your guy, he said at the Sept. 13 debate. But if you got problems with Jefferson, no.

He name-checked Virginians favorite founder at another debate earlier that year, when butting heads with Kilgore over whether to raise taxes via voter referendum or legislative votes (a sexy issue if ever there were one). Kilgore was Team Referendum; Kaine defended letting the legislature make these calls. And part of his defense was that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had wanted it that way.

Why are you fighting against Jefferson and Madison, Jerry? he asked plaintively.

Who, after all, could ever disagree with James Madison?

Pence also makes broad (if vague) overtures to agreement. He will frequently say he agrees with an opponent, broadly, but will pivot on why he actually completely disagrees with what was saida tactic that will make him look thoughtful, even if the agreement was simply on the fact they were addressing the same topic.

And he is relentlessly on message. Its not uncommon for Pence to use the same sentence, with the exact same verbiage, over and over again. Sure, a lot of politicians do that in a stump speech. But rarely with the same inflection, emphasis, and delivery as Pence.

(While reviewing his three debates one after the other, it became necessary to double check to be sure that the previous debate wasnt playing over again. Fortunately the different podiums helped when Pences words didnt.)

Still both men will be tasked with not only defending themselves but their widely disliked running mates.

And that, in some cases, will be the hard partparticularly for Pence, who has to start sentences in nearly every interview with some variation of Well, what Trump meant was

In a recent interview with Fox Newss Chris Wallace, Pence was asked to defend the Trump Foundations inappropriate use of charity funds to settle lawsuits.

At first Pence attacked The Washington Post s (rock-solid) reporting as sketchy. When Wallace shot that down, Pence momentarily gave up.

Well, I know that the Trump Foundation, the family can answer all of those questions about that specific instance and others, and they have, he said.

He later bounced back to attack the Clinton Foundation, because thats what good running mates do.

Kaine has had his own struggles, especially when trying to explain his running mates varying statements on her use of a private email server. When Savannah Guthrie on the Today show asked him about why Clinton first defended the setup and then apologized for it, he stumbled.

Savannah, if you ask somebody a question 150 times or 200 times, youre going to be able to find that they dont use exactly the same word every time, he said. And theres going to be variations, and then people are going to play on those. But

She did use the same verbiage, Guthrie interrupted. It just happens to not be true.

Well, heres what Ive heard her say, Kaine replied. Ive heard her say, I made a mistake, and Ive learned something from it, and I wouldnt do it again, and I apologize.

Which brings us to Tuesday night, when we will see the two running mates locked in a proxy war, trying to use some of their clean-cut charm to defend two of the most loathed presidential nominees in modern history.

Still, Tuesday nights (charm your) face-off will likely include plenty of affabilitythe surreal Trump- and Clinton-free zone we need so much.
So once again, Julian Assange places his hand near the plunger, threatening to detonate more anti-Hillary dynamite. Fair enough. If he has something real, whatever we think of him and his methods, it will have to be grappled with. But before he starts in, lets put the topic of New Clinton Revelations in the context they deservea context everyone forgets the instant a titillating email or tape emerges, like the tape from this past weekend in which Clinton supposedly demeaned Bernie Sanderss supporters but in fact did the opposite (as Sanders himself agreed).

Ive written two columns in my little series aimed at trying to persuade swing voters why they really dont want Trump in the White House. The first argued that while she may be flawed, even deeply flawed, he is psychotic (an argument thats looking better with each passing week). The second made the case against voting for Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.

This third one is toughest one to write so far (and will be the longest one, because it requires some detailed explanations of some things). Here, Im going to try to tell you, if youre a younger voter or if you just dont remember this stuff because you have other things to think about in life, that Hillary Clinton isnt nearly as crooked as you think she is; that mostyep; mostof what youve read about her over the past quarter-century is either wildly exaggerated or, in a surprising number of cases, simply not true at all. You will wonder: How could something thats simply not true even make its way into the newspapers in the first place? In due course, I will explain.

So lets go back to 1992, and her husbands first campaign, which is where all this started. Ponder this context: At that point, since 1948for 44 yearsAmerican had only had presidents whod served in wars in some form or another, usually World War II (Ronald Reagan by making movies, but he got the draft board to count it somehow). And, for an even longer periodmuch longerAmerica had only had first ladies who were proverbial little women at their husbands side. Except for Eleanor Roosevelt, they didnt have opinions about matters of state. And they certainly steered well clear of meddling in the presidency (officially, at least; Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan were the most notable unofficial exceptions). They selected china patterns.

And finally, remember that it was 26 years ago, and life was different from today. Yes, the feminist revolution had happened, and women had joined the work force in huge numbers by then. But not everyone liked it, not by a long shot. And more broadly the culture wars were raging; the very term culture wars had just come into general use in 1990 or 1991.

So into this milieu walk Bill and Hillary Clinton, the first president and first lady from the 60s generation. He, to his critics, was a draft dodger (and there is no doubt that he delayed service as long as he could and then had the good fortune to draw a high lottery number). And she was a feminist, which she didnt bother to deny. In addition, for years she had been the chief breadwinner in the Clinton household. The governor of Arkansas made $30,000, maybe $35,000 in the 80s. Hillary, a partner in Little Rocks prestige law firm, made six figures. And she was seen, then, as secretly more liberal than her centrist husband.

What Ive described so far comes under the heading of ideologyher feminism, her public profile, and her known beliefs all added up to a woman who challenged the conventions of the day. You can see, given the image of the First Lady that prevailed up to Hillarys arrival on the scene, why that upset some people. But what, you might be wondering, do these ideological matters have to do with corruption? This is the key question that must be answered in assessing Hillary Clintons public life and reputation.

The answer starts with this: It is because Hillary so fully defied social conventions that her conservative antagonists decided they needed to persuade America that she was a terrible person. This began with attacks that were chiefly ideological; that she was a dangerous radical, and unfeminine.

Clinton gave these critics some ammunition, notably in the form of two infamous quotes. The first came in late January 1992, when she said on 60 Minutes, where the Clintons grappled with the infidelity issue, that she wasnt just some little woman here standin by my man like Tammy Wynette. The second came in March, when she said in an interview, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas. Her tone was, to be sure, dismissive of the mores of cooking-baking and tea-hosting.

But even so, the ideological attacks werent really taking. A lot of Americans were on Hillarys side of this divide. Calling her an abrasive man-hater was preaching to the choir; it wasnt going to resonate beyond the right. So what to do?

Here we find the Rosetta Stone: The answer was to paint her as corrupt, since concern about corruption transcends ideological and partisan lines. Im not saying some committee met in a secret room and took a vote on doing this (although a large amount of right-wing money was, in fact, secretly spent on finding dirt on both Clintons). I am saying, though, that it became clear to figures on the right that the more effective way to make the Clintons unpopular, and to block his agenda as president, was to portray them as dirty.

In the media environment of 20 or even 10 years earlier, this would have been hard to do. But in 1992-93, some factors came together to make it surprisingly easy. Right-wing talk radio had recently exploded across the country. The 24-7 news cycle was just becoming a thing. There was a lot of airtime to fill. Competition for scoops at mainstream outlets was becoming more ferocious. And there was no bigger scoop in political journalism than the possibility of a scandal surrounding this new backwoods president or his controversial wife.

The big bear in those days was Whitewater. I dont have space here to do chapter and verse, but: nothing happened. They invested around $45,000 in a land-development deal and lost almost all of it. There were a lot of facts that, strung together in the right way, could be made to look fishy. But neither Clinton did anything wrong. No proof ever emerged anywhere that Bill told regulators to look the other way, or that Hillary hid her billing records. It was investigated to death, for years, both by Congress and by a prosecutor, Ken Starr, who wanted to put themand, perhaps, especially herin prison. Another investigation, conducted by a government-appointed law firm and led in party by a Republican former U.S. attorney, found no evidence of wrongdoing. That was December 1995. It was barely mentioned in the press. Starrs investigation dragged on for three more years.

On and on it went. There was the White House travel office scandal, which Hillary handled clumsily but was in no way an ethical breach of any sort. There was the money she made trading cattle futures, which she made over the course of nine months (media reports at the time often gave the impression she made her $99,000 haul in a day or a week) before she lost her taste for gambling on the futures market. There was the sad suicide of her friend Vince Foster, whom the Clintons allegedly had killed because he knew too much (and of course because Hillary had had an affair with him). There was a thing dubbed Filegate, in which a low-level White House employee improperly requested the FBI files of some political figures. With no evidence, many began screaming that Hillary had to be behind it. It was investigated by three different bodies. Even the zealous Starr exonerated her on that one.

These were matters that consumed the mainstream media. On the right, meanwhile, the Clintons were painted as diabolical. Jerry Falwell backed a film in 1994, The Clinton Chronicles, alleging that the Clintons had people murdered. A web site devoted to the Clintons supposed body count still exists, though I wont do it the honor of linking to it. Actually, there seem to be three. And theyre still adding bodies.

And dont forget the books! According to this Wikipedia list, a whopping 45 negative books about Clinton have been published (note: My book about her 2000 Senate race is called positive on this list, and while I dont dispute that overall, I certainly criticized her campaign where it erred, as I have this year; besides, my book was a reporting-based campaign book, whereas most of these attack books either strung together selected facts to make her look evil or simply made things up). Thereve been a few more of these on the best-seller lists this year. The m.o. is always the same: rip a few quotes out of context; take material from other sources that is totally unsubstantiated but has appeared in print and can therefore be cited in sober-looking footnotes; mix, to produce the finish portrait of a scheming, lying, ambitious, unpatriotic harridan.

The number and quality of the lies can stagger. Go to snopes.com and enter Hillary Clinton in the search bar. She and Lester Holt used hand signals to rig the debate (false). She said Christians in America must deny their faith (false). In the 90s, she said nurses are overpaid maids (unproven). She wore black face at a costume party (false). There are dozens of them. You might laugh this stuff off. But these things get whipped around the country in email chains, and millions of Americans believe them, just as they believe she let people die in Benghazi on purpose (a conclusion that eight different investigations have failed to find any evidence to support).

Im not saying Clinton has never done anything wrong. Obviously she has. Her email server decision was indefensible, and Ive written that. She did embellish that Bosnian sniper-fire story, twice, back in 2008. The decision to accept a fat speaking fee from Goldman Sachs is incomprehensible to me. Both Clintons pursuit of money in recent years has been grossly excessive. The foundation-related stories that keep popping up prove no wrongdoing, but they do show in some cases a casual attitude toward appearances thats concerning, given that they know that everything they do is being monitored by opponents who want to end their careers in disgrace.

Back in the 90s, Hillary expected that journalists would respect a zone of privacy for the new first couple extending from their raising of Chelsea to other aspects of their personal lives. She soon learned that in the new age of the endless news cycle, no such zone would exist. She stayed in denial about that for too long, and it cost her a lot of credibility, because the press, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and while Hillary was creating the vacuum by not being accessible to the media, her attackers were filling it.

But most of what they filled it with was garbage. Id say that around 80 percent of what youve read about her over the years is simply false. It didnt happen the way it was presented, or a lot of the time it didnt happen at all. And she has long since even stopped trying to correct the record in many cases, figuring its just no use.

The representative story along these lines is the New York Yankees fan controversy. In 1999, when she was first running for Senate in New York, she quipped that after her hometown Chicago Cubs, the Yankees had been her second-favorite team. She was pulverized by the New York press for pandering, and it played into all the stereotypes about her lack of authenticity and so on.

But it was true. The Washington Post had reported it in 1994, long before she had her eye on New York. But her campaign didnt even bother sending the Post clip out to journalists, figuring after days of pummeling that it was too late to bother and that no one would write it anyway.

Assess her on her real errors of judgment. Shes made them. But shes made far fewer of them than youve been led to believe. And ask yourself this. Counting Benghazi and the emails and Whitewater and Filegate and everything else, shes easily been investigated by upwards of 20 official bodies. Some very skilled investigators, and certainly many who wanted to corner her. If shed really done something unlawful or deeply unethical, dont you think one of these investigations would have found the goods?

In the right-wing swamps, they have an explanation for this as they do for everythingits a liberal conspiracy, or shes had critics killed, or whatever. But here on Planet Earth, maybe theres another explanation, which is that the vast majority of stuff shes been accused of, she simply didnt do.

I know it can seem hard to believe that all these things youve been reading for 25 years can be that far off from reality. As much as people say they dont trust the media, theres another part of all our brains that sees something in print and believes it. Clinton has made her mistakes; a few big ones. But shes been lied about more than anyone in American public life in the last 25 years, even more now than her husband. That is a fact, and its a fact worth remembering as we head into the final month.
If Hillary Clintons die-hard opponents were hoping for an October surprise, theyre going to have to wait.

A Tuesday morning press conference by WikiLeaks, which Clinton antagonists and conspiracy theorists had hoped would spell the beginning of the end of her presidential campaign, turned out to be a celebration-cum-infomercial for the website, which celebrates its 10th anniversary today and is promoting a new book.

Either WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, never really had the goods on Clinton, or Donald Trump and his supporters just got wickedly trolled.

For months, WikiLeaks has been hinting that it would release damaging documents about Clinton in the home stretch of the presidential campaign. The group had posted embarrassing emails stolen by hackers from the Democratic National Committee in July, leaving the world wondering, what else does Assange have in his hard drive?

Egged on by the apparently unfounded claims of Trump adviser Roger Stone that WikiLeaks had a campaign-ending document dump in store, anticipation reached a fever pitch. According to Google, the top trending question about Trumps opponent on Monday was What could WikiLeaks have on Clinton?

Turns out, probably not much. There was no spectacular release of private emails. No bombshells about the Clinton Foundation or brain tumors. Instead, Assange and some of his WikiLeaks colleagues used the press conference to make a pitch for donations and to note the remarkable quantity of the sites work10 million documents published, containing more than 10 billion words, which the group claims is more secret documents than the rest of the worlds media combined.

With legions of Trump supporters and Clinton haters feeling deceived, Stone claimed that Assange had never promised a big reveal.

"Not at all what he said," Stone wrote in an email to The Daily Beast, adding that journalists had engaged in "wishful thinking."

Stone had already seemed to tamp down expectations ahead of the press conference, which was streamed live at 4 a.m. Eastern time.

Assange correctly fears for his life because he has the deep secrets of the Deep State and hes getting ready to spill the beans, Stone said on The Alex Jones Show on Monday, explaining why Assange must have changed his earlier plans to hold the press conference from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he lives in a self-imposed exile. WikiLeaks held the event in Berlin instead, and Assange joined via video.

Bill and Hillary Clinton know that its handcuff time and theyre apoplectic, Stone said.

What now appears more likely is that there was never an October surprise, at least not of the magnitude that Stone had been promising when he tweeted Sunday, Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks.

Some Clinton opponents took that as gospel, perhaps because Stone has said hes in contact with Assange, whom he recently described as my hero.

WikiLeaks, however, batted down the suggestion that Tuesday was some kind of D-Day.

Regarding upcoming elections...We hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks, Assange said, alluding to a more prolonged and less-decisive document drip. Assange said that the significant disclosures would cover the U.S. election and Google, but he gave no precise details about when they would occur.

Clintons most fervent antagonists were outraged.

Julian Assange trolling the world is Hillarys October surprise, Jones declared in a Tuesday morning tirade. Jones, who had covered the press conference live on his website Infowars, had promised his followers that Assange had a revelation that could swing the election against Hillary if it catches fire.

He was promising this damning evidence and he doesnt release it now 34 days out and now hes saying hell release it by the end of the year so that smacks of a sell-out, Jones said. I think hes probably out of documents.

But some people would still like to know where Assange is getting those documents. At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee last month, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) asked FBI Director James Comey whether law-enforcement officials had interviewed Stone about his communications with Julian Assange or his knowledge of how WikiLeaks got these illegally obtained documents, referring to the hacked DNC emails.

Comey declined to comment. Nadler also pressed the director on whether the FBI had talked to Stone about his claims to have knowledge about upcoming leaks of additional illegally hacked documents.

Comey again declined to comment and wouldnt say whether or not the FBI had opened an investigation into the matter.

U.S. intelligence officials and computer-security experts suspect that WikiLeaks obtained the DNC emails from a source working on behalf of the Russian government, which is the prime suspect in that hack as well as other intrusions of U.S. political organizations, elected officials, and former government officials.

Democrats have been pressing the FBI to investigate in particular the Trump campaigns ties to the Russian government and whether Trump is benefiting from the breaches. Republicans, though, have refused to sign on to those inquiries, leaving the Democrats with few tools to pursue an investigation.

Update, 10/4/16, 11:30 a.m.: This article has been updated with Roger Stone's response.
Johnnie Walker film story of Red Rye Finish

Diageo's blended Scotch whisky, Johnnie Walker is celebrating the release of Red Rye Finish, the first in its Blenders' Batch series, with a film showing blender Emma Walker journey from Scotland to Manhattan to see how the blend compares to its American cousins.

Red Rye Finish has been created by the brands team of blenders, led by master blender Jim Beveridge and is one of the results of experiments into flavour that take place at the brands home in Scotland.

Guy Escolme, global brand director at Johnnie Walker says: Our blenders are constantly experimenting and this is an exciting time for the brand with the release of Red Rye Finish. The Johnnie Walker Blenders Batch range lifts the lid on the skill and never-ending pursuit of flavour that drives the blending team.

Johnnie Walker blender Emma Walker journeyed from Edinburgh to Manhattan to see how Red Rye Finish stacks up against its American cousins and can be seen in a new film entitled: Blenders Batch  Emmas Red Rye In New York.



Emma put Red Rye Finish before some of New Yorks most influential mixologists and taste-makers including Dave Arnold, founder and president of the Museum of Food and Drink and owner of the cutting edge Booker and Dax, and bitters and mixology expert Sother Teague, beverage director at Amor y Amargo in Manhattans East Village. Johnnie Walker blender Emma Walker journeyed from Edinburgh to Manhattan to see how Red Rye Finish stacks up against its American cousins and can be seen in a new film entitled: Blenders Batch  Emmas Red Rye In New York.Emma put Red Rye Finish before some of New Yorks most influential mixologists and taste-makers including Dave Arnold, founder and president of the Museum of Food and Drink and owner of the cutting edge Booker and Dax, and bitters and mixology expert Sother Teague, beverage director at Amor y Amargo in Manhattans East Village.

Walker says: Were proud of every blend we make and know that people choose Johnnie Walker because of its quality. This blend combines all the characteristics of Scotch, matured in first fill American Oak casks with a Rye Cask finish. Thats something I think people wont expect and I wanted truthful, face-to-face feedback from the people in the know. I was a bit nervous - getting the approval of New Yorks top mixology experts for a Manhattan featuring a Johnnie Walker blend instead of traditional American whisky but, happily, it went really well.

'Blenders Batch - Emmas Red Rye In New York' has been made as part of the Storyline initiative from Johnnie Walker that sees the brand working with a global network of storytellers; including writers, directors, photographers and filmmakers.

Jim Beveridge says: Johnnie Walker Blenders Batch Red Rye Finish is inspired by my own fascination with the bold flavours of American whiskies which first developed while I was working with bourbons and ryes in Louisville, Kentucky over 25 years ago.

Johnnie Walker Blenders Batch Red Rye Finish is available from September in more than 50 countries with an RRP of 20.

3 October 2016 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant
The worlds exporters are in turmoil. Over the past days, we learned that Chinese exports fell 2.8 percent in August compared to the same time last year, while Japanese exports declined 4.8 percent. German exports plummeted 10 percent year-over-year in July, while the European Unions overall exports fell 2 percent between January and July compared to a year earlier. But this data does not come as a surprise: the worlds exporters are undergoing a major crisis, as economies that revolve around selling products abroad struggle to find buyers. But there is now reason to believe that the global economy is entering a new phase of export woes. U.S. demand for imports from some major economies is declining, thus threatening to further undermine the stability of already struggling exporters.



We have written extensively about the exporters crisis. In January, we ranked the top 10 victims of the crisis . Large exporters like China and major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia topped the list.



The U.S. is not only the worlds largest economy, but also its biggest importer. The U.S. accounted for 14 percent of global imports in 2015. Demand in the U.S. for foreign goods is thus a key engine of economic growth elsewhere. In fact, troubles in the U.S. economy in large part sparked the exporters crisis. The crisis started in 2008, as economic problems in the U.S. and Europe led to reduced demand for goods. This slowdown in demand affected countries like China, which in turn bought fewer commodities. Chinas slowdown has continued, and exporters of commodities like oil still grapple with low prices and sluggish demand.



But U.S. demand for imports quickly began to rebound after 2010, and while many European and East Asian economies still struggled, U.S. consumers helped somewhat ease the pain for exporters. Germany, for example, became more reliant than ever on the U.S. market as a destination for its exports. In 2015, the U.S. replaced France as the number one consumer of German exports for the first time. Similarly, the value of Chinas exports to several of its major trading partners fell between 2014 and 2015 (Hong Kong by 8 percent, Japan by 9 percent and Germany by 5 percent, according to U.N. Comtrade data). And yet, despite these declines, the U.S. market provided some relief for Chinese exporters, with the value of Chinese exports to the U.S. growing by 3 percent over those two years.



Now, however, there are signals that U.S. demand may no longer be mitigating some of the effects of the exporters crisis. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that overall U.S. import of goods each month this year were lower than during the same time in 2015. In fact, the beginnings of a slowdown in U.S. import demand could already be observed following 2014. For example, U.S. import of goods in July 2014 amounted to about $197 billion. In July 2015, that figure was $187 billion and by July of this year it was $182 billion.



The reduced U.S. demand for foreign goods is hitting two major economies in particular that already face serious challenges: Germany and China .



For Germany, the U.S. is a major market. In 2015, 9.5 percent of German exports went to the U.S., according to U.N. Comtrade statistics. These exports consist largely of machinery, cars and pharmaceuticals. The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, however, shows that U.S. imports of goods from Germany have declined four months in a row. In July 2016, the most recent data available, import of goods from Germany fell by 12.2 percent. Last week, we noted a German government report that the countrys exports fell 10 percent year-over-year in July . We can now confirm, therefore, that much of that drop was the result of decreased U.S. demand for German goods  a somber development for German businesses that pinned their hopes on U.S. customers in the face of sluggish European economies.
PUEBLO, Colo. - Donald Trump on Monday launched an aggressive defense of a massive business loss in the 1990s that would have enabled him to skip paying federal income taxes for 18 years, while also wading into a new controversy by suggesting that soldiers and veterans with mental health problems are not "strong" and "can't handle it."

"When people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over - and you're strong and you can handle it - but a lot of people can't handle it," Trump said at a Monday morning town-hall event with veterans in Northern Virginia.

At an afternoon rally later here in Colorado, the GOP presidential nominee responded to a New York Times report this weekend on his 1995 tax return showing a $916 million loss that would have allowed him to pay zero federal incomes taxes for 18 years.

Trump said he "brilliantly used" tax laws to his advantage and bounced back from the loss while others in his field fell flat in the 1990s. Trump said he has a "fiduciary responsibility" to"pay as little tax as legally possible" - although these were his personal taxes - and that the political class should be blamed for creating a "complex" and "unfair" tax system.

Trump also pitched himself as an underdog who has overcome obstacles time and again in his career and, now, on the campaign trail.

"While I made my money as a very successful private businessperson, following the law all the way, Hillary Clinton made her money as a corrupt public official," Trump said.

He riffed on other issues at the rally as well, saying the country is growing more divided with "race riots on our streets on a monthly basis," complaining about the quality of his microphone at the first debate and calling the Commission on Presidential Debates "a joke."

Clinton, the Democratic nominee, focused on Trump's 1995 tax return during a campaign stop in downtown Toledo, Ohio, on Monday afternoon, sharply criticizing him for losing money and pocketing tax savings while ordinary Americans pay their fair share.

"What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?" Clinton asked a crowd, with a hint of amusement in her voice, referring to arguments from Trump surrogates that the tax records proved Trump was a "genius."

Clinton argued at last week's first presidential debate that Trump has hidden his returns from the public to avoid revealing that he is not as wealthy as he has claimed or that he has not paid federal income taxes.

"After he made all those bad bets and lost all that money, he didn't lift a finger to protect his employees, or the small businesses and contractors he'd hired, or the people of Atlantic City," Clinton said. "They all got hammered, while he was busy with his accountants figuring out how he could keep living like a billionaire."

She said Trump's tax proposals benefit him and his companies the most - and that he would continue to look out for himself and big businesses if elected president.

"Trump represents the same rigged system he claims he will change," Clinton charged. "Trump's plan would cut his own taxes even more. He'd open the loopholes even wider."

Clinton's campaign released a new television ad Monday using footage from the first presidential debate at Hofstra University last week, in which Trump responded to accusations that he avoided paying taxes by saying it made him "smart." Pro-Clinton allies also ran with the same message, highlighting the tax revelations and Trump's boasting that the tax strategy showed his smarts.

"You work hard, you pay your taxes, but why didn't Donald Trump pay his?" the narrator says. "If he thinks that makes him smart, what does he think of you?"

Later in the day, Clinton's campaign also reacted to Trump's comments about mental health, writing on her Twitter feed: "Veterans who experience PTS are stronger than we'll ever understand. We owe them nothing short of world-class care."

Trump said at the veterans event - hosted by Retired American Warriors, a political action group - that mental health and suicide prevention are the issues that veterans want to discuss with him most often and that, as president, he would provide more funding for mental health initiatives and work to reduce wait times for veterans seeking medical help.

But his comment about strength comes as military leaders are attempting to fight the stigma attached to post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health issues, especially as the suicide rate among veterans has increased sharply since 2001.

Trump's campaign defended his comments on Monday afternoon and accused reporters of taking his words out of context.

"The media continues to operate as the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton as they took Mr. Trump's words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans - an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice," Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, one of Trump's top advisers, said in a statement. "Mr. Trump was highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country."

Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, whose question Trump was responding to in his remarks, also issued a statement saying that it was "sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trump's comments." He added: "I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have."

Trump was warmly received by the friendly audience as he gave prepared remarks that included his plans for bolstering cybersecurity - an issue that came up during last week's debate and was one of his weakest answers of the night - and continued attacks on Clinton and her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. After his speech, Trump took several questions from the audience, something he rarely does on the campaign trail.
Police arrested a Bronx man yesterday for continuing to scam immigrants by posing as an immigration lawyer after repeated court orders demanding that he stop, dating back more than a decade. Edwin Rivera, 68, ran an operation called Immigracion Hoy News Today out of a storefront in Westchester Square. Though the business was billed as an accounting office, Rivera advertised himself as an attorney with more than 30 years of experience, targeting undocumented immigrants looking to legalize their status, according to the Attorney General's Office, which announced his arrest.

In reality, Rivera had no law license, and he often did not do the legal work he'd claimed, officials said. Rivera's arrest comes after Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Betty Owen Stinson found Rivera in civil and criminal contempt in August for failing to comply with a series of orders demanding that he stop using deceptive business practices, and eventually, that he stop providing immigration services altogether.

Rivera has been running afoul of the authorities since the mid-'90s, when the feds prosecuted him for defrauding the U.S. government as far back as 1987. Court records indicate that someone by his name spent two years in prison facing such a charge from 1993 to 1995, and was sentenced to time served, along with mental health and drug treatment and two years of supervised release.

In 2004, the New York Attorney General's Office started looking into Rivera's business after a tip about him advertising in a Spanish-language newspaper that the Dream Act had passed and he could help undocumented students and veterans apply for amnesty. He charged $1,500 per application, according to the AG's Office, even though the act never passed. In 2005, a court ordered that he cut the shenanigans, but he kept at it, drawing a total ban on him providing immigration services in New York in 2008.

Obviously, Rivera seems to have continued his scamming for another several years. The latest arrest relates to a victim who the AG's Office says paid Rivera $10,000 and got his help from 2008 to 2015, as well as evidence from an undercover investigator. Over the last decade, Rivera is said to have duped immigrants out of $60,000 in supposed legal fees. When clients asked for refunds, he refused to turn over the money, according to prosecutors.

Rivera is now set to serve 30 days to six months in jail, and is supposed to pay $34,000 in fines and restitution.

Immigration law scammers like Rivera are common in immigrant neighborhoods around the country, so much so that there's a name for them: notarios. Though not confined to Spanish-speaking communities, Spanish-speaking notarios often advertise themselves as "notario publicos." This translates to "notary public," but is deceptive because in many Latin American countries notaries have the equivalent of a law license and can represent people in government matters, whereas in the U.S. they cannot.

In addition to ripping off clients, notarios can file faulty applications that lead to immigrants being unnecessarily deported, or otherwise harm their legal situation.

The Attorney General's Office encourages people victimized by notarios to reach out to its consumer hotline at (800) 771-7755, or to visit its website.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who debates Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine in the vice-presidential face-off on Tuesday night, is seemingly decent -- political in a thoroughly normal way. Such qualities make Pence the odd man out in Donald Trump's campaign. It's no wonder Trump had second thoughts about him: He doesn't fit.

What sets Trump's campaign apart, beyond the slapdash nature of the enterprise, the baldness of the falsehoods and the ejection seat reserved for the latest campaign manager, is that he surrounds himself with men whose bad behavior complements his own.

That's, of course, subjective criticism. But if you ascribe to certain nearly universal values, it's hard to avoid the conclusion.

If the Trump campaign was not caroming daily, often hourly, between allegations of corruption and illegality and its own exertions on the frontiers of dark fantasy and sleaziness, then the presence of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the head of the Trump transition team would be a running scandal.

Christie, who is poised to have great influence over appointments in a Trump administration, has long played the role of the petty, vindictive bully. Yet nothing in that characterization prepares one for the pettiness and vindictiveness of the George Washington Bridge traffic jam engineered by Christie's hand-picked staff.

Bridgegate is nothing like politics as usual, even at its ugliest. Tens of thousands of Christie constituents were abused solely for the creepy amusement of the governor's staff and, federal prosecutors claim, of Christie himself.

The best - albeit most implausible - interpretation of Christie's role is that he merely has horrific judgment and selected very bad people as top aides. This isn't the view of the scandal that Trump once took, however.

"He knew about it," Trump said of Christie in 2015. "He totally knew about it." Perhaps Trump didn't believe his accusation against the governor. Perhaps it was just one of the wild accusations the Republican nominee is apt to make.

It's more likely, however, that Trump would have brought Christie into his campaign because of his belief that the governor was involved in the scandal, not in spite of it. Christie is the type of guy that Trump likes to have around - so much so that he essentially placed the governor in charge of personnel for a prospective Trump administration.

Christie is not a special case. Trump values advice from Roger Ailes, who grafted a political propaganda machine to a news network, evidently harassing women who worked there every step of the way.

Similarly, he relies on Rudolph Giuliani to provide counsel and to carry his flag. Like Trump, Giuliani is nothing if not versatile; he says whatever the moment requires. Are we spreading rumors about Clinton's health today? "Go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton Illness' and take a look at the videos for yourself," he gamely told a television audience. And referring to news of Trump's tax avoidance, Giuliani said: "Don't you think a man who has this kind of economic genius is a lot better for the United States than a woman. . . ?"

The list goes on: Steve Bannon, the rage-fueled publisher of an alt-right yellow-journalism website who is Trump's campaign chief; Newt Gingrich, who has always been willing to say anything, do anything, be anything for a cut of the action. The angry sycophant Corey Lewandowski, who was Trump's first campaign manager.

Their collective history with women is uncanny. Ailes, the alleged serial harasser. Giuliani, who publicly humiliated his second wife. Gingrich, whose political hypocrisy is surpassed only by his marital hypocrisy. Bannon, who was once accused of domestic violence. Lewandowski, who grabbed one of Bannon's female reporters so roughly, in public, that she filed charges against him.

Of course, at the center of this web is Trump himself, a man of unrestrained appetites and gratuitous cruelty. The men surrounding him merely reflect the varied facets of his own character. To quiet his unsoothable insecurities, Trump goes to pathetic extremes to surround himself with pretty women. It's remarkable how ugly Trump's men are.
I am not a vegetarian, though I eat a lot of meat-free dishes, and certainly won't eat meat that is of dubious origin. I don't like to complain, or be the difficult one when out to dinner with friends and so, it's simpler by far to order the vegetarian dishes on the menu than to question the serving staff as to the whereabouts and welfare credentials of the kitchen's meat supplier. But I also consciously consume more vegetable-based dishes than meat dishes at home and for very good reason.

I keep pigs. I also shoot animals for food. When I kill something myself I clean and butcher it myself, for my family and friends to eat. When I have my pigs killed, I get up at 5am, feed them on a trailer that they have been fed on for 3 days so it's not different, or stressful for them, gently close the door and drive the 5.6 miles to the small, local slaughterhouse just down the road. They are dead by 7am and it's not unusual to be making the black-pudding in time for lunch. I occasionally buy beef from a local farmer, and the odd chicken form a local grower who has their own small-scale slaughter facility on site for their properly free-range birds.

The meat in my house is very highly valued. I have worked hard to produce or acquire it. I have spent money and, importantly, lots of time to get it. I have laboured over it and cared for it while it was alive, I may well have killed it myself and so I have a connection to it, I owe it something, it has a story and sometimes it even had a name. But I hesitate to describe even this meat as expensive.

The highest of welfare meat, grown locally, and slowly with minimal antibiotics and a good feed regimen, slaughtered locally and purchased as directly as possible by you will cost you more than the 'cheap' meat in the supermarket. But it is not expensive. It is the right price and if you can't afford it simply eat less of it. It will be better for you, the environment and in the end for the whole world.

You may be vegetarian and feeling pretty good about it right now, and I salute you. But I like meat, and have no problem whatsoever with killing animals for meat from the wild provided there are no conservation concerns about the species, nor do I have an issue with good quality slow-grown, properly looked after high welfare animals being raised for meat. What I do have an issue with is the wilful ignorance of the masses who pretend to care all of a sudden and feel "betrayed" by the international retailer they have learned to depend on when they inadvertently poison them with Campylobacta, or sell them horse meat. How can you pay 4.50 or less for a chicken and genuinely believe that somewhere along the line it has not suffered more than necessary? What right do you have to be the supposedly unwitting architect of the abject misery that animal may have endured?

I am saddened that there are failings in our meat production systems, and there is never an excuse for unnecessary abuse of livestock but the issue is much, much bigger and in the end it lies within the power of every shopper out there, every diner in every restaurant and every parent in every home.

Eat less meat or even none at all if you prefer, spend more on your food even if it means economising elsewhere, try to care, make the effort and above all don't blame it on anyone else or appear too shocked when you read about the terrible abuses in abattoirs or the vast failings of antibiotic as a medicine due to over use in agribusiness. It's down to you and your choices, which can, in the end, make the changes to these systems that will improve them. Better for you, better for the environment and better most importantly for the animals involved.

From the point of view of commerce or economics it's always the same old argument. We need to do it like this, it's good for the economy. No, it's not. It's bad for farmers and with any more public health scares it's going to start getting pretty bad for the economy too.

So, what if we all ate half as much meat as we do now, but paid twice as much for it? So, say a chicken costs you a tenner. Doesn't seem much really for over a kilo of animal flesh. It could have a marginally better and slightly longer life spent at least partly outdoors. The farmer could make a little more perhaps leading them to invest in an on-site kill room or just better, less cramped transport. Maybe the killsman at the abattoir could get a few more quid a year in his wage packet? I'm sure that's not too bleak a picture for the economy is it? It looks more sustainable to me, the kind of process that would work forever without peaks and troughs in productivity and supply. But, I'm just a cook, so what do I know? Well, I know one thing for sure it would certainly taste better!

I think the best way to make a difference on an everyday basis is to simply make meat a treat, make it a celebration, treat it with great care as you would any other very precious resource. Cook it well, use up any leftovers, make a stock from the bones, use meat as a sprinkle, or a seasoning where once it was the requisite main element of your cookery and you will still get the meaty hit you want, without the cost to welfare, the environment or your health.

Celebrate good meat, enjoy it, worship it if you like - just so long as you condemn the bad stuff to the past and encourage others to do the same.

Read our original news report about breaches of animal welfare en route to and at slaughterhouses here: http://bit.ly/2cbWaT6

This Author

Tim Maddams is a passionate and creative foodie, unafraid to face the difficult arguments that surround food. Having grown up in rural Wiltshire Tim spent time cooking for various notable chefs in London before a return to the West Country to take the helm at the River Cottage canteen in Axminster, Devon, later taking on a key role within the Fish Fight campaign. Tim now works as a private chef, food writer and presenter, based in beautiful East Devon

@TimMaddamsChef
A new report quantifies the cost of integrating solar into the UK power market for the first time - and it's much cheaper than anyone ever throught.

The study, carried out for the Solar Trade Association (STA) by Aurora Energy Research, examines two scenarios - present date, and in a 2030 scenario where solar provides over 10% of annual UK electricity.

According to the Aurora analysis, the cost of integrating solar into the power system, including 'back-up', is "negligible" at only 1.30 per MWh, or less than 2% of the costs of solar today of some 80-100 / MWh.

Dr Benjamin Irons, a Director at Aurora Energy Research and lead author of the report said: "Recent spectacular technological progress in renewable power generation puts the promise of cheap, low carbon power within reach.

"The challenge of integrating large volumes of renewables into the network in a way that provides reliable power to consumers and an attractive market for complementary generation technologies is the 'last frontier' in delivering the power system of tomorrow. Our analysis shows that such integration is possible and surprisingly affordable"

Concerns are frequently expressed by critics of renewable energy about the variable output or 'intermittency' of solar power, which generates according to daylight intensity, and the costs this variability imposes on the system. However there has been uncertainty about the actual scale of these costs - now finally put to rest.

"This welcome research puts numbers and maths behind the variability of solar power", said Angus MacNeil MP, Chair of the Common's Energy and Climate Change Committee. "It gives a concrete understanding of what solar has to offer compared to other technologies. Combined with reducing capital costs solar is going to be as cheap as source of power as you'll find anywhere."

As for the future ...

The research also shows that more than tripling solar capacity to 40GW would increase the costs of managing variability modestly, to a maximum of 6-7 per MWh - well under 10% of current costs.

By 2030 solar power is expected to be far cheaper than today due to technology advances and larger scale deployment, and may cost as little as a third of today's price. Integration will therefore cost more in percentage terms, however the overall price will be considerably more affordable, says Irons:

"The UK could more than triple the amount of solar power on the system by 2030, with associated costs of integration and backup so low as as to be dwarfed by the enormous cost savings anticipated from falling solar prices over the same period."
A Franklin County High School junior died Saturday afternoon in a single-vehicle car crash on Providence Church Road.

Joshua Lee Hodges, 16, of Ferrum was traveling north on Route 607 in a 1999 Ford Ranger pickup when the truck dropped off the right shoulder of the roadway, according to Trooper S.M. Chaffin with the Virginia State Police.

Hodges overcorrected and the truck ran off the left side of the roadway and struck several trees.

Hodges was wearing a seat belt, Chaffin said. Speed was a factor in the crash.

Hodges was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash occurred just before 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 on Providence Church Road, about one-half a mile south of Canton Church Road (Route 761).
A sixteen-building apartment complex in Brooklyn allegedly dumped gallons upon gallons of raw sewage into the Coney Island Creek on a daily basis for an unknown period of time, according to e-mails between local advocates and state environmental regulators acquired by Brooklyn Daily.

Workers at the Beach Haven Apartments on West 2nd Street in Gravesend, a few blocks from Coney Island Creek's terminus, allegedly diverted 200,000 gallons of "fecal flow" per day from clogged sewer pipes, into a storm drain that empties directly into the creek near the intersection of Shell Road and Shore Parkway. This sort of dumping far exceeds the typical sewage runoff during rainstorms, according to advocates.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection said that the city issued an order to the Beach Haven owners to stop any illegal dumping, and that all buildings are now in compliance. Beach Haven Apartments could not immediately be reached for comment. The agency wouldn't confirm how long the dumping was going on, or when the order was issued.

"The creek is a long-forgotten stretch of water that's actually quite beautiful and interesting, and unfortunately, in parts, polluted," said Roland Lewis, the president of the Waterfront Alliance, an advocacy group that's been tracking cleanup efforts on the waterway. "This was old-school style dumpingright into the water."

While the creek doesn't have any sanctioned swimming beaches, many people have waded in for marine-life programs run by the city over the years, to monitor fish and horseshoe crabs. (I am one of those lucky people. I was wearing waders.) The creek is also reportedly used to perform baptisms.



Serene waters of the Coney Island Creek, in July 2016 (Scott Heins / Gothamist).

The DEP launched a Coney Island Creek cleanup project, known as the Coney Island Creek CSO Long Term Control Plan (LTCP), months before Beach Haven dumping was confirmed. A presentation to the community back in April identified "illicit discharge" near the the buildings, adding that despite "significant reductions in illicit discharges into this waterbody," there "still appear to be some illicit connections."

"The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) investigation of illegal sewage flows into Coney Island Creek is ongoing," said a spokesperson for that department on Tuesday. "DEC anticipates the agency will release the details of its investigation soon."

The Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act does mandate that the DEC post recent sewage alerts, but, according to the SWIM Coalition (StormWater Infrastructure Matters), those alerts turn over on a weekly basis. "An archive of alerts is available, but has not been updated since May 2016," the group states on its website.

Here's some footage of the waterway in question, which open data cruncher Ben Wellington deemed the poopiest in the city back in 2014. Asked how Coney Island Creek compares to Brooklyn's notoriously polluted waterways, Lewis said it was hardly as rancid.

"It's not on the scale of Newtown [Creek], and it's much cleaner than the Gowanus [Canal]," he said. "It doesn't have the industrial heritage of those places."
Plan your week ahead in SE Iowa with these local events: music, art, more

Your guide to getting off the couch and out the door this week in Southeast Iowa.
In a truly fascinating turn of events, David Wildstein, a former senior official with the Port Authority of NY & NJ and the current star witness in the ongoing Bridgegate trial, claims Andrew Cuomo colluded with Chris Christie in an attempt to make the Bridgegate scandal go away in 2013. Wildstein says Cuomo helped the embattled NJ Governor in his alleged quest to cover up the George Washington Bridge lane closings by claiming they were part of a traffic study.

Wildstein testified today that the two governors had "conversations" about lane closings from Fort Lee to the GWB in October 2013, when Port Authority executive director Pat Foye threatened to look into them.

Though it's unclear whether Cuomo knew exactly why the lanes were closedas an apparent act of retaliation against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for failing to endorse ChristieWildstein's testimony alleges that Cuomo and Christie both agreed that Christie's administration would fake the traffic study report and have Foye sign off on it.

"My understanding was Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo had discussed this, if the New Jersey side (of the PA) accepted responsibility, Foye would sign off on this and that would put an end to this issue," Wildstein, who has pleaded guilty to a number of felony counts pertaining to his role in the lane closures, said in court today. "This report would be issued, there would be an explanation to the public, the Port Authority would take responsibility for the failure in communication ... and the question of lane closures would go away."

Cuomo had previously claimed, three months after the Bridgegate scandal broke, that he didn't "know anything more than basically what has been in the newspaper, because it was basically a New Jersey issue," though in July, WNYC reported that Cuomo and his top aides were in close contact with the Port Authority as soon as Foye ordered the lanes open, in September of 2013. Top officials with Cuomo were apparently emailing with the Port Authority, referencing Cuomo right-hand man Howard Glaser and Bill BaroniChristies top staff appointee at the Port Authority and a defendant in the Bridgegate trialto find out "how they want to get out of Fort Lee and what role we can play," suggesting possible involvement in the cover-up.

Cuomo's office, meanwhile, denies any involvement in the scandal. A spokesperson provided us with the following statement:





The only role New York played in this episode was a positive one: it was our executive director who blew the whistle and ordered the bridge reopened. To be clear, no such conversation between the governors happened, in fact no report of any kind was ever done, and whatever the admitted bridgegate architect thought or dreamt about New Yorks involvement has no basis in fact. Anyone can say anything, especially a convicted felon spinning a tale, but its just false and delusional.

Christie also claims Wildstein is lying about Christie's involvement in the scandal.
By now, you've probably heard about the Gilmore Girls Fan Fest in Washington, Conn. that sold out in just one day.

On October 21, 22 and 23, the town that fictional Stars Hollow was modeled after, will host a three-day festival offering fans the chance to stroll through Rory and Lorelei's recreated town and participate in events inspired by the show.
Hillary Clinton is enlisting the salesmanship skills of her husband, Bill Clinton, who will swing through Connecticut on a fundraising tour Monday.

The 42nd president is scheduled to make stops in the bucolic Litchfield County retreats of Warren and New Preston before ending his day with a private art gallery reception in Greenwich.

Candidate Clinton is the first to admit that retail politics dont come as naturally to her as to her spouse, who also campaigned here before the Democratic primary in April.

I think Bill Clinton has a very special gift of connecting with people, said Susan Bysiewicz, a top Clinton fundraiser and former secretary of the state. Im not going to make a comparison between the two. I think female politicians are always held to a different standard. I think they are both very popular people in Connecticut.

Most handicappers have put Connecticut and its seven electoral votes safely in Clintons victory column, but Donald Trump has vowed to make a play for the Nutmeg State. The GOP nominee visited Fairfield in August, the latest a Republican has visited the state since Bob Dole in 1996.

Its unclear whether Bill Clinton will be squeezing in any public appearances, as he has been known to do. All three events on Clintons schedule are private fundraisers, with a $10,000 co-host option that includes a photo with the former president, according to a copy of the invitation. A request for comment was left Tuesday with Hillary Clintons campaign.

Among those who are expected to greet the former president is U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who went to Yale Law School with the Clintons and is running for re-election.

Bill Clinton has a deeply rooted support in Connecticut, Blumenthal said. It goes back decades. He is a really positive force for her and others who are supporting her. He was president during the most vibrant and vigorous prosperity in our economy in recent history.

In Greenwich, real estate investor and renowned art collector Lawrence Benenson is opening up his $8.2 million Round Hill Road estate for a VIP reception with Bill Clinton, according to people briefed on the event. Benensons private collection includes works by Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Rodin and Kandinsky, as well as an Abraham Lincoln-signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and baseballs signed by Hank Aaron and late Israeli president Shimon Peres.

There are a limited number of $1,000 tickets available for the events in Warren and New Preston, a magnet for weekenders from New York City. Most tickets start at $2,700 per person, the maximum allowed for the general election.

Clintons return to Connecticut is being preceded by a Thursday appearance in Westport by Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern whose affair with the president led to his 1998 impeachment. Lewinsky is slated to speak about bullying during a fundraiser for the Westport Arts Center that is closed to the media. In a 2014 Vanity Fair profile, Lewinsky criticized Hillary Clintons response to the scandal, saying, I find her impulse to blame the Womannot only me, but herselftroubling.

It seems as though the Democrats are so willing to forgive these deeply flawed people who have consistently lied to the American public for 35 years, said J.R. Romano, the state Republican Party chairman. They forgive the sins.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
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A bit of history: Richard Olmstead

Another first settler of Norwalk was Richard Olmsted (Feb. 20, 1612  April 20, 1687)  a founding settler of both Hartford and Norwalk. Olmstead served in the General Court of the Connecticut Colony in many sessions from May 1653 and May 1679. He was born in Harwich, England and is thought that he came to Boston along with his uncle James Olmsted aboard the ship Lion in 1632.

In 1636, he moved to Hartford, from Massachusetts becoming one of its original settlers. In 1637, he was a soldier in the Pequot War. About 1647, he married but the name of his first wife is unknown. In about 1670, he married Magdelan, the widow of William Smith. In 1646, he was a constable, and in 1649 he was a Fence Viewer  a town or city official who administers fence laws by inspecting new fences and settles disputes arising from trespass by livestock that have escaped enclosure. The office of Fence Viewer is one of the oldest appointments in New England. The office emigrated along with New England pioneers to the Midwest as well, where the office still exists.

Olmstead was one of 15 men for the original planting of Norwalk. In 1649, Olmsted, along with Nathaniel Ely became the first two settlers. From 1669 to 1675, he was a Selectman in Norwalk. He was chosen Deputy of Norwalk to the General Court a dozen times between 1660 and 1679. In 1675, at a meeting of the Council he was appointed to sign bills for the payment of soldiers in King Philips War. He was Commissioner for Norwalk, with magisterial powers, from 1668 to 1677.

He is listed on the Founders Stone bearing the names of the founders of Hartford in the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford, and he is also listed on the Founders Stone bearing the names of the founders of Norwalk in the East Norwalk Historical Cemetery.

ENBA: Meet the Candidates  Wednesday

On Wednesday Oct. 5th, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. the East Norwalk Business Association (ENBA) will host a Meet the Candidates forum at Harbor Harvest, 7 Cove Ave. in East Norwalk.

With important national and state elections coming this November, candidates for U.S. Congress, 4th District, incumbent Jim Himes (D) and challenger, John Shaban (R) as well as Senatorial candidates for Connecticut, incumbent Bob Duff (D) and challenger, Greg Ehlers (R) were invited to appear. This forum will provide the public a greater opportunity to hear from the candidates why theyre running and what they intend to do should they win the office.

The event is free, and light appetizers will be served.

Marvin School Box Top Project

Theres a new and easy way to help support the Marvin Elementary School in East Norwalk  Box Tops for Education  without spending any extra money!

Each Marvin School teacher has a Box Top Collector Box in their classroom. The Marvin School is able to redeem box tops from hundreds of items  ranging from glue sticks to state-of-the-art technology. Check out www.boxtops4education.com/earn for a complete list of eligible products. There is also an app  just by uploading your receipt from your phone, the school can earn double the money.

The highest dollar amount in Box Tops collected by Oct. 31 with get a surprise, based on each classroom.

Look for box tops on items that you currently purchase and clip those box tops. Have your child start bringing them in today. Ask you neighbors, family members and co-workers to start clipping the box tops.

And there will be a Box Top Collector bin at the East Norwalk Association Library  with all box tops added to the Marvin Elementary School total.

Coast Guard boat safety courses scheduled

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary About Boating Safely class is a comprehensive one-day, NASBLA-approved course scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Flotilla 72 Training Center on Calf Pasture Beach in East Norwalk. The course covers all major aspects of safe boating, including choices of boats, safety equipment, Connecticut boating laws, boat handling, radio communications, personal watercraft operation, and much more.

A $70 fee includes textbook, exams, and lunch. Sign-in begins at 7:30 a.m. and lectures are presented from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Register by Wednesday, Oct. 19. Be certain to have your Connecticut Conservation ID number available. Discount for military, fire, police, and EMT personnel (with ID). Textbook and exams provided in English or Spanish.

Contact Flotilla72PE@gmail.com or 203-853-4615 to register and get needed details. Visit flotilla72.org for directions to the Flotilla 72 Training Center and more information regarding their activities and monthly meetings.

Flotilla 72 was founded in 1942 to carry out this mission in the area of Norwalk, Darien, and Westport  proudly carrying on the Auxiliarys tradition of public service through one of the most active Flotillas in the Northeast.

Water for Flint effort continues

Water, water everywhere but so the saying goes  but its still a tragedy in Flint, Michigan where safe potable water is still a challenge. And thats where the East Norwalk-based organization A Hope to Inspire comes in to try to help. Amir Kahn, one of the groups founders, explains: We are working on taking our third trip to Flint, Michigan to deliver hundreds of cases of bottled water donated by people throughout Norwalk.

Amir Khan (who lives in East Norwalk) and Ricardo Murillo voluntarily took their first of three trips to Flint driving 15 hours through a winter storm to bring a van full of water to the needing community. In their second trip they drove 33 hours with more than 2,000 cases of water instead of only 70 in the first trip.

The East Norwalk Association Library is participating as a drop-off location for donations of bottled water and other items  their previous trips made it clear that basic necessities are also needed: Vaseline; baby wipes (for babies, kids and adults); ointments for rashes; baby oil; baby formula; unopened baby food; hand sanitizers and lotion; and purified water for children.

The next trip is set for Nov. 18. For a list of other drop off locations and a gofundme page to donate financial support, contact ahopetoinspire@gmail.com or call 203-970-8333.

Visit the East Norwalk Association Library

We are on the web at www.eastnorwalklibrary.org. Visit us on Facebook  just search for East Norwalk Library, like the library and youll be privy to happenings, and other bits of information regarding the East Norwalk Library and the community it serves. We are open Monday through Friday, 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; closed Sundays and holidays.

If theres some East Norwalk happening or other East Norwalk news or features you would like to share with the readers, email: stan@eastnorwalklibrary.org, or call 203-249-6293.
Special Events

Saturday, Oct. 8  New Perspectives Film Series  Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about his Father, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne passionately tells the story of his close friend Dr. Andrew Bagby who was murdered by his girlfriend Dr. Shirley Turner. Turner fled the US to her Canadian home with Andrews parents in pursuit when it was discovered that Shirley was carrying Andrews baby. Grief expert Fran Dorf will join series programmer and moderator Megan Smith-Harris for the discussion after the film. Fran is a practicing psychotherapist (LCSW) and longtime writer, author of three acclaimed, internationally published novels, as well as articles, essays, poetry, and recently, plays. Her novel, Saving Elijah, was inspired by Frans personal experience of losing her son, Michael, which a starred Publishers Weekly review called: 'Stunning, spellbinding, and provocative. See registration link for more details. Suggested donation of $5. Refreshments served. A Q&A will follow the film. Registration highly recommended. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Thursday, Oct. 13  Author Talk: Kristen Harnisch  The California Wife, 7-8:30 p.m. Internationally published author Kristen Harnisch visits Wilton Library to discuss her newest novel, The California Wife. Beginning in the same scene in which her first novel (The Vintner's Daughter) ended, Harnischs sweeping sequel (which also works as a stand-alone) takes the reader back to 1897, as Sara Thibault returns to France Ms. Harnisch has a degree in economics from Villanova University. Q&A and book signing will follow the talk. No charge. Registration highly recommended. Books will be available for purchase and signing courtesy of Elm Street Books, New Canaan. See librarys registration link for more details. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Friday, Oct. 14  National Cartoonists Society Connecticut Chapter Art Exhibition/Reception, 6-7:30 p.m. A group exhibition of more than a dozen National Cartoonists Society Connecticut Chapter members will feature original cartoons created for newspapers, greeting cards, licensing, childrens books, magazines and other popular media. Noted cartoonists include Chance Browne of Wilton, the family dynasty of Mort, Greg, Brian (Wilton) and Neal Walker, Mary Anne Case  New Canaan, Jerry Dumas Greenwich, Bob Englehart  Middletown, the late Dick Hodgins  Wilton, Bill Janocha  Stamford, Sean Kelly  Fairfield, Maria Scrivan  Stamford, and Rick Stromoski  Suffield. Exhibition runs through Friday, Nov. 11.

More Information 137 Old Ridgefield Road 203-762-3950 wiltonlibrary.org See More Collapse

Calendar

Tuesday, Oct. 11  Technology Classes  Basic Microsoft Office 2010, 2-3 p.m. This class serves as the introduction to upcoming classes in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Class limited to 16 students and registration is required. No charge. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Wednesday, Oct. 12  Free Downloads  Magazines, 1-2:30 p.m. Bring your own device and follow along as Melissa Baker demonstrates how to download popular magazines on to your mobile device or computer, which are available 24/7 from Wilton Library. Presented by Wilton Library for seniors at the Senior Center, Comstock Community Center, 180 School Road, Wilton. Registration is strongly suggested. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Wednesday, Oct. 12  Ambler Farm Reads, 2:15-3 p.m. Children ages 2-4 and their caregivers will meet at Ambler Farm to enjoy theme-based stories as well as a nature walk. Children may check books out at the farm, so make sure to bring your library card! Octobers focus: pumpkins; Nov. 9 is animals preparing for winter. Registration required; no fee. Children must be accompanied by caregivers. Register online or call 203-762-6336.

Thursday, Oct. 13  Technology Classes  Unlock the Power of Your iPad, 12:30-2 p.m. or 6-7:30 p.m. Do you have a new iPad or are thinking of buying one? If you are a bit unsure of where to start, what it can do, or if it is the right device for you, Mary Anne Franco will show you where to begin. She will discuss how to get on the Internet, settings, and apps. NOTE: This class is for iPad/iPhone users. Demonstration-style class. Registration encouraged. No charge. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Thursday, Oct. 13  Leaf Bowl: Drop-in Craft, 1-2:30 p.m. Love ModPodge? We do! Swing by the Innovation Station and create a fall bowl of leaves. Fee of $5 to offset costs is payable upon arrival. No registration required.

Thursday, Oct. 13, 20, 27 & Nov. 3  Arduinos for Adults, 6-7:30 p.m. Do you keep hearing about Arduinos, but not quite sure what all the buzz is about? This four-session workshop is a great introduction to computer programming and electronics. It's especially useful for tinkerers, inventors and artists, but also good for those who just like learning and experimenting! Workshop dates: 10/13, 10/20, 10/27 & 11/3. Taught by Vladimir Mariano, president of Fairfield County Makers Guild. For adults, ages 18+. Space limited and registration required. $20 participation fee to help offset costs, payable upon arrival. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Now through Monday, Oct. 31  Poetry in Motion for Teens  But Wait, Theres More! Submissions PIM is a poetry and performance-based program for students in grades 7-12. This years theme is But Wait, There's More! Use this theme to write a poem  short or long; comical or sad; insightful or inspirational. The most creative and well-written poems will be selected for the March 2017 shows and performed (not recited) by you. Send your poem to teenpoetry@wiltonlibrary.org. Questions? Call 203-762-6342.

Make something in the Thomas T. Adams, Esq. Innovation Station this week  Sunday, Oct. 9: Decorate a Big White Mug, 2-3:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 11: Getting Acquainted with Our New Embroidery Machine, 6-7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 13: Leaf Bowl: Drop-in Craft, 1-2:30 p.m.

Childrens programs this week  Saturday, Oct. 8: Minecraft Club, 10 a.m. to noon; Tuesday, Oct. 11: Terrific Tales for Twos and Threes, 10:15-10:45 a.m.; Thursday, Oct. 13 through Thursday, Nov. 17: Children's Beginner Chess, 4-5 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 13 through Thursday, Nov. 17: Children's Advanced Chess, 5-6 p.m.
The impact of a U.S. Supreme Court case decided in June was felt in a Hall County district courtroom Monday morning.

Isais Miguel of Grand Island asked District Judge Teresa Luther that his earlier no contest plea to third-offense driving under the influence be withdrawn.

Miguel, 33, noted that he was taken to the hospital to have his blood drawn the night he was picked up for DUI. He has seen about 20 cases, he said, where a blood draw without a warrant has been ruled illegal search and seizure.

He was referring to the Supreme Court decision in Birchfield vs. North Dakota. Until that case, police officers were not required to obtain a search warrant for a drivers blood if they suspected impairment. In the Birchfield case, the court ruled that the Fourth Amendment permits warrantless breath tests as part of arrests for drunken driving, but not warrantless blood tests.

Miguel was to have been sentenced for the DUI charge Monday. The matter was continued until 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

He was arrested for DUI on Feb. 21 while driving erratically on Highway 281. Third-offense DUI is a Class 3A felony. A misdemeanor charge, driving under suspension/before reinstated, was dropped earlier.

Miguel still faces six charges in another case, in which he is accused of stabbing a man twice in a dispute over a guitar on Feb. 27.

In that incident, he is charged with robbery, three counts of using a deadly weapon to commit a felony, first-degree assault and attempted felony. Police say he was involved in an altercation with Victor Schoenheit on Feb. 27 near Boarders Inn and Suites, 3333 Ramada Road. That case is scheduled to go to a jury trial Oct. 19.

Miguel is represented by Hall County Public Defender Gerry Piccolo. Mondays case was prosecuted by Deputy Hall County Attorney Gail VerMaas.

Miguel, who lives at 3428 Tri St., remains in custody.
WASHINGTON  Everyone hates paying taxes, especially those of the income variety.

The late Sen. Russell Long of Louisiana, who for 15 years served as chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, famously assessed the publics antipathy toward the institution as, Dont tax you. Dont tax me. Tax that man behind the tree.

Well, as of late, the man behind the tree may be Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, whose refusal to release his income tax returns has brought about speculation that he hasnt paid any despite being one of the wealthiest men in the country. His silence on the accusation made by his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in last weeks debate seemed affirmation of the allegation.

If thats the case, the question voters may want to ask themselves is whether they want a president in charge of tax policy who has been dodging the tax collector, even if its happened under legal circumstances.

Its a paramount question that  combined his cavalier assertion that it was good business to capitalize on the 2008 recession  should give voters real pause in what has been an unusually turbulent campaign.

While most of us work hard, albeit mainly unsuccessfully, to narrow as much of our tax burden as the law allows, the superrich have tools to reduce their burden far more.

And when youre talking about individuals who make the tax policies that keep our democracy afloat, its a whole different story. Of all the people involved in that effort, its the one who occupies the Oval Office who is most important. If that person also happens to be among the upper one-tenth of the 1 percent and has a record of thwarting the system, no matter how legally, we should be uneasy.

I once asked the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abraham Fortas whether he felt uncomfortable about the fact his limited partnership with a handful of other jurists had provided him with deductions that wiped out any income tax. I wondered if that wouldnt damage his credibility if he were asked to judge a major tax matter. I vividly remember his answer.

Well, he said, I just sign what the accountants put in front of me. This job doesnt pay any real money, so I dont worry about it. When I did (in private practice), I cared.

To say I was flabbergasted for a variety of obvious reasons would be a major understatement.

By the way, that was around 1968, and Fortas and his fellow high court jurists, some of whom also were beneficiaries of similar legal limited real estate partnerships offered to them by a wealthy Washingtonian, were making $60,000 yearly (except the chief justice who made $60,500)  far ahead of what the average middle class citizen was earning. I personally was in the $20,000 bracket and thought I was doing quite well.

There is nothing that could force Trump to release his returns, but precedence and Clintons willingness to release hers would have nudged most other presidential hopefuls into taking the action.

What has come to light, however, are some details about Trumps foundation operations that have raised questions about his charitable giving claims.

When a presidential candidate or any candidate for public office, for that matter, is reluctant about making public his financial dealings, it is naturally suspicious. Trump, as a successful businessman, falls into a category of the superrich who conduct transactions voters might find troubling.

Certainly that is true in New York real estate, where some unsavory characters have had a strong presence in the building trades, and dealing with them has become a routine matter of doing business.

But again, the thought of a president who is talking taxes to the rest of us while not having kicked into the giant pot of money it takes to make our country run is more than a little off-putting. Perhaps he should pledge not to accept a salary if elected. It wouldnt amount to much, a mere $400,000 or so. That way, he could at least contribute and make up, at least a little, for stiffing his fellow citizens otherwise.

All this reminds me of the fact that accountants for Elvis Presley begged him at times to take advantage of the legal loopholes available to him. It would have saved him millions. He demurred on the basis that the patriotic thing to do was to pay for the privilege of his success.

Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Readers may send him email at: thomassondan@aol.com.
With national elections one month away, the 2016 presidential contest continues to be one of the strangest in our nations history. At this point, Americans should be expected to be asking each other, Who are you voting for? Instead, they are asking, Who are you against?

Donald Trump didnt help his campaign in the days after the presidential debate. Rather than zeroing in on things about Hillary Clinton that most worry voters, he returned to attacks on the 1996 Miss Universe. We wont recount his issues with her. We will only marvel that in the waning weeks of his campaign for president of the United States, he chooses to focus on something that can only lessen his appeal.

Yet, despite months of Trumps unusual (some would say outlandish) outbursts on a variety of topics, Clinton still hasnt pulled away from him. This only brings further anguish to traditional Republicans. They worry that what should be an almost certain victory is slipping away.

Millions of Democrats arent happy, either, as polls make clear. They dont view their candidate as honest and trustworthy, and her campaign isnt building a groundswell of support as it limps along to the Nov. 8 election.

All of this helps explain why this election seems to be hinging on the question of who are you voting against? Ardent Clinton and Trump supporters have made up their minds, and nothing their candidates say will change their minds. Other voters are clearly struggling with both candidates, and believe the election is a lesser of two evils choice.

Great parts of the public think the nation is going the wrong direction, and want change. Clintons voter appeal is diminished to the extent that she is seen as not only more of the same, but dishonest as well. Trump is seen as change, but his voter appeal is diminished to the extent that he is seen as uninformed, undisciplined and unpredictable.

The result is an election that is as much voting against as voting for. It is a sad state of affairs.
Porter is getting to umpire his second World Series

Alan Porter is working his second World Series as an umpire. He'll be behind home plate if the Phillies and Astros need a Game 7.
As crime continues to drop across New York City, attacks on police officers are on the rise, according to figures released by the NYPD Monday. Cops were assaulted on the job 995 times through Septembera 23 percent increase from the 800 assaults during the same period in 2015.

At a press conference announcing the statistics yesterday at One Police Plaza, Mayor de Blasio credited the downward trend in crime to "precision policing," a practice championed by former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton as a move away from Broken Windows and unconstitutionally applied stop-and-frisk, and toward, in Bratton's words, "fewer arrests for minor offenses...while at the same time more significant numbers of arrests for the serious crimes."

"This is proving time and again to be the way to improve the safety of our people and to address situations quickly and effectively," de Blasio said yesterday.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Dermot Shea tied the increase in violence against cops to the department's focus on stopping violent crime.

"As we reduce some of the misdemeanor and violation arrests and continue our focus on drivers of violence and other crimes in New York Cityas the gun arrests go up, were seeing our assaults on police officersin a year that were having the lowest number of arrests that were making in CompStat eraup significantly," Shea said. Gun arrests across the five boroughs are reportedly up to 2,755, from 2,470 this time last year.

Nationwide, 67 law enforcement officers died on the job between January and mid-July of this year, an increase from 62 officer deaths over the same period in 2015. High-profile killings of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge contributed to that figure.

The totals are still a far cry from the violent 1970s and 1980s, when nearly 5 officers a year were killed in New York City alone. No NYPD officers have been killed in the line of duty so far this year.

Police shootings of civilians are also near a low in recent history. In 1971, New York cops shot and killed 93 people. In 2011 and 2013, that figure was just 8. On- and off-duty cops have been involved in eight fatal encounters so far in 2016, according to the Guardian. That figure includes shootings of suspects as well as a drunk-driving crash, and an off-duty cop's shooting of Delrawn Small, for which Officer Wayne Isaacs is being charged with manslaughter.

Overall, so far this year New York City has seen a 3 percent decrease in recorded major crimes, which include burglary, robbery, rape, assault, grand larceny auto, shootings and murder compared to last year, and September 2016 was noted to be the safest calendar month since the NYPD began tracking crimes with CompStat in 1994. All told, 8,423 crimes were recorded during the first nine months of 2016, a drop from 9,586 over the same stretch of 2015.

There have been 790 shootings logged so far this year, compared to 884 this time last year. Murders are also down, from 272 to 265.

"The hard work of the men and woman of the NYPD is self-evident, but it is also supported by sustained reduction in crime," police Commissioner James O'Neill said Monday. "With September's sharp reductions in every major crime category, on top of a historically low crime summer, we are poised for a terrific fall season."

On a separate, but related note, the amount the city is paying out for lawsuits alleging police misconduct has ballooned over the last decade. During fiscal year 2016, the city spent $228.5 million in settlements and payouts for judgments of police misconduct. That number is almost triple the $86.5 million amount paid in misconduct suits during 2005. Incidents of misconduct have a long half-life in the legal system, as lawsuits can take years to reach a conclusion, so experts caution that current payout figures are not indicative of contemporary misconduct trends.

Overall, FY 2016 saw 4,711 complaints against officers filed with the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board, and 2,933 lawsuits filed alleging officer misconduct, totals that are down from recent years. The number of substantiated complaints against officers, on the other hand, is up, which officials say is due to more thorough investigations and the increasing prevalence of cellphone recordings.

One thing has remained relatively consistent throughout these fluctuations in crime, violence, and misconduct. As a report released this week by the Police Reform Organizing Project notes, certain New Yorkers continue to be prolifically policed. Drawing from government data, the report says that NYPD cops had some sort of formal, punitive contact with civilians nearly 1,800,000 times in 2015. That figure incorporates 1 million moving violations, 88,000 felony arrests, 297,000 criminal summonses, 227,000 misdemeanor arrests, and 23,000 stop-and-frisk stops. Various reviews of NYPD activity have persistently shown that a large majority, often 80 to more-than-90 percent of such activity is directed at African American and Latino New Yorkers.
Local cancer research advocate, Allison's HOPE, has some very exciting plans in the works.

To date, Allison's HOPE has raised more than $1 million, funding some of the top cancer research in the world taking place at Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center. For the past 20 years MCCRC has conducted ground-breaking research.

They have developed personalized, innovative clinical trials, using the newest investigational therapies that target the molecular pathways which impact cancer growth. MCCRC has given hope to families locally and worldwide.

While Allison's HOPE remains vigilant in the fight for cancer research, recently they have been inspired to set their sights on those locally affected by the burdens of cancer. "Our community has seen children, parents and grandparents fighting to keep their homes and food on the table while fighting for their lives" said Allison's HOPE marketing director Adam Celuch.

Recently, Allison's HOPE developed a Community Outreach Program. As part of the program a portion of the proceeds raised by Allison's HOPE will go to support local families in their time of need through Edwardsville Neighbors in Need and Hospice of Southern Illinois. Celuch said "We have been very impressed with these organizations and what they have done in our community. We wanted to be able to support them in any way we could."

The organization will donate directly to families affected by the devastation of fighting cancer through ENIN and Hospice of Southern Illinois. Hospice of Southern Illinois provides much needed care and symptom management for individuals in the final stages of cancer.

On Nov. 12, 2016, they will host their 12th annual dinner benefit at the Leclaire Room in Edwardsville. This year's Black Tie and Blue Jean affair will feature classic Rock and Roll from the Robert Perry Band and the Original Mojos, cocktails, raffle and live auction.

To find out more about Allison's HOPE, visit AllisonsHOPE.com. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for this years dinner benefit or would like to purchase tickets to attend, you can visit AllisonsHOPEGala.com. Tickets and Partnerships are available now.
The Glen Carbon Heritage Museum is using a special exhibit to honor the men and women who have served the United States of America through their military service.

The display will feature uniforms, photos and historic military artifacts that will give a glimpse of a service persons duties.

The special exhibit will be on display from October to the end of November.

Museum Coordinator Linda Sinco said village residents donated all of the items on display.

All of them have a connection to Glen Carbon as they were donated by families, she said. While we were in the process of restoring the Doughboy Statue at the cemetery we thought it was time to get these items out of the archives and put them on display.

She said there are 15 complete uniforms that will be on display. The uniforms date from WWI to the Vietnam War.

There is even a uniform worn by a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sinco said.

Sinco said there is also a large collection of photographs that will be on display.

These are not necessarily all from wars, she said. A lot of them depict what was going on the home front during wars. There are pictures of children, women and nurses.

As for the completion of the Doughboy Statue restoration, Sinco encourages everyone to go out and visit.

It was completed by an artist from Monticello Illinois (John Heider) and his assistant, she said. They spent about a week working on it and were very impressed with the village and how welcoming it is.

The artist restored the face and gun on the statue.

It looks great. They did a wonderful job and one of his goals was not to make it look new, but to just restore what had been lost over time, she said.

The restoration cost $1,500 and the Historical and Museum Commission is writing a grant to the V.F.W. to recover the costs.

The statue was erected in memorial of two Glen Carbon men killed in France in 1919 (Harry G. Seaton and Emil Trentaz) and acknowledge the service of Glen Carbon Veterans of WWI.

During this museums honoring of the military service of Glen Carbon residents, the museum has planned a lecture by Glen Carbon resident, author and Vietnam veteran Ron Williams.

Williams will give a lecture about his experiences in the war as outlined in his book We Were Winning When I left: The American Soldiers That I knew in the Vietnam War."

The lecture will take place at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15 at the museum.

Williams did two tours of duty in Vietnam as an engineer and retired from the military after 32 years of service.

Williams book is available on Kindle.

Museum Hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The museum is located at 124 School St., Old Town, Glen Carbon.

For more information visit the village website at www.glen-carbon.il.us.
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Linkedin M. Taufiqurrahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Can voters under a democracy be trusted these days? Thats the most pertinent question we should ask today as more evidence shows that voters in country after country are turning their back on many of what we consider established values and norms in democracies, such as greater prosperity, protection of human rights and peace.

Faced with the prospect of greater economic integration through globalization, voters in the UK chose to sever ties with the EU and went their separate ways through Brexit. In the US, the same sentiment paves the way for the rise of a racist demagogue like Donald Trump. In Germany, the progressive stance of Chancellor Angela Merkel on the refugee problem has been met with a rebuke from voters, with electorates choosing the bandwagon of right wing political party Alternative fur Deutschland. In neighboring Hungary, nearly 98 percent of those who voted in a referendum rejected the EU proposal to allow more refugees to settle in the country.

The latest blow to the ideals of democracy came from Colombia, where more than 50 percent of voters rejected a peace deal that had been negotiated for four years by the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Marxist rebel group FARC. We can still argue about the merit of voters saying no to a trade deal that they believe could ship jobs overseas (e.g. Trumps fascination with China), but it is beyond comprehension to see voters rejecting a peace deal that could prevent deaths and further destruction from conflict.

Beyond the obvious question why prime ministers and presidents today have the penchant to hold a referendum (which is redundant in a system of representative democracy), the nagging question is what brings voters to challenge the political establishment and embrace populism, something that many considered a pathology to democracy and one considered the paranoid style of politics. What could explain the rise of Make America Great Again or the nativist appeal of a politician like Viktor Orban of Hungary?

Many have pointed to socioeconomic causes of populism, that those who lose under globalization are more xenophobic as they believe foreigners in their midst will take away jobs (Trumps wall against Mexico again comes to mind). The key to the rise of populism can also be found in politics.

Populism could be a response to the existing democratic political system that does not function as the majority of the population wants it to, and these disenfranchised voters decide to vote for populist leaders who promote a quick fix to societys ills. Once given a chance to express themselves directly in a non-traditional way (e.g. referendum), those disillusioned with the current democratic arrangement would deliver a surprise that would rock the foundation of a stable society (Brexit).

Populism appeals to these people because they simply dont believe in representative democracy anymore. Supporters of populist leaders or ideology believe that democratic institutions have been controlled by special interests, the elites or moneyed section of the society (British Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn remains popular in the UK in the post-Brexit period partly because of his pledge to renationalize public services that have been taken over by private firms).

Suspicion toward democracy gives disenfranchised voters the motivation to disown democratic institutions and elect leaders that could short-circuit the system. It is likely that voters in Colombia did not necessarily reject the peace deal. It may be that they simply disapproved of a proposal made by a US-educated, pro-market president who comes from a wealthy family that is unpopular for raising taxes for the average people.

Should Indonesia be worried about populism? Initially, the rise of popular politicians like President Joko Jokowi Widodo and Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama gave hope to voters who were fed up with corruption resulting from the marriage of convenience between politicians and the moneyed class.

In fact, at the outset, Ahok displayed the tendencies of a populist governor, especially with his predisposition toward alienating politicians at the Jakarta City Council and political parties. But as the job of governing became more complicated, both Jokowi and Ahok chose to compromise and made policies that many perceived as benefiting the rich and the elites.

The forced evictions, reclamation projects on the northern Jakarta coast, tax amnesty program, the granting of licenses to import basic commodities, were designed and carried out to benefit those who are close to the power center, or at least this is what most people think today. This does not look good for the incumbents and could serve as an invitation for populist candidates.

We have seen that in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, in which candidates and their supporters have begun to promote nativist sentiments, brandishing religion and ethnicity as tools to attract voters. Once we allow this to happen, things may only go downhill from there.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

The rights for 23 Indonesian books were sold to foreign publishers during the International Book Fair held at Jakarta Convention Center in Central Jakarta from Sept. 28 to 30.

The event's committee chairman Kuslistyarini told Antara news agency that Kesaint Blanc had sold the rights for nine of its books to two Chinese publishers, namely Southern Publishing Media and Sinolingua. "Meanwhile, Rosda has sold rights for its seven books about children's Islamic stories to a Pakistan-based publisher, and Gramedia also sold rights for seven books."

(Read also: 12 Indonesian books you should add to your reading list)

In addition to selling books at affordable prices, the fair also provided access for publishers to conduct business transactions through the Indonesia Rights Fair. Up to 27 booths were available, featuring local and foreign publishers from China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Germany and Bosnia.

Nung Antasa from the Borobudur Literacy Agency shared that the most important thing in selling book rights was patience. "Because the process could take a very long time, even up to two years."

Meanwhile, among the most popular books that attracted the event's some 2000 visitors each day were reportedly children's books, Indonesian tourism, stories of Indonesian rare fauna, Muslim stories for children and Bahasa Indonesia textbooks. (fmn/kes)
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Linkedin Brandon Bailey (Associated Press) San Francisco, United States  Tue, October 4, 2016

Google may be getting serious about selling its own hardware gadgets.

On Tuesday, the search giant will ramp up its consumer electronics strategy with expected announcements of new gadgets including new smartphones and an internet-connected personal-assistant for the home similar to Amazon's Echo speaker. All are intended to showcase Google's software and online services.

A new virtual reality headset and other devices, such as a home router, could also be on tap, according to analysts and industry blogs. Google has declined to confirm any specifics, although it previously described some of these products back in May .

Google makes most of its money from online software and digital ads. But it's putting more emphasis on hardware as it faces rivals like Apple, Amazon and South Korea's Samsung.

HARDWARE IS HARD

New devices could help Google keep its services front and center in the battle for consumers' attention, said analyst Julie Ask at Forrester Research. Unlike a new mobile app or other software, she noted, it can be an expensive gamble to build and ship new hardware products. "But if you're Google, you can't afford to stop placing bets."

Google already sells smartphones and tablets under the Nexus brand, which it launched in 2010 as a way to show off the best features of its Android software. But it's spent relatively little effort to promote those devices, which have mostly ended up in the hands of Google purists. Tech blogs are reporting the company is now planning to launch two smartphone models under a new brand, Pixel, and Google has hinted it may invest in an extensive marketing campaign intended to introduce the phones to the mass market.

(Read also: Samsung continues sales of Galaxy Note7 in South Korea)

Android already powers the majority of smartphones sold around the world. But Samsung, the biggest maker of Android phones, has increasingly been adding more of its own software  even its own Samsung Pay mobile wallet  on the phones it sells. Another big rival, Apple, has built its own services, such as online maps and its own Siri personal assistant, to replace Google's apps on the iPhone.

HOME, BUT NOT ALONE

Google is also likely to begin selling a voice-activated "smart speaker" called Home, apparently modeled on Amazon's Echo . Analysts are expecting Google will announce more details, including price and availability, at Tuesday's event.

The "Home" device will feature Google's digital "Assistant" service, a voice-activated personal butler that can search the internet, play music or perform other useful tasks. "Assistant" is the company's answer to similar concierge services from rivals, including Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana. The leading tech companies are all competing to assist consumers in their online activities such as shopping, since that gives the companies a better chance of selling advertising or other services.

Home-based systems like the Echo are taking on more importance with the advent of improved voice technology, said Forrester's Ask. "You can't assume somebody is going to go sit down at a computer or pick up a phone and type in a question anymore," she said.

Google may also provide a closer look Tuesday at some other products, including a new virtual-reality headset that it teased in May. Like the other devices, Google's virtual reality system could be a platform for a wide range of games and applications that are built on Google's software.
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Linkedin Leanne Italie (Associated Press) New York, United States  Tue, October 4, 2016

"Can you guys guess where I'm at?"

So teased Kim Kardashian West recently on her massively popular social media streams, where she freely shares her glamorous life. She was talking about Paris Fashion Week, and she telegraphed her moves to millions, from the mundane (a room service order) to the fabulous (fittings with designers and her usual front-row perch next to other rich and famous folk)  all before armed robbers broke into her flat, tied her up and fled with more than $10 million of her jewels early Monday.

Did the reality star provide them with a map via Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram and her for-pay phone app? In answering her teased question, she told the world: "In a private room, after the Balmain show."

Was it the same room at a private residence where Paris police said the crime occurred? That's unclear, for in this reality star's life, there are many private rooms, and much to share.

As details of the heist continued to surface, and as Kardashian West made her way to New York on a private jet after the harrowing holdup, one thing is clear: She was excited to be in Paris for fashion week; her Snapchats and Instagram posts were filled with exclamation points and emojis.

On Saturday, she was front row at Balmain with sister Kourtney, mom Kris Jenner and Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble. She titled that Instagram photo of her and Kourtney as "Sister Slay."

On Sunday morning, there was Balenciaga, followed by Givenchy, where another sister, Kendall Jenner, walked the runway with Kim seated next to Courtney Love. At Givenchy, she was photographed in a black dress with fur trim and a fur wrap: "GIVENCHY COUTURE" she captioned the Instagram picture.

And before that, there was a packing-for-Paris selfie and her fittings with Olivier Rousteing, her friend and Balmain's creative director, followed by her so-called "no makeup" tweet from Balenciaga as she stood in a belted kaki trench coat pulled down at the shoulders to reveal her famous decolletage.

The high priestess of the selfie, who has a fondness for showing off her bling, also last week tweeted a close up of a dainty gold grill on her teeth, her blindingly massive diamond ring on her hand and her cleavage on view in a barely there black top.

Was the ring, a gift from hubby Kanye West, among the jewels now lost?

Providing security to celebrities in this era of social media is difficult. At Sunset Protective Services & Investigations, which includes event security and bodyguards for hire in the Los Angeles area, the added headache of constant online updates complicates safety precautions.

(Read also: Armed jewelry thieves target Kardashian West in Paris)

"Our view on this is that we want everything as low-key and as quiet as possible, obviously," said Tim Hayes, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. "When you have someone like the Kardashian family, they even have programs documenting their every move, it makes it that much more difficult."

It was Sept. 27 that Kardashian West flashed double peace signs on Twitter as she revealed she was Paris-bound from New York. During her time in Paris, she told fans on Snapchat what she was doing, whether headed to a party or sitting at home.

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, said Kardashian's social media profile did her no favors.

"It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these goods that the attackers targeted," she said.

The head of Sunset, John Perry, who is also a retired sheriff's deputy in Los Angeles, added: "Publicity is how they make their living. They're not going to lose money and travel incognito. You've got to basically comply with the clients' wishes and try and be as proactive as you can."

In one tweet during her whirlwind Paris trip, Kardashian West jokingly lamented: "This guy is always in my shot!" She was referring to bodyguard Pascal Duvier as she walked a Paris street in the trench coat and a pair of thigh-high black leather boots.

Was Duvier on hand the night of the heist, let go for the evening, when Kardashian West was robbed? Kardashian's stylist was there at the time and alerted police, but her bodyguard was not, according to the prosecutor's office.

A spokeswoman for Kardashian West said she was badly shaken but physically unharmed after the Paris ordeal. Asked how Kim was doing, Kris Jenner flashed a thumbs-up sign as she and Gamble left the New York building where Kardashian West retreated after her return from Paris later Monday.

Meanwhile, Paris police hunted for five suspected assailants in the armed theft that raised new concerns about security in the French capital after a string of deadly extremist attacks.

The thieves, dressed as police officers, entered the 19th-century luxury residence in Paris' chic eighth district after the concierge let them in about 2:30 a.m. local time Monday, according to two police officials. Handcuffed and at gunpoint, the concierge led them to Kardashian West's flat.

After tying her up and leaving her in the bathroom, the robbers escaped on bikes, the officials said. They were not authorized while speaking about ongoing investigations.

The officials said the five suspects stole a jewelry box containing valuables worth 6 million euros ($6.7 million) as well as a ring worth 4 million euros ($4.5 million). In a message to The Associated Press, the Paris prosecutor's office said that only two of the five forced their way into the apartment.

Kardashian West's two young children were not with her at the time of the robbery. Hubby Kanye had been at her side in Paris earlier in the week but returned to New York for a concert, cutting it short on stage due to a "family emergency" that turned out to be his wife's holdup.

But were the cameras there? The ones that are ever-present for the family's "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" E! show?

"All of us at E! are incredibly thankful that Kim Kardashian West is safe, and we send her and her family our love and support," a network spokesperson said in a statement emailed to the AP.

"'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' was not filming at the time of the robbery," the statement said. "Our focus right now is entirely on Kim's well-being."

___

Angela Charlton, Samuel Petrequin and Phillip Sotto in Paris and Mark Kennedy and Gina Abdy in New York contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

A puppet show inspired by true events that happened in Indonesia in the 1960s is set to be performed at Edwin's Gallery in Kemang, South Jakarta, from Oct. 5 to 9.

Secangkir Kopi dari Playa (A Cup of Coffee from Playa), a play by Yogyakarta-based Papermoon Puppet Theater, is being performed to raise funds for the 5th edition of the biennial international puppet festival Pesta Boneka (Puppet Party) to be held in Yogyakarta, Central Java, on Dec. 2-4.

The puppet performance, which was featured in Indonesian blockbuster Ada Apa dengan Cinta 2 (What's Up with Cinta 2), follows the love story of Widodo "Pak Wi" Soewardjo, who was sent to study in the Soviet Union (now Russia) as part of diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Prior to his transfer, he made a promise to his fiance in Indonesia that he would not marry another woman. However, he was later exiled for more than 40 years following the conflict in 1965. But despite the circumstances preventing him meeting his fiance, he kept his promise.

(Read also: Yogyakarta through the eyes of Rangga & Cinta)

The play has been performed at four different locations since 2011: an antique shop, coffee shop, library and living room.(JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Set in a classic-style decorated stage, the 50-minute play is moving due to its meaningful gestures and music accompanied by appropriate narration.

The theater founder Maria Ria Tri Sulistyani told The Jakarta Post that there was a time when their shows completely relied on narration. In the first two years of Papermoon, [performances] were filled with narration. At one point I felt that there was something wrong with that, she said at the end of the show. For us, the reason why the puppets are silent is because we use gestures as their main language. Their power comes when they convey the message through their movements. If we use narration, we will provide too much information, which also means we do not believe in their [body] language.

(Read also: Maria Tri Sulistyani & Iwan Effendi: Making puppets for all)

Tickets for the play are available on the theater's official website with a starting price of Rp 300,000 (US$23.1).(JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Secangkir Kopi dari Playa has been performed to the public since 2011. For its fifth show, several developments have been added, including the story and stage property. Following its fifth year, we've added some developments, such as the story and some small details like adding a sewing machine because Pak Wi told us that he [and his fiance] bought a sewing machine as they prepared to live together [prior to him leaving to Soviet Union].

Tickets for the play are available on the theater's official website with a starting price of Rp 300,000 (US$23.1).

This years Pesta Boneka will reportedly involve artists from the UK, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Afghanistan and France. In addition to puppet performances, the festival will also feature workshops, exhibitions and cooking sessions. (kes)
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Mon, October 3 2016

Nearly a month after a clash that left dozens of Sari Rejo residents injured, people in the village claim they have been threatened by members of the Air Forces elite unit to vacate their houses.

Some residents said the Air Force personnel told them to leave their homes because military housing was to be built on the land on which they stood.

Sari Rejo resident Dadang Supriatna, 50, said four Air Force members led by Manalu had visited his home on Sept. 28.

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Linkedin Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, October 3 2016

The comedian, actor and radio host has for several years had an interest in intellectual property rights and the creative industry, freelancing as creative director for promotional events.



Sogi Indra Dhuaja was behind the promotion of Cican, the children comic series created by Wahyu Aditya. I really love the rabbit character, I consider it as my own child, said the father of two.



He has gone as far in expressing his love by wearing a Cican costume himself to ensure that the lovable character interacts on the right level with children.



Indonesian children deserve age-appropriate reading material that is exciting and educational in a fun way.



That is the reason Sogi and his wife carefully select the books for their kids to read, leaving out the folk tales, which have storylines mostly revolving around a prince looking for a wife, a cursed child, filial duties or punishment.



Regarding Indonesian authors of childrens books, Sogi favors Clara Ng due to her ability to tell stories kids can easily digest. I met her once and asked her why I couldnt understand them while my kids and other people could. She said I had to read them like a kid does and not through the eyes of an adult. I still havent been able to understand but I realize she must be a very good author.



Although Sogi has little interest in pure literature, reading is part of his daily activities. Ive been reading Kompas daily since I started to read. I always update myself with news and at night if I have trouble sleeping I read all the classified ads.



However, he can boast of his contribution to the world of literature as he was the one who coined the title Cintapuccino, a portmanteau of love and cappuccino for the chicklit book authored by Icha Rahmanti that has been adapted into a film.



I once posed a challenge to Okke Sepatu Merah to write novels and now she has published 10 and I havent written any.

------------------

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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, October 3 2016

The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) is struggling to overcome a deep crisis that was triggered by the recent arrest of its speaker on corruption charges.

Irman Gusmans arrest has sharply divided the council, diverting its attention from more crucial issues, particularly its bid to have the same legislative power as that of the House of Representatives, the opportunity of which has just been opened after years of lobbying.

One camp within the council insists that Irman is innocent and has created a team to collect evidence to prove that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) made a mistake by arresting Irman.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru  Mon, October 3 2016

Heavy sentences and high fines against those involved in the illegal trade of protected animals and their body parts do not seem to be severe enough to deter people from committing such crimes.

Cases involving the illegal trade of tiger skins keep appearing in some regions within Riau province. The latest case led to the arrest of Ayat, 51, and Niko, 38  two residents of Batang Gansal village, Siberida district, Indragiri Hulu regency  for allegedly trying to sell the skin of a Sumatran tiger.

They were arrested after forest rangers pretended to be buyers and made an offer. The [accused] came for the transaction when they were arrested, Environment and Forestry Ministry law enforcement head Eduward told the media.

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Linkedin Duncan Graham (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, October 3 2016

(Peniwen Memorial)

The killers must have been puzzled as their trucks crawled along farm tracks toward the massacre site.



This was no ordinary ramshackle Indonesian village, but more like a Dutch hamlet with well-built homes behind trimmed hedges and neat lawns. No mosques. Dogs running loose. They passed by a church, its barn-style architecture little different from those in their homeland.



Had the conscripts been properly briefed they would have known that Peniwen, 40 kilometers southwest of Malang in East Java, was a Christian village established a century earlier by missionaries promoting Dutch values of hygiene and personal responsibility.



So the people had built the Panti Husada polyclinic, one of the first in the region and staffed by Red Cross workers. This was the soldiers target.



The Dutch thought the clinic was the headquarters of our military campaign to get the colonialists out of our beloved country, said veteran Yunas Supratman, 88. He was a 21-year-old guerrilla fighter at the time and living in the jungle nearby.



There were wounded soldiers being cared for, but this was not the control center.



The rolling country around Peniwen is rich in jungle cut by twisting rivers and patches of cultivation  a good place to disappear. It had already been invaded twice by Dutch patrols, shooting one man and capturing others who were maltreated to make them disclose where Brigade 16 fighters were hiding.



What happened next on that Saturday is unclear, but it seems certain that 12 unarmed and unresisting men including two patients were pushed out of the clinic, tied up and shot dead. Three women working in the clinic were raped and the place was ransacked.



Supratman entered the village next morning and found the bodies had already been buried. The Dutch returned a few days later unsuccessfully hunting for Pastor Martodipuro, who had already lodged a protest with the World Council of Churches.



The Dutch army was forced to investigate, but claimed witnesses could not be found.



Martodipuros action alerted the US and European nations, which put pressure on the Dutch, eventually leading to the ceasefire brokered through the Roem-van Roijen Agreement signed in May 1949.



In 1983 a monument was erected above the graves of 10 men. The polyclinic has gone and a primary school now occupies the site overlooking a thousand shades of green tumbling below.



There are about 1,300 households in Peniwen, 90 percent Protestant, according to Pastor Sutrijo, current head of the village church. The village was first settled in the early 19th century by 20 families migrating from Central Java seeking new land. They were led by Zangkioes, apparently a charismatic Muslim who converted to Christianity.



The Javanese name means a beautiful and wealthy place. It looks clean, prosperous and spacious with no graffiti and little plastic in the creeks.



In Peniwen no one goes hungry, said Supratman, who later became the village head. We live in peace. We remember the killings, but we forgive. As Christians we must love our enemy. We are not allowed to hate.



 Duncan Graham

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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi confirmed on Tuesday that 106 Indonesian citizens had gone on a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by illegally using unused seats of the Philippines hajj quota. A process is underway to help them return to Indonesia.

After a conversation with the Indonesian Embassy in Manila, it can be confirmed that 106 Indonesian hajj pilgrims are currently being housed in the embassys facilities, she told journalists on Tuesday.

The minister further said they are awaiting clearance from local authorities for the return of the Indonesian pilgrims. The embassys officials have been preparing necessary travel documents for their departure.

Indonesia and the Philippines have reached an agreement about the legal process concerning the Indonesian pilgrims who went on the hajj using Philippine passports. The Philippine government will ease legal procedures, which will instead be conducted in Indonesia.

Retno said she had began discussing the case with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir on the possibility for Indonesia to share unused seats of hajj quotas with other countries, such as Japan and the Philippines. She highlighted the growing trend of illegal hajj travels as a result of Indonesia's limited hajj quota each year, which has led to a very long waiting list.

"We must first discuss it with Saudi Arabia [...]," said Retno. She said discussions with other countries on technical details, including the amount of hajj seats Indonesia could use, can only begin after Saudi Arabia agreed to the proposal. (ebf)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama has criticized his opponent Anies Baswedan for promising to grant residents land that they have occupied for more than 20 years.

Candidates usually dont understand the data on land. I want to tell pak Anies to send his campaign team to collect the data from us. He shouldnt be deceived by his campaign chief with false data, Ahok said at City Hall on Tuesday.

Anies signed a political contract with the residents of Tanah Merah in North Jakarta on Sunday. In the contract, the residents are promised ownership of the land they have occupied for over 20 years. They will be granted land rights in accordance with existing regulations.

He also promised to revive kampung deret (elevated villages) in slum areas instead of evicting residents. The idea of kampung deret was first promoted by President Joko Jokowi Widodo and Ahok when they campaigned together in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election. But after Jokowi moved to the State Palace in 2014, Ahok canceled the plan and decided to move the residents to low-cost apartments.

Anies said pursuing kampung deret was a better idea than relocation to low-cost apartments because the livelihoods of the residents would be maintained, the residents would not be sent away from their places of work and their children could still go to nearby schools.

If I am elected on Feb. 15, the contract will be implemented, Anies said as quoted by kompas.com. (bbn)
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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4 2016

Germany will seek closer cooperation and some friendly competition as both Berlin and Jakarta vie for a seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the upcoming 2019/2020 period.

This is the message conveyed by the German ambassador-designate, Michael Freiherr von Ungern-Sternberg, in his remarks for the 26th anniversary of German Unity Day in Jakarta on Monday.

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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Makassar  Tue, October 4 2016

A move by the Gowa regency administration to take over the heirlooms of the local monarchy has caused unrest in the region, which was a kingdom during the heyday of spice trade.

Gowa Regent Adnan Purichta Ichsan Yasin Limpo recently issued a regulation that stipulates the establishment of the Gowa Customary Institution (LAD) and the appointment of the regent as its chairperson. It also grants the LAD head the authority to control the royal familys heritage, including precious objects such as a salokoa (gold crown inlaid with precious stones), rings, pins and a number of kris.

A member of the Limpo family, a local political dynasty in Sulawesi led by South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo, Adnan was inaugurated as the institutions head last month, prompting a series of protests that culminated in the setting alight of the Gowa Legislative Council building, reportedly by supporters of the royal family.

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Linkedin Elias Meseret (Associated Press) Addis Ababa  Tue, October 4, 2016

Violence flared again Monday in Ethiopia's restive Oromia region, where dozens of people were killed a day earlier in a stampede when police tried to disrupt an anti-government protest amid a massive religious festival.

The state broadcaster late Monday raised the death toll to 55 from the earlier official count of 52. Its report cited a hospital official in the town where the stampede occurred, and it said three people remained hospitalized with serious injuries.

After the stampede, clashes between security forces and protesters erupted Sunday evening and continued Monday morning in the towns of Bishoftu and Ambo, an Ethiopian government official and witnesses told The Associated Press.

Relatives of those killed in Sunday's stampede were flocking to Bishoftu, 45 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, raising tensions, said Nimona Negash, a driver of a small motorized taxi called a tuk-tuk.

The annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival had drawn huge crowds, and the stampede occurred as people ran to escape police firing tear gas and rubber bullets and shooting live rounds into the air after anti-government protesters approached the stage where religious leaders were speaking.

People were crushed to death. A witness said some of those killed were still being recovered from ditches where they fell while trying to flee.

There also were reports of arrests.

"Some people tried to come out en masse this morning to protest the deaths of holiday-goers on Sunday and also demand the release of people arrested during the celebrations," Negash said. "Today's protesters were peaceful but dispersed by police violently. I'm not aware of any deaths this morning, but it was violent. But I'm aware of live bullets used this morning in other vicinities of this town."

He said he saw seven bodies pulled from a deep ditch until he could no longer stand to watch.

The Oromia region has been experiencing deadly anti-government protests since November 2015 as people call for wider political freedom and the release of detained opposition figures and journalists.

Ethiopia's government, a close security ally of the West, has been accused of quashing dissent and blocking internet access. The U.S. recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, calling the country's situation "extremely serious."

On Monday, Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation and said the government should "end the use of deadly force to quell largely peaceful protests that began nearly a year ago."

Ethiopia's government is accusing the protesters. President Mulatu Teshome Wirtu, on a state visit to Italy on Monday, blamed the stampede on "the action of some hooligans," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The head of the Oromia region's spokesman's office, Fikadu Tessema, told the AP on Monday that some groups were trying to "continue the violence that they orchestrated on Sunday."

He said they were trying to portray the stampede as caused by live bullets fired by government forces.

"I can assure you 100 percent that all the 52 victims died of a stampede and didn't have bullet wounds on their bodies," he said. "The current situation in Oromia is not out of control. We are taking measures to bring back our peace." (ags)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Jakarta Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Mimah Susanti has called on the three pairs of gubernatorial hopefuls to respect the existing laws and regulations as they campaign for the 2017 election.

Although we currently cant impose sanctions, we hope they will promote themselves according to the law. We hope they wont insult the other candidates and use SARA (ethnic, religious, racial and intergroup) sentiments in their campaigns, Mimah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Mimah said Bawaslu could not impose sanctions on the candidates outside of the official campaign period, which runs from Oct. 28 to Feb. 11, although candidates had started to carry out activities that could be considered part of their campaigns.

However, the body has reportedly already begun to receive complaints from residents about candidates behavior that could be channeled to the law enforcement center (Sentra Gakkum).

She stressed that there was no regulation prohibiting candidates from carrying out campaign activities before the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) declared them as official candidates on Oct. 24.

On Sunday, gubernatorial candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono joined the Car Free Day and Tjanting Fun Day 5-kilometer run to introduce himself to residents. On the same day, Anies Baswedan went to Tanah Merah in North Jakarta to sign the political contract.

The three pairs that had been registered to KPU Jakarta are incumbent Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, Anies-sandiaga Uno and Agus-Sylviana. (bbn)
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Linkedin Muhammad Ilman (The Jakarta Post) Brisbane  Tue, October 4 2016

Mangroves are extremely important for mitigating global climate change and protecting communities from storm surges, coastal erosion and tsunami. They also provide food, building materials and medicine.

Indonesia has the largest areas of mangroves in the world. Unfortunately, the countrys shrimp industry is causing massive mangrove deforestation.

In a study for which I am one of the researchers, we contend that mangrove conservationists in Indonesia should work together with shrimp producers to save mangroves. Here is why.

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A subway rider was viciously attacked at the Prospect Park subway station on Sunday, and police are now looking for two suspects.

The incident occurred around 5:15 a.m. on Sunday, October 2nd, inside the station at Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue: According to the NYPD, the 21-year-old male victim was in the station when an "unidentified male approached the victim, exchanged words with him and punched him with a closed fist. While the victim is engaged with the male assailant, an unidentified female approached the victim from behind and slashed him with unknown object."

The victim was treated at a nearby hospital for cuts to his head, face, chest and hands.



(NYPD)

Police released surveillance images of the suspects: The male suspect is described as being 30-35 years old, 5'10"-6' and partially bald; he was last seen wearing a light blue shirt and black pants. The female suspect is described as being 25-28 years old and 150 pounds and was last seen wearing a black sweat-shirt, and a pajama pants.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin has called on Indonesians not to be so gullible and easily deceived by irrational offers made by cult leaders who claim to possess the power to mystically multiply money.

Lukmans statement followed the recent arrest of alleged cult leader Dimas Kanjeng Taat Pribadi by the East Java Police, who have declared him a suspect in the murder of two of his former followers.

Dimas has also been reported for alleged fraud causing total financial losses of Rp 1.5 billion (US$115,500).

"Religious rituals cannot be executed through methods that contradict existing norms, Lukman told journalists on Monday. (ags)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

The government has called on the House of Representatives to immediately ratify the sea border agreement between Indonesia and Singapore on the eastern part of the Singapore Strait to ensure a clear legal basis in maritime affairs.

The ratification of the agreement will be beneficial for state sovereignty, national defense and Indonesian integrity, Foreign Ministry law and international treaty director general Ferry Adamhar said on Tuesday during a hearing with House Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs.

"We will have a clearly marked territorial sea boundary with Singapore," Ferry said, emphasizing the importance of the finalization with regard to economic potential as approximately US$5 trillion worth of trade passes through the strait each year.

The hearing was also attended by senior officials from the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Defense Ministry and Transportation Ministry.

Meanwhile, Commission I chairman Hannafi Rais of the National Mandate Party assured the government that the ratification would be put on the agenda as soon as possible, pending final inspection from the House.

Hanafi pointed to specific concerns related to the agreement that could potentially implicate other parties across the 9.6 km stretch. The agreement, which would be the third of its kind covering areas stretching across the Singapore Strait, encompasses its most eastern part, drawing close to neighboring Malaysia.

He noted that commission members in general were on board with the agreement, which was finalized in 2014 following extensive negotiations between the two countries. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4 2016

A fire ravaged dozens of houses in Kamal subdistrict, Kalideres district, West Jakarta, on Monday. No fatalities or injuries have been reported.

The fire destroyed 35 houses, a temporary warehouse, a pick-up car and 10 motorcycles, Rahmat, a firefighter of the West Jakarta Fire Department, said as reported by kompas.com.

Rahmat said the fire, which started at about 1 p.m. took two hours to extinguish. It [fire] was difficult to extinguish because of a pile of plastic tents in the warehouse.

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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

House of Representatives Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs is determined to establish the Indonesian Haj Organization Agency (BPHI), which will takeover management of the haj from the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Disagreements over the plan have been expressed by Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, who expressed concerns related to overlapping authority if haj management was taken away from the control of the government.

House Commission VIII deputy chairman Sodik Mudjahid said a separation of authority needed to be instituted between the executor, who manages the haj, and the regulator, who holds responsibility for policies related to the haj. These two roles have traditionally fallen under the purview of the Religious Affairs Ministry.

"After decades of organizing the haj, it seems that the work ethic and culture [at the Religious Affairs Ministry] needs to be improved and separation of authority will create that [improvement]," Sodik told the journalists on Monday.

The separation, he continued, would provide more room for the ministry to maximize its diplomatic function when issues related to the haj arose. Meanwhile, the BPHI as executor could assist the ministry in handling technical matters, he added.

Even though the government and House Commission VIII have yet to reach an agreement on the establishment of the BPHI, both parties have agreed to deliberate on the 2008 Haj Law. (ags)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has signaled that the position of energy and mineral resources minister, which remains vacant after the dismissal of Arcandra Tahar on Aug.15, may be filled soon by someone with a professional background.

He said the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry was one of four ministries, including the Finance Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry and the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, that had always been headed by professionals.

"Lets just wait. I think the new minister will be appointed in the near future," Kalla said as quoted by kompas.com at his office on Monday.

Arcandra was dismissed with honor following a controversy over his dual citizenship.

Arcandras Indonesian citizenship was reinstated by the government through a decree from the law and human rights minister in early September, sparking rumors that he might return to the former post he served in for just 20 days. (afr/ebf)
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Linkedin Farida Susanty and Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Chinese tourists once again top the list of foreign visitors, driving the authorities and businesspeople to embrace their oriental spirit.

The number of Chinese visitors is on the rise, as confirmed by data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). According to the latest monthly statistics, 151,054 Chinese citizens visited Indonesia in August.

While down 1.9 percent from the previous month, the figure marks an increase of almost 20 percent from the same period in 2015.

It was the second month in a row  and the fourth time so far this year  that the Chinese reigned in the tourism sector, followed closely by Singaporean and Australian travelers. Most of the Chinese tourists opted for Bali as their destination.

The Tourism Ministrys deputy minister for overseas promotion, I Gde Pitana, attributed the rising trend to the holiday season in August in China and the governments efforts to attract more visitors.

He said the ministry would remain focused on its tourism promotion program in China until the end of the year to introduce the archipelago in several major cities, such as Beijing and Shenzhen.

The government aims to attract at least 1.7 million Chinese tourists this year, up from 1.3 million last year. It has scrapped the visa fees for Chinese travelers, making China one of 169 countries the nationals of which enjoy free entry to Indonesia.

For this month, the ministry has geared up for the Chinese Golden Week, a seven-day national holiday period start began on Oct. 1. It has established cooperation with travel agents and tour operators in Bali and China since July to offer tourism packages to Bali and Manado, North Sulawesi.

That way, Chinese companies wont send their employees to Thailand [for the holidays]. They can just go to those destinations, Pitana said, adding that several airlines were also on board to achieve the 1.7 million tourist target.

The countrys largest low cost carrier, Lion Air, is serving direct flights from six Chinese cities, including Macao, Shenzhen and Shanghai to Manado in July and August. The airline hopes to fly at least 30,000 Chinese tourists to Manado by the end of the year.

(-/-)

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, meanwhile, has flown holidaymakers from three major Chinese cities  namely Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou  to Jakarta.

BPS head Suhariyanto said that the visitors contained in the statistics were all tourists and not workers. The [Chinese tourist] surge is not happening in Indonesia alone, but also in other countries, supported by [the tourists] higher earning per capita as Chinas economy grows, he said.

Meanwhile, Jayakarta Hotels and Resorts president director Adwin Dhanu said the chain  which has hotels and resorts in Bali and Jakarta  had prepared several facilities to accommodate the rising number of tourists.

We have prepared a separate, special breakfast called Chinese breakfast in which we provide bread, porridge and dim sum, he said over the phone, adding that it was different from the full buffet breakfast offered to Australian tourists.

Jayakarta also employed Mandarin-speaking staff in the guest reservation divisions at its hotels in Jakarta and Bali who serve most of the Chinese guests.

Separately, Adi Satria, the vice president for sales marketing and distribution at AccorHotels Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, stated that it also provided Chinese food on the menu as well as Mandarin-speaking employees at its luxury and upscale hotels.
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

The Jakarta Police are looking into the possibility that Transito Adiman Jati employees were involved in airing a Japanese adult film on the jumbotron on Jl. Prapanca in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Friday afternoon.

"We have interrogated eight Transito Adiman Jati's employees and two other people. When we finish with the investigation, we will inform to public," spokesperson Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono said on Monday.

The police have confiscated six personal computers from the company to conduct digital forensic examinations.

On Sunday, the head of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Comr. Gen. Ari Dono, said the screening of the pornographic film on the large LED display was done on purpose. (ags)
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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4 2016

Pressure on the Jakarta administration to hear out its residents in deciding urban development is mounting, as an NGO warns of a segregated city  a condition starting to be seen in the recent Bukit Duri evictions in South Jakarta.

Ahmad Rifai, the co-founder of urban initiative and empowerment NGO Kota Kita, said Monday that the eviction policy of the Ciliwung River normalization program that affected hundreds of houses in Bukit Duri was a foregone conclusion even though several residents and local advocacy group Ciliwung Merdeka had fought hard both inside and outside the courtroom.

Bukit Duri residents fought a lonely battle, he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar titled Social City Concept: An Exchange on Urban development in Indonesia and Germany at Tarumanagara University.

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Linkedin Hans David Tampubolon (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4 2016

Over there: Rosanna Pavoni (second left), the scientific director of Fondazione Studio Museo Vico Magistretti, points to a work by Vico Magistretti

An exhibition takes visitors on a journey to celebrate the legacy of renowned Italian designer Vico Magistretti, who is known for his simple and timeless designs.

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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Bali  Tue, October 4, 2016

Ngurah Rai International Airport customs and excise personnel have arrested a Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew member on allegations of smuggling drugs into Bali.

The suspect, identified as Goh Tiam Ann Desmond, a 42-year-old Singaporean citizen, was arrested upon arrival on Singapore Airlines flight SQ 948, at Ngurah Rai airport on Friday. Desmond was not on duty during his arrest and had intended on vacationing in Bali.

Customs and excise chief Budi Harjanto said Desmond was arrested for the possession of 1.47 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 2.09 grams of ecstasy pills.

"We found the drugs inside his wallet," Budi said on Tuesday.

He said officers suspicions arose on account of the Singaporean citizens strange gestures while passing through the customs and excise desk. They later detected suspicious items inside his luggage during an X-ray.

"When we checked, it was apparently a bong hidden inside piles of his clothes," Budi said.

Officers later conducted a body search, during which they reportedly found one plastic bag containing 1.47 grams of crystal meth, one plastic bag containing two ecstasy pills weighing 1.01 grams and another plastic with two ecstasy pills weighing 1.08 grams. The drugs were said to have been hidden inside a wallet.

Budi said the suspect admitted that he bought the drugs in Singapore. "He brought them into Bali as he wanted to use them during his vacation," Budi said.

Desmond will be charged under Article 113 of the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and Rp 10 billion (US$ 770,268) in fines. (ebf)
If you've ever worried about the future of America, you were right to be concerned: Not only can they use Snapchat better than you ever will and have secret apps to keep their sexts hidden from olds, teenagers are really into this killer clown trend. So much so that they are faking killer clown threats... and getting arrested for it.

A 13-year-old girl was arrested and charged with cyber harassment after making threats on social media about a clown targeting students and residents in Washington Township, NJ. According to NBC Philadelphia, "The threats warned people that they should be scared and should not walk by themselves. The threats also mentioned specific targets, according to officials." Also:

The teen girl was arrested and charged. Police say the girl's family is also cooperating with the investigation. Investigators say the girl made the threats because it was a popular trend around the country and she thought it would be funny.

A 14-year-old male student at a high school in Washington Township was also arrested and charged with cyber harassment for a different clown threat.

These arrests come as Philadelphia police have identified a 13-year-old girl who made clown threats with a friend.

Authorities have been investigating threats of clowns terrorizing communities, which have been reported all over the country and, in recent days, in the New York and Philadelphia area.

Was out Germantown last night A photo posted by PhillyClowns (@phillyclown33) on Oct 2, 2016 at 9:43am PDT

NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism and Intelligence John Miller said the NYPD is on it but so far they've "found none of these to be credible, and we've tried to avoid falling into the trap of putting extra police protection... We're tracking it, but we don't see any real threat here. Our main message is: don't believe the hype, and don't be afraid of the clowns."

Frank Farley, a psychology professor at Temple University, told WPVI there's a difference between harmless pranks and this kind of fake threat: "I don't think pranks that threaten lives are innocent anymore. This nation in 9/11 was invaded from the outside, and we've had terrorist incidents since then." He added, "Now a 13-year-old probably doesn't know anything about John Wayne Gacy, but most parents should know about John Wayne Gacy, who was this lovable clown in Chicago who everyone wanted this John Wayne Gacy clown to come to their children's party and so on, and he was systematically killing young boys."



Philadelphia officials said of the teen girl who confessed to clowning, "This juvenile indicated that this 'prank only' was committed with a friend at her school and she never had any intent to harm anyone." But others aren't comforted. Mother Yvette Malave said to WPVI, "If she was old enough to make the prank, she should pay for what she did. She should be punished."

All of these clown threats make us nostalgic for a simpler time, when teens got their kicks drawing boobs on Civil War memorials and vodka eyeballing.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has issued a statement condemning the Indonesian governments denial of reports of human rights violations in Papua during the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 26. The legal rights defender, which has previously advocated on behalf of several Papuan groups, says that the violations really took place.

LBH Jakarta data show that between April and Sept. 16 this year, the government has arrested 2,282 Papuans staging non-violent rallies. Most of these arrests took place from May 28 to July 27, in which 1,889 protesters were arrested, LBH Jakarta said in a release made available Monday.

Indonesia, through its representative, Nara Masista, said problems in Papua were related to separatists seeking to disrupt public order. She also said Indonesias commitment to human rights was solid, the release said. But the reality begs to differ. LBH Jakarta and our network has recorded human rights violations from arrests, murders and dispersal of rallies, the statement said.

The data show that from 2012 until June 2016, 4,198 Papuans were arrested. The arrests were made in different places and involved intimidation, it said.

The violations continued with the Papua Police chiefs order on July 1 this year, which limited freedom of expression by stigmatizing rallies with the label of separatism, LBH claimed, adding that since then, every rally had been dispersed and the protesters arrested.

From Aug. 13 to Sept. 16, 112 protesters were arrested while carrying out non-violent rallies in several places in Papua and Jakarta, LBH Jakarta went on. (evi)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said the development of 17 islets in Jakarta Bay shall wait for a green light from National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) because the city administration could not continue the development of the man-made islets by itself.

Its too simplistic to think the project should be managed only by Jakarta. How can [the administration] say that Jakarta was not a part of national strategic area? Jakarta is the capital of the state. The development of 17 islets will create [more than] 5,000 hectares of land. Therefore, the comprehensive Environmental Impact Analysis [Amdal] is needed, Susi said at a discussion held at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in South Jakarta on Tuesday.

The city administration had required an Amdal for each islet and not the entire project.

Susi said the reclamation projects in Jakarta would impact West Java and Banten. She said the Navy did not have a place to park their submarines because the sand on Tunda Island, Banten, had been dredged to develop the islets on the Jakarta northern coast.

Contrary to the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitans statement that gave a nod to the continuation of reclamation projects in Jakarta Bay, Susi believes the projects will continue after Bappenas issues a recommendation of the project by the end of the month. (evi)
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Linkedin Yulius (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4 2016

Despite the slowdown in macroeconomic growth, the drop in commodity and currency prices, the crash of equity markets, and the rise of geopolitical risks, top companies from emerging markets have not only survived, but they are also still growing and keeping on expanding overseas.

A new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), highlights 100 large, ambitious companies from emerging markets, two of whom are from Indonesia: Indofood and Golden Agri-Resources.

The report shows that in the last several years, regardless of the economic turmoil in emerging markets, these companies have maintained both their growth rates and profit margins.

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Linkedin Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, October 4, 2016

As e-commerce booms and travelers become more and more digital-oriented, online travel agent Traveloka is set to hold an online travel fair on Oct. 5-11.

Supported by seven of the world's major airlines and 15 banks, the event has been dubbed the first online travel exhibition in the country.

"During the online travel fair, customers can get massive deals with minimal effort by accessing our mobile app and website, said Traveloka marketing head Dannis Muhammad in a press release.

(Read also: 5 most popular destinations in Indonesia for holidaymakers)

The fair will also reportedly offer limited-time-only special deals such as return tickets to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for Rp 718,600 (US$55.33) and many more.

Google Trends data since October 2011 shows an increase in searches for special deals, such as those offered at the fair. No wonder more and more big cities in the country have recently played host to such events. (kes)
Its been a hotly debated question for years now: which grocery store chain is going to end up at Essex Crossing? This morning, the speculation has ended. Trader Joes is taking a corner space at 145 Clinton St., site 5 of the large residential and commercial project.

The announcement came a short time ago in separate news releases from the grocerys communications department and the citys Economic Development Corp. While the square footage was not announced (Trader Joes is notoriously secretive), developers had set aside 30,000 square feet for the grocery store. It will be located in the basement of the 15-story residential/commercial building.

If the quirky California-based chain takes all of that space, it will be one of the companys larger New York stores. Trader Joes currently has Manhattan locations near Union Square, in Chelsea, on the Upper West Side and on East 32nd Street. A second Upper West Side location is in-the-works. This past spring, there was talk of a Trader Joes coming to Extell Developments new 14th Street project, near Avenue B.

The building at the intersection of Grand and Clinton streets is also set to include a 22,000 square foot Planet Fitness on the second floor. Construction is expected to be finished in mid-2018. The first phase of Essex Crossing also includes a 14-screen Regal movie theater, a Splitsville Luxury Lanes bowling alley, a new home for the Essex Street Market, the Market Line shops and a medical center from NYU Langone.

During a community planning process several years ago, local residents said a full-service grocery store was a high priority on the former Seward Park urban renewal site.

Essex Crossing is being built by Delancey Street Associates, a joint venture of L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, and Taconic Investment Partners. In a statement, Andrew Katz of the Prusik Group, part of the development team, noted that a commitment was made to fulfill the communitys desire for an affordable grocery. Katz said, Were thrilled to deliver on that promise today.

Figuring out the right mix in Essex Crossings commercial spaces is critical. There is some concern in the community that a conventional grocery store might hurt the vendors at the Essex Street Market. Trader Joes is less likely to compete with the specialty food purveyors in the historic market, which is moving to a new 30,000 square foot space on the southeastern corner of Essex and Delancey streets.

Trader Joes is known for its good prices on high quality gourmet items packaged under the stores own label. As the companys press materials boasted, every item in the store has its own virtues, like high quality ingredients, great flavor, or simply an extraordinary price. About a dozen new items are introduced each month.

EDC President Maria Torres-Springer said, Bringing Trader Joes to Essex Crossing will help provide families across the Lower East Side with quality, fresh food options in their neighborhood Increasing food access is yet another way the Essex Crossing project meets the needs of current and future residents, ensuring that this long-anticipated project strengthens the Lower East Side community as a whole.

The news release also included statements of support from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council member Margaret Chin and Community Board 3 Chair Jamie Rogers. Trader Joes will be a welcome amenity to Lower East Side residents, said Rogers. It is an affordable, high quality neighborhood grocery store that meets the CB3s Guiding Principles for Essex Crossing of providing a diversity of goods at diverse price points. Previous reports of attempts to have Trader Joes expand within Community Board 3 were met with enthusiasm by the community. They will be very happy to hear that we have a firm commitment of Trader Joes at Essex Crossing.

The neighborhood lost a Pathmark store on Cherry Street in 2012 when Extell Development bought the site for its 80-story mega tower. A grocery store is expected to be part of that project when it is finished in 2019. Theres a Fine Fare supermarket directly across the street from Essex Crossing site 5.

Trader Joes has more than 450 stores across the country.
The Department of City Planning (DCP), local elected officials and Community Board 3 kicked off a rezoning initiative in Chinatown last week. During an initial meeting of CB3s land use committee, they outlined the neighborhood engagement process that will unfold during the next year.

After toiling over rezoning schemes for the past eight years, some community activists were relieved that the city is finally moving forward with a Chinatown plan. Others were outraged, accusing city planners and elected representatives of disrespecting their years of hard work under the auspices of the Chinatown Working Group (CWG).

The CWG was formed in 2008 as a response to complaints from neighborhood activists that the 111 block rezoning of the East Village and parts of the Lower East Side excluded Chinatown. The coalition of many local organizations came up with a comprehensive neighborhood plan, including a rezoning blueprint. Last year, it was rejected by the Department of City Planning, which called the proposal overly expansive.

Last Thursdays meeting at Middle School 131 on Hester Street was led off by City Council member Margaret Chin. In her prepared statement, she referenced not only the Chinatown Working Group plan but also a 2002 proposal from the Rebuild Chinatown Initiative (a community vision effort initiated by Asian Americans for Equality.) Heres part of what Chin had to say:

I would like to thank everyone who has worked hard to create a brighter future for Chinatown, including members of the Rebuild Chinatown Initiative and those involved with the Chinatown Working Group. Their concerns about displacement and the wrong kind of development are my concerns too. The several years of work done by the Chinatown Working Group yielded a framework calling attention to the issues we all care about. And while this is valuable work, at this point in time, I believe we have a great opportunity to engage stakeholders  those from the community and city leaders  in a neighborhood planning process in Chinatown. That is why I invited DCP to participate in this discussion, along with the Borough President, to work in partnership with the community in a neighborhood planning conversation in Chinatown with the goal of creating an implementable neighborhood plan I hope that this conversation will help us achieve the goal of creating more affordable housing along with other goals that will help us preserve what makes Chinatown unique while ensuring its bright future.

Joel Kolkmann of the Department of City Planning followed Chin, telling local stakeholders that the previous community-based efforts, established a lot of strong principles for us to work off of as a starting point. Mentioning priorities such as affordable housing, small business preservation and historic preservation, Kolkmann said, These are all goals we share but we do not feel that the Chinatown Working Group plan in its entirety is actionable. Thats why we were very excited earlier this year when Council member Chin approached us about initiating a conversation (in Chinatown).

Kolkmann and Roxanne Earley, a staffer in Chins office, outlined a Chinatown Public Engagement Process to Develop (an) implementation Plan. A local steering committee will be created and public visioning sessions held over a period of several months. That rezoning plan will then go through the citys land use approval process (ULURP). While boundaries have not yet been determined, the city has made it clear only a limited plan in the Chinatown neighborhood will be on the table.

Strong opposition came Thursday night from several quarters. An organization known as the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side staged a protest outside. Some of its members were ejected as the evening got underway for disrupting the meeting.

#Chinatown/LES residents protest at IS131 against CB3 delays on rezoning. Pass the #Chinatown Working Group plan! pic.twitter.com/WrKNkONKM2  AsianAmericanLegal (@aaldef) September 29, 2016

A statement, however, was read on their behalf. We are outraged and appalled, the Coalition vented, that our elected and appointed officials are railroading a plan to split up the Chinatown Working Group plan for the surrounding areas. The statement continued, This carving up of our community is continuing a legacy of discrimination and racist exclusion of the Lower East Side, pitting people of color against each other to fight for crumbs.

A community board member, Enrique Cruz, pointedly asked city officials why the larger plan had been rejected. Edith Hsu-Chen, director of DCPs Manhattan office, noted that rezoning efforts are labor intensive and consume a lot of the agencys resources. We dont have another 8 to 9 years to implement a plan, said Hsu-Chen. We can do some things now and we can certainly do some things later. We want to make sure we have a plan that is implementable.

The Chinatown Working Group proposal divided much of Lower Manhattan into several sub-districts. In addition to the Chinatown core (sub-district A), there are zones covering the waterfront and public housing campuses running up the east side, among other areas. Theres a lot of concern about several mega-towers in the Two Bridges neighborhood (sub-district D). The city rejected a request from Council member Chin for a ULURP to evaluate the large-scale development plans. As an alternative, DCP agreed to whats being called an enhanced environmental review in Two Bridges.

CB3 member and GOLES Executive Director Damaris Reyes urged the city to include the waterfront in the rezoning initiative. We are afraid about the impact of these developments on the waterfront community, said Reyes. This is our only shot. We do not have any time to waste. There is no other opportunity. Arguing that the city is not taking seriously all of the work already undertaken by the community, Reyes insisted, We need the city to step up. We need our elected (officials) to support us and really take charge here No other response is acceptable.

Others made the case that a piecemeal rezoning will only push unwanted development to sections of the neighborhood left unprotected. Cathy Deng, executive director of CAAAV said, Theres no point in rezoning Chinatown if we dont protect everything else If we dont protect the waterfront we are going to lose Chinatown.

In response, Hsu-Chen told board members, I would like to reiterate that this is not a DCP process. This is a community process. We were excited when Council member Chin approached us earlier this year with a desire to talk about a potential neighborhood plan for a more focused area. She emphasized that the city has joined with Chin, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and CB3.

At another point in the meeting, CB3 Land Use Committee Chair MyPhuong Chung said she believes its important to move the conversation to the next level and to stay focused on the Chinatown process. At the same time, Chung said, I share your frustration that more of what we worked together on in the Chinatown Working Group is not being pushed forward.



Trever Holland, president of Two Bridges Tower, pressed city officials on the reasons a down-zoning could not occur along the waterfront. His building is in the shadow of two looming luxury towers. Why, he asked, would a city administration so focused on building affordable housing pass up an opportunity to implement its Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program in the Two Bridges area?

Hsu-Chen said, The waterfront right now is zoned for high residential density The only way to implement Mandatory Inclusionary Housing is to do an up-zoning, and I dont think thats what the community is asking for. When Holland pointed out that the Chinatown Working Group Plan called for a down-zoning as well as affordable housing requirements, Hsu Chen responded, We passed the most aggressive mandatory affordable housing plan in the nation. Were all very proud of that (The CWG) proposal does not, at all, fit within the citys mandatory inclusionary housing framework. We cannot allow for applications that do not meet the framework.

Its likely that the community planning process will not begin until the end of this year. The next step will be selecting members of the steering committee. That is sure to generate more controversy, as various neighborhood constituencies battle for spots on the panel.
A man who was shot in the shoulder managed to chase after the man who allegedly shot him and fatally shot another person in a park yesterday afternoon. Police were then able to arrest the suspect, charging him with murder and attempted murder soon after.

Police say that just before 1 p.m., a 31-year-old man told officers that he was shot in the shoulder inside Highbridge Park, at West 165th Street and Edgecomb Avenue in Washington Heights. The shooter's target was apparently a 36-year-old man, who was shot multiple times in the head; the NY Post reports that "as the gunman fled over the Washington Bridge foot bridge, the wounded guy ran after him and soon alerted a patrol cop from the 44 Precinct."

Officers caught up with and arrested Corvell Hampton, 28, of Chicago. Police sources tell the Daily News that Hampton "and the victim had been partying, consuming cocaine and beer for several hours leading up to a fight that sparked the fatal gunfire."

City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, Senator Adriano Espaillat and other politicians are holding a press conference to discuss the shootings and "call for an increase in police/parks officer presence in uptown parks" today.
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... Since 1950 ...



1951 - July 13 -

FLOOD

In the early morning darkness, the

Kansas River over-tops the flood-walls in both Kansas Citys

May 20

TORNADO

Ruskin Heights is dissected by an F-5 tornado

.

The tornado formed southwest of Ottawa- near Williamsburg, Kansas around 6 pm and by 7:30 pm- the killer vortex had crossed the state line into Missouri.



Most of the unincorporated town of Martin City and nearly half of the homes in the fairly-new Ruskin Heights subdivision were either heavily damaged or destroyed.





Forty-four deaths are officially attributed to the entire tornado's 71-mile path- 39 of those dying in Missouri.





This is the deadliest tornado in Metro KC weather history.









September

FLOOD - FLASH FLOOD

April 12

TORNADO

July

FLASH FLOOD

April 19

TORNADO

May 15

TORNADO

1966

June 8

TORNADO

January 24

TORNADO

June 29

TORNADO

1973

January 3 & 4

ICE STORM

September

FLASH FLOOD













1977 - May 4 - TORNADO - A mini- tornado outbreak affected every part of Metro Kansas City except the northwestern areas.



There were at least 4 separate tornadoes - 3 of them F-3 or stronger.



There are 3 deaths - 2 in Pleasant Hill where an in-session high and elementary school were hit - and one near Odessa, MO..



More than 2 dozen injuries were reported.



It was







1977 - September 12 & 13 - FLASH FLOOD - Kansas City's worst flash flooding in terms of lives lost and damage.



Twenty-five people died.



Up to 16-inches of rain over a 2-day period on the heavily-urbanized Brush Creek watershed culminated on the night of the 13th.



Devastating flooding occurred along Brush Creek from the Kansas suburbs just west of the state line eastward to the Big Blue river.



Several of the Blue's smaller tributaries like Independence's Rock Creek suffered major flooding as well.



Four people in their cars were washed away into Round Grove creek, which was more than 10-feet out of it's banks along Raytown Road as they exited the Truman Sports Complex after the Royals baseball game was cancelled.



Most of the other victims drowned along Brush Creek between State Line and The Paseo.



The scenes I witnessed that night haunt me to this day as much as the Jan. 28, 1978 Coates House fire where 20 died.







1980 - July-August - HEAT WAVE - Kansas City's deadliest weather disaster by far: A prolonged heat wave . Floodwater inundates a mobile home park in Northmoor mobile home park where emergency rescue of residents had to be conducted.- A mini- tornado outbreak affected every part of Metro Kansas City except the northwestern areas.There were at least 4 separate tornadoes - 3 of them F-3 or stronger.There are 3 deaths - 2 in Pleasant Hill where an in-session high and elementary school were hit - and one near Odessa, MO..More than 2 dozen injuries were reported.It was the first time I got on the tail of a twister - following it into Pleasant Hill - Kansas City's worst flash flooding in terms of lives lost and damage.Up to 16-inches of rain over a 2-day period on the heavily-urbanized Brush Creek watershed culminated on the night of the 13th.Devastating flooding occurred along Brush Creek from the Kansas suburbs just west of the state line eastward to the Big Blue river.Several of the Blue's smaller tributaries like Independence's Rock Creek suffered major flooding as well.Four people in their cars were washed away into Round Grove creek, which was more than 10-feet out of it's banks along Raytown Road as they exited the Truman Sports Complex after the Royals baseball game was cancelled.Most of the other victims drowned along Brush Creek between State Line and The Paseo.The scenes I witnessed that night haunt me to this day as much as the Jan. 28, 1978 Coates House fire where 20 died.- Kansas City's deadliest weather disaster by far:



More than 200 people are reported to have died from various heat-related causes from late June through August.



One July day was tinder-dry with Santa-Ana-like conditions.



Grass, brush and other fires citywide had the Fire Department down to a handful of companies in service when a grass fire spread to an apartment complex near 76th St. & Blue Ridge.



Four other fire departments - including Johnson County KS. - had to help what few KC-MO companies that made it there.



No one was injured - but several buildings were damaged.







1982 - August - FLASH FLOOD - Flash flooding strikes southern & southeastern KC-MO..



One fatality was reported.



The not-yet completed Longview Lake saved the Little Blue Valley from major flooding.







1984 - March - ICE STORM - A damaging ice storm affects a wide area of eastern Kansas and western Missouri - including the Kansas City Metro.







1984 - June 8 & 9 - FLASH FLOOD - Severe flash flooding affects Indian Creek from Olathe and Overland Park to it's mouth with the Blue River in KC-MO..



Hundreds of residents along Indian Creek from Olathe, Overland Park into KC, MO.. flee the record flood crests.



No one was reported hurt - but 2 young women were stranded on a traffic island by floodwaters at 103rd St. & Conser in OP-KS for more than 2 hours.



The author's 6-inch rain gauge in Olathe overflowed before it could be emptied and yet another 2.5 inches fell into it by 2 am on the 9th.



Based on this information plus flooding I was both witnessing and listening to in the Indian Creek headwaters and downstream, KCTV-CBS-5's meteorologist Mike Thompson was able to warn those downstream along Indian Creek of the danger via bulletins.







1986 - September - FLASH FLOOD - Flash flooding along Rock Creek in Mission, KS. & Brush Creek sends water again lapping at the curbs in the Plaza.



The Brush Creek flood control project - undertaken in the 1990's - has greatly reduced the flood threat for the Plaza.



However middle portions of the project not yet completed would have fatal effects on Brush Creek 12 years later.







1990 - May 15 - FLOOD - More than 8-inches of rain in 4 hours sends the Big Blue river into a massive flood and- at many points - flood crests exceeded records set during the 1961 flood.



By evening drive - there were only 2 routes open east or west across the Blue unless you lived south of Bannister Road: Independence Avenue ("Armco") viaduct and Interstate-70.



The Blue was channelized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the 1990's and greatly reduced flooding as would be illustrated 8 years later during the 1998 flash floods.







1993 - July 9 - FLASH FLOOD - After a slow-moving thunderstorm complex threatens Lawrence, KS with tornadoes then floods it - the complex moves into northern Johnson County KS..



Flash flooding is by far the worst on Turkey Creek - it's entire floodplain is inundated from Overland Park & Merriam into KC-KS then into Southwest Boulevard and the West Bottoms in KC-MO..



Dozens of residents have to be swiftly evacuated by police & fire departments on both sides of the state line. Several people have to be rescued from rooftops of flooded buildings along Southwest Blvd..



One man is later found dead.



Kemper Arena and the American Royal complex is also flooded and damage figures reach the tens of millions of dollars.



WDAF-NBC4's Mike Thompson stays on the air all night- relaying high water reports I was receiving by radio.



Later that day - the now-swollen Kansas River caused two boats to be torn from their moorings.



One - the sand dredge The General Mitchell - struck 4 bridges and was severely damaged before 2 tugboats could push the Mitchell onto the Missouri River levee east of the Paseo bridge.



Along with post-8 am flooding and the General Mitchell- the author also videotaped the Missouri rising in Parkville, a make-shift levee and a "conga-line" of people heaving sandbags onto an overtopping Line Creek levee in Riverside, MO..







1993 - July 26-27 - FLOOD - Record Missouri River flood crest at Kansas City.



Squeezed into a narrow channel by levees- the Missouri River reaches an all-time highest flood crest of 48.87-feet near Downtown (old Municipal) Airport.





That surpassed the previous record 48-foot crest estimated during the legendary 1844 flood.





Downtown Parkville and most of Riverside are under water.









The water supplier for more than a million residents - the Kansas City Water Works - becomes severely threatened by the flood-swollen Missouri river.

Sandbagging and the additional pumping power of nearly a half-dozen Fire department pumper companies save the city's water supply from contamination.



In KC-KS -residents of the Argentine, Armourdale and the Rosedale neighborhoods - nearly destroyed in the 1951 flood - are evacuated.

The higher levees built after the '51 flood hold.

The flood crest in that flood is now No. 3 at 46.20-feet.



Parts of the Turner area of KC-KS are not so lucky and are flooded.

A mobile home park for about 100 people off K-32 is inundated and eventually abandoned.



At least no one dies in this flood.



1996 - May 26 - TORNADO - Southern Lee's Summit-MO. - what the NWS ultimately determined to be a "micro-burst" struck the Raintree Lake subdivision just after sunset.



There was tornadic circulation in that "micro-burst" - with winds "officially estimated at around 125 m.p.h.."



I saw 2 x 6 lumber driven into the ground at the correct angle & position on the northern edge of the damage path 20 minutes after the strike.



Several people suffered minor injuries and nearly 4-dozen homes received damage varying from slight to major.



Damage was in the $10-million range.







1998 - October 4 & 5 - FLASH FLOOD - It's the deadliest flash-flooding event in the KC Metro since "The Plaza Flood" of 1977.



September 1998 had already been a wet month and the ground across the entire K.C. Metro was saturated.



On Sunday, October 4 - a morning of off and on heavy showers and thunderstorms produced up to 5-inches of rain and flash- flooding in southeastern & eastern parts of the Metro.

Damaging flooding occurred in parts of Lee's Summit and a youth was swept away and drowned in a rain-swollen creek by early afternoon.



By mid-afternoon- the area was under not only under a NWS-issued flash flood watch but also a tornado watch.



Just before sunset- a huge thunderstorm complex formed west of Lawrence, KS. and- after deluging them- the complex moves eastward across northern Johnson County KS. into western and central Jackson County MO..



Over mid-town KC-MO - the storm dropped rain rates of 5-inches per hour during the 7-o'clock hour.

A huge- sudden flood-wave on Brush Creek swept over the top of the old Prospect bridge - sweeping seven people in and on top of their cars downstream.



Despite rescue attempts by by-standers and- eventually- firefighters- all 7 people drown.



(Minutes before this happened- an audio tape has this author pleading with a local TV weatherman over the phone to emphasize the flash flooding- rather than the tornado threat that we also were under.)



There were two other fatalities during the evening deluge - one each in Overland Park at a storm-water culvert that flowed toward I-435 east of Quivira and in Lenexa, KS on Little Mill Creek.



For the first time since the highway was opened around 1970 - both eastbound AND westbound lanes of I-435 just east of Quivira in OP-KS are flooded.



One man is barely saved from his pickup truck when it was washed off the eastbound lanes into the creek the gorged underground culvert was feeding.



Severe flooding again occurs on Turkey Creek - especially in Merriam- a portion of I-35 is closed by flooding for a couple of hours.



Southwest Boulevard is again flooded but water levels are not as high as in 1993.



Millions across America had tuned into the Chiefs vs. Seattle Seahawks NFL football game on TV and watched as Arrowhead Stadium's walkways turn into waterfalls.

The game was halted and nearly 75000 people were advised to seek cover for nearly an hour during the deluge.





2000 - May 11 - TORNADO - Surprise tornado north of The River.



"The threat of tornadoes in K.C. appears to be over."



That's what at least 2 TV "chief" weatherpersons say over the airwaves 15 to 30 minutes prior to a tornado touching down about 11:25 pm at 40th St. & North Oak in KC-MO..



The tornado destroys a car dealership- then rises to tree-top level for another several miles across heavily-populated KC-MO North towards the Worlds of Fun area.



Fortunately, there were no injuries.







2002 - January 27-30 - ICE STORM - MetroRegion-wide ice storm that persists over 3 days.



Damage to trees and the utility grids was tremendous - at one point more than a million people in the KC MetroRegion lost power.



There were at least 4 fatalities attributed to some aspect of this storm.







2003 - May 4 - TORNADO - First fatality tornado in Metro Kansas City since 1977 - and on the 26th anniversary of the '77 storm .



A tornado touches down in S.E. Leavenworth County about 4 pm in the afternoon and intensifies to F-4 as it moves across I-435 into western & northwestern KC-KS..



Both fatalities occurred in a heavily-devastated area around 91st St. & Leavenworth Road.



The tornado moved across the Missouri river into Riverside & Northmoor, MO.- producing varying degrees of damage.



The now-weakened circulation reorganized about a mile north - then moves from southwestern into eastern Gladstone- causing most of the heavy damage there.



The again F-4 tornado now roars into adjacent KC North subdivisions and on northeastward into Liberty- weakened- yet causing heavy damage on the town square and the nearby William Jewell College campus.



Two die with around a dozen people injured along the total path of the tornado. Damage was in the several tens of millions of dollars.



This outbreak began an almost week stretch of severe weather- culminating with a May 8th tornado in southwestern Lawrence-KS that damaged an apartment complex and nearby homes and caused several injuries..







2008 - May 1 - 2 - TORNADO - Another surprise tornado north of The River.



An intense- but compact storm system produces severe weather around Metro Kansas City starting the evening of May 1 (SEE CaptGSpaulding's video on YouTube).



Just after sunset on May 1- a tornado warning is issued by the NWS when a small tornado touches down in an open field southwest of Belton-MO.. A van-load of us were there to video that which we never actually saw.



Yet no tornado warning is in effect in the early-morning hours of May 2 when an F-4 tornado strikes Gladstone- then an F-3 twister strikes a subdivision in far northeast Kansas City-MO North.



Hurricane force winds also struck other areas- especially portions of Independence- Raytown and eastern KC-MO..



Less than a dozen people suffered minor injuries Metro-wide but daylight on the morning of May 2 reveal a man dead of what were reported as storm-related injuries near M-291 and Gudgell in Independence.



Damages Metro-wide were later estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.





Passage across the Missouri is not possible between Kansas City and St. Joseph.The water supplier for more than a million residents - the Kansas City Water Works - becomes severely threatened by the flood-swollen Missouri river.

-Flash flooding caused by a dying Gulf hurricane caused record floods on the Big and Little Blue rivers and their tributaries.The heavy damage done to one of General Motors' first Chevrolet assembly plant in the Leeds district of KC-MO. helps lead to the plant's closing by the mid 1970's.The flood brings about planning and in the 1980's construction of 2 new flood-control reservoirs - Lake Longview and Lake Blue Springs.This greatly reduces flooding on the Little Blue River - opening up the floodplain to development in southeastern Independence and northern Lee's Summit, MO..Yet land in neighboring Johnson County KS. is too expensive for flood-control projects for the Big Blue River - and continued flooding of the Blue Valley over then next 30 years would help lead to it's industrial-base demise.-It's the first tornado outbreak in the Kansas City MetroRegion for many years.Tornadoes cause damage southwest and west of Lawrence and in Leavenworth County and the city itself.Other supercells produced tornadoes in Cass County MO. and around Pleasant Hill where one fatality occurred.There were dozens of injuries all told in the affected areas with damage in the millions of dollars.- Smithville, MO. is ravaged by a flash flood on the Little Platte River.Tracy - on the Platte River a few miles downstream from the confluence of the Little Platte - also suffers major flooding as the Platte River reaches a record crest that stands early into the 21st Century.- A tornado forms over what was then farmland east of I-35 & 119th Street in Johnson County KS. and moves northeastward.Within 10 minutes - the F-3-rated tornado strikes a new housing subdivision and barely misses an elementary school at West 96th St. & Knox in Overland Park There are several minor injuries and the tornado-bearing storm moves over highly-populated areas of southern K.C. & Independence, MO..The official tornado warning wasn't issued by the National Weather Service or the local broadcast media until after the tornado had touched down - traveled it's roughly 4 to 5-mile-long path and lifted.- A weak "white" tornado touches down near 15th St. & Minnesota in KC-KS.It's only on the ground a few minutes but wreaks F-1 destruction to buildings & car dealerships along Minnesota.A few people suffered minor injuries.- A day of tornado-producing thunderstorm supercells across eastern and northeastern Kansas.One produced an F-3 tornado that struck Manhattan, KS. around 6 pm.Another cell spawns the first U.S. tornado to produce 100-million-dollars worth or more of damage - the devastating F-5 tornado that struck Topeka, KS ..The wedge-shaped, multi-vortex tornado roared over legendary Burnett's Mound just after 7 pm and diagonally sliced through the entire city.Sixteen people were killed and hundreds were injured that Wednesday evening.Around 8:30 pm- a tornado then moved across Leavenworth County and kills one in the tiny town of Jarbalo.- The Orrick, MO. tornado.A rare mid-winter thunderstorm formed on the Kansas side just after noon and became severe over southern KC-MO..Just after 1 pm- a tornado forms southwest of Buckner. MO. - gains F-3 strength after it crosses the Missouri River - and heads for the southwestern Ray County community of Orrick. It strikes the in-session high school on the western side of Orrick - where 2 are killed and more than a dozen are injured inside the shattered school building.- A tornado - rated as strong as F-3 - hits parts of southern Platte County and western Clay county MO..Damage is reported in Riverside and northwestern Gladstone with at least 6 persons injured along the tornado's path.- A massive ice & snowstorm -beginning around noon on the 3rd - hits Metro K.C..Nearly a foot of snow falls on the several inches of freezing rain and sleet.Tens of thousands of residents who lose power suffer sub-zero temperatures following the storm.The tree & power line damage I see far and away exceeds that witnessed in the 1984 and 2002 storms.- Failure of a private lake dam in the upper watershed of Line Creek in KC-MO leads to flash flooding downstream.
House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to keep manufacturing jobs in Michigan.

Ryan joined Congressman Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, for a discussion with journalists at Oakland Air, 6740 S. Service Drive, about his A Better Way Agenda, a possible Donald Trump presidency and manufacturing jobs in Michigan.

Ryan is currently on a 17-state, 42-city tour helping rally support for fellow Republicans up for reelection in Congress.

Ryan expressed his support for Bishop, who is seeking reelection in November, calling him a workhorse who gets the jobs done. Ryan was in Traverse City earlier Monday rallying support for Republican congressional candidate Jack Bergman.

Bishop said: He (Paul Ryan) has been traveling around the country and hes busy but hes been a great spokesperson for our party and really articulating what we want to accomplish and what it would look like if Republicans had the opportunity to lead this country.

Ryan said he doesnt believe a New York Times article published over the weekend will hurt Trumps presidential candidacy.

I dont think its that harmful, said Ryan. I think people who dont like him are going to continue disliking him.

Manufacturing jobs in Michigan

Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump focused a lot on keeping manufacturing jobs in Michigan during his Friday Rally in Novi. Ryan said a Trump presidency would have a positive effect on keeping and increasing manufacturing jobs in Michigan.

RELATED: We will end Clinton corruption, says Donald Trump during Novi rally

Ryan said: Just look at our tax plan. The C corporation tax rate, like for Ford, would go down to 20 percent and then we would be able to write off 100 percent of all expensing and planting equipment in America. If Ford wants to build a new factory in America they can write it off in the year it takes place. Thats a huge boom to manufacturing.

Ryan said companies like Ford Motor Company that want to send money back from overseas to reinvest in America cant do it because of the countrys current tax laws.

Under our tax plan they would be able to do that, said Ryan. We want exports but the tax laws disallow you from bringing that money back in to reinvest. We have $2 trillion in capital parked overseas that cannot come back into our country. Our tax plan changes that.

Ryan said he thinks America should begin to border adjust their taxes just as most other industrial countries do.

What this means is you take the tax off your exports and put it on your imports, said Ryan. In our country we do the opposite. We are backwards right now. We are putting ourselves at a huge tax disadvantage.

Strong Michigan leaders in Congress

Ryan said Michigan has lost a lot of seniority in the last few years in Congress.

What Michigan has going for it is good, strong up and coming leaders, said Ryan.
Bangkok braces for triple whammy

BANGKOK City officials are making preparations for a triple blow  run-off from the North, heavy downpours and high tides  all coinciding in the middle of the month.

weather

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 4 October 2016, 09:25AM

An army relief worker contemplates a flooded soi in northern Bangkok. The next several weeks are crucial if Bangkok is to remain dry from the weather trifecta: run-off from the North, heavy, daily downpours and the annual high tides. Photo: Post Today

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has sounded the alarm as the run-off and the downpours could trigger widespread flooding worsened by the tides, deputy BMA spokesman Bensai Keeyapaj said Monday (Oct 3).

The BMA executives met Monday to discuss Bangkoks water situation.

Most vulnerable are communities along the Chao Phraya River which are not protected by flood walls.

Also, in the past week, several low-lying spots east of Bangkok such as Min Buri and Lat Krabang have experienced flooding as canals have overflowed, she said.

Ms Bensai added more wet weather is in store for Bangkok in the coming days as a monsoon trough is lingering over the capital.

In Ayutthaya, provincial governor Sujin Chaichumsak said he has asked the irrigation authorities to open seven sluice gates to divert water from the Noi River into the 130,000-rai Phak Hai field where rice has already been harvested.

The area was now ready to be converted into a temporary kaem ling (monkey cheek) water-retention zone, he said.

The province had previously told the irrigation office that it could begin diverting the water into two other major clusters of paddy fields in Ayutthaya called the Bang Ban and Sena fields.

Water run-off from the North empties into the Gulf of Thailand through the Noi and Chao Phraya rivers.

Pathum Thani governor Surachai Khan-arsa, meanwhile, said the province was looking to divert at least 7 million cubic metres of water into the Rama IX reservoir project in Khlong Luang district which has a maximum retention capacity of 33 million cubic metres.

Although less water is now flowing downstream from the lower North and the upper part of the Central Plains, plenty more rain is on the way and will arrive from Tuesday until Saturday, said Thongplew Kongjun, deputy director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department (RID).

However, water experts maintain the current water situation is unlikely to lead to the major floods that devastated much of the country in 2011.

Chirapol Sintunawa, of Mahidol Universitys Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, said a repeat of that disaster is unlikely.

However, the impact of the La Nina wet weather phenomenon in Southeast Asia could cause the rainy season in Thailand to drag on until early next year, and residents should be prepared.

He said with La Nina, storms could hit Thailand hard.

Even though the floods are unlikely to cause huge damage as in 2011, several areas still run the risk of encountering more floods as more than two storms could be brewing to threaten the country in the same month, he said.

Some storms are predicted to form in Vietnam and possibly affect Thailand early next month, said Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute.

Read original story here.
Funeral services held for respected Phuket jazz aficionado Abner Arela

PHUKET: Funeral services are being held in Phuket Town for respected Phuket jazz aficionado Abner Arela, who died on Saturday (Oct 1) from complications brought on by a stroke he suffered last week. He was 64.

culturedeath

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 4 October 2016, 11:25AM

Funeral services are being held in Phuket Town for respected Phuket jazz aficionado Abner Arela, who died on Saturday (Oct 1).

We wish to condole with the family of Abner Arela, who passed away October 1 at Vachira Hospital Phuket, due to brain stroke, the ACTION-Association of Concerned Filipinos in Thailand Facebook group announced in a post online.

It is with deep sorrow that we mourn for the death of our kababayan (countryman), the group also posted. Rest in eternal peace Abner... they said.

Abner was a seasoned musician, a humble man, a good friend, a religious person and a responsible family man, the group added.

Vigil and prayers for Mr Arela began yesterday and continue today (Oct 4) at Our Lady of Assumption Church on Soi Taling Chan in Phuket Town. (See map below.)

A special mass will be held at 10am tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct 5), after which a service for his burial will be held at the hallowed cemetery behind Darasamuth School.

Mr Arela is survived by his wife Cely and son Ranel, who is renowned in Phuket as a jazz drummer who often performed at the home of Phuket jazz, the Music Matters bar in Phuket Town.

The Phuket jazz community last week rallied for donations for life-saving medication after consulting with an Italian brain surgeon and to assist Mr Arelas family with rising medical bills. (See story here.)
Phuket lifeguards rescue Russian tourist from waves slamming him onto rocks

PHUKET: A Russian tourist was taken to hospital after his left shoulder was dislocated when waves slammed him onto rocks at Karon Beach today (Oct 4).

marineaccidentsweather

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 4 October 2016, 05:59PM

Russian tourist Viktor Sizouenko, 32, suffered a dislocated shoulder when waves slammed him onto rocks. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The man, named by staff at Patong Hospital as Viktor Sizouenko, 32, was rescued by lifeguards at about 10:30am.

The injured man was taken to hospital for treatment. Luckily, he suffered only a minor injury to his shoulder. He is okay now, Phuket Lifeguard Chief Prathaiyut Chuayuan told The Phuket News today.

Mr Sizouenko entered the water outside the zone marked safe for swimming by lifeguards, Mr Prathaiyut explained.

One of the lifeguards who rescued Mr Sizouenko told The Phuket News, We warned him not to go in the water because it was too dangerous, but he did not listen to us.

Mr Sizouenko was then carried away from the beach and dragged to the southern end of Karon, where he was pummelled onto rocks.

Incidents like this can happen to anyone if you are not a strong swimmer, especially during this time of year, Mr Prathaiyut warned.

Please learn how to swim and pay good attention to lifeguards warnings  and please swim only where the flags say it is safe to do so, and never swim where red flags are posted, he said.
Phuket Vegetarian Festival to generate B3.4 billion, says officials

PHUKET: This years Phuket Vegetarian Festival is expected to generate more than B3.4 billion, leading Phuket tourism officials have revealed.

tourismChinesecultureeconomics

By Darawan Naknakhon

Tuesday 4 October 2016, 05:11PM

Devotees take part in the Samkong Chinese Shrine street procession through Phuket Town as part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival this morning (Oct 4). Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

Ma Song (spirit mediums) take part in the Samkong Chinese Shrine street procession through Phuket Town as part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival this morning (Oct 4). Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

A Ma Song (spirit medium) takes part in the Samkong Chinese Shrine street procession through Phuket Town as part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival this morning (Oct 4). Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

A Ma Song (spirit medium) carries a less-than-traditional burden during the Samkong Chinese Shrine street procession through Phuket Town as part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival this morning (Oct 4). Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

Right now we are seeing an average hotel occupancy of 72% from the more than 53,000 rooms [officially recognised] available in Phuket, said Anoma Vongyai, Director of Tourism authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office.

That number is expected to rise during October because of the festival, government holiday, Chinese National Day and school holidays, she added.

The booking rate along street procession routes in Phuket Town during the last three days of the festival is already at about 90%, which means we will have more than 270,000 people travelling to Phuket and generating about B3.4 billion for tourism (during the festival), Ms Anoma pointed out.

The nine-day annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which began on Saturday (Oct 1), this year has so far attracted large numbers of tourists from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Russia India and Middle Eastern countries, Ms Anoma said.

Tourism this time of the year is robust and alive. We will see many tourists from all over the world, especially Chinese tourists, which lately have begun to increase after the number of arrivals fell about 15-20% over the past two months, she added.

The number of Chinese tourist arrivals plunged after officials launched a blitz on zero-dollar tour companies operating in Thailand. (See story here.)

In light in the healthy resurgence in the number of tourists to Phuket, Ms Anoma noted that many areas away from Phuket Town, where most of the Vegetarian Festival ceremonies will take place, will also benefit.

Tourists who come during the festival will spread out across the island. Some will stay in accommodations along Phuket beaches while others will stay in Phuket Town, she said.

We will also see a rising number of wealthy Chinese tourists arrive as free independent travellers (FITs) group. These tourists prefer to stay at pool villas or near beaches, Ms Anoma added.

Bhuritt Maswongssa, who heads the Phuket chapter of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), noted the boost in the number of flights arriving in Phuket for the festival.

We normally have 230 flights a day, but that has risen to 262 flights bringing people here each day, he said.

The holiday season for the Chinese, the hot seasonal hot weather in Middle East and in India, the security issue for Australians, all are reasons why tourists are coming here  but the most important factor of all right now is because it is during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, so we have a lot people coming in to join the festival, he said.

Meanwhile, economic think-tank Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch) projects that restaurants in Bangkok will see turnover of perhaps B2.3 billion, equivalent to 5% growth year-on-year during the Vegetarian Festival in the capital, also being held on Oct 1-9.

It also forecasts that younger residents are now taking an interest in the festival. (See report here.)
Police hunt two men for Phuket souvenir shop theft

PHUKET: Police are looking for two men after CCTV captured one of them breaking into a local souvenir shop and stealing more than B20,000 worth of jewellery and cash.

crimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 4 October 2016, 10:20AM

Police have clear images from CCTV and fingerprints from the scene. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Shop manager Wittaya Sriularawat called the police after noticing one of the shops windows had been forced open. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Many other items of jewellery were left untouched. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The souvenir shops CCTV caught one of the men clearly in act. Image: CCTV

Wittaya Sriularawat, 32, the manager of the Babas souvenir store, located on the spur road from Phuket International Airport to Thepkrasattri Rd (Route 4026), reported the robbery after he arrived for work at 8am yesterday (Oct 3).

The shop opened about a year ago and this morning I came to open the shop as usual when I found the window slightly opened, so I went inside to check, Mr Wittaya told The Phuket News.

I called police right away after I discovered several items were missing, he said.

Among the items stolen were several pearl necklaces, earrings, rings and other jewellery, along with some cash, Mr Wittaya reported.

Capt Suporn Muangkhai of the Thalang Police soon arrived with fellow officers to find a window at the back of the shop had been forced open.

Capt Suporn added that the shops security CCTV footage showed two suspects arrived at the shop on a motorbike at about 4am yesterday.

One of them sat outside keeping watch while the other broke into the shop via the back window, he explained.

It was raining a lot that night so we assume that the suspects took advantage during that time to commit the theft, Capt Suporn said.

Luckily CCTV footage captured images the suspects and we collected some fingerprints from the scene. Hopefully well find them soon, he added.
Authorities say a 44-year-old Montana City man drowned Monday after a boat capsized on the Missouri River between Helena and Great Falls.

Marc Allan Jorgensen's death is being ruled as an accidental drowning, according to Cascade County Sheriff/Coroner Bob Edwards.

Officials received a call just before noon reporting the boat capsizing about a quarter mile south of Cox Creek Lane in the Dearborn area.

Edwards said Jorgensen and two other males launched a boat from the Mid Canon fishing access around 10:30 a.m. and shortly thereafter entered some rapids that caused navigation problems. In an attempt to control the boat, they deployed an anchor, which caught the bottom and caused the boat to tip and fill with water, he said.

The three occupants jumped out of the boat and tried to swim to shore, but Jorgensen didn't make it. No personal flotation devices were being used, Edwards said.

The victim was immediately located once deputies arrived on the scene, and he was recovered by a member of the Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office water rescue team.

Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Dearborn Volunteer Fire Department also responded.

The investigation found no signs of suspicious activity or alcohol use.

"This appears to be a very sad and unfortunate accident," Edwards said.

To donate to Jorgensen's family, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/2sptx24?ssid=762564511&pos=1.
11AAA semis will be awesome and more from HS football quarterfinals
Helena police say a 49-year-old man stole nearly $300,000 from his mother over several years. Kevin Todd Vinson is jailed on a felony charge of exploitation of an older person.

Vinson is accused of taking the money while living with his ill 71-year-old mother in Helena. He lived with his mother for three years until an abrupt departure to Florida in 2015, when he left without explanation, court documents state.

Vinson allegedly used the money on drinking, gambling and purchasing vehicles. Court documents say Vinson's mother gave him access to some of the accounts so he could help her with her finances after the death of her husband, and he added himself onto others without her knowledge.

Vinson reportedly told a witness in the case, "I'm going to have fun while I can and if I end up going to prison then I end up going to prison."

The victim told police she never gave Vinson permission to make any cash withdrawals, which totaled nearly $60,000 in 172 different transactions, or to write checks to casinos that totaled nearly $60,000.

"She said she knew Vinson gambled a little and had a drinking problem, but she assumed he used his own money and she did not and would not have approved the use of her money for these purposes. She was adamant she only intended to provide Vinson with a free place to stay and groceries while he was living with her," according to court documents.

Authorities apprehended Vinson in Florida. He made his initial court appearance on the felony charge Monday from the county jail.
One person died in a boating accident Monday morning on the Missouri River between Helena and Great Falls, authorities said.

The accident occurred near a bridge in the Dearborn area, Lt. Bob Rosipal of the Cascade County Sheriff/Coroner's Office said in an email.

The name of the victim will not be released until the family is notified, he added. The cause of death has not been announced.

Responding agencies included the Cascade County Sheriffs Office, Dearborn Fire Department, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said his office was called off the Cascade County incident after receiving the initial call.

The Cascade County sheriff plans to release more information about the incident Tuesday.
Montanans were sold a bill of goods in 2004 that the process of getting medical marijuana was by going to their doctor and receiving a prescription. Montanans were deceived back then and the proponents of I-182 are trying to deceive Montanans this time as well.

By 2008 Montanans saw the irresponsible, unregulated, and unmonitored program explode in Montana. Traveling doctors recommended cannabis to their clients, despite the fact that they lack even the most rudimentary information about the composition, quality and dose.

While pharmaceutical companies are responsible for any harm that befalls a patient from their products and tobacco companies are held accountable for damage done by cigarettes, marijuana providers and dispensaries hold no accountability for their product where very little is known. At a time that efforts are being made to stem the epidemic of prescription drug abuse, I-182 would allow distribution sites to proliferate without true regulation.

A state ballot initiative should NOT be the process to approve medicine. The general public is not qualified to make medical decisions. The practice of medicine is evidence-based, and the legalization of a drug with the potential for abuse by the general population that has no qualification to determine composition, quality and dose is a bad way to practice medicine. It guarantees the failure of a program that may have potential success for patients who need medical marijuana under a doctors care and it ensures the accessibility of recreational marijuana to the rest of the population.

Montana should NOT pass I-182 because the marijuana provided to patients who have debilitating diseases should not be getting treatment without a doctors care by marijuana that is not reviewed for its safety and efficacy, where there is not standardization and formulation for dosing, and there is no regulated, closed system of distribution for marijuana which is a drug with abuse potential.

I-182 does not:

Ensure that the established profession tenets of proper patient care are adhered to, including:

History and a good faith examination of the patient,

Development of a treatment plan with objectives,

Provision of informed consent, including discussion of side effects,

Periodic review of the treatments efficacy,

Consultation, as necessary

Proper record-keeping that supports the decision to recommend the use of cannabis.

Guarantee that a bona fide physician-patient relationship with the patient exists.

The recommending physician should have a pre-existing and ongoing relationship with the patient. Under I-182  they do not.

The physician that recommends the marijuana should not have a practice where the issuance of recommendations is not disproportionately large nor the exclusive practice of the physician. Under I-182  it is not.

The recommending physician should always have adequate information regarding the composition and dose of the cannabis product. Under I-182  they do not.

Have adequate training in identifying substance abuse and addiction. Under I-182  it is not even a concern.

Montanans need to vote NO to I-182. It wasnt a good idea in 2004, and it is not a good idea in 2016. If you take the time to compare the two initiatives from 2004 and 2016, it is obvious that not only have the pro-marijuana proponents NOT made the medical marijuana safer for people with debilitating conditions, they have also opened up the system so that those who want to use it recreationally can have easier access to it.

VOTE NO to I-182!

Steve Zabawa is the founder of Safe Montana.
BILLINGS -- Bass Pro Shops is buying Cabelas Inc. for $5.5 billion, which includes debt, the two companies announced Monday.

The privately held, Springfield, Mo.-based Bass Pro also announced it is hiring Capital One to take over the Cabelas branded credit card. All Cabelas CLUB points will remain for customers to ensure a seamless transition, the companies stated in a release.

Sidney, Nebraska-based Cabelas operates a Billings store at 4550 King Ave. E. The news release made no mention of planned store closures, and Bass Pro has no stores in Montana.

However, a Bass Pro spokeswoman highlighted a statement that the company intends to celebrate and grow the Cabelas brand, noting that decisions about individual stores would come later.

Cabela's has three Montana stores, in Billings, Missoula and Kalispell.

Messages to both companies were not immediately returned Monday.

The companies hope to close the deal in the first half of 2017. It is subject to regulatory approval.

Bass Pro officials said it obtained $2.4 billion in financing from investment banks Goldman Sachs and Pamplona.

Rumors have swirled about a possible merger since last November, when an activist investor announced an 11 percent stake in Cabelas and called for a new corporate strategy.

At that time, same-store sales were faltering, and Cabelas officials announced they would restructure to cut costs.

The strategy appeared to pay off: Cabelas announced in July a 1.5 percent increase in comparable store sales for the first three months of 2016.

Shares of publicly traded Cabelas leaped about 14 percent to around $63 Monday. Bass Pro will remain privately held.

Cabelas opened in Billings in 2009 and was the first major retailer to open in the South Billings tax increment financing district, or TIF district.

Officials have said a sale of Cabelas would not affect TIF district funding, which is based on property taxes, because the new owner would be liable to pay the same taxes.

Bass Pro founder and CEO Johnny Morris said he hopes to continue growing the Cabela's brand alongside his privately held Springfield, Missouri-based chain.

Cabela's was founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela started selling fishing flies through the mail from his kitchen table with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim. It now has 85 retail stores primarily in the western U.S. and Canada.

Bass Pro got its start in 1971 when Morris began selling high-quality fishing tackle in his dad's liquor store in Springfield, Mo.

Morris developed a following in the Ozarks region  its lakes and rich streams a haven for anglers  created the Bass Pro Shop Catalog in 1974 and opened the first of his now 99 stores in Springfield seven years later. Bass Pro's stores are mostly in the eastern United States and Canada.

Morris also introduced the Bass Tracker fishing boat in 1978 that was designed specifically for fishermen. That led to the creation of the White River Marine Group.

The buyout creates uncertainty about jobs in Cabela's home state of Nebraska. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Neb.

Cabela's employs about 2,000 people in the western Nebraska town of Sidney, which has about 7,000 residents. State Sen. Ken Schilz, who represents the area, said the deal is concerning because of the duplication between the two companies' headquarters that will be eliminated.

"We'll just have to wait and see what Bass Pro does," Schilz said.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 59F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional showers late at night. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during his speech at the Beit Yaacov Synagogue, The Jewish Association of the Philippines in Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Duterte has apologized to Jews worldwide after his remarks drawing comparisons between his bloody anti-drug war and Hitler and the Holocaust sparked shock and outrage. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)
Women cover their heads with pans as they walk in a light rain brought by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
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With the Army's surgical strikes on terrorist camps across the Line of Control adding a new dimension to the campaign for the Assembly elections in Punjab, the Congress' face for the polls, Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday visited border villages in the state and termed the massive evacuation of people from the areas excessive.

Khemkaran, a region close to the border, turned into Singh's campaign turf in the light of the Indian action across the LoC and its aftermath. He visited around five villages in the region along the border, meeting the farmers and asking them about their problems arising out of the evacuation of residents from border villages.

Singh was critical of the massive evacuation effort in Punjab along the border. While the strike was a fitting response to the provocation, and has been lauded by the Congress president as well, the evacuation in Punjab is excessive, he said.

I visited more than five villages in Khemkaran today [Tuesday], stopping at multiple locations. Everywhere people are concerned about their crops that still stand green in the fields and their cattle that need feeding, he said.

Attacking the Badals, he said the government did not have the means to procure the grains, hence the mayhem in the border villages. He said the farmers stood to incur huge losses if they resorted to ill-timed harvest.

Akali politics at the cost of poor farmers angers me. I stand in solidarity with my brethren here, Singh said.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed Tamil Nadu's Additional Advocate General to seek information from the government on Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's health.



Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22 with fever and dehydration. The hospital, on Monday, had said that her situation continued to improve and should remain warded for a few more days because of the infection.

Social activist Traffic Ramaswamy had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court seeking the real status of Jayalalithaa's health.



The court also observed that people were anxious to know about the chief minister's health.



Traffic Ramaswamy sought to know whether Jayalalithaa was in sound health to take important decisions and conduct meetings with officials and ministers.
A special cabinet meeting of Maharashtra government, which convened on Tuesday, decided to widen the irrigation network in drought-prone Marathwada region of the state. Irrigation projects worth over Rs 9000 crores were approved for the region, which has been reeling under drought for past five years.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also announced that the projects would be prioritized and completed by 2019.

The situation in Marathwada was reversed this monsoon, as the region witnessed incessant rainfall in the last fortnight. Numerous dams in the region are overflowing after more than a decade. Crops, mainly soyabean, spread over a million hectares, have been damaged owing to excessive rain in the past few days.

After the cabinet meeting, Fadnavis said that his government understood the plight of Marathwada farmers who were hit by prolonged drought at first and now by very heavy rainfall. He said that he had ordered revenue officials to make a detailed assessment and provide immediate assistance to the farmers. There is no need for a special survey, as damage is visible and crops spread over 15 lakh hectres have been affected, said Fadnavis.

The cabinet meet also announced setting up of a water conservation commissionerate at Aurangabad to oversee irrigation projects for Marathwada.

With the help of railway ministry, the government also decided to invest more than Rs 5000 crore in widening the railway network in Marathwada region.

Another important decision taken at the meeting included allocation of Rs 1000 crore to make Aurangabad a Smart City.
Dear guest, your safety being of utmost concern and in view of the regulations from DGCA, guests are not allowed to carry Samsung Galaxy Note devices in checked in baggage. You may carry the same in hand luggage; however usage, including charging of the mobile battery on board flights is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation.

Passengers booking flights have been receiving emails, identical to, or very similar to the above for a few weeks now. India was one of the first countries to impose a ban on carrying the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phone onboard, possibly because an Indian carrier was involved in an incidenta Galaxy Note phone igniting in the cabin baggage of a Singapore-bound passenger.

Samsung announced recall of some 2.5 million units of the Note 7 that were manufactured before September 15  1 million of which were with customers after almost 35 instances of the phone melting under heat. For a specific model and an otherwise great handset, to be named worldwide by multiple agencies for its danger, is a huge marketing disaster. Samsung, however, has been lauded for its prompt action.

This is an added problem of the industry's own making. Many high end phones like the Galaxy Note 7 and the iPhone have batteries which cannot be removed by the customer. So a recall means the entire phone goes back. Samsung can hardly resell the millions of defectives after refurbishing the battery. Were phone makers to sensibly make all phone batteries removable, Samsung could have just provided free battery replacements and saved millions of dollars in replacing the rest of the phone. Maybe they'll learn a lesson and switch to removable batteries. Here's the ironythese makers say they make the batteries unremovable to ensure users don't spoil their phones and void warranties by slipping in cheaper batteries once the first one conks out. Look who's talking!

It is not the first time such a thing has happened. In 2009, Nokia recalled some 46 million handsets after there was a perceived risk of a short circuit. iPhones catching fire in their owners' hands have been a fairly regular source of striking news photographers. Apple has been lucky: such incidents were too spread out to fix blame on the device. It was more comforting to blame the owners: they must have done something wrong like overcharging their phones or using them while they were charging.

Has any phone maker ever warned against these actions or even suggested that there was some risk involved? Of course not, bad for business.

Yet the harsh fact remains: phones, tablets, laptops, music players....indeed most compact and portable electronic devices use batteries based on lithium-based technology which is known to be risky and inflammable. Why did nobody tell us? Well, it's been there in the literature, all the time.

Inherently flammable

After last month's Samsung episode which can, like a Perry Mason or an Agatha Christie mystery, be called 'The Case of the Combustible Phone', I looked up web experts on lithium ion batteries, including a respected site called TheElectricEnergy.com. It showed me how the lithium-ion battery was very similar to the Leclanche cell we studied in school but with a compound of lithium as the positive electrode (or anode), carbon or graphite as the negative pole ( or cathode) with a salt of lithium as the semifluid in between, to drive the electric current. It explained why makers of portable electronic equipment preferred Li-Ion to other chemicals including the lead-sulphuric acid combo of the original battery cell. It has very high energy density that means a small area gives a relatively big electric energy which we measure in milli Ampere Hours ( mAh). At the end of a long and detailed article on the website, there is a chilling footnote: "There is a small chance ( two or three in a million, 0.0002% to 0.0003% ) that the cell will burst into flames".

This is not some ground-breaking new discovery. Scientists have known about the tendency of lithium ion cells to spontaneously catch fire for as long as they have been soldroughly since Sony designed the first commercial units in 1991. They, the makers and the sellers, knew it all the time. We the customers are the ones who have been living dangerously. The Samsung incident is in no way unique. It only lends urgency to the whole issue of battery safety.

So, why do most batteries remain cool while a very small number overheat and ignite? There, in a small but significant way, the consumers have to take some of the blame. We keep telling phone makers, we want batteries to last longer and longer, even as the graphics and video-laden apps we run on the phone suck more and more power. This is a clear contradiction in demand and is scientifically impossible unless we are ready to lug phones with giant batteries, larger than the phones themselves.

Then, we demand another unachievable quality from our phones. We want the screen bigger and bigger (The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has a 5.7 inch screen; some new phones have screens almost touching 7 inches, making them more tablet than phone)and at the same time we want the phones to get lighter.

In an arena of intense competition, phone makers must listen to customers, or die. So they try and optimise the heaviest part of the phone, its battery. They increase its energy output from 1,500-2,000 mAh to something like 3,0004,000 mAh, without increasing the battery weight or size. How? By shaving of a millimetre here and a millimetre there by making things like casing and partitions as thin as possible. There is a separator between the positive and negative poles of the battery. If you make this too thin, you risk it breaking when the battery suffers a shock, like when the phone is dropped. When the separator breaks, the plus and minus parts of the battery touch, creating a short circuit. We all know what happens when the two wires in a household device like a fan or mixer-grinder or table lamp short. There is a spark and you get an electric shock. In a lithium ion battery, a short ignites the fuel between the poles of the battery and there is a small fire which can soon melt the phone (ironically, much of it is plastic, to save on weight).

This, as far as I can make out, is the most plausible explanation of why some phone batteries burn. It also explains why most survive till they endure some sort of shock or jolt. This is true to almost all phone batteries, not just Samsung.

It is nice to know why these things happen. But what are phone makers doing about it? Actually, very little. Lithium is the lightest of all metals... it can float on water. So in the foreseeable future, phone makers will continue to make phones powered by lithium ion batteries regardless of its known hazards.

Alternative technologies

Scientists are working on alternative technologies that eliminate lithium and its compounds. At Oregon State University, a team is working to create potassium ion batteries. Others have experimented with sodium ion. Sony, which holds the lithium ion patent, is now trying out sulphur as an electrode instead of lithium.

At Stanford University in the US, Prof Hongzie Dai and his students claim success with aluminum ion batteries, with graphite as the other pole. They have put out a video where they drill a hole through a live battery and it does not stop working or catch fire... one up over Lithium.

But the sad fact is none of these worthy alternatives is anywhere close to commercial-scale realisation. For anyone to succeed, massive infusions of funding are required. There was a small window of opportunity: electric cars. Tesla is leading this wave and obviously very large batteries are required for electric cars. But instead of trying to fund research for an alternative to lithium, Tesla founder Elon Musk has decided to stick with lithium ion and is setting up a Gigafactory to produce lithium ion batteries for half a million electric cars. Without the oxygen of industry support, lithium-alternates will never be fast-tracked. Phone and gadget makers will continue to churn out devices with slimmer, lighter, more powerful lithium-based batteries for the foreseeable future. And we the consumers have to like it or lump it. It will take a bigger disaster than Samsung's current worries to force a fundamental change in battery technology. 'Nobody died, OK?'

Footnote: Samsung says in a September 29 announcement: The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an advisory to the travelling public and airline companies today, lifting the restrictions on in-flight use of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7, purchased after September 15, 2016. Customers can identify the new Galaxy Note 7 with the green battery icon. Devices displaying this visual icon are safe to charge and use during the flight.

The company also assures it has not sold a single unit of the Galaxy Note 7 in India.
The United States broke off talks with Russia on Monday on implementing a ceasefire agreement in Syria and accused Moscow of not living up to its commitments under the Sept. 9 deal to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities.

The confirmation that the US-Russian talks on Syria have collapsed suggests that there is little hope, if any, of a diplomatic solution emerging anytime soon to end a 5-1/2-year-old civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million.

"The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

Secretary of State John Kerry last spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Saturday, a senior State Department official said, after Kerry threatened last week to walk away from the talks.

In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agencies the United States was trying to shift blame onto Russia, which in recent days had tried to sustain the agreement.

But Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, supported by Iranian-backed militia and Russian air power, have since last week stepped up their offensive against rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, bombing hospitals and damaging water supplies.

In the northeastern city of Hasaka, a bomb killed at least 20 people at a Kurdish wedding, according to a Kurdish militia and a monitoring group.

A US intelligence official said the bombing campaign was "one of the deadliest" since the civil war erupted in 2011.

"These air strikes, mostly focused on Aleppo, have utilized a wide variety of deadly munitions, including barrel bombs, thermobaric bombs, incendiary munitions, cluster bombs and bunker busters," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The end of the talks could trigger deeper US consideration of military options such as providing more sophisticated arms, logistical support, and training to Syrian rebel groups, either directly or via Gulf Arab states or Turkey.

But the speed with which the ceasefire collapsed - after a UN aid convoy was bombed in Syria - appeared to take some officials in the Obama administration by surprise and without a clear plan on the immediate way forward.

Keeping channels open

US President Barack Obama has been loath to get more deeply involved in a third war in the Islamic world and US officials have said he is unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office.

Just before Monday's announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, signalling he was willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria.

The senior State Department official dismissed links between the suspension of talks on Syria and Putin's announcement.

Amid the growing tensions, the State Department announced that the top US diplomat on Europe, including Russia, will travel to Moscow later this week to hold talks with senior Russian officials on Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. The United States and European Union imposed sanctions against Moscow for its actions in Crimea.

Kirby said the United States would continue to communicate with the Russian military to ensure that American and Russian aircraft targeting Islamic State positions in Syria do not come into conflict with each other.

But he said the United States would withdraw all personnel it had dispatched to prepare for military co-operation with Russia under the latest ceasefire agreement.

"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments ...and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," Kirby said.

UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he "deeply regrets" the US announcement but vowed "to push energetically for a political solution" to end the war.

Meanwhile, diplomats said the United Nations Security Council would begin to negotiate on Monday a draft resolution that urges Russia and the United States to ensure an immediate truce in Aleppo.

China's UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi said now was the time for more cooperation, but Britain's Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft said he was not surprised by Washington's action.

Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters Russia wanted to avoid a "human catastrophe" and was choosing its targets carefully.

"The situation has been allowed to degenerate into this awful, awful mess and we're trying to find a way out of it and trying to make sure the black flags are not going to fly over Damascus," he said, referring to Islamic State militants.
Heartbreak: Stephen Mortimer died on his way to see Machu Picchu with his wife Marian

For 30 years, Marian and Stephen Mortimer had dreamed of visiting Machu Picchu in the Andes in South America.

The couple waited for Stephen to retire so that they could spend six weeks in Peru over the summer of 2013.

Stephen had spent months planning the trip in painstaking detail  even researching local public transport so they would know how to get about.

For the first three weeks of the trip, they had a ball. They camped in the desert and saw the Nazca Lines  giant shapes drawn in the sand by an ancient civilisation.

But suddenly, while the couple were waiting for a bus to take them to the Machu Picchu site, Stephen began to feel unwell and was rushed to hospital.

Despite the efforts of medics, Stephen died a few hours later, aged 68.

He'd been suffering from severe altitude sickness, which had caused fluid to build up in his lungs, resulting in heart failure.

Marian called their travel insurer, Avanti, to make arrangements to fly Stephen's body home to Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, so that she and their three children could hold his funeral.

But she was told to pay 2,500 before it would help her.

Avanti said her policy only covered repatriation costs up to 5,000  and the bill to get Stephen home was 7,500.

Marian and Stephen were seasoned travellers and knew the importance of good travel cover.

They had chosen a policy with Avanti because it specialises in providing insurance for travellers over 50 with pre-existing medical conditions  Stephen was on tablets for high blood pressure.

The couple had paid around 150 for an annual worldwide policy, specifying that they were going to Peru.

They made sure they had enough cover if either of them fell ill  10million  but never thought to check whether the limit was different if one of them died unexpectedly.

Avanti's underwriter Mapfre stuck to the letter of the contract.

Dream trip: For 30 years the couple talked about visiting Machu Picchu in the Andes in South America

Marian, 62, a retired nursery teacher, says: 'We saw we had plenty of cover if we fell ill and that repatriation costs were included, so we felt confident that we were sufficiently protected.

'If they would have covered the cost of bringing Stephen home if he had just fallen ill, why not do the same when he died?'

If they would have covered the cost of bringing Stephen home if he had just fallen ill, why not do the same when he died

An insurance industry insider told Money Mail that travel insurers routinely bump up the medical cover they offer to as much as 10 million to give the impression that the policy is more comprehensive than it is.

Insurers know that it's highly unlikely they'll ever have to pay out this much in medical costs  even in the U.S., where hospital care is expensive.

That helps mask the catches elsewhere in the cover  while keeping the deal at the top of many price comparison websites.

Research by GoCompare shows 383 of the 870 travel insurance policies on offer  44 per cent  impose a limit on how much they will pay to bring home someone's body, ranging from just 750 to 10,000.

The lowest limits are offered by budget insurers Starttravel, Twopointfive and World First.

The remaining 487 policies offer the same amount of cover as they do for medical care  typically 2 million or more.

On top of the 2,500 she had to pay towards bringing Stephen home, Marian ran up a mobile phone bill of around 400 calling Avanti, its claims handler Jubilee Assistance, underwriter Mapfre and her 26-year-old daughter, Kathryn, who was trying to help co-ordinate everything from the UK.

And an extra 500 to bring Stephen's rucksack home

In the midst of these calls, she was told that to bring Stephen's big travelling rucksack back with his body, Marian would need to pay an additional fee of around 500.

Marian says: 'Everyone I spoke to sounded as though they were reading from a script  they seemed to have no compassion. I was in shock. My husband had just died in front of me while I was giving him CPR.

'But instead of prioritising getting him home, they just kept making me get out my credit card.'

Instead of prioritising getting him home, they just kept making me get out my credit card

Marian finally made it home on August 6, 2013, and her husband was brought back on August 14.

The rucksack was dropped at a funeral parlour near to Manchester Airport. Marian's friends collected it for her.

She refused to pay the bill for bringing it back  but received letters threatening her with debt collectors.

After the funeral, Marian made an official complaint about the way she had been treated. She also believed Avanti should have paid out 15,000 under the 'accidental death' clause of her policy.

Stephen's GP said that, in his opinion, the death was accidental because the couple didn't know he would have such an extreme reaction to altitude sickness. But the insurer disagreed, and the Financial Ombudsman sided with the firm.

However, Avanti was ordered to pay out around 7,000 for the second half of the holiday which Marian had to cancel when Stephen died.

Marian has come forward three years after her ordeal to warn other holidaymakers about the problems they could face if something similar happened to them.

'We tried to do the right thing and took out insurance  it doesn't seem right that my family and I are around 3,500 out of pocket,' she says.

'Even if Stephen and I had looked more carefully at the small print to see how much would be paid out if one of us died abroad, we wouldn't have known whether it was enough, because we didn't know how much it costs to bring a body home from Peru.

'Insurance firms should just be made to cover the full cost of bringing someone home if they die, and then no one would have to endure what we did.'

A spokesman for Avanti says that the couple's travel insurance policy was underwritten by Mapfre, so it 'does not feel it would be appropriate to comment on the complaint because it was not directed to Avanti'.

However, last night, the insurer said that it had changed its policy for new customers to include repatriation costs in the 10 million medical cover.

Mapfre could not be reached for comment.
AFRICA DEAL BP has announced a deal to buy 100 per cent of the liquefied natural gas produced from an offshore project off Mozambique.

The 20-year partnership is with Eni East Africa, Galp Energia, Kogas and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos.

Paul Reed, chief executive of BP's supply and trading business, said: 'BP is pleased to play a key role in enabling Mozambique to be an LNG exporting country.'

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

PILL BLOW AstraZeneca's heart drug Brilinta has failed to help patients with serious circulatory problems in their legs, prompting the drugmaker to scrap a $3.5billion-a-year sales target for the medicine by 2023.

The setback follows similar disappointing results in March for the same pill in another big trial in stroke patients.

Both studies were designed to open up markets for Brilinta beyond its current use in heart attack patients.

SPANISH HOTEL EasyHotel has been granted permission to build a 204-room hotel in Gran Via, Barcelona, which will open in early 2018.

EasyHotel, which provides low-cost accommodation with the option to pay for extras such as coffee, spare towels, housekeeping and internet, currently owns three hotels and a further 17 franchised locations.

TOP FIRM Apple has been named the world's most valuable brand despite seeing iPhone sales fall this year.

Google secured second place and Coca-Cola came third according to a list of the top 100 brands compiled by Interbrand.

HSBC and Burberry were the only two British brands to make it into the top 100, coming 47th and 83rd respectively.

AIRLINE JOBS Ryanair will create more than 3,500 jobs next year, including pilots and cabin crew, as it plans to add 50 aircraft to its fleet.

The Irish budget carrier remained tight-lipped on how many of the roles would be based in the UK, having warned in July that it would 'pivot' growth away from British airports after the Brexit vote and house its 50 new aircraft outside the country.

BREXIT FEARS The UK property market could see a short sharp adjustment as uncertainty mounts during Britain's Brexit negotiations, according to a study by property investor M&G Real Estate.

It said capital values could fall by around 10 per cent, but any drop would be short-term.
Bosses at Sky and TalkTalk have launched an 11th-hour bid to persuade the regulator to split up BT.

They want Ofcom to force Openreach, which looks after the cables and wires that make up the UK's telecoms network, to break away from parent company BT.

The rivals claim this will speed up investment in fibre cables and create greater competition.

BT has been accused of having a conflict of interest because as well as offering phone, internet and TV services, it is responsible for the UK's network of broadband cables and charges competitors for using its services.

Break-up plot: Sky and TalkTalk want Ofcom to force Openreach, which looks after the cables and wires that make up the UK's telecoms network, to break away from parent company BT

Complaints from rivals Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone sparked an Ofcom consultation, and a key deadline for industry submissions over its future ends today.

The regulator has so far backed away from separating BT, and has suggested it should have its own board in what it has dubbed a 'structural separation'.

BT said that it was already committed to making Openreach more independent and transparent. But Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, said this was misguided, with the 'same people making the decisions and setting the budgets'.

'It's looking like a proper recipe for fudge,' she said. 'I am sceptical about the regulator's ability to transform this single-handedly.

'All the people employed in the entity will have their financial wealth governed by BT.'

BT has regularly been criticised for providing poor customer service, under-investing, and not doing enough for people in rural areas.

However, it has promised to invest 6billion in broadband infrastructure and 4G networks over the next three years.

Andrew Griffith, chief operating officer at Sky, said the UK was in danger of falling behind its international rivals. He accused BT of avoiding investing in fibre cables and 'squeezing' more out of the existing copper wire network.

'Just 2 per cent of UK households today have fibre to the home,' he said. 'But fibre reaches almost 80 per cent of homes in New Zealand.

'I think the easy answer for the long term is to grasp this once and for all and spin-off Openreach to BT shareholders, just like O2.

'It's so important to get this decision right for the UK for the next ten years. If Ofcom ducks this important decision now we are going to be back in this position in a few years' time.'

Griffith, who was rallying support from MPs at the Conservative Party conference yesterday, added; 'There is a high level of interest among MPs who all tell me that one of the single biggest issues in their postbag is the quality of broadband infrastructure.'

And he said if Ofcom did not decide to split BT from Openreach, he would encourage the Government to step in.

A BT spokesman said: 'It's important for our customers and the economy that Ofcom's review is brought to a speedy, fair and sustainable conclusion.

'We're introducing significant changes which would enable that while addressing the concerns of our critics.

'We're committed to making Openreach more independent and transparent, and we have outlined plans to invest heavily in better service, broader coverage and faster speeds.'

Ofcom would not comment on when a final decision would be made, or how many people had contributed to the consultation.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases. It also provides credit cards and payments; real estate secured lending, auto finance, and consumer lending services; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, and advice to retail and institutional clients through direct investing, advice-based, and asset management businesses; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking products and services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to corporations, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,061 branches and 3,381 automated teller machines (ATMs) in Canada, and 1,148 stores and 2,701 ATMs in the United States, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. It has a strategic alliance with Canada Post Corporation. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. It also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices, as well as a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. It serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. The company distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, as well as contract sales agents and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. It also develops, manufactures, and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients. In addition, it focuses on the central nervous system, pain, respiratory, and oncology areas. Its products in the central nervous system include Copaxone for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; AJOVY for the preventive treatment of migraine; and AUSTEDO for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington disease. The company's products in the respiratory market comprise ProAir, QVAR, ProAir Digihaler, AirDuo Digihaler, and ArmonAir Digihaler, BRALTUS, CINQAIR/CINQAERO, DuoResp Spiromax, and AirDuo RespiClick/ArmonAir RespiClick for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Its products in the oncology market include Bendeka, Treanda, Granix, Trisenox, Lonquex, and Tevagrastim/Ratiograstim. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a collaboration MedinCell for the development and commercialization of multiple long-acting injectable products, a risperidone suspension for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
Carnival Corporation & plc is a leisure travel company operating a fleet of cruise ships, hotels, and resorts with international destinations. Brands under the Carnival Corporation umbrella include Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Cruises, Seaborn, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, and Cunard. The companys goal is to provide extraordinary vacations at an exceptional value. As of 2022, the company laid claim to nearly half of the global cruising market share with several new ships in the works.

Carnival Cruise Line was launched in 1972 with one second-hand ship and a tank of fuel. The first port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico, but soon more were added. The original growth strategy included a festive atmosphere, features and amenities unlike any other cruise line at the time. Slow to start, the growth strategy shifted into overdrive in 1980 when Carnival shocked the world by building its own ship. The Tropicale became an iconic name in the cruising industry and sparked a wave of shipbuilding that is still underway.

The companys growth hit a new stride in 1987 following the IPO which floated 20% of the company on the open market. The proceeds from the IPO allowed the company to embark on a voyage of acquisition and now Carnival is the worlds largest travel and leisure business.

Today, Carnival Corporations 87 ships visit approximately 700 ports worldwide and employ more than 120,000 people while serving more than 13 million guests annually for a total of 85 million passenger cruise days per year. Net revenue, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, peaked out at over $6.5 billion annually.

Carnival Cruise Line is the companys largest brand serving guests on all coasts of North America. The brand's 22 ships make 1500 voyages per year with trips ranging from 2 days to 3 weeks and ports of call from the Caribbean to Alaska. The company's largest ship is named Panorama and can accommodate more than 4,000 passengers.

Carnivals 9 brands provide access to a wide range of cruising styles and destinations including the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, England, and ports in Asia. The company is headquartered in Miami, Florida and has offices around the world. The company also has the distinction of being the only company included in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices.
Bancolombia S.A. provides banking products and services in Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other. It offers checking and savings accounts, fixed term deposits, and investment products; trade financing, loans funded by domestic development banks, working capital loans, credit cards, personal and vehicle loans, payroll loans, and overdrafts; financial support to real estate developers and mortgages for individuals and companies; factoring; and financial and operating leasing services. The company also provides hedging instruments, including futures, forwards, options, and swaps; and brokerage, investment advisory, and private banking services, including selling and distributing equities, futures, foreign currencies, fixed income securities, mutual funds, and structured products. In addition, it offers cash management services; foreign currency transaction services; life, auto, commercial, and homeowner's insurance products; and online and computer banking services. Further, the company provides project and acquisition finance, debt and equity capital markets, principal investments, M&A, hedging strategies, restructurings, and structured financing; money market accounts, mutual and pension funds, private equity funds, payment and corporate trust, and custody; internet-based trading platform; inter-bank lending and repurchase agreements; managing escrow accounts, and investment and real estate funds; and transportation, securities brokerage, maintenance and remodeling, and outsourcing services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 1,015 branches; 28,676 banking correspondents; 529 PAMs; 210 kiosks in El Salvador and 187 in Colombia; and 6,094 ATMs. Bancolombia S.A. was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Medellin, Colombia.
Winnebago Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells recreation vehicles and marine products primarily for use in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. The company operates in six segments: Grand Design Towables, Winnebago Towables, Winnebago Motorhomes, Newmar motorhomes, Chris-Craft Marine, and Winnebago Specialty Vehicles. It provides towable products that are non-motorized vehicles to be towed by automobiles, pickup trucks, SUVs, or vans for use as temporary living quarters for recreational travel, such as conventional travel trailers, fifth wheels, folding camper trailers, and truck campers under the Winnebago and Grand Design brand names. The company also offers motorhomes, which are self-propelled mobile dwellings used primarily as temporary living quarters during vacation and camping trips, or to support active and mobile lifestyles under the Winnebago and Newmar brand names. In addition, it offers other specialty commercial vehicles for law enforcement command centers, mobile medical clinics, and mobile office spaces; commercial vehicles as bare shells to third-party up fitters; and boats in the recreational powerboat industry under the Chris-Craft and Barletta brand names. Further, the company is involved in the original equipment manufacturing of parts for other manufacturers and commercial vehicles. The company sells its products primarily through independent dealers in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Winnebago Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1958 and is based in Forest City, Iowa.
EMCOR Group, Inc. provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, starts-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, and food processing industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services. The company also provides building services that cover commercial and government site-based operations and maintenance; facility management, maintenance, and services; outage services to utilities and industrial plants; military base operations support services; mobile mechanical maintenance and services; services for indoor air quality; floor care and janitorial services; landscaping, lot sweeping, and snow removal services; vendor management and call center services; installation and support for building systems; program development, management, and maintenance for energy systems; technical consulting and diagnostic services; infrastructure and building projects; small modification and retrofit projects; and other building services. It offers industrial services to oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. EMCOR Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.
DECATUR  Concert lovers, get ready: A new venue is coming to town.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation will cover the $3.9 million cost of a new amphitheater in Nelson Park, officials announced Monday. The project has been on hold for more than a year after a grant fell through that was meant to pay for part of its construction.

The city and Decatur Park District are expected to share the estimated $400,000 of engineering and professional services.

The announcement is a boon for the Lakeshore Landing lakefront development project, of which the amphitheater is a key piece.

This is going to make Decatur the most dynamic city in Central Illinois and probably beyond, Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said at a news conference held at the site of the project.

In addition, Buffett said he would provide $2 million to extend the train at Scovill Zoo to wrap around the Childrens Museum of Illinois.

We thought it was pretty cool to get this done, Buffett said. One thing Ive learned through this experience, theres a lot of people in Decatur that really care about the community and that come together when they need to.

This was really an effort by a number of people to get it done. Hopefully, this will really make a big difference.

The facility will accommodate about 300 people in fixed seating and another 3,000 on the terraced lawn. It will be south of Pavilion No. 1, with Lake Decatur as a backdrop.

Former Gov. Pat Quinn visited the city in September 2014 to announce that the state would help pay for the project through a $2 million grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

The funding was to be matched by $1.5 million from the Buffett Foundation.

But in January 2015, district officials said the paperwork related to the grant didnt receive necessary approval from Quinns office before Gov. Bruce Rauner took office that month.

A few months later, Rauner suspended all state grants for park district projects, which included funding for multiple other amenities in Nelson Park. The district recently received word that those grants have been released, allowing for the construction of a ropes course, batting cages and more.

So what kind of acts could perform at the new venue? Park district leaders are still working that out, but hope the artists they schedule will attract visitors from nearby communities.

Well have the facility, and then its a matter of who can we team up with to partner to bring in big-name artists, Commissioner Chris Riley said.

Board President Bob Brilley II said he would love to see a successful country artist play the amphitheater. He described it as crucial to the overall lakefront development effort.

Its big to bring people to Decatur  hotels and motels, gas tax, everything, he said. To me, this is one of the biggest projects right now.

Jerry Johnson, executive director of the Decatur Area Arts Council, said the arts group would provide whatever support it could.

He said the amphitheater would be great for the local arts community because it would be an original venue.

We have lots of great indoor venues, but a place for people to see a show outside, thats kind of a unique experience, he said.
DECATUR  The first year the Women's Home League filled Christmas stockings for the military in 2011, they made 194 of them.

This year, they're sewing 1,462. The stockings are distributed to deployed troops by Operation Santa, which has a website and Facebook page.

The Salvation Army has collected almost 2,000 items and signed more than 1,500 cards to send along with the stockings, which they made themselves to give them a personal touch.

On Sept. 29, Operation Santa volunteer Jamie Boas visited the women's weekly meeting to collect the items. She'll deliver them to the regional headquarters in Bloomington for distribution.

My husband is a lieutenant in the Army National Guard and so far, thank God, he hasn't been deployed, Boas said, her voice trembling. So this is very close to my heart.

Boas brought photos and letters from service members who have received stockings and choked up again while reading them.

It works this way: Family members of serving military provide their names and APO addresses to Operation Santa, and include the number of men and women in their unit. Operation Santa sends enough stockings for the whole unit in that military member's name. For safety reasons, packages and cards can't be addressed to any service member; you have to have a real and specific name.

The organization has provided stockings to 210,000 troops since 2005, and because it can take several weeks for packages to arrive overseas, volunteers like the Home League have to start working on their projects long before Christmas.

If they have any stockings left over, Boas said, those go to (Veterans Administration) homes.

It can be expensive to mail the boxes, costing $40 to $60 each. Operation Santa asks for donations of cash to cover mailing, as well as stockings and items for the stockings.

Each stocking contains a pair of white socks and a deck of cards, personal items such as toiletries, goodies such as hard candy, the sort of things that will help the troops feel as if they've got a piece of home in their hands, Boas said, and they'll know that people are thinking about them.

This year, the local group also included items for stockings to go to service dogs, said Ellyn Park, who organized the group's effort. Operation Santa has done that for several years, but this was the first time for the Home League in Decatur.

They're serving, too, she said.
MATTOON  Lake Land College employees practiced establishing an incident command post Monday to manage the college's response to emergency situations.

This practice was part of an annual emergency response training session led by Lt. Todd Short of the University of Illinois Police Department. Short said if an emergency situation occurs, Lake Land leaders need to be able to respond effectively to reduce the effects.

"It's a great group of people. I love their level of commitment," Short said of his yearslong commitment. Approximately two dozen administrators, staff members and faculty members volunteered for the training session and the incident command post practice in Webb Hall.

Short said the training will help designated Lake Land employees know their responsibilities in being part of an incident command post for the college's response to natural, man-made or technology-related disasters.

The incident commander oversees all operations, Short said. The commander is supported by a staff including a public information officer, safety officer and liaison officer, plus general staff members for operations, planning, logistics and finance.

Short said the command post staff's roles include coordinating with responding off-campus agencies and obtaining needed supplies. He said a major disaster, such as a tornado, can overwhelm the available resources in a small town.

"Make the call quickly if you are going to need additional resources," Short said.

Short said those setting up an incident command post might be tempted to be within sight of an emergency scene so they can directly monitor the situation. However, he said the post's staff should rely on emergency responders to relay information to them from the scene, and they should keep the post a safe distance away.

"Wherever we put our incident command post, it can't be right across the street from where the bad stuff is happening," Short said, adding that this would put the post in harm's way. "If we do that, we set ourselves up for an unbelievable catastrophe."

Lake Land Police Chief Randy Ervin said the college holds the emergency response training as a refresher course for veteran employees who have volunteered to be part of the incident command post and as an introduction for new employees.

Ervin said the training is typically followed in a few weeks by a drill or tabletop simulation, which have focused in previous years on situations such as active shooters, chemical spills, fires and severe weather.
By Uday Schultz

Central Queens is currently in a state of crisis regarding its public transportation network. People from the area have to spend over two hours waiting in the crush of traffic to get to and from work, lowering their quality of life and destroying our environment.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley plans to remediate this by building a light rail line on the Lower Montauk Branch, a freight line that runs through Richmond Hill, Glendale, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Maspeth and Long Island City. However good this project may look on paper, its construction would be extremely unlikely, as in the plans current form construction would violate the federal laws that govern transportation and transit safety in this country.

Right now, the Lower Montauk Branch is used almost exclusively to haul and sort freight trains. These freight trains carry the vast majority of rail cargo going to and from Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Kings counties, using a yard along the line as an origination/termination point. Under the federal governments common carrier rules, any operator of a freight line has to provide rail service to customers along that line, regardless of shipment type or destination. This responsibility is transferred between owners of a line, so that when a new company buys a line, freight service is preserved. This would not be possible if light rail was to use the tracks as safety laws dictate that light rail trains may not operate on the same tracks as freight trains, unless temporal separation is ensured.

The only way to place light rail on the line, then, would be to forcibly evict the rail carrier from the line, either using eminent domain or abandonment. It is almost certain that neither of these strategies would work, as in these proceedings, stakeholders (in this case, every freight rail customer in Queens and on Long Island) are given time to comment. They would point out that removing freight rail access from the line would not only harm their businesses, but also the environment, as hundreds of thousands of trucks would be needed to carry a years worth of freight rail onto the island.

This leaves the light rail group with three options: temporal separation, a distinct set of tracks for light rail, or the usage of freight compatible equipment. The first requires that each user of the tracks gets a block of time in which they alone can ply their trade. As the freight railroad needs to sort cars all day long, and as residents of Queens need 24-hour service, this option is out of the question. The second would almost certainly cause the condemnation of properties along the line, including countless houses, businesses and possibly parts of a cemetery. The final option, running freight compatible equipment, would lead to excruciatingly slow commutes, owing to the additional weight (and therefore slower acceleration) needed to comply with crashworthiness standards.

Central Queens most certainly is in need of a transit fix, but Councilwoman Crowleys proposal is most certainly not it.

Uday Schultz

Brooklyn
President Barack Obamas decision to put 615 more American troops into the Iraq war, announced last week, is curiously at odds with the peace-builder legacy that he would seem to be working on with his trip to Israel to attend the funeral of Israeli peace-seeker and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres.

The argument for the move, to beef up the fight against the Islamic State, bringing the U.S. troop level in Iraq to 5,180 in the face of Obamas long-ago campaign pledge to end the Iraq war, is weak. The United States already has underway military involvement not only in the 13-year-plus Iraq conflict, but also in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen with little effect. Why raise the level of exposure of U.S. troops in the region further now?

The second argument for increasing U.S. involvement in the Iraq conflict at this point is to raise prospects of fulfilling the boast of U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on Sept. 8 that Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, both Islamic State strongholds, would fall to U.S.-led forces within months.

That is to say, before the U.S. presidential elections. In other words, the fall of Mosul and Raqqa would add to Obamas credentials as a forceful military leader before he left office.

There are some strong arguments against increasing U.S. troop involvement in Iraq at this point. The first is that the Iraqi national army, which U.S. forces are supplying and training, continues to show itself relatively toothless on the battlefield, meaning that U.S. forces will play a prominent role in whatever assault on Mosul occurs. Washington has yet to explain coherently why Americans should care one way or the other who holds Mosul, or Raqqa, for that matter. The argument that taking Mosul would validate continued U.S. support of the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the policy of building it a credible national army has a vaguely dog-chasing-its-tail quality to it. If Abadis government had the general support of the Iraqi people, they would put in the field a credible national army on their own account, and his government would not need more American troops to fight its battles.

Obamas decision to increase U.S. forces in Iraq at this point seems wrong, and may become even more costly when an offensive to take Mosul begins.

 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Hurricane Matthew made landfall in southwestern Haiti early Tuesday, triggering major floods and forcing thousands to flee the path of the deadly storm that has already claimed two lives in the poorest country in the Americas.

The National Hurricane Center said Matthew made landfall as an "extremely dangerous" Category Four storm near the town of Les Anglais at around 7 am (1100 GMT) packing maximum sustained winds of around 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour.

The most menacing storm in nearly a decade, Matthew began battering Haiti late Monday with strong winds and rising sea levels, before slamming ashore some 250 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Even before making landfall along the southern edge of a jagged peninsula on Hispaniola, the divided island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, Matthew was blamed for at least two deaths in Haiti.

One of the victims was a sickly woman who died late Monday in the coastal town of Port-Salut when she was unable to leave her house to receive medical care, authorities said.

On Friday, a fisherman died after his boat sank in southern Haiti. Another individual went missing and is feared to have died in similar circumstances on Sunday.

Forecasts predict Matthew will dump 38 to 63 centimeters (15 to 25 inches) of rain over southern Haiti with up to a meter possible in isolated areas.

In Les Anglais, rising waters swamped the national highway, and the hurricane  slowly creeping northward at around nine miles per hour  has caused extensive flooding in and around the flimsy homes and buildings in Haiti\s southwest.

Forecasts said landslides and flash-flooding are likely before Matthew moves on to Cuba, the Bahamas and other parts of the Caribbean.

More than 6,400 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters in Haiti, although civil protection forces have struggled with locals who refused to leave some of the most vulnerable areas.

They included the capital\s extremely impoverished, densely populated neighborhoods, including Cite Soleil  where some 100,000 of the total 500,000 residents face serious flooding risks  and the seaside Cite L\Eternel.

Workers used heavy machinery to empty canals in central Port-au-Prince that have been blocked by trash for months, although they were unlikely to complete the job in time.

Edgar Celestin, a spokesman for Haiti\s civil protection agency told AFP that the hurricane was responsible for overnight flooding in 11 communes.

Part of the seaport city of Les Cayes was underwater after being deluged by recent rains, which now are also being blamed for mudslides.

"We have already recorded a landslide between Les Cayes and Tiburon" in Haiti\s Sud department, Marie-Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of Haiti\s civil protection told AFP.

Haiti is home to almost 11 million people, many living in fragile housing.

Thousands are still living in tents in Haiti after the country\s massive earthquake in 2010. Erosion is especially dangerous because of high mountains and a lack of trees and bushes in areas where they have been cut for fuel.

Interim President Jocelerme Privert in an address to the nation urged Haitians on Monday to do what they could to get out of the path of the storm.

"My countrymen, do not be stubborn, do not say \God is good\ and will take care of you," he said.

"The dangerous areas will be evacuated," he added. "We have no interest in risking your lives."

In nearby Jamaica, officials said the army and military reserves were called up to help deal with hurricane damage. Buses were also sent to flood-prone areas to move residents to shelters.

US embassies in Haiti and Jamaica closed for a second day on Tuesday due to the storm.

Cuba, meanwhile, evacuated some 316,000 people from the east of the island where Matthew was expected to hit later Tuesday.

"No one likes to leave their homes, but the sea is going to rise and that is very dangerous," said Pedro Gonzalez, a retired chef who had to leave a fishing islet where he lives off the city of Santiago.

At the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba  located along Matthew\s predicted path  officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for all non-essential personnel and family members. Imates in the base\s prison are safe, US military officials said.

Forecasters predict the hurricane could hit the US East Coast around midweek. Florida and parts of North Carolina have declared states of emergency.
Hopewell Community Park remains a 'labor of love' for local community

The lush green park is a product of the combined efforts of the Hopewell Township community and a symbol of decades of conservation efforts in Beaver County.
It's likely Donald Trump hasn't paid federal income taxes for many years or has paid very little  and that really burns my toast.

But the burning of toast isn't so much about Donald Trump not paying taxes. It's the goal of most business owners to maximize their profit, and I didn't even have to go to business school to know that one.

It's just what everyone tries to do.

Who wants to pay more taxes than they have to? The less of your income that goes to the government, the more chocolate chip cookies you can buy, right?

When tax time comes around, we're all digging out the shoe box full of receipts and pondering a slew of questions, such as: "Honey, is that refrigerator Energy Star-rated, and can we deduct the refrigerator? How about the new water heater? And where is the receipt for that gallbladder surgery?"

Trying to blame anyone for minimizing their income tax burden is as about as moot as moot can get.

What Trump says is true: If he has paid very little income tax, or none at all, he has been able to do so legally.

Still, plenty of toast is burning in my realm when I think of the amount of taxes my college-aged son has had to pay.

Thanks to so many generous businesses, individuals and organizations, he left for college luckier than most  not that he didn't work hard in high school.

He took all the Advanced Placement classes, made the grades and did all the things students have to do in their "high school careers" to pave the way for college.

He received enough scholarships to cover four years of higher education.

But he also had to pay taxes on the portion of those scholarships used for room and board.

Somewhere along the way, some genius decided college students weren't paying their fair share of taxes and that billionaire real estate moguls were paying just too many.

The IRS considers scholarships income. So although my college-age son technically had no "job" or traditional income from a job, that first semester of college meant doling out about $700 in taxes  and that was just for the fall session.

The next year, the first full academic year, he owed $1,200 in taxes.

Trump has not released his current tax information, breaking with protocol for every presidential candidate before him. And he wasn't the one who released his 1995 returns, which were mailed anonymously to The New York Times. He's still waiting on the advice of his lawyers, of course, for that all-important audit to be completed.

But if his current tax rate is anywhere near what tax records published by The New York Times indicate, he may have legally avoided paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.

That year, the presidential candidate declared a $916 million loss, which would allow him a tax deduction so substantial that he could have benefitted from the tax laws enormously. And that's a shame for the rest of us poor regular Joes.

Apparently, real estate developers, known to benefit from a strong lobby, receive bounteous tax breaks. Once upon a time, a good way to prevent your income from being taxed was to invest in real estate tax shelters. Although the IRS has since reformed those laws, active investors, such as Trump, still enjoy those ridiculously generous tax breaks.

It's maddening, really, that college students, who are trying to pay for skyrocketing college costs, are having to pay taxes while someone like Trump does not.

According to a Sept. 9, 2015, article by the Business Insider, student loan debt in the U.S. has reached $1.2 trillion, and the average 2015 graduate will have to repay more than $35,000.

You would think, the least the government could do would be to give college students a break rather than punishing them for earning scholarships  many of them financial hardship scholarships they likely received because their family could not afford college otherwise.

Maybe if Trump is elected, he could find a way to fix the tax system so the wealthy at least pays as much as a college student.

But I suspect, whoever is elected, I will still smell that toast burning.
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By The Washington Post

There is no subtlety about Rodrigo Duterte, the new president of the Philippines. He has waged a brutal extrajudicial campaign against supposed drug dealers and users, killing thousands without due process. On Friday, he compared himself to Hitler in describing his desire to exterminate dealers and addicts. Previously, he crudely insulted President Barack Obama, leading to the cancellation of a meeting between the two, followed by his expression of regret and an informal conversation. He declared that he would "cross the Rubicon" in his ties with the United States  a longtime ally  and put out a trade and economic welcome mat for "the other side of the ideological barrier," China and Russia.

On Sept. 26, Duterte said that during a recent summit of East Asian leaders in Laos, he had informed Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that he was "about to cross the Rubicon" with the United States. "I would need your help in everything  trade, commerce  and I will open up," he said he told Medvedev. Asked by a reporter what he meant by "cross the Rubicon," he said it was "a point of no return."

What is going on? For starters, Duterte has a big mouth, and in his first months in office he has been unrestrained. He bristled at criticism of the drug war from the United States and Europe. The anti-drug campaign has been reprehensible, and the criticism deserved.

But at the same time, the relationship between the United States and the Philippines is key to the success of a U.S. pivot to Asia, and as an offset to China's increasingly aggressive expansionism in the South China Sea, building airstrips and bases on an archipelago also claimed by the Philippines and a half-dozen other nations. The United States and the Philippines have a defense treaty dating to 1951, and the Philippines was a major outpost for U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Although there was a breakdown over the U.S. bases in 1992, joint exercises continued, and in 2014 the two countries signed a 10-year agreement envisioning a stronger U.S. defense presence in the Philippines. Over the past week, while on a visit to Vietnam, Duterte announced that this month's joint military exercises with the United States would be the last while he is president.

Taken at face value, Duterte's statements suggest an alarming turn away from the United States. We notice that, after many of his outrageous comments  that the Philippines might leave the United Nations, that U.S. forces have to leave the southern island of Mindanao, that Obama was a "son of a bitch," that the joint military exercises are ending  his associates and spokesmen have stepped in to say he didn't really mean quite what he said. We understand that Duterte has a firebrand style popular at home. But if he implements his threats to degrade the alliance with the United States, neither nation will benefit.
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Omaha, Neb.

Outdoor gear giant Bass Pro is snapping up rival Cabela's in a $4.5 billion deal announced Monday.

Bass Pro is paying Cabela's shareholders $65.50 cash per share, a 19 percent premium to Friday's closing price. The companies valued the deal at $5.5 billion, which includes debt. The deal combines two companies known for their giant destination superstores.

It also creates uncertainty about jobs in Cabela's home state of Nebraska. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Neb., but it's not immediately clear how many jobs might be lost.

Cabela's employs about 2,000 people in the western Nebraska town of Sidney, which has about 7,000 residents. State Sen. Ken Schilz, who represents the area, said the deal is concerning because of the duplication between the two companies' headquarters that will be eliminated.

"We'll just have to wait and see what Bass Pro does. I'm sure most folks in Sidney are pretty nervous this morning," Schilz said.

Activist investment firm Elliott Management began pushing for significant changes at Cabela's last fall. Elliott owns 7.4 percent of Cabela's shares and holds options to buy another 3.8 percent.

A sale of Cabela's has been a distinct possibility ever since the company announced a review of its strategic options last December, but many in Sidney weren't ready to believe it could happen.

"We're just trying to absorb it right now," said Denise Wilkinson, president of the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce. "We just never knew what would happen."

Bass Pro founder and CEO Johnny Morris said he hopes to continue growing the Cabela's brand alongside his privately held chain, based in Springfield, Mo.

"The story of each of these companies could only have happened in America, made possible by our uniquely American free enterprise system," Morris said. "We have enormous admiration for Cabela's, its founders and outfitters, and its loyal base of customers."

Capital One will take over running Cabela's credit card unit as part of the deal, which is backed by $1.8 billion in financing from Goldman Sachs and another $600 million from private equity fund Pamplona Capital.

Cabela's was founded in 1961 when Dick Cabela started selling fishing flies through the mail from his kitchen table with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim. It now has 85 retail stores primarily in the western U.S. and Canada.

Bass Pro got its start in 1971 when Morris began selling high-quality fishing tackle in his dad's liquor store in Springfield, Mo.

Morris developed a following in the Ozarks region  its lakes and rich streams a haven for anglers  created the Bass Pro Shop Catalog in 1974 and opened the first of his now 99 stores in Springfield seven years later. Bass Pro's stores are mostly in the eastern United States and Canada.

Morris also introduced the Bass Tracker fishing boat in 1978 that was designed specifically for fishermen. That led to the creation of the White River Marine Group.

Nebraska politicians are encouraging Bass Pro to maintain significant operations in the state after the deal closes sometime in the first half of next year.
Albany

PosiGen, a New Orleans-based solar installation firm that made a big push into the upstate New York market the past two years with a local sales office in Albany and a warehouse in Halfmoon, laid off 23 employees last week as part of a plan to serve the state from Connecticut.

Amy Sneed Barrios, a PosiGen spokeswoman, told the Times Union Monday that PosiGen still had 24 employees working in New York and would keep both offices open, even though the Central Avenue office in Albany was closed Monday and empty except for one woman who said everyone had been laid off.

There were employees at the company's Halfmoon warehouse Monday, although they referred questions from the Times Union to Barrios.

"In order to continue to follow our mission of putting customers first, PosiGen Solar Solutions is undergoing a restructuring plan, which includes re-allocating resources to our top two markets of Connecticut and Louisiana," Barrios said. "As a result, we are scaling down our New York operations."

Barrios said that PosiGen will still sell and service solar panel systems in New York, although most of that work will be done going forward from the company's Bridgeport, Conn., offices.

PosiGen, which received $20 million in venture capital earlier this year from an investment group that included energy giant Exelon Corp., marketed itself to low- and moderate-income homeowners. The company offered solar panel systems starting at $65 a month through a 20-year lease, making it extremely affordable compared to most solar installations.

Earlier in the summer, PosiGen partnered with the Arbor Hill Development Corp. to provide solar installations to new homebuyers in the Arbor Hill neighborhood in Albany.

Arbor Hill Development Corp. Executive Director Arlene Way said she had been informed of PosiGen's decision and was told that the partnership had ended. She is now looking for a new solar installation partner and has contacted state officials for help.

"I am so upset," Way said. "We were really looking forward to working with them."

PosiGen had sought to open a Syracuse office at one point, but that expansion is off the table for now.

"PosiGen has spent more than two years and millions of dollars working to grow our foothold in the New York marketplace," Barrios said. "We look forward to the time when we are able to do so again."

lrulison@timesunion.com  518-454-5504  @larryrulison
COLONIE  A fire at Cocca's Travelodge on Route 9 is an arson, Colonie police said Tuesday.

Police said the suspect is a woman taken to Albany Medical Center the night of the fire, but charges will not be filed until her release. Police said they would not release her identity until then.

"We know who she is. The charges are ready," Lt. Robert Winn said. "When she is released, we'll be prepared to make that arrest."

The woman is being given a psychiatric evaluation, he said.

The blaze Saturday forced Rose and Timothy O'Dell to flee onto the first floor roof as the flames engulfed the three-room efficiency they had lived in for 22 years. Firefighters rescued them there.

At the time, authorities said, the fire started in a room occupied by a woman who witnesses described as acting despondent in the parking lot afterward.
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Editor's note: Remember Oct. 4, 1987? "Fall's snowy crippler" shut down the Capital Region with snapped trees, fallen power lines and an early October snowy, sleety mess. On the 31st anniversary, let's look back at Paul Grondahl's story from 2012.

ALBANY  Hardwood trees were the first to snap, towering maples and oaks laden with a canopy of big russet leaves acting as tarpaulins that caught gloppy, heavy snow as it fell freakishly before dawn on Oct. 4, 1987.

Crrrrrack!

The sickly sound, like rifle shots, awakened homeowners on a Sunday morning. A flora carnage was under way. It was a surreal scene.

After a run of Indian summer, forecasters were caught off guard when a cold front blasted through overnight and a steady rain turned to wet snow.

Across the Capital Region, snow-laden limbs yanked down utility lines and triggered a cascading event with widespread power outages and all manner of havoc.

It was an early nor'easter, with 6 inches in most local areas and a foot or more in the Catskills and the Hilltowns. What would have been a modest snow falling without drama through bare trees in January instead rendered the landscape a wintry cataclysm: four deaths, power knocked out to 270,000 homes, major roads impassable and millions of dollars in utility repairs, ruined crops and lost business.

Live wires crackled and sparked with a lethal force on the ground. A wayward dog was reported being "roasted alive" after it stepped on a hot wire.

The ordinary had turned epic.

Hospital emergency rooms were jammed. Gov. Mario M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency. Volunteers set up soup kitchens in church halls. Community centers became emergency shelters.

Schools closed. Businesses shut. The soundtrack was the incessant high-pitched whine of chain saws amid a mangled mess of sheared-off limbs and uprooted trunks.

Many people didn't have power restored for days, forcing those without electricity or hard-to-find generators to revert to a pioneering spirit: reading by candlelight, putting food from refrigerators into snowbanks, cooking in fireplaces.

Thursday marks the 31st anniversary of a memorably weird storm captured in a resonant Times Union headline, "Fall's Snowy Crippler."

"It doesn't seem possible that it was 25 years ago. It felt like we assembled an army to battle it," recalled Keith Goodheart, regional manager for Niagara Mohawk, who mobilized and coordinated hundreds of workers from as far away as Cape Cod and Canada. He had only slept a few hours following his daughter's wedding reception when he was awakened by a call at 5 a.m. to report to work.

"It was just total devastation," said Gary Schermerhorn, who worked for a tree-service company and wielded his trusty Husqvarna chain saw. "A year later, we were still cutting out broken stubs hung up in trees."

At Golden Harvest Farms in Valatie, it was peak apple season and migrant workers from Jamaica were discombobulated.

"They had never seen snow before and they thought it was some kind of voodoo thing," recalled Alan Grout, president of the Columbia County orchard. "We talked with them and finally coaxed them into picking. We had some damage, but apple trees are used to handling heavy loads."

Lyssa Craig was a first-grader at Altamont Elementary School. "It was like being back in olden times," she said, recounting runs with her parents in a plastic toboggan a half-mile down steep and unplowed Helderberg Avenue to buy food and batteries at Stewart's.

Craig loved everything about the storm's aftermath: a week off school, camping out in the house in sleeping bags; boiling snow for bath water because the electric water pump didn't work; making up games; and listening as a family to the radio. "I didn't want it to end because it was so much fun. I remember being sad when the power came back on," she said.

The storm injected drama into daily life and special occasions alike.

Phil and Maria Hanby of Grafton, Rensselaer County, went ahead with their wedding at Sacred Heart Church in Troy although it had no power and only 100 of their 250 invited guests were able to make it to the ceremony, illuminated by candles.

The horse-drawn carriage they rented canceled. Not one of the four videographers they hired showed, although the wedding photographer was there. The organist couldn't play without electricity.

"Everyone hummed 'Here Comes the Bride' at the church," Phil recalled. He was 24, she was 23 and they had spent months planning their perfect wedding. They weren't about to let a crippling snowstorm ruin it.

They found buddies with four-wheel-drive trucks to transport the bride and bridesmaids. Two limos arrived for the guys at Phil's West Sand Lake apartment. "The limos kept getting stuck and we had to get out in our tuxes to push," Phil recalled. The American Legion in Wynantskill had a generator. The reception went off without a hitch, including a refund for the 150 no-shows.

"It was our first test as a couple, and we handled it well," Maria said. She works for the state and he's employed at a paper mill. They have no children of their own, but are foster parents to a 13-year-old boy they hope to adopt.

They've made plans to celebrate their 25th anniversary on Thursday, a camping trip to Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. "It'll probably snow," Maria said.

It was no joke 25 years ago for 14-year-old Fred Beglia, who had spent the night before the storm camping out in the Mallett Pond State Forest with his older brother, Mike, near their home in Summit, Schoharie County.

"We had a campfire, went to sleep like a normal night and when I woke up in the morning the tent was really close to my nose and I didn't understand why," recalled Beglia, who is now executive director of the George Landis Arboretum in Esperance. He saw 18 inches of snow, bent-over trees and branches littering their campsite.

The brothers packed their gear and trudged a couple miles to their car. It was stuck, and the road was impassable. They returned a few days later to free the vehicle.

History is etched into the gnarled limbs of great, old trees that weathered the storm. Two mighty 80-year-old ash trees that tower 140 feet above the Normanskill Farm on the outskirts of Albany where Tom Gallagher lives are on borrowed time. "They've died a long, slow death," said Gallagher, who's worked 37 years for the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Albany County. Three of the ashes were cut down 15 years ago and two more will probably be dropped before winter comes. Insect and rot set in as a result of damage from the 1987 disaster.

There's nothing like a big storm to quicken the pulse of journalists. The Times Union in Colonie had no power and no way to get out a paper. Would it be the first time, after publishing every day without exception since April 21, 1865, that the paper failed to publish?

Not on Editor Harry Rosenfeld's watch.

The rival Troy Record stepped in to help its stricken competitor thanks to a gentleman's agreement common to the industry. The Oct. 5, 1987 edition was printed on the Record's press and marked another first: the Hearst's morning Times Union and afternoon Knickerbocker News shared the same masthead in a never-repeated combined effort.

Only a few staffers are still on hand who worked on that historic edition.

Jack Palella, a printer foreman who's been at the Times Union for 41 years, was called in on his day off.

"I got there and the building was dead," Palella said. He and Bill Kelly fished around in the composing room with flashlights to rescue type they had already prepared. They grabbed the tools of their trade  pica poles, X-Acto knives, waxers  and worked alongside the Record printers.

During their late-night toil to paste up the pages of what became the iconic "Fall's Snowy Crippler," a collector's edition, Palella twice drove back from Troy to the Times Union's plant to fetch more type squirreled away.

Palella drove a Camaro, trunk loaded with sandbags, and he fishtailed around snowy curves as he raced to get out the first draft of history.

The snow melted in a few days. The storm became old news. The profound had returned to the profane.
ALBANY - Shawn Taylor, the facilities office supervisor at the College at Saint Rose, received the employer support of the Guard Patriot Award from the New York Army National Guard on Tuesday.

Brigadier General Raymond F. Shields Jr. presented the award.
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Malta

D.A. Collins, the Wilton construction company that built the iconic Twin Bridges on the Northway, is working to fill space at the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

The tech campus is home to GlobalFoundries and its Fab 8 computer chip factory. However, no other companies have moved into the tech park since GlobalFoundries first began construction in 2009.

D.A. Collins is helping the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp. to market what's known as the Malta Rocket Fuel Area, once used by the federal government to test rocket technology. The area is adjacent to Fab 8. Luther Forest is about 1,400 acres.

D.A. Collins has an option to purchase the parcel, according to Tom Roohan, chairman of the tech campus.

D.A. Collins has been marketing the land as the Malta Global Technology Park.

The rocket fuel site has been the location of the relocated "Trailer City" at Fab 8, where all of the contractor trailers for Fab 8 construction had been placed. The site has since been vacated as Fab 8 construction wrapped up.

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John Davidson, head of the D.A. Collins real estate division, did not respond to questions from the Times Union about the site.

The Malta rocket test site is zoned for both commercial and office space.

lrulison@timesunion.com  518-454-5504  @larryrulison
THE ISSUE:

Steps by the governor and Legislature to limit oversight led to a corruption scandal at SUNY.

THE STAKES:

There's a bigger mess to fix.

More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse

It's hard to imagine responsible government officials waking up one morning and thinking that not having an independent auditor keeping an eye on State University of New York contracts would be a good idea.

Yet Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature did just that in 2012, curtailing the ability of the state comptroller to review contracts by an entity with a budget of more than $2.8 billion a year.

Talk about temptation.

Here we are, four years later, with a major scandal involving SUNY and alleged abuses of the very contract rules that the comptroller's auditors would have been making sure were followed.

Talk about predictable.

Prior to 2012, the comptroller reviewed SUNY contracts over $250,000 to ensure they were properly awarded. To speed things up, lawmakers and the governor limited the review to non-construction matters.

In recent years, too, SUNY has made greater use of nonprofits like Fuller Road Management Corp., which manages SUNY Polytechnic Institute's construction projects. Fuller Road was in charge of contracts that the U.S. Attorney's office says were manipulated by SUNY Poly President Alain Kaloyeros and others to favor certain developers in return for money and favors for several close associates of the governor's.

Mr. Cuomo isn't wrong to blame SUNY's procurement process, but he leaves out the critical role he and the Legislature had in making this possible through less oversight and greater use of private nonprofits that are even less accountable than the shadow governments know as public authorities.

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Putting it in the best light, the governor's eagerness to use SUNY as a vehicle for his upstate economic development agenda set the stage for misconduct.

In the not-so-best light, it's not unreasonable to assume that Mr. Cuomo's well-demonstrated animosity toward state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli may have played a role here. Nor is it a leap to assume that Mr. Cuomo's tendency to consolidate power factored in, as well. Here's a former attorney general who wanted broad power to investigate government corruption, and scrapped that idea after he became governor.

Checks and balances are the essence of accountable governments. Mr. Cuomo, however, has been chipping away at the checks for several years. He has sought the power to shift money around the state budget without legislative approval, and to let public authorities move funds among themselves.

Talk about unaccountable.

The state should be looking to reverse this trend. It should restrict if not end the use of opaque nonprofit corporations. And the governor and Legislature should go further: They should ask Mr. DiNapoli to do a risk assessment of the entire government to see exactly where public funds are particularly vulnerable to corruption, not loosen the rules to make them only more vulnerable.

Talk about obvious.
THE ISSUE:

New York's attorney general is going after the Donald J. Trump charitable foundation.

THE STAKES:

He risks his own credibility unless he demonstrates equal scrutiny for Hillary Clinton.

More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse

Election or not, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is right to hold Donald Trump's foundation accountable for failing to follow the law. If only Mr. Schneiderman hadn't given Mr. Trump something to legitimately gripe about.

Last week, the Charities Bureau in Mr. Schneiderman's office sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Donald J. Trump Foundation for failure to file necessary paperwork. It barred the foundation from soliciting or raising funds in the state until it complies. Mr. Trump's charity has 15 days to turn in the required filings or face potential fraud charges.

That's quite proper. Many questions surround Mr. Trump's foundation, particularly whether he improperly used charitable funds for personal purposes.

The problem is, Mr. Schneiderman left some big openings for Mr. Trump  the Republican presidential nominee who has no qualms about using character assassination to try to deflect attention from his own problems.

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For one thing, there's an issue of unequal treatment. When Scripps News revealed in September that the Clinton Foundation, the charitable organization of Mr. Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, didn't properly file required documents with New York state, Mr. Schneiderman's office shrugged. The missing information included the names of donors, including foreign ones. Yet Mr. Schneiderman's spokesman said there was no problem with the Clinton organization's filings and no action was planned.

Mr. Schneiderman, a powerful New York Democrat, also serves on the Clinton campaign's "leadership council." Mr. Trump would not be out of line to suggest Mr. Schneiderman's connection to the campaign goes beyond a mere endorsement, and to question whether the attorney general is acting politically by going after Mr. Trump's foundation while protecting Mrs. Clinton from the same scrutiny.

This certainly would be in keeping with Mr. Trump's M.O. Earlier this year, he faced criticism for accusing a federal judge in San Diego of bias in a class-action lawsuit involving complaints of fraud at Trump University. He argued that the judge could not hear the case objectively since he is Mexican  wrong; he was born in Indiana  and because of Mr. Trump's call for a border wall. Mr. Trump has also attacked Mr. Schneiderman before, contending that the attorney general went after Trump University in order to squeeze his family for political contributions.

Mr. Schneiderman is politically savvy enough to know that appearances matter. Late as it may be, he should give up any role he has in the Clinton campaign. And he should be even-handed with the Clinton Foundation. As head of an office charged with enforcing many of New York's laws and regulations, he needs to be more than in the right; he needs to stand above the political fray, or Mr. Trump will do his best to drag him into the mud. him into the mud.
World Vision Charity Answers the Call to RingCentral Office

By Steve Anderson - Contributing Writer

It's easily one of the largest Christian charities on the face of the Earth, and though it's seen its share of controversy in the past, it's hard to deny that it's moving a lot of goods, people, and resources around the planet. That means a clear demand for the best in communications, and a large part of the reason why World Vision stepped up its communications game by bringing in RingCentral Office.

Essentially, World Vision was looking for a cloud-based solution that could help connect the often widely-scattered elements of its operation. Since RingCentral Office offers not only voice and video contact methods, but also short message service (SMS) operations, conferencing tools, and online meetings from the same platform, that made it a prime target for World Vision.

With over 1,000 users involved in World Vision operations, several points were required in order to meet World Vision's expectations. World Vision wanted to replace a legacy systemactually, nine separate systems, as World Vision infrastructure architect Randy Boyd notedthat was at its end-of-life stages. Since the old system was expensive and difficult to manage, and only offered limited added value, World Vision wanted a system that could offer more and require less. That made RingCentral Office a great choice, thanks to its array of services, its ease of deployment and management, and the fact that it integrated easily with Microsoft Active Directory and Microsoft Azure improved value on the whole process.

RingCentral's senior vice president of worldwide sales Ryan Azus commented World Vision's IT team is highly dedicated to providing quality services to its workforce. By moving their communication infrastructure to the cloud, they can focus on their core mission, which is to serve children in need throughout the world. Were excited to help World Vision modernize their communications solutions by replacing their legacy on-premise systems, and tapping the power of RingCentrals cloud to enable them to work flexibly and communicate more effectively.

Connecting over 1,000 people worldwide isn't an easy task, and it requires the right kind of system to pull such a feat off. Remember that World Vision was effectively looking to replace nine separate systems with just one, and the fact that RingCentral could step in and do the job of nine systems is something of a minor miracle. Sure, these may have been legacy end-of-life systems, potentially 20 years old even, but replacing nine for one is a great deal by most any standard. RingCentral, meanwhile, now has an impressive marketing feather in its cap, able to point out not only that it's delivering for a major global charity initiative, but what it did in the process.

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Edited by Maurice Nagle
[October 04, 2016] Defending Canada from the Escalating Threat of Cybercrime

GTEC Cyber Security Program Arms Professionals with the Know-how to Abate Cyber Threats Inside and Out OTTAWA, Ontario, Oct. 4, 2016 /CNW/ -- The challenge of cyber security has escalated from an IT problem into a strategic corporate issue that demands C-suite ownership and action. And when it comes to cybercrime risk and impact, there is no shortage of data to support cyber security threats as a nation-wide priority and global concern that is approaching crisis levels. Cyber incidents increased by 38 percent from 2014 to 2015[1], with the average cost of a cyber breach exceeding $3.79 million[2]. The estimated cost of global cyberattacks is $400 billion annually, and this figure is expected to catapult to $2 trillion by 2019[3]. Cyber security is not a defensive game. In a rapidly evolving digital world, C-level executives must arm their organization with an offensive strategy that mitigates and addresses cyber risk. It is a challenge that GTEC aims to help leaders address head-on. GTEC, Canada's internationally recognized forum for enabling and celebrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) leadership, innovation and impact in Canada's public sector, is joining forces with IBM and TELUS to deliver its annual Cyber Security Program on November 1, 2016. With the compelling theme, All Hands on Deck: Cyber Security is Everyone's Business, this interactive one-day event will launch GTEC's flagship conference at the Shaw Centre. Leveraging the expertise of many cyber security authorities, this full-day program will bring together more than 150 professionals from the public and private sector to: Better understand the source of cyber threats and the impact of a cyberattack;

Explore proactive 'security by design' strategies that help mitigate internal and external cyber threats; and

Acquire insight and lessons learned on cyberattack management, and how to reduce the impact of a cyber breach. The program will offer executive insight, best practices and case studies around the emerging era of cognitive security, security by design, addressing Canada's security skills gap, and the danger of malicious and unintentional incidents within the enterprise. "Today, executives aim to better anticipate and even predict threats before they happen," said Patrick Vandenberg, World Wide Program Director of IBM Security. "Companies have massive volumes of data to process to determine threats and next course of action, but with very little time to do it, plus deal with new attacks that are constantly emerging. Cyber threats demand new thinking and approaches, such as those enabled by the latest cognitive capabilities. Cognitive computing can provide unprecedented insight into cyber threats, enable a more targeted, timely and impactful response, and ultimately help address the security skills gap." "In this digital age, cyber security influences every facet of a business from its corporate strategy and technology roadmap to the network and infrastructure that supports it," said Marc Kneppers, Chief ecurity Architect, TELUS. "It is critical for all organizations to prioritize cyber security; develop a strategy; and make the investments required to execute successfully. An action plan underpinned by the right technology and expertise helps to mitigate the many financial, business and social implications of a cyberattack."



"Insider threats can emerge from individuals who exploit legitimate access to the cyber assets of an organization for unauthorized and malicious purposes, or who unwittingly create cyber vulnerabilities," said Adam Hatfield, Senior Director, Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, Public Safety Canada. "Today, insider cyber security mitigation demands the same commitment as corporate reputation and safety management. Every employee, from the front line to the C-suite, must be engaged." As Cyber Security Awareness month kicks off, GTEC is ramping-up to its cyber security program and targeted security track with an informative Twitter chat on 'insider' cyber risk on October 13, 2016 with moderator Kelly Jackson Higgins, Executive Editor at Dark Reading. It will set the stage for the complete roster of GTEC Cyber Security Program speakers just a few weeks later, including:

Jeff Curtis , Chief Privacy Officer, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Hospital

, Chief Privacy Officer, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Hospital Adam Hatfield , Senior Director, Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, Public Safety Canada

, Senior Director, Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, Public Safety Canada Scott Jones , Deputy Chief, IT Security, Communications Security Establishment

, Deputy Chief, IT Security, Communications Security Establishment Marc Kneppers , Chief Security Architect, TELUS

, Chief Security Architect, TELUS Jamie O'Hare , Security Practice Lead, TELUS

, Security Practice Lead, TELUS Heather Ricciuto , Transformation and Academic Initiatives Leader, IBM Security

, Transformation and Academic Initiatives Leader, IBM Security Sandra Saric , Vice President, Talent Innovation, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)

, Vice President, Talent Innovation, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) Patrick Vandenberg , World Wide Program Director, IBM Security Media interviews with program speakers are available upon request. For more information about this exclusive opportunity, please contact Sonya Shorey, Communications Strategist at: 613.851.9416 or [email protected] For more information, visit: gtec.ca/ottawa Register for GTEC: gtec.ca/ottawa/registration-and-pricing Registrants can save $100 on All Access and One-Day Conference Passes to attend the GTEC Cyber Security Pre-Conference Program with marketing code: CYBERSECURITYMONTH Apply for a GTEC Media Pass: gtec.ca/ottawa/press-centre-overview About GTEC GTEC is Canada's internationally recognized forum for enabling and celebrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) leadership, innovation and impact in Canada's public sector. Since 1993, GTEC has brought together more than 100,000 public and private sector innovators, leaders and enterprises to explore and drive leading-edge ICT initiatives, application and service delivery. Building on targeted webinars, summits, and roundtables that stimulate dialogue throughout the year, GTEC's annual flagship Conference and Exhibition attracts more than 4,500 participants, and delivers: Education and training opportunities that develop top ICT talent

A robust conference program with compelling keynote presentations and panels on current strategies, opportunities and trends

An extensive exhibition showcasing emerging technologies, innovations, and solutions that enhance productivity and performance

A wealth of collaboration, business development and networking opportunities

Distinction Awards that celebrate ICT excellence in Canada's public sector For additional information on GTEC, please visit: www.gtec.ca. About UBM Tech UBM Tech engages technology professionals live and online through its world-class brands, including Black Hat, InformationWeek, Enterprise Connect, Game Developers Conference (GDC), Dark Reading, HDI, GTEC, Network Computing and Interop. We're dedicated to fostering real engagement by creating environments where the technology industry can make connections, share insights, and network effectively. UBM Tech is the only media company that delivers large-scale industry events, leading online brands and content marketing services serving the Enterprise IT, Information Security, Game Development, Enterprise Communications and Technical Services and Support communities. UBM Tech is a part of UBM (UBM.L), a global provider of media and information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. For more information, go to http://tech.ubm.com. 1 http://www.cyberark.com/blog/fast-facts-noteworthy-cyber-security-statistics/

2 http://www.businessinsider.com/cyber-attacks-are-costing-companies-millions-of-dollars-heres-how-they-can-mitigate-those-costs-2016-2?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds

3 http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevemorgan/2016/01/17/cyber-crime-costs-projected-to-reach-2-trillion-by-2019/#1d3c2e0a3bb0 SOURCE GTEC

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[October 04, 2016] E Ink, HTC and Palladio Collaborate to Develop Smart Packaging Label for IoT-Based Healthcare Services

E Ink Holdings, "E Ink" (8069.TWO), the leading innovator of electronic ink technology in the world; HTC (News - Alert) Healthcare, the direct patient care service provider of data science; and Palladio Group, the pioneering pharmaceutical secondary packaging company, today announced a collaboration to improve medication adherence by harnessing the healthcare segment of the Internet of Things (IoT). This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005432/en/ E Ink, HTC and Palladio Collaborate to Develop Smart Packaging Label for IoT-based Healthcare Services (Graphic: Business Wire) Medication nonadherence is a common, complex and costly problem that contributes to poor patient outcomes and dwindling healthcare resources. Nonadherence is difficult to measure precisely and, to date, interventions to mitigate it have been largely unsuccessful. Using smartphone applications together with IoT-based smart devices provides a new approach to improving medication adherence. To combat this prevalent problem, E Ink created a smartphone-based smart packaging label that displays personalized content that can be pushed to the packaging label as a communication interface, delivering vital information to patients and creating a gateway to improve patient engagement. With E Ink's low power, high contrast paper-like display technology, patients can receive information, including: A reminder that it's time for users to take their medication

The quantity of medication in the package

The time at which medication is taken Further, patients have the ability to provide refill service by simply pushing a button on the product label. "E Ink's smart packaging label can be applied on both primary and secondary containers, from paperboard cartons to prefilled syringes to pill dispensers," said Dr. FY Gan, General Manager of ESI (News - Alert) Business Unit of E Ink Holdings. "This readily available technology offers many features designed to help patients and healthcare providers improve medication-taking behaviors." Developing a privacy-preserving medication management software, HTC enables real-time medication consumption tracking, symptom and side effects disclosure, and treatment outcome evaluation. Patients are able to get detailed information about their health status via two-way communication with the care team (composed of physicians, case managers, and pharmacists) and to refill their prescription via the platform. Dr. Edward Chang, president of HTC Healthcare, said "Our artificial intelligence technology is the backbone of the platform, aiming to improve treatment effectiveness and, eventually, a personalized medication solution in the near future."



Connectivity, smart packaging and IoT enable physical products to generate, harvest and apply data flow throughout their lifecycle. The collaboration among E Ink, HTC and Palladio aims to provide an end-to-end digital integration service across the value chain for healthcare professionals. For example, medication nonadherence has been an emerging topic and a matter of concern in clinical research for pharmaceutical companies. Patient adherence can apply to several different clinical trial facets which may include adherence to study procedures, study visit compliance, medications and adverse event reporting. In fact, medication nonadherence during a clinical trial can result in increased clinical trial cost, as well as impacts to regulatory dosing recommendations upon medical product approval. Information displayed includes barcode, QR code, multi-language text message and graphics. E Ink's smart packaging label is compatible with many wireless communication protocols such as BLE, WiFi, ZigBee (News - Alert), etc.

The combination of HTC's medication application software, Palladio's packaging operation, and E Ink's global platform of smart IoT device solutions will enhance patients' understanding of medication information, empowering people to live better lives. It's one of the reasons that PhutureMed has been named a finalist for this year's CPhI Pharma Awards for Excellence in Pharma: Packaging. More information can be found here. About E Ink Holdings

Founded in 1992 by Taiwan's leading papermaking and printing group YFY (1907.TWSE), E Ink Holdings Inc. (8069.TWO), based on technology from MIT's (News - Alert) Media Lab, has transformed and defined the eReader market with its ePaper technology, enabling a new multi-billion dollar market in less than 10 years. Its corporate philosophy aims to deliver revolutionary products, user experiences, and environmental benefits through advanced technology development. This vision has led to its continuous investments in the field of ePaper displays as well as expanding the use of its technologies into a number of other markets and applications. Its EPD products make it the worldwide leader for ePaper. Its FFS technologies are a standard for high end consumer electronic products. Listed in Taiwan's Taipei Exchange (TPEx) and the Luxembourg market, E Ink Holdings is now the world's largest supplier of displays to the eReader market. For corporate information, please visit www.einkgroup.com; for EPD information, please visit www.eink.com. About HTC Corporation

HTC Corp, founded in 1997, manufactures smartphones and was ranked as a top brand in the world by Interbrand's Best Global Brands report. HTC brings brilliance to life by continuing to create technology that can address society's toughest challenges. Since 2014, HTC has partnered with Taiwanese and US physicians, scientists, and engineers who recognize the dire need for healthcare improvement around the world. HTC is participating in the $10 million Qualcomm (News - Alert) Tricorder XPRIZE competition, which aims to foster disruptive revolution in healthcare by stimulating the development of innovative personal diagnostic devices. As of August 27, 2014, HTC was one of the top 10 finalist teams in the competition. In 2015, HTC developed a new healthcare business unit, to deliver direct patient care that includes a symptom checker, a medication manager, and telehealth. HTC believes that artificial intelligence can bring huge benefits to medical research and aims to help clinicians provide faster, better treatments to their patients by utilizing advanced technology to analyze accumulated medical data. About Palladio Group

Palladio Group is the result of a long and successful process started in Italy, 70 years ago. Palladio is the Leader for the Secondary Packaging Supplier and Service Provider for the Healthcare and Cosmetic Industry in Italy and one of the most interesting and dynamic companies in the International market. With its plants located in Italy, Ireland, Serbia, and Russia (opening soon) produce folding cartons, leaflets, booklets, labels and printed alu-foil for the largest pharma and cosmetic companies worldwide. Palladio is continually making a constant effort to improve, by offering innovative technological solutions and advanced concepts and services towards patient compliance to therapy. Our optimum standards aim for nothing short of excellence, with a continuous effort to innovation and the total sustainability of all our processes. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005432/en/

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New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Mostly cloudy. High around 80F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 58F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
[October 04, 2016] EnerNex EVP Robert Zavadil Recipient of the Wayne E. Knabach Award for Excellence in Power

EnerNex, an electric power research, engineering and consulting firm, announces Co-founder and Executive Vice President Robert Zavadil has received the 2016 Wayne E. Knabach Award for Excellence in Power. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005496/en/ EnerNex Co-Founder and EVP Bob Zavadil (Photo: Business Wire) Zavadil has worked on electric power system issues for wind generation for over 25 years. As a co-founder of EnerNex, Zavadil is responsible for developing nd overseeing the company's power system engineering consulting business.



EnerNex CEO Jeff Lamoree states: "Having worked with him for over 20 years, I've seen the significant impact his work has had, and continues to have, on the power community and I commend him for this achievement. In working alongside countless wind turbine designers and manufacturers, project developers and operators and transmission service providers, Bob has made a mark on the evolution of power system planning, design and operation." Zavadil is a member of the IEEE (News - Alert) Power & Energy Society (PES), Power Electronics, and Industrial Applications Societies, and serves as Vice-Chair of the IEEE PES Wind and Solar Power Coordinating Committee. He also chairs the Modeling and Interconnection Study User Group for the Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group.

The award is given annually to an individual or a company that contributes to the advancement of the power industry and/or to the South Dakota State University's Center for Power Systems Studies (CPSS). Selection of the award winner is based upon the dedication, expertise, and outstanding efforts of the individual or company and the candidate's promotion of the importance of the power engineering profession and the people practicing in it. "Bob Zavadil, a 1982 graduate from our electrical engineering program at SDSU, exemplifies the type of individual worthy of such a recognition," says Steve Hietpas, Coordinator of the CPSS. Selection for the recipient of this prestigious award is made by members of the CPSS, comprised of 11 major utility companies and 17 associate members. The award was presented on October 3rd at the 2016 CPSS South Dakota Regional Power Conference and Awards Banquet at South Dakota State University. Zavadil also presented as part of the agenda on "Integrating Renewable Energy: Past, Present, and Future." About EnerNex EnerNex, established in 2003, provides research, engineering and consulting services, for the electric power industry. EnerNex focuses on providing services around the development and application of new and emerging electric power technologies to engineer a cleaner, smarter energy system of the future. For more information on EnerNex, visit us on the web, http://www.enernex.com.

Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @EnerNex.

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[October 04, 2016] Matrix to Showcase its Industry-Leading Telecom Solutions at MyBroadband Conference 2016, South Africa

Matrix, a well-known manufacturer of Telecom and Security Solutions, is participating in MyBroadband Conference on 20th October, 2016. Since latest solutions and technologies are discussed at the conference, it is considered as one of the major ICT events in South Africa. Matrix has a strong history of unveiling innovative products and solutions in the IP telephony market regularly. This year at the conference, Matrix will highlight its newly launched Next Generation Unified Communication Server and Client along with its range of IP-PBXs, Converged Voice and Data products, Gateways and User Terminals.







Matrix will also showcase its latest business grade products: SARVAM UCS and VARTA WIN200. Matrix SARVAM UCS  Unified Communication Solution for Modern Enterprises streamlines communication amongst employees working on different locations by allowing them to connect from a common platform. VARTA WIN200  A UC Client for seamless collaboration is improving communication infrastructure at different organizations. The product offers features like Video Calling, Presence Sharing, Instant Messaging and more. The solution allows employees to use the same extension number from desktop computers and remain connected with their colleagues irrespective of the location.



Matrix will also highlight its award-winning NAVAN CNX200 - Office-in-a-Box Solution. NAVAN CNX200 is a single box solution that caters to small businesses need of voice, data, internet, wireless, mobility and messaging. The solution is ideal for improving collaboration in the businesses with up to 24 employees. NAVAN CNX200 offers advanced IP-PBX functionality, high-speed internet, wireless voice and data access, data routing and virtual private networking from a compact and converged platform.





MyBroadband Conference 2016 is one of the ground breaking events in South Africa that will help people know how the latest telecom and IT technologies can influence business processes. We are looking forward to meet key service providers and business professionals to explain our business solutions, said Marketing Team, Matrix Telecom Solutions.



Matrix cordially invites you to visit us at MyBroadband Conference, Gallagher Convention Centre, South Africa on 20th October, 2016 and have a glimpse at the latest Telecom solutions.



About Matrix Established in 1991, Matrix is a leader in Telecom and Security solutions for modern businesses and enterprises. An innovative, technology driven and customer focused organization; Matrix is committed to keep pace with the revolutions in the telecom and security industries. With more than 40% of its human resources dedicated to the development of new products, Matrix has launched cutting-edge products like Video Surveillance solutions, Access Control, Time-Attendance, IP-PBX, Universal Gateways, Terminals, Convergence solution, VoIP Gateways and GSM Gateways. These solutions are feature-rich, reliable and conform to the international standards. Having global foot-prints in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa through an extensive network of more than 500 channel partners, Matrix ensures that the products serve the needs of its customers faster and longer. Matrix has gained trust and admiration of customers representing the entire spectrum of industries. Matrix has won many international awards for its innovative products. As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[October 04, 2016] Philipp Sturm joins ZRG Partners as Country Head of Germany

ZRG Partners, a fast growing global leader in executive search and talent management has added Philipp Sturm as a Managing Director and Country Head of Germany. He will work out of the firm's office in Frankfurt, Germany. Philipp will also be a member of the firm's Global Industrial Practice. Philipp brings a decade plus of solid and relevant executive search eperience to ZRG. Prior to joining ZRG, Philipp worked at Korn Ferry International in their global industrial practice and most recently he was a Partner at a CTPartners in Frankfurt, Germany.



Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG remarked, "Philipp is a key leader to help us further expand our coverage in Germany. His experience in the industrial sectors and relationships in the automotive vertical fit very nicely to our global industrial team's client mix. We view this hire as a cornerstone of our continued growth in Europe and in Germany, where our data and analytics value proposition has been very well received." Philipp Sturm commented, "It is great to be back working again with many of my old Korn Ferry and CTPartners colleagues that have already made ZRG Partners their home. The firm's commitment to data and information in the search process is just what my clients throughout Germany have been asking for. I am looking forward to expanding the brand in the German markets as ZRG continues to grow."

About ZRG Partners

ZRG Partners is a progressive mid-sized global executive search firm that uses a proven, data-driven approach. For over 15 years, clients have trusted ZRG Partners to recruit top talent around the world. ZRG Partners is recognized as one of the fastest growing executive search firms in the industry driven by the firm's client focused, results driven approach grounded in integrity. www.zrgpartners.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003006455/en/

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[October 04, 2016] PRiME 2016 Hawaii Welcomes 4,000+ Pioneering Scientists Featuring Experts In Battery Technology, Renewable Energy

HONOLULU, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The largest and most significant joint research conference of its kind in the world, known as PRiME 2016, began Oct. 2 at the Hawaii Convention Center welcoming more than 4,000 pioneering scientists and engineers, including those specializing in battery technology and renewable energy. Three scientific societies  The Electrochemical Society, The Electrochemical Society of Japan and The Korean Electrochemical Society  are holding their joint scientific meeting Oct. 2-7, which includes 56 topical symposia and 4,128 technical presentations  including the 6th International Electrochemical Energy Summit and celebration of the 25th anniversary of the commercialization of the lithium-ion battery. "Meetings like PRiME 2016, which brings attendees together in Hawaii from east and west, are exactly the types of scientific gatherings we're looking for to boost our meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions business in the Aloha State," said Leslie Dance, vice president of marketing and product development for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "We've been fortunate to enjoy a long-standing relationship with The Electrochemical Society, which has found Hawaii's geographic locations and inspiring atmosphere an ideal and productive environment to accomplish their business. We wish them a wonderful time in the islands." PRiME 2016 highlights include: 25th Anniversary of the Lithium-ion Battery, Oct. 2

Lithium-ion technology has revolutionized the way people think about energy. PRiME 2016 celebrates its 25th anniversary by presenting some of the pioneering scientists who helped transform Lithium-ion technology from a laboratory curiosity into the backbone for many devices. Speakers included Yoshio Nishi, formerly of Sony; John B. Goodenough, recognized for his role in developing the rechargeable Lithium-ion battery; M. Stanley Whittingham, whose developments allwed Exxon to commercialize the first rechargeable Lithium-ion battery; Michael Thackeray, known for his identification of new cathodes that led to advances in lithium technology; Zempachi Ogumi, recognized for his work focusing on interfacial phenomena in Lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells; and Martin Winter, who has focused on Lithium-ion R&D for nearly 25 years.



6th International Electrochemical Energy Summit, Oct. 2

The summit is focused on facilitating interactions and fostering the exchange of ideas between leading policy makers, researchers, and energy experts about society's needs and technological energy solutions. Speakers included Mark Glick (Hawaii State Energy Office), Richard Rocheleau (Hawaii Natural Energy Institute), Eiji Ohira (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization), and Won-Yong Lee (Korea Institute of Energy Research).

Photoelectrochemical Cells for the Generation of Electricity and Fuels from Sunlight, Oct. 3

Michael Graetzel, pioneer in the field of energy conversion, described his research on development of nanostructured systems to convert sun to electricity and fuels, all taking inspiration from green plant photosynthesis. Alzheimer's Disease and Oxidative Stress: Thou Shalt not Breathe nor Think!, Oct. 3

World-renowned scientist Christian Amatore discussed a new mechanism based on analytical measurements that could give novel insight into Alzheimer's disease. Advanced Materials Diagnosis and Characterization for Enabling High Energy Long Life Rechargeable Batteries, Oct. 4

Y. Shirley Meng discusses her recently published research into understanding how batteries work at the smallest-scale in order to create better batteries and combat the effects of greenhouse gases. Mixed Potential Sensors for Hydrogen Safety and Automotive Applications, Oct. 5

Rangachary Mukundan, Los Alamos National Laboratory Researcher, discusses the evolution of sensors and how hydrogen safety sensors could help accelerate a sustainable automotive industry and implement new hydrogen fueling stations. Other highlights include more than 50 symposia in the following areas: Batteries and energy storage

Carbon nanostructures and devices

Corrosion science and technology

Dielectric science and materials

Electrochemical/electroless deposition

Electrochemical engineering

Electronic materials and processing

Electronic and photonic devices and systems

Fuel cells, electrolyzers, and energy conversion

Luminescence and display materials, devices, and processing

Organic and bioelectrochemistry

Physical and analytical electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, and photoelectrochemistry

Sensors Founded in 1902, the Electrochemical Society is led by scientists, for scientists. For information, visit www.electrochem.org. Meet Hawai'i is a collaboration of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and Hawaii Convention Center to reinforce the brand of the Hawaiian Islands as a world-class destination for business meetings, conventions, and incentive programs. For information, visit MeetHawaii.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/prime-2016-hawaii-welcomes-4000-pioneering-scientists-featuring-experts-in-battery-technology-renewable-energy-300338654.html SOURCE Hawaii Tourism Authority

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[October 04, 2016] "Seek Greatness; Leave the World Better Than You Found It"-Tim Cook, Apple CEO, at UTC Hall of Fame

Just as Steve Jobs (News - Alert) had said, companies should strive to "be insanely great," Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the 2016 Utah Technology Council (UTC) (http://www.utahtech.org) Hall Of Fame gala event. Now in its 18th year, the UTC Hall of Fame addressed a record crowd of more than 1,400 Utah technology leaders last week at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. As the leader of a $6 billion enterprise, the most valuable within the world, Cook expressed respect for the contributions of Utah's 5,000 technology firms. He noted the importance of privacy and of the responsibility of tech firms to protect it, observing that there is now more private information about each of us on our smartphones than there is within the walls of our homes. Sen. Orrin Hatch interviewed Cook during his keynote presentation where he explained that it is vital to captivate the attention of young women and of youth at a younger age to encourage their interests and skills in programming. It is vital both to advance their lives and economic futures, as well as for the benefit of the future innovations they will create. He advised companies to focus on their culture, as the values their people stand for should extend to the culture of their organizations as well. At the event, UTC honored 2016 inductees Fraser Bullock Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of private equity firm Sorenson Capital, Carine Clark, CEO of customer experience organization MaritzCX, and Peter Genereaux, the individual responsible for the genesis of the Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) in 1991, which later became UTC.



"We are extremely pleased to gain unique insights from Tim Cook, who leads the most admired and innovative company in the world, and to welcome these remarkable inductees into our 2016 Hall of Fame," said Richard R. Nelson, president and CEO of UTC. The gala headlines CEO keynotes from the world's great technology companies. Prior HOF keynotes have included Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn (News - Alert); Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com; Shantanu Narayen of Adobe; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com; John Chambers of Cisco; Eric Schmidt of Google; Jerry Yang of Yahoo!; Steve Ballmer of Microsoft; Mark Hurd (News - Alert) of Oracle; Paul Otellini of Intel and Kevin Rollins of Dell.

About The UTC Hall of Fame The annual Hall of Fame event honors individuals with Utah ties who have made global contributions to the technology industry through innovation and leadership. This year's event brings the total number of inductees honored to 48. The Hall of Fame celebration is the year's largest gathering of Utah technology executives. UTC invites members of Utah's technology industries, as well as business and community leaders, to join in honoring inductees. About the Utah Technology Council As the driving force behind Utah's technology community's success for 25 years, the Utah Technology Council gives an influential, united voice to the state's over 5,000 technology businesses and marshals support from government, education and community leaders and institutions. UTC's three highest priorities are: Expanding the Talent Pipeline for high tech and related positions, Fostering a Tech-friendly Environment within Utah, and Ensuring Technology Innovation Continues to Thrive in Utah's tech companies. Technology veterans and newcomers alike join UTC to help propel the growth of their companies and further grow Utah's technology ecosystem as a nationally recognized top five tech center. www.utahtech.org View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005440/en/

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[October 04, 2016] Three Nonprofits Receive the 2016 UNITE Award from Social Solutions Global

Social Solutions Global, the leading provider of outcomes and performance management software for human services, awarded three high-performing nonprofits with the 2016 UNITE Award at this year's client event, the Superhero Summit. Friends of the Children, Connecticut Council of Family Services Agencies, and Area Resources for Community & Human Services (ARCHS) were announced as award recipients on the final day of the Summit in Baltimore. The UNITE Award recognizes clients who have excelled at making a meaningful impact on their constituents, leveraging data-driven performance management, and have demonstrated a dedication to outcomes measurement using Social Solutions' Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) or Apricot Software. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005038/en/ From left to right: Holly Huillet from Friends of the Children, CEO of Social Solutions Rachel Arnold, Kimberly Williams-Rivera from Connecticut Council of Family Services Agencies, and Dianne Benjamin from ARCHS (Photo: Business Wire) "Social Solutions is thrilled to launch the UNITE Award,in appreciation for the work that all of our clients undertake in their communities," said Rachel Arnold, CEO of Social Solutions. "The three organizations receiving this year's award have all made incredible inroads furthering their mission through outcomes and performance measurement of their programs. We view them as true leaders in human services and are proud to call them clients and partners."



The 2016 UNITE Award recipients: ARCHS

ARCHS is a nonprofit organization that leverages Apricot software to help improve the lives of more than 100,000 at-risk children and their families. The organization funds and enhances education and social service programs provided at more than 350 locations throughout the St. Louis area.

Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies

Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies uses ETO software to track progress across fifteen independent, nonprofit, family service agencies that provide services to over 150,000 families annually. The organization serves as the only statewide family service network in Connecticut devoted to improving the lives of families and children. Friends of the Children

Friends of the Children provides professional mentors for the most vulnerable youth across the United States, relying on ETO software to track and report on day-to-day program and field data. For every $1 invested in the nonprofit, more than $7.60 is returned to the community as a result of higher wages earned and less involvement with the justice system. About Social Solutions Social Solutions Global, the provider of Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) and Apricot Software, is the leader in outcomes management software for human service organizations, making data useful at all levels, from frontline staff to executive leaders. Learn more at http://www.socialsolutions.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert): @SocialSolutions

Connect with us on LinkedIn View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005038/en/

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[October 03, 2016] Sikich LLP expands into Southern California with acquisition of technology firm

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Professional services firm Sikich LLP announced Monday that it will acquire SCS, a technology firm based near Los Angeles in Glendale, California. A Microsoft Gold Certified partner with annual revenues of more than $9 million, SCS specializes in Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions. The acquisition is scheduled to close on Nov. 1. "The addition of SCS establishes a coast-to-coast presence for Sikich and will better position us to bring a broader suite of services to our West Coast clients," said Jim Drumm, partner-in-charge of Sikich's technology practice. "With extensive experience helping companies improve business processes through ERP solutions, SCS will bring impressive talent to our team, expand our NAV capabilities and strengthen our robust technology practice." Founded in 1979, SCS offers enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to companies across industries, including manufacturing and distribution, agriculture and retail. In addition to its headquarters in Glendale, SCS has satellite offices in Poenix and Las Vegas.



"Joining forces with Sikich greatly enhances our ability to serve our clients and creates new opportunities for our staff," said Kolbeinn Einarsson, CEO of SCS. "Together we will be one of the largest teams of Microsoft Dynamics NAV professionals in the country. We are excited to bring an expanded portfolio of services to our clients along with an amazing team of experts in all aspects of Microsoft's business solutions. The acquisition gives us the ability to accelerate our growth in the West and continue to be a market leader." The acquisition of SCS comes at a time of expansion for Sikich. Earlier this year, the company announced the acquisition of BCG & Co., a firm specializing in audit and assurance, tax, technology and wealth management services with offices in Akron, Ohio, and Atlanta. In 2015, Sikich acquired Altico Advisors, a technology firm based near Boston.

"Our expanding presence across the country positions us to better help clients address their varied business challenges," said Sikich CEO Jim Sikich. "We are excited to have SCS on board and look forward to capitalizing on our combined strengths." About Sikich LLP

Sikich LLP, a leading professional services firm specializing in accounting, technology, investment banking* and advisory services**, has more than 750 employees throughout the country. Founded in 1982, Sikich now ranks as one of the country's Top 35 Certified Public Accounting firms and is among the top 10 of all enterprise resource planning solution partners in the country. From corporations and not-for-profits to state and local governments, Sikich clients can use a broad spectrum of services and products that help them reach long-term, strategic goals. *Securities are offered through Sikich Corporate Finance LLC, a registered broker/dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of FINRA and SIPC. **Financial advisory services offered through Sikich Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sikich-llp-expands-into-southern-california-with-acquisition-of-technology-firm-300338336.html SOURCE Sikich LLP

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[October 03, 2016] New Research From Bristol-Myers Squibb at ESMO 2016 Congress Reinforces Leadership in Immuno-Oncology and Differentiated Research Approach

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced new data across eight tumor types evaluating Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab), as monotherapy or in combination, as well as new assets, to be presented at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark from October 7-11. Data presented at this congress underscore the Company's commitment to its portfolio and to discover the next wave of transformational Immuno-Oncology medicines, including combination therapies, for difficult-to-treat cancers. "Bristol-Myers Squibb continues to lead the scientific understanding of Immuno-Oncology with an extensive portfolio and a differentiated clinical development program where we have set a high bar of success to look for clear and differentiated improvements over currently available therapies," said Fouad Namouni, M.D., head of development, Oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We remain focused on expanding the use of the Opdivo and Yervoy combination to more tumors, and bringing forward novel agents and combination regimens in earlier lines of therapy, to help even more patients with cancer." Bristol-Myers Squibb assets featured in a total of 26 data presentations. A select listing of Presidential Symposia and oral abstract sessions is included below: CheckMate -064: Baseline tumor T cell receptor sequencing analysis and neo-antigen load is associated with response and survival in melanoma patients receiving sequential Opdivo and Yervoy (Abstract #1047O). Data will be presented during an oral proferred paper session on Friday, October 7 at 4:45 - 5:00 p.m. CEST.

Baseline tumor T cell receptor sequencing analysis and neo-antigen load is associated with response and survival in patients receiving sequential and (Abstract #1047O). Data will be presented during an oral proferred paper session on Friday, October 7 at 4:45 - 5:00 p.m. CEST. CheckMate -275: First disclosure of efficacy and safety of Opdivo monotherapy in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who have received prior treatment (Abstract #LBA31_PR). Data will be presented during an oral proffered paper session on Saturday, October 8 at 9:15 - 9:30 a.m. CEST.

First disclosure of efficacy and safety of monotherapy in patients with who have received prior treatment (Abstract #LBA31_PR). Data will be presented during an oral proffered paper session on Saturday, October 8 at 9:15 - 9:30 a.m. CEST. CA184-169: First disclosure of overall survival and safety data from a Phase 3 trial evaluating Yervoy at 3 mg/kg vs. 10 mg/kg in patients with metastatic melanoma (Abstract #1106O). Data will be presented during an oral proffered paper session on Saturday, October 8 at 3:37 - 3:50 p.m. CEST.

First disclosure of overall survival and safety data from a Phase 3 trial evaluating at 3 mg/kg vs. 10 mg/kg in patients with (Abstract #1106O). Data will be presented during an oral proffered paper session on Saturday, October 8 at 3:37 - 3:50 p.m. CEST. CA184-029 (EORTC 18071): Initial report of survival data from a Phase 3 trial evaluating Yervoy versus placebo after complete resection of stage III melanoma (Abstract #LBA2_PR). Data will be featured during the ESMO Press Program on Saturday, October 8 at 8:15 a.m. CEST and presented during a Presidential Symposium at 5:00 - 5:15 p.m. CEST.

Initial report of survival data from a Phase 3 trial evaluating versus placebo after complete resection of (Abstract #LBA2_PR). Data will be featured during the ESMO Press Program on Saturday, October 8 at 8:15 a.m. CEST and presented during a Presidential Symposium at 5:00 - 5:15 p.m. CEST. CheckMate -040: Interim analysis of a Phase 1/2 study evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of Opdivo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (Abstract #615O). Data will be presented during an oral proffered paper session on Sunday, October 9 at 12:00 - 12:15 p.m. CEST.

Interim analysis of a Phase 1/2 study evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of in patients with advanced (Abstract #615O). Data will be presented during an oral proffered paper session on Sunday, October 9 at 12:00 - 12:15 p.m. CEST. CheckMate -141: Evaluation of patient-reported outcomes data in recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with Opdivo or investigator's choice (Abstract #LBA4_PR). Data will be presented during a Presidential Symposium on Sunday, October 9 at 4:25 - 4:40 p.m. CEST.

Evaluation of patient-reported outcomes data in recurrent or metastatic treated with or investigator's choice (Abstract #LBA4_PR). Data will be presented during a Presidential Symposium on Sunday, October 9 at 4:25 - 4:40 p.m. CEST. CheckMate -026: Phase 3 trial of Opdivo versus investigator's choice of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy as first-line therapy for stage IV/recurrent PD-L1 positive non-small cell lung cancer (Abstract #LBA7_PR). Data will be presented during a Presidential Symposium on Sunday, October 9 at 5:35 - 5:50 p.m. CEST. The full set of data to be presented by Bristol-Myers Squibb include: Bladder CheckMate -275: Efficacy and safety of nivolumab monotherapy in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who have received prior treatment; results from the phase 2 study Author: Galsky

Abstract # LBA31_PR

Proffered Paper Session, Genitourinary Tumors, Non-Prostate

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 9:15 - 9:30 a.m. CEST, Madrid CheckMate -032: Nivolumab monotherapy in metastatic urothelial cancer: Updated efficacy by subgroups and safety results Author: J. Rosenberg

Abstract #784P

Poster Session, Genitourinary Tumours, Non-Prostate

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Colorectal CheckMate -142: Nivolumab  ipilimumab treatment efficacy, safety, and biomarkers in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with and without high microsatellite instability Author: M. Overman

Abstract #479P

Poster Session, Gastrointestinal Tumours, Colorectal

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Glioblastoma CheckMate -548: A randomized phase 2, single-blind study of temozolomide and radiotherapy combined with nivolumab or placebo in newly diagnosed adult patients with tumor O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase-methylated glioblastoma Author: M. Weller

Abstract # 356TiP

Poster Session, CNS Tumors

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Head and Neck Safety of the natural killer cell-targeted anti-KIR antibody, lirilumab, in combination with nivolumab or ipilimumab in two phase 1 studies in advanced refractory solid tumors Author: N. Segal

Abstract #1086P

Poster Session, Immunotherapy of Cancer

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E CheckMate -651: A randomized, open-label, phase 3 study of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab vs extreme regimen (cetuximab + cisplatin/carboplatin + fluorouracil) as first-line therapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Author: A. Argiris

Abstract #1016TiP

Poster Session, Head and Neck Cancer

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E CheckMate -714: Double-blind, two-arm, phase 2 study of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab versus nivo and ipi-placebo as first-line therapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Author: R. Haddad

Abstract #1017TiP

Poster Session, Head and Neck Cancer

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E CheckMate -141: Evaluation of patient-reported outcomes data in recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with nivolumab or investigator's choice Author: K. Harrington

Abstract # LBA4_PR

Presidential Symposium 2

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 4:25 - 4:40 p.m. CEST, Copenhagen Hepatocellular Carcinoma CheckMate -040: Safety and preliminary efficacy of nivolumab in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Phase 1/2 interim analysis Author: I. Melero

Abstract # 615O

Proffered Paper, Gastrointestinal Tumors, Non-Colorectal 2

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 12:00 - 12:15 p.m. CEST, Vienna Lung CheckMate -017 and -057: Healthcare resource utilization in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer based on treatment-related adverse events Author: M. Venkatachalam

Abstract #1220P

Poster Session, NSCLC, Metastatic

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Cost of care in first line advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients: Chemotherapy vs. targeted therapy Author: J. Radtchenko

Abstract #1273P

Poster Session, NSCLC, Metastatic

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E FRACTION-Lung: A phase 2, fast real-time assessment of combination therapies in immuno-oncology trial in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer Author: P. Fracasso

Abstract #1295TiP

Poster Session, NSCLC, Metastatic

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E The humanistic burden of small cell lung cancer: A systematic review of health-related quality of life literature Author: C. Panter

Abstract: #1429P

Poster Session, SCLC

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E CheckMate -017 and CheckMate -057: Long-term outcomes with nivolumab versus docetaxel in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: two-year update Author: F. Barlesi

Abstract #1215PD

Poster Discussion, NSCLC, Metastatic

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 2:45 - 4:15 p.m. CEST (3:46 - 4:06 p.m. CEST), Oslo CheckMate -057: Overall health status in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer treated with nivolumab or docetaxel Author: M. Reck

Abstract #1217PD

Poster Discussion, NSCLC, Metastatic

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 2:45 - 4:15 p.m. CEST (3:46 - 4:06 p.m. CEST), Oslo A phase 1/2 trial of a monoclonal antibody targeting fucosyl GM1 in relapsed/refractory small cell lung cancer: Safety and preliminary efficacy Author: Q. Chu

Abstract #1427PD

Poster Discussion, Non-Metastatic NSCLC and Other Thoracic Malignancies

Monday, October 10, 2016, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. CEST (3:20 - 3:30 p.m. CEST), Berlin CheckMate -026: A phase 3 trial of nivolumab vs investigator's Choice of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy as first-line therapy for stage IV/recurrent programmed death ligand 1-positive non-small cell lung cancer Author: M. Socinski

Abstract #LBA7_PR

Presidential Symposium 2

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 5:35 - 5:50 p.m. CEST, Copenhagen Melanoma Baseline tumor T cell receptor sequencing analysis and neo antigen load is associated with benefit in melanoma patients receiving sequential nivolumab and ipilimumab Author: J. Weber

Abstract #1047O

Proffered Paper, Immunotherapy of Cancer

Friday, October 07, 2016, 4:45 - 5:00 p.m. CEST, Copenhagen Overall survival and safety results from a phase 3 trial of ipilimumab at 3 mg/kg vs. 10 mg/kg in patients with metastatic melanoma Author: P. Ascierto

Abstract #1106O

Proffered Paper, Melanoma and Other Skin Tumors

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 3:37 - 3:50 p.m. CEST, Copenhagen Ipilimumab vs. placebo after complete resection of stage III melanoma: final overall survival results from the EORTC 18071 randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial Author: L. Eggermont

Abstract #LBA2_PR

Presidential Symposium 1

Saturday, October 8, 2016, 5:00 - 5:15 p.m. CEST, Copenhagen Safety profile of nivolumab and ipilimumab combination therapy in patients with advanced melanoma Author: M. Sznol

Abstract #1123P

Poster Session, Melanoma And Other Skin Tumors

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Safety of reduced infusion times for nivolumab plus ipilimumab and nivolumab alone in advanced melanoma Author: S. Martin-Algarra

Abstract #1125P

Poster Session, Melanoma and Other Skin Tumors

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E PD-L1 expression as a biomarker for nivolumab plus ipilimumab and nivolumab alone in advanced melanoma: A pooled analysis Author: G. Long

Abstract #1112PD

Poster Discussion, Melanoma and Other Skin Tumors

Monday, October 10, 2016, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CEST (11:30 - 11:50 a.m. CEST), Rome Renal Cell Carcinoma Cost-effectiveness of nivolumab in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in Sweden Author: S. Johal

Abstract #1032P

Poster Session, Health Economics

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E CheckMate -016: Updated results from a phase 1 study of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab in metastatic renal cell carcinoma Author: H. Hammers

Abstract #1062P

Poster Session, Immunotherapy of Cancer

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Pan-Tumor Assessment of nivolumab benefit-risk profile from a 240-mg flat dose versus a 3-mg/kg dosing regimen in patients with solid tumors Author: X. Zhao

Abstract #1098P

Poster Session, Immunotherapy of Cancer

Sunday, October 9, 2016, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CEST, Hall E Bristol-Myers Squibb to Host Investor Meeting at ESMO The company will host an investor teleconference on Sunday, October 9, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. CEST (1:30 p.m. EDT) to review new data presented during the ESMO 2016 Congress, including results from CheckMate -026, a Phase 3 study of Opdivo as a first-line therapy in a broad PDL-1 positive population with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Company executives will also discuss more mature follow-up data not presented at ESMO from CheckMate -012, a multi-arm Phase 1b trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of Opdivo in patients with chemotherapy-naive advanced NSCLC, as either a monotherapy or in combination with other agents including Yervoy, at different doses and schedules. Investors and the general public are invited to listen to a live webcast of the call at: investor.bms.com, by dialing toll free (877) 258-2708 or international (647) 252-4456, confirmation code: 74677318. Materials related to the call will be available at the same website prior to the call. A replay of the call will be available beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT on October 9, 2016 through 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 16. The replay can be accessed at investor.bms.com or by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406, confirmation code: 74677318. Bristol-Myers Squibb: At the Forefront of Immuno-Oncology Science & Innovation At Bristol-Myers Squibb, patients are at the center of everything we do. Our vision for the future of cancer care is focused on researching and developing transformational Immuno-Oncology (I-O) medicines that will raise survival expectations in hard-to-treat cancers and will change the way patients live with cancer. We are leading the scientific understanding of I-O through our extensive portfolio of investigational and approved agents - including the first combination of two I-O agents in metastatic melanoma - and our differentiated clinical development program, which is studying broad patient populations across more than 20 types of cancers with 11 clinical-stage molecules designed to target different immune system pathways. Our deep expertise and innovative clinical trial designs uniquely position us to advance the science of combinations across multiple tumors and potentially deliver the next wave of I-O combination regimens with a sense of urgency. We also continue to pioneer research that will help facilitate a deeper understanding of the role of immune biomarkers and inform which patients will benefit most from I-O therapies. We understand making the promise of I-O a reality for the many patients who may benefit from these therapies requires not only innovation on our part, but also close collaboration with leading experts in the field. Our partnerships with academia, government, advocacy and biotech companies support our collective goal of providing new treatment options to advance the standards of clinical practice. U.S. FDA APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR OPDIVO OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma. OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and post- transplantation brentuximab vedotin. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Please refer to the end of the Important Safety Information for a brief description of the patient populations studied in the CheckMate trials. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS YERVOY can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune- mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune- mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY. Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at baseline and before each dose. Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions. Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis Immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases, occurred with OPDIVO treatment. Across the clinical trial experience with solid tumors, fatal immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred with OPDIVO. In addition, in CheckMate 069, there were six patients who died without resolution of abnormal respiratory findings. Monitor patients for signs with radiographic imaging and symptoms of pneumonitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 and withhold until resolution for Grade 2. In CheckMate 069 and 067, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 6% (25/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Fatal (n=1), Grade 3 (n=6), Grade 2 (n=17), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 1.8% (14/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2) and Grade 2 (n=12). In CheckMate 057, immune- mediated pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 3.4% (10/287) of patients: Grade 3 (n=5), Grade 2 (n=2), and Grade 1 (n=3). In CheckMate 025, pneumonitis, includin interstitial lung disease, occurred in 5% (21/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 18% (73/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 4.4% (18/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 4 (n=1), Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=12), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 205 and 039, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 4.9% (13/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.4% (9/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 2 (n=8).



Immune-Mediated Colitis Immune-mediated colitis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 (of more than 5 days duration), 3, or 4 colitis. As a single agent, withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 or recurrent colitis upon restarting OPDIVO. When administered with YERVOY, withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent colitis upon restarting OPDIVO. In CheckMate 069 and 067, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 56% (228/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 26% (107/407) of patients: Grade 4 (n=2), Grade 3 (n=60), Grade 2 (n=32), and Grade 1 (n=13). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 31% (242/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 4.1% (32/787) of patients: Grade 3 (n=20), Grade 2 (n=10), and Grade 1 (n=2). In CheckMate 057, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 17% (50/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.4% (7/287) of patients: Grade 3 (n=3), Grade 2 (n=2), and Grade 1 (n=2). In CheckMate 025, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 25% (100/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 32% (126/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated diarrhea or colitis occurred in 3.2% (13/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=5), Grade 2 (n=7), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 205 and 039, diarrhea or colitis occurred in 30% (80/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated diarrhea (Grade 3) occurred in 1.1% (3/263) of patients.

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of =7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 (7%) patients. Across all YERVOY-treated patients in that study (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis. Immune-Mediated Hepatitis Immune-mediated hepatitis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater transaminase elevations. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 immune- mediated hepatitis. In CheckMate 069 and 067, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 13% (51/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 4 (n=8), Grade 3 (n=37), Grade 2 (n=5), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 2.3% (18/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 4 (n=3), Grade 3 (n=11), and Grade 2 (n=4). In CheckMate 057, one patient (0.3%) developed immune-mediated hepatitis. In CheckMate 025, there was an increased incidence of liver test abnormalities compared to baseline in AST (33% vs 39%), alkaline phosphatase (32% vs 32%), ALT (22% vs 31%), and total bilirubin (9% vs 3.5%) in the OPDIVO and everolimus arms, respectively. Immune-mediated hepatitis requiring systemic immunosuppression occurred in 1.5% (6/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=5) and Grade 2 (n=1). In CheckMate 205 and 039, hepatitis occurred in 11% (30/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 3.4% (9/263): Grade 3 (n=7) and Grade 2 (n=2). In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5x the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3x the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 (2%) patients, with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%. Immune-Mediated Dermatitis In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 (2.5%) patients. 1 (0.2%) patient died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis. 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis. Immune-Mediated Neuropathies In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported. Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies Hypophysitis, adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, and type 1 diabetes mellitus can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency during and after treatment, thyroid function prior to and periodically during treatment, and hyperglycemia. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hypophysitis. Withhold for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hypophysitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Administer hormone-replacement therapy for hypothyroidism. Initiate medical management for control of hyperthyroidism. Administer insulin for type 1 diabetes. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hyperglycemia. In CheckMate 069 and 067, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (36/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 3 (n=8), Grade 2 (n=25), and Grade 1 (n=3). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, hypophysitis occurred in 0.9% (7/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=3), and Grade 1 (n=2). In CheckMate 025, hypophysitis occurred in 0.5% (2/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 069 and 067, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 5% (21/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 4 (n=1), Grade 3 (n=7), Grade 2 (n=11), and Grade 1 (n=2). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (8/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=5), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 057, 0.3% (1/287) of OPDIVO-treated patients developed adrenal insufficiency. In CheckMate 025, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 2.0% (8/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=3), Grade 2 (n=4), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 205 and 039, adrenal insufficiency (Grade 2) occurred in 0.4% (1/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. In CheckMate 069 and 067, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis occurred in 22% (89/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 3 (n=6), Grade 2 (n=47), and Grade 1 (n=36). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 8% (34/407) of patients: Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=17), and Grade 1 (n=13). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis occurred in 9% (73/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1), Grade 2 (n=37), Grade 1 (n=35). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 4.4% (35/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1), Grade 2 (n=12), and Grade 1 (n=22). In CheckMate 057, Grade 1 or 2 hypothyroidism, including thyroiditis, occurred in 7% (20/287) and elevated thyroid stimulating hormone occurred in 17% of patients receiving OPDIVO. Grade 1 or 2 hyperthyroidism occurred in 1.4% (4/287) of patients. In CheckMate 025, thyroid disease occurred in 11% (43/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO, including one Grade 3 event, and in 3.0% (12/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Hypothyroidism/thyroiditis occurred in 8% (33/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=17), and Grade 1 (n=14). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.5% (10/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 2 (n=5) and Grade 1 (n=5). In CheckMate 205 and 039, hypothyroidism/thyroiditis occurred in 12% (32/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 2 (n=18) and Grade 1: (n=14). Hyperthyroidism occurred in 1.5% (4/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 2: (n=3) and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 069 and 067, diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in 1.5% (6/407) of patients: Grade 4 (n=3), Grade 3 (n=1), Grade 2 (n=1), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in 0.8% (6/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=3), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 025, hyperglycemic adverse events occurred in 9% (37/406) patients. Diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis occurred in 1.5% (6/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=3), Grade 2 (n=2), and Grade 1 (n=1). In CheckMate 205 and 039, diabetes mellitus occurred in 0.8% (2/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 1 (n=1). In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. 6 of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies. Immune-Mediated Nephritis and Renal Dysfunction Immune-mediated nephritis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. For Grade 2 or 3 increased serum creatinine, withhold and administer corticosteroids; if worsening or no improvement occurs, permanently discontinue. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 4 serum creatinine elevation and permanently discontinue. In CheckMate 069 and 067, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 2.2% (9/407) of patients: Grade 4 (n=4), Grade 3 (n=3), and Grade 2 (n=2). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, nephritis and renal dysfunction of any grade occurred in 5% (40/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 0.8% (6/787) of patients: Grade 3 (n=4) and Grade 2 (n=2). In CheckMate 057, Grade 2 immune-mediated renal dysfunction occurred in 0.3% (1/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO. In CheckMate 025, renal injury occurred in 7% (27/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 3.0% (12/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 3.2% (13/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 5 (n=1), Grade 4 (n=1), Grade 3 (n=5), and Grade 2 (n=6). In CheckMate 205 and 039, nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 4.9% (13/263) of patients treated with OPDIVO. This included one reported case (0.3%) of Grade 3 autoimmune nephritis. Immune-Mediated Rash Immune-mediated rash can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Severe rash (including rare cases of fatal toxic epidermal necrolysis) occurred in the clinical program of OPDIVO. Monitor patients for rash. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 rash. Withhold for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4. In CheckMate 069 and 067, immune-mediated rash occurred in 22.6% (92/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 3 (n=15), Grade 2 (n=31), and Grade 1 (n=46). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (72/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=7), Grade 2 (n=15), and Grade 1 (n=50). In CheckMate 057, immune-mediated rash occurred in 6% (17/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO including four Grade 3 cases. In CheckMate 025, rash occurred in 28% (112/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 36% (143/397) of patients receiving everolimus. Immune- mediated rash, defined as a rash treated with systemic or topical corticosteroids, occurred in 7% (30/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=7), and Grade 1 (n=19). In CheckMate 205 and 039, rash occurred in 22% (58/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated rash occurred in 7% (18/263) of patients on OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=3), and Grade 1 (n=11). Immune-Mediated Encephalitis Immune-mediated encephalitis can occur with OPDIVO treatment. Withhold OPDIVO in patients with new-onset moderate to severe neurologic signs or symptoms and evaluate to rule out other causes. If other etiologies are ruled out, administer corticosteroids and permanently discontinue OPDIVO for immune-mediated encephalitis. In CheckMate 067, encephalitis was identified in one patient (0.2%) receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. In CheckMate 057, fatal limbic encephalitis occurred in one patient (0.3%) receiving OPDIVO. In CheckMate 205 and 039, encephalitis occurred in 0.8% (2/263) of patients after allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions Based on the severity of adverse reaction, permanently discontinue or withhold treatment, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and, if appropriate, initiate hormone-replacement therapy. In < 1.0% of patients receiving OPDIVO, the following clinically significant, immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred: uveitis, iritis, pancreatitis, facial and abducens nerve paresis, demyelination, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune neuropathy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hypopituitarism, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, gastritis, duodenitis, and sarcoidosis. Across clinical trials of OPDIVO as a single agent administered at doses of 3 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg, additional clinically significant, immune- mediated adverse reactions were identified: motor dysfunction, vasculitis, and myasthenic syndrome. Infusion Reactions Severe infusion reactions have been reported in <1.0% of patients in clinical trials of OPDIVO. Discontinue OPDIVO in patients with Grade 3 or 4 infusion reactions. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion in patients with Grade 1 or 2. In CheckMate 069 and 067, infusion- related reactions occurred in 2.5% (10/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY: Grade 2 (n=6) and Grade 1 (n=4). In CheckMate 037, 066, and 067, Grade 2 infusion related reactions occurred in 2.7% (21/787) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=8), and Grade 1 (n=11). In CheckMate 057, Grade 2 infusion reactions requiring corticosteroids occurred in 1.0% (3/287) of patients receiving OPDIVO. In CheckMate 025, hypersensitivity/infusion-related reactions occurred in 6% (25/406) of patients receiving OPDIVO and 1.0% (4/397) of patients receiving everolimus. In CheckMate 205 and 039, hypersensitivity/infusion- related reactions occurred in 16% (42/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=2), Grade 2 (n=24), and Grade 1 (n=16). Complications of Allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO Complications, including fatal events, occurred in patients who received allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Outcomes were evaluated in 17 patients from CheckMate 205 and 039, who underwent allogeneic HSCT after discontinuing OPDIVO (15 with reduced-intensity conditioning, 2 with myeloablative conditioning). Thirty-five percent (6/17) of patients died from complications of allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Five deaths occurred in the setting of severe or refractory GVHD. Grade 3 or higher acute GVHD was reported in 29% (5/17) of patients. Hyperacute GVHD was reported in 20% (n=2) of patients. A steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, without an identified infectious cause, was reported in 35% (n=6) of patients. Two cases of encephalitis were reported: Grade 3 (n=1) lymphocytic encephalitis without an identified infectious cause, and Grade 3 (n=1) suspected viral encephalitis. Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) occurred in one patient, who received reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic SCT and died of GVHD and multi-organ failure. Other cases of hepatic VOD after reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT have also been reported in patients with lymphoma who received a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody before transplantation. Cases of fatal hyperacute GVHD have also been reported. These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between PD-1 blockade and allogeneic HSCT. Follow patients closely for early evidence of transplant-related complications such as hyperacute GVHD, severe (Grade 3 to 4) acute GVHD, steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, hepatic VOD, and other immune- mediated adverse reactions, and intervene promptly. Embryo-fetal Toxicity Based on their mechanisms of action, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with an OPDIVO- or YERVOY- containing regimen and for at least 5 months after the last dose of OPDIVO. Lactation It is not known whether OPDIVO or YERVOY is present in human milk. Because many drugs, including antibodies, are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from an OPDIVO-containing regimen, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose. Serious Adverse Reactions In CheckMate 067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (43% and 14%) or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm relative to the OPDIVO arm. The most frequent (=10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%), and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%). In CheckMate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to <5% of patients receiving OPDIVO were abdominal pain, hyponatremia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased lipase. In CheckMate 066, serious adverse reactions occurred in 36% of patients receiving OPDIVO. Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (3.9%) and diarrhea (3.4%). In CheckMate 057, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, dyspnea, pleural effusion, and respiratory failure. In CheckMate 025, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were acute kidney injury, pleural effusion, pneumonia, diarrhea, and hypercalcemia. In CheckMate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]), adverse reactions leading to discontinuation (4.2%) or to dosing delays (23%) occurred. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =1% of patients were infusion-related reaction, pneumonia, pleural effusion, pyrexia, rash and pneumonitis. Ten patients died from causes other than disease progression, including 6 who died from complications of allogeneic HSCT. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 21% of patients in the safety population (n=263) and 27% of patients in the subset of patients evaluated for efficacy (efficacy population [n=95]). Common Adverse Reactions In CheckMate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm were fatigue (59%), rash (53%), diarrhea (52%), nausea (40%), pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%), and dyspnea (20%). The most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO arm were fatigue (53%), rash (40%), diarrhea (31%), and nausea (28%). In CheckMate 037, the most common adverse reaction (=20%) reported with OPDIVO was rash (21%). In CheckMate 066, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO vs dacarbazine were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In CheckMate 057, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO were fatigue (49%), musculoskeletal pain (36%), cough (30%), decreased appetite (29%), and constipation (23%). In CheckMate 025, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO vs everolimus were asthenic conditions (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%). In CheckMate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]) and the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), respectively, the most common adverse reactions (reported in at least 20%) were fatigue (32% and 43%), upper respiratory tract infection (28% and 48%), pyrexia (24% and 35%), diarrhea (23% and 30%), and cough (22% and 35%). In the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), the most common adverse reactions also included rash (31%), musculoskeletal pain (27%), pruritus (25%), nausea (23%), arthralgia (21%), and peripheral neuropathy (21%). In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%). CheckMate Trials and Patient Populations CheckMate 069 and 067 - advanced melanoma alone or in combination with YERVOY; CheckMate 037 and 066 - advanced melanoma; CheckMate 057 - non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); CheckMate 025 - renal cell carcinoma; CheckMate 205/039 - classical Hodgkin lymphoma U.S. Indications and Important Safety Information for YERVOY (ipilimumab) Indications YERVOY (ipilimumab) is indicated for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma. YERVOY (ipilimumab) is indicated for the adjuvant treatment of patients with cutaneous melanoma with pathologic involvement of regional lymph nodes of more than 1 mm who have undergone complete resection, including total lymphadenectomy. Important Safety Information WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS YERVOY (ipilimumab) can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune-mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY. Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions. Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests, at baseline and before each dose. Recommended Dose Modifications Endocrine: Withhold YERVOY for systemic endocrinopathy. Resume YERVOY in patients with complete or partial resolution of adverse reactions (Grade 0-1) and who are receiving <7.5 mg prednisone or equivalent per day. Permanently discontinue YERVOY for symptomatic reactions lasting 6 weeks or longer or an inability to reduce corticosteroid dose to 7.5 mg prednisone or equivalent per day. Ophthalmologic: Permanently discontinue YERVOY for Grade 2-4 reactions not improving to Grade 1 within 2 weeks while receiving topical therapy or requiring systemic treatment. All Other Organ Systems: Withhold YERVOY for Grade 2 adverse reactions. Resume YERVOY in patients with complete or partial resolution of adverse reactions (Grade 0-1) and who are receiving <7.5 mg prednisone or equivalent per day. Permanently discontinue YERVOY for Grade 2 reactions lasting 6 weeks or longer, an inability to reduce corticosteroid dose to 7.5 mg prednisone or equivalent per day, and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions. Immune-mediated Enterocolitis: Immune-mediated enterocolitis, including fatal cases, can occur with YERVOY. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis (such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, mucus or blood in stool, with or without fever) and of bowel perforation (such as peritoneal signs and ileus). In symptomatic patients, rule out infectious etiologies and consider endoscopic evaluation for persistent or severe symptoms. Withhold YERVOY for moderate enterocolitis; administer anti-diarrheal treatment and, if persistent for >1 week, initiate systemic corticosteroids (0.5 mg/kg/day prednisone or equivalent). Permanently discontinue YERVOY in patients with severe enterocolitis and initiate systemic corticosteroids (1-2 mg/kg/day of prednisone or equivalent). Upon improvement to =Grade 1, initiate corticosteroid taper and continue over at least 1 month. In clinical trials, rapid corticosteroid tapering resulted in recurrence or worsening symptoms of enterocolitis in some patients. Consider adding anti-TNF or other immunosuppressant agents for management of immune-mediated enterocolitis unresponsive to systemic corticosteroids within 3-5 days or recurring after symptom improvement. In patients receiving YERVOY 3 mg/kg in Trial 1, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of =7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 YERVOY-treated patients (7%) and moderate (diarrhea with up to 6 stools above baseline, abdominal pain, mucus or blood in stool; Grade 2) enterocolitis occurred in 28 YERVOY-treated patients (5%). Across all YERVOY-treated patients (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis. Infliximab was administered to 5 (8%) of the 62 patients with moderate, severe, or life-threatening immune-mediated enterocolitis following inadequate response to corticosteroids. In patients receiving YERVOY 10 mg/kg in Trial 2, Grade 3-5 immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 76 patients (16%) and Grade 2 enterocolitis occurred in 68 patients (14%). Seven (1.5%) developed intestinal perforation and 3 patients (0.6%) died as a result of complications. Immune-mediated Hepatitis: Immune-mediated hepatitis, including fatal cases, can occur with YERVOY. Monitor LFTs (hepatic transaminase and bilirubin levels) and assess patients for signs and symptoms of hepatotoxicity before each dose of YERVOY. In patients with hepatotoxicity, rule out infectious or malignant causes and increase frequency of LFT monitoring until resolution. Withhold YERVOY in patients with Grade 2 hepatotoxicity. Permanently discontinue YERVOY in patients with Grade 3-4 hepatotoxicity and administer systemic corticosteroids (1-2 mg/kg/day of prednisone or equivalent). When LFTs show sustained improvement or return to baseline, initiate corticosteroid tapering and continue over 1 month. Across the clinical development program for YERVOY, mycophenolate treatment has been administered in patients with persistent severe hepatitis despite high-dose corticosteroids. In patients receiving YERVOY 3 mg/kg in Trial 1, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5 the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3 the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 YERVOY-treated patients (2%), with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%. An additional 13 patients (2.5%) experienced moderate hepatotoxicity manifested by LFT abnormalities (AST or ALT elevations >2.5 but =5 the ULN or total bilirubin elevation >1.5 but =3 the ULN; Grade 2). In a dose-finding trial, Grade 3 increases in transaminases with or without concomitant increases in total bilirubin occurred in 6 of 10 patients who received concurrent YERVOY (3 mg/kg) and vemurafenib (960 mg BID or 720 mg BID). In patients receiving YERVOY 10 mg/kg in Trial 2, Grade 3-4 immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 51 patients (11%) and moderate Grade 2 immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 22 patients (5%). Liver biopsy performed in 6 patients with Grade 3-4 hepatitis showed evidence of toxic or autoimmune hepatitis. Immune-mediated Dermatitis: Immune-mediated dermatitis, including fatal cases, can occur with YERVOY. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of dermatitis such as rash and pruritus. Unless an alternate etiology has been identified, signs or symptoms of dermatitis should be considered immune-mediated. Treat mild to moderate dermatitis (e.g., localized rash and pruritus) symptomatically; administer topical or systemic corticosteroids if there is no improvement within 1 week. Withhold YERVOY in patients with moderate to severe signs and symptoms. Permanently discontinue YERVOY in patients with severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (Grade 3-5). Administer systemic corticosteroids (1-2 mg/kg/day of prednisone or equivalent). When dermatitis is controlled, corticosteroid tapering should occur over a period of at least 1 month. In patients receiving YERVOY 3 mg/kg in Trial 1, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (e.g., Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 YERVOY-treated patients (2.5%); 1 patient (0.2%) died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis and 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis. There were 63 patients (12%) with moderate (Grade 2) dermatitis. In patients receiving YERVOY 10 mg/kg in Trial 2, Grade 3-4 immune-mediated dermatitis occurred in 19 patients (4%). There were 99 patients (21%) with moderate Grade 2 dermatitis. Immune-mediated Neuropathies: Immune-mediated neuropathies, including fatal cases, can occur with YERVOY. Monitor for symptoms of motor or sensory neuropathy such as unilateral or bilateral weakness, sensory alterations, or paresthesia. Withhold YERVOY in patients with moderate neuropathy (not interfering with daily activities). Permanently discontinue YERVOY in patients with severe neuropathy (interfering with daily activities), such as Guillain-Barre-like syndromes. Institute medical intervention as appropriate for management for severe neuropathy. Consider initiation of systemic corticosteroids (1-2 mg/kg/day of prednisone or equivalent) for severe neuropathies. In patients receiving YERVOY 3 mg/kg in Trial 1, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported. Across the clinical development program of YERVOY, myasthenia gravis and additional cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome have been reported. In patients receiving YERVOY 10 mg/kg in Trial 2, Grade 3-5 immune-mediated neuropathy occurred in 8 patients (2%); the sole fatality was due to complications of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Moderate Grade 2 immune-mediated neuropathy occurred in 1 patient (0.2%). Immune-mediated Endocrinopathies: Immune-mediated endocrinopathies, including life-threatening cases, can occur with YERVOY. Monitor patients for clinical signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, adrenal insufficiency (including adrenal crisis), and hyper- or hypothyroidism. Patients may present with fatigue, headache, mental status changes, abdominal pain, unusual bowel habits, and hypotension, or nonspecific symptoms which may resemble other causes such as brain metastasis or underlying disease. Unless an alternate etiology has been identified, signs or symptoms should be considered immune-mediated. Monitor clinical chemistries, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at the start of treatment, before each dose, and as clinically indicated based on symptoms. In a limited number of patients, hypophysitis was diagnosed by imaging studies through enlargement of the pituitary gland. Withhold YERVOY in symptomatic patients and consider referral to an endocrinologist. Initiate systemic corticosteroids (1-2 mg/kg/day of prednisone or equivalent) and initiate appropriate hormone replacement therapy. In patients receiving YERVOY 3 mg/kg in Trial 1, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 YERVOY-treated patients (1.8%). All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. Six of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies. Moderate endocrinopathy (requiring hormone replacement or medical intervention; Grade 2) occurred in 12 patients (2.3%) and consisted of hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, hypopituitarism, and 1 case each of hyperthyroidism and Cushing's syndrome. The median time to onset of moderate to severe immune-mediated endocrinopathy was 2.5 months and ranged up to 4.4 months after the initiation of YERVOY. In patients receiving YERVOY 10 mg/kg in Trial 2, Grade 3-4 immune-mediated endocrinopathies occurred in 39 patients (8%) and Grade 2 immune-mediated endocrinopathies occurred in 93 patients (20%). Of the 39 patients with Grade 3-4 immune-mediated endocrinopathies, 35 patients had hypopituitarism (associated with 1 or more secondary endocrinopathies, e.g., adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism), 3 patients had hyperthyroidism, and 1 had primary hypothyroidism. The median time to onset of Grade 3-4 immune-mediated endocrinopathy was 2.2 months (range: 2 days-8 months). Twenty-seven (69.2%) of the 39 patients were hospitalized for immune-mediated endocrinopathies. Of the 93 patients with Grade 2 immune-mediated endocrinopathy, 74 had primary hypopituitarism (associated with 1 or more secondary endocrinopathy, e.g., adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism), 9 had primary hypothyroidism, 3 had hyperthyroidism, 3 had thyroiditis with hypo- or hyperthyroidism, 2 had hypogonadism, 1 had both hyperthyroidism and hypopituitarism, and 1 subject developed Graves' ophthalmopathy. The median time to onset of Grade 2 immune-mediated endocrinopathy was 2.1 months (range: 9 days-19.3 months). Other Immune-mediated Adverse Reactions, Including Ocular Manifestations: Permanently discontinue YERVOY for clinically significant or severe immune-mediated adverse reactions. Initiate systemic corticosteroids (1-2 mg/kg/day of prednisone or equivalent) for severe immune-mediated adverse reactions. Administer corticosteroid eye drops for uveitis, iritis, or episcleritis. Permanently discontinue YERVOY for immune-mediated ocular disease unresponsive to local immunosuppressive therapy. In Trial 1, the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions were seen in <1% of YERVOY-treated patients: nephritis, pneumonitis, meningitis, pericarditis, uveitis, iritis, and hemolytic anemia. In Trial 2, the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions were seen in <1% of YERVOY-treated patients unless specified: eosinophilia (2.1%), pancreatitis (1.3%), meningitis, pneumonitis, sarcoidosis, pericarditis, uveitis and fatal myocarditis. Across 21 dose-ranging trials administering YERVOY at doses of 0.1 to 20 mg/kg (n=2478), the following likely immune-mediated adverse reactions were also reported with <1% incidence: angiopathy, temporal arteritis, vasculitis, polymyalgia rheumatica, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, episcleritis, scleritis, iritis, leukocytoclastic vasculitis, erythema multiforme, psoriasis, arthritis, autoimmune thyroiditis, neurosensory hypoacusis, autoimmune central neuropathy (encephalitis), myositis, polymyositis, ocular myositis, hemolytic anemia, and nephritis. Embyro-fetal Toxicity Based on its mechanism of action, YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. The effects of YERVOY are likely to be greater during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with a YERVOY-containing regimen and for 3 months after the last dose of YERVOY. Lactation It is not known whether YERVOY is secreted in human milk. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose. Common Adverse Reactions: The most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritis (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%). The most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 10 mg/kg were rash (50%), diarrhea (49%), fatigue (46%), pruritus (45%), headache (33%), weight loss (32%), nausea (25%), pyrexia (18%), colitis (16%), decreased appetite (14%), vomiting (13%), and insomnia (10%). Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions. About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Collaboration In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Ono), Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono further expanded the companies' strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies - as single agents and combination regimens - for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. About Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that Opdivo or Yervoy will receive regulatory approval for an additional indication. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003006527/en/

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[October 03, 2016] Brazil, Russia, India, China Telemedicine Market Delivery Mode, Application, Component, Software, Hardware - Forecast to 2020

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The BRIC telemedicine market is expected to reach USD 1.20 billion by 2020 from USD 498.7 million in 2015, at a CAGR of 19.2% during the forecast period (20152020). Telemedicine is the use of electronic communications for medical information exchange from one site to another in order to improve a patient's clinical health status. In this report, the BRIC telemedicine market is broadly segmented by component, application, delivery mode, and country.



On the basis of component, the BRIC telemedicine market is divided into services, software, and hardware. The services segment accounted for the largest share of the BRIC telemedicine market in 2015. Factors such as rising adoption of remote monitoring solutions and technological advancements in telecommunications are contributing to the growth of this segment.



On the basis of deployment mode, the BRIC telemedicine system market is categorized into three segments, namely, on-premise, web-based, and cloud-based. The web-based segment accounted for the largest share of the BRIC telemedicine delivery mode market in 2015. Factors such as huge customer base and remote data accessibility are driving the growth of this segment.



On the basis of application, the BRIC telemedicine market is segmented into teleconsultation, teleradiology, telecardiology, telepathology, teledermatology, and other applications. The teleconsultation segment accounted for the largest share in 2015.



China accounted for more than half of the BRIC telemedicine market in 2015. It is a major market for telemedicine due to factors such as the huge awareness and acceptance of telemedicine, rising incidences of chronic and lifestyle diseases, and growing healthcare expenditure. In addition, maor local companies have easy access to this market, which makes it the largest and most significant market for suppliers. Brazil, on the other hand, is expected to grow at the highest CAGR over the next five years. Growth in the Brazilian telemedicine market is mainly driven by the increased purchasing power, emerging mindset towards wellness, and rising healthcare expenditure.







The need for better healthcare in rural areas, tremendous growth in telecommunication, rising prevalence of chronic diseases in BRIC nations, and low cost of telemedicine are the major factors fuelling the growth of this market. However, high infrastructure cost and lack of skilled resources may restrain the market growth. On the other hand, favorable government initiatives present a huge growth potential for telemedicine in the BRIC nations.



Reasons to buy this report:

From an insight perspective, this research report has focused on various levels of analysisindustry analysis (industry trends), market share analysis of top players, supply chain analysis, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth segments of the BRIC telemedicine market; high-growth regions; and market drivers, restraints, and opportunities.









The report provides insights on the following pointers:

- Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on gallery equipment offered by the top players in the global BRIC telemedicine market



- Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on the upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the BRIC telemedicine market



- Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging marketsthe report analyzes the markets for BRIC telemedicine across various regions



- Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the global BRIC telemedicine market



- Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the global BRIC telemedicine market





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Intl: +1 339-368-6001 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brazil-russia-india-china-telemedicine-market-delivery-mode-application-component-software-hardware---forecast-to-2020-300338419.html SOURCE Reportlinker

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[October 03, 2016] 100 Scholarships to Be Awarded to IT Professionals Enrolling in WGU's College of Information Technology

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Innovation in information technology is key to our nation's continued success. As such, Western Governors University (WGU) is committed to helping more IT professionals earn the degrees and credentials they need to be leaders in this field by making education affordable. Cue the Future of IT Scholarship, WGU's new IT-specific scholarship for those looking to jumpstart their career. The scholarships, worth up to $2,000 each, will be awarded to up to 100 students enrolling in WGU's College of Information Technology to help cover the costs of WGU's affordable tuition of about $6,000 per year. Through WGU's competency-based approach, students can take control of their education and gain the skills, knowledge, and certifications their industry demands at the time and place of their choosing. The Future of IT Scholarship is a competitive program, but it's also just one of many WGU scholarships available to help eligible recipients bump their careers up a notch with a bachelor's or master's degree. Students may apply for this scholarship up to 60 days before and 60 days after their enrollment begins. The application deadline is January 31, 2017. Chosen recipients will receive the scholarship at the rate of $500 per six-month term, renewable for up to four terms. All WGU programs are competency-based, allowing students to take advantage of their knowledge and experience to move quickly through material they already know so they can focus on what they still need to learn. WGU faculty members work one-on-one with students as mentors, offering guidance, support, and individualized instruction. While WGU's degree programs are rigorous and challenging, competency-based learning makes it possible for many students to accelerate their programs, saving both time and money. About WGU Established in 1997 with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education, WGU now serves more than 72,000 students nationwide and has more than 68,000 graduates in all 50 states. Driving innovation as the nation's leading competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White House, state leaders, employers, and students as a model that works in postsecondary education. It has become a leading influence in changing the lives of individuals and families, and enabling the workforce needed in today's rapidly evolving economy. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and was featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. WGU's Health Informatics program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The university's 2015 Annual Report is now available online. Follow WGU:

http://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/western-governors-university

http://twitter.com/wgu

http://www.youtube.com/WesternGovernorsUniv

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Contact for media inquiries: Contact for enrollment information: Joan Mitchell  VP of Public Relations 866-225-5948 801-428-5463 wgu.edu [email protected]



Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151012/276234LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/100-scholarships-to-be-awarded-to-it-professionals-enrolling-in-wgus-college-of-information-technology-300338430.html SOURCE Western Governors University

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[October 03, 2016] Rely on ZYPPYS Outstation Cabs for a Hassle-free Driving Experience

HYDERABAD, India, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Outstation Journey Simplified Have you ever struggled with finding the best mode of commute for intercity travel? Well, till a decade and half back, train journey has always been the most preferred mode for such travels. With the government's increased focus on infrastructure and tremendous improvements in rational and state highways, road travel has emerged as a credible alternative. This got a further boost with the proliferation of various vehicle models such as hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs. Whether it is a short vacation with family or friends, a pilgrimage or a sightseeing trip, many people have been opting for road travel, primarily due to the convenience of having a vehicle at disposal. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160930/413720LOGO )

That said, intercity road travel in India has its own share of inconveniences as well. Firstly, one has to absolutely ensure their vehicle is in the right condition. Secondly, one's own vehicle may not always be adequate to accomodate an entire family on a long journey. Thirdly, in spite of all the improvements in road conditions, driving in India still is a strenuous process and we have a long way to go before it becomes as enjoyable as it is in the western countries. And finally, one has to plan their trip very well, especially to find out proper restaurants, hygienic hotels and sightseeing spots enroute their journey. This is where ZYPPYS comes in. It's an extremely reliable and credible outstation cab provider.



To learn more, visit: http://zyppys.com/ About ZYPPYS:

Launched by two NRIs in December 2015, ZYPPYS now operates in 45 cities across India and has completed more than 8000 rides since inception. Using their intuitive and easy-to-use app, customers can make bookings through their mobiles and get various vehicle models and a plethora of options to choose from - such as one way, round trip and various other package deals that are made available from time to time. The company provides experienced and police-verified drivers who arrive on time, with well-maintained vehicles in impeccable condition. The company also operates a 24x7 call center to provide assistance to customers during their journey. Customers can call at +91-9014191419 for any kind of assistance, if required. The app also provides guidance on availability of restaurants and hotels along the route thus allowing customers to enjoy their journey in a hassle-free manner. And all this is made available at a highly competitive price. ZYPPYS has always strived to be easy on customer's pockets, thus making their intercity travel an enjoyable experience on the whole. Given the highly successful start, the company plans to expand to 100 cities by March 2017 and to 200 cities by 2018. Download ZYPPYS app on your mobile and take advantage of our convenient services.



Media Contact:

Madhu Raghunayakula

ZYPPYS.COM

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[October 04, 2016] Destiny Media Announces Clipstream Streaming Video Hosting Release Featuring New Encoding, Project Organization, and HD Audio Support

VANCOUVER, Oct. 4, 2016 Destiny Media Technologies (TSXV: DSY) (OTCQX: DSNY) today announced that it has launched the latest generation of the compression engine powering the Clipstream platform. Based on the next-generation High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) compression standard, the new compression engine reduces bandwidth usage for the Clipstream platform by over 62% and increases the highest resolution delivered by 78%. The video industry began work on HEVC, also known as H.265, as early as 2004 to replace H.264 and deliver higher quality video at lower bandwidth; however, the standard struggles to gain traction in the industry due to slow adoption by web browsers. Clipstream's proprietary JavaScript playback overcomes this limitation and delivers the latest compression technologies to any browser without requiring special plugins or changes from browser's developers. Other improvements in this release include a new project organization feature for management of large libraries of videos and support for the highest quality audio playback in the industry . The new projects feature enables quick sorting of hosted videos into different projects to streamline organization and management for customers with thousands of videos. Also included in project organization is a new feature to apply the same settings across all videos within a project and by default, greatly increasing video workflow efficiency to get videos live to viewers as quickly and securely as possible. Clipstream HD Audio support provides audio wth twice the sample rate of competing options and allows the playback of videos with higher than CD quality audio, a first in the online video platform industry. Clipstream HD Audio creates a unique showcase platform for content owners with high quality audio to securely deliver the best experience to their viewers.



"The release of our new compression engine, project organization feature, and HD audio represents a key milestone in the growth and development of our Clipstream service," said Steve Vestergaard, Chief Executive Officer for Destiny Media Technologies. "The new compression engine leverages the our patented JavaScript playback system to deliver new technologies to the online video platform (OVP) market much faster than alternative standards driven adoption allows. Using these cutting edge advances in video compression greatly reduces the bandwidth required and increases the resolution delivered by the Clipstream platform. The new project organization feature and HD audio allow us to further leverage this platform into different target verticals within the OVP market." Clipstream enables any non-technical user to upload videos that will play on all modern web browsers including those installed on TVs, PCs, and mobile devices. The service automatically converts videos from a range of standard formats to the Clipstream format. Users then receive a link that can be embedded into a website and/or distributed directly through email. To access a free trial of Destiny Media's Clipstream video hosting service including all the latest features, please visit clipstream.com/register.html.

About Destiny Media Technologies, Inc. Destiny Media Technologies provides services that enable content owners to securely display and distribute their audio and video content digitally through the internet. The Company's two major services are Clipstream and Play MPE. Clipstream (www.clipstream.com) is an automated high availability self-serve video hosting service built around a proprietary JavaScript playback system. This approach, which is protected by two dozen pending and granted patents is much more secure and flexible than standard video approaches. Play MPE (www.plaympe.com) provides a standardized method to securely and cost effectively distributes pre-release music to radio stations and other music industry professionals, before it is ready for sale. It is protected by granted security and watermark patents. More information can be found at www.dsny.com. SOURCE Destiny Media Technologies, Inc.

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[October 04, 2016] Miles & More Accepts Wirecard's Mobile Payment Solution in Lufthansa WorldShop Stores

MUNICH, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese tourists now can pay with mobile Alipay Barcode Payment in four Lufthansa WorldShop stores

Pilot phase started 1st of October The Wirecard Group is to enable Miles & More GmbH to accept Alipay barcode payments in their Lufthansa WorldShop stores via the new 'Scan Alipay' iOS app. Alipay is China's most popular mobile payment solution. The pilot phase started on 1 October in four stores located in Munich and Frankfurt am Main airports in Germany - right in time for the start of the 'Golden Week', a holiday period during which millions of Chinese tourists head over to Europe to shop. Wirecard will provide Alipay acceptance and process the entire payment transaction within the framework of this partnership. In the exclusive Lufthansa WorldShop Stores operated by Miles & More GmbH, high quality luggage and accessories, electronics and lifestyle products from many renowned brands are on offer. These are of great interest to Chinese tourists. In 2015 alone, affluent Chinese tourists spent USD 292bn on their trips abroad - more than any other country. "We are looking forward to offer Chinese customers in cooperation with Wirecard the Alipay barcode payments in the Lufthansa WorldShop Stores. Now the shopping experience will be even easier and more convenient for these customers," says Roland Adrian, Managing Director of Miles & More GmbH. "We are certain that the new payment method will be well-received. The next step, which will follow at a later date, would be to integrate Alipay in our till system and continue its rollout further." Dr. Markus Braun, CEO at Wirecard: "The number of Chinese tourists has risen massively. As surveys reveal, Germany is their preferred destination for European travel. Moreover, Chinese tourists like to splash the cash on holiday, meaning that they represent a significant source of income for retailers. We are therefore delighted to support the Lufthansa WorldShop Stores in offering mobile Alipay payments via the new Scan Alipay app. We are sure that many more joint ventures in this field are in the pipeline." Its ease of use means that the app is attractive for all retailers: customers making a cashless payment via the Alipay app simply need to show the retailer the barcode on their smartphone display. All the retailer is required to do is enter the amount payable in the relevant currency into the Scan Alipay ap on the mobile end device and then scan the QR code on the customer's smartphone. This is all that is necessary to complete the transaction. Payment processing is then handled by Wirecard Bank. Retailers can conveniently download the app from the App Store free of charge. Following a short, uncomplicated registration process, users can quickly begin making payments via the app. Wirecard's ConnectedPOS technology is used for direct Alipay till system integration. For more information, please visit: https://www.wirecard.com/alipay/



About Wirecard: Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard.

Miles & More press contact: Miles & More press office Tel.: +49 69 719168-159 Email: [email protected] About Miles & More Miles & More is Europe's leading frequent flyer bonus programme. With more than 20 years' experience and in working with over 300 partner companies, Miles & More GmbH, which operates the programme from its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, have become experts in the field of successful customer retention. Participants in the programme can collect Miles & More status miles from flights, but also from purchasing premium brands across all major retail sectors. These miles can be redeemed at partner companies operating in the shopping and lifestyle sector, telecommunications and electronics industry as well as at hotels and car rental companies, for example. Miles & More offers a foot in the door of an exclusive world with selected products and premium offers, including in the Lufthansa World Shop, highly sought-after air miles which can be redeemed against flight tickets and the Miles & More credit card as a secure payment method. Partner companies in the core markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland especially benefit from access to a select target group and use Miles & More premium miles for the purposes of customer retention. The frequent flyer bonus programme was launched on 1 January 1993 in Germany with a total of seven partners. Since September 2014, Miles & More GmbH has operated as an independent company and wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa AG. Further information can be found on http://www.miles-and-more.com and http://www.miles-and-more.com/presse About Alipay: Launched in 2004, Alipay is the world's leading third-party payment platform. It currently has over 450 million active registered users and more than 200 financial institution partners. During the 2015 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, China's equivalent of Cyber Monday, Alipay processed RMB 91.3 billion worth of transactions from Alibaba's marketplaces. In addition to online payment functions such as online shopping payments, money transfer, and utility bill payments, Alipay is expanding to offline payments both inside and outside of China. Over 600,000 brick-and-mortar merchants and over one million taxis now accept Alipay as a payment method across China. As of December 2015, Alipay was accepted in more than 50,000 retail stores outside of China, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions, including South Korea, Germany and France. More than half of the transactions processed by Alipay are conducted on mobile devices. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, or buy movie tickets directly from various modules within the app and purchase wealth management products such as Yu'e Bao. Wirecard press contact:



Wirecard AG

Jana Tilz

Tel.: +49(0)-89-4424-1363

Email: [email protected]



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[October 04, 2016] European Cities Lead The Way in Tackling Climate Change

LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- From Athens to Abuja, Stockholm to Sao Paulo, cities around the world are self-disclosing through non-profit CDP that the emergence of the low-carbon economy presents significant economic opportunity to collaborate with business, develop new industry sectors and build resilience. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151103/283429LOGO ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160930/414000 ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160930/414001 ) This year 533 cities disclosed climate-related data through CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, including 126 cities from across 32 countries in Europe. The vast majority of cities identified over 1,000 economic opportunities linked to climate change, including 299 cities who are developing new business industries, such as clean tech. London, UK, reports that the low-carbon market is worth at least US$33 billion to the city's economy, and is among the cities seeking to grow new industries. Similarly, Cardiff, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Nice, Paris, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Venice/span> all said they are looking to drive green growth by developing new industries linked to climate change.



The findings feature in It takes a city: The case for collaborative climate action, a new report published by CDP and AECOM, and sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The report examines the business case for cities to collaborate with the private sector on addressing climate change. The Mayor of Stockholm, Karin Wanngard, whose city plans to be entirely fossil fuel-free by 2040, says: "Stockholm will not be able to meet these objectives on our own - and collaboration is at the center of our climate change strategy."

This year's disclosures also show European cities are leading the way when it comes to climate mitigation: 57% of European cities reported an emissions reduction target, the highest proportion globally, and far above the overall global proportion of 35%. In addition, many European cities have made commitments through the Global Covenant of Mayors for Energy & Climate, the largest global coalition of cities on climate. However the report also shows that cities in other regions, in particular in North America, were more likely to be collaborating with business, developing new industries and seeking private sector partnerships than European cities. Maia Kutner, head of cities at CDP, says: "Our report shows that cities do not need to go it alone when it comes to responding to climate change. They are recognizing there is power in numbers, which is why so many came together to form the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy this June. By partnering with the private sector, cities can not only spur the growth of new markets, they can deliver even greater emissions reductions. Tackling climate change is an enormous business opportunity. The time has come for cities to seize it." About CDP CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the global system for companies, cities, states and regions to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information. Since 2008, CDP has worked with cities to enable the annual reporting of investment-grade climate change data. Hundreds of cities now use CDP's platform every year to report on their mitigation and adaptation climate actions and better manage their climate change strategies. CDP serves as the official reporting partner of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and an official reporting platform for the UN-backed Compact of Mayors, which was relaunched as the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy on 22 June 2016. CDP's work on city disclosure is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Please visit http://www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more. For media information: [email protected], +44(0)7983613577

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MACOM Affirms Technology Leadership with Industry's Broadest Portfolio of High-Performance DC to 100 GHz MMICs

MACOM Technology Solutions (News - Alert) Inc. ("MACOM"), a leading supplier of high-performance analog RF, microwave, millimeterwave, photonic semiconductor products and components, today announced the international debut of 27 new high-performance MMIC products at European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2016. Setting new benchmarks for performance, quality and reliability, these new products comprise the industry's most extensive portfolio of DC to 100 GHz MMICs for Test and Measurement, SATCOM, Aerospace and Defense, Wired Broadband and Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) applications.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005044/en/

MACOM announces the international debut of 27 new high-performance MMIC products at European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2016. Setting new benchmarks for performance, quality and reliability, these new products comprise the industry's most extensive portfolio of DC to 100 GHz MMICs for Test and Measurement, SATCOM, Aerospace and Defense, Wired Broadband and Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) applications. (Graphic: Business Wire)

For over 60 years, MACOM's design and application experts have spearheaded innovation in the RF, microwave and millimeterwave domain. Its proven engineering and technical support teams are advancing this legacy with a new generation of wideband MMIC solutions designed for the most demanding customer applications. Leveraging state-of-the-art foundry technologies and proprietary in-house processes, MACOM has pioneered a new class of high-performance MMICs spanning product categories from amplifiers, frequency converters and control products to frequency sources and detectors, encompassing the entire block diagram from signal generation, amplification and conditioning to conversion and monitoring.

Below are the released high-performance MMIC families:







Samples of select new MACOM MMICs are available now. Additional product information can be obtained from the MACOM website at: www.macom.com.

MACOM is showcasing its new portfolio of high-performance MMICs at EuMW 2016 this week in London. Attendees can visit MACOM at stand #207. For more information on MACOM's high-performance MMICs, please visit: www.macom.com/mmics.

ABOUT MACOM:

MACOM enables a better-connected and safer world by delivering breakthrough semiconductor technologies for optical, wireless and satellite networks that satisfy society's insatiable demand for information.

Today, MACOM powers the infrastructure that millions of lives and livelihoods depend on every minute to communicate, transact business, travel, stay informed and be entertained. Our technology increases the speed and coverage of the mobile Internet and enables fiber optic networks to carry previously unimaginable volumes of traffic to businesses, homes and datacenters.

Keeping us all safe, MACOM technology enables next-generation radars for air traffic control and weather forecasting, as well as mission success on the modern networked battlefield.

MACOM is the partner of choice to the world's leading communications infrastructure, aerospace and defense companies, helping solve their most complex challenges in areas including network capacity, signal coverage, energy efficiency and field reliability, through its best-in-class team and broad portfolio of analog RF, microwave, millimeterwave and photonic semiconductor products.

MACOM is a pillar of the semiconductor industry, thriving for more than 60 years of daring to change the world for the better, through bold technological strokes that deliver true competitive advantage to customers and superior value to investors.

Headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, MACOM is certified to the ISO9001 international quality standard and ISO14001 environmental management standard. MACOM has design centers and sales offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

MACOM, M/A-COM, M/A-COM Technology Solutions, M/A-COM Tech, Partners in RF & Microwave, The First Name in Microwave and related logos are trademarks of MACOM. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information about MACOM, please visit www.macom.com, follow @MACOMtweets on Twitter, join MACOM on LinkedIn (News - Alert), or visit the MACOM YouTube Channel.

DISCLAIMER FOR NEW PRODUCTS:

Any express or implied statements in MACOM product announcements are not meant as warranties or warrantable specifications of any kind. The only warranty MACOM may offer with respect to any product sale is one contained in a written purchase agreement between MACOM and the purchaser concerning such sale and signed by a duly authorized MACOM employee, or, to the extent MACOM's purchase order acknowledgment so indicates, the limited warranty contained in MACOM's standard Terms and Conditions for Quotation or Sale, a copy of which may be found at: http://www.macom.com/purchases.

FOR SALES INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

North Americas -- Phone (News - Alert): 800.366.2266

Europe -- Phone: +353.21.244.6400

India -- Phone: +91.80.43537383

China -- Phone: +86.21.2407.1588

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005044/en/
[October 04, 2016] Altimetrik Listed as a Representative Vendor by Gartner in the IoT Market Guide for Service Providers 2016

BANGALORE, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gartner's Market Guide on IoT Service Providers Helps Organizations to Optimize Business Decision Making and Select the Right Technology Partner to Support Their IoT Projects Altimetrik was acknowledged as a representative vendor in Gartner's 'Market Guide for IoT Service Providers'. The report includes Altimetrik's industry-best IoT capabilities including its engineering expertise, IoT metrics, domain models, analytics and an in-built IoT security model as part of the solution stack in the market guide. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414877LOGO )

According to Gartner, "Skills and resources to build, deploy and run IoT solutions are often scarce for many businesses. IT leaders in manufacturing, healthcare delivery, transportation and retail organizations should use this Market Guide to select the right IoT service provider to support their IoT projects." Having worked with several global enterprises on cross-industry connected solutions, Altimetrik is capable of providing superior technology consulting, physical product design and solution implementation. The company has been lauded for its connected healthcare platform as well as its pioneering focus on industrial IoT solutions (IIoT) that aim to improve operations, optimize assets and enhance overall productivity. Altimetrik's state-of-the-art IoT solutions for the manufacturing sector include connected furnaces, network of odorization pumps, fuel cell generator monitoring, digitalized assembly line and air quality monitoring. These solutions can effectively improve operations, optimie assets, enhance services, increase engagement and conserve resources for the manufacturers. In the healthcare segment, Altimetrik offers operational insights into medical equipment sterilization, besides its care management platform, which according to the company is a comprehensive wellness management platform redefining population health management. Gartner subscribers can access the report here: https://www.gartner.com/doc/3418845/market-guide-iot-service-providers



"Internet of Things represents the future of many industries and Altimetrik is committed to pushing the limits of this technology and its ability to transform businesses and touch lives. This recognition motivates us to continue focusing on our high-end R&D efforts and build solutions that are beneficial to business entities and beyond" - Madhavan Satagopan, CTO, Altimetrik Disclaimer:

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Altimetrik: Altimetrik is a business transformation and technology solutions partner to global enterprise customers in areas of digital, connected solutions and consumer technologies. We work with enterprises on latest trend adoption through outcome engineering, hand-hold them through the entire value realization cycle and realize this transformation through advanced technologies, design-led engineering principles and our unique capabilities. Altimetrik strongly believes that experience-led consumer behavior will lead the way in the future transformation of enterprise businesses and is thereby investing heavily in researching and building solutions and capabilities which are likely to catalyze this transformation. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Altimetrik has its technologists mapped across the globe including USA, Uruguay, India, Singapore and UAE. Additional information can be found at Altimetrik or connect with Altimetrik on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Altimetrik Media Contact:

Devaashish Savant

Altimetrik

+91-9611752244

[email protected]

Shobana Sekhar

Edelman India

+91-9742389733

[email protected]



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[October 04, 2016] Almac Diagnostics Partners with ArcherDX

CRAIGAVON, Northern Ireland and BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Almac Group's Diagnostics business unit today announced its partnership with ArcherDX to provide FusionPlex and VariantPlex NGS assays as part of their CDx partnership solutions. ArcherDX, the leader in NGS-based fusion detection assays and software, has also approved Almac Diagnostics as a Certified Service Provider (CSP) of Archer NGS assays. This agreement further establishes Almac Diagnostics as a trusted partner providing scientific and technological excellence globally. Almac Diagnostics, the personalised medicine business unit of the Almac Group, partners with Biopharma on the discovery, development and commercialisation of diagnostic tests including companion diagnostics. It also has an internal portfolio of both prognostic and predictive assays in development across a wide range of disease areas. As an Archer Certified Service Provider, Almac Diagnostics will leverage their CLIA-certified lab to include Archer FusionPlex and VariantPlex assays in their service offering. About becoming an Archer CSP, Michael Sloan, VP Commercial Operations at Almac Diagnostics, stated, "Archer assays will not only enable us to offer targeted sequencing panels across a wide range of malignancies, but they give us the ability to customise gene panels based on our partners' needs." Jason Myers, PhD, CEO at ArcherDX, aded, "Almac Diagnostics has a strong support network as part of the Almac Group, which gives them the ability to provide clinical services beyond the UK. Because clinical development is a global need, we're excited that Almac Diagnostics can offer ArcherDX NGS assays for international drug and CDx development and clinical support."



About ArcherDX

ArcherDX addresses the bottlenecks associated with using NGS in translational research by offering a robust platform for targeted sequencing applications. By combining proprietary Anchored Multiplexed PCR (AMP) chemistry and easy-to-use, lyophilized reagents, Archer NGS assays generate highly enriched sequencing libraries to detect gene fusions, point mutations, CNVs and RNA abundance. Complemented by the Archer suite of bioinformatics software, ArcherDX technology dramatically enhances complex mutation identification and discovery.

ArcherDX is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, USA. http://archerdx.com ArcherDX, Inc.

Jason Amsbaugh

T +1 303 357 9001

E [email protected] About Almac Diagnostics

Almac Diagnostics is one of five business units operating under the ownership of the Almac Group. The global personalised medicine company is focused on the discovery, development and commercialisation of diagnostic tests including companion diagnostics. In addition, Almac Diagnostics has a pipeline of proprietary oncology based tests in development in therapeutic areas including breast, colon, ovarian, prostate and lung cancer. About Almac Group

'Partnering to Advance Human Health' The Almac Group is an established contract development and manufacturing organisation that provides an extensive range of integrated services to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors globally. The services range from R&D, biomarker discovery development and commercialisation, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply, IXRS technology (IVRS/IWRS) through to commercial-scale manufacture. The international company is a privately owned organisation that has organically grown over 40 years and now employs in excess of 4,500 highly skilled personnel. Almac is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland with operations in the UK, Ireland, across the US (Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California) and in Asia (Singapore and Tokyo). https://www.almacgroup.com/diagnostics/ Almac House

20 Seagoe Industrial Estate

Craigavon

Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

BT63 5QD



T+44283839 5815

F +44283 833 2299

E [email protected]

www.almacgroup.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160802/395201LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/almac-diagnostics-partners-with-archerdx-300338279.html SOURCE ArcherDX

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[October 04, 2016] Ecofiscal Commission's biofuel report is deeply flawed, a step backward for climate action

VANCOUVER, Oct. 4, 2016 /CNW/ - A controversial report was released today by Canada's Ecofiscal commission that misses the mark on practical guidance for reducing climate change emissions in transportation. If the recommendations in Course Correction: Why it's time to rethink Canadian biofuel policies were followed, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation would increase significantly. As transport emissions represent one quarter of Canada's total greenhouse gases, following Ecofiscal's recommendations would be a step backwards in meeting Canada's climate action commitments, and dramatically weaken our ability to leverage Canada's rich natural resources to compete in the global cleantech economy. Advanced Biofuels Canada (ABFC), and other fuels and transportation policy experts in industry and academia, have assessed the Ecofiscal report and found significant errors in research methodology and a poor understanding of transportation fuels markets. The report's conclusions are largely inconsistent with results, analysis and recommendations from a host of global transportation and climate policy experts. The President of ABFC, Ian Thomson, stated, "Rarely have we seen a report that falls so short on accuracy, balance, scientific rigour, and knowledge of the subject it addresses. "The report relies too much on an economist's perfect world, where free markets with an effective price on carbon will seek out the cheapest ways to reduce emissions, rendering regulations unnecessary. "The reality is that market failures don't obey economic models. The fossil fuels industry in Canada operates as a near-monopoly, which means any transition to lower carbon fuel alternatives will require both market-based tools, such as carbon pricing, and complementary regulatory tools. In today's real world, the carbon tax and cap and trade programs in British Columbia and Quebec, respectively, have failed to price the carbon emissions of fuel alternatives. The report neglects to note the shortcomings of current carbon pricing systems, and offers no solutions for how carbon pricing can be better structured to transition markets to use lower carbon alternatives. It is clear that solutions must go beyond carbon pricing, using flexible, but stringent, low carbon fuel standards. "While Ecofiscal calls for end to public investment and upport for biofuels, it declined to address the $3.3 billion per year in subsidies for the Canadian oil and gas industry. This renders every cost effectiveness statistic in the report meaningless, as subsidy-loaded biofuels costs are compared to fossil fuel prices with no accounting for the oil and gas subsidies. And worse, following a 'cut all subsidies' approach to other lower carbon technologies would end public investments to deploy transit, electric vehicles, natural and biogas, etc. as well. This approach is wholly unacceptable, as it would ensure that we remain reliant on fossil gasoline and diesel fuel for decades.



"Ecofiscal's research ignores a large body of evidence on catastrophic, expensive climate change; transportation is consistently singled out as a critical sector that requires immediate and sustained efforts to reduce and eliminate transport GHG emissions. After tallying the potential carbon reductions from all other technologies, many experts cite advanced biofuels as indispensable to meeting carbon reduction commitments through 2030 and 2050. In speaking to the Ecofiscal report's research and analysis, Mr. Thomson states, "There are basic methodological errors that result in significantly overstated carbon mitigation costs. The evidence to date from the relatively mature BC renewable and low carbon fuel regulations, is that mitigation costs from biofuels are ~$40/tonne of emissions, or 80% lower than the report's estimates. Based on published fuel prices over the 2010-2014 period, this is consistent with our estimates at ~$40/tonne for biofuel in diesel fuel in BC.

"The report's claim that 'next generation' biofuels development is being harmed by current mandates and policies is not supported by the companies developing 'next generation' biofuels in Canada. "The report's conclusions that biofuels have had no meaningful emissions impact is misleading. It is obvious that nominal use of biofuels (5% or 2%) will produce modest results. But, advanced biofuels used in Canada today reduce emissions by 60% to 115% below fossil gasoline and diesel. In 2014, biofuels delivered 4.4 million tonnes of GHG reductions in Canada, the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road while reducing carcinogenic fossil fuel tailpipe emissions. "The report accurately notes that continued funding for research and development of low carbon biofuels is needed. Governments in Canada are developing strategies to leverage our natural resources, and capitalize on growth in the low carbon economy. Our global trading partners are aggressively investing in advanced biofuels and, if Canada is to avoid import dependence on the transportation fuels of the future, we must not cede this opportunity to foreign countries. "We agree with the report's commentary that flexible regulations, such as a low carbon fuels standard, can be effective, but strongly reject the notion that these regulations be phased out as carbon prices increase. To attract and sustain cleantech investments, Canada must adopt firm and competitive policy signals under a comprehensive approach such as ABFC's proposed Clean Fuels Strategy. "It should be of particular concern to Canadians that Canada's petroleum industry is also advocating for an economy-wide carbon tax, but with the caveat that all fuels regulations be eliminated (e.g., biofuel mandates and low carbon fuels standards). The reasoning behind this is straight forward: the world's largest non-state oil company has projected that an $80/tonne carbon tax would reduce its crude oil production by only 6% by 2050. Carbon taxes alone will not decarbonize transport. "Carbon pricing can be an effective and complementary policy to regulations, but only if it is based on the full lifecycle emissions (carbon intensity) of all fuels and is transparent, predictable, and visible to consumers and fuel market suppliers. An effective carbon price design will give consumers and businesses access to lower carbon fuels of all types. "In tackling climate change, the transportation sector has unique challenges and addressing its cannot be delayed. We look forward to working with governments, industry, and stakeholders to demonstrate how sustainable, advanced biofuels will deliver net economic and environmental benefits. A more detailed assessment of the report is available here. SOURCE Advanced Biofuels Canada

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[October 04, 2016] Ontarians describe their favourite teacher in one word -- 164 ways

The Ontario College of Teachers releases results of its Just One Word campaign to celebrate World Teachers' Day TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2016 /CNW/ - Inspiring (15%), caring (7%) and kind (5.5%). Ontarians used these words, or derivatives, repeatedly to describe their favourite teacher  that one individual who encouraged them to work harder, reach further and achieve more. The results are in from the Ontario College of Teachers' Just One Word (#just1word) social media campaign, which aims to help celebrate World Teachers' Day on October 5. "When we think of words and teachers, we immediately think of the ethics  care, respect, trust and integrity  that reflect all of our members," says Michael Salvatori, OCT, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar for the Ontario College of Teachers. "Our members are amongst the best in the world and we wanted to honour them by having their students  past and present  share stories about them. An inspired student never forgets." Recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), World Teachers' Day is an international celebration of educators. The occasion recognizes that teachers must be empowered to build quality education and sustainable societies. "We're proud to add our voice to strengthen the global conversation on quality education," says College Council Chair Angela De Palma, OCT. "This campaign reminds us that everything we do as teachers can have a positive effect on the lives of our students in the classroom and beyond, in the moment and for years after." Campaign highlights Other popular descriptors include: encouraging (4.9%), compassionate (3.2%) and motivating (2.8%). Passionate (2.5%) and awesome (2.2%) wre also top of mind. The results are varied because Ontarians had so many positive things to say. More than 700 people commented. However, many respondents felt that Just One Word wasn't enough and instead, shared longer, more detailed stories. Here are a few randomly selected comments:



"I'd say she was caring and always believed in me :) She was one of those teachers who truly loved to teach and I'm just so thankful I got to be her student. We still talk to this day almost 11 years later."

- Rebecca Robinson



- "He was my music teacher back in high school. He saw a raw talent and nurtured it. He was dedicated and fun, but didn't take no for an answer. He pushed us all and made us all into amazing musicians. I thank him for his kindness and his encouragement. He helped me to believe in myself. I cannot find just one word as one word does not suffice."

- Kimbo Ann



- Kimbo Ann "Inspirational is the word I would use. It was nearly 50 years ago, but he was the very best teacher I have ever had and was the first to instill in me the idea that learning could be fun and interesting. He inspired me to take a positive approach to learning and to other things in life. I owe him everything just for that."

- Jurgen Braunohler About the campaign Using only social media, the College asked Ontarians to describe their favourite teacher (past or present) in Just One Word between September 15 and 28. The results are being shared via the College's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest channels and on its website before and after World Teachers' Day (October 5). All creative can be seen at oct.ca.

Read about more inspiring teachers by visiting the Remarkable Teachers section of our magazine Professionally Speaking. The Ontario College of Teachers licenses, governs and regulates the profession of teaching in the public interest. It sets standards of practice and ethical standards, conducts disciplinary hearings and accredits teacher education programs affecting its more than 243,000 members in publicly funded schools and institutions across Ontario. The College is the largest self-regulatory body for the teaching profession in Canada. This news release is available in French. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest or sign up for our public e-newsletter The Standard. SOURCE Ontario College of Teachers

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Briggs: Elkharts RV workers are only essential until a recession

RV sales are great for job security in Elkhart, yet horrible for human bodies.
Arguing that it losses in the October 2 local elections in Gyumri and Vanadzor (the second and third largest towns in Armenia) were due to clan politics and its own shortcomings, the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) announced today that it would regroup, examine the elections, and draft a new electoral strategy.

HAK said that it participated in the elections, based on a party-basis, because it believed there would be a healthy competition of political programs and positions.

Sadly, according to HAK, the elections in Gyumri and Vanadzor were based on clan ties, bribes and pressure brought to bear on voters.

The party says all its efforts will be now directed towards winning the April 2017 parliamentary elections and thus, regime change.
Google Pixel 7 features coming to Pixel 6  heres what to expect

Google has announced that the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are getting some of the Pixel 7s new features, and older Pixel phones are even getting a few updates. Here's what we know so far.
UPDATED Wednesday, Oct. 5, with comment from Yahoo, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter, on Thursday, Oct. 6, with information from The New York Times, and on Friday, Oct. 7 with information from VICE Motherboard.



While Apple stood firm against U.S. law-enforcement demands, Yahoo caved.

At the request of the FBI, or perhaps the National Security Agency, Yahoo in early 2015 created a tool to search all Yahoo Mail messages for a specific set of information, Reuters reported today (Oct. 4). The implication is that every email sent or received by Yahoo Mail users was scanned.

(Image credit: Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. Credit: Coolcaesar/Creative Commons)

The existence of the tool was not disclosed to Yahoo's own security team, Reuters said. Yahoo security personnel found it on their own, and initially thought hackers had broken into Yahoo's systems. Yahoo's security chief resigned as a result, arguing that the tool itself could have let in hackers.

MORE: 7 Ways to Stop NSA Spying on Your Smartphone

It's not clear whether other email providers received or complied with similar government requests. Google and Microsoft did not reply to Reuters' inquiries. Reuters spoke to two former Yahoo employees, and a third person knowledgeable of the events. None were named or directly quoted.

The report comes as Yahoo is still reeling from the disclosure that a 2014 security breach led to the compromise of 500 million accounts, the largest on record. The financially ailing company is in the process of selling its core assets to Verizon.

Apple famously refused to comply with a court order in February that it alter its mobile operating system iOS 9 to let FBI forensic researchers access an iPhone used by terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook. The FBI eventually found someone else who could break into the phone.

The government request to Yahoo may have come in the form of a National Security Letter, a secret request for information that cannot be refused or even revealed by any party. Yahoo fought a similar order in 2007, but reportedly lost.

It's not clear whether the request came from the FBI or the NSA, or what exactly the desired information was. The NSA frequently has to route such requests through the FBI to comply with laws barring the NSA from spying on U.S. citizens and legal residents.

Nor is it known whether the information the government sought was ever found, how long the scanning tool was in operation, or whether it is still used.

The decision to comply with the government request led to the departure of Alex Stamos, Yahoo's then-chief information security officer, the report said.

Stamos, widely respected in the information-security industry and a noted advocate of online privacy, reportedly told Yahoo security staffers that he had not been told of the tool before or after it was implemented. He also told staffers that flaws in the tool could have let hackers read Yahoo user emails.

In February 2015, while he held the Yahoo job, Stamos famously confronted NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers at a security conference about the use of encryption "backdoors" that would let law enforcement read otherwise encrypted data.

Last week, The New York Times reported that Stamos and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer had clashed over the security protection of Yahoo accounts during his tenure. Mayer and other top Yahoo executives refused to allow a forced reset of all Yahoo passwords, arguing that it would drive Yahoo Mail users away.

Stamos joined Yahoo in March 2014, and tightened up Yahoo security procedures, most visibly by switching password encryption from a weak standard to a very strong one that has yet to be "cracked." It's not clear whether the 500 million Yahoo user accounts were accessed while Stamos was at the company. He left Yahoo in July 2015 and soon joined Facebook.

UPDATE: Yahoo would neither confirm nor deny the reports, telling news outlets including The Wall Street Journal and Ars Technica that "Yahoo is a law-abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States."

On Wednesday, Yahoo further told Ars Technica, "The [Reuters] article is misleading. We narrowly interpret every government request for user data to minimize disclosure. The mail scanning system described in the article does not exist on our systems."

Twitter commentators quickly pointed out that Yahoo did not say the scanning system had never existed on the company's systems.

Other U.S. internet giants sent out statements Tuesday that they had never done anything similar.

"We have never received a request of this type," said Apple to Vocativ. "If we were to receive one, we would oppose it in court."

"Facebook has never received a request like the one described in these news reports from any government, and if we did we would fight it," Facebook told Vocativ.

"We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'no way,'" Google said to Ars Technica, CNBC and the Journal.

"We've never received a request like this, and were we to receive it, we'd challenge it in a court," Twitter said to Vocativ, adding that it was "currently suing the Justice Department for the ability to disclose more information about government requests."

"We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo," said Microsoft to the same three outlets. Unlike the others, Microsoft did not say it had never received such a request.

UPDATE: The New York Times reported Wednesday that the scanning tool was actually an adaptation of Yahoo's existing filters, which normally scan for malware, spam and child pornography. A filter was added to scan for a specific string of text used in emails sent by persons working for an overseas state-sponsored terrorist organization, the Times' anonymous sources said. The terrorist organization was not named.

UPDATE: Two anonymous sources who spoke with VICE Motherboard countered the Times story, saying that the email scanner was a "rootkit" that was "poorly designed" and threatened all Yahoo Mail users.

"If it was just a slight modification to the spam and child pornography filters, the security team wouldn't have noticed and freaked out," one source, said to be a former Yahoo employee, told Motherboard. "It definitely contained something that did not look like anything Yahoo Mail would have installed."
New documents obtained by the ACLU reveal a secret subpoena to Open Whisper Systems (OWS), the maker of the end-to-end encrypted Signal chat application. In the first half of this year, the U.S. government sought information related to two phone numbers, one of which belonged to a Signal user.

However, because OWS has a policy of collecting only absolutely necessary information and discarding what they dont need, the government could only find out when the user created the account and when they last connected. In a time of gag orders becoming the rule rather than the exception, OWS shows that minimal data collection may be the most important strategy against abusive gag orders and even data breaches.

Gag Orders As The Norm

As Microsoft unveiled earlier this year, the U.S. government has begun making secret gag orders more of a rule than the exception that such orders should be. The company sued the U.S. government because almost half of the data requests from federal agents are secret. Companies such as Microsoft can afford to fight back against abuse of secret orders, but this is likely not something all small companies can afford to do.

OWS Fights Back

Open Whisper Systems, with the ACLU's assistance, is one of the few small companies that made the decision to fight what it considers an over-broad gag order. The government requested all information associated with the two phone numbers, including web browsing history and data stored in tracking cookies of the web browsers associated with the two accounts.

However, Signal doesnt collect much user information at all, and it discards most of the information it does collect after use. Therefore, the U.S. government was only able to recover the date the user created the account and when the Signal user last connected to the Signal servers.

Most Gag Orders Violate First Amendment

The gag order that accompanied the subpoena was supposed to keep the company silent about the user data request for at least a year. ACLU got the government to quickly admit that most of the information under seal didnt need to be secret after all.

According to the nonprofit, this is just more proof that the government creates many of these gag orders without too much thought into what actually needs to be secret. However, because not everyone has the resources to fight back, most of these gag orders remain secret by default, sometimes even indefinitely.

ACLU argued, just as Microsoft did earlier this year, that the overly broad gag orders are a violation of the First Amendment. ACLU believes that the government should only use secrecy for truly sensitive information, and not for anything that it thinks could jeopardize its investigation if the information became public.

Necessity Of Minimal Data Retention

When companies use strong encryption so users can protect their own files or communications with their own keys, the government knows there isnt much it can ask of those companies, so it doesnt bother them as much as it does other companies that have access to all user data.

In the same way, when the companies collect and store only minimal amounts of records on the servers, there are fewer reasons for the government to visit and ask for user data. As a bonus, minimal data collection also protects companies from having to make embarrassing data breaches public.

OWS, an organization that is a few years old, has only received a single subpoena so far, likely because authorities already know their strong privacy stance. OWS recently helped companies such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Silent Circle, and Google implement its open source end-to-end encryption protocol into their own chat applications. Its own open source chat application, Signal, is also often used by activists, journalists, and even U.S. presidential candidates.

Even after the subpoena, the only thing the government could uncover was the account creation date and when it connected last. The chances are that in the future OWS will try to erase those records for its users as well, given that they dont seem to be critically important for running the Signal service.

That means, there would be no reason whatsoever for the government to serve the company another subpoena unless some anti-encryption law passes. However, until that happens, companies that only keep minimal amounts of user data around should have to deal with fewer abusive gag orders or embarrassing data breaches.
Armenias Central Bank is a lot like Fort Knox. Accessibility is a bummer.

Under the ruse of secrecy, the Central Banks board manages huge amounts of budgetary funds far from the publics gaze.

According to Armenias 2017 estimated budget, the Bank will receive 56% more in funds to construct and obtain offices than it did last year.

1.620 billion AMD (US$3.4 million) is to be allocated to alleviate sink holes at the guest house and residential building at the Banks education/research center in Dilijan.

The Bank will also get 526 million AMD ($1.1 million) to construct a new residential building for employees.

442.5 million AMD ($933,000) will go to provide health insurance to Bank employyes and family members.

The average monthly salary of Bank employees this year is 586,000 AMD ($1,235) and will increase to 603,000 AMD in 2017.

Some 820 people will be working at the Bank in 2017.

Photo: Armenian Central Bank, Yerevan
Normally, Going Swimming produce and record their own songs, which has given them a real DIY vibe to their tracks. However, the band have gone and taken a left-turn on their latest track and broken their self-recorded streak, recruiting the likes of Rohan Sforcina (Dune Rats, Gold Class) and Ash Briody (Empat Lima, Sugar Fed Leopards) to get some fresh ears on their sound.

Their latest song Debt Collector creates a dirty surf-rock sound which will leave you feeling washed up on shore, salty but refreshed. With punk-infused vocals and 60s-inspired backing vox, Debt Collector is at its core a surf-rock revival song showcasing the best sounds the genre can offer. Lovely stuff.

If you are yet to see Going Swimming live in the flesh, dont miss out on their upcoming East Coast Swimming In Debt tour, kicking off this weekend supporting The Stiffys (dates below).

Going Swimming Swimming In Debt Tour Dates

Saturday 8th October 2016

Rad Bar (supporting the Stiffys)  Wollongong, NSW

Sunday 9th October 2016

Frankies Pizza By the Slice  Sydney, NSW

Friday 21st October 2016

The Eastern  Ballarat, VIC

Saturday 22nd October 2016

The Crown & Anchor  Adelaide, SA

Friday 28th October 2016

The Grace Darling  Melbourne, VIC

Saturday 29th October 2016

Rics Bar  Brisbane, QLD
Despite being a prominent Australian newspaper (like it or not, people), The Daily Telegraph apparently only recently became aware that people do drugs at music festivals. To be fair, it is the Daily Telegraph, so its not a huge surprise when theyre not clued in on something.

Regardless, they would really like to let you know that they didnt buy any drugs at Listen Out. Nope, not a single one. They didnt inject any marijuanas and they didnt pop any eccies. To quote the Tele: The Sunday Telegraph did not purchase any drugs.

This incredible sentence can actually be seen, in bold, at the bottom of the Telegraphs recent report on Listen Out Sydney. The Tele apparently sent one of their roving reporters down to suss out this whole music festival thing, and he was *gasp* offered drugs.

We hadnt even made it to the front gates when the call of caps caps was whispered into my ear, the reporter recounts. It was a fellow Listen Out festival-goer plying his trade right under the nose of the heavy police and sniffer dog presence.

But as the Daily Telegraph want to make very, very clear, they did not actually purchase any of the industrious drug peddlers MDMA capsules, which he was reportedly flogging for $30 a pop, or $25 for those buying in bulk.

More than 25 police officers and two sniffer dogs were waiting, the reporter continues. In the 40 minutes we watched the dogs at work 15 people were hauled off by police to be searched after the dogs indicated they might be carrying drugs.

Just to be clear

Though of course we all know that sniffer dogs are wrong more often than theyre right and youd have a better chance of finding drugs on a music festival punter by picking them out at random.

Once inside, the Tele goes on, it was evident many people had managed to take a substance before entering or smuggle it in, as some could barely stand and were under the influence. Maybe they were just overcome by the power of the music?

The portable toilet cubicles were littered with remnants of illicit substances, including empty resealable bags and plastic balloons. If youre having trouble picturing that, the Tele helpfully shared a few photos of the floors of the Listen Out Sydney toilets  journalism!

But having said all that, the number one takeaway the Tele have for you is that they did not purchase any drugs. Oh sure, they were offered some, and the toilet floors were littered with plastic baggies, but none of them were the property of the Daily Telegraph.
They may not get much love in their home country, where they command a relatively small but rabid fan base, but Airbourne are absolutely beloved overseas, particularly in Europe, where their new album is doing remarkably well in the charts.

Yes, its 2016 and a band of Aussie blokes from Warrnambool playing a quintessentially Australian brand of hard rock have a top 10 album in the UK and a Number 3 album in Germany. Its even done pretty well here at home, where the band get little love from radio.

Airbournes latest album, Breakin Outta Hell, is currently sitting just outside the top 10 of the ARIA Albums chart at Number 13, despite the band admitting they get a larger following overseas where they regularly headline festivals.

Germany is the first big country that took us on board in Europe, the band recently told Tone Deaf. Then we sort of blew up in France. Its sort of big all over the place there. Most of mainland Europe we do well in and weve even grown in eastern Europe.

The band are currently in the midst of a North American run, which included a recent stop in British Columbia, Canada. It was there that frontman Joel OKeeffe sustained several broken ribs mid-song and continued to finish the set. Its all on video  check it out here.

Airbourne National Tour Dates

Saturday, 7th January 2017

Summernats, Canberra

Tickets: Summernats

Friday, 13th January 2017

The Metro Theatre, Sydney

Tickets: Metro Theatre

Saturday, 14th January 2017

The Triffid, Brisbane

Tickets: The Triffid

Friday, 20th January 2017

Trak, Melbourne

Tickets: Trak
Empire of the Suns new album, Two Vines, is more than just the Australian duos latest space opera, its also a star-studded affair, packing a number of big-name collaborations, including none other than Fleetwood Macs Lindsey Buckingham.

When youve got the undeniable, magical aura of Doctor Buckingham, things blossom, Luke Steele recently told NPR. We jammed like we were in high school and it came together almost instantly. The result of that jam? The gorgeous To Her Door.

According to Steele, he and bandmate Nick Littlemore had a hard time not fanboy-ing out during the recording session. Youre not just working with a great guitarist or producer, youre working with classic heritage, he said.

Hes not just a genius, but a genius of feeling. Its his gift. And Im so grateful we got to share in it. You can check out To Her Door below. The bands follow-up to 2013s Ice on the Dune is out 28th October.
The last Byron Bay Bluesfest 2017 lineup announcement saw organisers bringing out the legends, but it looks like they were saving one of their biggest and most iconic names. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the one and only Neil Young to Bluesfest 2017.

Yes, the Canadian rock and folk icon will be playing Byron Bay Bluesfest 2017 alongside his incredible new band, Promise of the Real. No doubt the addition of Young and his band to next years lineup makes it one of the beloved festivals biggest yet.

Bluesfest is proud to announce our headliner for 2017, said Bluesfest founder Peter Noble. Neil Young + his incredible new band Promise of the Real, are coming to Bluesfest to perform their full 3 hour set on Friday April 14 on our Crossroads stage.

Neils recent sets have included such classics as Heart of Gold, Out on the Weekend, Harvest Moon, Powderfinger, Cowgirl in the Sand, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Cortez the Killer and Rockin in the Free World  WOW. I cant wait!

Folks heading down to the iconic Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm this Easter were already set to be treated to performances from the likes of R&B legend Mary J Blige, punk rock icon Patti Smith, the immortal Buddy Guy, and the timeless Jethro Tull.

Best of all, this is just the latest of many lineup announcements. Theres still plenty more acts to be announced in the upcoming months and organisers are once again promising a five day Easter extravaganza delivering 12 hours of music daily across multiple stages.

Bluesfest 2017

Neil Young + Promise of the Real

joining

Santana

The Doobie Brothers

Mary J Blige

Corinne Bailey Rae

Michael Kiwanuka

Nako and Medicine For The People

Gallant

The Suffers

Zac Brown Band

Patti Smith And Her Band Perform Horses

The Lumineers

Buddy Guy (Exclusive)

Bonnie Raitt

Mavis Staples (Exclusive)

Billy Bragg

Jethro Tull

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

Gregory Porter

Snarky Puppy

St. Paul & The Broken Bones

Beth Hart (Exclusive)

Laura Mvula

Roy Ayers

Booker T Presents The Stax Records Revue

Andrew Bird

Rickie Lee Jones

Joan Osborne

Turin Brakes

The Strumbellas

Jake Shimabukuro

Dumpstaphunk

Nikki Hill

Irish Mythen

Thursday 13th, April  Monday, 17th April 2017

Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm NSW

Tickets: Bluesfest
RESIDENTS DON'T LIKE TO THINK OF KANSAS CITY AS A HIGH CRIME METROPOLIS BUT THE DATA REVEALS THAT OUR RATE OF KILLING RANKS US AMONG THE NATION'S WORST PLACES!!!

HOW DID CRIME/HOMICIDE GET SO BAD IN KANSAS CITY???

THE ROOTS OF KANSAS CITY CRIME LIE IN POLITICAL CORRUPTION

Kansas City corruption has focused civic priorities mainly on money generating schemes for the politically connected while public safety funding and support for police is derided and attacked by these very same people.

The Broken Down Jackson County Legal System Begets Worsening Deadly Crime

City Hall Gun Control Crackdown Is A Symptom Of FAILED Fight Against Crime

When all else has failed: The most despicable Kansas City politicos blame guns for all of their problems.

The Kansas City murder rate is speeding to the century mark this year and our reputation as a high crime city is now backed up by statistical data.This juxtaposition from national law enforcement and the FBI is one of the most important for 2016:Accordingly . . .We've known this for quite some time and now more locals are starting to catch on . . . But the story doesn't stop there and a real understanding of this issue is important if there is any hope of turning the tide. More than any other city on this list . . . Kansas City has the best chance to separate from the bad company of these killer cities.But first . . .We all have our theories but the one that stands out the most and starts this conversation is a word from the KCPD Chief who often equates rising crime with social unrest. That theory has its merits but we'd like to suggest a more hard line analysis . . .Believe it or not, most criminals aren't completely stupid and there's little incentive for these folks to behave when our local leadership is comprised almost completely of greedy, conflicted and deceitful elected officials, consultants and political denizens.But it goes beyond mere public perception . . .In Kansas City the priority for most of our leaders is making their friends and supporters rich . . . Keeping this town safe isn't even a secondary concern.Corporate patronage props up laughably unqualified politicos who would otherwise be thrown out of office if not for a constant barrage of public relations hype supported by this very same corporate welfare machine. All of that support for this town's favorite politicos has been purchased by directing taxpayer funds in the right direction. This technique is perfectly legal in most instances and when it's not, the judges and legal structure of this town is part of the same systemic. . .Which leads us too . . .Police regularly lock up criminals who walk out of a revolving door days later in Kansas City.Want to know why there isn't a lot of community cooperation with police??? It's not because of rap music, video games or t-shirts, it's because criminals don't stay locked up for long in this town.In some ways, KCMO brings this on itself aswho are being paid, reinforced and manipulated to support a twisted logic that actually endangers the communities for which they claim to advocate.Finally . . .They say that. . . Similarly, unconstitutional gun control efforts are the last ditch hallmark of politicos who are so bereft of ideas that they would maliciously sacrifice American freedom for the illusion of security and end up with neither.Also, blaming guns takes the blame off criminals, prosecutors, judges and politicos who lobby for their release and instead casts doubt upon lawful gun owners for the very crime which threatens their existence.What's worse is that so many minority politicos are complicit in disarming their communities and leaving peopledefenseless.Sadly, all of these factors have led Kansas City to our current ranking as one of the most violence places in the nation right now.Unlike the political elite or the mainstream media . . . We encourage genuine comments and discussion of these ideas and hope that new theories and solutions will arise. Moreover, it's our hope that a few honest responses might enlighten our blog community as to how to turn this horrific situation around.You decide . . .
Chastain: Kansas City's elite, and their surrogates, trying to torpedo light rail election

Transit activistis a mild-mannered working professional who has battled criticism and opposition against his plans throughout his career. However, his current struggle to champion light rail in Kansas City has him up against a myriad of opposition and his response reveals not only a bit of frustration but also an informative guide to local media and politicos who have engaged him behind the scenes.Take a look:No wonder so many working class Americans are disgusted as they witness America's undoing at the hands of its elite ruling class who continue lining their pockets by manipulating governments and unduly influencing much of the media.Take Kansas City for instance where its own rich suits, hiding out in their ivory towers, are opposing a citizen-led transit initiative (Light Rail Ballot Question #3) designed to improve the city's pathetic bus system, protect the environment and prosper the city...Apparently they are hoping to keep low-income people and minorities separated on out dated and undesirable buses while they themselves hope to fly out of a brand new single-terminal airport they support!Apparently Steve and Frank are hoping people will think the light rail ballot initiative does not exist, though they have no trouble endlessly reporting to the public on the elite-supported downtown streetcar line!Reed told me it was, " not appropriate at this time!" Apparently Sly and Reed think a novelty streetcar line for tourists more imperative than a citywide light rail system that could help a working black man on the eastside get to a job across town!, told me at my presentation to the Northland Chamber of Commerce that he was totally against Light Rail Ballot Question #3 and that he and others in the room do not ride buses because, "we are not poor." Apparently Dick, and others of his northland elitist clan, wants to keep poor people separated on buses too and out of the city's lily white cupcake land.Apparently Brian, and the paper's editorial board who support him, also wants to please the elite crowd who like to read about themselves in his paper.Apparently these two journalistic professionals also want to stay on the good side of Kansas City's elite ruling class., often times a spokesperson for the elite, said on public television that my light rail plan was "irresponsible" and would "totally devastate" the city's totally ineffective, wasteful, and devastated bus system. Apparently, say for pay Steve also knows which side his bread is buttered on.However, all is not lost. The Kansas City Star, under the refreshing leadership of its new publisher, is now acting more like a "paper for the people" and doing its part to inform voters about Light Rail Ballot Question #3 from both sides perspective. Kansas City's outstanding public television station KCPT, led by Nick Haines, is to be praised as well for fairly covering both supporters and detractors of #3.Make no mistake. This light rail election is not only about improving the city's public transportation system but also a referendum on the elite and whether or not they will be able to freely continue exploiting and controlling the taxpayers of Kansas City for their own selfish gain.Clay Chastain...Degreed electrical engineer, KCMO registered voter, and leader of the people's light rail ballot initiative-Question #3.####################
Clinton/Kaine - Stronger Together yard signs: New Order Arrived!

"If you haven't purchased a high quality, union made yard sign yet, we received our new order last week and they continue to go out the door quickly. Get yours at the JCDC office (308 W Maple in Independence) or at the Jason Kander office (3600 Broadway in KC). Tell a friend! Only $5!"

"This kind of real down and dirty policy debate is what voters in Kansas City want. We care about the issues here, not just the bravado and big talk. Time Kaine is simply much stronger VP candidate than Pence and he has the support of local labor and a united Democratic Party in Kansas City. Watch closely tonight, I think you'll see the Kansas City connection and our support front and center."

New York Times: With Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, Faith Is Back in the Mix









The Intercept: GOP Ad Attacks Tim Kaine for Refusing to Execute Man Who Thought He Was Jesus









Kansas City area Democrats are riled up for tonight's debate that includes a local connection that may or may not help theFirst, the merch . . .And then a word from atalking up tonight's contest . . .The idea of an informed debate about issues rather than personalities or Miss Universe contestants would be a welcomed surprise but we're not holding out much hope.More background info . . .You decide . . .
"Wow, the Drumpf signs are really starting to come out in Leawood, KS now. I'm beginning to think that people around here believe that Republicanism is a religion much like Christianity, and to vote for any other party (no matter how ridiculous a Republican candidate is) would be a sin against the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (AKA Bush Sr., Bush Jr., and Reagan). I really thought that my upper middle class neighbors would at least feel ashamed enough for deciding to vote for the "TP" that they would keep their yard signs in that closet this election season, just like they do with their secret abortions, homosexual family members, adulterous spouses, drug/alcohol addicted parents and children, tax fraud, etc. But no, they are letting those hate flags fly!"

As we reported earlier,whilst more evidence of Trump support in the suburbs is being met with disgust by this ratherlocal denizen who shared one of the most provocative statements on local social media today.Here's a powerful sentiment from a local social media denizen commenting on the trend.You decide . . .
WRITTEN BY GRAHAM STACK

A number of high-ranking Ukrainian officials used a complex web of offshore companies and bank accounts to conduct property deals in multiple countries, according to a cache of leaked documents obtained by OCCRP.

The officials in Kyiv used what is known locally as a ploshchadka or a conversion center, meaning a turnkey solution for money laundering, tax evasion and hiding assets that includes companies in offshore havens, secret bank accounts and proxies who act as front men for the people behind the scenes who really benefit.

Among those who benefited are former members of Parliament, top members of law enforcement and sons of top officials in both the defense sector and a leading anti-corruption organization.

THE SECOND GENERATION

In December 2014, Oleksandr Tereshchenko, then a 19-year-old Ukrainian student with no known businesses, sent an email to a real estate agent in London regarding his purchase of a bachelor pad within walking distance of the Houses of Parliament.

Please ask Graham [Wilson, a lawyer] to create a [client service agreement] with his signature and stamp, the email said. The owner of the account that did the wire transfer just called me. If they don't get this document within the next hours, then they will request the payment be returned as an error. The owner of the account likely needed the paperwork to explain the wire in order to satisfy money laundering regulations.

Oleksandr Tereshchenko is the son of a top Ukraine defense sector official, Yury Tereshchenko, who had spent his entire career in Ukraine's state-owned arms trading sector. In 2014, the elder Tereshchenko was the temporary acting head of Ukroboronprom, the sprawling state arms producer and exporter.

Apparently there was no time to get the document from the English lawyer, and the ploshchadka operators simply slapped together a crudely improvised invoice for the apartment, structured like those typically written in the Russian language.

According to the improvised invoice and documents detailing the wire transfers from the ploshchadka, the 106,670 initial one-third payment for the apartment was wired to the lawyers account from Berly Trade Ltd., a Seychelles company with opaque ownership and a bank account at ABLV, Latvia's leading offshore bank.

An earlier letter from the lawyers to their young client warned that to comply with current Money Laundering Regulations we can only accept funds from you or a third party of which we have full details. Lawyer Wilson declined to comment, citing client confidentiality. But if the English lawyers had ever received full details of the company that wired them more than 100,000, they might well have turned pale.

Berly Trade is clearly a newly formed paper company likely designed to be part of a ploshchadka. It had been incorporated less than six months previously, in July of 2014. That September, it opened an account at ABLV. Funds started to trickle through the accounts in October 2014, according to a redacted bank statement among the leaked documents, which covers only the first three weeks of Berly's activities.

The statement shows that $190,000 was paid into Berlys accounts in those three weeks, much of which flowed out to other firms with accounts at the same bank. The payments do not look like normal business transactions. For example, around $42,000 was paid in six separate wires. The paperwork shows that the money was used to buy flowers from suppliers in Ecuador. Larger sums were paid to and received from other firms with accounts at ABLV.

By December 2014, millions were moving through the accounts. Besides the funds moved to London for the Tereshchenko apartment, in December 2014 Berly paid a total of around $800,000 in seven wires to another offshore firm in the Marshall Islands with a bank account at the Julius Baer bank in Switzerland. The money was "for marketing services" according to payment orders found among the documents.

In subsequent months, Berly received and wired millions more from and to other offshores, as well as from and to firms and individuals from countries including Tunisia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and the US.

SOURCE OF THE FUNDS

Where did young Tereshchenko find the money to buy his London bachelor pad? According to his correspondence with the London lawyers facilitating the transaction, the 332,000 for the one-room apartment came from his family.

In March of 2014 Oleksandr Tereshchenko's father, Yury Tereshchenko, wrote an op ed in the Kyiv Post on taking over Ukroboronprom. The elder Tereshchenko said that corruption had been sapping revenues from Ukraine's defense industry, but that this would stop under his watch.

"We must ensure we have zero tolerance for corruption," he wrote.

Later in 2014, the senior Tereshchenko headed the State Service for Export Control, which licences exports of military and dual-use goods (which can be used for either military or commercial purposes).

Despite Yury Tereshchenko's vow to end corruption, in December 2015 Ukraine's SBU security service arrested one of his deputies, Serhiy Golovaty, just after he received the final installment of a $250,000 cash bribe for providing an export license to a local company. According to the SBU, some of the funds were found in Yury Tereshchenko's home. The elder Tereshchenko was suspended and then fired in June 2016 from his job.

An OCCRP reporter interviewed Oleksandr Tereshchenko in London. "My father has been fired now, although it was not him who took the bribe," the younger Tereshchenko said in English honed by four years at Malvern College, an elite British public school. He did not refute the authenticity of the lawyers emails.

Oleksandr Tereshchenko said that it was not his father who bought him the apartment despite what the paperwork says. "Im 20 years old and dont have any access to this kind of funds. Why do you think [this money] comes from my father? Hes not the only relative I have. He would not name the relative he said bought the apartment.

Yury Tereshchenko failed to respond to attempts to contact him directly.

THE DEPUTY PROSECUTOR GENERALS FOREIGN PROPERTY DEALS

Like Yury Tereshchenko, Mykola Gerasimyuk, Ukraine's first deputy prosecutor general between June 2014 and December 2014, used the same ploshchadka to move funds to Europe to buy real estate.



He acquired the properties in the name of his wife, Kateryna, who in turn gave a power of attorney to two agents to act on her behalf, according to documents, contracts and emails from Gerasimyuk's inbox seen by OCCRP reporters.

The contracts say that Gerasimyuk transferred at least $150,000 via Itaco Alliance S.A. to one of the authorized agents. Itaco Alliance was established in the Seychelles in July 2014, along with Berly Trade. It shares a director with Berly Trade: Viktoria Gaidai, a cleaning lady from Kyiv. Like Berly Trade, Itaco Alliance has an account at Latvias ABLV.

The agent was businessman Oleg Zasidkovych, who was authorized to represent Kateryna Gerasimyuk in Slovakia. The transfers were ostensibly for construction equipment, according to the contracts.

Gerasimyuk and his wife transferred another $500,000 to Slovakia and Croatia for real estate acquisitions, wiring funds via other companies in the ploshchadka, the UK firm Smartus Business and a Belize firm, Old World Management Ltd.

Gerasimyuk also transferred up to $100,000 via the ploshchadka to pay for his daughter's university tuition fees and living expenses in the UK in 2013-14. Ploshchadka operators routed these payments via Smartus Business, the Belize firms Eyand Ltd. and Donberg Ltd. and Panama's Wiorex Trade, all of which had accounts at Latvian banks.

"My daughter is now back studying in the US," Gerasimyuk said, in a brief impromptu interview that interrupted his English lesson in his luxurious Kyiv apartment. Standing by an outsized 'Home Sweet Home' wall hanging in the hall, Gerasimyuk refused to look at the emails shown to him.

"I have no personal email address," he said.

CORRUPT PROPOSALS

Where was all this money coming from?

According to other emails obtained by OCCRP, Gerasimyuk was being offered bribes to drop charges against associates of Yanukovych. He was also contacted over politicized property disputes worth tens of millions of dollars.

One correspondent using the name China Town appealed to Gerasimyuk on behalf of Armen Sarkisyan, a businessman from the East Ukrainian town of Horlivka, offering a $500,000 bribe for his freedom.

According to the emails to Gerasimyuk, Sarkisyan was under suspicion of organizing 'titushki' or hired thugs deployed by Yanukovych against protesters in the Maidan protests, among other things. The letter said Sarkisyan is ready for all forms of solving the problem and will act properly. Can you help? The dialogue then continued cryptically discussing the size of the bribe. Gerasimyuk answered in Cyrillic letters, 'Match? How?'' possibly a corruption of the English 'how much'?

The applicant replied, 100,000 guests will come to you when a person receives freedom of movement, another 400,000 will be invited to celebrate when the charges are fully dropped, I will be guarantor and depository, suggesting a total $500,000 bribe for dropping charges against Sarkisyan.

A later email from the same mysterious China Town address sent Gerasimyuk documents relating to activities of the Kyiv prosecutors' office directed against my firm and my family. The attached documents relate to cases brought against the law firm Lavrynovych & Partners, run by Maksym Lavrynovych, the son of Oleksandr Lavrynovych who served as MInister of Justice under former President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych fled Ukraine for Russia in 2014.

Maksym Lavrynovych told OCCRP the law firm had nothing to do with that email or the Chinatown address.

We are a reputable law firm and never, ever were involved in any bribe or corruption cases, he said in an email.



Gerasimyuk was also contacted directly on his personal email by top businessmen, with details of criminal investigations that they may have wanted to influence in their favor.

In August 2014, influential businessman Aleksander Granovsky sent Gerasimyuk a summary of a criminal investigation into an allegedly fake loan agreement, which, if successful, would influence a long-running dispute over ownership of one of Ukraine's largest shopping malls, Sky Mall in Kyiv, in his favor. An Estonian businessman claimed to have invested up to $120 million in the project.

Granovsky was head of the board of Assofit, one of the parties to the dispute. The mail was sent from Alexander Granovskys email address and the subject line read: Backgrounder on the case. The hearing is scheduled for Monday. The mail was sent on Sunday, Aug. 10, the day before the hearing.

According to Mikhail Merkulov, CEO of Cyprus company Arricano (Assofit's opponents in the dispute over control of Sky Mall), there has been "massive interference" in the dispute by the prosecutor general's office, police and courts in favor of Assofit including the criminal charges against representatives of Arricano and of its affiliates mentioned in Granovskys emails.

After leaving his job as first deputy prosecutor general at the end of 2014, Gerasimyuk became a paid parliamentary assistant to Granovsky, who had entered Parliament in November 2014 as a member for the presidential bloc of Petro Poroshenko. Granovsky told OCCRP reporters he did not try to influence Gerasimyuk in the case.

Gerasimyuk also said his new job as Granovskys assistant had nothing to do with the Sky Mall case.

Read more
Greek economic sentiment index rose to 91.4 points in September from 90.9 in August reflecting a small improvement of business expectations in all market sectors and an increase in consumer confidence which is gradually recovering, the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) said on Monday.

IOBE said the economic sentiment index records a gradual recovery of expectations after plunging in the summer of 2015 and reflects a return to normality in the economy and the implementation of an economic adjustment program. At the same time, the fact that economic sentiment has not returned to 2014 levels reflects, partly, additional pressure -tax and other- facing both Greek households and enterprises. The Foundation noted that on a short-term view an environment of greater stability seemed to be created, related with uncertainty prevailing early in the year, while consumers seemed to have discounted -up to a point- additional burdens related with tax and pension reforms.

More analytically, business expectations in the industrial sector showed an improvement over production estimates, while estimates over inventories remained unchanged and negative estimates over orders and demand eased slightly. In the service sector, negative estimates over current situation eased along with estimates over current demand. In the retail commerce, estimates over current sales recovered along with estimates over short-term developments and the inventories index rising. In the construction sector, negative estimates over current works eased but without a similar improvement in employment estimates.

The consumer confidence index improved as households were less pessimistic over their finances and the country's public finances for the next 12 months. Estimates over saving intentions improved although estimates over unemployment deteriorated further.

Read more here.

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The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a stern response to Turkeys dispute of the sovereignty of islets and reefs in the Aegean Sea, following controversial statements by the Turkish President Erdogan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Treaty of Lausanne.

It is obvious that the ruling and the opposition parties in Turkey are picking a fight over an issue that does not concern them. Certain people in the neighboring country wish to drag Turkey towards a path and an attitude that contradicts international law and is in no way compatible with that of a European country, the statement reads. Furthermore, the Greek Ministry underlined that revisionist rationales, as is well known, have always led to negative paths and have always been defeated. Last, let it be reminded that the only topic of exploratory contacts was and still is the delimitation of the continental shelf according to the provisions and the rules of international law.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that that there is a series of interlinked problems in the Aegean Sea, including the sovereignty of certain islets and reefs, since there is no internationally-recognized agreement between Greece and Turkey on maritime borders that is in effect.

This statement came in response to a clash between the head of the Turkish opposition party CHP and the government, over recent controversial and provocative statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Treaty of Lausanne. The Turkish President claimed that via this treaty Ankara gave away islands that you could shout across to to Greece and that some tried to deceive us by presenting Lausanne as victory.

The opposition party  whose late leader negotiated the Treaty  responded that the deal improved the previous treaty that had been negotiated by the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, the CHP party questioned the Turkish Presidents decision to raise such an issue, when unemployment, corruption and the persecutions in the fallout of the recent coup are pressing.

Greek parties respond

Condemnation of the recent provocative statements also came from the opposition parties in Greece. New Democracy commented that Greece must be particular careful now that Turkey has reinstated the so-called grey zone issue in its discourse. The River called the government to respond to the Turkish claims by taking action in the international forums, while noting that the Prime Ministers earlier statements on the sea not having borders can be damaging to national interests.

PASOK underlined that the recent statements from Turkish officials are unacceptable and provocative, as they are contrary to international law and the principles of good neighborliness. The opposition party added that the Greek government must act wisely and with determination, to avoid harming the countrys national interests.

The Union of Centrists claimed that the Turkish Ministrys statement is "unacceptable and historically groundless, adding that the Treaty of Lausanne constituted the birth of modern Turkey. The opposition party stressed that the revisionism and neo-Ottoman dreams of President Erdogan are undermining Greco-Turkish relations and urged Turkey to stop raising tension, especially since the annual Parmenion military exercise begins next week.

Read more here.

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It has been one year since Vangelis Peppou, 32, who was on vacation in Mykonos, was beaten by nightclub guards

It has been one year since Vangelis Peppou, 32, who was on vacation in Mykonos, was beaten by nightclub guards to a point where a year later he still remains in a comatose state at Nicosia General. Today, his mother shared her experiences in caring for him and the exigencies of her sons condition, after a year of silence.

Vangelis mother, Soulla Tsangara, told Sigma TVs Mesimeri kai Kati program that she had come on the show to speak about her son and every mother would do the same for her child. She added that he son is expected to be allowed to leave Nicosia General on Wednesday despite the fact that he remains in a comatose state, and thanked the hospital staff for all their help over the past year.

Vangelis is set to be transferred to the only specialised centre in the capital, which comes at a high price, his mother said. Ms Tsangara explained that her son would have to be isolated in his own room in an effort to reduce the risk of infection. She added that her son is in need of special care, and that a nursing home would not suffice.

Ms Tsangara clarified her reasons for going on the programme by explaining that her son needs to be taken to a specialised centre, where he will receive the necessary physical and speech therapy, but the financial wherewithal for this is beyond the family's means.

The court of first instance in Athens had ordered in a decision on March 2016 that the persons involved in the case pay support to the victims wife at the price of 267,000 euros and the amount of 15,000 euros for the expenses of the accompanying person, and personally to the spouse the amount of 1,080 euros, reports said.

In a heartfelt plea to the public for aid in the situation, Ms Tsangara added that the compensation promised to her following the court's decision has not come through in full. Intense physical and speech therapy is required, she explained, as her son cannot yet communicate.

As a mother I have to try. My son has overcome a number of infections. Now he is in a position where we can try for something better, Ms Tsangara said. I believe he knows I am there, and understands that I am near him, even if he cant express it. I think that there is a communication between the two of us. Thats why I am here. I want to make an appeal for the help which will allow my son to enter a rehabilitation centre. I know I wont ever have him back the way he was, but time is running out.

Read more here.

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President Pavlopoulos will be present at the special ceremony at the Dekelia airbase

The remains of Greek soldiers who died during a secret mission to support the Greek Cypriot National Guard in 1974 have been identified in Nicosia and are being retuned to Greece.

A special ceremony has been arranged at the military airbase in Dekelia, where the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos will be present. Earlier, the Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yannis Amanatidis will receive the remains in a ceremony in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The ceremony marks the end of a 42-year mystery, as the Greek commandos were killed when their Noratlas aircraft was shot down by friendly fire. Thirty two people on board the craft were killed, while one managed to survive.

Read more here.

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The "Parmenion 2016" military exercise was launched on Monday and is expected to run until Friday 7 October. All Greek military forces, as well public sector agencies, will participate in the exercise which is planned and directed by the Hellenic Army General Staff. As such, the Civil Defense sirens across the country will be sounded on Wednesday morning.

The aim of the exercise is the practice and evaluation of the armed forces in planning and conducting operations, as well as to maintain and upgrade the combat capacity. The exercise also aims to strengthen cooperation and coordination among the different branches of the armed forces and the state sector agencies during the implementation of the national plans.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Greek tourism industry faces the risk of falling into a disinvestment orbit unless the state offered tax incentives, Iason Perdios, chief executive of Louis Hotels told AMNA.

In an interview, Perdios noted that high taxation combined with high social insurance contributions and constant changes in tax legislation were the basic factors of discouraging would-be investors to build new hotels in the country, creating new job positions.

Perdios, CEO in one of the largest hotel groups in Cyprus and Greece, operating 21 hotels (12 in Cyprus and 9 in Greece), said that when a businessman decided to make an investment based on bank borrowing, drafts a 15-year sustainability plan, but with constant changes on tax legislation this plan is annulled.

"How is it possible the state to come and punish tourism with a 24 pct VAT on restaurant services and 13 pct on overnight stay when these rates in other countries are between 5.0-9.0 pct?" Perdios said, adding that Greece has the global originality of imposing taxes on national products, such as wine and ouzo. "You buy ouzo at 2.65 euros per two litres from the supplier and you pay 12.35 euros, of which 9.70 euros goes to state coffers as tax. You punish your country in multiple ways. First, the producer, secondly the consumer and third your own country that goes out of competition," he said.

He said that labour cost in Greece was very high as social insurance cost reached 41 pct when in Cyprus it was 19 pct. "All these are incentives for undeclared labour. In Greece, unfortunately, only large enterprises and group of companies pay the bill at a huge cost for their businesses which deprived them of the ability to move forward with larger investments," he noted.

Perdios said that high corporate taxes (currently at 29 pct) was another wound and stressed: "Are all these incentives for anyone to invest in tourism in Greece?" he asked.

He noted, however, that the outlook for bookings in 2017 is positive for Greece and Cyprus, as the two countries are considered safe destinations.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
More men inevitably means more testosterone-fuelled violence, right? Wrong, according to a comprehensive analysis exploring how a surplus of men or women affect crime rates across the US.

In areas where men outnumber women, there were lower rates of murders and assaults as well as fewer sex-related crimes, such as rapes, sex offences and prostitution. Conversely, higher rates of these crimes occurred in areas where there were more women than men.

Ryan Schacht of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and his colleagues analysed sex ratio data from all 3082 US counties, provided by the US Census Bureau in 2010. They compared this with crime data for the same year, issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. They only included information about women and men of reproductive age.

For all five types of offence analysed, rising proportions of men in a county correlated with fewer crimes even when accounting for other potential contributing factors such as poverty. The results suggest that current policies aimed at defusing violence and crime by reducing the amount of men in male-dominated areas may backfire. According to Schacht, when women are in short supply, men must be more dutiful to win and retain a partner. With an abundance of women, men are spoilt for choice and adopt more promiscuous behaviour that brings them into conflict with other men, and more likely to commit sex-related offences. Work in China, where men dramatically outnumber women  especially in rural villages -because of the governments old one-child-per-family rule, reveals a slightly different pattern, says Therese Hesketh at University College London. In China, we didnt find a relationship between excess males and violence, she says. Instead, many single rural men were depressed and introverted. Although they scored slightly higher on measures of aggression, there was no evidence of increased crime or fearfulness among women.

Recent work in animals also shows quite similar findings to ours, that when females are abundant and males rare, males are more violently competitive, more promiscuous and less likely to invest in offspring, says Schacht.

Source: newscientist.com

Read more here.

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Mena countries should press ahead with further economic and structural reforms to boost flagging trade and investment, restore public trust and create jobs for the regions young population, the OECD Secretary-General said.



Opening the 2016 Mena-OECD Ministerial Meeting in Tunis, Tunisia, Angel Gurria said the so-called Arab Spring has made it more crucial than ever for Mena countries to address uneven development, soaring youth unemployment, the low share of women in jobs, and high rates of inequality that may prevent parts of the population from participating in future economic gains.



Regional instability, ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and unprecedented migration flows are piling new pressure on economies.



Mena countries have made progress on reforms to increase economic openness, diversification and public governance, yet the popular uprisings of 2011 showed that these efforts have not created prosperity for all. Indeed, inequality and poor job prospects in disadvantaged areas remain major sources of social distress, Gurria said.



Only with a concerted effort on reforms to create more open and inclusive economies and improve governance will we achieve stability, prosperity and opportunities for all, especially the young.



The OECDs new report, Better Policies for Inclusive Growth and Economic Integration in the Mena Region, provides a roadmap for the Mena-OECD initiative, identifying the priority structural reforms needed to make more inclusive and sustainable growth a reality.



Economic growth in the Mena region was 2.3 per cent in 2015 versus an average of 4.0 per cent for emerging and developing countries. Foreign direct investment in the Mena region has fallen by 50 per cent since 2008 to an all-time low of 1 per cent of GDP in 2015, with regulatory and administrative obstacles a key deterrent to foreign investors.



Regional instability and insecurity is also weighing on FDI as well as tourism, which has dropped sharply in Tunisia and Egypt. Intra-regional trading is scarce, with only 10 per cent of the regions trade taking place between Mena countries.



To overcome these problems, market access needs to be deepened through trade and investment agreements, a reduction in regulatory and administrative obstacles and improved investor protection. In addition, it is essential to improve the quality of the regions transport and logistics infrastructure to enhance connectivity.



A new four-year EU-OECD Programme on Promoting Investment in the Mediterranean, launched at the Mena-OECD Forum, will work with governments to support investment reforms, modernise investment policies and establish institutions to attract investors.



Youth unemployment in the Mena region rose to 29 per cent in 2015  the highest of any region in the world. Joblessness is most severe in remote rural areas but even graduates struggle to find jobs due to a mismatch between skills demand and supply. The OECD report Youth in the Mena Region notes that although students were among the most active drivers of the Arab Spring uprisings, opportunities for youth associations to influence policy remain limited.



Also women remain an untapped resource for Mena economies, especially in light of important improvements in their educational attainment. Only 21 per cent women were employed or looking for paid work in 2014, well below the OECD average of 54 per cent, and well below the rate of participation in the labour force of men in the Mena region (74 per cent).



More flexible labour regulations are needed, together with programmes to address the specific needs of vulnerable groups. Expanding and enhancing the quality of vocational education and training can also help improve employment opportunities and address skills mismatches.



Private businesses will be essential for economic recovery, yet the private sector accounts for only 40 per cent of GDP in the Mena region versus an OECD average of 59 per cent. In Libya, the share is just 5 per cent. Through specific projects focused on the role of SMEs in Libyas reconstruction and the promotion of investment in Iraq, the OECD is already working with countries affected by conflict to prepare them for the longer-term future of their economies.



The OECD will support Mena countries in their efforts to:



 Build resilient institutions, particularly in countries hit by instability or conflict, to foster ambitious structural reforms.



 Raise standards at public administrations and make them more transparent. Introduce mechanisms such as codes of conduct to improve integrity and fight corruption in the public sector, particularly in procurement. Improve access to justice for all.



 Develop policies to support private sector development to boost competitiveness and encourage diversification away from oil. This should include reducing burdensome regulations, improving corporate governance, providing easier access to finance and upgrading infrastructure and services to better connect producers to markets.



 Enhance tax collection to expand the tax burden from the few individuals and businesses that pay taxes today and thus increase tax revenues. This should include introducing VAT and income taxes to countries that lack them and reducing tax exemptions.



 Raise secondary school attendance and improve teaching standards to tackle the relatively high share of low-performing students. Address skills mismatches at adult level and better integrate women and youth into economies.



Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.  TradeArabia News Service
China Fortune Land Development Company (CFLD), a leading new industrial city operator, has entered into a deal with the Egyptian government to develop the second phase of the country's new administrative capital east of Cairo at an estimated cost of $20 billion.



This investment comes on top of a $15 billion agreement by Chinas state-owned construction company to finance 14 government buildings, a zone for trade fairs and a 5,000-seat conference centre that would be the largest in Africa, reported the USA Today.



The mixed-use development, which will be spread over a sprawling 57 million sq m of land, will boast of homes and offices and all key infrastructure.



Work has already begun on a 270-sq-mile tract of army-owned land that would house as many as five million people when the $45-billion new city gets completed in 2021, said the report.



Under the agreement signed with the ministers of housing and investment, CFDL will provide funding for the development, with the Housing Ministry providing land and the Investment Ministry securing all the required permits.

The Chinese group will develop and manage 14,000 acres as part of the second phase of the new capitals construction and draw in another $15 billion in new foreign direct investment.



The 'New Administrative Capital', which is yet to be named, will include green areas comparable to New Yorks Central Park, soaring skyscrapers rivalling Dubai's unique towers, an airport bigger than Londons Heathrow and an amusement park that outdoes Disneyland, stated the report.



This week, the Egyptian government also announced it was speaking with the Chinese about building a university there, the report added.



The Egyptian government is following a proven model: Turkey, India and Brazil all moved their capitals in the 20th century.



Egypt's administrative capital is not different from Ankara, New Delhi or Brasilia, explained Zeyad Elkelani, a political science professor at Cairo University.



Several hundred apartment buildings have already gone up in the new city, and construction crews are building roads and laying sewage lines.



In a sign of how determined the government is to move, the Interior Ministry announced it would phase out operations by July 2017 at the Mogamma building, where 30,000 state employees handle everything from new business registrations to issuing passports, said the report.



The ministry plans to convert the landmark building into a hotel, it added.
On October 5, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission will conduct a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan to the south of Gulistan settlement of the Shahumyan region.

From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring will be conducted by Field Assistant of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), Personal Assistant to the Personal Representative of the CiO Simon Tiller (Great Britain) and representative of the OSCE Chairmanship, staff member of the German Foreign Ministry Klaus Keller.

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring will be conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, his Field Assistant Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria) and staff member of the Office Peter Svedberg (Sweden).

The NKR authorities have expressed their readiness to assist in conducting the monitoring and to ensure the security of the OSCE Mission members.
BizWorld UAE, a new social-enterprise which provides entrepreneurship education programmes for elementary and middle school children, recently launched its operations in the Middle East.



The company has implemented pilot programmes in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.



BizWorld UAE, part of Future Entrepreneurs DMCC and headquartered in Dubai, is spearheaded by Jordanian businesswoman Helen Al-Uzaizi. BizWorld programmes aim to nurture children's entrepreneurial spirit and develop their leadership skills through comprehensive entrepreneurship exercises specially designed for students between the ages of seven to 15.



The programmes specifically focus on developing students' creative thinking and problem solving skills in addition to building their resilience and self-confidence. The programmes also focus on instilling a sense of optimism, empathy, and the importance of giving back to the community.



"Launching BizWorld in the region represents a pioneering step for entrepreneurship education in the Middle East; we are strategically aligned with the region's efforts to further develop the education system and promote entrepreneurship to its young and ambitious youth, Al-Uzaizi said.



"Improving education and promoting entrepreneurship are the highest priorities for governments across the entire Middle East as these are the most viable solutions to the current social and unemployment challenges facing the region, she added.



After implementing the pilot programme in Jordan and the UAE, BizWorld is planning to expand its operations to cover more markets across the Middle East in the near future. "We are instilling the entrepreneurial spirit in our children to nurture a generation of capable leaders and empowered individuals who will shape the future of the Middle East, regardless of the career path they choose," Al-Uzaizi concluded.



BizWorld is being supported by major regional organizations through partnerships with Aramex as a shipping sponsor and Entrepreneur Middle East Magazine as an official media partner.  TradeArabia News Service
Pratt and Whitney, a leading designer, manufacturer of aircraft engines, has been awarded a $42.40 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for F100-PW-229 engine support for Iraq and Morocco, said a report.



The contract is described as 100 per cent foreign military sales to Iraq and Morocco, added the Iraq Business News report.



The company, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp (UTC), will install engines, spare engines, modules, integrated logistics support, quick reaction studies, over-and-above repair for government furnished property and technical data reports, it said.



Work will be performed at East Hartford, Connecticut, US, and is expected to be completed by September 28, 2023.
Oman's Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) revealed that its $6.5-billion Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) project has reached the detailed engineering phase, said a report.



The projects employees have been deployed at the engineering procurement and construction contractors offices in Seoul, Milan, The Hague and New Delhi, added the Oman Daily Observer report.



The company noted that the overall project is on track, and the ground-breaking ceremony has been scheduled on October 10.



LPIC is the largest of the three strategic growth projects undertaken by Orpic to fulfil its vision of building an Omani integrated refining and petrochemical business.



Upon its commissioning in 2020, the project will transform Orpics product mix and business model, double the companys profit, create new business opportunities, generate significant employment opportunities and support the development of a downstream plastics industry in Oman.


Iran's industrial sector will see an increase in investments from Turkish companies, said president of Istanbul Chamber of Industry in a report.



Erdal Bahcivan, in a meeting with Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi, pointed to the capacities of Istanbul Chamber of Industry noting that the chamber produces about 40 per cent of industrial products of Turkey, added the Iran Daily News report, citing Irna reported.



Expressing satisfaction with his meeting with Vaezi, the Turkish official added that Iran-Turkey relations is useful to ensure stability in the Muslim world.



Vaezi insisted on the importance of his country's relations with Turkey adding that Turkish companies have priority in cooperation with Iran.



Following the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Turkish firms can have greater participation in Iran's projects.



Vaezi arrived in Istanbul on Monday to take part in the 26th Universal Postal Congress.
SNC-Lavalin, a leading engineering and construction group, said it has been awarded a major contract by the Bahrain's Electricity and Water Authority (Ewa) for the construction of 11 kV substations in the kingdom and designing of cabling network circuits .



As per the deal awarded by the Electricity Transmission Directorate (ETD) of Ewa, the Canadian builder will be responsible for the design and construction supervision of the relocation of underground transmission and distribution cabling networks and the setting up of numerous 11 kV substations in the kingdom.



This project will support the Ministry of Works upgrades of the Sheikh Jaber bin Ahmed Al Subah Avenue, Sitra Causeway, Al Estiglal Highway, King Hamad Highway and other minor roads and avenues within the limits of the roads contract, said a statement from SNC-Lavalin.



SNC-Lavalin will design and supervise the diversions of several 220 kV and 66 kV power cables circuits, including pilot and fibre optic telecommunication and telecontrol cabling, it stated.



On the contract win, Karl Matalani, vice-president for Middle East (Hydro and Power Delivery), said: "We are proud to contribute to the development of critical infrastructure upgrades in Bahrain."



"This contract builds on the previous consultancy work that we have done for ETD for diverting cable networks on various Ministry of Works (Roads) rehabiliation projects, awarded back in 2012," stated Matalani.



The work on the project began in January this year and is scheduled for completion in December 2017.-TradeArabia News Service
Italian giant Eni has entered the Saudi Arabian lubricants market following a strategic partnership with Saudi-based Advanced International Lubricants Company (Adinlube) for the blending, distribution, sales and marketing of Eni lubricants in the kingdom.



The signing ceremony took place at Park Hayat Jeddah in the presence of commercial attache for Italian consulate, Eni Lubricants Business Unit and special products senior vice president Luca Arcangeli, and president of Adinlube Mamdooh Al Rukhimi.



Al Rukhimi termed Enis entery into the Saudi market as an important step in its strategy for diversification, regional expansion and growth.

He commented: Eni enjoys an established legacy as a product technology leader with the highest level of expertise, working side-by-side with leading international partners around the world. This partnership with Adinlube, owned by the Al Amoudi group is an extension of that legacy.

The agreement is a milestone for Eni and Al Amoudi Group represented by Naft Services as the Saudi market is one of the biggest markets for lubricants and offers strong growth opportunities. Building on our success and expertise in Saudi Arabia and the greater Mena region, we are confident that we will continue with the same success in the Saudi market. Adinlube has extensive industry experience and is ideally placed to assist us in our long-term goals.

For further expansion in the Saudi market, Al Rukhimi said: We have ambitious expansion plans and hopefully we will have our first two service centres operational in Jeddah and Dammam, which are in their final development stages. And, we are striving to open five centres before year end.

Commenting on this partnership, Arcangeli said: Joining hands with Adinlube provides us with a strong opportunity to further expand our businesses in the Mena region and offer our customers a wholesome experience and high tech lubricants that suit wide varieties of engines, equipment and other industrial applications.



Eni is one of the largest private integrated oil and gas company by reserves. It has a global expertize in lubricants market with high quality lubricants range for gasoline engines, diesel engines and many other applications. Eni lubricants with its expertise will give full support to Adinlube to serve local customers and will provide up to date products.



He was confident the company will become one of the leading players in the region thanks to its expertise and Adinlube local market knowledge.



Eni is an integrated company that operates across the entire energy chain, employing some 29,000 people in more than 60 countries around the world.  TradeArabia News Service
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU EAT

Part of the total travel experience is being able to taste and enjoy the different delicacies of a particular foreign place. It's that awesome Instagram-worthy picture and the bragging rights of experiencing an exotic food. Though with the case of Helen Laird, her travel to Urubamba, Peru was interrupted by a severe stomach problem because of an ice cream. Yep. Ice Cream. Helen fainted and had to be rushed to a medical clinic where she had to be put on IV fluids due to severe dehydration. All of that was happening while the place was in total festive mood with brass band and fireworks which, was a total contrast to poor Helen's trip to the clinic. $1,000 later, Helen continued her Peru tour. "So be paranoid about what you eat as I remember magical Machu Picchu for all the wrong reasons" said Helen.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR RESERVATION

Steve Warne and his young boys found the perfect spot for a perfect family getaway. A holiday apartment in Cornwall complete with park-like grounds, a pool, a playground for the kids and a near the beach. The place was perfect, yes, but not their timing. Apparently, Steve confused their reserved dates, arrived at the place a week early and since it was a peak season, they can't accommodate them. So the promised paradise of comfort and relaxation later turned into a disaster of staying in a loft above a barn, complete with rats below. Now Steve learned his lesson the hard way and quips "I am now completely anal about checking bookings."

KNOW THE EMERGENCY PLACES OF WHERE YOU VISIT

Most common mistakes of travelers is the tendency to be too dependent on information passed on them by the receptionist or caretakers. One should have the initiative to research about the place on their own and pinpoint the important places of emergency in case something bad can happen. In the case of Janet Peters, she was in Cincinnati when she caught herself a severe case of migraine. He then asked the hotel porter for a doctor of which the kind fellow obliged and took her to a nearby "free clinic". Complete with metal detectors, a man with a large gun and a waiting room full of people with gunshot wounds, overdosing, people screaming, fighting, children crying and all the chaos she can imagine. After her brief injection encounter with a doctor, Janet was fine and went out of the place. Later on she found out that there is a more proper clinic for people like her with health insurance.

ALWAYS KEEP SMALL BILLS IN YOUR POCKET

When visiting other places, the most common form of transportation is through public utility vehicles. That's why Matthew Brown, who traveled to Ecuador, gave a local taxi driver his early Christmas gift. Around four in the morning when Matthew had to take a cab for his trip to the Mariscal Sucre Airport in Quito, Ecuador. That moment, he only had $20 in his pocket so he kept glancing at the taxi meter. When they arrived, the cab fare total was at six dollars but the driver said he didn't have a change for the money and was a bit annoyed that Matthew is expecting him to break the $20 early in the morning. As there was no available bank open, Christmas came early to the taxi driver when Matthew was forced to give him the $14 as tip. Matthew is a good guy really but in any other case where he came prepared he could have given a more rational tip to the driver.

CONSIDER THE TIME AND DATE

Travels should be carefully planned if possible and the thing that needs careful consideration is the date. Problems could arise when you picked a wrong date, you could get swarmed by people during peak period and forced to face fully booked places to stay and jacked-up prices on some. Jennifer Reilly decided to spend her New Year's Eve in no less than Las Vegas, the busiest city in the busiest season of the year. With no prior reservation, Jennifer arrived with three of her friends, in a crowded city, scarce room availability, and super expensive prices. They were forced to bunk together and picked a shady room in a hotel that turned out to be too small for all of them. Still positive though, Jennifer decided to make the most out of it and argued that they wouldn't be staying in the room the whole time so it'll be fine. Then one of her friend had a flu, which took them one by one, and made them stay in their crowded room watching the fireworks display on TV.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Enterprise Holdings owns Enterprise Rent-A-Car as well as the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. The Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand  including the popular Enterprise Plus loyalty program  will be offered to customers at main airports in Bariloche, Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina; Asuncion, Paraguay; and Willemstad, Curacao.

Enterprise Holding has announced that its flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand has begun operating in Argentina, Paraguay and Curacao this month.

Enterprise Holdings owns Enterprise Rent-A-Car as well as the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands. The Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand  including the popular Enterprise Plus loyalty program  will be offered to customers at main airports in Bariloche, Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina; Asuncion, Paraguay; and Willemstad, Curacao. The brand's first city-center location also opened in Asuncion in September and additional locations are planned for the three countries.

National Car Rental also recently expanded its service offerings  including the brand's Emerald Club loyalty program  at locations throughout Argentina and Paraguay.

"There's tremendous growth potential for both corporate and leisure car rental in Latin America," said Peter A. Smith, vice president of global franchising at Enterprise Holdings. Smith was a keynote speaker at the 2016 International Car Rental Show where he highlighted the company's rapid international expansion and integrated global network.

Enterprise Holdings' growth in key Argentina, Paraguay and Curacao markets reflects its vision to build a comprehensive and international car rental network recognized for high quality and customer service. In fact, Enterprise Holdings' successful global expansion has helped position it near the top of the global travel industry overall, with the company's annual revenues exceeding those generated by many airlines and most cruise lines, hotels, tour operators and online travel agencies.

As a result, Enterprise Holdings has also teamed up with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as a category sponsor of the 2017 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The annual WTTC awards are among the highest accolades in the global travel industry and represent the gold standard in sustainable tourism.



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 2022 Travel Industry Wire
Deaths of at least 52 people blamed on police action against protesters during Oromia religious festival in Bishoftu



Monday, October 03, 2016

Dozens of people have been reportedly crushed to death in Ethiopia in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a religious festival.

There were conflicting death toll reports following Sunday's stampede in Bishoftu, a town40km southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.

The Oromia regional government, however, confirmed the death of at least 52 people.

An Associated Press news agency report said "several dozens" have died.

"As a result of the chaos, lives were lost and several of the injured were taken to hospital," the government communications office said in a statement, without giving exact figures.

"Those responsible will face justice."

An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha event in Bishoftu.

The event took place in one of the country's most sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen several months of sometimes deadly protests demanding wider freedoms.

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Crowds chanted "we need freedom" and "we need justice" and prevented community elders, deemed close to the government, from delivering their speeches at a religious festival, prompting police to fire tear gas that caused the stampede.

Protesters chanted slogans against the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation, one of four regional political parties that make up the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has ruled the nation for quarter of a century.

Sporadic protests have erupted in Oromia region in the last two years, initially sparked by a land row and increasingly turning more broadly against the government.

Ethnic tensions

According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, at least 500 people have been killed by security forces since the demonstrations began in November.

Though protests started among the Oromo - Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group - they later spread to the Amhara, the second-most largest in the country.

Both groups say the ruling coalition is dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, which makes up only about six percent of the population.

Small protests in Oromia province initially flared in 2014 over a development plan for the capital that would have expanded its boundaries, a move seen as threatening the seizure of farmland.

The government has blamed rebel groups and dissidents abroad for stirring up the protests and provoking violence.

The government has denied that violence from the security forces is systemic, though a spokesman has previously told Al Jazeera that police officers "sometimes take the law into their own hands", pledging an independent investigation.

The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front last month rejected a UN request to send in observers, saying it alone was responsible for the security of its citizens.


Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : RAINFOREST CRUISES OFFERS EXCLUSIVE RIO CARNIVAL AND AMAZON CRUISE PACKAGE Industry: Cruise

Rainforest Cruises Rainforest Cruises launches an exclusive 10-day Brazil package visiting both the Brazilian Amazon for a cruise, and Rio for Carnival, in 2017. Two bucket-list destinations in one amazing trip.



(TRAVPR.COM) U.S. - October 4th, 2016 Rainforest Cruises launches an exclusive 10-day Brazil package visiting both the Brazilian Amazon for a cruise, and Rio for Carnival, in 2017. Two bucket-list destinations in one amazing trip. The Brazil tour begins in Manaus, gateway to the Brazilian Amazon, with an overnight stay in one of the city's most stylish hotels, the Tropical Manuas EcoResort, before you board the regions most luxurious riverboat, the Iberostar Grand Amazon, for a 5-day/4-night all-inclusive Amazon River cruise. As part of Rainforest Cruises exclusive package there is, subject to availability, the possibility of a free cabin upgrade! The cruise includes accommodation in first-rate cabins with private balconies, the choice of two restaurants, a convenience store, two swimming pools, a Jacuzzi, disco, massage room and gym. Off the vessel, english-speaking, expert naturalist guides lead guests on daily rainforest excursions, exploring one of the most remarkable and remote wildernesses areas on Earth, searching for exotic flora and fauna and visiting communities. After the cruise, the second part of the tour begins in Rio de Janeiro, where a 5-day/4-night Rio Carnival 2017 Tour awaits.  Rio Carnival is the worlds biggest party, so what better time of the year to visit Brazil? This exclusive 10-day itinerary for 2017 from Rainforest Cruises will take you right into the heart of the action with samba lessons, bloco street parties, a sunset party boat cruise and some of the best seats in the Sambadrome itself!   Jeremy Clubb, Director  Jeremy Clubb, Director The included hotel in Rio is ideally located in the city's bohemian center, providing a great base to explore the highlights of the city and enjoy the Carnival celebrations. Samba clubs, theatres and capoeira halls, as well as trendy bars, restaurants and cafes, as well as the famous Lapa arches, are all just a 10 minutes walk away. Tour activities include a Welcome Cocktail Party with face painting and group samba classes, a sunset party cruise aboard a private schooner, a tour to the iconic Christ The Redeemer statue and some of the best tickets to the Carnival Parade in the Sambadrome to witness the most famous Samba Schools of Rio. For those travelers that want to squeeze even more out of their experience, additional Favela and Sugar Loaf Tours can be included, as well as the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase your own Carnival costume and dance with a Samba School in the Carnival Parade itself! Cruising the Amazon River in Brazil, and being part of the immense spectacle of Rios Carnival, are two of the most iconic activities a traveler to Brazil can experience. Rainforest Cruises has combined both into a exciting and affordable itinerary. Details: $2,899+ Carnival Package starting price per person

All-inclusive 5D/4N Amazon Cruise aboard the Iberostar Grand Amazon with cabin upgrade

Expert guided tours of ihe Amazon Rainforest

5D/4N Rio Carnival Tour

Sambadrome tickets to Special Group Carnival Parade

Half-Day Rio de Janeiro Tour, including Christ The Redeemer Entrance

Sunset Party Cruise on private schooner around Guanabara Bay

Optional Dance with Samba School in the Carnival Parade Experience For more information, please visit: www.rainforestcruises.com or email: cruise@rainforestcruises.com ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release :



CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Rainforest Cruises Company: Rainforest Cruises Phone: 1-888-215-3555 Email: cruise@rainforestcruises.com Web: www.rainforestcruises.co... PRESS RELEASE TAGS MEDIA GALLERY Visit Our Site
Pure life, the motto of Pura Vida Bracelets, captures the essence of their entire brand and company. Pura Vida Bracelets is a La Jolla, Calif.-based company that sells hand-crafted bracelets online and through local boutique stores. The company partners with numerous charities, producing bracelets in a charitys colors and donating a portion of the profits back to the charity.

A photo posted by Pura Vida Bracelets (@puravidabracelets) on Oct 2, 2016 at 10:01am PDT

The story of how the company came about started a few years back, when a college graduation trip to Costa Rica turned into a life-changing business venture for two Southern California friends. The trip allowed the two friends, Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman, to appreciate the simple lifestyle of the people they encountered. Their paths crossed with two bracelet peddlers who crafted colorful, handmade bracelets, which they felt captured the spirit of their journey. Thall and Goodman brought back to San Diego 400 bracelets, made in Costa Rica, and placed them in a local boutique  which sold out in a short period of time.

A photo posted by Pura Vida Bracelets (@puravidabracelets) on Oct 1, 2016 at 7:01pm PDT

The simple, string bracelets symbolize more than an ordinary friendship bracelet, its a movement embodying simplicity. The feeling described from the bracelets created the companys name, Pura Vida  which is pure life in Spanish. Choosing to embrace this laidback lifestyle allows for an appreciation of lifes treasures, celebration of good fortune and living life to its fullest.

Artisans in Costa Rica carefully handcraft each bracelet, offering endless color combinations and innovative styles. The bracelets are as unique as the person wearing it.




Harry R. King of the Village of North Pelham was a prominent local citizen in the early 20th century who served as Fire Chief of the First Fire District from 1911 to 1913. He was born in about 1871 and spent his early years in Mount Vernon.





In about early 1906, the Sanborn Map Company proposed to construct a major map printing plant on the far outskirts of the tiny Village of North Pelham. It selected a location believed by many, as one report put it, to be "far out in the wilderness." The company built and operated the plant at a location adjacent to Chester Park near where Fifth Avenue becomes upper Pelhamdale Avenue. The Chester Park neighborhood was still in its infancy. The new plant stood near the end of the North Pelham trolley-car line. At the time, there were few structures yet standing along Fifth Avenue anywhere between the Pelham Train Station and the new Sanborn Map Company plant.









Detail of 1908 Map Showing New Sanborn Map Company

Complex Opened Only a Little More than a Year Before

This Map Was Published. Source: Fairchild, John F., "City

of Mount Vernon and Town of Pelham" in Atlas of the

City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham Second

Edition Compiled from Official Records, Personal Surveys,

and other Private Plans and Surveys, p. 23 (Mount Vernon,

NY: John F. Fairchild, 1908). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.



Harry King came to North Pelham to work in the new Sanborn Map Company facility. He was on the job the day the plant opened on December 13, 1906. He became an engineer at the plant and worked at the facility for thirty-five years until his retirement on December 31, 1941. He lived for many years at 19 Chestnut Avenue, Chester Park, in the Village of North Pelham.





Harry King quickly became an involved and respected member of the North Pelham community. He joined the volunteer firefighters as a member of the First Fire District and quickly rose to the rank of Fire Chief, a position he held from 1911 to 1913.





It appears that he left the fire department to become a Town Constable for a number of years. Indeed, as a Town Constable in 1915 he was accompanying First Assistant Fire Chief William Lyon in a madly-rushing horse-drawn buggy with its siren blaring on the way to a brush fire along Highbrook Avenue not far from Washington Avenue. Lyon was driving the buggy with King as a passenger. The buggy was headed along First Street toward New Rochelle. It nearly made it through the intersection of First Street and Fifth Avenue when an automobile owned and driven by George Kingsman of Mount Vernon sped through the intersection and clipped the left rear wheel of the buggy, spinning it, smashing it "to little pieces," and throwing both Lyon and King from the vehicle. Both were badly injured.





Lyon's account of the aftermath of the accident demonstrates how truly catastrophic it was and how both men were lucky to be alive. According to a newspaper account, Lyon said:





"

I had started my electric going as soon as I left my home and it was ringing as I approached Fifth avenue and First street. Absolutely no horn was sounded by the automobile, which was going at a very fast speed. He could have slowed down a little or have avoided striking me, but evidently the driver of the auto didn't try to do either. I had almost cleared the street and he struck me in the rear. The wagon was smashed to little pieces. I awoke 50 feet away. I was lying on the ground, the reins still in my hands and my horse standing over me, looking into my face. I don't know how I got there, but I must have been knocked that far."





Harry King fared no better. He was thrown from the vehicle, knocked unconscious, and suffered "

a bad lacerated left eye lid, and bruises of the left arm and left leg." Both men were taken to the Mount Vernon hospital where they recovered.





In addition to serving as a Town Constable, Harry King served as a Truant Officer appointed by the local School Board for twenty-five years. In 1921 he also became "

Custodian of the Voting Machines" in the Town of Pelham, a position he held for many years as well.





Upon his retirement from the Sanborn Map Company at the end of 1941, it was noted that he was "Florida bound," although the report was unclear whether it was for retirement or vacation. Nevertheless, no record yet has been located of his death. In life, however, Harry R. King was an important, notable early citizen of the Village of North Pelham.









"HARRY KING

As he looked when he was Chief

of the First Fire District." Source:

With Sanborn Map Company , The

Pelham Sun , Jan. 9, 1942, Vol. 31, No.

Image to Enlarge.





* * * * *





"Personal Doings.





Fire Chief Harry King is attending the International Firemen's Convention in New York today.





William F. Doty, who was elected a member of the Liberty Engine Company Tuesday evening signed the roll at the Commissioners meeting Wednesday evening.





Miss Florence Hollinger, of North Pelham, has been the guest at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Moneuse, of Palmer avenue. -- (Port Chester Item.)"









"On Fire Prevention.





Fire Chief Harry R. King in going over the condition of the Pelham fire district in preparing his report to the state fire marshall, has found that the precautions taken in this village are carefully made and that there is at present only one dangerous building from a fire point of view in the village and that at the corner of Sixty street and Fifth avenue and known as the Sixth street flats. The building was partially destroyed by fire several months ago and the owner has not made any repairs as yet with the result that the structure is now in a dangerous condition. The chief will take action upon the matter. He may either make the necessary repairs to make the building safe from falling, or tear it down. The latter will be most likely done if the owner does not do it himself. Drills continue at the Sanborn Map factory. The buildings are equipped with up to date fire alarm signals. The public schools also come under the jurisdiction of the chief now and he is arranging to have drills held at intervals. There have not as yet been any drills held at the Hutchinson school on Fourth street, this having been deferred until Principal Hill had organized the classes and the pupils had become acquainted with the halls and exits."









"PELHAM FIREMEN IN A SMASH-UP

-----

Going To Fire, Assistant Chief and Ex-Chief Run Into Auto

-----

OF MOUNT VERNONITE

-----

Stories Differ as To Who Is Responsible For Accident, Each Blaming the Other

-----

FIRST FOR SPEEDING

-----

And Next For Not Sounding Warning -- No One Seriously Injured

-----





North Pelham, Nov. 18. -- William Lyon, first assistant fire chief of this village, and Constable Harry King, ex-fire chief, were injured and the buggy in which they were driving was wrecked last evening when as they were responding to a fire alarm they were struck by an automobile owned and driven by George Kingsman of 434 First avenue, Mount Vernon.





Both firemen were knocked unconscious. Chief Lyon was picked up about 50 feet from Fifth avenue and First street, where the accident occurred, and with Constable King, who was pitched out of the buggy on his head, was placed in Mr. Kingsman's automobile and driven to the Mount Vernon hospital. There a diagnosis by the house surgeons, Drs. Restin and Weisharr, showed that both men had escaped without fractured bones.





Lyon was bleeding profusely from a scalp wound at the back of his head, while his back was bruised and his right shoulder and right leg were also found to be bruised. King had a bad lacerated left eye lid, and bruises of the left arm and left leg.





After their injuries were treated, they were placed in the men's ward

-----

(Continued on page 5)

-----

PELHAM FIREMEN IN A SMASH-UP

-----

(Continued From Page One)





where they remained until this afternoon when they were discharged. Both are very lame and their faces show signs of hard usage as a result of their experience.





Stories told by both parties to the accident differ. Each blames the other for speeding and for failure to sound a warning on approaching the corner. Each also maintains that he took proper precautions. The facts in the case which are not disputed are that Mr. and Mrs. Kingsman, with their daughter, had driven to North Pelham yesterday afternoon to inspect apartment houses owned by Mrs. Kingsman on Fifth Avenue, near Fourth street. A little after 5:30 o'clock p.m. they started to return to Mount Vernon.





At 5:45 o'clock call 13 was sounded for a brush fire on Highbrook avenue, near Washington avenue, Pelhamwood. Chief Lyon hitched up his horse and after picking up Constable King, set out for the fire, going down Third avenue to First street, where he turned east and started toward Pelhamwood.





In the meantime, the Kingsman auto was proceeding sough on Fifth avenue toward First street, Chief Lyon, driving his horse, almost cleared the intersection of the streets when the auto struck the rear wheel of the buggy, slewing the buggy around and knocking both men into the street.





'Mr. Kingsman was going at a very slow pace because of the fire alarm which had been turned in,' said Stanley B. Kirk, of Mount Vernon, representing Mr. Kingsman, in giving his version of the accident today. 'He was watching carefully at each corner and blowing his horn because he thought that some fire apparatus might be coming along any minute.'





'Suddenly out of the darkness of First street the buggy was seen to come. It was too late for Mr. Kingsman to stop, and the front springs of the auto hit the rear wheel of the buggy, tipping the buggy over. The auto was not damaged at all, showing that Mr. Kingsman was driving at a very moderate rate of speed. Mr. Kingsman had no warning of the approach of the buggy.'





Chief Lyon was seen this morning at the Mount Vernon hospital, when he said: 'I had started my electric going as soon as I left my home and it was ringing as I approached Fifth avenue and First street. Absolutely no horn was sounded by the automobile, which was going at a very fast speed. He could have slowed down a little or have avoided striking me, but evidently the driver of the auto didn't try to do either. I had almost cleared the street and he struck me in the rear. The wagon was smashed to little pieces. I awoke 50 feet away. I was lying on the ground, the reins still in my hands and my horse standing over me, looking into my face. I don't know how I got there, but I must have been knocked that far.'





The brush fire was put out without any damage."





Source:





"Harry King Retires After 35 Years Service With Sanborn Map Company

-----





After 35 years of faithful service Harry R. King was retired by the Sanborn Map Co. on Dec. 31. He had served as an engineer for the local plant of the map company on Fifth avenue at Willow avenue ever since the plant was put into operation on Dec. 13, 1906, and during that time Harry King gave generously of his services to the Pelhams.





From 1911 to 1913 he was Chief of the First Fire District. In 1917 he was treasurer of the Village of North Pelham. He was truant officer of the local school district for 25 years and has been Custodian of the Voting Machines since 1921. His home is at No. 19 Chestnut avenue.





Now don't get an idea that Harry King is 'old.' Not by a long shot he'll tel you. He's only sixty-five and he's got plenty of years ahead of him in which to enjoy his leisure. Take a fire, for instance. Harry's no longer an active fireman, but (to quote him) give him 'a dozen of the older members of his old fire department and it would be a simple matter to put out any fire.'





'What's the attendance record of the Pelham schools, nowadays?' he asks, and follows it up with the reminder that it was his vigilance as truant officer over a period of years which was responsible for making 'hookey players' a forgotten pastime in Pelham. He can do it again, if need be, so children, take warning.





Mr. King came to Pelham from Mount Vernon, when people of that city were amazed at the proposal of the Sanborn Map Co. to erect their plant 'so far out in the wilderness.' It was actually at the end of the North Pelham trolley-car line. There was little on Fifth avenue between the railroad and the Sanborn Company building but the Town Hall and a store or so. And that's not so long ago, he says.





Now Harry is giving it all up and will take a rest. He's Florida bound, just as soon as he can get 'a little work around the house' completed."





Source:





Labels: 1911, 1913, 1915, 1942, Fire Chief, Fire District No. 1, Firefighters, Firemen, First Fire District, Harry R. King, Pelham Fire Department, Village of North Pelham, William Lyon
We used to say this stuff should be banned because it was always installed badly. Has anything changed?

Why is this installer wearing a mask and a TYVEK suit? Hes rolling out fiberglass batts, and the stuff is really itchy. You dont want to breathe in the fibers because they are a lung irritant. He is rolling it out carefully, but its often installed really badly, to the point that some building experts have suggested it be outlawed.

Home Innovation Research Labs /viaNow Allison Bailes of Energy Vanguard (who once almost got sued for complaining about fiberglass) points to research from Home Innovation Research Labs that shows that fiberglass batt is still, by far, the most popular insulation, with 52 percent of the market. Add in blown glass and you are up to 71 percent. It is apparently all about price:

The performance vs. value tradeoff in the decision to specify insulation materials is often discussed among home builders. Some would use a full-cavity fill of foam insulation if the cost were lower. Some believe fiberglass is the best bang-for-the-buck, but if theyre looking for higher energy performance, they will put their money into other areas of their homes  like more energy efficient windows and HVAC systems.

So builders will happily keep building crappy walls that the wind can blow through because people cant see it. They would rather sell visible performance, like windows and mechanical systems, because they can get real money for that.

Energy Efficiency for all/via

When properly and carefully installed, with a properly and carefully installed air and vapor management system on the inside and out, fiberglass isnt so bad. They have mostly eliminated formaldehyde binders and it scores pretty high for health. Its not even that bad for embodied carbon  not nearly as good as cellulose but comparable with rock or mineral wool. (Cellulose, for some reason, has seen a substantial decline in market share in new homes over the past few years.)

The big problem with it is that nobody understands how to install it properly to minimize air leakage or wants to spend the time and money doing it. One reader at Green building Advisor talked to many builders, most of whom are offering a 'standard' insulation package consisting of fiberglass batts in the wall and no separate air-control layer other than drywall or plugging holes discovered in blower-door testing.

So it is pretty likely that half the new homes in the USA have the wind blowing through their walls, barely passing a 3 ACH blower test.

Bronwyn Barry of the North American Passive House Network recently tweeted the question, When your house is on fire, would you use a bucket of water or a fire hose? Surely we are past the point where this kind of approach to building is good enough.
New Delhi

Hyundai Motor India is recalling 7,657 units of its entry-level small car Eon to fix faulty clutch and battery cables. The recall will cover Eon units produced in the month of January 2015. The company has initiated a service campaign to recall and inspect the clutch cable fouling with battery cable of Eon cars produced in the month at no cost to customer, it said. pti

New Delhi

Vodafone users to get free WiFi at IGI airport

Vodafone subscribers flying out of IGI Airport will get complimentary data up to 1GB with the aerodrome operator DIAL rolling out high-speed WiFi services on Tuesday, in association with the private telecom company. The Wi-Fi zone at IGI Airport, spread over 6 lakh sq mt, is the largest in the country, DIAL said. pti

New Delhi

IOC lines up Rs 18,000 cr for Panipat refinery

Indian Oil Corporation, the nations largest oil firm, plans to invest Rs 18,000 crore to raise capacity of its Panipat refinery in Haryana to 25 million tonnes (mt) by 2020, larger than previously planned. IOC had previously planned to raise capacity of Panipat refinery from 15 mt to 20.2 mt, but now it is looking at raising the capacity straightway to 25 mt, its Director (Refineries) Sanjiv Singh said here. pti

New Delhi

Honda brings updated Brio at Rs 4.69 lakh

Honda Cars India on Tuesday launched an updated version of its hatchback Brio priced between Rs 4.69 lakh and Rs 6.81 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The new version comes with sporty exteriors, premium interiors and advanced features like an all new instrument panel, new and tail lamp and tailgate spoiler. PTI

New Delhi

Blaupunkt to enter Indian mobile handset biz

German consumer electronics maker Blaupunkt will foray into the Indian mobile handsets space by the second half of the next year targeting the mass market segment. The company on Tuesday made the global launch of its range of mobile accessories, including earphones, charging cables and power banks, priced between Rs 300 to Rs 3,000. PTI
Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 3

The International Medical Science Academy, which is an associate member of the Council for International Organisation of Medical Sciences, Geneva, and partner of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, UK, will award fellowships to Dr Gurpal Singh Sachdeva, Assistant Professor in Medicine, and Dr Harshindar Kaur, Assistant Professor in Paediatrics at the Government Medical College, Patiala, for their exemplary work and research in the field of female feticide prevention.

Both doctors will also present a scientific paper highlighting a congenital defect in a 5-year-old female child. It is the first case report in the world that highlights a rare congenital defect in blood supply to the brain. Such cases open up research possibilities and throw light on new facets of congenital defects.

This annual conference is being held in the serene island of Mauritius from October 6 to 8 in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, UK, and Mayo Clinic, US. Noted physicians around the world are taking part in the plenary sessions. Around 200 doctors are expected to be part of the conference.

Newer aspects in the management of diabetes mellitus and other lifestyle diseases will be an integral part of the conference.

The role of nutrition in prevention of diseases will be discussed. Professionals and medical students from various universities and countries will be part of the scientific deliberations.

The case to be presented jointly by Dr Harshindar Kaur and Dr Gurpal Singh brings forth the catastrophic damage that can be caused to the developing foetus when exposed to terratogens, which can be taken by the mother inadvertently.

Docs To present scientific paper

Dr Gurpal Singh Sachdeva, Assistant Professor in Medicine, and Dr Harshindar Kaur, Assistant Professor in Paediatrics at the Government Medical College, Patiala, will also present a scientific paper highlighting a congenital defect in a five-year-old female child. It is the first case report in the world that highlights a rare congenital defect in blood supply to the brain. Such cases open up research possibilities and throw light on new facets of congenital defects.
Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 4

With a total of 1,061 cases, Mohali district has topped the dengue chart in Punjab while Amritsar is at the number two spot with nearly 650 cases so far.

According to the district-wise dengue list, the state has recorded nearly 3,100 dengue cases so far this year. However, no death due to the vector-borne disease has been reported from the state this year while last year, Punjab had witnessed 28 dengue deaths. The number of dengue cases in 2015 was much higher  14,149 as per the official data of the state health authorities.

Fazilka and Muktsar are the least affected districts, having witnessed less than 10 dengue cases each. While Fazilka, which is at the bottom of the list, has seen just five dengue cases, eight dengue cases have surfaced in Muktsar district.

The other districts that have reported less than 100 dengue cases are Bathinda (26), Barnala (32), Fatehgarh Sahib (61), Gurdaspur (51), Hoshairpur (91), Kapurthala (55), Mansa (54), Moga (37), Pathankot (43), Roopnagar (49) and Tarn Taran (30).

The presence of a number of offices and a large number of under-construction sites in Mohali district are being cited as the main reasons behind the surfacing of the highest number of dengue cases in the district.

Dr Harinder Pal Singh Bali, Director (Health Services), Punjab, and Mohali Deputy Commissioner DS Mangat expressed also attributed it to these factors.

The district has a number of offices and under-construction sites where stagnant clean water in coolers and water tanks is a common sight. Besides, people here are more aware and immediately get dengue tests done, said the Deputy Commissioner. Dr Bali said the state Health Department, having 22 district hospitals, 41 subdivisional clinics and 150 community health centres, was fully equipped to deal with the dengue cases.

Last year, Bathinda had topped the dengue chart with 2,017 cases and one death while Mohali had witnessed 544 cases and one dengue death.

In 2014, the total number of dengue cases in Punjab was 472 with Mohali accounting for two dengue cases and one death.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 4

Demanding a nuclearfree South East Asia region, radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa strongly condemned the escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Stating over the explosive situation in the subcontinent, party leaders Harpal Singh Cheema, HS Dhami and Kanwar Pal Singh urged the US and China to play pro-active role to settle the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of people and diffuse the crisis between both South Asian powers.

Slamming the so-called Doval doctrine For one tooth, the complete jaw, they said it was totally fraught with danger and contained high risk for all-out war.

In a statement to media, the party leaders said peace with Pakistan was not possible without resolving the Kashmir dispute.

They decried that New Delhi was killing people in Kashmir who had come on streets against the aggressive state repression. The denial of justice, inequality, different sets of law for minorities and majority and states biased approach towards minorities were among reasons of unrest in the country, they observed.

They criticised the national political parties, especially the BJP, for generating the spirit of pseudo-nationalism for political reasons.

Of late, India conducted surgical strikes across the LoC claiming to avenge the Uri attack. However, the international media and independent observers have caste doubts over the so-called surgical strikes claimed by the Indian government and electronic media over-drenched by so-called patriotism. It has become a matter of guessing game at all levels what actually happened, number of casualties, whether the operation achieved any result or it proved counter-productive.

Asserting that the war was not in anybodys interest, they said nobody gained from the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars. Rather it has further worsened the relations between both arch rivals. The government should find out a political solution to end the vicious cycle of violence, they argued.

Expressing dismay over the mass evacuation of people of border districts in Punjab, they said people of Punjab on both sides would be worst hit in case both countries go for all-out war.
Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh (retd)

THE danger that accompanies any brilliant military action in India has been the popular fervour that accompanies such an action  it drowns the contributory causes that are beyond immediacy of prevailing optics. The military victory in 1965 was followed by yet another Indo-Pak war within six years, albeit the focus was on the Eastern front. Similarly, the unparalleled military heroics of Kargil (which has gone down in the annals of modern warfare of Infantry attacks as the most daring and brilliant, in execution), did not settle the larger issue of cross-border terrorism or the Kashmir impasse. Historically, military valour has been used to trump-up the political credentials of the day (for example, Indira Gandhi in 1971), whilst, using the same to suppress the warts of wrong decisions and political impasse that had preceded the military action, be it 1971, Kargil or indeed the political stalemate that was enforced on the Valley, just before the terror attack of Uri.

Politicos brandish military success as an extension of their own governance  to an extent that is justifiable also  as it is the civilian dispensation that is responsible for giving the ultimate go-ahead to the military. However, military success typically reduces the contours of problem-solutions to be singularly emblematic with military actions only, in the unlikely hope that the "lessons are learnt" by the enemy state.

This "surgical strike" is not the first of its kind, nor will it be the last. A seamless continuum of military preparedness that incorporates the asymmetric dimensions of terrorism is an ongoing exercise. The military remains sharp because it learns from its operational mistakes and moves on.

The parallel and extremely important angularity of the politico-bureaucratic solution systems remains confined to a morass of perpetual indecision and unaccountability, whilst flashing its military arm as the only incisive and decisive arm of governance. This is fraught with the danger of diminishing returns, for there is only that much an army can do. It cannot be a substitute for the custodian of the irreplaceable dimension of a "political-social-economic" solution framework.

It is this very absence of any meaningful traction post-Kargil, beyond the continuing pandering of the Hurriyat (a political failure to create an alternative platform that represents the Kashmiri disillusionment), or the lack of any credible or visible civic and administrative reforms that could have ushered in the socio-economic progress (even after the announcement of several packages, running into thousands of crores). It is this critical and continuing lack of accountability, which is a vital casualty of such celebratory times.

As the euphoric din of the TRP-led newsroom testosterones settles, the sober reality of the continuing Pakistani intransigence looms. Immediately after the "surgical strikes", the ceasefire along the LoC in the Shahpur and Saujian sectors of Poonch was violated and terrorists struck again in Baramulla. By now familiar, the diplomatic cover fire by China ensued, with the blocking of the move to designate Masood Azar as a terrorist. On the contrary, a commonality of ground between the fractious political parties of Pakistan has been achieved, with even the cloak-and-dagger relationship of the Pakistani military and the politicos taking a backseat.

The principal head of the opposition, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said, Despite our differences with the government on multiple issues, we are with you, Prime Minister, on the Kashmir issue and Indian aggression along LoC. Far from learning any political or diplomatic lesson from the shame of India calling off its nuclear bluff, the Pakistani establishment (along with its all-weather friend China), remain exactly where they were, before the surgical strikes.

It is only the Pakistani military that will be licking its wounds, as they more than anyone else would recognise the tactical brilliance of the Indian military strike and the professionalism of their uniformed adversaries. It is an unaccepted loss of face that stares at the Pakistani military establishment  an institution that has perpetuated the myth of one Pakistani soldier equals 10 Indian soldiers, a claim that should have died long back after the results of 1965, 1971, Kargil or by the multiple other engagements, that never reached the headlines.

The very existence and relevance of the bloated Pakistan military establishment and its reckless politicians is at stake. They have to continue supporting their existential fire in the Kashmir Valley, as long as the strategic pros outweighs the cons in their calculus.

The ultimate task for India is to load the set of cons for Pakistan to play mischief in the Valley  beyond the steel of a vigilant Indian armed forces and the ongoing diplomatic offensive against the regressive Pakistani moves, the fundamental solution lies in the Kashmir Valley. Herein, beyond the public muscle flexing and the current theatrics, lies the stark absence of any political movement or civic rapprochement, within the Valley.

Beyond guarding the external frontiers and protecting them from foreign interference, the only examples of the Indian State in counter-terrorism in restive places like Mizoram in the 1970s or Punjab in the 1980s, was necessarily achieved with the deliberate assuaging and integration of the common man on the street. Mizoram and Punjab was not won back militarily only, it was the multiple handling of the sensitive issues of socio-economic, religious and historical nature, which combined to deliver the succor and peace. Sadly in the Valley, the regional parties like the PDP and the NC are adopting vacuous stands, and the national parties like the BJP and the Congress have no clear alternative strategies. Likewise, the bureaucracy is showing no signs of civic transformation and the Centre is content to soak in the unmistakable triumphalism of the recent military action.

Now, having recently established a certain resolve and credibility of punitive reaction against foreign forces, inimical to the Indian interests, the onus of reinitiating the much-needed thaw with the Kashmiris is with the Centre. A dichotomous approach of an unashamedly heavy hand against militancy as its imperatives, and a visibly transforming civic investment and administration that shows the soft caring hand of the Indian State, has been the only successful template of counter-insurgency.

Often, the political and electoral necessities have vitiated the environment by tinkering either with the security imperatives (for example, the talk of removing AFSPA) or by raking up contentious issues which could be taken up during more normal times (such as the talk of abrogation of Article 370). This demonstrated military resolve must not be allowed to be frittered away. To view it as the only facet of governance is to short-sell the complexity of the issue. For this, re-engagement with the Valley is needed.

The writer is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Hasan Suroor

AWELL-INFORMED Indian strategic analyst in London sounded slightly puzzled over the post-Uri uproar. Because, according to him, India had in fact been expecting some excitement ahead of the SAARC Summit. He contrasted the sound and fury over the attack to the muted reaction to the Pathankot incident when India even agreed to let in an ISI officer to join its investigation. But his sense was that the Uri row would blow over for now, India having registered its protest with the so-called surgical strikes and the SAARC boycott. Pakistans insistent denial that such strikes ever took place suggested that it didnt want to pursue the matter further, and draw a line under the episode.

To my question, where do we go from here, and, where are India-Pakistan relations headed, his response was a cold sigh. Well, lets get this right. Theyre not headed anywhere unless the elephant in the room is tackled. Which means India acknowledging the centrality of the Kashmir issue in its troubled relationship with Pakistan, and agreeing to take a fresh look at the dysfunctional post-Partition regime. Sahir Ludhianvi wrote, Woh afsana jise anjaam tak laana ho mushkil, use ek khubsoorat mor dekar chhorna achha. You cant force someone to love you.

For 70 years, India has been trying, in turn cajoling, coaxing, and frequently forcing Kashmiris to fall in love with it. But nothing has worked; the harder it tries, the more cold-hearted is the response. Blame it on their bloody-mindedness, blame it on Pakistan, the India-Kashmir story has no future. Illusions, like faith, can be very comforting but sometimes it helps to do a reality check.

Kashmiris want a divorce and seem determined, with a little help from across the border. It is significant that the latest burst of insurgency by a new generation of Kashmiris is not backed by economic demands. Theyve a one-point agenda  azadi. Full stop. And under the currently fashionable international doctrine, the will of the people takes precedence over national sovereignty. It doesnt recognise the old notions of absolute sanctity of state sovereignty and non-negotiable territorial integrity. Redrawing of borders in accordance with the wishes of the people, and devolution of powers to restless regions have become a routine feature of advanced democratic societies. Even well-established centuries-old arrangements are not safe. Britain was forced to agree to a referendum over the future of its 300-year-old union with Scotland and despite the risk it involved  a breakup of the United Kingdom  London put the wishes of the people of Scotland above the idea of Britains territorial integrity.

The argument that discussing Kashmir means surrendering to Pakistan is a red herring; and it plays into the hands of Pakistans hawkish security establishment which has invested heavily in keeping the issue alive. The last thing Pakistan wants is a solution of the Kashmir dispute; once it is settled it will lose any justification for its anti-Indian activities. And if it persists, India will be in a stronger position to challenge it and mobilise international support. At the moment, India is diplomatically isolated. Contrary to breathless media claims, the international reaction to the Uri attack has been extremely cautious and limited to routine condemnation of terrorism in general terms.

Even as the Indian media was hyperventilating about Washington being keen to show solidarity with India, the fact was that John Kerry was reported commending Pakistani security forces for their efforts to counter extremist violence. Accompanied by a gentle reminder of the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens. So much for American support. Much has been made of the fact that two Republican Congressmen have moved a bill calling for Pakistan to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. Yes, they have. Except that one of them, Ted Poe from Texas, is a known Indian lobbyist. That apart, their move predates the Uri attack and is not a consequence of New Delhis international diplomatic offensive.

In reality, beyond polite expressions of sympathy India has little support over Kashmir. That Pakistan is a bad boy with a penchant for exporting terror is recognised even by its allies. But that doesnt equal support for India. For one thing, as Ayesha Siddiqa, well-known Pakistani analyst, wrote in The Hindu, the international community is reluctant to take measures against Pakistan because different countries have their own calculations of their interests. Islamabad serves their potential strategic interests better than India does. However, Indias biggest Achilles heel, according to Western observers, is the human rights situation in Kashmir; and allegations of military and police excesses. Photographs of little children blinded by pellets in police firing have added to old concerns about use of disproportionate force against unarmed civilians. Theres also a great deal of frustration over New Delhis refusal to countenance independent international verification of allegations of rights violations. British and European MPs have been repeatedly refused permission to visit Kashmir; and reports by international Red Cross, World Watch and Amnesty International are dismissed as biased and politically motivated. The question frequently asked is: why is India so sensitive if it has nothing to hide?

Successive governments, aware of Indias own vulnerability on the issue, wisely refrained from making too much of a public fuss over Pakistans appalling rights situation. So, the Modi governments decision to internationalise rights abuses in PoK and Balochistan is a high-risk strategy; and has inevitably raised eyebrows. It is likely to encourage Pakistan (already has) to talk up its accusation of Indias role in stirring up trouble in Balochistan. Theres a view that the Modi government has decided to pursue a ruthlessly pragmatic policy on Pakistan irrespective of the risks, and its Balochistan gambit is part of that policy. Narendra Modi started with pragmatism inviting Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in; when that didnt work, he switched to ruthlessness; and when that failed too; hes now talking about ruthless pragmatism. The truth is, he is playing it blind. The famous American screenwriter William Goldman wrote about Hollywood that nobody knows anything. Not one person... knows for a certainty whats going to work. Every time out, its a guess, and if youre lucky, an educated one.

One can be forgiven for saying pretty much the same thing about Indias Pakistan policy. Nobody knows anything. Meanwhile, the elephant in the room is happily busy causing havoc. Anyone in Delhi noticed him?

The writer is a London-based commentator
New Delhi, October 4

The police have busted an inter-state gang of contract killers. Guddu Singh, a resident of Bulandshahar, UP, has been apprehended and eight semi-automatic sophisticated pistols along with 8 extra magazines have been recovered from his possession.

Guddu used to procure improvised sophisticated semi-automatic pistols from Kolkata, West Bengal and supply them to his gang members for use in contract killings and other criminal activities.

On secret information received by the Special Cell, Guddu was coming to Delhi on October 3 in order to meet his associates and supply sophisticated pistols to them for contract killing.

Accordingly, a trap was laid at the Khajuri Khas chowk and he was nabbed.

Two contract killers who attempted to kill bizman held

Two contract killers who attempted to kill an owner of a transport company in northwest Delhi last month, have been arrested, police said today.

A team of Crime Branch arrested accused Joginder and Jeetu on a specific information at Shanti Van Road, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint CP (Crime Branch).

Joginder is involved in more than 100 cases of theft, robbery, dacoity and Arms Act. He was also involved in firing at a police party in Khyala in 2010, the officer said.

The duo were involved in firing at the car of Santosh Kumar Tripathy, who owns a transport company, on the night of August 25 when he was going to Daya Basti from his office in Bhalswa Dairy, he said.

Infant falls into bucket, dies

A mothers carelessness has cost her childs life. The woman left her nine-month-old infant unattended in the bathroom which cost the couple heavily. The infant fell into the bucket full of water and died in the incident in Gokulpuri.

It is identified as Ahil Khan. According to the police, Ahil's mother Saira was preparing to give bath to her children. She filled a bucket with water. Meanwhile, she went inside to bring clothes. As she returned after a while, she saw Ahil had fallen into the bucket upside down.

She immediately took him out from the bucket and rushed him along with her husband to Chacha Nehru Hospital. Doctors there declared it brought dead. It is presumed that the child was trying to stand in the bucket and play, but he fell into it head down.  TNS and PTI
A week after the surgical strikes, the Modi government is at an interesting crossroads. The first option is to pick up the threads of the conversation between the two NSAs. The strikes have created the political space for the Prime Minister to begin a serious conversation with Pakistan. The Mumbai 2008 attacks had denied such comfort to Manmohan Singh and even to Modi till the Indian army replied to the Uri strikes in a blaze of publicity. As Kashmir enters the fourth month of street protests and security crackdowns, New Delhi surely knows that the Valley cannot be quietened by domestic political and security initiatives alone. The rabble-rousers may differ but Pakistan will play an important role in bringing normalcy to Kashmir.

The second alternative is to score more points by responding to the incessant domestic and Pakistani baiting on the authenticity of the surgical strikes. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is urging the government to make public the armys raid videos to quell misgivings. Former Union Minister P Chidambaram doubts whether one highly publicised cross-border operation will end Indias woes with Pakistan. Having lost political ground, AAP and the Congress are well within their rights to try to bring down their adversary by questioning its version of events. But the BJPs angry response to the insinuations by AAP and the Congress should not be allowed to escalate.

Very few in India doubt the armys version about the surgical strikes. If the videos are to be released for maximum effect, that moment has passed. Any attempt to upload digital recordings of the surgical strikes will make the mending of fences more difficult while the skeptics will anyway remain unconvinced about its genuineness. On the other hand, it may not be a good idea to rub Pakistan's nose in the dust or make its army lose face by releasing the raid videos. Pakistan is neither a failing state nor a helpless, isolated nation at the mercy of others. Its government may feel compelled to respond with another misadventure. It is doubtful if an escalation will benefit anyone except the radical fringe.
Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, October 4

In a major relief to farmers, the moisture content in paddy has been increased from 17 per cent to a maximum limit of 22 per cent with imposing a value cut as per the percentage of the moisture.

Sources said that the state government had taken a decision in this regard in a meeting yesterday. The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and attended by Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar and Food and Supplies Minister Karan Dev Kamboj.

Arhtiyas were not purchasing the crop which had moisture content above 17 per cent, said the sources. Citing the moisture content, the arhtiyas were also imposing cuts in an arbitrary manner, forcing the farmers to dispose of their produce at distress prices.

The Union government has fixed the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy at Rs1,470 per quintal for the common variety and Rs1,510 per quintal for the grade A variety. The procurement started from October 1 with the onset of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) this year.

As per the revised formula of the moisture content in paddy, there would be 1 per cent cut in the value above 17 per cent moisture which is a cut of Rs15.10 per quintal. In this way, there would be a cut of 1 per cent additional on every percentage of moisture content upto 22 per cent.

Confirming changes in the paddy procurement formula, Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said that the government had also decided to set up Kisan Sahayata Kendras in the mandis to facilitate farmers in selling their produce.

He said that the state government had also allocated 13 paddy-producing districts to the Administrative Secretaries of different departments for the inspection of mandis. In case farmers face any problem during the procurement process, they can directly contact these officers on their phones, he said.

BKU finds excess paddy in bags

Kaithal: BKU activists visited the local anaj mandi on Tuesday and found that 500 gm to 1.3 kg of excess paddy was being packed in 50-kg bags. BKU leader Jia Lal along with other activists found that 500 gm of excess paddy was being packed in bags at a shop. On Jia Lal's complaint, market committee assistant secretary Chander Singh reached the spot and got the bag reweighed and found the BKU allegation correct. At another shop when a packed bag was weighed, 1.300 kg of excess paddy was found in it. The BKU activists alleged that farmers were being cheated of Rs 15 to Rs 20 per quintal. Sanjeev Sachdeva, Secretary of the market committee, said a show-notice would be issued to the erring commission agents and action taken, including the cancellation of their licences.
New Delhi, October 4

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim Singh's plea seeking summoning of a former CBI officer who had recorded statements of two alleged rape victims in a 14-year-old case as witness.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit called CBI's now retired investigating officer KL Raina as a witness to a lower court trying the case.

The bench said both parties would appear before the lower court on October 6 to decide the date of hearing for recording of deposition of the former CBI official, after which trial will proceed as per CrPC.

The Dera chief said in his appeal that his right to fair and impartial trial was affected specially when he was denied the statements of two alleged victims as also his plea to examine Raina, who was the earlier IO of the case and had recorded the statements of the two women.

The plea said CBI's refusal in examining Raina as a witness before the trial court had resulted in violation of Singh's fundamental rights.

"Non supply of statements of the victims (prosecution witnesses 5 and 10) recorded by K L Raina, IO CBI, and declining to examine K L Raina by the court below as well as by the impugned judgment (of Punjab and Haryana High Court) is in violation of (the provisions of) CrPC and also against the fundamental rights of the petitioner (Singh) guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution," it said, adding the high court judgment was "perverse, arbitrary and liable to be set aside."

The apex court had earlier dismissed Singh's plea seeking more handwriting samples of an alleged rape victim in the case, asking whether a woman was available just because she wrote: "Babaji, I love you". It had said the tenor and the language of the letter allegedly written by the victim did not reflect consent at any point.

The rape case is currently pending in a CBI special court at Panchkula. The woman who alleged rape by Singh was an inmate of Ashram of Dera Sacha Sauda at Sirsa in Haryana.

While the alleged incident occured in 1999, the FIR was lodged in 2002.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had refused to allow the Dera chief to examine Raina.  PTI
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, October 4

The issue involving social boycott of Dalits in Sabapur village of the district was resolved today after the district administration brokered peace between the Dalits and members of the backward communities.

Ishwar Singh, a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, had visited the village on September 30 and met members of the Dalit and backward communities.

The Dalits had alleged that they had not been allowed to enter their fields since September 27. Their cattle had been starving in the absence of fodder and even shopkeepers of the village had boycotted them.

However, members of the backward communities told the commission that they had neither boycotted, nor banned the entry of the Dalits in their fields.

With the active participation of Deputy Commissioner (DC) SS Phulia, members of both the communities today held a meeting in the village and decided to resolve their issues.

The DC said members of the backward community had given in writing that they would restore peace and brotherhood in the village.

Earlier, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had summoned to Delhi the Haryana Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) over this issue on October 10.
Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 4

The long-standing demand for union territory (UT) status to Ladakh today divided the region on religious lines with the Muslim-majority Kargil area telling the Centre that it was against the division of Ladakh and its separation from the state.

The move came a day after the demand of a joint delegation of all political parties, religious organisations and civil society groups in Leh to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday.

The Ladakh region comprises Leh and Kargil districts. Leh is predominately inhabited by the Buddhist community while Kargil is dominated by Shia Muslims.

On the concluding day of his visit to Ladakh, the Union Home Minister reached Kargil around 11:45 am and straightway went to the Kargil War Memorial in Drass, where he laid a wreath in memory of martyrs.

He met over 150 persons in 21 delegations representing political parties, religious organisations and civil society groups in Kargil.

He heard them and accepted memoranda from them. He assured them that the government would look into their demands on merit, an official spokesperson said. Rajnath Singh left for New Delhi in the evening.

Congress MLA from Kargil Asgar Ali Karbalai said, Zanskar MLA Aga Syed Baqir Rizvi and I have told him that we are against division of Ladakh on religious lines. We oppose the demand for UT status made in Leh. Ladakh does not mean only Leh district.

He regretted that Leh had been demanding UT status on religious lines, which was not acceptable to Kargil.

We want a united and integrated J&K. We have suffered heavily and cannot afford it anymore. Over 5,000 families are still separated on both the sides of the Line of Control in Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan regions, Karbalai said.

Rizvi said they raised the issue of discrimination against the people of Kargil on the development front.

We are not in favour of division of the state on religious lines. We informed the Home Minister about discrimination against Kargil in development. The Centre should pay special attention for the development of Kargil and Zanskar, he said.

Sources said two religious bodies in Kargil  Islamia School and Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust  opposed the demand for UT status to Ladakh as well.
Gauri Chhabra

In May 2016, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will pursue amendment of Labour Laws after unanimity. This amendment pertained to minimum wages. Of late, Labour Law has sprung into prominence due to the rapid globalisation and liberalisation. It is likely to gain further momentum as more lawyers would be required to handle cases arising out of the relationship between employers and employees and its compliance strategies for organisations in India.

What is Labour law?

Labour law is most commonly concerned with relations among unionised employees, their unions, and their employers. It is technically distinct from employment law, which more broadly governs legal matters in the workplace like health and safety, regulation of benefit plans, discrimination. In practice, however, the two areas overlap considerably. Labour laws grant employees in certain sectors the right to unionise and allow employers and employees to engage in certain workplace-related practices in order to further their demands for changes in the employer-employee relationship. Labour lawyers provide legal counsel on employment and labour relations. They may represent individual employees, labour unions, or employers in the private or public sector.

Getting in

If you desire to become an advocate and practice law as a profession in India, you should have obtained basic law degree.

You should get yourself enrolled with the State Central Bar Council as per provisions contained in the Advocates Act, 1961. Besides, you are also required to qualify in the entry test recently introduced by Bar Council of India failing which no one shall be enrolled as an advocate. An application for admission as an advocate shall be made in the prescribed form to the State Bar Council within whose jurisdiction the applicant proposes to practice.

Once you join the Bar, you can begin practicing law.

Where to work

Labour law positions exist at law firms, corporate legal departments, non-profit advocacy groups, Labour organisations, and union, state, and local government agencies.

Labour lawyers may work on collective bargaining agreements, employee grievances, and arbitration of Labour disputes, or they may advise clients on their regulatory obligations, among other areas. They may also delve into related areas of employment law concerning discrimination, workers compensation, pension and benefit plans or health and safety.

 The writer is a Punjab-based career consultant

Career pathways
New Delhi, October 4

Chaos prevailed at a tourism event in the national capital when Delhi's Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti  a guest at the event  if she considered Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru terrorists, drawing protests from the PDP leaders entourage.

We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight people who give shelter to terrorists in J&K? Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra and then told Mufti amid uproar: You cannot not accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist, then expect tourism to go up.

Mishras address was interrupted by protests from officials accompanying Mufti and her supporters. Mishra left soon after saying he could not share a stage with the leader.

BJP Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, who also attended the event, said earlier that tourism and terrorism could not go together.  PTI/ ANI
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

The BJP on Tuesday slammed Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leaders for creating doubts in the minds of people about the capabilities of the Indian Army.

Addressing a press conference here, Union minister Ravi Shakar Prasad asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to clarify if she stood by the statements issued by her party leaders like P Chidambaram.

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He said Kejriwal had made headlines in Pakistan and was doing a great disservice to the country by questioning the recent surgical strikes.

The chief minister of an Indian state had cast aspersions on the integrity of the army and damaged its morale, he claimed.

Prasad asked the AAP and Congress not to demoralise the Army.
New Delhi, October 4

Growing radicalisation and cross-border terrorism posed a serious challenge to India's security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister made the comments after signing an MoU with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong to facilitate greater business exchanges and collaborations.

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"Rising tide of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation are grave challenges to our security," Modi said.

He added that India-Singapore "defence and security cooperation is a key pillar of our strategic partnership".

Terming Singapore as "one of India's strongest well-wishers", Modi said Lee was a strong advocate of bilateral relationship. Lee is on a five-day visit to India.

"Singapore is already our partner in developing Amaravati, the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Rajasthan is also partnering with Singapore in the fields of urban development and waste management," Modi said. Modi also welcomed the establishment of the centre of excellence for tourism training in Udaipur.

"Lee and I welcome the issuance of corporate Rupee bond in Singapore," Modi said.

The Singapore Prime Minister is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Minister of Trade and Industry S. Iswaran; Acting Minister of Education (Higher Education and Skills) and Senior Minister of State for Defence Ong Ye Kung; Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Maliki bin Osman; and MPs Denise Phua and Vikram Nair.

IANS
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dorangla (Gurdaspur), Oct 4

The sophisticated CCTV cameras put up by the Border Security Force at the Chakri picket near the border captured eight men involved in yesterdays infiltration bid.

Senior BSF officers, who were present at Chakri today, confirmed that an analysis of the CCTV footage showed that the men were unarmed and ran helter-skelter after BSF jawans fired at them.

Punjab Police have now sought additional forces from the Punjab Armed Police. A company of PAP, comprising 70 personnel, was deployed in addition to Gurdaspur police personnel at the Dorangla sector from where the intrusion was attempted.

SSP Jasdeep Singh oversaw the deployment at Dorangla. Now that we have concrete evidence that a group of men was sighted on the Pakistani side of the border, we have increased surveillance. All nearby villages are being searched. The operation will continue till tomorrow when we will review it. There are chances that the group may have acted as a camouflage to enable some others to sneak in. We are ruling out nothing and hence we are leaving nothing to chance, he said. Punjab Police and BSF officials are working in tandem to neutralise any threat whatsoever.

Till yesterday night, the BSF was unable to say with surety whether the suspected movement they were referring to related to a herd of cattle or human beings.

The CCTV footage shows a group of unarmed men moving around at a distance of 800 m to 1 km from the barbed wire fencing. From our experience gathered over years of manning the border, we can say with conviction that they were not smugglers. They had come to carry out a recee. An infiltration bid at a later date cannot be ruled out. We have tightened security near the border, while the police have been asked to act as the second line of defence, said a BSF officer.

No officer, either of the police or the BSF, was willing to come on record.

Rangers boat drifts to Indian side

Amritsar: The Pakistan Rangers told the BSF on Tuesday that an unattended iron boat which flowed into the Indian side was theirs. The iron boat was seized by the BSF at 4.45 am on Tuesday. It had a wooden anchor tied to a nylon rope, a 16- foot-long bamboo, a small Pakistani flag and a made-in-Multan candy. After a thorough search, it was concluded that the high tide in the Ravi could have led to the boat drifting to the Indian side. BSF DIG RS Kataria said troops noticed the boat coming from the Pakistan side. There was a strong flow in the river and it flowed towards our side.

Nothing suspicious was found. It would be handed over to the Rangers on Wednesday. TNS
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

Pressure is being gradually built on the government to release proof of surgical strikes conducted across the Line of Control (LoC). It is not just Opposition parties here that are demanding the government to release some proof to authenticate its claims, some international media houses are also acting sceptical.

Starting with Pakistan, which has denied from the get go that India conducted these strikes, The Washington Post has reported from the ground that residents of the Bhimber, Chamb and Sahma districts adjoining the LoC have denied seeing any people or movement across the LoC.

In another story run by The New York Times from Kashmir, residents of the Mandhole village are also quoted as being doubtful of the surgical strikes with some villagers openly claiming that Indian soldiers never crossed the LoC and there was only cross-border fire exchange.

Even the reports carried by CNN and Al Jazeera are not very favourable to Indias position. The BBC is one of the media houses whose reporters the Pakistan army had taken to the LoC to show that the Indian claims of a surgical strike were false and the BBC report from the Pakistani side of the LoC seems to belie the Indian claims.

The fact that the Pakistan army took local and foreign media to Baghsar and Tatta Pani, two of the areas where India claims to have hit in a surgical strike, and apparently showed them proof to the contrary should be a worrisome fact for India.

For India, international credibility is important and though Pakistans doubts are always easy to dismiss as being mere hitting back at India, the reports of credible international media houses will be harder to ignore.

Most Opposition parties in India, including AAP and some factions of the Congress, are also demanding some evidence of surgical strikes by India. The government is soon likely to face a situation where it will have to release some evidence to back its claims.

The good part for India is that most nations of the world have not criticised it for conducting these strikes with many even terming them as counter-terror operations. So the goodwill of the international community stays with India, but as questions are raised about the authenticity of the claims, it might be a good idea to put out evidence quickly and end the debate.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

India and Singapore today reviewed its strategic partnership and decided to augment cooperation in countering the emerging threat of terrorism.

Rising tide of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation are grave challenges to our security. They threaten the very fabric of our societies... today, we have agreed to enhance our cooperation to counter these threats, including in the domain of cyber security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the end of the bilateral talks with Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, here. He arrived last night on a five-day visit.

After reviewing the strategic partnership with PM Lee, Modi told mediapersons that a key pillar of the partnership was cooperation in security and defence, including the respect for international legal order of seas and oceans.

On his part, Lee condemned terrorism and offered condolences to the families of soldiers who lost their lives in the Uri attack.

Both countries signed three agreements  one dealing with Intellectual Property Rights and two to impart technical and vocational training, one for skill development in Guwahati, Assam, and tourism in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Modi said India had set upon a voyage of strong economic growth and transformation, with Singapore as a key partner in this journey.

Both sides also decided to hasten the second review of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and welcomed issuance of corporate Rupee bonds in Singapore.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

The BJP today hit back at AAP and the Congress for questioning the authenticity of surgical strikes by the Army in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The ruling party, which asked senior minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to corner Opposition leaders asking the Modi government to provide proof of the strikes, questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal whether he knew that he made the headlines in Pakistan newspapers with his painful and unfortunate remarks.

The saffron party also targeted Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Sanjay Nirupam over their comments on the issue. Prasad asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to clarify if Chidambarams views were a reflection of her partys opinion on the Army.

To Kejriwal, he said, At a time when the whole nation is speaking in one voice, the Chief Minister of an Indian state has said something that has given Pakistani media and people a chance to question the Army action. There cannot be more painful and unfortunate thing.

The Delhi CM should answer whether he believes in the Army or not? Politics is different, but nothing should be said that demoralises our Army and makes it feel humiliated, the BJP leader said. It was most painful and unfortunate that the AAP leader was in Pakistani media headlines today as his remarks yesterday gave it a chance to question the Armys claim. If Pakistani media is saying something, why the CM of an Indian state is being influenced and seeking proof, he said. He said while India has been successful in isolating Pakistan politically and diplomatically, but Kejriwal is being guided by Pakistani media reports.

Sources in the government said India would provide proof, but at a place and time of its choice.

Why BJP is scared...

I have supported the PM, applauded the Army. Pakistan is spreading the propaganda across the world and international media is running this that surgical strike did not take place. I had only appealed to the PM that a befitting reply should be given to Pakistan. If I said that we have to counter Pakistan's false propaganda then why is the BJP so rattled and scared?  Arvind Kejriwal, delhi cm
Islamabad, October 3

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday chaired a special meeting of all parliamentary leaders to brief them on the situation on the LoC after India conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The leaders from different opposition parties expressed full support to the government amid current tensions with India.

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In their remarks, the leaders declared that the entire nation stands together when it comes to the Kashmir issue and the "Indian aggression", Radio Pakistan reported.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said despite differences with government on multiple issues, his party stands shoulder-to-shoulder with it.

"A united Pakistan can counter Indian aggression," he said, adding that by working together "we can achieve our national security goals".

He said there is no military solution to the Kashmir issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, who is also from PPP, said the Kashmir issue must be resolved as per aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

"We are with the government that Indus water treaty can't be revoked unilaterally by one country. We stand behind the government for a befitting response if India tries to revoke it," he said.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry briefed the meeting about the latest situation in Kashmir and the Line of Control (LoC).

Imran Khan, who is protesting to remove the prime minister over alleged corruption, skipped the meeting but his party was represented by former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice-chairman Qureshi said the meeting conveys a clear message to India and the international community that the country's political parties are united in their stance on Kashmir dispute.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said it is time to show unity.

"We need to forge national unity at this critical moment and collective voice and resolve of the entire nation is need of the hour," he said.  PTI
Ravi Dhaliwal & Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur/Jammu, October 4

Pakistani troops on Tuesday again resorted to mortar shelling and firing on Army posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Rajouri districts, even as BSF sources said eight men spotted near the India-Pak border in Punjabs Gurdaspur recently might have come scouting the area for a possible militant strike.

Meanwhile, amid heightened vigil, BSF troops seized an empty Pakistani boat on the Ravi in the Pathankot sector on Tuesday.

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Defence Spokesman Col Manish Mehta said, Pakistan troops resorted to unprovoked firing in three areas of Noushera in Rajouri district from 0515 hours today.

They fired mortar bombs, automatic weapons and small arms, he said, adding that Indian troops gave a befitting reply.

This was the sixth ceasefire violation in the past 36 hours when Pakistan troops have resorted to shelling and firing on Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC.

No casualties were reported in firing that began at Pallanwala at 1.35 pm on Tuesday. Mortars were being used by the Pakistan side and appropriate response was being given by the Indian Army.

Yesterday, the Pakistani troops violated ceasefire four times and restored to heavy firing and mortar shelling in Saujian, Shahpur-Kerni, Mandi and KG sectors in Poonch district, injuring five civilians.

UAVs seen close to border, says BSF

The BSF said it has witnessed movement of UAVs very close to the Indo-Pak border in the recent past.

"No doubt, the overall vigil has been increased (along western borders). All the defence and security forces establishments are on their highest alert. There is tension on the western borderwe are having active engagement (with Pakistan) at the Line of Control and we are receiving shelling from the other side. However, we are in supportive role at the LoC (to army)," BSF Director General K K Sharma told reporters in Delhi.

"We have noticed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) coming 100 metre up to the border...maybe they (Pakistani forces) want to check our preparedness but I can assure you that we are fully capable of giving a befitting reply and we will not allow any nefarious design of terrorists to succeed," he said.

CCTV footage showed unarmed men close to fence

Meanwhile, two days after the border guards saw suspicious movement near the India-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur, BSF sources said eight unknown men spotted near the border may have been scouting for a possible militant strike.

Senior BSF officers who were at Chakri on Tuesday claimed that images captured by CCTVs showed what clearly looked like people near the border, after the force reportedly cast doubts over what they had seen. A video showed the men, all unarmed, scattering when the guards began firing at them, sources said.

Our Jalandhar-based analysts who checked the contents of the DVR have found some useful information. A group of unarmed men were loitering at a distance of 800 metre to 1 km from the barbed wire fencing We can say with conviction that they were not smugglers. They had come to carry out a recce. An infiltration bid at a later date cannot be ruled out. We have tightened security near the border while the police have been asked to act as the second line of defence, a BSF officer said, not wanting to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

Until Monday night, the force was unsure if they had seen humans or a herd of cattle, sources said.

However, coming as it did within hours of a militant strike at an Army camp in Baramulla, the development led to increased security in Punjabs borders, particularly since the state has seen two terrorist strikes within six months of each other in the past year-and-a-half. Seventy personnel from the Punjab Armed Police have been deployed in area on the Punjab Polices insistence.

Although the BSF have not commented, police appeared to confirm that some people had been spotted near the area.

Now that we have concrete evidence that a group of men were sighted on the Pakistani side of the border we have increased surveillance in the area. All neighbouring villages are being searched. The operation will continue till tomorrow, when we will review it in the presence of senior officers. There are chances that the group may have acted as a camouflage to enable some men sneak in. We are ruling out nothing we are leaving nothing to chance, said Superintendent of Police Jasdeep Singh, who oversaw the deployment and remained at Dorangla for a large part of Tuesday.

After an empty Pakistani boat was seized on the Ravi, a BSF officer said, We have captured a Pakistani boat which had washed away to this side in the Ravi along the International Border (IB) in Pathankot sector. a senior BSF officer said.

The boat was probably washed away due to the rising water level in the Ravi in Pathankot sector, he said.

The seizure comes two days after a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard on October 2.  With agencies
New Delhi, October 4

In the wake of heightened tension between India and Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will hold a security review meeting at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan with Chief Ministers and Home Ministers of the states bordering with Pakistan on October 6-7.

Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Singh would visit forward posts in Jaisalmer and meet the ground commanders of the BSF and give a pep talk to them. BSF Director General (DG) KK Sharma will also be there with the Home Minister, a senior official said.

On the second day of his visit, the Home Minister has invited all four CMs  Mehbooba Mufti (J&K), Parkash Singh Badal (Punjab), Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and Vijay Rupani (Gujarat) along with their respective Home Ministers to attend the meeting.

Sources said though there there were no fixed agenda for the meeting, issues related to police, evacuation from villages situated in the frontier areas and compensation for crop losses to farmers would be discussed. Indications are there that Punjab may ask for additional central assistance to meet needs of payout for the farmers who are living in camps after the surgical strikes.  TNS
New Delhi, October 4

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18.

The court also temporarily suspended its order of setting up a water management board for Cauvery until finally settled appeals related to the water dispute.

Instead, the court agreed to the suggestion that a Supervisory Committee, comprising officials and technical experts from the Centre, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry, should be set up inspect the river basin to get a clearer picture of ground realities.

The committee has been given until October 17 to file its report.

The order was passed after the Karnataka Government said it had released around 17.5 TMC of water from September 5 to 30 and intended to release 3.1 TMC by October 6.

The Karnataka Assembly on Monday allowed the state government to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu after the Supreme Court had warned it of consequences for defying its order.

Karnataka had previously said it could spare only 1,000 cusecs of water to its neighbour, but later changed its position to none at all.

Tuesdays development also comes after Tamil Nadus All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the ruling party in the state, accused BJP government at the Centre of playing games with Karnataka Assembly elections in mind after the central government appealed the courts order for the Cauvery Management board.

The court, in its order on September 20, asked the central government to set up the board.  Agencies
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

IAF Chief Marshal Arup Raha today refrained to comment on the recent strikes at terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC), saying things were still live and the IAF had adequate capability to take on any contingency.

Things are still live, it would not be right for me to give a perspective now, Air Chief Marshal Raha said at a press conference. He refused to take any question on the September 29 surgical strikes. Our capability is not towards a particular country, he said without naming Pakistan.

Speaking about future plans, he expected the IAFs fighter jet fleet to grow over the next few years and provide better capabilities. Over the next few years we will manage the fleet with replacements and upgrade.

After the purchase of 36 Rafale jets from France, there is a plan to make fighter jets in India. The Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, will be inducted in big numbers (106, including the upgraded version).

Also there are plans to upgrade the Sukhoi-30 MKI  the IAFs lead fighter jet that is based at Halwara and Bathinda in Punjab and Sirsa in Haryana, among other bases in the country.

The IAF at present has 33 (16-18 in each) fighter squadrons as against the 42 needed to tackle a simultaneous two front war with Pakistan and China.

On the LCA, he said the next version called the Tejas Mark1-A will be an improved version. It will have better radar, greater weapons carriage avionics. We can start production by 2021. We can have 80 such planes by 2027.

On having the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), he said there were some issues of transfer of technology with Russia. He said: We can hopefully move ahead on the research and development of the same.

On the integration of BrahMos missiles with the Sukhoi-30 MKI, he said we hope to fire a live missile in three months time. The IAF chief who heads the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC)  a body of the three service chiefs  said he hoped the government would resolve the issues of the 7th Pay Commission.
Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 4

The Line of Control (LoC) witnessed escalation in tension on Tuesday with the Pakistan army resorting to ceasefire violations in Pallanwala and Nowshera sectors of Jammu and Rajouri districts, respectively.

Pakistan used 120 mm and 82 mm mortars and small arms at both places.

Local sources said three persons were injured in the firing, but the district administration didnt confirm it. According to reports of the Chief Medical Officer, Jammu, and the police, no civilian has been injured, Jammu Deputy Commissioner Simrandeep Singh said.

At Pallanwala, the firing started around 2 pm and was continuing till the last report came in. Platan, Channi, Gigdyal, Damanu and Chapeyal villages were affected in the area.

In Nowshera sector, firing started around 12.30 am and continued till 11 am. Villages between Kalsian and Makri were affected in this sector.

PRO (Defence) Lt Col Manish Mehta said firing and shelling was continuing in Pallanwala sector and the Army was giving a befitting reply.

Locals in Pallanwala sector said 200 to 300 mortars were fired from across the LoC, creating panic. I am at the zero line and shelling is intensifying with every passing minute, said Satish Sharma, son of former MP Madan Lal Sharma.

Around 5 pm, Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violations in Nowshera and KG sectors using small arms and mortars. The firing stopped in KG sector at 8 pm, but it was intermittently on in Nowshera.
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Tuesday said he was expecting IAFs fighter jet fleet to grow over the next few years and provide better capabities.

Addressing a press conference here, the IAF chief said they had adequate capabilities to take on any contingency, but it could have been better.

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Our capability is not towards a particular country, he said without naming Pakistan.

On the fighter jet fleet purchase of the 36 Rafale jets from France, he said there is a plan to make fighter jets in India. The Light Combat Aircraft, The Tejas, would be inducted in big numbers (106 of them, including the upgraded version).

Also, the IAF plans to upgrade the Sukhoi 30 MKI--IAF lead fighter jet that is based at Halwara in Punjab and Sirsa in Haryana, among other bases in the country.

The IAF has 33 fighter squadrons as against the 42 needed to tackle a simultaneous two-front war with Pakistan and China, he added.

On the LCA, he said the next version called the Tejas Mark1-A would be an improved version. It will have better radar, weapons avionics. We can start production by 2021. We can have 80 such planes by 2027, he said.

On having the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, he said there were some issues of transfer of technology with Russia. He said, We can hopefully move ahead on the research and development of the same.

On the integration of BrahMos missiles with the Sukhoi 30 MKI, Raha said, We hope to fire a live missile in three months.

The IAF chief, who heads the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC), a body of the three service chiefs, said he hoped the government would resolve the issues of the 7th Pay Commission.

He refused to answer any questions on the recent surgical strike cross the Line of Control saying it was a sensitive issue.
Ashok Kaura

Phillaur, October 4

Three passengers were injured as 10 coaches of the Pune bound Jhelum Express derailed 50 metre short of a bridge over the Sutlej at Ladhowal in Ludhiana district in the wee hours of Tuesday, affecting the movement of over 100 trains.

The rail traffic could be restored only after midnight even as the work to repair the damaged 20-ft track was on when the reports last came in. Trains are being diverted via different routes.

Several passengers suffered minor injuries while three had to be hospitalised.

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Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Anuj Prakash and Additional DRM Ashutosh Pant rushed to the site. Meanwhile, the Phillaur SDM and administration, police and railway officials from Ludhiana and Jalandhar mounted a rescue operation.

The railway authorities ruled out any sabotage. Negligence on the part of railway authorities in maintenance of the track is the likely possibility. There appears to be a technical snag at the initial stage.

Bogies from S-1 to S-8, B-5 and the pantry car were damaged. Rail track length of around 20 metres was also found damaged, according to SDM Subhash Chander. He said the train had 24 bogies. Some of these were later sent to Ludhiana and the rest to Phillaur railway station. Several passengers were sent to Ludhiana by buses.

Many passengers who belonged to the Jalandhar area decided to cancel their journey and return home.

A major tragedy was averted due to the slow speed of the train as it had just moved out of Phillaur station after a halt.

Railway sources said a high-level inquiry had been ordered to indentify the cause of the derailment. Technical experts have also reached the site.

HELPLINE NUMBERS:

Jammu: 0191-2470166

Jalandhar: 0181-2225966

Ludhiana: 0161-2750501

Delhi: 011-23342954

Amritsar: 0183-2225087

Pathankot: 0186-2233532

TRAINS CANCELLED:

12014/12013 Amritsar-New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express

12497/12498 New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shan-E-Punjab Express.

14682/14681 Jalandhar-New Delhi-Jalandhar Inter-city Express.

12460/12459 Amritsar-New Delhi-Amritsar Inter-city Express.

12054 Amritsar-Haridwar Jan Shatabdi Express.

12242 Amritsar-Chandigarh Express.

14038/14037 Pathankot-Delhi Jn. Pathankot Express.

12029 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express.

14629 Ludhiana-Ferozepur Express

12411 Chandigarh-Amritsar Inter city Express

14506 Nangaldam-Amritsar Express.

TRAINS DIVERTED:

22402 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra- New Delhi A.C. Express & 22462 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra- New Delhi Superfast Express trains journey commencing on 3.10.2016 have been diverted to run via Jammu Tawi-Bhatinda-Jakhal-Rohtak.

16318 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra- New Delhi-Kaniyakumari Him Sagar Express train journey commencing on 3.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Jalandhar city-Ferozepur-Bhatinda- Rohtak.

12716 Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express train journey commencing on 4.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Amritsar-Bhatinda-Dhuri- Rajpura.

12413 Ajmer-Jammu Tawi Puja Express & 22401 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur AC Express trains journey commencing on 3.10.2016 have been diverted to run via Ludhiana-Ferozepur-Jalandhar City-Jammu Tawi.

12471 Bandra Termimus-Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Swaraj Express & 12919 Indore-Jammu Tawi Malwa Express trains journey commencing on 3.10.2016 have been diverted to run via New Delhi-Rohtak-Jind-Bhatinda- Ferozepur-Jalandhar city.

14035 Delhi Jn.-Pathankot Dhauladhar Express, 12587 Gorakhpur-Jammu Tawi Amarnath Express & 14631 Dehradun-Amritsar Express trains journey commencing on 3.10.2016 have been diverted to run via Ludhiana-Ferozepur-Jalandhar city.

11077 Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum Express train journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Rajpura-Bhatinda-Ferozepur.

12903 Mumai-Amritsar Golden Temple Mail journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Ludhiana-Ferozepur-Jalandhar city.

16031 Chennai-Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Andman Express journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Bhatinda-Ferozepur-Jalandhar city-Jammu Tawi.

13307 Dhanbad-Ferozepur Express journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Ludhiana-Moga-Ferozepur.

11057 Chhaterpati Shivaji Terminus-Amritsar Dadar Express & 13151 Kolkatta-Jammu Tawi Express trains journey commencing on 2.10.2016 have been diverted to run via Ludhiana-Ferozepur.

15707 Katihar-Amritsar Express train journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Kurukshetra-Narwana-Bhatindai- Amritsar.

18237 Bilsapur-Amritsar Chhattisgarh Express train journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been diverted to run via Ludhiana-Ferozepur-Amritsar.

SHORT TERMINATION/SHORT ORIGINATION OF TRAINS:

04402 Udhampur-Anand Vihar Terminal Special, 15210 Amritsar-Saharasa Express, 19612 Amritsar-Ajmer Express, 22446 Amritsar-Kanpur Express & 13050 Amritsar-Howrah Express trains journey commencing on 4.10.2016 will be short originated at from Ambala.

04401 Anand Vihar Terminal-Udhampur Special & 22445 Kanpur-Amritsar Express trains journey commencing on 3.10.2016 have been short terminated at Ambala.

19613 Ajmer-Amritsar Express train journey commencing on 3.10.2016 has been short terminated Dhuri.

15211 Saharsa-Amritsar Express, 13005 Howrah-Amritsar Express & 13049 Howrah-Amritsar Express trains journey commencing on 2.10.2016 have been short terminated at Ambala.

14153 Kanpur-Amritsar Express train journey commencing on 3.10.2016 has been short terminated at Ambala.

15209 Saharasa-Amritsar Jan Sewa Express train journey commencing on 3.10.2016 has been short terminated at Najibabad.

22423 Gorakhpur-Amritsar Express journey commencing on 3.10.2016 has been short terminated at Saharanpur.

12237 Varanasi-Jammu Tawi Begumpura Express train journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been short terminated at Ludhiana.

15655 Kamakha-Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express train journey commencing on 2.10.2016 has been short terminated at Saharanpur.

12925 Bandra Terminus-Amritsar Pashchim Express train journey commencing on 3.10.2016 has been short terminated at New Delhi.

12926 Amritsar-Bandra Terminus Paschim Express train journey commencing on 4.10.2016 will short originate from New Delhi.
San Francisco, October 4

Amid growing incidents of bullying and discrimination against Sikh American, South Asian and Muslim students in the US, California has approved a law to provide a safer school environment for children from the minority communities.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2845, also known as the Safe Place to Learn Act.

This is a landmark Bill for California that will curb bullying and discrimination in the classroom, said Harjit Kaur, Community Development Manager for the Sikh Coalition.

AB 2845 ensures the right of every child to practice his/her faith freely in public schools, Kaur said.

According to the Sikh Coalition, 50 per cent of Sikh students and 67 per cent of turbaned Sikh American students nationally have experienced school bullying.

AB 2845 provides teachers, staff, and administrators with school and community resources to help prevent, identify, and remedy bullying and discrimination in the classroom.

The Sikh Coalition, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-California collaborated in helping draft and promulgate this Bill.  PTI
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dorangla (Gurdaspur), October 4

Eight unknown men spotted near the India-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur recently may have been scouting the area for a possible militant strike, sources in the Border Security Force said on Tuesday, two days after the border guards saw some suspicious movement near here.

Senior BSF officers who were at Chakri on Tuesday claimed that images captured by CCTVs showed what clearly looked like people near the border, after the force reportedly cast doubts over what they had seen. A video showed the men, all unarmed, scattering when the guards began firing at them, sources said.

Our Jalandhar-based analysts who checked the contents of the DVR have found some useful information. A group of unarmed men were loitering at a distance of 800 metres to 1 km from the barbed wire fencing We can say with conviction that they were not smugglers. They had come to carry out a recce. An infiltration bid at a later date cannot be ruled out. We have tightened security near the border while the police have been asked to act as the second line of defence, a BSF officer said, not wanting to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

Until Monday night, the force was unsure if they had seen humans or a herd of cattle, sources said.

However, coming as it did within hours of a militant strike at an Army camp in Baramullah, the development led to increased security in Punjabs borders, particularly since the state has seen two terrorist strikes within six months of each other in the past year-and-a-half. Seventy personnel from the Punjab Armed Police have been deployed in area after the Punjab Police asked for them.

Although the BSF have not commented  either after the incident or since  police appeared to confirm that some people had been spotted near the area.

Now that we have concrete evidence that a group of men were sighted on the Pakistani side of the border we have increased surveillance in the area. All neighbouring villages are being searched. The operation will continue till tomorrow, when we will review it in the presence of senior officers. There are chances that the group may have acted as a camouflage to enable some men sneak in. We are ruling out nothing we are leaving nothing to chance, said Superintendent of Police Jasdeep Singh, who oversaw the deployment and remained at Dorangla for a large part of Tuesday.

Three gunmen laid siege on a police station in Gurdaspurs Dinanagar on July 27, 2015. Six months later, on January 2, four gunmen stormed a base of the Indian Air Force in neighbouring Pathankot in a predawn strike. Both attack saw casualties  seven policemen had been killed in the daylong standoff in Dinanagar and as many security men were killed in Pathankot. Attackers were killed in both strikes.

More recently, 19 soldiers were killed when four gunmen attacked an army camp in north Kashmirs Uri on September 18.

Less than 15 days later, some militants attacked the base of the Indian Armys 46 Rashtriya Rifles in Baramullah on Sunday. One guard of the BSF who was manning the perimeters of post was killed in the attack, but the militants escaped. The BSF reported some suspicious movement in Gurdaspurs border hours later, leading to rumours that an infiltration attempt had been thwarted.
Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 4

The Punjab Government has sought 15 additional companies of paramilitary forces in view of the security threat during the festival season.

DGP Suresh Arora said 15 companies, comprising around 1,100 men, would be deployed in separate parts of the state due to pre-occupation of the state police near the border where the government had ordered evacuation of villages.

Besides, police personnel are also busy in night patrolling in the wake of attempts of infiltration and threat to peace following the Uri attack and Indias surgical strike across the LoC.

The additional force has been sought after a boat was found abandoned in the Ravi near Gurdaspur today. Earlier Army uniform was found dumped in a village in Gurdaspur that led to a massive search operation in the area.

The police have, meanwhile, ruled out sabotage behind the derailment of the Jhelum Express near Phillaur today. Rohit Choudhary, ADGP, Railways, said: A team of experts from the Railway police inspected the spot and found no hint of sabotage. The experts are trying to ascertain the cause.
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 4

BJP leader Rajeshwar Painuli, who is also the chief coordinator of the Dobra Chanit Pul Banao Sangharsh Samiti, today said several officials and public representatives had diverted funds meant for the development of Dalits in the Thauldhar block. He said he would talk to senior BJP leaders in the Union Government and try to provide Dalits their due at the earliest.

Painuli attended a function themed meet the villagers in Kalaith in Thauldhar block today. The programme was organised by the Anusuchit Jati Utthan Samiti in which residents of Kalaith and Arelu village participated.

Painuli said he got to know about it at todays function from an activist, Jasvir Singh Bhandari, who had filed an RTI querry. Bhandari said Dalits had not received funds that had been sanctioned under various schemes for them. Members of the Dalit community have not received the ownership right of the land they have occupied. Government officials have been using the land, and funds have been diverted under different pretext. The Panchayat Ghar at Kalaith village has not been constructed yet. It shows that the state government is not sensitive towards the issues concerning Dalits in the region, said Painuli.

The RTI revealed the houses that were to be constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna have not been constructed, adding to the woes of Dalits, Painuli said.

According to Painuli, the RTI filed by Jasvir Singh Bhandari also revealed that Rs 3.80 lakh which was to be spend for the development of the Dalit community was diverted. Rs 5 lakh were sanctioned for Aleru village to construct a Panchayati Bhavan but it is yet to be materialised with the state governments refusal to give land for the purpose. Painuli said the musician community among Dalits have not received benefits under a scheme being run by the Cultural Department.

Painuli assured the Dalits that he would talk to the BJP leaders at the helm in the Central Government to raise the issue.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 4

Villagers from Shishambara and adjoining areas held a protest rally here today against laying of the foundation stone of a trenching ground there. The residents condemned the baton charge on protesters on Monday and demanded an inquiry into the death of a villager during the protest.

The residents, under the aegis of the Pachwadoon Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and the Asan Nadi Chhetra Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, gathered at the Parade Ground. They raised slogans against the Congress-led state government and Mayor Vinod Chamoli.

They would not allow the state government to construct the trenching ground at Shishambara, the protesters said.

The protesters wanted to march up to Chief Minister Harish Rawats residence but police personnel detained them at the rally ground. They were taken to the police lines and were set free in the evening. They lamented that they had submitted memorandums to government officials and public representatives in this regard but to no avail. The proposed trenching ground would have adverse effects on the environment and the water table in the area, they added.

They condemned the baton charge incident during the stone laying ceremony of the trenching ground on Monday in which several villagers were seriously injured.

The residents demanded a magisterial probe into the death of one of the protesters, Islam. They also sought Rs 20 lakh as compensation to the victims family members.

The protesters urged the government to take action against government officials for ordering a baton charge on villagers when they were peacefully protesting against the construction of the proposed trenching ground.

Azad Ali, Hussain Ahmed, Shiv Prasad Devli, Reeta Sharma, Arshad Ali, Hafiz, Abid and Yakoob took part in the protest.
Manila, October 4

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told US President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the US had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, I will break up with America. It was not clear what he meant by break up.

During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy, Duterte said.

If you don't want to sell arms, I'll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said do not worry we have everything you need, we'll give it to you. And as for China, they said 'just come over and sign and everything will be delivered'.

His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the US, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

He said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but instead criticised him for the high death toll, as did the EU.

Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," he said. "EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you? Last month, Duterte has called US President Barack Obama a son of a bitch.  Reuters
Washington, October 4

Hillary Clinton is leading her Republican rival Donald Trump by four percentage points after their first head-to-head debate, a latest national poll has said.

In the CBS News/The New York Times poll, the Democratic presidential nominee has the support of 45 per cent of eligible voters as against 41 per cent supporting Trump.

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In the same poll conducted last month the two were tied at 42 per cent.

In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump by three percentage points.

According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton on an average of recent national polls has maintained a lead of 3.1 percentage point.

The CBS News / The New York Times poll said the first presidential debate has had a more positive impact for Clinton than for Trump.

Likely voters who watched the first presidential debate are twice as likely to say the debate made them think better of Clinton (32 per cent) than worse (16 per cent), it said.

As per the poll, Trump (49 to 38 per cent) continues to lead among men, while Clinton (51 to 33 per cent) leads among women.

Meanwhile, a poll released by the Quinnipiac University said that Clinton is leading in Florida (five points), North Carolina (three points) and Pennsylvania (four points).

However, she trails by five points in Ohio.

All four are battleground states, also known as swing states, in which both Democratic and Republican candidates have a good chance of winning. PTI
Majuro, October 4

As the Marshall Islands awaits an international court ruling on Wednesday on whether its lawsuit against three nuclear powers can proceed, many in the western Pacific nation question the merit of the David-versus-Goliath legal battle.

The country of 55,000 people is taking on India, Pakistan and Britain in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing they have failed to comply with the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Initially the lawsuit was even more ambitious -- also including China, France, Israel, North Korea, Russia and the United States -- none of which recognised the ICJ's jurisdiction on the matter.

The Marshalls has a long, bitter history with nuclear weapons, making it one of the few nations that can argue with credibility before the ICJ about their impact.

The island nation was ground zero for 67 American nuclear weapons tests from 1946-58 at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, when it was under US administration.

The tests included the 1954 "Bravo" hydrogen bomb, the most powerful ever detonated by the United States, about 1,000 times bigger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

They fed into an apocalyptic zeitgeist in Cold War popular culture, giving a name to the bikini swimsuit and leading to the development of Japan's Godzilla movie monster.

In "Godzilla", the creature is awakened by a hydrogen bomb test, rising from a roiling sea to destroy Tokyo, in a walking, radiation-breathing analogy for nuclear disaster.

On the Marshall Islands, the impacts of the nuclear tests were all too real.

Numerous islanders were forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, while thousands more were exposed to radioactive fallout.

"Several islands in my country were vaporised and others are estimated to remain uninhabitable for thousands of years," Tony deBrum, a former Marshall Islands foreign minister, told an ICJ hearing earlier this year.

He recalled witnessing the Bravo test as a nine-year-old while fishing with his grandfather in an atoll, some 200 km from the blast's epicentre.

"The entire sky turned blood red," he said. "Many died, or suffered birth defects never before seen and cancers as a result of contamination."

DeBrum launched the Marshall's ICJ action in 2014 with cooperation from the California-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

His actions prompted the International Peace Bureau to nominate him in January for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize, which is yet to be awarded.

Yet critics argue the ICJ action is a distraction and the islanders' real fight is with Washington, which carried out the tests in their backyard.

They contend the case has no relationship to victims' claims for increased compensation, better health care and clean-ups to make sites habitable again.  AFP
LES CAYES (Haiti), October 4

The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade ripped into Haiti's southwestern peninsula early on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and storm surges, killing at least one person and damaging homes.

The eye of the violent and slow-moving Category 4 storm was hovering over the western tip of Haiti, the US National Hurricane Center said, pounding coastal villages with strong gusts.

One man died as the storm crashed through his home in the beach town of Port Salut, Haiti's civil protection service said.

He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said. One fisherman was killed in heavy seas over the weekend as the storm approached, and another was missing.

Overnight, Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks on the Tiburon Peninsula frantically sought shelter as Matthew closed in, bringing heavy rain and gusts and driving the ocean into seaside towns. Several districts in southern Haiti were flooded, with crops inundated with ocean and rainwater.

About 3 feet (1 meter) of rain is forecast to fall over hills that are largely deforested and so more prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince, where heavy rain fell overnight.

More than 9,000 people were huddled in shelters across Haiti, authorities said.

Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were likely in southern and northwestern Haiti, the hurricane center said. It expected Matthew to remain a powerful hurricane through at least Wednesday night.

The outer bands of the storm had already reached the area late on Monday, flooding dozens of houses in Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

Children, prisoners moved

"We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter," Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre said.

In the nearby town of Tiburon, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also ran for cover when the sea rose.

"Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult," Mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

People in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, are often reluctant to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

Civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus to a high school in the capital from an orphanage in the shoreside Cite Soleil slum, which is made up of tin shacks and open sewers and is known as Haiti's largest shanty town.

Authorities moved around 1,000 inmates from at least four prisons to safer locations outside the storm's path, officials said.

The hurricane comes at a time when tens of thousands of people are still living in tents in Haiti after a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

Cases of cholera, a deadly disease inadvertently brought to the Caribbean country by UN peacekeepers in 2010, had been expected anyway to rise in the October rainy season.

The country is due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on October 9. The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

Crawling north at about 9 mph (15 kph), the strongest Caribbean storm since Hurricane Felix in 2009 threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage in Haiti, where it will spend much of the day before hitting Cuba and the Bahamas later on Tuesday.

It could reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, although weaker than at present, the hurricane center said.

Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

Cuba prepares

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the town's largest shelter, a school.

"Since yesterday we've had nothing ... We must sleep on the floor ... Everyone is hungry," said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti's neighbor Cuba. That island's Communist government traditionally puts extensive efforts into saving lives and property in the face of storms, and authorities have spent days organising teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, which is home to the disputed US Naval base and military prison and also to a small Cuban city. The US Navy ordered the evacuation of 700 spouses and children of service personnel as the storm approached.

Guantanamo's mountainous terrain is the country's second coffee producer after nearby Santiago, and the storm poses a major threat to the current harvest.

The US Agency for International Development said on Monday it was providing a combined $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica. The agency said in a statement it had pre-positioned relief supplies and was preparing to ship in additional supplies to the central Caribbean.  Reuters
Amman, October 3

A leading figure in al Qaeda, who became a prominent member of its Syrian Nusra Front offshoot, was killed in a drone attack on Monday, the group and jihadist sources said.

They said Sheikh Abu al Faraj al Masri, who spent years in prison in his native Egypt on charges of plotting with fundamentalist Islamist groups and later left for Afghanistan, died when the vehicle in which he was travelling was hit in rebel-held Idlib in Syria's northwest.

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"May God accept him as a martyr who was killed in a Crusader raid," said a jihadist named Abu Mohammad al Shami.

The US Defense Department said in a statement that Masri was the target of a US air strike near Idlib on Monday. "We are still assessing the results of the strike," it said.

Since the US-led coalition launched operations in Syria, primarily against Islamic State militants, air strikes have also targeted Nusra Front figures, killing scores.

Syria's militant Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly the Nusra Front, confirmed the death of the Egyptian cleric in an air strike.

In one of Masri's last public appearances, he was alongside former Nusra leader Abu Mohamad al-Jolani when the group announced in July it was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al Sham to deny Washington and other powers a pretext to attack it.

Washington dismissed that move as cosmetic and said it would continue to target it as a terrorist group.

Last month, Abu Hajer al Homsi, the group's top commander, was killed in an air strike in rural Aleppo province.

Masri, 60, whose real name was Sheikh Ahmad Salamah Mabrouk, had been one of the leading companions of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, according to a jihadist source.

Masri was one of the early leaders of the radical militant Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement. He was arrested after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 and spent seven years in prison.

Masri was also held secretly under a CIA rendition scheme after his arrest in Azerbaijan in 1998.

The source said that like some other jihadists, he came to Syria to join Nusra Front after being freed from an Egyptian prison during the rule of President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist toppled by the military in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. Reuters
Los Angeles, October 4

Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio has discussed his upcoming documentary "Before the Flood" with US President Barack Obama at the White House festival, SXSL.

Obama, 55, features in the documentary, co-produced by DiCaprio and executive produced by filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

In a conversation with the president, the 41-year-old actor struck the urgent tone of his documentary on the dangers of climate change, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts or in science or empirical truths and therefore, in my humble opinion, you should not be allowed to hold public office," the actor said during the South by South Lawn festival.

The actor kept the pressure while moderating the discussion, saying, "Does our planet have the ability to regenerate if we do the right things? Or has there been enough lasting damage that can never be undone?"

DiCaprio also blasted the oil and gas industries for air pollution and asked politicians on how they can get rid of the problem.

Whereas, Obama sounded hopeful with the movie star, but hit upon several harsh realities. "We're on the more pessimistic end of what was possible," he said.

DiCaprio, as part of the documentary, had also visited India and spoke to environmentalist Sunita Narain, who also features in the short film.  PTI
MOSCOW, October 4

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had deployed an S-300 missile system to its Tartus naval base in Syria.

"The missile battery is intended to ensure the safety of the naval base ... It is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such alarm among our Western partners," the ministry said in a statement.

US media reported earlier this week that Russia had sent the S-300 system to Syria at the weekend in its first foreign deployment of a surface-to-air weapon in the civil war-ridden country.

Peace efforts

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday efforts to end Syria's war must continue despite Washington's decision to break off talks with Moscow over its "irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised" support for President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States on Monday suspended talks with Russia on implementing a ceasefire deal in Syria, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities.

"We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said in a speech in Brussels.

"We will continue to pursue a meaningful, sustainable, enforceable cessation of hostilities throughout the country - and that includes the grounding of Syrian and Russian combat aircraft in designated areas."

Kerry charged that Russia had "turned a blind eye" to Assad's "deplorable" use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs and suggested they were pursing a scorched earth policy in place of diplomacy.

"Where they make a desert, they call it peace," he said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus. He said if Russia was serious about peace, it would have to behave differently than it was now in Syria.

"Russia knows exactly what it needs to do in order to get that cessation implemented and in a fair and reasonable way," he said.

Kerry said all parties had a duty to enable delivery of humanitarian assistance, adding that opposition groups had told the United States they agreed with that.

"It still remains for Russia and the regime to permit that and guarantee it," he said.

Russian news agencies, citing Kerry's Syria interlocutor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would continue to make efforts to resolve the Syria crisis despite the US suspension of the talks.

A spokeswoman for UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he was in "intensive consultations" on the way forward.

The end of the talks could trigger deeper US consideration of military options such as providing more sophisticated arms, logistical support, and training to rebel groups.

But the speed with which the ceasefire collapsed  after a UN aid convoy was bombed in Syria  appeared to surprise some US officials, leaving them without a clear plan on the immediate way forward.

US President Barack Obama has been loath to get more deeply involved and US officials have said he is unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein warned Russia on Tuesday over the use of incendiary weapons in Syria's besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, and said crimes by one side did not justify illegal acts by the other.  Reuters
FOOD & DRINK

Bearcat Liquor honors an era when sisters were bootlegging it for themselves
Rebecca Brewster (left), president and chief operating officer of ATRI along with Derek Leathers, ATRI board member and Werner Enterprises president and CEO, give details of ATRI's latest survey of the biggest issues concerning the trucking industry. Photo: Evan Lockridge

LAS VEGAS  The American Transportation Research Institute unveiled its top industry issues report showing that the looming implementation of the ELD Mandate is the top concern of carriers and drivers.

The annual survey, which generated more than 3,200 responses from motor carriers and commercial drivers, was released at the American Trucking Associations 2016 Management Conference and Exhibition meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to ranking the trucking industrys top concerns, the report also includes prioritized strategies for addressing each issue.

"The results of ATRI's survey reflect what I've heard from carriers and drivers as I've traveled the country this year on behalf of ATA," said Pat Thomas ATA chairman and senior vice president for state government affairs at UPS. "The ever-increasing regulatory burdens placed on the industry, coupled with the sluggish economy, are creating challenges for trucking as we work hard to keep America moving forward."

More than 65% of respondents were concerned about productivity impacts the industry could experience from fully mandated ELD deployment. Dropping from its top ranking the past three years, Hours-of-Service stayed near the top of the list due to ongoing uncertainty of a final HOS rule.

Ranking third in ATRIs report was the cumulative economic impacts of trucking regulations, which ATRI says reflects the industrys collective frustration with increasing and costly regulatory requirements. The lack of available truck parking moved the issue up again this year to fourth overall and the state of the nations economy rounds out the top five industry concerns.

"Knowing what the industry is concerned about, and what strategies it views as most promising for addressing each issue, allows ATA and its Federation partners in the states to better focus our collective efforts on behalf of motor carriers and their employees," said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. "The ATRI survey results provide the roadmap we need to put wins on the board for this industry and the nation's economy as a whole."

A copy of the survey results is available from ATRI at www.atri-online.org.
If'n you follow my posts or stumble on them, you know the EXTREME regard I have and have had for Andy and Mike.Trio of songs from the NEW ATB album, that is just punishingly beautiful.Been seeing these boyz since around 1992, when I relocated to Dallas. They just keep getting better and more interesting.This is potent stuff, even for my overall beloved TEXAS guitar-slinging :-)YOU must buy this album and see this band, this is extremely well-crafted MODERN guitar-driven excellence.If you like Satch & Vai and Eric Johnson, this is approaching another dimension to me, it has several nuances of classic themes woven into many songs, you can hear them, too cool!And I don't mean to slight the drummer in the least, it was just difficult to take it all in as a debut, he is OUTSTANDING.The Timmonator, Granada Theater, Andy Timmons Band Album RELEASE 10/1/2016Andy Timmons Band record release Granada Theater Dallas 2016Andy Timmons Theme For A Perfect World released TODAY at GranadaTracklist:01. Ascension02 Winterland03. Theme From A Perfect World04. Sanctuary05. The Next Voice You Hear06. Lift Us Up (Something Wicked This Way Comes)07. That Day Came08. Firenze09. Welcome Home10. On Your Way Sweet Soul
Eyes wide open, the homeless veterans surveyed the surroundings in disbelief while walking through the Yale Apartments front door.

They couldnt believe they were in a welcoming place that would be their home for six months. All they had to do was comply with rules and rehabilitation programs.

Connally Perry, Mental Health Association of Oklahoma administrator of permanent supported and transitional housing, was on hand to greet them. He says he enjoys watching the reactions, especially when veterans are handed a key to their own apartment  with a bathroom.

These amenities are astounding for someone who has been homeless, especially the bathroom, Perry said. It is as though they have been admitted to a safe room and away from harm.

As veterans, they will be in residence for six months through a Veterans Administration program designed to help those who served their country get a new start on life.

Perry, described by a co-worker as the associations face for helping veterans, was part of the National Zarrow Mental Health Symposium Sept. 28-30 at the Cox Business Center. More than 1,000 people, including representatives from across the U.S., attended.

Newly arrived veterans get a chance to orientate themselves to their surroundings and enjoy the food before the serious work begins.

That work is helping the person overcome their drug or alcohol addictions, Perry said. It includes mental health treatment and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder situations.

Treatment is working because perhaps 90 percent of those coming to the Yale Apartments, 10 S. Yale Ave., are successful, he said. They get help with housing when they complete the program so they arent back on the street.

I am brutally honest with the veteran, he said. I do not lie to them. They learn they in turn must be honest with each other. This facility gives them a place to safely take their medicine, something not possible on the street where one needed to constantly be alert.

Perry flashed back to his own experiences after his discharge from the U.S. Army in the early 1970s. The Vietnam veteran had only a green duffle bag when he left the military at a time when no VA programs like those in existence today were available.

Perrys addiction problems found him at a treatment center for 30 days in Little Rock, Arkansas. Discharged, he got a ride back to Tulsa in the back of a pickup on a cold day. When he arrived, he called his sister and asked Now what?

Homeless, he lapsed back into his addiction and required further treatment before securing a job with the Shadow Mountain Treatment facility. He left that organization after 15 years service to join the then-called Mental Health Association of Tulsa.

I felt immediately like I was home, Perry said. My work started at the Safe Haven facility on the third floor of the downtown YMCA.

Those experiences enable Perry to talk with veterans who come to the Yale Apartments. Rules call for no drugs, alcohol or violence, and those who fail to comply are asked to leave.

I tell it like it is  that their recovery is up to them, he said. Many veterans initially dont want help. They are taught in the military they can do their jobs alone. When they are discharged and on the street, it is really hard for them.

He encourages each person to give the VA program, the MHAO and others in the community a chance to provide assistance. Perry praised the VA in Muskogee and in Tulsa for their strong, unselfish support.

I have called case managers 24/7, he said. They answer their phones regardless of the time and respond. That is part of helping people understand they cant do it (recover) alone.

It didnt seem possible to help a person on the recovery path within six when the Mental Health Association received the VA grant six years ago. But the individual veterans determination, coupled perhaps with military training, made it work.

Those veteran homeless and mental health issues coupled with suicide rates now estimated at 20 per day are unacceptable, he said.

Perry admitted he relapsed into addiction and had been to rehabilitation three times. The last time, threatened with the loss of his job, he called his wife and was in treatment the next day.

Family often is the key to a recovery program, Perry said. Many dont have family support, and this organization becomes family to them.

He has two wishes as he looks to the future. First, more apartments are needed that can be staffed 24/7. It is difficult to have someone alone in an apartment and expect them to recover on their own, he said.

The second is for more faith-based communities to be involved. Some congregations are actively supporting the mental health programs, but church involvement could provide a relationship, something that many veterans do not have.

Many veterans are scared to go to church, Perry said. Yet, the faith communities are vital in helping, especially those recovering from PTSD instead of using therapy and drugs.

918-581-8480
Wagers may have leaned toward any of the Oklahomans in the 108-boat field with a Gene Larew Biffle Bug winning the Costa FLW Series Southwest Division event on Fort Gibson Lake Saturday  but that guess would only have been 75 percent right.

Broken Arrow angler Derek Fulps pulled off the win with an older Gene Larew tournament-winning favorite on Fort Gibson  a green pumpkin candy Gene Larew Hoodaddy Jr. He also got a little help from a Zoom Trick Worm and this summers favorite new top-water, a 5-inch bone River2Sea Whopper Plopper.

For his efforts, the first-time FLW winner brought home a $78,500 prize package.

Its just been a whirlwind and Im so thankful and appreciative of everyones support, he said, Im just thankful and blessed.

Paying attention to current, weather and structure spelled success for the angler. He smacked five-fish limits the first two days for 17 pounds, 7 ounces and 16-2, respectively. That consistency helped as others failed to find consecutive success with bigger fish. Fulps secured a nearly 5-pound lead over nearest competitor Kyle Cortiana, also of Broken Arrow, by the end of the day Friday.

Tough fishing on Saturday helped the leader as Cortiana and others only found smaller five-fish limits. Cortianas bag was the largest of the Top 10, at 14-8, but it wasnt enough to catch Fulps.

The leader only caught three fish, but each was solid, and the bag was anchored by one of nearly 6 pounds, for 11-12 on the day and 45-5 to win the derby. You can watch his final three catches in a 2-minute FLW video on YouTube.

I keep watching it. That GoPro camera video, its just fantastic, he said.

Structure played a key role as most of his fish came off a single large tree in the upper river portion of the lake. He found it during practice as he and fellow angler Branson Phillips (who placed 2nd on the co-angler side) scouted the lake last week.

Like most others, they concentrated on wood and lay-downs along the river but the bite was slow and the catches were scattered, from moose hill to otter valley, he said.

I looked at Branson and said, what am I missing? he said.

As he pulled away from the bank, his Lowrance unit picked up a giant tree, he said. With one small root exposed near the bank and limbs and brush extending 40 feet into the river, he guessed it was a sycamore that was downed during the July windstorm. They even occasionally pulled up bits of fresh leaves from its limbs while they fished.

The tree, in water from 3 feet to 14 feet deep, provided a perfect current-break for big bass to wait in ambush for baitfish on the current. The duo caught a 4- and a 5-pound fish off the tree on a full-size HooDaddy and a 10-inch Powerbait worm in practice and then left it alone.

Thats when I figured out, this is the thing, he said.

The only change going into the tournament was a switch from a south wind to the north and cooler temperatures at night. Thats what led to the change to the smaller HooDaddy, fished with a 5/0 hook and 3/16ths- to 3/8ths-ounce weights.

When the current was flowing, the pattern worked like a charm.

But on Saturday the sun was full, the air was calm, and the current non-existent.

He caught one early off the tree but that seemed to be the end of it, until he noticed shad jumping along the shoreline when boats passed. Some bass were chasing over there, he said. The first time I was too slow getting my surface lure out, but I was ready with it on the deck the next time.

Sure enough, the FLW video shows the rocking boat waves as he reels in his Whopper Plopper 3-pounder.

Luck at the tree seemed to run out, so he left to let it rest and tried the back of a creek where he had lost a big fish that sawed his line off around a stump the first day of the tourney  and there he broke off another big one in the same spot.

He returned to the tree with a Hoodaddy Jr. for one last shot and landed his last fish of the tournament, which he guessed was just less than 6 pounds.

I figured I had about 11-5 but, you know, at the weigh-in I started second-guessing myself and wondered if that fish was as big as I thought it was. I was pretty nervous, he said. I needed 9-10 or 9-11 to win. When the scale first clicked on 11 before he read the weight I pointed up to the sky, I was just so keyed-up for it to happen.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced Monday that Turkey's state of emergency, initially declared after the July 15 defeated coup, will be extended for 3 more months.

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara, Kurtulmus said that the assembled ministers decided that the state of emergency would be extended as of Oct. 19 for 90 more days, with parliaments approval.

Turkey will determinately fight against all terror organizations, Kurtulmus said.

The National Security Council last week had advised extending the state of emergency.

After the deadly July 15 coup attempt  blamed by the government on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO)  which martyred more than 240 people and injured nearly 2,200 others, Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20.

According to the Turkish Constitution, a state of emergency can be declared for a maximum period of six months, but can also be extended if needed.

Parliament must ratify states of emergency, and the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has a comfortable majority for doing so.

To enact the state of emergency, the government must see serious indications of widespread violence which could interfere with Turkey's democratic environment or its citizens' basic rights and freedoms as established by the Constitution.

- Gulen extradition

On the extradition of the U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of leading the terrorist FETO organization, Kurtulmus said that negotiations with the U.S. authorities are ongoing.

He added that documents Turkey sent to the U.S. on Sept. 10 concerned arresting Gulen in the U.S., where he has lived in self-exile since 1999.

The network led by Gulen is accused of wiretapping senior Turkish government figures, including the former prime minister and current president, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief, and Cabinet ministers, as well as journalists via state officials.

Last October, an Istanbul court issued an arrest warrant for Gulen after approving a 1,453-page indictment charging him with "attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey or obstructing it from conducting its duties by force".

- Operation Euphrates Shield

On developments in Iraq and Syria, Kurtulmus said that Turkeys Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Aug. 24, is aimed at protecting Syrias territorial integrity as well Turkeys lands from terror organizations such as Daesh and the PYD/PKK.

In our view, the operation is ongoing successfully, he said.

Kurtulmus added that Turkeys priority aim is ridding the region of Daesh, and ensuring civilians can return to their homes in such cities as Jarabulus.

Our position is clear and open on possible anti-Daesh operations in Mosul [in Iraq] and Raqqa, he said.

Turkey has been stating at every opportunity that Daesh [forming] is a consequence of political instability and fragmentation in Syria and Iraq, not a reason, he added.

Turkey is always ready to cooperate with the international coalition to rid the region of terrorist groups, he said.

Anadolu Agency
The Arab League has called on the international community to intervene to stop bloodshed in northern Syrias Aleppo city.

In a Saturday statement, spokesman Mahmoud Afifi denounced the ongoing aerial bombardment of hospitals and civilians in Aleppo.

The random airstrikes and barrel bomb attacks and the inhuman siege in eastern Aleppo are tantamount to war crimes, he said.

The spokesman described the humanitarian situation in eastern Aleppo as unbearable, going on to call for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the city.

Since Sept. 19, when the Bashar al-Assad regime announced the end of a week-long truce sponsored by Washington and Moscow, Syrian and Russian warplanes have pounded opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

Scores of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in the attacks, which remain ongoing.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, a Beirut-based NGO, has put the total death toll from the five-year conflict at more than 470,000.

Anadolu Agency
The Minister of Local Government.. says when the local government legislation comes into effect.. regional corporations can better service their communities. He made the remark.. during the San Juan Laventille Corporation's interfaith service and military parade.. as the corporation turns 30 years.
Terry Jones receives his award from 2:15:11mins.

Terry Jones was given a standing ovation at the BAFTA Cymru Awards in Cardiff, receiving an honorary award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television.

It was his first public appearance after it was announced he was diagnosed with dementia and unable to give interviews.

His son Bill said, We would like to thank-you to everyone. I know its a great honour for dad to win this award.

The struggles were having at the moment were so proud of him.

Michael Palin presented the award saying, When Monty Python came together in 1969, Terry quickly established himself at the very heart of the group. It was as his house in Camberwell that most of our group meetings took place, despite Johns concerns that he might need a passport to go to South London.

When the first series finally came out it was Terry who made sure he recorded and stored the videos of all the programmes in his garage: a very smart move for the BBC were at that time wiping tapes to make room for storage.

For all the joy and pleasure and laughter and stimulation he has brought to so many people, I can think of no one more worthy or recognition tonight. I couldnt be happier.
SBS is about to face another assault on its direction, following confirmation that US-Canadian owned Vice Media will be the dominant producer of content on SBS VICELAND.

The channel will replace SBS 2 from mid-November, after 7 years on air.

Some SBS 2 content will remain, including The Feed, but SBS is yet to confirm its full programming suite.

SBS has not clarified whether the program supply deal is based on a revenue sharing agreement with Vice Media.

The Australian today hears from former ABC chairmen about the role of the multicultural broadcaster as it reports on SBS VICELAND content including documentaries and reality series about underground comedians, cannabis culture, and illegal economic activity. Show titles include Weediquette, and Balls Deep.

Former ABC chairman Maurice Newman slammed the move, saying it showed the SBS had run out of reasons to exist and argued management at the broadcaster was no longer being true to their charter.

Donald McDonald, who was ABC chairman between 1996 and 2006, questioned the decision to buy in programming from the US market. David Hill, ABC managing director from 1987-95 said first and foremost Australian public broadcasters should be about local content.

Meanwhile lobby group Save Our SBS has been a longtime critic of the broadcasters moves away from content in foreign languages saying, For some time, the Special Broadcasting Service has seen itself as a station of broad general appeal.

It continued, .during primetime SBS screens a lot of UK and USA programs  in English. These are overrepresented to the extent that multiculturalism is at best incidental, and at worst non-existent. If viewers want such programs, there is an abundance elsewhere without SBS duplicating the dominant culture of other channels.

SBS sources have indicated the broadcaster will be able to choose the best on-Charter content from Vice Media, some of which is produced in other territories.

Programming will focus on a distinct, immersive style of original lifestyle and culture content for young viewers and will feature Australian-produced programs, SBS said in a previous statement.

Screen Producers Australia is yet to comment on the new channel and the amount of local content it will offer.
Qualified: Czech Republic, Denmark, England, FYR Macedonia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland (hosts), Slovakia, Sweden (holders)

Play-offs: Austria, Norway, Serbia, Spain

Group 1

The Czech Republic have won the group as they beat Moldova 4-1 on Friday while Belgium fell 3-0 in Montenegro. Belgium are out of play-off contention in second ahead of their game against Latvia.

Italy qualified Getty Images

Group 2

Italy drew 1-1 in Lithuania to finish a point ahead of of Serbia, who came from behind to win 3-1 in the Republic of Ireland on Friday and then beat Slovenia 3-1 (Slovenia's hopes ended with a loss in Lithuania on Friday). Serbia will be in the play-offs.

Group 3

FYR Macedonia have qualified for a men's UEFA final tournament at any level for the first time after a thrilling final day where both Iceland and France led the group early on. Iceland began on top but ended up losing 4-2 to Ukraine, allowing FYR Macedonia to secure their place with a 2-0 defeat of Scotland in front of 12,000 fans. France's 3-0 win in Northern Ireland was enough for second place but not a play-off.

Israel just missed out on the play-offs InTime

Group 4

Portugal have won the group and Israel have finished second with 4-0 defeats of Greece and Albania. Israel were denied a play-off place by Norway and Serbia's wins on Tuesday.

Group 5

Denmark have qualified, but although Bulgaria beat Romania for second place, they will not be in the play-offs.

Group 6

Holders Sweden secured top spot and an automatic finals berth with a 4-2 victory against Croatia on Monday. Spain's 5-0 defeat of Estonia assured them of second spot, and they are certain of a play-off place.

Austria are in the play-offs Fedor Uspenski

Group 7

Germany's exciting 4-3 defeat of Russia on Friday maintained the only perfect record and clinched first place. Austria will finish second and are assured of a play-off place.

Group 8

Slovakia knew they would finish top of the five-team section after Turkey held the Netherlands to a goalless draw on Thursday night. The Netherlands clinched second place ahead of Turkey by winning 4-1 in Cyprus but have not reached the play-offs.

Group 9

Under the caretaker charge of Aidy Boothroyd  with Gareth Southgate temporarily taking over the senior team  England won 1-0 in Kazakhstan on Thursday to take an unassailable lead at the top of the section, adding a 5-0 defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Friday, Norway made sure of second place with a 2-1 win against Switzerland and won 3-0 in Kazakhstan on Tuesday to book a play-off berth.
Russian-backed militants launched 32 attacks on Ukrainian positions in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine over the past day, the press center of the ATO headquarters reports.

In Luhansk direction, 6 ceasefire violations were recorded. Terrorists shelled Novooleksandrivka and Popasna using small arms. Also, Russian-backed militants used grenade launchers to launch attacks on Ukrainians soldiers near Novooleksandrivka.

In Donetsk direction, terrorists violated ceasefire 10 times. Militants used small arms, grenade launchers, machine guns to shell Ukrainian troops near Avdiivka, Zaitseve and Kamianka.

In Mariupol direction, 16 ceasefire violations were recorded. Militants used small arms, machine guns to shell Pavlopil, Marinka, Shyrokyno, Starohnativka, and Bohdanivka. Also, terrorists used armored personnel carrier to shell Talakovka and grenade launchers to launch attacks on the Ukrainian army in Shyrokyno and Bohdanivka.

In addition, five unmanned aerial vehicles were recorded in the ATO zone in the past day.

iy
Ukrinform correspondent Roman Sushchenko, who has been arrested for two months in Moscow, is deprived of his right to defense.

Journalists lawyer Mark Feygin said this on 112 Ukraine TV Channel.

I personally brought to the investigation department my request to join the case and a permit to entry the pre-trial detention center, there should have been no obstacles. Because I have to immediately start defending my client. In particular, a preventive measure in the form of arrest was chosen for him, and I have to immediately appeal against it. So he is deprived of the right to defense, Feygin said.

Feygin said an investigator didnt allow him to visit Sushchenko in the pre-trial detention center as it is envisaged in the Criminal Procedure Code.

iy
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks held a meeting in Strasburg to discuss the protection of rights of Ukrainians illegally kept in Russia, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministrys press service reports.

The Ukrainian foreign minister during the conversation drew particular attention of the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights to abuses in Russia. The minister stressed that Ukraine expects support and certain steps from the commissioner in protecting the rights and helping free Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko and all other Ukrainian citizens who became political prisoners in the Russian Federation, reads the report.

The Ukrainian foreign minister also noted the need to monitor the observance of human rights in Russia-occupied Crimea, in particular, he informed the commissioner about illegal actions of the Russian occupation authorities against Ilmi Umerov.

iy
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Leader of the Peoples Front parliamentary faction Maksym Burbak says that every Ukrainian citizen on the territory of Russian Federation may be taken hostage.

He stated this when addressing the Ukrainian MPs in Parliament, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Every Ukrainian citizen is not protected on the territory of Russia, the aggressor country, and any time he or she may be taken hostage, Burbak said.

In this regard, he said that the Peoples Front will support the initiative by Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy to introduce a visa regime with Russia.

iy
The Ukrainian Consulate in the Russian Federation has performed all necessary procedural requirements for granting permission to meet with Ukrinform correspondent Roman Sushchenko, but it still has not received any response from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

This has been said by official representative of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Mariana Betsa.

"We have already met all procedural requirements, but at the moment there is no reaction and no permission," she said.

She stated that the Foreign Ministry required to provide an immediate access to Roman Sushchenko and will continue to pressure at the consular level and to achieve this by political and diplomatic means with help of international partners and consolidation of international support.

ish
The United States will strictly support Ukraine in the conditions of Russian aggression.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said this in his speech in Brussels on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"We remain committed to supporting stable, unified and democratic Ukraine. And Moscow should not be in doubt - we will adhere to our position!" the U.S. Secretary of State stressed.

"We have imposed sanctions, and we insist on a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Donbas, as well as on the illegal annexation of Crimea. We also encourage the leadership of Ukraine to toughen the way of reforms," John Kerry said.

ish
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Published October 4, 2016

MONROE, La.  Adam Nettles, a senior political science major and president of the College Democrats at the University of Louisiana Monroe, was invited to serve as a guest speaker at the 2016 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner held by the Louisiana Democratic Party in New Orleans on Oct. 1.

Nettles shared the stage with several notable speakers, including Governor John Bel Edwards, Democratic National Convention Chair Donna Brazile, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Congressman Cedric Richmond, U.S. Senate Candidates Joshua Pellerin, Caroline Fayard, and Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, Senator Karen Carter Peterson, and Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro.

Nettles represented the College Democrats of America (CDA), the official student arm of the Democratic National Committee that encourages student participation in the political process and the Democratic Party. Nettles currently serves as the president of ULMs CDA chapter.

It was a real honor to be invited to speak at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner and to meet with leading figures in the state of Louisiana, said Nettles. I rallied people to volunteer and give their time to College Democrats. Theyre everywhere and we need more support. I was there to convince them. I am glad that the party sees and understands the value of College Democrats and I hope that other students around the state will get involved because we really can and do make a difference, especially during an election season.

The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, named after U.S. presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, is a decades-old Democratic tradition that is held annually across the U.S. The Louisiana event is held every year in New Orleans and represents one of the largest gatherings of Democrats from across the state. The dinner was originally scheduled for Aug. 13 but was postponed due to the devastating floods that affected so many in south Louisiana.

Dr. Joshua Stockley, ULM associate professor of political science and well-known political commentator in the state, says that Nettles is a real difference-maker.

That one of our two major political parties in the state of Louisiana picked a student leader from ULM to deliver a speech at one of the most important party events of the year speaks volumes about the ability of this university and its political science program to produce current and future leaders, said Stockley. Adam is poised to make a difference in this state and in the politics of this state. I could not be happier for him to have had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

According to Nettles, participation in a College Democrats chapter is the best way to help an election. College Democrats provide students with information and help students get in touch with the party.

We have access to the party. You can get jobs with the party when they have campaigns. Its a great opportunity for college students because it gives you an avenue to participate in politics directly, said Nettles.

While a career in politics is on Nettles radar, right now he is focused on getting into law school and becoming a lawyer. According to Nettles, ULMs Mock Trial team has best prepared him for law school.

Mock trial has probably been one of the best decisions Ive made in college. It has taught me the basics of trial as an undergraduate and put me into contact with some excellent mentoring attorneys. I feel ULM has prepared me very well for law school, Nettles said.

Senator Karen Carter Peterson, Chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, expressed high praise of Nettles for his leadership and talents.

On several occasions we have been able to work with Adam Nettles over the past few years and each and every time Adam has far surpassed even the highest of hopes we had, said Peterson. From working and organizing door-to-door to acting as our official spokesperson in several media interviews, Adam has proven he is an exceptional talent.

This past weekend when we were planning the event we knew we must have a youth representative speak at the event to talk to our membership and leadership throughout the state on the importance of engaging with college students. Not only did Adam far surpass our expectations in his speech he is now comfortably moved into a role of Ambassador, for lack of a better term.
| By Alex Likowski

Twenty-six newly minted UMB CURE scholars received their white coats Oct. 1 in symbolic recognition of their first steps toward careers in health care. The UMB CURE Scholars Program is supported by the National Cancer Institutes Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) Program, identifying promising middle school students and providing them mentoring, workshops, and hands-on experiences in laboratories.

(View a photo gallery.)

At the ceremony, University of Maryland, Baltimore President Jay A. Perman, MD, reminded children, families, mentors, and supporters that talent is universal but opportunity is not. He cited remarks by a recent speaker on campus who observed that a persons access to opportunity differs in the same way that a staircase or an escalator lifts one to the top. If you fall down an escalator, it doesnt matter so much because an escalator wont let you stay down. It keeps rising, he said. Thats what were building here today, Perman said. Were building an escalator.

U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings referred to the illnesses such as diabetes and cancer that disproportionately affect African-American communities. A lot of times, out of our pain comes our passion to do our purpose, he said. If theres anybody who will be most qualified to find the cure for cancer, it is these young people. They have probably seen the pain and they want to do something about it. Cummings, who is a 1976 graduate of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, helped launch the CURE Scholars Program at UMB in 2015. Another dignitary who was present for both ceremonies was Sanya A. Springfield, PhD, director of the National Cancer Institutes Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities.

(l-r) ArMya Dennis, Melyssa Webb, Davion Hill, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Byron Green, and Shakeer Franklin

To recognize their support, Springfield and Cummings were presented with awards by UMB CURE Executive Director Robin Saunders, EdD, MS, and several eager helpers: CURE scholars who got their own white coats a year ago and are now seventh-graders. Among them was Shakeer Franklin, who received a shoutout of his own for being the subject of a documentary about how CURE has kindled his interest in science and made him a better student at Franklin Square Elementary/Middle School. Shakeer from West Baltimore, by Oscar-award-winning filmmakers Susan Hadary and John Anglim of MedSchool Maryland Productions (a division of the School of Medicine), has been released theatrically in Los Angeles.

The CURE scholars event was sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.

Read more about the event and the matchup of new scholars and their mentors in The Baltimore Sun, and watch the ceremony on video below.
Aisha Slaybi was determined that nothing, not bullets, bombs or war, would force her to take her family away from their home in Aleppo until her teenage daughter had graduated from high school.

It was May 30, 2014, and in 10 days time her daughter, Fatima Alzahraa Alhamam, would have completed eight exams and obtained her school diploma. Only then, would Aisha and her four children would flee to safety.

Her husband, who was arrested twice, had fled to Turkey the year before and they wanted to join him.

The day was hot, a dull heat typical of an Aleppo summer. Aisha, 35, and her 17-year-old son were working in the family cafe when it was hit by a bomb. Seriously injured, both were taken to a nearby hospital. She begged her sister not to tell Fatima.

She was my everything. She was my friend and my sister.

The next day, Aisha died, but not before she was told that Fatima had completed her physics exam.

They told my mother that I had taken my exam and did well and she smiled, Fatima said. She was my everything. She was my friend and my sister.

Fatima, who scored 95 per cent in that physics paper, went on to complete her exams in the days following her mothers death and earn her high school diploma. Only then, the four siblings started their trek to Turkey. They now live with their father in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep.

I believe suffering brings creation, Fatima said. This could have its positive side.

Fatima (left) and and fellow student Rawan take a moment to relax in the park. Fatima is hoping to study for a masters and a PhD, and plans to returns to Syria when the war is over.  UNHCR/Ali Unal

Two years on, Fatima, now 20, is studying civil engineering at Gaziantep University. She speaks English and fluent Turkish. She is soft-spoken but there is nothing shy about her. She is eager to share her passion for studying and communicates with an extensive network of friends in several countries with whom she converses through email and smartphone apps.

Her plans include studying for a masters and a PhD and returning to Syria when the war is over.

Fatimas father, a lawyer, understood her thirst for knowledge and guided her to prepare and take the internationally recognized Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), an essential entrance qualification for foreign students. She taught herself Turkish by ear, on the street, from her friends and by listening to hundreds of hours of Turkish songs.

Her Turkish neighbour, a nurse, became a surrogate mother, and her daughter, now Fatimas best friend, helped her write her university motivation letter in Turkish. She applied to 44 universities in Turkey. She received 38 rejections and six acceptances.

I believe suffering brings creation."

However, the odds faced by Fatima and other Syrian students are daunting. More than 2.7 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey, according to the Turkish authorities, and their road to higher education is hard.

Although the Turkish government waives tuition fees for Syrian refugees applying to state universities, only 2.2 per cent of young Syrian refugees have enrolled, struggling with the language and juggling one or more jobs to make ends meet. A new report from UNHCR has found that opportunities to learn diminish greatly when children are forced to flee their homes and as they grow older.

In 2015, the government subsidized the tuition costs of a number of Syrian refugees in Turkish Universities.

This year, Fatima is one of 70 Syrian refugees in Turkey to win a German-funded and UNHCR-implemented scholarship from the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI), which will provide her with a monthly allowance while she is at university.

Fatima (right) and her friend Rawan, both 19 from Syria, are photographed on the streets of Ankara after meeting the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.  UNHCR/Ali Unal

The competition was tough. In 2015, 5,800 young Syrians applied. With the award of 700 additional fellowship places this year, selected in a joint process by UNHCR and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), Turkey will have the largest number of DAFI students.

Fatima keeps a photo of her mother on her phone. Dressed in a long grey coat, Aisha is sitting in a law lecture at the University of Aleppo. She sits ramrod straight, leaning forward slightly.

Whatever chance I see, I try, Fatima said. My mother was my inspiration. She married my father at 15 and had four children and only then returned to finish high school and enter the university to study law. But the war started.
Laborers' International Union of North America members and Culinary Workers Union members walk by an inflatable figure depicting Donald Trump during a Sept. 21 protest outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The unions were protesting an anti-union stance by the hotel. Union members are calling on the public to boycott Trump's businesses nationwide because he isn't negotiating a contract after 500 workers at the hotel voted last December to unionize. PHOTO BY JOHN LOCHER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Um Osama is not alone in this fight  hundreds of thousands of parents are worried about their childrens education. UNICEF estimates that presently at least 350,000 children are unable to go to schools across Yemen, either because the schools have been damaged by the fighting, are occupied by fighters, or are doubling as shelters for the millions who have been displaced. This is in addition to more than 1.6 million children who were already out of school during the 20152016 school year.

Even the school where Um Osama wants to admit her sons has been scarred by the conflict. It was partially damaged when three bombs hit one of the buildings last year. Luckily no students were in the school at that time. The airstrikes destroyed parts of the roof and the science laboratory, making some of the classrooms unsafe for children and teachers to use. But that didnt deter the gritty mother from enroling her children.

Absolutely, I am scared, very scared that my children might get caught or hurt in the conflict, she said. But I am more concerned about them missing out on their crucial years of education.



Major repairs underway

Ahmad Al Tashi, UNICEFs Construction Engineer, is responsible for the repair of damaged schools in Sanaa and in the adjoining governorates. UNICEF has so far assessed that there are at least 174 schools across the city that need either minor, or like in this case, major repairs, he says. We are working with the education department so that repairs can be done before children come back to school.

He then points at a gaping hole in the roof caused by an airstrike. Of course major repairs such as these will take a long time.

>> Read the UNICEF report: Children on the Brink
UNICEF/UNI86236/Ramoneda

NEW YORK, 3 October 2016  Children are more than twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty, according to a new analysis from the World Bank Group and UNICEF. Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children finds that in 2013 19.5 per cent of children in developing countries were living in households that survived on an average of US$1.90 a day or less per person, compared to just 9.2 per cent of adults. Globally, almost 385 million children were living in extreme poverty.

Children are disproportionately affected, as they make up around a third of the population studied, but half of the extreme poor. The youngest children are the most at risk  with more than one-fifth of children under the age of five in the developing world living in extremely poor households.

Children are not only more likely to be living in extreme poverty; the effects of poverty are most damaging to children. They are the worst off of the worst off  and the youngest children are the worst off of all, because the deprivations they suffer affect the development of their bodies and their minds, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. It is shocking that half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa and one in five children in developing countries are growing up in extreme poverty. This not only limits their futures, it drags down their societies.

The new analysis comes on the heels of the release of the World Bank Groups new flagship study, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality, which found that some 767 million people globally were living on less than $1.90 per day in 2013, half of them under the age of 18.

The sheer number of children in extreme poverty points to a real need to invest specifically in the early yearsin services such as pre-natal care for pregnant mothers, early childhood development programs, quality schooling, clean water, good sanitation, and universal health care, said Ana Revenga, Senior Director, Poverty and Equity at the World Bank Group. Improving these services, and ensuring that todays children can access quality job opportunities when the time comes, is the only way to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty that is so widespread today.

The global estimate of extreme child poverty is based on data from 89 countries, representing 83 per cent of the developing worlds population.

Sub-Saharan Africa has both the highest rates of children living in extreme poverty at just under 50 per cent, and the largest share of the worlds extremely poor children, at just over 50 per cent. South Asia has the second highest share at nearly 36 per centwith over 30 per cent of extremely poor children living in India alone. More than four out of five children in extreme poverty live in rural areas.

In addition, the report reveals that even at higher thresholds, poverty also affects children disproportionately. About 45 per cent of children are living in households subsisting on less than $3.10 a day per person, compared with nearly 27 per cent of adults.

UNICEF and the World Bank Group are calling on governments to:

 Routinely measure child poverty at the national and subnational level and focus on children in national poverty reduction plans as part of efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030.

 Strengthen child-sensitive social protection systems, including cash transfer programs that directly help poor families to pay for food, health care, education and other services that protect children from the impact of poverty and improve their chances of breaking the cycle in their own lives.

 Prioritize investments in education, health, clean water, sanitation and infrastructure that benefit the poorest children, as well as those that help prevent people from falling back into poverty after setbacks like droughts, disease or economic instability.

 Shape policy decisions so that economic growth benefits the poorest children.

UNICEF and the World Bank Group are working with partners to interrupt cycles of poverty and to promote early childhood development - with programs ranging from cash transfers, to nutrition, healthcare and education.

###
UNICEF/UN034438/Khodabande

NEW YORK/PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 4 October 2016  More than 4 million children may be exposed to the damage of Hurricane Matthew, UNICEF said today as the Category 4 storm made landfall on the impoverished Caribbean island.

This is the worst storm Haiti has seen in decades and the damage will no doubt be significant, said Marc Vincent, UNICEF Representative in Haiti. Water-borne diseases are the first threat to children in similar situations - our first priority is to make sure children have enough safe water.

Strong winds and torrential rains are battering the island, raising the risk of floods and landslides. The airport remains closed and children have been told to stay home from school  particularly as many schools are being used to shelter evacuees.

Haiti is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake, with 55,000 people still living in shelters. The southern coast, where the storm is expected to hit the most, is one of the poorest and most densely populated parts of the country.

In a country where less than 1 in 5 people in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and 40 per cent of people use unsafe water sources, it is feared that the hurricane will worsen an already precarious situation.

Cholera is endemic and with more than 27,000 suspected cholera cases reported already this year  an estimated one third of them children  any damage to water and sanitation infrastructure or largescale displacement could put children and families at greater risk of infection.

UNICEF is working to support the Governments humanitarian response. Life-saving supplies for 10,000 people are in place and ready to be distributed to the most affected families in the worst hit areas. They include water bladders and chlorination tablets, hygiene kits and mosquito nets.



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Download broadcast quality photos and video here: http://weshare.unicef.org/Package/2AMZIFM2233
SANAA/GENEVA, 4 October 2016- As schools open this week in Yemen, UNICEF urges all parties to the conflict to protect schools.

Since the conflict escalated more than 18 months ago, attacks on school children, teachers and education infrastructure had a devastating impact on the countrys education system  and on the chances of millions of children to access learning.

Children were killed on their way to school or while at school, said UNICEF Yemen Representative, Julien Harneis. Parties to the conflict should keep children and schools out of harm to give education a chance, he added.

Due to violence and the closure of schools, more than 350,000 children were unable to resume their education in the past school year, bringing the total of out-of-school children in Yemen to over 2 million. Children who are out of school are at risk of recruitment to fight, said Mr. Harneis.



Since the conflict escalated in March 2015, the United Nations has verified that 1,210 children, some as young as eight years old were recruited to fight.

UNICEF estimates that 2,108 schools across the country can no longer be used. They were destroyed or damaged, host internally displaced families or being used for military purposes.

UNICEF is supporting the Back-to-School campaign to provide children with a learning opportunity. This includes the renovation of nearly 700 damaged schools and provision of school furniture, stationery and school bags. Teachers are receiving training on psychosocial support to help students cope with the horrors of the conflict.

Where schools have been damaged, we are renovating and providing tents to serve as temporary classrooms so that children can learn, Mr. Harneis said.

In the past year and a half, UNICEF has reached over 575,000 school children with education material and psychosocial support and has worked with partners to support over 600,000 students in grade 9 and 12 to take their exams.

UNICEF is asking for $US 34 million for the construction and rehabilitation of damaged schools, provision of teaching and learning resources, training of teachers and community workers to provide psychosocial support, and to carry out the Back-to-School campaign.

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A participant in the restorative justice program paints the front room of a home in July 2016 that he is helping remodel to pay $500 in restitution for a disorderly conduct incident.
New York University is one of the most prestigious universities in the United States; thus, it is not surprising to find that some famous celebrities actually go there. Some of these celebrities did not finish their degrees, while some did. Here is a list of famous celebrities who actually went and earned their degree from NYU.

Matthew Gray Gubler

The "Criminal Minds" actor does not just rely on his good looks but his brains as well. He majored in film directing at Tisch School of Arts and graduated in 2002. Prior to that, he went to the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Visual and Performing Arts where he majored in acting.

Alec Baldwin

Although the actor started at George Washington University, he later transferred to New York University's Tisch School of Arts and graduated in 1994 with a degree in Bachelor's of Fine Arts.

James Franco

To say that James Franco has a passion for education is an understatement because he doesn't have only one but multiple degrees from prestigious universities. As one of the notable alumni of NYU, Franco simultaneously enrolled in Columbia University and Tisch School of Arts where he attended the MFA writing program at the former and earned a master's degree in filmmaking at the latter.

Billy Crystal and Billy Crudup

These two Billies do not just share the same name but the same alma mater as well. Crudup, who was known in films like "Big Fish" and "Sleepers" had an M.F.A at Tisch which he got in 1994. Crystal of the "Harry Met Sally" and "City Slickers" fame, got his BFA at Tisch as well in 1970.

Martin Scorsese

The "Gangs of New York" director is a full-blooded NYU alumni through and through. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in English at the NYU's College of Arts and Sciences in 1964. Two years later, he earned his MFA at the Tisch School of Arts, just one year after the school was launched.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman attended the Tisch School of Arts and graduated in 1989 with a degree in fine arts. The "Hunger Games" actor went to the same year as Suzanne Collins, who was also his co-star in the said film.

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler may look like a buffoon in most of his movies but the actor has a fine arts degree at Tisch which he earned in 1988.

Andy Samberg

Andy Samberg is another testament that comedians and education actually are a good combination. Although he started at the University of California, Sta. Cruz, he transferred to Tisch two years after where he earned his B.F.A in 2000.

Cole and Dylan Sprouse

The "Suite Life of Zack & Cody" stars are bona fide graduates of NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where students have the freedom to plot their own curriculum. Both graduated in 2015 with Cole receiving a degree in archaeology while Dylan on video game design.

Aziz Ansari

While most of the actors in this list went to Tisch, Aziz Ansari is one of the few celebrities who went to NYU's Stern School of Business and a degree that is not related with arts. Ansari majored in marketing and got his degree in 2004. Ansari is a familiar face in "Parks and Recreation" and "Scrubs."
Facebook has launched its Craigslist and eBay competitor, a new feature called the Marketplace. The feature lets a person browse things to buy from individuals who live nearby, and quickly list their own things for sale.

People have already been using the renowned social media for a long time. But Marketplace arranges accordingly the casual function, and indicates just how important these trading posts are for the Facebook's plans, according to Wired.

But people are already using the Marketplace to brazenly sell things that violate Facebook's policies, which includes drugs, as well as animals and adult services.

For instance, people already saw some listings in the Marketplace for snakes, fish, baby hedgehogs, a farm hand, and scantily clad people posing suggestively, based on the report of Business Insider.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment about the issue, instead the spokesperson pointed out to the Facebook's Commerce Policy, which expressly bans selling these kinds of stuffs and services.

However, Marketplace has just launched in the United States, UK, New Zealand and Australia on mobile, but the new Facebook feature could roll out around the world and on the web.

Marketplace product manager Bowen Pan stated that he thinks the widespread presence of Craigslist shows there's a great need for a local commercial product.

While there's no Pages allowed on the new feature right now, the social network company could one day generate ad revenue if it allows businesses or people buy News Feed ads.

Pan stated that after they are confident that they've built out a great product experience for people, they will look into introducing businesses if it makes sense, Tech Crunch reported.

Anyway, the company is betting big on Marketplace, considering that the new feature is replacing the Messenger shortcut in Facebook for iOS. Facebook continues its never ending quest to dominate the internet, as they create their own versions of every popular activity on the web.

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Three families of Gulf fishermen came to southwest Wisconsin and treated several dozen Wisconsinites to some amazing seafood. They discussed the impact of Upper Midwest farming practices on downstream waters with Iowa County farmers who are working to reduce soil erosion.
The rate of unemployment among fresh graduates has reportedly worsened in the slowing Singapore economy. Recruiters have shared tips on how college grads can improve their job hunt.

It was previously noted that fresh graduates can visit their school's career services office to help them in their job hunt. They can also gather referrals from their family and friends who know of any job vacancies that would fit them.

Experts also believe that fresh college graduates should consider a temporary position or internship if they still don't have a permanent job yet. This can help you get your foot in the door as well as continue to build your network and skills.

According to The New Paper, the unemployment rate for degree holders in Singapore has risen from 3.5 percent in Jun. 2015 to 4.3 percent in June this year. This is the highest figure since 2009.

Job experts noted that fresh graduates are taking the hardest hit. There are estimated to be about 25,000 unemployed graduates in June last year and about 34,000 this year.

Amelia Low, 23, is a National University of Singapore scholar yet she also has had a difficult time finding a job. She has sent out more than 50 applications since January and has gone to 11 interviews to no avail. She is currently taking up a temporary job as a research assistant at NUS.

Mr. Koh Rong Ming, a recruitment specialist at Careerhub Consultants, noted that fresh graduates who expect more than what the company can offer usually do not get the job. "Graduates are often more idealistic in their job searches, making themselves more costly for employers to hire," he said. "This causes employers to instead pick experienced employees who require less training, but have lower or similar salary expectations."

Ms Chook Yuh Yng, country manager at JobsDB Singapore, advised fresh graduates to lower their expectations. "Fresh graduates should place long-term career growth ahead of remuneration," she said. "Gain relevant experience first and you'll naturally be armed with better bargaining power."
Stanford University has received another accolade for being the most innovative college in the world for this year. The list was collated by Reuters.

The school has recently nabbed the top spot in The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education's college rankings list. Stanford is described as a school that will engage students' minds. It also has a diverse student body as well as plenty of resources for its community to use.

It also topped College Factual's top California Colleges list. It is followed by Harvey Mudd College, which is based in Claremont. The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) took the third place in the list.

Stanford has once again topped the list collated by Reuters, via Fortune, for the World's Most Innovative Universities. The publication has ranked educational institutions that have contributed a lot to science and technology as well as in helping the global economy for two years now.

The list is based on empirical data, unlike other rankings that use subjective surveys, such as patent filings and research paper citations. The 2016 results showed that breakthroughs like an influential paper or patent can help catapult a school to the top of the list. However, consistency is still key since a school's ranking decreases once the hype of its discovery fades.

"Decade after decade, Stanford's students and faculty consistently innovate," the publication wrote. "Companies founded by Stanford alumni - including Hewlett Packard and Google - have not only become household names, but have upended existing industries and been the cornerstone of entirely new economies."

According to a 2012 study by the university, all the companies formed by Stanford entrepreneurs are estimated to generate $2.7 trillion in annual revenue. This is equivalent to the 10th largest economy in the world.

Stanford researchers have been doing a lot of work on different projects in various fields. The school's scientists were able to develop a cooling clothing material as well as a highly-sensitive microscope. They have also done studies in marine biology and neuroscience that has helped deepen the scientific communities' understanding of these fields.
A University of California - Berkeley professor has sued his accusers of defamation. This comes after he was slammed with a lawsuit for sexual harassment.

The Guardian reported that Blake Wentworth, UC Berkeley assistant professor of south and south-east Asian studies, is the subject of three sexual harassment complaints. He has accused the women of defamation and "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

Wentworth has continued to be at the center of ongoing sexual misconduct scandals plaguing the prestigious public university. This has sparked national debates about harassment and discrimination in campuses.

According to The Daily Californian, Kathleen Gutierrez and Erin Bennett, two current graduate students, filed sexual harassment complaints with the campus Title IX office in Mar. 2015 against Wentworth. The women are facing defamation charges, which were filed last week. A former undergraduate, Nicole Hemenway, was also included in the lawsuit. They all worked and studied in Wentworth's department.

They went public with their harassment cases this year after issuing discrimination complaints with the state. They accused the UC Berkeley professor of inappropriate touching and unwanted sexual advances.

The students described how the inappropriate comments and actions of the professor negatively affected their mental health as well as their studies. Critics have slammed the school for allowing men in powerful positions to repeatedly avoid consequences for harassment.

"We see this as him threatening us into silence," Kathleen Gutierrez said. "We're not backing down... The lawsuit is part of a long line of harassment. It's absolutely shameful to see a professor and teacher pull this kind of ploy against students."

Wentworth is not currently teaching classes. He is on paid leave.

This has continued to shed light on campus safety. Students can take part in creating a safer sexual culture in colleges by stopping situations or comments that are sexist, homophobic, racist or transphobic. They can be an active bystander and get involved when you hear or see something problematic happening as well as to proactively prevent these things from happening in the first place through sending messages of violence prevention.
MIDDLETON  Fiskars, the Finnish consumer products company best known for its orange-handled scissors, hosted a grand opening for its new headquarters at 7800 Discovery Drive in Middleton on Friday.

The firm will coordinate its North, Central and South America operations from the facility. The project was expected to create 55 jobs as part of a $26.3 million project, which also moved Fiskars out of 2537 Daniels St. in Madison.

The new building could house up to 400 people in 108,000 square feet of office, research and development space. The state pledged $800,000 in tax credits tied to the new jobs through 2018 and $3.15 million in tax increment financing from Middleton also helped with site development.
Kevin Schug, UTAs Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry and director of CLEAR.

Trammell S. Crow, who made Fair Park-based Earth Day Texas the largest celebration of its kind in the world, has donated $150,000 to support the ongoing research efforts of the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation or CLEAR lab at The University of Texas at Arlington.

The CLEAR team has now published on air and water quality monitoring studies from all across Texas and we are shifting our attention toward developing effective corrective strategies and best management practices to limit negative ecological impacts, said Kevin Schug, UTAs Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry and director of CLEAR.

With this support from Trammell S. Crow and the partnership with Earth Day Texas, we will continue to make discoveries that will ultimately make the shale energy extraction process more efficient and environmentally compatible, Schug said.

As part of the partnership, CLEAR will host a conference within Earth Day Texas on Responsible Shale Energy Extraction, which will feature live demonstrations, poster presentations and panel discussions that will include technology developers, oil and gas regulators, industry experts, academic researchers and concerned citizen groups.

"This is exactly the kind of partnership Earth Day Texas so effectively facilitates," said Earth Day Texas Founder Trammell S. Crow. "By taking thoughtful, in-depth, unbiased research and study, we can create sustainable, eco-aware energy industries to provide clean efficient fuels with minimum impact on the environment. I'm proud to support the ongoing work of the scientists at UTA's CLEAR lab, who are on the forefront of a cleaner, greener and more equitable world."

Zacariah Hildenbrand, one of the lead scientific contributors to CLEAR, added that This is a defining moment for CLEAR. The Responsible Shale Energy Extraction portion of Earth Day Texas 2017 is going to be a great event. For the first time scientists will be able to engage in fruitful conversations with industry and regulators to discuss how we can make this process safer for the environment.

Most recently, an initial UTA study through CLEAR found abnormalities in drinking water in South Texas Eagle Ford Shale, indicative of some contamination from industrial or agricultural activities in the area. The research was published in the journal "Science of the Total Environment.

Another study, published in August in Science and the Total Environment, showed that highly variable contamination events registered in and around unconventional oil and gas developments are the result of operational inefficiencies and not inherent to the extraction process itself.

Frederick MacDonnell, chair of UTAs Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, underlined the importance of the CLEAR lab within UTAs focus on global environmental impact within the Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions|Global Impact.

CLEAR has a strong history of providing reliable information to the scientific community, industry and the public about the potential effects of large-scale unconventional oil and gas development on the environment, MacDonnell said. This new donation will help CLEAR expand their reach into new services such as strategies for environmental remediations or best practices to improve the environmental management of these industrial companies.

About The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington is a Carnegie Research-1 highest research activity institution of about 55,000 students in campus-based and online degree programs and is the second-largest institution in The University of Texas System. U.S. News & World Report ranks UTA fifth in the nation for undergraduate diversity. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times 2016 Best for Vets list. Visit www.uta.edu to learn more, and find UTA rankings and recognition at www.uta.edu/uta/about/rankings.php.

For more on the Strategic Plan, see Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact.
UTSAs Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

UTSAs Vision

To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSAs Core Values

We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.

UTSAS Destinations

UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.

Our Commitment to Inclusivity

The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
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A historic piece of music that requires increased energy and technical skill from musicians will be performed by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Symphony Orchestra in a concert with the university's Wind Ensemble.

The orchestra will perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, a 30-minute piece that director Andy Moran, assistant professor of horn, calls "gripping for audiences." The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, in Michelsen Hall of the Noel Fine Arts Center.

The Wind Ensemble will open the concert, performing the first movement from Serenade No. 11 in E-flat Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, "A Western Fanfare" by Eric Ewazen, "O Magnum Mysterium" by Morten Lauridsen and "Blue Shades" by Frank Ticheli. The ensemble is directed by Assistant Professor Michael Butler.

Moran is new to UW-Stevens Point this fall and also performs as a principal horn with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. He previously served as the resident director of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and its youth orchestras.

"I'm enjoying my first university position and working with the students at UW-Stevens Point," Moran said. "I can't think of a more thrilling first piece to perform with the orchestra than Beethoven's Fifth Symphony."

Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens, $5 for UW-Stevens Point students, faculty and staff members and youth. Tickets are free the day of the concert for students with a UW-Stevens Point I.D. if not sold out. Tickets are available at the University Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus University Center, by calling 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378 or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu. Tickets also may be purchased at the door if available.


October 4, 2016

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Moi Enomenga, head of Huaoroni People of Ecuador, Visits VSU Oct. 6-7

VALDOSTA  Valdosta State University welcomes Moi Enomenga, head of the Huaoroni people of Ecuador, to campus Oct. 6-7.

Enomenga works to preserve the native land and traditions of the Ecuadorian Amazon, while embracing the benefits ecotourism provides for the Huaoroni people.

Faculty, staff, students, alumni, retirees, and friends of the university will have several opportunities to hear Enomenga speak and to support his conservation efforts by purchasing bags and jewelry handmade by the Huaoroni people.

Interpreters will be provided at each of Enomengas speaking engagements.

Thursday, Oct. 6

 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in West Hall Room 138

 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Nevins Hall Room 2075

 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in Nevins Hall Room 1061

 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Psychology Building Auditorium 1024  There will be a screening of Embrace of the Serpent, an award-winning film focused on the journey of a native tribes last member in the Amazon rainforest. Enomenga will speak about the Amazon following the film.

Friday, Oct. 7

 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Valdosta High School Performing Arts Center

 9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. in West Hall Room 147

 11 a.m. to noon in West Hall Room 138

 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the University Center Theater

VSU is accepting donations of gently worn clothing for Enomenga to take back to the Huaoroni school. A collection box is located in front of West Hall Room 128, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages.

Enomengas visit is sponsored by VSUs Department of Modern and Classical Languages; Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences; Womens and Gender Studies Program; and Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.

Contact Dr. Susan Wehling, a professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, at (229) 333-7100 or swehling@valdosta.edu to learn more.
One of the citys oldest pharmacies is getting out of the prescription business but will retain its popular line of costumes.

Officials with Mallatts Pharmacy have announced that its Waunakee and Lodi stores will close while its stores at 3506 Monroe St. and 1255 Williamson St., will no longer sell prescription medicine but remain open as retail stores and costume shops.

Mike Flint, who bought the company in 1992 and added three other locations, could not immediately be reached for comment but a voice mail message at the Monroe Street shop said the last day to pick up prescriptions will be on Wednesday at all locations with the Lodi and Waunakee stores closing that day. The two Madison stores will be closed Thursday and Friday for renovations and reopen on Saturday as a neighborhood retail store without a prescription department under the new name of Mallatts Costumes, the message said.

All prescription requests will need to be picked up by 5 p.m. Wednesday. All prescription records for the Monroe Street store will be transferred to Walgreens, 3700 University Ave., and for the Williamson Street store to the Walgreens at 15 E. Main St. on the Capitol Square. For Waunakee and Lodi customers, all prescriptions will be transferred to the Walgreens in Waunakee, according to messages on those stores telephone systems.

Mallatts was founded in 1926 on State Street and moved to Monroe Street in 1941. Flint started working at Mallatts in 1980 when he was in pharmacy school at UW-Madison and bought the business in 1992. In 2010, he purchased what was then Shafer Pharmacy on Williamson Street in an effort to expand the costume business that started at the Monroe Street store in the 1960s.

I hate to say it, people dont say, Oh, Mallatts for prescriptions, Flint told the State Journal at the time. Costumes are kind of our deal. Thats OK. Were used to that.

Flint also helped found a buying group so independent pharmacies in Madison could get better pricing on pharmaceuticals, gauze, sunglasses, greeting cards, candy bars and anything else found in a pharmacy. Independent Pharmacy Cooperative now has more than 4,500 members in all 50 states and is the largest group purchasing organization for independent pharmacies in the country.

Since 2003, Flint also has run Mallatts Homecare Pharmacy, which serves nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in and around Dane County and in the Milwaukee area. The service fills medication boxes and provides daily delivery to homes and care facilities.

In 2012, Mallatts purchased Harris Pharmacys two stores in Waunakee and Lodi from owner Rich Harris.

Patty Spence, city clerk in Lodi, said the closing of the Mallatts in her city will leave the community without a pharmacy. The Waunakee Walgreens is about a 15-minute drive from Lodi.

I dont know what people are going to do, other than travel to another city, Spence said. Im sure there will be elderly and other people who will have a tough time with this. It was a surprise for everyone. Its unfortunate.

The closing of the four pharmacies comes as national retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, Shopko and other regional and national brands continue to grow their presence in the Madison area. Earlier this year, Community Pharmacy, 341 State St., founded in 1972, made a plea to its customers for more business as it has struggled in recent years with customer counts and reduced reimbursements on prescriptions.

Peg Breuer, owner of the citys oldest pharmacy, Neuhauser Pharmacy, founded in 1914 and located at 1825 Monroe St., said she was not approached by Mallatts to take over prescriptions. She didnt learn of the closings until Monday morning.

It was a huge surprise, said Breuer, who bought her pharmacy in 1980. Its pretty apparent that its tough. Its been a tough year. I hope to gain some business and I hope that it all works out well for us. Im really sad to see them go.
The Downtown property that once held St. Raphaels Cathedral, a church rectory and a religious school doesnt qualify for a property tax exemption for religious use, a Dane County judge ruled Tuesday.

While Dane County Circuit Judge Rhonda Lanford agreed that the property is being used for a religious purpose, it failed to satisfy a second requirement under state law that the property is necessary for (the) location and convenience of buildings, such as a future cathedral to replace St. Raphaels, which was lost to an arson fire in 2005.

St. Raphaels Congregation, the listed owner of the property at 204 W. Main St., sued the city last year, claiming it was improperly assessed property taxes for 2014 for the parcel because it still serves a religious purpose following construction of a Way of the Cross on the property, made up of 14 stations commemorating key locations along the route that Jesus took on the day of his crucifixion.

After it opened the Way of the Cross, the congregation asserted that the property was being used for a religious purpose. It sued to recover property taxes paid in 2013, but Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess ruled that it hadnt applied for a religious exemption for the property in time.

In January 2014, the congregation filed a timely property tax exemption with the city, but the city denied the request in November 2014. The property was assessed at just over $4 million, and the congregation paid $98,480 in property taxes.

In January 2015 the congregation asked for a property tax refund, and the city denied that claim.

The issues, Lanford wrote, were whether the property was exclusively used for religious purposes and whether it is necessary for (the) location and convenience of buildings, which are both required by state law to be exempt from property tax.

The congregation maintains that the Way of the Cross is an exclusively religious use, while the city said few religious services are held there, and the area is instead used by the public, including to walk dogs.

Just 20 prayer services were held there in 2013 and 26 in 2014, but because the Way of the Cross is always open for religious contemplation, Lanford said the property is used exclusively for a religious purpose.

While the organized religious services taking place at the property are sporadic, this does not mean that the religious significance of the imagery on the property is lessened, Lanford wrote.

But it was the second prong where the lawsuit fails, Lanford said. The congregation argued that the property is necessary for the construction of a new cathedral and necessary for the convenience of other nearby church properties, such as St. Patricks Church and Holy Redeemer Church.

The city argued that the propertys exemption shouldnt be based on the Madison Catholic Dioceses uncertain future intended use of the property.

While the (diocese) here has acquired property in preparation for the construction of the new cathedral, Lanford wrote, it has not submitted plans of any kind into this record. (The diocese) here requires the institution of a significant capital campaign to get the money to begin construction, and it will not have this money until some uncertain time in the future.

A mere intention to build a cathedral on the property is not enough, she wrote.

Diocese spokesman Brent King said in a statement Thursday that the diocese will consider and thoroughly explore all of our options for the Cathedral property.
The WWE brand extension was met with some raised eyebrows upon its first announcement and those early reservations seemed to have been within good reason once the final drafts and rosters were confirmed.

By comparison, SmackDown Live appeared far inferior to Monday Night Raw but since August, the blue brand has shattered and defied expectation leaving their competition in their wake.

One of the main reasons for this success is American Alpha as Chad Gable and Jason Jordan have electrified what originally looked like being a weakened tag-team division.

The duo has been phenomenal early on and has no plans to ease up on their bright start as Gable talked openly about his early days on the main roster and the desire to be better than Raw: each and every week.

On SmackDown roster

Chad Gable says he was sceptical about the SmackDown roster at first (image:chad-gable.net)

The SmackDown brand led by commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan have set the tone in the New-Era of professional wrestling in WWE.

In recent weeks, now extending into months, the blue brand has excelled in their struggle for power with storyline development coupled with brilliant performances catapulting them into the lead.

Gable explains that even he himself was skeptical regarding the strength of SmackDown as he said, "It has been great, I am glad we got drafted to SmackDown; I think early on especially on draft night people were kind of skeptical towards the roster that SmackDown got, which I think was unfair to begin with."

However despite having to win over the doubters, the 30-year-old now feels that his brand are now 'fully capable' of competing and putting on 'just as good a show' as their rivals.

He said, "I think since then we have proven that we are fully capable of competing with RAW and putting on just as good a show, and I think we have done that, we have had incredible shows these past few weeks."

With American Alpha, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, John Cena and The Miz all leading the way on the SmackDown roster Gable feels it is a mixture of elements that have paved the way for their success.

He said, "Our stories are great, the wrestling is great on our show and I think we have everything that a wrestling fan desires, we have it on SmackDown and I think we are killing it."

With the brand extension still in its early days, Gable will be hoping for more of the early success which has seen himself and partner Jordan notch up seven victories from nine televised matches.

On beating the competition

Chad Gable says that SmackDown Live is killing it (image: youtube.com)

'Competition brings out the best in people' and that is exactly the message that WWE owner Vince McMahon wanted to convey ahead of the brand-extension.

Despite all the performers working under and for the same company, the rivalry between the two brands is 'real' says Gable as it brings out the competitive nature in the performers.

He said, "I think that is it, a kind of a big point of the whole thing, it is to create a bit of competitive nature which is great for me and Jason because we have that mindset, to begin with."

American Alpha are still in the hunt for tag-team gold as they look to defeat their opponents whenever they step foot inside the squared circle but they have one eye on their brand competition who perform one night earlier, which Gable feels gives them the advantage.

He said, "We love being competitive and this helps when you go in on Tuesday nights and you have seen what they did the night before on RAW or you have seen what they have done on a pay-per-view on Sunday and you say 'guys we have to top this'."

The competition seems to be getting real now which is the feeling of the former NXT tag-team champion who feels that 'magic' will follow as the product continues to become better and better.

He said, "The real competition is there now and I think you are going to see that reflect [in] the product and how much better it gets because when people are competitive, magic happens, it starts getting better and better and it doesn't stop."

Gable spoke to VAVEL via conference call ahead of WWE's upcoming European tour in the United Kingdom.
Monday Night Raw has been struggling to catch-up with the quality shows that SmackDown Live have been producing but they planned to get back on equal terms tonight.

Picking the top five moments from such an in-depth three hour show has been hard with all guns blazing towards their pay-per-view at the end of this month.

The red brand featured a number of A-list stars on their show but what five things could we take-away from such an action packed episode of the red brand?

Roman vs. Rusev inside Hell in a Cell

One of the biggest and earliest announcements happened in the opening segment as Roman Reigns was greeted inside the ring by Lana.

The Ravishing Russian came out to agree terms to a rematch, something that the United States Champion took offense to and claimed that Rusev was hiding behind his wife's skirt.

Tired of The Guy's insults towards his significant other, The Bulgarian Brute made his way down to the ring and the pair brawled with Rusev kicking the champ into the WWE Universe.

The former League of Nation's member tried to escape with the U.S. title but out of nowhere came Reigns who hit him with a superman punch.

With the champion standing over his foe he made the statement that he will get his rematch but it will be inside Hell in a Cell.

Kendrick can

Despite the announcement of a title match on last week's episode, this week's match between The Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins did not feature a title on the line.

The cruiserweight champion squared off against his former mentor and Clash of Champions opponent but this match had a very different ending.

A rake to the eyes of Perkins allowed Kendrick to gain an advantage as he locked in the Captain's Hook forcing the champion to submit.

With the veteran defeating the champion he puts himself in direct contention for a future title shot after proving he can get the job done.

Strowman wants more

Brawn Strowman made his way to the ring and was greeted by a rather confident opponent named Chase Silver who said he had a dream he would "beat up" the former Wyatt family.

However, that dream would remain just that as within a matter of moments it was over and the 33-year-old had claimed another victim.

Byron Saxton bravely stepped into the ring to speak to the victor who said if Mick Foley does not provide him with some "real competition" there may not be a "next week."

It seems finally there may be a conclusion to the domination of Strowman but his opponent for next week remains a mystery with the top contenders The Big Show or Mark Henry.

The best friend's battle

Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson finally came face to face with Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens with the battle to see who are the true best of friends finally coming to a head.

Backstage the Hollywood pair made the list of Jericho and were present at ringside as JeriKO squared off against The New Day in their first step forward towards the tag-team titles.

Kutcher and Masterson were on commentary and despite not setting the world alight they were one of the better celebrity guest that WWE have had.

Seth Rollins had the biggest impact of the night as his introduction distracted Owens and Jericho allowing the tag-team champions to pick up the victory.

The Architect still had unfinished business and pounced on a weakened and unsuspecting Y2J and hit the pedigree, while maintaining eye contact on his 'best-friend' The Prizefighter.

When questioned on his actions later in the show Rollins said Stephanie McMahon can no longer control him and that she should grant him his rematch.

Sasha Banks; champion

The culmination of many months came to a head on Raw as Sasha Banks got Charlotte one-on-one with the WWE Women's Title on the line.

Dana Brooke taunted Bayley backstage and was taken out after pushing the former NXT Women's champion too far, leaving her mentor all alone.

The Boss was as confident as ever as she faced The Nature Girl, the moment of the match was seeing the champion perform an inverted moonsault from the top-rope to the outside of the ring taking out the challenger.

Just when it looked as if the champion would retain after she connects with the Natural Selection Banks kicked out and then locked in the Bank Statement.

As The Boss wrenched back, it became too much for Charlotte to take and she was left with no option but to tap out, relinquishing her title to Sasha Banks.

The Nature Girl trudged backstage with tears in her eyes as she claims that the title her foe just snatched from her was 'hers' although she will likely get her chance to earn it back at Hell in a Cell.
Now emphasizing diplomacy, the Obama administration has just withdrew its cooperation with Russia over Syria wars. On the other side, Moscow suspended a key nuclear weapons treaty it had just signed with Washington more than a decade ago.

Frustrated over the relentless Russian and Syrian bombings in the city of Aleppo, the White House in Washington announced that it was breaking off bilateral talks with Russia over Syria's providence and cancelling its partnership plans to share military intelligence and resources information with Moscow, Russia.

The said decision came after the continuous negotiations, including near-daily telephone conversations between Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Both aimed at reducing violence and opening up routes for desperately needed food and medicine for besieged enclaves.

""This is not a decision that was taken lightly, unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed." Kirby exclaimed.

The Russian government had agreed to a cease-fire last month however, that was just quick and temporary. Russia has an argument that the United States has failed in its commitment to separate the moderate rebel groups it supports from more radical factions such as the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.

On the other side, the U.S. counters that Russia and its ally, the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad used the time to pound rebel-held portions of Aleppo. This includes numerous civilian neighborhoods with barrel bombs and other indiscriminate attacks. The result-hundreds of people have been killed during last week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an act suspending Russia's participation in a treaty with the U.S. designed to eliminate nuclear weapons.

The Russian President cited "a threat to strategic stability as a result of USA's unfriendly acts toward Russia." This was in reference to a deepening diplomatic spat between the Kremlin and the White House over Syria. Also, the tensions and sanctions that followed Russia's 2014 takeover of Crimea and its support to separatists in eastern Ukraine was a basis.

More so, Kirby said the United States will withdraw a team that had been dispatched to open a so-called joint implementation center. This is in which Russian and American armed forces were going to join efforts to fight Islamic State and other jihadi groups.


Marquee Nightclub at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas celebrated its fifth anniversary Monday night with the return of Party Rock Monday for an exclusive one-night-only event (Pictured: Redfoo Sprays Champagne  Photo credit: Al Powers).

Photo credit: Al Powers.

Redfoo and the Party Rock Crew took over the stage and dazzled party goers with an over-the-top hour and a half performance of hit after hit including Sorry for Party Rocking, Shots and Sexy and I Know It.

Photo credit: Al Powers.

The crew fueled the party and kept the night going as they poured shots into the crowd and surprised the dance floor with champagne showers.

Photo credit: Al Powers.

Decked out in animal print and neon, a $5,000 prize sponsored by Bud Light was given to the largest group wearing their best Party Rock gear.

Photo credit: Al Powers.
A former teacher and school district administrator whose personnel records were the subject of a state Supreme Court ruling 20 years ago cannot block release of those records, a state appeals court said Tuesday.

The District 3 Court of Appeals said that the New Richmond School District can release the personnel records of Thomas Woznicki, finding that he failed to show that public interest in disclosure of the records was outweighed by public interest in keeping them secret.

Woznicki had sought an injunction in St. Croix County Circuit Court barring release of the records. A judge there ruled last year that Woznicki could not block release of the records.

Woznicki could not be immediately reached for comment. His lawyer and wife, Anne-Marie Woznicki, did not immediately respond to email and phone messages.

In 1996, the state Supreme Court said in another case in which Woznicki sought to block the same records that the subjects of public records requests can ask a court to review a records custodians decision to release them. The state Legislature later fine-tuned that decision with a law that specified who could challenge the release of records and for how long they could do so.

Tuesdays appeals courts ruling does not seek to change anything about the process for challenging and releasing public records. Instead, the court said that there is significant public interest supporting disclosure of Woznickis personnel records.

At issue are records related to Woznickis time as a teacher in the district from 1987 to 1994. In 1994, Woznicki was charged with having consensual sex with a minor over the age of 16, but the district attorney later dismissed the case against Woznicki.

At the time, the district attorney was set to release personnel records that were part of the criminal investigation, but Woznicki successfully blocked their release in court.

Since then, Woznicki was a school district administrator in Florence and in Boscobel, where he was employed for less than a year before he resigned.

In this case, in March 2015 a group called Citizens for Responsible Government, also called CRG Network, made an open records request to the New Richmond School District seeking release of Woznickis personnel file. The district administrator, Jeff Moberg, told CRG that he planned to release the file, but first had to inform Woznicki that he intended to do so. Woznicki sought an injunction barring the release of the records.

Woznicki argued that the public interest in nondisclosure of his personnel file outweighed the public interest in the files disclosure.

He argued that the district violated its own records retention policy by keeping his personnel file for 18 years after he left the district instead of destroying it.

Woznicki also argued that release of the records would subject him to harassment. He said he and his wife had been contacted numerous times by mail and email in 2014 and 2015 by a man who claimed that Woznicki had had an inappropriate relationship with the mans sister when he was a teacher at New Richmond.

But the court said the district record retention policy is irrelevant to its decision concerning release of the file. And Judge Mark Seidl, writing for the court, said that while safety may sometimes outweigh the publics interest in a record, mere embarrassment from the disclosure of a public record is not sufficient, especially in this case, when truly private information, such as Woznickis address, will be redacted.

Seidl also pointed out that it was CRG, not the man who had repeatedly contacted Woznicki, who requested disclosure of his personnel file from New Richmond.

CRG Network has not harassed Woznicki and nothing in the record suggests CRG Network will use the information contained in Woznickis personnel file to harass him, Seidl wrote. He added that there was also no reasonable probability shown that the man who contacted Woznicki will harass him if CRG is given the file.

Also, as a teacher, the court said, Woznicki was in the public eye with the important responsibility for educating children, and the public should expect increased accountability because of that.
Hanoi was the last of 10 cities in the country that offer free wifi service for tourists.



The service became available on September 1 at the area around the Hoan Kiem Lake.



With a mobile device, tourists can surf the Internet for free through the network "Freewifi_UBNDHANOI". Each session lasts 30 minutes. People can log in again to continue using the service.



The other cities that offer free wifi are HoiAn, Ha Long, Hue, Da Nang, Da Lat, Hai Phong, Can Tho, Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.



Recently, the central province of Phu Yen decided to provide free wifi in the city of Tuy Hoa.



In 2012, Hoi An became the pioneer in offering free Wi-Fi for local residents and visitors. The service has helped lure more tourists to the ancient town. However, the quality of free wifi service still needs to be improved.
According to Visal Leng, general manager of Asia-Pacific for GE Oil & Gas, this initiative is about strengthening the talent and skills base needed for the future successful development of the oil and gas industry in Vietnam.

We are working in partnership with PetroVietnam to ensure the next generation of oil and gas professionals has the skills, knowledge and insights needed to be able to succeed in an ever-changing environment. During these uncertain times for our industry, we cannot afford to stay focused exclusively on the present. Now more than ever, we need to also think of and invest in the future, said Visal.

Pham Nhu Khanh, vice president of PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation said that the company was highly appreciative of GEs efforts to support the development of its employees.

It is a unique opportunity for 26 of our future leaders to gain in-depth knowledge and acquire valuable technical and leadership skills, which will not only open up their career pathways but also positively contribute to the industrys sustainable growth, Khanh noted.

Delivered through the GE Oil & Gas University over a four-week period  the course covers Leadership, Energy and Process and Equipment and will be delivered by experts from GE and other leading organisations.

Sandro Fantini, GE Oil & Gas University director, said the universitys programme has contributed to building an extraordinary, world-wide network of professionals for more than a decade.

Since 2005, we have provided employees from our oil and gas customers with fundamental management and technical skills to consolidate their overall understanding of the industry.

GE professionals together with academic professors and the most valuable industry experts offer a unique multicultural training experience to our key customers, which we continue to update our portfolio and ensure high quality programmes, said Sandro.

Since its establishment, the GE Oil & Gas University has hosted 87 national and international oil and gas companies, as well as recorded about 770 graduates of resident and localised courses from 35 countries.

Today, GE invests more than $1 billion each year in employee development worldwide. As of 2015, GE Crotonville leadership centre served more than 40,000 employees and 4,200 customers.

Close to a hundred of top leaders from GEs customers and partners in Vietnam have joined the intensive leadership development programmes at Crotonville campus.

GE was one of the first American companies established in Vietnam in 1993. GE Vietnam currently employs more than 900 people and offers products and services in the Power, Energy Connections, Renewable Energy, Oil and Gas, Healthcare and Aviation sectors.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) yesterday proposed eliminating a ban on business services offered online or via communication networks without getting prior permission.-Photo thuonggiaonline.vn

Reporting to the National Assembly Standing Committee, which kicked off its fourth meeting session yesterday morning, Justice Minister Le Thanh Long said that the Government decided to eliminate Article 292 three months after it stirred up debate in the media and generated criticism from the business sector, especially the start-up community.

Violation of the current law carries a fine of up to VN5 billion (US$222,200) and five years in prison.

The MoJs proposal faces opposition from the National Assembly (NA)s Ombudsman Commission, which fears that multi-level marketing (MLM) business models - known as "pyramid schemes" - would spread in the countryside.

There has been an on-going pyramid scheme nightmare in the countryside. I have received so many complaints from residents about the issue, Ombudsman Committee Head Nguyen Thanh Hai said.

Hence I earnestly ask to keep the part regulating MLM in Article 292, she said.

Article 292 was just one among 141 articles of the Penal Code 2015 proposed by the MoJ to be amended or supplemented after the newly-adopted law was found to have several legal loopholes just a few days before its implementation date on July 1.

Deputies of the 13th NA - the very legislature which passed the error-riddled Penal Code last year - had to urgently vote on June 29 to delay implementation of the law. Some claimed the legislation contained as many as 90 legal faults.

The Government, and the MoJ in particular, was asked by the NA to revise and fix all the loopholes before it is resubmitted to the NA for approval.

Drugs ban extension

The MoJ also proposed adding two new drug substances - cathinone and XRL 11 - to the list of drugs banned by the Penal Code.

Cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant, is found in khat leaves, the smuggling of which has seen a steep increase this year. The other substance is made from synthetic cannabinoid products sold under brand names like Spice or K2, which are rapidly gaining popularity in Viet Nam.

The MoJ also asked to remove the general terms of other drug substances regulating drugs offences, saying unknown drugs should not be included in the law for the sake of caution.

Viet Nam has very strict penalties for drug offenders so any extension of the drug list subject to criminal charges should be considered carefully, Justice Minister Le Thanh Long said. For instance, under the Penal Code, those who carry 100 grams of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine could face a death sentence.

But the NAs Law Committee Chairman, Nguyen Khac inh, said different kinds of drugs appeared every now and then and it would be too complicated to amend the law whenever a new drug came out.

He added that having the terms other drug substances regulated in the Penal Code would effectively help law enforcement by providing a legal basis for them should a new drug be smuggled into Viet Nam.
Accordingly, the parties agreed to continue sharing experience in collective action to strengthen integrity in business, improve the investment environment by promoting openness and transparency, while discussing the method and roadmap to replicate the models at Hoa Lac and Danang HTP.

Pham Dai Duong, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology cum head of the management board of Hoa Lac High-Tech Park (HHTP), said at a recent seminar that, "Transparency and integrity are the key elements to creating a healthy business climate which helps attract more investment and ensure healthy competition for businesses to thrive."

Vietnam is now home to three national high-tech parks. To date, SHTP has signed several agreements with businesses on collective action to strengthen business integrity. In particular, in 2007, SHTP signed with the US's Intel Products Vietnam. The move was applauded by business community.

Le Bich Loan, deputy chairwoman of the SHTP Management Board, said that one of the factors that contributed to the parks achievements is collective action to strengthen integrity in business, which is an urgent need among investors.

"We have so far attracted 101 projects worth over $5.6 billion in total registered investment capital. The park's land area is mostly filled," she added.

Hoa Lac and Danang high-tech parks are also following the SHTP model. At the seminar, HHTP and VNPT Technology Company signed a commitment to transparency and integrity in business, making it the first of its kind at Hoa Lac.

Pham Anh Duong, deputy director of Towards Transparency Organisation, said that, "Through collective action initiatives like the one run by SHTP, businesses can proactively connect to each other, cooperate with state agencies and civil society organisations to turn transparency and integrity commitments into particular action and anti-corruption solutions. Cooperation is a sustainable approach for the Vietnamese business sector to develop towards full transparency and integrity.

However, local businesses find it a rocky path to do business with integrity.

"Although Vietnam has developed a comparatively comprehensive legal framework on transparency and anti-corruption, the enforcement of various laws have been revealed to be weak, and the business community have not been really convinced to participate in anti-corruption initiatives and operate with integrity. The individual efforts of businessess to build up a corruption-free business culture more often than not stalls on a chronic lack of consensus, encouragement, and support from relevant stakeholders," admitted the deputy minister.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials told state lawmakers Tuesday theyre training employees in response to reports that they misinformed people seeking voter IDs at Division of Motor Vehicles locations throughout the state.

It was the latest effort by Gov. Scott Walkers administration to assure lawmakers and the public that no one whos eligible to vote will be barred from doing so because of the states voter ID requirement.

The administration seeks to defuse criticism that it is bungling implementation of the requirement five weeks before the first presidential election in which it is in effect.

We still have plenty of time to right any wrongs that may have occurred, DMV administrator Kristina Boardman told reporters Tuesday.

DMV staffers are being trained on the ID process this week, DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb told lawmakers.

The testimony came at a legislative panel hearing on whether to extend an emergency voter ID rule issued by Walker in May.

Gottlieb told lawmakers that 332 voters who previously were stuck in a state petition process to obtain an ID have been given a temporary credential they can use to vote in November. The petition process is for a small subset of voters who lack IDs as well as the underlying documents, such as birth certificates or passports, needed to get one from the state.

In Tuesdays hearing, Democratic lawmakers said the DMV may have created an unnavigable process to provide voter IDs.

The real concern here is that people are going to be discouraged, that theyre not going to follow through with the process, that it becomes too cumbersome, said Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit.

The legislative panel voted 4-3, on party lines, to extend Walkers rule through the Nov. 8 election. It requires the DMV to issue temporary voting credentials within six business days to people who petition the state because they lack an ID as well as the underlying documents to get one.

Much of Tuesdays debate centered on news reports on recently released audio recordings of exchanges between DMV staffers and volunteers for the group VoteRiders. The initial report was by The Nation magazine.

Transcripts of the recordings were entered into evidence Tuesday in a federal court challenge to the voter ID law brought by the liberal group One Wisconsin Institute.

A brief by the plaintiffs accompanying the transcripts asks federal Judge James Peterson to immediately lift Wisconsins voter ID requirement unless and until the State can demonstrate that eligible voters will no longer be disenfranchised.

The recordings prompted Peterson to order the DMV to investigate if voters were being given inaccurate information.

That report is due to the court Friday.

VoteRiders provided copies of the audio recordings to the Wisconsin State Journal Tuesday. In them, staffers at DMV locations around the state appear to try to assist the VoteRiders volunteer, Susan McGrath, who says shes seeking an ID for a relative who wants to vote and doesnt have access to her birth certificate.

But DMV staffers at several locations give the woman incorrect information. In some cases, it contradicts both Walkers rule and Petersons July court order, which said people who enter the voter ID petition process must promptly be given temporary voting credentials.

At a DMV office in Hudson, the staffer tells the woman that youre not guaranteed to get an ID card and its going to take a while to get it.

At the Wisconsin Rapids DMV, a staffer says completing the petition process could take an indefinite amount of time.

Despite that, Gottlieb  under questioning from Democratic lawmakers  said theres no fundamental flaw in the departments process for providing IDs. The department has issued more than 500,000 free ID cards since 2011, Gottlieb said Tuesday.

We believe that the process is a sound process that certainly will not disenfranchise any voters, Gottlieb said.

Spreitzer and his Democratic colleagues on the panel who attended the hearing, Sens. Mark Miller, D-Monona, and Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, asked the committee to request the Legislature go into extraordinary session to eliminate the voter ID requirement. The motion was rejected on a 4-3 party-line vote.
VIR talked to Eric Lam, director of Enterprise Cybersecurity Group, Microsoft Asia about the launch and the centres operation.

What is the significance of the launch of this combined facility?

The Singapore Transparency Centre was selected as a convenient location for governments in the Asia region and will be part of a global network that covers four regions, joining existing facilities in Redmond, Washington, for North America, and Brussels, Belgium, for Europe. In addition, a Transparency Centre is planned for the Latin America region, as well as a Transparency Centre in Beijing, which will officially open later in 2016.

On the other hand, the launch of the Microsoft Cybersecurity Centre underscores Microsofts continued commitment to building trust in technology and all that it promises. The centre aims to build upon the companys cybercrime fighting efforts, and serves as a platform for Microsoft to foster a safer digital world by enabling deeper cybersecurity collaborations with public and private sector organisations in Singapore and the region.

Why did you choose Singapore as the location for the centre?

Singapore is the location of our Asia Pacific headquarters, and is a natural base for us to leverage the existing talent and resources to cater to the regions governments and enterprises

You just shared that Microsoft invest more than $1 billion per year for security. What are some of the highlights in 2015?

In November 2015, Microsoft announced the launch of the Cyber Defense Operations Centre (CDOC), which brings together security response experts from across the company to help protect, detect, and respond to threats in real-time.

Staffed with dedicated teams 24x7, the centre has direct access to thousands of security professionals, data scientists, and product engineers throughout Microsoft to ensure rapid response and resolution to security threats.

Moreover, informed by trillions of data points across an extensive network of sensors, devices, authentications, and communications, the centre employs automated software, machine learning, behavioral analysis, and forensics to create an intelligent security graph. This threat intelligence insight helps our teams connect the dots, then counter with strong containment and coordinated remediation.

Another highlight of the year 2015 is the launch of the Enterprise Cybersecurity Group (ECG), which is a dedicated group of worldwide security experts who will deliver security solutions, expertise and services that empower organisations to modernise their IT platforms, securely move to the cloud and keep data safe.

ECGs cybersecurity solutions can be categorised as to Protect, Detect and Respond. They protect customers most valuable assets by helping to prevent cyber-attacks, monitor customer networks to expose attacks, vulnerabilities and persistent threats, and investigate and disrupt suspicious events to provide diagnoses and recommended mitigations.

Microsoft has also made several security acquisitions in the past year: In November 2015, we acquired Secure Islands to accelerate our ability to help customers secure their business data no matter where it is stored - across on-premises systems, Microsoft cloud services like Azure and Office 365, and third party services, as well as any Windows, iOS or Android device. Secure Islands technology enhances the data protection capabilities available today with Azure Rights Management Service (RMS), Microsofts cloud-based information protection solution. Moving forward, Secure Islands technology will integrate into RMS to provide a flexible architecture able to meet the most rigorous protection and compliance requirements.

In September 2015, we acquired Adallom, whose technology also expands on Active Directory to give customers visibility and control over access to applications, as well as their critical company data stored across Microsoft and third party cloud services. Adallom will complement existing offerings that Microsoft makes available today as part of Office 365 and the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), including Advanced Threat Analytics.

Did Microsoft have any activities in Asia in this respect last year?

Yes. In February 2015, Microsoft announced the launch of the Cybercrime Satellite Centre in Singapore (upgraded to todays Cybercrime Centre), a satellite extension of the Microsoft Cybercrime Centre in Redmond in the US.

The centre in Singapore serves as a regional hub for Microsoft to undertake cybercrime and cybersecurity initiatives in the Asia Pacific region, through public-private partnerships and cross-industry collaboration. This includes all major Southeast Asian countries, as well as Australia, India, Korea and New Zealand.

It also includes collaborations with Interpol in at least three botnet disruption operations; a PhotoDNA partnership with Interpol; cyber forensics work for customers; as well as operations with local police.

The Cybersecurity Centre joins four others in Asia: in Beijing, India, Tokyo and Seoul.
More than 300 kilograms of ivory were seized at Noi Bai Airport.

According to customs declaration, the shipment, transported on an Etihad Airways plane from Lagos, Nigeria, belongs to Gia Huy Services and Trade Company headquartered in Hanoi.

The customs department and relevant authorities have taken a sample of the shipment for further examination.



Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh on October 2 praised the customs department for discovering the illegal trade and urged law enforcement agencies to strictly punish those violating wildlife trafficking laws.



Earlier in April, the General Department of Customs also detected a case in which 105 kilograms of ivory was transported from abroad to Vietnam via Noi Bai Airport.
The local telecommunications market is the scene of fierce 3G competition

The prime minister last week gave in-principle approval to FPT Group and FPT Telecom being strategic investors of EVN Telecom.

EVN Telecom will this month announce its strategic investors after its negotiations with FPT and its affiliate FPT Telecom are finalised.

An EVN Telecom source revealed that the stake to be sold to FPT and FPT Telecom would be more than 50 per cent.

FPT Telecom was already licenced to be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and is piloting LTE TDD technology.

Mobile business is what we want in our business portfolio and we are enthusiastic in our negotiations with partners. Our investment capital will be 10-times the amount we previously planned to invest in EVN Telecom, said FPT deputy general director Phan Duc Trung Trung.

FPT previously planned to invest VND400 billion ($21 million) in EVN Telecom as the former wanted to use the latters facility to provide mobile service.

The upcoming involvement of FPT and FPT Telecom in EVN Telecom means there would be no chance for foreign entities to be the mobile operators strategic partners.

Previously, EVN Telecom, which is expected to be the first mobile operator to be equitised in Vietnam, announced its plan to sell a 30 per cent stake to a foreign strategic investor. Details of the plan were not revealed then, except that the strategic investor would be a Singaporean or Malaysian firm.

EVN Telecom then also said the foreign strategic investors name would be made public after the company completed its equitisation process in September, this year.

Meanwhile, MobiFones long-awaited equitisation has seen many delays. The company was converted into a one-member company in early July and is still waiting for new government directions. The company planned to sell a 30 per cent stake to investors, including 15 per cent to strategic partners.

Viettel Telecom does not have a clear equitisation plan, as it is trying to complete a restructuring proposal by expanding into other business segments such as mobile handset production.

The long-awaited VinaPhone equitisation is still distant, as VNPT Groups restructuring proposal has not yet been approved by the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Air strikes destroyed rebel-held eastern Aleppo's biggest hospital as Syria's regime pressed its Russian-backed offensive to retake the entire city. (AFP/Karam al-Masri)

Accusing Moscow of abetting Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad's assault on civilian districts of the city, Washington said it had suspended bilateral talks with Russia on reviving a truce.

"Everybody's patience with Russia has run out," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

A State Department official said US Secretary of State John Kerry remains "laser-focused" on finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict through multilateral channels.

But his near daily telephone calls and regular Geneva talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the crisis are over.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesman John Kirby said, announcing an end to plans to set up a joint US-Russian military cell to target militants.

There was no word on what America's "Plan B" might be, despite rumors of tougher US sanctions and talk that Saudi Arabia and Qatar might step up arms shipments to anti-Assad rebels.

The UN Security Council was to meet later Monday to consider a draft French resolution to impose a ceasefire but, having failed to ground Assad's planes, Russia is expected to veto it.

BACK AND FORTH

Kirby said the Russian and US militaries will keep a communications channel set up to ensure their forces do not get in each other's way during "counterterrorism operations in Syria."

But US personnel who had been sent to Geneva to set up a "Joint Implementation Center" with Russian officers are coming home.

"We regret this decision by Washington," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to Russian agencies.

Under a deal signed last month by Kerry and Lavrov in Geneva a truce was declared on Sep 12 but it collapsed within a week.

Washington accused Moscow of failing to rein in Assad's government forces and of itself carrying out air strikes on civilian targets, including a UN aid convoy.

Moscow, meanwhile, says the United States failed to separate "moderate" anti-Assad rebels from militants linked to Al-Qaeda.

According to Kirby, Russia was "unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed."

The US spokesman accused Moscow and Damascus of targeting hospitals and preventing aid from reaching desperate civilians.

The Russian response was just as stark. "Washington simply did not fulfil the key condition of the agreement," Zakharova said of Washington's struggle to separate opposition fighters from the militant Fateh al-Sham Front.

"After failing to fulfill the agreements that they themselves worked out, they are trying to shift responsibility on to someone else."

Meanwhile, the fighting continued. The Pentagon confirmed reports that US warplanes had targeted a "prominent" Al-Qaeda leader near Idlib in northern Syria.

This came as the Fateh al-Sham Front, which recently changed its name from Al-Nusra Front following a break with Al-Qaeda, confirmed the death of veteran commander Ahmed Salama Mabrouk.

'SPEECHLESS SHOCK'

The aid agency Doctors Without Borders reacted with fury to the latest hospital bombings, saying strikes on clinics in Syria and Yemen leave "the global medical community in speechless shock."

This came after an air raid destroyed rebel-held eastern Aleppo's biggest hospital, the M10.

"The hospital is now not usable at all," said Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society. "It is not salvageable, per reports from the staff and doctors there." He said three maintenance workers were killed.

Moscow on Monday denied it was bombing hospitals, insisting its bombing campaign was "highly effective" and had stopped militants taking over Syria.

Elsewhere, at least 21 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group were killed on Sunday by landmines laid by the militant group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The toll was the highest loss of life for forces involved in the Turkish-led operation in northern Syria since it began in late August, it said. It did not mention any Turkish casualties.
The shares will be auctioned at the initial price of VND10,000 (45 US cent) per share on October 28. Domestic and foreign investors are invited to register and submit the deposit by October 21 to participate in the event.

Vinafood 1 Flourmill & Trade produces and processes food, flour, and related products and produces and trades animal feed production materials. Vinafood 1 Flourmill & Trade expects its chartered capital to reach VND242 billion ($10.85 million) after going public, of which Vinafood 1 is going to hold 65 per cent, employees 0.99 per cent, and other investors 34 per cent.

Vinafood 1 Flourmill & Trade earned a revenue of VND252 billion ($11.3 million) and a net profit of VND894 million ($40,000) in the first half of 2016. As of the end of June, 2016, its total assets value was VND316 billion ($14.1 million). The company targeted to pay a dividend of VND200 (0.8 US cent) per share in 2017. The figures for 2018 and 2019 are VND220 (0.9 US cent) and VND240 (1 US cent), respectively.

At the moment, the company holds land use rights over three plots of land, all in three major cities in Vietnam. One is the headquarter at 94 Luong Yen street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi with an area of 408.3 square metres, the second is a 20,842-square metre plant in Vinh city, and lastly, the 19,805-square metre flour production facility in Hai An district of Haiphong.

In 2015, Vinafood 1 Flourmill & Trade earned a revenue of VND527 billion ($23.6 million), down 29 per cent on-year, and incurred a loss of VND2.7 billion ($121,000) in light of a net profit of VND143 million ($6,400) in 2014.

Parent company Vinafood 1 expects to sell a part to the public in 2017.
As Hurricane Matthew approaches Haiti, residents have nowhere to go
With $1.1 billion in new funding, US health officials outline plan for fighting Zika
File photo by LOS ANGELES TIMES

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps foundation has 15 days to comply as a registered charity in New York, according to the states attorney general.


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With a focus on upward economic mobility, Mayor Paul Soglin on Tuesday proposed a $299.5 million operating budget for 2017 that starts toward a $15 minimum wage for city employees, delivers a pay hike for almost all employees, and provides money to address racial disparities and homelessness.

The proposal delivers $400,000 to help the newly formed Focused Interruption Coalition address racial inequality, violence and recidivism, and provides $170,000 for outreach to the homeless.

To limit the increase in city spending, Soglins budget delivers no operating funds for a new Midtown Police District station or a fire station for the Southeast Side that the citys finance committee recently moved up in the separate capital budget, with construction in the next two years.

Under the committees timetable, the two agencies need a combined $500,000 in the 2017 operating budget for recruit classes and training to staff the facilities and $2 million more in 2018.

Soglin and the City Council have battled for years over the timing of the police and fire stations and a $13 million Public Market on the East Side. The mayor wants to delay the public safety facilities a bit and move forward on design of the market in 2017 and construction in 2018. The market, seen by Soglin as a way to create jobs and boost economic development, doesnt need any operating funds next year.

We can do all three, he said. Its simply a matter of timing.

The proposed budget would raise spending 3.5 percent, increase city tax collections 4.35 percent to $219 million, and raise the city portion of the average tax bill by 3.08 percent  or $71.94  to $2,407 on the average home, now valued at $254,693.

This is a well thought out, balanced budget, Soglin said. Im calling on the City Council to work with me in holding the line on taxes on businesses, families and seniors.

Overall, the mayors budget offers no big surprises and sets up another clash over the police and fire stations, council President Mike Verveer said.

All of us expect there will be budget amendments, he said. The big question is whether the mayor would veto the budget over the timing of these two stations and whether there are enough votes to override the veto.

The citys finance committee will consider amendments to the operating budget on Oct. 24, and the full council will make final decisions on the capital and operating budgets starting Nov. 14.

The proposed budget, Soglin said, doesnt impose the maximum tax increase allowed under state law, leaving about $1 million in unused spending authority.

The approach, he said, means a modest tax increase in 2017 while leaving capacity to address ongoing priorities in 2018, especially if the council succeeds in its push to start construction on the police station in 2017 and to design and build the fire station in 2017 and 2018.

The budget offers $69.9 million for the Police Department and $50 million for the Fire Department next year, highest among city agencies. It would have added four police officers by providing $360,000 of city tax support if the Madison School District had decided to stop funding Education Resource Officers in the schools.

But the council and School Board both voted Tuesday night to keep the resource officers in the schools, and Verveer said council members are likely to see the $360,000 as a logical source to help cover initial operating costs of the police and fire stations.

Spending on raises, reducing inequities

The budget delivers $80,000 to implement a $15 minimum wage for city employees by 2020, Soglin said. The proposal would roughly increase those wages 50 cents annually for four years.

The budget also provides a 2.25 percent pay hike for most city employees in December 2016, and a 1 percent raise in mid-2017. Police and Fire department staff would get 1 percent at the end of 2016 and 2 percent in mid-2017. The $4.8 million for the wages and retirement contributions are a bit offset by savings on health insurance premiums that are $430,000 less than 2016 and more than $3 million under projections for 2017.

The mayors proposal delivers $400,000 for a 15-point plan by the Focused Interruption Coalition with the sum equally split between tax collections and reallocation of funds from the Emerging Opportunities Program. The councils organizational committee would determine the best way to use the money.

The coalition consists of community and faith leaders who have worked with elected officials in recent months to merge parts of two separate plans to address problems. The plans  from Alds. Maurice Cheeks and Matt Phair and Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson  emerged in May after a series of retaliatory homicides involving young black men, although one of the plans was not specifically related to the violence.

Several members of the coalition voiced gratitude for the mayors $400,000 investment in a five-year, $3 million plan.

We werent sure it would make it into the budget or not, Johnson said of the funding, which he said is needed to address disparities in the criminal justice system that could undermine public safety and encourage businesses to leave the community. Were just glad its in there.

The coalition is looking to Dane County and charitable donations for additional financial support, Johnson said.

Soglins budget also provides $100,000 to review human resources processes for racial bias, and $75,000 to implement budgets focused on measurable strategies, better cross-agency data management, and other improvements.

The budget reallocates money to support the Rennebohm Foundations Northside Early Childhood Zone, delivering $100,000 for childhood care tuition aid with additional support from the foundation, the county and United Way of Dane County.

The mayor is also asking the Community Development Division to explore the feasibility of a mens dormitory in 2018 to help support education, training and upward mobility of young men of color.

To address homelessness, the budget provides $70,000 for a street outreach team in the Downtown Business Improvement District area, but Verveer said an amendment is needed to specify money will come from special charges to property owners around Capitol Square and State Street. The budget also increases the ambulance fee by $50 to generate $100,000 to continue street team services outside the Downtown.

Soglin, who has voiced interest in examining the structure of local services for the homeless, said hes asked staff to look at other communities for ideas. It was too late in the process, he said, to consider matching $55,000 that County Executive Joe Parisi included in his proposed budget late last week to hire a consultant to broadly explore city, county and community operations.

Verveer said he expects the council to support spending on items to reduce racial inequity and homelessness, and that council members could propose additional spending in those areas.

The budget follows the direction of a new Room Tax Commission to deliver another $150,000, for a total of $1.9 million, to Overture Center.

It was a challenge to balance the budget, Soglin said.

General fund revenues are projected to barely grow due to slowing growth in building permits, declining parking violations due to multi-space meters, and a state mandate that 70 percent of room tax revenues be dedicated to tourism-related efforts, he said.

To save money, the budget bases Metro Transit salaries on actual hours worked, which saves $1 million compared to 2016. It saves $530,000 by reducing by 1.5 the number of major snow removal events, based on history. And it increases the Urban Forestry Special Charge to fund all eligible costs, reducing tax levy support for those activities by $1.32 million.
Mindful Eating: Slower Consumption for Better Health

With tight schedules and busy lives, sitting down to a meal free of distraction can be more of a luxury than the norm. Mindful eating gets pushed aside for many reasons. Taking a break to satisfy your hunger may also seem like the perfect opportunity to catch up on social
The governments decision to not allow a statue of the slain political commentator Kem Ley pride of place in the capitals iconic Freedom Park will lost it votes at the upcoming election, analysts have warned.



Ley, an outspoken critic of official malfeasance and abuse of power, was shot dead in Phnom Penh on July 10 in a killing widely believed to be politically motivated.



Meas Ny, a social researcher, said the governments refusal to recognize Ley as a public figure of importance worthy of a place alongside the Late King Father Norodom Sihanouk, poet Krom Ngoy, and former Buddhist Patriarch Chuon Nath  who all have statues in the square  would undermine ruling party support at the next election.



If the government doesnt confirm it recognizes Kem Ley as a hero  [it] would undermine the voters support at the upcoming elections, he said.



A letter from City Hall on September 29 in response to a request from Ou Chanrath, an opposition lawmaker who requested the statue be placed in the square, also noted the objections of the military.



Sao Kosal, a spokesman for the committee that is planning a 100-day remembrance ceremony for Ley, slated to begin in October, said he regretted the decision, adding that the group would also seek to have the statue installed at the gas station where he was gunned down.



Mean Chanyada, a spokesman for City Hall, could not be reached for comment.



Chanrath, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker who made the initial request for the statue to be placed in Freedom Park, said the idea was not intended to boost the popularity of his party.



Perhaps they were confused and thought the opposition party was tryingg to score political points. I said many times that I wasnt doing this for political gain for the opposition party, he said.



More than three months since the public death of Ley the authorities are yet to announce the findings of an investigation into the killing. One suspect, who has given his name as Choub Samlab, has been held on murder charges.

Western governments, human rights groups and the United Nations have all called on the government to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the slaying.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Cambodia this month for the first time since he took office, according to officials.



General Neth Savoeun, the national police chief, wrote on his Facebook page on September 28 that he met with Wang Xiaohong, Chinas vice minister of public security.



Wang Xiaohong stated that the reason he came to Cambodia was to discuss with relevant institutions in regard to hosting the visit from the president of China, who will visit the Kingdom of Cambodia in October 2016 Savoeun wrote.



Kirt Chantharith, a spokesman for the national police, told VOA Khmer on Monday that Xis visit will last for two days, but an exact date and the details of the visit has not yet been determined.



I am not sure [about the program], because it is at a higher level. I only know there will be a visit and preparation for the security, he said.



Xis visit comes amid a wave of criticism against Cambodia from the international community over what western countries have described as politically motivated legal action taken against members of the opposition, human rights workers and government critics.



Ou Virak, founder of the Future Forum research institute, said the visit was a symbolic show of friendship from China, which is Cambodias biggest bilateral donor and lender.



Cambodias increasing reliance on China, he said, had diversified its support base, making the country less reliant on aid from western nations.



However, he added: Relying heavily on China will make our economics not independent and when the economics is not independent, politics cannot be independent too.



I can see that because of that democracy in Cambodia will be vulnerable in the future. In 10 years time, I think democracy in Cambodia will face more difficulties.



China has distributed about $15 billion in loans to Cambodia in the past two decades. In 2016, it has already pledged $600 million.



Xis last visit to Cambodia was in 2009, when he was Chinas vice president.
A new report says seven Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles locations gave people seeking voter IDs false or incomplete information, in some cases contradicting a judges order for such IDs to be issued without delay.

Its a sign that such misinformation  documented at a Madison DMV office in recordings released last week by a voting-rights group, and prompting federal Judge James Peterson to order an internal DMV probe  may be getting disseminated statewide.

While most Wisconsinites have IDs that meet the states voter ID requirement, some  most of them very poor or indigent people, minorities or students  do not. A smaller subset also lack the underlying documents, such as birth certificates or passports, required to obtain an ID from the state.

The newly released recordings document DMV workers telling people seeking an ID to vote that there is no guarantees theyll get them in time for the Nov. 8 election, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report.

DMV workers in Black River Falls and Wisconsin Rapids reportedly told applicants, falsely, that no temporary voting credentials were available.

A worker in Neillsville reportedly said getting an ID without a birth certificate could take a few weeks. An emergency rule from Gov. Scott Walker in May directed the issuance of such credentials in six business days if the application for them is not rejected.

Some of the remarks captured in the recordings contradict Petersons July court order, issued in response to a legal challenge to the voter ID law by the liberal group One Wisconsin Institute. It instructed the Wisconsin DMV to promptly issue temporary voting credentials to people who lack a voter ID and enter a petition process for the state to provide them one.

The recordings were provided by VoteRiders, a national group that has been critical of  and works to help voters comply with  voter ID laws. The group has turned its focus in recent months to Wisconsin, home of one of the nations strictest voter ID laws, which is in place in a presidential election for the first time Nov. 8.

The Wisconsin State Journal sought information from VoteRiders last week and specifically requested the recordings Monday. VoteRiders declined to provide them.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation said Monday that it cannot comment on the recordings referenced in the Journal Sentinel story because we do not have them and have not heard them.

DMV remains committed to working with all eligible voters to ensure they receive identification for voting free of charge, DOT spokeswoman Patty Mayers said in a statement.
In 1978 Gunnar Bergstrom travelled to one of the most terror filled countries of the 20th century.

A founding member of the Swedish-Cambodian Friendship Association, Bergstrom and three colleagues were invited to visit Cambodia that year by the Khmer Rouge regime.



As Marxist sympathizers, the group was trusted by the regime and offered the rare chance to witness Pol Pots vision of a perfect society  and, in return, were expected to describe Cambodia in those glowing terms on return to Sweden.

After a two-week tour filled with official propaganda, stage-managed encounters with ordinary people and denials by senior officials that anything was amiss in Democratic Kampuchea, the group returned to Europe to contradict accounts by Cambodian refugees of mass killing, torture and wide spread starvation.



History would prove the Swedes wrong, though Bergstrom himself disavowed the Khmer Rouge in 1979, a year after his return from Cambodia.



Returning to Cambodia in 2008, 30 years after his invitation to visit from Pol Pot, Bergstrom faced up to the human implications of what his visit had meant, and his endorsement of a regime that was responsible for the deaths of up to a quarter of the Cambodian population  an estimated 1.7 million people. His visit in 2008 led to an exhibition: Dinner with Pol Pot, which reflected on the Swedish delegations 1978 visit.



On September 12, Bergstrom was again in Phnom Penh. This time he was delivering a lecture about the Khmer Rouge, super power politics, and what had gone so terribly wrong for Cambodia.



An important point in Bergstroms recent lecture was the role of geopolitics in the Cambodian tragedy, primarily the strategic interests of the US, China and the then-Soviet Union and how that influenced what took place in Cambodia.

Strategic interests of super powers fanned the flames of conflict in Cambodia, and the international community was unable to put out the fire once it had begun to rage.



Cambodia became the center of the conflict between China and the Soviet Union, and partly the US. The interests of the Cambodian people had disappeared in thin air, Bergstrom said in his lecture at the National Institute of Education.



The international community realized by 1978-79 that terrible events were taking place inside Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia, but it was either unable or unwilling to act, he said.



Big power politics stopped them from doing anything.



One dissenting voice, US Senator George McGovern, floated early on the idea of the United Nations intervening in Cambodia, but the motion would certainly have been vetoed by China in it position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the main supporter of the Khmer Rouge government in Phnom Penh, Bergstrom said.



There was a discussion by Senator George McGovern to get the United Nations to invade Cambodia and save the people - a humanitarian invasion. But, of course, that would have been vetoed by China in five seconds, he said.





Senator McGovern was a lone voice for intervention in Cambodia at a time when some prominent Western intellectuals were supporters of the Khmer Rouge regime, said Sophal Ear, associate professor at the Occidental College in Los Angeles.



Senator George McGovern, who vehemently opposed the Vietnam War, was the lone voice for intervention in Cambodia because he knew something terrible was happening; yet, the senator got laughed at, Sophal Ear told VOA Khmer.



Bergstrom and his colleagues were not the only Westerner sympathizers of the Pol Pot regime.



Scholars such as Noam Chomsky, Gareth Porter and George Hildebrand claimed there was nothing terribly wrong in Cambodia during the regime, Ear said.



The international community was also slow to acknowledge that genocide and other mass crimes were underway in Cambodia because the events had come so soon after the conclusion of the devastating war in neighboring Vietnam.



Tired of the decades of fighting in the region, the international community had already spilled and spent blood and treasure in Southeast Asia and wanted nothing to do with Cambodia, Ear said.



Bergstrom also said in his lecture that the international community knew what was taking place during the Khmer Rouge regime, but none wanted to make sacrifices to rescue the Cambodian people.



They knew, he said. But I dont think it would have changed that much because they would not sacrifice their power politics to save the Cambodian people. I dont think so.



When Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December 1978, the Khmer Rouge regime suddenly found itself an unlikely ally in the US, which was focused on containing Soviet Union expansion in Southeast Asia.



With strategic interests in mind, the US adjusted its policies and turned to provide financial support to the Khmer Rouge and other forces now based on the Thai border following the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia. Khmer Rouge forces even received training from British special forces, Bergstrom said.



When Vietnam invaded Cambodia and Pol Pot fled to the Western side, suddenly the United States changed policies and gave money to Pol Pot. Everything is possible when it comes to money and power. Suddenly our enemy, Pol Pot, becomes our friend. The secret service of the United Kingdom trained Pol Pot soldiers because they were fighting Soviet agents. Its big power politics, he said.



Following the Vietnamese invasion, Bergstrom and the other members of the Swedish delegation that visited Cambodia campaigned in Europe for the ousting of Hanois troops and returning Pol Pot to power.





Swedish support for the Pol Pot regime may have helped to muddy international understanding of what had occurred in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, according to the Dinner with Pol Pot exhibition.



Perhaps the Swedish effort even contributed to the Khmer Rouge being seen in some quarters internationally as the legitimate rulers of Cambodia, and the rightful representatives of Cambodia at the UN General Assembly - a position the Khmer Rouge in exile on the Thai border held for many years after being ousted from power in Phnom Penh.



The international community knew what was happening inside Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime, but there was no mechanism in place by which to respond, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which is dedicated to researching the Khmer Rouge regime.



National sovereignty is an important factor in understanding why it took the international community so long to acknowledge what was occurring inside Cambodia, said Yin Reaksmey, a Cambodian student at the University of London.



I think its the matter of sovereignty because at that time Pol Pot was the one who ruled the nation. And, like it or not, the Western world had to respect a nations sovereignty, he said.



Decades after Pol Pots mass killing in Cambodia, the international community helped to establish a court to seek justice for the victims of the regime, and in that way had, belatedly, demonstrated its concern for the millions who died during the regime, said Lat Ky, who monitors the Khmer Rouge war crime tribunal for local rights group Adhoc.



The international community understands the suffering of the nearly two million Cambodians, who died, Lat Ky told VOA.

The international community provides technical and financial support for the court in Phnom Penh to ensure the former leaders of the regime do not escape justice, Lat Ky said.



Bergstrom is one of the few former Western supporters of the Khmer Rouge who have publicly admitted to making a terrible mistake, and expressing regret.



He has offered this explanation as to what had clouded his judgment all those years ago in 1978, when he was a guest of Pol Pot:



In retrospect, I think the whole trip was a propaganda trip and that we should never have undertaken the journey, he said, according to the Dinner with Pol Pot exhibition.

It remains a mystery to me that we could have been so fooled We were fooled by the smiles, but maybe most of all by our own Mao-glasses.
Ethnic activists and community leaders from northern and southeastern Myanmar have condemned recent outbreaks of fighting, large-scale civilian displacement and alleged rights abuses in their areas.

Speaking at separate press conferences in Yangon last week, ethnic Taang activists from Shan State and Karen activists from Karen State said the fresh violence showed the limits of the success of the peace process so far.

Some also claimed that military operations to secure areas for contentious hydropower dams are worsening the conflict.

Fighting between the Taang National Liberation (TNLA) and the Myanmar military has affected northern Shan State since 2011, but Mai Cyruk, of the Taang Student and Youth Organization said, The conflict has worsened after the NCA was signed between the government army and the RCSS.

In October 2015, the previous government signed the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) with eight rebel groups, including the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).

A month later, RCSS troops moved north into TNLA areas, such as Namkham, Namsan, Mong Kung and Kutkhai townships, and clashed with Taang fighters, whom claimed the RCSS operated with the support of the army.

Alleged abuses by army, rebels

Mai Cyruk said this year alone activists had documented dozens of cases of indiscriminate shelling, torture, rape, killings, forced recruitment and portering of Taang civilians by both the army and RCSS fighters.

According to the UN, some 12,000 civilians were displaced by fighting in northern Shan State in the first half of 2016.

Mai Aung Kham, the Mong Kung Township chairman of the Taang National Party (TNP), which holds several seats in parliament, said in July the RCSS had detained him, his father, uncle and two students, who are all party members.

The RCSS threatened me, saying if I do not remove my TNP slogans, I will be forced to join the RCSS for 5 years. My father and uncle are still detained, he told the press conference.

The Taang and Shan rebel clashes have surprised many ethnic leaders and its exact reasons remain unclear. The RCSS could not be reached for comment, but has denied the abuses to local media.

The TNLA did not sign the NCA and, together with Kokang and Rakhine rebel groups, have been barred from the peace process by the still powerful army. This position appears to be a major obstacle to Aung San Suu Kyis plans for an inclusive nationwide ceasefire.

Mai Cyruk said for smaller, excluded ethnic groups such as the Taang, the success of the peace process so far rings hollow. I want to suggest that Aung San Suu Kyi should express and talk more about these ethnic groups Without equal rights for the small ethnic groups, we cannot achieve true democracy.

Thousands of Karen flee

The success of last years ceasefire deal also came into further question this month after the Myanmar army and a supporting militia began operations against a small rebel splinter group in Karen States Hlaingbwe Township.

The Karen National Union (KNU), a major rebel group that signed the NCA and has bases close to the fighting, warned the army on September 13 to end the operations as it was causing the destruction of stability and peace in the region. The operations have continued, nonetheless.

Naw Dah Dah, of the Karen Womens Organization, told a press conference some 5,000 villagers had now fled to safer towns, while some 1,000 crossed into Thailand.

Most are women and children. They had to run away through the jungle because they are afraid to use the road, she said, adding that landmines were reportedly placed along roads, injuring two civilians and killing one on September 12.

Several Karen NGOs, including the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network, said government forces had moved closer to the planned, $2.6-billion Hatgyi Dam on the Salween River during operations against the rebel splinter group. They believed the operations could be a pretext for the army to secure the site.

Activists said a government militia requested access to the KNU-controlled western river bank near the dam site, but was rejected. KNU army chief General Saw Johnny was quoted by the NGOs as saying, If they plan to build the dam, we will oppose it.

Army shelling kills Kachin infant

In Kachin State, fighting between the army and the Kachin Independence Army has also increased in recent weeks, reducing humanitarian support for displaced civilians in rebel-held areas.

On Saturday, the army shelled a Kachin village in northern Shan State, killing a two-year-old infant and injuring two children, 5 and 6 years old, who were taken to a hospital in nearby China, according to Kachin activist Khon Ja. The incident prompted large protests in the Kachin capital Myitkyina on Monday.

The United States Embassy in Yangon said last week it was deeply concerned by the fighting in Kachin and warned it could undermine the progress and goodwill generated by the recent Union Peace Conference.

Several National League for Democracy (NLD) members were reluctant to discuss the increased fighting and referred to government officials involved with the peace process, who could not be reached.

Susanna Hla Hla Soe, a NLD lawmaker and Karen activist, only said, When fighting happens, women and children always suffer Our leaders would really like to build peace, but fighting still happens.
Relations between Cambodia and Vietnam have been sorely tested in recent years by border disputes and their starkly different positions on Beijing's maritime ambitions in the South China Sea. Now those ties are being aggravated by a dramatic slump in foreign investment.

Investment from Vietnam in free fall

Foreign direct investment (FDI) from Vietnam into Cambodia fell to almost zero in the first half of this year, a revelation that stunned many in business, government and civil society.

No comparable figures were given by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), but Vietnam had ranked fifth among Cambodia's investors after China, South Korea, the European Union and Malaysia.

Cambodia Vietnam border tension

The collapse also came as local reports said Cambodia's foreign ministry had sent more than 20 diplomatic notes complaining that the Vietnamese had not halted the construction of buildings within a designated no man's land along their common border.

Border issues and investment also topped the agenda as high-level delegations from Phnom Penh and Hanoi met here over the past week, but no joint statements were released, which analysts said indicated a lack of agreement.

The Vietnamese and the Cambodians are sort of in polar positions, said Keith Loveard, a regional security analyst with Concord Consulting.

He said Vietnam was increasingly the place to go for FDI and it is picking up an awful lot of Western business, partly because of its proximity to the Chinese market and as China becomes more expensive, Vietnam is becoming more attractive.

China, Cambodia become closer

On the other hand Cambodia is increasingly locked into this Chinese embrace and it finds itself rather at odds, with Laos perhaps sort of sitting quietly as always in the background, as very much an outlier within ASEAN, Loveard added.

Analysts had warned Cambodia could face 'pay back' from other members of ASEAN after Phnom Penh backed Chinese maritime claims across islands and waters in the South China Sea, which are also claimed in part by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines and Vietnam.

Different approach to maritime disputes

Beijing wants those disputes resolved on a bilateral level with each, individual claimant.

But Vietnam has led an ASEAN push to told hold talks on a multilateral basis  opposed by Cambodia at China's behest. In return, Beijing became Cambodia's largest benefactor putting at risk a trade relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia worth billions of dollars.

At the latest ASEAN summit in Laos in early September, Cambodian diplomacy succeeded in watering down an ASEAN communique aimed at tackling Chinese claims, a move that aggravated some of the other members of the 10-nation ASEAN trade bloc.

It does not matter if we do not have any Vietnamese investment coming in, though we are a bit baffled, CDC Deputy Secretary-General, Chea Vuthy, told a recent business forum. We hope business relations will improve and there will be some investment projects in the second half of the year.

Business relations have been robust in the past

According to the CDC, bilateral trade in 2015 hit $3.37 billion, with Cambodian exports to Vietnam amounting to $954 million and imports at $2.41 billion.

The figures were released as a series of meetings got underway led by Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly, who led a 72-member delegation to Phnom Penh.

As they ended, the Cambodians tried to reassure reporters that both countries would work to 'maintain their close relationship' amid competition from world superpowers, widely interpreted as a veiled reference to their differences over Chinese maritime claims.

But Cambodian spokesman Keo Piseth also noted the Vietnamese delegation had aired concerns about investing near their shared, 1,228-kilometer land border, where demarcation disputes have persisted in recent years, and at times have turned ugly.

Vietnam also asked Cambodia to support and protect legal Vietnamese companies that are investing in Cambodia, he said.

Vietnamese delegates remained tight-lipped about the meetings, declining to comment.

Instead, its official media focused on Ngan's meetings with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Say Chhum, President of the Cambodian Senate, reporting that both sides were hopeful of settling the remaining issues along their shared land border.

Problems with Vietnamese companies in Cambodia

Analysts and civil rights advocates said problems persisted with Vietnamese companies operating in Cambodia, which ignored government policies and had not met their corporate obligations with the local communities.

This had led to protests over issues ranging from land grabbing to control over water and might have contributed to the sharp fall in FDI coming from Vietnam.

For Vietnam, from our experience, we don't have any common standard between the civil society and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce, so we hope in the future we can work together and to develop the common standards and common guidelines that encourage the solving of people issues, said Tek Vannara, the Executive Director of NGO-Forum.
The two U.S. vice presidential candidates, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence, meet in their only televised debate Tuesday in Farmville, Virginia. This faceoff comes a week after the first of three presidential debates between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, a debate that energized Democrats and disappointed some Republicans. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has a preview of the vice-presidential debate from Washington.
Afghan security forces have pushed back the Taliban to the edges of the northern city of Kunduz, a day after the insurgents fought their way into the provincial capital and briefly captured parts of it.

The hostilities come as Afghanistans international partners meet in Brussels Tuesday to seek fresh funds to sustain reconstruction efforts in the war-ravaged country at least until 2020 amid renewed calls for seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Government forces in control in Kunduz

A VOA Afghan service reporter in Kunduz witnessed government forces in control of most of state installations in the city after intense overnight fighting, with provincial authorities urging residents to return to their routines. Doctors in the main regional hospital have told VOA the hostilities caused civilian casualties, but refused to give any figures, saying we are too busy to save lives, but you are welcome to count them.

Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri told a news conference in Kabul Tuesday that a security operation is currently underway to clear Kunduz of any militant pockets.

Security forces are moving with utmost care against remaining groups [of the Taliban], who are hiding in civilian houses, to surround them to take them out in a way that no harm is done to to civilians or their residences, Waziri said.

Fighting in the northern city erupted Monday after Taliban rebels staged a pre-dawn multi-pronged offensive and forced their way deep into the city to raise their white flag on the central square of Kunduz, which briefly fell to the Islamist insurgency in September, 2015.

Both sides have claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on the opposition and it was not possible to independently verify the claims made by either side.

The U.S. military said Monday it was closely monitoring the situation in Kunduz and had positioned its airpower to assist Afghan forces if needed.

Taliban offensive in the south

Meanwhile, officials in the southern Helmand province say heavy fighting was raging in the districts of Khanshin and Nawa after the Taliban overnight renewed its offensive in their bid to overrun them.

The latest insurgent assaults on Kunduz and Taliban territorial advances near the provincial capitals of Helmand and Uruzgan province in the south have once again exposed weaknesses in the internationally-trained Afghan security force and underlined the rebel groups growing strength.

Afghan conference in Brussels

The Afghan leadership is co-hosting the two-day Brussels conference with the European Union to emphasize the need for international donors to provide financial assistance to help their country overcome daunting security, economic and human development challenges.

Foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, Iran, China, as well as India and Pakistan are expected to be among representatives from around 70 countries at the conference.

"We're buying four more years for Afghanistan," EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Mellbin told Reuters. But he stressed that the conference would also seek "a realistic timeline" for a new peace process.

"If we don't achieve peace, it's simply going to be extremely costly for the foreseeable future, noted Mellbin.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to present a deal with the second largest Afghan insurgent group, Hizb-e-Islami, as his governments significant achievement towards achieving a peaceful end to the conflict. However, there is widespread skepticism because the groups influence is limited to just a few of the 34 Afghan provinces compared to the Taliban's greater control.
Afghanistan is appealing to European donors to open their wallets at an international donors' conference Wednesday, arguing that jobs created through development projects will help stem the tide of migrants that is destabilizing the European continent.

High unemployment combined with growing insecurity drove nearly 200,000 Afghans to Europe last year, exacerbating the global migrant crisis.

European nations have struggled to cope with the flood of young Afghan asylum seekers, and exerted pressure on Afghanistan to roll back the human exodus.

"If we hesitate to address the migration issue, public opinion in European countries will change, and this could impact aid," Eklil Hakimi, Afghanistan's finance minister, told Afghan lawmakers Sunday.

Salahuddin Rabbani, the Afghan foreign minister, added that European nations have warned Afghanistan that it risked a reduction in aid if it did not act on migration.

"The migrant crisis has changed politics in the host countries," Rabbani told members of Afghanistan's lower house of Parliament. "They have put forward strict immigration laws and repeatedly asked Afghanistan to take responsibility for its asylum seekers."

Afghan officials say they can stop the migration to Europe, but they need international support to create jobs that will keep the youth in the country.

Support for Afghanistan

The two officials are accompanying President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Dr. Abdullah Abdullah to the Brussels conference where Afghanistan will present its new national peace and development framework  a five-year reform, governance and economic development plan.

Afghanistan and the European Union are co-hosting the conference, which will be attended by representatives from more than 70 countries and 20 international organizations and agencies. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are among conference speakers.

The development framework, which aims to "achieve self-reliance and increase the welfare of [the Afghan] people," requires billions of dollars in funding.

Hakimi estimated that donors will pledge $3.5 billion toward financing the development plan.

Among major donors, Britain said this week it would provide almost $1 billion in development aid to Afghanistan over the next five years.

A State Department spokesman declined to say how much the U.S. planned to commit and referred questions to the conference organizers.

James Cunningham, who served as U.S. ambassador to Kabul from 2012 to 2014, said there is wide support for continued commitment to Afghanistan.

"Another cause for optimism is it's pretty unprecedented to have that degree of international agreement on almost anything," Cunningham said Monday, speaking on a panel about Afghanistan at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Creating jobs

While asking for billions of dollars in funding, Afghanistan is also pledging to wean itself off foreign aid through economic growth and job creation. The development plan envisions Afghanistan's reliance on foreign aid dropping from 70 percent of government expenditure to 40/50 percent by 2020, as domestic revenue grows from 10.3 percent of GDP to about 14.0 percent of GDP.

Job creation will be key not only to reducing reliance to foreign aid, but also to stopping the mass migration from the country.

Without "a big increase in jobs, Afghans will continue to resort to desperate measures such as illicit narcotics production, out-migration, and joining violent criminal networks," according to a draft of the development plan.

The plan will take time to bear fruit and will require sustained donor support.

"The sustainable development that will help Afghanistan meet its many challenges, bring an end to poverty, and ensure security and stability for our country will take longer than a single generation to realize," the plan says.

The Brussels conference comes less than three months after NATO leaders met in Warsaw and agreed to fund Afghanistan's security forces for the next four years, to the tune of $3 billion.

The U.S. provides roughly $3.5 billion annually in support of the 350,000 members of the Afghan armed forces, in addition to about $1 billion in development aid.

The United States and its partners have a shared interest in supporting Afghanistan's reform and development agenda, Cunningham said.

"The planks are already in place to demonstrate there is going to be long-term international engagement in Afghanistan," he said.
An airstrike Monday killed a senior leader in the Syrian Islamist group that split from al-Qaida earlier this year.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the group formally known as Jabhat al-Nusra, said Abu al-Farai al-Masri was killed when his vehicle was struck in the northwestern Idlib province.

The U.S. military says it carried out an airstrike in the area targeting Masri, but that officials were still assessing the results.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the Egyptian national Masri had ties to former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in 2011. Masri was also a companion of now-deceased al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

"His death, if confirmed, would disrupt and degrade coordination among senior AQ leaders and extremists," Cook said in a statement.
The deliberations were long, the debate was impassioned and the votes were decisive. On Monday, members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora killed proposals to legalize trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn.

It was the star issue at this year's conference in Johannesburg, and one that experts say is not as simple as the opposing campaigns made it seem.

The United States and European Union were among the majority of nations that supported continuing the bans, with the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service saying it is also important for consumer nations, like his, to influence consumers to stop wanting ivory and rhino horn.

"The United States has taken strong actions to impose a near-total ban on elephant ivory import, export and domestic sale," Dan Ashe said in a statement. "... Ivory should not have value unless it's attached to an elephant."

Money angle

Nations with the world's largest elephant and rhino population  among them, Zimbabwe and Swaziland  argued that legal trade in these banned animal products will bring much-needed funds for conservation.

Conservation groups largely opposed the proposals.

"The decision to maintain the existing ban on international ivory trade was the right one for elephants," Ginette Hemley, the World Wildlife Fund's head of delegation to the conference, said in a statement.

"African elephants are in steep decline across much of the continent due to poaching for their ivory, and opening up any legal trade in ivory would complicate efforts to conserve them, she said. It could offer criminal syndicates new avenues to launder poached ivory, undermining law enforcement, and would undercut efforts to reduce the consumer demand that is driving the mass poaching.

But elephant and rhino expert Tom Milliken says love has little to do with this issue. Money matters, too.

He says his organization, TRAFFIC, sides with the majority in its decision to not allow legal sales for now.

"But we are entirely sympathetic to the motivation that Swaziland has to leverage finance," he told VOA. "And this is the rub here, that if the global community is expecting that there will be rhinos in Africa, elephants in Africa, in perpetuity, who's going to pay for that to happen? Because the finance is just not available, and the more we foreclose on the avenues of realizing finance that Africans themselves can do  sustainable utilization of resources, trade, sport hunting, these sorts of things  and we're not replacing it with other tools in the toolbox, these are countries that are cash-strapped."

Emotional argument

But the populations of these animals are equally vulnerable. The International Union for Conservation of Nature revealed the African elephant population has dropped by about 111,000 in the last decade. Earlier this year, the IUCN reported that rhino poaching has increased for the sixth consecutive year.

The most visible rhino and elephant defenders appealed to the heart. As the conference began last week, hundreds of campaigners marched against the proposals, passionately calling for protection for these iconic, beloved creatures.

Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, says her group unequivocally supports banning all trade in ivory and rhino.

"Human beings have to find a way to live alongside the other species that share our planet and to respect and preserve them and to do the best we can to give them space to live. We don't agree with exploitation of animals for their body parts," she told VOA. "The stories that we've heard from the people like the rangers at this conference are heartbreaking. These animals have been driven to extinction."

Humane harvesting

But the other side is equally passionate.

Tanya Jacobsen is a surprising advocate in favor of rhino horn sales. A vegetarian for ethical reasons, she works with the South Africa-based Rhino Alive campaign which, as its name indicates, wants to harvest rhino horn without killing the animals. Rhino horn is made of keratin, like human hair, and continuously grows.

"Our feeling is that rhino horn is a sustainable product that can be removed from a rhino humanely, without causing any harm at all to rhinos, she said, and based on this and based on the fact that rhino horn regrows at a rate of about one to two kilograms per year, we strongly feel that instead of having a situation where we're facing huge poaching dilemmas  that there is a sustainable, conservation-based solution to the crisis.

These two species are discussed at every CITES conference, Milliken says, and as long as there are elephants and rhinos on this Earth, their future will be debated.
A suicide bomber in northeastern Syria killed at least 20 people Monday in an attack at a wedding hall.

The blast happened just outside the city of Hasakeh, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish forces but still has some Syrian government strongholds.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, however Islamic State militants have repeatedly targeted the Kurds.

In August, Islamic State militants were blamed for bombing a Kurdish wedding in eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. The suicide blast, in the town of Gaziantep, killed more than 50 people. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the suicide bomber was a young boy, no more than 14 years old.

WATCH: IS Turns Kurdish Wedding into Massacre
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by three Democratic district attorneys seeking to revive a criminal investigation into Gov. Scott Walkers recall campaign  effectively ending the legal wrangling over the four-year-old probe.

The decision marks a major victory for Walker and his Republican allies, who mounted a vigorous challenge to the secretive, so-called John Doe II investigation that involved investigators issuing dozens of subpoenas and seizing equipment and millions of documents from those under investigation.

In a statement Monday, Walker said the U.S. Supreme Court, Wisconsin Supreme Court and other judges have all reached the same conclusion  that this investigation by prosecutors was without merit and thus must be ended.

I applaud the individuals and organizations who fought for and successfully defended their First Amendment rights against political opponents who wanted to silence them, Walker said.

Eric OKeefe, president of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, the tax-exempt organization at the center of Walkers political operation to stave off the 2011 and 2012 recalls, called the case a politically motivated attack and a criminal investigation in search of a theory.

He told a conservative radio host Monday that Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, whose office launched the investigation in August 2012, should be removed from office.

We call upon the prosecutors to admit their wrongdoing and close their files, OKeefe said in a statement. They should end their desperate rear-guard action, surrender these unlawfully seized materials, and submit to the lawful authority of the court system.

In a joint statement, the three district attorneys who appealed the case  Chisholm, Dane Countys Ismael Ozanne and Iowa Countys Larry Nelson  said they were disappointed by the decision.

The state Supreme Court decision, left intact by todays order, prohibits Wisconsin citizens from enacting laws requiring the full disclosure of disguised contributions to a candidate, i.e., monies expended by third parties at the direction of a candidate for the benefit of that candidates election, they said.

We are proud to have taken this fight as far as the law would allow and we look forward to the day when Wisconsin adopts a more enlightened view of the need for transparency in campaign finance.

The decision to deny a hearing on the case was one of hundreds the nations highest court issued Monday, the first day of its new term. It does not include an indication of how the justices voted or any written explanation for the decision.

The court has been operating with eight members since conservative Justice Antonin Scalias death in February because Republicans have refused to hold hearings on President Barack Obamas nominee.

Brendan Fischer, a lawyer for the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center, emphasized that the Supreme Courts decision not to grant a hearing in the case does not mean it endorses the activities under investigation.

Given the split on the U.S. Supreme Court, it is perhaps not surprising that the justices declined to wade into this politically charged, highly complex case, Fischer said.

The case has slowly worked its way through the state and federal court systems since Milwaukee County prosecutors asked to open the investigation in August 2012, a little more than two months after Walker survived a recall sparked by his gutting of public sector collective bargaining, known as Act 10.

Attorney General Brad Schimel, in a statement Monday, said the high courts decision officially ends the case and prosecutors have 30 days to turn over all evidence seized in the investigation.

The people of Wisconsin and the John Doe targets are now finally allowed to put this unfortunate chapter behind them, Schimel said.

Earlier John Doe probe

Investigators in an earlier John Doe probe into Walkers Milwaukee County executive office had uncovered evidence of potential coordination between Walkers campaign and the Wisconsin Club for Growth, a supposedly independent group that could engage in so-called issue advocacy but not support or oppose political candidates as its primary focus.

Chisholm, a Democrat, presented the evidence to then-Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, a Republican, who declined to lead the investigation citing a potential conflict of interest and possible perception of bias. He recommended forwarding the case to the Government Accountability Board, then the states nonpartisan campaign and ethics agency.

The GABs panel of retired judges opened its own investigation into potential campaign finance violations in June 2013.

A parallel John Doe investigation was opened by four other district attorneys, including two Republicans, who along with Chisholm consolidated the cases under special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, who said he had voted for Walker in the recall.

Schmitz served dozens of subpoenas in October 2013 to local and national conservative groups, but the groups successfully challenged them in court. The John Doe judge who authorized the subpoenas stepped down because of an unknown conflict and was replaced by Judge Gregory Peterson, who disagreed with investigators and quashed the subpoenas in January 2014.

Schmitz appealed that decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which halted the investigation in July 2015. It removed Schmitz from the case last December and ordered all evidence be turned over to it while the case remained under appeal.

Chisholm, Ozanne and Nelson appealed the state courts decision to the U.S. Supreme Court in April.

Walker raised money

In recent weeks the case generated national interest after a British newspaper reported on leaked documents from the case.

Bits and pieces of the investigation had previously come to light, but the leaked documents provided the clearest picture yet of Walkers political operation leading up to and during the 2011 and 2012 recall campaigns.

The records showed Walker had raised millions of dollars for the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which his top political adviser, R.J. Johnson, was using to coordinate advertising, messaging, get-out-the-vote efforts and other campaign operations to help Walker and Republican senators win.

Such coordination, previously banned under state election rules, formed the crux of the investigators legal theory. But the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the activity is protected speech under the First Amendment.

The state Legislature formally legalized such coordination last year as part of a major rewrite of campaign finance law.

Conservative pushback against the investigation also led the Legislature to dismantle the Government Accountability Board and revert back to two bipartisan Ethics and Elections commissions. It also amended the states John Doe law so that it can no longer be used to investigate suspected violations of campaign and ethics laws.

The prosecutors appealed the Wisconsin Supreme Courts decision, saying it broke with federal court decisions that had upheld the ability to regulate coordinated activity between candidates and independent groups. Such groups can raise unlimited donations and hide the identity of their donors, and prosecutors raised concerns about the potential for quid-pro-quo political corruption.

The case revealed a few examples where wealthy donors, including corporations that are banned from giving to candidates, gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Club and later stood to benefit from legislation Walker and the Republican Legislature passed. Such laws included one retroactively protecting the lead paint industry from litigation and another changing the states mining regulations.

Conflict of interest alleged

The prosecutors also asked the Supreme Court to review the case because two of the conservative Wisconsin justices in the 4-2 majority had direct ties to those under investigation.

Records revealed Walker telling Republican operative Karl Rove that Johnson and the Wisconsin Club for Growth were instrumental in electing Michael Gableman and re-electing David Prosser to the state court.

UC-Irvine law professor Rick Hasen said the odds are always against the Supreme Court hearing a case given how many petitions it receives.

He said he thought the U.S. Supreme Court should have taken issue with Gableman and Prosser not recusing themselves, though its possible they didnt see the prosecutors as having the same due process rights as private citizens.

A short-handed court split ideologically 4-4 may have been especially reluctant to delve into this politically sensitive case, Hasen said. Still the question of judicial recusal of judges who directly benefited from the Club for Growths campaign activities merited review.

In response to the leaked documents, Democrats have called on Ozanne to open an investigation into Walker. They cited among several concerns previous provisions in the state ethics law that prohibited politicians from raising money for nonprofit groups with which they were associated. The law has since been changed to allow such fundraising.

Other than the joint statement, Ozanne has not responded to questions.

Johnson, in a Facebook post Monday, noted the Supreme Court decision came three years to the day after armed police officers came to his home in the early hours to execute a search warrant. He said his legal defense has cost $1 million.

While prosecutors were experts in conflating time frames and parsing our communications to tell a twisted and false story, they had to convince people who actually understood the law that something illegal was done, Johnson wrote. And they never had a case.
The tiny town of Farmville, Virginia may seem like an unlikely place for the first and only vice presidential debate this election season. But Farmville illustrates one side of the divide that makes Virginia a key swing state this election season.

Farmville with its strong contingent of rural, conservative voters is only an hour away from Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaines home of Richmond, a diverse, Democratic-leaning city that previously elected him mayor. The two municipalities with their rural/urban split and differing views of the presidential candidates are a study in lifestyle and political contrasts.

The latest polls out of Virginia show Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with a seven-point lead in the state but in the days leading up to the debate, campaign signs for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence dominate the roads to Farmville, population 8,000.

Once a center of factories that processed tobacco leaves from surrounding farms, Farmville is now a place where many voters are concerned about jobs and the economy and willing to consider the Trump-Pence tickets message of bringing jobs back to America even though Tim Kaine is their current senator.

But an August 2016 Washington Post poll breaking down the rural and urban divide in Virginia found Clinton has been able to hold a strong lead in the state due to her popularity with larger numbers of minority voters who cancelled out Trump and Pences advantage with voters in the southwestern part of the state where Farmville is located.

The outcome is important in this divided state, with Virginia considered to be a "battleground." Its votes in the electoral college go entirely to the winner, important to both campaigns in what is shaping up to be a close contest on November 8.

Ending handouts

Carolyn Bowman, a life-long resident of the nearby town of Rice, Virginia, is one of those rural voters who says everyone she knows is voting for Trump.

Hes going to put people back to work, and he wants to put people back work, she says of her passionate support of Donald Trump. Bowman built a landscaping and country store business from scratch 17 years ago, employing her six sisters in a way that recalls how they worked together as children in the tobacco fields.

I am 100 percent pure country woman, and I work hard, she says proudly. For Bowman, Trump is a business man who speaks to her own strong work ethic and who will address the issue that concerns her most in election 2016: government entitlements.

At their weekly ritual Sunday dinner, Bowman and three generations of her family  all of whom say they support Trump - recall the past when people had reasons to work hard.

People wanted to dream and have things like a white picket fence, Bowman says. Now they just want to give it to them. People wanted to give it to them because the government has gotten so into it  giving out the handouts. She sees a Trump presidency as a chance to help change that trend.

I work anybody thats willing to work just like Donald Trump, Bowman says.

Undecided

Economic anxiety is easy to find at the twice-annual flea market Bowman holds in the parking lot of her landscaping business. Families set up tables with antiques and second-hand goods  many of them saying this is market is just another stop on the circuit as they find a way to boost their incomes or even to make a living.

Cliff Christian - who says he works seven days a week at four different jobs to support his wife and seven-year old son  is one of those looking to make a living. His booth of goods features large Trump for President and Confederate flags that he says are just a good marketing strategy to bring people in during an uncertain election season.

Im struggling every week to pay my bills because right now its very hard, Christian says. I went in the hole several times within the past two months just trying to make it. He wont say who will earn his vote this November but he sees both candidates in a doubtful light.

Everythings messed up, and whoever gets elected has got a hard road ahead of them, and if they fail, they get the blame for everything thats happening now, he says. I dont envy either one of them.

Equal playing field

According to that August 2016 Washington Post poll of Virginia voters, both vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine received equal strongly unfavorable ratings of twenty percent with Kaine edging out his Republican opponent 54-37 percent on the strongly favorable side.

The poll is a sign that while many voters here in the Farmville area will be rooting for Pence on debate night, the demographics of Virginias city voters, who are much more familiar with Kaines work as governor and senator, will likely favor his side of the ticket on Election Day.

As she stands on the parking lot of the business she created, Bowman says the choice in this election is clear. She says, I know that I have worked hard my whole life, and I am tired of this country being given away.

But in a heated election season that has shown how demographics sharply divide the different parts of the American electorate, it is not hard to see that both sides of the vice presidential debate perceive a home field advantage in Farmville, Virginia.
A raft of new U.S. presidential campaign surveys shows that Democrat Hillary Clinton has regained an edge over Republican Donald Trump since their first debate, which many voters say they think she won.

The national polls mostly show Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, leading Trump, a brash real estate mogul seeking his first elected office, and two other candidates, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party contender Jill Stein, by 4 or 5 percentage points in a four-way race. In head-to-head matches with Trump, Clinton's advantage is slightly bigger.

Other surveys in closely contested battleground election states, all conducted in the days after their face-to-face encounter a week ago, showed Clinton gaining ground on Trump.

U.S. presidential elections are not decided by the national popular vote but rather by results in the country's 50 states, with the most populous states having the biggest influence on the overall outcome in the decisive Electoral College vote.

Politico, a political news website, said Clinton, looking to become the first female U.S. president, is now ahead in seven of the 11 states where the outcome is in doubt, giving her a far clearer path to winning the 270-vote Electoral College majority over Trump.

Clinton is also ahead in many of the biggest states, where voters for years have opted for Democratic presidential candidates and are likely to vote for her in the Nov. 8 election.

Voters surveyed

Political surveys showed voters, by about a 2-to-1 margin, thought Clinton won the first of three debates with Trump. She kept him on the defensive, attacking him for defying four decades of presidential campaign tradition by not releasing his U.S. income tax returns, his long history of slurs aimed at women, and his yearslong campaign to try to prove the debunked claim that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and is not a U.S. citizen.

Clinton also attacked Trump's disparaging remarks about the weight a Miss Universe gained in the year after she won the beauty pageant that Trump once owned, and he continued to mock Alicia Machado in Twitter comments he posted in the days after the debate.

Then, recently, The New York Times published three pages from Trump's 1995 state tax returns showing that he declared $916 million in business losses that year from failing casinos and other ventures. It was a deduction so large that it could have allowed the real estate mogul to legally avoid paying U.S. income taxes for up to 18 years.

Clinton derided his business acumen Monday, asking at a rally in the Midwestern state of Ohio, "What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?"

She contended that his legal tax avoidance "was taking from America with both hands and leaving the rest of us with the bill."

'Legally' used tax laws

Trump rebuffed the attack, calling his use of the country's tax laws  the right of any taxpayer to write off business losses against income  brilliant on his part.

As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company, my investors and my employees. I mean, honestly, I have brilliantly  I have brilliantly used those laws, Trump told supporters in the western state of Colorado. I have often said on the campaign trail that I have a fiduciary responsibility to pay no more tax than is legally required, like anybody else, or put another way: to pay as little tax as legally possible. And I must tell you, I hate the way they spend our tax dollars.

He added, That did not happen by chance or luck. It happened by action and talent. Lot of talent. I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess  you would call it a depression  when few others were able to do what I did.

Trump, who lost millions of dollars in building casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, along the Atlantic Ocean coastline, said, When the chips are down is when Im at my very best. They said I was finished. Everybody said I was done. I am still here."

Vice presidential candidates

The focus Tuesday is on the vice-presidential debate between Trump's and Clinton's running mates, Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence and Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine. While debating their own credentials, both will try to make the case for the standard bearers, Trump and Clinton, five weeks ahead of Election Day, to defend their policies in the race to take over the White House when Obama leaves office in January.

Trump was campaigning Tuesday in the western state of Arizona, which usually has voted for Republican presidential candidates, but one where Clinton has edged close to him. Clinton campaigned in the suburbs of the large eastern city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her daughter, Chelsea, and actress Elizabeth Banks, trying to woo women who have voted for Republicans in the past.

Taking a question from a teenage girl, Clinton talked about concerns that young women have about their body image. She said Trump had insulted Machado and that his comments about women over the years presented "a new level of difficulty and meanness."

Clinton said of Machado winning the Miss Universe contest, "I mean, how do you get more acclaimed than that? But it wasn't good enough."

The Democratic candidate said parents, teachers, men and women have to "stand up against" cultural demands that only a woman's looks matter, not her mind or heart.

At another campaign appearance, Clinton criticized Trump for seeming to suggest that veterans who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) might not be as strong as those who don't.

She said the post-traumatic stress still carries a stigma, adding it didn't help "when a man asking to be our next commander-in-chief stands up and says post-traumatic stress isn't a problem if you are strong."

Trump made the reference Monday as he discussed his commitment to improving mental health services for veterans.

Clinton and Trump are set for their second debate next Sunday, a town hall-style format in which undecided voters will have a chance to ask them questions.
It was always very personal.

Since stepping down as president six years ago, Alvaro Uribe has relentlessly condemned the policies of his handpicked successor-turned-foe and chiseled away at support for his biggest goal: ending the war with Marxist rebels.

On Sunday, the hardline senator scored his biggest victory yet against President Juan Manuel Santos, turning what seemed like certain victory for a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, into a massive blow to the government.

Colombians' narrow rejection of the peace accord in a referendum shocked the world. It also pushed Uribe back onto center stage and in pole position for his political movement to win the 2018 presidential election.

The 64-year-old former cattle rancher from Colombia's tough western city of Medellin served two terms in office and is barred from seeking a third.

But he could well play kingmaker in 2018 as he did in 2010 with Santos, his former friend and defense minister. He has not yet said who he will back at the next election.

The peace accord envisaged FARC rebels handing over their weapons to the United Nations, confessing to their war-time crimes and forming a political party.

But Uribe, who scored major military gains against the FARC when he was president, led the "No" camp since Santos began the peace talks in 2012. He described them as far too lenient on rebel leaders and a national embarrassment.

He accused his former ally of selling out Colombians by promising congressional seats instead of prison cells to rebel leaders in return for ending a 52-year-old conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people.

Uribe mobilized millions of Colombians against the peace deal, even marching through the streets of Cartagena as international notables applauded its formal signing last week.

A former lawyer who spent time at Oxford University, Uribe may now be determinant in whether the war ends in a negotiated settlement or continues on the battlefield.

Offering a slight window to talks, Uribe on Sunday said he does want peace, but demanded that the deal be "corrected."

He will likely want some form of representation at any future talks and almost certainly would not accept anything less than some form of confinement for rebel leaders.

"Colombia gave a very strong message to Santos and the FARC last night, things have changed, so this can now be the start of a really good negotiation," Francisco Santos, Uribe's former vice president, told Reuters.

"Knowing Uribe, he will want to contribute, but this will not be a photo op, it will be a real negotiation," added Santos, who is the president's cousin but a member of the opposition.

Uribe's Democratic Center party, whose slogan is "Firm Hand, Big Heart", said on Monday it is willing to meet the government to seek a way forward.

SANTOS 'BETRAYAL'

Santos, 65, who was not obliged by law to hold a plebiscite, took a risk with the vote and now he may need Uribe to put the peace process back on track.

He had said there was no Plan B and failure to clinch support would mean returning to war with the FARC but on Sunday he said he would now consult with all sides and vowed to "keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term."

He plans to meet with political allies and opponents in Colombia and send peace negotiators back to Havana to speak to the FARC leadership.

If talks collapse, it could mean a return to war and the bombing campaigns that were central to Uribe's U.S.-backed counter-insurgency strategy when he was president.

"The great winner was Uribe; his presidential candidate is now positioned in first place for the 2018 election," said leftist Senator Antonio Navarro Wolff, a former rebel with the M-19 insurgent group that demobilized in 1990.

As president, Uribe's fierce military campaign against the FARC at times appeared to border on a personal vendetta. His father was killed by the rebels in a botched kidnapping and some Colombians believe he will only be content if the FARC is crushed on the battlefield.

Things certainly got personal with Santos, who as his defense minister masterminded anti-FARC offensives but later "betrayed" him in Uribe's eyes.

In angry Twitter posts, Uribe accused Santos of using him to get into office in 2010 by promising to continue hard-line policies - only to secretly prepare peace talks.

Elected to the Senate in 2014, Uribe's populist appeal has kept him in the spotlight while most other former presidents slink off into retirement.

He has a fiery temper and used to publicly scold military generals for battlefield defeats, a governing style that contrasts with the calm, diplomatic Santos.

Uribe left office with high approval ratings but his legacy was tainted by accusations of corruption and of wire tapping opposition politicians and journalists.

His party, while attracting some well known politicians, is essentially a one-man show with Uribe defining its policies. He would almost certainly have significant clout behind the scenes if his chosen candidate won the 2018 election.
Nigeria's former national security adviser, held since December 2015 on fraud charges, should be released, a judge at the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled Tuesday, saying his detention was unlawful and arbitrary.

Sambo Dasuki has been accused of fraud involving $68 million of defense spending, part of a wider $2.1 billion in arms deals under investigation. He has pleaded not guilty.

He served under Nigeria's former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was defeated in last year's election by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has promised to crack down on corruption.

The judge at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, sitting in Nigeria's capital Abuja, ruled that Dasuki should be released immediately and the government should pay him 15 million naira ($46,606) in compensation for his arrest and detention.

The ruling by Justice Friday Chijioike Nwoke said Dasuki's "arrest, detention and continued detention" after having been granted bail by three different domestic courts was "unlawful" and "arbitrary."

However, sovereign states do not have to respect the court's rulings and there is no framework for making them binding.
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly endorsed the ratification of the Paris climate agreement, in the presence of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

With 610 votes for, 38 against and 31 abstentions, the 28 EU nations on Tuesday simultaneously approved ratification of the agreement to limit global warming, putting the deal on track to come into force globally.

A vote for its formal ratification is scheduled for Friday at the United Nations.

"With the action taken by the EU parliament, I am confident that we will be able to cross the 55 percent threshold very soon; in a matter of days,'' Ban told reporters.

Sixty-two countries have already ratified the agreement, but they accounted only for about 52 percent of emissions.

The European Union, which accounts for 12 percent of global emissions, had planned to wait for its member states to approve the deal domestically, but because the progress was slow, it moved on their behalf.

The EU vote makes it possible that the Paris climate agreement take effect globally by next U.N. climate conference, which starts on November 7 in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Paris agreement commits rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns.

It requires governments to present national plans to reduce emissions to limit global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius.
The head of Kazakhstan's national journalists' union was sentenced to six years in prison Monday after being convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion along with his son, in a case condemned by press freedom activists locally and abroad.

Seitkazy Matayev, who owns local news agency KazTAG, stood trial with his son Aset, chief executive of the same agency, who was sentenced to five years.

Prosecutors accused the Matayevs of embezzling about $1 million in funds transferred to them by a government agency and state-controlled firm KazakhTelecom under a contract to write positive stories to promote national policies.

Both denied any wrongdoing.

Kazakh press freedom advocacy group Adil Soz described the sentence as "abuse of law and common sense."

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists had urged the authorities to drop the charges.

"The Kazakh government is only shaming itself with this prosecution and detention of a father-son team of independent journalists," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said.

The Central Asian nation, run by President Nursultan Nazarbayev since independence in 1991, has in recent years been clamping down further on already limited press freedoms, government critics and rights groups say. In late 2014, a Kazakh court shut down Adam Bol, a magazine often critical of the government, on charges of "propagandizing for war."

The owner and editor of news website Nakanune.kz, Guzal Baidalinova, was sentenced to 18 months in prison this year on charges of disseminating false information that threatened public order, although her sentence was later replaced with a suspended one.
Clashes erupted over the weekend between police and migrants in the northern French port town of Calais, where the government plans to raze a giant migrant camp by years end, and build a wall to keep migrants from stowing away on ferries or trucks to Britain. But as Lisa Bryant reports from Calais, critics doubt the measures will curb a problem that mirrors Europes larger migrant crisis.
A new report says governance across Africa has improved little in the past decade, as poor security has held back progress in areas such as human rights and economic growth. Libya is among the countries showing the steepest decline.



Almost two in three African citizens live in a country in which safety and the rule of law have deteriorated during the past decade, according to the annual Ibrahim Index on African Governance.

The report rates 54 African countries on a range of criteria including education, corruption and democracy.



Presenting the findings Monday in London, the founder of the index, Sudanese-born billionaire and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim, said the statistics send a clear message.



This is a very strong mathematical correlation, between safety and the rule of law, and development," he said. "And so we cannot say it more loudly, that we need peace in Africa.

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi E. Frazer, a member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, told VOA the decline in security is especially concerning.



Because it is dragging down governance as a whole. But also because it affects the lives of people, you know, when you are talking about personal safety and national security you are talking about life and death, she said.



Libya has shown one of the sharpest declines in national security and personal safety. Britain and France led the NATO airstrikes that helped to oust Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Frazer says that intervention was a clear mistake.



We have lessons to learn. And one of the big lessons I would think is that if the region is overwhelmingly against an intervention, you should hesitate, you should think twice," she said. "Another lesson should be if you are not prepared to fix it, do not break it.



Mauritius held on to the top spot, while Somalia remained at the bottom of the index. Rwanda was among the nations showing the fastest improvement, entering the top 10 for the first time.
Amid charges from Donald Trump that the U.S. presidential election could be "rigged" and concerns of rights activists that black voters may face undue obstacles, the head of an international observer team pledged a full review ranging from voting machines to racial bias as it began work on Tuesday.

The team from the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that will monitor the Nov. 8 presidential and Congressional elections is set to be the biggest the organization has sent to the United States, tasked with checking the vote meets international standards.

Republican candidate Trump's apparent suggestion that the vote might not be free and fair has drawn an angry response from his opponents, who say it is baseless.

Democrat Hillary Clinton has led Trump in national opinion polls in recent months. On Tuesday, an average of polls aggregated by RealClearPolitics website showed her with 48.1 percent of support compared to Trump's 44.3 percent.

Civil rights advocates have also said voters are more likely to face racial bias at this election than they have in 50 years, because of voting laws that several states passed after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the landmark anti-discrimination 1965 Voting Rights Act three years ago.

"We do have concerns about voter registration, voter identification and also electronic voting," the head of the OSCE mission, British lawyer and diplomat Audrey Glover said in a telephone interview, adding that the mission is impartial.

"We always let the facts speak for themselves, so let's see what happens," she said. Allegations such as Trump's, however, were for the U.S. authorities to follow up on while the OSCE observed, she added. "We're not policemen."

The Shelby County v Holder Supreme Court ruling in 2013 struck down a part of the Voting Rights Act that was used to determine which areas with a history of discrimination had to obtain special permission before changing their voting laws.

That has raised concerns among rights groups that laws on issues like voter identification have since been changed to make it more difficult for poor and minority voters to take part.

The OSCE, which comprises much of Europe, Central Asia and North America, has also suggested that all electronic voting machines be required by law to leave a verifiable paper trail, though many states do not provide one.

Glover said her team would seek to clarify where it legally can and cannot go, adding that states' and counties' stance on international observers was often not clear. Texas also threatened OSCE observers with prosecution four years ago, which the organization called "unacceptable" at the time.

Glover, however, struck a conciliatory tone.

"If the law says international observers are not allowed, then obviously we won't try and go. We're not going to try and make any sort of a scene," she told Reuters.

But the biggest hindrance might be self-inflicted. The OSCE had hoped to deploy 100 so-called long-term observers in the coming week, but OSCE states - including Germany, France, Spain, Romania, Finland, Bosnia - have only provided 26.

Up to 400 short-term observers will begin work close to Election Day.

"We'll do what we can with what we've got," Glover said. "We will try and make a silk purse out of a pig's ear and we will try and cover the whole of the United States, or to the extent that is feasible."
Ivory Coast voters will decide this month whether to soften a nationality clause that helped trigger a decade-long political crisis, a draft of a new constitution showed Monday.

President Alassane Ouattara promised during his campaign for re-election last year to change the language of an article in the constitution which states the parents of presidential candidates must both be natural-born Ivorians.

Ivorian nationality was at the heart of a crisis that began with a 1999 coup and included a 2002-2003 civil war that split the country in two for eight years.

The proposed revision to the constitution, seen by Reuters and due to be presented to parliament on Wednesday, means only one parent must now be "Ivorian by origin," a term that excludes naturalized citizens.

Ivory Coast has long attracted immigrants from neighboring countries, and the clause became a symbol of exclusion, particularly of northerners whose family ties often straddle regional borders.

Ouattara, a northerner, was repeatedly barred from seeking the presidency because of what opponents said were his foreign origins.

He finally won election in 2010, although his victory sparked a second brief war that killed more than 3,000 people.

The new constitution, which will go to a public referendum Oct. 30, also removes an age limit of 75 for presidential candidates.

All three of Ivory Coast's main political figures  Ouattara and former presidents Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bedie  will be older than 75 in 2020, when the next elections are due.

New language also makes it easier to change the constitution.

It lowers the number of votes required for revisions submitted directly for approval by parliament to two-thirds of MPs from four-fifths, and removes a clause requiring a public referendum for any changes to presidential mandates.

Other major changes include creating a post of vice president and a Senate.

Currently, the speaker of parliament is second in line to the president, but the constitution states that new elections must be organized within 90 days, a time frame critics say is unworkable.

Under the new charter, the vice president would finish the mandate if the president died or was incapacitated while in office.

The creation of the Senate, which together with the existing National Assembly will make up a two-chamber Congress, marks an expansion of the president's influence over the legislative branch of government.

A third of senators will be appointed by the president. The remaining two-thirds will be chosen in an indirect election process, details of which must be worked out in a separate law.

Ivory Coast's opposition has criticized the drafting process for the new constitution, claiming it lacked transparency. It had called a sit-in in front of parliament on Wednesday, when Ouattara will put the changes to lawmakers, but municipal authorities said the demonstration was not authorized.
Members of Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin will go to UnityPoint Health-Meriter instead of SSM Health St. Marys Hospital-Madison for births starting in 2018, Group Health and Meriter announced Tuesday.

The switch affecting Group Healths 80,000 members covers labor, deliveries, newborn care and neonatal intensive care.

Group Health relies on UW Health for specialty care. UW Health and Meriter signed a joint operating agreement for mother-baby care last year, and plans are underway for a full joint operating agreement between the two clinical enterprises.

In addition to Group Healths ties with UW Health and therefore with Meriter, another reason for the shift in births is that many Group Health members have asked for water births and deliveries overseen by midwives, which Meriter offers but St. Marys doesnt, said Dana Spychalla, Group Health spokeswoman.

This will be a huge member satisfier, Spychalla said.

The Madison Birth Center, which offered midwife births, closed in 2013 after its owner said she couldnt get Group Health or other HMOs in the Madison area to cover its services.

Group Health decided the birth centers location in Middleton was too far from Madison hospitals in case of emergency, Spychalla said.

Group Health members have about 900 births a year. St. Marys had 3,176 births last year, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Meriter had 3,810, the most of any hospital in Wisconsin.

About 10 percent of births at Meriter are overseen by midwives, and about 2 percent are water births, said Leah Huibregtse, Meriter spokeswoman.

Meriter plans to add birthing center suites and NICU space by 2018 to accommodate the additional births from Group Health, Huibregtse said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Western alliances are willing to work with Russia to seek solutions to end the unrest in Ukraine, but will stand firm on principles based on freedom and international law.

Speaking Tuesday in Belgium, Kerry said NATO "does not seek to weaken, to contain or to divide their nation or any other nation". He said the alliance and EU countries want to work with a Russia that is just as committed to solving common challenges.

Relations between Moscow and Western allied nations have been increasingly strained since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has been supporting pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The United States has imposed sanctions against Russia for violating the sovereignty of Ukraine and NATO has deployed forces near Russian borders.

Kerry spoke in Brussels at a transatlantic relations event hosted by the German Marshall Fund and the U.S. Mission to the European Union.
Within the confines of Lebanons Roumieh prison they gathered together as men recounting lives led before they became seen as terrorists.

Inmates whose affiliations spanned across Islamic State (IS) and a gamut of other Islamist groups were in discussion and, for once, religion and politics were not on the agenda.



Instead, led by two pioneering social workers, the talk was to be of their fears, their hopes, their regrets.



The moment you refer to religion or politics it becomes an endless debate, explained Nancy Yamout, who along with her sister Maya has been overseeing sessions that also include art therapy.



Religion is part of it, of course, but were not sheikhs, were social workers. We want to look at how they have reached this point socially and psychologically.



For five years they have worked within the prison as they search for a new way to respond to radicalism, a search that is now taking them from the Islamists of Roumieh prison into neighborhoods of the dispossessed.



Beyond the sectarian



A country deeply divided along sectarian lines, Lebanons instability has increased with the Syrian war.



Struggling with an influx of Syrian refugees, the country also finds itself under threat of bombing - the last deadly blast took place this June in the northern border town of al-Qaa and state security services claim to have foiled numerous other IS attacks.





Meanwhile some youngsters within Lebanon's own borders are being lured by the likes of IS into the conflict.



Some of the main drivers behind this are well established.



Raphael Lefevre, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, told VOA that recruits were young Sunnis who feel strongly about supporting the Syrian revolution.



Referring to the role of the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese Shia group which intervened to support Syrian Prime Minister Bashar al-Assad, he explained they also feel frustrated by Hezbollah's intervention in the ongoing conflict there and domination in Lebanon.



The same year the war began, 2011, the Yamout sisters entered Roumieh prison for the first time.





They had both lost friends to radicalization, and persuaded the authorities to let them in as they sought to understand what it was that drove people into the arms of islamist militants.



But, as social workers, they wanted to look beyond the religious and political context of their subjects.



Building trust



Nancy and Maya Yamout have slowly built trust among inmates in Roumiehs Block B, exclusively home to the prison's 680 Islamist militants, as they go about conducting interviews rather than the more usual interrogations.



We dont ask them why they are accused of terrorism, explained Nancy.



We ask them how they are doing, what are their happy memories, what kind of food do you like?



The latest art sessions were created as a form of therapy, though the sisters had limited material at their disposal  the prison would not allow chalk because it could potentially be smeared by inmates across the prisons CCTV camera lenses.



Such workshops act as a gentle entry into discussions exploring the circumstance that created men seen as monsters by much of the outside world.



The Yamouts findings led them to explore the role of family, and the support mechanisms available.



If theyre between 15 and 20, they are developing their ideology, and if the parents are not creating a sense of self worth, or even something like the Scouts or Red Cross is, others will, explained Nancy.



Its about a sense of belonging, of being wanted, added her sister Maya.



And now, armed with their findings, they have moved beyond Roumieh in an effort to stop the cycle before it destroys more lives.



Reaching out



Having come to Lebanon from Manbij, the Syrian town controlled by Islamic State until August, Amal* has left one nightmare to be confronted with another.



Living in a poverty-blighted neighborhood in west Beirut, she fears for the safety of her children in a place she says is rife with crime.



Maybe children here will reach drug dealers, or extremists - I dont know, she told VOA.



The Yamouts were pointed in the direction of the neighborhood by their contacts within Roumieh.



Here, claim the sisters, is a toxic mixture that contributes to radicalization - poverty, but more importantly broken social structures and familial relations.



Many here also lack Lebanese citizenship, making them vulnerable, according to the sisters, to those offering a new sense of identity and purpose.



In response, the Yamouts and their NGO Rescue Me have set up workshops for youngsters, offering them therapeutic activities like mosaic-making and job training, and are also setting up an office in the neighborhood to offer more permanent support.





Oil on fire



When you support these kids, and give them enough, their self esteem rises and they gain the tools to work, said Maya.



The sisters are tireless in their work, but the challenge they face is daunting, while their funding remains threadbare.



Advocating for more focus on prevention of radicalism at its roots, with supporting families in vulnerable communities crucial, they argue that more effort needs to be made helping former prisoners leaving Roumiehs Block B into Lebanese society.



Otherwise, they warn, no matter how many arrests are made, or how many end up in Block B, the cycle of violence and radicalization could continue.



The message [of Islamist militants] can spread, warned Nancy. Its like oil on fire.



*Amal's name has been changed to protect her identity.
A man from the mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Maryland is being detained on federal charges in connection with a plot to attack a member of the U.S. military on behalf of the Islamic State group.

Federal prosecutors say Nelash Mohamed Das was poised to carry out the attack, which was set up by a confidential informant for the FBI, when he was arrested Friday.

The informant told Das he had received information about the target from an IS contact in Iraq. Das allegedly said he wanted to participate in the attack and had ammunition with him.

Court documents say Das believed the informant's contact in Iraq would pay $80,000 for the attack.

Although Das was set up by the informant, it does not appear his constitutional rights were violated, according to Western Illinois University domestic terrorism expert Dean Alexander. "There doesn't appear to be any violation of constitutional rights, at least from what we can tell at this point in the criminal complaint."

Das was arrested after loading a gun and traveling with the informant to a location where he believed the attack would occur, according to court documents.

The informant's collaboration with Das does not constitute entrapment, said Alexander, nor has entrapment been an issue in many prosecutions of domestic terrorism since the attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

"About 50 percent or more have used undercover agents or informants, and so far the entrapment defense has not been effective in any of those instances," he said.

Terrorist diaspora

FBI Director James Comey predicted before a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing last week that the successful military campaign against IS in Syria and Iraq would result in a "terrorist diaspora" within the next two to five years.

"We must prepare ourselves and our allies, particularly in western Europe, to confront that threat because when ISIL is reduced to an insurgency and those killers flow out, they will try to come to western Europe and try to come here to kill innocent people," Comey said, using another acronym for Islamic State.

For now at least, the major terrorist threats on U.S. soil do not come from refugees, Alexander said. "The vast majority of them are U.S. citizens, born or naturalized."

Alexander adds that 75 to 80 percent of suspected terrorists in the United States are citizens, and 30 to 40 percent of all IS-related prosecutions are "converts who became radicalized."

Last year, the FBI said it was leading more than 900 investigations of suspected IS operatives, recruits or those inspired by the terrorist group.

Das, who is originally from Bangladesh, has been charged with trying to provide material support and resources to IS. He will be detained until a court hearing Thursday. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Google is taking another leap into the $400 billion smartphone market.

While the companys software, Android, runs millions of phones worldwide, Google unveiled a line of smartphones called Pixel at an event Tuesday.

The phone is expected to sell for $649, about the same as Apples iPhone and Samsungs Galaxy.

Pixel will come in two sizes, 12.7 centimeters and 14 centimeters, and three colors, black, silver and blue. In addition to a premium camera and long battery life, the company is expected to use Pixel to highlight a digital assistant software called Google Assistant.

The software uses artificial intelligence that would create a personal Google for each and every user, according to Sundar Pichai, Googles CEO.

Pixel is built by HTC, but Google has reportedly been in on the design, leading to the phone by Google branding. The phones are powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor.

Google also said it would offer free unlimited cloud storage for all, full-resolution images and videos shot with Pixel.

Pixel will not be Googles first move into the smartphone market. In the past, the company sold phones and tablets under the Nexus brand. The company did not heavily market the phones, which limited their popularity.

Pixel will be powered by Googles Android operating system, which powers most of the worlds smartphones At Tuesdays event, the company said the phones will run on a cleaner version of Android than on other phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7. Google said the Pixel version would be faster.

The Bloomberg news service called Googles move into the smartphone market risky but said it likely is spurred by the companys desire to ensure distribution for its web services, and more complex offerings like virtual and augmented reality.

Google has not said how much it has spent on Pixel.
Morocco's Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane said his ruling Islamist party will advance economic reforms including further rationalization of subsidies sought by international lenders if it wins this week's parliamentary election.

Moroccans vote Friday in only the second parliamentary election since the king relinquished some of his powers to an elected cabinet in 2011 under a constitutional reform to help ease Arab Spring-style protests demanding change.

No party openly challenges King Mohamed's authority, but Benkirane's Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) is looking to consolidate gains in the constitutional monarchy system against rivals who analysts say are closer to the palace.

After leading the ruling coalition for five years, Benkirane's party is popular for its anti-corruption stance, but has also pushed austerity that has helped overhaul the public finances.

We are for continuity, Benkirane told Reuters at his home in Rabat. The most important reform that I could not do in my first mandate was to reallocate a part of the budget that we used to give to subsidies to the poorest.

More than its North African neighbors, Morocco has been praised by multilateral lenders for controlling the high public spending and subsidized welfare systems that plagued the region for years, even before the Arab Spring uprisings prompted governments to ramp up spending.

Most recently, the government pushed through a pension system reform that raised the retirement age and increased worker pension contributions. That followed freezes on public hiring, tax and subsidy reforms.

Benkirane said reforms to cooking gas subsidies, a measure that affects many households, were inevitable but should not be removed completely so as to protect the poorest.

Electricity and water bill aid for the most impoverished were also possible.

We don't want to remove subsidies for cooking gas, but we want to change them so only people with fewer means would benefit, he said. We want to find the best way to make the poorest pay the gas at current prices or even less.

But curbing public hiring and cutting subsidies and other benefits that Moroccans have enjoyed for years have this year brought protests and strikes.

Benkirane said next year's subsidy spending was under review, but would likely be less than this year's 15 billion dirhams ($1.55 billion) and closer to 12 billion dirhams.

No rival to monarchy

Unlike rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya overthrown in Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, Morocco's king rode out popular protests with a combination of constitutional reform, increased spending and tightened security.

The king still holds ultimate power, controlling a judiciary council, most security services, religious affairs bodies and a council of ministers that must approve all legislation.

The PJD is widely expected by analysts to remain the dominant party over its main rival the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), whose founder is now a palace adviser. But Morocco's election system means no one party can win outright, forcing the winner into coalition talks.

Still, campaigning for the October 7 election has strained the delicate political balance by exacerbating splits between the palace and the PJD, with whom many palace supporters have been reluctant to share power.

The PJD and its junior ally have accused the establishment of favoring the PAM. The palace says the king maintains the same distance from all parties.

In recent weeks, a PJD justice minister has accused a palace-appointed interior minister of unfairly controlling election preparations. PJD campaigners also accuse the interior ministry of ordering local neighbor watch officials under its control of trying to sway voters against the PJD.

Our activists are on the ground and they move around, so they have heard a lot of things. ... We wrote to the justice and interior ministers to ask them to investigate, Benkirane said.

Still, the PJD has played down any tensions with the palace as the campaign entered its final stages. Benkirane has been keen to emphasize his relationship with the king is one of cooperation and not confrontation.

"We are a political party that has come from the Moroccan people and have been trying to change things in a positive direction under the leadership of his majesty," he said.
At least 5,650 migrants were rescued Monday as they tried to reach Europe on about 40 boats, one of the highest numbers in a single day, Italy's coast guard said.

A spokeswoman said one migrant had died and a pregnant woman had been taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the Libyan coast.

One coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat, one of about 20 rescue operations.

Three were still underway, and the spokeswoman said the number saved could reach 6,000 by the end of the day.

About 10 ships from the coast guard, the navy and humanitarian organizations were involved in the rescues, most of which took place about 30 miles off the coast of Libya.

According to the International Organization for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died.


Nestle's Nespresso brand said it had halted coffee operations for now in South Sudan, where opposition leader Riek Machar has called for a return to war against the government.

We had to temporarily suspend our operations in the country. It is the third time this happened since we started working there, Nespresso spokeswoman Jacquelyn Campo said Tuesday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The situation has deteriorated and is very difficult at the moment, she said, adding it was impossible to say when the company would be able to resume business there.

The premium coffee brand started working with local farmers in South Sudan in 2011, in partnership with the nonprofit organization TechnoServe, to revive coffee production that had been destroyed by years of armed conflict.

It launched a limited edition Robusta coffee from South Sudan one year ago.

South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war fueled by ethnic divides and disputes over oil, but internal conflicts and political power struggles have persisted, with fresh clashes flaring in July.

Campo said Nespresso had invested more than $2.5 million in the project and had trained 731 South Sudanese coffee farmers so far. TechnoServe will launch a radio program to remotely train coffee farmers at the end of this month, she said.

The next harvest starts at the end of October, beginning of November. At the moment, we cannot project what the future will bring, she added.
Three United States university professors have won the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on exotic states of matter, the Nobel jury announced Tuesday.

Research conducted by the three British-born scientists, David J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz, brought forth a new and totally unexpected understanding of the way solid materials behave.

The scientists also developed their own mathematical equations to explain the new behavioral properties.

"This year's laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. They have used advanced mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films. Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter," The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which hands out the award, said in a statement.

Thouless is an emeritus professor at the University of Washington, Haldane is a professor of physics at Princeton University and Kosterlitz is a professor of physics at Brown University.

The three scientists began working on the research that would eventually net them a Nobel Prize in the 1970s and 1980s, but judges often wait decades to honor scientific discoveries to ensure they stand up to further research.

Haldane said during a press conference he was as everyone else is, very surprised and very gratified to win the award.

A lot of tremendous new discoveries that are based on this original work are now happening, he said.

Along with the prestige that comes with winning a Nobel Prize, the prize carries a cash award of $930,000, which the scientists will split. They will also receive diplomas and medals at an award ceremony set for December 10.

The 2016 Nobel Prize announcements began Monday with Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi winning the medicine award for discoveries on autophagy, the process by which a cell breaks down and recycles content.

Later this week, the Nobel jury will announce the winners of the chemistry and peace prizes. Next week, the economics and literature awards will be announced.
1 The flash of an exploding stun grenade is seen as a student from the University of Witwatersrand jumps on a falling policeman while another policeman fires rubber bullets from his rifle during a mass demonstration on campus in Johannesburg. Authorities tried to re-open the prestigious Wits University after weeks of demonstrations.
Recent contacts made by the national security advisors of Pakistan and India should help de-escalate tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a prominent Pakistani politician said Tuesday.

Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the Pakistani Senates Defense Committee and a special envoy of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said the prime minister's advisor Sartaj Aziz has made contact with his Indian counterpart "in the last 48 hours" after India turned down repeated Pakistani proposals of regional and international mediation.

Instead of talking at each other, were now talking to each other, Hussain said, speaking at event sponsored by the Pakistan American League at the International Republican Institute, a Washington-based advocacy organization.

He called the contacts "a step forward" in easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

I feel there is a lot of room for cautious optimism," Hussain said. "I hope better sense prevails because both Pakistan and India are nuclear powers."

The Pakistani senator along with a member of Pakistans National Assembly, Shezra Kharal, is visiting Washington and other world capitals as part of a Pakistani diplomatic and PR offensive aimed at countering India's version of the latest flare-up in Kashmir.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated last week after India said its elite troops had crossed an old cease-fire boundary in the region to carry out surgical strikes against terrorist targets in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Pakistan has dismissed the claim as Indian propaganda, saying an exchange of fire across the so-called Line of Control killed two Pakistani soldiers and injured several others.

Pakistan says India's claim of a bold military operation deep into Pakistan-controlled territory was meant for consumption by a roused up domestic audience demanding retaliation against a September 18 militant attack on an army base in Indian-ruled Kashmir that killed 18 Indian soldiers. India has long accused Pakistan of arming and sheltering the militants.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "took the hype to such a level that he had to say, Weve done something, Hussain said.

Kashmir is seeing its largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, triggered by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian soldiers.

Hussain said India wishes to divert attention from the uprising and scapegoat Pakistan and accused India of human rights violations."

At the immediate level, steps should be taken to alleviate the suffering of the Kashmiri people, he said.
I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm...

2 weeks ago
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has again lashed out at Barack Obama, this time telling the U.S. president that he can "go to hell."

In a speech Tuesday, the Philippine leader also slammed the European Union, which he said could "choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

The comments were in response to Western criticism of Manila's anti-drug campaign that has killed more than 3,000 people in three months.

Since taking office at the end of June, Duterte has consistently painted the Western criticism as interference from colonial powers.

The comments come as Manila and Washington on Tuesday launched annual military exercises. Duterte has said the war games with the U.S. will be the last in his six-year term.

He vowed that "eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America. I would rather go to Russia and to China."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the U.S. had not received any request from Duterte or another Philippine official to change bilateral cooperation.

"This is an alliance that is robust and that benefits both of our countries,'' Earnest said. But, Earnest insisted the U.S. will "not hesitate" to raise concerns about extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, which he said were "entirely inconsistent" with universal values of human rights.

"We won't be silent in raising our significant concerns about these reports."

On Monday, a senior U.S. military official hinted that the United States cannot be sure its longtime military alliance with the Philippines will continue.

[There are] a lot of questions  more questions than answers, I think, at this point," Admiral John Richardson, U.S. Navy Chief of Operations, told VOA's Mandarin Service. "It would be premature for me to speculate, so we are where we are right now, which is in a rock-solid alliance, and we'll see how that develops.

No stranger to profanity

Duterte, the former mayor of Davao, has a reputation for hitting out at his critics with profanity-filled tirades.

Last month, hours before he was scheduled to meet the U.S. leader, Duterte called Obama the "son of a whore." The U.S. canceled the meeting.

Duterte was forced to apologize earlier this week after he compared his war on drugs to the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.

Duterte had said: "Hitler massacred three million Jews ... there's three million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them."

On Sunday, he acknowledged that the comments left a "bad taste" in many mouths, and apologized to the world's Jewish community.

But he said he will not apologize to the critics of his tough and often violent crackdown on suspected drug users, producers and sellers.
More than five months after Prince's fatal drug overdose, investigators have narrowed their focus to two main questions: whether doctors illegally prescribed opioids meant for the pop star and whether the fentanyl that killed him came from a black-market source, a law enforcement official said.

Those lines of inquiry raise the prospect that a doctor or doctors could be charged with writing unlawful prescriptions and that a separate suspect or set of suspects with ties to narcotics trafficking could be charged with supplying the fatal dose.

Prince was 57 when he was found April 21 in an elevator at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate. Authorities have revealed little publicly about their investigation, saying only that the probe is ongoing.

The law enforcement official who described the investigation has knowledge of the inquiry but spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment on the record. The person declined to provide any additional details.

Investigations of fatal overdoses can be lengthy and complex, especially when drug traffickers are involved.

Complex investigation

Ryan Pacyga, a Minneapolis criminal defense attorney who is not connected to the Prince case, said law enforcement is not going to rush unless there is a risk to the public or immediate danger to others.

In typical drug cases, investigators will subpoena documents including computer files, emails and financial records. When looking at where the fentanyl came from, they will look at orders, shipments and the bank accounts or credit cards that made payments, Pacyga said.

They will also identify people they want to speak with.

They'll interview from the bottom up, Pacyga said. They'll talk to the people who really don't have much criminal exposure and keep working their way up to who they think the big wrongdoers are.

Notable drugs cases are often prosecuted in federal, not state, court.

Among the most serious federal charges a person who supplied the fentanyl could face, be it a doctor, trafficker or friend, is opioid distribution resulting in death, which carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison. Under Minnesota law, anyone who gave Prince the fentanyl that killed him could face a potential third-degree murder charge, even if that person did not know the pills contained the drug.

Fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, can be obtained as a legal painkiller with a prescription. But some findings in Prince's case point to an illegal source, including evidence that some pills taken from his home after he died were counterfeit drugs that were marked as a generic version of Vicodin but actually contained fentanyl, an official close to the investigation told the AP in August. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Fentanyl, even when produced legally by pharmaceutical manufacturers, can be obtained illegally in many ways. A doctor can prescribe it to someone who then passes it on to a third person or prescriptions can be forged.

The official who spoke in August said Prince did not have a prescription for any controlled substances in Minnesota in the last 12 months.

Prince had a reputation for clean living, and some friends said they never saw any sign of drug use. But longtime friend and collaborator Sheila E. has said Prince had hip and knee problems that she said came from years of jumping off risers and stage speakers in heels.

Fentanyl in spotlight

The death of one of the most influential musicians of the modern era has drawn public attention to a startling increase in fentanyl overdoses. Most of the deaths are linked not to prescriptions but to illicitly made fentanyl pills or fentanyl that has been mixed with and sold as heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal and those who make it illicitly are not meticulous about how much fentanyl goes in each pill. Traffickers often pass the pills off as Oxycontin or some other name-brand opioid, so, if Prince took a counterfeit pill, he may not have known it contained fentanyl.

Determining whether the last person to hand or send the fentanyl to Prince knew it was fentanyl is probably one of the most difficult questions for investigators.

Another possibility is that Prince ordered the drugs himself online. Some online distributors accept orders through dark-net sites, then deliver the drugs by unsuspecting mail-service companies.

If traffickers bear responsibility for the fatal fentanyl, identifying them could be difficult, even impossible.
An urban park in Denmark to promote tolerance between immigrants and local residents and a mosque in a flood-prone area of Bangladesh were among winners of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture on Monday.

The $1 million prize is awarded every three years to honor architectural projects that address the needs of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence.

This year's six winners also included a children's library in Beijing and a pedestrian bridge in Tehran. Superkilen, a series of public spaces in a deprived immigrant area of the Danish capital Copenhagen, was designed as an outdoor meeting place for people of 60 nationalities living in the area - including many refugees.

Islamic-themed sculptures and skateboard ramps are a feature of the urban park and Muslim women bring their children there to play on the swings.

"Architecture can be a means of joining people. It is a way to showcase commonalities between the Muslim communities that exist in all regions of the world," said Mohammed Al Asad, a member of the Award's steering committee.

"Of course there are tensions in Europe between the immigrant and host populations. This project is unique because it brings together all the different ... communities," he said.

The six winners were chosen from 348 projects in 69 countries nominated for the award, and were announced in a ceremony in the renovated 19th century Jahili fort in the United Arab Emirates.

The winners were chosen by an independent jury of architectural experts appointed by the Aga Khan Foundation, named after the wealthy leader of the Ismaili branch of Shi'ite Islam.

The award money will be split between the architecture firms and clients involved in the winning projects and will partly go toward outreach activities to spread design and building knowledge.

The mosque in a poor and flood-prone area of Bangladesh won recognition for pushing the boundaries of what a traditional religious space should look like, Award Director Farrokh Derakhshani said.

Local children are encouraged to play on the building's bare modernist space, unusual for a mosque, as shifting sunlight splashes patterns onto the dark interior floor.

The 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture winners:

BANGLADESH

* Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka (Architect: Marina Tabassum)

A refuge for spirituality in urban Dhaka, selected for its beautiful use of natural light.

* Friendship Centre, Gaibandha (Architect: Kashef Chowdhury / URBANA)

A community centre which makes a virtue of an area susceptible to flooding in rural Bangladesh.

CHINA

* Hutong Children's Library and Art Centre, Beijing (Architect: ZAO / standardarchitecture / Zhang Ke)

A children's library selected for its embodiment of contemporary life in the

traditional courtyard residences of Beijing's Hutongs.

DENMARK

* Superkilen, Copenhagen (Architects: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Topotek 1 and Superflex)

A public space promoting integration across lines of ethnicity, religion and culture.

IRAN

* Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge, Tehran (Architect: Diba Tensile Architecture / Leila Araghian, Alireza Behzadi)

A multi-level bridge spanning a busy motorway has created a dynamic new urban space.

LEBANON

* Issam Fares Institute, Beirut (Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects)

A new building for the American University of Beirut's campus, radical in composition but respectful of its traditional context.
Falling food prices may be good news for millions of urban poor but not for small-scale farmers who will struggle to feed their families without help and incentives, such as an end to export subsidies, said the Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday.

Prices for the main food crops, livestock and fish products all fell in 2015, signaling the likely end to an era of high prices, according to FAO, a U.N. agency.

The lower food prices, which are expected to continue for several years, mean poor families who are not farmers can afford more nutritious meals, FAO director-general Jose Graziano da Silva told agriculture and trade ministers at FAO's headquarters in Rome on Monday.

"You are confronted by the challenge of keeping nutritious food affordable for the poor, while ensuring good incentives for producers, including family farmers," Graziano da Silva said at the high-level meeting on agricultural commodity prices.

"Low food prices reduce the incomes of farmers, especially poor family farmers who produce staple food in developing countries," he said.

"This cut in the flow of cash into rural communities also reduces the incentives for new investments in production, infrastructure and services," he added.

One way to help small farmers cope with falling commodity prices is to end agricultural export subsidies that affect prices in global markets, Graziano da Silva said.

Last December, countries in the 164-member World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to end these subsidies - developed countries immediately and developing countries by the end of 2018.

The decision will "help level the playing field in agriculture markets, to the benefit of farmers and exporters in developing and least-developed countries," WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo told the meeting in Rome.

Social protection programs and schemes like food vouchers, are also essential ways to boost farmers' incomes while making food affordable for other poor families, Graziano da Silva said.

A series of price surges between 2008 and 2012 and volatility in food markets sparked food riots or unrest in parts of Africa, South America, South Asia and the Middle East.

Prices have since become less volatile and are now steadily declining, following strong harvests, global economic slowdown and falling oil prices, but they remain higher than in the 1990s, according to a joint OECD/FAO report.

In the next decade, the growth in demand for food is likely to slow, as population growth falls and incomes rise slowly, the Agricultural Outlook report said.

People in both developed and developing countries are expected to eat more processed food, so the demand for sugar, oils and fat is likely to rise faster than staples and protein.

However, climate change is likely to cause some abrupt price surges over the next decade, it said.
The Pentagon is questioning Russia's decision to add more air defense missiles to its military operation in Syria.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook called on Russia to "explain" why it would deploy S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Syria. The weapons were developed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles.

"ISIL doesn't have an air force and neither does Nusra [Front], which are the two groups the Russians have said they're most concerned about," Cook said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

The only aircraft known to be flying in Syrian airspace are either Syrian, Russian or part of the U.S.-led coalition.

Cook told reporters at the Pentagon that the U.S. will do everything to ensure the safety of coalition air crews.

"Those air crews as well, I should point out, have the inherent right to self-defense," Cook said.

While diplomatic bilateral discussions have ceased, the Pentagon said U.S. and Russia will maintain military-to-military communications in order to avoid incidents in the skies over Syria.

'Defensive move'

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday a battery of the S-300 systems were sent to Syria as a defensive move to protect Russian navy ships off the Mediterranean coast and a Russian facility in the Syrian port of Tartus.

Russia already deployed the S-400 air defense missile system to Syria last November. Moscow had said it was part of a security boost after Turkey shot down a Russian jet that Turkey said was in its air space.

"They have air defense systems in Syria; we've seen them," Cook told reporters at the Pentagon.

News of the recent S-300 deployment comes a day after the U.S. State Department announced the suspension of bilateral talks with Russia, which were set up to sustain a cessation of hostilities in Syria.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
The United Nations' top human rights official has called for limits on the use of the veto power by the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members to halt the tragedy unfolding in east Aleppo in northern Syria.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein has called the situation nothing short of calamitous and likened the horrors being inflicted on the citizens of Aleppo to those that occurred in cities such as Warsaw, Stalingrad and Dresden in World War II.

"We cannot afford to fail Aleppo," Zeid said. "We cannot afford to continue to fail the thousands of children trapped in this city awaiting their slaughter."

The United Nations and human rights organizations have been frustrated by the inability of the U.N. Security Council to act against such atrocities.

Russia, often backed by China, has used its veto power in the Security Council to block resolutions it deemed unfavorable to its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The high commissioner's spokesman, Rupert Colville, said Zeid was calling for bold leadership to end this practice.

"The U.N. Security Council, in particular, should without any further delay, adopt criteria to restrain members from using the veto when there are serious concerns [that] war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide may have been committed."

Question of war crimes

Over the past week and a half, inhabitants of rebel-controlled east Aleppo have endured the most intense attacks since Syria's civil war began more than five years ago, with not a single neighborhood considered safe.

Commissioner Zeid has condemned the reported use of weapons such as high-explosive blast bombs and incendiary devices by government forces and Russia in heavily populated areas. He said they were "having a devastating impact on the civilian population and structures."

Zeid also criticized armed opposition groups for using so-called hell cannons  improvised rockets fitted with gas canisters  saying they are virtually impossible to aim correctly "and have frequently killed and maimed civilians in government-held areas" of Aleppo.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 342 people have been killed  nearly a third of them being children  and more than 1,100 people have been wounded  261 of them children  in the past two weeks.

"These numbers represent only those reported from functioning health facilities," said WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib. "The actual figures are expected to be higher."

In addition to the casualties, Chaib told VOA that two of Aleppo's eight partially functioning hospitals have been repeatedly attacked, and only six are in service. She said only one hospital offers trauma care services.

She said fewer than 30 doctors remain in Aleppo to treat a population of 270,000, and "they are working seven days a week under very stressful conditions with the fear of being attacked while they are doing their job."

Reacting to this situation, Colville told VOA the bombing of medical facilities could be a war crime if proven to be intentional.

"The sheer number of hits on these medical facilities in Aleppo really raises the question of war crimes or even crimes against humanity," he said.

He said an initiative, which was pioneered by the French government, would "permit the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court."

"Such a referral, he said, "would be more than justified given the rampant and shocking impunity enjoyed by those guilty of terrible crimes throughout this conflict."

Political settlement in doubt

"It's not [Zeid's] responsibility to discuss veto powers," Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said when asked about the high commissioner's remarks. "Unfortunately, my good friend has been overstepping the limits of his responsibilities quite a bit, and this is unfortunate."

Before becoming high commissioner for human rights, Prince Zeid was Jordan's U.N. ambassador and sat on the Security Council for part of a two-year term.

The United States has broken off talks with Russia, accusing it of failing to implement a cessation of hostilities agreement they had concluded Sept. 9. This has cast additional doubt on the ability of the United Nations to mediate a political settlement to the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced more than 11 million.

Jessy Chahine, spokeswoman for the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, said Staffan de Mistura deeply regretted the "suspension of the American-Russian diplomatic cooperation on the cessation of hostilities in Syria."

She noted de Mistura vowed that the U.N. would continue to push for a political solution of the Syrian conflict "regardless of the very disappointing outcome of intense and long discussions among two crucial international stakeholders."
Somalia experts and officials say upcoming elections face further delays unless the country's seven-member National Leadership Forum (NLF) takes action.

The Federal Indirect Electoral Independent Team warned Monday there will be more postponements if there is no political agreement on Hiran and Middle Shabelle, the last regional administrations that need to be established before elections can take place.

The president and prime minister, both members of the NLF, expressed differences over the venue of selection of the new region's parliament, with the president proposing Mogadishu and the prime minister insisting it be left within the region.

Both the president and prime minister are presidential candidates.

The formation of this regional administration is a contentious issue because each candidate suspects the other may exploit the process to produce allies who would have a say in the election of the Upper House (by Oct. 10), the Lower House (by Nov. 10) and president (Nov. 30).

Many challenges, candidates

Political differences are just one of the many challenges facing the election: Lack of preparedness, lack of trust, a bloated field of candidates for the two houses of parliament, how to fulfill the womens quota and a budget shortage are other key stumbling blocks to holding elections.

Abdirashid Hashi is the director of Heritage Institute in Mogadishu. He has been touring the regions, and he says delays are likely because of the regions are unprepared and there are no government structures in place to deal with elections.

The regions, which are weaker than the capital, have been handed with the tasks, Hashi said. This affected the logistics, and they are not prepared.

He also said a large number of candidates in regional capitals who are seeking a seat have made it harder for the regions and elders to narrow the list of candidates.

In Garowe, the hotels are full, he said. You can't get a reservation. All the politicians have come from the regions, districts and from diaspora, so it's not easy to distribute seats.

2012 vs 2016

Hashi says the current process is a lot more complicated than the 2012 process, in which only 135 elders were selecting the parliament.

In this election, each of the 275 would-be members of parliament in the lower house will have to compete for the votes of 51 delegates. Each is competing with three to eight candidates for the same votes and must have the support of 26 or 27 of the 51 delegates to be elected.

The NLF increased the number of delegates in order to give the process what it called enhanced legitimacy. But critics say the increased delegate pool of 14,025 encouraged circulation of a large amount of money in the political atmosphere.

This is enhanced corruption, not enhanced legitimacy, says a political aide of one of the candidates who requested anonymity.

Unlike 2012, Somalia is setting up a 54-member Upper House of parliament. The members of the Upper House will be selected by the regions. The names will be proposed by regional leaders, then their respective parliaments will have to approve. The challenge is that there isnt a seat for every clan because of the limited members of the Upper House, unlike the Lower House where all clans must have seats.

Quota for women

One of the biggest challenges in this process is fulfilling the women's 30 percent quota. In 2012, only 14 percent of parliament was given to women (half of the required quota); but this year the women, political leaders and the international community say they expect to see a full allocation. Women must have 81 seats in the Lower House and 15 seats in the Upper House.

Initially the elders were accused of dragging their feet in protecting seats reserved for women, and some women were discouraged. But the biggest setback came Sunday when Somalia's Islamic scholars objected to the move, saying it was against Islam and a foreign-led initiative to reserve a quota for women.

Sheikh Nur Barud Gurhan urged the elders and clans to reject pressure from the politicians and disregard the quota.

Which laws say that every clan that has three seats reserves one for a woman? Clans can allocate seats to whoever they want, he said. Traditional elders cannot be forced, they must say no.

But Batulo Ahmed Gaballe, chairperson of Somali Women's Organization said the Islamic scholars intervention was surprising and shocking.

It's not religious. Its just to deny women their rights to participate in their country's leadership and rebuilding, she said.

She said the move is driven by politics more than religion and said the opposition to women's participation only comes up during the elections.

The mandate of the government institutions expired weeks ago. Two of the NLF members (president and prime minister) have received "exceptional extension" from the same forum. Opposition candidates who want to compete with them for the top job say their role in the NLF raises conflict of interest. They say the process lacks transparency, and the sooner the elections take place the better.
Sudan condemned on Tuesday a U.S. law that would allow families of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks to sue governments for damages, saying it undermined state sovereignty and could provoke reciprocal legislation.

Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader behind the attacks, from 1991-1996, although it has denied allegations that it funded him. Its government was among dozens of defendants named in a 2002 lawsuit filed by families of September 11 victims.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly last Wednesday to approve the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism (JASTA) legislation, which grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil.

"This act clearly violates the sovereignty and immunity of states and could lead the world into legislative chaos," a statement from Sudan's presidency said.

"Sudan would not rule out several other countries drafting laws to lift sovereign immunity against countries that have laws which do not respect sovereign immunity, based on the principal of reciprocal treatment."

The legislation will allow the families of those killed in the 2001 attacks on the United States to seek damages from the Saudi government. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers responsible for the attacks were Saudi.

Riyadh has denied longstanding suspicions that it backed the attackers.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday the law represented a threat to international relations. Sudan is an ally of Saudi Arabia.
Donald Trump is campaigning Tuesday in the western state of Arizona, while Hillary Clinton rallies supporters in Pennsylvania, but the focus will be in Virginia where their running mates are holding the only vice presidential debate before the November 8 election.

The matchup between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine comes days before Trump and Clinton will square off in their second debate.

On Monday, the two presidential candidates continued criticizing each other, with Clinton attacking Trump's tax returns and Trump keying on Clinton's use of a private email system while she was secretary of state.

Clinton said at an event in the important midwestern state of Ohio that Trump is "the poster boy for the same rigged system that he would make even worse."

She leveled the new allegations in the aftermath of a recent New York Times report showing a portion of the Republican nominees 1995 state tax returns in which he declared $916 million in business losses from failing casinos and other ventures. It was a deduction so large that it could have allowed the real estate mogul to legally avoid paying U.S. income taxes for up to 18 years.

"What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?" Clinton asked.

The Trump campaign has not denied the accuracy of the returns, with the real estate mogul saying on his Twitter account, "I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them."

He added Monday at an event in the western state of Colorado that he is a "big beneficiary" of the tax system, but that he wants to "make it fair for everybody."

Trump has defied four decades of U.S. presidential campaign tradition by refusing to release his tax returns. He says his U.S. income tax returns for recent years are under audit by federal officials and that he will release them when the reviews are finished, even though there is no prohibition against disclosing the information ahead of that time.

Regarding Clinton's emails, Trump said a closed Federal Bureau of Investigation probe was "rigged" and was bigger than the Watergate scandal that led former U.S. President Richard Nixon to resign in the 1970s.

Investigators concluded that Clinton was "extremely careless" in her use of the emails system but that no criminal charges were warranted.

Trump also drew the ire of veterans' groups after he suggested that soldiers who suffer from mental health issues might not be as strong as those who don't.

"When people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it," Trump said.

The comment drew swift condemnation from critics as well as veterans' groups that have been working for years to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues in an effort to encourage soldiers to seek treatment.
More than 12,000 Turkish policemen were suspended Tuesday for alleged ties to U.S. based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the accused leader of Julys failed coup attempt.

More than 2,500 police chiefs were among the 12,801 police suspended in connection with the failed coup attempt, Turkish authorities said in a statement.

The suspensions come just a day after Turkeys government announced it would extend a state of emergency for another three months. The state of emergency was enacted shortly after the coup attempt and has allowed the Turkish government to engage in a massive crackdown on government employees.

Since the coup attempt, around 100,000 military, police, judiciary and education employees have been fired. Around 30,000 have been arrested for alleged links to the coup.

Thousands of judges have been detained under emergency rule, including two members of the Constitutional Court.

Gulen, according to experts, has hundreds of thousands of supporters in Turkey, who have built a wide network of businesses and private schools and supporters across the country.

The government has said it is determined to break up this network, which it accuses of not only supporting the coup attempt, but running a parallel state that favors its supporters and crushes opponents.

Gulen, who lives in the United State, denies all the allegations.

Erdogan has promised to continue his crackdown on dissenters and has suggested unprecedented dangers posed against Turkey could lead to the state of emergency extending beyond next year.
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Turkey is in the final stages of a developing a new missile defense system to prevent rocket attacks on its cities by the Islamic State, Turkey's defense minister says.

The system has been in the development process for the last 18 months and will be in the test phase this week before being deployed to stop IS Katyusha rockets, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said.

It has not been easy for us to intervene ISs short-range Katyushas, said Isik in an interview with CNN Turk, adding the system will neutralize Katyushas.

Over the past year, rocket fire has pummeled Turkish border towns from IS positions inside northern Syria. The southern town of Kilis has endured sustained attacks, killing at least 21 people, destroying entire neighborhoods and prompting residents to flee their homes.

Attacking IS

Turkish troops, as well as Turkish-backed rebels, crossed into Syria in August to push IS militants from border areas. But they have not pushed IS far enough from firing range.

Last week, IS rockets again struck Kilis, despite near daily shelling of IS positions by the Turkish military.

The new Turkish defense missile system will resemble Israels Iron Dome, which has proved to be successful against rockets fired by Hamas in the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns. The Turkish system, designed and built by Turks, is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometers.

If everything goes as desired, the new system would certainly be effective against IS, said Metehan Demir, a freelance journalist and a defense expert. The problem of Kathyusha rockets coming from IS will be solved.

Demir also told VOA that it could be months before the new missile system - which Turkey has named "Korkut" - has been tested and is ready for use.

Turkish system

Ilker Akgungor, another journalist who covers defense issues, said Korkut is a self-propelled air-defense gun system developed by Aselsan, a Turkish corporation that produces military radios and defense electronic systems. The Korkut weapon can fire 1,100 rounds per minute and will destroy rockets before they hit the ground.

Because of the recurrent IS attacks, Turkey is speeding up the production process of a defense system, analysts said.

That the terror organizations have used their weapons particularly on populated areas, caused deaths and casualties, and created fear and panic among locals, has accelerated Turkeys efforts in developing new defense systems, said Abdullah Agar, a defense expert.

Turkey is also developing early warning, countermortar radar, and surface-to-air missile systems, Agar said. Combined, the systems are designed to augment a weapons shield system.

These new weapons have given good results in the laboratories, but whether they will yield the required results on real attacks is yet to be seen, he said.

Still, Turkey needs to invest more in research and development of its defense to make more progress on preventing more sophisticated rockets, Agar said. Even then, success will be limited, he added.

The systems of the U.S. and Israel were used in land operations. But even those systems cannot be said to yield results 100 percent," Agar said.
The United Nations is appealing to the international community to pay more attention to Yemen, which it considers one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

Most media attention is on Syria, where the country's devastating, long-running civil war has killed more than 250,000 people and forced more than 11 million to flee their homes.

But U.N. officials fear this focus on the horrors playing out in Syria is overshadowing the desperate needs of more than 12 million people in war-torn Yemen.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the war has destroyed the livelihoods of Yemen's people, robbed them of basic services and pushed the economy to near total collapse. He said children are one of its main victims.

This year, the nutrition cluster estimates that there are 1.5 million [children younger than 5] who are acutely malnourished, of whom 375,000 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, Laerke said. There are many, many others suffering from moderate malnutrition, indicative of the gravity and severity of the situation.

The U.N. World Food Program (WFP), which distributes food to about 6 million people every other month, understands the gravity of the situation. But the WFP has cut back monthly food rations because it has run out of money and urgently needs $145 million to carry out its mission until the end of the year, says agency spokeswoman Bettina Luescher. She said everyone, but especially the children, are suffering from the food shortages.

Even before the violence and the war in Yemen, the malnutrition rates of children in Yemen were the highest in the world, she said. So you have a little bit of a perfect storm coming together there.

Half of the children are stunted, Luescher added, meaning they are too short for their age because of chronic malnutrition.

The difficulty getting food, fuel and other relief items into Yemen, Laerke said, is because of extensive damage to the port city of Hudaydah.

Before the war, Yemen was over 90 percent dependent on import of basic food items and medicines, he said. Eighty percent of those imports come through Hudaydah port. That gives you an indication of the importance of that lifeline.

What is particularly urgent in the port is the rehabilitation and the repair of five cranes, which were damaged in an airstrike in August 2015, so they have been partly out of commission for quite some time, Laerke added.

Laerke said it was very difficult and slow to get shipments of goods in the port offloaded for further transportation with the cranes in need of repair.

Saudi Arabia, an ally of the Yemeni government, began intensive airstrikes against the Houthi rebels at the end of March 2015. Airstrikes by the Saudi Arabian coalition have caused massive damage to the country's infrastructure.

Worse is the number of civilians who have been killed or wounded. New U.N. figures put the number of casualties from the start of the Saudi bombing campaign until the end of September at nearly 11,000, including more than 4,000 killed.

Rupert Colville, spokesman with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the casualties continue to mount. Since the latest estimates were issued, he said at least 10 civilians, including six children, were killed and 17 wounded in the Yemeni city of Taiz.

He said an artillery shell was fired Monday in a busy street near a market in an altercation between the warring parties.

Witnesses who spoke to our staff in Yemen said the street where the market was located was crowded with people at the time of the attack, he said. There had not been any armed confrontations between warring parties in the Bir Basha area prior to this terrible incident.

Stephen O'Brien, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who has just concluded a three-day mission to Yemen, called for the urgent protection of civilians and for the safe and unhindered access for aid workers to deliver humanitarian assistance.

He said the U.N. has been scaling up its support and protection of the Yemeni people since 2015, but efforts to do more are being hampered by a lack of funds.

So far this year, he said, aid workers have reached some 4 million people with assistance and protection. However, the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 is only 46 percent funded, leaving a gap of $880 million.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Russia for its "irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised decision" to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said efforts to end the Syrian war must continue, despite the suspension of U.S.-Russian talks on a cease-fire.

"I want to be clear that we are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said Tuesday in Brussels.

Cease-fire implementation talks suspended



Monday, the United States and Russia suspended talks to implement a cease-fire in Syria, after the United States accused Moscow of not honoring its commitment to stop fighting and ensure relief aid reached besieged neighborhoods.

Kerry said the United States and Russia will still discuss Syria during larger multilateral negotiations.

Kerry said he is outraged Russia has not protested the Syrian government's use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs.

Human rights chief on Aleppo situation



Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights chief said bold action is needed in response to what is happening in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo where an offensive targeting rebel-held eastern neighborhoods is having a "devastating impact" on civilians.

"Faced with such a ghastly avalanche of violence and destruction, extraordinary steps must be taken," said Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein.

He called for the U.N. Security Council to adopt rules to prevent members from using their veto power to block resolutions when there are serious concerns that war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide may have taken place.

The five permanent Security Council members have that veto power. They include Syrian ally Russia, which along with China has blocked several resolutions aimed at the Syrian government since the conflict began in March 2011. One would have referred the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

The United States also has a veto. Its support of rebels opposed to Assad put it on the opposite side of the conflict as Russia, which has led to the two powers calling on each other to pressure the warring parties toward various attempts at peace talks and cease-fires.

Last month they agreed to a deal aimed at reducing violence and speeding humanitarian aid into Aleppo, but the pact quickly broke down.

Russia said it regretted the U.S. decision to withdraw from the cease-fire talks, and has expressed frustration at what it says it the failure of the United States to separate moderate rebels from jihadists.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," a U.S. State Department statement said. Though Washington "spared no effort" in trying to implement the cessation of hostilities, Russia "failed to live up to its own commitments," Kirby said.
A U.N. Peacekeeper is dead and several others injured in northeastern Mali after a mortar attack hit their camp near the Algerian border.

In a statement, the U.N. said its installations in Aguelhok were targeted in four different attacks Monday, which killed one Chadian peacekeeper and wounded eight others

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for swift action against those responsible for the attacks, which he said constitute war crimes under international law.

No group has yet to claim responsibility for the attack.

The part of northern Mali where the attack occurred was overtaken by jihadists in 2012. A 2013 French intervention drove the Islamic militants from a large portion of northern Mali, but they still control some areas.

Attacks by al-Qaida linked groups are still common, and so far this year 32 UN peacekeepers have been killed in Mali.
Court papers relating to the murder of high-profile Honduran land rights activist Berta Caceres have been stolen, the United Nations said, urging government officials to quickly recover the documents and investigate how the theft occurred.

Local media reported that the documents were stolen on Sept. 29 in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Caceres, who had received death threats over her work campaigning against the encroachment of hydroelectric dams and mines on indigenous lands, was killed in March. It is unclear how the theft of the documents will affect the prosecution of the case in the Central American country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

"If this is how the state is handling evidence in the case, then how can we trust their final outcome?" said Candido Mezua Salazar, a colleague of the environmental rights activist.

"Immediate action is needed to safeguard the rights of communities living in Honduras," Salazar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via email late on Monday following the release of the U.N. statement.

Caceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for her struggle to prevent the construction of a $50 million dam that threatened to displace hundreds of indigenous people.

European lenders who had backed the dam project froze their investments following international outcry over the murder.

In May, Honduran officials arrested four people in connection with the activist's murder, including an employee of the company whose dam project she helped block.

More than 100 land rights activists and environmentalists have been murdered in Honduras since 2010, the U.K.-based campaign group Global Witness said in March.

"The general climate for land rights activists in Honduras is increasingly critical and feels worse now given the theft of Berta's case files," said Salazar from the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests.
The United Nations says more than 200,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their war-torn country from Pakistan this year, more than half of them within the past five weeks, despite intensification in Taliban-led hostilities in Afghanistan.

The overall figures represent the highest number since 2007 when more than 360,000 refugees went back to Afghanistan under the UNHCR-sponsored voluntary repatriation program, officials noted.

Several factors are contributing to the unusual rise in the number of Afghan families choosing repatriation, but the exodus is largely voluntary, says Dunya Khan, a UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan.

In addition she says Pakistan introduced a new border management system in early June to regulate movement and discourage illegal crossers on its nearly 2,600-kilometer porous frontier with Afghanistan.

Khan says the new border controls require Afghans to carry valid travel documents and visas to enter Pakistan, prompting around 6,000 Afghans to go back every day.

There were many (refugee) families who were split in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many heads of the families were working in Afghanistan and coming to Pakistan to visit their families. Since the travel has been regularized, therefore, the majority of the Afghans think that for every trip it is not really possible to get a visa, and they have decided to go back to Afghanistan," Khan explained.

Pakistan still hosts about 1.5-million registered Afghan refugees, while another estimated one million are living illegally.

For decades, Afghans were moving across the border on special permits, without any restrictions or Pakistani visas.

But rising tensions between the two countries over mutual terror allegations have prompted Islamabad to tighten the cross-border movement, saying it will help deter terrorist infiltration and ease bilateral tensions.

The undocumented Afghans are currently subjected to a Pakistani police crackdown, apparently to push them to go back to their country.

Authorities say the illegal Afghan community, and in some cases even registered refugee populations, are being used by anti-state elements to plot terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Khan says the UNHCR decision to double the cash grant for voluntary returnees from $200 to $400 per person in mid-June, and a newly-launched campaign by the Afghan government to encourage its displaced citizens to return to their country are also contributing factors for speeding up the voluntary repatriation process.

The government of Afghanistan, for the first time, has proactively started advocating for Afghan refugees to come back to their country and take part in the nation-building process, and many Afghan people now feel that connection and the warm welcome which is being extended to them, Khan noted.

The Pakistan government has been pushing Kabul to arrange for the return of nearly all Afghans because it insists their presence has put pressure on infrastructure and the local economy, which has increasingly upset host communities.

Under the policy, Islamabad has declined to agree to an Afghan request for extending the legal stay of refugees for two years. The government has only recently given the registered Afghans until next March to go back to Afghanistan, a long delayed deadline.

Khan says the delayed announcement increased anxiety and insecurity among Afghan refugees, prompting many families to rush back to their country.

She added while UNHCR has not documented any significant instances in which registered refugees have faced police harassment and coercion, but such actions against undocumented Afghans have generally scared the displaced community.

U.N. officials estimate more than one million people will be on the move in Afghanistan by the end of this year because of displacements the Afghan conflict is causing and because of the large number of refugee families returning to Pakistan and Iran.

The Afghan government is also under pressure from the European Union to take back tens of thousands Afghan migrants seeking asylum there.
Members of a U.S.-based task force are calling for Washington and its allies to change their approach to dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat, saying it is time to rethink the problem.

Mike Mullen, retired U.S. admiral and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, who is now co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative organization, led a recent task force of regional security experts to develop a new strategy that would re-invigorate the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

The task force, which was organized by the Council on Foreign Relations, recommended offering North Korea real incentives for agreeing to a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests, returning to international talks and reaffirming the goal of denuclearization that was agreed to in the 2005 joint statement, during Six-Party Talks held with North Korea, China, the U.S. South Korea, Russia and Japan.

These incentives include initial food aid and a possible reduction in U.S, South Korea joint military exercises while the talks are progressing.

North Korea has long demanded an end to these joint military drills, which they have called rehearsals for invasion.

And in exchange for a verifiable North Korean agreement to dismantle its nuclear weapons, a task force report recommends the U.S. and its allies offer a comprehensive peace treaty officially ending the Korean War (and possibly ending the U.S. military presence in Korea), as well as normalizing relations, lifting all sanctions and integration into the international financial system.

Magical thinking

There are dissenting views within the task force, including those who are skeptical that a peaceful negotiated outcome is possible with a North Korean government that has reneged on past nuclear deals.

Nicolas Eberstadt with the American Enterprise Institute said it verges on magical thinking to imagine that the United States record of near total failure in nuclear diplomacy with North Korea over the past generation can somehow be dramatically changed absent a change of negotiating partners in North Korea."

Senator Nunn said regime change could come as result of changes from within the Kim Jong Un government or in response to a North Korean attack, but it should not be the stated goal of the U.S. or its allies.

Thats the last resort, but if that happens and we get to that point, (then) this strategy has failed, said Nunn.

The United States and its allies in Northeast Asia are increasing their military capabilities to defend and deter against the growing North Korean nuclear threat.

They are also calling for increased sanctions and condemn the Kim Jong Un government for its continued repression of the North Korea people, the majority of whom live in poverty.

But they have stopped short of advocating for regime change.

Throughout history, certainly regimes have changed, but regime change recently has not been working that well, said Admiral Mullen.

Status quo

North Korea has responded defiantly to United Nations sanctions imposed in March, by accelerating nuclear and missile tests this year.

Military analysts say the North this year could produce enough fissile material at its uranium enrichment facilities to make about 20 nuclear bombs, and by the year 2020 it will most likely develop the reliable capability to arm an intercontinental ballistic missile with a miniaturized nuclear warhead.

Washington and Seoul are moving to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system on the Korean peninsula and have practiced military exercises that entail taking out key installations in North Korea.

The United Nations Security Council, which includes the U.S. and North Koreas key allies, China and Russia, has condemned these repeated violations of U.N. resolutions banning the communist states nuclear program, and is considering further sanctions.

But China is reluctant to go along with implementing measures that would cause the Kim Jong Un government to collapse and lead to the U.S. and its ally South Korea to gain control of the entire Korean peninsula.
If expected military offensives rout the Islamic State group from the cities that are its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, military analysts and Kurdish commanders say the extremists would establish bases in rural areas to further their regional terrorism.

"When they run out of options, and soon they will, [IS fighters] will act more violently outside their areas of control, said Radwan Badini, a politics professor at Salahaddin University in Irbil, in northern Iraq.

"In the countryside of rural provinces in Syria and Iraq, IS will continue to have an influence and it will try to use these areas as operation centers to stage attacks on their immediate enemies.

Since 2014, IS has used Iraq and Syria as centers for the establishment and expansion of its self-designated caliphate, virtually changing the map of those two war-torn nations.

Losing territory

However, an array of opposition to Islamic State - including a U.S.-led coalition, government forces, local forces and militia and foreign troops - has left the militant group reeling, and slowly returned parts of Iraq and Syria back to local control.

"We've deprived [IS] of about 25 percent of the territory it once controlled in Syria and more than 50 percent it once controlled in Iraq,Antony J. Blinken, deputy U.S. secretary of State, said last week during a congressional hearing.

In western Iraq, IS has suffered a series of defeats in Anbar province in recent months.

In the north, Islamic State is fortifying its stronghold in Mosul and planning for a massive attack by Iraqi forces trying to regain control of the city, which had a population of more than two and one-half million when IS captured it more than two years ago. Analysts say the loss of Mosul would leave extremist fighters scattered across a region that is mostly desert.

Mosul loss could doom 'caliphate'

The "liberation of Mosul would contain IS expansion in Iraq," said Khaled Akkasheh, head of the National Center for Security Studies in Cairo, and ensure the gradual demise of their so-called caliphate."

Others say IS would still be a menacing force in Iraq even after losing control of Mosul.

Islamic State is supported by some of the Sunni tribes in Anbar province, according to Aras Dizayee, a military strategist in Irbil. "The group will be relevant as long as it has popular support in these areas, he said.

Sunni tribes feel alienated from the Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi government in Baghdad, and some see IS as an alternative power base. And some Sunni tribes have profited from doing business with Islamic State - smuggling in oil and goods from IS-controlled territory.

"IS would continue collaborating with these Sunni tribes because that gives it legitimacy among people and a sort of military alliance, Dizayee said.

Turning old tactic

The Irbil-based analyst said it will be difficult to eliminate IS influence, because the extremist group's members and sympathizers are dispersed among the general population, and from there they can employ an old tactic.

"They know a moment will come where they no longer control territory, Dizayee said. So they have trained many suicide bombers, mainly children, to carry out attacks.

Islamic State's influence in Suinni areas of Iraq likely will spread into Syria, Kurdish commanders say.

IS has many strong pockets along the Iraq-Syria border, said General Sime Usali, a commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces near Mosul. "They will likely be concentrated in those areas when they have been pushed out of Mosul.

It remains to be seen who will lead IS in Iraq and Syria in the future.

The U.S. military has been targeting IS leadership for months, killing IS commanders in September, 13 of them in the Mosul area. Many more IS leaders are likely to lose their lives in the Mosul battle, analysts say.

"Most of the top-tier IS leaders who have been targeted by U.S. strikes possessed skills that their successors don't necessarily have," said analyst Akkasheh. "But that doesn't mean that [IS] can entirely be weakened.

The spillover effect from an IS retreat from Mosul will likely coincide with a depleted IS in Syria.

The U.S.-led coalition, Turkey and Arab forces are planning an assault in the group's Syrian stronghold, Raqqa, after pushing IS out of northern Syria in recent weeks.

Routing IS from Raqqa could further complicate the chaotic situation in the Syrian civil war, analysts say. IS is increasing its presence in areas once held by Syrian rebel forces, and is battling both Damascus government forces and rebels in central and southern Syria.

"Symbolically, removing [IS] from its self-proclaimed capital is significant, Akkasheh said in an interview with VOA. "Strategically, however, it would perhaps allow IS to search for newer footings.
U.S. President Barack Obama called on creative thinkers, entrepreneurs and artists to use their talents and abilities to "turn change into a force for good" at a time when so many are fearful of change.

The White House hosted the first "South by South Lawn" (SXSL) Monday, transforming the grounds into a festival celebrating the spirit of innovation with musical performances, art displays, film viewings and discussions on major issues of the day.

Obama told participants that changes in innovation and technology have transformed how people live. While those changes have created new opportunities, they have been seen by some people as "disruptive, even scary  and sometimes, they leave folks behind."

Obama urged the group to help "build a future that's more inclusive, tolerant and full of opportunity for everybody," and "create a world that's worthy of our brightest hopes."

The White House festival was modeled after a yearly event called South by Southwest.



WATCH: related video report

Obama attended that festival in Austin, Texas, in March, and he called for greater civic engagement and for innovators and entrepreneurs to help tackle the nation's toughest challenges.

Technology and poverty

Several attendees exemplified that.

Jukay Hsu founded Coalition for Queens, which uses technology to help residents of Queens, New York, lift themselves out of poverty.

The Iraq War veteran and Bronze Star recipient told reporters that technology has changed industries and reshaped the economy, edging out people who do not have the knowledge or skills to compete.

WATCH: President Obama on engaging on climate change

Hsu said his business targets New Yorkers who did not attend college.

"Once going through the program, we raise people's average income, from $18,000 starting out to $85,000 a year after the program," he added. "If we can do it there and help support the growth in the New York technology community, we hope communities all across America can also have access to these opportunities and help grow our economy."

SXSL exhibits

Carmen Rojas, the chief executive officer of The Workers Lab, said her business shares cutting-edge technologies with entrepreneurs, community organizers and those who specialize in technology.

Rojas unveiled a digital platform she said will give young people digital tools to organize, tell their stories and connect with each other.

WATCH: Actor-activist DiCaprio on belief in climate change

Participant Dr. Nina Tandon founded the world's first company to grow living human bones to help with reconstruction and recovery.

Anil Dash is the co-founder of Makerbase, an online community for those who make apps and create websites. The tech entrepreneur is also a writer and activist pressing for a tech industry that is more inclusive, among other things.

Dash said the South Lawn festival was exciting, because it brought together people to advance the "promise of what we thought technology was going to do for the world."
The pangolin is an unlikely candidate for the spotlight. For starters, the scaly, anteater-like creature is shy, smelly and mostly nocturnal.

Yet the humble pangolin has had a star turn this week, with the worlds largest wildlife convention recommending all eight pangolin species be banned from international trade. Despite its odd looks and weird habits, the mammal is the worlds most trafficked animal, desired for its reputed, and largely debunked, benefits in traditional medicine.

The pangolin is just one of 500 threatened species up for discussion at this years Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference in Johannesburg, but many creatures live in the shadow of the big, majestic animals.

What attracts the most public attention is the mega-fauna, the elephants, the rhinos, the lions, CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon told VOA.

Thats why were pleased to see some smaller species like the pangolin also attract attention; but, weve got the snakes here, weve got the lizards here, weve got the frogs here. And some really interesting ones, the earless monitor [lizard], the Titicaca frog, the psychedelic rock gecko; there are some really interesting animals there that nobodys paid much attention to.

Thats because, says Dan Ashe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director, its hard to build awareness for an animal with a weird name or an ugly face.

For example, hes proud that the United States last year made history by removing the Oregon chub from the federal list of endangered and threatened animals; but it took nearly two decades to do so. The Oregon chub, a small minnow, was the first fish to be taken off the list.

A lot of times the things that we have the most trouble with are the things that are less identifiable or less iconic, Ashe said.

"... Were dealing with things like the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly or the Houston toad. These are things which often the public questions, why is this important, why should we save this? And usually what I tell people is, 'because we dont understand.'"

Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, says shes never met an animal she didnt like. Even the cockroach, she says, has a strange sort of beauty. Saving small, secretive creatures, however, is unusually hard, she says, because they avoid attention.

With certain species, it takes time to realize that theyre in trouble, she said. But I do think that this is what CITES is about and CITES helps with, because it does give a forum where all of these issues can be raised for all of these animals.

Scanlon says what these creatures often need is a popular, good-looking cheerleader.

We used to say the lesser-known pangolin, but then we saw Prince William and others focus a lot of attention on the pangolin, and now Id say its the well-known pangolin, he said.

So far, no royal has stepped up for Perus Titicaca water frog, which is critically endangered by fungal disease and hungry trout. Scanlon says he holds hope, that someday, maybe, this frogs prince will come.
Yahoo Inc. last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information sought by U.S. intelligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company complied with a classified U.S. government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI, said two former employees and a third person apprised of the events.

Some surveillance experts said this is the first known case of a U.S. internet company agreeing to a spy agency's demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

It is not known what information intelligence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources, who did not want to be identified.

Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers with this kind of request.

According to the two former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's decision to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc.

Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," the company said in a brief statement in response to Reuters questions. Yahoo declined any further comment.

Through a Facebook spokesman, Stamos declined a request for an interview.

The NSA referred questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment.

The demand to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified directive sent to the company's legal team, according to the three people familiar with the matter. U.S. phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies.

But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad directive for real-time Web collection or one that required the creation of a new computer program.

I've never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a selector,  said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and internet companies on surveillance issues for 20 years before moving to Stanford University this year. It would be really difficult for a provider to do that, he added.

A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information.

Experts said it is likely the NSA or FBI approached other internet companies with the same demand, because they apparently did not know what email accounts the target was using. The NSA usually makes requests for domestic surveillance through the FBI, so it is hard to know which agency is seeking the information.

Reuters was unable to confirm whether the 2015 demand went to other companies, or if any complied. Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft Corp, two major U.S. email service providers, did not respond to requests for comment.

Challenging the NSA

Under laws including the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, intelligence agencies can ask U.S. phone and internet companies to provide customer data to aid foreign intelligence-gathering efforts for a variety of reasons, including prevention of terrorist attacks.

Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and others have exposed the extent of electronic surveillance and led U.S. authorities to modestly scale back some of the programs, in part to protect privacy rights.

Companies including Yahoo have challenged some classified surveillance before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret tribunal.

Some FISA experts said Yahoo could have tried to fight last year's directive on at least two grounds: the breadth of the demand and the necessity of writing a special program to search all customers' emails in transit.

Apple Inc. made a similar argument earlier this year when it refused to create a special program to break into an encrypted iPhone used in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. The FBI dropped the case after it unlocked the phone with the help of a third party, so no precedent was set.

Other FISA experts defended Yahoo's decision to comply, saying nothing prohibited the surveillance court from ordering a search for a specific term instead of a specific account.

So-called upstream bulk collection from phone carriers based on content was found to be legal, they said, and the same logic could apply to Web companies' mail.

As tech companies become better at encrypting data, they are likely to face more such requests from spy agencies.

Former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker said email providers have the power to encrypt it all, and with that comes added responsibility to do some of the work that had been done by the intelligence agencies.

Secret siphoning program

Mayer and other executives ultimately decided to comply with the directive last year rather than fight it, in part because they thought they would lose, said the people familiar with the matter.

In 2007, Yahoo fought a FISA demand that it conduct searches on specific email accounts without a court-approved warrant. Details of the case remain sealed, but a partially redacted published opinion showed Yahoo's challenge was unsuccessful.

Some Yahoo employees were upset about the decision not to contest the more recent directive and thought the company could have prevailed, the sources said.

They were also upset that Mayer and Yahoo General Counsel Ron Bell did not involve the company's security team in the process, instead asking Yahoo's email engineers to write a program to siphon off messages containing the character string the spies sought and store them for remote retrieval, according to the sources.

The sources said the program was discovered by Yahoo's security team in May 2015, within weeks of its installation. The security team initially thought hackers had broken in.

When Stamos found out that Mayer had authorized the program, he resigned as chief information security officer and told his subordinates that he had been left out of a decision that hurt users' security, the sources said. A programming flaw, he said, could have allowed hackers access to the stored emails.

Stamos' announcement in June 2015 that he had joined Facebook did not mention any problems with Yahoo.

In a separate incident, Yahoo last month said state-sponsored hackers gained access to 500 million customer accounts in 2014. That brought new scrutiny to Yahoo's security practices as the company tries to complete a deal to sell its core business to Verizon Communications Inc. for $4.8 billion.
Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday upheld a month-long police ban on protests in the capital on the grounds that this was necessary to preserve peace, a lawyer representing opposition activists said.

Political tension is rising in the southern African nation after protests in the last three months against the rule of 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Police in the southern African nation banned public demonstrations until Oct. 15 following anti-government protests that led to violent clashes with police.

Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and prominent lawyer, said Judge President George Chiweshe had in his ruling dismissed the application to overturn the police ban.

Biti said the judge, while accepting that the law used by the police violated individual rights allowing peaceful demonstrations, it was nonetheless justified in order to protect property and ensure public peace.

"The court's rationale is that while the section of the law that allows police to ban protests was in breach of fundamental rights, it was justifiable in a democratic society," Biti said.

On Sept. 7, another High Court judge struck down a previous ban on public protests, saying police did not follow procedure and had violated the constitution.

Biti said he would meet other human rights lawyers on Wednesday to decide whether to appeal Chiweshe's ruling at the Supreme Court or launch a challenge at the Constitutional Court.

Angered by a jobless rate above 80 percent, corruption and the worst fiscal crunch and cash shortages since the adoption of the U.S. dollar in 2009, many Zimbabweans have taken to social media to organise anti-government activities.
The failure of the Russo-US agreement of 9 September and the Security Council debates which followed have enabled us to confirm several hypotheses.

The current strategic objective of the United States in Syria is indeed to cut the Silk Road, which China has been preparing for many years. Placing President Xi Jinping in power in May 2013, China has made the restoration of this historic communication route its main goal. However, since China has become the worlds principal producer, Xi has planned to augment it with a new Silk Road which will pass through Siberia and Eastern Europe before joining up with the European Union.

Logically enough, the United States are currently organising two proxy wars, one in the Levant, and the other in Ukraine. The installation of chaos in Syria and Donbass are not aimed at satisfying the cynical theories of Leo Strauss, but exclusively to cut the axes of these routes.

It was no surprise that Ukrainian President Petro Porochenko came to participate in the Security Council meeting in order to support the US delegation, which accused Russia of having bombed a Syrian humanitarian convoy.

The Russo-US agreement anticipated that the United States would separate the moderate combatants from the extremists; then that the moderates would participate with the two major powers and the Syrian Arab Army in the neutralisation of the extremists; and finally, that a government of national union would be formed in Damascus, under the Presidency of Bachar el-Assad, integrating representatives of the moderates who had taken part in the final battle against the extremists.

But nothing like this has been done. The engagement of Secretary of State John Kerry has proven to be no more than wishful thinking. Washington has not found any combatants to play the role of the moderates. In reality, all moderates are extremists. It was therefore necessary for the US to seize the opportunity - or even organise it  of the burned humanitarian convoy, in order to escape from its own contradictions. President Obamas rhetoric according to which he supports the Syrians who are fighting for Democracy against a repressive regime does not correspond to reality. In 2013, President Vladimir Putin was right to mock the Westerners who considered the cannibals of the Free Syrian Army as moderates.

Finally, this agreement reveals that Russias objective is to destroy the jihadists who are preparing here to attack them in the Caucasus. The solution that was originally negotiated was ideal for Moscow  it put an end to the suffering of its Syrian ally, it opened a communication route for its Chinese ally, and promised to put an end to international jihadism. A contrario, Moscow has just confirmed that, since the war in Afghanistan, jihadism is a weapon which is being used against it by the US, and that Washington does not intend to give it up. Of course, the new jihadists are not aware of this, but those who have been fighting with US assistance for the last 38 years can not ignore that they are no more than pawns for the Pentagon.
Gloria Naylor, author of the National Book Awardwinning novel The Women of Brewster Place, which would go on to become a bestseller and a popular miniseries starring Oprah Winfrey, died near her home in Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands, reports the New York Times. She was 66. Naylors books, which also included Linden Hills (1985), Baileys Cafe (1992), and, the follow-up to her earlier work, The Men of Brewster Place (1998), were applauded for their nuanced look at social and political issues, particularly those faced by black women living in America. Naylor was born in Manhattan in 1950, attended Brooklyn College where she studied English, and received her masters in African-American studies at Yale University. The Women of Brewster Place, her debut novel, followed the lives of seven women living in the same urban housing project. In addition to winning the National Book Award for first novel in 1983, the bestseller also received the American Book Award. Naylors other honors included National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim fellowships. As a college professor, she taught at New York University and University of Pennsylvania. She is survived by her sister, a niece, and a nephew.


Photo: George Pimentel/Getty Images

Less than a month after announcing she was dropping out of her movie projects, Chloe Grace Moretz is back in the movie-making game. Back in September, Moretz told The Hollywood Reporter, I pulled the plug on all my movies because I want to reassess who I am and find myself within my roles again. But now Moretz, formerly of Carrie and Let Me In, knows exactly the right part for finding herself, and that role is as a murdering or murdered ballerina. Variety reports Moretz has been cast in the Suspiria remake. Based on the Dario Argentodirected 1977 Italian horror classic, the movie takes place in a ballet academy where the students have to worry about more than perfecting their pirouettes  mainly maggots and reanimated corpses. The remake, which is set to come out in 2017 to mark the originals 40th anniversary, also stars Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton.
Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth in Luke Cage. Photo: Myles Aronowitz/Netflix

When Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad first signed on to score Netflixs Luke Cage, they didnt consider how the show would consume their day-to-day lives. The two are legendary  Muhammad was a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, and the prolific Younge has an output that defies categorization.

They quickly realized all future plans needed to be shelved. It wasnt solely that the score was overly consuming  though Younge concedes, We had to give up our lives as artists to dedicate ourselves wholly to this score  but more that Younge and Muhammad realized they had a chance to create a score that could define the TV series.

We raised the bar and created something that is timeless, professes Muhammad. Over coffee at the Cut restaurant in the recently opened Four Seasons Downtown in New York City, Vulture spoke with the two musicians about creating the score, the lack of opportunities for black composers, and setting a tone that bridges a many musical genres.

You both had worked together before Luke Cage, right?

Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Since about 2013, when he was working on the Souls of Mischief record, and he asked me to be a part of it. That formed our friendship and production partnership, but we had never spoken about scoring together, so when [showrunner] Cheo [Hodari Coker] reached out to us individually, it was easy to fall into.

For something like this, are you both in the same room working together? Are you emailing? And then how do you get the orchestra involved?

Adrian Younge: There are 13 episodes, and on each of the episodes, we have a spotting session, where we meet with the directors and the music supervisors, and we all watch the episode. Then we write notes and we leave. Ali takes these amount of cues, I take these amount of cues, we do a certain amount of cues together, and when we are done, we submit it for approval to everybody, and assuming there are no changes  there are never much changes at all  we give it Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, who is our conductor-orchestrator, and he orchestrates it for a 30-piece orchestra that we record in Raphael Saadiqs studio. Then we record that and mix it.

There is a sense that you both realized this score would be studied by future musicians, and the idea that you had to go above and beyond expectations. Am I right in that? And did that sense come while scoring or after the fact?

AY: It was in the present. As freelance artists, you do what the hell you want to. When you are a composer for a multi-billion-dollar company like Marvel, you are an employee and you have responsibilities. When we accepted these jobs, I just thought itd be a couple of months. We realized this is a big deal for many reasons, at that point.

One reason, we enjoyed it, and we wanted to do a good job for Cheo, who has our back. Secondly, it is something that is great for our careers. As composers, it brings us to another side where cats have done hip-hop, R&B, and now were getting into a big television series with a film perspective on composition, not just a regular television.

And lastly, we needed to execute because it was something that was bigger than us. We are two black composers, and black composers dont really get the opportunities to support things of this magnitude. It is a cyclical process. If you look back to Duke Ellington, to Quincy Jones, to Isaac Hayes, these opportunities are seldom, and when black composers have been awarded these opportunities, it is something where you must make a statement. The statement we sought to make is that people of our culture should aspire to do more than just sampling or producing for someone else. Dont just stop there. You can score film, you can have an orchestra, you can go as far as you want to.

When I say our culture, I am talking about urban culture. And that includes people that are in hip-hop. You dont see hip-hop producers composing. We can count on one hand how many we know. It is unfortunate. But it is something that ties into the fact that you dont see many black composers having these opportunities. We knew we wanted to set a bar, and we wanted to make something pivotal, unique, and novel for people to watch and feel.

The second episode is where the viewer really feels the impact of the score. It starts and ends the episode. Was that a pivotal episode for the both of you?

ASM: The funny thing about that is that the second episode was the first episode we scored. That was the one where we knew  everything has to go into this moment.

AY: And when we did that episode, it helped convince Marvel and Netflix that these guys should have an extra budget now to have an orchestra. They love what we were doing so much. Dawn Soler at ABC pushed hard for us to get an orchestra. That song that starts and ends episode two is the song where they were like, This is it. This is the sound of the show. They always believed in us, but what we said to them is you dont have to have any needle drops here, you dont have to license as much music, let us create more score. Let us create more source material for you guys so that the music all comes together to create a world of Luke Cage. Instead of songs just being pulled from everywhere. That helped us have this orchestra for 13 episodes, which is very expensive.

Did you consciously create different tones for each character?

AY: Absolutely. For Diamondback, we have a voice for him, it is opera singing  Brooke deRosa, whom I have worked with for years. For Luke Cage, we use Loren Oden. Whenever Luke Cage is having one of those dramatic or emotional moments, his superhero-type tone is Lorens voice, kind of like his inner voice. And Cottonmouth, he is a pianist, and he plays the Fender Rhodes. We pretty much exclusively use Fender Rhodes keyboards for him. That is who he is.

Which of the characters was the most difficult to figure the tone for?

ASM: They all seemed to be seamless, but Shades came early on. He made such a large entrance in episode two, when he comes in the kitchen, and we played to that, and Marvel really liked it, but they wanted us to preserve what was structured for him for way later.

Cheo has mentioned that when he described what tone he wanted, he would use a specific song as an example. Did that help? Is that how you like to work?

ASM: It is very helpful  then you arent chasing the sound. Its nice to have someone say they want Saturn and mean they want Saturn, and not Pluto. The music was a character of itself, and we all understand the same sort of source material that hip-hop is built on. We all speak the same language musically, and so he gave us a very clear, distinctive road map to work on.

Was there one episode that stood out as being more difficult to score than the others?

AY: Yes, episode four. You were going back in time, so we had to figure out what going back in time felt like. Everything else for those 13 episodes were in a certain time, so it was difficult to conceptualize. We are in a prison, and our job is to enhance the visual, and enhance the drama and emotions. How does it feel to be inside a prison? Do you go old slave-blues-type route to explain the feeling of being a black incarcerated person? Do you go Bernard HerrmannAlfred Hitchcock-type scary vibe? Did you just keep it straight hip-hop, 90s stuff? There are so many courses that you can take, and you have to sit there and pick the right one because you want this to tie into the rest of the series. There was some intense thinking, but it wasnt necessarily difficult to execute once we figured it out.

When we first saw the episode, the temp music was all over the place, and it didnt feel cohesive. And after we scored it, it was a totally different episode. Do you remember that? It felt like it was supposed to feel, from my perspective.

ASM: I agree with that, but we were very vocally expressive to Cheo after we saw episode seven. By that point, you, the viewer, is all the way in, and your relationship with the characters is excellent.

AY: What Ali means is we are scoring every episode, but we are not seeing the later episodes. If there is something pivotal that happens, were like, What the fuck. Then we have to reprogram how we score from there. Not like you are messing up the show, but you are throwing us a curveball here, so we have to figure out how to hit it.

A Luke Cage concert with Miguels orchestra was recently announced for October 6 at the Ace Theater in Los Angeles. Was that always the plan?

AY: Before we even recorded one guitar, we were talking to Dawn Soler, Cheo Coker, and executives like Karim Zreik at Marvel about how when this is done, we want to perform this live. Everyone thought it was cool and a great idea, but I dont think that people really understood how serious we were at the beginning. They hadnt heard what we could do yet. And then after we finished, everybody understood.

You have both been involved with projects that, on their own, are timeless, so working together, was it easy to have these conversations of how you wanted to make this sound modern and timeless at the same time?

ASM: It is funny because I do not work with other people. Ali, No I.D., and one or two more people I can work with. The way they think matches how I think. They make me better, and I make them better. With Ali, I feel like I am working with myself, and I dont have to question myself.

It wasnt necessary, then, when making this to do much research on the different sounds we were trying to create. As DJs, we have sampled so many records years and years ago, and we have so much music in our head anyway, so we are ready to regurgitate it into the score.

AY: We have the same ideas, not just only in music but outside of it. Our thinking is linear, from the sense we both come from DJing and sampling, and Ive felt there was a limitation in the music  as creative as you can be with sampling  but still it is somewhat elses idea you are manipulating. Which caused me to learn how to play instruments, which is the same thing with him. It is the best of both worlds. You have the fundamental structure of sampling, or just capturing the break on turntables and bringing it back. But you can compose. You can really layer or build on top of it. Or not even start there  have your own understanding of how the textures of the break. What is it about the break that you love? That snare? The ring of metal from the high hat?

AY: Put it this way: The difference between us and other composers  we both started our musical careers sampling. When you are sampling, you are trying to find the most obscure records from around the world to find something that nobody else has even thought of sampling. We have listened to so many records. For example, you want to find the craziest violin sample. You might go to some Russian orchestra record, and find that little part. We have listened to so many records from around the world that we have a plethora of music in the back of our head.

In addition to that, we have DJd for years. And as a DJ, your job is play music for a crowd to enjoy. So we have a vantage point that a lot of people dont have. With us, having this storage of all of these various sounds, and having this vantage point of pleasing people, when we approach making new music, we create new samples in our head, basically.

Anything that makes us feel a certain way, we can apply a whole bunch of melody and chord changes to it. We can create something new. You bring all of that to the table, and then have it orchestrated by a full orchestra, it is a whole different perspective of creating music. And the nucleus of that is the hip-hop in us. Hip-hop is the amalgamation of all of these records that could have been forgotten about, or never became what they were supposed to become, but with hip-hop sampling it gave you a new look into what the record was supposed to be, and in many times, made that original record better than it was on its own.

ASM: It is important to enjoy where we are right now, and feel great about the work we have done. Marvel and Netflix were supportive of our process, and we hope that we have encouraged them to come to the same pool that weve come from. We have raised the bar and created something that is timeless.

This interview has been edited and condensed.
In the past week, while Donald Trump was distracted by his urge to unleash late-night Twitter tirades against a former Miss Universe, the New York Times was working on a damning article about the Republican nominees 1995 tax returns. There are plenty of juicy details to fixate on  Trumps nearly billion dollar loss, the possibility that he didnt pay any income tax for nearly two decades, the way his business losses affected his less-wealthy investors  but Late Nights Seth Meyers was particularly interested in taking a closer look at where the anonymously sent tax document came from. Who would have a motive to destroy Donald Trump? Meyers asked, before pictures of various Republican politicians, women scorned, and a whole nation popped up to answer his question. The host, however, has his own theory on why the damaging documents came in an envelope with Trump Towers labelled as the return address. Watch the video above to find out who Seth thinks is the culprit. Heres a hint: The killer is inside the house.
Secrets are difficult to keep until theyre forgotten entirely, and it strikes me that the revelation of the person (or people) behind the pen name Elena Ferrante was inevitable. What well never know is whether Ferrante would have someday done it herself if it hadnt (allegedly) been done for her by Claudio Gatti over the weekend, in Il Sole 24 Ore and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and on the blog of The New York Review of Books. Given its rarified reputation, that last one was an odd place for anglophone readers to learn that financial records and real-estate purchases point to Anita Raja as the author of Ferrantes works, but no matter where the two-part article was published first we would have read about it in the newspapers, too, soon enough.

If Raja is Ferrante its not a surprise, at least not to me or to anyone who read an essay last year in Public Books that pointed to Raja, the signed translator in Italian of the East German novelist Christa Wolf, and quoted an Italian gossip blog: Even the stones know that Elena Ferrante is Anita Raja. Perhaps the only thing of literary value to be had from knowing that Raja is Ferrante would be greater scrutiny of the influence of Wolf on the fictions of Ferrante, which would have been a good question anyway.

As someone anonymous wrote, on the blog of the London Review of Books, the main effect of Gattis report is to ruin the fun  to raise all the wrong questions about richly imagined works of fiction in an age awash in gossip. Katherine Angel at Versos blog and Aaron Bady in the New Inquiry, echoing many voices on social media, have called the report misogynistic. Its certainly hostile. Thats journalism for you. Gatti must have gotten the documents he relied on from a party or parties that should have been keeping them secret, and thats who betrayed Ferrante. Gatti is just a reporter doing his job, as distasteful as that job sometimes is.

What strikes me as odd, and in spirit wrong, about Gattis report is the second part, an effort at crude biographical criticism in which he tells the story of Rajas mother, Goldi, a Holocaust survivor, sourced to Elisabetta Mattioli, who co-authored a pair of German grammar books with Goldi. Gatti wonders about a link between her story and the images of crisis in Ferrantes work, and implies that the mothers story is the one Ferrante should have been telling all along. Perhaps someday she will  some fear shell never write again. (I doubt it.) Gattis not wrong that its a compelling story of survival, but its not the story Ferrante decided to tell in her novels. Deciding what stories to tell is what writers do, and if they need to keep a few secrets in order to tell them, we should let them. Its no surprise when we dont.

So now Ferrante will go from being a pen name to being the name of a reclusive author, unless she decides to embrace her celebrity  I dont see her signing up to do a panel at the Brooklyn Book Fest next year, but who knows? And, as enticing as a literary whodunit seems to be to some readers, the silence or mystery that surrounds an author doesnt necessarily enclose much of interest. In the case last year of Harper Lee, the only thing behind the silence was a woman close to death and an inferior manuscript that predated her masterpiece.

Sometimes shy people are just shy, and boring, and we all have the right to be boring, except on the page. I once asked a prominent literary biographer if he might next write his next book about Don DeLillo, knowing the two were acquainted. No story there, he said. He sat at his desk and wrote. (Brilliantly, Im sure hed add.) In general, literary biography is of limited literary utility. People with interesting minds sometimes lead interesting lives, but perhaps more often they dont. (The ones who choose to live in retreat dont always do it for interesting reasons, either.) And yet those choices do have an effect on readers, of course, some of whom are other writers. The spectacle of Norman Mailer had something to do with the hiding out of J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon, both of whom became disgusted with the idea of literary celebrity, though the latter has occasionally used it as an opportunity for pranks. Late in life Mailer himself regretted the attention. We wanted to change the nature of American life, he told a French interviewer. None of us ended up as heroes; we ended up as celebrities.

By comparison to Salinger and Pynchon, Ferrante, though unphotographed and pen-named, has been a promiscuous interview subject. Next month sees the publication in English of Frantumaglia: A Writers Journey, reportedly a self-portrait in fragments. Ive no doubt it will be more of a pleasure than finding out that there are seven rooms in her Rome apartment.
Two teens were arrested Monday, accused of robbing a man they knew through social media of his vehicle last weekend, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.

Michael Alexander, 19, and Andrew Sanchez, 17, were arrested after a man came into the Waco Police Department at about 3 a.m. Sunday and reported that two men forcibly robbed him of his vehicle earlier in the night, Swanton said. The man said he agreed to pick up one of the suspects near Waco High School, then picked the other man up near 10th Street and Colcord Avenue.

He said that he knew the first guy very distantly through Facebook and then he went to pick up the second guy, who he also knew through Facebook, Swanton said. Those two (passengers) started assaulting (the driver) and took his car from him.

The driver called his mother, who picked him up and took him to the police department to file a report. Swanton said the driver was not seriously injured.

While they were making the report, an officer saw the vehicle, stopped it, and we arrested (the two suspects), Swanton said. Due to the fact that they both used force and assaulted (the driver), they have both been charged with robbery.

Police recovered the vehicle early Sunday morning, and the suspects were booked into McLennan County Jail on Monday, according to jail records.

The driver did not know the suspects real names at the time of the alleged robbery and said they were distant Facebook friends that he doesnt deal with very often,  Swanton said.

Alexander remained in jail Tuesday with bond listed at $10,000. Sanchez posted a $10,000 surety bond and was released Monday afternoon.
Despite what Donald Trump says, we really can learn a lot from his tax returns  even from the partial ones made public by The New York Times.

The major takeaway from the three pages of Trumps 1995 returns that the Times made public is that Trump is right when he says the system is rigged. What he doesnt say is that its rigged in his favor, and in the favor of people like him  and against regular people, those of us who earn money, pay income tax on it and financially support the country in which we live.

To keep things relatively simple, Im telling you what I see in Trumps returns, based on my decades of experience parsing financial filings. I will try not to get bogged down in numbers and technicalities.

Sure, the $900 million-plus of losses reported by the New York Times  losses that could be used to offset income for a total of 18 years  are totally shocking. Legal, yes. But shocking.

But theres something I consider even more shocking  although it involves a much smaller number.

By my read of the Trump tax return published by the New York Times, he would have been tax-free because of a $15,818,562 loss reported on Line 11 of the return under Rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, trusts, etc. It looks to me that this loss reflects the outrageous, special tax break that real estate developers like Trump can get but that the rest of us cant.

To give you the brief version, people who qualify as real estate developers or managers can use depreciation deductions to offset non-real estate income. But people who dont qualify for this special treatment cant do that. (For full details, ask a tax expert about Section 469 of the tax code.)

Now, to the $909 million loss reported by the New York Times  which vastly exceeds any cash losses that Trump would have suffered in the collapse of his casino-hotel-airline empire, which fell apart in the early 1990s and resulted in four bankruptcies. (He had two more bankruptcies, in 2004 and 2009, from a publicly-traded company in which he was the primary shareholder.)

Im guessing but cant tell for sure  theres not enough information  that the loss has to do with the collapse of his empire. I dont understand how Trump, who had very little of his own cash invested in his projects in the 1990s but did personally guarantee part of their debt, could end up with tax losses of that magnitude. Theyre almost certainly paper losses rather than out-of-pocket losses.

Its possible that those losses somehow vanished into the ether from which they came  we have no way to tell.

What we can tell, though, is that what I wrote recently about Trumps That makes me smart boast when Hillary Clinton prodded him about not paying taxes was right.

If Trump were truly smart  and wanted to lead by example  he would have disclosed his tax returns, showed the loopholes he used and vowed to close them.

I have plenty of problems with the Clintons financial behavior. But at least Hillary Clinton is proposing tax-code changes that would cost her and her family money. Trump, by contrast, is proposing tax changes that would greatly benefit the commercial real estate business, which is his primary field, and would greatly benefit his own family. And when I asked his campaign last week whether he was proposing any tax changes that would cost him and/or his family any money, I got no reply.

So, you see, we have learned quite a lot from Trumps tax returns  and we could learn a lot more when and if more of them make their way into the public domain.

Allan Sloan is a columnist for The Washington Post. He is a seven-time winner of the Loeb Award, business journalisms highest honor.
The United States and China recently ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, with the Obama administrations contribution being the Environmental Protection Agencys proposed Clean Power Plan  the largest climate-change regulation ever attempted in the United States  whose legality is currently being argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, the public seems to know little about the Clean Power Plan, a point brought home to me recently when I spoke about energy to 200 accountants employed by one of the largest accounting firms. When I asked the group how many had heard of the Clean Power Plan, only about 10 people raised their hands.

The plan is being promoted as a means to accelerate a shift away from carbon dioxide-generating electricity fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to lower CO2-generating sources such as wind and solar.

The EPAs website clearly states the overarching goal: Nationwide, by 2030, the Clean Power Plan will help cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 30 percent from 2005 levels, while starting to make progress toward meaningful reductions in 2020.

Regardless of your perspective on climate and carbon, or on the legalities of the plan, it is valuable to examine some basic facts: The year 2005, the base year of the Clean Power Plan, is essentially tied with 2007 for the highest year of CO2 power-sector emissions in the United States at about 2,400 million metric tons. The 2030 emissions goal is a 30 percent reduction from 2005, or roughly 1,680 million metric tons.

In 2015, U.S. power-sector emissions were 1,900 million metric tons, already a 20 percent reduction from 2005. In fact, from 2005 to 2015, the United States reduced CO2 emissions more than any other major economy in the world.

In other words, by 2015, we had already reduced emissions by 20 percent without a Clean Power Plan or government carbon-price signal. Not only does the 30 percent goal in the plan not seem very ambitious, it appears misleading to trumpet a 30 percent target when 20 percent has already been achieved.

The 20-percent reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 to 2015 happened in three ways: renewable energy such as hydroelectric, wind and solar increased; there was a recession, which dampened energy demand; and the use of natural gas nearly doubled, which had the biggest impact.

Natural gas grew quickly because hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shales created new supplies, causing natural-gas prices to plummet. If the pace of CO2 reduction from 2005 to 2015 continues to 2030, CO2 emissions would be around 1,300 million metric tons  a 45 percent reduction from 2005 and substantially lower than the goals of the Clean Power Plan.

Confused? So am I. Why push for a Clean Power Plan if we are already two-thirds of the way there and headed  without federal intervention  lower than the ultimate goal of the plan?

As with most things in energy, politics is involved. Take the proposed EPA rate-based CO2 reduction burdens recommended by the Clean Power Plan for each state. If you arrange the states from left to right on a graph, youll see that the half on the left with the least proposed CO2 reduction burden voted 75 percent Democrat in the 2012 presidential race; the half on the right with the greatest burden voted 66 percent Republican.

We should not judge political motivation or intention, but we do need to look at actual outcomes. Government carbon interventions have not worked very well in other countries and, in fact they have often had the opposite effect on actual CO2 emissions. In contrast, the United States has made great progress thus far, even if not orchestrated, without federal policy or agency rules.

Back in the early 2000s, the Kyoto Protocol  a precursor to the Paris Agreement  set out a similar goal, but in fact had the reverse impact: CO2 emissions in developed nations remained essentially flat, but emissions in developing nations increased sharply.

Nonetheless, some still argue the Clean Power Plan is needed, perhaps on philosophical or moral grounds. But if the goal is actual reductions in CO2 emissions, the road to green is not always a federal highway.

Scott W. Tinker is the state geologist of Texas, the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and the Allday Endowed Chair in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. He worked in the oil and gas industry for 17 years.
Trib commies

Its a real shame this newspaper has to do the bidding of its owner and not remain impartial. Just about every editorial comes from The Washington Post, New York Times or other far left-leaning publications from blue states. Do you really think the vast majority of your readership hold the same views as a handful of states that are totally opposite of people who actually buy and read this rag? Yeah, I said rag. It used to take me a couple of hours to read the paper, but now it only takes a few minutes.

Ive been buying this paper for more than 30 years and my dad bought it until he passed away, but it has really gotten bad since Hillarys major backer purchased it. Just about every article in this paper now is a hit piece in order to further an agenda. The problem is this state and a majority of the people in it dont think like you do. Thats why everyone else with any sense is leaving those other red states and coming here to escape their socialist governments agenda.

You can print your agenda till hell freezes over, but youre not going to change the values of the people who have lived here all of their lives. I dont care how many immigrants the Democrats try to force down our throats to try and get more voters, it will never work.

Im pretty positive this letter will get nuked. It would follow this papers agenda to squash any other opinion other than its own. Thats what communists usually do.

Darrell Jones, Bellmead

Deplorables!

Within many Christian traditions, we hear the phrase, Hate the sin, love the sinner. Moreover, most Christians hope and pray for the redemption of sinners. In this context, Hillary Clintons recent basket of deplorables speech is beyond disturbing. Clinton, a Methodist, characterizes millions of her fellow Americans as racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic.

She then lumps Trump supporters characterized with such harshness as members of a basket of deplorables. Ratcheting up her rhetoric one more notch, she says these citizens are beyond redemption.

A Clinton presidency guided by such attitudes is scary for citizens like me who are in her deplorable basket. I dedicate most of my Christian witness to urging moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends to set aside their choice of death for innocent, helpless babies in the womb.

While I believe my position has substantial standing within Christianity and American values, I am just a deplorable sexist in Clintons eyes and her politics. As president, Hillary Clinton will deploy her power to attack the segment of American society she calls deplorable. I will fight back and still believe that those who disagree with me are valued members of American society and are in no way beyond redemption.

John Pisciotta, Pro-Life Waco, Director
PRESS RELEASE  San Diego, CA  October 3, 2016  Steve Hinton Jr., Steve Hinton, Sr., their family, The Boeing Company, Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden, Coast Guard Aviation, Dale Myers, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Non-Skeds, and ORBIS International Flying Eye Hospital are among the honorees being enshrined during this years International Air & Space Hall of Fame Celebration. Tickets are on sale now!

Join the San Diego Air & Space Museum in celebrating the honorees on Thursday, November 17, 2016, in the Museums Pavilion of Flight. Guests from around the world are assembling for a spectacular evening of fun and extraordinary recognition, as each attendee is treated to an experiential peek into the lives of these air and space legends. Since 1963 the International Air & Space Hall of Fame has honored more than 200 of the worlds most significant pilots, crew members, visionaries, inventors, aerospace engineers, business leaders, preservationists, designers and space pioneers.

The Distinguished Class of 2016 includes: Americas Aviation Family of Excellence: The Hintons and Maloneys, Air Racing and Warbird Legends; The Boeing Company, celebrating its 100th Anniversary as one of the worlds elite aircraft and aerospace pioneers; the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the worlds largest pilot community is dedicated to making flying safe, fun and affordable; Al Worden, Command Module Pilot to for Apollo 15 and the first man to conduct a spacewalk in deep space; The Boeing Company, which in 2016 is celebrating 100 years as one of the worlds elite aircraft and aerospace pioneers; Coast Guard Aviation, which for 100 years has been a vital element of everything the Coast Guard does; Dale Myers, whose remarkable career spanned developmental work at North American, through the successful landing of Apollo 11 to the Space Shuttle program; the Non-Skeds which developed successful airlines from surplus WWII airplanes; and ORBIS International Flying Eye Hospital, a nonprofit development organization dedicated to saving eyesight worldwide.

The honorees are selected for their qualitative achievements and historic contributions to aviation, space and aerospace innovation or expanding the publics aviation and space awareness to the world. Their contributions are prime examples of endurance and the adventurous exploring spirit in the pursuit of knowledge and scientific advancement.

Were especially pleased to honor this exemplary Class of 2016 because these pioneers have not only made significant contributions in air and space exploration, theyve also become strong positive role models for todays youth, said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Aviation and space exploration, as embodied by the honorees in the International Air & Space Hall of Fame, directly represents the human pioneering spirit. November 17 is THE evening of the year every guest will remember for the rest of their lives. We honor these legends on behalf of San Diegans, and really everyone in the world. People come from all over the globe to be at this celebration.

The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is the most prestigious induction of its kind in the world and is composed of hundreds of air and space pioneers, engineers, inventors and innovators, along with adventurers, scientists and industry leaders. NASA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts and Russian cosmonauts are honored in the Hall of Fame, plus famous legends such as the Wright brothers, Charles Lindbergh and Chuck Yeager. Notable inductees include Igor Sikorsky, Wernher von Braun, Jack Northrop, William Boeing, Sr., Reuben H. Fleet, Glenn Curtiss, Walter Zable Sr., Fran Bera, Wally Schirra, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, T. Claude Ryan, Jimmy Doolittle, Frederick Rohr, Waldo Waterman, Bob Hoover, Harrison Ford, Patty Wagstaff, the NBAA, and many others. See the following link: http://sandiegoairandspace.org

Proceeds from the evening benefit the Museums youth education programs.

Inspiring kids to undertake tough science and engineering challenges is a critical first step for our future, Kidrick said. We must also give them the resources and impetus they need to pursue science education degrees.

The Class of 2016:

Americas Aviation Family of Excellence: The Maloneys and Hintons, Warbird and Air Racing Legends

Planes of Fame Air Museum is the oldest aviation museum west of the Rockies. Founded in 1957 by Edward Maloney, who, inspired by Gen Hap Arnold to save one of each and keep em flying, amassed a collection of over 150 aircraft and warbirds, 35 of which are flyable. Many of these aircraft are the last of their type, saved by this visionary who passed away in August of 2016. His passion to preserve aviation history has been passed on to his children John and Karen, his son-in-law Steve Hinton, Sr. and their grandson Steven Hinton, Jr. who currently serve on the museums Board of Directors.

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Founded in 1939, this nonprofit has been protecting the freedom to fly for more than 75 years. This organization started small, but today the worlds largest pilot community is dedicated to flying safe, fun and affordable. Initiative, teamwork, service, integrity and excellence are the simple but important values AOPA represents.

Al Worden As Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15, the first extended scientific exploration of the Moon, Al Worden spent six days orbiting our neighbor in space, including three days completely alone, the most isolated human in existence. During the return to earth he also conducted the first spacewalk in deep space, becoming the first human to see both the entire Earth and Moon simply by turning his head. The Apollo 15 flight capped an already-impressive career as an astronaut for Worden, including important contributions on the pioneering Apollo 9 and Apollo 12 missions, as well as the perilous flight of Apollo 13.

The Boeing Company  100th Anniversary In 2016, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame congratulates The Boeing Company as it celebrates 100 years as one of the worlds elite aircraft and aerospace pioneers. During those 100 years, The Boeing Companys contributions to technology and innovation in aviation and space have contributed to virtually every scientific field. Throughout this remarkable journey, The Boeing Company led truly from the front. Previous Boeing luminaries have also taken their rightful places in the International Air & Space Hall of Fame, including founder William E. Boeing (enshrined in 1984), his son Bill Boeing Jr. (2014), legal counsel and President William Allen (1975), and former senior executive leader and President and Chief Executive Ofcer Alan Mulally (2015).

Coast Guard Aviation  100th Anniversary You have to go out, but you dont have to come back! This unofficial motto of the Coast Guard dates to an 1899 United States Lifesaving Service regulation, which states in part: In attempting a rescuehe will not desist from his efforts until by actual trial, the impossibility of effecting a rescue is demonstrated. From assisting with the establishment of crucial aids to navigation, to conducting medical evacuations of mariners at sea, to transporting endangered sea animals from coast to coast, Coast Guard aviation is a key element in nearly every Coast Guard mission.

Dale Myers

Dale Myers had a remarkable career beginning in the mid-1940s, with his developmental work on various aircraft including the North American F-82 Twin Mustang. During the next two decades, he experienced steady advancement into missile development at Rockwell International, and by 1964, had culminated with contract work for NASAs space program where he became Program Manager of the Apollo programs Command/Service Module Program. From 1970 to 1974, Dale was the Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight at NASA, a period he most often described as the highlight of his career. He was in charge of Apollo 13 to 17, and Skylab, and led the initial planning of the Apollo/Soyuz and Shuttle Programs.

Non-Skeds The non-skeds airlines were formed by a group of WWII pilots looking to continue flying after being discharged from the Air Force. Using DC-3s, DC-4s, C-46s, and other war-surplus aircraft, this upstart airline was set to challenge the dominance of the airways held by the scheduled airlines. The Non-Scheduled Airlines were the direct product of the economic model of supply and demand. The supply side in 1945 included the large numbers of motivated pilots and surplus aircraft that came out of the Armed Forces after World War II. The demand side was the huge untapped market of potential air travelers who wanted fast, low-cost transportation. Stan Weiss, Hal Cope and Ralph Cox were at the forefront of the entrepreneurs who saw this opportunity and capitalized on it.

ORBIS International Flying Eye Hospital ORBIS International is a nonprofit development organization dedicated to saving eyesight worldwide. At the heart of ORBIS is the worlds only Flying Eye Hospitala DC-10 aircraft containing an innovative teaching facility and ophthalmic surgical center. Volunteer pilots from FedEx Express and United Airlines fly the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital around the world, and its international medical team conducts treatment and training programs. Leading eye surgeons volunteer their time to perform surgery and teach aboard the aircraft during programs specifically designed to suit the skill level of host countries.

More than 500 regional, national and international business, air and space leaders are anticipated to attend the 2016 International Air & Space Hall of Fame Gala, including prominent representatives from the Boeing, Coast Guard Aviation, AOPA. ORBIS, as well as numerous living honorees.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is Californias official air and space museum and education center. The Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and it was the first aero-themed Museum to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Now showing: Da Vinci: The Ultimate Innovator, a special exhibition showcasing more than 90 robotics, machines and artworks from the greatest inventor of all time. The Museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. The Museum and gift store are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with admissions until 4:30 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Illustration: Matt Golding On Wednesday, Mr Elliott was also questioned by Labor MP Pat Conroy over an increase in the number of planners reported to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission of around 750 per cent, from about six to 45 in the past twelve months. "We have a 750 per cent increase in a twelve month period ...what is going on in your organisation," Mr Conroy asked. "When we find problems we report them...we have raised standards," Mr Elliott replied. 'Systemic issues'

Mr Elliott was also quizzed on how its response to the bank-bill swap rate scandal. The bank is fighting allegations in the Federal Court that it manipulated the swap rate, which is used to price contracts worth an estimated $20 trillion. ANZ denies the allegations and is fighting them in court. The case has also revealed vulgar and sexist exchanges on internal chat systems between traders including references to drug use. The traders involved in those conversation were eventually sacked by ANZ Liberal MP Julia Banks said the bank would not have stumbled onto the messages had it not been for ASIC's intervention. "It seems that the ANZ bank have had a systemic issue with inappropriate conduct with employees...you work with ASIC when it suits you" she said. Mr Elliott rejected the allegation.

"We work with ASIC all the time," he said. In his opening remarks Mr Elliott apologised over the treatment of customers of rural lending business Landmark purchased by the bank from the AWB in 2009. ANZ was accused of clawing back loans by unfairly fore-closing on rural properties. "We acquired the farm lending business Landmark. We accept we should have worked better with customers...this is wrong we should have worked better and we apologise," he said. He went on to admit mistakes following a financial advice scandal when in April the bank had to payback around $30 million to 8500 clients after it failed to supply users of its wealth management product Prime Access with a documented annual review. "When we find mistakes and overcharge, we refund fees...we made a mistake, we found it fixed and handed back the money to our customers," Mr Elliott said.

Core business Mr Elliott was challenged on the point by chairman of the committee David Coleman. "That is not a small mistake...it's pretty much your core business to understand what fees are charged to your customers," Mr Coleman said. "It was a mistake," Mr Elliott replied. He said there would have been remuneration consequences for the team involved in the mistake. Like the Commonwealth Bank, which appeared before the commission yesterday, the bank has been embroiled in a number of scandals.

The bank backed the failed Timbercorp scheme which saw mum-and-dad investors owing money following the collapse of the business. Mr Elliott pointed out to the committee that ANZ: "Did not lend directly to people who invested in the schemes nor advised them to do so." "Reasonable magnitude" Mr Elliott also said errors at its OnePath financial advisory and life insurance arm that affected more than one million customers were "poorly managed". He said the bank had made mistakes with OnePath, including directing the superannuation of 1400 people into the wrong account.



"That was a mistake of reasonable magnitude," he told the committee in Canberra.



"What we've done is put it right for our customers and we've put them back to the situation they would have been in otherwise."



Mr Elliott insisted the processes have been fixed to ensure the breaches can't happen again, and confirmed individuals involved had copped financial consequences.



"We made a mistake, it was poorly managed," he said.



"We didn't test our systems well enough in terms of making these transitions of super funds."



The Australian Securities and Investments Commission found more than one million customers were impacted by the breaches.

BBSW scandal The bank is also embroiled in a legal fight with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, over manipulation of the Bank Bill Swap Rate. The rate is used as a benchmark to price financial products worth an estimated $20 trillion. These include floating-rate securities bought by institutions like superannuation funds. The bank has been fighting the accusation in court, alongside banks NAB and Westpac. Court documents revealed conversations between traders, which ASIC believes is evidence traders were trying to manipulate the rate. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the committee hearings in August after the major bank's failed to pass on the Reserve Bank's 0.25 per cent rate cut to mortgage holders in full.
Travellers may be rejoicing they can now earn Qantas frequent flyer points when booking Airbnb accommodation, but hotel operators are outraged by the deal.

Qantas and hotel industry disrupter Airbnb announced on Tuesday the airline's 11.4 million frequent flyer members will be able to earn one point for every dollar they spend on an Airbnb room or property.

"We know many of our customers are just as likely to arrange an Airbnb as they are to book a hotel, and we wanted to recognise and reward them for that," said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.
The 'Crossed Grain Logo' is a trademark owned and administered by Coeliac Australia, which is internationally recognised by those who need to follow a gluten free diet. Credit:Coeliac Australia

But Professor Forbes has described the national standards as "impractical", arguing that restricting gluten levels to less than one part per million (ppm) would sufficiently protect the majority of coeliac patients.

Coeliac patients who ingest gluten can experience abdominal discomfort, poor absorption of certain nutrients and changes in bowel habits.

In an analysis of 169 imported food products labelled ''gluten-free'', researchers in Western Australia detected gluten in 24 products. Credit:Getty Images

Coeliac disease is a condition that causes the immune system to react abnormally to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. It affects around one in 70 Australians.

"To put it into perspective, in one slice of ordinary bread there are 2.5 grams of gluten. One ppm is the equivalent of one 5000th of that slice of bread," he said.

"Allowing for 1ppm is not about being more lenient, its about being more practical. I think what happens at the moment is, when foods are tested and found to have very low levels, authorities ignore it. We have a standard which is set but it's not complied with."

In Europe and the United States, the standard is less than 20ppm, or 20 milligrams of gluten per kilogram.

The WA study assessed the compliance of imported "gluten-free"-labelled foods with the local food standard, as well as the international capacity of industry to comply with Australian standards.

While it found 14 per cent of products were non-compliant with the current Australian standard, none contained levels of gluten greater than 1.1ppm.
When I was 18, my stepfather's brother had been on dialysis for just over a year. He was thin, he exercised regularly and he seemingly was in perfect health, but inexplicably his kidneys began to fail him. Although I was just about to leave for college, I'd heard enough about the misery of dialysis to decide to get tested as a possible donor. In the back of my mind, I knew that the chances of our compatibility were incredibly low because we were not related by blood. Perhaps that made it easy for me to decide to get tested.

When we received the results, I was stunned to find out that he and I were a match. The transplant team gave me plenty of opportunities to back out of the donation, and it put me through countless evaluations, physical and psychological. Much of my family was steadfast against my becoming a donor. Looking back, who could blame them? Their son-grandson-nephew was going to undergo a major operation with no benefit to himself.

Michael Poulson regrets giving that kidney away.

However, I continued to be confident in my choice. I relied on the one fact that would be repeated to me many times: "The rate of kidney failure in kidney donors is the same as the general population." Why wouldn't everyone donate a kidney, I wondered.

My mother was the only one to - reluctantly - support my decision. She accompanied me to San Francisco, where the surgery took place, and we settled in for the weeks that I would spend recovering. On the day of the surgery, anaesthesia flowed into my arm and the world swiftly slipped away. Then, just as quickly, it seemed, I awoke, nauseated and confused. So much preparation for such a short nap. The anxiety I'd felt about the surgery was now gone - as was one of my kidneys.
Of all the shocking details we learned about the robbery of Kim Kardashian West in Paris this week - where she was held at gunpoint, gagged, tied up and had jewellery worth about $11 million stolen - the discovery of just how polarising the reality star-turned-entrepeneur is, is the most shocking among them.

For someone with more than 161.8 million fans on social media, not including those who subscribe to her Snapchat account, her pay-walled website and pay $4.49 per month for her app, it seems she has just as many haters if the online commentary is to be believed.

After details of her ordeal emerged, the sound of commentators on social media got louder, angrier and coated in schadenfreude not seen since the last Liberal party leadership spill.

Many called it a publicity stunt co-ordinated by the attention-seeking star, while others, more disturbingly, wished the two masked men dressed as police who stormed her hotel room had killed the 35-year-old mother of two and saved "humanity from mediocrity".
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The banksia woodlands of Perth's Swan Coastal Plain have just been declared endangered by the federal government  but they're right on top of some prime development land.

The state is planning for a 70 per cent population explosion by 2050, and its draft Green Growth Plan outlines how it will accommodate this without further environmental destruction and urban sprawl.

Banksia woodlands, already up to 60 per cent cleared, could lose another 9800 hectares under the Green Growth Plan, scientists say.

Edith Cowan University fauna ecologist Robert Davis said Perth was unique worldwide in having banksia woodland as the dominant vegetation.
WSUs Stewart Library Seeks WWII Stories from Northern Utah

October 3, 2016

OGDEN, Utah  Weber State Universitys Stewart Library Special Collections staff is asking for community help with a new oral history project to document the stories of WWII veterans from Northern Utah as well as those who were left behind to serve on the homefront.

Community members are invited to share their photographs and other memorabilia at a special scanning event Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Special Collections staff will be at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center (2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden) to scan photographs, share information about the project and offer tips for safely preserving family treasures.

While this scanning event will kickoff the project, interviews and research will continue for several months.

This project will take us about 18 months to complete, said Sarah Singh, associate curator of Special Collections. We are very excited about it, but we also think it is an incredibly important project, so we really want to take our time and gather as many stories as possible.

During World War II, tens of thousands of Utahns served in the armed forces, new military installations were built and old ones expanded, and millions of soldiers poured through the Ogden Union Station. Women also flooded the workforce, eager to do their part for the war effort. These are the everyday stories that Special Collections staff hope to capture.

There was so much going on in this area at that time, Singh said. Its an essential part of our communitys history we hope to preserve.

In order to best capture the complex story, Special Collections will work with several community partners, including the Ogden Union Station, Hill Aerospace Museum, local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) chapters and others.

This is the largest oral history project weve done in Special Collections, said Lorrie Rands, WSU oral history coordinator. Combining our efforts with these groups should make this something for which the community can really be proud.

The project also will include a lecture series and a special exhibit in the spring of 2018. For more information about oral history interviews, call 801-626-6337.
VERNON PARISH -- The Vernon Parish School Board will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6. Here's the tentative agenda:

Call to order

Prayer

Pledge

Roll call

1. Motion to approve minutes of the Sept. 6, 2016 regular meeting and dispense with the reading of the minutes.

2. Testing and Accountability update

3. Parish athletics update

4. Motion to receive bids for propane for Evans, Hicks and Simpson schools

5. Motion to adopt a resolution giving preliminary approval to the issuance of not exceeding One Million Eight Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($1,850,000) of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds of Ward Three Wardwide School District No. 160 of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, making application to the State Bond Commission for approval of said Bonds and providing for other matters in connection therewith

6. Report from Salary/Personnel Committee

7. Superintendent's remarks

8. Memorial resolutions

9. Adjournment
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Fort Polk, LA (71446)

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Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will become overcast in the afternoon. High 77F. Winds light and variable..

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Western KY counties get share of $217M for clean water
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Oct. 03, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 03, 2016 | 05:17 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Paducah police are seeking the publics help in identifying three people suspected of using stolen credit and debit cards at various stores in late September.



Barbara Hicks of Paducah told police her wallet was stolen while she was shopping at T.J. Maxx at 2929 James Sanders Boulevard on Sept. 21. The wallet contained cash, personal papers and credit and debit cards. Several of the cards have been used to charge more than $5,000 in merchandise at several stores.



Police said a Hispanic man and woman were captured on surveillance video at two stores. One video shows a man and woman getting out of an older model red van, leaving the driver behind. Surveillance video from a third store reportedly shows what appears to be a different woman using the cards for purchases.



Anyone with information is asked to call the Paducah Police Department at 270-444-8550 or Crime Stoppers at 270-443-TELL.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 03, 2016 | 09:04 PM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY

An Arkansas woman was injured in a one vehicle wreck Monday afternoon in Graves County.

The Graves County Sheriffs Office said the crash happened on KY 94 East at around 1:20 pm. Deputies said 63-year-old Vynn Stuart, of Ashdown, AR, was traveling west on KY 94 when she fell asleep while driving.

Stuart's vehicle crossed the eastbound lane of KY 94 and ran off the roadway. Her vehicle then struck a concrete culvert which caused an enclosed trailer she was pulling to separate from the vehicle. The trailer overturned after separating from the vehicle but came to rest right side up.

Stuart was transported to Jackson Purchase Medical Center for treatment of her injuries.

Police said Stuart had been at the Lake Barkley area earlier on Monday training with area search and rescue teams and was traveling back to Arkansas where she's based as a search and rescue canine handler. Deputies said none of the three dogs that Stuart was transporting were injured.



The roadway was closed for about two hours while the vehicle and trailer were removed from the creek.
By The Associated Press Oct. 03, 2016 | 09:33 PM | LEXINGTON, KY

The University of Kentucky is suing the Lexington Herald-Leader in order to avoid revealing documents about a failed business deal between UK HealthCare and a Hazard cardiology firm.

The Lexington Herald-Leader says it had requested a Power Point presentation given to the UK Board of Trustees by District of Columbia lawyer David Douglass about the Appalachian Heart Center. The university paid $1 million to Douglass and $4.1 million to the federal government because of billing problems at the cardiology firm it acquired in 2013.

The university has already filed a related lawsuit seeking to overturn Attorney General Andy Beshear's ruling that UK violated the Kentucky Open Records Act when it refused to turn over documents related to a dinner meeting in which Douglass briefed board members.

___

Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Katherena Vermettes new book The Break certainly comes with greater expectations than most first-time novelists.

Theres anticipation because the Winnipeg authors book of poetry, 2012s North End Love Songs, published by city publisher J. Gordon Shillingford, won the 2013 Governor Generals Award for Poetry.

Comparatively, (North End Love Songs) was a very small thing that went into the world, Vermette says. It was this really small book that was supposed to do what small books do Novels are big. With (The Break) theres a publicist, there are marketing people, there are international rights people. It feels wider.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Katherena Vermettes 'The Break' examines the fallout for four generations of an indigenous family after a teenage girl is the victim of a violent sexual assault.

The Break, published by Torontos House of Anansi Press, details the fallout for four generations of an indigenous family after one of their youngest is the victim of a violent sexual assault in the dead of winter. The books title comes from a strip of barren land and hydro towers that runs west of McPhillips Street, from Inkster to Burrows avenues, where the assault takes place. Told from a variety of perspectives, the reader experiences the impact of the assault on the victim, her extended family and friends.

I wanted to talk about vicarious trauma  how things dont necessarily happen to us but we can still feel them, especially when its someone close to us, Vermette says. But I was very conscious of being graphic. I really wanted to say what I had to say, what was important to the story, and I wanted to get out. I didnt want to linger  no one wants to linger in those places.

The novel, which has already garnered a spot on the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize short list, emerged from a handful of connected short stories Vermette was working on around the same time she wrote North End Love Songs. As in her book of poetry, Winnipeg readers will recognize many places and street names in The Break, although the city is never named  a conscious decision on Vermettes part.

As soon as you put place into some sort of art or writing, it fictionalizes itself. So although I was using this real-world setting, the North End thats in the novel is fictitious. Its the same streets, and its this idea of North End, and the demographics and circumstances, but its not the real North End. These people are not real.

For Vermette, writing certain passages in The Break were more difficult than others.

Some of the characters in this book are children. My girls are now 15 and 17. When I was writing this book they were closer to the ages of the kids in the book, so those passages were incredibly heart-wrenching.

In addition to writing about the familys struggle to heal following the assault, Vermette chose to offer the story of the perpetrator, delicately balancing the persons violent actions with their troubled upbringing. The perpetrator was one of the characters in the original short stories, and has stuck with Vermette for a long time.

I found myself sometimes feeling sympathetic towards (the perpetrator), sometimes feeling very angry.

People who commit violence are always responsible for their own actions and need to be held accountable, but I also understand its a result of something. Hurt people hurt people. One reaction to violence is to then to create more violence, but no one is ever just one thing. People can do great things, and then do horrific things. (The perpetrator) is one of those people that has been given a lot of chances, but who hasnt taken them and for whatever reason hasnt been able to heal. And thats a reality  some people dont heal.

For the extended family in The Break, healing is a difficult process, a goal they struggle with as the novel progresses. I hope theres at least moments of relief, says Vermette. I wanted to infuse this feeling of hope  that this is tough, theyre tough lives, and were not looking at this perfect resolution.

Katherena Vermette launches The Break Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers.

ben.macphee-sigurdson@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The use of unmanned drones requires proper education, agree air-industry lobbyists who spoke to the citys public works committee on Tuesday.

Representatives from Taiga Air Services Ltd. and Air Canada Pilots Association spoke in favour of Coun. Scott Gillinghams motion to better regulate the use and sale of drones in Winnipeg.

Gillingham told the committee of a situation that occurred Monday night in which an off-duty air traffic controller at Assiniboine Park saw someone flying a drone. Under federal Transport Canada regulations, the park is too close to James Richardson International Airport for drone traffic. When the drone user was informed that he was violating the law, reacted belligerently.

MATT ROURKE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Representatives from Taiga Air Services Ltd. and Air Canada Pilots Association spoke in favour of Coun. Scott Gillingham's motion to better regulate the use and sale of drones in Winnipeg.

I was told the response was one of belligerence, It doesnt matter what Transport Canada says, I want to fly my drone here. Thats close proximity to the airport so things like that are concerning if individuals know the regulations but are willingly ignoring the regulations, Gillingham said.

The worst-case scenario is one you never want to think about. Where you have (an unmanned aerial vehicle) that comes into contact with an airplane and it could be catastrophic, said Gillingham, whose St. James-Brooklands-Weston ward is adjacent to the airport.

Rob Walker, who works for Taiga Air, a Winnipeg-based company that operates drones commercially for mapping and thermal-imaging purposes, said drones are becoming more popular, and hobbyists have no idea there are rules to follow.

They dont know they are breaking the law, Walker said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Walker noted that drones can interfere with aerial efforts to combat flood and forest fires, citing a specific example in 2011.

Theyre dangerous. If you take that into an engine of an aircraft or if you take out a piece of your instrument, your rotors  you have to ground until the aircraft is clear, he said referring to an incident while battling a forest fire. We had to leave the area until the threat is gone. It wasnt a huge thing, but it interrupts the work.

Meanwhile, Chris Nicolaides, safety chairman for the Winnipeg chapter of the Air Canada Pilots Association, told committee members the group echoes everything in (Gillinghams) statement.

Gillinghams motion calls for the administration to prepare a report on the feasibility of the city enacting bylaws to control the use of drones, as is done in other cities including Vancouver and Toronto.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rob Walker of Taiga Air Services Ltd. holds one of the company's commercial use rotary wing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) or drone they use for imaging for clients. He wants more education for drone hobbyists.

The administration will report back in 120 days with a verbal report.

Transport Canada has regulations for drones beyond the airport no-fly zone, including a ban on flying higher than 90 metres off the ground.

Gillingham acknowledged Transport Canada regulations govern the operation of aerial drones, but said the city can still have a role to play that would complement the federal regulations and meet the needs of hobbyists and the public.

 with files from Aldo Santin

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 03/10/2016 (2219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Abdelhak Ourrhiis brother and sister arrived from Morocco 15 years before him to start a new life in Winnipeg.

But Ourrhii will own a home first, thanks to the homeowner sweepstakes called Habitat for Humanity.

On Monday, Habitat unveiled what CEO Sandy Hopkins called the worst kept secret: former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn are coming to town to support a Habitat housing project marking Canadas 150th birthday next year.

The Carters will be lending a hand to the construction of homes Winnipeg and Edmonton from July 9 to 14.

Ourrhii, 35, his wife Najilaa Sabar, 27, and their nearly three-year-old twin son and daughter will move into one of the new homes.

Sabar, who wore a big smile along with her pink hijab to Mondays press conference, said she refused to believe her husband when he told her theyd been chosen for a Habitat home.

I thought it was a joke because hes always making jokes, she said, adding she screamed when she realized he wasnt kidding.

The married couple has lived together in Winnipeg for the past three years. Sabar, a stay-at-home mom, has already started on her sweat equity  the hundreds of volunteer hours required to be a Habitat homeowner  by repairing and upgrading Habitat computers. She has a masters in computer engineering.

Ourrhii works as a security guard but is looking for work as an electrician.

WENDELL PHILLIPS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in Winnipeg for Habitat for Humanity in 1993.

Habitat partners with low-income families who do not qualify for a traditional mortgage. Habitat homes are kept affordable with the help of volunteer labour, as well as sweat equity from prospective homeowners.

Habitat has taken on an ambitious construction program for Winnipeg in 2017. The plan is to build 25 homes, including 16 on the site of the former St. James police station on Lyle Street.

Well happily build on land wherever we can find it, said Hopkins, adding that the homes are in a more modest, older neighbourhood. Habitat doesnt get concessions from the city and has to bid against other developers for available land.

Some controversy developed when residents on an adjacent street presented a 200-name petition to block the construction, claiming the Habitat plans narrower 30-foot lots didnt fit the neighbourhood and its 50-foot lots.

But Hopkins said Lyle Street is a dividing line between 50-foot lots to the west and 30-foot lots to the east. He added its not unusual for Habitat to encounter pushback in some neighbourhoods, such as it did when building in Riverbend on the north side of Main Street. Council rejected the St. James residents petition.

Hopkins said Habitat builds two-storey homes on narrower lots because its objective is to increase neighbourhood density and reduce urban sprawl. The way to do that is to reduce the lot size and build up, he said.

Ourrhii said his brother and sister are envious, but that they didnt qualify because their income wasnt low enough. Applicants must be families with incomes below the provincial poverty line. Another requirement is that the applicants arent scammers, said Hopkins.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sandy Hopkins, CEO of Habitat for Humanity, talks with Edgar Rosales of Qualico about the 16 homes that will be built on the Lyle Street in 2017.

Winnipeg is starting to become natural habitat for the Carters. They brandished hammers and paintbrushes on a Habitat housing project in Winnipeg in 1993. The former president, now 92, and Rosalynn, 89, continue to actively support the organization. Cancer spread to the former presidents brain last year and it was presumed he would die not long after, but he recovered after taking a new drug, and an MRI showed no sign of cancer.

A moving speech by David Wall of Wall Grain, a grain bin manufacturer donating $250,000 to the project, described what its like to be there when a family gets the keys to their new home.

You really havent experienced it until youve gone to a home dedication. That takes the cake, Wall said.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Pallister government is tossing out the NDPs proposed post-secondary sexual-violence policy bill and starting fresh.

Education Minister Ian Wishart is expected to introduce a new bill as early as next week to address sexual violence and harassment on campus.

Students in Manitoba must feel safe on and off campus in order to have a positive learning experience, Wishart said in a prepared statement.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Education Minister Ian Wishart will scrap the NDP's sexual violence legislation and start fresh.

Over the summer, I worked closely with my colleague, Hon. Rochelle Squires, Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage, to listen to the views of students, faculty and administration, and womens organizations.

Manitobas new government will bring forward stronger legislation to protect students, women and other vulnerable groups.

The bill is seen as a replacement to the former Selinger governments bill, The Post-Secondary Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policies Act. The bill would have required every college and university to develop policies and procedures on sexual violence and sexual harassment on campus.

The schools would also have been required to make incidents public. The bill died after its first reading following the Tories victory in Aprils provincial election. It was re-introduced by NDP education critic Wab Kinew last session as a private members bill, but its rare for one to make it into law.

Kinew called it concerning that the Pallister government would decide to play politics with the issue by introducing a new bill when they could just support his.

It is (about the) safety of women and young people on campus and the bill we brought forward, I think, was designed in consultation with colleges and universities and, most importantly, students, Kinew said. For them to do a last-minute switch, so they can take the credit

The details of what will be in the new bill were not revealed, but Michael Barkman, chairman of Canadian Federation of Students, said he met with Wishart and Squires over the summer to discuss the issue and other student-related matters.

Last month, the student lobby group sent out a press release urging the Pallister government to pass Kinews bill.

Barkman said the federation will support any bill that highlights a stand-alone sexual assault policy for post-secondary schools. He mentioned an incident last spring at Brandon University as an example where a clear policy would benefit students and school administration. The school came under fire after a first-year student was forced to sign a document  which has been described as a gag order that effectively punishes a complainant  after reporting shed been sexually assaulted in a residence on campus.

The document stated the woman could not contact the other person involved or discuss what happened with anyone other than a counsellor, and warned a breach of the contract could result in disciplinary action.

Barkman would like to see greater accountability measures for schools that dont report sexual assaults.

We want dont want to see policy that is buried in a larger policy document we want something that is easy, something that anyone in the university or college can reference, Barkman said. What happened at Brandon University is directly related to this; they had a policy, but it was buried in a larger document and it made it tricky for administration to know how to respond.

If there is anything that goes above and beyond  say clarifying repercussions for colleges and universities that dont follow through on reporting  we would (also) be supportive of that.

 with files from The Brandon Sun

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its been almost five months since the death of Bradley Errol Greene in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre and there still has not been an inquiry into the suspicious events surrounding his death. It was not even until Greenes family, friends and other community members held two rallies, including a 24-hour vigil, that the Manitoba Government Employees Union publicly responded.

Greene died in the remand centre in May after suffering an epileptic seizure while speaking on the phone with his wife. The events surrounding his death are ambiguous at best, but its known that Greene expressed worry and fear to his wife, as well as his cellmate, that he would have a seizure because hed been denied his medication for three days. For anti-seizure medications as specific as his, he would have to take it three times a day.

Even one missed dose could trigger a seizure, especially under stress.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES A memorial for Errol Greene across the street from the Remand Centre. Greene died in custody after suffering an epileptic seizure.

The Winnipeg Remand centre failed to provide adequate care not only once, but nine times before his death. Witnesses report he was restrained and held down to the ground in a fetal position during a seizure the day of his death, when any corrections officer with adequate training should have given him a wide berth in order to prevent injury. Given these facts, the MGEU and Manitoba Corrections lack of investigation only create more suspicions as to what incorrect actions may have led to his death.

There are several missing parts to this story which MGEU has failed to answer. Why was Greene denied life-sustaining therapy for so long? Why was he restrained during a seizure, possibly incurring more dangerous injuries? Why withhold autopsy results if there was nothing inappropriate about his treatment?

All of these questions should have already been considered.

According to the Fatality Inquiries Act of Manitoba, the inquiry should have happened immediately, as this was a death at a correctional institution, possibly because of a medical condition, and, as his previous treatment by the guards is on record, it may well have been an act of negligence  from refusing to give him his medication, or possibly, as in the case of Matthew Hines, further violent treatment by correctional officers during an epileptic event.

Hines, a resident of a New Brunswick jail, was beaten and pepper-sprayed in the face four times, by 13 guards, in 2015 after showing epileptic and psychotic symptoms of a condition of which Dorchester Penitentiary, like the Winnipeg Remand Centre, had full records about.

Refusing or stalling an inquiry without legal grounds should be a prosecutable act in itself, and, in doing so, the MGEU, the Remand Centre and Manitoba Corrections incriminate themselves and cause further grief to Greenes wife and family.

Even as the government on all levels swears up and down that they are committed to indigenous peoples, by neglecting to pursue all avenues in investigating the death of a human being, Manitoba Corrections  and the government at large  fail to recognize the indubitable value of the life of an indigenous person.

Without knowing what happened, how will we know how to prevent it next time? If the rules around medication of people in custody are too strict, they need to be changed. If there is a racist element gumming up the ranks, there needs to be more than a nod and handshake from the government but a definitive plan of action towards meeting the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions call to action.

If there is a lack of understanding or bad procedure around the treatment of people with cognitive disorders, mental illness, or other disabilities, there needs to be a serious amount of training and education for the guards to understand the specific needs of people with health conditions, much like Greene and Hines.

Refusing to ask questions helps no one. It only reinforces patterns of behaviour that risk the lives and well-being of the thousands of men and women in correctional facilities in Manitoba and across the country.

Furthermore, until measures are taken against preventable deaths, as a person with epilepsy, I will not feel safe with any government employee whose union would not seek to even investigate why I would die in care or in custody.

Hannah Foulger is a writer and theatre artist with a disability.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Pallister and his new government shut the door on cap-and-trade policy Monday, but they remained committed to a made-in-Manitoba carbon-pricing system. They should be applauded for promising to introduce some form of carbon pricing, because of all the alternative policy approaches, it offers the lowest-cost way to reduce GHG emissions. In other words, it is the best policy approach for the economy.

This file is now heating up in Manitoba, as it is across the country. Optimists might even say that carbon pricing is becoming mainstream. Four other provinces have, or will soon have, carbon prices; Manitoba is now fully engaged in thinking through the many details and the federal government has indicated its willingness to fill in the remaining policy gaps.

One thing that should appeal to fiscal conservatives is that carbon pricing offers an opportunity to remove some high-cost policies implemented years ago in the name of reducing GHG emissions. One example is the federal and provincial policies encouraging the production and use of biofuels. These policies have modestly reduced GHG emissions, but only at a much higher cost than what can be achieved with a carbon price.

COLIN DEWAR / POSTMEDIA NEWS FILES Biofuels such as ethanol are blended with gasoline and diesel (above) to reduce the overall carbon content of transportation fuels.

What are biofuels? They are liquid fuels made from renewable biomass such as wheat, corn, canola oil and a range of non-food feedstocks. They are blended with gasoline and diesel to reduce the overall carbon content of transportation fuels.

What are the policies? For several years, governments across Canada  including in Manitoba  have been encouraging both the production and consumption of biofuels. To stimulate supply, governments provide direct cash subsidies to biofuel producers. To support demand, governments mandate fuel distributors to blend their gasoline and diesel with ethanol and biodiesel, respectively; since biofuels are more costly than fossil fuels, these mandates impose costs on consumers.

A new report from Canadas Ecofiscal Commission estimates that these biofuel policies have led to a reduction of GHG emissions of roughly three megatonnes per year. The reason is straightforward: For every litre of biofuels used, a similar amount of gasoline or diesel is displaced, and the latter creates more carbon emissions than the former. Canada currently produces approximately 730 megatonnes of emissions, so a reduction of three is not huge. But every bit counts; the important thing is to determine the cost of these reductions.

The Ecofiscal report estimates the fiscal cost to taxpayers of the production subsidies and also the cost to consumers of being required to use more expensive blends of fuel. Over the 2012-2015 period, the average combined cost was $640 million per year for Canada. Taking Manitoba alone, the average annual cost was just over $32 million.

The report then estimates the per-tonne cost of achieving the reduced GHG emissions.

For ethanol, the emissions reductions come at an average cost of roughly $180 per tonne; for biodiesel, the average cost is about $145 per tonne.

To determine whether these costs are high or low, we need to compare them with the cost that would be incurred by alternative policies. But which alternatives should be considered?

The obvious choice is to consider the costs associated with a carbon price, the alternative that will soon exist in Manitoba and across the country.

Estimates from other researchers show that British Columbias carbon tax, which is currently at $30 per tonne, can reduce a tonne of GHG emissions at an average cost of just over $28; the estimates from Quebec, with a carbon price of about $17 per tonne, would likely be commensurately lower.

So, heres the bottom line: Canadas current set of biofuel policies are reducing GHG emissions slightly, but are doing it at a cost several times larger than what is possible with a carbon price. The arrival of a carbon price should therefore signal the end of these high-cost policies.

For good economic and environmental policy, it shouldnt be enough to be green. We should insist that environmental gains be achieved at the lowest possible economic cost. This principle should resonate with all of us, but especially people who consider themselves fiscal conservatives. If we all agreed on this principle, our current biofuel policies would soon become a thing of the past.

Christopher Ragan is an associate professor of economics at McGill University, a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, and the Chair of Canadas Ecofiscal Commission.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal Liberals should be careful about ignoring or dismissing the real concerns of Atlantic Canadians. By doing so, it could come back to haunt them in the 2019 federal election campaign.

Right now, Liberal MPs hold all 32 electoral districts in the region and the four provincial governments are all painted Liberal red. But in a tight election, holding on to those safe Liberal seats could be the difference between victory and being turfed out of political office.

There are those in Atlantic Canada who believe the Trudeau Liberals have taken this regional stronghold for granted; that they have already forgotten who actually initiated the Liberal election tsunami of last October.

SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Less than a year after the federal Liberals, led by Justin Trudeau, won all 32 seats in Atlantic Canada, some East Coasters are feeling taken for granted.

Where to begin? Well, certainly the appointment of an Ontario MP, Navdeep Bains, as the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) did not go over well down here. In fact, he is the first MP from outside the region to hold the ACOA post in almost 30 years.

Furthermore, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, among others, has tangled with the Trudeau government over the prospect of the feds unilaterally imposing a carbon tax in his province. And all of the premiers from the region have also pleaded with the federal Liberals to increase the flow of health-care dollars to the area to cover the anticipated increase in health costs from an aging population.

Weve all been clear that funding health care on a per capita basis doesnt work for Atlantic Canada. We need to take into account demographics and chronic disease management, McNeil recently observed.

Arguably the most damaging slight has been the Trudeau governments pledge to seek greater diversity in selecting justices for the Supreme Court of Canada. Translation: The longstanding political convention of appointing a judge from Atlantic Canada to replace retiring Justice Thomas Cromwell from Nova Scotia may not be on.

Ottawas tone-deafness here sent shockwaves throughout the region  with Liberal premiers Wade MacLauchlan of P.E.I. and New Brunswicks Brian Gallant arguing that the existing constitutional convention on appointments needed to be respected.

Even the Atlantic Provinces Trial Lawyers Association petitioned the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to protest the move. It argued that any departure from existing juridical convention could only be done via a constitutional amendment and the unanimous consent of all of the provinces.

As Halifax lawyer Raymond Wagner, one of the signatories to the petition, explained: If we lose our connection to the national institutions, from the perspective of Atlantic Canadians, that would further marginalize them.

Whether the court selection of a come from away makes a whole lot of difference from a public policy and representational standpoint doesnt really matter.

The central point is that the optics and symbolism of such a choice looks bad for the Grits in these parts.

To be sure, Prime Minister Trudeau would be well advised to look back at the election results of the 1997 federal campaign. The Jean Chretien Liberals lost 20 seats in the region  allowing both the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives to make big gains. It was a sobering reminder of what neglect can do to a sitting governments standing in Atlantic Canada.

Prior to the election call, the Chretien government had implemented a number of ill-considered and deeply unpopular policy changes in the region. There were cuts to the allowable cod quotas and, most significantly, a reduction in benefits (and a corresponding increase in the number of required work weeks to qualify) for those seeking Employment Insurance (EI). Those decisions turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for the federal Liberals and it took them several elections afterwards to fully recover.

With both the federal Conservatives and the NDP anointing new party leaders in 2017  and with challenging decisions lurking around the state of the economy, pipelines and greenhouse gas emissions  the 2019 election will not be cakewalk for the federal Liberals. Indeed, it could very well be a hotly contested election, especially if the NDP can engender some wind in its sails.

So Mr. Trudeau should be very careful about not replicating what happened in Atlantic Canada in 1997. For the last thing that he wants is to be one and done in 2019.

Peter McKenna is professor and chair of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.
Five Winona FFA members were among 250 FFA members from southeast Minnesota to attend the Region 8 Leadership Day on Sept. 16 in Cannon Falls.

Chapter members attended workshops on goal setting, leadership training and career exploration and had an exchange of ideas with chapter members from the 33 FFA chapters in attendance.

Members also took tours of the Syngenta Seeds Facility and the Cannon River Winery Vineyard

Winona FFA adviser Brian Sather chaperoned the Winona delegation and participated in agriculture education continuing education training.
An armed confrontation in rural Winona County ended with no shots fired and a La Crosse man in custody.

Just after 9 a.m. Saturday, Winona County sheriffs deputies were called to a residence on County Road 12 in the Nodine area to assist an individual in fear of a man armed with a shotgun, Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude said.

The first deputy on the scene was told by the man reporting the incident that he was in his house when heard noises outside. He looked out to see a man, later identified as Tyler Duane Henry, 32, firing a shotgun across a nearby field.

The man approached Henry to tell him he couldnt shoot there because there were hunters in the vicinity, Ganrude said. Henry reacted angrily, and the first man retrieved a handgun from a nearby shed for protection and told Henry to leave.

Henry rushed at the man, shotgun cradled in his arm, his finger on the trigger, and the man retreated inside and called law enforcement.

The man told the deputy Henry was inside a trailer on the property. When the deputy approached, Henry rushed out. The deputy drew her sidearm and ordered him to stop and get on the ground. Henry complied, but when she attempted to handcuff him, he got up and retreated toward the trailer. Another deputy arrived and the two attempted to talk with Henry, who grew more agitated and finally dashed inside the trailer, Ganrude said.

Since the deputies didnt know where the shotgun was, they immediately followed Henry inside, tackling him and attempting to subdue and handcuff him. Two women inside the trailer attempted to assist Henry, but when a Minnesota state trooper arrived and weighed in, the cuffs went on and Henry was wrestled outside, Ganrude said.

He continued to resist as deputies forced him into a squad car, and began slamming his head into the cage, which opened a cut on his head. An ambulance was called and Henry was examined, treated and taken to the Winona County Jail.
We are excited to report that two of your fellow Winonans  Brad and Justin  have restored our faith in American generosity. Let us tell you the story of these two special gentlemen.

A few weeks ago, we were only a few hours into our long-awaited trip on Amtraks Empire Builder from Wisconsin to Oregon. We stepped off the train during a stop in Winona to stretch our legs, but alas, when we returned to the train, it had departed the station with all our belongings on board!

We despairingly saw our vacation slipping away  especially when the station agent informed us that our only chance to catch the train was in St. Paul, some 2.5 hours away, when suddenly a calm voice  unsolicited  asked the agent, How can we get these people back on the train?

It was Brad from Winona, who was visiting the station with his grandson, Justin, to shown him the famous Empire Builder. As we settled into Brads car to begin our tension-filled journey, we discovered that the train would depart St. Paul at 10:17 pm, while the GPS  skillfully controlled by 12-year-old Justin  indicated that we would arrive at the St. Paul station at 10:20 pm.

As we sped through the night, Brad regaled us with the cultural and historic highlights of Winona, and Justin contributed details of the blissful life of a 12-year old in small-town Minnesota. Given green lights at two of the three traffic signals we encountered in St. Paul, and after our mad dash to the platform, we made it with exactly 2.5 minutes to spare. Our Amtrak hosts were welcoming and relieved!

During our rush to St. Paul, Brad once again revealed his selfless character. In response to our apologies for ruining his evening, he simply stated, To the contrary. Justin and I are thrilled we will be the centerpiece of the stories you will recount of your wonderful trip on (and off) the Empire Builder.

We shall not soon forget this remarkable act of kindness, and we promise, Brad and Justin, to pay it forward!

Jerry Dempsey and Barbara Morgan,

Madison, Wis.
Teresa ODonnell-Ebners recent questions (Daily News letter, Sept. 28) about why Minnesotans are not receiving needed tax relief can be answered with two simple words: Gov. Dayton.

Despite what ODonnell-Ebner wants you to believe, the taxes bill was completed on time. It was supported by 89 percent of Democrats and Republicans in the entire Legislature because it would have assisted working families, farmers, Main Street business owners, and college students, among others. It would have provided needed tax relief to the Caledonia School District and re-established income tax reciprocity with Wisconsin.

And Gov. Mark Dayton killed it because he wanted more money for another train for Minneapolis.

The drafting error she speaks of? In the past, these have always been handled with a tax chairs letter signed by both of the chairs from the House and Senate agreeing to rectify the situation. There were also a number of other different ways we could have solved this issue, which I outlined in a letter to Gov. Dayton before he made his veto decision. Instead the governor ignored it and vetoed the bill over a drafting error. The reason why is very simple: political gamesmanship.

We could have held a one day special session on tax relief alone and approved it within minutes. But Gov. Dayton chose not to call one because the Legislature would not agree to spend more money on a train for Minneapolis.

It is truly a shame that the governor chose politics over what was best for Minnesotans across this state, but thats exactly what he did. Deep down, Im guessing ODonnell-Ebner knows this as well, but those facts dont fit well into her partisan Election Day preferences.

Rep. Greg Davids,

Preston
Elroy resident Bob McKinney is joining the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to protest a large oil pipeline that could affect waterways in North Dakota.

Since June, the Standing Rock Sioux has protested the proposed Dakota Access pipeline, a $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile development that would transport about a half-million barrels of crude oil every day from northwestern North Dakota to a pipeline in Illinois. It would allow shippers better access to markets in the Midwest and Gulf Coast. The pipeline would stretch across four states, including South Dakota and Iowa.

The protestors have set up a camp on the land, owned federally by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. McKinney will join a few thousand at the camp, which lies close to the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers. Through a 150-year-old treaty agreement, Native Americans believe the Standing Rock Sioux still have rightful ownership of the land.

McKinney, a longtime water conservationist, believes he is the only local resident joining the protest. However, he said members of the Ho-Chunk Nation have joined the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes to voice their opposition to the pipeline.

The pipeline crosses their water supply. Im a water activist and I support any cause that has to do with water conservation and preservation, McKinney said.

Through the past two months, the camp has grown larger, with water activists joining tribes from across the nation. The gathering is believed to be the largest of North American tribes in 100 years. The protests have been largely peaceful, but some activists have been arrested at smaller, offsite camps.

The reason for the pipeline is they cant truck or train the amount of oil theyre producing, so they want to pipeline it, McKinney said. It crosses the Missouri River and that is two of the main sources of water for Indian tribes in that area. They dont want that to happen because it could pollute their water supply if something ever went wrong and things do go wrong at times.

Due to free speech reasons, the federal government has decided not to evict protestors and it doesnt appear they will leave anytime soon. On Sunday, camp spokesman Cody Hall told the Associated Press, Were not leaving until we defeat this big black snake, referring to the pipeline.

They have started building part of it and they have gone to a point where the protesting has stopped part of it, but not all of the construction, McKinney said.

According to McKinney, when crews began moving land for the project, they plowed up a sacred Native American burial ground. McKinney believes Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, isnt respecting the wishes of Native Americans.

Native Americans are indigenous people and its time we recognize that and we honor and respect their cause, McKinney said.

McKinney is also against fracking, a technique used to extract oil from underground sources. Fracking has been a controversial method for several years. It requires drillers to bore into the earth before adding a high-pressure water mixture into rock to release gas. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure to allow gas to flow through the head of the well.

The chemicals that are pumped down in there remain  whats to keep them from coming up into the aquifer and polluting it? Im not talking about just the aquifers in North Dakota, those aquifers can go for miles and can affect people in a large area, McKinney said. It abuses the earth and is not good for the ecosystem.

McKinney will spend about a week in North Dakota. He would like to see protests end the pipeline, similar to the Keystone XL pipeline nixed by President Obama in recent years.

McKinney said law enforcement has blocked some access to the camp. He said he would like to help further the cause by cooking or splitting wood to facilitate the needs of campers. Hall told the AP protesters are prepared to stay through the winter.

Last I heard there are about 4,000 people there and they come and go, McKinney said. Thats about the size of Mauston. Its going to be a real experience if I can get in there and see this.

The Elroy resident, who is not a descendant of Native Americans, said protestors have been attacked by police dogs while conducting peaceful activism.

I wonder what the people in North Dakota, the taxpayers, feel about paying for all this, McKinney said. Ive heard the governor of North Dakota has made a plea to the federal government to pay for some of these (law enforcement) expenses.
JUNEAU  A 27-year-old former Waupun man was sentenced to 31 years in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting a 3-year-old boy and possessing child pornography.

Robert J. Moungey previously entered no contest pleas to a felony count of party to a crime of first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 12 and two felony counts of possession of child pornography. As part of the plea agreement seven other counts of possession of child pornography were dismissed, but were read into the court record.

In court Tuesday, Judge John Storck also sentenced Moungey to 31 years of extended supervision for the charges. The minimum sentence for the charge was 25 years.

Moungey must undergo a sex offender assessment and follow through with any recommendations and undergo any treatments deemed appropriate. He must provide a DNA sample and maintain absolute sobriety. He will receive random urinalysis tests to check for compliance.

Moungey may have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 without prior approval, including his own children or grandchildren. He must not use a computer or any Internet capable device without approval of the court. He may not be involved in any activities that include children.

Moungeys wife, Cassandra J. Scheuers, 26, Waupun, also is charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 12. She could face up to 60 years in prison.

Moungey also is facing one felony charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child under 13 and one charge of child sexual exploitation in Green Lake County.

According to the criminal complaint, deputies were contacted to check the welfare of Scheuers on May 27, 2015, but found she was at the Waupun Police Department.

According to the criminal complaint, Scheuers reported that she saw Moungey on a laptop computer with young naked girls displayed on the screen. She also said Moungey had shown her a video of him sexually assaulting a 1-year-old girl.

Scheuers said that on one occasion, Moungey had tied a 3-year-old boy up to a bed with a restraint system used for bondage. Moungey asked her to sexually assault the boy, and she did so while he took pictures.

Scheuers said Moungey contacted her and sent her one of the photos via a message. She said he told her she could face the same criminal charges as he might face. According to the criminal complaint, Scheuers told police she assaulted the toddler because she was worried that Moungey would hurt her.

The restraint system was taken to the Waupun Police Station. A detective was granted a search warrant and was able to retrieve a laptop and an external hard drive. Scheuers gave permission for the equipment to be taken. The electronic equipment was taken to the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigations in Madison.

A computer forensic analyst at the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation discovered 16 movies and 473 images containing child pornography on the computer and external hard drive. The analyst said that some of the still photos showed what they believed to be Moungey having sexual relations with a 1- or 2-year-old child.

The photos analyzed showed a number of different child victims ranging in age, gender and nationality. Many of the child victims were believed to be 5 or younger.
A Sauk City man will serve eight months in jail and the next two years on probation for raping a 16 year old girl, a judge ruled Monday.

As part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors, 24-year-old Aldo Eder Ruiz Velazquez will have to undergo sex offender counseling. He also may have nothing other than incidental contact with girls under the age of 18, other than relatives.

Authorities said in March two underage girls who had been drinking were questioned by a Baraboo police officer. They said that Velazquez had purchased alcohol for them at a local grocery store.

He took the two girls to a house where they drank together, and thats where one of the girls said she was raped.

The 16-year-old girl told police that when she went to the bathroom, Velazquez followed her inside and locked the door. She alleged that he had sex with her, even though she repeatedly told him no.

The 15-year-old girl who was also at the home told an officer she heard her friend saying no multiple times, according to the criminal complaint.

Velazquez initially was charged with felony third-degree sexual assault and a misdemeanor count of having sexual intercourse with a child age 16 or older.

In court Monday, Sauk County Assistant District Attorney Rick Spoentgen agreed to amend the felony charge to fourth-degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor, in exchange for Valezquez no contest plea. The misdemeanor charge of having sexual intercourse with a child was dismissed.

Spoentgen and Valezquez defense attorney, Glenn Edward Avena of Madison, jointly recommended a sentence of eight months in jail with certain release privileges for work and family, as well as two years of probation.

Other terms of the deal include that Valezquez pay $894 in fines, $22 in restitution, provide a DNA sample, maintain absolute sobriety, and have no contact with the victim, her family, or their residence.

Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock accepted the joint recommendation, and withheld sentencing. If Valezquez does not comply with the agreement, he could be taken back to court and sentenced on the misdemeanor charge.

Spoentgen said the recommendation is consistent with what the district attorneys office has been able to glean from the case and conversations with the victim. He said it balances the victims wishes with the needs of society.

Your honor, I would like to be able to go to work, to go church, and be able to provide for my son, Valezquez told Screnock through an interpreter when offered a chance to speak.

Screnock said he considered the charge a serious one, but said the state believes there is a basis for amending the charge to fourth-degree sexual assault. He said the events laid out in the criminal complaint are concerning.

This is conduct that society does not condone, Screnock said.

But because Valezquez does not have a history of prior criminal activity, he said, there is minimal need to protect the public from similar acts in the future. He gave Valezquez until Dec. 1 to report to jail.

A number of traffic citations against Valezquez also were dismissed as part of the deal.
The mucky, marshy, mosquito-y hike that Fall Conservation Tour participants took Monday was nothing compared to the challenge faced by Columbia County Land and Water Conservation Department workers  who made the same journey with tons of rocks.

The Lake Wisconsin shoreline was eroding fast on the unimproved lot in the town of Lodi. Last winter, a wall of ice 5 1/2-feet high gobbled up a big chunk of the land, according to Chris Arnold, water resource specialist for the Land and Water Conservation Department.

This project was one of the greater challenges recently faced by the department, Thats why the site  as challenging as it was to get to it  was a stop on Mondays annual Fall Conservation Tour.

Arnold observed that, when owners of lakeshore property want to do something about erosion, their first call is often to a landscaper.

But a call to the Land and Water Conservation Department, he said, can connect property owners with the expertise of the department employees, and a little bit of help to pay for the work. The department offers 50 percent cost-sharing for shoreline stabilization projects, with a cap of $2,500 per project.

Arnold said the propertys owner is an out-of-towner, who visits the property regularly for recreational purposes, but has no plans to build a house or cabin on it. All the owner wanted, Arnold said, was to stop the erosion and leave a corridor to install a dock.

Tim OLeary, conservation specialist for the department, said the project, which entailed installing riprap well out into the water, cost about $30,000, plus another $5,000 for plants.

The plants, according to Arnold, were basically a ready-made prairie, rolled up in a sod mat.

They roll it out and tack it down and there it is  instant prairie, he said.

At another Lake Wisconsin site  one with a seasonal home, and not quite as drastic erosion  the shoreline was shored up with coconut logs, at a cost of about $8,000.

But by the time the coconut logs wear out in about five years, OLeary said, a variety of native plants, with roots several feet deep, are expected to provide the true and permanent shoreline protection, as well as wildlife habitat.

More than farms

Kurt Calkins, director of the Columbia County Land and Water Conservation Department, said people tend to think of the department in terms of farms. And a lot of the work that the department does is on farms, like a town of Lodi dairy farm that was a tour stop Monday for its non-point source pollution abatement project.

But in truth, Calkins said, erosion and pollution in both rural and urban areas affect the quality of water and land.

Sometimes, theres a solution that a landowner may not know about.

For example, the tours first stop was a 5-acre field in a wetland area, which was full of muck that ran off into nearby wetlands and water bodies.

But then the owner decided to participate in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which is similar to the federal Conservation Reserve Program, but with the purpose of enhancing water quality and reducing runoff.

Native cool-season grasses are planted on the plot. Calkins said that there are 320 acres in the CREP program in Columbia County.

The Land and Water Conservation Departments role in CREP, Calkins said, is to find landowners whose property might be a good candidate for the project, and help them with the logistics of applying for it, through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection.

Calkins said that sometimes landowners are reluctant at first, but as they learn more, it kind of sells itself.

Janice Kelley of the Natural Resources Conservation Service said participants enter into a 15-year contract, in which they are paid for each acre enrolled in the program. In years six and 11, she said, they have to do a management project, such as mowing or burning.

And, she said, theres a program to create habitat for pollinators such as honeybees  which entails planting at least nine species of native flowering plants, so that the plot is in bloom, and attracts pollinators, for most or all of the growing season.

Natural plant

Columbia County Supervisor Jo Ann Wingers of the town of Courtland, who is a farmer, picked a plant from the grassland acreage, and asked, Is this a weed?

Arnold identified the plant as sedge, which was not part of the original grass planting, but which grows on a volunteer basis.

And while it is a weed in a productive cornfield, he said, its a natural plant for wetland areas like the plot on the tour.

Anyone who wants to inquire about land and water conservation options, including sources of money to help pay for them, may call the Land and Water Conservation Office at 608-742-9670. The office is now located in the Annex at 120 W. Conant St., but it will be on the second floor of the countys new Administration Building, which is scheduled to open in June.
Classes resume at Wits tomorrow

Talks to reach a negotiated settlement with protesting students ongoing.

Dear Colleagues / Students

Thank you for bearing with us today, a very difficult day for the University. Thank you to those who worked, attended lectures and supported us this week. We were partially successful today and the academic programme will reopen again tomorrow.

We are currently involved in talks via former SRC presidents and the clergy in an attempt to reach a negotiated settlement with protesting students.

The academic programme started this morning but was disrupted around mid-morning by a group of 500 students. While the police managed to disband groups of protesters early this morning, they could not do so when the group became too large.

We understand that there was a major breach where a gate was brought down near the Roman Catholic Church on the East Campus through which students and others entered the campus.

The police tried to disperse the crowd and this resulted in several clashes between the police, private security and students. Unfortunately, several students, one staff member and five policemen were injured and treated by the Campus Health and Wellness Centre. One lecturer was taken to hospital and has been treated.

We know that some buildings, particularly on the West Campus were not protected when they should have been and that the windows of several cars were damaged. We are reviewing camera footage and will ensure that we hold those responsible for the damage accountable.

There are also reports of students not being allowed to leave residences and threats of disruption of buses travelling to clinical sites  these matters were resolved.

We know that the majority of students and staff want classes to continue and it is for this reason that we will once again resume the academic programme tomorrow.

Thank you

SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM

4 OCTOBER 2016 (18:00)
The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd..

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The following companies are subsidiares of Emerson Electric: A.P.M. Automation Solutions Ltd., AE Valves, AGI Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ALCO CONTROLS spol. s.r.o., APM Automation Solutions, ASC Investments Inc., ASCO (Japan) Company Limited, ASCO L.P., ASCO Numatics (India) Private Limited, ASCO Numatics Holding Inc., ASCO SAS, ASCO Valve (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ASCO/JOUCOMATIC s.r.o., ATX SAS, Advanced Protection Technologies, Aegir Norge Holding AS, Alliance Compressors LLC, American Governor, Aperture, Apple JV Holding Corp., Appleton Electric LLC, Appleton Electric S.A. de C.V., Appleton Group, Appleton Group Canada Ltd., Appleton Grp LLC, Appleton Holding Corp., Appleton Holding Sarl, Artesyn Embedded Technologies, Artesyn Hungary Elektronikai Kft., Artesyn Technologies, Asco AB, Asco Controls AG, Asco Controls B.V., Asco Joucomatic Ltd., Asco Joucomatic ZA B.V., Asco Magnesszelep Kft., Asco Numatics GmbH, Asco Numatics S.A., Asco Numatics Sirai S.R.L., Asco Numatics Sp. z o.o., Ascomatica S.A. de C.V., Ascomation (NZ) Ltd., Ascomation Pty. Ltd., Ascotech S.A. de C.V., Ascoval Industria e Commercio Ltda, Automatic Switch Company, Aventics, Aventics, Aventics AB, Aventics AG, Aventics AS, Aventics ApS, Aventics B.V., Aventics Corporation, Aventics Holding S.A.S., Aventics Holding S.a.r.l., Aventics Hungary Kft, Aventics Inc., Aventics India Private Limited, Aventics Limited, Aventics Ltd., Aventics Oy, Aventics Pneumatics Equipment (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Aventics Pneumatics Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Aventics S.A.S., Aventics S.R.L., Aventics Services Germany GmbH, Aventics Singapore Pte. Ltd., Aventics Sp. z.o.o., Aventics Spain S.L., Aventics spol. s.r.o., Avtron LoadBank, Bannerscientific Limited, Beckman Industrial B.V., Beijing Rosemount Far East Instrument Co. Ltd., Bettis Canada Ltd., Bettis Holdings Limited, Bettis UK Limited, Biffi Italia S.r.l., Bioproduction Group, Branson Korea Co. Ltd., Branson Ultrasonic S.A., Branson Ultrasonics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Branson Ultrasonics B.V., Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, Branson Ultrasonics a.s., Branson Ultrasonidos S.A.E., Branson Ultrasons SAS, Branson Ultrasuoni S.R.L., Branson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Bray Lectroheat Limited, Bristol Babcock Limited, Bristol Inc., Buehler Europe Limited, Buehler UK Limited, CR Compressors LLC, CSA Consulting Engineers Ltd., California Emerson LLC, Cascade Technologies, Cascade Technologies Holdings Limited, Cascade Technologies Limited, Chemat GmbH Armaturen fur Industrie - und Nuklearanlage, Chloride Koexa S.A., Componentes Avanzados de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Computational Systems, Computational Systems Incorporated, Conception et Representation de Technologies de Controle C.R.T. Controle SAS, Control Products Inc., Controles de Temperatura S.A. de C.V., Cooligy Inc., Cooper-Atkins, Cooper-Atkins Corporation, Cooper-Atkins Pte. Ltd., Copeland Access + Inc., Copeland Compresores Hermeticos S.A. de C.V., Copeland Corporation, Copeland Corporation LLC, Copeland Limited, Copeland Redevelopment Corporation, Copeland Scroll Compresores de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Copeland de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Copesub Inc., Crosby Valve LLC, Damcos A/S, Damcos Holding A/S, Daniel Automation Company, Daniel Europe Limited, Daniel Industrial Inc., Daniel Industries, Daniel Industries Canada Inc., Daniel Industries Inc., Daniel Industries Limited, Daniel International Limited, Daniel Measurement Solutions Private Limited, Daniel Measurement and Control Inc., Daniel Measurement and Control S. de R.L. de C.V., Danmasa S.A. de C.V., Dar Ibtikar Al Iraq for General Services and General Trade LLC, Decision Management International, Dieterich Standard Inc., Digital Appliance Controls (UK) Limited, Dixell North America Inc., Dixell S.R.L., Do+Able Products, E. Business Development E.B.D.Com Ltd., E.G.P. Corporation, EECO Inc., EGS Comercializadora Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EGS Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EGS Private Ltd., EMERSON CLIMATE TECHNOLOGIES s.r.o., EMR (Asia) Limited, EMR (Mauritius) Ltd., EMR Emerson Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH, EMR Europe Holdings Inc., EMR Foundation Inc., EMR Holdings (France) SAS, EMR Holdings Inc., EMR Worldwide B.V., EMR Worldwide Inc., EMRSN HLDG B.V., EMRSN Process Management Morocco Sarl, ENPDOR2012A Limited, ENPESNA Inc., EPM Tulsa Holdings Corp., EPMCO Holdings Inc., ETC International Holdings Ltd., Easy Heat Europe SAS, Easy Heat Inc., El-O-Matic B.V., El-O-Matic Valve Actuators (F.E.) Pte. Ltd., Electrische Apparatenfabriek Capax B.V., Emerald Advanced Technology Limited, Emerson (Philippines) Corporation, Emerson (Taiwan) Limited, Emerson (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Arabia Inc., Emerson Argentina S.A., Emerson Asia Pacific Private Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Actuation Technologies Holdings Inc., Emerson Automation Solutions Actuation Technologies Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Sichuan) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Taiwan) Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Thailand) Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Africa (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Czech Republic s.r.o., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Denmark A/S, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control France SARL, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Germany GmbH, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Hong Kong Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Hungary Kft, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Italia S.r.l., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control LLC, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Middle East FZE, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Netherlands B.V., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Polska Sp. Z.o.o., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Sales Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Sales Holding LLC, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Singapore Pte. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control UK II Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control UK Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control US LP, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Automation Solutions GmbH, Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms Private Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms do Brasil Ltda, Emerson Automation Solutions Ireland Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Isolation Valves Inc., Emerson Automation Solutions SSC UK Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions UK Limited, Emerson Beijing Instrument Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Services LLC, Emerson Climate Technologies (India) Private Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies (Shenyang) Refrigeration Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies - Solutions (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies - Transportation Solutions ApS, Emerson Climate Technologies Arabia Limited Co., Emerson Climate Technologies Australia Pty. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies FZE, Emerson Climate Technologies GmbH, Emerson Climate Technologies Inc., Emerson Climate Technologies Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Climate Technologies Refrigeration S.A., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions Europe S.R.L., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions Inc., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions UK Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies S.A., Emerson Climate Technologies S.R.L., Emerson Climate Technologies Sarl, Emerson Commercial & Residential Tools LLC, Emerson Commerical & Residential Asia Limited, Emerson Comres de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson DHC B.V., Emerson Dietzenbach GmbH, Emerson Dominicana Srl, Emerson Egypt LLC, Emerson Electric (Asia) Limited, Emerson Electric (China) Holdings Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Electric (Mauritius) Ltd., Emerson Electric (South Asia) Pte. Ltd., Emerson Electric (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Electric (Tongling) Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric (U.S.) Holding Corporation, Emerson Electric (U.S.) Holding Corporation (Chile) Limitada, Emerson Electric (Zhuhai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric CR Limitada, Emerson Electric Canada Limited, Emerson Electric Company (India) Private Limited, Emerson Electric Company Lanka (Private) Limited, Emerson Electric Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH, Emerson Electric II C.A., Emerson Electric International Inc., Emerson Electric Ireland Limited, Emerson Electric Korea Ltd., Emerson Electric Nederland B.V., Emerson Electric Overseas Finance Corp., Emerson Electric Poland Sp. z o.o., Emerson Electric U.K. Limited, Emerson Electric de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Electric do Brasil Ltda, Emerson Energy Systems (UK) Limited, Emerson FZE, Emerson Final Control US Holding LLC, Emerson Finance LLC, Emerson Fusite Electric (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Emerson Gabon SARL, Emerson Hazardous Electrical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Holding Company Limited, Emerson Holding Sweden AB, Emerson InSinkErator Appliance (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., Emerson Industrial Automation USA Inc., Emerson International Holding Company Limited, Emerson Japan Ltd., Emerson Junkang Enterprise (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Korea Limited, Emerson LLC, Emerson LLP, Emerson Machinery Equipment (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Emerson Mexico Finance S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Emerson Middle East Inc., Emerson Network Power DHC B.V., Emerson Paradigm Holding LLC, Emerson Process Management (India) Private Limited, Emerson Process Management (South Africa) (Proprietary) Ltd., Emerson Process Management (Tianjin) Valves Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management (Vietnam) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management A/S (Denmark), Emerson Process Management AB, Emerson Process Management AG, Emerson Process Management AS, Emerson Process Management Angola Lda, Emerson Process Management Arabia Limited, Emerson Process Management Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Process Management B.V., Emerson Process Management Chennai Private Limited, Emerson Process Management Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Distribution Limited, Emerson Process Management Europe GmbH, Emerson Process Management Flow B.V., Emerson Process Management Flow Technologies Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management GmbH & Co. OHG, Emerson Process Management Holding AG, Emerson Process Management Holding LLC, Emerson Process Management Kft., Emerson Process Management LLLP, Emerson Process Management Lda, Emerson Process Management Limited, Emerson Process Management Ltda, Emerson Process Management Magyarorszag Kft., Emerson Process Management Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions Korea Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions Singapore Pte. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Marine Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management NV, Emerson Process Management New Zealand Limited, Emerson Process Management Nigeria Limited, Emerson Process Management Oy, Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions Inc., Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions India Private Limited, Emerson Process Management Qatar W.L.L., Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Inc., Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Tulsa LLC, Emerson Process Management Romania S.R.L., Emerson Process Management S.A., Emerson Process Management S.A. de C.V., Emerson Process Management S.L., Emerson Process Management S.R.L., Emerson Process Management SAS, Emerson Process Management Shared Services Limited, Emerson Process Management Sp. z o.o., Emerson Process Management Ticaret Limited Sirket, Emerson Process Management UAB, Emerson Process Management Valve Automation (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Process Management Valve Automation (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Valve Automation Inc., Emerson Process Management Verwaltung GmbH, Emerson Process Management d.o.o., Emerson Process Management de Colombia SAS, Emerson Process Management del Peru S.A.C., Emerson Process Management s.r.o., Emerson Professional Tools (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Puerto Rico Inc., Emerson Retail Services Europe GmbH, Emerson S.R.L., Emerson Sales UK Limited, Emerson Saudi Arabia LLC, Emerson Scroll Machining (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Sice S.R.L., Emerson Sweden AB, Emerson TOV, Emerson Technologies GmbH & Co. OHG, Emerson Technologies Verwaltungs GmbH, Emerson Tool Company de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson Tool and Appliance Company S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson UK Trustees Limited, Emerson USD Finance Company Limited, Emerson Valves & Controls Japan Co. Ltd., Emerson Ventures Inc., Emerson Vulcan Holding LLC, Emerson Xi'an Engineering Center, Emersub 1 LLC, Emersub 10 LLC, Emersub 11 LLC, Emersub 12 LLC, Emersub 14 LLC, Emersub 15 LLC, Emersub 16 LLC, Emersub 3 LLC, Emersub 4 LLC, Emersub 5 LLC, Emersub 7 LLC, Emersub 8 LLC, Emersub 9 LLC, Emersub CII Inc., Emersub CV Inc., Emersub Italia S.R.L., Emersub LXXXIV Inc., Emersub LXXXVI Inc., Emersub Mexico Inc., Emersub Treasury Ireland Unlimited Company, Emersub XLVI Inc., Emersub XXXVI Inc., Emirates Techno Casting FZE, Emirates Techno Casting Holding Limited, Emirates Techno Casting LLC, Enardo, Endura-Greenlee Tools, Energy Solutions International (India) Private Limited, Energy Solutions International GP LLC, Energy Solutions International Ltd., Energy Solutions International SAS, Energy Solutions International Sub LLC, F-R Tecnologias de Flujo S.A. de C.V., FC QSF LLC, FMC Technologies, Fiberconn Assemblies Morocco Sarl, Fincor Holding LLC, Fire & Safety Group.Com Ltd., Fisher Controles de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fisher Controls International LLC, Fisher Jeon Gas Equipment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Fisher Regulators (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Sanmar Limited, Fisher-Rosemount Systems Inc., Flow Control Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Flow Control Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Flow Control US Holding Corporation, Francel SAS, Fromex S.A. de C.V., Fusite B.V., Fusite Corporation, Fusite Land Company, GSEG LLC, General Equipment and Manufacturing Company Inc., Generale de Robinetterie Industrielle et de Sytemes de Surete, GeoFields, GeoFields Inc., Greenex Ltd., Greenfield (UK) Limited, Greenlee, Greenlee Communications, Greenlee Tools Inc., Gulf Valve FZE, Gustav Klauke GmbH, H.T.E. Engineering Limited, HD Electric Company, HTE Engineering Services Limited, Hindle Cockburns Limited, Hiross India Private Limited, Hiter Industria e Comercia de Controles Termo-Hidraulicos Ltda., Humboldt Hermetic Motor Corp., Hytork International Ltd., I Solutions Inc., ICC Intelligent Platforms GmbH, ISE-MagTech, Industrial Controls Canada ULC, Industrial Group Metran JSC, Instrument & Valve Services Company, Intelligent Platforms LLC, Intellution, International Gas Distribution SA, Intrinsic Safety Equipment of Texas Inc., JCF Fluid Flow India Private Limited, JSC Metran-Export, Joucomatic S.A., K Controls Limited, Keystone Germany Holdings Corp., Keystone Valve (Korea) LLC, Keystone Valve (U.K.) Limited, Klauke, Klauke (Jiangsu) Electrical Connection Technology Co Ltd., Klauke France SARL, Klauke Handelsgesellschaft mbH, Klauke Iberia S.L., Klauke Polska Sp. z.o.o., Klauke Slovakia s.r.o., Klauke UK Ltd., Knurr, Liebert, Liebert Swindon Limited, Locus Solutions LLC, Locus Traxx Worldwide, Locus Traxx Worldwide Europe BVBA, MDC Technology Limited, MDC Technology Trustees Limited, METCO Services Limited, MYNAH Technologies, Management Resources Group Inc., Mecafrance (Deutschland) GmbH, Metallurgical Services Laboratories Limited, Metaserv Limited, Metco Services Venezuela C.A., Micro Motion Inc., Mobrey Group Limited, Motores Hermeticos del Sur S.A. de C.V., NetworkPower Ecuador S.A., Nippon Fisher Co. Ltd., Novel Environmental Technologies Ltd., Novel Extinguishing Agent Technology Ltd., Numatics Incorporated, Nutsteel DHC B.V., Nutsteel Industria Metalurgica Ltda, O.M.T. Officina Meccanica Tartarini S.r.l., Open Systems International, P I Components Corp., PT Emerson Solutions Indonesia, PT. Emerson Indonesia, PT. Paradigm Geophysical Indonesia, Pactrol Controls Limited, PakSense, PakSense Inc., Paradigm, Paradigm (UK) Holding Limited, Paradigm B.V., Paradigm France S.A., Paradigm Geophysical (India) Private Limited, Paradigm Geophysical (KL) Sdn. Bhd., Paradigm Geophysical (Nigeria) Limited, Paradigm Geophysical (U.K.) Limited, Paradigm Geophysical B.V., Paradigm Geophysical Corp., Paradigm Geophysical Italy SRL, Paradigm Geophysical LLC, Paradigm Geophysical Limited, Paradigm Geophysical Pty Ltd, Paradigm Geophysical S.A., Paradigm Geophysical Sdn. Bhd., Paradigm Geophysical Spain S.L., Paradigm Geophysical de Venezuela C.A., Paradigm Geophysical do Brasil Ltda., Paradigm Geoservices Canada Ltd., Paradigm Geotechnology (Egypt) S.A.E., Paradigm Kazakhstan LLP, Paradigm Middle East FZ-LLC, Paradigm Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Parex Industries Limited, Pentair Valves & Controls, Pentair Valves and Controls India Private Limited, Permasense, Permasense Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, Permasense Limited, ProSys, ProTeam Inc., Progea, RAC Technologies (Israel) Ltd., RIDGID Inc., RPP Europe GmbH, RPP LLC, Rey-Lam S. de R.L. de C.V., Ridge Tool (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Ridge Tool Company, Ridge Tool Europe NV, Ridge Tool GmbH, Ridge Tool GmbH & Co. OHG, Ridge Tool Manufacturing Company, Ridge Tool Pattern Company, Ridgid France SAS, Ridgid Italia S.R.L., Ridgid Online Inc., Ridgid Scandinavia A/S, Ridgid Werkzeuge AG, Rosemount China Inc., Rosemount Inc., Rosemount Measurement Limited, Rosemount Nuclear Instruments Inc., Rosemount Specialty Products LLC, Rosemount Tank Gauging India Pvt. Ltd., Rosemount Tank Gauging Middle East SPC, Rosemount Tank Gauging North America Inc., Rosemount Tank Radar AB, Rosemount Tank Radar Properties AB, Roxar, Roxar AS, Roxar Flow Measurement AS, Roxar Flow Measurement Sdn Bhd, Roxar Limited, Roxar Maximum Reservoir Performance W.L.L., Roxar Saudi Co., Roxar Services AS, Roxar Services OOO, Roxar Software Solutions AS, Roxar Technologies AS, Roxar Vietnam Company Ltd., Roxar de Venezuela C.A., Rutherfurd Acquisitions Limited, S.F.T. Group Ltd., SABO-Armaturen Service GmbH, Safety Systems UK Pte. Ltd., Sakhi-Raimondi Valve (India) Limited, Scroll Compressors LLC, Scroll Mexico LLC, Sempell GmbH, Shanghai Virgo Valves Technology Consulting Co. Ltd., Sherman + Reilly, Soluciones 0925 C.A., Spectra-Tek Holdings Limited, Spectra-Tek International Limited, Spectra-Tek UK Limited, Spectrex, Spectrex Inc., Spectronix Ltd., Spensall Engineering Limited, Steel Support Systems Limited, Stratos Lightwave, System Plast International B.V., System Plast Ltda, System Plast USA de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TDM-avtomatizatsiya, TV&C GP Holding LLC, Taiwan Valve Co. Ltd., TechnipFMC, Termocontroles de Juarez S.A. de C.V., Tescom Corporation, Tescom Europe GmbH & Co. KG, Tescom Europe Management GmbH, The Automation Group Inc., The J.R. Clarkson Company LLC, Therm-O-Disc Europe B.V., Therm-O-Disc Incorporated, Thunderline Z Inc., TopWorx UK Limited, Tranmet Holdings B.V., Tranmet Holdings Limited, Verdant Environmental Technologies, Vilter Manufacturing LLC, Virgo Valves & Controls (ME) FZE, Virgo Valves and Controls Sdn Bhd, Von Arx AG, Vulsub 1 Limited, Vulsub Brasil Holding, Vulsub Brasil Ltda., Vulsub Chile SpA, Vulsub Gulf Holding Limited, Vulsub Holding III (Denmark) ApS, Vulsub Holding Ltd, Vulsub Holdings A LLC, Vulsub Holdings B LLC, Vulsub Holdings C LLC, Vulsub Holdings D LLC, Vulsub Italia S.r.l., Vulsub Middle East Holdings LLC, Vulsub Peru S.A.C., Vulsub Property Holding LLC, Vulsub Property Limited, Vulsub S.A., Vulsub South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Vulsub VZ C.A., Westinghouse Electric Pvt. Limited, Westlock Controls Limited, Westlock Equipamentos de Controle Ltda., Woodstock Land Company LLC, epro GmbH, iSolera Inc., iSolutions Private Limited, and intelliSAW.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. LTD., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES BORROWER S.C.A., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES LLC, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES MIDDLE EAST FZE, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES SERVICES LIMITED, ASTRUM IT GmbH, Accudyne Industries Acquisition S.A r.l, Accudyne Industries Canada Inc., Accudyne Industries S.A r.l., Air Dimensions, Air Dimensions Inc., Albin Pump SAS, BOC Edwards Global Low pressure Air business, CISA S.p.A., Cameron-Centrifugal Compression, Comercial Ingersoll-Rand (Chile) Limitada, Comingersoll-Comercio E Industria De Equipamentos S.A., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Dosatron International SAS, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Proprietary Limited, FlexEnergy Holdings LLC, Frigoblock Grosskopf Gmbh, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First (UK) Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings II Inc., GD Global Holdings Inc., GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., GPS Industries, Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp (Canada), Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Limited, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica SL, Gardner Denver Inc., Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver International Inc., Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Investments Inc., Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan Ltd., Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte. Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia s.r.o., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH (f/k/a ILMVAC GmbH), Gardner Denver Thomas Inc., Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Ghh-Rand Schraubenkompressoren Gmbh, HASKEL EUROPE LTD., HASKEL HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, HASKEL INTERNATIONAL LLC, Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, Haskel France SAS, Haskel Sistemas de Fluidos Espana S.R.L., Hibon Inc., Highspeed Newco LLC, Hingerose Limited, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, INGERSOLL RAND ITS JAPAN LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHANG ZHOU) TOOLS CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHINA) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND CHINA LLC, INGERSOLL-RAND COMERCIO E SERVICOS DE MAQUINAS E EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA., INGERSOLL-RAND DE PUERTO RICO INC., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY B.V., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL SP. Z O.O., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL U.S. INC., INGERSOLL-RAND PHILIPPINES INC., INGERSOLL-RAND SPAIN S.A., INGERSOLL-RAND U.S. HOLDCO INC., IR HPS Holdco. Inc., ITO Emniyet, Ingersoll Rand Cyprus Investments Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Finance LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Investments LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Ventures LLC, Ingersoll Rand Hong Kong Investments Limited, Ingersoll Rand Inc., Ingersoll Rand Investments (SG) Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Investments B.V., Ingersoll Rand Schweiz Investments Gmbh, Ingersoll Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (Australia) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (China) Investment Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Guilin) Tools Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Ab, Ingersoll-Rand Air Solutions Hibon Sarl, Ingersoll-Rand Beteiligungs Und Grundstucksverwaltungs Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Colombia S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (Uk), Ingersoll-Rand Company South Africa (Pty) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Cz S.R.O., Ingersoll-Rand De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Equipements De Production S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Industrial Ireland Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International (India) Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Italia S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Italiana Manufacturing S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Korea Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Korea Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments II S.A R.I., Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Luxembourg Industrial Company S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Machinery (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Malaysia Co. Sdn. Bhd., Ingersoll-Rand S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Services And Trading Limited Liability Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Singapore Enterprises Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand South East Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Superay Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technical And Services S.A.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Technologies And Services Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Tool Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Trading Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Vietnam Company Limited, Instrum Rand JSC, Interflex Datensysteme, Ir Canada Holdings Ulc, Ir Canada Sales & Service Ulc, Ir France Sas, Kryptonite corp, Lawrence Factor Inc., LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MILTON ROY (HONG KONG) LIMITED, MILTON ROY (UK) LIMITED, MILTON ROY EUROPA B.V., MILTON ROY EUROPE SAS, MILTON ROY INDUSTRIAL (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD., MILTON ROY LLC, MILTON ROY US PURCHASER INC., MP Pumps Inc., Maximum AG Technologies Inc., Maximus Solutions, Mb Air Systems Limited, Nash Elmo, Officina Meccaniche Industriali Srl, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Plurifilter D.O.O., Pt Ingersoll-Rand Indonesia, Robuschi, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, SEEPEX, Seepex (M) SDN, Seepex Australia Pty Ltd, Seepex Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung, Seepex France S.a.r.l., Seepex GmbH, Seepex Inc., Seepex India Private Ltd., Seepex Italia SRL, Seepex Japan Co. Ltd., Seepex Nordic A/S, Seepex OOO, Seepex Pumps (Shanghia) Co. Ltd., Seepex UK Ltd., Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Shanghai Ingersoll-Rand Compressor Limited, Shenzhen Bocom System Engineering Co., Superay, Syltone, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, Tamrotor Marine Comp AS Norway, Tecno Matic Europe s.r.o., Thomas Industries Inc., Trane Technologies, Tri-Continent Scientific Inc., Vacuum and Blower Systems division, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zaxe Technologies Inc., Zeks Compressed Air Solutions Llc, Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, Zinsser NA Inc., and crayon interface.

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Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Tableau Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business analytics software products. It offers Tableau Desktop, a self-service, powerful analytics product with data; Tableau Server, a business intelligence platform for organizations; Tableau Online, a hosted software-as-a-service version of Tableau Server; Tableau Prep, a data preparation product for combining, shaping, and cleaning data; and Tableau Public, a cloud-based platform for analyzing and sharing public data. In addition, it offers Visual Query Language (VizQL) for databases, which is a computer language for describing pictures of data, including graphs, charts, maps, time series, and tables of visualizations; Live Query Engine that interprets abstract queries generated by VizQL into syntax understandable by database systems; and Hyper, an in-memory data engine technology that helps customers to analyze a range of data sets by evaluating analytical queries directly in the transactional database. Further, the company provides support, maintenance, training, and professional services. It serves organizations in various industries, including business services, energy and telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and technology, media and entertainment, public sector, and education, as well as retail, consumer, and distribution industries. The company sells its products directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as technology vendors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendor, and distributors in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Tableau Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. It operates through three segments: Reinforcement Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Purification Solutions. The company offers reinforcing carbons used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites. It also provides specialty carbons used in inks, coatings, plastics, adhesives, toners, batteries, and displays applications; masterbatch and conductive compound products for use in automotive, industrial, packaging, infrastructure, agriculture, consumer products, and electronics industries; inkjet colorants used in the inkjet printing applications; fumed silica used in adhesives, sealants, cosmetics, batteries, inks, toners, silicone elastomers, coatings, polishing slurries, and pharmaceuticals; fumed alumina used in various products, including inkjet media, lighting, coatings, cosmetics, and polishing slurries; and aerogel, a hydrophobic, silica-based particle for use in various thermal insulation and specialty chemical applications. In addition, the company offers activated carbon products used for the purification of water, air, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and other liquids and gases; and activated carbon solutions for activated carbon injection in coal-fired utilities, mobile water filter units, and carbon reactivation services. The company sells its products through distributors and sales representatives in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Cabot Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a life sciences company, focuses on the provision of preparedness and response solutions that address accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats (PHTs) in the United States. The company's products address PHTs, which include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives; emerging infectious diseases; travel health; and emerging health crises and acute/emergency care. It offers BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine; Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent to treat botulinum disease; vaccinia immune globulin intravenous that addresses complications from smallpox vaccine; raxibacumab for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax; Anthrasil to for inhalational anthrax; reactive skin decontamination lotion kits; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate. The company also provides NARCAN, a nasal spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vivotif, an oral vaccine for typhoid fever; and Vaxchora, a single-dose oral vaccine to treat cholera. In addition, it is developing AP003, a Naloxone multidose nasal spray; AP007, a sustained release Nalmefene injection for treatment of opioid use disorder; AV7909, an anthrax vaccine; CGRD-001, a pralidoxime chloride/atropine auto-injector; CHIKV VLP, a chikungunya virus VLP vaccine; COVID-HIG for the treatment of SARS-CoV2; EGRD-001, a diazepam auto-injector; SIAN, an antidote for the initial treatment of acute poisoning of cyanide; and UniFlu, a universal influenza vaccine. Further, the company provides contract development and manufacturing services comprising drug substance and product manufacturing, and packaging, as well as technology transfer, process, and analytical development services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers a range of skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, cleansing devices, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools. The company also provides fragrance products in various forms comprising eau de parfum sprays and colognes, as well as lotions, powders, creams, candles, and soaps; and hair care products that include shampoos, conditioners, styling products, treatment, finishing sprays, and hair color products, as well as sells ancillary products and services. It offers its products under the Estee Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, MAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin, Smashbox, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, GLAMGLOW, Kilian Paris, Too Faced, Dr. Jart+, DECIEM, and The Ordinary brands. The company sells its products through department stores, specialty-multi retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, and salons and spas; freestanding stores; its own and authorized retailer websites; third-party online malls; stores in airports; and duty-free shops. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in New York, New York.




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Indonesia is home to a variety of fish species, of which the majority are native species. The Indonesian government has taken steps to conserve the endemic fish which face extinction due to the breeding of foreign species in their waters. The Marine and Fisheries ministry of Indonesia has employed preventive measures to curb the influence of foreign fish based on the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. This includes the issuing of directives which oversee the controlling of invasive species. These fish species vary in size, behavior, and appearance. Some of the fish include the Silver seabream, tiger shark, and red dragonet.

Silver Seabream

Beyond Indonesia, the Silver Seabream (Pagrus auratus) is also to be found along the coasts of New Zealand, the Tasmanian islands, and Australia. This fish prefers to spawn in waters less than 50 meters deep and mature adults can be found in large schools. They live in rocky areas and reefs of at least 200 meters deep where they will migrate between reefs. The larger fish can be found in estuaries and harbors. They grow to a length of 30 centimeters and at this stage sexual maturity is reached. The silver bream can live up to 40 years. At sexual maturity, a small percentage of the males turn into females, while large individuals with both sexes develop a prominent hump on the head.

Tiger Shark

The Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is one of the largest sharks in the world, growing up to 3 meters in length, and it can be found in Indonesias waters. Its name is derived from the characteristic vertical stripe markings that run across its body length. The adult tiger shark is bluish-green in color with a distinctive body shape of a broad head and upper part which then becomes slender towards the tail. It is a nocturnal hunter with a wide food spectrum which includes turtles, birds, crustaceans, fish, birds and squid. It is tolerant to a wide variety of marine environment and can be found in estuaries, harbors, and near inlets. The tiger shark is classified as a Near Threatened species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Giant Snakehead

The giant snakehead (Channa micropeltes) is capable of growing to 1.3 meters in length and weighing around 20 kilograms. it is native to Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. In Indonesia, it can be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. It can grow up to 6 feet long. It is known for killing more fish than it can consume and can be dangerous to native species in other places. The giant snakehead has an eel-like body and a head which is mostly mouth. Young giant head snakes have varying colors from red, orange and black which fade over time.

Borneo Shark

The Borneo shark (Carcharhinus borneensis), as its name suggests, can be found around the island of Borneo in Indonesia, and in the inshore waters near Mukah in the northwestern region of the island. It is a very rare shark and classified as an endangered species. It lives in shallow coastal waters and the main threat to its existence is fishing by humans. Its body is characterized by a long pointed snout, thin body, narrow nostrils and a series of pores around the mouth which are unique to this genus.

Red Dragonet

The red dragonet (Foetorepus altivelis) is native to the Indian Ocean's waters and is found mostly in Southeast Asian countries. It can be found in depths of between 60 meters and 700 meters. the male species grow to a length of 17 centimeters while the female grows to 13 centimeters long. It is an important species for commercial purposes of the local fisheries.

Other native species to Indonesian waters include the Indonesian Coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis), Psychedelic Frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica), Giant Mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri), Masked Triggerfish (Sufflamen fraenatum), and Kai stingaree (Urolophus kaianus).
10. 1912

The US Presidential election of 1912 had four candidates representing four political parties. Prior-Republican President Theodore Roosevelt returned from a trip and found that William Taft had been nominated for President by the Republican Party. Roosevelt, against the increasing conservative politics of Taft, created his own political party, the Progressive Party. The other candidates were Woodrow Wilson for the Democrats and Eugene Debs for the Socialists. While campaigning, Roosevelt was shot in the chest. He managed to finish his speech before having the bullet removed. In the end, Democrat Wilson won the election with less than 50% support in several states. This was because the Republican vote was divided between Taft and Roosevelt. William Taft finished in fourth place.

9. 1824

The election of 1824 is considered controversial because in the first round of voting, not one candidate took a majority of electoral votes. The parties up for election were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford, and Henry Clay. They all belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party. The election was decided by the House of Representatives, of which Henry Clay was the House Speaker. He was eliminated from the race and the House pushed for John Adams, swaying several key state representatives away from Andrew Jackson. John Adams won the election and nominated Henry Clay as his Secretary of State. Andrew Jackson believed it was political corruption.

8. 2000

The election of 2000 was marked by problems at the voting polls, recounts, and lawsuits. The two candidates were Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore and the election results of the state of Florida was one of the biggest points of contention. The votes were too close, first claiming Gore the winner and then Bush. The Florida Supreme Court ruled for a recount and 5 weeks later, the US Supreme Court overruled that decision. Bush won by only 5 electoral votes and was the first president in 112 years to serve without the majority popular vote.

7. 1800

In 1800, the election system was slightly different. Voters would choose 2 candidates out of many; the one with the majority vote became President and the one in second place became Vice President. This caused Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr to tie for first place, both gaining more votes than then-President John Adams. For the first time ever, the House of Representatives had to decide the winner. Alexander Hamilton, the Treasury Secretary, campaigned for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson won and Burr became Vice President. The results of this election prompted Congress to pass the 12th amendment which made voting for the President and Vice President separate acts. Three years later, Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton during a duel.

6. 1876

The election of 1876 was between Democrat Samuel Tilden (then-Governor of New York) and Republican Rutherford Hayes. Tilden won more popular and electoral votes than Hayes, however, he lacked 1 vote for the mandatory 185 electoral votes needed to win. Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina were too close in results to award their combined 20 electoral votes and Oregon replaced an elector in the middle of the dispute. The country was torn apart and nearing war. Congress responded by establishing an emergency commission consisting of Representatives of Congress, Senators, and Supreme Court judges. In total, the group was made up of 7 Republicans, 7 Democrats, and 1 Independent. They decided in favor of Hayes, but the Democrats, disagreeing with the results, threatened to block the official vote count. The parties came together for negotiations and agreed that the Democrats would accept Hayes, if he would remove troops from the South of the country. Hayes took oath and ended the era of Reconstruction in the South.

5. 1948

Democratic President Harry Truman was opposed by Republican candidate Thomas Dewey and by people within his own political party. He lost support of conservative Democrats in the south who didnt agree with his stance on equal civil rights for African Americans and formed a new political party, called the Dixiecrats. According to a mid-October Gallups poll, Dewey would beat Trump by 5%. The results were not made public until Election Day and Truman believed he had lost the election. The Chicago Tribune even published the next days paper with a headline that read, Dewey Defeats Truman. The morning it published, the actual results showed that Truman had, in fact, won the election.

4. 1860

In an already divided country, the 1860 Presidential election was the final blow to conflicting politics and triggered the outbreak of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was the Republican nominee and Steven Douglas was the Democratic nominee in the north. The South, wary of the Norths intent to end slavery, chose then-Vice President John Breckenridge as their Democratic candidate. Senator John Bell ran on the Constitutional Union Party ticket. Most of the states in the south did not include Lincoln on the ballots. Lincoln won the majority of electoral votes in the North (although only 40% of the popular vote) and Breckenridge won most of the electoral votes in the South. Shortly after Lincoln was claimed the next President, South Carolina voted to secede. This act was followed by 6 other states. These 7 states went on to form the Confederate States of America by 1861 with Jefferson Davis as their President.

3. 2008

The 2008 election was between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. The citizenship of both candidates was questioned with critics claiming that Obama was born in Kenya and that McCains birth in the Panama Canal Zone (a US Naval Air Station) should disqualify him for the presidency. Neither Vice Presidential candidate escaped criticism. Democrat Joe Biden was criticized for some prior remarks and Republican Sarah Palin was criticized for her strong conservative beliefs. When the financial crisis became a reality, McCain paused his campaign. The New Black Panther Party, an African American political organization, were accused of voter intimidation for their behavior outside of voting polls in the city of Philadelphia. The charges were later dropped.

2. 2004

In 2004, then-President George W. Bush (who was involved in the 2000 controversial election) and Democratic Senator John Kerry competed for office. After the September 11th attacks in 2001, President Bush had strong public support. However, that support began to diminish as the public began questioning the reasons behind the two ongoing wars. The Democrats used these doubts to garner support for Kerry and the Republicans questioned Kerrys Vietnam War record. After the votes were counted, George W. Bush served his second term as President.

1. 2016

The 2016 election took place in November, 2016. Republican Donald Trump ran against Democratic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The campaign was one of the most controversial in US history. Hillary Clinton was accused of sending confidential government e-mails over private servers and hiding this information from the American public. Donald Trump was criticized for his unprofessional behavior, comments, and approach to campaigning. Some Republicans refused to endorse Donald Trump including: former President George H.W. Bush (according to the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland), Congressman Richard Hanna, former Congresswoman Connie Morella, and Carlos Gutierrez (former Commerce Secretary under the George W. Bush administration). Trump won the electon with just over a 2% margin.
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Of total sales in June 2016, distressed sales accounted for 7.8 percent and real estate-owned (REO) sales accounted for 4.9 percent

The REO sales share was 23 percentage points below its peak of 27.9 percent in January 2009

Distressed sales shares fell in most states, including the oil markets





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According to CoreLogic, distressed home sales in the U.S., which include REO and short sales, accounted for 7.8 percent of total home sales nationally in June 2016, down 2.2 percentage points from June 2015 and down 0.8 percentage points from May 2016.Within the distressed category, REO sales accounted for 4.9 percent and short sales accounted for 2.9 percent of total home sales in June 2016. The REO sales share was 1.9 percentage points below the June 2015 share and is the lowest for any month since September 2007. At its peak in January 2009, distressed sales totaled 32.4 percent of all sales with REO sales representing 27.9 percent of that share.While distressed sales play an important role in clearing the housing market of foreclosed properties, they sell at a discount to non-distressed sales, and when the share of distressed sales is high, it can pull down the prices of non-distressed sales. There will always be some level of distress in the housing market, and by comparison, the pre-crisis share of distressed sales was traditionally about 2 percent. If the current year-over-year decrease in the distressed sales share continues, it will reach that "normal" 2-percent mark in mid-2019.Only eight states recorded increases in their distressed sales shares in June 2016 compared with a year earlier. Maryland had the largest share of distressed sales of any state at 19.4 percent in June 2016, followed by Connecticut (18.4 percent), Michigan (17.6 percent), Illinois (15.8 percent) and New Jersey (15.3 percent). North Dakota had the smallest distressed sales share at 2.5 percent. Oil states continued to see year-over-year declines in their distressed sales shares in June 2016. Texas saw a 1.2 percentage point decrease, Oklahoma saw a 0.5 percent decrease and North Dakota saw a 0.1 percentage point decrease. Florida had a 5.8 percentage point drop in its distressed sales share from a year earlier, the largest decline of any state. California had the largest improvement of any state from its peak distressed sales share, falling 60.6 percentage points from its January 2009 peak of 67.5 percent. While some states stand out as having high distressed sales shares, only North Dakota and the District of Columbia are close to their pre-crisis levels (each within one percentage point).Of the 25 largest Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) based on mortgage loan count, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md. had the largest share of distressed sales at 19.1 percent, followed by Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, Ill. (17.7 percent), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (16.6 percent), Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. (15.4 percent) and St Louis, Mo. (13.2 percent). Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. had the smallest distressed sales share at 2.4 percent among this same group of the country's largest CBSAs.Two of the largest 25 CBSAs had year-over-year increases in their distressed sales share: Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y. was up by 1.3 percentage points and New York-Jersey City-White Plains, N.Y. was up by 0.1 percentage points. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. had the largest year-over-year drop in its distressed sales share, declining by 8.6 percentage points from 24 percent in June 2015 to 15.4 percent in June 2016. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. had the largest overall improvement in its distressed sales share from its peak value, dropping from 76.5 percent in February 2009 to 9.4 percent in June 2016.
Welsh Government Say No Council Mergers  But More Service Sharing

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Oct 4th, 2016

Controversial plans to cut the number of Welsh councils from 22 to just eight or nine have been formally scrapped  however local authorities could soon be sharing more services.

The announcement was made today by Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government Mark Drakeford, who outlined plans for the future of local government reform in Wales.

Plans to merge Welsh councils were initially announced in late 2014 by the then Minister for Public Services, Leighton Andrews.

Under Mr Andrews proposals the number of councils in Wales would have been reduced from 22 to eight or nine. Such proposals would have seen Wrexham merge with Flintshire or a merger between Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire  dubbed Clwyd 2.0 !

These proposals were rejected by Wrexham Council who stated they are strong enough to stand alone.

However the proposed reorganisation of local government was thrown into flux in May 2016, when Mr Andrews lost his seat to Plaid Cymru Leader, Leanne Wood in the Assembly elections.

Since then there had been uncertainty over the future of Welsh councils. However during a BBC Wales interview in late May 2016 it had been mooted by First Minister Carwyn Jones that the mergers in their proposed form would not go forward.

Today the future of local government was outlined by Mr Drakeford, who dismissed forced mergers by stating there will be no change to the existing number of local authorities.

The Welsh Government however would support voluntary mergers if plans were put forward.

Confirmation that council elections would take place as scheduled in 2017. Elections for all councils, unless voluntary mergers took place, would also go ahead in 2022.

Under proposals set out today, local authorities would work together to deliver key services.

Firmer plans will be released in the coming months, however it is anticipated that services such as education and social services would be based on the Welsh health board boundaries.

In the case of North Wales this would cover the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board areas of

Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham.

While some local authorities already work together voluntarily to deliver some services, Welsh Government state that this new way of regional working would be systematic and mandatory.

In an update to Assembly Members today, Mr Drakeford said: Councils are delivering their services against a backdrop of austerity or what the Institute for Fiscal Studies have called an extraordinary ten or more years of retrenchment in public service spending.

Austerity creates pressures and one of the key questions for me is how we can make our local authorities more resilient to deal with these pressures. Thats why local government reform is a requirement, not a choice.

Over the summer, I visited all 22 local authorities and met with the Welsh Local Government Association, Trades Unions and others.

I have listened to their views and we now have an approach on a possible way forward. This would retain existing local authorities  the front door through which people access services  but with key services being delivered regionally.

Behind this front door, we would have an enhanced level of mandatory and systematic regional working. This will give local authorities more resilience in terms of staffing and finance and also ensure that services are planned and delivered on the right scale.

It has been suggested to me that we have two models to deliver these services; one based around City Regions covering strategic transport, land-use planning and economic development and another aligned to health boards for services such as education improvement, social services and public protection.

He added: Of course, some authorities may wish to build their resilience further by voluntarily merging and we will support them to help make that happen.

We will also make improvements to community councils in the short term, and establish an independent review to look at the future role of this tier of local government.

I am conscious local government has been through a period of extended uncertainty about its future and the corrosive impact this has on morale.

In June I announced that councillors elected to existing councils in 2017 will serve a full five-year term to 2022. Today, I am able to announce that there will be elections to these councils  less any which merge voluntarily  in 2022. This confirms a permanent five-year election cycle and provides local government with a ten-year stable platform from which to take forward reform.

I want to be clear today that we are setting out on this journey with a new determination. Im prepared to see progress over a sensible and practical timeframe, but progress must be made.

By the New Year, I hope to have identified, with local government, recognised Trade Unions and other partners, a viable way forward.
Job cuts are looming in New Caledonias mining and processing sector following a severe drop in the global price of nickel. The small Pacific island, a French colony with a population of about 280,000, is the worlds fifth largest nickel producer.

The Koniambo plant, owned by the transnational conglomerate Glencore-Xstrata and the Northern Provinces Societe mininere du Sud Pacifique, announced last month it is reviewing 140 positions from its workforce of 950.

Koniambo CEO Marc Boissonneault said the current low level of production was not economically viable, making it a challenge to cut costs. The plant had also suffered setbacks after problems with its furnaces.

The job threat came despite pledges of financial support for Koniambo by the French government. Spending on Koniamboone of the worlds biggest new projectsexceeded $US7.2 billion at the start of its productive life in 2013.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in February that Paris would also underwrite the Societe Le Nickel (SLN) processing plant in the capital Noumea. SLN is a subsidiary of Eramet, a French multinational mining and metallurgy company.

Valls undertakings were given at a meeting held to discuss a possible referendum on independence for the territory by 2018. The SLN plants viability had hinged on it getting a new power plant, but that plan was placed on hold because of the companys financial losses.

The cuts foreshadow a major assault on workers throughout the nickel industry in New Caledonia and globally. The industry is the territorys biggest private sector employer, accounting for a quarter of all jobs and 710 percent of its output. With the exclusion of tourism, nickel ore and derived metallurgical products represent about 97 percent of the total value of exports and 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings.

During 2015, the price of nickel on the world market fell by more than 40 percent, ending the year at $US8,100 a tonne, compared with a high of $51,800 in 2007. The current price is below the cost of production for more than two-thirds of the worlds mines. The New Caledonia industry recorded losses of $US1 billion for 2015. According to Bloomberg, the Brazilian-owned Vale mine at Goro produced at a cost of $20,000 a tonne last year, while Koniambo spent $33,000 a tonne.

Last December, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg warned: We have no intention to continue running the asset and burning cash like some other parties in that area. The same month, Jennifer Maki, Vales head of base metals, told investors in London: We know everybody in this rooms patience is wearing, and our patience is wearing. Were analysing our options in New Caledonia.

Nickel is used primarily for steel production, of which there is now a massive glut in China. With China responsible for nearly half of global metals demand, the slowdown within the worlds second largest economy is expected to see metal prices decline by 14 percent in 2016. The International Monetary Fund recently warned of continued low prices, but with rising uncertainty.

Bloomberg cited an analyst at Standard Chartered Plc saying that the red ink is bigger in nickel than for any other base metal. Demands are being raised for global production cuts of up to 30 percent.

Anger among workers in New Caledonia has been building for the past year. President Philippe Germain warned last November that the closure of Australian business magnate Clive Palmers nickel refinery in the state of Queensland could lead to civil unrest in the Pacific territory. New Caledonias mines were the main suppliers of Palmers smelter in Townsville before it was shut down in March with debts totalling $A300 million, resulting in the loss of 800 jobs.

The refusal of Germains administration to grant export licences last year to local miners to sell ore to customers other than Palmers Queensland Nickel triggered protests and industrial blockades.

In August 2015, truck drivers, fearing for their jobs, mounted a three-week blockade of parts of Noumea, the capital, after the government rejected a bid by SLN to export one million tonnes of low-grade ore to Japan. Attempting to shore up prices, the government also restricted sales of ore to China, allowing only one company to sell 300,000 tonnes over an 18-month period.

Last November, hundreds of SLN workers went on strike and set up pickets, blocking access to the plant using burning tyres. The workers were protesting the loss of 60 jobs and a decision to delay building the new power plant for the smelter. The unions quickly shut down the strike while steering workers behind the demands of the conservative opposition Republican Party to lift export restrictions.

The Republicans accused the government of committing economic sabotage by blocking exports, directly or indirectly putting up to 10,000 jobs at risk. The government relented in April, following the closure of the Queensland plant, authorising the export of some low-grade nickel ore to China. The decision came after truckers again threatened to blockade Noumea.

With the sector in a deep crisis, the government has disbursed $US5.5 million of a $23 million Nickel Fund to prop up export companies and contractors. The disbursement applied only to companies with fewer than 500 employees, which excludes Koniambo, Vale and SLN. The government claimed the payment saved about 400 jobs.

The collapse in commodity prices is causing economic and political turmoil throughout the Pacific, whose fragile economies largely depend on the export of extractive raw materials. Economic growth will drop from 7.0 percent, recorded last year, to an average of 3.9 percent in 2016, according to the Asian Development Bank.

Papua New Guinea (PNG), with the largest economy of the Pacific islands, has experienced a drop of 20 percent in government revenues, forcing austerity measures similar in scope to those in Greece. These, in turn, are fuelling protests and strikes by growing sections of PNG workers and students.

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Pacific forum reveals regional geo-strategic tensions

[16 September 2016]
In an intensification of transatlantic tensions, German politicians have accused the US government of waging economic war against Germanys leading financial institution, Deutsche Bank.

On Friday, Deutsche Bank shares fell below 10, their lowest level since 1983, in the ongoing fallout from the demand by the US Department of Justice that the bank pay $14 billion to settle claims relating to its sub-prime mortgage business in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crash.

Responding to the banks crisis at the weekend, Peter Ramsauer, chairman of the German parliaments economics committee, told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that the US Justice Departments move against Deutsche Bank has the characteristics of an economic war.

Denouncing Washingtons extortionate damages claims against the German bank, Ramsauer said the US had a long tradition of waging what amounted to trade war if it benefits their own economy.

Ramsauers comments were backed by Markus Ferber, a deputy in the European Parliament and, like Ramsauer, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democrats. Ferber told Die Welt that the timing and size of the Justice Departments claim suggested a tit-for-tat response to the recent European Union decision to demand that Apple pay 13 billion in back taxes.

Following the EU decision on Apple, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew complained that the penalty on Apple was a new form of protectionism directed against American companies. He warned that the US would consider retaliatory measures.

Lews threats were endorsed by John Engler, president of the influential US Business Roundtable, who accused the EU of a reckless and dramatic overreach that constitutes a new and dangerous form of protectionism. Engler sent an open letter to the leaders of all of the EUs 28 member states demanding that the tax demand on Apple be rescinded.

A recent commentary in the Wall Street Journal sided with Engler and linked to his open letter. In an opinion piece titled Vestager Gets Vindictive, the newspaper accused EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who lodged the claim against Apple, of turning the European Union into a banana republic on high-speed rail for imposing retroactive tax hikes.

In the wake of the massive fines imposed by the US on German automaker Volkswagen and the negative comments by German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel regarding the US- promoted Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the former US ambassador to Germany, John Kornblum, warned of a dangerous populism in both the new and old worlds. He continued, We could be entering the last chapter of our transatlantic vision of hope.

While the latest outbreak of transatlantic hostilities revolves around the perilous state of Deutsche Bank, it is not the only bank facing collapse.

Writing in the Telegraph on Saturday, journalist Jeremy Warner warned, Its not just Deutsche. European banking is utterly broken.

He wrote: All eyes are naturally focused on the specific problems of Deutsche Bank, but Deutsche is in truth no more than the canary in the coal mine. He quoted Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Credit Suisse, who stated last week that as an entire sector, European banks are still not really investable.

Warner went on to say that one of the main problems facing European banks was US taxing of European banks, backed by the threat of removing dollar clearing licenses if the banks did not comply. As for the penalties demanded by the US, the fines seem to be assessed almost wholly on ability to pay rather than the extent of the misconduct itself.

Why should banks raise extra capital, Warner argued, when you know it will just get snaffled by the US Department of Justice?

Politicians in Germany and throughout Europe are acutely aware that following the massive bailouts of 2008-2009, any further funding for the banks is, to quote one Financial Times article, political poison. A recent poll in Germany revealed that fully two-thirds of the population oppose any further government funding of the banks.

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was compelled to deny claims that her government was planning a rescue package for the bank, and on Friday, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem stated that Deutsche Bank had to survive on its own, without assistance from the German state.

German Economics Minister Gabriel, who heads the Social Democratic Party, wrote a memo to the CEO of Deutsche Bank criticising both the banks speculative practices and forces in the market trying to destabilise the bank. I didn't know whether I should laugh or be furious that a bank which turned speculation into a business model now declares itself the victim of speculators, Gabriel wrote. I'm really worried about the people employed at Deutsche Bank.

In reality, Gabriel does not give a hoot for the staff at the bank, and his comments regarding speculation are thoroughly hypocritical. It was his own party in government that introduced two key laws to exempt the taxation of profits from the sale of capital investments and permit the operation of hedge funds in Germany.

Speculators are wary of the consequences for their own operations of a collapse of the worlds fourth biggest bank. On CNBCs Power Lunch program, US financial analyst Larry McDonald declared that the parallels between Deutsche Bank and the failed US investment bank Lehman Brothers sent chills down his spine, because were in a very similar dynamic.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson outlined the strategy to be pursued by the Conservative government as it initiates the UKs exit from the European Union (EU).

Johnson spoke at the Conservative Party conference after Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that the government will trigger Article 50 of the EUs Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017. Once this is done, the UK enters a formal two-year period in which to negotiate a British exit from the EU.

The media focus on Johnsons speech was over the fact that he referred to Africa as a country and not a continent. But this is of a piece with Johnsons imperialist arrogance, exemplified by his speech, which focussed on the need to aggressively expand British interests under the guise of bringing democracy to the world.

Speaking of the post-Brexit world, Johnson stated, I believe that the vote on June 23 was for economic freedom and political freedom as well. Britain should have absolutely no shame or embarrassment in championing our ideals around the world...this should be the message of global Britain to the world: that we stick up for free markets as vigorously as we stick up for democracy and human rights.

The British ruling elite are gearing up for a NATO-led military conflict with Russia, utilising the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. To stake Britains place as the premier US ally, Johnson used his speech to escalate the government's propaganda offensive against the Putin regime.

Referring to the war in Syria as part of a wider arc of instability that sweeps across from Iraq to Libya, he denounced the continuing savagery of the [Syrian President Bashar-Al] Assad regime against the people of Aleppo and the complicity of the Russians in committing what are patently war crimes. 

Russias actions, in alliance with Syria, asserted Johnson, are making it impossible for peace negotiations to begin. He naturally neglected to mention that the Western imperialist powers had fomented the Syrian civil war through their Islamist proxies, in order to achieve regime change. Nor the moves by these proxies, many allied with Al Qaeda, to prevent peace under instruction from their paymasters.

Pledging the UK to leading a militarist agenda in Europe, Johnson declared that, post-Brexit, Britain will remain committed to all kinds of European cooperationat an intergovernmental level whether it is maintaining sanctions against Russia for what is happening in Ukraine. 

Johnson complained that the wave of triumphalism that had swept the bourgeoisie in the early 1990s with the dissolution of the Soviet Unionits hope for the final triumph of western liberal values and ideals and of free-market capitalismhad come badly undone.

Instead, said Johnson, in many eyes the notion that we could endlessly expand the realm of liberal democracy was badly damaged, alas, by the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and symmetrically our model of free-market Anglo-Saxon capitalism as practised in London and New York was seriously discredited by the Crash of 2008, and the global suspicion of bankers.

[W]e have taken those twin blows like punches to the midriff; and we have been winded and sometimes lacking in confidence in these ideals, he said.

This had to be reversed, Johnson continued, with Britain pursuing an aggressive interventionist foreign policy to supposedly ensure Freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to practice whatever you religion want and to live your life as you please.

Johnson has carefully cultivated an image as a buffoon, which is used to package his extreme right-wing views. Even so, in amongst all the cheap and crass jokes, the remainder of his speech recalled the White mans burden rationale of the civilising mission of the British Empire, used to justify its rape and plunder of Africa.

After asserting, I am not going to pretend that this country is something we are not, Johnson went on to issue a eulogy to Britains former imperial conquests.

Every day I go into an office so vast that you could comfortably fit two squash courts and so dripping with gilt bling that it looks like something from the Kardashians, he declared. [A]s I sit at the desk of George Nathaniel Curzon I sometimes reflect that this was once the nerve centre of an empire that was seven times the size of the Roman empire at its greatest extent under Trajan and when I go into the Map Room of Palmerston I cannot help remembering that this country over the last two hundred years has directed the invasion or conquest of 178 countriesthat is most of the members of the UN. 

While declaring such halcyon days are gone forever, Johnsons message was that the appetite of British imperialism remained undiminished.

Over and again, Johnson insisted that Britain had to return to its role as the global champions and agitators for free trade. And this meant overcoming any arguments that we are too small, too feeble, too geopolitically reduced to have that kind of influence.

He boasted, I have confirmed to myself that we have in the Foreign Office the finest diplomatic service in the worldcovering far more countries than the French with only 70 percent of the budget.

Despite the loss of empire and the debacle of the Iraq War, he said, it would be a fatal mistake now to underestimate what this country is doing or what it can doit is simply not the case that every military intervention has been a disaster. Far from it

It is notable that Johnson cited the achievement of the UKs armed forces in Sierra Leone, where we were instrumental not just in ending the civil war, but in wiping out Ebolareferring to the 2000 imperialist adventure instigated by the Labour government of Tony Blair. Continuing his orientation to Africa, Johnson added that another successful campaign was the bold programme to tackle the pirates in Somalia. Here, British ships took them on, with all the courage and decisiveness of our 19th century forebears. 

The government was prepared to use its military resources ever more broadly, he bragged, [W]hen we give our armed services clear and achievable missions we can still be remarkably effective and with 2 percent of our GDP spent on defence we will be the leading military player in western Europe for the foreseeable future. 

In order to further the UKs geo-strategic interests, Johnson declared that soft power was also a critical factor as it allowed the vast and subtle and pervasive extension of British influence around the world.

In this regard, his praise of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was highly significant. Over the past several decades, the UKs state broadcaster has ditched any notion of its purported impartiality in favour of semi-naked propagandising for the predatory operations hatched by British imperialism. Along with the nominally liberal Guardian newspaper, much of the BBCs output is now based on demonising the Russian and Chinese governments.

Johnson said effusively, No matter how infuriating and shamelessly anti-Brexit they can sometimes be I think the Beeb [BBC] is the single greatest and most effective ambassador for our culture and our values. 

Given the mass opposition to imperialist war and the discrediting of the capitalist profit system over the last decade, alluded to by Johnson, it is necessary for the ruling elite to create an ideological basis for further imperialist banditry and secure a constituency for it. From among the upper middle class and the pseudo-left, advocacy of imperialist militarism, under the pretence of pursuing democracy and human rights, is aimed at securing the requisite devoted adherents. This was the crux of Johnsons speech.
On Thursday, September 29, Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate Jerry White spoke before a broad audience of students, workers and members of the community at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) in Annandale.

Located in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., NVCC is the largest community college system in the United States. The outlying suburbs of Washington, D.C. are a center for the US military and intelligence agencies. They are home to the headquarters of dozens of defense contractors that bring in billions of dollars in annual revenue.

Students and workers attended the meeting to hear a socialist candidate speak in opposition to militarism and war.

White spoke about the 2016 presidential elections and the debate between Clinton and Trump that had taken place on September 26. What we have are two candidates that are part of the same corporate, financial and political oligarchy that has enriched itself over the past 25 to 30 years on the basis of relentless attacks on the working class, White said.

Regardless of who wins this election, there will be major social opposition, White said, referring to the immense class tensions developing internationally and domestically. The key question is understanding what must be done, with a clear political program so that workers and young people are not fooled by the next round of Bernie Sanders characters that would like to build illusions about capitalism.

The SEP campaign is breaking the conspiracy of silence by the two big business parties and the media about the danger of war. He cited a recent New York Times editorial branding Russia an outlaw state as an example of what is being discussed behind the backs of the American people. (See: New York Times brands Russia an outlaw state).

He explained that the Times editorial was a continuation and an intensification of the attempt to vilify Russia in order to prepare the ground for future military aggression.

When asked a question about the Libertarian Party, which has a popular following in Virginia, White explained that the Libertarians seek to combine nominal opposition to attacks on democratic rights with absolute defense of the capitalist system and the exploitation of the working class. The Libertarians say that somehow the film can be put in reverse, White said, that the US can go back to a time of free competition between proprietors. They say we have crony capitalism. White explained that by its very development, capitalism created the monopolies, and that the capitalist system itself is the source of war and dictatorship.

White also spoke about Jill Stein of the Green Party. Jill Stein and the Greens believe that if you can only prove to the powers that be that their system is irrational and reason with them, that somehow they will change course, he said. However, he added that this was just as irrational as making moral appeals to the slaveholders of the 19th century to give up their slaves. The Greens speak for more privileged sections of the middle class and are a block to the development of an independent working class movement.

One audience member asked how the United States should pursue its interests in the war in Syria. White began by deconstructing the word we, explaining that the US, like every other society, was divided into two classes with diametrically opposed interests: those of the corporate and financial elite and those of the working class.

White reviewed the history of US interventions over the past quarter century, which he said were an effort by the ruling class to reverse the long-term decline of American capitalism through the use of force. He cited the New York Times Thomas Friedman , who declared in the late 1990s, The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fistMcDonalds cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the builder of the F-15.

After the meeting ended, many stayed to buy literature and talk with members of the IYSSE and White. Alicia, a yoga instructor, expressed enthusiasm about the SEPs platform. A lot of what he said appeals to me. Bringing everyone together because we all have the same human needs, and they are being compromised by people in power.

Daoron, a student at the college whose family came from Afghanistan, talked to IYSSE members about the social conditions in Central Asia. When supporters of the War on Terror ask me where are the terrorists coming from, I tell them the CIA. Theyre the ones who taught them the dirty tricks they now use, he said.

Id say the worst and best experience for me [in turning me against militarism] was volunteering in Afghanistan to help wartorn children, he said, recounting a harrowing encounter with child who had been grievously injured by an explosion. I was talking to this child, who had lost a leg in an explosion, telling him things were going to be alright and that he would survive. In his own language, this 11-year old kid turned to me and said, Im going to go to God and tell him what people down here are doing.

Terrorists are formed, he added. What happens is you have drone strikes, ordered by the Obama administration, they completely shatter families. Maybe one person is left alive from an entire family. With that one person, [the US] has just created a terrorist.

Speaking about American society, Daoron said, The US is a good country, with good people. The people running it are bad.
The successful putsch of former Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez inside the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE)aiming to install a right-wing government in Spain, after two inconclusive elections and nine months of a hung parliamenthas exposed the reactionary character of the pseudo-left Podemos party.

The putsch aimed to topple PSOE General Secretary Pedro Sanchez, allowing the PSOE to abstain in a parliamentary vote and bring a minority Popular Party (PP) government to power. Gonzalezs associates trampled party procedures and public opinion, and whipped up a media campaign against Sanchez, making crystal clear what tens of millions of Spanish workers know about this party. The PSOE is a free-market, pro-war party run by the banks, the intelligence agencies, and the military.

The PSOE is, moreover, the party around which Podemos built its hopes of coming to power and setting up a so-called Government of Change. Like its Greek ally Syriza, which came to power last year promising to end austerity and then implemented savage austerity measures against the workers, Podemos bases its agenda for change on the diktat of the banks and war planners.

After the inner-party coup in the PSOE began, as 17 members of the PSOE Federal Executive resigned after Gonzalez publicly denounced Sanchez, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias did everything to stoke illusions about the PSOE. He said, To attempt to drop a General Secretary elected by the membership through resignations is a fraud. He added that it signified the most important crisis since the end of the civil war, in the most important Spanish party of the past century.

Iglesias did not say why he believes that the PSOEa long-standing party of austerity, free-market policies, and NATO warsis more important than his own party. He went on, however, to heap praise on Sanchez for resisting Gonzalez inside the PSOE, and again stressed that the PSOE could work with Podemos to form a progressive government.

Its undeniable that Pedro Sanchez has shown courage in confronting the forces of the regime within his party, he said, but it might have made more sense to also show that courage against the powers-that-be outside his party. If he had, today we could be ruling together and perhaps our government, in spite of all difficulties, might have been able to implement redistribution policies and regeneration [of democracy] policies, put forward democratic solutions to pluri-national tension in Spain and become an example for other European countries.

Sanchez was not confronting the forces of the regime, any more than the PSOE was preparing to carry out a left-wing, democratic, or egalitarian agenda. As anger spread among PSOE voters, and protests erupted outside PSOE headquarters in several cities, Iglesias was seeking to keep the situation under control and promote illusions that Sanchez would oppose the PP.

The unfolding crisis inside the PSOE rapidly gave the lie to these illusions. On Saturday, Sanchez stepped down and pledged loyalty to the pro-Gonzalez faction led by the PSOEs regional president in Andalusia, Susana Diaz, declaring, the caretaker commission set up in the following hours will count upon my loyal support.

This paves a way for the installation of a PP government, even though the PP only received 33 percent of the vote in the June elections.

The PSOEs push to install a PP regime, dedicated to austerity and ensuring Spains place in NATO war planning, marks a historic turning point in European politics since the collapse of Spains Franco dictatorship in 19771978. It has shed a stark light on the PSOE-PP duopoly that dominated Spanish political life. The actions of Gonzalezthe PSOEs main leader, and the artisan of its explicit rejection of Marxism at its 1979 congressshow how, in the final analysis, these two parties worked together to attack the working class.

Since the 2008 crisis erupted, however, the PSOEs austerity agenda has steadily undermined the PSOEs support. Under Prime Minister Jose Zapatero, the PSOE vote rapidly collapsed, mirroring the collapse of reactionary social democratic parties across Europe such as the Socialist Party in France and, above all, the Pasok party in Greece.

Like Syriza in Greece, the role of Podemos was not to offer a revolutionary alternative to the old capitalist duopoly of the PSOE-PP. Podemos is an alliance of Stalinist forces, led by a cabal of academics around Iglesias, with the Anticapitalist Left (IA), the Spanish affiliate of Frances New Anti-capitalist Party. It is, in fact, deeply tied to the reactionary political forces that set up the PSOE-PP duopoly, to which Podemos strives to give a left face.

Iglesias was on a first-name basis with former Spanish Communist Party (PCE) leader Santiago Carrillo prior to Carrillos death in 2012, aged 97. He wrote a sympathetic obituary of the Stalinist leader in Publico, concluding: Despite everything, Santiago was one of ours. Now and forever.

This was an unmistakable statement of support for the post-Franco set-up, which Carrillo played a key role in establishing. Carrillo infamously aided and abetted the Stalinist abduction and murder of Trotskyists and of Andres Nin, the leader of the centrist Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), during the Spanish Civil War. He also spoke to the Francoite authorities in the 1970s, to assure them that the PCE would defend them during a peaceful transition after Francos death in 1975 and block a revolutionary struggle by the working class.

Indeed, Iglesias remark that the PSOE is the most important Spanish party of the past century faithfully continues and reflects the PCEs post-Franco alliance with the PSOE.

Podemos is now signalling that it intends to continue working with the PSOE, as before, after the Gonzalez putsch. Underlying this essentially friendly attitude to the putsch is the fact that Podemos political perspective is not fundamentally different from that of the most reactionary sections of the PSOE. Leading figures inside Podemos also support, like Gonzalez, alliances with openly right-wing partiesin this case, the Citizens party of Albert Rivera.

Podemos number two, Inigo Errejon, reacted to the Gonzalez putsch inside the PSOE by lamenting that Podemos had not adopted the strategy, backed by Sanchez inside the PSOE and Errejon inside Podemos, of forming a PSOE-Podemos-Citizens government. Iglesias briefly attempted this strategy in the spring before dropping it, fearing that it would expose Podemos to too much criticism from the left.

It is certain that we were not as flexible as we should have been, Errejon told Publico on Friday, referring to Podemos government talks with the PSOE. He went on to pledge, according to Publico, that Podemos will continue extending an open hand to the Socialist Party once the battle between partisans and critics of Pedro Sanchez is resolved.

Pablo Echenique, Podemos number three official, made clear that Podemos collaboration with the PSOE would continue, including with those sections who supported Gonzalezs putsch. As leader of Podemos in the Aragon region, he said that the regions pro-Gonzalez PSOE president, Javier Lamban, would simply have to provide explanations to Podemos officials in the region if and when the PSOE abstained in parliament and thus let the PP take power.
In a highly provocative move, the United States announced yesterday it was breaking off bilateral talks with Russia on halting fighting in Syrias civil war. The decision is only the latest indication that the US is preparing the ground for a major escalation of military operations in its war for regime-change in Syria.

With boundless hypocrisy, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that Russia had failed to maintain its end of the bargain. This is not a decision that was taken lightly, Kirby said. Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments, and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed.

US officials added that contact between the two countries would continue to reduce the risk of clashes between US and Russian aircraft operating in Syrian air space. But this pledge cannot conceal the fact that both powers have mutually incompatible agendas in Syria and are perilously close to a direct military clash that could spiral out of control and trigger a wider war. As White House spokesman Josh Earnest bluntly put it, on Syria, there was nothing more for the US and Russia to talk about.

Washingtons attempt to pin the blame on Russia for the breakdown of diplomacy in Syria is thoroughly dishonest. The United States never had any intention of abiding by the ceasefire agreement struck between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last month. It exploited the week-long pause in fighting to enable its proxy Islamist rebels to regroup in the face of a Russian- and Iranian-backed offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads troops in Aleppo, while continuing to provide its Al Qaeda-linked allies with arms. The US-backed anti-Assad forces never accepted the ceasefire.

Open differences emerged within the US political and military establishment over the ceasefire terms, with the Pentagon publicly rejecting military and intelligence cooperation with Moscow in the name of fighting terrorism. It is likely that a September 17 US air strike on a Syrian army outpost near the town of Deir ez-Zor, which helped ISIS fighters capture positions in the area, was deliberately launched by a faction of the US military opposed to intelligence-sharing with Russia, for the purpose of blowing up the ceasefire agreement.

The incident had the desired effect. The ceasefire collapsed several days later when a UN aid convoy came under attack. Washington and its European allies blamed the attack on Moscow and used it to demand that Russia and Syria ground their aircraft. Russia denied any involvement in the bombing of the aid convoy.

The US government and media have seized on the bombardment of rebel-held eastern Aleppo, controlled by the al-Nusra front, which Washington lists as a terrorist organization, to accuse Russia of war crimes and prepare the ground for an escalation of the war. Since intervening on the side of the Syrian government last September, Moscow has sought to advance its own interests by propping up its ally Assad. Syria is the site of Russias sole naval base outside of the former Soviet Union.

According to UN figures, at least 320 civilians have been killed in Aleppo since the end of the ceasefire. Civilians have been targeted by both sides, although the Western media has generally buried reports of the shelling of government-controlled areas by Islamist rebels. Up to 270,000 civilians, including 100,000 children, are trapped in the city.

The crocodile tears shed by US and Western politicians over the fate of Aleppos inhabitants are a transparent fraud, aimed at concealing the fact that primary responsibility for the catastrophe in Syria, where more than half a million people have lost their lives and over 50 percent of the population have fled their homes, lies with the US and its allies. Washington deliberately fomented the civil war with the aim of removing Assad, installing a puppet government, and asserting its hegemony in the energy-rich Middle East against its main rivals, Russia and China.

The Western powers humanitarian pretenses were further exposed by a leaked UN report which placed chief responsibility for the disastrous conditions in Syria on the US and European Unions sanctions regime. The report, which was published in May but only released Sunday by the Intercept after it obtained a leaked copy, accuses Washington and Brussels of imposing since 2011 some of the most complicated and far-reaching sanctions regimes ever imposed.

US prohibition on money transfers has made it almost impossible for aid groups to pay salaries and buy supplies, leaving the way open for ISIS and the al-Nusra Front to open unofficial avenues for the transfer of financial assistance. A separate letter from a key UN official in August described the sanctions as a principal factor in the collapse of the healthcare system.

The Obama administration never had any intention of reaching a deal with Russia to curb the violence in Syria unless it fully capitulated to US demands for the installation of a pro-Western puppet regime.

Moscow has instead made increasingly clear that it is unwilling to back down in the face of US threats to encourage Islamist terrorists to direct their attacks against Russia. After Kirby menacingly declared last week that extremists could attack Russian interests and even Russian cities, an ominous pronouncement given Washingtons long-standing collaboration with Jihadi terrorists, Russia shot back that any US escalation in Syria would lead to total war and cause tectonic shifts throughout the Middle East.

Earlier on Monday, President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of the United States from an agreement regulating the disposal of plutonium from decommissioned nuclear weapons. Putin cited as reasons the radical change in the environment, a threat to strategic stability posed by the hostile actions of the US against Russia, and the inability of the US to deliver on the obligation to dispose of excessive weapons plutonium under international treaties.

On Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Washington had failed to separate US-backed moderate rebels from the al-Nusra Front, which was to have been a first step under the ceasefire deal to the establishment of a joint implementation center from which Moscow and Washington would coordinate attacks on terrorists.

We are becoming more convinced that in a pursuit of a much desired regime-change in Damascus, Washington is ready to make a deal with the devil, Russias Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday. For the sake of ousting Syrian President Assad, the US appears to be ready to forge an alliance with hardened terrorists.

In truth, such an alliance has long been cemented. In 2011, the Obama administration exploited similar humanitarian concerns as those now being whipped up over Syria to justify the bombardment and destruction of Libya so as to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. This was combined with support to Islamist extremist forces, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands and plunging the North African country into a brutal civil war. Many of these same Islamists were then relocated to Syria, supplied with arms funneled through the CIA, the Gulf states and Turkey, and encouraged to wage war on the Assad regime. It was out of this environment that ISIS emerged and began to gain ground.

The US political and military establishment is fully prepared to risk an all-out conflict with nuclear-armed Russia to secure its geo-strategic ambitions in the Middle East and beyond. Less than two weeks ago, General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that extending US control over Syrian air space would mean war with Syria and Russia. He emphasized that the US military had no intention in establishing any kind of intelligence-sharing arrangement with Russia.

Last week, in another calculated provocation, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter delivered remarks at a nuclear base in North Dakota threatening nuclear conflict with Russia.

The escalation of tensions with Russia has the support of Washingtons Western allies, including Britain and France. The suspension of talks coincided Monday with reports that Paris is circulating a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding that the Assad regime halt its bombardment of Aleppo and warning that those responsible for war crimes will be held accountable.

The text also refers to the need to immediately halt all military flights over Aleppo, which in effect restricts only Syrian and Russian planes and could serve as the initial step to a no-fly zone enforced by US and allied aircraft. Diplomats expect Russia will veto the resolution if it comes to a vote, a move that French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has vowed would result in Moscow being labeled as complicit in war crimes.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced last Thursday a further dramatic expansion of the Pentagons rebalance or pivot to the Asia Pacific that will only heighten the already tense military confrontation with China in the region. He insisted that the Asia Pacific was the single most consequential region for Americas future.

Speaking on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in San Diego, Carter outlined what he called the third phase of the US military build-up and the strengthening of a principled and inclusive security network in Asia. While claiming that Beijing was not excluded from the network, every aspect of the third phase is aimed at preparing for a war with China.

The importance that Carter attached to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to bind the United States more closely together with 11 other countries underlines the real purpose of the pivot: to maintain American dominance and subordinate China to the interests of the United States. The very terms of the TPP ensure that Beijing will be excluded unless it accepts the rules set by Washington.

The defence secretary made clear US economic hegemony had to be underpinned by military might. In outlining the third phase, he declared that the United States will continue to sharpen our military edge so we remain the most powerful military in the region and the security partner of choice.

Carter indicated that the first phase of the pivot announced in 2011 involved a quantitative boost of the US military and the restructuring of its basing arrangements. Tens of thousands of American military personnel were redirected to Asia, with a commitment to station 60 percent of overseas naval and air assets in the region. The restructuring of US bases in Japan, South Korea, Guam and Hawaii was begun and new basing arrangements reached with Australia.

The second phase involved sending the most advanced capabilities to the Asia Pacific, including F-22 and F-35 stealth fighter jets, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and the navys newest surface warfare vessels, as well as continuous deployments of strategic bombers. It also included a concerted effort to expand military ties throughout the region in an effort to encircle China with allies and strategic partners. Carter highlighted strengthened security relations with Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Vietnam and New Zealand in particular.

In order to maintain the military edge, Carter outlined extensive plans to qualitatively upgrade and invest in our regional force posture. He provided a list of hi-tech projects that will be funded, starting this year, including:

* Making Virginia-class nuclear submarines more lethal and more capable by trebling their cruise missile payload.

* Increased funding for multiple types of undersea drones, as part of more than $40 billion in allocations over the next five years to maintain the most lethal undersea and anti-submarine force in the world.

* Providing $12 billion over five years for the new B-21 Raider Long-Range Strike Bomber.

* Spending $56 billion over five years to buy more than 400 stealthy F-35 joint strike fighters.

* Investing nearly $16 billion over five years to upgrade the aerial tanker fleet.

* Re-purposing the SM-6 missile so that it can also strike enemy ships at sea at very long ranges.

* Investing in improving the range and accuracy for land attack and anti-ship missiles, as well as new torpedoes.

* Making large new investments, to the tune of $34 billion next year alone, in cyber, electronic and space warfare.

Every one of these new weapons and upgrades is geared to fighting a war with China, premised on the Pentagons AirSea Battle strategya massive missile and air assault on the Chinese mainland supplemented by a crippling naval blockade.

Moreover, as Carter indicated, there were also more surprisessome leap-ahead investmentsthat will keep our decades-old commitment to undergirding security in the Asia-Pacific, strong and unchallengeable.

The third phase features the intensification of the Asia-Pacifics growing principled and inclusive security network, which Carter declared was not a formal alliance, nor is it an effort to contain or isolate anyone. The use of the term principleddenoting shared interests and valuesis designed to exclude China, by cynically and hypocritically contrasting a network of supposed democracies with the autocratic regime in Beijing.

Carters speech was delivered just before attending a meeting of the defence ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), in order to draw these countries into the US-led security network. It is worth noting that the 10 ASEAN members are: the Thai military junta, Stalinist police-state regimes in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, virtual one-party states in Malaysia and Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei, the Philippines currently headed by the fascistic President Rodrigo Duterte, along with Indonesia and Myanmar, whose militaries continue to play a significant political role.

Carter nevertheless declared that the second informal dialogue with ASEAN defence ministers would reflect on our shared interests and principles and identify new ways to partner together to realise them. The real purpose of the gathering is to draw the ASEAN countries into an anti-China alliance and ramp up pressure on China over the South China Sea.

The meeting, which focussed on maritime security, came in the wake of the July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favour of a US-backed challenge by the Philippines to Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Washington is increasingly concerned that Philippine President Duterte is backing away from a confrontation with China over the issue and announced a loosening of military ties with the United States. In this context, Carters declaration that our alliance with the Philippines is iron clad is a thinly-veiled threat to Duterte not to move into Beijings camp.

Carter sought to impress the assembled defence ministers with a display of American military might with flyovers by F-22 Raptor fighters and a B-1B strategic bomber. Fridays events concluded with a dinner on board the battleship USS Missouri, followed on Saturday by a tour of the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon.

The defence secretary outlined new maritime security initiatives, including an ASEAN maritime dialogue and a maritime domain awareness exercise. The Pentagon is already providing $425 million over five years in a Maritime Security Initiative to provide hardware and boost collaboration with some ASEAN membersthe Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

There is nothing innocent or peaceful about the Pentagons determination to rapidly roll out the third phase of its rebalance to Asia. In the name of maintaining regional security, US imperialism is rapidly and recklessly preparing for a showdown with China, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - Ahead of the Hurricane Matthew, Attorney General Pam Bondi has reminded residents to watch out for deals that are too good to be true.

Bondi has activated the state's price gouging hotline following Governor Rick Scott's declaration of a state of emergency. During a declared state of emergency, businesses can not drastically increase prices on essential commodities like food, gas, water, and hotel rooms.

Bondi said that scam artists tend to prey on the good will of Floridians during times of disaster and recommended that people always check out charities or crowd sourcing websites before donating any money.

"So many good people in our country want to help, and want to give, and want to do the right thing. Sadly, there are scammers out there. They are going to take advantage of any crisis, when anyone is in a time of need," said Bondi.

She also said that officials in the Sunshine State will be on the look out for anyone attempting to profit from a state of emergency.

She said, "Scammers need to know, right now, that we are under a state of emergency in our entire state, and we are going to be looking out for our citizens."

Florida officials have also warned citizens to be aware of businesses asking for up-front payments to prepare their homes for a storm or make repairs afterward because these also may be scams.
COLQUITT COUNTY, GA (WTXL) - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said they are investigating after a high school teacher, who has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student, was found dead.

GBI said that Jefferson and Thomas County Sheriff's Offices questioned 43-year-old Jermaine Walker days before he was found dead in Colquitt County.

They said that Walker was a language teacher at Jefferson County High. Multiple agencies were questioning Walker about reports that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Police said that he denied the allegations.

The Friday Walker was found, Thomas county deputies got a warrant to search his home on Sweetwater Lakes Drive. A few hours after, someone called 911 saying that Walker was laying still next to his car on Glow Road.

Investigators said there was some evidence that his death was a suicide though they are still investigating and have not released an official cause of death.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

GBI said that they are continuing to investigate and have asked anyone with information about Walker to call the GBI Thomasville Office at (229) 225-4090 or the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office at (229) 616-7466.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - A suspect in the murder of Florida State Law professor Dan Markel has plead guilty to second degree murder.

Luis Rivera plead guilty to second degree murder while in court Tuesday, and was sentenced to 19 years in state prison for his role in the professor's death.

Rivera also agreed to testify in future hearings and has waived his right to trial and to appeal. He has to pay $2,600 in court hearings.

The state said that the gun used to kill Markel has not been recovered yet. Prosecutors also said there isn't enouch evidence at the moment to charge anyone in the Adelson family.

The 19 year sentence is concurrent with his ongoing federal sentence of 12 years, meaning Rivera will only serve seven more years as a result of the new sentencing.

Sigfredo Garcia is due in court Friday morning for a bond hearing. There has been no indication that he will enter a plea deal like Rivera.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - The Tallahassee Police Department welcomed a new class of police academy graduates on Monday.

At 10 a.m., the police academy graduates earned their badges and became police officers at their swearing in ceremony. The ceremony took place at the Florida Public Safety Institute Conference Center in Havana.

Mayor Andrew Gillum, Scott Maddox, Nancy Miller, and several other city officials were in attendance at the graduation.

The new arrivals have undergone written tests, mock police chases, been tasered and pepper sprayed, and done traffic stop drills prior to graduating.
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Slowing growth in the craft brewing industry has contributed to a greater stockpile of hops nationwide, including the Yakima Valley.
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Every Israeli child is familiar with this story from elementary school Torah lessons: Josephs brothers were jealous of Jacobs favorite younger child and decided to kill himbut the eldest brother, Reuben, finally convinced them to have mercy on Joseph and throw him into a pit instead. He was then sold into slavery, taken by Ishmaelites, and eventually reached Egypt.

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So every child knows the story, but not the place. According to the Book of Genesis, the incident occurred near the Biblical city of Dothan, a place which is now called Tel Dothan and is located deep within the Palestinian Authority, not far from Jenin.

Photo: Ido Erez

We dont know the location of the pit which Joseph was thrown into for certain, but we can guess. The archeological site knowns as Jubb Yussef (Josephs Well) can be still reached today, but its not easy to do sovisitors must coordinate their arrival with security forces, travel in an armored bus, and be escorted by soldiers.

Ynet accompanied a group of tourists to the possible location of the drama that shaped the Jewish peoples history.

A visit to Joseph's Well (:  , :  , :  )

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Dothan Valley offers an ancient view of antique agriculture. Flocks of sheep cross the roads as children lead donkeys carrying hay. Our bus, with a group of senior citizens travelling inside, follows the military vehicles and descends to a dusty dirt road towards the impressive man-made hill located in the heart of green tobacco fields.

Photo: Ido Erez

We stop at the foot of the hill. The seniors get off the bus and quickly follow the guide into a crumbling structure built over an old well. Malkiel Horowitz, the tour guide from the Midreshet Shomron college, points at a small hole in one of the walls, through which one can see what could possibly be that famous pit. A line has already formed behind the small hole. Everyone wants to see Josephs well.

Photo: Ido Erez

Energetic senior citizen Yona Gadasi of Kfar Saba, who peeked into the hole excitedly, is becoming convinced. I know there are a lot of pits here, she says. But well-informed people have likely checked it and decided that this is the pit, and I tend to believe them.

Miriam Nagar is even more resolved. I believe its here, she says. They wouldnt lie to us. Theyve checked it. They wouldnt just decide that its here. The pit itself looks very renovated, but according to the Bible and to researchers this is Josephs well!

The city of wells and pits

But not everyone sees it as an absolute and certain truth. Yair Elmakayes, director of the Samaria study center, pulls us away from the commotion and excitement inside the crumbling structure, and we walk towards one of the other pits in the area, located in the middle of a nearby tobacco field and hidden by a fig tree.

Photo: Ido Erez

He has no doubt about the identity of the Biblical city: We are at the foot of the city of Dothan, which has been identified for certain and its excavation reports were already published in 2005. Today there is no question about itthis is the Biblical Dothan. The meaning of the word dot in Hebrew or Aramaic is pit, and Dothan is the city of pits.

The reason for the multiple number of pits in the Dothan Valley area stems from the structure of the land. Unlike central Samaria, which has plenty of springs, here there are almost no natural springs, so the prehistoric people used to dig wells for collecting water. The pit we are standing above looks impressive and deep and looks like it was paved with white stone during the Ottoman era.

Photo: Ido Erez

Elmakayes knows many pits in the area and refuses to point at one of them as the Biblical Josephs well. We are told that young Joseph was sent by his father, Jacob, to look for his brothers. Joseph arrives at the Nablus area, and a person he meets in the field tells him that his shepherd brothers went in the direction of Dothan, so Joseph follows them to the city of Dothan, he explains. Here, in this area, the brothers put Joseph inside the pit, and this is where a group of Ishmaelites takes him south and sells him to the Egyptians.

The Biblical writers were familiar with the Land of Israels geography. Dothan is a city of wells and pits, and there is an ancient road descending from the Gilead region and connecting to the main road to ancient Egypt. It makes a lot of sense that they would take a slave from here to sell him in Egypt. The Arabs call the place Jubb Yussef. That is how the tradition about these pits was preserved.

Do you believe this is Josephs well?

I am one hundred percent sure that the impressive hill in front of us is the Biblical city of Dothan. Pointing at a certain place and saying that a Biblical event happened here 3,500 years ago is extremely problematic. But there is the connection of the city of Dothan with wells next to it. It wouldnt be unfounded to say that if the Biblical story did happen, it happened here. Pointing at a certain pit out of the hundreds of pits scattered here is slightly pretentious.

Yehuda Israel, director of the Samaria Regional Councils tourism department, is interested in making the site accessible to all Israeli citizens.

Our vision is to portray Samaria as a normal place, which people can tour and vacation in. The main challenge is security-related. Since the implementation of the Oslo Accords, we are in the middle of Area B. Unlike most parts of Samaria, where people can walk freely, here we require coordination and military security, as well as an armored bus. Because of this difficulty, it will take longer to realize this places tourist potential.
BAMAKO- Attacks targeting a camp in northern Mali operated by the United Nations peacekeeping mission on Monday killed one soldier from Chad and wounded eight others, UN officials said.

Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, said Monday that after a mortar attack on the camp in Aguelhok, in the northern Kidal region around 2:00pm two vehicles hit improvised explosive devices.

According to preliminary information, four different attacks targeted UN personnel at the camp in Aguelhok, according to a statement released by the secretary-general's spokesman. It said a peacekeeper from Chad was killed and eight others injured.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
AMMAN - A leading figure in al Qaeda who became a prominent member of its Syrian Nusra Front offshoot was killed in a drone attack on Monday, the group and jihadist sources said.

They said Sheikh Abu al Faraj al Masri, who spent years in prison in his native Egypt on charges of plotting with fundamentalist Islamist groups and later left for Afghanistan, died when the vehicle in which he was travelling was hit in rebel-held Idlib in Syria's northwest.

"May God accept him as a martyr who was killed in a Crusader raid," said a jihadist named Abu Mohammad al Shami.
INDIANAPOLIS- The Republican who replaced Mike Pence on the ballot for governor of Indiana broke with his political benefactor on Monday, stating that Syrian refuges should be allowed into the state despite Pence's insistence that they pose a security risk.

Remarks by Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, who was Pence's preferred successor, came the same day a federal appellate court in Chicago rebuked Pence for his unsuccessful efforts to stop the Archdiocese of Indianapolis from settling Syrian refugees.

"I would honor what the court said. I wouldn't go against the court ruling," Holcomb said during a press conference following a gubernatorial debate. "I would continue to allow the refugees to come in here and find safe haven."

He spoke one day before Pence, who is Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate, debates Democrat Hillary Clinton's vice presidential hopeful Tim Kaine. Trump and Pence have made restrictions on immigration and refugees a major plank of their campaign.
UNITED NATIONS  The UN Security Council began negotiations Monday on a draft resolution seeking an immediate truce in Aleppo and calling for an end to all military flights over the Syrian city, where over a quarter million people in rebel-held areas are besieged by Syrian forces.

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But Russia immediately rejected any grounding of aircraft and questioned whether a resolution at this time would actually produce any results.

The resolution drafted by France and Spain threatens "further measures"  diplomatic code for sanctions  should any party fail to comply with the truce, and it asks for a new UN-supervised truce monitor.

"We consider that this is our responsibility to do absolutely everything we can do, everything humanly possible to unite the Security Council behind our efforts to end the martyrdom in Aleppo," France's UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said before Monday's meeting.

Destruction in Syria (Photo: AFP)

Russia intervened on behalf of its close ally Syria on Sept. 30 last year, joining President Bashar Assad's bombardment of both anti-government rebel groups and militant groups such as ISIS and the Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaida spinoff formerly known as the Nusra Front.

With Russia's backing, Syrian forces have encircled the eastern half of Aleppo where continued attacks have repeatedly damaged medical facilities in violation of international law.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, whose country holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month, defended Russia's military actions in Syria in the wake of bombings of hospitals and an aid convoy, saying Russia never deliberately targeted civilians.

"Had it not been for our involvement in Syria it might well be that the black flags will be flying over Damascus  it could well be," Churkin said, referring to the flag of ISIS.

Churkin said his country had concerns about the French resolution's workability.

Rebel-held eastern Aleppo "has been taken hostage by Nusra and some others who are working with Nusra," he said. "The primary goal of Russia in that part of the world, in Syria and Iraq, is to throw out the terrorists. As long as the terrorists are there, there will be no peace and quiet for the civilians, in eastern Aleppo or anywhere else."

UN Security Council (Photo: AFP)

Churkin said Russia is "a little bit baffled" that France called for a new monitoring mechanism for the cease-fire when there is already one in Geneva "which has been there for a long time and frankly has not been used very effectively."

Russia, which is one of five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council, has blocked a number of resolutions on Syria.

Churkin told a news conference that France said it wants united council support and doesn't want to see a Russian veto.

"If they were sincere, we can have a resolution, I suppose, which would be more balanced," Churkin said, but he said he wasn't sure that many council members would like to see a resolution "that has no chance of working."

Human Rights Watch called on the Security Council to demand that Syria and Russia immediately halt attacks in eastern Aleppo and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the several hundred thousand people trapped there.

"The Security Council should immediately adopt a resolution demanding an end to the slaughter. And Russia, itself involved in the bombing, should refrain from using its veto or risk further sullying its record as a permanent member of the council," Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
It's only been around for five years, and still doesn't have a name or insignia. They are the combat soldiers of the elite intelligence unit 8200. Although 8200 is more known for its glasses wearing computer geniuses, this section of the unit helps to gather field intelligence for the most elite combat units in the IDF  including Sayeret Matkal and the Israeli Navy's Shayetet 13.

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The soldiers of the unit primarily collect signals intelligence, or SIGINT. They are level 5 riflemen, but still undergo special forces style training.

Following them close until they're assassinated

Between the anti-tank ditches on the Golan heights over the course of several nights, the units fighters, cloaked in camouflage gear and under the cover of darkness, deployed their hi tech intelligence gathering devices at a Syrian town several miles away.

Artillery fire can be heard coming from the town, past the local mosque. You can hear the artillery firing, and then the thunderous boom as the shell lands a short while later. A mushroom cloud of smoke rises on the horizon from the impact point. Amongst the houses in the village which just got attacked, people are not only planning their counter attacks in Syria, but are preparing to attack Israel as well.

Soldier in the 8200 combat battalion on the border with Syria (Photo: Aviyahu Shapira)

"There are some operations which last a few hours, and some operations which last a few days," said Lt. Col. Y., the head of the unit and a former Shaldag commando. "There were even times when we were out in the field for several months."

Y. shared just a little bit about the operations of his unit, and only ventured a sly smile when asked about the giant, camouflaged device pointed towards the east. Using thick cables he connected to the tough, thin computers which the soldiers were holding, while the soliders continuously typed on their keyboards.

8200 combat soldiers operation during a drill (Photo: Aviyahu Shapira)

"We call these 'SIGINT' sensors," Y. said. "The soldiers carry 50 percent of their bodyweight on them, like in the rest of the IDF. The enemy, including our main enemy Hezbollah  have people who do (what we do). They are our biggest challenge. There's a reason that soldiers who go out to guard the border don't take their cell phones with them."

Working directly under the IDF Chief of Staff

The soldiers leave from basic training at the IDF field intelligence base in the Arava desert as level 5 riflemen. After two more months of basic training within 8200, they are split up into different battalions; one which collects SIGINT during wartime, one which collects and decodes captured enemy materials, and those who are used as liaisons between the forward 8200 bases and the ground forces during wartime.

There are also "arabists" within the unit who are experts at reading and understanding the Arabic written and spoken on the various borders. Dozens of computers were captured from Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War. During Operation Protective Edge, the fighters joined ground forces inside of Gaza, and were able to feed the ground forces intelligence about various terror cells laying in ambush in real time.

Across the border into Syria (Photo: Aviyahu Shapira)

"The soldiers can be deployed on a mission to help one of the battalions stationed on the Golan Heights right now, and in two days, be deployed on another mission under the direct order of the IDF Chief of Staff," added Lt. Col. Y.

A Unit, not a Battalion

There is no lack of motivation in this unit with no name, but currently known as ''Gadsam"  the operational SIGINT Battalion. But the officers and soldiers don't view themselves as a battalion, and not only because it's "uncomfortable" for them. They work in small, elite teams, with each team and unit connected to a different IDF force or battalion. The number of soldiers  including reservists  is also much smaller than a normal sized battalion.

The unit doesn't pull people through a tryout process  instead, it finds the soldiers who dropped from other special forces tryouts, and who have high IDF psychological and physical evaluation scores.

Yet everything  from the vehicles they use to the combat boots on their feet, to the day to day interactions they have with the likes of ISIS, Hezbollah, and Hamas provides new meaning to the intelligence battle the IDF wages against its enemies.
As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel's government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates, despite irking mainstream Israel and endangering its long-term economic prospects.

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He insists that shirking compulsory military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah.

"To sit and learn is a mitzvah," or commandment from God, he told The Associated Press. "It is the most important thing."

But the parochial establishment he represents is increasingly being challenged by a new generation of ultra-Orthodox Jews who are demanding academic degrees, satisfying professions, a bigger role for women and greater immersion in Israeli society.

Ultra-Orthodox man prays (Photo: Gettyimages)

"We are looking into the future, what will become of the next generation," said Avigayil Karlinsky, a 28-year-old social activist. "I am part of the larger Israel and I want my voice to be heard."

She said the ultra-Orthodox leadership's aversion to progress and integration is mostly about maintaining political power rather than serving their constituents. Until recently, such open criticism was unheard of, but it is gaining traction as people like Karlinsky try to change their world from within.

Experts have long warned that the ultra-Orthodox community's high birthrate and poverty levels, along with low rates of employment and education, could doom Israel's economic prospects.

Many ultra-Orthodox acknowledge this, but they reject any outside effort to enforce changes and insist the process has to happen at its own pace.

Critics inside and outside the community say a more comprehensive reform is needed, including greater emphasis on teaching children math, English and computer literacy. There also are growing calls for outreach to Israel's secular majority.

The ultra-Orthodox, or "haredim" -- Hebrew for "those who fear God" -- are the fastest growing sector in Israel.

They currently make up about 11 percent of Israel's 8.5 million citizens, with the majority living beneath the poverty line, according to a recent study by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent think tank. With a growth rate four times that of the general Jewish population, their numbers are expected to rise to 14 percent in 2024, 19 percent in 2039 and 27 percent in 2059, the think tank predicted.

Gilad Malach, a researcher who specializes in the community, said reform was already underway. He said a majority of haredi men now work, compared to just a third in 2003. Women continue to be the primary breadwinners, and their employment rates of close to 75 percent are comparable to the general public, he said.

Ultra-Orthodox praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem (Photo: Gettyimages)

The number of ultra-Orthodox joining the military and pursuing degrees has also quietly grown, but "modern" ultra-Orthodox like Karlinsky still only make up about 10 percent of the community, he said. He says the leadership hopes it stays that way.

"Their approach is 'nothing has changed,'" said Malach. "But regular people are more sophisticated than that. Every mainstream haredi knows they have to make adjustments."

The state offers specialized training programs, study grants and other incentives to ultra-Orthodox, but they have to be handled with care so as not to come off as patronizing. While leading rabbis and their representatives in parliament have given their blessing to some projects, they have offered none of their own.

"There is no vision. That's the real problem," said Malach. "They don't have any plans and it would be best if the push came from them."

Litzman, who has gained popularity with the general public as health minister by campaigning against junk food and advocating for medical marijuana, has defied calls to change his community.

He points to low crime rates as evidence of their superior values and insists that intensive Jewish studies at an early age instill lifelong learning skills that allow ultra-Orthodox to easily pick up professions later in life.

"There are always new ways and new things which we have to get used to and see if we can live with it, but there is no change in halacha," or Jewish law, he said. "Until the Messiah will come, it will stay like that."

Karlinsky said she too is guided by her religious beliefs, but takes issue with what she considers a hypocritical approach of a leadership that clings to tradition to maintain control and reinforce a false sense of victimhood.

Her husband was a star seminary student in Jerusalem until he decided it wasn't for him. He turned to computer programming and now works among secular colleagues at Google in Tel Aviv.

Ultra-Orthodox protest getting drafted into the IDF (Photo: Daniel Elior)

She established "the Torah Hub," a Facebook support group for like-minded ultra-Orthodox, and another for victims of sexual abuse in the community - another previously taboo topic. She plans to send her two young children to ultra-Orthodox schools but also make sure they learn English so they have more options later in life.

"I'm not afraid of change," she said, dismissing long-held fears that immersion would lead to assimilation. "Perhaps those who are so afraid of being tempted by secularism don't have strong enough faith to begin with."

In Elad, a central Israeli city of 50,000 mostly haredi residents, the ultra-Orthodox are seeking a happy medium. It boasts the highest rates of employment, salaries and high school matriculation of all haredi communities in Israel. It also prides itself in having clean streets, close ties to neighboring secular and Arab towns, and ample public services like libraries, theaters and community centers.

Mayor Yisrael Porush, a 35-year-old father of six and scion of a prominent ultra-Orthodox family, said his main objective was to develop the city and provide opportunities for residents.

"I'm opening the door for them and it doesn't come at the expense of study," he said. "The world is moving forward and everyone wants to feel equal."

He deferred larger questions about ultra-Orthodox society to the rulings of the great rabbis, but clearly reveled in the companies and colleges that had opened branches in his city and accommodated ultra-Orthodox needs, such as separate working spaces for men and women, and flexible hours for working mothers. He said such an approach would be much more effective than open confrontation.

"Everyone understands that you have to provide for your family," he said. "But if you come at us with a gun, or with a whip, or threats, we have a problem."
JAKARTA - Indonesia's air force is holding its largest military exercise this week, near some of its islands in the South China Sea, in a show of sovereignty over the gas-rich area on the fringe of territory claimed by China, officials said on Tuesday.

President Joko Widodo in June launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defence facilities around the Natuna island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats.

China, while not disputing Indonesia's clams to the Natuna islands, has raised Indonesian anger by saying the two countries had "over-lapping claims" to waters near them, an area Indonesia calls the Natuna Sea.
Munich- Slipping on a virtual reality headset, the indelible images come into view: the steel rails, the imposing brick gatehouse, the rows of identical barracks, the gas chambers, the crematoria.

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Thanks to the work of the Bavarian state crime office (LKA) in Munich, German prosecutors and police investigating the last living Nazi war criminals can now immerse themselves in a highly precise 3D model of Auschwitz.

The VR death camp offers 21st-century fact-finding technology for the final Holocaust trials, in a twilight bid by the German justice system to address the atrocities committed seven decades ago.

Auschwitz virtual reality (Photo: AFP)

"It has often been the case that suspects say they worked at Auschwitz but didn't really know what was going on," Jens Rommel, head of the federal office investigating Nazi war crimes, told AFP.

"Legally, the question is about intent: must a suspect have known that people were being taken to the gas chambers or shot? This model is a very good and very modern tool for the investigation because it can help answer that question."

Created by LKA digital imaging expert Ralf Breker, the VR model brings to life in astonishing detail the notorious Nazi-run camp in occupied Poland where more than 1.1 million people died during World War II.

Virtual Auschwitz (Photo: AFP)

"To my knowledge, there is no more exact model of Auschwitz," Breker, 43, said in an interview at his workshop.

"It is much, much more precise than Google Earth," he said, citing the popular map programme. "We use the most modern VR goggles on the market. When I zoom in, I can see the smallest detail."

Visitor from the future

Wearing the headset, prosecutors, judges and co-plaintiffs can have the chilling experience of moving about 1940s-era Auschwitz at will.

An eerie stillness pervades the scene as a seemingly endless stream of identical avatar prisoners march past the virtual visitor from the future. Even the trees stand where they once were, to determine whether they could have blocked the view from a certain vantage point.

"The advantage the model offers is that I get a better overview of the camp and can recreate the perspective of a suspect, for example in a watchtower," Breker said.

The case that gave rise to the project was that of Johann Breyer, a Czech-born retired machinist accused of complicity in the killing of 216,000 Hungarian Jews at Auschwitz.

Prosecutors in the Bavarian town of Weiden put together the case with the help of an early version of the 3D model.

But the 89-year-old American died in June 2014, just hours before a US court approved his extradition to stand trial.

Virtual Auschwitz (Photo: AFP)

This year, a more advanced model was used in the case of former SS guard Reinhold Hanning, who was convicted in June of complicity in 170,000 murders at Auschwitz and sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

Rommel, 44, said his team is investigating a few dozen suspects, of whom he estimates a "double-digit number" are still alive and could potentially face court.

'So many shocking details'

To make his computer-generated recreation of hell on earth, Breker used materials from the Warsaw surveyor's office and more than a thousand period photographs to create orthophotos, the uniform-scale base maps onto which buildings can be overlaid.

Then he travelled to Auschwitz twice in 2013 to fill in the gaps.

He and a colleague used a terrestrial laser scanner to create 3D images of the structures that were left standing after the Germans destroyed much of the camp while retreating from the advancing Soviet army.

The buildings that were ripped down or blown up in 1945 had to be reconstructed virtually with the help of the vast Auschwitz archives.

"The Germans were very precise -- we were able to rebuild every single structure because we had blueprints for each one," Breker said.

The ruddy-cheeked career investigator turned pale as he recounted what he learned there.

"Our team only investigates murders and we're usually the first at a crime scene so there's a lot we see that is very unpleasant," said Breker, a seven-year veteran of the force.

"But when I got back to the hotel room each night after being at Auschwitz, I was shattered."

"We spent each day with the head of the archive and he provided us with so many shocking details."

'No words for it'

Breker recounted the story of the campaign between May and July 1944 when some 438,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The sheer volume of people gassed and cremated every day created such intense heat that it cracked the chimneys, leading the SS to burn bodies on pyres outside the crematoria.

"The SS men then actually built drains for the fat to collect from the bodies, which could be used to fuel the fire for the next round of corpses," Breker said.

Virtual Auschwitz (Photo: AFP)

"There are truly no words for it," he whispered. "Unbelievable."

The LKA said that once the last criminal probes are closed, it would in theory be willing to lend its model to Holocaust memorial sites such as Yad Vashem or Auschwitz itself, giving visitors a visceral experience of the camp.

"Of course we'd have to be extremely careful no one stole it - the nightmare would be abuse of the data," such as the creation of a computer game, Breker said.

He said VR technology was set to become a staple in criminal investigations around the world.

"In two or three years, you'll be able to enter the scene of every serious crime virtually," he said.

The LKA has already started using VR as part of an investigation it reopened two years ago into a far-right attack in 1980 at Munich's Oktoberfest beer festival which killed 13 people.
AMMAN- Jordan on Monday defended its deal to buy Israeli natural gas that has stirred public opposition, insisting the accord would not leave the Arab country reliant on the Jewish state.

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Information Minister Mohamed Momani, who is also government spokesman, told Jordanian television that the deal would cut US$600 million a year from the state's energy bill.

"We will not be dependent on Israel," he said.

Jordanian cartoon criticizing gas deal

Momani said the government was seeking to diversify its sources of gas supplies.

It was "too simplistic to say that sealing such a deal means the kingdom is supporting Israeli occupation," he said, referring to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Hundreds of Jordanians took part in a demonstration Friday in the center of Amman to protest against "the importation of gas from the Zionist enemy."

A social-media campaign called that citizens turn off their lights from 9 to 10pm to protest the controversial deal on Monday. Many uploaded pictures of themselves lit by candles to show their participation with a hashtag meaning "The enemy's gas is an occupation."

This protest shows that Jordanians would rather sit in the dark than recieve gas from Israel

The protest was called by trade unions and political parties opposed to the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, half the population of which is of Palestinian origin.

The opposition Islamic Action Front, political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, on Monday kept up its condemnation of the deal, charging the gas was "stolen from Palestinian waters."

A US-led consortium leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves announced the deal to sell natural gas from its Leviathan field to Jordan.

US firm Noble Energy, the lead partner, said the contract with the National Electric Power Company of Jordan (NEPCO) was for 300 million cubic feet (8.5 million cubic metres) per day over a 15-year term.
BUCHAREST- Romanian border police are investigating 16 Iraqi citizens, including six children, they found in two boats on the River Danube for illegally crossing the Romanian border.

Border police said they spotted the group of eight men, two women and six children, early Tuesday in southern Romania close to the shore. The Danube forms the border between Romania and Bulgaria.

The migrants told police they had traveled through Turkey and then into Bulgaria and wanted to reach Germany. They said each family had paid 35,000 euros ($39,000).
ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopian police have arrested a blogger who criticized the government, especially its handling of the ongoing protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

Government officials confirmed that Seyoum Teshome, an outspoken university lecturer who was frequently quoted by international media about the anti- government protests in Ethiopia, was detained on October 1 at his house in Wolisso town in the restive Oromia region.

Ethiopia's government spokesman, Getachew Reda, told the AP on Tuesday morning that he knew of Seyoum's arrest and is investigating the reasons why.
Israel border police detained 37 West Bank Palestinians in a field next to Dror Interchange in the Sharon region of central Israel on Tuesday.

They were identified due to a shack they had erected using stolen property. They are believed to have been living there for a long period of time.
Dozens of families celebrated their Rosh Hashanah in the delivery room of hospitals throughout the country on Monday, as the first babies of the New Year were born in Israel.

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The first baby born in Israel in 5777 to Shai and Amnon Rafaeli from Petah Tikva who gave birth at 7:15pm at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. Their new born baby daughter weighed 8.8 lbs.

"We are honored to have given birth to our daughter on Rosh Hashanah. Its the first of many changes for the year," the couple said.

The first baby of the year was born to Shai and Amnon Rafaeli

"(Monday) evening we changed  we turned into a family. The experience of giving birth on the eve of a holiday, at a time when every family in Israel is sitting together, makes us feel like we are also a part of a huge a wonderful family  the family of the nation of Israel."



At Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat, Ma'ayan and Yaniv Tal Or from Karmiel gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing seven pounds at 8:07pm. The happy couple had two daughters waiting for them back at the family holiday dinner.

Ma'ayan and Yaniv Tal Or's baby boy (Photo: Ziv Medical Center Spokesperson)

The couple still haven't decided on a name, but know it will be a festive name which characterizes the day on which he was born.

Adi and Tal ben Simon with the newest edition to their family

About an hour later, Adi and Tal ben Simon gave birth to a baby girl at Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, weighing 8.25 pounds.

"Its the beginning of a new year with a new girl who has joined our family. It will definitely be a good year for us  without a doubt."

Jenny and Eyal Barbelak with their bundle of joy

Finally, at the Hillel Yafeh Hospital in Hadera, a boy was born to Jenny and Eyal Barbelak, both form Hadera at 7.4 pounds. Eyal is the head of the spinal unit in the orthopedic wing of the hospital. The parents still haven't decided on a name for their new child.

"Our baby was born on the exact date he was due  neither a day late nor early. We didn't pay attention that the due date was going to fall on Rosh Hashanah when the doctors told us nine months ago," they said.
TEHRAN- The head of Iran's space agency said Tuesday his country is interested in cooperating with NASA.

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Speaking to reporters at the start of World Space Week, Mohsen Bahrami said that "many in the world look at NASA's programs. We are interested in having cooperation, naturally. When you are in orbit, there is no country and race."

It was the first time Iran had expressed such interest since signing last summer's landmark nuclear deal with world powers.

Iranian missiles

Bahrami said, however, that cooperation will only be possible with the agreement of leaders of both countries. He emphasized that Iran has a peaceful and powerful civil space program. "We have capabilities and we are part of an international scene," he said.

Iran has begun negotiations on technical cooperation with the space agencies of various countries in Europe, as well as Russia, China and Japan, Bahrami said. He did not elaborate.

Iran has long harbored ambitions to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation, improve telecommunications and expand military surveillance. The US and its allies worry that the same technology could also be used to develop long-range missiles. Iran has denied that it is using its space program to develop new weapons, and has said it is willing to share its scientific findings and satellite data with other countries.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent dummy satellites to orbit. Bahrami said the country plans to send three domestically-made mini satellites into a low Earth orbit by early 2018.

In 2013, Iran sent a monkey into space and set up its first space tracking center to monitor objects passing in orbit overhead.
WARSAW - Poland's conservative ruling party leader says the government will not back Donald Tusk, a former prime minister, for a second term as European Council head.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski said in comments published on the "Polska The Times" website Tuesday that Tusk might face charges in Poland and the European Union should be warned. He said that would not bar Tusk from winning a second term in an EU vote next year.

In Poland, a special aviation commission and prosecutors have opened new investigations into the 2010 death of President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others in a plane crash in Russia. Polish and Russian commissions have blamed the crash on human error in bad visibility conditions.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the late president's twin brother, says Tusk is primarily responsible for the crash.
Many Israelis spent the second day of Rosh Hashanah at the country's various nature sites, with the Nature and Parks Authority (NPA) reporting that some 100,000 citizens visited nature reserves and national parks on Tuesday.

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Pelicans (:  ,  )

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Particularly popular were the national parks in Caesarea, Ashkelon, Tel Aviv's Yarkon River and Beit Guvrin, where the NPA organized kite-flying activities for families. Some 2,000 persons took part.

Kite with former President Shimon Peres's face in Kfar Aza

(Photo: Barel Efraim)

"The weather is great, and the wind is excellent for kites," said Tomer Saragosti, the administrator of the Beit Guvrin National Park. Linoy and Noa, two ten-year-old girls, came from Yahud. "It's really fun. We're flying medium and small kites. It's windy, and we put on sunscreen."

Many Israelis also visited the Sea of Galilee for their day offnearly 50,000 Israeli travelled to the area with 16,000 visiting its 15 beaches. One, Zinabberay Beach completely filled and was closed at times to new visitors.



(Photo: Barel Efraim)

Visitors with bags to collect rubbish (Photo: Kineret Authority)

However, the abundance of humans didn't necessarily equate to an abundance of littering, as is the norm in Israeli holidaymakingthe Kineret Authority ran a promotion wherein visitors who collected three bags of detritus from the beach would have their parking comped.





Caesarea National Park (Photo: Ido Erez)

Tal Nachshon from the Kineret Authority's public relations, which were at beaches throughout Rosh Hashanah, explained that their presence was to encourage vacationers to collect their own rubbish, distributing bags for that purpose and explaining the free-parking arrangement.





(Photo: Ido Erez)

Shlulit Muncipal Park in Netanya

Inspectors from the authority were also on hand to enforce the prohibition on unloading watercraft at certain locations and fining violators.

Other popular vacation spots were nature reserves and national parks in the north of the country.
US officials told Fox News on Tuesday evening that President Vladimir Putin has deployed SA-23 surface to air missiles in Syria. In addition, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement, saying that it has deployed an S-300 missile system to Syria. All this comes as Putin declared that he is freezing the plutonium agreement between the US and Russia, a move allegedly caused by the US freezing talks with the Russians on Syria, along with other "unfriendly actions."

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The US officials claimed that these missile systems were put in place to ward off attacks by the US or its coalition members. The missile system, which can shoot anything down within a 150-mile radius, was set up at the Russian military base in Tartus, Syria. The missiles and their components are still in their crates and are not yet operational.

White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest discussing the freezing of talks between the US and Russia on the Syrian crisis (: )

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The US officials claimed that this is the first time SA-23 missiles are being deployed outside of Russia. The Russians sent the S-400 to Syria after one of their planes was shot down by Turkey.

The SA-23 can fire two different types of missiles. A smaller missile is used against aircraft and cruise missiles and is known by NATO as Gladiator. The larger missile is used against intermediate-range ballistic missiles and jamming aircraft and is known as Giant. Both missiles use the same type of warhead containing over 300 pounds of explosives, according to military-today.com.

Russian SA23 anti-missile defense system (Photo: Shutterstock)

While the purpose is not clear, one US official asked sarcastically, Nusra doesnt have an air force, do they? speaking about the al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria. ISIS also does not fly any manned aircraft or possess cruise missiles. Therefore, the American officials see the deployment of the SA-23 to Syria as a sign that Russia is directing its actions to protect itself against any potential attack from the United States or its allies.

Russian actions reportedly reflect from a joint statement by officials in both London and Washington that the two countries are weighing "non-diplomatic ways and means" to stop the Russians and Syrians from bombing the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, which have not only become a rebel stronghold but are also home to approximately 350,000 Syrian civilians.

Russian S-400 anti-missile defense system, positioned for a year now in Syria (Photo: Shutterstock)

It is possible that the above statement was referring to military actions that seek to attain several goals, first among them being to neutralize and diminish the Syrian Air Force's battle readinessprimarily their helicopters, which continuously drop unguided barrel bombs on the civilian population.

Another likely goal is to stop Russian deliveries of bunker-busting missiles to the Aleppo areamissiles that have already killed dozens of civilians hiding in bomb shelters in the Aleppo area. This could be done by the US shooting ballistic missiles at Russian and Syrian air force bases or shooting Russian and Syrian aircraft themselves. By carrying out such an attack, the US would not be forced to get involved in direct fighting either on the ground or in the air.

Russia deploys the S-400 anti aircraft system

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The US could also use non-nuclear ballistic missiles for this purpose, or use cruise missiles that are already deployed on ships in the Sixth Fleet, which patrols the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Russian air defense missiles are designed to defend against cruise missiles similar to what the US has in its arsenal.

The difference, however, between the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system that Russia deployed after one of their jets was shot down by Turkey last year and their SA-23 missiles, is that the SA-23 are designed for defense against low flying planes and missiles, as opposed to high flying ballistic missiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and US President Barack Obama attempt to shake hands at the UN Assembly (Photo: EPA)

The presence of these two types of missiles on Syrian soil diminishes the deterrence factor against Syria and Hezbollah, and in a roundabout way Iran. All of this at a time when no one knows if the Americans will begin ground operations in Syria.

The issue Israel has with these Russian air defense missiles in Syria is that Israeli planes flying in Israeli airspace or over the sea that are "returning fire" on targets in Syria or Lebanon may be shot down. The Russians may also choose to use these missiles against Israeli warplanes carrying out other operations in the region.

In an effort to move toward de-escalation, the UN Security Council discussed on Monday an immediate ceasefire proposal in Aleppo. Russia, for its part, declared that it had no intention to support the grounding of fighter jets.

Referring to moral accusations lobbied against his country, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin additionally refuted claims that Russia was responsible for bombing hospitals and aid convoys, saying that Russia never intentionally strikes civilian targets, and that if it was not for Russias involvement in Syria, the ISIS flag would already have been raised in Damascus.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - A Turkish soldier was killed and two others wounded in a rocket attack on a military base on Tuesday in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, security sources said.

The military launched an operation and scrambled F16 fighter jets after militants fired rockets at a gendarmes outpost near the town of Lice in Diyarbakir province, they said.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility. The armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has repeatedly targeted security forces since it abandoned a two-year ceasefire in July 2015.
The Palestinian government decided on Tuesday to delay the first municipal elections in a decade, originally scheduled for October 8, by several months. This announcement comes a day after the Palestinian High Judicial Council ruled that elections could only take place in the West Bank and not in Gaza.

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Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah addressed journalists on Tuesday immediately after the weekly cabinet meeting, held exceptionally in Hebron this week. He said, "The Palestinian government decided, in coordination with President Mahmoud Abbas, to hold the municipal elections within four months to guarantee the necessary legally circumstances."

NIckolay Mladenov, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, welcomed the delay, commenting that the delay should serve the Palestinians "to work together in good faith to overcome divisions" so that the elections can take place both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AFP)

However, the governmental announcement left the impression that Gaza would remain outside the vote. According to an official from the electoral commission, the entire process could be restarted from zero in four months, meaning that the electoral lists may have to reassembled.

Hamas immediately rejected the government's decision and said that it was "opposed to any postponement of elections," after having denounced the Palestinian high court's Monday ruling as a "political decision."

The international community incessantly pressures the Palestinians to reconcile between Fatah and Hamas, because their inability to present a common front is a major obstacle to continuing the peace process with the Israelis.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri gave a press conference in which he accused this delay of showing that the government "wants to evade the election results, all in the sole partisan interests of Fatah."

Gazan political scientist Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a Gazan political scientist, told AFP, "If we don't reach a consensus between Fatah and Hamas, the most likely scenario is the cancellation of the elections."
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israeli plans to build a new settlement and establish an industrial zone in the West Bank.

Spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday that Ban was particularly concerned that "the establishment of a new settlement near Shiloh will make the prospect of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state more remote."

Settlement monitoring group Peace Now said Saturday that the Israeli government approved plans to build 98 housing units as well as the creation of a new industrial zone west of Ramallah.

"The Secretary-General urges Israel to halt and reverse such counterproductive decisions in the interests of peace and a just final status agreement," Haq said.
Democratic Republic of Congo authorities have delayed elections to make sure the country is better prepared for them, President Joseph Kabila said on Tuesday, answering accusations that the government is dragging its feet to help him to cling onto power.

Congo's electoral commission said on Saturday it expected polls to be delayed until December 2018. "We have decided to delay the elections to avoid locking out a huge number of people - most of them young voters," Kabila told reporters in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar Es Salaam. "As many as 10 million unregistered voters could miss out on the chance to vote if we proceed with the elections."

Congo has not had a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. Protests over Kabila's perceived attempts to extend his 15 years in power have led to clashes with security forces several times in the past year.
A team of Israeli researchers reportedly discovered a unique evolutionary signature in genes associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that could lead to a better understanding of the genetic nature of the syndrome. That, in turn, could lead to a range of targeted therapies for the syndrome.

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the discovery could aid in better understanding the biological mechanisms involved in autism development, said Dr. Idan Menashe, the lead researcher and co-author of The Unique Evolutionary Signature of Genes Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (published in the medical journal Behavior Genetics). Menashe said the discovery would allow scientists to focus on a specific biological target when developing future therapies for autism.

Isolating the genes relevant to autism (Photo: Shutterstock)

In a study conducted with Mr. Erez Tsur and Prof. Michael Friger of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, the researchers found that 651 gene sequences taken from autistic individuals held common characteristics of autism-associated genes in contrast to other disease-related genomes. The finding could provide an important opening toward understanding the genetic basis of the syndrome.

Dr. Idan Menashe

The results of this research will help us target more genes when we test for ASD and consequently expand the spectrum of identified cases, said Menashe.

According to their research, the genes in question are longer than both healthy genes and genes that are afflicted with other types of abnormalities. In addition, the genes are less susceptible to the evolutionary process of negative selection: ASD are 20% less likely to mutate in expected ways over the course of multiple generations compared to other samples of genes.

Some cases of autism are due to de-novo mutations, which are mutations that were developed after fertilization, in the developing fetus, explained Menashe, adding that Some inherited mutations only cause autism when they are associated with other genetic or non-genetic risk factors. Therefore, if the mutations occur in the DNA without any other risk factor, they will not lead to autism and will possibly be passed on to future generations, he stated.

Currently, ASD is diagnosed according to specific behavioral criteria that are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). The main characteristics shared by all children with autism are deficits in social communication and restricted repetitive movements or behaviors.

The Genetic Chip is a genetic examination to test few cases of autism already exist. However, although genetics plays a significant role in the diseases development, there are strong indications that in some cases of autism, other, non-genetic factors also contribute to the disorder.

Article written by Ilana Messika
Three British-born scientists, won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for revealing unusual states of matter, leading to advances in electronics that could aid researchers trying to develop quantum computers.

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David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz (born too German Jewish parents), who all work at US universities, share the prize for their discoveries on abrupt changes in the properties, or phases, of ultra-thin materials.





Michael Kosterlitz from Brown University (Photo: Reuters)

Their research centres on topology, a branch of mathematics involving step-wise changes like making a series of holes in an object. The difficult-to-grasp concept was illustrated by Nobel Committee member Thors Hans Hansson at a news conference using a cinnamon bun, a bagel and a Swedish style of pretzel with two holes.

Duncan Holdane of (Photo: Reuters)

"If you are a topolgist, it's only one thing that is really interesting with these things," Hansson said. "The bagel has one hole, the pretzel has two holes ... you cannot have half a hole, or 2-2/3 holes."

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery involved certain materials that go through step changes that affect their electrical properties. The changes are akin to the holes in baked goods, which can have no intermediate steps between one hole or two holes.

David James Thouless of University of washington (Photo: AP)

One example is a superconductor, which at low temperatures conducts electricity without resistance.

"Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($937,000) prize.

"Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics."

Thouless, of the University of Washington in Seattle, was awarded half the prize, with the other half divided between Haldane, of Princeton University, and Kosterlitz, of Brown University.

"We really haven't understood ... the full amount of marvellous things that quantum mechanics can do," Haldane said in an interview at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. "It does things which we never dreamed of and could actually be tremendously useful for all kinds of new technologies."

'Long overdue'

Kosterlitz's colleague at Brown, Professor See Chen Ying, said he considered the award long overdue.

"You never know, because there are exciting discoveries everywhere, so every year we start thinking is this the year," Ying said in an interview on Brown's campus in Providence, Rhode Island. "Personally, I think it's long overdue."

Andy Schofield, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Birmingham, where Kosterlitz and Thouless carried out their early work in the 1970s, said the new understanding of phase states was particularly promising in computing.

"One of the most exciting technological implications is in insulators that don't carry electricity normally but can be forced to carry electrical current at the surface," he told Reuters. "That's a very robust state, which gives a stability that is essential to quantum computing."

Superfast quantum computers, considered one of the holy grails of science, should be able to test multiple solutions to a problem at once and could in theory solve in seconds problems that take today's fastest machines years to crack.

Traditional computers use binary bits of information to store data while quantum computers use "qubits" that can simultaneously be 0 and 1, making them ultra-fast but unstable.

Physics is the second of this year's crop of Nobels and comes after Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the prize for medicine on Monday.

There had been speculation this year's prize might be awarded for the first detection of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time first predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein. The breakthrough, announced by international researchers in February, may have come too late for the Nobel Committee.

The three researchers join the ranks of some of the greatest names in science, including Einstein, Niels Bohr and Marie Curie.

The prizes were first awarded in 1901 to honour achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with the will of the Swedish dynamite inventor and business tycoon Alfred Nobel, who left much of his wealth to establish the award.
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Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - On October 7th, officers from the Yuma Police Department and community members will come together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships, and drink coffee.

The event is being held between 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Friday October 7th at Brownies Cafe 1145 S. 4th Avenue. All Community members are invited to attend.

Coffee with a Cop provides a unique opportunity for community members to ask questions and learn more about the departments work in the City of Yuma neighborhoods.

The majority of contacts law enforcement has with the public happen during emergencies, or emotional situations. Those situations are not always the most effective times for relationship building with the community and some community members may feel that officers are unapproachable on the street. Coffee with a Cop breaks down barriers and allows for a relaxed, one-on-one interaction.

We hope that community members will feel comfortable to ask questions, bring concerns, or simply get to know our officers, said Yuma Police Dept. Sgt. Egan. These interactions are the foundation of community partnerships.

Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by The United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Similar events are being held across the country, as local police departments strive to make lasting connections with the communities they serve.

The program aims to advance the practice of community policing through improving relationships between police officers and community members one cup of coffee at a time.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma Police Department is continuing our efforts to raise money for the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) for Special Olympics by kicking off another Tip-A-Cop event. The event will be held at Texas Roadhouse, 594 E. 16th Street, on Thursday October 6, 2016 from 3:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

The Special Olympics is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities. LETR helps bring awareness to Special Olympics and obtain donations for the athletes. The money and awareness we raise will help the athletes grow and continue to have opportunities to make new friends, learn new skills and discover their independence while participating in the many events Special Olympics offers.

For many athletes, The Special Olympics is a path to empowerment, self-esteem, competence, acceptance, joy and friendship, which is a unique opportunity these athletes with intellectual disabilities may not gain anywhere else.

The Special Olympics offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities training and competition in 30 Olympic-type summer and winter sports. The Special Olympics currently serve over 2.5 million people in more than 200 programs in 165 countries.

Yuma Police Department employees and other law enforcement officers will be at the restaurant as celebrity waiters and to receive TIPS for Special Olympics. Your donation is tax deductible. Please join us at Texas Roadhouse, meet your local law enforcement officers and Special Olympics athletes.
Chonmipem Horam `Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent`- Victor Hugo Can you imagine a life void of music? Absolutely NOT! Whether you admit it or not, music permeates our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. Music is harmony and music is beauty. Music has the quality of expressing the inexpressible. One cannot approach music with ones own peculiar likes, dislikes or tastes, which are all a part of ones own conditioning. Music is something both extraordinarily complex and incredibly simple at the same time.Roots of World Music day World Music Day also known as Fete de la Musique, was a music festival that began in France in 1982.The idea was conceived by French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang in 1981. Since then June 21st has been celebrated every year as World Music Day. Today, it has spread to Argentina, Australia, Britain, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, Costa Rica, China, India, Lebanon, Pakistan and many other countries. On this day, the musicians perform for free in open areas. Free concerts are organized in parks, museums, train stations, castles etc. This is done to promote music, making all genres of music accessible to the public. It gives an opportunity to communicate and share special bond through music. The term World Music includes traditional as well as non-western music. It is folk music of any culture, created and played by indigenous people. It is a classical form of music accompanied by traditional ethnic instruments, some prominent forms are  Japanese Koto music, India raga music, Tibetan chants and South African `township music`. Genres India, being a land of unity in diversity with various cultures, traditions, art forms, every region has its own unique musical form. While there are various genres, Indian classical music has been divided into North Indian tradition known as Hindustani music and Carnatic music belonging to South India. But apart from these, there are varied forms such as  Bhangra, Bhajans or devotional, Ghazals and Qawwalis, Indi-pop, Folk, Tribal, Film songs, Remixes, Fusion. While, Bhangra is a dance oriented folk music, Bhavageete (literally `devotional song`) is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Qawwali is a Sufi form of devotional music based on Hindustani classical. And in the West, we have Metal, Punk, Rock, Hip-Hop, Hard Rock, alternative, Experimental, Country, Disco, Funk, Classical, Progressive, Trance, Techno, Ska, Reggae music. Trance Music was developed in early quarters of 20th century and is generally played in club houses and dance floors. Indigenous Country Music born of the US is in form of folk, Celtic, church, gospels and tribal music, while, Pop Music is both classical and folk. Reggae is a music genre developed in late 1960`s. Its lyrics deal with faith, love, sexuality, relationships, injustice etc. Hip-hop is both a cultural movement and genre of music developed in New York City in 1970`s by African Americans and Latin Americans.The good, the bad and the ugly Music is an important form of communication. Its a reflection of society in a particular time and place. Music needs no boundaries, it bonds us irrespective of who we are, and where are we from. Not only its a source of entertainment but it also acts as a medium to convey messages, of how things are, and what lies ahead in the future. Michael Jackson`s song `Heal the world sounds beautiful as well as inspiring as it echoes noble thoughts. There`s A Place In Your Heart, And I Know That It Is Love, And This Place Could Be Much Brighter Than Tomorrow, And If You Really Try You`ll Find There`s No Need To Cry,In This Place You`ll Feel There`s No Hurt Or Sorrow There Are Ways To Get There If You Care Enough For The Living Make A Little Space, Make A Better Place... Heal The World, Make It A Better Place, For You And For Me And The Entire Human Race There Are People Dying, If You Care Enough For The Living, Make A Better Place For You And For Me If You Want To Know Why There`s A Love That Cannot Lie Love Is Strong, It Only Cares For Joyful Giving If We Try, We Shall See In This Bliss We Cannot Feel, Fear Or Dread We Stop Existing And Start Living Then It Feels That Always Love`s Enough For Us Growing So Make A Better World Make A Better World... And The Dream We Were Conceived In, Will Reveal A Joyful Face And The World We Once Believed In Will Shine Again In Grace Then Why Do We Keep Strangling Life Wound This Earth, Crucify Its Soul Though It`s Plain To See, This World Is Heavenly Be God`s Glow We Could Fly So High Let Our Spirits Never Die In My Heart, I Feel You Are All My Brothers Create A World With No Fear Together We`ll Cry Happy Tears See The Nations Turn their Swords Into Plowshares We Could Really Get There If You Cared Enough for The Living Make A Little Space, To Make A Better Place... You And For Me Music also grants us the freedom of expression. Like in late 1980`s and 90`s, young black Americans coming out of the Civil Rights Movement used this to show the limitation of the movement. It used Hip-hop to voice their issues. It lets them the world to be noticed. But inspite of all these social impacts, there have been negative aspects as well. Some of the most popular songs in Hip-hop genre have negatively influenced violence, drugs, alcohol, sex and disrespect for authorities, which is detrimental to the lives and education of the youngsters.Festivals There are many World Music festivals and jazz/folk/roots/new age crossover events. The Ariano Folkfestival is the biggest World Music festival in southern Italy, is held in mid August. The California World Music Festival is held each July at Nevada County Fairgrounds. The World Sacred Music Festival is held annually in Olympia, Washington State. FloydFest in Floyd, Virginia, USA. The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, New York, USA. Rainforest World Music Festival is another world music festival held in Malaysia. Stern Grove festival is a San Francisco celebration of musical and cultural diversity. The Starwood Festival in New York has been held in July every year since 1981.
Washington: Hillary Clinton is leading her Republican rival Donald Trump by four percentage points after their first head-to-head debate, a latest national poll has said.

In the CBS News/The New York Times poll, the Democratic presidential nominee has the support of 45 per cent of eligible voters as against 41 per cent supporting Trump.

In the same poll conducted last month the two were tied at 42 per cent.

In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump by three percentage points.

According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton on an average of recent national polls has maintained a lead of 3.1 percentage point.

The CBS News/The New York Times poll said the first presidential debate has had a more positive impact for Clinton than for Trump.

Likely voters who watched the first presidential debate are twice as likely to say the debate made them think better of Clinton (32 per cent) than worse (16 per cent), it said.

As per the poll, Trump (49 to 38 per cent) continues to lead among men, while Clinton (51 to 33 per cent) leads among women.

Meanwhile, a poll released by the Quinnipiac University said that Clinton is leading in Florida (five points), North Carolina (three points) and Pennsylvania (four points).

However, she trails by five points in Ohio.

All four are battleground states, also known as swing states, in which both Democratic and Republican candidates have a good chance of winning.
Berlin: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday pledged to publish "significant" new material on the US election before the November 8 vote, speaking on the 10th anniversary of the online leaking platform.

Assange said there were "enormous expectations in the United States" about the material and that "some of that expectation will be partly answered", with "a lot of fascinating angles" in the documents.

"Do they show interesting features of US power factions? Yes they do," he said, addressing an anniversary event in Berlin via video link.

On why WikiLeaks was holding back, for now, he added that "if we're going to make a major publication in relation to the United States at a particular hour, we don't do it at 3 am," referring to the time in the eastern United States.

He also said that "we hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks," promising documents on the subjects of war, arms, oil, Google and mass surveillance.

Assange - speaking from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has been holed up for over four years to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face rape allegations - hailed WikiLeaks for releasing 10 million documents over the past decade, exposing state and corporate secrets.

He pledged that WikiLeaks would seek to expand its activities with extra staff and new media partnerships, with plans to hire 100 more journalists over the next three years.

"We're going to need... An army to defend us from the pressure that is already starting to arrive," said Assange, wearing a black T-shirt with the word 'truth' on it.

On the eve of the US Democratic Party convention in July, WikiLeaks published some 20,000 internal emails pointing at an apparent bias of its leaders for Clinton during the primary campaign.

Assange charged that WikiLeaks was now the target of a witch hunt orchestrated in particular by Clinton, likening it to the repression of American communists in the 1950s driven by then senator Joseph McCarthy.

Assange said WikiLeaks would scale up to "amplify our publications and to defend us against what is really a quite remarkable McCarthyist push in the United States at the moment, principally by Hillary Clinton and her allies because she happens to be the person being exposed at the moment".

Asked whether he felt an affinity with Clinton's Republican rival Donald Trump, he said: "I feel a personal affinity with all human beings. Through understanding someone, you can feel sorry for them.

"I certainly feel sorry for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. These are two people who are tormented by their ambitions."
Washington: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has admitted greatly benefiting from "unfair" US tax laws, saying that he used them "brilliantly" to his advantage, but promising to change them if he becomes the President.

"The unfairness of the tax laws is unbelievable, it's something I've been talking about for a long time, despite frankly being a big beneficiary of the laws," Efe news quoted Trump as saying on Monday.

"I'm working for you now, I'm not working for Trump," he said -- a statement that brought cheers from the crowd at a campaign rally in Pueblo, Colorado.

According to the billionaire, because of his past experience with using the tax laws to his benefit, he understands the complex system better than anybody else and is the only person who can "fix" it, promising to do exactly that, although not specifying exactly what he would do in that regard.

In his first remarks after revelations about his tax history were published by The New York Times on Saturday, the magnate said that he had "brilliantly" used the US tax laws to legally pay as little in federal taxes as possible.

"As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit, and to the benefit of my company and my employees," Trump said.

"I have often said on the campaign trail, that I have a fiduciary responsibility to pay no more tax than legally required -- or, put another way, to pay as little tax as legally possible."

Trump waited two days to speak about the report, in which the paper said on Saturday that the mogul may have legally avoided paying federal taxes for 18 years thanks to declaring a huge business loss of $915.7 million in 1995.

"The media is now obsessed with an alleged tax violation from the 1990s, at the end of one of the most brutal economic downturns in our country's history," Trump said.

"The conditions facing real estate developers in that early '90s period were almost as bad as the Great Depression of 1929 and far worse than the Great Recession of 2008 -- not even close," he said.

The mogul said that he used the tax laws to get out of the crisis his businesses were suffering at that time, something that many people had been able to do.

He said at the Monday rally that he pays a lot of money in other taxes, specifying: "I face enormous taxes -- city, state, sales, excise, employee, federal, VAT, different countries."

The magnate compared himself to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton saying that she "hasn't made an honest dollar in her entire life -- all she does is take from you, from our country, and peddles influence to donors, special interests and foreign actors".

"While I made my money as a highly-successful private businessman following the law," Trump said, adding that "Clinton made her money as a corrupt public official breaking the law and putting her government office up for sale".
Manila: US and Philippine marines on Tuesday kicked off what could be their last joint military exercises in the Philippines' main Luzon island and Palawan.

The US embassy in Manila said in September that at least 1,400 US marines based in Okinawa, Japan, and 500 Philippine troops will participate in this year's Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise codenamed PHIBLEX 33, Xinhua news agency reported.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said this year's PHIBLEX, which wraps up on October 12, will be the last joint war games that will take place during his term which ends in June 2022.

PHIBLEX is the first and perhaps the last joint military exercises between the two treaty allies during Duterte's six-year term.

Duterte lamented the US does not share military technology with the Philippines. "They asked for a joint maneuvers, operations, and yet there is no capability between the weapons and the armaments they use, and even the communications," he told a news conference on September 30 in Davao City.

The president also said over the weekend that he would review the existing security arrangements with the US, including the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed in 2014.

The 10-year EDCA allows an increased presence of US forces, ships, aircraft and equipment in the Philippines and greater access to its military bases.

Under the new defence accord, US military personnel in the Philippines are to be deployed on a rotational basis.

Earlier, Duterte also called for the expulsion of about 100 US Special Forces posted in Zamboanga city on Mindanao, who were tasked to help the country's military fight against terrorism.

He also said he was not going to allow the Philippine military to participate in joint patrols with the US.

However, Duterte has repeatedly said the Philippines is not cutting its ties with the US, saying he is merely pursuing an independent policy.
Washington: Fifteen years after US government launched "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks, a majority of US voters are concerned about possible terrorist strikes in the country, a new poll said on Monday.

According to the new Morning Consult poll, 56 percent of the US voters think it is at least somewhat likely that a terrorist attack will occur in the US over the next few months.

While less than half Democrats say that the US is safer now, an overwhelming majority of Republicans think otherwise, the poll found, with more than seven in 10 Republicans saying that a terrorist attack is somewhat or very likely, Xinhua cited the findings.

The poll came as the country was on high alert against terror attacks after three bomb attacks occurred last month.

Nearly 29 people were wounded in a blast on September 17 in New York City, hours after another pipe bomb exploded on the same day along the route of a Marine charity run in the US state of New Jersey in what authorities believed was a planned attack.

One day later in New Jersey, an explosive device inside a suspicious package at a train station exploded while being examined by the authorities.
Dhaka: A month before the terror attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital, a consignment of AK-22 rifles and some small arms reached the militants in Dhaka hidden inside mango baskets, a media report said on Tuesday.

Of these arms, three AK-22 rifles were used in the attack on the Dhaka cafe, while another rifle was used for the security of cafe attack 'mastermind' Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who was also the head of New Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror outfit.

Investigators say they have finally been able to trace the route of the smuggled arms, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Sources in police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit said these arms came from outside Bangladesh and the members of New JMB outfit used them in terror attacks, in Bogra and other northern districts.

"We have finally learned the source of the AK22s supply and have been also able to identify the group primarily," Monirul Islam, chief of CTTC, told the Dhaka Tribune.

"A drive is underway to arrest this group's members."

The CTTC chief said these AK22 rifles, recovered at different times in drives, mainly entered Bangladesh through the Chapai Nawabganj border, located on the north-western part of Bangladesh. The consignment was received there by an arms smuggling group, which later sent it to Dhaka inside mango baskets, he said.

Missing New JMB leader Nurul Islam Marjan, who was the field-level coordinator of the July 1 cafe attack, received the consignment in Dhaka and delivered it to the militant den in Bashundhara Residential Area.

"A large amount of mangoes came to Dhaka from Chapainawabganj in baskets at the time and the militants took advantage of that to elude law enforcers," added the CTTC chief.

An arms expert in the CTTC, requesting anonymity, said the recovered AK22 rifles were not originals.

"The New JMB members use modified versions. They do this to carry the rifles around easily," the official said.

"We have also come to know that the modification of these arms was done in Munger city in Bihar state of India and then they came to Chapainwabganj border," said the official.

"A seal from a factory in Bihar was found on the three AK22 rifles recovered after the Gulshan terror attack," he said, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Gulshan attack killed 23 people, including 17 foreigners and two police officials, on July 1.


Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said his government's top policy priority was to end violent extremism and terrorism in the country.

He was speaking at a meeting convened to review the progress of National Action Plan (NAP) devised after the 2014 Peshawar school attack to eliminate militancy.

National Security Adviser Nasir Janjua briefed the meeting which was also attended by cabinet ministers, four chief ministers of provinces, army chief, and other civilian and military officials.

"War against terrorism and violent extremism is a main component of our national policy aimed at bringing peace and security in the country," Sharif said.

The prime minister also said the nation pins hope to steer the society out from these evils once and for all and government is committed to overcome this menace.

He said consensus on National Action Plan was formed after discussion among all the stakeholders.

The meeting urged the need for coordinating efforts between federal and provincial governments for achieving desired results.

It was agreed that further improvement in intelligence input is required to defeat "designs of enemies".

The meeting agreed on the future course of National Action Plan to achieve the desired results.

Janjua briefed the meeting on the implementation status of NAP and the challenges faced at this stage of implementation, an official statement said.

"It was agreed that collective efforts at the national level and specific efforts at provincial level are required to consolidate the gains made so far and move further in certain areas where progress has been unsatisfactory," it said.

"It was stressed by NSA that role of provincial governments in implementation of NAP is crucial and it is imperative for all to work with missionary zeal," it said.

The meeting agreed on the future course of action in terms of milestones and timelines for different components of NAP.

It was also agreed to further improve the collection, collation, analysis and use of intelligence input for defeating the designs of "enemies".

"We are fighting the war on terrorism and our fight against violent extremism is a national policy imperative," the statement said, underlining that "the nation expects us to rid the society of these evils for all times and we will not fail them under any circumstances".
Chapra: The Saran District Magistrate has unearthed a racket involved in illegal transportation of sand in which Superintendent of Police and other civil and police officials are suspected to be involved.

Acting on a tip off, Saran DM Deepak Anand caught several sand laden trucks plying without challan late last night near Chirand under Muffasil police station.

As part of organised racket, the truckers were provided with a code which for the current month of October was stated by the truckers as a Rs 20 note on the basis of which they had freedom to cross the district with sand despite sand mining being banned in the state.

The DM said he ordered registration of FIR against 20 such truckers and penalised more than 40 others.

Anand said when inquired, most of the drivers alleged the money goes straight to district SP. Pankaj Kumar Raj is the SP of Saran at present.

The DM said he would make a recommendation to the state government to institute a high-level inquiry into the entire illegal operation.

Asked if SP would be probed, he said it would be decided by the probe team.

Sand from river Sone was transported by country boats to many spots at Dighwara in Saran district. From there, sand was loaded in trucks which ply late at night through Jay Prabha bridge to the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh like Varanasi, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur, among others.

The truckers had to purchase the code (Rs 20 note for current month of October) at a hefty price of about Rs 6,000 per truck, which provided them freedom to move with sand illegally through the district.
New Delhi: Four JD(U) state unit presidents, who had questioned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's appointment as its national president, were on Tuesday expelled from the party for "anti-party" activities.

In a statement, the party announced the expulsion of its state unit presidents of Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, and Uttarakhand-- Govind Yadav, Amitabh Dutta, Balbir Singh and Pramod Sharma respectively, accusing them of publicly criticising the leadership and not carrying out the organisational expansion of the party.

Its general secretary Javed Raza said they have been expelled for six years.

Kumar has appointed conveners in these states, except West Bengal.

Sources said the rumbling in the party in these states, where it has a little base, is a reflection on the changed ground situation as most of them were appointed during Sharad Yadav's tenure as the party chief.
Patna: A rape victim from Nalanda, Bihar, has said in a WhatsApp message on Tuesday that she and her family are living in fear following the release on bail of her attacker -- a Bihar legislator now suspended from the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal.

"He (Yadav) is out of jail... I am scared and afraid for my family. What will happen to them. I am already... dead after what happened to me. I have nothing more to lose," said the Nalanda schoolgirl in her WhatsApp message to media persons.

She said she is scared that her family might be eliminated, along with her, after the Patna High Court freed on bail her attacker, RJD legislator Raj Ballabh Yadav.

Yadav was suspended by the party after reports of his crime surfaced in February.

He was released on Saturday from jail after spending nearly six months behind bars. The state government on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking cancellation of his bail.

The victim said the family is living under constant fear and uncertainty following Yadav`s release. "Me and my family are nothing in front of the powerful Yadav. He can kill me and my family any time. Even the police are afraid of him," she said.

Nalanda Superintendent of Police Kumar Ashish said, "Security of the victim and her family were beefed up after Yadav`s release. We have deployed additional security forces."

Kumar Ashish also said the police would provide all possible help to them and take action if the family were pressurised to withdraw the case against Yadav.

The victim earlier appeared for her Class 10 examination amid tight security in March and cleared it.

Yadav, who represents Nawada constituency in the Bihar assembly, was accused of raping the schoolgirl in Bihar Sharif on February 6.

He was on the run for about a month before surrendering before a civil court in Nalanda.

His bail petitions were repeatedly rejected by the lower court. Following this, he moved the Patna High Court, which granted him bail on Friday.

According to the victim`s police complaint, a woman named Sulekha Devi had taken her to an undisclosed location in Nalanda and forced her to have liquor, after which she was raped by a man, later identified as Yadav.

After the rape, the woman even offered her Rs 30,000.

The local court in Nalanda in June framed charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against Yadav and all other accused persons.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital since last month, continues to improve, the hospital said on Monday.

What's her current treatment plan?

According to an official statement by Apollo Hospital, the current treatment plan of Jayalalithaa is based on the detailed discussions the expert group of doctors had with British doctor Richard Beale.

Who is Richard Beale?

Beale is a consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at Guy's and St. Thomas Hospital, London.

According to the London hospital's website, Beale is one of its critical care consultants and clinical director, perioperative, pain and critical care directorate.

Beale is an experienced investigator in the fields of sepsis, ARDS, haemodynamics, critical care nutrition and ICU informatics.

Jayalalithaa advised few more days stay in hospital

Puratchi Thalaivi Amma's health continues to improve, advised further stay in hospital for treatment - Apollo Hospital. pic.twitter.com/382yEQP9aA  AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) October 3, 2016

In a statement on Sunday, Apollo Hospitals too said Jayalalithaa is responding well to the treatement given to her but has been advised a few more days stay in hospital.
Raipur: As many as 57 Naxals and 297 sympathisers surrendered before police in the insurgency-hit Sukma district in Chhattisgarh today, police said.

"Altogether 57 Maoist cadres and 297 sympathisers turned themselves in before the government, police and CRPF officials at Sukma district headquarters. Seventeen of these 57 Maoists were carrying a cash reward on their heads," Sukma Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela told PTI.

Seventeen Naxals surrendered along with firearms, he said.

"Cadres are getting increasingly fed up with violent Maoist activities and want to see development in their area," the SP said.

He described the move as a good indicator in the conflict-ridden Bastar region.

Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) SRP Kalluri, Sukma Collector Neeraj Bansod and other police and CRPF officials were present on the occasion.

The Maoist supporters belong to Kerlapal, Majhipara, Patelpara, Potampara, Borguda, Gondpalli Mosalpara, Jeerampal, Badesatti, Pandupara and other villages of the region, the SP said.

According to the official, the cadres in their statements said that they decided to move away from the Maoists as they were frustrated with continuous exploitation, atrocities and violence by them.

An encouragement amount of Rs 10,000 was given to each of the 57 Maoists, he said, adding that they would be provided assistance as per the rehabilitation policy of the government.

According to the figures provided by the police, with this development, about 1,400 Naxals and their supporters have surrendered before police in separate districts of Bastar division so far this year.
New Delhi: Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra caused an uproar on Tuesday after he attacked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and asked her opinion on Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.

"It can't be that you dont accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase. Terrorism and tourism can't stand together," Kapil Mishra said at Bharat International Tourism Bazaar function at Delhi's Pragati Maidan, also being attended by Mehbooba Mufti.

It cant be that you dont accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase: Kapil Mishra to Mehbooba Mufti amidst uproar pic.twitter.com/bpQUqi2HK9  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

Terrorism & tourism cant go together. Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there: Kapil Mishra  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

Accusing Mufti of backing terrorists in Kashmir Valley, the AAP minister asserted, "How can we fight Pakistan if terrorists are sheltered in Jammu and Kashmir. Mehbooba Mufti backs terrorists."

We can fight Pak, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in J&K?: Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra pic.twitter.com/JL2gxbvsZO  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

"Terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir. Yesterday two terrorists escaped from Baramulla. Where did they go? Somebody may have sheltered them. How long will this go on?," Mishra said.

"Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister does not accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist. She must clear her stand on Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani," he said further at the event adding that "Mufti must condemn Wani.

Mishra's statement however triggered an uproar and a brief commotion at the event.

The Arvind kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party however, has distanced itself from Kapil Mishra's controversial statement on Mufti. "We don't support Mishra's remark," a party leader reportedly told News18.

Watch the video here:

#WATCH "Cant say you dont accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist & expect tourism to increase" Kapil Mishra to Mehbooba Mufti amidst uproar pic.twitter.com/LmGdjj5tXw  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

Mehbooba, who addressed the gathering soon afterwards, came back strongly at Mishra's remarks while denying allegations of supporting terrorism in the Valley.

"When you take any place in the world, including Delhi, women are safest in Kashmir. There is no fear of getting raped in a car," the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said.

Compared to any place in the world, including Delhi, women & girls are safest; there is no fear of getting raped in a car: Mehbooba Mufti  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

"The biggest confidence-building measure is if you visit our state. That would show that you trust us," said Mehbooba, making a pitch for Kashmir as a tourism destination despite recent troubles in the Valley.

"We need you," she declared. "I don't know if you need Kashmir or not, but Kashmir needs you," Mehbooba added.

We need you, I dont know if you need Kashmir or not, but Kashmir needs you: J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti pic.twitter.com/ZuwdTfQLFz  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

Haalat to aapne isse bhi kharaab dekhe hai; lekin aaiye aur Kashmir ki shaanti mei invest kijiye: J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti pic.twitter.com/yKAhqlrnPj  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

Concluding her speech, she invited more investment in Kashmir's tourism sector, saying 'the situation had improved in the Valley, and that much worse days had been witnessed.'
New Delhi: The Pakistani media has heaped praise on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after he demanded the Narendra modi government to give evidence of last weeks surgical strikes by armed forces across the Line of Control during which at least seven terror launch pads were completely destroyed.

Pakistans publications and news channels were flooded with Kejriwals praises and quoted his theory of no surgical strike in PoK.

According to reports, the Pakistani media had hailed Kejriwal as a 'hero' for questioning the Narendra modi government's claim about successful surgical strikes across the LoC.

New Delhi CM questions authenticity of Indias surgical strikes in Pakistan: Arvind Kejri... https://t.co/u6civ73Hof - Express Tribune  Pakistan News (@Pakistannews) October 3, 2016

In an attempt to put pressure on the NDA government, the Delhi CM had on Monday asked it to come up with proof of the cross-LoC strikes that the army said had inflicted significant casualties on terrorists.

Kejriwal had, however, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for showing the willpower to combat terrorism and urged him to expose Pakistans false propaganda about last weeks surgical strikes.

In a three-minute video, Kejriwal, who never misses a chance to criticise Modi, started by praising the army. He then hailed Modi. I may have 100 differences with the PM, but I salute him for his willpower to combat terrorism, the Delhi chief minister says before drawing Modis attention to Pakistans false propaganda.

The AAP leader says Pakistan took a bus load of foreign journalists on its side of the Line of Control to show everything was normal in the area.

My blood started boiling on seeing the report, Kejriwal said, referring to reports in the foreign media questioning Indias claims.

However, the video message took the BJP by surprise. Though, initially, the BJP leaders were glad that Kejriwal had too acknowledged the superiority of Narendra Modi's leadership, but after watching the full video, they agreed that in the garb of saluting the PM, the Delhi CM actually raised doubts over the government's narrative of the surgical strike.

Many opined that since raising questions directly about the strikes may not have gone down well with the masses, Kejriwal had questioned the military action indirectly.

"Kejriwal, you need to know, today you are the headline in Pakistani media. Politics is separate but please don't do or say anything whereby our armed forces feel let down," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a press conference today.

Importantly, Pakistan has categorically denied Indias claims of surgical strikes on terror launch pads.
New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had a narrow escape after he was targeted in a slipper attack by a woman in the national capital on Monday.

A piece of footwear was hurled at Jain while he was standing outside the Income tax office today. However, the slipper only hit the vehicle in which he and senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh were travelling.

The accused, Bhavana Arora, said she belonged to the Aam Aadmi Sena, and claimed she was upset by Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal's remarks on India's anti-terror strikes across the Line of Control (LoC).

"How could the Aam Aadmi Party demand proof of strikes by the Indian Army? They are behaving like Pakistani agents," she said.

This is not the first time that Arora had made headlines for attacking the AAP minister. In January this year, she threw ink on Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal while he delivered a speech at a public meeting.

Volunteers of the Aam Aami Sena also raised slogans and protested outside the Income Tax Headquarters in Delhi where Jain was to arrive for questioning.

Jain had been summoned by the Income Tax department as a witness in connection to an ongoing investigation against several Kolkata firms.
New Delhi: The HRD ministry has written to the President seeking permission to conduct a 'visitorial inquiry' into allegations of irregularities against the vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Officials said that a complaint alleging financial and administrative irregularities against AMU VC Lt General (retd) Zameeruddin Shah had been received by the ministry, which it has forwarded to the President.

Shah had been appointed by the UPA in 2012 and his term expires next year, sources said.

They added that the complaint against Shah contained various allegations of financial and other irregularities which has been forwarded to the President, who is the visitor of all central universities.

Officials said that in another case a complaint of irregularities had also been made against the VC of Allahabad University.

A proposal seeking an inquiry in this regard has also reportedly been moved for the President's approval.

Meanwhile, Shah denied the allegations against him and said he was "prepared to face any inquiry".

"The allegations of financial and administrative irregularities are untrue and have been designed to sully my image by vested interests", the AMU VC told PTI.

"I am however fully prepared to face any such inquiry if and when it is instituted," he added.

Asked whether he felt the NDA government was targeting him for championing the cause of the university?s minority character, the VC denied it.

"The charges against me are being levelled by some vested interests to jeopardise and prejudice the ongoing case against my appointment in the apex court," he said.
Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend a programme for distributing artificial limbs and assisting devices to over 8,000 Divyangs (differently abled) in Vadodara on October 22, Gujarat government said on Tuesday.

The event will be jointly organised by the Central Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur, and Vadodara district administration, an official release said.

In this mega camp, Modi will distribute artificial limbs and various aides and devices to 8,000 Divyang citizens from Vadodara and nearby Chhota Udepur district.

Ahead of the camp, officials of ALIMCO and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment held a meeting today with Vadodara District Collector Lochan Sehra to chalk out a plan for organising the event, it said.

This will be Modi's fourth visit in last two months to Gujarat, where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held next year.

On September 17, which was his 66th birthday, Modi was in the tribal district of Dahod to inaugurate various irrigation and drinking water projects.

On the same day, he attended the Social Empowerment Camp organised by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to distribute aids and assisting devices to Divyang citizens.

Last month, Modi had visited Gujarat twice -- once to condole the death of Sawminarayan saint Pramukhswami Maharaj at Botad district and second time to inaugurate the ambitious Sauni irrigation scheme in Jamnagar district.
Jammu: A search operation was launched today by army and police in the R S Pura sector near the Indo-Pak International Border after they received reports of some suspicious movement in the area.

The operation, which continued during the day, was called off when nothing "concrete" was found, police said.

"Army received inputs of some suspicious movement in the R S Pura sector along the international border, after which a search operation was launched in the area," Station House officer (SHO) RS Pura Bhushan Singh Manhas said.

The search operation continued during the day and was called off when nothing "concrete" was found.

"The search operation has been called off now as nothing concrete was found," he said.

Security along the Indo-Pak border across the region has been kept on high alert after September 29 surgical strikes by Indian Army on the terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Bikaner: On a day when he is facing flak for allegedly seeking proof of the surgical strike carried out the Indian Army in PoK last week, two men threw ink on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Bikaner, Rajasthan.

As per initial reports, the two men threw ink on Arvind Kejriwal in presence of police and media. Reports added that Kejriwal was shown black flags for his alleged pro-Pakistan statements.

Reacting to the incident, Kejriwal reportedly said, God bless those who threw ink, I wish them well.

Last month, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also subjected to an ink attack. The attacker was reportedly upset over Sisodia's Europe tour while the city was battling a dengue/chikungunya outbreak.

Yesterday, Kejriwal had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi to "expose the false propaganda" being spread by Islamabad.

In a short video message, Kejriwal praised Modi but also focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strikes were ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control.

However, the BJP accused him of playing politics over the anti-terror surgical strike.

In response, Kejriwal said he wondered why was the BJP "scared" when he had only asked the Prime Minister to counter the false propaganda by Pakistan.

I only said that Pakistan is spreading false propaganda in the world that surgical strikes did not happen. We all believe that surgical strikes took place," Kejriwal told reporters at the Jodhpur civil airport before he proceeded to Bikaner by road to meet a party worker who had lost his mother.

Claiming that Kejriwal "sought proof" on the anti-terror operation, the BJP asked him not to belittle the armed forces by getting influenced by Pakistani "propaganda".

At a press conference today, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the AAP leader should answer whether he believed in the Indian Army or not.

Kejriwal later retorted: "I am unhappy. Ravi Shankar ji is saying I am playing politics. Am I playing politics or they?"

"I and my party are with Narendra Modi in his every step against Pakistan and its mischiefs," said Kejriwal.

"It is time that all the citizens and political parties are united and strengthen the hands of the prime minister against Pakistan," he said.

Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said Pakistan is insulting 'Bharat Mata' and Indian army through its propaganda, but BJP is settling score with Kejriwal.

"I am amazed that Ravi Shankar Prasad instead of unmasking Pak Propaganda is questioning AK. Shows BJP's bankruptcy of ideas," Ashutosh tweeted.

The special forces of the Indian army on 28 September night carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK) and destroyed seven terror launch pads.

With agency inputs
Jodhpur: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's criticism and said that the Aam Aadmi Party believes that surgical strikes did take place.

The AAP leader further accused the BJP of playing politics over the anti-terror surgical strike and asked why was the party "scared" when he had only asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to counter the false propaganda by Pakistan.

Kejriwal told reporters that in his video message yesterday, he had only appealed to the Prime Minister to give a befitting reply.

"Pakistan is spreading false propaganda on surgical strikes and is telling the international media that no surgical strikes took place. The Prime Minister should give Pakistan a befitting reply," Kejriwal told reporters here.

"We all know that surgical strikes were conducted. In my video, I had appealed to the Prime Minister that we all will have to give Pakistan a befitting reply over its propaganda on surgical strikes.

"If I said that we have to counter Pakistan's false propaganda then why is the BJP so rattled and scared? We all have to counter Pakistan's propaganda and we should all, irrespective of the party, strengthen PM's hands in this," Kejriwal said.

"We all support the Prime Minister in this endeavour," he said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is on a short visit to Jodhpur.

"We will support whatever steps he (PM) takes (on exposing Pakistan's propaganda)," he said.

In a rare gesture, Kejriwal yesterday "saluted" Modi for the surgical strikes by the Army on terror launch pads across the LoC.

At the same time, he had urged the Centre to counter the smear campaign by Pakistan and international media, but BJP alleged that Kejriwal had in the garb of his statement questioned the Army's assertion on surgical strike and insulted the armed forces.

Claiming that Kejriwal "sought proof" on the anti-terror operation, the BJP asked him not to belittle the armed forces by getting influenced by Pakistani "propaganda".

At a press conference today, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the AAP leader should answer whether he believed in the Indian Army or not.

Kejriwal later retorted: "I am unhappy. Ravi Shankar ji is saying I am playing politics. Am I playing politics or they?"

Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said Pakistan is insulting 'Bharat Mata' and the Indian Army through its propaganda, but BJP is settling score with Kejriwal.

"I am amazed that Ravi Shankar Prasad instead of unmasking Pak Propaganda is questioning AK. Shows BJP's bankruptcy of ideas," Ashutosh tweeted.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party workers today staged a protest outside Kejriwal's residence accusing him of a pro-Pakistan stance on the recently conducted surgical strikes by the Indian Army. They demanded his resignation.

Hundreds of BJP supporters, led by Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, gathered outside the Civil Lines residence of the Chief Minister and raised slogans against him.

(With Agency inputs)
Srinagar: Elusive woman separatist leader Asiya Andrabi was arrested by police here today.

The chief of Dukhtaran-e-Millat outfit was nabbed from Basant Bagh area of the city this afternoon, a police official said.

The law enforcing agencies were on a lookout for her since the current unrest began in Kashmir on July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.

She had been issuing radical statements while being underground.
Ataari: Even as the situation in the border areas remain highly tensed, the Border Security Force on Monday allowed the farmers in the border areas to cross the fencing to harvest their crop.

"We are very happy that the BSF have opened the gates. It is a happy day. Our piece of land beyond the fences was drying up. The motor pump was shut, drying up the standing paddy crops," said Shamsher Singh, a farmer.

He said that the land inside the fences yields a good price, adding that since it`s a problem for the BSF too to maintain a strict vigil on duty, the government can buy it if it offers a good price.

"Security is very good, BSF is here. It is really supportive," he said.

Another farmer Gurmail Singh said, "Our crops are ready for the harvest. We have invested in these crops. If we will not water them, we will lose everything and we will have nothing in hand for us and for children."

He said that the BSF is helping them out and they are grateful for that."It is because of them, we will be able to provide for ourselves. If we will harvest our crops, then only we will get money. Where will we get money from," he said.

"BSF takes care of us. We are here only because of them. Our standing paddy crop which is ready to be harvested would have destroyed if the war would have broken out. Thanks to the government they save our crops and that we are here today going in our crops," said another farmer Sukdev Singh.

The tensions along the border escalated after the terror attack on the Uri base camp in Jammu and Kashmir. In the most recent incidents, terrorists attacked an army camp in Baramulla on Sunday evening.

However, the bid was effectively foiled by the Indian armed forces.

A day after there was fire exchange between Indian and the Pakistani forces along the LoC.
Ahmedabad: Nine Pakistani nationals have been booked after they were apprehended by Indian Coast Guard on Sunday for allegedly entering the Indian waters off Gujarat coast, an official said today. Coast Guard Ship 'Samudra Pavak' had apprehended the Pakistani boat with nine crew members on board at around 10.15 am on Sunday during patrolling.

District Superintendent of Police (SP) Tarun Duggal said the case was lodged against them yesterday at Navi Bandar coastal police station in Porbandar district of Gujarat under various sections of the Maritime Zones Act.

"An FIR was registered yesterday against the nine Pak crew members for violating the Maritime Zones Act. We will produce them in court in due course to seek their remand for joint interrogation. All of them and their boat are now in the custody of Porbandar police," Duggal said.

The authorities found fishing equipment in the boat, he said adding, "however, nothing suspicious was found during the preliminary investigation". Navi Bandar police station is one of the ten police stations located along India's coastline, which has been recently empowered by the Centre to register and investigate crimes committed within the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which lies between 12 and 200 nautical miles from the Indian coast.

This is the first ever FIR related to offshore offence registered at the station after it became operational.

Earlier, Yellow Gate police station in Mumbai was the only police station empowered to handle offences committed in the entire western coast.

"In June this year, the Centre issued a notification for setting up several other coastal police stations, including Navi Bandar for Gujarat, to handle cases of offshore offences in the EEZ. Now there is no need to approach Yellow Gate police station in Mumbai, as we have our own police station for EEZ," he said.

"This FIR against Pak crew members is the first one after the police station came into existence following the notification by the Centre," he added.

In June, Union Home Ministry had issued a gazette notification, invoking the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, and said the 10 police stations, located on both east and west coasts, can investigate any offence committed by any person within the EEZ.
Panaji: The Shiv Sena in Goa has started negotiations for seats with a new political party mentored by rebel RSS leader Subhash Velingkar, state Sena President Sudip Tamhankar said on Tuesday.

"We have given our proposal of 20 seats to the Goa Suraksha Manch. Now it is up to them to get back to us. We are open to negotiations. We are likely to meet in a day or two over this issue," Tamhankar told the media.

Velingkar was sacked as the Goa vibhag pramukh of the RSS following his criticism of the BJP-led government in Goa, especially Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, over the failure to stop government grants to English medium primary schools, most of which are run by a Society operated by the influential Roman Catholic Church in Goa.

The former state RSS leader is now a mentor of the Goa Suraksha Manch, which is expected to contest the upcoming assembly elections.

Tamhankar said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would be arriving in Goa later this month to address party workers and office bearers.
Gurdaspur: Amidst growing tension between India and Pakistan along LoC, a Pakistani boat has been seized by BSF on Tuesday.

The BSF personnel seized the Pakistani boat in Punjab's Gurdaspur.

The abandoned Pakistani boat was seized from Tota Guru post (Dera Baba Nanak post) on Ravi river.

A high alert has been sounded and search operations are underway.

Earlier, on Monday, India's Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) had issued warning to many states including Gujarat and Maharashtra about suspicious movement of two boats coming from Pakistan's Karachi to India.

Also, a Pakistan boat was seized off Gujarat coast on Sunday. Nine sailors were detained by the authorities. Indian Coast Guard ship 'Samudra Pavak' had apprehended this Pakistani boat off Gujarat coast.

The apprehended Pakistani boat was taken to Porbandar for further investigation.

Noteworthy, security has been heightened in India after Indian Army conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan's territory to destroy terror camps.


Jammu: Fresh firing across the de facto border between India and Pakistan on Tuesday intensified military tension between the already tense neighbours with Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha warning that the situation on the Line of Control (LOC) was still "live".

The Indian Army alleged that Pakistan troops opened unprovoked heavy firing in at least three places on the LoC -- a ceasefire line that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries. Cross-border shelling also occurred along the International Border at Akhnoor sector in Jammu.

No injuries were reported from the Pakistan mortar shelling at Indian border posts in Jhangar, Kalsian and Makri areas of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district. The heavy exchange of fire continued for several hours and was continuing till Tuesday evening.

A police officer said many shells landed near civilian areas in Nowshera, a border area located on the banks of Manawer river, some 125 km from here.

The officer said the Indian Army retaliated and fired at Pakistani posts. Any damage on the other side of the ceasefire line was not known immediately.

Across the LoC, the Pakistan Army made similar allegations, saying Indian troops "resorted to unprovoked firing" at 4 a.m. on Tuesday.

"Pakistani troops befittingly responded to the unprovoked Indian firing... in Bhimber sector," an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.

As the border tension intensified, Arup Raha, chief of the Indian Air Force, said "things are still live" at the frontier.

"It would not be right for me to give a perspective now," Raha told reporters in New Delhi, refusing to take any questions on India`s cross-border surgical strikes late last month targeting militant launch pads in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

Raha said the Indian Air Force had "evolved" and was prepared to face a two-front war, in case it broke out simultaneously with China and Pakistan.

"We are always ready and we will be ready... The IAF has the capability to be deployed for offensive operations. Today, the IAF has the strategic reach and can deter a conflict," he said.

India said its Special Forces destroyed at least seven terror launch pads and killed an unknown number of militants and their sympathisers in the September 29 cross-border raids.

The surgical strikes were launched to avenge the killings of 19 Indian soldiers in the September 18 terror attack at an Indian military base in Uri town in Kashmir`s Baramulla district.

India said the four attackers, who sneaked into the Uri camp and were killed in a gunfight, infiltrated from Pakistan. Islamabad denied the allegation.

The heavy exchange of fire on Tuesday was the latest in a series of violations of border truce signed in 2003.

Since the Uri assault, the militaries of the two countries have been regularly firing at each other daily across the LoC and the International Border.

On Monday, three civilians were injured in a similar exchange of fire in Poonch district.

India shares 50 kms of International Border and 740 kms of the Line of Control with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. The boundary, manned by paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) runs through Jammu district and the LoC, which is not an internationally-accepted frontier, cuts across other regions of the state.
Varanasi: The International Buddhist Conclave-2016 aimed to showcase Buddhist heritage and pilgrimage sites in the country, opened its sessions in Sarnath today, the heartland of Buddhist pilgrimage.

The opening session was addressed by Union minister of state for culture Mahesh Sharma and Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Om Prakash Singh.

"India is the seat of Spiritual Tourism and Government of India and Government of Uttar Pradesh are committed to develop the Buddhist Circuits," Sharma said.

"Sarnath will be made the hub of Buddhist tourism in India and efforts will be made to bring in air, rail and road connections from Sarnath to various Buddhist sites in India," he said.

He said for an amount of Rs 132.17 crore have been sanctioned by Tourism Ministry till date for development of Buddhist circuit in India under its 'Swadesh Darshan Scheme'.

He also said that for Uttar Pradesh, the Ministry of Tourism is in the verge of sanctioning an amount of Rs 99.97 crore this year for infrastructure development of Buddhist circuit covering Saravasti, Kapilvastu and Kushinagar.

Welcoming the delegates and participants, Tourism Secretary?Vinod Zutshi said, this is the first time the International Buddhist Conclave is organised in Sarnath.

He said India is prepared for developing a trans-border Buddhist Circuit across ASEAN and SAARC countries to enhance movement of Buddhist pilgrims in the region from remaining parts of the world.

The whole day session included panel discussions on 'India -- The Land of Buddha' with an objective to showcase India as Buddhist destination and "Creating Buddhayana Sangha" for the worldwide community of Buddhists.

The function also witnessed B2B meetings, a platform for interaction of Indian Tour Operators with the foreign Tour Operators and delegates attending the event.

More than 240 international delegates from 39 countries are attending the conclave this year. The delegates will also travel to Nalanda, Rajgir and Bodhgaya to experience the Buddhist heritage in Bihar.

With a view to showcase and project the Buddhist heritage and pilgrim sites of India, Tourism Ministry is organising the '5th International Buddhist Conclave' from October 2 to 6 in association with state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
New Delhi: After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Sharma taunted Mehbooba Mufti for not accepting Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani as a terrorist; the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister retorted that women are the safest in Kashmir.

Speaking at the launch function of the Bharat International Travel Bazaar (BITB), Mehbooba said, "Any place in the world, including Delhi, women are safest in my Kashmir. They move around in shikaras and houseboats. That`s the biggest thing my state can offer. As compared to any place in the world, including Delhi, women and girls are safest; there is no fear of getting raped in a car."

She also said that the biggest confidence building measure would be if a visit is paid to Jammu and Kashmir."The biggest confidence building measure is if you visit our state, it shows that you trust us. We need you, I don`t know if you need Kashmir or not, but Kashmir needs you," Mehbooba said.

"People of our nation are so nice and so are the people of Jammu and Kashmir," she added. Earlier, the Delhi Minister asked Mehbooba "if she considered Burhan Wani a terrorist.""Do you consider Burhan Wani a terrorist or not?" the AAP leader asked.

"It can`t be that you don`t accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase. Terrorism and tourism can`t go together. Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there," said Mishra."We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

The AAP minister underlined that it is "painful" to see that "terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir. "Mufti in the month of July had said that she would have given Burhan Wani "a chance had she known he was trapped in the encounter."Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces on July 8 following which there was a huge unrest in the state.
Delhi: Days after Army carried out surgical strikes, an assessment by the intelligence agencies have indicated, that more than 100 terrorists are ready in more launch pads across the LoC to cross over into India and carry out attacks, as per a media report.

According to The Times of India, intelligence inputs have indicated that Pakistan is making efforts to take stock of the deployment of Indian forces so that terrorists could be helped to get through.

Meanwhile, Border Security Force (BSF) Director General KK Sharma on Tuesday said there was "tension" along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan in the wake of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control.

"There is still tension at the International Border (IB) that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat," Sharma said, adding that there had been "no ceasefire violation" or exchange of firing on the IB so far since the September 28 strikes.

Sharma was speaking at the concluding session of the six-day talks between a BSF delegation and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) in the national capital.

The BSF DG also said that movement of some Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) had been noticed near the border but there was no need to be worried.

"By using UAVs, they (Pakistani forces) might have wanted to check our preparedness. But, there is no need to get panicked as we are fully capable of giving them a befitting reply," Sharma said.

The BSF chief clarified that the force did not issue any evacuation orders to the farmers living in villages along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.

"We are doing normal drill there. We are even allowing Indian farmers to go to their farms which are beyond the India-Pakistan fence. We have never said vacate villages, people may have shifted out as a precautionary measure. Now, people who had gone are coming back. There has been no untoward incident at the IB till now," he said, as per IANS.

He said that besides the IB, the BSF had also reviewed the security at every border installation India shares with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

(With Agency inputs)


Islamabad: Pakistan has handed over a dossier to the US on 'grave human rights violations' by India in Kashmir and sought the country's intervention in the matter.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani yesterday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson at the State Department and handed over a dossier containing information on the "gross human rights violations" by the Indian security forces in Kashmir, Foreign Affairs Ministry said here.

Jilani said that the international community, especially the US, should take note of the "inhuman and degrading treatment" being meted out to the innocent civilians in Kashmir.

The US, being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, should impress upon India to immediately end the "state-sponsored terrorism", the Ambassador was quoted as saying by the Ministry in a statement.

It was also emphasised during their meeting that the right to self-determination was granted to the people of Kashmir by the United Nations which "could not be unilaterally denied by India", according to the statement.

Jilani further underscored that the international community must ensure that India as a member of the United Nations, should allow access to international human rights and humanitarian organisations to assess the factual situation in Kashmir.
New Delhi: Pakistan is in a "confused and shocking state of mind" after the surgical strikes by the Indian army in PoK, a pro-RSS journal has said, wondering why on one hand it is in denial mode and on the other saying it will retaliate if India repeats the action.

The editorial in 'Organiser' lauded the bravery of the security forces as also the "political will" exhibited by the country's leadership in giving the "nuclear blackmailer" a "shock therapy" and terrorists a stern message.

It said the action was "a tight slap" on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's critics over his frequent foreign visits that helped get India the backing of other nations following the strikes.

"Pakistan on the one hand being in denial mode and on the other hand saying ?if India attempts this again, Pakistan will retaliate?, clearly shows not only the confused but a shocking state of mind. The nuclear blackmailer got the shock therapy and terrorist outfits got the stern message," it said.

The editorial also said there is not a single reaction against India after the well-calibrated military operation and barring China giving advice for bilateral talks, nobody even bothered to react.

"This shows the strength of Bharat's diplomatic manoeuvring skills. This is also a tight slap for the critics of PM Modi's foreign visit who forget the fact that every small or big nation is important when you have to deal with a troubling neighbour like Pakistan.

"Another most critical aspect of this operation is the exhibition of political will," the editorial said.

PM Modi's efforts to take all political parties into confidence on the matter was also applauded in the editorial which said, "In tune with the collective resolve of all-party meetings, no compromise on ?national security? is no longer just rhetoric but an exhibitory message."

It said the elimination of terror launch pads in a surgical manner certainly told the story of a "new and resurgent Bharat".

"For us as nation the concept of ?power? was never meant for dominating or exploiting others but always perceived as a tool to serve the humanity. While celebrating Vijayadashmi, which is a symbol of victory of good over evil, we should also salute the brave soldiers and stand with the righteous leadership," the journal said.

The journal's cover article said that by going beyond the rhetoric, the Narendra Modi government had injected a new element to which Pakistan was not used to.

"In Islamabad, the reaction has therefore been extremely muted or confused. While the (Pakistani) Army has denied any surgical strike by India, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Defence Minister have condemned the attack and said any such future attack will get a befitting reply. Clearly it is advantageous for India at this moment. Now the government must keep up the pressure on all fronts - economic, political, and diplomatic?- besides retaining the option to use a military response whenever it feels Pakistan needs to be punished," it said.
Jammu: Pakistani troops targeted Pallanwala sector, violating the ceasefire for the sixth time in the past 36 hours by shelling and firing on Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Rajouri districts.

"Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire and resorted to firing in Pallanwala sector of Akhnoor tehsil of Jammu district from 1.35 pm", PRO Defence, Col Manish Mehta, said.

"Firing is on and Army troops from our side retaliated", he said.

Earlier, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing in three areas of Rajouri district from 0515 hours, he said.

Pakistani troops targeted Jhangar, Kalsian and Makri sub-sectors of Noushera belt.They fired mortar bombs, automatic weapons and small arms, he said, adding the exchanges are going on with Indian troops giving a befitting reply.

There have been five ceasefire violations in the past over 24 hours along the LoC.

Yesterday, Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire four times and restored to heavy firing and mortar shelling in Saujian, Shahpur-Kerni, Mandi and KG sectors in Poonch district, where five civilian were injured and several?shops burnt down after a shell triggered fire in oil containers kept in a security force camp.
New Delhi: Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha on Tuesday said that the Pathankot terror attack was a set back for the IAF.

The Pathankot terror attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad militants, who the Indian air base on January 2, 2016 and killed seven security personnel. The attack had led to a downslide in bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

Ever since Indian Army successfully carried out surgical strikes in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the tensions are high along the Line of Control and International Border. Commenting on the present situation, the IAF Chief stated that all three units of Indian military are adequate enough to take on any challenge.

In a first, India carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC with the Army inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Uri attack would not go unpunished.

Seven terror launch pads across the LoC were targeted by the Army on the intervening night of September 28 and 29 in a nearly five-hour-long operation during which heliborne and ground forces were deployed.

Expressing happiness over the Rafale fighter jets deal, the Air Chief Marshal said, Any Air force will be proud to have an aircraft of Rafale class.

Would like to have more Rafale fighters, however the decision will be taken in near future depending on the capabilities, he added.

Last month, Indian and France signed militarily significant deal for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

As part of the deal, 36 Rafale jets will come equipped with latest missiles and weapon system, giving the IAF a cutting edge over arch rival Pakistan.
Jammu: National Conference today called upon the political class to rise above the party politics and prioritise communal harmony in the state, observing that any attempt of polarization will have serious ramifications for a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir.

"The political class should rise above the party politics and prioritise amity and communal harmony for the benefit of the Chenab Valley...Any attempt of polarization will have serious ramifications for a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir", NC provincial chief Devender Singh Rana said while addressing party workers at Doda.

During second leg of his three day tour of the Chenab Valley he reminded the party cadre of the great role played by National Conference in cementing relations between various religions and regions.

Rana said NC has never indulged in falsehood, emotional blackmailing, bias or creating hatred between different regions and segments of society, adding this spirit had to be adhered at all costs.
Lucknow: Thousands bade a tearful farewell to BSF trooper Nitin Kumar at his village Nagla Bari in Etawah district where his last rites were conducted on Tuesday.

Nitin Kumar was martyred in a gunfight with terrorists when they attacked the 46 Rashtriya Rifles camp in Baramulla district of north Kashmir late on Sunday.

Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) state unit chief Shivpal Singh Yadav led the mourners and announced Rs 20 lakh financial assistance to the bereaved family of the martyr. Yadav also said that a road and park would be named after the brave soldier.

Family members, relatives and friends of the soldier recalled Nitin KUmar's happy-go-lucky attitude but rued that he could not fulfil the promise of coming home for Diwali this year.

The 24-year-old was unmarried and is survived by his farmer father Balveer, mother Usha Devi, elder brother Sachin and younger sister Anshu.
New Delhi: In a significant step, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked all the affiliated schools to put the details of the fee structure and the facilities provided by them on their website.

The CBSE has directed the schools to comply with its order by October 31.

The Board has issued the circular saying that the parents and the students should be aware of the facilities that would be provided by the respective school administrations.

The step comes after the Board received complaints from the parents about exorbitant fees charged by some schools.

According to a survey, as many as 81 percent of the citizens want a regulatory body to monitor school fee hikes by the CBSE as well as the state boards.

According to the survey conducted by LocalCircles, a social networking site, the respondents believe that the regulatory body should also look at the quality of education and course material developed by the schools.

As many as 84 per cent to 87 per cent also said that a fee hike in school was a matter of great concern.
New Delhi: Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe will on Tuesday arrive in New Delhi for a three-day visit to India.

During his stay, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss issues of mutual interest.

The visiting dignitary will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will also call on the visiting dignitary.

Wickremesinghe will address the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday.
Mumbai: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Tuesday created an uproar by terming the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army along the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as "fake".

The Mumbai Congress chief further accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of indulging in politics over national interest.

"Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. politics over national interest(sic)," Nirupam tweeted.

Later, Nirupam said it is up to the government to prove the surgical strikes did take place.

He said his party was of the view that Pakistan should be punished.

"The way BJP was indulging in politics, putting up banners and taking credit gives a view whether such strikes did happen. In Goa, the Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) is being publicly felicitated. Why were earlier surgical strikes not announced in a press conference? Why was a press conference done now (by DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh)?. Was there any pressure from the government?" he asked.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh, meanwhile, said his party fully supports the government on the surgical strikes, but added that there should be a strong rebuttal of Pakistan's denial of the Indian Army action.

"We have no doubt about the surgical strikes, as claimed by the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Government of India. The Congress party from day one has fully supported the operation. And, we are proud of the fact that the Indian Army has done an excellent job," Singh told a news channel.

Digvijay also took exception to Sanjay Nirupam's remarks that the "strikes were fake".

"I think he (Sanjay Nirupam) should not have called it 'farzi' (fake). We have no doubts about the veracity of the strike," Singh added.

The Army conducted surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads along the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK.

The next morning, the DGMO had given this information to the media in a press conference.

Pakistan, however, has been dismissing the claim as "fabrication of truth" and said India was creating "media hype" by re-branding cross-border fire as surgical strikes.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the appeal by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust challenging the Bombay High Court's decision to allow women in the internal portion of the Dargah.

The matter will be taken up for hearing by the apex court on October 7th.

Meanwhile, Bhumata Brigade leader Trupti Desai expressed her confidence in the apex court to come through for women's equality.

"I am hardly worried as I am sure the Constitution will emerge victorious again and women will win here as well," Desai said.

In August this year, the Bombay high Court had lifted the ban imposed on women from entering the inner sanctum of Mumbai's Haji Ali Dargah. Noorejahan Fiaz and Zakia Soman, founders of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), had petitioned the Bombay High Court against the ban calling it unconstitutional.

The ban enforced in 2011 violated the women's right to freedom of religion enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution. The PIL stated that gender justice in inherent in the Quran, and there is no prohibition on women visiting graves.

Prior to 2011, the Dargah did not force any discrimination against women and allowed free entry of people across the religion. On March 2011, the Dargah board of trustees imposed a ban on women's entry, calling it a grievous sin.

It is a sin as per Islam for women to be in close proximity of a male Muslim saint's grave.

On July 10, 2015, Bench headed by Justice VM Kanade sets aside previous order framing eight questions by an earlier bench of HC on maintainability and decided to hear PIL on merits.
Jammu: The Pakistan Army violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday by resorting to indiscriminate firing and mortar shelling at Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir`s Poonch district.

Police said the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling at Indian positions on the LoC in Shahpur area of Poonch district.

"Pakistan Army used 83 mm mortar shells to target Indian positions on the LoC in Shahpur area of Poonch district," a police officer said.

"Indian Army retaliated to the Pakistan firing and shelling using equal calibre weapons," he added.

"Heavy firing exchanges is still continuing," the officer said.

On Sunday night, Pakistan Rangers resorted to indiscriminate firing at Indian positions in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district, which was retaliated by the Indian troops.

An Indian Army camp in Baramulla district came under attack by fidayeen militants in which one BSF trooper was killed while another was injured.
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government has relaxed the Protected Area Permit (PAP) regime to enable foreigners to visit restricted areas in Leh district of Ladakh, a decision which is expected to increase the footfall of tourists and give a considerable boost to the local economy.

With this decision, foreign tourists would now be permitted to visit a number of unexplored areas like Panamik, Phukpochey, Hargam, Taksha, Sasoma, Chaglung, Kobet, Aranu, Khemi, Warshi, including Yarma Gompa/Yarma Gonbo Monastery of the Nubra Valley in Leh.

An official spokesman said today that the Government has ordered relaxing the Protected Area Permit (PAP) regime for allowing foreigners to visit the hitherto restricted areas in district Leh.

A formal notification in this regard has been issued by the State's Home Department on September 27.

He said these areas were thrown open for the local tourists in 2015, thus creating a positive impact on the life and livelihood of the people residing in these remote areas.

Situated at an average altitude of 10,000 feet, the Nubra Valley is known for its breathtaking beauty, gushing rivers, Buddhist monasteries and Pashmina goat rearing.

The spokesman said after taking note of the positive dividends emanating from the initiative and to further augment the opportunities of employment and income generation for the local youth, the State Government has decided to open up the area for foreign tourists as well.

With this decision, a long-pending demand of the people of Nubra Valley and Ladakh has been fulfilled, which in effect, is expected to give considerable boost to the local economy of Nubra Valley, he said, adding the flow of foreign tourists to the new areas from Panamik to Warshi, is expected to substantially enhance earnings of the people and transform their socio-economic profile.

Ladakh has over the years emerged as a prime tourist destination and is attracting tourists, both domestic and foreigners, in significant numbers.

The State Government has been consistently taking steps to expand the possibilities of tourist activities in this beautiful region with the purpose of enabling it to harness the full potential in the realm of tourism.

The spokesman said the latest decision of the State Government is a continuation of the policy to further enhance footfall of tourists in Ladakh region and also reflects the abiding commitment of the Government to expand the sphere of economic opportunities for the people in every nook and corner of the State.
Srinagar: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the Kargil War Memorial at Dras in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, where he will lay a wreath in honour of the brave Indian soldiers at the memorial.

Following this he will interact with a cross-section of people in Kargil and will hold meetings with delegations of political parties, civil society groups and individuals and take their views on development related issues.

In the wake of the terror attack in Baramulla, Rajnath yesterday said the security forces are giving a befitting reply to the terrorists from the other side of the border.

The Home Minister earlier today spoke to the National Security Advisor and the Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) in the wake of terror attack in Baramulla and reviewed the situation.

Meanwhile, in yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling and firing along LoC in Naushera sector in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir this morning.

Pakistani forces started unprovoked firing and shelling in civilian areas and on forward Indian posts around 5 am.

Troops guarding the border line retaliated effectively.

The heavy exchange of fire is still going on. There is no report of any casualty or injury to the Indian side.

Indian Army has given befitting reply to the unprovoked shelling by Pakistan in civilian areas of Poonch district along the LoC yesterday in which five civilians including three women were injured and some shops were gutted in fire.

Indian troops targeted Pakistani posts, from where the shelling was initiating, effectively to silent the guns. Intermittent heavy exchanges were heard throughout the night.

The escalated tension along the LoC and International Border has been forcing the border people to shift to safer places.
New Delhi: Border Security Force (BSF) Director General KK Sharma on Tuesday said there was "tension" along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan in the wake of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control.

"There is still tension at the International Border (IB) that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat," Sharma said, adding that there had been "no ceasefire violation" or exchange of firing on the IB so far since the September 28 cross LoC strikes.

Sharma was speaking at the concluding session of the six-day talks between a BSF delegation and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) here.

The BSF DG also said that movement of some Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) had been noticed near the border but there was no need to be worried.

"By using UAVs, they (Pakistani forces) might have wanted to check our preparedness. But, there is no need to get panicked as we are fully capable of giving them a befitting reply," Sharma said.

The BSF chief clarified that the force did not issue any evacuation orders to the farmers living in villages along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.

"We are doing normal drill there. We are even allowing Indian farmers to go to their farms which are beyond the India-Pakistan fence. We have never said vacate villages, people may have shifted out as a precautionary measure. Now, people who had gone are coming back. There has been no untoward incident at the IB till now," he said.

Talking about a recent incident at the Attari-Wagah retreat ceremony, Sharma said an incident was reported where a "stone" was thrown towards the Indian side but it did not hit anyone and the matter was brought to the notice of their counterparts, Pakistan Rangers.

He said that besides the IB, the BSF had also reviewed the security at every border installation India shares with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Asked if BSF has a proper watch over the India-Bangladesh border which can be used by terrorists to infiltrate, Sharma said: "There is no such input...However, security mechanisms along the eastern front with Bangladesh have also been increased so that terrorists could not use that country to sneak into India and launch attacks."


New Delhi: Karnataka was on Tuesday directed to release 2,000 cusecs Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18 by the Supreme Court, which deferred its order asking the Centre to set up Cauvery Water Management Board till it finally decided on appeals relating to the age-old water dispute.

Instead, the apex court agreed to the suggestion that a Supervisory Committee, comprising officials and technical experts from the Centre, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry, be set up to inspect Cauvery basin for assessing ground realities.

The committee was asked by the bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit, to file its report by October 17. The matter will be taken up a day after when the court reopens after the Dussehra break.

The order was passed after taking on record the written note of Karnataka government that it has released around 17.5 TMC of water from September 5 to 30 and the proposal was to release 3.1 TMC by October 6.

However, Tamil Nadu government complained that there was a deficit 4.6 TMC of supply of water in the month of September and it required a total of 22 TMC of water till October.

The bench agreed with the suggestion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the Supervisory Committee can have G S Jha, Chairman/Member of Central Water Commission (CWC) as chairman.

The panel, which would also comprise Chief Secretaries or his nominees of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, will have chief engineers of all stakeholders including Kerala and Puducherry.

Rohatgi suggested the names of CWC member Syed Masood Hussain and its chief engineer R K Gupta as other members of the proposed panel.

The apex court deferred the orders of September 20 and 30 for setting up of the CWMB, after the Attorney General said the civil appeals against Cauvery Tribunal's recommendation on it was pending and listed for hearing before a three-judge bench on October 18.
Bengaluru: Fearing contempt proceedings from the Supreme Court, the Karnataka government on Monday decided to release water to Tamil Nadu and said it will follow orders on the Cauvery water sharing with neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Till Monday, Karnataka had refused to oblige with the Supreme Court direction that had asked the state government to release at least 6,000 cusecs of water on a daily basis to Tamil Nadu for six consecutive days.

Yesterday, the Karnataka Cabinet convened a special legislature session to discuss the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. A decision was being considered to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the formation of the Cauvery Management Board.

However, the government changed its stand after considering that recent rains in the state meant it could afford to share Cauvery river water with Tamil Nadu.

Earlier on Monday, The Supreme Court had questioned the state over its defiance in not releasing the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, saying the state should "show some bona fide by obeying orders".

The apex court had also asked Karnataka to apprise it by 2 pm on Tuesday whether or not it has released the river water to Tamil Nadu giving strong indication of taking a "harsh" decision.

Last week, the Supreme Court had asked Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs of water from October 1 to 6, saying 'no one would know when the wrath of the law would fall on it'.
Bhopal: Two persons were arrested for beating a 65-year-old woman to death accusing her of practising black magic in Madhya Pradesh`s Sidhi district, police said on Tuesday.

The two brothers, Munna and Lalla, beat Uniya Bai to death with wooden sticks on Monday in Tala village over suspicion that their father`s health had deteriorated due to "black magic" performed by the woman, police station in-charge Pushpendra Mishra told IANS.

Both were arrested and a case of murder was filed against them, the officer added.
Mumbai: The Republican Party of India (Athawale faction) today announced a joint conference of leaders from the Dalit and Maratha communities, where a resolution backing the demand of reservations for the latter would be passed.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and the party chief Ramdas Athawale said the conference will be held at Shirdi in central Maharashtra on October 19.

"Lakhs of people from the Maratha community taking part in silent marches shows that they now realise that justice needs to be done to them. RPI (A) backs the Marathas who are seeking justice in a very disciplined way," Athawale told reporters here today.

"The joint conference which will include leaders and politicians from both Dalit and Maratha communities will pass a resolution on giving Marathas reservations based on financial status," he said.

The conference would play an important role in bringing about a harmony between the two communities, Athawale said.

The politically dominant Maratha community has been taking out silent marches all over the state to press its demands including reservations, scrapping of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and speedy trial in the Kopardi case where a Maratha girl was raped and murdered.
Agartala: The Tripura Police on Tuesday denied media reports that a large number of paramilitary forces were withdrawn from the north-eastern state for deployment on the western borders of India.

Even though no security threat prevails at present on the India-Bangladesh borders in Tripura, paramilitary forces have been directed to maintain strict vigil, state Director General of Police K Nagaraj told the media here.

"We have asked the BSF (Border Security Force) and other central paramilitary forces to maintain strict vigil on the India-Bangladesh borders and adjoining villages," he said.

A senior Home Department official said the Home Ministry had directed all north-eastern states to ensure strict vigil in the region, which shares borders with China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

"Both central and state intelligence networks have been further strengthened to monitor situation in all eight north-eastern states. Senior security officials were asked to review the situation regularly," the official added.

Nagaraj said additional security arrangements have been made for the Durga Puja festival beginning from Friday, including deployment of over 7,500 security personnel.


Amritsar: The Punjab Police have written to the Centre asking for additional 15 companies in wake of security alert due to the firing at Gurdaspur that took place on Monday.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law and Order Hardeep Singh Dhillon told this to ANI.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) earlier today seized an abandoned Pakistani boat from Tota Guru post (Dera Baba Nanak post) on Ravi river in Punjab.

However, Inspector General, BSF Anil Paliwal said the boat was seized but nothing was found within it, adding that an investigation is currently underway.

The BSF yesterday opened fire after suspected infiltration at Chakri post of Gurdaspur sector of Punjab.

However, the BSF confirmed that there was no retaliation of fire from the other side, adding that it was not at all trans IB.
Jaipur: Congress leaders in Rajasthan are now indulging in dinner diplomacy every month to thrash out differences among party leaders and ensure unity ahead of the 2018 assembly polls.

On Monday, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot organised a dinner which was attended, among others, by state Congress President Sachin Pilot, state affairs incharge Gurdas Kamat, Leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi, former Chief Minister Jagannath Pahadia and former Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Girija Vyas.

The event that lasted over three hours was used by Congress leaders to put up a show of unity.

"The main aim was to resolve the intra-party differences. But whether Congress leaders were able to thrash out their differences is a million dollar question," a political analyst told IANS.

The state Congress is divided into two main groups -- one led by state unit President Sachin Pilot and the other reposing faith in the old guards like Ashok Gehlot.

"There are no differences within the party. All leaders who attended the dinner gave suggestions to strengthen the Congress in Rajasthan," Kamat said.

Sachin Pilot will host a dinner for party leaders on November 8.

The Congress suffered one of the worst defeats in Rajasthan in the 2013 assembly elections and presently has only 24 MLAs in the 200-member house.
Pudukottai: Twelve Tamil fishermen were detained by Sri Lankan Naval personnel for allegedly entering island waters but were released after a warning on Tuesday.

The fishermen from Jegadapattinam in Pudukottai district, who had set out in two boats were fishing in Gopuratheevu off Neduntheevu in Sri Lanka, when they were arrested and taken to Kangesan port there, for inquiry, Fisheries Assistant Director, Sekar said.

The authorities warned them not to enter Sri Lankan waters before releasing them this morning, he said adding the fishermen were expected to return this evening.

On October 2, more than 2000 fishermen from Rameswaram were forced to return without catch after Lankan Naval personnel attacked them by pelting stones and iron balls near Katchatheevu.
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to clear confusion about Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's health.

According to news agency ANI, the government lawyer has been asked to submit the information to the court tomorrow.

The instructions from the Madras High Court came in response to a petition asking the AIADMK government statement amid speculation that Jayalalithaa, 68, is seriously unwell and her party is trying to keep it a secret.

The petition also asked that an interim chief minister be appointed as she recovers at the Apollo hospital in Chennai.

Jayalalithaa was hospitalised on September 22 with fever and dehydration.

Her party AIADMK has vehemently denied reports that she is critically ill and said that she is recovering well.

"Apollo hospital authorities say that her treatment is going well. She needs rest and she is recovering. She is hale and healthy and will come back soon," said CR Saraswathi, a party spokesperson, on Tuesday.

Over the weekend, the party confirmed that a UK specialist was flown in to supervise her recovery.

With curiosity about the Chief Minister's health fuelling questions on who is in-charge, a party leader said that a team of six officials and aides - who have also been visiting the hospital - are running the show for now.

The team includes four private secretaries, tasked with overseeing all 54 government departments, the Chief Secretary and Sheela Balakrishnan, the official adviser to the Chief Minister and long-time aide.

Opposition leaders like the DMK's M Karunanidhi have urged the Chief Minister's party to release a photograph to prove she is not critical, but the AIADMK has rejected the demand.

The party has also filed four police cases against people who misreported her health on social media.

With PTI inputs
Chennai: Even as the Apollo hospital said on Tuesday that J Jayalalithaa's health condition "continues to improve", there is one woman who is being credited with running the state administration in absence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

And she is - Retired IAS officer, Sheela Balakrishnan, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

She is said to be holding court somewhere on the second floor of the hospital where ailing Jayalalithaa is being treated by a team of top doctors.

Top officials (such as chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao and director general of police TK Rajendran) supposedly line up to take instructions from her.

Even ministers are taking instructions from her, Hindustan Times quoted an official (who did not wish to be named) as saying.

Jayalalithaa has implicit trust in Sheela Balakrishnan, both for her abilities and attitude, which is why she has become the most important person in the state today. Nothing moves without her consent, he added.

The 1976-batch IAS officer is said to be operating from a room close to that of Jayalalithaa.

Balakrishnan, 62, retired in 2014, but was appointed as Jayalalithaa's official adviser soon after and is said to be her most-trusted advisor.

The Daily also said that though no major policy decisions are being taken in the CM's absence, Balakrishnan is ensuring that the administration is being run smoothly.

On the other hand, her orders are reportedly being implemented by another IAS officer, Santha Sheela Nair. She sits in CM's office in the state secretariat.

Medical treatment of TN CM continuing: Apollo hospital

Meanwhile, Apollo hospital said today that same line of treatment, including antibiotics and other clinical measures, was being continued for Jayalalithaa.

Chief Operating Officer of Apollo hospitals Subbiah Viswanathan said in a press release that "the same line of treatment is being continued. The honourable CM is under close observation by the team of doctors."

The CM, who is undergoing treatment, "continues to improve," he said, adding that she has been advised further stay in the hospital, as per PTI.

Yesterday, Viswanathan had said the treatment plan, including appropriate antibiotics, respiratory support and other allied clinical measures, was being continued to treat infection.

He had also said that she "is responding adequately to the comprehensive treatment".

On October 2, for the first time since she was hospitalised on September 22, the hospital had said the Chief Minister was being treated for "infection".

A bulletin from the hospital had said it had taken an expert opinion from a UK-based doctor who examined her and concurred with the present line of treatment.

The 68-year-old AIADMK supremo was admitted to the hospital after she complained of fever and dehydration.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Breaking from tradition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the historic Aishbagh Ramlila in Lucknow on Dussehra next week, seen as yet another attempt to connect to the people of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

BJP vice president and Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma, who is also the Ramlila's patron, said PM Modi has accepted his invitation to attend the October 11 event, which dates back to the times of Hindu saint Tulsidas.

The Prime Minister will participate in the 'aarti' and then fire the symbolic arrow to burn the effigy of demon king Ravana, he said.

Usually, the Prime Ministers have celebrated the festival in the national capital.

PM Modi's visit assumes an added significance because of assembly polls due next year in Uttar Pradesh where the saffron party is making a concerted bid to come back to power after a gap of 15 years and is up against ruling Samajwadi Party and main opposition Mayawati-led BSP.

The Aishbagh Ramlila is also seen as a symbol of pluralistic culture, also called 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb', as Muslim rulers patronised it and allotted it space equal to Eidgah, which is situated right next to it.

In the absence of strong regional leaders, BJP is again banking on Modi's appeal to power its campaign in the state, which it swept in the Lok Sabha polls riding on a national wave in his support but where it is perceived to have slipped since.

The party had earlier said that Modi will be in the state every month before the campaign picks up when he is expected to address rallies and attend more events.

In May, he had launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia under which cooking gas would be provided to poor families in the country.

During his July visit, he laid the foundation stones for an AIIMS and a fertilizer plant in Gorakhpur.
Brussels: US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Britain on Tuesday to maintain the closest possible links with the European Union as it negotiates to leave the bloc, saying the unity of Europe was paramount for transatlantic relations.

Speaking in Brussels, Kerry sought to make the case for the European Union despite the rise of anti-EU populist parties and Britain`s vote to exit. He said there could be no place for isolationist policies.

"We will not be shy about where our interests lie: We need the strongest possible EU, the strongest possible UK and a highly integrated, collaborative relationship between them," Kerry said in a speech.

"We should never take for granted the good achieved by the unity of Europe," he said, adding that "some people do so too quickly," recalling his youth as the son of a US diplomat growing up in divided Berlin in the 1950s.

Britons` decision to leave the 28-member bloc on June 23dealt a huge blow to the European project of greater unity, and alarmed Washington which feared that the post-war stability it helped to underpin was at risk.

The departure of Washington`s closest ally in the bloc comes as the European Union and the United States are negotiating a trade pact that could encompass almost half the world`s economy.

Anti-EU political parties, who are placing unprecedented pressure on the centre-left and centre-right establishment in Europe, have seized on the proposed pact as a sign of unbridled capitalism, saying it will lower standards and benefit only multinational companies.

While Kerry said that the West needed to move on from the British referendum result, he criticised European politicians who he said failed to promote the benefits of the European Union over the past six decades.

Echoing an intervention by President Barack Obama last April in London in support of the EU, the world`s biggest trading bloc, Kerry said the continent`s post-war recovery and its ensuing prosperity was "one of the greatest stories in the history of human kind".

In what appeared to be a direct appeal to Eurosceptics, he also questioned, in an age of free-trade, technological connectivity and the complex threats facing the West, how any country could break away from the international order. "Who could credibly argue that each nation, operating in a vacuum, would somehow be more efficient and effective?"
Bogota: Colombia`s government said Tuesday that the FARC rebels must decide whether to renegotiate a peace deal that voters rejected in a referendum, throwing a four-year-old peace process into disarray.

The government`s chief peace negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, has returned to Havana, where the peace talks were held, to see whether the leftist guerrillas are open to revising the deal, Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told a press conference.

"The decision on whether to open up the agreements is a decision that falls to the FARC," she said. Colombians narrowly voted "No" Sunday to what had been hailed as a historic peace deal, a shock defeat in a referendum marked by low turnout.

Voters apparently balked at the concessions offered to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including soft sentences with no jail time for those who confessed to crimes committed during the 52-year-old conflict.

President Juan Manuel Santos, who has staked his legacy on the peace process, has named Holguin, de la Calle and Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas to hold talks with the opposition on salvaging the deal.

They will be tasked with finding a compromise acceptable to both the FARC and the deal`s hardline opponents, led by Santos`s political enemy, former president Alvaro Uribe.

Holguin said the government is "fully ready" to listen to the deal`s opponents. She called for a speedy meeting with Uribe`s right-wing party, the Democratic Center -- which snubbed emergency talks convened Monday by Santos at the presidential palace.

The Colombia conflict has killed more than 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing, drawing in several leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

The FARC, the oldest and largest rebel group, was to relaunch as a political party under the peace deal. Holguin admitted the government was left scrambling by the surprise referendum result, which flew in the face of opinion polls.

"There was no Plan B. We believed the country wanted peace," she said. A United Nations mission tasked with overseeing the disarmament process was also left adrift.

"The mandate for the UN political mission... is for a peace deal. At this point, we don`t have a peace deal," said Holguin.
Bogota: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will meet his predecessor and top rival Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday to discuss salvaging the peace process with the FARC rebels, officials said.

The high-stakes meeting comes after voters rejected a peace deal Uribe had condemned as too lenient on the leftist guerrillas -- throwing the peace process into disarray and giving the former president a major victory.

The political enemies will meet at 11:30 am (1630 GMT) at the presidential palace, Santos`s office said. The two men have a complicated history.

Santos served as Uribe`s defense minister from 2006 to 2009, leading a major army offensive against the FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

But he shifted gears after succeeding Uribe in 2010, opening peace talks with the weakened rebels and provoking a major falling-out with his former boss, who branded him a traitor.

Santos will also meet with former president Andres Pastrana (1998-2002), another major opponent of the peace deal, an hour before Uribe, his office said.

Both meetings will be held behind closed doors. Santos said on Twitter that he had invited the two former presidents "to dialogue... in a constructive spirit."

His last known meeting with Uribe was in January 2011, after his government began secret talks with the FARC.

Santos repeatedly offered to meet his right-wing predecessor after formal talks with the rebels opened in Cuba in November 2012, but no sit-down materialized.

Santos, who has staked his legacy on the peace process, has been left scrambling by the shock referendum result, which flew in the face of opinion polls.

He named his foreign minister, defense minister and chief peace negotiator Monday to hold emergency talks with the opposition and seek a compromise.

Uribe and his hardline allies argue the peace deal is too soft on the FARC because it would have granted the rebels lenient sentences with no jail time for crimes committed during the conflict and allowed them to relaunch as a political party.

The Colombia conflict has killed more than 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing over half a century, drawing in several leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.
Bogota: Colombia`s government and Marxist guerrillas scrambled on Monday to revive a plan to end their 52-year war after voters rejected the hard-negotiated deal as too lenient on the rebels in a shock referendum result that plunged the nation into uncertainty.

Any renegotiated peace accord now seems to depend on whether the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could accept tougher sanctions against them.

"No" voters, who narrowly won Sunday`s plebiscite, want assurances the rebels will hand in cash from drugs, spend time in jail, and earn their political future at the ballot box rather than get guaranteed, unelected seats in Congress.

Both President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, the top FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, put a brave face on the referendum setback after four years of negotiations in Havana between their teams.

They vowed to maintain a ceasefire and keep working together, even though that could be another lengthy and complicated process. "I will keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term," said Santos, who leaves office in mid-2018.

In a statement, the FARC said it would "remain faithful" to the accord signed last week with the government and called on Colombians to mobilise peacefully to support terms of the existing agreement.

Members of the opposition, headed by powerful former president Alvaro Uribe, will meet with the government to try and salvage the accord, Santos said on Monday in a televised address.

"With the will for peace from all sides, I am sure we can reach satisfactory solutions for everyone soon," said Santos, whose political image has taken a beating with the result. "The country will come out winning and the process will be strengthened."

Uribe, a onetime ally who has become Santos` fiercest critic, maintains wide-ranging influence and had argued the rebels should serve jail terms and never be permitted to enter politics.

"We are completely willing to dialogue," Uribe, now a senator, said on the floor of Congress on Monday. "But is there willingness on the part of the government to listen and introduce some changes?"

Latin America`s longest conflict has killed 220,000 people, displaced millions and brought atrocities on all sides.

International exhortations for Colombia to stay on the path to peace flooded in.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest expressed U.S. support for efforts by Santos and other parties to negotiate and urged all sides to continue the pursuit of peace. Washington was prepared to play a constructive role, he added.

"We`re saddened by the slim victory for `No`," said Ecuador`s foreign minister, Guillaume Long amid a chorus around Latin America. The deal was rejected by a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point, just 54,000 votes.

Turnout for the vote was a paltry 37 percent, reflecting some apathy from "Yes" supporters who had assumed an easy win, in addition to bad weather that deterred voters.

Following the result, which some commentators compared with Britain`s shock "Brexit" vote to leave the European Union, peace researchers dropped Colombia from a list of favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Colombian markets dipped in Monday`s trading on disappointment at the "no" vote that may complicate government efforts to keep its agency ratings and pass the tax reforms to compensate for lost oil income.

The result will also dent Santos` hopes for a boom in foreign investment in mining, oil and agriculture in Latin America`s fourth-largest economy.

U.N. ENCOURAGEMENT

The United Nations applauded the maintenance of a ceasefire in Colombia despite the vote and said its special envoy, Jean Arnault, would also travel to Cuba to help the process.

"We would have hoped for a different result, but I am encouraged by the commitment expressed (by Santos and Timochenko)," U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said. "I count on them to press ahead until they achieve secure and lasting peace.

Colombians, even those who backed the "No" vote, expressed shock at the outcome and uncertainty about the future.

"We never thought this could happen," said sociologist and "No" voter Mabel Castano, 37. "Now I just hope the government, the opposition and the FARC come up with something intelligent that includes us all."

The peace accord offered the possibility that rebel fighters would hand in their weapons to the United Nations, confess their crimes and form a political party rooted in their Marxist ideology.

The FARC, which began as a peasant revolt in 1964, would have been able to compete in the 2018 presidential and legislative elections and have 10 unelected congressional seats guaranteed through 2026.

The rebels softened their stance in the original negotiation, publicly admitting for the first time they trafficked drugs, recruited minors and committed human rights violations, including massacres.

But voters worried the rebels would not turn over assets from drugs and illegal mining, potentially giving them a formidable war chest that could outstrip the coffers of traditional parties.

Regions still riven by the conflict, including poor areas along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, voted resoundingly in favour of the deal, but formerly violent interior areas pacified during the Uribe presidency largely backed the "No" camp.

"How sad. It seems Colombia has forgotten about the cruelty of war, our deaths, our injured, our mutilated, our victims and the suffering we`ve all lived through with this war," said Adriana Rivera, 43, a philosophy professor standing tearfully at the hotel housing the headquarters of the "Yes" campaign.
Les Cayes: The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade slammed Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and surging seas that flooded coastal towns, killing at least one person and tearing at trees and rooftops before moving out to sea.

The eye of the violent and slow-moving Category 4 Hurricane Matthew passed over the western tip of Haiti, the US National Hurricane Center said, bringing devastating winds, torrential rains and a storm surge with massive waves. The storm was forecast to remain powerful as it made its way to Cuba and the Bahamas.

A hurricane watch was issued for parts of southeast Florida, which the forecasters said Matthew could reach late on Thursday.

Haitian port town Les Cayes, named for the sandy islands off its shore and twice destroyed by hurricanes in the 18th century, was hard hit.

"The situation in Les Cayes is catastrophic, the city is flooded, you have trees lying in different places and you can barely move around, the wind has damaged many houses and taken away their rooftops," said Deputy Mayor Marie Claudette Regis Delerme, speaking from the town of about 70,000 people.

Regis Delerme said she herself had to flee from a building where she was attending a meeting about the storm, when a gust of wind ripped the roof off.

"It is very difficult to even try to help those who need assistance right now, and we lack financial means to do so," she said.

One man died as the storm crashed through his home in the nearby beach town of Port Salut, Haiti`s civil protection service said. He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said. A fisherman was killed in heavy seas over the weekend as the storm approached, and another was missing.

There was no immediate word on other potential casualties in the poorest country in the Americas.

Overnight, Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks on the western Tiburon Peninsula frantically sought shelter as Matthew closed in. Several districts in southern Haiti were flooded, with crops inundated with ocean and rain water.

As much as 3 feet (1 meter) of rain was forecast to fall over hills that are largely deforested and prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shantytowns in the capital Port-au-Prince, where heavy rain fell overnight.

The hurricane comes at a time when tens of thousands of people are still living in flimsy tents and makeshift dwellings in Haiti after a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

More than 9,000 people were huddled in shelters across Haiti, authorities said as the eye of the storm passed over the remote fishing town of Les Anglais.

Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were likely in southern and northwestern Haiti, the hurricane center said. It expected Matthew to remain a powerful hurricane through at least Wednesday night.

The outer bands of the storm reached the area late on Monday, flooding dozens of houses in Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the mayor said.

In the nearby town of Tiburon, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also ran for cover when the sea rose and large waves began hitting the town.

Matthew was 35 miles (60 km) north of Haiti and 90 miles (145 km) south of the eastern tip of Cuba at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). It was moving north at about 10 miles per hour (17 kph), the hurricane center said.

Cuba`s Communist government traditionally puts extensive efforts into saving lives and property in the face of storms, and authorities have spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, which is home to the disputed US Naval base and military prison and also to a small Cuban city. The U.S. Navy ordered the evacuation of 700 spouses and children of service personnel as the storm approached.

Guantanamo`s mountainous terrain is the countrys second coffee producer after nearby Santiago, and the storm poses a major threat to the current harvest.

Haiti is due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Oct. 9. The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privet said there was no change to the election date.

A hurricane watch was in effect from Deerfield Beach, Florida to the Volusia-Brevard county line, a coastal area near Cape Canaveral, which the storm could reach on Thursday, the hurricane center said.

"Direct hurricane impacts are possible in Florida," the center said. It added that tropical storm or hurricane conditions could also affect parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week, even if the center of Matthew remained offshore.

Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.
District of Columbia: Tens of thousands of Americans have already cast their votes for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump or other candidates well ahead of November`s presidential election, part of an early voting tradition that is gaining popularity.

With 35 days still to go, it has not yet been a voting deluge. According to professor Michael McDonald, an early voting specialist at the University of Florida, about 130,000 people have already voted -- out of 130 million expected voters.

Early ballots will be officially counted on Election Day, Tuesday November 8.

The US electoral system is a decentralized operation: the nation`s 50 states organize the vote and the ballot counting, each in its own way.

Americans have two early voting options:

- By mail. This is available across the 50 states. Voters usually must request the ballots in advance. In 20 states, they must provide an excuse for voting by mail. Three states -- Colorado, Oregon and Washington -- mail ballots to every registered voter.

- In person. Voting booths, for example in county administration offices, are open early with varying degrees of access, in 37 states and the District of Columbia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Voting in person largely begins in October. Three states have already begun in-person early voting, including Iowa. Ohio residents can begin voting in person on October 12.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Ohio on October 14 for a "Get Out the Early Vote" rally for Clinton in Cleveland, according to the Clinton campaign.

There is no access to the ballots cast, but there are some clues about whom the early voters might be supporting.

Americans register according to party -- either as Democrats, Republicans, independents, or members of other parties -- and electoral authorities sometimes provide statistics on the number of voters in each party who requested ballots.

In Iowa, for example, twice as many Democrats as Republicans have requested absentee ballots, suggesting an advantage for Clinton.

But such data cannot foretell an election result. The Democratic Party may have begun its grass roots mobilization earlier than the Republicans in Iowa. The elderly usually vote before young people, which favors the Republicans.

Early voting is expanding. In 1996, according to the US Census Bureau, only 10.5 percent of votes were cast early. By 2012, that figure had risen to one third of all ballots cast.
London: India's "proactive operation" against terrorists in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be "commended" and supported by the international community, a top European Parliament official has said, underlining that New Delhi deserves global support in its fight against terror.

European Parliament vice-president Ryszard Czarnecki praised India for their approach to the situation.

"India's cross-border action against terrorists on its borders with Pakistan should be commended and supported by the international community. India has clearly indicated that these attacks were not against the Pakistani state, but focussed against terror groups that threatened peace and stability in the region," Czarnecki said.

"India deserves global support in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan, for if left unchecked, these individuals and groups would be attacking Europe and the West, soon. It is also important for the European Union to maintain pressure on Pakistan to eliminate the terror networks that operate within its borders," the British-born Polish politician said in an article in EP Today, the monthly news magazine for the European Parliament.

The "proactive operation" carried out on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was "probably a first by India" and was in response to the two attacks on Indian defence establishments -- the Pathankot airbase in January and the Uri army camp in September, he said.

"The time has come for the world to act decisively against terrorism and ensure that no terror group is assured of a secure haven in any part of the world," he added.

The close relationship between the Pakistan defence establishment, the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network was well known, he added.

"We have witnessed the alarming growth of Pak-linked terror modules in Europe and other parts of the world. The close proximity between the Pak security establishment and terror groups has also given rise to a situation where organisations propagating Islamic militancy in Pakistan enjoy de facto state patronage," Czarnecki said.

Tensions between India and Pakistan are growing after militants stormed an Indian Army base in Uri on September 18, killing 19 soldiers.

The terror launch pads across the border were targeted by the Indian Army last week, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Santo Domingo: Hurricane Matthew killed four people, including three children, when it slammed into the Dominican Republic, officials said Tuesday, bringing the total death toll from the storm to at least seven.

Two children were killed when their home collapsed on them in the poor hillside neighborhood of Capotillo, in the capital Santo Domingo, said an AFP reporter at the scene.

Another died in similar circumstances in the nearby neighborhood of Puya, while a man was killed when a wall fell and crushed him in a district of the capital known as Manoguayabo.

The Category Four hurricane barreled into the island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti, shortly after daybreak Tuesday, packing maximum sustained winds of around 230 kilometers (145 miles) per hour.

At least three people have been reported killed in Haiti.

In both countries, the victims lost their lives as gale-force winds and rain lashed the island overnight, even before Matthew made landfall. Officials warned the death toll could still rise.

Dominican officials said they had been forced to evacuate some 800 people. Nearly 18,000 others are sheltering with family or friends.

The country`s Center for Emergency Operations said the storm damaged nearly 200 homes and cut off 31 towns.

It declared a red alert in 19 provinces, including along the Haitian border.

Dominican officials warned that heavy rains and winds of up to 60 kilometers an hour "could last for several hours" around the capital.
Wellington: An Indian student who killed his pregnant girlfriend in a frenzied knife attack in New Zealand after she told him the baby was not his was sentenced to life imprisonment today.

The man, who goes by the single name Akash, displayed "cruelty, brutality and callousness" in murdering 22-year-old Gurpreet Kaur, Auckland High Court judge Matthew Palmer said.

The judge said the pair were secretly dating for 12 months but Akash, 24, snapped on April 7 this year when Kaur told him the baby was not his and she wanted to end the relationship.

High on methamphetamine, he stabbed her 29 times and dumped the body in roadside bushes south of Auckland.

He initially pleaded not guilty, arguing the stab wounds were self inflicted, but admitted his guilt in August, four months after being arrested.

Palmer said the fact that Kaur was 7 to 10 weeks pregnant exacerbated the crime and made her death even more painful for her family.

"Not only did you murder Gurpreet Kaur and deprive her family of her existence, but you deprived her and her family of the potential of another life," the judge said.

Akash was sentenced to life with a minimum of 17 years behind bars.
Greenbelt: A citizen of Bangladesh who was living in Maryland has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State group.

A court document says that 24-year-old Nelash Mohamed Das of Hyattsville was ready to carry out what he thought was an attack on a member of the US military when he was arrested Friday. The supposed attack was set up by a confidential informant for the FBI.

Das, a legal permanent resident of the United States, made his first appearance in federal court Monday. He has been ordered held until a detention hearing Thursday.

Online court records did not list an attorney for him, though a spokeswoman for the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland said Das had been assigned a public defender.

An attempt by The Associated Press to reach the attorney Monday evening by phone for comment was unsuccessful.

If convicted, Das faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Das voiced support on his social media accounts for the Islamic State group from late 2015 to early 2016, including support for attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and had taken a class and submitted fingerprints in order to get a handgun permit, according to court documents filed in his case. He told a confidential informant for the FBI that he wanted to kill US military personnel, the court documents say.

Conducting an attack is "like my goal in life," Das allegedly told the informant.

Das met the FBI's confidential informant in May 2016 and thought he was a like-minded supporter of the Islamic State group, the court documents say.

The confidential informant told Das he had gotten information about a target, member of the US military, from an Islamic State group contact in Iraq. Das allegedly said he wanted to help carry out an attack on the person and bought ammunition for it.

Das believed that the confidential informant's contact in Iraq would pay USD 80,000 in exchange for the attack, the court documents say.

Das was arrested after loading a gun and traveling with the informant to a location where he believed they would conduct the attack, the court documents say.
Islamabad: Pakistan`s National Security Advisor Naseer Khan Janjua on Tuesday briefed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other officials on the status of implementation of the National Action Plan for combating terrorism and the situation along the border with India.

The provincial Chief Ministers and top government officials also attended the meetings, chaired by the Premier.

In the NAP meeting, the participants agreed that collective efforts at the national level were needed to consolidate the gains made so far in the fight against terrorism.

It was agreed that there is a need to further improve the collection, collation, analysis and use of intelligence input to defeat terrorism in the country, Dawn online reported.

Sharif claimed there had been a significant improvement in security in Pakistan. "We are fighting a war on terrorism and our fight against violent extremism as a national policy imperative," he said.

According to media reports here, the focus of the meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) later was the situation along the Line of Control and Indian "atrocities" in Kashmir.

The meeting comes a day after political leaders during an `All Parties Conference` resolved to raise the Kashmir issue at various international fora and said they stood united against Indian "aggression and violation of human rights" in Kashmir.

Tensions have simmered between India and Pakistan after the September 18 attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir, which left 19 security personnel dead. India blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group for the attack.

The relations between the neighbouring nations further deteriorated after the Indian Army on September 28 night carried out surgical strikes to destroy seven terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-held Kashmir. Another Indian Border Security Force camp was attacked by militants on October 1 in Baramulla town of north Kashmir, which left a paramilitary personnel dead.

Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif apprised the Prime Minister of the situation along the border with India.

General Sharif met the Premier to discuss progress on various aspects of the anti-terror plan, the report said.
Lahore: Pakistan's former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Tuesday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for concealing his assets.

A single-member bench comprising Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah will hear the petition on October 6.

In the petition comprising 460 pages, Chaudhry said the prime minister and his family members had "lied and concealed their assets" but the truth had been revealed in the Panama Papers.

The petitioner called for disqualification of the premier and his family for life.

Citing a Supreme Court judgement, the petitioner said it was compulsory for everyone to disclose his sources of accumulating his assets therefore the prime minister and his family were bound to reveal their sources of their offshore assets.

Chaudhry also questioned the details of assets given by the prime minster in his nomination papers.

He said the prime minister could be impeached for concealing his assets in the nomination papers.

However, he said, the speaker ignored all the facts and flatly dismissed the reference against the prime minister.

He also sought impugning the decision of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for dismissing his reference against the prime minister in violation of the Constitution.

He contended that the speaker did not cite any reason for dismissing the reference filed under Article 63 (2) of the Constitution.

The speaker did not answer at least 15 questions raised in the reference while the response given on some of the queries was out of context.

The petitioner pleaded the speaker did not enjoy judicial powers as he was supposed to forward the reference to election commission after a bare perusal of the document.

Chaudhry has nominated Prime Minister Sharif, Election Commission of Pakistan and the federal government as a party in the case.
Manila: Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Duterte said he had lost respect for the United States and railed at its concerns about his bloody war on drugs, calling his critics "fools" who could not stop him carrying out a campaign that has killed more than 3,400 people in just over three months.

In a tangential, at times profane speech in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

"Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Duterte said in his second of two televised speeches on Tuesday.

"If you don`t want to sell arms, I`ll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said `do not worry we have everything you need, we`ll give it to you`.

"And as for China, they said `just come over and sign and everything will be delivered`."

His comments were the latest in a near-daily avalanche of hostility towards the United States, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

On Sunday, he said he had got support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also said he would review a U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement.

The deal, signed in 2014, grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

He said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but instead criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union.

"Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," he said.

"EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?"

According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte`s rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China`s influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two U.S. officials said on Monday.

Several of Duterte`s allies on Monday suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs.

"When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult," he said.

"That is my retaliation."
Manila: Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the United States had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, "I will break up with America". It was not clear what he meant by "break up".

During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

"Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Duterte said.

"If you don`t want to sell arms, I`ll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said `do not worry, we have everything you need, we`ll give it to you`.

"And as for China, they said `just come over and sign and everything will be delivered`."

His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the United States, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

In Washington, U.S. officials downplayed Duterte`s comments, saying they were "at odds" with the two countries` warm relationship and decades-long alliance. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there has been no communication from the Philippines about making changes in that relationship.

Earnest did not, however, back down from criticism of Duterte`s tactics in his deadly war on drugs.

"Even as we protect the strong alliance, the administration and the United States of America will not hesitate to raise our concerns about extrajudicial killings," he said at a briefing.

`HELL IS FULL`

On Sunday, Duterte said he had received support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also said he would review a U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement.

The deal, signed in 2014, grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

Duterte said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but that instead it had criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union.

"Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," he said.

"EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?"

At a later speech he said he was emotional because the United States had not been a friend of the Philippines since his election in May.

"They just ... reprimand another president in front of the international community," he told the Jewish community at a synagogue.

"This is what happens now, I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America."

It was not clear if by his "time", he was referring to his six-year term in office.

According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte`s rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China`s influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two U.S. officials said on Monday.

Several of Duterte`s allies on Monday suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs.

"When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult," he said.

"That is my retaliation."
Aleppo: Russia said Tuesday it has sent an advanced missile system to the Syrian port of Tartus, as tensions escalate between it and the United States over the five-year conflict.

The announcement came after Washington said it was suspending talks with Moscow aimed at reviving a ceasefire deal over Russia`s support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On the ground, Assad`s forces advanced on rebels during intense street fighting in the opposition-held east of Aleppo city, which Russia has been accused of bombing indiscriminately including targeting its hospitals.

The UN rights chief called for action to halt the "ghastly avalanche of violence" unfolding in Syria`s second city, which is reeling from some of the most brutal fighting in the conflict.

Russia, which has denied its strikes have hit hospitals, said it was deploying an S-300 missile system to Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.

"The S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat to anyone," said defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

"It`s not clear why the placement of S-300 in Syria has caused such a stir among our western colleagues," he said in a statement.

As well as operating a naval facility in Tartus, Russia runs an air base outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which currently houses warplanes used in its bombing campaign in support of ally Assad.

In August, a Russian official said Moscow was planning to expand into a permanent military facility its Hmeimim air base, which already has an S-400 air defence system, its most modern arsenal.

Washington announced late Monday that it would suspend joint efforts to reinstate a nationwide truce, accusing Moscow of abetting Assad`s assault on Aleppo."Everybody`s patience with Russia has run out," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

A US official said Secretary of State John Kerry was focused on finding a diplomatic solution, but his talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the crisis were over.

Kerry said Tuesday the decision was one "we did not come to lightly".

"We are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, we are not going to leave the multilateral field, we are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war," he said.

"People who are serious about making peace behave differently from the way Russia has chosen to behave," he added.

The Kremlin said it "would like to hope for the presence of political wisdom and the continuation of exchanges on particularly sensitive issues that are necessary for maintaining peace and security."

And Lavrov said Moscow was "not shirking our responsibility but consider that the crisis can only be resolved collectively."

The US-Russia truce plan had envisioned an end to hostilities, increased aid deliveries, and eventual coordination in the fight against jihadists.

But it collapsed after a week, with Russia blaming Washington for failing to convince rebels to distance themselves from jihadists.

Russia and the US will keep a communications channel open solely to ensure their separate anti-jihadist bombing campaigns do not get in each other`s way.

The Syrian army announced a major Russian-backed military push nearly two weeks ago to capture the eastern half of Aleppo, once the country`s commercial hub.The regime forces were "gradually advancing" after street battles on the front line dividing the city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"They are focusing on the tall buildings, which were once government administration buildings, because they can monitor entire streets and neighbourhoods from there," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

State media said rebel shelling on the government-held west, including the Aleppo University campus, killed six people.

More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011, and the latest attempt at securing a diplomatic solution to the war has fallen apart.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra`ad Al Hussein decried the "ghastly avalanche of violence and destruction" in east Aleppo, saying 100 children had been killed in the past 10 days.

He urged the Security Council to introduce a limit on its members` veto power, to prevent countries like Russia blocking the referral of Syria`s conflict to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

On Monday, the largest hospital in the rebel-held side of Aleppo was completely destroyed in an aerial attack, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports the facility.

Only five hospitals remain operational for the estimated 250,000 people living under a crippling government siege in east Aleppo.

Elsewhere, Save the Children said heavy shelling killed at least two aid workers at the Khan Eshieh camp for Palestinian refugees near Damascus.
Moscow: Russia`s defence ministry said Tuesday that it had sent an S-300 missile system to its naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, a measure it says is meant to bolster its security.

"The S-300 anti-aircraft missile system has indeed been sent to the Syrian Arab Republic," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

"I remind you that the S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat to anyone."

"It`s not clear why the placement of S-300 in Syria has caused such a stir among our western colleagues," he said.

The announcement comes as talks on reviving a failed ceasefire were suspended by Washington over Moscow`s support of the regime in Damascus.

Moscow has been accused of indiscriminately bombing Aleppo`s opposition-controlled east as it helps an offensive currently being conducted by Syrian regime forces to capture all of the country`s second city.

Russia has also denied that its strikes have hit hospitals and other civilian facilities in spite of reports to the contrary.

In addition to operating a naval facility in Tartus, Russia runs an air base outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which currently houses war planes used in Moscow`s bombing campaign in support of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad.

A senior Russian official said in August that Russia was planning to expand its Hmeimim air base in Syria into a permanent military facility.

The Hmeimim air base already has an S-400 air defence system, the most modern in Russia`s arsenal.
District of Columbia: South Carolina will start evacuating more than a million people from its coast Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew bears down after killing three people, triggering floods and forcing thousands to flee in Haiti, the governor said.

Governor Nikki Haley said Tuesday she had declared a state of emergency. The evacuations will begin as the state gears up for Matthew, expected to hit the South Carolina coast Saturday with 100-mile (160-kilometer) per hour winds.

"We have decided that we will evacuate all coastal communities starting tomorrow," Haley told a news conference.
Ankara: Turkish authorities suspended more than 12,000 police officers over alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of masterminding the July failed coup, the police headquarters said on Tuesday.

Of the 12,801 suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, 2,523 were police chiefs, the police authorities said in a statement. In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers.

They were suspended over suspected links to the Gulen movement which Turkey blames for the attempted putsch which tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Ankara`s accusations.

Tens of thousands of people in the judiciary, civil service, military, and education sector have been suspended while 32,000 suspects have been placed under arrest on charges of links to the movement.

The government`s crackdown has alarmed Turkey`s Western allies who have warned Ankara that it must act within the rule of law.

Turkey on Monday extended the state of emergency introduced after the failed putsch for another 90 days starting on October 19. Erdogan previously suggested that it might be necessary for the state of emergency to be kept for at least 12 months.
London: The UK on Tuesday unveiled plans to further its crackdown on immigration through "work and study routes" from non-EU nations, in a move expected to make it difficult for British firms to hire professionals from countries like India.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham she will be looking at a range of options to cut migration.

"Leaving the EU is just one part of the strategy. We have to look at all sources of immigration if we mean business... We will be looking across work and study routes. This will include examining whether we should tighten the test companies have to take before recruiting from abroad," Rudd said as she announced a new consultation on tightening immigration.

New rules are expected to make it tougher for British companies wanting to bring in foreign professionals from outside the EU, including countries like India.

"The test should ensure people coming here are filling gaps in the labour market, not taking jobs British people could do. But it's become a tick box exercise, allowing some firms to get away with not training local people.

"We won't win in the world if we don't do more to upskill our own workforce... I want us to look again at whether our immigration system provides the right incentives for businesses to invest in British workers," she said.

She also announced that from December, landlords that knowingly rent out property to people who have no right to be in the UK will be committing a criminal offence and could go to prison. Immigration checks will be a mandatory requirement for those wanting to get a licence to drive a taxi.

From next year, banks will have to do regular checks to ensure they are not providing essential banking services to illegal migrants.

The crackdown will affect students from India planning to study in the UK; their numbers are already at an all-time low.

"We will also look for the first time at whether our student immigration rules should be tailored to the quality of the course and the quality of the educational institution... We need to look at whether this one size fits all approach really is right for the hundreds of different universities, providing thousands of different courses across the country," the minister said.

However, she stressed that the new rules will be brought in after consultation with businesses and universities.

"This isn't about pulling up the drawbridge. It's about making sure students that come here, come to study. We're consulting because we want to work with businesses and universities to get this next stage of our reforms right," Rudd added.

For migration within the EU, the home minister unveiled plans to overhaul legislation to make it easier to deport criminals and those who abuse UK laws while Britain negotiates its complete exit from the economic bloc.
Bamako: Attacks targeting a camp in northern Mali operated by the United Nations peacekeeping mission today killed one soldier from Chad and wounded eight others, UN officials said.

Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, said Monday that after a mortar attack on the camp in Aguelhok, in the northern Kidal region around 2 PM, two vehicles hit improvised explosive devices.

According to preliminary information, four different attacks targeted UN personnel at the camp in Aguelhok, according to a statement released by the secretary-general's spokesman. It said a peacekeeper from Chad was killed and eight others injured.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks and called for "swift action to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice, the statement said. It added that attacks against UN peacekeepers "constitute war crimes under international law."

Islamic extremists took control of northern Mali in 2012, prompting a French-led intervention that drove them from cities and towns in 2013.

However, north and central Mali remain unstable, and attacks by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and linked groups against peacekeepers and security forces are common.
Brussels: The United States has not given up the "pursuit of peace" in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday after the White House abandoned talks with Russia on reviving a ceasefire deal.

"Yesterday, as most of you saw, the United States announced our decision to suspend our bilateral discussions with Russia on the reinstitution of the cessation of hostilities agreement - a decision that, believe me, we did not come to lightly," Kerry said in a speech in Brussels.

"I want to be very, very clear to everybody, we are not giving up on the Syrian people, we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, we are not going to leave the multilateral field, we are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war," he added.

The top US diplomat also launched a withering attack on Moscow for its military support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as the bombardment of besieged eastern Aleppo continues.

"The Syrian regime and Russia have rejected diplomacy in furtherance of their pursuit of a military victory over the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals, and traumatised children of a long-suffering land," added Kerry.

"People who are serious about making peace behave differently from the way Russia has chosen to behave," he said.
District of Columbia: US agencies are considering "diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options" to deal with the crisis in Syria, an official said Tuesday, while stressing the need for a "political resolution."

Top US security and foreign policy chiefs are to meet Wednesday to review their options to present to US President Barack Obama, after abandoning attempts to work with Russia to impose a truce.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed that some military options might be discussed, but said Secretary of State John Kerry is still working hard to pursue the diplomatic track with allies.

"Just because we`ve temporarily suspended the cooperation that we had bilaterally with Russia on Syria doesn`t mean that we`ve closed any doors on multilateral action," Toner said.

US officials say that any new economic sanctions on Russia or Syria would be more effective if applied internationally. Senior US and European officials will meet on Wednesday in Germany.

"We`re examining closely our approach going forward," Toner said of the internal US government debate in Washington.

"And in that regard, the departments/agencies are discussing diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options, and we`ll all have these discussions going forward.

"But essentially our view remains the same," Toner said. "Our stress is still on a political resolution."

US forces are deployed in Syria and Iraq leading an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group, but the White House has resisted pressure to be drawn into the Syrian civil war.

Russian forces are there backing Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad`s forces in their battle against the rebels, some of them supported by the US.

Last month, a US-Russian effort to broker a ceasefire collapsed amid mutual recrimination and Assad`s forces backed by Russian air power launched an assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

Toner said Washington had walked away from the deal with Russia "with frustration, outrage and sadness," but said it was impossible to pursue it while Russian forces target Syrian civilians.


District of Columbia: A US soldier was killed by a bomb blast Tuesday while on foot patrol during counterterrorism operations in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said it was his "understanding" that no other US personnel or Afghan troops were wounded in the attack in Nangarhar province, noting that it did not appear the American was specifically targeted.

"The servicemember was killed conducting operations with Afghan forces when the patrol triggered an improvised explosive device," US Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement.

"The mission was conducted as part of a larger United States-Afghan counterterrorism mission targeting the Islamic State, Khorasan."

The Pentagon withheld the servicemember`s identity, pending notification of family members.

"Despite this tragic event, we remain committed to defeating the terrorists of the Islamic State, Khorasan Province and helping our Afghan partners defend their nation," said General John Nicholson, who heads US forces in Afghanistan.

Nangarhar province is a hotbed of Islamic State group activity near the border with Pakistan. The soldier died in the province`s Achin district.

US and NATO forces are working with Afghan partners to battle the Taliban and other groups. About 2,300 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.
Citigroup acquired Banamex in 2001 and currently has nearly 1,500 branches in Mexico, 7,500 ATMs and 5.7 million credit cards

Citigroup announced Tuesday a long-term plan to build up its scandal-plagued Mexican unit Banamex, renaming the company Citibanamex and pumping $1 billion into the business through 2020.

The plan includes a beefed-up physical presence in Mexico, with 2,500 new ATMs and 100 new "digital branches," which typically are staffed with a few humans and provide services through touch-screen and other automated capacities.

Citibanamex will also upgrade its computer infrastructure systems to provide better digital-banking services from personal computers and smartphones. There will be special branch offerings for priority clients and small- and medium-sized businesses.

"These investments in Citibanamex reaffirm our commitment to Mexico and our confidence in its prospects," said Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat.

"Our goal is nothing less than to create a state-of-the-art bank in Mexico, fully focused on delivering a richer, smarter, more intuitive experience to everyone who does business with us."

Citigroup acquired Banamex in 2001 and currently has nearly 1,500 branches in Mexico, 7,500 ATMs and 5.7 million credit cards.

In February 2014, Citigroup announced a one-time charge of $235 million after uncovering fraud on the books of oil contractor Oceanografia, which had borrowed $585 million from a Banamex unit.

The disclosure spurred numerous government probes, including investigations by the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Citigroup in July 2015 shut the US branch of Banamex and paid a $140 million fine to a California state agency due to persistent violations of federal bank secrecy and money laundering rules.
The WTO appeals panel, ruling in the dispute dating back to 2004, said that the European Union had not taken the steps ordered by the WTO in 2011 to withdraw several support and subsidy programs for Airbus

The Obama administration said Monday that it will press the World Trade Organization to enforce a panel report that found the European Union guilty of maintaining illegal subsidies to Airbus.

The US Trade Representative plans a special meeting at the WTO on October 14 as it defends US aircraft producer Boeing's market position against what it calls unfair competition from its European rival.

That follows the September 22 finding of a WTO appeals board that the European Union failed to end illegal subsidies for Airbus.

The US wants the WTO to formally adopt the appeals panel's findings, and "will press for the rapid enforcement of those findings in a special meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body," the US Trade Representative's office said in a statement.

"We will not tolerate our trading partners ignoring the rules at the expense of American workers and their families," said Michael Froman, the US trade representative.

"We need to resolve these disputes once and for all."

The WTO appeals panel, ruling in the dispute dating back to 2004, said that the European Union had not taken the steps ordered by the WTO in 2011 to withdraw several support and subsidy programs for Airbus.

The WTO did not give a value to those programs, but Boeing said they amounted to $22 billion worth of illegal support for Airbus development and sales.

Boeing also claimed that as a result of the September 22 ruling, the United States could now levy retaliatory duties against the European Union of up to $10 billion a year.

At the time, the European Union said it found some of the WTO findings "unsatisfactory" and noted it had the right to appeal the ruling.

It also pointed out that the WTO is likely to rule in the coming months on EU and Airbus complaints about what they say is illegal US support for Boeing.

Washington has said it is ready to negotiate a solution over the broader dispute.

But Froman said in a statement that the US "is strongly committed to enforcing the rights of the United States under our trade agreements and we will use every tool at our disposal to expedite these cases for the benefit of American businesses and workers."
German prosecutors have dropped an investigation into comedian Jan Boehmermann over a ribald poem he wrote about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reports the BBC.

Boehmermann's televised performance quipped that Erdogan fucked goats, among other insults, leading to an official complaint and an investigation.

Boehmermann is a satirist and television presenter well-known for pushing the boundaries of German humour. The poem was broadcast on ZDF television. The comedian was later given police protection. Mr Erdogan has drawn much criticism in Turkey and internationally for attacking political opponents, including harassment of journalists. Many accuse him of authoritarian methods, stifling legitimate dissent and promoting an Islamist agenda.

The Turkish government cited an ancient lese-majeste law making it illegal to insult foreign heads of state. Though saying the law should be scrapped, German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved the inquiry and was critical of Boehmermann.

In the resulting uproar over free speech, however, both Merkel and prosecutors came under withering criticismand stories about Boehmermann and his work only proliferated.

Other people who have quipped about Ergodan's alleged affection for quadrupeds include UK foreign minister Boris Johnson.

Previously: German chancellor allows prosecution of satirist who insulted Turkish president
Take care when asking provocative questions at Kansas City's library events: you might end up in jail.

The executive director of Kansas City Libraries says he's outraged by the charges against Jeremy Rothe-Kushel, a Jewish man grabbed by private security after asking the event's speaker, former diplomat Dennis Ross, uninvited follow-up questions. Off-duty cops moved in to arrest Rothe-Kushel when he objected to the hands-on treatmentas well as a library staffer who had moved to intervene.

The Associated Press reports Kansas City police spokeswoman Capt. Stacey Graves as saying officers "acted properly in helping private security stop an audience member from asking follow-up questions."

Issues arose after Ross finished speaking and took a question from Jeremy Rothe-Kushel concerning whether Jewish Americans like Rothe-Kushel should be concerned about actions by the U.S. and Israel that amount to "state-sponsored terrorism." "When are we going to stand up and be ethical Jews and Americans?" Rothe-Kushel asked. When Rothe-Kushel tried to ask another question, a private security guard grasped his arm, followed by an off-duty police officer, both employed by the Jewish Community Foundation. Rothe-Kushel then shouted, "Get your hands off of me right now!" Steve Woolfolk, director of public programming for the library, tried to intervene. Both men were arrested by off-duty officers.

On-duty officers posted to the event apparently did not get involved until later: he was arrested by a man out of uniform and paid by the event's organizers.

Rothe-Kushel was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. Steve Woolfolk, director of public programming for the library, was charged with interfering with an arrest. The libraries' executive director, R. Crosby Kemper III. Kemper, said the private security guards have no right to remove library patrons and that he was going public because prosecutors refuse to drop the charges.

At this stage, I'm actually outraged," Kemper said. "This is a big violation of the very first amendment to the Constitution of the United States."

If Kemper regrets letting cops work as hired muscle at library events, he seems to be learning his lesson.

"I assumed they would want this to go away," he said, but "the police and the prosecutor's office aren't talking to us. They've just gotten into a defensive mode." The Kansas City prosecutor's office declined to comment, citing a pending case. Kansas City Police Department spokeswoman Capt. Stacey Graves did not return KCUR's call. But on Friday, she told The Kansas City Star: "If security wants the person out, and the officer saw a person being disruptive at the event, then we would remove the person," Graves said. "We're there to keep the peace."

Video:
Lithuanian English

Telsiai, Lithuania, 2016-09-30 16:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the initiative of the shareholder of the company Algirdas Pazemeckas and by the decision of the Board of AB ZEMAITIJOS PIENAS (registered office Sedos str. 35, Telsiai, company code 180240752, hereinafter, the Company), dated 29 September 2016, the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of the Company is being called on 28 October 2016.

Meeting place  Public company Telsiai district business incubator, meeting hall, address Sedos str. 34A, Telsiai.

Meeting starts at 2:00 PM (registration of shareholders starts at 1:00 PM, registration place  Public company Telsiai district business incubator, meeting hall, address Sedos str. 34A, Telsiai).

Accounting day of the meeting  21 October 2016 (only those persons have the right to participate and vote at the general meeting of shareholders, who will be the shareholders of the Company at the close of the accounting date of the general meeting of shareholders, or their authorized persons, or persons, with whom an agreement on transfer of voting right is concluded).

Agenda of the meeting:

Change of the par value of the shares of the Company. Increase of the number of Board members of the Company. Change of the Articles of Association of the Company. Establishment of the procedure for sale of own shares of the Company and the minimum sale price. Revocation of the member of the Supervisory Council of the Company. Election of the member of the Supervisory Council of the Company. Delisting of the shares of the Company from trading on the regulated market AB Nasdaq Vilnius and non-execution of the public offering of the shares of the Company. Granting of authorisations to the Manager of the Company.

The Company does not provide a possibility to participate and vote at the meeting by electronic means of communication.

Draft decisions regarding the meeting agenda issues (attached as Annex No. 1), documents, that are going to be presented to general meeting of shareholders and information, related to execution of shareholders rights are announced in accordance to the legislation.

The shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all the votes may propose additions to the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders by submitting with every proposed additional item of the agenda a draft resolution of the general meeting of shareholders or, when no resolution is required, an explanation. Proposals on addition to the agenda shall be submitted in writing or sent by e-mail. Written proposals shall be submitted to the Company on business days or sent by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. Proposals submitted by e-mail shall be sent to the e-mail info@zpienas.lt. The agenda shall be supplemented if the proposal is received no later than 14 days before the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. If the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders is supplemented, the Company shall notify on the additions no later than 10 days before the meeting in the same ways as in the case of convocation of the meeting.

The shareholders, who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all the votes, at any time before the general meeting of shareholders or during the meeting, may propose new draft resolutions on items which are or will be included in the agenda of the meeting. The proposals may be submitted in writing or sent by e-mail. Written proposals shall be submitted to the Company on business days or sent by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. Proposals submitted by e-mail shall be sent to the e-mail info@zpienas.lt.

The shareholders shall have the right to submit to the Company in advance questions relating to the items on the agenda of the meeting. The shareholders may submit their written questions to the Company on business days or sent by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice no later than 3 business days before the meeting. The Company will reply to the questions by e-mail or in writing before the meeting, except the questions which are related to the Companys commercial (industrial) secret, confidential information or which have been submitted later than 3 business days before the meeting.

During the registration to attend the meeting, shareholders or their authorized persons shall provide an identity document. Persons authorized by shareholders shall provide a power of attorney, issued following the requirements of laws. Power of attorney granted by natural person must be approved by the notary public. Power of attorney issued in a foreign country must be translated into Lithuanian and legalized according to requirements of the laws. Authorized person can be authorized by more than one shareholder and vote differently according to each shareholders orders.

The Company does not establish a special form of power of attorney. A shareholder holding shares of the Company, acquired on its own name but on behalf of other persons, before voting at the general meeting of shareholders shall disclose to the Company final clients identity, the number of shares, which are used to vote and the content of voting instructions provided to him or any other explanation regarding participation and voting at the general meeting of shareholders agreed with the client. A shareholder may vote with the votes granted by the corresponding part of shares differently from the votes granted by other corresponding shares.

Shareholder or his authorized person can vote in advance in writing by filling in the general voting bulletin (attached as Annex No. 2). Under the request of shareholder, the Company shall send the general voting bulletin by registered mail or deliver it personally upon signature no later than 10 days before the meeting. Filled general voting bulletin shall be signed by the shareholder or his authorized person and provide the documents supporting the power of attorney. If the general voting bulletin is signed by the shareholders authorized person, the document confirming the right to vote shall be submitted along with it. Filled general voting bulletin along with supplement documents (if necessary) shall be submitted to the Company by sending registered mail to the address of the registered office of the Company, indicated hereby no later than until the meeting. Draft decisions of the general meeting of shareholders and other information were announced in accordance to the legislation.

The shareholders of the Company may familiarise with the draft resolutions of the meeting and the form of the general ballot bulletin under the procedure prescribed by laws in the registered office of the Company at Sedos str. 35, Telsiai, or on the Companys website at http://www.zpienas.lt/. The following information and documents shall be provided on the abovementioned internet website of the Company:

- the notification on convocation of the meeting;

- total number of the Companys shares and the number of shares with voting rights on the convening day of the meeting.
Lancet Study:

These findings firmly counter those of a Cochrane review of direct-acting antiviral treatment trials that could neither confirm nor reject if direct-acting antivirals had an effect on long-term HCV-related morbidity and mortality. They also provide the best evidence to date to support guidance documents that recommend direct-acting antiviral treatment for all patients with chronic HCV infection.





Latest Update Feb 12, 2019A systematic review published by the Cochrane Collaboration suggested achieving SVR (cure) for patients using hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) doesn't correlate with any long term benefits. View each rebuttal and all ongoing media coverage.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Facebook Israel CEO Adi Soffer Teeni

Sam Shead/Business Insider

Facebook Israel CEO speaks on a panel alongside Microsoft, Google, and Intel.

The CEO of Facebook in Israel issued a stark warning to entrepreneurs in so-called Startup Nation last week as the countrys tech scene continues to gain attention around the world.

Speaking at the DLD Innovation conference, Adi Soffer Teeni said Israels position as the number one spot for innovation outside Silicon Valley isnt as secure as some people might think it is.

I do think we are second to the Valley but the gap is big and we need to acknowledge that, Teeni told an audience of approximately 300 founders, developers, and investors. We need to be humble, and we need to understand that in order for us to continue to deliver the innovation that we bring, we need not to be sassy. Not to think everything that happens here will continue to be magic. 

She added: This is serious stuff. This [tech] is literally the future of Israel in my opinion. What we need to understand is a big part of what we have today is down to the fact that we didnt have any other choice.

Israel became Startup Nation originally because of our grandparents generation. But now the new generation of Startup Nation is about building big businesses that have millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of users all over the world. Europe is starting to build small Startup Nations and we need to keep the gap. Thats the goal.

Indeed, cities such as London, Berlin, Stockholm and Paris have developed their own thriving startup ecosystems that have spawned a number of successful tech companies in recent years. London, for example, was home to more than 13 tech startups in 2015, with a valuation in excess of $1 billion (770 million).

Teeni said in order to ensure Israel stays out in front, entrepreneurs in the country need to focus. This is [done] by having mature management, she said. This is [done] by understanding that this is not just about technology. This is about building businesses.

Story continues

Facebook opened an office in Israel around three years ago and today the company has a small research and development team on the ground as well as another team that engages with those in the Israeli tech ecosystem.

Other companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple and Intel also have a significant presence in Israel, with each of the multinationals choosing to use engineers in Israel to develop many of their most important products.





The post The CEO of Facebook Israel issued a stark warning to entrepreneurs in Startup Nation appeared first on Business Insider.
(Bloomberg) -- In a testament to the rising consumer potential of the worlds No. 6 emerging market, Indonesias President Joko Widodo has tapped for guidance the king of Chinese e-commerce: Jack Ma.

Jokowi, as Indonesias leader is known, further intensified the buzz surrounding his countrys $2 billion e-commerce market with a stop at Jakartas sprawling Mangga Dua bazaar last month, buying an iPad from a store belonging to web retail giant Bhinneka.com.

Indonesia has an e-commerce market that McKinsey & Co. says can be one of the fastest-growing in the world, part of a digital economy adding $150 billion a year to gross domestic product by 2025. All the more reason for Jokowi to turn to Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., to advise his administration on how to supercharge online retailing in the country.

It does have that potential and I think that part of it boils down to also Indonesia, as a culture, being incredibly consumptive, said Adrian Li, managing partner of Convergence Ventures, which backs early-stage tech startups in Indonesia. By some estimates, for example, youve seen Indonesia and the adoption of e-commerce grow even faster than some of the peers in China.

Indonesias urban consuming class -- individuals with disposable income of more than $10 a day -- is growing by about 5 million a year to reach 86 million by 2020 amid rapidly expanding access to the Internet, according to McKinsey. Online sales could reach 7 percent to 8 percent of the total retail market by 2020 from about 1 percent currently, it estimates. The central bank projects e-commerce transactions will almost double to $4.6 billion this year.

Explosive Growth

Southeast Asias biggest economy with a population of 255 million is experiencing explosive growth, said Ali Potia, a Singapore-based partner with McKinsey and head of the companys Asia Consumer Insights Center. The value of e-commerce could increase by as much as $15 billion over the next three years alone, the company estimates.

Story continues

Jokowi turned to Alibabas Ma after touring the companys headquarters in Hangzhou, China in early September. He told his ministers last week that Indonesia could become the biggest digital economy in Southeast Asia and he is ordering that implementation be accelerated because if its done not immediately, then we will be left behind.

Ma has already established a foothold in Indonesia, where 100 million people are hooked up to the Internet -- a figure growing at a rate of more than 10 percent a year -- and 40 percent of mobile users have a smartphone. Alibaba made its biggest overseas acquisition in April with a $1 billion investment in the online emporium Lazada Group SA, which is based in Singapore and sells clothes and electronics in six Southeast Asian nations.

Online Retailing

Go-Jek is another example of the transformative nature of e-commerce. Starting out as a ride-hailing app, it now offers vendor-to-door delivery of everything from concert and movie tickets to massages and even pedicures and cream baths via its Go-Glam button.

If you look at where Go-Jek is today -- bear in mind this is a company thats less than three-years-old -- the number of deliveries and transactions its able to do per month, thats also significant, said Convergence Ventures Li. Again, its on par with some of the fastest-growing startups youve seen in China.

Unlike the U.S., Li added, and similar to China about a decade ago, traditional retailers in Indonesia dont have a national footprint where people in smaller cities can purchase the types of goods and services others can buy in the major metropolitan areas of Jakarta or Surabaya.

Infrastructure Challenge

With the penetration of e-commerce they now are able to buy those things, he said. Increasingly we see with large branded retailers coming online -- Alibaba purchasing Lazada, Matahari Mall, JD.com -- people become more and more comfortable with transacting online. There is less and less of a trust issue.

Still, challenges remain, particularly with infrastructure. The archipelago of more than 17,000 islands lacks reliable electricity supply and warehousing facilities, while poor road, rail and air networks hamper transportation, driving up costs and delaying delivery of goods and services.

Jokowi has made infrastructure investment key to his economic program as he seeks to boost growth to 7 percent during his term. The government is forecasting expansion of about 5 percent for this year.

E-commerce growth is also restricted because of low credit-card and technology usage. Internet penetration in 2015 was just 34 percent, according to McKinsey.

E-commerce operators in Indonesia will need to sharpen their focus on building sustainable, cost efficient operations that have a clear path to profitability, said McKinseys Potia. This will require other parts of the ecosystem -- such as logistics, payments, mobile Internet -- to keep up as well.

(Updates with growth estimate in third paragraph after Infrastructure Challenge sub-headline.)

--With assistance from Rieka Rahadiana Herdaru Purnomo and Agus Suhana To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham in Mumbai at tabraham4@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Jason Koutsoukis

2016 Bloomberg L.P.
Turkey on Tuesday suspended 12,800 police officers over alleged links to an Islamic preacher accused of masterminding the failed July coup, and cut broadcasts of a pro-Kurdish television channel under its controversial state of emergency. Tens of thousands have already been arrested or lost their jobs under the three three-month state of emergency which was declared days after the July 15 coup and was extended on Monday a further 90 days to last well into 2017. Officers entered IMC TV headquarters and cut broadcasts after it was ordered, along with several other outlets, to be closed last week under the emergency laws over accusations of supporting Kurdish militants. A total of 12,801 police were suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, including 2,523 police chiefs, the police headquarters said in a statement. In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers. A Turkish official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the suspensions, adding that the individuals would continue to be paid two-thirds of their salary "pending further investigation". The action was taken over suspected links to the movement of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen which Turkey blames for the failed putsch in July which sought to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power. Gulen, an ally-turned-foe of Erdogan who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Ankara's accusations. Supporters of the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet (service), insist it is a loose grouping of individuals committed to peace and helping people through education and charities. - Crackdown widens - According to Anadolu, 1,350 of the police officers suspended were working at Ankara police headquarters, which came under attack from the air on the night of the coup. Among those dismissed, a 26-year-old police officer shot himself dead Tuesday in Mersin, a southern city on the Mediterranean coast, Dogan news agency reported. Tens of thousands of people in the judiciary, civil service, military and education sector have been suspended while 32,000 suspects have been placed under arrest on charges of links to the movement. A total of 70,000 people had been investigated, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said last month, adding that the "process" continued. From teachers to former generals and admirals, from bakery magnates to journalists, the investigation into the failed putsch has touched almost all aspects of Turkish life. Also under the state of emergency, Turkish police raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all transmissions while it was live on air. Before it was cut, staff members in the news studio chanted "free media will not be silenced" while applauding their management. The channel is not accused of supporting the coup but of broadcasting "terror propaganda" for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It has ridiculed the charges. Later on Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators including journalists from the channel and other outlets subject to closure orders last week gathered near Taksim Square in Istanbul to protest against the raid. Despite a heavy police presence, they did not intervene as protesters shouted "IMC TV cannot be shut down" and carried placards saying: "Free media cannot be silenced", AFP correspondents said. Activists accuse the government of exploiting the emergency laws to launch a crackdown beyond those accused of being coup-plotters or connected to the movement. More than 100 media outlets have been closed down since July while dozens of reporters have been detained or arrested including prominent journalist and writer Ahmet Altan. The government's crackdown has also alarmed Turkey's Western allies, including the European Union, which have warned Ankara that it must act within the rule of law. - 'No matter who' - Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said those found guilty would face punishment "no matter who they were" during a speech to parliament in Ankara. "(But) we will never allow those who are innocent to face any grievances." The decision to extend the state of emergency by three months was announced on Monday after a cabinet meeting. Erdogan previously suggested that it might be necessary for the state of emergency to be kept in place for at least 12 months. Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin strongly denied the government was acting arbitrarily under the emergency. "The president previously said something important when the first emergency was introduced: this is introduced for the state and not against the people," he said in an interview with Haber-Turk television.
In Sweden, the rat problem was attributed to a change in the poison Swedish pest control companies use. According to Tommy Tuvunger, a pest coordinator in Stockholm, the new kind is simply not as enticing to the rats, who have plenty of better dining options available, the Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen reported.

"What would you choose yourself if you were a rat? A half-eaten hotdog or some poisoned grains of wheat?" Tuvunger asked rhetorically, calling rats "real gourmets."

So far, it remains a matter for debate whether the rat population is actually increasing, or if humans have become more sensitive and more likely to report the animals' presence, Gert Olsson, who does research on rodents at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umea, noted.

"Rats have always been around us and we are never really far from the nearest rat. One can imagine that it [the surge in rat populations] has to do with the good weather. We spend more time out in the evenings, perhaps leaving leftovers in the parks, which rats love," Olsson told the Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet.
According to Bjarne Olinder, a BUP manager in the city of Norrkoping, patients without a Swedish ID currently constitute around seven percent, which indicates a marked increase. According to Olinder, it may take a while before the mental symptoms finally wear off.

"It has been seen before when people came from war. At first, you rejoice at obtaining greater security in your life. Then, all the dark symptoms kick in," Olinder said.

In late September, even Sweden's eastern neighbor Finland saw a spike in suicide attempts at asylum seeker reception centers. According to the Finnish Association for Mental Health, the incidents were an indication of the despair felt by asylum-seekers. Back in June, Finnish state broadcaster Yle reported that there had been suicide attempts at nearly half of the country's reception centers.

According to Outi Ruishalme, the head of the association's crisis operations center, many of the asylum-seekers who either committed or attempted suicide had been denied asylum in Finland. Ruishalme also noticed that this was a message that Finland should carefully review its immigration policy.
Evgenia, who has become a bit of a sensation in Japan due to her passion for Japanese anime and her performance in a Sailor Moon costume, told Sputnik about her personal life, favorite food and sports.

It turned out that the charming 16-year-old beauty has a lot of unusual interests besides figure skating and sports. The young woman confessed that she is fond of travelling, studying foreign languages, watching anime and cooking Japanese food.

"My old dream was to go to Tokyo. And it happened!" Evgenia said in an exclusive interview with Sputnik. "I watch a lot of anime. And in almost every anime there is a picture of Tokyo. I've always thought that it would be so cool to go there! Akihabara is the only area where I have been so far. But it was fantastic! I have never seen anything like that before. For me it is another planet!" the young woman said.
"I stood 40 mins watching them. There was 4 in Derbyshire, above my house," one YouTube user commented.

"I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens!" another YouTube user stated.

According to eye-witness reports provided to Derbyshire Times newspaper, many of the local witnesses also suggested a theory that the lights could have been sky beams from a UFO craft looking to land in the local area. Really?

So, if there was such a thing as "aliens" from faraway lands even existing and choosing to visit our human hemisphere, we wondered where they may choose to land. Is Derbyshire really the "ideal" location they would gravitate towards or should we assume another location where a significant number of UFO sightings may have already been recorded?

The North, UK

The North is said get the most UFO sightings per year and locations such as Stonehenge in the county of Warminster is quite popular, quite likely as a result of the recreational "parties" that take place there.

Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell is still ranked as one of the most famous UFO incidents in history with UFO enthusiasts even claiming that the US military had captured an alien aircraft.

It's a popular spot to visit for those inclined to research the phenomenon further, as well as also attracting a number of other sightings on a regular basis. Mexico City has also had significant sightings reported.

Pacific Coast Highway in California, US

The Pacific Coast Highway is said to be another spot with a number of sightings reported since as far back as 1947.

It's also a picturesque location, so if you don't spot any UFOs, you can always simply take in the views.

San Clemente, Chile

San Clemente has apparently had so many UFO sightings over the years that it has even renamed a 19-mile stretch, known as the "UFO trail" which many believe would be a popular landing location.

Caminando por San Clemente nos topamos con este bello paisaje. Foto Eduardo Ramirez Munos @Sernatur pic.twitter.com/bTZuDaQy70  Chile es TUYO. (@chileestuyo) October 1, 2016

Sochi, Russia

Sochi has reported sightings of luminous objects and flyer saucer type aircrafts in the sky. Many even believe there may be a UFO base high up in the mountains as a result of the number of strange occurrences witnesses claim to have seen high above.
So far Morocco welcomes around 30 thousand tourists a year from Russia but Sussi hopes this number will rise to 200 thousand visitors within the next three years.

Considering that from the beginning of 2016, Morocco was visited by over 30 thousand Russian tourists, we can make a prediction that by the end of this year this figure will reach or exceed 60 thousand people, Sussi told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Sussi added that earlier this year Moroccan experts of tourism predicted that 85 thousand Russian tourists would visit the North African country but regrettably so far these plans have not been fully realized.
What happened to Musa after his heroic deed? Was he taken care of by German authorities or did the German government left him to the mercy of fate? In an interview with Sputnik, Musa reveals the truth about his life several months after the incident.

Talking about the money he found in a closet which he bought in second hand shop, he frankly admits that he first thought about keeping the money for himself.

"I was thinking about what would be the right thing to do, and my first thought was of my family. This amount would be enough to help them and bring them to Germany. There is a war in Syria, terrible things are happening. Two of my brothers are now at an age when they can be called up. And if you go to the army, you are likely to die, or you will be forced to kill innocent people," Musa told Sputnik.
Amidst the furor, Subramanian posted his #ProfileForPeace photo and note. His accompanying post read, "This happens every time. We talk peace and there are terror attacks that derail peace.  I hope both nations unite to eradicate the menace of terror and work towards peace. Make a similar profile picture if you too believe peace is the way forward. #KillTerroristsNotTalks #ProfileForPeace"

 Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) October 1, 2016

Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tweeted an almost identical post and photo visible to his 1.75 million followers the next day. But the pushback began the same day, with a young woman posting a photo and a note reading, "Dear leaders, Do not let the greed of few stupid Bollytards write the future of many people like me, who not only want retribution, but want the end of a terror state that regularly sends kalashnikov wielding rats to bleed Bharat Mata. #KillTerroristanForPeace #NoTalks #IndiaFirst #HarHarMahadev."

"Bharat Mata" refers to the embodiment of India as a mother goddess.

Another response read, "Dear Bollywood Actors/Directors, You make millions/career through our love, affection and support, but when it comes to crisis you are seen standing/supporting enemies through your deviated logic and pseudointellect. Its time you fall in line as Indians before we take a stand on you and your perverted sense." It was signed simply, "Indian."

 Braunwald Health (@BraunwaldHealth) October 1, 2016

Bhatt has since posted that, "I am convinced that they [Pakistani actors] are as outraged when there's a loss of innocent lives as we are," and to be sure, there have been many repetitions of Subramanian and Bhatt's calls for peace and dialogue. But for now, trending alongside #profileforpeace are #notalks, #Indiafirst, #KillTerroristanforpeace and other notably less pacifist sentiments.
The broadcaster has reported earlier that the center of Kunduz has been freed from Taliban , but the government forces have not yet been able to completely oust them from the city.

The Taliban movement has also been able to seize some territories in Helmand and Uruzgan regions in the last two months.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the Asian Age newspaper, the Mumbai Police issued a circular warning about the possibility of a terrorist attacks that could be carried out between October 2 and October 31.

Such an attack can happen through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs). But the circular is routine and its a part of the security precautions the police undertakes to deal with such threats, Ashwini Sanap, Mumbai police officer said, as quoted by the newspaper.
"The greatest human rights violations take place when terrorists attack military installations and attack peaceful civilians in India. We welcome the surgical strike. Every country has the right to defend itself," Alexander Kadakin told.

The Russian envoy also assured India that the recent Russia-Pakistan military drill will not have any impact on the decades-old Russia-India relations.

"India should not be concerned at all because it is a normal practice amongst states to have military exercises. This is in India's interest that we will be teaching the Pakistani army how not uses army for the terror attacks. And moreover the exercise was not held in any of the sensitive or the problematic territories or in the Pakistan Occupied Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir," Ambassador Kadakin added.

Last week the Russian Foreign Ministry had issued a statement on the developing situation between Pakistan and India in disputed Kashmir. It said, "We are concerned with the aggravation lately of the situation along the line of control between India and Pakistan. We are calling on the parties not to allow any escalation of tension and to settle the existing problems by political and diplomatic means through negotiations.

Kashmir, a disputed territory, has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan ever since the partition of the country in 1947. But tensions are high on both the sides in the spate of terror attacks in India and subsequent surgical strike by the Indian army across the border. India claims that the terrorists come from Pakistan.
New Delhi (Sputnik)  Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha expressed satisfaction over the indigenous capabilities for producing the fighter jet.

"Next version of Light Combat Aircraft called Tejas Mark1-A would be an improved version. It will have better radar, weapons avionics. We can start production by 2021. We can have 80 such planes by 2027," said Raha.

The Tejas Mark1-A is a 4.5 generation aircraft the Indian government has said will not lead to the development of an indigenous fifth generation aircraft. In August this year, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said in Parliament, "there is a separate program between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from the Indian side and M/s Rosboronexport from the Russian side for Design and Development (D&D) of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA)."
New Delhi (Sputnik)  Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Andrabi was arrested along with her associate Fehmeeda Sofi by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Krale Khud area of Srinagar. Dukhtaran-e-Millat is an all-woman hardliner separatist organization founded in 1985 as a reformist organization. Andrabi had been evading arrest since July 8 this year when the ongoing unrest started and she was organizing women protests in the valley. In August this year, Andrabi addressed a rally in Pakistan through telephone.

In its drive to curb the activities of the miscreants, police during the past 24 hours arrested 57 such individuals involved in various offenses of creating disturbances in different part of the valley, reads a statement issued by Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Police said that situation across the valley remained by and large peaceful on Tuesday. However, two incidents of arson were reported from Srinagar and a stray incident of stone pelting was reported from Bandipora, the statement said.
Cam Ranh Bay is roughly 200 miles from the Paracel and Spratly island chains, where China has constructed a series of artificial islands.

The US and its Pacific allies have objected to these land reclamation projects, concerned that they are being used to establish an air defense zone. China maintains it has every right to build within its own territory and that the islands will be used primarily for civilian purposes.

While the US Navy has conducted provocative "freedom of navigation" operations within the 12-mile territorial limit of the islands, Beijing has also had clashes with Vietnamese fishing and coast guard vessels in the region.

A highly disputed region through which roughly $5 trillion in international trade passes annually, most of the South China Sea is claimed by China, though are a number of competing claims by other nations, including Vietnam.
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ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik)  The Power of Siberia gas pipeline aimed at supplying gas from Russia to China via the so-called eastern route will become operational by 2020, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)'s Vice President Xu Wenrong said Monday.

"The Russia-China gas pipeline will become operational in 2019, in 2020 at the latest," Xu said, speaking on the sidelines of the the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.

Russia and China have been stepping energy cooperation efforts. In 2014, Russia's Gazprom signed a 30-year agreement with the CNPC for annual deliveries of 38 billion cubic meters of Russian gas through the eastern route pipeline, formally known as the Power of Siberia. The project was initially scheduled to begin supplying gas in 2019, starting from 5 billion cubic meters per year and increasing the volume gradually.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The IMF added that the impact of "Brexit" on the global economy remains unclear because London and Brussels have yet to determine a course for their future institutional and trade relationships.

"Although financial market reaction to the result of the UK referendum has been contained, the increase in economic, political, and institutional uncertainty and the likely reduction in trade and financial flows between the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union over the medium term is expected to have negative macroeconomic consequences, especially in the United Kingdom," the report said.

In June, 52 percent of UK voters in a referendum chose to pull their country out of the 28-member European Union.
In particular, participants of the panel discussion "Russia-Germany" discussed a special investment contract with the German agricultural company CLAAS, which has two factories in the Russian Krasnodar region.

The governor of Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said that the meeting was an important step in terms of cooperation between Russia and Germany under new geopolitical conditions.

"We tried to take into account all possible problems and make the investment agreement with CLAAS as operational and mutually profitable as possible," the official said.
In 2015, trade turnover between Germany and Iran was $2.8 billion. In the first half of 2016, German exports to Iran increased by 15 percent and are expected to reach $4.5 billion by the end of the year.

In the coming two years, the Iranian Finance and Economic Ministry expects trade with Germany to grow to $6 billion.

Currently, Germany is the fifth-largest exporter to Iran, after China, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Turkey. It is interesting that trade relations between Berlin and Tehran are not based on buying oil from Iran but on German hi-tech equipment exports to the country.

Berlin and Tehran are eying a number of fields for mutual cooperation and partnership.

Recently, the German-Iranian Business Commission held its first meeting in 15 years. In addition, the German-Iranian United Economic Committee also held a session. As a result, Berlin and Tehran signed a total 10 memorandums in a number of fields, including finance, banking, energy and the environment.

In particular, Deutsche Bank and the Iranian Central Bank signed an agreement on technical cooperation. Germanys industrial giant Siemens announced its comeback to the Iranian market. VW is planning to hand over technologies to the Iranian car-manufacturing industry.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  UK companies exporting to the European Union could retain access to the bloc's tariff-free single market through trade agreements separate from London-Brussels negotiations on the United Kingdom's exit from the union, Janice Atkinson, a British independent member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chair of Europe of Nations and Freedom Group, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"Access to the single market actually means that the EU is accepting us [Britain] accepting the jurisdiction over domestic technical standards. And what the EU has to recognize is that only 6 percent of the British companies actually export to the EU. So what we could do is having agreements with those companies that actually export to the EU. Maybe they will have to comply with the [EU] standards," Atkinson said.

She added that this is a customary practice, as British companies exporting to Russia or the United States have to comply with the technical standards of those countries.
The company Petrovax Pharm was founded in 1996 and currently it is on the list of 30 major domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers. However, the most important thing is that we, as a Russian company, are in the top 5 list of the largest producers of immunological pharmaceuticals among foreign suppliers of immune-biological vaccines, Arkhangelskaya said.

She further said that Petrovax Pharm exports its products to many countries including the CIS countries, Slovakia, Cuba and Belorussia. Currently, the company is expanding to the Middle East and plans to expand to Latin America in the near future.

Last year, the Ministry of Health of Belarus signed a long-term agreement for the localization of production of our influenza vaccine Grippol plus. In just a year, we have been able to establish production there and work out the entire production process.

She further said that this year, Belarus is producing and making deliveries for preventive vaccinations on its own.

The scope of supply is 4 million doses. Although it would seem a small amount, however, do not forget that the population of Belarus is 14 million people. Thus, our vaccination covers 40% of the total supply. The effect of localizing the Russian vaccine is that in the past 4 years there has been no influenza epidemic in Belarus, Arkhangelskaya said.

Expanding to Iran

This year, the company Petrovax Pharm registered its influenza vaccine Grippol plus in Iran.

The other day I signed a second package of documents for the long-term cooperation with the company Sobhan Recombinant Protein. This is an Iranian company, which is constructing a production building which is almost ready, the president of the company told Sputnik.
Whereas the news of atmospheric carbon dioxide reaching a 'point of no return' made international headlines in late September, Finland might remain a happy exception that looks at global warming quite positively.

Climate change also means solutions and opportunities, Finland's Communications and Transport Minister Anne Berner said, as quoted by Finnish state broadcaster Yle. According to Berner, Finland may well take advantage of the greenhouse effect. As the North Pole starts to melt, new routes for maritime traffic and data transfer open up, which promotes trade, Anne Berner maintained.

According to Anne Berner, climate change in the Arctic shortens the distances between Europe and Asia by many weeks, using, among others, the Northeast Passage along Russia's Arctic coast, which will greatly improve global trade. Finland could play an important part in that development, Berner pointed out.
In an interview with Radio Poland, the general outlined NATO plans to boost its presence in Eastern Europe as it was agreed during the summit in Warsaw.

First of all, the measures include an enhanced forward presence (EFP) as well as Washingtons commitment to provide an armored brigade combat team.

"This brigade will arrive from Fort Carson, Colorado to the port of Bremerhaven, Germany, in the middle of January. Then it will move quickly, as part of an exercise, into western Poland. By the middle of February, the whole brigade will be there, going through what we call RSOI  reception, staging, onward movement and integration. Once theyve completed the process the brigade will begin a nine month rotation. Part of it will be in the Baltic countries, part of it will be in Romania and Bulgaria, but the bulk of it will remain in Poland," Gen. Hodges said.
Most of the Poles were dressed in black and due to their march through city streets, government offices, restaurants and other businesses were closed.

"Police reported about 143 manifestations on Monday, which were attended by some 98,000 people," Jaroslaw Szymczyk said, as quoted by the Polish Wiadomosci newspaper.

The official said that the largest rally was held in the western Polish city of Wroclaw and was attended by some 20,000, while the rally in the country's capital gathered around 17,000 people.

Talking about the most popular slogans seen during the protest, Agatha said, The most popular were, My uterus, my choice. There were many different ones. In some the words rhymed in some they didnt. There were funny ones like PiS OFF or PiS of Shit [in reference to the name of the ruling Prawo I Sprawiedliwosc  PiS party].

Agatha spoke about the reaction of the Polish government or media to the protests, saying that there was something about it in the media as there were many cameras, photographers etc. covering the protest. However, the response from the government was mediocre.

We stood in front of the citys administration building but the mayor did not come out to us. It was kind of sad, Agatha said.

Regarding protests held in the neighboring towns of Sopot and Gdansk, Agatha said that over there girls had been out in the streets since 9 a.m.

6 million women expected to be on strike in Poland today to protest dangerous new abortion law. #czarnyponiedziaek https://t.co/38WQ5GbaoM pic.twitter.com/COylKzC0w6  Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) October 3, 2016

However, looking at the town of Gdynia, Agatha said the march was really successful because no one expected that such a number of people would show up.

There were mothers with young children in strollers, mothers in law, grandmothers, and aunts. You can say it was a family atmosphere. I even met my uncle, so we protested together. We are happy because we have come here for a common goal, to fight for our choice, Agatha concluded.

The ruling Law and Justice [Prawo I Sprawiedliwosc  PiS] party has put forward the proposal  from a group called Ordo Iuris  for debate in parliament. Critics of the new rules say PiS may back them for fear of angering the church in steadfastly Roman Catholic Poland.

Poland's already restrictive laws only allow abortion in the case of rape, incest, a threat to a pregnant woman's health, or when the baby is probably going to be permanently handicapped.

Women and doctors could face jail if convicted of causing what the proposed rules call death of a conceived child, and critics say doctors would be discouraged from doing prenatal testing, particularly if that carried the risk of miscarriage.

Protests against putting a ban on abortion took place in London, Edinburgh, Brussels and Berlin to name just a few; with some estimates suggesting that up to six million women could be taking part within Poland.

The bill which would bring about the change in law is currently at the Committee stage in the Polish Parliament, no government officials have yet commented on whether it will be revised.
Many people reported the onslaught of racial abuse on social media.

"The Brexit referendum seems to have led to a further rise in 'anti-foreigner' sentiment, making it even more important that the British authorities take the steps outlined in our report as a matter of priority," the ECRI report states.

Many of Britain's newspapers and even politicians have been accused of purporting "anti-foreigner" sentiments in headlines and pro-Brexit campaigns.

for the people documenting #postrefracism, here's another one https://t.co/avUB76TGvJ  Sjoerd Levelt (@SLevelt) October 4, 2016

Nigel Farage, lead Leave campaigner and former leader of UKIP, was accused of inciting xenophobia after he unveiled a giant poster featuring refugees crossing a Balkan border with the headline, "Breaking Point."

Hearing #NigelFarage declare that #BreakingPoint poster just first 1 of 6 seems like depressing advent calendar  what image tomorrow, eh?  dlinds (@dl1nds) June 20, 2016

George Osborne, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time and Remain campaigner compared the poster to "Nazi propaganda."

The anti-immigrant rhetoric whipped up by UKIP during the campaign to leave the EU, coupled with xenophobic headlines from some of Britain's tabloid newspapers, laid bare the "anti-foreigner" sentiments that had once again seeped onto Britain's streets, in ways which the country had not witnessed for 30 years.

Keep hearing we've put the Great back in Great Britain. Combo would be so proud of you guys.#Brexit #ThisIsEngland pic.twitter.com/9gCEQxeUJt  Robert Summerscales (@robsummerscales) June 24, 2016

Following the Brexit referendum, the ECRI noted "considerable intolerant political discourse in the UK, particularly focusing on immigration."

The commission also added "that hate speech continues to be a serious problem in tabloid newspapers, and that online hate speech targeting Muslims in particular has soared since 2013."

Anti-refugee stickers and anti-Polish graffiti are just some of the examples of hate crime witnessed in areas in and around London.

In Manchester, a racist attack on a tram went viral online.

Fears surrounding immigration appear to be uniting a divided electorate in a post-Brexit era amid "worrying levels" of hate and racism.
It's not the first time that the accusation of "anti-Scottishness" has been made against those south of the border.

Some even accused the Conservative party of pushing an anti-Scottish narrative at the last UK general election in 2015. They warned of the dangers of the SNP playing a role in the government by hanging massive billboards depicting Labour leader Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond's pocket.

RT CCHQPress "Miliband's only route to Downing St is in Alex Salmond's pocket- he's named his price & taxpayers wi pic.twitter.com/C0PNVibOIG"  Stephen Mold (@Stephen_Mold) March 28, 2015

Even burger giant McDonald's has recently been accused of being prejudiced against Scots after a decision to ban Scottish banknotes from a string of branches in England.

An owner of ten branches in the Lincolnshire area ordered staff to refuse to take Scottish notes due to issues with counterfeit notes. This led to calls on social media for a boycott of the chain.

Good time to go Vegetarian 'Scottish banknotes banned from McDonalds franchise'

via Ella Jamison https://t.co/UxF1ACAWws  CYBERSCOT (@CYBERSCOT) September 21, 2016

However, a spokeswoman for McDonald's was quick to emphasize that the policy was not "anti-Scottish" but was instead just "a decision taken by a franchisee, based on a number of factors."
"As the government well knows, it has an obligation to ensure that credible allegations of serious abuse carried out by members of its own armed forces are properly investigated," Mr. Hogarth from Amnesty told Sputnik.

"Our armed forces do a hard and dangerous job, but that doesn't mean they are or should be above the law. Suggesting that we should always automatically derogate from our human rights obligations whenever the military operates indicates the government doesn't understand that would mean taking rights away from soldiers as well."

As ministers pledge to prevent legal claims against those involved in UK military action overseas, one man asks Can that include me? pic.twitter.com/xUGDiugf5x  HaveIGotNewsForYou (@haveigotnews) 4 October 2016



Mr. Hogarth said that this type of strategy from the government is all about reducing accountability and that it is vital that the armed forces are given the right training and support to prevent human rights violations from occuring in the first place.

"Tragically, we know from cases like that of the Basra hotel receptionist Baha Mousa, who was tortured to death, that training systems fell short, and UK troops carried out acts of cruelty and abuse which the normal military justice system could not address.

"Rather than try to brush these under the carpet, it's vital the government takes steps to get to the bottom of any systemic issues. This includes looking at what went wrong and how to stop it happening again," Mr. Hogarth said.

Mr. Hogarth acknowledged that the British armed forces are some of the best in the world and that this should act as a catalyst for change, encouraging the military to invest in proper training and investigation systems that match other countries in the rest of the world.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union poses some risk to his legal position regarding the extradition order he faces.

"Well, Brexit is a slight risk in relation to my appeals in the European Court of Justice, so it's an avenue that has been cut off there," Assange said via video linkup on on the 10-year anniversary of WikiLeaks, after being asked to clarify his statement that Brexit could have changes for his legal case.

Assange has been residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 for fear of being extradited to Sweden where he has been accused of rape.
"Government party politicians overestimated their ability to mobilize the Hungarian electorate. While they are generally right in assuming that the Hungarian public largely agrees with their anti-migrant approach, it appears that given the current decrease in the numbers of migrants/refugees, large segments did not share the intense sense of impending doom that the government seeks to project through its communication," Gyori assumed.

Nick Sitter, a professor of public policy at the Central European University in Budapest, argued that despite the low turnout Fidesz still managed to achieve one of its major goals, that is rallying support for the ruling party, partly beating the opposition right-wing Jobbik party by playing on its traditional and well-established anti-migrant field.

Jobbik, the third largest force in the Hungarian parliament, was the only party that supported the idea to rebuff Brussels on quota scheme, though opposed holding the referendum as a costly and risky process. Instead the party suggested amending the constitution by the lawmakers, which could have been easily achieved with Jobbik's support.

"Indeed this was a monumental waste of money from the perspective of the state and the public interest. But as an exercise in party mobilization of support it might well be good value for money," Sitter said.

According to Human Right Watch calculations, the state-sponsored campaign, that included thousands of billboard and TV ads warning of a migrant menace prior to the referendum, cost Hungarian taxpayers the equivalent of over $18 million, or approximately $13,500 per asylum seeker Hungary has been asked to take.

The other aim of the referendum was, according to Sitter, "to put the democratic opposition in a difficult spot by giving them a dilemma between supporting the government or supporting increased immigration." That did not work as almost all the opposition parties, widely supported by numerous human rights groups, called for boycotting the vote or at least spoiling the ballots.

In contrast, after the vote the opposition, including the Jobbik party, came with united calls for Orban to resign in light of the referendum failure. Former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who now leads the opposition party Democratic Coalition, said that Orban who made an all-or-nothing of the referendum had failed in terms of politics and public law.

Orban's efforts on EU stage

While "domestic party political considerations were paramount in Orban's efforts to push for this referendum," he was also trying to prove his strong position on the EU stage, Gyori stated.

"He is of course also trying to bolster his visibility at the European level and trying to establish himself as a chief spokesperson for the anti-immigrant right-wing in Europe," the expert said.

In early September, tough stance on mass migration already brought Orban a title "Man of the Year," which he was awarded at an economic conference in the Polish city of Krynica. Last year, the award was given to former Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who now leads the ruling Law and Justice party and is also well-known for his anti-EU rhetoric and harsh anti-refugee stance.

On Monday, reacting to the referendum outcome, Orban claimed victory, calling the results "outstanding" and saying that in choice between Brussels and Budapest "people chose Budapest."

Brussels' reaction was rather quiet, with the EU authorities simply saying that the referendum would be noted despite being declared void.

"Some think that a valid result might have strengthened Orbans hand, but with such a blatantly biased referendum question the whole exercise could well have been dismissed as an expensive propaganda stunt even if the referendum result had been valid," Sitter said.

Nevertheless, the referendum  even despite being officially invalid  has added some skepticism within the European Union.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Duncan arrived in Athens for a two-day visit for talks with the Greek leadership, including Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias.

"The UK and Greece enjoy a long history of friendship and co-operation. My visit is a demonstration of the UKs continued commitment to that relationship. The UK intends to have even closer relations with our European partners, including Greece, as we prepare to leave the European Union. Our two historic nations work together on a range of shared priorities including migration, defence and regional security," Duncan said, as quoted in the press release.

According to the minister, his talks with Greek officials are aimed at strengthening of trade and cultural ties between London and Athens.
"Just ten of the world's 193 countries host more than half its refugees. A small number of countries have been left to do far too much just because they are neighbors to a crisis."

Rich nations' self-interest means refugee crisis set to get worse, not better.

The #refugeecrisis in numbers: https://t.co/XcEClaYza8 pic.twitter.com/y1Spfx93yU  Amnesty Int'l NI (@AmnestyNI) October 4, 2016

'Intolerable Misery'

"That situation is inherently unsustainable, exposing the millions fleeing war and persecution in countries like Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq to intolerable misery and suffering," the report states.

Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General, is calling on European leaders to explain:

"why the world can bail out banks, develop new technologies and fight wars, but cannot find safe homes for 21 million refugees, just 0.3 percent of the world's population."

However, it's not the first time EU leaders have been accused of putting borders before people.

"There should be a clear political choice to protect refugees. This is our stance." Efi, #NansenAward winner + Greek human rights activist pic.twitter.com/ENjYyD5dB5  UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) 3 October 2016

Maurice Wren, head of Britain's Refugee Council said on the anniversary of 800 people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea in April 2016, that:

"While European leaders demonstrate a collective failure of political leadership and moral courage, people who have escaped war and tyranny are met with barbed wire and tear gas.

"Mums are forced to bathe their infants in dirty puddles, and yet more refugee children drown on Europe's shores."

Over a quarter of those arriving in Europe via sea this year are children. Many are alone. https://t.co/ifEmvFcb1V pic.twitter.com/ntWk7rg92t  Refugee Council (@refugeecouncil) October 3, 2016

This latest report from AI continues to point the finger at policies adopted in Europe that do more to protect individual countries' borders than safely resettle vulnerable refugees.

"The EU has a wide set of foreign policy human rights tools at its disposal, the focus should be on implementing these tools and commitments to address the push factors which lead people to move rather than on shortsighted migration control policies that rise destabilizing and exacerbating the crisis," Iverna McGowan, head of AI's European Institutions Office said.

However, when asylum seekers are allowed to stay in Europe, they're kept in "dire conditions."

Conditions that are well-documented by humanitarian organizations, yet seemingly ignored by EU politicians who continue to make "dodgy deals."
The final assembly of Eurofighter jets that once were considered a prestige project is likely to be suspended in Germany at least until 2018. The main problem is the lack of contracts and the complexity of the production process.

The components of the aircraft are manufactured at four plants in Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, which makes the production very complicated and expensive.

"It resembles a huge puzzle: all right wings are produced in Spain, the left ones in Italy and parts of the fuselage in Germany, to name just a few examples," the newspaper wrote. "The components are then assembled in four final plants [located in the four countries] to manufacture models ready for the flights."
According to the newspaper, Merkel "has become increasingly lonely" while Germany, which is the most economically developed country among the EU members, "is facing isolation".

"In contrast to Germany, the Mediterranean countries can't support migrants. And also in the east of the EU no one is going to follow the German dictatorship," the newspaper wrote.

The article noted that hundreds of thousands of young people in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy have to live on a small pension of their grandparents because of high unemployment rates and absence of any professional opportunities. Many of them try to leave their homeland and go to wealthier countries in search of a better life.
MEXICO (Sputnik)  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the start of a new national peace dialogue in the country with the opponents of peace agreement, the Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia (FARC).

Santos created a high-level commission to start a new peace dialogue, which included Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas and a former negotiator with FARC on behalf of the government Humberto de la Calle.

The country needs unity, we must leave behind quarrels, hatred and polarization that are causing us so much harm, Santos said on Monday as quoted by El Heraldo newspaper.
Between 1970 and 1982, the FARC grew from a movement of only about 500 people to be a virtual state within a state with a centralized hierarchical structure, schools, stores, local administrations and tax-collection services. The new state needed arms and, unable to acquire them legally, FARC leaders embraced the highly profitable cultivation of coca.

Narcoguerrilla

By the early 1980s Colombia had become a world leader in the production and sale of cocaine.

Initially, the FARC rejected any involvement in the emerging phenomenon of drug growing and trafficking, but during the 1980s the group gradually came to accept it as it became a burgeoning business.

Taxes on drug producers and traffickers were introduced as a source of funding in the form of a so-called "revolutionary tax on growers and big land owners.

The latter responded by hiring so-called death squadrons who took on the FARC and rival guerrillas and often joined forces with the government against both.

Submachineguns vs drones

Why did the FARC guerrillas who had previously won victories against the army and the paramilitaries, eventually agree to start peace talks with the government?

In 2002 Alvaro Uribe Velez, the son of a slain land owner and drug baron, came to power on a promise to flush out the guerrillas. Meanwhile, Washington was pouring money and sending armed military instructors into Colombia in a bid to stem the rising tide of illegal drugs entering the United States from the south.

In his crackdown on the FARC Uribe staked on operations by small commando units, helicopter raids and chemicals used to destroy coca plantations.

Faced with a 21st century armed force decimating its units one by one, the FARC was quickly losing ground, though not the war itself. Heavily armed and better organized as they were, government forces still failed to win a decisive victory against the guerrillas.

The decision to start peace talks with the guerrillas came under strong pressure from Washington, who the Colombian government always listens to, Moscow-based journalist Oleg Yasinsky told Lenta.ru.

There were two reasons for this: first, transnational companies needed to snap up the countrys natural resources that remained under guerrilla control. Second, the planned invasion of Venezuela was to come from densely-forested areas on the Colombian-Venezuelan border."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  On Monday, US Department of Defense spokesman Matthew Allen told Sputnik that the US Army was targeting a prominent al-Qaeda member.

Earlier reports emerged that a senior leader of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, Abu Faraj Masri, died in a strike in Syrias Idlib province.

On September 9, Lavrov and Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the conflict. The ceasefire deal was later shattered by numerous violations, which resulted in intensified fighting between the Syrian government and militants in Aleppo. The Syrian government later announced an end to the ceasefire regime, while Russia said that the United States failed to fulfil its obligation to separate terrorist groups from moderate opposition.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Of those suspended, 2,523 were police chiefs, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported, quoting a press statement by the Turkish security general directorate.

Thousands of civil servants, military and police officers, judges and educators have been laid off or suspended on the same claim in the months following the failed July 15 putsch.

The Turkish authorities say the coup attempt by a small military faction was masterminded from abroad by Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom Ankara wants extradited from the United States on charges of terrorism.
GENEVA (Sputnik)  On Monday, the US State Department announced it was suspending bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain a cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a press briefing that Secretary John Kerry had informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of the suspension.

Sedky told RIA Novosti in an interview the ICRC would continue tending to the Syrian population's needs together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent regardless whether a cessation of hostilities was in effect or not. She pointed out the need to distinguish between humanitarian aid and the political process in the war-torn Arab republic.
Russia was willing to negotiate a re-establishment of the ceasefire, but before those negotiations could take place, the United States announced the suspension of bilateral talks on Syria.

US Unilaterally Shuts Dialogue

"The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities," the US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said in a press release on Monday.

Russia and the United States have exhausted all options trying to work out a joint solution to reach an agreement on Syria, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a press briefing later on Monday

"Whats clear is there is nothing more for the United States and Russia to talk about with regard to trying to reach an agreement that would reduce the violence in Syria," he said.

Earnest added that the United States would continue working on alternative plans for the Syrian crisis resolution, but did not elaborate on what avenues it would pursue.

The United States did not exclude the possibility of multilateral talks, according to the US Department of State spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau. She said that the Secretary of State John Kerry had notified Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of the decision to end bilateral talks, nevertheless the United States and Russia had been directly communicating and actively discussing the situation.

Lack of Alternatives

The Russian Foreign Ministry saw this announcement as the United States' attempt to shift the blame for their own inability to fulfill the obligations imposed on them by the peace agreement.

"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements  to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of Aleppo city," Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Monday in an interview with Russia's First Channel television.
ALEPPO (Sputnik)  According to the SANA news agency, the number of those injured in the attack also rose, reaching 90.

On Monday, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt inside the hall for weddings during a wedding ceremony on the Hasakah-Qamishli highway near the Safyiah village. According to earlier media reports, 22 people were killed and 33 injured in the attack.

Also on Monday, two more explosions occurred in Syria's western city of Hama. A terrorist detonated himself, killing and wounding civilians. The second explosion occurred some 15 minutes after the first blast, injuring a SANA reporter.
The Kurdish forces have so far relied on primitive means of protection from chemical attacks such as towels, water tanks and hats.

The request was made amid preparation for the offensive aimed at the liberation of Mosul, Iraqi main stronghold of Daesh.
The statement was made in response to the Turkish Foreign Minister that earlier in the day said that Turkey and Greece have not yet reached an agreement on a maritime border between the two countries in the Aegean Sea.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the post-World War I Lausanne Treaty, saying it was imposed on Ankara by its opponents. He claimed that Turkey ceded islands with Turkish sanctuaries and mosques to Greece under the treaty.

The Aegean dispute has been a major source of tension between Greece and Turkey since the 1970s, bringing the two countries to the brink of military confrontation in 1987 and 1996. Talks to resolve the issue began after 1999, when Turkey agreed to resolve the bilateral dispute as part of its accession deal with the European Union.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Monday, the US State Department announced it was suspending bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain a cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a press briefing that Secretary John Kerry had informed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov of the suspension.

"We are not giving up on the Syrian people, we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, we are not going to leave the multilateral field, we are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war," Kerry said at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

Kerry accused Russia and the government of Syrian president Bashar Assad of rejecting diplomacy and trying to pursue a military victory.
If the EU allows #WomenFlotilla attack on Israel, it would be complicit in violation of International Law. @FedericaMog #LetFFlotillaSail  Women's Boat To Gaza (@GazaFFlotilla) October 4, 2016

The boat is now less than 200 nautical miles west of Gaza and hopes to reach the besieged strip by tomorrow. It has been receiving well-wishing messages from around the world including from Pink Floyd icon Roger Waters.

The initiative was launched on 8 March 2016 on International Women's Day with the aim of raising awareness of the role women have played in the Palestinian struggle, as well as of the wider impact of Israeli occupation.

Who is on board the #WomenToGaza #FreedomFlotilla right now? Internacional women activists from all around the world https://t.co/LsIuWMIFBT pic.twitter.com/vs18DKJH6N  Women's Boat To Gaza (@GazaFFlotilla) September 27, 2016

Another boat, the Amal-Hope II, had hoped to join the effort but was forced to remain in port in Messina after crew members were unavailable to sail.

Synne Sofie Reksten, a student from Norway and the youngest passenger on the Zaytouna-Oliva, said that the atmosphere on board remains positive.

"The mood on the boat is good at the moment," Synne Sofie Reksten told Sputnik.

"We are preparing for approaching land soon but we are also preparing emotionally and mentally for being stopped."

In 2010, six boats from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla attempting to break the blockade were raided by an Israeli military operation in which nine activists were killed.

Ms. Reksten said that they do not expect confrontation as they are part of a "completely non-violent action."

"The safety of us on board is up to how the Israeli forces treat us. We are a completely non-violent action. There is no sort of resistance or violence on this boat. We are peaceful, non-violent activists. If our security is threatened that is completely up to the Israelis," Ms. Reksten told Sputnik.

The 1.8 million people living in the Gaza Strip are subject to a land and sea blockade by Israel.
"As part of the operation the Iraqi Armed Forces and Peshmerga are shelling Daesh targets in the areas close to Mosul," he said. "Additional security measures have been taken on the border. According to our information, the militants are digging trenches around the city, as well as setting up traps using explosives and mines."

The spokesperson added that Daesh fighters have placed booby-traps in empty houses and left trucks rigged with explosives on the outskirts of the city that the brutal group captured in a blitz offensive on June 10, 2014.
ALEPPO (Sputnik)  Assad stressed that the Syrian authorities had already started such a dialogue by declaring amnesty for those who stopped fighting for the sake of peace and the end of bloodshed in the country.

"Speaking of the possibility of a epilogue with armed [opposition] groups, which would surrender their arms, I should say  yes," Syria's SANA news agency on Tuesday quoted Assad as saying in an interview with an Iranian political magazine.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  The possible operation to liberate the Syrian city of Raqqa from the Daesh terrorist group will be held with the involvement of the Turkish Air Force, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Tuesday.

"There is no need to draw parallels between the operations in Raqqa and al-Baba [the area of the Shield Euphrates operation in northern Syria]. Raqqa will primarily be an air operation. Turkey is coordinating its actions with the Free Syrian Army," the minister told reporters.
The construction site, located between the cities of Sheddadi and al-Hasakah and secured by SDF fighters, sits on a major oil and gas field. The US Air Force will make active use of the new air base during the operation to liberate Raqqa.

The Americans previously built military airfield in Rimelan in al-Hasakah Governorate and in Kobani in Aleppo Province, and they will now have another one in Sheddadi with its large deposits of oil and gas, the SDF representative told Sputnik.

He added that the US military established its permanent presence in the area after SDF units liberated Sheddadi in February 2016 and that the
Despite this, the Pentagon conducted an internal military probe and issued a heavily redacted report last April that described the airstrikes as a combination of human errors and technical failures.

However, it was absolutely clear that the facility was a hospital, and all sides knew about it, Hofman underlined.

"Key question that we need to know is why the hospital was attacked, whether by a mistake or not, it does not matter. It had a protective status, and something made it lose this status. Until we know what it is, it is impossible for us to send our teams back to Kunduz and start the hospital again," Hofman said.

The chief humanitarian specialist explained that the organization that would fit most for such an investigation and that was created specifically for probes on possible breaches of international humanitarian law is the Independent Humanitarian Fact-finding Commission.

"Why not using it?.. Nobody wants to do that. Other avenues can be what we mentioned last week at the UNSC. If the UN and the Security Council is serious about wanting to stop attacks on medical facilities, they should appoint a Special Rapporteur to the Secretary-General. But we do not know whether that is going to happen," Hofman said.

Sixteen US military officials received administrative punishments, saying the mistake was unintentional. MSF called this response disproportional.

The deadly attack on the Kunduz medical center and a rise in assaults on MSF-supported clinics in Syria and Yemen led to the UN Security Council passing a resolution in May 2016 that condemned targeting healthcare facilities and demanded accountability from warring parties.

Speaking at the UNSC last Wednesday, MSF's International President Joanne Liu called attacks on hospitals a red line and complained that nothing had changed since the adoption of Resolution 2286.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Monday, the US State Department announced it was suspending bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain a cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a press briefing that Secretary John Kerry had informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of the suspension.

"Whatever happens on the diplomatic front and in the peace negotiations, is not our business. But what is our business is to ensure that humanitarian assistance keeps on being allowed Regardless of the success or failure of the peace negotiations, at least the rules of war need to be respected, and we hope that this will continue," Hofman said.

Apart from the access for humanitarian aid, the MSF is concerned over the possibility to evacuate wounded and seriously ill people who need medical treatment.
In the past year, an increasing number of medical facilities have become targets of attacks in war-torn regions across the Middle East and North Africa.

On April 28, 2015, the al-Quds hospital in Aleppo, supported by the MSF, was attacked with an airstrike, which directly hit the building, killing at least 50 people.

On August 15, a Saudi-led coalition's airstrike partially destroyed a hospital in Yemen's Hajjah, run by the MSF, killing 14 people. It was the fourth attack on a hospital supported by the charity organization in 10 months.

"We still do not know why this whole escalation in the last three years is happening We keep seeing all the nations and the UNSC pledging the adherence to the international humanitarian law, but bombing of hospitals does not stop," Hofman said.

The chief humanitarian specialist supposed that "something has changed on the military sides," as the organization is doing everything it used to do on its part, negotiating with all the parties to the conflicts, but the attacks on medical facilities become more frequent.

"Just saying that you respect the international humanitarian law for us now does not mean much anymore," Hofman noted.

Most recently, the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo late last Tuesday damaged two MSF-backed hospitals, killed two patients and injured two medical staff members.

The deadly attack on the Kunduz medical center and a rise in assaults on MSF-supported clinics in Syria and Yemen led to the UN Security Council passing a resolution in May 2016 that condemned targeting healthcare facilities and demanded accountability from warring parties.

Speaking at the UNSC last Wednesday, MSF's International President Joanne Liu called attacks on hospitals a red line and complained that nothing had changed since the adoption of Resolution 2286.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to media reports, the variant deployed in Syria is S-300V4 (NATO designation SA-23 Gladiator), which is capable of striking tactical and strategic aircraft, medium-range ballistic missiles, tactical missiles, as well as cruise missiles.

"S-300 is solely a defensive system and does not pose any threat to anybody," spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

The system reportedly has a range of 250 kilometers (roughly 150 miles) and can simultaneously engage up to 24 aircraft or 16 ballistic targets in various combinations.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States must publicly admit that most of the opposition it supports in Syria is an integral part of al-Nusra Front militant group, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday.

"Is it not time for our US partners to publicly admit that almost all of the opposition it nurtures and controls in Syria is an integral part of one umbrella brand  al-Qaeda  al-Nusra Front," Konashenkov said.
ROME (Sputnik)  Northern Syrian city of Aleppo has been a battlefield between government forces, jihadists, as well as numerous oppositions groups. Fighting in Aleppo has escalated over the past few weeks, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in eastern districts of the city. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) over 340 people have died and some 1,000 have been injured in Aleppo over the last ten days.

"The operation in Aleppo is unacceptable and the fact that Russia connives with this action is unacceptable. Italy proposed a seven-day truce under the condition of the Russia-US commitment to keep [Bashar Assad]'s air forces on the groundThough, this agreement has not been reached, because Russia insisted that it was, first of all, necessary to separate the insurgents from the Nusra Front militants," Gentiloni said at a meeting with Italian lawmakers.

Gentiloni said that the Syrian crisis could be only settled by means diplomatic and political efforts.
LONDON (Sputnik)  Russia has to play its role in political solution of the Syrian conflict and should allow humanitarian aid to get through in Aleppo, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday.

"But Russia has to play its part in that. Russia has to accept that we need that humanitarian aid to get through into Aleppo," May told ITV News in an interview.

She noted that the international community should put more pressure on Russia over its position in the Syrian conflict.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  At the same time, he added that Washington's position in regard to Syria would not change significantly even after the end of Obama's tenure, because the US presidential candidates, namely Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have quite hardline approaches in regard to foreign policy.

"I am afraid that we are hostages of US [presidential] election campaign and we will not be able to reach some breakthrough agreements between Russia and the United States [on the Syrian issue] until its end," Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, told RT broadcaster in an interview.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition groups, as well as terrorist formations, such as Daesh, which is banned in Russia and the United States.
LONDON (Sputnik)  The political solution in Syria is now impossible given the level of violence in the country, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday.

"The levels of violence we are seeing, the way the Syrian regime is indiscriminately bombing its own civilians and their policy of starve or surrender, that seems to make a political solution at the moment impossible," May told ITV News in an interview.

At the same time, she pointed out that Syria needs long term political solution with President Bashar Assad not being a part of the countrys future.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the Saudi Press Agency, Gulf Shield 1 exercises involve units of the Royal Saudi Navy Forces of Eastern Fleet, including warships, naval aircraft and special security naval units.

Rear Adm. Majed bin Hazza'a Al-Qahtani, the commander of the exercise, described Gulf Shield 1 as "one of the largest of its kind" launched by the Eastern Fleet to raise the combat readiness of troops, according to the agency.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus retreat from Russias initiative to mediate direct talks between him and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to promote peace in the Middle East is currently the only obstacle on the path to progress on the issue, a deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, said on Tuesday.

"Abbas has accepted the Russian offer and informed the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on his agreement, but Netanyahu has retreated after he admitted it last month," Ahmad Tibi said during a meeting with Konstantin Kosachev, the head of Foreign Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, in Moscow.

Tibi applauded Moscow endeavor to arrange a meeting between leaders of the conflicting sides, saying: "we appreciate the Russian efforts on this issue."
In Syria, the US tries to sanitize the radicals, saying theyre the solution to the Assad problem, she said. President Assad is portrayed as a war criminal that has to go, but we havent been told why, she stated, adding, they are trying to sell terrorism as the lesser evil against the greater evil, which makes no sense.

The academic suggested that she has found it revealing that Washington seeks to balkanize the Middle East by means of military violence, which, conversely, creates perfect conditions for interventionism. But the truth is, according to Shakdam, that the crisis has spiraled out of Washingtons control.

The US is trying to play stability and pretend they are in control, but instability is pulling the train today, Shakdam said. In reality, they [Washington] dont have a plan except driving Assad out, which will create another vacuum, just like in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Facilitating terrorism in the Middle East creates uncontrolled chaos, which, in the long term, affects the whole world, the analyst said, referring to the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe.

If we want peace in Syria we have to stop playing the terror card. And we should be quite real about what we call terrorism. We need to kind of stop playing militias to combat terrorism.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The US military launched airstrikes against suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen, injuring one militant and killing another, the US Central Command said in a press release.

"The US military successfully struck an al-Qaeda target in the Arabian Peninsula, Sept. 29, in a remote area of Al Baydah Governate, Yemen, injuring one terrorist and killing another," the release stated on Tuesday.

Central Command spokesperson Army Maj. John Jacques said US airstrikes will hinder the ability of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to freely move throughout Yemen.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Two former detainees of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have described previously unreported methods of torture by the US agency, including threats to use an electric chair and being hung by body parts, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

"The two men, Ridha al-Najjar, 51, and Lotfi al-Arabi El Gherissi, 52, independently recounted being threatened with an electric chair, subjected to various forms of water torture and being chained by their arms to the ceilings of their cells for long periods," the report stated on Monday.

According to the rights group, both men explained that US interrogators showed them an electric chair and threatened to use it on them. Al-Najjar described forms of water torture, including water dousing while being placed on a board, the report said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia's Western Military District missile brigade was put on alert in the Leningrad Region for Iskander-M training launches, the Western Military District spokesman said Tuesday.

"At the moment, parts of the detachment are marching toward designated areas, where missile strike training will be carried out with simulated launches of the Iskander-M Tactical Ballistic Missile System," Col. Igor Muginov told reporters.

The Iskander-M (NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone) is a mobile ballistic missile system designed to destroy a wide variety of ground targets at a range of up to 310 miles.
There has been no official confirmation of the move from Moscow so far.

The news come a day after the United States suspended its engagement with Russia on Syria ceasefire, citing Moscows and the Syrian government's alleged non-compliance with the peace accords.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian and Belarusian paratroopers will take part in two major military drills this month, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

"Maneuvers will take place in both countries. A total of more than 1,200 personnel and 100 items of military and specialized equipment will be involved in the drills," a ministerial statement read.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Last week, Duterte announced his decision to end joint drills with the United States in a bid to appease China amid hopes to develop closer trade ties with Beijing.

"For 2016, our mission is to integrate the use of strategic sea vessels and other non-traditional platforms," Philippine Marine Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Andre Costales Jr. said, as quoted by the The Philippine Star newspaper.

Duterte also said that he would be seeking alliance with Russia, too. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded Monday by saying that Russia welcomed "mutually beneficial constructive relations, with Washington, Beijing, Manila, in all directions."
Since Sweden became the first Nordic country to abolish conscription six years ago, a total of 437 million SEK ($51 million) has been spent on advertising, Swedish trade magazine Resume reported. Nevertheless, the Swedish Armed Forces currently lack over 7,400 soldiers, which constitutes roughly a third of the total number of active soldiers.

In the first year after conscription was abolished, the Swedish Defense maintained an advertising budget of a whopping 100 million SEK ($12 million). Subsequently, the budget for advertising was cut down somewhat, yet hovered nevertheless at around SEK 60 million in recent years ($7 million).

Despite the obvious lack of personnel, the Armed Forces marketing boss Robert Forss believes the advertising has still been effective.
By PTI: Panaji, Oct 4 (PTI) Opposing three-month extension granted to Chief Secretary R K Srivastava, the AAP today demanded that the Goa government should relieve him immediately after the BRICS Summit scheduled here this month.

"AAP demands that the Chief Secretary be relieved immediately after the BRICS Summit and the Ministry of Home Affairs be requisitioned by the state government for posting a new Chief Secretary for the state of Goa," AAP said in a statement released here.

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Goa government has granted a three-month extension to Srivastava, whose retirement was due on September 30.

"The Aam Aadmi Party views this with deep suspicion and denounces the governments decision to grant Chief Secretary R K Srivastav another three-month extension," the party said.

"The move is clearly a conspiracy by Goas de facto weekend CM Manohar Parrikar and de jure Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, to ensure a pliable Chief Secretary and misuse the official machinery in this crucial run-up to the Goa assembly elections in early 2017," the AAP alleged.

"Why Parrikar and Parsekarare going out of the way to grant extensions and retain him as the head of the state administration? Srivastava has a shady past and dozens of cases pending against him," it said.

"The BRICS summit slated to be held in Goa on October 16-17 is only an excuse and granting him extension till December 31, 2016 defeats any logic," the statement read.

When asked to react on the AAPs allegations, Parsekar only said that the extension has been given considering the BRICS event which Goa would be hosting successfully. PTI RPS DK PMS

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According to Bulgaria's Trud newspaper, Nenchev said that Bulgaria would not withdraw its 110 servicemen from Afghanistan, despite Borissov's claims.

Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, with government forces fighting the continuing Taliban insurgency. The instability has persisted in the country since the 2001 US-led invasion to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Russian people should know that NATO is a defensive alliance and does not seek to contain or to weaken Russia, or any other state, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.

"NATO is a defensive alliance. The Russian people, in particular, should know that despite what their leaders sometimes tell them our alliance does not seek to weaken, to contain or to defy their nation or any other nations," Kerry said at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Brussels.

He added that the alliance wanted to cooperate with Moscow in solving common challenges.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Commenting on Fallons speech at Conservative Party Conference, Lewis said, as quoted by the Labour Partys website:

Michael Fallons speech was a smokescreen, designed to deflect from the Tories legacy of failure on defence. The reality is their devastating cuts since 2010 have weakened and demoralised our Armed Forces, leaving them poorly-equipped, over-stretched, under-paid and too often living in squalid conditions.

Lewis noted that the Labour Party wanted to comply with the NATO standards of spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  In what could be a difficult road ahead for US manufacturers Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha will prefer the company that would not only set up its production line in India but would also be ready to transfer technology. During Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar's visit to the US in August, Boeing and Lockheed Martin made official proposals to manufacture F/A-18 and F-16s respectively under the "Make in India" campaign.

Air Chief Marshal Raha said that companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and SAAB had offered to set up manufacturing units for combat aircraft in India.

India and France have already signed an intergovernmental agreement for 36 Rafale combat aircraft. The first Rafale is expected to be inducted into Indian Air Force by 2019.
RIGA (Sputnik)  International military exercises Silver Arrow-2016 involving servicemen from the NATO member states will take place in Latvia on October 17-31, the country's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"The exercises will be held on October 17-31 and will involve some 500 troops from NATO countries," the ministry said in a statement.

Troops from Lithuania, Estonia, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will participate in the drills alongside Latvia's forces to practice joint offensive and defensive operations.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Canadas parliament has rejected a motion to establish an oversight committee to monitor weapons exports to countries with poor human rights records, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) said in a press release.

"Canadians have a lot of questions about Canadas arms exports to countries with questionable human-rights records, and they deserve transparency and accountability from this government," member of Parliament and NDP foreign-affairs critic Helene Laverdiere stated in the release on Tuesday.

The NDP motion would have established a multiparty committee to investigate all current and future arms exports from Canada.
The Military Times reported in June on the ongoing lack of materiel and training capacity at US Cyber Command, saying that six years after the organization's creation, it still lacked a training environment for large-scale exercises necessary to evaluate its overall readiness. Cyber Command, headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland, lacks a permanent interconnected range for units to practice tactics, test weaponry and engage in conflict exercises.

"We don't have  but we need  an exercise environment where you do rehearsals, go against adversary networks, and figure out ways to better protect your own," retired Air Force Major General Jim Keffer, formerly chief of staff of Cyber Command in 2015, told Military Times. "For individual training, I think were really good. But the team training, the force-on-force training, that is primarily limited by a lack of a persistent training environment."

At the Air Force Associations 2016 Air, Space and Cyber Conference in late September, Air Force Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski echoed similar concerns, saying, "we have to take a serious look at cyber security for our weapon systems in ways that a couple of years ago we didnt think about," Military.com reported. The service must understand where cyber threats to its systems originate, she said.

The service will develop a Cyber Security Engineering Team within its Life Cycle Management Center to ensure that weapons system upgrades do not introduce new threat opportunities, she said.
On October 4, Russia marks the anniversary of the Space Forces established to ensure the security of Russia in space. On this day 59 years ago the first-ever artificial satellite was launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Preparation, launch and management of the flight was carried out by military formations that later became the basis of the modern Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Since then, the branch dissolved twice under military reorganizations: in 1997 and in 2011. On August 1, 2015, the Russian Space Forces were reestablished and are now the part of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Despite the breakdown of the ceasefire, Korb continued, President Barack Obama is unlikely to arm the Syrian opposition to counter the governments offensives in light of past failures, including training Syrians to fight the Islamic State that turned around to fight against President Bashar Assads forces.

"Obama does not seem inclined to want to get involved in a civil war [in Syria]," Korb observed. "When we trained the Syrians to fight ISIS, when they got to the battlefield they all went [against] Assad, so we stopped the program."

Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter wanted to increase US military involvement in Syria to a greater extent than Obama did, Korb suggested.

The Russian Foreign Ministry added in a statement that the White House would be responsible for possible new terrorist attacks in Syria because of suspending cooperation with Russia.

On September 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the conflict. The ceasefire deal was later shattered by numerous violations, which resulted in intensified fighting between the Syrian government and militants in Aleppo.
If not for WikiLeaks, Burke stated, secret data on Clintons misconduct during her tenure as US Secretary of State, or war crimes in Iraq committed by the US, as well as the details about such secret deals as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, would have gone unreported, allowing those in power engaged in criminal activities to avoid responsibility for their actions.

TTP and TTIP would have been railroaded through if it hadn't been for WikiLeaks, Burke said, adding that the leaks are important in todays world, they would have been important in yesterdays world, if they were there.

By facilitating whistleblowers, Burke said, Assange has made enemies of many powerful people.

Its anyone in the so-called Anglo-American establishment and Saudi Arabians, and many others, Burke said.
Taliban militants slipped past government defences early on Monday and occupied or attacked central areas of Kunduz, almost exactly a year after they briefly captured the city in one of their biggest successes of the 15-year war.

Afghan security forces keep watch in front of their armoured vehicle in Kunduz city, Afghanistan on October 4, 2016. Photo: Reuters

By Reuters: Afghan forces regained control of most of the northern city of Kunduz city on Tuesday amid sporadic fighting, officials said, a day after Taliban militants appeared to encounter little resistance as they pushed to the city centre.

But social media accounts linked to the Taliban, which had taunted Afghan forces and their Western backers throughout Monday's attack, said the group's fighters were still inside Kunduz city on Tuesday with "clashes ongoing" and government troops "on the run".

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Taliban militants slipped past government defences early on Monday and occupied or attacked central areas of Kunduz, almost exactly a year after they briefly captured the city in one of their biggest successes of the 15-year war.

The attack in Kunduz, as well as Taliban gains in areas of Helmand and Uruzgan where they also threaten provincial capitals, has underlined the insurgents' growing strength and exposed weaknesses in the government, which is meeting international donors in Brussels this week to try to secure billions of dollars in additional aid.

EASY TAKEOVER BY TALIBAN

Questions dogged the Afghan security forces, with the US military reporting it saw little evidence of significant fighting as the Taliban moved in, and some witnesses saying many police had simply abandoned their checkpoints without firing a shot.

In Washington on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters the Taliban attack was more of a "Western-movie style shoot-them-up" raid than a concerted military offensive.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said no checkpoints manned by army troops had been abandoned.

Afghan officials are still investigating how the Taliban managed to once again penetrate the city's defences, despite months of military operations aimed at preventing a repeat of last year's debacle, Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters in Kabul.

"Right now we are focusing on clearing the city," he said.

US SPECIAL FORCES SUPPORT

Backed by US special forces and air support as well as warplanes of their own, Afghan soldiers sought to clear the city overnight, said Kunduz police chief Qasim Jangalbagh.

Taliban fighters, seeking to reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, remained in several areas of Kunduz but Afghan forces had made progress, he said.

"We have received reinforcement and have air support," Jangalbagh said. "More then 25 enemies are killed so far and we have retaken several places. We are committed to clear the city."

Five members of the government security forces had been killed, with another 13 wounded, Waziri reported.

Overnight, a US helicopter conducted an air strike "to defend friendly forces", the US military command in Kabul said, and a "robust" force of American special forces as well as aircraft were positioned near the city to provide support if needed.

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"We are ready to return to it as soon as the US deals with circumstances that have led to its suspension. Specific conditions for its resumption will be defined by Russia's Federal Assembly," Ulyanov said.

According to Ulyanov, Washington did not officially inform Moscow about its plans to change the method of disposing plutonium under a 2000 pact.

"Under the agreement, the disposal method can only be changed with the parties consent. Russia did not receive any official US request through diplomatic channels," Mikhail Ulyanov, the director of the ministrys arms non-proliferation and control department, told the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said that the disposal method was stipulated in the agreement and the 2010 protocol appendix, but the United States went for a potentially reversible method, which includes burying diluted plutonium in salt mines.

According to the draft law on the State Duma website, the agreement may be resumed after the United States reduces its troops and military infrastructure in NATO member states that joined the alliance after September 1, 2000, to the levels they were at the time the original agreement first entered into force.

Other provisions include the annulment of the Magnitsky Act and sanctions introduced by the United States over Russias alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis, as well as compensation of the losses Russia suffered due to the sanctions.
Davis' first reason is as follows: Imagine the NYPD is replaced by law enforcement officers from other countries who act according to laws approved outside of the US. Would New Yorkers be ok with it? Surely, not.

"The inhabitants of any civil entity want to be governed and secured by laws of their choosing, protected by people culturally and linguistically like themselves, and to have a judiciary to prevent abuse of power by the police force," he noted.

The world does not have this option if Washington is allowed to be the only arbiter.
BEIJING (Sputnik)  The official added that five-party talks without North Korea were unlikely to yield a result.

"They have been stopped. As of today there are no prospects to return to the six-party talks, but as far as prospects are concerned, no side to the negotiations sees any alternatives, they do not exist," Denisov told Russian media outlets in an interview.

The six-party talks on turning the peninsula into a nuclear-free zone began in August 2003 and led to North Korea freezing its nuclear program and even preparing for a demolition of a Yonben reactor, but ground to a halt in 2008 as the United States and North Korea failed to reach an agreement on the manner of checking the inventory of Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
"This is not only in regard to the separation of the moderate opposition from Jabhat al-Nusra [known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham since July], but also to the very clear, concrete commitments to unblock Castello road It is sad and regrettable," Lavrov pointed out.

On Monday, the US State Department announced it was suspending bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain a cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a press briefing that Secretary John Kerry had informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of the suspension.

Russia does not shy away from its responsibilities on Syria, but the crisis can only be settled through joint efforts, including with the United States, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov added.

"We do not shy away from our responsibilities, but we believe that only collectively, only together  including with the US and Europe and with all the key countries in the region  can this crisis be resolved," Lavrov said.

Unilateral steps could create the conditions for a military solution, he stressed at a meeting with Saad Hariri, leader of Al-Mustaqbal  Future Movement, a political party in Lebanon.
BEIJING (Sputnik)  He noted that managing global and regional processes has become more complicated.

"In this context, our cooperation with China seems to be a factor of stabilization, exerting positive, stabilizing influence on the global as well as regional situation. In all respects," Denisov told Russian media outlets.

The ambassador described Russian-Chinese relations as a comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, adding that neither Russia, nor China had a goal of becoming members of an alliance.
United States Department of State spokesman Mark Toner did not confirm that Washington would directly provide Syrian rebels with weapons.

At the same time, he said that the US is providing assistance to some of the Syrian moderate groups fighting the Syrian Army.

Washington is unable to separate the so-called moderate rebels from al-Nusra Front terrorists. If the moderates received man-portable air defense systems this would increase the risks for the Syrian Air Force and Russian combat aircraft, an article in the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta read.
Military analyst Igor Korotchenko pointed to Washington's double standards with regard to the deal on weapons-grade plutonium.

"The United States promotes signing agreements only in those areas it can benefit from. In an opposite case, the US simply does not fulfil its obligations," he told Russian TV-channel Zvezda. "The non-compliance with this deal once again points to Washington's devil-may-care attitude when it comes to its own promises and international law."

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement was signed in 2000 and updated in 2010. The Plutonium Disposition Protocol signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on April 13, 2010, reaffirmed that both countries were committed to "transparently" disposing surplus weapons-grade plutonium "from their respective defense programs, thereby preventing the plutonium from ever being reused for weapons or any other military purpose."
"Without false modesty, no one is immersed in these issues at such a depth as Russia for obvious reasons. Therefore, our voice has clout, with all due respect to the role played by our Chinese, Indian friends, colleagues from South Africa and Brazil at many international venues. Simply, the extent of our country's involvement in these processes speaks for itself," Ryabkov said.

The BRICS countries are preparing an extensive document for signing at the Goa summit, some 80 percent of it is dedicated to economy issues, Ryabkov told Sputnik.

"Any BRICS summit is a very big event, but not only for the media but also for politics, as well as an event from the point of view of its influence on political processes in the world. We are working on an extensive final document. Its coordination is in advanced stage, around 30 percent of it is economy issues," he added.
According to the media outlet, no official explanation to this refusal has been provided yet, though, it can be connected with recent Gabriel's critical statements regarding human rights situation in Iran and Iran's behavior toward Israel.

Earlier in October, the Spiegel Online magazine quoted Gabriel as saying that the Germany-Iran relations would become normal and friendly, when Tehran accepted the right of Israel to exist. The German Vice Chancellor has also voiced concern about the situation with human rights violations in Iran.
"What we have seen from the Russians in the year or so since their military intervention in Syria is that they have not made much progress against [Daesh]. They claim that the reason they are in Syria is to fight extremists, but they haven't achieved a significant [counter-Daesh] objective in more than seven months," the White House press secretary suggested.

Earnest further assumed that Russian officials "have been reduced to try and to claim credit for successful US operations" in Syria.

Referencing the killing of Daesh's top commander Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, he said that "Russia was in a position where they were rather pathetically trying to claim credit for having carried out that operation. I think that's an indication that they don't have much to claim credit for when it comes to fighting extremists and fighting [Daesh]."

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin described Earnest's assertions as "indelicacy, to put it mildly."

Russia has been hailed for its limited, but efficient military operation in Syria that has helped Damascus-led forces to turn the tide of the five-and-a-half-year war, recover key cities and boost the SAA's morale. Moscow has also been credited for its diplomatic efforts to launch an inclusive dialogue aimed at finding a suitable and lasting resolution to the conflict that has claimed more than 280,000 lives and displaced a half of Syria's population.
Charlo Greene, a former TV reporter, had admitted to running a cannabis club and then quit on air in 2014. Now, she is facing a 54-year jail sentence.

By India Today Web Desk: In September 2014, Charlo Greene made a dramatic exit from the sets of American news channel KTVA during a live broadcast. Two years later, she is back in news, not as a journalist, but as an accused charged with drug-related charges.

Greene became an overnight sensation after she announced, while finishing her report on Alaska Cannabis Club and the need for medical marijuana legalisation, that she is the owner of the cannabis club.



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After dropping that bomb, Greene threw another curve ball by quitting her job as a TV reporter during the live broadcast, as a protest against Alaska's marijuana laws.

Read more: Alaska TV reporter curses, quits on air over marijuana issue

"As for this job, well, not that I have a choice but f*** it, I quit," Greene announced, before storming off the stage.



DRUG CHARGES



The Guardian reports that Greene has been charged with 14 drug felonies relating to the Alaska Cannabis Club's activities, for which the maximum combined penalty is 54 years jail time.

"I just found out I'm facing an additional 6 felonies - 30 more years. That 54 years in prison for a plant (sic)," Greene wrote on Facebook last week.

Source: Charlo Greene/ Facebook

Greene, who pleaded not guilty to the charges told High Times that she fears she could "lose the rest of [her] life because of cannabis,".

"I dedicated my life to fighting for the cannabis plant and the people behind it," she said. "Now that I could lose the rest of my life because of cannabis, it feels like the people I fought for have abandoned me. I've never felt more alone".

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"As far as we understand, our militaries will continue maintaining contacts to avoid dangerous incidents while operating in Syria," the spokesman added.

The US State Department announced on Wednesday that the US was suspending its engagement with Russia on sustaining a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

Russia to Continue Fight Against Terrorism in Syria Supporting Gov't Forces

Russia has no intention to stop fighting terrorism in Syria or to quit supporting the governmental army despite US refusal to continue bilateral dialogue on the Syrian settlement, Dmitry Peskov said.

"The US refusal to continue dialogue with Russia on Syrian affairs in terms of supporting a ceasefire regime, of course, makes the situation there more complicated. This refusal, unfortunately, confirms that it is de facto impossible to separate terrorists from the so called moderate opposition Though, it does not mean that the Russian side intends to drop its plans regarding the fight against terrorism and support of the Syrian armed forces in their anti-terrorist efforts," Peskov told reporters answering the question, whether the US demarche would increase the possibility of incidents between the Russian Aerospace Forces and the US-led coalition aircraft in the war-torn country.

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations Vitaliy Churkin said on Monday that he did not see any possible alternative to the Russian-US cooperation on Syria and expressed his regret over the end of talks.

Kremlin Spokesman Rules Out Speculation on Suspending More Deals With US
While declaring the fight against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) its primary goal, the US-led coalition is simultaneously seeking to defeat Syrian legitimate President Assad and weaken the Syrian Arab Army.

"62 Syrian soldiers were reported killed in a US-led coalition airstrike on the Syrian military base Deir ez-Zor, on September 17, in Eastern Syria. The planes destroyed the base housing for soldiers that were involved in a battle with ISIS [Daesh]," the journalist recalls.

"Almost immediately, the ISIS [Daesh] took over the hill and the area," Vltchek underscores, assuming that it resembled nothing so much as a "coordinated operation."

The West's involvement has raised a lot of questions. The journalist reminds his readers that while Russia was officially invited to step in by the Syrian legitimate government a year ago, nobody invited the US-led coalition.

Vltchek points out that what is going on in Syria has been largely misinterpreted by the Western media since the very beginning.

"The propaganda coming out of the Western mass media outlets and indoctrination-spreading institutions is so thorough, so professional, that to most of people all over the world everything related to Syria appears to be blurry, murky, and incredibly complex," he stresses.
"It is still unclear who will come to power [in Washington]," the Russian expert remarks, adding that, similarly, a new US administration's foreign policy strategy remains unknown.

Commenting on the US-Russian ceasefire deal, Perendzhiev highlighted that the primary goal of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry was to prevent a potential conflict between Moscow and Washington.

He admitted that the US and Russia's foreign policy agendas in Syria do not coincide: while Russia is seeking to restore peace and stability in the Syrian Arab Republic, US leadership is harboring plans to oust Syrian legitimate President Bashar al-Assad and divide the country into numerous quasi-states.

"Unfortunately, a military conflict between Russia and the US in Syria is [hypothetically] possible," Perendzhiev noted, adding, however, that it is most likely that the countries will avoid a direct confrontation.

"Two years ago Russia and the US established a communication mechanism and drew a so-called red line, which would allow [the countries] to start urgent negotiations at the highest level and ease an explosive situation," the Russian expert emphasizes.
Cunningham further said that if Hillary Clinton wins the elections, which she might because she has a strong military backing, she will take a much more militaristic approach in Syria as she has already said that she will do.

Global perspective is that Washington wont stop complete hegemony in global affairs and its unipolar dominance. Russia represents a multi polar world in par with China, so the Americans are in confrontation with Russia, China and anyone else who threatens their hegemonic ambitions.

The analyst said that it is not just about Syria. Ukraine and various other issues such as the downing of the Malaysian airliner and various other allegations that Washington levels against Russia on human rights.

There is an agenda in Washington to pursue a confrontational course with Russia, Cunningham said.

He further spoke about the US Empire and the future of it in the coming years. Washington is witnessing rise of Russia and China and that is threatening its hegemonic control of the world.

Cunningham mentioned what Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova said. She called Washingtons policy reckless and confrontational.

The US is pushing for a possible confrontation with Russia. It might not willingly anticipate this but the way Washington keeps confronting and antagonizing Russia in Syria and elsewhere, it could very dangerously lead to an all-out war, Cunningham stressed.

Maria Zakharova also said that the United States is trying to shift blame on Russia for the current situation in Syria as Moscow and Washington back opposing sides in the war-torn country.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Hussein called for the UN Security Council to limit permanent member states' veto power as a way to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

"I would like to remind everyone that having the veto is not a privilege but an issue of using one's powers in one's interest. It is an issue of the balance of power. The unique instrument was devised when the United Nations was created and has for over 70 years ensured that the world does not lose its strategic balance," Zakharova said.

The Kremlin has also voiced its opposition to limiting veto powers.
US President Barack Obama and his advisors have made a potentially grave mistake by suspending talks with the Russians over Syria, James W. Carden, the executive editor for the American Committee for East-West Accord's EastWestAccord.com, underscored in his article for The Nation.

The journalist noted, however, that the Obama administration's decision to halt the US-Russian collaboration on Syria comes as no surprise. The ink had barely dried on the Syrian ceasefire deal when the Pentagon's officials openly signaled that they were not quite sure whether or not they would obey by the accords.

Carden called attention to the fact that even US Secretary of State John Kerry, whom many regarded as a"dove," turned out to be a proponent of the military solution in Syria.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States has completely failed in implementing the new Syrian ceasefire deal with Russia and separating terrorists from moderate opposition, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

"It is the United States that failed miserably in implementing all the agreements of the September 9 ceasefire, being unable to separate a single of the to-called opposition groups from the Nusra Front [also known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham] and allowing terrorists to carry out another regrouping and resupply," spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

On Monday, the United States announced its decision to suspend bilateral dialogue with Russia resolving the Syrian conflict after the September 9 Russia-US ceasefire deal collapsed within a week and the Syrian army began to advance in Aleppo, responding to militants' ceasefire violations. Later in the day, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that Russia has not been successful in fighting Daesh.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Washington is talking with US partners in the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to formulate plans to end the violence in Syria after ending bilateral cooperation with Russia, US Department of State deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

"With regard to the way forward in the civil war in Syria, were talking to like-minded allies and partners within the ISSG and were meeting internally as a government to plot out next steps," Toner told reporters.

Teams of US officials are reviewing diplomatic, intelligence and military options, among others, to address the conflict in Syria, Mark Toner added.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States has significantly increased its intelligence activities aimed to recruit Russian diplomats in recent years using threats and pressure, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday.

"In the last two years and a half [US] recruiting activities in regard to our employees have significantly increased, and US intelligence services use the most miserable means of pressure, including threats to health of [the diplomats'] family members," Ryabkov said in a statement.

He added that the United States created artificial difficulties for implementation of the Russian diplomats' duties, citing a recent tightening of rules regulating the movement of Russian officials across the US territory.
A number of high profile voices have come out in support of the Women's Boat to Gaza, and have urged Israeli authorities not to intercept. The passengers of the Zaytouna-Oliva include several parliamentarians, an Olympic athlete, Nobel Laureate, Mairead Maguire and the former US Diplomat, Ann Wright. But as the ship nears its destination, several reports suggest that the Israeli Navy has received instructions to intercept the boat. We speak to Synne Sofie Reksten, currently on board the boat.

Unrest continues in the Oromia region of Ethiopia following police intervention at a religious celebration on Sunday, which resulted in at least 52 confirmed deaths. Many human rights groups have put that figure much higher, at several hundred deaths, and the incident has fueled further anti-government sentiment among Oromo communities. We speak to Professor Ezekiel Gebissa, from Kettering University, and Felix Horne from Human Rights Watch.

You can find previous editions of World in Focus here.
Ankita Bhargava has the sweetest memory with hubby Karan Patel to share on Instagram.

By India Today Web Desk: Karan Patel and Ankita Bhargava surprised the world when they announced their wedding in March last year. The announcement came right after his breakup with Kamya Punjabi, and was met with a lot of criticism, especially from his fans.

Time heals everything. Karan and Ankita have completed a year of matrimony and it surely looks like their relationship has stood the test of time.

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In her recent Instagram post, Ankita talks about the day when she said yes to marrying Karan, 1.5 years back.



Karan and Ankita also honeymooned in Europe recently; the holiday was overdue since a long time. They tied the knot on May 3 last year.

On work front, Ankita is doing a soap on Doordarshan called Vidya, while Karan is working in TRP-churner Yeh Hai Mohabbatein opposite Divyanka Tripathi.



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Weighing 300 kilograms and just over one meter long, the Nerekhta can haul hundreds of kilograms of high explosives at 11 km/h in a silent mode.

Before it goes into combat a map of the the battlefield with the coordinates of the designated targets is downloaded to its onboard computer. All its operators need to do is just push a button clicking the number of the downloaded targets and leave the rest to this powerful tank.

Receiving the radio command, the Nerekhta will plot its course to the target, approach it and blow it up.

This is exactly what the Nerekhta did when it was unveiled to the public during the Army-2016 expo outside Moscow.

A robotic arm will eventually be added on to make the Nerekhta reusable. It will unload the explosive charge and return to base. We also want to make it move faster, the Degtyarev Plants deputy chief designer Dmitry Fufayev told Izvestia.

The idea of self-destroying robots is not new. One such unit was used by the Germans during WWII. It was a remotely operated miniature tank hauling 100 kilograms and used to destroy tanks, fortifications and enemy manpower.

Nerekhta-like kamikaze robots are also being developed in Israel (Rambot) and South Korea (iRobit First Look). These miniature machines are mainly designed for indoor use against terrorists and criminals.

Foreign-made kamikaze robots are nothing more than radio-operated grenades that are placed inside a building to take out the bad guys hiding inside. By contrast, the Nerekhta can destroy tanks and entire buildings, is pretty small and highly maneuverable, military historian Alexei Khlopotov said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (UAC) has earlier announced the start of the development of a fifth-generation Husky class nuclear submarine to replace the existing Yasen class boats.

"The work on the preliminary design of a fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarine is currently underway; the results of this work will determine the construction schedule," Borisov said in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Some media outlets have indicated that the new multipurpose subs would be equipped with Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.
"We need Congress to come together around providing normal, stable, responsible budgetsthat is, appropriationsbecause lack of stability represents one of the single biggest strategic risks to our DOD enterprise," Federal Soup quoted Carter saying. "Now the time has come to begin the fiscal year, and I can only tell you the same thing: that budget instability is the greatest risk we face."

He added, "It makes planning for the fight extremely difficult for our warfighters and commanders, including in our campaign to deliver ISIL a lasting defeat. It baffles our friends, and emboldens foes. Its managerially and strategically unsound, not to mention unfairly dispiriting to our troops and their families, and our workforce  all of whom deserve better, and deserve more predictability, to say the least."
This week, he doesnt appear to be going any better. On Monday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released a report that appears to show that Trump did business with an Iranian bank that the US government accused of being linked to terrorist organizations and Tehrans nuclear program.

The accusations relate to Bank Melli, which allegedly paid over $500,000 in annual rent for an office in the GM Building in New York City until 2003.
Hall said that protests have been peaceful, and that "People don't leave from the camp with malicious intent to do harm[but] There are always going to be a few bad eggs in any group you can't get the message to."

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, and her running mate Ajamu Baraka, were both charged with criminal mischief in early September for spray-painting solidarity messages on pipeline construction equipment. Stein later said in a statement, "I hope they take action against the Dakota Access Pipeline company that is endangering drinking water, not only for the Standing Rock Sioux, but for millions of people downstream of the reservation who depend on the Missouri River."

On September 9 the US government ordered a temporary halt on pipeline construction, after US District Judge James Boasberg rejected a request from the Standing Rock Sioux to block the pipeline altogether.

The Sioux have said that the proposed $3.7 billion pipeline will desecrate sacred lands and burial grounds, and devastate local wildlife.

The Department of Justice, the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Interior released a joint statement: "This case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes views on these types of infrastructure projects."
The idea of deploying license plate scanners at gun shows, however, has resulted in criticism as some consider their use an invasion of privacy. Gun rights advocates in particular express fears of surveillance.

Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, claimed that, "Information on law-abiding gun owners ends up getting recorded, stored, and registered, which is a violation of the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act and of the Second Amendment."

Jay Stanley, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, suggested that gun show surveillance "highlights the problem with mass collection of data." Stanley offered that the process of buying guns, when considered alongside border crossings, may fit someone's idea of a crime. "And because those two activities in concert fit somebody's idea of a crime, a person becomes inherently suspicious," he said.

Retailers of license plate readers have said that using the devices on attendee vehicles at a gun show is "an abuse of the technology."

"I think this was a situation that shows we need to establish policies for license-plate readers, like any new technology," John Chigos, CEO of PlateSmart Technologies, said.
At the same time, some 37 percent of sepsis hospitalizations in America are those in which an infection was acquired in the medical facility, according to official figures. Sepsis is just one of many terminal infections caused by lax sanitary and procedural standards.

The loose regulations also contribute to the ability of some hospital administrators to improve infection-linked death-rate statistics at a medical facility.

The CDC reported in October 2015 that they had identified hospitals that knowingly prevented personnel from reporting to a national database some types of hospital-caught infections.

Dr. Barry Farr, former president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America pointed out that the increasing infection-caused death rate is a long-term problem that administrators and hospital owners do not want to address.

We, the community of physicians, had been watching these patients die and trundling them off to the morgue for years, he told LA Times. Now were in the eighth verse of the same song.

Farr noted that the number of deaths could be significantly decreased if hospitals monitored employee infection control procedures, including simply washing hands.

According to Dr. Martin Makary, a Baltimore surgeon, unreported fatal infections are the third-highest cause of fatalities in America. This indicates medical care going wrong and the problem is in urgent need of a solution.

We need an open and honest conversation about the problem, Makary said.
NEW YORK (Sputnik)  During a campaign event in Virginia on Monday night, Donald Trump suggested that veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are not strong enough and "can't handle it" unlike other people.

Members of the US military gathered on the sidewalk outside the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to voice their criticism and talk about their experiences with PTSD. They told Sputnik that Trump's comments were "outrageous" and "insulting."

"Veterans are not props for hate" and "Vets Against Trump" were among the signs carried by the protesters.
"So far we have been able to deconflict operations over Syria through the Memorandum of Understanding in the midst of our disagreements with Russia that has successfully been able to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation, and we certainly would expect that we continue to avoid any misunderstanding or miscalculation," Cook stated.

Cook added that the United States continues to do everything it can to ensure the safety of its coalitions aircraft.

"We will continue to do so. And those air cruise as well, I should point out, have right to self-defense," Cook added.

On October 3, State Department deputy spokesperson John Kirby announced in a press release that the United States is cutting off participation in bilateral channels with Russia on sustaining a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

The United States and Russia signed the bilateral MOU in October 2015 to ensure flight safety during combat missions over Syria.

The US-led coalition of more than 60 nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria since September 2014, but without the permission of the legitimate government of Syrian President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.
Any cooperation would require the agreement of the leadership of both nations, the space chief said, noting that Iran has a meaningful, peaceful space program. "We have capabilities and we are part of an international scene."

Iran has launched four satellites since its first in 2009. It's planning the launch of another this Iranian calendar year, the Iran Project reports, and is in talks with Italy to reclaim a satellite held in that country due to sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.
By India Today Web Desk: Scriptwriter Jonathan Nolan, who is also Hollywood director Christopher Nolan's younger brother, is all set to make his Indian television debut today in the form of his new show, Westworld.

Jonathan has previously penned down scripts for award-winning movies like Interstellar, The Dark Knight Series, and The Prestige. Touted as the next Game of Thrones in terms of its scope and concept, the show is already making a lot of noise on the international front.

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Also read:Quantico Season 2 to premiere tomorrow in India; all you want to know



The storyline of the show is rather unique. The plot of the show is based around a futuristic theme park, called Westworld, where humans are allowed to interact with robots, but things start falling apart when these very robots start malfunctioning.

Anthony Hopkins in a still from the show

The show boasts of a star-studded cast, which includes the names of Hollywood biggies like, Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, and Evan Rachel Wood among others.

Comparisons with another popular show, True Detective (starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson), have already started doing the rounds.

Westworld premieres tonight on Star World Premiere HD at 10 pm.



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Significant flooding and many downed trees have also been reported.

More than 6,400 people have been evacuated into temporary shelters, but many are scared to leave their homes and shacks, for fear of being robbed while they are away.

"If we lose our things we are not going to get them back! Toussaint Laine, a resident of Tabarre, told AP.

The hurricane is expected to dump as much as 20 inches of rain on areas with lower elevation, and as much as 40 inches in the mountains.

"This could be catastrophic for some places, particularly Haiti," hurricane center spokesman Dennis Feltgen told USA TODAY. "This is an area where trees just don't exist (due to deforestation). The terrain is stripped, and the threat of major flash floods and mudslides is very real."

Three US Navy ships are now en route to the island nation to assist with relief efforts.

Hurricane Matthew is currently on track to head to Cuba, where the National Hurricane Center is warning of storm surges that could reach 11 feet on the southern coast.

The US Navy has evacuated 700 non-essential personnel, as well as spouses and children, from the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention center. Evacuees were boarded onto cargo planes and flown to Pensacola, Florida. Only personnel required to protect the base and the detention facilities remain. Those who stayed behind have been warned to keep an eye on each other to make sure nobody goes missing as the hurricane hits.
It is not clear what officials were looking for in Yahoo Mail accounts, numbered in the hundreds of millions. All that is currently known is that Yahoo was instructed to look for a certain set of characters. Sources say that this could imply a search for an attachment or a phrase. It also is not known if other internet companies were approached with similar requests, or what information Yahoo turned over to the US spy agencies.

In a brief company statement, Yahoo said that they are "a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," but did not go into detail about the software program or their dealings with the FBI and NSA. Former employees claim that the decision to cooperate with surveillance agencies, made by Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, was not popular with high-level officers in the company and may have led to Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos leaving Yahoo in June 2015.
On Friday morning, school officials sent a message to parents warning them of clown-related threats posted to social media.

The message sent to parents and posted on the districts website read as follows:

This is to inform you of a social media posting regarding a rumor of a threat to our building. Please know that the Hampton Police Department and Hampton City Schools are aware of the posting.

We have confidence in the police department addressing this matter. Please know that we have taken measures to ensure the continued safety of our students and staff. While law enforcement has not determined this to be a credible threat, in addition to other measures, you will see an increased presence of law enforcement at our building. As always, thank you for your continued support as we work together to keep our schools safe.

Due to the threats, police presence has been increased at all schools in the area.

Regarding the solicitation of a killer clown to murder a teacher disliked by a student, the girl has been charged with threatening to kill by electronic message, and remained in police custody on Monday afternoon.

We looked at prior discipline issues and so on, but basically the range is long-term suspension to expulsion, Diana Gulotta from Hampton City Schools told Wavy.
"I misspoke tonight," she wrote in a statement.

"While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldnt hold up either of them as role models for my kids."

It remains to be seen what voters will make of this flip-flop. Social media users were quick to criticize the senator.

 Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) October 4, 2016  Bobby Zupkofska (@Bobby_Zupkofska) October 4, 2016 Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, among the most vocal critics of Trump, accused Ayotte  and the GOP writ large  of failing to stand up to the presidential candidates divisive rhetoric.
Linkmeyer told local station WCPO "It definitely was all for laughter. Weve always had floats for laughterTheres never been anything else but that," denying that his float had racist undertones.

The 76-year-old Democrat said that the Obama likeness was placed on the float as an afterthought, adding, "I couldve taken and put Donald Trump in that float and had Hillary pull the handle. Nevertheless, I would have never pleased everybody and it was definitely all for laughter."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The General Assembly held high-level plenary talks in New York on September 19 where it was agreed to push back a global action plan on refugees to 2018.

"World leaders at the General Assembly agreed an Outcome document that said they would help, but agreed no actual plan. Empty words that change nothing," Amnesty Internationals chief Salil Shetty said.
BEIJING (Sputnik)  He added that positions of the two nations on the issues of struggle against corruption coincided and the cooperation between Moscow and Beijing on the issue was quite effective.

"An initiative to propose international community to work out and sign a universal convention on the return of assets has come up in BRICS. It is an extremely important issue for China," Andrey Denisov told Russian media outlets.

BRICS is an association of five developing economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which comprise over one third of the worlds population. The five nations have a combined nominal GDP equivalent to approximately 20 percent of world gross product.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Self-exiled Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, wanted in Turkey for allegedly plotting the July coup attempt, could flee the United States to avoid extradition to his home country, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said Tuesday.

Given the likelihood of extradition from the United States, Gulen is looking for possible ways to escape. We have intelligence reports, according to which the members of FETO (Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization) are looking for a suitable country for the leader of the organization to flee to," Bozdag said, as quoted by Anadolu news agency.

The military coup attempt took place in Turkey on July 15. The main conflict was in Ankara and Istanbul and resulted in the death of more than 240 Turkish citizens, with more than 2,000 people injured. The Turkish authorities have accused Gulen of involvement in the attempted coup and demanded his extradition from the United States. Gulen himself denounced rebellion and declared his innocence.
The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), dated 2003, was described as a how-to on securing and treating 300 inmates, many of whom had been held for years without being officially charged.

The document assigned different Red Cross visitation levels to war-on-terror captives, with some marked as off-limits to aid workers asking questions about detention conditions.

WikiLeaks findings also showed how to use inmates psychological stress for interrogation, while PR guidelines instructed to eliminate words like "suicide" from reports or rename hunger strikes to "voluntary fasting."

Iraq & Afghanistan War Logs

In 2010, WikiLeaks released 500,000 sensitive documents on US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which became the largest leak of secret military logs in history.

The documents gave the first real glimpse into US military actions in Iraq starting from January 2004 and listed each attack that US forces launched in Afghanistan in 2004-2010.

The Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs revealed 15,000 previously undisclosed civilian kills that US authorities had kept secret from the public.

Collateral Murder & Cablegate

On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks made international headlines by publishing footage of a US Apache helicopter killing 18 civilians in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, including a Reuters journalist and his driver.

The July 2007 video, which was shot from the choppers gun-sight, came with an audio track that revealed how the gunship crew laughed at the Iraqis on the ground, making remarks like "look at those dead bastards."
The leaks found that American authorities had been involved in the systematic violation of Geneva conventions, along with the abuse of 800 prisoners, aged from as young as 14 to as old as 89.

Iraq, Afghanistan War Logs

These revelations about US military actions in both countries shocked many around the world and helped to identify the true number of civilian deaths associated with the conflict.

It revealed the widespread abuse and torture of prisoners, carried out in full knowledge of coalition forces.

Trafigura  Minton Report

The publishing of the leaked Minton report in 2009 revealed how Dutch company Trafigura dumped toxic waste into the port of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, affecting more than 100,000 people.

While the company had taken an injunction out against media organizations from releasing the details, WikiLeaks defied this and published the details of the report.

Its been 10 years and 10 million documents released. And theyll keep coming  Sarah Harrison #wikileaks10 https://t.co/yCaRr5GuSN pic.twitter.com/7AZsa85bmy  Sputnik UK (@SputnikNewsUK) October 4, 2016

Apache Collateral Murder

Perhaps the most graphic and shocking leak over the past decade came when WikiLeaks published a classified US military video showing a helicopter gunning down eighteen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad.

#ThankYouManning for exposing the murder of Reuters journalists by an Apache helicopter and US complicity in Iraq torture centers.  Stop The Wars (@sickjew) July 30, 2013

Two Reuters journalists were among those killed in the attack.

Cable-Gate

One of the largest leaks came through the release of more than 3 million diplomatic cables from 274 consulates and embassies over the period of 1966 to 2010.

The cables gave an incredible insight into fifty years of US foreign policy and caused grave embarrassment for many political figures caught up in the leaks.

The Syria Files

While Syria is now locked in a deadly war, during 2006 and 2012, WikiLeaks was able to expose what life was like under Bashar al-Assad's Syrian government, releasing more than 2 million emails from close to 700 political figures.

The Three 'Ts'

The leaks lifted the lid somewhat on the super secretive negotiations behind the multinational trade deals  the TPP, TTIP and TiSA.

The released chapters caused outrage among critics who fear the deals will wash away workers' rights, undermine governments and give unprecedented power to multinational organizations.

The Spy Files

These files revealed the inner workings of private intelligence firm Stratfor, which provides services for the US government, the US Marines and a number of large corporations.

NSA v World Leaders

Perhaps creating some of the biggest diplomatic disputes in recent times was the release of documents showing the US' National Security Agency (NSA), spying on numerous world leaders, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's meeting with the leaders of France, Italy and Israel to name a few.

The new NSA leaks reveal they bugged UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to spy on his climate change meeting. That ain't right.  Matthew Walden (@sneakdoorbeta) February 23, 2016

These leaks are thought to be the most highly classified documents ever published by WikiLeaks.

The DNC Leaks
Wait till you read what Anushka Sharma has to say to those who feel it's okay to comment on people's dark circles.

By Hemul Goel: Okay, first let's get something straight, dark circles are a fact of life.



Also read: Sneak Peek: These are the products you'll find in Priyanka Chopra's beauty bag

Dark circles are caused by late nights, lack of consumption of water, excessive drinking, smoking, stress and bad sleeping habits BUT they are also caused by working late at night. The latter is something you can't really get away from, because come what may, your work will manage to catch up with you.

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Obviously, the consideration of that bit doesn't stop people from commenting on the amount of melanin under your eyes. Some sweet aunty will even share home remedies to get rid of these signs of your hard work, since that might come in the way of getting the perfect rishta.

However, in a recent interview with Elle--the fashion shoot for which saw actress Anushka Sharma kill it in a bridal avatar--the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil star spoke about many things, including the perfect response for those who have a habit of pointing out your dark circles.

Anushka Sharma covers the latest issue of Elle magazine. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@sabyasachiofficial

Also read: Nail these 3 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan inspired hairstyles from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil trailer

The actress said, "And when somebody comments, 'God you have dark circles,' you should be like, 'F*ck yeah, I have dark circles. I work, man!'"

Word.



Or, the next time you see them, don't forget to show off your new undereye area coverage makeup tip that involves tons of glitter, 'coz girl you are fabulous!

The esssential beauty tip. Picture courtesy: makeup.vidalondon.net

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Personalized Learning

McGraw-Hill Education Acquires Digital Personalized Learning Provider

Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill Education has acquired a provider of digital personalized learning solutions for K12 math, language arts and writing.

Redbird Advanced Learning was built on 25 years of research at Stanford University. The companys adaptive learning solutions are designed to provide a personalized educational experience that supports each students individual pace and comprehension level. Its digital curriculum features web-based courses with the latest in adaptive instruction, gamification and digital project-based learning, according to the companys website.

Hundreds of thousands of students have benefitted from Redbirds innovative digital education solutions, said Matthew Mugo Fields, founder and CEO of Redbird, in a statement. Now, by becoming part of McGraw-Hill Education, we can accelerate the learning process for even more students, helping them excel in the classroom and beyond.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Redbird is the fourth technology company that McGraw-Hill Education has acquired since 2013, marking the companys evolution from a traditional textbook publisher to a digitally-focused learning science company, according to a statement from the company.

To learn more about the companys digital curriculum or blended learning tools, visit the Redbird Advanced Learning site.
STEM

Indianapolis Public Schools, Purdue U to Open STEM Charter School

Indiana-based Purdue University is working with Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) to build a STEM-focused charter school, scheduled to open next year.

Purdue Polytechnic High School will be located in downtown Indianapolis and chartered by the City of Indianapolis. The high school will implement STEM problem- and project-based learning, especially for the first two years of its curriculum, according to a Purdue University News report.

Purdue partnered with IPS in 2014 to increase the pipeline of students majoring in STEM and entering STEM careers. Purdue President Mitch Daniels told Purdue that if the new high school succeeds, the university would hope to open similar high schools throughout Indiana cities.

Beginning today and closing on Feb. 3, Purdue Polytechnic High School is accepting applications for its inaugural Fall 2017 class. Space is limited with 150 seats available the first year. Additional freshman classes will be added each year after, with an final goal of 600 students enrolled in grades 912. To apply or learn more, visit the Purdue U site.
Research

Ed Research Gets Eye Tracking Kit

Even as researchers are increasingly turning to the study of how the mind learns, one company wants to help facilitate that work with a new product for projects that have an eye-tracking component. SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), a German company with North American headquarters in Boston, has launched the SMI Digital Classroom, which collects data on eye tracking from up to 40 students simultaneously.

Delivered as a bundle, the system includes computers, eye trackers and software for extracting data on "saccades" (or rapid blinking), "fixations" and "blink-based metrics," as well as other behavioral elements. The company said that the product was intended for use by researchers in educational and learning sciences, psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience. The computers and trackers can be set up in multiple locations or in a classroom; all data is delivered to the operator, who can access it from a lone workstation.

"At what point does a student lose interest in learning or simply miss key information?" asked Product Manager Markus Plank in a prepared statement. "This product promises a wealth of data about what works in a classroom environment and what doesn't; where and when students' attention is won and lost; and longer term, gives researchers insights that shape curriculum and learning strategies."

The set-up can also be used for professional development. For example, the company has worked with the Welten Institute within Open Universiteit in the Netherlands. There, researchers are studying how new and experienced teachers differ in their "perception and interpretation of problematic classroom scenes." As a summarized case study on the company's website explains, in those scenarios, "detecting relevant cues is crucial for preventing conflicts from escalating." For the research, teachers are shown video replays of classroom scenarios where escalations may be occurring. Eye tracking with SMI's RED250 mobile unit is measured to figure out where the teachers are turning their attention.

Another project, this one at the Center for Applied Neuroscience in Germany's Free University, has tested the use of a beta of the Digital Classroom in reading experiments with children. According to lead researcher Sascha Tamm, the new product will help researchers gain control over their testing. "In the past, multi-station experiments have meant going from PC to PC to say, start the experiment. Being able to control all aspects remotely means uniform experimental conditions and a more manageable research environment," he said.

Added Plank, "One operator, located at a single PC, can deploy experiments, monitor progress live, interact with a single student if required, and monitor incoming research-grade data. None of this requires deep technical or IT expertise; so instead of losing time with technical issues, researchers can focus on scientific questions."
15 funniest comedians in Nigeria that you have to watch in 2022
- Former deputy speaker Farah Maalim was recently caught on camera exchanging blows with a Somali ex-minister at a Nairobi hotel

-Following the fight, Maalim a senior ODM member and CORD leader Raila Odinga's ally, appeared on TV to address the issue that caused him immense embarrassment

Former deputy speaker Farah Maalim regrets fighting a Somali ex-minister at a Nairobi restaurant.

Raila Odinga, Farah Maalim and Garissa governor at past function

READ ALSO: Raila Odinga to sue media house

Appearing on a television show Monday, Maalim, a close friend of Opposition leader Raila Odinga, issued an apology after a video of him exchanging blows with the Somali official went viral.

READ ALSO: Raila's ally, Farah Maalim fights Somali official in Nairobi hotel

He said on TV that he regretted fighting the Somali ex-minister

In the video dated Thursday, September 29, Maalim is seen raining blows on the Somali man after a short verbal altercation.

He declined to divulge details on the cause of the brawl saying it was water under the bridge and that community elders were handling the matter.

The former deputy speaker further confirmed that no one was injured during the fight.

READ ALSO: 10 faces of Raila's campaign team who appear in Uhuru's nightmares

Maalim was Lagdera MP from 1993 to 1998 before coming back in 2008. He became parliament's deputy speaker between 2008-2013 until he lost Garissa's Senatorial race to Yusuf Haji.

He has since expressed interest in unseating Jubilee's Aden Duale from the Garissa parliamentary seat.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
888 Holdings Wins Global Gaming Award

October 04 2016 Katie Callahan

888 Holdings claimed the Best Digital Operator category for 888poker.com at the Global Gaming Awards in Las Vegas Sept. 26.

We are delighted to have received such an esteemed recognition, which is testament to our ongoing commitment to providing our players with an exceptional online poker platform and world-class user experience, said Itai Frieberger, 888 Holdings chief executive officer, in a press release.

He continued that in this competitive market, the company will continue to offer a cutting-edge product, unique promotions and partnerships to increasingly dominate online.

The event, from the likes of Gambling Insider, the American Gaming Association, Reed Exhibitions and G2E Vegas, recognizes the best innovations and achievements across the digital-and-land based sectors of the industry. There are 12 categories.

About 600 of the most influential decision makers showed up in Vegas for the awards, with MGM Resorts International, Microgaming, Unibet, SG Interactive, IGT, NYX Gaming Group, Playtech and GeoComply also on the winners list.

The 60-person judges panel lauded 888poker for expanding its operations.

Congratulations to 888, a first Global Gaming Award win for the operator who has made great strides in challenging the dominance of PokerStars in both the US and Europe in the past 12 months and in the process given the online poker industry a jolt that many believe the industry needs to return to its former glory, said Gambling Insider Editor Alex Hammond on presenting 888 with the awards.

Sharelines 888 Holdings won "Best Digital Operator" at the Global Gaming Awards for 888poker.
News

New Windows 7/8.1 Patching Process Rolls Out Next Week

Monthly cumulative updates are coming.

Windows 10 is much different than Windows 7 and 8.1. But one way it will be the same, starting next week, is the patching method.

On Oct. 11, Microsoft will start issuing monthly cumulative updates to Windows 7/8.1. The company announced this coming monthly "update rollup" model back in August, which will deliver updates to those operating systems in a way that's similar to the update model of Windows 10. The monthly updates to Windows 7/8.1 will arrive on the second Tuesday of every month, known as "patch Tuesdays."

Software patching can be tricky, especially when organizations run multiple home-grown applications and commercial software from different vendors. On a practical basis, IT pros can sometimes see when something went wrong after a Windows update has been installed, and it's been the case that removing an individual patch has often worked to set things straight.

However, in a follow-up to its announcement of the new update process for Windows 7/8.1, Microsoft blamed this sporadic application of patches as the cause of IT woes, not its salvation. It's the fully patched Windows computing environments that don't have such problems, Microsoft suggested. And after Oct. 11, if there are patch problems for Windows 7/8.1 users, then blame should be cast toward Microsoft's software vendor partners, Microsoft contended.

For an overview of Microsoft's "Windows 10 as a service" model, see this Microsoft TechNet article. It also floats the idea that partially patched systems are the cause of organizational problems. The concept is illustrated in this figure from the article:

[Click on image for larger view.] The problem of fragmented patching. Source: Microsoft TechNet document.

Doubtless, such claims are cold comfort for IT pros. The idea of avoiding the Windows 10 update model by sticking with an earlier Windows OS will just go away after Oct. 11. Going forward, if an update causes problems, IT pros will have to roll back to the previous month's update rollup to avoid what might be a problematic patch.

Windows 10 Update Model

Microsoft hasn't exactly been clear if all of its rather complex update schemes associated with Windows 10 exactly will apply to Windows 7/8.1 after Oct. 11.

In a nutshell, Windows 10 has three update types, as pointed out by Stephen Kleynhans, vice president of the Mobile and Client Computing Group at Gartner Inc. The OS has monthly security fixes, monthly quality updates (that are also delivered as needed) and feature updates that get released once or twice a year.

Microsoft has so-called branch releases ("current branch" and current branch for business") for Windows 10. However, they only apply to the feature update releases, Kleynhans noted via e-mail on Monday.

"The CB and CBB phases only apply to Feature Updates and don't play into the discussion of Security fixes and Quality updates," he stated.

Michael Niehaus, a Microsoft senior product marketing manager for Windows, has pointed out in a Patchmanagement.org list-serve post that CB releases are designed so that organizations can test Windows 10 releases about four months before a CBB gets released. It's the CBB release that should get deployed in a production environment, according to this scheme.

That's the recommended process for Windows 10 patching. But sometimes Microsoft's Windows 10 patch releases had have had problems, even though they are vetted in advance by a Windows Insider testing program.

Windows 7/8.1 Patch Prospects

So what about the Windows 7/8.1 patch process after Oct. 11? Will it be a patch apocalypse for IT pros? Kleynhans expressed some doubts on that score. However, IT pros used to doing things the old way will have to roll up their sleeves a bit. And they'll have just four weeks to get patch problems addressed after a Windows 7/8.1 update rollup release.

"I think the risks with Windows 7 are pretty low," Kleynhans said. "At this point, Windows 7 is pretty worn in and it's unlikely fixes will bring too many surprises. Customers who are concerned can defer updates for up to 4 weeks to give the marketplace a chance to sort though and identify glitches. The key will be that enterprises need to set up ongoing processes that are continually assessing and validating new updates, and when an issue is encountered, have well-defined escalation processes with vendors or developers. Skipping patches isn't a great alternative."

This point of view is outlined in a September Gartner report by Kleynhans and Michael A. Silver called "Update Windows 10 Migration Plans to Reflect Changes That Occurred in the First Year of Release." The report suggested that IT pros should do advance testing and become more process oriented to deal with Microsoft's patch release cycles.

It's get-with-the-program kind of advice. However, Windows 7/8.1 holdouts won't have many alternatives after Oct. 11.

Kleynhans wasn't unsympathetic to IT pro dilemmas under the circumstances, especially given the quality of recent Windows 10 releases.

"There have been some rough spots in the last few months and Microsoft can certainly do better," he noted, regarding Microsoft's Windows 10 update releases. He suggested that organizations could get proactive by participating in Windows 10 preview programs as a sort of early warning approach.

"Microsoft is previewing security and quality fixes in the month prior to them being included in the cumulative update so enterprises can get some early access, and companies should have that as part of their process," Kleynhans said.

It's still a bit early at this point. The Windows 7/8.1 update process could see some adjustments, Kleynhans suggested. "But cumulative updates solve more problems than they create for the majority of users," he contended.

Windows 7/8.1 Sales Going Away

One other limitation noted in Gartner's report is that sales of new PCs with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 preinstalled by original equipment manufacturers will be going away next month. OEM sales will end on Oct. 31, 2016, according to Microsoft's lifecycle fact sheet.

It's still possible for volume licensing purchasers to use downgrade rights on new Windows 10 hardware, though, since Microsoft recently reinstated Windows 10 support for Intel Skylake machines. However, machines with newer processors will only be supported on Windows 10, going forward.
Arjun Bijlani is coming back to the small screen with a brand new Ekta Kapoor show.

By India Today Web Desk: Attention, Arjun Bijlani fans, we have some amazing news for you! After it was recently announced that the actor will not be reprising his role as the lead for Naagin Season2; the talented actor has now officially announced on the social media what he would be doing instead.

Arjun is all set to star as the main lead actor in another Ekta Kapoor show, Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil alongside actress Drashti Dhami.

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Also read:Cuteness alert! Arjun Bijlani is chilling with these little munchkins in Goa



The actor recently posted a video of himself shooting for a sequence in some exotic location. Dressed in dark formals, Arjun looked quite handsome. The actor had captioned the video as "C u guys soon on #pardesmeinhaimeradil @starplus."

C u guys soon on #pardesmeinhaimeradil @starplus soon.?????? A video posted by Arjun Bijlani (@arjunbijlani) on Oct 3, 2016 at 8:11am PDT

Well, we are sure his fans just can't wait to see the actor back in action on the small screen.

The show is inspired from the movie, Pardes, which starred Shah Rukh Khan in the lead and was directed by Subhash Ghai.

The makers were earlier in talks with Shaleen Malhotra to play the lead, but things didn't quite work out.



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FARMINGTON  Congressional delegates from New Mexico are supporting the Navajo Nations request for a major disaster declaration for an area heavily damaged by rain and floods in Shiprock.

The severe weather in the area of Mesa Farm and Salt Creek Wash in early August resulted in damaged homes and displaced residents, chapter officials reported.

The Navajo Nation Commission on Emergency Management declared a state of emergency for the area on Aug. 8.

In a Sept. 26 letter, senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and representatives Steve Pearce, Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham call on President Obama to take prompt action on the tribes request, which was made by Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye.

The federal lawmakers wrote that rainfall from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 caused severe flooding that resulted in evacuations and damage to the area.

Of the houses that were destroyed by the flooding, several have been demolished, and about 50 percent of the resulting debris has been removed to date, according to the letter.

The letter also states the tribes ability to respond to the disaster was already taxed because of its response to the Gold King Mine spill last year.

Udall was in Shiprock on Friday and received an update from residents affected by the mine spill. In an interview after his visit, Udall said he was aware of the August flooding.

I think its tremendously important when you have a disaster that the federal government respond in a responsible way, he said.

Begaye said in an interview Friday he was informed about the action taken by the congressional delegation. He said he submitted the letter seeking the disaster declaration to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in September.

We do appreciate the support. FEMA needs to come in here and help our people hurt in the flood, Begaye said.

In the meantime, the tribe continues to help displaced residents, he said.

Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-546-4636.



2016 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)

Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

_____
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps comments Monday about veterans mental health set off a fiery debate about how post-traumatic stress should be discussed. But many veterans, including some who have suffered from the condition, say they continue to support him.

Trump, speaking to a group of veterans in Reston, Virginia, was asked whether he would support boosting the roles of chaplains and faith-based programs to promote mental resiliency among service members and veterans. He indicated he would, and then shifted quickly to opine on problems he sees in the care veterans receive.

When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and youre strong and you can handle it, Trump said. But a lot of people cant handle it. And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldnt see in a movie, nobody would believe it.

The comments were greeted by critics as clumsy at best, and offensive at worst. Phillip Carter, an Army veteran who previously served in the Obama administration, tweeted that they were uncaring, unprofessional and unpresidential, and pointed to some of Trumps previous controversial comments about veterans, including criticizing the Gold Star parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim soldier who was killed in Iraq.

But Trumps supporters who have served quickly said his remarks were being exaggerated for effect in the media. Former Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, a combat veteran who served in Force Reconnaissance units and asked Trump the question, defended him in a statement released to news organizations.

I think its sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trumps comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda, said Robichaux, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress. I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them.

Others defended him online, saying he was drawing attention to veterans issues that need to be discussed. Trump, who has polled well with veterans, has often said that 22 veterans commit suicide each day, and did so again Monday. Thats based on 2013 data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but new statistics released in July show that 20 veterans are still lost to suicide daily.

Thomas Brennan, a Marine combat veteran who has written about his own post-traumatic stress and has misgivings about both candidates, said in a Facebook post that he thought Trump was well-intentioned but used some words that show evidence of ongoing, far-reaching failures in discussing mental health.

When youre struggling you do need support. You dont feel strong. You feel your weakest, Brennan wrote. On the flip side, the moment you ask for help is when youre at your strongest despite feeling as though youre at your weakest. It just takes time to see that. And because its incredibly embarrassing most survivors wont talk about it.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Trump adviser, released a statement through the campaign that blamed the media for taking Trumps words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans. He suggested Trump was simply highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country.

Numerous groups supporting veterans challenge the concept that those who seek treatment cant handle trauma they have experienced. In fact, its often now described as an injury that must be treated rather than as a mental disorder, to the point that the D in PTSD often is dropped.

PTS, long thought to be a mental disorder is now increasingly looked on as an injury to be treated, the American Legion states in its brochure on the condition. The American Legion feels that this change in focus will more effectively assist veterans and service members who are suffering from the effects of traumatic experiences.

The veterans website Task & Purpose has labeled post-traumatic stress being a sign of weakness as its No. 1 myth about the condition. The Department of Veterans Affairs suggests that seeking help for post-traumatic stress is a sign of problem solving, not a sign of weakness, and notes that many people recover fully from it with treatment.

Paul Rieckhoff, the chief executive officer of the non-profit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, called in a series of tweets Monday for an educated dialogue about the subject, urging media organizations to add light rather than just heat and for people to be careful with the words they choose.

Every national leader has a responsibility to use accurate and appropriate language when talking about mental health and suicide especially, Rieckhoff said.

trump-veterans-ptsd
SANTA FE  A proposal to reduce spending on New Mexicos film incentive program, by lowering the annual cap to $30 million and deferring claims, has passed its first hurdle at the Roundhouse.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted 7-5 along party lines  with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed  to advance the measure, House Bill 15, to the full House.

Film industry workers and representatives testified en masse against the cost-saving bill, as did the president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.

But backers of the measure defended it as fair given the belt-tightening other state agencies and programs are facing.

All were asking the film industry to do is allow us to take a little longer for the payout, said Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington.

New Mexico currently offers a 25 percent rebate to film companies for most direct, in-state expenditures. Under 2011 legislation that was dubbed the Breaking Bad bill, long-running television programs are eligible for an additional 5 percent credit  or 30 percent in all.

The legislation under consideration at the Capitol would reduce spending on film rebates to no more than $30 million  theres currently a $50 million annual cap on film credit spending  by postponing payment on some film rebate applications for one year.

I just really think this sends a bad message to the industry, said Rep. Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe. Theyre looking for reliability and consistency.

Even if its passed by the Republican-controlled House, the film incentive legislation would still have to go the Democratic-controlled Senate before reaching Gov. Susana Martinezs desk. The Senate did not include the measure in a package of solvency bills it passed earlier in the ongoing special session.
Should the U.S. continue to hold up its end of the bargain, Russias withdrawal from the agreement would likely have little effect on the Department of Energys plans to send a parallel portion of plutonium  six metric tons  to New Mexicos Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

That plutonium, which is not quite weapons grade, and would be diluted and packaged to meet disposal criteria at WIPP, is not actually part of the 34 metric tons covered by the agreement. But it is being viewed as a trial run to establish that its cost-effective and safe to dilute and dispose of it at WIPP, said Ed Lyman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

At Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, the breakdown in the bilateral agreement may deal a decisive blow to already deteriorated relationships between scientists at New Mexicos national laboratories and their Russian counterparts, who had been working together to iron out the technical aspects of plutonium disposition under the deal, according to Don Hancock with the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque.

Lyman said lab-to-lab cooperation had chilled in recent years as Russia has tried to assert itself as a world power.

Whats happening now is not really going to impact that, Lyman said. Its really the end of that process. Even until last week, the U.S. was optimistic that this was one area that Russia and the U.S. could cooperate. This may be a surprise to the U.S. that they are using this as a bargaining chip for totally unrelated matters.

With Russias announcement, Russia is free to do what they want and the U.S. is free to do what it wants, Hancock said. Since neither side has actually destroyed any plutonium, the only thing that has changed is that we now dont have a formal, bilateral agreement.

Lyman noted that Russias withdrawal does undermine plans to turn the weapons-grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel to be used at commercial nuclear reactors  a plan known as the MOX project that has been supported by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and strongly opposed by the Obama administration.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has also opposed the MOX project, citing massive delays and cost overruns, according to Lyman, and has advocated for disposing of the surplus plutonium in diluted form in a deep geologic repository.

Located outside Carlsbad, WIPP is the nations only deep underground repository for some types of nuclear waste, but the facility remains closed after a radiation accident and underground fire in February 2014. DOE plans to reopen WIPP in December if multiple readiness reviews are completed on time.
The New Mexico Public Education Department has the chance to revamp everything from teacher evaluations to assessments under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which gives states more control than its predecessor, No Child Left Behind.

Albuquerque Public Schools hopes to influence PEDs direction.

The district is kicking off a series of community forums tonight at Del Norte High School to gather feedback on ESSA from parents, teachers, elected officials and civic leaders.

Later this month, PED will launch its own public meetings around the state with New Mexico First, a public policy organization.

Carrie Robin Brunder, APS director of government affairs and policy, acknowledged that the district decided to crash the party, but said she hopes to have a collaborative relationship with PED.

We have to build on the things that have been really positive and tweak the things we need to change, she said during a recent board of education meeting.

In November, the New Mexico Learning Alliance and University of New Mexico Center for Education Policy Research will work with APS to compile feedback from the four community forums and each district school, then submit it to the state.

The districts suggestions might not make it into PEDs final plan, Brunder said, but the process is still valuable because it will give constituents a voice.

We will have something in black and white that says we really wanted something different, she said.

APS board member Steven Michael Quezada applauded the effort.

This almost really sounds like compromise, he said. And I have never used that word the whole four years as a board member when were talking about public education and the PED.

Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, said she is feeling hopeful.

There are a few places where we have a significant opportunity to do things better for our students, she said. Those are huge opportunities for the PED to play a positive role and make changes that will help us all do great work for the students we teach.

PED will send the state ESSA plan to the U.S. Department of Education by early March. It will go into effect at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

PED spokesman Robert McEntyre said New Mexico has always been committed to quality education.

The good news is that we have done much of the hard work to improve our education system that many states are just now starting to do, he said in an emailed statement. This not only puts New Mexico ahead, but it allows us to continue to support and champion our teachers and build on the strong foundation thats already working for our students and schools.

APS community forums

APS forums begin at 5:30 p.m.

Today: Del Norte High library, 5323 Montgomery NE

Oct. 13: Cibola High library, 1510 Ellison NW

Oct. 25: Jackson Middle School library, 10600 Indian School NE

Oct. 27: Ernie Pyle Middle School cafeteria, 1820 Valdora Ave SW

PED community forums

PED forums begin at 6 p.m. For more information, go to http://nmfirst.org/event-details/excellence-in-education.

Oct. 12: Gallup, Gallup-McKinley County Schools board meeting in Central Office, 640 S. Boardman Drive

Oct. 14: Farmington, San Juan College, Merrion Room 99103, 5301 College Blvd.

Oct. 17: Santa Fe, Santa Fe Public Schools Sierra Vista Room, BF Young Building, 1300 Camino Sierra Vista

Oct. 18: Albuquerque, CNM Community College Workforce Training Center Room 101 or 103, 5600 Eagle Rock Ave NE

Oct. 27: Roswell, Goddard High School Little Theater, 701 E. Country Club Road

Nov. 15: Las Cruces, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road
Donald Trumps supporters see a potential Hillary Clinton victory in November as the end of any conservative chance to restore small government, constitutional protections, fiscal sanity and personal liberty.

Clintons progressives swear that a Trump victory would spell the implosion of America as they know it, alleging Trump parallels with every dictator from Josef Stalin to Adolf Hitler.

Part of the frenzy over 2016 as a make-or-break election is because a closely divided Senates future may hinge on the coattails of the presidential winner. An aging Supreme Court may also translate into perhaps three to four court picks for the next president.

Yet such considerations only partly explain the current election frenzy.

The model of the imperial Obama presidency is the greater fear. Over the last eight years, Obama has transformed the powers of presidency in a way not seen in decades.

Congress talks grandly of comprehensive immigration reform, but Obama, as he promised with his pen and phone, bypassed the House and Senate to virtually open the border with Mexico. He issued executive-order amnesties. And he allowed entire cities to be exempt from federal immigration law.

The press said nothing about this extraordinary overreach of presidential power, mainly because these largely illegal means were used to achieve the progressive ends favored by many journalists.

The Senate used to ratify treaties. In the past, a president could not unilaterally approve the Treaty of Versailles, enroll the United States in the League of Nations, fight in Vietnam or Iraq without congressional authorization, change existing laws by nonenforcement, or rewrite bankruptcy laws.

Not now. Obama set a precedent that he did not need Senate ratification to make a landmark treaty with Iran on nuclear enrichment.

He picked and chose which elements of the Affordable Care Act would be enforced  predicated on his 2012 re-election efforts.

Rebuffed by Congress, Obama is now slowly shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention center by insidiously having inmates sent to other countries.

Respective opponents of both Trump and Clinton should be worried.

Either winner could follow the precedent of allowing any sanctuary city or state in the United States to be immune from any federal law found displeasing  from the liberal Endangered Species Act and federal gun registration laws to conservative abortion restrictions.

Could anyone complain if Trumps secretary of state were investigated by Trumps attorney general for lying about a private email server  in the manner of Clinton being investigated by Loretta Lynch?

Would anyone object should a President Trump agree to a treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the same way Obama overrode Congress with the Iran deal?

If a President Clinton decides to strike North Korea, would she really need congressional authorization, considering Obamas unauthorized Libyan bombing mission?

What would Americans say if President Trumps IRS  mirror-imaging Lois Lerner  hounded the progressive nonprofit organizations of George Soros?

Partisans are shocked that the press does not go after Trumps various inconsistencies and fibs about his supposed initial opposition to the Iraq War, or press him on the details of Trump University.

Conservatives counter that Clinton has never had to come clean about the likely illegal pay-for-play influence peddling of the Clinton Foundation or her serial lies about her private email server.

But why, if elected, should either worry much about media scrutiny?

Obama established the precedent that a president should be given a pass on lying to the American people. Did Americans, as Obama repeatedly promised, really get to keep their doctors and health plans while enjoying lower premiums and deductibles, as the country saved billions through his Affordable Care Act?

More recently, did Obama mean to tell a lie when he swore that he sent cash to the Iranians only because he could not wire them the money  when in truth the administration had wired money to Iran in the past? Was cash to Iran really not a ransom for American hostages, as the president asserted? Did Obama really, as he insisted, never email Clinton at her private unsecured server?

Can the next president, like Obama, double the national debt and claim to be a deficit hawk?

Congress has proven woefully inept at asserting its constitutional right to check and balance Obamas executive overreach. The courts have often abdicated their own oversight.

But the press is the most blameworthy. White House press conferences now resemble those in the Kremlin, with journalists tossing Putin softball questions about his latest fishing or hunting trip.

One reason Americans are scared about the next president is that they should be.

In 2017, a President Trump or President Clinton will be able to do almost anything he or she wishes without much oversight  thanks to the precedent of Obamas overreach, abetted by a lapdog press that forgot that the ends never justify the means.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; e-mail: author@victorhanson.com.
You pretty much need a program to keep up with who is responsible for answering New Mexicos new $193 million question (which could help answer the Legislatures pending $589 million budget deficit question):

1. The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance asked the Legislature for money last year to pay for an outside firm to examine a sampling of premium tax payments made by the top five health insurers between 2010-2015. (These taxes, around 3 percent, are levied on an insurers gross premiums and membership and policy fees for policies that are subject to them. Collections go into the general fund.) Superintendent of Insurance John Franchini said his office has been investigating insurance underpayments  health, auto, homeowners, medical malpractice, etc.  since December, in great part because of an antiquated computer system. The state Auditors Office testified that when Franchini got the results, he wanted to keep the report under wraps.

2. State Auditor Tim Keller released the report last week, making headlines about insurers allegedly owing the system at least $193 million and likely more considering the report looked at just a sample. He posited that such lax tax collection (rather than plummeting oil and gas prices) is why the state is in a budget mess, even threatening a lawsuit if Franchinis folks dont get answers by December.

3. The insurers responded that their alleged deadbeat status was news to them, as the Insurance division never told them they were in arrears. Molina Healthcare said it had not been notified by the state insurance office but will work closely with (the state) to resolve this matter. Presbyterian Healthcare said it does not believe it owes state premium taxes and we take our financial responsibility to the state and to the New Mexicans we serve extremely seriously.

4. State legislators asked Franchini why the problem had apparently been going on for years and previous auditors had not been alerted to concerns that companies may have gamed the states tax collection system.

5. Franchini responded that he had the report done, has plans to join an interstate computer tax system to make tracking insurance premium tax easier, and will be billing and invoicing these companies as soon as we get the information.

Strike that first sentence  even with a step-by-step program the public (and the insurance companies and apparently even the superintendent of insurance) are no closer to knowing if insurance companies really owe back premium taxes or if the state auditor was just too eager to announce some one-time money to plug the big budget hole.

And that lack of answers is a huge disservice to the public and companies that pay their premiums, their taxes and depend on the general fund to keep the state running.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Gov. Susana Martinez isnt riding quite so high with New Mexico voters nearly halfway through her second four-year term in office.

Forty-two percent of likely voters surveyed said they approve of the Republican governors job performance, a new Journal Poll found, while 44 percent said they disapproved. The remaining voters were undecided.

Martinez had a 69 percent approval rating in a Journal Poll conducted in September 2012, nearly halfway through her first term.

Its difficult for governors to maintain popularity for two consecutive terms, said Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., who pointed out that New Mexicos two previous governors, Gary Johnson and Bill Richardson, also saw their approval ratings dip during their second terms.

Richardson, a Democrat, had a 61 percent approval rating nearly halfway through his second term in office, but his popularity plummeted in his final two years in office. A poll done several months before he left office in 2010 had him at 33 percent.

As for Martinezs current approval rating, New Mexicos largely sluggish economy  the state has one of the highest jobless rates in the nation  is likely playing a role, Sanderoff said.

New Mexicos economy and population have been flat since the recession, compared to neighboring states, and at some point that takes a toll, he said. I suspect if New Mexico was booming and bustling economically, her numbers would be higher.

Despite the drop from four years ago, Martinez still got higher marks for her job performance than the Legislature did.

Just 29 percent of likely voters said they approve of the Legislatures job performance, while 46 percent of voters surveyed disapproved.

However, Sanderoff said most voters do not pay close attention to the inner workings of the Legislature and that institutions tend to have lower approval ratings than individuals.

The state currently has a divided Legislature  Republicans control the House while Democrats control the Senate  and Martinez has clashed with top-ranking Senate Democrats since she first took office in 2011, accusing them of bottling up some of her top legislative priorities and not being responsive to the public.

In response, leading Democratic lawmakers claim the governor has maintained a rigid approach to governing and failed to communicate effectively with the Legislature.

The contentiousness may have done damage to both sides approval ratings, Sanderoff said.

The average voter would like to see everyone try to work together and get along, he said.

Trump effect

The poll found, by cross-checking responses, that just 18 percent of New Mexico Republicans who said they plan to vote for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump disapproved of Martinezs job performance.

In contrast, 35 percent of Republicans who said they would vote for ex-Gov. Gary Johnson, who is the Libertarian Party nominee, disapproved of the governors performance.

Martinez has thus far declined to endorse Trump and did not attend his May campaign rally in Albuquerque, which prompted Trumps public criticism that the governor has to do a better job.

But Sanderoff said the Trump-Martinez rift does not seem to be a big factor in her approval rating.

Its not as if the Republicans who support Donald Trump are holding a grudge against her.

The Journal Poll asked likely voters around New Mexico whether they approved or disapproved of the way Martinez and the Legislature were handling their jobs.

Not surprisingly, Democratic voters were more than twice as likely to disapprove of the governors job performance than were Republicans. Fifty-six percent of Republican voters surveyed said they approved of Martinezs job performance and 23 percent disapproved.

Independent voters, or those who decline to state a party affiliation, gave the governor a 45 percent approval rating compared with a 25 percent approval rating for the Legislature.

The poll also found differences along ethnic lines, as Hispanic voters, who in New Mexico typically tend to lean Democratic, were far more likely than Anglo voters to voice disapproval of the job performance of Martinez, who is the nations only Latina governor.

Sanderoff said he didnt know whether a rowdy holiday party that drew national headlines in December 2015 might have done lasting damage to Martinezs popularity. The governor apologized for her conduct in dealing with complaints that night, including a testy exchange with law enforcement dispatchers, but insisted she was not intoxicated.

Poll sampling

The Journal Poll is based on a scientific, statewide sample of 501 voters who said they planned to vote this year and either cast ballots in the 2012 or 2014 general elections or just registered to vote.

The poll was conducted Sept. 27 through Sept. 29. The full voter sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The margin of error grows for subsamples.

All interviews were conducted by live, professional interviewers, with multiple callbacks to households that did not initially answer the phone.

Both cellphone numbers (52 percent) and landlines (48 percent) of proven general election voters were used. Some totals may not equal 100 percent due to the rounding of numbers.
By India Today Web Desk: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was subjected to an ink attack in Bikaner today. Kejriwal was reportedly attacked by an ABVP worker for his remarks on the recent surgical strike by Indian Army in PoK in response to the Uri attack.



Several persons were rounded by the police after the incident. Kejriwal kicked the hornets' nest after he asked for proofs of the surgical strikes in a tweet.

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However, Kejriwal later clarified his stand by stating that he asked for proofs to counter Pakistan's propaganda of denying the attack which was being endorsed by the international media.

--- ENDS ---
There might be enough bluster left in the winds that grounded Balloon Fiesta pilots on Monday to cause problems this morning, but after that the weather promises to be cool, calm and cheery at least through Saturday afternoon.

A possibility of rain late Saturday and early Sunday, however, could bid the fiesta farewell with a wet kiss.

Kerry Jones, a meteorologist with the Albuquerque office of the National Weather Service, said Monday that winds this morning were not expected to be as troublesome as those that swatted down Mondays launch and flying competitions at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Even so, it does not take much wind to foul up a hot air balloon launch. Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit the launching of balloons in winds greater than 10 knots, or 11.5 mph.

Jones said the possibility of rain this weekend is all about the timing of a system moving north through the state.

Saturday morning should not be a problem, he said. We might have some activity rolling up from the south late Saturday. Sunday is the day looking problematic at this point. We are just looking at precipitation. Winds dont look to be an issue.

Jones said its possible that the rain will stay to the south this weekend and not intrude into the Albuquerque metro area at all. If it does, it could mess with the Night Magic Glow and AfterGlow fireworks show Saturday evening and the farewell mass ascension Sunday morning.

A cold front that moved into New Mexico early Monday is making itself felt, especially in the northwestern section of the state, which the Weather Service put under a freeze warning from midnight Monday to 8 a.m. today. Temperatures in Farmington and surrounding areas were expected to range from the middle 20s to the low 30s during the warning period.

For the Albuquerque area, the cold front translates into weather that is more pleasant  highs in the low 70s and lows in the low 40s through Friday.

Balloon Fiesta Schedule

Tuesday

6 a.m.: Dawn Patrol

7 a.m.: Balloons Launch

8 a.m.: Flying Competition

8-11 a.m.: AIBF Chainsaw Carving Demonstrations
Legislation sought by Gov. Susana Martinez to reinstate the death penalty for certain crimes passed a House committee late Monday.

Its headed to the House floor for a vote as early as Wednesday.

The Appropriations and Finance Committee passed the bill on a vote of 8-6, with Republicans voting for it and Democrats against it.

New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. The legislation reinstates it for murderers of police officers, corrections officers and children.

House Bill 7 is based on the old law that was repealed, and opponents had objected that it contained archaic and offensive provisions.

In response, the committee adopted an amendment that got rid of references to mentally retarded inmates.

It also removed a provision that if a death row inmate were believed to be pregnant, she would be examined by physicians in the presence of a judge  with the doors closed, if she requested.

She would not be executed until she was no longer pregnant, under the legislation.

Opponents of the legislation said the bill is flawed, and perhaps unconstitutional.

They said the higher-stakes, higher-cost death penalty proceedings and years of subsequent appeals would further burden an already overburdened and underfunded judicial system.

But supporters said the public is outraged by the recent killings of police officers and children and the legislation is a response to that.
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The Republican-majority House on Monday approved two more components of its solvency package, a proposed combination of spending cuts and one-time fixes aimed at filling most  if not all  of a $589 million hole in New Mexicos budget.

But, as a special legislative session reached its fourth day, there was still fierce debate over the budget-balancing plan  and whether temporarily trimming state spending on film incentives should be part of it  and over crime-related measures pushed by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

This has been a difficult session for all of us, and probably more so for the people of New Mexico, said Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, during a committee hearing.

Late Monday, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee approved 8-6 a bill sought by the governor reinstating the death penalty for those who murder children, police officers and corrections officers.

Republicans voted for the bill, and Democrats against it. It now goes to the House floor.

First, the committee removed provisions that opponents complained were archaic and offensive: a reference to mentally retarded inmates and a requirement that if a death row inmate were believed to be pregnant, she would be examined by physicians in the presence of a judge  with the doors closed, if she requested.

Before debate on the death penalty began, the full House approved without changes two of the nine bills the Democratic-led Senate passed last week to deal with the budget crisis, and then recessed until Wednesday.

House committees already have begun making changes in the rest of the Senate-passed package, which would bring the Senate back to the Capitol  likely on Thursday  for final decisions on the solvency plan.

The state came up $131 million short in the budget year that ended June 30, due largely to plummeting oil and natural gas prices, and faces a projected shortfall of $458 million for the current budget year

The House on Monday voted 50-13 to approve a bill that fills nearly $90 million of the budget hole.

Most of that comes from shifting the funding mechanisms for previously approved capital improvement projects around the state, but $12.5 million of it comes from canceling projects from 2014 and earlier that have not gotten off the ground.

Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Mesilla Park, called Senate Bill 8 one of the least bad of the bad decisions we have to make.

But Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage, R-Kirtland, objected that the capital outlay cuts include 21 projects on the Navajo Nation in an area that is already economically depressed and lacks basic services.

We have communities that are left out, we have communities that are hurting, Clahchischilliage said.

McKinley County alone has 15 projects on this list, all of them on Navajo land, agreed Rep. Eliseo Alcon, D-Milan.

The House also approved unanimously Senate Bill 4, which takes $12.5 million from the Public Schools Capital Outlay Fund and puts it toward the solvency plan.

Film cuts assailed

While most lawmakers appear resigned to budget cuts, theres been partisan disagreement over what programs and services should be affected.

Democratic members of a House tax panel strongly objected to a proposal to reduce spending on film rebates to $30 million  theres a $50 million cap on film credit spending  by postponing payment on some film rebate applications for one year.

I just really think this sends a bad message to the industry, said Rep. Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe. Theyre looking for reliability and consistency.

But the measure, House Bill 15, passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a party-line 7-5 vote after backers defended it as fair given the belt-tightening other state agencies and programs are facing.

All were asking the film industry to do is allow us to take a little longer for the payout, said Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington.

The bill now goes to the full House. It would also have to pass the Senate in order to land on the governors desk for final approval.

Meanwhile, changes made by House committees to the Senate budget package included restoring funding to law enforcement and child services that was clipped in the Senate version.

The Senate had cut law enforcement programs by $1.8 million and the Children, Youth and Families Department by $1.5 million. The House plan also added $1.5 million to CYFD for child protective services, agreeing to earmark the money for home visitation programs.

Under the pending House plan, those restorations and additions would be paid for by taking $10 million out of the Legislative Retirement Fund, which pays for legislative pensions. The GOP says the pension fund is significantly overfunded, but labor union leaders questioned the legality of the proposal and said it could affect other pension plans.

A House committee also has rejected the Senates plan to delay previously scheduled cuts to the states corporate income tax. The Martinez administration had objected to the delay, saying it could send a negative message to businesses considering relocating here.

No tax increase

House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, said Republicans in the proposed House package kept our promise to not raise taxes and place the burden on New Mexico families.

Both the House and Senate plans leave about $89 million in reserves, or about 1.5 percent of the current years spending level.

Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, issued a statement defending the Senate for leaving the Capitol in the early hours of Saturday after having passed its solvency package.

After we acted, we had nothing left to do, Smith said. The House had not passed anything yet and was working on crime legislation, not the deficit.

Democrats in both chambers have objected to the inclusion of crime bills on the agenda.
Debate was informative

AFTER READING THE Albuquerque Journals coverage of the first general election presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I had a different reaction than the area viewers who were surveyed and whose views were published in the paper.

The Journals headline was: It was 90 minutes of waste,' with a first sentence in the article stating, Horrible, A train wreck. Disgusting.

What I saw during this 90-minute, made-for-television event, was a reasonable facsimile of who these people really are. It may not be pretty, it may be hard for some to look at, but these are the people for whom you are voting to be the next president of the U.S.

What the debate viewers were treated to was one candidate who was articulate, spoke in whole sentences, generally addressed the questions that were asked, appeared prepared and kept an even demeanor throughout the event. The other candidate was rambling, spoke in sentence fragments, was defensive, constantly interrupted both the moderator and the other candidate, and commonly was unable to finish articulating a full thought. Moreover, he repeatedly insisted that he had not said things in the past where there is clear documentary evidence to the contrary  Iraq war support, global warming comments and many others.

These are the two people we have nominated to be elected to the most powerful position in world. You all have a choice to make. These two candidates are who they are. They are not going to change before the next debate or before the election. And they are strikingly different personalities. I would strongly argue that what you see is what you are going to get, and this first general-election debate gave us, the voters, a reasonable expectation of the types of people we have to choose from.

Please dont turn off the TV and walk away because you dont like the spectacle of the debate. One of them is going to get elected regardless of whether you vote, but dont you think that your opinion should count as well?

BERTON COXE

Corrales

Fact checks work both ways

HILLARY CLINTON requested her opponent be fact-checked prior to the debate; however, she herself needed to be fact-checked based on her misstatements about the 2008 economic crisis. Her claim that this was caused by trickle down tax cuts is unsupportable.

The insistence by Democrats that risky mortgage loans be given out to those who could not repay them precipitated the crisis. This policy, aka Community Reinvestment Act began with (Jimmy) Carters administration, but was exacerbated under the Clinton administration in the 90s.

Gradually, the bad loans were transferred by banks to the quasi-governmental agencies  Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The potential disaster alerted President (George W.) Bush, who asked Congress to investigate; but Democrat Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd stonewalled, claiming everything was fine. The bottom fell out in 2008, causing the economic and banking crisis.

Another Hillary fabrication was her insistence that the policy of stop and frisk had no impact and was declared unconstitutional. As senator from New York, she knew better. Under Mayor (Rudy) Guiliani, crime went down 65 percent; under Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg, 85 percent.

One judge declared it unconstitutional, but was overruled by a higher court. The current mayor then decided not to reinstate it. Crime is the increase around the nation, according to recent FBI files.

Hillary is counting on the media to fact-check her opponent while ignoring all her faux pas. She may be right, given the medias propensity to rehash old controversies that have nothing to do with the current election. She assumes the American people are too stupid to figure it out  one only needs to watch her smug facial expressions to know that.

SARALEE WISNER

Albuquerque

Debate I saw had a winner

APPARENTLY, JOURNAL Staff Writer Maggie Shepard interviewed watchers of a different debate than I watched (Local viewers not impressed with debate: It was 90 minutes of waste, Sept. 27).

Her story asserts that both presidential candidates continually interrupted each other and talked over the moderator. Huh? That was certainly an accurate description of (Donald) Trumps incoherent and often rambling debate performance.

To say that of (Hillary) Clinton is ridiculous. She was factual, concise and very tolerant of Trumps bully tactics. She never talked over the moderator but tried to talk over Trumps constant interruptions.

JEFFREY PAUL

Albuquerque

Trump repelled the unsure

I KNOW THE Journal is a right-wing newspaper but really? Debate is not a game changer?

Im sure (Donald) Trump satisfied his base with his many racist dog whistles, but anyone sane who was previously on the fence after witnessing that performance must surely realize what a toxic mess Trump is.

MICHAEL DANIELS

Albuquerque

Wealth isnt highest value

FIFTEEN MINUTES into the presidential debate and I can no longer tolerate the vapid and emotional rhetoric of Donald Trump.

He profited off of the housing crisis  many people suffered from this  and he is proud of his decision. Is someone who profits from the suffering of people a person who should be in the White House?

If the wealth of business is such an important part of our countrys health, why can he not release his taxes? Where are his charitable donations? Can he name one road that his wealth directly built? Is there any public school built from his tax contributions?

No, the business class of this country would have you believe that our soul is to be found in commerce. Whether it is our individual soul or Americas soul, it is not found in commerce.

It is time to put a stop to Trumps dangerous and damaging rhetoric; it is time to embrace our shared reality. It is time to turn off this made-for-TV train wreck and start working to make America better  to make America greater.

JOSHUA FOX

Albuquerque

Dont forget local races

THE PRESIDENTIAL election is contentious and exciting, but dont forget to vote all the way down the ballot for state and local candidates. Find out whos running locally and talk to them.

Hillary (Clinton) or Donald (Trump) wont be there for you when a pothole needs filling, an ailing neighbor living alone needs help, theres a disgusting sewage smell in the air, a streetlight has gone out, theres a drug house next door, the electric company demands a huge rate hike  .

CHARLOTTE LIPSON

Las Cruces

Privilege brings obligation

TOO MANY AMERICANS have turned their backs on our presidential election.

We have a responsibility, and an obligation, to be informed and vote. You and I could have been born in any other place in the world but we werent; were Americans. Our children and grandchildren deserve our personal investment in maintaining the integrity of our nation for the sake of their futures.

There will be a new president in January 2017. Do you really want to sit this one out? We have easy access to a huge range of information sources; we can make informed choices.

Only 62 percent of eligible voters turned out for the 2008 presidential election, the highest in our nations history. Pathetic.

Can you comprehend living in a country where your vote is predetermined by an oppressive government? Can you imagine their sense of helplessness? Do you understand why thousands of people walk hours or even days to exercise their precious right to vote?

We are blessed with the gift of self-governance. Your vote is needed to help make the decisions that impact every aspect of our lives. I implore you to join those of us who will stand proud and vote in November.

GRACE N. HOTZE

Rio Rancho
Get facts straight before talking taxes

REP. DAVID GALLEGOS, Republican, of Eunice, in his op-ed, Tax increases by any name, are bad for New Mexico, (Sept. 21) follows the Republican approved guideline for addressing all taxes.

He invokes the term hard working numerous times, as do all Republican statements concerning taxes. I was not aware that hard working was applicable to CEOs and hedge fund managers. That is more suggestive of gloves, overalls, punching a clock and worrying about how you are going to pay your bills.

He says the reduction of oil and gas revenues was due to burdensome regulations, a statement that is refuted by the facts. The burdensome regulations in the financial industry were eased at conservative insistence and guess what we got  recession.

His article says we should not raise taxes but tighten our belts. According to world renown economists, the surest way to extend a recession or turn it into a depression is tighten your belt. Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner in economics and former head economist of the International Monetary Fund, said that the IMF had learned the hard fact that enforcing belt tightening austerity on nations only prolonged the situation or made it worse. Europe is still proving this.

Economists know that increasing expenditures and taxes simultaneously in a balanced way increases gross domestic product. When done properly, for every dollar spent GDP is increased between $2 and $3.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our infrastructure a grade of D. That is utterly stupid. The country could borrow at 1 percent or less, create thousands of jobs and increase GDP both now and in the future with vastly improved facilities.

The money could easily be raised by closing tax loopholes, the rich and corporations paying their share, eliminating offshore bank accounts and evaluating subsidies. The hard part is political will, the street calls it guts.

Our leaders are supposed to govern for the good of the country based on the best facts that can be had. No one group has all the solutions, our country is a result of compromise in trying to arrive at what is best for the country.

LEON LOGAN

Tucumcari

Democrats should take lessons

I WOULD PREFER to pay $1.84 for a gallon of gas than to have our state coffers overflowing and having our irresponsible state legislative Democrats throwing that money into the wind.

Low gas prices allow me to live within my means, a lesson these Democrats themselves could well learn to do.

LEONARD FERRAN

Abiquiu

NM needs a plan to raise revenues

AS WE ARE aware, the state of New Mexico derives a significant portion of its taxes from oil and gas. And as we are all aware, the price for gas and oil are at levels we have not seen for years, causing the taxes the state collects on oil and gas to be significantly reduced  resulting in budget deficits these past couple of years.

The current call for action from the governor (Susana Martinez) is to cut expenses and not raise taxes. Unfortunately that strategy is not working and it will not work  it is too late to reverse the current situation. You can only cut expenses so long  you need to raise revenues as well.

Our governor has made a pledge of not raising taxes and this is only creating a wider and larger budget deficit and crisis. No one faults Governor Martinez for forecasting oil would be at $40 per barrel when the pledge she made not to raise taxes had oil consistently priced at $80 per barrel and especially when it was even over $100 per barrel.

Solutions such as raising taxes on alcohol will not solve the crisis either. However, there is a white elephant in the room and I have yet to hear from anyone speak about it. Why not raise the price of gasoline 10 cents per gallon as long as oil is priced at $50 per barrel or lower. Reduce the additional tax to 8 cents per gallon when the price of oil hits $60/gallon, 6 cents per gallon when oil is at $70/barrel, etc., until there is only an additional 1-2 cents per barrel additional tax per gallon for the state to keep in reserves and to offset future sudden price decreases. The price we pay at the pump is lower than neighboring states and it would still be priced at significant savings compared to a few years ago when gas was close to $4 per gallon.

I realize the oil and gas lobby is strong and powerful. We need our governor and our politicians from both sides of the aisle to be stronger, to collaborate and put these measures into place. We cannot save our way our of the situation  our future depends on growth, not stagnation nor reduction nor ego.

JAY SIMON

Albuquerque

Dont hike taxes on beer, wine, spirits

RECENTLY, THERE has been some public discussion about increasing the states excise tax on alcohol. Proponents of this increase have touted many unsubstantiated reasons for pushing this bad policy.

I can give four reasons not to follow this path: Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Every one of our neighboring states have substantially lower taxes than our current rates, proving that higher taxes do not decrease our problems with alcohol.

Tax increases will place New Mexico businesses at an even greater competitive disadvantage. Too many of our states residents live close enough to a state line that it is easy for them to travel elsewhere to get less expensive products  think Las Cruces, Farmington and Hobbs. Any tax increase will only encourage more people to leave the state for an across-border dinner or in order to stock up for their weekend or special event.

At a time when New Mexicos economy is already hurting because of the slump in the oil and gas industry, we need our states leaders to implement policies that protect New Mexicos growing industries from harmful, short-sighted tax policies. The hospitality industry in New Mexico is the largest private-sector employer in the state. Our liquor laws already frighten tourists; lets not compound this with outrageous prices as well. Not only is it harmful to our jobs and economy but it taxes the average New Mexicans leisure time, affecting a dinner out, bowling night or concert attendance.

We need to protect and grow New Mexico jobs and business and abandon any discussion of tax increases on beer, wine and spirits. I urge all of you to contact your legislators and tell them we dont want harmful taxes that hurt our businesses.

CAROL WIGHT

CEO, New Mexico Restaurant Association

Albuquerque

Look at history from another side

ALBUQUERQUE RESIDENT Ronald Toyas op-ed declares National anthem protests disrespectful (Sept. 23). He boldly states that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States  took humanity and made it into a verb  .

Humanity for whom? Certainly not the boatloads of Africans kidnapped, brought here in chains and forced into slavery before, during and after we became a nation. Where was the humanity for them when Thomas Jefferson hypocritically wrote the lie that all men are created equal ? And where was the humanity for those African-Americans when our Constitution, as originally written, declared them to be three-fifths of a person?

Toya further states Our flag and our National Anthem are symbols of freedom, liberty, opportunity  . When? Certainly not when our flag originally waved over a land where millions lived under the brutality of slavery and remained in bondage for almost a century. Certainly not in 1814, when Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about a banner that yet wave(d) oer the land of the free , when our nation still lived under the inhumanity of slavery.

Certainly not when that poem became our National Anthem in 1931, when African-Americans in the South lived under repressive Jim Crow laws which made it virtually impossible for them to vote, live in good neighborhoods, attend good schools and obtain good jobs. Where was the freedom, liberty and opportunity for them?

A nation that was founded and existed for so many years with such utter disrespect and contempt for African-Americans and has never officially apologized for the abomination of slavery and the denigration of Jim Crow cannot now rightly complain when a few of them express their concern by refusing to stand for the National Anthem over the unnecessary and disproportionate brutality displayed by some police officers to members of their race. Toya, and others who may feel the same as he does, should take a closer look at American history from an African-American perspective.

STEPHEN FELDMAN

Albuquerque

Good samaritans restored my faith

THIS IS A long overdue thank you to some very kind people.

On July 23, on Candelaria in between Juan Tabo and Tramway, I was in a car accident. Of course, I was shaken and in shock, and not quite sure what to do.

I wanted to thank those who stopped to help, especially the off-duty police officer who called 911 and then stayed around to help, and the woman who sat with me until she was sure I was OK and someone was coming to get me.

Having a reckless person so carelessly cause an accident can sort of shake your faith in humanity, but people who stop to help can restore it!

Thank you again for taking the time out of your day and stopping  it really meant a lot.

LAURIE CLARK

Albuquerque

University pay cuts helped in 1930s

I AM COMMENTING on a recent Albuquerque Journal article from Sept. 23 titled Town hall gets grim outlook on UNM finances.

The article reported that one staffer in the College of Arts and Sciences stated, if everyone making more than $100,000 took a 5 percent salary cut, the university could save millions. It was not stated whether the staffer was agreeing to a 5 percent salary cut for herself.

My grandmother told me a number of times that during my grandfathers chancellorship of the University of Denver, the faculty agreed to a 6 percent salary reduction in 1936. This allowed the university to continue and by 1939 with increasing enrollment, 50 percent of the reduction in salary had been restored.

PAUL R. DUNCAN, MD

Los Ranchos

Espinoza wrong on voter registration

THIS IS IN response to the article Candidate criticizes voter registration effort (Sept. 22). State Rep. Nora Espinozas claim and/or allegation of voter fraud is unfounded.

Where was she when ex-Secretary of State (Dianna Duran) used the voter-fraud scare tactic and conducted a six-month long investigation. As I recall, the findings of voter fraud was insignificant  certainly not worth the exorbitant amount of money spent conducting the investigation. This was the same tactic used to eliminate the automatic mailing of applications for absentee voter ballots.

Lets hope that weve learned from our recent past and not allow ourselves to be sucked into conducting yet another senseless and costly investigation!

NAHUM CASTILLO

Albuquerque
PHOENIX  Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is headed to Canada as leader of an economic development mission that aims to boost the states image for Canadian investors.

Ducey will meet with Canadian political and business leaders during the four-day trip that kicks off Tuesday. Hes accompanied by several business leaders, including the president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the president of Tucson Electric Power.

Ducey plans to meet with Ontarios premier and deliver an address at the Canadian Club of Toronto, among other meetings. He also will ring the bell to open the Toronto Stock exchange on Thursday.

The governors office says Canada is Arizonas second largest trading partner.
CORTEZ, Colo.  Authorities have released the name of a 54-year-old man who was found dead in a hot spring in southwestern Colorado.

The Cortez Journal reports (https://goo.gl/ekrm0S ) Matthew Kochen was found face down in a small pool upstream from the Pagosa Hot Springs Resort on Sept. 25. A witness in a nearby pool noticed Kochen alive about 10 to 15 minutes before he was found dead.

Archuleta County Coroner Dan Keuning ruled the death an accidental drowning influenced by alcohol intoxication. He says alcohol use while in hot water can cause a person to pass out.

Kochen was living and working in Pagosa Springs.

___

Information from: Cortez Journal, http://www.cortezjournal.com/
I got the treaty cutting Russias nuclear arms

Hillary Clinton, in a television ad, first aired Sept. 9. 2016

Hillary oversaw hard-nosed negotiations with the Russians for a new START treaty to greatly reduce our countries nuclear stockpiles.

Sen. Tim Kaine, Va., speech on national security, Wilmington, N.C., Sept. 6, 2016



Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, have been selling her expertise and experience in Washington, including her stint as secretary of state in President Barack Obamas first term. A key talking point is that she sealed an agreement with Russia that resulted in cutting Russias nuclear arms (Clintons words) and greatly [reducing] our countries nuclear stockpiles (Kaines phrasing).

We should note that we are late to fact-checking these talking points. Our colleagues at PolitiFact and FactCheck.org have already found them wanting. But since a version of these lines are likely to come up in the debates, we wanted to offer readers our own analysis of this issue.



The treaty, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), was intended to be the cornerstone of the Obama administrations ill-fated pivot in relations with Russia. It was negotiated early in the Obama administration as a replacement for an arms-control treaty that expired at the end of 2009 and approved by the Senate in a 71-to-26 vote in December of 2010.

New START limits each side to 1,550 strategic deployed warheads, down from 2,200. It limits the number of deployed heavy bombers and missiles to 700 (800, including associated launchers), down from 1,600. The treaty introduced counting rules for deployed weapons, but it was more than a counting game; it also included new verification procedures, with provisions for data exchanges, notifications and inspections that supposedly reflected the improved relationship with Russia and was easier to obtain than through surveillance and intelligence-gathering.

The treaty went into effect in early 2011 and is due to be fully implemented in 2018. It will remain in force for 10 years.

So the New START treaty certainly sets limits on nuclear arms. Ellen Tauscher, a Clinton supporter who was undersecretary of state for arms control when the treaty was negotiated, told The Fact Checker: It caps future growth by the Russians and gets both countries to parity, in a visible and verifiable way by 2018.

But lets look at how Clinton and Kaine talked about it. Clinton said the treaty was cutting Russias nuclear arms while Kaine said it would greatly reduce. . .nuclear stockpiles.

But heres how many Russian nuclear arms were deployed at the time of the treaty went into effect: 521 deployed bombers and missiles (well below 700), 865 including launchers (slightly above 800) and 1,537 deployed warheads (slightly below 1550). The United States was above the limits in all cases, meaning it was required to eliminate more deployed nuclear weapons; the Russians, except in one instance, was already below the treaty caps.

In other words, Russia faces limits, but not a substantial reduction in arms. Kaines use of the phrase nuclear stockpiles is especially imprecise, because the treaty concerned deployed weapons, not the actual nuclear weapons that each country keeps in reserve.

The New START treaty does not require destruction of a single nuclear warhead or places any limits on the total number of weapons the two countries can have in their military stockpiles  only the portion of those forces they have deploy(ed) at any given time, said Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. While the treaty limits the number of deployed strategic warheads to no more than 1,550 on both sides, each side has more than 4,000 warheads in their military stockpiles, including thousands that can be loaded onto the launchers to increase the force if necessary.

Indeed, Russias total nuclear warhead arsenal has been on a steady decline, from 40,000, since 1986 (during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union). During Obamas presidency, Russias nuclear warhead total has hovered around 4,500 since 2012.

Steven Pifer, director of the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said the treaty must be viewed in the context of the fact that Russias nuclear forces were aging and due for a major upgrade. What we do not know is what the Russians might have done had there been no New START Treaty, he said. Its pretty clear they intended a major strategic modernization effort, since a lot of their stuff was old. What they now plan  or say they plan  in the area of strategic modernization looks to be aimed at a force that would fit within the New START limits.

Pifer added: I would say that New START does reduce and limit Russian strategic arms, but I would not overly hype the depth of the reduction.

The Federation of American Scientists has a handy chart showing the impact of the treaty through September 2016. The Russian numbers are climbing a bit because they are modernizing their force, so Russia now has 259 more warheads deployed than when the treaty went into force in 2011.



Nuclear arms is a highly technical area, and we understand the temptation for politicians to want to use easy-to-understand shorthand. New START placed a cap on deployed strategic weapons, but Russia for the most part was already meeting those targets when the treaty began to be implemented. The treaty does not restrict either country from stockpiling weapons, so Clinton and Kaine go too far to say that stockpiles have been reduced or that Russian nuclear weapons have been cut. In fact, at the moment deployed Russian warheads are climbing.

Clinton and Kaine need to make clearer they are talking about deployed nuclear weapons  and that future growth is capped. A few words can make a difference in being absolutely accurate.

dems-factcheck
BEIRUT  A senior commander in Syrias rebranded al-Qaida affiliate, who was close to the global networks top leader Ayman al-Zawahri, has been killed in an airstrike, the group said Monday.

The Fatah al-Sham Front, previously known as the Nusra Front, announced the death of Ahmed Salama Mabrouk shortly after the Pentagon said the U.S. had targeted a prominent member of the group in Syria.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Mabrouk was targeted in the airstrike by U.S. forces, but did not confirm his death, saying that the results of the strike are still being assessed.

His death, if confirmed, would disrupt and degrade coordination among senior AQ leaders and extremists, Cook said.

A Twitter account run by the Fatah al-Sham Front said that Mabrouk, a veteran Egyptian jihadist also known as Abu Farag al-Masri, was killed in the northern Idlib province, which is controlled by an insurgent alliance that includes the Fatah al-Sham Front.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said Mabrouk was killed when his vehicle was struck near the border with Turkey.

Another senior commander from the group, Abu Omar Saraqib, was killed in an airstrike last month.

Mabrouk was imprisoned in his native Egypt in 1981 in the sweep following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. He later traveled to Afghanistan, where he became close to al-Zawahri before traveling to Syria earlier this year.

Fatah al-Sham recently announced it was changing its name and severing ties with al-Qaida in a video in which Mabrouk sat next to the groups top leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

But in part because of the presence of al-Qaida veterans like Mabrouk among its ranks, most experts still view the group as an al-Qaida affiliate, and both the United States and Russia have vowed to keep striking it.
Its officially fish-or-cut-bait time in the pitched battle for control of the Senate.

Politico reported Monday night that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee canceled a week of reserved ad time in three states: Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin. Thats good news for Democratic hopes in Illinois and Wisconsin, where polling has consistently shown Sens. Mark Kirk, R, and Ron Johnson, R, running behind their Democratic challengers, and less good news in Florida where Sen. Marco Rubio, R, appears to be moving toward putting away the Sunshine State race.

While canceling ad time is not a foolproof sign that one side or the other is giving up, its a pretty good one. Its the whole put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is thing. If you assume  as the DSCC seems to  that Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin are close to over, then Democrats stand at a two-seat gain. And that gain moves to three seats when you add in Ohio where Democrats and their aligned super PACs pulled out money weeks ago amid signs that Sen. Rob Portman, R, had opened a commanding lead over former Gov. Ted Strickland, D.

What those moves mean is this: There are now five states that will decide which side controls the Senate next year: Indiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Four of those five are currently in Republican hands; Nevada is an open seat created by the retirement of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D.

If Democrats hold Nevada, they need to win only one of the four remaining seats to control the Senate if Hillary Clinton is elected president. They need to win two of the four if Donald Trump is elected.

At the moment, Democrats best bet for a pickup out of that quartet of states is Indiana, where former Sen. Evan Bayh, D, continues to lead Rep. Todd Young, R  although both sides acknowledge the race is closing amid a GOP onslaught on Bayhs time spent in Washington since he left the Senate in 2010.

Pennsylvania moved toward Democrats  and against Sen. Pat Toomey, R  in the aftermath of the two national political conventions, and hasnt swung back since. Toomey is running a serious and centrist campaign but is struggling to distance himself from the Republican brand nationally. His opponent, Katie McGinty, has been unspectacular but benefits hugely from being a Democrat in a Democratic-leaning state in a presidential turnout year.

North Carolinas Richard Burr, R, has the opposite problem of Toomey: Hes in a good(ish) state to be a Republican but has, to date, run a very poor campaign. Trump and Gov. Pat McCrory, R, have done Burr no favors at the top of the ticket. Republicans have just begun pummeling former state Rep. Deborah Ross with ads focused on her record as an ACLU lawyer, commercials they believe will be a silver bullet in the race.

New Hampshire is extremely close  as it has been since the day Gov. Maggie Hassan, D, decided to challenge Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R. Ayotte continues to struggle with what to say about Trump, offering a series of tortured responses about the difference between voting for him and endorsing him. On Monday night, Ayotte made her Trump problem worse by saying, in a debate, that Trump was absolutely a role model for kids. Within hours, Ayotte was backtracking.

The big if buried in all of the analysis above is Nevada. Remember I said that if Democrats hold Nevada they need to win only one or two of the four remaining Republican target seats to retake the majority. But, right now, Democrats arent winning Nevada.

Rep. Joe Heck, R, leads former state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto by 3.5 points in the Real Clear Politics polling average. And, Heck has lead in nine of the 11 polls conducted in the race since May. (One survey showed the race tied, the other had Cortez Masto up by two points.

A Heck win makes a Democratic Senate a longer shot; the party would need to win two of the four GOP held seats even if Clinton was elected president and take three of four if Trump wins.

Thats not impossible. If history is any guide, the toss-up races tend to all move in one direction in the final weeks of the campaign. If they all move toward Democrats, the party will win the majority  maybe with a few seats to spare. If Republicans get a slight tailwind, however, they could  against all odds  hold onto their majority for two more years.

Either way, its all down to five state now. Thats where to look in the final five weeks of this campaign.

campaign-senate


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         2013 .         9          .    .
Arvind Kejriwal's show of support for Narendra Modi led to the hashtag #AKBacksModionPak trending on Twitter for hours.

"I may have differences with the PM over 100 issues. But when he has shown the will, I salute him," Kejriwal said.

By Mail Today Bureau: Social media was abuzz with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's rare gesture of saluting PM Narendra Modi for commissioning the Indian Army to carry out surgical strikes on terror launch-pads across the LoC. Kejriwal followed this with a request to bring video footage of the strikes in public, to counter Pakistan's smear campaign on international stage.

"I may have differences with the PM over 100 issues. But when he has shown the will, I salute him," Kejriwal said.

advertisement

While many felt it was a commendable move by a chief minister setting aside political differences in national interest, some saw Kejriwal was meddling into strategic policies and punching above his weight. This purported support with a rider trended on Twitter with #AKBacksModionPak for hours.

Also read:

Kejriwal writes angry letter to PM Modi calling for end to harassment of small traders

Twitterati tear into Kejriwal for saying India, not Pakistan, is globally isolated over Uri attack



--- ENDS ---
PHOENIX  New federal grants to two law enforcement agencies in the Phoenix area will be used to test sexual assault evidence for DNA.

The Justice Department has awarded $1.2 million to the Maricopa County Attorneys Office and $1.5 million to the Phoenix Police Department.

County Attorney Bill Montgomery says his office will use its grant money to analyze previously untested evidence and for investigation and prosecution work involving the evidence.

Assistant Police Chief Mary Roberts says Phoenix will use its funding for steps supporting the citys policy for testing all sex crime evidence.

Roberts says DNA evidence isnt need in all individual sexual assault cases due to circumstances of those cases but she says test results can still help link defendants to other cases.
PHOENIX  The prosecutor who tried Jodi Arias for murder is appealing discipline handed down last week by a lawyer-discipline committee of the Arizona Supreme Court.

Juan Martinez is fighting the Sept. 29 admonition by the Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee of the Supreme Court of Arizona that recommended he be placed on probation for one year, The Arizona Republic reported (http://bit.ly/2dsZMPg ).

The admonition comes after a complaint was filed by Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, an association of criminal defense attorneys accusing Martinez of misconduct and unprofessional behavior over the course of at least 11 murder cases, including the Arias trials.

The Supreme Court committee considered Martinezs pattern and practice without identifying specific incidents. It found Martinez violated three Supreme Court rules governing the conduct of attorneys by engaging in unprofessional conduct; using means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass or burden another person, or using methods of obtaining evidence that violate the legal rights of such a person by, among other things, improperly attacking the defendant; and engaging in professional misconduct that is prejudicial to the administrating of justice.

In addition to one year of probation, Martinez would be required to take continuing-education courses on professionalism and not commit further violations.

Martinez is appealing the admonition and calling for a formal hearing before the Supreme Court presiding disciplinary judge. Formal hearings are conducted much like trials.

Martinezs attorney, J. Scott Rhodes, said Martinez  looks forward to the opportunity to put his career of devoted public service prosecuting some of the states most heinous crimes into a fair context.

___

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
Defendant Dominique Perez is expected to testify this afternoon in his second degree murder trial about the fatal on-duty Albuquerque police shooting of homeless camper James Boyd in .

Perez, who not spoken publicly about the case before, is charged with second degree murder for his role in the fatal shooting.

Perez, a SWAT officer, fired at Boyd after co-defendant Keith Sandy shot Boyd three times. Boyd pulled knives from his pockets in the moments before the shooting.

On Tuesday morning, the former commander for the Albuquerque Police Department training academy didnt recall during court testimony whether APDs standards were lowered in 2006 for officers hired from other law enforcement agencies.

Daniel Cafferkey, who retired from the APD in 2011, was called by defense attorney Luis Robles, who represents Perez.

Sandy and Perez shot Boyd after an hours long standoff in the Sandia foothills in which Boyd, who was a paranoid schizophrenic, brandished knives at police attempting to get him to surrender. They contend he posed an imminent threat to another officer on the scene. Prosecutors contend the shooting wasnt justified.

Cafferkey on Tuesday morning explained the APDs minimum number of training hours for cadets was higher than what the state requires of certified law enforcement officers. Training of APD officers on how to use force has dominated testimony in recent days. Prosecutors contend the officers violated police rules and policies. Defense attorneys say their clients followed training in deciding to shoot Boyd.

On cross examination by special prosecutor Elicia Montoya, Cafferkey was asked about so-called lateral transfers of law enforcement officers from other agencies after 2006  a time when the city was trying to bolster the number of officers at the APD.

Sandy was hired by the APD in 2007 as a lateral transfer after his firing by the New Mexico State Police. He was one of three officers fired that year for being paid by Wackenhut Services Inc. to teach classes at a Department of Energy program at the same time State Police was paying their salaries to attend the classes. Another officer resigned during the investigation, according to news reports.

After defense attorneys raised objections to state District Court Alisa Hadfield, Cafferkey didnt have to answer questions from prosecutor Montoya about whether the APD after 2006 no longer disqualified lateral hires who had been disciplined by a prior law enforcement agency, or whether APD also stopped psychological evaluations and polygraph testing of such hires.

In other testimony, former APD use of force instructor Robert Johnston recalled that Perez was very dedicated, very strong work ethic, a very solid officer. Perez wasnt a lateral transfer, but had a distinguished military career prior to joining the APD. He received a Purple Heart after being injured in combat in the Iraq War.

The jury trial is in its 11th day as Perezs defense continues. Sandy will follow up with his defense witnesses.
While the world has been inundated with photos and reports about Syrian President Bashar al-Assads brutal and unrelenting siege on Aleppo, reports over the last week about the murder and injuries of children are even more staggering, serving as further proof that the international community must pursue more aggressive means to respond to what the United Nations has long called war crimes and crimes against humanity. On Oct. 3, the United States announced it was suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia, a welcome step after Russias blatant bad faith efforts and complicity in Assads brutality. But much more is needed, in light of the dire circumstances in Aleppo. The United States should lead a serious effort to establish a multinational no-fly zone for Aleppo. According to UNICEF, almost 100 children were killed and 223 children seriously wounded during a recent five-day period, as the Syrian and Russian governments continued their onslaught of Aleppo. These are not children killed at the hands of a deranged killer or radical extremists, rather children murdered by their own government with complicity of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Assads siege has also targeted hospitals, thus leaving the injured with only limited possibility of finding basic care. UNICEF also reports that children who have low chances of survival are often left to die due to limited capacity and supplies. Assads breach of the recent ceasefire and the Syrian and Russian bombing of a humanitarian convoy decimated any hopes of relief, even one that might come in a relatively small dose. The international community can no longer allow this complete disregard for humanitarian law, human rights, and human decency to continue unanswered. The United States must put teeth into U.N. Ambassador Samantha Powers wordscalling the situation in Aleppo soul-shattering, barbarism and grotesque, and Secretary of State John Kerry naming it inexcusable. Words are no longer sufficient to push back on Assad and Putins brutality, and to lend any credibility to an international system that is remiss in protecting innocent children. A U.S.-led effort to establish a no-fly zone for Aleppo would offer some relief to besieged populations, but equally important it would send a signal that the international community will not sit by idly as Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin flout international law. Allowing a dictator to mercilessly kill his own most vulnerable citizens and then block international efforts to provide basic relief shows the international community, and by extension international law, as feckless and sets a devastating example for other dictators who would similarly brutalize their opponents and innocents. And though it may still be far off in the future and despite the fact there is no political solution in sight, it is worth thinking ahead: There will eventually be an end to this conflict and the process of rebuilding a nation is made even more difficult by the growing record of increasingly brutal abuses with impunity. A generation is being lost to the ravages of war. The United States must show leadership on this issue, but it cannot advance this alone. It should speak to both the moral obligation and direct interests of both European and Arab nations to see the carnage in Aleppo addressed. These nations are on the front line of receiving refugees fleeing the conflict, and have a moral stake in seeing such bloodshed of children and other vulnerable people ended. The French and Spanish-led U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for an end to all flights over Aleppo is a positive sign, and offers a great starting point for reinvigorating a discussion about a no-fly zone, a conversation that has continued on and off over the past several years in Europe. Germany has more recently sent mixed signals about a no-fly zone, with Chancellor Angela Merkel opposing the idea and her foreign minister supporting it. Merkel had been a supportive voice in earlier discussions about a no-fly zone, and could be encouraged to reinvigorate her leadership of Europes moral obligation for those suffering at the hands of Assads brutal regime. Former CIA Director and Commander of U.S. Central Command General David Petraeus has made clearthat establishing a no-fly zone is doable in the current conditions. And credible actors on the ground, including White Helmet head Raed al-Saleh, have called on the international community to establish such a no-fly zone. This is naturally not a panacea to the entire Syrian conflict. Nor would this address all of the forces that are committing civilian deaths in Aleppo. But if the international community is unwilling to act until it has a full or perfect solution to the entire conflict or every threat, it is giving a green light to Assad and Putin to take any actions it sees fit until that solution is found. And ultimately giving these two leaders such leeway will make a political solution even more difficult to reach than it already is. Allowing Putin and Assad to gain the upper hand militarily, through a so-called counterrrorism campaign that includes opposition figures and innocent people, diminishes the likelihood that Russia and Syria will feel any need to come to the table in good faith and likewise significantly lessens the possibility that opposition actors will trust any international process led by actors who were unwilling to stand up to Assad and Putin on something as foundational as their aggression against innocent civilians. The international community can no longer afford to be frozen in the face of the most egregious violations of humanitarian and human rights standards while it wades through the serious difficulties of reaching a political settlement. A no-fly zone offers a possible path to ameliorating the massive suffering in Aleppo, to pushing back on blatantly illegal international action, and to mobilizing more international action on Syria. It will require steady-handed leadership in Washington, European capitals and New York, driven by a profound moral obligation to protect vulnerable populations, a commitment to international law and human rights, and a pragmatic view on how this complicates the long-term resolution of this conflict.

While the world has been inundated with photos and reports about Syrian President Bashar al-Assads brutal and unrelenting siege on Aleppo, reports over the last week about the murder and injuries of children are even more staggering, serving as further proof that the international community must pursue more aggressive means to respond to what the United Nations has long called war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Oct. 3, the United States announced it was suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia, a welcome step after Russias blatant bad faith efforts and complicity in Assads brutality. But much more is needed, in light of the dire circumstances in Aleppo. The United States should lead a serious effort to establish a multinational no-fly zone for Aleppo.

According to UNICEF, almost 100 children were killed and 223 children seriously wounded during a recent five-day period, as the Syrian and Russian governments continued their onslaught of Aleppo. These are not children killed at the hands of a deranged killer or radical extremists, rather children murdered by their own government with complicity of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Assads siege has also targeted hospitals, thus leaving the injured with only limited possibility of finding basic care. UNICEF also reports that children who have low chances of survival are often left to die due to limited capacity and supplies. Assads breach of the recent ceasefire and the Syrian and Russian bombing of a humanitarian convoy decimated any hopes of relief, even one that might come in a relatively small dose.

The international community can no longer allow this complete disregard for humanitarian law, human rights, and human decency to continue unanswered. The United States must put teeth into U.N. Ambassador Samantha Powers wordscalling the situation in Aleppo soul-shattering, barbarism and grotesque, and Secretary of State John Kerry naming it inexcusable. Words are no longer sufficient to push back on Assad and Putins brutality, and to lend any credibility to an international system that is remiss in protecting innocent children.

A U.S.-led effort to establish a no-fly zone for Aleppo would offer some relief to besieged populations, but equally important it would send a signal that the international community will not sit by idly as Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin flout international law. Allowing a dictator to mercilessly kill his own most vulnerable citizens and then block international efforts to provide basic relief shows the international community, and by extension international law, as feckless and sets a devastating example for other dictators who would similarly brutalize their opponents and innocents.

And though it may still be far off in the future and despite the fact there is no political solution in sight, it is worth thinking ahead: There will eventually be an end to this conflict and the process of rebuilding a nation is made even more difficult by the growing record of increasingly brutal abuses with impunity. A generation is being lost to the ravages of war.

The United States must show leadership on this issue, but it cannot advance this alone. It should speak to both the moral obligation and direct interests of both European and Arab nations to see the carnage in Aleppo addressed. These nations are on the front line of receiving refugees fleeing the conflict, and have a moral stake in seeing such bloodshed of children and other vulnerable people ended. The French and Spanish-led U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for an end to all flights over Aleppo is a positive sign, and offers a great starting point for reinvigorating a discussion about a no-fly zone, a conversation that has continued on and off over the past several years in Europe. Germany has more recently sent mixed signals about a no-fly zone, with Chancellor Angela Merkel opposing the idea and her foreign minister supporting it. Merkel had been a supportive voice in earlier discussions about a no-fly zone, and could be encouraged to reinvigorate her leadership of Europes moral obligation for those suffering at the hands of Assads brutal regime.

Former CIA Director and Commander of U.S. Central Command General David Petraeus has made clearthat establishing a no-fly zone is doable in the current conditions. And credible actors on the ground, including White Helmet head Raed al-Saleh, have called on the international community to establish such a no-fly zone.

This is naturally not a panacea to the entire Syrian conflict. Nor would this address all of the forces that are committing civilian deaths in Aleppo. But if the international community is unwilling to act until it has a full or perfect solution to the entire conflict or every threat, it is giving a green light to Assad and Putin to take any actions it sees fit until that solution is found. And ultimately giving these two leaders such leeway will make a political solution even more difficult to reach than it already is. Allowing Putin and Assad to gain the upper hand militarily, through a so-called counterrrorism campaign that includes opposition figures and innocent people, diminishes the likelihood that Russia and Syria will feel any need to come to the table in good faith and likewise significantly lessens the possibility that opposition actors will trust any international process led by actors who were unwilling to stand up to Assad and Putin on something as foundational as their aggression against innocent civilians. The international community can no longer afford to be frozen in the face of the most egregious violations of humanitarian and human rights standards while it wades through the serious difficulties of reaching a political settlement.

A no-fly zone offers a possible path to ameliorating the massive suffering in Aleppo, to pushing back on blatantly illegal international action, and to mobilizing more international action on Syria. It will require steady-handed leadership in Washington, European capitals and New York, driven by a profound moral obligation to protect vulnerable populations, a commitment to international law and human rights, and a pragmatic view on how this complicates the long-term resolution of this conflict.

syria-comment
WASHINGTON  U.S. military strikes against the Assad regime will be back on the table Wednesday at the White House, when top national security officials in the Obama administration are set to discuss options for the way forward in Syria. But theres little prospect President Barack Obama will ultimately approve them.

Inside the national security agencies, meetings have been going on for weeks to consider new options to recommend to the president to address the ongoing crisis in Aleppo, where Syrian and Russian aircraft continue to perpetrate the deadliest bombing campaign the city has seen since the five-year-old civil war began. A meeting of the Principals Committee, which includes Cabinet-level officials, is scheduled for Wednesday. A meeting of the National Security Council, which could include the president, could come as early as this weekend.

Last Wednesday, at a Deputies Committee meeting at the White House, officials from the State Department, the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed limited military strikes against the regime as a means of forcing Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to pay a cost for his violations of the cease-fire, disrupt his ability to continue committing war crimes against civilians in Aleppo, and raise the pressure on the regime to come back to the negotiating table in a serious way.

The options under consideration, which remain classified, include bombing Syrian air force runways using cruise missiles and other long-range weapons fired from coalition planes and ships, an administration official who is part of the discussions told me. One proposed way to get around the White Houses long-standing objection to striking the Assad regime without a U.N. Security Council resolution would be to carry out the strikes covertly and without public acknowledgment, the official said.

The CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represented in the Deputies Committee meeting by Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva, expressed support for such kinetic options, the official said. That marked an increase of support for striking Assad compared with the last time such options were considered.

Theres an increased mood in support of kinetic actions against the regime, one senior administration official said. The CIA and the Joint Staff have said that the fall of Aleppo would undermine Americas counterterrorism goals in Syria.

Theres still great skepticism, however, that the White House will approve military action. Other administration officials told The Washington Post this week that Obama is no more willing to commit U.S. military force inside Syria than he was previously and that each of the military options being discussed have negative risks or consequences.

The State Department announced Monday that it was suspending bilateral channels of communication with Russia related to the failed cease-fire deal struck last month. The United States will now bring back all of the personnel from Geneva who have been waiting for weeks to begin a new project of military and intelligence cooperation with the Russians that was to accompany the cease-fire if it had held.

Two administration officials told me that the suspension was set to be announced last Friday, but Secretary of State John Kerry asked for a delay after speaking on the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Kerry wanted more time to work out an extension of the cease-fire but failed, leaving the administration without a clear path forward.

Last week, Kerry was caught on tape telling a group of Syrian activists that he had argued for military strikes against the regime but that he lost the argument. Kerry had supported limited strikes against the regime in 2013 as punishment for Assad using chemical weapons against his own people. But while Congress was deliberating an authorization, the president withdrew his request and decided to strike a deal with Moscow instead.

This time around, Kerry has not favored using U.S. military force against the Assad regime, two administration officials said. He now prefers continued diplomacy with Russia, even in the face of what he says is Moscows willingness to turn a blind eye to, if not participate directly, in war crimes in Aleppo.

The National Security Councils senior coordinator for the Middle East, Rob Malley, and the presidents special envoy to the coalition for the fight against the Islamic State, Brett McGurk, are also said to be against any military escalation against the Assad regime, officials said. Theres no consensus on what options should be sent to the presidents desk. Other options include increased weapons for some Syrian rebel groups and an increase in the quality of such weapons, to allow rebels to defend Aleppos civilians.

If Obama does not approve greater support for the Syrian rebels or increased coalition pressure on the Assad regime, the only option left is to wait out the siege of Aleppo and reengage the Russians if and when Aleppo falls, albeit in a weaker position.

Former State Department Syria official Frederic Hof wrote Monday that any policy going forward that hinges on the assumption that Russia is looking for a near-term diplomatic solution in Syria is destined for failure.

Whatever excuses the administration offers for leaving Syrians defenseless against mass murder, the continued search for common ground with Vladimir Putin should not be one of them, he wrote. If nothing else, John Kerrys exhaustive diplomatic due diligence should retire that illusion permanently.

Kerrys deputy, Antony Blinken, testified last week that the U.S. leverage in Russia comes from the notion that Russia will eventually become weary of the cost of its military intervention in Syria. The leverage is the consequences for Russia of being stuck in a quagmire that is going to have a number of profoundly negative effects, Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The argument against more U.S. military intervention in Syria, including strikes against the regime, is based on risks that should be taken seriously but that are ultimately hypothetical. The effects of continuing the current policy are not hypothetical. They include more of what we are seeing now: Russia and the Assad regime committing war crimes against civilians with impunity and destroying Syrias largest city.

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WASHINGTON  The Pentagon is ready to dispatch at least three Navy ships and a detachment of military helicopters to assist Caribbean countries hit by Hurricane Matthew, defense officials said Tuesday.

The powerful storm made landfall Tuesday in Haiti with Category-4 strength, packing winds of up to 145 mph. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Tuesday that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, the hospital ship USS Comfort, and the amphibious ship USS Mesa Verde all may be called in to assist, potentially deploying thousands of U.S. sailors and Marines in the relief effort.

The Pentagon also will move a detachment of nine U.S. military helicopters from Honduras to the Cayman Islands in anticipation of possible hurricane response efforts, Cook said. The move puts them within a few hundred miles of Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. U.S. Southern Command, with headquarters in Miami, also will establish a joint task force commanded by Rear Adm. Cedric Pringle in anticipation of requests for help.

This is a serious storm, and while we have not received any specific request for assistance at this point, we do stand ready to provide support in the region as needed, Cook said.

A Marine Corps spokesman, Maj. Armando Daviu, said the helicopters are a mixture of CH-53E Super Stallions, CH-47 Chinooks and UH-60L Black Hawks. They departed Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras Tuesday carrying members of both a Marine Corps special-purpose task force and a joint task force run by U.S. Southern Command.

The movements were announced as the storm roared toward Cuba, east of where the Pentagon maintains a naval station at Guantanamo Bay. About 4,700 service members remained on the base, which also is home to a military prison that holds dozens of terrorism suspects captured in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries abroad.

Navy Capt. David Culpepper, the commanding officer at Guantanamo, told service members that all preparations for the hurricane had to be completed by 6 p.m. Monday. He said in a phone interview Tuesday that he expected Matthew to arrive with Category 1 strength on the base because it is tracking several dozen miles eastward.

Were hunkered down ready for something more than that, but its beginning to look less and less likely that it will be significant, he said.

The military evacuated about 700 military family members and more than 60 pets over the weekend from Guantanamo to Pensacola, Florida, in anticipation of the storm. Some service members were ordered to relocate to safer areas of the base and were preparing to ride out the storm in schools and other larger buildings.

Military officials said that detainees would be kept on the island during the storm. If required, they would be moved to safer structures on Guantanamo Bay.

The storms projected path could affect military operations on several bases in coming days. They include Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and several installations in and near Norfolk. Virginia.

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When Frank Linkmeyer unveils his Aurora Farmers Fair parade float each year, his creation is never short on shock value.

This year, amid a controversy-filled presidential contest, Linkmeyer didnt disappoint.

He opted for a morbid execution scene showing Hillary Clinton strapped into an electric chair, flanked by the Grim Reaper, a pastor and a familiar-looking executioner: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The float he entered in the Indiana parade included Trump/Pence campaign signs and phrases including Benghazi and Liar liar pants on fire.

There was also this: At the front of the float sat a miniature Easter Island head spray-painted black and labeled Obama.

Linkmeyer told ABC affiliate WCPO that hes pilloried countless political figures over the years; the float he showed off Saturday was intended to be a playful joke, he said.

Could have had Donald Trump in the electric chair, he said. It was a tossup.

Its all in fun, he added to the station. Laughter is the best medicine in life and this country needs more laughter  and the people that are offended by it, Im sorry. Dont come to the parade next time.

Not everyone in the Ohio River town 35 miles west of Cincinnati finds Linkmeyers humor funny.

Penny Britton, a mother of five who has lived in Aurora with her husband for more than a decade, was outraged by the float, which she called disgusting and racist.

I know a half-dozen minority children that were marching in that parade and even more sitting on the sidewalk watching it go by and this is the message were sending to our children? she added. I dont see how anyone could look at the statue on the float and not say it was racist.

She added: I wouldnt care if it was Donald Trump in the electric chair and Hillary pulling the switch  its not OK.

Britton didnt attend the parade; but as soon as she saw photos of the float, she made phone calls and sent emails to Mayor Donnie Hastings, the parade committee and the Aurora Lions Club, which organizes the parade. She hasnt heard back from anyone of them, but the mayors office and the Lions Club both released statements following the parade.

Britton said the only response she received came from people sending her nasty messages on Facebook after she posted a photo of the float and spoke out about it to local media.

People have been sending me hateful messages for several days now, she said. Theyre telling me I dont belong here, and that if I dont like it I can leave. People have told me this is why they dont like it when outsiders move to their town and Ive been here 10 years.

Unsettled by the hateful messages, Britton said she and her husband are now sleeping with a shotgun beside their bed.

The KKK marched in the parade until the 80s, Britton noted. This town has history that goes back for generations of racism and bigotry. Its something that nobody likes to talk about.

She added that some students at her sons high school drive pick-up trucks outfitted with Confederate flags.

The theme of this years Aurora Farmers Fair parade: Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Future.

In a statement, the Aurora Lions Club expressed regret for including a display that offended some viewers.

The parade is a public venue which does not reflect the views of the Aurora Lions Club, the statement read. As a member of a worldwide service organization, we are proud and standby our record of service to this community. We appreciate the high levels of support and the esteem given to us by our citizens. We will continue to do our best to live up to their standards. We hope the political circus of this years election stays with the national media.

According to parade regulations, fair officials reserve the right to reject or evict any entry from the parade line-up that they deem unsuitable.

In a statement, Hastings, the mayor, called the Farmers Fair the pinnacle of our citys year and noted that city officials are not involved in selecting float participants.

We are disappointed that the actions of a few individuals have taken the focus away from what was otherwise a very successful 108th Aurora Farmers Fair, his statement said. The Aurora Lions Club is the leading charitable organization in our City. The City of Aurora refuses to believe that this particular float is in anyway a reflection of the Aurora Lions Club or its members.

The imagery portrayed by the float is simply not consistent with the values of our citizens or who we want to be as a city.

But at least one local official  at-large city councilman Patrick Schwing  said Aurora has nothing to apologize for and blamed the controversy on a lot of whining and crying.

He said people cant walk down the street anymore without offending someone. Schwing also dismissed the idea that the float might send the wrong message to children and minorities, before raising his voice and declaring: Im not a racist!

Nobody hates blacks, and yet Obama is telling us we hate blacks because were white and its bulls, he said.

I dont see how theres any thing racist involved with the float, he added. I didnt even see the the little black thing at the front that people are bitching about until afterwards. Nobody even noticed it.

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The Armys Reserve Officer Training Corps, a century-old military leadership program, has overhauled its weapons training procedures on the nations college campuses after cadet drills were mistaken for possible active-shooter attacks.

Maj. Gen. Christopher Hughes last week ordered all 275 Army ROTC units and 700 other affiliated programs to use extra precaution during training exercises that involve the use of realistic rifle replicas and furtive movements that could be mistaken for a threat to the community. Several reports that schools were under attack in recent years were later linked to cadet trainings involving the use of AK-47 and M-16 replicas as students maneuvered on or near campuses.

The new policies  which urge discretion when transporting the replica weapons and better coordination with colleges about scheduled training exercises  went into effect last week and re-write protocols that had existed for decades dictating the ways cadets prepared for war. But amid rising campus safety concerns, Hughes has called for ending practices that have led to moments of panic, confusion and dread.

Due to the national increase of workplace and campus shootings, our training requires increased coordination, on and off-campus, with appropriate authorities to enhance our safety and minimize misperception by civilian populace or local authorities, Hughes wrote in a new policy distributed to ROTC programs nationwide.

Hughes said in an interview with The Washington Post that he decided to issue new training rules after a recent incident at George Mason University resulted in police sweeping the campus in search of two men armed with rifles.

The reports on Sept. 22triggered a rapid response from the university, which sent out a message alerting the campus in Fairfax, Virginia, about the possible threat. Its a message many campuses have had to broadcast in recent years in response to fears of gun attacks in the wake of shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech in April 2007, when 32 students and staff were killed.

The suspicious armed men lurking in the woods at George Mason were ROTC cadets participating in a field exercise. Police who arrived at the wooded area that afternoon found more than 100 cadets carrying black M-16s as part of the training drill; though the guns look realistic, they are nonfunctional and made mostly of rubber.

Within minutes, George Mason issued a statement indicating that the episode was a false alarm. But the fact that the students who called in the threat to police feared that the ROTC cadets appeared so menacing caused concern within the ROTC command.

We want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, Hughes said.

Similar erroneous threats involving ROTC units have been reported as recently as last spring at the University of North Dakota and also in recent years at California State University Dominguez Hills, Montana State, the University of Texas, and Michigan State, among others.

Hughes has ordered all ROTC cadets to be more discreet when transporting their rifles around campus and also called for drills to be conducted away from high traffic areas so as not to alarm the populace.

Hughes said his decision to write the new policy letter was partly inspired by the Virginia Tech massacre. Hughess daughter attended high school in northern Virginia and had friends who later enrolled at Tech. On the day of the shooting, Hughes and his family spent hours trying to reach one of his daughters former classmates, Leslie Sherman, who was shot and killed in her French class.

I have scar tissue with this, Hughes said.

Hughes hopes the new policy will mean that ROTC cadets will not be confused with any real threat to a campus. At the same time, Hughes said he wants to encourage students who see anything suspicious to report it without thinking that it might be a false alarm. Its a careful balance, Hughes said, because ROTC cadets need to train for the very real possibility of combat.

When Hughes was a student in ROTC in the early 1980s, his unit used to practice breaching techniques on campus by storming into academic buildings with their replica weapons. That was in a different environment then, Hughes said.

Hughes said that ROTCs central mission remains the same: training soldiers to lead in battle, as ROTC cadets make up the vast majority of the Armys 6,500 new officers each year. The training they receive with the replica rifles  which the cadets call rubber ducks  is a crucial part of their education.

Our second lieutenants, when they walk out of college, they are handed 40 real soldiers with real weapons, Hughes said. They have to have these skill sets when they graduate.

The false alarm at George Mason led to immediate changes. The ROTC battalion at the school altered its protocols in less than 24 hours. Lt. Col. Travis Southwick, a burly 26-year veteran of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan who oversees the ROTC battalion, called for all 90 of the cadets replica rifles to be modified with bright orange duct tape to make clear to passersby that the weapons are fake.

Michael Sandler, a George Mason spokesman, said the administration values ROTCs presence on campus and works to support the program. In many cases, the students who attend George Mason on a ROTC scholarship wouldnt be able to attend college without it, Sandler said. We have a good history with this program.

Hughes said he wants to ensure that ROTC cadets remain trusted members of their university communities who can be depended upon.

We do this because we want to protect Americans, Hughes said. When there is a threat, whether its at home or overseas, we rush to danger to solve the problem and protect others. Thats our mantra and the fiber of our being.

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The NurseAdvice line, which has been providing free 24-hour medical advice in New Mexico for a decade, will be answering calls for the last time on Dec 31.

A NurseAdvice line official on Tuesday said the loss of financial support from several insurers is the primary reason for closing down. About 41 employees are affected, said registered nurse and program director Connie Fiorenzio.

We are just devastated; we are just sick about this, said Fiorenzio of the imminent shutdown of the nonprofit organization, which was launched in 2006 with public and private funding. New Mexico is the only state with a 24/7 registered nurse call center that is free to all residents, whether insured or not. The state Health Department provides about 20 percent of the call centers annual budget of $2.2 million. Salaries and benefits comprise 75 to 80 percent of that amount.

The first eight years of service, Lovelace Health System and Presbyterian Healthcare Services contracted with the organization to provide after-hours support for about 650,000 to 700,000 members in their insurance plans. Lovelace has since divested itself of its insurance business and Presbyterian has started a free nurse advice line available to Presbyterian Health Plan members, said Fiorenzio.

NurseAdvice has struggled to stay afloat by helping patients of rural healthcare practitioners and community health clinics around the state, said Fiorenzio. Insurer New Mexico Health Connections is a customer as is the health plan for employees of UNM. And the advice line partnered with a dispatch center to take non-emergency medical calls via phone rather than sending an ambulance.

While staff members have enjoyed working with a new crop of patients, the activity level isnt sufficient to help the organization meet its financial obligations.

Other than an 11th hour reprieve from a wealthy benefactor or philanthropic organization, the public/privately funded service will end in a state where there is a shortage of health providers.

NurseAdvice has answered 1.5 million calls for assistance during the past 10 years. About 30 percent of the calls resulted in the client doing self-care at home rather than heading for a hospital emergency room or other provider. A lot of the advice is educational in nature  like telling a new mom how to treat a childs fever, said Fiorenzio.

A study by a medical economist at UNM calculated that the advice line helped divert thousands of emergency room visits a year, she added. The study calculated annual savings of $4 million to $5 million to insurers.

As for NurseAdvice workforce, Fiorenzio said most are senior nurses with tons of experience. She added that many are reluctant to go back to a clinical settings where they will have to pound the floors again.

While the organizations call center is located at the New Mexico Primary Care Association office in Albuquerque, 50 percent of staffers have enjoyed working remotely in places like Los Lunas and Ruidoso.
A University of New Mexico class is getting involved in state politics through a very millennial form of communication, Twitter.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State candidates Nora Espinoza, a Republican member of the states House of Representatives, and Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat who is currently the Bernalillo County Clerk, will field student questions on the social media site.

Billed as a Twitter town hall, the event is the creation of adjunct professor Kate Nash Cunningham for her class in UNMs Department of Communication and Journalism.

Theres been very few public debates between Nora Espinoza and Maggie Toulouse Oliver so it seemed like a natural fit, said Nash Cunningham, a long time New Mexico reporter who has covered state and local politics.

The New Mexico News Port, a journalism lab at UNM that has students write about news around the state, is hosting the Twitter town hall. It kicks off tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. and will last about an hour.

And the town hall is open to anyone with a Twitter account. To participate, users should tweet their questions to the Twitter account, @Nmnewsport, or use the hashtag #nmpol. The candidates twitter accounts are @clerkmaggie for Toulouse Oliver and @Nora4SOS for Espinoza.

Espinoza and Toulouse Oliver are running for the secretary of state whose office oversees voter registration and elections. Brad Winter currently is secretary of state, a position he has held since December following the resignation of Dianna Duran in connection to embezzlement and misusing campaign funds to cover spending costs at casinos. Winter, a Republican, is also an Albuquerque city councilor.

Nash Cunninghams class focuses on teaching students multimedia journalism. During the town hall, students will break into groups. Some will check facts. Others will pose follow up questions. Students will also post a recap of the town hall with the candidates answers on The New Mexico News Ports website.

Toulouse Oliver said she is excited to participate in the town hall and to speak about, transparency and accountability in government.

I really appreciate young people getting involved in politics and this is a great way to promote participation in elections, she said in a statement to the Journal.

An email to Espinozas campaign wasnt immediately returned on Tuesday afternoon.
By PTI: Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) Oxygen has been gradually disappearing from the Earths atmosphere over the last 800,000 years, with the decline speeding up during the last century due to the burning of fossil fuels, a new study has found.

Researchers at the Princeton University in the US compiled 30 years of data to construct the first ice core-based record of atmospheric oxygen concentrations spanning the past 800,000 years.

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The record shows that atmospheric oxygen has declined 0.7 per cent relative to current atmospheric-oxygen concentrations, a reasonable pace by geological standards, the researchers said.

During the past 100 years, however, atmospheric oxygen has declined by a comparatively speedy 0.1 per cent because of the burning of fossil fuels, which consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide.

The researchers built their history of atmospheric oxygen using measured ratios of oxygen-to-nitrogen found in air trapped in Antarctic ice.

Since oxygen is critical to many forms of life and geochemical processes, numerous models and indirect proxies for the oxygen content in the atmosphere have been developed over the years, but there was no consensus on whether oxygen concentrations were rising, falling or flat during the past million years (and before fossil fuel burning).

The decline in atmospheric oxygen was not accompanied by any significant increase in the average amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, though carbon dioxide concentrations do vary over individual ice age cycles.

"The planet has various processes that can keep carbon dioxide levels in check," said Daniel Stolper, a postdoctoral research associate in Princeton.

The researchers described a process known as "silicate weathering" in particular, wherein carbon dioxide reacts with exposed rock to produce, eventually, calcium carbonate minerals, which trap carbon dioxide in a solid form.

As temperatures rise due to higher carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, silicate-weathering rates are hypothesised to increase and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere faster.

Researchers suggest that the extra carbon dioxide emitted due to declining oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere stimulated silicate weathering, which stabilised carbon dioxide but allowed oxygen to continue to decline.

"The oxygen record is telling us theres also a change in the amount of carbon dioxide (that was created when oxygen was removed) entering the atmosphere and ocean," said John Higgins, assistant professor at Princeton.

"However, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels arent changing because the Earth has had time to respond via increased silicate-weathering rates," Higgins said.

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The research was published in the journal Science. PTI MHN SAR MHN

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Police are hoping to identify the men seen in this security camera image. (APD) Police are hoping to identify the men seen in this security camera image. (APD) Police are hoping to identify the men seen in this security camera image. (APD) Police are hoping to identify the men seen in this security camera image. (APD) Prev 1 of 4 Next

Police have released photos of three men they call persons of interest in the beating death of a man at San Mateo and Kathryn SE in August.

Officers were called to the area around 2 a.m. on Aug. 10 after a witness reported three men beat up a man, took items from him and ran off, according to a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. The man, later identified as 66-year-old Irvin Sanchez, was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died several hours later, said officer Simon Drobik.

He said medical personnel initially thought Sanchez had not died from injuries resulting from the beating but then the Office of the Medical Investigator determined he had and the case became a homicide probe.

Drobik gave a description of the suspects a week after Sanchez died and asked the public for help.

Officer Tanner Tixier said Tuesday that none of the men has been identified.

He released four photos that appear to have been taken by a surveillance camera aimed at the cash register of a convenience store.

Tixier described the first man as appearing to be Hispanic, wearing a red shirt and having a tattoo on both his calves and said the second man appears to be Hispanic or Native American, is wearing all black and has a tattoo on his right forearm. He said the third man is wearing tan shorts and red shoes and is either Hispanic or Native American.

We are asking for the help of the public to identify these men, Tixier said.

He asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP or dispatch at 242-COPS.
MINNEAPOLIS  About a dozen people were arrested in cities across the U.S. on Tuesday for running what authorities called a sophisticated sex trafficking operation in which hundreds of women were brought from Thailand to America under fraudulent visas and forced to work as prostitutes to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in bondage debts.

The women  including one who was forced to have sex with strangers for 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week were not allowed to move about freely and were effectively modern day sex slaves, according to a redacted indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The arrests, along with the recent arrest of the organizations boss in Belgium, will effectively dismantle the operation, said Alex Khu, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Minneapolis.

We feel pretty confident that based on the number of important-position folks we are taking down, well really hurt this organization, he said in an interview with The Associated Press in advance of an official announcement about the arrests. It will take down this ring.

Tuesdays indictment charges 17 people with various counts, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit forced labor, conspiracy to engage in money laundering and conspiracy to commit visa fraud. About a dozen people were arrested in the Minneapolis area, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Khu said his office began investigating a sex trafficking case in the Twin Cities in January 2014 and discovered it was part of an international ring and a very sophisticated, complex network operating throughout the United States  where women are really placed on a circuit, traveling from one city to the next.

According to the indictment, since 2009, hundreds of women were brought from Bangkok, Thailand, to several U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Washington and Dallas. The women were from poor backgrounds, spoke little English and were lured with promises of a better life.

The operations bosses or traffickers in Thailand entered the women into a bondage debt contract in exchange for a visa and travel to the U.S. As part of the contract, the women would owe a debt ranging from $40,000 to $60,000 and would be owned by the organization until that debt was repaid.

The women were often encouraged to have breast implants to make them more appealing to potential clients. The cost of the surgery was added to their debt.

Once they arrived in the U.S., the women were forced to have sex in various houses of prostitution including hotels, massage parlors and apartments. They were not allowed to leave without escorts  who would have sex with the victims as part of their payment.

The women were forced to turn over most of the money they earned, as well as pay for rent, food and personal items, making it virtually impossible to repay their debt, the indictment said.

The organization controlled the women by isolating them and threatening to harm their families in Thailand if they escaped. In one case, Khu said, a woman tried to get out of a situation and the organization sent muscle to assault a family member in Thailand, breaking his bones.

The indictment says one victim recruited in 2010 agreed to a $40,000 bondage debt. When she arrived in the U.S., she was sent to work at two prostitution houses for 12 hour days, six to seven days a week, and was not allowed to leave by herself. The terms of her contract changed and she was then forced to work at a spa in Houston that was open 24 hours a day.

There, she lived on a mattress on the floor with another victim, and was required to have sex at all hours. She ran away one night, and began receiving emails that suggested her family in Thailand would be harmed and her visa would be cancelled.

They dont control the money. They dont control the customers or the johns. They cant refuse a john. They dont have freedom of movement.  The female victims are literally helpless, Khu said. They cant get out.

The indictment describes a highly organized operation, with many tiers of employment. In addition to the traffickers, the organization also employed house bosses who ran the prostitution houses, advertised the women on websites and scheduled customers. Other facilitators helped with money laundering or booking travel for the victims, while runners would escort the women from place to place.

Khu said the head of the organization, who was based in Thailand, was recently arrested in Belgium for separate trafficking offenses there. He said the U.S. plans to seek her extradition.

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Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti. More of her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/amy-forliti
Federal Department of Justice and Police

Bern, 04.10.2016 - Federal Councillor Sommaruga signed on Tuesday in Colombo, together with Sri Lankan Interior Minister Seneviratne Bandara Nawinne, a bilateral migration agreement. The agreement establishes a foundation for strengthening cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities on migration matters. It also outlines procedures for the repatriation of persons who will be returned, and thus improves legal security. Before the signing ceremony, Ms. Sommaruga visited the former conflict area in the north of the country, where she met, among others, with Sri Lankan returnees from Switzerland, human rights activists, as well as other representatives of the civil society. On Wednesday, Federal Councillor Sommaruga is scheduled to meet with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena before travelling to the Indian capital of New Delhi for further talks.

The migration agreement with Sri Lanka establishes a foundation for strengthening cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities in such areas as voluntary repatriation and reintegration, assistance in the fight against smuggling and trafficking in human beings, and migration management. Federal Councillor Sommaruga explained that the migration agreement is an important instrument allowing the intensification of cooperation between the two countries. "In the medium term," she noted, "the agreement can be extended to provide the basis for a more comprehensive migration partnership once further progress on human rights has been achieved."

The agreement does not affect the asylum decision-making procedure of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). That authority will continue to examine each asylum application on a case-by-case basis in order to determine firstly, whether the conditions for recognition of refugee status are fullfilled, and secondly whether repatriation to Sri Lanka is permissible and a reasonable measure in each individual case. The new agreement serves to formalise in writing the existing procedures for mutual cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities with regard to the readmission of persons who no longer fulfil the conditions for continued residence in the respective other country. It increases the legal security that underpins this cooperation. In order to ensure the proper implementation and application of the agreement and, more specifically, the safe repatriation of returnees and their treatment in compliance with human rights norms, regular meetings of experts are foreseen by the agreement.

Visit to the north of the country

Ms Sommaruga also travelled to the former conflict region in the north of Sri Lanka. As the only Western country, Switzerland has maintained a permanent representation there since 2003. It provided assistance for the reconstruction of some 5100 destroyed houses and has since expanded its involvement with a programme for the protection of labour migrants. The representation provides on-site support for Switzerland's human rights and peace policy efforts in Sri Lanka and has stationed a human security adviser in Colombo along with a staff member in Jaffna to guide the implementation of programmes in that domain.

Federal Councillor Sommaruga's journey also included a stop in Kilinochchi to visit the project "Bridges to the Future - Vocational Training in the North/East of Sri Lanka", for which Switzerland provides funding. The project is designed to offer education and training opportunities for young people and in this way improves their chances of finding work at home. The programme thus offers young people an alternative to emigration. It is expressly open to returnees from Switzerland.

Assistance on the path to reconciliation



On Monday, in Jaffna, Federal Councillor Sommaruga also had the opportunity to exchange views with returnees from Switzerland who had received individual repatriation grants from Switzerland and who have succeeded in reintegrating in the local labour market. Among those visited was a returnee who has successfully put to use a CHF 3500 repatriation grant to set up a poultry farm that has created a number of new job opportunities for local workers.

Federal Councillor Sommaruga also met with the families of disappeared persons as well as with the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Wigneswaran, and members of parliament from the Tamil National Alliance. Further meetings took place with human rights activists and other representatives of the civil society who also presented their perspective on the challenges inherent in the ongoing national reconciliation process. Ms Sommaruga stressed the importance of Sri Lanka's continued advancement of reconciliation and the ongoing democratic reform process in the country, together with the elimination of human rights deficits that still remain. Switzerland, she reiterated, is prepared to continue guiding and assisting Sri Lanka along this path.

For the last day of her official working visit to Sri Lanka, Federal Councillor Sommaruga is scheduled on Wednesday to pay a courtesy visit to President Maithripala Sirisena. Ms Sommaruga welcomes the process of reform and reconciliation that has been launched, but will also emphasise the need for further progress, particularly with regard to the human rights situation. She will urge President Sirisena to implement the measures to which Sri Lanka committed itself in last year's UN Human Rights Council resolution. Among those measures is the repeal of elements of the country's anti-terrorism law that are not consistent with international human rights standards.

Following her meeting with President Sirisena, Federal Councillor Sommaruga will be travelling to the Indian capital of New Delhi. There she is scheduled to take part, among other things, in the signing on Thursday of two migration-related agreements.

Update of 5 october 2016:

Due to scheduling difficulties, the President was unable to receive Federal Councillor Sommaruga. In lieu thereof Ms Sommeruga met with Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Justice Minister and legal adviser to the President. The subjects of discussion remained unchanged.

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The New York State Common Retirement Fund has committed $196m to the eight mid-cap fund of pan-European private equity
Bangladesh's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal during the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters' Forum said that Bangladesh would stay beside India if it was attacked following the ongoing tension with Pakistan.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Amidst the tensed situation in Kashmir, Bangladesh's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today assured that his country will stay by India's side, if Pakistan launches an attack.

Kamal made the statement while replying to a query regarding his country's stance on the India-Pakistan situation during the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters' Forum (BSRF) Dialogue held at the secretariat today.

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The Minister replied indirectly saying, "During my recent visit to India, Indian journalists asked me a similar question. I have replied that Bangladesh would stay beside India if it was attacked following the ongoing tension with Pakistan."

Also Read: Pakistan does not have aggressive designs against any country: Nawaz Sharif

He also recalled Indian government's stance during the Liberation War of 1971 and their assistance to more than a crore people.

Asked if Bangladesh was taking any preparation in this regard, he said, "We do not share a border with Pakistan, and their land territory is 1,200 miles away from us. What they do does not affect us. We [Bangladesh] defeated them and sent them back in 1971; we don't need to think about them any further," Kamal said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and India have agreed to reduce tensions after their National Security Advisors spoke over phone, top Pakistani diplomat Sartaj Aziz said on Monday after experiencing a long unrest at the border areas between the two countries.

Also Read

Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan to come face to face in Brussels tomorrow





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Michelle and Barack Obama aboard his campaign bus in New Hampshire, 2008. Picture courtesy: Twitter/Sarah

By India Today Web Desk: Barack and Michelle Obama have given us #RelationshipGoals to last an entire lifetime. Though they're set to leave the White House, they'd continue to inspire us for many years to come.

Also read: Michelle Obama is way cooler than Lilly Singh, we've just learnt

Celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary, the President of the United States shared an adorable message for his wife that reads: "Dancing through 24 years. Happy anniversary(sic)," accompanied by a candid shot of them dancing together at the 2009 Nobel Banquet in Oslo, Norway.

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The 55-year-old politician also took to his Twitter account to post a cute shot of himself giving the First Lady a peck on the cheek after the State of Union address in 2010, with the caption, "Side-by-side for 24 years. Here's to many more. #happyanniversary.(sic)"

Also read: First Lady Michelle Obama looks ravishing on the covers of these two international magazines

The couple who first met in 1989 have been going strong for the past 24 years and have two daughters--Malia and Sasha. Their romance also inspired a movie called Southside With You, which was released this year.

Hollywood celebrities like Usher, Grey's Anatomy star Debbie Allen, Scream Queens actress Niecy Nash and others wished the couple on social media.

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Modified On Oct 05, 2016 12:08 PM By Alshaar

Toyota announced its plans, on Tuesday, to develop and market compact vehicles in emerging markets, as the Japanese automaker aims to expand its market share in other Asian markets, including India.

For this, a new unit will be established around January, Toyota said in a statement, and added that the operations of this facility will be handled by compact car manufacturer Daihatsu. The company was acquired by the car major earlier this year for about $3 billion (Rs 199 lakh crore) to bolster its small car business.

With the establishment of the internal company, Toyota intends to learn the very fundamentals of Daihatsu's competitiveness and change the way we work, Toyota executive vice president Shigeki Terashi said in a statement.

Daihatsu has been known to successfully develop popular compact vehicles that are both inexpensive and profitable. While Toyota has been a driving force in the industry globally, this is a feat that the company has been unable to match.

Across the globe, Toyota has seen its stock decline in the wake of increasing preference towards SUVs and bigger cars; while the likes of Hyundai and Honda have swept past the carmaker in India, with their smaller offerings. The company had recently launched new versions of the Etios and the Liva as well, but is still far off from the top small car makers in the country.

Earlier this year, Toyota President Akio Toyoda had announced that the company would move away from a structure focused on different regions of the world and would instead create smaller, more nimble units devoted to specific types of cars.

With this, he hoped that the company moves faster at developing the sorts of cars customers want to buy. The new emerging-markets unit is positioned differently from the products-focused divisions, the company said in a statement.
Opening

The Toyota Etios has gone through yet another update. Since being launched in 2010 this is now the fourth iteration of the car and it looks like this time around, the Japanese automaker has really put its weight behind the vehicle. Despite always being priced a bit higher than its compact sedan rivals due to the extended length, it has been a decent seller in terms of numbers. Now, to keep continuity of volumes Toyota has worked on the strengths of the car to improve them. It gets some major cosmetic updates as well as an upgraded safety suite which has multiple first-in-segment features. But are these update s enough to finally propel this giant among men into the big league? Read on to find out

Appearance Exterior

The Etios in all its iterations had always been labelled as dull-looking and it looks like Toyota wants to shed that image once and for all. The manga inspired aggressive face and subtle changes to the back have certainly given the car a bit of drama.



The grille is now minimalistic while the bumper has been given a sporty appearance. To reduce the visual weight of the chrome on the front, it (the bumper) has been fitted with black inserts above the fog lamp housing while the overall shape has moved from rounded to in-your-face square. The side profile remains the same as before while the rear has had its chrome strip moved from the top of the boot lid to the middle below the Toyota logo. Also changed is the rear bumper which now gets some sporty curves that flow from the sides and into the number plate section.

Appearance Interior

Toyota has updated the cabin of the Platinum Etios rather than overhaul it completely. The overall layout has not changed but the colour combination is now black and beige. It has made things easy on the eyes but the overall quality of plastics has not changed. For a car that is priced over Rs 9 lakh, it still falls short of what we expect from vehicles in the segment nowadays.

The instrument cluster is new and gets a digital display for the tachometer and trip meter. Its a welcome change but we felt that it could have included things like instantaneous fuel consumption as well as distance to empty indicator. The top-spec VXD model gets a two-din music system with Bluetooth and AUX connectivity as standard equipment.

The front seats are quite comfortable and offer good support while the rear bench is a bit flat and to have three sitting abreast is a bit of a challenge especially if any of the occupants are on the larger side. There is also the question of the sloping roofline which is hindrance when it comes to headroom for taller people. On the practicality front, there are seven 1.0-litre bottle storage spaces as well as a 13-litre cooled glove box.

Where Toyota has put in a lot of effort is to make the car high on the safety front. In view of the Centre introducing new protection standards from 2018 onwards, Toyota has fitted the Platinum Etios with dual front airbags, adjustable headrests, ABS with EBD and seatbelts with pre-tensioners as well as force limiters across the range. In addition you now also get a three-point seat belt for middle rear passenger and two ISOFIX mounting points at the rear for child seats. What this has resulted in is a 4-Star Global NCAP adult safety rating for not just the sedan but also the hatchback as well as the mini crossover version. When looked at from a cost point of view, this would be a long term investment as you get 2018 safety standards but at 2016 prices.

Performance Drive

The Platinum Etios can be had with a 1.5-litre petrol or a 1.4-litre diesel. Both are four cylinder units and the former produces 88bhp/132Nm while the latter is good for 67bhp/170Nm. Both are only offered with a five-speed manual.

We got our hands on the more popular diesel model which uses the same engine from the more expensive Corolla Altis albeit in a lower state of tune. Firstly, its a noisy engine this and the clatter is quite audible in the cabin even in heavy t raffic. It has a lower torque figure than most of its contemporaries and has gained some weight over the outgoing model in view of the new safety standards but this has not really affected its performance. Toyota has worked to spread out the same and has given it an excellent mid-range which allows for ease of movement at low speeds as well as out on the highway. You can cruise at 100kmph at just 2000rpm while pottering around in traffic in third gear works just fine. It has an ARAI fuel efficiency figure of 23.59kmpl. They have also addressed the issue of the clutch action by making it lighter than the one in the outgoing model.

If there is one thing that Toyota has done right with the Etios and now the Platinum is the ride quality. It is slightly on the firm side but seems to work as it absorbs most pot holes and bumps without sending much back to the cabin. Consequently, the car has good high speed stability and feels quite planted even at 140kmph.The electrically assisted steering despite needing too many turns to go from lock to lock feels light, is easy to use and weighs up quite decently as you go faster.

Tech Specs

Make Toyota Model Platinum Etios Fuel Diesel Variant VXD Engine Capacity 1.4-litre Max. Power (bhp@rpm) 67bhp @ 3800rpm Max. torque (Nm@rpm) 170Nm @ 1800rpm Gears five-speed Length mm 4369 Width mm 1695 Height mm 1510 Wheelbase mm 2550 Fuel Capacity (in litres) 45 Tyre size 185/60 R15

Features

Features ABS with EBD Yes Dual front airbags Yes 2 ISOFIX child seat mounting points Yes 13-litre cooled glove box Yes 592-litre boot Yes Optional 5 year and 7 year extended warranties Yes

Competition All Specs

Specifications Honda

Amaze Maruti Suzuki

Swift Dzire Toyota

Platinum Etios Variant VX Vdi VXD Fuel Diesel Diesel Diesel Engine Capacity 1.5-litre 1.3-litre 1.4-litre Max. Power (bhp@rpm) 99 @ 3600rpm 74 @ 4000rpm 67bhp @ 3800rpm Max. torque (Nm@rpm) 200 @ 1750rpm 190 @ 2000rpm 170Nm @ 1800rpm Gears five five five-speed Length mm 3990 3995 4369 Width mm 1680 1695 1695 Height mm 1505 1555 1510 Wheelbase mm 2405 2430 2550 Fuel Capacity (in litres) 35 42 45 Tyre size 175/65 R14 185/65 R15 185/60 R15

Conclusion

Has Toyota done enough to boost the Etios in the round of updates? Yes, we think so. The aggressive new design and fancy name adds some excitement to the car while the comprehensive safety package across the range has made it a good value proposition to the growing league of safety conscious buyers.

Learning from the struggles of other manufacturers, Toyota has finally also separated the lower spec fleet market version of the car from the one that will be sold exclusively to private buyers. It has also introduced two new extended warranties of five years/1.80 lakh km and seven years/1.40 lakh km which are pretty much first in the market.

The Platinum Etios is priced in the range of Rs 6.49 lakh to Rs 8.98 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi) and goes up against the likes of the Honda Amaze, Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, Hyundai Xcent and Volkswagen Ameo.

Photographs : Kapil Angane

Toyota Platinum Etios  N/A Onwards

Toyota | Platinum Etios | Toyota Platinum Etios
Deadly Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic tropical storm in almost a decade, was pushing toward the Bahamas Wednesday, regaining some of the strength it had lost after swiping Cuba and leaving a trail of destruction in Haiti.

The storm pummeled towns, farmland and resorts and wiped out power to tens of thousands of people. Civil defense officials in Haiti said many homes had been destroyed or damaged in the south.

The forecast had worsened overnight for Florida, where heavy rain, coastal flooding, storm surges and beach erosion could begin as as early as Thursday afternoon before possibly moving up the Southeast coast into North Carolina later in the week.

More from NBC News:

'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Matthew could deliver devastating blow

Hurricane Matthew: Evacuations in Guantanamo, Haiti braced for 40-inch rains

'Life-threatening' rains feared as Hurricane Matthew approaches Haiti



But models showed a dramatic improvement for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with the latest projections showing the tracking right-toward the ocean once it reaches northeast Florida.

The forecast had worsened overnight for Florida, where heavy rain, coastal flooding, storm surges and beach erosion could begin as as early as Thursday afternoon before possibly moving up the Southeast coast into North Carolina later in the week.

@BillKarins: Not out of the woods but dramatic improvement for #NorthCarolina with forecast path more offshore. Georgia & South Carolina a close call.



"How close it gets to the coastline is still somewhat uncertain. The southeast coast is very much in play," said Kevin Roth, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. "But it looks like once we get past the weekend, the threat to the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast is over."

Matthew brushed past the eastern tip of Cuba at about 8 p.m. ET, almost 53 years to the day after Hurricane Flora killed 2,000 Cubans, the National Hurricane Center said. While the storm knocked down dozens of homes in Baracoa-- a city near the eastern tip of Cuba, preliminary reports indicated that the soaking rains and driving winds caused relatively little damage.



Before the storm hit, many residents who lived close to the water went further inland. Cuban officials said approximately 35,000 residents were either moved to higher ground with family or placed in shelters run by the state.

Matthew was classified as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday morning as it moved back out over the ocean toward the Bahamas at about 10 mph, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph. But forecasters anticipate the storm to pick up strength in the coming days.

@weatherchannel: #Hurricane watch has been extended north to Fernandina Beach, FL as of the 5am @NHC_Atlantic advisory. #Matthew

"The expectation is it will grow back into a Category 4 hurricane during the overnight hours," Roth said.

Matthew is set to move through the central Bahamas on Wednesday afternoon, bringing 8 to 12 inches of rain with to 15 inches in isolated areas.



As the slow-moving storm lingered over Haiti  the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere  officials feared that the country would have to contend with yet another devastating humanitarian disaster.



A key bridge collapsed in the town of Petit-Goave on the highway that links Haiti's hardest-hit southwestern peninsula region to the capital, Port-au-Prince. Several people were reportedly "swept away."



So far, Haiti's civil protection agency has reported just two deaths, one of them a fisherman who drowned in rough water churned up by the storm.



@gabegutierrez: From Haiti Civil Protection Agency: two fishermen caught up in #HurricaneMatthew; one found dead, the other missing

Six other deaths have also been blamed on Matthew: One man died in Colombia, four people were killed in the Dominican Republic and a teenager was killed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the storm moved through the Caribbean.

But officials fear the death toll could rise, especially in and around the southern town of Les Cayes, which absorbed the first blow from Matthew and where hundreds were hunkering down in homes without electricity and roofs.



The U.S. Agency for International Development said in a press call on Wednesday that it would be giving $1.5 million in assistance to the Caribbean. Of that, $1 million would be food aid and the rest of the $500,00 would be for non-food items including shelter, blankets, and water purification equipment.



@HurricaneChanel: Haiti's civil protection agency says about 2,700 people in shelters ahead of Hurricane Matthew

USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance R. David Harden, said his team of about two dozen disaster experts are currently making an initial assessment in Haiti, noting communications are down in most of the affected areas. "Once the storm is fully passed, we'll be able to do a better assessment on mud slides, road conditions and the state of vulnerable people," said Harden. He added USAID was prepared to deploy more relief supplies if necessary.

Haiti Special Coordinator and Western Hemisphere Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Kenneth Merten said "flooding and mudslides are still potential dangers in Haiti."



Meanwhile, in the U.S., empty shelves and long gas-station lines were reported across the Southeast early Wednesday as the storm crept closer toward coastal communities.



A state of emergency was declared in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. South Carolina was preparing to evacuate almost a quarter of its population, while other states brought in the National Guard.


A former CEO and her assistant received federal prison sentences last month for running an $18 million Ponzi scheme out of a Texas credit union by selling non-member share certificates to at least 10 credit unions across the nation.

Maria Guadalupe Hernandez, 59, former president/CEO of the shuttered $5 million El Paso Federal Credit Union was sentenced to 15 and a half years on Sept. 21 by U.S. District Court Judge Philip R. Martinez in El Paso. On September 29, Hilda Simental Mendoza, 53, the former assistant manager for EPFCU, was sentenced to 10 years.

Judge Martinez also ordered the women to pay restitution of $18,376,542 to the NCUA.

Hernandez and Mendoza pleaded guilty in May to an 11-count indictment that included charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.
Officials however don't suspect any harm to Afzal Guru's family, owing to his status of icon among the terror organisations.

The Baramulla attack was a stoneas throw away from the house of Afzal Guru

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Wearing a black-grey kurta and salwar with a green scarf covering her head, Tabassum Guru greets us, her son in tow. The widow of executed Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru moved to Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district with her family six months ago.

They woke up in horror on Sunday night to the sound of gunshots when terrorists launched a suicide attack on a military camp near the area.

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'PRAYED FOR THE ENCOUNTER TO END'



"We are locked inside our house, praying for the encounter to end," the 34-yearold said. Their two dwellings are a stone's throw from the BSF bunker that was hit by the Pakistani terrorists.

This was the first such attack following last week's surgical strike by Indian forces across the Line of Control in PoK that destroyed at least seven jihadi camps and killed about five dozen occupants.



Tabassum's 17-year-old son, Ghalib Guru Ahmed, is studying medicine after a 95 percent score in the class X exams conducted by the state board. But his studies have been affected over the past three months amid curfew, bandh and strikes in the trouble-torn state.

"There was heavy gunfire and the sky lit up by flares chucked the Army, he says.

ARMY, BSF SEARCH HOUSE FOR TERRORISTS



"After the encounter ended, the Army and BSF soldiers came to our house to inspect if any possible terrorists had taken shelter. We cooperated fully, and let them check," said Tabassum.



In the past two years, the name of Afzal Guru has cropped up as a common link in at least three attacks on police and Army camps along the Jammu-Pathankot highway. He was hanged in Tihar jail in 2013.

LETTERS FOUND, CITE REVENGE FOR AFZAL'S HANGING



Investigators have found at least one letter, written in Urdu, on the body of one of the four terrorists killed in January's terrorist strike on the Pathankot airbase. The note said the attacks were to avenge Afzal Guru. A letter in Urdu was also found in the vehicle belonging to police officer Salwinder Singh, which the terrorists had used to reach the military facility.

Similar letters were discovered on the bodies of the intruders gunned down during an attack on a police post at Rajbagh in Kathua, Jammu, on March 20, 2015 and those who attacked a camp in nearby Samba a day later.

All these places are located within 15-20 km of the Pakistan border and along National Highway 1A. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found that Chawinda in Pakistan is directly connected to Bamiyal in Punjab, from where the terrorists are believed to have infiltrated into India.

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Ghalib paces across the yard, wearing a chequered shirt and black trousers. "Delhi is not an option for me. I will continue to study in Kashmir," he said.

DENIED JUSTICE, SAYS AFZAL'S WIFE



Tabassum is distraught when asked about the encounter. "I do not wish to comment. My comments will be concocted, and the situation will be misread," she says. "I feel we were not given justice by the system, but we do not want anyone to face injustice as well." Following Afzal Guru's hanging, the duo has been staying with his father.

Is it a coincidence that terror struck just opposite this house? A top security official said, "The family has been staying here for six months. We are aware. If Afzal is an icon to terrorists, they would not put his family at risk."

Also read: A day after terror attack search operations called off in Baramulla

Also read: Baramulla Army camp attack: 2 terrorists killed, BSF jawan martyred



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Daniel Drucker's unofficial laboratory slogan is "I'd rather be third and right, than first and wrong." As a clinician-scientist who has spent 30 years developing new drugs for diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, and obesity, he has seen high-profile journal article after article proclaim the beginning of the end for these diseases, only for the findings to never be discussed again. This isn't dishonesty or fraud, he says, but the irreproducibility of these amazing discoveries reflects a culture that supports invalidated materials, unreported negative data, and authors overgeneralizing their results.

In an op-ed published September 13 in Cell Metabolism, Drucker, of the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto, discusses the chasm between biomedical scientists' astounding preclinical success and the meager clinical translatability. He also suggests ways that researchers can improve and standardize experiments so that the joy of exciting results can come with a rigorous scientific story. These include:

1. Apply Rules for Clinical Trials to Preclinical Research

"If you did a clinical trial where you studied 100 patients and only reported data on those patients that fit your hypothesis, I can tell you that you would be fired," Drucker says. "Yet it is common practice to carry out dozens of basic science experiments and not report the majority of them--only the ones that the principle investigator is particularly smitten by are published."

As a consequence, the results of many papers are indeed reproducible, if the experiment is precisely conducted with the same mice, which are the same age and the same sex, from the identical supplier, in the same location, with the same microbiota, etc. Failed experiments often don't get mentioned in the paper because it weakens the story that the researcher wants to send to the journal, he says. Negative results, even with slightly different experimental conditions, often mean a mid-tier publication, which is a cultural issue that fosters irreproducibility.

2. Test Hypotheses in More Than One Animal Model

Drucker requires his students and postdocs to replicate the effects of a potential therapeutic in several animal models of diabetes or obesity before going on to explore the potential mechanism in tissue and cell cultures. This is a slow approach, and not always fruitful, but it does temper underdeveloped conclusions. An opposite strategy, used in many labs, is to search for an interesting elegant molecular mechanism using molecular and biochemical techniques ex vivo and then generate an animal model that supports these findings. These fast discoveries often come with publication in a top-tier journal and other accolades, but they can be more challenging to apply to human disease.

"We would be serving the community better if we could reproduce really cool results in multiple animal models and not just report the ones that work," Drucker says. "We never even hear about the experiments that didn't work until someone else tries and fails to reproduce the findings in a different model. But there is no penalty or reward for producing more or less reproducible research, and no one keeps track of it."

3. Hold Reproducibility Symposia

It is rare to see sessions at scientific meetings dedicated to reproducibility issues in research. These discussions do take place, Drucker says, but in hallways or bars, not a formal atmosphere. Having an honest public discussion of common problems and solution, and encouraging everyone to be more accountable for their work, would also set a positive example for young researchers. New methods and techniques are constantly available, and so there will likely always be ways for investigators to improve their practices.

4. Develop Reproducibility Reporting

To improve accountability, Drucker envisions a future where an academic independent body develops a basic algorithm that could compute how reproducible or irreproducible a scientific paper proved to be. However, such an index could prove damaging, he says, as no one would want to be known as the king or queen of irreproducibility.

"There are much more feasible ways to discuss the reproducibility of one's work that would be less challenging to arbitrate," he says. "For example, let's make it a feature, and the National Institutes of Health has started to do this but many grant agencies have not, to have a mandatory part of grant applications to track a senior researcher's record--allow them to present the most well-cited papers they've published and show examples of how the key findings within have been reproduced."

5. Improve Methods Reporting

Another strategy for enabling research to be more easily reproduced is to include sufficient experimental detail, such as description of and source of reagents, cell lines, and animals used in each experiment, Drucker says. Simply enhancing journal requirements for more detailed reporting would increase the likelihood that future scientists can follow the same steps described in a paper. (Cell Press journals recently introduced STAR Methods, 10.1016/j.cell.2016.08.021, which consider such recommendations.)

Drucker doesn't anticipate everyone will agree with his recommendations, but he and many others do think it is time to have regular, robust conversations about reproducibility. We can start to fix the problem by quantifying and keeping track of reproducibility while building policies that enforce good scientific practices, he says.

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Daniel Drucker is supported in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a Canada Research Chair in Regulatory Peptides, and a Banting and Best Diabetes Centre-Novo Nordisk Chair in Incretin Biology. He has served as an advisor or consultant to Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Intarcia, MedImmune, Merck Research Laboratories, Novo Nordisk, and Receptos Inc.

Cell Metabolism, Drucker, D.J.: "Never waste a good crisis: Confronting reproducibility in translational research" http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(16)30422-3

For a related editorial, please see: http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(16)30444-2

Cell Metabolism (@Cell_Metabolism), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes reports of novel results in metabolic biology, from molecular and cellular biology to translational studies. The journal aims to highlight work addressing the molecular mechanisms underlying physiology and homeostasis in health and disease. Visit http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel... Oct 4, 2016 - Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have published a new study that describes a novel molecular mechanism that could lead to the development of new therapies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The study was published online in the prestigious PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes death of motor neurons, which control voluntary muscles. Progressive weakness and paralysis due to muscle atrophy lead to difficulty in speaking, swallowing and eventually breathing. The disease typically starts between ages 40 and 60, and the average survival from onset to death is two to five years.

The cause is not known in about 90 percent of cases, but approximately 10 percent are genetically inherited. Approximately 20 percent of these genetic cases are caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene (superoxide dismutase), which lead to the accumulation of "misfolded" SOD1 proteins that provoke selective killing of motor neurons.

"Correct protein folding is critically important, which is why we are focusing on the diverse set of complex cellular mechanisms, including molecular chaperones, that promote efficient folding and prevent toxicity," says Dr. Adrian Israelson, who heads the Cellular and Molecular Neurodegeneration Lab in the BGU Department of Physiology and Cell Biology.

For the first time, this study reported that "endogenous multifunctional protein macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)," a gene that regulates cell inflammation and immunity, acts as a chaperone for misfolded SOD1 in a mouse model. The researchers demonstrated that completely eliminating MIF in a mutant SOD1 mouse model of familial ALS increased misfolded SOD1 accumulation. This also accelerated disease onset and late disease progression and shortened the lifespan of mice expressing mutant SOD1.

"This study provides insight into the potential therapeutic role of MIF in suppressing the selective accumulation of misfolded SOD1 in ALS by modulating MIF levels," Dr. Israelson says.

Dr. Israelson's lab focuses on cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, with special emphasis on ALS.

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This work was supported by Israeli Science Foundation Grant 124/14, Binational Science Foundation Grant 2013325, Seventh Framework Programme Marie Curie Actions Career Integration Grant 333794, German-Israeli Foundation Grant I-2320-1089.13 and National Institute for Psychology in Israel Grant b133-14/15.

M.F. Leyton-Jaimes, C. Benaim, S. Abu-Hamad, J. Kahn, A. Guetta, R. Bucula, A. Israelson, 2016. Endogenous macrophage migration inhibitory factor reduces the accumulation and toxicity of misfolded SOD1 in a mouse model of ALS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1604600113

About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more.

AABGU, headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.aabgu.org
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2016 -- Speaking of Chemistry visits the University of California at Los Angeles to meet with Hosea Nelson, Ph.D., who is tackling the challenge of total synthesis -- the use of chemistry to build any molecule. Learn about the importance of breakthroughs like Nelson's synthesis of potentially life-saving compounds and the research needed to make total synthesis more efficient. Check out this stop on the Speaking of Chemistry Road Trip here: https://youtu.be/tWp9RudUikM.

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Speaking of Chemistry is a production of Chemical & Engineering News, a weekly magazine of the American Chemical Society. It's the series that keeps you up to date with the important and fascinating chemistry shaping the world around you. Subscribe to the series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions, and follow us on Twitter @CENMag.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With nearly 157,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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This study brought together the largest database ever developed on economic damage attributable to invasive insects worldwide. Covering damage to goods and services, health care costs and agricultural losses, this study, conducted with the support of ANR and the BNP Paribas Foundation, considered 737 articles, books and reports. This work was published in Nature Communications on 4 October 2016.

Why study insects? For thousands of years, insects have been responsible for the spread of diseases in humans and livestock, and cause considerable damage on many levels: from attacks on crops and stocks, through the destruction of infrastructure, to the devastation of forests, altering and weakening ecosystems. In the living world, insects alone (about 2.5 million species) are probably the group responsible for the greatest expense. In addition, they are among the most aggressive invasive species: 87% of 2500 terrestrial invertebrates that have colonized new territories are insects.

Underestimated damage

The scientists estimated the minimum economic damage caused by invasive insects to be 69 billion euros per year. Of the insects studied, the Formosan termite (1) (Coptotermes formosanus) is one of the most destructive, causing over 26.7 billion euros of damage per year in the world. However, according to the research group, this estimate is based on a study that was insufficiently documented. Studies that were more soundly based (considered reproducible by the scientists) also put the cabbage moth (2) (Plutella xylostella), with a cost of 4.1 billion euros per year, in a high-ranking position, like the brown spruce longhorn beetle (3) (Tetropium fuscum), which costs 4 billion euros in Canada alone.

Furthermore, according to this study, North America suffers the largest financial losses, at 24.5 billion euros a year, while Europe is currently at only 3.2 billion euros per year. This difference, however, can be explained more by a lack of evaluation sources than by a difference in exposure to these dangers. Thus, according to the researchers, the total annual cost estimation of 69 billion euros is largely underevaluated. Many parts of the world do not offer enough economic data to produce an accurate estimate, which is therefore minimized. In addition, the research team focused on the study of the ten most costly invasive species, not counting the very large number that cause less damage. Finally, considering the estimated values of ecosystem services on a global scale (hundreds of billions of dollars for crop pollination alone), the disruption caused by invasive insects could reach a level far beyond the current estimate.

Health and agriculture are the most affected

Insects overall take a heavy toll on agriculture by consuming 40% of the harvest (enough to feed one billion people).

As for health, the total cost attributable to invasive insects exceeds 6.1 billion euros per year (without counting malaria, Zika virus, or economic impacts on tourism or productivity, etc.). From a geographic point of view, the regions of the world where medical expenses related to invasive insects prove to be the greatest are Asia (2.55 billion euros a year), North America (1.85 billion euros per year) and the whole of Central and South America (1.66 billion euros a year). Among the diseases that have the greatest economic impact, we firstly find dengue fever, for which the costs account for 84% of the 6.1 billion euros.

According to the authors, greater vigilance and the development of procedures to respond to biological invasions would save society tens of billions of euros. These preventive measures could divide the cost of diseases caused by mosquitoes by at least tenfold.

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French laboratories involved in this study

laboratoire Ecologie, systematique et evolution (Universite Paris-Sud/CNRS/AgroParisTech)

Laboratoire montpellierain d'economie theorique et appliquee (CNRS/ Universite de Montpellier/Inra)

laboratoire Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : ecologie, genetique, evolution et controle (CNRS/IRD/Universite de Montpellier)

laboratoire Biologie des organismes et ecosystemes aquatiques (CNRS/MNHN/IRD/UPMC/Universite Caen Normandie)

Bibliographie

Massive yet grossly underestimated global costs of invasive insects. Corey J.A. Bradshaw, Boris Leroy, Celine Bellard, David Roiz, Celine Albert, Alice Fournier, Morgane Barbet-Massin, Jean-Michel Salles, Frederic Simard & Franck Courchamp. Nature Communications. 4 october 2016.

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12986

(1) The damage it causes and its remarkable capacity for spreading put it in top position on the IUCN list of the most invasive species. This species has never been eradicated from any place where it has become established. Its present distribution suggests that, with climate change, it could potentially invade Europe (source InvaCost).

(2) This moth causes considerable damage to cabbages, rendering them unsalable (source INRA).

(3) This beetle lays its eggs in crevices in the bark of pine and spruce trees (source INRA).

About the CNRS

Created in 1939, the French National Centre for Scientific Research is a public research organisation (under the authority of the Ministry for National Education, Higher Education and Research). It produces knowledge for the benefit of society. With almost 33,000 persons and a presence throughout the country, the CNRS pursues its activity in all fields of knowledge supported by more than 1,100 research and service units. With 20 Nobel Prize winners and 12 Fields Medal winners, the CNRS has a long history of excellence.

About the Universite Paris-Sud

The Universite Paris-Sud is a major player of the COMUE Universite Paris-Saclay.

Multidisciplinary and with a strong emphasis on science and health, the excellence of its research has been recognised by several international awards, in particular in mathematics (four Field Medal winners between 1994 and 2010) and physics (three Nobel Prize winners). The Universite Paris-Sud is one of the most prestigious universities in Europe in terms of research, it is ranked among the top French higher education institutions and 46th worldwide in the 2016 Shanghai ranking.

The Universite Paris-Sud has 78 internationally-recognised laboratories, 30,200 students of which 2,400 PhD students and 4,800 foreign students, has 4,300 teacher-researchers and researchers, and 3,100 engineering, technical and administrative staff.

It has the largest campus in France with 2,700,000m2 of environmental heritage in a splendid setting.

ANR provides funding for project-based research in all fields of science - for both basic and applied research - to public research organisations and universities, as well as to private companies (including SMEs). Employing a method based on competitive peer reviews compliant with international standards, ANR provides the scientific community with instruments and programmes promoting creativity and openness, and stimulate new ideas and partnerships, particularly between academia and industry. Its activity also contributes to enhancing the competitiveness and the influence of French research in Europe and across the world.

Since 2010, ANR has also been the lead manager of the Investments for the Future programme in the field of higher education and research, in charge of project selection, funding and monitoring.

About the BNP Paribas Foundation

Under the oversight of the Foundation of France, the BNP Paribas Foundation has been a major player in corporate patronage of the arts for 30 years. It also contributes to the global development of the BNP Paribas Group's arts patronage, wherever the Bank operates.

The BNP Paribas Foundation takes a multidisciplinary approach to its work, supporting innovative projects dedicated to culture, community development and the environment. The BNP Paribas Foundation pays close attention to the quality of its commitment to its partners, with the goal of assisting them with their projects over the long term. Listening, support and trust are hallmarks of its involvement.

Since 1984, over 300 cultural projects, 40 research programmes, and a thousand social and educational initiatives have earned its support in France and around the world.

About the Climate Initiative programme

This study was funded under the Climate Initiative, a corporate philanthropy programme for research into climate change launched in 2010 by the BNP Paribas Foundation, in close cooperation with the BNP Paribas Group's Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility department. In total, 10 climate research projects have been or are currently supported through this programme.
Alexandria, VA - Server farms do the heavy lifting to meet public demand for information, from emails and tweets to credit card transactions and video streaming. Buildings that house the servers require tremendous amounts of energy to keep the servers running, and even more water to keep them functioning and cool. As the need for warehouses of servers has grown, tech giants like Facebook, Google and Microsoft have started building data centers in seemingly out-of-the-way places for good reason: because the local climates can reduce the energy and water needs for the operations. Not to be left behind, the semiconductor industry - led by companies like Intel - are also innovating to reduce their water usage.

The October issue of EARTH Magazine explores the multitude of ways the tech industry is trying to address the hard reality of water as a finite resource. These solutions range from submerging server rooms underwater, using creative programming to maximize processing during daily temperature cycles, employing sensing equipment, and using dry chemical reactions and high frequency sound waves to reduce water used during the cleaning processes associated with microchip development. These efforts are not just a safeguard for the environment; disruption in chip manufacturing or data centers could have the potential to wreak havoc on profits.

EARTH finds that there is a community of businesses, sustainability organizations and creative engineers at the helm, navigating the tech industry into a more sustainable and predictable future, not as reliant on the natural cycles of the planet. Read the full article at: http://bit.ly/2d2m7FW.

The October Issue of EARTH Magazine is now available for digital download from http://www.earthmagazine.org, or in print in the September/October dual issue. In it, you'll find stories about how lack of afterslip following the Nepal earthquake is hinting at mounting plate tensions, how clouds can form in the absence of nucleating particles, and new research that suggests that the reaches of the Milky Way may now be invisible to a third of humanity. Read these stories and many more in EARTH Magazine.

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Keep up to date with the latest happenings in Earth, energy and environment news with EARTH Magazine online at: http://www.earthmagazine.org. Published by the American Geosciences Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.
(WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016) -- With a national median life expectancy of 42-47 years, people with sickle cell disease (SCD) face many challenges, including severe pain episodes, stroke, and organ damage. Compounding these complications is that SCD -- an inherited, lifelong blood disorder characterized by rigid and sickle-shaped red blood cells that stick to the blood vessels, blocking blood flow -- has only one FDA-approved treatment, no widely available cure, and some people may have limited access to appropriate care.

However, a new report published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), shows that some people with mildly symptomatic SCD may live long lives with proper management of the disease, including strong family support and strict adherence to medication and appointments. This analysis of four case studies details the outcomes of four women with milder forms of SCD who have far surpassed the U.S. median of 47 years old for women with the disease, instead living as long as 86 years.

Report author Samir K. Ballas, MD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, hopes that this example can serve as a blueprint for others living with SCD. "For those with mild forms of SCD, these women show that lifestyle modifications may improve disease outcomes," said Dr. Ballas. Of the women described in this report, three were treated at the Sickle Cell Center of Thomas Jefferson University, and one in Brazil's Instituto de Hematologia Arthur de Siqueira Cavalcanti in Rio de Janeiro. Though they had dissimilar ancestries (two African American, one Italian American, and one African Brazilian), all led healthy lives bolstered by long-term family support, to which Dr. Ballas attributes their long lives and high quality of life.

"It is very likely that their healthy lifestyles were important contributors to their longevity. All of the women were non-smokers who consumed little to no alcohol and maintained a normal body mass index. This was coupled with a strong compliance to their treatment regimens and excellent family support at home," said Dr. Ballas.

For this report, treatment compliance was based on observations by health care providers, including study authors. Family support was defined as having a spouse or child who provided attentive, ongoing care.

Another common factor among these four women is that they had what Dr. Ballas called "desirable" disease states. "These women never had a stroke, never had recurrent acute chest syndrome, had a relatively high fetal hemoglobin count [which helps to prevent cells from sickling], and had infrequent painful crises. Patients like this usually -- but not always -- experience relatively mild SCD, and they live longer with better quality of life."

As they had relatively mild disease states, none of the women were qualified to receive treatment with hydroxyurea (HU), the only FDA-approved treatment for adults with SCD. Accordingly, these patients received standard treatment including hydration, vaccination (including annual flu shots), and blood transfusion and analgesics as needed. Patients were encouraged to attend regular follow-up visits, not to smoke, watch their weight, and maintain a support system as needed.

Dr. Ballas was quick to point out, however, that this does not mean these women lived crisis-free lives. Each experienced disease-related complications necessitating medical attention, like occasional acute chest syndrome, a problem that can cause fever, cough, excruciating pain, and shortness of breath.

It is worth noting, said Dr. Ballas, that the report does have limitations. For one, there were only four participants, all of whom were women. "Adult females with SCD generally live longer than males, but we do not know why. One possibility is that women tend to have relatively lower blood viscosity due to their lower hemoglobin level compared to males." That said, Dr. Ballas was quick to point out that this does not mean men cannot benefit from a healthy lifestyle.

To that end, Dr. Ballas hopes that patients who have defied expectations like these four women can serve as positive examples for SCD patients of all ages: "I would often come out to the waiting room and find these ladies talking with other SCD patients, and I could tell that they gave others hope, that just because they have SCD does not mean that they are doomed to die by their 40s -- that if they take care of themselves, and live closely with those who can help keep them well, that there is hope for them to lead long, full lives."

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ASH's mission is to further the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology.

blood is a registered trademark of the American Society of Hematology.
Sharing results and practical experience across borders is imperative for spreading integrated pest management in agriculture. Scientists from Aarhus University and other European scientists recommend 3 ways to improve networking

Weeds, diseases and animal pests can make life miserable for agricultural crops and curtail their yield. Pesticides are one tool that farmers can use to control plant pests and protect agricultural crops. However, sustainable agriculture calls for a wider range of tools to keep the use of pesticides to an optimal minimum.

Integrated pest management is the solution, but getting farmers to implement integrated pest management faces many challenges. A group of European scientists, including from the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, has focused on this issue and they suggest that networking is a powerful approach to solving the problem.

Integrated pest management faces a wide range of challenges. Climate change, development of pesticide resistance, and development of virulence that matches host resistance are external factors that must constantly be taken into account.

A trend towards decreasing budget allocations for research in integrated pest management, increasing scarcity of expertise, lack of knowledge transfer from research to practice, communication gaps, and lack of research that encompasses many disciplines together are internal hurdles that stand in the way of spreading integrated pest management (IPM). There is hope, though.

- There is increasing awareness that transnational networking is one means to overcome such challenges and to address common priorities in agriculture, the scientists state in an article published in the scientific journal Crop Protection.

Three ways to improve networking

Many stakeholders are involved in crop protection, including farmers, advisors, researchers, policy makers and commercial companies.

- Crop protection needs to be coordinated through effective communications and dynamic collaboration to make any IPM strategy successful, the scientists say.

There is already a wide variety of networking activities in the field of IPM. However, networking in IPM can be boosted and its impact can be widely increased. The scientists describe three specific recommendations based on a decade-long IPM networking experience in Europe:

More researchers could benefit if existing networks improved communication between research organizations in Europe and worldwide. Even when specific crop protection problems are different, one can learn from approaches applied elsewhere. Opening of collaborative long-term experiments to researchers from different institutions could help optimise research costs and results.

Improved networking between researchers and advisors could increase the flow of knowledge and information to farmers about the latest developments and technological applications. Knowledge transfer can grow and improve if advisors are involved in defining research projects from the start, thus ensuring sufficient research in the socio-economic context of farmers. Foresight studies with multiple stakeholders, such as researchers, farmers, advisors and policy makers, can define groundbreaking research themes for the future, not readily available for application in the field, but in line with expectations of multiple stakeholders.

Improved structuring of knowledge generation approaches in IPM and the respective outputs, and improved communication and dissemination in the IPM networks will allow policy makers to evaluate hot topics that need legislation. Participation of policy makers in the knowledge generating process can increase the effectiveness of newly proposed guidelines and legislations. International networks can provide examples for structuring local IPM networks involving multiple stakeholders aiming at self-governance.

The main impact of following the scientists' recommendations would be to open up the specific networks for sectorial users to create real multi-actor networks for IPM.

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Research shows that the interactions between pesticides, tillage and fertilisation are complex with respect to effects on the myriad of life forms in the soil; such interactions should be considered in risk assessment of pesticides

Research shows that the interactions between pesticides, tillage and fertilisation are complex with respect to effects on the myriad of life forms in the soil. Such interactions should be considered in risk assessment of pesticides.

Humans and earthworms have a common interest: the soil. To earthworms and multiple other organisms the soil is home and a food source. For humans, too, the soil is a source of food, through production of edible crops or crops for livestock feeding.

Soil cultivation includes tillage, addition of nutrients via mineral fertilisers or manure, and (on conventionally managed farms) pesticide use. How are earthworms and other organisms in the soil affected by pesticides? Are these effects simple, or are they modified by other management factors?

With support from the pesticide research program of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), researchers from Aarhus University have studied this in the setting of a long-term tillage experiment. Micro-arthropods and microbial indicators were monitored during two cropping seasons of winter wheat populations of earthworms. Other aspects, including leaching potential, soil structure and decomposition of crop residues, were examined under laboratory conditions.

The results have been published in a report from the Danish EPA and confirm that the effects of pesticides are significantly affected by management practices.

Complex interactions

Efficient processing of crop residues and fertiliser input are important for the crop production in agriculture. Soil-dwelling organisms play a key role for these processes which maintain soil fertility, as well as physical and chemical properties of soils.

Pesticide use may influence the soil negatively if key functions are disturbed. Risk assessment of pesticides is therefore necessary, but should take into account the specific application.

Management practices other than pesticide application also influence soil organisms and their activity. Interactions between management practices should be taken into account when evaluating pesticide effects, the report concludes. The authors recommend evaluation of pesticides in test systems that also consider factors other than the direct exposure to a pesticide in connection with risk assessment.

Fertilisation and tillage modify pesticide effects

In the study, the choice of tillage method and nitrogen source exhibited many significant interactions with pesticide effects on the number and activity of soil organisms. A considerable seasonal and annual variation was also observed.

- The study shows that simple test systems with exposure of single organisms convey an incomplete picture of pesticide effects. Knowledge about interactions between pesticide application and other management practices may help improve our understanding of the fate and effects of pesticides in natural environment, according to the report.

The researchers used a long-term tillage experiment at AU Foulum, the research centre of Aarhus University in Tjele, for the study. The researchers studied pesticide effects in both moldboard ploughed soil and directly seeded (no-till) soil. Either mineral fertiliser or cattle slurry was applied to the soil and either a fungicide or an insecticide, or both. All combinations of these treatments were included in the study which had in total 20 different treatments, all in four replicates.

Following the spring application of pesticides, and again after the winter wheat harvest in September, the researchers quantified populations of earthworms, springtails, mites, and microbial populations in the soil. They also examined nitrification potential, leaching risk, and several other aspects.

- The study confirmed that that there are significant interactions between management factors, including pesticide application, with respect to effects on soil organisms. There are many sources of variation, and the disturbance of tillage alone may be greater than the effects of pesticides, says senior researcher Sren O. Petersen from the Department of Agroecology. He states that the results have no direct implications for the current use of pesticides, but show that the authorities should be critical about the documentation offered on pesticide effects.

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The junior doctors' contract "should be discarded and replaced with one drawn on a clean sheet," argues Neena Modi, Professor of neonatal medicine and president of the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

In an editorial for The BMJ today, Professor Modi says the total breakdown of trust between government and junior doctors "represents a catastrophic failure of senior leadership at all levels."

She says, it's "time for acknowledgment of deep malaise around medical training and honest public debate on the state of the NHS."

Last week, a High Court rejected arguments over the legality of the actions of the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in connection with a new contract for doctors in training. The ruling was the latest twist in a long drawn out, damaging dispute that has brought thousands of young doctors onto the streets to protest.

Professor Modi argues that the NHS "is in disarray" and that it is "a testament to the dedication of junior doctors and all other frontline healthcare staff that the public has been largely shielded from the consequences of this chaos." The corollary is that most people are unaware of the extent of the change the NHS is undergoing, she adds.

"Their protest is both an expression of breaking point frustration with their training and a clarion call to the country to wake up and recognise the true state of the nation's health services," she writes.

Professor Modi argues that there is "an overriding need to re-establish trust, restore morale, and respect young doctors as the professionals that they are."

She also believes that the contract, regardless of any further tweaks, "will forever be damaged goods, and in this same spirit of building trust should be discarded and replaced with one drawn on a clean sheet."

Finally, "patients and the public must be part of a conversation, conducted with integrity, about the nation's health services," she adds.

The questions are clear, she says. Do we want healthcare that is efficient, effective, and equitable, delivered by a modern public sector organisation driven not by financial incentives but by pride in outcomes measured to rigorous standards? Do we consider health a commodity or an essential component of a just society, crucial to the economic wellbeing of the nation?

"The painful political awakening of a generation of young doctors may ultimately prove the catalyst to find a way forward," she concludes.

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Editorial: Junior doctors' dispute leaves big questions about state of NHS http://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i5342

About BMJ

BMJ is a healthcare knowledge provider that aims to advance healthcare worldwide by sharing knowledge and expertise to improve experiences, outcomes and value. For a full list of BMJ products and services, please visit bmj.com
Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the title role in the series, says that the show might come to an end after the fourth season.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Popular crime drama series Sherlock might come to an end after its fourth season, says actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch, who plays detective Sherlock Holmes in the series, said it may have run its course, reports variety.com.

"It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately," Cumberbatch said in an interview with GQ magazine.

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Also read: Sherlock Season 4: 5 things you should know before the show's premiere

"We never say never on the show. I'd love to revisit it, I'd love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that. But in the immediate future, we all have things that we want to crack on with and we've made something very complete as it is, so I think we'll just wait and see," he added.

However, Cumberbatch added that the idea of never playing the character again would be "galling".

The fourth season of Sherlock is set to premiere early next year.

--- ENDS ---
The weight you gain before the new year can take 5 months to lose!

You probably weigh less this week than you'll weigh any week over the entire year! If you're an average American, your weight starts to rise from this week on. The culprit? The holiday season--Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.

Research findings just published in the New England Journal of Medicine show that the weight you gain in the next 3 months can take over 5 months to lose.

From their analysis of the weight patterns of nearly 3,000 individuals, researchers found that in the US, weight patterns begin rising around Thanksgiving and peak around Christmas and the New Year. It isn't until after Easter (about 5 months later) that weight patterns even out, with only slight fluctuations between April and November. The researchers also analyzed yearly weight patters in Germany and Japan. Similar to the US, those in Germany weighed the most around the Christmas/New-Year period and those in Japan weighed the most during Golden Week in April - a major Japanese holiday. Each country also showed a peak in weight for New Year's.

"Everyone gains weight over the holidays -- Americans, Germans, Japanese," explains co-author Brian Wansink, Cornell Food and Brand Lab Director and author of Slim by Design, "Instead of making a New Year's Resolution, make an October resolution. It's easier to avoid holiday pounds altogether than to lose them after they happen."

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Researchers have discovered a gene region that raises the risk a child will have a middle ear infection, known to doctors as acute otitis media (AOM)--and known to parents as one reason for a screaming, unhappy preschooler. The finding may offer an early clue to helping doctors develop more effective treatments to prevent one of the most common childhood illnesses.

"Parents and pediatricians are all too familiar with this painful childhood ear infection--it's the most frequent reason children receive antibiotics," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Although microbes cause this condition, it's been well known that genetics also plays a role. This is the first and largest genetic study focused on risk susceptibility for acute otitis media."

Hakonarson and colleagues from CHOP collaborated with Dutch researchers led by Gijs van Ingen and colleagues from the University Medical Center, Rotterdam, in the study published online Sept. 28 in Nature Communications.

The researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on two discovery cohorts with DNA samples from 11,000 children. They found that an association between AOM and a site on chromosome 6 containing the gene FNDC1, and then replicated the finding in an independent pediatric cohort with data from 2000 children. Co-first author Jin Li, PhD, of CHOP, was the lead analyst on the study.

In further studies, the scientists showed that the mouse gene corresponding to FNDC1 was expressed in the animal's middle ear. "Although the gene's function in humans has not been well studied, we do know that FNDC1 codes for a protein with a role in inflammation," said Hakonarson.

Hakonarson added that learning more about the biological interactions between genes and pathogens involved in AOM, researchers hope to develop more specific therapies for the childhood infection, while learning which children are most susceptible to the disease. "As with many other diseases, early medical intervention may offer the greatest benefits," he said.

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The National Institutes of Health (grant HG006830), the EU 7th Framework Programme (grant 247642), and the Kubert Estate family supported this research.

"Genome-wide association study for acute otitis media in children identifies FNDC1 as disease contributing gene," Nature Communications, published online Sept. 28, 2016. http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12792

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu
When the local water management agency closes your favorite beach due to unhealthy water quality, how reliable are the tests they base their decisions on? As it turns out, those tests, as well as the standards behind them, have not been updated in decades. Now scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a highly accurate, DNA-based method to detect and distinguish sources of microbial contamination in water.

Using the award-winning PhyloChip, a credit card-sized device that can detect the presence of more than 60,000 species of bacteria and archaea, the new method was found to be more sensitive than conventional methods at assessing health risks. In tests at the Russian River watershed in Northern California, the Berkeley Lab researchers found instances where their method identified potential human health risks that conventional fecal indicator tests had failed to detect. Conversely, they also found instances where the conventional tests flagged bacteria that weren't likely risks to human health.

The research was led by Eric Dubinsky and Gary Andersen, microbial ecologists at Berkeley Lab, and was published recently in the journal Water Research in an article titled, "Microbial source tracking in impaired watersheds using PhyloChip and machine-learning classification." Steven Butkus of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, which supported part of the research, was also a co-author.

"With the PhyloChip, in an overnight test we can get a full picture of the microorganisms in any given sample," Dubinsky said. "Instead of targeting one organism, we're essentially getting a fingerprint of the microbial community of potential sources in that sample. So it gives us a more comprehensive picture of what's going on. It's a novel way of going about source tracking."

What local water agencies currently do is collect water samples, culture the bacteria overnight, and then check the growth level of two types of bacteria, E. coli and Enterococcus, which are presumed to be indicators of fecal contamination.

Power of the PhyloChip

However, this method doesn't distinguish between sources. The bacteria could have come from humans, cows, ducks, sewage, or even decaying vegetation.

"These tests have been used for decades and are relatively primitive," Dubinsky said. "Back in the 1970s when the Clean Water Act was developed and we had sewage basically flowing into our waters, these tests worked really well. Epidemiological studies showed an association of these bacteria with levels of illness of people who used the water. These bacteria don't necessarily get you sick, but they're found in sewage and fecal matter. That's why they're measured."

As pollution from point sources--single identifiable sources such as sewage--has been cleaned up over time, the emerging concern has become what are known as nonpoint sources, or diffuse sources, throughout the watershed, such as agricultural lands.

"The picture is much more complicated now than it was back then, when the concern was really point sources," Dubinsky added.

The PhyloChip, which was developed by Andersen and several other Berkeley Lab scientists, has been used for a number of medical, agricultural, and environmental purposes, including understanding air pollution, the ecology of coral reefs, and environmental conditions of the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill. With 1 million probes, it identifies microbes based on variations of a specific gene, with no culturing needed.

"About seven years ago we started doing water quality work, and we realized the PhyloChip could provide a fundamentally new and improved method for doing source tracking," Andersen said.

A Library of Poop

Determining the source of any particular pathogen is not a straightforward task. In most cases, a single microbe is not a definitive marker of an animal or other source. "A microbial community is complex," Dubinsky said. "A cow may have 1,000 different organisms."

So Andersen and Dubinsky had an idea. "We had Laleh Cote, an intern at the time and now a Lab employee, run around and basically collect poop from all sorts of animals," said Andersen. "What we've done since then is develop a reference library of the microbial communities that occur in different types of poop--we have cows, horses, raccoons, humans, different types of birds, pigs, sea lions, and other animals, as well as sewage and septage. We used that library to develop a model."

The new method takes the unknown sample and compares it against this microbial reference library. "We've used the PhyloChip in a way that it hasn't been used before by using machine learning models to analyze the data in order to detect and classify sources," Andersen said. "It's essentially giving you a statistical probability that a microbial community came from a particular source."

They validated their method by comparing it to about 40 other methods of microbial source tracking in a California study. "We were the only method that could detect all sources and get them right," Dubinsky said.

If the source is an animal that is not in the reference library, their method can still point you in the right direction. "For example, in that study, one sample was a chicken," said Dubinsky. "We hadn't analyzed chickens, but we had geese, gulls, and pigeons. We were still able to determine that the sample was a bird."

In extensive testing throughout the Russian River watershed, which is out of compliance with the Clean Water Act, the Berkeley Lab researchers found widespread contamination by human sources close to areas where communities rely on aging septic tanks.

They also found significant human contamination immediately after a weekend jazz festival, whereas testing by conventional methods yielded a much weaker signal after a time lag of a couple days. "Our method is more sensitive to human contamination than those fecal indicator tests are," Dubinsky said.

Next Steps

The team is now working on characterizing the microbial community of naturally occurring E. coli and Enterococci, using Hawaii with its warm waters as a testing ground. "They can occur naturally in sediments and decaying kelp and vegetation," Dubinsky said. "It is known that they do, but nobody has developed a test to definitively show that."

The researchers will also be able to study whether climate affects microbial communities. "Does a Hawaiian cow look like a California cow in terms of fecal bacteria composition? That's a good question and something we'll be able to find out," he said.

They are working closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is looking at new technologies for what it calls "next generation compliance." Ultimately the goal is to develop their method--possibly with a downsized version of the PhyloChip--to the point where it can be universally used in any location and by non-experts.

Dubinsky says the method should also be useful with the burgeoning issue of algal blooms, to understand, for example, the processes by which they form, the microbial dynamics before and after a bloom, and specifically, whether runoff from livestock production in the Midwest is related to algal blooms in the Great Lakes, a question they're investigating with the EPA.

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov.

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
HOUSTON-(Oct. 3, 2016)-The Houston Methodist Research Institute has been awarded a $9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish a research center focused on the physics of cancer immunotherapy.

The Houston Methodist Research Institute will be the lead site for the NCI-designated Center for Immunotherapeutic Transport Oncophysics (CITO), which focuses on designing immunotherapies for breast and pancreatic cancers. While several immunotherapies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the use of immunotherapy to treat these intractable cancers has been less effective.

Houston Methodist is partnering with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and UT Southwestern to receive the NCI grant to explore physiological changes during cancer progression. Studying the body's changes, rather than simply focusing on the tumor, will help researchers create more effective and personalized treatments with fewer side effects.

Through a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research team led by Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, the CITO will combine the studies of cancer immunology, biotechnology and transport oncophysics (mass transport within cancer cells) to reveal how immunotherapy works in cancer patients.

Ferrari, considered a pioneer of transport oncophysics explained, "Many cancer patients do not respond to immunotherapies, typically because the drugs never reach the cancer cells. While transport oncophysics is a relatively young field of study, we need to understand the limitations of treatments to identify effective immunotherapies for patients."

The center's goal is to use research information to personalize immunotherapies for the treatment of breast and pancreatic cancers: topics of the two major center projects.

The first project will determine how nano-dendritic cell vaccines, containing immune cells loaded with nanoparticles, are transported to breast cancers. The second project aims to identify the transport barriers keeping immunotherapies from reaching pancreatic tumors.

Houston Methodist is one of 10 institutions receiving an NCI center grant. Others include Cornell University, Dana-Faber Cancer Institute, Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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To speak with Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., contact Patricia Akinfenwa, Houston Methodist, at 281.740.1402 or pakinfenwa@houstonmethodist.org. For more information about Houston Methodist, visit houstonmethodist.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- A research team that includes scientists with Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute has developed a promising Zika virus vaccine.

The vaccine, a DNA vaccine, is safer and more effective against Zika virus and could offer more affordable long-term protection, researchers said.

"This vaccine is a successful advancement in developing control strategies for Zika virus by creating widespread immunity in susceptible populations," said Stephen Higgs, director of the Biosecurity Research Institute. "One shot of DNA vaccine will offer protection for years at a much lower cost, which is especially beneficial for endemic countries in Latin America and Africa."

Higgs is a co-author of the vaccine study, "Rapid development of a DNA vaccine for Zika virus," that appears in the journal Science.

Researchers with the National Institutes of Health led the study, which also involves researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Harvard Medical School, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Bioqual and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Kansas State University scientists in the College of Veterinary Medicine -- including Dana Vanlandingham, assistant professor of virology, and Yan-Jang Huang, postdoctoral fellow in diagnostic medicine and pathobiology -- played a critical role in the study by producing and characterizing viral stocks to determine how the DNA vaccine induced immunogenecity and protection.

DNA vaccines deliver noninfectious DNA materials to stimulate the immune system to produce viral antigens.

The DNA vaccine for Zika virus is more immunogenic and effective than other vaccines because it can create memory responses, which inactivated vaccines with killed viruses fail to produce, Higgs said. The DNA vaccine also is safer because it does not use attenuated viruses to produce viral antigens. Attenuated vaccines contain live microbes, which potentially can cause adverse events or harmful effects.

"We anticipate that this vaccine may have long-term memory immune response as other DNA vaccines also have achieved such a goal," Huang said. "The vaccine is a suitable and ideal tool as an emergency response to the current Zika virus outbreak and could build robust herd immunity."

The research is critical for the control of Zika virus at the preventive stage and at the population level, Vanlandingham said. The critical next step is to initiate safety and efficacy trials in humans.

"The availability of vaccines for Zika virus is more significant than any specific antiviral treatments," Vanlandingham said. "Vaccination normally generates protective immunity that prevents the disease for years in a population at a relatively low cost; whereas, antiviral therapies can only be treating the diseases at a higher cost rather than offer long-term protection."

The research received startup funding from the diagnostic medicine and pathobiology department in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research also provided funding.

Other Zika virus research at the Biosecurity Research Institute has involved a two-part approach: Researchers are studying mosquitoes to understand how they become infected with Zika virus and researchers are providing the virus to collaborative organizations for further study. Biosecurity Research Institute researchers recently found that Culex mosquitoes do not appear to transmit Zika virus.

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Collaborative researchers on the Science publication included Kimberly A. Dowd, Sung-Youl Ko, Kaitlyn M. Morabito, Eun Sung Yang, Rebecca S. Pelc, Christina R. DeMaso, David N. Gordon, John Robert Gallagher, Xuejun Chen, John-Paul Todd, Audray Harris, Martha C. Nason, Mario Roederer, Wing-Pui Kong, John R. Mascola, Theodore C. Pierson and Barney S. Graham, all with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health; Leda R. Castilho, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Peter Abbink, Michael Boyd, Ramya Nityanandam and Dan H. Barouch, all with Harvard Medical School; Yaroslav Tsybovsky, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research; Hanne Andersen and Mark G. Lewis, both with Bioqual; and Rafael De La Barrera, Kenneth H. Eckels and Richard G. Jarman, all with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Two recent studies led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) psychiatrists have investigated ways of improving the treatment of depression in Chinese American immigrants, a group that tends to avoid mental health treatment because of traditional cultural beliefs. One study evaluates the effectiveness of a telepsychiatry-based version of a previously developed model for culturally sensitive treatment, and the other examines the impact of stigma on the outcomes of depression treatment. Both studies have been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

"We know that stigma tends to drive illnesses underground and leads to delays in seeking treatment, which has been demonstrated in conditions such as HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders and physical disabilities," says Justin Chen, MD, MPH, of the MGH Department of Psychiatry, who led the stigma study. "Chinese immigrants with traditional beliefs greatly stigmatize mental illnesses, often equating them with a moral defect in sufferers and fearing contagion."

To help combat the reluctance of Chinese American immigrants to seek treatment for depression, a team led by Albert Yeung, MD, ScD, also of MGH Psychiatry and the leader of the telepsychiatry study, previously developed a Culturally Sensitive Collaborative Treatment (CSCT) model that includes screening all primary care patients for depression symptoms prior to a physician visit and for those screening positive a specially designed assessment that focuses on patients' beliefs about their symptoms. The results of that assessment are used to discuss depression with patients in ways that are compatible with their beliefs.

A study led by Yeung and published in the December 2010 American Journal of Public Health described a trial of CSCT carried out at the South Cove Community Health Center, which serves Boston's Chinatown community. The study found that use of CSCT was both feasible and effective in helping patients recognize and seek treatment for depression, increasing treatment participation almost seven-fold.

For his current study, which was designed to address the scarcity of health professional with the cultural knowledge and language skills necessary to treat these patients, Yeung added a telepsychiatry component to the CSCT model. Carried out at South Cove from 2009 to 2012, the study randomized a group of 190 non-English-speaking patients who screened positive for depression to receive either usual treatment, which did not include CSCT, or a telepsychiatry-based version of CSCT.

While both groups had an initial videoconferenced interview at South Cove with a bilingual psychiatrist, the special CSCT assessment was given only to the telemedicine group. Those participants also were assigned a bilingual case manager, who monitored and consolidated their treatment and conducted regular telephone "visits" throughout the six-month study period. During those calls the care manager assessed participants' symptoms and discussed how well they were adhering to their recommended treatment and whether those taking antidepressants were experiencing any adverse side effects.

At the end of the study period, participants in the telemedicine-CSCT group had significantly greater improvement in depression symptoms than did the usual care group. "Our results show that telepsychiatry is technologically feasible and acceptable to this population," says Yeung, who is an associate professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "Telepsychiatry could allow such services to be delivered to patients in geographically remote areas, and combining it with CSCT provides a model to overcome the limited availability of bicultural and bilingual clinicians in this country."

Chen conducted his study in the same group of patients who enrolled in Yeung's study. Among the initial assessments of both groups in the telepsychiatry study were measures of participants' illness beliefs, including questions designed to assess stigmatizing attitudes towards their own symptoms. As part of this study, all participants had bimonthly assessments conducted by telephone of depression symptoms and overall quality of life.

At the end of the six-month study period, participants who had exhibited higher levels of stigma towards their symptoms at the beginning showed less improvement in depression symptoms and in overall quality of life than did those with lower initial stigma scores. The association between baseline stigmatizing attitudes and the outcome of depression treatment was seen in both the telemedicine and the control groups of Yeung's study.

An instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Chen says, "Traditional Chinese communities greatly stigmatize mental illness in part due to the concept of 'face,' which reflects a person's or a family's moral standing within the community. But the effect of that stigma on actual outcomes in depression treatment has never been studied before and certainly not in minority populations. Our study suggests that stigmatizing beliefs may exert an independently harmful effect on depression outcomes. As a separate but related issue, we had hypothesized that culturally sensitive treatment might modify the effects of stigma on depression outcomes, but our results suggest that culturally sensitive diagnosis and care management alone are not enough to mitigate stigma's harmful effects."

Yeung adds, "While patients do benefit from the telepsychiatry-augmented CSCT, those with higher levels of stigma tend to do less well. Future research efforts need to include more education and demystification of mental illness to help reduce stigma, along with investigating patient characteristics that may contribute to or reduce stigma. We're also hoping to disseminate the telepsychiatry-CSCT model to different populations and to groups in various geographical locations, which will require training of mental health clinicians and care managers, education of primary care providers and the support of local primary care clinics."

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The telepsychiatry study, which was published in the August issue of Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, was supported by National Institutes of Health grant RO1 MH079831. The stigma study, which has received advance online publication on the journal's website was supported by fellowship grants from Harvard Medical School.

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $800 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals, earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. In August 2016 the MGH was once again named to the Honor Roll in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."
The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) announces Dr. Viviana Gradinaru, as the inaugural Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award recipient. Paying homage to Dr. Peter Gruss, former Max Planck Society president, the biennial accolade recognizes young neuroscience investigators for significant contributions to the scientific community.

"The nominee pool was both impressive and competitive -- much consideration was given to each candidate," says Dr. David Fitzpatrick, CEO and MPFI scientific director. "Dr. Gradinaru has made multiple significant landmark contributions throughout her early career -- benefitting the scientific community; she truly exemplifies Dr. Gruss's legacy."

Gradinaru is Assistant Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering and Heritage Principal Investigator at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Gradinaru's work focuses on developing and using optogenetics and tissue clearing to better understand brain circuitry underlying neurological disorders such as Parkinson's Disease. She was nominated by Dr. Karl Deisseroth, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, 2013 Brain Prize Winner, and 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Winner - whom she studied under while completing her neuroscience doctorate at Stanford University.

"I cannot imagine a more compelling, deserving and meritorious recipient of the Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award," says Dr. Karl Deisseroth, D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. "Her dedication and leadership will continue to benefit the global neuroscience community."

Dr. Rafael Yuste, Director of the NeuroTechnology Center at Columbia University, wrote in a letter of support for Dr. Gradinaru's nomination, "Viviana has a stellar career, with brilliance at every step of the way," remarking that her current research could go on to revolutionize the treatment of brain diseases using molecular therapies.

"The selection committee was truly inspired by Dr. Gradinaru's groundbreaking work and success in developing tools to help us better understand brain circuitry in disease and disorder," says Dr. Ryohei Yasuda, MPFI scientific director. "We are confident she will continue to make crucial advances in neuroscience and the technologies we use to study the brain."

Earlier this year, Dr. Gradinaru was honored by President Obama as one of the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

The Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award will be presented to Gradinaru during MPFI's Sunposium conference, February 13-14, 2017 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. As the Award recipient, Dr. Gradinaru will be invited to deliver a plenary lecture at the Sunposium 2017 conference.

Dr. Gradinaru will also receive a monetary award underwritten by Ms. Raquel Rodriguez of Miami, Florida. Ms. Rodriguez, a long-time supporter of MPFI and the life science industry, has contributed the award in honor of Dr. Peter Gruss's legacy.

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Learn more about the Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award here .

Learn more about Dr. Gradinaru's groundbreaking work here.

About the Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award

The Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award is given biennially to recognize a young neuroscience investigator for significant contributions to the scientific community through collaboration, creativity, and curiosity-driven research. In addition to recognizing outstanding achievements, it also serves to support research, inspire young scientists, promote collaboration, and acknowledge the outstanding legacy that Dr. Peter Gruss built throughout his honorable career at the Max Planck Society.

About the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI), a not-for-profit research organization, is part of the world-renowned Max Planck Society, Germany's most successful research organization with over 80 institutes worldwide. Since its establishment in 1948, 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists. It has produced over 15,000 publications, more than 3,000 inventions and over 90 spin-off companies, putting it on par with the best and most prestigious research institutions in the world. As its first U.S. institution, MPFI brings together exceptional neuroscientists from around the world to answer fundamental questions about brain development and function and to develop new technologies that make groundbreaking scientific discoveries possible. Their research is shared publicly with scholars, universities and other organizations around the globe, providing the necessary foundation of knowledge to develop treatments and cures for brain disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. For more information, visit http://www.maxplanckflorida.org.
Nagoya, Japan - Certain types of nerve injury, such as those from automobile accidents and falls, can damage or sever the axons that connect neurons and allow them to communicate with each other. Although axons elsewhere in the body can regenerate to some extent after such damage, those in nerves are far less capable, resulting in long-lasting or permanent impairment. Treating such injuries requires clarification of how certain nerves are induced to regenerate and which molecular pathways are involved. By studying nerve regeneration in roundworms, Nagoya University researchers have discovered another signaling pathway that induces nerves to regenerate. The team also showed that this pathway is the same as the one that leads to identification and subsequent clearance of dying cells.

Neurons communicate with each other via electrical signals conveyed through dendrites and axons. This connectivity within the nerve is a source of the multiple functions of this organ, but damage to these connections due to trauma can cause functional impairment. Nerve regeneration after nerve injury is therefore an issue of special interest, but is difficult to study in humans. A non-parasitic, free-living roundworm nematode is a useful model for studying this issue as it avoids the ethical problems associated with human experimentation and its short generation time and simple development facilitate genetic engineering experiments.

To shed light on how damaged nerves are induced to regenerate, the researchers investigated various strains of this worm in which different genes were mutated or inactivated. They subjected the worms to a range of experiments, including labeling nerves with a fluorescent marker, cutting the nerves with a laser, and then monitoring their regrowth under a microscope. They also examined the worms' resistance with different genetic backgrounds to heavy metal stress, based on earlier findings that similar genes may be involved in both resistance to heavy metal exposure and nerve regeneration. When certain proteins encoded by these genes were absent or dysfunctional in the worms, their nerves were less able to regenerate, particularly during adulthood. They were also less able to endure exposure to a toxic level of copper. By comparing these results among the strains in which single or multiple genes had been inactivated, the researchers established a complex molecular pathway that allows nerves to regenerate. They also found that the key molecular machinery involved in this is the same as that by which dying cells are recognized, engulfed by immune system cells, and disposed of.

"Many of the molecules and mechanisms we identified in worms have equivalents in humans," corresponding author Naoki Hisamoto says. "Our findings should therefore lead us to targets in humans that we can use to improve recovery after nerve injury by promoting regrowth of damaged axons."

The article "The Core Molecular Machinery Used for Engulfment of Apoptotic Cells Regulates the JNK Pathway Mediating Axon Regeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans" was published in The Journal of Neuroscience at doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0453-16.2016

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A team of sixteen researchers has completed a comprehensive investigation of deep coral-reef environments, known as mesophotic coral ecosystems, throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago. The study, published in the open-access journal PeerJ, spanned more than two decades and involved a combination of submersibles, remotely operated vehicles, drop-cameras, data recorders, and advanced mixed-gas diving to study these difficult-to-reach environments. The researchers documented vast areas of 100% coral-cover and extensive algal communities at depths of 50-90 meters (165-300 feet) extending for tens of square kilometers, and found that the deep-reef habitats are home to many unique and distinct species not found on shallow reefs. The findings of the study have important implications for the protection and management of coral reefs in Hawaii and elsewhere.

"This is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of its kind," said Richard Pyle, Bishop Museum researcher and lead author of the publication. "It involved scientists in many different disciplines and from multiple federal, state, and private organizations working together with a range of different technologies across the entire Hawaiian Archipelago."

The primary objective of the study was to characterize deep coral reef habitat, known as "mesophotic coral ecosystems" or the coral-reef "Twilight Zone". Coral reefs at depths of 30 to 150 meters (100 to 500 feet) are among the most poorly explored of all marine ecosystems on Earth. Deeper than conventional scuba divers can safely venture, and shallower than most submersible-based exploration, these reefs represent a new frontier for coral-reef research.

To document these elusive deep coral reefs, the team used a wide range of advanced technology, including multibeam bathymetry mapping, mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreather diving, towed and remotely operated camera systems, a variety of environmental sensors for recording light, temperature, water movement and other parameters, and two research submersibles operated by the Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory. One of the novel approaches taken during the project was to combine rebreather divers and submersibles together on coordinated dives.

"Free-swimming divers and submersibles don't often work side-by-side on scientific research projects," said Pyle. "Submersibles can go much deeper and stay much longer, but divers can perform more complex tasks to conduct experiments and collect specimens. Combining both together on the same dives allowed us to achieve tasks that could not have been performed by either technology alone."

A major focus of the study was to document extensive areas of 100% coral cover at depths of 90 meters (300 feet) or more off the islands of Maui and Kaua'i. In particular, vast expanses of continuous coral cover, extending for tens of square kilometers, exist in many sites in the 'Au'au channel off the southwest side of Maui. The reefs are dominated by stony, reef-building corals in the genus Leptoseris, a plate-like coral specialized for deep-reef environments.

"These are some of the most extensive and densely populated coral reefs in Hawai'i," said Anthony Montgomery, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist and co-author of the study who previously represented the Hawai'i State Department of Land and Natural Resources during most of the project. "It's amazing to find such rich coral communities down so deep."

In addition to the corals, the area is also home to extensive algae meadows that support unique communities of fishes and invertebrates. More than seventy species of macroalgae inhabiting the deep reefs were identified during the study, and several more new species have not yet been assigned formal scientific names. Both corals and algae depend on sunlight to drive photosynthesis, and the study attributed the existence of many of the deep reef habitats to exceptionally clear water.

"We found that the diversity of macroalgal species actually peaked at around 90 meters [300 feet] deep," said Heather Spalding of the Department of Botany at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and a co-author of the study. "These extensive algae meadows represent a major component of the deep-reef communities, and play a fundamentally important role in the overall ecology."

Another interesting finding of the study is that the rate of endemism - species found nowhere else on Earth - increases substantially on the deep reefs. Whereas only 17% of the fishes surveyed at depths less than 30 meters (100 meters) are species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, more than half of the species below 70 meters (230 feet) are Hawaiian endemics. The rate of endemism increases even more in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where 100% of the fishes inhabiting some of the deep reefs are found only in Hawai'i.

"The extent of fish endemism on these deep coral reefs, particularly in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, is astonishing," said Randall Kosaki, NOAA's Deputy Superintendent of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument and a co-author of the study. "We were able to document the highest rates of endemism of any marine environment on Earth."

The food web supporting the fishes on deep reefs was studied using advanced stable isotope methods, which revealed small but important differences in the ecology of fish living on deep and shallow reefs.

"We used these methods because more traditional approaches require large numbers of specimens," said Brian N. Popp, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Professor of Geology and Geophysics in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. "Our results are helping us better understand the relationship between the ecology of deep and shallow coral reef fish communities."

The results of the study have important implications for conservation management. In addition to the rich and unique biodiversity inhabiting these environments, deep coral reefs may serve as a refuge for certain species that are more heavily impacted on shallow coral reefs.

"With coral reefs facing a myriad of threats," said Kimberly Puglise, an oceanographer with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, "the finding of extensive reefs off Maui provides managers with a unique opportunity to ensure that future activities in the region, such as cable laying, dredging dump sites, and deep sewer outfalls, do not irreparably damage these reefs."

The research, which spanned more than two decades and encompassed the entire 2,590-kilometer (1,600-mile) extend of the Hawaiian Archipelago, was primarily supported by NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Coral Reef Conservation Program, Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, as well as, the Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory and the State of Hawai'i.

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PDF of this Press Release: http://static.peerj.com/pressReleases/2016/Press-Release-Pyle.pdf

Link to the Press Preview of the Original Article (this link should only be used BEFORE the embargo ends): http://static.peerj.com/press/previews/2016/10/2475.pdf Note: this is an author proof and so may change slightly before publication.

Link to the Published Version of the article (quote this link in your story): https://peerj.com/articles/2475 - your readers can freely access this article at this URL.

Citation to the article: Pyle RL, Boland R, Bolick H, Bowen BW, Bradley CJ, Kane C, Kosaki RK, Langston R, Longenecker K, Montgomery A, Parrish FA, Popp BN, Rooney J, Smith CM, Wagner D, Spalding HL. (2016) A comprehensive investigation of mesophotic coral ecosystems in the Hawaiian Archipelago. PeerJ 4:e2475 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2475

About:

The Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a royal descendant of King Kamehameha I. Bishop Museum is proud to be recognized as the principal museum of the Pacific, housing the world's largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts and natural history specimens. In total, Bishop Museum's collections consist of more than 25 million items including over 22 million biological specimens and more than two million cultural artifacts derived from a legacy of research spanning more than 125 years. These collections also include more than 115,000 historical publications, one million historical photographs, films, works of art, audio recordings and manuscripts. More than 300,000 people visit the Museum each year, including over 40,000 schoolchildren.

For more information, please visit http://www.bishopmuseum.org, follow @BishopMuseum on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Bishop Museum on Facebook, visit Bishop Museum's YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/BishopMuseum, or call (808) 847-3511.

Papahanaumokuakea is cooperatively managed to ensure ecological integrity and achieve strong, long-term protection and perpetuation of Northwestern Hawaiian Island ecosystems, Native Hawaiian culture, and heritage resources for current and future generations. Three co-trustees - the Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, and State of Hawai'i - joined by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, protect this special place. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was inscribed as the first mixed (natural and cultural) UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United States in July 2010. For more information, please visit http://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov.

The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa was established by the Board of Regents of the University of Hawai'i in 1988 in recognition of the need to realign and further strengthen the excellent education and research resources available within the University. SOEST brings together four academic departments, three research institutes, several federal cooperative programs, and support facilities of the highest quality in the nation to meet challenges in the ocean, earth and planetary sciences and technologies. Please visit http://www.soest.hawaii.edu.

PeerJ is an Open Access publisher of two peer-reviewed journals and a preprint server. PeerJ is based in San Diego, CA and the UK and can be accessed at https://peerj.com/. PeerJ's mission is to help the world efficiently publish its knowledge.

All works published in PeerJ are Open Access and published using a Creative Commons license (CC-BY 4.0). Everything is immediately available--to read, download, redistribute, include in databases and otherwise use--without cost to anyone, anywhere, subject only to the condition that the original authors and source are properly attributed.

PeerJ has an Editorial Board of over 1,400 respected academics, including 5 Nobel Laureates. PeerJ was the recipient of the 2013 ALPSP Award for Publishing Innovation.

PeerJ Media Resources (including logos) can be found at: https://peerj.com/about/press/

Media Contacts

For the authors: Richard Pyle, Bishop Museum, Email: deepreef@bishopmuseum.org

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At the same time, most Americans support a role for scientists in climate policy, and there is bipartisan support for expanding solar, wind energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 4) - There are gaping divisions in Americans' views across every dimension of the climate debate, including causes and cures for climate change and trust in climate scientists and their research, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The survey of more than 1,500 U.S. adults finds that the political left and right see climate-related matters through vastly different lenses: liberal Democrats are especially likely to see scientists and their research in a positive light, while conservative Republicans are considerably more skeptical of climate scientists' information, understanding and research findings on climate issues. The key data:

70% of liberal Democrats trust climate scientists' a lot to give full and accurate information about the causes of climate change, compared with just 15% of conservative Republicans.

54% of liberal Democrats say climate scientists' understand the causes of climate change very well, while only 11% of conservative Republicans and 19% of moderate/liberal Republicans believe that.

Liberal Democrats, more than any other party/ideology group, perceive widespread consensus among climate scientists' about the causes of global warming. Only 16% of conservative Republicans say almost all scientists agree on this, compared with 55% of liberal Democrats.

55% of liberal Democrats say climate research reflects the best available evidence most of the time, 39% say some of the time. By contrast, 9% of conservative Republicans say this occurs most of the time, 54% say it occurs some of the time.

Conservative Republicans are more inclined to say climate research findings are influenced by scientists' desire to advance their careers (57%) or their own political leanings (54%) most of the time. Small minorities of liberal Democrats say either influence occurs most of the time (16% and 11%, respectively).

But political differences on these issues are largely concentrated in people's views about climate scientists rather than scientists more generally. Majorities of all political groups report a fair amount of confidence in scientists, overall, to act in the public interest. And to the extent that Republicans are personally concerned about climate issues, they tend to hold more positive views about climate research.

Overall, liberal Democrats are especially likely to believe that climate change will bring harms to the environment. Among this group, about six-in-ten say climate change will very likely bring more droughts, storms that are more severe, harm to animals and plant life, and damage to shorelines from rising sea levels. By contrast, no more than about two-in-ten conservative Republicans consider any of these potential harms to be "very likely"; about half say each is either "not too" or "not at all" likely to occur.

The differences are also evident in people's thinking about how effective policy and personal behaviors can address the problems caused by climate change. Liberal Democrats are much more inclined to believe that both policy and individual actions can be effective in addressing climate change. Moderate/liberal Republicans and moderate/conservative Democrats fall in the middle between those on the ideological ends of either party when asked about possible actions to reduce climate change, including:

Power plant emission restrictions ? 76% of liberal Democrats say this can make a big difference, while 29% of conservative Republicans say the same, a difference of 47 percentage points.

An international agreement to limit carbon emissions ? 71% of liberal Democrats and 27% of conservative Republicans say this can make a big difference, a gap of 44 percentage points.

Tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks ? 67% of liberal Democrats and 27% of conservative Republicans say this can make a big difference, a 40-percentage-point divide.

Corporate tax incentives to encourage businesses to reduce the "carbon footprint" from their activities ? 67% of liberal Democrats say this can make a big difference, while 23% of conservative Republicans agree for a difference of 44 percentage points.

More people driving hybrid and electric vehicles ? 56% of liberal Democrats say this can make a big difference, while 23% of conservative Republicans do, a difference of 33 percentage points.

People's individual efforts to reduce their "carbon footprints" as they go about daily life ? 52% of liberal Democrats say this can make a big difference compared with 21% of conservative Republicans, a difference of 31 percentage points.

There is more agreement across the political spectrum when it comes to giving scientists a seat at the policy-making table. Majorities of all party/ideology groups say climate scientists should have at least a minor role in policy decisions about climate issues. More than three-quarters of Democrats and most Republicans (69% of moderate or liberal Republicans and 48% of conservative Republicans) say climate scientists should have a major role in policy decisions related to the climate. Few in either party say climate scientists should have no role in policy decisions.

"Political differences are not the exclusive drivers of people's views about climate issues. People's level of concern about the issue also matters," said Cary Funk, lead author and associate director of research at Pew Research Center. "The 36% of Americans who are more personally concerned about the issue of global climate change, whether they are Republican or Democrat, are much more likely to see climate science as settled, to believe that humans are playing a role in causing the Earth to warm, and to put great faith in climate scientists."

This analysis also finds that a person's level of general scientific literacy does not strongly influence opinion on climate issues. The effects of having higher, medium or lower scores on a nine-item index of science knowledge tend to be modest and only sometimes related to people's views about climate change and climate scientists, especially in comparison with party, ideology and personal concern about the issue.

"The role of science knowledge in people's beliefs about climate matters varies and where a relationship occurs, it is complex," Funk said. "To the extent that science knowledge influences people's judgments related to climate change and trust in climate scientists, it does so among Democrats, but not Republicans. For example, Democrats with high science knowledge are especially likely to believe the Earth is warming due to human activity, to see scientists as having a firm understanding of climate change, and to trust climate scientists' information about the causes of climate change. But Republicans with higher science knowledge are no more or less likely to hold these beliefs. Thus, people's political orientations also tend to influence how knowledge about science affects their judgments and beliefs about climate matters and their trust in climate scientists."

These are among the findings from the new report, which is based on a nationally representative survey conducted May 10-June 6, 2016, among 1,534 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

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Other key findings:

Some 36% of Americans are deeply concerned about climate issues, saying they personally care a great deal about the issue of global climate change. And people's expressions of care are strongly correlated with their views, separate and apart from their partisan and ideological affiliations.

This group is composed primarily of Democrats (72%), but roughly a quarter of the group (24%) is Republican. Some 55% are women, making this group slightly more female than the population as a whole, and they come from a range of age and education groups and from all regions of the country.

76% among those with more personal concern about climate issues say the Earth's warming is due to human activity. Yet, this group is quite optimistic about efforts to address climate change: Majorities among this group say that each of six different personal and policy actions asked about can be effective in addressing climate change.

67% of this more climate-engaged public trusts climate scientists a lot to provide full and accurate information about the causes of climate change; this compares with 33% of those who care some and 9% of those with little personal concern about the issue of climate change.

About half of those with deep personal concerns about this issue (51%) say climate researchers' findings are influenced by the best available evidence "most of the time." By the same token, those deeply concerned about climate issues are less inclined to think climate research is often influenced by considerations other than the evidence, such as scientists' career interests or political leanings.

Fully 47% of U.S. adults say the media does a good job covering global climate change, while 51% say they do a bad job. However, 58% of people following climate news very closely say the media do a good job. Conservative Republicans stand out as more negative in their overall views about climate change news coverage.

35% of Americans say the media exaggerates the threat from climate change, a roughly similar share (42%) says the media does not take the threat seriously enough, and 20% say the media are about right in their reporting.

People's views on this are strongly linked with political divides; 72% of conservative Republicans say the media exaggerates the threat of climate change, while 64% of liberal Democrats say the media does not take the threat of climate change seriously enough.

There is strong bipartisan support for expanding solar and wind energy production.

Large majorities of Americans favor more solar panel farms (89%) and more wind turbine farms (83%). By comparison, Americans are more divided over expanding other energy sources. Fully 45% favor more offshore oil and gas drilling, 42% support more hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" for oil and gas, 41% favor more coal mining, and 43% support building more nuclear power plants.

44% of American homeowners have already installed (4%) or have given serious thought to installing solar panels at home (40%). Their reasons include both cost savings and helping the environment. Two-thirds of homeowners in the West have considered or installed solar panels, compared with 35% of homeowners in the South, 40% in the Midwest and 38% in the Northeast.

One-in-five Americans aim for everyday environmentalism; their political and climate change beliefs mirror the U.S. population.

75% of Americans say they are "particularly concerned about helping the environment" as they go about daily living. But just two-in-ten (20%) describe themselves as someone who makes an effort to live in ways that protect the environment "all the time." A majority (63%) say they sometimes do this and just 17% do not do this at all or not too often.

Though more among this group of "everyday environmentalists" have deep concerns about climate issues, their beliefs about the causes of climate change closely match those of the public as a whole. This group is comprised of both Republicans (41%) and Democrats (53%) in close proportion to that found in the population as a whole.

After 10 a.m. EDT on Oct. 4, the report will be available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/10/04/the-politics-of-climate

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Dana Page at 202.419.4372 or dpage@pewresearch.org.

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. Subscribe to our daily and weekly email newsletters or follow us on our Fact Tank blog.
A gang of assailants pulled out a sickle and hacked the youth leader to death after he fell from his motorbike.

By Pramod Madhav: A BJP youth wing leader was hacked to death by a gang of 4 in broad daylight in the Villupuram district today.

Jana, age 31, held a position as Villupuram East district's Youth Wing president. He had been reportedly working as a goon for Dada Manikandan, a notorious gangster.

Jana, visited Villupuram to appear before the district court over a kidnapping and money extortion case. Jana and Dada Manikandan were alleged to have kidnapped Chellapandian, a teacher, 5 years ago.

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HOW IT UNFOLDED

After appearing in court, Jana and his team left the premises on their motorbikes. Jana was riding the motorbike and his friend Suresh was riding pillion.

As they were crossing Villupuram Taluka Police Station, 4 men in two motorbikes started following them. Suddenly one of the assailants threw a crude bomb at Jana, which on impact blasted away chunks from backside of Jana's head, badly injuring him. Suresh, was badly wounded in his face and back.

Jana fell from the bike to the ground and was mourning in pain. The gang seeing that Jana wasn't dead yet, pulled out sickles from their motorbikes and brutally hacked him to death and fled the spot. The entire incident happened in the middle of the day on a busy road.

INVESTIGATION

Shocked commuters and other onlookers gathered together and informed the cops who rushed to the spot and sent Jana's body for an autopsy.

Police have initiated an enquiry and are suspecting that Jana could have been killed due to personal enmity with Rajkumar, another gangster. Police are still trying to deduce who were all involved in the murder.

Jana has already been booked 4 times for murder and several cases of extortion and kidnapping were pending also in his name.

ALSO READ:

Coimbatore: Tensions rise as Hindu Munnani leader hacked to death

Cong leader hacked to death in Karnataka





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Will also prolong life of fillings and help eliminate need for mercury containing amalgam

The first data on dental fillings that can actively repair tooth decay is presented by Professor Robert Hill. Professor Hill is Chair of Physical Sciences at the Institute of Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London and co-founder and director of research at BioMin Technologies.

Over 80 percent of the population in the UK has at least one filling, with seven being the average while eight million cavities are filled with amalgam each year.

This data, indicating smart repair of tooth decay, prolonging the life of composite fillings and reducing the need for mercury based amalgams indicates a significant step forward in tooth restorative materials.

Professor Hill outlines how new bioactive glass composites are unique in their ability to release fluoride as well as the significant quantities of calcium and phosphate that are needed to form tooth mineral.

Professor Hill explains that while current dental fillings include inert materials, the data on the new bioactive glass composite shows that it interacts positively with the body providing minerals that replace those lost to tooth decay.

"Our scientists and dentists at Queen Mary University of London replaced the inert tooth filling materials with our new bioactive glass," explained Professor Hill. "Not only did this bioactive glass composite remineralize the partially decayed teeth, but it also creates an alkaline environment that discourages the bacteria that caused the initial decay.

"The new bioactive glass also fills in the gaps with tooth mineral thus preventing the oral bacteria which cause tooth decay from establishing themselves. Research in the US suggests this will potentially prolong the life of fillings and slow secondary tooth decay because the depth of bacterial penetration with bioactive glass fillings was significantly smaller than for inert fillings."

Richard Whatley the CEO of BioMin Technologies who has recently licensed the technology from Queen Mary Innovations adds "We plan to translate the remineralizing technology developed with the BioMinF toothpaste into restorative dental products. This is a really exciting development which is attracting interest from a number of commercial companies."

He added, "There is also huge pressure to eliminate mercury based amalgam fillings by 2020 which is outlined in a host of international agreements. Using this type of bioactive glass composite to fill cavities eliminates the need to use mercury based amalgam by offering aesthetic white fillings which help heal the tooth."

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COLLEGE STATION -- Red imported fire ants have earned a justifiably bad rap across the south and most Texans would be hard put to name a single redeeming quality the ants have.

But a team of Texas A&M scientists and a colleague from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge have published a manuscript offering a glimmer of redemption for the invaders. The paper, "Decreased small mammal and on-host tick abundance in association with invasive red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta," was published in the scientific journal Royal Society Biology Letters on Sept. 21. The work and list of collaborators are available at http://bit.ly/2cDdgWy.

Dr. Jessica Light, associate professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist in the department of wildlife and fisheries sciences and corresponding author, said the work granted from the Texas A&M AgriLife Invasive Ant Research Management Project is the first to shed some potential positive light on a much-maligned invader.

"Red imported fire ants are known to predate lots of arthropods, including ticks," Light said. "They've also been shown to change the behavior of small mammals that want to avoid their stings. These small mammals often serve as reservoirs or carriers of tick-borne pathogens that can cause human and animal disease. We wondered if this invasive ant could change the ecosystem in a way to reduce tick-borne disease risk.

The team specifically looked at the effect of red imported fire ants on small mammals, of which many species are carriers of pathogens or microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses capable of causing disease in humans and animals, she said. They also looked at the ticks the animals harbor, which are known vectors of these pathogens. And finally, they looked at the pathogens themselves.

"On plots where we experimentally reduced the ant populations, rodents were nearly twice as abundant as they were on sites with the ants, the control plots," she said. "The rodents were also three times more likely to harbor ticks on plots with reduced fire ants and one species, the fulvous harvest mouse, had a 27-fold increased tick load.

"While testing these ticks for multiple pathogens, we documented one human pathogen, Rickttsia parkeri, which causes a mild form of spotted fever. Given that we detected one human pathogen in this ecosystem, the reduced number of ticks and small mammals in areas where ants are in high abundance could scale up to alter disease risk."

Light said the work was conducted in Southeast Texas on a private ranch in Goliad County and on the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/attwater_prairie_chicken/, where ant suppression is part of their ongoing management plan to protect the endangered Attwater's prairie-chicken.

At each site, live traps were used on two treatment plots and two control plots for a total of 240 traps per site, which were run on two consecutive nights each month from June 2013 until September 2014. Sixty-four percent of the small mammals, mostly cotton rats, were captured on the fire ant-suppressed plots.

"While red imported fire ants have been demonstrated to have negative consequences on the environment such as reducing populations of the endangered Attwater's prairie-chicken, our work points out that a predatory arthropod such as this invasive ant species may be capable of impacting vector-borne disease transmission by altering vector and host dynamics in ways that could reduce disease transmission to both humans and animals."

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The LUI Che Woo Prize - Prize for World Civilisation ("LUI Che Woo Prize") Laureate Professor Yuan Longping, widely known as "Father of the Hybrid Rice", delivered a public lecture to a full house at Hotel ICON, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), today (4 October). At the lecture, Professor Yuan shared his inspiring story of developing the hybrid rice to secure world food supply and his innovative technology in breeding high-yield rice.

Professor Yuan's public lecture on "Development of hybrid rice for food security in the world" was co-organised by PolyU and LUI Che Woo Prize Limited. Professor Yuan is awarded the Sustainability Prize of the inaugural LUI Che Woo Prize 2016 for his significant contribution to the enhancement of the security of world food supply.

Breeding hybrid crops for greater yields is a natural concept. However, before Professor Yuan's pioneering work, it was widely accepted that this approach could not succeed for a self-pollinating crop like rice. Professor Yuan nonetheless initiated his research on developing hybrid rice in 1964, and, against all odds, finally succeeded in creating unique genetic tools that made hybrid rice feasible after nine years. In 1976, his hybrid rice, with 20% higher yield than traditional rice species, was put into commercial production in China.

Professor Yuan has since then continued in his efforts to perfect the technology, as well as the quality and robustness of the hybrid rice produced. At present, nearly 57% of rice fields in the mainland grow hybrid rice species. It is estimated that the increased output by planting hybrid rice can annually support 70 million more people in the mainland over the inbred rice varieties. He has also trained more than 3,000 scientists and researchers from about 80 developing countries.

In his welcome speech, President of PolyU, Professor Timothy W. Tong said, "PolyU has also set our strategic priority on sustainability, and we have a wide range of research projects, ranging from food safety to sustainable urban development. Today we are so privileged to be here to learn from Professor Yuan's perseverance on the research that he has been doing for half a century, to learn more about the development of hybrid rice, which is so important for food security for the population of the entire world."

In attendance were Mr Lawrence Lui, representing Dr Lui Che Woo, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Governors cum Prize Council of LUI Che Woo Prize, and Professor Wong Wing-tak, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, PolyU. More than 500 participants from the government, tertiary education sector and industry, as well as university and secondary school students, attended the lecture.

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Founded in 2015 by Dr Lui Che Woo, a renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist, the LUI Che Woo Prize aims to recognise and honour individuals or organisations all over the world with outstanding achievements that contribute to world civilisation. The laureate will receive a cash award of HK$20 million, a certificate and a trophy.
Plants cannot simply relocate to better surroundings when their environmental conditions are no longer suitable. Instead, they have developed sophisticated molecular adaptation mechanisms. Scientists at the Technical University Munich (TUM) in cooperation with the Helmholtz Center Munich and the University of Nottingham have been able to demonstrate that brassinosteroids, which until now have mainly been regarded as growth hormones, increase the resistance of plants against frost.

"Stress caused by cold is an environmental influence which has a direct effect on the growth and yield of plants", says plant molecular biologist Professor Brigitte Poppenberger. With her research group at the Biotechnology of Horticultural Crops institute at the TUM, she investigates the mechanisms used by plants to adapt to external influences. Her research activities have centered on brassinosteroids for quite some time.

In earlier work, her group already used common thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) as a model plant to demonstrate exactly how this plant hormone, which was identified for the first time in rapeseed in 1979, promotes plant growth. In fact, it had been known for a long time that this hormone plays a role in plant development. However, the exact mechanism of action was unknown. It was the work of the biotechnology experts at the TUM School for Life Sciences in Weihenstephan that first made it possible to gain a precise understanding of this phenomenon.

It's no coincidence that Brigitte Poppenbergers team once again picked Arabidopsis for the current study. Due to its relatively undemanding nature, simple structure, and its compact size, it isn't simply a favorite among geneticists in general--the tiny herb also provides optimal conditions under which to search for cold protection mechanisms in plants, as it's able to survive low temperatures and increase its tolerance to frost by adapting to the cold. In the current issue of the specialist journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS), the scientists describe the hitherto unknown side of brassinosteroids, which up until now have been known as growth hormones.

In order to gain a detailed understanding of their mechanisms, the researchers carried out experiments in which they exposed Arabidopsis plants to slowly decreasing temperatures. Experiments with wild-type varieties in the laboratory showed that as the temperature decreases, the plant reacts by beginning to modify the expression of genes for which DNA is transcribed to RNA within its cells. "This reduces its growth, which increases its chances of survival", Poppenberger explains, describing the natural protective mechanism of the normal plants. A molecular path to 'winter fat'

The researchers obtained a different result with their experiments involving genetically modified model plants, which are no longer able to synthesize brassinosteroids themselves or recognize them as a signal. While wild-type varieties often still managed to survive temperatures of six degrees below zero, most of the mutants already displayed clear signs of damage at this point, which demonstrates the essential role steroid hormones play in this process. By analyzing the process, the researchers found that brassinosteroids increase frost resistance by regulating a protein called CESTA. This protein uses a signal cascade to control gene expression. In this manner, it in turn influences the protein composition of the cells, which among other things appears to lead to a change in the fatty acid composition. This ensures that the plant stocks up on a type of 'winter fat' on a molecular level, thereby protecting it from potential cold damage. Spray-on steroids for plants

These exact findings regarding the order and type of chemical processes for the effects of steroid hormones in plants are not only an important step forward for basic research into the adaptation strategies of plants. More importantly, according to the researchers, they may also provide solutions to problems, which have occurred in agriculture as a result of climate change. Although people generally only associate global warming with an increased occurrence of hot periods, it also causes an increase in the number of frost events, such as early and late frosts, which can lead to devastating harvest shortfalls. "The conventional method of breeding more resistant plants has not been very successful so far, as resistance to cold and reduced growth are difficult to separate", says Brigitte Poppenberger. But she's convinced that "our discovery that brassinosteroids boost both growth and cold resistance will open up new possibilities for bringing out both characteristics in plants." She asserts that it's also possible to spray crop plants with brassinosteroids to achieve both effects. "That may be a viable method--at least, that's what the findings suggest."

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Publication:

Marina Eremina, Simon J. Unterholzner, Ajith I. Rathnayake, Marcos Castellanos, Sean T. May, Klaus F. X. Mayer, Wilfried Rozhon and Brigitte Poppenberger: Brassinosteroids participate in the control of basal and acquired freezing tolerance of plants, PNAS 2016.
Such waves, called solitons, retain their shape and speed when passing through other such waves

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Solitary waves called solitons are one of nature's great curiosities: Unlike other waves, these lone wolf waves keep their energy and shape as they travel, instead of dissipating or dispersing as most other waves do.

In a new paper in Physical Review Letters (PRL), a team of mathematicians, physicists and engineers tackles a famous, 50-year-old problem tied to these enigmatic entities.

The puzzle dates back to 1965, when physicists Norman Zabusky and Martin Kruskal came up with a surprising solution to the Korteweg-de Vries equation, which serves as a mathematical model for describing nonlinear waves in shallow water.

Using a computer, Zabusky and Kruskal generated an approximate solution to the equation that featured eight independent, particle-like waves. Each of these waves retained its form and speed over time and distance -- even after colliding with other such waves. The colleagues coined the term "soliton" to describe these unusual entities, giving birth to modern research in this field.

Kruskal and others then went on to invent a new mathematical method to solve the Korteweg-de Vries equation exactly. However, the calculations needed to obtain concrete answers are complex, typically requiring the use of a computer to complete -- thus limiting scientists' ability to understand phenomena, including Zabusky and Kruskal's 1965 solution, says University at Buffalo mathematician Gino Biondini.

Moreover, to Biondini's knowledge, the original wave pattern that Zabusky and Kruskal described in 1965 has never been fully reproduced in the physical world (though earlier experiments have managed to generate portions of the solution).

The new PRL study, published Sept. 28, addresses both of these problems, says Biondini, a co-author on the paper.

A new approach to an old problem

With Guo Deng, a UB PhD candidate in physics, Biondini developed a mathematical approach that produces an approximate solution to the equation that Zabusky and Kruskal tackled in the 1960s. The new approach enables researchers to make explicit, accurate predictions about how many solitons will emerge in a given setting, as well as what features these waves will have, such as their amplitude and speed.

The method's simplicity means that researchers can use it to gain a better mathematical understanding of soliton formation in these kinds of situations, Biondini says.

"Zabusky and Kruskal's famous work from the 1960s gave rise to the field of soliton theory," says Biondini, a professor of mathematics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences. "But until now, we lacked a simple explanation for what they described. Our method gives you a full description of the solution that they observed, which means we can finally gain a better understanding of what's happening."

Making waves

While Biondini and Deng worked on the theoretical side of the problem, colleagues in Europe and Japan put their math to the test in real-world experiments as part of the same paper.

Led by Italian scientists Miguel Onorato and Stefano Trillo of the University of Turin and the University of Ferrara, respectively, the team ran experiments in a 110-meter-long water tank in Berlin using a computer-assisted wave generator. The wave patterns they produced matched well with Biondini and Deng's predictions, and included the original eight-soliton solution described by Zabusky and Kruskal so many years before (though it should be noted that water waves do begin to lose some energy after traveling over long distances, and are therefore only approximately solitons).

"Previous experiments had produced parts of the famous results from 1965, but, as far as I know, they all had limitations," Onorato says. "We were able to generate the solution more fully, including all eight solitons. We were also able to experimentally generate another feature observed in multi-soliton solutions, namely the strange phenomenon of recurrence, in which a wave pattern transitions from its initial state to a state with several solitons and back again to the original state. This is akin to placing a bunch of children in a room to play, then returning later to find that the room has been returned to its initial, tidy state after a period of messiness."

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In addition to UB, the University of Ferrara and the University of Turin, institutions that partnered on the PRL study included the Technical University of Berlin in Germany; Aalto University in Finland; the University of Tokyo in Japan; and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino in Italy.

The study was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; and the Burgundy Region.
Almost 8% of women have extremely high breast density, which can make it harder for health professionals to detect breast cancer on a screening mammogram. These women are also more likely to develop breast cancer in the future.

This is the warning from a new Australian alliance of breast cancer researchers, who are working together to raise awareness of the issue in the hopes of improving cancer diagnosis and health outcomes for women.

The group, called INFORMD (INformation FORum on Mammographic Density), comprises leading Australian breast cancer researchers from the Universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Western Australia, Queensland University of Technology and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria.

"We've grown concerned that Australian women are not aware of the significance of breast density in the diagnosis and prevention of breast cancer," says INFORMD spokesperson Associate Professor Wendy Ingman from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, and Lead Researcher, Breast Biology and Cancer Unit, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research.

Dense breasts have less fatty tissue and more non-fatty tissue, such as more glands that make and drain milk, compared to breasts that aren't dense.

Almost 8% of women aged between 40-74 years have extremely dense breasts. It is estimated that women with extremely high breast density have a four-to-six-fold increased risk of breast cancer compared to women with very low density.

"Breast cancer is more likely to develop in women with dense breast tissue, but not many women know if they have dense breast tissue. We believe it's important to inform women about breast density so they can make the right choices for their health," Associate Professor Ingman says.

On a mammogram, breast density is shown as white and bright regions. But unfortunately, potential tumors are also shown as white and bright on a mammogram.

"With the technology currently available, it is harder to see tumors in breasts with denser tissue on a mammogram. The danger is that these women are at risk of having tumors missed at the time of screening," Associate Professor Ingman says.

As yet, no single method or tool for measuring breast density has been agreed upon within the medical and medical technology communities. However, the researchers say breast density cannot be assessed based simply on how breasts feel during a self-exam or a doctor's physical exam.

Associate Professor Ingman says that although dense breast tissue is a risk factor for breast cancer, not all women with dense breasts will develop breast cancer.

Dr Alessandra Muntoni, Director of Research Investment, National Breast Cancer Foundation, says: "More details on the association of breast density with breast cancer are emerging as researchers learn more about this complex disease. In addition to funding research in this area, it is important to ensure that knowledge is shared with women so they can make more informed decisions in future."

"Our ultimate aim is to save women's lives," says Associate Professor Ingman. "We hope to do this by increasing prevention and early detection of breast cancer, and by increasing the understanding and better utilization of breast cancer screening in Australia, to lower the impact of this disease."

The INFORMD alliance believes that women with dense breasts should in the future be able to make informed decisions about how to manage their breast cancer risk. The researchers have identified these key actions required to achieve this aim:

Development of evidence-based guidelines for general practitioners (GPs) and other health professionals so they can assist women to make informed decisions.

Implementation of improved methods for quantifying breast density, and improved methods of predicting which women are most likely to develop breast cancer in the future. This is so breast density can be reported to all women attending screening programs, along with evidence-based recommendations for their management.

What can women do now?

Mammography remains the gold standard for breast cancer screening. In Australia, the researchers encourage women to use the opportunity to have free regular mammograms through BreastScreen services across the nation.

Women can have their breast density assessed through a mammogram, which can be arranged through their GP.

Supplementary screening methods, including ultrasound and MRI, are available for women to be used in addition to mammography. However, it is important that women consider the costs, both emotional and financial, and the risk of false positive results associated with these other technologies.

Be breast aware. All women, regardless of age, can be familiar with their breasts and check them regularly. Any changes should be reported to their doctor.

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The INFORMD alliance has established a new website to help keep women up to date on new information about breast density and breast cancer. More information can be found at: INFORMD.org.au Watch a video of Associate Professor Wendy Ingman discussing breast density.

Associate Professor Ingman's research is funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) and by The Hospital Research Foundation (THRF). Research by INFORMD members Professor John Hopper, Associate Professor Jennifer Stone, Professor Rik Thompson and Dr Kara Britt is also funded by the NBCF.

Media Contacts:

INFORMD members:

Associate Professor Wendy Ingman (University of Adelaide), wendy.ingman@adelaide.edu.au

Professor John Hopper (University of Melbourne), j.hopper@unimelb.edu.au

Associate Professor Jennifer Stone (University of Western Australia), jennifer.stone@uwa.edu.au

Professor Rik Thompson (Queensland University of Technology), e2.thompson@qut.edu.au

Dr Kara Britt (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), Kara.Britt@petermac.org

Dr Honor Hugo (Queensland University of Technology), honor.hugo@qut.edu.au
A common marine crustacean has shown researchers that it's all set to beat climate change - the males will get more attractive to the females, with a resulting population explosion.

The University of Adelaide study is the first to show how mating behaviour could change under the warmer waters and more acidic oceans brought by climate change.

PhD student Katherine Heldt and University of Adelaide ecologist and evolutionary biologist Dr Pablo Munguia studied the herbivorous amphipod, Cymadusa pemptos, in large tanks under the elevated temperature and CO2 predicted for 100 years from now. This work was in collaboration with Professor Sean Connell, Dr Bayden Russell and PhD student Kathryn Anderson.

The amphipod family includes the land-based beach-hopper or sand flea commonly seen hopping around on beaches. In Cymadusa pemptos, like other marine amphipods, males have larger claws than females, which are used as a display to attract females or a weapon to fend off other males.

Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the study found the population increased twenty-fold under predicted warmer waters and high CO2.

"Climate change most usually comes with predictions of severe negative impacts on population sizes, if not extinctions," says Dr Munguia, in the University's Environment Institute. "In general, booming populations are not predicted.

"It got even more interesting, however, when we dug deeper and found that males were much larger in size than in previous generations under cooler waters and lower CO2, and their bigger claws were disproportionately larger still. Females stayed the same size.

"On top of that, where there had been variation in large claw size throughout the population, suddenly all the males had large claws. This happened within a few generations.

"It seems that sexual selection for this attractiveness trait could mean that every male was equally attractive to the females, resulting in very large numbers of females - almost 80% - becoming pregnant, causing a massive population explosion."

Because the future climate change conditions also promoted increased growth of the marine algae which amphipods eat, constraints on competition for food were removed, allowing males to support their energy-demanding bigger claws and enabling the population to grow.

"We know that climate change will be cataclysmic for many species but in some cases it will not," says Dr Munguia. "This is the first quantitative example of how it will be beneficial for some individual species, albeit with massive consequences to the environment overall.

"We've also shown how mating systems may potentially change. If all males are equals in claw size, then perhaps claws will no longer become a key trait. Our research shows how we can start remapping ideas on how mating systems may become modified under future climate."

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Media Contact:

Dr Pablo Munguia, Ecologist and Evolutionary Biologist. Mobile: Until 5 October in Singapore on +65 8351 6204; after that in Australia on +61 (0)407 523 860 pablo.munguia@adelaide.edu.au

Robyn Mills, Media Officer. Phone: +61 8 8313 6341, Mobile: +61 (0)410 689 084, robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au
COLUMBIA, Mo. (Sept. 26, 2016) - A baby's skull is made of several plates of bone that fuse together over time to form a single structure. Previous research has shown that approximately one in 2,000 babies have plates that fuse too early -- a condition called craniosynostosis -- causing cranial deformities that can lead to learning impairments and other neurodevelopmental problems. Craniofacial surgeons across the country differ on when surgical intervention is needed for some abnormalities. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine are recommending a new method to help determine when surgery is needed.

"Children with a condition known as metopic craniosynostosis develop a vertical ridge in their foreheads due to a premature fusing of the cranium's frontal bones," said Arshad Muzaffar, M.D., professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at the MU School of Medicine and senior author of the study. "This can create increased pressure on the brain that can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders and learning problems. However, depending on the severity of the skull abnormality, recommendations on when to surgically intervene vary among craniofacial surgeons. At MU, we take a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates a measurement known as 'cephalic width-intercoronal distance ratio.'"

The study included 104 infants diagnosed with metopic craniosynostosis and who received CT scans at MU between 2006 and 2012. The children were divided into two groups: those who were recommended for surgery and those who were recommended for close observation. The babies' skull development was evaluated using five existing standard cranial measurements.

In addition to these standard measurements, the researchers evaluated the cephalic width-intercoronal distance ratio, which indicates how narrow the front of the skull is compared to the back. When the ratio is above a certain value, the measurement shows a potential need for surgery. The measurement can be performed at no additional cost to the patient.

Muzaffar cautioned, however, that the ratio should not be the only factor when making a decision about surgery. Instead, it should be used as one component of a suite of data gathered from a comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation which, when taken together, helps the team make recommendations regarding the need for surgical treatment.

"While it may not be a suitable measurement for all craniosynostosis patients, in certain cases in which the premature fusion of the frontal bones is not as pronounced, surgeons can benefit by adding the cephalic width-intercoronal distance ratio to their evaluation," said Muzaffar, who also serves as the director of craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery at MU. "We feel this is another tool to help treatment centers around the country make surgical decisions in cases that do not present a clear course of action. It is a quick, easy-to-perform objective measurement that provides extra insight to ensure patients receive care at the most appropriate time."

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The study, "Evaluating Children with Metopic Craniosynostosis: The Cephalic Width-Intercoronal Distance Ratio," recently was published in the July 2016 issue of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. Research reported in this publication was supported by the MU School of Medicine and the MU Division of Plastic Surgery. The researchers have no conflicts of interest to declare related to this study.

About the MU School of Medicine

The MU School of Medicine has improved health, education and research in Missouri and beyond for more than 165 years. MU physicians treat patients from every county in the state, and more Missouri physicians received their medical degrees from MU than from any other university. For more information, visit http://medicine.missouri.edu/.
Electrifying brain circuits may decrease depressive symptoms and chronic pain, but a USC scientist says we first need to see what the electric current is actually doing

Rather than taking medication, a growing number of people who suffer from chronic pain, epilepsy and drug cravings are zapping their skulls in the hopes that a weak electric current will jolt them back to health.

This brain hacking -- "transcranial direct current stimulation" (tDCS) -- is used to treat neurological and psychiatric symptoms. A do-it-yourself community has sprouted on Reddit, providing unconventional tips for how to use a weak electric current to treat everything from depression to schizophrenia. People are even using commercial tDCS equipment to improve their gaming ability. But tDCS is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and scientists are split on its efficacy, with some calling it quackery and bad science.

Here's the issue: Until now, scientists have been unable to look under the hood of this do-it-yourself therapeutic technique to understand what is happening. Danny JJ Wang, a professor of neurology at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, said his team is the first to develop an MRI method whereby the magnetic fields induced by tDCS currents can be visualized in living humans. Their results were published Oct. 4 in Scientific Reports, a Nature Publishing Group journal.

"Although this therapy is taking off at the grassroots level and in academia [with an exponential increase in publications], evidence that tDCS does what is being promised is not conclusive," said Wang, the study's senior author. "Scientists don't yet understand the mechanisms at work, which prevents the FDA from regulating the therapy. Our study is the first step to experimentally map the tDCS currents in the brain and to provide solid data so researchers can develop science-based treatment."

People in antiquity used electric fish to zap away headaches, but tDCS, as it is now known, was introduced in 2000, said Mayank Jog, study lead author and a graduate student conducting research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

"Since then, this noninvasive, easy-to-use, low-cost technology has been shown to improve cognition as well as treat clinical symptoms," Jog said.

The study is a technological breakthrough, said Maron Bikson, study co-author and a professor of biomedical engineering at The City College of New York.

"You cannot characterize what you cannot see, so this is a pivotal step in the development of tDCS technology," Bikson said.

How tDCS works

The science on tDCS is inconclusive. The brain-hacking technique has been shown to improve symptoms in a wide swath of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including depression, drug cravings and stroke. Scientists also have pointed to how it enhances learning, affects working memory and imparts other cognitive benefits among healthy people. However, some people say tDCS is ineffective and even harmful. In rare cases, the technique causes burns where the electrodes were applied.

Researchers have mapped the human brain and demonstrated that putting a positive current (anode) in one area and a negative current (cathode) in another will foster an environment that prompts nearby neurons either to fire more rapidly or slowly, respectively.

Theoretically, putting an anode on the right prefrontal (right side of the forehead) and parietal lobe (above the eyes and behind the right ear) influences the executive network and could enhance attention and motor ability, Wang said. Stroke patients could apply an anode in the damaged hemisphere and a cathode in the good hemisphere. This rehabilitative technique may suppress the healthy part of the brain from overcompensating and pushes the damaged area to try to become fit again.

"This technique is very cheap," Jog said. "You can do it at home. Most studies show people only need two weeks to show improvements, and the effects can last beyond the treatment period. So the technique fosters hope, but researchers need to get a better grasp on what is happening."

There has been some debate about whether the 1-2 milliamp (mA) zap that creates a tingling sensation in most people actually travels to the brain. A New York University researcher tested tDCS on a cadaver and said no current reached the brain. He insisted that at least 4 mA -- roughly equivalent to the discharge of a stun gun -- is needed to stimulate neurons to fire.

Wang, however, said tDCS does not cause neurons to fire. It creates an environment that makes it more or less likely for neurons to fire.

A new way to visualize the current delivered to the brain

The researchers validated their MRI algorithm with a phantom, where the current path and induced magnetic field was known. Then they tested the method using simple biological tissue: a human calf. Finally, they repeated the process on the scalp of 12 healthy volunteers.

After 20 to 30 minutes in a scanner, the new algorithm produced an image of the magnetic field tDCS created. Researchers noted that a current did enter the body and brain. Next, scientists compared the technique with that of a computer simulation.

The phantom test highly matched the computational modeling, thus verifying the algorithm. The calf test was a moderate match. The brain test showed expected magnetic field changes under and between the electrodes. However, computational modeling was not performed on the brain test because there are too many variables, strengthening the argument that using computational modeling is not ideal for understanding what really happens inside people's heads when tDCS is applied, Wang said.

Another tDCS measurement technique in use today is fMRI, which looks at the change in blood-oxygen levels to infer which areas the current passes through. This measurement is not directly related to the electric current and could introduce false positives. So rather than playing a game of telephone, it is best to go to the primary source.

"Scientists who have comprehensively studied the tDCS literature are in broad agreement that tDCS can change brain function, but that application in central health and neuro-enhancement will benefit from a deeper understanding of mechanism and enhanced technology," Bikson said. "This study is an important step in both directions."

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The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Center for Advancing Translational Science.
PORT ARANSAS, Texas - Ocean warming is occurring at such a rapid rate that fish are searching for cooler waters to call home.

A group of international scientists has new evidence that coral reef fish - which struggle to adapt to the warmer ocean temperatures brought about by global climate change - may instead opt to relocate to cooler parts of the ocean.

In experiments using a common coral reef fish, the blue-green damselfish, Chromis viridis, was acclimated to 2-4 degrees Celsius above their normal summer temperatures over a 27-week period.

"When fish have to deal with increased temperature, there are physical consequences. They need more energy to cope, and they may not be able to handle stress or reproduce or even grow," says marine scientist Jacob Johansen of The University of Texas at Austin.

Fish that were acclimated to the highest temperatures lost 30 percent of their body weight and some of them died, according to the University of Copenhagen's Adam Habary, the lead author of a study published this week in the journal Global Change Biology.

"But we found that, when given the slightest chance, fish can seek out temperatures that they've evolved to be in over thousands of years, to mitigate the impact of increasing temperatures and not sacrifice critical physiological processes," says Johansen

Most prior research has focused on the capacity for animals to adapt to increasing temperatures, given that animals have adapted to changes in temperature in the past. However, previous adaptations happened at evolutionary timescales, about 1 degree Celsius temperature change per million years. Global climate change is occurring at a much faster rate, with sea surface temperature predicted to increase 2 to 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century.

Marine fish are faced with a tough decision. They will need to adapt or move to avoid death.

Instead of looking into how fish can adapt, the new research took a different approach by asking, what if fish moved? In fact, what if entire ecosystems were capable of moving to the cooler temperatures, toward the poles or to deeper water?

There is already evidence that many coral reef fish and pelagic fish such as tuna are moving in response to warmer ocean waters, and that this is beginning to affect global fisheries. "Our study provides a mechanistic explanation for why fish may move, and a way of testing it," Johansen says.

Picking up and moving may not be the silver bullet for some species, particularly those coral reef fish that are dependent on reefs for habitat. Corals cannot move pole-ward as fast as the temperature increases are predicted to happen, so corals and coral-dependent fish will have to adapt or move to deeper waters where living conditions are less than ideal.

In addition, ocean warming does not occur as a steady slide upward on the thermometer. It often occurs as severe and increasingly frequent heating events. "It's these transient periods that are causing the most damage," Johansen notes. This was seen earlier this year on the Great Barrier Reef, when temperatures rose as much as 4 degrees Celsius for several weeks, causing widespread coral bleaching and severe physiological stress in many fish.

Johansen and fisheries biologists from the University of Copenhagen and James Cook University collaborated on the just-published study titled "Adapt, move or die - how will tropical coral reef fishes cope with ocean warming."

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The research was supported by Generalmajor J.F. Classen Foundation, Frken Ellen Backe & Margaret Munn Tovborg Jensens foundations as well as the Familien Muller-Geiels foundation and an ARC Super Science Fellowship and infrastructure and research allocation from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at JCU.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) German consumer electronics maker Blaupunkt will foray into the Indian mobile handsets space by the second half of the next year targetting the mass market segment.

As part of its strategy to be a full range player in the segment, the company today made the global launch of its range of mobile accessories, including earphones, charging cables and power banks, which are priced between Rs 300 to Rs 3,000.

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"In this fiscal, we will launch the entire range of our mobile accessories in India and by the second half of next fiscal we will launch our entire range of smart devices, including mobile phones, smart watches and phablets," Blaupunkt (Global Intellectual Property Development) Managing Director Andrej Cebrat told PTI.

He said India is the first country where Blaupunkts mobile phone accessories have been launched. These will also be launched in other SAARC countries viz Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives.

When asked about the positioning of the mobile phones, he said: "We will be targetting the mass segment, where there is the market although the competition is very tough in India."

Bullish on the Indian market, he said the country represented one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world, having crossed one billion telecom subscribers this year.

On the accessories business, Cebrat said the growth of mobile phones has fuelled the demand for accessories such as power cables, ear phones and data cables. The company will launch its mobile accessories in 52-75 cities in India by the end of 2016. It has also tied-up with most of the major e-commerce players, including Amazon, Snapdeal and e-Bay, to sell its products in India. "Currently talks are on with Flipkart," Vidur & Co Director Madhur Madhav said. Vidur & Co is the local partner of Blaupunkt in India. The company, which has been present in India for the last 20 years in the car audio segment, has incorporated a lot of learning about the local market requirements to its new offerings.

"We have done a lot of research to understand the consumer problems and to address issues faced by them. These have been addressed through various innovations on our accessories, which are customised for performance under Indian conditions," Cebrat said.

He said depending on how the new products are accepted in India, Blaupunkt may consider introducing its other consumer electronic goods, such as television in the future. PTI RKL SBT MKJ

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TORONTO, October 4, 2016 - Canadian Olympic phenomenon Penny Oleksiak may be able to glide through the water even faster at her next Olympic Games, due in part to a new measurement tool invented by York University researchers.

"We asked ourselves the basic question: 'how does liquid spread on a surface?', be it Penny's swimsuit while underwater, or the morning dewdrops on grass," says Sushanta Mitra, a professor in York's Lassonde School of Engineering. "Oleksiak's exceptional ability in the pool is undeniable. A more advanced suit could help her beat her personal best by reducing fluid resistance underwater."

Mitra's research has resulted in a new technique that measures the rapid process of liquid drops spreading on any surface. Interface scientists in his Micro & Nano-scale Transport (MNT) lab at York U have created an experimentation tool with funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The tool, built with an optical path using specialized microscopic lenses, captures the bottom view and side view of a spreading drop. It enabled researchers to observe the initial stages of a drop spreading on any surface inside a glass container filled with water.

"Since water is a viscous medium, the spreading process was significantly slowed, which allowed us to discover the initial regime. This is the first time this process has ever been measured," says Mitra, whose team also performs breakthrough translation research in water quality monitoring. "Soon we'll have new and improved products in water-repellant coatings, materials with underwater drag reductions and the like, on the market," says Mitra.

Traditional drop spreading experiments are conducted in air and there needs to be a few nanometer resolution to accurately characterize the initial stage of the process. That is below the physical limit of current optical systems used in experiments, according to co-author Surjyasish Mitra, whose graduate studies at York focus on fluid dynamics. "We overcame the challenges of conducting experiments underwater by using the new tool which brought down the length scale to micron levels."

The study, "Understanding the Early Regime of Drop Spreading," is published as the cover feature in peer-reviewed journal for fundamental interface science Langmuir.

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Images for media use:

The three stages of drop spreading on any surface

The side view of drop spreading (vertical panel) and the corresponding bottom view (horizontal plane) of drop from initial stage to its final equilibrium position

York University is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world's most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university - our 11 faculties and 26 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 295,000 alumni. York U's fully bilingual Glendon campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media contact:

Gloria Suhasini, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca
Scientists have played down fears of a food safety scare after a strain of the superbug MRSA was found in British pork sold in Asda and Sainsburys.

Campaign group Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics (ASOA) tested 97 samples of British pork sold in leading supermarkets.

Two samples of minced pork from Asda, and one from Sainsburys, tested positive for MRSA CC398.

See also: Antibiotics-resistant E coli has increased in supermarket chicken, study finds

CC398 is one of a growing number of antibiotics-resistant superbugs, which was first identified in livestock in the Netherlands in 2004.

Although it is less harmful to humans than the MRSA bug that kills 300 people a year in hospitals in England and Wales, it can cause health problems, The Guardian reported.

CC398 has been linked to six deaths in Denmark and it can cause persistent and potentially fatal infections in humans.

Adopting good hygiene practices in the kitchen, washing your hands when handling raw meat and cooking meat properly should minimise any risk Nicola Williams, University of Liverpool

Emma Rose, spokeswoman for the ASOA, said it was extremely worrying to find livestock-associated (LA) MRSA in pork produced in the UK.

Basic food hygiene

But food safety experts said basic kitchen hygiene and cooking meat thoroughly could remove any risk of catching the bug from infected meat.

Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said: LA MRSA is a well-known, but rare, food safety risk.

It has been found in food animals, in food and occasionally in people for many years.

It must be taken seriously but it has shown no sign of causing a pandemic and this small study does not change that assessment.

Nicola Williams, a professor of bacterial zoonotic disease at the University of Liverpool, said: Current data does not suggest that LA MRSA is common among UK pig herds.

Even if herds are infected with significant levels of the bacteria, the extent of contamination of meat with MRSA will be much lower than compared to food-poisoning bacteria such as salmonella, so the risk of transmission to people will be lower.

Adopting good hygiene practices in the kitchen, washing your hands when handling raw meat and cooking meat properly should minimise any risk.
Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom has sought to allay fears that British farmers could lose out as the government secures Brexit trade deals for other UK industries.

Mrs Leadsom was speaking as NFU president Meurig Raymond warned that British agriculture must not be used as a pawn in trade talks with other countries.

Mr Raymond said it was vital that British farmers continued to have access to the European Union single market following the UKs decision to leave the EU.

See also: Australian trade deal could be catastrophic for UK sheep

I think you have a very difficult task ahead to maintain that market access, he told Mrs Leadsom during an NFU fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

My plea is this: When those negotiations start I do not want to see food and farming sacrificed for the City of London and other sectors of British society.

If that happened, the UK would end up being hostage to other parts of the world where food and farming standards were lower.

We want great British food to be one of our key exports  we want it to continue growing.

Andrea Leadsom

We have to be watching very carefully, Mr Raymond told Mrs Leadsom during the fringe meeting at the Birmingham Rep Theatre on Monday (3 October).

Passionate about farming

Mrs Leadsom said Defra staff were passionate about the sector and would be absolutely front and centre of international trade negotiations as the UK exited the EU.

It is exactly right that what we dont want to do is go around the world looking for cheaper food that undercuts our own British farming sector, she said.

Mrs Leadsom told the audience: We want great British food to be one of our key exports  we want it to continue growing.

Our standards in animal welfare, food safety and traceability are second to none and we want to continue with that.

Trade concerns

Mr Raymond said many farmers were concerned that the government was preparing a deal that could see a big increase in Australian lamb exports to the UK.

But Mrs Leadsom said: We cant [conclude] free trade agreements until we are out of the EU, but obviously we will start to negotiate them before we leave. There is no sudden change afoot.

Mrs Leadsom said she banged the drum for the importance of the food and farming sector in front of other government ministers at every Cabinet meeting.

The food, farming and fisheries sector was discussed at every sub-Cabinet meeting on Brexit.

There is absolutely no doubt in anybodys minds how critical this sector is.

Mrs Leadsoms comments followed earlier remarks by George Freeman MP, who is a senior policy adviser to prime minister Theresa May that challenged the future level of farm support.

Addressing a fringe meeting of the Social Market Foundation, he said no sector would be more affected by Brexit than farming.

If the British electorate looked at a chunk of money that was going to British agriculture, the likelihood of them saying I would rather more of it went to the NHS is quite high, he is reported as saying.
AIPAC Zionist Supporter Olga Miranda President of SEIU 87 Janitors union: Campaign for D11 candidate Ahsha Safai or pay $150- She Also Backs Corrupt SF Mayor Ed Lee. Here "political director" is a house flipper and speculator who supports the corrupt SF Mayor Ed Lee who represents tech billionaires and developers. SEIU 87 members can't afford to live in SF but Miranda is not concerned with that

AIPAC Zionist Supporter Olga Miranda President of SEIU 87 Janitors union: Campaign for D11 candidate Ahsha Safai or pay $150- She Also Backs Corrupt SF Mayor Ed LeeAhsha Safai is a candidate for the District 11 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (Courtesy Ahsha Safai)By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez on October 4, 2016 1:00 amIf youre a San Francisco janitor in SEIU Local 87, you may soon face a choice: Pay the union $150, or campaign for Ahsha Safai, candidate for District 11 supervisor.Whether you consider that to be extortion of already overburdened workers, or a fair way of ensuring union participation, depends on who you are.On Guard obtained the Aug. 18 meeting minutes of Local 87, which represents more than 4,000 private sector custodial workers. Its president, Olga Miranda, has also stumped heavily for Safai.His candidacy comes at a crucial time, when five seats on the Board of Supervisors are up for grabs. Any two of them going to the moderates could tip the balance of power on the board back toward Mayor Ed Lees allies. Continue Reading Below[advertisement][advertisement]Safais and opponent Kimberly Alvarengas campaigns have split unions in this town on either side, seen by the Labor Councils no endorsement in District 11  a clear peacekeeping move.Safai earned $9,000 or $19,000 (depending on the year) for his work as a political consultant at Local 87 until 2012. He then began to independently consult for the union as a contractor (for about the same range of cost) and billed it through his consultancy company, Kitchen Cabinet Public Affairs.Is this pay-to-play? Some Local 87 members sure do think so.Local 87s minutes describe members in the meeting proposing Measures for members that did not show up to picket lines  motion to penalize members who did not show up @ [sic] Rallies during contract time will be fined $150/day or doing campaign activity for candidates endorsed by Local union.I can see a future with Supervisor Safai right now: Comment at the Board of Supervisors, or you owe me $150. Curb your wheels, or you owe me $150!Essentially, if youre not out on the picket line, youve got to help Safai campaign against Alvarenga  or pay up.Ive worked as a political coordinator for SEIU for 14 years and I havent heard of such a thing, Gabriel Haaland of rival union SEIU 1021 told me.Now, granted, Haaland supports Alvarenga, but he was still adamant.Its the most odd thing Ive ever heard in my life, he said.That choice rankled longtime Local 87 members Elsa Almanza and Juan Avila, who I spoke to during the San Francisco Democratic Party boards meeting last Wednesday.Hes not a trustworthy person, Avila said of Safai. Almanza added, He doesnt do anything related to organizing the members.As you can imagine, Safai and Miranda, the unions head, rebuffed the idea there was anything untoward about offering this odd choice.Safai said the idea that people had to campaign for him or pay money was a distortion of the truth because members were given options and that this is not something unique to my campaign. The union has done this in multiple situations in the past.Miranda said their union is very small, so it needs mechanisms to make members accountable.She brought up a fair point: Her union only racked wins against tech companies like Airbnb, Uber and Square for better treatment for custodial workers because they picketed.Miranda said if her members had a problem with stumping for Ahsha, I would not have been re-elected. She touted her win for Local 87s presidency last week as proof that our members trust us.SEIU Local 87 would benefit from a candidate who has its issues at heart on the Board of Supervisors, she said. For instance, a past proposal to extend hours on parking meters in the Financial District was harmful to janitors, she said.It benefits us to be involved politically, Miranda said.Seeing how hard theyve stumped for Safai, youd better believe it will.* * *Cue the tiniest of violins for politicians looking to circumvent campaign finance laws, as the Democratic County Central Committee voted last Wednesday to advocate for California lawmakers to restrict the DCCCs campaign contributions to $500 and to add that limit to its bylaws. Previously, contributions were unlimited.The resolution was authored by Petra DeJesus  hats off to her.During last Junes election, DCCC candidates racked up more than $2.3 million in donations because of a fundraising loophole: If youre running for supervisor, youre beholden to a $500 contribution limit. But if you also run for DCCC at the same time, you can easily pocket $10,000 or more from a contributor.Judson True, an aide to Assemblymember and incumbent candidate David Chiu, said Chiu supports the DCCC resolution and is exploring a bill for next year, but much work is still to be done.Its a start.On Guard prints the news and raises hell each week. Email Fitz at joe [at] sfexaminer.com , and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @FitztheReporter.Political Director Of Janitors SEIU 87 Under President Olga Miranda Is House Flipper And Supporter Of Corporate Controlled Ed LeeThe story Ahsha Safai doesnt tell in his campaign for supervisorHe's a real-estate speculator, house flipper, and gets almost half of his money from the real-estate industry -- so why is he getting progressive support?BY TIM REDMOND - Jul 14th 1715 16Ahsha Safai is running for supervisor in District 11 as a labor activist who has the support of some of the citys unions  and is building some support among what is generally considered the progressive community. John Burton has endorsed him. Its possible that the Democratic County Central Committee, which progressives fought hard to control, could wind up giving him at least a secondary nod.Hes well known among city insiders as a former city employee and Housing Authority Commissioner, and ran against incumbent John Avalos four years ago.Theres a lot to Safais resume that isnt in his campaign materialBut theres a lot about his record that hasnt received much attention. Safai is a real-estate speculator who made a big chunk of cash buying a house that was in foreclosure and flipping it. He makes most of his money  more than $100,000 a year  from a consulting firm that works with landlords. Nearly half of the money he has raised so far, our analysis shows, comes from the real estate industry.And while he doesnt list Mayor Ed Lee among his endorsements (nobodys listing Lee these days since hes so unpopular) Safai has long been a Lee supporter and donated to the mayors 2015 re-election.Here are some things weve found researching Safais history: In 2004, he was sued for fraud in a real-estate deal that wound up with Safai buying a house that was in foreclosure at what the suit alleges was an artificially low price and flipping it for a profit of close to half a million dollars.According to the lawsuit, Safai and his associates took advantage of a woman who was facing the loss of her property. Mary McDowell, who was working as a parking control officer in San Francisco, was living at 78 Latona Street in the Bayview when the bank that held her mortgage filed a notice of default.She owned four other properties that were also in foreclosure.Two real-estate sales people arrived at her home unsolicited in December, 2003, and told her they would buy her property and pay her enough to cover the notes on the other places she owned so she could avoid all the foreclosures.The lawsuit alleges that the real-estate broker didnt properly list the home on the Multiple Listing Service but instead brought McDowell an offer for $375,000  far less than market value, according to the complaint. McDowell was frightened and intimidated into accepting the offer, and the house was sold to Ahsha and Reza Safai.McDowell eventually dismissed the case, her lawyer told me, because the defendants were dragging this out forever in court and she decided she had had enough. Attorney C. Brent Patten said that no court ever determined whether Safai or the others had done anything wrong.Safai in legal filings denied all the allegations.But whatever the legality, Safai wound up buying a house that was in foreclosure at what turned out to be an excellent price. In 2005, according to the real-estate service Property Shark, the median sale price for housing in that neighborhood was $336 a square foot. Safai paid $177 a square foot for the 78 Latona St. property.City records show that he and Reza Safai spent $60,000 renovating the place, and sold it less than a year later for $800,000.So Safai was part of a group that bought a house in foreclosure from a woman who was in financial trouble and flipped it quickly for a short-term profit. That could be perfectly legal  lots of people have made lots of money buying properties in foreclosure and selling them for a quick profit.But house-flipper is not part of his public resume.Safai describes himself as the political director for SEIU Local 87, and had played his union connections into a number of endorsements. But forms he filed while he was on the Housing Authority Commission show that the vast majority of his income comes from his consulting firm, Kitchen Cabinet Public Affairs, that did work for one of Lees main consultants and at least one high-end landlord.Safais economic interest statements for 2012 and 2013 show that he earned less than $10,000 as political director for Local 87, but more than $100,000 as principal in Kitchen Cabinet Public Affairs.On his website, he describes that outfit as working with nonprofits, community-based and political organizations throughout the Bay Area building community and revitalizing neighborhoods.And indeed, some of his clients include Local 87, the Teamsters Union Local 350, and Mission Housing Development Corp. Also on the list: SST Investments, a landlord that operates high-end apartments, and Left Coast Communications, the consulting firm that ran the somewhat legally dubious Run Ed Run campaign.Clients also included Jacobs Engineering and KJ Woods Construction. Safai is the real-estate industrys guy. A 48hills analysis of campaign contributions filed so far shows that nearly half his money  45 percent  came from real-estate development, construction, landlords and landlord lawyers, and big downtown companies.Among his supporters: Janan New, director of the Apartment Association; David Gruber, who holds the landlord seat on the Rent Board, Russell Flynn (one of the biggest landlords in the city), David Wasserman (an eviction lawyer), Oz Erickson (a big developer), Mary Jung (lobbyist for the Association of Realtors), and Jim Lazarus (who works for the Chamber of Commerce).The fact that a candidate takes money from special interests doesnt always mean that candidate will do what they want. But its pretty clear from the preponderance of money that the people who have been making big money from evictions, displacement, and the destruction of neighborhoods think Safai is the one who will represent their interests at City Hall. He is a supporter of Mayor Ed Lee. Not a single politician in June used the mayors endorsement; in fact, polls show that more than half of San Franciscans would vote against someone associated with the immensely unpopular mayor.Safai doesnt list Lees endorsement on his website either. But hes clearly a fan: In 2015, when 46 percent of the voters chose candidates with no name recognition, no electoral experience, and no real campaigns over the incumbent, Safai donated $250 to the Lee campaign.That suggests that he endorses the agenda that the mayor has promoted: A tech boom that has created the worst displacement crisis in modern history.Safai didnt return messages left with his campaign. He will try to avoid a lot of these issues as he seeks progressive support. But its all there, on the record. And its worth thinking about.Research assistance for this story was provided by Don Ray and Sofia Aguilar.SEIU 87 Pres Olga Miranda Poster Child From Labor For Israel and ZionistsMy trip to AIPAC 2014by rabbiegerMarch 5, 2014I have just returned from 2 1/2 days in Washington D.C. I was attending the annual AIPAC Policy conference along with 15,000 others who love Israel. AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This important organization builds bridges and support for the State of Israel with the United States. AIPAC educates Congress and our elected leaders and works to strengthen the relationship between Israel and the U.S. AIPAC works effectively on college campuses with campus student leaders to combat the Anti-Israel fervor and the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement aimed at Israel. They educate and reach African American leaders, Hispanic leaders and Christian leaders and educate them about the strategic importance of Israel and a side of the story that they may not have heard before. As we heard from the President of the Washington local SEIU 87, a dynamic Latina, named Olga Miranda said, I never knew Israels story until AIPAC introduced me to it. I merely repeated what I heard on the news. Today I know there are two sides to every story. I am pro-Israel and I am the face of AIPAC.While I have attended local AIPAC events I had never been to the annual policy conference. We heard from an array of speakers including Hon Isaac Herzog, the head of Israels Labor Party, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Charles Schumer, and Sen. Robert Menendez, head of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State John Kerry and Israels Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. It was amazing to me in a town so divided by partisanship to see the House Majority whip Rep Eric Cantor (R) stand side by side with the House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) and together talk about their common and strong support of the Israel -U.S. relationship. Hoyer couldnt resist chiding the Jewish Cantor that he had been to Israel more times!One of the most powerful presentations came from Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Pnina Tamano-Shata (Yesh Atid) the first Ethiopian Member Knesset. Side by side they each recounted a similar story of being refugees: one from Cuba and one from Ethiopia and their journeys to become legislators and all they had in common. The common values of freedom and democracy and opportunity of Israel and the United States were never more evident.All of this and many workshops on everything from the peace process, the war in Syria, Israels technology revolution, Iran, fighting Boycotts of Israel, the rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe, climate change and water issues in the US and Israel and so much more; workshops for Christians, students, Latinos, LGBT receptions and how to lobby Congress. Tuesday of the conference is devoted to lobbying your Congress person and Senators for Israel.I also learned despite some critics that AIPAC is real bi-partisan. There has been a lot of critique on the left that AIPAC became a Republican stronghold. I didnt get that. It was clear they were committed to bi-partisanship both in representing Israels political spectrum and the here in the U.S. Yes there are partisan Jews on both sides of the aisle. But as someone who is center left on Israel, meaning I believe strongly in states for two people, a Jewish democratic Israel side by side with a Democratic Palestine both who can live in peace and security, I did not feel out of place at all. Other progressives were there and I believe it is important to gather there so that the entire spectrum on Israel is represented and is part of the solution for a healthy Israel -U.S. relationship!I learned a lot in a short period of time. I hope next year some of you will join me for AIPAC Policy Conference 2015. It is March 1-3, 2015. Registration is already open. If you love Israel and you want the US and Israel to remain strong partners for peace, freedom, trade, innovation, democracy, and security then you want to be a part of AIPAC. Join me there. I have already registered. How about you? If you want to register or view the videos from the conference here is the link: http://www.aipac.org by JOEL B. POLLAK4 Mar 20143During Fridays final plenary session at the Policy Conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), thousands of pro-Israel activists were addressed by Olga Miranda, president of Local 87 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In the course of describing her pro-Israel views, she led the crowd in a chant of Si, se puede! (Yes we can!), and asked those present to support immigration reform in the U.S.Those sentiments were more partisan than anything the conference had heard over three days. And the SEIU is is one of the most partisan organizations in American politics, serving as the Obama administrations front line in pushing Obamacare and other policies. Occasionally, SEIU leaders have aligned with the most radical of the anti-Israel organizations: in fact, Local 73 was investigated in 2010 for ties to the Hamas terror organization.Yet Miranda was onstage to testify about how she had changed her mind about Israel, especially once she visited Israel and saw the other side of the story. Israel is the only thing I ever admitted to being wrong about in fourteen years, she said. She singled out Israels immigration policy: In Israel, immigrants are humans (as opposed to the U.S., where they are criminalized for wanting to provide food for their families.)The audience gave her speech a standing ovation. Mirandas was a timely message about the power of persuasion for activists about to embark on visits to Capitol Hill, and perhaps nervous about convincing skeptical members of Congress to hold firm on Iran.It was also a message to Israels left-wing critics, some of whom led protests on day one of the conference (and at least one of whom was arrested a day later in Egypt for trying to enter Gaza).Yet AIPAC is hardly doing as much to court conservatives. There were no speakers from the Tea Partythe SEIUs foe in the political trenchesto talk about what Israel meant to members of that movement, for example.That may reflect a subtle political bias that persists in spite of AIPACs strenuous efforts at bipartisanship. More importantly, it reflects the undeniable political reality today that conservative support for Israel is not in doubt.The confrontational approach of the Obama administration towards Israel has presented a unique challenge for AIPAC over the past five years. Those Democrats who addressed the conferenceSens. Chris Coons,Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)2%, and Bob Menendez, plus Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lewwere at pains to assure the activists of their partys support.AIPAC is trying to help them do so, without alienating the conservatives in its midst.
Galleries to Exhibit Works by Ahern, Taylor

Title of work: Fenced in Pink

Material: solid marker, crayon, collage, silicone, oil and enamel on canvas

Artist: Luke Ahern

Sept. 27, 2016

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.Illinois Wesleyan Universitys Merwin and Wakeley galleries will feature the works of artists Luke Ahern and Erin Taylor in October, in the Joyce G. Eichhorn Ames School of Art Building (6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington). Both artists will present Gallery Walks of their exhibits on Oct. 6.

Artist and educator Luke Ahern will present a Gallery Walk of his exhibit, Fences and Courts, in the Wakeley Gallery on Oct. 6 at 5:15 p.m. As the father and husband in a mixed race family, Aherns works combine image making with his experience dealing with race and identity. This experience outside of the studio has filtered and changed every decision I make in the studio, said Ahern. Through paintings, collage, sculptures and site-specific wall works, Ahern blurs the line between art and life as he incorporates idiosyncratic non-art materials, images, and objects from the funk of life, into his works. My work is a conversation of formal improvisation embedded with a deep-seeded urgency to attempt to make sense of the mess of life, Ahern said.

Ahern holds both a bachelor of fine arts degree from Bowling Green State University, and a master of fine arts degree in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to working as a visiting assistant professor of art at Ohios Denison University, Ahern has shown his work in group and solo exhibitions across the country.

Title of work: Prismata Motus onsite installation by Erin Taylor (Photo by Erin Taylor)

Ohio-based artist Erin Taylors work focuses on altering the refractive properties of glass. Optical devices allow us to see beyond the limits of human vision, said Taylor, who earned a bachelor of architecture from the University of Kansas and worked in the building design profession for 14 years. He recently earned a master of fine arts degree in glass at Southern Illinois University.

Taylor is currently examining optical anomalies that result from the glassmaking process, and works as a digital fabrication specialist at The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

Taylors exhibit, Chromatic Candela, utilizes lenses repurposed from antiquated optical devices including slide projectors and film cameras. He will present a Gallery Walk of his exhibit on Oct. 6 at 4:30 p.m. in the Merwin Gallery.

Both exhibits will be on display through Nov. 3. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 12 to 4 p.m., Tuesday evenings 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

By Vi Kakares 20
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Oct. 4, 2016) - Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD) ("Erdene" or "Company") is pleased to announce results from the first seven holes of its originally planned 5,000 metre drill program at its 100%-owned, high-grade Bayan Khundii gold project ("Bayan Khundii") in southwest Mongolia. In addition, the Company announces an expanded drill program with a total of 9,000 metres now anticipated to be completed in Q3-Q4 at Bayan Khundii and at the Company's neighboring, 100%-owned Altan Nar and Altan Arrow gold projects. Included with this release, for reference, are two plan maps and a cross-section showing project locations, the position of today's drill holes, as well as areas where drill results are pending.

"Bayan Khundii continues to deliver exceptional, near-surface gold grades over wide intervals and today's results increase our confidence in the continuity of these gold zones and the broad extent of the lower-grade mineralization," said Peter Akerley, Erdene's President and CEO. "As the drill program advances we will be testing multiple targets outside of the known mineralized area, predominantly under younger cover rocks, to better establish the size potential of the Bayan Khundii gold system."

Highlights (see attached map for hole locations)

Striker Zone drilling (BKD-49) returns 24 metres of 7.5 g/t gold within 71 metres of 3.1 g/t gold, both within a wider intersection of 116 metres of 2.0 g/t gold, from surface

Additional drilling in the Striker Zone (BKD-51) returns 112 metres of 1.2 g/t gold, from surface

Multiple, very high-grade gold intersections in the Striker Zone containing several gold-bearing quartz veins returning 1 metre samples exceeding 40 g/t gold

A new near-surface zone, southwest of the Striker Zone, was intersected in hole BKD-46, returning 16.7 metres of 4.6 g/t gold from surface, including 7 metres of 10.2 g/t gold

Hole BKD-46 also returned an additional 22 metres of 2.2 g/t gold, including 7 metres of 6.4 g/t gold, at 100 metres depth, representing a down-dip extension of the Striker Zone

Additional drill results for step-out holes testing Bayan Khundii targets under younger cover are anticipated in late October

Table 1 - Bayan Khundii drill results for first seven holes (holes BKD-46 to BKD-52)

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Gold (g/t) BKD-46 2.3 19 16.7 4.65 incl 8 15 7 10.2 incl 11 13 2 31.4 and 40 45 5 1.66 and 100 122 22 2.19 incl 100 108 8 5.61 incl 101 102 1 42.2 BKD-47 11 18 7 0.33 BKD-48 54 89 35 1.88 incl 67 69 2 15.9 BKD-49 0 116 116 2.01 incl 45 116 71 3.06 incl 74 98 24 7.52 incl 74 79 5 9.23 and 96 98 2 62.5 BKD-50 3.7 10 6.3 0.81 and 89 96 7 2.05 BKD-51 0 112 112 1.17 incl 76 106 30 3.23 incl 100 103 3 19.8 BKD-52 24 50.2** 26.2 0.32

* Reported intervals are not true width. At this time there is insufficient data with respect to the shape of the mineralized system to calculate true orientations in space. They represent drill intersection widths from holes drilled at a 45 to 90 degree angle. The Bayan Khundii mineralization is interpreted to be moderately dipping (approximately 40 to 50 degrees) perpendicular to the drill hole angle. ** End of hole

Q3-Q4 2016 Drill Program

The Q3-Q4 2016 Bayan Khundii drill program, for which partial results were released today, is focused on testing the boundaries (at depth and along strike) and building confidence in the continuity of the high-grade gold zones, within the main mineralized trend at Bayan Khundii. Today's results represent the first seven holes (1,013 metres), drilled within a 260 metre by 125 metre area, predominantly testing the Striker Zone, to depths of 50 to 201 metres or approximately 36 to 182 metres vertically. All holes were drilled perpendicular to the interpreted strike of the mineralized zones. Some holes were collared south of, or vertically above, the Striker Zone and as such intersected parallel gold zones. As of today, 26 holes of the current drill program have been completed, totaling 3,268 metres. Results for all remaining holes are expected to be received over the next 30 days.

While drilling at Bayan Khundii has been primarily focused on testing lateral and down-dip continuity of the high-grade gold zones within the main mineralized trend, continued technical evaluation by the Erdene team and several consultants who visited Bayan Khundii in July/August 2016, suggests that the Bayan Khundii system holds significant potential for new mineralized zones under younger Cretaceous cover to the west and north of the main mineralized zone. Results from a series of step-out holes in this area will form part of the next batch of drill results, expected to be released in late October.

The drill program will be paused for two weeks in October for the winterizing of the Company's drill camp, assessment of results and completion of the regional exploration program currently underway as part of the Company's alliance with Teck Resources Ltd. Drilling is expected to recommence on October 21 and continue through mid-December. Drill targeting will be based on results of current drilling, results from the independent technical evaluation studies completed in August 2016 at Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar, and on regional, district-scale drilling previously completed by the Company. The remaining expanded program is expected to consist of a further 5,500 metres of drilling consisting of an additional 2,000 metres to continue testing Bayan Khundii, including the largely untested and highly prospective region within the larger Bayan Khundii trend; 3,000 metres of resource expansion and scout drilling along the 5.6 kilometre long mineralized trend at the Company's Altan Nar Gold-Polymetallic Project ("Altan Nar"); and a 500 metre initial drill program to test newly identified targets at the Company's Altan Arrow gold prospect, located 3.5 kilometres north of Bayan Khundii.

Background on Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and Altan Arrow Gold Projects

Bayan Khundii Gold Project

In Q2 2015, Erdene conducted an initial exploration program on the southern portion of the Company's 100%-owned Khundii license in southwest Mongolia. This reconnaissance work led to the discovery of the Bayan Khundii, low sulphidation epithermal gold prospect. Gold mineralization at Bayan Khundii has been identified over a 1.7 kilometre trend, with detailed exploration only taking place over a 500 metre by 350 metre zone in the southwest prospect area, where the Company's Q4 2015 and Q2 2016 drill programs have focused. Visible gold was observed in multiple drill holes, and results include several high-grade intersections within a series of parallel structures exposed at surface. Results include up to 35 metres of 5.9 g/t gold in hole BKD-10 from surface to the bottom of the hole (including 12 metres of 16.2 g/t gold), and 63 metres of 5.3 g/t gold in hole BKD-17 starting at 50 metres. Drill results and program details are included in Erdene's press releases (click here).

In Q1 2016, the Company concluded preliminary metallurgical test work at Bayan Khundii, indicating that gravity concentration and cyanidation of the gravity tails yield very good overall gold recoveries for both high-grade and low-grade composites: 99% gold recovery from the high-grade composite (24.9 g/t gold), and 92% gold recovery from the low-grade composite (0.7 g/t gold). The license has a 2% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR Royalty") in favour of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. with a buy-back option to reduce the NSR Royalty to 1%.

Altan Nar Gold-Polymetallic Project

Discovered in 2011, the Company's Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project (19 kilometres northwest of Bayan Khundii) hosts a total of 18 mineralized gold-silver-lead-zinc target areas within a 5.6 kilometre by 1.5 kilometre mineralized corridor. Two of the early discoveries, Discovery Zone ("DZ") and Union North ("UN"), are the most advanced targets, hosting wide zones of high-grade, near-surface mineralization over variable widths (up to 53 metres apparent width) averaging in excess of 1 g/t gold, including intervals up to 19 metres averaging 5.8 g/t gold (7.8 g/t gold equivalent*). The DZ and UN targets were the focus of an initial National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate released by the Company in Q1 2015. Altan Nar remains at an early stage of exploration with only shallow, detailed drilling of DZ and UN with the remaining 16 targets either undrilled or scout-drilled, and are considered by the Company to have good potential for hosting additional resources. The license has a 2% NSR Royalty in favour of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. with a buy-back option to reduce the NSR Royalty to 1%.

*Gold equivalent has been used to express the combined value of gold, silver, lead and zinc at Altan Nar as a percentage of gold, and is provided for illustrative purposes only. No allowances have been made for recovery losses that may occur should mining eventually result. Calculations use metal prices of US $1200/ounce gold, $18/ounce silver, and $0.90/pound for lead and zinc.

Altan Arrow Gold Project

The Altan Arrow gold project ("Altan Arrow") is situated on the Bayan Khundii license, 3.5 km north of the Bayan Khundii project and 15 km southeast of Altan Nar. Previous exploration by Erdene in the Altan Arrow prospect area confirmed the presence of high-grade gold within epithermal quartz veins and the potential for broader mineralized zones. Erdene geologists identified an approximate 1 square-kilometre area of anomalous gold-silver mineralization in quartz veins that returned up to 57 g/t gold in hand samples and 1 m of 31.4 g/t gold and 6 m of 4.5 g/t gold in trenching. The license has a 2% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR Royalty") in favour of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. with a buy-back option to reduce the NSR Royalty to 1%.

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Michael MacDonald, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Director of Exploration for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks.

Erdene's sampling protocol for drill core consisted of collection of samples over 1 metre or 2 metre intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at the Company's Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 20 samples including a commercially prepared standard and blank. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdene's logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

About Erdene

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of base and precious metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. In addition to Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar, the Company has two other exploration licenses and a mining license in southwest Mongolia. Other deposits and prospects within these licenses include: Khuvyn Khar - an early-stage, copper-silver porphyry project with multiple drill targets and significant copper intersections; Nomin Tal - a narrow, high grade copper-gold discovery; Zuun Mod - a large molybdenum-copper porphyry deposit; and Altan Arrow - an early-stage, high-grade, gold-silver project. In addition to the above properties, the Company has an Alliance with Teck Resources Limited on regional copper-gold exploration in the prospective Trans Altay region of southwest Mongolia. For further information on the Company, please visit www.erdene.com. Erdene has 121,155,992 issued and outstanding common shares and a fully diluted position of 134,432,906 common shares.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Oct. 4, 2016) - NOVAGOLD RESOURCES INC. (TSX:NG)(NYSE MKT:NG) today released its third quarter financial results and provided updates for its flagship 50%-owned Donlin Gold project in Alaska and its 50%-owned Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project in British Columbia.

Details of the financial results for the three and nine months ended August 31, 2016 are presented in the consolidated financial statements and quarterly report filed on Form 10-Q with the SEC that is available on the Company's website at www.novagold.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated and all resource and reserve estimates are shown on a 100% project basis.

Third quarter highlights and NOVAGOLD's achievements include the following:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the "Corps"), Donlin Gold's lead Federal permitting agency, is now reviewing the comment submittals received during the Donlin Gold public comment period for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in preparation for completing the final EIS;

Donlin Gold concurrently advanced other major permits and approvals with State and Federal agencies, including the water discharge permit, wetlands permit, air quality permit, reclamation plan approval, pipeline authorizations, water use and fish habitat permits, land and shoreline leases as well as right-of-way approvals;

Important outreach activities continued with community partners and local stakeholders in Alaska and British Columbia: Donlin Gold actively participated in a number of local events and fairs in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) region communities, as well as visiting villages to deliver project updates and promote summer safety along the Kuskokwim River Donlin Gold again is sponsoring Rural Community Action Program's (CAP's) Elder Mentor Program that recruits and places local elders in the Yukon-Kuskokwim schools to share traditional knowledge and values to students around the region Galore Creek sponsored the Tahltan Literacy Camps in Northern British Columbia as well as other local community initiatives



President's Message

Donlin Gold Project

NOVAGOLD is in excellent shape. It is a streamlined, focused company working toward one objective: completing permitting to advance the Donlin Gold project up the value-chain, further enhancing what we believe will be the most valuable gold development project in the world. We have not wavered from this key objective since we started the process in 2012, when we raised the capital needed to take us through permitting and beyond. Though the precise timing of receiving permits is not yet known, with the gold market in mind, the reality is that no matter how we look at it, time is on our side. What matters is that we are approaching the Donlin Gold project the right way and it continues to move forward. After more than two decades of exploration and development activities, although quite a bit of work remains prior to making a construction decision, we believe that it is just a matter of time before we can expect to have secured the necessary permits for Donlin Gold. This is a major achievement in the process of project de-risking as we work to unlock Donlin Gold's ability to be a significant cash flow generator for many decades to come.

Donlin Gold is not just any project. For us and our stakeholders, permitting a venture that is slated to potentially be the largest pure gold-producing mine in the world - in the safest national jurisdiction in the world - is a very big deal. As such, it is important to look back and acknowledge the tremendous progress that has been achieved to date. The Corps has now completed the public scoping process, worked with the cooperating agencies to identify and select a reasonable range of alternatives to Donlin Gold's proposed action, prepared a complete preliminary draft EIS that was reviewed by the eleven cooperating agencies, published a draft EIS for public review, and completed a six-month public comment period which included numerous meetings throughout the Y-K region. What has been achieved is a testament to the incredible amount of collaboration, commitment and hard work by all parties involved. I am satisfied where we stand today knowing that the process and insights received along the way have helped further strengthen the quality of the Donlin Gold EIS analysis. With a unique asset that is generational in importance, we maintain a long-term view for the project, while staying focused on all the details that will lead to its successful development. As mine-builders, we have seen from experience that the more work we put into the front-end, the better the outcome we can all expect when we go into production.

In the third quarter of 2016, the Corps began reviewing and categorizing the comment submissions received during the draft EIS public comment period to evaluate and initiate the work needed to complete the final EIS. Approximately 600 letters and public statements were received from Alaska Native Corporations, business groups, communities, the State of Alaska and Federal agencies. We greatly appreciate the feedback and participation during the Corps' public comment period, as the comments will help shape not only the future of the project, but the future of both the Y-K region and the State of Alaska. Jointly with Calista Corporation (Calista) and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC), our Native Corporation partners, we continue to openly and transparently communicate with and listen to the residents of the Y-K region as the project advances. Carefully reviewing the draft EIS comments is an important part of drafting the final EIS, ensuring that all technical issues are thoroughly considered and addressed in the analysis. Overall, few new issues were raised during the public comment period and most matters had been already addressed at length in the draft EIS. The Corps is working to establish a target release date for the final EIS, which is required before it can issue a record of decision (ROD) on Donlin Gold's Clean Water Act Section 404 (wetland) and 10 (rivers and harbors) permit application. The Corps is dedicated to the timely completion of the environmental assessment process and continues to work collaboratively with the cooperating agencies to ensure that the EIS is a thorough document which supports all the requisite Federal permit decisions required for the project. An appropriate update will be provided once a schedule is released by the Corps. While Donlin Gold continues to work with the Corps in support of the EIS process, other major State and Federal permit processes have been advancing concurrently, including the integrated waste management permit; reclamation plan approval; water discharge permit; dam safety approvals; pipeline authorizations; water use, air quality and fish habitat permits; and the land and shoreline lease and right-of-way approvals.

As we work together to accomplish our goals, relations with our partner have never been better. NOVAGOLD and Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") have been investing the professional and financial resources needed to provide strategic and day-to-day support to Donlin Gold, LLC, our joint operating company, in order to ensure timely and efficient completion of permitting. The partners have also been continuing to strengthen relationships with stakeholders at the local, regional, State and Federal levels. More than all this, we share alignment at all levels, from senior management to the teams in the field.

As the Donlin Gold EIS and permitting processes progress, the owners are studying ways to further enhance the project's value and minimize initial capital, such as modular construction techniques, more selective mining methods, automation of certain mining activities and other opportunities. To date, these additional studies have identified opportunities that have the potential to increase the overall value of Donlin Gold. The work being completed by Barrick's and NOVAGOLD's experienced mine builders and operators will benefit the project when the owners decide to update the feasibility study, which was completed in 2011, and to initiate the engineering work necessary to advance the project design from feasibility level to basic and then detailed engineering. The owners will take all of this work into account before reaching a construction decision.

This characterization of our shared project is not an exaggeration. In terms of combined size, grade and production profile, Donlin Gold is truly in a league of its own in the gold industry. Donlin Gold enjoys an enormous and rarely seen endowment of 39 million ounces of gold just in the measured and indicated categories alone. For a mine to start with such a resource may well be a first. That the resource inclusive of the reserves come in at an average grade of 2.2 grams per tonne (even higher in the earlier years), is also truly extraordinary. Moreover, with anticipated annual gold production of greater than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life, Donlin Gold is slated to be one of the largest producers in the world - and this does not even take into account the deposit's excellent exploration potential. The project's competitive advantage is further solidified by its location in Alaska, the second largest gold-producing state in the safest national jurisdiction in the world. We are blessed that Alaska is a state that has a healthy mining industry with six major mining operations and a culture of responsible resource development. It is for all these reasons that we have the unwavering conviction that Donlin Gold is a truly unique and attractive gold asset, one that is very much needed in an era defined by the scarcity of quality assets in our industry. With such defining attributes, our objective is to make Donlin Gold a pacesetter of excellence in operating performance, environmental and social stewardship and financial value for all of our stakeholders for many years to come.

Galore Creek Project

Galore Creek is often given too cursory a glance in our narrative as we have focused on advancing Donlin Gold. Our shareholders should know that Galore Creek is a great asset. Like Donlin Gold, it enjoys a size and grade that is world-class. The belief that it will be one of the largest and lowest-cost copper mines in Canada, one of the world's safest jurisdictions, reinforces our view that it will be a very valuable attribute to a potential developer. They know as do we that the jurisdictional risks in copper are at least as pronounced as in gold. Candidly, if it weren't for our focus on our pure-gold play flagship, Galore Creek would in and of itself be a worthy company-maker for our team. With that in mind, the Galore Creek Partnership has been focusing on completing targeted studies to optimize the project design. Final reports were completed on the first phase of the tunneling evaluation for access and material handling as well as enhancements to the mining, waste rock, and water management plans. Both Teck and NOVAGOLD are confident that these efforts will further improve the value and marketability of the Galore Creek project, which we continue to plan to monetize to further strengthen our balance sheet and allow us to redeploy capital toward the development of Donlin Gold.

Stakeholder Engagement

As partners, stakeholders and neighbors, we value enormously the relationships that have been cultivated over many years with the local communities that surround our projects. The time spent with our various stakeholders allowed us to get more familiar with their goals, values, needs and concerns, to carefully design our projects to enable the co-existence between a subsistence way of life and economic prosperity in the Y-K region. In the third quarter, local engagement in Alaska was focused on village visits, participation in community events and fairs, promotion of summer safety, and advancement of workforce development initiatives. Since 2014, Donlin Gold has been an annual sponsor of Rural CAP's Elder Mentor Program that places local elders in the Y-K schools around the region. The elders serve as positive role models, passing along traditional knowledge and values to the students. During the 2015/16 school year, 30 elders provided over 10,000 hours helping students in nine communities around the Y-K region. As part of Donlin Gold's summer safety program, the team took to the water to reach residents in a meaningful way, delivering multi-use buckets with a summer safety checklist, life vests and other useful summer subsistence items. 2016 marked Donlin Gold's fifth year of sponsoring the summer safety program; to date approximately 6,000 life vests have been distributed. Donlin Gold is also heavily involved in supporting scholastic and technical skills development opportunities, having recently met with Calista internship students to talk about career opportunities in the mining industry as well as the qualifications required for becoming a competitive employment candidate. Galore Creek sponsored the Tahltan Literacy Camps which took place in three villages in northern British Columbia and provided quality learning support for Aboriginal children during the summer months.

Balance Sheet

Judiciously managing our treasury has been a hallmark of the Company, and remains a key focus as we stay true to our long-term outlook and strategy. Put simply, our cash and term deposits of approximately $108 million are more than sufficient to take Donlin Gold through the permitting process.

To conclude, I would like to thank our operating partners for their professionalism in working with us; the Governments and Native Corporations of the jurisdictions where we operate; our shareholders for their support and trust; our Board of Directors for its shareholder value-focused vision; and finally, our employees whose dedication and hard work move us forward during this momentous time in the life of our gold company,as well as the gold industry itself.

Gregory A. Lang

President & CEO

Financial Results

in thousands of U.S. dollars, except for per share amounts

Three months

ended

August 31,

2016

$ Three months

ended

August 31,

2015

$ Nine months

ended

August 31,

2016

$ Nine months

ended

August 31,

2015

$ General and administrative expense (1) 4,222 4,062 16,107 15,714 Share of losses - Donlin Gold 1,980 2,803 6,485 8,953 Share of losses - Galore Creek 212 (346) 726 65 Studies and evaluation - 52 - 353 Depreciation 8 8 25 26 Total operating expenses 6,422 6,579 23,343 25,111 Loss from operations (6,422) (6,579) (23,343) (25,111) Other income (expense) (885) 288 (3,000) 341 Loss for the period (7,381) (6,301) (26,496) (24,784) Loss per share, basic and diluted (0.02) (0.02) (0.08) (0.08) At At August 31,

2016

$ Nov 30,

2015

$ Cash and term deposits 108,455 126,731 Total assets 420,389 433,584 Total liabilities 107,229 104,288

(1) Includes share-based compensation expense of $1,869 and $1,673 in the third quarter of 2016 and 2015, respectively, and $8,446 and $7,730 in the first nine months of 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Loss from operations in the third quarter decreased from $6.6 million in 2015 to $6.4 million in 2016, and decreased in the first nine months from $25.1 million in 2015 to $23.3 million in 2016. The year-to-date decrease in loss from operations is primarily due to a reduction of our share of losses at the Donlin Gold project, as 2016 activities continued to focus on the EIS and permitting processes.

Net loss increased from $6.3 million ($0.02 per share) in the third quarter of 2015 to $7.4 million ($0.02 per share) in the third quarter of 2016, primarily due to a $1.1 million foreign exchange gain in the third quarter of 2015. For the first nine months, net loss increased from $24.8 million ($0.08 per share) in 2015 to $26.5 million ($0.08 per share) in 2016, primarily due to a $4.4 million foreign exchange gain in 2015, partially offset by the reduction in loss from operations and lower interest expense. The U.S. dollar significantly strengthened in relation to the Canadian dollar during the first nine months of 2015 and a foreign exchange gain was realized by the Canadian parent company on its cash denominated in U.S. dollars.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash and term deposits decreased by $3.3 million and $18.3 million in the third quarter and first nine months of 2016, respectively. The decrease in cash was primarily related to the use of $2.7 million and $7.9 million in the third quarter and first nine months of 2016, respectively, to fund our share of the Donlin Gold and Galore Creek projects, as well as operating activities for administrative costs and working capital, and withholding taxes on vested performance share units. As noted above, our cash and term deposits are more than sufficient to fund NOVAGOLD and take Donlin Gold through the permitting process. The term deposits are denominated in U.S. dollars and held at two Canadian chartered banks.

2016 Outlook

For the full year, we expect to spend approximately $23 million; $2 million lower than our original forecast. We expect to spend approximately $10 million to fund our share of expenditures at the Donlin Gold and Galore Creek projects; $11 million for general and administrative costs, and $2 million for working capital and other corporate purposes.

NOVAGOLD remains committed to its five primary goals for 2016: to advance the Donlin Gold project toward a construction decision; to uphold strong relationships with all stakeholders; to advance Galore Creek project mine planning and design; to evaluate opportunities to monetize the value of Galore Creek; and finally, to maintain a healthy balance sheet.

Conference Call & Webcast Details

NOVAGOLD's conference call and webcast to discuss the second quarter results will take place October 5, 2016 at 7:00 am PT (10:00 am ET). The webcast and conference call-in details are provided below.

Webcast: www.novagold.com/investors/events North American callers: 1-866-426-5215 International callers: 1-704-908-0398 Conference ID: 79307970

The webcast will be archived on NOVAGOLD's website for one year. For a transcript of the call please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

About NOVAGOLD

NOVAGOLD is a well-financed precious metals company focused on the permitting and development of its 50%-owned Donlin Gold project in Alaska, one of the safest jurisdictions in the world. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated resource categories, inclusive of proven and probable reserves (541 million tonnes at an average grade of approximately 2.2 grams per tonne), Donlin Gold is regarded to be one of the largest, highest grade, and most prospective known gold deposits in the world. According to the Second Updated Feasibility Study (as defined below), once in production, Donlin Gold is expected to produce an average of more than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life on a 100% basis. The Donlin Gold project has substantial exploration potential beyond the designed footprint which currently covers only three kilometers of an approximately eight-kilometer long gold-bearing trend. Current activities at Donlin Gold are focused on permitting, community outreach and workforce development in preparation for the construction and operation of this top tier asset. NOVAGOLD also owns 50% of the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project located in northern British Columbia. According to the 2011 Pre-Feasibility Study (as defined below), once in production, Galore Creek is expected to be the largest copper mine in Canada, a tier-one jurisdiction. NOVAGOLD anticipates selling all or a portion of its interest in Galore Creek and would apply the proceeds toward the development of Donlin Gold. With a strong balance sheet, NOVAGOLD is well positioned to stay the course and take Donlin Gold through permitting.

Scientific and Technical Information

Scientific and technical information contained herein with respect to Donlin Gold is derived from the "Donlin Creek Gold Project Alaska, USA NI 43-101 Technical Report on Second Updated Feasibility Study" compiled by AMEC with an effective date of November 18, 2011, as amended January 20, 2012 (the "Second Updated Feasibility Study"). Kirk Hanson, P.E., Technical Director, Open Pit Mining, North America, (AMEC, Reno), and Gordon Seibel, R.M. SME, Principal Geologist, (AMEC, Reno) are the Qualified Persons responsible for the preparation of the independent technical report, each of whom are independent "qualified persons" as defined by NI 43-101.

Certain scientific and technical information contained herein with respect to Galore Creek is derived from the technical report entitled "Galore Creek Project British Columbia NI 43-101 Technical Report on Pre-Feasibility Study" dated effective July 27, 2011 (the "2011 Pre-Feasibility Study"). The Qualified Persons responsible for the preparation of the independent technical report are Greg Kulla, P. Geo., Principal Geologist (AMEC Americas Limited), and Jay Melnyk, P. Eng. (AMEC Americas Limited), each of whom are independent "qualified persons" as defined by NI 43-101.

Clifford Krall, P.E., who is the Mine Engineering Manager for NOVAGOLD and a "qualified person" under NI 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical information related to the Donlin Gold and Galore Creek projects contained in this press release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the timing of permitting and potential development of Donlin Gold, statements relating to NOVAGOLD's future operating and financial performance, outlook, and the potential sale of all or part of NOVAGOLD's interest in Galore Creek are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding the 2016 outlook; perceived merit of properties; anticipated permitting timeframes; exploration results and budgets; mineral reserve and resource estimates; work programs; capital expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; completion of transactions; market prices for precious and base metals; or other statements that are not statements of fact. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NOVAGOLD's expectations include the uncertainties involving the need to obtain permits and governmental approvals; the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; the need for continued cooperation with Barrick Gold Corporation and Teck Resources Limited for the continued exploration and development of the Donlin Gold and Galore Creek properties, respectively; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the development and operation of properties; risks of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather, non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological structures, ore grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; and other risk and uncertainties disclosed in NOVAGOLD's Annual Report filed on Form 10-K for the year-ended November 30, 2015 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Canadian securities regulators, and in other NOVAGOLD reports and documents filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. NOVAGOLD's forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made. NOVAGOLD assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM)-CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended ("CIM Definition Standards"). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and resource and reserve information contained herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term "resource" does not equate to the term "reserves". Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SEC's disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute "reserves" by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of "measured" or "indicated resources" will ever be converted into "reserves". Investors should also understand that "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to "indicated resource", "measured resource", or "mineral reserve" status. Under Canadian rules, estimated "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of "reserves" are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by NOVAGOLD in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards. Neither Donlin Gold nor Galore Creek have known reserves, as defined under SEC Industry Guide 7. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.
RENO, NEVADA--(Oct. 4, 2016) - NuLegacy Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:NUG)(OTCQX:NULGF) is undertaking a non-brokered private placement financing of 20 million units at a price of C$0.45 per unit for gross proceeds of C$9.0 million. Each Unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share for a period, subject to acceleration, of 18 months at an exercise price of C$0.65 per share.

"With a second Carlin-style deposit to explore [the newly discovered Avocado deposit] while we accelerate the delineation of the first [the Iceberg deposit] we greatly appreciate the continued support from existing and new shareholders", said NuLegacy Chairman, Albert Matter.

"This extra funding will permit us to properly plan our much expanded 2017 drilling program; already it has allowed us to significantly develop our exploration team, and with this funding we can commit to extra drilling rigs/drillers for next year. The deeper exploration drilling of the Avocado deposit, and the need for more core holes to better delineate the Iceberg deposit in preparation for a resource valuation, increases the budgetary needs. As well as strengthening the balance sheet against the vicissitudes of the market, it will fund continued wildcat exploration on the rest of our highly prospective 38 sq. mile land package in the famed Cortez gold trend of Nevada."

The financing is expected to close on or about October 11, 2016, prior to which Barrick Gold Corporation, OceanaGold Corporation and/or Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, LP have the right to elect to participate to maintain their current equity ownership interests in NuLegacy Gold (as announced February 23, 2016; April 13, 2016; and August 18, 2014 respectively).

Closing is subject to conditional acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange and finder's fees may be paid in accordance with Exchange policies. Inquires as to participation should be directed to our Chairman Albert Matter (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 604-639-3640).

About NuLegacy: NuLegacy Gold Corporation is a Nevada-based exploration company focused on expanding its Carlin-style near-surface Iceberg oxide gold deposit with an established exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonnei, and exploring for additional gold deposits on its 38 sq. mile (98 sq. km) Red Hill property located in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada.

The Iceberg gold deposit has similar geology to that of Barrick Gold's multi-million-ounce Pipeline deposit, the discovery of which is credited to NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer, Dr. Roger Steininger. The Iceberg is located on trend and adjacentii to three of Barrick Gold's multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) that are amongst Barrick's lowest cost and politically safest gold assetsiii.

i These figures are conceptual in nature and derived from a compilation of 149 historic and 34 NuLegacy drill holes in and around the Iceberg deposit. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. ii The similarity and close proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in the Iceberg deposit. iii As extracted from Barrick's Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports.

On Behalf Of NuLegacy Gold Corporation

James E Anderson, Chief Executive Officer

For further information please visit www.nulegacygold.com.

Dr. Roger Steininger, NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for approving the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. There are no known resources or reserves in the Iceberg and Avocado deposits and the proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore. In addition, the presence of gold deposits on properties adjacent or in close proximity to the Iceberg and Avocado deposits is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Iceberg and Avocado deposits. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our annual management's discussion and analysis dated July 28, 2016 for the year ended March 31, 2016. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation.
A fake letter purportedly signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone viral on social media and it urges people to boycott Chinese goods this festive season.

By India Today Web Desk: While the entire country is busy bashing Pakistan after the Uri terror attack of September 18 and the subsequent provocations in response to India's surgical strike, there is another country that seems to be arousing rather strong sentiments.

You know who we are talking about - China.

Some people seem to be conducting a social media campaign to urge people to boycott Chinese products during the upcoming festive season.

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It all began with a fake letter purportedly signed by none other than PM Modi that was being circulated on social media, and more on instant message applications like Whatsapp. The letter urged Indians to use Indian products during Diwali and shun Chinese goods. However, the official Twitter account of PM Modi tweeted to warn the public, saying the document is not authentic.

Few appeals with PMs signature are circulated on social media. Such documents are not authentic. pic.twitter.com/9AOcvHStFu PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 31, 2016

Other than this fake letter, there have been memes and images doing the rounds on the internet spreading the same message.









Then came statements from some politicians asking people to boycott Chinese products. Kailash Vijayvargiya, National General Secretary of the BJP, called for a boycott of Chinese products yesterday to protest China role in giving Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar another six-month breather.

Vijayvargiya tweeted "Buying Chinese products is an indirect support to a terrorist country." However, he deleted the tweet later.

Today, one of the senior ministers in the Assam government, Himanta Biswa Sarma, urged people to shun Chinese products this Dusshera.

"This Durga Puja people should avoid buying products made in China. Instead they should buy lamps, decorative lights and household utensils made in India," he said. Sarma's call for boycott comes after China announced that it had blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra to facilitate work on one of its "most expensive" hydropower projects in Tibet.

--- ENDS ---
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 4, 2016) - CKR Carbon Corporation. (TSXV: CKR) (FSE: CB81) ("CKR" or the "Company"), a graphite development Company, and operator of the Aukam vein graphite project in Namibia, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the Agreement) with a vertically integrated graphite producer (the "Producer") to supply an initial 5,000 tonnes of graphite per annum subject to granting of a mining license an application for which will be submitted in early 2017. The supply agreement expands upon the Letter of Intent signed in March (see News Release dated March 16, 2016). The agreement is for ten (10) years and the Producer has the option to renew the agreement for a further ten (10) years.

Following signing of the Letter of Intent, CKR supplied the Producer with several samples of Aukam vein graphite material for testing, including a 1.6 tonne bulk sample. The samples successfully passed preliminary testing, including testing for suitability in battery anodes. Additional testing by third parties is required, following successful completion of which the Producer will purchase a commercially reasonable quantity of graphite each year that could eventually reach 10,000 tonnes.

An estimated order for graphite will be placed with the Company at least four weeks prior to each quarter. Delivery of the graphite to the Producer shall be outlined in a final order that specifies quantity, material, sizing, packing, quality humidity and terms of payment. Price of the graphite will be negotiated at the time of each order in the context of prevailing market conditions. It is anticipated that product deliveries will take place Free on Board (FOB) Luderitz Bay, Namibia, approximately 200 kilometres by road from Aukam.

"This supply agreement gives the Company a market for the Aukam graphite, and the opportunity to be exposed to technology in the graphene and graphite anode space," said Roger Moss, CKR Carbon Corporation CEO. "We look forward to a long term relationship that is mutually beneficial to both companies."

The Company cautions that it has not conducted an economic study and it is uncertain if the Aukam graphite will be found to have demonstrated economic viability. The technical information in this news release was prepared by Roger Moss, Ph.D., P.Geo a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About the Aukam Project

CKR has, through a Farm Out Agreement with Next Graphite Inc. an option to acquire 63% of the Aukam graphite project by meeting certain milestones and making cash payments. It also has the option to buy an incremental 10% of Next's remaining interest in the License for a cash payment of US$185,000, subject to agreement by Next. To date, CKR has spent more than US$400,000 on the project and consequently earned a 23% interest.

The Aukam Graphite Project is located on 34,082.15 hectares in southern Namibia close to the port city of Luderitz. The property hosts three underground adits which were mined periodically between 1940 and 1974. Five dumps from the historical mining occur on the property and 73 composite samples taken from the lower three dumps were assayed and averaged 42% Cg. While these composite samples were selected from a much larger screened sample of the dumps, they are not considered representative of the mineralization on the property as a whole.

CKR recently completed a bulk sampling program at Aukam, and has a letter of intent to sell the graphitic material produced during the program. CKR is currently undertaking studies to support an application for a mining license. The company maintains high safety and environmental standards and has a comprehensive strategy of social engagement.

About CKR Carbon Corporation

CKR Carbon Corporation is focused on high quality, natural graphite suitable for use in lithium-ion batteries, graphite foil and other value-added high growth technology applications. We only select projects requiring low capital and a short time to market. The company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol CKR and has 33.2 million shares outstanding.

For more information: visit the website at www.ckrcarbon.com or contact:

Roger Moss, CEO, +1 416-704-8291 E-mail inquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For graphite product enquiries:

Arno Brand, Boswell Projects, +1 416-561-4095 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).
A photo of sushi with an excessive amount wasabi served at Ichibazushi, a restaurant in Osaka, posted on an online community of Korean travelers.

/ Captured from internet



By Kim Se-jeong

Wasabi, the green spicy condiment widely consumed in Japan especially with sushi and sashimi, is at the center of a new controversy between Korea and Japan.

Some Korean visitors to an outlet of the sushi restaurant chain, Ichibazushi, in central Osaka accused the restaurant of serving them an excessive amount of wasabi on their raw fish "to make fun of them."

The restaurant has been popular among Korean tourists recently.

Some people who visited the Osaka outlet said on an online travel community that the restaurant served sushi with too much wasabi on it to foreign visitors who don't speak Japanese. They said they saw the restaurant's staff giggling at them while their eyes were watering because of too much wasabi. Others wrote the restaurant serves Korean customers poor-quality fish, and the excessive use of the condiment was a way to cover it up.

They claimed it was an ill-intended act against them, calling it "wasabi terror."

"I thought it was just me," one wrote on the website. Another wrote, "It's not new for Ichibazushi to discriminate against Korean customers. I knew about it."

As the controversy grew and some even called for a boycott against the restaurant. The restaurant operator, Fujii Shokuhin, apologized in a statement, Sunday.

"We apologize for causing trouble on the internet about our service to customers," it said on its website. But it denied the accusation of ill intention. "We have not confirmed any discriminatory intent involved here. But we'll intensify training and education to staff for more customer satisfaction."

It added the chefs put extra wasabi without asking the customers because foreign customers often requested more wasabi.

Its website is currently down.

The issue has gained attention from media outlets in Japan and other countries as well.

In a report by the Japan Times, readers posted a wide range of comments.

"This doesn't surprise me a bit. So the moral of the story is that Japanese businesses in Japan employ many such tactics to tell foreigners that they're not welcome in their shops," one wrote.

Some defended the restaurant. "I have a lot of Chinese friends here (Hong Kong) and whenever I eat sushi or sashimi with them, they'll definitely ask for extra wasabi," according to another.
By Yi Whan-woo





Choo Mi-ae

MPK Chairwoman

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) has begun to release its positions on disputed domestic issues in English.

The MPK is the first major political party of South Korea to provide these in a foreign language, according to officials, Tuesday.

MPK Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae, a five-term lawmaker, proposed the idea to share the party's opinions better with foreign media outlets after she was elected on Aug. 27, the officials said.

The first four position papers were issued on the MPK's website from Sept. 29 to 30. The party plans to post up to 10 on the website every month.

"The opposition often submitted op-ed articles to overseas media when the late President Kim Dae-jung led it, but it has been rare for any party to release papers regularly," MPK chief spokesman Rep. Youn Kwan-suk said.

Kim, who served as the president from February 1998 to February 2003, was a long-time opposition figure under military rule during the 1970s and 80s.

"We'll consistently make comments in English on subjects that are important enough to be covered by overseas media, especially human rights and inter-Korean relations," he said.

The party's vice spokeswoman Kang Sun-woo, who handles foreign codependents in Seoul, said that the papers will help "diversify views" on controversial subjects.

Kang writes the position papers exclusively in consultation with Choo.

"Chairwoman Choo has been underscoring the importance of enhancing communications with foreign media for years and said she would implement her idea if she was elected to lead the party," Kang said. "She has been stressing a two-track strategy in delivering information to Korean and overseas media outlets, separately, so that each group can influence each other in raising global awareness on key issues here."

Kang, 38, joined the MPK as a proportional representative candidate in the April general election.

"The MPK seemed to be the ideal party for me to fulfill my goal of serving democracy faithfully,'' she said.

She was named party vice spokeswoman in May after failing to win a parliamentary seat.

Kang was an assistant professor at South Dakota State University from 2012 before returning to Seoul.

She earned her Ph.D. in human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012.

In the latest English position paper, the MPK accused the police of abuse of power concerning the death of Baek Nam-ki, a 69-year-old farmer, who was in a coma for 10 months after being hit by a water canon during an anti-government protest in November.

The party also suggested offering surplus rice to North Korea to stabilize rice prices in South Korea in addition to serving the purpose of humanitarian assistance.

Regarding recent corruption scandals involving Woo Byung-woo, senior secretary for civil affairs and other aides of President Park Geun-hye, the party criticized the administration for failing to observe the much-touted anti-graft law that took effect Sept. 28.

The MPK cited its leader's thoughts on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's possible bid for the 2017 presidency as well as Choo's opposition toward the planned deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in South Korea.
By Lee Seong-hyon

Back in Korea's Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), one of Korea's main exports to China was ginseng, which is still very popular among Chinese today. Known to be efficacious for boosting vigor, mental clarity, and touted for men's health, it is a coveted item that is also pricey due to the time (six years) it takes for ginseng to reach its maturity.

When Joseon's government delegation visited Beijing, the Korean ginseng merchants also followed them. At that time, it took two months to travel from Seoul to Beijing, and another two months to return. In Beijing, they stayed about one month before they headed back home.

Chinese merchants were keen to buy the Korean ginseng. But they wanted to cut the price. After all, Chinese people are known to be skillful negotiators. They also bemoaned the fact that the Korean merchants dominated the high-end ginseng market over the locally produced ginseng.

But the Korean sellers stuck at the pre-arranged price and didn't budge. They were well united and wouldn't compromise on the price.

To break the Korean unity, the Chinese buyers colluded to boycott the Korean ginseng altogether. After all, the Koreans came all the way from Seoul, taking two months to get there. If no Chinese merchants were to buy it, then the Koreans would have to return home without earning any money, while having to carry the loads of unsold ginseng all the way back home, the Chinese calculated. They thought time was on their side; as time passed by, the Koreans would become nervous, back down, their unity broken, and would yield to lower price biddings, one by one.

Half a month passed.

The Chinese checked to see whether some Korean merchants changed their minds and would want to sell ginseng at a cheaper price. No one. Furthermore, they noticed that the Koreans didn't seem worried at all. On the contrary, the Koreans were spending their time in Beijing, relaxed and merrymaking, as if they were there as tourists. They didn't seem to care about selling ginseng at all. The Chinese were baffled.

A month passed. It was time for the Koreans to leave.

The day before their departure, the Korean merchants collected all the ginseng and placed them in the guesthouse courtyard they were staying at. They then put them on fire.

The Korean merchants would rather burn their ginseng than sell them at a dirt cheap price to the Chinese who wouldn't give them a fair price. It was a resolute expression of confronting the Chinese strategy.

As the fire rose high, the Chinese panicked. If the Korean ginseng were all burned, then the Chinese merchants would also have nothing to sell for one year. The Korean merchants would make no profits, but so would the Chinese.

In the end, it was the Chinese who backed down. Furthermore, the Chinese were able to purchase the ginseng only after they promised to buy them at double the original price.

The cleverness of the Korean ginseng sellers was that what they burnt in front of the Chinese was, in fact, not ginseng, but bellflower -- another plant whose appearance is similar to that of ginseng. So, the Koreans didn't lose their ginseng. They returned home with a doubled profit.

This story was introduced in Choi In-ho's book "Sangdo," which was based on real events.

Today, faced with the mounting Chinese pressure on South Korea to forgo the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment decision, it would be an interesting question to ask whether South Korea has good strategists -- like the ginseng merchants in the old story.

In pressuring Seoul, Beijing didn't even mind sounding out various forms of threats, comparing the South Korean decision as tantamount to "drawing fire on itself," and the Chinese defense ministry vowing to "take necessary measures."

From a negotiation strategy perspective, it's realistic to expect that if South Korea deploys THAAD, it will be affected by its decision. It is therefore important for South Korea to evaluate options it has in dealing with China. Here are some ideas.

First, anticipate impact. If the Chinese threats ever materialize (some already did), how much damage will it have on South Korea? Second, assess China's concerns. Is China using THAAD as a convenient ploy to "test" the Seoul-Washington alliance, or to exert influence on South Korea, or is China genuinely concerned about THAAD from the national strategy level? There are signs that South Korea may have made some misjudgments on this. Third, do an inventory check list of a range of retaliatory options China has in implementing the threats. Fourth, assess options South Korea can use in return. This may include a "lose-lose" option in which both China and South Korea stand to lose. This doesn't exclude brinkmanship.

A brinkmanship strategy is essentially a tool to create a self-destructive situation where the other side is also destined to be affected. It's not an easy choice that one makes every day. But without such determination, South Korea will lose the entire game.

Finally, and very importantly, South Korea should keep in mind that the matter doesn't have to end up as a zero-sum game. China also prefers not to see the discord to fundamentally undermine the bilateral relationship, at the moment. So, stay robustly engaged with China. Brainstorm ideas. And don't forget to eat some ginseng.

Lee Seong-hyon, Ph.D. is a research fellow at the Sejong Institute. Reach him at sunnybbsfs@gmail.com.
By PTI: Pathankot, Oct 4 (PTI) An empty Pakistani boat, which drifted into Indian territory, was today seized by BSF troops from Ravi River in Punjabs Amritsar district and it will be handed over to the Pakistani Rangers, to whom it belongs, tomorrow.

"We have captured a Pakistani boat which had washed away to this side in River Ravi along the International Border (IB) in Amritsar sector," DIG BSF R S Kataria said.

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It was an empty boat. Nothing suspicious was found so the boat will be returned to Pakistani rangers tomorrow, he said.

Giving further details, the DIG BSF said the forward deployed BSF troops observed the boat coming from Pak side in River Ravi.

The troops immediately alerted the BSF personnel stationed at the ferry point of border outpost near Kakkar. They then seized the said boat, he said.

The green-colored boat is about 15 ft x 6 ft in size, he said.

The items found in the boat included a 16-feet bamboo stick of 2.5 inch diameter, a wooden picket of 3 feet length, a small Pak Flag and Multan-made candy, the DIG said.

Kataria said that a flag meeting was conducted with Pakistani Rangers wherein they accepted that the iron boat belonged to the Pakistani Rangers Post New Balam.

They said the boat drifted from Pakistan side to Indian side due to strong currents, the DIG said.

The seizure comes at a time when there is heightened vigil due to tension between India and Pakistan.

Another Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard on October 2. PTI AB SRY SK SRY

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At around midnight, Karnataka released around 9,000 cusecs of water for irrigation purposes to Tamil Nadu. SC had slammed Karnataka govt for its defiant attitude.

By Rohini Swamy: At around midnight, Karnataka released around 6,000 cusecs of water for irrigation purposes from the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam to Tamil Nadu.

Another 3,000 cusecs of water was also discharged from the Kabini Dam.



Also read: Cauvery water dispute: Karnataka's U-turn after inflow in reservoirs increased



This move came soon after a resolution was passed In the Karnataka legislature that the state government would release water to the farmers of the Cauvery basin.



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SC PULLED UP KARNATAKA



The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the state of Karnataka for its defiant attitude and warned the state govt not to 'invite the wrath of the court'.

Also read: Cauvery row: Deve Gowda withdraws fast after PM Modi intervenes

On the floor of the House, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah explained that "in the normal course, around 1,200 cusecs of water was flowing into Tamil Nadu from Cauvery. Karnataka will further release 3,000 cusecs of water to Billigundlu and another 3,000 cusecs of water would reach Tamil Nadu due to bad water management."

AIADMK MPs TO MEET PM



Meanwhile, a delegation of AIADMK MPs, led by Lok Sabha Speaker Thambidurai, will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, seeking his intervention into the Cauvery water issue. A decision to this effect was taken yesterday night.

The MPs will also appeal to the PM to create Cauvery Water Management Board and obtain water from Karnataka for Tamil Nadu farmers.



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The Supreme Court decision is likely to end the impasse between the two states for now.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today ordered Karnataka to release 2000 cusecs of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu for 12 days from October 7-18.

The apex court had given Karnataka deadline till 3.15 pm today to inform it about how much water the state can release to its neighbour.

The Supreme Court has also put on hold the constitution of a Cauvery Water Management Board after the government told the apex court it had no jurisdiction to order the formation of the body.



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Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are at war over the sharing of Cauvery river water for a long time. The Supreme Court decision is likely to end the impasse for now.



Karnataka relents after Supreme Court rap, releases Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu



Karnataka on Monday night released around 6,000 cusecs of water for irrigation purposes from the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam to Tamil Nadu.

ALSO READ | Cauvery water dispute: Karnataka's U-turn after inflow in reservoirs increased



The move came after a resolution was passed in the Karnataka legislature that the state government would release water to the farmers of the Cauvery basin.

The Supreme Court had come down heavily on Karnataka for its defiant attitude and warned the state government not to "invite the wrath of the court".

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The family of an Uri attack martyr has criticised political leaders and called them as agents from Pakistan who should be hanged.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: The comments made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Maharashtra State Congress President Sanjay Nirupam raising questions over the surgical strikes on Pakistan has infuriated family members of the soldiers killed in Uri terror attacks.

Family of Naik SK Vidyarthi, hailing from Gaya in Bihar, who was one of the brave soldiers martyred in the Uri terror attack has said politicians like Kejriwal, Chidambaram and Nirupam were traitors. The family said these politicians should be hanged for making such comments.

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Such politicians who make such bizzare comments only add to our pain. All these politicians are Pakistani agents and they should be hanged", said Kiran, wife of martyr SK Vidyarthi.

The family also said leaders like Kejriwal, Chidambaram and Sanjay Nirupam should leave India and go to Pakistan.

READ| Om Puri insults Uri martyrs. But why do we need to take him seriously?



For the sake of power, these leaders are trying to turn India into Pakistan and this is extremely painful for us??, said Aarti, daughter of martyr SK Vidyarthi.

The Delhi chief minister along with Congress leaders Chidambaram and Nirupam have been facing flaks in the political circle for their remarks on India's surgical strikes on Pakistan. While Sanjay Nirupam has called the surgical strikes as fake, Kejriwal and Chidambaram demanded proof of Indian Army's surgical strike on the neighbouring country.

READ| Heads start rolling in Uri attack, brigade commander removed as army probes terror strike

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By PTI: Jamshedpur, Oct 4 (PTI) A full-fledged company of CRPFs women battalion will be deployed in Jharkhand in the next ten days to carry out anti-naxal operations, CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said today.

Currently, a women battalion of the CRPF is undergoing training at Salboni in West Bengal and one company of this battalion will be deployed in Ranchi in the next ten days, said Prasad, who laid the foundation of a barrack and 317 quarters for jawans of Rapid Action Force of the 106 battalion at Sundernagar on the outskirt of Jamshedpur.

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The CRPF company will be engaged in operations against Left wing extremism as well as anti-national forces in Jharkhand, Prasad told newsmen.

To a query about the prevailing activists of CPI (Maoists), the DG CRPF said the influence of naxals have drastically come down across the country, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra after continuous operations against them.

"We have carried out nine inter-state anti-naxal operations in naxal-affected states including Bihar, Chhattisgarh while one such operation is underway today," he said claiming that altogether ten naxal camps were demolished and a huge cache of arms and ammunition seized.

A top rank Maoist leader Ashish Yadav, who was a member of Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee of the ultra group, was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Gumla district last month, he said, adding that altogether 11 encounters had taken place between the Maoists and security forces.

Elaborating about the "dwindling influence" of Maoists in the country, Prasad said CRPF personnel were carrying out operations in those areas, which the Maoists had been considering as their stronghold including Saranda in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, and driving them out.

The anti-naxal operations used to slow down during monsoon in the past but was pursued vigorously this monsoon during which eleven encounters had taken place, ten camps destroyed and some arrests made, he said.

To develop interaction with villagers as well as to make them self-reliant, CRPF has set up a poultry farm with 200 chicks for villagers near Gaya a couple of months ago and the number of chickens has doubled now, he said.

Prasad was flanked by ADG CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakia and Sanjay Lathkar, IG CRPF, Jharkhand. PTI BS MM PMS

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The talks about the possible sale of some of the federal government assets has been a major topic in Nigeria for the past few weeks.

The topic was sparked off due to a suggestion by African richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote to the Nigerian government to sell some of its assets.

Dangote advised the government to embark on wave of asset selling to boost Nigerias recession-hit economy.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, September 27, the Nigerian Senate voted against the planned sale, with the Nigerian senators urging the government to find another way to generate funds to tackle the recession.

Already, the organized labour consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria said they are set for mass revolt and civil unrest worse than the anti-SAP riots of 1989 if the government goes ahead with the planned sale.

READ ALSO: I am not interested in buying Nigerias assets  Dangote

Legit.ng lists 4 Nigerian businessmen who are capable of buying and managing Nigerian assets.

Read below:

1. Tony Elumelu: Anything he touches turn to gold. At just 34 years, he acquired and transformed Standard Trust Bank into one of the top banks in Nigeria within a very short time. In 2005, he merged the bank with United Bank for Africa (UBA) and transformed UBA into a multi-national bank that now operate in over 18 African countries with more than six million customers. He currently chairs investment firm Heirs Holdings and Nigerias largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp. He invests across Africa, primarily in the oil and gas, financial services, hospitality and power sectors.

Tony Elumelu

2. Muhammadu Indimi: Indimi is an astute business man with a notable presence in the international business arena. He sits on the board of several privately owned companies encompassing all sectors of the economy. He founded his company in 1990 - Oriental Energy Resources Limited and has expanded the companys portfolio. The company now has assets in Offshore Nigeria which includes the Ebok Field (OML 67), Okwok Field (OML 67, and OML 115). In 2004, he was named the 37th richest man in Africa by Forbes. He is a distinguished and highly successful businessman by all standards.

Muhammadu Indimi

3. Oba Otudeko: He is is the founder and chairman of Honeywell Group. The conglomerate's operations stretch across oil and gas, flour milling, real estate and marine transportation. He is also the owner of the prestigious Radisson Blu hotel in Lagos. Professionally, he is a chartered banker, chartered corporate secretary and a chartered accountant. He has been the president and chairman of council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and currently the chairman of Airtel Nigeria and Fan Milk Nigeria Plc. He is generally known for his unique business decisions which stand out in corporate circles.

Oba Otudeko

4. Jim Ovia: A financial analyst, Ovia has over 23 years of bank experience. He co-founded Zenith Bank plc in 1990 and served as its group managing director and chief executive officer from 1990 to July 10, 2010. Ovia is well respected in Nigeria for building Zenith Bank into a world class financial institution with a balance sheet of almost $4billion. He also a huge investor in the IT sector in Nigeria. He is the owner of the University of Information and Communication Technology, Agbor, Delta state and the first ever president of Nigeria Internet Group (NIG).

Jim Ovia

Source: Legit.ng
By PTI: Jamshedpur, Oct 4 (PTI) A full-fledged company of CRPFs women battalion will be deployed in Jharkhand in the next ten days to carry out anti-naxal operations, CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said today.

Currently, a women battalion of the CRPF is undergoing training at Salboni in West Bengal and one company of this battalion will be deployed in Ranchi in the next ten days, said Prasad, who laid the foundation of a barrack and 317 quarters for jawans of Rapid Action Force of the 106 battalion at Sundernagar on the outskirt of Jamshedpur.

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The CRPF company will be engaged in operations against Left wing extremism as well as anti-national forces in Jharkhand, Prasad told newsmen.

To a query about the prevailing activists of CPI (Maoists), the DG CRPF said the influence of naxals have drastically come down across the country, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra after continuous operations against them.

"We have carried out nine inter-state anti-naxal operations in naxal-affected states including Bihar, Chhattisgarh while one such operation is underway today," he said claiming that altogether ten naxal camps were demolished and a huge cache of arms and ammunition seized.

A top rank Maoist leader Ashish Yadav, who was a member of Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee of the ultra group,was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Gumla district last month, he said, adding that altogether 11 encounters had taken place between the Maoists and security forces.

Elaborating about the "dwindling influence" of Maoists in the country, Prasad said CRPF personnel were carrying out operations in those areas, which the Maoists had been considering as their stronghold including Saranda in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, and driving them out.

The anti-naxal operations used to slow down during monsoon in the past but was pursued vigorously this monsoon during which eleven encounters had taken place, ten camps destroyed and some arrests made, he said.

To develop interaction with villagers as well as to make them self-reliant, CRPF has set up a poultry farm with 200 chicks for villagers near Gaya a couple of months ago and the number of chickens has doubled now, he said.

Prasad was flanked by ADG CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakia and Sanjay Lathkar, IG CRPF, Jharkhand. PTI BS MM PMS SNP

--- ENDS ---
A complaint has been filed today against Om Puri at the Andheri Police Station, Mumbai, for allegedly insulting the Indian Army soldiers.

By Mustafa Shaikh: A complaint has been filed today against Om Puri at the Andheri Police Station, Mumbai, for allegedly insulting the Indian Army soldiers.

In his complaint, Prithvi Maske said he was watching a television debate on the surgical strikes across the LoC and the ban on Pakistani actors. Referring to the Indian soldiers, Om Puri, who was invited at the debate, reportedly said, "we had not given any invitation to the soldiers to the join the Indian Army".

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The complaint accused the actor of saying: "They join the Army with their will and they join the Army to give away their life".

The complainant has asked the police to register a case against Puri for sedition under Section 124 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Meanwhile, Puri's comments have also earned him Bollywood's ire. Actor Anupam Kher called it "very sad" while filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, who is also a member of the Central Board of Film Certification, lashed out at the actor on Twitter.

"Om Puriji, Pak artistes banned isn't a solution, but show of solidarity to our martyrs. We can't be lighting pyres while continuing to perform with them," Pandit tweeted.

At the TV debate, Puri reportedly had asked if people want India and Pakistan to become Palestine and Israel.

The actor had visited Pakistan in August to promote the Pakistani film 'Actor in Law', in which he plays a key role.

(with inputs from agencies)

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- Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said it does not use students checklist in determining applicants preferred schools

- Economic Confidential a magazine says Unilorin had the highest student applicants

- Fabian Benjamin, JAMB spokesperson, said the students checklist as outlined in the report was not determined by JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in reaction to reports going round has stated that it does not use students checklist in determining applicants preferred schools.

According to Economic Confidential a magazine, Unilorin had the highest student applicants of 103,238 (males  51, 082 and females  52, 156).

The report said that academic stability, popularity, affordability, available facilities and quality of lecturers were factors students considered before choosing their preferred institutions.

READ ALSO: JAMB cancels the use of scratch card for its examinations

Fabian Benjamin, JAMB spokesperson, speaking to Premium Times on Tuesday, October 4, said the students checklist as outlined in the report was not determined by JAMB.

Benjamin said: JAMB has no way of determining these factors from information available to us through the frequency of schools chosen by Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates.

What we do each year, is to roll out data on the institutions with the highest number of applicants. For some years now, the University of Ilorin has been topping that chart, this does not mean that the school is the best in the country. It just shows students preferences.

Unilorin goes on Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike actions, a problem that plagues many federal universities in the country.

Also, Unilorin was said to have one of the fastest academic calendars of all institutions in the country.

However, in the 2016/2017 global ranking carried out by Times Higher Education (THE), University of Ibadan was the only Nigerian university that made the list at 801.

Teaching, research citations of scholarly publications, industry income and international outlook were the factors for determining the ranking. Yet, for 2016, Unilorin surpassed the University of Ibadan in preferred student choices.

As for the determinants earlier mentioned by Economic Confidential, Benjamin said JAMB was not in a position to know why students choose their institutions.

READ ALSO: 6 helpful tips to get up to 300 in JAMB

University of Ilorin, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Bayero University, Kano were the most popular federal university choices for 2016 by magazine.

Nasarawa State University, Imo State University, Kaduna State University, Delta State University and Adekunle Ajasin University were also the most popular state university choices for 2016.

While the most popular private university choices for 2016 are Covenant University, Afe Babalola University, Babcock University, Igbinedion University and Bowen University.

Source: Legit.ng
Fences Down: France to Desegregate Online Poker Player Pool

October 03, 2016 Mo Nuwwarah Editor

France's fenced-in online poker experiment appears to be over, as the country is set to move into shared liquidity with other European nations, CardsChat reported Saturday.

In 2010, France fenced in its poker players, segregating them from the rest of the worldwide player pool. What followed was a steady decline in online poker revenues in France. Cash game revenues dropped by 33 percent over a three-year period. Players were flocking to unregulated sites, with a reported 47 percent of French poker players using them, including 23.5 percent saying they played exclusively on unregulated sites.

Online player pool tracker PokerScout lists a number of French licensed poker offerings. None of them boast a seven-day average of more than 1,000 players, save for Winamax, which is currently at 1,100.

French gaming regulators realized the situation was unsustainable in the long term. In May, the first push began to end the fenced-in poker economy when the French Senate approved an amendment that would allow shared player liquidity. In mid-September, regulators from France and a number of other European countries met in Paris, according to OnlinePokerReport.

Things have apparently moved quickly from there. French poker players will soon be joining their brethren in regulated online games for the first time, with France's president expected to approve the measure in the coming weeks. Regulated, fenced-in poker networks also exist in Italy, Spain and Portugal. Those nations will likely be among the first to share liquidity and revenue with France.

Image courtesy of Kris Delcour/freeimages.com
Perth-based custom software development company DBS IT Australia has recently responded to a report revealing that Australia is feeling the lack of professionals working in cyber security more acutely than other countries.

Contact

Denver Wanigasekera

***@dbsit.com.au

892782593 Denver Wanigasekera892782593

End

--has recently responded to a report revealing that Australia is feeling the lack of professionals working in cyber security more acutely than other countries.The Centre for Strategic and International Studies performed a survey which was commissioned by Intel Security, and it revealed that 88% of decision makers in Australian IT agree that there's a shortage of people with skills in cyber security both within Australia and in their individual organisations.The report, Hacking the Skills Shortage is a study of the shortage in cybersecurity skills internationally, and IT decision makers from the United Kingdom, France, Israel, the United States, Germany, Japan, Australia and Mexico answered a number of questions about cybersecurity.Respondents across all countries surveyed said that education in cybersecurity was deficient. 82% of those surveyed reported a shortage of skills, and 76% said they believe that their government isn't investing enough money in cybersecurity talent.recently weighed in on the results, and a spokesperson for the company had this to say:"It seems that almost every day we read about another company that has been hacked, and attacks are outpacing defence- largely due to the lack of cybersecurity skills both in Australia and internationally. This shortfall means that many companies have a critical vulnerability since current education and policies are failing to meet the demand for these skills. At DBS IT, we're committed to providing secure software solutions to prevent hacking and ensure that businesses across all sectors in Australia can keep their data safe and confidential."The most frequent skills currently in demand include secure software development, intrusion detection, and attack mitigation. Interestingly, 97% of those surveyed said that their organisation's board of directors are now viewing cybersecurity as important. This is a huge change, as just five years ago cybersecurity was not even considered to be in the top 10 risks that boards were prioritising.It doesn't look like the workforce shortage for cybersecurity will be abating anytime soon, and respondents estimated that on average, 15% of cybersecurity positions would be unfilled by 2020, with Australian respondents estimating this number at 17%.This skill shortage is risky for organisations, and many companies say that this gap in the workforce has already caused them to incur damages. Many businesses have been targeted by hackers, with 25% of respondents saying that their companies have lost propriety data due to this gap in cybersecurity skills, and 22% saying that they've suffered reputational damage.What does this mean for businesses in Australia that need to keep data safe? Thespokesperson says it's not all bad news: "While it's definitely a problem that Australia (and many other countries around the world) are facing such a skills shortage in cybersecurity, many are choosing to outsource these tasks instead of hiring dedicated specialists to work in-house. At DBS IT, we work with many different companies, providing software development, cyber security and IT management and we can help businesses both large and small protect their data."If you're looking for a, get in touch with the team at DBS IT AUSTRALIA today. Contact us now ! https://www.dbsit.com.au/ it-consulting- perth.html
By Saurabh Vaktania: Taking a step further and making headways in India's effort to retaliate to Pakistan, the Mumbai Crime Branch has started on its final action plan to bring back underworld gangster Sayyed Muzzakir Mudassar Hussain alias Munna Jhingada.

After repeated unsuccessful attempts and severe objections from Pakistan, a full proof dossier has been made by Mumbai Crime Branch this time to bring back gangster Munna Jhingada, who is known to be extremely close to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. On Monday, a team headed by DCP Mohan Dahikar of Mumbai Crime Branch left for Bangkok to bring back the gangster.

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Jhingada reportedly went to Pakistan to meet Ibrahim. Jhingada along with few others in 2001 had carried a deadly attack on underworld gangster Chhota Rajan in Bangkok which is capital of Thailand.

JHINGADA ESCAPED AFTER ATTACKING RAJAN



After the attack, Rajan somehow managed to escape but Jhingada was arrested by the police in the same year. The incident was also depicted in several Bollywood films. Jhingada is also believed to be one of the closest aides of Chota Shakeel. According to the police, Jhingada was involved in several murders in Mumbai.

Mumbai Crime Branch has been on the hunt to track down Jhingada for a long time. However, the only hurdle was his presence in Pakistan. Sources said that Pakistan was instrumental in holding back Jhingada in its territory.

The police said that when Jhingada was arrested by Bangkok police, he identified himself as Salim and showed a Pakistan passport. Following the arrest, Mumbai Crime Branch submitted several evidences proving his nationality.

The police had submitted his fingerprints, DNA samples, and several other documents substantiating his nationality and identity. However, sources revealed that every time the documents were submitted, his aides from Pakistan submitted fake documents asserting that he was a citizen of Pakistan.

In a bid to extradite Jhingada, the Mumbai Crime Branch has left for Bangkok with sufficient documents and dossier, despite the possibility of his aides from Pakistan obstructing their efforts.



SHOOTOUT ON CHHOTA RAJAN

Three men including Jhingada were sent to Bangkok from Mumbai to eliminate Chhota Rajan. The trio barged into a room where Rajan was partying with his men. While some of his men were killed, Rajan managed to escape with one bullet injury and was admitted to a hospital in Bangkok.

This created another problem for Rajan because he came under the custody of the Thai police and he feared that they would extradite him to India. But two of his associates, Santosh Shetty, who was extradited to India in 2011 and Bharat Nepali, who was shot dead in 2011, engineered his escape.



Police said that Jhingada was involved in several criminal activities right from his college days.

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Also read:

Dawood Ibrahim's money was not swindled, Indian government had it seized

Call intercept reveals Dawood Ibrahim laundering money for Bollywood star



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Enterprise Video Content Sharing Service Chooses Versasec Solutions to Secure its Offerings

Zigg and Versasec

Media Contact

Marianne Dempsey, Rainier Communications

versasec@rainierco.com Marianne Dempsey, Rainier Communications

End

-- Versasec, the leader in smart card management systems announced today that Zigg will use Versasec's solutions to manage user authentication to its service. Zigg, based in Monaco, provides video-casting services that enable enterprises to increase the productivity of their employees and contractors -- wherever they are -- by securely sharing video content generated in the field, in the office, or in a studio."Whether videos are viewed or produced in the field to capture and share know-how for training, to collect video proof of execution for maintenance or operations, it's vitally important to keep that corporate content safe and accessible by only those who require or are granted access," said William Houry, vice president of sales at Versasec. "We are proud that Zigg has selected Versasec as its partner in securing its video data for its customers."Zigg also announced it will work closely with Versasec for its IT Security Consulting activities where they will work with Versasec and other partners including Gemalto."We looked at a variety of identity access management solutions and selected Versasec as it will be the most cost effective and easiest to implement and manage for all of our customers," said Gilles Guiral, cofounder of Zigg.Versasec, which has offices in New York, Menlo Park, Sweden, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, created the vSEC:CMS smart card management system. vSEC:CMS provides all the software tools to easily administer and manage identity access management smart cards securely and conveniently. The Versasec product suite consists of products that meet any organization's requirements for managing smart cards.Zigg provides Zigg Engine, a flexible video workflow SaaS platform to fully integrate and exploit the video medium into the existing enterprise processes, and a PKI-based security to authenticate the ecosystem, sign the videos and cypher the content. Zigg Engine can be deployed in-house or in any private cloud to meet enterprise security policy. Lean more at http://www.zigg.tv/ en/ Versasec is a leading IT solutions provider in the identity and access management space with focus on easy deployment of smart cards with innovative smart card management systems. Our customers are organizations that demand high security and ease of use. Our state of the art solutions enable our customers to securely authenticate, issue and manage user credentials, such as smart cards, more cost efficiently than other solutions on the market.Our mission is to provide solutions that are affordable and easy to integrate, thus allowing organizations of all sizes to implement high levels of security. We also offer first class support, maintenance, and training. Our customers include: HSBC, Tieto, Raiffeisenbank, Hornbach, Daimler, Alstom, European Commission, Qualcomm, eBay, Saudi Aramco, IMF, L'Oreal and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.Our products and services can be bought and delivered worldwide by use of an extensive reseller network and through the Versasec web site: https://versasec.com
SMi are excited to announce Hughes Boulnois, Head of EDRS, Airbus Defence and Space will be presenting at Global MilSatCom 2016 this December in London.

By: SMi Group

Global MilSatCom 2016

Contact

SMi Group

***@smi-online.co.uk SMi Group

End

-- EDRS - SpaceDataHighway is the most advanced high-performance alternative for space data transfer, providing data transmission in broadband quality in almost real time. A system of two geostationary satellites is used to relay information between Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, spacecrafts or airbornes and fixed ground stations. EDRS will enable satellites to immediately transfer data to the ground instead of waiting for up to hours before flying over a fixed ground station*.The SpaceDataHighway is a publicprivate partnership between ESA and Airbus Defence and Space. The DLR German Aerospace Center funded the development of the cutting-edge laser technology that forms the backbone of the system. The first node, EDRS-A, was launched on 29 January 2016 as a hosted payload on the Eutelsat-9B satellite. The second, the dedicated EDRS-C satellite, will be launched in 2017**."SpaceDataHighway is no longer science fiction. It will revolutionise satellite communications, and help to keep the European space industry at the forefront of technology and innovative services," said Evert Dudok, Head of the Communications, Intelligence & Security (CIS) business line at Airbus Defence and Space*.SMi Group are delighted to announce Hughes Boulnois, Head of EDRS, Airbus Defence and Space will be presenting at Global MilSatCom 2016 this December in London on "SpaceDataHighway : Benefit of Laser Communications for aircrafts and EO satellites."Presentation highlights include: Status of EDRS-A, 1st satellite of the operational data-relay system using laser communication;Benefit of very high-data rate, low latency and secured data transfer service: EDRS-D : focus on Asia Pac and enhanced defence applications (aircraft, EW-active environment, new crypto capabilities)Further information available at http://www.smi-online.co.uk/defence/uk/global-milsatcom?utm_medium=www.globalmilsatcom.com&utm_source=D-120&utm_campaign=prlogThis year's Global MilSatCom will bring together over 500 of the industry's key senior military representatives alongside the world's leading SatCom solution providers and operators. There will be over 120 military and government attendees from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and USA.The three-day event agenda includes unique presentations from UK Ministry of Defence, U.S. Department of Defence, Brazilian Air Force, NATO NCIA, Department of National Defence Canada, Italian MoD, Danish Defence Command, Joint Staff, UAE Space Agency, Hungarian Defence Forces, European Space Agency, Belgian Defense, Australian Department of Defence, New Zealand Defence Force, DISA, DGA France, Norwegian Defence Logistics Association, U.S Marine Corps Forces for Europe and Africa, Airbus Defence and Space, Eutelsat, Intelsat General, Viasat, Boeing, Thales, Newtec, OneWeb, Lockheed Martin, Northern Sky Research, O3b Networks, Advantech Wireless, Avanti Communications, GovSat and many more.Some of the important topics that will be covered by these speakers include; SatCom for governmental use, the SatCom AoA in the U.S, the renewal of European programmes and how emerging markets are satisfying their MilSatCom requirements, transforming MilSatCom with commercial technologies, evolution of protected resilient SatCom, TNS and HTS, Wideband Global SatCom, allied partnerships and interoperability and so much more.For a full list of speakers and agenda please visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk/defence/uk/global-milsatcom?utm_medium=www.globalmilsatcom.com&utm_source=D-120&utm_campaign=prlogSMi have also introduced two new pre-conference workshops taking place on the 7November at this year's event: Workshop A: Architecting Space Systems, hosted by The Aerospace Corporation Workshop B: The Low Earth Orbit Small Satellite Constellation Revolution, hosted by Surrey Satellite Technology LtdGlobal MilSatCom 2016 is proudly sponsored by:: SES |: Airbus Defence & Space |: Advantech Wireless, Avanti Communications, Boeing, Eutelsat, Hughes, Intelsat General, Lockheed Martin, GovSat, Newtec, O3b Networks, Raytheon, Thales and ViaSat: COMSAT, Comtech Telecommunications, Datapath, GATR Technologies, iDirect, Iridium Communications Inc, Satcube, SCISYS, Spacepath Communications, Spectra Group UK, The Aerospace Corporation, Unique Broadband Systems and XTAR.Delegate places now over 97% sold out for Global MilSatCom 2016! Those who are interested in attending are advised to contact SMi, the organisers, today to secure participation. Online registrations can be made at https://www.smi-online.co.uk/defence/uk/global-milsatcom*Source: EDRS  SpacDataHighway. Airbus Defence and Space. http://www.edrs- spacedatahighway.com/ cutting-edge- technology/spacedatahighway **Source: Phys.org http://phys.org/ news/2016-06- european-relay- laser-image.html# jCp 18annual Global MilSatCom8th-10th November 2016Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel, London, UKhttp://www.smi-online.co.uk/defence/uk/global-milsatcom?utm_medium=www.globalmilsatcom.com&utm_source=D-120&utm_campaign=prlogSponsors/Exhibitors:Contact Alia Malick on +44(0) 207 827 6168, amalick@smi-online.co.ukDelegates/Groups:Contact James Hitchen on +44 (0) 207 827 6054, jhitchen@smi-online.co.ukMedia: Contact Julia Rotar on jrotar@smi-online.co.uk________________________________________________________About SMi Group:Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world's most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk
By: PR Artistry

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-- Imprivata, the healthcare IT security company, extends its congratulations to all winners and finalists of the recent EHI Awards 2016, held on Thursday, September 29in London. Imprivata is especially proud that many of the recognized innovators are also customers and advisory board members that have demonstrated tremendous success deploying Imprivata's solutions. Now in its tenth year, the EHI awards celebrates the innovations in IT for clinical practice in the UK health IT industry. The event was attended by leading healthcare professionals from across the UK and acknowledged the contribution to the NHS England's target of a paperless NHS by 2020.Carina Edwards, Global SVP of Customer Experience at Imprivata said, "We were delighted to see our customers nominated for their successful implementation and adoption of Imprivata technology to enhance patient care and streamline access and security around patient information. These awards are a public recognition of the work that is being carried out by innovative leaders within the UK healthcare industry to transform patient services, safety and care, and to support the great clinical practice that is already in place."Amongst Imprivata's customers, the winner of the excellence in healthcare business analytics award was Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, for its projectReducing clinical variation through new insights'. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust was awarded for best use of technology for sharing information with patients and caregivers and Salford Roy NHS Foundation Trust also won The Digital NHS Trust award. Another successful Imprivata client selected as a finalist for the CCIO award for clinical informatics leadership was St George's University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust. Today, Imprivata's authentication and access management solutions are used by the vast majority of hospitals in the UK.Ms. Edwards added, "Our congratulations also to Dr. Masood Nazir, GP and chief clinical information officer at NHS Birmingham CrossCity CCG, for winning the CCIO award for clinical informatics leadership. We have worked closely with Dr. Nazir and his visionary approach leads the way for many other healthcare organisations."A record 210 entries were received for the awards this year, with three finalists for each category, selected by a panel of judges formed from leading United Kingdom healthcare professionals in IT and clinical practice. The panel chairman was Charles Gutteridge, former national clinical director of the National Programme for IT, who for the past three years has been chief clinical information officer at Barts Health NHS Trust.The awards are a precursor to EHI Live 2016, taking place at Birmingham's NEC on November 1 2, where technology providers will showcase solutions to executives and directors responsible for IT provision in healthcare. Over 4,000 healthcare professionals are expected to attend the exhibition.A sponsor of the event, Imprivata will be on stand 1F120. For more information, please visit: www.ehilive.co.uk Now in its tenth year, the EHI Awards are the UK's only dedicated healthcare IT award scheme.Categories are judged by a panel of leading professionals working in IT and clinical practice in the UK health sector. The following categories are listed for 2016; Best use of IT to promote patient safety Excellence in mobile healthcare Healthcare IT product innovation Best use of IT to support clinical treatment and care Digital NHS trust or health board of the year Best use of IT to support healthcare business efficiency Best use of technology to share information with patients and carers The CCIO award for clinical informatics leadership Excellence in healthcare business analytics Best use of IT to support integrated healthcare servicesFor more information, please visit: www.ehilive.co.ukImprivata, the healthcare IT security company, enables healthcare globally to access, communicate, and transact patient information securely and conveniently. The Imprivata platform addresses critical compliance and security challenges while improving productivity and the patient experience. For more information please visit: www.imprivata.co.uk Frank LampeMarketing Director EMEA & APACImprivata+49 (0)421 17 50 242flampe@imprivata.comAndreina West/Mary PhillipsPR Artistry+44 (0) 1491 639500email: andreina@pra-ltd.co.uk
Home buyers cite school proximity and quality as key deciding factors in home purchase

Housefax Report

Contact

Housefax

***@housefax.com Housefax

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-- Housefax, a leader in residential property history information, continues to enhance its property history report for consumers and industry professionals. Recently, Housefax added local school data including proximity, enrollment size, total expenses and advanced placement opportunities to its flagship report.The quality and proximity of schools is consistently ranked as one of the most important factors in parents' decisions about where to buy a home. School quality is also important for home buyers who have no children, since it has a significant impact on housing value and can ease the selling of a home in the future.According to the National Association of Realtors, of all the local neighborhood amenities that can influence a buyer's decision to purchase a home, proximity to good quality schools is one of the most influential."We understand the importance of local school information to home buyers around the country," said Hassib Amiryar, Housefax CTO. "This highly relevant information complements our comprehensive property history report, which home buyers and real estate professionals have come to rely on as a trusted, independent resource to learn more about a property." Visit http://housefax.com/ Report/Sample to view a sample report.According to the 2014 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 29% of home buyers listed school quality and 22% listed proximity to schools as deciding factors in their home purchase.In addition to school data, Housefax Property History Reports include incidents, voluntary liens, natural hazards, permit history, utilities, and more. This information is not typically found on other listing sites and complements the MLS system, helping consumers to know before they buy and agents to know before they list. For a FREE Housefax Report visit housefax.com.About HousefaxFounded in 2012, Housefax is a leading provider of residential property history reports for real estate consumers and industry professionals. Housefax offers instant access to property details, voluntary liens, building permit history, local schools, emergency incidents and natural hazards. Housefax PRO is a subscription service designed to give industry professionals access to customized Housefax Property History Reports at preferred pricing. For more information and to get a FREE sample report, visit http://housefax.com
Six extraordinary artists guaranteed to electrify you at Hammerson Hall, Mississauga Living Arts Centre

Contact

Colours Of Love International Concert

***@coloursoflove.ca

905.338.3686 Colours Of Love International Concert905.338.3686

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-- Mississauga, ON - Colours of Love International Convert celebrates diversity through music and art, presenting some of the world's most talented performers over three magical hours. it is a unique platform to showcase the universal language of love through music. This year, six extraordinary artists are guaranteed to electrify the audience.David R. Maracle: a world-renowned Canadian First Nations sculptor and musician.Natalie Castro: 17-year-old Ecuador artist showed a great passion for singing and music from an early age.Flo: R&B phenomenon from NigeriaMasters: a duo from Zambrow, Poland, whose electric Polish disco music exploded onto the international scene.Rushna Imran: A vocalist who have shaken her audience by her voice and variety of different genres not only her language, however in many different languages.Mia Solovianenko:a distinguished soprano from Ukraine, Mira's operatic career spans over 10 years of solo performances and company appearances across the globe.Join us to celebrate love. Get your tickets now at http://coloursoflove.ca/
Contact

Tessa M. Tavares Costa

***@onpaysolutions.com Tessa M. Tavares Costa

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-- OnPay Solutions, a nationally accredited AICPA service organization and business-to-business payment automation company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, has appointed Greg Hawes as its chief revenue officer."We are thrilled to have Greg Hawes as a new addition to our team," Neal Anderson, CEO of OnPay Solutions said. "The experience Greg brings from years of financial sales operations and business development is exactly what we need to grow in this competitive landscape."Hawes joins the OnPay Solutions team with more than 20 years of consultative sales, sales operations, business development, account management and finance experience.Hawes graduated from Bryant University (1985) in Smithfield, Rhode Island with a Bachelor's of Science, majoring in Accounting. He continued to earn a Master's of Science in Financial Management at Fairfield University (1992). Hawes' professional career started in 1985 as an auditor for Ernst & Young, later becoming the vice president of sales and operations at ADP for 14 years. Since then, he has held numerous executive positions with companies such as Monster, Ceridian Corporation and Comdata."I worked on the OnPay Solutions partnership with Comdata and know the company very well. I see huge potential for this company. I am thrilled to not only start at the same time the new, cloud-based payment automation platform, OnPayConnectis introduced, but pleased to also be a part of leading the company's revenue growth. Hawes says."OnPay Solutions has been creating and offering business-to-business payment software and payment web services to enhance efficiency and productivity for Accounts Payable.OnPay's payment automation products and services help businesses make payments in the most efficient way possible all while allowing them to remain bank-neutral. OnPay Solutions provides software solutions, hosted solutions, consulting services and outsourced check printing services to help business achieve maximum efficiency and even a revenue stream back into their accounts payable department.
Community event on Friday, October 14 will feature an in-depth conversation about a variety of problems facing seniors in the Valley, including poverty, challenges with housing, malnutrition, mental instability and exclusion.

By: Brazen Architecture

Monica Gresser

Contact

Ruth Furman

***@ruthfurman.cm Ruth Furman

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-- Brazen Conversations, a community outreach event hosted several times during the year by BRAZEN Architecture, continue on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 at 4 p.m. with a dialogue about topics regarding seniors in the Las Vegas valley.Monica Gresser, principal of the Las Vegas-based BRAZEN Architecture, is facilitating the conversation at Skin City Body Painting, 1800 S. Industrial Road, Suite 130, behind the BRAZEN Architecture office.The open conversation will feature an in-depth conversation about a variety of problems facing seniors in the Valley, including poverty, challenges with housing, malnutrition, mental instability and exclusion.Executives from The Center and Helping Hands of Vegas Valley will join Gresser as guest discussion leaders.There is no charge for the event, but space is limited.RSVPs are requested to Be-BOLD@brazenarchitecture.com by Wednesday, October 12, 2016.Those interested may also RSVP on Facebook through this linkGresser has also hosted conversations about homelessness and mental health. She is active in the City of Las Vegas homelessness Advisory Committee, Southern Nevada Regional Planning Commission Continuum of Care Board, Association for Community Design, Congress for a New Urbanism and American Institute of Architects
Aedifica has completed and acquired three senior housing sites in Glabbeek, Hasselt and Mont-Saint-Guibert. The senior housing site in Glabbeek is a part of the agreement in principle (announced on 12 June 20141) for acquisition of a portfolio of five rest homes in the province of Flemish Brabant in collaboration

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According to Savills, the first six months of this year have witnessed 635 million invested into the Dutch logistics real estate sector, a yoy increase of 12%. The company, who have today published a spotlight on the logistics property market in the Netherlands, confirms that foreign buyers have dominated investment

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Institutional investors are having to pay sharply higher prices to acquire liberalised rental-sector apartments in the best locations in the Netherland due to strong demand and limited supply. This is restricting the potential for further growth in the value of prime assets, particularly in the mid-rental sector, and diverting capital

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The accused was brought to the government hospital with fever and symptoms of dengue and chikungunya yesterday.

By Mail Today Bureau: Ravin Sisodia alias Robin, one of the accused in the infamous Dadri lynching case died on Tuesday at a government hospital in Delhi due to suspected chikungunya while he was in judicial custody. He was brought to the Lok Nayak Hospital on Tuesday morning with fever and symptoms of dengue and chikungunya.

"He was admitted to the emergency department and his platelet count was extremely low. We got his tests done both for chikungunya and dengue but the reports are yet to come. He had diabetes and also had a respiratory failure. The exact cause of his death can only by identified once all the reports come," said a senior doctor of the hospital. Twenty-six-year-old Ravin was one of the accused arrested in the case. His family alleged that he was tortured in the jail.

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HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED TO AKHLAQ



On the night of September 28, 2015 a mob surrounded Akhlaq's residence in Dadri's Bisara before allegedly dragging him out of the house and beating him to death. Akhlaq's younger son, Danish, sustained severe injuries in the attack. Police said the mob had reached Akhlaq's house minutes after an announcement was made from a local temple asking residents to assemble as a cow had been killed in the locality.

GOVT TORTURED OUR SON: FAMILY OF THE ACCUSED



"The state government never supported us. It was trying to torture our son since the incident took place. The police on receiving instructions from the state government has been torturing our son," Sanjay Rana, one of the relatives of accused said.

In July, a local court in Uttar Pradesh had directed that an FIR should be registered under laws related to cow slaughter in the case. The directions were issued by judicial magistrate Vijay Kumar at the Surajpur district under section 156 (3) of the CrPC on a petition filed by a Bisara resident on June 9.

The order came at a time when a case against the 19 accused facing charges related to the murder of Akhlaq was being heard at a fast-track court in Surajpur. The Gautam Buddha Nagar police had submitted a chargesheet in the case but charges against the accused are yet to be framed in the court.

READ| Dadri lynching: The meat in victim's house was beef, says forensic report

Dadri lynching: Fresh forensic report says meat in Akhlaq's freezer was beef, not mutton



Dadri lynching: Take back UP govt perks from victim's family, says accused's kin



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Automobile Association of South Africa (AASA) has tested 23 cars in categories of acceptable, moderate and poor safety. AASA has released an Entry Level Vehicle Safety Report on the safety features of these 23 cars on sale in South Africa all priced under R150,000 (INR 7.32 lakhs).

The vehicles were rated out of 135 points and were assesses on the basis of ABS, ESC, Drivers airbag, front passenger airbag, side airbags, curtain airbags and NCAP crash test ratings. The cars which received less than 3 points were classified as Poor while those vehicles with a 3-3.99 rating were classified as Moderate. It was only those with scores of above 3.99 that were said to be Acceptable.

The crash test results revealed that India made Honda Brio, Maruti Suzuki Swift and Celerio scored a moderate rating, while Datsun GO, Tata Indica and Vista were rated in the poor safety category. Tata Vista and Indica were on sale without airbags while Datsun GO, despite a drivers airbag failed in the test due to its poor structure quality.

Rated as Poor, the Datsun GO, Tata Indica, Vista scored 0/135 while Honda Brio scored 50/135 and received a Moderate rating.

This is not the first time Datsun Go is in the news for scoring poorly in a crash test. Back in 2014, it was first tested by Global NCAP. The result shocked the officials to such an extent that they asked Renault-Nissan Alliance to immediately withdraw Datsun Go from the markets across the globe. However, the car continues to be on sale, so are the other cars which have scored poorly in safety crash tests.

UPDATE

Tata Motors have refuted the claims made by AASA over their cars. Below is a statement from Tata Motors.

We would like to clarify that the Tata Indica and Vista have not recently been crash tested by the Automobile Association in South Africa, as mentioned in your article and they meet all safety regulations for the country. It is imperative to understand safety in a relevant country-specific context as opposed to a blind transposition of homogenized, norms of developed markets to emerging markets by means of a mere brochure comparison. At Tata Motors, we look at safety in a holistic manner, to assess vehicle performance across varied parameters
Indias Defence Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar has signed the deal worth INR 58,000 crore with his French counterpart Mr Jean Yves LeDrian. This deal will finally brings an end to the years of negotiations between the two countries over the purchase of state of the art Dasault Rafale fighter jets.

As per the inked deal, France will deliver 36 Dasault Rafale fighter jets, with first of them getting delivered in 2019 and the last by 2022. Each jet has roughly costed India INR 1,612 crore.

In order to secure the deal, India has to pay about 15% of the total payment in advance, which is about INR 8,700 crores. This is expected to be done over the next one year, which is when the final contract will be signed.

One of the major reason behind the delay in signing the contract was because India wanted a better price. According to a report from Scroll.in, the initial aim was to acquire 126 fighter jets for a price of INR 90,000 crore. If this is true, then the latest deal worth INR 58,000 crore for just 36 Rafale fighter jets means that we have paid twice the initially calculated quote.

Dasault CEO states that their fighter jets are of new generation. They are not in the same league as the F-16s (which Pakistan acquired from the US), but a generation ahead. Rafale fighter jets are more of F-35 competitor. They can simultaneously perform ground attack mission as well as air defence. It has a combat range of 780  1,500 km and can carry 9.3 tonnes of weapons, including nuclear warheads.

Though this is not going to be a make in India initiative, as part of the agreement, France will invest 30% of the total INR 58,000 crore back into Indias military aeronautics-related research programmes and another 20% into local manufacturing of Rafale components.
Satendra Singh Shekhawat is not the successful businessman he appears to be but a professional luxury car thief who has stolen 20 odd luxury cars from 5 star hotels.

A certified MBA in marketing, Shekhawat dresses in the most select attire and exudes an impression of a high-ranking businessman. In actual fact, he is a seasoned luxury car thief who has over 20 stolen cars to his credit. He speaks fluent English and has an Apple iPhone.

Such is his demeanor, which guards at the hotel never doubt or stop him when he approaches them and picks up the keys to a luxury vehicle. While he has followed this same modus operandi at a number of 5-star hotels across Gurgaon, Pune and Mumbai, has finally landed in the police net on Tuesday. The cops have recovered an Audi Q7 from his possession that he picked up from Hotel Holiday Inn.

Shekhawat has been earlier arrested on three occasions and has also been in jail in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for similar crimes.

Following this arrest, 8 such luxury car theft cases have come to light with the latest being at the Holiday Inn, Atrocity, in New Delhi. In his usual style, Shekhawat picked up the keys to the luxury car after pretending to talk on his phone near the valet parking desk but was captured on CCTV.

Also Read  Most wanted car thief in India stole over 4,000 cars, finally caught by Police

Police teams traced the suspect on September 12 after a tip-off that Shekhawat was about to approach Hyatt Regency Hotel. A trap was laid and Shekhawat fell for it. On questioning, it was revealed that he is an interstate criminal and would sell off these luxury vehicles to his associates who would use these to transport narcotics from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The journal Scientific Reports just published research by Cornell College Professor of Geology Rhawn Denniston.

The research focuses on the summer rains of Australia and Southeast Asia, which are linked together into the largest monsoon system on the planet. The zone across which these rains fall is called the tropical rain belt and is a region of enormous biological diversity and home to nearly 40% of the global population. This new study helps understand past changes in the width of the tropical rain belt and reveals previously unidentified links between the two continents.

The article is titled, "Expansion and Contraction of the Indo-Pacific Tropical Rain Belt Over the Last Three Millennia."

The article looks at the monsoon rains that fell in northern Australia over the past 3,000 years. A research team, led by Denniston, explored the rainfall amounts by looking at the isotopes of oxygen in stalagmites.

"The ratio of these isotopes changes depending on the intensity of the rain," Professor Denniston said. "As the water infiltrates into caves as dripwater, stalagmites forming from this water preserve the same isotopic ratios. By sampling the stalagmites, we are able to see past rainwater ratios. We also date the stalagmites very precisely by drilling out select areas and measuring the ratio of uranium to thorium, which tracks the age."

The team discovered that changes to the monsoon in northern Australia matched up with monsoon variations in southern China, in some cases at quite fine temporal scales. Denniston attributes these changes to the movement and size of the tropical rain belt.

"The vast majority of models and studies have argued that the whole tropical rain belt shifted north or south as a coherent package through time," Denniston said. "What our data suggest is that the tropical rain belt operates more like an accordion, expanding during some times, in which case both Australia and China get wetter, and contracting during others, in which case both Australia and China get drier. What's particularly interesting is that climate models of the last millennium also support this result."

Caroline Ummenhofer of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts performed the climate modeling, and KJ Passaro, a Cornell College alumnus, worked on this project for his honors thesis in geology. Denniston and Cornell College students performed the dating at the University of New Mexico with Yemane Asmerom and Victor Polyak. The stable isotope analyses were performed with Alan Wanamaker at Iowa State University.

This study formed the basis for a National Science Foundation grant of $350,000 to continue this work. The grant provides support for Cornell College undergraduate training, including fieldwork in Australia, lab work at University of New Mexico and Iowa State University, and modeling with Ummenhofer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Denniston said the research team's goal in the next stage of this project is to see if, and how, the accordion-like behavior of the tropical rain belt occurred over the last 9,000 years.
In many forests, the collection of information pertaining to the wood remains neglected, due to a shortage of specially trained personnel, specific expertise, funding, or appropriate technology. A project funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) aims to put small, unmanned helicopters to work, measuring the parameters for the forest inventory.

The analysis of the ecological and economic factors of a forest has a long tradition, reaching back to the early 18th century. While the economic factors have already been used to measure the wood yield for some time, there has been a global surge in the measurement of ecological factors in recent years. Particularly in the densely forested regions of Eastern Europe, a growing number of countries is beginning to take an increased interest in controlled forestry.

What, though, is actually measured within the scope of a forest inventory? The project's lead scientist, Stephan Weiss (Department of Smart System-Technologies) explains: "The diameter of a tree at breast height, the shape of the trunk and the position of the individual trees are of great interest and allow us to extrapolate the volume, quality and distribution of the wood." Currently, it is not possible to measure the shape of the tree trunk and the existence or thickness of the branches in an efficient manner, which means that these quality indicators are often lacking. According to Weiss, current practice mainly involves measuring by hand or with satellite images and airborne LIDAR data, using laser light to perform a dense scan of Earth's surface. However, these methods are inefficient and cannot provide reliable information about the quality of the wood.

"We propose the deployment of small, unmanned helicopters. By applying automatic image processing and path-planning as well as 3D reconstruction, they can autonomously fly under the tree canopy and derive the forest parameters from the 3D data," says Weiss . The research team, which consists of scientists from the AAU's Department of Smart System-Technologies, the Lakeside Labs GmbH, the Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, the E.C.O. Institute for Ecology, and the environmental data company Umweltdata, is working to develop an airworthy prototype. This device is expected to navigate autonomously through managed forests, providing 3D information of sufficient density for the automatic analysis of ecological data, such as biomass indicators, tree positions, the coverage ratio of the shrub layer, the diameter at breast height, and the shape of the tree trunk.
A scientific blueprint to end tobacco cravings may be on the way after researchers crystallized a protein that holds answers to how nicotine addiction occurs in the brain.

The breakthrough at the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute comes after decades of failed attempts to crystallize and determine the 3D structure of a protein that scientists expect will help them develop new treatments by understanding nicotine's molecular effects.

"It's going to require a huge team of people and a pharmaceutical company to study the protein and develop the drugs, but I think this is the first major stepping stone to making that happen," said Dr. Ryan Hibbs, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Biophysics with the O'Donnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who co-authored the findings published in Nature.

The protein, called the 42 (alpha-4-beta-2) nicotinic receptor, sits on nerve cells in the brain. Nicotine binds to the receptor when someone smokes a cigarette or chews tobacco, causing the protein to open a path for ions to enter the cell. The process produces cognitive benefits such as increased memory and focus but is also highly addictive.

Until the new findings were generated, scientists didn't have a way to examine at atomic resolution how nicotine achieves these cognitive and addictive effects.

Who will benefit?

The expectation is that the 3D structures will help researchers understand how nicotine influences the activity of the receptor and lead to a medication that mimics its actions in the brain.

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The finding may also have benefits in creating medications for certain types of epilepsy, mental illness, and dementia such as Alzheimer's, which are also associated with the nicotinic receptor. However, Dr. Hibbs cautioned that testing of any ensuing treatment would likely take many years.

Studies have shown smoking cessation drugs have mixed results in treating nicotine addiction, as have other methods such as nicotine patches and chewing gum.

"I just cannot quit smoking," said Tom Loveless of Dallas, who has tried many times to kick his cigarette habit after becoming addicted 40 years ago while in the Air Force.

He found the study's findings encouraging and hopes one day scientists can find a way to beat nicotine addiction. "I hate what it does to me," said Mr. Loveless, a retired 65-year-old grandfather. "I hate the expense. I hate the odor. It upsets my wife. It isn't worth it."

Motivating Factors

Despite widespread education on the dangers of tobacco use, it still causes nearly 6 million deaths per year worldwide, with smoking the leading cause of preventable death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarettes alone account for 1 in 5 deaths annually in the U.S.

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Those statistics are among the motivating factors for Dr. Hibbs, whose laboratory team began researching how to determine the structure of the receptor in 2012.

The receptor is "a critically important therapeutic target" for addiction and various mental and neurological disorders, said Dr. Joseph Takahashi, Chairman of Neuroscience and Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

"This is a major advance and solves a longstanding problem in crystallizing" the nicotinic receptor, said Dr. Takahashi, who holds the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience.

How they did it

For years scientists around the globe had concentrated efforts on the receptor found in the electric organ of a torpedo ray, a rich source of nicotinic receptors that yielded a wealth of biochemical information and held promise for obtaining a high-resolution atomic map of the protein.

"But they were never able to get the torpedo protein to crystalize," Dr. Hibbs said, explaining that the protein from the ray proved too unstable and couldn't be genetically modified. "Many very good research groups had tried to do this and failed. We took a different approach."

Instead, UT Southwestern researchers developed a method for mass producing nicotinic receptors by viral infection of a human cell line. The team inserted genes encoding the proteins that make the receptor into the virus, and the infected human cells started producing large amounts of the receptor.

They then used detergent and other purification steps to separate the receptor from the cell membrane and wash away all other proteins. Researchers were left with milligrams of the pure receptor that they mixed with chemicals known to promote crystallization.

The team looked at thousands of chemical combinations before eventually being able to grow crystals of the receptor, bound by nicotine and about 0.2 mm long. Lastly, they used X-ray diffraction measurements to obtain a high-resolution structure of the receptor.

The team's next steps involve determining structures in the absence of nicotine, and in the presence of molecules with different functional effects. Comparisons between structures will allow them to understand better what nicotine does, and how its actions are distinct from those of other chemicals, said Dr. Hibbs, Effie Marie Cain Scholar in Medical Research.
Anyone who has ever spotted a familiar face at a party but been unable to place where or when they last met that person knows the difference between episodic memory and familiarity.

Familiarity is mere recognition. Episodic memory is the ability to recall a memory's context -- to remember where and when you saw that familiar face. It's also the difference between sputtering your way through a reintroduction or smoothly referring back to details about the last time you talked to your acquaintance.

Although it's easy to grasp the difference in these types of memory in ourselves, it's not easy to know how animals see the world. Do their memories also take context into account?

A new study by Indiana University researchers that appears online today in the journal Current Biology suggests that rats exhibit much stronger episodic memory than previously thought. It is the first study to show that these animals can remember more than 30 events in context.

The lead author on the study is Danielle Panoz-Brown, a graduate student in the lab of Jonathon Crystal, a professor in the IU Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, who is also an author on the paper.

"Most work shows that rats, and other animals, remember one, two or perhaps three events," Crystal said. "This new work shows that rats remember many events -- over 30 -- and are likely able to remember many more using episodic memory."

He added that the existence of episodic memory in lower animals has implications for research on human diseases that affect memory, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, since the majority of research on the brain -- and the drugs used to treat memory diseases and dementia -- start out based on insights into how the brain works in rats.

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So, if a pharmaceutical company creates an Alzheimer's drug to target memory based on research into one type of memory -- the part of the brain responsible for finding missing objects, for example -- but doesn't also have data on the type of memory that helps individuals remember the important people, places and things in their life, it runs the risk of producing a product that helps a person remember where they put the car keys, but not how they met their spouse.

That risk is the impetus behind several other studies published by Crystal over the past several years. In January, Crystal's lab reported evidence that animals also possess independent working memory systems by showing that rats could remember a longer list of items when asked to recall a combination of physical locations and smells versus when they used only a single category of information. And prior to that, they found that rats also possess "source memory," which is the ability to recall where a new piece of information was acquired.

To conduct the new study, Panoz-Brown and Crystal developed a series of challenges in which rats were asked to recall up to 30 different scents -- basil, strawberry and banana, among many others -- to earn a treat. However, they only earned the reward when they chose the correct scent in a certain context -- one of two circular "arenas" with different black-and-white patterns on the floor.

The rats were exposed to a series of many odors and then taught to associate "new" odors -- ones to which they had not been previously exposed -- with food. After learning this "rule," they were put into one arena and exposed to an odor (for example, a strawberry). They were then put into a second arena and exposed to two odors (such as blueberry and strawberry). Finally, they were placed back into the first arena and presented with two odors. They correctly chose blueberry as the "new" odor, despite their previous exposure in the other context.

The results suggest the rats realized the second odor counted as "new" since they had not yet encountered it in the second context. Moreover, the rats performed similarly on several other challenges, including a test designed to challenge their ability to recall these "rules" over time and an attempt to confuse them through rapidly switching the contexts.

"Our findings suggest that the ability to represent numerous episodic memories is quite old in the evolutionary timescale," Crystal said. "More broadly, our work supports the view that rats may be used to model fundamental aspects of human memory."

Unfortunately, not many researchers study these more-complex areas of memory. One major reason is that it's just easier to target the parts of the brain that remember location. Automated technology used by many labs makes it easier to simply track a rat as it runs through a maze -- a test of location-based memory -- as opposed to studying more-sophisticated forms of memory.

For that, Crystal's lab relies on a large team of undergraduate students who can prepare more-complex tests and closely monitor the results. IU undergraduate researchers who worked on this study were Hannah E. Corbin, Stefan J. Dalecki, Meredith Gentry, Sydney Brotheridge and Christina M. Sluka, who are all also authors on the paper. Also an author is Jie-En Wu, a member of Crystal's lab who was a high school student at the time of the research reported in the paper.
In the amphibian world, the axolotl is the replacement-parts king.

This endangered Mexican salamander serves as its own NAPA store for lost body parts, able to fully regenerate limbs, tail, heart, spine and eyes -- making it a model of curiosity for regenerative biologists.

Most of the scientific focus to date has been on trained on the blastema, a remarkable cluster of cells that forms at the base of an amputated limb or damaged tissue and is the modus operandi for regeneration. It somehow coordinates a symphony of instructions to re-grow muscle, cartilage, bone, blood vessels, skin -- all at the right place and right time to make a good-as-new limb.

But scientists with the Morgridge Institute for Research regenerative biology team shifted attention to the axolotl's embryonic origins for new clues to the creature's rare skills. In work published in the summer of 2016 in the journal Developmental Biology, researchers looked at 17 different development stages of axolotl embryos and found a highly unusual series of bursts in changes in gene expression, followed by stable periods, that is unique in developmental biology.

These "waves and troughs" of genetic change appear three times: When the genome is first activated, during formation of the early gut and during formation of the nervous system. This pattern gives scientists three hot targets for comparison to the existing bank of information on mature axolotl limb regeneration.

Channeling a primal pathway

"We have reason to believe that what's taking place in the adult limb regeneration process looks a lot like early axolotl development," says Jeffrey Nelson, Morgridge postdoctoral researcher and lead author with computational biologist Peng Jiang. In a sense, the adult animal may be reactivating some primal pathway in order to trigger limb formation.

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"Can we find similarities in the gene expression occurring in this early stage and in the cell types developed in the blastema?" he asked. "That's the main path forward in applying this data."

Jiang says the project is also unique in that axolotl early development is rarely studied. Because the axolotl has such an immense genome, it has never been fully sequenced -- unlike the frog, which is the go-to model for amphibian embryonic development.

"Unlike other model species, the axolotl is like a blank slate," Jiang says. "We don't have the whole picture, just snapshots at different development points."

This work involved sequencing experiments that allowed the team to piece together strands of the axolotl transcriptome -- the messenger RNA molecules expressed in the organism -- and compare them with known transcriptomes in frogs and humans. This enabled the group to align these fractured transcripts with their genetic function. Peng did much of the comparative work in collaboration with UW-Madison biostatistics Professor Colin Dewey.

After a regeneration 'recipe'

The group is after an essential question: When a limb is getting regenerated, what genes play a role in that process? And in better defining that process, could there be a "recipe" of sorts that could be replicated or refined in other species?

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"The ultimate goal is to understand the pathways and molecules involved in this organism's regenerative abilities," says Nelson. "Then we can ask: Does a mouse have similar pathways, and can it reactivate dormant abilities that are perhaps latent in its genome?"

That is not a far-fetched question. Regeneration is not an either-you-can-or-can't proposition. Frogs, mice and many other species have regenerative abilities, just not at the level of sophistication of the axolotl.

For example, Nelson says that frogs can regenerate limbs to a degree, but the limbs grow out to a needle-like point and fail to differentiate digits. Mice, too, can regenerate the tips of their digits from the nail bed, but not from any closer to the body.

"There are subtle clues that these abilities exist within other organisms, but for some reason they can't carry out the same regeneration as the axolotl," he says.

What about humans?

So what's missing with humans? Humans obviously regenerate some cell types very well, such as skin, muscle and liver cells, but almost not at all in cells of the nervous system or with any complex tissue systems. Nelson says axolotls are especially good at nervous system regeneration, which appears to play a central role in the whole limb regeneration process.

Ultimately, the most fascinating question is whether science can learn something from the axolotl that could be translatable to human regenerative medicine. While still a distant prospect, it is the primary reason axolotl research is a focus of Morgridge regenerative biology, led by stem cell pioneer James Thomson.

"It's really interesting to be embedded within the context of the Thomson lab and in the whole stem cell milieu, and understanding how this axolotl might be employing the same pathways that are present in other organisms -- and possibly people," Nelson says.
One of the accused in the Dadri lynching case dies of kidney and respiratory failure.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime accused in the Dadri lynching case Ravi died yesterday of kidney and respiratory failure.

After suffering kidney failure, he was rushed to Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital in Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

READ| Dadri lynching: The meat in victim's house was beef, says forensic report

The hospital officials confirmed that Ravi was brought in a bad condition with kidney failure and high blood sugar level in the afternoon, after which he died around 7 in the evening.



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"He died around 7 PM of kidney and respiratory failure," said Medical Superintendent of LNJP Hospital, Dr J C Passey.

Ravi was previously brought to the district hospital but as his condition worsened, he was rushed to a hospital in Delhi.

POSSIBLY SUFFERED FROM DENGUE



The hospital authorities also ruled out dengue behind Ravi's death which will be confirmed in the awaited medical reports. He has been tested for dengue and chikungunya.

Ravi, part of the mob which dragged Mohammad Akhlaq and lynched him to death, was lodged in a jail in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.

READ| Dadri lynching: FIR ordered against Akhlaq's kin for alleged cow slaughter

Dadri lynching: Fresh forensic report says meat in Akhlaq's freezer was beef, not mutton



Dadri lynching: Take back UP govt perks from victim's family, says accused's kin



--- ENDS ---
Researchers have discovered a gene region that raises the risk a child will have a middle ear infection, known to doctors as acute otitis media (AOM) -- and known to parents as one reason for a screaming, unhappy preschooler. The finding may offer an early clue to helping doctors develop more effective treatments to prevent one of the most common childhood illnesses.

"Parents and pediatricians are all too familiar with this painful childhood ear infection -- it's the most frequent reason children receive antibiotics," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Although microbes cause this condition, it's been well known that genetics also plays a role. This is the first and largest genetic study focused on risk susceptibility for acute otitis media."

Hakonarson and colleagues from CHOP collaborated with Dutch researchers led by Gijs van Ingen and colleagues from the University Medical Center, Rotterdam, in the study published online Sept. 28 in Nature Communications.

The researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on two discovery cohorts with DNA samples from 11,000 children. They found that an association between AOM and a site on chromosome 6 containing the gene FNDC1, and then replicated the finding in an independent pediatric cohort with data from 2000 children. Co-first author Jin Li, PhD, of CHOP, was the lead analyst on the study.

In further studies, the scientists showed that the mouse gene corresponding to FNDC1 was expressed in the animal's middle ear. "Although the gene's function in humans has not been well studied, we do know that FNDC1 codes for a protein with a role in inflammation," said Hakonarson.

Hakonarson added that learning more about the biological interactions between genes and pathogens involved in AOM, researchers hope to develop more specific therapies for the childhood infection, while learning which children are most susceptible to the disease. "As with many other diseases, early medical intervention may offer the greatest benefits," he said.
Gender bias can influence how supervisors view a manager's long-term potential, a new study shows.

University of Florida management professor Joyce Bono examined a phenomenon called managerial derailment, where a seemingly up-and-coming manager gets fired, demoted, or doesn't advance as expected. She found that supervisors can have subtle, even subconscious differences in expectations for the behavior of male and female managers, which can have costly consequences for women in the workplace, most notably the loss of mentorship.

While past studies have used performance reviews and other formal measures to identify gender bias, Bono and her co-authors, including UF doctoral students Yihao Liu and Elisabeth Gilbert, focused on informal evaluations of managers' potential.

"If you're doing performance evaluations, there's a record in an HR file you could reference, and gender bias could be identified and dealt with," Bono said. "But perceptions of derailment potential exist in a supervisor's head. They're never recorded. They're informal assessments that supervisors make, yet they have important implications for the opportunities that supervisors provide."

To examine gender bias in perceptions of derailment potential, the authors conducted four studies. Two studies analyzed data collected on nearly 50,000 managers enrolled in leadership development programs, and the other two were experimental studies where managers examined performance reviews of two fictitious employees whose only difference was their gender.

Bono and her colleagues found that when evaluating managers who exhibited equal levels of ineffective interpersonal behaviors, supervisors were more likely to predict derailment for women managers than for men. Because of these negative assessments, female managers receive less mentoring -- a benefit Bono said is especially important to female advancement in the workplace.

"Sponsorship and mentoring are even more important for women than men because women are typically are less connected to those higher in the corporate hierarchy," said Bono, "in part because there are more men than women at higher levels."

Bono emphasizes that the negative assessments female managers receive from male supervisors are not purposeful or nefarious.

"Don't think of the bias exhibited here as behavior of bad people who don't want women to get ahead," Bono said. "Rather, we expect women to be nicer than men, because that's what our society has told us to expect. These beliefs influence our behaviors, often without our awareness."

Bono advises that top executives -- not only HR folks -- be especially attentive to the mentoring and sponsorship of female managers.

"This is a problem we can't procedure our way out of because it happens in our brains, and this is the society we grew up in. We have to keep talking about it so we catch ourselves and our colleagues' biases, and work together to reduce their negative effects on the mentorship and advancement of women."
A swarm of nearly 200 small earthquakes that shook Southern California residents in the Salton Sea area last week raised concerns they might trigger a larger earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault. At the same time, scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno published their recent discovery of a potentially significant fault that lies along the eastern edge of the Salton Sea.

The presence of the newly mapped Salton Trough Fault, which runs parallel to the San Andreas Fault, could impact current seismic hazard models in the earthquake-prone region that includes the greater Los Angeles area. Mapping of earthquake faults provides important information for earthquake rupture and ground-shaking models, which helps protect lives and reduce property loss from these natural hazards.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study appears in the Oct. 2016 issue of the journal Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

"To aid in accurately assessing seismic hazard and reducing risk in a tectonically active region, it is crucial to correctly identify and locate faults before earthquakes happen," said Valerie Sahakian, a Scripps alumna, and lead author of the study.

The research team used a suite of instruments, including multi-channel seismic data, ocean-bottom seismometers, and light detection and ranging, or lidar, to precisely map the deformation within the various sediment layers in and around the sea's bottom. They imaged the newly identified strike-slip fault within the Salton Sea, just west of the San Andreas Fault.

"The location of the fault in the eastern Salton Sea has made imaging it difficult and there is no associated small seismic events, which is why the fault was not detected earlier," said Scripps geologist Neal Driscoll, the lead principal investigator of the NSF-funded project, and coauthor of the study. "We employed the marine seismic equipment to define the deformation patterns beneath the sea that constrained the location of the fault."

Recent studies have revealed that the region has experienced magnitude-7 earthquakes roughly every 175 to 200 years for the last thousand years. A major rupture on the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault has not occurred in the last 300 years.

"The extended nature of time since the most recent earthquake on the Southern San Andreas has been puzzling to the earth sciences community," said Nevada State Seismologist Graham Kent, a coauthor of the study and former Scripps researcher. "Based on the deformation patterns, this new fault has accommodated some of the strain from the larger San Andreas system, so without having a record of past earthquakes from this new fault, it's really difficult to determine whether this fault interacts with the southern San Andreas Fault at depth or in time."

The findings provide much-needed information on the intricate structure of earthquake faults beneath the sea and what role it may play in the earthquake cycle along the southern end of the San Andreas Fault. Further research will help provide information into how the newly identified fault interacts with the southern San Andreas Fault, which may offer new insights into the more than 300-year period since the most recent earthquake.

"We need further studies to better determine the location and character of this fault, as well as the hazard posed by this structure," said Sahakian, currently a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Science Center. "The patterns of deformation beneath the sea suggest that the newly identified fault has been long-lived and it is important to understand its relationship to the other fault systems in this geologically complicated region."

Scripps researcher Alistair Harding and Nevada Seismological Laboratory seismologist and outreach specialist Annie Kell also contributed to the study.
Every few months, new photos of adorable panda cubs emerge from one of the main giant panda breeding centers in China. The photographs are shared and aww'ed over all across the world. One headline called them "painfully adorable." Another pointed out a clumsy panda cub falling off a display pedestal onto his little face.

But what's really going on at this facility? And where do the baby pandas go when they're done being small and cuddly? If you've ever seen a giant panda, in all likelihood she was born at a breeding facility in China. The Chengdu Research Base of Panda Breeding, which has been called the "hometown of giant pandas," is one of the largest of these. Pandas born at this center are loaned out for display to any number of zoos all over the world. The Dodo checked in with Dr. Kati Loeffler, previously director of animal health at the Chengdu Research Base, to understand what's going on behind these photos.

What she said about the breeding center unfolds a larger story about a multi-million dollar industry that dupes international animal welfare organizations and the media into thinking the giant panda is a conservation success story and obscures how many pandas there really are in the wild. In other words, the real story is anything but cute. The breeder pandas A few weeks before the cubs at the center are born, the mother panda is moved into a cement cell with bars on three sides, Dr. Loeffler observed when she worked at Chengdu. "They are intensely private animals, and assiduously avoid humans when they have the choice to do so," Loeffler said. "Here, they sit in a bare cell, lights on and people about 24/7, with the shouting and cigarette smoke and smells and clanging metal gates, and nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide."

Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs

This is after the male pandas are strapped down for semen extraction. "He is tied by all fours to a table, and a person hangs off of each ear as an extra measure of control," Loeffler said. "Electroejaculation works by running an electric shock through the rectum from a thick metal probe, which eventually releases an ejaculate. Ketamine [the drug used to temporarily sedate the breeder pandas] produces no block against pain." The female pandas are then inseminated during the very brief and rare window of time when they are fertile. "A female panda is in estrus for only about 12-24 hours, once a year," Loeffler said. "To cover that window, and to be extra sure, breeding facilities may inseminate her twice a day for two or three days in a row. Each time, she is anaesthetized with ketamine, tied to a table and inseminated with metal instruments." After the pregnant panda gives birth in her concrete cell, the cub is taken away.

"The moment a cub is born, it is snatched away by human hands, inspected, prodded, weighed, smeared all over with human smells," Loeffler said. "If a mother is deemed fit to raise her baby, she will get it back ... for a little while. Then she is prodded and distracted and clapped at and poked until she drops the cub to have it snatched away again for weighing and force-feeding and artificial incubating."

When the cubs are 3 to 5 months old, they are piled into the "nursery." This is when they go on display. Tourists line up and pay to sit with a cub on their laps. According to Loeffler, this can bring in up to $200 per person. The business of breeding the giant panda Female pandas at the breeding center are drugged and inseminated over and over, with apparently little attention paid to the health of the panda cubs because, according to Loeffler, panda breeding centers are actually in competition with each other to breed as many cubs as possible. "The Chinese government rewards the breeding centers for the number of the cubs that are produced - not the health or quality - and hence they're terribly proud of these piles of pictures of these cubs," Loeffler said.

Furthermore, each panda loaned out to a zoo usually brings in a million dollars per year for up to 10 years. (Some zoos who strike up an agreement with China for one of these panda loans to boost visitor numbers actually go broke trying to pay these fees.) And tourism at the breeding centers that put their cubs on display also brings in a lot of revenue. As adorable as the cubs may be, they may not be healthy. "Because of the poor husbandry conditions, only a few grow up to manage to reproduce successfully," Loeffler said, "so you get a misrepresentation of the number of cubs these centers produce who will grow up to be healthy."

Because of the competition between the breeding centers, it becomes difficult to share genetic material, which means that the population of captive giant pandas becomes less sustainable, even though scientists have put a tremendous amount of work into figuring out how breeding giant pandas in captivity can help bring them back from the brink of extinction. Scientists determined that 300 healthy giant pandas could be produced in captivity, considering the genetic diversity available among the breeding pandas. The goal was to establish a self-sustaining captive population, which means they can continue reproducing without getting genetic material from the wild, Loeffler explained. A scientist at the Smithsonian even designed a computer program to match the best combinations of parents for healthy cubs, which has been available since the early 2000s. It rates breeding matches; for example, a mother and son panda would make a poor genetic match for producing healthy cubs, but a distant cousin would be ideal for the self-sustaining captive population.

After the database came out, "the number of breeding recommendations that were actually followed was zero," Loeffler said. "And it continues to be very poor, and that's because of the competition. So if you have a male and female who are reproducing, they're just going to keep doing this, regardless of the health of the cubs." China recently upped the goal for the captive population from 300 to 500. "The Smithsonian made major advances in genetic sharing," Loeffler said. "But that's just not happening." False hopes for wild pandas? Even though the breeding center boasts of its achievements, it remains unclear how they're actually helping the wild giant panda come back from the brink of extinction. "The whole idea for a reintroduction program is premised on absolutely nothing," Loeffler said. "China hasn't established a habitat of quality and quantity or mitigated the problems that cause these animals to be endangered in the first place. If a developer shows up with enough money, development is happening right through these so-called nature reserves."

The Chengdu Panda Base aims to rescue giant pandas "through technological virtue ... Relying on scientific and technological advances and the application of major technological achievements, 116 births, 172 newborn giant pandas were generated from the 6 sick and starving giant pandas rescued in 1980s." But beyond breeding captive pandas over and over, it isn't totally clear how Chengdu aims to help the giant panda's actual future as a wild animal.

But Wolong Panda Center, a different breeding facility, which is overseen by a different governmental body, says it has had a few successes in releasing captive pandas back into the wild. "A total of five pandas have been released, three of which are doing well in the wild," Suzanne Braden, director of Pandas International, which supports the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Pandas (CCRCGP), told The Dodo. "Dramatic changes have occurred in the program over the years." But Braden couldn't speak to how the center in Chengdu is run. "Chengdu is under the Department of Commerce. CCRCGP is under the Department of Forestry." Braden said that captive breeding to reach the target number of 300 was "critical for the species to survive." When that number was reached a few years ago, the CCRCGP began leaving the cubs with the mothers for the natural 18 months to 2 years as long as the mother is producing adequate milk. "The mothers and the cubs are in a breeding area not open to the public," Braden said. "Pandas International definitely advocates for humane treatment of the mothers and the cubs." But Loeffler says the captive-bred pandas just aren't be prepared to be released from the beginning: "They need to be raised by their mothers in wild conditions and not people jumping around in panda suits."

Some other conservationists seem inclined to agree with her. "Giant pandas have been perfectly capable of breeding naturally in the wild for millennia," Chris Draper, associate director for animal welfare and care at the Born Free Foundation, told The Dodo. "The relatively recent focus on breeding in captivity, with zoos worldwide spending a relative fortune on artificial reproduction techniques while the captive panda population in China swells, is a sideshow that risks distracting us from the genuine threats facing wild panda habitat." An un-endangered species In early September, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced that the giant panda is no longer considered an endangered species. But what sounds like good news is actually more complicated. China kept boasting that their wild panda census was showing increasing numbers, but Loeffler was wary of the methodology used to determine this population. According to Loeffler, each census used different methods to determine the wild population, so the results cannot be compared. "The first year the wild population panda census was done was around 2005, they insisted that their own scientists see the data, so World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which was helping with the census, wasn't allowed to see the methodology that was used or the data," she said.

The second census a few years later had similarly secretive methods - and it showed a larger number of pandas. "And the most recent census that was done, they added some more genetic methods and this time no foreigners were allowed to be involved at all," Loeffler said. "We have no external verification of these numbers. The IUCN had no choice but to downlist the giant panda. But no one really believes them." For China, the most important thing is saving space for development, according to Loeffler. "They're constantly trying to prove that they're making progress despite shrinking natural environment," she said. "And that spills over into absolutely everything. Now they're peeing their pants because they've been boasting about their recovery of giant pandas in the wild, so now that they've been taken off the endangered species list. Then they just realized that, because of this, their giant panda industry might end up being less of a hot commodity." In other words, by downlisting the giant panda, the international community of conservation experts may have accidentally just called China's bluff. "It is clear that the battle for panda conservation rests on conserving the ecosystem where pandas live," Draper added, "not on a high-profile, expensive and unnatural captive breeding program."
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Positive-Pit-Bull-282575600129/" target="_blank">The Positive Pit Bull</a><span></span></p>

A judge in Quebec, Canada, has ordered Montreal's ban on pit bulls suspended immediately. The bylaw made it illegal to own any dog the city deems a pit bull - loosely defined as American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers or any mix of these breeds.

Dodo Shows Adopt Me! Scared Little Dog Is So Full Of Joy Now  And Looking For A Family

But on Monday, the same day the law came into effect, Justice Louis Gouin ordered the ban suspended until he heard a court challenge from the Montreal SPCA. Grouin will be making his decision on a longer, temporary suspension of the bylaw on Wednesday.

The decision couldn't have come a moment sooner for dog owners in the city, as well as dogs considered to be pit bulls in its shelters. When it came into effect at midnight on Monday, dogs that fit the description were suddenly deprived of any chance of finding a home. In making it illegal for shelters to adopt out pit bull-type dogs, the city has effectively sentenced countless dogs to euthanasia.

But even before the ban was passed by Montreal's city council last Tuesday, there had been a massive exodus of pit bulls from shelters.

One Last Chance Animal Rescue Team

Volunteers like Carolynn Williams of One Last Chance Animal Rescue Team have already sent dozens of dogs to rescues outside Quebec.

One Last Chance Animal Rescue Team
Janette Hamilton would be the first person to tell you her dog's a little overweight. She's also got a big, blocky head. What she couldn't have imagined was that on a June day in 2009, those very qualities would be enough to change her dog Niki's life forever.

It started with a pickup truck pulling up alongside Hamilton while she was walking Niki in Barrie, Ontario. "Excuse me, but can we talk to you about your dog?" a man asked from the passenger window. The man, who was an animal control officer, persisted, asking, "Can I ask why your pit bull is not muzzled?" It came as a shock to Hamilton, who knew her dog was actually a cross between a husky and a labrador retriever. She told the officer Niki wasn't muzzled because she wasn't a pit bull.

Dodo Shows Cat Crazy Fluffy Cat Wants To Sit On His Dad At All Times

"I remember thinking at first, 'You know, I can talk my way out of this. She's not a pit bull. They're going to understand that,'" Hamilton tells The Dodo. In Ontario, breed-specific legislation (BSL) has outlawed pit-bull-type dogs since 2005 - a move that critics say has been an abject failure when it comes to reducing the number of dog bites in the Canadian province. It also cast an impossibly wide net that got all kinds of dogs irrevocably caught up in it. "Ma'am, we are telling you that this is a pit bull dog, and as such is subject to BSL," the officer continued. "I will not take your dog today, as it is clear to me that you were not aware that she is a pit bull. However, if I see her without a muzzle again, I will take her from you." And with those words, a friendly, bouncy dog who had friends on every street corner suddenly became an outcast.

Fearing Niki would be taken away from her, Hamilton started keeping her out of off-leash parks - where pit bulls are not allowed - and muzzling her in public. The muzzle, it turned out, changed everything for Niki. "When it goes on a dog's face, it changes people's perception of that dog," Hamilton says. All of a sudden, people who might have once greeted Niki on the streets, shunned the outgoing dog. "You look at Niki and you could see the confusion," Hamilton notes. "She couldn't understand why suddenly people didn't seem to like her."

Indeed, the sudden change in the way people treated her hit the dog hard. "I can see it in her," Hamilton says. "She's friendly. She loves people. And all of a sudden, no one wanted to talk to her. Everyone wanted to cross to the other side of the street." At times, people yelled at Niki - "Get rid of that vicious thing!" - and even threw stones at her. It turned a dog who was once a beachcomber - bounding along shorelines, offering big, bouncy greetings to everyone she met - into a public enemy. All because of the way she looks. Today, with a pit bull ban looming over Montreal, Hamilton sees the same sad potential for countless more dogs - especially since the wording of how the city determines a pit bull is so vague. "This doesn't just affect pit bulls," she says. "This could affect your dog in a heartbeat. If you have a short, blocky-headed dog, your dog can be affected."
A gril who was kidnapped from Delhi was forcibly taken to Bihar and married against her will.

By Tanseem Haider: Delhi police today rescued a minor girl in Bihar who was kidnapped from Delhi and arrested two accused persons namely Sanjay Rai and Vinod Kumar residents of Madhuban, Motihari district, Bihar



KIDNAPPING AND INVESTIGATION

On the 2nd of September, a resident of Delhi reported that his daughter, aged 14 years had left the house on 30th august at about 6 PM for attending her tuition class but did not return back home.

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During the course of investigation police informed the CBI, NCRB, SCRB, CRIME BRANCH, MPS and Delhi Doordarshan, etc about the kidnapping. All out efforts were made to trace the missing girl but there was no clue to be founding thus leading the case to a dead-end. On 28.09.16, the girl made a call to her father and told him that she had been taken hostage somewhere in Bihar but she does not know the exact place.

The police team conducted an intensive hunt in the Labladpur Punhas Village and timely as well as prompt action taken by the police team yielded fruits and the kidnapped girl was rescued safely from Village Labladpur. One accused namely Sanjay Rai , who had confined the girl in his house and had married with her against her will and consent was arrested from the spot on the 30th of September.

VICTIMS' STATEMENT

The victim and the accused were produced before the local court and taken to Delhi on transit remand.

The victim was produced before the court and her statement under section 164 Cr.P.C was recorded. In her statement, the victim reported that on 30th august at about 6 PM, Vinod told her that her father had met with an accident and he would help her to take her to the hospital.

He handed her over to four youths who were waiting in a car. Vinod returned back saying that they would take her to her father in the hospital. He also gave her a mobile saying that in case of any emergency, she can call him on that number for help. However, that number turned out to be out of service.

Subsequently, accused Vinod Kumar was also arrested. It has also been revealed that a woman namely Sukho Devi is also involved in the trafficking racket and got Rs. 20,000/- from accused Sanjay Rai.



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It's not every day one of the world's most famous sea hermits pays a visit to the beach. And you might think he got all dressed up for the occasion. When an ultra-reclusive ribboned seal was spotted on Washington's state's Long Beach Peninsula in August, marine scientists wasted no time in snapping a picture before the seal ambled back into the waves.

With a population of around 400,000, mostly in the North Pacific Ocean, ribbon seals aren't especially rare - they're designated as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. That puts them squarely on the organization's lowest rung when it comes to assessing how close an animal is to becoming extinct. Strange then, that the last ribbon seal sighting was back in 2012, when an adult seal known only as B310 made a cameo appearance on a Seattle woman's dock.

Dodo Shows Little But Fierce Pocket-Sized Kitten Grows Up To Be A Wild Woman

Unlike their cousins - harbor seals are famous for leaving their babies on shore while they forage for food - these mammals don't bother much with dry land. And if they do, it's generally closer to their traditional home in the High Arctic. Ribbon seals typically frequent the frigid waters off Alaska and Russia, where it might seem their brilliant banded coats are wasted.

Every ribbon seal has four distinct stripes. There's one around the the lower back, another in front of the back flipper, as well as a band encircling each of the front flippers.

But aside from awing the rare human who comes across one, these bands may also help ribbon seals identify worthy mates.

The seal's seclusive ways may have also contributed to a sense of mystery. The animals keep their secrets, often literally, close to their vest. For example, they're the only seals who boast an internal air sac - the purpose of which still eludes scientists. But sadly, we may start to see more ribbon seals stray from their natural climes. The animals rely on Arctic sea ice for birthing their pups. As that ice steadily disappears, so too does their natural habitat. And too often, we've seen what happens when animals stray too close to where humans live.

Seals spotted on the shore are too often mistaken for being in trouble. But ultimately, the only distress they experience comes at the hands of humans thinking they're helping. And yes, some seals do wash up in dire need of human intervention. But in those rare cases, the best thing to do is call the experts, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency responsible for keeping marine animals safe.
The Sociological Review Foundation makes available 10,000 each year to fund the organisation of scholarly seminars on subjects within the publishing interests of The Sociological Review journal. We support research seminars and/or symposia that bring together established and new researchers to share and produce imaginative, cutting-edge work of cultural and social significance. We are seeking proposals for online or in-person projects that involve collaborations across institutions and disciplines, and we also welcome collaborative projects that connect to wider communities and to the arts.
Over the next 15 years, the Toronto area will need almost double the number of construction workers it currently has in order to accommodate new infrastructure projects along with an aging workforce, says a new report by the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

The study, to be released Tuesday, says the GTA will see an estimated jump of about 147,000 construction-related jobs  both part-time and full-time  by 2031 to work on everything from transit and roads to shopping centres, hospitals, schools and housing. There are currently about 175,000 construction-related jobs in the GTA.

For instance, the number of new residential dwellings required in the region will likely exceed 800,000 units, the report says, worth $230 billion in construction investment.

Over the next 15 years, approximately 118,000 workers are needed for $214 billion worth of planned construction activity, and another 29,000 workers are needed to replace those expected to retire.

Truly, this is a generation of jobs, said board president and CEO Janet De Silva.

While job creation will flow broadly across the economy, it will create a huge demand for skilled and professional workers in the construction industry in particular, the report says.

It estimates that over the next four years, the Toronto area will require about 9,000 new workers per year  with that number growing to 11,000 workers per year by 2028.

To build tomorrows infrastructure, we must build a pipeline of talent today, said De Silva.

The business community knows that if we dont pay attention to this issue, we run a real risk of not delivering our planned infrastructure on time and on budget, she noted.

The board is calling on employers, policy makers and education providers to set up a task force to connect the dots to attract enough talent to tackle all the upcoming construction projects  including Metrolinxs ambitious transit plans  in the coming years.

The demand is not just for general labourers but also carpenters, bricklayers, roofers, heavy equipment operators and truck drivers, civil engineers and gas fitters, to name a few. The board report lists positions needed in related fields such as administrative, finance and retail sales.

The study says that 62 per cent of the top 50 construction-related occupations the GTA needs would require some form of diploma, certificate or apprenticeship rather than an extensive university education.

It is important to inform students and workers alike of the skills and education these occupations require, says the Building Infrastructure, Building Talent document.

Jobs needed from 2017-2031

Labourers -- 16,964

Electricians -- 9,818

Plasterers and drywall installers -- 4,185

Bricklayers  2,729

Financial auditors and accountants -- 1,175

Crane operators -- 601

Source: Toronto Region Board of Trade

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Michael Hicks lives in the Democratic hole of the Republican doughnut otherwise known as the state of Indiana, home state to Donald Trumps vice-presidential running mate, Mike Pence.

I met Hicks four years ago, when Caterpillar was shutting its Electro-Motive Diesel operation in London, Ont., vacating hundreds of jobs from the region. New jobs were pledged instead to Muncie, Indiana, the kind of place that dominated during the reign of America as a manufacturing powerhouse. BorgWarner. Indiana Steel and Wire. Westinghouse. Chevrolet Muncie. Ball Brothers, the glass making family that graced the town with their stately mansions on the banks of the White River.

Muncie personified the American dream to such a degree that in the 1920s two researchers chose the small city as the ideal representation of an industrially charged America. Muncies rapid rate of growth, its modern high-speed machine production, the fact that it wasnt dominated by a single industry, the fact that it was located in that common-denominator of America, the Middle West made it so representative of American life that the researchers dubbed it Middletown.

Unionized, well-paying jobs. A burgeoning middle class. Nothing short of the sky seemed an adequate limit to the citizens of Middletown, the husband and wife researchers wrote.

It all came a cropper, as BorgWarner closed (6,000 jobs at its peak) and the 60-metre smokestack at Chevy Muncie was razed (3,400 jobs) and so on. By the time I visited Muncie, retired workers were fighting for their benefits and an ex-Warner Gear employee lamented the obvious. There is no middle class left in Muncie, he told me. People are well off, or theyre poor.

As a distinguished professor of economics at Ball State University, Mike Hicks is seeing that divide play out through the U.S. election. What he has not witnessed is a significant uptick in Muncies fortunes despite the headlines that heralded new locomotive assembly jobs. The hope was it would have resulted in a significant amount of new blood, middle and higher income households. That just didnt pan out.

Those with better paying jobs have chosen Noblesville, Yorktown, Fishers  suburbs with better ranked schools and better housing stock and superior amenities. The economic consequence that many supposed would materialize locally is diffused across five counties, he says. So instead of having a whole new class of executives and accountants and higher paid production workers residing in Muncie, its mostly the lower paid jobs.

In the primaries, Delaware County turned out strongly for Bernie Sanders (7,026 to Hillary Clintons 4,891) and powerfully for Donald Trump (7,986 to Ted Cruzs 5,710). This is a vote of anger and rebellion, Hicks says of the then leading candidates.

Is nostalgia the driver? Hicks discounts Trumps trade rhetoric. I think most people in their hearts do not believe that theres going to be a manufacturing employment resurgence, he says. I think its the frustration with the status quo thats mostly driving the vote and thats why the critique of the unlikelihood of their public policies has had very little effect on their supporters. (He adds that the revelations around Trumps tax filings was as surprising as the sunrise.)

Hicks describes Muncie as a city densely populated with old school Democrats. Combined with the university he says theres little to no doubt that the county will go Democrat. People call Ball State a conservative campus, he says. By that they mean probably only 85 per cent of the faculty support Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

What is different this time, Hicks says, are the disaffected Democrats quietly supporting Trump. I think there are a lot of Trump supporters who are supporting him not because he has anything like a reasonable character . . . but rather because hes the most likely to cause change. And I think thats what the Sanders supporters felt like . . . I think what they said was, we want to blow things up. I talk to my neighbours, several of whom support Donald Trump, or I talk to my students, who are Sanders supporters, and they seem to be mostly angry and are supporting them based on the opposition to the status quo.

For Hillary Clinton, drawing the Sanders support will be impeded by the fact that many if not most Ball State students are not resident in Delaware County and often retain their home county for voting purposes, which in turn has led to low university voter turnout in the past.

A Trump win in Delaware County is a long shot, Hicks admits. But the disaffection with income inequality runs so deep that hes convinced the reality star is going to outperform anyones expectations.

Trump is certainly going to take Indiana, with its 11 electoral college votes. Indiana has a history as the nations reddest state. Whats changing, Hicks believes, is the Democrat doughnut hole.

I am afraid that its so difficult to admit you support Donald Trump without being thought to be as vacuous and idiotic as he sounds in debate that I believe his support is a lot deeper than people think. The thought does not sit well. It makes my heart ache. I dont sleep well at night. If I think about it I have to turn off the TV.

jenwells@thestar.ca

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NEW YORKSomething unusual happened after Kim Kardashian Wests terrifying encounter with armed robbers in Paris: She went social media silent.

At least for a time.

So did her sisters, her mom and other insiders who routinely share, share and share their lives away  about themselves and each other. Its one of their mightiest celebrity strengths, and theyre richly rewarded with millions of followers and thousands of commenters.

Surely, Kardashian West will eventually reassure her fans on Twitter and Instagram, Snapchat and her phone app, but hours after robbers burst into the posh flat where she was headquartered during Paris Fashion Week, there was a jarring silence in the shocking aftermath.

She left Paris Monday morning, landing in New York with husband Kanye West by her side a few hours after she was bound and locked in a bathroom. The thieves made off with more than $10 million (U.S.) in jewelry, authorities said.

First word in the U.S. came from Kanye, who abruptly announced at a concert he had to leave because of a family emergency.

Kardashian West was alone at the time the intruders burst in, save a stylist sleeping on a floor below who alerted police, according to the prosecutors office in Paris.

On Instagram, where Kardashian West has more than 84 million followers, she was frozen in the day before, having spent fashion week happily sharing snippets of video and photos of her fittings, her dinner outfits, her food and her bling, including a massive diamond ring.

The same silence went for Twitter, where she has more than 43 million followers. Her last tweet was a short video promising a special surprise for fans if they headed to a Los Angeles boutique to meet her Kim Kardashian game character, one of her phone apps.

Key to Kims popularity, along with the rest of her family who appear on E! TVs Keeping up with the Kardashians, is access, a breakneck speed.

Can she, will she, rethink her social media ways? Unlikely.

Meanwhile, Kanye West has cancelled and rescheduled two tour dates following the robbery.

LiveNation, promoter of Wests Saint Pablo Tour, announced Monday that a concert scheduled for Tuesday in Philadelphia and another scheduled for Thursday in the Detroit area have been bumped back to December.

Wests tour will resume Friday in Chicago.

The statement from LiveNation cites family concerns as the reason for the postponements.

The Philadelphia show will now be Dec. 13 and the Michigan show Dec. 22.

French police are still hunting for five people suspected of the assault and robbery.

Paris police said they were analyzing footage from surveillance cameras to try to identify the assailants, who wore fake police emblems on their jackets.

Paris prosecutors on Tuesday declined to answer whether the robbers had received help from the reality TV stars entourage.

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For the next two weeks, Torontos already multicultural theatre scene is getting a big influx of creativity and ideas from nations and traditions across the Americas, via the biennial Rutas Panamericanas International Performing Arts Festival.

This third iteration of Rutas, running Oct. 5 to 16 at the Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park, is the brainchild of Torontos Aluna Theatre, led by its effervescent artistic director Beatriz Pizano.

Originally from Colombia, Pizano says Rutas grew out of her desire to connect Canada to the Americas and that meant bringing the Americas here. While much of the festivals work  which this year includes eight theatre and dance productions and two films as well as master classes, talks and a conference about performance and human rights  comes from Spanish-speaking Latin America, Pizano underlines that the vision is broad and inclusive.

She avoids calling the festivals focus Latin America, for example, because in some definitions that excludes Brazil and parts of the Caribbean, and because some indigenous communities do not see themselves as within Latin America.

It was Alunas interest in making sure that indigenous voices are heard at Rutas that prompted Pizano and her colleagues to include Torontos Native Earth Performing Arts as a festival producing partner since 2014.

Among the headline programming this year is Antigonas Tribunal de Mujeres, an updated retelling of the Greek tragedy of Antigone by nine women from Colombia  some professional actors, some activists  who, in the shows fiction, are testifying at a tribunal about the murder of their loved ones. News this week that Colombian voters rejected a peace deal with FARC guerrillas despite 52 years of armed conflict adds an extra edge of topicality to this already charged piece.

Surprisingly, until recently Alunas (founded in 2001) and Rutas core audience has been largely made up of anglophone Canadians. Pizano and her colleagues are now reaching out to Spanish-speaking Torontonians and other immigrant communities via workshops and radio plays. Radio is huge for outreach in the Latin community, she says. In the States and Canada the radio is the biggest way to reach this audience.

Pizano is also involved in an ongoing creative initiative to find innovative ways to make productions accessible across linguistic barriers. How can we have a character break into their native language in the middle of a piece without losing the audience? . . . Surtitles can become part of the design of a piece and I also work to program shows that are visually beautiful and striking so that you can understand 70 per cent of the show by the visual.

Underlining that the festival reflects cultural currents running to and from Canada, this years Rutas includes work from right here in Toronto. ImShift is a dance/theatre production by the Venezuelan-Canadian choreographer Victoria Mata and b current is presenting a reimagined version of Diaspora Dub, its inaugural piece celebrating the power of black women.

While shes proud of how far Rutas has come in its short history, Pizano is looking at its development as a long game: The programmers I meet as I tour around say it takes 10 years for a festival to really take off. My dream in the future is to do co-productions with other artists from the Americas . . . and I dream of a truly bilingual ensemble.

She stops, sighs and laughs. I have a lot of dreams.

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CALGARYAlberta Premier Rachel Notley says shes troubled by anti-Muslim posters that appeared on the University of Calgarys campus on Tuesday morning.

The university says security removed 40 of the profanity-laced posters which include the hashtag GetTheFkOuttaHere, and show what appears to be a burning Quran. The posters also make crude references to beheadings and Sharia law.

You can keep your barbaric ways ... right where they belong ... in your 7th Century homelands! the posters said.

Last month, similarly profane posters surfaced at the University of Alberta in Edmonton targeting Sikh people. The university removed 12 posters featuring a picture of a Sikh man, profanity about turbans and a statement calling on people from third-world cultures to leave Canada.

The posters were condemned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, who is Sikh.

Notley says both incidents are unacceptable and she encourages people to speak out against that kind of hatred.

We embrace inclusion and acceptance and mutual understanding. Thats the kind of province that were building and you know what  it makes our province stronger when we commit to building that, she told reporters.

University of Calgary president Elizabeth Cannon said the university is working with police to figure out who put up the posters.

These are disturbing, extremely offensive posters that in no way reflect the inclusive, diverse and caring culture of this university, she said in a statement.

There was a rally on campus Tuesday to show solidarity with the Muslim community.

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The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has been named the winner of the first Berggruen Prize, which is to be awarded annually for a thinker whose ideas are of broad significance for shaping human self-understanding and the advancement of humanity.

The prize, which carries a cash award of $1 million, will be given in a ceremony in New York City on Dec. 1. It is sponsored by the Berggruen Institute, a research organization based in Los Angeles and dedicated to improving governance and mutual understanding across different cultures, with particular emphasis on intellectual exchange between the West and Asia.

Taylor, 84, is widely regarded as one of the worlds leading philosophers, and a thinker whose ideas have been influential in the humanities, social sciences and public affairs. His many books include Sources of the Self, an exploration of how different ideas of selfhood helped define Western civilization and A Secular Age, a study of the coexistence of religious and nonreligious people in an era dominated by secular ideas.

Taylor took part in Quebecs Bouchard-Taylor Commission on Reasonable Accommodation, which made recommendations about how society should respond to requests for religious and cultural changes.

Taylor and Gerard Bouchard, a historian, released their accommodation report in 2008.

In it they stressed that Quebecers needed to be open and generous with minorities.

Taylor was chosen for the prize by an independent nine-member jury, headed by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah. The jury cited Taylors support for political unity that respects cultural diversity, and the influence of his work in demonstrating that Western civilization is not simply unitary, but, as is the case with all civilizations, the product of diverse influences.

Taylors previous honours include the 2015 John W. Kluge Prize for the Achievement in the Study of Humanity (shared with Jurgen Habermas), the 2007 Templeton Prize for achievement in the advancement in spiritual matters and the 2008 Kyoto Prize, regarded as Japans highest private honour. Both the Templeton and Kluge prizes also carry cash awards of more than $1 million.

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OTTAWAThe Canadian Forces says it is taking a close look to ensure there are no policy gaps when it comes to protecting its cadets, as figures show many alleged military sexual offences involved youth in uniform.

Military commanders declared war on sexual misconduct in the ranks after a scathing report last year found an underlying sexual culture in the Forces that was hostile to women and left victims to fend for themselves.

What few have mentioned, however, is that 30 per cent of alleged sexual offences reported to military police last year involved cadets. The actual number of complaints has more than doubled  from 19 in 2013 to 39 in 2015.

Brig.-Gen. Kelly Woiden, the commander of the national cadet program, said he believes the growing number of complaints is a positive indication more young people are coming forward to report inappropriate behaviour.

I absolutely abhor that the incidents are still occurring, he told The Canadian Press on Monday, and Im encouraged that the serving members and cadets are coming forward in higher numbers than before because what it means is that were reporting all levels of sexual misconduct.

Nonetheless, Woiden said a number of measures have been implemented over the past year to better protect cadets, ensure complaints are properly handled and that victims are supported.

Those include stronger reporting mechanisms and extra guidance to staff before the summer training cycle. Now, cadet commanders are reviewing the training program provided to cadets and staff, which was first implemented in 2010, to make sure it is still appropriate.

Im the first one to say: Look, just because we looked at this six years ago doesnt mean weve got the perfect widget here, Woiden said. We need to go back and say things continue to evolve. The knowledge and the expectations that are out there in Canadian society (have) continued to evolve.

About 54,000 Canadian youth between the ages of 12 and 18 are currently enrolled in the land, sea and air cadets. The program, which has a budget of about $250 million, relies on 7,800 instructors who are drawn from local communities and receive special commissions as military officers.

Military officials say the program is designed to teach youth how to become good citizens. It is also seen as an important way to familiarize young Canadians with the Canadian Forces, though cadets are not serving military members and officials say there is no attempt to actively recruit them.

A number of cadet instructors and volunteers have in recent years been charged with sexual offences. But military police say that fellow cadets are perpetrators in the vast majority of cases.

In a given calendar year, somewhere between 20 and 30 per cent of our cases involve cadets, Lt.-Col. Brian Frei, deputy commander of military police, said in a recent interview. And within that, roughly 80 per cent of those are cadet-on-cadet. So the offender is a cadet, the victim is a cadet.

Many of those complaints stem from cadet summer camps, which bring together youth from across a province or region for periods of between two and six weeks. Woiden said thats why extra training was delivered before about 20,000 cadets congregated at 23 different camps this summer.

While military police may be involved in such investigations, officials say any actual criminal case is handled by civilian authorities because cadets are not military members.

Woiden said he has repeatedly hammered the message to instructors and volunteers that there will be zero tolerance for sexual misconduct in the organization.

But the recent controversy over a booklet for prospective members produced by an air cadet squadron in St. Johns, raises questions over whether such messages are being absorbed. The booklet included a dress code that referenced boobs, belly, bums and boxers, and referred to girls breasts as developing bits.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance blasted the document as completely unacceptable. Woiden said he had ordered all such documents reviewed to ensure they met the militarys values, but he acknowledged more work needs to be done.

The protection and safety and welfare is my highest priority, and I will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour involving them, their instructors or anyone involved in the cadet program, he said. So when you see and hear about documents like this, all I can do is continue to reinforce that this is unacceptable.

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BURLINGTON, ONT.Officers had been watching the shore of the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ont., from outside a nearby church for most of the day when the boat carrying the contraband finally arrived.

On the other side of the river, a U.S. border control helicopter had hovered in wait to follow it across, but then taken off when the vessel dawdled to avoid tipping off its operators. But now the boat was here, and the van they were monitoring pulled up to the river bank.

In a matter of minutes, a woman on the boat unloaded three boxes that were soon placed in the van by a man.

That was the cue. As they swooped in on the stunned smugglers  prompting the woman to nosedive onto the boat and sail away  the officers seized the boxes.

Inside were 205 reptiles, among them Chinese striped turtles, African side neck turtles, South American red-footed tortoises, a serrated hinge-back tortoise, green iguanas and Jacksons chameleons.

And many, if not all of them, were bound for pet stores, according to Environment Canada, which led the investigation and laid charges against the man and some of his associates.

In Ontario alone, we get about four or five files a year on average, so it happens quite frequently, said Lonny Coote, Environment Canadas director for wildlife enforcement in Ontario. Of course we dont know how much were not detecting.

Animals such as chameleons, parrots, monkeys and tigers are prized as pets precisely because they are not native to Canada, and often because they are rare or unusual, experts say.

Some are bred by owners already on Canadian soil  at times discreetly, for more uncommon or potentially dangerous animals  but others are snatched from their natural habitats and snuck across borders under car seats, in shipping containers with false bottoms, and even in the mail, often leaving the creatures in dire health or worse, they say.

Those animals are delivered directly to private buyers or pet stores who sell them as family pets. Others are reshipped to destinations abroad, where larger markets await.

Its hard to gauge the scope of this black market, but wildlife is now the fourth largest illegal trade after drugs, counterfeit money and human trafficking, according to the World Wildlife Fund, and valued at roughly $19 billion (U.S.) per year globally.

Reptiles, experts say, are common contraband.

Weve caught one guy, he had snakes in his socks, said Coote. He was stopped at the border, his vehicle was inspected, he had nothing, but when we did a pat-down on him, he had snakes in his socks.

People have sewn false pockets in their jackets to hold bird eggs and worn them on flights, he said. In the Toronto area, there is a market for finches from Trinidad and Guyana, which are stuffed into hair rollers with their beaks sealed shut and also hidden in jackets, Coote said.

Some have tried colouring in the pelts of Bengal or Serval cats to pass them off as regular cats, he said. Decades ago, someone tried to sneak in two baby elephants in the back of a truck by declaring them as car parts.

Some are animal lovers or collectors who simply dont want the hassle of filling out paperwork, Coote said.

But for those smuggling animals in bulk, he said, there is another, more powerful motivator: money.

Its a lucrative business, if they can get away with it, he said, noting that a turtle bought for 50 cents can then be sold for hundreds of dollars.

Even if several animals die in transit, smugglers still make a profit, he said. Theres a mortality rate theyre willing to accept.

Some networks are complex and linked to organized crime, Coote said. Some are simpler.

The man arrested on the shore of the St. Lawrence had handled more than 18,000 illegal reptiles over the years, an estimated value of roughly $700,000, according to documents obtained through search warrants, Coote said.

Dennis Day pleaded guilty to illegally importing reptiles and was convicted of smuggling in 2013. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, to be served on weekends, and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.

Day was already on the authorities radar because his pet lion had escaped from the care of a friend on a nearby reserve a few years earlier before being captured by authorities and sent to the Granby Zoo.

The woman on the boat, meanwhile, lived on a reserve in New York state. She was arrested and convicted by U.S. officials.

A third man who owned a reptile store in Montreal was also charged and convicted with illegal importation of reptiles and ordered to pay a $45,000 fine. He was successfully sued this year by the stores former landlord over the discovery of more than 250 reptile carcasses inside the buildings walls. Its unclear where those reptiles came from.

Which animals can be brought into Canada  and how  is determined by several laws enforced by three federal departments: Environment Canada is responsible for laws related to conservation, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency oversees laws related to the health of animals, and the Canadian Border Services Agency ensures any imports are properly declared and flags any suspicious cases for the other two departments.

It can be difficult to co-ordinate efforts at times, said Coote, the Environment Canada regional enforcement director.

Were still trying to work on the judicial system to appreciate the seriousness of these violations, he said. Officials are also looking into whether they could eventually lay criminal charges for animal cruelty in some cases.

Five cases of Canadians caught with exotic animals at border crossings

Wildlife is now the fourth largest illegal trade globally after drugs, counterfeit money and human trafficking, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Here are a few cases where Canadians faced charges relating to illegal importation of exotic animals:

Turtles in pants

A student at the University of Waterloo who repeatedly entered Michigan to buy and ship thousands of turtles to his native China only to be caught with 51 of them strapped to his legs was sentenced in April to nearly five years in a U.S. federal prison for smuggling. The U.S. government said Kai Xu, 27, shipped turtles to China from Canada and the U.S., or hired people to fly with turtles in their luggage to China. Its not illegal to buy turtles from breeders in the U.S., but Xus crime was shipping them overseas without a federal permit.

Earlier this year, another man  Dong Yan of Windsor, Ont.  was fined $3,500 and placed on probation for two years after getting caught smuggling nearly 40 turtles in his pants. Yan was convicted in February of illegally importing reptiles into Canada that were transported in contravention of a foreign states law.

Finches in hair rollers

A Toronto man was fined $2,500 four years ago after he was caught at Pearson International Airport with finches and seed-eaters hidden inside hair rollers in his coat. Ali Niamath had pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing live birds into Canada from Trinidad and Tobago. Federal law bars people from importing animals taken or transported in contravention with the laws of a foreign state and officials say Niamath did not have the proper export permits. The lesser seed-finch and ruddy-breasted seed-eater birds are prized for their song and their population is in decline as they are often trapped in the wild and exported illegally.

Scorpions and snakes in truck

An Edmonton man who tried to drive back into Canada with snakes and scorpions in his truck was convicted in 2011 of illegal importation and fined $10,000. Terrell John Gruse was also ordered to pay $1,400 to cover the care of the seized animals. Officials say he had illegally captured the snakes in the wild while visiting the U.S. and purchased the scorpions from an American pet store. He was stopped at the Kingsgate border crossing near Cranbrook, B.C.

Kulans

A Bowmanville, Ont., man who brought three live kulans into Sarnia, Ont., pleaded guilty to illegal importation in 2011 and was fined $8,000. Brian Hart was also made to give up the animals, which are listed as a species that may become endangered if trade is not controlled, and pay an additional $2,550 to cover their care. Kulans are a large mammal belonging to the horse family and are native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, India and Tibet.

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DMK's Dhanasekharan was all set to file his nomination for the upcoming local body elections from Padapai but was brutally killed by a gang of 5 inside a church on Sunday morning.

By Pramod Madhav: As Tamil Nadu is preparing for its local body elections, the state is facing a gruesome increase in counts of political murders.

The recent one to lose his life in the political race was G Dhanasekharan, who was the elected councillor from Ward No 6, Padapai at Chennai.



DHANASEKHARAN ATTACKED WITH SICKLE, SHARP WEAPONS



DMK's Dhanasekharan was all set to file his nomination for the upcoming local body elections from Padapai but was brutally killed by a gang of 5 inside a church on Sunday morning.

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Dhanasekharan was a member of Devasabha church and was attending the morning mass on Sunday. Dhanasekharan stepped outside of the church to attend a call when he noticed some men watching him. He became suspicious and tried to move away from the place. But the men began to chase him. Dhanasekhar entered a nearby CSI church packed with people fearing the worst. But the gang jumped over him and attacked him with sickle and sharp weapons. They escaped the area using the commotion and left Dhanasekharan to bleed to death.

LOCALS PROTEST

Police reached the spot and sent Dhanasekharan's body for autopsy to Pallavaram government hospital. Disgruntled local residents staged a protest blaming the police for not providing security to them.

Police initially planned to investigate the case on the 'business rivalry' angle but as Dhanasekharan's family insisted, they have included 'political rivalry' as a motive as well. Dhanaskharan is survived by his wife and two sons.

On September 14, DMK functionary C Selvaraj was brutally hacked to death by a gang of 5 while he was on his morning walk. Tension gripped the town following his death. Many of such politically motivated murders still remain unsolved by the cops.

Also read:

Tension as Hindu Munnani functionary is hacked to death in Coimbatore DMK functionary hacked to death on morning walk in Villupuram



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How do exotic animals go from living in the wild to sitting in a cage or tank in someones living room halfway around the world? Rosemary Collard, an assistant professor of geography at Montreals Concordia University, spent four years investigating the trade in live exotic animals, travelling to the Maya forest region to research animal capture, to exotic animal auctions in the U.S. and to animal rehabilitation centres in Guatemala and British Columbia. She spoke about her work with The Canadian Press.

Can you give me an idea of the size and scope of the exotic animal trade? I guess its mostly black market, right?

It depends on whose estimates you listen to. But its thought to be at least multiple billions a year, basically these massive flows of money and animals zooming around the world as we speak. Because so much of the trade, even the legal trade, so much of it is clandestine in a lot of cases, or the legality is ambiguous. And you have to be a real expert to even tell whether a species is labelled properly as its crossing borders. It makes it this incredibly murky economy.

How does this actually happen?

Some species are almost all captive-bred, like a lot of reptiles now are captive-bred. So people are not necessarily going out into the forest and capturing animals. But that still does happen a lot, and the crazy statistic is that the billions of animals imported into the U.S. in the last few years, about 80 per cent of those were captured from wild populations. In that case its done from what I learned on a pretty decentralized basis. They would be people who would not be working full time in the exotic pet trade necessarily, they would have other jobs that would take them in the forest. But its happening on a basis where one person would catch one or two parrots and then you would have a middleman or a middlewoman going from small village to small village collecting the animals and bringing them to market. And thats probably not the same the person who would be taking them across the border. They would either be sold to a market or an international distributor who would take them across the border, usually in a truck but also by ship or by air.

What are their motivations?

Youll hear a lot of rhetoric internationally about wildlife trade as a sustainable development mechanism, that it can be done in a way that brings revenue to the local communities, because trade tends to flow between biodiversity-rich but capital-poor areas to capital-rich areas, so from parts of Africa to the EU or something. But very few studies have shown that that happens. What I found out in my research, at least in the case of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, is that the people who are capturing the animals and who are by far the poorest of anyone involved in this chain are making by far the least amount of money. Theres enough financial incentive to sell a parrot that people will do it  selling a parrot to a middleman might bring as much as a few months income for a farmer  but that middleman turns and sells that bird for far more money.

You talk about the commodification of animals. What makes them valued by the average person and who wants exotics?

At animal auctions, there would be these very distinct groups of people  wealthier ranch owners would be buying zebras, camels giraffes for use on private ranches where they offer a sort of safari experience without having to leave the U.S. Then you have people buying snakes and reptiles and theres more of an element of danger involved. And then you have private pet owners who are more interested in the cuddly creatures. And then theres a lot of petting zoos. But the thing I observed at the auction was that docility, individuality and rarity were the things that were emphasized the most continuously and really did seem to bump up the price.

So what do you think needs to be done? Do you think theres a way to regulate it differently to minimize that kind of trade?

There was a study a few years ago that showed that bans can actually encourage trade in some cases because an international ban on trade is an indication of an animal becoming more and more scarce, which increases its value, which makes it more desirable to capture and trade. But I think one of things about law is its not just implemented for a concrete effect necessarily, but also to say something about a societys moral or ethical position. For me, the way that animals currently are really only registrable as property under the law is something that is a very structural obstacle to implementing better laws to protect animals. I think in the meantime, before more broad scope change can happen, that exotic pets should not be allowed.

MORE ON THESTAR.COM

Why Canadas love for exotic pets is a growing problem

Frequent smuggling of exotic animals has Canadian authorities on the lookout

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In an ideal world  at least from the federal perspective  the carbon tax Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday is one that he would be happy enough to never have to collect anywhere in the country.

For this is not about replenishing the coffers of an impoverished federal government.

Trudeaus planned introduction of a national floor price for carbon in 2018 marks the belated end of a federal vacuum that has seen successive prime ministers  from Jean Chretien onward  make climate-change commitments on the international scene and then do little to ensure Canada meets them.

The result has been a patchwork of provincial schemes that lack a connection to an overall plan and the clarity and impetus that could have attended it.

The upside of those decades of federal lethargy is that the vast majority of Canadians will not  at least initially  feel the impact of Trudeaus incoming carbon price or even see it. Nor will most provinces, starting with the four largest ones, have to rush to tweak their existing climate change strategies to meet the federal benchmark.

Thats because they already have schemes in place that meet or exceed the initial $10 a tonne floor price the federal government intends to put on carbon in 2018.

For example, B.C. started off with a carbon tax at the $10 level  almost a decade ago. That provincial tax now stands at $30. Under the plan announced by Trudeau on Monday, the federal floor would be raised by $10 a year for five years to reach $50 a tonne by 2022.

(As an aside, by the time Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and B.C. have to up their game to keep up with the national escalator clause, the 2019 federal election will be over.)

Provided they meet or exceed the federal floor price on carbon emissions, the provinces will also continue to be free to pursue climate-change mitigation schemes of their own choosing.

At some point, though, the onus will be on them to demonstrate that they are meeting or exceeding the federal floor price. Quebec and Ontario, for instance, have opted for a cap-and-trade system. Over the summer, the provinces and the federal government failed to reach a consensus on equivalencies between carbon taxes and cap-and-trade pricing. The two will eventually have to be reconciled.

As for Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and the three northern territories that have resisted putting a price on carbon, they could still avoid the federal tax by introducing one of their own. But if the federal government does tax emissions in their place, it will return the proceeds to the provincial treasuries, presumably leaving them free to use the revenues to offset the cost of carbon pricing with tax breaks.

Given all that, imminent sticker shock is not the first probability that comes to mind on the heels of Mondays announcement.

News of the federal intentions came as Environment Minister Catherine McKenna was meeting with her provincial counterparts to try to come up with a consensus on the very issue of carbon pricing. That prompted some provinces to cry foul.

But in the end, the announcement couldnt have come as a total surprise to the premiers.

It will be a year later this month since the Liberals were elected to power and 10 months since Trudeau attended the Paris conference on climate change where he proclaimed that Canada would play a more proactive role on the global environmental scene.

China and the United States jointly ratified the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions last month, prompting Trudeau to signal that Canada would soon follow suit.

But last month also saw the Liberal government confirm it would stick with the greenhouse gas emissions targets set under Stephen Harper and give the green light to a massive liquefied natural gas project in B.C that will, should it see the light of day, rank as one of the countrys biggest emitters.

On Monday, Alberta premier Rachel Notley made it clear her support for Ottawas carbon pricing plan was contingent on the approval of a pipeline at the earliest opportunity.

Absent at least one proactive measure on climate change, Trudeau would have been hard pressed to ratify the Paris protocol with a straight face.

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The leader of millions of Ahmadiyya Muslims arrived in the Greater Toronto Area this evening, touching off joyous celebrations among the faithful.

Shouts of Allahuakbar  God is Great  rang out in the area known as Peace Village in Vaughan Monday when Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya community, arrived.

Over 10,000 followers gathered as he began his six-week Canadian tour.

Today is a very, very important day because I am seeing the Caliph for the first time, said Waseema Khurran, 36, who was waiting with her 2-year-old son. I am so happy I cannot describe it.

The area was decorated festively for the Caliphs visit. Houses were draped in strings of light and children singing songs to welcome the Caliph wore red and white and waved Canadian flags.

Welcome Huzoor, (beloved) read a sign held by a girl to greet the Caliph.

For the national president of the Canadian Ahmadiyya chapter, Lal Khan Malik, the Caliphs visit was like a rebirth for him.

The world is obsessed with disorder, fear and restlessness, he said. Love for all and hate for none (the Caliphs main message) is the key. The world needs this message and value.

Estimates of the numbers of Ahmadis around the world range from 10 to 20 million. They have faced persecution in many parts of the world, including some Muslim countries where theyre regarded as heretics.

In certain countries such as Pakistan and a lot of Muslim countries we face persecution, said Hena Malik, who was part of the crowd welcoming the Caliph. In a country like Canada this is where we believe Islamic rights are followed.

The Caliph arrived at the Peace Village in a motorcade, as his followers strained eagerly to see him.

Umair Khan, the national president of the Ahmadiyya Jamaica chapter, traveled from the Caribbean to accompany members of the Jamaican government who were also attending.

With the negative image of Islam right now  Jamaica is very Christian  the only interaction theyve had with Muslims has been the negative things they see in the media, said Khan, adding he was hoping to counteract that by showing the government members his faith up close.

The Caliph will be in Canada for six weeks. His trip will include a visit to Ottawa, where hell meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of the local Ahmadiyya community.

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A Toronto private school offering nursery, kindergarten and specialized classes for children with autism might have to close because some of its provincial funding has been cut, according to the head of the school.

We got our last cheque on August 1st and we need money, said Janet MacDougall, executive director of Yes I Can! school.

The school got $300,000 over two years from the provincial ministry of education, according to ministry spokesperson Heather Irwin.

That funding, initially due to end in 2015, was extended through this past August. Along with the extension, however, came an understanding that the school would come up with a plan to wean itself off the provincial subsidy. That plan  which the province had been asking for since it initially funded the school, said Irwin  never came.

In a press conference Monday, Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown ripped the provinces move to stop funding the program as shortsighted, and unequivocally the wrong decision.

Senator Jim Munson, a longtime advocate for people with autism, said the province should be spending more money rather than cutting existing funding.

We are not talking about multi-millions of dollars here, we are talking about a main street nursery school that is offering a place for a child to grow and learn and be part of our society, Munson said after the press conference.

To me, that sounds like a wonderful place to be that should never be allowed to close.

Yes I Can! offers specialized programs for children with autism, ranging kindergarten prep to improving social and communication skills. There are also classes for non-autistic children.

MacDougall said shes hopeful the government will reconsider renewing its support of the school  which she says teaches more than 120 children, over 50 who have autism.

I believe that if we had merit enough to be funded initially, why not now? said MacDougall, who confirmed she did not provide the government with a transition plan, because she believes the school still deserves the funding.

In Question Period Monday, Premier Kathleen Wynne said her governments intention was always for the school to get more money from the City of Toronto.

Weve been trying to get Yes I Can! into that relationship so that they could have that sustainable funding. I still hope that will happen, Wynne said.

Therese Damaso, of Torontos Childrens Services said in an email that the city gave the school more than $300,000 in funding last year. She said the city is still planning to provide Yes I Can! with funding, but not enough to replace what it had been getting from the province.

Before it got funding from the Ministry of Education, Yes I Can! was getting provincial-level support from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

Parents of children at Yes I Can! praised the schools approach of integrating autistic kids with other children.

I dont know of any of any other school that integrates children with autism, at such a young age, into a typical classroom, said Nina Andrade, whose 9-year-old son Luke was diagnosed with autism at age 2.

Luke he went to Yes I Can! for four years, taking a program to help him improve his communication skills.

Andrade was so impressed with Yes I Can! that she sent her 3 -year-old daughter Lauren there for nursery school.

She says both of her children benefited from the school in different ways, because of the how it allows children with different abilities play and learn together.

My son actually  he has a difficult time in a new environment  and he adapted so well, hes happy to come here, said Marcia Paulos about her 4-year-old son Marcos, who is autistic.

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The father of a woman convicted of manslaughter for stabbing her pregnant sister-in-law in the neck has finally acknowledged his role in covering up the crime for years.

Kulwant Litt, 67, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to manslaughter on Tuesday, admitting that he helped dispose of the body of his daughter-in-law Poonam Litt and lied repeatedly to the police and court about what really happened to Poonam.

Charges of accessory after the fact to murder and perjury were withdrawn.

During an argument in the kitchen of the family home on Feb. 4, 2009, Mandeep Punia stabbed 27-year-old Poonam Litt in the neck with a box cutter and watched her bleed out on the floor, a judge found when sentencing Punia to 12 years in prison in August.

Poonam was holding her two-year-old daughter when she was stabbed.

A jury found Punias husband Skinder guilty of accessory after the fact to manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years. Skinder and Mandeep Punia were tried together.

Litt admitted to the following facts read to the court by the Crown:

He was home at the time of the argument. Hed gone upstairs to get Punias husband to intervene, and when he returned Poonam was bleeding.

Punia claimed Poonam had stabbed herself, but Poonam indicated to Litt that shed been stabbed by Punia.

Litt suggested an ambulance be called, but Mandeep and Skinder Punia said they would take care of it.

Litt took his granddaughter from her mothers arms and went upstairs. He changed the girls bloodstained clothes and hid them in the basement ceiling.

When he went back downstairs, Poonam was dead. Mandeep and Skinder Punia were cleaning up blood in the kitchen. They discussed how to dispose of Poonams body. Litt suggested using a mattress cover to wrap Poonams body. He and Skinder drove to Caledon and threw Poonams body over a fence into a wooded area.

Poonam was reported missing by her sisters when she didnt show up for work the next day.

Litt lied to the police, saying hed heard her getting ready for work that morning.

Poonams husband Manjinder Litt, in India with his mother at the time, immediately returned.

But Peel polices investigation went cold until February 2012 when Litt admitted to a relative in India that he believed his daughter had killed his daughter-in-law and that hed helped get rid of the body.

The relative taped part of the call and informed Poonams husband Manjinder who went to the police. Wearing a wire, Manjinder spoke with Litt who admitted what really happened in detail. He took Manjinder to the spot in Caledon where he and Skinder had left Poonams body.

However, when it came time for Litt to testify at the preliminary hearing and trial for Mandeep and Skinder Punia, he claimed his account of the stabbing was made up to help him reconcile with his son. He testified that he was drunk or jet-lagged when he made those statements, and maintained the truth was that Poonam was alive and getting ready for work on the morning of Feb. 5.

Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno told Litt that even though he was not pleading guilty to perjury, his lies to the court can be considered an aggravating factor for sentencing.

Durno also informed Litt that he would likely be deported from Canada as a result of his conviction.

Litts attempt to plead guilty was almost derailed for a third time Tuesday when he insisted that he did not know for sure that Punia had stabbed Poonam when he helped dispose of the evidence.

It was clear this thing had happened, whether she did it to her, or she did it to herself, how do I know? Litt said through a Punjabi interpreter in answer to Durnos questions to ensure Litt understood what he was pleading guilty to doing.

After a twenty-minute discussion with his lawyer, Litt agreed that he did know Punia had unlawfully killed Poonam when he helped her and Skinder Punia cover up the crime.

The plea was first delayed because Litt wanted to wait until Punia was sentenced on August 4, the Brampton Guardian reported.

But the day after Punia was sentenced, Litts plea was delayed again when Litts lawyer Kristin Bailey told the court she could no longer represent Litt for ethical reasons because of an issue with the solicitor-client relationship. Bailey was permitted to withdraw from the case.

Litt has been in custody since his arrest in April 2012.

A sentencing hearing is set for later this month.

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Nearly 25 years later, the immortal marching order from Bill Clinton campaign wizard James Carville  its the economy, stupid  is in need of an update.

Because today it really is all about skills. Retooling employees has become a real challenge, not only for corporations, but for educators who must train current employees, as well as those of the future, to stay ahead of the technology curve. The pace of change is now measured in weeks and months, and the traditional systems of learning cant keep pace, which is why both corporations and higher education must embrace continuous learning.

Work is not working for millennials  those 18 to 30 and the demographic facing the highest unemployment rates. Last year, European Union members such as Spain recorded an astounding 46 per cent of young people without jobs. In Canada, the rate has hovered at 13 per cent, and this figure doesnt even account for so-called underemployed youth, estimated to make up another 27 per cent.

The inequities caused by the gap between over-educated and underemployed workers is worrying politicians everywhere. As Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, pointed out in a recent article, the gap in the job market that increasingly segregates the low-skill/low-paying and high-skill/high-paying jobs will lead to increased social tensions, and political unrest.

The current definition of low and high skills is no longer divided by manual labourers versus those with a university degree. Today, higher-education programs are no longer valued equally. On one side of the employment gap are the skilled engineers, coders, designers and marketers, who are in such demand that technology recruiters go to great lengths  even staging hackathons  to source them.

But the tragedy is that people with degrees in the humanities are often forced to take low-skilled jobs. Take Talia Ben-Ora, a 25-year-old graduate who recently wrote an open letter to Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, arguing that she couldnt live on minimum wage, which is all she earned as a customer-relations rep at Eat24  particularly in San Francisco, where the food-delivery startup owned by Yelp operates.

Ben-Oras millennial cri de coeur, publicly calling out her boss via social media, was controversial, but her dilemma is not uncommon.

Western University graduate Adam Smith spoke to the Toronto Star last year about being unemployed and living back home, eight months after graduating with a double major in sociology and criminology. He applied for 50 entry-level jobs  without success.

The employment gap has widened. So how do we fix it? The answer: Skill up, early and often.

Schools are beginning to introduce coding programs into high school.

With the B.C. technology sector employing 86,000 people  more than forestry, mining and oil and gas combined  the government is betting on a new curriculum to equip students for future jobs. Its a laudable strategic plan, but coding alone is not enough. Students should be introduced to entrepreneurial thinking at a young age, or have access to programs such as the Toronto-based Future Design School, created to tap the entrepreneur in all children by teaching them how to develop commercially viable ideas, thus building confidence in their ability to innovate.

But even curriculum-based changes  when they happen  will not solve the youth-unemployment problem. The gap will be bridged only when corporations themselves embrace a learning culture and provide relevant on-the-job skills training. In todays economy, the best companies understand that education never stops, and provide venues for employees to take advantage of learning opportunities.

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review by LinkedIns Pat Wadors spells it out: For organizations to win in the market, they must help their employees stay relevant in their skills.

They also need to prepare the workforce to be agile and to adapt quickly to changes in the market. This is not only critical for corporations but for anyone working in the public service or non-profit sector.

Skills training is essential. According to a recent McKinsey study, on average, young recruits now must have more than five times the number of skills required as recently as 2009, when programming languages such as Swift and Hack, and communications tools such as Slack, PostBeyond and Pressly, were still awaiting birth.

While that may seem to be a frightening prospect, our growing startup community is well-positioned to deliver tools to help employees keep pace by learning on the job. Its not formal apprenticeship; its skilling up through digital acceleration. A number of new firms are offering HR tools to help employers with assessment, performance management (Kudos, Wirl), and employee recognition (Achievers, Nudge Rewards). Beyond such tools are new software platforms that manage workplace space, community activities and, most important, online training (Horizn, Prollster).

Faced with a tough job market, many young employees are accepting lower salaries or entry-level positions, and are frustrated that their higher education didnt translate into prestigious jobs.

Luckily, some of the new tools offer employees a way to accelerate skills acquisition.

Sahar Taghooni works in at fast-growing telecommunications firm that now offers 1,000 different SKUs or product lines to its customers.

The old learning management tools were not meeting our audiences demands, she says. But two years ago, the company decided to try another approach, in this case turning to specialists, who provided more efficient ways to train salespeople by offering short, daily bursts of learning via a gamelike interface.

Now Taghooni is seeing a wave of ambitious sales reps who are using the tools to scale sales metrics. Properly equipped, they perform better.

The future of work will be shaped by a skills culture: innovators providing models to enable lifelong learning in a time frame that suits the marketplace. And for millennials trying to close the gap between their aspirations and the jobs available to them, these technologies may prove to be a lifeline.

This article is part of a series on the Future of Work featured in MaRS, a publication that highlights the people and companies in MaRS Discovery Districts network, and the innovations that touch our lives. Learn more about the Future of Work.

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YORK, PA.A town council in Pennsylvania has approved a motion to censure the towns mayor over racist posts on his Facebook page, including two depicting apes with captions referring to President Barack Obama and his family.

Pennlive.com reports the West York Council unanimously approved a motion Monday night to censure Republican Mayor Charles Wasko.

The council also approved a motion to give the borough solicitor the authority to look into any legal means necessary to remove Wasko as mayor.

One image on Waskos Facebook page of a wagon full of orangutans refers to moving day at the White House. Another refers to lynching.

Wasko, who is white, did not attend the meeting. He told The Associated Press last week that hes the victim of a witch hunt.

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RICHMOND, VA.The crowd at the 2nd St. Festival was thick and loud on Saturday afternoon, and Sir James Weaver, an especially motivated voter registration canvasser, had to shout over the go-go band to ask people if they were signed up.

He got dozens of nods and smiles. Then, as night fell in Richmond and the music in the historic black neighbourhood of Jackson Ward finally stopped, the lanky 27-year-old approached an older man sitting by himself on a bench.

I cant, Khaali Richardson, a 50-year-old with a goatee and a camouflage shirt, said with a grimace. I got a violent felony.

Specifically, he mugged somebody as a 19-year-old in 1986. And he made the additional mistake of doing it in Virginia.

In most of the country, felons get their voting rights back after leaving prison or finishing their probation. In Virginia, they never get them back. The state is one of four that bans ex-felons from voting for their entire lives unless the governor personally approves their reinstatement.

Virginias harsh law is now the subject of a furious political battle that may have world-changing implications for the presidential election. Like almost every U.S. fight over matters of voting rights, from voter ID to early voting, this one is inseparable from race.

The lifetime felon ban, which dates to 1830, was included in the segregationist 1902 state constitution that aimed to limit black freedom and influence. Because black people are disproportionately likely to be convicted felons, it still curbs the political power of their community.

Which is, critics say, still the point.

Its just a more evolved or sophisticated Jim Crow. They just do it more subtle, said Richardson, who has worked for 15 years at a chicken processing plant. Thats another way they impose supremacy. To keep us behind, basically. And make it harder for us  not impossible, but very hard to get ahead. You cant vote, then you cant vote for the people that might help you get resources that you need.

By one credible estimate, one in 13 black people  more than two million in all  is currently disenfranchised over a felony. The equivalent number for non-black people is one in 55.

Ex-felons, often poor, vote at low rates: 23 per cent in one 2008 study. But tens of thousands of extra ballots are more than enough to potentially change presidential, state and local outcomes in perpetually close states like Virginia and Florida, which also imposes a lifetime ban.

Advocates of the harsh policies say criminals forfeited their political say when they harmed fellow citizens. Ex-offenders say voting rights should be irrevocable  and that they cant fully reintegrate without them.

I feel like voting rights is a voice. When you take that voice away, youre left mute. You dont feel whole, said Davon Miller, 29, a soft-spoken restaurant manager in Charlottesville, Va., who had his rights restored in 2014 with the help of the progressive group Virginia Organizing. You dont feel like a citizen. For a long time I felt alienated. I couldnt do the things that normal citizens  or other citizens  were able to do.

Virginias long-running debate has hit a fever pitch in the last six months. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, announced from the steps of the state capitol in April that he was going to simultaneously restore the voting rights of 206,000 people with convictions for violent felonies. Nearly half of them were black.

Republicans were outraged, arguing that he was merely trying to help Hillary Clinton win a swing state, and they filed a lawsuit. The state Supreme Court then voted 4-3 to overturn the order, agreeing that McAuliffe did not have the authority to order a blanket restoration. McAuliffe then vowed to restore all 206,000 individually.

The current one-by-one application system is entirely unknown to thousands of the states ex-offenders. Richardson was unaware that he could even ask the governor for his rights.

Weaver gave Richardson a form. Though Weaver was wearing an orange shirt with the name of the progressive group that employs him, New Virginia Majority, Richardson was so skeptical that he declined to fill out the line requesting his Social Security number.

Theyre not being informed when they get out. Theyre hearing it from third parties, Weaver said later. I dont know whose responsibility it is exactly, but somebody should be telling them.

A growing number of Republican elites favour an easing of the restrictions. McAuliffes Republican predecessor, Robert McDonnell, made it substantially easier for non-violent felons to get returned to the voter rolls. But enough party voters prefer a hard line  six in 10 in one Virginia poll  to make any softening politically perilous for conservative legislators.

Arthur Walker, a courteous 56-year-old, was one of the 13,000 people who obtained his voting rights after McAuliffe signed the order. He lost them again after the Republicans won their legal challenge.

Walker served six years in prison in the 1990s for drug trafficking. For the last 15 years, he has worked as a cook and waiter at Mels Cafe, a comfort food establishment in Charlottesville, just working and making a living as a regular person in society.

I want to participate, he said.

He missed his chance to vote for the first black president. He wants to vote for the first female president. His explanation: So all people are included in this democracy, not just the blue-blooded white men running everything.

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIANine Australians, including a government adviser, have been arrested in Malaysia for stripping down to their briefs and drinking beer from shoes after Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix, officials said Tuesday.

Government officials confirmed that Jack Walker, adviser to Defence Industry Minister Chris Pyne, was among the men aged 25 to 29 who were arrested after they stripped down to Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag in full view of thousands of spectators at the Sepang race track Sunday.

Pynes office said the matter was being handled appropriately by the Australian High Commissioner in Malaysia.

Until we have a clearer picture of the process at hand, it would be unwise to comment further, a government statement said.

District police chief Abdul Aziz Ali said Tuesday that the men were being investigated for intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace and public indecency.

He said police would submit a report to prosecutors, who will decide Thursday if the men will be charged. Abdul Aziz told The Associated Press that the men face up to six months in jail, a fine or both if they are found guilty.

Sepang International Circuit chief executive Datuk Razlan Razali told the New Straits Times website the men deserved to be locked up and have action taken against them.

This shows a huge lack of respect to us as Malaysians; this is stupid behaviour from foreigners who have no sense of cultural sensitivity and respect, he said.

It embarrasses their own country as well  it gives Australians a bad name, he said.

Treasurer Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB the arrests were a reminder for travellers to know local laws and respect them. The government already warns travellers that there are conservative standards of dress and behaviour in many parts of Malaysia.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten declined to discuss Walkers behaviour, saying he did not want to jeopardize a complex situation.

Its incredibly serious when an Australian gets arrested overseas, he told reporters.

Don Rothwell, an Australian National University expert on international law, doubted Malaysian authorities would treat the Australians harshly.

The Malaysian government will be sure to make sure that its international reputation as a tourist destination for the Grand Prix is not too damaged, Rothwell told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

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JOHANNESBURGSouth African students protesting for free education disrupted lectures at one of the countrys leading universities on Tuesday, clashing with police who tried to disperse crowds with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.

The violence at the University of the Witwatersrand, or Wits, in Johannesburg erupted despite an appeal from the vice-chancellor, Adam Habib. He had asked students and staff to take back our campus from what he called a minority of students who would rather protest than study.

Stop shooting at us, shouted a young woman, one of several female protesters who stripped to the waist and accosted police in helmets and body armour.

Similar unrest has occurred since last month at some other financially struggling South African universities, forcing a number, including Wits, to close. The university sought to reopen Tuesday  the main campus was disrupted, but classes proceeded on other Wits campuses.

The government said it will cover fee increases of poor university students in 2017, but protesters rejected the concession. Bigger protests in 2015 forced the government to announce the suspension of university fee increases this year.

The demand for free education stems partly from wider dissatisfaction over economic inequities in South Africa, and the belief that universities and other institutions were not adequately transformed to benefit the black majority after the end of white minority rule in 1994.

President Jacob Zuma says the protests have caused about $44 million (U.S.) in property damage and threaten to sabotage the countrys higher education system.

Wits is Ours, read a banner held up by protesters who accused police of confronting them first. They pulled up paving stones and broke them into pieces, hurling the debris at officers. Protesters also smashed the windows of a police car.

Were all angry, said Nkululeko Tselane, a law student who had a large bump on the back of his head, the result of what he said was a clubbing by university guards when violence broke out Tuesday.

Tselane described university warnings that the protests might force the cancellation of the academic year as a scare tactic and vowed that demonstrations would continue.

Habib, the vice-chancellor, previously said he was aware of student and staff concerns about learning in a securitized environment with police guarding lecture halls, but said a robust security presence on the Wits campus was necessary Tuesday because of the protesters.

Two students were arrested in confrontations with police and security guards, and one student and one staff member were injured, the university said.

Two students were also arrested at the University of Cape Town, where protesters tried to block entrances and disrupt lectures, said Max Price, the vice-chancellor. However, he said, most operations proceeded at the university, which had also been shut because of demonstrations.

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The Donald Trump campaign said that he not required to pay any more tax than legally required.

Trump's financial activities came under the scanner after a New York Times report said he had he declared a $916 million loss in 1995 that could have allowed him to legally avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years. (Photo: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: Responding to allegations that he defaulted on paying taxes, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Monday that he "brilliantly used" US tax rules to his advantage to limit the amount he paid in taxes. Trump defended his actions by saying that it helped him survive a tough period in the real estate market.

A statement on Trump's campaign website says, "Mr Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required."

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He reiterated this sentiment during a rally in Pueblo, Colorado. "I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess ... when few others were able to do what I did," he said.

NEW YORK TIMES REPORT EXPOSES TRUMP'S NON-PAYMENT OF TAXES



Trump's financial activities came under the scanner after a New York Times report said he had he declared a $916 million loss in 1995 that could have allowed him to legally avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee tore into the report, arguing that his tax records and his business acumen do not add up.

"What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? This is Trump to a T, he's taken corporate excess and made a business out of it," Clinton said at a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday.

Early on Sunday, Trump responded to the Times' report via Twitter.

I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them. #failing@nytimes Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2016



The Trump campaign did not comment on Trump's exploitation of the loophole, but claimed that "the more than 20-year-old alleged tax document was illegally obtained."

Also read:

Trump's Playboy video, beauty queen's 'sex tape' turn US presidential campaign sordid

Trump escalates attack on Clinton ahead of second presidential debate, says she should be in prison

Presidential debate takeaways: How Hillary got under Trump's skin



--- ENDS ---
KABULFierce gun battles raged for a second day on Tuesday in Afghanistans embattled northern city of Kunduz while in the countrys south, insurgents killed 12 policemen at checkpoints around the Helmand provincial capital and seized another district they had attacked a day earlier.

The timing of the co-ordinated assaults was particularly poignant, coming a year after the Taliban captured and held parts of Kunduz before the city was fully liberated weeks later with the help of U.S. airstrikes.

In the latest attack in Helmand, Taliban fighters besieged police checkpoints around the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah late on Monday night, killing 12 policemen and wounding another 11, according to Haji Gran, chief of the citys police district 2.

Lashkar Gar has been under threat of Taliban takeover for months as insurgents have been slowly taking control of Helmand since the beginning of the year, with some officials saying that 85 per cent of the province is now under Taliban control  or 12 of its 14 districts.

That includes Khanashin district in the south of the province, which the provincial spokesman, Omar Zwak, said had fallen to the Taliban after coming under attack Monday. In recent days, he said, around 45 members of Afghan security forces have been killed in fighting there and more than 15 have been taken captive.

In Kunduz, the Taliban began their attack from all directions early on Monday. They briefly raised a flag over a main intersection before being repelled from the city centre.

On Tuesday, fierce fighting was still underway with Taliban gunmen using residential homes as hideouts in a number of areas, slowing down the efforts of Afghan security forces to repel them from the city, said the Interior Ministrys spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi.

The Afghan forces were trying to secure the city, but progress was slow and difficult. At least 30 insurgents had been killed in the two days of fighting, he said. It was unclear how many Taliban were involved in the attack.

Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, the head of the Kunduz provincial council, said the city has become a battlefield, with fighting going on in many areas.

We cant go to our (council) office because the area is under the control of the Taliban, he said, adding that council members instead were gathering at a location about 1.5 kilometres from the city. The militants have planted mines around the city, making movement extremely difficult, he said. Local people are trapped in their homes.

Gen. Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said five Afghan security personnel had been killed in the fighting and 13 others wounded so far.

We are very careful in using airstrikes and artillery in this fight, to avoid civilian casualties, Waziri said.

Kunduz is the capital of a province with the same name, a breadbasket region that borders Tajikistan to the north and sits on a major crossroad in the country.

Its fall last year sent shock waves across the country and among Afghanistans backers in the international community as it marked the Talibans first capture of an urban centre since the group was driven from power in 2001. Since then, Afghan officials and U.S. military leaders have said it will never fall again.

The city came under threat again in April, when U.S.-backed Afghan forces pushed the Taliban back into surrounding districts.

Sediqqi said Mondays attack could be a Taliban show of force to coincide with a Brussels aid conference where Afghanistans international partners are expected to pledge billions of dollars in aid through to 2020.

U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland said the Afghan military had moved reinforcements into Kunduz overnight but insisted that the fighting was sporadic and that the government still controls Kunduz.

There had been no U.S. airstrikes overnight but there was one U.S. air-to ground engagement by helicopter on the outskirts of Kunduz city to defend friendly forces, Cleveland said. U.S. forces ... will provide support as needed.

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BRUSSELSThe United States wont abandon its pursuit of peace in Syria after suspending direct U.S.-Russian talks on a ceasefire, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday, even as he announced no new strategy to replace diplomatic efforts with Russia.

Washington and Moscow will still discuss Syria as part of larger multilateral negotiations, Kerry said, and theyll make sure their warplanes conducting bombing missions in the Arab country dont cross paths. Explaining Mondays announcement to halt bilateral contacts over Syria, he said Russia has rejected diplomacy and chosen instead to help Syrian President Bashar Assads government achieve a military victory over rebel groups.

We acknowledge in sorrow and, I have to tell you, a great sense of outrage that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assads deplorable use of these weapons of war, chlorine gas and barrel bombs, against his people, Kerry said in a speech focused on trans-Atlantic ties at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

Together, the Syrian regime and Russia seemed to have rejected diplomacy, he said, opting for a victory at the expense of the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals and traumatized children of a long-suffering land.

Mondays announcement dealt peace efforts a serious blow. Coupled with a Russian announcement to put on hold a plutonium disposal deal with the U.S., it showed chilly relations between the former Cold War foes turning even frostier.

Kerry said the decision wasnt taken lightly.

We are not giving up on the Syrian people. We are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, the secretary of state said, with Washington maintaining its pursuit of a truce that grounds Russian and Syrian planes and allows aid to reach besieged, rebel-held areas of northern Syria.

The U.S. also will press on with military efforts against the Daesh group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, he said, and finding a durable political solution that allows Syrians to return home and alleviates Europes refugee crisis.

But of Russia and Syrias airstrikes on the city of Aleppo, he said, People who are serious about making peace behave differently.

The 5 -year war has killed as many as 500,000 people, chased millions of Syrians from their homes and allowed Daesh to carve out territory for itself and emerge as a global terror threat.

The Obama administration had been working with Russia for months to forge a ceasefire that ended Assads attacks on rebel and civilian areas and separated U.S.-supported, moderate groups from fighters linked to Al Qaeda. Neither side proved able to fulfil its side of the bargain. But Washington has few other options, given President Barack Obamas opposition to using military force against Assads military.

The White House and State Department said Monday there was no point to the bilateral discussions any longer because Russia hasnt lived up to a Sept. 9 agreement that included a demand for unfettered humanitarian aid to places like Aleppo, which has been under Russian and Syrian bombardment. They pointed to Russian attacks on hospitals and on an aid convoy last month; Russia and Syria deny they were responsible for the deadly Sept. 19 strike on the convoy.

Of course I hope that there is not going to be a new Cold War, Vitaly Churkin, Moscows UN ambassador, said late Monday. He said U.S.-Russian differences have been overdramatized and voiced hope that co-operation on Syria could be resumed.

The U.S. hasnt ruled out restating talks with Russia, if it takes significant action to halt the bloodshed in Syria.

Russia knows exactly what it needs to do, Kerry said in his speech.

Russia intervened on behalf of its close ally Syria a year ago, joining Assads bombardment of both anti-Assad rebel groups and militant groups such as the Daesh and Fatah al-Sham Front, an Al Qaeda spinoff formerly known as the Nusra Front. Russia is interested in propping up Assad in part because Russias only naval facility outside the former Soviet Union is on the Syrian coast.

If it had been implemented, the ceasefire deal would have created a joint U.S.-Russian centre to co-ordinate military and intelligence operations. Obama had overruled Pentagon objections to such co-operation, and Kerry made the offer.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed deep disappointment about the U.S. move and blamed the diplomatic impasse on Washingtons failure to separate rebels from terrorist groups.

We are under a growing impression that in its striving for a much-desired change of power in Damascus, Washington is ready to make a deal with the devil and forge a union with terrorists who want to turn history backwards and enforce their inhuman norms by force, it said in a statement.

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Alberta premier Rachel Notley received some good news last week, news that buoyed her hopes that the Trudeau government will soon approve a controversial pipeline that will ship heavy diluted bitumen from Alberta to the southern coast of B.C.

Notleys rising optimism came with the federal governments approval  with 190 conditions  of a $36 billion mega-project on B.Cs northern coast that would liquefy natural gas for export by tanker to Asia.

Were encouraged that the federal government appears to be rolling up its sleeves to try to sort of navigate a path toward  an important combination for sustainable economic growth while ensuring you address environmental issues, she told The Calgary Herald.

The B.C. project  Pacific Northwest LNG  would ship natural gas via a 900-km pipeline from B.Cs plentiful natural gas fields in the north east of the province to Lelu Island near Prince Rupert on the northwest coast, where it would be cooled and liquefied so it can be more easily transported over long distances.

The oil pipeline that Notley hopes will get federal approval  Kinder Morgans Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion  has become a potent symbol for the Alberta premier. If built, more of Albertas oil will be sold to Asian customers, earning billions of dollars for both the petroleum industry and the provincial treasury.

But the pipeline is also seen as a test of the NDP governments ability to get pipelines on track after conservatives at both the provincial and federal level flunked the job.

A succession of Alberta premiers, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed to think they could simply push pipelines through walls of opposition in other provinces. But that strategy got them nowhere.

Notley, on the other hand, decided to play nice. She introduced a climate change plan, which included a coal phase-out, a carbon levy and a cap on oilsands greenhouse gas emissions.

She reasoned if environmentalists and First Nations in other provinces see Alberta is doing its bit to protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions they would be more likely to support, or at least soften, their opposition to oil pipelines.

Notleys plan also happened to fit nicely with Justin Trudeaus plans for a national strategy to reduce green house gases. They have become firm allies when it comes to climate change policies. More than once Trudeau has held up particulars of Albertas plan as examples of what other provinces should do.

The main investor in the B.C. liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is Petronas, Malaysias state-owned oil and gas multinational. But while the approval gives them a green light, Petronas is holding its cards close to its chest. The conditions have to be examined in detail to see if they can be met and how much that would cost. Petronas also has to figure out if the project is still financially viable given the low price of LNG.

Despite B.C. premier Christy Clarks enthusiastic and long standing promotion of this project it may never be built.

But Notley isnt interested in the eventual fate of the B.C. project. She sees the federal governments green light as a strong sign that Kinder Morgans expanded pipeline from Alberta to B.C. will also be approved, despite strong opposition from First Nations, environmentalists and the mayors of Vancouver and Burnaby.

They simply dont see the LNG project as environmentally sustainable as Notley does. The Pembina Institute, the Dogwood Initiative, and Greenpeace have all condemned it because it will spew carbon emissions, endanger salmon and coastal waters.

Some First Nations affected by the project are on board but others are not, so there are likely to be court challenges.

Of course, Premier Christy Clark is thrilled to pieces. And there is no question Trudeau needs her on side if he is to successfully negotiate a national climate change strategy.

Its clear Trudeau would rather alienate First Nations and environmentalists than premiers of powerful provinces he wants to be able to count as allies.

His cabinets decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline is due no later than December.

No one has more at stake with that decision than Rachel Notley.

Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week. gsteward@telus.net

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First, the good news.

Were fortunate enough to live in a city thats been ranked as the best place to live among 50 global cities. Toronto and its surrounding region  6.6 million people strong  are growing fast. The overall crime rate is way down and the vast majority of people feel safe in their community. Employment is back up to pre-recession levels; more students than ever are graduating high school; we have one of the best-educated populations in the world; and were even starting to break our addiction to commuting by car.

All this comes courtesy of the Toronto Foundation and its annual Vital Signs report, detailed elsewhere in todays Star. Its the most comprehensive snapshot of life in the Greater Toronto Area and it shows, in the words of the foundations new president and CEO, Sharon Avery, that we can stop going on about being world class because we so clearly are among the worlds top cities that we dont have to incessantly claim it.

But among all the rah-rah theres a lot of not-so-good news, and some findings that are downright shameful:

One child in four in Toronto is being raised in poverty, a number that has hardly budged in 20 years. Five of the 15 federal ridings in the country with the highest rates of child poverty are here, and the city has the highest poverty rate of all large Canadian cities. The stark truth, says the report, is that Toronto is the child poverty capital of Canada. Its a sobering reality that, as Avery says in a speech to be delivered this week, deserves our shock, our anger and our action.

There are other troubling signs that as Toronto becomes richer it has also become a much more unequal place, a disturbing trend that Vital Signs reports have documented for the past 15 years. The number of people relying on food banks keeps growing, and the need is moving from the central core to the inner suburbs. Demand there is up almost 50 per cent in the past eight years.

Housing is at a crisis point. Even for those with money, as we all know, houses in Toronto are getting out of reach. For those at the lower end, its clearly much worse. Fewer rental units are being built and almost 85,000 households are on waiting lists for social housing, while governments cant manage even to keep existing units in decent repair. This is a disaster thats been building for years, and now cries out for urgent solutions. Governments must take the lead, but the Toronto Foundation says we should also look to the private sector for fresh thinking.

Some kinds of crime are actually rising after falling for years; stabbings, for example, are at a four-year high. The Muslim community is experiencing more hate crimes and theres widespread mistrust of police. Half of those surveyed in one poll believe there is systemic racism in Toronto, and more than half support the Black Lives Matter movement. This is evidence of a worrisome gap between police and important segments of the community.

Our transportation networks are straining to keep up with the growth weve seen over the past couple of decades. Torontonians have the longest commutes in the country, aside from those in even more congested Vancouver. The number of people who walk or bike to work is going up, but outside the City of Toronto 90 per cent of commuters still rely on the car.

Theres much more in this dense report that sheds light on how the city is changing. Were getting older, for one thing. Within 20 years one person in four will be a senior citizen (its about one in seven now). Our health is pretty good, but obesity and diabetes are on the rise, while drug overdoses are claiming more lives (theyre up 82 per cent in a decade).

The Vital Signs report is a call to action for politicians and community leaders alike. As Avery notes, all three levels of government seem more inclined now than they have been in years to actually work together on solutions to the challenges the report lays out. They should seize the moment.

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Editors' pick: Originally published Oct. 4.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had the world waiting on what he indicated would be a major bombshell early Tuesday morning. What he delivered instead was a major disappointment.

Speaking via video conference from his hideaway in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the 45-year-old Australian native celebrated his website's 10th anniversary at an event in Berlin, touting some of its biggest leaks since its launch -- Democratic National Committee emails, documents on Guantanamo Bay, communications from Syrian political figures and companies, files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It trumpeted having released 10 million documents over the course of a decade, boasting 10 billion words and averaging 3,000 documents per day.

What Assange did not deliver were new revelations about the U.S. presidential election that many believed were to come. The computer programmer fueled speculation of an impending shocker when on Monday he announced he had moved his press conference from London to Berlin, citing unspecified "specific information."

Assange promised that WikiLeaks has information to share and is just biding its time. Every week for the next 10 weeks, he said the site intends to publish material on weapons, war, oil, Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google and mass surveillance. He also said information is on the way about the U.S. election and pledged it would arrive before November 8, Election Day.

A Google representative did not return request for comment on the matter.

Those in the United States who stayed awake overnight (or woke up extra early) to tune in to Assange's big reveal were not happy:

Assange remained nonchalant about the criticism. "If we are going to make a major publication, we don't do it at 3 a.m. [in the United States]," he said.

Alphabet is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. See how Cramer rates the stock here. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL? Learn more now.

Hillary Clinton's campaign likely met Tuesday's non-news with a sigh of relief. It was widely speculated that she and the Democratic Party would be the subject of the announcement. Monday, a false report circulated online that the former secretary of state had openly inquired whether the government could "just drone this guy" in reference to Assange.

Donald Trump supporter and Infowars founder Alex Jones raged at Tuesday morning's events, demanding Assange "release the documents NOW."

Thus far, those anticipating an October surprise from WikiLeaks will have to keep waiting.
Last week's OPEC agreement reached at the Algiers conference to cut oil production caught the market by surprise. In the aftermath, prices have waxed and waned but reached highs for the week on Monday, even as there has been skepticism about whether OPEC's tentative deal will hold.

December Brent Crude contracts were up 1.4% or 70 cents to close at $50.89 a barrel on the London ICE futures exchange, the highest futures price in about six weeks.

November West Texas Intermediate was up 1.2% or 57 cents on the New York Merc, ending at $48.81 a barrel as it swung between lows of below $48 and highs above $49.

The OPEC pact calls for cuts to the group's output of between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels a day, down from the levels of 33.2 million barrels a day in August.

While the cap was eye-catching, Phillips Futures energy analyst Jonathan Chan stated, "OPEC has no way of enforcing the quotas." Iraq has already expressed skepticism about the production cuts and Russia's buy-in is anything but predictable. Production levels will be a topic for discussion at OPEC's next meeting in Vienna on November 30.

Even if the OPEC quotas experiences some slippage, however, one market analyst said "OPEC has at least built themselves what appears to be a (production) floor. No one thought they would get this done."

BMI Research forecasts decline in Saudi Arabia of about 360,000 barrels a day between August and November. The output by Saudis, OPEC's biggest producer, would likely have dropped in any event since Saudi Arabia typically implements cut backs that are consonant with the winter months in North America and Europe.

The U.S. lifted its 40-year ban on exporting crude oil in January which continues to affect the market and the spread between Brent and WTI began to narrow some nine months ago. The persistent problem has been over-supply, with non-OPEC suppliers being significant contributors. The green light may still be flashing for Russia and U.S. frackers to flood the market. If oil prices spiked during a production cut by low-cost producers, that would provide an incentive to open the taps wider.

The New York Fed's Oil Dynamics Report stated on Tuesday that "[o]verall, since the end of Q2 2014, both lower global demand expectations and looser supply have held oil prices downa trend that has been reversed since the end of 2Q 2016."
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) were rising in mid-afternoon trade as Nomura upped its price target on the stock to $120 from $95, reiterating a "buy" rating, Barron's reports.

NXP, a Netherlands-based chipmaker, was the subject of takeover speculation by Qualcomm (QCOM) last week and has reportedly begun a formal sale process, sources told Bloomberg.

Nomura noted that while most analysts expect Qualcomm to win in a bidding war, the firm also sees "Texas Instruments (TXN) as a dark horse that hasn't been seriously thought of and could rush past the field in triumph."

"Texas Instruments has made 33 acquisitions over the last twenty years... but none in the last five years," the firm said.

Additionally, Nomura added that NXP CEO Rick Clemmer and Chairman Peter Bonfield formerly worked for Texas Instruments. Clemmer served as senior VP and CFO of Texas Instruments' semiconductors unit, while Bonfield worked as an engineer at the company.

"We believe that Mr. Clemmer maintains close ties with the Texas Instruments management team," Nomura said, Barron's notes.

The firm added that an acquisition of NXP could boost Texas Instruments' stock to $80 from current prices.

Shares of Dallas-based Texas Instruments were lower in late afternoon trading today.

(NXP Semiconductors is held in Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. See all of Cramer's holdings with a free trial.)

Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated NXP stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B-.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: NXPI
RETAIL

Sales predicted to rise this holiday

Americans are expected to spend at a faster clip than last year during the critical holiday season, helped by an economy that should continue to pick up, the largest U.S. retail industry trade group said Tuesday.

The National Retail Federation is forecasting holiday sales for the November and December period to rise 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, much better than the 3 percent growth seen last year.

The figure excludes sales from autos, gas and restaurants but includes online spending and other nonstore sales. The group estimates nonstore sales should rise 7 percent to 10 percent to as much as $117 billion. Last year, that rate was 9 percent.

Our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the economy and industry expectations, said Matthew Shay, president and chief executive of the trade group.

The forecast is based on an economic model that takes into account such indicators as consumer credit, disposable personal income and monthly retail sales. It is a key barometer for retailers who depend on the last two months of the year. Holiday sales account for nearly 20 percent of annual retail industry sales.

 Associated Press

LABOR

Tyson Foods settles charges on hiring

Tyson Foods has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle federal allegations of hiring discrimination at six plants in Arkansas, New Mexico and Texas.

The Labor Department announced the settlement Tuesday. The department alleged that the Springdale, Ark.-based companys hiring processes and selection procedures at the six plants discriminated on the basis of sex, race or ethnicity.

Tyson, which did not admit liability, agreed to pay back wages, interest and benefits to 5,716 applicants turned down for jobs as laborers from 2006 to 2012 at plants in Rogers and Russellville, Ark.; Santa Theresa, N.M.; and Amarillo, Houston and Sherman, Tex.

Tyson will extend job offers to 474 of the affected workers as positions become available. It also will revise its hiring and training practices.

 Associated Press

Also in Business

 From news services

Coming Today
In 1995, Donald Trump was in the midst of a spending spree. He had recently bought a 727 jet for personal use, added a skyscraper to his Manhattan real estate portfolio and snapped up properties in Telluride, Colo., and Palm Beach, Fla., financial records show.

That same year, he said he had negative $916 million in federal adjusted gross income, a claim that gave him the prospect of avoiding federal income taxes for years to come.

So how could he be thriving and avoiding taxes at the same time?

Thats the central mystery behind the state tax documents filed in New York by Trump for 1995 and disclosed this weekend by the New York Times.

Unlike every major presidential nominee of the past 40 years, Trump has declined to release his tax returns. The 1995 documents offer the most penetrating information yet about Trumps personal finances and revive long-standing questions about his business practices.

The tax code allows real estate developers or managers to use special tax breaks and benefits that the rest of us cant. Heres how that works. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

A clue to his claimed losses in 1995 may be related to the intricate backstory of how his Atlantic City gambling empire slid into bankruptcy in the early 1990s.

Everyone is acting shocked, but the whole world knew he had overleveraged himself and his operating businesses, said Jack ODonnell, a former president of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

[Five big questions from Trumps tax-return revelations]

The disclosure also raises new questions about the degree of Trumps personal financial involvement in the Trump Organizations first four bankruptcies. Though he has repeatedly drawn a distinction between the companys bankruptcies and his personal finances, the tax documents indicate he may have used losses stemming from his bankruptcies to benefit his personal fortune.

The U.S. tax code allows filers to write off their losses, known as net operating losses, for the year they occurred, and apply them to tax claims for the two years before and as many as 15 years afterward.

Trumps campaign said in a statement, Mr. Trump is a highly skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.

Without supporting documents or the full tax filing, which remain confidential, its impossible to identify with any precision how the $916 million in claimed losses was generated.

1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail View Photos The GOP presidential nominee is out on the trail ahead of the general election in November. Caption The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Nov. 7, 2016 Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

The losses followed a period in which Trump struggled to hold on to his casino and real estate empire.

By 1990, his casinos, hotel and other assets had piled up more than $3 billion in debt, according to a confidential document produced at the time by Kenneth Leventhal & Co., which was retained by Trump during his financial crisis. Trump had personally guaranteed $832 million of that amount on the casinos alone, according to New Jersey Casino Control Commission documents.

In August 1990, unable to pay interest on his loans, Trump persuaded his bankers and bondholders to extend the terms of his loans and agree not to hold him personally responsible until 1995. Still, his three casinos, Trumps Castle, Plaza and Taj Mahal, as well as his Plaza Hotel in New York, sought bankruptcy protection in 1991 and 1992.

In each of the casino bankruptcies, Trump gave up 50 percent of his equity to lenders, a stake that could have been worth more than $1 billion, according to a Washington Post review of the Leventhal accounting and regulatory documents.

In the early 1990s, Trump began telling a story that he included in an interview for a Fortune magazine piece, in The Post and in his book Trump: The Art of the Comeback. As he told it, Trump walks past a panhandler on the street near Trump Tower and stops to remark on his own plight.

Hes a beggar, but hes worth about $900 million more than me, the book quoted Trump as saying.

But in The Art of the Comeback, Trump also said that 1995 was a banner year for his business. He had reduced his debts in the wake of his bankruptcies and was back on a path to success, including sealing a deal for his landmark tower at 40 Wall Street.

By 1993, Trump wrote in the book, my personal debt of $975 million had been reduced to $115 million, and I had two years to finish cleaning it up. There was no way to deny that things were going really great.

He wrote that it was a time when I knew I was coming on strong. This went on for about two years. I call it the period of the unknown. I sold some assets . . . but for the most part, I kept everything Id had in the first place, and just reduced debt.

Abe Wallach, the former head of acquisitions for the Trump Organization, said Trump by 1995 had stanched his major losses and was back making money.

If these forms were dated 1990, I could see where he had $916 million in debt, Wallach said. Things were going well by the mid-90s. He had gotten rid of some of the debts on some of the properties and had income coming in.

Some of the claimed losses on Trumps tax documents came from $15.8 million in losses listed under real estate, royalties, trusts, partnerships and S corporations. Tax experts said those losses probably came from a deduction offered to real estate developers, like Trump, that allows them to subtract from their income on the basis that buildings depreciate in value over time.

Trump has used those real estate deductions to pay no federal income taxes in previous years. According to summaries of Trumps 1978 and 1979 tax returns, submitted to New Jersey regulators as part of an application for a casino license, Trump claimed that his combined income during those two years was negative $3.8 million, allowing him to pay no taxes.

The bulk of his 1995 losses, or roughly $909 million, was listed only as other income. A note, written on the return next to the loss, refers to a statement that could provide more explanation, but it was not included in the pages sent to the Times.

Its unclear what happened to the $916 million in debt after 1995. If the debts were forgiven or written off in bankruptcy court, tax experts said, Trump would have typically been required to count the forgiven debts as income in later tax returns, minus the value of any assets surrendered to the lenders.

In 1993, Congress added an exception to the tax code that allows investors to write off forgiven debts if they are financially insolvent, meaning their assets are less valuable than their liabilities. If insolvent, Trump could probably have dodged tax payments on the forgiven losses altogether.

Trump was back to celebrating after filing his 1995 tax returns. In 1996, Forbes returned Trump to its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans for the first time since 1990, saying he was worth $450 million.

The magazine had kicked him off its rich list amid the bankruptcies, estimating that Trump was worth negative $900 million when the casino-regulator documents emerged. But even the $450 million estimate in 1996 was not enough for Trump. He argued to Forbes that year that his net worth was actually more than $2 billion.

Michael Kranish and Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Gloria Naylors debut novel, "The Women of Brewster Place," won a National Book Award and was adapted into a two-part television series by Oprah Winfrey. (Tom Keller/AP)

Gloria Naylor, whose 1982 debut novel, The Women of Brewster Place, won a National Book Award and launched her to the fore of a wave of acclaimed black female writers that included Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, died Sept. 28 at her home in the U.S. Virgin Islands town of Christiansted. She was 66.

The cause was a heart attack, said her literary agent, Sterling Lord.

As a novelist, Ms. Naylor was unusual in telling the stories of individuals whose voices have been excluded from the literary and social mainstream  whether because of race, class, gender or sexual preference, said Maxine Montgomery, an English professor at Florida State University who has written two books on Ms. Naylor.

The Women of Brewster Place, widely considered her finest work, featured the interconnected stories of seven African American women, straight and gay, who live in a dilapidated housing project mired in poverty and sexual violence. Like an ebony phoenix, Ms. Naylor wrote of the women, each in her own time and with her own season had a story.

In a review for the New York Times, critic Annie Gottlieb praised in particular Ms. Naylors handling of a scene in which one of the books lesbian characters is gang-raped. Ms. Naylor bravely risks sentimentality and melodrama to write her compassion and outrage large, Gottlieb wrote, and she pulls it off triumphantly.

The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies and won a National Book Award for first novel the same year that Walkers The Color Purple, about a young black woman in 1930s Georgia, won the award for best novel. (At the time, the honors were known as the American Book Awards.)

Both writers came to prominence on the heels of Morrison and a new black cultural renaissance in the late 1970s, Montgomery said. They were appearing on the literary scene as the result of a demand for authentic portraits of black women, from black women.

In 1989, Oprah Winfreys production company adapted The Women of Brewster Place into an acclaimed two-part ABC miniseries, starring Winfrey, Cicely Tyson and Robin Givens. The book was later adapted into a musical, and Ms. Naylor wrote a follow-up novel, The Men of Brewster Place (1998), from the point of view of its male characters.

In the Brewster books and in Ms. Naylors other works, spirituality was a central theme. A former Jehovahs Witnesses missionary, she often drew character names from the Bible and adapted Old Testament tales and parables to her own ends. Her second novel, Linden Hills (1985), was a retelling of Dantes Inferno from the setting of a middle-class black community.

Characters and invented places reappeared in her novels, which also include Mama Day (1988), inspired by Shakespeares play The Tempest, and Baileys Cafe (1992), about a neighborhood gathering place that seems to exist without any fixed location.

Her most recent work, a lightly fictionalized memoir titled 1996 (2005), documented her theories about government surveillance and mind control, including a technology by which words are planted in a persons head.

Gloria Naylor was born in Manhattan on Jan. 25, 1950. Her mother, who grew up in Mississippi and was not allowed into segregated public libraries, was a Jehovahs Witness who fostered an early interest in reading and writing.

After graduating from high school, Ms. Naylor worked as a missionary for the Jehovahs Witnesses in North Carolina and Florida before leaving the church in the mid-1970s, finding herself disillusioned with what she called the limited role that it prescribed for women.

Nearing 30, she fell into what she called a severe depression as she struggled to find direction in her life. She studied nursing and entered into a brief marriage before an English professor at Brooklyn College, which she was attending, encouraged her writing. Through connections, she published a short story in Essence magazine that was later used as a chapter of The Women of Brewster Place.

She earned her bachelors degree in 1981, and two years later received a masters degree in African American studies from Yale University, writing a version of Linden Hills for her thesis.

Ms. Naylor taught writing at the University of Pennsylvania and George Washington University, among other colleges, and her honors included Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships.

Survivors include a sister, Bernice Harrison.

Montgomery said that Ms. Naylor saw her novels as part of an ongoing, unfinished cycle that documented aspects of African American life.

For the Afro-American, regardless of where you climb on the ladder of success, there will be racism, Ms. Naylor told the Times in 1985. Under these conditions, if you give up what centers you, what is unique to you  then you are lost. The greatness of this country is the uniqueness of its people. But there is pressure to amalgamate. And that is suicidal when it happens to the Afro-American.
Sources said ED suspects that Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) abused its discretionary powers to grant out-of-turn favours, illegal extensions and concessions to Associated Journal Ltd (AJL).

By Atir Khan: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a notice to senior Congress leader, Motilal Vora in connection with Associated Journal Panchkula plot allotment case. He has been asked to submit all the correspondence done with Haryana state government in connection with the controversial allotment of the land.

Sources said ED suspects that Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) abused its discretionary powers to grant out-of-turn favours, illegal extensions and concessions to Associated Journal Ltd (AJL). AJL and HUDA have been claiming there was no wrongdoing in the allotment process.

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WHAT HAPPENED

The story dates back to 1982. The institutional site in Sector 6, Panchkula measuring 3,500 square meters, was allotted to AJL on 24th August, for the purpose of publishing a newspaper. The possession was handed over on August 30, 1982.

As per the terms and conditions of the allotment, AJL was required to complete the construction within two years from the date of possession, i.e. August 30, 1984, but it breached the deadline.

Nearly 10 years after giving possession, HUDA was forced to take back possession of the land. Consequently, after observing the laid-down process, the plot was taken back by HUDA, Panchkula on Otober 30, 1992, exercising the powers under Section 17 of HUDA Act.

AJL appealed before the Administrator, HUDA, Panchkula, a designate appellate authority, against the order passed by the estate officer. He dismissed the appeal on July 26, 1995. Following this, the officer refunded the money deposited by AJL towards the cost of the site after forfeiting 10 percent of the amount, Rs 27,300, due to non-construction.

Again, AJL filed a revision before the state government/commissioner and secretary to the government, Town and Country Planning Department (TCP), Haryana. This was also dismissed on October 10, 1996. In effect, the plot allotted to AJL, stood permanently cancelled under the law.

WHEN DID IT HAPPEN

This entire history of rejection and adherence to legal process took place in the Congress regime under Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal. Thereafter, persistent attempts to restore the allotment during the tenure of the next Chief Minister, Bansi Lal, also failed as he, too, chose to follow the rule book, writing back to Motilal Vora, Chairman of AJL, only to reiterate the decision of the Administrator, HUDA.

Matters took a favourable turn after Bhupinder Singh Hooda took over as Chief Minister. From April 7, 2005, Vora, started making written representations to Hooda, complaining about the earlier decision, while asking the new CM to intervene in the matter and order the restoration of the plot to AJL. It is alleged that Hooda then issued favourable directions to look into the possibility of restoring the allotment of plot to this AJL at the prevailing rates at that time. Subsequently the plot was restored to AJL and several extensions in violation of rules were granted to initiate the construction.

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Its not just physical attraction that brings on that first brush of breathlessness in romance. While what we see certainly helps things along, its the promise of what remains unseen that keeps passion simmering. This month, three excellent romance novels reveal the myriad ways that mystery begets passion.

[Best romance novels of the summer]

"That Mistletoe Moment," by Cat Johnson, Kate Angell and Allyson Charles (Kensington)

Secrecy edges into white lies in the utterly charming That Mistletoe Moment (Kensington), a collection of Christmas-themed novellas from Cat Johnson, Kate Angell and Allyson Charles. The stories hang together with an amusing conceit: the Build-a-Boyfriend app. Users set up an account, design their perfect fake boyfriend, and receive texts, pictures, emails, even flowers all through the holiday season; its the perfect antidote to nosy relatives. Of course, in romance, an app such as this one is destined to make things more complicated, and it does: Johnsons A Boyfriend by Christmas, is a case of mistaken identity when heroine Noelle designs a fake boyfriend based on (and named for) a real-life man and accidentally begins a real relationship. In Angells All I Want for Christmas Is . . . the heroine vies for a position working for a crusty CEO and joins the app when he insists he will hire only assistants who are in committed relationships to avoid even the hint of impropriety  landing them in a delightful mess when he decides hed like very much to be improper. Charless Her Favorite Present wraps up the collection when the cynical founder of Build-a-Boyfriend finds himself falling for one of his customers, and discovering that love isnt as much of an illusion as he once believed.

"Deadly Silence," by Rebecca Zanetti (Forever)

Revelations of the past are at the heart of Deadly Silence (Forever), the first installment of Rebecca Zanettis Blood Brothers series  a spinoff of her immensely popular Sin Brothers series. Raised in a horrific home for boys, Ryker Jones and his two brothers are genetic anomalies, born with superior skills and strengths that make them excellent private investigators, specializing in missing persons. They land in Wyoming on the hunt for a serial killer  and on the run from those who ran the home where they were raised. Though the brothers have made it a rule to avoid relationships, Ryker cant seem to ignore his growing feelings for local paralegal Zara Remington, entwined in a mystery of her own. Zanetti balances the adventure and menace of Zara and Rykers lives with a relatable romance. The result is a story thats sexy and emotional, and filled with a rich look at love in all its forms.

"The Soldier's Scoundrel," by Cat Sebastian (Avon Impulse/Avon Impulse)

In the historical romance The Soldiers Scoundrel (Avon Impulse), Cat Sebastian sets a beautiful romance against a compelling story of blackmail, scandal and the impossibility of happily-ever-after. A former thief who was born into poverty, Jack Turner is now an investigator who devotes himself to helping those who need it most in 19th-century London. When Oliver Rivington, second son to an earl, demands to know why his sister has had business dealings with Jack, who works exclusively outside the law, the detective wants nothing to do with the snobbish, moneyed aristocrat. If only it were so easy. Jack and Oliver are drawn to each other almost immediately. To be together, the men must tackle their own prejudice and that of society  sodomy laws made public single-sex relationships illegal during the time period. Nevertheless, Jack and Oliver find themselves willing to do anything to be together, a reminder that love holds such power over us all.

Sarah MacLean reviews romance novels monthly for The Washington Post. Her most recent book is A Scot in the Dark.
The Gulf takes place in the middle of a river and long past the middle of a relationship, a point at which all the irritations and grievances and compromises that have accumulated in a life together test each partners faith in the bond and belief that going on would have any lasting value.

The surprise in Signature Theatres evocative staging of Audrey Cefalys sharply observed new play is that The Gulf concerns the love between two women. And what I mean by surprise is that the story posits the two characters  Rachel Zampellis laconic Kendra and Maria Rizzos restless Betty  as just a pair of ordinary people, confronted by the realization that what each now wants is not in any way a priority for the other.

Weve grown accustomed to narrative art that presents the challenge to the love between gay people as an external threat. How refreshing to encounter a play that does not feel it has to document its sexual politics or suggest that the familys or communitys reaction, in a part of the country not renowned for tolerance, is what drives a decisive wedge between the characters.

Doubtless, in the lives of Kendra and Betty  hearty women working menial jobs in the Bubba-infested backwaters of southern Alabama  there have been brushes with bigotry. But in this world premiere the canny Cefaly, who has an ear for the cadence of the region, is far more interested in the wounds Kendra and Betty have inflicted on each other, and whether whatever comfort they find in each others arms outweighs the pressure of their rapidly diverging goals and expectations.

In other words, theyre just like everyone else.

The 85-minute comedy-drama is invested with an assured, soulful intimacy by director Joe Calarco. The audience eavesdrops on the women as they spend a lazy afternoon in Kendras beloved boat, with Kendra fishing for channel bass  and Betty fishing for a deeper commitment from Kendra.

As we will discover, Betty falls somewhat short of the title of most trustworthy mate on the planet, which makes Kendra all the crankier and Bettys demands, for some sign that Kendra wants to stay with her, all the more laughable. The Gulf is, for sure, drama in a minor key, a character-driven story requiring meticulous portraiture; if there is any slight chink in its construction, its in the attempt to draw Betty as an unfocused woman forcing her lover to become more focused. Were given confusing signals, for example, on the level of Bettys intelligence: She is depicted at some points as a good-time gal who cant even pronounce existential. At other times, shes versed in wine pairings and uses obtuse properly in a sentence. No wonder Kendra doesnt entirely know what to make of her.

The Gulf finds a pleasing home in Signatures second space, the Ark, whose in-the-round seating for the occasion places the audience along an imaginary shoreline and designer Paige Hathaways see-though rendering of Kendras fishing skiff out on the water. The occasional sound effect lets us hear the drop of her hook and line into the river, and smartly, the boat rotates languidly so that our perspective on the women is in flux.

As is the strength of their connection. Zampelli and Rizzo remind us here that they are capable utility players, able to move from musicals to plays and back again; Zampelli received admiring reviews for her Evita this summer at Olney Theatre Center, and Rizzo was a compelling Louise in Calarcos 2013 Gypsy at Signature. Theyre well matched in The Gulf. Zampelli gives a marvelous account of the world-weary Kendra, who knows her own limitations and is drained by the puppy-grade enthusiasms of Rizzos intensely seductive Betty. Rizzo ably conveys the confidence Betty has in her sexual power, a magnetism that both beguiles and defeats Kendra.

Im not the answer, baby. Im not. Im just me, Kendra confesses at one point, and in Zampellis troubled gaze and limp posture, you get the intriguing suggestion of a woman who once upon a time thought more of herself than this.

That the Alabama-bred Cefaly is getting a first-rate platform at Signature is due at least in part to the exposure another of her plays, Maytag Virgin, received last season from Bethesdas Quotidian Theatre Company as part of the Womens Voices Theatre Festival. The Gulf is evidence of how a community-wide effort such as the festival can continue to lift all of our boats.

The Gulf, by Audrey Cefaly. Directed by Joe Calarco. Set, Paige Hathaway; costumes, Frank Labovitz; lighting, Andrew Cissna; sound, Kenny Neal; casting, Walter Ware III; production stage manager, Julie Meyer. About 85 minutes. Tickets, $40-$89. Through Nov. 6 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Visit sigtheatre.org or call 703-820-9771.
The newest design from Toyota doesnt have four wheels, or any wheels at all. The Japanese automaker on Monday showed off a tiny robotic companion called Kirobo Mini.

The four-inch talking robot will be on store shelves in Japan in early 2017. Priced at $392 and small enough to fit into a car cup holder, Kirobo was created to respond to human emotions while engaging in conversation and moving its head and hands.

He wobbles a bit, and this is meant to emulate a seated baby, which hasnt fully developed the skills to balance itself, said Fuminori Kataoka, Kirobo Minis chief design engineer.

It also comes with a cradle that doubles as its baby seat designed to fit in car cup holders.

Toyota also says Kirobo may make driving safer. The robot may shout Oops! when its owner slams on the brakes, start speaking to perk up a sleepy driver and offer praise once its arrived home after a long drive. Kirobo connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone app costing users about $3 per month.

Naoki Mizushina, researcher at Tokyo-based MM Research Institute, which studies the robotics market, said the robot was too much like talking toys, on sale at cheaper prices, and it seemed to lack concrete functions to make it a big hit, such as linking to online shopping or furnishing convenient information.

Will this take off? It might be tough, Mizushina said.

Toyota sees Kirobo Mini as a stepping stone to more advanced robots that will be able to recognize and react to human emotions.

A larger version of Kirobo spent 18 months onboard the International Space Station on a journey that ended in February 2015. Before returning to Earth, Kirobo became the first robot to speak in space, including with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Kirobo will start selling in Japan roughly a year and a half after SoftBanks Pepper robot, which initially cost about $1,900 along with a $145-per-month service plan that gave users access to cloud-based voice-recognition and an app store. Pepper has flown off store shelves in Japan; it is expected to be sold in the United States next year.
Adapted from a recent online discussion.

Dear Carolyn: My wife doesnt trust my doctors about a genetic condition that I have dealt with since before I met her, and that is under control. I have a nice quality of life now. She is insistent I see a naturopath because my neurologist doesnt know how to treat me, according to her. I got cavities and the dentist said it is because of my saliva, based on genetics, and I should use a fluoride rinse. My wife says fluoride is evil and my cavities can be fixed by the naturopath. She gave me a link to a website talking about the evils of fluoride that also includes lots of information about how vaccines are evil and kids dont need them.

We are trying to have kids and I am worried she is starting down a rabbit hole of not trusting doctors and may turn against vaccines. She says she is for them now. I have tried talking to her about this, but she brushes it off and says it would be best if I just admit she is right, half-joking. How do I go about expressing my worries on her doubts of my medical care?

Anonymous

Anonymous: How can I say this and not sound like a completely boundary-challenged whacknut . . .

(Nick Galifianakis/The Washington Post)

PLEASE STOP TRYING TO HAVE KIDS.

You have a valid concern that shes trying to micromanage your health care; you have a valid, even bigger concern that she is trending toward extreme views on health and child care.

But these are just on ramps to the mother of all concerns, the one that single-handedly drives most of the coupled misery that finds its way to my inbox: She is not listening to you! Or respecting you. She is deciding unilaterally what she believes and she is sticking to that without any regard for what you think/say/want/need/believe. I wish I had numbers on this because I suspect this kills more marriages than infidelity does. Why? Because you can work with, reason and share with someone who experiences a failure of impulse control, but good luck trying any of those with someone who thinks Shes Right About It All.

This unfortunately brings us to a solution that has built-in obstacles to working: counseling. Very good marriage counseling. Actually, individual counseling for her, since her alarmism might stem from anxiety, but I put the chances of her agreeing to go at zero, so Im going with marriage counseling, at least, to help jump-start your communication. Which she probably wont agree to or (if she does go) absorb and learn from, because Shes Right About It All.

I really dont want to be pessimistic, but unless you and she can shift your dynamic to one of actual, mindful, respect-based discussion, I dont see an outcome of happy togetherness. So the question isnt how to express your worries; just say, kindly and soon, that you trust your doctors with your well-managed health and want her to stop pressing the issue. The question is, whats the next step if she doesnt budge?

If she digs in, shes essentially limiting you to three choices: Love it, leave it or go to counseling alone. Option 3 at least gives you the time and resources to think.
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, addresses journalists in Berlin on Oct. 4 via video as he marks the 10th anniversary of the organization. (Steffi Loos/AFP/Getty Images)

There was a time when Julian Assange believed in redacting personal information that could hurt individuals before his WikiLeaks organization flooded the Internet with hacked or leaked documents.

There was a time when he even was willing to meet with representatives of the U.S. government before he put out potentially damaging material from government files.

But these days Assange, holed up for four years now in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, fighting a rape allegation that he denies, is more extreme. His original vision of radical transparency has morphed into something reckless.

And thats unfortunate. Because much of his message is an important one: Secrecy promotes corruption. People deserve to know what their governments are doing.

But with his abusive Twitter presence and his weird behavior, hes gone too far. Not long ago, WikiLeaks released vast troves of information that made public the medical records of individuals all around the world. Even the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has said publicly that a no-redaction policy is dangerous.

And at the same time, Assange seems to be playing disinformation games that might affect the U.S. presidential campaign. WikiLeaks had promised a big information dump on Tuesday morning that many thought would hurt Hillary Clintons prospects for the presidency.

But that never happened. It was all a big tease that had Donald Trumps supporters salivating, and then crushed.

Later in the day, Assange said by video link that the information would be forthcoming before the election, but he insisted that its purpose is not to hurt Clinton.

Has Assange gone around the bend?

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, a strong advocate for transparency and civil liberties and co-founder of the Intercept, doesnt see it that way.

Any changes are of degree, not category or level, Greenwald told me by phone Tuesday, and he said that, despite vociferous disagreements, he still considers himself a WikiLeaks defender.

Greenwald, who helped bring Snowdens NSA material to light, views what happened Tuesday as entirely in keeping with WikiLeaks operating principle: They dont reveal what they have and they engage in disinformation to protect what they think is their mission.

The mission is that information  unfiltered, unredacted, what Assange calls pristine  is inherently good. And nothing should be allowed to taint it.

WikiLeaks view that sunlight is a disinfectant is absolutely correct, but its a question of where to draw the line, said Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions speech, privacy and technology project.

There is a tension between transparency and privacy, Wizner added. Good judgment is important in finding the right balance.

But if Assange recognizes that, he doesnt seem to care.

And thats where he parts ways with even those who believe most fervently that governments hide too much, and that democracy cant flourish in the dark.

How much of this is driven by politics?

Greenwald, for one, certainly doesnt see Assange as opinion-free but thinks his politics may be misunderstood.

I think he has goals and objectives, Greenwald said. Its not that hes trying to destroy any particular candidate or promote another one, but rather that his position is in opposition to the power orthodoxy.

If you dont like the establishment, he pointed out, youre not going to be in Clintons corner. But he called it overblown nonsense to say that Assange is promoting a Trump presidency or Vladimir Putins agenda.

Although Greenwald thinks Assange and company sometimes act irresponsibly for no reason, he still sees WikiLeaks as on balance a net force for good. A prime example was WikiLeaks release this past summer of the Democratic National Committee emails that gave citizens important insight into the deep flaws of that secretive organization.

Still, I cant get past the harm that can be done when no reasoned thought is brought to bear.

Over the years, Assange has tried different models of carrying out his revolutionary vision. Where hes ended up is a place most people  even those who most enthusiastically believe in transparency  find hard to defend. I know I cant.

For more by Margaret Sullivan, visit wapo.st/sullivan
MARYLAND

Man arrested in fatal Bowie shooting

A Southeast Washington man was arrested Monday in connection with a fatal July shooting in Bowie.

Jamal Ford, 26, was taken into custody at his D.C. home, Prince Georges County police said. Authorities said Ford is a suspect in the death of 44-year-old Cleve Monnity of Lanham. Monnity was found lying in the road in the 15700 block of Everest Drive about 10:40 p.m. on July 30, a Prince Georges County police news release said. He had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities said a preliminary investigation revealed that Ford and Monnity were in an ongoing dispute that ultimately turned fatal, the release said.

 Victoria St. Martin

2nd student arrested over online threats

An eighth-grader was arrested Tuesday in connection with social-media threats made against his middle school in Maryland.

The Kenmoor Middle School student was charged with making a threat of mass violence, according to a Prince Georges County police statement.

The student allegedly sent a threat Saturday on social media. It mentioned several schools in the county and caused police to send additional patrols to various campuses, the department said. The threat was intended to disrupt classes and was determined not to be credible, police said.

The student, whose identity is being withheld, is the second arrested in connection with threats made over the weekend. On Monday, police arrested a Parkdale High School student in the case. He is being charged with making a threat of mass violence, police said.

 Lynh Bui

State warns syringes may be dangerous

The state of Maryland warned that a brand of syringes may be causing a dangerous bacterial infection and recommended that their use be discontinued.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is investigating a link between Nurse Assist pre-filled saline flush syringes and Burkholderia cepacia, a bacterium that may be resistant to antibiotics and can cause serious respiratory infections.

The department began investigating the syringes after 11 patients in the state developed B. cepacia bloodstream infections while receiving intravenous care using the prepackaged saline flushes from Nurse Assist, a statement said.

Nurse Assist, headquartered in Texas, said in a statement that it voluntarily recalled the syringes and was investigating the problem.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

THE REGION

5 acquitted in federal drug-trafficking case

Five people suspected by police of having links to the D.C.-area 18th Street gang were acquitted on major drug charges in federal court in Alexandria after defense attorneys argued that their clients were lured into the scheme by federal agents.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives staged an elaborate sham drug deal for the groups benefit. Posing as traffickers from Miami, earlier this year they flew a plane carrying fake cocaine into a small airport in Northern Virginia. There, agents posing as drug runners picked up the sham cocaine, separated it into duffel bags and pretended to drive it north to New Jersey.

The agents offered the group $15,000 and a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine in exchange for picking up, storing and delivering 20 kilograms of the drug from their next flight.

Defense attorneys told the jury that if not for that offer, the five defendants would not have been involved in the drug trade.

What were dealing with are crimes of fiction, defense attorney Dontae LaMont Bugg said during closing arguments. Diego Escobar, Franklin Omar Avalos Munguia and Ever Ernesto Castill Arevalo were acquitted on all charges.

Two defendants were acquitted of the drug charges but convicted on other counts.

 Rachel Weiner
THE DISTRICT

Man is charged in slaying of 18-year-old

D.C. police arrested a suspect Monday in the Sept. 13 fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man who was killed near the eastern end of the H Street corridor in Northeast Washington.

Antwan Buchanan, 41, was charged with second-degree murder while armed. Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham credited surveillance video and help from the community for the arrest.

The victim was identified as Tesean Jermaine Ashe, 18, of Southeast Washington. He was shot about 5:30 p.m. in the 700 block of 16th Street NE. He died at a hospital.

The shooting occurred near the Starburst intersection, where Benning Road, H Street, Maryland Avenue and Bladensburg Road meet.

Police did not release any other details of the shooting, including a possible motive.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

Student is arrested over school threats

One student was arrested and one was disciplined Monday after threats were made against schools in Prince Georges County in separate incidents, police said.

A student at Parkdale High School in Riverdale was arrested after he set up a Twitter account with a clown theme while in class and threatened to harm people at the school, Prince Georges County police said in a statement.

The student, who was not identified by police because he is a juvenile, was charged with making a threat of mass violence, the statement said.

The statement also said police identified a student at Bladensburg High School who made a bomb threat against the school over social media that did not appear to be credible.

The student, who was not named by police because he is also a juvenile, was disciplined by school officials and criminal charges were not filed pending additional investigation.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

U-Md. police arrest

man in sex-crime case

University of Maryland police say they have arrested a District man in connection with a sex offense on campus.

Amin Massey, 34 of the District was charged with fourth-degree sex offense, second-degree assault and concealing a box cutter. Authorities believe that Massey groped a female student, said Sgt. Roseanne Hoaas, a department spokeswoman.

The student told university police that the sex offense happened at the Stamp Student Union shortly after 7:45 a.m. Monday, Hoaas said.

Hoaas said Massey was identified as a suspect and campus security spotted him just yards away on surveillance cameras.

Hoass said that Massey has no affiliation with the university.

 Lynh Bui and

Victoria St. Martin

VIRGINIA

Suspect sought in shootout with police

Authorities in Spotsylvania County were looking Monday for a man who allegedly shot at sheriff deputies and a K-9. The dog, named Dux, was wounded.

The incident started about 9:10 p.m. Sunday in Fredericksburg, when police said they stopped a vehicle for a minor traffic infraction.

The driver was wanted on felony warrants and was taken into custody.

But the passenger in the vehicle  later identified as Joseph Conway, 34, of King George County  got out and got involved in a physical altercation with a deputy.

Conway then allegedly fled on foot. As he was being pursued by sheriffs deputies and a K-9, authorities said Conway fired several rounds at the deputies and the dog.

Sheriff deputies fired at Conway. None of the deputies was injured.
Land-use issues have become so complicated in Montgomery County that residents need someone whose sole task is to walk them through the procedural maze that leads to final decisions, a County Council member said Tuesday, as he proposed legislation to create the job.

Few issues are as daunting as land-use issues. . . . Few issues are more important for people to understand, said Council member Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) who introduced the bill calling for a Community Zoning and Land Use Resource Officer.

The resource officer, appointed by the council, would answer questions and provide unbiased assistance to community groups or individuals on decision points in the planning and zoning process, Berliner said. Such a person could also advise on how to give effective testimony before public bodies, and serve as a counterweight for the development ombudsman, a job created by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) last year to help businesses through the policy process.

Recent land-use issues have also been daunting for Berliner, whose district has been the ground for some bruising fights. He took considerable heat from opponents for his support of the Westbard Sector Plan, which will allow high-rise apartments and as many as 1,200 new townhouses  including 275 income-restricted or affordable units  in the community surrounding the Westwood Shopping Center. The council will soon take up consideration of a new long-term plan to create additional density in downtown Bethesda, also likely to trigger controversy.

[In Westbard, anger over a less-suburban future]

Montgomery County Council member Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda). (Courtesy of Roger Berliner)

The bill would eliminate the Office of the Peoples Counsel, left vacant in 2010 because of budget pressures but still on the books. The counsel was more of an advocate who represented communities at public hearings, called witnesses, and filed motions and appeals. Prince Georges County, the District and other jurisdictions employ a peoples counsel.

If approved, the new resource officer would not be a direct participant in land-use cases. Berliner said the role of the peoples counsel was problematic because it was never clear who or what community was being represented.

Veteran community activists expressed skepticism about Berliners proposal. They said council staff and planning department officials already offer information and advice.

I think its a watered-down version of the peoples counsel, said Jean Cavanaugh, who lives in Silver Spring.

Cavanaugh observed that in the years since the peoples counsel was eliminated, the county has been able to find money for several new positions designed to help developers through the approval process, including the ombudsman, Michael Smith, (annual salary $154,500) and Peter Fosselman, White Oak development coordinator ($122,245)

Harriet Quinn of the Montgomery County Civic Federation said she had no objection to a new information resource to explain zoning matters, but she objected to permanent removal of the peoples counsel.

Although this current Council will not fund the office, a future Council may have a different perspective and therefore, it should not be permanently removed, especially just 2 years before the next election, Quinn said in an email.

A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for Oct. 25 at 1:30 p.m.
A group of Maryland lawmakers met with medical marijuana regulators on Tuesday and urged them to halt the program until a dispute over racial diversity in the burgeoning industry is resolved.

But officials with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission retorted that they are wary of additional delays in making the drug available to patients, according to a lawmaker and commission staffer present at the meeting.

Regulators in August awarded the first batch of preliminary licenses to grow and process medical marijuana  with the drug expected to hit dispensary shelves in summer 2017, four years after it was first legalized.

None of the 15 companies given initial clearance to grow cannabis are led by African Americans  who make up nearly a third of Marylands population  even though the medical marijuana legalization law calls for regulators to actively seek to achieve racial and ethnic diversity in selecting cultivators.

[Maryland lawmakers call medical pot diversity modern-day civil rights fight]

The selected companies have up to a year to complete another round of vetting and pass an inspection of their cultivation centers before they can starting growing marijuana.

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland doesnt want the commission to authorize those operations while lawmakers are still drafting emergency legislation to help more minority-owned businesses participate in the potentially lucrative market.

Its taken us almost 40 years to get here to this point. A smaller delay to get it right, in my opinion, is the right thing to do, Del. Cheryl D. Glenn (D-Baltimore), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, told The Washington Post.

The caucuss meeting with marijuana regulators was the first face-to-face discussion about the diversity issue. It was closed to the public and media.

Marijuana regulators said they didnt take race into account when awarding business licenses because of advice from the attorney generals office suggesting it would be unconstitutional without a proven history of racial disparities.

[Hogan, Frosh concerned about lack of diversity in medical pot industry]

The Medical Cannabis Commission has since agreed to work with lawmakers and the attorney generals office to figure out alternative ways to boost diversity in the industry. Staff is also reaching out to preapproved growers, some of whom are still raising capital, for more detailed information about minority representation in their ownership and workforce.

Glenn says the caucus plans to commit to a specific legislative approach to diversifying the medical marijuana industry in November  such as by authorizing additional licenses to minority-owned companies.

The legalization of marijuana sales across the nation has also brought complaints that minorities are being shut out of the industry, even though they were disproportionately locked up for drug offenses.
By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) Elimination of the Talibans safe havens inside Pakistan would be helpful in bringing the Afghan terror group to peace talks, a top US envoy has said.

Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Olson said Pakistan has been a "good partner" in reconciliation efforts, but despite that, terrorist safe havens still continue to exist in the country.

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"With regard to reconciliation, they have been a good partner. Pakistan was one of the initiators of the quadrilateral coordinating group. They made serious and sustained efforts to bring the Taliban to the table. The Taliban at the end of the day did not come to the table, and I think the onus is on them for that decision," he told a Washington audience last week.

Olson said the US has been having a dialogue with Pakistan for many years about the existence of such havens.

"We continue to believe that one of the conditions that would be most helpful for getting the Taliban to come to the table would be if they felt greater insecurity about their safe havens in Pakistan. We have very candid and direct discussions with them about that," Olson said.

The US, he said, continues to believe that Pakistan is key to a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan.

"We certainly encourage the Pakistanis to do anything possible to address the question of safe havens and to address as I said to create a sense of insecurity in the minds of the Taliban about the safe haven that they enjoy in Pakistan," he said.

Olson also praised Indias efforts in assisting Afghanistan with its development projects.

"India has been a useful partner for Afghanistan. When Prime Minister Modi visited Afghanistan, he pledged a billion dollars of assistance. And of course, India has been actively engaged in development of Afghanistan reconstructing the Salma Dam outside of Herat, and a number of other development projects," he said. (MORE) PTI LKJ BSA

--- ENDS ---
Hospital and elected officials from Prince George's County are one step closer to winning state approval to build a $543 million regional hospital campus in Largo. (Courtesy Prince George's County)

Maryland Health Care Commissioner Robert E. Moffit has recommended approval of the proposed Prince Georges County Regional Medical Center, clearing one of the last major hurdles in what has been a long and sometimes frustrating regulatory process for the projects supporters.

Moffit issued his decision Friday in a letter stating that the project planners, Dimensions Health Care System and the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), had complied with all state criteria.

The project awaits a final decision from the 15-member commission later this month, but Moffits endorsement is a tacit guarantee that county, state and hospital officials could soon be breaking ground on the Largo lot set aside for the hospital three years ago.

In his approval letter, Moffit said the hospital  designed to replace the aging facility in Cheverly  is crucial to providing the strong and revitalized health care system Prince Georges County residents need and deserve.

In a statement, UMMS officials said they were pleased and eager and committed to helping usher in a new era of health care delivery for the residents of Prince Georges County and the region.

[Long-delayed Pr. Georges hospital faces new setback]

Moffits recommendation comes months after he asked Dimensions and UMMS to reduce the size, cost and scope of the hospital. The modifications shaved nearly $100 million off the price of the project, which now stands at $543 million, and met the commissioners demands for a leaner, more efficient design.

The full commission will meet Oct. 20 to hear oral arguments and consider Moffits recommendation. County officials said that the panel typically adopts the position their staff recommends but that they are not taking anything for granted, said Thomas Himler, top economic development aide to County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D).

Any organization interested in contesting Moffits approval has until Friday to file an exception with the commission. Both Doctors Community Hospital and Anne Arundel Medical Center have raised concerns in the past about the project, but neither has filed any written comments for more than a year.

In Maryland, health-care organizations must undergo a rigorous and long regulatory review to receive a Certification of Need  or permission to build a hospital. Reviewers evaluate each projects costs, financial feasibility and capacity  among other things  to ensure that any new hospital meets market demands.

Dimensions, a nonprofit organization that operates county hospitals, embarked on the project about three years ago with a plan to build a state-of-the-art teaching hospital in central Prince Georges County. It worked out a deal with UMMS to take over operation of the new hospital and have it become part of the companys statewide system.

Project supporters hoped that a new hospital managed by a wellregarded organization would instill confidence and anchor a new system of primary-care doctors and ambulatory-care facilities that would attract patients; most Prince Georges residents seek health care outside the county.

[In quest for new hospital, new management seen as a must in Pr. Georges]

The plan required a commitment of more than $200 million from the state and county toward the projects construction and $55 million to keep Dimensions afloat while the proposed hospital was under review.

The long-troubled organization has relied on public subsidies to keep its trauma center and two affiliate hospitals open for years while largely serving the regions poor and uninsured.

The regional medical center is the set piece in a strategic plan long touted by Baker and other county Democrats to strengthen the countys economy and increase access to health for residents of Southern Maryland.
D.C. police and the union for the rank-and-file officers have ended one of their most divisive disputes with a $9 million agreement to pay overtime for working All Hands on Deck, the former chiefs signature crime-fighting program.

The settlement worked out over the weekend comes after a federal arbitrator ruled in 2009 that the extra assignments were illegal and violated parts of the contract over pay and work schedules. The District appealed the decision to a labor relations board, but lost in 2011.

Under AHOD, then-D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier periodically canceled leave and ordered every officer to street patrol for a two- or three-day weekend, an initiative she said was aimed at curbing crime during peak periods and making a show of strength to criminals and to D.C. residents.

[All Hands on Deck in doubt after ruling]

Representatives of the police union have long complained that the orders violated labor agreements because officers were not properly paid for what the union dubbed a public relations tool.

Neither top police nor the head of the union would say Monday how much each officer might receive.

The settlement was reached two weeks after Lanier retired from the force and as newly elected union leaders were taking office.

We have been working on resolving a lot of the disputes we have had with the labor union, interim police chief Peter Newsham said Monday. I think this settlement gives us all a new beginning and new way to step forward and work toward policing this city in a positive way.

Newsham wouldnt comment on whether he intended to use the All Hands on Deck strategy, but said he would consult with the police union before making significant changes or dictates in the crime-fighting plan.

If we have any crime operations we are going to run, we are going to discuss it with the Fraternal Order of Police to make sure were both in agreement on the best way to fight crime in the city, Newsham said.

His statement on consulting the union before making dramatic changes in tactics marks a stark departure from the sharply contentious relationship between Lanier and then-union head Kristopher Baumann, who headed the FOP during most of Laniers tenure.

Some union officials continue to object to the settlement, Newsham said.

Sgt. Matthew Mahl, chairman of the D.C. police union, said, This settlement isnt going to make everyone happy. He noted what he called unrealistic expectations by some officers who thought they would receive 10, 20 or 30 thousand dollars. People were given false expectations. And Mahl acknowledged that some union officials who also were part of past leadership have voiced displeasure with the settlement, arguing it should have resulted in a higher payout.

[Federal arbitrator rules All Hands on Deck violates labor agreement]

Some members of the 3,700-member police force had expected that tens of thousands of dollars in overtime would eventually appear in their accounts.

A single weekend of deployment under AHOD was estimated by the union to carry a cost of between $1.5 million and $4.3 million. At least 20 deployments from 2009 through 2015 were in dispute in the legal challenges, and based on that tally, a total payout could have reached the tens of millions of dollars.

Before individual officers can collect, authorities will have to review pay ledgers and work schedules dating to 2009 to determine who is eligible for payments and how much that overtime will be. Some officers could receive checks in the thousands of dollars; Mahl said the District hopes to pay the money before Christmas but said a more realistic expectation is for money to be paid four months from now.

The agreement covers AHODs between 2007 and 2013. Grievances filed in connection with AHODs in 2014 and 2015 were dropped as part of the settlement talks. Officers can appeal rulings made in their individual cases.

The legal history was mixed in the case.

Police did win some appeals with arbitrators  and Lanier refused to stop the program. Even in one of the victories, the Public Employee Relations Board set limits on how much officers could be compensated and said that officers could not be compensated for having leave taken away.

Mahl said in a statement that attorneys concluded that going forward with the case would have most likely resulted in less of a payout than what this settlement agreement would have provided to members effected.

Clarence Williams contributed to this report.
An eight-grader was arrested Tuesday in connection with social-media threats made against his middle school in Landover, Md.

The Kenmoor Middle School student was charged with making a threat of mass violence, Prince Georges County police said in a statement.

Police said the original threat on Saturday mentioned several schools in the county and forced police to send additional patrols to various campuses. The threat was intended to disrupt classes and was determined not credible, police said.

[School districts in Maryland and Virginia respond to threats]

The student, whose identity is being withheld, is the second arrested in connection with the threats made over the weekend. On Monday, police arrested a Parkdale High School student, alleging that he set up a clown-themed Twitter account in class and threatened to hurt students at the Riverdale school. He is also being charged with making a threat of mass violence, police said.

Additionally, a Bladensburg High School student is being disciplined by the Prince Georges County Public Schools for making an alleged bomb threat, police said.

Such school threats via phone or social media  including some with creepy clowns  have been a problem for school systems around the country.

[Facing the same threat, schools in Los Angeles, New York take different tacks]

Detectives ask that anyone who see threats of violence on social media to please call police instead of immediately forwarding that post, Prince Georges police said in a statement.

While people who make such threats think they are able to remain anonymous, detectives will investigate and trace the threats, police said.
After protesting his treatment in an Alexandria jail, former Metro police officer Nicholas Young is being moved to a detention center in Virginias Northern Neck area.

Young, who is accused of attempting to support the Islamic State, challenged his solitary confinement in Alexandria last month. He will be transferred to Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va., this week, as ordered by a federal judge in Alexandria on Tuesday.

That jail will put Young in the general population, according to Judge Leonie M. Brinkemas court order. In exchange, Young agrees to hold the U.S. Marshals Service and the jail staff blameless should he be threatened or attacked by other detainees.

But the Northern Neck jail can move Young back to solitary confinement if it seems necessary for his or other inmates safety.

Defense attorneys said Young was deteriorating in isolation and might struggle to defend himself against the terrorism-related charges he faces.

Young suffers from depression, according to his attorneys, and struggles with insomnia.

In their court filing challenging Youngs confinement, the attorneys also disputed some of the claims made by the FBI. Young did not torture animals as a child, according to his attorneys, and made threats against law enforcement in jest.

Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne argued that Young, a transit police officer since 2003 who allegedly bought phone cards to be used by terrorists, was separated from the general jail population for his own safety.

He said he had addressed all of Youngs other concerns, making sure the detainee was able to obtain books, see mental health professionals and have time with his family.

We disagreed on his housing status, which has now been resolved, Lawhorne said. I'm pleased that the parties involved have come to an agreement.
Jaramy Scovalls laptop wouldnt turn on. According to court documents, he brought it back to Office Depot, which sent the laptop to a repair company in Pennsylvania.

A worker at the repair company, Teleplan, was able to fix the computer. When he opened it, he later told police, the first thing that appeared was an open Dropbox account filled with child pornography.

Teleplan contacted police in Mechanicsville, Pa., who reached out to the Alexandria Police Department. After searching the computer, they found hundreds of videos and pictures of child pornography, as well as Skype conversations in which Scovall claimed to have sexually assaulted two young children, according to the documents.

Scovall was arrested Sept. 7 and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 25. He faces three counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of copying, transmitting or selling child pornography.

It was not immediately clear if Scovall has an attorney.
A counselor whose work was helping homeless people overcome drug addiction has been charged with breaking into two homes a block apart on Capitol Hill, binding male occupants and sexually assaulting them at gunpoint, according to authorities.

The suspect, Brian Craig Webster, 33, was arrested Saturday after police said a victim was able to break free of duct-tape restraints, grab his attackers gun and fight back. The victim and his roommate then held the man until police arrived.

Webster worked for the past 21/2 years for Community Connections, one of the Districts largest nonprofits that helps people with drug addiction, mental illness and HIV. The nonprofits chief executive officer, Maxine Harris, said Webster, who lives in Hyattsville, Md., was hired in 2014 and worked primarily with the homeless.

He doesnt work for us anymore, Harris said Monday.

Webster has been charged with two counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse while armed, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a gun without a license. A D.C. Superior Court judge on Monday ordered him detained until an Oct. 14 preliminary hearing.

At this point it appears it is a complete stranger case, interim D.C. police chief Peter Newsham said Monday.

Newsham said detectives have no evidence of other victims but are continuing to investigate. Authorities said neither of the victims in the two cases were clients at Community Connections; Harris said her staff surveyed clients and that none reported being assaulted by Webster.

Police said the first incident occurred about 6 a.m. Aug. 28 at a residence in the 1200 block of Massachusetts Avenue SE, at the southeast corner of Lincoln Park. Newsham said the assailant bound the hands and the feet of the victim before the attack and later escaped.

The incident Saturday occurred about 12:30 a.m., according to police, and was in the 1300 block of Independence Avenue SE, which is one block south of the park. An arrest affidavit filed Monday said the door to the home in that incident had been left unlocked.

The victim reported he was in his bedroom and emerged when he heard a noise in the hallway, thinking it was the sound from a roommate.

He told police he encountered a man in the hallway who was holding a black backpack. The intruder reached into the backpack and pulled out a handgun.

The arrest affidavit says the armed man ordered the victim into his bedroom, where he bound his legs and hands with duct tape. The victim told the attacker, I dont want to die. Police said the assailant then stuffed a shirt in the victims mouth and taped his mouth closed.

During the assault, police said, the man put down the handgun on a table.

The victim told police he was able to loosen his restraints, grab the gun and fight back.

A roommate of the victims arrived home, heard cries for help and helped subdue the attacker, police said. Both the victim and the gunman were bloodied in the fight.

Police said that when officers pulled up to the residence, they saw the victim standing in the doorway waving the attackers gun that he had wrested. A piece of black duct tape clung to the right side of his face.
D.C. police on Monday arrested a suspect in the Sept. 13 fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man who was killed near the eastern end of the H Street corridor in Northeast Washington.

Antwan Buchanan, 41, was charged with second-degree murder while armed. Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham credited surveillance video and help from the community for the arrest.

The victim was identified as Tesean Jermaine Ashe, 18, of Southeast. He was shot about 5:30 p.m. in the 700 block of 16th Street NE. He died at a hospital.

[Man killed on 16th Street in Northeast Washington]

The shooting occurred near the so-called Starburst intersection, where Benning Road, H Street, Maryland Avenue and Bladensburg Road meet. Police had said they were looking for a man seen on a black scooter.

Police did not release any other details of the shooting, including a possible motive. More information will be made available when the suspect makes his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court.
Authorities are investigating the Monday night shooting of man in Landover, a Prince Georges County police spokesman said.

Officers found the man in the 7200 block of Sheriff Road, said Cpl. Lamar Robinson. He was shot in the upper body.

The man was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Robinson added that the shooting did not appear to be a random act.

No additional information was immediately released.
Protesters blocked an intersection in downtown D.C. on Oct. 3 to demand the release of more information about the police shooting of Terrence Sterling, an unarmed black man. (Video: WUSA9 / Photo: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Protesters blocked an intersection in downtown D.C. on Oct. 3 to demand the release of more information about the police shooting of Terrence Sterling, an unarmed black man. (Video: WUSA9 / Photo: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked streets and demanded answers in Northwest Washington Monday night, following a rally in honor of a Maryland motorcyclist who was gunned down by a D.C. police officer.

[Attorneys for family of man shot by D.C. police allege shooting was unjustified]

Protesters continued to march through Northwest Washington near the intersection of New York and New Jersey avenues, and were blocking intersections as the march headed toward U street NW.

The march followed an hour-long rally and vigil at a park near the site where Terrence Sterling, 31, was fatally shot by D.C. Police Officer Brian Trainer during a Sept. 11 confrontation at Third and M streets in Northwest.

[Motorcyclist killed by D.C. police had gunshot wounds to neck and back]

A stuffed teddy bear hangs on a street sign during a vigil for Terrence Sterling. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Among the speakers, Black Lives Matter activist April Goggans asked fellow demonstrators to begin a new campaign to call Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie as well to use social media with the #Terrence Sterling hashtag in an attempt to draw national exposure to the case.

We are here for a man who cant speak, said Steven Douglass, a friend of Sterling. This is not a hashtag, this is reality.

[D.C. police release body camera video taken after fatal police-involved shooting]

No one was immediately arrested, but police continued rolling street closures after 10 p.m., as some protesters began to head out, and others marched through the heart of the Shaw neighborhood in Northwest.

Jerry Formey, another friend of Sterlings, came directly from his job to join the protest.

Terence is a peaceful guy, said Formey. Thats why were protesting ... Anything less would dishonor his name.
By PTI: London, Oct 4 (PTI) Indias "proactive operation" against terrorists in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be "commended" and supported by the international community, a top European Parliament official has said, underlining that New Delhi deserves global support in its fight against terror.

European Parliament vice-president Ryszard Czarnecki praised India for their approach to the situation.

"Indias cross-border action against terrorists on its borders with Pakistan should be commended and supported by the international community. India has clearly indicated that these attacks were not against the Pakistani state, but focussed against terror groups that threatened peace and stability in the region," Czarnecki said.

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"India deserves global support in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan, for if left unchecked, these individuals and groups would be attacking Europe and the West, soon. It is also important for the European Union to maintain pressure on Pakistan to eliminate the terror networks that operate within its borders," the British-born Polish politician said in an article in EP Today, the monthly news magazine for the European Parliament.

The "proactive operation" carried out on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was "probably a first by India" and was in response to the two attacks on Indian defence establishments -- the Pathankot airbase in January and the Uri army camp in September, he said.

"The time has come for the world to act decisively against terrorism and ensure that no terror group is assured of a secure haven in any part of the world," he added.

The close relationship between the Pakistan defence establishment, the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network was well known, he added.

"We have witnessed the alarming growth of Pak-linked terror modules in Europe and other parts of the world. The close proximity between the Pak security establishment and terror groups has also given rise to a situation where organisations propagating Islamic militancy in Pakistan enjoy de facto state patronage," Czarnecki said.

Tensions between India and Pakistan are growing after militants stormed an Indian Army base in Uri on September 18, killing 19 soldiers.

The terror launch pads across the border were targeted by the Indian Army last week, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. PTI PYK UZM

--- ENDS ---
One student was arrested and one was disciplined Monday after threats were made against schools in Prince Georges County in separate incidents, police said.

A student at Parkdale High School in Riverdale was arrested after he set up a Twitter account with a clown theme while in class and threatened to harm people at the school, Prince Georges County police said in a statement.

The student, who was not identified by police because he is a juvenile, was charged with making a threat of mass violence, the statement said.

[School districts in Maryland and Virginia respond to threats]

The statement also said police identified a student at Bladensburg High School who made a bomb threat against the school over social media that did not appear to be credible. The student, who was not named by police because he is also a juvenile, was disciplined by school officials and criminal charges were not filed pending additional investigation, according to the statement.

While perpetrators may believe certain apps provide anonymity, these investigations show otherwise, Prince Georges County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said in a statement.

Police asked anyone with information about these incidents to contact them at 1-866-411-TIPS or submit a tip to www.pgcrimesolvers.com.

They also asked anyone who sees threats of violence on social media to call authorities instead of forwarding such posts to help police more quickly trace where the threats came from.
As the small plane landed at the Stafford, Va. airport, members of the Washington-area street gang had just arrived, federal authorities said. They watched as purported cocaine was unloaded, divvied up into two duffel bags and handed to people they thought were runners for a New Jersey drug ring.

The Jan. 17 incident was an elaborate ruse, part of a months-long investigation by federal authorities into the 18th Street gang. After a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, a jury is now considering whether five suspected gang members are guilty of charges related to drug trafficking.

Posing as drug traffickers from Miami, undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives met with members of the gang in the D.C. area. After months of negotiation, they agreed to pay the gang $15,000 and a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine in exchange for picking up, storing and delivering 20 kilograms of the drug.

The trip to the Virginia airport was supposed to be a trial run  a way for the gang members to watch experienced drug runners, court documents state. When gang members showed up the next month at a Manassas storage facility to prepare for their own pickup, six were arrested.

Gerson Rodriguez Carranza, Diego Escobar, Franklin Omar Avalos Munguia, Ever Ernesto Castill Arevalo, and Jimmy Mayorga Alvarez are being tried together. Carmen Dominguez is being tried separately, after a hearing to determine her competency.

According to court documents, the operation was linked to an investigation into drug and firearms trafficking in Northern Virginia, particularly along the Route 1 corridor in Fairfax County.

One gang member played a key role in the case, according to court documents, working as an informant who identified 18th Street leaders and recorded the groups meetings. The informant, at the request of authorities, also introduced gang members to an undercover ATF agent who told them he was a Miami man looking to set up a drug distribution business in the D.C. area.

During closing arguments Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Sloan said the gang members were eager for a chance to make money.

When opportunity came knocking, the defendants came ready to respond, Sloan said. The prosecutor said the 20 kilos of cocaine may not have been real, but the crimes were.

Attorneys for some of the defendants argued that the ATF went too far in enticing their clients into the supposed drug venture, saying the gang had little interest in the drug trade and was more concerned about disputes with rival gangs.

The defendants did not show a predisposition to traffic drugs, their attorneys argued, and were ill-equipped to carry out the crime, demonstrating a lack of experience.

Dontae LaMont Bugg, a lawyer who represents Escobar, noted that the defendants were not skeptical of the agents plan to separate the cocaine into two duffel bags at a public airport in broad daylight. They also did not question why the undercover agents were willing to pay such a large sum for a small amount of work.

What were dealing with are crimes of fiction, Bugg told the jury, adding that the government overreached and the defendants otherwise would have been nowhere near kilograms of cocaine.

Prosecutors argued the undercover agents repeatedly offered the defendants a chance to back out. They said agents told defendants the cocaine shipment had been delayed, and asked if they were still interested in the job. This proved the agents did not induce the defendants, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, gang members had identified various safe houses in the Columbia Heights and 16th Street Heights neighborhoods in the District, where they said they could store the cocaine. They planned to hide the drugs inside walls and cover it with plaster until the traffickers picked it up again, according to court testimony.

ATF agents even took the confidential informant to a firing range so he could send photos of himself shooting guns to other members of the gang.

That informant, according to his testimony in court, has been associating with the gang and reporting on them to Fairfax police since 2011. He began working with the ATF in 2014.

While the gang members are recorded discussing assassinations and a possible war with the rival Mara Salvatrucha gang, they also appear to have little to no experience in the drug trade.

We dont have a past history with any of these defendants of drug distribution or possession, defense attorney Kevin Brehm said during debate over jury instructions.

At one point, according to a recorded conversation, Carranza, who authorities said was a gang leader, suggested that a fellow gang member should involve the rest of the gang in his narcotics business. That member, Francisco Martinez, said he was only able to get enough drugs for himself.

Theres also no evidence any of the defendants actually used a gun as part of the scheme, although they had several at the time of their arrest.

At one point, Carranza is recorded telling the informant that there are 25 members of the 18th Street Gang in the D.C. area. But, he said, he only trusted about eight of them.
University of Maryland police say they have arrested a District man in connection with a sex offense on campus.

Amin Massey, 34 of the District, has been charged with fourth-degree sex offense, second-degree assault and concealing a box cutter. Authorities believe that Massey groped a female student, said Sgt. Roseanne Hoaas, a department spokeswoman.

The student told university police that the sex offense happened at the Stamp Student Union shortly after 7:45 a.m. Monday, Hoaas said. She said Massey was identified as a suspect and campus security spotted him just yards away on surveillance cameras.

Hoaas said officers arrested the 34-year-old near the Cole Field House, the student activities building, and found a box cutter in his pocket.

She added that Massey has no affiliation with the university.
A woman was stabbed outside a D.C. public high school Tuesday afternoon, police said.

At around 4:20 p.m., officers responded to the 1700 block of East Capitol Street NE, where Eastern Senior High School is located, a D.C. police spokesman said. They found an adult female victim of a stabbing who was not seriously injured, and was conscious and breathing. She was transported to a local hospital, according to the spokesman.

Police issued a lookout for a black female, about 30 years old, 57 tall, in a black Impala.

No information about the motive was immediately available, but police are investigating the possibility that the stabbing was a road-rage incident, the spokesman said.
She isnt quite an adult, but at 12 feet long and weighing in at nearly 1,700 pounds, Miss Costa had scientists eager to tag her to follow her feeding and living habits.

They got their chance when the white shark first appeared in late September off the coast of Nantucket in Massachusetts. An added bonus came Sunday when her GPS-like tracking device showed her swimming near the surface just off the coast east of the Virginia-North Carolina line.

While it might surprise the average beachgoer to learn that the shark, nicknamed Miss Costa, was spotted along Virginias coastline, scientists who specialize in studying sharks said it isnt all that rare.

Its not unusual for white sharks to come into the Carolina area close to the coast in wintertime, said Robert Hueter, who is the lead scientist on the expedition run by Ocearch.org, a research operation on sharks.

He said Miss Costa is probably headed to her winter feeding grounds in Florida.

Miss Costa, while being tagged by researchers. (Ocearch.org)

The shark is one of dozens of sharks the group tracks. They are often named for the sponsors involved. (Miss Costa is named for Costa sunglasses.)

[8-foot-long bull shark caught in the Potomac River]

The information scientists are able to track and glean once a shark is tagged is important, they said, to understanding the animals and helping to preserve their habitat.

Using a 126-foot boat and a special hydraulic lift, scientists are able to get access to the sharks for a brief time. In about 15 minutes, they take genetic samples, blood and other samples, then attach a transmitter to the sharks dorsal fin.

That transmitter sends a signal to satellites and works almost like a GPS, allowing scientists to track the sharks movements. When the shark swims near the surface, which usually isnt often, the transmitter sends a signal that gets picked up by a satellite. Scientists can then see the sharks location in pretty much close to real time, said Hueter, who also is director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla.

[Record-breaking fish weighs more than the girl who caught it]

The story of Miss Costas movements was first reported by the Virginian-Pilot.

Ocearch, the group that tagged Miss Costa, has been doing this for more than a decade and has tracked about 300 sharks. The information is used to figure out the patterns of these animals lives, Hueter said.

We are trying to identify the important places and times in their life history, he said. The times they feed, where they feed, where they reproduce and give birth. That then gives us the information we need to protect and sustain them.

The tag typically lasts five years, and Hueter said experts are hoping that Miss Costa will take us to where she mates.

And she might show us where she gives birth, he added.

Knowing some of that information, he said, is necessary and critical for the protection of the sharks.
In the 1960s, the New Del-Phonics were one of the hottest bands out of Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High. Wayne Myers (right) once had his drumset abused by the drummer of the Yardbirds. (Wayne Myers photo)

I asked Phil Wood if there was a name for the band thats kicking off the reunion the weekend of Oct. 14-15 of Thomas Jefferson High Schools first four graduating classes, the classes of 1966 to 1969.

Not really, he said. We thought of the Jefferson Geezers. But theres really no name that is completely appropriate.

Thats because the band is a melange of different bands that used to perform around Fairfax County 50 years ago. Its a veritable supergroup.

In the 60s, every high school had seven or eight bands, Phil said. He played guitar in a band called the Brotherhood. Fellow TJ alum Bill Cabrera played guitar in the Brown Paper Bag. (I got the name from the back of a Mothers of Invention album, Bill said.) Wayne Myers played drums in the New Del-Phonics, who were not to be confused with the Del-Phonics (the bands previous name) or the Delfonics (the Philadelphia soul group whose success necessitated the name change in the first place).

Being a juvenile music fan in Northern Virginia in those heady days meant going to St. Albans Episcopal Church in Annandale on Friday nights and John Calvin Presbyterian on Saturday nights.

If you were in any sort of a good band, you were playing in one of those places, said Bill.

All the bands played the same things: covers of Top 40 songs, which meant a lot of Beatles. Occasionally wed do something that nobody else was doing, Bill said. Im pretty sure we were the only band at the time that was doing Incense and Peppermints. 

If you were really good, you might get a slot at the Alexandria Roller Rink. Phil and the Brotherhood were on the bill that opened for the Doors there in 1967, an infamous gig. Thats the first time I really understood what the expression stinking drunk meant, said Phil. You could smell [Jim Morrison] coming.

Wayne and the New Del-Phonics were occasionally pressed into service as the backing band for touring stars. They backed up Neil Diamond when he blew through town, handing them sheet music so they could play Solitary Man and Cherry, Cherry.

Waynes band opened for the Yardbirds at the roller rink, sharing its back line  the amplifiers and drum set  with the group that at the time included Jimmy Page.

The Yardbirds drummer broke the drum head on my bass drum, Wayne said. He reared back and kicked my entire set off the stage while I stood there with my mouth wide open.

Then what?

I cant say I was too thrilled, but what could I do? Wayne said. I was a 15-year-old drummer, and he was the drummer of a band from England.

Wayne still plays that very same drum set today: black pearl Slingerlands that his parents bought for him used.

After high school, Wayne played in nightclub bands and had a career at Channel 9. Bill became a high school Spanish teacher. Phil is a broadcaster with the Washington Nationals. On Oct. 14  back at St. Albans, where they played half a century ago  theyll be joined by schoolmates Dave Blanks, Peg Weston and Marta Wade. (For reunion information, visit tjhsstalumni.org.)

The makeshift band first played together six years ago, when everyone from their TJ class turned 60. Did you have to practice first? I asked.

No, said Wayne. And they wont practice this time, either. In the 60s we did the songs over and over again, he said. You can do that stuff in your sleep.

Reunited and it feels so good

Here are some more upcoming reunions of area schools:

Anacostia High Class of 1966  Nov. 25. Contact Yvette Norris (ycn0103@verizon.net, 301-728-9846) or Dorothy Hooper Weberling (dorweber@aol.com, 240-476-9328).

George Marshall High Class of 1966  Oct. 22. Contact Richard May at 757-724-7620 or may.richardb@gmail.com, or visit gcm1966class.com.

Theodore Roosevelt High (D.C.) Class of 1966  Oct. 28-29. Contact Jackie Roseboro Bradford (202-882-8428) or Anne Davis Cohen (202-468-6366) or visit www.roughriders66.com.

Spingarn High Class of 1956  Oct. 21-22. Contact Arvell Cuffey (301-585-9204) or Geneva Bess Hudson (301-585-9204).

T.C. Williams Class of 1976  Oct. 7-9. Email Nancy Howe Despeaux (ndespeaux@ verizon.net) or Denise Lord Sweeney (ohlordy@cox.net) or search TC Williams at www.eventbrite.com.

Yorktown High Class of 1981  Oct. 14-16. Email Ana Cainelli at acainelli@yahoo.com or search Yorktown 1981 on Facebook.

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.


John Baird Jr., 47. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Its almost bedtime. John Baird Jr., 47, smokes on the hood of his 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis sedan, his plaid sleeping bag neatly tucked in the trunk.

Kathleen McDermott, 81, slouches in the drivers seat of her 2002 Ford Focus station wagon. Two angel statuettes stare from her dashboard into clothes and clutter behind her.

Scott Downey, 52, works a crossword puzzle on his phone inside a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country van that smells faintly like cats. Clothes hang on hooks in the back, and emergency supplies of ramen noodles and Vienna sausages sit out of plain view.

They are in a Home Depot parking lot, largely invisible among the subdivisions and sprawl of Northern Virginias Fairfax County, the nations second-wealthiest community.

Sleeping in their cars, they are homeless but sort of not, a subset of a population officially classified as unsheltered and slowly shrinking in these suburbs of Washington, even as the number of people living in poverty continues to grow.

Each member of the trio spent decades living a more stable existence before family trauma or economic hardship led them to the streets.

Here, they help one another with errands and auto repairs, carpool to work or church, and check in on one another at night.

Just like their neighbors in the subdivisions around them.



Scott Downey checks the oil in Kathleen McDermotts 2002 Ford Focus station wagon. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Not the life he expected

After pulling into his usual sleeping spot off Route 50, Baird looks left, right and left again. There are other car dwellers parked nearby. The glare of laptop computers or lit cigarettes gives them away in the dark.

He pops the trunk and pulls out his sleeping bag and pillow, leaving the bags of family photos, medical records and other belongings undisturbed. After nearly 200,000 miles, his car has broken down a few times, and Bairds tab at a nearby garage has ticked up to $1,800. But he is careful to keep the interior neat and uncluttered, clear of any obvious signs that hes homeless.

Once the sleeping bag is unrolled onto the rear seat, Baird stretches out. A slight breeze blows through a partly opened window. The radio is on, a news anchor droning away, until he turns it off and shuts his eyes.



If you looked into the 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis sedan belonging to John Baird Jr., you wouldnt know he lives in it. He keeps everything organized in the trunk. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Baird grew up in Washington, D.C., with greater prospects, the son of a certified public accountant in a solidly middle-class Northwest neighborhood.

He always loved cars, and he worked at a gas station after high school before studying accounting at George Washington University. Menieres disease, an inner-ear disorder that causes intense dizzy spells and nausea, kept him from following in his fathers footsteps.

I could turn my head too quickly and all of a sudden, boom  Im on my back, Baird said. It can knock me out, like somebody hit me in the head with a baseball bat.

He took a job as a mechanic for a Volkswagen dealership in Bethesda, Md., got married and had a son. When the marriage broke up, Baird inherited the Grand Marquis. Child-support payments and the monthly charges for the tools he rented ate up most of his paycheck. Soon, the sedan became his home.

D.C. is dealing with a continuing homeless crisis that escalated in 2010 during the economic downturn and was made worse by a lack of affordable housing and rising real estate prices. Here are nine facts about being homeless in D.C. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

He met Downey at the Lamb Center in Fairfax, which offers breakfast, showers, laundry and other services to the homeless. By then, Baird was working as a day laborer for a temp agency. The dizzy spells had worsened, and he could no longer comfortably duck his head beneath the hood of a car.

He and Downey began parking next to each other overnight in the Home Depot lot, where church volunteers pass out cartons of donated dinners six days a week. The two men agreed to watch out for each other.

One night, Baird woke up in the lot and saw a man staring into Downeys van. The man noticed Baird watching and strolled away.

Soon after, McDermott, whom they had also met at the Lamb Center, joined their huddle in the parking lot. She felt safer sleeping in her station wagon near two male friends. In the evenings, after dinner, they bantered and joked between cigarettes.

Look into my eye  what do you see? Baird said one night this summer, holding his middle finger up toward Downey after Downey cracked that Baird was getting old.

Bloodshot, Downey countered, laughing.

On another day, Baird flirted with McDermott, who caressed his long hair and suggested he get a perm.

Oh, Kathleen  Im too old for you, he said.



From left are Scott Downey, 52; John Baird Jr., 47; and Kathleen McDermott, 81. The three friends live in their cars. After getting a free dinner, provided by area churches, they sit on a curb in a Fairfax County Home Depot parking lot and visit as the sun sets. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

A station wagons promise

Drivers honked at McDermott, veering around her angrily, as she guided her station wagon slowly along Route 123 one recent day.

The cane she uses for walking had slipped beneath the gas pedal, making it impossible to speed up.

Oh, I give up, she said after pulling over and discovering the problem. It seems like the world has turned upside down.

Her legs and back burn with pain from sleeping in the drivers seat for nearly two years. Talking has become more difficult, with years of poor dental care causing her teeth to fall out.

When not at the Lamb Center, she spent most days this summer parked near a 7-Eleven whose manager allows her to use the bathroom. Nearby, just off the Fairfax Circle intersection, sits the auto repair shop that she, Baird and others rely on. The mechanic lets them pay when they can.



McDermott walks into a 7-Eleven in Fairfax before going to sleep in her 2002 Ford Focus station wagon. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

McDermott prays to the angels on her dashboard to help get her out of this rut. She found one of them in an alley, near a dumpster.

Shed been holding herself together for decades, ever since her husband killed himself in 1972 and her eldest daughter was found dead from undetermined causes in the woods outside Alexandria two years later.

A son became addicted to drugs and would die of an overdose in 2011. McDermott had difficult relationships with her two other children.

She bought the station wagon in 2002, needing a way to commute to her job as a typist for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers union in Washington from her apartment in Falls Church. The $10,000 purchase was a personal victory.

I didnt have much confidence in myself, she recalled. One of my co-workers said she believed in me, saying: Go ahead, Kathleen! You can do it! And so, I did.

After she retired, McDermott used the vehicle mostly to run errands. Her surviving son, Dennis Burley, came to live with her in 2014, eventually bringing in a girlfriend. Feeling crowded, McDermott moved out. She signed over the lease to Burley, who says he has tried to persuade her to come back.

She had her own bedroom here, said Burley, 59. Apparently, this is something that she wants to do. I dont know why she does it.

McDermott, who gets about $1,340 a month in Social Security payments, stayed in a shelter at first but couldnt stand the fighting among other residents. She turned to her car as her best option about 21 months ago.

She cried herself to sleep on the first night, parked outside a Harris Teeter on Columbia Pike that she used to frequent while working.

What makes a good neighbor?

On warm evenings, Downey will sometimes stretch out on the asphalt of the Home Depot parking lot and nap. His body aches from all the driving he does and from sleeping in the drivers seat of his van when the weather is too hot to sleep in the back.



Scott Downey, left, and John Baird Jr. in the parking lot of the Home Depot. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

He bought the vehicle in 2013 for his wife, Kay, who lives in a mobile home in Salisbury, Md., with her 11-year-old grandson. Downey travels there some weekends to visit  stop-and-go Friday traffic for 160 miles.

The couple met online in 2006 and married a year later. They worked as school bus drivers and lived at a mobile-home park in Fairfax City for three years.

Eventually, Kay became homesick and moved back to the Eastern Shore. Downey, who grew up in Burke, couldnt find work there. He returned to Virginia, eventually taking the van with him.

Even a room inside someones house costs $700, he said. I cant afford that.

Downey earns $9.25 an hour at an auto auction house in Sterling, driving new and used cars across a vast lot and cleaning them to prep them for sale. He says most of his paycheck goes toward the lot fee for the mobile home.

He has learned which churches serve the best free meals on which nights and how to blend in with the rest of suburbia. One night, he sat for hours in front of a computer in a public library, studiously catching up on the gospel music scene. He also frequents a local Marriott, sitting in a rear lobby charging his phone and using the hotels WiFi connection on his laptop.

Some weekends, Downey drives a van for New Hope Fellowship in Chantilly, ferrying homeless people who dont have vehicles to the service. On a recent Sunday, the congregation included Baird and McDermott, as well as several other current and former car dwellers: a woman who used to sleep in her 1993 Toyota Corolla, a mother and son who live in their van, and a blind woman and her husband who have slept with a dog in their van for most of the past four years.



McDermott talks to Pastor Pat Deavers at New Hope Fellowships Sunday service on July 10. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Pastor Pat Deaverss sermon focused on the biblical parable of the good Samaritan, a story about helping a stranger in need.

Thats really the question, isnt it? she said, her voice rising. Who is our neighbor? And what makes a good neighbor?

Running on empty

The late-July afternoon sun was strong as Baird was driving back to Fairfax from Loudoun, after a day spent moving furniture for a moving company.

His vision had grown blurry in recent months, and the glare did not help. He didnt see the red traffic signal warning him to stop at the intersection of the Loudoun County Parkway and Waxpool Road. He didnt see the truck that barreled into the right side of his car, sending it spinning.

Baird stepped out, ignoring the other driver, who was angrily asking, Didnt you see the light?

He hadnt. His heart sank. The Grand Marquis was inoperable, its rear section crumpled inward and the frame bent.



Bairds wrecked Mercury Grand Marquis sedan in an impound lot in Sterling, Va. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

A tow truck showed up, and a Loudoun County sheriffs deputy wrote out court summonses for lapsed insurance and running a red light  misdemeanor violations worth up to $850 in fines.

Baird rode in the cab of the tow truck to the repair shop on Fairfax Circle. But he owed that shop $1,800, and he didnt have $135 to pay the towing fee.

As the annoyed tow-truck driver prepared to take the vehicle to an impound lot in Sterling, where it would accrue daily storage fees, Baird reached into his car to grab his laptop and asked whether he could retrieve his clothes, bedding and family photos from the trunk. The driver refused.

Im kind of screwed, Baird remembers thinking as he watched his wrecked car roll away.

He could not stay in McDermotts station wagon. Shed fallen after her legs swelled up and was briefly hospitalized. She then used her Social Security money to pay for a week at a motel, leaving her friends mystified as to her whereabouts.

So Baird slept in Downeys van for a while. Then Downey went to Salisbury and ended up in a shelter in Reston after his own brief hospitalization.



Baird, left, and Downey sleep in Downey's van in the parking lot of the Fairfax Home Depot. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

By then, a newcomer had joined their circle. Penny Winters, 52, arrived from Mississippi, driving a 2004 Honda Accord. She told a story about being laid off and struggling to secure government assistance.

Winters turned down Bairds first request to sleep in her car. But Baird offered to give her gas money, and she relented.

McDermott came back in late August. Soon, she would disappear again. But not before she and Baird spent a stormy night in her front seat outside Home Depot, happily watching lightning flash across the sky.

Mother Nature is putting on a show just for us! Baird shouted.

Any hope of retrieving his own car had vanished. A Loudoun judge reduced the fine to about $100. But he still couldnt pay it  and his tab at the impound lot was $3,000 and climbing. Without transportation, he was working only sporadically.

He bought a tent he could use in the woods and began sleeping in an abandoned building off Route 50, showing up at church one recent morning with disheveled hair and bits of leaves clinging to his clothes.

An ophthalmologist in Fairfax who treats low-income patients had found the cause of his blurry vision: cataracts clouding over both his eyes.

The other morning, Baird went to the Lamb Center to apply for Medicaid, which he hoped would cover cataract surgery. He ran into Downey having breakfast and contemplating a new chapter of his life. This month, he will move to Salisbury, work as a school bus driver for $16 an hour and live with his wife and grandson.

Bairds prospects are much more uncertain.

At this point, jail would be better, he told his old friend. At least Id have a roof over my head.

Stepping outside, Baird walked to a nearby doughnut shop. He sat at a table for the rest of the morning.
Nicolas Dunne, 7, joins his father, Matthew Dunne, on Sept. 17 to seek support for a meals tax in Fairfax County. Matthew Dunne is talking with Natalia Cespedes, who has lived in the Falls Church area for nine years. (Antonio Olivo/The Washington Post)

Officials in Virginias largest jurisdiction on Tuesday projected another round of large budget shortfalls for county services and schools in the 2018 fiscal year  preliminary estimates that were not-so-subtle pleas for Fairfax County voters to approve a new meals tax in November.

During a joint meeting between the county board of supervisors and the school board, Schools Superintendent Karen Garza estimated her office will be about $134 million short in funding when the next fiscal year begins in July. County Executive Edward L. Long Jr. projected a $79 million shortfall.

[In wealthy Northern Virginia, intense fight to sway votes on meals tax]

Both officials said those estimates depend on whether county voters approve a tax on ready-to-eat meals inside restaurants, convenience stores and grocery markets on Nov. 8 that would bring in about $100 million in additional revenue.

With the meals tax, theres a lot of flux there with regard to how much well have available to us, Garza said during a presentation that highlighted a growing student population in the nations 10th-largest school system and a desire to pay teachers more to remain competitive with surrounding jurisdictions.

Lynne Cramer, 70, checks in for lunch at the Coastal Flats restaurant in Fairfax Station and is greeted by a sign urging customers to vote against a proposed meals tax in Fairfax County that local restaurants argue would hurt their customers and workers. (Antonio Olivo/The Washington Post)

Long added, Whether it passes or doesnt pass, that will have a major impact on how we put the budget together.

The meals tax referendum has generated controversy among county residents who worry that the quality of life in the nations second-wealthiest county is slipping and that taxes are getting too high to live comfortably there.

[This model of wealthy suburban living is starting to fray]

County officials said that they would dedicate $70 million of the revenue generated by a meals tax toward the school system. Most of that amount would go toward raising teacher salaries in hopes of stemming an exodus in recent years of veteran teachers to higher-paying districts, school officials said.

The remaining $30 million would be dedicated to public safety, libraries, parks and other services that have suffered through budget cuts in recent years, officials said.

But after the county board of supervisors raised property taxes earlier this year by an average of $304 per household, many residents have nonetheless balked at the idea of another tax, while restaurants complain that it would unfairly harm their workers.

The frustration on both sides underscored a joint committee budget meeting that was meant to get a head start on dealing with the stubbornly tepid local economy and declining state tax dollars entering into Fairfax before the next county budget is approved in the spring.

[Fairfax officials brace for a grueling superintendent search]

Garza, who recently announced that shes leaving her post later this year to lead an Ohio-based educational nonprofit group, said that teachers are leaving the district and that textbooks are outdated.

Our German textbooks still have the Berlin Wall in them, she said.

Toward the end of the meeting, members on both boards argued over a joint statement about the meals tax that was ultimately drafted to lay out how the money would be spent if the referendum passes.

I thought we werent going to be promoting one side over the other and that we werent going to be using county resources, Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield,) who opposes a meals tax, said before the statement was finalized.

This is not something that were going to be voting on, replied Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D), the board chairman, adding that the statement wouldnt cost anything. This is a statement that were going to be using that provides some clarity.

Supervisor John C. Cook (R-Braddock) said that, given the way the money would be allocated, the meals tax referendum would ultimately be a vote on whether to raise teachers salaries by what school officials estimate would be about $44 million per year through 2020.

If it passes, you get it and if it doesnt, you dont, Cook told Garza, who nodded her head in agreement.
"We don't know. The river makes it hard for us to talk to each other. But we do know that he is an Indian Kashmiri because that's on the river's other side."

By India Today Web Desk: Amid the searing tension between India and Pakistan are stories of lily-white affinity and love between people from the two countries.

This is one such story of Pakistani school boys and their friend who lives across the border. The heartwarming story was posted in the Humans of Pakistan Facebook page. In it, the two boys talk about their friend whose name they don't know, but everyday after school they play stone skipping on the river that separates them.

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"We have a friend who lives on the other side of the river. This time everyday, he comes back from school. He always stands over there and throws stones in the water. We do the same. Whoever gets their stone to skip the furthest distance wins. We play this game everyday."

"We don't know. The river makes it hard for us to talk to each other. But we do know that he is an Indian Kashmiri because that's on the river's other side," the two boys on the Pakistan side of the river say.

The Humans of Pakistan page aims to shatter the 'stereotype' about Pakistanis, that they are 'violent and aggressive.' The page built on the lines of Humans of New York has many other inspirational stories which makes people believe in the goodness of the world.

The Facebook post below has gone viral with more than 17,000 likes and 3,000 shares.

Read the full post below:



--- ENDS ---
Ava Christianson, 8, has been battling cancer for half her life. Doctors hope a new, individualized immunotherapy treatment may now keep her in remission. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post)

By the time 8-year-old Ava Christianson got to the National Institutes of Health this summer, she had lost several grueling rounds to leukemia and was bracing for the next one.

Intensive chemotherapy, which cures up to 90 percent of children with the most common type of leukemia, hadnt kept her cancer from coming back. Neither had a painful bone-marrow transplant nor an experimental treatment. Her careworn father cried in the shower to hide his anguish. Her mother couldnt help but wonder, Why is this happening to our child?

But Ava was fortunate in one respect. Discoveries in the burgeoning field of immunotherapy are offering lifelines to desperate patients who previously had none. Five years ago, said her mother, Bethany Christianson, our doctor would have just had to tell us to go home.

Instead, in a five-minute procedure at the NIH Clinical Center in late July, the freckle-face girl got another chance to beat the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that has stalked her since age 4. She was infused with 30 million of her own T cells, a key part of the immune system, that had been genetically modified to track down and kill her cancer like a pack of crazed dogs.

Avas treatment, called CAR T-cell therapy, is one of the new immunotherapies that attempt to rally the bodys own defenses to fight malignancies. Unlike other cancer advances, it is being tested widely in children because of its stunning effectiveness in ALL, the most common pediatric cancer. In early-stage trials, many patients who had repeatedly relapsed saw their leukemia disappear. Some remain cancer-free.

Yet big questions surround the therapy, and many scientists are urging caution. Theres very real promise with this approach, but the immune system is complicated, said Terry Fry, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) scientist who is running Avas trial. Theres a lot that still needs to be worked out.

[Heres what you need to know about immunotherapy]

Complications can be lethal; one clinical trial was briefly halted in July after three young adults died of brain swelling. It is also far from clear that such a personalized approach  possibly costing hundreds of thousands of dollars  is economically viable on a large scale or will produce the lasting remissions that everyone hopes to see.

U.S. researchers running CAR T-cell trials for children and adults with leukemia and lymphoma have reported remission rates up to 90 percent in some cases. Thats a major achievement in a group whose cancer is emboldened by every treatment failure. But rates in other trials are considerably lower, and many patients eventually relapse.

The treatment is great about getting people into remission but not at keeping everyone in remission, said Rebecca Gardner, a pediatric oncologist at Seattle Childrens hospital. She ran an early-stage trial using CAR T-cell therapy in which 39 of 42 patients went into complete remission. By a year, about half had relapsed, either because their T cells had inexplicably disappeared or their cancer had changed so that the T cells could no longer recognize it. Leukemia is really smart, she said.

Avas family understands that better than most. She underwent her first CAR T-cell procedure in Minnesota last year, but her leukemia returned within six months. Her treatment at NIH involved a next-generation version, developed by NCI, that used a different target for her marauding T cells. In this first-in-humans trial, she is Patient No. 18.

In late August, the Christiansons learned that Ava had gone into remission. She and her mother, who were still at the Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., gleefully rushed home to Wisconsin so Ava could start third grade.



Ava, who is participating in a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health, plays with her mother, Bethany Christianson, during a checkup visit in September. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Her parents, so frequently disappointed, remain guardedly optimistic. Hope is all you have, said her father, Jay Christianson.

Her mother added, We just need this to work and to stay working.

NCIs Fry is careful not to make any promises about an extended remission. I cant say thats going to be the case, he said, because we just dont know. Its too soon.

Scientists have wanted for decades to marshal the immune system to vanquish cancer, but their attempts have mostly been frustrated. In the past few years, however, breakthroughs have led to the development of two types of immunotherapy  checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T cells  that are generating enormous excitement.

Checkpoint inhibitors are off-the-shelf therapies aimed at unleashing the immune systems power to see and attack the disease. Used mostly in adults, to date, they are producing impressive results, albeit in a minority of cases. The most prominent: Jimmy Carter. The former president became the poster patient when he was successfully treated last year with a checkpoint inhibitor called Keytruda, along with surgery and radiation, for his advanced melanoma.

Much of the earliest research for customized CAR T-cell therapy was conducted at NCI, the University of Pennsylvania, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Seattle Childrens.

The technology of CAR T cells is really a breakthrough, especially for children, said Michael Jensen, director of the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Childrens Research Institute.

Almost all the initial work focused on CD19, a protein found on the surface of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Scientists figured out ways to use a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, to reprogram T cells to recognize the protein and kill the cancer.

[Immunotherapy is showing benefits in an increasing number of cancers]

Zane Esposito, a 13-year-old from Plano, Tex., calls himself the T-Cell Explorer. He was diagnosed with ALL in June 2010. I just thought my back hurt, he said. I couldnt walk up the steps very well. Almost three years of treatment, including punishing chemotherapy, provided a couple of years of remission. His leukemia returned in January, and this time it did not respond to treatment.

Soon after Zane relapsed, he and his father bumped into friends in a local doughnut shop who told them about a TV segment on CAR T-cell therapy. Paul Esposito searched online and found Gardners clinical trial in Seattle. Zane signed on, got the treatment, went back into full remission and gained 25 pounds.

His Texas doctors have talked about a bone-marrow transplant to increase the chance of a true cure, but the Espositos have resisted. The Seattle doctors say it is not clear yet whether that is necessary or whether there would be still other options should Zanes cancer recur.

Zane is moving on, with dreams of competing on Chopped Junior to show off his homemade pasta and pizza. On July 27, the day that Ava got her T cells, he celebrated his 13th birthday.

Ava was 4 when she started having leg pains, then trouble standing up. Her mother suspected Lyme disease. You never think of cancer with a child, she said, eyes filling as she recalled her daughters cancer diagnosis in November 2012. The doctors assured the family that it was typical leukemia  and curable.



Ava receives T-cell therapy for leukemia from nurse Julie Thompson at the NIH Clinical Center, her mother nearby for support. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Like most children, Ava quickly went into remission after starting the prescribed 30 months of chemotherapy. But at home in Prescott, a small Wisconsin city at the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, things did not get easier for the Christiansons. In early 2013, Ava was hospitalized in Minneapolis for a lung infection. About the same time, the couples second daughter, Audrey, was born 13 weeks premature and hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit in St. Paul. Bethany, who manages occupational therapists for a nursing-home chain, and Jay, a rural mail carrier, shuttled between the Twin Cities visiting their daughters.

I would be with Ava during the day, and then when Jay got home, he would stay with Ava, and I would spend time with Audrey, she said. No matter what you do, you feel like a bad mom.

A year or so after treatment began, Ava relapsed. Now she was in a much more dangerous category: children whose leukemia no longer responds to chemo. Her doctors arranged for a bone-marrow transplant, with her baby sister as the donor.

The transplant made her sick and the whole family miserable. Ava spent months in the hospital and then a year at home. Because of fears of infection, she couldnt go out much. She missed all of first grade. But her parents had hope that the transplant would keep her cancer at bay.

[Brain cancer now the leading cause of cancer deaths in children]

At a six-month checkup, tests showed that the leukemia was back again. There were no more conventional treatments to try. But because of her two relapses, Ava was now eligible for a CAR T-cell trial at the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital. Her T cells would be genetically altered to go after CD19.The number of cells then would be vastly increased and reinfused.

It sounded like science fiction, but Bethany Christianson found comfort in talking to the father of Emily Whitehead. In 2012, the 6-year-old Pennsylvania girl became the first child to be treated with reprogrammed T cells for leukemia. She has been in remission ever since.

Ava got her treatment in April 2015  after her cells were extracted via a tube inserted into her neck  and five days later had a massive immune reaction with a high fever and intense pain. While that is typical, some patients become dangerously ill. Yet Ava recovered fast, went into remission and attended summer school, where she learned how to make pigs-in-a-blanket and wrote her own cookbook.

By then, her parents had gotten used to living in the midst of remissions and relapses. When she felt better, we would do everything we could, Bethany said. They visited Robot World, a scientifically themed attraction a few hours from Prescott. You dont put things off, because you are always thinking, What if? 

Last fall, doctors delivered the bad news. Avas cancer had changed. It was no longer producing the CD19 protein, which meant her modified T cells could no longer recognize the disease. But the leukemia was still producing another common protein, called CD22, and that offered an opportunity.

As it happened, Fry, head of the blood-cancer section in NCIs pediatric oncology branch, had already launched the worlds first trial using CAR T-cell therapy to focus on CD22. It seemed an equally promising target that could broaden the therapys impact, researchers thought. At the time, they did not realize that a significant percentage of patients in the other trials might relapse because of changes in their cancer.

Fry insisted as he designed the study that children be included, despite ever-present concerns about exposing them to safety risks. He wanted to avoid a delay in testing what could be a lifesaving pediatric treatment. I didnt want to take two to three years on adults, and then go back and do children, he said.

[For a 6-year-old with cancer, a future staked on medicines hottest field]

The clinical trial already has treated nearly two dozen leukemia and lymphoma patients through age 30. The majority have gone into remission, although some have had their cancer return. While it is far too early to know long-term outcomes, Fry said he is convinced the CD22 treatment holds much potential. He is planning another trial next year with the Stanford University School of Medicine. It will target both proteins  CD19 and CD22  simultaneously.



With her leukemia in remission following a promising immunotherapy procedure being tested at NIH, Ava was able to start third grade with her friends. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Once Ava relapsed after the Minnesota trial, Frys study at the NIH Clinical Center appeared to be the only option. But there was no slot immediately available. With Ava deteriorating, doctors put her on an experimental treatment that sent her into remission but had serious side effects.

They immediately stopped the medication when they learned Ava might get her T-cell therapy in January  she actually needed a high level of leukemia in her body to participate. But on this wrenching roller coaster of research and treatment, it turned out that she still had to wait several more months.

Avas cancer returned in June. Her T cells were extracted in preparation for the trial, even as she got sicker and sicker.

She was admitted to the Clinical Center in mid-July, to a room with dancing penguins painted on the windows. The day before her therapy, an ebullient Audrey burst into the room and the two sisters ran down the hall to a play space.

Her mother was ready this time for the intense immune reaction that followed treatment, although she still found it hard to watch Ava spike a fever of 106. When you see that temperature on the thermometer, every bone in your body says its wrong to let it get that high, Bethany said. Then suddenly its over.

If his daughters cancer returns yet again, I have no idea what well do, Jay said. Were kind of up against the edge.

Fry thinks she might be able to undergo a second round of her latest immunotherapy, as long as her cancer is still producing CD22 proteins. Doctors in Minnesota also might recommend a second bone-marrow transplant  something her parents dread, saying it was the roughest treatment of all.

For now, Ava is happily back in school. I just want her to be a kid, Bethany Christianson said. She has missed out on a lot of that.
OHIO

State to carry out executions again

Ohio plans to resume executions in January after a three-year moratorium because of a shortage of execution drugs, lawyers said Monday.

The Ohio Attorney Generals office said in court that it plans to use a new three-drug cocktail to carry out executions. According to the Associated Press, the state said it plans to use the sedative midazolam, the muscle relaxer rocuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, which stops a persons heart.

The attorney generals office said it plans to file formal notice of the change later this week. The state will now be able to move forward with the execution of Ronald Phillips, who was convicted of raping and killing his girlfriends 3-year-old daughter in 1993. There are nearly two-dozen other inmates on Ohios death row.

The switch comes after executions in Ohio and other states went awry in recent years. Ohio has not executed anyone since 2014, when witnesses said Dennis McGuire gasped during his execution, which lasted a half-hour.

States have also struggled to carry out executions amid shortages of the drugs typically used in executions, forcing them to find different combinations or explore other options to put people to death. Both American and European companies have prevented their drugs from being used in executions in the United States.

 Katie Zezima

CALIFORNIA

Fatally shot black teen had a gun, police say

Los Angeles police officials said a black teenager whose death prompted angry protests over the weekend was armed with a loaded handgun when police fatally shot him Saturday afternoon.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said during a news conference Monday that Carnell Snell Jr. was holding the handgun in his left hand and turned it in the direction of police officers, who then fired six times, hitting Snell twice. The 18-year-old died immediately.

Beck said Snell did not fire back, and the handgun was still fully loaded after the shooting.

The incident happened at about 1 p.m., when police officers spotted a light-blue Nissan Altima with paper license plates and suspected that the vehicle was stolen. Beck said Snell, who was sitting in the back passenger seat, ducked after he saw the officers.

The car stopped in south Los Angeles when Snell and another passenger got out and ran in opposite directions. The officers chased Snell, whom they believed was holding a handgun. The teen ran to the back of a house, where he was later shot, authorities said. Beck said a preliminary investigation showed that Snell was struck in the torso and in the knee.

 Kristine Guerra
Doris Simms, 91, was issued a $75 littering citation by the District's Department of Public Works in July because a solid waste inspector had found several stuffed trash bags outside her rowhouse on 12th Street NE. But Simms has been living at a nursing home for the past year, and couldn't have left the garbage out on the sidewalk, so her brother Warren Simms is fighting the ticket at an administrative hearing in November. (--/Family Photo)

Two Oct. 1 Metro articles illustrated a major problem in the way government bureaucrats relate to the people they are supposed to serve but to whom they render disservice instead. I refer to Teen to stand trial over carton of milk and Litter-fine dispute pits city against 91-year-old.

In the first instance, a middle school student, entitled to a free lunch, was arrested for going back in line and taking the carton of milk hed forgotten when getting his lunch. Hes now in the system and has a court date.

In the second case, trash bags were found in front of a rowhouse owned by a nursing home resident who has dementia and didnt live in her home at the time. The article also mentioned a 2-year-old who received a $75 fine because an envelope with the toddlers name had been found in the street. That fine was dropped after an online uproar.

What ever happened to common sense? Is it any wonder people think of government as the enemy when stupidity and callous indifference to circumstances override judgment? The kid with the milk should never have been hassled, much less arrested. Who in their right mind issues tickets to 2-year-olds and penalizes clearly innocent people with dementia?

Does government not allow its employees to exercise discretion and common sense? It should, and if it doesnt, things will go from comically bad to tragically, expensively worse.

Robert F. Tropp, Silver Spring

Two stories of ridiculous legal pursuit  a boy arrested for getting his carton of milk and a 91-year-old nursing home resident ticketed for littering at a home she doesnt use. What is the matter with the officials in charge that these two events elicited these actions? Where is common sense? Let the youngster have his milk, and leave the elderly woman alone!

Betsy Fiore, Bethany Beach, Del.
THE LATEST flap over Donald Trumps taxes shifted focus from an even more dangerous theme that he returned to over the weekend.

Dont misunderstand: The tax issue is no small matter. The New York Times discovered that Mr. Trump claimed such a large business loss in 1995  more than $900 million  that he may have avoided paying federal income tax for as long as 18 years. His reliable lickspittles, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, promptly proclaimed the enormous loss and possible nonpayment of taxes evidence of Mr. Trumps business genius.

In which case, as Post columnist Ruth Marcus asked, why not release the tax returns and let us admire his genius in full?

In fact, the new details reveal a massive business failure and, if he then did not pay taxes, the exploitation of a tax-code provision that takes no special talent to uncover. Meanwhile, the public still has had only a glimpse of the GOP nominees tax history. For decades presidential candidates have released their tax forms. Mr. Trump hides behind the excuse that his returns are under audit. In fact, the only thing stopping him from releasing recent or historical tax returns is whatever he does not want the public to see. Or, as the case is now, whatever else he does not want the public to see.

But even more alarming than the contempt he shows toward voters by not releasing his taxes is the contempt he is showing  and cultivating among his supporters  for American democracy.

The tax code allows real estate developers or managers to use special tax breaks and benefits that the rest of us cant. Heres how that works. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

On Saturday, Mr. Trump told a Pennsylvania crowd to watch the voters in certain areas because I hear too many bad stories, and we cant lose an election because of you know what Im talking about. It is not a dog whistle when everyone in the country knows exactly what he means: that African Americans commit fraud to win elections. So, go and vote and then go check out areas, he said. Because a lot of bad things happen, and we dont want to lose for that reason.

These words represent a direct incitement of his supporters to show up in minority communities on Election Day armed with conspiracy theories and hostile attitudes  and who knows what else. They come on top of Mr. Trumps backtracking on his pledge, given during the first debate, to accept the results of next months presidential election. Were going to have to see, he says now. He is encouraging intimidation of black voters, an odious tradition in U.S. history, and laying the groundwork to question the legitimacy of Hillary Clintons victory if she wins. This line of provocation is dangerous  literally so.
SOME ARE comparing the surprising rejection by Colombians of a peace accord with the FARC guerrilla movement to another Brexit-like rebellion. There are certainly resemblances: The accord was pushed by a liberal-minded elite that saw it as a means to put their countrys violent past behind it, open rural areas to development and attract more trade and foreign investment. They had the endorsement of a global cast ranging from President Obama to Raul Castro and Pope Francis. Pollsters, who predicted an easy win for the yes vote, were blindsided.

The causes of the referendums failure, however, probably had less to do with resistance to Colombias modernization and globalization than with its success. The severe threat the insurgency once posed to the country receded years ago, in large part because of an intensive U.S.-backed buildup and professionalization of Colombias armed forces. A large majority of those living in areas where the war with the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, continues supported the accord, but residents of big cities other than the capital, Bogota, rejected it. More than 60 percent of voters failed to turn out.

In short, a lot of Colombians appeared to calculate that there would be little consequence for rejecting the relatively generous concessions to FARC leaders negotiated by President Juan Manuel Santos. Ordinary citizens far from the jungles where the FARC had its bases and cocaine-trafficking operations felt safe in rejecting the billions of dollars for land reform and subsidies to ex-fighters; reserved seats in Congress for a Marxist-Leninist party with scant popular support; and light consequences for FARC leaders who confessed to war crimes. Opposition was validated by the popular president who preceded Mr. Santos, Alvaro Uribe, who led the military offensive against the group as well as the no vote campaign.

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, the naysayers logic seemed vindicated. Both the government and the FARC immediately announced that a cease-fire would remain in place and talks reopened. FARC leader Rodrigo Londono said it would use only words as a weapon to build toward the future  and militant leaders who favor renewed warfare may find few fighters to follow them.

The problem is that Colombias sprawling countryside, with its concentrated landownership and lack of infrastructure for crops other than coca, needs the reforms that were built into the peace deal. Without them, violent drug-trafficking gangs and other criminals will continue to dominate the landscape and terrorize the population, whether or not they call themselves revolutionaries.

At best, the pact might be revised to provide for tougher treatment of FARC leaders guilty of crimes, while continuing to pardon rank-and-file fighters. But Mr. Londono and his clique stoutly resisted such accountability through years of negotiations. Mr. Santos could also try to push the accord or a slightly amended version through Congress in spite of the referendum, which was nonbinding. Better, however, to accept democracys verdict, and look for another way forward.
Senior functionaries of India and Pakistan will for the first time, come face to face with each other in Brussels on Wednesday.

By Javed M. Ansari : Almost a week after Indian forces crossed the LoC in a pre-emptive strike against terrorists planning to infiltrate the country, senior functionaries of India and Pakistan will for the first time, come face to face with each other in Brussels on Wednesday.

India's Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar and Sartaj Aziz the advisor on foreign affairs to the Pakistan Prime Minister will be in the same room attending a conference Afghanistan co hosted by the EU and Afghanistan.

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The conference is being attended by the representatives of 30 organisations and 70 other countries, including the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. A smaller meeting of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, USA, Russia and China is also being planned on the sidelines and the expectation is that two foreign minister may have occasion to interact in the smaller group.

Though the MEA has denied the likelihood of such a meeting, their presence in the same room at this juncture has sparked off speculation about the likelihood of the two of them meeting on the sidelines of the conference.

Communication lines between the countries have been kept open, with the two NSA's having already spoken to each other over the weekend. India, however, is clear that initiative for an engagement has to come from the Pakistani side and the talks if and when they are held will be about terror and nothing else.

India has made it abundantly clear that while it does not covet territory and that the surgical strike was a pre-emptive move against those planning to sneak into the country to conduct a terror strikes, the onus of improving ties lies with Pakistan.

Read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector



Pakistan National Security Advisor calls counterpart Ajit Doval, wants tension to diffuse

--- ENDS ---
Wells Fargos abuse of its customers  its employees opened some 2 million accounts and credit cards for depositors who may not have wanted them  has sparked deserved outrage. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) charged Wells Fargo chair and chief executive John Stumpf with gutless leadership, calling on him to resign and give back the pay he pocketed, and called on the Justice Department to launch a criminal prosecution. Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee said Wells Fargo had committed the most egregious fraud weve seen since the foreclosure crisis. Criticism, however, is easy. The question is whether there will be real consequences and real reforms coming out of the scandal.

The Obama administrations record to date isnt reassuring. Big banks have been fined more than $110 billion for what the FBI called the epidemic of fraud in the mortgage wilding that blew up the economy. But the banks have ended up bigger and more concentrated than ever. And only one top banker has been prosecuted or forced to disgorge his or her ill-gotten wealth. With no personal accountability, the scams are likely to be replicated in different forms, as the Wells Fargo scandal shows.

The time for a crackdown is long overdue. Voters are disgusted, and as the bipartisan outrage at Wells Fargo demonstrated, politicians are getting the message. Stumpf tried to blame the frauds on rogue employees, firing 5,300 over the past few years. But the abuses were too pervasive for that to pass the smell test.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Wells Fargo $185 million, but that slap on the wrist is barely 3 percent of the banks second-quarter profits. Wells Fargo has paid more than $10 billion in fines over the past several years, but these begin to seem, as Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R.-Tex.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee suggested, simply the cost of doing business.

Under pressure from regulators, the passive Wells Fargo board  which Stumpf chairs  clawed back some $60 million in bonus pay from him and the head of consumer accounts, the retiring Carrie Tolstedt. The California state treasurer, who is running for governor, suspended business relations with Wells Fargo for a year, calling on Stumpf to resign. Illinois followed suit, with others lining up. Stumpf will surely retire as soon as the dust settles.

But much more is needed for real deterrence. First and foremost are criminal investigations and prosecutions. What Wells Fargo did is a classic case of what retired bank regulator William K. Black calls control fraud. Executives set up insane quotas for cross-selling, threatening to fire employees who did not meet them. The result was widespread cheating. Whistleblowers were ignored and sometimes dismissed. Stumpf admits to knowing about the sham accounts and federal investigations but didnt include the information in SEC filings, a clear case of defrauding investors. This will be the final chance for President Obamas hapless Justice Department and compromised SEC to demonstrate that they possess the independence needed to police the banks.

Second, Waters surely had it right when she said, I have come to the conclusion that Wells Fargo should be broken up. Its too big to manage. Wells Fargo ranks as the third-largest U.S. bank in assets and largest in employees. It is a serial offender. As Stumpfs clueless testimony makes clear, it is too big to manage, too big to fail and thus too big to exist. The Dodd-Frank reforms give federal regulators the power to break up banks that pose a systemic risk. Wells Fargo may not pose the biggest risk or be the worst offender, but it is a good place to start.

Third, customers should start voting with their accounts, moving them out of Wall Street banks and into smaller and better-managed credit unions and community banks. Bloomberg reports that since the financial crisis, credit unions have grown steadily, with millennials flocking to them. Customers could also pick progressive banks such as the Amalgamated Bank. Started by the Ladies Garment Workers Union in 1923, Amalgamated champions responsible banking, and is now campaigning to raise the minimum wage. Not surprisingly, it often finds itself at odds with the bank lobby in Washington skirmishes.

Finally, Wells Fargos abuse of its customers should give a boost to postal banking, a sensible reform championed by Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and now part of the Democratic Partys 2016 platform. The Federal Reserve estimates about half of the U.S. population cant cover a shortfall of $400 due to an unexpected expense without borrowing the money. More than one in four Americans  88 million  are either unbanked or underbanked  meaning that they rely on alternative financial services such as payday lenders and pawn brokers that gouge routinely. As Mehrsa Baradaran reported in the Nation, the unbanked pay a significant portion of their paychecks  around 10 percent  to use and move their money. This is more than the average low-income family spends on food.

Low-income workers would be best served by allowing the post office to provide core banking services  savings and checking accounts, money transfers, and small loans in order to escape the predators in the cash economy. The post office has the infrastructure to do this across the nation, even in rural and low-income neighborhoods largely abandoned by both big banks and savings and loans. What the Wells Fargo scandal reveals is that when big banks dont abandon these customers, they are likely to fleece them.

None of this is complicated. Prosecute the lawbreakers; claw back ill-gotten gains; break up unmanageable and lawless banks; and encourage sensible alternatives. Fines large and small arent enough. Bankers need to be held personally accountable, and banks need to be broken up when they are too big to manage. Wells Fargo offers the Obama Justice Department one last chance to commit justice.

Democrats also advocate for expanding postal services. This includes offering basic financial services such as paycheck cashing and removing statutory restraints on services the United States Postal Service may offer. It also includes promoting vote-by-mail to increase voter participation and to help address the scourge of voter suppression.

At a time when many of the largest banks have shunned communities across America, Democrats believe that we need to give Americans affordable banking options, including by empowering the USPS to facilitate the delivery of basic banking services.

Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter.
An Israeli national flag flying next to an Israeli building site of housing units in the Jewish settlement of Shilo in the occupied Palestinian West Bank on Monday. (Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

In his Sept. 29 op-ed, Remembering Shimon Peres, former Israeli Knesset member and Labor Party representative Yossi Beilin referred to his countrys illegal settlements in the occupied territories. The League of Nations 1922 Palestine Mandate, Article 6, encourages close Jewish settlement on the land west of the Jordan River. The United Nations took over the mandate, and Chapter 12, Article 80 of the U.N. Charter, sometimes known as the Palestine article, affirms Jewish rights under it, including Article 6.

The United States endorsed British administration of the Palestine Mandate in the 1924 Anglo-American Convention, partly to affirm Londons commitment to reestablishing the Jewish national home in Palestine. This included the Jewish right of settlement as recognized by the mandate. The West Bank, taken by Israel in 1967 in a war of self-defense, is occupied territory. It also is, as the authors of the relevant U.N. Security Council Resolution, 242, noted, disputed territory. Sovereignty over it remains to be negotiated. Meanwhile, both Jews and Arabs have claims there.

Labeling Jewish West Bank communities illegal settlements, whether done by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. officials or Beilin, amounts to a political, not juridical, declaration.

Eric Rozenman, Fairfax
The New York Times David Sanger had an interesting observation in a recent article on Vladimir Putins bizarre foreign policy. Russia, Sanger wrote, is a declining economy with the gross domestic product of Italy. So how come it manages to push around the United States, which has the worlds biggest economy and, as President Obama put it just last week, by a mile, the greatest military on earth? Because the United States has, by a mile, a president who is cautious to the point of timidity and prudent to the point of appearing heartless.

The crisis at the moment is Syria and the siege of Aleppo. The citys hospitals have been bombed by so-called bunker busters. Other civilian centers have been targeted. Stephen OBrien, the United Nations undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, called the indiscriminate bombing and shelling . . . a level of savagery that no human should have to endure. Syrian government forces, aided by Hezbollah and Iran on the ground and by Russia in the air, are poised to finish the job. Late last month, a U.N.-organized humanitarian convoy was bombed by Syrians and Russians or Syrians with the aid of Russia. The United States retaliated against this hideous outrage by protesting and, on Monday, suspending talks with Moscow.

Obamas refusal to back up demands for a cease-fire with a threat of force has driven Secretary of State John F. Kerry to distraction. He confessed his frustration to some fellow diplomats and his words were promptly leaked. Kerry now stands, as has been suspected for some time, in opposition to his presidents policy. But what it has done to Kerry is minor compared to what it has done to Obama himself. It has led him into hallucinatory explanations of his decisions. He mangles the facts, jumbles chronology and, in effect, holds himself guiltless for Syrias approximately 500,000 deaths, 8 million internally displaced persons and a tidal wave of immigrants that has destabilized Europe.

Is this a situation in which inserting large numbers of U.S. troops will get us a better outcome? the president asked last week at a CNN town hall meeting held at Fort Lee, Va. Its not a bad question. But heres a better one: Who ever suggested such a course? No one of any consequence. Obamas national security team once recommended supplying and training the rebels who Obama originally dismissed as former farmers or teachers or pharmacists who are now taking up opposition against a battle-hardened regime. Obama listened to his CIA director, his secretary of state, his secretary of defense and the military brass and said no. End of discussion. Boots on the ground were not recommended.

At Fort Lee, the president also accelerated Russian and Iranian involvement in Syria: There have been critics of mine that have suggested that, well, if early enough, you had provided sufficient support to a moderate opposition, they might have been able to overthrow the murderous Assad regime. The problem with that is, as weve seen, that Assad regime is supported by Russia, its supported by Iran.

President Obama on Sept. 28 defended his decision to allow women to serve in combat roles in the military and addressed other military and security issues during a town hall on CNN. (CNN)

Well, yes, the Syrian regime was always supported by Iran and Russia. But it took a while for the Iranian proxy Hezbollah and Russia to actually join the fight. Back when the Syrian civil war started in 2011, Obama could have done something and, in fact, implied he would do something. The time has come for President [Bashar] Assad to step aside, Obama declared. Not only did Assad fail to step aside, but his forces later smeared Obamas famous red line all over history by using poison gas on civilian centers. By then, 2013, Assad, Putin and other assorted bad guys had taken the measure of Obama: weak.

I understand that no one likes to admit failure, especially one that has cost so many lives. Bill Clinton says he will never forgive himself for not intervening in the Rwandan genocide. Obama will be similarly stalked.

The president still can act. He can back up his secretary of state, impose a humanitarian corridor and, at the very least, air-drop medical supplies and food. The United States already has airplanes in the area fighting the Islamic State. A humanitarian air drop is not a belligerent act and Russia should not read it that way. Obama can do that because America has the ability to do that, because America does not stand by and watch innocent people get slaughtered and because America can tell Russia they both have a moral obligation to save lives. That is not a red line. It is a bottom line.

Read more from Richard Cohens archive.
I know, I know, the point Im about to make is painfully obvious. But it is not in any sense trivial: If you care who wins the election next month, get off the couch, go down to your polling place and vote.

National polls taken since last weeks debate show Hillary Clinton with a solid lead over Donald Trump; a Politico-Morning Consult poll released Monday morning, for example, put the gap at 6 points. New polls in swing states, including some that once looked favorable for Trump, also report that Clinton is now ahead. There is every reason to believe that most Americans favor the former U.S. senator and secretary of state over the bigoted, clownish real estate mogul who claims hes worth billions of dollars yet apparently avoids paying federal income taxes.

If youre tempted to think this is in the bag, however, look around.

In Colombia on Sunday, voters narrowly rejected a peace deal intended to end a war against leftist guerrillas that has raged for five decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives. Supporters of the agreement were shocked because respected polls had shown it would be approved easily.

Similarly, polls showed that British voters were in favor of remaining in the European Union. Yet when ballots were counted after the June 23 referendum, the leave position had won a slim victory. Many Britons were stunned and dismayed  none more so than David Cameron, who was forced to resign as prime minister.

It is tempting to look at these results  plus the election of dangerous lunatic Rodrigo Duterte as president of the Philippines  and conclude that some sort of vast, perhaps unstoppable, anti-elite wave is sweeping the globe. As go Medellin and Manila, in other words, so goes Milwaukee.

I think there is a simpler, less apocalyptic explanation: In both Britain and Colombia, the outcomes were determined by those who didnt bother to vote.

For the Brexit referendum, overall turnout was high, a bit over 70 percent. But turnout among voters under 40  those most likely to favor remaining in the E.U.  was only about 65 percent, according to a London School of Economics analysis . Meanwhile, turnout among those over 65, the group most likely to favor exiting the union, was an estimated 90 percent.

Had turnout among younger voters been a few points higher, Brexit would have lost.

In Colombia, a nation of approximately 47 million people, the peace deal was rejected by just 54,000 votes. But turnout was a paltry 37 percent. If so many Colombians who favored the agreement perhaps hadnt assumed it was safe to stay home, believing the outcome was a foregone conclusion, President Juan Manuel Santos would be taking a victory lap instead of scrambling to come up with a Plan B.

The lesson for American voters seems clear. Yes, this is a year when anti-establishment protest is finding expression at the ballot box. The Duterte case is instructive: Filipino voters knew they were choosing as president a man who believes the way to deal with illegal drugs and rampant crime is through extrajudicial summary execution. They may come to regret their choice, but they made it with open eyes.

In Britain and Colombia, however, majorities of voters sabotaged themselves with their own apathy. And the only way Trump can win is if the same thing happens here.

It is true that the white working-class voters who form the core of Trumps support do not always show up on Election Day. But given their fervor for the bombastic GOP candidate  who claims, ridiculously, that he can hold back the tides of globalism, demography and science  it is reasonable to assume that Trumps people will indeed vote.

But they are outnumbered by voters who recognize Trump for the ignorant and dangerous charlatan that he is. Pollsters try to account for any enthusiasm gap when they screen for likely voters. But really, there should be no gap at all.

The coalition of women, young people, African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans that twice elected President Obama has even more reason to come out in force to elect Clinton. Anyone who believes that Trump is essentially harmless, or that he is so ridiculous a figure that inevitably he will lose, is whistling past the graveyard.

The Clinton campaign is setting in motion a get-out-the-vote campaign that represents the state of the art. Ultimately, however, this is on you. There is one sure way to avoid the nastiest of surprises on Nov. 8: Vote, or youll have no right to complain.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
What do most of the chief advisers and surrogates of the Trump campaign have in common? Im thinking of Chris Christie, Roger Ailes, Stephen Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich.

What could possibly unite this diverse group? They are white, middle-aged (and older) males  not that there is anything wrong with that. They are almost psychotically sycophantic. (According to Gingrich, Donald Trump won an enormous, historic victory in the first presidential debate. Both Christie and Giuliani have called Trump a genius for avoiding federal taxes.) They are very forgiving about certain foibles (everybody commits adultery, explains Giuliani) and rather tough on others (Miss Universe Alicia Machado, says Gingrich, was not supposed to gain 60 pounds). They apparently lack the gene for irony (Americas mayor is smitten with a candidate who has flirted with 9/11 conspiracy theories).

But most of all, they are very unhappy about the state of America. Theres no next election, Giuliani has declared. This is it! There is no more time for us left to revive our great country.

[Garrison Keillor: The question no one is asking about Donald Trump]

The ascendance of people such as Gingrich, Giuliani and Trump in the Republican Party, from one perspective, is succeeding. A campaign of shouting, apocalyptic, white men has undeniably appealed to white men. A recent Post-ABC News poll found Trump up 40 points against Hillary Clinton in this category. Up nearly 60 points among white men with no college degree. These results are remarkable, indicating both the limits of Clinton as a candidate and the fury in portions of middle-class and blue-collar America.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) is a big fan of Donald Trump  and he's said some strange things while campaigning for the Republican nominee. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

If the United States is truly in the midst of a wave election, fed by the fears and discontent of white males, it will have enormous consequences in a country that has moved considerably in the direction of diversity, tolerance and inclusion. A very real culture war will be in full swing, not between social conservatives and social liberals, but between a movement of white economic and cultural grievances and a party of social elites and ascendant minorities. This struggle  rooted in race and class  would be far more bitter than the old culture war of ideas.

Trump is an odd leader for this populist revolt. Every presidential candidate presents not just a vision of the future but a certain construction of the past  both Millennium and Eden. Ronald Reagans ideal, even though he was a product of Hollywood, was the small-town Midwest. For George W. Bush (who chewed tobacco in the back of the class at Harvard Business School), Eden was always West Texas.

What is the mythic content of Trumps nostalgia? In the telling of PBSs excellent political documentary The Choice, the young Trump was captured by Norman Vincent Peales optimistic self-confidence and Hugh Hefners vision of the good life. He had a very Hugh Hefner, Playboy magazine view of success, recalls classmate Michael DAntonio. Others left the Playboy philosophy behind along with their adolescence. Trump did not.

[Donald Trumps contempt for American democracy]

Trumps version of Eden is lounging at the grotto at the Playboy Mansion or smoking cigars in the back room at the Sands, with a little Studio 54 thrown in. This is the man who reportedly pressured his future wife Marla Maples to appear in Playboy and negotiated the deal; who appeared in a soft-core porn video himself (not naked, thank goodness, but breaking a champagne bottle over a limo); and who recently took to Twitter to urge Americans to view a sex tape. This is the man who boasted about his penis size and made a menstruation joke during debates and has a consistent history of demeaning women as pigs and dogs.

America is seeing a movement of white grievance led by an avatar of the Playboy philosophy. In light of this, Trumps deep support among evangelical Christians is the hardest for me to account for. I wonder how Trump evangelicals explain to their sons and daughters that this man is a suitable leader for a great country. I know that people in some minority groups are genuinely frightened by the possibility of Trumps election. (We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, Gingrich has said, and if they believe in sharia, they should be deported.) I also know that if Trump ends up losing in November, it will be because women rallied in large numbers to defeat him.

Conservatives oriented toward reform and outreach  longing for the leadership of Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Marco Rubio  are largely waiting in shelters for the storm to pass. But what of the Republican Party will be left?

Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
At an event hosted by the Retired American Warriors PAC, Oct. 3, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked about approaches to preventing suicide among veterans. Here's his response. (The Washington Post)

At an event hosted by the Retired American Warriors PAC, Oct. 3, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked about approaches to preventing suicide among veterans. Here's his response. (The Washington Post)

Democrats on Tuesday seized on comments Donald Trump made suggesting that military members and veterans with mental health issues are not strong and cant handle it, remarks they said render him out of touch and unfit to be commander in chief.

The Republican presidential nominee, speaking to a group of veterans in Virginia on Monday, said that some troops see things in combat that a lot of folks in the room have seen many times.

And youre strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people cant handle it, Trump said.

The backlash to his remarks was swift and harsh, with Democrats and veterans groups assailing him as insensitive to an issue that mental health advocates have spent decades working to destigmatize and raise awareness of among veterans.

At a news conference in Harrisburg, Pa., Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Trumps remarks showed his insensitivity and ignorance about a condition that affects many veterans.

The Washington Post spoke to veterans in the battleground state of North Carolina about the upcoming election and their choice for the next commander in chief. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)

Donald Trumps comments are not just ignorant, they are harmful because they give voice to a stigma that has led generations of veterans to hide their struggles instead of getting lifesaving help, Clinton said.

A visibly angry Vice President Biden also denounced Trump. This is an ignorant man, he said on CNN on Tuesday.

Biden recounted going to Iraq and pinning a Silver Star on a young soldier. The soldier told Biden that he didnt want the Silver Star because the fellow soldier he had pulled out of a burning Humvee had died.

[What Donald Trump got right about PTSD  and what he left out]

That kid probably goes to sleep every night with a nightmare, and this guy doesnt understand any of that? How can he not understand that? How can he be so out of touch? said an emotional Biden, whose late son served in the military. Hes not a bad guy, but how can he be so out of touch and ask to lead this country?

A visibly angry Vice President Joe Biden slammed Donald Trump Oct.3, for comments the Republican nominee made about veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. (The Washington Post)

Trumps campaign pushed back against the criticism of his comments about post-traumatic stress disorder, saying that the news media took his words out of context to deceive voters and veterans about what he said.

[Republicans denounce Trump as confrontation with Muslim parents escalates]

He has always respected the service and sacrifice of our military men and women  proposing reforms to Veterans Affairs to adequately address the various issues veterans face when they return home, retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, a Trump surrogate, said in a statement.

Trumps website says the candidate wants to increase the number of mental health professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs and allow veterans to access mental health care outside the agency.

Trumps comments Monday are the latest in a long line of questionable remarks about the military that Democrats said illustrate that the Republican nominee is not fit to serve as president. In July, Trump got into a feud with the Muslim American parents of a soldier killed in Iraq after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Days later, a service member gave Trump a Purple Heart at a campaign stop in Virginia. The real estate executive said that it was something he always wanted and that having one gifted to him was much easier than participating in combat.

When asked a question about what he had sacrificed, referring to military parents sacrifices, Trump pointed to his business successes. And last year, Trump said he doesnt consider Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, to be a war hero.

Hes a war hero because he was captured, Trump said in Ames, Iowa, in July 2015. I like people that werent captured.

[Four months after fundraiser, Trump said he gave $1 million to veterans group]

In January, Trump held a fundraiser for veterans where he said he raised about $6 million, including $1 million of his own money. His campaign said later that he had given $1 million, but that wasnt true. Trump donated the money later, after news reports brought the issue to light. He also waited months to give away more than $1 million that other donors had entrusted to his Donald J. Trump Foundation.

In a statement put out by the campaign, the man who asked Trump the question in Virginia that prompted Trumps remarks about PTSD said he took Trump to mean that the health-care system for veterans is broken. Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, the president and founder of Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs in Temecula, Calif., said he has struggled with PTSD and has helped nearly 1,100 veterans who also suffer from the condition.

I think its sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trumps comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda, Robichaux said in a statement. I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them.

According to VA, 11 percent to 20 percent of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan after 2002 suffer from PTSD in a given year. Of those who served in the Persian Gulf War, 12 percent have PTSD in a given year, as do 15 percent of Vietnam War veterans.

PTSD can happen to anyone. It is not a sign of weakness, the departments website reads.

Angela Kimball, the national director for advocacy and public policy at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said that she can see how Trumps comments may have been taken out of context but that they also may illustrate a lack of understanding about PTSD.

Its really a rewiring of the brain in response to trauma. To talk about somebody being strong in handling something is to, in a sense, dismiss the legitimacy of a mental health condition, she said. It implies that someone ought to or should be able to get over something, she said, and that does a disservice to all of our men and women in uniform who are battling PTSD, depression, anxiety and other conditions.

Paul Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, urged Americans to educate themselves about PTSD.

Every national leader has a responsibility to use accurate and appropriate language when talking about mental health and suicide especially. The wrong messages on PTSD and suicide can perpetuate stigma and complicate an already complicated problem, he said in a statement. Getting help for a mental health injury is not a sign of weakness, its a demonstration of strength.

David A. Fahrenthold and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.
A former Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) councillor's 19-year-old son, who was allegedly abducted six days ago, returns home. Police are probing if the family paid ransom.

The son of a former MCD councillor, who was abducted six days ago, returned home on Monday. (Photo for representation)

By Ram Kinkar Singh: A former Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) councillor's 19-year-old son who was allegedly abducted six days ago returned home under mysterious circumstances.

Joint Commissioner of Police (northern range) Sanjay Singh confirmed that the youngster reached his home in New Delhi on Monday evening. Refusing to divulge details of the case, the officer said that the investigation is on.

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While talks of the teenager's family paying a ransom to secure his release are doing the rounds, DCP (northwest district) Milind Dumbre said, "We are probing the matter and trying to find out if they (family) have given ransom. The victim and his family members are in trauma and we have not been able to meet them".

500 OFFICERS ON THE CASE

For the past six days, nearly 500 officers of several units of the Delhi Police, including the Special Cell, Crime Branch and officers from northwest district, were working to solve the abduction case. Five persons posing as police officers had allegedly abducted the youngster from northwest Delhi's Rani Bagh area, said sources in the police department.

ALSO READ: Delhi police busts interstate gang of kidnappers, rescues abductees from north east

The teenager was returning home from college in his BMW car when he was abducted, sources said. "The victim's car was intercepted by a Scorpio SUV and two persons one of them in police uniform and another wearing traffic police uniform came out and started questioning him, saying he had violated traffic norms. Then, they abducted him," sources said.

THREE RANSOM CALLS IN 24 HOURS

The victim's father, who runs a hospital and a school in North Delhi, received the first ransom call from his son's mobile phone. The abductors reportedly asked for a hefty amount which was subsequently brought down through negotiation, said sources.

"He immediately informed the police and a case was registered at the Rani Bagh police station," sources said. The police started tracking the location of the teenager's phone. According to sources, the family received three calls from three different locations in a span of 24 hours.

The first call was traced from near Bhondsi Jail in Gurgaon, the second from Faridabad and the third again from Gurgaon, said sources.

ALSO READ: Delhi Police arrests man for kidnapping six-year-old boy, kidnapper wanted to marry victim's aunt



--- ENDS ---
At an Oct. 3 rally in Pueblo, Colo., Donald Trump defended his alleged 1995 tax return that shows a $916 million business loss which could have enabled him to skip paying federal income taxes for 18 years. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

At an Oct. 3 rally in Pueblo, Colo., Donald Trump defended his alleged 1995 tax return that shows a $916 million business loss which could have enabled him to skip paying federal income taxes for 18 years. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

Donald Trump on Monday launched an aggressive defense of a massive business loss in the 1990s that would have enabled him to skip paying federal income taxes for 18 years, while also wading into a new controversy by suggesting that soldiers and veterans with mental health problems are not strong and cant handle it.

When people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over  and youre strong and you can handle it  but a lot of people cant handle it, Trump said at a Monday morning town-hall event with veterans in Northern Virginia.

At an afternoon rally later here in Colorado, the GOP presidential nominee responded to a New York Times report this weekend on his 1995 tax return showing a $916 million loss that would have allowed him to pay zero federal income taxes for 18 years.

Trump said he brilliantly used tax laws to his advantage and bounced back from the loss while others in his field fell flat in the 1990s. Trump said he has a fiduciary responsibility topay as little tax as legally possible  although these were his personal taxes  and that the political class should be blamed for creating a complex and unfair tax system.

Trump also pitched himself as an underdog who has overcome obstacles time and again in his career and, now, on the campaign trail.

In Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, Hillary Clinton sharply criticized Donald Trump for losing money and pocketing tax savings. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

[Trump suggests veterans with mental health issues not strong, cant handle it]

While I made my money as a very successful private businessperson, following the law all the way, Hillary Clinton made her money as a corrupt public official, Trump said.

He riffed on other issues at the rally as well, saying the country is growing more divided with race riots on our streets on a monthly basis, complaining about the quality of his microphone at the first debate and calling the Commission on Presidential Debates a joke.

Clinton, the Democratic nominee, focused on Trumps 1995 tax return during a campaign stop in downtown Toledo, on Monday afternoon, sharply criticizing him for losing money and pocketing tax savings while ordinary Americans pay their fair share.

What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? Clinton asked a crowd, with a hint of amusement in her voice, referring to arguments from Trump surrogates that the tax records proved Trump was a genius.

Clinton argued at last weeks first presidential debate that Trump has hidden his returns from the public to avoid revealing that he is not as wealthy as he has claimed or that he has not paid federal income taxes.

After he made all those bad bets and lost all that money, he didnt lift a finger to protect his employees, or the small businesses and contractors hed hired, or the people of Atlantic City, Clinton said. They all got hammered, while he was busy with his accountants figuring out how he could keep living like a billionaire.

At a rally in Pueblo, Colo., Oct. 3, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump slammed the U.S. tax code as "unfair," but vowed to use his own understanding of it to fix it for Americans. (The Washington Post)

She said Trumps tax proposals benefit him and his companies the most  and that he would continue to look out for himself and big businesses if elected president.

[As news of Trumps taxes breaks, he goes off script at a rally in Pennsylvania]

Trump represents the same rigged system he claims he will change, Clinton charged. Trumps plan would cut his own taxes even more. Hed open the loopholes even wider.

Clintons campaign released a new television ad Monday using footage from the first presidential debate at Hofstra University last week, in which Trump responded to accusations that he avoided paying taxes by saying it made him smart. Pro-Clinton allies also ran with the same message, highlighting the tax revelations and Trumps boasting that the tax strategy showed his smarts.

You work hard, you pay your taxes, but why didnt Donald Trump pay his? the narrator says. If he thinks that makes him smart, what does he think of you?

Later in the day, Clintons campaign also reacted to Trumps comments about mental health, writing on her Twitter feed: Veterans who experience PTS are stronger than well ever understand. We owe them nothing short of world-class care.

Trump said at the veterans event  hosted by Retired American Warriors, a political action group  that mental health and suicide prevention are the issues that veterans want to discuss with him most often and that, as president, he would provide more funding for mental health initiatives and work to reduce wait times for veterans seeking medical help.

But his comment about strength comes as military leaders are attempting to fight the stigma attached to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health issues, especially as the suicide rate among veterans has increased sharply since 2001.

Trumps campaign defended his comments on Monday afternoon and accused reporters of taking his words out of context.

[Trump Foundation ordered to cease fundraising for violating N.Y. law]

The media continues to operate as the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton as they took Mr. Trumps words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans  an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, one of Trumps top advisers, said in a statement. Mr. Trump was highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country.

Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, whose question Trump was responding to in his remarks, also issued a statement, saying that it was sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trumps comments. Robichaux, who suffered from PTSD, added: I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have.

Trump was warmly received by the friendly audience as he gave prepared remarks that included his plans for bolstering cybersecurity  an issue that came up during last weeks debate and was one of his weakest answers of the night  and continued attacks on Clinton and her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. After his speech, Trump took several questions from the audience, something he rarely does on the campaign trail.

Sullivan reported from Herndon, Va., and Pueblo, Colo. Phillip reported from Toledo. John Wagner contributed to this report.
An Afghan soldier keeps watch at a checkpoint in Herat in western Afghanistan on Tuesday. (Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images)

Afghan forces backed by U.S. air power expelled most Taliban insurgents from the northern city of Kunduz on Tuesday, protecting government buildings and retaking the central square after insurgents occupied it Monday. Officials said they were still searching for insurgents and accomplices hiding in residential areas.

Fighting also continued for a second day in southern Helmand province, where Afghan forces drove Taliban militants from the capital of Nawa district but other insurgent squads attacked the capital of Khanshin district. In nearby Uruzgan province, Taliban forces launched attacks on roads leading to the capital, Tarin Kot, officials said.

Insurgent violence Tuesday also took the life of an American service member in eastern Nangahar province. U.S. military officials said he died from wounds inflicted by an improvised explosive device that detonated while he was on patrol with Afghan forces.

The patrol in Achin district, near the Pakistan border, was part of a counterterrorism operation against Islamic State-Khorasan insurgents who have been active there for the past year. U.S. military officials did not immediately identify the victim.

The surge of scattered aggression from insurgents created an impression of widening insecurity, Taliban persistence and military weakness, just as top Afghan leaders arrived in Brussels for an international conference where they hope to persuade donors to support the struggling government by pledging $15 billion over the next five years.

There have been indications from some donor nations that international generosity and patience with Afghanistans seemingly endless war are wearing thin. Peace talks with the Taliban collapsed last year, and the insurgent group has strongly denounced a peace deal signed last week between Afghan leaders and the fugitive militia leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

[Kunduz province a key target for Taliban]

The new assault on Kunduz was especially troubling because Taliban forces had captured the strategic city a year ago and held it for more than a week, dealing a major psychological blow to the U.S.-backed war effort. On Tuesday, the fighting there forced officials to cancel a memorial ceremony for 42 victims of a U.S. airstrike that mistakenly hit a hospital during the battle last year.

Shops were shut and streets were empty Tuesday. An Afghan special operations soldier spoke live on Tolo television from the citys deserted main plaza, where Taliban videos and Facebook posts the day before had shown men with turbans and assault weapons strolling and at ease.

U.S. military officials in Kabul confirmed that sporadic fighting was continuing in Kunduz, but they said the government was in control of the city. They said that one U.S. helicopter had fired to defend friendly forces and that other U.S. military assets had been brought to the area and were ready to assist Afghan forces. Afghan officials said three troops had been killed.

U.S. forces continue to maintain robust enablers in Kunduz and will provide support as needed, said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, the chief spokesman for the U.S. military advisory and assistance command in Afghanistan. He called the situation in Kunduz fluid.

A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Mohammad Radmanesh, said Tuesday that the enemy has been pushed back, and we are conducting a mopping-up operation in suspected areas where we think they are hidden.

Radmanesh also said that officials were in the process of identifying and arresting some thieves and villains who helped the Taliban. He described them as the sort of people who try to create anarchy and disorder for their own interests.

But Alhajullah Nazar, a legislator from Kunduz, said Tuesday afternoon that some neighborhoods were still under Taliban control and that civilians there were trapped in their houses. He also said some residents had helped the insurgents enter the city, surprising security forces conducting anti-Taliban operations in the suburbs.

There were reports that the police chief and the provincial governor had fled Kunduz and that local police had abandoned their posts. The confusing picture recalled reports after the 2015 attack that the Taliban may have been aided by collaborators. The area is rife with violence and rivalries among ethnic groups, smugglers and a mix of local security forces.

Taliban forces were also reported to have launched assaults in Baghlan province Tuesday and cut off roads to Kunduz from there and other provinces, but officials said the insurgents were repelled.

In Helmands Khanshin district, officials said the capital was back under government control by Tuesday evening, but there were reports that local police had fled.

Read more:

Afghanistan has many problems. Its president may be one of them.

Young people dont see a future in Afghanistan, so theyre leaving

Afghanistans attorney general pushes justice for ordinary Afghans

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world


Francisco Santiago, Jr., 21, in his cell at the Manila Police Detachment. The police said Santiago was selling drugs and was shot during a sting operation. He played dead while suffering gunshot wounds in his chest and arms, until he decided to stand up and pleaded to be allowed to surrender. (Jes Aznar/For The Washington Post)

Francisco Santiago is a rare and dangerous thing in a state-led killing rampage: a witness.

In the early hours of Sept. 13, on a dark street in the heart of the city, Santiago was shot through the chest and arms in what Philippine police called a drug bust gone wrong but that Santiago insists was a setup.

When the bullets hit, he played dead, lying still until he felt the bright lights of the media upon him. With cameras rolling, he raised his blood-slick arms in surrender  alive, for now.

President Rodrigo Duterte swept to power in June promising war, and he has delivered.

Just over three months into his tenure, more than 3,300 people are dead, with 1,239 gunned down in police raids and 2,150 shot by unknown assailants, according to the Philippine national police.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte compared his anti-drugs campaign to Hitler's persecution of Jews during WWI, saying, "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts...I'd be happy to slaughter them." Adolf Hitler massacred six million Jews in the Holocaust. ( / Reuters)

The victims include suspected drug dealers and users, as well as people misidentified as such. They also include at least two children, ages 4 and 5, felled by bullets meant for others.

Bodies are hastily pulled from crime scenes or dumped in ditches, often alongside cardboard signs that say pusher  as if a word alone were proof enough.

The European Union, the United Nations and the United States have called for an end to the violence, but to no avail. When President Obama raised the issue, Duterte lectured him on colonialism and used a slang term that translates, approximately, as son of a whore.

Local critics fare worse. Leila de Lima, a Philippine senator who this summer launched an investigation into extrajudicial killings, was ousted as chair of the Senates human rights committee in what Human Rights Watch called a craven attempt to derail accountability.

She has since been publicly accused of sleeping with her driver and taking bribes from drug lords, and her phone number and address were leaked.

Eyewitnesses to killings stay silent, terrified that they could be targeted next.

Duterte denies that these are state-backed crimes, saying Philippine police act in self-defense and for the good of society.

But the testimony of survivors such as Santiago and a body of evidence that stretches back two decades point to a pattern of violence that starts with a call to kill and ends with the promise that there will be no consequences.

Santiago relayed his story from his hospital bed, where he was being guarded by police, because he thought he would be eliminated and saw safety, not danger, in daring to speak out.

The police will just cover up, said his mother, Ligaya Santiago. We can only rely on the media to expose this.





Investigators examine the bodies of two suspected drug dealers who were fatally shot by police in a suburban area of Pasig city last month. (Jes Aznar/For The Washington Post)

An open invitation to kill

When the president tells law enforcement officers to kill suspects, and they do, facts get hard to check. With few living witnesses, the only account is the police report.



With thousands dead, these reports reveal patterns. Every night, Philippine police set out to conduct drug raids. Every morning, they report gun battles in which drug suspects are shot dead.

Often, they say, they find .38-caliber weapons and sachets of methamphetamine, known locally as shabu. Usually, despite the ferocious shootouts they describe, police emerge untouched.

And so it was with Santiago  except that he survived.

The police report tells the plausible if familiar tale of a buy-bust turned deadly. After selling a packet of shabu to an undercover cop, Santiago and a second suspect  identified as George Huggins y Javellana, a member of the dreaded Sputnik gang got suspicious and fired at police, the report said.

The police shot back, killing Javellana and injuring Santiago. They later reported finding .38- and .22-caliber weapons and three packets of shabu at the scene. Santiago was rushed to the hospital.

Santiago offered a different account. About noon on Sept. 12, a plainclothes officer posing as a customer led him to the second floor of the local precinct, where he was forced to confess to drug crimes, he said. That night, in 86-degree heat, he was told to don a black jacket.

After midnight, he said, he and Javellana were driven to a dark street and shot. As he played dead, police placed a gun beside him. They did not check his pulse, he said.

Security footage reviewed by The Washington Post shows Santiago heading in the direction of the police station just after noon, dressed in a white tank top. Photographs from the scene of the shooting show him in an unseasonable black jacket.

Manila Police District Chief Joel Coronel told the Philippine Inquirer that Santiago was a main target on the drug watch list, but the police report does not mention that. An official tasked with identifying suspects in Santiagos neighborhood, Celia Nepomuceno, said he was never on a list.

Those discrepancies were not enough to keep him from being transferred from the hospital to the custody of the police force whose officer shot him, he said.

Carolyn Mercado, a senior legal adviser at the Asia Foundations Manila office, said the odds of police reviewing cases like his are negligible. Duterte says to police, If you kill, Im going to protect you,  she said.



Once the president endorsed this, it was an open invitation for everyone to just kill.



Investigators examine a crime scene in Quezon City where an alleged drug user was killed last month by unidentified men. (Jes Aznar/For The Washington Post)

What the president promised

In one recent case, Manila police said they killed 21-year-old Eric Sison in a shootout that followed a dramatic chase.

He chose to fight it out, the police report said. But cellphone footage shot by a neighbor suggests that the injured Sison was cornered in a room and trying to surrender when he was shot more than a dozen times.

The report suggests the officer fired because he was under threat. Yet in the video, as he points his weapon at the off-

camera suspect, he does not take cover, recoil or flinch.

In a another case, a handwritten police report said officers in Quezon City were sent by a tipster to the site of a pot session in progress when four men saw them, opened fire and were killed.

Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar told local reporters that four suspects high on drugs and full of bravado fired on officers who were merely about to introduce themselves.

Whats happening in the Philippines is exactly what the president promised  and echoes closely what he has said and done before.

Duterte was known as the Death Squad Mayor when he ran the southern city of Davao.

As a presidential candidate, Duterte boasted about it. Asked on the campaign trail about a report that he had killed 700 people, he replied, No, it is not 700, but 1,700.

That may play well with a populace tired of crime and exhausted by corruption. But Arpee Santiago, executive director of Ateneo de Manila Universitys Human Rights Center, said lawless killing in the name of law and order is not the answer.

For people to feel safe in the long run, the police must respect due process, he said. He is calling for an honest-to-goodness investigation into the killing.

Thats a call the president seems unlikely to heed. As Duterte said in August: There is no due process in my mouth.

1 of 28 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Scenes from the latest raids in Dutertes War on Drugs View Photos The Philippine president launches an extensive operation targeting illegal drugs in the country. Caption The Philippine president launches an extensive operation targeting illegal drugs in the country. Oct. 5, 2016 Filipino men with zip ties on their wrists are rounded up following a police raid at an alleged drug den as part of the continuing War on Drugs campaign of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte near the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City, Philippines. Aaron Favila/AP Wait 1 second to continue.

Kimberly dela Cruz and Michael Joe Delizo contributed to this report.

Read more

Before Duterte was the Philippines president, he was the Death Squad mayor

Philippine witness: We killed for Duterte, fed body to crocodile

Duterte mocks woman senator for screwing her driver and the nation

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Secretary of State John F. Kerry lashed out at Russia on Tuesday after a breakdown in efforts to restore a cease-fire in Syria, accusing Moscow of favoring war over diplomacy amid widening rifts with Washington.

The condemnation left little hope that talks with the Kremlin on Syria could resume soon, while Russian and Syrian forces increased bombardment of the besieged city of Aleppo in attempts to crush one of the last major strongholds of rebel forces.

The State Department on Monday broke off months of U.S.-Russia negotiations over Syria, with violence increasing in recent weeks after the collapse of a cease-fire deal.

Speaking in Brussels ahead of a donors conference for Afghanistan, Kerry ventured no new approaches to resolving the Syrian conflict, voicing mostly bitterness that his efforts to engage Russia have brought no progress. The Kremlin is Syrian President Bashar al-Assads most important international backer, while the United States has supported anti-Assad rebels.

[Why the United States halted Syria talks with Russia]

I have to tell you with a great sense of outrage that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assads deplorable use of these weapons of war that he has chosen  chlorine gas, barrel bombs against his people, Kerry said. Together, the Syrian regime and Russia seem to have rejected diplomacy, in the furtherance of trying to pursue a military victory, over the broken bodies, the bombed-out hospitals, the traumatized children of a long-suffering land.

In Damascus, meanwhile, state media accused rebel forces of shelling government-held neighborhoods in Aleppo.

The conflict has stretched more than five years, killing more than 400,000 people and displacing millions.

People that are serious about pursuing peace behave differently from the way Russia has chosen how to behave, Kerry said.

[In countermove, Russia suspends plutonium pact with Washington]

The suspension of talks does not come lightly, he said, condemning Russias alliance with Assad as irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised. Kerry said the United States will continue separate military contacts with Russia to enable both sides to pursue campaigns against the Islamic State militant group.

Kerrys appeals were echoed by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who said he planned meetings with Kerry and Russian envoys in a bid to restart a cease-fire effort.

Kerry, who is making one of his final tours across the Atlantic as part of the Obama administration, told Europeans to hold fast to the alliances that they built out of the rubble of World War II, even as Britain negotiates a divorce from the European Union.

As much as some of us may wish the U.K. vote had gone the other way, the lesson that we have to take from this democratic choice is not that we need less Europe, less U.K., Kerry said, referring to Britains June referendum on whether to leave the E.U. Rather, we need more of both  more security, more prosperity, more collaboration among the U.S., the U.K. and the E.U.

Otherwise, he said, there are demagogues out there from the left and the right who fan the fears of change and who believe that bluster, often tinged with bigotry, can provide a pathway to their own power.

He did not cite any specific political figures, but right-wing parties have gained ground in France, Germany and elsewhere.

Britain and the E.U. increasingly appear headed for a tough split as positions harden on both sides ahead of the start of formal negotiations, expected by the end of March.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday that she will make limiting immigration a priority in the negotiations, a stance that makes it less likely that her country will retain the full range of economic benefits it now has as an E.U. member.

Kerry acknowledged that the Obama administration may be a bigger cheerleader for Europe than European leaders.

I encourage you all to believe in yourselves as much as we believe in you, he said.

Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
By PTI: Bengaluru, Oct 4 (PTI) The launch of Indias latest communication satellite GSAT-18 in the wee hours tomorrow, onboard Arianespace rocket, from Kourou in French Guiana has been deferred by a day due to heavy cross winds, Indian Space Research Organisation said.

"The launch has been postponed by one day due to heavy cross winds," a senior ISRO official told PTI late tonight.

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It would now be launched at 2 AM (IST) on October 6.

Arianespace launch vehicle Ariane-5 VA-231, carrying GSAT-18 along with co-passenger Sky Muster II for the Australian operator nbn (National Broadband Network) was scheduled for launch at 2 AM (IST) tomorrow.

"Due to high altitude winds, decision to postpone #VA231. Tomorrows forecast is green. Launch window now set to open on Oct 5 at 20:30 UTC," Arianespace CEO StAphane Isral tweeted.

Arianespace on its website said that due to "unfavorable weather conditions" currently observed over the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, Arianespace has decided to delay the launch by 24 hours.

The launch has been scheduled now between 02.00 AM and 03.15 AM India time on October 6, it said, adding "The launcher, with its Sky Muster II and GSAT-18 satellite payloads, remains in a safe standby condition."

GSAT-18 is designed to provide continuity of services on operational satellites in C-band, Extended C-band and Ku-bands.

Weighing 3,404 kg at lift-off, the satellite carries 48 communication transponders to provide services in Normal C-band, Upper Extended C-band and Ku-bands of the frequency spectrum. It also carries Ku-band beacon to help in accurately pointing ground antennas towards the satellite.

GSAT-18 will be launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

GSAT-18s co-passenger Sky Muster II, built by SSL (Space Systems Loral) in Palo Alto, California, is aimed at bridging the digital divide, especially in the rural and isolated regions of Australia. PTI KSU VS SMJ

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Harry Sarfo is serving a three-year prison term in Germany on terrorism charges. He was once a soldier for the Islamic State but says he avoided participating in the group's violence. Video provided to The Washington Post by a source inside the Islamic State casts doubt on Sarfo's claims. (Souad Mekhennet, Greg Miller, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Harry Sarfo is serving a three-year prison term in Germany on terrorism charges. He was once a soldier for the Islamic State but says he avoided participating in the group's violence. Video provided to The Washington Post by a source inside the Islamic State casts doubt on Sarfo's claims. (Souad Mekhennet, Greg Miller, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Since his arrest on terrorism charges, German militant Harry Sarfo has been an unusually talkative Islamic State recruit, granting interviews from prison that were carried on front pages and news broadcasts across Europe and the United States.

German authorities permitted the access to Sarfo, whose story seemed to represent such a cautionary tale. He described atrocities he witnessed in Syria and the Islamic States efforts to enlist him for plots in Europe, always emphasizing that he spurned these approaches before making an improbable escape.

But in depicting himself as a disillusioned fighter who refused to commit violence, Sarfo left out some potentially incriminating scenes.

Previously unreleased video shows Sarfo moving doomed hostages into position for a public execution in Palmyra last year, and then apparently firing his own weapon at one of the fallen men. Rather than resisting involvement in the gruesome propaganda spectacle, Sarfo is shown shouting Islamic State slogans to whip up the gathering crowd, pledging his loyalty in a pre-execution huddle and raising his fist in celebration at the burst of machine-gun fire.

The footage is at odds with almost every account Sarfo, 28, has given of his time in Syria, including his statements to German authorities that he merely stood on the side while the shooting took place and adamantly said no to the killing.

German militant Harry Sarfo is seen in a interview with Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, a German TV broadcaster. (ZDF)

[The full video The Post received from a source inside the Islamic State]

The video serves as an alarming example of how little European security services know about hundreds of militants returning to the continent after fighting in Syria  often with the Islamic State.

European security services face worrisome blind spots about more than 6,000 militants who left to fight in Syria over the past five years, a flow that has begun to reverse now that the Islamic State is losing territory. Despite his trip to Syria, Sarfo was able to board a return flight from Turkey last year and was arrested upon arrival in Germany.

The new evidence will probably lead to a new investigation and case against Sarfo, a senior German security official said. The difficulty for authorities and the justice system is that we dont have any independent source on the ground in Syria to describe whether what Sarfo or others like him have told us is indeed accurate.

We can see the videos, yes, the official said, referring to the large volume of propaganda put out by the Islamic State. But what has happened before or after that, we dont know. The official, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the case.

Sarfos attorney, Udo Wurtz, seemed stunned when shown the new video of his client. I cant say anything about this  this is surprising to me, he said. Moments later, he said that the images show that Sarfo was doing more than just standing around, yes, but I am not sure it will change his sentence.

Wurtz met with Sarfo on Tuesday at the prison in Bremen and showed his client a printed image from the video in which Sarfo is aiming his gun at the hostages in the video. Wurtz said he was not authorized to comment on their exchange.

Sentencing documents indicate that authorities not only accepted Sarfos sanitized version of events but credited him for being forthright, concluding that he had credibly distanced himself from the terror organization once in custody by being willing to incriminate others.

Germany has been spared the devastation of terrorist attacks like those in Paris and Brussels, but the country remains a priority target for the Islamic State. At least 870 German citizens or residents have traveled to Syria and Iraq, officials said, and authorities estimate that one-third of those have returned.

Security agencies across Europe face a stream of individuals who have battlefield experience in numbers that we have never seen before, said Lorenzo Vidino, an expert on Islamist militancy at George Washington University. There are cases where authorities have a good grasp of what the individual did. But in many cases, authorities simply know that an individual espouses jihadist ideology and went to Syria but possess no information on what he did while there.

A complete account of Sarfos involvement with the Islamic State eluded German authorities even though he made little effort to conceal his association with the terrorist group and appeared in one of its propaganda videos.

That recording shows two Islamic State operatives executing hostages who were forced to kneel among the columns in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, which came under Islamic State control last year. Sarfo appears only briefly in that video, striding across the screen in combat fatigues with the groups iconic black flag.

But the Islamic State camera crew in Palmyra captured other video in the city that was left out of the propaganda release. Portions of this additional footage were provided to The Washington Post by an individual inside the Islamic State, which is eager to discredit Sarfo because of his repeated denunciations of the group.

In an April interview with the British newspaper the Independent, Sarfo said that he had witnessed stonings, beheadings, shootings, hands chopped off and many other things. The Islamic State, also referred to as ISIS or ISIL, is not just un-Islamic, it is inhuman, he said.

A German native of Ghanaian descent, Sarfo was in Syria for only a three-month stretch in 2015 before he fled and was arrested after returning to the German city of Bremen, his home town. But he has drawn extraordinary attention from authorities and news organizations because of his willingness to talk about the Islamic States efforts to use recruits from Europe in plots against their home countries.

The FBI has sought permission to question Sarfo, as have authorities from Austria and other countries, German officials said. The FBI declined to comment.

Sarfo was initially uncooperative with the police after his arrest in July of last year, German officials said. He changed his stance, however, after the Islamic State released the Palmyra propaganda video in August, confirming his association with the group.

Sarfo then submitted to lengthy interrogations, transcripts of which were obtained by The Post, telling investigators that he was approached upon his arrival in Syria by members of Amniyat, an entity within the Islamic State responsible for internal security and external plots. Sarfo said he refused requests to take part in attacks in Europe and was instead assigned to an elite fighting group. He also spent hours going over photos from Syria, helping investigators to identify other Western militants.

He not only passed on concrete details of events, the sentencing document said, but also provided details as to the structure of the organization, people trafficking routes.

His claim to have been a bystander to the killings in Palmyra and other violence went largely unchallenged by German investigators. In subsequent interviews with at least half a dozen media organizations, he depicted his supposed refusals in more dramatic fashion.

Speaking on-camera with German broadcaster ZDF this year, Sarfo said that he and other fighters were driven to Palmyra, taken into a room and asked to take part in the execution of seven men whom he described as civilians being forced to wear Syrian army uniforms for a propaganda film.

I refused. I did not raise my hand, Sarfo told ZDF, which worked with The Post in the reporting of this article. Even when pressured by more senior Islamic State operatives, Sarfo said, he stood firm: I dont know this person. He didnt do me any harm. I wont kill him.

The new video depicts Sarfo in a less defiant light. He is shown helping to position panicked hostages in the center of a crowded street just before they are shot. Another Islamic State militant, identified in German records as an Austrian, Mohamed Mahmoud, is among the first to open fire. Amid the shooting, Sarfo appears to shout Allahu akbar from an adjacent sidewalk.

As bullets rip through the victims bodies, Sarfo cocks a pistol and aims at one of the fallen figures. The cameras view is obscured by another militant before any muzzle flash can be seen. But a body on the street spasms with impact before Sarfo returns his gun to its holster.

Sarfo was not shy about helping with preparing for executions and was actually eager to participate, said the individual inside the Islamic State who provided the video. The individual disputed some of Sarfos claims, saying he was never made a member of an elite fighting group or in position to gain sensitive information about Amniyat. The only encounter he had with security people was when they began to question him about his motives and why he came, the individual said.

German officials acknowledged they had not seen the more incriminating video when Sarfo was convicted of membership in a terrorist group and violation of German gun laws. Though given a three-year sentence, he is eligible to be released in two.

A defendant in terrorism cases like Sarfo will always try to play down his own role, the German security official said. We did take this into account when we questioned him, but at the end of the day what counts is the evidence we have against this person.

Sarfo always claimed that he did not participate in any killings or executions, the official said. Because of the disparity between his accounts and the video, the official said, other information Sarfo provided to authorities and journalists will have to be questioned and no longer be considered trustworthy.

Of the approximately 290 Germans who have returned to that country from Syria and Iraq, the government has identified at least 70 who participated in the fighting. Many of the others probably did so as well, but the government has no proof, officials said.

European countries have tightened their counterterrorism laws in response to the flow of foreign fighters to and from Syria. But the new statutes are generally far milder than those in the United States, where the catchall material support to terrorism law updated after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks can carry a 15-year sentence for each count.

Sentences for terrorism-related convictions in Europe range from a few months to a handful of years, Vidino said. Most impose five- to eight-year sentences for membership in a terrorist group, but the actual time served is often significantly less. In one of the more extreme cases, a Swiss national who fought with the Islamic State in 2014 was sentenced to 600 hours of community service.

The penalties are low and the evidence is very difficult to produce, Vidino said. As a result, he said, European services face a multilayered challenge of screening refugees from Syria, tracking returning fighters and monitoring convicted terrorists after their release.

There are other troubling aspects of the Sarfo case, including his ability to board a flight from Turkey to Germany on July 20, 2015. Court documents indicate that after fleeing Syria he went to the German consulate office in Izmir, Turkey, to report that his passport had been lost.

In fact, Sarfos passport had been confiscated by German authorities months earlier in an effort to block his efforts to get to Syria. German records, which were obtained by The Post, show that he was detained by Turkish security forces in 2014 and returned to Germany after an earlier, unsuccessful attempt.

Sarfo tried again in 2015, this time using a relatives passport and driving with another German militant through Bulgaria into Turkey before finally reaching the Islamic State. In early July, German authorities notified their Turkish counterparts that they suspected Sarfo was in Turkey and had applied for a temporary passport using the name Kevin Behns.

Three weeks later, the Germans sent another notice to Turkey, saying that the individual claiming to be Behns had purchased an airline ticket to fly to Bremen. German officials blamed Turkey for the lapse in letting Sarfo aboard the Bremen-bound flight.

Germany asked for additional screening of the passenger they suspected to be Sarfo, but made no effort to prevent him from boarding the flight or to ensure that security officials were onboard, a senior security official in Turkey said.

Germany issued an arrest warrant for Sarfo that enabled authorities to detain him, the German security official said. But that didnt happen until the flight had departed.

Read more:

Flow of foreign fighters plummets as Islamic State loses its edge

ISIS is quietly preparing for the loss of the caliphate

Hes the son of Osama bin Ladens bombmaker. Then ISIS wanted him as one of its own.
A visitor checks his mobile phone as he walks past a Samsung stand during the first day of the Mobile World Congress 2013 at the Fira Gran Via complex on Feb. 25, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

The company that makes Signal, one of the most secure phone call and messaging apps in the world, said Tuesday that earlier this year it received its first federal grand jury subpoena for a customers communications records but only shared limited information with authorities.

San Francisco-based Open Whisper Systems told the government that it does not gather or keep most of the data that was being sought. The Signal platform does not collect or retain metadata on calls and messages that would indicate the times, dates and durations of communications, as well as the participants phone numbers.

The only data that Open Whisper gathers is the date and time an account is created and the date of the users last connection to Signal servers. The data was sought by the FBI in Northern Virginia as part of a criminal investigation. The subpoena was issued by a grand jury at the request of the U.S. attorneys office in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The government says its inability to obtain even minimal data such as dates and times of calls and instant messages is hampering investigations.

Companies are almost never allowed to disclose when the government makes such requests. Open Whisper Systems disclosure came after the government agreed last week to lift a gag order that otherwise would have lasted a full year.

In recent years, a growing number of tech firms have pressed the government to allow them to be more transparent about the number and types of orders for customers data they are receiving in criminal and national security cases.

The government is using gag orders in circumstances where it does not need them, said Brett Max Kaufman, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Open Whisper Systems in the case. It didnt take the government much to agree that we could make all this public.

The U.S. attorneys office had no comment.

The push to allow companies to be more transparent about government requests intensified after disclosures by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden detailed surveillance programs that relied heavily on the cooperation of tech firms.

More firms are also limiting the amount of data they harvest.

A letter from Kaufman to the FBI said that the government had also asked Open Whisper for data, such as times and dates of calls and IP logs that would reveal who a target has communicated with and when, that fell outside the subpoenas scope. For such information it needed a court order or a search warrant, Kaufman said.

Read more:

Twitter sues U.S. government over limits on ability to disclose surveillance orders
On Friday, a 24-hour national railway strike paralyzed large parts of Italys urban and national rail systems. A week earlier, striking flight attendants at national carrier Alitalia halted more than 200 flights, affecting 25,000 passengers. Teachers at state schools are calling for a national school strike for October 21.

In mid-September, hundreds of parcel delivery workers took strike action in Bergamo, Brescia, Piacenza, Bologna and Parma against European logistics company GLS and its subcontractors. In Perugia, on the night of September 15, an Egyptian striker was run over and killed by a scab truck driver.

Abd Elsalam Ahmed Eldanf, 53, an Egyptian and former teacher, was on the picket line at delivery firm Seam. Although he had a permanent contract, he supported the struggle of colleagues opposing their precarious employment conditions and miserable pay. He was run over by a lorry driven by a strike-breaker and was killed on the spot, leaving behind a wife and five children.

When the state attorney and the media described the death as an accident, and released the guilty driver, 7,000 workers took to the streets in Piazenza and the strike spread to all GLS offices in Italy and to other firms.

Another labour dispute began on August 27 in Lombardy, directed against the Swedish multinational fashion company H&M, whose warehouses in Stradella and Casalpusterlengo were hit by strikes for several days. Although the level of exploitation in Italy is not as horrendous as in the companys textile factories in Bangladesh, where seamstresses earn less than a $100 a month, H&M uses Italian subcontractors notorious for their low wages and inhumane working conditions.

The spread of industrial action is characterized by two common features:

First, it is aimed directly or indirectly against the effects of the labour market reforms under the Jobs Act introduced by the Renzi government at the end of 2014. Second, it is consistently boycotted by the official union confederations (CGIL, CISL, UIL).

The union leaders, above all the CGILs Susanna Camusso, signed up to the Renzi governments new labour laws and market reforms the previous year, despite over a million workers engaging in strikes and protests for weeks at the end of 2014. At the Fiat Group, whose CEO Sergio Marchionne is a particularly aggressive advocate of the Renzi reforms, the secretary of the largest metalworkers union FIOM, Maurizio Landini, has since agreed to a restrictive contract.

Renzis Jobs Act has weakened protections against dismissal and facilitates the introduction of precarious, fixed-term contracts, which can be extended for up to 36 months without giving reasons. Companies can also more easily access temporary labour and subcontractors. With the introduction of so-called labour certificates (Buoni lavoro), a kind of modern day labour was created: Under this system, a worker can be hired on an hourly and daily basis for just 7.50 an hour.

The Jobs Act significantly weakens previous labour protections and liberalises the labour market, similar to the Hartz labour market reforms in Germany and the El Khomri laws in France. In addition, the referendum instigated by Renzi seeks to impose stronger central government, better able to suppress popular resistance.

The CGIL, CISL and UIL trade union bureaucracy have countersigned all the reforms, fully sharing the view of the Renzi government that the Italian economy must be made more flexible and competitive at the expense of the workers.

It is no wonder therefore that virtually all recent industrial action has been organized without, and against, the unions. Tens of thousands of workers have already abandoned the traditional unions. In their place have come so-called rank-and-file unions, which have called for the current strike by railway workers, pilots, teachers, parcel delivery and others.

On the railways, the CAT, CUB, SGB and USB unions are opposing the Jobs Act, pension reforms and call for a reduction in working hours. At Alitalia, Anpac, Anpav and USB they are demanding fewer night flights and improved job security for flight attendants; among educators, USB and Unicobas are organising teachers to defend the right to education and against privatization in the school system.

However, the perspective of these rank-and-file unions does not fundamentally differ from that of the traditional unions. Although they act more militantly and appear to be less corrupt than the big unions, their politics do not go beyond the usual union framework of exerting more pressure on the capitalists and the national government.

The rank-and-file unions SiCobas and USB, which are leading the struggle by the parcel delivery workers, point to their tough negotiations with the employers. As soon as we drop our guard, they immediately try to take back what has taken us years of struggle to win, the provincial coordinator of SiCobas in Rome said.

This is a perspective that completely misjudges the situation today. The profound international crisis of capitalism is deepening every day. Not only the Italian banks, but also the German and international financial institutions are heading towards a new crash; the EU is falling apart and national governments are increasingly relying on military solutions.

The working class can only defend what it has won in the course of a hundred years of struggle with an international socialist perspective. This means the building of a new political party, independent of all bourgeois parties and the trade unions.

The notion of militant unions is promoted by many pseudo-left groups that have emerged from the former Italian Communist Party, and serves precisely to discourage workers from engaging in such a political struggle.
Colin Rhodes, dean of the Sydney College of Arts (SCA), resigned last month amid opposition from students and staff to plans to relocate the facility to the University of Sydneys main campus and merge it with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the beginning of 2017.

University of Sydney (USYD) Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence claimed that Rhodes resignation was unrelated to ongoing protests. However the dean was intimately involved in preparations for the closure of the SCA facility for at least two years, and was a target of widespread student anger.

Students and staff first learnt in June of the administrations plans, which will lead to significant job cuts, a reduction of courses and facilities, and the axing of the Bachelor of Visual Arts degree. A group of students has been occupying the administration building since August 22 and had called for the removal of Rhodes.

The planned merger of the SCA is part of a broader assault on students and staff across the university. In March, USYD management released a 63-page document titled 20162020 Strategic Plan, which contains proposals aimed at more directly subordinating the university to the immediate needs of the corporate and financial elite.

The total number of faculties is to be slashed from 16 to six. Only four of the new faculties have been confirmed so far: Arts and Social Sciences, Business, Engineering and Information Technologies and Science. SCA does not appear in the list of faculties and schools.

The document also introduces a new four-year bachelors degree in Advanced Studies, which will include courses focused on skills directly applicable to the corporate world, such as leadership and project management. The degree includes projects in research, industry and entrepreneurship.

While posturing as an opponent of the SCA merger, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), which covers staff and academics, was privy to the managements Strategic Planning Discussion Papers before the release of the final document in March this year.

Last October, the NTEU offered advice to the university on how to proceed with its restructure. It stated: The NTEU recommends that strategic planning for 20162020 aspire to achievable goals that build on existing excellence and do not disrupt productivity, morale and staff well-being by premature implementation of major change plans.

In other words, the union had no opposition to the restructure itself, but warned the university that premature implementation of major change plans could provoke widespread hostility among the staff and academics.

The NTEU, its document continued, sees itself as a constructive player in the industrial and political landscape. That is, the unions real concern is its own position at the bargaining table and its ability to negotiate away the jobs, wages and conditions of its members.

In 2013, for instance, USYD management announced a plan to slash 340 jobs. The NTEU struck a deal which destroyed 55 jobs and forced 100 academics into teaching-only positions. Along with pseudo-left groups such as Solidarity and Socialist Alternative, the union declared this betrayal to be a victory.

At the same time, the NTEU and student groups have promoted legal action as a means of halting the merger. Over 130 students are involved in a case against the closure of the SCA college, which, if successful, could claim up to $19.5 million in damages from the university.

Contrary to the claims of the leadership of the Let SCA Stay campaign, the college cannot be defended through legal action or protests appealing to the university administration.

In a bid to isolate the SCA students and staff, the NTEU and the student groups that support it have obscured the fact that the restructure at USYD is part of a broader attack on tertiary education. Over the past weeks, there have been mounting calls from the corporate elite and the political establishment for the deregulation of student fees, which would result in course costs soaring by tens of thousands of dollars.

The NTEU and Let SCA Stay have repeatedly provided representatives of Labor and the Greens a platform to posture as defenders of education and the arts. They have covered-up the fact that the current measures are a continuation of cuts implemented by previous Labor governments.

In 2013, the Greens-backed Gillard Labor government introduced a $2.3 billion cut to university funding. The move was part of a broader restructuring, aimed at opening universities up to market forces. And it was the Hawke Labor government that abolished free university education in the late 1980s, paving the way for the ensuing corporatisation of the entire sector. During its federal election campaign in June, Labor outlined another $3.7 billion in cuts to university funding over the next decade.

At the same time, the unions and Let SCA have presented the resignation of Rhodes as a victory. They have also promoted dangerous illusions in vague statements from USYD management that a consultation period will be extended and the merger may not take place at the beginning of next year.

In reality, the attacks on the arts, as well as education, are a product of the crisis of the capitalist system, and one aspect of a wholesale offensive against the social rights of the working class. Access to culture, like all the social rights, can be defended only by an independent political movement of the working class aimed at reorganising society on socialist lines in the interests of ordinary people, and ending the subordination of every aspect of social life to the profit interests of the corporate elite.

The author also recommends:

Ex-Australian Labor minister calls for deregulation of university fees

[29 September 2016]
A rare shot of a hawk walking upright has inspired the internet so much that social media is now flooded with sassy Photoshopped images of the hawk.

By India Today Web Desk: Photographer Clint Ralph was out in the mountainous region of Giant's Castle, South Africa, to snap pictures of the bearded vulture. But when he spotted a jackal hawk strutting on its feet like a human being, he knew he couldn't miss the shot.

And thanks to his luck and camera, the internet is now losing its mind over this photo of the badass hawk walking like it owns the universe.

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Clint Ralph, a resident from Centurion, South Africa, told the Metro, "I loved the attitude and comedy of the shot, I knew it would capture the imagination of the public."

Editing Ralph's original photo, internet users have posted various versions of the hawk, marching with a gun, participating in the Olympics, as Stephen Hawking, and even as Donald Trump.

Take a look at few of the pictures people made out of Ralph's photo:

































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German prosecutors on Tuesday dropped a controversial investigation into German comedian Jan Bohmermann for reading a poem allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying there was insufficient evidence to charge the comedian.

The Turkish government filed charges in April against Bohmermann, the host of a popular weekly news satire show, after he read a lewd poem live on air that, among other things, alleged that Erdogan enjoyed sex with goats.

The poem was intended to mock Erdogan's authoritarian leadership style and was in response to the Turkish President calling for another, much tamer, satire of him from another German comedy show to be taken off the internet. In Turkey, prosecutors have brought more than 1,800 cases against people for allegedly insulting Erdogan since he took office in 2014.

Introducing his poem on television, Bohmermann said he was conducting an experiment to illustrate the difference between legitimate criticism and illegal slander. Instead, the poem set off a spat between Germany and Turkey.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel controversially granted a request from Erdogan to open a criminal investigation into Bohmermann under an archaic German law which bans insulting representatives of international governments. The case was quickly taken up by freedom-of-expression advocates, including U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who won a competition started by a Berlin newspaper for the best offensive poem about Erdogan. Johnson's winning limerick called the Turkish President at "wankerer" and repeated the goat-sex bit.

On Tuesday, the public prosecutor in Mainz said that an investigation had found "no sufficient evidence" that Bohmermann or anyone else involved in the poem's creation or broadcast was guilty of an offense under the law. In a statement, the prosecutor said the context in which the poem was delivered made it clear the claims against Erdogan were "exaggerated and absurd," and not meant to be taken seriously. "It was meant to be immediately clear to every listener that it was a joke," they concluded.

Chancellor Merkel has called on the German parliament to abolish the archaic law on insulting foreign heads of state.

Read more: German TV Comedian Takes Broadcasting Break Amid Free Speech Battle
Justice League has wrapped filming, and Jason Momoa, who plays Aquaman, commemorated the event in true Jason Momoa fashion, with a shirtless Instagram pic. The actor, sporting a full beard and long hair, shared the black-and-white gym selfie on Sunday, along with a message to the Justice League cast and crew explaining his absence from the wrap party.

I am so thankful for my cast and crew. I love you, wrote Momoa. I have never in my life missed a wrap party. But as you all know Im a huge fan of the food and merriment!!! After illustrating that sentence with some beer, imp, and winky-tongue-face emoji, the actor explained that he had to miss the festivities to prepare for the north.

Could this mean that Khal Drogo will return from the dead to fight the White Walkers? Sorry, Game of Throne fans  its more likely that Momoa is doing some additional location shooting in Iceland. (Perhaps a post-credits tease for the 2018 Aquaman film? A visit to Supermans frozen Fortress of Solitude?) An Icelandic tourism site posted earlier this year that the director Zack Snyder would be shooting in Djupavik village, and photographer Jacie Davis, who has been sharing his Iceland vacation pics on Instagram, posted on Sunday that he accidentally stumbled upon the shoot at an abandoned herring factory.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Justice League crew celebrated at Forge Bar in London, where they had a tower of champagne flutes and a photo booth with funny hats, just like at your best friends wedding. Probably not at your best friends wedding: cast members Ray Fisher (Cyborg) and Henry Cavill (Superman), who gamely took photos with crew members.

Justice League opens in theaters on Nov. 17, 2017.
The Daily Beast

Patrick Pleul/AFP via GettyJust days after he promised advertisers that Twitter would not become a free-for-all hellscape, Elon Musk used the platform he now owns to amplify a baseless conspiracy theory about the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosis husband by an intruder.There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye, Musk tweeted Sunday morning in reply to a tweet by Hillary Clinton blasting the Republican Party for creating a toxic environment that lays the gr
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search.

Colleges with large endowments generally have more money available to spend on academic programs, school facilities, extracurricular activities, research and financial aid, and these schools can afford to recruit distinguished professors. In addition, large college endowments indicate a school has exceptionally wealthy alumni and generous donors.

The growth of U.S. college endowments slowed in fiscal year 2015 with an average growth rate of 2.4 percent compared with 15.5 percent in 2014, according to a national survey of 812 colleges and universities.

[Find out the 10 most and least expensive private colleges.]

Slower growth in endowments may be a problem for universities. Schools turn to their endowments for, on average, nearly 10 percent of their operating funds, said John D. Walda, president and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, in a written statement. "Lower returns may make it even tougher for colleges and universities to adequately fund financial aid, research, and other programs that are very reliant on endowment earnings and are vital to institutions' missions."

The 10 colleges with the largest endowments in fiscal year 2015 are the same as in 2014, and Harvard University remains the clear front-runner with an endowment of $37.6 billion. Nine of the 10 increased the size of their endowments in fiscal year 2015. The one exception is Texas A&M University--College Station, whose endowment was $9.75 billion in 2015 compared with $10.52 billion in 2014. Texas A&M came in eighth among the 1,146 ranked colleges that reported these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, compared with sixth place in the prior version of this list.

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[Understand why public school may not be the cheapest option.]

All of the colleges with the biggest endowments are National Universities -- schools that emphasize research and offer not only bachelor's degrees but also master's and doctoral degrees.

Among the 10 colleges with the largest endowments at the end of fiscal year 2015, the average endowment was $16.9 billion compared with $16.2 billion in 2014.

The median U.S. college endowment at the end of fiscal year 2015 was $58.8 million.

Below is a list of the 10 universities with the largest endowments at the end of fiscal year 2015. Endowments were examined by campus, not across public university systems. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

School name (state) End of fiscal year 2015 endowment U.S. News rank and category Harvard University (MA) $37,615,545,000 2, National Universities Yale University (CT) $25,542,983,000 3 (tie), National Universities Princeton University (NJ) $22,291,270,000 1, National Universities Stanford University (CA) $22,222,957,000 5 (tie), National Universities Massachusetts Institute of Technology $13,474,743,000 7, National Universities University of Pennsylvania $10,133,569,000 8 (tie), National Universities University of Michigan--Ann Arbor $9,809,705,000 27 (tie), National Universities Texas A&M University--College Station $9,754,202,036 74 (tie), National Universities Columbia University (NY) $9,639,065,000 5 (tie), National Universities University of Notre Dame (IN) $8,784,381,000 15 (tie), National Universities

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find endowment data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The endowment data above are correct as of Oct. 4, 2016.







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work conversation

Even the briefest lull in a conversation can prompt some people to wonder: "Am I boring?"

The honest answer is that you're probably perfectly fascinating  but you can always become more so. It's a question of collecting new skills, knowledge, and experiences and learning how to share them with others.

Over on Quora, dozens of people have answered the question, "How do I become a more interesting person?" with creative insights based on their own experience. We sifted through their responses and pinpointed the most practical advice.

Read on for ways to leave every social gathering feeling confident that you captured people's interest and won their admiration.

1. Develop new skills

Ensure that other people find you interesting by making yourself helpful in any situation. That's why Quora user Anthony N. Lee suggests learning as many useful skills as you can, from web design to sewing.

That way, you'll always be the go-to person, whether a friend needs to create a website for her new business or a blanket for her baby niece.

2. Be curious

One way to ensure that you're not interesting is by closing yourself off to differing opinions and viewpoints. Instead, you should actively seek out new ideas and experiences that will change the way you think and feel.

Sudhir Desai advocates being a "lifelong learner." He writes: "Keep an open mind, be curious. Allow for a complex world with multiple interpretations. Learn things to deepen and broaden your perspectives."

3. Learn how to tell a good story

Maybe you've amassed a ton of information and experiences  but if you can't communicate them to other people, you're sunk.

That's why Marcus Geduld says you should learn how to be a storyteller: "You don't just dump whatever is on your mind into the conversation; you purposefully shape it to make it interesting.  Start thinking of your life as a gift you can give to others. Wrap it in the finest paper you can find."

Geduld says that means you need to learn how to read your audience to see how long they'll be able to pay attention and tease your listeners with clues to the end of the story.

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Interestingly, recent research found that men who can tell a good story are also seen as more attractive by women. The study authors say that's possibly because skilled storytellers may seem better positioned to influence others or gain authority.

4. Have three good stories ready to share

Knowing how to tell a story spontaneously is a handy skill  but if you're nervous about that, arm yourself with a few personal anecdotes you can use to liven up an otherwise dull interaction.

Writes Devesh: "Comedians don't just talk about anything when they're onstage. They have their act rehearsed. You don't just trot into a job interview and say whatever's on your mind. Always have three good stories on hand that reliably entertain, inform, or engage."

women talking

5. Listen and show compassion

A striking number of Quora users mentioned that one way to seem interesting is to be interested in others.

This idea was popularized by Dale Carnegie in his 1936 bestseller "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Carnegie wrote: "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

Writes Quentin Hardy, deputy tech editor for The New York Times: "Listen carefully to others, and try with some compassion to understand their motives and actions. Few of us are really good at this. Everyone becomes nearly infinite in their experience of life, if we listen to them with enough imagination. Working that out grows ourselves. Wondering if you're wrong helps, too."

6. Ask good questions

At a party, you don't need to say much about yourself for people to believe you're interesting. Instead, engage them in deep conversation about their lifestyle.

"Ask thoughtful (not prying) questions, as needed, about them and their interests and priorities," says Stephanie Vardavas. "Really listen to the answers. Follow up with more thoughtful discussion and necessary questions (again, not prying). By the end of the evening they will remember you as one of the most interesting people they ever met."

Don't be embarrassed to ask seemingly simple questions, either. As Evan Ratliff, a journalist who's written for publications including The New Yorker, told Fast Company: "There's typically no point in pretending you know something when you don't. As a reporter the goal is to gather information, not to impress your subjects. You'd think it would be different in business, but it's not."

By asking those simple questions, you may end up impressing your new acquaintances, anyway.

7. Say what you think

Kat Li says people who don't opine on or disagree with anything can be boring.

"You feel like you can't really ever have a conversation with them," she writes. "You should try to say what you really think about some things, even if other people won't like it."

8. Follow your interests

Instead of learning about a ton of dull topics just for the sake of being knowledgeable, pursue areas that you actually find stimulating. That way, you'll sound animated and engaging when describing them to other people.

"I don't think it's as much a matter of trying to be interesting as much as it is naturally following what you enjoy, being an avid student and collector of information that interests and excites you," writes Renee Nay.

guy reading on a couch books

9. Read a lot

If you have the time and money to travel the world, great. But even if you don't, you can still learn about different cultures and historical periods by reading everything you can get your hands on.

Books, blogs, periodicals  expose yourself to as many new stories and ideas as possible.

Based on a review of the past decade of research on the psychological effects of reading fiction, Keith Oatley told The Washington Post: "People who read more fiction were better at empathy and understanding others."

"Read a lot  it opens up multiple new worlds to us," says Chaitra Murlidhar.

10. Display a sense of humor

Awdesh Singh suggests developing a sense of humor in your interactions with others. "Learn to see the lighter side of the life," he writes, "and develop a habit to be happy even in your failings."

Bonus if you're trying to impress a date: Research suggests men who are funny are perceived by women as more attractive, possibly because they seem more intelligent.

11. Spend time with other interesting people

Singh adds that the company you keep influences your own personality. "If you are in the company of boring people, disgruntled people or serious people, you are likely to become like them very soon," he says. "The same is true when you have the company of interesting people."

Consider joining a Meetup or another group of people who are motivated to pursue their interests and passions.

12. Dig deep into one of your interests

You might be tempted to become a dabbler in many fields, developing a little bit of knowledge about everything. Instead, consider knowing a lot about one topic and flaunting your expertise in that area.

April Fonti says she finds people interesting when they "really pursue one thing with great intensity and depth over a long period of time. They could be very successful scientists or just quiet loners. It doesn't matter."

13. Take an improv class

Comedian Bill Connolly told Fast Company that practicing the art of improvisation can help improve your communication skills in daily life. One reason why is that it makes you a better listener, focusing on what the other person is saying instead of what you're going to say next.

Ken Gregg says:

"Even if you're shy and have no intention of ever performing publicly, comedy improv will loosen you up, help you 'think faster,' re-learn how to be playful (something most adults have lost), and make you feel more comfortable making a fool of yourself in front of other people (a life skill that comes in handy frequently). It can open you up and help you become more engaged when interacting with other people."

14. Run with a different crowd

Perhaps the real reason you don't feel interesting is because you're spending time with people who don't appreciate you. In that case, you should find a different community who understands how much you have to offer.

Writes Travis Biziorek: "Challenge yourself to meet new people, hang out with a different crowd, and experience people with different outlooks and views on life. I promise you'll find people that interest you and those that find you fascinating."

NOW WATCH: Fashion icon Nicole Miller reveals the keys to long-term success





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More than 200,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated from Pakistan this year, nearly half of them in September alone, UNHCR said Tuesday, the highest number since 2002, after the fall of the Taliban regime.

The tsunami of refugees returning to the war-torn country comes after Pakistan tightened its border controls in June and began cracking down on undocumented Afghans.

The vast majority -- more than 185,000 -- returned after July, with nearly 98,000 crossing the border in September alone, UNHCR spokesman Qaisar Khan Afridi told AFP.

"From January until today, the number of refugees voluntarily repatriating to Afghanistan has crossed the figure of 200,000," Afridi said.

More and more appear to be going every day, with officials saying that the first four days of October saw up to 5,000 returnees daily.

An Amnesty International report Tuesday said Pakistan hosted 1.6 million refugees, making it the third largest refugee hosting nation in the world.

But UNHCR said the figure, based on its own data, was already out of date and should be revised to 1.4 million after the movement since July. A further one million undocumented refugees are estimated to be in Pakistan.

Since 2009, Islamabad has repeatedly pushed back a deadline for them to return, but fears are growing that the latest cutoff date in March 2017 will be final.

Pakistani officials said the increase came after they vowed to tighten border controls, particularly at the porous Torkham Gate crossing.

However UNHCR cited an array of other reasons that could be helping drive the rush back into Afghanistan, including increasing anxiety and insecurity for refugees about life in Pakistan.

Other factors include the UNHCR decision to double its cash grant for voluntary returnees from $200 to $400 per individual in June, and a campaign by the Afghan government to lure its citizens back with the slogan "My country, my beautiful country".

In Afghanistan, however, torn apart by more than three decades of conflict, authorities warn the number of displaced people has outpaced the capacity of the government and aid agencies to cope.

Meanwhile the EU said Monday it has struck a tentative deal with Afghanistan to take back migrants ahead of a conference in Brussels aimed at securing international financial aid for the war-ravaged nation.

However, European Union officials have denied that aid pledges would depend on the Kabul government accepting the return of tens of thousands of Afghans from an overstretched Europe.
2012 vs. 2016

The 2016 Electoral College map is looking very similar to the map from 2012, but already a few major differences are evident.

As of Monday, four states have flipped from 2012, when President Barack Obama faced off against Republican nominee Mitt Romney: Nevada, Iowa, and Ohio from blue to red, and North Carolina from red to blue. In addition, the 2nd Congressional District in Maine flipped from blue to red, providing an extra electoral vote.

If that map were to hold, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would top Republican nominee Donald Trump by a 312-226 total  a slightly tighter race compared with Obama's 332-206 victory in 2012.

But it's not so safe for Clinton just yet. In Colorado and Pennsylvania, Clinton is polling slightly below where Obama finished in 2012  with Colorado amounting to a virtual toss-up, and Pennsylvania not too far behind. In North Carolina, where Romney won by 2 points in 2012, Clinton's lead is as slight as can be over Trump.

Trump has a scraping advantage in Nevada while holding moderate leads in Iowa, Georgia, Arizona, and even Texas  the latter three are Republican strongholds.

The best piece of news for Trump is his semisubstantial lead in Ohio. That state has voted for the winner of every presidential election since 1964; the last time the state voted against the national winner was in 1960, when it went in favor of then Vice President Richard Nixon instead of former President John F. Kennedy.

When looking at the overall picture, Sam Wang, a Princeton University professor who runs the university's election consortium, told Business Insider that the election is looking very similar to the one that preceded it.

A top election forecaster, Wang said Trump's and Romney's support levels are "real similar," with a correlation coefficient slightly below 1.0, which is a perfect positive correlation.

"There's some interesting phenomenon under the surface with demographics that have split differently, like non-college-educated whites going more for Trump than usual, [and] college-educated people, professionals, going for Hillary Clinton more than usual," he said. "Overall, the correlation is quite strong."

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"I would say Donald Trump is looking a lot like Mitt Romney lite," he said. "Maybe some Republicans are peeled off because they don't care for what he is or who he is, but it's pretty similar."

NOW WATCH: 'CHECK OUT SEX TAPE': Trump goes on raging tweetstorm ripping Miss Universe contestant





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2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP Finally Revealed

The dated CBR1000RR gets a complete redesign for 2017 to finally give Honda a fighting chance in the fiercely competitive high tech Superbike category.

Today, Honda released a brand new generation of the CBR1000RR SP superbike along with a full spec sheet. Much more has gone into this redesign than simply aesthetic modification. In fact, to be precise, 68 percent of the parts that make up the bikes bill of materials are completely new as opposed to parts carried over from the model year prior. To cut to the chase, below are the top five aspects of the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP that we think you should take away, if nothing else:

Complete electronics package including electronically-controlled Ohlins suspension

High-resolution TFT full-color instrument display panel

10 more horsepower over the previous SP model

33 fewer pounds (15 kg) increasing power-to-weight ratio by 14 percent

Under $20,000 MSRP

*Note that all specs listed in this article are for the Euro-spec vehicle as the US specs are not yet available.

2017 Honda CBR1000RR

Aside from the aesthetic changes to the bodywork, the fairings are minimized to reduce material in certain areas such as around the engine case covers exposing more of the motor surfaces.

Hondas flagship sportbike was definitely due for a full update with the firepower launched by the competition around the market lately such as the all-new Yamaha YZF-R1 and Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Honda blew the competition away in 1992 when the CBR900RR was released with huge power numbers, a chassis that elicited total control and in a package that weighed in some 76 lbs lighter than the closest competitor. When the ridiculously-priced $184,000 RC213V-S did not perform nor sell as well as Honda had hoped, a disruptive CBR1000RR redesign was Hondas best shot at regaining the throne in the Superbike segment on the 25th anniversary of the CBR brand.

CHASSIS

The frame itself on the 2017 CBR1000RR SP shed 600 grams compared to the previous generation by thinning sidewalls and further optimizing material mass allocation. The same was done to the subframe and swingarm along with increasing the rear axle diameter to drop 300g from both parts. The aluminum wheels switched from a 6 spoke Y-shape design to a 5 spoke Y shedding 100g and also improving aerodynamic performance.

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Aside from the aesthetic changes to the bodywork, the fairings are minimized to reduce material in certain areas such as around the engine case covers exposing more of the motor surfaces. The upper and mid fairings are pulled inward reducing the overall width of the bike by 18-24mm. This not only reduces weight, but also improves aerodynamics.

2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP Chassis

POWERTRAIN

A significant amount of mass is saved with the redesigned motor in the 2017 CBR1000RR SP all while increasing power output by 10 HP. Retaining the same bore and stroke measurements, the compression ratio is up to 13.0:0 from 12.3:1. The engine speed redline has also increased to 13,000 RPM from 12,250. Channeling the exhaust gases is a titanium exhaust system and muffler that saves 6.2 lbs.

Another large portion of the mass savings in the powertrain is 4.4 lbs attributed to the new slip-assist clutch system which also results in 17% less pull force required on the lever. Even the battery was optimized by going with a Lithium Ion design saving 2.2 lbs (half the mass of a typical lead-acid unit). Finally, the titanium fuel tank (first of any mass-produced road bike) saves another 2.9 lbs but is protected by bodywork to reduce the chances of damage to, but also hides this work of art.

2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP

TECHNOLOGY

The electronics package on the new CBR1000RR SP is on par with all best-in-class options on the market. The rider-aid package includes ABS, 40g 6-axis IMU, 9-level traction control, slide control, wheelie control, rear wheel lift control, 3-level engine braking, 3-level quick shifter (up AND down including auto throttle blipping), fly-by-wire throttle with resistance feedback simulator built into the twist grip mechanism, and electronically-adjustable Ohlins suspension. The instrument panel uses a TFT display similar to that on the RCV213-S (and also suspiciously similar to that on the YZF-R1).

Ohlins has provided an extremely impressive package on the CBR1000RR SP for 2017. The 43mm NIX forks and TTX 36 rear shock are electronically controlled by the Ohlins S-EC system. The Bosch MM5.10 IMU (similar to the IMU on the Ducati 959 Panigale) sends real-time vehicle data to the suspension components to instantly optimize compression and damping through small servo motors. This extremely sophisticated system has been available on very few street-legal bikes to date such as the Yamaha YZF-R1M and Ducati Panigale R.

2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP

SP2 Racing Homologation Model

Honda has also announced that a CBR1000RR SP2 model will be made available for FIM homologation. The main differences between the SP and SP2 models are the engine head and wheels. The top end of the SP2 motor has 1mm larger intake valves and 1.5mm larger exhaust valves positioned at angles of 10 and 12 respectively. The wheels on the SP2 are forged aluminum Marchesini units for mass, aero and balance advantages. However, without proper race prep and tune, these upgraded wheels will be the only noticeable difference between the SP and SP2 models on the streets. The only reason street-legal versions of the SP2 are being produced is to qualify for the maximum number of racing series and classes, this is a race bike through and through.

HRC race parts and support will also be made available to SP2 owners, but only for those utilizing the bikes on professional race teams. This is an attempt to unlock the advantages of the new motor top end (through ECU flash, camshafts, etc) while keeping these non-EPA-approved modifications off of the street. This is why the US-spec RC213V-S had such disappointing power figures right out of the box when released, especially given the insane price point. The RC213V-S never intended to be an amazing streetbike, but instead a very capable platform from which to build a serious race bike. Regardless, the public perception did not care and the program ultimately suffered. The CBR1000RR SP2 program has a new strategy to avoid this distraction and focus on racing.

At least 500 SP2 units are to be built and sold globally over 2 years at an astonishing price of just $25,000. The CBR1000RR SP2 bike will first be made available for sale to race teams before offering to the general public.

2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP

2017 CBR1000RR Availability

American Honda tells us the CBR1000RR SP will be available at dealerships beginning in the March/April 2017 timeframe. We suspect more information on the base-model CBR1000RR will be released at EICMA in Italy in November. However, if we had the guess, the entry-level CBR1000RR will share almost all parts with the SP model expect the Ohlins suspension gear, titanium muffler and perhaps the TFT display at a price point around $16,000. What do you think?
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has started export of its 109-cc bike NAVI to Nepal and has dispatched over 500 units of the two-wheeler to the neighbouring country.

From concept development to commercial production, NAVI is 100 per cent developed by Honda R&D India and also the first full-fledged Honda R&D India model to be exported outside India.

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"After witnessing huge success of NAVI in the Indian market, we wish to extend this revolution to other parts of the world. Being one of our largest export markets and a young vibrant country, we are commencing NAVI exports to Nepal," HMSI Senior VP, Sales and Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria today said in a statement.

The overwhelming response received at the Nepal Auto Show and first 500 units export dispatch in a matter of just three weeks is an evidence in itself of its surging demand, he added.

HMSI has a market share of 29 per cent in Nepals two-wheeler market. It exports various models - Dio, Aviator, Activa 125, CD Dream, CB Shine, CB Shine SP, CB Unicorn 160, CB Hornet 160R and CBR 250R, to the Himalayan Republic. PTI MSS SRK ANU

--- ENDS ---
Quickly give your finances a boost.

Some financial fixes -- from repairing your credit to funding your retirement -- take years to pull off. Others take just a few minutes. Click forward for 25 quick financial moves.

Review your credit card statement.

Sit down with your credit card bill. "Draw a line through every purchase or event that, in hindsight, was associated with being HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)," writes Ellen R. Siegel, a certified financial planner in Miami. Use this exercise to learn from your past emotional spending mistakes -- and avoid them in the future.

Look at your tax refund.

Do you receive a hefty check from Uncle Sam each year? "You may want to speak with your tax professional and adjust your withholdings," writes Brad Wright, a certified financial planner at New England Financial Planning Group in Burlington, Massachusetts. Think of your refund as an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam, Wright says.

Bundle your insurance.

Having one company cover your disparate insurance needs can be a money-smart move. "You may be entitled to a better rate if you bundle your homeowner's, auto, and umbrella insurance policies under one company," Wright writes.

Phone your cable company.

Dial up your cable provider at least once per year to renegotiate your cable package. You may be able to get your bill reduced.

Go digital.

Sign up for a digital system, such a Quicken or Mint.com, to track your spending -- and potentially reduce making impulse purchases and overdrawing your account.

Request a free credit report.

"Make sure you are aware of all the credit in your name and [that] you don't have any unexpected outstanding debt," writes Bethany Griffith, a certified financial planner in Columbia, South Carolina.

Unsubscribe.

"You'll be much less tempted to overspend on your clothing/tech/fun budget if you aren't bombarded with daily emails about all the 'stuff' you could buy," Griffith writes.

Raise your insurance deductible.

Carve out extra room in your monthly budget by raising your auto insurance deductible, thereby lowering your premiums.

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Find unclaimed cash.

Head to your state's treasury website or unclaimed.org to locate property in your name. "It takes almost no time to come up with your own money in these various state-run 'financial lost and founds,'" writes Michael Resnick, senior wealth management advisor and certified financial planner at GCG Financial in Deerfield, Illinois.

Inflate your tires.

Improve your gas mileage -- and save money -- by making sure that your tires are properly inflated. Doing this can improve mileage by 0.6 percent on average -- and up to 3 percent in some instances, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Automate your savings.

Set up an automatic siphon from your paycheck to your retirement account. Automate payments from your checking to your savings accounts. You'll build savings without even noticing it.

Cut the cable.

If negotiating down your cable bill isn't enough, consider cutting it entirely. Replace those channels with subscriptions to Netflix or Hulu, which each cost less than $10 per month.

Start a virtual piggy bank.

Sign up for tools such as Acorns or Digit, which funnel away spare change into an account to help you reach your savings goals, writes Natalie Colley, analyst at Francis Financial in New York City.

Enroll in a high-yield checking and savings account.

Move your money into a high-yield account, writes Autumn Campbell, financial planning resident at Upperline Financial Planning in New Orleans. One example, Ally Bank, offers 0.10 percent on checking and 1 percent on savings accounts.

Take advantage of employer benefits.

If you're not cashing in on an employer match by investing in the company-sponsored retirement account, consider remedying that. Overlooking that perk is like turning your nose up at free money.

Check your Wi-Fi and cable bills.

"Some companies will charge you a 'Router/Modem Fee,' which could be around $8 a month," writes Alexander Rupert, a certified financial planner in Cleveland. "Research the company's website to determine which routers or modems are approved and then buy your own. I bought a used one off Amazon for $5."

Boost your retirement savings.

Log into your retirement account and increase the percentage you allocate to it by 1 or 2 percent. It will bring you that much closer to your retirement goals and you won't feel a difference in your paycheck.

Weatherproof your home.

"Contact your state's weatherization agency and see if you may qualify for free home weatherization assistance like caulking, weather-stripping and insulation that can save you [hundreds] of dollars in monthly utility bills," writes Amy Hubble, a certified financial planner in Oklahoma City.

Request a credit-limit increase.

Log into your credit card account and request a limit increase. "Even if you don't need it, a higher limit will bolster your percent of credit utilization and lead to an increase in your credit score," Hubble writes.

Automate your credit card payments.

Log into your credit card account and put your payments on autopilot. It's always best to repay the entire balance each month if you can afford to, so you won't pay interest.

Fast-track your debt payoff goals.

Go into your student loan, mortgage or credit card account and add a few dollars or more to your automatic repayment amount. "You will be surprised how quickly these extra payments will help reduce your debt and the interest you are paying on it," writes Jamie Ebersole, a certified financial planner in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts.

Ramp up contributions to your health savings account.

Boost savings for medical expenses by increasing contributions to your health savings account, or HSA. "Contributions to your HSA are tax-deductible and, once the accounts get above a certain threshold, can be invested in mutual funds for long-term growth," writes Judy McNary, a certified financial planner in Boulder, Colorado.

Drop the home phone.

Who uses a home phone these days anyway? Drop your home phone to lower your phone bill and stick with your cell phone.

Rethink the gym.

Do you refuse to cancel that overpriced gym membership you never use? Consider ways to get in shape without paying that hefty price each month.

Identify a financial goal.

Whether it's funding your next vacation or paying off your student loans, pinpoint a money goal that motivates you to save and cut down on spending.





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Many investors like to look for momentum in stocks, but this can be very tough to define. There is great debate regarding which metrics are the best to focus on in this regard, and which are not really quality indicators of future performance. Fortunately, with our new style score system we have identified the key statistics to pay close attention to and thus which stocks might be the best for momentum investors in the near term.



This method discovered several great candidates for momentum-oriented investors, but today lets focus in on Copa Holdings SA CPA as this stock is looking especially impressive right now. And while there are numerous ways in which this company could be a great choice, we have highlighted three of the most vital reasons for CPAs status as a solid momentum stock below:



Longer Term Price Change for Copa Holdings



While any stock can see a spike in price, it takes a real winner to consistently outperform the market. That is why looking at longer term price metricssuch as performance over the past three months or year-- and comparing these to an industry at large can be very useful.



And in the case of CPA, the results are quite impressive. The company has beaten out the industry at large over the past 12 weeks by a margin of 58.9% to -0.4% while it has also outperformed when looking at the past year, putting up a gain of 109.4%. Clearly, CPA is riding a bit of a hot streak and is worth a closer look by investors.



COPA HLDGS SA-A Price



COPA HLDGS SA-A Price | COPA HLDGS SA-A Quote

Quarter EPS Estimate Change for Copa Holdings Stock



While looking at price performance or full year earnings can be essential to understanding a momentum stock, you shouldnt forget about the current quarter EPS and the trend in estimates there. This change can signal how a stock might perform in the next earnings season which is obviously vital for momentum investors.



Right now, CPA is seeing a nice trend over the past month when it comes to this quarters earnings estimate projections. In the time frame, EPS estimates for Copa Holdings have gone up by 3.6% compared to an industry average move of 0.6%, suggesting that not only is CPA heading in the right direction, but it is seeing an increase relative to the industry too.



CPA Earnings Estimate Revisions Moving in the Right Direction



While the great momentum factors outlined in the preceding paragraphs might be enough for some investors, we should also take into account broad earnings estimate revision trends. A nice path here can really help to show us a promising stock, and we have actually been seeing that with CPA as of late too.



Over the past two months, 4 earnings estimates have gone higher compared to no downward revisions for the full year, while we are also seeing 4 upward revisions with no downward revisions for the next year time frame too. These revisions have helped to boost the consensus estimate as two months ago CPA was expected to post earnings of $3.79/share for the full year, though today it looks to have EPS of $4.55 for the full year now, representing a solid increase which is something that should definitely be welcomed news to would-be investors.



Bottom Line



Given these factors, investors shouldnt be surprised to note that we have CPA as a security with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Momentum Score of A.You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



So if you are looking for a fresh pick that has potential to move in the right direction, definitely keep CPA on your short list as this looks be a stock that is very well-positioned to soar in the near term.



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Many investors like to look for value in stocks, but this can be very tough to define. There is great debate regarding which metrics are the best to focus on in this regard, and which are not really quality indicators of future performance. Fortunately, with our new style score system we have identified the key statistics to pay close attention to and thus which stocks might be the best for value investors in the near term.

This method discovered several great candidates for value-oriented investors, but today lets focus on AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. AU as this stock is looking especially impressive right now. And while there are numerous reasons why this is the case, we have highlighted three of the most vital reasons for AUs status as a solid value stock below:

Forward PE for AngloGold

Easily one of the most popular readings for value investors, the forward PE ratio shows us the current price of a stock divided by the full year earnings. Generally speaking, value investors like to see this ratio below 20, though it can vary by industry.

Right now, AU has a forward PE of just 11.79, which means that investors are paying $11.79 for each dollar in expected AngloGoldearnings this year. Compared to the industry at large this is pretty favorable as the overall space has an average PE of 20.95 in comparison.

ANGLOGOLD LTD PE Ratio (TTM)

ANGLOGOLD LTD PE Ratio (TTM) | ANGLOGOLD LTD Quote

Price/Cash Flow for AngloGold Stock

An often overlooked ratio that can still be a great indicator of value is the price/cash flow metric. This reading is preferred by some since it avoids amortization and depreciation concerns and can give a more accurate picture of the financial health in a business.

The P/CF ratio for AU comes in at 5.59, and since investors are generally looking for a reading under 20 here, this is pretty good news. Meanwhile, we should also point out that the industry average for this metric is 6.01, so AngloGold has its peers beat in this regard too.

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AU Earnings Estimate Revisions Moving in the Right Direction

The solid value ratios outlined in the preceding paragraphs might be enough for some investors, but we should also note that the earnings estimate revisions have been trending in a positive direction as well. Analysts who follow AU stock have been raising their estimates for the company lately, meaning that the EPS picture is looking a bit more favorably for AngloGoldnow.

Over the past 60 days, 1 earnings estimate has gone higher compared to none lower for the full year, while we are also seeing that 1 estimate has moved upwards with no downward revision for the next year time frame too. These revisions have helped to boost the consensus estimate as 60 days ago AU was expected to post earnings of $1.08 per share for the full year though today it looks to have EPS of $1.35 for the full year.

Bottom Line

For the reasons detailed above, investors shouldnt be surprised to read that we have AU as a stock with a Value Score of A and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

So if you are a value investor, definitely keep AU on your short list as this looks to be a stock that is very well-positioned for gains in the near term.

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As unsettling reports of clowns stalking the country have left many in fear, college students in Pennsylvania have decided to turn the tables on the menaces and do something about the creepy terrors.

After rumors spread that a clown was on the loose on Pennsylvania State Universitys campus early Tuesday, at least 500 students set out to find the source of so much concern, Penn State Police Sgt. Mike Nelson told the Centre Daily Times.

Some people run away from clowns, Penn State runs towards them, one witness tweeted.

Footage on social media shows students running together in the streets, chanting We are Penn State!

Read: 11-Year-Old Girl Arrested for Taking Knife to School as Protection Against Clowns

What the f*** is happening? a girl can be heard yelling in one video of the rally.

There were no clown sightings and no credible clown threats, Nelson told the Times.

The cause of this specifically was social media, Nelson said. If there were any clowns with this many students out there and with our police responding to calls, we would have ran into it. Some photos weve seen were photo shopped or incidents from across the country.

The students caused no damage in their quest to find clowns.

The rally was one of countless incidents across the country related to clowns.

Students at Merrimack College in Massachusetts were told to shelter in place on Monday after a person dressed as a clown was reportedly seen with a weapon on campus.

The tweet that first alerted authorities to the potential threat was determined to be a hoax.

"Students across New England apparently are being terrified right now by, really, one or two people on social media," Merrimack College spokesman Jim Chiavelli told WFXT-TV. "It's shameful."

Clown sightings have been reported Nova Scotia as well as in more than 20 states, including, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, South Carolina, New Jersey and New York.

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Read: 'We Want to Play': 4 Arrested After Creepy Clown Threats Force School Lockdown

Photos surfaced on social media Saturday of a man dressed as a clown holding a rifle and standing on a railroad bridge about 60 miles north of New York City.

One day earlier, school officials in Lindenhurst, Long Island, said they would be keeping students inside during recess after several clown sightings in the area were reported.

But John Miller, the NYPDs deputy commissioner for counterterrorism and intelligence, said no clown threats investigated have turned out to be credible.

Were tracking it, but we dont see any real threat here, Miller told reporters. Our main message is, dont believe the hype, and dont be afraid of the clowns.

Even Stephen Kingwhose novel IT brought to life one of the scariest clowns known to man  Pennywise urged people to not be afraid, tweeting: Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria  most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh."

Watch: Man Arrested for Allegedly Lying to Police About Clown Sighting at His Home

Related Articles:
If you are in the process of applying to medical school, you may have received information from prospective programs about the possibility of applying to a dual-degree or joint M.D. track.

Dual-degree programs typically combine your pursuit of an M.D. or D.O. with another master's or doctorate degree, such as an MBA, Master of Education, Master of Health Administration, Master of Public Health, J.D. or Ph.D. Some students pursue dual-degree programs if their interests lie outside of clinical medicine, while others might gravitate toward a joint M.D. if they're interested in a particular niche of medicine where skills from both degrees are heavily used.

[Learn how earning a graduate dual degree helps save money and time.]

Enrollment in a dual-degree program typically results in students pausing their medical education -- usually after the second or third year -- to complete the second degree's requirements. Students may then return to the medicine school on a full-time basis.

Though pursuing a dual degree is a tremendous amount of work, students who are committed to certain careers may find that a joint M.D. is their best option. Here are three types of students who should consider choosing a dual medical degree.

1. Students who want to start their own medical practice upon completing medical training. The standard of medical practice once saw physicians manning their own individual offices, but the current trend involves multiple doctors working in the same practice, often under the direction of an overarching health care system. With this change in structure, the business of medical delivery has become more complex, and insurance reimbursement remains fraught with complications that often can best be untangled by an individual trained in specific business practices.

Students who envision themselves directing or founding a medical practice with physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, phlebotomists, billing personnel and office assistants may find that a dual MBA-M.D. degree suit s them perfectly -- it will provide them with the management tools necessary to direct the business side of a complex medical practice.

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[Discover how doctors can benefit from an MBA.]

2. Students who want to work in medical law. Medicine has many intersections with law, including the development of health care policy. Our health care climate has undergone significant change in recent years with the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and it promises to continue changing as the needs of our country's population shift.

Prospective medical students who see themselves as part of this change may be interested in an M.D.-J.D. or M.D.-M.P.H. These dual-degree programs cultivate legal knowledge and an understanding of how legal policy develops , which may help these students effectively develop health care policy or otherwise play a role in the medical law field.

[Learn about getting a Master of Public Health degree as a medical student.]

3. Student who want to specialize in medical education. Like health care law and medical practices, medical education has undergone a shift in recent years, with many medical schools now combining traditional lecture and lab practices with active learning in small groups, case studies, flipped classrooms and the like.

Students who are interested in becoming medical educators or who would like to work in community education may be interested in a dual M.D. - M.Ed. degree, which combines medical training with an understanding of effective teaching practices, individual lesson plans and how different types of students learn. This joint concentration may best serve students who imagine themselves working as medical school instructors or in positions that educate the public on issues like flu prevention.

While the option to earn a graduate degree is also available to practicing physicians, a joint M.D. can enrich your medical school experience by providing aspiring doctors with additional intersections and lenses through which to view medicine. Whether to opt for a dual-degree program is a uniquely personal decision, but the three students described above may find it a difficult but rewarding path to pursue.

Cassie Kosarek is a professional tutor with Varsity Tutors, a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College and is a member of the Class of 2020 at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.
When you need to find extra money to invest for retirement, the solution may be closer to home than you might think.

A new report from online marketplace OfferUp found 48 percent of Americans said their homes were cluttered with things they don't use. At the same time, 32 percent of respondents said that they were concerned about not being able to save enough for retirement.

OfferUp CEO Nick Huzar says the relationship between stress and extra stuff is important to understand when you're seeking a secure retirement.

"Our report showed that many Americans believe they have more than $1,000 in unused items sitting around the house. This is particularly important for people who are retired or who are about to be. You can downsize and find a few much-needed extra dollars by parting with things you're not using," Huzar says.

[See: 13 Ways to Take the Emotions Out of Investing.]

If you're concerned about your retirement outlook, a careful evaluation of your spending habits could prove to be eye-opening. Here are some things to consider as you're reviewing your cash flow.

Identify your spending traps. Miguel Gomez, a certified financial planner with Lauterbach Financial Advisors in El Paso, Texas, says putting today's wants ahead of tomorrow's needs is a pitfall that's best avoided if you're hoping to invest for a comfortable retirement.

"This is critical and I've seen it many times," Gomez says. "We simply have a lot of things, most of which lose value very fast, and not a lot of money."

Trying to keep up with the Joneses is another way to throw obstacles in your investing path, says Vincent Oldre, a certified financial planner and president of Assured Retirement Group in Bloomington, Minnesota.

"Just because your neighbors or your friends have nice cars does not mean they have a lot of money in the bank," Oldre says.

In the OfferUp report, 14 percent of Americans said they worried about not being able to maintain the same lifestyle as their friends. Among those with children, 45 percent said they cared about other parents' perceptions of them. That pressure to keep up led parents in the report to favor brand names over buying secondhand, even when they knew it would save them more money.

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Cut your emotional spending ties. Emotion-based spending can be one of the biggest dangers to your retirement savings, says Scott Mann, president of Houston-based Mann Financial Group. The threat is magnified for older savers when there are kids in the picture.

"I often meet with people nearing retirement who financially support their adult children. They pay for their kids' cell phone bills, cars, even apartments and sometimes have inadequate retirement savings because they're putting their children's needs first," Mann says.

He acknowledges that once this kind of spending pattern is in place, it can be hard to break because at the root is an emotional desire to help.

Even when children aren't in the picture, emotions can still be detrimental if you're spending money needlessly that could be put to better use in your retirement portfolio. For Gomez, moving away from emotional spending begins with looking at the bigger picture.

"Switch your focus from today to tomorrow," Gomez says. "Yes, you want that new thing today, but will you remember having it 10 years from now? Will it make a difference in your life or for someone you care about? If the answers are no, then you can probably do without it."

Look for common ground with your spouse or significant other. Melody Juge, founder and managing director of Life Income Management, which has offices in North Carolina and southern California, points to overspending as a serious problem for couples if it's not addressed.

Juge advocates creating a written plan for how you'll spend, as well as how you'll save for retirement. She says two-income couples have a unique opportunity if they're able to live off one partner's paycheck and invest the other.

[See: 20 Awesome Dividend Stocks for Guaranteed Income.]

Divam Mehta, of Mehta Financial Group in Glen Allen, Virginia, says effective communication is essential when one partner is a spender and the other is a saver.

"It's vital for couples to identify family goals when managing finances jointly," Mehta says. "One partner is not going to succeed without the other's commitment to the collective goal of saving for retirement."

Mann recommends that couples who are having trouble getting on the same page make a wish list of what they want in retirement.

"Thinking critically about what you want and putting it on paper can help bring a sense of realness to retirement planning," Mann says.

Changing your spending habits is only part of the equation. Identifying problematic spending patterns is a significant first step in meeting your retirement goals. Equally important is having a clear-cut strategy for increasing your nest egg.

Once someone makes the move toward saving, they have to decide how much of their discretionary budget they can set aside for retirement, Mehta says. To keep things simple and make it easier to resist the urge to overspend, he recommends automating contributions to an IRA each month and saving as much as your budget will allow.

"Many people feel that there's no point in saving small amounts since it's not going to make a difference in the long run. That line of thinking is completely false," Mehta says, since even small amounts can lead to a more secure future through the power of long-term investing.

Jay Messing, senior director of planning for Wells Fargo Private Bank in New York, reminds savers to take advantage of tax-deferred accounts and employer matching contributions to qualified retirement plans whenever possible.

He also encourages structuring your investment portfolio according to your risk tolerance and your time horizon for saving. Investing early with a focus on growth can provide a greater potential for accumulating a sizable nest egg.

Ultimately, your retirement investing success comes down to two things: deciding what's more important -- current material goods or future financial security -- and making a concerted effort to curb spending.

[Read: 5 Reasons Why You're Bad at Investing.]

"While it may be a challenge requiring a high level of self-confidence, living below your means is a best practice," Messing says.

Rebecca Lake has been writing about investing, finance and small business for nearly a decade. Her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, Fox Business and Investopedia. Follow her on Twitter @seemomwrite.
Tonights vice presidential debate is the opposite of last weeks showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump  the expectation is of sober talk and seriousness rather than bombast and bitter attack.

In fact, a recent ABC News survey showed that more than 40% of the public couldnt even name Tim Kaine as Clintons running mate or Mike Pence as Trumps. Last week, even Kaine admitted to reporters, I am not the main event, so Im in an in-between space.

The debate  from Longwood University in Farmville, Va.  is even a reversal of some cycles of the past, where viewers looked for more of a free-for-all from the running mates as the presidential candidates stayed high minded. The highest rated vice presidential debate in history was in 2008 between Joseph Biden and Sarah Palin, with the near 70 million viewers surely tuning in to see how Palin, a relative novice on the debate stage, handled the much more experienced Biden.

Still, this debate, moderated by CBSN anchor and CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano, could still surprise. Here are moments to watch:

1. Who Am I?: The relative anonymity of the running mates on a national level is a bit unusual. Pence, the governor of Indiana, has been overshadowed from the start by Donald Trumps sheer force of personality. Kaine, the senator from Virginia and that states former governor, is No. 2 to a figure who has been on the national stage for almost 25 years. Clintons campaign also has dispatched a series of high-level surrogates, including President Obama, her primary rival Bernie Sanders, First Lady Michelle Obama, Biden and former President Bill Clinton, so in a sense Kaine is sharing that attention.

Neither candidate is like James Stockdale, Ross Perots running mate in 1992 who famously introduced himself at the debate that year by saying, Who am I? Why am I here? But this will be an opportunity for each candidate to give bits of their own background and life stories to voters.

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The vice presidential debates are a little bit more about reassuring people than changing minds, says Alan Schroeder, professor at Northeastern University and author of Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail. The other thing is it is also about the legacy of the top debaters. Do these people expect to be on stage for the big show four years from now.

2. Damage Control: Scientific polls not only showed that the public thought Trump lost the debate last week, but he followed it up with a rough week for the campaign. Trump attacked a former Miss Universe, mimicked Clintons walking as she recovered from pneumonia and even suggested that she cheats on her husband.

Pence could offer a modicum of moderation to soothe voters and Republican stalwarts who are turned off by Trumps antics (among them is Ronald Reagans son Michael). Moreover, a solid performance could tee up Trump for a better night on Sunday, when he will engage in a town hall-style debate with Clinton at Washington University in St. Louis.

One of the roles of a running mate is to go in and mop up after the presidential candidate and do what needs to be done, Schroeder notes.

Back in 2012, Bidens steady debate performance against Paul Ryan set the stage for President Obamas comeback in the second debate, after a disastrous first debate against Mitt Romney. Trump already has been talking about his ability to comeback in his career  so perhaps Pence can help lay the ground work for a shift in perception headed into the Sunday event.

3. Attack Mode: What was striking about Kaines debut as Clintons running mate back in July was how much great publicity he got for being well-liked and almost folksy in his approach to politics. Playing the harmonica helps. His persona harkens back to a bygone era of candidates like Hubert Humphrey who preached a politics of joy. But hes likely to also go in ready for the attack  and the past week, what with the New York Times release of portions of Trumps 1995 tax return  has given the Clinton campaign plenty of material. What will be interesting is how he balances a rather cheery persona with that of a candidate ready to go negative. He did it somewhat in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, but it could present a challenge in a debate setting, particularly against Pence, a former radio talk show host.

4. One-Liners: Clinton came in to the first presidential debate well prepared with a lot of material on Trump, including a one-liner that just fell flat (Trumped up trickle down economics). Back in 1988, in one of the most famous lines in debate history, Lloyd Bentsen delivered his famous retort against Dan Quayle. Senator, youre no Jack Kennedy. It was an attack line to highlight Quayles inexperience. Effective as it may have been, the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket was trounced by Bush-Quayle.

History tells us that even a solid loss in a debate doesnt necessarily change anything, Schroeder says.

Theres every expectation that well see some of these one-liners tonight, but their effect can be fleeting.

5. Tune In: Even half of the record audience of 84 million who tuned in to the debate last week would put the vice presidential debate on par with the 2004 match up between John Edwards and Vice President Dick Cheney. That is not bad. A significant audience should perhaps reassure people that, for all of the worry over the celebrity-fixation of politics, voters really do get more serious as Election Day approaches. Schroeder says that one thing to watch out for is whether viewers start to tune out after the first 20 minutes or so. He says, The question is, how interesting is it, and how compelling are the debaters?'

Tonights debate will begin at 9 p.m. ET and run for 90 minutes.

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After the unanticipated lull in the summer, investors are expected to face greater bursts of volatility in October. While the upcoming presidential election is expected to heighten turbulence, Deutsche Bank AGs DB inadequate capital cushion and the U.K.s plan to exit the European Union will add to the woes.

Investors are already anxious about the high valuations, which put the broader market in a precarious situation often leading to corrections. This calls for investing in dividend paying stocks which boast tremendous financial strength and are resistant to market vagaries. Also, the slim chances of a rate hike anytime soon make these stocks tempting picks.

Election to Shoot Volatility

October traditionally sees a rise in volatility, especially when presidential election is just around the corner. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge of near-term investor anxiety, has always risen significantly in the past six presidential elections this month, except for 1996, when Bill Clinton handily won the re-elections. The following table shows how much VIX spiked in the months of October before elections:

Date Change in VIX 31 October 1992 13% 31 October 1996 7% 31 October 2000 15% 29 October 2004 22% 31 October 2008 52% 31 October 2012 18%

With the polls being close between the presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it is expected that the volatile period that has dominated September is here to stay. After the first presidential debate, Clinton held an edge over Trump, but the latter is still in the lead when some third-party contenders are taken into account. In spite of the striking differences, both the candidates are promoting policies based on larger infrastructure outlays (read more: Portfolio Strategy for 2016 Presidential Election).

Deutsche Bank Collapse in the Cards?

More uncertainty looms large this month, thanks to doubts over Germanys Deutsche Banks ability to withstand the cost of any settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. A research firm warned that the bank may tap shareholders for more cash in the wake of the $14 billion fine.

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The bank needs to settle civil claims, which is related to the sale of structured mortgage bonds during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said that she wouldnt offer state aid to the bank. Merkel was in no mood to offer assistance as she was heading into an election year.

The German lender endured questions like whether it was losing the confidence of investors after a handful of hedge funds that clear derivatives through the bank withdrew excess cash and positions, according to a Bloomberg report. Some of the funds that have moved part of their listed derivatives holdings to other firms included Izzy Englanders $34 billion Millennium Partners, Chris Rokoss $4 billion Rokos Capital Management, and the $14 billion Capula Investment Management.

Brexit Worries Resurface

Concerns about Brexit reemerged. Britains Prime Minister Theresa May has set the country on course to leave the EU by 2019. She said that we are going to be a fully independent, sovereign country  a country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts.

Investors, however, feared that such an outcome will destabilize the regions economy, slow down global growth and create fresh bouts of gyration in the financial markets worldwide (read more: Brexit Panic: 7 Ways to Trade the Vote).

Stretched Valuations

The market is already in a perilous situation, as most analysts warn that stock market valuations are at elevated levels. This makes the market more vulnerable to a volatile sell-off. The S&P 500s forward 12-month P/E ratio is currently at around 16.6, way above the 5-year average of over 14.8.

It is also worth noting that earnings are not just lackluster, they are negative. Total earnings for the S&P 500 index are currently expected to be down 2.8% in the third quarter from the same quarter last year (read more: Q3 Earnings Season Preview).

5 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

Thanks to the aforementioned factors, the future is cast into uncertainty. Hence, it will be prudent to invest in dividend paying stocks. Dividend is mostly paid by companies that boast solid financial structure and healthy underlying fundamentals, and are unperturbed by market turbulence.

For the time being, the Fed has also refrained from raising rates. If September jobs data turn out to be mediocre like in August, it might further reduce the possibility of a rate hike. Diminishing chances of a rate hike led to increase in bond prices, while yields on such bonds decline. This in turn is a positive for dividend paying companies (read more: Fed Holds Off Rate Hike for Now: Top 5 Gainers).

Additionally, such stocks when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or # 2 (Buy) and a VGM score of A or B are sure to boost your returns. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of these three metrics.

Macys, Inc. M operates stores, websites, and mobile applications. Macys has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of A. The company has a dividend yield of 4.08%. Macys 5-year historical dividend growth rate is 30%.

L Brands, Inc. LB operates as a specialty retailer of womens intimate and other apparel and personal care products. L Brands has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of A. The company has a dividend yield of 3.39%. L Brands 5-year historical dividend growth rate is 24.5%.

DTE Energy Company DTE engages in the utility operations. The company has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of B. DTE Energy has a dividend yield of 3.29% and a 5-year historical dividend growth rate is 5.3%.

Packaging Corporation of America PKG manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products. Packaging Corporation of America has a dividend yield of 3.1% and a 5-year historical dividend growth rate of 26.1%. The company has a VGM score of B and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Xerox Corporation XRX provides business process and document management solutions. Xerox has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM score of A. The company has a dividend yield of 3.06%. Xeroxs 5-year historical dividend growth rate is 15.2%.

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NAVI is 100 per cent developed by Honda R&D India and also the first full-fledged Honda R&D India model to be exported outside India.

The overwhelming response received at the Nepal Auto Show and first 500 units export dispatch in a matter of just three weeks is an evidence in itself of its surging demand.

By India Today Web Desk: Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has started export of its 109-cc bike NAVI to Nepal and has dispatched over 500 units of the two-wheeler to the neighbouring country.

ALSO READ: Honda Navi: Something really new

From concept development to commercial production, NAVI is 100 per cent developed by Honda R&D India and also the first full-fledged Honda R&D India model to be exported outside India.

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Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India said, "After witnessing huge success of NAVI in the Indian market, we wish to extend this revolution to other parts of the world. Being one of our largest export markets and a young vibrant country, we are commencing NAVI exports to Nepal."

ALSO READ: How to book a Honda Navi in five minutes

The overwhelming response received at the Nepal Auto Show and first 500 units export dispatch in a matter of just three weeks is an evidence in itself of its surging demand, he added.

HMSI has a market share of 29 per cent in Nepal's two-wheeler market. It exports various models - Dio, Aviator, Activa 125, CD Dream, CB Shine, CB Shine SP, CB Unicorn 160, CB Hornet 160R and CBR 250R, to the Himalayan Republic.

ALSO READ: Honda Navi rides in Hyderabad; priced at Rs 41,619

--- ENDS ---
From Country Living

At 90 years old, Norma Jean Bauerschmidt was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Her husband had just died two days before when Norma was faced with a heavy decision: Would she undergo a risky surgery and fight her cancer tooth and nail, or let life take its course? She decided to forgo treatment and live her life to the fullest in the time she had left, with a cross-country trip that captured hearts around the world, until her death a year later at 91.

When her doctor gave her the diagnosis, she told him, "I'm 90 years old. I'm not interested in going through that. I'm hitting the road." People reports the doctor was surprised, but then said, "That's exactly what I'd do, too." According to CBS News, once her husband Leo died, she would have had to live in a nursing home or join her retired son, Tim, and his wife, Ramie, who live nomadically in an RV. She chose adventure, and Tim and Ramie posted updates on a Facebook page, Driving Miss Norma.

The nonagenarian saw Old Faithful, Mount Rushmore, and the Grand Canyon, and even had her first pedicure ever on a trip to Georgia. The World War II Navy veteran was a featured guest aboard an aircraft carrier, wearing a hard hat and safety goggles. And throughout, Norma's spirits were high and her health visibly improved for a time.

But in early September, Norma was about to go whale watching in Washington state when her health started to fail, and her family brought in hospice care while she lived out the rest of her days in the motorhome on the picturesque San Juan Islands. As her health was fading, her Facebook page kept updating with inspirational quotes and scenes from her final moments in hospice care. Her loved ones announced her death on September 30, noting, "Today we are letting go."

In a little over a year, Norma rode 13,000 miles, visited 32 states, and slept in 75 different locations. Her family said they were spreading her story to help spark end-of-life conversations before it's too late. "What struck us is how difficult it is to have that conversation with people that you love about how they want the last months of their life to be," Ramie told Fox News. "Our greatest hope with our story... is that it can maybe help families start that conversation."

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According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Norma will be cremated and buried beside her husband in Michigan. In lieu of flowers or donations, Ramie had this suggestion for people who want to pay tribute to her: "Infuse some joy in the world. Pay it forward in [your] own community. Pay it forward in [your] own family. Take your grandmother out for lunch. Heck, take her out for a beer!"

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A judgement in favour of the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) in a dispute over the interpretation of the Protection from Harassment Act (PHA) may empower the government to use the Act to curb online speech, argued a lawyer.

Remy Choo, one of the lawyers acting on behalf of inventor Ting Choon Meng and socio-political website The Online Citizen (TOC), made the argument before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday (4 October).

Mindef is appealing against a High Court ruling last December that Mindef cannot use the Act to make TOC remove statements made by Ting over a patent rights dispute.

Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon had ruled that Mindef cannot initiate legal actions under the Act as it is not a person. Section 15 of the PHA provides that any person who has been the subject of a false statement may apply to the District Court for remedy.

Arguing his point about the potential for the Act to be used to curtail online speech, Choo cited an anonymous article published on TOC after the initial judgement in favour of Mindef in May 2015.

Choo told the court that the article claimed the government was using Singapore Savings Bonds to build an underground city for 10 million people. In response, the Ministry of National Development asked TOC to remove the article, citing Section 15 of the PHA and threatening to take TOC to court.

The AttorneyGenerals Chambers, which is acting on behalf of Mindef, submitted that interpreting the words any person in Section 15 to include the government would serve the public interest.

According to the AGC, it is incontrovertibly in the public interest that the Government should be able to effectively correct falsehoods attacking the integrity of our public institutions.

But Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang, one of three judges hearing the appeal, noted, It seems to me that Section 15 is a self-help remedy meant to apply to actual persons. At the end of the daythe law is also meant to be common sensical.

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Including the government in the interpretation of any person, said Phang, is akin to a novel where a character who has only been footnoted before is suddenly revealed as the murderer.

Phang added that the ambiguity of Section 15 may simply be down to infelicitous drafting.

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge Phang and Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin have reserved judgement on the matter.
Fighting continued on the outskirts of Kunduz Tuesday as some frightened residents fled the city a day after the Taliban launched an hours-long assault that was repelled by Afghan forces backed by NATO.

Helicopters hovered over the strategic provincial capital and commandoes were stationed in the main square, an AFP correspondent there said, as Afghan forces conducted a clearing operation warning that militants were hiding in civilian homes.

Dozens of residents could be seen boarding buses, many of them government employees and their families fearing Taliban violence.

"I have to leave the city with my family, because my brother is in the army," 40-year-old Hussain told AFP as he boarded a bus for Kabul.

"The situation is uncertain, if the Taliban find out about it they may kill us. The people are very scared, they are all moving to safer places."

"We could not sleep the whole night, each blast would startle my kids and shake our house," said another resident Amrullah.

"There is no safe place in the city, they are fighting from street to street. I have to move my family to a safer place until the situation comes back to normal."

The assault launched early Monday came just over a year after militants briefly seized the provincial capital, and as President Ashraf Ghani flew to Brussels to meet world leaders for a crucial foreign aid conference.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said fighting was ongoing in the city's outskirts, and that at least 30 Taliban insurgents had been killed.

The defence ministry earlier Tuesday said three Afghan soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the fighting.

The number of civilians reaching hospital with bullet and shrapnel wounds jumped from around 40 to more than 100 Tuesday afternoon, hospital officials said, with one person killed.

Kunduz provincial governor Assadullah Omarkhil said the operation was moving slowly "because the Taliban are using people's houses to hide".

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But a Taliban spokesman insisted via Twitter that the militants were still advancing. The insurgents are known to exaggerate their claims.

Jawid Salim a spokesman for the special forces in Kunduz, said the Taliban were setting fire to some buildings as they were pushed out of the city, including the main power station.

On Monday residents had reported being trapped in their homes by intense fighting as the sound of explosions echoed across the city, with provincial officials voicing fears it could fall.

NATO spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said the government was in control of the city, but the strength of the attack was still being assessed.

"We did see fighting but we did not see the scale of attack that was initially being reported," he said, comparing it to "exaggerated" attacks earlier this year on Lashkar Gah in Helmand, and Tarin Kot in Uruzgan.

Afghan troops had responded "effectively", he said.

- 'Pity for MSF victims' -

Ghani is meeting world leaders in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday in a bid to secure financial aid from the international community up to 2020.

The meeting, 15 years after the US invasion of 2001, will try to drum up support despite donor fatigue compounded by conflicts in Syria and Iraq plus the worst migration crisis since World War II.

"The enemy attacked Kunduz to catch the world's attention in Brussels," defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said Tuesday.

After seizing Kunduz on September 28, 2015, the Taliban held the city for two days then withdrew from the outskirts on October 15. More than 280 people were killed and hundreds wounded.

A US air strike during the fighting hit a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres on October 3, killing 42 people.

The organisation, which has not since relaunched its operations in Kunduz, had planned to mark the anniversary Monday by sending its country representative Guilhem Molinie and international president Meinie Nicolai to the city.

But the fresh Taliban assault forced them to hastily cancel and evacuate non-medical staff who had been sent ahead to prepare.

It was "a pity for the victims", Molinie told AFP.
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Geneva's main hospital appeared to burst into flames on Monday night in a simulation to commemorate the deadly U.S. air strike on a Kunduz hospital in Afghanistan a year ago and to condemn Syrian and Russian bombing of health centers in Aleppo. The event was organized by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), which ran the Kunduz trauma center destroyed in the one-hour bombing on Oct. 3, 2015. Forty-two people, including 14 of the medical charity's staff, were killed in a U.S. strike that the Pentagon later said did not amount to a war crime, blaming human error and equipment failure. Four hospitals in rebel-held Aleppo have been destroyed during the Syrian-Russian air campaign in the past week, leaving just five intensive care beds for 250,000 people, the group said. "We are gathered to express our sadness and consternation but also our indignation," Joanne Liu, president of MSF International, told the crowd gathered outside Geneva University Hospital. "But these attacks haven't stopped with Kunduz. Over the last 12 months, the extent of the destruction of hospitals and clinics in Yemen and Syria leaves us speechless ... Aleppo is on fire, it is a bloodbath." World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said that many of the 250,000 people trapped in rebel-held eastern Aleppo lacked health services after repeated bombings of hospitals. "We have now only six partially functional hospitals that are in service, only one hospital offers trauma care services," she told a briefing. The Geneva hospital, where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was treated for a broken femur in May 2015, was lit up on Monday night with projections of war planes bombing it. Images of patients, doctors and nurses scrambled behind the seemingly shattered windows as the wards appeared to burst into flames. Dr. Kathleen Thomas, an Australian doctor who survived the U.S. gunship attack on the 92-bed Kunduz hospital serving nearly one million people in northern Afghanistan, testified to the horror. "We scurried around the room like rats in a cage," she said. "Patients were burning in their beds." North-eastern Afghanistan has been left without a trauma center, Thomas said. "This is not just a mistake occurring in the fog of war. This is a tactic of war." Thomas Nierle, president of MSF Switzerland, said another ceremony planned in Kunduz had been postponed on Monday as Taliban fighters fought their way into the provincial capital. "Without an independent investigation we will never know what happened," Nierle said of the U.S. attack. In the past year, MSF health centers have been attacked 80 times, mainly in Syria and Yemen. "It has become part of the military and political strategy," he told Reuters. Using the hashtag #NotATarget, MSF is trying to raise the profile of cases where civilians, humanitarian workers and hospitals are hit in war zones. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Richard Chang and Robin Pomeroy)
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Africa could become a significant global market for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2025, with Egypt the main driver, as more countries eye gas-to-power projects, a senior official at Total said on Tuesday. With hundreds of millions of people living without electricity in the world's poorest continent, African countries are increasingly turning to gas to take advantage of lower global LNG prices amid a supply glut. "It could be collectively a 20 to 30 million tonnes per year market by 2025," Tom Earl, vice president of gas and power development at the French oil major, told Reuters on the sidelines of a gas conference in Cape Town. He said Egypt could be importing between 15 million-20 million tonnes annually within a decade, although actual volumes would depend on the development of its huge Zohr gas field, which had an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. West Africa was seen importing 5 million tonnes a year, Southern Africa 4 million and Morocco 2 million tonnes by 2025, Earl said. Egypt aims to import between 110 and 120 cargos of liquefied natural gas in 2017, the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding company (EGAS) said in June. "Africa really is going to take a central role, the projects may be typically of smaller scale, but nevertheless they will collectively be very important," said Earl. He said Total was focusing on gas-to-power projects around the world and wanted to develop downstream markets to increase the uptake of gas, which is seen as a cleaner alternative to harmful coal-fired plants. "Total is willing to invest further downstream and that's important for us because it is developing future demand, future markets," he said. He said Total was considering all aspects of South Africa's plans to build two gas-to-power projects with a combined 3,126 megawatt capacity to diversify electricity production away from more environmentally damaging coal plants. The projects, estimated to cost around 50 billion rand ($3.7 bln), will initially require about 1.6 million tonnes of imported gas. Preferred bidders are expected to be announced early next year. ($1 = 13.5782 rand) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Johannesburg (AFP) - South African police fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas at student protesters in Johannesburg on Tuesday as authorities tried to re-open the prestigious Wits University after weeks of demonstrations.

The university, along with many campuses across South Africa, has been closed for at least two weeks during protests over tuition fees, with violent clashes regularly erupting between students, police and private security guards.

"There has been an attempt to disrupt lectures at Wits today," the university said in a statement.

"Police are dispersing the protesting students as we speak, using teargas and stun grenades."

University authorities had vowed to re-open the campus on Tuesday, with vice-chancellor Adam Habib warning of the "immense consequences of not finishing the academic year".

He said most students wanted to return to lectures, adding that police and security staff would ensure teaching could go ahead and that mass protests would not be allowed.

"The university wants to arrest us, instead of listening to us," said 21-year-old Patrick Shabalala, a third-year law student, as clashes continued outside Wits' Great Hall auditorium.

"We are not criminals. We want to study and not end up paying endless student loans from the government. That is why we are striking."

As police opened fire and protesters threw rocks, television footage showed several students and at least one police officer sustaining minor injuries.

- Nationwide unrest -

Campuses nationwide including the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Pretoria have all been hit by violence, arson and closures in recent weeks.

The wave of protests was triggered by a government announcement that universities would set their own fee increases but that next year's hikes could only be as high as eight percent.

"The struggle continues, not only here at Wits but across the country," said Phelokazi Caluza, 19, a first-year chemical engineering student.

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"Students are angry at the government, the governments responds by unleashing cops on us.

"Exams are around the corner but if we don't fight, we will be facing the same problems next year."

Sporadic unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students have protested against fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education.

Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of huge demonstrations which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016.

"We do not agree with those who say that universities should be shut down," President Jacob Zuma said Monday, while confirming that students from poorer families would be given further financial assistance.

"The wanton destruction of university property that we have witnessed are shocking criminal acts," he added.

Funding for South Africa's universities has been stretched as the economy endures flat-lining growth and the government struggles with a 27 percent unemployment rate.

Student activism played a central role in the fight against apartheid, with the massacre of pupils by white police officers in 1976 seen as a key date in the country's tumultuous history.
Beirut (AFP) - The largest hospital in rebel-held parts of Syria's Aleppo was "completely destroyed" in air strikes on Monday, the medical organisation that supports it said.

The M10 hospital was "completely destroyed... It is gone," said Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society, adding that three maintenance workers were killed in the air strikes.

"The hospital is now not usable at all. It is not salvageable, per reports from the staff and doctors there," Sahloul said.

Doctors at M10 were afraid that its upper levels would collapse onto the underground floors, he said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group confirmed that the hospital was destroyed after "being directly targeted by air raids".

M10 was hit multiple times over the past week, sparking international outrage over indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in battered Aleppo.

The top United Nations aid official said on Sunday Aleppo's health care system "is all but obliterated. Medical facilities are being hit one by one."

Backed by Russian warplanes, Syria's army is pressing a ground offensive to retake rebel-held parts of the northern city.

M10 is a hospital codename used by doctors in opposition-controlled territory in Aleppo for security reasons.
Alex Kurtzman and Justin Lin are teaming up for a modern-day Robin Hood drama at CBS, TheWrap has learned.

The series, currently titled A Burglars Guide to the City, has been given a put pilot commitment at the network. It will follow a team of modern-day Robin Hoods, led by a brilliant architect with a troubled past, who use their unique skills to gain access to any stronghold in order to steal from rich criminals and give to those that have been wronged by a corrupt system. It is based on the book by Geoff Manaugh.

Paul Grellong, a co-executive producer on Scorpion, will write the project as well as executive produce. Kurtzman will executive produce under his Secret Hideout banner, along with Heather Kadin and Danielle Woodrow.

Lin, also an executive producer on Scorpion, will executive produce as well as direct. Manaugh will serve as consulting producer, with Manage-ments Nate Miller and Dan Halsted producing. CBS Television Studios will produce.

Also Read: Viacom, CBS Form Special Committees to Explore Merger

This is the first new project announced under Kurtzmans overall deal with CBS. Under the agreement, CBS will have exclusive rights to produce all television content created and developed by Kurtzmans new company, Secret Hideout, which is producing Star Trek: Discovery.

Shows that were formerly produced under Kurtzmans former company, K/O Paper Products  Hawaii Five-0 (CBS), Sleepy Hollow (Fox), and Scorpion (CBS) will continue production under Secret Hideout.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Here Are All the Pros and Cons of a CBS-Viacom Merger

Fall TV: NBC Holds Off CBS to Win Fifth Straight Premiere Week in Key Demo

'Superior Donuts' Ordered to Series at CBS
Amal Clooney isnt ~too impressed~ with Georges cooking, but that doesnt stop them from having a perfect relationship

When we hear the name George Clooney we typically think of a sexy pair of piercing eyes, a full head of hair with the most perfect salt and pepper hue, a dazzling smile, a convicting tone of voice and superb acting skills. And with all of that, cooking is the furthest thing from our minds. The same can be said for Clooneys lawyer and activist wife Amal, who apparently isnt ~too impressed~ with his cooking attempts.

The beautiful couple celebrated their two year wedding anniversary on Sept. 27th, and according to People, the actor has to almost fool his wife to enjoy his meals. He shared some deets about their romantic celebration in an interview with E! News, where he admitted to not being the best cook in the world.

Theyre such a good-looking couple!

George and Amal Clooney

I dont think shes ever quite impressed with my cooking, he spoke honestly. If I slap something together  spaghetti and meatballs  she doesnt know that it comes in a jar, so I can just fool her with that one.

Clooney then went on to say how he and Amal had a civilized night and mostly drank.

That sounds like a perfect night to us!

Listenyou cant have it all! And, we dont know about you, but wed totally take jarred spaghetti sauce from Clooney any day of the week. Its never too late to learn how to cook, but in our books, his good looks, charm, and love overshadow his lack of expertisefor sure.

The post Amal Clooney isnt ~too impressed~ with Georges cooking, but that doesnt stop them from having a perfect relationship appeared first on HelloGiggles.
The second major storm of the season, Hurricane Matthew is a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane and has the potential to be catastrophic.

By India Today Web Desk: The Caribbean countries, after Hurricane Felix of 2007, will have to face the wrath of another powerful tropical cyclone called Hurricane Matthew. Caribbean country, Haiti, has already been drenched by the storm which is moving at a speed of 145 mile-per-hour.

Cruise ships have changed their course, governors of Florida and North Carolina have already declared state of emergency in coastal areas. Three people have already died due to the dangerous storm.



Here are 10 things to know about Hurricane Matthew: Matthew is a powerful tropical cyclone over the Caribbean Sea and is currently a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane. It is the fourteenth tropical cyclone, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the season and was formed from a tropical wave that exited the west coast of Africa on September 22. It moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean. The thunderstorm activity increased along the tropical wave which became a hurricane by September 28 while it was still west of the Leeward Islands. Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and parts of the Dominican Republic soon. But according to the forecast models, the hurricane will also impact states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina situated at the Eastern Coast of the United States. The rain reached Haiti yesterday and the nation might have to handle an estimated 40 inches of rain. "This rainfall will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the US National Hurricane Center said as reported by CNN. Nearly 15 to 25 inches of rain is expected in Southern Haiti and southwestern Dominican Republic. In fact, Eastern Cuba, northwestern Haiti could see rain up to a foot. "It has the potential of being catastrophic," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the Miami-based hurricane center, as reported by Reuters. Haiti and Jamaica have already asked the residents to evacuate vulnerable areas. However, nearly two thousand people have refused to leave their seaside homes in the coastal town of La Savanne and the government might use force if required.

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On Monday, cameras on the International Space Station captured a footage of the Hurricane Matthew, 250 miles above the storm. The Category 4 storm will make a landfall in Haiti. Watch it here:



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The battle for cloud supremacy in France has intensified with both Microsoft Corporation MSFT and Amazon.com AMZN announcing significant investment in the country.

Recently, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced that it intends to open an AWS Region in Paris in 2017. The region will be its fourth in Europe after Ireland, Frankfurt and the United Kingdom.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced its plan to build data centers in France so as to provide Azure, Dynamics 365 and Office 365 services to the French populace by the beginning of next year.

Microsoft also stated that its cloud capacity has more than doubled in Europe in the past year. The company noted that it has invested over $3 billion across Europe to date to develop its cloud footprint.

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Why this Move?

Improved Latency: Both Amazon and Microsoft believe that allowing French organizations to store their data locally will improve latency for sensitive workloads.

Foray into Regulated Sectors: As a regulated sector such as finance doesnt allow moving certain information to foreign jurisdictions due to legal bindings, hosting data centers within the nation will open up doors for both the companies to foray into such segments.

Market Expansion: We note that both companies could leverage their investments in France to tap into Eastern European markets such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Intensifying Competition

Competition in the cloud space is fierce with the presence of major players such as International Business Machines Corporation IBM, Alphabet and salesforce.com apart from Amazon and Microsoft.

Amazon currently leads the Infrastructure-as-a-Service market. According to Gartner AWSs flagship S3 holds nearly twice as much customer data as the top seven other public cloud providers combined.

Per the latest report from Synergy Research Group, Amazon is almost three times the size of its nearest competitor Microsoft in the cloud services infrastructure market.

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Conclusion

Although Amazon is considered a pioneer in the cloud computing market, Microsofts aggressive investment will definitely bridge the gap between the two companies going ahead. Nevertheless, we believe Microsoft will find it significantly difficult to topple Amazon from its numero uno position at least in the near term.

Amazons dominance in the cloud computing market has also driven its returns on a year-to-date basis. The companys shares have surged almost 23.8% compared with Microsofts return of roughly 5.6% and S&P 500s 5.7% over the same time frame.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

At present, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the broader technology space is eGain Corporation EGAN, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Notably, estimates for eGain for the current fiscal year have narrowed down from a loss of 25 cents to a loss of 21 cents.

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On Oct 3, we issued an updated research report on Baton Rouge, LA-based Amedisys Inc. AMED. The company provides home health and hospice services throughout the U.S. to a growing chronic, co-morbid and aging population.

Amedisys experienced strong organic growth in Medicare and non-Medicare revenues under the Home Health segment during the second quarter of 2016. The company is striving to improve the quality of care as well as execute disease management programs catering to the needs of patients served by the hospitals. Amedisys is also trying to expand its business by drawing more referrals from hospitals. In the Hospice space, Amedisys recorded strong quarterly same-store admissions growth.

The company is also expected to benefit from the aging demographics of the U.S. population and the need for higher acuity patients to be taken care of in a home nursing environment. In addition, with rising demand of healthcare services in the U.S., we believe Amedisys will continue to benefit from increased volume shift from higher-cost institutional settings to a lower-cost environment such as home health.

We are also upbeat about the companys strategic acquisitions and partnerships. The company is developing and acquiring new business lines that will complement its existing home care and hospice businesses. In line with this strategy, Amedisys recently entered into an agreement to acquire Professional Profiles, a personal care company in Massachusetts. The companys strong cash balance position reinforces our confidence in the stock.

However, the recent proposed CMS rule for Home Health in 2017, which includes a shift to a budget neutral plan for reimbursement, may weigh on the companys growth. Amedisys has also recorded a high cost of service revenue of 17.5% with a rise of 8.6% in expense on salaries and benefits and an 8.2% increase in other expenses.

We are also concerned about Amedisys intensifying competition from local privately and publicly-owned and hospital-owned health care providers. Since the market for home health and hospice is fragmented with a number of small local providers, there are only a few barriers to entry in this market. The competition is based on the availability of personnel, the quality of services, expertise of visiting staff and the price of services. In addition, Amedisys competes with a number of non-profit organizations that finance acquisitions and capital expenditures on a tax-exempt basis or receive charitable contributions that are unavailable to the company.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Amedisys currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the medical product sector are GW Pharmaceuticals plc GWPH, Quidel Corp. QDEL and NuVasive, Inc. NUVA. GW Pharmaceuticals and Quidel sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while NuVasive carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GW Pharmaceuticals recorded a 91.07% gain year to date, far better than the S&P 500s 5.74% over the same time frame. The trailing four-quarter average earning surprise for the company is 41.67%.

Quidel gained 12.42% in the past one year, higher than the S&P 500s 8.76%. Over the next five years, the stock is estimated to record earnings growth rate of 20%, above the industry average of 14.8%.

NuVasive rallied 26.13% over the past one year compared to the S&P 500s 8.76%. Over the next five years, the stock is expected to see 16.7% earnings growth compared to the industry average of 14.8%.

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Americans remain divided along political and ideological on causes and solutions to climate change with self-identified liberal Democrats most likely to support measures to combat global warming, according to a new survey.

The continued reluctance of many Americans to accept the reality of man-made climate change comes despite near universal acceptance among climate scientists that humans are causing global warming. Indeed, the survey, conduced by the Pew Research Center, suggests that many conservative Republicans view the work of climate scientists with deep skepticism. More than half of conservative Republicans said climate research is tilted to advance scientists careers and political agendas.

Read More: Heres Where People Are Most Concerned About Climate Change

The views of liberals and conservatives also diverged significantly on solutions. Large majorities of liberal Democrats said restrictions on power plant emissions and international agreements on carbon dioxide could slow global warming while less than 30% of conservative Republicans said the same.

The bitter divide on climate change has not helped the issue break through as a top-tier issue the 2016 presidential election. Still, the views of the two major party candidates seem to hew closely to those of their supporters. In one of the few exchanges on the topic this election cycle Hillary Clinton pointed out that Donald Trump has called the phenomenon a hoax. Trump seemed to deny the accusation, though is campaign manager later clarified that Trump is indeed skeptical of the science.

Questioning the reality of man-made climate changeand the danger it poses to the worldruns contrary to the latest science. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of leading scientists from around the globe, said in 2013 evidence of global warming is unequivocal and that it is extremely likely that humans are the primary reason behind it. That United Nations panel is considered conservative in its assessments by most standards.

Read More: Trump and Clinton Diverge Wildly on Questions of Science Policy

Pew surveyed more than 1,500 adults in May and June across all 50 states.
Anderson Cooper has no intention of quitting his day job.

The CNN anchor, whose profile has risen amid a tumultuous election season, has signed a new long-term deal to remain at CNN, thus taking himself out of the running to be Kelly Ripa's co-host on ABC's Live, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

Cooper informed his staff at CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 last week. He also, of course, let good friend Ripa know that he would not be joining her permanently, though he will continue to fill in on the program. Cooper's new CNN contract does still include a carve-out for Cooper to appear on CBS News' 60 Minutes, where he does several pieces each season.

Cooper was Ripa's top choice to replace Michael Strahan. And given the way ABC handled Strahan's departure in favor of a full-time gig at Good Morning America, Ripa may have had enough leverage to get her way. Cooper was also her choice back in 2012, but executives convinced her to get behind Strahan.

But Cooper has always maintained that CNN was his top priority. And it is a job that requires much travel. At the same time, the volatile election season has kept all news divisions busy; Cooper will co-moderate the second presidential debate Sunday with ABC's Martha Raddatz. In the end, he deemed it would be too difficult to do both, say sources close to the anchor.

Live, which is produced by WABC, the network's owned station in New York, is still auditioning co-hosts for Ripa. And Cooper is on the docket for Wednesday, Oct. 12. Those in rotation have included Fred Savage and Neil Patrick Harris. But Harris recently said he is not interested in the gig full-time.

Read more: Anderson Cooper Asks Florida Attorney General If She's a "Hypocrite" on Gay Rights
Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

Donald Trumps former accountant is getting some unwanted attention these days.

Annoying, to say the least, said Jack Mitnick, now 80 and semi-retired in Florida, to the Palm Beach Sun-Sentinel on Sunday of the deluge of phone calls he had been receiving since the day before.

On Saturday, the New York Times published a blockbuster story on what it said were Trumps 1995 tax records. Experts told the paper that his nearly $1 billion claimed income loss that year may have allowed the Republican nominee to legally avoid income taxes for up to 18 years.

The story immediately placed Trump on the defensive. Democrat Hillary Clintons campaign seized the report as evidence of her Republican rivals business failings and of his refusal to play by the rules imposed on average taxpayers.

What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? Clinton said at a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday. How anyone can lose a dollar, let alone a billion dollars, in the casino industry is beyond me. Its just hard to figure.

In an interview with the Times, Mitnick not only verified the legitimacy of the leaked 1995 tax return, but also offered a glimpse at how he helped Trump exploit loopholes in the tax code during the 30 years in which he handled the businessmans taxes.

He knew we could use the tax code to protect him, said Mitnick, who at the time worked for a Long Island accounting firm that catered to New Yorks real estate dynasties. Trumps father, Fred, had been a longtime client of Mitnicks before he took over the younger Trumps taxes.

Here the guy was building incredible net worth and not paying tax on it, Mitnick told the Times.

Mitnick declined to discuss Trumps taxes or financial records with the Sun-Sentinel, noting it had been more than 20 years since he last worked for the real estate tycoon and his family.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has pointed to the leaked tax return as proof of the GOP nominees business savvy, as well as the mainstream medias bias against him. His team said the 1995 tax-return document was obtained illegally.

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Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for President and he is the only one that knows how to fix it, his campaign said in a statement.

Its my job to minimize the overall tax burden to the greatest extent possible, Trump added at a Monday rally in Pueblo, Colo. As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company and my employees.
Im the friend who hasnt texted you back yet. Important life-update emails languish unanswered in my inbox. Facebook messages remain unread. Im even worse at returning calls: Today marks the 28th day Ive been putting off following up on a friends voicemail.

Suddenly, aimed squarely at my basest social flaws, along comes an app called Thoughts. It promises to let me share [my] thoughts and feelings with friends instantly, without having to make a call, send a text message or write a single word.

Heres how it works: The app opens to a blue screen populated with the smiling faces of your friends and family. Tap one of their mugs, and you can choose one of 11 thoughts to send their waythey include a smiley face, a sad face, a kissy face, a hang-loose hand gesture. Tap your choice, and the friend gets a notification on his or her phone with the appropriate image. It animates. End of transaction.

Recommended: Email Etiquette Update: No Need for 'Best,' 'Cheers,' or 'Thanks'

In theory, theres a clear place in my life for this. Without the app: I want to text a friend a link or a video, but remember that I owe them a response to their last thoughtful message, so I make a mental note to send my message, once I have the bandwidth to write a good reply. I promptly forget. With the app: I toss off a quick hearts-for-eyes smiley and buy myself another day before the shame of ignoring the people that care about me sets in again.

But instead of seeming like a convenient way to stay connected, Thoughts feels like it could be a step backward. Something about it crossed a line I didnt know I had in my head until I encountered the app: The idea threatens to commodify warm feelings.

Several years ago, the author Jonathan Safran Foer wrote an essay for The New York Times called How Not to Be Alone. In the piece, he describes the evolution of communication technology as a string of diminished substitutes that allowed humans to connect with each other increasingly easily when they couldnt meet face-to-face. Telephones, answering machines, the internet, text messagingeach new development made it more convenient to say something to someone without being in the same place at the same time. But then, Foer wrote, something changed.

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 A funny thing happened: We began to prefer the diminished substitutes. Its easier to make a phone call than to schlep to see someone in person. Leaving a message on someones machine is easier than having a phone conversationyou can say what you need to say without a response; hard news is easier to leave; its easier to check in without becoming entangled. So we began calling when we knew no one would pick up. Shooting off an e-mail is easier still, because one can hide behind the absence of vocal inflection, and of course theres no chance of accidentally catching someone. And texting is even easier, as the expectation for articulateness is further reduced, and another shell is offered to hide in. Each step forward has made it easier, just a little, to avoid the emotional work of being present, to convey information rather than humanity.

Is Thoughts the logical end to that progression? It certainly isnt the first platform to promise to connect people with minimal effort. Snapchat, which encourages trading in ugly selfies, fills the same need for quick and easy thinking-of-you type communications. Were quick to fire off emojis, too, instead of a longer message in a text threadbut they dont seem to have ruined civilization quite yet.

Recommended: Neither Trump nor Clinton Is the End of the Republic

I asked Diogo Melo, the developer behind Thoughts, what differentiates his app from Snapchat, Yo, or just sending a brief thinking of you text. What we developed is a fast, one-way communication app, he replied. This means that when I send a Thought to someone, I just want that person to know Im thinking about her, period. Its not about me; its about the other person! So I wont be expecting an answer back, nor will that person feel the stress and pressure of having to send something back.

Fair enough. Everyones gotten stuck in useless feedback loops long after an online interaction shouldve ended. That Thanks so much! email seems superfluous, but not sending it would probably be rude. (Such a message does, however, follow my colleague Jim Hamblins golden rule of emailing: brevity.) An update to Apples Messages platform lets you slap on a reaction to any text you receivea thumbs up, a question mark, a ha hawhich has the potential to take the place of the Got it! acknowledgement text, if I ever remember to use it.

Thoughts already has 5,000 users, most of whom were beta testers until it was formally launched this week. (Ninety-eight percent of the user base is Portuguese: Melo only opened up the app to other countries on Wednesday.) For now, the app makes money by showing ads after users send Thoughts to one another. (I tried multiple times to sign up for the app, but kept running into errors.)

Thoughts

Even though the idea for the app made sense to me on paper, I told Melo I was still skeptical. Could it make some friendships feel even more transactional? Would sending a Thought make us feel like weve done our friendship duty for the week, without really doing anything at all?

Recommended: No, Not Gary Johnson

We are not trying to solve the modern worldit is what it is, Melo said. What we are trying to do is giving people a tool that gives them the ability to light up anothers day in seconds, because it really feels good to be remembered.

In fact, It feels good to be remembered is the apps slogan. I dont know, however, how good it feels to receive a Thought, never having had the pleasure of being sent one. I imagine it would feel nice.

Im not here to say that Thoughts wont succeed, or that it shouldnt. Every time a new app or platform is supposed to ruin society, it doesnt; usually, when a new app is supposed to save us, it fails to do that, too.

My first reaction when I saw the idea was that it was a cold, Silicon Valley approach to human relationships. The product video features attractive white people staring out of car windows and unzipping camping tents, and its marketing materials include phrases like This concept  allows us to be closer to the people we care [about] most, in a simple and immediate way. No words needed. But no, Thoughts was developed in Lisbon, one of Europes booming tech hubs, and Melo, who acknowledges that the app wont be for everyone, genuinely seems to have conceived of the idea with real relationships in mind.

But the progression of communication platforms that make it increasingly easier to get in touch made me wonder whether its time to apply the brakes. As we try to mine the good feelings we get from connecting with our friends with less and less effort, at some point, perhaps we wont be connecting with them at alljust tricking ourselves into thinking that we are.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By PTI: Hyderabad, Oct 4 (PTI) International Coal Ventures Limited (ICVL), the joint venture formed by five PSUs SAIL, RINL, NMDC, NTPC and CIL, has stopped operations in its newly acquired coal mine in Mozambique and they remain suspended until a new contractor is appointed.

The Board of Directors of ICVL had approved to stand guarantee for USD 150 million as capex loan to the beleaguered mine.

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According to a senior official of one of the partner PSUs in ICVL, coal mining has become expensive as compared to the prevailing rates and the joint venture is in the lookout for cheaper rates.

"ICVL has suspended its operations (in Mozambique mine) since December last year as the term of the previous contractor was over. ICVL has issued notification seeking expression of interest from contractors. The whole process is expected to take a few months. Till then there will not be any mining from Mozambique Mine," the official told PTI.

ICVL was formed for acquisition of stake in coal mines or blocks or companies overseas for securing coking and thermal coal supplies. In view of lack of suitable commercially viable opportunities for thermal coal, NTPC has decided to exit from ICVL. Coal India also later informed that it is not interested in continuing in the joint venture.

As ICVL was formed by a directive from the government of India, approval is awaited for exit by NTPC and CIL.

In 2014, ICVL signed a pact to buy Rio Tintos 65 per cent stake in Benga and 100 per cent each in Zambeze and Tete East coal assets in the African nation for USD 50 million. Benga, the only operational mine, was making cash losses.

SAIL with 46.63 per cent stake in ICVL had invested Rs 495.03 crore in equity shares provided a letter of comfort of USD 30 million to Exim Bank.

"ICVL post acquisition of Benga mine at Mozambique had tried various options of cost reduction and minimise the cash loss in operation. The company had achieved significant reduction in cost compared to the pre acquisition era." SAIL said in its latest annual report.

"However, with the depressed coking coal prices, the operations continued to make losses. The mining operations had stopped from 31st December 2015. ICVL is undertaking a strategic review for future course of action," it added.

ICVL has so far infused Rs 1,214.60 crore for the Mozambique mining operations and another USD 30 million loan by the Exim Bank has also been pumped into the operations.

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"In addition, the Board has also approved for providing a corporate guarantee to Exim Bank to secure USD 150 million (equivalent to Rs 1006 crore) Long Term Capex loan in favour of Minas De Benga (MBL)," ICVL had recently said.

"The Board has also approved a cash call of USD 69.30 million( equivalent of Rs 465 crore) to meet the working capital requirement of Mozambique operations to be invested through ICVL Mauritius, a wholly owned subsidiary of company in Mauritius," it added. PTI GDK DK ADI MKJ BAS

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There have been many great technology duels throughout different eras. The 8-track vs. cassette. Betamax vs. VHS. The printed page vs. a life of serfdom.all epic battles that were waged on the vanguard of a rapidly-changing technological landscape, and according to some experts, all battles that will be but a footnote to a footnote when compared to the oncoming Virtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality wars that will destroy us all.

Thats just what Tim Cook believes, in a manner of speaking. Appearing for an incredibly rare interview at Senator Orrin Hatchs Utah Tech Tour in Salt Lake City over the weekend, the longtime Apple CEO laid out the realities of the VR vs. AR War To End Us All, and his prediction as to which technology would emerge the winner didnt exactly fall in line with the current consensus.

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AR I think is going to become really big, said Cook. VR, I think, is not gonna be that big, compared to AR  How long will it take? AR gonna take a little while, because theres some really hard technology challenges there. But it will happen. It will happen in a big way. And we will wonder, when it does [happen], how we lived without it. Kind of how we wonder how we lived without our [smartphones] today.

And why does Cook feel this way? Well, it all boils down to a relatively simple understanding of social psychology  mainly, that humans dont like to be confined in order to enjoy a unique experience.

In terms of it becoming a mass adoption, say everyone [in this room] would have an AR experience, continued Cook. The reality is it has to be something that everybody in [this room] views as an acceptable thing. But few people in here are going to think its acceptable to be tethered to a computer walking in here and sitting down. And few people in here are going to view that its acceptable to be enclosed in something, because were all social people at heart.

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While Cook was quick to reiterate that it would be some time before Apple released an AR product, he has previously stated his interests in testing out such a technology. During Apples quarterly earnings call this summer, Cook said that the company was high on AR for the long run and would continue investing in it, as they did back in 2013 when they first purchased a series of patents based around the technology. With games like Pokemon Go! already making use of augmented reality, however, the timeline for the first fully integrated AR phone may have just received a shot in the arm, so to speak.

Whichever direction Apple does decide to take lets hope they have the common sense to install a headphone jack in it, for f*cks sake.

(Mashable)
LONDON (Reuters) - An "army" of 2-metre-high (6.5-foot) statues has been assembled in the courtyard of a former royal palace in London to welcome visitors to an African art fair. Something of a cross between China's terracotta warriors and the Easter Island monoliths, the 40 stern-faced black figures dominate the neoclassical entrance to Somerset House which is hosting the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. The work of London-born artist Zak Ove, the installation "Black and Blue: The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness" is meant to recall a play performed at Somerset House when it was the home of the wife of King James I in the 17th century that featured players in blackface makeup. "The installation comments on the relationship between power, beauty, identity and skin colour," according the organisers of the show, which includes paintings, sculptures and photography by a range of artists. The 1:54 exhibition, named after the number of countries in Africa, runs from Oct. 6 to Oct. 9. (Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
* Brilinta fails to show benefit over clopidogrel in PAD

* Follows failure of heart drug in stroke trial in March

* Drugmaker sells rights to Toprol-XL for up to $223 mln (Adds sales forecasts, detail on Toprol-XL deal with Aralez)

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's heart drug Brilinta has failed to help patients with serious circulatory problems in their legs, dealing a blow to a medicine that the company has tipped as a potential $3.5 billion-a-year seller by 2023.

AstraZeneca said on Tuesday that Brilinta failed to show a benefit over the older blood thinner clopidogrel in treating peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a large-scale clinical trial. PAD usually affects the legs.

Clopidogrel is the generic name of Sanofi's former blockbuster drug Plavix, which is now off patent.

The setback follows similar disappointing results in March with the same AstraZeneca pill in another big trial in stroke patients. Both studies were designed to open up new markets for Brilinta beyond its current use in heart attack patients.

Sean Bohen, AstraZeneca's head of global medicines development and chief medical officer, said he was disappointed that the so-called EUCLID trial had failed but added: "The proven benefits of Brilinta in acute coronary syndrome and post-myocardial infarction (heart attack) patients are established and remain unchanged."

Full results from the EUCLID trial, which involved 13,885 patients, are expected to be presented at the American Heart Association annual meeting in New Orleans in November.

A positive result could have boosted consensus forecasts for Brilinta, which currently stand at an annual $2.1 billion for 2021, according to Thomson Reuters data.

During its defence against a takeover bid from Pfizer in 2014, AstraZeneca gave a projection of Brilinta sales reaching $3.5 billion by 2023, making it an important part of a $45 billion revenue target announced by the company at the time.

Brilinta's sales in 2015 were $619 million.

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Separately, AstraZeneca also announced it had agreed to sell the U.S. rights its old beta-blocker heart drug Toprol-XL to Aralez Pharmaceuticals, marking the latest move by the British company to divest non-core businesses as it focuses on bringing out newer medicines, especially for cancer.

Aralez will pay AstraZeneca $175 million upfront to acquire the rights to Toprol-XL tablets in the United States, and the authorised generic medicine marketed by Par Pharmaceuticals. It will also pay up to $48 million in milestone and sales-related payments, as well as mid-teen percentage royalties on sales.

(Additional reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton and Louise Heavens)
By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's heart drug Brilinta has failed to help patients with serious circulatory problems in their legs, prompting the company to scrap a $3.5 billion-a-year sales target for the medicine by 2023. AstraZeneca said on Tuesday Brilinta did not show a benefit over older blood thinner clopidogrel in treating peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a large-scale clinical trial. PAD usually affects the legs. Clopidogrel is the generic name of Sanofi's former blockbuster drug Plavix, which is now off patent. The setback follows similar disappointing results in March with the same AstraZeneca pill in another big trial in stroke patients. Both studies were designed to open up new markets for Brilinta beyond its current use in heart attack patients. "We don't believe the goal of $3.5 billion is attainable. I think it would be unrealistic to believe that," Ludovic Helfgott, head of AstraZeneca's Brilinta business, told Reuters. Shares in the company - which had not provided any guidance on the $3.5 billion sales prediction in the wake of the earlier stroke study - were down 1 percent at 0745 GMT. Despite the disappointment, Helfgott said he remained very confident of demand for Brilinta for treating post-heart attack and acute coronary syndrome patients. "The potential for the current indication is far from being exhausted," he said, pointing to improved sales momentum for the product in recent quarters. Full results from the so-called EUCLID trial in PAD, which involved 13,885 patients, are expected at the American Heart Association annual meeting in New Orleans in November. Current consensus analyst forecasts for Brilinta stand at an annual $2.1 billion for 2021, according to Thomson Reuters data. During its defense against a takeover bid from Pfizer in 2014, AstraZeneca projected Brilinta sales reaching $3.5 billion by 2023, making it an important part of a $45 billion revenue target announced at the time. Brilinta's sales in 2015 were $619 million. Separately, AstraZeneca announced it had agreed to sell the U.S. rights to its old beta-blocker heart drug Toprol-XL to Aralez Pharmaceuticals, marking the latest move by the British company to divest non-core businesses as it focuses on bringing out newer medicines, especially for cancer. Aralez will pay AstraZeneca $175 million upfront to acquire the rights to Toprol-XL tablets in the United States, and the authorized generic medicine marketed by Par Pharmaceuticals. It will also pay up to $48 million in milestone and sales-related payments, as well as mid-teen percentage royalties on sales. The Aralez deal comes a day after AstraZeneca sold rights to an experimental medicine for inflammatory diseases to Allergan for an upfront payment of $250 million and potential additional payments of up to $1.27 billion. (Additional reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Mark Potter)
Authentic Talent and Literary Management has hired the three-man comedy team from Converge Media Group, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

Veteran comedy manager Rick Dorfman co-founded Converge in 2013 with client J.B. Smoove in part to explore digital and branding opportunities for his roster of comics. The company was acquired by former Maker Studios CEO Danny Zappin's Zealot Networks last year. This July, Dorfman bought back Converge and is now bringing all of its business to Authentic. These comedians include Smoove as well as Chris Distefano (who has a pilot-production commitment at CBS for a semi-autobiographical family comedy with How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas), truTV's Comedy Knockout host Damien Lemon, Guys We F*cked podcast co-host Krystyna Hutchinson, Artie Lange and Jim Breuer.

Joining Dorfman at Authentic are his associates Steve Wettenstein and James Cristiano, whose clients include Lynne Koplitz, Sam Morril, Dan Perlman, James Manzello, Brendan Fitzgibbons, Emma Willman, Jay Black, Bowen Yang and Tamer Kattan.

"I'm a lifelong comedy fan, and I've been a fan and friend of Rick's for many years, so this is really a dream come true," Authentic president Jon Rubinstein said in a statement. "Rick and his team bring a real entrepreneurial spirit to Authentic and will help us to expand our already growing production business while giving us endless opportunities to cross-pollinate and build in the television, branded and digital spaces. And we're excited to support his comedians in the areas where we are already strong. Plus, they have a real commitment to making a difference in the world, which makes them a perfect fit for Authentic."

The New York-based trio brings Authentic's manager total to 24, evenly divided between its Brooklyn and Culver City offices. The management/production company's rapid expansion includes the recent additions of Brantley Brown from Schachter/Brown, Peri Litvak from UTA and Shepard Smith from Luber Roklin.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said she misspoke Monday when she said during a debate that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would be a role model for her children.

I misspoke tonight, Ayotte said in a statement. While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldnt hold up either of them as role models for my kids.

During the debate against her Democratic challenger, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, in Henniker, N.H., Ayotte was asked if she would point to Trump as a role model and whether she would tell kids to be like Donald Trump.

I think that certainly there are many role models that we have, Ayotte replied. And I believe that he can serve as president, so absolutely I would do that.

Ayotte was pressed by the moderator how she could see the outspoken real estate mogul as a role model without endorsing him.

Ive had some disagreements with him, and Ive been quite clear about those disagreements, Ayotte replied.

During the campaign, Ayotte has struck an awkward position when it comes to Trump: She says she will vote for him but insists that decision does not count as an endorsement.

After Ayotte and fellow Republicans Paul Ryan and John McCain criticized Trump earlier this year, Trump refused to support them for re-election. Under pressure, the Republican nominee relented and endorsed all three in August.

After Trumps endorsement, Ayotte reiterated to CNN that she would vote for him but not endorse his campaign.

While he has my vote, he doesnt have my endorsement, she said. Theres actually a big distinction. An endorsement is one where Im out campaigning with someone. Im going to continue to focus, really, on my race.

Recent polls show Ayotte and Hassan locked in a tight battle in the Granite State  one of a number of races across the country that will determine control of the Senate.

According to a WBUR survey conducted late last month, Hassan holds a 2-point lead (48 percent to 46 percent) over Ayotte among likely New Hampshire voters. But a Monmouth University poll released the week before showed Ayotte with a 2-point advantage.

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Hassan is hoping to use Ayottes debate stumble to her advantage. On Tuesday, her campaign released an ad seizing on the senators absolutely answer.
A provider of galvanizing services and other electrical solutions, AZZ Inc.s AZZ board of directors has approved a 13.3% increase in its quarterly dividend. The revised payout of 17 cents per share will be distributed on Nov 1, 2016 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct 18, 2016.

The latest hike marks an increase of 2 cents from the prior rate of 15 cents per share and it reflects management's confidence in the companys financial profile and performance. The new annualized dividend amounts to 68 cents per share, up from 60 cents paid earlier, resulting in a dividend yield of 1.03%.

The latest dividend hike demonstrates the companys ability to generate persistently strong cash flows, and offer solid and incremental returns to shareholders.

AZZ INC Price

AZZ INC Price | AZZ INC Quote

Joint Venture to Boost Performance

On Sep 20, AZZ formed a joint venture (JV) with Abdulrahman Ababtain Co., Ltd., to manufacture high-voltage, gas-insulated transmission line (GIL) products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The companys technological innovations and engineering expertise is sure to prove indispensable in the production of the GIL offering, which is aimed to cater to customers in the Middle East. The JV will give AZZ access to local markets in the region and is in sync with the companys objective of expanding operations in international markets.

The joint venture will become operational in the first half of 2017, after finalization later this year. It will mark the inauguration of AZZs first dedicated facility in the country.

Our View

AZZ has been focused on global expansion. In Jul 2016, the company was awarded a contract by Sanmen Nuclear Power Company, under which it will manufacture two circuits of 550kV 3,150Amp GIL for the latters nuclear plant located in the Zhejiang Province of China.

In addition, proper and prudent channelization of capital resources will boost performance and facilitate shareholder-friendly initiatives, going forward.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

AZZ currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the Machinery Electrical space include EnerSys ENS, Schneider Electric SE SBGSY and AO Smith Corp. AOS. Each of these stocks carriesa Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can seethe complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

EnerSyshas delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 2.20% in the trailing four quarters.

Schneider Electric SE has witnessed stable revisions in its Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last 60 days for both 2016 and 2017.

AO Smith has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 6.30% in the trailing four quarters.

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Turns out the creme de la creme of young Indian minds is not as supportive of the country's LGBTQ community as one might expect.

The cards are stacked against the LGBTQ community in India.

By India Today Web Desk: Even as India struggles to support its LGBTQ community, while battling with draconian laws like Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a poll conducted at a premier Indian institution paints a dismal picture.

According to a report published by student media body Insight, 38% students in IIT Bombay believe homosexuality is a 'disease' and needs to be cured. The figure may seem small, but considering the university brings together the creme de la creme of young Indian minds, it is one of report's many disappointing findings.

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"A significant minority of our institute identifies itself as a part of the LGBTQ community," reads the report, explaining the aim of the research exercise was "to gauge the amount of acceptance the LGBTQ have in the campus."

Here are some other findings published in the report:



79% students said they were comfortable with an open LGBTQ culture. 37% also believed that homosexuality is against our religion. 93% respondents don't mind what the members of the LGBTQ community do in the privacy of their bedrooms. 71% respondents said LGBTQ can be good parents. 52% said LGBTQ people can affect a child's sexuality. 39% students said that they wouldn't want their children to be taught by LGBTQ teachers. 38% of the respondents advised the LGBTQ community to find a 'remedy' for their sexuality. 23% students believe members of the LGBTQ community have used their sexuality to become famous. 48% respondents strongly agreed when asked if the LGBTQ community needs support to fight against difficulties they face. 46% respondents said they would be 'strongly uncomfortable' if they have an LGBTQ member as a roommates. Only 21% students said they would be alright with an LGBTQ person as their roommate.

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Dhaka (AFP) - As one of the only female architects in a country where women rarely even enter mosques, Marina Tabassum was an unconventional choice to design Bangladesh's new Baitur Rouf Mosque, which has just won a prestigious international prize.

But there is little of the conventional about the 45-year-old Tabassum or her design, which eschews traditional minarets and domes in favour of a single-storey terracotta brick structure that is suffused with light and remains cool even in the scorching summer months.

Like most women in deeply conservative Bangladesh, Tabassum had barely set foot in a mosque when she was commissioned to design the building in 2005 after her grandmother donated a piece of land.

Few of Bangladesh's mosques have dedicated sections for female worshippers, and most women pray at home.

But Tabassum visited over 100 before setting pen to paper for the Baitur Rouf Mosque in north Dhaka, focusing on creating a haven of peace in a poor neighbourhood of one of the world's most congested cities.

"We may not have a tradition of women going into mosques to pray in the Indian subcontinent, but I have experienced some really beautiful spiritual spaces. That has always been a great inspiration to me," she told AFP in a recent interview.

"The whole idea of spirituality as an element in design has always been something very intriguing and I like working with spiritual spaces."

The 45-year-old, who emerged as one of Bangladesh's top architects after designing Dhaka's Museum of Independence, says her sex has not constrained her career.

"I think of myself as a professional. This whole notion of me being a woman really does not exist in my mind. It just does not exist," she said.

- 'Natural air conditioning' -

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is handed out every three years and rewards excellence in architecture serving Muslim communities. This year the $1 million prize was shared between six projects around the world.

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The jury said the Dhaka mosque "challenges the status quo", praising its "robust simplicity that allows for deep reflection and contemplation in prayer".

Officially secular but mainly Muslim Bangladesh has a rich history of mosque building, dating back to the Turkish invasion of the 13th century.

The earliest combined their own designs with elements found in local traditions, such as the use of brick and small domes that span the roof, creating a unique style.

Tabassum said she tried to fuse those "glorious lost traditions" of mosque design with contemporary architectural practices.

Since it was completed in 2012, the Baitur Rouf Mosque has attracted visitors from around the country -- to the obvious delight of the imam, Deen Islam.

"Unlike other mosques in the country, it does not have a minaret, or a dome, or a platform to deliver Friday prayers. Yet to these visitors it is one of the most beautiful mosques of the country," the 38-year-old imam told AFP on a recent visit.

"The mild light that enters the mosque is very soothing. Even during a hot summer day, the temperature inside remains mild. You feel like you're in natural air conditioning."

Dozens of tiny windows in the roof and walls create a soft light that changes through the day as the sun passes over the building, while the traditional terracotta bricks keep the interior cool.

Tabassum also teaches architecture students and says she is highly selective about the projects she takes on, and every one must have some social value.

"We are a very young nation and an architect's responsibility goes beyond just designing beautiful buildings," she said.

"We can design buildings like the ones designed by Frank Gehry. But I would question whether that would be the right thing to do in a country like Bangladesh, whose economy is still not developed.

"In the Bangladesh context, that would be an ugly thing to do."
He's not on the ballot, something he's repeatedly noted, since winning re-election in 2012. Yet President Barack Obama is pushing one of his key constituencies -- African-American voters -- to the polls for Hillary Clinton, who can't win without their overwhelming support.

[READ: Donald Trump's Dismal Appeal to Black Voters]

"If you don't vote, that's a vote for [Republican nominee Donald] Trump. If you vote for a third-party candidate who's got no chance to win, that's a vote for Trump," Obama said during an interview on "The Steve Harvey Morning Show" broadcast last week. And the stakes, he argued, are high -- maybe even historic.

"So the notion somehow that, 'Well, you know, I'm not as inspired because Barack and [first lady] Michelle [Obama], they're not on the ballot this time, and, you know, maybe we kinda take it easy' -- my legacy's on the ballot," the president said. "You know, all the work we've done over the last eight years is on the ballot."

However, getting black voters to embrace Clinton -- Obama's former rival-turned-anointed successor and first lady to former President Bill Clinton, once admiringly called "the first black president" until the real thing came along -- is easier said than done.

Despite her credentials, including a history of fighting for African-American issues, tenure in Obama's cabinet and having two black women as inner-circle advisers, a recent New York Times report found a clear lack of enthusiasm for Clinton among many young African-American voters. The report also found that, compared with Obama, she's underperforming with black men in key swing states, including Florida and Ohio.

And former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, the nation's first black governor since Reconstruction and one of Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine's predecessors in the Old Dominion's governor's mansion, says Clinton doesn't have a coherent message that would fire up black America.

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"For her to go out and say to the African-American community, 'I want you to elect me so that we can continue the legacy of Barack Obama,' what exactly is it that you want to continue?" Wilder told the Washington Post last week.

There's no doubt Clinton's got the black vote on lockdown; it's a highly loyal Democratic constituency that's largely given the side-eye to Trump, a political novice who has veered from ham-fisted "black outreach" to describing African-American communities as dystopian hellholes of bad schools, substandard housing and random deadly violence.

But such talk has made the celebrity billionaire a sensation with the white working class in key Rust Belt states. His unorthodox, populist campaign, coupled with restless swing voters eager for change, has managed to erase Clinton's double-digit leads in national polls.

To soundly defeat Trump in November, analysts agree, Clinton needs the African-American vote to surge to the polls in record numbers like they did for Obama. Though the share of the national black electorate is roughly 12 percent, black turnout pushed past 13 percent in both 2008 and 2012, overrepresentation that helped Obama make history.

While exit polls showed overall voter turnout was down in 2012 compared to 2008, states where African Americans make up 20 percent or more of the population -- including the Black Belt, the arc of Southern states sweeping from Louisiana to Maryland -- saw a smaller turnout decline than the national average, with Georgia the only exception.

According to polls, however, the big love Obama got from black voters in 2008, and the buoyancy they gave him when he ran for reelection in 2012, hasn't yet transferred to Clinton, says Kerry Haynie, a Duke University professor of political science and African-American studies.

"I've traveled around Durham [North Carolina]. I did not see one campaign sign in my barbershop -- not even anything about the Clinton campaign," says Haynie, who works in North Carolina, a key electoral battleground. Compared to 2008 and 2012, when Obama signs dominated the black community, Clinton's presence there is so light "you wouldn't even know there was an election."

[RELATED: For Hillary Clinton, the African-American Vote Is Key]

Instead of backing Clinton, voters in North Carolina are more focused on defeating Trump. And Haynie says that can make a difference when ballots are cast.

"They aren't talking about it with enthusiasm for Clinton but in opposition to Donald Trump," Haynie says. "If you're the candidate, you want people to be enthusiastic about you because it might affect turnout."

To gin up excitement, the Clinton campaign says it's been reaching out to black voters, from historically black colleges to barber shops and beauty salons to the Black Twitterati. They say powerful African-American surrogates like the Obamas have only begun to vouch for her. And they insist a low-key but intense voter-outreach campaign will yield big dividends at the polls.

"You'll see the results of our efforts" in about 30 days, says Addisu Demissie, Clinton's national voter outreach and mobilization director. "I'm confident that black people in this country are going to understand the stakes and are not going to let us turn back now."

Yet the biggest factor working against Clinton could be Obama himself.

Having smashed a seemingly impenetrable racial barrier to serve two terms as leader of the free world, the nation's first black president is legendary in the black community, with civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. as perhaps his only peer.

Clinton, by contrast, has acknowledged that, when it comes to campaigning, she's less showhorse and more workhorse, with the nicks and scars that accompany three decades on the national stage. Under the best of circumstances, it's a tough ask for black voters who cherish Obama -- a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime political phenomenon -- to get as excited about her.

"Familiarity breeds contempt -- that's a good way of saying it," Haynie says.

And though Clinton points to the work she did as a child-welfare advocate in Mississippi after finishing law school in the 1970s, and as Arkansas' first lady when her husband was governor, her African-American critics haven't forgotten her battle with Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

The epic, historic clash between a white woman and a black man for a major political prize tap-danced on the edge of race, including allegations the Clinton campaign fomented rumors that Obama was a drug dealer, and President Clinton's acid-tongued critique that Obama's success against his wife was, among other things, based on a "fairy tale."

Back then, Clinton herself attacked Obama for his affiliation with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose incendiary sermons condemned the U.S. for its racist past. She also walked past an opportunity to decisively shut down a whisper campaign that Obama was a secret Muslim, and once referred to herself as the candidate of "hard-working Americans, white Americans."

Then there's the 1994 Crime Bill, which President Clinton signed into law -- and which some analysts say helped fuel the boom in the African-American incarceration rate. The bill, and Hillary Clinton's vocal support for it as first lady, is a major bone of contention between her and young Black Lives Matter activists, an influential coalition whose agenda includes criminal justice reform.

Given Clinton's record of fighting against childhood poverty and for public-school reform, "It's sort of an unfair tarnishing of her," Haynie says. "But all politicians do that -- they make mistakes, they do things that they regret. If you look at the totality of public life, they do not [represent] who she was, who she is or what she represents."

Nevertheless, it doesn't negate the fact that Clinton "still has a race problem," Melissa Harris-Perry, a political scientist at Wake Forest University and Elle editor-at-large, wrote in the magazine's latest issue. "Like many of the challenges facing her candidacy, it is only marginally of her own making, but it is a problem nonetheless."

Outreach aside, Harris-Perry wrote, Trump is exploiting the handicap in hopes of depressing black voter turnout. During their first presidential debate, Trump resurrected the 2008 campaign ("You treated him with terrible disrespect," he told Clinton) and pushed the widely held view that Democrats, Obama included, take the black vote for granted.

"The African-American community has been let down by our politicians," Trump said. "They talk good around election time, like right now, and after the election, they said, 'See ya later, I'll see you in four years.'"

That see-you-when-I-need-you shade, coupled with President Clinton's anti-crime crackdown during the '90s -- at the urging of black politicians who represented crime-ravaged districts -- are significant elements in the ennui towards Hillary Clinton.

"This summer's #GirlIGuessImWithHer viral hashtag captured black voter ambivalence towards Clinton's candidacy," Harris-Perry wrote. "When Trump speaks of hellish inner city neighborhoods that need his special brand of law and order, he is tapping into an argument trumpeted for nearly two decades by former President Clinton, who claimed to have brought down crime by putting 100,000 officers on city streets."

Demissie, the campaign's voter outreach director, says Clinton has been working overtime to emphasize her connections to black America: she's toured historically-black colleges and universities; she's spoken at conclaves for the NAACP, the Urban League and National Association of Black Journalists, among others; and she's engaging online with members of Black Twitter, including the Black Girl Magic coalition.

"You look at 40 years of [Clinton's] career, and that's what she should be judged upon," Demissie says. "But that's what campaigns are for. It's our job to put a message out. That's what we're doing, as aggressively as we can. And that ramp is about to get real steep. Voters are going to tune in and hear our message loud and clear over the last 30 days."

Though Obama's central argument for Clinton to black voters is protection of his legacy, "the election can't be just about the last eight years," Demissie says. "Black voters understand the stakes here, especially given our opponent. I think the future of black families is on the ballot. I do think that's a motivating argument."

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake agrees. Obama's success in 2008 and 2012 may have set a high bar with black voters -- "It would be very difficult to replicate that again," Lake says -- but the president's endorsement of Clinton, her work shoring up the black vote, and his calls to protect his historic legacy, should help her clear it.

[PHOTOS: The Big Picture -- September 2016]

"If anything, African-American voters delivered the primary for her" against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Lake says.

"Hillary Clinton has the same level of engagement and strength among African-American voters as Democrats have traditionally had, other than Barack Obama," says Lake. At the same time, she says, focus groups Lake has convened show black voters agree with Clinton and Obama that Trump is an existential threat; their positive response to Obama's warning that his legacy is on the ballot "was off the charts."

And Michelle Obama, her not-so-secret weapon, will help Clinton make inroads with African-American millennials in places like Georgia -- a deep-red Black Belt state that nevertheless is in play, with the former secretary of state trailing by just five points. At the same time, Lake says, black support for Trump, which had recently bumped into the low single digits, has flatlined to around zero percent, and "nobody ever gets to zero in a poll" unless they're trying.

Demissie says Clinton's effort to reach black voters, combined with Trump's near-deliberate alienation of them, should help catapult her into office in November, just as they did with Obama in 2008 and 2012.

"Reality is setting in. The choice is between two diametrically opposite candidates," Demissie says "You have a candidate who has fought for black families her entire life, and someone who would take us far, far backwards."

"I think that's going to trump -- pun intended -- anything else that may be out there," he said.

For Clinton to win the oval office, it will have to.

Joseph P. Williams is a news editor with U.S. News & World Report. E-mail him at JWilliams@usnews.com.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays (BARC.L) has completed the sale of its Egyptian business to Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank (ATW.CS) as part of its shift towards focussing on the United States and Britain.

The sale will mean a cut of about 2 billion pounds in Barclays' risk-weighted assets, it said on Tuesday, boosting the bank's core capital ratio by about 0.1 percent.

Barclays did not give a price for the transaction, although sources previously told Reuters they valued the business at around $400 million.

The London-based lender is seeking to sell its African operations as part of a plan by Chief Executive Jes Staley to simplify its structure and improve shareholder returns.

However, attempts to sell the African businesses as one have come up against difficulties, including the disparate nature of the local units, the biggest of which is Barclays Africa Group (BGAJ.J), mainly made up of former South African bank ABSA.

Barclays successfully sold a 12 percent chunk of its holding in the South African bank in May, but talks to sell a bigger holding in the business have so far not yielded a deal.

Former Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond's bid to buy Barclays Africa Group as part of a consortium was dealt a blow by the withdrawal of Carlyle Group (CG.O) earlier this year.

Reuters reported Attijariwafa's interest in March, as the Moroccan lender's general manager told Reuters he planned to expand in Egypt.

Barclays shares were up 1.4 percent at 1500GMT, in line with an increase in the broader STOXX European banks index (.SX7P).

(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by David Clarke and Alexander Smith)
(Adds price estimate, background on Africa disposals, share price)

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays has completed the sale of its Egyptian business to Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank as part of its shift towards focusing on the United States and Britain.

The sale will mean a cut of about 2 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) in Barclays' risk-weighted assets, it said on Tuesday, boosting the bank's core capital ratio by about 0.1 percent.

Barclays did not give a price for the transaction, although sources previously told Reuters they valued the business at around $400 million.

The London-based lender is seeking to sell its African operations as part of a plan by Chief Executive Jes Staley to simplify its structure and improve shareholder returns.

However, attempts to sell the African businesses as one have come up against difficulties, including the disparate nature of the local units, the biggest of which is Barclays Africa Group , mainly made up of former South African bank ABSA.

Barclays successfully sold a 12 percent chunk of its holding in the South African bank in May, but talks to sell a bigger holding in the business have so far not yielded a deal.

Former Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond's bid to buy Barclays Africa Group as part of a consortium was dealt a blow by the withdrawal of Carlyle Group earlier this year.

Reuters reported Attijariwafa's interest in March, as the Moroccan lender's general manager told Reuters he planned to expand in Egypt.

Barclays shares were up 1.4 percent at 1500GMT, in line with an increase in the broader STOXX European banks index.

($1 = 0.7843 pounds) (Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by David Clarke and Alexander Smith)
(Adds confirmation from authorities in Argentina, background)

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp said on Tuesday normal operations had resumed at its Veladero mine in Argentina following approval from local authorities after processing solution containing cyanide spilled last month.

Operations were suspended at the mine on Sept. 15 after falling ice damaged a pipe, spilling some crushed ore saturated with process solution containing cyanide. This is the second cyanide spill in just over a year at Veladero.

A spokesman for the province of San Juan confirmed local judge Hugo Quiroga had lifted the suspension.

"The mining company completed the measures required ... so the resumption of mining was ordered," said Osvaldo Lima, undersecretary of public information of San Juan.

Measures ordered by the province included increasing the height of the perimeter berms, or raised banks, surrounding the leach pad where the gold is leached from the ore.

Barrick, the world's biggest gold producer by output, said it would continue to assess the impact of the temporary suspension on Veladero's production for this year.

However, the Toronto-based miner continues to expect total production for the company to be in the range of 5 million to 5.5 million ounces at all-in sustaining costs in a range of $750 to $790 an ounce.

Veladero, an open pit mine, is one of Barrick's five core operations. The company is targeting production of 580,000 to 640,000 ounces of gold a year from the mine.

Barrick said "extensive" water monitoring in the area had confirmed the incident did not have any environmental impact. The spilled material remained within the boundaries of the mine site.

The miner has not said how much processing solution spilled. Barrick was fined nearly $10 million by authorities in San Juan for last year's leak, which was caused by a defective valve.

Barrick's shares were down 7.3 percent at C$21.12, in line with other gold stocks as the sector was punctured by bullion's slide to below $1,300 an ounce, its lowest level in three months.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; additional reporting by by Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Alan Crosby)
bed bath and beyond

Bed, Bath and Beyond may be ditching its coupons, after realizing that the ubiquity of 20% off deals is backfiring for the company.

The retailer is now testing a beta version of its new "Beyond+" loyalty program. The program offers perks including free shipping and 20% off every entire purchase, for a membership fee of $29 per year.

The 20% discount is a familiar one for Bed, Bath and Beyond customers, thanks to the company's propensity for distributing 20% off coupons. The retailer's famous coupons have become a problem for the company  but a new loyalty program could end them entirely.

"If the test of the program is successful, it could usher in a time when BBBY stops or limits the distribution of its free coupons," UBS analyst Michael Lasser wrote in a research note released in late September. "But, that could have severe consequences."

Bed, Bath & Beyond

"Our coupon policy remains consistent, as we continue to believe that the Bed Bath & Beyond coupons are an important benefit we provide to our customers," Bed, Bath and Beyond said in a statement to Business Insider.

However, continuing the aggressive coupon strategy while expanding the Beyond+ loyalty program seems impossible. After all, why would customers pay $29 for something they could get for free?

Lasser notes that the new loyalty program demonstrates that Bed, Bath and Beyond "is experimenting in an effort to change its eroding fortunes."

While once coupons helped get customers in the door, Bed, Bath & Beyond's promotions have backfired for the retailer in recent quarters. Customers increasingly expect the 20% discount, and won't buy anything at Bed, Bath and Beyond unless they have a coupon.

The new Beyond+ program could provide Bed, Bath and Beyond a way to finally end a coupon strategy that is no longer helping the retailer, while still allowing customers accustomed to always taking 20% off their orders to continue to do so.

bed bath and beyond

In September, Bed, Bath and Beyond hinted that it was looking to adjust its couponing strategy.

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"The coupons critically  it's always been an important part of our value proposition, but at the same time we're committed as an organization to smarter, more intelligent marketing, personalized, targeted, being more meaningful and being more efficient," Bed, Bath and Beyond CEO Steven Temars said in a September call with analysts. "We need to be working and we are working on becoming a lot more intelligent about our marketing and making it much more personalized."

While the Beyond+ test is still small, it reveals a company that is increasingly trying to ditch coupons, at least in their current form. Basically, it is time for customers to stop assuming that they will always have a 20% off coupon handy  soon, the discount may cost you $29 every year.

NOW WATCH: Bed Bath & Beyond paid less than $30 million for a startup that was once worth $900 million





More From Business Insider


By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Several hundred refugees set off from central Belgrade on Tuesday morning and headed for the Hungarian border, holding handwritten banners and chanting demands for open borders, Reuters witnesses said. The crowd walked north along the city's Sava river, stopping occasionally to negotiate with police. All of them appeared to be men and boys about 15 or older. "We are people, not animals," read one banner. Some 7,000 migrants, most fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere, are trapped in Serbia, prevented from continuing further into Europe by fences now running the length of the Hungarian-Serbian border. "We will walk to border with Hungary," said Sadaqat Khan, a Pakistani in his 20s from Qetta. Most of the migrants seek sanctuary in the wealthy countries of Northern Europe. "We do not want Serbia," Khan said. Many migrants in Belgrade, most of whom bed down in makeshift camps by the city's central rail station, had thought Hungary's referendum last weekend on migrant quotas meant the border would be opened. In fact, Hungary voted on whether to accept European Union quotas for taking in refugees, and almost all of those who went to the polls voted against the quotas. However, less than half the electorate voted, rendering the results of the referendum invalid. A large group of refugees who left Belgrade's camps earlier this year got as far as the northern city of Novi Sad, but from there they were taken to reception centers on the Serbian side of the border. (Reporting By Aleksandar Vasovic, Fedja Grulovic and Branko Filipovic; Writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Larry King)
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Beloved neighborhood cat and social media sensation, Tombili, has been forever immortalized by the adoring residents of Istanbul's Ziverbey neighborhood.

Made famous by a popularly meme'd photo portraying his signature lounging pose, Tombili passed away this past August. The city decided to honor their feline star by erecting a statue in his likeness.

SEE ALSO: Quirky statue unveiled in London prompts wildly mixed reactions

Tombili was a local celebrity in Istanbul. His neighbors loved seeing his plump stature sprawled across stairs and sidewalks around the city. He was known for his carefree behavior toward people trying to play with him, and continual willingness to take pictures with his many adoring fans.

Nas bi kedi bu yarabbim #bigboss #cat #street #emribenverdim #mafia A photo posted by Yakup Yukseler (@ykpykseler) on May 21, 2015 at 8:40am PDT

After passing away from an unknown illness in August, a makeshift memorial was placed at his favorite public lounging spot with a note (as translated on Reddit):

"You will live in our hearts. mascot of our street, beloved TOMBILI (means fat but in a cute way) lost his struggle for life after a month and closed his eyes to life on first of August."

Tombili's many fans quickly decided the flyer wasn't enough, and a petition was launched, calling on the city to create a statue so that the many smiles he brought could be preserved forever.

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With over 17,000 supporters, the plan was approved, and the statue was erected.

Bir Tombili kac ylda yetisiyor farknda msnz? Tesekkurler @kadikoybelediye si pic.twitter.com/6Wtg91NpRE  ateshirsizi (@atesinhirsizi) October 3, 2016

The statue, officially unveiled on World Animal day, is already relieving some of the loss felt by Tombili's many friends - even the feline ones.

BONUS: 100 years of kitten beauty
Ben Stiller announced he has prostate cancer, reminding everyone how important health screenings are

In the middle of summer 2014, America a gearing up to see the final Night at the Museum film and buzz was swirling around the impending Zoolander sequel. For all intents and purposes, Ben Stiller seemed like a busy guy. What we didnt know, however, was that during that same summer, Stiller was also battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Stiller visited the Howard Stern Show today, revealing his private battle with cancer. Stiller told the Sirius XM host,

It came out of the blue for me. I had no idea.

Stiller, who has no family history of prostate cancer, attributed the cancers early detection to a test his doctor had given him, called Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) starting after he turned 46 years old. After the initial tests caused concern, Stiller had and MRI and biopsy done, which determined the intermediately-aggressive cancer, ultimately resulting in surgery to remove the actors prostate.

Following the Stern interview, Stiller published an article to Medium titled The Prostate Cancer Test That Saved My Life, elaborating on his battle with prostate cancer. In the article, the Zoolander actor explains how important the PSA tests are in early detection and the unfortunate circumstances that makes the test controversial.

As I learned more about my disease I was able to wrap my head around the fact that I was incredibly fortunate. Fortunate because my cancer was detected early enough to treat. And also because my internist gave me a test he didnt have to, Stiller wrote. Taking the PSA test saved my life. Literally. Thats why I am writing this now.

According to Stillers article, the American Cancer Society recommends for men to take the PSA test after age 50, Stillers current age. Stiller remarks that the tumor would have grown unnoticed for two years had he waited until 50 for the test. He acknowledges that the criticism surrounding the PSA tests, the interpretation of data and potential over-treating patients, is a valid point, but argues that,its in purview of the doctor treating the patient.

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Stillers decision to speak publicly about his cancer battle stems from wanting to add a voice to the growing argument over PSAs and hopes that men over the age of 40 can soon be given the opportunity to discuss prostate cancer and how they can prevent and minimize risks the cancer may pose to them.

Its incredible that Stiller decided to speak publicly about prostate cancer and the importance of health screenings, especially ones that prevent major health risks.

The post Ben Stiller announced he has prostate cancer, reminding everyone how important health screenings are appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Hamid Ansari was addressing a select audience at the centenary celebrations of the Central Water and Power Research Station in Pune.

By Pankaj P. Khelkar: Vice President Hamid Ansari said that India's proverbial poverty amongst plenty is to a large extent, related to results from the hydro-metrological conditions, inequitable spatial distribution, non-utilisation and ill-planned utilisation of water resources.

Ansari was addressing a select audience at the centenary celebrations of the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) at Khadakwasla, Pune.

He emphasized that in view of the vital importance of water for human and animal life, for maintaining ecological balance and for economic and development activities of all kinds and considering its increasing scarcity, planning and management of water resources and its optimal, economical and equitable use has become a matter of the utmost urgency.



The Vice President stressed upon some important points of concern that are responsible for water crisis: India's large population has led to a stress on available water resources. The second cause is poor water quality resulting from insufficient and delayed investment in urban water treatment facilities. Water in most of the rivers in India is largely not fit for drinking. Industrial effluent standards are not enforced. The dwindling groundwater supplies due to over extraction. India has been extracting more ground water at an ever increasing rate. It is estimated that India extracted 251 bcm of groundwater in 2010 compared to 90 bcm in 1980.

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WATER PROBLEMS IN THE CAPITAL

Ansari warned that the water quality of the Yamuna River worsens after it flows through the National Capital. This reflects the plight of Yamuna as it crosses Delhi and starkly shows mismanagement of standards. For only 2 per cent of its river length that Delhi occupies, 75 per cent of its pollutants are added in Delhi.

Uma Bharti, Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, while addressing the scientists stressed on the importance of innovative research in the field of water and power research.

Also read: 10 bogies of Jhelum Express derail near Ludhiana, 4 injured

She said dams should be constructed in such a way that ecological flow of rivers does not get obstructed. Bharti urged scientists all over India to come up with innovative ideas.

She further added, "Don't just work. See to it that your work gets right platform and appreciation also."

A commemorative postal stamp was also released during the function of Centernary celebration of CWPRS.



--- ENDS ---
By Hilary Lewis, The Hollywood Reporter



Ben Stiller revealed on Tuesdays Howard Stern Show that he was diagnosed with immediately aggressive prostate cancer at the age of 48, two years ago, and had surgery to treat it.



Stiller, 50, who appeared on Sterns SiriusXM show with his surgeon, Dr. Edward Schaeffer, opened up for the first time about his experience dealing with the disease and how he now urges people to talk with their doctors about getting tested at a younger age. After his appearance on Stern, Stiller posted an essay on Medium about his experience, with helpful links to learn more about prostate cancer and PSA screenings.

Stiller says his internist had been giving him a PSA test, a blood test for the prostate-specific antigen, for a couple of years prior to his diagnosis and was monitoring the results. As Stillers doctor saw his test numbers rise, he recommended that his patient visit a urologist. Stiller said he got an MRI and a biopsy and was told, sort of matter-of-factly, that he had cancer.

It came out of the blue for me, Stiller said on Stern of the diagnosis. I had no idea.

The actor-director then connected with Dr. Schaeffer after talking with a bunch of different doctors, including Robert De Niros physician.

Stiller at a press conference earlier this year (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images For Paramount)



Related: Ben Stiller Speaks Out About Mother Anne Mearas Death

While surgery was recommended for his mid-range aggressive cancer, or intermediately aggressive, Stiller wanted to get a few different opinions, but all of the doctors he talked to told him the tumor needed to be removed. Stiller had a robotic assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, he writes, and Dr. Schaeffer got all of the cancer.

Stiller said hes now two years cancer free and extremely grateful but keeps getting a PSA test every six months to make sure. Stiller and his doctor pointed out that hes lucky because the cancer was caught early. Stiller said he wanted to talk about his battle with prostate cancer on Howard Stern to encourage other people to get tested at an early age.

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In his essay, Stiller writes in part, Taking the PSA test saved my life. Literally. Thats why I am writing this now. He explains that hes grateful his internist started giving him a baseline PSA test when he was 46.

I have no history of prostate cancer in my family and I am not in the high-risk group, being neither  to the best of my knowledge  of African or Scandinavian ancestry. I had no symptoms, Stiller writes. What I had  and Im healthy today because of it  was a thoughtful internist who felt like I was around the age to start checking my PSA level, and discussed it with me. If he had waited, as the American Cancer Society recommends, until I was 50, I would not have known I had a growing tumor until two years after I got treated. If he had followed the US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, I would have never gotten tested at all, and not have known I had cancer until it was way too late to treat successfully.

Stillers tumor had been growing for years, he said on Howard Stern, and had he not had the PSA test, he wouldnt have known he was sick.

Related: Zoolander 2 Premiere: Ben Stiller, Co-Writer Reveal How Long-Awaited Sequel Finally Came Together

During a more than 30-minute discussion on Stern, Stiller also opened up about how his experience affected him psychologically. He talked about the fear he felt prior to his surgery, saying even before he was diagnosed but was getting tested he was already creating the whole movie in my head [with his] funeral.

After he was diagnosed, he went online to look up other people whove had prostate cancer and saw that De Niro had dealt with it so he called his Meet the Parents co-star.

Stiller said was diagnosed on Friday, June 13, 2014 and had to wait two months to have the surgery. While he accepted that he was going to have the procedure, the actor-director said the morning of the surgery was really scary. He said he told his kids, who were 12 and 9 at the time that he had something [he] needed to deal with and mentioned cancer but didnt want to scare them.

Now he says he 100 percent appreciates life more.

Stiller said he just finished a Noah Baumbach movie with Adam Sandler in which he and Sandler play Dustin Hoffmans sons and is now off to Montreal to do a new film.


4 Oct - Hong Kong actor Benny Chan has addressed the incident that happened during a recent flight that ended with him and wife Lisa Jiang being treated at the hospital.

As reported on Mingpao news, last week, the couple was verbally abused by netizens after Lisa posted several photos showing that she and Benny were sent to the hospital via ambulance after they injured their mouth eating a bun prepared by the airline.

Lisa had since clarified that the accommodation was prepared by the airline, and not by their own demand.

When asked to explain the actual situation recently, Benny shared, "When the flight attendance gave us the buns, they were just warm. So my wife bit into it, and while she was chewing, she suddenly felt it burn inside her mouth. It also hurt her teeth," said Benny.

They immediately told the flight attendants, who then tested the buns before spitting it out.

Luckily, said Benny, they were the only ones who might have been injured by it.

"We sat in the front row, so I don't think that the buns made it to the back before the danger was exposed," he added.

Benny said that he and wife Lisa were discharged from the hospital soon after they arrived, and that they were lucky nothing worse occurred aside from a burnt mouth.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines Ltd (also known as Dragonair) recently released a statement, acknowledging that two of its passengers had a minor injury after eating the meal prepared by the cabin crew.

"We would like to sincerely apologise to the passengers regarding the matter, and that the customer service department will contact them as soon as possible to provide further assistance. We will also follow up on the incident with our supplier," the statement read.

(Photo source: Benny Chan's Weibo)
A woman who acted as a go-between in the murder-for-hire of a law professor has been arrested in Florida, according to authorities.

Katherine Magbanua, 31, faces a first-degree murder charge in the killing of Daniel Markel, who was shot dead in his driveway in 2014 in the middle of a custody fight with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, investigators said.

Read: Cops: Celebrity baker and Former Marine Tried to Hire Hit Man to Kill Her Ex Over Child Visitation

She is being held at the Broward County Jail. She is expected to be extradited to Leon County in northern Florida.

Magbanua provided the connection between Adelsons family and two men arrested in May on suspicion of killing the Florida State University Law School instructor in Tallahassee, authorities said.

Adelson, her parents and her brother had been trying to move the woman and her children to south Florida over the objections of Markel, a police report said, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Magbanua enlisted a boyfriend, Sigfredo Garcia, and his friend, Luis Rivera, to pull off the shooting, the report said. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

After the professors death, Magbanua received paychecks signed by Adelsons mother, Donna Adelson, from the Adelson Institute for Aesthetics and Implant Dentistry, investigators said.

Read: Man Confesses to 2003 Murder That His Identical Twin Brother Was Locked Up For

The woman received more than $56,000, according to authorities.

No one in the Adelson family has been charged in the case.

An Adelson attorney issued a statement in August denying the familys involvement in Markels killing.

"We are issuing this statement because the media continues to run stories suggesting  without any support or evidence  that the Adelsons were somehow involved in Dan's murder.

"To be clear, none of the Adelsons  Wendi, her brother Charlie, or their parents Donna and Harvey  had anything to do with Dan's murder."

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Watch: Professor Who Watched Students' Kids During Exam: 'It's Just Part of the Job'

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Getty Images chris sacca donald trump shark tank

One of the common misconceptions in enterprise sales is that you need to use technical language and industrial jargon when selling to big companies.

But Chris Sacca, the founder of VC firm Lowercase Capital, and an early investor in Uber, Twitter, and Instagram, says that's wrong.

"The key is, enterprise doesnt have to be soulless," Sacca said at "Dreampitch," a "Shark Tank" style pitching event held at Salesforce's massive customer conference, Dreamforce, on Tuesday.

Instead, every pitch needs to attach a narrative to a true problem you're trying to solve and why you're doing it better than everybody else. There's no need to waste time citing meaningless statistics or using buzzwords from Gartner reports.

"When you walk up to a stage like this, youve got 3 free blinks before everybody checks out," Sacca continued. "The decision maker on the other end is still a human being with a spouse, kids, who likes music and movies, so start with something that they can literally emotionally attach to," he said.

Dreampitch

Sacca's comments were in response to the pitch made by Tal Frankfurt, the CEO of CRM Market, a startup that connects Salesforce consultants with other companies. Although most of the Dreampitch judges seemed to like CRM Market's product, they weren't particularly impressed by Frankfurt's pitch  he started by citing a Gartner report.

Frankfurt was one of the three entrepreneurs competing in Dreampitch, a first-time event at Dreamforce that awarded $200,000 in funding to the winner. Each contestant was given 4 minutes to make a pitch and another 4 minutes to answer questions. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, BroadbandTV CEO Shahrzad Rafati, and the musician will.i.am were also part of the judging panel.

Frankfurt's startup fell short, as a chatbot startup called Claire won the Dreampitch award instead. Still, Frankfurt received the loudest ovation, and perhaps, learned the most from the event.

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"It was educational. It's amazing to be out here," Frankfurt said.

NOW WATCH: Astronomers discovered a second alien megastructure star thats even stranger than the first one





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(Reuters) - A new exhibition in Paris spotlights racism and segregation through the works of African-American artists and comes amid tense race relations in the United States. "The Color Line," which opened on Tuesday at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum and runs through Jan. 15, features artists such as Robert Duncanson, Aaron Douglas and Lois Mailou Jones. The exhibit showcases the issues faced by the black community throughout history and resonates with the present-day Black Lives Matter movement that arose from police slayings of mostly unarmed black men over the past three years. The exhibition's curator, art critic Daniel Soutif, said that while African-American artists had diverse styles, they shared a common history which animated their work. "The role of these artists was essentially to construct an image of the black person that was different from the one transmitted by racist images, by stereotypes," Soutif told Reuters. As early as the 19th century, African-American painters were highlighting racial struggles. Duncanson's "Uncle Tom and Little Eva," completed in 1853, is viewed as the artist's depiction of salvation for both white men and slaves, mirroring the theme of the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Aaron Douglas's "Into Bondage" from 1936 is his rendering of enslaved Africans bound for the Americas, in optimistic blue tones viewed as a symbol of hope. Lynchings between 1880 and 1980 were a strong theme in African-American art - featured in the celebrated portrait "Mob Victim" by Lois Mailou Jones and the striking linographs of Hale Aspacio Woodruff. The exhibition takes viewers through a sweep of the civil rights movement, the rise of Harlem, and introduces the new millennium with contemporary art work, and media featuring Barack Obama's presidency. "He's a president that will be remembered in history, not simply because he was the first Afro-American president, but because of the policies that he put forward. But Obama himself did not succeed in eradicating the racist mentality among a number of Americans," Soutif said. Works as recent as Hank Willis Thomas' "Amandla" (2013), showing a fist coming out of a door, are testament that today's African-American artists are grappling with the same themes as their predecessors. (Reporting by Reuters TV in Paris; Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Usher has reached the end of his contract with RCA Records, sources tell Billboard, leaving behind a relationship that dates back 22 years to when he first signed with LaFace and Arista Records. (The Sony Music label declined comment.)

His musical output during that time has been fruitful: Usher's 2001 album 8701 sold 4.8 million units, according to Nielsen Music, while his next three releases (2004's Confessions, 2008's Looking for Myself and 2010's Raymond v. Raymond) all sold over a million copies each, with Confessions moving an astonishing 10.3 million on its own. His latest, Hard II Love, however, only registered 38,000 equivalent album units in its first week -- with 28,000 of that in traditional album sales -- good for a top five debut on the Billboard 200, but a significant drop-off from the opening of his last album, 2012's Looking 4 Myself, which bowed with 128,000 sold in its first week.

Cynics might say that releasing the final album of a long-term contract feels more like an obligation than a creative achievement. If so, it wouldn't be the first time. Here are five examples of artists who bid adieu to their labels in not-so-subtle ways.

Bon Jovi, Burning Bridges (2015)

In 2015, Bon Jovi seemingly bid farewell to their then-32-year relationship with Island/Universal Music Group. The subsequent "fan album" Burning Bridges was a direct hit with not only the title but the bland, brown wrapping paper design -- not to mention "We Don't Run," with the lyric, "After 30 years of loyalty, they let you dig your grave." Jon Bon Jovi stuck to his guns -- and his integrity -- as he came to a new agreement this spring, on his own terms. "The legacy mattered and the future was bright," he told fans at concert promoting the forthcoming album, This House is Not for Sale, at a listening party in New Jersey on Oct. 1. "There was no way I was going to walk away from that."

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Prince, Chaos and Disorder (1996)

Prince famously pulled this trick to get out of his deal with Warner Bros. by first changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol. His next move in the escape plan was the release of Chaos and Disorder, and odds and sods collection of recent leftovers that fulfilled the contract. He then emerged with the aptly titled triple-disc album Emancipation.

Van Morrison

After having pop hits with songs like "Brown Eyed Girl," Morrison wanted to do more experimental music, but his label, Bang Records, wasn't having it. When Morrison later looked to jump ship to Warner Bros. Records, he realized he owed more music to Bang, with royalties owed for exactly one year after the contract was up. What to do? He strapped on an old, out-of-tune guitar and banged out 30 songs in one session with titles like "The Big Royalty Check," "Blow in Your Nose" and "I Want a Danish." The record was deemed "unfit for release," and he broke ties. Just check out "Twist and Shake" -- there are hardly any lyrics.

Ben Folds, "One Down"

Before Ben Folds became a successful recording artist, he signed a publishing deal he came to regret. The contract specified number of songs per year -- deal terms he couldn't keep up with once he had label and touring commitments to uphold. To meet the obligations of his contract, he wrote a song called "One Down and 3.6 to Go," with the lyrics: "Ben, just make up junk and turn it in."

David Bowie, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (1980)

Following his Berlin trilogy of albums -- Low, Heroes and Lodger -- Bowie was looking to end his relationship with RCA Records. The records weren't successful commercially, and Bowie believed his double live album, Stage, counted as two albums. When it didn't, he turned in his last album, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), a critical and commercial success with the hits "Ashes to Ashes" and "Fashion."
Air chief Marshal Arup Raha has said that the situation of the Indian Air Force today is quite different from what it was at the time of the 1962 War.

By Manjeet Negi: Air chief Marshal Arup Raha has said that the situation of the Indian Air Force today is quite different from what it was at the time of the 1962 War.

"There was a perception at that time that using airpower would lead to escalation. Whatever decision was taken then was perhaps appropriate. Now we can take part in offensive operations. IAF is much more capable. We have the powers to punish, whether to exercise that power is a decision that the political leadership will take," Raha said.

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Also read: IAF to induct women as fighter pilots, says Air Force chief Arup Raha



RAHA MUM ON SURGICAL STRIKES



Raha refused to entertain any questions on India's surgical strikes across the Line of Control, keeping in mind the 'sensitivity' of the issue.

"The Air Force is much more capable, whether you use it in a contigency or not is a decision with the political leadership", Raha added.

PATHANKOT ATTACK A SETBACK: RAHA



IAF Chief Arup Raha said, "Pathankot was a well-executed operation, some weaknesses were found and lessons learnt. It was a setback for the IAF. The moment we have an attack we take measures, deploy a number of UAVs etc. We have taken all precautions. Our Garuds engage terrorists as soon as possible. That unsettles them." In Pathankot, our brave DSC personnel, some of them unarmed, surrounded the terrorists. It was a well-executed operation and we could save our high-value assets. There are weaknesses and a lot of lessons have been learnt. We are getting our personnel trained so that they can counter terrorists. This training is going to pay dividends in the future."

--- ENDS ---
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Holders of Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd's S$125 million ($91.41 million) bond have rejected the Malaysian oil and gas service provider's request for a four-month extension on the maturity date, the company said in a statement.

Shares of the company slumped as much as 32 percent to an all-time low of 8.5 sen on Tuesday. The bond was due on Monday.

Perisai and its joint venture partner Emas Offshore Ltd received an indicative financing offer from a financial institution on Sept. 30, the company said in a statement released late on Monday to the Malaysian stock exchange.

The company did not identify the financial institution, but said about $20 million would be made available to resolve the situation with bondholders.

Perisai intends to engage with its noteholders on the alternative proposal, it said.

In July, Singaporean oilfield services firm Swiber Holdings Ltd applied for judicial management, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices and raising concerns over the health of the sector in the region.

Malaysian lenders are bracing for a hit to profits this year, Reuters reported last week, as they bump up provisions for sour loans to the local oil and gas services sector that has been battered by the slump in energy prices and cutbacks in projects.

($1 = 1.3675 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi and Christian Schmollinger)
From Town & Country

Louis Vuitton made its first fragrances in the 1920s, but it would be impossible to recreate those perfumes today-literally impossible, because a fire in the 1950s destroyed the formulas and "not even a drop" exists, according to Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, Louis Vuitton's master perfumer. Tragic though that may be, it gave Cavallier Belletrud carte blanche to develop an entirely new olfactory legacy for the 162-year-old fashion house, which had resisted the siren's call of fragrance for the last 70 years. The result is not one but seven shockingly modern scents, dubbed Les Parfums Louis Vuitton .

The collection is rooted in exquisite materials and expert craftsmanship, and in this regard it hews to Louis Vuitton's tradition. But the fragrances themselves twist and update classic flower scents with advanced extraction techniques and airy compositions. Cavallier Belletrud, a third-generation perfumer from the south of France, started by assembling a vast palette of 2,500 notes, unique to his atelier. (By comparison, most perfumers work with about 400.)

He did his tinkering at Les Fontaines Parfumees, a 16th-century estate in Grasse that serves as LVMH's fragrance headquarters and features an original fountain that flows with scented water. For Rose des Vents, Cavallier Belletrud captured rose de mai, which is particular to Grasse and blooms only in May, using a high-tech CO2 extraction technique: Rather than heating the petals (which is "like putting Petrus in a microwave"), they are bathed in cold gases, a method that preserves the fragile, volatile attributes of the plant. "It's the first time it's been used on fresh flowers," Cavallier Belletrud says of the exclusive method. His leather infusion, most evident in Dans La Peau, is another coup; it involved steeping scraps of actual leather collected from the maison's workshops to produce a clarified extract. It smells sweet and musky, like the handles and straps of a vintage trunk-which will surely be catnip to LV obsessives.

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Other raw materials were procured abroad and then reworked back in Grasse. Of the Chinese magnolia used in the green and woody Apogee, Belletrud says, "I prefer to cut a bit off the head, the top note, and just keep the heart." The result is a made-to-measure oil that smells like nothing else and, perhaps most important, cannot be copied. But just to be sure, Cavallier Belletrud assigns code names to all his vials and stores them under lock and key at 6 degrees Celsius; even his wife, whom Cavallier Belletrud calls his "human perfume blotter," doesn't know the true names of his concoctions. "It's a secret. It's forbidden," he says with a smile. The details behind the bottle design are also classified. Created by famed industrial designer Marc Newson, the minimalist form has a built-in pump that seems to be invisible. Yet when the last drop has vanished, pas de probleme-all Les Parfums bottles can be refilled in LV stores.

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ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2016 / Today, Stephan Bogner from Rockstone Research published an initiating coverage on Bravura Ventures Corp. (CSE: BVQ; market capitalization: $7 million CAD).

With less than 16 million shares in the market and a current market valuation of $7 million CAD, Rockstone Research is initiating coverage on Bravura Ventures Corp. The company is led by a diversified team of professionals with combined backgrounds in finance, mining, acquisitions and exploration experience including, due diligence, permitting and advanced stage planning.

According to its website, Bravura is currently in the process of reviewing potential property acquisitions and joint ventures.

A month ago, in early September, Bravura acquired the Musgrove Creek Property, an advanced gold exploration project located in Lemhi County, Idaho (USA), approximately 24 km southwest of the Beartrack Gold Mine previously operated by Meridian Gold Inc. and producing about 600,000 ounces ("oz") of gold in 7 years with a cost of $190-200 USD/oz.

Musgrove Creek is a low-cost, open-pit gold opportunity looking to increase its historic resource (314,000 oz gold averaging 1.22 g/t gold at a 0.8 g/t cut-off) and to upgrade it into a NI43-101 compliant resource. Latest exploration activity conducted at Musgrove Creek was focused on adding to that resource with the objective of establishing a mineable deposit.

Planned exploration activity by Bravura will be focused on confirming, defining and expanding upon known mineralization, with the objective of delineating a current mineral resource. An updated NI43-101 report is currently being prepared.

The full report can be accessed with the following links:

English (PDF):

http://rockstone-research.com/images/PDF/Bravura1en.pdf

English (web version):

http://rockstone-research.com/index.php/en/research-reports/1739-Bravura-Ventures-sees-potential-for-a--low-cost-gold-mine-in-Idaho

German (PDF):

http://rockstone-research.com/images/PDF/Bravura1de.pdf

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For smartphones, an APP from Rockstone Research is available in the AppStore for Apple devices and in the GooglePlayStore for Android devices.

Recently, Zimtu Capital Corp. launched the Beta Version of its Advantage APP, in which all interlisted stocks (i.e. all public companies listed in Canada and Germany) can be tracked. After a cost-free registration, the full features of the APP are unlocked, e.g. sorting all stocks with the biggest daily trading volumes on all German or Canadian exchanges (see instructions in the section "How To Use"): www.zimtuadvantage.com

Disclaimer: Please read the full disclaimer within the full research report as a PDF as fundamental risks and conflicts of interest exist.

SOURCE: Rockstone Research
BRASILIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's telecommunications industry watchdog Anatel should redouble attention to carrier Oi SA, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June, the agency's new president said on Tuesday.

The government bodies involved in Oi's in-court reorganization should coordinate their actions to help the carrier emerge from creditor protection and renegotiation of 65.4 billion reais ($20 billion) of debt, Juarez Quadros, Anatel's new president, said at his confirmation hearing before Congress in Brasilia.

A coordinated stance could help "avoid dissent among the different entities" dealing with the carrier's woes, said Quadros, a former Brazilian communications minister. Senators later confirmed his nomination as head of Anatel.

His remarks suggested that the stakes are high in Brazil's largest ever in-court reorganization. Oi, Brazil's No. 1 fixed-line carrier, employs some 140,000 people and is the only phone company in 1,800 Brazilian towns, or about one-third of the nation's 5,500 municipalities.

Rio de Janeiro-based Oi owes Anatel and state lenders Banco do Brasil SA, Caixa Economica Federal SA and BNDES a combined 20 billion reais, making the government the carrier's No. 2 biggest creditor after bondholders.

On Sept. 2, Reuters reported that Anatel as well as state banks which are Oi creditors were not openly acting together but instead coordinating actions aimed at helping Oi maintain service quality and emerge from creditor protection in an orderly manner.

Preferred shares in Oi shed 1.7 percent to 2.82 reais on Tuesday in the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

($1 = 3.2559 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and David Gregorio)
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Monday the high abstention rate as well as the number of blank and spoiled ballots in local elections on the weekend signaled the disillusionment of Brazilians with their political system. Brazil's electoral authority, the TSE, said the abstention rate averaged 17.5 percent in Sunday's nationwide polls, up from 15.4 percent in the municipal elections in 2014. Brazilians are obliged by law to vote and can face a small fine unless they provide a satisfactory reason for not doing so. "It's clear there is disenchantment with the political class as a whole," Temer said during a visit to Argentina, saying the high abstention rate was a message to Brazilian politicians to change their ways. At a later news conference in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, Temer said the "immense number of abstentions, blank votes and spoilt ballots" showed the pressing need for political reform in Brazil. About 50 politicians are under investigation in a sprawling corruption scandal that has shaken Brazil's political establishment and undermined the faith of Brazilians in their three-decade-old democracy. The scandal surrounding state-run oil company Petrobras contributed to the removal at an impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff in August, ending the 13-year-rule of her Workers Party. The leftist group suffered major setbacks in Sunday's vote for mayors and local council members across Brazil. In Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, a bastion of anti-Rousseff sentiment, the abstention rate was 21.8 percent, and 11.5 percent of the votes cast were spoiled and 5.3 percent were blank. Temer said the victory in Sao Paulo of businessman Joao Doria, who campaigned saying he was a manager and not a politician, was a further indication that voters were unhappy. In Rio de Janeiro, the country's second largest city, where Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, was badly beaten on Sunday, the abstention rate was even higher at 24.3 percent, while voters spoiled 12.7 percent of the ballots and left 5 percent blank, according to the TSE. New parties, however, have so far not capitalized on voter disenchantment with a corruption-tainted political establishment. (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Buenos Aires, Daniela Desantis in Asuncion and Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Editing by Peter Cooney)
London (AFP) - Britain announced plans on Tuesday to opt out of European human rights law during wartime, in a move to end "vexatious" legal claims against its troops but campaigners denounced it as a retrograde step.

The government wants to sidestep some of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in future conflicts, after the law was used in thousands of cases against troops relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Those who serve on the frontline will have our support when they come home," Prime Minister Theresa May said.

"We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts."

Signatories of the ECHR are allowed to derogate from some of its provisions in times of war or public emergencies threatening life, and France, Ukraine and Turkey have used the opt-out in the past two years.

There is no derogation from the prohibition of torture or slavery, but there can be an opt-out on "right to life" in respect of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war.

- 'False charges on industrial scale' -

May had previously called for Britain to pull out of the ECHR entirely, but abandoned the plan before becoming Conservative leader, saying it did not have parliamentary support.

"Our legal system has been abused to level false charges against our troops on an industrial scale," said Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

"It has caused significant distress to people who risked their lives to protect us, it has cost the taxpayer millions and there is a real risk it will stop our armed forces doing their job."

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has spent more than A100 million ($127 million, 114 million euros) since 2004 on investigations, inquiries and compensation linked to Britain's 2003-2009 role in the Iraq conflict.

This includes A20 million paid out after settling 326 cases.

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The government stressed that British soldiers would continue to abide by international law, including the Geneva Conventions, and any opt-out would be subject to an assessment of the circumstances at the time.

- 'Embolden our enemies' -

Hilary Meredith, a lawyer who has represented troops against prosecution, said it was "a step in the right direction".

But human rights group Liberty condemned it as a "pernicious and retrograde step" that could end up harming soldiers, who themselves have used the ECHR to hold the government to account for failures in the field.

Director Martha Spurrier said: "The government cannot be allowed to leave its human rights commitments at our borders.

"Doing so will leave abuse victims unprotected and our troops powerless when the state fails to keep them safe from harm.

"For a supposedly civilised nation, this is a pernicious and retrograde step that will embolden our enemies and alienate our allies."

As of March, the government's Iraq Historic Allegations Team was investigating 1,374 cases, with claims related to ill treatment, missing persons and deaths.

The issue of false allegations was highlighted two years ago in a report into claims of unlawful killing and mistreatment of civilians by British troops near the southwest Iraqi town of Majar al-Kabir in 2004.

The Al-Sweady Inquiry found British troops had mistreated nine detainees but rejected claims of murder and torture, which it said were the product of "deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility".

The law firm which represented the claimants, Public Interest Lawyers, closed this year after losing its right to claim state-funded legal aid.

But Nicholas Mercer, a former senior legal military advisor to British troops in the Iraq war, said the A20 million compensation was proof that many of the claims made were not "vexatious".

"Anyone who has been involved in litigation with the MoD knows that it will pay up only if a case is overwhelming or the ministry wants to cover something up," he wrote in The Guardian newspaper.
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Britain will continue blocking a European Union army as long as it remains a member of the bloc as the new force would undermine NATO military alliance, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said on Tuesday. France and Germany hope that Britain's vote to leave the EU, as well as London's need for goodwill in its exit negotiations, will leave the path open for common defense proposals. "Leaving the EU does not mean we are stepping back from our commitment to the security of our continent," Fallon told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, central England. "We will lead in NATO, the cornerstone of our defense, putting troops onto its eastern border next year. But we will go on blocking an EU Army, which would simply undermine NATO." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: A new terror input on the Fidayeen attack has got the security forces in Sringa in a Tizzy. Two days after Baramulla terror attack, Jammu Kashmir Police ( JKP) on Monday night intercepted chatter of Lashkar e Taiba (LET) terrorist.

Speaking in chaste Urdu, there was an instruction to terrorists to launch a spectacular attack in the capital of the state. The communication that was intercepted by the intelligence agencies has been shared with the Army, IB and paramilitary.

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SECURITY TUNED UP

Amid increased movement of vehicles on roads, security forces were seen frisking commuters at different inter-sections in Srinagar city. Vehicle checking caused major snarls in city in places like Abdullah Bridge, TRC, Dalgate, Hyderpora and other parts of the city.

There have been reports of fresh infiltrations during the month. Post Uri and Baramulla attack, incidents of gun snatching and other militant activity have only kept security forces on their toes.

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Kashmir: Night raids by security forces send youth into hiding

India releases 14-year-old Pakistani who inadvertently crossed border





--- ENDS ---
By Paul Carrel BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain should not expect to hold any "pre-negotiations" with the European Union on its exit from the bloc, Germany's deputy finance minister said, adding that London must keep its borders open if it wants to retain access to the EU's single market. Jens Spahn, who is also a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), welcomed British Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement on Sunday that by the end of March she would trigger the two-year process to leave the EU. "First of all, it is good that we have a timetable, so that everyone knows how things will proceed. Everyone knows this will be the mother of all negotiations," Spahn told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. But he played down the prospect of Britain making progress on the outlines of an agreement in any negotiations before the formal exit process is triggered using Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty. "It is good, where there is any doubt, to talk about timetables and processes," Spahn said. "But I honestly can't imagine any pre-negotiations on substance." Anton Boerner, the head of Germany's BGA trade association, struck a similar chord, telling a news conference in Berlin: "We cannot grant any special treatment even before negotiations." "Then we would have 27 special agreements tomorrow. Then there won't be a European Union any more," he added. "We have to negotiate really hard, we have to remain tough." "COMPROMISES LOOK DIFFICULT" In a speech to her Conservatives on Sunday, May said it was wrong to look at the Brexit negotiations in terms of a trade-off between Britain retaining access to the EU's internal market and being able to control immigration from the bloc. But Spahn said the two were inextricably linked. "Whoever wants to have access to the internal market, and to be part of the internal market, must accept the free movement of workers," he said. "They are completely connected, so compromises look difficult." "Internal market (access) works only with free movement," he said. Britain's decision on June 23 to leave the EU sparked turmoil in financial markets as investors tried to gauge its impact on both the world's fifth largest economy and the bloc. The pound hit a 31-year low against the dollar on Tuesday. The country's allies fear that its exit from the EU could mark a turning point in post-Cold War international affairs that will weaken the West in relation to China and Russia, undermine efforts toward European integration and hurt global free trade. Spahn said all partners in the Brexit negotiations should aim for a smooth transition when Britain leaves the bloc. "We should all do everything we can for a 'soft Brexit' in the sense of there being a smooth transition," he said. "We should have arrangements for the day after the exit on how things will proceed, and not have a 'nothing phase' - that would be difficult for both sides." (Additional reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Mark Trevelyan)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Burundi's government has dismissed a U.N. decision to set up a commission of inquiry to identify perpetrators of killings and torture, saying it was based on a one-sided account of events in the African nation. The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Friday to set up the commission, saying it would build on a report by U.N. experts who looked into the suspected torture and murder of government opponents. The experts have drawn up a list of suspects. Burundi has been mired in political crisis and sporadic violence for more than a year, triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015. Opposition figures and government officials have frequently been killed in tit-for-tat attacks, while hundreds of government opponents have been rounded up and detained. "The (experts') report was biased, undertaken and produced for the sole purpose of paving the way for this resolution and to destabilise the Burundian nation," government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba said. He told the state broadcaster late on Monday that the council had failed to take into account Burundi's contribution to balance the report. The resulting decision was "inapplicable in Burundi". He did not say if Burundi would take further action in response, but added the government would "continue its cooperation with the international community, particularly the United Nations" in line with international agreements. The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted an European Union resolution for a one-year commission of inquiry by a vote of 19 states in favour and seven against, with 21 abstentions. African votes were split. (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The head of one of Burundi's opposition parties has been released, days after he was arrested for what police said was collaborating with "armed gangs", a spokesman for an opposition coalition said on Tuesday. The central African state has been in a political crisis and sporadic violence for more than a year, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015. At least 450 people have been killed in violence that first erupted during protests against Nkurunziza's re-election bid in April last year. Gervais Niyongabo, chairman of the opposition FEDES-SANGIRA party and one of the few opposition leaders still able to work inside Burundi, was detained in the southern Makamba region on Sept. 28, police said. FEDES-SANGIRA party was among the opposition groups to boycott last year's elections. "It was but a police fabrication to arrest him, given that his native village is known as an opposition stronghold," Pancrace Cimpaye, spokesman for the opposition grouping CNARED, said. Police and government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Opponents accuse Nkurunziza of violating the constitution and a peace pact that ended a civil war in 2005. The government accuses opponents of stirring unrest, and accuses them of backing rebel groups, which officials call "armed gangs". On Tuesday, Burundi's government said it had dismissed a U.N. decision to set up a commission of inquiry to identify perpetrators of killings and torture, saying it was based on a one-sided account of events in the country. (Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Californians in county jails for felony offenses will be able to vote next year, thanks to a new bill passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday. The billintroduced by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, a Democratis part of a growing nationwide liberal push against felony disenfranchisement for those in and out of prison.

Among supporters, the bill has been presented as a way to reintroduce thousands of people in county jails in California back to civic life, while critics, mostly Republicans have framed renfranchisement efforts as a cynical partisan exercise designed to help Democrats win elections.

During a floor debate over the bill, Weber argued that civic participation can be a critical component of re-entry and has been linked to reduced recidivism. Her argument draws on a body of evidence showing that restoration of civil rights to people with felonies can reduce recidivism, including a study by the Florida Parole Commission.

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Among liberals nationwide, that rhetoric has generally extended mostly to people with felonies who have already completed jail or prison terms, instead of those still incarcerated. In February, Maryland General Assembly Democrats overrode a veto by Governor Larry Hogan to approve a bill extending the ballot to over 40,000 people with felonies who were no longer imprisoned but were still under probation or parole.

In Virginia, Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe issued a surprise executive order in April that automatically re-enfranchised non-incarcerated people with felonies, whereas before they would have had to apply individually to his office for restitution regardless of probation or parole completion. After that order was overturned by Virginia courts, his office sent mailers out to individually grant voting rights to the 13,000 or so people with felonies who had registered to vote under the authority of his order.

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In each of those states and California, Republicans have advanced party-line arguments against extending the right to vote to more people with felonies: that loss of civil rights is deserved punishment and that people with felonies disrupt elections. They have also argued that people with felonies are more likely to vote Democratic, so extending voting rights to them confers a partisan advantage to Democrats. In August, Virginia GOP Chairman John Whitbeck said in a statement that the Governor has decided that he can get around the Supreme Courts ruling with a simple mail merge function, and in the process print his way to a victory for Hillary Clinton.

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While Hispanic and black people that make up more of the Democratic demographic base are much more likely to be incarcerated and disenfranchised, it is not yet known exactly how allowing them to vote impacts party balance of power in elections, if newly-enfranchised people register at all.

California is dominated by the Democratic Party and liberal coalitions in many elections, but solid blocs of voters in county jails could still tip the scales for some local races. But any partisan advantages conferred are likely simply reversals of a long legacy of felony disenfranchisement as a political weapon: The origins of felony disenfranchisement in many states as a way to stop people of color from voting and disrupting statewide racial and party balance are well documented.

California now joins the states of Maine and Vermontalong with the territory of Puerto Ricoin allowing some incarcerated people the right to vote. Maine, Vermont, and Puerto Rico have no restrictions at all, whereas people in state prisons in California are still disenfranchised. Along with those places, California is now part of an experiment to move towards expanding the right to vote, rather than restricting it.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Rory Carroll

HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif., Oct 4 (Reuters) - Hezekiah Allen is a third-generation marijuana farmer in this Northern California county, where the cool coastal fog pours off the Pacific Ocean, coaxing pot plants to heights of 20 feet.

The executive director of the California Growers Association trade group, Allen has long sought an end to what he calls "prohibition" and has looked forward to a day when he and the thousands of pot farmers here would no longer be outlaws.

But he said he can't bring himself to vote for Proposition 64, a referendum on California's November ballot that would legalize cultivation, sale and recreational use of marijuana.

While pot purveyors might seem to be likely Prop. 64 supporters, Allen's ambivalence is widespread within the industry.

The California Growers Association took a neutral stance after a recent poll among its 750 farmers, distributors and retailers found a split: 31 percent supported, 31 percent opposed, and 38 percent were undecided.

The larger Prop. 64 debate has focused on moral, social and health consequences of legalized pot use, but growers' concerns are more prosaic. Some fear going legit will mean too much red tape and burdensome oversight. Some fear an onslaught of big business - and competition that could wipe them out.

"I don't want to replace a criminal injustice with an economic injustice," Allen said.

Steve Dodge, the CEO of the Humboldt Growers Collective, another trade group, said he is voting against the initiative because it would allow regulatory inspections that some pot growers view as tantamount to warrantless searches.

"We are asking farmers to come out from behind the curtain, but not providing the assurances they need," he said. "This law is setting the state up for failure."

California, the sixth-largest economy in the world, already has legalized marijuana for medical use. It is the biggest producer in a U.S. market that includes 24 other states and the District of Columbia with some form of legalization. Brokerage Cowen pegs legal and illegal U.S. market at about $30 billion.

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The approval of recreational use on such a big scale would be a turning point. It would more than double sales in California to $6.46 billion in 2020 from the $2.76 billion in medical use receipts last year, according to a projection by market researcher New Frontier.

Polls suggest the measures will pass. But growers' concerns show it won't be easy to move a multi-billion-dollar gray industry into the light.

Growers would face tax bills and the expense of improving their farms' ecological footprints to meet environmental regulations. And, after a five year grace period, industrial-sized farms would be allowed, a prospect that is expected to attract corporate agriculture.

Some growers believe going legit would be less lucrative than selling to states where marijuana remains illegal, a calculus that could drive them further underground.

"OUTLAW, NOT CRIMINAL"

Six hours north of San Francisco, old growth forests in what is known as the "Emerald Triangle" nurture vast marijuana production. Thousand-year-old redwoods have sheltered growers from raids by authorities since the collapse of logging here in the 60s and 70s gave rise to the illicit industry.

Wearing a sweatshirt bearing a pot leaf and the slogan, "I'm an outlaw, not a criminal," a black market grower tended to small plants bursting with buds raised in a room under high powered lights and the breeze of fans. The grower, who identified himself only as Jason B for fear of prosecution, said he wants to keep big business "out of our neighborhood."

"The reason I will vote 'no' on the proposition is that it will be corporate influenced and it would be a subpar product," he said.

Standing in his outdoor grove of plants that tower above him, Stephen Dillon said the Humboldt Sun Growers Guild he heads is split over Prop. 64. Growers in the group also are concerned that it will open the industry to big agriculture, as well as taxes and penalties, he said.

Dillon acknowledged some illegal growers hurt the environment, draining creeks for irrigation, pouring pesticide-laden runoff back into the water supply and creating mountains of trash on their sites. Prop. 64 would allow the state to revoke the licenses of such bad actors. But Dillon said its environmental regulations could cost $20,000 to $100,000 per farm to meet.

DOUBTS IN HAIGHT-ASHBURY

Doubts are not confined to growers.

Patrice Scott is a receptionist for Green Evaluations, a medical marijuana clinic above Amoeba Records in San Francisco's historic Haight-Ashbury district, the epicenter of the hippie movement in the late 1960s that promoted free love, psychedelic music and pot.

Scott said she will vote against Prop. 64, viewing it as a money grab by state and local governments she fears will squander the revenue. She said the medical marijuana rules, which require purchasers to obtain a card from a physician, work fine.

"No one has a problem getting a card," she said. "This is just a way for them (government) to profit."

But opposition is not universal in the industry. Some, noting a glut in pot is driving down prices, said they welcome legalization if it brings new demand.

"It is just free falling," said Marion Collamar, a Humboldt county grower who supports Prop. 64.

The average price of a pound of wholesale cannabis has fallen from $2,030 in January 2016 to $1,664 in August, according to Cannabis Benchmarks, a wholesale cannabis pricing company.

Chrystal Ortiz, a small farmer and operations manager for the Sun Growers Guild, said she supports Prop 64 because it would eliminate or reduce most criminal penalties, as well as prior convictions, for marijuana offenses.

"Primarily black and brown underprivileged people are the ones being affected by the illegality of cannabis," she said.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Girion)
Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian regulators are failing to monitor the country's nuclear power plants properly and such safety lapses are unacceptable, an official said Tuesday.

Canada has four nuclear plants with a total of 19 reactors in Ontario and New Brunswick provinces. They provide about 17 percent of the nation's electricity.

Regulators have carried out inadequate and irregular inspections, and these also failed to take into account risks when deciding which plants to probe, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Julie Gelfand said.

"I think it's pretty serious," she told a press conference.

"This kind of lack of precision in a precision industry I think is really not acceptable," she said. "These mistakes should not happen when we're dealing with nuclear power plants."

The commissioner also said that some inspections scheduled between 2013 and 2015 were pushed back a year or more because technical specialists were not available, or because of an outage or a rescheduled reactor shutdown.

Furthermore, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) was often slow to release the results of its investigations, the watchdog lamented.

"We concluded that the CNSC could not show that it had adequately managed its site inspections of nuclear power plants," Gelfand said.

"The CNSC could not demonstrate that its inspection plans included the appropriate number and types of inspections and that it had the staff needed to verify that nuclear power plants were complying with all applicable requirements or that site inspections were carried out according to the CNSC's procedures," she added.

The CNSC responded that its oversight procedures are comprehensive but acknowledged the need for better documentation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to reassure parliamentarians and the public, saying his government would "work to ensure that Canada has the highest standards on nuclear safety and security."
By Ethan Lou TORONTO (Reuters) - A college in the Atlantic Canadian province of New Brunswick plans to institute a program on marijuana cultivation so that students can be trained to work at local companies that produce the drug, a school official said on Tuesday. The French-language College Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick will launch the course sometime next year, said Michel Doucet, executive director of continuing education and customized learning. Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned last year on a promise to legalize recreational marijuana and the government has said it would introduce legislation by the spring of 2017. Medical marijuana is already legal across Canada, and companies in that relatively small sector have been eyeing the larger recreational market with expansion in mind. In August, the government of New Brunswick, where the college has five campuses, said it invested C$4 million ($3.03 million) in a medical marijuana company that will create up to 208 jobs in the region. Doucet said the school was still determining the exact details of the program, including class size and the length and frequency at which it will be conducted. "This is not a mainstream program," he said. "We're looking at training qualified employees to meet the needs of industry, versus training students at large." Colleges in Canada differ from universities and grant mainly diplomas instead of degrees. Doucet said the school had not yet determined whether it would be a full diploma program. New Brunswick, with a population of roughly 750,000, has suffered from a weak economy, and westward migration has caused a brain drain and shrinking population. ($1 = 1.3191 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Peter Cooney)
PRAIA (Reuters) - Cape Verde's President Jorge Carlos Fonseca won a second term in Sunday's election with nearly three-quarters of the vote, preliminary results showed. Fonseca, who pledges to prioritise education, has led the West African archipelago since 2011, ensuring its stability in a region known for coups. The country is an important partner in efforts to disrupt the multi-million-dollar drug trade from South America to Europe. With more than 95 percent of votes counted, Fonseca, who ran for the Movement for Democracy Party, had 74 percent, with his nearest rival Albertino Graca on 22.6 percent. "It's the most decisive victory in the history of Cape Verdean democracy," said Fonseca in a statement. However, the government data showed that fewer than 128,000 people had voted, or just over a third of registered voters. The formerly dominant African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV)failed to forward a candidate, after losing parliamentary elections in March. [nL5N16T21N] (Reporting by Julio Rodrigues; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
PARIS (Reuters) - Chanel on Tuesday made fun of how much technology was part of people's lives by producing a fashion show at Paris' Grand Palais dedicated to wires, cables and black data boxes. Greeted by a huge sign that said "Chanel data center", designer Karl Lagerfeld presented guests with a collection complete with blinking handbags, iridescent tweeds and fluorescent rays of color splashed on flowing dresses and caps. The show opened with an all-white tweed suit with a round plastic helmet and boots reminiscent of Star Wars warriors. "We all depend on it," Lagerfeld, 83, told Reuters TV after the show, referring to technology. "Imagine your life without the telephone and the next step will be artificial intelligence and robots." Models walking alongside rows of computer hardware wore classic Chanel tweed suits and jackets completed with metallic ballerina shoes. Accessories included a small black handbag that was effectively a plastic robot with blinking square eyes. Chanel, which is privately owned, traditionally organizes some of the most striking shows during Paris Fashion Week. The events help the brand preserve its image which is crucial for retaining customers and wooing new ones. According to figures filed with the Amsterdam exchange, the French luxury goods maker was hit hard by the luxury spending slump last year. (Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Alison Williams)
By PTI: Itanagar, Oct 4 (PTI) Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani today agreed to sanction a Composite Textile Park for Arunachal Pradesh.

The Park would have facilities for skill development, design and product upgradation and facilities for export of finished handicrafts, the Minister said during a meeting with Chief Minister Pema Khandu at New Delhi.

Irani assured of deputing a group of experts to handhold the state government in preparation of the DPR and running the centre there after, an official release said.

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On the request of Khandu to assist the state in exploring the usage of geo-textiles to mitigate and prevent frequent landslides in state, Irani asked the state government to get the vulnerability mapping done and submit a proposal which would be sanctioned at a highly subsidised cost.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and Finance Commissioner during the meeting, the release added. PTI UPL DKB

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(Reuters) - Chelsea manager Antonio Conte hailed the tactical flexibility of Victor Moses in Saturday's 2-0 Premier League victory at Hull City, saying the 25-year-old would fit the wing-back role. Following last month's defensive errors, Conte employed a new defensive formation at the KC Stadium, with wing backs Moses and Marcos Alonso providing pace and width. Moses, making his first start in the league this season, provided defensive solidity and was an attacking threat as well. "Moses played an incredible game in defensive and offensive situations. It is fantastic because he is working very hard. He deserved to play and he showed me that my choice was right," Conte told the club website (www.chelseafc.com). Conte also backed Alonso and Pedro, who has started in the league just once this season, to thrive in the role. "Pedro can also play in the same way to give you the opportunity to exploit one-v-one," he added. "Alonso played in this role at Fiorentina. This was his first Premier League start, but in the same way as the other players he must work. He played a good game but he can improve." Chelsea, who are seventh in the league standings, host champions Leicester City on Oct. 15. (Reporting by Ian Rodricks in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
(Target declines to comment in eighth paragraph)

By Ernest Scheyder

HOUSTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp on Monday said it stands behind John Stumpf, a member of its board and the chief executive of bank Wells Fargo & Co, despite growing concerns about his leadership during a customer service scandal.

Pressure has mounted on Stumpf in recent days to resign as CEO of Wells Fargo, the largest U.S. bank by deposits, after revelations the bank for years opened checking, savings and credit card accounts without customer approval to satisfy managers' demands for new business.

Lawmakers of both major U.S. political parties in Congress have excoriated Stumpf, accusing him of creating a culture in which such a practice could thrive.

Earlier this month Stumpf resigned from an advisory role at the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Chevron executives had cited his experience and reputation as a major benefit to its shareholders when recommending him to the board. The company's board also noted his position at the Fed when it nominated him to the board.

"John (Stumpf) is a valued member of our board," Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "Given the investigations that are underway, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."

Stumpf joined the 10-person Chevron board in 2010, the same year he became chairman of the San Francisco-based bank and three years after he became its CEO. Both companies are headquartered in California's Bay Area and are roughly 35 miles (55 km) apart.

Stumpf also is a director at retailer Target Corp, which declined to comment on whether he will remain on its board.

At Chevron, the second-largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas producer, Stumpf serves on board committees that oversee corporate governance and executive compensation.

Chevron does not hold any meaningful stake in Wells Fargo.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Terry Wade and Bill Trott)
Chevy Chase is returning to the big screen, this time to play a foul-mouthed grandfather in a raunchy new comedy.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chase has boarded the film "Federal Offense," described as a screwball storyline centering on three friends who lose a drug kingpin's stash. Mayhem ensues, as they're chased by gangsters, bounty hunters and police after breaking their foul-mouthed grandfather out of the nursing home.

Chase was most recently seen on the NBC show "Community" and also made appearances in "Vacation" and "Hot Tub Time Machine 2."
U.S. Navy Admiral John Richardson (L), the U.S. chief of naval operations, waits for Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before their talks at Abe's official residence in Tokyo October 15, 2015. U.S. naval vessels sailing through international waters in the South China Sea, including areas claimed by China, cannot be considered provocative, the U.S. Navy's most senior uniformed officer said on Thursday, while a Chinese newspaper called for a firm response to any

Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson has a problem with the acronym A2/AD (anti-access, area denial).

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Richardson declared that Naval communications would no longer employ the acronym which has come to be "bandied about pretty freely" and mean "all things to all people."

To ensure clarity in our thinking and precision  Well no longer use the term A2/AD as a stand-alone acronym ... we have to be better than that, said Richardson.

The term, which has been popular for the better part of two decades and a concept since virtually the beginning of warfare itself, has become so broadly used and applied as to be meaningless, according to Richardson.

Several times in the past, Richardson has stressed that long range weapons developments from adversarial nations like Russia and China aren't the end-all, be-all of naval conflicts.

aircraft carrier

Just because China's "carrier-killer" missile has a greater range than the planes aboard a US aircraft carrier doesn't mean the US would shy away from deploying a carrier within that range, Richardson has stated on different occasions.

Again, Richardson challenged the notion that a so-called A2/AD zone was "an impenetrable keep out zone that forces can only enter at extreme peril to their existence, let alone their mission."

Richardson took particular issue with the "denial" aspect of A2/AD, repeating his assertion that this denial is an "aspiration" not a "fait accompli." The maps so common in representing these threats often mark off the limits of different system's ranges with "red arcs that extend off coastlines," with the implication that military forces crossing these lines face "certain destruction."

But this is all speculation according to Richardson: "The reality is far more complex, it's actually really hard to achieve a hit. It requires the completion of a really complex chain of events.... these arcs represent danger for sure... but the threats they are based on are not insurmountable, and can be managed, will be managed."

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China a2ad anti-access area denial

"We can fight from within these defended areas, and we will... this is nothing new and has been done before," said Richardson.

So while Russia and China can develop missiles and radars and declare their ranges on paper, things get a lot trickier in the real world, where the US has the most and best experience in operating.

"Potential adversaries actually have different geographic features like choke points, islands, ocean currents, mountains," said Richardson, who urged against oversimplifying complicated, and always unique circumstances in so-called A2/AD zones.

"Have no doubt, the US navy is prepared to go wherever it needs to go, at any time, and stay there for as long as necessary in response to our leaderships call to project our strategic influence," Richardson concluded.

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Santiago (AFP) - Chile's Supreme Court said Tuesday it has annulled a treason conviction against President Michelle Bachelet's father, who was jailed and tortured to death for opposing the country's 1973 coup.

Alberto Bachelet, a top general in the Chilean air force, was arrested in the aftermath of the military coup staged by his army colleague, the late dictator Augusto Pinochet.

A self-declared war tribunal convicted Bachelet of treason for opposing the bloody overthrow of socialist president Salvador Allende.

Bachelet, who had been the air force finance chief, died in prison in 1974 from the torture his one-time subordinates inflicted on him. He was 51.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court annulled his conviction and those of 80 other air force officers, declaring them innocent.

The war tribunals set up in the wake of Pinochet's coup failed to "respect prisoners' rights or consider any of the precepts established by international war conventions," the court ruled.

The head of the National Human Rights Institute, Branislav Maralic, said the decision "restores the honor and dignity of people who bore the stigma of being treated as traitors for more than 40 years."

The court had last week upheld four-year prison sentences meted out to two retired officers convicted of torturing general Bachelet.

President Bachelet, his daughter, was herself arrested and tortured under Pinochet's regime in 1975.

A clandestine left-wing activist at the time, she was released after several weeks and fled into exile.

More than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared and 38,000 tortured during Pinochet's rule, which ended in 1990.
BEIJING, Oct 4 (Reuters) - China's boomtown of Shenzhen has rolled out new steps, including higher mortgage down payments and home purchase restrictions, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, joining other Chinese cities in their attempt to cool soaring home prices.

First-time home buyers with no mortgage records will still pay minimum down payments of 30 percent, but down payments for those who have mortgage records but no homes will be raised to no less than 50 percent, Xinhua quoted a government document as saying.

Down payments for second home buyers in the city in China's southern Guangdong province, near Hong Kong, will be increased to no less than 70 percent, it said without giving further details.

Separately, local media reported on Tuesday that Suzhou in China's eastern Jiangsu province has unveiled fresh steps, including higher down payment requirements, to cool the housing market.

Chengdu, Jinan, Wuhan and Zhengzhou have already announced new restrictions on property purchases as the government tries to damped home prices stoked by property speculators in second- and third-tier cities across the country.

Those measures were the latest in a string of steps to tighten credit flowing into the property sector as the government tries to balance the need to prevent bubbles while stimulating economic growth.

The average new home price in 70 major cities climbed an annual 9.2 percent in August, up from 7.9 percent in July, according to data from China's National Bureau of Statistics.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Alison Williams)
Chipotle is introducing chorizo as a new menu item across the chains U.S. locations to coincide with National Taco Day on Oct. 4.

The spicy traditional Spanish sausage enjoyed a limited release earlier in the summer across five cities and will now make its debut nationwide, CNBC reports.

The reaction to chorizo in the cities that have had it has been overwhelmingly positive, so were making it available in all of our restaurants across the country, said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, in a statement. Our chorizo is made with responsibly raised chicken and pork, and provides a delicious new option that fits perfectly with the rest of our menu.

The fiery addition to Chipotles menu is the latest in a line of promotions that the chain has offered this year, after posting losses in the spring following food safety issues.

[CNBC]
ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, along with three of his commanders, has been reportedly poisoned by an unknown assassin.

By India Today Web Desk: Latest reports have it that ISIS kingpin Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has taken seriously ill after being 'poisoned'. Baghdadi and three other ISIS militants were said to have fallen sick after consuming poisoned meals in Nineveh's Be'aaj district.

Read more: Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, top 3 commanders poisoned?

An IANS report said, as per an Iraqi news agency, the four militants "have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures". Meanwhile, the ISIS has also reportedly started an investigation to track down those responsible for poisoning the food.

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There have, however, been no official confirmation yet. And this is not the first time Al-Baghdadi has been reported dead. There have been several reported assassination attempts on Al-Baghdadi. But each time, he re-emerged.

Here are a few of the episodes:

JUNE 2016Al-Baghdadi was said to have been killed in a US-led airstrike on June 14 this year. The UK Mirror quoted a news agency linked to the terror group saying, "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed by coalition air strikes on Raqqa on the fifth day of Ramadan."

The reports later turned out to be inaccurate.

OCTOBER 2015

Iraqi Air Force officials claimed they had successfully bombed Al-Baghdadi's convoy heading to a meeting, in the Anbar province near to the Syrian border.

Reports initially had it that he was in the convoy. But soon, the news fell through as speculation came in saying he may not have been there.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Source: AP

March 2015

Al-Baghdadi was again speculated to have been grievously injured in March 2015, in a coalition airstrike that hit the al-Baaj District. There were also reports of ISIS leaders considering a replacement in case he succumbed to his wounds.

While news of the attack having left him paralyzed floated around, Al-Baghdadi soon resurfaced, alive and seemingly fit.

Mugshot of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi taken by US armed forces. Source: US Aemy/ Wikipedia

November 2014

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was believed to have died in a 2014 US-led coalition also, that had blown up "a ten-truck convoy of the ISIS" near Mosul. Then too, there had been reports of Baghdadi had been left "critically wounded" in the attack.

A week later, he re-emerged with a 17-minute audio tape, calling for attacks on "the Jews", the "apostate" and the "treacherous" Muslims in Saudi Arabia.

The video here is a different one.

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(NEWARK, N.J.) A onetime top ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the governor and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo discussed releasing a false report to tamp down questions over the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal, the prosecutions key witness testified Tuesday.

David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty in the gridlock scheme and is cooperating with prosecutors, said former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chairman David Samson told him the governors discussed the idea in October 2013. The report would have attributed the lane closures to a traffic study, covering up the true reason for the closures: political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee for failing to endorse Christies 2013 re-election, Wildstein testified.

The report was never issued.

Instead, Bill Baroni testified before lawmakers in November 2013, two months after the lane closures, that they were part of a traffic study.

Baroni, who served as Christies top appointed staff aide at the Port Authority, and Bridget Kelly, Christies former deputy chief of staff, are on trial facing wire fraud and civil rights charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

Wildstein said the idea for the report came as news reporters began to ask questions about the lane closures, which gridlocked the town of Fort Lee for four days.

My understanding was that (Republican) Gov. Christie and (Democratic) Gov. Cuomo had discussed this, Wildstein said under cross-examination Tuesday, according to the Record, adding he was told the information by Samson. My understanding at the time was that it would put an end to this issue.

Cuomo spokesman John Kelly, who isnt related to Bridget Kelly, denied the conversation between governors took place and criticized Wildstein as a felon spinning a tale.

Its just false and delusional, Kelly said.

Messages left with Christies office Tuesday werent immediately returned. Christie has not been charged and has said he did not authorize the closures or play a role in covering them up.

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Wildstein also testified Tuesday that Port Authority executive director Patrick Foye, a Cuomo appointee, was to sign off on the false report. Foyes attorney, Eric Corngold, disputed Wildsteins testimony.

Foye never had any such conversation or was given any such direction by the governor or by any of his staff, he told The Associated Press.

A message left with Samsons attorney hasnt been returned. Samson pleaded guilty in another case to using his role as Port Authority chairman to influence United Airlines to reinstate a money-losing route closer to his vacation home and is awaiting sentencing.

Wildstein, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees New York-area bridges and tunnels, testified earlier that Baroni told Christie about the traffic jams as they were happening and said the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee wasnt happy that he wasnt getting his calls returned.

Associated Press writer David Klepper in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.
Jerusalem (AFP) - The custodian of Catholic sites in the Holy Land and the head of the Franciscan Order called Tuesday for a "safe zone" to be created in Syria's Aleppo as fighting there raged.

Francesco Patton, whose custody of Catholic sites in the Holy Land covers shrines in Syria, and Michael Perry, minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, made the appeal in a joint statement.

"We ask that the entire international community take concrete steps to designate Aleppo a safe zone," they said.

"A safe zone surrounding Aleppo would allow the whole population, worn down by the terrible effects of the conflict, to receive essential humanitarian aid without discrimination, to find safety and security, and to recover some trust and hope in a speedy solution, which would be motivated by peace alone," they added.

Their plea came as Syrian regime forces advanced against rebels in the northern city during intense street battles on Tuesday, after the United States abandoned talks with Russia aimed at securing a truce.

Patton and Perry said safe zones should be placed under the control of UN peacekeepers and operate "under a (UN) Security Council mandate with the full cooperation of the various parties involved in the war".

They also urged nations across the world "to be as generous as possible in accepting Syrian refugees".

The custody of the Holy Land is made up of 285 members of the Franciscan Order from 39 countries.

Its territory covers Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, the Greek island of Rhodes and the monastery of Mosky in Cairo.
New York (AFP) - Citigroup announced Tuesday a long-term plan to build up its scandal-plagued Mexican unit Banamex, renaming the company Citibanamex and pumping $1 billion into the business through 2020.

The plan includes a beefed-up physical presence in Mexico, with 2,500 new ATMs and 100 new "digital branches," which typically are staffed with a few humans and provide services through touch-screen and other automated capacities.

Citibanamex will also upgrade its computer infrastructure systems to provide better digital-banking services from personal computers and smartphones. There will be special branch offerings for priority clients and small- and medium-sized businesses.

"These investments in Citibanamex reaffirm our commitment to Mexico and our confidence in its prospects," said Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat.

"Our goal is nothing less than to create a state-of-the-art bank in Mexico, fully focused on delivering a richer, smarter, more intuitive experience to everyone who does business with us."

Citigroup acquired Banamex in 2001 and currently has nearly 1,500 branches in Mexico, 7,500 ATMs and 5.7 million credit cards.

In February 2014, Citigroup announced a one-time charge of $235 million after uncovering fraud on the books of oil contractor Oceanografia, which had borrowed $585 million from a Banamex unit.

The disclosure spurred numerous government probes, including investigations by the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Citigroup in July 2015 shut the US branch of Banamex and paid a $140 million fine to a California state agency due to persistent violations of federal bank secrecy and money laundering rules.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2016 / CKR Carbon Corporation (CKR.V) (CB81.F) ("CKR" or the "Company"), a graphite development Company, and operator of the Aukam vein graphite project in Namibia, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the Agreement) with a vertically integrated graphite producer (the "Producer") to supply an initial 5,000 tonnes of graphite per annum subject to granting of a mining license an application for which will be submitted in early 2017. The supply agreement expands upon the Letter of Intent signed in March (see News Release dated March 16, 2016). The agreement is for ten (10) years and the Producer has the option to renew the agreement for a further ten (10) years.

Following signing of the Letter of Intent, CKR supplied the Producer with several samples of Aukam vein graphite material for testing, including a 1.6 tonne bulk sample. The samples successfully passed preliminary testing, including testing for suitability in battery anodes. Additional testing by third parties is required, following successful completion of which the Producer will purchase a commercially reasonable quantity of graphite each year that could eventually reach 10,000 tonnes.

An estimated order for graphite will be placed with the Company at least four weeks prior to each quarter. Delivery of the graphite to the Producer shall be outlined in a final order that specifies quantity, material, sizing, packing, quality humidity and terms of payment. Price of the graphite will be negotiated at the time of each order in the context of prevailing market conditions. It is anticipated that product deliveries will take place Free on Board (FOB) Luderitz Bay, Namibia, approximately 200 kilometres by road from Aukam.

"This supply agreement gives the Company a market for the Aukam graphite, and the opportunity to be exposed to technology in the graphene and graphite anode space," said Roger Moss, CKR Carbon Corporation CEO. "We look forward to a long term relationship that is mutually beneficial to both companies."

The Company cautions that it has not conducted an economic study and it is uncertain if the Aukam graphite will be found to have demonstrated economic viability. The technical information in this news release was prepared by Roger Moss, Ph.D., P.Geo a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About the Aukam Project

CKR has, through a Farm Out Agreement with Next Graphite Inc. an option to acquire 63% of the Aukam graphite project by meeting certain milestones and making cash payments. It also has the option to buy an incremental 10% of Next's remaining interest in the License for a cash payment of US$185,000, subject to agreement by Next. To date, CKR has spent more than US$400,000 on the project and consequently earned a 23% interest.

The Aukam Graphite Project is located on 34,082.15 hectares in southern Namibia close to the port city of Luderitz. The property hosts three underground adits which were mined periodically between 1940 and 1974. Five dumps from the historical mining occur on the property and 73 composite samples taken from the lower three dumps were assayed and averaged 42% Cg. While these composite samples were selected from a much larger screened sample of the dumps, they are not considered representative of the mineralization on the property as a whole.

CKR recently completed a bulk sampling program at Aukam, and has a letter of intent to sell the graphitic material produced during the program. CKR is currently undertaking studies to support an application for a mining license. The company maintains high safety and environmental standards and has a comprehensive strategy of social engagement.

About CKR Carbon Corporation

CKR Carbon Corporation is focused on high quality, natural graphite suitable for use in lithium-ion batteries, graphite foil and other value-added high growth technology applications. We only select projects requiring low capital and a short time to market. The company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol CKR and has 33.2 million shares outstanding.

For more information: visit the website at www.ckrcarbon.com or contact:

Roger Moss, CEO, +1 416-704-8291

E-mail inquiries: rmoss@ckrcarbon.com



Arno Brand, Boswell Projects, +1 416-561-4095

abrand@boswellprojects.com



For graphite product enquiries:

"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).

SOURCE: CKR Carbon Corporation
By Amanda Becker HAVERFORD, Pa. (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton slammed Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday for making disparaging comments about women's physical appearance, accusing Trump of taking the issue of female body image "to a new level of difficulty and meanness." Hours before vice presidential candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence face off in Virginia in their sole debate, Clinton urged women at an event in the Philadelphia suburbs billed as a "family town hall" to stand up to online bullying about how they look. "It's shocking when women are called names and judged solely on the basis of physical attributes," the Democratic presidential nominee said in response to a 15-year-old girl's question about the problem of body image and the "damage Donald Trump does" when he talks about how women look. "My opponent insulted Miss Universe," Clinton said, resurrecting her Republican rival's comments last week about former beauty queen Alicia Machado's weight gain after she won the Miss Universe contest in 1996. "I mean, how do you get more acclaimed than that? But it wasn't good enough," Clinton said. "We can't take any of this seriously anymore. We need to laugh at it. We need to refute it." Clinton, the first woman to be nominated for the presidency by a major U.S. party, has rushed to capitalize on Trump's public feud with Machado, whom he once called "Miss Piggy" because of her weight gain, and make inroads with women voters five weeks before the Nov. 8 election. Clinton's and Trump's running mates, Democrat Kaine, a U.S. senator, and Republican Pence, governor of Indiana, will meet in a debate in Farmville, Virginia, starting at 9 p.m. on Tuesday (0100 GMT on Wednesday.) The debate will provide voters their first extended chance to evaluate the No. 2's in the White House race and is the only showdown between the vice presidential candidates. Trump and Clinton will meet in their second debate on Sunday. Pence could find himself frequently on the defensive about Trump, a New York businessman who has been dealing with a torrent of bad news in the past week. That includes a New York Times report that Trump took an almost $1 billion loss in 1995 that may have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years. While Democrats have slammed him over the report, Trump, who made much of his business acumen on the campaign trail, has said he "brilliantly used" U.S. tax rules to his advantage to limit his tax bills. Clinton disagreed, telling reporters on Tuesday it showed "unequivocally" that Trump was a failure at business for losing $1 billion to begin with. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday said 67 percent of Americans believed it was "selfish" for a presidential candidate to pay no taxes, although 46 percent thought a candidate who paid no taxes was "smart." 'HARMFUL COMMENTS' Clinton also criticized Trump for appearing to suggest on Monday that veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress were not strong enough to handle the stress of war. Trump and his campaign said his words were taken out of context. "When people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over - and you're strong and you can handle it - but a lot of people can't handle it," Trump told a veterans group on Monday. Clinton said troops deserved a commander in chief who understood their sacrifice. "Donald Trump's comments are not just ignorant, they are harmful because they give voice to the stigma that has led generations of veterans to hide their struggles instead of getting lifesaving help," she said. On the campaign trail on Tuesday, Trump met with about a dozen energy executives in Denver, querying them mainly about their concerns about regulations he said had "gotten out of control." John Harpole, chief executive of Mercator Energy, said he did not understand why the Obama administrations response to the shale boom and Clintons energy positions had not come up during the first presidential debate last week. Others told Trump they faced more immediate concerns with state-level regulators. Scott Stewart of Gilbert-Stewart Operating said his company had largely moved operations to Kansas because of stiff rules in Colorado. Trump also reveled in comments on Monday by Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, who said small-business people and people who make too much to get federal subsidies to help with insurance payments were "getting killed" by the federal healthcare law known as Obamacare. Trump has promised to repeal Obamacare, while Hillary Clinton has praised it but said she would work to improve aspects of it. "I bet he went through hell last night, can you imagine?" Trump said of Bill Clinton during a rally in Prescott, Arizona. "He went through hell, but honestly there have been many nights when he has gone through hell with Hillary." Clinton has led Trump in national opinion polls in recent months. On Tuesday, an average of polls aggregated by RealClearPolitics website showed her with 48.1 percent of support compared with Trump's 44.3 percent. (Writing by John Whitesides; Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson in Colorado and Chris Kahn in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney)
The stock of CNO Financial Group Inc. CNO slipped to a 52-week low of $14.65 after the company revealed last week that it is severing ties with Beechwood Re or BRe.

Two of the subsidiaries of the company  Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company (BCLIC) and Washington National Insurance Company (WNIC)  have terminated their reinsurance deal with BRe. This severance came after BRe was found guilty of not complying with insurance company guidelines by investing CNO funds in hedge fund Platinum Partners which is in troubled waters.

The news came on Sep 29 and dragged down the stock by 5.2% over the last three trading days.

Back in 2014, Beechwood had agreed with CNO Financial to take on some risks tied to long-term care policies initiated by the latter. Pursuant to the agreement, CNO Financial agreed to cede more than $500 million in reserves tied to the contracts.

CNO FINL GRP Price and Consensus

CNO FINL GRP Price and Consensus | CNO FINL GRP Quote

Consequently, the companies will be taking back approximately $550 million of long-term care liabilities. This will bring back the risk involved in these policies.

The termination will also lead to an after-tax charge of $55 million, resulting from the revaluation of assets and liabilities of the recaptured business.

In an effort to fortify its capital, CNO Financial will contribute approximately $200 million to its insurance subsidiaries. It has also suspended its share repurchase program for rest of the year. Though the company made it clear that this will not have any impact on policyholders, we believe the bottom line will suffer due to the cessation of share buyback.

The company has also commenced litigation against current and former individual principals of Beechwood Re  Mark Feuer, Scott Taylor and David Levy  for damages caused by their actions.

Also in August, Fitch Ratings placed the ratings of CNO Financial as negative, on concerns that the agreement with Beechwood might lead to losses that would lead to capital drain. Thus investors fear a negative rating action as well.

Story continues

Zacks Rank

CNO Financial has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players are Wex Inc. WEX, Equifax Inc. EFX and Visa Inc. V, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can seethe complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Wex Inc. has seen a 0.8% rise in its 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate to $4.02 earnings per share over the past 60 days. On average, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3.9% in the trailing four quarters.

Equifax Inc. has seen a 0.4% rise in its 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate to $5.30 earnings per share over the past 60 days. On average, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 4.4% in the trailing four quarters.

Visa has seen a 1.1% rise in its 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate to $2.79 earnings per share over the past 90 days. On average, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 1.87% in the last four quarters.

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To boost its presence in northern Europe, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation CTSH has announced the acquisition of Norway-based IT solutions provider, Frontica Business Solutions for nearly $128 million.

Reportedly, Frontica had backlog worth 5.1 billion Norwegian Krone at the end of its last reported quarter driven by important agreements with its key clientele. Frontica is a subsidiary of Norwegian oil investment services company, Akastor ASA.

In a statement, Cognizants President, Global Growth Markets, stated The acquisition helps us strengthen our oil and gas industry expertise, expand our presence in key markets, and deepen and broaden our service portfolio for our clients. Frontica will play a key role in helping us realize these benefits through their specialized capabilities in serving the oil and gas industry.

Acquisitions have been a key growth catalyst for Cognizant. In January this year, Cognizant acquired KBACE Technologies, which specializes in cloud strategy, implementation and integration. It will aid in expanding the companys advanced IT capabilities, especially for Cloud and SaaS offerings. Also, it bought a 49% stake in ReD Associates that specializes in understanding customer behavioral pattern and applying the same to business strategy. Recently, the company also declared its plans to acquire Idea Couture, which will be integrated with Cognizant Digital Works.

Earlier, the company completed the acquisitions of TriZetto, iTask, Cadient, Odyssey and itaas. The company has not only gained new customers from these buyouts but also expanded its capabilities in the healthcare industry and enhanced its overall digital delivery capabilities. Among these, TriZetto happens to be Cognizants largest acquisition to-date. The company spent $2.8 billion to acquire the healthcare IT solutions provider to develop, license, implement and support proprietary and third-party software products for the healthcare industry. Currently, the combined entity generates more than $3 billion in revenues from the healthcare sector.

Story continues

COGNIZANT TECH Price

COGNIZANT TECH Price | COGNIZANT TECH Quote

The news of the Frontica acquisition comes on the heels of an ongoing corruption probe. Last week, the company said that it was carrying out an internal investigation, related to a possible infringement of US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act with regard to charges of bribery in its Indian operations.

The company appointed Rajeev Mehta as its President. Mehta replaces Gordon Coburn. Though media reports suggest that the departure of Coburn is linked to the ongoing corruption probe, the company refrained from commenting over this.

At present, Cognizant carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same space include SYNNEX Corp. SNX, Asure Software, Inc. ASUR and LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. LITB. All three sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Earnings per share estimates for SYNNEX Corp, Asure Software and LightInTheBox have improved over the last 30 days. For the current year, estimates for SYNNEX Corp have gone up to $6.49 from $6.22 while for Asure Software, estimates have gone up from 15 cents to 19 cents. For LightInTheBox, the loss estimate has narrowed from 18 cents to a loss of 7 cents.

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By Marc Frank and Helen Murphy HAVANA/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board in Havana on Tuesday after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result. In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Sunday as too lenient on the rebels. Lead negotiators Humberto de la Calle and Sergio Jaramillo were back at a Havana convention center on Tuesday meeting counterparts from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to see what the rebels are willing to do, the government said. The Cuban capital was the venue for talks between the two sides since 2012 that reached an accord to end Colombia's 52-year war that has killed around a quarter of a million people. All sides, including "No" voters, who carried the day on Sunday by less than half a percentage point, say they want an end to war, and the two parties have kept their ceasefire. But there is vehement opposition - led by hardline former President Alvaro Uribe - to major planks of the previous deal, including guaranteed congressional seats for the FARC and immunity from traditional jail sentences for leaders. A renegotiation seems to depend on whether the FARC would accept tougher conditions, maybe combined with a softening of Uribe's demands. After years of refusing to meet negotiators, Uribe has now said he is willing to seek a joint solution. Santos and Uribe will meet on Wednesday morning, the president's office said. Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said the decision whether to officially renegotiate the accord lies with the FARC. On Monday the rebels said they would remain "faithful" to the negotiated accord and Twitter messages from FARC leadership appeared to suggest reluctance to change the terms at this stage. "The thing is, just as the government has its deal breakers, so does the FARC, so we have to see if it is willing to reopen the accord," Holguin told reporters. "There was no Plan B, we believed the nation wanted peace." Three representatives from Uribe's right-wing Democratic Center party are to pore over details with three from the government. In what may turn into a dual negotiation process, those meetings are to commence once de la Calle returns from Cuba. Colombian financial markets fell on Monday as investors worried that the limbo over the peace deal would hold up fiscal reforms such as tax changes. Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, however, said the tax reforms would go ahead. (Additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne and Helen Murphy; Editing by Alistair Bell and Frances Kerry)
Bogota (AFP) - Colombia's government said Tuesday that the FARC rebels must decide whether to renegotiate a peace deal that voters rejected in a referendum, throwing a four-year-old peace process into disarray.

The government's chief peace negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, has returned to Havana, where the peace talks were held, to see whether the leftist guerrillas are open to revising the deal, Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told a press conference.

"The decision on whether to open up the agreements is a decision that falls to the FARC," she said.

Colombians narrowly voted "No" Sunday to what had been hailed as a historic peace deal, a shock defeat in a referendum marked by low turnout.

Voters apparently balked at the concessions offered to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including soft sentences with no jail time for those who confessed to crimes committed during the 52-year-old conflict.

President Juan Manuel Santos, who has staked his legacy on the peace process, has named Holguin, de la Calle and Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas to hold talks with the opposition on salvaging the deal.

They will be tasked with finding a compromise acceptable to both the FARC and the deal's hardline opponents, led by Santos's political enemy, former president Alvaro Uribe.

Holguin said the government is "fully ready" to listen to the deal's opponents.

She called for a speedy meeting with Uribe's right-wing party, the Democratic Center -- which snubbed emergency talks convened Monday by Santos at the presidential palace.

The Colombia conflict has killed more than 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing, drawing in several leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

The FARC, the oldest and largest rebel group, was to relaunch as a political party under the peace deal.

Holguin admitted the government was left scrambling by the surprise referendum result, which flew in the face of opinion polls.

Story continues

"There was no Plan B. We believed the country wanted peace," she said.

A United Nations mission tasked with overseeing the disarmament process was also left adrift.

"The mandate for the UN political mission... is for a peace deal. At this point, we don't have a peace deal," said Holguin.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22 for fever and dehydration. The hospital on Monday said she continues to improve and must remain hospitalised for some more days because of infection.

By India Today Web Desk: The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed Tamil Nadu's Additional Advocate General to get instructions from the government on Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's health.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22 for fever and dehydration. The hospital on Monday said she continues to improve and must remain hospitalised for some more days because of infection.

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Social activist Traffic Ramaswamy filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court seeking the real status of Jayalalithaa's health.

The court observed that people were anxious to know about the Chief Minister's health.

Traffic Ramaswamy sought to know whether Jayalalithaa was in sound health to take important decisions and hold meetings of officials and ministers.

(With agency inputs)

Also Read:

Jayalalithaa continues to improve, advised some more days' hospital stay



--- ENDS ---
Bogota (AFP) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will meet his top rival, Alvaro Uribe, on Wednesday to discuss salvaging a peace deal with the FARC rebels after voters rejected it in a referendum.

Santos, who has staked his legacy on ending the half-century conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), will sit down with Uribe, his former boss and current nemesis, at the presidential palace at 11:30 am (1630 GMT), officials said.

The high-stakes meeting comes after Colombians on Sunday narrowly voted against a deal Uribe had condemned as too lenient on the leftist guerrillas -- throwing the nearly four-year-old peace process into disarray and giving the former president a major victory.

The unexpected result has left Santos fighting on two fronts: he must find a compromise solution acceptable to both the hardliners in Uribe's camp and the FARC.

The government's chief peace negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, has returned to Havana, where the peace talks were held, to see whether the FARC is open to revising the deal.

"The decision on whether to open up the agreements is a decision that falls to the FARC," Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told a press conference.

Santos has named Holguin, de la Calle and Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas to hold talks with the opposition on salvaging the deal.

Holguin said the government is "fully ready" to listen to the deal's opponents.

She admitted the government was left scrambling by the surprise referendum result, which flew in the face of opinion polls.

"There was no Plan B. We believed the country wanted peace," she said.

A United Nations mission tasked with overseeing the disarmament process was also left adrift.

"The mandate for the UN political mission... is for a peace deal. At this point, we don't have a peace deal," Holguin told journalists.

- Loaded rivalry -

The meeting between Santos and Uribe comes after the latter's right-wing party, the Democratic Center, snubbed emergency talks that Santos convened Monday at the presidential palace to chart a way forward with the country's top political leaders.

Story continues

The two men have a complicated history.

Santos served as Uribe's defense minister from 2006 to 2009, leading a major army offensive against the FARC.

But he shifted gears after succeeding Uribe in 2010, opening peace talks with the weakened rebels -- and provoking a falling-out with his former boss, who branded him a traitor.

Santos will also meet with former president Andres Pastrana (1998-2002), another major opponent of the peace deal, an hour before Uribe, his office said.

Both meetings will be held behind closed doors.

Santos said on Twitter he had invited the two former presidents "to dialogue... in a constructive spirit."

His last known meeting with Uribe was in January 2011, after his government began secret talks with the FARC.

After formal talks with the rebels opened in Cuba in November 2012, Santos repeatedly offered to meet his predecessor, but no sit-down materialized.

The Colombia conflict has killed more than 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing over half a century, drawing in several leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

The FARC, the oldest and largest rebel group, was set to relaunch as a political party under the peace deal.
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Oct 4 (Reuters) - It's not often that jobs get exported from the developing world back to a developed country, but this is likely to be the case with nickel, the Philippines and Australia.

The new Philippine government of President Rodrigo Duterte has roiled global nickel markets by suspending 10 nickel mines and threatening the closure of at least 12 more, citing environmental violations.

The suspended mines and those at risk represent nearly 60 percent of output in the Philippines, the world's largest producer of nickel ore and top supplier to top buyer China.

It's no surprise that the uncertainty surrounding the Philippines' nickel output has led to a surge in prices, with benchmark London futures rising 18.5 percent from the end of last year to Monday's close of $10,350 a tonne.

But while the global market for nickel is undoubtedly tighter than it was, the recent rally from February's 13-year low will serve to boost supply over the longer term.

An example of this is plans to reopen the Avebury mine in Tasmania, Australia's island state, that was mothballed in 2009 after nickel prices collapsed in the wake of the 2008 global recession.

The mine's owners, Melbourne-based copper and zinc miner MMG , has agreed to sell Avebury to a private company, Dundas Mining, which plans to restart operations next year.

Prior to being placed on care-and-maintenance Avebury was capable of producing 8,500 tonnes a year of nickel concentrate, and this could be increased to around 15,000 tonnes if mining operations are expanded.

This makes Avebury a small player in the global nickel stakes, but the point is that it's unlikely it is the only mine that may return to being viable if the nickel price has indeed bottomed and is now on a sustainable recovery path.

If the mine does reopen, it will also be an unusual reversal of job flows between the developing and developed world.

Story continues

In recent years, Tasmania, in common with the rest of Australia and other developed nations, has tended to lose manufacturing and other semi-skilled jobs to developing nations that can offer lower taxes and cheaper labour forces.

A recent example in Tasmania was the relocation of part of a heavy mine equipment factory owned by Caterpillar Inc from the town of Burnie to Thailand in 2015, with a reported loss of 280 jobs.

UNCERTAINTY REIGNS

The suspension of nickel mines in the Philippines is perhaps unusual insofar as it shows a developing nation being prepared to sacrifice employment in pursuit of better environmental outcomes.

While there has been some softening of the recent rhetoric by Philippine Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, it's still clear that she intends to ensure miners are more aware of their environmental responsibilities.

The broader question is will the current question mark over nickel output in the Philippines, which supplies about a quarter of the world's mined nickel supply, be enough to drive a rally in prices that will tempt investment in bringing back supply, as at Avebury, or lead to new deposits being developed?

It's worth noting that while nickel has performed strongly this year, it's still barely a fifth of its record high of $51,800 a tonne, reached in May 2007.

While this does imply plenty of headroom for a sustained rally, it also implies that sustained tightness is needed in the market, meaning that new supply shouldn't arrive too quickly or it will risk stifling the recovery.

It's here where the risks lie, as Indonesia, the former top supplier of nickel ore, is considering relaxing a 2014 ban on the export of raw minerals, in what would be a major policy flip.

It's not clear why the government would reverse the ban, given that Indonesia has had success in encouraging increased downstream processing of mineral ores, as can be seen by the massive surge its in its exports of ferronickel to China.

Ferronickel is an intermediate stage product between ore and refined metal, and China imported 450,874 tonnes of the product in the first eight months of the year, a jump of 301 percent over the same period last year.

At the same time, China's imports of nickel ore and concentrates from the Philippines fell 21.3 percent in the first eight months of year to 17.99 million tonnes.

It's also possible that the Philippines will impose a ban on nickel ore exports, travelling down the same path that Indonesia is now contemplating leaving.

It appears the only certainty for nickel currently is uncertainty, which may serve to keep prices up while making any investment decisions from smelters in Indonesia to small mines in Tasmania a brave call.

(Editing by Richard Pullin)
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White comedy bros will forever insist that no topic is too sensitive to joke about, which is how we ended up with tasteless Kim Kardashian commentary from two of late night's biggest hosts.

As the Huffington Post noted, on Monday night's Conan, Conan O'Brien used Kardashian's Paris robbery as fodder for an opening monologue joke: "No one was hurt, but at a mansion in Paris, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint. Kim was bound and gagged, then the robbers broke in."

SEE ALSO: Hey NRA: Kim Kardashian's terrifying robbery isnt a joke

And on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel joked about Kardashian's experience in a lengthy monologue directed at the criminals who robbed her: "If we find out you harmed even a single extension on her People's Choice Award-winning head, we will find you and we will make you so Les Miserables, you'll wish you'd never been born to a woman who doesn't shave her armpits."

Get it? Because the robbers were likely French and French women all have unshaved armpits and Les Miserables is a novel about French people?

"Right now, Ryan Lochte is on the set of Dancing With the Stars, praying that Kim made the whole thing up."

On Monday, chilling details about the crime came to light. TMZ reports that gunmen dressed in police uniforms zip-tied and duct taped her wrists, gagged her and left her in a bathtub while they escaped with millions of dollars in jewelry. She reportedly told police that she'd begged for her life and feared for her safety.

While late night comedy writers were poring over the best way to turn her experience into a laugh, Kardashian was returning to New York to be with her family.

Even YouTube commenters  a community of people whose bar for what's offensive is laughably low  thought the monologues might have gone too far.

When YouTube commenters are offended by your writing, it's time to reassess. There are better jokes to be made.
From Road & Track

Automakers are rushing connectivity into their cars. Features like 4G LTE and Bluetooth are now standard on many makes and models, and they're keeping on-the-go motorists connected to their lives beyond the vehicle. In the coming years, our cars will connect more with the broader Internet of Things (IoT) and integrate seamlessly with smartwatches, smart houses, and smart cities. All those connections are potentially dangerous, warns Josh Corman, director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative for the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C., think tank that analyzes global economic, political, and technological challenges. He says automakers are equipping cars with these connected features faster than they can defend them from cyberthreats. Sooner or later-and he argues it will be sooner-they are due for a reckoning.

Corman likens the scope of the connected-car threat to that of another promising development once widely used in building materials-until its cancer-causing effects were discovered. "When they first introduced asbestos, you were an idiot not to use asbestos everywhere," he said of the building material. "It was a fire retardant. It was lightweight. It was inexpensive. Asbestos had clear benefits. There are obvious benefits in the IoT, but when it comes to putting connectivity in these cyberphysical systems, or in these cybersafety use cases, we're going to look back on this point in history and say, 'What were we thinking?' "

He's not alone. In April, the Government Accountability Office released a study that suggested the Department of Transportation needs to define its role in preventing and responding to real-world cyberattacks on vehicles. The report said hackers could potentially attack a large number of vehicles-and that they could do so from anywhere in the world, a development made clear last year when researchers working from a residence in Pittsburgh remotely commandeered control of a Jeep Cherokee traveling along a highway in St. Louis.

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"When we see some confidence-shattering cybersecurity failure that leads to a loss of life, you'll see people aggressively disconnecting things." -Josh Corman, the Atlantic Council

That research set off alarm bells within the Department of Homeland Security, but the capabilities of car hackers have been well known in the auto industry since 2010, when researchers with the University of Washington and the University of California San Diego first demonstrated it was possible for outsiders to breach software systems in a vehicle and gain control. From those early stages, automotive cybersecurity has mushroomed into a massive potential pitfall. With 112 million vehicles now connected around the world, by 2023 the industry will be spending $759 million per year to grapple with those concerns, according to financial-services company IHS Markit. The number of connected vehicles is expected to double by 2025 to a quarter of a billion, according to Gartner, a global technology consulting firm.

"Cybersecurity will be one of the toughest challenges that the auto industry will face in the next decade or two," said Colin Bird, senior analyst with IHS Markit. "Especially as more vehicles with telematics and embedded modems make connected cars an attractive target to cybercriminals, terrorists, and nation-states."

Confronting the Threat by Sharing Intelligence

So far, car-hacking exploits have remained in the realm of white-hat researchers who have demonstrated any number of security holes in the security of a dozen automakers. But federal officials know they may not always be so fortunate and that they need to fortify cars against system-wide attacks.

In response to the GAO report, officials from the DOT have been writing the blueprint for a new cybersecurity policy that will be revealed "soon," a spokesperson told Car and Driver. In the meantime, the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy released by the department addresses cybersecurity as it relates specifically to highly automated vehicles.

That document instructs OEMs that detection, response, and recovery options should be used to address threats and enable a quick response to events-actions that almost none are capable of today. Much as federal officials have urged automakers to share information on safety concerns related to autonomous vehicles, the government likely will expect the same when it comes to cybersecurity failures.

"Cybersecurity is another example of where we intend to push this sharing," said a senior DOT official who requested he not be identified. "There are a number of places where we're trying to encourage and help foster an environment where they don't have to make the same mistakes their neighbor made."

Such sharing is already underway. A group that is one of the few existing bulwarks against car hackers, the Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Auto-ISAC), commenced operations in January 2016. Composed of members from major automakers and some suppliers, the group logged and shared more than 30 actionable threats in its first months, according to Jon Allen, the group's executive director.

In July, Auto-ISAC published its set of best practices for automakers and suppliers. The document acknowledges that "a future vehicle with zero risk is unobtainable and unrealistic" and emphasizes ways that automakers and suppliers can assess risks, detect threats, and manage responses. NHTSA referenced the group's best practices as a document that should be leaned on for guidance for highly automated vehicles, and it's possible it will again make that recommendation when it comes to protecting the overall vehicle fleet.

But there's one problem: Right now, almost every automaker lacks the ability to detect real-time threats at a broad level and initiate a response. While the OEMs have fortified defenses with the addition of software that's supposed to identify and quarantine potential hacking attempts discovered on vehicle networks, no major automakers have the ability to preserve such network traffic in real time, nor the capability to capture data for follow-up investigations.

Corman, who founded iamthecavalry.org, a grassroots organization that analyzes the convergence of cybersecurity and public safety, published a Five-Star Automotive Cyber Safety Program that serves as another set of best practices. The third of those five stars recommends that automakers develop a method for evidence capture, something akin to a black box, that would track intrusion attempts and sabotage on the vehicle's Controller Area Network bus.

But designing such a data recorder isn't as simple as it is for the airlines. "One of the first things hackers do is delete the logs to hide their tracks, so you can't simply try to do an evidence recorder," Corman said. "You need to do it in a way that incorporates all the hard-fought and hard-earned lessons we've had in the private sector."

Reversal on Working with Independent Experts

If fortifying vehicular security and sharing information are two of the industry's best defenses against hackers in the connected-car age, so is doing something that once seemed unthinkable: getting outside help from the independent researchers who thus far have pioneered the fledgling cybersecurity field.

Three automakers currently either offer bug bounties or run coordinated disclosure programs, which provide independent researchers an avenue to contact and work with companies to identify and neutralize vulnerabilities before divulging them to a wider audience. Tesla Motors offers a gold coin-a symbolic gesture that's highly sought within the white-hat hacker community-and a factory tour to researchers who find and share vulnerabilities. General Motors started a coordinated disclosure program in January, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles followed in July.

"We've learned we're really good at working with automotive electronics and automobiles, but we didn't necessarily know how to work with hackers on our own." -Jeff Massimilla, General Motors

Those are developments encouraged by Auto-ISAC-and they amount to a seismic shift from how automakers treated researchers a year earlier. In 2015, automakers in general through their lobbying group, and General Motors specifically, said independent researchers should not hold the legal right to study the software in their cars, arguing the millions of lines of code that run almost every vehicle function were protected by copyright law. But researchers and do-it-yourself tinkerers secured an exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that mostly preserved their access to vehicles to continue peeking under the hood.

General Motors began to change its stance last summer, when hacker Samy Kamkar told the company he found a flaw in an OnStar smartphone app that allowed him to remotely start vehicles. Within a matter of months, GM reversed its stance to distance itself from independent researchers and established its coordinated disclosure program. Within its first 48 hours of operation, the automaker received a large number of submissions, some of which included reports of bugs the company hadn't previously known.

"Through that interaction, we understood not only the importance of working with researchers, but that it was important to provide them a clear and defined way to interact with us," said Jeff Massimilla, chief cybersecurity officer at GM. "They're probably as apprehensive to work with us as we might be to work with them. And we've learned we're really good at working with automotive electronics and automobiles, but we didn't necessarily know how to work with hackers on our own. We got a lot of guidance on our program, and it's been great. I can't get into statistics, but it's provided actionable intelligence, and we'll continue to mature that program."

A Catastrophe Waiting to Happen

Intelligence sharing through Auto-ISAC and coordinated-disclosure programs run by automakers are two strong pillars for defending cars, but that may not be enough to thwart attacks. Corman says the DOT's upcoming framework for handling cyberthreats should have some teeth. In the same way that systems checks for commercial aircraft are mandatory after a certain number of flight hours, that kitchen safety codes in restaurants are mandatory, and that seatbelts and airbags have become mandatory in the auto industry, he says regulations that set minimum standards for automotive cybertechnology are needed.

"None of those were voluntary," he said. "I know there's this fear that the heavy hand of government may not understand their sector well, but this is a reminder these things aren't just cyber anymore. It's cyberphysical systems. It's cybersafety impact. It's where bits and bytes meet flesh and blood."

The number of reported vulnerabilities may soon increase. October 1 is the end of a yearlong stay in the implementation of the ruling in the copyright case, meaning researchers who may have felt afraid to report their findings for fear of being prosecuted or sued by automakers will be in the legal clear to share their knowledge.

Three automakers hosting coordinated disclosure programs is perhaps a good start, but what about the rest of them? At a time when the number of embedded connections in vehicles is increasing, the already deployed fleet is devoid of defense, and dongles that plug in to OBD-II ports are increasingly exposed as vulnerable, most automakers and aftermarket suppliers have no means to receive outside help.

Malicious actors aren't waiting around for disclosure programs anyway, but the lack of clarity could slow the discovery of fixes for dire problems. Security flaws are crises waiting to happen, and a single breach that causes an injury or death could mean the connected-car age ultimately is short-lived.

"When we see some confidence-shattering cybersecurity failure that leads to a loss of life, you'll see people aggressively disconnecting things," he said. "Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to really get the hint. The issue I have is when that happens, the response times will be very long and very painful."

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From Delish

Elisa Costantini had barely moved from the couch in weeks, and her son, Frank, was starting to get nervous. He wanted to give her space to process everything that had happened, but still, for a woman who was always moving, cooking, working-this wasn't anything like her.

Then again, it was hard to imagine anything being like the way it was. Elisa and her husband, Francesco, had met when they were "kids," she says, moving from Italy to Pennsylvania when she was just 23. They'd spent all of their time for the past 55 years together, raising a family in a small town outside of Philadelphia. Together, they faced any challenge life threw their way, including Francesco's gastric cancer diagnosis. Then, on Christmas Eve 2013, Francesco passed away, and Elisa faced her greatest challenge so far: Living without him.

"My world was gone. It was finished," she said.

The grief was all-consuming, and after several weeks, it seemed that old adage that time heals all wounds was a big, fat lie. Her son, Frank, had been living in Shanghai on a special assignment, and wasn't fully prepared to see her so lost.

"I didn't expect her to be over the grieving process, by any means, but she hadn't stepped out of the heartache," he said. "Nothing had been touched in six months."

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Costantini Family

He started going through his parents' things, to help Elisa sort through what she wanted to keep, and found her recipe tin. It was stuffed with receipts, envelopes and other scraps of paper, all covered with vague recipes and notes about cooking. It inspired him.

"I told her, 'let's spend some time every Sunday and we'll write out these recipes really nice, so we can share them with the grandkids,'" Frank said. "If nothing else, I realized, it'd give her something to do and get her off the couch. She always loved cooking."

"My world was gone. It was finished."

At the time, it was just a project to help Elisa see the world beyond her grief. What they didn't realize is that her homespun Italian recipes would become a hit on Kickstarter, turning into a whole new career-and creative outlet-that's taken the 77-year-old grandmother around the world.

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'This Should Be a Book.'

Growing up in Poggio Valle, Italy, Elisa cooked a bit differently than what most people think of when they think of traditional Italian fare. Pasta, vine-ripe tomatoes and olive oil are staples, sure, but when it comes to certain dishes, there are key differences, like her crepe-based lasagna.

"It comes from when the French occupied the Abruzzo region of Italy," Frank explained. "Chickens were everywhere, so eggs were plentiful, and they were already making sweet crepes, so using the crepes in savory dishes instead of pasta saved time."

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Costantini Family

As friends started hearing about the project-and many of its recipes-one suggested turning it into a book that others could buy too. At first, Frank and Elisa laughed at the idea. "We don't have any money for that," he said. Then the friend introduced him to Kickstarter. On a whim, they created a post, sharing it on Facebook, but not really expecting much. Maybe a couple friends would donate, and they could create a few hardbound copies.

In less than 36 hours, they'd raised $4,000.

By the end of the 60-day campaign, they'd hit $27,508, with most of the money coming from total strangers. It motivated Elisa to really focus on the cookbook, which they'd named Italian Moms: Spreading Their Art to Every Table.

"It was very hard for me, at first, because I was not in the mood," she explained. "I was not interested in nothing, but then I saw my kids were really, really working hard for this. They tell everyone, 'my mom is the best cook in the world,' so I thought to myself, 'I will do what I have to do.'"

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Costantini Family

They Had to Start from Scratch.

Knowing how many people cared about this project, the two got to work. Frank had to buy his mom measuring cups-she didn't have any, nor did she use them.

"She uses the same glass for all of her measuring, so we'd let her use that, then pour it into a measuring cup to see just how much it was," Frank explained. "We had to think about every detail, like are those jumbo eggs or large? Does it need salt? Okay, let's specify that."

The two made a list of her go-to dishes and began testing recipes, 6 to 7 dishes at a time, then hired a freelancer to design the book. With each dish, Frank saw more of his mom's vibrant, lively personality come back. In the meantime, she was building more and more buzz online, as people clamored to order a copy of the cookbook. She was overwhelmed by people's support.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Costantini Family

"I didn't want to make everybody disappointed," Elisa said. "So many people were excited, and in the end, it came out so good."

Frank and Elisa spent six months working on the cookbook, which has sold more than 4,500 copies and is now in its second printing. To build momentum, Frank started researching Italian heritage groups on Facebook, promoting the book there too.

"I'm a high school business and marketing teacher, and my class, actually, was the biggest help," Frank said. "They would tell me, 'you're not wording this catchy enough.' They were rewriting my tweets and posts. Everyone got into it."

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Costantini Family

It's Not a Cookbook, It's a Connection.

Elisa was used to cooking massive, multi-course meals where everyone went home with at least one Tupperware container full of food. "If they didn't, she would be upset that there wasn't enough food, no matter how stuffed people would be when they left," Frank said. Now, as she tested recipes, she found herself cooking for pleasure more often. Her cookbook was covered in the local news, and before long, people would stop her in the grocery store to say they'd seen her story on TV.

"I never thought it'd get this big," Elisa said.

Then a resort reached out. They wanted to invite her to Tuscany to host cooking demonstrations, showing guests how to make dishes, like handmade gnocchi and her crepe-based lasagna, in the classic Abruzzo style. It was so rare to find someone who knew these recipes that they thought it'd be a special treat for their food-focused clientele, Frank said.

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Costantini Family

Elisa couldn't wait to go. "They wanted to hear all about the way we cook 50 years ago, and I wanted to show them how," she said.

She just wrapped her second visit to Tuscany, teaching people of all ages her rustic way of cooking. With each trip, she takes notes, coming up with new recipes-and old ones that didn't make it into her cookbook-that she could share with others.

"One girl cried when she met my mom," Frank said. "Her mom was from the same region, and hadn't written down any of her recipes before she passed away. Trying my mom's recipes was like getting back a part of her that she'd lost long ago."

Elisa feels the same way. "It makes me so happy to do this," she explained. "It's not just about the food. It's the people."

Follow Delish on Instagram.

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Two Mississippi police officers were placed on administrative leave after one of them left their daughter in her squad car for hours, resulting in her death, according to reports.

Cassie Barker, the mother of 3-year-old Cheyenne Hyer, reportedly left the toddler in a cruiser Friday afternoon for four hours.

Read: Teen Reminds Drivers to 'Look Before You Lock' to Prevent Hot Car Deaths

Reports said the car was running and the air conditioner was on when police found the girl unresponsive in the hot car. She was transported to the hospital but later died.

The Sun Herald reported that Barker was visiting another officer, Clark Ladner, at the time that she left the child alone.

According to AJC.com, Ladner didnt know the little girl was in the car during their visit.

The officers were both off-duty during the incident.

Barker recently had to go through the state Department of Human Services to regain Cheyenne after a separate incident, according to reports.

Cheyennes father Ryan Hyer told the Clarion Ledger that he raised Cheyenne with Barker for the first two years of her life while the couple were still together, but when they broke up, he moved away and didnt see Cheyenne at all.

Hyer described his devastation at the news.

I lost all feeling. I couldnt speak, I couldnt breathe Then I was flat out crying. After that I just was angry, and I went in the backyard and started beating up the shed," Hyer said.

Hancock County Chief Deputy Don Bass said there is no logical reason for this to have happened.

Read: 4-Month-Old Dies After Being Forgotten in a Car For Hours

It's not an accident. She left the child in the car, said Bass. We hear and read about this, it seems like quite often recently."

There are no charges as of yet, but Bass told the Clarion-Ledger that he expects Barker would be charged with negligent homicide.

Story continues

Watch: Mom Charged With Felonies After Leaving 3 Young Kids In Hot Car While Shopping

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Last Saturday, Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) announced that it will offer 29 different General Motors Co. (GM) cars during what is now an annual holiday sales event. Last year Costco members purchased nearly 58,000 vehicles during the promotion, up 34% compared with 2014 sales.

The offer features GM supplier pricing and includes most qualifying manufacturer rebates and incentives on the selected vehicles, including pickups, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), luxury and fuel-efficient models. Buyers also receive a $300 or $700 Costco cash card for purchasing a qualifying model and completing all eligibility requirements.

Costco does not actually sell cars to its members, but if it did and if Costco sold nothing but new cars, it would be the largest new car dealer in the United States. In 2015, the company sold more than 465,000 vehicles. AutoNation Inc. (AN) is the nations largest car dealer, and it sold 339,080 new vehicles in 2015, a 6.6% increase year over year. Costcos year-over-year increase in new vehicle sales totaled 16.8%.

ALSO READ: The Most Dangerous Cities in America

The Costco program is run by Affinity Development Group, which monitors prices and discounts to ensure that Costco members get a sufficiently low price at the more than 3,000 dealerships in the program.

A GM spokesman said:

General Motors is excited to partner with Costco Auto Program to bring this valuable offer to Costco members. Seeing the continued success of the Holiday Sales Event with each year, GM is pleased to offer the largest selection of vehicles to date for Costco members that will make the event just as popular, if not more so, than last year's event.

ALSO READ: 25 Fastest Growing Jobs

Among the vehicles included in the promotion are the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups, the full-size Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, and the Chevy Camaro. The Buick Cascada convertible and Enclave SUV are among the selected vehicles, as are the Cadillac Escalade, XT5 and CTS sedan.

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LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's former national security adviser, held since December 2015 on fraud charges, should be released, a judge at the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled on Tuesday, saying his detention was unlawful and arbitrary. Sambo Dasuki has been accused of fraud involving $68 million of defence spending, part of a wider $2.1 billion in arms deals under investigation. He has pleaded not guilty. [nL8N1433QC] He served under Nigeria's former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was defeated in last year's election by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has promised to crackdown on corruption. The judge at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, sitting in Nigeria's capital Abuja, ruled that Dasuki should be released immediately and the government should pay him 15 million naira ($46,606) in compensation for his arrest and detention. The ruling by Justice Friday Chijioike Nwoke said Dasuki's "arrest, detention and continued detention" after having been granted bail by three different domestic courts was "unlawful" and "arbitrary". However, sovereign states do not have to respect the court's rulings and there is no framework for making them binding. (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Additional reporting by Tim Cocks in DAKAR; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Hunched low over a hernia patient on a broken operating table, an Afghan surgeon bemoans the lack of life-saving equipment in a US-funded hospital that is crumbling into disrepair, exemplifying the eye-watering waste of aid dollars.

After fifteen years and tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid, Afghanistan is still dangerously unstable and persistently at the bottom of almost every major human development index.

Its perpetual state of need is a growing impediment to those trying to encourage donors to keep on giving, and will hang over a crucial development aid conference in Brussels this week.

The $600,000 hospital, funded by US forces in Afghanistan under a programme to create Afghan jobs, was meant to be a modern 20-bed facility replete with dental, paediatric and surgical wards in the mountainous, poverty-stricken area of Salang near Kabul.

Instead, it is a decrepit, structurally deficient building in an earthquake-prone region, which is underused, understaffed and poorly equipped.

It stands as an illustration of how the West splurged on institutions that Afghanistan cannot afford to run or maintain.

"How are we supposed to treat patients? With tables and chairs?" asked the surgeon Qutbuddin Shams, who must bend to perform surgery because the foot pedal that adjusts the height of the operating table is broken.

Whirring generators offer a fitful supply of electricity, essential anaesthetic equipment is in short supply, and puddles of water and blood have to be manually swabbed in the absence of a proper drainage system.

In a corner of the operating room is something it does not need -- a flush toilet.

"This is like a regular house converted into a hospital. Those who built it don't understand the requirements of a hospital," Shams told AFP.

- Building on sand -

An inspection by the watchdog agency SIGAR found the Afghan contractor who built the hospital was paid in full despite the glaring deficiencies.

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Newborn babies are washed with untreated water and patients suffer freezing temperatures in winter because the heaters do not work.

The dental ward, where tooth extractions were carried out with pliers in the absence of equipment, recently shut down over fears the tools had become badly infected.

The hospital is not an anomaly. It is among a series of what observers call "pie in the sky" projects that serve as a cautionary tale of how too much aid money with too little oversight can spell catastrophe in a country roiled by graft.

"Corruption is an existential threat to the mission in Afghanistan," said Jodi Vittori, policy adviser at international campaign group Global Witness.

Donors never put in place basic protections to ensure accountability, even as money pilfered from aid "flowed to predatory elites in the country", she continued.

"That's a massive strategic blind spot that has jeopardised the blood and treasure invested there since 2001."

The United States has spent around $110 billion on Afghanistan's reconstruction since 2001, more than the cost of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt a devastated Europe after World War II.

Reconstruction in one of the poorest, most violent and corrupt nations on Earth can be akin to building on sand.

Many of the schools, clinics and warehouses built by USAID and other development agencies lie vacant, unused or are just shells of concrete and steel bars, SIGAR says.

The US constructed fragile roads to American weight standards -- without factoring in notoriously overweight Afghan trucks -- and spent millions on airplanes that were unfit for use.

- Donor quandary -

Some projects were culturally tone deaf, such as a $34 million programme to push Afghan farmers to produce soybeans  a crop that does not grow well in the country and which Afghans are generally averse to consuming.

And perhaps the biggest failure of the reconstruction effort is the $8.4 billion counter-narcotics programmes that have been so ineffective that Afghanistan now produces significantly more opium than it did before the 2001 US-led invasion.

The opium trade is estimated to be worth around $3 billion a year and is a key source of income for the Taliban.

Worse still, experts say Western assistance has helped exacerbate the very problem that aid agencies were trying to solve -- chronic dependence on aid.

At the Brussels conference on Afghanistan, co-hosted by the European Union, the country is seeking to attract annual pledges of around $3 billion until 2020.

Donor nations are caught in a quandary, observers say. Without continued high levels of international assistance, despite past failures, there are fears that the government could collapse and Afghanistan could once again become a haven for insurgent groups.

Back in the Salang hospital, there are more immediate concerns as doctors receive a man on a stretcher who had fallen from a tall walnut tree, possibly causing serious damage to his spine.

"Allah!" he screeched, writhing in agony as hospital staff swarmed around him. One cleaned the blood stains on his face, another scrambled to cobble together a rudimentary splint with cardboard and wads of cotton.

Ashen-faced, hospital administrator Lal Mohammad Salangi walked out of the scrum.

"We don't have what it takes to treat his injury," Salangi said. "After basic first aid we will have to send him to another hospital."
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Home-grown mobile phone maker Jivi Mobiles today said it has roped in film actor Irrfan Khan as brand ambassador as part of its Rs 100 crore marketing plan spread over next one-and-a-half years.

"We are pleased to share Jivi Mobiles association with Irrfan Khan who has a huge fan following. He experienced our mobile phones and then accepted our offer to be Jivi Mobiles brand ambassador. We plan to invest around Rs 100 crore in branding campaign," Jivi Mobiles CEO Pankaj Anand told PTI.

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The company has earmarked Rs 15-20 crore in branding campaign till December and Rs 70-80 crore next year, he said.

Separately, Jivi plans to invest up to Rs 200 crore in setting up a new manufacturing unit in Lonavala with initial production capacity of 5 lakh units per month.

The company sells feature and low-cost smartphones in the price range of Rs 700-4,500 a unit. It claims to sell 3-3.5 lakh mobile phone units every month and has target to sell 10 lakh units per month by 2017-18.

"We are looking at making VoLTE 4G phones in India by December-January that will sell for Rs 3,499 a unit. The demand for 4G service is going to overtake 3G phones. We see future in 2G and 4G phones only with heavy battery back-up," Anand said.

Jivi is awaiting clearance from Bureau of Indian Standards for starting production of battery, mobile chargers and hands free mobile system in the country.

"We have invested Rs 150 crore in our Delhi manufacturing unit. There is huge demand for Jivi phones. We plan to invest another Rs 180-200 crore in Lonavala facility. However, we will need to invest up to Rs 200 crore if government levies duties on component like printed circuit board etc. Else it will be around Rs 150 crore," Anand said. PTI PRS MR

--- ENDS ---
From Popular Mechanics

In order to combat the rise of online credit card theft, several French banks are partnering with security company Oberthur Technologies to create a credit card with a security code that is constantly changing so that within an hour, a stolen number will be useless.

Online credit card fraud is a rapidly growing problem. Thieves can steal your credit card info in a number of ways, such as hacking various consumer websites, or phishing, where they trick you into handing over your information yourself. Once they have your credit card numbers, thieves can go on a spending spree until you or your bank notice, and by the time that happens you can wind up with thousands of dollars in debt.

Many banks try and combat this problem by flagging suspicious transactions, but this is an imperfect system that can miss real fraud and accidentally catch legitimate use. Now, two French banks, Societe Generale and Groupe BPCE, are introducing a new system to prevent fraud.

Photo credit: Oberthur Technologies

The new system, developed by Oberthur Technologies, is called Motion Code, and it changes the security code on the back of the credit card every hour. That way even if a thief does steal the info, it will be useless in less than an hour, preventing nearly all fraudulent transactions.

Other than a small screen on the back, the card is identical to the ones you already own. It's durable and waterproof, and the same size and thickness of a regular credit card. The small lithium battery that powers the screen will last three years, at which point the card will expire.

This card will soon be available in France, with pilot programs being conducted in Poland and Mexico, with plans to expand to the UK soon.

Source: The Memo

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There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader, the French politician Alexandre-Auguste Ledru-Rollin once said memorably and, perhaps, apocryphally. Even if the quote isnt his, theres a reason why so many have come to believe otherwise. It represents a leadership style much in vogue during his time.

Ledru-Rollin came to prominence during the Revolutions of 1848. Europe was in turmoil: Countries across the continent were witnessing revolts against monarchies that had in some cases been in power for centuries, from Sicily to Hungary. There was an explosion of popular participation in politics, and politicians like Ledru-Rollin acquired power when the old rules of being in charge seemed to no longer apply. So rather than taking the lead and making decisions, they turned to plebiscites. In the confusing decades after 1848, referendums popped up everywhere; in France, they were held to instate Napoleons nephew as emperor; in Italy, to unite the country. There was a lull before World War I, but the years after the war saw another wave of referendums, especially on contested borders between Germany and its neighbors Denmark and Poland.

In general, the use of referendums is characteristic of times of upheaval  periods when the elites are uncertain of their support. Referendums were held in the wake of the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, World War II, and the fall of communism. They followed the re-establishment of democracies in Greece in 1974 and Spain in 1976.

The problem is that, in times of upheaval, these plebiscites are as likely to backfire as to help politicians get their way, or consolidate support. That was true for Napoleon I, Charles de Gaulle, David Cameron  and now it is true for President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Victor Orban of Hungary. In the Colombian referendum, voters were asked to endorse a peace plan between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government, and declined. In the Hungarian case, the government asked voters to reject the European Unions plan for redistributing refugees across the EU; they did, but failed to turn out in sufficient numbers to render the vote valid.

In times of stability, political leaders know their audience and their followers. From the 1970s to the 1990s, political elites, broadly speaking, felt confident about their hold on power. They had relatively united parties behind them. The world was neatly divided into left and right. They were  again, broadly speaking  trusted to make decisions.

And so they did  including decisions very similar to the one Santos handed over to voters this month. There was no referendum on the Esquipulas Peace Agreement in 1987, which ended years of fighting in Nicaragua. Nor was there a referendum on the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1986  a major step in the Northern Ireland peace process (though there would be plebiscites held to approve the Good Friday Agreement 12 years later). Overall, it seems likely that, had the Colombian government managed to end its five-decade war with the FARC a few decades earlier, it would not have sought the approval of voters to do so.

Now, however, the world and its politics are in flux. No, we are not quite experiencing a time like the aftermath of the 1848 revolutions, but long-standing left-right fault lines taken for granted for decades no longer seem to apply. Just consider the recent study by the Swedish academic Soren Holmberg that showed voters agree with only 70 percent of their partys platforms. As a result, insecure politicians are once again turning to referendums as tools. Even the Scottish National Party  a party built around Scottish independence  held a referendum on the question in 2014, despite having gained a majority three years earlier (and, indeed, when asked, a majority of Scots voted against independence). If the SNP no longer views its majority as a mandate to pursue independence, perhaps we should not be surprised that Santos felt it was not politically feasible to make peace with the FARC without consulting voters first.

But from the perspective of the politicians who organize them, theres a problem with referendums: They dont control the outcome. Sometimes ruling parties can lose unexpectedly, which happened in Colombia, where most expected the peace deal to sail to an easy victory. Or, in the case of Hungarys Orban, who also held a referendum that failed to draw sufficient turnout to produce a binding result, they can be won  but not in the way a government might have hoped.

But the fact that referendums are not predetermined doesnt mean theyre not predictable. Although politics is not an exact science, recurrent patterns are instructive. The main factor is that referendums are often votes of confidence or no confidence in the government. One thing we know about referendums is that governments that have been in power for a long time tend to lose them more frequently: On average, governments lose 1.5 percent of support for its positions on referendum votes for every year the government has been in office. In other words, voters lose faith in politicians who arent fresh off their mandate. Santos  a two-term president halfway through his second term  may have been in office for too long to feel confident of victory.

Another consistent factor is that referendums are generally lost if there is a politically credible politician standing on the side of the vote that opposes the government. In France, in the referendum on the European Constitution in 2005, the declaration of former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius that he would vote no made it impossible for President Jacques Chirac and the yes side to depict opponents of the treaty as extremists. The same may have been true in Colombia: It was difficult to portray opponents of the peace agreement as extremists after the former, but still respected, President Alvaro Uribe declared his opposition. And so, in fact, while pollsters may have expected a victory in this weekends vote in Colombia, political science actually pointed toward a likely loss.

The result of the Colombian referendum might not have been foreseen by pollsters. From a political science perspective, the result in Colombia was not a surprise. Given Santoss time in office, and Uribes support, it was almost a foregone conclusion.

Now the political elites have to go back to the drawing board  unless they decide to hold another referendum essentially posing the same question. Historically, they would have good reason for optimism  another general tendency is that the referendums held the second time around often get approved. That is the lesson from Denmark, Kenya, and Ireland, where voters vetoed policy proposals only to endorse new proposals that had removed controversial elements.

Of course, there is another possibility. Maybe politicians in Hungary and Colombia should be braver. Maybe they should present bolder policy platforms during their next general election campaigns and accept the verdict of the voters on those platforms as a mandate to enact them. And maybe, just maybe, they should think twice before holding referendums.

Photo credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
When Mike Pence and Tim Kaine step onto the stage at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the colleges president hopes the school will serve as more than just a platform for the vice-presidential debate. W. Taylor Reveley, IV, wants to use the occasion to urge schools to fulfill what he sees as their responsibility to teach young people to be good citizens.

I really think were reaping what weve sown, Reveley, 42, said during a recent phone interview, referring to the current toxic political environment.

Several generations ago, schools and universities played a pivotal role in preparing young people to engage in public affairs, from voting to debating issues of the day to volunteering, he said. But since the 1960s and 70s, he argued, liberal-arts colleges have shifted focus away from a broad whole-student approach toward getting you ready for your career and what economic role its playing in society.

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While Reveley thinks that role is crucially important, he also thinks too many universities are shirking their duties when it comes to civics education. Its not as though this is the prevailing or common thought in higher-education circles right now, he said.

So several years ago, Reveley decided he wanted to look into revising the schools core curriculum. The next year, as that effort was getting under way in the fall of 2014, Reveleywhose own background is in the American presidencywas teaching a course on the topic when his class started on a riff about how several past debates had Virginia ties. The College of William and Mary (where Reveleys father is the president) hosted the Jimmy Carter-Gerald Ford debate in 1976. The University of Richmond played host to the first town hall-style debate in 1992 when it welcomed George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot to campus. Eventually, somebody asked whether Longwood would ever host, and Reveley rattled off a noncommittal kind of equivocal, kind of college president-y response.

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But the idea lodged in his mind. The more he considered it, the more Reveley thought hosting the vice-presidential debate would energize what we were already trying to do with the curriculum revision, he said. Longwoods own history didnt hurt, either, and its something debate officials were aware of as they considered where Pence and Kaine should face off. The final moments of the Civil War took place slightly north of the campus, and a pivotal moment of the civil-rights movement unfolded south of campus in the 1950s as students walked out of their all-black high school to protest its poor conditions. (Longwood looked the other way for decades and only recently offered a public statement of regret.)

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Fast forward to the fall of 2015, when the school was awarded the debate: Reveley asked his new provost, Joan Neffwho had been at Richmond for the 92 debateand a couple of other faculty members to move on some of the ideas theyd been exploring at the planning level and get them ready for implementation for this fall. Neff, Reveley said, was a good choice for the job because she had a natural knack and understanding of how catalytic these events can be, and shed lamented that Richmond hadnt incorporated the excitement around the 92 debate into the curriculum in a structured way, and was eager for the opportunity to do that at Longwood.

Long story short, more than 30 courses were either created or reworked to focus on the debate and, more broadly, the idea of students as citizens-in-the-making. A music-appreciation class has students listening to and discussing works composed for political purposes. A women-and-gender-studies course asks students to examine early debates about womens rights and consider how perceptions of gender play out on the modern campaign trail.

"Youre looking at something bigger than just you and your personal interest."

Michael Mergen, an assistant professor of photography, created a class that puts student photographers on the front lines at rallies and protests. Mergen, a photojournalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Bloomberg, said the opportunity to design a new course seemed like a natural fit with his background, and a chance to discuss with students what it means to be a citizen leader or citizen artist outside of the classroom. And with the school willing to throw some money behind reporting trips, juniors and seniors who had never been on the street with a camera have in the last several months seen campaign events and protests up close. Some of Mergens students have credentials to cover Tuesdays debate from inside the auditorium, and others will track watch parties and protests nearby.

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Youre looking at something bigger than just you and your personal interest, he said during a phone interview. At the outset, half of his 11 students said they didnt care about politics. Now, Mergen doesnt hear those comments much anymore. Theres definitely a sense of what theyre doing is so relevant and connected to a larger national and international conversation, he said.

Bringing the debate to campus has fostered an environment in which professors are highlighting more current issues in their coursework, Reveley said, which may help more students to understand how what theyre learning in a classroom is connected to real life. To be able to have a framework in place to kind of maximize the rate of epiphany has been a lot of fun for everybody, he said.

You cant sit down on certain things when you are being told constantly that you have a voice, said Deja Mills, a 21-year-old kinesiology student from Norfolk, Virginia, and the head of the schools Black Student Association (BSA). While Mills isnt currently enrolled in any of the reworked courses, she and other members of the club are set to volunteer at the debate, and she said the event has sparked a wave of volunteerism and activism on campus. Last year, students from the BSA and several other organizations helped craft a diversity statement that made its way into the student handbook this school year.

Reveley said there has also been lots and lots of enthusiasm from professors, but Mergen said there was not a small amount of skepticism when the school decided to go for the debate. While he thinks most professors and students are ultimately excited about hosting, and especially the schools willingness to put funding and resources toward fitting the debate into courses, he said there are a small number of students and faculty who remain annoyed by it all. (The debate will likely cost the university several million dollars, and not everyone on campus thinks its where the university should be focusing its attention and resources.)

Students themselves seem to appreciate the new course offerings and emphasis on civic engagement, but some are worried it will dissipate once the debate is over. I have the concern that it will go away, Joe Hyman, a 19-year-old political-science major from Northern Virginia who helms the recently formed College Democrats of Longwood University, said. The sophomore appreciates that professors on the politically divided campus of about 5,000 students dont shy away from political discussions, but he doesnt think most students are even aware the school is pushing civic engagement at all, and hes worried that any talk about the idea is sort of just tacked on to the fact that the school is hosting the debate, and not presented as a lifetime commitment.

Malina Foldesi, the 20-year-old chairwoman of the Longwood Republicans, shares Hymans concerns, if not his political leanings. Its still hard to convince young people to care about politics in general, she added, placing some of the blame with schools. The school system teaches you not to discuss these things, she said. [Politics] is just taboo. She hopes that a shift toward a more civic-minded curriculum will increase interest in politics among students. And perhaps more optimistically, she sees signs that the new focus might be sustained.

Professors, she said, have asked classes if they need help registering to vote. Foldesi, Hyman, and their club members have led voter-registration drives, and the clubs held a mock debate that some students earned extra credit by attending. More than 500 students are volunteering to help with the debate.

But Hyman said he would like to see the college step up its own voter-registration efforts and work on providing students with information about how to volunteer for the campaigns if it really wants to promote civic engagement. Easy access to that would be more beneficial, he said.

Beyond student concerns is the fact that the restructured courses are not required, so a student, particularly one not studying something like political science where civics is likely to come up anyway, could easily skip conversations about citizenship. Only about a quarter of the schools students are in one of the 30 courses. Likewise, professors were not forced to rework class offerings. Reveley acknowledges that once course patterns are baked into a given campus  thats not easy to change, and that there are lots of natural interests around campus among alumni about what gets taught and how and when.

Hes also aware that 2016 has not been democracys finest hour, but hopes the debate will assuage the disaffection students feel from the current political landscape. The vice presidential debate, he said, may be the elections highlight when it comes to actual substance, a chance for young people to hear thoughtful argument and not just partisan mudslinging.

Reveley would much rather use the debate to force a conversation about the link between education and democracy than on the specifics of this particular election. That two generations have lost sight, as a society, of the role education plays in developing good citizens, he posited, may be the deepest ill that ails the country in 2016. This is a great chance to really underscore, he said, the vital connection between education and democracy.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The 17th meeting of the U.N.'s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been meeting in Johannesburg, with ivory, rhinos and parrots on the agenda. CITES is a global treaty that regulates trade in wild flora and fauna or products derived from them with an aim to ensuring their survival. Over 180 countries are signatories. Following are some of the key decisions taken in this round of wildlife diplomacy, which began Sept. 24 and ends on Wednesday. Pangolin - CITES placed the eight species of pangolin on the convention's "Appendix I," which prohibits any cross-border movement in the animals or their body parts for commercial purposes. Pangolins are scaly animals with the dubious distinction of being the world's most poached mammal. Pangolin meat is prized as a delicacy in Asian economies such as Vietnam, while the animal's scales are used in traditional medicines. African Grey Parrot - Prized for its ability to imitate human speech, this species also placed on "Appendix I". The African grey parrot is usually bred in captivity and sold as a pet. High levels or deforestation and increased trafficking for the pet industry have led to the decline of the parrot, which was once widespread across central and western Africa. Lion - Global trade in the bones, claws and teeth of wild lions has also been imposed with exemptions for those harvested from captive-bred lions in South Africa. The decision on lions was a compromise which fell short of the Appendix I listing that some African countries and conservationists were pushing for. Conservationists fear the legal market from South African captive-raised lions could provide incentives for poachers to "launder" bones taken from wild lions. Lion bone is highly sought after in Asia for use in traditional medicines and is used as a substitute for the bones of tigers, which are much rarer. Elephant - CITES rejected proposals by Namibia and Zimbabwe to sell ivory to raise funds for conservation. The proposal was staunchly opposed by east African countries such as Kenya, which has sent a message by burning its stockpiles of ivory in April. A global ban on ivory sales was imposed in 1989 though CITES allowed one-off auctions from southern Africa in 1999 and 2008. Those opposed to any loosening of the ban say "dirty ivory" can be laundered by poachers and crime syndicates with licit supplies and that it makes ivory socially acceptable. A proposal to move southern African elephant populations to Appendix I to provide them with extra protection failed. CITES also recommended that countries with legal domestic ivory markets - which are not regulated by the convention as its remit is cross-border trade - start closing them down because they are seen as contributing to poaching. Rhinos A bid by the southern African Kingdom of Swaziland to sell rhino horn to raise money for conservation was defeated. The global ban on the sale of rhino horn, prized in Asia for use in traditional medicine, has been in place since 1977. Sharks and Rays CITES members also voted to include the silky shark, three species of thresher sharks and nine species of devil rays in its "Appendix II" listing, which strictly controls trade so that species are not overharvested or threatened. Devil rays, which resemble their bigger cousins, manta rays, are targeted for their gill plates, which are sold in China for use in a health tonic. "Largely unregulated fishing is depleting devil ray populations and jeopardizes the significant potential of these animals for tourism," the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society said. (Compiled by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Istanbul (AFP) - When the police finally came, the staff of IMC TV in Istanbul were ready.

Dozens of employees crowded behind the anchor's news desk, applauding their management and shouting "free media won't be silenced."

Then as technical experts sent by the authorities fiddled with wires in the backroom, broadcasts were cut and screens went blank.

The channel -- which had a pro-Kurdish stance but also engaged with women's and environmental issues -- was the latest casualty of what activists see as a growing crackdown against the media in Turkey in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

The government insists media remains free and diverse in Turkey, accusing outlets like IMC TV of promoting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claims the channel denies.

"Why are you covering your face? Long live hell for the cruel!" the channel's general manager, Eyup Burc told the police live on air as they raided the channel.

"We are against all coups and we are against those who stage their own coup out of a coup!" he said.

The channel was one of a dozen TV outlets ordered closed last week under Turkey's controversial state of emergency imposed in the wake of the coup and extended by another three months from October 19.

Rather than being accused of supporting the July 15 coup, they are charged with broadcasting "terror propaganda" for the outlawed PKK which has fought a bloody 32-year insurgency against the Turkish state.

This appears to have confirmed fears of activists, who have repeatedly warned that the state of emergency could be used for crackdowns beyond the coup suspects.

- 'Could come any time' -

"There are no channels left to broadcast this speech!" the leader of the opposition pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas told a meeting of his party in the parliament.

"They believe that the people will support the government when they are not informed of the news. They are deceived again," he added.

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Despite the closure order, IMC TV had defiantly remained on air until Tuesday through the Hotbird satellite and internet broadcasts, with staff expecting the police to arrive at any moment.

"Police may come to our door any time and put a complete halt to our broadcasts," Banu Guven, presenter at IMC, told AFP a day before the police raid.

The television channel has attracted a number of journalists from the mainstream media like Guven, who worked for 14 years at the widely-followed NTV.

"We do not threaten anyone's security. On the contrary we are a channel that defends people's right to receive news," Guven said.

Several other broadcasters, including pro-Kurdish Ozgur Radyo and the strongly leftist Hayatin Sesi TV, were also raided and shut down on Monday.

Dilek Gul, another IMC journalist, said her television station did not do anything wrong.

"Dramatic shutdowns of media outlets have become a familiar drama in Turkey," she told AFP.

Earlier this year, Turkish police used water cannon to take over the headquarters of the Zaman newspaper linked to the cleric Fethullah Gulen who was later blamed for the coup. However there has been no suggestion IMC is linked to Gulen.

- 'Opposition pressured'-

The closure has come at a time of growing concerns for press freedom in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with several prominent journalists under arrest following the coup.

"All form of opposition in Turkey is now deprived of its voice," Erol Onderoglu, Turkey representative of press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told AFP.

Onderoglu was himself detained for 10 days in June for "terror propaganda" after he guest-edited a pro-Kurdish newspaper, Ozgur Gundem.

The government insists that Turkey has vibrant opposition media. Anti-Erdogan columnists still write in some mainstream media like the Hurriyet daily.

Officials argue no other Turkish government has done more for Kurdish media, pointing to the setting up of the country's first state-run Kurdish TV, TRT Kurdi.

But Turkey is ranked 151st out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index.

Ugur Guc, head of the Turkish Journalists' Union, said the government was using the coup as a pretext to "pressure all the opposition and socialist quarters."

He said: "The coup failed but a counter coup is in place."
Hillary Clinton blasted Donald Trump once again during a rally on Monday, this time saying the real estate mogul turned GOP nominee has a history of treating contractors poorly.

I have heard so many stories of contractors who worked for him, produced the goods and services and never got paid for what they were owed. Im talking about painters, and plumbers, piano sellers, architects, glass installershes stiffed them all. Not because he couldnt pay them, but he wouldnt pay them.

Billionaire entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria joined the FOX Business Network to weigh in on the debate.

If they did a lousy job, you chat with them a little, but you negotiate what the job was worth, DeJoria said. But you dont totally stiff them, thats just not the thing to do.

But, he added: I think one thing people arent really bringing out, which I think could be interesting, was the people that he didnt paywas that around the same time when he took that huge loss off his income tax? Could it be he didnt have the money to pay him? Just a thought. Obviously I think people should be paid.

And regarding Trumps business losses, DeJoria said whatever the circumstances were, its not a big deal.

For example, I pay millions of taxes every year and take every write off I can but I still pay millions upon millions in taxes every year," he said. "If somebody had a major loss and was able to take that major loss legally as a write off, I dont see anything wrong with that. Because he legally had a loss, he legally took it. I dont know whether he paid any other taxes over those years in questionbetween then and now. But he sure paid taxes on property and many, many other things.

The billionaire, who co-founded Paul Mitchell Systems and the Patron Spirits Company, also shared his thoughts regarding the tax plans of both presidential candidates.

Ive looked at Hillarys tax planI cant believe it. It takes the incentive out of Americans. I look at Donald Trumps tax plan and its workable. His plan is workable.

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Oct 4 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc reported a smaller-than-expected drop in consolidated passenger unit revenue for September and maintained its operating margin forecast for the quarter despite suffering a system outage in August.

Delta's shares were up 3.5 percent at $40.38 in early trading on Tuesday.

The company, the second-largest U.S. airline by passenger traffic, reported a 3 percent decline in consolidated passenger unit revenue. This was smaller than the 7 percent decline it had estimated earlier.

Delta said the fall in September was due to a supply-demand imbalance on transatlantic routes and headwinds from prior-year yen hedge gains.

The Atlanta-based company also said it still expected operating margins of 18-19 percent for the quarter, which includes a 1.5 percent impact from the August outage.

Delta canceled hundreds of flights and delayed many others in August after an outage hit its computer systems, grounding planes and stranding passengers at airports worldwide.

Up to Monday's close Delta's stock had fallen about 21 percent this year.

(Reporting by Shalom Aarons in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)
(ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)

* STOXX Europe 600 up 0.6 pct

* UK mid-cap index hits record high

* Deutsche Bank climbs to 2-week high

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - European shares advanced on Tuesday, with Germany's Deutsche Bank hitting a two-week high following recent steep losses and the world's biggest education company Pearson gaining after encouraging comments by Morgan Stanley.

Pearson rose 5.6 percent, the top gainer in the pan-European STOXX 600 index, after Morgan Stanley said the company was unlikely to issue a profit warning, "meaning the shares could recover sharply on the Q3 results".

Deutsche Bank rose 2.7 percent to a two-week high. Its shares had slumped to a record low on Friday before bouncing back on expectations of a swift deal with U.S. authorities over a multi-billion dollar penalty.

HSBC said that despite Deutsche Bank's obvious operational shortcomings, fears over the bank's solvency were overdone. However, HSBC cut its target price for the bank, forecasting challenging conditions for the banking environment.

"Deutsche Bank should be well equipped to deal with this short-term lack of confidence," HSBC analysts said. "We maintain our 'hold' rating despite the selling pressure on the market as we believe the fundamentals of the company have not changed."

The STOXX Europe 600 index was up 0.6 percent, while Germany's DAX, which resumed trading after a holiday on Monday, was up 0.5 percent.

Britain's domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 1 percent to a record high, while the FTSE 100 index, dominated by international firms, gained 1.2 percent to 7,063 points - the first time since the mid-2015 it breached the 7,000 mark - helped by a weaker sterling following the Brexit vote.

"The (sterling) depreciation has been orderly thus far and is delivering the needed boost to UK exporters," Peel Hunt strategist Ian Williams said.

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Among sector movers, BMW rose 2.5 percent and helped the European auto and parts index to gain 1.7 percent after Exane BNP Paribas raised its target price for the automaker to 87 euros from 70 euros.

Shares in Intertek rose 4.5 percent after Jefferies raised its stance on the stock to "buy" from "underperform" and lifted its target price to 4,300 pence from 3,000 pence.

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)
The Kashmir police is trying to track down the teen who is identified as a troublemaker, even as his brothers chose to serve the country.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: He's just 17 and a stone-pelter, and his parent in a north Kashmir village is appealing to the police and politicians to spare the youngster. He's the youngest among the three brothers who has been identified as a troublemaker. The police are looking out for him, even as dark cloud looms over his future.

The young man's father works in a top hotel in Srinagar. Of the three brothers, one is a bright officer in the CRPF who earned a reward posting for fighting hard against the Maoists. The second son is in the BSF. With two of his sons serving the country so well, the father hopes that the errant youngest son will be spared. However, he has been told that such an exception may not be made, as the police in Kashmir is trying to track him down.

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READ| Kashmir unrest: Over 7,000 civilians, 2400 CRPF injured in stone pelting since July 8

LOWEST INCIDENTS OF STONE PELTING THIS MONTH



Right now the number of stone-pelting incidents are down to a trickle. Only two incidents of stone-pelting were reported last week, and one incident a week before that. The numbers are at the lowest in a span of three months in Kashmir Valley ever since protests broke out following the killing Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on 8 July.

The turnaround came after directions from the Central government to crackdown on instigators and so-called "motivators" leading the crowd. About 4,000 stone pelters have been arrested and booked under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code ( RPC).

READ| Scarred and blinded for life: Brutal repercussions of using metal pellets in Kashmir

READ| Kashmir unrest: Curfew imposed in Kishtwar, tensions escalate

DON'T TARGET THOSE NOT INVOLVED: MLA





A group of 11 leaders of the National Conference (NC), which included MLAs and MLCs, former minister Javed Darr and Sakina Itoo, met the governor and expressed concern over the mass arrests.

Speaking to India Today, Pahlagam MLA Altaf Ahmed Kaloo said: "We met the governor and told him that many innocent people have been picked up. This is simply not acceptable. Even some known PDP supporters are indulging in stone-pelting now, but no action has been taken against them. But why target those who are not involved?"

Earlier, the Mehbooba Mufti government had granted amnesty to mostly young students who were arrested for stone pelting.

Also read:

Russia welcomes surgical strike by India in PoK, says every country has a right to defend itself

Not holding any anti-terror exercise with Pakistan in 'so-called Azad Kashmir', says Russia

Nawaz Sharif after India's surgical strike: Don't take our peaceful intent for weakness

Indian Army commandos cross LoC, conduct surgical strikes in Pakistani territory



--- ENDS ---
London (AFP) - Outgoing UK Independence Party leader Diane James was at the helm for just 18 days before resigning on Tuesday -- following a leadership battle won with her reputation for tough professionalism.

James quit as UKIP chief citing "personal and professional" reasons, saying she did not have the full support of fellow MEPs or party officers to implement the changes she promised during the leadership campaign.

Although less outspoken than her charismatic predecessor Nigel Farage, who resigned in July after achieving his political dream of helping Britain leave the European Union, James has still contributed to the controversy that often follows the anti mass-immigration party.

She apologised after warning of "crime associated with Romanians" while campaigning unsuccessfully to become an MP, and raised eyebrows after praising Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I admire him from the point of view that he's standing up for his country," said James, who was her party's justice and home affairs spokeswoman. "He's very nationalist. I do admire him. He is a very strong leader."

James was born in Bedford, central England, on November 20, 1959, to an engineer father and a housewife mother. She studied business studies and tourism with languages at university, becoming fluent in French and German.

Her language skills helped her land a job with a German pharmaceutical company, before she moved into the healthcare sector in the 1980s, studying the US system.

James then set up her own consultancy business to help companies market their products in international healthcare systems.

She told the Southern Daily Echo she had been a long-time Conservative supporter until becoming "totally disillusioned" with its leadership in the 2000s.

Her first active foray into politics came in 2006, when she successfully ran as an independent in a local council by-election in Surrey.

She lost her council seat, but was elected on a UKIP ticket to the European Parliament in 2014.

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Her name was mentioned as a potential leader when Farage announced he was to step down, and became the hot favourite when her main rival, Steven Woolfe, was ruled out of the race after failing to submit his application in time.

Before her resignation James had previously said she hoped to lead UKIP in becoming "the UK's official opposition party after the next election".

Despite facing internal splits over the direction of the party, James claimed she was up for the challenge during a recent article in the FT.

"UKIP needs a transparent, ambitious, motivated leader to achieve this, one who can make the party a formidable winning machine," she wrote. "I am that woman."
During a Monday night South by South Lawn panel discussion on climate change featuring President Barack Obama, scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the latter claimed hed signed up for Elon Musks proposed trip to Mars. You know, the SpaceX mission that wants to drastically reduce the $10 billion-per-person price tag a projected mission to the red planet would likely cost NASA or private interests with the current technology. Whether or not DiCaprio was serious, joking, or both remains to be seen, but it doesnt matter, really, because Obama called him crazy.

According to Inverse, Mars entered the conversation when Hayhoe mentioned Musks pitch as a joke. The reality of it is, if youre a human living on this planet  which most of us are, yeah? she quipped, adding: As long as we havent signed up for the trip to Mars. I dont want to know if anyone has, I think youre crazy. Cue good ol Crazy Leos response:

DICAPRIO: I did. HAYHOE: Oh, Im sorry! I take that back. OBAMA: No, no. Hes I think hell acknowledge hes crazy.

Again, DiCaprio claiming he signed up for Musks Mars mission doesnt necessarily mean he actually did. Nor does it ensure that, one day, the Oscar-winning actor will finally flee planet earths dreaded bear population for the bear-less lands of Mars. Though it does imply a very important question: If well spend billions to save Matt Damon, would we do the same for Leo?

(Via Inverse)
A new poll from Morning Consult shows that voters seem more disturbed by alleged shenanigans at the Donald J. Trump Foundation  detailed in a series of revelations in The Washington Post  than they are by stories about the Clinton Foundations cozy ties with the Hillary Clintons State Department.

Related: Law and Order? Trump's Legal Problems Pile Up

Fewer than 24 percent of registered voters polled said they had a favorable view of Trumps charity, Morning Consult found in a survey taken before the New York Attorney General yesterday ordered the foundation to stop accepting donations from outside sources.

The cease and desist order from the office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the foundation was acting illegally by soliciting money because it failed to register with the Charities Bureau and to provide annual financial reports and annual audited financial statements.

Today, a story on the website Real Clear Politics says that Trump may also have broken federal election laws by using charitable donations to his foundation  to which he reportedly has not contributed his own money since 2008  to power his bid for the presidency.

Related: For Trump, Losing $916 Million, Dodging Federal Taxes and Lawsuits = Genius

RCP examined the filings of the foundation and found that from 2011 through 2014, the Trump Foundation made donations totaling $286,000 to conservative groups as he sought to ingratiate himself with the right wing of the Republican Party and recast himself as a plausible Republican candidate for president.

Among more than a half-dozen instances of questionable donations by the foundation, RCP cites one for $100,000 made in 2014 to the conservative group Citizens United. Trump was invited to a Citizens United summit that year (and two more in 2015) that allowed conservatives to assess aspiring Republican presidential candidates. Citizens Uniteds then president David Bossie is now deputy manager of the Trump campaign.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Dinotrux returns with new season-three episodes Friday, and The Hollywood Reporter has a first look at one of them.

Netflix's animated series, which hails from DreamWorks Animation, is based on Chris Gall's award-winning book series. It revolves around hybrid dinosaur-construction characters who build and battle, following the adventures of Ty, a massive Tyrannosaurus Trux, and his best friend, Revvit, a tiny razor-sharp Reptool.

These unlikely friends join forces with a rambunctious team of Dinotrux and Reptools, each with their own unique personality and skill, changing the world for the better as they discover that together they can build a better community, help others and team up against D-Structs, the biggest and baddest Dinotrux of all.

Read more: 'DinoTrux': TV Review

The series aims to tell relatable, heartfelt stories about building friendships, working together and overcoming challenges.

Watch an exclusive clip from season three below.
The Girl on the Train Univeral

After decades working as a struggling actor, Tate Taylor found his big break in his mid-40s as the director of Oscar winner The Help. Now hes at the helm of the adaptation of the best-selling novel The Girl on the Train.

A steamy thriller in the vein of Gone Girl, the story centers on Rachel (Emily Blunt), an alcoholic whose divorce to Tom (Justin Theroux) has led her into a deep depression. And things arent any better on her Metro-North train commute from Westchester to Manhattan as she passes her old house, where Tom has started a new life with Anna (Rebecca Ferguson, who was in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation).

Rachel has also become infatuated with Megan (Haley Bennett, The Magnificent Seven), who lives a few doors down from Tom's place and is often standing on her balcony wearing very little clothing. But when Megan goes missing, Rachel must figure out if, in her blackout drunk moments, she may have been involved.

The book, written by British author Paula Hawkins, was an instant hit when it came out in 2015, and Universal quickly snatched up the rights to it. But as with most adaptations, this one sometimes veers away from the source material (it's set in New York City instead of London).

Business Insider talked to Taylor about the challenges of adapting a book that is beloved by many, and looking back at "The Help" in a post-#OscarsSoWhite Hollywood.

Warning: Spoilers ahead if youve never read The Girl on the Train.

Jason Guerrasio: What's the biggest challenge of adapting a best-selling book?

Tate Taylor: My answer doesn't really come from me solving a problem  it comes from what I knew I wanted to do. When you have a book that everybody has read, and even those who read the book the first time kind of figured out it was Tom, I was like, "Okay, this is a thriller and this is what people want to see and that could be a big, big problem." Because your engine is exposed. But the great solution for that was a natural one. I was drawn to this material because of the character work and how deeply it dove into regret and betrayal and manipulation. I realized if I leaned into that  the sexuality, the violence, the mental abuse  it's not so much that it would district you from who did it, it just fills your brain with so much stuff it's truly a companion to that part versus making one stronger than the other.

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Guerrasio: To show what is going on in Rachel's head, was that a jigsaw puzzle to pull off in postproduction?

Taylor: This movie was made in the editing room if ever a movie has been made. I mean, it was both scary and cool.

Tate Taylor John Lamparski Getty

Guerrasio: Because I would imagine there's only so much screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson can put on the page to give you some runway.

Taylor: Yeah. I came on board and Erin had done this amazing heavy lifting starting this. But then as a filmmaker I realized that there were big holes, meaning there were things you just don't get to do in a movie. You don't get to say that Rachel suddenly remembers everything. That's when I created the character of Monica [Lisa Kudrow]. I wrote that all out. In the novel [author] Paula [Hawkins] says Rachel remembers so I'm like we don't get to do that or this is going to all unravel. So I went back to the book and Paula had written a brief little blurb in Rachel's narration that "Tom used to tell me I would embarrass him at his work parties," and I went, okay, I'm going to blow that up. And then with Megan's character, she's so sexual and I knew that she would be judged by the audience and not with much favor, so that's when I went back to the book and realized to serve this genre and serve this piece I needed to play out what happened with her baby. So it was really going through with the book as a director and writer saying this read well but this is not going to play well. Where are the holes? Where will people get up and go to the bathroom or roll their eyes?

Guerrasio: But then there's the change of location from London to New York, which could turn off die-hard fans. Was that already decided when you came on to the movie?

Taylor: That predated me by a year.

Guerrasio: Did you walk in nervous about how fans would react to that?

Taylor: To be honest, I made the mistake of checking the online chatter when I signed on to the movie and I saw that there wasn't a huge revolt at all, it was more of a why. But I think wonderful things happened because of that choice. Because of that, the day I met Emily I decided to keep her accent. I told myself, that's only going to add to her loneliness and despair. If she's in America and she has no job and lives on a mattress on a floor, she probably can't afford to go home and she's probably told them back at home the biggest lie ever. She can't go home like this. So that made it exciting for me. But the thing is I shot all these New York beauty shots and really shot the heck out of Grand Central Station, but when I put the movie together they were just kind of shoe leather. I didn't need it. And then I went back to the book and realized that Rachel just talks about London, it's not a character. So it really is universal and doesn't matter because the movie takes place between these women's ears and on a train.

Guerrasio: You guys decided on Metro-North. Did you have other ideas for the commute?

Taylor: We looked at all the lines, frankly I rode them all.

Guerrasio: I will say, I've spent most of my life riding into New York City, and I've never seen a beautiful woman standing outside on a balcony as the train goes by.

Taylor: Yeah, that doesn't happen.

Guerrasio: Movie magic.

Taylor: Yeah. [Laughs]

Guerrasio: What was your biggest fear going into postproduction?

Taylor: I had to trust that people would go with the beginning of the film. I had to trust that if people stayed with me and really got in with these characters and this mood that it would really make the movie satisfying.

Guerrasio: It is unusual how you thrust us right into Rachel's clouded mind from the start.

Taylor: You don't see it enough in movies. You may get one character that you do that, but to have three characters back-to-back? And with The Help I had the voices of three women, but this is the other thing that hit me like a ton of bricks: They were in scenes together in The Help, these women are not.

The Help dreamworks

Guerrasio: You mention The Help. I was thinking about this, you made that and right after the James Brown biopic Get on Up. Right after that the #OscarsSoWhite debate really made waves in the industry. What was that time like? Finding success with The Help, but being a white man telling these stories.

Taylor: First it was "How dare a white guy tell black stories?" And you're going to love this, I got asked the other day, "How can you leave black people out of this movie?" I literally said, "I can't win." [Laughs] I don't know what to say about it, it's a business, man. It makes no sense. There's no rhyme or reason. The best thing from The Help was my best friend and roommate of five years [Octavia Spencer] got an Oscar and her life has changed forever. That's fun, that's really cool. And I think that came from pure recognition of an amazing job she did. I don't think that was a political win whatsoever. I think there's moments with the awards season where all the b------t cannot stop something inevitable. I think what The Help did, which excites me, is when I was going around with The Help, the fear was it's black-themed material, does it do well? Look what came out after The Help.

Guerrasio: With all the current circumstances could you, a white director, make The Help today?

Taylor: And I was just a nobody?

Guerrasio: Yes.

Taylor: Here's my answer, and it's not the answer you want to hear, the reason The Help got made was because Steven Spielberg read my script and he said, If this guy wrote that, he's already directed the movie  let's do it. Hopefully, I would like to think that's still in play today. I think it is. I think despite the circumstances, instincts tell you to just do this, it has happened to me on projects I've acquired. I think that will always be around.

Guerrasio: Are you uncomfortable talking about the #OscarsSoWhite phenomenon?

Taylor: I don't talk about it. I mean, you can't help but see, it's so obvious.

The Girl on the Train opens in theaters on Friday.

NOW WATCH: Watch a Ryan Lochte protester rush the stage during his appearance on 'Dancing with the Stars'





More From Business Insider


Mulan (Photofest)



Disneys live-action retelling of the classic animated hit Mulan is a go.

The movie, which is being fast-tracked, will hit theaters Nov. 2, 2018 and be released in 3D, the studio announced Tuesday.

Disney is launching a global casting search for a Chinese actress to play Mulan.

The news that the studio is turning its 1998 classic animated hit into a live-action title comes after such successes as Maleficent, The Jungle Book and Cinderella, among other titles. And Disney is currently gearing up for the release of Beauty and the Beast, which opens March 17 and is expected to be one of the top-grossing titles of 2017.

The studio also announced that Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Jurassic World) were brought aboard to rewrite a spec script for Mulan that Disney bought in 2015. Jaffa and Silver also are working on the Avatar sequel.

The Disney team saw the spec, by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, as a jumping off point for a more nuanced and elaborate adaptation, combining the legendary Chiense ballad and the 1998 animated film.

Read More: Disney Developing Live-Action Mulan (Exclusive)



A director for Mulan has yet to be announced. Jason Reed is attached to produce along with Chris Bender and Jake Weiner.

Like the 1998 animated film, Mulan is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, about the daughter of an aged warrior who disguises herself as a man in order to take her fathers place in the army and go to war. Aided by her trusted dragon, Mushu, she becomes a skilled warrior and one of the countrys greatest heroines.

Related:

Watch tons of trailers, plus free full-length movies on Yahoo View, available now on iOS.
The reality TV star had her wrists and ankles bound with zip ties and duct tape as five masked men conducted the robbery.

By India Today Web Desk: Five masked men broke into Kim's luxury Paris apartment, caught hold of her, bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, and left her in the bathtub, to eventually steal millions of dollars worth of Kim's jewellery.

In new details that have recently emerged, Kim Kardashian told the police that she feared in that moment that she was going to be raped.

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At the time that these men broke in, early Monday morning, Kim was asleep in just a robe when she heard the robbers barrelling up the stairs of her two-story apartment, according to TMZ.

Kim's phone was snatched out of her hands before she could call for help, but her friend, Simone Harouche--who was in a bedroom downstairs--managed to lock herself in the bathroom and call Kim's personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier, who was out at a nightclub with Kourtney and Kendall, less than two miles away.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the 35-year-old reality star begged for life, screaming that she had two children, as five masked men dressed in clothes with police markings bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape before leaving her in the bathtub.

Though Kim did not understand a word of the French those men were speaking, she heard them repeating "ring, ring" before she realised they were searching for her 20-carat emerald-cut Lorraine Schwartz ring, given to her by husband Kanye West, reports TMZ.

She soon told them where the ring was, in a hope to get rid of them. The ring is worth USD 4.5 million and last seen on Kim's finger in a Snapchat post earlier that night.

A screenshot from Kim's Snapchat video. Picture courtesy: Instagram/kimkardashian

The men, who reportedly held the concierge at gunpoint to be able to enter the building, also stole a jewellery box worth USD 6.7 million before escaping on rented bicycles that are available throughout Paris, reports Daily Mail.

Kim's bodyguard returned to the apartment two minutes after the men escaped. Her former bodyguard, Steve Stanulis, suggested that it was an inside job.

Later, Kim left for New York--with her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier--on a private jet, to be met with husband Kanye West at the New York airport.

Just hours before the raid, Duvier had tweeted, "You don't become a bodyguard over night. It's a job with dedication, responsibility and passion. (sic)"

Duvier has been at Kim and Kanye's side since 2014.

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According to Daily Mail, Steve Stanulis, a security specialist who has worked for Kim and Kanye in the past, blamed the reality-TV star for broadcasting her jewellery on social media. He also suggested possibilities of an inside job.

Kim with her sister, Kylie Jenner. Picture courtesy: Instagram/kimkardashian

He told Daily Mail, "Look, they had this coming to them. They do not respect the importance of security when you have a profile as strong as theirs. I saw this happening. It just had to with the way Kim flaunts her riches and her diamonds."

Kim has reportedly also lost two of her smart phones, which are expected to contain a lot of personal information.

Kim was in Paris for Paris Fashion Week. Kim and Kanye's kids, North and Saint, were not believed to be in the room at the time.



--- ENDS ---
The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has ordered Donald Trump's charity to stop its fundraising immediately after a report surfaced that the foundation was not properly registered to seek public donations.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation received a notice of violation on Friday, the day after The Washington Post reported that Trump's charity had been soliciting outside donations without the necessary authorizations in New York.

"The Attorney General's office is the sole regulator of charities in New York State, and when evidence of clear misconduct is brought to our attention, we take action," a spokesman for the attorney general's office said in a statement.

[READ: Former Bush DHS Chief Michael Chertoff Endorses Hillary Clinton]

After he canceled a primary debate appearance in January, Trump created a website directing to the Trump Foundation donations that he said would go to veterans. He collected $1.67 million through the site.

The Trump Foundation never registered under a New York law that requires any charity soliciting more than $25,000 a year from the public, avoiding outside audits. Schneiderman said if Trump did not stop fundraising and file the proper paperwork, it would be "a continuing fraud upon the people of New York."

The Trump Foundation must supply the state with all the paperwork required of charities that ask for money from the public within 15 days, as well as all the financial audit reports it did not provide in prior years when it raised money illegally.

Trump's charity has faced scrutiny in recent months, and he was fined earlier this year for donating $25,000 from the charity to a group connected with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's re-election campaign in 2013. Bondi did not open an investigation into Trump University, which faced fraud allegations. Trump and Bondi denied the contribution affected that decision. The donation was a violation of rules surrounding political activity by charities.

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The Washington Post also reported last month that Trump used $258,000 from his charity to settle lawsuits. Nonprofit leaders are not permitted to spend the funds they raise on themselves or their businesses.

Trump gave his last personal donation to the foundation in 2008, and it has existed on outside contributions since then.

Trump's campaign dismissed Schneiderman as a "partisan hack," and in a statement Monday campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the campaign was "concerned about the political motives behind AG Schneiderman's investigation," but that the Trump Foundation would fully cooperate with the investigation.
Democratic candidate Jason Kander, left, spars with Republican incumbent Sen. Roy Blunt during the first general election debate in Missouris race for U.S. Senate. (Photo: Jeff Roberson/AP)

Down Ticket is Yahoo News complete guide to the most fascinating House, Senate and governors races of 2016. Coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday until Nov. 8. What you need to know today.

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Missouris Jason Kander can assemble a rifle blindfolded. Can he hit the bulls-eye for Senate Democrats?

Democrats know that they can regain control of the U.S. Senate only if they pick up at least four seats in November  and whenever they daydream about that possibility, they tend to obsess over a few seats in particular.

Theres Wisconsin and Illinois, where everyone pretty much agrees the party is on track to sink a pair of Republican senators.

Theres New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, where GOP incumbents Kelly Ayotte and Pat Toomey seem shaky.

Then theres the open, formerly Republican seat in Indiana, which has been tilting toward former Democratic Sen. and Gov. Evan Bayh ever since he entered the race at the eleventh hour.

Win those five, and the Dems dont have to worry about losing Nevada (where Sen. Harry Reid is retiring after 30 years and GOP nominee Joe Heck is slightly ahead) or any of the other former tossups that have drifted in a Republican direction during the past couple of months, including Florida (where Sen. Marco Rubio, another late entrant, holds a solid lead) and Ohio (where Sen. Rob Portman is clobbering Democrat Ted Strickland).

Lose any one of them, however, and those Democratic dreams will almost certainly fall flat. Theres no margin for error.

Except what if, suddenly, there is? In recent weeks, its started to look like the Democratic Party might have another path to Senate dominance  a path that runs through the increasingly red state of Missouri, to the surprise of many Beltway observers.

Donald Trump greets supporters at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis last March. (Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

Very few people predicted that the battle between GOP incumbent Roy Blunt and Democratic challenger Jason Kander would prove pivotal this fall. Barack Obama nearly carried the Show Me State in 2008, but since then, its politics have drifted rightward; Mitt Romney trounced the president by 10 percentage points in 2012. Today, six of Missouris eight U.S. House members are Republicans, and the GOP enjoys comfortable majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.

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Making matters worse for Missouri Democrats is the name at the top of the ticket: 64 percent of the states voters have an unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton, according to the latest poll, compared with only 51 percent for Donald Trump  the opposite of their national numbers. As a result, Trump is currently positioned to win Missouris 10 electoral votes by an even larger margin than Romney  and by all rights, Blunt, the Republican incumbent, should be positioned to return to the Senate. (Sitting senators almost never lose re-election when their partys presidential nominee wins statewide.)

And yet, on Friday, Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report  the best in the business when it comes to analyzing congressional elections and Down Tickets partner for the rest of the cycle  changed the status of the Blunt vs. Kander contest from Lean Republican to Tossup.

Heres whats happening on the ground.

First and foremost: Kander, 35, is a strong, telegenic challenger. A graduate of Georgetown Law, he enlisted in the Army National Guard after 9/11. He went on to serve a tour of duty in Afghanistan and rise to the rank of captain. In 2008, Kander was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, where he worked with a Republican colleague to pass the states first major ethics reform bill since 1991. Kander won re-election two years later with 70 percent of the vote; in 2012, he narrowly defeated a leader of the Missouri GOP to become secretary of state. Hes never lost a race.

Jason Kander, Democratic Senate candidate from Missouri. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)

Kanders been running a clever campaign against Blunt. The Democrats approach has been two-pronged: (1) weaken his Republican rival  a 66-year-old who spent seven terms in the House before winning an open Senate seat in 2010  by portraying him as a self-serving creature of the Washington establishment; and (2) bolster his own red-state brand by emphasizing his more centrist  and culturally conservative  credentials.

And so Missouri voters have been treated to a torrent of Democratic television ads pointing out that Blunts wife and three children all work as lobbyists (the family business); that Blunt has voted to raise his own pay 12 times; and that the senator has repeatedly backed legislation that would slash taxes for big corporations  such as Kraft Foods, his wifes employer.

Kander & Co. needle Blunt for never serving in the military  the Republican received three deferments during Vietnam  and attack his record on veterans issues. On the stump, the Democrat repeatedly asks voters to raise their hands if they approve of the job Congress has done; few hands go up. Its an anti-establishment year, so the goal is to make Blunt look like part of the problem: an old, business-as-usual politician.

Kander, in contrast, is touting himself as a different kind of Democrat  one who has bucked his party by supporting a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, opposing the Iran deal and rejecting the presidents executive actions on immigration. Oh, and in case you havent caught one of the most viewed and talked-about political spots of the cycle, Kander is also the kind of Democrat who can assemble an AR-15 rifle with a blindfold on.

Its a very clear choice between somebody like myself, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who is focused on a new generation of leadership, Kander said at a rally last month, and someone like Sen. Blunt, who has been in Washington for 20 years doing what special interests want to him to do.

Blunt and his GOP allies have begun to fight back. Their main line of attack is that Kander is too liberal for Missouri: a national co-chair of Clintons campaign who backed the (locally unpopular) Affordable Care Act, voted for sales and income tax hikes as a state legislator, and once backed an energy tax. They also note that Blunt is a skilled dealmaker who has crossed the aisle to craft legislation with Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Chris Coons of Delaware and Patty Murray of Washington on various issues, from manufacturing to mental health.

Sen. Roy Blunt greets supporters at the Missouri State Fair in August. (Photo: Orlin Wagner/AP)

Still, as Kander recently boasted, the momentum is really clearly with us. Early on, Blunt, a well-known quantity in Missouri politics, led in every single poll  often by as many as 7 percentage points. But his support never topped the magic 50 percent mark. Now, the only survey released in the past month shows Kander ahead for the first time, with 42 percent of the vote to Blunts 40 percent  and private polling from both parties indicates a similarly close race. Meanwhile, Kanders AR-15 ad has been viewed 998,000 times on YouTube. Blunts response, an ad reminding voters that Kander received an F rating from the National Rifle Association, has been viewed 15,500 times.

As a result, big money has started to pour into Missouri. From Aug. 3  the day after Kander won the Democratic primary  until the end of September, Blunt and his allies (the NRA, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund) spent about $2.7 million more on advertising than Kander and his friends (the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees). But that could change over the next 34 days. The DSCC, sensing an opportunity, just reserved an additional $2 million, and other groups (End Citizens United, Vote Vets) are beginning to chip in as well.

I think Jason Kander is a marvelous candidateone of the best Ive ever seen, Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the chairman of the DSCC, told reporters last month. I think that hes going to do very well in November.

Whether Kander delivers on that promise remains to be seen. One poll doesnt constitute a trend line; we need to see more data before we can assess how close the race really is. Right now, the statisticians at Nate Silvers FiveThirtyEight expect Blunt to beat Kander by 2.4 percentage points; their counterparts at the New York Times Upshot give Blunt a 72 percent chance of winning.

Still, as other Democratic Senate candidates fade, Kanders chances of playing a tiebreaking role on Election Day are rising. Stay tuned for more.

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Kelly Ayotte says Trump is a good role model  then says she misspoke. Oops.

I think that certainly there are many role models that we have, and I believe he can serve as president, so I absolutely I would do that.

Embattled New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, answering a question about whether she would tell children to be like Donald Trump and point to him as a role model during Monday nights debate against her challenger, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. Ayottes awkward position on Trump  she says she will vote for him while refusing to endorse him  has been a major theme of the close N.H. Senate contest.

I misspoke tonight. While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldnt hold up either of them as role models for my kids.

A statement released by Ayottes press office at 10:42 P.M. the same night.

Predictably, the Internet went wild  at least according to the Hassan campaign.

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Charlie Crist: Still a fan of fans

As you may have heard, Florida Democrat Charlie Crist  former Republican, former independent, former governor, former Senate candidate  is challenging GOP incumbent David Jolly this year in the Sunshine States 13th Congressional District. But while Crist has changed parties several times  and sought every major office in the state  one thing about him, at least, has remained constant: his well-documented love of fans. (And by that we mean the electric kind that blow air on you.)

Dont believe us? Check out his latest ad:

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The best of the rest

NRSC cutting independent expenditures in WI SEN race, still planning to spend coordinated funds w/ Ron Johnson  https://t.co/td8orM0YAq  Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) October 3, 2016

~ @KellyAyotte giving out free Trojan rubbers at UNH really ticks off her rivals. #NHpolitics story: https://t.co/pZi7FJNQzu  Dan Tuohy (@tuohy) October 3, 2016

Portman has no plans to back off massive ad buys even though hes handily beating Strickland. Wants to run up score https://t.co/0YA3NQ8VGA  Burgess Everett (@burgessev) October 4, 2016

Republicans Senate hopes may rest on a dying breed: ticket-splitters https://t.co/gqgezYsD40 ????  Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 4, 2016

Ryan will be crisscrossing the country this month to save not just a GOP House, but the Senate too. W @rachaelmbade https://t.co/Rh5QWGc0fQ  Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) October 3, 2016

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Countdown

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The driver of a tractor-trailer had used methamphetamine and failed to get adequate rest before a highway crash in Tennessee that killed six people and injured 18, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday.

Truck driver Benjamin Brewer's excessive speed and failure to respond to slower moving traffic ahead were also to blame in the deadly crash near Chattanooga in June 2015 that involved seven other vehicles, NTSB chairman Christopher Hart said. The dead included two sisters, age 9 and 11, their mother and grandmother.

Brewer, 40, was driving at least 78 miles per hour in a 55-mph construction zone, had gone without sustained rest for 40 hours prior to the crash in violation of federal rules and failed to brake or to take any evasive action before the crash, the NTSB said after releasing a synopsis of the final report, expected in a few weeks. The NTSB said he had also used methamphetamine before the crash, testing showed.

Erinn O'Leary, an assistant public defender representing Brewer, declined to comment on the NTSB report.

The NTSB said trucking companies need to do a better job of screening drivers. Since 2012, the board has called on the U.S. Transportation Department to require automatic emergency braking in all commercial trucks to prevent rear-end crashes like this one.

The NTSB said while commercial trucks were involved in 11 percent of all fatal crashes they are involved in 30 percent of fatal work zone crashes. "Speed, distraction and impairment are key factors in these crashes," Hart said.

Brewer had been in seven crashes in three states over a four-year period, including four while behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle, the NTSB said.

Three days before the fatal crash, Brewer side-swiped another commercial motor vehicle in Wildwood, Florida, and was issued a citation, the NTSB said.

NTSB Vice Chair T. Bella Dinh-Zarr said the board has been raising the issue of distracted, sleepy, intoxicated and drug-impaired drivers for decades. "This is not a new issue," she said on Tuesday at a meeting where the board voted unanimously to accept the report.

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The trucking company, Cool Runnings Express, told the NTSB it was unaware of all but one of the crashes Brewer had been involved in because state records did not list all incidents.

Brewer was indicted by a grand jury in Tennessee in 2015 on 13 charges including six counts of vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of narcotics, speeding and aggravated assault. He is awaiting trial in Tennessee and has a pre-trial hearing set for Oct. 17.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Frances Kerry and Lisa Shumaker)
By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Neil Jerome Morales LA UNION, Philippines (Reuters) - When Philippines police chief Ronald Dela Rosa gave a rousing speech to his men at a regional headquarters in Luzon, they rewarded him with a gift: a replica of the sword used by actor Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart. The barrel-chested police chief grinned and gave the weapon, which is almost as long as he is tall, a practice swing. A voice on the camp's loudspeaker declared him "the bravest of bravehearts". Dela Rosa acts as the enforcer for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has led to more than 3,400 people being killed in just over three months. Dela Rosa's tour of Luzon, the country's largest and most populous island, was the latest in a series of trips to stiffen the resolve of police officers at the campaign's bloody frontline. "I have to encourage them to do our job," he told a Reuters reporter who went on the trip last month. "We are at war." Police said on October 3 they had shot dead 1,375 people in operations since President Duterte took office on July 1. They also report a further 2,066 "deaths under investigation", many of which human rights activists attribute to vigilante killings. Reuters was unable to confirm the accuracy of these numbers or the extent to which the killings have been committed by vigilantes. The campaign has sparked outrage abroad, but in the Philippines it has won praise from a crime-weary population and only muted criticism from civil society groups. In a country where the police are generally despised and feared because of their reputation for corruption and violence, Dela Rosa is popular. After only two months as police chief, the national media is already touting him as Duterte's possible successor, an idea that the president's spokesman Martin Andanar described as "speculative". Duterte has often called for the killing of drug dealers. And Dela Rosa has echoed the incendiary remarks. At a speech last month, he encouraged users and pushers to kill drug lords who had grown rich from exploiting the poor. "You know who are the drug lords here, go to their houses, pour gasoline, set it on fire, show them you are angry at them," he said. Still, Dela Rosa's close operational knowledge of the drug war could make him a focus if there is ever an independent investigation into the killings, said Rose Trajano, secretary general of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, a nationwide coalition based in Manila. It is unclear, though, whether anyone will be in a position to hold such an investigation. "He is a good soldier of the president, but there will also be fear in him," she said. Dela Rosa told Reuters he was confident that killings during police operations were legitimate, and that the "deaths under investigation" were mostly the work of drug syndicates. "They are killing each other," he said. FEELS THE PRESSURE In person, Dela Rosa is intense but courteous, and says he is under pressure. "My worry is that I won't be able to deliver what is expected of me," he told Reuters. Duterte vowed on September 18 he would extend his anti-drug campaign for another six months, but Dela Rosa said he still felt pressed for time. The biggest obstacles to the campaign, he said, were providing rehab services for the many users of crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug known locally as shabu, and halting its influx from abroad, particularly the flow from China. More than 700,000 drug users and pushers have registered with the authorities in a process termed "surrendering". But there are very few programs or facilities to help most of them, and local media have reported the killing of scores of people who have registered. Dela Rosa told Reuters the number of drug-war killings would continue to rise. "Every day the number of dead increases," he said. "Every day the arrests increase and those who surrender." Dela Rosa bristles at the mention of foreign critics. The United States has said it is "deeply concerned" by the killings, while two United Nations experts have accused Duterte of incitement to violence, a crime under international law. "They're making us out to be killers," said Dela Rosa. "It really broke my heart. We're doing this for the good of the Filipino people." Before the anti-drug campaign, he said, people were scared to leave their houses. "Now the situation has been reversed. Law-abiding people are going out. Criminals are hiding. See the difference?" But while other serious crime has declined, the murder rate has soared, and in some communities residents told Reuters that police and vigilante killings had made them too frightened to go outside after dark. "WE BECAME FRIENDS" Dela Rosa, 54  whose earliest ambition was to be a boxer - is popularly known as "Bato", after his hometown south of Davao City. It also means "rock" in the national language Tagalog. His late father was a pedicab driver who could barely afford to send him to school, said Dela Rosa in a tribute on his Facebook page in June. Davao City is where President Duterte spent 22 years as mayor, unleashing a brutal anti-drugs campaign that the hard-charging Dela Rosa joined as he rose through the ranks of the local police force. "I liked what he was doing and he liked what I was doing, so we became friends," Dela Rosa recalled. Duterte made him Davao's police chief in 2012. The Coalition Against Summary Execution, a Davao-based watchdog, has documented 1,424 vigilante-style killings in the city, including 162 in 2012-13 when Dela Rosa was chief. Asked about the findings, Dela Rosa said: "I will look into that." Adding: "I don't memorize that data." Duterte appointed Dela Rosa his national police chief over other more senior officers, giving him free rein to roll out Davao's harsh crime-fighting model across the country. GUN COLLECTOR At a police camp in Baguio, in the Philippines' ethnically diverse highlands, Dela Rosa donned a tribal headdress and robe to hand out awards to officers for their anti-drug efforts. Hundreds of officers asked to take selfies with Dela Rosa, who always obliged. Sometimes only his trademark shaven head was visible amid a scrum of well-wishers. However, even in the police camps, Dela Rosa is circled by six bodyguards. Drug traffickers, he told Reuters, "can kill me anytime". Dela Rosa said in an interview with popular Philippines talkshow host Boy Abunda that he twice tried marijuana at college and got high but decided to stop because it could ruin his future. In another of his regular television appearances, this time on a show called "Get It Straight", Dela Rosa declined to say how many people he had shot in his police career "because people might say the (police) chief is a killer." Filipino journalists covering Dela Rosa told Reuters they have never seen him smoke or drink. His main hobby is collecting guns. "He loves guns," said Police Chief Superintendent Aaron Aquino, who served with him in Davao and now commands central Luzon, a region that has clocked up about 500 drug-war killings. "Every time he sees a good gun he buys it." (Additional reporting by Clare Baldwin and Manuel Mogato in Manila)
From Good Housekeeping

A ride on the Hogwarts Express at Universal Orlando went horribly wrong on Saturday when an explosive "fireball" injured two people. One victim, a 14-year-old girl from Tennessee, ended up in the hospital for mild to moderate burns on the right side of her face, arm and leg, says the Orlando Sentinel.

The cause? An e-cigarette owned by the second person, who also suffered injuries to his leg. The local man tucked the vaporizer in his pocket when it malfunctioned, burning both him and the nearby teen.

Photo credit: Getty

The Hogwarts Express ride, which is part of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, shut down temporarily for an investigation. "It was just a weird, freak accident that unfortunately caused injuries to two people," police Lieutenant Dan Brady told the Sentinel. "It wasn't a big explosion but was definitely enough to scare everyone who was in that cab of the train."

While the authorities may have dubbed it a "freak accident," e-cigarettes combust more often than you think. Just this year, vaporizers have maimed a California man's mouth, blinded a 14-year-old boy and blown up a Florida woman's car, and that's only a fraction of the incidents.

In fact, the U.S. Fire Administration even called e-cigarettes "flaming rockets" because they're more likely to blow up than other battery-powered devices, like hoverboards. While the FDA began regulating electronic nicotine products this year, Universal Studios doesn't include them on its list of prohibited items.

If you do use an e-cigarette or vaporizer, follow the manufacturer's instructions for charging to reduce the risk of an explosion. However, the best way to stay safe is to stop using them at all.

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CAIRO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Beltone Financial, Egypt's largest asset manager, said on Tuesday it had acquired 60 percent of New York-based brokerage firm Auerbach Grayson & Company.

Beltone has 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.38 billion) in assets under management and has executed over 100 billion pounds in M&A and capital markets transactions. It was acquired by billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris's Orascom Telecom Media and Technology in 2015.

"The Auerbach Grayson acquisition is a natural extension for our businesses and is the first step in our strategy to create a major Middle East-based global investment bank," said Sawiris.

After the OTMT takeover, Beltone tried to buy investment bank CI Capital from Egypt's largest listed bank, Commercial International Bank (CIB), but the deal fell through when it failed to win regulatory approval.

Sawiris said at the time he planned to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial to create one of Egypt's largest investment firms. He said in March the deal was being held up by national security concerns and criticised the state for meddling in business, saying this would discourage investors.

($1 = 8.8799 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Mark Potter)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Beltone Financial, Egypt's largest asset manager, said on Tuesday it had acquired 60 percent of New York-based brokerage firm Auerbach Grayson & Company. Beltone has 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.38 billion) in assets under management and has executed over 100 billion pounds in M&A and capital markets transactions. It was acquired by billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris's Orascom Telecom Media and Technology in 2015. "The Auerbach Grayson acquisition is a natural extension for our businesses and is the first step in our strategy to create a major Middle East-based global investment bank," said Sawiris. After the OTMT takeover, Beltone tried to buy investment bank CI Capital from Egypt's largest listed bank, Commercial International Bank (CIB), but the deal fell through when it failed to win regulatory approval. Sawiris said at the time he planned to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial to create one of Egypt's largest investment firms. He said in March the deal was being held up by national security concerns and criticised the state for meddling in business, saying this would discourage investors. ($1 = 8.8799 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Mark Potter)
On returning from a dinner party on October 2 night in Paris--which she was visiting for Paris Fashion Week--Kim Kardashian, 35, retreated to her room inside her portered building apartment.

These apartment buildings have especially been designed for multi-millionaires. The Kardashians stayed here regularly every time they came to Paris, as did Madonna, Leonardo Di Caprio, and the late Prince.

Kim's sisters, Kourtney Kardashian, 37, and Kendall Jenner, 20, went out for the night with Kim's bodyguard, Pascal Duvier.

Kim was in bed with just her robe on when she heard boots pounding up the stairs of her two-story apartment.

Kim's stylist and long-time friend Simone Harouche was believed to be in the bedroom downstairs.

Kim posted a video of her on Snapchat, showing off outfits and her shiny new ring, wishing friend Blac Chyna a happy baby shower.

Five masked men, dressed as police officers, threatened the building's concierge with a gun and forced him to take them to Kim's room and unlock the door. The concierge was reportedly bound and gagged, and locked in a stairwell.

Kim saw at least one masked man and another wearing a police hat through a sliding glass door. She knew something was amiss, so she rolled off the bed and tried dialling her bodyguard on her cell phone, reports TMZ.

Before she could finish dialling, one of the men snatched the phone out of her hands.

Two men held a gun to Kim's head, while the others tied her hands with plastic handcuffs and duct-taped her. One of the men grabbed her by the ankles, duct-taped them, picked her up and put her in the bathtub, reports Hollywood Life.

This is where Kim said she feared that she was going to be raped. She started screaming and begging them to not kill her because she has children at home. She told them to take whatever they wanted.

Though Kim did not understand a word of their French, she realised they were saying "ring, ring" repeatedly. Kim figured they were after the new ring Kanye had recently gifted her. She told them where it was in the apartment.

The men stole a jewellery box with USD 6.4 million worth of jewels inside, as well as a USD 4.3 million ring, which many suspect is the massive diamond Kanye West had gifted her a few months ago.

Kim's friend Simone heard the commotion and managed to lock herself in her room's bathroom to call Kim's bodyguard, Pascal, and sister Kourtney.

Kim's bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, arrived at the apartment just two minutes after the robbers escaped.

The entire incident took around 6 minutes.

Kim Kardashian reunited with husband Kanye West in New York City on Monday, October 3. The reality star was greeted by West at Teterboro Airport around 11 am, reports US Weekly.
By John Tilak and Nia Williams

TORONTO/CALGARY, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Canadian energy producer Enerplus Corp has put its natural gas assets in the U.S. Marcellus shale region up for sale, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

The assets could fetch about $500 million, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is not public.

Enerplus, which owns oil and natural gas assets in Canada and the United States, expects the sale to make its asset portfolio more geographically concentrated and allow it to pay down debt, the sources said.

The company's net debt as of June 30 was about C$700 million ($530 million).

Enerplus could also make an acquisition with the money, one of the sources said.

The Marcellus assets, in Pennsylvania, have drawn interest from parties in the United States and Asia, the sources said, adding that private equity firms are the most likely buyers.

Enerplus, which calls the Marcellus shale gas project one of the most economic dry gas plays in North America, did not respond to a request for comment.

The company says on its website that it has oil assets in the Williston Basin in North Dakota, where it expects to spend C$145 million this year. That compares with C$20 million for the Marcellus project.

In a recent investor presentation, Enerplus cited "over $1.2 billion of net divestment proceeds since 2010," which it said has helped focus the portfolio. Its website lists the Marcellus asset as one of its focus areas.

About 35 percent of the company's production in 2016 is expected to come from its Marcellus shale business, according to the website.

($1 = 1.3168 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nia Williams in Calgary; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
By John Tilak and Nia Williams TORONTO/CALGARY (Reuters) - Canadian energy producer Enerplus Corp has put its natural gas assets in the U.S. Marcellus shale region up for sale, according to three sources familiar with the situation. The assets could fetch about $500 million, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is not public. Enerplus, which owns oil and natural gas assets in Canada and the United States, expects the sale to make its asset portfolio more geographically concentrated and allow it to pay down debt, the sources said. The company's net debt as of June 30 was about C$700 million ($530 million). Enerplus could also make an acquisition with the money, one of the sources said. After the Reuters report, Enerplus shares turned positive and rose as much as 3.8 percent. There were trading at C$9.02, up 2.7 percent, in afternoon trade. The Marcellus assets, in Pennsylvania, have drawn interest from parties in the United States and Asia, the sources said, adding that private equity firms are the most likely buyers. Enerplus, which calls the Marcellus shale gas project one of the most economic dry gas plays in North America, did not respond to a request for comment. The company says on its website that it has oil assets in the Williston Basin in North Dakota, where it expects to spend C$145 million this year. That compares with C$20 million for the Marcellus project. In a recent investor presentation, Enerplus cited "over $1.2 billion of net divestment proceeds since 2010," which it said has helped focus the portfolio. Its website lists the Marcellus asset as one of its focus areas. About 35 percent of the company's production in 2016 is expected to come from its Marcellus shale business, according to the website. ($1 = 1.3168 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nia Williams in Calgary; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Sandra Maler)
Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - England is to train more doctors so that it can end its reliance on foreign recruits for the state-funded National Health Service after it leaves the European Union, the government announced Tuesday.

"Currently a quarter of our doctors come from overseas," Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said at the ruling Conservative Party's annual conference in Birmingham.

"They do a fantastic job and the NHS would fall over without them. When it comes to those that are EU nationals, we've been clear we want them to be able to stay post-Brexit," he said.

"But looking forward, is it right to carry on importing doctors from poorer countries that need them, whilst we turn away bright home graduates desperate to study medicine?"

From September 2018, England will train up to 1,500 more doctors every year, increasing the number of medical school places by up to a quarter, he said.

There is currently a 6,000 cap on numbers of medical students.

"By the end of the next parliament we will make the NHS self-sufficient in doctors."

He said training a doctor costs more than A200,000 ($255,000, 230,000 euros). Doctors would be asked to work for the NHS for four years in return.

NHS hospitals currently spend A3.3 billion a year on agency staff.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd also at the conference launched a consultation on how to reduce net migration from outside the EU.

The government is committed to getting annual net migration below 100,000; it stood at 327,000 in the year ending March 2016 of which 190,000 were from outside the EU.

Her consultation includes looking at whether student immigration rules should be tailored to the quality of the course and the university.

It will also consider whether to tighten the rules on recruitment and job advertising to make sure immigrants are not coming to jobs that could be done by British workers.

Brexit minister David Davis meanwhile spoke about the possibility of companies being forced to prove they have tried to hire a British citizen before being granted a work permit to employ a foreigner.

Davis said he did not envisage a cap on the numbers of high-skilled immigrants post-Brexit, but that for low-skilled migration a work permit system might apply.
NEWS BRIEF German prosecutors halted Tuesday their investigation into a German satirist who faced legal repercussions for reciting a televised poem insulting Recep Tayyip Edogan, the Turkish president, Deutsche Welle, the state-run German broadcaster, reports.

The prosecutors cited insufficient evidence that Jan Bohmermann, the TV comic, committed a crime when he performed a satirical poem in March criticizing Erdogans policies as well as making lewd sexual references toward the Turkish president. Erdogan was not amused by the poem, and Ankara demanded the clip be removed. Bohmermann and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), the German public broadcaster which aired the poem, refused.

The diplomatic spat between Berlin and Ankara prompted Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, to give prosecutors the green light in April to launch a criminal inquiry into whether Bohmermanns actions were legala move she said means neither a prejudgment of the person affected nor a decision about the limits of freedom of art, the press, and opinion.

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Now, prosecutors are saying theyve found no evidence of criminal behavior to support filing charges.

Bohmermann wasnt just facing prosecution for hurting a world leaders feelings. Rather, the prosecutors investigation sought to determine if the comic had broken German law. Under paragraph 103 of Germanys penal code, it is unlawful to slander representatives of foreign states. It reads:

Whosoever insults a foreign head of state, or, with respect to his position, a member of a foreign government who is in Germany in his official capacity, or a head of a foreign diplomatic mission who is accredited in the Federal territory shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine, in case of a slanderous insult to imprisonment from three months to five years.

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Bohmermann defended himself by calling the poem an exaggerated portrayal of the Turkish leader that could be easily recognized as a joke. Joke or not, the incident has prompted Germany to re-examine its defamation laws, with some calling for the prescription against insulting foreign leaders to be abolished altogether.

Though criticism of Erdogan may not exactly be verboten in Germany, thats certainly not the case in Turkey, where authorities have arrested more than 32,000 people with suspected links to Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric who Turkey says orchestrated the coup attempt in July.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Bucking the slump of August, American manufacturing activity grew in September with PMI rising to 51.5% (a reading of 50 or higher points to growth), up 2.1 percentage points from the August reading of 49.4% and above economists expectation of50.6%.

New orders and production registered a jump in the month though exports were still a drag. Employment in the manufacturing sector grew 1.4 percentage points. With this, the 12-month average manufacturing PMI came in at 50.3, with a high of 53.2 hit in June and a low of 48 touched in December.

Investors should note that huge capex cuts by energy companies to fight back the plunge in oil prices and sluggish export demand in the wake of global growth issues were the glitches in the manufacturing sector. If oil prices are able to sustain an uptrend thanks to a likely output cut deal in November, such threats may diminish in the coming days.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, seven recorded an increase in September with nonmetallic mineral products, furniture, textile mills, food, beverage & tobacco products, paper products and computer & electronic productsdeserving special mention.

Plus, the U.S. economy has been expanding at its quickest clip in two years, helped by solid consumer spending and decent business investment. After the final upward revision, GDP growth data for Q2 came in at 1.4%, following a 0.8% tick-up in Q1.

Market Impact

The dual doses of upbeat manufacturing and GDP data triggered another round of rate hike bet. Chances of a rate hike by December surged to 60%, as per futures data compiled by Bloomberg. If this was not enough, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, indicated on Monday that there might be "live" discussion in favor of a rate hike in November meeting (read: 6 ETF Areas to Watch as Fed Meeting Starts).

As a result, Treasuries slumped, with two-year note yields surging to almost a three-week high. Yield on two-year Treasury notes rose 3 bps to 0.80% on October 3, 2016 from the previous day while yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury note too increased 3 bps to 1.63% following the release of manufacturing report on October 3, 2016. On the other hand, broader U.S. equity gauges slipped on rate hike fears.

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ETF Picks

iPath US Treasury Flattener ETN (FLAT)

To play the flattening of the yield curve which is happening at this moment, FLAT which provides inverse exposure to the Barclays US Treasury 2Y/10Y Yield Curve Index, can be a good bet. FLAT advanced over 1.9% on October 3, 2016 (read: 3 ETF Ways to Win if the Fed Acts in September).

Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI)

With industrial activity gaining pace, a look at this industrial ETF makes sense. XLI added about 0.1% on October 3, 2016.

PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish ETF (UUP)

If rate hike talks continue for the next few days, the greenback is sure to bounce, especially after a subdued year-to-date performance. So, investors can tap UUP to make some gains as long as rate hike speculation remains rife. UUP added about 0.2% on October 3, 2016 (read: Follow Goldman's Call on Dollar with These ETFs).

Stock Picks

We pick stocks from industries that saw manufacturing growth in September. The stocks have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and are thus expected to outperform their peers in the months ahead.

Pinnacle Foods Inc. (PF)

Pinnacle Foods manufactures a wide range of packaged foods under several brand names. Its products include Duncan Hines cake mix, Mrs. Butterworth's syrup and Vlasic pickles. The expected year-over-year earnings growth rate for this fiscal is 11.3%.

Identiv Inc. (INVE)

It is a global security technology company that belongs to the computer and peripheral equipment industry. Its products are used in employee identification cards, company email, information technology networks and so on. The expected earnings growth rate for this fiscal is 48.9%.

Domtar Corporation (UFS)

Domtar is a manufacturer of pulp and forest products and fine papers. Though its earnings are expected to decline 9.9% in fiscal 2016, the stock has a solid VGM score A. UFS added about 0.7%.

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By Jan Strupczewski

STRASBOURG, France, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission would like euro zone governments to reach a deal on the details of debt relief for Greece by the end of the year to boost its economic growth, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said.

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg during a debate on Greece, Moscovici said however, such a deal required an effort from all sides, including the government in Athens, which has to push on with agreed reforms.

"By the end of the year I would like to see, to strike an agreement on debt," Moscovici told parliamentarians.

"That is indeed legitimate and has been long awaited, that requires an effort to be made on all sides, creditors, all partners in the Eurogroup and also the Greek authorities when it comes to implementing the reform programme," he said.

Following a restructuring of privately-held Greek bonds in 2012, euro zone governments are now, through their bailout fund, the main owners of Greek debt. The Commission itself does not hold any Greek bonds.

In May, euro zone governments offered Greece debt relief in 2018, but left key details to be decided later in an attempt to bridge Germany's view that no immediate action was needed and the International Monetary Fund's call for decisions now.

The year-end deadline for agreeing on the details of debt relief is seen as ambitious by euro zone officials because such details have to be based on a debt sustainability analysis and one will only be made after Greece passes a review of its reform progress.

This review has been dragging on for months, although senior euro zone officials expect that reforms needed to complete it are likely to be legislated by Greece this week, in time for euro zone ministers to approve them when they meet on Oct 10.

An even bigger hurdle is that the biggest euro zone economy Germany wants the IMF to join the latest, third bailout programme for Greece, for credibility reasons.

Story continues

But the Washington-based lender of last resort says it can only do so if a debt analysis shows Greek debt is sustainable, and it can only show that if Athens gets debt relief now.

Berlin is loath to the idea of debt relief before German federal elections in autumn 2017 because after six years of a debt crisis and three bailouts offered to Athens, public opinion in Germany, the biggest contributor to the bailouts, is against more leniency to Greece.

Euro zone officials said that in a pessimistic scenario, no details of Greek debt relief would be agreed until after the German elections.

Others say a deal could be reached if the Greek debt crisis flares up again after the Greek government runs out of money to service its obligations in April 2017.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The European Parliament voted Tuesday to close loopholes in legislation banning the export of equipment that could be used for torture or execution in undemocratic countries.

Legislators updated their 2005 anti-torture legislation to bar European firms from advertising such equipment at trade fairs or online, voting by 612 votes to 11 with 54 abstentions.

"We made the new legislation stronger and more flexible so that the EU can respond quickly to any changes and to the development of new technologies," said Marietje Schaake, the Dutch liberal lawmaker who steered the legislation through the parliament.

The proposed tighter rules are aimed at blocking the advertising or display of equipment like spiked batons, thumb cuffs and spiked shields that had been legal under the previous legislation.

They also aim to block the transit of banned equipment through EU territory. Even though equipment like electric chairs and spiked thumbscrews were banned, they could pass through Europe under existing legislation.

They would also require transporters, if they have reason to believe the equipment will fall into the wrong hands, to stop the transit of goods that could be used for torture even though they are designed for other purposes.

The category covers weapons designed for riot control, or certain anaesthetics used in lethal injections.

Brokering services and technical assistance for banned goods will also be prohibited.

"Banning the death penalty and torture are key goals of European trade and foreign policy," Schaake said. "And it is essential that EU companies do not contribute to these practices."

EU member states must still approve the new legislation but it is expected to enter into force in 2017.

The European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation bloc, is to report by August 2020 on the ban's implementation.
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The landmark Paris climate pact is poised to enter into force globally after the European Parliament joined the world's top polluters in endorsing the deal to slow the planet's dangerous temperature rise.

With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon watching the vote on Tuesday, the parliament overwhelmingly approved the EU's fast-track ratification of the deal sealed in Paris last December.

That puts the European Union on track to hand over its ratification to the United Nations on Friday, which would then take the international community above the threshold needed for implementation within one month.

"I'm extremely honoured to be able to witness this historic moment," Ban said at the European Parliament building following the vote that passed by 610 to 38, with 31 abstentions.

"I look forward to the Paris agreement entering into force as soon as possible, even in just a few days time."

The Paris accord requires all countries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in temperatures within two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and strive for 1.5 C (2.7 F) if possible.

The European Parliament, the bloc's only elected body, backed a decision by EU environment ministers last Friday to fast-track approval of the deal, despite only seven out of 28 EU countries having themselves ratified it.

Fears that China and the United States, the world's two biggest polluters, were leaving Europe behind on ratifying last year's historic deal pushed them into rushing through the ratification.

- 'Credibility test' -

To come into force the accord needs ratification from 55 countries, which must together account for at least 55 percent of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for climate change.

With a decision in the last few days by India, the third biggest emitter, a total of 62 countries have ratified the agreement to commit to take action to stem the planet's rising temperatures.

Story continues

They all account for 52 percent of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions, and EU ratification will bring it over 55 percent threshold by including the seven EU countries who have already approved it.

The seven EU countries -- Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia -- account for some five percent of global emissions.

The entire bloc accounts for 12 percent of global emissions.

"It's a big historic moment," said Segolene Royal, the French environment minister Segolene Royal, who hosted the COP21 Paris climate talks.

She added that representatives from France and the six other EU countries will travel to New York on Friday to hand over the ratification documents, which will allow for the deal to enter force 30 days later.

In normal times, for such major international agreements, the EU and its 28 member states must deposit their ratification documents simultaneously under sometimes time-consuming procedures.

However, the member states overcame differences to reach a political agreement last week to bypass the usual process.

Europe has prided itself on taking a global lead on climate change issues but has watched with alarm as the rest of the world has left it behind.

"Europe today is demonstrating it's capable of great things when it puts its energy and forces together," European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in Strasbourg at a time when the EU is buffeted by crises from migration to Brexit.

Both Oxfam and conservation group WWF gave a cautious welcome, warning all member states they face a "credibility test" or "enforcement test" in sticking to the deal.

During a White House event on Monday to highlight his campaign to battle climate change, US President Barack Obama warned: "We are really in a race against time."
LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Euro zone bond yields soared across the region and the euro rose late on Tuesday after media reports of an ECB plan for tapering its asset-purchase programme.

The European Central Bank will probably slowly wind down bond purchases before it ends quantitative easing and could do so in steps of 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) a month, Bloomberg news cited euro zone central bank officials as saying.

That triggered a sell-off in euro zone bonds, which have been underpinned by the 1.7 trillion euro bond-buying scheme.

Italian and Spanish 10-year bond yields rose as much as 8 basis points each on the day to two-week highs, while benchmark 10-year German Bund yields rose 5 bps to minus 0.042 percent -- their highest level in about 1-1/2 weeks.

German 30-year bond yields also rose sharply and were up 6 bps on the day at 0.54 percent, while the euro rallied on the report.

The euro rose past 88 pence for the first time since early 2-013 on the report.

(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe, John Geddie and Anirban Nag, editing by Nigel Stephenson)
The meeting is important as it takes place at a time when the region of Marathwada is lashed with heavy rains.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Maharashtra state cabinet will be holding a special meeting at Aurangabad in the Marathwada region today. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the massive rallies by the politically dominant Maratha community especially in the region. Several measures for farmers are also likely to be announced.

The state government is likely to announce a comprehensive package for the region that will be discussed in the meet. This will include promotion of agro-based industries and creating employment opportunities in the drought-prone rural Marathwada.

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WHY THE MEET IS IMPORTANT

The meeting is also important as it takes place at a time when the region of Marathwada is lashed with heavy rains. Floods have destroyed almost 50 per cent of the Kharif crops in the districts of Latur, Beed, Osmanabad and Nanded in Marathwada region.

"GOVT MUST ANNOUNCE COMPLETE LOAN WAIVER PACKAGE"

The Congress and NCP have already put forth demands of farmers of the region ahead of the meet. The Congress demanded that the government should announce a complete loan waiver package for farmers of the region. The NCP had demanded the government to declare crop damage owing to heavy rain in Marathwada region.

NCP legislators from the belt under the leadership of leader of Opposition in the legislative council, Dhananjay Munde, would be meeting the CM before the meeting of cabinet ministers in Aurangabad.

Also read:

Marathwada's struggle continues: Then drought, now deluge



--- ENDS ---
By Atul Prakash

LONDON (Reuters) - European stocks will make little headway before June as concerns about future U.S. rate increases and Britain's move to start its divorce from the European Union discourage investors from placing strong bets, a Reuters poll found.

The poll of more than 20 traders, strategists and fund managers gave a median forecast for the pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) of 362 points by the end of 2017 - up over 5 percent from Monday's closing level of 343.23.

However, the benchmark index will make little progress before the middle of next year, when it will trade at 345, according to the poll, taken in the past week.

"European equities will struggle to make much headway in the first half of 2017 as investors struggle with the combined effects of the UK triggering Article 50 and, probably, higher U.S. rates," Bill McNamara, analyst at Charles Stanley, said.

"However, as those fears subside somewhat and the outlook becomes clearer, markets should recover in the second half."

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would invoke Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty by the end of March. That would give Britain two years to clinch one of the most complex deals in Europe since World War Two.

The UK economy has shown resilience since the vote to leave the EU, but there are concerns that business investment and the wider economy will slow. Brexit could also hit the European economy, since Britain is a key market for many countries.

Among leading investment banks, Goldman Sachs predicted the STOXX 600 closing this year at 335 points, Barclays forecast it to finish at 360 points and UBS saw it at 340 points.

The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index was likely to rise to 3,075 points by the end of June 2017 before climbing to 3,225 by the end of next year.

France's CAC (.FCHI) was predicted to rise 1 percent to 4,500 points by the end of 2017 and Germany's DAX (.GDAXI) was expected to close next year at 11,150, up around 5 percent from Tuesday's levels, the poll found.

"The diminishing impact of quantitative easing is likely to leave stocks unchanged throughout 2017. However, signs of fiscal reform is seen to provide support and stop any significant stock market rout from taking hold of markets," Jonathan Roy, advisory investment manager at Charles Hanover Investments, said.

(Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Danilo Masoni, editing by Larry King)
By Jim Finkle

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson is telling patients that it has learned of a security vulnerability in one of its insulin pumps that a hacker could exploit to overdose diabetic patients with insulin, though it describes the risk as low.

Medical device experts said they believe it was the first time a manufacturer had issued such a warning to patients about a cyber vulnerability, a hot topic in the industry following revelations last month about possible bugs in pacemakers and defibrillators.

J&J executives told Reuters they knew of no examples of attempted hacking attacks on the device, the J&J Animas OneTouch Ping insulin pump. The company is nonetheless warning customers and providing advice on how to fix the problem.

"The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping system is extremely low," the company said in letters sent on Monday to doctors and about 114,000 patients who use the device in the United States and Canada.

"It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the internet or to any external network."

A copy of the text of the letter was made available to Reuters.

Insulin pumps are medical devices that patients attach to their bodies that injects insulin through catheters.

The Animas OneTouch Ping, which was launched in 2008, is sold with a wireless remote control that patients can use to order the pump to dose insulin so that they do not need access to the device itself, which is typically worn under clothing and can be awkward to reach.

Jay Radcliffe, a diabetic and researcher with cyber security firm Rapid7 Inc, said he had identified ways for a hacker to spoof communications between the remote control and the OneTouch Ping insulin pump, potentially forcing it to deliver unauthorized insulin injections.

The system is vulnerable because those communications are not encrypted, or scrambled, to prevent hackers from gaining access to the device, said Radcliffe, who reported vulnerabilities in the pump to J&J in April and published them on the Rapid7 blog on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/2dOUm0e)

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J&J executives said they worked on the security issues with Radcliffe.

Dosing a patient with too much insulin could cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which in extreme cases can be life threatening, said Brian Levy, chief medical officer with J&J's diabetes unit.

Company technicians were able to replicate Radcliffe's findings, confirming that a hacker could order the pump to dose insulin from a distance of up to 25 feet, Levy said. He said such attacks are difficult to pull off because they require specialized technical expertise and sophisticated equipment.

"We believe the OneTouch Ping system is safe and reliable. We urge patients to stay on the product," Levy said.

J&J's letter said that if patients were concerned, they could take several steps to thwart potential attacks. They include discontinuing use of a wireless remote control and programming the pump to limit the maximum insulin dose.

Radcliffe said he believed that OneTouch Ping users would be safe if they followed the steps outlined in the letters from J&J.

"They can give peace of mind to the patient or parent of a child using the device," he said.

FDA GUIDANCE ON MEDICAL DEVICES

In August, a prominent short seller and a cyber security research firm went public with allegations of potentially life-threatening cyber vulnerabilities in heart devices from St. Jude Medical Inc.

As its shares tumbled, St. Jude said the allegations were false, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began an investigation.

J&J said before it sent out the letters, it reviewed the matter with the FDA, which is preparing to issue formal guidance on how medical device makers should handle reports about cyber vulnerabilities.

An early draft of that guidance, which was released in January for public comments, called for device makers to work with security researchers, identify steps to mitigate risks, and provide patients with information about bugs so they can "make informed decisions" about device use.

The FDA on Tuesday praised J&J and Rapid7 for their work in discovering, finding ways to mitigate and disclosing the vulnerability.

"This is the proactive behavior the FDA has been looking to see from the medical device manufacturer and research community and demonstrates the collaborative manner in which vulnerabilities can be addressed in a way that best protects patients," the agency said in a statement.

J&J Chief Information Security Officer Marene Allison said her team would make sure other J&J products do not have similar bugs.

Radcliffe said he found vulnerabilities in the Animas OneTouch Ping, but not the Animas Vibe line of insulin pumps.

The FDA has said it knows of no cases where hackers have exploited cyber vulnerabilities to harm a patient.

The agency last year issued multiple warnings about cyber bugs in infusion pumps from Hospira, which has since been acquired by Pfizer Inc. (http://reut.rs/2duNuZK)

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Grant McCool)
Kim Kardashian West's terrifying robbery in Paris definitely has her and husband Kanye West rethinking their security measures, a source close to Kim tells ET.

After the 35-year-old reality superstar was held up at gunpoint on Sunday when armed, masked men entered the luxury apartment she was staying at in Paris, France, during Paris Fashion Week, security around the couple and their two children -- 3-year-old North and 9-month-old Saint -- is set to change.

"Kim and Kanye are reassessing their security detail now. Kanye is freaking out -- this really threw him for a loop," the source says. "There will be a lot of things that change now in terms of security, especially with the children."

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Kim Kardashian 'Absolutely Traumatized' After Paris Robbery, Not Able to 'Fully Comprehend What Happened'

"Their immediate need is undercover security -- people who will be with them but stepped back to the side," the source adds. "There are plans for many other things they'll change as well."

Most importantly, the famous family is trying to figure out how to prevent an incident like this from ever happening again.

"Kim is constantly traveling and sleeping in hotels," the source explains. "For her to get through this experience will take some time, mentally."

Though Kim is "absolutely traumatized," the source says she holds no grudges towards her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, or with French authorities. A source previously told ET that Pascal was not with Kim during the robbery on Sunday -- he and the driver dropped Kim off at her apartment through the garage, and Pascal went back out with her older sister, Kourtney Kardashian, who met up with their younger sister, Kendall Jenner.

"He was done working for her when this happened," the source says about Pascal. "Also, Pascal is not an armed bodyguard. Kim does not hold Pascal responsible for one second."

Story continues

Kim, Kanye, and their kids are currently staying at their New York City apartment. Kim's mother, Kris Jenner, is also set to stay with them until Wednesday, the source says.

"She's just spending time with her kids right now and hugging them really tight," the source adds.

WATCH: Chrissy Teigen, Salma Hayek, and More Celebs React to Kim Kardashian's Robbery -- 'Some S**t Just Isn't Funny'

Both North and Saint were safely in NYC with Kanye, a family friend, and a nanny during Kim's scary incident over the weekend, a source told ET on Monday. More specifically, North was at a performance of the musical Matilda on Sunday afternoon, a rep for the Broadway production confirmed to ET.

Watch below:

-- Reporting by Jennifer Peros

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By Stephen Kalin and Dmitry Zhdannikov BAGHDAD/LONDON (Reuters) - Shuttle diplomacy by the United States' envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition brokered an oil deal between Iraq and its Kurdish region vital to a climactic battle with the jihadists, diplomats, officials and oil men say. The oil revenue-sharing deal sealed in August was critical to getting the central and regional governments to coordinate planning for a push on the Islamic State stronghold Mosul, which Kurdish peshmerga forces surround on three sides, as soon as this month, the sources said. Brett McGurk shuttled from Iraqi Kurdistan capital Erbil to Baghdad and back again from the first half of April, culminating in a June 19 meeting in Erbil with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Massoud Barzani and Iraqi National Security Advisor Falah Fayad. Barzani "met McGurk and said, 'We cannot afford Mosul. We need oil and revenues back," said a high level source close to the Kurds. "If it wasn't for McGurk, this deal would have never happened." The Kurdish region is home to Iraq's major northern oilfields but a quarrel over who benefits from export revenues has become a prolonged, tangled and emotive dispute. In early 2014 Baghdad slashed funds to the KRG, which then began exporting oil independently via a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. In March Iraq's state-run North Oil Company (NOC) stopped pumping crude through the pipeline from fields it operates in Kirkuk, which the KRG has controlled since Iraqi security forces disintegrated two years ago when Islamic State overran a third of the country. The move cut Kurdish oil revenues by around a quarter, worsening the budget crisis in Erbil amid low oil prices and the fight against the jihadists. Iraq and the U.S.-led military coalition backing it are relying on cooperation from the Kurds to retake Mosul from the ultra-hardline jihadists and undermine their self-proclaimed caliphate. For Washington, defeating Islamic state has been one of the major foreign policy objectives under the second term of president Barack Obama, who will step down as president in January. The deal to restore the flows of Kirkuk crude progressed in August, when public statements show McGurk visited Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad on Aug. 11 and two days later met again with Barzani and Fayad in Erbil. According to sources in Erbil, the KRG told McGurk and Baghdad they had lost around $1 billion dollars in revenues since March as the Kirkuk field was reinjecting around 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) back under the ground instead of exporting it with other Kurdish production of around 450,000 bpd to world markets via Turkey. That pushed all sides to iron out a final agreement that was announced following an Aug. 29 meeting in Baghdad between Abadi, McGurk and Barzani. INTENSE LOBBYING Under the agreement, up to 150,000 bpd of oil are being exported through Ceyhan as a 50/50 split between the KRG and Baghdad. It also averted deeper division in Kurdistan itself. Local authorities governing Kirkuk from the city of Sulaimaniyah were asking to ship oil to Iran instead of Turkey, which the governments in Erbil, Baghdad and Washington rejected. The breakthrough helped start a separate conversation about the disposition of forces for the push on Mosul and the disputed internal boundaries between central Iraq and the Kurdistan region, said a senior Western diplomat in Baghdad. "Take that sand out of the gears and turn the oil into oil in the gears ... and then they can have those other conversations about who's going where" on the battlefield, said the diplomat, who declined to be identified speaking about private discussions. Since the Kirkuk oil deal was sealed, the Kurds have pledged in private to keep the peshmerga out of Mosul proper while allowing the Iraqis to use territory they currently control around the city to stage troops for the offensive, senior Western diplomats told Reuters, allowing war planning to accelerate. The military now looks set to push into Mosul by the end of October, which looked improbable just a few months ago. Kurdish leader Barzani visited Baghdad last week for the first time in more than three years, a sign of improving relations. A lawyer by training, McGurk has been involved in some of Iraq's thorniest disputes since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. As an adviser to the occupation authorities, he helped draft an interim constitution and oversee the legal transition to an interim Iraqi government. He advocated the U.S. troop "surge" that is partially credited with stemming Iraq's sectarian violence from its 2006-2007 heights. When Islamic State swept through a third of the country in mid-2014, he played a leading role in bringing Prime Minister Abadi into office to address the threat. McGurk, who could not be reached for comment, has been sprinting around the world for the past year to implement the Obama administration's policy to defeat the jihadists, which includes holding together an Iraq that some observers say is more divided than ever. A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, asked about the oil deal, said: "We give the Iraqi government all of the credit on the agreement." Asked about the matter it last month during a trip to Baghdad, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said he was "encouraged by the efforts that have been made in recent weeks." He subsequently visited Erbil. A spokesman for Abadi said the United States and the international community had played "an undeniable role" in encouraging dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil on Kirkuk exports, which built up confidence and helped advance other issues. A KRG spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. (Editing by William Hardy)
About 20 million years ago, a car-size shark swam along the ancient coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, hunting for medium-size fish with its pointy teeth, a new study finds.

However, there are few fossil remains of the now-extinct shark. Researchers have found merely five of its nearly 2-inch-long (4.5 centimeters) teeth, in different parts of the world: Japan, California, Peru and North Carolina, the researchers said.

"The fact that such a large shark with such a wide geographic distribution had evaded recognition until now indicates just how little we still know about the Earth's ancient marine ecosystem," said Kenshu Shimada, the lead author of the study and a paleobiologist at DePaul University in Chicago. [Image Gallery: Ancient Monsters of the Sea]

Forbidding teeth

Researchers named the shark, which lived in the early Miocene epoch, Megalolamna paradoxodon. The genus name is a nod to the shark's mega-size teeth that superficially resemble those of sharks in the genus Lamna. The species name notes the shark's strange teeth, with the Latin word "paradoxum," and the Greek "odon," meaning paradox and teeth, respectively.

Researchers found Megalolamna paradoxodon fossil teeth in California, North Carolina, Peru and Japan. Kenshu Shimada

"At first glance, teeth of Megalolamna paradoxodon look like gigantic teeth of the genus Lamna, that includes the modern porbeagle and salmon sharks," Shimada told Live Science in an email. "However, the fossil teeth are too robust for Lamna  it shows a mosaic of dental features reminiscent of the genus Otodus. So, we determined it to be a species new to science that belongs to the family Otodontidae with no direct relationship with Lamna."

M. paradoxodon's front teeth were fit for grasping, and its back teeth were adept at cutting; these two types of teeth probably helped the giant predator seize and slice prey, Shimada added.

The shark likely lived in shallow, coastal waters in the mid-latitudes, which is where researchers unearthed its fossilized teeth. But even though the researchers have only its teeth, they were able to estimate the length of the shark by comparing the specimens to modern shark teeth.

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By analyzing the tooth-to-body ratio of the shark's modern relatives in the lamniform family  including the sand tiger shark, mako shark and great white shark  the researchers estimated that M. paradoxodon could grow to be up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) long. That makes it smaller than the great white shark, which can reach lengths of between 15 and 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m).

However, it's hard to say exactly how large M. paradoxodon grew, said John-Paul Hodnett, a shark specialist and graduate student of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia who was not involved in the study.

"For teeth, you should always be cautious of the fact that it is possible to have very large or small teeth in a shark's jaw, which do not represent the true aspect of the shark's body size," Hodnett told Live Science. For instance, some of the modern whale shark's teeth are tiny, but the beast can grow to be more than 40 feet (12 m) long, he said.

Megalodon cousin

The prehistoric teeth helped the researchers make another "mega" discovery. They compared them with the teeth of Carcharocles megalodon, an extinct species that is the most massive shark ever known to have lived. Megalodon could grow to be up to 60 feet (18 m) long, and its bite was more powerful than Tyrannosaurus rex's.

Both M. paradoxodon and C. megalodon belong to the extinct family of sharks known as Otodontidae, but scientists previously placed C. megalodon in a distinct lineage, Shimada said.

But Shimada and his colleagues now suggest that M. paradoxodon and C. megalodon are actually close cousins, and that C. megalodon should be should be placed in another genus called Otodus. [7 Shark Mysteries]

"Carcharocles megalodon has been the typical expression for the fossil shark," Shimada said. "However, our new study clearly supports the idea suggested by a few previous workers that 'megalodon' should be placed within the genus Otodus, and thus it should be referred to as Otodus megalodon from now on."

The study was published online Oct. 3 in the journal Historical Biology.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Just one day after the launch of its new e-commerce platform Marketplace was marred by listings for illegal products, Facebook FB is saying that a technical issue is to blame for numerous posts advertising drugs, animals, and adult services on the site.

Facebook director of product management Mary Ku told Business Insider that the company is working to fix the problem.

The social media giant rolled out the new Marketplace platform to all users over the age of 18 in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand this week after several months of testing in limited markets. A new shop icon was added to the Facebook app, allowing users to see pictures of items for sale near them.

Transactions are finalized through direct message communication between the buyer and seller, and all the other details, including payment method and delivery, are worked out without the help of Facebook.

If this business model sounds familiar, its probably because youve already heard of or used Craigslist, a location-based online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. Just like Craigslist, Marketplace is relatively hands off and users have to arrange meeting up on their own.

Marketplace actually seems to improve upon Craigslists ideas by allowing potential buyers to view the Facebook profiles of sellers, which should deter scammers. Facebooks entrance into the e-commerce business should also scare other reselling websites like eBay EBAY.

For more on the launch of Marketplace, check out our full story: Facebook Takes on E-Commerce with Marketplace.

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The package consists of important irrigation and infrastructure projects and is expected to be completed with in the stipulated time.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: In a special cabinet meeting held in Aurangabad, at the Marathwada region in Maharashtra, the government today announced a development package worth Rs 49,248 crore for the region. The package consists of important irrigation and infrastructure projects and is expected to be completed with in the stipulated time.



A BREAKDOWN OF THE PACKAGE

Under the plan announced by the Chief Minister, Rs 9,291 crore will be spent on irrigation, Rs 5,326 crore on developing the railway network in the region, Rs 3,000 crore for road projects, Rs 250 crore for an expansion of the airport, Rs 450 crore for micro-irrigation, and Rs 1,885 for water conservation works. The state plans to raise funds for these projects through bonds.

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CROP DAMAGE

The meeting took place on the backdrop of heavy rainfall in the region that has damaged more than 50 per cent of The Khariff crops. The state government has also taken a decision that it would not carry out farm-level post-surveys to measure crop damage.

"In situations like these (excess rain), we do not need to carry out farm-level damage assessment exercise. Heavy rains have damaged the khariff crops on more than 15 lakh hectares in Marathwada. Orders have been given to district collectors to assess the losses of crop damage." Fadnavis said.

Apart from this Fadnavis also announced that a Memorial of Shivsena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray will be set up in Aurangabad. A rural development institute, named after late Gopinath Munde, will also be set up in Aurangabad.

OPPOSITION CRITICAL

But the opposition has criticised the Fadnavis government over the 'Marathwada package'. Calling the package an eyewash , Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said, "instead of hollow promises, they should have declared loan waiver for the farmers".

ALSO READ:

Maharashtra: CM Devendra Fadnavis launches Mumbai CCTV surveillance project

Supriya Sule compares CM Fadnavis with women who fight for water at public taps





--- ENDS ---
(Reuters) - The following are changes in oil output limits by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, dating from efforts in the late 1990s to prop up prices.

OPEC met on Sept. 28 in Algiers and made its first output cut since the 2008 financial crisis to prop up prices.

There are now 14 OPEC countries. Indonesia reactivated its membership in December 2015 and Gabon rejoined in July.

Volumes are in millions of barrels per day.

Effective from Venue agreed Adjustment Volume

February 1998* 27.30*

April 1998 Riyadh -1.355 25.95

July 1998 Amsterdam/Vienna -1.255 24.69

April 1999 The Hague/Vienna -1.716 22.97

April 2000 Vienna +1.716 24.69

July 2000 Vienna +0.708 25.40

October 2000 Vienna +0.800 26.20

November 2000 Vienna +0.500 26.70

February 2001 Vienna -1.500 25.20

April 2001 Vienna -1.000 24.20

September 2001 by phone -1.000 23.20

January 2002 Cairo -1.500 21.70

January 2003 Vienna +1.300 23.00

February 2003 Vienna +1.500 24.50

June 2003 Vienna +0.900 25.40

November 2003 Vienna -0.900 24.50

April 2004 Algiers -1.000 23.50

July 2004 Beirut +2.000 25.50

August 2004 Beirut +0.500 26.00

November 2004 Vienna +1.000 27.00

March 2005 Isfahan +0.500 27.50

July 2005 Vienna +0.500 28.00

November 2006 Doha -1.200 26.30^

February 2007 Abuja -0.500 25.80^

November 2007 Vienna +0.500 27.25~

September 2008 Vienna -0.520 28.80**

October 2008 Vienna -1.500 27.30

December 2008 Oran -2.200 24.84

December 2011 Vienna 30.00***

December 2015 Vienna limit scrapped

September 2016 Algiers -0.74 to 32.50 to

-0.24**** 33.00

* benchmark for OPEC 10 output - all the then members except Iraq - as basis for Riyadh cuts.

^ OPEC production target implied by actual supply, not official ceiling.

~ Angola and Ecuador joined OPEC in 2007 and became included in the output ceiling as of January 2008, bringing the production ceiling to 29.67 million bpd.

** Then OPEC President Chakib Khelil said the group was cutting 520,000 bpd over the coming 40 days from actual production, as opposed to the notional target. The ceiling of 28.8 million bpd was adjusted to reflect Indonesia's suspension of membership and to include Angola and Ecuador.

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*** Target of 30 million bpd applied to all 12 members including Iraq, which was previously exempt.

**** OPEC specified the output target in its statement but not the volume to be cut. The cut of 740,000 bpd to 240,000 bpd is calculated by using the group's August production of 33.24 million bpd, as assessed by secondary sources, as a baseline.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler; Editing by William Hardy)
On Sunday, by a razor-thin margin, Colombians rejected the peace agreement between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which had been painstakingly hammered out over four years. The result, defying all the polls, sent shock waves throughout Colombia and the entire international community  including the United States  which had strongly backed Santos and the peace deal. By many accounts, even Colombians who voted no were surprised by the victory and unsure of what would happen next.

For Santos, who staked his presidency on trying to bring the continents only remaining armed conflict to an end and exhorted Colombians to embrace the accord, the defeat was stinging. Less than a week before, in a ceremony in Cartagena soaked in symbolism and attended by an impressive array of foreign dignitaries, Santos signed the agreement with FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, better known as Timochenko. The plan was that the dramatic signing ceremony would give a bounce for a big win in the plebiscite.

The opposition, however, had a different idea. Led by the widely popular former president and now senator Alvaro Uribe, the no campaign based its rejection on two key points: First, they denounced the leniency of the transitional justice system included in the accords, which would have allowed FARC leaders responsible for egregious crimes to avoid jail sentences. Second, they refused to accept the political participation of FARC leaders in government. This agreement, Uribe warned, was not only in violation of the constitution but would likely bring renewed violence and increased drug production.

Polls had consistently shown that while most Colombians shared a desire for peace, the majority took serious issue with these two significant, sensitive points. But from the outset, Santoss bet was that despite the widespread skepticism, when having to decide on the overall agreement  which contained a number of popular provisions, including enhanced attention to the countrys rural development  most Colombians would pragmatically vote in favor of the deal, and thus avoid the uncertain alternative.

In the end, although the yes option won in areas most directly affected by the armed conflict, Uribe proved to be a better interpreter of popular sentiments than Santos. Going forward, Uribe and his party will play a critical role, and the 2018 presidential elections should be expected to shape their strategy. The constitution bans Uribe from running for the presidency again, but whomever he supports will benefit from his electoral appeal.

The stunning result can be attributed to several factors. First, it is hard to overstate how much Colombians despise the FARC. They have virtually no popular support, which sets Colombia apart from other civil wars, marked by battles of contending political forces. Whatever ideological appeal they might have had when they launched their insurgency in the 1960s had long faded, reflecting the FARCs deep involvement in the drug trade, illegal mining, kidnapping, extortion, and other illicit activities. For the vast majority of Colombians, FARC members are merely criminals. Timochenkos remarks at the Cartagena ceremony  especially I ask for forgiveness for all the damage we have caused  may have comforted the accords supporters, but were hardly enough to erase decades of ill will. Further, in recent interviews, FARC leaders appeared arrogant and unapologetic, which only increased opposition to them becoming players in Colombian politics.

A second key factor is the considerable difference in popularity of those leading the charge of the opposing camps. Santos has been struggling with low poll numbers, in part due to the countrys ongoing economic difficulties, but also  in no small measure  due to the frustration with a prolonged and secretive peace process. Uribe, in contrast, though a polarizing figure with a controversial record, is an effective communicator, indefatigable, and with a common touch  perceived as less elitist than Santos. Uribe successfully framed the agreement as Santoss peace, contrasting it with a real peace that would become possible only if Colombians voted against the referendum. As the online Colombian publication La Silla Vacia headlined its lead story on Monday, Uribe Is Still the King.

There were also problems with within the yes campaign. Proponents of the deal should have put forth a more affirmative, clearer message about its merits and a realistic sense of the social and economic gains that could materialize. Instead, they stressed the negative consequences of a no victory, associating it with continued war, and then celebrated the inking of deal with the international community before the Colombian people actually had their say, which clearly has now backfired.

Meanwhile, the no campaign instilled fear by warning that a yes result  and FARC participation in politics  would mean the entrance of Bolivarian socialism in Colombia, using the collapse of neighboring Venezuela as a warning. Most striking is that both campaigns together managed to garner merely 37 percent of registered voters. That a substantial majority of Colombians did not even participate in such a crucial election reveals the wide chasm between politics and public opinion in Colombia.

In the end, most Colombians did not accept the binary choice the Santos government posed between the peace agreement and a return of the war. After all, a ceasefire with the FARC has been in place since July 2015 and, even before the vote, the guerrilla group confirmed that the violent conflict was definitely over and their demobilization irreversible. If that is the case, Colombians understandably asked, why not wait for a better agreement? What are the costs of voting no?

Looking ahead, although the rejection of the peace agreement has increased uncertainty in Colombia about what happens next, early reactions from the key players have been largely conciliatory and heartening. In remarks Sunday night, both Santos and Uribe were constructive, agreeing that the best approach would be to continue the pursuit for peace while attempting to renegotiate the most contentious issues in the deal. The core issues will be on greater justice for the FARCs most heinous crimes, more restrictions on the groups participation in the political system, and increased assurance that its fighters would not be a position to continue criminal activity.

Of course, the major question is whether the FARC, having reached agreement with the government on these fundamental issues, will be amenable to surrendering some of the concessions they have already received. Their options are limited. It is difficult to imagine that, having arrived at this point  with the government and the guerrillas talking about the benefits of the post conflict space and after over four years of intensive negotiations in Havana  the FARC would resume the war against the government. This, of course, will depend on whether FARCs leaders are still capable of maintaining control over its fighters, which is by no means certain. Increased destabilization cannot be ruled out.

There is a risk that FARC members, sensing that an eventual renegotiated peace deal may be less beneficial for them, will opt to join other violent actors like the ELN and criminal groups, who will seek to take advantage of the uncertainty in the country. Encouragingly, after Sundays defeat Timochenko said that the FARC has changed weapons into words, and suggested he was open to continued dialogue. As always, however, the devil is in the details. The widely cited claim that the current deal was the only one that was politically possible will be put to a test.

Further, while political actors figure out how to proceed after the surprising result, the implementation of the agreement will be delayed, with two major negative implications. First, even though the guerrilla group will maintain its ceasefire, FARC members are not demobilizing anytime soon, which means that they will continue criminal activities, including drug-trafficking. Secondly, this uncertainty will likely worry foreign investors, delay plans for rural development, and prevent Colombia from enjoying any economic peace dividend that could come as a result of a definite deal.

Though the scenario of a return to war seems highly improbable, renegotiating some parts of the nearly 300-page agreement will be far from easy. Apart from the FARCs unpredictability, it will undoubtedly be difficult for Santos and Uribe to join forces. There is a lot of bad blood between these two men and passions are intense. Santos, who served as Uribes defense minister and presided over some of the most important victories against the FARC, believes the former president has undermined him at every turn and has put his political ambitions ahead of the countrys interests. Uribe, for his part, is convinced that Santos betrayed him  and the country  by undertaking a peace initiative that ended up giving far too much to the FARC.

The silver lining in Sundays vote is that it forces both sides of a nation that has become bitterly polarized over this peace process to come together and try and work out a solution. Indeed, the most promising note of all was that Colombians across the spectrum have reacted with admirable equanimity and without rancor to Sundays surprising vote.

The citizens of Colombia certainly dont want war and  based on their initial reaction to the results  neither does the FARC. But are they ready to give peace another chance?

Photo Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Havana (AFP) - Colombia's FARC rebels will continue to observe a ceasefire despite voters narrowly rejecting a peace deal between the guerrillas and the government, their leader said Monday.

"We restate for Colombia and the world that our guerrilla fronts nationwide will remain engaged in the definitive bilateral ceasefire," said FARC chief Rodrigo Londono, better known as Timoleon "Timochenko" Jimenez, in a video released from Havana, where the four-year peace talks were held.
A federal court blocked efforts by Indiana Governor Mike Pence to prevent Syrian refugees from resettling in the state Monday, calling his rationale nightmare speculation.

In Exodus Refugee International v. Pence a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction, dismissing the states argument that not allowing refugees into the state was in the best interest of residents, according to CNN.

The court is critical of the state in its opinion, written by Judge Richard Posner, saying that the state provides no evidence that Syrian terrorists are posing as refugees or that Syrian refugees have ever committed acts of terrorism in the United States.

Pence, now the Republican vice-presidential nominee, directed state agencies to deny federal grant money to organizations assisting Syrian refugees shortly after the Paris terrorist attacks.

Exodus, an Indiana nonprofit that helps resettle refugees in the state, sued Pence and won when a federal district court issued the injunction in February. Indiana is among several states involved in legal battles over Syrian refugee resettlement.

Pence spokeswoman Kara Brooks defended his actions in a statement to CNN.

The safety and security of the people of Indiana is Gov. Pences highest priority. The state of Indiana took decisive action last year to suspend resettlement of Syrian refugees after the terrorist attack in Paris and because the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged security gaps with regard to screening refugees from Syria, Brooks said.
Google is expected to launch two new phones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, in San Francisco later on Tuesday.

We already know pretty much everything about the Android devices, thanks to a vertitable avalanche of leaks popping up around the internet in the past few weeks.

Now a commercial for the first two "made by Google" phones has leaked, courtesy of Google+ user Rabid Rotty, who says the ad aired on TV in Edmonton, Canada.

The video starts with a child asking, "What is that?"

His friend replies, "I don't know. Ask Google." Then the Google search bar  and later, a white rectangle  appears superimposed on several different scenes, including on a poker table, in the wilderness, and in a city.

The end of the video encourages viewers to visit google.com/phone, which isn't live yet.

Here's the phone:

Phone by Google

Here's the video:

NOW WATCH: Samsung now says it's too dangerous to even turn on your Galaxy Note 7





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As 2016 vice-presidential candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence take to the debate stage on Tuesday night, their match-up will mark roughly 40 years since Oct. 15, 1976, when Republican Bob Dole and Democrat Walter Mondale met in what moderator James Hoge called as far as we can tell  the first formal debate ever held between vice-presidential candidates.

A couple of factors had combined in 1976 to make a VP debate seem like a natural next step for the election process.

For one thing, as Hoge pointed out to viewers at home, the preceding years had drawn attention to the importance of the vice presidents job, as Nixons resignation and Kennedys assassination had catapulted new leaders into office. For another, Republican incumbent Gerald Ford had made a particular point of emphasizing debates as part of the election process.

Though televised presidential debates had disappeared in the wake of the famous 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate, he decided to bring them back, issuing a public challenge to the Democratic nominee. This year the issues are on our side, and Im ready and eager to go before the American people and debate the issues face to face with Jimmy Carter, he said in the course of accepting the nomination. It was not particularly surprising that, with all the attention to the idea, the VP nominees decided to get in on the action.

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

And, as TIME reported following the debate, their decision to participate shed light on how a vice president could be a key part of a White House campaign, not just a back-up:

They started with smiles and Senator Robert Dole saying that he hoped it would be a fun evening. They ended with bitter exchanges and Senator Walter Mondale calling his opponent a hatchet man. The debate last week between the two vice-presidential candidatesthe first such session in the nations historyturned out to be a tart and often engrossing display of political theater, a duel between two evenly matched men whose debating skills had been sharply honed during the wars on Capitol Hill. Both Mondale and Dole sometimes articulated the views of their top bananas more concisely and with better effect than Jimmy Carter and Jerry Ford had been able to do during their debates. As the debate showed, Dole and Mondale are a bright pair of second bananashard-working, tough, loyal, reasonably reconciled to their status as glorified campaign gofers. They make an interesting contrastold colleagues and old opponents from the Senate, Dole to the right of Ford, Mondale to the left of Carter. Soldiering on, Dole has hit 36 states, Mondale 40. They bend the ear of everyone who will listen, undismayed by the fact that a Harris poll released earlier this month showed that many voters did not really know what they stood for45% in the case of Mondale, 50% in the case of Dole. Dole has managed to remain unruffled despite occasionally haphazard scheduling. Once he was stranded at a Kentucky horse farm for an hour, talking to a single manthe manager. The candidate tries to shrug it off. Asked if he had a campaign plan, Dole once said, No, I just have an airplane.

The 2016 VP debate will be held Tuesday evening in Farmville, Va.
By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 4 (PTI) The Kerala government today said any "hindrance" to free and fearless media activities will not be allowed, days after media personnel were prevented by a section of lawyers from covering the High Court proceedings.

Taking a tough stand on the continued action by a section of lawyers preventing legal reporters from covering courts, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Media personnel have the freedom to go to courts for covering legal proceedings and this cannot be obstructed. It will not be accepted."

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"Any action that creates obstruction for free and fearless media activities cannot be allowed," he said in a statement after a meeting with editors of various media organisations here.

The meeting was called against the background of a section of lawyers preventing media persons from covering the High Court in Kochi recently.

The lawyers should understand that their behaviour was "inappropriate" and they should stop indulging in such actions, Vijayan said. The continuing media-lawyers standoff was affecting the states reputation and will catch the attention of the national and international communities, he said. "It will not be good for the state to be known as a place where there is no freedom of expression," he said. Representatives of media organisations led by Mathrubhumi Managing Editor P V Chandran, Malayala Manorama Editorial Director Thomas Jacob and Asianet News channel chief editor M G Radhakrishnan were among those who met the Chief Minister. Since July, media personnel are not being allowed to cover courts in the state after they were attacked by advocates outside the High Court complex and threatened. Governor P Sathasivam, former Chief Justice of India, had also appealed to the two fraternities to settle their differences amicably through dialogue. PTI UD JRK BN SRY

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A new study of ancient DNA could upend our understanding of the seafaring people who travelled vast distances to make their home in the Pacific.

Vanuatu and Tonga's first inhabitants may have come from Asia and not from neighbouring Papuan populations in New Guinea, Australia and the Solomon Islands as previously imagined, according a report published in the journal Nature.

SEE ALSO: Australian leaders falsely blame wind turbines for statewide power outage

The team analysed DNA from three skeletons found in a cemetery in Vanuatu and one sample from a Tongan cemetery  all around 3,000 years old. The results indicate the first people of Vanuatu may have come from Taiwan and perhaps the northern Philippines, moving on, a short time later to Tonga.

An approximately 3,000-year-old burial site on Vanuatu that is source of one of the ancient DNA samples. It is a skull and its re-adjusted mandible placed in a Lapita vessel

Image: ANU

"These early populations were the first people to get to the region of what we call remote Oceania ... 3,000 years ago," said Stuart Bedford, professor at the College of Asia-Pacific at the Australian National University and report co-author. "It's not an exact match, but the closest match is to Indigenous populations in the northern Philippines and Taiwan."

The movement of people around the Pacific has long been a mystery, with small clues in the artefacts left behind.

"What happens about 3,000 years ago, is we get this sudden archeological signature in the islands of Papua New Guinea, right across to Tonga and Samoa  what we call the Lapita people," Bedford explained. "It's identified primarily through very distinctive pottery, but also introduced domestic animals like chickens."

Formerly, the theory was that these people mixed with Papuan populations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, who arrived around 40,000 years ago, before moving on to colonise the empty regions of Tonga and Vanuatu. With this report, that narrative is being reimagined.

An approximately 3,000-year-old burial site in Vanuatu that provided the DNA.

Image: anu

Michael Westaway, a senior research fellow at Griffith University, told Mashable the results were unexpected.

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"How do you explain this population coming from somewhere like Taiwan and crossing through these areas, and there's no evidence of mixing [with the Papuans]?" he asked. "They remain an Asian population, and it's not until later on that you get the genetic crossover."

It's still a mystery as to what kept the populations apart, at least at first. "It might be some kind of cultural mechanism, or religious taboo," Westaway suggested. "There's something that suggests they didn't want to intermarry with the Papuan population."

These days, most Pacific Islanders have varying mixes of Papuan and east Asian DNA. "The very first population appears to have been east Asian with minimal mixing," Bedford added, "so mixing comes after that initial colonisation."

Ancient DNA in the tropics

Sourcing ancient DNA in tropical areas where remains quickly deteriorate is one challenge that has held back study in this area.

"This is the first time we've been able to extract such early DNA in the Pacific," Bedford said.

To make the analysis, the researchers used a sample from the petrous bone  a bone in the skull near the ear  that they've found to be best at preserving DNA that's many thousands of years old. "If you're going to get DNA from an ancient population, you've got to go for this bone," Bedford said.

An approximately 3,000-year-old burial site in Vanuatu that provided the DNA.

Image: anu

Ultimately, the DNA tells a more detailed story than the cultural traces the Lapita people left behind.

"It's very unexpected that these populations would be Asian  these ancient DNA signatures are revealing a story we can't just obtain from the archeological record alone," Westaway commented.

In Bedford's view, the report reinforces the cultural mix that's already known and celebrated in the Pacific. "In many ways, it's the European divisions of the Pacific  Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia  [it's] those old colonial style boundaries that are being challenged," he said.
(Adds detail throughout)

By Dan Freed

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings cut the outlook to "negative" for Wells Fargo & Co's credit ratings on Tuesday, citing troubles the bank is facing from opening unauthorized customer accounts.

Although the credit-rating firm cut Wells' outlook from "stable," it affirmed the bank's existing rating of AA-, which is investment-grade.

In an announcement, Fitch cited "potential reputational damage from the recent regulatory actions and fines," as well as a belief that Wells could face "earnings pressure."

A Wells Fargo spokesman declined to comment on the Fitch announcement.

Wells Fargo last month reached a $185 million settlement with a federal consumer regulator and Los Angeles prosecutor over opening as many as 2 million accounts for retail customers without their permission. Two congressional hearings and several other investigations have followed, and Wells shares have lost more than 12 percent of their value.

Though Wells Fargo has been downgraded by at least one stock analyst, Fitch's outlook change is the most significant credit ratings impact since the scandal erupted.

Both Fitch and Moody's Investors Service had earlier said the sham accounts were "credit negative" for Wells Fargo, but had not changed their ratings or outlook.

Investors have not shown much worry about the impact on Wells Fargo's ability to meet its debt obligations.

The price of insuring $10 million worth of Wells Fargo debt maturing in five years was unchanged on Tuesday at $64,000 per year following the Fitch announcement, according to credit default swaps (CDS) prices from Markit, the financial information services company. That compares to $67,000 for JPMorgan Chase & Co and $85,000 for Bank of America Corp .

On Sept. 7, that same insurance cost $48,000 for Wells Fargo, $58,000 for JPMorgan and $75,000 for Bank of America.

Wells Fargo shares fell 0.2 percent on Tuesday to close at $43.75.

(Reporting by Dan Freed in New York; Additional reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Sandra Maler)
The strongest hurricane to hit Haiti since 1964 is making its way north toward Florida.

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti at around 7 a.m. ET Tuesday. Hurricane warnings are still in effect for Haiti, several Cuban provinces, and the Bahamas. With winds measured at 145 miles per hour, it is the first Category 4 hurricane to hit Haiti since Hurricane Cleo in 1964.

Most global forecast models suggest Matthew will be churning off the east coast of Florida and the southeast United States by Friday morning, according to a National Hurricane Center update Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott tweeted that evacuation orders may begin soon, telling Floridians to keep eyes on local news.

The governor has already issued a state of emergency, and hurricane watches have been issued in south and central Florida, including the Keys. "If Hurricane Matthew directly impacts Florida," said Governor Scott in a statement, "there could be massive destruction, which we haven't seen since Hurricane Andrew devastated Miami-Dade County in 1992."

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley also plans to evacuate 1 million people from the coast on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Associated Press.

Winds along the western edge of a subtropical ridge of high pressure are pushing the storm north, and it is expected to run parallel to Florida's coast, the NHC noted.

Though the center of the hurricane is still forecast to sit out in the ocean, National Weather Service offices are warning that effects could spread to the shore.

People reading the forecast "are reminded not to focus on the exact forecast track since strong winds, heavy rainfall, and a dangerous storm surge will extend far from the center of Matthew," said the National Hurricane Center update.

The local NWS office in Melbourne, Florida, issued a notice saying that the threat from Matthew to east central Florida "is serious and had increased," with forecasts of "large breaking waves" over 12 feet tall, and the potential for 3 to 6 inches of rain from Thursday to Friday. That could lead to flooding or "ponding," since the area is already saturated from recent rains.

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The NWS Miami office also warned in a notice of winds possibly strong enough to damage buildings and snap or uproot trees, along with the potential for power outages.

Florida had been all but free of hurricanes for more than a decade, until the category 1 Hurricane Hermine made landfall in early September.

Hurricane Matthew will be the strongest hurricane, and the only category 4, to hit Florida since Hurricane Charley in 2004.





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An opioid crisis is sweeping America. Some of the opioid drugs - heroin, crystal meth - have been around long enough to be household names. Others, like fentanyl - which led to music legend Prince's death by overdose earlier this year - are new.

The scope of the crisis is frightening. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, 350 people become addicted to heroin every day, quadruple the number ten years ago. And drug overdoses are leading cause of injury related death in the United States.

For Ricky Ross, this present-tense crisis is eerily familiar. At the height of the crack epidemic in the 1980s, Ross maintained a drug empire worth hundreds of millions on the streets of south Los Angeles, where he was raised. On busy days, Ross might bring in more than $1 million in a single 24-hour stretch. The crack epidemic swept through large swaths of Black America, upending millions of lives and sending tens of thousands of people to jail for decades on relatively minor drug offenses. It also made Ross a fantastically wealthy man -- with earnings in excess of $2.5 billion in today's dollars - before he was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to federal prison for 27 years. He was released in 2009.

Ross came back into the public eye last as a key character in - and behind-the-scenes player with - Freeway: Crack in the System, a 2016 Emmy-nominated piece of investigative longform TV journalism that explores the crack epidemic through the lens of mass incarceration. And now Ross is working on another documentary, about price-gouging in U.S. prisons, as well as other film and TV projects.

Outside of L.A., Ross was well-known as the street-level connection for a drug ring whose members were alleged to have ties to CIA-backed rebels fighting in Nicaragua in the 19980s. San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb broke that story in a series titled Dark Alliance, which explored the ties between Ross and Danilo Blandon, a Nicaraguan drug trafficker who later became a DEA informant and eventually fled the country. The Dark Alliance series was one of the first pieces of journalism to penetrate the African American community via the Internet, which in the late 1990s was still in its relative infancy. The series earned Webb a Pulitzer Prize, which was later revoked when several large American newspapers, including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times poked holes in the reporting. Webb left the paper in disgrace and later committed suicide. (His story is told in part in the 2014 film, Killing the Messenger.)

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"People often forget this scandal was among the first online stories to erupt within the black community," says Antonio Moore, a producer on Freeway: Crack in the System. "In a time before computers were accessible for most of America, blacks found their way to an access point for the Internet to read about the Iran Contra Scandal. As journalist Gary Webb and the San Jose Mercury published the Dark Alliance series 20 years ago, in August 1996, they also released it online. It was effectively hashtag activism, before Twitter was even an idea."

THR??reached out to Ross to get his thoughts on the opioid crisis, the legacy of the crack epidemic, Black Lives Matter and the ongoing problem of police shootings of unarmed black men. The interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

You've been watching the opioid epidemic spread?

With the crack epidemic, it was young black males. Here, it's young white guys selling opiates. Poor whites. I was at a clinic in Cleveland, it's one of the worst hit places in America.??

Do you see people reacting to the two crises differently?

Yes, but I hope the reason they're treating it differently now than with crack is not because there's white kids being addicted, but more so because they've gotten wiser and understand that drugs is more of a sickness. The people getting high are sick, they need help. The people selling it are doing it out of economic needs.

You said you hope??it's different.

I really don't think America has wised up. We're still putting too many people in prison, the walls are going to burst. From what I see now, they are giving more treatment than incarceration.??

So...progress?

It's slow progress. Obama did give a few pardons out to people I was in prison with. There were 260 guys who had life sentences, he gave them pardons. One guy had been in prison since he was 19, like 2 ounces of crack when he was 19.

What was your average transaction like when you were dealing?

It varied. I'd sell a kilo for $15,000 at the height of my career. Some transactions would be $150,000, or $300,000. But I had houses that would do 100 bucks. I never did $5 transactions. It was just selling drugs all day long.

You had some big days, didn't you?

A million a day and sometimes three. I had three million dollar days. But it was very stressful. To live with the fact that this could be the day that you kill somebody, go to prison or get killed. You have to live under those circumstances when you're in that business.

You were in prison for 20 years. And recently you completed a documentary that was up for an Emmy award.

I had no high school, no GED. I was on the front line of putting that documentary together. I dreamed about putting it together in prison. I'm in Ohio now working on a documentary about the prison industry, we're going to focus on why the prison industry has been gouging inmates for phone calls, emails, at the commissary.

You've also been following these police shootings?

I think it's disgusting. There was one day where like 7 guys got shot in a row, where the police have shot black men that were innocent. That's just another fallout from the crack era, when they started to feel that we were all criminals, they treat us different than anyone else.

How so?

The cops just look at us different. We've been made to be the criminals of America. People are intimidated by us, and believe that we are the criminals of this country. It's really bad for a lot of other black men. I don't have a formal education. But I educated myself in prison. I know my skills are high.

What was the police response like during the crack epidemic?

When they came in, they came in as soldiers, with fully automatic weapons, they put the community under siege. They didn't do anything like bringing in doctors, who are now being put in the community strictly to assist people hooked on opioids. I have a friend that has three offices that does that. And he gets paid from the government. It's government funded. That's a big difference.

Does that make you feel bitter?

No. Life is the way it is until you make it the way you want it to be. It's up to us to make life the way we want it to be.

Is the police response different today?

I have run from the police numerous times, and they shot at me twice, and both times I was unarmed. I hope they weren't shooting to kill. Today, the police are more prone to shoot to kill than back in the day. Back then, they'd pull their gun out, but weren't trying to kill us. Now it's shoot first and ask questions later. I was always able to run and get away, I always ran, but never had a weapon.

You never carried?

I sometimes did, but mostly not. When I had a weapon I had a purpose for it.

Did you use it?

I used it to protect myself and my friends. I never shot anybody.

Why are the police more prone to shoot to kill now?

They believe black men are more vicious and violent. If you watch the news, that's how they portray us. And I believe rap music has played a big part of that as well. The Bureau of Prison records will tell you that drug dealers are generally not violent. But when we first went to prison they had us all listed as violent and dangerous.

You believe hip hop music is also responsible?

Absolutely. Most white people don't have a relationship with black people. As communities, we don't interact really. You don't see whites in South Central L.A. too often. So the only information that most white people get from blacks is on TV and radio, and that's not a true representation of the black community. Most of the black community is hard-working people who just need opportunity. If you turn on the radio and listen to rap, they're talking about killing, shooting, all kinds of terrible stuff. Those things do happen in our community, but that's just a small percentage of what goes on. If you're watching the TV, then you start to believe that's who those people are.

So you don't like rap music?

I do like it, and the guys who make it are brilliant. Do I like the message? Absolutely not. They're putting us in a position that's putting us back in time, just like I did when I was selling crack. I used to walk through South Central and blacks used to own it. Now you walk through and they're sleeping in cardboard houses, and under bridges.

Some people would criticize you for expressing these views on hip hop.

I don't think most logical people would. I would be the first to criticize myself for selling crack. Then add on top of that, most rappers never sold drugs or gang-banged or went to prison. It's just a show. Also, they're not the only ones responsible. Their record labels, the ones making all the money, are the guys behind it. They paid big bucks for what we're gonna be programmed to listen to - and music is definitely programming.

Are you involved with Black Lives Matter?

Not the movement, but I do believe that black lives matter, and I went to the rally with Snoop recently here in L.A. I back that. But I don't just do it once in a while, I do it every day. Whenever I get a chance to speak to young kids, I tell them that they do matter, whatever their circumstance is right now.??

What would you say to people who argue the problem is that too many young black men are killing each other?

We are constantly preaching the fact that we shouldn't be killing each other and making life difficult for ourselves. Every time you shoot another black man, it gives police and politicians ammunition to say that we are dangerous. But just because a few people decide to be renegades and thugs, it doesn't mean that you should treat everybody with black skin the same way.

Do you run into those questions?

It's like the crab in the bucket. When people are frustrated, the people they lash out to are those closest to them. I don't think we should be lashing out at anybody. We should be pulling ourselves up and making our situation better. But a lot of this happens out of frustration, and our inability to see ourselves in a better place. Have you taken a trip through south central Los Angeles? It's terrible.

Should marijuana be legalized in California?

This will be my first time voting. I'm voting for Hillary Clinton, and I'm also voting for marijuana to be legal, recreationally. I hear that marijuana could be a huge industry and black people could definitely use those jobs. I've been studying the business. Some aspects they say i can't participate in, but some i can. I can grow it. I spoke to the LA City Council about the issue of not allowing ex-cons to get into business. I think that's crazy. I think my past skills are perfectly suited to industry. Distribution skills, motivating people to do their best.

What do you make of Trump?

I think he's too out of touch with what's going on in the world. A really good president has to experience life, and I don't think he's experienced enough to represent the country. HRC has her issues too. When [Bill] Clinton was president they locked up more black men than before, but i'm hoping Hillary learned her lesson from there and is willing to correct some of the wrongs.

You've dabbled in Hollywood. What else are you working on now?

I'm working on a mini-series, and I've got a motion picture with Reginald Hudlin and Geno Taylor. I've got another movie idea I'm pitching to Lions Gate. I've got a lot of Hollywood connections. I met with Ari Emmanuel. One of the Weinsteins. Mark Wahlberg. ??All those years working Hollywood have put me in a really unique position.
(Updates throughout)

By Gilbert Reilhac and Emmanuel Jarry

BELFORT, France/PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The French government on Tuesday ordered 21 high speed TGV trains, most of which may never run on a suitable fast track, in a pre-election bid to preserve jobs at an historic locomotive plant.

Six months ahead of an election in which unemployment and a sagging economy are key issues, President Francois Hollande is fighting a rearguard action to win a second term, promising he can bring down a rising jobless rate that is above 10 percent.

The orders for trainmaker group Alstom, which is 20 percent government owned, are worth as much as 630 million euros ($704 million), a source told Reuters.

Alstom - whose chequered history has symbolised French industrial decline for years - put Hollande's pledge to the test last month, saying it would transfer 400 of the 480 jobs at its Belfort site in eastern France to another plant, ending over a century of manufacturing there due to a lack of orders.

Despite the relatively small number of jobs involved --joblessness in France rose by 50,000 in August -- opposition politicians seized on Belfort's symbolic significance and ministers quickly promised action.

Industry Minister Christophe Sirugue outlined the response in Belfort, a city of 50,000 people where Alstom started building steam engines in the late 19th century, saying the government would place a direct order for 15 high-speed TGV trains to run on lines in the south of the country.

There are plans to upgrade southern routes to accommodate TGV speeds, but there are also doubts about when, and even whether, this will happen. French senators last month called for a 15 year freeze on financing for new TGV lines.

On top of the 15, state rail operator SNCF is confirming a long-awaited order for six more TGVs for a future high-speed link between Paris and the Italian cities of Milan and Turin. Approval for that upgrade came in 2015 but work on it has yet to start in earnest.

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Sirugue also promised a 70 million euro investment by Alstom to help transform the factory into a European train maintenance hub and plans for a research centre on electrification, as well as confirmation of twenty orders for locomotives designed for recovering broken down trains and another 30 intercity trains.

Finance Minister Michel Sapin told Reuters he did not expect any state aid problems with European competition authorities, while Laurent Berger, leader of the CFDT labour union said the move was vital to protect jobs and would see Belfort through a rough patch.

But others accuse the government of waking up late to the issue for largely electoral reasons, and say putting expensive high-speed rolling stock onto a traditional rail system will also increase SNCF's operating costs.

"You're buying a Ferrari to drive up and down a country lane for 10 years," economist Nicolas Bouzou said on BFM TV.

ALSTOM'S PRESIDENTIAL PAST

Governments of both right and left in France have intervened to protect industrial champions from globalisation and Alstom has already touched the careers of a number of next year's potential presidential candidates.

When more than 12 years ago Alstom was struggling, Germany's Siemens wanted to buy its power turbines division, but Nicolas Sarkozy, then the finance and economy minister and later French president, organised a 2004 state bailout.

Sarkozy hopes to represent the centre-right Les Republicains and its allies again in 2017's presidential poll.

Then, in 2014, Alstom was back in trouble as orders dropped.

This time the successful buyer of the power business was U.S.-based General Electric, putting Hollande and his then economy minister Arnaud Montebourg - also a candidate for next year's presidential elections - in the firing line.

Alstom's latest bombshell, on Sept. 7, came just months after Montebourg's replacement, Emmanuel Macron, promised to protect the Belfort workforce.

Macron resigned from his post this summer to prepare for his own potential presidential campaign. ($1 = 0.8953 euros) (Additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Leigh Thomas and Gilles Guillaume; Writing by Brian Love; Editing by Andrew Callus and Alexander Smith)
By Astrid Wendlandt

PARIS (Reuters) - France's fashion and fashion-related businesses such as jewels, eyewear, watches and high-end cosmetics generate more sales than its aerospace and automobile industries, according to a study commissioned by the French Fashion Institute, IFM.

It said annual sales generated by fashion-related businesses based in France totalled 150 billion euros ($170 billion), compared with 102 billion for aerospace and 39 billion euros for cars.

The study, by independent economists and statisticians from France's national statistics institute Insee, also used official customs data.

"This industry is very much under-estimated by public authorities," said Ralph Toledano, head of fashion brands Nina Ricci and Jean-Paul Gaultier and chairman of the French Federation of couture, ready-to-wear and fashion designers.

"The French are not very conscious of the weight the country's lifestyle industries represents... Abroad, I can assure you that people do not talk about Airbus but rather about Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent."

The French Federation of couture, ready-to-wear and fashion designers presented the study together with France's ready-to-wear federation.

The study said fashion-related businesses employed directly at least 580,000 people in France and more than 1 million people when taking into account ancilliary jobs such as communications, modelling and marketing.

It also highlighted the economic importance of Paris' six fashion weeks a year -- two for ready-to-wear, two for menswear and two for couture -- saying they generated altogether 10.3 billion euros in annual sales.

Paris fashion weeks also bring in 1.2 billion euros in revenues from visitors staying at its hotels, eating at its restaurants, spending money on cabs and other services, as well as spending on fashion shows themselves.

The study finally established that French fashion brands and foreign brands with French controlling shareholders generated together 70 billion euros in annual sales which included revenues from overseas.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
By India Today Web Desk: Aam Aadmi Party's MLA Kapil Mishra today targeted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti at a seminar on tourism in Delhi. Mishra asked her if she considered the slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani a terrorist.

"You cannot promote tourism in India when you do not acknowledge people like Wani as terrorist. How can you talk about promoting tourism when you say Afzal Guru is not a terrorist and that he should not be hanged?" Mishra asked Mufti amid uproar from the audience.

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Watch video here:



When the organisers objected to Mishra's demands, he said that Mufti will have to clarify her stand before leaving the venue. Upon being asked to maintain decorum at the event, Mishra said that he was not there to ask for votes or for political gains, but was asking the questions for the country.

MUFTI MAINTAINED CALM

Despite the chaos that ensued after Mishra's series of questions, Mufti maintained her calm. The chief minister in fact ducked the questions and chose to talk about women's security.

"Women are safer in Kashmir than compared to in Delhi. Girls get raped in moving cars in Delhi. Such incidents never happen in Jammu, Srinagar, Leh or Ladakh. I take pride in the fact that women are safer in Kashmir. I want girls to visit Kashmir," said Mufti.

While talking about tourism she said that her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed never thought tourism as a trade."My father had a lot of faith in Kashmiris. We as a people are loving and tolerant," said Mufti.

A video clip on Kashmir tourism featuring Mehbooba's father's voice too was played at the event. The chief minister got emotional and broke down.



Watch video here:



Also read:



In times of nuclear threats, war no option, says Mehbooba Mufti

Mehbooba says India-Pak confrontation can lead to 'disaster of epic proportions'

Uri attack aimed at triggering fresh violence in Jammu and Kashmir, says CM Mehbooba Mufti

Kashmir unrest: PDP whispers turn into clamours for CM Mehbooba Mufti to resign



--- ENDS ---
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2016 / Gainey Capital Corp. (GNC.V) (GNYPF) ("Gainey" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from the second and third holes of the Company's Phase 1 drill program at the near surface, La Nueva Victoria Mineralized Zone ("La Nueva Victoria") of the El Colomo property in Sierra Madre Golden Belt, Mexico.

The mineralization encountered in hole DHEC160002 ("Hole 2") commenced at 19.40 meters from surface for 72.20 meters of 0.41 g/t Au and 20.21 g/t Ag (0.69 g/t Au Eq) and for hole DHEC160003 ("Hole 3") commenced at 10.50 meters from surface for 34.20 meters of 1.19 g/t Au and 86.57 g/t Ag (2.39 g/t Au Eq).

Table 1 - Holes DHEC160002/3 from the La Nueva Victoria Zone at El Colomo:

HOLE ID FROM(m) TO(m) Width(m) Au_g/t Ag_g/t Au_Equivalent* DHEC160002 19.40 91.60 72.20 0.41 20.21 0.69 Including 57.00 73.20 16.20 0.74 28.88 1.14 DHEC160003 10.50 44.70 34.20 1.19 86.57 2.39 Including 10.50 14.00 3.50 4.32 438 10.39 And 27.10 44.70 17.60 1.29 37.06 2.29

*Au Equivalent calculated using a price of $1,300 US/oz for gold and $18 US/oz for silver.

Holes 2 and 3 targeted the center of the silicified vein breccia zone, consisting of gray quartz veining and permeable lithic tuff. Hole 2 was targeted at -80 below, the previously released, hole DHEC160001 and Hole 3 was targeted to intersect this zone to the northwest, by approximately 28 meters. Hole 1 intercepted over 70 meters of 1.14 g/t Au Eq (please see the Company's news release dated September 28th, 2016).

Rafael Gallardo, Senior Geologist of Minera Cascabel S.A. de C.V., who is leading the drill program, commented, "the results encountered from drill holes 2 and 3 show that Au-Ag mineralization is being encountered near surface and the mineralized structure is open at depth and along strike at La Nueva Victoria."

David Coburn, CEO of Gainey, commented, "we are encouraged by the further success of the drill program at the La Nueva Victoria zone. This is one of 21 surface mineralized zones that we have identified in the 3 km by 1 km area of the El Colomo Project referred to as the "Golden Corridor" and we are looking forward to progressing through our drill testing of these zones to evaluate their mineralization potential."

Story continues

El Colomo Property

El Colomo is a highly prospective, 187 km2 property with district-scale gold-silver potential located within the 'Golden Corridor' in Sierra Madre, Mexico. High-grade and bulk tonnage targets have already been identified through prior exploration and there are strong indications of continuity between La Higuerita, La Nueva Victoria and El Arrayan (at least 2 km in strike length).

97% of this 18,766-hectare project has not been explored using modern concepts & technology. All 21 mineralized zones identified to date are located in the central portion of the property and within a 1.5 km radius of each other.

Qualified Person

David Hladky, P. Geo. is the Qualified Person with respect to NI 43-101 at El Colomo.

La Nueva Victoria Drilling and Assay QA/QC

All drill core from this release is drilled at HQ diameter and is split into equal halves near site. All samples are assayed using standard 33 element ICP and 50 gram fire assay with atomic absorption finish by ALS in Vancouver, Canada.

QA/QC programs using internal standard samples, field and lab duplicates and blanks, indicate good accuracy and precision in a large majority of standards assayed. As the mapped mineralized corridors strike N-S, the drill holes were designed to have azimuths perpendicular or as close to perpendicular to the strike as the permitted pad would allow. As this is the first drill program by Gainey at El Colomo, the dip of the main structure is not entirely known but is believed to dip steeply to the west based on mapping and historical work, and thus the intercept is estimated to represent 50-60% of the true width. No intercept was reported that averaged less than 0.4 g/t Au and/or 10.0 g/t Ag and no intercept had more than five consecutive meters of less than 0.2 g/t Au and/or 10 g/t Ag, or began or ended with values less than 0.2 g/t Au and/or 10 g/t Ag.

About Gainey Capital Corp.

Gainey Capital is a gold and silver exploration, development and mineral processing company exploring an aggregate of 187-km2 strategically located in the gold/silver-rich Sierra Madre Occidental Trend in western Mexico. The company's processing center, located outside of Huajicori, in Nayarit, Mexico, is capable of processing up to 300 tons of mineralized material per day and the company has the capability to upgrade to 600 tons per day with a low capital expenditure. Additional information on Gainey Capital, its current operations and its vision is available on the Company's website at www.gaineycapital.com or from info@gaineycapital.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"David Coburn"

David Coburn, Chief Executive Officer

For information, please contact the Company:

Phone: 480-347-8904

E-mail: info@gaineycapital.com

Website: www.gaineycapital.com

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date such statements were made. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

SOURCE: Gainey Capital Corp.
For Gary Johnson, ignorance is not only bliss  it might also be a strength of his as commander in chief, the Libertarian presidential nominee said Tuesday.

The fact that somebody can dot the is and cross the ts on a foreign leader or a geographic location then allows them to put our military in harms way, Johnson said in an interview with MSNBCs Andrea Mitchell.

The former New Mexico governors comments were in response to a question about his inability to name a single foreign leader he admires during a recent MSNBC town hall  a gaffe Johnson himself described as another Aleppo moment. That was a reference to yet another MSNBC gaffe: his unfamiliarity with the war-torn Syrian city in a Morning Joe interview in early September.

You got to do this, Chris Matthews said to Johnson at the town hall. Anywhere. Any continent. Canada, Mexico, Europe, over there, Asia, South America, Africa. Name a foreign leader that you respect.

I guess Im having an Aleppo moment, Johnson said.

But Im giving you the whole world, Matthews replied. Anybody in the world you like. Anybody. Pick any leader.

The former president of Mexico, Johnson said

Which one? Matthews asked.

Im having a brain freeze, Johnson said before his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, saved him by suggesting he was thinking of former Mexican President Vicente Fox.

On Tuesday, Johnson defended his struggle to name a foreign leader he admired.

Talking about a foreign leader that you respect, that you admire  I have a hard time with that one, he told Mitchell. Thats politics. Thats just who I am. So now Im going to have to pick out a world leader  and theres going to be something thats wrong with them, and Im going to have to defend them? Well, maybe I think too much.

When Mitchell pointed out that foreign policy and unexpected events are part of the portfolio when running for president, Johnson tried to pivot.

We put our military in this horrible situation where we go in and support regime change and get involved in civil wars where hundreds of thousands of innocent people are in a crossfire, he said. Were literally shooting at both sides.

Story continues

Recent polls show Johnson receiving anywhere from 5 percent to 9 percent support nationally, stoking fears within Hillary Clintons campaign that some backers of her former Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, may swing toward the third-party candidate.

The Vermont senator, though, said those who are considering voting for Johnson should look long and hard at the Libertarian nominees policies.

Look at his point of view on issues like the environment, on climate change, on the economy, Sanders said on CNNs State of the Union Sunday. If any of the people who voted for me take a hard look at what he stands for, I think  and understand where hes coming from  they will not be supporting him.
Gasoline futures and a related exchange traded fund continued to rally as Hurricane Matthew threatens the East Coast.

The United States Gasoline Fund (UGA) gained 2.0% as RBOB gasoline futures rose 2.1% to $1.5017 per gallon. UGA has increased 20.5% over the past month, but it is still down 4.7% year-to-date.

SEE MORE: Surprise Decline in Crude Stocks Fuel Oil ETF Rally

Gasoline prices have been gaining momentum as the strengthening storm system is projected to head northward along the East Coast, potentially hitting New York Harbor, a delivery point for Nymex contracts, Bloomberg reports.

Trending on ETF Trends

Gold ETFs Drop to 4-Month Low, Test Long-Term Support

Supply Still a Problem for Oil ETFs

Gold ETFs Could See Some More Downside

GCC: Be Careful With This Commodity ETF

How Seasonality Could Affect Oil ETFs

The hurricane would disrupt shipments over the short-term as tankers change course to avoid the storm.

Hurricane Matthew is flying through the Caribbean with winds of 250 miles per hour, and computer models project it will hit the eastern seaboard by the weekend, writes George Orwel for DTN Progressive Farmer.

Along with the potential disruptions to oil pipelines, the storm may also divert normal energy imports.

I think the hurricane will impact oil imports, Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group, told DTN.

Furthermore, the gasoline market is finding support from renewed optimism over an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries production deal. Speculators expect OPEC to limit output at its policy meeting in Vienna on November 30, Reuters reports.

SEE MORE: Oil, Energy ETFs Surge as OPEC Cuts Output

While many still express skepticism that this agreement will reduce supply, they are missing the point, Flynn told the Wall Street Journal. For the first time in almost 8 years the cartel has agreed to limit production.  we will see the cartel once again have the ability to manipulate prices by withholding supply.

Story continues

For more information on the energy market, visit our energy category.

United States Gasoline Fund
By Gernot Heller TEHRAN (Reuters) - The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, cancelled talks with German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Tehran on Tuesday after the high-profile visitor had urged Iran to pursue reforms at home and act responsibly in Syria. Larijani, seen as a moderate conservative in Iran, was the highest-ranking figure Gabriel was due to meet on his two-day trip, aimed at boosting trade ties after Tehran's landmark deal with world powers to scale back its nuclear programme. No reason was given for the cancellation, a spokeswoman for Gabriel said. Gabriel had on Monday backed reforms pursued by President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who faces resistance from influential conservatives, saying: "The alternative to the current government is a return to the times of great confrontation." He also said Iran, which provides economic and military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, should help push for a ceasefire in Syria's civil war, adding: "I think Iran knows its responsibility there." Sadeq Larijani, brother of the parliament speaker and head of Iran's judiciary, criticised Gabriel on Monday for his comments. "If I were in the government's position or in the foreign minister's shoes I would never let such a person come to Iran," he said. The apparent snub to Gabriel highlighted the challenge facing Western governments as they try to cultivate ties with Iran's political leadership, divided between moderates and hardliners, and seek to position their companies for lucrative new business deals. 'NO PRECONDITIONS' Touching another sensitive nerve, Gabriel was quoted as telling German news magazine Der Spiegel last week that Iran could have normal, friendly relations with Germany only when it accepted Israel's right to exist. Irans government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said on Tuesday: "No country can set preconditions for Iran. We live with our beliefs. Tehran will never recognise Israel." Gabriel told reporters on the plane back to Germany that the cancellation of the meeting with Larijani was prompted by Iran's domestic politics. "It is part of the internal Iranian election campaign," he said, referring to next year's presidential contest. "I felt appropriately received, particularly during the talks with the vice president (Eshaq Jahangiri)." Gabriel said Germany wanted to help improve the economic lot of people in Iran so that the government did not lose support. The minister was accompanied by a delegation of business executives seeking deals after last year's historic nuclear accord, which paved the way for ending sanctions that had been in place for years. On Monday, Siemens signed a contract to upgrade Iran's rail network. The president of Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce said the trip had marked an important step forward. "Now confidence must be built up," Eric Schweitzer, part of the delegation, told Reuters, adding the trip had undoubtedly helped with that. (Additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Madeline Chambers in Berlin; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Paris (AFP) - Germany and France announced plans Tuesday to share an air base and transport planes as part of a military shake-up in the wake of Britain's vote to quit the European Union.

The two countries signed an agreement with a view to sharing C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in Paris.

His German counterpart Ursula von der Leyen, in Paris to sign the deal, told reporters both countries wanted to have the new arrangement in place by 2021.

France ordered four C-130Js from US company Lockheed in January.

Germany was looking to acquire between four and six of the same aircraft and to base them in France, said Von der Leyen. The two countries were looking at using an air base in Orleans, central France, she added.

A member of Le Drian's team said the idea was to make the planes operational for both French and German crew in a first for the two air forces.

In July, just weeks after Britain's referendum vote to quit the European Union, Von der Leyen said London had "paralysed" European efforts for a more closely integrated policy.

The EU should seize the opportunity to change that, she argued.

French officials told AFP last month that Paris and Berlin were drawing up plans for a more "active and useful" defence policy.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI)Union and state ministers will meet on October 7-8 in Vadodara to review the ongoing schemes and deliberate on issues pertaining to power, coal, renewable energy and mines sectors.

The two-day conference will be inaugurated by Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Minister Piyush Goyal.

The aim of the conference is to review the implementation of various ongoing schemes/programmes and deliberate on a host of issues pertaining to power, coal, renewable energy and mines sectors, a Power Ministry statement said.

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The conference will be organised on the sidelines of the International Energy Conference-SWITCH Global Expo organized by Gujarat government from October 6-10, at Vadodara.

Ministers and Secretaries of states and Union Territories and senior officials of the four sectors and PSUs under them will meet to discuss issues like implementation of UDAY, 24x7 Power for All, Feeder monitoring, Rural Electrification Programme, among others.

In the area of Renewable Energy, state wise review will be taken on issues regarding solar power, wind power as well as the compliance of Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

In coal sector, deliberations will focus on issues like Import Substitution of coal, Third Party Sampling and flexibility in utilisation of the dry fuel among other outstanding issues of coal companies.

For the mining sector, deliberations will concentrate on issues such as preparedness for e-auctions of major mineral blocks, setting up of District Mineral Funds (DMF) in states, exploration policy & minor mineral rules, among others. PTI KKS ANU

--- ENDS ---
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to make future aid to Afghanistan conditional on Kabul's agreement to implement reforms and repatriate migrants, ministry officials said on Tuesday. Steinmeier is due to announce the decision at an international aid conference for Afghanistan that begins in Brussels on Tuesday. Germany had planned to provide 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in help for Afghanistan over the next four years, but wants Kabul to do more to combat corruption, protect human rights and work for democratic and economic progress. Ministry officials said Steinmeier would also insist that Kabul accept its citizens who had been denied asylum in Germany and continue to cooperate with German officials on broader migration issues. Germany is one of the main donors to Afghanistan, where the Islamist Taliban group has made significant territorial gains against government forces. Afghan security forces are due to start a major push into the northern city of Kunduz on Tuesday with the support of U.S. forces. U.S. officials last week said they expected donors to pledge over $3 billion a year in development support for Afghanistan, but funds would be dependent on reforms and countering corruption. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
From Esquire

To my knowledge, only one of the two major-party candidates in this year's presidential election has addressed at length the fact that the United States became one of too many nations around the world who torture people. That would be Donald Trump, who said he was going to bring back waterboarding and much, much more. (For her part, Hillary Rodham Clinton has evolved. In 2007, when she last ran, she jumped through the "ticking bomb" loophole. Now, though, she seems categorically opposed to any torture at all.)

The Guardian, on the other hand, has been working the story of the horrors done in our name as hard as anyone, and it now brings us news of a new report from Human Rights Watch that gives us another look at the policies in which we were all made complicit.

The men, who were released to Tunisian custody in 2015, described being threatened with placement in an electric chair at a black site prison in Afghanistan in 2002; being beaten with metal batons while their arms were suspended by a bar above their heads; and having their heads pushed into barrels of water. One of the men, Ridha al-Najjar, was a pivotal detainee for the CIA, which believed him to be a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Najjar was the first man taken by the CIA to the black site, which was code-named Cobalt and was where at least one detainee is known to have died. His interrogation became a template for others at the site, according to the CIA inspector general. Najjar said the interrogators forcibly inserted something into his anus. According to a footnote in the 2014 Senate intelligence committee's investigation into torture, John Brennan, now CIA director, was among the senior CIA officials briefed in the summer of 2002 on the interrogation plan for Najjar. According to the Senate report, the plan included isolation, "'sound disorientation techniques', 'sense of time deprivation', limited light, cold temperatures, and sleep deprivation".

Story continues

Suggested question for the upcoming town hall debate: John Brennan clearly knew that this country was torturing people in contravention of 200 years of American military history, several treaties this country had freely ratified, and every possible consideration of human decency. Why does he still have a job and will you fire him?

"The US should provide these men with adequate compensation and redress," said Human Rights Watch's Laura Pitter. "It is under an obligation to do so under treaties it has ratified and there is still time to act. If it doesn't respect its obligations when it comes to its own very serious human rights violations, it undermines US credibility when urging other governments to respect theirs."

Somebody needs a refresher course in American Exceptionalism-we do not torture so, when we do torture, it can't be torture because we don't torture.

The report describes extensively the insertion of water or pureed foods into the anuses of detainees, which the CIA denies was sexual assault.

Opinions vary. We need further research to establish who's right here. Any volunteers from Langley?

Najjar told Human Rights Watch that in addition to having his head dunked in a barrel of water between interrogators' questions, he was also strapped to a board and lowered by his head, upside down, into the barrel. In a description consistent with other accounts of water dousing, he reported being placed within a tarpaulin full of cold water that zipped closed at the top with minimal space for air. The CIA has maintained that it only waterboarded three detainees: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Earlier accounts of water dousing come from Mohammed and 12 other detainees, none of whom are Najjar or El Gherissi. In 2015, a lawyer for a detainee subjected to water dousing told the Guardian: "You would laugh the next time you heard the government try to minimize its wrongdoing by drawing a distinction between waterboarding and other forms of water torture."

I don't think I would, but I take his point.

Within the first month of his captivity at the black sites, according to the Senate torture report, CIA cables described Najjar as "clearly a broken man  on the verge of a complete breakdown". His torture "became the model" for others at the black site, according to the CIA inspector general.

The model.

Fcking monsters, the lot of them.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

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Today's the big day: Google is slated to unveil a slew of new hardware, notably the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, at a widely-publicized event in San Francisco.

Google kicked things off with a new sketch from HBO's "Silicon Valley," with series stars Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani reprising their roles to discuss what the search giant might be announcing today.

Best line: "I heard Larry is going to fire Sergey. Out of a cannon."

This is only the latest sign of Google's appreciation for the satire of "Silicon Valley"  Thomas Middleditch, the show's leading man, appeared in an April Fool's Day video for Google X in 2016.

Earlier, when Google announced that it would create a new holding company called Alphabet in summer 2015, the official press release included a shout-out to HooliXYZ. And Google has even let HBO post fake "Silicon Valley" news to its search results.

NOW WATCH: A Silicon Valley startup is using robots to make pizza





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Pixel Phone Google

Google launched its two new phones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, in California on Tuesday.

They're the first devices to result from Google's hardware road map, a year in the making. Google says that the fact that it controls both the hardware and software means the devices can have superior performance.

And when new Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh revealed the Pixel, he couldn't help but throw shade at the Pixel's main competitor, Apple's iPhone.

"Pixel has no unsightly camera bump," Osterloh said before highlighting the device's virtual-reality capabilities and artificial-intelligence assistant.

Apple's iPhones have been criticized for having a camera that juts out from the back of the device.

Later in the presentation, Google took another shot at the iPhone's built-in storage.

"So as a special bonus for Pixel owners, we're including free unlimited photos and videos at original quality," a Google engineer said. "So with Pixel, you'll never run out of space for your memories."

"You can say goodbye to those painful 'storage full' pop-ups," he said while showing an iPhone pop-up:

Screen Shot 2016 10 04 at 12.37.23 PM

Finally, Google poked fun at Apple's latest iPhones lacking a headphone jack, touting its presence on the Pixel phones as a feature:

Headphone jack

However, people are noticing that Google's new phones look a lot like the iPhone, and other Osterloh talking points  "the intersection of software and hardware," and that the phones "just work"  are classic lines Apple has used for marketing, too.

Google will also include a dongle for transferring data from an iPhone to a Pixel phone.

MadebyGoogle Pixel switching from iPhone

NOW WATCH: The 5 biggest changes coming to everyones iPhone





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google home

Google has invaded our computers, web browsers, phones, TVs, and tablets.

Now it's coming into the home itself.

With Google Home, a Wi-Fi speaker, the company aims to have its new digital helper Google Assistant with you everywhere, not just on your phone. It's Google's answer to the Amazon Echo, a surprise hit that revealed a hunger for voice-controlled computers with virtual assistants living inside.

As with the Echo, Google Home is designed to allow users to control music streaming, connected appliances, and basic information like calendar appointments and weather.

Home is now available for preorder and costs $129. It is scheduled to ship in early November.

Here's a dive into everything Home can do:

Music

You can use the trigger phrase "OK Google" and tell Home which song you want to listen to. You can also use your voice to control volume or switch tracks.

Home works with YouTube Music, one of Google's music subscription services. It will also work with third-party services including Spotify, Pandora, and TuneIn.

Google Home speaker

But Google has added an extra bit of smarts to music control. If you don't remember the specific name of a song, you can use a general query to help Google identify what you're talking about. For example, you can say, "Play that Shakira song from 'Zootopia'" and it'll know what you mean.

As for audio quality, Google says Home sounds better than any other device in the category, though we haven't had a chance to test that claim yet.

Queries

You can ask Home anything you'd normally ask Google. It uses Google's Knowledge Graph, which is designed to give you the direct answer to what you want. If Google doesn't have the answer, it'll read snippets from trusted sources like Wikipedia. Home can also remember your most recent query for follow-up questions.

Home integrates with Google Maps and finds locations near you and gives you traffic updates when you want to know how long it'll take you to get somewhere.

Story continues

A new feature called My Day is designed to update you on everything you need to know to start the day including weather, traffic updates, and your calendar appointments. It's a daily briefing based on everything Google knows about you.

Home's Assistant can track notes and reminders and push them to the Assistant on your new Pixel phone too. (Future Android phones will also get Assistant.)

That's not a comprehensive list, of course, and Home will get smarter over time as more people use it and Google Assistant learns new tricks. But for now, you can expect Home to help you with everything for which you normally rely on Google.

Smart Home

Google Home speaker

Google Home is also designed to let you use your voice to control connected gadgets in your home. It works with Nest, Chromecast on TV, SmartThings, and a few other smart-home companies.

On Chromecast, for example, you can tell Google Home to play YouTube videos. Eventually, other partners like Netflix will support this feature. Google calls this feature "Voicecasting."

If you have multiple Home speaker or Chromecast Audio devices connected to your speakers, you can control your entire home. Only the device nearest you will respond.

Pricing

Google Home will cost $129. It'll come with a free six-month trial of YouTube Red, which gives you music streaming and ad-free YouTube videos. It's available for preorder now and is set to ship November 4.

Amazon's Echo costs $179.99, and the Echo Dot, which can connect to an external speaker, costs $49.99.

Partners

Google Assistant will have an open developer platform launching in December. That means third-parties can build voice-controlled services into Google Assistant. For example, you can call an Uber and have a conversation with Assistant about where you want to go and what kind of car you want.

Amazon's Alexa already allows third-party partners. Apple's Siri does too, but it's limited to certain categories like payments and messaging.

NOW WATCH: 7 Gmail tricks to make your life a lot easier





More From Business Insider


Google claims its new Pixel smartphones, unveiled today in San Francisco, combine big artificial intelligence gains with some of the best smartphone hardware available, particularly when it comes to photography.

The Pixel and Pixel XL, which have 5- and 5.5-inch high-definition displays, respectively, are the first smartphones with Google Assistant, the Siri-like voice-activated search tool, built in.

Google claims the 12.3-megapixel rear-facing cameras on these models will beat the cameras on any other smartphone out therea claim that we'll be testing in our labs.

Phone industry analysts have suggested the Pixel smartphones represent Googles bid to compete with Apple, whose iPhones come in two models of about the same size (the iPhone 7 has a smaller, 4.7-inch display).

Preorders for delivery beginning Oct. 20 are available at Verizon and the online Google store. Pricing starts at $649 for the smaller phone and $769 for the XL.

Here are more details:

Its an eavesdropper. The Google Assistant on both Pixel smartphones promises to provide detailed assistance to users that some could find creepy. When providing information, the assistant will consider your location, the apps you have open or use frequently, and even messages you send and receive.

For instance, if you tell the assistant to call John but have eight people with that name in your contacts, the phone will assume you mean the John you call or text most.

If someone sends you a text using Google's Allo app and mentions a concert venue, you can get more information by long-pressing the screen and swiping up. You can see the location on Google Maps and get help making restaurant reservations for the same evening.

The best camera. Google says the Pixels 12.3-megapixel rear-facing camera will excel at low-light photography, thanks in part to its wide, f2.0 aperture. Other features include an ultrafast image-capture time and zero shutter lag, which promises to have the camera instantly ready for lifes next spontaneous moment.

Story continues

Instead of taking one long exposure in low light, the Pixel camera will take multiple short exposures, Google says. Our engineers will have to evaluate how that affects picture quality. Pixel also boasts video stabilization, featuring a gyroscope that makes adjustments 200 times per second to minimize shake.

The phones default photo gallery is Googles Photos app, which can be set to automatically back up all your photos and videos to your Gmail account.

Google normally offers its account holders 15GB of free file storage, including photos and videos. But for a limited time, Pixel smartphone buyers will get unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos.

Customer Assistance. Google promises 24/7 live customer support via the phones that sounds very much like the Mayday service Amazon puts on its premium Kindle tablets. Google also says therell be tools to help you transfer all your contacts, apps, and other cherished belongings from your old phone to a Pixel in one step.

Compelling specs. The Pixel has a 2,770mAh battery; phones in our tests with batteries that size often deliver at least 8 hours of talk time. The XL feeds its larger 5.5-inch display with a 3,450mAh battery, which could mean its owners will be able to stay on the phone for more than 24 hours straight. (This is an area we'll be testing in detail once we purchases Pixels for our lab testing.)

The batteries support rapid charging, which Google says will enable you to get 7 hours of battery life from a dead battery after only 15 minutes of charging.

Both phones will have Qualcomms Snapdragon 821 processor and 4 GB of RAMa powerful processing combination that should help Google Assistant respond quickly to your requests. Onboard storage is either 32GB or 128GB. The phones are available in three colors: black, silver, and blue.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S.
Stockholm (AFP) - Scientists behind the groundbreaking discoveries of gravitational waves and the existence of dark matter are seen as potential favourites for Tuesday's announcement of the Nobel Physics Prize.

Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time caused by violent processes in the Universe, such as colliding black holes or the collapse of stellar cores.

Physicists Ronald Drever of Britain and Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss of the US first observed them in September 2015, and announced their discovery in February 2016. And since then, they have clinched all the major astrophysics prizes to be had.

Their discovery opens a new door into the mysteries of the Universe, and confirms one of Albert Einstein's predictions in his 1915 theory of general relativity, for which he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Physics Prize.

Drever, Thorne and Weiss co-created the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) at the prestigious California Institute of Technology, which has taken home 17 Nobels since the prizes were first awarded in 1901.

Among other research seen as worthy of the physics prize this year is the 1975 discovery of galaxy rotation rates, which led to the theory of dark matter. Americans Vera Rubin and Kent Ford could be honoured for their work in this field.

Last year, the prize went to Japan's Takaaki Kajita and Canada's Arthur McDonald for determining that neutrinos have mass, a key piece of the puzzle in understanding the cosmos.

- Avalanche of peace prize nominations -

The physics prize is the second of the Nobels to be awarded, after the medicine prize was on Monday awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan. He was honoured for his pioneering work on autophagy -- a process whereby cells "eat themselves" -- which when disrupted can cause Parkinson's and diabetes.

On Wednesday, the chemistry prize will be announced, to be followed by the peace prize on Friday, the economics prize on October 10 and the literature prize on October 13.

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The peace prize jury has sifted through an avalanche of nominations this year -- a record 376, almost a hundred more than the previous record in 2014.

Among those often cited as likely winners are the architects of two historic accords: the recent peace deal between the Colombian government and the leftist FARC rebels; and the Iranian nuclear deal.

But in a shock upset, Colombians on Sunday voted against the peace deal by a razor-thin majority in a referendum, all but annihilating the chance of taking home the Nobel, prize experts predicted.

Meanwhile, Stockholm's literary circles are abuzz with a plethora of names of possible laureates for the literature prize, some more likely than others.

The Swedish Academy, which awards that prize, could tap superstar novelists such as Philip Roth of the US or Haruki Murakami of Japan, or some lesser known writers such as Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse or Syrian poet Adonis.
Patras (Greece) (AFP) - Greek police on Tuesday arrested 26 people suspected of trafficking in antiquities, a police source in the southwestern port of Patras said following a nationwide raid.

Six of the arrested were foreigners, the source said, without revealing their nationalities.

The police were looking for 15 other people suspected of involvement in the smuggling ring. Initial investigations suggest the gang sold illegally acquired antiquities in auctions in Britain, Germany and Austria.

Police raids unearthed ancient statues hidden in a well near the village of Nemea in the Peloponnese region in the country's south.

The gang acquired antiquities including ancient coins, valued them and contacted potential buyers in Greece and abroad.
Nawaz Sharif is chairing a National Action Plan meeting to discuss progress on various points of the anti-terror plan.

By Anil Kumar: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is chairing an inter-provincial National Action Plan (NAP) meeting which is being attended by all the chief ministers, key federal ministers and military top brass to discuss progress on various points of the anti-terror plan.

National Security Adviser Lt. General (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua, who is the Chief of NAP Task Force, briefed the leadership on its implementation and the problems faced by the provinces.



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NAP EXECUTION



Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Shareef called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before the meeting of National Security Committee (NSC) on Tuesday and apprised him of the situation on borders, specially on the Line of Control (LoC).



After the NSC brief, the chief ministers are updating the participants about the status on NAP execution in their provinces.



KASHMIR ISSUE



The NSC, which will meet after the NAP deliberations, will discuss the Kashmir issue and Indian aggression on the Line of Control (LoC) also. On Monday, a meeting of all the parliamentary parties was held at the PM House which fully backed the government on its stance on Kashmir.

Today's NSC meeting will be attended by all the provincial chief ministers and ministers of finance, defence, interior and information, a PM's Office statement said.

The PM's Adviser on Foreign Affairs, National Security Adviser, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Services Chiefs, Director General ISI, Director General Military Operations and foreign secretary will also be present during the meeting.

--- ENDS ---
Athens (AFP) - Greek police on Monday fired pepper spray at pensioners protesting against cuts in their state income.

Thousands of pensioners responded to a protest call by the communist opposition and tensions boiled over as their protest march approached the prime minister's residence.

One group of protesters attempted to breach the cordon of riot police guarding the building, while others attempted to overturn a police car, according to an AFP correspondent.

Police responded with a limited amount of pepper spray, but protesters returned before being dispersed.

Reacting swiftly, Nikos Toska, minister for citizens' protection, took responsibility for the use of the gas irritant and announced a ban on "all use of tear gas on protests by pensioners and workers".

The leftist Syriza party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, when it was in opposition, regularly decried the use of tear gas on protesters.

Its use was widespread during anti-austerity protests at the beginning of the decade, to the point of affecting whole neighbourhoods of the Greek capital.

The elderly protesters on Monday shouted slogans such as "We can't live on 400 euros ($450)" and "Let the rich pay for the crisis".

The demonstrators have been angered by 15 successive cuts in their pension payments, most recently in April, as part of a massive reform of the retirement system demanded by the country's EU and IMF creditors.

The overall effect has been cuts of 25-55 percent to pensions, according to Ika, the largest social security organisation in Greece.

Six out of 10 Greek retirees receive pensions of less than 700 euros per month, a pensioners group said last week, money which in some cases whole families depend on.
The girlfriend of a New Jersey man struck and killed in a car crash is accused of stealing the wallet of an EMT while she was attempting to save his life, cops said.

Read: Lost Wallet Returned to Woman's Home With Note Criticizing Her Spending Habits

Jacob Dromgoole, 27, from Mantua, was getting out of his car early Sunday when he walked into oncoming traffic, and was hit by a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, a Facebook post by the Harrison Township Police Department reported. The driver of the car remained on the scene, and no charges are pending.

Dromgoole was unconscious and unresponsive by the time cops and EMTs arrived. Despite attempts to revive the man, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene, cops said.

During the incident, his girlfriend, Brittany Carulli, 25, was offered shelter from the rain inside the Gloucester County EMS ambulance as she grieved the loss of her boyfriend.

An EMT who had been working on Dromgoole later reported her wallet had gone missing.

According to police, the wallet was kept in the ambulance's center console, and contained her credit and debit cards, her driver's license, and $120 cash.

No one had access to the ambulance before or after the wallet went missing, according to a police statement.

Read: U.S. Student Gets 15 Years Hard Labor in North Korea for Trying to Steal Propaganda Poster

Cops said when they later interviewed Carulli, she admitted to taking the wallet.

The wallet was later turned in with all its contents, except the cash.

Carulli has been charged with theft and has been released on a summons pending a court date.

Watch; Art Thieves Wanted for Stealing Painting Worth $10,000 Off Gallery Wall in Broad Daylight: Cops

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By Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former navy chief of Guinea-Bissau who was arrested three years ago in a U.S. drug sting off the West African coast was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison, most of which he has already served, for conspiring to facilitate the shipment of cocaine to the United States. Former Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, 70, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan after pleading guilty in May 2014 to conspiring to import narcotics into the United States. Na Tchuto has been cooperating with authorities in the time since, Berman said, a factor the judge considered in sentencing Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief of staff, who was a fighter in the country's 1956-1973 independence war. He has been incarcerated since April 2013 and is expected to receive credit for good behavior, meaning he could be released immediately, his attorney, Patrick Joyce, said at the hearing. "I don't have a lot to say besides saying that I'm sorry for my act," Na Tchuto said, through an interpreter, before Berman handed down his sentence. Poverty-stricken Guinea-Bissau, on the west coast of Africa, is viewed by U.S. authorities as a major way point for South American-produced narcotics that are then shipped on to locations in Europe and elsewhere. In 2010, U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Na Tchuto a drug kingpin after what it said were long-held suspicions that he was a major drug trafficking facilitator. In 2012, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began a probe targeting drug trafficking in West Africa, using informants posing as representatives of South American drug traffickers. Prosecutors said Na Tchuto and two of his aides, Tchamy Yala and Papis Djeme, met with the informants from 2012 to 2013 to discuss the shipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from South America to Guinea Bissau that would be sent onward. In meetings, Na Tchuto said it was a good time for the drug transaction given the Guinea Bissau government's weakness following a recent coup, and he sought a $1 million fee per 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, prosecutors said. Na Tchuto, Yala and Djeme were arrested on a luxury yacht off the country's coast in April 2013, after being asked to meet with purported members of the organization the informants claimed to represent, prosecutors said. Djeme and Yala pleaded guilty and were sentenced in 2014 to prison terms of 6-1/2 years and five years, respectively. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Other than the classic sheet-with-two-holes ghost look for Halloween, nearly every costume these days is a potential minefield for backlash. But Mahala Herron has some pretty sound advice for avoiding controversy, specifically in regard to cultural appropriation. Halloween is coming up, so everyone please remember that my culture isnt a costume, the college student tweeted. She shared this alongside an illustration of three figures symbolizing different cultures: One head is adorned in a hijab, another is wearing cornrows, and the thirds in a headdress.

Halloween is coming up, so everyone please remember that my culture isnt a costume ???? Thank you pic.twitter.com/pL5QOAJCy7  M (@queenmahala) October 3, 2016

Herron, not the artist, found the illustration on Instagram and reposted it to her Twitter on Sunday. It quickly spread, receiving more than 3,000 likes and retweets.

The tweet was met with mixed reception. Some users seemed to disagree with the message behind the tweet, and others chalked it up to oversensitivity.

@queenmahala @Lowrahlo If anyone wants to wear a sombrero & poncho and binge drink tequila. Im cool with it.  Javier Vallejo (@iJavier1986) October 3, 2016

@queenmahala @shutupmakiyla or i can dress however i want because its halloween and I dont care about your feelings  Juan Salvador (@hwansalvawhore) October 3, 2016

No lie all races guilty of this shit , we just gotta let bygones be bygones .unless its blatantly racist.let it be,Y'all killing Halloween https://t.co/3kjxiLVN77  Zacquees (@ZaneTaughtMe) October 3, 2016

One individual marked Herrons tweet as confusing and attached a screenshot of the definition of the word costume.

Story continues

Others rushed to express their belief in the message behind the illustration as well as their dismay that others werent receptive to the message.

@queenmahala I hate people that dont understand that cultural appropriation is an issue  b (@__baeaf) October 3, 2016

@DamnDatz_NICKI @queenmahala touche. Bt I think the way ppl overdue Halloween sometimes becomes insulting 2 the culture theyre channeling  Heliconia (@sakisunflower) October 3, 2016

Herron was shocked the tweet went viral, but expected mixed reactions from users.

Personally, I feel like African-Americans face the most cultural appropriation because theres a thin line in society between admiration for black culture and taking it too far, which then becomes appropriation, Herron tells Yahoo Style.

Cultural appropriation is a topic that people are passionate and outspoken about, especially on the Internet.

Gigi Hadid has been vocal in the past about cultural appropriation. After posting an image to Instagram of henna tattoos on her hands, she was quick to defend her heritage. & before you go all cultural appropriation in my comments, check out the last name. Hadid. Half Palestinian & proud of it, she wrote alongside the picture.

Many other celebrities have been labeled as insensitively appropriating culture. Kylie Jenner sparked a debate when she wore a do-rag to a New York Fashion Week show last month. Some felt that the head wrap is a staple in African-American culture and offensive for Jenner to wear. Celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens and Janet Gretzky have also been accused of appropriating Native American culture in the past.

High-profile designers like Valentino and Balmain have been accused of the practice as well.

Seeing as celebrities and designers are constantly scrutinized in the public eye, the fallout and flak they receive isnt surprising. However, it sparks a larger debate as to what is deemed appropriate versus what crosses a line to some cultures. It also serves as a reminder to respect one another when picking out your Halloween costume this year. As Herron so aptly put it: Listen, if you want to be an African-American celebrity for Halloween, thats fine. But if you want to be an African-American, thats wrong.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
The chairman of South Korea's Hanjin Group on Tuesday apologised for the "cargo chaos" caused by the collapse of its shipping unit, but insisted the company could, and should, be salvaged.

Hanjin Shipping, the world's seventh largest shipping company, is seeking bankruptcy protection at home and in the US after creditors rejected its latest plan to deal with a $5.37 billion debt.

Its bankruptcy would be by far the largest in the history of container shipping, which is suffering its worst downturn in six decades because of slumping global trade and a slowdown in China.

"I apologise to the public for causing concern over the cargo chaos," Cho Yang-Ho, chairman and CEO of Hanjin Group, was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

"But I want to say that we have done everything we can do to save the shipper," Cho told a parliamentary hearing.

He added that Hanjin Group had injected around two trillion won (US$1.8 billion) into the shipping firm since its acquisition in 2014.

Hanjin Group, which also owns Korean Air, is providing 100 billion won in emergency funds to the troubled shipping unit, that includes a personal donation of 40 billion won from Cho.

"We hit a wall as a private company competing against foreign shippers that receive billions of dollars from their governments," Cho said.

He argued that a quick revival of Hanjin's fortunes would be key to fending off foreign competition.

"Its collapsed business network can be preserved if Hanjin Shipping is salvaged in the near future," Cho told lawmakers.

Under the Seoul court receivership, the company must submit a business revival plan by November 25 before the court decides whether to put it under a recovery programme or declare it bankrupt.

Hanjin has been hit hard by the slump in global trade, especially over the past three years.

It posted a net loss of more than 473 billion won in the first half of this year alone, after racking up total net losses of about 1.2 trillion won over the past three years.
By Mike Stone and Michael Flaherty

Oct 4 (Reuters) - U.S. defense contractor Harris Corp has launched the sale of parts of its Critical Networks division, according to people familiar with the matter, its first divestiture move after striking a deal with activist hedge fund Jana Partners.

The asset sale, which could fetch more than $1 billion, comes after Harris, a major supplier of U.S. Army radios, signed an agreement with Jana in August to add two new independent directors to its board. Harris promised at the time to continue to assess its portfolio to identify non-core assets.

Harris' information technology services operation, which sits within Critical Networks, is among the divisions up for sale, the people said this week, citing marketing materials sent to potential buyers. This and other parts of Critical Networks could draw more than $500 million in the sale, the sources said.

The company's business that supplies communications services to the energy industry, known as Harris CapRock Communications, is also expected to be sold in a separate process, according to the sources. CapRock could also attract offers of more than $500 million, the sources said.

Selling off sections of that division would help the company lower its energy industry exposure, in addition to reducing its debt load.

The sources asked not to be identified because the sale process is not yet public. Harris declined to comment.

Shares of Harris were flat at $91.38 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The Melbourne, Florida-based company, with around $7.5 billion in annual revenue, is organized into four business segments: communication systems, which sells military and civilian radios; space and intelligence systems; electronic systems; and critical networks.

"When we believe a business is not core to our strategy to drive shareholder value, we undertake proactive steps, as evidenced by the recent sale of Aerostructures and the sale of our commercial healthcare and broadcast communications businesses in prior years," Harris CEO Bill Brown told analysts on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on Aug. 2.

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Harris said in its fiscal year-end report that revenue pressure would likely increase next year. It pointed to CapRock's energy industry exposure and weakness in its IT segment as among the reasons behind the revenue pressure.

The company's fiscal 2016 net income dipped 3 percent to $324 million, it said in August. The company's shares have risen 5.3 percent year-to-date, while the S&P 500 Index is up 5.9 percent. Harris has a market capitalization of $11.3 billion.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
From Esquire

(Optional Musical Accompaniment To This Post)

Please, baby Jeebus, you know I'm your amigo.

Make it stop.

Reason No. 1: Not This Again. (h/t The Daily Mail, which should be torn down and replaced with an actual high-end brothel.)

A DNA test reportedly conducted by Star magazine in 1999 said that Danney couldn't be Clinton's son but there remain questions about the test's precision.

The main "question about the test's precision" is that science didn't go along with the script for the ratfcking.

Reason No. 2: Not This Again, Part The Second: (h/t to AOL News, which should go to confession immediately.)

According to an upcoming bombshell book, former President Bill Clinton allegedly still maintains cozy relationships with his interns, often inviting them back "to his apartment for a glass of red wine and a massage." In 'Guilty as Sin' New York Times best selling author Edward Klein claims to reveal a host of scandalous details regarding Bill Clinton's 'private penthouse' at the presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.

Ed Klein is a clown, but this does give me a chance to repost these wonderful YouTube videos in which now-Senator Al Franken and Joe Conason remove Klein's viscera and feed it to the company cat. It's in three parts and every one of them is worth going on with.

Reason No. 3: Today's Non-Surprise:(h/t to the AP, which should undergo decontamination procedures immediately.)

German Abarca, another former camera operator, said most of the camera crew knew that Trump was attracted to their colleague. Abarca said the woman was the frequent subject of ribbing by others in the crew, almost all of whom were much younger than Trump. "I think she mostly tried to ignore it." Arndt said that Trump would publicly discuss the woman's beauty and how her blue eyes and blonde hair compared to his daughter Ivanka's looks. "He would just mention it all the time. I remember him comparing Ivanka to her and saying that only Ivanka was prettier," she said.

Story continues

I think my skin just crawled out the door and hailed a cab. As Aristotle put in in his Poetics, Ewwww, ick!

Reason No. 4: Please Give It A Rest. (h/t Yahoo News, for printing Hillary Rodham Clinton's remarks in full.)

"Some are new to politics completely. They're children of the Great Recession and they are living in their parents' basement. They feel they got their education, and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves, and they don't see much of a future," Clinton said. "I met with a group of young black millennials today, and, you know, one of the young women said, 'You know, none of us feel like we have the job that we should have gotten out of college, and we don't believe the job market is going to give us much of a chance.'

"So that is a mindset that is really affecting their politics, and so if you're feeling like you're consigned to, you know, being a barista or, you know, some other job that doesn't pay a lot and doesn't have some other ladder of opportunity attached to it, then the idea that maybe - just maybe - you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing. So I think we should all be really understanding of that and should try to do the best we can not to be, you know, a wet blanket on idealism - you want people to be idealistic; you want them to set big goals - but to take what we can achieve now and try to present them as bigger goals."

If you read this as anything but the obvious empathy that it is, it's time to lay off the patchouli-flavored ramen noodles for a while. Bernie Sanders says he's largely OK with it. On the brighter side, LeBron James has been one of our most fascinating athletes for quite some time. I've had two extended conversations with him in my other gig and you could see an interesting, expanding mind at work. He continues to demonstrate all of this with his endorsement of HRC. From his hometown newspaper, The Akron Beacon-Journal:

"I support Hillary because she will build on the legacy of my good friend, President Barack Obama," James wrote. "I believe in what President Obama has done for our country and support her commitment to continuing that legacy. "Like my foundation, Hillary has always been a champion for children and their futures."

"My good friend, President Barack Obama" is a nice touch. Good thing John Kasich is term-limited, or he might be in real trouble.

Further updates, alas, as they become available.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

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Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f23229%2fplastic_fiver_experiments

LONDON  Remember the recent social media campaign to donate new British 5 notes to charity?

Well it's now two weeks on and the notes are still getting just as much attention on Twitter, but for an entirely different reason.

SEE ALSO: British people are doing something great with their first plastic 5 notes

Basically, the flexible plastic nature of the new notes seems to have turned everyone into an amateur scientist. Interested to see what happens when one of the notes gets put into water, or ironed, or left in the tumble dryer?

Twitter has got you covered.

Dont put the new fiver in the tumble dryer.... #handytip pic.twitter.com/U7hXrzFLE5  Fi (@Fibutton) October 3, 2016

my dad just shrunk the new five pound note by ironing it  pic.twitter.com/vVMSxDl3yo  l(ily) (@myneighbourlily) September 28, 2016

Word of advice: Don't iron the new fiver  pic.twitter.com/IyYyHeeI85  Kevin Nicholson (@KevinNicholson_) September 18, 2016

The conclusion? Keep your plastic 5 notes away from dryers, irons and heat in general.

Water may be okay.

[H/T Twitter moments]
By PTI: Kathmandu, Oct 2 (PTI) SAARC Chair Nepal has said it will hold discussions with member-states and take "necessary" steps to hold the next summit, which was postponed after five countries, including India, pulled out citing an environment that was not right for the meetings success.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat said Nepal would take necessary initiatives and hold discussions with member-states to press for holding the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit.

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The 19th SAARC Summit was scheduled to take place in the Pakistani capital Islamabad from November 9 to 10, but was postponed on Friday following the pull-out by India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan indirectly blaming Pakistan for creating an environment which was not right for the success of the meet.

Later Sri Lanka also pulled out of the summit.

Citing continuous cross-border terrorism by Pakistan, India said last week that "in the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is unable to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad."

Mahat said SAARC member-states must be sensitive towards organising the Summit by ensuring all members participation.

"SAARC is an important forum for advancing regional cooperation and development," the minister said yesterday after returning from the 71st UN General Assembly (UNGA).

Harmonious relations between the member-states would enhance utilisation of the association and encourage regional development, he said.

SAARC member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. PTI CPS ASK ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
The students dont understand how this look stops them from learning. (Photo: Stocksy)



If dressing comfortably and expressively is so wrong, why does it feel so right? This question has been raised time and time again by students all over the world.

And now its the students of Bluefield High Schools turn.

In protest of unnecessary school dress codes, students from the school on Canadas Prince Edward Island wore crop tops to class.

We should be able to express ourselves through our clothing, said Samara Ford, a 10th-grader from the school who took part in the protest. How does how we dress affect our learning? It doesnt, said Samantha Gallant, another student who participated in the protest. The one thing that affects our learning is teachers pulling us out of class.

She makes an valid point.

The students against the schools dress code have created a petition and Facebook group in hopes of having the rules changed. School administration said some students also put up posters at the school in an attempt to rally others.

One student said she wore a tank top on a hot day and was forced to put on a sweater. It definitely gets hot in the summer and even spring, so I want to be able to wear crop tops, I want to be able to wear shorts, she said. How do they expect students to learn when they are overheating because they were forced to wear pants on a sweltering-hot day?

The schools dress code does not allow bottoms above midthigh and straps thinner than two fingers. The stomach, back, and hips must be covered. The school reasons that learning the fundamentals of proper dress at an early age will provide the student with a valuable lifestyle habit. Since many professions call for suits, we can understand this reasoning.

However, this we cannot come to terms with: Dressing appropriately for a variety of situations shows that a student has a high degree of self-respect and respect for others.

What someone wears has nothing to do with self-respect. For many, it is simply a way of expressing oneself; for others, its just part of the daily routine. Just because someone rolls out of bed and puts on the first thing she sees doesnt mean she has no dignity, but this is what the schools statement implies.

Story continues

The school principal admits that the rules may be a tad outdated  theyve been in place for a decade  and he is open to reviewing them. I told them to take a week to 10 days to do some research, involve students and staff, and come up with a proposal, he said. Unfortunately, not all schools have reasonable officials.

Two years ago, nearly 200 students at Tottenville High School in New York City wore their favorite threads in protest of stringent rules that prohibited girls from wearing shorts or skirts that dont extend past the fingertips when they have their arms down at their sides, low-cut or midriff-baring shirts, leggings, skinny jeans, and more, and proudly served time in detention for it.

A few months ago, a high school in in Victoria, Australia, made headlines for reprimanding its female students and essentially blaming them for landing the school on a photo-sharing porn-ring website. In an attempt to set their minds at rest, officials at the school, Kambrya College, warned the young women to protect their integrity by lowering the hems of their skirts and forgoing makeup and sexy selfies. Feeling victimized and targeted by the very people she trusted to protect her, one 15-year-old student was motivated to share a video on Facebook denouncing the school officials reaction and standing up for what self-esteem and integrity mean to her. Ill be honest, Im pretty mad that she [assistant principal Jo Wastle] thinks that  she thinks I dont respect myself for the way that I wear my skirt, or the way other girls wear their skirts, said Faith Sobotker. We dont live in the 50s anymore. Im looking for equality. Im looking for being able to show off my body without being sexualized. Im 15 years old. You do not get to sexualize me like that. You do not get to tell me that my body is sacred, cause it isnt. Half the population is females, alright? Were not sacred. Were not a new discovery.

Hollie Sikes, a student at Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tenn., started a petition on Change.org protesting her schools irrationally strict dress code, saying its not only sexist but also puts students health at risk. In the petition, which is currently more than 3,700 supporters strong, Sikes argues against school rules that prohibit shorts that dont pass the fingertip-length test. We cannot ignore the simple truth that clothing stores do not sell a wide variety of shorts for girls that are below fingertip length, if any, so young women are forced to wear long pants and jeans in 90-100 degree weather simply to avoid suspension, Sikes wrote in the petition. Not only does this present health risks, such as nausea, overheating, and even fainting, but it promotes victim blaming in the (unfortunately, extremely prevalent) case of sexual harassment among students.

Its starting to sound like dress codes are doing more harm than good.



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The Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) scandal has now crept into political rhetoric, as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said in a speech yesterday in Toledo, Ohio, that she would hold Wells Fargo responsible for its actions.

"Really shocking isn't it? One of the nations' biggest banks bullying thousands of employees into committing fraud against unsuspecting customers," Clinton said Monday in front of a crowd, reports Reuters.

Wells Fargo recently agreed to a settlement following the reveal that, without customers' consent, its employees created 2 million fake credit card and bank accounts. This was all in an effort to make more money and bump sales figures. It cost the company $185 million in settlement fees plus $5 million in customer remediation.

Wells Fargo had arbitration clauses in place, blocking consumer lawsuits.

"They are forced into a closed-door arbitration process without the important protections you get in a court of law," Clinton said.

Clinton's speech followed her campaign detailing ways for consumers to take on corporations in court instead of private arbitration. According to Clinton, the Wells Fargo case highlighted how required arbitration clauses hurt consumers. Consumer advocates back up this assertion, citing the insurmountable cost of this required individual arbitration.

"We are not going to let companies like Wells Fargo use these fine print gotchas to escape accountability," Clinton also said.

The Wells Fargo example is hardly a surprise talking point, however. Wall Street has been disparaged throughout this presidential race, notes CNN.

Peter Navarro, an economic adviser of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign said of the scandal, "Wells Fargo ... shame on them, just shame on them." That said, Trump is interested in taking apart the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- the group that aided in uncovering Wells Fargo's actions, reports CNN.

Wells Fargo stock has plummeted 19.68 percent on the year.

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We know Hillary Clinton set a trap for Donald Trump during last Monday's presidential debate. She recalled a time years ago when he humiliated a teenaged beauty queen. He began the week confirming the charge. On Tuesday, he again fat-shamed Alicia Machado on Fox News. On Friday, he implored us to watch her fictional sex-tape.

But there was another trap -- only now are we seeing it.

During the debate, Clinton appealed to white working-class voters, many of whom support Trump. Clinton and her husband came from humble beginnings, she said, and they earned their millions honestly. Trump, on the other hand, inherited his fortune, she said, founding his real estate empire on a "small" $14 million loan from his dad.

She went a step further. Clinton questioned whether Trump is worth the billions he says he's worth, and if he is, to prove it by releasing his tax returns. For good measure, she added that Trump has amassed his riches on the backs of hard-working Americans, people like small business owner and curtain-maker Hugh Rodham, her dad.

"I'm really glad my dad never had a contract with Donald Trump," she said, referring to reports in which Donald Trump stiffed contractors. Some went out of business as a result.

Portraying Trump as misogynist is one thing. Having Trump confirm the charge over a period of days is another. You can't buy that.

Portraying him as an out-of-touch 1 percenter is one thing. Having The New York Times report, as it did Saturday, that he may have avoided paying income taxes for nearly two decades due to a massive nearly $1 billion operating loss in 1995; and due to Trump's access to a provision of the Internal Revenue Code that the Times said is "prized by America's dynastic families" -- well, you can't buy that either.

In little more than a week, Hillary Clinton has gone from being a disliked candidate who does not represent the intolerance of America's past (the anti-Trump) to being the candidate, who, as a woman, represents the aspirations of a America's future.

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"The suggestion that Fred Trump made Donald really seems to unsettled him," David Axelrod, President Obama's former top adviser, told Politico hours after the debate. "They are in his head."

Expect Trump's meltdown to accelerate this week.

Important here is identifying whom Clinton is targeting. Plenty is known about the role of suburban white women in this election. They are being called 2016's swing voters. But there is another bloc that could swing the election. They are voters Clinton is now trying to reach.

These are white working-class voters.

That may sound absurd. The conventional wisdom is that Trump has a lock on non-college educated whites, especially men. But like any voting bloc, working class-whites aren't monolithic. They are complex, and those complexities help us understand what's really happening.

We don't hear a lot about Clinton's white working-class support because most of her base of power comes from the so-called Obama coalition -- minorities, women and white liberals. Add to that the foreign policy faction of the Republican Party. Add too the support of what I'll call the Rotary Club Set, voters whose interests are represented by the editorials of dailies in large Midwestern cities.

Fact is, the Democrats still enjoy a sizable percentage of the working-class support, especially in deindustrializing Rust Belt states like Ohio, where the president won 41 percent of the white working-class vote in 2012. During the primaries, Clinton and Bernie Sanders together won 31 percent of that vote. That's not as good as Obama, but perhaps good enough given that she is ahead of Obama with college educated suburban whites, 57 percent to 46 percent.

There's room to grow in the 10-point differential between what Obama had and Clinton could have. It's doable. Here's why.

First, much depends on what we mean by "working class."

In six states during the Republican primaries, exit polls showed that "no one* voting for any of the GOP candidates earned less than $50,000 a year. In 18 states, exit polling showed that *no one* voting for a Republican candidate earned less than $30,000 a year.

"Working class" is often defined by educational attainment and income. Even if these Republican voters did not have college diplomas, they were earning as much or more than the national annual average, which was about $44,500 in 2014.

That alone should cast doubt on Trump's "white working-class" support. It should challenge also the argument that he's riding a wave of populist anger of disaffected Americans left behind by free-trade agreements and globalization. That may be true, but only party true. As someone smarter than I am once said, Trump's power comes equally from the cultural resentments of the petit bourgeoisie.

Which brings to me to voters Clinton can't reach.

She is not going to reach working-class whites trapped in the closed-circuit faux reality of conservative media. She's also not going to reach Democrats who have voted for Republicans since Ronald Reagan but who have not bothered the switch parties.

These people are Trump's people. No contest.

But there is a third subgroup identified years ago by the AFL-CIO. This group, the AFL-CIO found, is more likely to stay home than support a "populist" candidate like Trump. It is pragmatic and commonsensical, and it may be receptive to the ideas of a serious candidate who came from humble origins, who has worked hard to succeed and has revealed the source of her wealth by releasing her tax returns.

This is a relatively small group of voters, but the 10 points it may yield may be all Clinton needs. She has Obama's voters along with Republicans worried about foreign policy, especially about America's relationship with Israel, and along with "local notables" who seek stability in order to get on with business as usual. That alone would be sufficient to get past the post first, but with working-class support on par with Obama's, she's building her own Midwest firewall.

Until last week, Ohio looked out of reach. Then came news late that Clinton would give a major economics address in Toledo. You can bet she sent a message to the voters no one has been talking about.

John Stoehr is a lecturer in political science at Yale, the 2016 Koeppel Journalism Fellow at Wesleyan and a U.S. News & World Report contributing writer.


4 Oct - Tavia Yeung and Him Law, who had their wedding blessing in the United Kingdom back in March, have finally held their official wedding banquet.

As reported on HK01 News, the couple resubmitted their wedding registration in Hong Kong on 2 October, followed by a traditional ceremony in the morning and a wedding banquet at the Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong.

Speaking to the media at the event, Him stated that although the two of them have already held their big day in Leeds earlier this year, it was a different feeling having his wedding banquet in Hong Kong, since the two of them get to celebrate their love with many friends and family members.

When asked if there were any memorable moments from their wedding vows, Him said that he was touched with Tavia's speech about their six-year relationship.

"In these six years, we have experienced a lot of ups and downs, and we can finally get married today, and I finally found the woman that I will protect and love forever," he enthused.

Meanwhile, Tavia stated that she is a simple person who wants nothing more than to walk hand in hand along the road with her husband.

As for the cost of their wedding banquet, Tavia admitted that it cost them over seven figures.

"The theme is romantic love and it's supposed to correspond with our England ceremony," she said.

(Photo source: Tavia Yeung's Weibo)
Should the teacher have let one students hijab keep her from taking a test? (Photo: Gallery Stock)

A student at College de Maisonneuve in Montreal found herself unable to take an exam, all because her teacher wanted her to adjust her hijab.

Saja Farhat was trying to take her biology exam wearing her usual hijab, which covers her ears. According to a college spokesperson, at the beginning of the year, the teacher had said he would be making sure students werent wearing headphones during exams.

CTV reports that the College de Maisonneuve biology department has a rule that teachers must look under hats, long hair and headscarves to confirm students arent wearing headphones.

Line Legare, spokesperson for the school, told CTV the rule was in place to prevent cheating.

Farhat was asked to pull back her scarf behind her ears to make sure she didnt have any headphones. She refused, but offered to allow the teacher to touch her ears underneath the hijab to prove she didnt have any device of the sort. CTV News says the teacher felt uncomfortable with that.

More than 50 eyeballs were all directed toward me. I felt so small and tiny, Farhat told CTV. I said No, I cannot show you my ears because my religion does not permit it.

Farhat and the teacher are trying to reschedule the exam. Still, it seems kind of strange that a teacher so adamant about this policy couldnt have simply touched her ears to confirm whether or not she was wearing the headphones and moved on, instead of making it a thing. Muslim women are policed enough  both by fundamentalists and non-Muslims  over how they present themselves. A few European cities have adopted a burkini ban, making it difficult for practicing Muslim women who chose to cover themselves to enjoy a day at the beach. In France, the ban was overturned by the countrys highest administrative court, but still some mayors plan to uphold it. It seems as if some people are willing to make an issue out of something that is not only someones personal choice, but ultimately has no effect on anyone other than the people wearing the banned clothing.

What do you think?

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Budapest (AFP) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday proposed changing the constitution to ban the large-scale resettlement of migrants, after voters overwhelmingly backed his rejection of an EU refugee quota plan in a referendum.

Orban said the text of the amendment will state that "group resettlement is forbidden".

"As 98 percent voted 'No' to the mandatory resettlement of migrants, the referendum result must be enforced in law," he told journalists in Budapest.

Orban's ruling Fidesz party will submit the proposal to parliament by October 10, followed by a vote on November 8.

The amendment should pass with the required two-thirds majority as it has the support of the radical right Jobbik party.

However, the opposition Socialist party slammed Orban for "setting out on the path of dictators" by changing the constitution after an "invalid" referendum result.

Some 3.3 million Hungarians had voted on Sunday against a European Union scheme seeking to share migrants around the 28-member bloc via mandatory quotas without the consent of national parliaments.

The vote was declared invalid because of low turnout, but Orban nonetheless hailed the outcome as "a sweeping victory" in his revolt against Brussels and vowed to change the constitution to "reflect the will of the people".

The populist strongman said on Tuesday the ban would apply to all future plans for relocating migrants and not affect those already in place.

"The already approved migrant quota cannot be overwritten, no type of legal amendment is retrospective," Orban said.

Last year, most EU states approved the redistribution of 160,000 migrants, many fleeing war in Syria, among the member states.

The deal is aimed at easing pressure on the bloc's worst migration crisis since 1945.

But progress has been slow, with eastern and central European countries vehemently opposed.

Hungary has not accepted a single one of the 2,300 refugees allocated to the country under the scheme and instead joined Slovakia in filing a legal challenge against it.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, said on Monday there was "no silver bullet" to solving the migration crisis, but that "a holistic approach" was required.
Drivers looking forward to big savings at the gas pump this fall may be disappointed.

Gasoline prices traditionally head south once the busy summer driving season comes to a close. In the fall months, demand cools and refineries switch to cheaper winter-blend fuel. But OPECs production plans have thrown a wrench into the works, while Hurricane Matthew is threatening to disrupt oil and gasoline supplies in the U.S.

OPEC announced last week that its 14 members agreed to the parameters of a freeze in oil production, just as the oil cartel is pumping record amounts of crude. The slowdown comes in response to a global oversupply, although analysts question how far the cuts will go and whether they can make a sizable dent in the oil glut. Still, oil prices rallied after the news, potentially creating a catalyst for higher pump prices.

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, said drivers wont necessarily see a substantial jump in gas prices. Rather, the OPEC-inspired oil rally and the impending storm may keep gas prices stable for now.

Perhaps we probably wont see the major declines that we normally see in the fall, he explained.

GasBuddy.com recently projected that the national average would drop below $2 a gallon by Halloween, but the forecast is now in question. Theres also some doubt about whether gas prices will reach the $1.99 milestone nationally by the end of 2016, particularly if OPEC officially makes a move to reduce the flow of oil. OPEC will meet again on Nov. 30 in Vienna.

U.S. oil prices ended Monday at $48.81 a barrel, the highest value since July 1. Prices are up 9.3% over the last four sessions.

Analysts are also keeping an eye on Hurricane Matthew, which continued to barrel through the Caribbean on Tuesday. Forecasts show the Category 4 storm may travel toward Florida and up the East Coast. According to DeHaan, the intensity of Hurricane Matthew and how many power outages it leaves in its wake will determine the impact on gas prices. Severe weather can force gas stations to close or disrupt the infrastructure that transports gasoline.

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If there are widespread power outages, you can run into supply issues. And ahead of the storm, if motorists are going to flood the pumps, that could be a problem, too, DeHaan added.

Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas may be in the hurricanes path. Hurricane and tropical-storm watches were in effect for parts of Florida as of Tuesday afternoon.

The southeast is already recovering from a pipeline outage that created gasoline shortages in many areas.

Theres another wrinkle coming for New Jersey drivers. The state is set to approve a 23-cent increase in the gas tax, bringing the total to 37.5 cents a gallon. DeHaan said the tax hike, which is expected to take effect before the end of October, will move the national average slightly higher.

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Shveta Salve is back to Mumbai from Goa, after giving birth to a baby girl in August.

By India Today Web Desk: Shveta Salve has just returned to Mumbai, from Goa, after giving birth to a baby girl in August. The newborn took her first-ever flight with the actress to Mumbai and the happiness on the mum's face was hard to miss.

It was also the first time Shveta posted a full picture of her newborn and the little one looked oh-so-adorable.

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Also read: This letter by TV actress Shveta Salve to her unborn baby will melt your heart

The other day, Shveta also dressed up her baby in a sylish gear, before taking her out. Like mom, like daughter, we would say.

Shveta is married to Hermit Sethi and delivered a baby girl in Goa in August. Shveta who made sure to flaunt her baby bump with elan during her pregnancy, continues to make a statement with her post-pregnancy style.



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Hurricane Matthew avoided a direct hit on Jamaica on October 3, heading instead for an early morning landfall on Haiti on Tuesday, October 4. The powerful storm moved back over water and was expected to strike eastern Cuba later on Tuesday.

The storm has killed at least seven people on its path through the Caribbean. Credit: YouTube/Peta-gaye McCarthy
By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Plugging computer sensors into factories, cars, shops and offices to help them operate more smartly on the industrial Internet, or so-called Internet of Things (IoT), is moving beyond prototypes into the mass market, IBM said on Monday. The computer services and software company, which has struggled with flagging growth in its traditional business in recent years, said its industrial Internet business has surged to 6,000 paying customers from 4,000 at the end of 2015. The IoT, which gives many billions of machine parts the capability to send and receive data, is vital to IBM's turnaround as it has refocused on areas that promise profitable growth such as analytics, security and cloud services. That a tipping point may now be being reached for the industrial Internet is borne out by a recent global survey of 4,500 corporate decision-makers in 27 countries by market research firm IDC that found the market is moving beyond proof of concept projects to full-scale project deployments. "We think 2019 is going to be that inflection curve where the market really takes off," IDC IoT analyst Vernon Turner said of how business cases proven over the next two years will set the stage for IoT to hit the mainstream. Nearly a third of corporate customers in the IDC survey said they have launched IoT projects, while another 42 percent said they plan to do so in the next 12 months. To meet rising demand, IBM said it plans to hire 1,000 people over the next few years at its new global IoT headquarters in Munich, executives said. That is part of a broader move by IBM to hire 25,000 new employees in growth areas globally, while cutting jobs and costs in slower growing hardware and services businesses. "There was so much tire-kicking a year ago. Now you are seeing adopters in every single industry actually building solutions," IBM's vice president in charge of IoT platforms Bret Greenstein said in an interview. IBM will announce on Tuesday a new strategic partnership with German industrial ball bearing giant Schaeffler to supply it with data analytics, cloud services and consulting, in a deal where both firms invest and jointly market services. The deal covers areas ranging from product development to manufacturing to preventive maintenance once cars, trains, wind turbines and other moving parts are sold. IBM's global head of IoT business Harriet Green said she has four to five big deals in the pipeline with Asian firms involved in manufacturing and robotics. IBM also said it signed up new clients such as Dutch drone maker Aerialtronics to use IoT for inspecting oil rigs, power lines, cellphone towers and city traffic patterns. So far, however, high-growth areas - "strategic imperatives" in IBM parlance - have failed to offset declines its overall business has seen for the last five years. In its latest reported quarter, IBM's "strategic imperative" businesses, which include IoT, slowed to only 7 percent growth, while core businesses in services and hardware fell 14 percent year-on-year, Bernstein Research calculates. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
From Country Living

The Venetian Pool, a historic 1923 public pool just outside of Miami, welcomed local dogs to take a dip at its 10th annual "Paws in the Pool" celebration yesterday. The puppy pool party started with a morning session for dogs less than 30 pounds and wrapped up with an afternoon session for large dogs.

The sessions were open to the first 200 dogs who arrived-which included this adorable dachshund squad.

Another dachshund broke away from the pack for a solo swim.

Even though this Chihuahua looked a bit apprehensive about going swimming, she sure looked cute in her paw-print swimsuit!

This Norwich terrier posed in front of one of the two waterfalls at the Venetian Pool.

These two dachshunds looked totally at home in their duck pool float.

While this big guy wasn't so sure about the whole thing...

COWABUNGA!

The Venetian Pool is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, October 5 after being emptied and refilled with fresh spring water from the underground aquifer that feeds the 820,000 gallon pool.

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Authorities in Indian Kashmir have banned a local newspaper they said was inciting violence in the Himalayan region, which has been roiled by deadly violence in recent months.

The editor of the Kashmir Reader, an English-language daily, said police had come to their office carrying an order for them to stop publishing.

"There was no prior notice or communication from the government," Hilal Mir told AFP. "If there was a problem with the content, they could have sought an explanation from us."

The order said the Kashmir Reader "contains such material and content which tends to incite acts of violence and disturb public peace and tranquility".

Rights groups criticised the move, which comes weeks after local authorities briefly banned all newspapers from publishing and stopped internet services.

"The government has a duty to respect the freedom of the press, and the right of people to receive information," Amnesty International said in a statement.

"It cannot shut down a newspaper simply for being critical of the government."

Journalists marched to protest the move in Srinagar on Monday, calling it a violation of press freedom.

Nearly 90 people, most of them young protesters, have been killed in clashes with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir since the death on July 8 of a popular militant leader.

It is the worst violence the troubled region has seen since 2010, although several armed groups have for decades been fighting Indian forces stationed there, seeking independence from India.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.
By Neha Dasgupta and Krishna N. Das

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India expects a joint venture between state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and ArcelorMittal to start producing automotive-grade steel in two years, a government official said on Tuesday.

Officials from the two companies are due to meet on Thursday to take forward talks about a proposed 60 billion rupee ($902 million) plant that will produce 1.2 million tonnes of steel per year to begin with, Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma told Reuters.

SAIL and ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, signed a preliminary agreement in May last year to expand in what is one of the world's fastest growing steel markets and a major car exporter.

"In another two years it should be in the manufacturing stage, provided we freeze everything within one and a half months and in December we take off," Sharma said. "We will go more for import replacements. We have solutions for it."

She said the government was working on raising demand for steel in India - whose per-capita consumption of about 60 kg is less than one-third of the global average - by replacing concrete with steel in major infrastructure projects.

The World Steel Association expects India's steel demand to rise 5.4 percent this year and next, even as countries such as China see a decline. (http://bit.ly/2dsfLgw)

Apart from ArcelorMittal, India's growing steel demand is also keeping other major companies such as South Korea's POSCO interested, despite regulatory hurdles and difficulties acquiring land.

Sharma, who moved to the steel ministry more than two months ago, has already met POSCO officials who are eager to expand in India despite the de facto scrapping of the company's proposed $12 billion steel plant in the eastern state of Odisha after a decade of protests over land.

"They will like a plug-in kind of an arrangement (to set up a new plant)," she said.

Sharma also said that to protect the domestic steel industry from cheap imports, the government may impose provisional anti-dumping on 21 products within two weeks.

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Top Indian steel makers such as JSW Steel Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd have lobbied the government hard to take more measures to protect their margins from cheap imports from China, Japan and South Korea.

($1 = 66.5100 Indian rupees)

(Editing by David Clarke)
An Indian student who killed his pregnant girlfriend in a frenzied knife attack in New Zealand after she told him the baby was not his was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday.

The man, who goes by the single name Akash, displayed "cruelty, brutality and callousness" in murdering 22-year-old Gurpreet Kaur, Auckland High Court judge Matthew Palmer said.

The judge said the pair were secretly dating for 12 months but Akash, 24, snapped on April 7 this year when Kaur told him the baby was not his and she wanted to end the relationship.

High on methamphetamine, he stabbed her 29 times and dumped the body in roadside bushes south of Auckland.

He initially pleaded not guilty, arguing the stab wounds were self inflicted, but admitted his guilt in August, four months after being arrested.

Palmer said the fact that Kaur was 7 to 10 weeks pregnant exacerbated the crime and made her death even more painful for her family.

"Not only did you murder Gurpreet Kaur and deprive her family of her existence, but you deprived her and her family of the potential of another life," the judge said.

Akash was sentenced to life with a minimum of 17 years behind bars.
Nirbhaya's mother says that the strength and determination of Nitish Katara's mother to get justice for her son's killers is an inspiration for her in her struggle to get her daughter's killers punished.

By Shashank Shekhar: They are mothers united in pain. The mother of Nirbhaya, the 2012 Delhi gangrape victim, says she always drew inspiration from the grit of Neelam Katara for her long drawn battle to bring his son's killers to justice.

NITISH KATARA VERDICT GIVES HOPE TO NIRBHAYA'S MOTHER

The Monday verdict in the Nitish Katara murder case has given hope to Nirbhaya's parents who are also engaged in legal struggle to ensure their daughter's killers get duly punished. Nirbhaya's mother has now sought help and guidance of Katara, describing it as a "request from one grieving mother" to another.

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"We have been closely observing the Katara case. And after the Supreme Court's verdict on Monday, I called Neelamji in the evening and sought her support," Nirbhaya's mother told Mail Today.

She said Neelam Katara is not a judge who can convict any accused but only a mother who can feel the pain of another mother. "We saw her (Neelam Katara) strength and determination in her fight against the mighty. Similarly, we want her support in getting justice for our daughter," she said.

NIRBHAYA CASE INTENTIONALLY GETTING DELAYED?

Nirbhaya's parents believe that their case is being intentionally dragged on even as the Supreme Court had on April 4 begun final hearing of the appeal of the convicts - Akshay, Vinay Sharma, Pawan and Mukesh.

They had challenged their death sentence awarded by the Delhi High Court in the Supreme Court.

"The case is in the fast-track court but it is taking so much time. We fear the case will be further delayed. But justice delayed is of no use. With passage of time, the accused have no fear and other rape victims also lose hope. Delaying conviction means supporting criminals," Nirbhaya's mother claimed.

NEELAM KATARA EXTENDS SUPPORT TO NIRBHAYA'S FAMILY

On her part, Neelam Katara extended her support to Nirbhaya's family. "After the Supreme Court's judgment, I got a call from Nirbhaya's mother. She is happy for me and even sought opinion for her daughter's case which is still pending in the Supreme Court. I just asked her never to lose faith and patience," Katara said.

Neelam is now planning to lead a campaign for a stringent law on 'honour killing'. "Our youth must have the right to choose. This monstrosity in the name of protecting the family's prestige is destroying women's lives. It is rampant not just in north, but in south India as well," she said.

THE NIRBHAYA GANGRAPE: WHAT HAPPENED

Six persons, including a juvenile, had sexually assaulted Nirbahaya in a moving bus in south Delhi in December 2012. Later, the accused threw the victim and her male friend at an isolated spot. Nirbhaya died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012, triggering nation-wide protests that resulted in giving more teeth to laws related to rape and other forms of sexual harassment.

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The trial court had in September 2013 awarded death sentences to the convicts. Six months later, the Delhi High Court upheld their conviction and sentence.

All the convicts moved the apex court in 2014, which stayed their execution.

Two of the four death row convicts in Nirbhaya's case had written to Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and Justice Deepak Misra, stating that they do not accept the defence counsel appointed by the court to argue their case as they had given statements against them to the media in the past.

Also read:

Why Nitish Katara's murder marked the collapse of Yadav empire

They abducted him, beat him to death and burnt his body: All you need to know about Nitish Katara case

Nirbhaya rapist sparks intel alert, Police suspect juvenile in touch with Islamic radicals



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JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's air force is holding its largest military exercise this week, near some of its islands in the South China Sea, in a show of sovereignty over the gas-rich area on the fringe of territory claimed by China, officials said on Tuesday. President Joko Widodo in June launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defense facilities around the Natuna island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats. China, while not disputing Indonesia's clams to the Natuna islands, has raised Indonesian anger by saying the two countries had "over-lapping claims" to waters near them, an area Indonesia calls the Natuna Sea. "We want to show our existence in the area. We have a good enough air force to act as a deterrent," said Jemi Trisonjaya, spokesman for Indonesia's air force. More than 2,000 air force personnel were taking part in the two-week long exercise, which includes the deployment of Indonesia's fleet of Russian Sukhoi and F-16 fighter jets, he said. Other branches of the Indonesian armed forces are not taking part in exercise, which ends on Thursday. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. While Indonesia is not part of the dispute over claims in the South China Sea, it objects to China's inclusion of waters around the Natuna Islands within its "nine-dash line", a demarcation line used by China to show its claims in the sea. (Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Robert Birsel)
JAKARTA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia may give mining companies a further three to five years to complete smelter projects before banning mineral exports, the country's mining minister said on Tuesday, amid government discussions of revisions to rules on the sector.

Miners that have not built smelters within five years could have their permits revoked, minister Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters.

"We will provide an opportunity to companies building smelters, in the form of a relaxation in stages, in accordance with progress on smelter development," Pandjaitan said. "They will also have to pay an export tax that we will impose in stages according to their smelter development progress."

The change would be a potential breakthrough to miners like U.S. giant Freeport McMoRan Inc., which under existing rules would not be allowed to export copper concentrate beyond January 2017.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Richard Pullin)
* Companies may get up to 5 years to complete smelters

* Govt aiming to be "as fair as possible" -minister

* Smelter industry rejects proposal to allow nickel ore exports (Recasts, adds details on changing smelter policy)

By Fergus Jensen and Wilda Asmarini

JAKARTA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia is finalising an overhaul of its mining rules that could give companies up to five more years to build smelters, and reopen exports of nickel ore banned since 2014, the country's mining minister said on Tuesday.

The proposed changes provide a way around a 2017 deadline for full domestic processing of mineral ores, potentially pushing completion of that aim to 2022, but also possibly undermining investor confidence.

"We will provide an opportunity to companies building smelters, in the form of a relaxation ... in accordance with their smelter development progress," Mining Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said.

Miners that fail to build smelters within five years could have their mining permits revoked, Pandjaitan said.

Present rules would stop miners of copper, zinc, lead, manganese and iron from exporting concentrates after January 2017, after which only shipments of processed metals will be allowed.

The proposed change could be a breakthrough for miners such as U.S. giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc, for whom it would avert a stoppage of copper concentrate shipments from the giant Grasberg mine in Papua in far eastern Indonesia.

A Jakarta-based spokesman for Freeport did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter, but Indonesia's largest copper miner has previously said it was confident the government will not push ahead with the 2017 deadline, as the move could harm the economy.

NICKEL ORE POLICY

The government is also looking to possibly change rules on nickel ore with a 1.8 percent metal content, "because no one can process it domestically. Perhaps we will consider exporting it," Pandjaitan said.

Nickel companies have said they fear the rule changes could weaken metal prices, undermine confidence in the newly budding smelting industry and risk up to $12 billion in investments.

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The Philippines took the crown as the world's top nickel ore exporter after Indonesia banned nickel ore shipments, and now accounts for around one-quarter of the world's mined nickel supply, most of which is shipped to China.

But Indonesia has found compensation in shipping pig iron to China, India and other buyers, and this industry now worries that resuming ore exports could undermine the prices for such semi-finished and refined metals.

"Actually no one supports there being ore (exports) any more," Jonatan Handojo, executive director of Indonesia's main smelter industry association, told Reuters.

Overturning the ban would go against the wishes of most participants in Indonesia's nickel industry, Handojo said.

He dismissed a "handful" of companies, such as Indonesian state miner Aneka Tambang, which hope that Indonesia will again open up nickel ore exports to prop up income and support financing for smelter investments.

EXPORT TAX?

As part of the overhaul, the finance ministry is working on a progressive export mineral export tax, to be imposed in stages according to how far companies have advanced with their smelter development, Pandjaitan said.

Further details of this and the mining overhaul are expected within weeks, Pandjaitan said.

"There is no way we can satisfy everyone, but we are trying to be as fair as possible, and to act in the interests of the government, the people of Indonesia and investors in that sector," he said.

Indonesia's growth cooled to its slowest in six years in 2015, partly as a result of weaker returns from commodities, and the government has been rolling out new measures this year to re-energise the economy and boost its revenues.

Nickel prices hit a seven-week high of $10,900 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange last week, after the Philippines intensified its environmental crackdown on nickel miners.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Tom Hogue)
From ELLE DECOR

Actress Emmy Rossum, who plays the frequently frazzled Fiona Gallagher in Showtime's Shameless, grew up on the East Side of Manhattan, but until recently, she had never had a place of her own in New York. When she came to the city, she stayed with her mother, photographer Cheryl Rossum, in the apartment in which Emmy grew up. But all that changed when the popular actress bought a one-bedroom co-op in a prewar building near the East River. And while she liked the vibe of the place, it needed work- so much work. She dubbed her new home the "pied-a-teardown."

Rossum contacted ELLE DECOR to ask for help, and the magazine agreed to pitch in. The magazine suggested several designers, and she chose Brooklyn-born Antonino Buzzetta, whose signature style is a modern-minded take on traditional glamour. ELLE DECOR then arranged for some of the best home-furnishings manufacturers in the business to sponsor the transformation as partners and benefactors, including Kallista, Circa Lighting, Rocky Mountain Hardware, and Ann Sacks, with accessories to be provided by Horchow.

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

The living room of actress Emmy Rossum's New York City apartment, which was decorated by Antonino Buzzetta, has armchairs by Aerin Lauder, a sofa by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, a 1940s Maison Bagues cocktail table, and an antique Persian rug; the bench is upholstered in a Colefax and Fowler velvet, and a photograph by Emmy's mother, Cheryl Rossum, and a Josef Albers lithograph are positioned on the 19th-century Louis XVstyle replace, which Rossum and her mother found in Paris.

What Rossum wanted, she told Buzzetta, was "chic, European, the look of a modern girl who has inherited her grandmother's stuff. I wanted it to have a young energy, but with old-fashioned touches," she says. Her own taste is radically different from her mother's. Her childhood home, she reports, was white and gray with low-slung Italian furniture, a streamlined environment with virtually no decorative accessories.

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Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

Chairs by Bernhardt upholstered in fabrics by Cowtan & Tout surround a dining table by Baker; the photographs are by Irving Penn, the large ceramic pot is from Horchow, the chandelier came from Rossum's house in Los Angeles, and the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Ammonite.

Buzzetta's goal for the 800-square-foot apartment was to evoke the era in which it was built, in 1928, with architectural details that look as if they might be original, but with a more loftlike floor plan and savvier style. His immediate assessment was that the pied-a-teardown was just that: It had good light, but it needed gutting. "You walked in," he remembers, "and there were doors everywhere, doors to closets so small you couldn't fit anything into them." Additionally, the kitchen was cut off from the rest of the apartment, the ceilings had been dropped, the dining area was lined in bookcases, and "there was a lot of red."

Photo credit: Alison Gootee/Studio D

The dining area before the renovation.

After working out the plan with Rossum, Buzzetta unleashed a demolition crew last December. When the sawdust settled, he says, "the only thing left was the floor"-and he even considered replacing that. Stripping out original white-oak herringbone floors, though, seemed unnecessary and expensive, so they decided to keep what they had and darken the wood. The dropped living room ceilings came down, of course, and beams went up, creating space-expanding coffers with deep moldings painted a dazzling white. You wouldn't guess it on first glance, but everything in the apartment is new.

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

In the living room, a Christopher Spitzmiller lamp on a bar cart from Mecox; the photograph is by Cheryl Rossum, and the picture light is by Circa Lighting.

Not even the antique fireplace is original. Rossum and her mother bought it at the Marche aux Puces in Paris. "We FedExed it back to New York," says the actress. "It was amazing that it showed up perfectly packaged and absolutely ne a week later. I love the idea that I have a replace from a trip to France I took with my mother. It's so sentimental and nice. If I ever move, I'll have to rip the replace out and take it with me."

One of the apartment's great selling points for Rossum was the living room's wall of iron-framed casement windows. "We had the same kind of windows when I was growing up," she remembers, although nearly 90 years of paint and grime had rendered these only minimally operable. So they were taken out and sent off to be refurbished. "It was a wall of cardboard for a few weeks," says Rossum, acknowledging that the cost was ridiculous. "I mean, maybe I could have gotten in there with Windex and a toothbrush," she imagines. Yet some things are worth the money. "The wall of windows was way more expensive to restore than to just buy a new one," says Buzzetta, "but keeping something original to an old building is fantastic. It's a great architectural feature. It has history, and now it actually works. In a lot of New York apartments, you can't even open the windows."

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

In the kitchen, the range and hood are by Bertazzoni, the cabinets are by Scavolini, the antique runner is from Stark, and the photograph is by Roger Mayne.

The kitchen was fitted with new custom cabinets by Scavolini that hide the refrigerator, dishwasher, and washer/dryer. The apartment's one small bathroom was completely lined with marble. Buzzetta designed a bathroom vanity topped by a thick slab of Calacatta Borghini marble and with an undermounted stainless steel sink. In the grayish-blue bedroom-the one room not painted a neutral-the closets were given a custom treatment by the Container Store that make them as efficient as the galley of a yacht.

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

The custom vanity has ttings by Kallista, the walls, sink, and floor are lined in Ann Sacks marbles, the medicine cabinet is by Robern, and the sconce is by Circa Lighting.

Both the living room and the bedroom are anchored with decorative rugs, the one in the living room an impressively large and detailed antique Persian. "We brought in tons of rugs," says Buzzetta. "Because the colors are so rich, and they change all the time with the light, you have to see them in place to know if they work." "It's the same reason you paint samples of different colors on the wall," Rossum says. "You have to see them."

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

The bed by Baker is fitted with a mattress by Custom Comfort Mattress and dressed in Frette linens, the sconce is by Circa Lighting, the chest is by Henredon, and the rug is from Stark; the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Parma Gray.

Construction and decoration took about seven months, and although many a homeowner is driven mad by the renovation process, Rossum embraced it. "I really liked the construction aspect of it," she says, "taking down the walls, solving problems. It can make you want to pull your hair out, but there's an amazing sense of accomplishment." She was so enamored of the process that her contractor put up live-feed cameras so she could watch the work progress in New York when she had to go back to California. And she's not afraid to do it again: "I'm hoping one day to gut a townhouse. That would just be the ultimate."

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

The custom closet is by the Container Store, and the door hardware is from Rocky Mountain Hardware.

WHAT THE PROS KNOW

 Nothing gives instant glamour to a dining area like a crystal chandelier, and Rossum just happened to have a spare. "It was in my place in Los Angeles when I bought it, but the fixture wasn't right for the house, so I put it in storage. I knew I'd find a spot for it eventually," she says. Buzzetta had it cleaned and rewired and gave it a new canopy. He offset the baroque exuberance of the chandelier with clean-lined furniture. Forgoing a rug for the dining area had an additional modernizing effect.

Photo credit: Alison Gootee/Studio D

 Rossum wanted easy access to her casement windows, so traditional curtains were out of the question. Buzzetta chose a white-on-white silk from Cowtan & Tout for Roman shades, which are soft but not fussy. The subtle floral pattern of the fabric further mitigates the strict geometry of the window frames. In the bedroom, he kept the Roman shades even simpler with a plain off-white linen but added blackout roller shades behind them and stationary curtain panels in a Cowtan & Tout stripe for extra luxury.

Photo credit: Joshua McHugh

 Rossum had her heart set on a dark wood kitchen, but she didn't want the room to seem oppressive or heavy, so Buzzetta tore down a wall and created a breakfast bar. He made the space appear larger by limiting the number of finishes: To complement the ebonized Scavolini cabinets, he chose Caesarstone in a light neutral, using it for both countertops and backsplashes. The designer had no problem pairing brass pulls by Katonah Architectural Hardware with the stainless finishes of the Kohler faucet and Bertazzoni range and hood. "Mixing metals is a much more relaxed approach," he says.

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LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - European shares advanced in early trading on Tuesday, with British testing company Intertek Group leading the market higher after a broker update while Deutsche Bank further recovered after recent steep losses.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.6 percent by 0717 GMT, while Germany's DAX, which resumed trading after a holiday on Monday, was up 0.5 percent.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1 percent to 7,056.77 points - its highest level since the middle of 2015 and the first time it had breached the 7,000 point level since that period.

Deutsche Bank rose around 2 percent to a two-week high. Its shares had slumped to a record low on Friday before bouncing back on expectations of a swift deal with U.S. authorities over a multi-billion dollar penalty.

HSBC said that despite Deutsche Bank's obvious operational shortcomings, fears over the bank's solvency were overdone.

However, HSBC cut its target price for the bank, forecasting challenging conditions for the banking environment and adding that Deutsche Bank might lose revenues due to the short-term lack of confidence.

Shares in Intertek rose more than 4 percent, the top gainer in the STOXX 600 index, after Jefferies raised its stance on the stock to "buy" from "underperform" and lifted its target price to 4,300 pence from 3,000 pence.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
By Sumeet Chatterjee

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Canada's Sun Life Financial Inc plans to expand into Singapore and Thailand as it looks to boost its presence in Asia where demand for insurance products is growing fast, a senior company executive said.

The insurer, which has made a flurry of takeovers in Asia in the past three years, will consider acquisitions as well as building its own presence in the two markets, Kevin Strain, president of Sun Life Financial Asia told Reuters.

Sun Life, which hopes to benefit from Asia's burgeoning middle class in markets such as China and India, has not yet set any timeline for the proposed expansion, he said.

Sun Life currently operates in seven Asian markets including China, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and Malaysia. A move into Singapore and Thailand would significantly bolster its presence in Southeast Asia.

"These are two markets and potentially we will look at them," Strain, who is responsible for Sun Life's business interest in Asia and is a member of the company's executive team, said. "It's a sizeable opportunity."

Southeast Asia is a battleground for foreign insurers who are attracted by the region's lower insurance penetration levels and faster growth rates for life insurance premiums than in their home markets.

Singapore, as a regional financial centre, provides an opportunity to sell products to high net worth clients, while Thailand, with a population of about 66 million, will give Sun Life access to a large pool of potential buyers, Strain said.

Major insurance players in Singapore include Great Eastern Holdings and Manulife, which signed a deal in May with DBS Group Holdings to sell products through the lender's Asian branch network.

Sun Life took full control of its Indonesian business earlier this year, while sources in July said the Canadian firm and Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional were in talks to buy the insurance business of Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd.

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A number of insurers were also considering bids in May to buy at least 49 percent of the $3 billion insurance unit of Thai lender Siam Commercial Bank, sources said.

Strain declined to comment on individual transactions, but said Sun Life continued to look for takeover opportunities in Asia, although he noted some targets have become expensive.

Sun Life's Asia unit accounted for 15 percent of underlying net income in the quarter ended June this year, up from 11 percent a year ago, according to a presentation on its website.

(Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in Singapore; Editing by Richard Pullin)
I will now fight for a law on honour killing.Young people must have a right to choose, says Neelam Katara (Photo: Parveen Negi)

By Baishali Adak: Nitish Katara's mother has a smile on her face. After all, she has won a 14-year-long battle to bring his killers to justice.

Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal will serve 25 years in prison each, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday. Relaxing in her 7, Chelmsford Road, bungalow after the morning hearing, Neelam Katara said she was satisfied. A life-size portrait of Nitish, taken just before his 23rd birthday, hangs on the wall behind her.

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"I am glad," says Neelam. "The Supreme Court has finally given me a sense of closure. For over a decade, I spoke to only lawyers and pored over legal documents. Now I think I can attend weddings and functions without having to check the court calendar."

WHAT HAPPENED TO NITISH?



Nitish, 25, was kidnapped and burnt to death in 2002 in Uttar Pradesh in a so-called honour killing case. The management graduate was dating Bharti Yadav, the daughter of politician and UP strongman DP Yadav. The couple was at a wedding when Nitish was taken away by Bharti's brother Vikas and cousin Vishal. His charred body was found three days later.

READ: They abducted him, beat him to death and burnt his body: All you need to know about Nitish Katara case



"This is probably the first time that the Supreme Court has gone so far as to extend the limit of a life sentence from 14 to 25 years in an honour killing," said Neelam. "I am happy that the court realised the gravity of the crime, that it was not committed on an impulse but was a preplanned, premeditated move."

'NEED FOR A STRINGENT LAW ON 'HONOUR' KILLING'



The Yadav bothers' aide, Sukhdev Pehalwan, has been sentenced to 20 years, upholding the Delhi High Court's verdict of 2015. Neelam now plans to lead a campaign for a stringent law on "honour" killing. "Our youth must have the right to choose. This monstrosity in the name of protecting the family's prestige is destroying women's lives. It is rampant not just in north, but south India as well."

Romantic liaisons across castes and religions often lead to violence towards couples in India. The attacks are frequently carried out by close relatives or village elders to protect what is seen as the family's reputation and pride in a hereditary-based societal system.

MOST LAWMAKERS, PARLIAMENTARIANS ARE CORRUPT



In 2011, the Supreme Court said those involved in such killings should face the death penalty. An upset, but not bitter, Neelam had remarks for the country's criminal justice system as well. "An aam aadmi is made to suffer - physically, emotionally and financially - in his or her quest for justice. Our lawmakers, the parliamentarians, are mostly corrupt and goons.

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The police do not know what to do, and the courts are overburdened with cases. How does one get through?"

'DIDN'T WANT THIS TO BE ANOTHER JESSICA LAL CASE'



In her journey, Neelam says she learnt lessons from other highprofile criminal cases running alongside. "I saw how the Jessica Lal murder case (of 1999) went off-track and realised the importance of going to each court hearing. I could not rely on anyone. I told myself I will not let this (Nitish's murder) be another No One Killed Jessica." Senior advocate, Kamini Jaiswal, was her only confidante and helped her get the case transferred from Ghaziabad to Delhi in 2002.

"I could not have done it without her," said Neelam, "Lawyers were not willing to appear in Ghaziabad court. An army full of goons from the Yadav side would come daily for the hearings, bearing big guns. I would get threatening calls and letters saying, 'Aapko aur aapke pati ko izzat se bete ke paas pahuncha diya jayega' (We will send you and your husband to your son). They slapped a Rs 20 crore defamation suit on Public Prosecutor, BS Joon."

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A LONE MOTHER'S FIGHT



Within 18 months of Nitish's murder, his father, who worked for the Indian Railways, died. "At one time, I was all alone with only the media pushing my case," said Neelam. "My husband passed away from Motor Neuron Disease in 2003, and my other son, Nitin, had to move to France."

But now she's crossed the river and emerged a brave, victorious woman. "It is one thing to pass an order against them, but another to implement it," she cautioned.

She had filed several RTIs on their hospital visits when they were in Tihar as well. Over 14 years later, what does she have to say about the woman who his son loved, albeit fatally. "The maximum delay in the case was caused by Bharti's disappearance, for three years. I am disappointed with my son. He could have chosen a better girl for himself," she complained, adding, "That's because, my son would have never backed out on a friend."

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ALSO READ | No honour killing in Nitish Katara case, Yadav brothers won't hang: Supreme Court

ALSO READ | Katara murder: SC upholds conviction of Vikas, Vishal Yadav



--- ENDS ---
(Adds Zanganeh, NIOC official comments)

By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Tuesday signed a new-style, less restrictive, output contract with an Iranian firm, a long-awaited template for contracts it hopes will tempt back foreign investors and boost production after years of sanctions.

"The oil ministry welcomes cooperation with all companies that can ... help boost Iran's output," the ministry's official website SHANA quoted Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying after the deal was signed.

"The first new model contract, the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), to develop the second phase of Yaran field also an EOR (enhanced oil recovery) and IOR (improved oil recovery) contracts for Koupal oil field were signed with Persia Oil & Gas Industry Development Co. (POGIDC) today," SHANA reported.

Zanganeh said Iran will sign more IPC contracts by March 2017, but declined to give details. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said NIOC will sign the second IPC contract on Wednesday.

"Iran needs more than $100 billion investment to develop its oil sector  We welcome cooperation with all companies ... that can provide capital and the latest technologies for recovery enhancement," state TV quoted Zanganeh as saying.

SHANA said that the value of the contract signed on Tuesday is worth $2.5 billion. The Yaran oil field is in southwest Iran, near the Iraqi border.

After reaching a landmark nuclear deal with six major powers in 2015, sanctions imposed on Tehran were lifted in January. OPEC member Iran seeks to raise its crude output to pre-sanction levels of 4 million barrels per day (bpd).

"Iran's crude oil production capacity must reach 5.2 to 5.7 million bpd in the future," SHANA quoted managing director of NIOC, Ali Kardor, as saying on Monday.

MORE ATTRACTIVE TERMS

Iran, which needs foreign investment to develop its aging fields, has been trying to sweeten the terms it offers on oil development contracts to attract foreign investors deterred by years of sanctions.

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Hardline rivals of Iran's pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani have criticized the IPC, which ends a buy-back system dating back more than 20 years under which foreign firms have been banned from booking reserves or taking equity stakes in Iranian companies.

Oil majors have said they would only go back to Iran if it made major changes to the buy-back contracts, which companies such as France's Total or Italy's Eni said made them no money or even incurred losses.

Oil prices fell nearly one percent on Tuesday on news that Iran and Libya have continued to increase production, overshadowing an OPEC agreement struck last week to freeze output levels in a bid to stem a two-year price rout.

Zanganeh said the cooperation between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers would play an important role in stabilizing oil prices.

"The situation is getting better ... the market reaction to last week's decision has been positive ... Non-OPEC oil producer countries can help oil price stability," the minister said.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, editing by Louise Heavens and William Hardy)
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said "victory is near" as he pledged to recapture Mosul from jihadists, in a radio address to residents of the city on Tuesday.

It was the first such address by Abadi, though it was unclear how many residents of Mosul, which was seized by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014, heard his remarks, as the jihadists have sought to limit communication with the outside world.

"Today we are close to you, and you are close to us, and victory is near, with God's help," Abadi said, according to a copy of his remarks distributed by his office.

"Today we are advancing and tomorrow we will be victorious together, and then we will work together to bring back life and services and stability to every city and village," he said.

Abadi also called for Mosul residents to cooperate with Iraqi security forces, and said that: "You are today closer than any previous time to being rescued from the injustice and tyranny and cruelty of (IS)."

Iraq has not announced a specific time for the start of the operation to retake the city, but various Western officials have indicated it could begin this month.

But even after the operation is launched, a coalition of heterogenous and sometimes rival forces will have to fight their way to the city -- in some cases over distances of dozens of kilometres (miles) -- and then surround it before launching an assault.

The operation may also precipitate a major humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning up to one million people could be displaced.

Before fleeing the city, the hundreds of thousands of residents of Mosul will also be at extreme risk of being caught in the crossfire as IS and Iraqi forces clash, and could be held as human shields by the jihadists.
Santa Maria Del Cedro (Italy) (AFP) - There's less than a month to go until the Jewish festival of Sukkot, and New Yorker Hershel Mann is feeling the heat under the broiling sun of southern Italy.

Beads of sweat trickle down cheeks framed by greying sidelocks as Mann, a Hassidic Jew, turns a lime-green citron fruit over and over.

Finally, he delivers his verdict. "It's a nice shape, it's clean, it's a good size: it's kosher!"

Orchard owner Angelo Cava smiles as he looks on in vest and shorts. Citrons that pass muster for Sukkot sell for around 10 euros ($11) apiece, more than 10 times the rejects destined for processing into candied fruit, jams, soft drinks and anti-ageing cosmetics.

The next "etrog", as the fruit is called in Hebrew, does not make the grade.

"No buono," says Mann, pointing to a handful of tiny black spots that indicate that this citron has been nibbled by an insect and is therefore deemed unclean.

"The Bible tells us that the Sukkot fruit has to come from a beautiful tree," Mann explains.

"We have learned that this means the citron and, for us, the best come from Calabria."

- Expensive business -

The annual descent of dozens of rabbis, their trained assistants and other ultra-Orthodox Jews on this southern region has become a pilgrimage of sorts, one with roots in centuries of shared Italian and Jewish history.

Notoriously hard to grow, the fragrant citron is one of four symbolic plants (along with palms, willow and myrtle) held while saying prayers during Sukkot, which begins this year at sundown on October 16.

Translated into English as "Feast of the Tabernacles", the week-long festival celebrates the unity of the Jewish people and the biblical account of their escape from slavery in ancient Egypt to the promised land via 40 years in the desert.

Mann could pass for a diamond trader as he studies another newly-picked citron with a magnifying eyepiece.

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And like the gems business, there can be big money involved -- with the best Calabrian etrogs changing hands for as much as $2,000-$3,000 in New York in the run-up to Sukkot.

In London, a top price would be around 600 ($780/695 euros) but a shortage this year could push that higher, according to one dealer who was happy to share some tricks of the trade anonymously.

"I grade them 1-4," he said. "Some of the 3s and the 4s might not be a perfect shape or have some slight blemish. But it is a selling thing, you need them to sell the best ones.

"People want the best. It's God's fruit, if you buy his fruit, He will be good to your fruit (children)."

- Labour of love -

Samuel Ekstein, a member of the Satmar branch of Hassidic Judaism, sells cameras in Manhattan when he is not in Italy sourcing citrons.

"It is a hard business," he says.

"Sometimes you have a good year, good fruit and you can sell them all. Sometimes you have problems and you don't have good fruit. What happens is, you (will have) lost all your money. It all depends on God. If he wants you to make money, if not, you know... it's a risky thing."

According to local expert Francesco Fazio, an ex-mayor of Santa Maria del Cedro, Calabria's production of citrons dates back to the arrival of the first Jews in Italy more than 2,000 years ago.

A community has survived in Rome continuously since then but Jews were expelled from Calabria in the first half of the 16th Century as Spanish rule brought the anti-Semitism of the inquisition to southern Italy.

"The community was destroyed but they left many markers, including the Eastern method of farming," Fazio said.

Citron growing dwindled generally but survived along the Riviera dei Cedri thanks to the favourable coastal micro-climate.

"An irreplaceable local culture has been passed down from father to son," said Fazio.

"Through sacrifice and despite poverty, a piece of history has been preserved for humanity."

Local farmer Alessandro Farace says growing citrons is a sometimes painful labour of love.

"It is not an easy fruit to grow. And the needles can really hurt you. It's very delicate and now with climate change, there seem to be more insects that attack it.

"You have to have a passion for it. But it is our tradition and if we stopped doing it, where would they get their citrons from?"

- Not from Israel -

Calabria's citrons used to reach Jewish communities worldwide via wholesalers in Genoa -- until some curious rabbis visited Calabria in the 1950s. To their horror, they discovered much of the fruit being produced from hybrid citron/bitter orange trees.

"The Torah asks us to pray on a citron," says Shimon Lahiany a Jerusalem-based "mashgiach" -- a rabbi or authorised supervisor of kosher food production.

He has been coming to Calabria for 20 years now on behalf of his Chabad (Lubavitch) sect.

"A grafted citron can be better for the farm, but we are not allowed to bless it for the simple reason it is no longer a citron," he said.

Grafted trees usually have a giveaway bulge on the trunk. "But sometimes it's under the ground -- you need people who have had the rabbinical training to spot them."

Kosher citrons are also produced in large quantities in Israel and Morocco. But for some Hassidics, buying produce from Israel is not an option.

"We believe the Jewish people are not allowed to (form) a nation before the Messiah comes," explains Ekstein.

"So we don't take from Israel something we need for a holy (purpose)."
LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Italian government bond yields rose on Tuesday after Rome announced late on Monday that it had selected a group of banks to manage the sale of its debut 50-year bond.

Italy, which could sell the bond as early as Tuesday, joins other euro zone countries including Spain and France that have locked in historically low rates to sell ultra-long debt this year, markets news service IFR reported.

The country's 10- and 30-year bond yields rose around 5 basis points to 1.28 percent and 2.31 percent , respectively, according to Tradeweb.

Yields tend to rise ahead of bond sales as investors make room in their portfolios for the new debt.

(Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Atul Prakash)
A generation ago, many people would have scoffed at the notion that a half-Taiwanese, half-Japanese woman  going by her Chinese-sounding first name Renho  could become the leader of Japans main opposition party. Japanese society, after all, is famously male-dominated and highly homogeneous, and it prizes Japanese blood. But in September, Renho Murata became the first woman and the first person with partial foreign ancestry to lead the Democratic Party, winning the election in a landslide.

Murata had a distinguished broadcast journalism career before entering politics, then winning widespread admiration as a bureaucrat-bashing cabinet minister. Where did that 4 billion yen go? she asked one squirming bureaucrat in a televised broadcast on public waste. Whats wrong with being No. 2? she told officials seeking funding for the worlds No. 1 supercomputer. Her triumph caps a remarkable two months in which Japan has seen the election of Tokyos first female governor and the appointment of a female defense minister, only the second woman to hold that position.

This summer was also a landmark for the growing ranks of mixed-ancestry Japanese  known by the rather fraught term haafu, meaning half. In September, Priyanka Yoshikawa, of partial Indian descent, was crowned Miss Japan, one year after a woman of mixed Japanese and African-American heritage, Ariana Miyamoto, was chosen to represent Japan in the Miss Universe contest. Such firsts indicate that many Japanese are now willing to embrace the idea that these women can be the face of Japan.

The past 20 years in Japan, a period of economic stagnation often mourned as the lost decades, may in fact have turned out to be a productive period of quiet social change, in which Japanese were forced to re-evaluate notions of ethnicity, gender, and hierarchy.

The triumvirate successes of female politicians offer a glimmer of hope in a country which flunks in almost all measures of gender equality. Japanese women hold 10 percent of seats in the nations parliament and just 2.1 percent of board of directors seats; in France, women hold 30 percent of board of directors seats, and 20 percent in Canada and the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Japans gender wage gap  about 27 percent at median earnings  discourages women from building careers after marriage. And although Murata sends a strong signal on the virtues of a more ethnically diverse Japan, the numbers show slow progress here as well: Foreigners represent less than 2 percent of the Japanese workforce, compared with a European average of 10 percent and 16 percent in the United States.

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Yet Japan desperately needs higher economic participation of women and immigrants to reignite its stagnant economy and overcome a demographic crisis of rapid aging and sagging birthrates. For 20 years, Japan has grappled with a three-headed economic monster of corrosive deflation, standstill growth, and the worlds highest public debt, an estimated $7.6 trillion, or the equivalent of 16 years of tax intake.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abes radical policies of quantitative easing and structural reform, dubbed Abenomics, have failed to make a dent in any of the three problems. Meanwhile, the combination of a dismal fertility rate (1.4 births per woman) and the worlds highest life expectancy, 83.7 years, means Japan is sitting on a demographic time bomb. Fewer working-age adults exist to contribute to the economy but must also support a growing number of the elderly.

That means getting more women into the workforce is urgent. Only 38 percent of women remain in their jobs after having a baby, according to the OECD, due to heavy social expectations placed on mothers and a dearth of child-care centers. Its a problem intertwined with a reluctance to let outsiders into the country. Labor costs are high in Japan, making child care and nannies far beyond the economic reach of many families. Japan has only recently begun relaxing rules on allowing in domestic workers from countries like the Philippines, who could help provide lower-cost child care as they do in Singapore and Hong Kong. Murata managed to climb the political ladder as a working mother of twins. But for millions of Japanese women, she may seem more a glamorous daydream than a true role model  somebody one admires but can never hope to emulate.

Still, the gender and ethnic breakthroughs that Japan witnessed this summer are evidence of real, if modest, social evolution  wrought in part, perhaps ironically, from Japans economic woes. Japans lost decades can also be read in some ways as gained decades of quiet social maturation, a period in which Japan shed the arrogance of its giddy economic ascent and became more globally aware and racially tolerant and far less beholden to patriarchal norms. Young people experienced greater freedom in choosing partners, instead of accepting arranged marriages, and in vocational choice. In the high-flying 1980s, for example, it was still taken for granted that young Japanese would take over the family business. It was after the 1990s collapse, as many family firms began to go bust, that these expectations rapidly eroded, leaving young people fewer assurances but greater flexibility to pursue new options.

After the bubble collapsed, a new class arose of young Japanese known as freeters  who, deprived of the promise of a guaranteed job after college, staked out in bold and creative ways to build identities outside the rigidities of salaryman and office lady culture. In his book Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival, former Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling gives this colorful description of a Japanese freeter, a 20-something wearing the hats of social scientist and IT start-up founder: [H]e was  like the androgynous creation of a manga comic, a dashing, slightly effete young wizard.

These changes have helped pave the way for ethnic and gender acceptance. Japan simply feels like a better, hipper, more tolerant  even more self-assured  country than during the wild 1980s, when high-octane arrogance was a mask for deep insecurity regarding the outside world. Back then, the haafu were either put on a pedestal  the eternal new kid in town, to borrow from an Eagles classic  or bullied mercilessly. These days, mixed-race children are treated much more like ordinary Japanese, often blending seamlessly into social situations rather than sticking out.

That greater degree of acceptance likely saved Muratas candidacy after controversy broke out over her citizenship. Japans right-wing press revealed that Murata had kept her Taiwanese passport  in contravention of Japanese law  despite public statements that she had relinquished it at age 17 when she gained Japanese citizenship. But according to a Kyodo News poll, 66.5 percent of respondents viewed the nationality issue as no problem. The vast majority of Japanese remain uncertain about immigration, but the scales are shifting toward more openness: A recent WIN/Gallup poll showed that Japanese who favor immigration outnumber those against it  22 percent to 15 percent  with 63 percent saying they were unsure.

Social changes have been quite dramatic, said Koichi Nakano, a leading Japanese political scientist in an interview with Foreign Policy. Negative attitudes toward women or Japanese of mixed ancestry are much less pronounced. Last year, according to the Justice Ministry, foreign permanent residents reached a record 2.23 million. Thats hardly impressive in a nation of 127 million. But the figure represented a 72 percent increase from 1995. Similarly, although Abes womenomics campaign to increase female economic participation may be faltering, even relatively modest measures such as creating more nurseries have borne fruit: A program to add roughly 700,000 child-care facilities contributed to a 4 percent rise in female employment since late 2012, according to the OECD.

The changes are not happening overnight, but I can see the changes happening, said Gerhard Fasol, the CEO of Eurotechnology Japan, a Tokyo-based mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. Fasol was appointed to the board of a Japanese technology company after the government issued guidelines in 2015 for corporations to name independent directors. There are still only about 250 foreign board directors like Fasol, but the appointment of even a few foreigners to police Japans clubby and opaque corporate leadership is something of a revolution. In a rapidly globalizing world, these companies are in need of internationalization and diversity, Fasol said. This means global input from many different nationalities and more women at board level. Its a welcome sentiment, and clearly theres great room for improvement.

Murata, new Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, and Defense Minister Tomomi Inada are only three additions to a government and society still run overwhelmingly by men. A thicket of factors  including political factionalism, entrenched vested interests, and a shrinking population  conspires against sudden revolutionary change. But these leaders arent just window dressing. They represent Japans steady, progressive, and profound change that may surprise the world by laying the groundwork for a bright, inclusive future  even in an aging economic power.

Image credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An apparent gas explosion and fire leveled two New Jersey homes and sent five firefighters to the hospital with minor injuries on Tuesday, officials said.

Firefighters responded to reports of a strong gas odor emanating from a multi-family home in a neighborhood of Paterson, a city about 20 miles northwest of Manhattan, at 9 a.m. local time, Paterson Fire Chief Michael Postorino said at a news conference.

"They could hear the gas hissing out" when they arrived, Postorino said. "They did a rapid evacuation as safely and effectively as they could."

About 20 minutes after the initial gas leak reports, the building exploded and burst into flames, he said.

Five firefighters suffered minor injuries in the incident and were being evaluated at a local hospital, Postorino said. There were no immediate reports of fatalities or other injuries.

In addition to the two destroyed homes, about 15 buildings were damaged in the blast or fire, he said.

Aerial footage of the scene showed pieces of plywood, window frames and charred building debris strewn across nearby lawns and sidewalks as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Leave it to Jessica Alba to make a major mark on Fashion Week without even stepping foot on a runway.

The 35-year-old actress was practically glowing as she made her way to Paris Fashion Week events on Sunday, looking red hot in not just one but three different looks.

WATCH: Jessica Alba Opens Up About the Tattoo She Got After Breaking Up With a 'Famous Actor'

Our favorite of the bunch was a funky take on traditional preppy pieces. Alba paired an Oxford shirt -- which already screamed whimsy with its over-sized cut, feathered embroidery, and bell cuffs -- with a red lace midi skirt while attending the Valentino show, where she had a front row seat. She accessorized with a studded, quilted black handbag from the designer and killer open-toe booties, then finished off her look with bold red lips and old Hollywood waves.

Getty Images

We were delighted by the gorgeous Valentino skirt, and Alba clearly was too, twirling around in it alongside her pal, Kelly Sawyer.

Giving @maisonvalentino a twirl #pfw  w @kellysawyer A video posted by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on Oct 2, 2016 at 5:59am PDT

Red was clearly the actress' color of choice while in the City of Light. For the fashion house's afterparty, Alba stunned in a low-cut crimson dress with butterfly sleeves that gave off high-fashion-meets-bohemian vibes, which truly is her m.o. A similar look was seen on the runway of that day's Resort 2017 show. She returned the part of her hair to the middle, but rocked the same bag and shoes from earlier.

REX/Shutterstock

Earlier in the day, the mom gave a hint of what fiery fashion was to come as she walked around the Le Marais quarter of Paris in a patterned dress, black cardigan, and matching ankle booties.

GC Images

RELATED: Marion Cotillard Debuts Her Baby Bump at Christian Dior Show During Paris Fashion Week

The Sin City star even continued the trend the next day, wearing a maroon sundress with a blush Vince sweater while shopping at Kenzo on Monday.

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Always love coming into @kenzo #pfw thank u @humbertotoo n Carol for hooking me up with the coolest fashions in all the land.  A photo posted by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on Oct 3, 2016 at 10:51am PDT

We think Alba always looks stunning, but she admits that there have been some faux pas over the years. Find out which beauty trend she regrets trying in the video below.

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By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - People who are worried about losing their jobs may be more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, according to a new analysis. Compared to people who felt secure in their jobs, people who were experiencing so-called job insecurity had a 19 percent higher rate of new cases of diabetes, which researchers called a "modest increased risk." The study can't prove that job insecurity causes diabetes. Still, said lead author Jane Ferrie, "In an ideal world, the sort of thing Id like to see come out of this study is a reduction in job insecurity and an increase in secure job contracts and reasonable wages." About one in 10 adults have diabetes, according to the World Health Organization. Most have type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body cant make or process enough of the hormone insulin. For the new analysis, Ferrie, of the University of Bristol and University College London in the U.K., and colleagues compiled data from 19 studies involving a total of 140,825 adults in the U.S., Australia and Europe who were employed and diabetes free when they enrolled in the studies. At the outset, participants were asked if they were afraid of losing their jobs in the near future. Depending on the study, from 6 percent to 40 percent of respondents said yes, they did fear for their jobs. Over the next 10 years, on average, the annual rate of new diabetes cases in the studies ranged from about 9 for every 10,000 participants to about 85 for every 10,000. People who reported job insecurity at the beginning of the study were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes during the follow-up period, after taking age and sex into account, according to the report in CMAJ. When the researchers restricted their analysis to the 15 studies with data on factors other than age and sex that might influence a person's risk, job insecurity was still tied to a 12 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with diabetes. The new analysis fills a gap, Ferrie and colleagues suggest. Job insecurity has already been linked with higher body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight in relation to height. Past studies also found that people experiencing job insecurity had an increased risk of heart attacks and deaths related to heart problems. A high BMI is one risk factor for diabetes, which in turn is a risk factor for heart disease. Job-related stress can cause people to overeat and overindulge in other unhealthy behaviors, and stress hormones can directly promote weight gain as well, all of which could contribute to increased risk for diabetes. Individuals shouldn't be too concerned about the findings, however, since the study looked at diabetes risk across a large group of people, Ferrie told Reuters Health. "This is not going to tell any individual about their risk." "We need a population health approach and to reduce people's exposure to job insecurity," she said. But the new study is something to keep in mind for people facing job insecurity - especially people who are already at high risk for diabetes, such as men and women who are overweight and women who temporarily developed diabetes while pregnant, said Edwin Torres, of Montefiore Health System in New York City. "This is a phenomenon Ive seen as a provider and in the literature," said Torres, who was not involved with the new study, but is a nurse practitioner completing his PhD on the subject at Binghamton University in New York. "If you lose your job or have job insecurity, make sure you're exercising," he said. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2dCZfYZ CMAJ, online October 3, 2016.
Two nuns at Italy's Catholic Church fell in love during a mission and decided they wanted to be together for the rest of their lives.

The nuns want the church to be more accepting. (Image for representational purposes only). Photo: Reuters

By India Today Web Desk: In what can be referred to as something rather unique, two former nuns who met during a mission, fell in love and married each other in Italy.

Reportedly Federica from Italy, and Isabel, from South America fell for each other at a drug rehabilitation centre almost three years back--and as they say, rest is history.

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Having dedicated their lives to the service of mankind, Federica and Isabel soon developed strong feelings for each other during the mission and decided they wanted to be together.

Also Read: Gay couple wins custody battle against daughter's surrogate mother, who said they weren't a 'legitimate' couple

A former priest Franco Barbero who was "also was excommunicated from the church due to his support of gay marriage" recently shared the story of Federica and Isabel with Italian newspaper, La Stampa.

"They got to know each other slowly, and discovered they had deep feelings. They are two marvellous people, with very deep faith. They reflected for a long time and took the decision courageously, knowing it wouldn't be accepted," Franco was quoted as telling La Stampa.

While same-sex marriages were made legal in Italy only recently, the Catholic Church continues to maintain a firm stand against homosexual unions--something Federica and Isabel want it to get rid off.



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Who do you think is worse at blending in at a college party: actor Adam Devine or Vice President Joe Biden?

Thanks to Funny or Die's latest video, we now know that its a toss up  both are hilariously bad at being undercover.

But after some shenanigans at the party, the two reveal why they went there in the first place  to address sexual assault on college campuses.

Vice President Biden and Adam Devine Go Undercover from Funny Or Die

SEE ALSO: Joe Biden spoke about ending the rape kit backlog on 'Law & Order: SVU' last night

"One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted by the time they leave college, and we can all work together to change that," Biden said at the party.

"It's on all of us to change the culture and prevent sexual assault."

Biden then encouraged all the partygoers to pledge their, "personal commitment to help keep women and men safe from sexual assault," on ItsOnUs.org, where students can sign the following pledge:

Biden addressed a related issue on Law and Order last week  he appeared as himself on the show to advocate for ending the rape kit backlog.

Biden and Devine aren't the only influencers to recently point out that college campuses are a key place to prevent sexual violence. Emma Watson's recent speech at the UN addressed the issue of sexual assault on college campuses as well.

Click here to sign the #ItsOnUs pledge.
From Esquire

Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) is a Civil Rights icon and a Mt. Rushmore-worthy American hero. At the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, Lewis marched fearlessly into the maws of the Jim Crow South, through angry, racist mobs and truncheon-wielding state troopers, armed with nothing more than the courage of the righteous and unconditional love in his heart. Lewis shed his own blood to shame this country into living up to its founding promise that "all men were created equal." This remains a work in progress.

At 76, he is the last man alive who spoke at the March On Washington in 1963. He is the last of the so-called Big Six-the six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement shepherded by Martin Luther King Jr.-and as such he is the closest thing we have to an American Gandhi still standing. Two weeks ago, Lewis was awarded the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, the cradle of American democracy. Previous recipients include the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Muhammad Ali.

His remarkable journey from chicken-tending son of a sharecropper to 15-term United States Congressman is told in a gripping 600-page three-part graphic novel called March. The trilogy documents Lewis' central role in the white knuckle saga of the Civil Rights struggle-fraught with intolerable cruelty, daily indignities, appalling ignorance, and unspeakable violence-which is bookended by the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2008. March does not sanitize the brutal realities of the struggle, nor does it shy away from spelling out the N-word, which was hurled at Movement activists with shocking regularity by everyone from JFK-appointed federal judges on down to toothless backwoods Dixie thugs. "We wanted to make sure the story was told in an accurate and unflinching way," says Nate Powell, who illustrated March.

Photo credit: Getty

March does for the Civil Rights struggle what Art Spiegelman's Maus did for the Holocaust: shine a light on the darkest corners of the history of the 20th century-when the human race collectively realized it had reached the outer limits of its own humanity and stepped back from the abyss-rendering it knowable, and thereby unrepeatable, for children of all ages, in perpetuity. The second installment of March won the Eisner Award, which is like the Pulitzer Prize of comic books, and the just-published third and final installment has been nominated for the prestigious National Book Award. To date, school districts in over 40 states have adopted March as part of their core curriculum. Going forward, every 8th grader in the New York City school system will read March as part of their study of American history.

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The kernel of the idea for March came from Lewis' youngest aide, Andrew Aydin, a self-described comic book nerd who worked his way up from the mail room to become the congressman's policy advisor and digital director. When the idea was first broached by Aydin in 2008, it was scoffed at by senior members of Lewis' staff. But Lewis was intrigued. "Don't laugh," he said, pointing out that as a young man he was inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement by a comic book called Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story. "I read the Martin Luther King comic and started studying the way of peace, the way of love, the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, and I finally said yes to Andrew, if he did it with me," Lewis told me.

From the beginning, the intent of March was to use Lewis' inspirational life story to try and solve The Nine Word Problem. "The vast majority of students graduating from high school only know nine words about the Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and I Have A Dream," Aydin says. "Our goal was to defeat The Nine Word Problem because you can't understand the politics of today without understanding the Civil Rights Movement."

Lewis has proven to be an effective and enthusiastic evangelist for March, routinely traveling to readings on weekends with Aydin and Powell to far-flung mom-and-pop comic books stores across the country. This summer at Comic-Con in San Diego, he donned a raincoat and backpack like he wore that infamous day in 1965-when he marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and an Alabama state trooper cracked his skull open-and led a merry march of conventioneers, zigzagging in between befuddled furries and trekkies and bronies. A few weeks ago on Late Night With Stephen Colbert, at the typically ludicrous behest of the titular host, Lewis crowd surfed over the heads of the audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

"It's been an unbelievable ride, really, to see the response, the reaction of people all over America," Lewis says. "It's important for our young people and generations yet unborn to know what happened and how it happened, how we've made the progress that we've made. The story of the Civil Rights struggle is the story of America."

Below are six pages from the the third and final installment of March, including new insights from Lewis.

Photo credit: Nate Powell

"When I see the people that react to Donald Trump's words at those rallies, I see the same look in their eyes that I saw [in the eyes of Sheriff Clark and his posse]-a look that says, 'you're not a part of us, you're not a part of the American family, you come from someplace else.' When Trump talks about building a wall, to lock certain individuals out, people rallied. They screamed and yelled. It reminded me of some of the rallies that I saw on television for [infamous racist/segregationist Alabama governor] George Wallace during the '60s. It makes me somewhat sad. I thought for many, many years that our country had become much more hopeful, much more optimistic, and we had come to a place where we saw unbelievable changes. I've said over and over again that we have witnessed what I like to call a nonviolent revolution in America during the last 50 years, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas. I think the Trump campaign is trying to take us back to another place, another time, and we've come so far, made so much progress, I don't think we can afford to go back. We have to go forwards, and continue to be what Dr. King called 'the beloved community,' where we lay down the burden of division, the burden of hate, and create an American community at peace with itself."

Photo credit: Nate Powell

"In the early 1960s, black people in the American South lived in constant fear, they were afraid. There were people afraid to come to the mass meetings, to come to the rallies, so we had them in the churches where people felt safe, we heard people saying, 'People are meeting in the church, it must be alright.' Then they started burning down the churches, but people still came out. Those of us, as part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the core of the young people, the students, we lost that sense of fear. I know I lost that sense of fear, and we didn't know when we would be beaten, when we would be left bloody and unconscious. They would single out the white participants for especially brutal treatment because they saw them as betraying the white race. On the Freedom Rides, on the march from Selma to Montgomery, we were prepared to die for what we believed in. We wrote our wills in case something were to happen to us. We didn't know whether we'd return or not."

Photo credit: Nate Powell

"After LBJ became president, he became deeply committed to the cause of Civil Rights. He said, and he felt, that he had a moral obligation to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed as a living memorial to President Kennedy. He did everything possible to bring together a bipartisan coalition to pass the Civil Rights Bill and he did. I've just been trying, for more than 50 years, to help. When I was growing up, as the book points out, I didn't like what I saw in rural Alabama. I didn't like what I saw when I visited Montgomery, Tuskegee, Birmingham. I didn't like what I saw as a student in Nashville. But I heard about Martin Luther King, I heard his words on the radio, I heard about Rosa Parks. I read the little comic book that sold for 10 cents, that Dr. King helped edit, and it inspired me to find a way to get in the way. When I was a boy I'd ask my mother, ask my father, ask my grandparents, when I saw WHITES ONLY water fountains, why is it like this? And they said that's the way it is, don't get in the way and don't get in trouble. But Rosa Parks and Dr. King and the Little Rock 9, who were about my age, inspired me to get in trouble, what I call 'good trouble,' 'necessary trouble,' and I've been getting in trouble ever since."

Photo credit: Nate Powell

"Over the years, I heard from [Shirley MacLaine] and I would see her from time to time at different social events, during political campaigns, and at the Democratic conventions. She was deeply committed to the Civil Rights Movement and to peace and a world at peace with itself. The Hollywood celebrities were welcomed into the movement with open arms. People were glad, and pleased, to see Hollywood personalities marching with us to the march on Washington and coming to the South to lend their support, their visibility, and coming to march with us from Selma to Montgomery."

Photo credit: Nate Powell

"The violence that I received, the beatings, the harassment, that happened to me, I lived to survive. Many others that were beaten, wounded, or shot and killed, they gave up their lives. I just gave a little blood here and there. I don't have nightmares or bad dreams about what happened. I'm very blessed, not just lucky, that I made it through all that. I do not know the name [of the Alabama State Trooper that fractured my skull at the Edmund Pettus Bridge]. I didn't have any contact with any of the troopers after what happened. None of them ever expressed any regret to me about what they did that day."

Photo credit: Nate Powell

"Looking back on the last eight years, I believe President Barack Obama did as much as he could. He spoke out and he tried to lead the nation. He faced a tremendous amount of opposition deployed against him by the Republican Party. The very evening of his inauguration, the congressional Republican leadership met in their office in the Capital and said they would not cooperate with him. They would not support any of his proposals or legislation. They would make him a one-termer."

Courtesy of MARCH: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. Copyright  2016 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, used by permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.

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Jordin Sparks, Ali Landry, Kate Walsh, Zachary Levi and a host of other celebrities raised money Friday night at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel in support of Operation Smile, a charity that provides free surgeries for children and young adults in developing countries who are born with a cleft lip, a cleft palate or other facial deformities.

Prior to the dinner that culminated the gala, cocktails were served to the celebrities, guests and donors. The red carpet, which was graced by Brooke Burke-Charvet, Evan Ross and Craig T. Nelson in addition to the previously mentioned named stars, was rolled out just before the entrance to the main ballroom.

Paintings and drawings by Picasso, Matisse and Salvador Dali, among others, were displayed in designated areas. Each work of art had an accompanying price tag, with the money from each purchase going toward Operation Smile.

The event also included dinner, speeches and a performance by Jordin Sparks. Zachary Levi, most known for his role as Chuck Bartowski in NBC's Chuck, received the Corporate Humanitarian Award for his work with Nerd Machine, a company he founded. Comedian Whitney Cummings was honored with the Smile Award.

Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by plastic surgeon Dr. William P. Magee and his wife, Kathleen.
A federal judge ruled Friday that telling a police officer you're coming from "near Colorado" can be considered suspicious and used to justify an extended traffic stop.

That answer was offered by Jesse Burcham in May 2015 when he was pulled over by a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officer for speeding and allegedly weaving.

The officer said he considered Burcham's response suspicious and sufficient grounds to extend the stop, call for backup and request a search of the vehicle.

Police say they found 12 kilogram-sized packages of cocaine under the rear of the car, but Burcham's lawyer asked that the evidence be suppressed.

U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson found reasonable suspicion of additional criminal activity existed, however, to allow for an extended traffic stop, and that the subsequent search -- to which Burcham consented -- was constitutional.

Analysis over whether reasonable suspicion existed to prolong the initial traffic stop did not address Colorado's legalization of marijuana under local law, but focused on the officer's claim that the imprecise location for a trip origin was unusual.

"Officer Jenkins testified that he considered this response to be peculiar, stating, 'because most people that I ask that, they may give a big city. They may say, 'I'm coming from near Baton Rouge or coming from near Houston,' but never near a whole state,'" the ruling says.

Judge Jackson wrote that seemingly untruthful answers such as Burcham's "peculiar answer about his travel plans" can justify an extended stop, as can his allegedly "elongated responses" indicative of nervousness.

Prosecutors had offered a third justification for extending the stop beyond its original mission, but failed to convince the judge that Burcham saying he was unarmed -- despite also saying he worked private security -- contributed to reasonable suspicion.

"The Government does not cite any case law in which the absence of a firearm, under these or similar circumstances, justifies an officer's reasonable suspicion," Jackson wrote.

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After extension of the roadside stop, Burcham consented to a search of the vehicle. Fresh tool marks on screws alerted officers to an aluminum box under the car, at which time Burcham was placed under arrest and read Miranda rights, before the box was opened.

The search was determined to be voluntary and constitutional by the judge, who also found there was probable cause to justify the arrest when the hidden container was found.

It's unclear if Burcham's legal team will seek to overturn the decision. Defense attorney Jimmy Manasseh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Steven Nelson is a reporter at U.S. News & World Report. You can follow him on Twitter or reach him at snelson@usnews.com.
Julian Assange has said that WikiLeaks will be releasing documents significant to the U.S. election in the build up to the Nov. 8 vote.

His claim came in a speech he gave via a video link from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to a news conference in Berlin marking the whistleblowing groups 10th anniversary, the Wall Street Journal reports.

As well as documents relating to the election, Assange said the website plans to publish information relating to Google, war, arms and oil, every week for the next 10 weeks. The first leak is expected to come within the next few days.

WikiLeaks released a batch of Democratic National Committee internal emails in July that led to the resignation of a number of officials including the chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The leak came just as party delegates convened to nominate Hillary Clinton as the Democrats candidate for president.

Then in August, Assange threatened an October surprise  a news event deliberately timed to influence an elections outcome  that could damage Clintons presidential candidacy. He told Fox News that his information was significant and said that the leak would include unexpected angles.
There is probably nobody in the world with less sympathy for Deutsche Bank than me. The German financial conglomerate was at the heart of the mortgage meltdown in 2008, and its penchant for wrongdoing has continued relatively unabated since. But in the past couple of weeks, Deutsche has become collateral damage in a dishonest public relations strategy by Justice Department officials trying to pose as tough-minded law enforcers.

The trouble started Sept. 15, when DoJ revealed an opening bid to settle claims that Deutsche Bank had packaged toxic loans into mortgage-backed securities without informing investors about their poor quality. The price tag: $14 billion.

Related: The Worst Banks in America (Wells Fargo Isnt Even No. 1)

Thats about $8 billion more than Deutsche set aside to deal with legal issues, and the difference would force the bank to raise equity to maintain required capital standards. Shareholders feared that an equity sale would dilute their value. The stock price, at 100 euros a share as recently as 2007, plummeted to around 10; half the value has eroded just this year. Hedge funds began to pull billions of dollars from the bank. Credit default swaps, basically insurance against Deutsche Banks default, soared in price. With short sellers circling, the word bailout began to be thrown around. Many made comparisons to the run on Lehman Brothers that collapsed the investment bank in 2008, though more informed sources urged caution.

The whole crisis was predicated on a series of misimpressions, driven by what has become a sad substitute for financial crisis accountability. To summarize: The numbers the Justice Department announces for bank settlements over mortgage abuses dont come close to the number the banks actually pay. Financial reporter Yves Smith calls the discrepancy the bullshit to cash ratio.

The headline value typically includes a host of non-cash penalties that dont materially affect the banks bottom line. They all feature consumer relief, which can mean principal reductions for distressed borrowers, but also bulldozing of homes to reduce blight, donations of homes to charity, or even commitments to lend to low- and moderate-income families, which I guess is positive but is also a moneymaking opportunity; Ive compared it to sentencing a bank robber to opening up a lemonade stand.

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Related: The Deutsche Bank Saga Proves We Havent Fixed Too Big to Fail

In this case, Deutsche Bank doesnt own most of the loans it would be asked to modify, meaning that it will pay the penalty with someone elses money. And things like charity or anti-blight efforts represent routine actions that banks engage in anyway.

Yet when the Justice Department announces fines, the media focuses on the headline number, regardless of the different components used to arrive at it. So a $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase only cost the bank $5 billion in cash payments to the DoJ; the agency grafted on an unrelated $4 billion Federal Housing Finance Agency settlement to get the higher number. Citigroups $7 billion settlement cost only $4.5 billion; Bank of Americas $16.65 billion settlement cost $9 billion; Goldman Sachs $5.1 billion settlement cost $3.3 billion. And all these banks could deduct non-cash portions of the penalty from taxes as an ordinary business expense, lowering the total even more.

In other words, when the Justice Department threatened Deutsche Bank with a $14 billion fine, that was only for the papers. DoJ merely wants to bathe in the glory of sticking it to the big banks, without actually doing so. Deutsche Banks problem was that investors bought the number games, and the subsequent market frenzy buried the banks stock. Even though Bloomberg on Friday dropped the rumored headline number to $5.4 billion, and Deutsche Bank stock soared, no deal has yet been made, and that uncertainty sent the stock lower again on Monday.

Related: Germany's Merkel Cannot Afford to Bail Out Deutsche Bank

Instead of elaborate maneuvering to elevate fines, the Justice Department could actually do its job of prosecuting individual criminals, which wouldnt send investors into a tizzy wondering about Deutsche Banks capital reserves, but which would actually hold somebody responsible.

Mind you, Im not weeping for Deutsche Bank. German officials are right to scoff at the bank for decrying heavy speculation in tanking the stock, when speculation is Deutsches very business model. One of the reasons the proposed mortgage settlement has taken such a toll is that its just one of a series of investigations into Deutsche Banks practices that will likely cost money. Other probes cover efforts to assist Russian oligarchs in tax evasion and a spate of market manipulations that damaged Italys third-largest bank. Theres a reason the International Monetary fund labeled Deutsche Bank as the most important net contributor to systemic risks in the global financial system.

However, I cannot help but note the Justice Departments sudden burst of backbone when it comes to foreign banks relative to domestic ones. Only foreign banks have been forced to plead guilty to criminal offenses, and fines have been relatively harsher for financial institutions headquartered outside America. DoJ didnt even know about the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal until right before the $185 million regulatory fine, even though reports circulated in the media three years ago. Those lapses dont seem to happen with foreign banks.

Related: Deutsche Bank Admits 'Perception Issue' as Shares Slide

The Justice Department is even trying to add foreign banks Credit Suisse and Barclays to Deutsche Bank in an omnibus mortgage settlement designed to generate a bigger headline number, strategically timed to drop right before the presidential election. Even some German officials have accused the U.S. of waging economic war through the disproportionate fines.

The simple way to reach a cease-fire in this war is for foreign banks to stop breaking the law. Nevertheless, the whole episode speaks to the need for the nations top law enforcer to renew understanding of its actual role. The Justice Department is not a debt collector or a tool of foreign policy. Its primary mission is not to confuse newspaper editors into printing over-inflated numbers to show off its strength. Its a law enforcement agency, with plenty of tools to punish crimes without triggering global shocks. It should start acting like one.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Donald Trumps campaign has often dispatched his unflappable, stick-to-the-script running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, for damage control operations after the Republican nominee has made controversial remarks about the military.

Pence may find himself in a similar role during Tuesdays vice presidential debate after Trumps latest flap, in which he suggested veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, are not as strong as other soldiers in combat and cant handle it.

His remarks at a town hall event Monday for veterans set off a storm on social media, with some retired soldiers expressing incandescent rage that Trump would imply that those who experience trauma-related aftereffects are weaker than those who do not. The Trump campaign, and some sympathetic vets, insisted the presidential candidates remarks were taken out of context.

For active-duty soldiers in uniform, their families, and those who have served since 9/11, questions about PTSD, national security, and defense spending are not abstract issues but deeply personal. That goes for the two vice presidential candidates facing off in their first and only debate Tuesday in Farmville, Virginia. Pences son, Michael, is a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaines oldest son, Nathaniel, is a Marine infantry officer.

Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton have been relying heavily on their running mates to make their commander-in-chief case for them in key swing states with sizable military communities, including in Virginia and North Carolina.

Clinton currently leads Trump in both states, by 8.2 points in Virginia and by little more than a percentage point in North Carolina, according to a Real Clear Politics average of two-way polls. She leads by 3.8 points nationwide in a head-to-head matchup. Despite Clintons slight edge on national security issues in the polls, Trump has significant support among the military community, and both campaigns are fighting hard for their votes.

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With neither Trump nor Clinton having served in uniform, both Pence and Kaine often refer to their sons service in order to give their argument a powerful emotional punch. Pence, however, is accustomed to having to try to reassure audiences in the wake of Trumps often inflammatory, provocative comments.

In August, as Trump continued to spar with the family of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq and said getting a Purple Heart from a veteran supporter was easier than having to earn it on the battlefield, Pence described himself on the campaign trail as the proud father of an active-duty Marine. He praised the sacrifices of the best military on earth, which he said had been squandered by Clinton and President Barack Obama.

At Mondays event in Virginia, Trump was asked by a member of the audience about mental health options for veterans, and the Republican said more help was needed. But he also offered his own explanation for why some veterans experience PTSD and others dont.

When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and youre strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people cant handle it, Trump said.

And they see horror stories, they see events that you couldnt see in a movie  nobody would believe it, he continued. We need a mental health help and medical. And its one of the things that I think is least addressed, and its one of the things that I hear the most about when I go around and talk to the veterans.

His remarks split the veteran community, with some blasting Trump while others criticized media coverage of his comments, according to the Military Times.

The Trump campaign later sent out a statement by the audience member who asked the question, Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, the president and founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation in Temecula, California, who called it sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trumps comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda.

But Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Beau served in the military and was deployed to Iraq, lashed out at Trump for what he called his profound ignorance. How can he be so out of touch? Hes not a bad guy. But how can he be so out of touch and ask to lead this country? he said in an interview with CNN.

The episode adds to a growing list of controversies on military topics for the tycoon-turned-reality TV star. Early in his campaign, Trump said Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a prisoner of war in Vietnam who was subjected to abuse and torture, was not a hero, though Trump himself received several medical deferments that allowed him to avoid the draft. He has implied he would fire all of the top military brass because he said they are not worth listening to, though hes also suggested he would put generals in the top echelons of his administration. And Trump repeatedly cites an incorrect statistic for suicide among veterans, as he did again Monday.

Kaine often reminds voters of Trumps remarks  as well as the Republican nominees other controversies and gaffes on foreign policy  to make the case that Trump doesnt have the temperament or experience to be commander in chief.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate is likely to seize on the latest controversy during Tuesday nights debate. And he also will likely focus on recent reports that Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for up to 18 years, that Trump may have broken the law by reportedly doing business with sanctioned Cuban and Iranian organizations, and why Trump keeps up personal and public attacks on women  including a former Miss Universe.

For his part, Pence is expected to portray the Iran nuclear deal  which Clinton has endorsed  as a disastrous agreement that will allow Tehran to build up its power in the Middle East. And he probably will repeat accusations that the Obama administration has failed to invest in the military and that Clinton cannot be trusted to protect Americas interests abroad or stand up to the countrys adversaries.

Whatever the issue, both vice presidential picks will be eager to refer to their sons in uniform to connect with military voters and their families.

In his first speech as Clintons vice presidential pick, Kaine linked questions about Trumps knowledge and credibility on foreign policy with his own sons military service.

Citing Trumps suggestion that he might pull the United States out of NATO and his friendly stance toward Russia, Kaine said in July that his son would deploy to Europe shortly to uphold Americas commitment to our NATO allies.

For me, it drives home the stakes in this election, he said.

Photo credit: MANDEL NGAN, SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
By Samonway Duttagupta: When it comes to diversity in the kind of destinations, India lies somewhere lies somewhere at the top of the list. In fact, there are so many destinations, that a lifetime is not enough to explore each one of them. Where you choose to travel, depends totally on the kind of traveller you are--if you are someone who likes to check out the popular tourist destinations, then you are likely to have a handful of options only. But if you are someone, who likes to take the road less travelled, you are always in the lookout for destinations that give you the chance to explore and discover things most people haven't.

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We bring you a list of destinations that are underrated, yet have plenty to offer to a traveller. Which one would you go to?

Osian village, Rajasthan

If you are planning to visit Rajasthan and feel that you are done with the same old forts and palaces of Jaipur, here's another part of the colourful state you must explore sometime. The Osian village is located in the Jodhpur district and acts as a pleasant surprise in the form of an oasis in the middle of the Thar desert. As a traveller, you would be amazed by the centuries of history and finesse in ancient architecture displayed by the heritage temples here, which were built between the 8th and 11th centuries.

Picture courtesy: Facebook/Good Idea - All The Best Collection

Haflong, Assam

The only hill station in the verdant state of Assam is a place a traveller must never miss out on. A place known for soothing weather conditions and picturesque views around, haflong happens to be at the centre of the Dima Hasao district. In fact, when you visit the Haflong Lake, you would want to spend hours by its side soaking in the serenity around. If you are a foodie, don't miss out on the local liquor and a delicious local preparation of pork.

Picture courtesy: Facebook/Haflong A Small Hill Station

Also see: Gul Panag's road trip to the Northeast will inspire you to travel with your girl gang!



Tarkarli, Maharashtra

Beach lovers would understand that it's not always a nice feeling to be surrounded by too many people when you are at a beach. After all, you don't want the chatter of a crowd and the sight of waste at a beach you want to spend some quality time on. Thank God for Tarkarli, one of the most non-commercialised beaches in the country. Located in the Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra, the place is known for pristine waters and a beach that displays the best of natural beauty.

Picture courtesy: Facebook/Konkan the Wonderland Picture courtesy: Facebook/Konkan the Wonderland

Chaukori, Uttarakhand

Most likely, you have never heard about this place. But this is one place where you can actually do a digital and mental detox. Chaukori is a quaint hamlet perched within the depths of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. All you can do here is sit with a cup of your favourite beverage and enjoy panoramic views of the majestic Panchachuli massif and other Himalayan ranges at the distance, while enjoying a soothing breeze pass by you at all times.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/cm.upadhyay

Lepchajagat, West Bengal

When you visit Darjeeling, the home of tea estates, try and squeeze out a day or two for the neighbouring village of Lepchajagat. Very few people know about this place--it's a small settlement on the way to Mirik from Darjeeling, and is quite easy to miss. Located at a distance of 19 km from Darjeeling, Lepchajagat is surrounded by lush green woods and offers unmatched views of the Kanchendzonga peak.

Picture courtesy: photos.wikimapia.org Picture courtesy: photos.wikimapia.org

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Dholavira, Gujarat

Easy to miss, yet hard to ignore--that's what Dholavira is. Located close to the popular tourist destination of Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, this is one destination where a traveller can explore some significant history of the human race. Believed to be larger than the Indus Valley Civilisation, the ruins of this place date back to the pre-historic times. If not anything, this place will make you think hard.

Picture courtesy: Facebook/Oracion Debilidad De Cristo

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Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence. (Photos: Chuck Burton/AP, Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

FARMVILLE, Va.  Sen. Tim Kaine will attempt to tap into his inner attack dog and try to corner his rival, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, into defending Donald Trumps most controversial comments Tuesday night.

Jen Palmieri, communications director for the Clinton campaign, predicted there would be fireworks at the only vice presidential debate this cycle. Gov. Pence should expect that Sen. Kaine will push him on comments the Trump campaign should answer for, she said. Well see if he is willing to embrace some of the more controversial and insensitive comments Donald Trump has made or [if] he [will] be more concerned about protecting his own credibility.

The debate comes after a bad week for Trump, who stumbled during his first matchup against Clinton last week and has since fallen in the polls.

Pence, an establishment-oriented Republican politician who served in Congress and now as governor of Indiana, doesnt always agree with his outsider running mate. Hes distanced himself from Trumps conspiratorial claim that President Obamas birth certificate is fraudulent, his stance on human activity not affecting climate change, and Trumps admiration for Russian President Vladmir Putin, whom Pence called evil.

But in another interview, the governor was asked if he believed former Ku Klux Klan leader and Trump supporter David Duke is deplorable, Pence said he did not want to engage in name-calling. That moment could come up in Tuesday nights debate.

The Clinton campaign released a web video ahead of the debate that makes the argument Pence is equivalent to Trump.

Meanwhile, Kaine is putting his own civil rights record front and center during the matchup to argue that the Clinton campaign stands for inclusion while the Trump campaign represents exclusion. He invited the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Henry Marsh, the first black mayor of Richmond and leader in school desegregation efforts, as his guests. Kaine also invited Okianer Christian Dark, a woman he represented when he was a lawyer in a housing discrimination case, and a gay couple who fought to overturn Virginias ban on same-sex marriage.

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Jackson told Yahoo News civil rights should be a focus of the debate, but that theres no need to get into a debate about whether Trump is a racist. I think thats a diversionlets focus on policy differences because that will determine the course of our country.

Karen Finney, Kaines spokeswoman, told reporters that Kaine spent the hours before the debate touring the nearby Moton Museum, the student birthplace of the civil rights movement.

Finney said Kaine is prepared for Pence to be on the attack, since the Trump campaign wants to change the conversation away from the candidates 1995 tax returns and Twitter tirade against former Miss Universe Alicia Machado following the first presidential debate.

Theyve admitted theyve got to change the narrative, thats what we think Mike Pence is going got try to do, Finney said.

Tim Kaine supporters wave signs to passing motorists ahead of tonights debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Pence may take the opportunity to introduce topics that Trump didnt get to during his first debate with Clinton, such as emails showing Clinton Foundation donors seeking access to her when she was secretary of state and voters concerns over her trustworthiness. The Republican National Committee appeared to prematurely publish an article called Who won the vice presidential debate that said Pences top moments were highlighting HIllarys scandals and talking about the economy.

Another potential line of attack for Pence on Kaine is his general move to the left as Clintons running mate  the former Virginia governor used to describe himself as pro-life.

I think if Pence goes after Kaines self-described pro-life credentials, he could land a big punch, said Republican political analyst Liz Mair. Liberals are very uneasy with Kaines supposed pro-lifedom. And people who are pro-life, who may have heard that Kaine is, will not like his actual record if Pence notes it.

Whatever happens, the vice presidential candidates running mates will be watching. Trump has promised to live tweet the action, while Clinton will be watching from Chappaqua, N.Y. Well have to see how much Tweeting she does, Palmieri said.

Yahoo News political reporter Hunter Walker contributed to this report.
Rap superstar Kanye West late Monday rescheduled two tour dates after his wife, reality television celebrity Kim Kardashian, was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

West will no longer perform Tuesday in Philadelphia or Thursday in suburban Detroit "due to family concerns," promoter Live Nation said in a statement.

The rapper, one of the biggest draws in US live music, is scheduled to resume his arena-packing "Saint Pablo" tour on Friday in his hometown of Chicago.

West rescheduled the Philadelphia concert for December 13 and the Detroit area show for December 22, with previously sold tickets to be honored, Live Nation said.

Kardashian, one of the most identifiable US celebrities, was tied up and locked in the bathroom of her Paris hotel late Sunday by armed thieves disguised as officers, according to French police.

The 35-year-old mother of two, who was taking part in Paris fashion week, was robbed of jewelry worth $10 million.

West learned of the incident while performing in New York as the headliner of the new festival The Meadows and abruptly left stage mid-song.

The celebrity couple, who are hardly known as camera-shy, have not commented since the robbery and dodged reporters as they arrived Monday at a luxury apartment in New York.
Karlie Kloss in Moschino at a L'Oreal event. (Photo: Getty Images)

Karlie Kloss was the life-size Barbie that dreams are made of at a makeup launch for L'Oreal Paris during Paris Fashion Week on Monday.

Not only is the model tall, blond and near perfect, she also rocked an ensemble straight out of the Mattel dolls Dreamhouse closet.

The LOreal Paris brand ambassador wore a hot-pink skirted crop top with clusters of crystals on one hip and her opposite shoulder. The $2,895 Moschino shirt featured an asymmetrical neckline and one long sleeve, which had a puffy shoulder reminiscent of 1980s prom dresses. The other side of the shirt had a ponytail-like piece of material draping down her side, kind of like when we and D.J. Tanner used scrunchies to tie up one side of our shirts, but way more couture.

We swear, our Barbies had a shirt just like thatexcept it didnt cost a couple grand.

She paired the flashy shirt with cropped jeans and black pumps. Kloss accessorized with a matching sparkly ring and ear jackets. Wearing a fuchsia gloss that matched her shirt, she flirtatiously blew kisses to the camera. Je'taime!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's biggest bank group by assets KCB expects its return on equity to drop by four percentage points this year after lending rates were capped, although loans to customers will be ahead of target, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Last month, the government capped commercial lending rates at 400 basis points above the central bank's benchmark rate (CBR), now at 10 percent, sending shockwaves through the market and driving down bank share prices. CEO Joshua Oigara said return on equity (ROE) would slip to 21 percent in 2016 from 25 percent in 2015, but said it would still show a strong performance. "Where (else) do you get that kind of ROE for a financial institution in the world?," he said. Kenyan lenders enjoy higher ROEs than their counterparts in South Africa and Asia, both with an average of 18 percent, and single figures in Europe and the United States, Oigara said. The government said banks had enjoyed high profits on the back of excessive lending rates, and had ignored other pleas to rein them in. Experts said capping rates could mean small firms, deemed more risky, would no longer find lenders. The amendment to the banking act that introduced the rate cap also set the minimum deposit rate for banks at 70 percent of the CBR and Oigara said this would squeeze net interest margins. Oigara said KCB was offsetting the impact of the rate cap by lending more to its customers, adding that the bank expected to exceed a target of 13 to 14 percent loan growth in 2016. KCB also plans to raise the share of income from its digital banking business, mainly on mobile phones, to 50-60 percent in five years from less than 5 percent now, Oigara said. The group, which also operates in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan, is increasing capacity on its mobile banking platforms like KCB MPesa, operated with telecoms operator Safaricom, to handle more transactions. The bank will turn its digital banking business into a subsidiary, KCB Fintech, by January. Small loans issued on mobile phone-based platforms like KCB MPesa have gained popularity, with small traders borrowing the equivalent of a few dollars to purchase items to sell, and sometimes repaying the sum by the end of the day from their profits. (Editing by Edmund Blair/Keith Weir)
The plants capacity is increased to 2,310 tonnes per day.

Two years after the agreement pushing for the capacity upgrade of Senoko Waste-to-Energy plant was inked, Keppel Corp's infrastructure arm announced that it has completed the said upgrade ahead of deadline.

In a statement, Keppel Infrastructure Fund Management Pte. Ltd (KIFM) said it has completed the capacity upgrade of the said plant on September 1.

"The upgrade was completed earlier than planned and on budget," Keppel said.

The upgrade was announced in 2014 after Senoko Waste-to-Energy Pte Ltd entered into an agreement with the National Environment Agency (NEA) to progressively increase the capacity from 2,100 tonnes per day to 2,310 tonnes per day.

KIFM was tasked to upgrade six incineration units. he capacity payments from NEA was correspondingly increased with the completion of each incineration unit upgrade

"The upgrading works was carried out progressively and scheduled with the planned annual maintenance of each incineration unit so as to optimise the overall operational availability of the plant during the upgrading period," the group said.





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In his first public comments since the State Department announced it was ending talks with Russia over restarting the failed ceasefire in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry lambasted Moscow for enabling the chemical weapons attacks the regime of Bashir al Assad has unleashed on Syrian civilians.

Despite that, Washingtons efforts to come to a ceasefire agreement with Russia arent over, Kerry insisted Tuesday. But he put the onus squarely on the shoulders of Moscow about whether  or even if  the talks might start again.

In the meantime, Russia has moved to shore up its military position inside Syria, dispatching advanced air-defense systems over the weekend that are of little use against opposition forces or terror groups, but which offer a potential shield against any further U.S. intervention there.

The showdown in Syria comes as broader tensions between the U.S. and Russia have reached levels not seen since the Cold War, including several close calls where Russian warplanes have buzzed American warships and reconnaissance planes operating in international waters in the Black Sea, and amid allegations of Russian hacks on Democratic party servers and voter registration Web sites in over a dozen states.

People who are serious about making peace behave differently than the Russians have chosen to behave, he told an audience in Brussels before a series of meetings with European Council allies about Afghanistan.

Russia and the regime know exactly what they need to do to live up to international law, Kerry said. He added that Syrias five-year civil war has been made worse by the utter depravity of the regime, that doesnt hesitate to still use gas, chlorine, mixed with other ingredients to kill its citizens, that drops barrel bombs on hospitals and children and women.

Just this week, regime forces apparently used a bunker-busting bomb to attack a civilian hospital dug deep underground near Homs, and U.S. officials believe Russian and Syrian jets shot up a U.N aid convoy headed into Aleppo last month.

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Moscow has turned a blind eye to these tactics, Kerry said, which has left broken bodies, bombed out hospitals, and traumatized children in their wake.

Kerry called Russian President Vladimir Putins decision to prop up the Assad regime by unleashing its own bombing campaign last year irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised, insisting that Russia knows exactly what it needs to do in order to get that [ceasefire] implemented and in a fair and reasonable way.

The decision to call off the Syria talks comes amid reports that the Obama administration is considering taking military action against the Assad regime. On Monday Russian officials confirmed they had deployed the sophisticated, S-300 anti-aircraft system to protect its naval base at Tartus  but its range of 150 miles puts inland targets well within range, too. Last week, Moscow also sent more warplanes to its air base in Latakia, and confirmed that its sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is heading for the eastern Mediterranean later this year to begin flying sorties over Syria.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that the S-300 is strictly a defensive weapon, which led to some in the Pentagon to question who it is meant to defend against.

Last I checked the Russians said that their primary goal was to fight extremism, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said. ISIL and Nusra [now known as Jaish Fateh al-Sham] neither one has an air force, so I would question just what the purpose of the system is, he said, in reference to the Islamic State and to the al Qaeda branch in Syria.

Konashenkov also blamed the United States for the failure of the ceasefire, doubling down on prior claims that Western-backed opposition forces are mixed up with terrorists.

Its time for our American partners to publicly recognize that practically all Syrian opposition nurtured and controlled by them is an inalienable part of the al Qaeda, Konashenkov said.

Its a charge that Russia has lodged for months, and may have been partially answered Monday, when the Pentagon announced an airstrike that took out Jaish Fateh al-Sham leader Abu al-Farai al-Masri in Syria. Under the terms of the scuttled deal with Russia, the U.S. would have coordinated strikes against the radical group, but the Americans now look to be going it alone.

Photo Credit: Halil Fidan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
By David Brunnstrom and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday efforts to end Syria's war must continue despite Washington's decision to break off talks with Moscow over what he called its "irresponsible" support for President Bashar al-Assad. The United States on Monday suspended talks with Russia on implementing a ceasefire deal in Syria, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities. "We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said in a speech in Brussels. "We will continue to pursue a meaningful, sustainable, enforceable cessation of hostilities throughout the country  and that includes the grounding of Syrian and Russian combat aircraft in designated areas." Kerry accused Russia of turning a blind eye to Assad's use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs and suggested it was pursuing a scorched earth policy in place of diplomacy. "As we know, this tragic war has been made worse by the utter depravity of the regime, that doesn't hesitate to still use gas, chlorine, mixed with other ingredients to kill its citizens, that drops barrel bombs on hospitals and children and women," he said. "You also have the irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised decision by Russia to associate its interests and reputation with that of Assad, a man who has been responsible for torturing more than ten thousand people." He said that if Russia was serious about peace, it would have to behave differently than it was now in Syria. "Russia knows exactly what it needs to do in order to get that cessation implemented and in a fair and reasonable way," he said. Kerry said all parties had a duty to enable delivery of humanitarian assistance. European foreign ministers will meet on Oct. 17 to discuss what they can do to help bring peace, after the European Union proposed a new humanitarian plan at the weekend in coordination with the United Nations for the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. But a senior European diplomat said there was little chance that Russia would change strategy, asserting that Moscow was resorting to the same tactics it used on the Chechen capital Grozny, which was devastated in 1994-96 and 1999-2000 wars by Russian forces intent on keeping Chechnya in Russia. "Their objective is the total destruction of the opposition. They have a Chechen vision of the conflict. Their method is submission by force," the senior diplomat said. MILITARY OPTIONS Russian news agencies, citing Kerry's Syria interlocutor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would continue to make efforts to resolve the Syria crisis despite the U.S. suspension of the talks. A spokeswoman for U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he was in "intensive consultations" on the way forward. The end of the talks could trigger deeper U.S. consideration of military options such as providing more sophisticated arms, logistical support, and training to rebel groups. But the speed with which the ceasefire collapsed - after a U.N. aid convoy was bombed in Syria - appeared to surprise some U.S. officials, leaving them without a clear plan on the immediate way forward. U.S. President Barack Obama has been loath to get more deeply involved and U.S. officials have said he is unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office. Russia said on Tuesday it had deployed an S-300 missile system to its Tartus naval base in Syria. "The missile battery is intended to ensure the safety of the naval base...It is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such alarm among our Western partners," the Defence Ministry said. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
From Harper's BAZAAR

Kim Kardashian West has arrived safely in the United States after being robbed at gunpoint last night in Paris. She left the city via plane after speaking with local authorities. She flew in to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey this morning and reunited with her husband Kanye West, according to E!. She was accompanied by Kris Jenner, her boyfriend Corey Gamble and plenty of security, including members of the NYPD. They headed to their New York City apartment in a 15-car motorcade, according to Us Weekly.

A source close to Kanye West told People: "Kim was terrified. She was just hysterical when she talked to Kanye. He said she was really upset and it took him a few seconds to understand what she was saying to him. He wanted to get to her as soon as he could. He told her that he couldn't care less about the jewelry; he's just thankful that she's okay."

Photo credit: Getty

The rapper ended his set early last night at The Meadows music festival in Queens upon hearing the news. ""I'm sorry, there's a family emergency, I have to stop the show," he announced mid-song before abruptly leaving the stage.

Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint by five masked thieves at her hotel in Paris last night. The attackers stole approximately $10 million in jewelry and left the reality star bound and "gagged" in her bathtub, according to E! News. She broke free after they left, and was "badly shaken but physically unharmed," according to her spokesperson.

Her children were not present at the scene, and her bodyguard was reportedly covering Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner for the night.

The large diamond ring Kardashian West has been sporting in Paris is visibly missing from her left hand when she arrived in New York. It was reportedly included in the items stolen from her last night.

Photo credit: Getty

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Kim Kardashians hairstylist suggests this one major thing to be safer on social media

When it comes to safety, it doesnt matter who you are  no one deserves to be treated how Kim Kardashian was this past week. Its hard to even imagine the fear that would have been going through her mind as she was robbed and placed in the bathtub by armed men when she was staying in Paris.

Thankfully, shes safe and back home in the United States. While Kim has not yet made a public statement about what happened, one face she does see often, celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin, opened up on Snapchat about the incident and what we can all do to better protect ourselves.

I just want to take a minute to address what happened the other night, she says at the start of a series of videos posted to Snapchat. Im still a bit in shock and I hate when bad things happen to good people.

She continues, And especially people that I love, and I am so grateful that nobody was hurt. And I think its a really great lesson for all of us, especially women who are traveling in foreign countries, traveling alone, and traveling together.

The stylist, who has known Kim and her family for years and often travels with them as part of her glam squad, had some very important tips for women after the scariest thing happened to Kim.

Happy Birthday to the hardest working girl I know! I am so proud of you. Our travels around the world will always be some of my best memories! I Love you!!!! @jenatkinhair A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Mar 10, 2016 at 5:16pm PST

Make sure you use the buddy system when youre going out at night, and if youre dropping someone off make sure that they get inside safely, she says. Adding, I think that we just need to make sure we take care of one another and just be very, very cautious of your surroundings.

Atkin is shaken by the event, just like so many of us, and for her, she says its opened her eyes to the potential dangers of social media.

Its been a huge wakeup call for me for social media because I think that we need to be very careful of geotag locations and posting live so that people know your whereabouts, she warns her followers.

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And shes right. So much can be found out through social media and even just showing where you are can be a danger to your safety. The stylist offers the tip of erring on the side of caution by using the camera roll to save your videos and images and uploading them to social media later, instead of live.

I dont want bad people to take our joy away from us and our ability to live, Atkin continues. And I think theres so much power in if you see something say something even for a stranger.

The post Kim Kardashians hairstylist suggests this one major thing to be safer on social media appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Om Puri is a great actor but a terrible commentator on socio-political matters. To outrage over his comment on Indian soldiers is as silly as the comment itself.

By Devarsi Ghosh: Om Puri is one of India's greatest actors. Over the years, he has delivered some of the best performances Indian cinema has ever seen. From Aakrosh to Sadgati, Ardh Satya to Dharavi, and more recently, Maachis to Tamas, the 65-year-old actor has stood tall over his contemporaries in Indian cinema simply on the basis of his acting abilities and not tact or politics.

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Acting is what he does best and there's no doubt about it. That is why, to outrage over Om Puri's comment on the martyrdom of Indian soldiers is a tad bit silly.

ALSO READ: Pakistani artistes come here on visa, not illegally, says Om Puri

ALSO READ: Salim Khan slams TV news channel for demonising Salman, Karan Johar and Mahesh Bhatt as 'national threat'

ALSO READ: From Salman to Ranbir, Nana Patekar to Abhijeet, here's what Bollywood has to say on Pak artistes ban



Om Puri, recently, was part of a televised debate about the IMPPA's (Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association) indefinite ban on Pak artistes from working in Indian projects. The ban was in response to the killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a terror attack at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir on September 18.

During the debate, Puri lost his cool and said, "Who had asked the soldiers to join the army? Who told them to pick the weapons?"





When put out of context, Puri's statement is ripe for him getting vilified as an insensitive, callous man. When put in context of all the things he said in the debate, Puri will come across as a, well, cranky man who has his heart in the right place but has no control over how to phrase things on television before saying them out loud.

Puri, was in fact, not in support of IMPPA's ban or the escalating tension between India and Pakistan in the debate. He said that the Indo-Pak partition not only divided countries but also families.

"Several Indians have their relatives staying across the border and vice-versa, how can they fight a war with their cross-border families," Puri said.

Puri called for peace between India and Pakistan saying, "Do you want India-Pakistan enmity to turn like Israel and Palestine, and fight for ages? India is home to crores of Muslims, there is no point in prodding them for war."

Om Puri also called the perpetrators of the Uri attacks "demons" and that it is not right to avenge the Uri attacks by targeting "innocent people" i.e Pak artistes working in India.



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When selectively highlighted, Puri's comment that no one asked Indian soldiers to pick up weapons is frankly silly. This is not the first time the illustrious actor has said something controversial and attracted negative attention.





In 2011, Om Puri, by his own admission, spoke like a "man on the street" and called the political class naalayak (incompetent) and ganwar (unedcuated) at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, where social activist Anna Hazare was fasting as part of the anti-corruption movement which demanded a strong Lokpal Bill.

Puri faced privilege motion from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for that.

Back in 2009, when Nandita, Om Puri's ex-wife, wrote about Om Puri's sexual encounters with a woman who raised the actor as a child in her book Unlikely Hero: Om Puri, the actor got furious and said that his wife made him look cheap.

Later in 2013, Nandita filed a complaint against Om Puri and accused him of committing domestic violence. By this time, there were separated. Responding to the allegations, Puri said that his wife is a compulsive liar.

Time and again, as much as Puri has tried to use his 'meaningful' cinematic career as a card to shield him from negative criticism, he has gone out and said something for which he got a backlash.





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To be fair, expecting people who are, essentially, entertainers to comment on socio-political issues is a bad habit on the media's side. More often than not, like everyday people, they end up saying something which can be interpreted in many ways, and is usual, such comments are taken on face value to push the point that film stars are stupid and selfish.

Om Puri's comments should not be taken seriously. He is a great actor, any day, but a terrible person to comment on social and political matters and that is alright. Let's move on to the next bakra.

( The writer tweets as @devarsighosh )



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From Esquire

On Sunday night, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris by masked men. Initially, she thought the men were going to rape her, TMZ reports.

Kardashian was in bed with her robe on when she heard boots going up the stairs. She saw the men through a sliding glass door and rolled off the bed in an attempt to call her bodyguard on her cell phone; however, before she could finish dialing, the men took the phone from her before zip-tying her hands with plastic handcuffs and duct-taping her.

When one of the men grabbed Kardashian by the ankles, she thought she was going to be raped, she told police. However, they duct-taped her ankles before putting her in the bathtub. TMZ reports that at this point, she started screaming and telling the robbers about her children.

The robbers, who spoke only French, wanted the new ring Kanye West had given Kardashian, worth $4.49 million. They also took a jewelry box worth $5.6 million, as well as two cell phones. Kardashian's friend had been sleeping in the downstairs bedroom during the commotion; when she heard Kim's screams, she locked herself in the bathroom and called the bodyguard, who arrived two minutes after the robbers left.

When Kanye West starts Heartless and then stops the show because of a family emergency  pic.twitter.com/0xiPDycb4g - Chloe (@itschloet) October 3, 2016

The break-in caused West to end a show in Paris 20 minutes early. "I'm sorry," he told the crowd. "I have a family emergency. I have to stop the show."

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From Esquire

Update: TMZ reports that the gunmen, "bound and gagged Kim with handcuffs and tape and then put her in the bathtub. We're told Kim begged them to spare her life, telling them she had babies at home." After they robbed the apartment, "she was able to break out of the restraints and call for help."

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has responded to the robbery, saying it "in no way affects the safety of Parisian public spaces," and she has "every confidence in the police to quickly identify and apprehend the perpetrators."

Original post below:

Kanye West ended his headlining set at the Meadows Music Festival in New York about 20 minutes early on Sunday night when he found out mid-song that Kim Kardashian had been robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

After taking the stage about a half-hour late with fireworks set to the "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1" drop, West was in the middle of performing "Heartless" when he was pulled to the side and stopped the song.

"I'm sorry," he told the crowd. "I have a family emergency. I have to stop the show."

When Kanye West starts Heartless and then stops the show because of a family emergency  pic.twitter.com/0xiPDycb4g - Chloe (@itschloet) October 3, 2016

He then walked off stage, and shortly afterward Meadows staff told the audience that West would not be returning.

While there was confusion immediately following West's departure, we now know that the rapper was informed that Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint by men dressed as French police, CNN reports.

Kardashian was "badly shaken but physically unharmed," a spokeswoman told CNN after five men handcuffed the building's concierge and forced him to give them access to the private apartment. Two men entered Kardashian's room, held a gun to her head and locked her in the bathroom. They stole two cell phones and millions of dollars worth of jewelry-a ring worth $4.49 million and a jewelry box worth $5.6 million were among the items stolen, CNN reports.

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Kardashian spoke with police and left France early Monday, where she was attending Paris Fashion Week with her family. No one was hurt in the incident, and it's unclear if her children or any other members of Kardashian's family were present.

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From Cosmopolitan

TMZ is reporting details from a statement Kim Kardashian has given police in the aftermath of her being robbed in Paris Sunday night. She said the thieves were after one particular piece of jewelry: the engagement ring shed recently received from Kanye West:

"The robbers did not know English and only spoke French," TMZ says Kim told police. "The only thing she understood ... the men kept saying, ring, ring." Other pieces were stolen, a mix of Kims personal jewelry collection and items shed been loaned to wear to Paris Fashion Week shows. Additional details from Kims statement, combined with the many other tabloid reports on the incident, means theres now a pretty comprehensive (and terrifying!) timeline of how it all went down.

[related id='e30bbedc-a5c3-4dd0-bf77-ae169fbcd6d0' align='left'][/related]

Kim returned to her suite at luxury apartment block lHotel de Pourtales with a friend on Sunday night; her bodyguard Pascal remained out with her sisters Kendall and Kourtney. lHotel de Pourtales is well-known for its celebrity clientele, and the discretion with which it treats its guests - this means theres reportedly few staff on site (most of those staying bring their own security with them). At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning, five men wearing ski masks and police uniforms entered the apartment block. They threatened the lone concierge at gunpoint, forcing him to provide access to Kims apartment before tying him up and leaving him in a cupboard. This is where TMZs report picks back up:

Our sources say ... Kim was lying in bed with only her robe on when she heard boots pounding up the stairs of her 2 story apartment.

Were told Kim saw at least one masked man and another wearing a police hat through a sliding glass door. She knew something was amiss, so she rolled off the bed and tried dialing her bodyguard on her cell phone.

Before she could finish dialing one of the men yanked the phone out of her hands. They zip tied her hands with plastic handcuffs and duct taped her to make it more secure. Were told one of the men grabbed her by the ankles ... Kim told cops at that point she believed she was about to be raped.

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The two men put a gun to Kims head, multiple sites are reporting, then tied her ankles and carried her to a bathtub. Pleading for her life, Kim told the men they could take anything they wanted. Her mouth was then duct taped shut.

In a separate room in the apartment, however, TMZ reports that a friend and stylist of Kims was also present, heard this commotion, and locked herself in another bathroom. From there, "she called Pascal, the bodyguard, and Kourtney ... telling them to hurry back because something was terribly wrong." Its not clear if she called police also. (These details appear to contradict other reports that Kim raised the alarm herself after managing to free herself from the handcuffs and tape.) By the time Pascal returned to lHotel, however, the thieves had left - the incident reportedly lasting about 6 minutes total. Per Us Weekly, they escaped on bicycles.

Kim is now back in New York with her family; her representatives released a statement to the media saying she is "badly shaken." French police are investigating the "highly organized" robbery, and People reports that Kanye West - who is angry about the situation because, among other reasons, he "always loved the apartment" - is upping his familys security detail.

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By Elzio Barreto and Denny Thomas

HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co LP has told investors it will refrain from launching a new fund targeting small- and medium-sized companies in China and will instead focus on larger, more profitable buyouts, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

New York-based KKR's move underscores a shift underway in Asia, where global private equity firms are shying away from bite-sized investments to the tune of $50 million to $100 million.

It comes at a time when growth is slowing in China and questions are increasing over the health of its corporate landscape, often indebted and lacking transparency.

Carlyle Group LP, another large private equity firm with a big presence in Asia, said last week it expects an increase in deals where private equity investors buy control of companies instead of minority stakes, particularly in China where slowing economic growth is likely to convince more owners to sell.

KKR's $1 billion China Growth Fund, launched in 2010, has returned 14.3 percent since its inception till end-June. It outperformed the benchmark MSCI China index, which lost about 10 percent over the same period.

KKR's larger, regional $6 billion Asian Fund II, which focuses on big ticket transactions, has returned 36.2 percent since its launch in 2013.

The China Growth Fund has deployed about three-quarters of its capital, KKR filings show, reaching the stage when private equity companies would typically go back to investors to launch a new fund.

But KKR told some of its limited partners (LPs) it wouldn't raise a successor fund, said the sources. The message was delivered last year at the time of KKR's regional investor conference in Asia, they said, but the details were not made public.

KKR declined to comment. The sources couldn't be named because talks were private.

The China Growth Fund had taken stakes in Chinese education provider Tarena International, China Cord Blood Corp, chicken meat company Fujian Sunner Development Co and appliance maker Qingdao Haier, with the Asian Fund II also investing in Haier and Sunner.

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The China Growth Fund has also invested in large-scale dairy farms in China as well as in apparel retailer Novo Holdco, which operates LeSportsac stores in China, fish feed company Yuehai Feed Group and Uxin, China's largest online used car auction company.

KKR is expected to formally launch its third pan-Asia fund by year end, targeting a record $7 billion.

The firm recently lost two of its top China dealmakers, David Liu and Julian Wolhardt, who decided to form their own rival investment firm, prompting a restructuring of its Asia management team.

(Reporting by Elzio Barreto and Denny Thomas; Editing by Lisa Jucca and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Kristen Stewart has never been afraid to push boundaries, as evidenced by her daring look at the Certain Women premiere on Monday night in New York City.

A far cry from dresses and Converse, the eternally cool actress hit the New York Film Festival red carpet in a sexy red Sandro pantsuit -- made even sexier by donning the blazer unbuttoned with nothing more than a long, gold necklace underneath.

The revealing style left little to the imagination, offering glimpses of the 26-year-old's taut midsection. Her platinum pixie cut worn slick, a matching matte red lip and black lace-up Oxfords completed the look, not to mention endless amounts of confidence as she posed for photographers.

Getty Images

WATCH: Kristen Stewart's Style Evolution

The Twilight star was joined by her Certain Women co-stars Michelle Williams and Laura Dern, for the movie premiere, which follows the intersecting lives of three strong-willed women in small-town America.

Equally strong-willed, Stewart has never been shy when it comes to remaining true to herself, as she has recently opened up about her growing relationship with her former personal assistant, Alicia Cargile.

RELATED: Kristen Stewart Says She's 'In Love' With Girlfriend Alicia Cargile: 'Finally, I Can Feel Again'

"When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did," she told Elle UK. "But then it changed when I started dating a girl. I was like, 'Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I'm not down with it or I'm ashamed of it,' so I had to alter how I approached being in public. It opened my life up and I'm so much happier."

Watch the clip below for more on Stewart's daring look.

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Kymco Releases the 2017 AK 550 Scooter

Kymcos new scooter is billed as a flagship maxi scooter that makes no compromise between everyday comfort and sheer riding pleasure. The 550 integrates innovation and breakthrough, lifestyle and performance, luxury and practicality, and comfort and convenience in perfect unison to provide the riders with unparalleled riding experience.

The 550 concept, shown at Milan last year, established the companys take on Super Touring, which aims to provide both the comfort and convenience of a scooter together with the attitude and performance of a sport bike.

2017 Kymco AK 550

The sport scooter features an aluminum frame and wheels, low center of gravity and near 50-50 weight balance, inverted fork with Brembo dual discs, and low unsprung weight at the rear wheel. The 550 also boasts ABS and full LED lighting.

Power is provided by a liquid-cooled 500cc parallel twin with output of 39KW, with two riding modes, Rain and Full Power. With Honda also showing interest in this market, the adventure sport touring scooter wars may be underway.

2017 Kymco AK 550
The Los Angeles Police Department on October 4 released CCTV footage described as showing a portion of the lead-up to a fatal officer-involved shooting of a man on October 1.

The man is not named in the police release, though police have reportedly said it is Carnell Snell Jr.

This footage shows a man running through the parking lot of a commercial center. It does not show the shooting.

The man appears to hold a handgun, although it is not possible to confirm if it is a real gun or a replica.

A police statement said that police attempted to stop a vehicle with paper plates, but the vehicle failed to stop. Two black men exited the vehicle and fled on foot, according to police. Officers pursued one of the men, chasing him to the rear of a residence in the 1700 block of 107th street, at which time an officer shot the man.

A handgun was recovered from the scene, according to police. Credit: YouTube/lapdonline
By PTI: Islamabad, Oct 4 (PTI) Pakistan has handed over a dossier to the US on grave human rights violations by India in Kashmir and sought the countrys intervention in the matter.

Pakistans Ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani yesterday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson at the State Department and handed over a dossier containing information on the "gross human rights violations" by the Indian security forces in Kashmir, Foreign Affairs Ministry said here.

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Jilani said that the international community, especially the US, should take note of the "inhuman and degrading treatment" being meted out to the innocent civilians in Kashmir.

The US, being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, should impress upon India to immediately end the "state-sponsored terrorism", the Ambassador was quoted as saying by the Ministry in a statement.

It was also emphasised during their meeting that the right to self-determination was granted to the people of Kashmir by the United Nations which "could not be unilaterally denied by India", according to the statement.

Jilani further underscored that the international community must ensure that India as a member of the United Nations, should allow access to international human rights and humanitarian organisations to assess the factual situation in Kashmir. PTI SAI AKJ SAI

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London (AFP) - Two lawyers in Belfast cited the terms of the historic 1998 peace deal on Tuesday in arguing Northern Ireland has the right to veto Britain's decision to leave the EU.

"Sovereignty over constitutional affairs has been ceded" with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, according to lawyer Ronan Lavery.

The barrister is representing a cross-party group of politicians in their legal challenge against the result of the June 23 referendum which saw Britain vote to leave the European Union.

"The people of Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change, it cannot be imposed upon the people of Northern Ireland," he added.

Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain in the EU, but the result was swung towards Brexit by a leave vote in England and Wales.

Lavery's view is matched by lawyer Ciaran OHare, representing victims rights campaigner Raymond McCord, who is also challenging London's decision to forge ahead with Brexit.

Northern Ireland fears a hard border could be reintroduced with the Republic of Ireland when Brexit becomes a reality, which is expected to happen in 2019.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Sunday the government would trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty no later than March 2017, which would begin two years of negotiations leading to Britain's exit.

Lavery said after Brexit any attempt to unify Northern Ireland and the Republic would be subject to the other EU member states granting permission for Northern Ireland to join the bloc.

"That is a practical and illegal impediment to the nationalist aspiration for a United Ireland," he said, warning that Brexit could more broadly have a negative impact on the peace accord.

"Withdrawal from the EU could have a catastrophic effect on the peace process and that delicate constitutional balance which we have reached," Lavery said.

But any attempt to see Northern Ireland plan its own future away will be opposed by London, with the government already stating the UK would be united in leaving the EU.

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"We voted in the referendum as one United Kingdom, we will negotiate as one UK, and we will leave the EU as one UK. There is no opt-out from Brexit," May said on Sunday.

"And I will never allow divisive nationalists to undermine the precious union between the four nations of our United Kingdom."

The legal challenge in Belfast is due to conclude on Wednesday.

The 1998 Good Friday peace accords largely ended the three decades of violence in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles, in which 3,500 people were killed.
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - A leading figure in al Qaeda who became a prominent member of its Syrian Nusra Front offshoot was killed in a drone attack on Monday, the group and jihadist sources said. They said Sheikh Abu al Faraj al Masri, who spent years in prison in his native Egypt on charges of plotting with fundamentalist Islamist groups and later left for Afghanistan, died when the vehicle in which he was traveling was hit in rebel-held Idlib in Syria's northwest. "May God accept him as a martyr who was killed in a Crusader raid," said a jihadist named Abu Mohammad al Shami. The U.S. Defense Department said in a statement that Masri was the target of a U.S. air strike near Idlib on Monday. "We are still assessing the results of the strike," it said. Since the U.S.-led coalition launched operations in Syria, primarily against Islamic State militants, air strikes have also targeted Nusra Front figures, killing scores. Syria's militant Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly the Nusra Front, confirmed the death of the Egyptian cleric in an air strike. In one of Masri's last public appearances, he was alongside former Nusra leader Abu Mohamad al-Jolani when the group announced in July it was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al Sham to deny Washington and other powers a pretext to attack it. Washington dismissed that move as cosmetic and said it would continue to target it as a terrorist group. Last month, Abu Hajer al Homsi, the group's top commander, was killed in an air strike in rural Aleppo province. Masri, 60, whose real name was Sheikh Ahmad Salamah Mabrouk, had been one of the leading companions of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, according to a jihadist source. Masri was one of the early leaders of the radical militant Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement. He was arrested after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 and spent seven years in prison. Masri was also held secretly under a CIA rendition scheme after his arrest in Azerbaijan in 1998. The source said that like some other jihadists, he came to Syria to join Nusra Front after being freed from an Egyptian prison during the rule of President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist toppled by the military in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. (Additional reporting by Ali Idrees and Eric Beech in Washington and Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Editing by Andrew Roche and Peter Cooney)
Aboard the Astral (Italy) (AFP) - At least 22 Europe-bound migrants were found dead Tuesday in an overloaded wooden boat off Libya, an AFP photographer witnessed, on a day of frantic rescues in the Mediterranean.

Photographer Aris Messinis, who was able to go on board the vessel, said many of the dead had suffocated.

"It was a wooden vessel and there were about 1,000 people on three levels. I counted 22 bodies and there are still others in the hold," he said by telephone.

Messinis was travelling on the Astral, a ship chartered by Spanish NGO ProActiva Open Arms, which rescues migrants at sea.

Towards 2000 GMT the Astral rescuers moved back to allow the Italian navy to take care of the survivors and retrieve the bodies, the photographer said.

The deaths came after the Italian coastguard -- which is coordinating rescue efforts in international waters north of Libya -- said at least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday.

It was yet another day of drama at sea after more than 6,000 migrants, most of them Africans in packed rubber dinghies, were rescued off Libya on Monday. Nine bodies were found in those operations, including a pregnant woman.

- 'Panic onboard' -

The Italian coastguard said operations had been carried out Tuesday to bring migrants to safety from some 30 packed boats.

With numerous rescue boats en route to Italy to unload the huge human cargo collected on Monday, Messinis said the Astral was left alone to deal with the overloaded wooden boat for several hours.

It was aided only by lifeboats dropped by a Spanish military plane until the navy arrived at midday.

"There was panic onboard, there were people jumping into the water," Messinis said.

The Astral's rescue operations had begun before dawn and lasted until nightfall.

The latest people to be rescued will add to a total of some 132,000 migrants who have landed at Italy's southern ports so far this year, fleeing conflict, poverty or persecution and hoping to start new lives in Europe.

The new arrivals are mostly Africans who plan to try to get to northern Europe but increasingly are obliged to seek asylum or the right to remain in Italy, where reception centres have been strained to bursting point.
Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio on Monday didn't pull any punches when talking climate change with President Barack Obama on the White House lawn during the South by South Lawn festival.

In a conversation with the president and Texas Tech atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe, the star of The Revenant??and Titanic??struck the urgent tone of his upcoming documentary on the dangers of climate change,??Before the Flood, which??DiCaprio??was at the White House to promote. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

"If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts or in science or empirical truths," DiCaprio said in his opening remarks, "and therefore, in my humble opinion, you should not be allowed to hold public office."

Read more: Watch the Trailer for Leonardo DiCaprio's Climate Change Doc 'Before the Flood'

The actor kept the pressure on while moderating the discussion: "Does our planet have the ability to regenerate if we do the right things? Or has there been enough lasting damage that can never be undone?"

He also called out the "corporate greed of the oil and gas industries," asking for tips on how politicians can wrangle big corporations into curtailing their profitable policies.

Obama sounded hopeful in his repartee with the movie star, but hit upon several harsh realities.

"We're on the more pessimistic end of what was possible," the president acknowledged, referring to recent scientific findings about levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. He added that "the likelihood of an immediate carbon tax," which some experts view as the only public policy capable of curbing carbon emissions, "is a ways away."

Last week, data came in from one of the world's best facilities for studying the climate that confirmed carbon dioxide now makes up 400 parts per million of the atmosphere, a milestone that scientists had long been wary of. The report said the levels would persist "for the indefinite future."

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The conversation was part of South by South Lawn, a DC adaptation of the annual Austin, Tex.-based film, music and media festival South by Southwest. The day-long event included a presentation from the 3rd Annual White House Student Film Festival, a partner of the American Film Institute.

In March, President Obama appeared at South by Southwest to discuss civic engagement in the digital age with Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Evan Smith.

??

??
Leonardo DiCaprio is ready for a trip of a lifetime!

The Oscar winner joined President Barack Obama and scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe on Monday to talk about the importance of preserving our planet at this year's South by South Lawn (SXSL) held at the White House.

NEWS: Astronaut Scott Kelly Returns to Earth After 340 Days in Space

During the discussion, Hayhoe joked about the possibility of moving to Mars and those wanting to visit the red planet. "As long as we haven't signed up for the trip to MarsI don't want to know if anyone hasI think you're crazy," she said.

"I did," DiCaprio responded, offhand.

"I think he'll acknowledge he's crazy," Obama added.

RELATED: Leonardo DiCaprio Auctions Off Space Voyage!

This isn't the first time DiCaprio has expressed interest in space travel. In 2014, he auctioned off an outer space trip for one very lucky, very rich person. The chance to see the stars with the Wolf of Wall Street star sold approximately for $1.5 million.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, revealed that he intends to launch his first unmanned Mars mission in two years. But, he also warned that any person who signs up for a trip to Mars in the future has a slight chance of survival.

For now, DiCaprio can continue to enjoy his long bike rides around New York City.

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leonardo dicaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio has achieved so much as an actor on earth, you might think he's getting a little bored of life on the planet.

Well, he teased a certain interest in Mars recently, but it looks like he was just joking. DiCaprio said during a talk with President Barack Obama about climate change that he had signed up to visit Mars on Elon Musk's first trip there. Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, plans to get humans to Mars as soon as 2025, a journey Musk expects to be quite risky.

DiCaprio said this while talking to Obama and the climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe on Monday as part of the South by South Lawn event at the White House, Inverse reports. The three discussed climate change before the premiere of DiCaprio's new documentary on the subject, "Before the Flood."

Musk and the Mars trip came up while Hayhoe was explaining the need to get regular people to connect to the reality of climate change and its effects.

"The reality of it is, if you're a human living on this planet  which most of us are, yeah?" Hayhoe joked. "As long as we haven't signed up for the trip to Mars. I don't want to know if anyone has  I think you're crazy."

That's when DiCaprio said, "I did."

But a source close to DiCaprio has told Business Insider that the actor was in fact joking about the potential Mars trip.

That didn't stop the president from making another joke. Obama reportedly deadpanned, "I think you'll acknowledge he's crazy."

NOW WATCH: An aspiring cop went undercover in a jail and says inmates have more power than guards





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By Hani Amara SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State controls a residential strip less than 1 Km long in their former stronghold in Libya's Sirte, where pro-government forces backed by U.S. air strikes are advancing building by building to finish a five-month-old campaign. Over the past two days, forces led by brigades from Misrata have pressed further into Sirte's neighborhood Number Three as an intensified aerial bombardment and a barrage of tank fire slowly dislodged militant sniper positions. Militants were clinging to an area called Manara, a sub- district that if ceded, Misrata commanders said, would leave them exposed to defeat in what was once the group's main base outside territory controlled in Iraq and Syria. "This is the end for them," said Mohamed al-Ghasri, a spokesman for Misrata forces. "They have no other solutions, so that's why they are fighting fiercely to stay in Manara." Losing control of Sirte is a major blow for Islamic State, depriving it of the only city it held in North Africa. The jihadist group is also on the defensive against U.S.-backed campaigns in Iraq and Syria. Victory for the Misrata-led forces would also provide a boost for a U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) that nominally commands them from Tripoli. The GNA has so far struggled to exert its authority and recently saw a rival eastern commander, Kahlifa Haftar, seize some of Libya's major oil ports, one of which is less than 200 km from Sirte. The campaign in Sirte has been costly and longer than many in Misrata expected. But with Islamic State militants pinned back to a few residential blocks, their capacity to use heavy weapons and suicide bombings has been reduced. On Monday, Misrata-led forces found a vehicle packed with explosives that Islamic State had been unable to use. AIR STRIKES That was a day after the U.S. intensified its air attacks on Sirte, carrying out 20 strikes against multiple fighting positions, according to U.S. Africa Command. The U.S. has launched just over 200 strikes since the start of its air campaign on Aug. 1. Many of the buildings in areas where recent fighting has taken place are ruined or reduced to rubble. Misrata-led forces are still vulnerable to snipers, who they say are highly skilled and have adapted to air strikes by seeking better cover. On Sunday, a sniper claimed the life of a Dutch photographer - the second journalist to be killed in the campaign. Forces have also had to deal with attacks from behind the front lines, including car bombings, which have fueled fears of a continuing insurgent threat in the area after Sirte's capture. On Sunday, the forces fended off a major ambush on their eastern flank. Rida Issa, a second spokesman for the Misrata-led operation, said as many as 55 bodies of slain Islamic State fighters had been counted after the attack, with another 25 counted around Manara. "It is highest number of Daesh (Islamic State) bodies spotted since the beginning of battle against them in Sirte," Issa said. "According to the observations of our front line commanders, the bodies found were those of Libyans, Tunisians and sub-Saharan Africans." A further six had been killed as fleeing militants were pursued into the desert, Issa said. At least 11 of the government-backed fighters were killed in the past two days of fighting, with dozens more wounded. That brought the total number killed since the start of the campaign to 560, said Akram Gliwan, a spokesman at Misrata's central hospital. No running tally of Islamic State casualties has been kept, and militants' bodies are often left in the streets untouched because of fears of booby traps. By most estimates, the jihadist group had built up a force of between 2,000 and 5,000 in Sirte, many of them foreigners, before the battle started. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Patrick Markey and Ralph Boulton)
There's been a spurt in ceasefire violations after India's surgical strike. The shelling, which went on for over an hour, has now stopped, say police.

By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan violated ceasefire again today morning, resorting to firing and heavy mortar shelling along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army has said.

SHELLING LASTS OVER AN HOUR



Heavy shelling, which began since 5 am, continued for over an hour. The shelling has now stopped, say police.

Also read: PoK resident apprehended in Saujian sector in Jammu's Poonch district

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"Pakistan troops resorted to unprovoked firing in three areas of Noushera Rajouri district from 05:15 hours today," Defence Spokesman Col Manish Mehta said.

INDIA HITS BACK

They fired mortar bombs, automatic weapons and small arms, he said, adding that Indian troops gave a befitting reply.



Police said Pakistan used 120 mm and 82 mm mortar shells to target Indian positions in Kalsian (Nowshera) sector of the LoC in Rajouri district on Tuesday morning.

Also read: Pakistan takes journalists to LoC, fails to debunk surgical strikes by Indian Army

FIVE VIOLATIONS IN 24 HOURS



There has been five ceasefire violations in over 24 hours along the Line of Control (LoC).

Yesterday, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire four times and restored to heavy firing and mortar shelling in Saujian, Shahpur-Kerni, Mandi and KG sectors in Poonch district, injuring 5 civilians, including five women.



"The Indian Army effectively retaliated against Pakistan shelling and firing. After appropriate response from the Indian side, Pakistan Army had stopped shelling now," the police said.



RESIDENTS IN PANIC



"Heavy exchanges continued for over an hour in the area creating panic among the residents," police added.

Also read: Mehbooba says India-Pak confrontation can lead to 'disaster of epic proportions'



--- ENDS ---
From Harper's BAZAAR

Just Back FromChicago, Illinois

Trip Duration: 3 days

Flight Plan: I left on Thursday evening, and arrived back to New York City on Sunday afternoon. With the flight coming in at around two hours from the East Coast, it's such an easy trip and I felt like I had plenty of time to explore.

Where I Stayed: The Gray Hotel. Newly-opened in the financial district of Chicago, this hotel epitomizes the downtown scene and martini-lunchers alike. Fashioned in an old office building, the hotel boasts vintage elevators reading 'This Car Up,' and marble staircases with intricate molding. One step upstairs to check in, and you find yourself in a cozy library setting, where the chic after-work crowd sips on drinks and caviar carts offer tableside service. Part opulence, part cozy living room with its leather couches, moody lighting and gilded fixtures, this hotel is a gem within the Loop.

Photo credit: Courtesy The Gray Hotel

Photo credit: Courtesy The Gray Hotel

Photo credit: Courtesy The Gray Hotel

Best Thing I Ate: While 3 Arts Club Cafe and Beatrix are necessities on my Chicago hit list, I wanted to try a new spot this visit, and Maple & Ash definitely didn't disappoint. Dubbed Chicago's 'sexy steakhouse,' this is exactly what it felt like upon entering the dining room, which was draped with velvet curtains, sparkly chandeliers and black and white photographs of meat that put an elegant twist on perfectly styled food porn. We started with a famed practice of the restaurant, a caviar bump, which consisted of us taking a spoon full of caviar off of our hands and washing it down with some champagne. Taking something so luxe and adding a playful spin to it was a great way to begin our meal, and went hand-in-hand with the overall vibe of the restaurant, which was lavish without taking itself too seriously. The seafood platter was a standout, where Chef Danny Grant chooses to drizzle a bit of al dente pasta on top of the tower to fully soak up the sauces and flavors. The beef tartar was also a hit, complete with smoked egg yolk and grilled sourdough, and the steak, of course, was remarkable.

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Photo credit: Courtesy Maple & Ash

Photo credit: Courtesy Maple & Ash

Photo credit: Courtesy Maple & Ash

Best Hang Out Spot: Boleo, a South American-inspired rooftop bar at the top of The Gray Hotel. One step inside the chic bar and you feel as though you've been transported to the streets of Argentina. Containing a glass roof that opens up to give guests the full al fresco effect, along with greenery and wood finishes, this lounge is the perfect place to sit with friends and enjoy each others company. Serving delectable drinks that give a nod to South America, but take a more elevated approach through the craftsmanship, sip on their house acholado blend of pisco sour with egg white and chuncho bitters, or try the cynar julep with grapefruit, raspberry and mint. Light bites include ceviche with fried plantains, and vegetarian empanadas with kale, provolone and mushrooms.

Photo credit: Sarah Joyce

Photo credit: Sarah Joyce

Favorite Activity: I attended a rowing workout class during my stay, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Never having done it before, I went to a Chicago hot spot, Iron & Oar, and was given a full-body workout that didn't feel like you were working at all because it was so much fun. The chic wood interiors, pop-y music and high-energy circuits had me ready to come back to NYC and find a rowing class I liked just as much.

Photo credit: Iron & Oar

Best Night Out: Lincoln Park is full of bars, restaurants and rooftops for a lively night out on the town. A favorite of mine was Joy District, where we spent the evening on the rooftop sipping strawberry drinks, and then headed downstairs for a more lounge-like atmosphere of mirrored walls and graffiti-inspired art for dancing.

Photo credit: Joy District

Trip Highlight: The architecture cruise tour. While this may seem like the most touristy thing to do, many locals I chatted with said this was one of their favorite things to do in the city, and something they did time and time again. As we boarded the boat (complete with cocktails) we were able to cruise along the river and get a full lesson on all of the stunning buildings that make up Chicago's skyline. Featuring sky-high buildings with refined elements and some with more modern touches, the buildings of Chicago all had their own story to tell.

Photo credit: Getty

Could Not Leave Home Without: A day-to-night dress to take me seamlessly from drinks to dinner, a light jacket for the transitional weather, a standout bag, and heeled booties that look just as great in the streets as they do on the dance floor.

Photo credit: Matches Fashion/ShopBAZAAR

Sacai bomber jacket, $1,115, shopBAZAAR.com; Vince slip dress, $230, matchesfashion.com; Diane von Furstenberg fur bag, $152, matchesfashion.com; Derek Lam booties, $950, shopBAZAAR.com.

Most Inspiring Aspect: Chicago is truly a city overflowing with innovation. From the hotels to the cuisine to the cocktails, the Windy City contains some of the best in the business who are pushing boundaries and coming up with exciting iterations on Chicago's classics.

Photo credit: Getty

Why Chicago? Chicago is truly a city that has it all; it has all of the elements of New York with a warm, laid-back Midwestern vibe. The booming food scene, stunning architecture and friendly people make it a must for a long weekend getaway.

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Los Angeles (AFP) - Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck defended the actions of officers involved in two fatal shootings of black men over the weekend that touched off protests and raised tensions.

Beck said one of the victims, 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr, was carrying a handgun that he pointed at officers chasing him on foot after he exited a suspected stolen car and fled.

"At one point during their foot pursuit, which was 200 to 300 yards (meters) in total, they observed him remove a handgun from his waistband and hold it in his left hand," Beck told reporters, displaying a photo of the weapon, which he said was fully loaded.

He added that Snell during the chase had turned toward the officers with the gun in his hand and was shot twice.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting touched off protests and further stoked a debate over police shootings of African Americans across the country.

Some 40 protesters pelted Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's home with eggs over the weekend and young men were seen spray-painting the windows of local businesses late Sunday.

A group of protesters also gathered on Monday at the Los Angeles police headquarters as Beck spoke to reporters, chanting "no justice, no peace" and "black lives matter." Three of the protesters were arrested.

Beck said that the second man shot by police in south Los Angeles over the weekend was armed with a replica handgun with its orange tip covered so that it resembled a real gun. The man has yet to be identified by the coroner.

Officers from the gang squad had approached the man after receiving a call on Sunday about someone with a gun.

"As the officers approached the male to initiate a pedestrian stop, the male turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, at which time there was an officer-involved shooting," Beck said.

He added that the officers were wearing body cameras and the video of the incident clearly refutes reports that the unidentified man was laying on the ground when shot.

Story continues

The shootings took place amid heightened tensions nationwide over several high-profile police-related deaths that have sparked protests that have sometimes turned violent.

Seventeen people were arrested in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon over the weekend following protests over the police shooting last Tuesday of Alfred Olango, a Ugandan immigrant.

Olango's sister had called police to report that he was acting erratically and walking in traffic.

Police officials said he was gunned down after he pulled an object that turned out to be a vaping device from his pocket and pointed it at an officer.
Luke Bryan's concert kicking off his 2016 Farm Tour in Gaston, South Carolina, on Wednesday has been canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Matthew.

Luke Bryan and Billy Currington Reap New No. 1s on Country Charts

With Matthew expected to hit Florida and South Carolina on Wednesday, the two states have issued states of emergency.

In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley has ordered an evacuation of many coastal communities and canceled school in over half of the state. The 26-county school closure includes Lexington County, which holds the 1,647-person town of Gaston.

Luke Bryan Explains the Meaning Behind New Song 'You Look Like Rain': Exclusive Video

Gaston is more than 100 miles from the coast and though it is not being evacuated, a news post on Bryan's website explains that the evacuation orders for the state's coastal areas would impact the traffic routes to Culler Farms, where the concert was to be held. Full refunds are being provided.

It's estimated more than 1 million people may have to leave their homes, according to the governor.
Alizay Jaffer, a Pakistani woman, wrote a Facebook post right after the news of India conducting a surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistan, across the LoC, hit the headlines.

By India Today Web Desk: A Pakistani woman, Alizay Jaffer, based out of Islamabad, wrote a long Facebook post on September 29 after the reports of Indian Army carrying out a surgical strike, across the LoC, on Pakistani terrorist camps made headlines.

Jaffer's post about the relationship between people living in both the countries soon went viral and now stands at more than 3,000 shares. She writes about a 'strange affinity' she has with India and begins the post saying, "It's strange, this affinity with India. I find myself getting increasingly upset at the abuse and hatred tossed from one border to another, with little rationale apart from the 69 year old chips on our shoulders."

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The post made on September 29, now has more than 500 comments from Indians and Pakistanis, where some thanked Jaffer for writing it and many seething of anger and questioning the relationship between the countries.

She says India and Pakistan act like siblings who retaliate to each other's provocations and engage in blame games.

"'Look at what you're doing in Kashmir' 'Hah, look at what you're doing in Balochistan'; 'You attacked us first in Uri' 'Have you forgotten about Kargil'?; 'You started it!' 'No! You started it!'"

She also highlights how people from both the countries fail to choose love over hatred saying, "what's strange is our prolonged blindness to the immense opportunities that lie before us as a unit, and the vast desolation that lies before us as enemies."

She says that to the world, India and Pakistan act like 'siblings, constantly at loggerheads,' at one point or act like a 'divorced couple, sharing space, constantly bickering over who lost out in the settlement, unable to finally come to terms with the fact that we are no longer together.'

Read the full Facebook post here:





Here are some of the responses she got:



Alizay, confused with the responses she got for her post, has now written another post and has also set up a blog 'to limit my Facebook profile to insults from friends and family only'. You can check out her blog here.



--- ENDS ---
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to eight months of house arrest on Tuesday for brandishing a gun near the White House in May before a Secret Service guard shot him, prosecutors said.

Jesse Olivieri, 31, of Ashland, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Royce Lamberth and credited with time he has been in custody, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Olivieri will serve his sentence in a hospital, where he is recovering from his gunshot wound, the statement said. After his detention, Olivieri will face three years of supervised release.

Olivieri went through a White House security gate on May 20 openly carrying a loaded .22-caliber handgun. A guard shot him once when he ignored commands to stop and drop the weapon.

Officers found ammunition, an empty holster and a canister of pepper spray in Olivieri's car, which was parked near the White House. A spent .22-caliber shell casing was found near the car.

Olivieri pleaded guilty in September to resisting officers with a dangerous weapon.

President Barack Obama was not at the White House when the incident occurred, but it prompted a lockdown of the complex.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Netflix on Tuesday unveiled the premiere date for original Marvel series Iron Fist and released a first-look image.

The latest comic book-based series on the streaming giant will premiere March 17, 2017, at 12:01 a.m. PT in all territories where Netflix is available. The drama will debut with 13 one-hour episodes.

Marvel's Iron Fist is the fourth Marvel live-action adventure series on Netflix, following Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. All the series will lead up to the teaming of the main characters in Marvel's The Defenders on Netflix.

In Iron Fist, billionaire Danny Rand, played by Finn Jones, returns to New York City after being missing for years, trying to reconnect with his past and his family legacy. He fights against the criminal element corrupting the city using his kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the power of the fiery Iron Fist.

The image released Tuesday features Game of Thrones grad Jones showing off some fist-fighting skills. "Open heart. Closed fist," the Iron Fist Twitter account said in a comment posted with the picture. "Breathe deep" was the line shown onscreen in a brief YouTube video unveiling the launch date.

Former Dexter executive producer Scott Buck is the showrunner on the series. Netflix and Marvel unveiled a teaser trailer for the series at Comic-Con.

Read more: Why Marvel and Netflix Should Cast an Asian-American Iron Fist
By Anil Kumar: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting of National Security Committee (NSC) held at PM House today. The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers of Defence, Interior, Finance, Information, CJCSC, three Services Chiefs and National Security Advisor. The four Chief Ministers, SAPM on Foreign Affairs, Foreign Secretary, DG ISI, DG MO and Secretary National Security Division also participated in the meeting on special invitation.

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Internal and external security situation of the country with particular reference to the situation on the Line of Control and operational preparedness of the armed forces was reviewed in detail during the meeting by the participants.

Expressing complete satisfaction over operational preparedness of the valiant armed forces, the forum resolved that the entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with its armed forces and will ensure defence of the country at any cost. "Pakistan cannot be cowed down with hollow rhetoric and aggressive posturing," reiterated the forum.

Also read: Sharif vs Sharif in Pakistan over the next Army chief

INDIAN SECURITY FORCES OPPRESS KASHMIRIS



The Prime Minister said that people of Indian Occupied Kashmir are struggling for their inalienable right of self determination guaranteed by the UNSC resolutions, which cannot be suppressed through brutal oppression by Indian security forces.

"It is imperative that the UN and other countries fulfil their longstanding commitment to the innocent and defenceless people of Indian Occupied Kashmir," the Prime Minister emphasized. Pakistan and Kashmir are inseparable; we will continue to extend our moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people at every forum, the Prime Minister reiterated.

Also read: Pakistan National Security Advisor calls counterpart Ajit Doval, wants tension to diffuse



"Pakistan does not cherish aggressive designs against any country or nation; we believe in peace and collective betterment," the Prime Minister stated.

"However, our quest for peace must not be mistaken as a sign of weakness; our armed forces are fully capable of thwarting any kind of threat to our sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Prime Minister remarked.

Also read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector



PAKISTAN IS EFFECTIVELY FIGHTING TERRORISM



The participants of the meeting noted that Pakistan is effectively fighting terrorism and has made phenomenal progresses in war against terrorism. Escalation on LoC and Eastern borders will shift Pakistan's focus away from its efforts to eliminate terrorism from our soil at a critical stage, and is detrimental to the successes made by Pakistan in war on terror. Nevertheless, Pakistani nation and its Armed Forces are fully prepared to respond to any threats.

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Also read: Javed Miandad on India's surgical strikes: Every Pakistani kid is ready for martyrdom

Referring to the recent propaganda and false claims of surgical strikes made by India, the forum concluded that India should resolve the long standing issue of Kashmir for enduring peace in the region, instead of such futile efforts of diverting attention of the world. India must stop atrocities in Kashmir and recognize the just and legitimate struggle of Kashmiris for their right of self determination.

Also read: White House archives petition seeking to declare Pakistan 'terror sponsor'





--- ENDS ---
By David Ingram

(Reuters) - The mayor of a small borough in Pennsylvania has been censured by the local council and is facing calls to resign after he posted images on his Facebook page comparing President Barack Obama and his family to apes and referencing a noose.

Mayor Charles Wasko has so far declined to step down from his post in West York, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Philadelphia, despite being accused of racism for the images on his page.

At a meeting on Monday night, the West York Borough Council voted 7-0 to censure Wasko, a clerk said. The censure is a symbolic rebuke.

Wasko, who ran unopposed in 2013 and whose term ends in December 2017, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Wasko, whose Facebook page is filled with political commentary, posted an image in June of five orangutans in a wheelbarrow with the caption, "Aww ... moving day at the Whitehouse has finally arrived."

Another image, since removed but described and pictured in media reports, showed actor Clint Eastwood holding a noose in a scene from a Western movie. The image carried the caption, "Barry, this rope is for you. You wanna bring that empty chair over here!" Obama used Barry as a nickname when he was young.

The images began receiving media attention last week, leading to the censure.

The mayor is partly a ceremonial job and is not paid, Borough Council President Shawn Mauck said in a telephone interview. The council plans to ask the Pennsylvania legislature to impeach and remove Wasko, which would be a lengthy and difficult process, Mauck said.

"We are looking at every legal means to remove him from office, up to impeachment," Mauck said.

In West York, population 4,600, four council members are Republicans and three, including Mauck, are Democrats.

On Friday, Wasko told an ABC affiliate that he did not regret his posts and that the council was targeting him for unspecified, unrelated disagreements.

"The racist stuff? I admit, yeah, I did that, and I don't care what people label me as," Wasko told the television station.

Story continues

There have been instances across the country of government officials spreading racist images and jokes since Obama took office in 2009 as the first black U.S. president. His second term will end in January 2017.

In 2013, a federal judge in Montana retired after acknowledging that he had used court email to circulate a racist joke about Obama.

(Reporting by David Ingram in New York; Editing by Scott Malone, Frances Kerry, Toni Reinhold)
Dresden (Germany) (AFP) - Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel was greeted on Monday by whistles and shouts of "Get out" after arriving in Dresden -- birthplace of xenophobic movement Pegida -- for German reunification celebrations.

The angry crowd also waved signs saying "Merkel must go" in the east German city, where some 2,600 police were deployed as a security precaution.

The German leader has been under pressure at home over her liberal refugee policy that saw an influx of nearly 900,000 migrants last year.

Dresden is hosting national celebrations to mark 26 years since the reunification of East and West Germany, with the chancellor and President Joachim Gauck in attendance.

Supporters of Pegida, the anti-immigrant, xenophobic group that began in Dresden, also gave Gauck a hostile greeting upon his arrival.

The group initially drew just a few hundred supporters to its demonstrations before gaining strength, peaking with rallies of up to 25,000 people in early 2015.

Though Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) took a drubbing in recent regional polls, she insisted on the sidelines of Monday's celebrations that "mutual respect" and "acceptance of very divergent political opinions" are needed to meet the challenges facing Germany.

Norbert Lammert, the speaker of the German parliament, took aim at those who "whistle and shout" but who "clearly don't have the slightest memory of the condition of this city and this region were in before reunification".

The rightwing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) harnessed a wave of anger over the refugee influx to claim around 14 percent of the vote last month in Berlin state.

Its success has mirrored the march of anti-migrant parties in France, Austria and the Netherlands as well as Republican maverick Donald Trump in the United States.

Bomb attacks hit a mosque and an international convention centre in Dresden last week, with police suspecting xenophobic and nationalist motives.

Saxony, of which Dresden is the state capital, saw far-right hate crimes targeting shelters for asylum seekers rise to 106 in 2015, with another 50 recorded in the first half of this year.

In an annual report outlining progress since reunification, the government warned last week that growing xenophobia and right-wing extremism could threaten peace in eastern Germany.
vicente fox felipe calderon

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon left office almost four years ago, but during his six-year term he presided over one of the most violent periods in modern Mexican history.

Taking office in 2006, Calderon initiated a military-backed crackdown on organized crime that led to peaks in violence between 2010 and 2012.

Calderon left office in 2012, and homicide rates have fallen and risen again under his successor, Enrique Pena Nieto.

Calderon, in the eyes of many, is tied to the growth of violence over the last decade, but it doesn't appear he's interested in discussing it.

While taking questions recently in Tamaulipas, a northeastern Mexican state racked by violence, Calderon was asked, "Do you feel some responsibility for the insecurity in Tamaulipas, Mr. President?"

His reply, after a brief pause: "Another question, please."

When Calderon assumed office in December 2006, after narrowly defeating leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, he "really embraced and sort of projected a more prominent role for the military, David Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego and director of the school's Justice in Mexico program, told Business Insider late last year.

Calderon signaled his intention to give the military a prominent role in domestic security and particularly counter-drug operations, Shirk said.

Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, had deployed troops to Tamaulipas in 2005, but Calderon soon doubled down on this tactic, making it part of a broader, more forceful strategy to crackdown on organized crime and drug trafficking.

Felipe Calderon mexico military

Story continues

In 2007, Calderon increased troop deployments throughout Mexico from 20,000 to 50,000 soldiers, shifting troops into urban areas, like Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, as part of a new focus on drug-trafficking hubs rather than on rural production zones.

Around 2010, the Mexican government was engaged in what has been called the kingpin strategy, targeting the top leaders of these criminal organizations, believing that eliminating the leadership would cause the structure to wither away.

"But what actually happens [with the kingpin strategy] is that if you take out the head of [an] organization ... it creates power vacuums and leads to ... both internal schisms and fighting within the organization ... and encroachment and creation of new spaces for other actors that can come until we see a multiplication effect, or a proliferation of smaller, regional groups," Shirk told Business Insider recently.

These groups compete with each other more violently and wantonly and commit lower-level crimes than larger cartels or organized-crime groups.

In 2010, the Zetas and the Gulf cartel, erstwhile allies, split, sparking a violent conflict that upped the bloodshed and brought about further deployments of Mexican security forces. This conflict drags on today, with internal rifts and new criminal groups adding to the array of combatants competing for influence in Tamaulipas.

Zetas

"Their primary objective is to control the seaports and the international bridges into the U.S. It is a lucrative drug route for these criminal groups," Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider earlier this year.

"The criminal groups in Tamaulipas not only engage in drug trafficking but also kidnapping, extortion, and theft of petroleum," Vigil added. "Currently, the state has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the country."

Homicides in Tamaulipas Mexico

Accordingly, over the last half-decade Tamaulipas has seen homicide numbers well above what was recorded during Fox's term and the first half of Calderon's time in office.

And while the state saw a decline in homicides at the start of Pena Nieto's term (a trend seen across the country), its homicide levels are still above those of a decade ago.

Mexican security forces took down a number of Zetas leaders between 2012 and 2015, but the effect has been more insecurity, not less.

A split between Zetas factions in Ciudad Victoria, the Tamaulipas state capital, has made things particularly bad there.

"The way of life has changed completely here in Victoria," a small-business owner told Vice, speaking in hushed tones. "It's worse than it's ever been."

Local politicians and state and local police forces have come under the sway of criminal groups, rendering them ineffective, if not complicit, and necessitating further federal intervention.

"It is a known fact that state and municipal forces in Mexico are highly corrupt and the military and federal police refuse to work with them," Vigil said.

Another businessman in Ciudad Victoria told Vice the recent violence was the result of a "power vacuum" created by recent elections for state governor that weakened existing corruption deals and created an opening for outside groups to mount an invasion.

Sinaloa Tamaulipas operations Mexico drug cartels

The businessman said such corruption deals were the only viable approach to Tamaulipas' organized-crime problem. "All of us are hopeful that the new government will have a good arrangement with one of the groups of bad guys," he told Vice, "so that the cartels let us work and let us live."

"Corruption has allowed criminal groups to institutionalize their own rule of law," Vigil added.

For Calderon, his recent questioning about violence in Tamaulipas is not the first time he has been confronted in public about the legacy of his crime-fighting policy.

Late last year, while attending the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City, the former president was greeted by shouts of "asesino"  or "murderer"  by spectators.

NOW WATCH: There's a terrifying reason people are warned to stay inside at 5:45 p.m. in parts of Mexico





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Miami (AFP) - A decade ago, Jessica Goldman Srebnick was afraid of walking through Wynwood, a derelict warehouse neighborhood in Miami.

Today, she is the virtual curator of an open-air art gallery that has turned the area into one of the hippest places in the United States.

Windowless factory warehouses in the bleak urban district have become a venue where artists, including internationally famous ones, paint murals that raise street art to new heights.

The flourishing neighborhood -- which recently made headlines as the first place in America where the Zika virus was locally transmitted -- has about 70 art galleries and 20 restaurants.

As it gentrified, rents skyrocketed, going from $3 to $6 per square foot to between $65 and $95 today.

How did this transformation occur? The alchemy lies in buying up a critical mass of properties and having the vision of revitalizing a neighborhood while respecting its character.

That is what Tony Goldman, the late father of Goldman Srebnick, did in the 2000s, when he focused his Goldman Properties, specialists in turning downtrodden areas into trendy hotspots, on Wynwood.

The real-estate pioneer, for example, was the force behind the transformation of New York City's SoHo neighborhood in the 1970s and Miami Beach in the '80s.

After beginning to buy up properties in Wynwood in 2006, Goldman Properties now owns 30, says Goldman Srebnick, who became chief executive after her father's death in 2012.

"It's part of our model, where we buy a critical mass of real estate. Usually 18 is the minimum because that's what you need to really make a change," she said.

One of its properties is Wynwood Walls, a warehouse-turned-art showcase that greets visitors with a mural by Shepard Fairey, the celebrated artist of the "Hope" poster for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

- Preserving the 'soul' -

Unlike New York or Miami Beach, "with Wynwood there was nothing interesting about the architecture," Goldman Srebnick told AFP.

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"What was really interesting was the street art. So we took that, because that was part of the soul of the neighborhood," she said.

"We invited the greatest street artists in the world to paint the canvases of our buildings."

The CEO emphasized that whenever the company focuses on an area "it's not about coming in and imposing what we want on that neighborhood.

"It's about looking at what is there, and just improve it and see what it could be at a more advanced level."

Behind her at Wynwood Walls is the Fairey mural portrait of her father, smiling, his hands extended in welcome against a backdrop of golden beams.

"One of the things my dad taught me was to see things how they could be, as opposed to what they are," she said.

"You might see crime, dilapidation and rundown neighborhoods. Someone else can see the opportunity and the tremendous possibilities."

Forbes magazine named Wynwood to its list of "America's Best Hipster Neighborhoods." Vogue dubbed it one of "the world's coolest neighborhoods."

- 'Different experience' -

"Wynwood has been an amazing place for art," said muralist Chaz, 41, a member of the British-based duo The London Police.

His painting features cartoonish figures set in a futurist world with realistic touches.

Other murals feature the works of Japan's Aiko, the Chilean Inti, France's Miss Van, a Toulouse-born artist known for her sensuous women in masks, and Ron English, an American whose work features a "Hulk"-like baby.

For Chaz, the place "has such a good reputation for bringing some of the world's best artists and showcasing our work alongside one another."

Wynwood Walls and its extension, Wynwood Doors, is changing the way the public interacts with art in general, and with street art in particular.

It is hard to view one of the works without there being someone in front of it taking a selfie.

"When you think of street art, you're driving by it in a car, or you're on a train," said Goldman Srebnick.

"Here people can walk through this living, breathing museum. They can touch it. They can explore it. They can come up close. It's a very different experience to what people are used to with art."

Without knowing it, a Venezuelan tourist agrees with her totally.

"Here you can take selfies and share them. When you're in a museum, you can't, for example, start jumping up and down in front of the painting that you are viewing," said Erika Freijah, 17, after a picture-snapping session with her family.
Click through the gallery to shop micellar water products. Click through the gallery to shop micellar water products.

Luxury waters have really infiltrated the skincare market over the past few years, but the newest one to grace the shelves, micellar water, has even the most well-hydrated skincare lover furrowing his or her well-groomed brow.

Originally found only in French pharmacies, the cleansing water first came into prominence as a response to the hard water found in Paris. Recently micellar water, pronounced my cellar, has made its way overseas, joining the repertoire of both luxury and drugstore skincare brands, from Garnier to La Roche-Posay to Yves Saint Laurent.

Made up of micelles, or small round cleansing molecules, micellar water acts as a sort of cleanser and makeup remover in one, trapping all the dirt and oil from your skin and pores, like little magnets, said Kassie Whitteker, of the Miraj Hammam Spa by Caudalie Paris, in Torontos Shangri-La Hotel. Caudalies micellar cleansing water is made with the brands trademark grape water, and is 98 per cent natural, Whitteker added, making it especially hydrating and soothing.

In addition to its skin-soothing benefits, micellar water could replace your everyday cleanser  but not if your getting-ready routine is akin to Kim Ks. For the heavy contour and bronzer-loving crowd, Whitteker recommends using micellar water before you use your cleanser, to effectively remove all your makeup, including mascara. Designed to be used with a cotton pad, the water is swept over the face and lips, without the need for rinsing with tap water.

So why the hype? In addition to its gentle cleansing properties, micellar water cuts out the steps of toning and washing, making it a bit more 2016-friendly.

One reason its become so popular is because no one has time anymore, said Whitteker, adding that everyone from busy moms to the fitness junkie can easily add micellar water to their everyday routine. Whitteker uses it on clients before a facial, to remove dirt and makeup, and after extractions to close the pores.

With everyone from chic French bloggers such as Garance Dore to celebrity dermatologists touting its hydrating and gentle properties, its no wonder so many brands are adding it to their roster.
Pakistan's propaganda, however, raised more questions than answers as no clarity emerged about the exact location of its guided tour of media along the heavily-militarised, 770-km LoC.

Pakistan took journalists on a tour along sanitised villages to project normalcy in PoK.

By Harmeet Shah Singh: The Pakistan army took the rare step of flying international media to the Line of Control to sell its side of the story on the surgical strikes at terror camps by India, but failed to prove its denial of the operation during the controlled media tour as it raised more questions on the locations of terror camps.

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JOURNALISTS FLOWN IN TO SHOW NORMALCY OF LIFE IN PAKISTAN



Journalists were flown in by helicopters to show that life continues as normal in PoK but the area of the tour appeared to be a restricted, specially sanitized section along the LoC that was specially chosen to project normalcy in its attempt to "counter the impression created by India".

As an international station aired footage, Pakistan's high commission in New Delhi issued the screenshot of the video to project it as a global acknowledgment of Islamabad's claims that no Indian forces swooped down on PoK.

On Sunday, the high commission also released a briefing by the ISPR, the Pakistani army's public-relations wing, to dispute operations by India's Special Forces. In his briefing from PoK, ISPR chief Asim Bajwa bragged about the capabilities of his country's armed forces, calling their defences impregnable.

ACCESS TO STRETCH WITH ONLY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOODS



From material the Pakistani high commission released to the Indian media, it was also not clear why the ISPR chose to display a stretch, which, by its own admission, housed only residential neighbourhoods.

The operation by the Indian forces so far deep inside the territory under its control on the night of September 25 has been a stinging blow to Pakistan establishment. India, however, remained unruffled in the face of Pakistan's media blitz.

Home minister Rajnath Singh had a one-line answer when asked about any plans by New Delhi to release footage of the PoK operations. "Just wait and watch," he quipped.



Also read:

Ghatak surgical strikes not first of its kind, India carried several similar strikes in last 10 years

Russia welcomes surgical strike by India in PoK, says every country has a right to defend itself

After surgical strikes, Pakistan floods Facebook with terror videos

Watch the video here:

--- ENDS ---
Michael Graves has been removed from UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Nogueira, after the UFC confirmed that he had been arrested in Atlanta on a domestic violence charge.

Graves had been slated to face Sergio Moraes on Nov. 19 in Sao Paulo, but was pulled from the fight card after being charged with Battery  Family Violence, a misdemeanor. He was arrested on Saturday, Oct. 1, in Atlanta. Graves remained in jail as of Monday evening, with his surety bond set at $5,000, according to Atlanta Police Department records.

TRENDING > UFCs Josh Samman Remains in a Coma

The UFC organization is aware that Michael Graves was arrested over the weekend on a misdemeanor battery charge, a UFC statement read on Monday. The organization takes this situation seriously and is in the process of gathering more information.

Graves has been removed from his scheduled bout on Nov. 19 as a result of the pending legal matter.

There were no further details available on the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

Graves, 25, made his way to the Octagon via The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians. His professional record is currently 6-0-1 following a majority draw with Bojan Velickovic at UFC 201.

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A prudent investment decision involves buying stocks that offer solid prospects and selling those that appear risky. Again, at times it is rational to hold certain stocks that have enough potential. Here we discuss one such stock, Michael Kors Holdings Limited KORS with expected long-term earnings per share growth rate of 10.3% and a VGM Score of A.

Hidden Catalysts

Michael Kors has been constantly deploying resources to expand its product offerings, open new stores, build shop-in-shops, and upgrade its information system and distribution infrastructure. The company remains focused on enhancing mens business either through standalone stores or by adding men's offering in the existing lifestyle outlets in North America, Europe and Asia, and expanding its luxury fashion product assortments. The company also remains optimistic about its Michael Kors ACCESS wearable technology line of watches and fitness trackers, as the category provides ample growth opportunity.

In order to drive top-line growth, Michael Kors has been focusing extensively on store expansion. In fiscal 2016, the company opened 142 new stores, which included 47 in the Americas, and 95 worldwide. In fiscal 2017, the company is expected to inaugurate 15 stores in Americas, 40 in Asia and 20 in Europe. Given the scope for high profitability from company-owned stores, management is putting more emphasis on opening retail stores.

Moreover, the recent buyout of Michael Kors (HK) Limited, the exclusive licensee in China and certain other jurisdictions in Asia, will drive the companys revenue higher in the coming quarters. During the first quarter of fiscal 2017, sales in Asia soared 74.5% on account of this addition of the China business as well as a high-single digit comparable store sales increase in Japan.

Management also intends to upgrade its e-Commerce platform and anticipates the channel to be a significant contributor in the long run. With increasing number of shoppers shifting to online, it was high time that Michael Kors gave importance to its own e-Commerce platform.

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MICHAEL KORS Price

MICHAEL KORS Price | MICHAEL KORS Quote

Hurdles to Cross

Michael Kors continues to heavily invest in new store openings, expanding the existing outlets, expansion of international operations, digital flagships and global infrastructure. As a result, operating costs are expected to rise, which may compress margins going ahead. Further, investments across the board will lead to about 790820 basis points increase in operating expenses as a percentage of total revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2017.

Management expects fiscal 2017 revenues to be flat with the previous year. However, comps are likely to decrease in mid-single digits in comparison to the previous guidance of a decline in low-single digits.

Luxury retail space is a highly competitive arena and to remain in the race the company has to offer high-quality distinguished products at a compelling price.

Taking the pros and cons into consideration, Michael Kors carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the retail sector include Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. DKS, ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. ULTA and Burlington Stores, Inc. BURL. All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Dick's Sporting Goods whose shares have gained more than 60% year to date, has a long-term earnings growth rate of 13.30%.

ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, with an average earnings surprise of 7.7% and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 19.50%.

Burlington Stores currently has a long-term earnings growth rate of 18.40%.

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Peggy Johnson Microsoft

While Salesforce has been pounding its chest to try and convince regulators to intervene in Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, Microsoft has been fighting back.

The latest lob is from Peggy Johnson, Microsoft's executive vice president who handles partnerships and acquisitions.

Speaking at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle, Johnson was asked about the situation between the two companies.

She noted that even though they famously buried some the hatchet partway in 2014 by agreeing to make some of their products work together, "we never said we weren't going to continue to compete."

While Johnson didn't say so, the possibility of the two companies being in full cooperation pretty much died when Microsoft's attempt to buy Salesforce died. The two were reportedly in talks in 2015 but the deal fell apart when they couldn't agree on a price. Microsoft has never formally acknowledged that such talks took place, but if they did, Johnson would have been in the middle of them.

Since then, the two companies have sharpened their knives again.

Microsoft has for years offered products that compete head on with Salesforce's bread-and-butter product, customers relationship management (CRM) software. CRM is used by salespeople to track prospects and interactions with customers.

Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, snatched out of Benioff's hands, was a major score for Microsoft's CRM product. LinkedIn is a critical tool for many salespeople, helping them find prospects and do cold calling. Benioff is concerned that once Microsoft owns LinkedIn, and integrates LinkedIn data into its CRM product, it will also lock out other CRM tools, namely Salesforce's, from accessing LinkedIn's data. That would be a huge blow to Salesforce.

Microsoft's hasn't said it's going to do that, but last week, Microsofts chief legal officer Brad Smith did tell Business Insider in an emailed statement that it plans to spark a price war with Salesforce.

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* Saudi telecoms buoyed by hopes for regulatory change

* Advanced Petrochemical climbs after Q3 earnings

* But Saudi trading volume shrinks

* Dubai sluggish after bearish technical move

* EFG Hermes continues surge in Egypt

By Andrew Torchia

DUBAI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Strong telecommunications shares helped Saudi Arabia's stock market rebound on Tuesday after steep losses due to the kingdom's austerity policies, while most other Gulf markets moved little.

The Saudi stock index, which had dropped 3.7 percent in the previous two days, climbed 2.0 percent, although trading volume fell, suggesting many investors were not eager to buy into the rally.

The main boost came from unusually heavy trade in the telecommunications sector, after the government said at the weekend that it would provide operators with "unified licences" allowing them to offer full range of services.

It did not give details, but analysts think this will open the industry to more competition, potentially reducing the dominance of market leader Saudi Telecom.

Zain Saudi Arabia surged to its 10 percent daily limit, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) climbed 5.4 percent and Atheeb Telecommunication was up 6.9 percent, as all three stocks resumed trading after being suspended for two days. The regulator had asked them to make statements on the expected impact on the new telecoms licensing regime.

Saudi Telecom, which had tumbled 4.9 percent on Monday, rebounded 1.9 percent.

Some other stocks beaten down by worries about the weakening domestic economy in recent days saw cautious buying-back, with Al Rajhi Bank up 4.0 percent after falling 1.5 percent on Monday.

The petrochemical sector, which is exposed mainly to foreign rather than domestic demand and outperformed earlier this week, was mostly sluggish.

But Advanced Petrochemical climbed 1.8 percent to 38.80 riyals after estimating third-quarter net profit shrank 20 percent, a slower rate of decline than in the second quarter, and announcing a 0.65 riyal quarterly dividend. NCB Capital stayed overweight on the stock with a target of 45.10 riyals, citing its operating efficiency and dividend yield.

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Elsewhere in the Gulf, Dubai's index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,406 points. It turned technically bearish on Monday when it closed 1.9 percent down at 3,408 points, breaking technical support on the August and September lows of 3,430-3,442 points, which became immediate resistance.

Abu Dhabi's index rose 0.3 percent as Dana Gas , the most heavily traded stock, surged 3.7 percent. Qatar gained 0.8 percent in a broad rally, with nine of the 10 most heavily traded stocks rising and Industries Qatar adding 1.1 percent.

The Egyptian stock index, which had climbed 3.2 percent on Monday on hopes that an international financing package would be finalised soon after this week's annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, rose a further 0.8 percent.

Investment bank EFG Hermes continued to lead the market up, gaining 3.6 percent.

TUESDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index rose 2.0 percent to 5,526 points.

DUBAI

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,406 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index rose 0.3 percent to 4,409 points.

EGYPT

* The index climbed 0.8 percent to 8,199 points.

QATAR

* The index gained 0.8 percent to 10,388 points.

KUWAIT

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 5,352 points.

OMAN

* The index fell 1.1 percent to 5,613 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 1,144 points.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)
Wild Bunch TV, the television banner created by the pan-European film company a year ago, is set to launch three new shows, Mamas Angel, Tytgat Chocolate, and The Exchange Principle, at Mipcom.

Created by Keren Weissman, Mamas Angel is a 10-episode Israeli psychological drama series exploring life in a wealthy Tel Aviv suburb devastated by the brutal murder of a young boy and the ensuing police investigation. Mamas Angel is produced by Black Sheep Film Productions for YES TV.

A seven-part Flemish drama series, Tytgat Chocolate is a road-trip romance following a man who embarks, along with his mentally challenged co-workers at a chocolate factory, on a journey to find his sweetheart, who has been deported to her native Kosovo. Marc Bryssinck and Filip Lenaerts are writing and directing the series, which is produced by deMENSEN for VRT.

Another Israeli drama, The Exchange Principle, is a 10-episode thriller series created by Noah Stollman and Oded Davidoff, the creative duo behind Someone to Run With and Pillars of Smoke. The series tells the story of a highly respected forensics investigator-turned-vagrant who teams up with a quirky young prosecutor to face off with Israels police force and legal system. The series is produced by United Studios of Israel for Hot Cable.

Dedicating to developing, co-producing/co-financing, and selling international TV series, Wild Bunch TV kicked off last year with Medici: Masters of Florence (pictured above) and the Spanish-language show Four Seasons in Havana.

Medici will have its premiere on Oct. 14 in Florence.

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Majuro (Marshall Islands) (AFP) - As the Marshall Islands awaits an international court ruling on Wednesday on whether its lawsuit against three nuclear powers can proceed, many in the western Pacific nation question the merit of the David-versus-Goliath legal battle.

The country of 55,000 people is taking on India, Pakistan and Britain in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing they have failed to comply with the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Initially the lawsuit was even more ambitious -- also including China, France, Israel, North Korea, Russia and the United States -- none of which recognised the ICJ's jurisdiction on the matter.

The Marshalls has a long, bitter history with nuclear weapons, making it one of the few nations that can argue with credibility before the ICJ about their impact.

The island nation was ground zero for 67 American nuclear weapons tests from 1946-58 at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, when it was under US administration.

The tests included the 1954 "Bravo" hydrogen bomb, the most powerful ever detonated by the United States, about 1,000 times bigger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

They fed into an apocalyptic zeitgeist in Cold War popular culture, giving a name to the bikini swimsuit and leading to the development of Japan's Godzilla movie monster.

In "Godzilla", the creature is awakened by a hydrogen bomb test, rising from a roiling sea to destroy Tokyo, in a walking, radiation-breathing analogy for nuclear disaster.

- 'Sky turned blood red' -

On the Marshall Islands, the impacts of the nuclear tests were all too real.

Numerous islanders were forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, while thousands more were exposed to radioactive fallout.

"Several islands in my country were vaporised and others are estimated to remain uninhabitable for thousands of years," Tony deBrum, a former Marshall Islands foreign minister, told an ICJ hearing earlier this year.

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He recalled witnessing the Bravo test as a nine-year-old while fishing with his grandfather in an atoll, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the blast's epicentre.

"The entire sky turned blood red," he said. "Many died, or suffered birth defects never before seen and cancers as a result of contamination."

DeBrum launched the Marshall's ICJ action in 2014 with cooperation from the California-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

His actions prompted the International Peace Bureau to nominate him in January for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize, which is yet to be awarded.

Yet critics argue the ICJ action is a distraction and the islanders' real fight is with Washington, which carried out the tests in their backyard.

They contend the case has no relationship to victims' claims for increased compensation, better health care and clean-ups to make sites habitable again.

Official criticism has been muted recently to avoid undermining deBrum's Nobel nomination.

But his successor as foreign minister, John Silk, made his views clear before an election last November when voters ousted 40 percent of the parliament, including deBrum.

Labelling the action "unauthorised" and "a publicity stunt", he said the focus should remain on petitioning the US Congress for increased compensation.

"What do these lawsuits have to do with resolving the legacy of the US nuclear testing programme?" he asked.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation argues that the Marshalls is taking a broader perspective in trying to re-start nuclear disarmament talks that have stalled over the past 20 years.

"The Republic of the Marshall Islands acts for the seven billion of us who live on this planet to end the nuclear weapons threat hanging over all humanity," its website says.

"Everyone has a stake in this."

The ICJ, the UN's top court, will decide on Wednesday whether it believes the case should go to a full hearing.
college lecture hall

Just weeks after ITT Tech's demise, one of the largest school closures in US history, The Department of Education (ED) voted to remove recognition from the for-profit school's accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

Accreditation agencies are essentially gatekeepers of federal dollars. They review courses and programs to ensure a school meets their educational standards, which then makes a school eligible to accept federal student aid.

The ED's move on ACICS stands to impact 245 schools accredited by the agency and more than 600,000 students.

Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, believes the move exposes additional questions about the quality of the 245 schools ACICS reviewed.

"If ACICS was found to be so lacking in judgment that the federal government decided to expel it and no longer recognize it, what does that say about the quality of the other schools other than Corinthian and ITT?" Nassirian questioned in an interview with Business Insider.

Corinthian College, one of the largest for-profit systems, shuttered in 2015 after investigations into abuses of students and subpar courses. ITT Tech, which closed in September, faced similar criticism over the quality of programs before its demise.

"Far beyond the possibility, I would say there is a high probability that many of the existing institutions that havent gone out of business and that have access to federal aid through ACICS are significantly subpar and quite risky to both students and taxpayers," he continued.

The remainder of ACICS-accredited schools are mostly for-profit institutions, some of which, have also faced investigations by law enforcement over business practices.

Education Management Corporation (EDMC), for example, is the parent company of two for-profit colleges with campuses accredited by ACICS: The Art Institutes and Brown Mackie College. EDMC has faced investigations by state attorneys general and the US Justice Department.

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In April, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity along with 13 state attorneys general wrote a letter to the ED urging it not to renew recognition for ACICS. The letter stated that ACICS systemically failed students by accrediting subpar schools:

"ACICSs accreditation failures are both systemic and extreme. Its decisions to accredit low-quality for-profit schools have ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable students whom it was charged to protect. It has enabled a great fraud upon our students and taxpayers."

A spokesperson for ACICS told Business Insider that the corporation has been working improve standards, policies, and procedures and that there have been changes in its governance and leadership.

ACICS has appealed the ED's decision and has a month to prepare an argument for reconsideration.

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By Mausami Singh, Ashraf Wani: As Home Minister Rajnath Singh started his two-day Ladakh trip on Monday, local political, religious and social organisations have demanded a Union Territory (UT) status for Ladakh.

Following a meeting with local representatives, the home minister said, "They have only one demand and that is a UT status for Ladakh".

PARTIES UNITE FOR UT STATUS



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The all-party delegation that met Singh also comprised representatives from religious and social organisations. They submitted a memorandum to the home minister appealing him to grant the UT status to Leh-Ladakh.

Also read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector



"Given the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, all of us are committed to realisation of long-standing demand for granting the Union Territory status to Ladakh. We appeal to the Government of India in one voice to consider our demand," the memorandum read.

KEEPING HIS WORD



Later, addressing mediapersons at ITBP, Choglamsar, Singh said that he had kept his word on visiting Ladakh, and has heard the demands and aspirations of the people. During his last month visit to Jammu and Kashmir for an all-party delegation meet, he had said that he will visit Ladakh soon.

Ladakhis have always complained that visits by political leaders are always confined to either the Kashmir Valley or the Jammu region, Singh said. "I had made a commitment that I would convene a meeting with all parties and their representatives from Leh district to attend to their demands and aspirations," he added.KARGIL VISIT TODAY



Meanwhile, the home minister will visit Kargil today to meet local stakeholders, in line with the ongoing dialogue between the government and the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Moving away from his schedule, Singh will also make a stopover at Drass to pay tribute to soldiers at the War Memorial.

This is Singh's fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir ever since the unrest gripped the state following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

Also read: Forces giving befitting reply to terror attacks, says Rajnath Singh

--- ENDS ---
By Aziz El Yaakoubi SALE, Morocco (Reuters) - Moroccan authorities said on Tuesday they had foiled a planned suicide attack on Oct. 7 parliamentary elections after the arrest of a suspected Islamic State militant cell of 10 women earlier this week. The Interior Ministry said on Monday that for the first time a group of female suspects had been arrested, the latest in series of militant cells the North African kingdom says it has broken up. Morocco is holding a parliamentary election on Friday in which the Islamist PJD party is favored to win after five years leading the ruling coalition in a constitutional monarchy where the king remains the ultimate authority. "One of the women was seeking more visibility and was planning an operation on the election day," Abdelhak Khayyam, head of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial arm of the domestic intelligence service, told reporters in Rabat. "It was a suicide attack and we found bomb-making materials," he said, without giving further details. Khayam said that among those arrested were four teenagers and some had already married Islamic State militants in Syria on the internet. The cell was operating in several Moroccan regions including the cities of Kenitra and Tangier, authorities said. The interior ministry said the arrest of the women reflected an Islamic State effort to involve female militants in attacks in the kingdom. It said they were inspired by the brother of one of them who was involved in bombings in Iraq earlier this year. The BCIJ has actively tracked alleged militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-2015. Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and Maghreb neighbors Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria's civil war. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts say. Nearby Libya has also become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Islamic State has taken advantage of widespread chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. The Moroccan government believes 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militants in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, while 286 have been killed in battle. Morocco, an ally in the Western campaign against Islamist militancy, has suffered attacks itself in the past, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh when an explosion tore through a cafe and killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. (Editing by Patrick Markey)
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By Steve Slater

LONDON, Oct 4 (IFR) - JP Morgan has hired Massimo Saletti from Deutsche Bank to become its head of real estate, gaming and lodging for investment banking in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Saletti will also be JP Morgan's global industry co-head with Tom Grier, according to a memo sent to staff.

Saletti will join the US bank in January and report to Harry Hampson, head of JP Morgan's EMEA strategic investor group and head of coverage.

Guillermo Baygual, co-head of real estate and head of the business in EMEA, will remain in that role until the end of the year and then stay as co-head for the diversified industries group.

Saletti had been at Deutsche Bank for more than 13 years, most recently as co-head of its real estate, gaming and lodging practice, the memo said. He previously spent four years in Lazard's real estate advisory division.

(Reporting by Steve Slater)
MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambique and Italy's Eni have signed a 20-year deal to sell BP liquefied natural gas (LNG), an important step in getting a long-delayed project off the ground, state energy firm ENH said on Tuesday. Eni and Mozambique should by the end of this year reach a final investment decision on a project to build a floating offshore platform with a capacity to produce 3.3 million tonnes a year of LNG from gas in the Coral South field, ENH said. The Coral field is part of the huge reserves discovered six years ago in the Area 4 concession off the Mozambican coast. "Through this agreement, the partners of Area 4 have achieved another important milestone," ENH said in a statement. Eni met with bankers in London last month about project financing to develop the Coral field. Giant gas reserves offer Mozambique an opportunity to transform itself from one of the world's poorest countries into a middle-income state and a major global LNG exporter. (Reporting by Manuel Mucari; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Joe Brock)
President Obama will talk to Macklemore in MTVs Prescription For Change: Ending Americas Opioid Crisis, a one-hour documentary on Tuesday, October 11 at 9 PM ET.

The docu officially launches the Viacom networks new MTV Docs unit. The division plans to launch two more docus by the year. They include Transformation, a film on transgender youth in Los Angeles. Another docu chronicles Major Lazers concert in Havana earlier this year  the first concert in Cuba by a major pop act from the U.S. since diplomatic relations between the two countries was reinstated in December of 14.

The world premiere of Prescription for Change takes place today at the White House in conjunction with its South by South Lawn festival (www.whitehouse.gov/sxsl). MTV promises that, in Prescription for Change, Obama will join Macklemore to openly share their own experience with substance use as they discuss the scourge and stigma of addiction.

Immediately following the screening, MTV News Senior Political Correspondent Ana Marie Cox will moderate a conversation on the response to the opioid epidemic with National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli, Macklemore, and other guests. The panel will be streamed live by MTV News and at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live. You can check out the panel today at 1:45 PM ET on MTV News Facebook page.

Macklemore previously appeared with Obama in May, at the presidents weekly address, to talk about opioid addiction.

Michael Klein, MTVs EVP of Original Content said in todays announcement the docus are intended to expose real-life struggles and subcultures that impact the audience. Prescription for Change: Ending Americas Opioid Crisis is a production of MTV Docs and Punched In The Head Productions.

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Herbs and plant extracts are common ingredients when it comes to beauty and lifestyle products, but what do they actually do and are they really any good?

You might know that lavender is great for relaxing and tea tree oil is super for spot fighting but theres plenty more that you should be stocking in your cupboard. Weve taken a look at some of natures best botanicals and the benefits they can have on your body.

First of all  why use herbs and botanicals?

Used properly, herbs can improve our ability to tolerate stress, increase our immunity, regulate our hormones and make us stronger, says Sebastian Pole, Pukka Herbs co-founder and herbal director. In other words, they can increase the quality and length of our lives.

In a world where modern medicine has us hoping for quick and fast fixes, traditional herbal medicine is often overlooked - despite its holistic approach.

We are complex beings and illness itself isnt always simple, explains Sebastian, Herbal medicine recognises the diversity of our complex physiology and promotes the integrity of the whole being, using natural medicines that are often multidimensional. As such, there is none of the one drug for one disease approach that is so familiar in modern orthodox medicine.

Its not all about taking tablets and supplements either. As Shona Wilkinson from Superfood UK explains, Many people these have very compromised digestive systems which means that they run the possibility of not digesting and absorbing nutrients properly. Topical products applied to skin go directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system and get absorbed quicker. This makes them good for any skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

Its important to note that some herbal supplements are still ingested as larger molecules are not always easily absorbed by the skin.

So, which ones should we be stocking up on?

[Photo: Getty]

Turmeric

A yellow spice that is more commonly used for curries and mustards, the health benefits of turmeric are not as well known as its culinary purposes. Turmeric contains curcumin, a powerful antioxidant that fights inflammation and neutralises those damaging free radicals. Its also believed to boost certain hormones in the brain, boosting memory and fighting degenerative processes.

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Uses: Headaches, cold and flu, joint pain, IBS



Try: Pukka Turmeric Gold Tea 2.49

[Photo: Getty]

Rosemary

You might associate rosemary with your Sunday roast but its also a great source of iron, calcium and vitamin B6. It has been used in holistic medicine, to aid muscle pain, boost bloody circulation and boost brain activity. There is also early research that suggests rosemary contains a compound that has the potential to manage type 2 diabetes.

Uses: Concentration, memory, muscle aches

Try: Avalon Organics Hand & Body Lotion 6.99

[Photo: Getty]

Castor Oil

Derived from the castor plant, castor oil is warm, lubricating and emolliating. It is perfect for relieving irritating dryness and the itchiness of skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Nutrient-rich with the protein ricin, high in vitamin E and containing essential unsaturated fatty acids, castor oil is considered as a medicinal king in Ayurvedic medicine. You can use it as a moisturiser on skin, but its also great used in your hair .

Uses: Itchy scalp, makeup remover, stretch marks

Try: Pukka Organic Castor Oil 8.85

[Photo: Getty]

Aloe Vera



One of the more well known botanicals used in skincare, the soothing properties of aloe vera removes excess heat from the body. Aloe vera has been used for centuries to treat wounds, skin infections and other skin conditions due to its antiseptic, soothing and moisturising properties. The gel from this spiky green plant also contain a huge variety of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids  it is one of the few plant source of vitamin B12, an essential vitamin for keeping the nervous system healthy.



Uses: Skin soother, detox, indigestion, acne

Try: Aloe Vera Juice 5

[Photo: Getty]

Matcha

You may have heard of the benefits of green tea, but the benefits of matcha is said to be equivalent to ten cups of green tea. Matcha is actually just stone-ground tea leaves but since traditional water extraction from tea leaves only gives you a fraction of the nutrients, drinking the whole leaf provides you with the full intake of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It also contains catechins, a potent class of antioxidants not found in many other foods. Almost calorie free, matcha helps to boost metabolism and burn fat without raising blood pressure or heart rate.

Uses: Detox, boost energy levels, weight loss

Try: Clearspring Matcha Tea 15.99



[Photo: Getty]

Rose

Reportedly used in Cleopatras beauty routine, rose essence is rich in flavanoids, tannins and antioxidants - all perfect for hydrating and nourishing the skin. Steam-distilled from the flower of the plant, it can take up to 60 roses to create just one drop of Rose essential oil. It has natural antibacterial and astringent properties, which makes it a common base for facial toners and mists.

Uses: Hydration, acne, sore throats, bath soaks

Try: Ruby Red Rose Otto Face Oil 40

[Photo: Getty]

Ashwagandha



Although relatively unheard of, this is a great herb for living in the 21st Century as it supports inner vitality and calm. Also known as winter cherry or Indian ginseng, Ashwagandha gently rebuilds immunity, strength and slows ageing, allowing us to adapt to the stresses of everyday living. The shoots, seeds and fruit may be eaten, and the roots may be used for making a tea. However its also easily ingested as capsules or in a powder form.

Uses: Stress, promote better sleep, anxiety

Try: Neals Yard Ashwagandha Tincture 6.30

Finally - just because a product says herbal on the label, it doesnt guarantee that its good for you. Always read the label and if youre pregnant, suffering from a chronic illness or taking certain medications, check with a professional before taking new supplements.

What do you think of herbal medicine and supplements? Would you consider taking the over modern remedies? Tweet us your thoughts @YahooStyleUK.

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ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle's Nespresso brand said it had halted coffee operations for now in South Sudan, where opposition leader Riek Machar has called for a return to war against the government. "We had to temporarily suspend our operations in the country. It is the third time this happened since we started working there," Nespresso spokeswoman Jacquelyn Campo said on Tuesday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). "The situation has deteriorated and is very difficult at the moment," she said, adding it was impossible to say at this stage when the company would be able to resume business there. The premium coffee brand started working with local farmers in South Sudan in 2011, in partnership with non-profit organisation TechnoServe, to revive coffee production which had been destroyed by years of armed conflict in the region. It launched a first limited-edition Robusta coffee from South Sudan one year ago. South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war fuelled by ethnic divides and disputes over oil, but internal conflicts and political power struggles have persisted, with fresh clashes flaring in July. Campo said Nespresso had invested over $2.5 million in the project and had so far trained 731 South Sudanese coffee farmers. Its partner, TechnoServe, will launch a radio programme to remotely train coffee farmers at the end of this month, she said. "The next harvest starts at the end of October, beginning of November. At the moment, we cannot project what the future will bring." (Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Yahoo Finance is tracking the stocks youre following, based on your Yahoo Finance ticker searches.

Netflix (NFLX)  The streaming giant is in focus on Wall Street on talk that Disney (DIS) could be looking to acquire the company. The rumors come as Netflix investors grow concerned over Netflixs slowing subscriber growth. The stock is down about 10% since the start of the year.

Best Buy (BBY)  The consumer electronics giant has been fined $3.8 million by the Consumer Products Safety Commission for selling recalled products in violation of the law. Best Buy is accused of selling recalled computers, cameras and washing machines between 2010 and 2015.

Darden Restaurants (DRI)  The company reported mixed results for its 2017 fiscal first quarter and lifted its guidance for the full year. Darden Restaurants reported earnings per share of 88 cents on revenue of $1.71 billion. Wall Street expected earnings of 82 cents on revenue of $1.72 billion.

Delta Air Lines (DAL)  The airline reported an increase in its monthly traffic. Delta Air Lines said its revenue passenger miles increased 1.4% while its capacity was up 1.8% from one year ago.

Apple (AAPL)  Apple Pay is in now available in Russia for Sberbank and Mastercard customers. The service, which originally launched in 2014, is now available in 10 countries.
By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - The use of Nigerian government funds earmarked for assisting displaced people who are living in desperate conditions in the former stronghold of Boko Haram, is to be investigated because of suspicions of corruption, lawmakers said on Tuesday. More than two million have been displaced, and some 15,000 people have been killed, during the jihadist group's seven-year insurgency in which it has sought to create a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Last week UNICEF said 75,000 children could die in the next year in northeastern areas previously controlled by the group before it was pushed back by Nigerian troops and others from neighboring countries in early 2015. Bashir Gabai -- a senator from Borno, the state where the insurgency began -- tabled a motion, passed by the upper house of parliament, to investigate the use of government funds. "The rather incoherent and largely fragmented state of the procurement process so far points to a vague and corrupt scheme that is not in tune with helping our people in the north east," stated the motion. The motion stated that 63 trucks carrying grains intended for displaced people in camps in Borno state had been diverted. It also said 80.7 million naira ($260,323) was paid to a company to refurbish a police station and 203 million naira ($654,839) was paid to another company for the removal of invasive plant species along river channels. And it said another company received 117 million naira($377,419) for supplying temporary shelters but there was "no record of these shelters anywhere". The Senate set up a committee, which would report its findings in two weeks and be followed up by a public hearing, to establish how much of the government's funds had been used and how the money was spent. Boko Haram's move to its stronghold in the northeast's vast Sambisa forest in the last few months has enabled government and aid agencies access to areas that were previously hard to reach. President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office last year, has vowed to crack down on corruption and crush the Boko Haram insurgency. Africa's most populous nation, which has the continent's biggest economy, is in recession for the first time in more than 20 years largely due to low oil prices which have slashed revenues from the OPEC member's economic mainstay. (Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Speculation is rife that the infamous Pink Panther gang--which derives its name from the Peter Sellers movies--was behind the Kim Kardashian West jewellery robbery.

By Geetika Sasan Bhandari: Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably learnt that reality TV star Kim Kardashian West was robbed in Paris by five masked men on October 2. Staying at a boutique apartment meant for multi millionaires, Kim was dragged out of bed, bound, gagged and robbed of jewellery amounting to approximately 8-10 million pounds, including the now famous 15-carat Lorraine Schwartz designed ring worth 3.5-4 million pounds gifted by her husband Kanye West.



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While the men made off in bicycles and haven't been apprehended, it is being speculated that the heist was carried out by the infamous Pink Panther gang, Page Six reported. Daily Mail reported that the theft is typical of the gang of super criminals, responsible for many high-profile robberies.

Here are 6 things to know about the gang:

According to Page Six, the jewellery thieves have been around for nearly three decades and typically disguise themselves when targeting their victims. The crooks are credited as being "the largest, most successful gang of diamond thieves in the world with over 370 heists worth $500 million," said Page Six, quoting CBS News. According to a report in Reuters, Interpol estimates the network has stolen more than 334 million euros ($369.57 million) worth of jewellery in around 380 armed robberies between 1999 and 2015. Hailing mostly from Serbia and Montenegro, the gang is a loose network of about 200 thieves, says Daily Mail. It has conducted thefts in Cannes, Tokyo, Singapore and Dubai. The Kim robbery bears all the hallmarks of the gang because their trademark is to conduct heists minus violence. Calling themselves gentleman thieves, they say they never resort to killing, because it puts the police on their case. The gang apparently got "its nickname after a 2003 London robbery when a thief hid a diamond in a pot of beauty cream, similar to the plot of one of the Pink Panther movies about an inept French detective played by English actor Peter Sellers," says Daily Mail. Avoiding plain clothes, they usually dress up as golfers, Hawaiian tourists, workmen and police officers to gain entry into areas to conduct their heists. They do their spadework well and would have been tuned into Kim's social media accounts to know her whereabouts. Members of the gang have been arrested in the recent past. According to a report in Reuters, the Spanish police arrested five alleged members of the gang in August this year. The operation was part of a larger investigation with different crime units in Spain, and with the collaboration of the Serbian and German police, the statement said. The Police were able to recover the jewellery the gang was trying to steal.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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For less than 100 lucky customers around the world, the decades-long wait for a real-life version of the auto-lacing Nike (NYSE:NKE) Air Mag sneakers from Back to the Future II is nearly over. Nike will auction off a limited number of tech-enabled pairs later this month, the company announced Tuesday.

All proceeds from the auction, which begins Tuesday and runs through Oct. 11, will go to The Michael J. Fox Foundation to aid efforts to find a cure for Parkinsons Disease, the debilitating neurological disorder that affects the Back to the Future actor and millions of people worldwide. Participants can buy raffle entries for $10 each, with the winners of the 89 available pairs to be announced on Oct. 17. Nike will also auction off individual pairs of its Air Mags at special events in Hong Kong, London and New York, through mid-November.

Air Mag sneakers feature a version of Nikes new HyperAdapt system. Shoes with HyperAdapt automatically lace and alter their shape to fit the wearers foot. The HyperAdapt 1.0, which spent years in production, is expected to hit stores later this year, though its unclear how much it will cost.

Though it initially shared only a few seconds of screen time with Michael, the idea behind the Nike Mag unlocked something much bigger at Nike, Nike Chairman and CEO Mark Parker said in a statement. It sent us down an uncharted path of innovation, but it also opened our eyes to our ability to fight some of the worlds biggest challenges. We feel privileged for the opportunity to raise even more awareness for the fight against Parkinsons.

Nike presented the first-ever working Air Mags to Fox last year on Oct. 21, 2015  a date fans of the Back to the Future series will recognize. Thats the same day Foxs character traveled to the future in the second film. Previously, the company said it raised nearly $10 million for charity by selling a non-tech version of the Air Mags.

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Donald Trump

Since The New York Times published three pages from Donald Trump's 1995 tax filings, there has been some pushback from right-of-center economics writers who argue that there's nothing necessarily untoward about using a huge business loss to wipe out tax liabilities across many years.

Bloomberg's Megan McArdle, for instance, argues that Trump's 1995 tax records reflecting a $916 million loss show "good tax policy at work."

McArdle's argument is roughly as follows: If Trump managed to avoid taxes for a decade or more, it must have been because he really lost a ton of money when his real-estate empire nearly collapsed in the early '90s. And as a result he had no net income to tax, even over a long period.

(It should be noted that McArdle's argument is a defense of Trump's taxes but not of Trump himself, as the argument implies he is a spectacularly bad businessman.)

I agree with McArdle that there's nothing wrong, in principle, with making use of a net operating loss. If you have a bona-fide business loss in one year, you should be able to use it to offset income from other years. Otherwise, people will be penalized for going into businesses like real estate that have boom and bust cycles.

But Trump's use of the net operating loss provision was not normal.

First, there is the issue of scope: The $916 million loss claimed on Trump's 1995 return accounted for 1.9% of all the net operating losses claimed by individual income taxpayers in the US in 1995.

Trump was a pretty big person in real estate in the early '90s, and he famously took a really big bath on his casinos, his airline, and a variety of other investments at that time. But still: Nearly 2% of all the NOLs on individual income tax returns in the whole country? Seems high.

Donald Trump Hillary Clinton

Lavish lifestyle

Then there is the issue of Trump's lifestyle.

We can infer that Trump has enjoyed a significant amount of real income over the course of his adult life because of his extreme personal expenditures: His private Boeing 757, his various gold-plated homes, and his partly self-financed presidential run, for instance.

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All that Trump lifestyle expenditure must have been financed by a significant amount of Trump income, earned at some point.

Even if Trump had generated no net value through his business ventures and was living off his inheritance from his father, you would expect him to be reporting (and paying tax on) significant investment income from his wealth. Indeed, his 1995 tax documents reflect over $7 million in interest income  meaning Trump likely owned $100 million or more worth of interest-bearing investments at the time, despite his significant financial distress.

Yet all the public tax information we have about Trump reflects incomes near or below zero.

Last spring, The Washington Post reported that Trump paid no federal income tax in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1991, or 1993. He did have taxable income in the years 1975 through 1977, with the highest amount of income being $118,530, on which he paid $42,386 in income tax in 1977.

His 1995 tax documents, of course, reflect income of negative $916 million, with reported business losses far more than wiping out his interest and dividend income. Most of that reported loss was carried forward from prior years, which suggests he had several years in a row with no taxable income, going back to the peak of his business difficulties in the early '90s.

Still, $16 million of Trump's negative income for 1995 was attributable to real estate, royalties, partnerships and other business investment vehicles reporting negative income for 1995 itself, meaning even his current income as reported to the IRS had not yet ticked positive even as real estate markets were on the upswing.

Donald Trump

The property-tax rebate

Then there is the property-tax evidence.

In several recent years, Trump somehow received a small property-tax rebate on his Trump Tower penthouse through a program that is supposed to be available only to people who earn less than $500,000 a year.

When this story first broke in March, it seemed like a bizarre quirk: Even if Trump was overstating his wealth, how could he possibly make less than $500,000 a year? Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks insisted at the time that the rebate had been granted in error. A spokeswoman for the city demanded that Trump return the rebate money  all $302 of it.

But then in June, Trump's next tax bill came out, showing he was still getting the rebate. This time, the city clammed up, insisting that tax-privacy laws prevented them from discussing any taxpayer's eligibility for a rebate. Ultimately, the city withdrew the rebate at Trump's request, without ever saying whether he was entitled to have the rebate if he wanted it.

The city is supposed to check taxpayers' incomes as reported on their state income tax returns before granting these property tax rebates. It wasn't hard to believe the government would make a mistake in this verification process.

But given that the city kept giving him the rebate even after news coverage of the "error," and given the large number of prior years in which Trump had incomes below the $500,000 threshold, doesn't it seem likely the reason he kept getting the rebate was that he qualified for it?

Finally, we know that since 2008, Trump has given no money to his own charitable foundation, to which he used to be the principal donor. One reason a person might decide not to give money to one's own foundation is that one does not have income against which to deduct charitable contributions.

All of which is to say: The public has somehow managed to come into possession of a lot of information indicating that Trump reported very little, no, or negative taxable income in a given year  and no information that indicates Trump had a high reported income and a high tax liability in any year.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Manheim, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 1, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

3 possibilities

That leads us to three possibilities.

One option is that Trump has had very limited real income across the course of his adult life. This seems impossible, given his outlandish consumption patterns discussed above.

A second option is that the limited set of Trump tax information available to the public is unrepresentative. We have good reason to believe he reported very low or negative incomes some years in the late 1970s, mid-1980s, early to mid-1990s, and recently. But there could be other years in which he reported high incomes and paid a lot of federal income tax that we don't know about.

If this is the case, Trump can easily prove it by releasing additional years of tax returns. He wouldn't even need to release all of them, just some years in which he paid a lot of tax.

A third option is that Trump's income as reported to the IRS has been far below his true income in an economic sense.

The classic Haig-Simons definition of income is your consumption plus the change in value of your assets. It is entirely possible to report an income for tax purposes that is much less than this figure without breaking any laws.

In her column, McArdle nods toward this possibility, noting that "the tax law surrounding real-estate development is an arcane and wonderful thing, and it offers more scope for, let us say, artistic interpretation of your income picture than most industries."

In particular, real estate enjoys generous treatment of depreciation: As your building ages and decays, you may take an annual write-off for "depreciation expense," even if the value of the building is in fact rising. This depreciation expense is a noncash cost that you can write off against cash income, such as rent.

In the long run, this is all supposed to come out in the wash: When you sell a building, you have to pay tax on the difference between the sale price and your cost basis in the building, which is roughly your purchase price minus all that depreciation you took credit for on many years' tax returns.

But while depreciation doesn't let you delay tax forever, it does allow you to delay it for a very long time: until you sell the building or die.

Currently, the estate tax acts as a backstop of sorts for real-estate-tax deferral: If Trump dies and passes his properties on to his children, his accrued value gains in those properties will never be taxed, but the estate value itself will be taxed at rates up to 40%.

If there were no estate tax, it would be possible for real-estate investors to pass their empires on to their descendants without ever triggering taxes on accrued gains in value, as long as the real-estate portfolio was never liquidated.

It is interesting to note that while Trump has abandoned some shibboleths of supply-side tax policy  he is fine with a top ordinary income tax rate of 33% and would cut capital-gains tax rates only to 20%, both higher figures than are typical in Republican tax plans these days  he has held fast to the extreme position of abolishing the estate tax altogether.

Is this perhaps because Trump has been very good at using "artistic interpretation" to avoid subjecting his real-estate income to ordinary and capital-gains taxes, and because the estate tax is the last piece of the puzzle that stands in the way of his passing a great deal of tax-free income on to his children and their children and their children in perpetuity?

I don't know that. But it's consistent with all the evidence I have seen about Trump's personal tax situation.

NOW WATCH: Watch the tense moment a GOP pollster described as Mike Pence's 'knockout punch' of the debate





More From Business Insider


In the tradition of Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The CW on Tuesday will launch the freshman hour-long comedy No Tomorrow. Like Jane, the show is an adaptation of a foreign series, and it also boasts a Jane grad - former co-executive producer Corinne Brinkerhoff - who developed the U.S. adaptation and serves as showrunner.

However, for all those similarities, it's safe to say there's nothing quite like No Tomorrow on television. The series centers on a risk-averse, straight-laced woman named Evie (Tori Anderson) who falls for a freewheeling man named Xavier (Joshua Sasse) who lives life to the fullest ... because he believes the apocalypse is coming.

The Hollywood Reporter had Brinkerhoff break down what No Tomorrow brings to the table as The CW's latest comedy, what the inspiration behind the series was and more.

Read more: 'No Tomorrow' Team Talks Pre-Apocalyptic Comedy: "We Have a Plan"

How will No Tomorrow fit in with The CW's recent comedic push with Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend?

I hope it will carve out its own place. One key distinction is that it's a two-hander rather than a solo female lead.

Are you looking to be strictly comedic, or will the show dip into dramatic waters as well?

We think of it as a comedy with heart. The show is about finding joy and living in the moment. What does that look like for each of these people? Xavier might be certifiable, but his way of life is undeniably appealing. It's contagious. We'll see the ripple effect, for better or worse, in all of our characters.

Usually apocalyptic-themed shows are more dramatic thrillers, so what was the inspiration behind this comedy?

While I was on Jane the Virgin, I met with [executive producer] Ben Silverman about developing a pilot together. He brought up a Brazilian half-hour, Como Aproveitar o Fim do Mundo (How to Enjoy the End of the World), and the concept was immediately appealing to me. I could see the show right away -- instead of post-apocalyptic doom, it's pre-apocalyptic joy. The underlying message is one we all know on a gut level: The clock is ticking. We should be living in the moment, relishing each day. But we get distracted by everyday minutiae, we settle into routines, we give up on far-fetched hopes. We forget it's just a short ride -- we should make it as joyful as possible.

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Read more: Take Me to the Pilots '16: The CW's 'No Tomorrow'

How did other apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead and The 100 influence your series?

I think those are excellent shows but wildly different, tonally. The stronger influences here were Last Man on Earth and Jane the Virgin.

Will you reach the "apocalypse" date that Xavier is counting down to in the first season, or is that something for future seasons to deal with?

I can't say.

Did you go into this season with a finite number of future seasons planned, or are you hoping this show can continue for as long as possible, even past the apocalypse date?

I hope it can continue as long as possible. We're having a lot of fun.

What are you most excited for viewers to get to see from No Tomorrow?

The seize-the-day set pieces, the adorable relatability of Tori Anderson, the roguish charm of Joshua Sasse, the comedy chops of Jesse Rath and Jonathan Langdon, the brilliant weirdness of Amy Pietz, and Sarayu Blue killing it as a hedonistic nihilist.

Read more: 'No Tomorrow': TV Review

Since The CW's charming new rom-com with a twist is all about what someone wants to accomplish before the (supposedly impending) end of the world, it seemed only right to also find out what Brinkerhoff has on her bucket list for season one. And she didn't disappoint.

1. Get musical

"Show off the singing talents of our cast. Josh even wrote an original song for the show that we're hoping to feature."

2. Get Olympic

"Shoot a scene with our characters on the Olympic bobsled course at Whistler Mountain."

3. Get creative

"Shoot an episode Birdman-style, seemingly in one take."

4. Get punny

"Use at least one pun from staff writer Gracie Glassmeyer per episode. She is a master of puns, one of which inspired the title and opening scene of episode three."

5. Get a crossover

"Crossover episode with Jane the Virgin. One of our characters already has 'Meet Rogelio de la Vega [Jaime Camil]' on his Apocalyst."

6. Get inspirational

"Remind people that whether we have 80 years or 8 months and 12 days, it's all a blip on the cosmic calendar. Really, why are you even still reading this? Go cross something off your list."

No Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
From Popular Mechanics

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries on how cells break down and recycle content, a garbage disposal system that scientists hope to harness in the fight against cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

The Karolinska Institute honored Ohsumi for "brilliant experiments" in the 1990s on autophagy, a phenomenon that literally means "self-eating" and describes how cells gobble up damaged content and provide building blocks for renewal.

Disrupted autophagy (aw-TAH'-fuh-jee) has been linked to several diseases including Parkinson's, diabetes and cancer, the prize committee said.

"Intense research is now ongoing to develop drugs that can target autophagy in various diseases," it said in itscitation .

Ohsumi, 71, from Fukuoka, Japan, is a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 2012, he won the Kyoto Prize, Japan's highest private award for global achievement.

Ohsumi said he never thought he would win a Nobel Prize for his work, which he said involved studying yeast in a microscope day after day for decades.

"As a boy, the Nobel Prize was a dream, but after starting my research, it was out of my picture," he told reporters in Tokyo.

"I don't feel comfortable competing with many people, and instead I find it more enjoyable doing something nobody else is doing," Ohsumi added. "In a way, that's what science is all about, and the joy of finding something inspires me."

Nobel committee secretary Thomas Perlmann said Ohsumi seemed surprised when he was informed he had won theNobel Prize.

"The first thing he said was 'ahhh.' He was very, very pleased," Perlmann said.

Nobel judges often award discoveries made decades ago, to make sure they have stood the test of time.

Though scientists have known that autophagy exists for more than 50 years, its fundamental significance was only recognized after Ohsumi's "paradigm-shifting research" on yeast in the 1990s, the committee said.

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"Thanks to Ohsumi and others following in his footsteps, we now know that autophagy controls important physiological functions where cellular components need to be degraded and recycled," it said.

The term autophagy was coined in 1963 by Belgian scientist Christian de Duve, who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in medicine for discoveries on cell structure and organization.

But before Ohsumi's research, scientists "didn't know what it did, they didn't know how it was controlled and they didn't know what it was relevant for," said David Rubinsztein, deputy director of the Institute for Medical Research at the University of Cambridge.

Now "we know that autophagy is important for a host of important mammalian functions." For example, it protects against starvation in the period when a newborn animal hasn't yet started breastfeeding, by providing energy, he said.

It also removes proteins that clump together abnormally in brain cells, which is important in conditions like Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases and some forms of dementia. If autophagy didn't do that job, "the diseases would appear more early and be more aggressive," he said.

Animal studies suggest that boosting autophagy can ease and delay such diseases, said Rubinsztein, whose lab is pursuing that approach for therapy.

"As time goes on, people are finding connections with more and more diseases" and normal cellular operations, he said.

In 1993 Ohsumi published his "seminal discovery" of 15 genes crucial to autophagy, and cloned several of those genes in yeast and mammalian cells in subsequent studies, the Nobel committee said.

"He actually unraveled which are the components which actually perform this whole process," said Rune Toftgard, chairman of the Nobel Assembly. "Having those components at hand were also important tools to ... do functional experiments to understand how important it was for different types of processes in the body."

In Tokyo, Ohsumi said many details of autophagy are yet to be understood and that he hoped younger scientists would join him in looking for the answers.

"There is no finish line for science. When I find an answer to one question, another question comes up. I have never thought I have solved all the questions," he said. "So I have to keep asking questions to yeast."

It was the 107th award in the medicine category since the first Nobel Prizes were handed out in 1905.

Last year's prize was shared by three scientists who developed treatments for malaria and other tropical diseases.

The announcements continue with physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics and literature awards will be announced next week.

Each prize is worth 8 million kronor ($930,000). The awards will be handed out at prize ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.

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From Esquire

Jonathan Chait sat down the with the president recently and gave us another peek inside the empty big back of fcks to give that the president has been toting around for a couple of years now. It's a deep look inside one of the most creative and captivating minds ever to sit in that oval-shaped dungeon at the far end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

(Can I pre-order the memoir now?)

If nothing else, the president's musings on the nature of his political opposition should put to rest forever the notion that the president doesn't understand the forces lined up against him. From New York:

When I came into office, my working assumption was that because we were in crisis, and the crisis had begun on the Republicans' watch, that there would be a window in which they would feel obliged to cooperate on a common effort to dig us out of this massive hole. Probably the moment in which I realized that the Republican leadership intended to take a different tack was actually as we were shaping the stimulus bill, and I vividly remember having prepared a basic proposal that had a variety of components. We had tax cuts; we had funding for the states so that teachers wouldn't be laid off and firefighters and so forth; we had an infrastructure component. We felt, I think, that as an opening proposal, it was ambitious but needed and that we would begin negotiations with the Republicans and they would show us things that they thought also needed to happen. On the drive up to Capitol Hill to meet with the House Republican Caucus, John Boehner released a press statement saying that they were opposed to the stimulus. At that point we didn't even actually have a stimulus bill drawn up, and we hadn't meant to talk about it. And I think we realized at that point what proved to be the case in that first year and that second year was a calculation based on what turned out to be pretty smart politics but really bad for the country: If they cooperated with me, then that would validate our efforts. If they were able to maintain uniform opposition to whatever I proposed, that would send a signal to the public of gridlock, dysfunction, and that would help them win seats in the midterms. It was that second strategy that they pursued with great discipline. It established the dynamic for not just my presidency but for a much sharper party-line approach to managing both the House and the Senate that I think is going to have consequences for years to come.

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It can be argued, and it has been, that the president trusted for too long in the good faith of the Republicans in Congress. (Myself? I thought 30 seconds was too long, but I understand that opinions on the topic vary.) I think the president's fundamental error lies in the fact that he fails to appreciate how far the prion disease of movement conservatism had progressed in the Republican party by the time he took office.

It was really strange, but at that point, Limbaugh had been much clearer about wanting to see me fail and had, I think, communicated that very clearly to his listeners. Fox News' coverage had already started to drift in that direction, and what you realized during the course of the first six, eight, ten months of the administration was that the attitudes, the moods that I think Sarah Palin had captured during the election increasingly were representative of the Republican activist base, its core. It might not have been representative of Republicans across the country, but it meant that John Boehner or Mitch McConnell had to worry about that mood inside their party that felt that, No, we shouldn't cooperate with Obama, we shouldn't cooperate with Democrats; that it represents compromise, weakness, and that the broader character of America is at stake, regardless of whatever policy arguments might be made.

All due respect to the president, but he came around when the symptoms of the prion disease had become so visible that you'd have to have been a cable news pundit or Hugh Hewitt not to notice it. The party first ate the monkeybrains in the late 1970s, when the Southern strategy born in the 1960s came to full fruition by shoving the party's centers of power south and west. (Sidney Blumenthal's The Rise of the Counter-Establishment remains the ur-text.) By that point, the party had integrated into itself the emotional and political rubble of American apartheid so successfully that it was beginning to be able to roll back the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement.

(We have had two Chief Justices of the Supreme Court in the past 30 years. Both of them were appointed by Republican presidents. Both of them first made their conservative bones by seeking to roll back the Voting Rights Act, which the second of them has succeeded in doing.)

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At the same time, the party allied itself with a vocal and politically active splinter of American Evangelical Protestantism. This allowed some of the wilder notions of American 20th Century conservativism to sneak back into Republican politics through the chapel doors. William F. Buckley didn't read the Birchers all the way out of the party. They remained close enough that Jerry Falwell could pray them back into it.

Since then, the progression has been steady and obvious, and a lot of it pre-dates the elevation of Sarah Palin to whatever place she currently occupies in our political life. Willful self-destructive stubbornness in the Congress was obvious when the Republicans took themselves completely over the cliff in the Terri Schiavo case. Republican leaders committed themselves to obstructing Bill Clinton as quickly and as publicly as they did the current president. (As I recall, Bob Dole was particularly outspoken in this regard.) Five years ago next month, Mark Warren and I drove up to Chappaqua for an interview with Clinton, and I think his take on what has happened to the Republican Party is a little bit more true to the history than the one in which the current president believes.

ESQUIRE: You stress that the antigovernment movement has been a long march. Are we now living through the inevitable conclusion of that long march? Was it headed this way all along, or was there a moment when the Republicans could have turned away from the anti-intellectual, antiscience, no-tax-increases-of-any-kind kind of thing? Was there a turning point where they could have said, We can be antigovernment to an extent, but we're not going to go off the cliff?

CLINTON: They could have done it if they hadn't turned on the first President Bush. Because Reagan, you know, since he enacted that massive tax cut in '81, they cut him some slack when he clawed back by 40 percent of it and signed the Social Security Commission's recommendation. And they cut him some slack because it was working - because it was the first time we'd ever run permanent deficits and that ignited a long stimulus. But if they'd stayed with President Bush in '92, they were in a place where they would always be to the right of the Democrats, but they were still basically a science-based, reality-based party. President Bush had signed some things - the Clean Air Act - which were very, very good. And the Americans with Disabilities Act. But he was conservative. He vetoed the Brady Bill - he gave in to the NRA - and he vetoed the Family and Medical Leave Act. But at least we were all sort of in a range of debate.

Obviously, I would trace it back further even than Clinton does, but there's no question that Pat Buchanan's bloody primary campaign against an incumbent Republican president who was pretty much the walking embodiment of the old Republican establishment brought to the fore a number of forces-xenophobia, racism, protectionism-that have powered the rise of Donald Trump. Buchanan cut up the elder President Bush so thoroughly that, by January of 1992, it was hard to believe that, six months earlier, Bush had been so popular that he'd scared off all the putative Democratic superstars except the governor of a small Southern state who was sharp enough to see down the road.

To me, the great failure of the elite political media in this election is not that they somehow "normalized" Donald Trump. Hell, the man is the nominee of one of the only two political parties we have decided to allow ourselves. The great failure in this year's coverage is the failure to attach Trump to the Republican Party as the logical-nay, inevitable-product of three decades of deliberate political and policy choices. If El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago augurs in, this is going to enable the Republicans to claim that he was an aberration, and not a creature of their own, decades in the making.

That ensures that, sooner or later, we're going to confront a Donald Trump who is a better politician and who doesn't talk about his dick on the debate stage. That is a chilling prospect.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

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From Esquire

Donald Trump might need to donate some of his own money to his charity if he wants to use it to buy any more 6-foot-tall paintings of himself. The New York attorney general's office has ordered the Donald J. Trump Foundation to cease soliciting donations immediately, The Washington Post reports, after it emerged last week that the organization does not have the proper certification to take money from the general public.

The office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, sent a "notice of violation" detailing the fundraising ban, the Post reports. In New York, any charity with the intent of raising more than $25,000 per year from the general public is required to get certain registration under article 7A of the state's Executive Law. As part of the stop order, the AG's office also instructed the Trump Foundation to supply the state with all the legal paperwork required within 15 days, along with all the audit reports it should have provided in prior years. If it failed to do so, the letter said, the foundation would be considered "a continuing fraud upon the people of New York."

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Previously, the Post's David Farenthold reported that, beginning in the early 2000s, Trump largely stopped donating to his namesake foundation and began accepting larger and larger gifts from outside donors. Subsequently, that money was reportedly used for settling some of Trump's legal disputes and buying multiple portraits of the man himself.

The Trump campaign has declined to comment on the new fundraising ban, but expect a statement about the Clinton Foundation sometime soon.

[H/T: The Washington Post]

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By Idrees Ali and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials are doing their best to ignore Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's hostile rhetoric and taking comfort in the fact that he has yet to translate his words into less military cooperation. The United States is trying not to give the new president a pretext for further outbursts while at the same time pressing ahead with military and other cooperation at lower levels, U.S. officials said on Monday. While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China has grown increasingly aggressive, there are no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, according to two U.S. officials. Mindful of anti-colonial sentiment, despite the estimated 3 million people of Philippine descent living in the United States, U.S. officials do not want to say or do anything that might encourage Duterte to turn his rhetoric into reality. "He is like Mr. Trump," a senior Southeast Asian official said, referring to U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "He craves attention, and the more he gets, the more outrageous he becomes. It is wisest to ignore him." Asked by a reporter for his response to that comment, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said: "That is their opinion." In the last month, Duterte has called U.S. President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch," leading the White House to cancel a planned meeting. He also appeared to liken himself to Hitler and said he would "be happy" to kill 3 million drug users and peddlers in the country but later apologized to the Jewish community for his reference to the Holocaust. Duterte also said his mention of the Nazi leader was a reference to how his critics had portrayed him. In his latest broadside, Duterte said on Sunday he got expressions of support from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and from an unnamed Chinese official after he complained of ill-treatment by Washington. While Duterte has publicly suggested he would end joint military exercises, push U.S. special operations forces out of the southern Philippines, and review a defense pact signed two years ago, U.S. officials stressed none of this has happened. 'ALL BLUSTER' U.S. military officials said they were well aware of Duterte's comments, but their counterparts in the Philippines had reassured them that business continues as usual. "No one is really losing sleep over it," said one U.S. defense official on condition of anonymity. "It is all bluster," said a second defense official, saying Duterte's remarks "have not bled over into our world." There are about 100 U.S. soldiers in Zamboanga City in the south, a Philippine military spokesman said, well below the 1,200 U.S. forces initially deployed to help train and advise local troops fight the Abu Sayyaf Group, an Islamist militant group. The Philippine military spokesman said he was not aware of any plan to pull them out. Other than Japan's 1942-1945 occupation, the United States effectively ruled the Philippines from 1898, when it acquired the island chain from Spain following the Spanish-American War, until recognizing its independence in 1946. The two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951, but their close cooperation diminished a quarter century ago, when the Philippines kicked U.S. forces out of two large military installations, including the naval base at Subic Bay. ENHANCED COOPERATION Two years ago, however, the two signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows U.S. troops to build storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations. Under the agreement, two C-130 transport planes and 100 U.S. servicemen have been at an air base in the central Philippines since Sept. 25. On Tuesday, the two countries launched PHILBEX, an eight-day joint marine exercise. Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said the EDCA is an international agreement, and the United States and Philippines are bound by international law. Citing the agreement's text, Ross said it has an initial term of 10 years, after which either side may end it with a year's written notice. The former colony is a key element of the Obama administration's policy of "rebalancing" its foreign policy toward Asia, and the two nations have begun joint patrols in the South China Sea as China asserts its territorial claims. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, its claims overlapping with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. U.S. officials are disturbed by the fact that more than 3,100 people have been killed since Duterte took office three months ago and launched a promised drugs war, yet they value the country's long-standing military ties. "Sometimes you have to hold your nose about the individuals and deal with the countries. The United States doesn't have the luxury of writing off the Philippines, so we have to find a way to deal with this extraordinarily distasteful leader while still conveying our opposition to his human rights policies," said Frank Jannuzi, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Asia specialist now at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. U.S. lawmakers have conveyed their concerns in repeated conversations with the Philippine Embassy, where diplomats are torn between their need to represent Dutertes government and their concerns about what he has been saying. The United States has sent the Philippines hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and military and development assistance in recent years, making it the third-largest Asian recipient of U.S. military aid after Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two influential senators, Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that handles foreign aid, said Congress would take Dutertes policies into account when deciding on aid for the current fiscal year. One U.S. official said that while the Obama administration is more worried about Duterte that it is letting on publicly, there is no great concern about the defense implications of a political break because the United States has alternatives. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said these include the Navy Region Center Singapore, training facilities in Brunei, and the possibility of greater naval access in Vietnam. (Reporting by Idrees Ali, Arshad Mohammed, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle in WASHINGTON; Additional reporting by Martin Petty in MANILA; Editing by John Walcott)
The National Rifle Association was quick to weigh in on the news that reality television star Kim Kardashian was the victim of an armed robbery in Paris  responding with a sarcastic message on Twitter.

Wait, criminals held @KimKardashian at gunpoint in Paris? the NRA tweeted Monday afternoon. How is that possible? Does anyone know if they passed a background check first?

Wait, criminals held @KimKardashian at gunpoint in Paris? How is that possible? Does anyone know if they passed a background check first?  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

It's shocking that these criminals did not subject themselves to Paris' strict #guncontrol laws before committing this awful crime.  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

Paris police say Kardashian was robbed in her Paris residence on Sunday by masked men who tied her up in the bathroom, put a gun to her head and fled with nearly $10 million worth of jewelry. The assailants were dressed as police officers, Reuters reported, and gained access to Kardashians room by forcing a concierge to let them in.

A publicist for the 35-year-old reality television star said Kardashian was badly shaken but physically unharmed.

Related: Could Kims social media presence have played a role in robbery?

The NRA used the armed robbery to highlight how Frances gun laws did not stop it from happening. As the Washington Post noted following the Charlie Hebdo shootings, there is no right to bear arms for the French, and to own a gun, you need a hunting or sporting license which needs to be repeatedly renewed and requires a psychological evaluation. In 2012, the French government estimated there were at least 7.5 million guns in legal circulation, and millions more illegally held.

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It's shocking that these criminals did not subject themselves to Paris' strict #guncontrol laws before committing this awful crime.  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

Everytown for Gun Safety, the advocacy group headed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, responded to the NRA.

Having fun, @NRA? the organization tweeted, publishing a chart that showed the gun murder rates for countries around the world. You are 18 times more likely to be murdered with a gun in the U.S. than in France.

Having fun, @NRA? You are 18 times more likely to be murdered with a gun in the US than in France. pic.twitter.com/MrQGjwi73F  Everytown (@Everytown) October 3, 2016

Wait, are you saying criminals dont follow current laws? the NRA replied. That cant be true.

The gun control lobby spent part of the afternoon responding to critics of its opportunistic Kardashian tweets.

This is why women and mothers want stronger gun laws. @NRA opposes closing background check loophole that allows criminals to get guns. https://t.co/2Ft64129WL  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 3, 2016

Stronger gun laws like the ones they have in Paris? #askingforafriend https://t.co/xHUhViDtpN  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

NRA trolls Kim Kardashian after she was robbed at gunpoint https://t.co/yXFT2fqkL5 pic.twitter.com/eBxjQTX6bU  The Hill (@thehill) October 3, 2016

No, #NRA expresses confusion about how this happened. Guns arent really allowed in Paris, so. https://t.co/okd5JDowrU  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

Wrong. #NRA expresses concern, as well as confusion that criminals in Paris were armed in the first place. https://t.co/PUGu2f8qD7  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

NRA: Gun control laws didn't stop Kardashian robbery in Paris https://t.co/GJJbzZ91FU pic.twitter.com/37klygFXUs  Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 3, 2016

We just think criminals should stop breaking the law. Oh wait. https://t.co/5UXjXpwdtz  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

"Paris, after all, is basically one big gun-free zone." https://t.co/zcK8vuca0x Fact check: True.  NRA (@NRA) October 3, 2016

Kardashian herself has spoken out in favor of gun law reform.

The fact that anyone can so easily access guns is so scary & after all of the devastating loss the Senate should have not failed us!!!  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) June 21, 2016

The fact that anyone can so easily access guns is so scary, she tweeted in June after the Senate failed to enact a series of gun control measures following the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. After all of the devastating loss the Senate should have not failed us!!!
Breaking away from the trend of Prime Ministers celebrating Dussehra in Delhi every year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to celebrate the festival in Lucknow this time.

By Himanshu Mishra: Breaking away from the trend of Prime Ministers celebrating Dussehra in the national capital every year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to celebrate the festival in Lucknow this time.

Sources said Modi will participate in the Ramleela programme at Aishbagh in Lucknow on October 11.

Given that Uttar Pradesh is going to polls next year, the Prime Minister's decision is being seen as a masterstroke by political analysts.

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Since assuming power in 2014, Modi has celebrated the festival at the popular Subhash Maidan and Ramleela Maidan in Delhi.

In the past, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee too would celebrate festivals in Lucknow as he was elected to Lok Sabha from this constituency.

ALSO READ: Samajwadi Party drama: How UP chief Shivpal is forcing Akhilesh Yadav into a corner

ALSO READ: UP election: SP, BSP fight to survive; Congress looks for relevance; Modi referendum for BJP



--- ENDS ---


Zee Avi's "Arena Cahaya" song for the "Ola Bola" film has been nominated for the Golden Horse Film Festival.

4 Oct  After raking in a number of awards at the recent 28th Festival Filem Malaysia (FFM 28) recently, "Ola Bola" continues its winning streak by getting nominated at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.



The Chui Keng Guan film is nominated under the Best Theme Song category for its original song, "Arena Cahaya" sung by Zee Avi.



The song will be going up against, "It's Cold Without Your Love" from the film "Big Fish & Begonia" (China), "Sawadika" from the film "Detective Chinatown (China), "Love Without Words" from the film "Lokah Laqi! Hang In There, Kids!" (Taiwan), and "It's Not A Crime" from the film "Soul Mate" (China).



"I am really proud to be one of the composers for this song along with Zee Avi and production assistant Alvin Wee (who did the mixing). It is magical that the song has not only been well-received in Malaysia, but now also overseas," said Rendra Zawawi as quoted by New Straits Times.



According to Rendra, the news of the nomination was informed to him by Zee Avi herself via text messaging.



Rendra added that he hopes that all three of them would be able to attend the prestigious award ceremony in Taiwan.



Previously, "Arena Cahaya" had won the Best Theme Song award at the recent FFM 28 which took place in early September.
By Simon Webb

NEW YORK (Reuters) - OPEC producers have their sights set on a sustained oil price of $50-$60 per barrel, a modest ambition for the first cut in supply by the oil exporting group in eight years, says one of the industry's top forecasters.

Benchmark U.S. oil prices (CLc1) have risen around $4, or around nine percent, to over $48 per barrel since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed last week to shave output.

"You don't manage the market unless you have a price in mind," said Gary Ross, founder and executive chairman at the New York-based consultancy PIRA.

"They are being cautious, they want to see what will happen with shale. But OPEC's price aspirations only go up over time. They don't go down."

The deal marks the return to supply caps for the producer group after a brutal two-year free-for-all when OPEC members ditched output targets and pumped more than the market needed in a price war that bloodied U.S. shale producers.

U.S. oil output fell to around 8.7 million barrels per day in July, the lowest since May 2014 and down over 730,000 bpd on the year, mostly as shale producers hit by low oil prices cut output.

Ross challenged the assumption that a higher price could be self-defeating for OPEC because it will encourage shale producers to boost output.

"We're not necessarily about to be overwhelmed by shale oil," he said. "The timing of this is quite deliberate, OPEC is doing this heading into winter and at a time when supply from non-OPEC producers is down."

Peak northern hemisphere energy demand during the cold season provides OPEC with a window to reach its price aspirations, Ross said. Shale producers will need four to six months to bring new production online, and that may take longer in areas where cold weather prevents work.

After letting thousands of employees go over the past two years, it will take time for shale producers to build up operations and costs will rise quickly, he added.

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The impact of fast-rising costs on shale producers was likely another factor in OPEC's thinking, Ross said. OPEC producers have less variable costs and so will benefit more from the uplift in oil prices than shale producers, he said.

While the price rout hurt OPEC's competitors, the group's oil ministers were under pressure from their own central bankers and finance ministers to do something to reverse the impact of low prices on their own revenues, Ross said.

Many have had to cut budgets and the generous benefits as they adjusted to the longest and deepest oil price rout since the 1980s.

The $4 rise in prices is already worth over $100 million a day in additional revenue for OPEC producers pumping around 33 million bpd of crude.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia was not just dressing up a seasonal variation in output as a supply cut, Ross said. The kingdom typically reduces output after summer, when it no longer needs to burn crude for power generation to feed demand for air conditioning.

"There is a lot more to it than that," he said. "The policy to push for market share is over. It's a matter now of going back to managing the market."

(Editing by Marguerita Choy)
By PTI: Kathmandu, Oct 3 (PTI) President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Nepal on a three-day state visit beginning November 2, Nepalese media reported today.

President Mukherjee will arrive here on the invitation of Nepalese counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari, the Himalayan Times reported, quoting sources.

He is also likely to visit Pokhara, Muktinath and Janakpur, sources added.

Bhandaris Foreign Affairs Expert, Madan Kumar Bhattarai, said Nepals Foreign Affairs Ministry, in coordination with the Indian side, has been working on the programmes of Mukherjees visit.

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His visit was mooted right after the formation of incumbent coalition government in Nepal in August, the report said, adding that subsequently, an understanding regarding Mukherjees itinerary was reached when Prime Minister Prachanda travelled to India for a state visit last month. PTI SAI AKJ SAI

--- ENDS ---
Long Root Ale credit Amy Kumler (7)

Patagonia's latest product isn't a winter coat or pair of boots, but its first-ever line of beer.

Unlike standard brews, the new beer is the first to be made with Kernza, a breed of wheat that's perennial, meaning it grows back season after season.

Long Root Ale launched on Oct 3, and is produced by Patagonia Provisions, the sustainable food offshoot of Patagonia, in partnership with the Kansas-based nonprofit The Land Institute, which developed the Kernza grain.

Kernza is still relatively new  researchers at The Land Institute began breeding it from a species of perennial wheat grass in 2003. Farmers are still experimenting with it, but have thus far found that Kernza crops require only half as much water as wheat due to their long roots. The plant also thrives without tilling, which helps prevent soil erosion (the wearing away of topsoil by wind and water after farming). And since Kernza crops don't die after harvest, they can grow  and capture carbon  year-round, eliminating the need to start over every season.

Patagonia Provisions brewed its new beer at the Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon. 16-ounce cans are now available at Whole Foods stores in California, Oregon and Washington.

Kernza Farmer credit Jim Richardson

The company hopes that using Kernza in beer will help reduce climate change, since the crop lends itself to sustainable, regenerative agriculture practices

, Birgit Cameron, sr. director of Patagonia Provisions' senior director, said in a statement.

Industrial agriculture currently consumes about 70% of the planet's accessible freshwater, and harvest wheat uses 1.9 million gallons of water annually. Wheat leaves land especially vulnerable to soil erosion, which causes vital plant nutrients to get washed away. Kernza, however, leads to much less soil erosion and water waste than other grains, and helps protect soil biodiversity as well.

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Other breweries are also attempting to make more sustainable beers. Because the brewing process produces a great deal of waste  roughly 36 billion pounds of grains every year  Regrained, a startup based in San Francisco, it turning the used grain into granola bars. In 2013, Alaskan Brewing Co. installed a $1.8 million furnace that burns the company's used grain to make steam, which powers the majority of the brewery's operations.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has decreased its carbon footprint by using hydrogen fuel cells (a type of clean energy) on site, and New Belgium Brewing Company harvests methane from its own wastewater, which supplies 15% of its electricity needs.

Patagonia Provisions' other food products are also all environmentally friendly  they include responsibly harvested wild salmon, hot cereal made from organic buckwheat (which requires less water, fertilizer and pesticides to grow than normal wheat), and jerky that comes from free-roaming, grass-fed buffalo.

Since the hoppy Long Root Ale just launched, there aren't many reviews available yet, but one taste tester says on Twitter that it's "pretty decent." It may be pretty decent for the environment, too.

NOW WATCH: 8 ways to open a beer without a bottle opener





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A mob of Pennsylvania college students set out to hunt clowns early Tuesday after rumors spread that one was on the loose near campus.

At least 500 students from Pennsylvania State University took to the streets in search for the clown that was supposedly spotted nearby earlier, the Centre Daily Times reports. Footage on social media shows students running together in the streets. Some students wrote on Twitter that the group was rioting and chanting, We are Penn State!

Some people run away from clowns, Penn State runs towards them, one witness tweeted.

3 Clowns spotted at PSU allegedly. So naturally 6,000 kids mob the streets to hunt it down. I love Penn State pic.twitter.com/P4xYx0nVhs  Addison Carson (@AddiCarson) October 4, 2016

Taking to the trees to let the clowns know how they feel. pic.twitter.com/VpN37fdOPl  Gabby Santoliquito (@gmsanto3) October 4, 2016

Some people run away from clowns, Penn State runs towards them pic.twitter.com/Y7JNgBeJZo  Bryce Vukovich (@B_Vukovich) October 4, 2016

Penn State Clown Riot pic.twitter.com/B2zwq1RzRs  Clown Sightings (@ClownsSightings) October 4, 2016

There were no clown sightings and no credible clown threats, Penn State police Sgt. Mike Nelson told the Centre Daily Times. The group did not cause any damage or injuries.

The cause of this specifically was social media, Nelson said. If there were any clowns with this many students out there and with our police responding to calls, we would have ran into it.

[Centre Daily Times]
Naked juice

PepsiCo's green juice has the company in hot water.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a consumer-advocacy group, said PepsiCo misled consumers by marketing its Naked Juice beverages as healthier than they really are.

CSPI states that Naked Juice can pack more sugar than a can of Pepsi. Its Pomegranate Blueberry juice, for example, accurately advertises that it is a no-sugar-added beverage, but even still a single 15.2-ounce container (the smallest option) contains 61 grams of sugar, about 50% more sugar than a 12-ounce can of Pepsi.

Further, CSPI says Naked Juices mislead customers into believing that beverages are packed with super nutrients when the dominant ingredients are "cheap, nutrient-poor" juices. The Kale Blazer juice, for example, is mostly orange and apple juice, despite packaging and marketing that emphasizes leafy-green imagery.

Looks like my future will be the same as my present. All Kale Blazer, all the time. #blessed pic.twitter.com/jcbJPWwz1q  Kale (@TweetsByKale) March 4, 2016

CSPI's biggest legal problem with Naked Juice isn't that the beverages are unhealthy; it's that the brand is marketed as a healthy option with taglines such as "only the best ingredients" and "just the healthiest fruits and vegetables."

"Consumers are paying higher prices for the healthful and expensive ingredients advertised on Naked labels, such as berries, cherries, kale and other greens, and mango," CSPI litigation director Maia Kats said in a statement. "But consumers are predominantly getting apple juice, or in the case of Kale Blazer, orange and apple juice. They're not getting what they paid for."

PepsiCo described CSPI's lawsuit as baseless and said there is nothing misleading about its Naked Juice products, and that bottles clearly identify what fruit and vegetables are used.

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"All products in the Naked portfolio proudly use fruits and/or vegetables with no sugar added, and all Non-GMO claims on label are verified by an independent third party," PepsiCo said in a statement. "Any sugar present in Naked Juice products comes from the fruits and/or vegetables contained within and the sugar content is clearly reflected on label for all consumers to see."

The class-action lawsuit aims to force PepsiCo to award monetary damages to customers who have purchased Naked Juice beverages, as well as adjust its marketing to be more transparent.

Naked Juice

In 2013, PepsiCo's Naked Juice paid a $9 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit after plaintiffs accused the company of falsely labeling some of its juices as "all natural." The brand agreed to stop using the term on labels, though it denied that the term was misleading or false.

Less-than-healthy brands appropriating buzzwords such as "no sugar added," "high protein," and "all natural" has been a hot topic in recent months. In 2009, CSPI went after Coca-Cola over health claims made on bottles of Vitaminwater. Coca-Cola agreed to ditch the contested health claims and note that the drink was made "with sweeteners" on labels.

Beverages that customers see as healthy are increasingly important parts of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo's portfolios as soda sales suffer.

NOW WATCH: In the battle for nutrition between smoothies and juice theres one clear winner





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By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc has been accused in a lawsuit of misleading shoppers into believing its Naked juices and smoothies primarily contain "high-value" ingredients such as kale, when the main ingredient is often cheaper, less nutritious apple juice. According to a complaint filed on Tuesday in the Brooklyn, New York federal court, PepsiCo emblazons healthy fruits and vegetables on Naked labels, and touts how the drinks have "no sugar added," when they actually contain roughly as much sugar as a can of Pepsi. In a statement, PepsiCo called the lawsuit "baseless," and said there was nothing misleading about its Naked products. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, on behalf of three shoppers. Dina Lipkind of Brooklyn, Lyle Takeshita of Los Angeles and Chad Fenwick of Chatsworth, California claim they overpaid for Naked drinks such as Kale Blazer and Green Machine. The label for Kale Blazer, for example, promises a "royal roundtable of yum" from its blend of kale with "cucumber, spinach, celery and a pinch of ginger, the complaint said. But according to the label, kale puree is only the second listed ingredient, between orange juice and apple juice, and a 15.2 ounce serving contains 34 grams of sugar. Other Naked drinks contain as much as 61 grams of sugar, the complaint said. In contrast, a 12-ounce Pepsi contains 41 grams. PepsiCo "deliberately cultivates" consumer misperceptions through its marketing of Naked drinks, the complaint said. The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of shoppers nationwide and in New York and California. It also seeks unspecified damages. PepsiCo, in its statement, said every Naked bottle identifies the fruits and vegetables it contains, and the sugar content is "clearly reflected" on the label. In 2013, the Purchase, New York-based company agreed to stop calling Naked juices "all natural" as part of a $9 million settlement. The case is Lipkind et al v. PepsiCo Inc, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 16-05506. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
(Please note: language in fourth paragraph may offend some readers) MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers. In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the United States had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, "I will break up with America". It was not clear what he meant by "break up". During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily. "Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Duterte said. "If you don't want to sell arms, I'll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said 'do not worry, we have everything you need, we'll give it to you'. "And as for China, they said 'just come over and sign and everything will be delivered'." His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the United States, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China. In Washington, U.S. officials downplayed Duterte's comments, saying they were "at odds" with the two countries' warm relationship and decades-long alliance. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there has been no communication from the Philippines about making changes in that relationship. Earnest did not, however, back down from criticism of Duterte's tactics in his deadly war on drugs. "Even as we protect the strong alliance, the administration and the United States of America will not hesitate to raise our concerns about extrajudicial killings," he said at a briefing. 'HELL IS FULL' On Sunday, Duterte said he had received support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also said he would review a U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement. The deal, signed in 2014, grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations. Duterte said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but that instead it had criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union. "Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," he said. "EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?" At a later speech he said he was emotional because the United States had not been a friend of the Philippines since his election in May. "They just ... reprimand another president in front of the international community," he told the Jewish community at a synagogue. "This is what happens now, I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America." It was not clear if by his "time", he was referring to his six-year term in office. According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte's rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts. While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China's influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two U.S. officials said on Monday. Several of Duterte's allies on Monday suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs. "When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult," he said. "That is my retaliation." (Reporting by Martin Petty; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish)
(Please note: language in fourth paragraph may offend some readers) By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte would face major obstacles to following through on his threat to reduce purchases of U.S. weapons in favor of Russian and Chinese arms, including re-training a military deeply accustomed to working with the United States, experts said on Tuesday. Duterte said in speeches in Manila on Tuesday that the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons to the Philippines, but that Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily. His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility toward the United States that has raised questions about the long-standing alliance that is important to the U.S. strategy of rebalancing its forces toward Asia and countering an assertive China. Angered by U.S. expressions of concern over his war on drugs, Duterte has called President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch," threatened to call off joint military exercises with Washington and started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China. U.S. officials have downplayed Duterte's remarks, focusing instead on the decades-long alliance which they have sought to bolster in recent years in response to China's moves to enforce its claims over the South China Sea. The White House said on Tuesday the United States had not received any formal communications from Duterte's government about changing the relationship. The United States is the single largest provider of arms to the Philippines, according to figures maintained by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks military expenditures globally. The two countries have become more intertwined militarily in the last two years, holding more exercises and training, and making more U.S. ship and aircraft visits under President Barack Obama's shift of U.S. military forces and diplomatic efforts toward Asia in the face of China's rise. The Philippines is the largest recipient of U.S. funds in the Asia-Pacific region under the Foreign Military Financing program, which is provided by the United States to help countries purchase American-made weapons and equipment. It received $50 million under FMF in the 2015 fiscal year. That dependence on U.S. weapons and systems means the Philippine military would have to re-tool its command-and-control structure if it wanted to switch to Chinese or Russian systems, said Richard Javad Heydarian, a professor at De La Salle University in Manila and a former advisor to the Philippines House of Representatives. "There will be some problems with configuration," Heydarian said. "It takes years for the Philippines' army to re-orient itself with new technology." The Philippines spent $3.9 billion on its military in 2015, according to SIPRI data. That spending has risen nearly every year since 2010, when it stood at $2.4 billion, the data show. DEEP TIES Though Russia in particular could offer high-quality weapons systems, the Philippines would have to take into account their interoperability with existing American stock, said Lyle Goldstein, an expert on Chinese maritime issues at the U.S. Naval War College. "You can't just buy a radar from this country and a missile from that country," Goldstein said. "The weaponry has to work together." He noted that many Philippine officers were educated in the United States, linking the countries' military cultures closely. The military relationship between the United States and the Philippines goes well beyond arms sales, extending to training exercises and support for maintenance. Russia and China do not have the same reputation of providing comprehensive training and support, said Amy Searight, until earlier this year the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. "The United States is well known for being quite good at that full spectrum of support to build capabilities," said Searight, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It's not just the weapons or the armaments or vehicles or equipment. It's using those to build real capabilities." Most likely, Duterte's aim is to signal to China that he is willing to tinker with existing U.S.-Philippines military cooperation, even if on the margins, Heydarian said. That might mean relocating the annual U.S.-Philippines "Balikatan" military exercises away from the South China Sea, or refusing to further expand American military access to Philippine bases, he said. Duterte could also be trying to strengthen his position in order to get better prices on military equipment from the United States, experts said. Russian and Chinese weapons are typically cheaper than American systems. (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali; editing by Stuart Grudgings)
MANILA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Philippines' Aboitiz Power Corp said on Tuesday it will acquire stakes held by funds managed by Blackstone Group LP in a local coal-fired power plant and another power project under construction for about $1.2 billion.

The deal, the biggest acquisition in the local power sector since the industry was deregulated and a government monopoly dismantled in 2001, would be financed through internally generated cash and a $650 million loan, AboitizPower said.

The acquisition involves a 66.1 percent indirect interest in the 604-megawatt GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant and a 40 percent stake in the 1,336-MW GNPower Dinginin Project, both in Bataan, north of Manila.

AboitizPower has signed a loan agreement with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, DBS Bank Ltd, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd, Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte Ltd, Mizuho Bank Ltd, and Standard Chartered Bank.

Standard Chartered was the financial advisor to AboitizPower on the deal, a source said.

The company said the acquisition, which is subject to Philippine regulatory approvals, was in line with its target to increase its attributable net sellable capacity to 4,000 MW by 2020.

"We consider this acquisition very strategic as it gives us immediate earnings from the operating asset and incremental capacity in the coming years from the plant under construction and its expansion," CEO Erramon Aboitiz said in a statement.

The first of two units at the GNPower Dinginin Project is due to be switched on in 2019.

(Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing by Richard Pullin)
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday eventually he would "break up with" the United States, saying the old ally had failed his country. "I am very emotional because America has certainly failed us," Duterte said during a televised speech to the Jewish community at a Manila synagogue. "This is what happens now I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America." Duterte did not elaborate on what he meant by a break up, or if by "his time", he was referring to his six-year term in office. (Editing by Robert Birsel)
By PTI: Colombo, Oct 4 (PTI) With the collapse of SAARC Summit in Pakistan, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the failure of the regional grouping to deliver "acceptable results" for all members would spell a "bleak future" and compel his country to find other "viable options".

Wickremesinghes remark assumes significance as Sri Lanka was one of the five SAARC member-states which sided with India in pulling out of the summit scheduled in Islamabad on November 9-10 over an attack on an Indian army base in Uri on September 18 by Pakistan-based terrorists.

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Delivering a lecture on Sri Lanka and its Place in the World" at the New Zealand Parliament House in Auckland yesterday, the Sri Lankan premier said that following the Uri attack, the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad has been postponed.

"This years SAARC Summit is in jeopardy due to the war prevailing on the border. However, as the SAARC plays an important role, carrying out the Summit is a matter of great importance," Wickremesinghe said.

"I explained that while the failure of SAARC to deliver acceptable results for all members would spell out a bleak future, it would also compel Sri Lanka to look towards other viable options," he said.

He, however, did not elaborate what he meant by "other viable options" but said it was "imperative" that Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations work together to improve regional cooperation.

Wickremesinghe recalled the 1985 SAARC Summit when Sri Lanka proposed countering border terrorism as an issue, but he rued it was ultimately not agreed upon due to disagreements among member-states.

He sout a simple plan from SAARC members which could be agreed upon to move forward in the light of the situation.

Sri Lankan Opposition parties have been critical of the governments decision to pull out of the Summit, alleging it was a decision to "please" India while causing displeasure to Pakistan.

Other than Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have also pulled out of the summit saying the regional environment was "not conducive" for a succesfull meet.

Nepal, the SAARC Chair, has asked member-states to ensure their territories are not used for cross-border terrorism. PTI CORR ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Warsaw (AFP) - Poland's rightwing government on Tuesday quit talks with Airbus on an offset deal linked to a multi-billion euro contract for 50 military helicopters, a government statement said.

"Poland is ending offset talks with Airbus Helicopters connected to the contract to purchase multipurpose Caracal helicopters for the Polish army," a statement by the Development Ministry leading the talks said.

Offsets are arrangements whereby a supplier of military hardware typically sweetens a deal by setting up a factory in the purchasing country or agrees to place orders with companies there.

"The differences in the negotiating positions of both sides preclude a compromise, so further negotiations are pointless," the ministry said about the talks, key to finalising the 3.14 billion euro ($3.5 billion) chopper deal.

Poland's previous liberal government announced in 2014 it was planning to buy 50 Caracal choppers as part of a major military upgrade triggered by regional tensions over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine that year.

But the new righwing Law and Justice (PiS) administration called the deal into question not long after it took office in late 2015.
By Marcin Goclowski WARSAW (Reuters) - The head of Poland's ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, launched an attack on Tuesday on European Council President Donald Tusk, an old political foe at home, saying he should not be allowed to serve a second term. Tusk, a former head of the center-right, pro-European Civic Platform party, served as Poland's prime minister for almost two terms before resigning in 2014 to take the top European Union job. His mandate as council president, in which he chairs summits of EU leaders, expires at the end of May 2017, although he is expected to seek to stay on in the post. Kaczynski, head of Poland's nationalist-minded Law and Justice (PiS) party, said in a newspaper interview that the current PiS government would not support Tusk staying on. That was because Tusk might find himself facing charges, Kaczynski said - apparently referring to his failure as prime minister to stop the Ponzi scheme Amber Gold which shook the country in 2012. PiS dominates a parliamentary panel set up to investigate the case. Despite Kaczynski's words, a PiS government cannot stop Tusk renewing his mandate as long as a majority of EU leaders back him, which seems likely. Most appear satisfied with Tusk's performance and are keen to avoid more instability as the EU starts negotiations over Britain's decision to leave the bloc. But the comments highlight the conflict between the Polish rivals that could complicate Tusk's candidacy. "The Polish government will not support Donald Tusk for the second term in the European Council," Kaczynski told the Polska The Times newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday. "Tusk is a major problem." "There are investigations going on in Poland in the parliament and in the prosecutors' office that may lead to pressing some charges against him. Should such a person be the head of the European Council? I have serious doubts." "His further stay in Brussels is highly risky, mainly for the European Union," Kaczynski told the paper. Tusk responded on Twitter by challenging Kaczynski to a public debate "on Europe, Poland and your insinuations". Kaczynski believes Tusk shares some responsibility for a 2010 plane crash in Russia in which his twin brother and then-president Lech Kaczynski was killed along with 95 others. Tusk was prime minister at the time. (Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Hugh Lawson)
By Dinky Mkhize JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Police fired stun grenades to disperse students protesting at a Johannesburg university on Tuesday, as nationwide demonstrations over high tuition fees entered their third week. Fewer than 100 students had gathered and started singing outside Wits University's main hall before officers moved in to enforce a ban on public gatherings, said witnesses. Police and private security guards in riot gear massed in the city-centre campus through the morning. Police said two students were arrested at Wits - full name, the University of the Witwatersrand - for public order offences. Demonstrations over the cost of university education, prohibitive for many black students, have highlighted frustration at enduring inequalities in Africa's most industrialized country more than two decades after the end of white-minority rule. Protests first erupted last year, then subsided as the government froze fee increases and set up a commission to look into the education funding system. The unrest boiled over again, closing some classes and universities, when the commission said on Sept. 19 that fees would continue to rise, albeit with an 8 percent cap in 2017. "Following yesterday's harassment of our staff, we have no choice but to deploy police around campus," said university spokeswoman Shirona Patel. She said the unversity, which shut down during the earlier protests, had reopened on Monday, but some students had forced some of the lecturers out of their offices. University authorities across South Africa have warned that any further fee freezes could damage their academic programmes. ($1 = 13.6200 rand) (Additional reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian West's social-media visibility and flaunting of jewelry online made the reality TV star a target for her recent robbery at a Paris private apartment, police tell CNN.

Kardashian West  who has 48 million Twitter followers and another 84 million on Instagram  posted a picture of a huge diamond ring on Instagram and Twitter five days ago, and her online documentation of her whereabouts leading up to the robbery made her an easy target, according to the outlet.

Johanna Primevert, the chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, explained to CNN how Kardashian West's social-media presence prompted the attack.

"It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media," Primevert said. "And it was these goods that the attackers targeted."

Five armed men dressed as police officers seized a private mansion and stole up to $11 million in jewelry from Kardashian West on Monday morning. They also tied her up in a bathroom during the incident.

Primevert told the Associated Press that such a robbery is "extremely rare" in the French capital and was mainly the result of Kardashian West's celebrity.

"This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide," Primevert said. "I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as in Paris."

The Paris police department's investigation into the robbery and process of estimating the exact worth of the stolen jewelry are reportedly ongoing.

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Accumoli (Italy) (AFP) - Pope Francis on Tuesday paid a surprise visit to the Italian mountain communities devastated by an August earthquake, mixing poignant silent prayers amid the ruins with grinning selfies alongside survivors he implored to believe in a brighter future.

In keeping with his desire to make a relatively low-key visit to an area where nearly 300 people died barely six weeks ago, the 79-year-old pontiff's trip to the shattered town of Amatrice and the devastated nearby hamlets of Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto was only announced to the media after he had arrived.

He had said he wanted to come like a parish priest carrying out his pastoral duty. But there was no escaping the crowds as news of his visit spread quickly.

In one of the most poignant images of the day, Francis stood briefly in silent prayer in the closed-off "red zone" of Amatrice, his stooped silhouette framed by the shells of condemned buildings and piles of rubble.

He later repeated the gesture outside the ruins of the St Francesco church in Accumoli, having spent two hours over lunch chatting with 60 pensioners in a retirement home where some of the elderly victims of the quake are now housed.

But there were also many lighter moments as he smiled broadly for selfies with local youngsters and group photos with firefighters.

"I did not come earlier so as not to create any problems, knowing the state you were in," he told survivors. "I did not want to cause any bother."

- 'Always a future' -

"But from the outset I felt I had to come to you, simply to tell you that I am with you, nothing more, and that I am praying for you."

After blessing the crowd in Amatrice and saying a brief Ave Maria prayer, Francis issued a message of hope for an area still struggling to come to terms with the scale of Italy's deadliest quake since the 2009 L'Aquila disaster.

"We go forward, there is always a future," he said on what was the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, the venerated Catholic figure in whose honour Francis selected his papal name.

Story continues

"There are many dear ones who have left us, who fell here under the masonry. We pray to the Madonna for them, we all do together.

"Always look forward. Go forward, have courage and help each other. We walk better together, on our own, we cannot get there."

The pope's first point of call had been the prefabricated huts brought in to replace Amatrice's combined elementary and middle school, which was destroyed in the quake despite having been expensively renovated to make it quake resistant a few years ago.

- 297 dead -

Francis had confirmed his intention to visit the quake-hit area on his flight home from Azerbaijan on Sunday, saying he wanted to visit "privately, alone, as a priest, a bishop, a pope."

The government has estimated the cost of the damage done to the area hit by the quake at four billion euros ($4.5 billion) and has vowed to rebuild the worst-affected communities where they were, having ruled out any relocations.

Just under 1,400 people remain housed in temporary accommodation -- either tented villages or hotels in the surrounding area, according to an official update issued Tuesday.

The 6.0-6.2-magnitude earthquake, which was felt in Rome, 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the epicentre near Amatrice, killed 297 people and injured hundreds more.

Around two-thirds of the deaths occurred in Amatrice, a beauty spot and popular tourist destination packed with holiday-makers when the quake struck at the height of the summer season.

The devastated area was only 50 kilometres from the city of L'Aquila, which was hit by a 2009 earthquake in which more than 300 people perished.
Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to the town of Amatrice, one of the hardest-hit sites of the earthquake which devastated central Italy six weeks ago.

His arrival was announced by the Vatican on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. My visit, perhaps, is more of an obstruction than a help, he said upon his arrival, according to NBC. I wanted to greet you, but I didnt want to be an inconvenience, thats why I let some time pass.

#PopeFrancis at the Church of San Francesco in Accumoli, destroyed by the quake pic.twitter.com/BUsdBlx0yz  Greg Burke (@GregBurkeRome) October 4, 2016

The pontiff added that he had waited for some things to be fixed, before visiting, including the local school. But since the beginning I felt that I had to come to you, simply to tell you that I am close to you, nothing else, and that I pray for you, he said.

The 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Apennine regions of central Italy on Aug. 24, killing an estimated 247 people and causing apocalyptic scenes near the epicenter. Amatrice, Accumoli, Posta and Arquata del Tronto were the worst hit towns, but even residents in Rome, some 170 km (105 miles) away, were woken by the quake.

The pope started his tour at the makeshift school set up in containers, meeting with more than 100 elementary and middle school students, some of whom gave him drawings. He also met with a man who lost his wife and children in the quake, the Vatican said.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has written an open letter to former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh seeking details of Army operations against Pakistan during his tenure.

By India Today Web Desk: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has written an open letter to former Prime Minister and Congress stalwart Dr Manmohan Singh. Dikshit in his letters addressed to the former prime minister has sought answer to the claims of several attacks carried out during the tenure of the UPA government.

In his letter he has not only addressed Singh but has also sought answers from former defence minister AK Antony, former home ministers P Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde.

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Dikshit wrote the letter in the wake of the media frenzy over reporting of the surgical strikes that were carried out by India in PoK. Although not covertly critical, Dikshit in his letter questioned the silence of the leaders of the previous government in the matters of defence.

Dikshit sought an explanation from the leaders on army's action during their tenure, amidst the barrage of information on the various military activities that were carried out against Pakistan in their tenure.

Excerpt from the letter

I am informed that all through the period when the media was reporting cross-border firing from Pakistan, showing your government to be inactive and weak, in fact India was the aggressor on cross-border firings? I am informed that while Pakistanis used a few guns and some shelling, we most often respond with big guns, including the Bofors guns, and have actually been the aggressor in this exchange.

I have been told that while the media and BJP accused us of pussy-footing when there were reports of the Pakistan Army killing our soldiers brutally, actually this was in response to what our Army/paramilitary forces had done earlier to Pakistani soldiers? There is also a report that we killed many more Pakistan soldiers than they have been able to?



Read the full letter here:

Letter to Manmohan Singh: Tell us how many punches you delivered to Pakistan



--- ENDS ---
By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis made a surprise visit on Tuesday to towns and villages devastated by an earthquake that killed nearly 300 people in central Italy in August, comforting residents who lost everything and praying together for the dead. The Vatican, which kept the trip secret until he arrived, issued pictures showing him standing alone and praying amid the rubble of Amatrice, one of the hardest-hit towns, with its still-standing church bell tower in the distance. Addressing distraught residents with a megaphone, he said he wanted to come earlier but he did not want "to bother anyone" and preferred to let things settle down, particularly the building of a makeshift school. "From the first moment, I knew I wanted to come here, simply to say I am close to you. That I am close to you, nothing more. I pray for you," he said. "In this moment of sadness and pain, let's move forward while remembering our dear ones who died here under the rubble. Let us pray for them," he said. He visited the "red zone", which covers the centre of Amatrice and is closed to the public because it is still dangerous, with most of the buildings either levelled or considered too badly damaged to live in. A parent broke down in tears in the school as he greeted the pope. Other residents stopped his car to touch his hand from the window as moved past tent cities to visit one devastated place after another, including Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and San Pellegrino di Norcia. The visit took place on the feast of the pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. He also visited a base camp for fire brigades and made a surprise stop to share a meal with residents of a home for the elderly, many of whom lost their houses in the quake. Luca Cari, spokesman for the national fire brigades, said during the visit to Amatrice's "red zone" the pope stopped to pray with the rescue workers and thanked them. On the plane returning from Azerbaijan on Sunday, Francis said he had been given a choice of three days when he could visit but would not reveal which one he had chosen. He said he wanted to visit "privately, alone, as a priest, as a bishop, as pope, but alone, privately. I want to be close to the people." The government estimates that the Aug. 24 earthquake northeast of Rome caused damage of at least 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion). (Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Makini Brice LES CAYES, Haiti (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew bore down on Haiti on Monday, where towns and villages braced for "catastrophic" floods and mudslides forecasters fear will be triggered by 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and up to three feet of rain over its denuded hills. Winds and rain started pounding the southwest of the Caribbean country, but the center of Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm, was not due until the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It is then forecast to hit Cuba and the Bahamas and possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. "It has the potential of being catastrophic, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the Miami-based center, when asked about Matthews expected impact on Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, and a combination of weak government and precarious living conditions for most of its people makes it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 200,000 people were killed when a 7-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2010 and many survivors are still living in flimsy, temporary accommodation. Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph said 30,000 people were in areas of risk and should be moved before the storm hits. He later said many of those had been moved. However, in Haiti's largest slum, the seaside Cite Soleil in capital Port-au-Prince, mayor Frederic Hislain said 150,000 people whose homes he said were threatened needed to be bused to safer places. "Those people are living all along the seashore in a bunch of huts which usually can't even really protect them from ordinary rain. Now we are talking about a strong hurricane. Imagine the disaster we may have to face here," Hislain said. Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of the Haiti's Department of Civil Protection, said one man was killed by large waves at sea over the weekend, and another went missing when his boat capsized, despite warnings to stay on dry land. Many people are reluctant to leave their homes due to fears their belongings will be stolen and by Monday evening only about 2,000 from the south were in shelters, officials said. However, more have moved from precarious homes into relatives' houses. POTENTIAL FOR GREAT DAMAGE Matthew, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history, was about 100 miles (155 km) south of westernmost Haiti at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Monday, the U.S. hurricane center said. It was expected to bring between 15 and 40 inches (38 to 101 cm) of rain to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Crawling north at about 7 mph (11 kph), the storm threatens to linger enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage. Haiti is prone to flash floods and mudslides because most of its hillsides have been stripped bare by people cutting down trees to make charcoal to sell for fuel. Heavy rain fell over Haiti's southwestern coastal city of Les Cayes, which lies near Matthew's predicted path. Some residents of homes made of scrap metal and zinc sheets, perched just feet away from the ocean, refused to move into government shelters ahead of dangerous predicted storm surges. A few miles to the west, wind buffeted the town of Tiburon, said Nicole Francois, of Haiti's National Center of Meteorology. About 150 people huddled without electricity or food in Les Cayes' largest shelter, a school meant to house 600. "After the hurricane, we will be miserable. We'll be hungry... The houses will be destroyed," said Rosette Joseph, 44, at the shelter with her four children. The storm comes at a bad time for Haiti, which is set to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Sunday. In both Jamaica and Haiti, authorities shut the main airports to wait for the storm to pass. In Cuba, evacuation operations were well under way with most tourists in the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba moved inland and given instructions on where to shelter in hotels during the hurricane. (Additional reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva in Port-au-Prince, Sarah Marsh in Cuba, Gabriel Stargardter in Jamaica and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Writing by Frank Jack Daniel and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Tom Brown, Bill Rigby and Nick Macfie)
electronic voting booth

Millions of Americans will go to their local polling places on November 8 to vote for the next President  and despite the near-hysteria of alleged targeting of election systems  hackers will have nothing to do with the outcome.

That's the big takeaway to come from a House subcommittee hearing last week on the subject of election security, in which five experts testified that, for the most part, the election cannot be "rigged" by hackers, since every state has its own standards and uses a variety of voting machines, and not a single electronic machine is connected to the Internet.

"On 8 November, can a cyberattack change the outcome of our national elections?" asked Rep. William Hurd (R-Texas) of the panel, which included representatives from DHS, the Election Assistance Commission, and two cybersecurity experts who have done extensive research into electronic voting machines.

"I'm confident that that will not be the case," said Lawrence Norden, the deputy direction of the Democracy Program at New York University School of Law. No other panelist disagreed with that assessment.

'We have overall confidence in the system'

department of homeland security hackers cyber attack

It's important to mention that the US election system is fraught with issues, but it's not as bad as some make it seem. As Norden had outlined in a voluminous report published in 2015, America's voting machines are incredibly old, but that mostly means a risk of crashes or software failure, not hacking.

There have been recent reports of hackers targeting voter registration systems in at least 20 states. In Arizona and Illinois, for example, intrusions of voter databases were found. In both cases, though, no changes were made to those systems, and the systems that were breached have "nothing to do with vote casting or counting," Kay Stimson, a spokesperson for the National Association of Secretaries of State, told AP.

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"There is also wide speculation around the current 'probing' activity directed at online voter registration sites," Tod Beardsley, senior security manager at Rapid7, told Business Insider in a statement. "In isolation, this might seem alarming. However, all online systems are 'probed' all the time."

No matter what scenario we can dream up about a hacker changing election results, they all boil down to one thing: Physical access. As both the cybersecurity experts and government officials testified, electronic voting machines that are currently in use are not connected to the Internet, and there's no easy way to remotely attack them over a network.

So if the Russian government or some teenage member of Anonymous wants to elect their candidate, such an effort is going to take a lot of manpower, time, and coordination. "Such an attack is literally incredible," Beardsley explained. "While this sort of infiltration is possible, such a campaign would require formidable espionage assets, have a high risk of being detected before the election, and the effects would be noticeable in bizarrely inaccurate exit polling during and after the election."

"Even though individual parts of the system may be vulnerable," said Dr. Andy Ozment, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS. "We have overall confidence in the system."

So how can a hacker change votes?

Voting Booths

To be clear, electronic voter machines have plenty of security issues that need to be addressed, as hackers have demonstrated over the years. At the Blackhat security conference in August, researchers with Symantec showed off a touchscreen voting machine that used a swipe card for voting which they modified.

The modified card could do things like change a person's vote to the opposite candidate, or vote repeatedly. "I could reset this card and then vote 10 times," Brian Varner, principal security researcher for Symantec, told Business Insider.

But there are plenty of caveats: A hacker would need "inside knowledge" of those specific machines, and would need to gain physical access to others at different polling places in order to have any noticeable effect.

And there's really no way of predicting what machines will be where, since how the election is actually is run is left to each state  and it's basically a free-for-all of different voting machines and counting procedures.

"The idea of a national hack of some sort is almost ridiculous because there is no national system," Denise Merrill, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, told CBS News.

Dr. Andrew Appel, a professor at Princeton University, testified on how he was able to hack a certain type of voting machine used mostly in New Jersey and Louisiana. "I demonstrated exactly how to craft a fraudulent, vote-stealing computer program that would shift votes from one candidate to another," Appel said.

Appel says his hack took him about 7 minutes to pull off in a closed environment, with nothing more than a screwdriver. It required him to unscrew a compartment on the machine, take out a chip, and replace it with one he had modified. While it's certainly troublesome that a chip can be replaced to change votes, it seems highly unlikely that a hacker wouldn't be noticed taking a machine apart on election day, or while they are in transit.

"I don't know any kind of practical way to hack them through any network," Appel said.

In other words, stop worrying about hackers pulling off a Hollywood-level election heist next month. It's not going to happen.

NOW WATCH: There is a secret US government airline that flies out of commercial airports





More From Business Insider


Photo credit: Getty

From Town & Country

Prince William and Duchess Kate made waves last week when it was announced that Prince George would attend Thomass Battersea day school, and not Williams London alma mater.



Those most shocked by the news just might be on New Yorks Upper East Side. You see, London's Wetherby School, where Princes William and Harry went when they were little, is opening an American outpost in New York City, and, at least according to the New York Post, some parents are feeling burned now that their children will not be pseudo classmates with the young royal.

While the original school is only open to boys, the American school, dubbed Wetherby-Pembridge, will accept both boys and girls, the Wall Street Journal reports. The name is a nod to the all-girls Pembridge Hall in London.

Photo credit: Google

Preschool at Wetherby-Pembridge will be coed, but beginning in kindergarten boys and girls will be split into single-sex classes. Lunches and weekly school projects every Friday will combine the two sexes.

"We do have a track record," said Julian Drinkall, chief executive of Alpha Plus Group, which owns Wetherby-Pembridge and its London counterparts, told the Journal. "Of course we have to prove ourselves in New York as well."

For those parents who couldnt care less about the Prince George connection, the school is now accepting applications for nursery school, preschool, and kindergarten, with the goal of expanding to an enrollment of 280 through fifth grade within the next five to six years.

Our biggest question: Will the American school's uniforms be as adorable as the British original's?

[related id="eb08118f-0b48-4b35-97a6-53cdfca72fd1" align="left"][/related]

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BERLIN (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Tuesday that they had dropped an investigation into a German comedian who was accused of offending a foreign leader after reciting an obscene poem about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on national television. Comedian Jan Boehmermann read out a poem on a satirical show in March suggesting Erdogan engaged in bestiality and watched child pornography, prompting Erdogan to file a complaint with prosecutors that he had been insulted. The German government had given prosecutors the green light to pursue the case against Boehmermann - a move which brought Chancellor Angela Merkel strong criticism. But prosecutors on Tuesday said they had not found sufficient evidence to support the filing of charges. (Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Andrea Shalal)
By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Protests broke out in some areas of Ethiopia's Oromiya region on Monday, a day after dozens of people were killed in a stampede at a religious festival sparked by a bid by police to quell demonstrations, witnesses said. Opposition politicians and government officials gave contrasting tolls of casualties that took place during the annual Irreecha festival in the town of Bishoftu, some 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa, where police fired teargas and shots in the air to disperse protesters. The manager of the town's government-operated referral hospital said the death toll had risen to 55, with 100 injured, from 52 dead on Sunday. An opposition leader told Reuters the number of dead stood at around 150. On Monday, witnesses said crowds took to the streets in Oromiya's Ambo, Guder, Bule Hora and other towns in response to the deaths. "Shots are still being fired. Everything remains shut - Ambo has been brought to a standstill," said Mesfin, a university student who did not want to give his full name out of fear of reprisal. Two other residents of the other towns said scuffles took place between demonstrators and police. The region's assistant police chief told journalists that "widespread disturbances" had taken place in several parts of the region. "Roads have been blocked, while government offices and vehicles have been burnt down. Police are trying to put an end to all this," said Sorri Dinka, deputy commissioner of the Oromiya Police Commission. The Horn of Africa country has declared three days of national mourning, with flags flying at half mast throughout the country to pay tribute to the victims. Sporadic protests have erupted in Oromiya over the last two years, initially triggered by a land row but increasingly turning more broadly against the government. Scores of protesters have been killed in clashes with police since late last year. The developments highlight tensions in the country where the government has delivered high economic growth rates but faces criticism from opponents and rights groups that it has reduced political freedoms. The government blames rebel groups and dissidents abroad for stirring up the protests and provoking violence. It dismisses charges that it clamps down on free speech or on its opponents. Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, said Sunday's death toll had climbed to 150 people and that some of the victims were shot dead by police, contrary to official claims. "We are calling on the government to establish an independent inquiry," he told Reuters. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by George Obulutsa and Richard Balmforth)
The Congress rejected its leader Sanjay Nirupam's remarks and said it has complete faith in the Indian Army and only asking the government to reject Pakistan's claims.

By Javed M. Ansari : The opposition Congress today distanced itself from its leader Sanjay Nirupam's remarks on surgical strikes, but still wanted the government to call Pakistan's bluff by making all the evidence of the cross-border operation public.



"It's time the government unmasks Pakistan's false propaganda by revealing and making public all the evidence we have," Congress spokesperson RS Surjewala told reporters as politics over Indian Army's September 28-29 strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir intensified.

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The Congress said it has complete faith in the Indian Army and only asking the government to reject Pakistan's claims. The party said it was neither the first surgical strike ever conducted nor will it be the last.

Also Read: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam questions Indian Army's surgical strikes across LoC, calls them fake



DIGVIJAYA SINGH ALSO DOES NOT AGREE WITH SANJAY NIRUPAM



Asked about Nirupam's remarks calling the strikes "fake", Surjewala said the Congress "does not agree" with the statements made by him and has "taken a serious note of it".

Party general secretary Digvijaya Singh said, "We have absolutely no doubt that the strike took place, we believe and support what the government and the DGMO has had to say on this issue."

Singh made it abundantly clear that Nirupam's views were his own and did not reflect the views of the party. "Our president Sonia Gandhi was the first to come out in support as did Rahul Gandhi, we support and believe the government on this, let there be no doubt about this," he said.

Nirupam has termed the surgical strikes as "fake" and accused the BJP of making political capital out of it.



"Every Indian wants Surgical Strikes Against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. Politics over national interest," Nirupam tweeted.



The surgical strikes were carried out by Indian forces in the backdrop of the September 18 terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir in which 17 Indian soldiers were martyred. Two more soldiers died of injuries later.



SURGICAL STRIKES HAPPENED IN PAST AS WELL: CHIDAMBARAM



However, another senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said there will be public demands for releasing the video footage of the surgical strikes since the Narendra Modi government has taken political ownership of the military action.



Chidambaram said that unlike the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the Narendra Modi government has deliberately taken political ownership of military action.



"Such cross-border pre-emptive actions have taken place in the past. At least one such strike has been confirmed by then Chief of Army staff Gen. Bikram singh in January 2013. There have been others, but I don't want to get into details," news agency IANS quoted Chidambaram in his interview with CNNNews18.



The Congress leader attributed "policy of strategic restraint" behind the UPA not publicising such military action conducted during its regime.



Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today attacked Chidambaram and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for seeking proof of the surgical strikes by the Indian Army across the India-Pak border.

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NIRUPAM CALLED UP

There was no official word on whether the Congress leadership plans to initiate disciplinary action against Nirupam. However senior party sources have revealed that he has been pulled up and the party could consider seeking an explanation from him.



--- ENDS ---
By Tim Hepher

DOHA (Reuters) - Gulf carrier Qatar Airways and Boeing (BA.N) will hold a news conference on Friday, a spokeswoman for Qatar Airways told Reuters on Wednesday, as a big sale of Boeing widebody jetliners looked close to being clinched.

Qatar Airways is in the process of firming up the order, which was delayed by the Qatari government in an effort to speed up U.S. approval of its purchase of Boeing fighter jets, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

If the deal is finalised, it would give the Chicago-based planemaker a substantial sales boost in a year when orders for widebody planes has slumped.

Last Wednesday, the United States began notifying lawmakers informally that it had approved the sales of 36 Boeing F-15 fighter jets to Qatar, valued at about $4 billion.

Last week people familiar with the situation said Qatar Airways was in the process of firming up an order for Boeing jets, which it was due to have placed at July's Farnborough airshow in Britain.

The deal was delayed by the Qatari government in an effort to speed up U.S. approval for the fighter contract, one of the sources said.

The deal postponed in July was a top-up deal for about five Boeing 777-300ER worth $1.7 billion at list prices, people familiar with the talks said, but the order could expand as the Gulf airline continues to target significant growth despite concerns over the Gulf economy.

Bloomberg last week reported the deal was for at least 30 Boeing 777 and 787 jets, valued at about $6.7 billion at list prices.

The airline is also in talks for about two dozen Boeing 737 MAX jetliners, aviation market sources said.

Boeing and Qatar Airways declined to comment on the details of Friday's planned announcement.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in August that the airline planned to make a major aircraft order to enable its network expansion plans.

Separately, Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company is making progress on a deal to provide more than 100 commercial airplanes to Iran though none will be delivered in 2016.

(Reporting by Tom Finn; Editing by Louise Ireland and James Dalgleish)
(Adds background on Qatar Airways, Boeing talks)

By Tim Hepher

DOHA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Gulf carrier Qatar Airways and Boeing will hold a news conference on Friday, a spokeswoman for Qatar Airways told Reuters on Wednesday, as a big sale of Boeing widebody jetliners looked close to being clinched.

Qatar Airways is in the process of firming up the order, which was delayed by the Qatari government in an effort to speed up U.S. approval of its purchase of Boeing fighter jets, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

If the deal is finalised, it would give the Chicago-based planemaker a substantial sales boost in a year when orders for widebody planes has slumped.

Last Wednesday, the United States began notifying lawmakers informally that it had approved the sales of 36 Boeing F-15 fighter jets to Qatar, valued at about $4 billion.

Last week people familiar with the situation said Qatar Airways was in the process of firming up an order for Boeing jets, which it was due to have placed at July's Farnborough airshow in Britain.

The deal was delayed by the Qatari government in an effort to speed up U.S. approval for the fighter contract, one of the sources said.

The deal postponed in July was a top-up deal for about five Boeing 777-300ER worth $1.7 billion at list prices, people familiar with the talks said, but the order could expand as the Gulf airline continues to target significant growth despite concerns over the Gulf economy.

Bloomberg last week reported the deal was for at least 30 Boeing 777 and 787 jets, valued at about $6.7 billion at list prices.

The airline is also in talks for about two dozen Boeing 737 MAX jetliners, aviation market sources said.

Boeing and Qatar Airways declined to comment on the details of Friday's planned announcement.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in August that the airline planned to make a major aircraft order to enable its network expansion plans.

Separately, Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company is making progress on a deal to provide more than 100 commercial airplanes to Iran though none will be delivered in 2016.

(Reporting by Tom Finn; Editing by Louise Ireland and James Dalgleish)
Leading wireless chipset manufacturer Qualcomm Inc.s QCOM subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has teamed up with South Korean wireless communication service provider SK Telecom Co. Ltd. to evaluate the over-the-air technology of eLAA (Enhanced Licensed Assisted Access) and LAA (Licensed Assisted Access) that utilize both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The trial will be carried out at SK Telecom's Corporate R&D Center in Bundang, Korea, using 2.6 GHz licensed and 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum.

The assessment will ensure that there is a balanced and effective synchronization between LAA and Wi-Fi in unlicensed spectrum. Hence, the test was initiated by establishing a baseline with only Wi-Fi users. Meanwhile, some of the users were switched to LAA/eLAA while others remained on Wi-Fi. The trial illustrated that the users who stayed on Wi-Fi were unaffected by those who shifted to LAA/eLAA. Thus, it proves that LAA/eLAA shares the unlicensed spectrum fairly with Wi-Fi. The sharing mechanism used by LAA/eLAA is called listen-before-talk (LBT). In terms of performance, LAA and eLAA were applied in multiple test cases to achieve twice the capacity in 5 GHz than the Wi-Fi only baseline.

ELAA Prospects

ELAA is a technology which increases the speed of data in both uplink and downlink by bringing in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. It thus develops a broader data pipe in both directions. The technology is an evolution of LAA, which uses unlicensed spectrum to increase data speed in the downlink direction only. The combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum is a major step toward 5G.

This also reflects the strength in Qualcomm and SK Telecoms partnership which is utilizing the latest technologies to offer customers an improved experience.

Qualcomms Recent Developments

Qualcomm is gearing up for another acquisition and is said to be in talks to buy the Netherlands-based semi-conductor company, NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI. This transaction will place Qualcomm in the second position after Intel Corporation INTC in terms of sales in the semi-conductor market.

Story continues

In Sep 2016, U.S. telecom behemoth Verizon Communications Inc. VZ entered into a partnership with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. which will see Verizon's IoT platform, ThingSpace, get integrated into Qualcomm Technologies' MDM9206 Category M LTE modem.

Recently, Qualcomm teamed up with AT&T Inc.T to evaluate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones on commercial 4G LTE networks. Notably, the trial will put the safety and security of drones on 4G LTE and 5G networks to test.

QUALCOMM INC Price

QUALCOMM INC Price | QUALCOMM INC Quote

Qualcomm currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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FARMINGTON HILLS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2016 / Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (RPT) announced today that it will release its third quarter 2016 earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, November 1, 2016. It will hold a conference call to discuss its earnings results on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. Shareholders and interested parties may access the call via:

Teleconference: (Toll Free) 877-407-9205, no participant code.

Internet Webcast: www.rgpt.com or www.investorcalendar.com

To participate, please dial-in/log-on at least 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to download and install any necessary audio software and/or to register for the call.

A replay of the call will be available through November 9, 2016. The toll-free replay number is 877-660-6853, conference ID#13646918. A replay will also be archived at the aforementioned web sites for ninety days.

ABOUT RAMCO-GERSHENSON PROPERTIES TRUST

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (RPT) is a fully integrated, self-administered, publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The Company's business is the ownership and management of large, multi-anchor shopping centers primarily in a number of the largest metropolitan markets in the central United States. At June 30, 2016, the Company owned interests in and managed a portfolio of 68 shopping centers and one office building with approximately 15.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. At June 30, 2016, the Company's consolidated operating portfolio was 95% leased. For more information about the Company visit www.rpgt.com.

Company Contact:

Dawn L. Hendershot, Vice President of Investor Relations

and Corporate Communications

31500 Northwestern Highway, Suite 300

Farmington Hills, MI 48334

dhendershot@rgpt.com

(248) 592-6202

SOURCE: Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be firm yet pragmatic in tackling the bad loans of commercial lenders, Governor Urjit Patel said on Tuesday, adding that more work was needed to resolve the issue of stressed assets.

Bad loans at banks have doubled in the past year after a clean-up ordered by the central bank under Patel's predecessor, Raghuram Rajan, last November.

Investors feted Rajan's efforts to chip away at a mountain of bad debt in India's financial system, but critics say an excessive focus on asset quality scared banks from lending and is partly why credit growth hit a near two-decade low.

"The non-performing assets situation is an important issue for the RBI in India," Patel, a former central bank deputy who succeeded Rajan last month, told a news conference after presiding over his first monetary policy review, in which a panel delivered a surprise 25 basis point cut in the key rate.

"We will deal with the situation with firmness but also with pragmatism, so that the economy does not feel any lack of credit to support growth."

The RBI was working with the banks and the government to resolve the issue of non-performing assets.

"The identification, the recording and reporting of this particular subject has been done satisfactorily. But the resolution, which is the fourth leg, is something that we need to work on more," he said.

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and David Brunnstrom AMMAN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Tuesday they had repelled an army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded residential areas, while nations spoke of rebuilding a peace process the United States broke off this week. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced on Monday that Washington was suspending talks with Moscow due to Russia's role in the offensive, said peace efforts must carry on. Turkey, long one of the main foes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but which has lately repaired its damaged ties with his ally Russia, said it planned to make a proposal to Washington and Moscow to resurrect a ceasefire that collapsed last month. But on the ground there was no sign of peace with potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the five-and-a-half year war unfolding as pro-government forces sought to drive anti-Assad rebels from their last major urban stronghold. Assad's government, with Russian air support and Iranian ground forces, launched the assault on Aleppo last month, a week into a ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow. The United States and other Western countries say Moscow and Damascus are guilty of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals and aid deliveries to crush the will of more than 250,000 people trapped under siege in Aleppo. The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only militants. Rebels said they inflicted losses on pro-government fighters after hours of clashes on the fringe of Sheikh Saed district, at the southern edge of the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo city. "We repelled their attempt to advance in Sheikh Saed and killed 10 regime fighters and destroyed several vehicles," said a fighter from the Failaq al-Sham rebel group who gave his name as Abdullah al-Halabi. Pro-government media said the Syrian army was pressing ahead in a major campaign supported by Iranian-backed militias and Russian air power to take full control of Syria's largest city, divided between rebel and government zones since 2012. In the 15 days since the collapse of the ceasefire, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 293 civilians in besieged east Aleppo as a result of air strikes and shelling, including 20 on Tuesday. It has documented 25 deaths in government-held west Aleppo from rebel shelling during the 15 days. Opposition sources give higher death tolls in the besieged rebel-held sector, under attack from bombing described as unprecedented in its ferocity. Many hundreds of wounded people have been brought to a handful of functioning hospitals, which are short of supplies and have themselves come under attack. Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said four of the last eight functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo had been damaged by air strikes in the past four days. "Doctors are performing brain and abdominal surgeries ... on the floors of the emergency rooms, for lack of available operating theatres," said Pablo Marco, MSF's Middle East operations manager. 'MAKE A DESERT, CALL IT PEACE' The collapse of the ceasefire last month left U.S. policy on Syria in tatters and was a personal blow for Kerry, who negotiated the truce over months of intense diplomacy with Moscow despite scepticism in Washington, including from other senior figures in the Barack Obama administration. Last month Republican Senator John McCain called Kerry "intrepid but deluded" for relying on Moscow. Kerry suspended talks with Russia on Monday, accusing Moscow of failing to live up to its commitments to halt fighting and assure aid reached besieged communities. "We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said on Tuesday in a speech in Brussels. He accused Moscow of turning a blind eye to Syria's use of poison gas and "barrel bombs" - oil drums packed with explosives - to kill civilians. "Where they make a desert, they call it peace," Kerry said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies saying Moscow would make efforts to resolve the crisis despite the U.S. suspension of talks. Moscow said it had deployed the advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria for the first time to protect its base at Tartous, Russia's only sea base on the Mediterranean. A spokesman for the Turkish president said Tayyip Erdogan could speak by telephone to Obama and President Vladimir Putin about a proposal to revive the Syrian ceasefire. The spokesman did not give details of the proposal. A German official said U.S., British, French, German and Italian officials would meet in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss next steps. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said attacks on civilians in Aleppo could amount to crimes against humanity. He suggested countries with a veto at the U.N. Security Council, such as Russia, should be stripped of the power to prevent such serious cases being reported to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Syria's civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made half the country homeless in the world's worst refugee crisis. Most regional states and many global powers have been drawn into the conflict to support the opposing sides, and amid the fighting the hardline Sunni Muslim group Islamic State seized much of Syria and neighbouring Iraq. Washington is bombing Islamic State but has mostly avoided direct involvement in war elsewhere in Syria, leaving the field open to Russia which joined the conflict a year ago on the side of its longtime ally Assad. Russia says the only way to fight Islamic State is to support Assad. Washington says the Syrian leader has too much blood on his hands and must leave power. LEVELLED GROUND A successful assault on Aleppo would deliver the biggest victory of the war for Assad, and leave his government in control of all the major cities of western Syria where the overwhelming majority of the population lives. The rebels, armed and funded by foreign powers including Western countries, Arab States and Turkey, are putting up a bitter fight for districts of Aleppo where they have had years to fortify their positions. They also control other territory and have launched advances of their own. A rebel commander from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki group said the army had opened several fronts simultaneously since the launch of a ground assault in order to stretch rebel forces, and had dropped leaflets from helicopters calling for surrender. Government forces have pressed southwards since securing Handarat, a camp for Palestinians on the northern edge of Aleppo last Thursday following what rebels called carpet bombing. "They levelled the ground and our people had no choice but to retreat under the bombing of the Russians," the Zinki commander said. Rebels still expect the army thrust will slow in residential areas that offer them more cover from air raids. In the heart of the city, warplanes flying at high altitude hit Bustan al Qasr, Hay al Huluk and Fardous neighbourhoods with reports of casualties, several rebel contacts said. Rebels believe those planes are Russian. The Russian embassy in Damascus was hit by mortar fire on Monday. Moscow said the shells had been fired from the rebel-held Jobar neighbourhood east of Damascus. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Lisa Barrington in Beirut, Robin Emmott in Brussels, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Peter Millership and Pravin Char)
Muscat (AFP) - A Red Cross staffer freed after almost a year in captivity in Yemen was held for ransom not for political reasons, diplomatic sources in neighbouring Oman said on Tuesday.

Nourane Houas, 38, an employee of the humanitarian protection programme of the International Committee of the Red Cross, was abducted in the rebel-held capital last December.

The French-Tunisian dual national was released on Monday after mediation by Omani authorities.

Oman is the only Gulf Arab state that is not part of a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies since March last year.

The sultanate has brokered several previous releases of foreigners held in Sanaa.

"It was a criminal operation for money," one diplomatic source told AFP, without specifying whether any ransom had been paid for the woman's release.

"She is resting and will remain in Muscat for two to three days."

ICRC spokeswoman Rima Kamal declined to be drawn on the identity or motives of the kidnappers.

"We prefer not to speculate on the reasons behind Nourane's abduction and whether it is indeed criminal or not," Kamal told AFP.

"We are not sharing any information in relation to the abductors or their identity for the continuing security and safety of our teams in Yemen."

There have been dozens of kidnappings of foreigners in Yemen over the years, most of them by members of the country's heavily armed tribes seeking concessions from the authorities.

Since the Huthi rebels overran the capital in September 2014, they have detained several Westerners, most of whom have been released through Omani mediation.

Peter Willems, an American who ran an English-language school in Sanaa and was detained by rebel forces on September 20, remains in custody.

Rebel leaders have accused him of providing the Saudi-led coalition with target coordinates for its deadly bombing campaign.
Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat wrote, "No one else in Congress should abuse their positions to embarrass the Party and the Country. #LoveYourArmy" , on twitter today.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: After making a controversial statement regarding India's latest surgical attack on a terrorist launch pad in POK, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam finds himself in quite a soup. The Party leadership have distanced themselves from Nirupam's comment.



CONGRESS DISOWNS NIRUPAM'S COMMENTS

The Congress today disowned its leader Sanjay Nirupam's suggestion that last week's surgical strikes across the Line of Control are "fake" unless the government offers proof.

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Senior Congressmen and Ex MP from Mumbai Gurudas Kamat took a dig at Sanjay Nirupam in his recent tweet.

Gurudas says "Honourable Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi had complimented the Indian Army and the Government for the surgical strikes against Pakistan." Further he writes "No one else in Congress should abuse their positions to embarrass the Party and the Country. #LoveYourArmy. "

He asserted that there is "no question of any doubt" about the strikes.

AICC in-charge of communication Mr Surjewala said issued a statement after Sanjay Nirupam's controversial tweet. Which says "Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi have unequivocally supported Indian Army and the Indian Government's steps to demolish terrorist infrastructure and we reaffirm the same".



ASKING FOR SOME PROOF



This controversy started with Mumbai Congress Chief Sanjay Nirupam's tweet where he raised doubt about the strikes.

Nirupam's Tweets "Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP,"

While defending his Controversial Statement later Sanjay Nirupam told media that, "I'm not saying you release all video footage, I don't think so either... as it may not be in the interest of national security... but there is a need to show some proof."

UNNECESSARY COMMENT?

A Senior Congress leader told Tv Today on the condition of anonymity that "There was no need to make such a comment. He could have articulated his words in a better way. Keeping the upcoming BMC election in mind, he should have refrained himself from making such such statements as they can have long term impact on the party."

On other hand Samajwadi Party Maharashtra head Abu Azmi said, "People like Nirupam should be sacked from party for making such comment. This kind of comment can demoralised the moral of Army. If Nirupam has proof that it didn't happen, he is the one who has show it."

ALSO READ:

BJP attacks Arvind Kejriwal, P Chidambaram for asking for proof of Army's surgical strikes

Pakistan flies international media to LoC to prove denial of India's surgical strikes, and fails





--- ENDS ---
From Delish

We already knew that our waiters and waitresses can make us gain weight and that there are some serious cardinal rules to follow when out to eat. But now there might be something else to worry about while at a restaurant.

One man in Colorado claims he has been ripped off by his server not once, not twice, but three times, getting his credit card charged for more than he signed on the bill. According to Fox21News, the second time a Texas Roadhouse server overcharged Colorado Springs resident Doug Woodward, he told the manager and discovered the waitstaff had changed the amount to receive a larger tip. After that, he swore off that location of the chain for a while-only to return a year later and have the same exact issue happen.

"I think the odds of being struck by lightning are probably better than this happening to the same person three times at Texas Roadhouse," Woodward told the news site.

Apparently Woodward and his wife's check came to $105.01 after treating their friends to dinner. The couple tipped $10, signing the credit card receipt for a total of $115.01. According to Woodward, their bank statement did not reflect this; instead it was charged $123.01.

"Clearly there was a small zero added to the zero here and a straight line drawn through the 5 to try to make that appear to be an 8," said Woodward. "We are on a budget like no one's business. For us to do this, that was huge, and for her to take advantage of us like that and we even told her that we were vets. We asked about the military discount and so she knew that we were vets."

We have to ask, though: Why would you rack up over $100 and then only tip 10 percent? If you're on a tight on cash, then 1) don't treat your friends to dinner and 2) make sure you budget enough for a proper tip.

In response to these claims, Texas Roadhouse issued an official statement on September 20:

"After our investigation, we confirmed that Mr. Woodward's receipt was tampered with by one of our employees. The employee has been terminated and we are refunding the full amount of his bill to Mr. Woodward."

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But in a strange twist of events, the company came back late last week to say that they were scammed by Woodward. In a statement released by spokesman Travis Doster, Texas Roadhouse said:

"Sadly, we have discovered this was a scam. We have rehired the server, banned this gentleman for life from any Texas Roadhouse, and are considering legal action."

Well damn.

Follow Delish on Instagram.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2016 / Forum Uranium Corp. (FDC.V) ("Forum") announces that Rio Tinto Exploration ("RTX") has commenced an 81 line km DCIP resistivity survey by Discovery International Geophysics Inc. on the Henday property held 60% by RTX and 40% by Forum. The survey is following up target areas that were drilled this past winter and one new target area. The survey is a pole-dipole and pole-pole array type with receiver dipole lengths of 50m and current injection intervals every 25m which should be completed by mid-October.

The survey comprises a total coverage of 81 line-kilometers as follows:

Epitaph Block: Approximately 20.9 line-kilometres of resistivity surveying on 9 lines spaced at 300m;

Hollow Lake Block: Approximately 55.6 line-kilometres of resistivity surveying on 12 lines spaced at 200m; and

Poseidon Block: Approximately 4.5 line-kilometres of resistivity surveying on 3 lines spaced at 400m.

This past winter RTX completed a 15 hole, 5,340.3m drill program on three target areas on the Henday Property (see news release dated May 18, 2016), located northeast of Rio Tinto's Roughrider uranium deposit nearby the AREVA/Denison McClean Lake mill in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Six holes were drilled in the Hollow Lake target area, 6 holes in the Elephant target area, and 3 holes in the Epitaph target area. Of highlight was hole 16HDY007 at Hollow Lake which intersected anomalous uranium mineralization in two discrete 0.3m uranium-bearing fractures at 177.4m and 182.4m, respectively. Assay results indicated the fracture at 177.4m contained 523 parts per million (ppm) uranium total digestion (U TD ), whereas the fracture at 182.4m contains 469ppm U TD .

Ken Wheatley, P.Geo. and Forum's VP, Exploration and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.





Figure 1: Location of the DCIP resistivity grids on the Henday property.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: http://www.accesswire.com/uploads/22844_a1475532769713_7.jpg

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About the Henday Property

The Henday Project consists of 3 claims covering 7,204ha at the north-eastern side of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. The property is strategically located north-east of Rio Tinto's Roughrider uranium deposit, the Denison/AREVA Midwest Lake project and nearby McClean Lake mill, and north of Cameco/AREVA's Dawn Lake project.

RTX has earned a 60% interest in Henday and Forum holds a 40% interest. RTX has the right to acquire an additional 10% interest in the Henday project by funding $20 million in exploration or delivering a Feasibility Study, whichever occurs first. Funds expended on this geophysical survey will be credited towards RTX earning their additional 10% interest in the project.

About Forum Uranium

Forum Uranium Corp. is a Canadian-based energy company with a focus on the acquisition, exploration and development of Canadian uranium projects. Forum has assembled a highly experienced team of exploration professionals with a track record of mine discoveries for unconformity-style uranium deposits in Canada. The Company has a strategy to discover near surface uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan by exploring on its 100% owned properties and through strategic partnerships and joint ventures with Cameco, AREVA, RTX, NexGen and Uracan.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

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.

For further information contact:

Rick Mazur, President & CEO

Tel: 604-630-1585

Matt Terriss, Director, Corporate Affairs

Tel: 604-689-2599

SOURCE: Forum Uranium Corp.
New York (AFP) - The Rolling Stones on Tuesday hinted that they are about to release their first album in more than a decade, apparently a collection of covers of Chicago blues classics.

The English mega-rockers took to Twitter to tease the line "Coming October 6" along with a snippet of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the rest of the band jamming out a hard blues song with harmonica.

The band did not offer further details but Don Was, the US producer who has overseen the Stones' studio sessions over the past two decades, said that the Stones had cut an album of takes on Chicago blues songs.

The Stones recorded the album in just three days with a simple microphone set-up and without further studio touch-ups, hoping to preserve a raw, authentic feel, Was told the French newspaper Le Figaro last week.

Guitar great Eric Clapton also took part in sessions as he was recording an album in an adjacent studio, said the producer, who is also known for his band Was (Not Was) in the 1980s.

The teased release date of Friday is the same day the Stones will inaugurate Desert Trip, a new festival in California that aims to bring together the top living legends in rock history.

The septuagenarian rockers -- one of the highest-grossing acts in the music business -- will share the three-day festival bill with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, The Who and Neil Young.

The Rolling Stones have not released a studio album since 2005's "A Bigger Bang," which consisted of original material that largely stayed true to the band's blues rock roots.

The rockers have released a series of concert recordings in the past decade, however.

Richards, 72, has often spoken of his love of the Chicago blues and its influence over his guitar-playing while growing up in England. The blues, born among African Americans in the US South, took on a new life with the Great Migration to industrialized northern cities with added amplification and gradual rock elements.

Richards, notorious for his hard-living, has remained energetic and a year ago put out a solo album in which he also takes vocal duties. He revealed at the time that the Stones planned to return to the studio in 2016.
From Esquire

For fans of high stakes gambling, there's Vegas and then there's retail aimed at the American teenager. Take your pick. Either can make you very rich, or can obliterate your bank account in a single gasp. And if you hang around long enough, it's pretty much guaranteed to be the latter-a harsh lesson that mall fashion brand Aeropostale has recently learned.

In 2011, the company famous for its logo-laden clothing was cruising along in the financial fast lane, with $2.4 billion in annual sales. But then, suddenly, the tires blew out and the car spun out of control. Turns out teenagers, the demographic largely responsible for the money-printing success of Aeropostale-not to mention similar brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle-suddenly lost interest.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Tomorrow's%20Teens%20Will%20Hang%20Out%20in%20Abandoned%20Malls" customimages="" content="article.44321"]

"Aeropostale seems like somewhere your mom takes you for back to school shopping," Justina Sharpe, a 19-year-old fashion blogger, told The Business of Fashion. Instead of logo-festooned fashion to help them fit in, teenagers turned to brands like H&M and Forever 21 in order to stand out. In response, Aeropostale started trying to ape the branding-free clothes of its competitors, alienating the loyal customers who hadn't already jumped ship.

In the space of five years, Aeropostale's sales dropped by almost 40 percent, and its shares fell by 98 percent. This past May, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shut down more than 150 stores. Turns out that putting all of your eggs into the basket of fickle teenagers was not a great long-range strategy.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Macy's%20Looks%20Totally%20Doomed%20Right%20Now" customimages="" content="article.41015"]

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There is still hope for Aeropostale however, as mall owners have stepped in to try and save the brand. A consortium of investors-one that includes Simon Property Group and General Growth Properties, two landlords that house 237 of the retailer's shops-are hoping for a deal to go through that will allow them to take over the and restructure the brand.

Should that happen, it might be wise this time not to hang the hopes of an entire business on the whims of a teenager. Just a thought.

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Rudy Giuliani just said something ridiculous about Hillary Clinton  and we beg to differ

Sexism is a constant presence in the discourse surrounding Hillary Clintons historic nomination, and it has reared its ugly and uninformed head once again. This time, during Rudy Giulianis incredibly offensive interview on ABCs This Week earlier today.

Hillary Clinton Attends Voter Registration Event In Akron,OH

Giuliani has already made questionable statements throughout this election cycle, going up to bat for Trump by conveniently forgetting about 9/11 (???) and stirring up rumors regarding Hillarys health. Now, Giuliani is shamelessly attempting to spin Donald Trumps exposed tax records  proving that he likely hasnt paid federal income taxes in nearly two decades  by describing Trumps corrupt behavior as a demonstration of his brilliance in business. Lol, nice try.

GOP Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Campaigns In Colorado

But Giuliani literally made his ridiculous argument by stating a man with Trumps apparent brain for business is better for America than a woman. Seriously.

Top Trump adviser Giuliani: "Dont you think a man who has this kind of economic genius is a lot better for the United States than a woman?" pic.twitter.com/ueUgkFGXXV  ABC News (@ABC) October 3, 2016

And I quote:

Dont you think a man who has this kind of economic genius is a lot better for the United States than a woman, and the only thing shes ever produced is a lot of work for the FBI checking out her emails?

Really thats the only thing she has ever done? Im actually speechless  Giuliani back at it again with the convenient memory loss.

Also, quick reminder that all of those undocumented immigrants that Trump labels as rapists and murderers, claiming they are destroying our nation, pay more taxes than this economic genius.

Hillary Clinton Attends Voter Registration Event In Akron,OH

It is despicable that we have to write about a real life Presidential candidates political adviser making such a sexist comment. This is why its so important that we fight back with our vote  so make sure youre registered!

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Once youve registered to vote, fill out this super quick survey for People magazine that examines who Time Inc readers are voting for, and why. Plus, youll get a 20% off discount code for the People Shop!

H/T Elle

The post Rudy Giuliani just said something ridiculous about Hillary Clinton  and we beg to differ appeared first on HelloGiggles.
kerry lavrov russia syria

On Monday, the same day that the US and Russia suspended bilateral talks over the fate of Syria, Russia deployed its advanced SA-23 Gladiator missile defense system to Syria, US officials told Fox News.

The SA-23 represents an interesting choice of deployment for Russia, as it fires two types of missiles, one that can counter any US cruise missile attack, and one that can counter intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

As one US official put it sarcastically, Nusra doesnt have an air force do they? referring to Jabhat al-Nusra (recently rebranded as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham), an al-Qaeda linked group fighting against the Russian-aligned Assad regime in Syria.

In fact, Nusra doesn't have an air force, neither does ISIS, nor do any of the myriad rebel or jihadist groups fighting against the Assad regime. None of them operate cruise missiles or intermediate-range ballistic missiles either.

operation inherent resolve coalition air forces isis

Only the US and members of the US-led coalition have air forces and naval vessels capable of firing cruise missiles from the Mediterranean or ballistic missiles from intermediate ranges. The US openly considered the prospect of bombarding Syria with cruise missiles in 2013 when Assad crossed Obama's "red line" by using chemical weapons on his own people, though Obama ultimately declined to take this action.

Meanwhile, the international community has watched as Russian and Syrian warplanes bomb hospitals and UN aid envoys. Most recently, Russian, or Syrian warplanes with Russian support, have been linked to dropping bunker-busting bombs on hospitals built into caves specifically to avoid being targeted by airstrikes.

sa-23 Antey 2500 SAM russian gladiator missile defense

The move also coincides with Russia suspending an agreement with the US on disposing enough weapons-grade plutonium to make 17,000 nuclear weapons due to alleged "unfriendly acts" by the US towards Russia.

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The SA-23 system joins Russia's advanced S-400 missile defense battery to create a layered air defense zone.

NOW WATCH: International investigation: MH17 was struck by a Russian-made missile





More From Business Insider


Moscow (AFP) - Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday that it had sent an S-300 missile system to its naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, a measure it says is meant to bolster its security.

"The S-300 anti-aircraft missile system has indeed been sent to the Syrian Arab Republic," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

"I remind you that the S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat to anyone.

"It's not clear why the placement of S-300 in Syria has caused such a stir among our western colleagues," he said.

The announcement comes as talks on reviving a failed ceasefire were suspended by Washington over Moscow's support of the regime in Damascus.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the Russian missile system would not affect operations in the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State group in northern Syria, and questioned why Moscow was making the move.

"Last I checked, the Russians said that their primary goal was to fight extremism, ISIL and Nusra, in Syria," he said, referring to IS and another group formerly known as Al-Nusra Front.

"Neither one has an air force... So this is something we'll watch carefully. But it should be clear to the Russians and everybody else operating in Syria how seriously we take the safety of our air crews."

Moscow has been accused of indiscriminately bombing Aleppo's opposition-controlled east as it helps an offensive currently being conducted by Syrian regime forces to capture all of the country's second city.

Russia has also denied that its strikes have hit hospitals and other civilian facilities in spite of reports to the contrary.

In addition to operating a naval facility in Tartus, Russia runs an air base outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which currently houses war planes used in Moscow's bombing campaign in support of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad.

A senior Russian official said in August that Russia was planning to expand its Hmeimim Air Base in Syria into a permanent military facility.

The air base already has an S-400 air defence system, the most modern in Russia's arsenal.
After losing a bidding war for LinkedIn LNKD and recently being identified as a potential Twitter TWTR buyer, Salesforce CRM is continuing its M&A activity with a $700 million takeover of marketing-data and artificial intelligence company Krux Digital.

Krux is a San Francisco-based startup that builds cloud-based data management software. Its technology tracks and analyzes data to learn about its clients preferences, and the company currently counts Kellog K, ConAgra CAG, Mondelez MDLZ, and Time Warner TWX among its customers.

Krux will extend the Salesforce Marketing Clouds audience segmentation and targeting capabilities to power consumer marketing with even more precision, at scale, wrote Krux co-founder Tom Chavez in a blog post. Krux and Salesforce together will empower every company to deliver more relevant and valuable consumer experiences across every touchpoint.

The takeover comes as Salesforce kicks off its annual Dreamforce conference this week in San Francisco. It also comes in the wake of Salesforces purchases of Demandware and Quip earlier this year. Those business cost the software giant $2.85 billion and $582 million, respectively.

Salesforces M&A activity has been aggressive recently too. Despite seemingly losing LinkedIn to Microsoft (MSFT), the company has not given up on its desire for the business-based social media site. Last week, it asked the European Commission to block the Microsoft bid over anti-competition concerns.

As mentioned above, Salesforce has also been mentioned in the most recent round of Twitter buyout rumors. For more on that particular move, check out the most recent episode of the Zacks Friday Finish Line podcast:

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Sanjay Nirupam in a tweet said, "Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one."

By Vidya : A massive controversy was triggered today over Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam's remark on surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Nirupam in a tweet said, "Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one."

"I respect the Indian armed forces, but the way the political gains are being usurped by the BJP it is wrong. They have put up posters across the country claiming that only the BJP had the guts to do it" said Nirupam adding that it was during the Congress party rule as well that three surgical strikes had been undertaken but such kind of propaganda was not done.



Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP.

Politics over national interest pic.twitter.com/4KN6iDqDo5 Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) October 4, 2016

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The BJP immediately launched an attack on the Opposition, asking how can the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party question the Indian Army.

Modi lead government had earlier slammed Arvind Kejriwal and P Chidambaram for asking for the video evidence of the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army. Kejriwal had on Monday "saluted" PM Modi for the surgical strikes with a caveat: that he must come up with the video of the Indian Army's operation to "expose Pakistan's false propaganda" on the strikes.

How dare you question India's surgical strikes?



Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said "Kejriwal was making headlines in Pakistan" for his doubts over Indian Army's operation. "Kejriwal must not mix politics with national security," he said.

The Indian Army recently carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Tension escalated between India and Pakistan following the attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir last month.

Pakistan's nuclear bombs don't scare India of war

Surgical strikes: Why it's now time to ask Indian Army all the hard questions



Also read:

BJP attacks Kejriwal, Chidambaram for asking for proof of surgical strikes

Pakistan flies international media to LoC to prove denial of India's surgical strikes, fails



--- ENDS ---
The same-sex kiss on How to Get Away With Murder was censored  heres what fans are saying

Last week, a new episode of How to Get Away With Murder aired and, as usual, it was amazing. For most audiences, the show featured its customary dose of suspense, mystery, intrigue and a little gay love.

But for audiences in the Philippines and the Middle East, who just saw the episode this week, the show appeared a little bit different.

According to tweets posted by HTGAWMs two gay male icons  Jack Falahee and Conrad Ricamora, who play boyfriends Colin and Oliver on the show  both the Sony Channel in the Philippines and OSN, a network servicing the Middle East and Northern Africa, censored a gay kiss scene.

Heres the ~questionable~ scene, in case you need a recap.

The censorship by Sony Channel Philippines was particularly frustrating for the pair, since Ricamora is an out Asian American actor.

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Can we get a collective UGH.

Fans werent impressed by the decision either, tweeting furiously at Sony Channel and OSN.

HEY @SonyChannelPH THIS AIN'T RIGHT!!! WE FINALLY HAVE A HALF FILIPINO ACTOR REPRESENTING US LGBTQ+ AND YOU'RE GONNA CUT IT BEC OF WHAT? NO https://t.co/L57RfEldFq  Raed Hampton-Walsh (@hey_tearcatcher) October 2, 2016

did they really...oh my god shame https://t.co/DUuKrHd75j  Adi Bautista (@adixbautista) October 3, 2016

Some good has come out of all of this hurt, though. After a tweet storm by fans and the shows stars, the Sony Channel has responded  and its going to re-air the episode in full on Friday.

We're showing the #Coliver scene in a special encore of #HTGAWM S2E2 this Friday, just before the new episode airs! @RestingPlatypus pic.twitter.com/ZCVCTJ2mFe  Sony Television PH (@SonyChannelPH) October 4, 2016

Well take a big, fat YAY for that!

This definitely sends a message to networks and viewers alike: Viewers, you have power. And networks, if you mess up  well come for you, so watch out.

The post The same-sex kiss on How to Get Away With Murder was censored  heres what fans are saying appeared first on HelloGiggles.
A swarm of small quakes near the San Andreas fault spurred officials in California to issue an earthquake alert for residents of Southern California.

Based on the swarm activity, the risk of an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater in Southern California shot up to between 1 in 300 and 1 in 100 over the weekend, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Office of Emergency Services in California issued an alert that is in effect until tomorrow (Oct. 4).

"I wouldn't say it's over until it's really over. We sort of just gradually get back to background, and it could tick back up later after we think it's settled down," said Kenneth Hudnut, a USGS research geophysicist in Pasadena, California.

On an average day, there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of a magnitude 7 or greater quake, meaning the risk is temporarily elevated 100 times above baseline, said Morgan Page, a research geophysicist with the USGS in Pasadena, California. [Photos: The Gorgeous San Andreas Fault]

But how exactly do seismologists estimate earthquake risk, and how do swarms like those seen over the past several days affectd the baseline risk?

It turns out, tiny earthquakes increase earthquake risk because they increase the overall earthquake frequency on a given fault, and because smaller temblors on cross-faults situated perpendicular to the main San Andreas fault can set off a larger one on the main fault, USGS scientists said.

Swarm of quakes

A series of 142 or 143 tiny earthquake swarms were detected near the Salton Sea, a saltwater lake that sits atop the 800-mile-long (1,287 kilometers) San Andreas Fault. The swarm occurred on cross-faults that connect the southern end of the San Andreas fault with the so-called Imperial fault.

This event is just the third time such a swarm has shaken this region on the southern tip of the San Andreas since 1932 when quake sensors were placed there. "We had a swarm in 2009 and a swarm that occurred in 2001," Page told Live Science.

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The recent swarm triggered the earthquake alert for Southern California. However, the last quake recorded in the region occurred a day ago.

"Official advisory extends to Tuesday, but seismically the extra risk is all but over. But remember, everyday risk is high," Lucy Jones, a seismologist who formerly worked for the USGS, tweeted yesterday.

Risk calculation

But just how do seismologists account for earthquake swarmsin their seismic models?

The San Andreas Fault sits at the region where the North American Plate is sliding past the Pacific Plate, a boundary known as a strike-slip fault. It is actually a network of fault systems that snakes from the Salton Sea in the Mojave Desert to the Mendocino Coast in the north.

The region that experienced the swarms, near the Salton Sea, is a portion of the fault that has built up a lot of stress, and hasn't ruptured in 326 years, the Orange County Register reported.

"The amount of energy that's released by tiny earthquakes is just minuscule in terms of the total energy budget for earthquakes," Page said. "Even adding up all the little ones, they don't really count for much." [Image Gallery: This Millennium's Destructive Earthquakes]

For instance, a magnitude-7 earthquake releases 1 million times as much energy as a magnitude-3 temblor, according to the USGS.

"You really need those big earthquakes to make any difference," Page said.

But another phenomenon proposed by Hudnut in 1987 did create concern among geologists that the swarm could trigger "a big one." Hudnut proposed the hypothesis that activity on a cross-fault running perpendicular to a major fault can put enough stress on a major fault to cause an earthquake; that's what happened in 1987, leading to a quake along California's Superstition Hills fault.

During the swarm, Hudnut drove out and checked for possible "triggered slip" in the area of the cross-faults. Though there was some "cracking," he said, there was no evidence of movement that would have required actual tectonic slip behavior.

Smaller earthquakes can also trigger aftershocks, and aftershocks can sometimes be bigger than the quake that set them off.

Beyond that, earthquake models predict risk based on the frequency of earthquakes, and swarms of earthquakes temporarily increase that frequency, Page said.

Region at risk

The area around the Salton Sea is not near any major population centers, but some models show that a quake set off near the Salton Sea could trigger a rupture farther north, past cities such as Palm Springs and San Bernardino.

And while Los Angeles County wouldn't be directly affected by such a rupture, "You can have seismic waves basically funneled into the basins," Page said. "Because the LA basin is surrounded by mountains on all sides, the waves basically get trapped there."

Add to that the soft sediment in the Los Angeles region, and a quake set off near the Salton Sea could trigger fairly intense shaking in Los Angeles even if the epicenter of the quake was relatively far away, Page said.

The latest swarm may have died down, but Angelenos shouldn't breathe too big a sigh of relief, Page said.

"We live in earthquake country and we should be prepared for an earthquake at any time," Page said. "Events like this can change the probabilities from week to week but it never goes to zero."

Original article on Live Science.

Live Science's Jeanna Bryner contributed to this article.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to state that Hudnut "proposed the hypothesis" rather than "discovered" the cross-fault phenomenon.

Editor's Recommendations
For a full recap of what went down during Mondays Scorpion premiere, you neednt look further than the episode titles: Civil War and More Civil War.

Throughout the super-sized Season 3 debut, just about every character was at odds with another, thanks to the multiple cliffhangers that viewers were left clinging to last May. Happy and Toby? Not speaking. Walter and Paige? Kept apart by Paiges new beau, Tim. Sylvester? Loyal only to Super Fun Guy.

PHOTOSScorpion First Look: Walter and Paiges Out-of-This-World Rendezvous

Of course, there was also a much more literal civil war going on during these two hours, thanks to a team of Bulgarian hackers. They commandeered Americas defense system, turned military members against each other and threatened to end the lives of thousands of citizens.

But thanks to a few games of baccarat, a confetti cannon and some, uh, giant balls  its not what you think, pervs!  the safety of the United States was, of course, restored.

As for the other kerfuffles

Scorpion Season 3 Premiere

HAPPY DAZE

| Toby, still reeling from his rejected wedding proposal and the knowledge that Happy is, in fact, married, decided to dig into his girlfriends records to track down the name of her hubby  to no avail. At first, Happy tried to assure Toby that she has nothing particularly special to hide; shes simply trapped in a loveless marriage to someone she doesnt have a future with, and if Toby can promise to trust her, shell take care of everything and return to her stable relationship ASAP.

Later in the premiere, though, when Happy got a moment alone with Walter, she surreptitiously asked her friend if hed wiped her marriage records before Toby got a peek at them. Absolutely I did, Walter responded. Do you want Toby to know who youre really married to? We didnt get any further intel on Happys marriage after that  but be sure to leave your best guesses of the husbands identity (and/or casting suggestions!) in the comments section.

Story continues

LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD | Walter, having worked up the courage to tell Paige how he feels about her, showed up at her and Tims romantic Lake Tahoe weekend only to find the pair engaged in a full-fledged make-out sesh. Feeling silly, Walter tried to skedaddle, but when Homeland Security wrangled Team Scorpion for their next case, Walter, Paige and Tim all ended up on the same emergency flight back to Los Angeles. Awkward does not even begin to cover it. (Walter tried to convince the couple that he was merely visiting Lake Tahoe for the jazz festival, but Paige and Tim certainly knew better.)

VIDEOSScorpion Cast Talks Outer Space Trip, Happys Familiar Hubby in Season 3

But wait! It gets worse! Halfway through the teams mission to save America, Paige discovered that Walter had tried to sabotage her entire weekend with Tim. He was the one who called the hotel and messed with the reservation, forcing Paige and Tim into separate bedrooms. He was the one who filed a complaint with the health department and got Lake Tahoes renowned 24-hour restaurant shut down before Paige and Tim could eat there.

Paige, rightly furious, told Walter he was being a jealous infant and dismissed him. But once she was out of earshot, Walter admitted aloud, I came to Lake Tahoe to tell you I love you  and everyone on the communications feed heard him. Including Tim. Awesome.

Later, once Team Scorpion had successfully saved the country, Walter steeled himself to finally confess his feelings for Paige. But just before he could, Cabe stopped him from doing so, telling Walter in no uncertain terms that he doesnt deserve a woman as emotionally mature as Paige  not when admitting his love for her could ruin the team.

So, having had his ego bruised more than a few times that day, Walter apologized to Tim for creating an uncomfortable love triangle with Paige. As she and Tim left the Scorpion garage for a dinner date, Walter dialed up the health department to make a complaint about the restaurant but then, thinking better of it, hung up the phone.

With that, I hand it to you, Scorpion fans. What did you think of Mondays season premiere? Grade it in our poll below, then hit the comments with your full review.

Launch Gallery: Fall TV Predictions: <I>Grey's, Arrow, TWD</i> and 27 Others

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By Anusha Ravindranath

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets closed

higher on Tuesday with Indonesia surging to its highest in

nearly one-and-a-half year, while Thai shares rose more than 1

percent to hit a near four-week high.

The Jakarta Composite Index climbed for a second

straight session, boosted by gains in energy and consumer

stocks.

"Recent developments on the domestic side have been very

positive, given that we have had an encouraging tax amnesty

progress and strong capital inflows," said Taye Shim, an analyst

with Jakarta-based Daewoo Securities.

A report from the Strait Times said Indonesia's tax amnesty

scheme achieved 90 percent of its 4,000 trillion rupiah ($308.05

billion) target in just three months. http://bit.ly/2cP9s8L

Mining company Aneka Tambang (Persero) Tbk PT

jumped more than 3 percent after Indonesian government said it

was finalising an overhaul of its mining rules that could reopen

exports of nickel ore which was banned since 2014.

Thai stocks were buoyed by gains in financials and

consumer non-cyclical stocks. Kasikornbank Pcl rose

more than 3 percent while Siam Commercial Bank Pcl

moved 1.7 percent higher.

Philippine shares rallied to its highest in more than

one week, supported by consumer cyclicals and utilities, as

investors shrugged off President Rodrigo Duterte's latest

rhetoric against the United States.

Duterte has angrily rejected U.S. concerns over the bloody

war on drugs he has launched since coming to office in June. His

frequent tirades have thrown into question one of Washington's

most important alliances in Asia.

"I think markets are not taking him really seriously..."

said Mikey Macainag, an analyst with Manila-based Sunsecurities

referring to Duterte's actions.

Investors have shown concern in recent days over Duterte's

foreign policies after the Philippine peso in September posted

its steepest monthly drop in 16 years.

Vietnam shares snapped a two-day losing streak, while

Singapore stocks rose for a second straight day as

Story continues

consumer goods and services stocks gained footing.

Malaysian shares clocked their biggest intraday

percentage gain in two-and-a-half months. Blue chips IHH

Healthcare Bhd and Genting Malaysia Bhd were

among the top gainers on the index.

For Asian Companies click

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on the

day

Market Current previous Pct Move

close

Singapore 2884.64 2870.84 0.48

Bangkok 1509.78 1490.94 1.26

Manila 7719.24 7719.24 0.54

Jakarta 5472.317 5463.915 0.15

Kuala Lumpur 1661.25 1652.55 0.53

Ho Chi Minh 684.2 683.05 0.17

Change so far

this year

Market Current End prev yr Pct Move

Singapore 2884.64 2882.73 0.07

Bangkok 1509.78 1288.02 17.22

Manila 7719.24 6952.08 11.03

Jakarta 5472.317 4593.008 19.14

Kuala Lumpur 1661.25 1692.51 -1.85

Ho Chi Minh 684.2 579.03 18.16

(Reporting by Anusha Ravindranath in Bengaluru; Editing by

Amrutha Gayathri)
Eddie Lampert Sears

Sears CEO Eddie Lampert is hitting back against reports that Kmart is shutting down.

In a blog post published on Monday, Lampert blasted "frequent false and exaggerated claims surrounding our Kmart business."

"I can tell you that there are no plans and there have never been any plans to close the Kmart format," he said. "In fact, weve been working hard to make Kmart a more fun, engaging place to shop, powered by our integrated retail innovations and Shop Your Way. To report or suggest otherwise is irresponsible and is likely intended to do harm to our company to the benefit of those who seek to gain advantage from posting these inaccurate reports."

Lampert posted the blog following multiple reports from Wall Street analysts claiming that Sears and Kmart are nearing bankruptcy. Kmart store employees have also expressed concerns that the chain is shutting down.

"We are working to restore the company to profitability," Lampert reassured investors in the blog post. "We are focused on executing our plan and establishing a foundation from which Sears Holdings can grow for years to come."

But, he added, "we wont be able to restore profit immediately."

Kmart (69)

Fitch Ratings last week identified Sears as one of seven major retailers at risk of going bankrupt in the next 12 to 24 months and eventually liquidating.

In September, Moody's analysts downgraded Sears' liquidity rating, saying Sears and Kmart don't have enough money  or access to money  to stay in business.

The analysts said Sears is bleeding cash and will have to continue to rely on outside funding or the sale of assets, such as real estate, to sustain operations. Kmart in particular is at risk of shutting down, they said.

"The ratings... reflect our view on the uncertainty of the viability of the Kmart franchise in particular given its meaningful market share erosion," the analysts wrote.

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Sears said in August that its cash and equivalents have fallen to $276 million from $1.8 billion one year ago.

As a result, the retailer was forced to accept $300 million in financing from Sears CEO Eddie Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, in the most recent quarter.

The company is losing cash as sales plunge at its namesake and Kmart stores.

Net sales fell 8.8% to $5.7 billion in the second quarter. Same-store sales plunged 7% at Sears stores and dropped 3.3% at Kmart stores.

Kmart (50)

Sales have been falling for years.

Sears' sales dropped from $41 billion in 2000 to $15 billion in 2015.

Kmart, which merged with Sears in 2005, has seen its sales plunge from $37 billion to $10 billion in the same period.

Sears has been closing unprofitable stores to stop the bleeding.

Most recently, Sears closed nearly 80 stores this summer  most of which were Kmart stores  and announced another 64 Kmart closures that will take effect at the end of this year, as Business Insider first reported.

Kmart (6)

But Lampert emphatically denied on Monday that the chain's closures are a sign that it's planning to cease operations.

The closures are part of a strategy to return Sears to profitability, he said.

"We have been clear that we are intent on improving the performance of our unprofitable stores and, if we cannot, we will close them," he said. "We are acting more aggressively and continuing to evaluate stores as leases expire and as other opportunities present themselves that improve the economics of Sears Holdings."

Despite the continuing store closures, "our stores remain extremely important to our future," he said, and "we expect to end up with a large chain of stores."

NOW WATCH: This 16-year-old entrepreneur is making a fortune selling rare sneakers to celebrities





More From Business Insider


Bamako (AFP) - The UN said Tuesday a second peacekeeper had died following an attack on a base in northeastern Mali, as it reported serious failings in its most dangerous ongoing mission.

More than 11,000 UN police and military are currently serving in Mali, attempting to guarantee security in lawless swathes of the vast Sahel nation.

A UN statement released early Tuesday said "a second peacekeeper died overnight from his injuries," in the attack near the Algerian border.

A peacekeeper from Chad was already known to have died on Monday, joining more than 100 others who have lost their lives serving the UN's deadliest active deployment.

Late on Tuesday AFP learned a civilian was also killed on Monday when he stepped on a mine in Aguelhok. "He died on the spot," his parents said.

The deaths coincided with the scheduled publication Tuesday of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest report on the crisis facing the Mali mission as it loses vital equipment and faces a rising threat from militants.

Attacks against the UN force and Malian security forces were "increasingly frequent, bold and well coordinated," Ban said.

On Tuesday a Malian solider escorting a convoy in the Timbuktu region became the latest casualty, a military source told AFP.

Under increasing pressure, the report admitted the mission was responsible for the death of a detainee arrested over terrorism offences and two cases of torture it said were committed by the mission in the last four months.

Ban said that an investigation had been launched and vowed "corrective measures", and mentioned two other cases of "sexual exploitation" and abuse that have been lodged against its staff since the beginning of the year.

Continued equipment shortages -- particularly a lack of helicopters -- meant peacekeepers would be "handicapped in carrying out its mandate, and the confidence that the signatory parties and the population have in the mission will suffer," the secretary-general said.

Story continues

The Netherlands is due to pull out its seven aircraft in early 2017, exacerbating the problem.

- Peace deal threatened -

Only a third of the expected financing for humanitarian projects in 2016 has been received, putting civilian lives at risk, Ban said.

The UN's World Food Programme said last week that school meals for nearly 180,000 children in about 1,000 schools were in jeopardy, in a country where one meal a day was a major incentive for parents to send their children to school.

Ban also emphasised that while some progress had been made to secure the troubled peace process that began last year, developments in the country's troubled north had been limited.

Bloody clashes between pro-government armed groups and former rebels were a violation of a peace accord, and those fighting around the Kidal region should potentially face sanctions, he added.

Mali last year concluded a peace deal between the government, its armed proxies, and Tuareg-led rebels who have launched several uprisings since the 1960s. The deal's implementation has been patchy.

There was "no government presence in the regions of Kidal and Taoudenni" for security reasons, Ban said. and a limited presence in other northern areas affected by fighting.

Northern Mali fell into the hands of jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda in early 2012 -- briefly backed by Tuareg-led rebels -- throwing the country into chaos.

An ongoing international military intervention that began in January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from the major urban centres they had briefly controlled, but large tracts of Mali are still not controlled by domestic or foreign troops.
Travelers can visit two European citiesLondon and Reykjavik, Icelandfor as little as $375 round-trip between January and March 2017.

The bargain airfare out of Washington, D.C., posted today by The Flight Deal, takes advantage of Icelandairs stopover program.

This isn't the first time Icelandair has tempted travelers to spend an extra day (or a whole week) in Iceland. They've been known to offer personal Stopover Buddies to help visitors experience the Land of Fire and Ice like a local. Last year, they even invited tourists to spend an evening watching the country's rugged coast at the Dyrholaey lighthouse.

This time, travelers flying to or from England can opt to spend up to seven days in Iceland. The fare also includes two complimentary checked bags.

With a week-long journey in Iceland tacked on to either end of your trip to London, you can get two vacations for the price of one.

During winter months, youll be able to snorkel in the Silfra fissure, and hike over the continents largest glacier, Vatnajokull.

Get detailed booking information on The Flight Deal.

Melanie Lieberman is the Associate Digital Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @melanietaryn.
Polly Alexandre

Style expert and TV host Louise Roe has the most enviable Instagram imaginable, so you should expect nothing less than total picturesque splendor from her wedding. She didnt disappoint when she tied the knot to her director beau, Mackenzie Hunkin, in the English countryside this weekend.

The bride wore a couture lace off-the-shoulder gown by Pronovias and styled her hair in a center-parted low chignon, while Hunkin wore a classic black tuxedo by the British designer Reiss.

RELATED PHOTOS: The Most Jaw-Dropping Celebrity Engagement Rings

The couple wed at Eton College Chapel inside a 15th-century building, which Martha Stewart Weddings reports is a place Hunkin often went as a child. And after the nuptials, the newlyweds drove to the reception, held at the Tudor-era Dorney Court, in a retro Mercedes convertible, while the guests rode on iconic red London double-decker buses.

Dinner was prepared by Mackenzies childhood best friend Steven Edwards, followed by all-night dancing that ended with late-night pizza.

//players.brightcove.net/416418724/rJSWQ1RE_default/index.min.js

Afterwards, the newlyweds spent the night at the luxury hotel (fine, the castle) Cliveden House.

Instagram Photo

And theyre already having a completely idyllic honeymoon in Positano, Italy.

Instagram Photo





Instagram Photo

The couple got engaged in January during a romantic week in Aspen with an oval diamond set with two halos of pave diamonds. Roe told PeopleStyle that Hunkin got down on one knee inside a gondola in the middle of a blizzard in Aspen  I had absolutely no idea what was going on!

Instagram Photo

What do you think of her English wedding? Share in the comments below.




We cant wait to travel to our nations capital next week! #SethInDC pic.twitter.com/MsK5Y2XdWJ  Late Night (@LateNightSeth) October 4, 2016

Late Night with Seth Meyers will broadcast next weeks shows (October 10-13) from Washington, D.C.s Warner Theatre, marking the first time hes traveled his show outside Studio 8G at 30 Rock. The visit is timed to begin the day after the second debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (October 9) and lead up to the candidates final debate on October 19.

Announced guests for the election-centric week of shows include Vice President Joe Biden, Dr. Jill Biden, Senator Al Franken, and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

Also announced: Kevin Hart, Lena Dunham, John Mulaney, Nick Kroll and Sturgill Simpson. Other guests TBA who NBC promises are special.

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Speculations are high in Pakistan as the current Army Chief General Raheel Sharif's tenure ends in November.

By Rahul Kanwal: Once bitten by a general, Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif is now twice shy about who should lead his country's army next.

He wants his own confidant to replace Gen Raheel Sharif -- who is due to retire in November -- as the new army chief. But Gen Sharif, credited with determining Islamabad's India and American policy, has thrown his weight behind someone else in the military hierarchy.

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An in-depth assessment carried out by Indian intelligence shows both Sharifs are at loggerheads over the choice of what is considered to be the most powerful role in the Pakistani establishment.

Gen Sharif's preference for the next army chief, according to high-level Indian intelligence reports, is Lt-Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat. Gen Hayat is currently the chief of general staff at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a posting that is regarded as a stepping stone to the highest position in the Pakistani army.

Like Gen Sharif, Gen Hayat also comes from a military family, with three of his brothers already serving as army generals.

Before his present role, Gen Hayat was chief of Pakistan's strategic plans division, which controls the country's nuclear arsenal.

Gen Hayat's worldview has largely remained obscure from public gaze, but India's intelligence community believes he is far more hard-lined than the incumbent.

Pakistan's prime minister, who was overthrown in a bloodless coup by his handpicked Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999, is batting for the corps commander of XXXI Corps, Lt-Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday.

Gen Ramday's family has been closely associated with prime minister Sharif's PMLN party for many years, intelligence reports suggest. He rose to prominence when he led the Pakistani army's offensive in the Swat valley along the Afghan border in 2009.

Source: Dawn

Also read: Pakistan National Security Advisor calls counterpart Ajit Doval, wants tension to diffuse



Gen Ramday, according to Indian intelligence assessments, appears to have the faith of the Pakistani prime minister.

Islamabad's choice of its next army chief is seen in India as being crucial for Nawaz Sharif to reassert his hold over his country's defence and foreign affairs.

GEN SHARIF CALLING THE SHOTS

Under Gen Sharif, the Pakistani army has also been playing a behind-the-scenes but ever-growing role in domestic politics.

According to Indian intelligence reports, Lt-Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad and Lt-Gen Qamar Bajwa are tipped to be the two other contenders for the top job in the Pakistani army.

Either of them could emerge as a compromise candidate, top intelligence sources said.



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Gen Ahmad is the corps commander of 2 Corps based in Multan and Gen Bajwa heads the army's training and evaluation wing.

Also read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector



The last two army chiefs -- Gen Musharraf and Gen Kiyani -- received extensions at the ends of their tenure.

Gen Sharif has though declared that he would like to retire to his family home when after the end of his term.

Despite the army chief taking a public position on his retirement, Pakistan has seen a strong subterranean campaign seeking to build a momentum for an extension of his tenure.



Source: Reuters

Gen Sharif enjoys a larger-than-life image in Pakistan and is considered the country's most popular army chief ever.



Despite opposition from the civilian government, he launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb against militants of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in the North West Frontier Province.



Source: Dawn

Source: Dawn

Also read: Javed Miandad on India's surgical strikes: Every Pakistani kid is ready for martyrdom



For many months, the hashtag #ThankYouRaheelSharif trended on social media.

India's intelligence agencies estimate that a lot of the buzz around Gen Raheel was staged by the Pakistan army's public relations wing, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).

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Even in India, Gen Sharif seems to enjoy a reputation of integrity. "Gen Raheel Sharif is a professional solider, who has a strong sense of nationalism and of his family's military legacy. He will not allow anything to happen which compromises the Pakistan army's hold over the country's security," a top Indian government official told India Today.

Also read: White House archives petition seeking to declare Pakistan 'terror sponsor'





Watch video:







--- ENDS ---
VICTORIA (Reuters) - The leader of the parliamentary majority in the Seychelles said on Tuesday President James Michel should not go ahead with handing power to his deputy when he steps down this month, calling instead for a presidential election to be held. Michel, whose party has been in power since 1977, announced last week he would step down after less than a year in office and that Vice President Danny Faure would take over for the rest of the five-year term. Michel did not give a reason for his decision, but it followed a victory in September for the Linyon Demokratik (LDS) coalition in parliamentary elections, the first opposition win in decades amid public frustration about economic inequality. It marked a dramatic political change for the tiny archipelago, which relies on tourism and is seeking to build up its financial services industry. "A new presidential election needs to be held as soon as possible," Wavel Ramkalawan, leader of the opposition coalition which forms the majority in parliament, told deputies. "We want a caretaker president who will hold office until elections are held. We do not want this situation where a president can just pass on the baton," Ramkalawan said. The opposition has said it wants to change the constitution to revise articles that allow presidential powers to be handed over for the rest of a term without a fresh election. The opposition has the two-thirds majority required for any changes. The president heads the government. New ministerial appointments to the cabinet must be vetted by parliament. (Reporting by George Thande; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Restaurant stocks have failed to find favors with investors so far in 2016. As a result, most of the restaurateurs have been grappling with sluggish comps and soft traffic growth.



In fact, per a report by TDn2Ks Black Box Intelligence, the second quarter of 2016 was the second consecutive quarter in which the restaurant industry failed to generate positive comps growth. Same-store sales growth during the quarter dipped 0.7% year over year, following a 0.2% decline witnessed in the first quarter, thereby continuing the somber mood at the restaurant industry.



Also, the Zacks Industry Rank for the Retail-Restaurants industry currently stands at #199. This puts the industry in the bottom 25%, corresponding to a negative outlook.



However, notwithstanding a long list of apprehensions, there are a few restaurant stocks that are performing well at the moment.



One such company is Shake Shack Inc. SHAK. Notably, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock debuted as a public company on Jan 15, 2015 and saw its stock price scale higher in the months that followed. Though Shake Shack came crashing down in the later part of 2015, this has made the stock more reasonably priced as its Forward Price to Earnings ratio dropped from the previous levels of nearly 1000 times earnings.



However, despite being a relatively expensive stock, Shake Shack has solid growth potential given its strong brand, solid balance sheet and lucrative store economics. Also, menu innovation and limited time offerings have been boosting comps.



Shake Shack has also been focusing on highly valued millennial consumers who prefer brand experience and healthy food. Such efforts to meet consumer preferences have made it a hit among the younger generation. In fact, the companys cult following and successful expansion into various cities around the world have been driving growth.



Moreover, the companys earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 31.69%. Also, over the past 60 days, the company has been seeing an upward trend in earnings estimate revision for 2016 and 2017. Further, for full-year 2016, sales growth is pegged at 35.4% while EPS is expected to grow a solid 41.8%.



However, Shake Shack is not the only company looking up in the U.S. restaurant industry. Many companies in the space have held ground in spite of the recent chaos, thereby beating the sluggish restaurant trend.



4 Other Winners



With the help of the Zacks Stock Screener, we have zeroed-in on four other stocks in the Retail-Restaurants industry, apart from Shake Shack, flaunting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Wingstop Inc. WING, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer cooked-to-order, hand-sauced, and tossed chicken wings. Solid unit development, investments in technology along with migrating to a national advertising platform, should continue to drive growth at Wingstop.



Notably, the stock has rallied over 47% year to date and upward estimate revisions for 2016 and 2017 earnings, over the past 60 days, add to the optimism. Moreover, for full-year 2016, sales and EPS are projected to grow a respective 17.2% and 17.6%.



Headquartered in Syracuse, NY, Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. TAST operates through its subsidiaries and is one of the largest restaurant companies in the U.S. The company is the largest Burger King franchisee, based on restaurant count. The companys astounding earnings growth, significant improvement in the top line and operating margin along with innovative product introductions hold well for long-term growth.



The stock has returned nearly 12% on a year-to-date basis and has been seeing an upward trend in earnings estimate revision for 2016 and 2017, over the past 60 days. Additionally, for full-year 2016, sales growth is pegged at 10.2% while EPS is likely to improve a solid 55.3%.



Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, CA, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated CAKE operates many upscale, high volume casual dining restaurants. Notably, Cheesecake Factory restaurants have posted positive comps in 26 consequent quarters. Going forward, various initiatives to boost sales and traffic volumes like roll out of an improved server training program and its mobile payment app coupled with menu innovation should aid in keeping up the trend of positive comps.



Notably, the company has surged nearly 10% year to date. The companys differentiated menu, operational distinction and unique ambiance has been appealing to customers. Further, for full-year 2016, sales growth is poised at 7.8% while EPS is expected to grow 15.4%.



Headquartered in Dublin, OH, The Wendy's Company WEN is the world's third-largest quick-service hamburger company. Wendys sales initiatives like menu innovation and promotional offerings are driving growth. Moreover, increased investments in technology are quickening service and thus, resulting in increased customer count. The companys international business is also poised to be a long-term growth driver.



Adding to the positives, upward estimate revisions for 2016 and 2017 earnings, over the past 60 days, reinstate hope on the stocks prospects. Further, for full-year 2016, EPS is expected to grow 20.1%.



Bottom Line



Though the restaurant industry has its share of pitfalls in the form of sluggish comps growth and traffic trends along with rising labor costs, effective sales initiatives undertaken by the companies should keep them going.



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CATANIA, Italy (Reuters) - More than 200 migrants, including children traveling alone, were brought ashore to Italy on Tuesday after being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off North Africa. The Vos Hestia search and rescue ship, operated by charity Save The Children, arrived at the Sicilian port of Catania. Those aboard had been rescued from their perilous sea journey on Sunday. Separately, some 6,055 migrants were rescued and 22 found dead on the maritime route on Monday, one of the highest numbers in a single day, according to officials in Italy and Libya, the main departure point for migrants bound for Europe. Around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. (Reporting by Reuters Television; editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Roslan Khasawneh and Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The global shipping industry is bracing for a key regulatory decision that could mark a milestone in reducing maritime pollution, but which could nearly double fuel costs in a sector already reeling from its worst downturn in decades. The shipping industry is by far the world's biggest emitter of sulfur, with the SOx content in heavy fuel oil up to 3,500 times higher than the latest European diesel standards for vehicles. To combat such pollution, the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee will meet in London on Oct. 24-28 to decide whether to impose a global cap on SOx emissions from 2020 or 2025, which would see sulfur emissions fall from the current maximum of 3.5 percent of fuel content to 0.5 percent. "One large vessel in one day can emit more sulfur dioxide than all the new cars that come onto the world's roads in a year," said Thomas Koniordos, head of business line environmental solutions at Norway's Yara International. "That is reason enough to cap emissions," added Koniordos, whose firm makes scrubbers used to clean exhaust emissions. Large container ships of 15,000-18,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) consume up to 300 tonnes of high-sulfur fuel a day at sea, while a 300,000 deadweight tonne (DWT) supertanker guzzles up to about 100 tonnes per day. Health experts say sulfur is responsible for deadly heart and lung diseases. The issue has been brewing for more than a decade and shippers said the industry was now bracing for tighter regulation to be introduced sooner rather than later due to political pressure. "The decision will likely be a political one - the European Union is pressing strongly for 2020," said Arthur Bowring, managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners' Association. EUROPE, CHINA TIGHTEN RULES The European Union has already agreed that the 0.5 percent sulfur requirement will apply in 2020 within 200 nautical miles (370 km) of EU Member States' coasts, regardless of what the IMO decides. China, home to the world's busiest container ports, is also demanding cleaner fuels. Authorities in Shenzhen, the world's third biggest container port, introduced tighter controls this month, demanding that ships calling there do not use fuel with a sulfur content of more than 0.5 percent. Ship owners can comply with the tighter controls either by switching away from the sludgy and sulfur-rich so-called bunker fuels to diesel or liquefied natural gas (LNG), or by fitting scrubbers to clean exhaust emissions. A fuel-switch would impose extra costs on an already troubled shipping sector, which has seen high-profile defaults like South Korea's Hanjin as well as cases of stranded ships with crew left onboard ships unpaid and unsupplied. Using low-sulfur diesel instead of bunker fuel on a very large crude carrier (VLCC) class supertanker would boost fuel costs by around 44 percent from an average of $212 per tonne this year for heavy fuel oil to $379 per tonne for gas oil, according to figures from shipping broker Clarkson. For traded oil markets, the shift to low-sulfur fuel will "substantially reduce demand for bunkers in the run up to 2020 and increase demand for gasoil and alternative fuels including LNG," said Christopher Haines, head of oil and gas at BMI Research. (Editing by Henning Gloystein)
By Joseph Menn

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Open Whisper Systems, the developer of encrypted messaging app Signal, received a subpoena earlier this year requesting user information but was only able to supply the duration of a user's membership, according to court documents unsealed last week.

An assistant attorney in the U.S. state of Virginia requested email addresses, history logs, browser cookie data and other information associated with two phone numbers as part of a grand jury probe, the redacted documents showed. The request was made in the first half of this year, the documents showed.

Citing its encryption technology, which is also used in other messaging services such as Facebook Inc's Whatsapp, Open Whisper Systems said it was only able to supply the registration date and the last date one of the numbers was used. The company had no information about the other number, according to the documents.

"We've designed Signal so it minimizes the amount of data we retain on users, and we don't really have anything to respond with in situations like this," Open Whisper Systems security expert Moxie Marlinspike told Reuters.

The subpoena was the first the company has received, he said.

More than 2 billion people use a form of Signal's code, though companies licensed to use the code keep related information about users, Marlinspike said.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Its over. Few were surprised Monday when the State Department called off talks between Washington and Moscow on a new ceasefire in Syria. The ceasefire deal forged earlier this month  which few ever believed would work  started falling apart almost immediately, punctuated by a mistaken U.S. airstrike on Syrian troops, the Russian and Syrian attack on a U.N. aid convoy, continued fighting by some U.S.-backed rebels, and Syrian jets refusing to stop pounding civilian targets.

Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments to stop bombing of civilian areas, spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Monday, marking a new post-Cold War low in U.S./Russia relations. FPs David Francis has more here. In and around Aleppo, fighting on the ground between rebels and Syrian forces (and their Iranian and Hezbollah allies) has been fierce, with the rebels beating back a new offensive on Tuesday.

New targets in U.S. air war. Elsewhere, a U.S. airstrike took out a Jaish Fateh al-Sham (formerly the Nusra Front) leader near Idlib on Monday, in a sign that the U.S. air war in Syria may be expanding to include targets outside of the Islamic State. The Pentagons announcement was careful to identify Egyptian national Abu al-Farai al-Masri as an al Qaeda leader, but in Syria, of course, al Qaeda means JFS. Under the terms of the scuttled deal with Russia, the U.S. would have coordinated strikes against the radical group, but the Americans now look to be going it alone.

Backlash. On the same day as the State Department walked away from the negotiating table, Russia announced that it was pulling out of an agreement with Washington to scrap 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium  and vastly more concerning for U.S. and coalition pilots flying in Syria  U.S. defense officials leaked word to Fox News that theyve spotted a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft system in Syria. Also known as the SA-23 Gladiator, the anti-missile and anti-aircraft system has a range of roughly 150 miles, and when asked what it might target, one U.S. official joked darkly, Nusra doesnt have an air force do they?

Story continues

U.S. response. If theres going to be a coordinated U.S. response to all this, well start to see it Tuesday. Secretary of State John Kerry will deliver remarks on the Future of TransAtlantic Relations at 1:00 p.m. at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, (Livestream here). And across town, a host of top military officials will get together to discuss the future of warfare at the Armys annual AUSA convention. The list of brass sharing the stage includes Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, Under Secretary of the Navy Janine Davidson, and U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris, Jr. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks later in the day.

Kunduz, redux. Afghan special operations forces  backed by American commandos  are retaking parts of Kunduz from the Taliban, days after a multi-pronged assault on the city sent civilians fleeing. People on the ground there say the fighting remains heavy, government forces own just a small chunk of territory, and American troops have been spotted moving around with Afghan commandos.

Colombia shock. Just a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stood triumphantly in the Caribbean resort town of Cartagena and heralded the signing of a landmark peace accord between Bogota and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as a big moment and a historic day for Colombia, writes FPs John Hudson. But that was before voters defied nearly every pollster, pundit, and politician in a razor-thin referendum that rejected the deal Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez signed after almost four years of negotiations. Now, Washington is scrambling to back up the Santos government, after spending $10 billion over the past 16 years to help battle the FARC rebels.

Good morning and as always, if you have any thoughts, announcements, tips, or national security-related events to share, please pass them along to SitRep HQ. Best way is to send them to: paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or on Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley

Japan

North Koreas rapid progress in ballistic missile development is making Japanese officials suddenly realize how far behind they are in missile defense. Anonymous Japanese defense officials tell Reuters that the current missile threats from Pyongyang are eclipsing the countrys defenses and that our only option for now may be to rely on the U.S. to stop them. Japan already has Patriot missile PAC-3 batteries, which can help mitigate some of the threat from the Norths road-mobile Musudan missiles, but Tokyo is hoping that it can buy U.S. terminal high altitude area defense (THAAD) batteries from the United States to deal with the rest of Kim Jong Uns growing arsenal.

Turkey

The Atlantic Council released a new report by Aaron Stein on the Islamic States networks in Turkey. According to the report, many of the jihadist groups management personnel started out working supply routes and recruitment networks into Iraq through Syria during the U.S. occupation. As the Syrian civil war took hold, recruiters for the group, some of them older veterans of foreign conflicts like Afghanistan, began working openly in their communities to find fighters for Syria. The Turkish government only began to crack down on the group starting in 2015. The recent squeeze has made life more difficult for the Islamic State to recruit from Turkeys various communities but has raised questions about whether the crackdown will spawn a new recruitment problem in Turkeys prisons.

Iraq

The preparations for an offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State are underway. As part of the buildup, Defense News reports that NATO is pitching in to the effort by hosting a counter-IED course for Iraqi troops in Jordan. Islamic State fighters have frequently rigged the cities theyve captured with mines and booby traps in order to slow down coalition forces. The class, NATOs second so far, is training 30 Iraqi personnel drawn from both the Army and Iraqs Ministry of Interior to deal with the after-effects of retaking territory from the jihadist group.

Acronyms

Acronyms are a Pentagon currency, used to shorthand long names and signal a users insider status. Now, though, the Navy is about to throw out out one of its more beloved bowls of alphabet soup. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson says the service will no longer use A2/AD, short for anti-access/area denial. The acronym has become a defense buzzword, particularly in the Asia-Pacific context, used to reference the air defense systems, cruise missiles, and other weaponry that have allowed rising military powers like China and Russia to hold American military assets at risk over longer ranges. Richardson says the term, as used, isnt very helpful and that if strategists fixate on A2/AD were going to miss the boat on the next challenge.

Torture

In a new Human Rights Watch report, the group says two former CIA detainees, Ridha al-Najjar and Lotfi al-Arabi El Gherissi, said that the Agency created a fake electric chair while they were held in a secret prison in Afghanistan and threatened with execution. The two also alleged that CIA employees beat them with batons and subjected them to stress positions and waterboarding. The U.S. later transferred the two to an Afghan prison and then secretly released them to Tunisia, where they now reside.

Photo Credit: Donat Sorokin\TASS via Getty Images
SM Energy Company SM recently announced that it has employed Petrie Partners to review the sale of certain leasehold assets in Williston Basin.



The company plans to sell nearly 54,500 net acres, including the Raven/Bear Den acreage and almost all lease-holdings in the basin outside its Divide County program.



Raven/Bear Den has tremendous potential and offers striking full-cycle returns. In fact, SM energys president and CEO, Jay Ottoson believes that the asset will be of more value to a company that will actively pursue its near-term development.



Ottoson also mentioned about a strategy to focus on the companys Tier 1 assets in the Permian Basin and operated Eagle Ford. In keeping with this strategy, SM Energy is continuously upgrading its portfolio to focus and invest in the highest return programs. Therefore, the company can advance efficiently through enhanced activity.



The companys attractive oil and gas investments, balanced and diverse portfolio of proved reserves and development drilling opportunities are expected to create long-term value for shareholders. We view SM Energy as one of the most attractive players in the exploration and production space.



SM ENERGY CO Price

SM ENERGY CO Price | SM ENERGY CO Quote

The companys strategy of offloading its non-core upstream properties while creating a portfolio with potentially stronger growth from a smaller base is commendable.



SM Energy is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, exploitation, development, acquisition and production of natural gas and crude oil in North America. The companys operations are focused in five core operating areas in the United States  the ArkLaTex region, the Mid-Continent region, the Gulf Coast region, the Permian Basin region and the Rocky Mountain region.



SM Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players from the energy sector include Chevron Corporation CVX, NGL Energy Partners LP NGL and Evolution Petroleum Corp. EPM. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Chevron posted a positive earnings surprise of 54.84% in the preceding quarter.



NGL Energy Partners has a mixed earnings surprise history. The partnership posted positive earnings surprise in two of the last four quarters. It reported a positive earnings surprise of 1480.0% in the preceding quarter.



In the last reported quarter, Evolution Petroleum Corp. delivered a positive earnings surprise of 350.00%. Coming to the earnings surprise history, the company beat estimates in two of the last four quarters.



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BOSTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Sotheby's plans to buy $73.8 million of stock from Marcato Capital Management, helping the activist investor cut its stake in the auction house by roughly half, according to regulatory filings on Tuesday.

The auction house said in the filing that it agreed to buy 2.05 million shares at $36 a share from Marcato. The hedge fund said in a separate filing that it now owns a 4.9 percent stake in Sotheby's, down from 9.6 percent at the end of June, when it was the fund's second largest holding.

Sotheby's stock price closed on Tuesday at $36.99, down 55 cents, or 1.5 percent on the day but up 44 percent since the start of 2016.

Marcato, run by Richard McGuire, began pushing for changes at Sotheby's three years ago by suggesting that capital was not being used in the most intelligent way. In 2014, the company put hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb and two others on its board after a bitter proxy fight.

In July, Taikang Life Insurance, run by Chen Dongsheng, who founded Chinese auction house China Guardian, took a 13.5 percent stake in Sotheby's.

Also in July, Marcato announced two new investments in crane and heavy equipment manufacturer Terex Corp and restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by David Gregorio)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Assets managed by South Africa's state-owned pension fund grew at their slowest pace since 2009 in the year to March 2016, its latest annual report showed on Tuesday, as a weak economy and equity markets weighed. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which manages government employee pensions, said assets under its custody grew 2 percent to 1.85 trillion rand ($135.5 billion). "There is no doubt that we are experiencing difficult times and the road ahead will not be easy," Chief Executive Dan Matjila said in the report. The PIC, which has major stakes in some of South Africa's largest companies as well as other investments in sub-Saharan Africa, holds nearly 13 percent of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's 10.3 trillion rand market capitalisation. The fund is well known in South Africa for its often activist stance - it has castigated companies over executive pay and has been a vocal opponent of several takeover deals, including Chile's CFR Pharmaceuticals' $1.2 billion takeover of local drugmaker Adcock Ingram. ($1 = 13.6500 rand) (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Adrian Croft)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Work at South African miner Sibanye Gold's Cooke mine has been suspended after two members of the National Union of Mineworkers were left in a critical condition after being attacked, a spokesman for the company said on Tuesday. In total four Sibanye employees suffered injuries in the attacks, which were related to an illegal strike that started on Monday following a dispute about union membership verification, the firm said in a statement. In the first half of 2016 the three working shafts at Cooke produced around 100,000 ounces of gold, about 13.5 percent of the group's total gold production. Sibanye's share price was down 2.7 percent at 46.52 rand by 1130 GMT, making it the biggest decliner in Johannesburg's Top-40 index. "We cannot have the mines operating when we cannot guarantee the safety of our workers. No one went underground last night and no shifts began this morning," company spokesman James Wellsted said. NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said the miners were attacked by members of the rival Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. AMCU officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The incident is the latest flare-up between the unions, which have been locked in a turf war which has killed dozens of moneworkers since AMCU dislodged NUM as the dominant union in South Africa's platinum belt in 2012. "We are in discussions with AMCU to resolve their concerns," Sibanye Chief Executive Neal Froneman said, adding that the firm was investigating the incidents and would take action against the perpetrators. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard and TJ Strydom; Editing by Louise Heavens, Greg Mahlich)
Akhilesh Yadav, who had demanded a say in the selection of candidates as a condition of the truce between him and Shivpal, has expressed his unhappiness at Aman Mani's selection.

Akhilesh has suggested that some of the candidates announced may be changed, a statement that may restart the turf war between him and his uncle.

When asked on Monday about the ticket given to Aman Mani and refused to loyalist Atul Pradhan, Akhilesh told PTI, "I have given up all my rights. All the rights are with people now."

But when pushed for an answer, he conceded. "Now I can either be truthful or political. I cannot change some of my habits," he said, suggesting his displeasure.

Aman Mani is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of a broader investigation by the agency against his father Amar Mani Tripathi.

Aman Mani's mother-in-law Seema Singh also lashed out at Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for giving a ticket to the man accused of killing her daughter.

"Mulayam Singh has done a wrong thing by giving tickets to thieves. He should cancel Aman Mani Tripathi's ticket," she told news agency ANI.

Following a meeting at Mulayam's residence on Monday, attended by Shivpal, Akhilesh and Ramgopal Yadav, the party said there are no differences over ticket distribution.

Asked about giving a ticket to murder accused Aman Mani, Ramgopal Yadav said he was given a ticket in 2012 too.
Washington (AFP) - South Carolina will start evacuating more than a million people from its coast Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew bears down after killing three people, triggering floods and forcing thousands to flee in Haiti, the governor said.

Governor Nikki Haley said Tuesday she had declared a state of emergency. The evacuations will begin as the state gears up for Matthew, expected to hit the South Carolina coast Saturday with 100-mile (160-kilometer) per hour winds.

"We have decided that we will evacuate all coastal communities starting tomorrow," Haley told a news conference.
The little boy who was fatally shot in last week's South Carolina school shooting will get final rites fit for a superhero.

The funeral for Jacob Hall, who couldn't be saved in the days after Tuesday's shooting in Townville despite valiant medical efforts, is slated for Wednesday.

Read: Middle School Counselor Prevents School Shooting when Teen Brings Loaded Gun to School

But instead of a somber ceremony, Jacob's family has decided to make the day as full of life as the boy was.

"I dont want suits and ties and all that," Renae Hall, Jacobs mother, told WHNS-TV. "There will be a lot of children there and I dont want it to be scary for them."

Instead, attendees are encouraged to wear superhero outfits and pall bearers will also be in costume.

Jacob had been clinging to life in intensive care at Greenville Memorial Hospital and died just after 1 p.m. Saturday, according to reports.

Jacob was shot in the leg Wednesday, ripping open his femoral artery, while he and his classmates were going to recess.

He lost so much blood that he sustained a serious brain injury.

"Jacob was an angel that was brought to this earth to show love, to show kindness, and to show forgiveness. Jacob never had a bad intention ever in his body," Renae Hall said in a press conference.

Read: Middle School Counselor Prevents School Shooting when Teen Brings Loaded Gun to School

A teacher and another 6-year-old boy were also shot, but did not sustain life-threatening injuries. A 14-year-old boy has been charged with shooting those two victims.

The teenager was initially charged with attempted murder in connection with Jacob Hall. That charge has since been upgraded to murder.

The unnamed minor has also been charged with murdering his own father shortly before allegedly opening fire at the school.

Watch: Brave School Crossing Guard Fights Off Woman Trying to Kidnap An 8-Year-Old Girl

Related Articles:
On Sep 29, we initiated coverage on Miramar, FL-based ultra low-cost carrier, Spirit Airlines SAVE.

The carrier, which went public in 2011, follows a strategy of unbundling its services and offering customers (Frill Control) options for purchase  from bags and seat assignment to refreshments. This strategy of the company has been much appreciated as the unbundled base fares do away with the components that are traditionally included in ticket prices. The company maintains a young all-airbus fleet, which operates more than 385 daily flights across 56 destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin America.

We are also positive on the carriers constant efforts to expand its operations. The U.S. Department of Transportations (DOT) decision to grant final approval to eight carriers, including Spirit Airlines, to initiate commercial flights to Havana is highly encouraging. The verdict confirmed the tentative approval awarded on Jul 7, 2016. Havana will become Spirit Airlines' 59th destination. Following the approval, the carrier announced its intention to initiate flights (twice a day) to Havana's Jose Marti International Airport from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The service will start from Dec 1, 2016, subject to approval from the Cuban government.

The carrier has an impressive track record with respect to earnings. Spirit Airlines outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average earnings beat of 4.35%. In the second quarter of 2016, Spirit Airlines reported better-than-expected earnings aided by low oil prices. Moreover, earnings improved 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. We expect the company to continue deliver impressive earnings figures in the coming quarters on the back of cheap oil.

However, the carrier is struggling on the top-line front. The company reported lower-than-expected revenues in the second quarter of 2016. The top line was hurt by a 3.9% dip in passenger revenues.

Story continues

Spirit Airlines, like its peers, continues to struggle with unit revenue issues. Total operating revenue per available seat mile (TRASM: a key measure of unit revenue) declined 14.3% in the second quarter. Average yield decreased 14.7%. Unit revenue issues are expected to hurt Spirit Airlines in the third quarter as well. TRASM is anticipated to fall around 9% in the third quarter

Moreover, Spirit Airlines operates in a highly competitive market. Other low-cost carriers like JetBlue Airways JBLU and Southwest Airlines LUV pose significant competition to the company. The stock may be significantly hurt if competition intensifies. Moreover, the surge in terror attacks has hurt airline stocks in general and Spirit Airlines is no exception.

Zacks Rank & A Key Pick

Spirit Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank# 3 (Hold). Investors interested in the airline space may consider Copa Holdings CPA sporting a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Panama City-based carrier has been an impressive performer this year with its shares surging more than 86%, year to date. The carrier has a robust earnings history. It outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 37.04%. In fact, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2016 has climbed 10 cents to $4.55 per share over the last 30 days.

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COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will pay $170 million to AerCap Holdings NV (AER.N), the world's largest independent aircraft leasing company, for cancelling a lease signed by the previous government for four A350s, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Tuesday.

The government is in the process of finalizing a partner to revive the national carrier.

The government canceled four A350 aircraft it had signed to lease from AerCap. It has placed orders for another four A-350 with Airbus Group SE (AIR.PA).

"The cost will be $170 million for the cancellation and it will be paid for AerCap," the finance minister told Reuters.

Karunanayake later told the parliament that state-run Sri Lankan Airlines do not require A350s as its longest flight time is around 10 hours.

Government officials have said the remaining four A350s are scheduled to be delivered toward 2020 but the government is yet to take a decision on them.

Since coming to power in January last year, President Maithripala Sirisena's administration has taken several steps to reduce losses by the national carrier.

The government this week said it has decided to discontinue its budget airlines Mihin Lanka with effect from Oct. 30 as part of the restructure plan, which had posted an accumulated loss of over 17 billion rupees ($116 million) as of Jan. 31 since its inception in 2007.

Suren Ratwatte, Sri Lankan Airlines CEO, said the airline will take over Mihin Air's 11 routes and will operate as a normal airline instead of a budget airline.

Sri Lankan Airlines, which has taken on lease seven Airbus A330-300s since 2012, has debt of around $3.25 billion.

It posted a group net loss of 16.3 billion rupees ($113 million) for the financial year through March 31, narrowing from the 31.4 billion rupees loss of a year earlier, due to lower oil prices. The carrier last posted a profit in 2009, a year after Emirates sold its stake in the venture.

The company has also leased four of its Airbus A330 planes to Pakistan International Airlines Corp (PIAa.KA) after its decision to cancel orders for four Airbus A350 aircraft.

Story continues

($1 = 146.7000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(This version of the story has been corrected to clarify Sri Lanka is ordering four aircraft directly from Airbus and leasing four through AerCap)

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez/Ruth Pitchford)
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will pay $170 million to AerCap Holdings NV <AER.N>, the world's largest independent aircraft leasing company, for cancelling a lease signed by the previous government for four A350s, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Tuesday.

The government is in the process of finalizing a partner to revive the national carrier.

The government canceled four A350 aircraft it had signed to lease from AerCap. It has placed orders for another four A-350 with Airbus Group SE <AIR.PA>.

"The cost will be $170 million for the cancellation and it will be paid for AerCap," the finance minister told Reuters.

Karunanayake later told the parliament that state-run Sri Lankan Airlines do not require A350s as its longest flight time is around 10 hours.

Government officials have said the remaining four A350s are scheduled to be delivered toward 2020 but the government is yet to take a decision on them.

Since coming to power in January last year, President Maithripala Sirisena's administration has taken several steps to reduce losses by the national carrier.

The government this week said it has decided to discontinue its budget airlines Mihin Lanka with effect from Oct. 30 as part of the restructure plan, which had posted an accumulated loss of over 17 billion rupees ($116 million) as of Jan. 31 since its inception in 2007.

Suren Ratwatte, Sri Lankan Airlines CEO, said the airline will take over Mihin Air's 11 routes and will operate as a normal airline instead of a budget airline.

Sri Lankan Airlines, which has taken on lease seven Airbus A330-300s since 2012, has debt of around $3.25 billion.

It posted a group net loss of 16.3 billion rupees ($113 million) for the financial year through March 31, narrowing from the 31.4 billion rupees loss of a year earlier, due to lower oil prices. The carrier last posted a profit in 2009, a year after Emirates sold its stake in the venture.

The company has also leased four of its Airbus A330 planes to Pakistan International Airlines Corp <PIAa.KA> after its decision to cancel orders for four Airbus A350 aircraft.

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($1 = 146.7000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(This version of the story has been corrected to clarify Sri Lanka is ordering four aircraft directly from Airbus and leasing four through AerCap)

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez/Ruth Pitchford)
(Clarifies Sri Lanka is ordering four aircraft directly from Airbus and leasing four through AerCap)

COLOMBO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will pay $170 million to AerCap Holdings NV, the world's largest independent aircraft leasing company, for cancelling a lease signed by the previous government for four A350s, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Tuesday.

The government is in the process of finalising a partner to revive the national carrier.

The government cancelled four A350 aircraft it had signed to lease from AerCap. It has placed orders for another four A-350 with Airbus Group SE.

"The cost will be $170 million for the cancellation and it will be paid for AerCap," the finance minister told Reuters.

Karunanayake later told the parliament that state-run Sri Lankan Airlines do not require A350s as its longest flight time is around 10 hours.

Government officials have said the remaining four A350s are scheduled to be delivered towards 2020 but the government is yet to take a decision on them.

Since coming to power in January last year, President Maithripala Sirisena's administration has taken several steps to reduce losses by the national carrier.

The government this week said it has decided to discontinue its budget airlines Mihin Lanka with effect from Oct. 30 as part of the restructure plan, which had posted an accumulated loss of over 17 billion rupees ($116 million) as of Jan. 31 since its inception in 2007.

Suren Ratwatte, Sri Lankan Airlines CEO, said the airline will take over Mihin Air's 11 routes and will operate as a normal airline instead of a budget airline.

Sri Lankan Airlines, which has taken on lease seven Airbus A330-300s since 2012, has debt of around $3.25 billion.

It posted a group net loss of 16.3 billion rupees ($113 million) for the financial year through March 31, narrowing from the 31.4 billion rupees loss of a year earlier, due to lower oil prices. The carrier last posted a profit in 2009, a year after Emirates sold its stake in the venture.

The company has also leased four of its Airbus A330 planes to Pakistan International Airlines Corp after its decision to cancel orders for four Airbus A350 aircraft. ($1 = 146.7000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Shihar Aneez/Ruth Pitchford)
One (or two) of Kim Kardashians phones were stolen during the armed robbery. What compromising information could have been on them? (Photo: Splash News)

Kim Kardashians assailants are still at large, according to the Associated Press, and the French police are continuing to search for clues as to the identities of the five masked gunmen who robbed the reality star.

Prosecutors have declined to comment if they believe it was an inside job; however, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department Johanna Primevert told the AP that Kims social media presence likely led to the attack. Kardashian had been showing off her $4.5 million diamond ring gifted from husband Kanye West, which the thieves took off with, plus another $6.7 million in other jewelry.

But thats not all.





According to People, the burglars also took two of Kims cellphones. TMZ alleges it was only one and that no compromising information was on it. Still  could a second theft be in the works? There are rumors the Kardashians fear blackmail potential, given what could possibly be on her phone.

Still, if the thieves are as sophisticated as some reports claim, her phone may not have been wiped clean in time. So what compromising information could have been on the phone (or phones)?

Photos: A stars worst fear is private photos getting hacked and released. But let us not forget, Kim is not an ordinary celebrity. This is someone who made a sexy selfie book and bared all for Paper magazine. She proudly releases nude shots herself  but she carefully selects (and touches up) the pics she chooses to put out into the world! Still, we cant see her sweating any naughty pics, as weve pretty much seen it all (many times) before.

Weve already seen this  and more. (Photo: Instagram)

Videos: People (cough, trolls on Twitter) are naturally excited at the thought of an intimate video of Kim, perhaps one with her husband, being leaked to the public. While this potential threat would make most people (let alone celebs) panic, this is Kim Kardashian were talking about. We first heard her name in the same sentence as sex tape. If there was scandalous footage of her with Kanye on a phone, its not like it would damage her brand. Its how she was made. It probably would make her more popular. Plus, weve already seen plenty of supersexy pictures and photo shoots of the couple. We highly doubt that Kimye is concerned about a vid of them getting it on getting out.

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Related: Kim Kardashians Bathroom Selfies

Texts and emails: Who isnt curious about what celebs text or email each other? Maybe there are some gossipy nuggets about other famous folks on Kims phone(s) that could be worth some money  but its not like Kim or Kanye are shy when it comes to speaking their minds. If youll recall, they had no issue taking on Taylor Swift. Still, people would love to know the true inner thoughts of Kimye. And if there are any incriminating or tabloid worthy conversations on Kims phone, that always has risk potential. Who hasnt hit send on something they shouldnt have?

Are private exchanges between Kim and her intimates, like this one with sister Kylie Jenner, going to be leaked online? (Photo: Instagram)

Business details: Kim Kardashian is a brand (a huge one, despite everyone on social media attempting to claim otherwise). She has the reality show, her apps, and various businesse. If there happened to be anything on her phone to compromise any of this, then that would be a problem  particularly in the eyes of Kims mom, Kris Jenner, who runs the Kardashian empire.

Unreleased Kanye music: Kanye values his wifes opinion, so its possible she could have stored some new songs he was working on. Is there blackmail potential here? Its no secret that the rapper turned fashion designer takes pride in his work, and he doesnt like putting anything out until its perfect. But Kanye is a man of principles. If a group tried to hold unreleased music over his head  say, the same group who held up his wife  hed tell them to screw off, call Jay Z, and put the music on Tidal himself before forking over any money.

Did Kims phone have any unreleased Kanye tunes on it? (Photo: Getty Images)

Personal family information: Kim is essentially an open book. Her sisters? Not so much  or rather, not as much. Kim loves being famous and worked hard to get to the top, taking her family along for the ride. Of course, they are willing participants, filming the show and creating their own individual brands, but Kim is definitely the most accessible of the bunch. Kendall is a model, but while she struts her stuff on the catwalk she really keeps her personal life out of the limelight. Kylies struggle with fame was a storyline last season on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. If there happened to be anything damaging on Kims phone to her family, especially anything personally damaging, that absolutely seems like the biggest threat of all.

Whether the stolen phone(s) will become an issue remains to be seen. But there is a silver lining. At least her Blackberry died back in August. That could have been the real moneymaker.




DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2016 / Stonegate Capital Partners initiates research coverage on Alcentra Capital Corporation. (ABDC).

Company Description

Alcentra Capital Corporation is a Business Development Company (BDC) specializing in investments in lower middle-market growth companies. The Company invests in the form of senior secured debt, second lien debt, subordinated debt and, to a lesser extent, minority equity investments. The Company is externally managed and offers debt and equity funding solutions to North American lower middle-market growth companies. Its investment advisor, Alcentra NY, LLC is a credit-focused investment boutique with a primary focus in sub-investment grade credits. Alcentra Ltd., the parent company of Alcentra NY, LLC, is a subsidiary of BNY Mellon.

Summary:

Alcentra Capital is externally managed by Alcentra NY LLC, whose investment professionals possess collective experience of more than 60 years of investing and lending to middle market companies across various economic cycles of the market.

Alcentra's investment strategy focuses on lower middle-market growth company investments. Capitalizing on this often neglected market is a central strategic principle for the Company. Banks have been vacating the lower middle-market space for several years providing Alcentra ample opportunity to expand its portfolio.

Alcentra Capital Corporation offers debt and equity investments to companies with annual EBITDA of $5M to $25M.

Alcentra's point of differentiation is the fact that it focuses on growth companies, which Alcentra defines as companies that traditionally have revenues between $10M and $100M and the potential to grow at 2x or 3x the US GDP growth rate.

The Company's portfolio is well diversified with 33 companies representing 23 industry sectors. Healthcare is the single largest industry sector exposure, representing ~16% of the portfolio. Exposure to the oil & gas industry was 3.3%, as of June 30, 2016.

Alcentra's usual investment size is typically in the $5M to $15M range.

All portfolio companies are selected through a detailed screening process, comprised of a credit analysis, review of historical and projected financial performance, and an evaluation of business models.

Alcentra has an advantage over other BDC's in terms of deal-flow because of the Company's investment advisor and its connection to BNY Mellon's Wealth Management group. Alcentra's investment advisor has developed a strong and wide reaching relationship network that provides a consistent influx of deal-flow. Alcentra is able to benefit from BNY Mellon's Wealth Management group, which upholds close associations with many owners of privately held businesses in the form of their high net-worth clientele.

Since Alcentra's May 2014 IPO, the Company has had no portfolio companies on non-accrual status.

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We employ a scenario analysis using relative valuation frameworks. The details are on page 7 and all scenarios show upside. - Currently, Alcentra is trading at a P/NAV of 0.90x vs. comps trading at a median P/NAV of 0.90x. Alcentra is trading at at the same multiple, while its dividend yield is higher than its peers (10.6% vs. 10.2%) and has less leverage. Using a P/NAV range of 0.95x to 1.05x, we project a valuation range of $13.67 to $15.11 with a midpoint at $14.39.

The full report can be accessed by clicking the following link: http://www.stonegateinc.com/reports/ABDC_October_2016_Final.pdf

About Stonegate Capital Partners

Stonegate Capital Partners is a Dallas-based corporate advisory firm dedicated to serving the specialized needs of small-cap public companies. Since our inception, our mission has been to find innovative, undervalued public companies for our network of leading institutional investors who seek high quality investment opportunities.

SOURCE: Stonegate Capital Partners
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f233369%2fstranger-blone

It's going to be a while until the second season of Stranger Things hits screens, but this theory has us very interested: What if Eleven from Stranger Things grew up to be Elle Woods from Legally Blonde?

SEE ALSO: This retro 'Stranger Things' 8-bit cinema will give you major nostalgia

It's wild, but something Australian writer Kaitlyn Plyley has published as a piece of fan fiction on her blog. Plyley delves into the challenges Eleven would face as she grew up with her adoptive parents in The Valley.

In the story, Eleven does all she can to keep her powers a secret from the public. Her blonde hair and an excess of pink helps hide her complex past.

"Years later, at Harvard Law, Emmett Richmond would tell her that her blonde hair gave her a power she underestimated, and that he hoped she would channel it to use for good. She smiled a little: here was somebody who had an inkling of what she was," Plyley writes.

It's surprisingly not the first time links between the film and the television series have been drawn.

The sequel to Stranger Things is Legally Blonde when Eleven legally changes her name to Elle and uses her powers at law school.  Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) July 25, 2016

Young Miss Weisman: "Elle in the woods."

Me: "Elle Woods. That's from 'Legally Blonde.'"

YMW: "That's why I said that!"@Stranger_Things  Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) August 2, 2016

#Netflix: "Because you watched Legally Blonde: Stranger Things" someone explain this crossover to me  Natalie Slaughter (@NatSlaughter) August 8, 2016

There's likely very little chance the Duffer Brothers will end up making the connection on screen.

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But hey, at least we can we can dream about it. What, like it's hard? Go on and read the whole thing here.

BONUS: Stranger Things in 8 Bit
On his arrival at the airport in New Delhi, Singapore Prime Minister ditches official entourage and hops on to a chartered bus.

By India Today Web Desk: When Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived with his family at the international airport in New Delhi, his official entourage of cars was waiting for him at the exit.

Loong, however, had other plans. To everyone's surprise, he ditched the VIP convoy and instead hopped on to a chartered bus.

Prime Minister Loong, who was accompanied by his wife Ho Ching and a delegation comprising key ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials, was received by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Statistics and Programme Implementation, Planning and Defence Rao Inderjit Singh upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a luncheon in the honour of Prime Minister Loong today and the two leaders will hold bilateral talks, which will followed by signing and exchange of three memorandums of understanding (MOU), including on cooperation in industrial property between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Singapore's Intellectual Property Office and on cooperation on establishment of a North East Skills Centre in Assam.

The Singaporean Prime Minister will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on the visiting dignitary.

Later, Prime Minister Loong will also attend a reception hosted by the Singaporean diaspora living in India.

The visiting premier will also tour Udaipur in Rajasthan on October 5 and 6, where Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will call on him and also host a luncheon for Prime Minister Loong.

An agreement on a capacity building programme in tourism and hospitality will be signed between the Rajasthan government and Singapore's Cooperation Enterprise.

Prime Minister Loong last visited India in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.

(with inputs from ANI)







--- ENDS ---
Getty Image

As with the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, the Uproxx News team will be watching tonights one and only vice-presidential debate happening at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Beginning at 9 p.m. ET, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana will channel their running mates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump respectively, for a full 90 minutes of uninterrupted airtime on all major broadcast and cable news channels. Sounds entertaining, no? Maybe exciting enough to lull you from your cord-cutting ways for an hour and a half?

If youre like most people without a cable or satellite television subscription, then the answers probably a no. Which is fine, because aside from CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, PBS, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, C-SPAN and Univisions simultaneous broadcast, many streaming options are available for politically inclined cord-cutters. Like the NBC News YouTube page, which will let non-television viewers watch Pence and Kaine duke it out while CBS News anchor Elaine Quijano moderates. In addition, the PBS News Hour, Fox News, Washington Post, Bloomberg Politics and Telemundo YouTube pages will stream the debate.

Channel websites, like CNN.com, will stream their televised broadcasts as well. Otherwise, social media offers two pertinent methods for watching tonights meeting between Kaine and Pence. One is a Twitter live stream provided by Bloomberg Politics, which users can access via the website or the app. Facebook Live is the second, which news outlets like ABC News, C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, The New York Times, CNBC, Telemundo and Univision will all utilize for their online readers and viewers benefit.

Remember, the vice-presidential debate airs tonight from 9 to 10:30 p.m. ET. Make sure to keep up with the Uproxx News team and check out the festivities for yourself via one of the many streaming methods detailed above.

(Via Vox, Time and Recode)
(This October 2 story has been corrected to fix Philip Muskin's title in paragraph 7) By Alana Wise WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stop reading the news and take up yoga. That's what some therapists in the United States are telling patients stressed out by a nasty presidential campaign in which two unpopular candidates are in a tight race for the most powerful office in the world. While some patients are unhappy with the idea of a Hillary Clinton presidency, most are worried about Donald Trump, a blunt-spoken, insult-spewing New York businessman who has never held public office, according to interviews with seven therapists across six states and the District of Columbia. The therapists said their patients have complained of difficulty sleeping, irritability and heart palpitations. They said they were advising clients to limit exposure to the news and take up breathing exercises and yoga to calm down. "Ive never seen this level of stress and anxiety over an impending election in my 26 years (of practicing)," said Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist from just outside Chicago. Molitor said she had two elderly patients who were worried that their grandchildren would inherit an America in turmoil. Another, a World War Two veteran, sees similarities between Trump and the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Molitor added. Clinton has accused Trump of racism and sexism, and her campaign frequently calls him "unhinged" and unfit for the presidency, saying he has a volatile temperament that could endanger U.S. national security. Trump, in turn, has said Clinton is a corrupt life-long politician who should be jailed for her use of a private email server without official approval while she was secretary of state. Philip Muskin, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and scientific program chair of the American Psychiatric Association, said the anxiety among his patients reminded him of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 al Qaeda attacks, and the crashing to Earth of America's first space station, Skylab, in 1979, which had people around the world worried they could be hit by falling space debris. "Things where, for everybody, the sense of control is gone," Muskin said. Adding to the anxiety is the fact that the two candidates in the Nov. 8 election are the most unpopular in modern U.S. history. Some 57.5 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, and nearly 54 percent have an unfavorable view of Clinton, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. There is no data available to quantify the election-related anxiety, but the therapists' anecdotes give some insight into the state of the national psyche. Elaine Ducharme, a clinical psychologist from Glastonbury, Connecticut, said the election was also on the minds of all of her patients. "I can't think of a person I've talked to (who) does not feel anxious about this," she said. Therapists, themselves, aren't immune to these anxieties. "I can't say to my patients, 'Oh my God, it's making me a wreck,' but I can sit and empathize," Ducharme said TURN OFF, TUNE OUT Lynn Bufka, executive director for practice research and policy at the American Psychological Association, said one patient was concerned that much of the criticism of Clinton was just because she was a woman, and this had affected how the patient viewed herself. "What does this mean for her as a woman? Have things really changed that much for her in terms of what she can do?" Bufka recalled the patient wondering. Trump has said Clinton, who would be America's first female president, lacks a "presidential look" and has called other female critics "fat," "pig," or "bimbo." Bufka said Latino and Muslim patients are also anxious about Trump's proposals to build a wall along the Mexican border and to temporarily suspend immigration by Muslims. Her advice: "Turn off the news feed. Stop reading everything if it just gets you more stressed." (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Ross Colvin)
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - It's a dangerous game of cat and mouse: Haitians creep up to the bank of a river turned into a raging torrent by Hurricane Matthew, then scamper away.

The wind howls and rains falls in buckets. But people playfully ignore the firefighters and others who have come to evacuate them from their slice of the worst storm to hit the Caribbean in nearly a decade.

Rather, they laugh as the wind tosses them about and take cell phone pictures of nature's raw power.

And then they do it again: catch a glimpse of the wildly engorged river, and run away like children when the wind blasts them in the face.

"We came here to help evacuate them but they will not listen to us," said Edgar Joseph, a fireman, said Tuesday. "They are so stubborn."

Joseph said that as the water level was rising and the current flowing ever faster, it was just a matter of time before the Riviere Grise in Port-au-Prince bursts its banks.

Matthew made landfall early Tuesday near Haiti's southwestern tip, triggering major floods and evacuations. At least three people have died.

Port-au-Prince is not in the direct path of the storm. It lies far to the east, sitting on a bay that acts as a natural harbor. Still, the city has seen heavy rain since Monday evening.

The river bank is lined with shanties typical of the poorest country in the Americas: shacks made of sheet metal or plastic lining.

"There are lots of children, and the parents have to understand this: we want to save your lives and those of your children by taking you to safety in the nearby school," fireman Michelet Louis yelled to a group of adults he has managed to hold together in a group.

He tell them they have to get out. But they pay no attention.

Flooding has begun in and around Port-au-Prince, as the ground is so eroded it cannot absorb water and canals meant to be drainage conduits are clogged with garbage.

This is happening particularly in poor areas by the seaside.

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-- 'Crazy of me' --

Thony Meus, a 19 year old wearing plastic bags to try to cover his head and torso, trekked 10 kilometers (six miles) from the coast to the riverbank area to check up on his sister, who lives there.

The area is flat and floods easily, Meus said.

"I want to make sure she is OK," he said. "I am going to do everything I can to make sure she evacuates because things are going to get worse with time."

He adds: "But Haitians are stubborn. They only believe things when they see them."

Flood waters have started to cut off the road he needs to take. But Meus is hell-bent on reaching his sibling.

"I know this is crazy of me but I want to make sure my sister and her children are not in danger," he said, then trudges off, splashing water as he walks.

Coming along the same road in the other direction, a street vendor named Marcus Stevenson -- he peddles canned meat -- says he should have stayed home, too.

"I don't have a penny to my name, so I have no choice. I have to come out and work. Otherwise, I will starve."

Upon learning the weather will only get worse in Port-au-Prince, he gets nervous.

"I don't even know if I am going to make it back home now," Stevenson says. There are no customers in sight, anyway. The street is empty.
A New Jersey college student says he had just sat down in class when he felt a terrible burning sensation and realized his pocket was on fire.

His iPhone 6 Plus, tucked into the back of his jeans, was smoking, and it was burning my leg, Darin Hlavaty said. He threw the blistering hot phone to the floor, where it lit up into flames, he told WCBS-TV.

Read: Family's Car Destroyed By Exploding Samsung Phone That Was Recalled 3 Days Earlier

His physical science class at Rowan University was evacuated Friday and moved to another room, school officials told ABC News.

Everyone was kind of like, What is that? What is that? said fellow student Rachel Bookbinder. And then we all realize thats his phone that combusted in the middle of class.

An Apple representative said the company was investigating the incident, WCBS reported.

Oddly, Hlavaty said the phone was turned off and its battery was dead.

Read: Watch This U.S. Marshal Smash a Woman's Phone While She Records an Arrest

Ive had it for about six months, he said. The only thing that was wrong with it was a simple crack, but I dont see a simple crack causing it to blow up in my pocket.

In September, Samsung suspended sales of their new Galaxy Note 7 after receiving several reports of the smart phone catching fire. A recall notice was also issued for the devices.

Watch: 6-Year-Old Boy Suffers First-Degree Burns in Samsung Cell Phone Explosion

Related Articles:
Wellington (AFP) - Ancient DNA has revealed the first inhabitants of Vanuatu and Tonga came from Asia, not other Oceanic populations as has long been assumed, a study published Tuesday found.

The study sheds light on the last great human migration into unpopulated lands, when a people called the Lapita fanned out into the South Pacific about 3,000 years ago.

Little is known of the mysterious culture beyond their distinctive dotted pottery and the human remains they left behind.

Scientists had speculated that they were an offshoot of Australo-Papuan populations of Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, who arrived in the region 40,000-50,000 years ago.

But analysis of three skeletons from Vanuatu's oldest cemetery found they came from Asia, with no trace of DNA from their Pacific neighbours.

"Their original base population is Asian. They were straight out of Taiwan and perhaps the northern Philippines," said Matthew Spriggs, a professor at the Australian National University and one of the researchers involved in the study.

"They travelled past places where people were already living, but when they got to Vanuatu there was nobody there. These are the first people."

Spriggs said another DNA sample from a Lapita skeleton in Tonga returned similar results.

"We know this because testing conducted by two different laboratories in the United States and Germany confirm that the samples are of the same people, he said.

He added that it now appeared the Asiatic Lapita first colonised the South Pacific, then intermingled with a second wave of Australo-Papuan settlers to create the region's modern genetic mix.

Professor Ron Pinhasi from University College Dublin said the study, published in Nature, was made possible by improved methods of extracting material from skeletal remains.

"The unexpected results about Oceanian history highlight the power of ancient DNA to overthrow established models of the human past," he said.
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan condemned on Tuesday a U.S. law that would allow families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to sue governments for damages, saying it undermined state sovereignty and could provoke reciprocal legislation. Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the attacks, from 1991-1996, although it has denied allegations that it funded him. Its government was among dozens of defendants named in a 2002 lawsuit filed by families of Sept. 11 victims. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly last Wednesday to approve the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism (JASTA) legislation, which grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil. "This act clearly violates the sovereignty and immunity of states and could lead the world into legislative chaos," a statement from Sudan's presidency said. "Sudan would not rule out several other countries drafting laws to lift sovereign immunity against countries that have laws which do not respect sovereign immunity, based on the principal of reciprocal treatment." The legislation will allow the families of those killed in the 2001 attacks on the United States to seek damages from the Saudi government. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi. Riyadh has denied longstanding suspicions that it backed the attackers. Saudi Arabia said on Monday the law represented a threat to international relations. Sudan is an ally of Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; Edited by Dominic Evans)
HONG KONG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Canada's Sun Life Financial Inc plans to expand into Singapore and Thailand as it looks to boost its presence in Asia where demand for insurance products is growing fast, said a senior executive.

The company, which has embarked on a flurry of takeovers in Asia in the past three years, will consider acquisitions as well as building its own presence in the two markets, Kevin Strain, president of Sun Life Financial Asia told Reuters.

Sun Life, which hopes to benefit from Asia's burgeoning middle class in markets such as China and India as they look to save and invest, has not yet set any timeline for the proposed expansion, he said.

Sun Life currently operates in seven Asian markets including China, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and Malaysia. A move into Singapore and Thailand would significantly bolster its presence in Southeast Asia.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Washington (AFP) - The Supreme Court confronts the issue of racism Wednesday in reviewing a 20-year-old death penalty case involving a black defendant whose race was given as a reason for considering him a danger to society.

The case of Duane Buck, who was sentenced to death in Texas in 1997, comes to the fore amid an intense national debate over racism in law enforcement after a wave of police killings of black suspects.

Buck's case shifts the spotlight to racial prejudice in the US judicial system, with the Supreme Court providing a high profile forum for arguments over the way cases involving black defendants are treated.

There is no question about Buck's guilt in the brutal 1995 slaying of his former lover and the man he found her with.

But the court challenge centers not on the ultimate punishment itself, but on how the jury decided on the death penalty in Buck's case.

- 'Tainted' jury -

"What this case is really about," said Sam Pital, a legal expert, "is whether or not the court is going to permit Texas to pursue an execution where the capital sentencing proceeding was fundamentally tainted by so-called expert testimony that the defendant, Mr Duane Buck, was more deserving of a death sentence because he is black."

Under Texas law, a person cannot be condemned to death unless the prosecutor proves that he or she poses a future danger to society.

Today, Buck has an impressive defense team, including lawyers from the NAACP, the nation's leading black civil rights group.

But at the time of his conviction, he was represented by two court-appointed lawyers, one of whom, Jerry Guerinot, had a dismal record.

Guerinot had won zero acquittals over the course of his career and had no fewer than 20 clients who were sentenced to death.

During the sentencing hearing, Guerinot used a pseudo psychologist named Walter Quijano as an expert witness. Quijano told the court Buck presented a higher risk of recidivism because he was black.

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Buck's defenders say the racist assumption contained in Quijano's assertion tainted the jury, violating the defendant's constitutional right to a public trial by an impartial jury.

Besides being inadmissible, Quijano's prediction was "patently false," said Kate Black, one of Buck's lawyers.

- Model prisoner -

She says Buck has not had a single disciplinary infraction since his sentencing.

"He has a spotless disciplinary record. And that's really remarkable," she said. "On death row, inmates are routinely written up for trivial things like refusing to shave, having too many postage stamps, putting pictures of art or photos on the wall or windows, refusing to shower on a given day."

Buck was sentenced in Texas' Harris County, which accounts for nine percent of all US executions, a record among the more than 3,000 US counties.

A University of Maryland study found that between 1992 and 1999, Harris County prosecutors were three times more likely to seek the death sentence for a black defendant than a white one, and jurors were twice as likely to sentence a black person to death.

The state of Texas minimizes the importance of Quijano's testimony, contending that Buck would have been condemned to death anyway in light of the charges against him.
(Reuters) - British private equity firm SVG Capital Plc (SVI.L) said on Tuesday it would sell half of its investment portfolio for 379 million pounds and wind down operations by the end of 2017.

The company, which rejected U.S. rival HarbourVest's $1.5 billion bid last month, said winding down would be a better option for its shareholders rather than accepting the offer.

SVG's statements came after HarbourVest earlier on Tuesday urged shareholders to accept its offer.

The latest developments come after SVG said on Monday it was in talks with a consortium that included Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

SVG had also said it would give further updates on these discussions on Tuesday. However, Tuesday's statement did not provide any details.

The company said it planned a 450-million-pound ($573.21 million) tender offer before the year-end at 700 pence per share and would launch an additional 300-million-pound offer in early 2017.

HarbourVest had offered 650 pence per share.

SVG said it agreed in principle to sell half of its investment portfolio to Pomona Capital and Pantheon Ventures at a 7.8 percent discount.

The company said it intends to sell rest of the portfolio, worth 388 million pounds, next year and wind down by the year's end.

SVG shares closed down 0.9 percent at 674 pence on Tuesday.

($1 = 0.79 pounds)

(Reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila)
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Union minister Venkaiah Naidu today alleged that "some politicians" are speaking the "language of Pakistan" on the surgical strikes carried out across the LoC last week and said it is "not fair" to ask jawans to "show proof" of their operations against terrorists.

"In a bizarre development, we have seen today some politicians are speaking the language of Pakistan on the surgical strikes carried out by our brave jawans on terrorist launch pads across the LoC," he said at an event here.

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These people seem to have more faith in Pakistans misinformation campaign, the Information and Broadcasting Minister alleged.

Earlier in the day, Naidus cabinet colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks "seeking proof" of the anti-terror surgical strike carried out in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The "irresponsible talk" of those demanding proof only shows their "lack" of confidence in and respect for our jawans, as they are questioning assertions of the countrys army generals in public, he said.

These people have not realized the consequences of what they are saying and their statements amount to presenting India "in a poor light" in the eyes of the world, Naidu said and asked the armed forces not be affected as these comments are being made by "minor" political players.

"They are completely disconnected from the public mood and outrage over continued terror attacks against India, aided, abetted and funded from across the border," he claimed.

Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had hailed Indira Gandhi for defeating Pakistan in the 1971 war, Naidu said the nation needs to stand united when forces inimical to India and its progress are bent upon disrupting the socio-economic fabric of the nation.

"Political considerations should be kept out of security operations," he said.

Naidu also said details of the recent surgical operations were furnished to the people of the country not by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar but by those who are mandated with the task of ensuring safety, security and integrity of the nation.

"I am confident that those who are talking irresponsibly about army actions will realise their mistake and stop indulging in such anti-national utterances," he added. PTI ADS NSD

--- ENDS ---
GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian government has yet to respond to the United Nations proposed plan for life-saving aid convoys in Syria during the month of October, a U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday, noting that the last "cross line" convoy was on Sept. 25. Stephen O'Brien, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, in an interview last Friday, told Reuters that he awaited a list of green lighted destinations from the Damascus government later that day. "We are still awaiting approval of the October plan. It was expected to be on the 30th of September, according to standards and guidelines of such things," U.N. humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke told a news briefing. "This has been a consistent issue for us for years, that we do not get the approvals." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Tom Miles)
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan forces regained control of most of the northern city of Kunduz on Tuesday amid sporadic fighting, officials said, as questions arose over how Taliban militants once again managed to penetrate the city's defenses. The U.S. military in Kabul said that a "robust" group of special forces, as well as aircraft, were positioned near Kunduz to provide support to Afghan soldiers should the need arise. Insurgents slipped past government forces early on Monday and occupied or attacked central areas of Kunduz, almost exactly a year after they briefly captured the city in one of their biggest successes of the 15-year war. Social media accounts linked to the Taliban, which taunted Afghan forces and their Western backers throughout Monday's attack, said insurgents were still inside Kunduz on Tuesday, with "clashes ongoing" and government troops "on the run". The attack in Kunduz, along with Taliban gains in areas of Helmand and Uruzgan where they also threaten provincial capitals, has underlined the group's growing strength and exposed weaknesses in Afghan defenses. Government representatives are meeting international donors in Brussels this week to try to secure billions of dollars in additional aid. DID POLICE RUN AWAY? Questions dogged Afghan security forces on Tuesday, with the U.S. military reporting that it saw little evidence of significant fighting as the Taliban moved in. Some witnesses said many police had abandoned checkpoints without firing a shot, a month after a similar scene played out during a Taliban raid on the provincial capital of Uruzgan province, Tarin Kot. "The police did not fight yesterday," said Commander Ali, a local militia chief who, like many Afghans, only goes by one name. "Some fought in a few places, but a majority of them escaped without any resistance." He estimated that about 200 Taliban attackers quickly sent thousands of security personnel, mostly police, fleeing to the army base near the city's airport. That account was supported by another local police commander, who said senior leadership had failed to back up those police officers who did fight, while the army arrived after the fact. "At some checkpoints police fought well, but they did not get reinforcement," said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly. In Washington on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters the Taliban attack was more of a "Western-movie style shoot-them-up" raid than a concerted military offensive. Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said no checkpoints held by army troops had been abandoned. Afghan officials are investigating how the Taliban managed to thrust into the city's center despite months of military operations aimed at preventing a repeat of last year's debacle, Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters in Kabul. "Right now we are focusing on clearing the city." FIVE AFGHAN SECURITY PERSONNEL KILLED Residents blamed ethnic and political divisions within the city's leadership for the failure of local security forces to prevent the Taliban raid. There is a culture of impunity for police and other armed forces that are often more loyal to local strongmen than to the central government, the second police commander said. Much of the effort to push the Taliban out of the city was led by elite Afghan military and police special forces, many of whom arrived from other cities. Backed by U.S. special forces and air support as well as warplanes of their own, Afghan soldiers sought to clear the city overnight, said Kunduz police chief Qasim Jangalbagh. Taliban fighters, seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, remained in several areas of Kunduz, but Afghan forces had made progress, he added. "We have received reinforcements and have air support. We are committed to clear the city." By nightfall on Tuesday pockets of Taliban resistance remained, many barricaded in civilian houses, said Sheer Aziz Kamawal, commander for the 808th Police Zone. As the Taliban were pushed out, they set fire to various buildings in the city, including a power station and several markets and shops, he said. The attack was likely timed by the Taliban to "make noise" before the donor conference in Brussels, said Timor Sharan, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. "The Taliban wanted to maneuver, raise their flag and then quickly leave. The Taliban know that they are not capable of holding on the city center." Five members of government security forces had been killed, with another 13 wounded, Waziri of the defense ministry said. U.S. attack helicopters conducted at least three air strikes "to defend friendly forces" fighting in Kunduz, the U.S. military command in Kabul said. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, officials said at least a dozen members of the Afghan security forces were killed in fighting in Helmand province, while one American soldier died in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Nangarhar province. (Reporting by Afghanistan bureau; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Mark Heinrich)
Just over a week since he revealed that he was suffering from a form of dementia, Terry Jones, a founding member of legendary British comedy troupe Monty Python, made his first public appearance Sunday at a Welsh BAFTA event.

Jones' son Bill Jones was on hand to help his 74-year-old father to the stage to collect an award acknowledging his 50 years of contribution to film and TV, breaking down in tears as he read a speech on his dad's behalf.

"We would like to thank everyone. I know it's a great honor for dad to win this award," he said after the pair were given a standing ovation. "The struggles we've been going through ... we are so proud of him."

Fellow Python Michael Palin had earlier introduced his comedy collaborator as a someone who has been "relentlessly prolific while being a wonderful friend."

"The first sketch we performed was as a pair of police officers at the Edinburgh festival, and for the next few years we were inseparable," he said, adding that "life seemed more exciting when Terry was around."

On Sep. 23, it was revealed that Jones had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, which erodes the ability to use language.

Read more: Monty Python's Terry Jones Diagnosed With Dementia
Tesoro Corporation TSO recently declared that it has signed a senior secured revolving credit accord with a group of banks, headed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM.



Tesoro will now replace its prior $3 billion asset based credit facility with the new $2.0 billion, four-year cash flow credit facility. The previous facility was scheduled to mature in Nov 2019, while the new facility will mature in Sep 2020.



Notably, the $2 billion credit facility can be expanded up to $2.25 billion before the company achieves an investment grade rating. The facility can be expanded to $3 billion after the company receives the rating.



The new credit facility is expected to enhance Tesoros financial flexibility substantially and help it achieve growth objectives. Tesoro added that this new facility has taken it closer to investment grade rating.



San Antonio, TX-based Tesoro is one the largest independent oil refiners in the U.S. A major advantage for the company is the scale and diversification benefits offered by its seven refineries. We also appreciate the companys solid long-term competitive position and are optimistic about its prospects in the supply constrained California market.



However, the requirement of policies to reformulate fuel and lower emission from refinery operations make the industry a highly regulated one. As a result, companies like Tesoro are often forced to divert cash flows to ensure regulatory compliance, which can adversely impact profitability.



As a result, the company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

TESORO CORP Price

TESORO CORP Price | TESORO CORP Quote

Some better-ranked players in the energy sector include NGL Energy Partners LP NGL and Evolution Petroleum Corp. EPM, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



NGL Energy Partners expects a year-over-year increase of 554% in earnings for the current year.



Evolution Petroleum anticipates earnings to soar 218.2% year over year in the current year.



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PARIS  TF1 Studio, the newly branded, vertically integrated film banner launched by Frances top commercial network, has been significantly ramping up its French and international acquisitions with a distribution slate headlined by Angelin Preljocaj and Valerie Mullers Polina, Helen Mirren starrer Eye in the Sky, John Carneys Sing Street, John Moores IT, and Loving Vincent, an animated feature about iconic Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.

Under the leadership of Tristan du Laz, who previously ran TF1 Video and MyTF1VOD, and Nathalie Toulza-Madar, the former head of TF1 Films Production, TF1 Studio will release about 20 films per year (compared with nine in 2015), two-thirds of which will be released theatrically. Other films will be released digitally on the companys thriving online service, MyTF1VOD.

The arrival of Harvard-educated Gilles Pelisson at the helm of TF1 network in February marks a new era for the company, which has the ambition of rivaling other French film heavyweights such as Pathe, Studiocanal and Gaumont.

The launch of TF1 Studio allows us to build synergies and rationalize our activities in the film sector, bringing together TF1 Droits Audiovisuels, TF1 Video, and TF1 International, said Toulza-Madar.

Were now involved in movies from the ground up, handling acquisition, development, co-production and multi-platform distribution  theatrical, e-cinema, video, VOD, TV, SVOD  as well as international sales, Toulza-Madar said.

The creation of TF1 Studio also enables the group to play a bigger role in the local film industry and leverage the ties it has developed via TF1 Films Production, the film division through which TF1 network fulfills its investment quotas. TF1 Films Production will remain separate from TF1 Studio. In recent years, TF1 Films Production has invested in a raft of comedy hits, from Serial Bad Weddings to Les Tuches and Camping.

The group has been ahead of the digital curve with MyTF1VOD, which has become Frances second most popular pay-per-view VOD platform after Orange, according to a study released by the national film & TV board, CNC. The fact that TF1 Studio is able to promote its VOD releases on its TV network gives it a major competitive edge, especially since TF1 pulls Frances highest TV ratings.

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Banking on mainstream fare rather than auteur movies like Wild Bunchs rival service, TF1s VOD venture has been thriving since launching in May 2015 with Blake Lively starrer The Age of Adaline.

TF1 Studios premium streaming service will remain core to TF1 Studios strategy, allowing the company to boost the value of its movies in secondary markets, Du Laz said.

Recent pickups for TF1 Studios all-rights distribution include Baran bo Odars Sleepless with Jamie Foxx, a makeover of Nicolas Saadas Nuit Blanche, Antoine Fuquas The Man Who Made It Snow with Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Landesmans Felt with Liam Neeson, and Walter Hills Assignment, A Revengers Tale with Sigourney Weaver.

TF1s deal with UGC  which covered French distribution of TF1 movies  ended in October 2015, so the company is currently working with third-party distributors on an ad hoc basis. For instance, Fred Cavayes Radin, a comedy starring Dany Boon, will be released in France by Mars Distribution, while TF1 Studio handles sales.

Toulza-Madar said TF1 Studios slate would be built around films with strong local and/or international appeal with a predominance of popular French comedies and feelgood movies, in line with the DNA of the company, which skews toward mainstream audiences. However, as per French regulations, TF1 Studio cant pre-sell more than 20% of its films to TF1 network.

TF1 Studio will also be sourcing projects, up the ante on prestige films and will continue to be involved in select English-language films, as it has done in the past with Suite Francaise, for instance.

Related stories

TV Crews Around the World Descend on France to Cover Euro 2016 Soccer Tournament

Netflix, France's TF1 Strike Novel Limited Broadcast Deal on French Original Series 'Marseille'

How Europe's Broadcasters Reworked Schedules to React to Brussels Attacks
Every bride dreams of a perfect dress, but some have a harder time finding one. (Photo: Gallery Stock)



When Suzanne Kleid got engaged in May, she began a process common with all brides and started to look for a wedding dress.

Its just going to be at city hall, so Im not looking for anything fancy, she tells Yahoo Style.

Of course, she still wanted to find something special to make her feel like her best self on her wedding day. And yet her experiences with trying to shop online for such a dress left her totally empty-handed.

I saw a lot of things I liked that werent in my size, or if they were in my size, they didnt come in white, says Kleid.

Thats because as a plus-size bride, Kleid somehow found herself left out of the mainstream bridal retail experience, something that seems particularly ridiculous given that 67 percent of American women are plus-size (size 14 and up) and that plus-size fashion is one of fashions fastest-growing sectors.

Kleid mentioned her situation on the Kamau Right Now radio show, during a segment when the members of the audience were asked to share things going on in their personal lives and people started reaching out to her through the shows Facebook page, offering their services and designs in a situation not unlike when Christian Siriano heeded Leslie Joness call for a dress for the Ghostbusters premiere after being told by many designers that her body wasnt one for whom they designed.

One of the designers who got in touch with Kleid is Chrystal Bougon, who is the owner and self-proclaimed resident Curvy Girl at Curvy Girl Lingerie, based in San Jose, Calif., an e-commerce and retail store offering lingerie for women in sizes 12 through 28. Bougon contacted Kleid to offer her a set of lingerie for her wedding day.

There really isnt much lingerie out there for women of size, Bougon tells Yahoo Style. I believe I am still the only plus-size lingerie boutique. I created my boutique to create a safe place for women of size to be able to come and shop and feel safe trying on very sexy clothes. I do not carry bras or foundations. Just sexy stuff. I often joke that everything in my boutique is to help my customers have lots of hot sex.

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Bougon says that most retailers refuse to acknowledge that fat bodies  want to wear sexy clothes.

We are 67 percent of the population. We are not the minority anymore. It is really way past the time for the retailers and designers to begin catering to us, Bougon says. And as a result of many mainstream retailers leaving so many bodies out of their offerings, Bougon says a lot of her work with her customers is just giving them permission to wear what they want, lingerie included.

I have to first convince some fat women that, yes, we do deserve lingerie. Yes, we can wear lingerie too. This is a really new concept for some people: Fat, happy people who have sex! Bougon emphasizes.

Ann Campeau is the co-founder and co-owner of the Strut Bridal Salon, which has locations in California and Arizona and offers a curated collection for the curvy bride.

Many brides start their wedding dress shopping at a national chain store and leave disappointed, says Campeau. In addition to other service challenges theyve experienced, they typically tell us that the store just didnt have many dresses in their size, or didnt have the gowns that were advertised as being available in larger sizes.

Campeau says that her customers share stories of bridal consultants at other stores showing them dresses they arent at all interested in  though its not because the consultants arent listening, but rather because they dont have more stylish, modern options for plus-size brides. Other customers, she says, come to her after being told at other shops that they cant wear a certain style because of their body type, or are told that their bodies arent the right shape for certain styles.

I experienced this myself as a plus-size bride seven years ago  my consultant told me big girls cant wear fitted gowns, and thats why they dont carry them over size 12, Campeau says.

Campeau explains that there are two ways that many bridal stores end up excluding brides, first by not offering gowns in larger sizes and second by offering only certain types of gowns. She notes that for independent bridal boutiques, the shop itself must take on the cost of buying inventory, which is why its often cost prohibitive to stock all gowns in all sizes. And if youre a store that doesnt get very many plus-size brides, or arent getting brides with budgets that match the prices you offer, then you simply cant afford to stock gown or price points you dont sell. As a result, many brides are unable to walk into a store and leave with a dress.

Furthermore, Campeau says, many stores simply do not carry fitted dresses in larger sizes because of the mistaken perception that plus-size brides dont want to show off their curves. Her shops are different, she says, because there, our brides arent just a number, theyre a success story. Theyre our friends. And they come to this safe, size-inclusive space where we help them feel beautiful at the size they are, with no weight-loss expectations.

The fashion industry has a long-standing practice of intense discrimination against fat customers, and doing so proudly, noted fat activist and the author of Fat!So? Marilyn Wann tells Yahoo Style. Terms like plus are not flattering; they are segregation and they promote stigma.  I find especially hateful the average-weight models who dislike the stigma they face for making their careers in plus womens clothing, who want to question that term, not out of solidarity with fat people of all sizes but out of desire for the in-group status of being considered normal.  Im not plus either. Im fat. Euphemisms provide cover for prejudice and oppression.  As a fat activist, Im wary of the fashion industry and any body-positive endeavor that avoids using the F word: fat.

And, Wann adds, Claiming to be for all sizes when there is a clear cutoff point just sucks. That sends a clear message to people who are not accommodated by those product lines, that we are beyond even the so-called extended sizing.

Campeau observes that perhaps the best way to talk about fat fashion then is by avoiding labels altogether.

Some fat activists embrace the word fat, while other people find it offensive. Some people like plus-size, while others prefer curvy. There seems to be no real consensus on the right terms to use. So what if we didnt use defining language at all? What if size-12 models were just called models and not plus-size models? What if I could shop at any store and not just a plus-size store? I dont think we need specific language; we just need equal opportunity, Campeau says. Make awesome clothes in larger sizes. And dont just sell them online, as if youre ashamed to have us walk through your doors or carry your shopping bags. Put them in every store in the mall. Show people of different sizes in your ads, people with different bodies in magazines, on television and in movies. Let me read about them in romance novels and spy thrillers. Our stories, our lives, are equally important.  Fashion has the opportunity to make people feel so good about themselves, so positive and confident. Its a powerful position. But using that power for good will take a real shift from designers themselves, executives that execute strategy, the agencies that create advertising, the magazines that make editorial content, and so on. It has to be a huge movement, but I do believe it has begun, and I remain hopeful for the future.

Bougon adds that the fat-shaming that plays out in the media, and is especially dominant right now with the conversations surrounding Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, is certainly not helping the cause.

[Trump] being in the media over and over again fat-shaming women normalizes it. Remember, young people who are 8 years old are hearing this. Young women who are 12 years old will internalize his fat hate. Thats what gets me, Bougon says. Its like were all doing so much to stop fat-phobia and then Trump takes us back to the dark ages of misogyny and body-shaming. Its disheartening. But as I like to say, Trump can kiss the fattest part of my fat ass.

Bougon continues, I am a very healthy 48-year old fat women, but I honestly do not owe good health to anyone.  Personally, I am on a mission to help all women feel sexy and beautiful. Sexy is for every body. I am not offended by someone calling me fat. I am fat. I also have brown hair and green eyes. I hope we [can] contribute to the narrative that fat is not an insult. It just describes my body. The more the media shows fat bodies, the more we can all feel like we can stop hiding. The moment the news stops showing headless fatties walking down the street when they do a story related to larger bodies will be the moment we may be able to feel human and deserving of everything all people size 10 and under just consider to be their right or their privilege.

After all, as Kleid herself says: Ive been everything from a size 12 to a size 20 over the years. So I hope that people would just see me as me and not a size. Im not a part of any movements, Im just somebody that wants to buy a dress.

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


With B-Town celebs voicing their opinions for and against IMPPA banning the Pak artistes, the industry clearly stands divided on the issue. Javed Akhtar who wasnt that loud and blunt earlier and termed the ban as inevitable in the wake of the current situation has voiced a very clear stand without mincing words any further

Speaking to a national news channel, the 71-year-old poet said, Their silence is a kind of confession from Pakistani actors that Pakistan is responsible for it. This is the least they (actors) can do. If Pakistan says that we are not responsible for it (the Uri attack), I dont see any reason why Pakistani artistes or any Pakistani citizen should not condemn Uri and this kind of terrorist attacks. Because they say that were not responsible for it, then wonderful, come out and condemn it! Any Pakistani who keeps quiet about it is condoning our statement that actually Pakistan is responsible for it.

The lyricist also asserted that obsessive haters want a wall between Pakistan and India, however at the same time mentioned that for now we have to take a step back.
The BJP today slammed Arvind Kejriwal for asking for the video evidence of the surgical strike conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir last week.

By India Today Web Desk: The BJP today slammed Arvind Kejriwal and P Chidambaram for asking for the video evidence of the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir last week.

"Why is Kejriwal being swayed by the Pakistani propaganda? Kejriwal ji, there is a tradition to remain united at a time of crisis," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, a day after the Delhi Chief Minister asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show proof of the cross-border strike.

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Also read: Salute PM Modi, says Arvind Kejriwal on India's surgical strike



Prasad said Kejriwal is "now making headlines in Pakistan" for his doubts over Indian Army's operation in which 50 suspected terrorists were gunned down. "Kejriwal must not mix politics with national security," he said.

"My question to Kejriwal is whether he believes in the extreme valour of the Indian Army," Prasad asked, asking the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to "not demoralise the Army" by asking for the proof.

Prasad also attacked senior Congress leader P Chidmabaram and demanded to know if the former Finance Minister's comments were official statement of the Congress party. "I want to ask him if he is also joining the bandwagon of doubting the capacity of our jawans in conducting surgical strikes," he said.

Chidmabaram on Monday said it was up to the government to give proof of the surgical strikes conducted on September 28 night in which the army destroyed seven terror launch pads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"We would like to ask Sonia Gandhi ji if that is the official position of the Congress party on this issue? If that is the case, then we would examine it and have some questions to ask from them," Prasad said.



The AAP hit back at the BJP, asking why Prasad is not unmasking the Pakistani propaganda. "I am amazed that Ravi Shankar Prasad instead of unmasking Pak Propaganda is questioning AK. Shows BJP's bankruptcy of ideas," AAP leader Ashutosh tweeted.



SHOW VIDEO PROOF OF SURGICAL STRIKES: KEJRIWAL

Kejriwal had on Monday "saluted" PM Modi for the surgical strikes with a caveat: that he must come up with the video of the Indian Army's operation to "expose Pakistan's false propaganda" on the strikes.

Also read: Pakistan flies international media to LoC to prove denial of India's surgical strikes, fails



In a three-minute video message, Kejriwal mainly focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strike was ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the LoC and urged Modi to fight Pakistan's propaganda "just like we have been fighting Pakistan on ground".

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KEJRIWAL REACTS TO MEDIA REPORT



"Only yesterday, CNN was showing a report how Pakistan took few media persons to the spot of strike to show that no such thing happened, and showed them kids playing and people living as usual. My blood came to a boil when I saw that report," he said.

Soon after Kejriwal's message on Monday, #AKBacksModiOnPak hashtag started trending on Twitter with many AAP supporters also tweeting to PM Modi for the proof.

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By Niklas Pollard and Ben Hirschler STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - Three British-born scientists won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for revealing unusual states of matter, leading to advances in electronics that could aid researchers trying to develop quantum computers. David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, who all work at U.S. universities, share the prize for their discoveries on abrupt changes in the properties, or phases, of ultra-thin materials. Their research centres on topology, a branch of mathematics involving step-wise changes like making a series of holes in an object. The difficult-to-grasp concept was illustrated by Nobel Committee member Thors Hans Hansson at a news conference using a cinnamon bun, a bagel and a Swedish style of pretzel with two holes. "If you are a topolgist, it's only one thing that is really interesting with these things," Hansson said. "The bagel has one hole, the pretzel has two holes ... you cannot have half a hole, or 2-2/3 holes." The Nobel Prize-winning discovery involved certain materials that go through step changes that affect their electrical properties. The changes are akin to the holes in baked goods, which can have no intermediate steps between one hole or two holes. (http://bit.ly/2dG4v3n) One example is a superconductor, which at low temperatures conducts electricity without resistance. "Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($937,000) prize. "Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics." Thouless, of the University of Washington in Seattle, was awarded half the prize, with the other half divided between Haldane, of Princeton University, and Kosterlitz, of Brown University. "We really haven't understood ... the full amount of marvellous things that quantum mechanics can do," Haldane told Reuters in an interview at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. "It does things which we never dreamed of and could actually be tremendously useful for all kinds of new technologies." 'LONG OVERDUE' Kosterlitz's colleague at Brown, Professor See Chen Ying, said he considered the award long overdue. "You never know, because there are exciting discoveries everywhere, so every year we start thinking is this the year," Ying said in an interview on Brown's campus in Providence, Rhode Island. "Personally, I think it's long overdue." Andy Schofield, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Birmingham, where Kosterlitz and Thouless carried out their early work in the 1970s, said the new understanding of phase states was particularly promising in computing. "One of the most exciting technological implications is in insulators that don't carry electricity normally but can be forced to carry electrical current at the surface," he told Reuters. "That's a very robust state, which gives a stability that is essential to quantum computing." Superfast quantum computers, one of the holy grails of science, should be able to test multiple solutions to a problem at once and could in theory solve in seconds problems that take today's fastest machines years to crack. Traditional computers use binary bits of information to store data while quantum computers use "qubits" that can simultaneously be 0 and 1, making them ultra-fast but unstable. Physics is the second of this year's crop of Nobels and comes after Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the prize for medicine on Monday. There had been speculation this year's prize might be awarded for the first detection of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time first predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein. The breakthrough, announced by international researchers in February, may have come too late for the Nobel Committee. The three researchers join the ranks of some of the greatest names in science, including Einstein, Niels Bohr and Marie Curie. The prizes were first awarded in 1901 to honour achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with the will of the Swedish dynamite inventor and business tycoon Alfred Nobel, who left much of his wealth to establish the award. For a graphic on Nobel laureates, click on: http://tmsnrt.rs/1jLPeM7 (Additional reporting by Bart Noonan, Andrew Hofstetter, Elly Park, Anna Ringstrom, Bjorn Rundstrom, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander and Scott Malone; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and David Gregorio)
Categories Entertaining

If theres anyone who understands the power of food and its ability to not only bring people together but also change lives, its Lauren Bush Lauren. Nearly a decade ago, she founded Feed Projectsin which fashionable products aid in the fight to end childhood hunger worldwide. Think leather bags, artisan jewelry, T-shirts and other stylish accessories that provide anywhere from 10 to 100 meals per purchase. Two years ago, Lauren launched Feed Supper, which takes place this year from September 16 to October 16 (ending on World Food Day). During this time you can sign up to host a grassroots dinner party, inspiring your friends to donate toward eradicating childhood hunger. Each party is a launch pad for hundreds of meals. We chatted with Lauren about how Feed Supper has changed the landscape of the Feed Project and majorly impacted the world (over 3 million meals to those in need  and counting!), as well as how you can get involved and make a difference, one dinner party at a time.

Why Feed Supper?

@feedprojects

"We launched Feed Supper in 2014 as a way to engage peoplebeyond their purchasesin the fight to end hunger. Buying a Feed bag is an individual way to give back, but we wanted a way to bring people together around the causeand around food itselfto really move the needle. Supper came from that vision, and weve been blown away by how the Feed community has embraced it. It's really my favorite time of year."

How Feed Supper Works

Courtesy of FEED

"During this month, hundreds of Suppers take place around the country, all with the same goal to collectively provide two million meals for children in need globally and here in America. Anyone can host a Feed Supper. All you have to do is sign up, set your individual fund-raising goal and invite your friends to donate in advance of your dinner. My favorite part is the digital tool kits we've created for hosts this yearthey come with beautiful printables, playlists and recipes. We really do all the work for you, so you can just focus on having fun and making a difference with your community."

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Where Do Those Millions Of Meals Go?

Courtesy of FEED

"The first two years, we divided the meals raised through Supper evenly between our global and local giving partners, the World Food Programme and Feeding America. This year, we've taken a more localized approach by selecting four regions around the world: South Asia, West Africa, Latin America and the US. If you decide to raise meals for one of those, we give you a tool kit to help bring a little bit of that part of the world into your gathering and educate your guests about hunger there."

A Pro Tip For Your Feed Supper

Courtesy of FEED

"Take a moment to pause sometime during your dinner to talk about why you've gathered and to celebrate the meals you raised by coming together. That has been such a special moment at every Supper I've hosted or attended."

Lauren's Favorite Feed Supper Recipe

Courtesy of FEED

"Feed has partnered with some pretty amazing chefs to create signature Supper recipes that help people connect with the cuisines of our four regions: Roberto Santibanez for Mexico, Padma Lakshmi for India, Marco Canora for the US and JJ Johnson for Ghana. I'm really excited to try Roberto's salsa recipe from my Mexico tool kit, since I'm hosting at home this year!"

Chef Roberto Santibanez's Easy Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa

Ingredients:

5-6 tomatillos, husked and rinsed

3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo (including a little adobo liquid)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 medium garlic clove, peeled

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees or broil. On a foil-lined baking sheet, roast tomatillos, turning once, until tops and bottoms are blackened and tomatillos are cooked to the core (20 to 30 minutes). Let cool slightly. Blend roasted tomatillos with remaining ingredients until very smooth. Season to taste with more salt and lime juice. Keep in the fridge up to 3 days.

Her Dream Guest List

Courtesy of FEED

"It's so tough to narrow down, but given the theme of mindfulness, I would invite Paul Newman, Muhammad Yunus, Bono, the Dalai Lama and Joan Baez."

What's Next For Feed Projects?

Courtesy of FEED

"We just launched our most extensive leather line to date, which we've called the Trailblazer Collection. It's a really special evolution for us. A few of the styles feature gorgeous textiles handwoven by artisans in Mexico. And of course, we'll be rolling out a lot of new stuff for the holidays!"
The 2008 vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin was one of the most anticipated political events in history -- and both campaigns were uneasy about a race-altering mishap in a contest featuring a pair of outsize personalities.

For Barack Obama's team, the concern was that the gregarious Biden would easily run down a rabbit hole, needlessly overreaching to counter a confusing Palin pronouncement.

For John McCain's lieutenants, the fear was Palin would make a mind-numbing mistake that would be seen as disqualifying her from sitting a heartbeat away from the presidency.

The nail-biting was for naught. Both did fine, avoided gaffes and made their respective cases for the top of the ticket. A record 70 million people tuned in to make it the most-watched vice presidential debate in history, even though its real impact was meager.

In fact, Gallup found that "none of the eight vice presidential debates occurring from 1976 to 2008 appears to have meaningfully altered voter preferences."

On Tuesday night at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, two skilled, seasoned and affable politicians with competent but relatively bland profiles will debate for 90 minutes in 2016's sole vice presidential face-off.

Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia, is no Joe Biden, and Mike Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, is no Sarah Palin. So the usual pre-debate hype has been markedly subdued.

While the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was billed as a "clash of the century", the Kaine-Pence quarrel might be anticipated as the underwhelming undercard.

Still, campaign veterans note that even if the running mates' remarks won't move the needle much, they're required to prepare like they will. For a handful of hours in the 34 days remaining in this election, Kaine and Pence will be at the center of attention, and perhaps, in certain areas, they'll be able to lob attacks and launch defenses more effectively than their ticketmates.

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Given the excruciating last week Trump has had -- one that's included a shoddy debate performance, his spiteful retorts regarding a former Miss Universe contestant, the disclosure that he may not have paid federal income taxes for roughly two decades, and a new report that claims he made lewd remarks in front of staffers and contestants on his hit television show "The Apprentice" -- Pence will need to provide a sturdy defense.

Having taken a hit in national and battleground state polls, Team Trump needs desperately to win a day. And it may take Trump's sidekick to do it.

"Gov. Pence is an effective public communicator, having served successfully in Congress and having hosted a syndicated radio program for years prior. He's very practiced and comfortable at this. There's a very good chance Gov. Pence will perform well," says Kevin Kellems, an Indiana-based GOP operative who has known Pence for more than two decades.

Kaine, who much like Clinton is known as a policy wonk, spent last Thursday through Saturday hunkered down in Raleigh, North Carolina, in debate preparations with Washington lawyer Bob Barnett, who played the role of Pence.

Like Pence, Kaine has debated frequently throughout a political career that's featured runs for lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator. But an aide says he's studiously aware that Tuesday night's task will not be about him.

[READ: Former Bush DHS Chief Michael Chertoff Endorses Hillary Clinton]

"This is a different kind of debate," says the aide, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about his candidate's preparations. "You're talking about your running mate, whereas previously it's been about you and your record."

As Kaine continued debate preparation in Virginia on Monday, his aides framed the task at hand as placing Pence on defense over Trump's litany of controversies. The Indiana governor has been a loyal Trump surrogate on the trail, ably deflecting sensitive inquiries and gracefully pivoting to turn the focus on Clinton.

Kaine appears ready to test that resiliency.

"It really is more about Donald Trump than it is about Gov. Pence," Kaine told reporters on his campaign plane recently.

For instance, while Pence has released his tax returns for public review, Trump has remained stubbornly resistant to doing so, and likely will only dig in further given the recent New York Times expose on his 1995 tax records.

"How much does he defend Donald Trump given his own political aspirations? How does he navigate that?" the Kaine aide asks.

Pence also has undergone mock debate sessions, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker playing the part of Kaine.

"Each time he finished with Gov. Walker, he was thankful he did not have to debate Gov. Walker on national television," Pence spokesman Marc Lotter says.

But like Trump, Pence has taken little time off the trail for prep, even holding a nighttime rally in Ashland, Virginia, on Monday.

In addition to making an affirmative case for Trump, Pence's prime objective will be to undercut Clinton.

"He's also going to make the case Hillary Clinton represents the failed policies of the status quo, which has weakened America on the world stage and led to the rise of radical Islamic terrorism," Lotter says.

Pence and Kaine did not serve together in Congress, and their only known prior interaction was when Pence placed a congratulatory call to Kaine after Clinton selected him as his running mate.

It would be surprising if their encounter devolved into a mean-spirited affair beyond the normal political slights, though the Republican National Committee has released a video detailing Kaine's work as an attorney defending criminals accused of crimes like rape and murder.

How much of the 90 minutes delves into the records of Kaine and Pence will be up to the moderator, CBS News' Elaine Quijano, the first Asian-American to perform such a role on the national stage.

But both sides are viewing this as a super surrogate opportunity to promote and defend their preferred commander-in-chief.

And not long after the lights go down in Farmville, the glare will swiftly reposition, and the cable news countdown clocks will quickly reset.

The second presidential debate is only five days away.

David Catanese is senior politics writer for U.S. News & World Report and founder of the blog The Run 2016. You can follow him on Twitter and send him feedback at dcatanese@usnews.com.
A torrent of water was reported rushing down a street in La Romana, Dominican Republic, on October 4, as the Caribbean nation was hit by Hurricane Matthew.

CNN cited government sources as saying four people had been killed in Dominican Republic during the storm.

This footage is said to show a deluge caused by Matthew. Credit: Facebook/Jairo Harris
TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp on Tuesday said it will set up a joint internal company with subsidiary Daihatsu to develop and market compact vehicles in emerging markets, as Toyota aims to expand market share in other Asian markets.

The Japanese automaker plans to establish the new unit in January, it said in a statement, adding that its operations would be led by compact carmaker Daihatsu, a Toyota group company which was absorbed by the automaker earlier this year.

Daihatsu will be responsible for development, procurement and production preparations for compact cars while the two companies will use existing production sites to manufacture the compact vehicles.

Toyota said the companies were considering possible markets including Vietnam, India and Pakistan.

"With the establishment of the internal company, Toyota intends to learn the very fundamentals of Daihatsu's competitiveness and change the way we work," Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi said in a statement.

The companies intend to develop Daihatsu into a global brand as they focus on growing markets for entry-level compact cars, which are becoming smaller and energy efficient due to environmental and traffic concerns.

Daihatsu holds around a 16 percent market share of the passenger car market in Indonesia, where it manufactures the Ayla and other vehicles in a joint venture with Astra International. In Malaysia, it operates a joint venture which has a market share of around 32.5 percent.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Sam Holmes)
Heavy rainfall from Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti on October 4. Matthew has been described by US National Hurricane Center meteorologist Dennis Feltgen as a potentially catastrophic storm and is expected to bring over three feet of the rain to the Caribbean nation, Reuters reported. Forecasters said it was the strongest storm to make landfall in Haiti since 1964.

This footage, posted by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, is described as showing the severe weather conditions in Aux Cayes. Credit: MINUSTAH
The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have begun a campaign of sorts to discredit the government by doubting the authenticity of the operation, demanding proof and claiming that such strikes had taken place even during previous regimes.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: The surgical strike carried out in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by the Army has given a huge political boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his coalition. While the Opposition has lauded the Army and Modi for the response to Pakistan, there's also a discomfort with the BJP getting political mileage out army's action.

The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have begun a campaign of sorts to discredit the government by doubting the authenticity of the operation, demanding proof and claiming that such strikes had taken place even during previous regimes.

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QUESTIONING THE ARMY?

Those doubting or questioning the surgical strikes in a political duel end up raising a pointing finger at the Indian Army. The announcement regarding the strike was made not by the political leadership. The declaration came from the Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO). Since he is not a political person, he has no reasons to exaggerate the achievements. But political expediency is dragging the Army into this by sowing seeds of doubt in the minds of the people.

WHY THIS MAD RUSH TO PROVOKE

Be it the Congress or AAP, they are deliberately raking up the issue of surgical strike's authenticity. They are provoking the BJP-led NDA government to order the release of the video, which has purportedly been shot by drones and cameras attached to the gears worn by the special force commandos.

WHY THIS PROVOCATION NOW

The Congress and AAP realise the public euphoria which the surgical strikes have generated. Even opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, probably for the first time. Gandhi said Modi had taken at least one good decision in the last two-and-a-half years as PM.

Hence, the Opposition realises what rapture it will lead to when the video is released. Suppose the Centre decides to release the video just before the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa or the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP and its allies may benefit from such timing.

Therefore, the Congress and AAP want the video to be released now itself so that the euphoria dies down in a few days. And, by the time the elections draw near, this would be forgotten. Or, the Opposition would have got some new issues to corner the government. But, all follies of the BJP governments would be forgiven in case the video is released just before the polls.

SURGICAL STRIKE IS FAKE

Now that the timing and motive behind the Opposition's provocation has been explained, their allegations should not appear serious in nature. Mumbai Congress Committee president Sanjay Nirupam shocked one and all by calling the operations "fake".



Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP.

Politics over national interest pic.twitter.com/4KN6iDqDo5Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) October 4, 2016

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Party's top leadership, which has applauded the surgical strike, has not reacted or disapproved of Nirupam's comment.

DEMANDING PROOF OF SURGICAL STRIKES

Yesterday, Kejriwal released a video message on the surgical strikes. It appeared as a pleasant surprise because he started off with congratulating Modi.



We fully support PM on surgical strikes. Urge him to similarly counter Pak's dirty propaganda. Do watch this msghttps://t.co/jk1CvYmcan Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 3, 2016

The words of praise coming from the Delhi CM were unprecedented because of two reasons:

1. Kejriwal's love for Modi is all too known.

2. Just a few days ago, he had created a furore by alleging that the Uri attack had isolated India, and not Pakistan, globally. He received a lot of flak and to balance things, he released a video saluting PM Modi but as you get to the end of the video, he draws the knife.



Excellent article. On Uri, rather than Pak, India seems to be getting isolated internationally https://t.co/u6wKBE20fPArvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 27, 2016

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Towards the end of the video, Kejriwal asked the Centre to counter the Pakistani propaganda, demanding that the proof of the operation be released immediately.

Besides Kejriwal, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari too placed the same demand. He even suggested that India was losing the propaganda war with Pakistan.

Are we loosing the propaganda pitch internationally? A CNN video Clip?Pak Propaganda or the American establishment weighing in on Pak's side pic.twitter.com/TmvEIEZXZf Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) October 3, 2016

What the Delhi CM said was lapped up by Pakistanis to mock the surgical strikes.



Delhi CM questions authenticity of Indias surgical strikes in Pakistan https://t.co/Yk2ZIEBhDZHaroun Rashid (@HarounRashid2) October 3, 2016





Isse kehte hain: ghar ko aag lagi ghar ke chiragh se ?? https://t.co/FQ7MXa6wiB Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) October 3, 2016

Kejriwal did not regard the fact that even the US did not present the video of terrorist Osama bin Laden's killing in public domain. The Delhi CM was severely criticised on social media for his comments.

As far as the Congress is concerned, it is clearly divided over the issue. Pawan Khera, for instance, holds a view opposite to Manish Tewari's. He said raising doubts over the operation would demoralise the Army.

I may not trust @PMOIndia; I will definitely not trust @ArvindKejriwal. But, I would not distrust & demoralise my army #SurgicalStrikesPawan Khera (@Pawankhera) October 4, 2016

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OPERATIONS HAPPENED ALSO DURING CONGRESS REGIME

Congress leaders like former Union home minister P Chidambaram and spokesperson Anand Sharma claimed that India had carried out surgical strikes during UPA regime too. Chidambaram said a similar "major strike took place in January 2013, when the UPA was in power".

Sharma said the thinking that this is the first time that India Army has retaliated against a terror attack is not correct. According to him, it is a disservice to our forces. "Our Armed Forces have always responded as per the need or provocation when it came to defending our Mother land. The details of the earlier actions are there with the Defence establishment," he said.

The thinking that this is the first time India Army has retaliated against a terror attack is not correct. It is a disservice to our Forces INC India (@INCIndia) October 3, 2016

Our Armed Force have always responded as per the need or provocation when it came to defending our Mother land: Anand SharmaINC India (@INCIndia) October 3, 2016

The details of the earlier actions are their with the Defence establishment. In the past these decisions were taken by the Army.INC India (@INCIndia) October 3, 2016

This brings us to this question:

Why does the Congress say it is not the first time that surgical strikes have take place?

Firstly, the Congress is well aware that the public mood is upbeat and the BJP will draw political mileage out of it. The BJP is projecting it an unprecedented move. But the Congress is trying its best to downplay the government's achievement, saying something like: "not a big deal, we too did it".

Secondly, by saying that the Congress government had also conducted the surprise raids on Pakistan, the main opposition party is trying to get a share of the political mileage, which otherwise, will go only to the NDA.

But the Congress' claims do not hold much water. By not owning the operations during their regime then, they clearly missed the breast-beating bus.

A CONFUSED PAKISTAN

Meanwhile, Pakistan itself is confused over the issue. On the one hand it denies that any surgical strike took place but on the other it says India too suffered casualties.

This makes the position of the Congress leaders more untenable. If Pakistan accepts the strike happened, then where is the scope for doubt?

MODI'S SURPRISE ACTS

Those questioning Prime Minister Modi may be in for a big surprise. After his detractors have get cried hoarse, the Centre may release the video, embarrassing them no end.

This will not happen for the first time. During the controversy over Modi's degree, the Opposition had raised a similar dust and storm. After they were done, BJP president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released it in a press conference one fine morning. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already said "wait and watch", giving a hint of the government's motive.

Brace for the surprise.

--- ENDS ---
Trinity Biotech PLC (TRIB) is watching its shares get halved on Tuesday after the company announced that it would withdraw one of its submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Specifically, the company said that it is withdrawing its 510(k) pre-market notification submission for the Meritas Troponin-I Test and Meritas Point-of-Care Analyzer.

Essentially, the company held a meeting with the FDA last week, in order to obtain an update on the companys Meritas Troponin submission. At this meeting the FDA asked Trinity to consider withdrawing their submission, due to some concerns the agency had about the submission.

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The primary concerns were regarding the devices operating temperature range and that the Troponin-I clinical performance is not consistent with the clinical performance data presented by the most recently cleared laboratory Troponin device.

Although Trinity Biotech believes that the Meritas product demonstrates excellent performance for a point-of-care product and is superior to all existing point-of-care Troponin products in the market, the company decided to withdraw the submission.

The decision to withdraw was based on the fact that the company believes that there is no certainty that this level of performance can be achieved by the Meritas product even with the benefit of further development efforts.

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Looking ahead, Trinity Biotech will be engaging with the FDA over the coming weeks in an attempt to understand and alleviate the agencys concerns.

Excluding Tuesdays move, Trinity Biotech had actually outperformed the broad markets with the stock up 10% year to date.

Shares of Trinity Biotech were last trading down about 50% at $6.45, with a consensus analyst price target of $17.50 and a 52-week trading range of $5.76 to $13.68 (oh, and that 52-week low was today as well). By losing 50% and having a $149 million market cap, that means that roughly $150 million in market value has been vaporized in an instant.

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Last week there were . As of now, you can bet that Trinity Biotech will make this week's top destroyers of shareholders.

Trinity's press release said:

Whilst we believe that the Meritas product demonstrates excellent performance for a point-of-care product and is superior to all existing point-of-care Troponin products in the market, we decided yesterday to withdraw the submission. Over the coming weeks we will engage with the FDA to gain a better understanding of the nature of their concerns. However, it is our understanding that in order for any new point-of-care Troponin product to obtain clearance, the FDA will require it to demonstrate performance equivalent to the most recently cleared laboratory based device. Our decision to withdraw is based on the fact that, notwithstanding its excellent performance characteristics, we believe that there is no certainty that this level of performance can be achieved by the Meritas product even with the benefit of further development efforts.

ALSO READ: Bond Bull Market Is Over: Switch to These 4 Top Dividend Stocks Now

We will now embark upon an internal process to determine the best future opportunity for this technically excellent platform, concentrating on which products and markets we should focus on, including establishing the optimal strategic outcome for Troponin. This process is expected to take between 9 and 12 months. In the meantime we have decided to move the technology from our Swedish facility in Uppsala to our facility in Bray, Ireland where it will be incorporated into our existing R&D and manufacturing infrastructure. This will result in the closure of the Uppsala facility, which will result in approximately 40 redundancies.

Consequently expenditure levels, which are currently running at an annualized rate of over $9m, will be reduced to approximately $1.5m per annum. There will however, be Swedish redundancy and closure costs which are currently in the process of being determined. The company will also recognize a non-cash write-off in excess of $50m, representing the costs incurred on the project, which will be recognized in our Q4 income statement.

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump bashed billionaire investors George Soros and Warren Buffett during a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

[George] Soros declared $1.5[B] losses, $1.5 billion in just six months, and Warren Buffett declared $873 million. Ask them, did they write off those losses? Oh, I doubt it, Trump said.

The real estate mogul explained why Clinton did not change the tax laws while she was the Senator of New York.

She could have changed the laws when she was in the United States senate, but she didnt, Trump said. The reason that she did not do that is her donors and contributors have used those same tax laws as I did.

Trump said he wants to fix the tax laws to make it fair and just for everyone.

This is not the first time these billionaires have publically sparred.

In August, while stumping for Hillary Clinton on his home turf in Omaha, Buffett challenged Trump to a tax return duel.

I would be delighted to meet him any place any time between now and [the] election. Ill bring my tax return; he can bring his tax return And just let people ask us questions about the items that are on there, Buffett said.



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By Michelle McLoughlin WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - A Styrofoam model of a hot air-blowing Donald Trump and another of a toothy Hillary Clinton riding the Democratic Party's donkey mascot are among the skeletons and zombies in a Halloween display that has become an attraction and is stopping traffic in a Connecticut town. With a little more than a month to go before the U.S. elections on Nov. 8, history professor Matt Warshauer of West Hartford is using his annual Halloween extravaganza to make a political statement. Warshauer built an 8-foot-high (2.4-meter-high) cardboard version of Republican presidential candidate Trump's proposed U.S.-Mexican border wall, complete with models of armed guards, in front of his house. "It's a crazy presidential election where it seems politics are out of control," said Warshauer, who teaches at Central Connecticut State University. "I am making a statement about both parties, the Republican and the Democratic party, but my primary concern is Donald Trump as a president." Warshauer erected the display on Saturday but said on Tuesday that he had been planning it for months. One of the skeletons holds a sign saying, "We were all immigrants," while another reads, "We are not criminals," a reference to Trump's proposals to curb illegal immigration. U.S. presidential campaigns have often accented the activities leading up to and on Halloween on Oct. 31, with sales of rubber masks of the candidates or holiday parades featuring election-themed floats. And this year is no exception. Warshauer, who has built Halloween displays for more than a decade, includes an annual political message, not just for the presidential contests that fall every four years. Last year, a model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, thatched huts and a replica of a downed helicopter marked the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Earlier exhibits included one with a cardboard coliseum and Roman soldiers and another with a Civil War theme. "I hope people take it in the spirit of Halloween, that I am having a little fun and making a political statement," Warshauer said of this year's offering. (Addtional reporting and writing by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
Pastor Mark Burns, a prominent Donald Trump surrogate, on Tuesday defended the GOP nominees unorthodox pitch to black voters. Burns argued that Trump recognizes there is no such thing as the African-American community and speaks to voters as Americans instead of pandering.

I think the real question is not What is Donald Trump going to do specifically for black Americans? but What is Donald Trump, when he becomes president of the United States, going to do for the American citizen? Burns told Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga.

With just 35 days until Election Day, Hillary Clinton is crushing Trump when it comes to support among black voters. In some polls, Trump has been within a margin of error of zero.

But Burns claimed that those surveys do not accurately reflect Trumps African-American support and accused the Democratic Party of taking advantage of black Americans for their votes. The community has received very little in return, Burns said. The statement somewhat echoed Trumps own pitch to black voters: What the hell do you have to lose?

Burns also defended Trumps claim that our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape theyve ever been in before, a statement which drew fire for seeming to ignore Americas history of slavery and segregation.

For us to keep going back and discussing what happened 400 years ago, it is horrible, Burns said. Lets talk about whats taking place today. There are injustices in this country, and we do need to deal with them, but we need to deal with them as Americans.

Burns also said that America does not own slavery. He pointed to the African continents own history of slavery.

Before we even landed here in America, it was other African slaves that enslaved other African slaves, he said. It wasnt the white man that chased after slaves in Africa, he added.

Burns spoke at the Republican National Convention, and he frequently defends Trump when the GOP nominees provocative comments spark a national firestorm. But he did concede that Trump could have handled two recent controversies better: his early morning Twitter rant against former Miss Universe Alicia Machado and his threat to make former President Bill Clintons infidelities a campaign issue.

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If I was advising him as a pastor, I would have him take the higher road, Burns said of the two issues.

Burns ended the interview by comparing Trump to Winston Churchill, the celebrated British prime minister who led his country through World War II.

Hes really the Winston Churchill of today because we are literally at war, Burns said. Were at war externally, against ISIS, and then were having a major racial division within our own country.
ROME  Turkey is exiting the European Unions Creative Europe program which supports the arts, including film and TV  a surprise move that comes as relations between the Turkish government and the E.U. become increasingly strained.

In 2015, Turkey joined the ranks of non-E.U. member countries allowed to tap into Creative Europes 1.46-billion-euro fund ($1.56 billion) to support culture and the arts between 2014 and 2020. Creative Europe incorporates the E.U.s Media Program, which subsidizes production, promotion, and distribution of film, TV, and video content.

The European Commission regrets Turkeys decision and the fact that Turkish cultural and audiovisual operators will miss future opportunities for cooperation with their counterparts in the E.U., an E.U. spokeswoman. Although this is unfortunate, the commission respects the sovereign decision of Turkey.

The withdrawal, now under negotiation between the E.U. and the Turkish government, is to be effective from Jan. 1, 2017.

According to Turkish daily Haberturk, the pullout is in response to a concert, supported by Creative Europe and performed in April by Germanys Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra, in commemoration of the Armenian genocide.

Turkey rejects use of the word genocide to describe the killings of more than a million Armenians and other Christian minorities by Ottoman Turks during the 1910s. The issue continues to be a sensitive one for modern Turkey: In June, the German parliaments symbolic resolution declaring the killings a genocide sparked an angry reaction from the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

More recently, in the wake of the July 15 failed coup in Turkey, tensions between the E.U. and Ankara have worsened, partly because E.U. officials have criticized Erdogans heavy crackdown against the coups alleged plotters and sympathizers.

To date, an estimated 2.4 million euros ($2.6 million) has been allocated by Creative Europe to support Turkish films and cultural projects, including the Istanbul Film Festivals Meetings on the Bridge co-production forum. It is unclear whether Turkeys pullout from Creative Europe will also affect the countrys membership in European co-productions fund Eurimages, which is overseen by the Council of Europe, not by the European Union.

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In any event, the withdrawal is a blow to the Turkish film industry since producers, distributors and fest and film market organizers will not be able to tap into the Media Programs soft money. It also symbolically weakens their ties with Europes creative community.

It is a very unfortunate decision, said Basak Emre, co-director of Festival on Wheels, which promotes Turkish films. Many artists and cultural institutions will be affected. But we do not know the details of this decision yet, she noted.

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Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish police on Tuesday raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all its transmissions while it was live on air.

In dramatic scenes, police raided the IMC TV headquarters and stopped broadcasts despite protests by staff who thronged the studio, its own live pictures showed.

The channel was one of several outlets ordered closed last week under Turkey's controversial state of emergency imposed in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

The state of emergency has since been extended by another three months from October 19.

The order has also affected 12 other television channels, which have been forced to cease their broadcasts on charges of links to groups deemed to threaten Turkey's national security interests and support terror.

Rather being accused of supporting the July 15 coup, they are charged with broadcasting "terror propaganda" for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Activists have repeatedly warned that the state of emergency could be used for crackdowns beyond the coup suspects.

IMC TV's management has rejected the accusations and called the order a "massive breach of freedom of speech and freedom of the press," saying such actions have no place in a democracy.

It had already been taken off air by Turkey's largest satellite operator on the grounds of broadcasting "terrorist propaganda."

But the television broadcaster had remained on air until Tuesday through the Hotbird satellite and internet broadcasts.

Dozens of staff crowded the news studio in a final show of defiance before broadcasts were cut, chanting "free media will not be silenced" and applauding their management.

Images showed engineers from the authorities physically removing cables from the control room to ensure all broadcasts were cut.

Internet transmissions were subsequently disabled although viewers could still catch the channel's final moments broadcast by the employees on their private Periscope accounts.

The closure has come at a time of growing concerns for press freedom in Turkey in the wake of the coup, with several prominent journalists under arrest.

IMC TV, which was founded in 2011, has a strong pro-Kurdish tilt but broadcasts in Turkish and also focuses on women's, leftist and environmental issues. It has always denied being linked to any organisation.
As the Opposition demanded evidence of the surgical strikes, the BJP hit out at them for questioning the bravery of the Indian Army.

The BJP has come under fire from opposition parties for trying to use the surgical strikes to win votes in Uttar Pradesh after huge banners were put up in various cities praising Central government and the army for the retaliation.

By Mail Today Bureau: A smash-mouth debate and low-grade demagoguery torpedoed days of rare political unity over the Army's surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads in PoK last week as opposition leaders on Tuesday demanded proof of the raid even as members of the ruling BJP ratcheted up the rhetoric.

KEJRIWAL CLARIFIES ON TWITTER, NIRUPAM CALLS OPERATION FAKE



While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to clarify that he had sought evidence of the military action to counter Pakistani propaganda, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam termed the operation "fake" and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using it for political benefits.

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"BJP, I'm convinced that strikes took place," the AAP chief tweeted. "But intl media publishing Pak propaganda that no strike took place. Lets expose Pak propaganda."

Also read: Stop asking for evidence of surgical strikes: Put India above politics



Indian officials announced last week that soldiers had struck terrorists who were planning to infiltrate into the country from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, an operation that came in response to an attack on an army base in J&K's Uri sector last month, which left 19 personnel dead.

"Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP," tweeted Nirupam. "Politics over national interest."

BJP QUESTIONS PATRIOTISM OF THOSE SEEKING PROOF OF STRIKE

BJP leaders joined the political slugfest with jingoistic remarks and questions over the patriotism of those seeking proof and information about the strikes.

"Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about the surgical strikes they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan," union minister Uma Bharti told reporters in Pune.

CONGRESS DISTANCES ITSELF FROM NIRUPAM'S COMMENTS



Fearing a backlash, the Congress distanced itself from Nirupam's comments, days after its vice-president Rahul Gandhi hailed the Prime Minister for ordering the surgical strikes. Party chief Sonia Gandhi too had backed the government on the issue.

Also read: Evacuation of Punjab border towns post Uri has become a battle for votes



"Congress dissociates itself from Nirupam's remarks and has taken a serious note," said party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. "It's time for the government to expose Pakistan's malicious propaganda. The evidence should be made public." The BJP hit back at rival party leaders for raising doubts about the Army operation and playing into Pakistan's hands.

"Mr Kejriwal, you need to know, today you are the headline in Pakistani media," said union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. "Politics is separate but please don't do or say anything whereby our armed forces feel let down."

CENTRE DELIBERATING IF VIDEOS OF STRIKE CAN BE SHARED

Government sources said that not only were the surgical strikes part of a "flawless" operation, the "clinical decimation" of terrorists across the LoC was also recorded by Indian Army commandos with their helmetmounted cameras. The Centre is mulling if these videos and other evidences can be shared with top leaders of some political parties.

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Doubts expressed in India over the raid have been lapped up by the Pakistan army which has been trying to prove that the surgical strikes never took place. The Pakistani media too highlighted how an Indian chief minister had raised questions.

The development came days after the Pakistan army took international journalists to the Line of Control to show that there were no telltale signs of an Indian strike.

CONGRESS CLAIMS STRIKES HAPPENED DURING ITS TENURE TOO

After the Modi government was hailed for its decisive action, the Congress went on the offensive claiming that such army action had taken place during its tenure as well.

Senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said the Modi government had got into a "chest-thumping mode", while former union minister P Chidamabaram stated that the armed forces had carried out such operations in the past too.

The Congress reaction came in response to attempts by BJP leaders to appropriate credit for the Army action.

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"Indian troops were like Hanuman who did not quite know their prowess before the surgical strikes," defence minister Manohar Parrikar had said. "The surgical strikes gave our forces an idea of what they were capable of doing."

Posters have come up in various cities hailing Modi for his decisive leadership, with key state elections slated for next year. The BJP has also decided to "expose" those who have raised doubts about the operation, with the party vowing to take this campaign to every district in the country.

Also read:

Pakistan flies international media to LoC to prove denial of India's surgical strikes, and fails

Congress leadership condemns Sanjay Nirupam's comment, says no doubt about surgical strikes

BJP attacks Arvind Kejriwal, P Chidambaram for asking for proof of Army's surgical strikes



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By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July's failed coup. The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, were suspended because of their suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the coup attempt, which led to the deaths of more than 240 people. The suspensions were ordered hours after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing President Tayyip Erdogan's powers to govern by decree at least until January. The emergency extension, which parliamentary is likely to wave through, means Erdogan can take decisions without oversight of the Constitutional Court, Turkey's highest legal body. As well as suspending five percent of the entire police force, the authorities detained 33 air force officers in raids across the country, the private Dogan news agency reported, and the transmission of TV station IMC was cut following accusations of spreading "terrorist propaganda". State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the Interior Ministry's headquarters had also been removed from their posts, although no explanation was given. Since the July 15 insurrection, Erdogan has taken steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 arrested. The government says its aim is to rid institutions of links to Gulen, whose organisation it calls a terrorist network. One of the police officers suspended on Tuesday, a 26-year-old man, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in a park in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Dogan reported. SYRIA OPERATIONS The relentless crackdown has caused consternation among Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups, who fear Erdogan is using the unsuccessful coup as a pretext to curtail any dissent, while at the same time intensifying his moves against suspected Kurdish militants and sympathisers. On Tuesday evening, the armed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a Turkish military outpost in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, in Diyarbikar province, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, the local governor said. "An attack has been made by the divisive terrorist organisation on military personnel," the governor's office said in a statement, using the usual terminology to describe the PKK. In August, Turkish forces launched an offensive into northern Syria in support of rebels fighting against Islamic State, creating a security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border that also appears designed to push Kurdish militia away. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the YPG Kurdish militia, which is backed by the United States, was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State and said Turkish forces were prepared to go after Kurdish fighters in the same way. "We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus," he said, referring to Islamic State. Ankara fears Kurdish militants fighting for greater autonomy in Turkey could benefit from turmoil in the region. In a further sign of the government's desire to move rapidly to quell domestic opposition, Yildirim said the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to prosecuting those accused of backing the coup. "One of the main goals is shortening the time it takes to prosecute people," he said. "We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly." While Turkey cracks down at home and expands its footprint in Syria, it also wants the United States to extradite Gulen so he can be prosecuted on charges that he masterminded the failed insurrection. On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Gulen's brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relative's house. Several of Gulen's relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15. Erdogan's security clampdown may be bolstering his own authority but it has had economic repercussions, with credit ratings agencies downgrading the country's debt to "junk" and the lira weakening against the dollar. On Tuesday, Yildirim lowered the growth outlook for 2016, saying the economy was likely to expand 3.2 percent, well below an original 4.5 percent forecast, while inflation for the year is set to hit 7.5 percent. (Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July's failed coup. The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, were suspended because of their suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the coup attempt, which led to the deaths of more than 240 people. The suspensions were ordered hours after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing President Tayyip Erdogan's powers to govern by decree at least until January. The emergency extension, which parliamentary is likely to wave through, means Erdogan can take decisions without oversight of the Constitutional Court, Turkey's highest legal body. As well as suspending five percent of the entire police force, the authorities detained 33 air force officers in raids across the country, the private Dogan news agency reported, and the transmission of TV station IMC was cut following accusations of spreading "terrorist propaganda". State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the Interior Ministry's headquarters had also been removed from their posts, although no explanation was given. Since the July 15 insurrection, Erdogan has taken steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 arrested. The government says its aim is to rid institutions of links to Gulen, whose organization it calls a terrorist network. One of the police officers suspended on Tuesday, a 26-year-old man, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in a park in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Dogan reported. SYRIA OPERATIONS The relentless crackdown has caused consternation among Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups, who fear Erdogan is using the unsuccessful coup as a pretext to curtail any dissent, while at the same time intensifying his moves against suspected Kurdish militants and sympathizers. On Tuesday evening, the armed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a Turkish military outpost in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, in Diyarbikar province, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, the local governor said. "An attack has been made by the divisive terrorist organization on military personnel," the governor's office said in a statement, using the usual terminology to describe the PKK. In August, Turkish forces launched an offensive into northern Syria in support of rebels fighting against Islamic State, creating a security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border that also appears designed to push Kurdish militia away. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the YPG Kurdish militia, which is backed by the United States, was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State and said Turkish forces were prepared to go after Kurdish fighters in the same way. "We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus," he said, referring to Islamic State. Ankara fears Kurdish militants fighting for greater autonomy in Turkey could benefit from turmoil in the region. In a further sign of the government's desire to move rapidly to quell domestic opposition, Yildirim said the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to prosecuting those accused of backing the coup. "One of the main goals is shortening the time it takes to prosecute people," he said. "We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly." While Turkey cracks down at home and expands its footprint in Syria, it also wants the United States to extradite Gulen so he can be prosecuted on charges that he masterminded the failed insurrection. On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Gulen's brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relative's house. Several of Gulen's relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15. Erdogan's security clampdown may be bolstering his own authority but it has had economic repercussions, with credit ratings agencies downgrading the country's debt to "junk" and the lira weakening against the dollar. On Tuesday, Yildirim lowered the growth outlook for 2016, saying the economy was likely to expand 3.2 percent, well below an original 4.5 percent forecast, while inflation for the year is set to hit 7.5 percent. (Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
The Erdogan regime in Turkey has suspended 12,801 police  including 2,523 police chiefs  it accuses of having links to the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for a failed coup in July.

According to Reuters, the suspension comes after the Turkish government extended the state of emergency for another three months.

Around 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police and judiciary have been fired or suspended since July, while some 32,000 people have been arrested for their alleged roles in the failed uprising, Reuters reports.

Rights groups fear that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup attempt as a pretext for cracking down on all forms of dissent and to persecute suspected Kurdish militant sympathizers.

Erdogan has repeatedly called upon the Obama Administration to extradite Gulen. However, Gulen, whose spiritual teachings have amassed a large following in Turkey and Central Asia, has denied any connection to the coup, calling the allegations insulting.

The spiritual leader has been living in self-imposed exile in the small town of Saylorsburg, Pa., since 1999.

[Reuters]
NEWS BRIEF President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suspended nearly 13,000 police officers over suspected links to Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric Turkey says is responsible for the July 15 coup attempt.

The news comes hours after Turkey extended its state of emergency for another three months, a move that gave Erdogan full power over parliament since five days after the coup attempt, in which members of the military tried to take over the government. The suspensions amount to about 5 percent of the countrys entire police force. A statement from Turkish police, translated by Al Jazeera, said the government said the suspended officers have been assessed to have communications or links to the Gulenist Terror Organization, identified as a threat to national security.

Gulen is accused of leading a campaign to overthrow Erdogans government by setting up what the government calls a parallel state. The movement, the government says, has infiltrated the military, police, and judiciary.

Recommended: Which Republicans Oppose Donald Trump? A Cheat Sheet

Turkey also suspended several dozen air-force officers, as well as workers in the Interior Ministrys headquarters, and closed a TV station for spreading terrorist propaganda. Since the coup attempt, Turkey has suspended about 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, and at universities from their jobs for suspected ties to Gulen, who has denied any links to the coup attempt. The government has also arrested more than 32,000 people.

Erdogan has repeatedly asked the U.S. to extradite Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Gulen says he will not receive a fair trial if judged in Turkey.

Erdogans critics believe he has used the coup as an opportunity to crack down on his political opposition. Before the coup, Erdogan was often accused of trying to silence critics, and he has since taken advantage of the state of emergency to close down dozens of media outlets. Opposition parties have asked Erdogan to return to parliamentary government, but Erdogan has said the state of emergency could last up to a year.

Story continues

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday Turkey's military was capable of removing the Kurdish YPG militia from northern Syria "just as it did Islamic State", and warned of new sectarian clashes in Iraq after a planned offensive on Mosul. Speaking in parliament, Yildirim said Turkey's operations in Syria would continue until "all terrorist groups" around the city of Al-Bab were eradicated and said the Kurdish militia was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State. He said U.S.-led plans for an assault on the Iraqi city of Mosul were not clear and that there was a risk Mosul could become the scene of new sectarian clashes after any operation to remove Islamic State from the area. (Reporting by Gulsen Solaker and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Luke Baker)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police raided the offices of broadcaster IMC TV and cut its transmission on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said, after the station was pulled off the air last week over allegations of 'spreading terrorist propaganda'. Dozens of journalists and employees stood inside the TV studios and clapped in protest at the halt of the broadcast, which came a day after Turkey extended a state of emergency for another three months. Istanbul-based IMC, which devotes much of its coverage to the militant insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast, is among 20 television and radio stations operated by Kurds or the Alevi religious minority banned last week by Turkish authorities, based on a government decree. (Reporting by Emin Caliskan; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Luke Baker)
By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief told Russia on Tuesday that air strikes on civilian targets in the Syrian city of Aleppo may amount to crimes against humanity which could be brought before the International Criminal Court. High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said initiatives to resolve the situation in besieged, rebel-held eastern Aleppo should include proposals to limit the use of the veto by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. This would enable major powers to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court, a step previously blocked by Russia and China. "Such a referral would be more than justified given the rampant and deeply shocking impunity that has characterized the conflict and the magnitude of the crimes that have been committed, some of which may indeed amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity," Zeid said in a statement. In New York, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin dismissed Zeid's proposal, telling reporters: Its not his responsibility to discuss veto powers. "Unfortunately my good friend has been overstepping the limits of his responsibilities quite a bit and this is unfortunate. The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. When asked how Russia viewed the suggestion of limiting the veto rights of permanent Security Council members, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Negatively". Last week Peskov said the Russian air force would continue to support Syrian government troops and that what he called the "war on terror" would continue. Russia is the main military backer of President Bashar al-Assad. Zeid said Syria's government and its allies attacked targets protected by international law, including medical units, aid workers and water-pumping stations. BANNED BY TREATY He said that dropping indiscriminate incendiary weapons in heavily populated areas was particularly concerning, as well as being banned by a treaty that Russia is bound by. He compared Aleppo to the World War Two battles of Warsaw and Stalingrad and the attack on Dresden, and said calling the enemy a "terrorist organization" was not an excuse to ignore the laws of war. The rebels' use of inaccurate "hell-fire cannons", homemade mortars that fire gas cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel, was also totally unacceptable, he said. The World Health Organization said that between Sept. 23 and Oct. 2, 342 people had been killed in eastern Aleppo, including 106 children, and 1,129 had been wounded, including 261 children. Those figures were based on reports from functioning health centers and the true figures were probably much higher, spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said. "As of yesterday, we have now only six partially functional hospitals that are in service, only one hospital that offers trauma care services," Chaib told the briefing. WHO still hopes to be able to evacuate sick and wounded from Aleppo, she said. The Syrian government has yet to respond to a U.N. plan for aid convoys in Syria during the month of October, U.N. spokesman Jens Laerke said. (Reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay, additional reporting by Jack Stubbs in Moscow and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Angus MacSwan)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's remarks telling U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and saying he could get weapons from Russia and China seem at odds with the warm relationship between the Philippine and U.S. people and the record of cooperation between the governments, the U.S. State Department spokesman said on Tuesday. "We've already spoken to this sort of rhetoric," John Kirby said when asked about Duterte's comments on Tuesday. "Frankly, it seems at odds with the warm relationship that exists between the Filipino and American people and the record of important cooperation between our two governments, cooperation that has continued under the Duterte government." (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Just a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stood triumphantly in the Caribbean resort town of Cartagena and heralded the signing of a landmark peace accord between Bogota and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as a big moment and a historic day for Colombia.

But that was before voters defied nearly every pollster, pundit, and politician in a razor-thin referendum that rejected the deal Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez signed after almost four years of negotiations.

The surprise vote marked a staggering setback for Santos, who gambled his political career on winning the referendum and ending the half-century war with the leftist separatists. But the decision also dealt a blow to the United States, which spent years aiding a military offensive against the FARC rebels and then backed painstaking talks that led to the historic agreement.

Privately, U.S. diplomats blamed Santoss failed messaging campaign and overconfidence for the massive setback. Publicly, the State Department sought to maintain hope for Santos as he tries to salvage the elusive peace agreement.

Colombia can count on the continued support of the United States as it continues to seek democratic peace and prosperity for all Colombians, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

Santos is vowing to keep a cease-fire in place, and on Monday dispatched his top negotiators to Cuba to continue talks with FARC leaders. He also launched a listening tour to engage with political opponents and strengthen a deal that Colombians rejected as amnesty for an armed rebel group that hijacked planes, enlisted child soldiers, and terrorized the population through decades of murders and kidnappings.

Kirby said the United States supports Santoss efforts for a broad dialogue as the next step towards achieving a just and lasting peace.

Needless to say, this is not how Washington envisioned the end of Latin Americas longest-running conflict.

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One U.S. diplomat involved in Latin America said Santos didnt do enough to promote the deal to Colombian voters in laymans terms. The diplomat added that Santos became too complacent after polls predicted an almost 2-to-1 margin of victory for the peace agreement, which allowed 7,000 FARC militants to reintegrate into society and establish a political party. Rebels also agreed to provide material compensation for victims, among other concessions. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that heavy rains in pro-Santos districts probably depressed voter turnout.

Many also credited Santoss former boss and current political rival, former President Alvaro Uribe, with leading a grassroots effort to discredit the deal as an injustice for the FARCs victims. Seizing on a provision in the 297-page agreement that allotted 10 seats in Congress for the FARC and protected many rebels from jail time if they confessed to their crimes, the former president stoked a wave of opposition to the accord through social media without a fraction of the governments resources.

This is a big victory for Uribe and his Centro Democratico Party, one congressional aide said Monday. Santos obviously underestimated the hatred that exists for the FARC and the anger at the notion that they would not face all that much justice.

Experts accused Uribe of exploiting voters ignorance and exaggerating the governments concessions to the FARC.

Disinformation, particularly within the social media networks, was pervasive, and misrepresentations of what the accords did or didnt say were virtually impossible to correct, said Virginia Bouvier, senior advisor for Latin American Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Though both the government and the FARC vowed to avoid a return to armed conflict, it remains unclear how a deal can be repaired. And thats a problem for the United States, which isnt merely an observer to the 52-year-old conflict.

In the past 16 years, the United States has poured $10 billion into Colombia, much of which was earmarked for helping Colombian authorities defeat the rebels and eradicate their lucrative and illicit drug trade.

In a sign of Americas often-fraught involvement in the conflict, last weeks signing ceremony in Cartagena was originally slated to take place in New York during the U.N. General Assembly. With scores of world leaders standing by, the goal was to project a sense of international euphoria over the agreement days before the referendum. But the plan was scrapped at the last minute due to logistical problems, including the Justice Departments opposition to allowing the FARC leaders, who are wanted on charges of terrorism and drug dealing, to enter the country.

The Obama administration has long viewed a peace agreement as a major legacy-building opportunity. In February 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Bernie Aronson as special envoy to the conflict to help mediate between both sides. Aronson, whose claim to fame is helping to broker an end to El Salvadors 12-year war in the early 90s, has been credited with helping Bogota and the FARC overcome a number of obstacles, and in particular the issue of what to do with FARC rebels who committed gross human rights violations.

In confronting the thorny issue, Aronson tapped Notre Dame law professor Douglass Cassel, an expert in international humanitarian law, who helped devise a deal exempting rebels from prison time if they confessed to their crimes. While that has been cited as instrumental in forging an agreement with the FARC, it is also a key source of the deals unpopularity with voters.

Juan Carlos Garzon, a Wilson Center expert, said one way to break the impasse is to renegotiate the deal with the inclusion of Uribes Centro Democratico Party. In the past, the CD proposed refashioning the deal to include stiffer punishments for the FARC and limiting the participation of the guerrillas in official government politics. While concessions of that nature could be possible, its unclear how long the negotiations will take.

The revision of the accords can take several weeks or continue for months, even years, Garzon said.

For advocates of a peace deal, time is not on their side, he noted.

With the current political atmosphere, the peace deal can be salvaged, but with substantive modifications, he said. In the meantime, there is a lot of uncertainty that can affect the capacity of the FARC to maintain the cohesion of the group, the governance of President Santos, and the support of the international community.

Asked Monday if Aronson would attend this weeks talks in Havana to hash out a new peace settlement, a U.S. official declined to discuss future travel plans.

Well stand by the government and the people of Colombia as they work through this, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters Monday. She noted that difficult decisions will need to be taken in the days ahead.
HANOI (Reuters) - Two U.S. warships made port calls at Vietnam's strategic naval base at Cam Ranh Bay, the U.S. navy said on Tuesday, in a brief but symbolic return for U.S. combat vessels to what was a crucial logistics complex during the Vietnam War. Submarine tender USS Frank Cable and guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain made the visit on Sunday to the deep-water naval base, marking an important step in fast-growing defense ties between the two former enemies. The visit came after the full lifting of a U.S. embargo on trade in lethal arms with Vietnam in May as part of President Barack Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward Asia. At the same time, tension has been rising over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, straining ties between Vietnam and its giant neighbor China. Vietnam has been intensifying efforts to diversify relations in Europe and Asia and engage more with the United States. Cam Ranh is the jewel in the crown of Vietnam's military, with an air base once used by the U.S. and Soviet forces and a deep water bay home to its modern, Russian-built submarines. Visits by foreign ships are rare and usually reserved for maintenance. Japanese and French warships have recently made port calls at Cam Ranh. Established as a base by the United States during the Vietnam War, Cam Ranh Bay had been used largely by Russian forces since then. The John S. McCain visited nearby Danang city before sailing to Cam Ranh Bay, the U.S. Navy said. (Corrects first two paragraphs to remove erroneous references to 21-year milestone.) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Alison Williams)
BJP leader Sushil Modi has attacked Bihar govt over granting of bail to suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav by Patna High Court. Ballabh is an accused in a rape case.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has attacked the Nitish Kumar government over granting of bail to suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav by the Patna High Court. Ballabh Yadav was released on bail a couple of days ago.

CRIME COMMITTED



Ballabh is accused of raping a minor girl in February this year had surrendered in court after evading arrest for about a month earlier this year. A speedy trial is taking place in the case in Nalanda.

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Modi alleged that the RJD MLA's bail from the court was stage-managed.

BALLABH YADAV'S RELEASE SHOCKING: BJP



"The release of Shahabuddin and Raj Ballabh Yadav from jail have exposed the Nitish Kumar government. It is clear that the state government has helped both the criminals get bail from the court", alleged Sushil Modi.

Also read: Magistrates deputed to keep eye on Shahabuddin's visitors in Siwan jail



Upping the ante, Modi said though the state government had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the granting of bail to Raj Ballabh Yadav, it had not shown any urgency so that the matter could be taken up by the Supreme court at the earliest.

"Bihar government has not appointed a strong lawyer to challenge Raj Ballabh's bail in the Supreme Court. Why did the government not file an appeal in the apex court for urgent mentioning of the petition," the BJP leader asked.

BALLABH CLOSE TO LALU



Modi said Raj Ballabh Yadav was close to RJD President Lalu Prasad and therefore the Bihar government did not put up a strong case in the High Court to see to it that he was not released from jail. He said despite the RJD's suspending Raj Ballabh, the party was standing strongly behind him.

Also read: Former RJD MP Shahabuddin fears for his life from Bihar government



"I want to ask Nitish Kumar why the state government did not tell the High Court that Raj Ballabh was not a law-abiding person and therefore, he should not be granted bail. Now that he has been released on bail, Ballabh Yadav will destroy the evidence against him in the case", said Sushil Modi.

Modi also alleged that the rape accused RJD MLA was a financer of Lalu Prasad and therefore, the RJD president was also maintaining silence over the issue.

--- ENDS ---
By Tom Arnold and Stanley Carvalho

DUBAI/ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Ride-hailing service Uber is under pressure in Dubai, one of the Middle East's major markets, after the emirate's transport regulator signed an agreement with local rival Careem and warned other such firms that they must do the same.

Under the deal between Careem and Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), announced on Tuesday, Careem's customers will be able to book all of the 9,841 taxis and 4,700 limousines operating in the emirate through the company's app.

Currently, Careem users in Dubai, a city of about 2.5 million people, can only choose from a few thousand limousines which it offers through its app.

"Any e-hailing service that wants to continue working in Dubai must sign an agreement with us. Why? To have control of tariff and to have control of safety," RTA director-general Mattar al-Tayer told Reuters.

He said other ride-hailing services would have to sign similar agreements with the regulator by next March to continue operating.

The requirement is a further challenge to Uber in the United Arab Emirates. Its services in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, bordering Dubai, have been suspended since August in an apparent dispute with authorities there. Careem also halted its Abu Dhabi services in late August but resumed them a few days later.

Uber, which has an valuation of around $69 billion, has expanded aggressively to more than 450 cities since 2009, fighting a series of battles with local regulators.

REGIONAL RIVALRY

Dubai's RTA and Careem did not reveal the pricing details of their deal, but said it would involve no additional costs for customers. Launched in Dubai in 2012, Careem has emerged as Uber's fiercest rival in the Middle East and North Africa, and claims over 4 million registered users.

"This does give us access to a much bigger fleet of cars, so we believe it gives us a significant advantage over competitors," Careem's co-founder and managing director Mudassir Sheikha said of his deal with the RTA.

Story continues

In a statement to Reuters on Tuesday, Uber said it had been in discussions with the RTA for the last two years on how it could make Uber more available to riders in Dubai.

It did not say explicitly whether it would be willing to sign a deal similar to Careem's, but it complained that Dubai's regulations required it to price its rides 30 percent above taxi fares -- a very large gap by international standards.

"This has prevented us from offering the same level of service, and long-term solutions, as seen by riders in over 450 Uber cities around the world," Uber said.

A source familiar with the issue said Uber was also concerned by the RTA's plan to set up a platform to integrate data from ride-hailing services in Dubai, which could create security and privacy risks.

Launched in Dubai by Sheikha and fellow McKinsey & Co alumnus Magnus Olsson, Careem raised $60 million last November through an investment led by private equity company Abraaj Group.

The company counts Saudi Arabia's Al Tayyar Travel Group as its largest investor and has also received backing from STC Ventures, an independently managed venture capital fund that has the Saudi Telecom Company as anchor investor.

Uber, in which a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund bought a $3.5 billion stake in June, said last year that it planned to invest $250 million to expand in the Middle East and North Africa.

(Editing by Andrew Torchia/Keith Weir)
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp

Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp after two-plus years of marriage in May 2016, and their split was contentious from the start. What ensued was three months of He said, she said battles in the press ? and courtroom. The actress alleged she was a victim of domestic violence, and claimed that Depp had substance-abuse issues. His side alleged Heard was lying because she wanted more money than she was entitled to. In the end, Heard received a $7 million settlement and dismissed her domestic violence restraining-order petition against Depp. Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love, the couple said in a joint statement. Heard pledged to donate the settlement money to charity; however, Depp beat her to the punch and gave the funds directly to two charities she had chosen. Her team blasted Depp for this tactic, saying it was simply for tax deduction purposes. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
London (AFP) - Eurosceptic UK Independence Party was thrown into turmoil on Tuesday as its leader Diane James quit, citing "personal and professional reasons" for stepping down just 18 days after her election.

"It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign," James said in a statement published on her Twitter account.

"For personal and professional reasons, therefore, I will not take the election process further," she added, explaining she would not formalise the leadership process with the UK Electoral Commission.

James said she would continue her work as a UKIP member of European Parliament, dampening earlier speculation that she would also be resigning from her EU role.

The Times newspaper said James felt shaken after being spat at on a train last week and was additionally reluctant to lead UKIP without assurances about the party's funding.

Media reports had earlier suggested she had decided to step down due to her husband's ill health.

UKIP Chairman Paul Oakden said he received confirmation of James' resignation "with regret", adding he would call an emergency meeting of the party's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to make preparations for a new leadership contest.

"Whilst the decision is unfortunate, it is one that Diane is entitled to make. We thank her for all her work as leader, and as a hard working MEP, a role she will continue with her customary vigour," Oakden said.

Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim tweeted that he had spoken to James before news of her resignation and "could sense unease".

The media reaction in Britain focused on the brevity of James' reign, with The Telegraph running a clock counting the time, to the second, since the UKIP leadership election.

-Farage rules out a comeback-

Story continues

James, 56, was elected leader on September 16 to replace Nigel Farage -- one of the best-known faces of the "Brexit" campaign -- who quit following Britain's shock vote to leave the EU, saying his life's ambition had been achieved.

Farage co-founded the party in 1993, growing it into Britain's third biggest party by the number of votes cast at last year's general election.

The anti-EU party won 12.6 percent of the vote in the 2015 election, though it only has one MP to show for it under Britain's first-past-the-post system.

James won the leadership with 8,451 of the 17,970 votes cast.

In her acceptance speech at UKIP's conference in September, James said the party would confound its critics.

"We are going to outwit our opponents, we are going to build on our election success that we have achieved to date and do more," she said.

She previously served as the party's home affairs spokeswoman and is a former pharmaceutical industry executive.

Ahead of her election as UKIP leader a September poll by YouGov found just eight percent of respondents knew who she was.

Her departure raises the prospect that Farage could make a comeback, although he has ruled out such a move.

"Not for ten million dollars," he told the Press Association.

Another possible replacement could be MEP Steven Woolfe, UKIP's migration and financial affairs spokesman.

Bookmakers named the duo among the favourites to replace James, with Ladbrokes listing odds of 10/1 for Farage and 1/2 for Woolfe.

Woolfe was controversially barred from the recent leadership battle for submitting his application 17 minutes late. He blamed computer problems for the delay.

Speaking following the decision in August, Woolfe said he was "extremely disappointed" and branded the NEC "not fit for purpose".

Three members of the NEC resigned in protest at the exclusion of Woolfe.
EXCLUSIVE: It felt as though we were dropped on Mars and our job was to make something happen. Here is the trailer for The Uncondemned, a documentary about a group of international lawyers and activists who travel to Rwanda t0 take on the arduous task of prosecuting rape as a crime against humanity. Written by Michele Mitchel who also co-directed with Nick Louvel, the film centers on the groups fight for the first conviction and the courageous Rwandan women who came forward to testify. A theatrical release is set for October 21.

A synopsis: In 1997, the young men and women at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found themselves inexplicably in charge of the first case of genocide in history. Underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed, they faced incredible hurdles as they pursued their first case against a small town mayor. Crimes of war and against humanity had not been prosecuted since 1946, and surviving witnesses feared for their lives. And then, based on a last minute revelation, the prosecuting team amended the charge to include rape. Three heroic women would overcome their fears and shame to speak for all those who could not.

Check out the trailer and the films official poster.

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Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - After days filled with lofty speeches, Britain's political party conferences take on a very different feel at night, when alcohol flows freely at gossipy parties stretching into the small hours.

In one of the stories of debauchery that are a staple of the events, outgoing UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage went swimming in his underwear at his party conference after a drinking session last month.

At the Conservative Party's conference in Birmingham, central England, Britain's departure from the European Union has been the talk of the town this year -- often over French, Spanish or Italian wine.

The festival atmosphere helps smooth out some of the glaring divisions between Conservatives that emerged during a bitter campaign ahead of Britain's shock vote in a June referendum to quit the European Union.

"The most important thing is that people are getting along, are not allowing any divisions to affect anything at this conference. It's a genuine environment," added Aric Gilinsky, a 25-year-old Conservative supporter who works in banking.

"Networking happens everywhere," said Gilinsky as he chatted to friends outside Birmingham's luxury Hyatt Regency hotel -- a hub of networking and political chat during the four days of the conference.

Party loyalists in black tie and cocktail dresses crowd the hotel's bars and a pile of empty beer bottles on the piano grows as the night wears on.

The revellers earlier in the evening were at a "Beers of Europe" event hosted by the think tank Open Europe and a pub reception featuring performances of traditional sea songs sponsored by a ports operator.

The Brasshouse, a red-brick pub along one of Birmingham's famous canals, was heaving with young Conservatives pushing to get to the bar.

"It's good to have young people in the party," said Aaron Watkins, a smartly-dressed 25-year-old, who works in online marketing and is also a local councillor in eastern England.

Story continues

- PM not a big drinker -

Party conferences used to be held in faded seaside resorts like Blackpool, where popular nocturnal attractions included a seaside light show and Funny Girls, a nightclub featuring drag acts.

Early in David Cameron's coalition government from 2010, ministers tried to avoid being photographed sipping champagne at the party conference as they imposed biting austerity cuts on Britain's economy.

But champagne -- or at least sparkling wine -- is now back on the menu for thirsty guests at many receptions.

But in recent years, they have moved to major provincial cities like Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, which offer conference facilities and plentiful hotel rooms in a more modern setting.

It is not just the Conservatives who like a tipple after a hard day listening to choreographed addresses.

Late-night drinking is a fixture at all of Britain's party conferences, reflecting a wider, lingering alcohol culture in politics.

There are around a dozen places where MPs and staff can drink around London's Houses of Parliament, even with more female MPs, the introduction of family-friendly hours and a 24-hour news media means they are less crowded than in the past.

May, who became prime minister in July, made a virtue of the fact that she was no big drinker during her pitch for the leadership.

"I don't gossip about people over lunch. I don't go drinking in parliament's bars. I don't often wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me," she said in June.

She has limited herself to a few low-key appearances at evening receptions in Birmingham.

For most of the ordinary activists, party conferences are a chance to rub shoulders with politicians and journalists at receptions sponsored by think-tanks, pressure groups or companies.

Particularly for younger ones, nursing a hangover over a cup of coffee the next morning is as much of a ritual as debating Brexit or grabbing a selfie with their favourite MP.
After two months of undercover work posing as Burger King employee at a location suspected to be the site of drug dealing, Officer Nicole Fair made her bust: five grams of marijuana, two morphine pills, and two arrests.

Fair charged Tommy Lee Miller, 23, and Jonathan Brook Moser, 28, with distribution and possession with the intent to distribute.

The 9 Most Memorable Crimes That Went Down at Fast Food Restaurants

After coming to the force in July, Fair was asked to go undercover, as she wasnt yet well-known in Thurmont, Maryland, The Frederick News-Post reported.

It is less common, because we live in a small, tight-knit community where people know one another, Chief Greg Eyler said on the prevalence of undercover investigations in Thurmont. In this case, Eyler was able to use Fairs new face to his advantage for the covert operation.

Some locals were less than impressed with Fairs work and took to social media to voice their opinions. One person tweeted, What an insane waste of taxpayer dollars. This police department should just be disbanded.

Fair responded: I was hired to help and protect the community of Thurmont, and that was what I was doing. You hear about all the drug problems were having here and elsewhere and, whether its marijuana or something else, were really feeling the effects of it. To be able to do something to directly address that, especially being a new officer, was extremely rewarding.
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Talk about a lucky escape.

Cameron Timms, 14, had a very close encounter with a freshwater crocodile that bit him last Thursday, while he was swimming with his family at Moonshine Gorge in Western Australia.

SEE ALSO: Woman scares away deadly crocodile with her flip-flop

"We were just standing in a group (in the water) and I was swimming through the middle when all of a sudden I felt something on the side of me," Timms told The Kimberley Echo.

Fortunately Timms wasn't badly injured, only suffering puncture wounds to his elbow and stomach. "I realised I was bleeding, I went into a bit of shock and didn't know what was going on," he said.

Timms unintentionally managed to capture the crocodile swimming near him and his family with his GoPro camera, although he didn't capture the attack itself.

Timms' father, Mark, told ABC News they felt something while swimming but it was only after the incident they realised it was a crocodile.

"Cameron felt it bump him and then, I don't know, not very long after his elbow hurt a little bit, and had a look and it was bleeding and so he hopped out and his stomach was bleeding a little bit and his elbow had quite a lot of blood coming out of it," he told the news outlet.

It's somewhat unusual behaviour from a freshwater crocodile, which are usually "shy and quick to flee from human disturbance," according to the Australian Museum.

Although it is less dangerous than the saltwater crocodile, its freshwater cousin is known to bite humans if it is approached too closely. *wincing intensifies*
While the world has been inundated with photos and reports about Syrian President Bashar al-Assads brutal and unrelenting siege on Aleppo, reports over the last week about the murder and injuries of children are even more staggering, serving as further proof that the international community must pursue more aggressive means to respond to what the United Nations has long called war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Oct. 3, the United States announced it was suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia, a welcome step after Russias blatant bad faith efforts and complicity in Assads brutality. But much more is needed, in light of the dire circumstances in Aleppo. The United States should lead a serious effort to establish a multinational no-fly zone for Aleppo.

According to UNICEF, almost 100 children were killed and 223 children seriously wounded during a recent five-day period, as the Syrian and Russian governments continued their onslaught of Aleppo. These are not children killed at the hands of a deranged killer or radical extremists, rather children murdered by their own government with complicity of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Assads siege has also targeted hospitals, thus leaving the injured with only limited possibility of finding basic care. UNICEF also reports that children who have low chances of survival are often left to die due to limited capacity and supplies. Assads breach of the recent ceasefire and the Syrian and Russian bombing of a humanitarian convoy decimated any hopes of relief, even one that might come in a relatively small dose.

The international community can no longer allow this complete disregard for humanitarian law, human rights, and human decency to continue unanswered. The United States must put teeth into U.N. Ambassador Samantha Powers words calling the situation in Aleppo soul-shattering, barbarism and grotesque, and Secretary of State John Kerry naming it inexcusable. Words are no longer sufficient to push back on Assad and Putins brutality, and to lend any credibility to an international system that is remiss in protecting innocent children.

A U.S.-led effort to establish a no-fly zone for Aleppo would offer some relief to besieged populations, but equally important it would send a signal that the international community will not sit by idly as Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin flout international law. Allowing a dictator to mercilessly kill his own most vulnerable citizens and then block international efforts to provide basic relief shows the international community, and by extension international law, as feckless and sets a devastating example for other dictators who would similarly brutalize their opponents and innocents.

And though it may still be far off in the future and despite the fact there is no political solution in sight, it is worth thinking ahead: There will eventually be an end to this conflict and the process of rebuilding a nation is made even more difficult by the growing record of increasingly brutal abuses with impunity. A generation is being lost to the ravages of war.

The United States must show leadership on this issue, but it cannot advance this alone. It should speak to both the moral obligation and direct interests of both European and Arab nations to see the carnage in Aleppo addressed. These nations are on the front line of receiving refugees fleeing the conflict, and have a moral stake in seeing such bloodshed of children and other vulnerable people ended. The French and Spanish-led U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for an end to all flights over Aleppo is a positive sign, and offers a great starting point for reinvigorating a discussion about a no-fly zone, a conversation that has continued on and off over the past several years in Europe. Germany has more recently sent mixed signals about a no-fly zone, with Chancellor Angela Merkel opposing the idea and her foreign minister supporting it. Merkel had been a supportive voice in earlier discussions about a no-fly zone, and could be encouraged to reinvigorate her leadership of Europes moral obligation for those suffering at the hands of Assads brutal regime.

Former CIA Director and Commander of U.S. Central Command General David Petraeus has made clear that establishing a no-fly zone is doable in the current conditions. And credible actors on the ground, including White Helmet head Raed al-Saleh, have called on the international community to establish such a no-fly zone.

This is naturally not a panacea to the entire Syrian conflict. Nor would this address all of the forces that are committing civilian deaths in Aleppo. But if the international community is unwilling to act until it has a full or perfect solution to the entire conflict or every threat, it is giving a green light to Assad and Putin to take any actions it sees fit until that solution is found. And ultimately giving these two leaders such leeway will make a political solution even more difficult to reach than it already is. Allowing Putin and Assad to gain the upper hand militarily, through a so-called counterrrorism campaign that includes opposition figures and innocent people, diminishes the likelihood that Russia and Syria will feel any need to come to the table in good faith and likewise significantly lessens the possibility that opposition actors will trust any international process led by actors who were unwilling to stand up to Assad and Putin on something as foundational as their aggression against innocent civilians. The international community can no longer afford to be frozen in the face of the most egregious violations of humanitarian and human rights standards while it wades through the serious difficulties of reaching a political settlement.

A no-fly zone offers a possible path to ameliorating the massive suffering in Aleppo, to pushing back on blatantly illegal international action, and to mobilizing more international action on Syria. It will require steady-handed leadership in Washington, European capitals and New York, driven by a profound moral obligation to protect vulnerable populations, a commitment to international law and human rights, and a pragmatic view on how this complicates the long-term resolution of this conflict.



Photo credit: GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images
Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj assures Pakistani girls, in India to participate in a youth festival in Chandigarh, of safe return.

By India Today Web Desk: While India and Pakistan have been fighting it out on all possible platforms, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj is wining hearts of people from across the border.

The minister was contacted by Aliya Harir, convenor of the peace forum Aghaze Dosti -- an India-Pakistan friendship initiative -- who expressed her concern over her team's safe return to Pakistan in the wake of its worsening ties with India.

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To this, Swaraj's response was heartwarming. In her tweet, she said there are no borders for daughters, and they belong to all; their security is of utmost importance to her.

A group of 19 girls had come to India to participate in the Global Youth Festival in Chandigarh on September 27. They were scheduled to return on October 4. The girls were provided with security, but their parents' fearing for their safety wanted them to return as soon as possible.

Extremely overwhelmed. Spoke to @SushmaSwaraj ji who assured that Pakistani delegation of #GYPF2016 will reach Pakistan back safe. Aliya Harir (@AliyaHarir) October 1, 2016

Aliya - I was concerned about your well being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain. https://t.co/9QyeMQfRwy Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 3, 2016

On October 1, Harir spoke with Swaraj who assured her that the girls will return home safely.



ALSO READ: Sushma Swaraj comes to aid of stranded British couple, extends visa

Known for helping out people in distress and responding to their queries on social media, here's another gesture from her that shows humanity has no borders.

A few weeks ago, Swaraj had fast-tracked the passport formalities of a five-month-old baby after his father, a Singapore-based Kashmiri man, sought the minister's help on Twitter.

ALSO READ: Sushma Swaraj meets Pakistani refugee Madhu, helps her get admission into school



--- ENDS ---
Nippon Otis Elevator Company ("Nippon Otis") had recently completed the acquisition of Schindler Elevator K.K.s ("Schindler Elevator") elevator and escalator service business in Japan. Nippon Otis is the Japanese subsidiary of Otis, an operating segment of United Technologies Corporation UTX. Schindler's elevator and escalator business in Japan comprises two companies - Schindler Elevator, with approximately 380 employees and Mercury Ascensore Ltd. ("Mercury"), a multi-brand maintenance service provider with approximately 220 employees. The financial aspects of the transaction remain under wraps.

Per the transaction, Nippon Otis acquired complete ownership of Mercury to form a new entity titled Otis Elevator Service Company ("OESC"). OESC will be the exclusive Original Equipment Manufacturer ("OEM") provider of Schindler equipment in Japan, which will retain its identity and operate as a separate company to fulfill its societal obligations.

This deal will enhance Otiss foothold in Japan. The company will work together, utilizing the technical expertise of Schindler Elevator to ensure that its customers continue to receive best-in-class services, while improving growth opportunities for its employees.

Otis is the worlds largest elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and servicing company. It serves customers in the commercial and residential property industries around the world. The company is seeking potential acquisitions to achieve aggressive revenue targets and regain its strong growth momentum.

Otis has secured three valuable contracts over the past two months in China. Such contracts and acquisitions will help the company augment its bottom-line growth.

Otis is likely to procure more such prime contracts in the near future, given its focus on innovation and expansion. Since it is already one of the most trusted elevator and escalator companies in the world, its sustained R&D focus will also help enhance top-line growth.

Story continues

UTX TECHS CORP Price

UTX TECHS CORP Price | UTD TECHS CORP Quote

The company offers its services to over 200 countries and territories. Alongside, it maintains more than 1.9 million elevators and escalators worldwide.

United Technologies, the parent company of Otis, currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include Raven Industries Inc. RAVN, Sumitomo Corporation SSUMY and Barloworld Ltd. BRRAY, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

Raven has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 10% and is currently trading at a forward P/E of 46.1x. Its share price has increased by approximately 49.8% year to date.

Barlow has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 7% and is currently trading at a forward P/E of 9.7x. Its share price has increased by approximately 4% year to date.

Sumitomo has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 5% and is currently trading at a forward P/E of 11.5x. Its share price has increased by approximately 8.7% year to date.

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U.S. light-vehicle sales dropped 0.7% year over year to 1.43 million units in Sep 2016, per Autodata. This is the fourth of the nine reported months this year in which sales declined. Moreover, sales on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) basis fell to 17.74 million units in the month from 18.04 million units in Sep 2015. Nevertheless, SAAR for September was higher than 16.97 million units in Aug 2016. Product segments like light trucks continued to record strong sales.

General Motors Company GM was the leader in terms of sales volume for Sep 2016. Among the six major American and Japanese automakers, only Toyota Motor Corporation TM and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. NSANY recorded year-over-year sales improvement last month.

Now, let us take a look at the U.S. sales figures reported by individual automakers.

U.S. Automakers

General Motors recorded 249,795 vehicle sales in September, marking a 0.6% year-over-year decrease. Retail sales improved 0.3% to 204,449 units.

Ford Motor Co. F reported a 7.7% decrease in U.S. sales from the year-ago period to 204,447 vehicles in Sep 2016. Sales volume of the Lincoln brand vehicles advanced 1.3% year over year to 8,797 units in the month. Sales of the Ford brand declined 8.1% year over year to 195,650 vehicles.

FCA US LLC  controlled by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCAU  recorded a 1% year-over-year fall in sales to 192,883 vehicles in Sep 2016.

Japanese Automakers

Toyotas sales improved 1.5% year over year to 197,260 units in Sep 2016. Sales at the Toyota division increased 1.4% to 171,459 units. Lexus sales moved up 2% to 25,801 units.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC recorded a 0.1% year-over-year drop in sales to 133,655 vehicles in the month. Sales in the Honda Division improved 1.5% to a September record of 120,842 units. However, sales at the Acura Division fell 12.9% to 12,813 vehicles.

Nissan reported a 4.9% year-over-year rise in sales to 127,797 vehicles in September. Sales in the Nissan division increased 4.3% to 116,384 units, while sales at the Infiniti Division surged 11.7% to 11,413 units.

Story continues

Outlook

Many analysts believe that U.S. auto sales are reaching a plateau. In the nine months ended Sep 2016, sales inched up a mere 0.3%. This, combined with the declining sales in the last two months, makes it uncertain if 2016 volumes will be able to surpass the record levels of 2015.

Even if the 2016 tally falls short of 2015, volumes will still be very high, making it a good year for the auto industry.

High employment levels, rising personal income, low fuel prices and easy availability of credit are some factors that have been driving sales. Moreover, the high average age of cars on the U.S. roads should continue to boost replacement demand for cars. However, the pressure to maintain the attractive incentives and deals may strain the margins for automakers.

Auto-Tires-Trucks Sector Price Index

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Washington (AFP) - US agencies are considering "diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options" to deal with the crisis in Syria, an official said Tuesday, while stressing the need for a "political resolution."

Top US security and foreign policy chiefs are to meet Wednesday to review their options to present to US President Barack Obama, after abandoning attempts to work with Russia to impose a truce.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed that some military options might be discussed, but said Secretary of State John Kerry is still working hard to pursue the diplomatic track with allies.

"Just because we've temporarily suspended the cooperation that we had bilaterally with Russia on Syria doesn't mean that we've closed any doors on multilateral action," Toner said.

US officials say that any new economic sanctions on Russia or Syria would be more effective if applied internationally. Senior US and European officials will meet on Wednesday in Germany.

"We're examining closely our approach going forward," Toner said of the internal US government debate in Washington.

"And in that regard, the departments/agencies are discussing diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options, and we'll all have these discussions going forward.

"But essentially our view remains the same," Toner said. "Our stress is still on a political resolution."

US forces are deployed in Syria and Iraq leading an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group, but the White House has resisted pressure to be drawn into the Syrian civil war.

Russian forces are there backing Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad's forces in their battle against the rebels, some of them supported by the US.

Last month, a US-Russian effort to broker a ceasefire collapsed amid mutual recrimination and Assad's forces backed by Russian air power launched an assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

Toner said Washington had walked away from the deal with Russia "with frustration, outrage and sadness," but said it was impossible to pursue it while Russian forces target Syrian civilians.
Brussels (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Tuesday that Washington was still seeking peace in Syria, but said it had dropped ceasefire talks with Russia because of "outrage' over Moscow's support for the regime.

Kerry accused Moscow of turning a "blind eye" to the use by President Bashar al-Assad's forces of weapons including chlorine gas against rebels and civilians in Syria.

"I want to be very, very clear to everybody, we are not giving up on the Syrian people, we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said in a speech in the Belgian capital Brussels.

"We are not going to leave the multilateral field, we are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war", including through the United Nations or through smaller groups of countries.

The United States on Monday said it had suspended two-way talks with Moscow on reviving a truce in Syria as Russian-backed government forces pressed on with an onslaught on rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo.

"Believe me, we did not come lightly" to the decision to abandon the talks with Russia, Kerry said.

He launched a withering attack on Moscow for its "irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised decision" to support Assad.

"We acknowledge in sorrow and, I have to tell you, with a great sense of outrage that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assad's deplorable use of these weapons of war that he has chosen -- chlorine gas, barrel bombs against his people," Kerry said.

"Together the Syrian regime and Russia seem to have rejected diplomacy in furtherance of trying to pursue a military victory over the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals, the traumatised children of a long-suffering land.

"People who are serious about making peace behave differently from the way Russia has chosen to behave."

He added however that the United States and Russia had not suspended "deconfliction" communications between their respective militaries in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.

Russia did not immediately react to Kerry's comments.

But Moscow blamed the United States for the agreement's collapse, saying Washington had never been able to separate rebels on the ground from the jihadist group Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate.
Washington (AFP) - A US soldier was killed by a bomb blast Tuesday while on foot patrol during counterterrorism operations in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said it was his "understanding" that no other US personnel or Afghan troops were wounded in the attack in Nangarhar province, noting that it did not appear the American was specifically targeted.

"The servicemember was killed conducting operations with Afghan forces when the patrol triggered an improvised explosive device," US Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement.

"The mission was conducted as part of a larger United States-Afghan counterterrorism mission targeting the Islamic State, Khorasan."

The Pentagon withheld the servicemember's identity, pending notification of family members.

"Despite this tragic event, we remain committed to defeating the terrorists of the Islamic State, Khorasan Province and helping our Afghan partners defend their nation," said General John Nicholson, who heads US forces in Afghanistan.

Nangarhar province is a hotbed of Islamic State group activity near the border with Pakistan. The soldier died in the province's Achin district.

US and NATO forces are working with Afghan partners to battle the Taliban and other groups.

About 2,300 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.
David Thouless

David Thouless, a British-born professor emeritus at the University of Washington, has been awarded half of this years Nobel physics prize for untangling the topological mysteries of superconductors, superfluids and other weird materials.

Over the last decade, this area has boosted front-line research in condensed matter physics, not least because of the hope that topological materials could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in todays announcement of the award.

The other physicists named as Nobel laureates are Princetons Duncan Haldane and Brown Universitys Michael Kosterlitz. The Nobel Prize committee allocated half of the $930,000 (8 million Swedish kronor) award to Thouless, with the other half to be shared by Haldane and Kosterlitz.

In work that goes back to the early 1970s, Thouless and Kosterlitz showed that superconductivity  a phenomenon that greatly reduces electrical resistance in materials at cold temperatures, step by step  could occur even in thin layers of material.

Thouless eventually laid out a theory that explained how superconductivity arose as a quantum phase transition, by turning to a field of mathematics known as topology.

Topology looks at surfaces in broad terms, categorized by the number of holes in the surface. During todays announcement, a member of the prize committee, Thors Hans Hansson, held up a cinnamon bun (no holes), a bagel (one hole) and a fat pretzel (two holes) to demonstrate the difference.

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Thouless theory linked the stepwise increase in superconductivity to the way that atomic-scale analogs to those holes arise as a conducting material is cooled. The theory explains the quantum Hall effect, which applies not only to superconductors but also to ultra-cold superfluids.

Meanwhile, Haldane showed that topological principles could explain the behavior of chains of small magnets found in some materials.

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The scientists work helped pioneer the field of condensed matter physics, which focuses on the weird properties of super-cold materials. Writing for the American Institute of Physics Inside Science News Service, physicist Yuen Yiu said that topological insulators, superconductors and metals are the hottest research fields in condensed matter physics today.

There is great expectation that the theories developed by the Nobel laureates will guide improvements in electronics and superconductors, as well as futuristic quantum computers, and perhaps something not even conceived yet, Yiu wrote.

However, Kosterlitz told The Associated Press that the work is still mostly in the theoretical realm.

Ive been waiting for my desktop quantum computer for years, but its still showing no signs of appearing, he said. At the risk of making a bad mistake, I would say that this quantum computation stuff is a long way from being practical.

Thouless, 82, was born in the Scottish town of Bearsden, earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University and became a professor at the UW in 1980. He won the prestigious Wolf Prize for physics in 1990. Thouless retired in 2003, but retained his emeritus status on the faculty. The university said Thouless recently moved back to Britain with his wife and would not be available for interviews due to medical reasons.

In a statement, UW President Ana Mari Cauce said Thouless work was a perfect example of why curiosity-driven basic science is so vital.

Not only did his discoveries open up entirely new fields of research, but they also have had implications for the electronic devices that power our world today and those that may do so in the future, she said.

Todays physics announcement in Stockholm follows Mondays award of the Nobel Prize for medicine to Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi for his research into the process by which cells break down and are recycled. The chemistry prize is to be announced on Wednesday, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize and the awards for economics and literature.

The Nobel Prize was established by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, with the first prizes awarded in 1901. In addition to the money, laureates will receive gold medals and certificates during the annual prize ceremonies in December.

Congratulations to @UW's David Thouless! With fellow @NobelPrize laureates he "opened the door on an unknown world" https://t.co/Y8ILpk7CGE  Ana Mari Cauce (@amcauce) October 4, 2016

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Politics

Veep debate: Pence, Kaine prepare to make the case for their candidates

After a dramatic week of beauty queens, sex tape allegations and tax leaks, tonights vice presidential debate could feel like a throwback to simpler times. In what will be the only direct clash between the pair of low-key career politicians, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will try to carry forward a fresh burst of Democratic momentum while Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seeks to steady Donald Trumps White House bid after one of the Republicans worst stretches of the race. Pence and Kaine seem unlikely to dramatically change the way voters view the top two, who are among the most well-known figures in the country. Still, the nationally televised debate will be a spotlight opportunity for the longtime politicians to introduce themselves to Americans, energize party loyalists and potentially sway the shrinking pool of undecided voters.

Given the polarizing nature of the two major-party nominees and the incredible attention paid to each of them, the vice presidential debate in 2016 may be even more of a sideshow than it normally is. Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia Center for Politics

The 90-minute showdown at Virginias Longwood University will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News. While last weeks first presidential debate was watched by a record-setting television audience of 84 million people, Tuesdays contest is expected to have smaller viewership given Pence and Kaines lower profiles in the campaign. While the presidency may not be won or lost tonight, both vice presidential contenders come into the debate with a job to do. For the earnest and easygoing Kaine, that means defending Clintons character and reputation, her Achilles heel throughout the campaign. And it means blocking any attempts by Pence  an equally genial politician  to make Trumps controversial statements and policy proposals seem more palatable.
Los Angeles' exceedingly hip hood Venice - the stomping ground of Maria Bello, Irene Neuwirth and Fiona Apple, immortalized in shows like Flake and Californication - is notorious for being nearly devoid of hotels. The town's insular, locals-only vibe is one reason for this. But the Venice-based luxe bedding and bath company Parachute Home is, with a delicate touch, changing that.

On Tuesday the brand founded by CEO Ariel Kaye, which opened a showroom-slash-shop on Rose Avenue earlier this year, will debut The Parachute Hotel, a single penthouse - on the same popular street - that's available for overnight stays for $600/night. The 2,200 square-foot space with a "Venice safari" theme is also expected to be booked for private events, intimate dinners and photo shoots.

Nicole LaMotte

Parachute started as an online-only presence, but Kaye says she always had her eye on bringing the brand offline. After the showroom-store, she says "The Parachute Hotel was the natural next step - it's an immersive, home-like space for our community to experience our home essentials and enjoy the Parachute lifestyle." Indeed, it's filled with Parachute's fine long-staple Egyptian and Turkish cotton sheets and towels, for example, as well as custom home furnishings, locally sourced amenities and artwork by Cindy Zell and Lauren Williams.

Those who stay and lust after the Katy Skelton Safari Bench ($1,910) - one of Kaye's favorite pieces - are able to purchase it. Same goes for the bed frame by Chris Earl, and the Citizenry accessories. The hotel is fully shoppable. It was designed by Scott Horne and Peter Dolkas, whom Kaye first connected with when they began styling Parachute photo shoots during the past year. They "capture the sophisticated neutrality and modern simplicity of Parachute," she tells Pret-a-Reporter. They also were indispensable partners in curating pieces for the space, each of which Kaye says "was carefully considered. The design partners were hand-selected because they share Parachute's core tenets: quality and craftsmanship."

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Nicole LaMotte

Of course, it wouldn't be L.A. without a strong focus on indoor-outdoor living. The penthouse features a giant folding glass wall that opens to a beautiful patio. "The space completely transforms when it's open," says Kaye. "I love how this feature blends inside with outside - we intentionally designed the patio to feel like an extension of the living and dining rooms."

And making it feel more like a hotel, the penthouse comes with concierge services. Room service is offered in the form of food delivery from local restaurants, and guests get discounts at local gyms, cafes and spas. Kaye is also providing her visitors with another important amenity: local insider recommendations. On her list: Moon Juice (one block away), Rose Cafe, Wallflower and Cafe Gratitude, whose matcha and turmeric lattes she says fuels the Parachute team.

The Parachute Hotel, 538 Rose Ave., Venice; parachutehotel.com

Read more: Jerry Weintraub's Power Hub for Sale: Inside the Mansion Where Clooney and Pitt Planned 'Ocean's Eleven'
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Rama Mohan Rao has written to Sashi Shekar, Secretary of Union Water Resources, urging him to withdraw the plea, which states that the Cauvery Management Board can't be constituted presently.

By Pramod Madhav: Rama Mohan Rao, Chief Secretary to Tamil Nadu government, has written to Secretary of Union Water Resources Sashi Shekar, urging him to withdraw the Interlocutory Application, which states that the Cauvery Water Management Board can't be constituted presently.

Rama Mohan Rao said, "The Government of Tamil Nadu has consistently been urging the Government of India for the constitution of a permanent mechanism, namely, the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee for the effective implementation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal as envisaged in that order."

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Also read: Karnataka relents after Supreme Court rap, releases Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu



INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATION



He said that he has come to know that the Government of India had filed an Interlocutory Application (I.A) in the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 3rd October seeking modification to the order dated 30.9.2016 which said that the Cauvery Management Board could not be constituted at present. He stated that the I. A. filed by the Government of India was against the assurance given by the learned Attorney General to the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Rama Mohan Rao explained that the Tamil Nadu government was unable to understand what caused this sudden reversal in Government of India's stand.

Rama Mohan Rao said, "In the circumstances, I request you to kindly take action to withdraw the I.A. filed by the Government of India forthwith and constitute the Cauvery Management Board on or before 4th October, 2016, as directed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated 30.9.2016 and render justice to Tamil Nadu."

Also read: Cauvery water dispute: Karnataka's U-turn after inflow in reservoirs increased



AIADMK MPs MARCH TO PMO



Meanwhile earlier today, as many as 49 AIADMK MPs, led by party leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai marched towards PM Modi's office to present a petition requesting his intervention for creating the Cauvery Water Management Board.

--- ENDS ---
Viacom says this morning that its networks, including Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and BET, will be carried by AT&Ts planned DirecTV Now streaming service  an apparent break for the programmer at a time when investors are questioning the prospects for its services.

The companies didnt disclose financial terms, but say that Viacoms premiere networks will run on the platform AT&T plans to introduce by year end. The list also includes VH1, Spike, CMT, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., and Logo.

The diversity of content makes Viacom Networks programming a great fit, says AT&T Chief Content Officer Dan York.

The companys new service will enable users to access and stream live and on-demand programming on mobile devices or in the home.

CEO Randall Stephenson told an investor group last month that DirecTV Now will offer more than 100 channels at a very, very aggressive price. For AT&Ts wireless customers your data cost will be incorporated into your content cost.

The telco chief added that the company used its clout as the largest domestic television provider to secure low prices from programmers. Even so, profit margins on DirecTV Now will be thinner than what were accustomed to.

The announcement may reassure Viacom investors somewhat. Its networks have been losing eyeballs and ad dollars, which seemed to make them vulnerable when distributors are crafting so-called skinny bundle programming packages designed to appeal to cost-conscious consumers. Some small cable operators including Suddenlink and Cable One have dropped Viacom, and said that it helped their bottom line.

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Farmville (United States) (AFP) - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's running mates snatched the spotlight for the White House race Tuesday, preparing to face off in their only debate of the campaign with the US elections just five weeks away.

Polls show Democrat Clinton gaining in the wake of a punishing week for her Republican rival Trump, who was hammered by controversies over his taxes, his charitable foundation and treatment of women.

The candidates' understudies -- Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence -- will take center stage Tuesday evening when they do battle before a national television audience that likely will be the largest to date in their careers.

For many Americans, it will be their first prolonged exposure to the men who would be next in line for the presidency if their side wins on November 8.

Kaine, 58, is an affable senator from Virginia whose liberalism stems in part from his Catholic faith and experiences as a volunteer working in poor communities in Central America.

Pence, 57, is the Christian conservative governor of Indiana, as modest and polite in style as Trump is brash and insulting.

Both will want to convince undecided voters that their bosses are worthy of the Oval Office.

Pence's job will be to reassure Republicans at a time when Trump is mired in difficulties, many of his own making.

Pence will aim to be a "calming influence" on conservatives nervous about Trump, according to Joel Goldstein of Saint Louis University School of Law, a leading authority on the vice presidency.

"His challenge is to steady the ship, convince the American people that there is some adult supervision, some adult presence there, and to appeal to conventional Republicans," Goldstein told AFP.

Weighing heavily against the New York billionaire are a mediocre performance in his first debate with Clinton, followed by revelations of a $916 million loss in 1995 that may have meant he paid no taxes for several years, and criticism of his demeaning treatment of a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado.

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His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway promised a "fiery" Kaine-Pence debate.

"I think you'll see in Mike Pence somebody who is able to defend Donald Trump the running mate, but at the same time take the case right to Hillary Clinton," she said on CBS.

Pence, who spent a dozen years in Congress, is known for his discipline. He has prepared intensively for the debate, unlike Trump, who did little to practice for his September 26 encounter with Clinton.

"We expect them to throw a lot of mud," said Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook, ahead of the debate in Farmville, Virginia.

"It's going to be very interesting to see how Mike Pence responds to questions about Trump's behavior in the last week," he added, also speaking on "CBS This Morning."

Defending Trump has become second nature for Pence: he's had to put out fires on multiple occasions over the past months.

When Trump became embroiled in a bitter feud with the family of a Muslim-American army captain killed in Iraq, it was Pence who put out a statement hailing Humayun Khan as an "American hero."

- Reassurance -

Besides reassuring voters turned off by Trump's volcanic temper, Pence must attack Clinton while pushing a larger theme of change -- something many Americans say they want -- and laying out the Republican agenda.

Trump himself framed the showdown in similar terms at a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona hours before the event.

"The debate will be a contrast between our campaign of big ideas and bold solutions for tomorrow, versus the small and petty Clinton campaign that is totally stuck in the past," Trump said.

But Trump has also warned that he will be "live tweeting the VP debate," potentially overshadowing his running mate during his moment in the sun.

Kaine, who served as Virginia's governor from 2006 to 2010, appears to have the easier task.

Since the first presidential debate, support for Clinton has risen to 44.3 percent against 40.6 percent for Trump, according to an average of recent national polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.

Kaine's role so far has been to attack Trump, and he will no doubt seek to force Pence into owning the controversial rhetoric of his running mate.

But Kaine too will likely be forced into defending Clinton, for using a private email server as secretary of state, as well as in other controversies that have undercut her trustworthiness among voters.

While the two men are seen as disciplined and far less blemished than Clinton and Trump, vice presidential clashes can be unpredictable, even though they rarely move the needle.

"Vice presidential debates often can be freewheeling, with so much ground to cover," Goldstein said.

Americans will have a second round of presidential debates on Sunday to look forward to. The format will be a bit different, with candidates fielding questions put to them by people in the audience.
The first debate of 2016s general election was a made-for-TV blockbuster that drew a record audience. Absent a dramatic and out-of-character meltdown, the running mates clash, scheduled for Tuesday night in rural Virginia, is going to be anything but.

In fact, almost half of Americans cant even tell you the names of the dutiful vice-presidential hopefuls. If they keep doing their jobs, that wont change and the focus of the evening will stay on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. As in a restaurant, youll remember the boldest element on the plate, not the side dish. They are the mashed potato, the steamed broccoli, the plain rice.

After all, the first rule of VP nominees is that they dont overshadow the top of the presidential ticket. Big wattage VP picks are generally a drag. (Just ask John McCain about his choice of Sarah Palin in 2008.) So far, this years pair has accomplished the task of flying low with aplomb, especially since the nominees this year are two of the most famous people in America.

In fact, these candidates are doing such a good job of going unnoticed that we will be able to preview this debate without mentioning their names until the very last paragraph, and it wont affect this story at all.

Why? Because VP debates generally dont matter. Theyre auditions to become constitutional understudies in a role that one of FDRs Vice Presidents described as not worth a warm bucket of spit.

With the notable exception of Lloyd Bentsens famous youre no Jack Kennedy retort against Dan Quayle during 1988s VP debate, there have been seldom moments that break through the noise of the general election. Even then, the loser of that memorable jab went on to serve four years as George H.W. Bushs Vice President. Bentsen went back to chairing the powerful Senate Finance Committee  no harm done to either.

Strategists for both camps this year see a common goal. Do no damage. Give no voter a reason to cast a ballot against the presidential nominee you support. Minimize any differences with your running mate  even when there are serious ones on policy and personality alike. Survive 90 minutes of live TV and get back on the trail focused on keeping the parties bases engaged.

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Such skills won prime consideration when Clinton was picking her No. 2. She explicitly did not want to look up from one of her briefing books to see a voter on TV expressing regret that Clinton was in the top slot instead of the VP one. (Hence, no Elizabeth Warren.) Theres about as much chance of that happening these days as anyone out-Trumping Trump.

Its the same for Trump. He has own corps of supporters who can go on TV to make the case for his candidacy. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has shown no shame in making the case for Trump. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama are also firmly in the mind-set to justify Trumps unconventional behavior. Trumps running mate doesnt need to lend his voice to that discordant chorus, and has on occasion released statements that, as gingerly as possible, made clear he would have said things differently. For instance, where Trump refused to release his taxes, his could-be governing partner released his.

Clintons running mate, meanwhile, is 8-0 in elections. He is a skilled evader of awkward moments, courtesy of his aw-shucks dad-isms. Hes an affable Senator from Virginia, a former governor of his state, an ex-Democratic National Committee chairman and civil rights lawyer. But he knows how to make the attack with a smile, all but insulating him from charges of playing dirty as he flashes his charm and smile.

Hell be facing someone who is equally no slouch. A former member of House Republicans leadership team and a former talk-radio host, the governor of Indiana knows how to communicate with his partys conservative and Evangelical bases. He has been practicing for months, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a pal, standing in for the man Clintons campaign is sending to spar.

In some ways, the debate is an ultimate version of network-TV greenroom: two supporters of presidential nominees debating the records and ideas of people who couldnt be there, with the public largely indifferent to the experiences of those who are on stage. Both campaigns would be happy if talk never turned to the running mates at all. Clintons team is dreading questions about how Catholicism runs counter to capital punishment. Trumps team likewise would be fine if moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS News never cites the Bible in a question.

Democratic running mate Tim Kaine and his GOP counterpart, Mike Pence, are slated to have their sole debate on the campus of Longwood University, starting at 9 p.m. If theyre successful, they will not change the results of an ABC News poll that found 41% of Americans cant identify Pence as Trumps VP pick, and the 46% cant link Kaine with Clinton.
Vice Media's Viceland had "a lackluster" start in the U.K., an analyst said in a Tuesday report, citing audience data for the first two weeks from U.K. measurement organization BARB.

The Sept. 19 start of the linear TV channel in Britain, exclusively on Sky, "followed six months after a similarly underwhelming entrance into the U.S.," Enders Analysis' Tom Harrington wrote in a report.

"Judging a new channel on its ratings when it's just out of the blocks is extremely premature," said a Vice representative. "Looking at Viceland in the U.S. after six months, the average audience age dropped by nearly 20 years, its audience is growing week by week, and our programming is Emmy nominated. In the coming months we expect to mirror the same success here in the U.K. as well."

In the 9 to 11 p.m. time slot, when Viceland U.K. premieres new programming, such as Big Night Out and Black Market, live and viewing on the same day as live in the target demographic of 16- to 34-year-olds "was noticeably higher than older groups, but still miniscule," according to Harrington. He cited a high of nearly 10,000 viewers in the demo in the first two weeks in the late evening slot.

Viceland U.K.'s overall peak audience reached close to 14,000 in the 9 to 11 p.m. slot slot in its first two weeks, but "on a number of days, zero live viewers were recorded," Harrington said.

"It is surely early days, but despite strong content, initial results were predictable, considering the challenges," he said. "Currently being only on Sky, the channel can be reached by less than half of its desired 16-34 demographic, a group that reduced their viewing by 24 percent between 2010 and the first half of 2016."

Read more: Shane Smith: Selling Vice to Disney "Makes Sense for Us"

He added: "With such challenges, for a channel creating original content, the first two weeks of live viewing figures for Viceland U.K. were, predictably, extremely low." He also highlighted the "inaccuracy surrounding small viewerships" inherent in BARB data. Critics have often said that BARB doesn't measure young audiences well.

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Observers also pointed out that on some nights, Viceland U.K.'s 16 to 34 demo audience was bigger than that of such established channels as MTV, Spike, E! and DMAX. And in the early going, the network's reach outperformed that of A+E Networks' free-to-air channel Blaze, which launched in Britain the same week as Viceland, according to an analyst.

Plus, as part of the multiplatform marketing push around the U.K. channel launch, nearly 3 million people in Britain have watched four full episodes of Viceland content across platforms, according to another data point.

Harrington also had some positives to discuss. "From a content perspective, the outlook is rosier, with the quality of the original programming - and the prospect of more of it - mirroring Vice's domination of video in its youthful, curious space of the internet," he wrote. "American programming like Black Market and the Ellen Page-hosted, Emmy-nominated Gaycation are simply, in their scope and bravery, unlike anything currently on the U.K. linear schedule. And the British content, starting off with the hypnotically absorbing The UK Census suggests that the in-house production unit at Vice HQ in Shoreditch are able to make long-form content."

Harrington's conclusion: "Early viewing figures suggest that thoughtful content does not guarantee an audience. And there is little to suggest that Vice, despite a reputation for being able to reach the most sought after demographic, the 16-34s, has little by way of an edge over any of the more established television operators."

When first U.S. ratings came in for A+E upstart Viceland, the news was also mixed. Total viewership was down from the highs of retired predecessor H2. Premiere telecasts, however, were faring better. Plus, the average age of the Viceland audience was 17 years younger than that of H2 in the early going, with the median viewer age down to 40. Premiere episode audiences of roughly 100,000 viewers aged 18 to 49 put Viceland programming between softer first-run cable fare like Showtime's Dice and IFC's late Maron in terms of early linear appeal.

Read more: Viceland Pulling Half of H2's Ratings  But Skewing 17 Years Younger
Silky-voiced communist propaganda broadcaster "Hanoi Hannah", famous for urging American GIs to leave her country during the Vietnam War, has died at age 87, friends said Tuesday.

The radio presenter, whose real name was Trinh Thi Ngo, was among dozens of Vietnamese journalists drafted by the communist regime to inundate the country with anti-US rhetoric during the conflict that ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon and America's defeat.

"GI, your government has abandoned you. They have ordered you to die," she said in one of her on-air appeals in English during the draining war.

"Don't trust them. They lied to you, GIs, you know you cannot win this war."

In daily broadcasts on state-run Voice of Vietnam (VOV) from the northern capital Hanoi, Hannah would list the names of American troops killed in combat, read US newspaper articles about anti-war protests and lull listeners with Joan Baez and Bob Dylan tunes.

She rarely spoke of Vietnamese losses or American successes in her broadcasts, which were carefully controlled by the communist authorities.

Hannah died Friday at her home in Ho Chi Minh City, according to VOV.

"Hanoi Hannah was clearly one of the most prominent broadcasters we had in history of the Voice of Vietnam and the country in general," said Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, a former journalist at VOV's English service.

"She will be remembered for her legendary voice in broadcasts targeting American servicemen. Her influence on Vietnam's success against the US was huge," Thuy added.

Hannah joined VOV at the outset of the war, recalling in her memoir a desire to make a difference to the war effort.

"I thought it was time for me to do something to contribute to the revolution," according to an excerpt reported on VOV.

Hannah went on to work for Ho Chi Minh City Television after the war and was reclusive in her final years, rarely speaking to the press.

The Vietnam War, still called the American War in the country today, ended with the fall of the southern capital more than four decades ago at the hands of communists forces.

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The southern capital was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the country's independence icon who died before the war's end.

At least 2.5 million soldiers from Vietnam's communist North and US-allied South died in the conflict, along with three million civilians, according to official figures.

On the American side, more than 58,000 soldiers lost their lives, while some estimates say more Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than died in fighting -- although the figures are disputed.

Relations between the former wartime enemies have warmed in recent years, with many English-speaking Vietnamese youngsters eagerly embracing American culture.

US President Barack Obama visited the country in May, lifting the wartime-era arms embargo and celebrating close ties with its former foe.
By Ginger Gibson and Alana Wise FARMVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - Jay Fortner, a truck driver who hauls construction material around Virginia, is putting his faith in Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to revive rural America, including the small town of Farmville where he lives. "We used to have nice jobs, nice factories, but they went to Mexico and other places where it was cheaper for the products to be made, Fortner, 59, said on a recent afternoon while loading shopping bags into his car at the local Wal-Mart. Farmville, a town of 8,000 nestled in the heart of central Virginia, will get a rare spell in the limelight on Tuesday night when U.S. vice presidential candidates Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine face off at Longwood University in their only debate of the general election campaign. Farmville and hundreds of other small towns and rural counties that dot America's midsection could prove crucial in the close Nov. 8 presidential race between Trump, a New York businessman, and Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state and first lady. That is especially true in Virginia, a state once reliably Republican but where Clinton now leads in opinion polls. Trump, who needs to rack up big vote totals in small-town America, has bet that his vow to rip up international trade deals and bring back jobs will resonate in places where the movement of manufacturing jobs overseas has left deep economic scars. The area surrounding Farmville has seen paper and furniture plants closed. Farmville lost a shoe manufacturing facility decades ago and former workers still hold an annual reunion. Clinton is not expected to win the rural vote, but she must keep Trump from outperforming her by large numbers. The presidential nominees will rely on their top surrogates - their vice presidential running mates - to bolster their arguments to rural voters. Pence, 57, the governor of Indiana, is expected to face tough questions about Trump's taxes and views on women, which have dominated the news for the past week. Kaine, 58, a U.S. senator from Virginia, is a former governor of the state and was mayor of Richmond, the state capital. He will likely tout Clinton's experience and hammer away at Trump's policies as favoring the wealthy. LEANING ON RURAL VOTE Rural voters have long been an important part of the Republican electoral base. In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney lost the election to Democratic President Barack Obama but still won 59 percent of rural voters - who accounted for 21 percent of the electorate, according to exit polls. In 2008, Republican John McCain won 53 percent of rural voters in his loss to Obama. Several states that Clinton hopes to win have large rural populations, but have become more urban and liberal in recent years. In Virginia and Georgia, 25 percent of the state's residents live in rural areas. In North Carolina, 34 percent of residents live in rural communities. The Trump-Pence ticket holds the advantage in the region where the vice presidential debate is taking place. Among voters who do not live in urban areas, Trump leads with 41 percent, versus Clinton at 28 percent, Reuters/Ipsos polling from August found. By contrast, Clinton was backed by 51 percent of likely voters in metropolitan areas of more than 5 million, compared with 26 percent for Trump, the poll of more than 10,000 found. In towns such as Glasgow, Virginia, in the southwestern part of the state, Clinton will try to win over skeptical voters like Crystal Roberts, 37. Gazing around the community of Buena Vista, where she was visiting a hair salon alongside boarded-up businesses, Roberts said the area was suffering. But Roberts, who distrusts Clinton and finds Trump's rhetoric offensive, was looking past economic issues and focusing squarely on personalities. "Everybody says, well, pick the lesser of two evils. Well, how do you do that when you feel one is just as evil as the other?" Roberts said. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Alana Wise; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Joe Biden and Paul Ryan captured 51.4 million total viewers four years ago, the last time we had running mates battling for the future of the country via a veep debate.

Thats a ton of eyeballs  compared to anything but Trump/Clintons recent must-see-TV  but its neither the record nor the runner-up for the runner-up to lead the country. The distinction of the top slot for a vice presidential debate unsurprisingly belongs to Biden and Sarah Palin, who drew a whopping 69.9 million total viewers in 2008. For some additional context, that was actually 6.7 million more viewers than the main players Barack Obama and John McCain got with their top battle that year. That, folks, is what we call a sideshow.

As a matter of fact, aside from a tie with George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992, the only pre-Trump presidential or VP debate to ever best Palins big moment was Jimmy Carter -Ronald Reagan in 1980  the former grandaddy of them all, with 80.6 million total viewers.

Also Read: You'll Never Guess the Most-Watched Presidential Debate in History (Chart)

Last Monday, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton pulled in 84 million total viewers with their kickoff bout. Click here to check out each televised Commander-in-Chief debate, ranked historically by Nielsen ratings.

Trump-Clinton 2 takes place on Oct. 9, with the final debate set for 10 days later. Tomorrow night, unforgettables Mike Pence and Tim Kaine get their lone shot to make their mark on TV ratings history. While theyre unlikely to broach Palin-Biden levels of viewership, the highest rating for a vice presidential debate actually belongs to the 1984 showdown between George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro.

Below is what Kaine and Pence are competing with, ranked by rating.

Also Read: Good Luck Against Tonight's Presidential Debate, Rest of TV!

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Armed terrorist fired at Yaripora police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district today, police said.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Armed terrorist fired at Yaripora police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district today, police said. Police which is on high alert in Kashmir Valley effectively dealt with situation and returned fire. The terrorist however fled after firing.

"Militants started firing at Yaripora police station in Kulgam today (Tuesday) evening. Security forces too returned the militants' fire.

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Less than 24 hours earlier, suspected militants snatched five weapons from security guards at a minority picket in Samnoo area of South Kashmirs Kulgam district sending the cops in a tizzy.

In both incidents, there has been no injury. Though South Kashmir division is been on high alert.

Also read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector



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Indian and Pakistani troops continued to exchange gunfire in Kashmir this week in a dangerous escalation of tensions in the disputed Himalayan region. But in Washington, the two adversaries waged war by other means: dueling luncheons at their respective embassies.

Armed with platters of chicken tikka masala, mutton korma and steaming cups of masala tea, senior officials from both countries simultaneously hosted reporters on Tuesday afternoon in an effort to claim the high ground in a complex but increasingly deadly conflict.

Under the curved linear roof of the Pakistani Embassy, an imposing pavilion in Washingtons residential Cleveland Park neighborhood, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs special envoy on Kashmir, Sen. Mushahid Hussain Syed, blasted Indias human rights record in the disputed region, citing a rising death and injury toll, including from shrapnel pellet guns. Pakistan claims 12,000 have been injured since July, including some 150 people who lost their vision due to injuries from the shrapnel pellets.

At the same time, 3 miles south, Indian officials held a briefing for reporters at New Delhis mission on Massachusetts Ave., situated in the heart of Embassy Row. Originally intended as an off-the-record briefing, a senior Indian official volunteered a few words after being informed that the Pakistanis were hosting an event without any ground rules.

We reserve the right to defend ourselves against terrorist organizations, said the Indian official.

Tensions escalated dramatically between the two nuclear-armed foes after a militant offensive in Kashmir on Sept. 18 killed 19 Indian soldiers. Both countries claim sovereignty over the mountainous, Muslim-majority region, but Kashmir remains divided between Indian and Pakistani-controlled areas. The region had already been more tense than usual after Indian security forces killed Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the leader of a separatist Kashmiri militant group, in July.

Then, last week, New Delhi announced what it called a surgical strike across the border to eradicate terrorist launching pads controlled by Islamabad-backed militants. India has breached the so-called Line of Control dividing Kashmir before, but the attack was unique because the Indian military publicly admitted to doing so  something it has refused to do in the past. Pakistan, for its part, denied the claim but said an Indian cross-border attack killed two of its own soldiers.

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The dueling luncheons demonstrated the importance both capitals place on their respective images in Washington, which maintains a complicated relationship with both South Asian rivals.

In Pakistan, Washington has spent billions of dollars over many decades to prop up Islamabads government and military, especially in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. But Pakistans apparent harboring of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and continued support for militants both inside Afghanistan and in Kashmir, has led to steadily rising frustration among administration officials in Washington.

Washingtons financial support of Pakistan has long infuriated India, but the budding personal bromance between President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised the possibility of a new opening for the worlds two largest democracies. Modi has to some extent shaken off decades of non-alignment to position Delhi closer to Washington on security issues, as both countries are concerned by the increasingly aggressive rise of China  an all-weather friend of Pakistan.

During the respective briefings on Tuesday, both sides cited the United States as a potential gamechanger in the decades-long conflict, although not always in the most diplomatic terms.

Pakistans Hussain Syed blasted Washington for not doing enough to address human rights concerns in Kashmir and accused the United States of having an infatuation and a love affair with India. He speculated that a recent deal between Modi and Obama, which will allow the United States to use land, air, and naval bases in India, has helped play into the United States apparent willingness to look the other way on human rights concerns in Kashmir.

It seems that politics seem to have trumped principles; in this case, the principles of human rights, he said. He spoke to reporters directly after a meeting with State Department officials in Foggy Bottom.

Hussain Syed also acknowledged that other crises, including the conflict in Syria, have contributed to the Obama administrations placing of Kashmir on the back burner. But he reminded U.S. officials that, since Pakistan and India are both nuclear powers, the stakes are very high and said that the Obama administration should have placed a higher premium on the issue.

Just because Kashmiris do not have oil or are not in Europe or do not belong to a certain religious domination, they should not be denied those rights, he said. We feel that there are double standards.

Despite his frustrations with Washington, Hussain Syed said he secured a promise from the State Department to include the information about recent human rights abuses and injuries sustained by civilians at the hands of Indian forces this summer in its next human rights report.

When asked, a State Department official noted that information about human rights in the Kashmir region periodically appears in the India and/or Pakistan reports depending on the human rights conditions and events in a given year.

Back on Embassy Row, the Indian official blamed Pakistan for using militant terrorist groups as a geopolitical tool  a decades-old tactic that has spawned attacks inside Afghanistan, as well as in India and the United States, he said.

Indian officials have long pointed out that Pakistan hosted bin Laden, Americas most wanted terrorist for years before the 2011 U.S. raid that killed him. And while the bulk of Pakistans support for militants has been targeted at is neighbor, Indian officials say Pakistan has also been linked to a range of other terror plots in the United States.

In San Bernardino, authorities identified Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik as the female shooter in the deadly assault. Most recently, authorities charged Ahmad Khan Rahami with detonating powerful bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey. The 28-year-old made several overseas trips to Pakistan, including a three-month stay in Quetta in May 2011 and a longer trip to Quetta again starting in April 2013.

Pakistan needs to be held accountable for its actions, said the official.

Despite the heightened tensions, Hussain Syed said that Indian and Pakistani national security advisers have spoken twice in the past three days, and that the bottom line is lets lower the temperature, he said.

As for the story behind the coinciding lunches? Hussain Syed said its nothing more than a remarkable coincidence.
Warsaw (AFP) - The head of Poland's governing rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) said in an interview Tuesday the government may not back his sworn enemy Donald Tusk for a potential new term as EU president.

The men had long been political foes, but PiS boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski also blames the former Polish government headed by Tusk for the plane crash that killed his twin brother in 2010.

"I don't imagine the government will back Donald Tusk for a second term in the European Council," Kaczysnki said in interview with the Polska The Times newspaper.

Although he holds no government office, PiS party leader Kaczynski is widely regarded as the real powerbroker of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo's administration.

"There are investigations underway, in the parliament and from prosecutors, that might result in charges (against Tusk)", Kaczynski added.

"Is this the sort of person who should remain at the head of the European Council? I have major doubts."

Tusk, whose term ends in May 2017, quickly retorted on Twitter with a challenge to a debate.

"So, perhaps a debate Mr Chairman? On Europe, on Poland, on your allegations. I am at your disposal," he wrote.

Already Kaczysnki's biggest political adversary, Tusk became personal enemy number one after the 2010 jet crash in Russia that killed 96 people including his twin brother, then Polish president Lech Kaczynski.

The surviving Kaczynski accuses Tusk's government of being responsible for the crash, at least morally.

When the PiS -- which supports the theory the plane was brought down in an attack -- took power in October 2015 it re-opened the inquiry into the causes of the disaster.

Kaczynski has long said that he believes foul play caused the crash. Polish and Russian investigators have never found any evidence to support the claim.

Szydlo did not contradict Kaczynski's statement on a second term for Tusk when she spoke at a press conference, saying she also "imagined" the government would withhold backing from him.

Tusk took office as the head of the European Council, which groups the 28 EU leaders, in December 2014 for a 30-month term. It can be extended for a total of five years in power.
US Navy UAE navy HSV Swift

On Saturday, a guided missile struck the United Arab Emirates' HSV Swift, a high-speed ferry formerly operated by the US Navy off the coast of Yemen, prompting the US to respond with two guided-missile destroyers and an amphibious transport dock ship from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group, Fox News reports.

"Rockets targeted an Emirati warship as it approached the coast of Mokha" on Yemen's western coast, Yemen's Iran-supported Houthi fighters said in a statement, reported by Al Jazeera.

"It was completely destroyed," the Houthis said.

The UAE has fought against the Houthi militants since last year as part of a Saudi-led coalition.

A video released online shows the Swift, a catamaran-style transport ship of US design, a rocket launching, and the rocket hitting the ship and causing a sustained fire on the water as those near the camera cheer.

The Emirati military confirmed that an incident occurred at sea while the ship was on a routine trip from Aden, Yemen, but it did not mention any injuries or deaths.

The US ships USS Nitze, USS Mason, and USS Ponce have headed to the Bab el-Mandeb strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen map

According to the US Naval Institute, "reports indicate the weapons used could have been Chinese-built C-802 anti-ship missiles ... or guided anti-tank weapons."

"The attack is believed to be related to the ongoing conflict in Yemen and not an attack against general shipping. US Naval Forces Central Command has ships in the area and is working closely with our allies and regional partners to ensure the free flow of commerce," a defense official told USNI News.

Shipping lanes and commerce are especially vital to Yemen, where the UN has said that 21 million out of 28 million Yemenis need some form of humanitarian aide and that half the country is likely malnourished.

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yemen UAE HSV swift

If the missile that hit the Swift was indeed a cruise missile, it marks an escalation in hostilities and arms in use in the conflict.

Though the US ships headed to Yemen can destroy incoming cruise missiles, Iran has shown time and time again it's not afraid to harass and threaten the US Navy at sea.

Iran has military ties to Russia and China, both of whom produce capable cruise and antiship missiles. And Iran has been known to provide weapons to the Houthi militants in Yemen.

Watch the footage of the missile strike:

NOW WATCH: This is why a US aircraft carrier is a force to be reckoned with





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Mariah Carey has shared a sneak peek of her appearance on the hit Fox show "Empire."

Carey shared a clip of her appearance on the show as Kitty on her Twitter account. In the teaser, she's in the studio with Jamal Lyon (Jussie Smollett), as they try to record a duet together.

Lyon is having a hard time focusing, prompting his father Lucious to express doubt in his son, once again.

"I think we are about to be front and center for another Jamal flameout," he says.

Meanwhile, the track "Infamous" was released on iTunes last week.

The episode featuring Carey airs October 5.
The 2016 vice presidential candidates will debate Tuesday in their only head-to-head matchup of this election, which will be streamed all over the internet.

In a follow up to last weeks presidential debate, Democrat Tim Kaine will face off against Republican Mike Pence at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

That debate was the most-watched debate off all time, drawing 84 million viewers, according to Nielsen. While Tuesdays debate most likely wont top that, it will be broadcast on all major television networks, as well as streamed online for free.

Those without a cable subscription or antenna can stream the debate using YouTube, where many news organizations are broadcasting online from, directly on Twitter and from the website of most cable news outlets.

Elaine Quijano of CBS News will moderate the debate, which will be divided into nine segments that will run about 10 minutes each and focus on a single topic.
Rumoured couple, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra have been going on and off in their relationship. They never admitted to their dating rumours nor denied it. Recently, it was reported that the cute couple had called it quits and are not seeing each other anymore.

As per a popular tabloid, during a talk show, where Alia was seen with her dad Mahesh Bhatt, the SOTY actor was asked about her relationship status with Sidharth, while the host was flashing out a hot magazine cover which they both shot together. She replied to the host chalking out the relationship part and stated, We look hot together!"

Recommended Read: Alia or Parineeti: Who will step into Sridevis shoes for Sadma remake?



The bubbly actor was further asked what would she do if she is stuck in an elevator with Sidharth, to which she candidly said, "We would do what we always do talk!" The Highway actor even went on to say that she will definitely work with the handsome hunk in the future.

Oh well, we truly love this couple!
By Suzanne Barlyn

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The scandal over improper sales practices at Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) extended to thousands of small-business owners, according to a U.S. lawmaker, raising questions about the scope the bank's issues with unauthorized accounts.

In a Sept. 29 letter viewed by Reuters on Tuesday, Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, demanded that Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf provide a "full accounting" of customers affected. Vitter is a member of the U.S. Senate's banking committee and also heads its small business committee.

Discussions between congressional staffers and Wells Fargo "have indicated that the fraudulent activity of your employees was not limited to Wells Fargo's consumer banking operations," Vitter wrote. "Thousands of small business owners were impacted by this fraud."

A person familiar with Vitter's probe say Wells has identified about 10,000 small business accounts that were subject to improper practices. Vitter spokeswoman Cheyenne Klotz declined to comment on specifics about those practices.

Revelations of Wells Fargo's problems with small-business customers come almost a month after it reached a $190 million settlement over opening as many as 2 million accounts in retail customers' names without their knowledge. The bank has said it fired about 5,300 employees for improperly opening the accounts.

The disclosures have caused a public furor, with Stumpf facing heated questions before two congressional committees and other U.S. authorities launching investigations into the bank's sales practices, including the Justice Department and the Labor Department.

"While the vast majority of accounts in the settlement were consumer accounts, to the extent there were small business accounts included, all were previously reported in the total number of potentially impacted accounts," said Wells spokeswoman Jennifer Langan. "As stated earlier, Wells Fargo has already refunded 115,000 accounts. The impacted accounts, including Small Business, were part of our Retail Bank business."

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A Consumer Financial Protection Board spokesman contradicted the Wells statement, however, saying its figure of nearly 2 million accounts being affected did not include small business accounts.

Wells is also battling lawsuits from former employees, customers and shareholders related to the issue. In a second letter, Vitter requested that the Small Business Administration's inspector general, Peggy Gustafson, investigate Wells, too.

PACKAGES OF THREE

Senior bank executives have apologised for opening accounts customers did not request, but characterized the issue as limited to relatively few customers and employees in the retail bank. Early results from Vitter's examination are the first hard sign that problems may extend further.

Reuters also spoke to a former Wells employee, and a lawyer representing former employees and a former and current Wells customer, who described abusive sales practices with multiple business accounts.

Jose Maldonado, a restaurant owner in Southern California who banked with Wells Fargo for 15 years, said he discovered seven accounts after enlisting the help of his accountant. He initially closed extraneous ones, and ultimately moved his remaining business to Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).

"I don't like Wells Fargo anymore. I don't feel comfortable," Maldonado said in an interview. "In the past, there were sometimes crazy accounts without my permission."

Langan declined to comment on Maldonado's accounts.

An ex-Wells Fargo business banker, who declined to be identified, said employees at his former branch were required to sell products to small business customers such as hair-salon owners and carpet cleaners in packages of three - regardless of whether they needed them.

Those typically included accounts for checking, credit card processing and payroll, and were often linked to additional savings accounts, said the former Wells banker. Bankers also tacked on business credit cards and were pressured to call a Wells insurance unit, with the customer present, to push business liability policies.

Langan, the Wells spokeswoman, said the bank discontinued those packages in April 2015.

Attorney Jonathan Delshad filed two class-action lawsuits against Wells Fargo in September on behalf of former employees, including one business banker, who say they were fired for refusing to create fake accounts to hit sales quotas. Wells suspended those quotas on Oct. 1.

Other former Wells Fargo business bankers contacted Delshad after the lawsuit received media attention, he said. "Business owners are also being ripped off," one wrote to him in a message he provided to Reuters.

SOURED RELATIONSHIPS

Business and corporate governance experts say small-business customers can be as susceptible to fraud as any customer.

Owners are typically knowledgeable about their business expertise but not about banking services, said Peter Conti-Brown, a financial regulation professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. For example, a new dentist who borrows from a bank to buy a practice may then need other services that she does not even know exist, such as payroll management or credit-card clearing.

But the potential for abuse still exists, he said. A bank can sell multiple, unnecessary accounts and credit cards to sole proprietors whose needs rarely exceed making deposits and writing checks. The risk of abuse is greater when bankers are required to sell a certain number of products to meet performance goals.

"The best case is that you will sour your relationship, and in the worst case, you'll get bankers committing fraud," Conti-Brown said. "Wells Fargo has seen both of these things."

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by James Dalgleish, Lauren Tara LaCapra and Brian Thevenot)
By PTI: Panaji, Oct 4 (PTI) Goa Police today said threat perception to the upcoming BRICS summit, to be held in the coastal state, has increased, following the Indian Armys surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"After the surgical strikes, the intelligence agencies have raised alarm that they (militants) might strike back. After the surgical operation this the is first such big event of international standard due to which the scale of threat perception has increased," Deputy Inspector General of Police Vimal Gupta told reporters here.

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"We are prepared keeping in mind this increased threat perception," he added.

BRICSSummit is scheduled to take place in Goa on October 15-16 in which heads of all the member countries will be participating.

Gupta said the Goa police held a meeting of its staff in the state headquarters today wherein they were briefed about the security scenario.

"These officers are involved in the security arrangements for upcoming BRICS summit. Our force is undergoing security drills which are required to be conducted for the event of such a scale where heads of different countries would be participating," he said.

"There are national and international practises that we follow to provide security cover for such kind of events. They were briefed about the alertness, dress and knowledge for the duty. They were told what they should do and what they should not do," Gupta added.

"We also briefed them about the threat perception and how they should act in any circumstance. We have informed them about the latest threats and what kind of threats they are," he added.

During the event, the official said there will be two level of deployment.

"One outside the venue which will be in uniform and another inside the venue in plain clothes," the DIG informed. PTI RPS NRB TIR

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Kim Kardashian West feared she was going to be raped when she came face-to-face with masked men during a Paris armed robbery Monday that investigators suspect was an inside job, according to reports.

The reality star realized something was wrong when she heard heavy footsteps racing up the stairs of her two-story apartment at the Hotel de Pourtales, spotting at least one masked man and another wearing a police hat from her bedroom, TMZ reported.

Wearing only a robe, Kardashian West slipped from her bed and tried to call her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, who was with Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, but her cell phone was snatched from her hand, according to the site.

The robbers zip-tied and duct taped Kardashian Wests hands before moving on to her ankles, at which point she reportedly believed she would be raped.

Read: Kim Kardashian's Bodyguard Was Protecting Her Sisters During Terrifying Robbery

But the suspects instead picked her up and put her in a bathtub. They then put a gun to her head.

The mother-of-two reportedly begged for her life, saying she has children and that the men could take anything they wanted.

Kardashian Wests children  3-year-old North and 9-month-old Saint  were reportedly with their father, Kanye West, in New York City, where the rapper was performing at Citi Field when he learned of his wifes terrifying ordeal.

The robbers apparently demanded her jewelry, speaking in French but yelling "ring" in English.

Kardashian West had earlier posted a photo on Instagram showing off a gigantic 20-carat ring, worth about $4.5 million. She reportedly told the robbers where to find it before the men duct taped her mouth.

Read: Kim Kardashian Bound and Gagged By Armed Robbers Who Took $10M In Jewelry

The masked men made off with $10 million in jewelry in total, escaping on bikes, authorities said.

After the ordeal, Kardashian West managed to break free and yelled for help from a balcony.

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Simone Harouche, Kardashian Wests stylist and friend, was in a different room when the robbery took place, TMZ reported.

She quietly locked herself in a bathroom and called Duvier and Kourtney Kardashian, reportedly telling them to come home because something was wrong.

The bodyguard got back to the apartment two minutes after the robbers made their getaway.

Duvier released a statement about the ordeal on Tuesday, vowing to track down those responsible.

"The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard," he said. "We have tips and leads and we will find you. That I promise you ... you messed with the wrong one."

The entire incident reportedly took about six minutes and occurred during a very small window in which Kardashian West was without protection.

Friends had also been over the luxury apartment shortly before the robbery, leaving investigators and the Kardashian family to believe that the robbers knew when to strike, TMZ reported.

A long list of people involved in Paris Fashion Week reportedly knew Kardashian Wests itinerary and police are currently probing phone records of various individuals to track any suspicious activity.

Reports claim at least two of the five suspects posed as a security guard and a photographer, following Kardashian West around the city before springing into action.

One of the men is described as Caucasian, while the other is described as North African, and both speak with heavy French accents, according to reports.

Kardashian West returned to New York to be with her family after the incident, remaining holed up in their Tribeca apartment on Tuesday. Security at the apartment was tight, as 14 guards stood outside the building.

Watch: Watch This Heroic Cop Rescue Armed Robbery Suspect From Burning Car

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Abuja (AFP) - West Africa's regional court Tuesday ordered the immediate release of Nigeria's jailed former national security advisor Sambo Dasuki, a key figure in President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption drive.

The court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled that the November 2015 detention of Dasuki, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was "unlawful" and "arbitrary".

The ex official is at the centre of several corruption cases concerning the alleged misuse of $2.1 billion (1.9 billion euros) earmarked for weapons to fight Boko Haram but said to have been diverted to fund Jonathan's failed 2015 re-election 2015 campaign.

In its judgement, the three-member court held that his arrest and detention "without charge or judicial order after having been granted bail by three different domestic courts ... is unlawful, arbitrary and violates international laws."

The court also held that searches of Dasuki's homes in Abuja and northern Sokoto and the forceful seizure of his property in July 2015 was a violation of his right to own property.

It ordered the government "to forthwith release the applicant" and to pay 15 million naira (43,000 euros) to Dasuki as damages for violation of his rights.

Dasuki allegedly oversaw a sprawling embezzlement scheme that saw "phantom contracts" awarded for personal gain, as under-equipped and demoralised troops fought better-armed militants.
The front door of Nora Nivia Nevarezs adobe-like house in suburban Albuquerque, New Mexico, opens to blocks and childrens books scattered around the brightly colored carpet, shaped like a puzzle piece. Throughout the afternoon, she keeps a careful eye on her four small charges, ages 4 months to 10 years, by turns reading books and helping them with puzzles. One little boy named Javier cries as his guardian, Guadalupe, picks him up. Hes tired and ready to go home.

I love caring for children, I just wish it were a little bit easier, she sighs, speaking in Spanish. Nevarez, 50, has been taking care of children for decades. She began with her own three children, cared for her two grandchildren, and now helps friends and neighbors as a registered family-childcare provider in Southwest Albuquerque, one of the many in the state. And truly, her work is a labor of love. She doesnt turn anyone away. Javier is autistic and his guardian hasnt been able to find anyone else who will care for the child. Nevarez will.

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Due to state regulations, Nevarez cares for no more than four children unrelated to her at any given point. She charges $2.00 per hour per child in her community, regardless of what families make, to help keep the cost affordable. That means, at best, shell earn $8.00 an hour to care for four children. But if she takes toddlers from low-income families receiving a state subsidy to help them pay for care, she may make as little as $1.58 per hour per child. Thats $6.32 per hour for four kids (according to state rates for a toddler receiving 40 hours of childcare per week). But even with such paltry pay, she rarely knows from week to week how much shell earn. The parents schedules are often erratic and sometimes the children need care for part of the week, sometimes for all of it, and sometimes, to cover families working overtime, even more.

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And in Albuquerque, despite the long hours and low pay for Nevarez, her family childcare home is actually a best-case scenario, if not for her, then for families. Like other registered providers, her family home meets basic health and safety standards. And shes gotten more training on developmentally appropriate activities and other measures of high-quality care, so that she can become a licensed provider.

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But in a state where child-poverty rates are the highest in the country and a lot of working families struggle to make ends meet, many cant find registered or licensed childcare they can afford, so they move underground, into the gray market of often unreliable, unregulated family, friend, and neighbor care. And that has enormous consequences. Nearly 60 percent of all 4-year-olds do not attend preschool, according to the 2016 New Mexico Kids Count Profile, which is published by the nonpartisan advocacy organization New Mexico Voices for Children. Many arent ready for kindergarten, and a few years later, by fourth grade, fully 77 percent of the children in the state are not reading proficiently.

A boy plays in Nora Nevarezs in-home care center. (Long Story Short Media)

In the patchwork childcare system in the United States, regulated care is sometimes broken to the point of being dangerous for children. In Mississippi, state inspectors found one adult in a regulated day care watching 59 children, ages 1 to 4, in one room. The owner was fined $1,000. And if care can be that bad in a regulated setting, no one knows exactly how children fare in unregulated care. Other reports have found higher-than-expected infant death rates in both regulated and unregulated child care. What is clear is that this unregulated gray market is the most common childcare arrangement for all children under 5 in the nation, according to a 2011 report from the National Center for Children in Poverty.

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* * *

In the Care Index, a data and methodology collaboration between Care.com, the largest online market for care, and New America, a nonpartisan think tank that produced this story in partnership with The Atlantic, New Mexico stands out as a state struggling to provide affordable and accessible careseeking to improve qualityand forced to make trade-offs because of the way the current system is set up. Although New Mexico has begun to invest more to improve quality early care in recent years, the state was rated in the fourth, or the lowest quartile, of all 50 states. The average cost of care in a center in New Mexico, $8,865 a year, is about 95 percent of the average rent in the state, is nearly 20 percent of the median household income, and would eat up more than half of a minimum-wage workers income. About one quarter of all centers are accredited for quality. So why is it so difficult for families in New Mexico to find quality, much less affordable care?

Childcare is expensive. Children under 5 require individualized care, attention, and learning, and it takes people to do that: 80 percent of the cost of childcare goes to teachers salaries. To reduce the cost of care to a lowerbut still unreasonablelevel, most caregivers in New Mexico, and across the country, are paid poverty wages.

New Mexico Cabinet Secretary Monique Jacobson estimated that child-Medicaid eligibility was as high as 80 percent.

Researchers at the University of California, BerkeleyMarcy Whitebook, Caitlin McLean, and Leah J.E. Austinfound that, in New Mexico, childcare workers are in the third income-percentile (nearly the lowest of all paid workers) and get few to no benefits. The median hourly wage is $9.10, a 4 percent decrease since 2010. Inadequate pay results in high attrition and turnover. Licensed care providers that do offer adequate pay and have low turnover rates have to rely on outside donations, in addition to private tuition paid by parents and government funds, just to survive.

Catholic Charities is one of those providers. We cant fully address child development without losing money due to the cost of quality staffing, staff development, and safe facilities, said James Gannon, the CEO and executive director of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of New Mexico. Catholic Charities assesses community need, provides services, and covers the shortfall later. Its not economically sustainable.

In their South Valley child-development center, Catholic Charities provides services to 47 children, running an annual deficit of roughly $250,000. The reason? They invest in the teachers in order to provide quality care. We pay our staff $13.00 per hour, provide health care, time-off, and a retirement plan, Gannon explained.

Yet even after attempting to provide low-cost care to families, the cost is still too high relative to income. And not many other providers can offer quality care and withstand such big losses every year. In the case of New Mexico, families have limited means to contribute to expenses such as childcare30 percent of children live in poverty, the highest rate in the U.S., and 56 percent of children receive public health insurance in the form of Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As recently as August 2016, New Mexico Cabinet Secretary Monique Jacobson estimated that child-Medicaid eligibility was as high as 80 percent. Childcare is a double-edged sword. Because the majority of children are raised by working parents, children have to be cared for by someone else. Not having childcare is not an option. To those who are unemployed, a lack of childcare creates a barrier to even finding a steady job and moving a family out of poverty.

In New Mexico, availability of childcare is also related to cost: Demand for formal care dwindles because families cant pay for it, childcare workers leave the industry because they cant make enough money, and regulated providers go out of business because they cant make the numbers work.

The alternative becomes informal family, friend, and neighbor networks. We know increasingly little about the safety and quality of children in such settings. Is the care loving, warm, and developmentally appropriate? Are kids are just plopped in front of a television set at a time when their brains are rapidly developing? Are they safe?

* * *

In New Mexico, registered childcare providers are subject to different health and child safety standards if they care for four or fewer children unrelated to them. Since most family, friend, and neighbor child-care centers are small and unregulated, there are no consequences for providing low-quality care. Often, no one knows about the overcrowded or unsafe under-the-table care arrangement unless tragedy strikes. And even for regulated care, there is no one body enforcing safe or developmental standards.

This wasnt always the case, though. A 50-year-old initiative run by the U.S. Department of Agriculturecalled the Child and Adult Care Food Programactually provided both subsidized healthy meals to family childcare homes, like Nevarezs, and childcare oversight. The program operated as a one-stop shop to register providers, monitor licensing violations, and offer sometimes the only source of information on child development. This program, however, came to an end in 2013, when the USDA decided to forbid local organizations from doing anything other than focusing on food sanitation.

The complicated process to become a registered or licensed childcare provider that has sprung up in the aftermath of the USDAs decision has become close to impossible for many small providers to navigate. States have varying health and safety standards and spotty inspection cycles. New federal regulations to step up inspections and heighten training and safety requirements only apply to childcare providers that accept children on subsidies.

* * *

Which brings us back to Nevarez. She wants to provide enriching care for her students and become not just a registered provider, but a licensed provider. The license will enable her to care for more children and receive a higher subsidy rate per child. And yet, shes currently facing the perfect storm of bureaucracyanother sign that the fragmented early care and learning system itself can get in the way of providing good quality care.

Today, family-childcare home providers like Nevarez must deftly navigate the a series of steps to become registered, including being able to physically pick-up relevant paperwork during the very same hours they need to be providing childcare; accessing a computer or phone for a $44 registration and fingerprinting process; and sending all documents to Santa Fe, New Mexico, within a given timeframe.

Meanwhile, everyone over 18 in the providers household has to pass the background check or the provider will not be eligible for registration or licensing. This is especially sensitive for families that are or know undocumented immigrantsa common situation in New Mexico and in other Hispanic communities where people in the same family can have different immigration statusesor families with members who were formerly incarcerated. It is costly, time-consuming, and nearly impossible to complyespecially if providers must personally run these errands during childcare hours and if they dont speak English. Registered and licensed family-childcare providers are now becoming the exception. Most are not participating subsidy programs, or getting registered or licensed to provide care.

In the last two years alone ... Ive watched the food program lose 30 percent of homes and go into rapid decline.

When Amy Bazan, the former director of the Providers Allied for Nutrition program, a local USDA food program, started out in 1994, the food program helped close to 1,200 registered family-childcare home providers out of 7,000 statewide. Now they help roughly 250 out of 2,000 statewide. The number of licensed providers is a small fraction of the number of registered providers, which, in turn, is a fraction of the number of unregulated gray market providers as a whole.

In the last two years alone, Bazan said, Ive watched the food program lose 30 percent of homes and go into rapid decline. Loren Miller, a program manager for the statewide family nutrition bureau, confirmed that between November 2013 and July 2016 alone, the state witnessed a decline from 3,117 to 2,151 providers. In Bazans experience, people are still providing care. Theyre just forgoing complicated government programs and regulations, be it the food program, registration, and/or licensing, because complying is too costly, time-consuming, and invasive. As a result, the number of children needing care in New Mexico outpaces the number of known childcare slots.

That doesnt mean the children arent ending up somewhere.

Which puts New Mexico back in the gray zone.

* * *

After months of paperwork, Nevarez finally received her provisional childcare license and can now care for six children at a time. If she passes her final inspection, her new license for a two-star, licensed family -childcare home will be issued for a full year. Based on the rate of a toddler receiving 40 hours of care per week, licensed providers are paid $2.67 per hour for toddlers receiving subsidy, or $16.02 for six childrena meaningful raise from the rate for registered providers.

Its the end of the day, and Nevarez begins to help the children gather their artwork and pack their small backpacks. She reflects on how much shes learned while obtaining a certificate in early-childhood development from the University of New Mexico and seeking her license, and how important thats been for the children, despite the bureaucratic nightmare.

Research has found that children who speak a language other than English at home, like Nevarezs charges, particularly benefit from high-quality early care and learning in their own language; it promotes their early literacy, numeracy skills, and English-language development. As Nevarez knows, however, in New Mexico, providing care doesnt come cheap for caregivers or the families who turn to them. Nevarez fastens the straps on Javiers backpack as the children begin to leave at the end of the day with their parents. I wish I had known more about child learning when I raised my children and grandchildren. I know so much more now, she said. She stands in the doorway, watching the children leave with their parents, tired from a long days work, and waves goodbye.

This post appears courtesy of New America.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
google pixels

Google took the wraps off its new Pixel phones on Tuesday, and while the company touted its digital assistant and souped-up cameras as big name features, their biggest selling point might be that theyre actually available through a major mobile carrier.

Though theyll only be sold through one carrier, Verizon, thats still a step up from last years Nexus devices, which could not be bought through any service provider.

But be warned: Just because you can buy the Pixel through Verizon doesn't necessarily mean you should.

One of the usual downsides of these kind of exclusive phones is that the carrier often pre-loads the device with its own software, which customers don't really need. This is what phone enthusiasts sometimes call bloatware.

Verizon has been particularly notorious for this, but in this case it shouldn't be too bad. Verizon says itll only pre-load three apps on the Pixels by default  My Verizon, go90, and Verizon Messages  and that all of those will be fully deletable if you don't want them.

google pixel phone

Nevertheless, Id still recommend buying the unlocked version if possible. Although Verizon said its Pixels will receive Googles security updates at the same time as the unlocked models, it couldn't confirm whether it will provide full Android updates at the same time Google will with the non-carrier version.

So theres reason to doubt.

Given that the promise of fast Android updates is the biggest benefit of buying a Google phone in the first place, its hard to justify putting that at risk. And since the unlocked model supports CDMA networks like Verizon's in the first place, buying the Nexus way should prove more convenient in the long run.

Also, Verizon confirmed you wont be able to unlock the Pixel's bootloader, meaning you wont be able to root the device and install custom software (or different versions of Android).

Unlocked phones always offer more freedom. There's no reason to assume things will be different with the Pixel.

Story continues

A week after this story was published, Verizon and Google confirmed that the carrier will issue full Android updates to its version of the Google Pixel at the same time as the unlocked model. This should make Verizon's Pixels much more appealing than they'd be otherwise, though you still won't have to deal with preloaded software and a locked bootloader, if those are concerns.





More From Business Insider


Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) are flat at the midday mark, with the financial sector (XLF) the most in the green and utilities (XLU) down the most. Alan Valdes, director of floor operations at Silverbear, joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange.

To discuss the other big stories of the day, Alexis Christoforous is joined by Yahoo Finances Rick Newman and Seana Smith.

J&J warns insulin pump vulnerable to hackers

Johnson and Johnson says the wireless remote control system in one of its insulin pumps is vulnerable to hackersmeaning patients could receive an overdose of the drug they depend on to live. Reuters reports that J&J sent a letter warning thousands of patients who use the Animas OneTouch Ping about the problem, saying the risk is extremely low. Patients can use the remote to receive insulin without touching the device itself. J&J says patients can stop using the remote or program the pump to limit the maximum insulin dose.

Trump spins tax return debate

Mike Pence and Tim Kaine are set to square off in their first debate Tuesday night. But Donald Trumps taxes continue to dominate the news. If you havent heard by now, Trump took a $916 million dollar loss in 1995 and may have used that to skate by tax-free for 18 years. Hillary Clinton says what kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? Trumps official response is, Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. Whos winning the spin war?

General Motors and Costco team up again to sell cars

General Motors is once again turning to Costco to help it sell cars. Costcos holiday sales event with GM runs from October to January and involves incentives and discounts to Costco members who buy a GM car or truck through Costco. Last year, Costco members purchased nearly 58,000 vehicles during the promotion. Yesterday we learned that GMs total US sales fell in September.
f you only read one thing: If theres a debate and no one knows who the candidates are did it really happen? Well find out tonight as the Democratic and Republican running-mates face off in Farmville, Virginia. This will be no thrill-in-the-ville. Instead, two relatively unknown and largely irrelevant candidates will fight a proxy war for their wanna-be bosses. In a year where so much attention has been paid to the top of the ticketthe inaugural presidential debate last week set a viewership recordthis is shaping up to be something of a snooze. Yes, there will be canned lines and perhaps even a serious discussion of policy, but barring a Palin-esque moment, tonights matchup will essentially be a pro forma ritual with no impact on the larger race. Almost no voters are ever swayed by the bottom of the ticket, and thats especially true with two well-defined, and disliked, candidates on top.

What will be notable about the debate is how the two running-mates differ from the presidential nominees. On one side there is the figurative janitor, struggling to erase the stain of his candidates many missteps and insults. On the other is the affable everyman, who projects a far more relatable image than his candidate. In both cases, they have significant policy disagreements with the top of the ticketso much so that a debate within the two tickets would likely be more thrilling than tonights bout.

Well have complete coverage of tonights debate on TIME.com this evening.

Donald Trumps own email records come under scrutiny. A GOP Senators Trump agony. The Trump Foundation is forced to stop raising money. And Democrats plan to hold Trump over the GOP for cycles to come.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

The Vice Presidential Debate Will Showcase the Overlooked

TIMEs Philip Elliott previews the debate

Dems Build Files to Track Trump Stain

The party aims to hang this GOP nominee around Republican necks for years [Politico]

Story continues

Hillary Clinton Goes After Donald Trumps Taxes in Ohio Campaign Stop

Trying to undercut populist appeal [TIME]

Donald Trumps Fiduciary Duty Excuse on Taxes Is Just Plain Wrong

The Donald and his surrogates say he has a legal responsibility to minimize tax payments for his shareholders. Its not a good excuse, TIMEs Rana Foroohar explains

Apprentice Cast Alleges Donald Trump Repeatedly Demeaned Female Contestants

Speaking out as Trump has come under renewed scrutiny over talk toward women [Associated Press]

How Hillary Clinton Grappled With Bill Clintons Infidelity, and His Accusers

Standing by her husband [New York Times]

Trump Was Accused of Destroying Email Evidence in Lawsuit 10 Years Ago

What goes around [USA Today]

Sound Off

As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit.  Donald Trump defending his tax payments.

So look, these guys talk about were the one  theyre the ones about economic growth. Everything they proposed for the last 15 years has been regressive on growth. We have not grown. Its like we have self-induced amnesia.  Joe Biden on the GOP while campaigning for Hillary Clinton

Bits and Bites

Federal Court Blocks Effort by Mike Pence to Keep Syrian Refugees Out of Indiana [TIME]

Ron Paul Says He Wont Be Voting For Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson [TIME]

Donald Trump Defends Leaked Tax Returns: I Have Legally Used the Tax Laws To My Benefit [TIME]

He Once Pursued the Clintons as a Prosecutor. Now Hes Backing Hillary for President [TIME]

Donald Trumps Foundation Was Just Ordered to Stop Raising Money [TIME]

President Obama Draws Line from Sarah Palin to Donald Trump [TIME]

Inside Clintons struggle to win over college students in Ohio [Washington Post]

Post reporter Jason Rezaian and his family file federal lawsuit against Iranian government [Washington Post]
By PTI: From Youssra El-Sharkawy

Cairo, Oct 4 (PTI) A senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, who was also the founder of the outlawed Islamist movements armed wing, and another member of the outfit have been killed in a shootout with Egyptian security forces, officials said today.

Mohammed Kamal, 61, and Yasser Shehata Ali Ragab were killed in a gun-battle late last night in Cairo, said the Interior Ministry.

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Kamal, a physician by profession, held various executive posts in the group and was a member of the General Guide office. He was sentenced to life in prison in two cases in absentia for forming militant groups and taking part in bombings in Assiut.

He was also the founder of Muslim Brotherhoods armed wing, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the security forces targeted an apartment in el-Basatin district after receiving information that some people were planning terrorist attacks at the building.

During the raid last night, the Brotherhood members opened fire on security forces and in the retaliatory fire the two men were killed, the statement said.

The Brotherhood is the Middle Easts oldest Islamist movement and Egypts main political opposition.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has launched a massive crackdown on Brotherhood militants after ousting Mohamed Mursi of the the group as president in 2013. PTI YES ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
* WikiLeaks founder says first batch to be published next week

* Says election material "significant" but not targeted at Clinton

* Assange remains in Ecuador embassy in London

* Wanted in Sweden to answer rape allegation which he denies (Adds quotes, details)

By Andrea Shalal

BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday the group would publish about one million documents related to the U.S. election and three governments in coming weeks, but denied the release was aimed at damaging Hillary Clinton.

Assange, speaking via a video link, said the documents would be released before the end of the year, starting with an initial batch in the coming week.

Assange, 45, who remains at the Ecuadoran embassy in London where he sought refuge in 2012 to avoid possible extradition to Sweden, said the election material was "significant" and would come out before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.

He criticised Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, for demonising his WikiLeaks group's work after a spate of releases related to the Democratic National Committee before the Democratic political convention this summer.

Assange said her campaign had falsely suggested that accessing WikiLeaks data would expose users to malicious software.

But he denied the release of documents relating to the U.S. election was specifically aimed at damaging Clinton, saying he had been misquoted.

"The material that WikiLeaks is going to publish before the end of the year is of ... a very significant moment in different directions, affecting three powerful organisations in three different states as well as ... the U.S election process," he said via a video link at an event marking the group's 10th anniversary.

He said the material would focus on war, weapons, oil, mass surveillance, the technology giant Google and the U.S. election, but declined to give any details.

"There has been a misquoting of me and Wikileaks publications ... (suggesting) we intend to harm Hillary Clinton or I intend to harm Hillary Clinton or that I don't like Hillary Clinton. All those are false," he said.

Story continues

Assange had told Fox News in an interview conducted by satellite in August that the group would release significant information related to Clinton's campaign.

Assange also signalled changes in the way WikiLeaks is organised and funded, saying the group would soon open itself to membership. He said the group was looking to expand its media ties beyond the 100 outlets it already works with.

He told journalists gathered at a Berlin theatre that the group's work would continue, even if he had to resign in the future, and he appealed to supporters to fund its work. He also held up copies of several forthcoming books.

Assange and his attorney said Britain's vote to leave the European Union could complicate his situation by limiting his ability to appeal to the European Court of Justice or the Council of Europe, a European human rights body.

Asked how he felt after four years in the embassy, he said "pale" and joked he would be a good candidate for medical study since he was otherwise healthy but had not seen the sun in over four years.

Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning about allegations that he committed rape in 2010. He denies the charges, and says he fears subsequent extradition to the United States, where a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks is underway.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released more than 90,000 secret documents on the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 U.S. military reports detailing operations in Iraq. Those disclosures were followed by the release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Richard Balmforth)
UPDATE: 6 a.m. EDT  Contrary to expectations, there was no big revelation made at the 10-year anniversary press conference of WikiLeaks in Berlin, held Tuesday morning. The much-anticipated speech by the organizations founder Julian Assange, who spoke via video link from the Ecuador embassy in London, was low on details.

The man wanted by the United States on legal charges only said WikiLeaks would continue to release documents every week for the next 10 weeks, which is well beyond the November presidential elections in the U.S. However, he clearly denied any intention to harm Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons campaign, attributing all such allegations to misquoting. But he confirmed that some documents to be released over the coming weeks pertain to the U.S. elections.

UPDATE: 5:20 a.m. EDT  In his ongoing speech at WikiLeaks 10-year anniversary press conference in Berlin, founder Julian Assange  speaking via video link from the Ecuador embassy in London  said his organization hopes to publish every week for the next 10 weeks, a period that goes well beyond the U.S. presidential elections in November.

UPDATE: 5:10 a.m. EDT  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has begun his highly anticipated speech at the organizations 10-year anniversary press conference in Berlin. Speaking via video link from the Ecuador embassy in London, where he has been in asylum since August 2014, Assange said it was not just the documents leaked by his organization that are revealing, but also the government/state reactions to the releases are revealing also.

UPDATE: 4:50 a.m. EDT  WikiLeaks is holding its 10-year anniversary press conference in Berlin, where it is now showing a video compiled of audio bytes from a variety of senior U.S. officials, including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Newt Gingrich, and numerous other senators and members of the Congress, all of them calling WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a terrorist or a threat to U.S. security and many calling for his assassination.

Story continues

UPDATE: 4 a.m. EDT  The WikiLeaks press conference to mark the 10-year anniversary of the organization is underway in Berlin. To start things off, a video showing the top 10 leaks it has made was screened.

Original story:

Oct. 4, Tuesday, marks the 10th anniversary of transparency organization WikiLeaks, which has been responsible for much embarrassment to the United States, having leaked millions of sensitive emails and documents related to Guantanamo Bay, military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies in various countries around the world.

In recent months, however, WikiLeaks has disclosed a lot of information that shows Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a bad light. Thousands of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee were released just ahead of the partys convention in August, which indicated the committee conspired to keep Bernie Sanders from winning the nomination. The revelations led to the resignation of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

And on Tuesday, WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange is scheduled to speak at the anniversary event in Berlin, where he may unveil the October surprise widely expected to hurt Clintons campaign further. The event starts at 10 a.m. local time (3 a.m. EDT).

Assange was originally scheduled to speak Monday from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been in asylum since August 2012. But WikiLeaks said the speech was rescheduled  to be delivered via video link  to Berlin due to specific information.

The idea that the speech may target Clinton was strengthened by another tweet by WikiLeaks that allegedly quotes from a 2010 U.S. State Department meeting, during which Clinton, then the secretary of state, asked if the U.S. could kill Assange using a drone.

However, despite Assanges assertions that his organization has more documents damaging to Clinton, there is no confirmation that the Tuesday event will showcase any of them. Some Clinton detractors are convinced of it, nonetheless, and are predicting an end to her campaign as a consequence.

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For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange set the record straight on a couple of hot-button issues this morning during a press conference in Berlin. Appearing via Skype, Assange said that while his organization will release a raft of documents before the November 8 presidential election, suggestions that they would destroy Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons campaign were the result of misquotes. Further regarding both Clinton and her opponent, Donald Trump, Assange said he felt sorry for them: They are two people that are tormented by their ambitions in different ways.

The press conference was highly-anticipated, particularly by the Clinton opposition, after former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone tweeted earlier this week:

Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks.

 Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) October 2, 2016

There are about one million documents to be released by years end. Some will come this week and are significant in relation to the upcoming U.S. election, Assange said. Asked directly if the docs will destroy Clinton. He answered, Theres been a lot of misquoting of me and WikiLeaks publications. In this particular case, the misquoting has to do with that we intend, or I intend, to harm Hillary Clinton or that I dont like Hillary Clinton. All those are false. They come about as a result it seems of this campaign and those who are trying to personalize our publications.

What is coming will be published every week for the next 10 weeks with all election-related docs to hit before November 8. Do they show interesting features of U.S. power factions and how they operate? Assange mused. Yes, they do. He added that overall there is significant material on war, arms, oil, Google, the election and mass surveillance.

Assange did not specify a time or day when new information will be released, although he noted, If we are going to make a major publication in relation to the United States, we wouldnt do it at 3 AM which was roughly the time at which he was speaking during the press conference.

Story continues

Finally, when asked if he felt an affinity with Donald Trump, he answered, Its an interesting question. I feel personal affinity with all human beings I certainly feel sorry for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They are two people that are tormented by their ambitions in different ways.

WikiLeaks is celebrating its 10th anniversary today and Assange appeared from his home-in-asylum at Londons Ecuadorian Embassy (but not from the balcony, a plan which had earlier been kiboshed) sporting a black t-shirt emblazoned with the word truth.

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Theres a word for buying tons of books and never reading them, which is totally a thing

Should there ever come a day when you need to describe your book-purchasing addiction to a group of your painfully misguided, judgey peers, there is now a term that will clear things right on up: tsundoku, the Japanese word for buying books and never reading them. So not only do you get to succinctly justify your right to use books as DIY staircases, decoration, conversation starters and dust collectors, you get to be all fancy about it.

According to Ozy.com, the exact definition of tsundoku is the acquiring of reading materials followed by letting them pile up and subsequently never reading them, which we can totally relate to.

books soupancake

Much like these fantastic German words with no English equivalent, this most useful term is yet another reminder that English needs to step its game up already. Seriously, words like this validate us (we knew we werent the only book hoarders on the planet) and are majorly effective time-savers.

Furthermore, Ozy provided a breakdown of tsundoku, proving its astonishing accuracy:

Oku means to do something and leave it for a while, says Sahoko Ichikawa, a senior lecturer at Cornell University, and tsunde means to stack things.

amy poehler parks and rec thats me

Ah, how fortunate are we to live in a world where one language makes up for anothers shortcomings? Pardon us for a moment  were off to buy a copy of Learning Japanese for Dummies, which were pretty sure we already own.

The post Theres a word for buying tons of books and never reading them, which is totally a thing appeared first on HelloGiggles.
By Heart is a series in which authors share and discuss their all-time favorite passages in literature. See entries from Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jonathan Franzen, Amy Tan, Khaled Hosseini, and more.

Doug McLean

Some people are famous for being famous. Nell Zink, author of Nicotine, is famous for being not-famous. A 2015 New Yorker profile chronicled her slow, unlikely rise to literary celebrity, a decades-long meander funded by secretarial work, bricklaying, and the occasional translators pittance. Though Zink wroteand sometimes deleted forevera steady output of novels and stories, she rarely sought readers beyond a few close associates. Even her big break, at almost 50 years old, started as an attempt to please only a single person. In 2011, Zink sent a piece of unsolicited snail mail, a mini-treatise on Balkan birdlife, which had the effect she surely wanted: to charm and perplex an influential audience of one, the American novelist Jonathan Franzen.

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This approach stands out in todays exhibitionist, professionalized literary culture, where publishers increasingly expect new authors to come pre-equipped with thousands of social-media fans. But Zinks never written for people in general, even though shes come to like being read. In a conversation for this series, she explained how her Catholic upbringing reinforced a feeling that only one opinion matters, Godsan idea thats become a kind of metaphor for her solitary creative process. We discussed a line from Psalm 118 that shaped her outlook early, spurring a conviction that loneliness is next to godliness, a faith that, if you do just the right thing by the words on the page, the rest will somehow work itself out.

Nicotine, Zinks latest, is the story of Penny, a young woman reeling from the death of her complicated, Shaman cult-leader father and the inheritance hes left her: a squalid house in New Jersey, now filled up with anarchic, cigarette-stained squatters. Nell Zink is the author of The Wallcreeper and Mislaid. Other than a handmade zine, Animal Review, which she wrote for several dozen subscribers, Zink didnt publish anything until 2013. She spoke to me by phone.

Story continues

Nell Zink: I first heard Psalm 118 in church. I was raised Catholic, and as a child, I couldnt miss it: It comes up in all four gospels, plus Acts and the first letter of Peter, and is the responsorial psalm at Easter mass. Sadly enough, a lot of the more violent passages appealed to me when I was young. I will look down upon my foes as their heads are dashed out against rocks, that kind of thing, which I would read in eighth grade to get up the courage to go to school. My parents were always pressuring me to fight backI was supposed to slug people and say mean things. But instead I would be really submissive and just let them beat me, and think of the martyrs. (I was a weird kid.)

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One line from Psalm 118 made an especially profound impression on me:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This is a very strong statement. The builders, the people who put me here, reject mebut one day, the city will be built on my foundation. Its a lovely, constructive sort of revenge fantasy. Of course, this was presented to me in the context of Jesus, who in the Bible is always saying this avant-garde stuff: Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, or, A prophet has no honor in his own country. To me, this fit right in with that. I thought it was expressed in an especially poetic and musical way. It still sounds good to me.

Writing is like drawing: if you get certain details to be accurate, then the full picture will be accurate.

You hear all these fairy tales, when youre a kid, about the ugly duckling, and Cinderella, and the littlest snowman: People who are overlooked and then have to be discovered. And thats how this line is often interpreted, though in that reading both the originality and insight are gone, along with the suggestion of power. I think the message Jesus conveyed was different, at least subtly different. The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone, but it doesnt say the stone changed. The stone didnt grow up to become a swan. It was the same rock, and later, the builders said, Oh, yeahthat thing is useful.

I guess that was my dream.

When youre raised in a family thats religiousnot like we were fundamentalist freaks or something, but I was taught religionyou learn youre supposed to please one person. Your audience is God. And if you do what God wants, it totally does not matter what anybody else thinks. I think theres a link between that and the anarchic individualism thats so normal for Americans: the anti-social willingness to defy the group. The Protestant ideal, of course, is that ethics are between you and the higher power. This idea was omnipresent in my childhood, and I know it was important to me. When youre an unpopular kid getting beaten up in school, the idea that your behavior is somehow pleasing to someone  I think I found it comforting for that reason.

I think this part of why, for many years, I didnt seek out readers: my career was laying low. I wasn't JesusI was the early Christians hiding in caves. I was like, okay, I'm not going to get out there and try to tell people what I'm about, because they will crucify me. That's what Heidrich Heine said about images of Christ on the cross, which are all over the place in Catholic countries: He's put up as an example and a warning. This is what will happen to you if you act that way.

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When I was writing little stories for my zine, Animal Review, in the early nineties, I was conscious that I couldn't think of anyone who was going to like these stories or approve of them, except me. I remember vividly just writing for myself, and how each one just had to be right. Like a lot of people, I trust my own superego. I think one can make good ethical judgments if one takes a little time to think about it. Editorial judgments for me feel ethical when I'm making them. I want to say what's right. I've always felt like writing is a little bit like drawing: if you get certain details to be accurate, then the full picture will be accurate. Like with that facial recognition software that, because of nine dots that it computes from your features, can tell it's you. Youll have a recognizable picture if you put the dots in the right place.

It was a special state of mind I had put myself in to write. At the time when I was writing little tiny stories, I was living in New York, working as a secretary. Its not like I went around in an idealistic tranceI would have been run over. I had to be more aware than that. (In the time I lived in New York, I saw five bodies in the street of people who had been hit by carsthey weren't all dead, but it happens.) But when I sat down to write, which I did Saturday mornings, it was a very pleasant experience of putting myself into this mental state where my concerns mattered. It was just between me and these stories. Just a paragraph, looking back at me on the page.

I guess its like flower-arranging or anything else. To tweak a text and say, okay: It's good now. Sometimes you discover that there are people who agree with youyes, its good nowthough, of course, that came late in life for me, and was a very cheering experience. For years, I had only the sensation of making something I loved, and having the privilege of being my own favorite writer.

I do regret that I suffered so much doing terrible jobs, when possibly I could have been making money writing. At the time, there weren't that many creative-writing programs. There was Iowa, and nobody ever mentioned any other program. In Willamsburg, I knew one guy who got into Iowa, and it was if he had ascended into heaven. People wanted to touch the hem of his garment. Of course, even then I wanted to do journalismbut I think the avant-gardism that's serving me so well would have been drilled out of me. I knew people who did journalism, and I watched it being drilled out of them, and I thought, nah, thats not for me. I don't know. I was a little odd, my social behavior was weird. Maybe I wouldn't have made any money anyway.

If you care what people think, youll do what I used to do: hide.

When I got out of college I went to work for a bricklayer. Today, it's considered so politically incorrect to say thisyou have to be reading Pierre Bourdieu to have someone admit that the work that women do in a system of masculine domination tends to be routine maintenance, while the men create and construct. But my mom was a very feminist person, and it was clear to me that in this system you did not want to be on the female side of the equation. There was absolutely nothing genderqueer about itI was just saying, if we have a system where men skim the cream off the top while women drink the dregs, I need to move up. That, and I loved Irving Stones book about Michelangelo, The Agony and the Ecstasy, which I read when I was 11 or twelve, which made me want to work with my hands on stone, a big hunk of Carrara marble.

Well, I immediately got $8 an hour instead of the $4.50 you got doing women's work. But going to work as a bricklayer was not the smartest thing I ever did. It was punishingly hard work. The weekends were more like convalescence than like time to relax. I wouldn't say I'm a physically frail person, but I have little tiny bones like a bird. I did not belong on construction sites.

The first time I published something (besides my stories in Animal Review) was a little piece on the N + 1 website, and I was sort of terrified emotionally. I knew it wasn't true, but the feeling was as if everyone was going to read it, and they were all going to hate me. It was not a good feeling at all. I wrote it in a way that was completely coded and very indirect. Its funny: I think that might be part of what people find interesting about my writing even now. If I ever lose my fear of the mass audience, maybe I'll just become a banal crank or something.

Of course, weve long had the idea that art is supposed to be subversive or unpopular. You see it all the time in interviews with artistseven people like Bob Dylan, who traces the idea of the avant-garde to the French symbolists Verlaine and Rimbaud, the feeling that art is supposed to appeal initially to only ten people and then twenty years later maybe to fifteen, and then maybe you're famous after you're dead. That was the avant-garde ideal from the 19th-century. Today, though, its more common to hear people stomping their foot and saying, why didn't I get a Booker nomination? Its funny, because even in the fifties and sixties, self-respecting artists were turning down prizes. It was a sort of popular mass appeal they didn't want. People associate that kind of thought with people like Cocteau, but I was picking it up as a two year old, sitting in church: that the best kind of person to be is the kind of person being nailed to the cross. It's such a weird message, but it shaped me.

Whenever you put yourself in the public eye you're going to be looked at, and people are going to make judgments about you, and they're not all going to be positive. If you care what people think, youll do what I used to do: hide. We're now in a societal phase where caring what people think is just a way to completely lose your mind. So I don't do that. You put those people out of your mind. It's not possible to care what people think and do what I do.

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Sanaa (AFP) - Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen formed Tuesday a "national salvation" government to rival the internationally recognised administration of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The cabinet led by Abdel Aziz Ben Habtoor, who was named on Sunday to form a government in rebel-held Sanaa, will have 27 ministers, the rebel's "supreme political council" said in a statement.

The council was created in July by the Huthis and the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Ben Habtoor is a former governor of the southern port city of Aden and a member of the political bureau of Saleh's General People's Congress.

Abu Bakr al-Kerbi, a former foreign minister of Yemen and member of Saleh's party, will head the foreign ministry while the defence ministry was given to General Hussein Khayran, who held the same portfolio in the Huthis' revolutionary committee.

The rebel government also includes five women -- a number never seen before in Yemen -- as well as representatives of southern separatists and ministers considered independents.

The rebel announcement of a rival government is likely to further complicate the prospects of a political settlement in Yemen.

In early August, UN-backed peace talks in Kuwait between Yemen's warring parties were suspended.

The United Nations says the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led Arab coalition backing Hadi's government launched operations in March 2015.

Since then, the rebels have been pushed out of much of Yemen's south, but they still control nearly all of the country's Red Sea coast as well as swathes of territory around the capital Sanaa.
By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis toughened demands for the resumption of talks to end the 19-month-old civil war, saying President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi must go and an agreement must be reached on the presidency. The comments from the Iran-aligned forces are likely to complicate United Nations efforts to bring the parties back to talks based on proposals made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in August. Hadi's internationally-recognized government, which is supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, is battling the Houthis who took over the capital Sanaa in September 2014. "Any talks or negotiations by Yemeni delegates must be on the condition that the United Nations offers a written and comprehensive peace plan," delegates from the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a statement on Saba news agency. "If the proposal does not include an agreement on the new presidential institution, then it [the UN peace plan] becomes merely a partial and incomplete vision, which cannot be a foundation for discussion," the statement said. A shaky ceasefire between the government and the Houthis, who practice a variant of Shi'ite Islam, took effect in April and brought some respite from the war, which started when the rebels pushed the government into exile in March 2015. Peace talks broke down in August, though, and Saudi-led air strikes on the Houthis have resumed. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on August 25 he had agreed in talks with Gulf Arab states and the United Nations on a plan to restart peace talks with a goal of forming a unity government. The final agreement would also include the withdrawal of forces from Sanaa and other areas and the transfer of heavy weapons the Houthis and forces allied to them to a third party, Kerry said at the time. In another development, the United Nations' aid chief said the organization needed the rapid cooperation of Yemen's various authorities to fight malnutrition that is afflicting millions. UN emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien, in a Reuters interview on a visit to Yemen, also said that damage to infrastructure, including cranes at the main Hodeidah port, had affected shipments of food, fuel and medicine to Yemen. "Of course we need to do so much more, what we are doing we know to be insufficient," he said. "The authorities, whoever they are, need to able to give us great and quick facilitation, not put administrative burdens in our way, not to distrust us." Yemen relies almost solely on imports, but the war has slowed shipments to a trickle. Out of 28 million Yemenis 21 million need some form of humanitarian aid and at least half the population suffer from malnutrition, the U.N. has said. Speaking after visiting aid efforts, O'Brien said it was "absolutely terrifying" to see thin, malnourished babies in the pediatric and feeding wards of a hospital. "These things are avoidable. And that's why we need to get not only food but medical items in, because the other thing that is almost obliterated is the health service. O'Brien urged Yemeni authorities to facilitate U.N. work by issuing visas to staff and removing administrative obstacles. He said that a verification and inspection mechanism set up by the United Nations had helped ease transport of vital food and medical supplies to Yemen but damage to Hodeidah port and its facilities was slowing down the process. "Of course its terrible to see the smashed cranes which limit the capacity to be able to unload the ships along side the berths to bring in the food supplies and the fuel that is so necessary," O'Brien said. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, writing by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Sami Aboudi, Editing by William Maclean and Angus MacSwan)
By Bill Berkrot

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The race to find protection against the Zika virus is fueled by something often missing from tropical disease research: the potential for big profit.

The prospect of a blockbuster vaccine against a mosquito-borne virus has accelerated the pace of development and attracted the interest of big drugmakers, including Sanofi SA (SASY.PA), GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L) and Takeda Pharmaceuticals .

Although Zika infections are mild or asymptomatic in most people, demand for a vaccine is expected to be strong because it can cause devastating birth defects, pharmaceutical executives and disease experts said.

The most lucrative market is seen in travelers seeking inoculation against the virus that has moved rapidly across the Americas and is the only mosquito-borne disease also spread through sex.

"It scares people," said Scott Weaver, a virologist with the University of Texas and chairman of the Zika task force for the Global Virus Network. "Europeans and Americans can pay a pretty high price for these kinds of vaccines."

A vaccine could come to market in as little as two years. Even if the current outbreaks in Latin America and the Caribbean burn out by that time, people living in those regions are expected to want protection against a return of Zika.

Tens of millions of travelers from United States and other wealthy nations, including people on business trips with corporate-sponsored health coverage, are expected to get vaccines before visiting areas where Zika is circulating.

"If you consider just a portion of the U.S. traveler population, we can conservatively envision a Zika market opportunity exceeding $1 billion" a year, said Joseph Kim, chief executive of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO.O), a Pennsylvania company that is farthest along in the development path with human testing of a vaccine candidate underway in hard hit Puerto Rico.

Drugmakers and disease experts also envision the vaccine becoming standard care for girls before puberty to guard against birth defects in future pregnancies. Boys also could be candidates to protect eventual sexual partners.

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"Hopefully a vaccine can be developed that's sold for a low cost in endemic areas," Weaver said.

ZIKA'S DIFFERENCE

Blockbuster sales for vaccines against mosquito-borne viruses are unheard of. Sanofi's dengue vaccine, approved in nine countries, is generating near-blockbuster expectations, the biggest in the market by far. Analysts forecast annual sales for Dengvaxia reaching about $900 million by 2020, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Efforts to find a malaria vaccine are purely philanthropic. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed significantly to GSK's decades-long effort to produce a vaccine for children in Africa. Development is ongoing, and GSK expects no profit.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) developed a potential vaccine for West Nile virus, but it failed to find a commercial partner because the virus did not inspire enough public alarm to generate big sales. West Nile leads to serious complications in less than 1 percent of people infected.

In February, the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency because of Zika's apparent link to microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small heads and serious developmental problems. That, and evidence of other severe fetal brain abnormalities linked to Zika, have galvanized efforts to speed vaccine development.

The NIH is negotiating with companies to produce Zika vaccines but has its own pilot plant that can make enough for early clinical testing, which began with its first candidate in August.

"We're not dependent on a company until you prove it works and then you need somebody to manufacture millions of doses," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The first NIH candidate is a DNA vaccine containing no actual virus, in which genetically engineered cells produce an antigen that triggers an immune response, similar to the West Nile vaccine. By early 2017, the agency expects to be able to decide whether to begin enrolling thousands of patients in an efficacy study, or move on to the next candidate.

The size of the Zika outbreak may help development efforts. If it remains widespread, it will be easier to tell if a vaccine is effective.

"If the infections die down, then it's going to take much longer to find out if it works," Fauci said.

A second NIH candidate contains inactivated viral material, while a third utilizes attenuated, or weakened, live virus.

DNA-based candidates are most likely to prove safe, but they typically require multiple doses to work. Vaccines that contain live virus are considered most effective with one dose, but have a far higher safety hurdle, particularly if they are intended for pregnant women, and so they take longer to get to market.

INDUSTRY PILES IN

Inovio's DNA vaccine is injected along with a brief low voltage electronic pulse that induces cell membranes to open, making them more receptive, in theory, to accepting the vaccine's genetic material.

Privately-held Protein Sciences Corp built its Zika vaccine using technology similar to its already approved Flublok flu vaccine. The drugmaker has partnerships with companies in Argentina, Brazil, Japan and Mexico and plans to seek funding from Brazil and the NIH. It expects to start human trials by January.

Chief Executive Manon Cox estimated the cost of developing and securing approval for a vaccine could be as high as $1 billion. Without government funding, "that product has got to have a market of a few billion dollars," she said.

With the help of $43 million in initial funding from the U.S. government, France's Sanofi is developing a candidate using live attenuated virus. The company is not as far along as some other efforts, but it aims to start human trials next year and is confident it can catch up.

"We've got technologies, infrastructure, experience dealing with regulators in this field. All of that gives us a jumpstart," said Nick Jackson, head of research for Sanofi's vaccine unit.

Another French vaccine maker, Valneva SE (VLS.PA), generated an inactivated Zika vaccine candidate using the same process as its already approved Japanese encephalitis vaccine.

GSK is working with NIAID on a new type of vaccine technology. Japan's Takeda also secured U.S. government funding to help develop a vaccine using killed Zika virus and plans to begin human testing in the second half of 2017.

"If there is a huge need," said Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, president of Takeda's global vaccine unit, "there will be a business model that works."

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Lisa Girion)
Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday upheld a police ban on anti-government street protests in Harare after weeks of demonstrations calling for President Robert Mugabe to step down, a lawyer said.

Tendai Biti, the lawyer for a coalition of opposition parties who were challenging the police order, confirmed the case had been dismissed.

The parties are set to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.

Biti blasted the police ban, due to run until mid-October, as "an arbitrary infringement of people's rights".

Police in Harare last month ordered a month-long ban on demonstrations in the capital's central business district following a string of anti-government protests.

Dozens of activists were beaten and arrested for participating in those marches.

Mugabe, 92, has often used brutal force to silence his opponents, and has warned the protesters they were "playing a dangerous game".

Opposition to Mugabe's 36-year reign has grown in recent months with a surge of public demonstrations, triggered by an economic crisis that has left banks short of cash and the government struggling to pay its workers.

Soldiers and civil servants have regularly been paid late this year, heightening pressure on Mugabe, who came to power in 1980 and has vowed to stand for re-election in 2018.

A one-day strike in July, called by trade unions and Christian pastor Evan Mawarire, shut down offices, schools and some government departments.
Dedicated to the festive season, this budget airline is offering jaw-dropping airfares for both domestic and international routes.

By India Today Web Desk: The festive month is finally here. Soon after the Durga Puja, it will be time for Diwali. It is the best time of the year for every Indian.

And soon after the festive season is over, it will be an amazing time to travel to any part of the country. While the temperatures will drop down to comfortable degrees, the clear skies will provide breathtaking views of the mountains.

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It seems Spicejet understands this well. No wonder, the airline has just announced its Great Festival Sale Offer.

The discount sale offers all-inclusive one-way fares starting as low as Rs 888 for the domestic and Rs 3699 for the international sectors respectively.

Also read: 8 things you must never eat or drink before a flight



Applicable only on direct flights, under this offer, tickets for popular routes such as Bengaluru-Kochi, Delhi-Dehradun, Chennai-Bengaluru are being offered at Rs 888 (all-in; one-way) while within the international sector, the sale offer has encompassed Chennai-Colombo routes at Rs 3,699 (all-in; one-way) among others.

Launched today, the offer will be valid for bookings made till midnight October 7, 2016. The travel period for which you can avail the discount is from November 8, 2016 to April 13, 2017.

Offer applicable on first-come-first-served basis, the tickets can be booked on www.spicejet.com and the airline's official mobile app.



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HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe is losing at least $1 billion annually to corruption, with police and local government officials among the worst offenders, Transparency International said in a report on Tuesday. Social media groups like #ThisFlag and #Tajamuka have cited corruption in President Robert Mugabe's government and police roadblocks where money is taken from motorists as among the main reasons for protests that have rocked the southern African nation in the last few months. Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) said the police, local councils, the vehicle inspection department that issues driving licenses and the education department were among the most corrupt institutions. "The resulting institutionalization and systematization of corruption in Zimbabwean political and economic spheres has been extensive," TIZ said. "It would be surprising if the value (of corruption) were less than $1 billion annually." Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she could not immediately comment. Critics and the opposition accuse Mugabe of failing to tackle high-level graft and say endemic corruption is one reason foreign companies are hesitant to invest in the country. Mugabe has at times admitted to corruption among his cabinet ministers but says police lack the evidence to prosecute. "It could be true there could be corruption but we don't have people who are prepared to give evidence," Information Minister Christopher Mushohwe said in response to questions about the report. "Give us the evidence and the law will take its course." Zimbabwe was last year ranked 150th out of 168 countries on the Transparency International index, which measures public perceptions of corruption in public institutions. Corruption mainly consists of public officials demanding bribes for basic services like installing an electricity meter, approving a house plan to facilitating investment. Zimbabwe's tax authority in May suspended its head and five managers in connection with the purchase of luxury cars that were undervalued by a local dealer, one of few high-ranking graft cases to be made public in recent years. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Joe Brock and Hugh Lawson)
Android phones, the smartphones of your dreams are finally here... maybe. Google on Tuesday held a huge press conference where it made a number of new announcements, but the stars of the show had to be the new Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL smartphones. We knew almost everything there was to know about these Nexus replacements heading into today's event, but leaks and rumors never really do a good job of painting a complete picture. Well, now the picture is indeed complete and we're left with two of the sleekest and most powerful Android smartphones the world has ever seen; interestingly though, they're not pure Android smartphones like Google's Nexus phones have always been.

Will Android enthusiasts be upset that Android has been spiced up on the Pixels rather than being left pure? Or are these phones hot enough to make them accept the new bells and whistles? Below, you'll find all of the Pixel and Pixel XL's best new features laid out and explained, so you'll know exactly what you have to look forward to if you decide to buy one.

MUST SEE: These $20 wireless earbuds have so many features missing from Apples AirPods

Design

Google was quick to focus on the phone's design, which is said it developed entirely in-house. The handset features a sleek aluminum chassis and a large glass panel on the back that it views as an iconic design feature.

Google Assistant

Pixel is the first phone with Google Assistant built in, give users constant on-demand access to Google's next-generation virtual personal assistant software. The Assistant is triggered with a hot word or by touching and holding the home button.

Photography Experience

Google says the Pixel phone was rated an 89 by DxOMark, which is the highest score the group has ever handed out.

The phone has a 12-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture and 1.55 micron pixels. It's bolstered by nifty features like Smartburst, which captures a burst of photos and automatically identifies the best one; enhanced HDR+, which combines multiple short exposures to extend dynamic range and better lighting; the fastest shutter on the market; and enhanced video stabilization.

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Google Photos comes built-in on the phone, automatically organizing photos as you capture them. Google is also offering free unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos at full resolution to all Pixel owners.

Google Smart Storage

Today is not a good day for Nextbit...

Similar to the solution that was introduced on the Nextbit Robin, Google's Pixels have a great feature that helps ensure a user's phone never runs out of storage space. It does this by deleting photos and videos from the phone that have already been backed up to Google Photos when it needs to make space for new files. Then, when a user wants to access those media files, the phone can download and restore them from the cloud on demand.

Communications

New Google apps like Duo and Allo are preinstalled on Pixel phones, and they feature deep integration into the phone  thanks in part to smart new software features like Google Assistant.

Fast Charging

A 15 minute charge can give you as much as 7 hours of power  that's among the best fast-charging solutions on the market.

Live Customer Care

Pixel owners can reach a live support agent by phone, chat or screen-share 24/7. As anyone with a smartphone made by a company other than Apple can attest to, better customer service is something all smartphone owners have wanted and needed for a long time.

Specs

Dayum!

specs

Virtual Reality

The new Pixel phones are among the first to ship with Google Daydream support, which is Google's hot new virtual reality platform. The phones are also fully compatible with Google's first VR headset, the Daydream View.

Android Updates

Last, and perhaps most importantly, Pixel phones will have instant access to Android updates because they'll come directly from Google as soon as they're released.

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The Google Pixel and Pixel XL will be a Verizon exclusive as far as carrier availability is concerned, and Google will also sell an unlocked version on its online store. Preorders begin today at 2:00PM EDT, and they'll launch on October 20th. You can learn more about the Pixel here, or the Pixel XL here.

Updated to clarify Google's smart storage feature.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Amazon is talking to European Union antitrust regulators about settling a year-long investigation into its e-book deals with publishers without a fine, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The move comes as Amazon is also under scrutiny over its tax deal with Luxembourg, which may result in the U.S. online retailer paying millions of euros in back taxes. "Amazon is in talks to settle the e-book case but it is too early to say whether it will reach an agreement," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Under the EU's settlement rules, the company would not face any fine or finding of wrongdoing if it can offer concessions to allay regulatory concerns. European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment. The EU competition watchdog opened an investigation into the case in June last year, saying Amazon's e-books contracts with publishers giving it terms as good as those for its rivals may make it difficult for other e-books distributors to compete. The focus is on Amazon's e-books in English and German. The company is the biggest e-book distributor in Europe, while the market is growing rapidly. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Without the cooperation of American companies  both voluntary and compelled  the National Security Agencys system of mass surveillance simply would not have been possible. And on Tuesday, Reuters added the name of yet another American corporate giant to the list of those who have made it possible for American intelligence to intercept huge troves of information: Yahoo.

According to the news service, the American internet giant designed custom software to filter its users emails according to a set of search terms, and deliver those messages to the NSA. The decision to enable NSA surveillance was reportedly made by CEO Marissa Mayer and without the knowledge of the companys security chief, who quit in protest when he learned of the program.

Citing three anonymous sources familiar with the program, Reuters reported the Yahoo software scanned all of its customers incoming emails for specific information provided by U.S. intelligence officials and in compliance with a classified government directive. It is unclear what information American spies supplied Yahoo to search its users emails.

Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States, the company said in a statement.

The news of Yahoos compliance with a major NSA surveillance program comes as telecommunications giant Verizon is on the verge of acquiring the company for $4.8 billion. Last month, Yahoo revealed that hackers stole credentials of at least 500 million of its users.

The companys compliance with the NSA should not come as a shock, and is the latest in a series of arrangements with American firms and made by the signals intelligence agency to facilitate surveillance.

In the aftermath of World War I, American spies wanted access to the telegrams of foreign governments transmitted on U.S. soil. They turned to companies such as Western Union for help, striking gentlemens agreements that were likely illegal to supply the raw material of signals intelligence.

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American intelligence officials sold cooperation to company executives as a largely patriotic endeavor, according to James Bamfords NSA history, The Shadow Factory, and succeeded in signing up basically the entire American telegram industry.

As communications technology has changed, so has the NSAs partners. As they have developed, telecommunications companies and internet firms have become the agencys primary enablers, typically by secret court order. Documents leaked by Edward Snowden show how firms such as AT&T and Verizon, Yahoos future parent company, have helped the NSA hoover up huge amounts of internet data.

But as these companies have taken on customers worldwide, their cooperation with the NSA has become a huge business liability. When Snowden revealed in 2013 the full extent of American signals intelligence operations, he exposed a whos-who of U.S. firms cooperating with the agency.

The now infamous slides detailing the providers participating in the NSAs PRISM program included Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, and, yes, Yahoo. That program allowed the agency to access the contents of users communication, and created the impression that these American firms were in bed with the NSA.

Of course, these companies did not voluntarily sign up with the NSA, and were ordered by a secret federal court to hand over user information. But for customers around the world, the takeaway was a simple one: The NSA could get into Facebook.

The perception of cooperation with American intelligence agencies has pushed some companies, most notably Apple, to adopt highly sophisticated encryption and security schemes that make it impossible for the company to give up some user data and communications.

The move toward encryption has led the the U.S. government to complain that its surveillance systems are going dark, but news of Yahoos cooperation with the NSA points toward how overblown that fear likely is. With every development in the communications industry  from the break-up of the Bell telephone monopoly to the switch from analog to digital voice communications  the NSA has complained that its ability to carry out surveillance will be negatively impacted.

And, yet, the agency keeps on finding ways to collect data. The agreement with Yahoo dates to 2015, two years after the Snowden revelations, and according to Reuters, the company complied with the directive at least in part because it believed it would lose a legal battle with the federal government.

Mayer complied with the program without the knowledge of her top security engineer, Alex Stamos. He resigned in protest and decamped to Facebook when his subordinates discovered the system, which they believed had been installed by malicious hackers, not their own colleagues.

Mayers reluctance to inform her security team of the program points toward the ethical gray area it operated in. Its not clear what compelled her to grant access to the NSA; Reuters said the program operated under a federal government demand.

Yahoos corporate website for transparency currently trumpets Mayers commitment to privacy. Weve worked hard over the years to earn our users trust and we fight hard to preserve it, she says on Yahoos web page.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
There's a reason why Toyota's new mini robot doesn't stand. It sits and wobbles to emulate the actions of a baby, designed to attract the attention of women who either can't or don't want to have children of their own.

It could also bring companionship to an aging population that could use a little friend.

Coming to Japan next year for about $400, the Kirobo Mini has a more advanced vocabulary than your typical infant. This 10cm-tall robot can engage in casual conversation, make gestures and even respond to your emotions.

MORE: Best Robot Vacuum Robots

For example, the Kirobo Mini will say, "Oh no, what happened?" if you frown, or ask you why you're excited if you're smiling. As you might expect, it speaks in a high-pitched voice.







Credit: Toyota

Credit: Toyota

The Kirobo Mini also ships with a cradle that doubles as a baby seat, which appropriately fits right inside your car's cup holders.

Toyota is attempting to address two trends in Japan with this robot. First, births have halved in the last 50 years to around a million a year, with one in 10 women never marrying. So there are less babies being born.

The other trend is an aging population; more than a quarter of the population are age 65 and older. That group could use a friend, especially when a caregiver is not around.

Toyota will start by launching the Kirobo Mini through Toyota vehicle dealers across Japan in 2017, but there's no word as to whether this synthetic baby will come to the U.S.

via Reuters, CNN




By Jim Finkle (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson is telling patients that it has learned of a security vulnerability in one of its insulin pumps that a hacker could exploit to overdose diabetic patients with insulin, though it describes the risk as low. Medical device experts said they believe it was the first time a manufacturer had issued such a warning to patients about a cyber vulnerability, a hot topic in the industry following revelations last month about possible bugs in pacemakers and defibrillators. J&J executives told Reuters they knew of no examples of attempted hacking attacks on the device, the J&J Animas OneTouch Ping insulin pump. The company is nonetheless warning customers and providing advice on how to fix the problem. "The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping system is extremely low," the company said in letters sent on Monday to doctors and about 114,000 patients who use the device in the United States and Canada. "It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the internet or to any external network." A copy of the text of the letter was made available to Reuters. Insulin pumps are medical devices that patients attach to their bodies that injects insulin through catheters. The Animas OneTouch Ping, which was launched in 2008, is sold with a wireless remote control that patients can use to order the pump to dose insulin so that they do not need access to the device itself, which is typically worn under clothing and can be awkward to reach. Jay Radcliffe, a diabetic and researcher with cyber security firm Rapid7 Inc, said he had identified ways for a hacker to spoof communications between the remote control and the OneTouch Ping insulin pump, potentially forcing it to deliver unauthorized insulin injections. The system is vulnerable because those communications are not encrypted, or scrambled, to prevent hackers from gaining access to the device, said Radcliffe, who reported vulnerabilities in the pump to J&J in April and published them on the Rapid7 blog on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/2dOUm0e) J&J executives said they worked on the security issues with Radcliffe. Dosing a patient with too much insulin could cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which in extreme cases can be life threatening, said Brian Levy, chief medical officer with J&J's diabetes unit. Company technicians were able to replicate Radcliffe's findings, confirming that a hacker could order the pump to dose insulin from a distance of up to 25 feet, Levy said. He said such attacks are difficult to pull off because they require specialized technical expertise and sophisticated equipment. "We believe the OneTouch Ping system is safe and reliable. We urge patients to stay on the product," Levy said. J&J's letter said that if patients were concerned, they could take several steps to thwart potential attacks. They include discontinuing use of a wireless remote control and programming the pump to limit the maximum insulin dose. Radcliffe said he believed that OneTouch Ping users would be safe if they followed the steps outlined in the letters from J&J. "They can give peace of mind to the patient or parent of a child using the device," he said. FDA GUIDANCE ON MEDICAL DEVICES In August, a prominent short seller and a cyber security research firm went public with allegations of potentially life-threatening cyber vulnerabilities in heart devices from St. Jude Medical Inc. As its shares tumbled, St. Jude said the allegations were false, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began an investigation. J&J said before it sent out the letters, it reviewed the matter with the FDA, which is preparing to issue formal guidance on how medical device makers should handle reports about cyber vulnerabilities. An early draft of that guidance, which was released in January for public comments, called for device makers to work with security researchers, identify steps to mitigate risks, and provide patients with information about bugs so they can "make informed decisions" about device use. The FDA on Tuesday praised J&J and Rapid7 for their work in discovering, finding ways to mitigate and disclosing the vulnerability. "This is the proactive behavior the FDA has been looking to see from the medical device manufacturer and research community and demonstrates the collaborative manner in which vulnerabilities can be addressed in a way that best protects patients," the agency said in a statement. J&J Chief Information Security Officer Marene Allison said her team would make sure other J&J products do not have similar bugs. Radcliffe said he found vulnerabilities in the Animas OneTouch Ping, but not the Animas Vibe line of insulin pumps. The FDA has said it knows of no cases where hackers have exploited cyber vulnerabilities to harm a patient. The agency last year issued multiple warnings about cyber bugs in infusion pumps from Hospira, which has since been acquired by Pfizer Inc. (http://reut.rs/2duNuZK) (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Grant McCool)
Greetings from the (near) future, a place (not quite) devoid of the tyranny of cables, and where I can watch television on (practically) any device I want, (almost) anywhere I want. The freedom is  hold on, my show is buffering  truly liberating. (So long as I dont put my iPad next to my refrigerator. Then its infuriating.)

While unveiling the newest version of his companys streaming media box just over a year ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook proclaimed the future of TV is apps. Today, Google revealed its competing vision for the big screen and, unsurprisingly, the two rivals are at odds with one another. The search giant thinks the future of TV is bandwidth, and from my Barcalounger  situated on the cutting edge of technology  Im compelled to agree.

Ive had the latest Apple TV for nearly a year, but Ive only used it about a dozen times. Apps  at least in their current configuration  arent the future of television, at least not right now. In part, thats because, while using the Apple TV, you have to use your television provider credentials to log into each and every different app. This is a major pain. Apple says a fix is coming, but its still MIA.

Another Apple TV hangup for some: It doesnt support 4K video. Whats the sense of buying a shiny new box for your shiny new television if it will provide a picture thats no better than your old flatscreen? A year ago, this was a three-way chicken and egg problem between studios that didnt shoot shows and movies in 4K, Internet providers that didnt provide enough bandwidth to handle large video files, and television manufacturers that struggled to get pricing low enough for mass adoption. But coming into this holiday season, 4K televisions will be in demand, 4K content will be more widely available through providers like Netflix and Google Play, and ISPswell, Internet speeds are still a challenge.

So instead of using the Apple TV, I use TiVo. Its a great service presumably only used by journalists and Europeans, because those are the only people I ever hear speaking lovingly about the company. Through my TiVo box and accompanying app, I can stream video to my iPad or iPhone whether Im home or not. That said, it works much better in my home than outside it, and struggles in low-bandwidth situations like on public Wi-Fi or, as I alluded, next to my refrigerator. (The same can be said for any other streaming video app like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, and the rest.)

But the fact is, my homes Internet setup wasnt designed to let me watch Last Week Tonight via HBO Go on my iPad while I wash the dishes. The refrigerator, my body, and the running water all block my wireless signal as I scrub the pots and pans. As a busy father, the 20 minutes I get cleaning up dinner are the few moments in a day I get all to myself  and even then I end up troubleshooting the houses Internet problems.

One of Googles new products, announced at its event Tuesday, might help: Google Wi-Fi. Due to launch in December, Google Wi-Fi aims to eschew the central router concept in favor of an expandable system that improves coverage throughout the house. Unfortunately, traditional routers werent designed for the way we use Wi-Fi in the home today, Google Head of Product Management Mario Queiroz said while unveiling the gadget. Were streaming, gaming, video chatting and more, all throughout the house.

By plugging in multiple Google Wi-Fi routers, which will cost $129 for one or $299 for three but are not yet ready for pre-order, the system creates a Wi-Fi network around the home thats supposed to keep far-flung devices like my nursery webcam and my front door camera transmitting data just as quickly as my living rooms Apple TV can gobble it up.

But Google would prefer I use a new $69 Chromecast Ultra instead. The company is making a strong case for me (and anyone who owns a 4K television) to switch. Similar to the 30 million other Chromecast devices Google has sold to date, the new version will be capable of streaming ultra-high definition 4K content, at last taking advantage of all those gorgeous new televisions that everyones been neglecting.

And pairing Google Plays upcoming 4K content offerings with equally high resolution images on YouTube, the chicken and egg problem is no more. Suddenly all of Googles eggs are hatching.

Well, almost. The company still has to contend with ISPs and slow broadband speeds. But through Google Fiber, the company is conquering that, albeit slowly. Of course, my city doesnt have Google Fiber and, most likely, neither does yours. But faster Internet speeds are coming. And the future of television with it.
plans to debut a new virtual reality headset at an event in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to Variety.

The device, a challenger to Facebooks Oculus Rift and Samsungs Gear VR headset, will start at $79, according to the report. It will display virtual reality content by plugging into Android phones and require a small hand controller that resembles a wand.

Google first revealed Daydream, a new virtual reality platform that is part of the latest version of Android, in May. At the same time, it disclosed early plans for the new headset, but without a price and many details except for an early drawing of its design.

Google will also reportedly introduce new Android phones on Tuesday that will work with the Daydream headset. HTC is expected to make the phones under the brand name Pixel.

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Daydreams headset and controller would be one of the lower cost options compared to rivals. Samsung Gear VR is listed at $99 (but currently on sale through Amazon at $69.99). Facebooks Oculus Rift costs $599 while HTCs Vive VR system costs $799.

As Clay Bavor, Googles virtual reality czar, told Fortune in May, the viewer is composed of fabric and fits snugly around a user's head. It's more a garment than a "gizmo," Bavor said at the time, taking a subtle dig at the ski-mask-like Oculus Rift.

Also expected to be revealed at Tuesdays event is Googles rival to the Echo, a home automation device controlled by voice assistant Alexa. The so-called Google Home, according to reports, is similar to the Echo and Alexa, and can look up information from your Gmail accounts, order an Uber to your home, turn off and on lights and more.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
When asked why he would not comment on the issue, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said "because I am President of the Security Council. The Security Council has not been discussing the India-Pakistan situation."

By India Today Web Desk: The United Nations Security Council has not been discussing the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, Russia's envoy to the UN and Council president for October said, in a clear snub to Pakistan which had raised the Kashmir issue.

Tension between India and Pakistan had escalated since the attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Kashmir which left 19 soldiers dead.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his speech at United Nations General Assembly had asserted that foreign forces were trying to destabilise Pakistan. He raked up the Kashmir issue and said that peace between India and Pakistan was not possible without resolution of the 'Kashmir issue.'

Nawaz Sharif accused India of putting "unacceptable" conditions on dialogue with Pakistan and said the world would ignore the dangers of rising tensions in South Asia at its own peril.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in her speech at United Nations General Assembly had stated that Pakistan should abandon its ambitions to claim Kashmir.

Also read:

Russia welcomes surgical strike by India in PoK, says every country has a right to defend itself

Not holding any anti-terror exercise with Pakistan in 'so-called Azad Kashmir', says Russia



WHAT RUSSIAN ENVOY SAID

"I don't want to go there, don't want to go there. No no please, I don't want to go there," Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said as he quickly interrupted a question on India and Pakistan tensions during a press briefing yesterday.

Churkin was addressing the media as Russia assumed the Presidency of the 15-nation Council for the month of October.

When asked why he would not comment on the issue, Churkin said "because I am President of the Security Council. The Security Council has not been discussing it (the India-Pakistan situation).

"Sorry sir, I don't want to go there. No comment, no comment, sorry please," Churkin said.

When asked again why he and Russia were "so reluctant" to discuss the India-Pakistan situation, Churkin said, "I'm sure you know. There are so many other things."

Churkin's remarks come as a clear snub to Pakistan, which had approached the Security Council just last week on the surgical strikes conducted by India to target terror launch pads across the Line of Control as well as on the Kashmir issue.

Russia last month, had said it expected Islamabad to take "effective" steps to stop the activities of terrorist groups in its territory as it voiced concern over "aggravation" of the situation along the Line of Control between India and Pakistan.

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It also asked the two neighbours not to allow any escalation of tension and settle their disputes through negotiations. Russia had said it stood for "decisive struggle" against terrorism in all its manifestations.

MORE DETAILS

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq was asked what the UN position is on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's remarks in her address to the UN General Assembly that Pakistan should "abandon" its Kashmir dream since Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.

"We have issued a statement on the situation between India and Pakistan. I would refer you back to that," Haq said.

When asked again why the UN did not "say anything" to Swaraj's remarks that Pakistan should stop dreaming about Kashmir, Haq said, "We don't comment on every speech made in the General Assembly, but we have been commenting on the situation on Kashmir, and like I said, we issued a statement on that just last Friday."

Also read:

Nawaz Sharif after India's surgical strike: Don't take our peaceful intent for weakness

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Indian Army commandos cross LoC, conduct surgical strikes in Pakistani territory

Pakistan's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had met New Zealand's UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, president of the Council for the month of September, and had raised the issue of the surgical strikes in "informal consultations" of the Council.

She had also met UN Secretary General Ban on the issue but the UN Chief had called on the governments of India and Pakistan to address their outstanding issues, including Kashmir, peacefully through "diplomacy and dialogue".

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had last week said that Pakistan approaching the UN Chief and the Security Council over the surgical strikes in PoK has not found any resonance at the world body.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too had tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, raising it with almost every world leader he held bilateral talks with on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly last month.

With inputs from PTI



--- ENDS ---
The future of Google hardware has arrived.

On Monday morning in San Francisco, California, Google CEO Sundar Pichai taken the stage to unveil a wide variety of new products, highlighted by the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. But before we get to the the phones, Google has a few other devices to unveil, including the Daydream View VR headset.

RELATED: Watch Googles big Pixel event right here

Google originally announced Daydream back in May  an VR platform built specifically for Android devices. The Pixel, which Google also revealed this afternoon, will be one of the first Daydream-ready phones. But how are you supposed to use Daydream? With a head-mounted display (HMD), of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLLAA4ENIP4

Unlike the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Gear VR or PlayStation VR, the Daydream View is actually made out of fabric rather than plastic. According to Clay Bavor, Google's VR head, this makes the headset far more comfortable for users to wear.

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome when considering jumping into the world of VR is the difficulty of setting the hardware itself up in the first place. With Daydream View, all you have to do is drop your phone into the headset and strap in. No cords, no wires, no screens to tap through  the phone and the View communicate with one another wirelessly and the two devices automatically align with one another.

So now that your phone is sitting inside of a VR headset, how are you supposed to control it? That's where the remote comes in. Google actually showed off the remote earlier this year, and you can see it in action below:

https://twitter.com/google/status/733000948306444288

The only issue with the remote is its size, but thankfully, Google thought of this beforehand. There's actually a slot on the headset where you can store the remote once you're done with it, so you won't accidentally drop it between some cushions.

As for the software you'll be interacting with, Google says that it will have 50 partners on board before the end of the year, including HBO, Hulu and Netflix. Google also showed off a few games, including a tie-in with the upcoming Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well as a sequel to EVE: Gunjack, which was one of the better Gear VR launch titles.

Story continues

Google says that the Daydream View will be available in November for $79. It will come in three different colorssnow, slate and crimsonand more Daydream headsets from other partners are expected to be unveiled soon.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
The San Francisco event on October 4, 2016, marked a shift in strategy for Google, which is undertaking a major drive to make Google Assistant artificial intelligence a futuristic force spanning all kinds of internet-linked devices (AFP Photo/Ramin Talaie)

San Francisco (AFP) - Google took on rivals Apple, Samsung and Amazon in a new push into hardware, launching premium-priced Pixel smartphones and a slew of other devices showcasing artificial intelligence prowess.

The unveiling of Google's in-house designed phone came as part of an expanded hardware move by the US company, which also revealed details about its new "home assistant" virtual reality headset and Wi-Fi router system.

The San Francisco event marked a shift in strategy for Google, which is undertaking a major drive to make Google Assistant artificial intelligence a futuristic force spanning all kinds of internet-linked devices.

"We are evolving from a mobile-first world to an AI-first world," Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said.

"Our goal is to build a personal Google for each and every user."

Rick Osterloh, head of a new hardware division at the California-based internet giant, added, "We believe that the next big innovation is going to take place at the intersection of hardware and software, with AI at the center."

Pixel will be available with a five- or 5.5-inch display, starting at $649 for US customers, similar to the latest iPhone models. Pre-orders began Tuesday in Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain and the United States.

- Made by Google -

By using its own name on handsets, Google is aiming for a bigger slice of the competitive smartphone market, dominated by Samsung and Apple.

Until now, Google's flagship devices had used the Nexus brand with hardware partners that have included China's Huawei and South Korea's LG. The California group also sought to expand in the smartphone market by purchasing Motorola in 2011, but sold the unit less than three years later.

Unlike past smartphone alliances, Google stressed that it had complete control of Pixel from start to finish, contracting with Taiwan-based HTC to manufacture handsets.

"Google today demonstrated that it's finally serious about hardware," said Jan Dawson at Jackdaw Research. "The Pixel phones are clearly being positioned as peers to the iPhone."

Story continues

The new Pixel phone is "the first phone made by Google inside and out," said Sabrina Ellis of the Pixel product management team.

By producing both the hardware and Android software, Google is making a more direct assault on Apple and its tightly controlled ecosystem.

Besides being the first smartphone to ship with Google Assistant, it will come with unlimited storage for photos and videos and be compatible with the company's new Daydream virtual reality platform.

Pixel has a "smart" camera for sublime photos, and a program to make it easy for users to switch operating systems, a move aimed at encouraging iPhone users to convert to Android.

However, Google may find it challenging to gain market share, analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said.

"Aside from the camera, the new Google Pixels are pretty undifferentiated compared to Samsung and iPhone 7th generation phones," he said. "They don't exactly swing anyone around the room."

- Apple's world -

Gartner analyst Brian Blau said "the most exciting part" of Tuesday's announcement was the assistant, which showcases Google's strength in artificial intelligence.

"It's a different tactic from Google, taking the stance that they want to have that direct relationship with their customers," he said.

"It is clearly a step into Apple's world" of controlling hardware and software and services, he added.

Pixel will be sold through US carrier Verizon and telecom groups, and be available at Google's online shop unlocked.

Google also showed off a new Daydream View headset into which compatible smartphones can be slipped to serve as screens for virtual reality experiences.

View headsets are made of soft cloth, purportedly inspired by casual clothes. Daydream View bundled with a controller device will be available in November, priced at $79.

Google added to the coming hardware line-up with a modular Wi-Fi system that lets a set of interconnected mini-modems be spread around homes to make signals strong in all spots.

"Unlike a single, central router, multiple Google Wi-Fi points do a better job of delivering connectivity to all parts of the home," Google executive Mario Queiroz said.

The internet giant also introduced its Google Home virtual assistant, which will be a direct challenge to popular Amazon Echo devices.

Google described Home as a voice-activated assistant that enables users to tap into the company's online capabilities to answer questions, manage tasks, control devices in homes, stream videos and more.

"Much like Amazon Echo, Google Home is less a story about a wireless speaker and more about a point of access to a virtual assistant," IHS Markit senior analyst Paul Erickson said.

"Ultimately, it will be the virtual assistants that are the trump card, and Google Assistant is expected to only grow in superiority to Alexa when it comes to personalization and everyday usefulness for mainstream users," he added of Amazon Echo's voice-activated program.

Google Home was also synced to work with the freshly unveiled Chromecast Ultra device for streaming high-resolution online video to television screens.

The $129 Google Home device will be available in retail shops on November 4.
Later today, Google will take the wraps off its 2016 Android phones which will be the companys first non-Nexus handsets. The Pixel and Pixel XL starred in a variety of leaks, and we think we already know everything there is to know about them, at least when it comes to design and specs. The phones will likely start selling as soon as Googles event is done, and thanks to Verizon we have a good idea of what prices to expect. Before you even have to ask, no, Google will not stick to its Nexus pricing scheme  the Pixels will cost you about as much as an iPhone 7.

DONT MISS: Another iPhone bursts into flames, sending the owner to the ER

Reddit user abattleofone spotted the Pixel and Pixel XL on Verizon a few hours ago. The 32GB Pixel was listed at $199 in his cart, which likely "means it is $650 off contract. He then found the 128GB version of the Pixel to be priced at $100 extra. Finally, the 128GB Pixel XL was priced at $419.99. That means the off-contract price of the Pixel XL could very well be around the $800 mark.

verizon-pixel-pixel-xl-prices

In addition to pricing details, Verizon also listed Pixel and Pixel XL features on its website long before it should have. Google Magic is something we havent seen before and we have no idea what it is. It probably a new software feature, but one thats so significant that it needs to be listed above productivity, performance built for business, and "strengthened security.

verizon-pixel-pixel-xl-google-magic

Finally, Verizon also confirmed the phones will arrive in three color options, including blue (Really Blue), silver (Very Silver) and black. Hopefully, the black option will have a similarly cool color name as well.

In just a few hours Google will tell us all about its Magic, and it will confirm the pricing structure for its Pixel phones.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Fears about a zombie nation of millenials permanently tethered to Snapchat might be overblown, but we sure do use cellphones a lot these days. The overwhelming majority of Americans live in somewhere with a strong cellular connection, and those that don't have killer Wi-Fi.

But what if you live in somewhere with no radio signals at all? Not a third-world country, either, but West Virginia.

DON'T MISS: Why the iPhone 7s battery life isnt as bad as it seems

https://youtu.be/eQEGPATQe5s

YouTuber Tom Scott went to the Green Bank Radio Telescope, a site tucked in the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia. It sits inside the US National Radio Quiet Zone, an area of 13,000 square miles with strict limits on radio emissions. For the most part, that means that no TV signal and poor cell signal.

But for some residents within a 10-mile radius of the telescope, there's no Wi-Fi, no microwaves, and certainly no cell signal. A team of scientists with a lot of equipment strictly enforce the rules, driving around to find the source of any rogue emissions. Even gasoline-powered vehicles are prohibited from coming within a mile of the telescope, as the spark plugs cause interference.

It's all in the name of research, as the radio telescope needs quiet in order to conduct its mission of scouring the skies. The Radio Quiet Zone also facilities the less-public work at Sugar Grove Naval Radio Station.

What's most interesting about Scott's visit is listening to the workers and residents who live near the telescope. For the most part, they don't own cellphones any more. It's different to interviews of people who have never had access to technology; the researchers are all educated, modern members of society who have chosen to forsake cellphones in order to work at the telescope. But perhaps surprisingly, few people seem to regret it.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Marvel's next show, Iron Fist, officially has a release date. On Tuesday, the studio shared a short video on YouTube revealing that all thirteen episode of the show will arrive on Netflix on March 17th, 2017. Iron Fist will be the fourth series in what has been an extremely fruitful partnership between Netflix and Marvel.

SEE ALSO: The Walking Dead cast just confirmed whether or not Negan killed Glenn

Although The Punisher managed to garner enough attention in Daredevil's second season to warrant his own show, Iron Fist will be the final Marvel series to hit Netflix before all four heroes team up in The Defenders miniseries. Marvel is averaging two shows a year and has already announced that The Defenders is scheduled for 2017, so we'll like see the superhero team-up come to fruition next fall.

Watch the full date announcement teaser for Iron Fist below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYcmsfrI-U

Fifteen years after being presumed dead in a plane crash, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) mysteriously returns to New York City determined to reclaim his birthright and family company. However, when a long-destined enemy rises in New York, this living weapon is forced to choose between his familys legacy and his duties as the Iron Fist.

Along with the video, the official Iron Fist Twitter account also shared a new image from the show. It shows Danny Rand (Iron Fist) absolutely going to town on some bad guys. Seriously, that's a whole lot of bodies in the background:

https://twitter.com/MarvelIronFist/status/783221988600930304

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
It was an eventful week for tech stocks in general and Microsoft MSFT in particular. The software giant entered into important alliances with Adobe ADBE, Workday WDAY, Dell, HP Enterprise HPE and got attacked by Salesforce CRM.

Heres a quick look at the top stories:

Microsoft Deal Week: Adobe, Workday, Renault

Microsofts alliances last week were notable. HP Enterprise and Dell, which officially joined Azure last week at its Ignite Conference in Atlanta, have everything to gain from the alliance. Thats because Microsoft is the only one of the top cloud infrastructure providers that continues to bet on the hybrid cloud.

Unlike Amazon AMZN and Alphabets GOOGL Google, Microsoft expects companies to initially (and perhaps also later) use the public cloud for some operations while housing some sensitive operations on owned hardware. Therefore an alliance with Microsoft brings together the companies that can make this happen.

Also at Ignite, the company announced a major collaboration with Adobe that will have the PDF software maker run its Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Document Cloud on Azure. In return, Microsoft will make Adobes marketing cloud the preferred marketing service for Dynamics 365, its own CRM solution.

The combination of sales software from Microsoft and marketing software from Adobe will help users run Microsoft analytics on Adobe-stored data, thus putting up some solid competition for Salesforces Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud. Whats more, the companies will cross-promote products. While Adobe will continue to work with Amazons AWS for customers that want it, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has said, Were going to be focusing our innovation and efforts on Azure.

The companys alliance with Workday, intended to roll out this quarter, is intended to integrate Workdays HR and finance software with Microsofts Office 365 productivity solutions. The combined resources are expected to help customers simplify their business processes, enhance collaboration, and infuse more intelligence into their organizations, according to Microsoft CEO Nadella. There will also be employee-related analytics, such as how employee time is used.

Story continues

Renault and Nissan, that have gotten together to develop self driving car technology have now chosen Microsofts Azure to provide advanced navigation, predictive maintenance and vehicle centric services, remote monitoring of car features, external mobile experiences and over-the-air updates. They also intend to collaborate on next-generation connected services for cars that will be powered by Azure services.

SalesForce Opposes Microsoft-LinkedIn Deal

After losing out in the bidding war to acquire LinkedIn, Salesforce is now trying to do whats second best. The main concern for the company is LinkedIns data on 450 million professionals across 200 countries that has thus far been widely available. If Microsoft, as part of its efforts to integrate LinkedIn into its services decides not to share this information, Salesforce CRM customers would have one less reason to use the solution (and one more reason to use Microsoft).

No wonder Salesforce is working to delay the deal or at least get regulators to approve it on the condition that the revenue sharing arrangement continues. Since the U.S., Canada and Brazil have already approved, the company wasted no time in going to the EU (Microsoft hasnt registered the acquisition in Europe yet, but Salesforce has filled out a standard questionnaire that the EU sends to competitors as part of the normal approval process). This is a big hope because the EU is anyway suspicious of American companies, is concerned about the growth of European companies and is scrutinizing closely transactions that involve large data sets.

Will Google Buy Twitter?

Ever since Twitter co founder Ev Williams indicated on Bloomberg TV that the company would consider all its options in response to a question on its possible sale, people have been speculating about a prospective buyer.

But what does Twitter have on offer? A ton of data, including on its relatively stagnant 300 million-odd user base, a platform where most news breaks and a newfound love affair with sport videos. All this comes with baggage, i.e. 100 million or so in quarterly losses, the inability to adequately monetize its platform, the prevalence of duplicate IDs on the platform, which is partly why advertisers hesitate to pay high rates, a video sharing platform that still limits video clips to a few seconds and a somewhat screwed-up reputation involving hate speech.

The possible suitors being bandied about in the press include Google, Salesforce, Microsoft and Disney (the last one being really weird but sometimes such things happen).

Twitters co founder-CEO Jack Dorsey is also Disneys board member, which is probably why some people are trying to find a reason it could be interested. Twitter can be a new shareable TV feed popularizing Disney productions, these people say.

Others say that Microsoft is not done swallowing social media companies. It may be spending $26 billion on LinkedIn, but it has so much more. So why not splurge on the data Twitter will add? After all it intends to be AI king.

On to Salesforce. CEO Marc Benioff appears to be smarting from the LinkedIn loss to Microsoft. But Twitter is no LinkedIn, their only similarity being users that look for information and reactions more than interaction. Still, Twitter is somewhat more interactive (even discounting the trolls) and can possibly be useful for a CRM player like Salesforce as more companies use the platform to interact with the user base.

That leaves the speculators favorite Google. True enough, Google has the greatest chances of bringing the company to profitability simply because it is the best-equipped to sell ads on the platform. Since their agreement in early 2015, Google has been given access to real time tweets for a good positioning on the search engine results page. This was supposed to generate non-member revenue for Twitter, increase traffic to its platform and perhaps generate some new users.

For Google, it was about fresher results. How that partnership has gone isnt clear but Twitters recent decision to hire Goldman Sachs Group and Allen & Co. to solicit potential buyers didnt start because of it. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that a Salesforce bid moved Twitter to action. Since then, Google has hired Lazard Ltd. as financial advisor to bid for Twitter.

Computer and Technology Sector Price Index

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Company Last Week Last 6 Months AAPL +0.23% +2.77% FB +0.24% +10.51% GOOGL -1.34% +4.46% MSFT +0.28% +3.64% INTC +1.43% +16.26% CSCO +1.19% +10.53% AMZN +3.92% +39.89%

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Corporate

Cisco Invests in Mexico: Cisco will pump $4 billion into its Mexico expansion efforts. The company, which already employs 1,000 will directly add 270 more people plus 77 in related jobs. Cisco will increase the manufacture of routers, servers and video conferencing screens at its Mexico facility for export to 110 countries worldwide.

Microsoft Forms New A.I. Group: Headed by Microsoft veteran Harry Shum reporting directly to CEO Nadella, the new A.I. and Research Group will combine Microsofts Information Platform, Cortana and Bing, and Ambient Computing and Robotics unit, basic and applied research labs and New Experiences and Technologies (NExT). The 5,000-strong team of engineers will focus on infusing A.I. into everything we deliver across our computing platforms and experiences, says Nadella.

Alphabet Forms New Cloud Group: Googles new Google Cloud unit, an umbrella for its cloud services and corporate software and hardware offerings, will be headed by Dianne Greene. That means the unit will include the entire range of its enterprise offerings from web-based productivity software (Docs, Sheets, etc, now called G Suite) and machine-learning and digital-mapping tools to those Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks that are specially designed for office users.

Customer support will be handled by the new Customer Reliability Engineering group within Google Cloud. Google doesnt break out its cloud revenue yet, which means its still under 10% of total revenue (it generated revenue of $75 billion in 2015, so not that surprising). Forming the new unit could mean that its getting ready to publicize it. That would make sense because it has recorded some major wins since Greene took over, the most recent being Home Depot, Pokemon Go, Disney and Coca Cola.

Wedbush Downgrades Alphabet: Wedbush analysts pointed to several trends that dont bode so well for search advertising. For instance, it has become much easier to target self-identified consumers through social networks and on ecommerce platforms. Second, consumers these days have greater control over [Internet]-delivered ads because of ad blocking technology. Third, companies are willing to pay consumers for seeing ads (Apple recently filed patent applications for a digital wallet service that pays users to look at advertising).

What all this means is that there is greater emphasis on self-identified consumers for targeting, which kind of hits Googles traditional impression or click based advertising models directed at unknown consumers. Google has been adjusting its business with these trends, but there could be a period during which the benefits of the new paid search model dont cover the declines in the older model. This uncertainty led Webush to downgrade the shares to underperform.

Google Focus on India: After losing out to government pressures in China, Google is ensuring a strong position in India. While Indians have much lower per capita income, the economy is currently one of the fastest-growing in Asia. Its also home to the second largest population of netizens, behind China. So the expanding middle class makes for a good market, one that all the big technology companies are looking to capitalize on.

Earlier, Google tied up with Railtel (the telecom arm of the Indian Railways) to provide free Wi-fi across 400 railway stations. Google has connected 52 to date and plans to touch 100 by year-end. Monetization will follow. For now, it has launched the paid service (secure, high-speed Wi-fi hotspots) in malls and other highly-frequented areas, where sellers can use the Google service to offer chargeable Wi-fi to customers.

The Allo app, which has already seen a million downloads since its launch last week, will see a Hindi version of Google Assistant by year-end. For slower connections, Chrome will automatically load simplified pages and save on video data.

Users can download web pages, videos, music, or pictures and access them offline through the newly created Downloads tab. When installing an app, there will be a new wait for Wi-fi option. YouTube Go is a new app for slower connections, allowing users to preview videos, save offline for later viewing and share with people nearby without using data.

Netflix Creative Head Joins Spotify Board: Netflix leadership continues to get closer to Spotify as it reportedly prepares to go public sometime next year. Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos will now take to the Spotify board, following former Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy who now occupies the same position at Spotify.

The music streaming business has accumulated 39 million consumers and this number continues to grow. Revenues come from a subscription structure that woos customers to its paid service. Profits are still hard to come by, since it pays out as much as 84% to rights holders. This could be why it has recently started producing original shows, an area Netflix leadership can help with.

Legal/Regulatory

WhatsApp on Wrong Side of German Regulator: German privacy watchdogs have objected to Facebook porting WhatsApp user data to the Facebook app without the explicit approval of WhatsApp users, some of which arent Facebook users. Before WhatsApps acquisition by Facebook, its co-founder, Jan Koum assured users that their privacy would not be compromised (earlier WhatsApp charged users a very small amount as annual subscription).

This wouldnt have been a good way to monetize the platform. So Facebook did away with the subscription, grew the user base, started sharing data including phone numbers to Facebook and also has plans to allow business users to communicate directly with other users.

Yahoo Sued for Gross Negligence: Ronald Schwartz has sued Yahoo for gross negligence, saying that the company took 3X as long as others to discover the data breach that affected 500 million users and also didnt make the information public until now, around two years after it happened. Yahoo has said that the attacks were state-sponsored, which also aroused the ire of senators Patrick Leahy of Vermo, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Al Franken of Minnesota, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Lawmakers are concerned that information related to Americans have passed on to foreigners, so they are now investigating the measures Yahoo takes to safeguard user data.

New Technology/Products

Google Expands Ride-Sharing Service: Google expanded the Waze ride sharing service to the San Francisco area last week. Anyone can sign up to be a driver and anyone using the Waze app can look for a driver willing to pick someone up. But the app is restricting users to two rides per day, most likely targeting people going to and from work.

There are some issues that Google must be working on still, such as the navigation system and interaction between drivers and riders. But overall, this is a service that can catch on, simply because it helps save on fuel cost and is so easy (in its current state). Commercialization could however require more work since safety of travelers will have to be considered.

VIDIA Could Get Inside Macs: Bloomberg cited a job listing by NVIDIA that said the successful applicant would work in partnership with Apple and play a role in shaping the future of graphics-related software on Macs. This led to speculation that the companys graphics chips will likely replace AMDs sometime next year.

M&A and Collaborations

Apple-Deloitte: Apple has enlisted Deloittes help to sell more devices to enterprise customers. Accordingly, Deloitte, which uses around 100K Apple devices itself, is employing a team of 5K to advise corporate clients on how to deploy Apple devices for specialized tasks such as insurance claims adjusting, or retail sales, or simply building software apps for their own businesses. Apple has earlier partnered with IBM, SAP and Cisco to boost enterprise sales.

Facebook Data Gathering Initiative: Facebook has partnered with the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to collect data through questionnaires. The Future of Business Survey as the program is called has collected responses to 15 questions from 90K SMBs across 22 countries that use Facebook to connect with users.

Since SMB data is hard to come by, this is being considered an important measure by both organizations, which will however continue to collect data through traditional channels as well. The data collected is also important for Facebook, because it can help the company market the platform to more SMBs.

NVIDIA-TomTom Combine on Maps: Tom Tom has a lot of HD maps and NVIDIA has the DriveWorks software development kit to handle computationally intensive algorithms for object detection, map localization and path planning that together form an essential part of self driving technology. So the two companies are getting together to develop artificial intelligence for self-driving cars so automakers can work on the NVIDIA platform and Tom Tom mapping data to speed up commercialization.

Some Numbers

Apple iPhone 7 Component Orders Rise: Apple supplier General Interface Solution (GIS), a subsidiary of Foxconn, has said that Apple has increased component orders for the December 2016 quarter. Accordingly, Digitimes reported that component orders are 20-30% higher than expected.

Apple Unit Sales Estimate Up: KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who has a good reputation for accurate estimates, has raised Apples unit sales estimate from 65 million to 70-75 million. The dual camera on the iPhone 7, the Galaxy Note 7 recall and the larger number of countries Apple launched the product in were cited as reasons.

Facebook Advertisers: Facebook has said that 60 million businesses now have a Facebook page, 30% of which are owned by women. Around 4 million of these businesses also actively advertise on the platform with more than 70% of the marketing being outside the U.S. The company is seeing the fastest growth in Vietnam, Indonesia, Greece, Ukraine and the Philippines. It claims that 20% of active advertisers have also created 4 million new video ads.

Cowen on Amazon Prime: Cowen analyst John Blackledge is highly optimistic about Amazon Prime, saying that members are worth more than $143 billion to Amazon over their lifetimes (since Prime members rarely cancel and more than 90% renew their subscriptions). The analyst says that Prime will have 12 million new members this year compared to 10million last year and 7 million in 2014.

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By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information provided by U.S. intelligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The company complied with a classified U.S. government demand, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI, said three former employees and a fourth person apprised of the events. Some surveillance experts said this represents the first case to surface of a U.S. Internet company agreeing to an intelligence agency's request by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time. It is not known what information intelligence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources, who did not want to be identified. Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request. According to two of the former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's decision to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc. "Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," the company said in a brief statement in response to Reuters questions about the demand. Yahoo declined any further comment. Through a Facebook spokesman, Stamos declined a request for an interview. The NSA referred questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment. The request to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified edict sent to the company's legal team, according to the three people familiar with the matter. U.S. phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies. But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad demand for real-time Web collection or one that required the creation of a new computer program. "I've never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a 'selector,'" said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and Internet companies on surveillance issues for 20 years before moving to Stanford University this year. A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information. "It would be really difficult for a provider to do that," he added. Experts said it was likely that the NSA or FBI had approached other Internet companies with the same demand, since they evidently did not know what email accounts were being used by the target. The NSA usually makes requests for domestic surveillance through the FBI, so it is hard to know which agency is seeking the information. Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft Corp, two major U.S. email service providers, separately said on Tuesday that they had not conducted such email searches. "We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'No way'," a spokesman for Google said in a statement. A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement, "We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo." The company declined to comment on whether it had received such a request. CHALLENGING THE NSA Under laws including the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, intelligence agencies can ask U.S. phone and Internet companies to provide customer data to aid foreign intelligence-gathering efforts for a variety of reasons, including prevention of terrorist attacks. Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and others have exposed the extent of electronic surveillance and led U.S. authorities to modestly scale back some of the programs, in part to protect privacy rights. Companies including Yahoo have challenged some classified surveillance before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret tribunal. Some FISA experts said Yahoo could have tried to fight last year's demand on at least two grounds: the breadth of the directive and the necessity of writing a special program to search all customers' emails in transit. Apple Inc made a similar argument earlier this year when it refused to create a special program to break into an encrypted iPhone used in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. The FBI dropped the case after it unlocked the phone with the help of a third party, so no precedent was set. "It is deeply disappointing that Yahoo declined to challenge this sweeping surveillance order, because customers are counting on technology companies to stand up to novel spying demands in court," Patrick Toomey, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. Some FISA experts defended Yahoo's decision to comply, saying nothing prohibited the surveillance court from ordering a search for a specific term instead of a specific account. So-called "upstream" bulk collection from phone carriers based on content was found to be legal, they said, and the same logic could apply to Web companies' mail. As tech companies become better at encrypting data, they are likely to face more such requests from spy agencies. Former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker said email providers "have the power to encrypt it all, and with that comes added responsibility to do some of the work that had been done by the intelligence agencies." SECRET SIPHONING PROGRAM Mayer and other executives ultimately decided to comply with the directive last year rather than fight it, in part because they thought they would lose, said the people familiar with the matter. Yahoo in 2007 had fought a FISA demand that it conduct searches on specific email accounts without a court-approved warrant. Details of the case remain sealed, but a partially redacted published opinion showed Yahoo's challenge was unsuccessful. Some Yahoo employees were upset about the decision not to contest the more recent edict and thought the company could have prevailed, the sources said. They were also upset that Mayer and Yahoo General Counsel Ron Bell did not involve the company's security team in the process, instead asking Yahoo's email engineers to write a program to siphon off messages containing the character string the spies sought and store them for remote retrieval, according to the sources. The sources said the program was discovered by Yahoo's security team in May 2015, within weeks of its installation. The security team initially thought hackers had broken in. When Stamos found out that Mayer had authorized the program, he resigned as chief information security officer and told his subordinates that he had been left out of a decision that hurt users' security, the sources said. Due to a programming flaw, he told them hackers could have accessed the stored emails. Stamos's announcement in June 2015 that he had joined Facebook did not mention any problems with Yahoo. (http://bit.ly/2dL003k) In a separate incident, Yahoo last month said "state-sponsored" hackers had gained access to 500 million customer accounts in 2014. The revelations have brought new scrutiny to Yahoo's security practices as the company tries to complete a deal to sell its core business to Verizon Communications Inc for $4.8 billion. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Tiffany Wu)
The UP Police has been given clear instructions to trace every Pakistani citizen who has entered the state on any pretense and hasn't left yet.

By Siraj Qureshi: Following the buildup of tension between India and Pakistan over the Uri attacks and the consequent Indian surgical strikes in PoK, the intelligence agencies have begun looking for the whereabouts of Pakistani citizens who are living in India on short-term or long-term visas. The UP Police has been given clear instructions to trace every Pakistani citizen who has entered the state on any pretense and hasn't left yet.

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PAK NATIONALS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

According to the Agra local intelligence Unit (LIU) office, there are 30 such Pakistani nationals who arrived in Agra to visit their relatives or on business, but never left and have now disappeared. The new orders to track their whereabouts has set the rusty gears in motion again and a fresh search is being conducted for the missing Pakistanis.

According to the LIU sources, the first Pakistani to disappear in Agra was in 1956, at the age of 45 years and there was little probability of him being alive after sixty years. However, the cases of disappearing Pakistanis continued and it only stopped after 1991, when the LIU developed a mechanism to keep a track on all foreigners in the city.

The files of missing Pakistanis in Agra are quite thick. All these Pakistani nationals had arrived in Agra on valid visas and informed the local police of their arrival, but then they disappeared and could not be found. Since 1991, the file on these missing Pakistanis has been maintained, but none of them has been found till date. With a large Muslim population, Agra is one of the major destinations for Pakistani nationals who come here to visit their relatives living in India. However, these arrivals have suddenly trickled down to near zero since September after the recent cross-border hostilities between India and Pakistan. While in July, the number of Pakistanis arriving in Agra was 38, it rose to 44 in August, but in September it has come down to almost none.



HARD TIME FOR THOSE WITH FAMILIES ACROSS THE BORDER

The LIU officials said that there are 56 Pakistani women currently living in Agra on long-term visas as they have married Indian nationals. One such Pakistani woman, Samreen told India Today that she had become nearly cut-off from her parental family after the Pathankot attacks as the visa formalities have increased manifold and her Pakistani family is unable to visit her in India, while she is unable to go and visit them. Earlier, she said, she used to meet her family at least once a year, but this has now stopped completely and the only way she can see her family is on phone. She said that she doesn't talk to her family often as intelligence agencies could cause trouble for her husband due to the frequent calls to Pakistan. She hoped that the current hostilities between the two nations will end soon and India and Pakistan will come close in friendship and peace.

Social activist and Muslim leader Mohd. Akbar Qureshi told India Today that the common people of Pakistan and India do not want a war between the two countries. They want peace and to become friendly neighbors like America and Canada. He said that 90 percent of Indian Muslims had relatives in Pakistan and vice-versa and if peace prevails between the two countries, the families will remain united across the borders.

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Akbar said that Indian Muslims are totally against terrorism and both countries should take steps to end this menace. He said that the politicians of both countries are fueling the fire with their jingoism instead of trying to control it and the people need to beware of such people, only then will the two countries be able to co-exist in peace and develop healthy relations with each other.

ALSO READ:

Pakistan-based organisation hacks NGT website, posts threat

Pakistani woman's Facebook post about her affinity for India is food for thought





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By PTI: He also appreciated the "important and welcome" security

He also appreciated the "important and welcome" security assistance provided by India to Afghanistan in terms of helping the strife-torn country build up their air force.

Asked if Indias developmental activities in Afghanistan are upsetting Pakistan, he said "We dont see India in partnership, especially in the areas that Ive described, as being something that comes at the expense of Pakistan."

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"There is also an enhanced US-India partnership happening these days. And we dont see that in zero sum game terms. We dont see that as being at the expense of our relationship with Pakistan. We continue to be a partner with Pakistan and encourage them to play a constructive and helpful role with regard to Afghanistan," he said. PTI LKJ BSA

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By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 3 (PTI) Ahead of a crucial meet in Rwanda on phase down of harmful greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), US Ambassador to India Richard Verma met Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave today to discuss the issue with both of them hoping for a "positive" outcome.

"US ambassador Richard Verma @USAmbIndia called on me. "Discussed mainly the phase down of HFCs under Montreal Protocol in view of Kigali meeting. Both sides expect positive outcome," Dave tweeted.

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The 28th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 28) to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer will be held from October 8 to 14 in Kigali, Rwanda during which the negotiations on an HFC amendment will be discussed apart from other issues.

Dave had earlier said that during the forthcoming meeting, India will make sure that its development process is not compromised.

"We will stick to (the deadline of) 2028-30 (for HFC phase down). They (western countries) are forcing us for 2024. We will look into that aspect when we sit on the dialogue table.

"At that time we will open the cards. We will make sure that development of India and that process is not compromised. We must get enough time before the phasing out period starts. We are very clear. Our present stand is for 2028-30," Dave had recently said.

A key concern for India is the additional cost involved in migrating to greener technologies.

Dave had also held meeting with various stakeholders and industries recently and said that India will also seek an "equitable" agreement that is in the best interest of the nation at the crucial meet in Rwanda. PTI TDS KR SMJ

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The US said that it won't speak about the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the LoC.

By India Today Web Desk: The US has appealed for calm and restraint between India and Pakistan while it refrained from commenting on the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir last week.

Elizabeth Trudeau, Director of the US State Department Press Office talking at a daily press briefing here on Monday, said, "We're not going to speak about the specific reports of incidents along the border." She added, "We urge calm and restraint on both sides," saying that the Indian and Pakistan armies were in touch with each other.

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Trudeau said, "We believe that continued communication is vital to reduce these tensions."

URI ATTACK

The Indian Army late on September 26 night and early September 27 morning carried out a series of surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC in which "significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who are trying to support them."

Also read: Pakistan National Security Advisor calls counterpart Ajit Doval, wants tension to diffuse

The attacks came in retaliation to the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army garrison at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in which 19 Indian soldiers lost their lives.



STRONG TIES WITH PAKISTAN AND INDIA

In her briefing, Trudeau said that "conflicts or issues or rising tensions are not contained to any specific region."

"We are in favour of any reduction of tensions that both sides agree to in this particular instance," she stated. She added, "We have strong ties with both Pakistan and India, and we'll engage on that basis."

Also read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector

Reiterating that the US position on Kashmir has not changed, Trudeau said, "I would remind you that we are having conversations with both (India and Pakistan) on the importance of reducing the tensions in the region."

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By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) The US has conducted airstrikes in Syria in which a senior al-Qaeda leader is believed to have been killed, the Pentagon has said.

US airplanes carried out the strikes yesterday near Idlib, targeting Abu al-Farai al-Masri aka Ahmad Salamah Mabruk, one of Al-Qaeda in Syrias most senior leaders.

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However, the Pentagon is yet to confirm his death.

"US forces conducted an airstrike today near Idlib, Syria, targeting Egyptian national Abu al-Farai al-Masri, aka Ahmad Salamah Mabruk, one of al-Qaeda in Syrias most senior leaders and a legacy al-Qaeda terrorist who previously had ties to Osama bin Laden," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said.

"We are still assessing the results of the strike," he said.

"His death, if confirmed, would disrupt and degrade coordination among senior AQ leaders and extremists," Cook said, adding that the US military will continue to target al- Qaeda leaders to disrupt their operations and counter the threat posed by this terrorist group. PTI LKJ SG BSA

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By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 3 (PTI) Expressing disappointment over Russias decision to scrap bomb-grade plutonium deal with the US, the White House today said the move will further isolate Moscow in the international community.

"This is an announcement that we are disappointed by. The decision by the Russians to unilaterally withdraw from this commitment is disappointing," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

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Earnest was responding to questions on the Russian announcement that it is withdrawing from the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) which was an arrangement for reprocessing weapons-grade material into fuel for nuclear reactors.

"The reason for that (American disappointment), is that this agreement that went into force in 2011, pledged the disposal of thousands of nuclear weapons worth of plutonium," Earnest said.

"And, this was an agreement that was reached by the United States and Russia, because were the two countries that have the largest amount of this material. And both leaders in Russia and the United States have made non-proliferation a priority," he added.

"Certainly the United States is interested in limiting proliferation and trying to reduce the risk associated with potential nuclear terrorism. And again, we know that Russias leadership has recognized this risk. The United States has been steadfast since 2011, in implementing our side of the bargain. And we would like to see the Russians continue to do the same thing," he asserted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today ordered a halt to the deal with the US on plutonium disposal, citing Washingtons "unfriendly actions".

The deal, signed in 2000, was meant to allow both nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium from their defence programmes, a move seen as a key step in the disarmament process.

The two countries recommitted to the deal in 2010.

Putin charged earlier this year that the US was not honouring the agreement by disposing of plutonium in a way that allowed it to retain its defence capabilities.

Earnest said the US is also disappointed with a host of Russian decisions on Syria and Ukraine, acknowledging that Washingtons relationship with Moscow is "complicated".

"Weve obviously been quite disappointed about a range of Russian decisions however both inside of Syria but also in Ukraine. Unfortunately, the announcement about the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement is more in line with those kinds of decisions that have only deepened Russias isolation in the international community," he said.

"The plutonium arrangement is one that does reflect the shared priorities of our two countries. And we are -- were hopeful that the -- that the Russians will recognize that and follow through on the commitments that theyve made," Earnest said. PTI LKJ UZM

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By India Today Web Desk: The United States has suspended its talks with Russia on Monday over its ceasefire violation in Syria. The US accused Russia of failing to live up to its commitments under an earlier ceasefire deal.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby issued a statement saying, "The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities." Blaming both, Russia and the Syrian government, he added, "Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the cessation of hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas."

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LITTLE HOPE FOR TRUCE/POLICTICAL SETTLEMENT

With this news, the hope for a political settlement to end the five-and-a-half-year long civil war in Syria is bleak.

Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry had threatened to pull the plug on talks unless Russia stops bombing Aleppo.

The US has said it would have to take an alternative approach to reduce the violence in Syria, without giving any specifics.

RUSSIA ACCUSES US OF TRYING TO SHIFT BLAME

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, talking to local news agencies, blamed the US for the crisis and accused them of trying to shift the blame onto Moscow.

Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew from a nuclear security deal on disposal of weapons-grade plutonium, signed in 2000. This action was reportedly taken in response to unfriendly acts by Washington.

Although, the US senior State Department official dismissed any links between the suspension of talks on Syria and Putin's announcement, it is a clear signal of the deteriorating relations between the two countries.

Also read: Putin questions US commitment to Syria cease-fire



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The White House has closed the petition saying it did not meet the signature requirements.

By Press Trust of India: The White House today stopped accepting signatures for a petition that sought to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, saying it has been archived as it did not meet the "signature requirements".

The announcement by the White House comes days after the petition gained a record half a million signatures, five times the number needed to get a response from the Obama administration.

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"Closed petition", said the petition page.

Also read: Pakistan resorts to heavy mortar shelling on LoC in Jammu's Naushera sector

"This petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements. It can no longer be signed," the White House explained. No further explanation has been given by the White House on closing the petition for signature.



EVIDENCE OF FRAUD



Normally it is open for a month for the people to sign. However, it looks like that some of the signatures might not have had met the terms of participation for these petitions.

As a result, it is very well possible that some of these signatures could be removed if there is evidence of fraud. But the White House is expected to have an official response to the petition within the 60 days deadline.

The petition was created on September 21 by a person who identified himself with initials RG and the petition needed 1,00,000 signatures in 30 days to get a response from the White House.

Also read: Pakistan National Security Advisor calls counterpart Ajit Doval, wants tension to diffuse

The benchmark was reached in less than a week, and in less than two weeks, the petition crossed half a million signatures.

The petition comes after Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, introduced H R 6069, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act in the House of Representatives.



ANTI-INDIA PETITION



Meanwhile, another petition claiming that India is "involved in spreading terrorism in it's adjoining countries" has been submitted on the White House website.

Pakistani-Americans are now campaigning for a signature campaign to support the anti-India petition on the White House website.

Also read: Forces giving befitting reply to terror attacks, says Rajnath Singh

"India is involved in spreading terrorism and in bloody proxy wars against its adjoining countries particularly Islamic Republic of Pakistan," the petition alleged.

The petition which was created on September by an individual who identified himself with initials SS has received nearly 64,000 signatures. It needs another 36,000 signatures to become eligible to get a response from the Obama administration.

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By PTI: Amaravati, Oct 3 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Chairman A Chakrapani, Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad and Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu today inspected the ongoing construction work of the new Legislature building at Velagapudi here.

Director General of Police Nanduri Sambasiva Rao accompanied them.

The new Legislature building is being constructed as the sixth block in the AP governments Transitional Headquarters at Velagapudi.

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"We have asked the contractor to complete all works by December 15 and get the building ready. We plan to hold the winter session of the Legislature here if the building is ready by then," Rao and Ramakrishnudu said.

Temporary accommodation would be provided to the legislators during the session, they added.

Later, Yanamala separately told reporters that the state Legislature would have to pass the state GST Bill before the Goods and Services Tax Act comes into being from April next year.

"There are still certain contentious issues related to GST like revenue sharing between the Centre and the states. The GST Council may take a call on this at its next meeting," Ramakrishnudu, who is also the Finance Minister, said. PTI DBV NRB DIP

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UNIC joins Leather is my Job project

Europe

The European Confederation of the Leather Industry (COTANCE) and industriAll-European Trade Union organised the second meeting for the follow-up of the Leather is my Job project in Milan on September 19.

Together with representatives from partner associations APIC (Employers, Portugal), BDSZ (Trade Union, Hungary), FEMCA/CISL (Trade Union, Italy), VDL (Employers, Germany), UKLF (Employers, UK), as well as UNIC (Employers, Italy), COTANCE and industriAll-Europe reviewed the activities carried out during the first phase of the initiative and discussed further action. Other partner associations such as FFTM (Employers, France), SG (Employers, Sweden), APPBR (Employers, Romania), BUof LFFHI (Employers, Bulgaria) sent in their written contributions.

The first project activities were reviewed and, in particular, the Leather is my Job ceremony organised in Germany. VDL, the German Leather Federation, reported on the new German leather technician professional qualification training, the diploma award ceremony and other special Awards that were co-financed by the project.

The project partners welcomed UNICs interest to join the initiative and will add all the promotional, educational and communication activities organised by the Italian tanning industry to future activities. New linguistic versions of an updated common Leather is my Job Brochure were also announced such as the translation of the leaflet in Swedish and Italian, and the addition of Hungary as a partner and a new Hungarian version of the document.

Future activities are to include further testimonials, a number of open doors in tanneries across Portugal, UK, Hungary, Germany and France, educational activities at schools in France, UK and other countries, participation at job fairs and closer involvement of job centres in a number of partner countries.

During the meeting, the UK Leather Federation (UKLF) announced a fruitful collaboration with ICLT (University of Northampton) for the production of a video that fits in the project activities.

The importance of social media was emphasised, in particular, the active Facebook page of the project, where workers are regularly portrayed and all the project activities are reported.

The final conference of the project will take place in Igualada, Spain, in June 2017. Participants will be able to witness interesting developments in the Catalan leather cluster, where research, education and training structures have been recently reorganised to produce better results.
Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee for president, wants your support.

Her platform seeks to move from the greed and exploitation of corporate capitalism to a human-centered economy that puts people, planet and peace over profit. Author and professor Cornel West has endorsed Stein, calling her a major force for good. If Stein can get to 15 percent in the polls, she will get into future debates and could pose a real threat to the two major parties remarkably unpopular nominees.

Progressives are told its too risky to support a third party candidate because that might clear a path for Trump. I reject the idea that, out of that fear, we must support a Democratic Party that has sold out the interests of working people in favor of its corporate funders. If we allow corporate Democrats to control us by fear, we only enable further betrayals.

There are plenty of ways a Trump presidency could prove a disaster. But as someone who has been horrified by U.S. foreign policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations, I am not convinced a President Clinton would be any better. As the New York Times reported in 2014, neoconservatives are backing Clinton in a bid to return to the drivers seat of American foreign policy. Clinton has a solid allegiance to the Endless War Doctrine that has driven foreign policy since 9/11. As a senator, Clinton was an outspoken supporter of the Iraq War and opposed restrictions on cluster bombs. As secretary of stateour nations chief diplomatClinton championed military solutions over diplomacy, including escalating the war in Afghanistan, regime change in Libya and arming Syrian rebels with weapons now in the hands of ISIS.

Trump, despite his lunatic rantings and constant contradictions, has at least acknowledged that after 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.

Of course, Trump made those remarks before his campaign began relying on the backing of the GOP, whichlike the Democratic Partyis deep in the pocket of the defense industry. Trump is now calling for increased defense spending of $500 billion over 10 years, along with a stepped-up bombing campaign.

On trade, however, Trump is more progressive than Clinton, who has repeatedly supported trade agreements like NAFTA that protect corporate profits over workers rights and the environment, and whose surrogates rejected a platform plank that opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump at least pledges to reject trade agreements that hurt U.S. workers.

If you care about peace between Israel and Palestine, you should know that Clinton promises a complete embrace of Netanyahu and his right-wing government. Her surrogates rejected a platform plank calling for an end to occupation. Clinton has slammed Trump for daring to suggest that, as the broker of peace negotiations, the U.S. ought to be neutral. However, if Trump accepts the $5 million reportedly offered by Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, he may be to the right of Clinton on Israel by the time he is sworn in.

And the uproar over Trumps most odious proposalto ban Muslims from entering the United Statescontrasts with the remarkable silence about the far more horrific reality under Clinton/Obama, which has been to assassinate Muslims who frighten us (including U.S. citizens), often by mechanized drone, based on secret evidence and without any judicial process or meaningful oversight. If you are concerned about a person with Trumps vindictive and unstable temperament presiding over a fleet of missile-armed drones and other high-tech weapons, remember that it was President Obama, a Democrat, who has overseen a drone assassination spree based on a White House kill list of targets chosen in what are called "terror Tuesday" meetings, despite the fact that government-planned assassinations were officially banned in 1976. It would be far better, I suggest, to support a candidate, like Stein, who would do away with this dangerous and destructive policy rather than scrambling every four years to elect a president who is not completely insane.

Further, if Trumps despicable proposals about immigrants are based on ignorance rather than outright racism, there might be some hope for a change in policy. Ignorant people can sometimes be enlightened, while people who are bought and paid for tend to stay that way. And if we take Trump at his word to figure out what is going on (a dubious proposition to be sure), he will quickly learn what the Pentagon has known since at least 2004, that Muslims do not hate our freedom, they hate our policies: our drones, our interventions in the Muslim world, our support for Islamic tyrannies in places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

As for the appointment of judges, we know little about Trumps philosophy except that he does not appear to bow to the wishes of ideological conservatives. Clinton, on the other hand, will select judges acceptable to her corporate backers, which means corporate lawyers and federal prosecutors. Lawyers who fight injustice on behalf of poor peoplelike my dream nominee, Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala., and lawyer for dozens on death row in the Southneed not apply.

I fully agree that Trumps ignorant, racist, sexist and xenophobic rhetoric should disqualify him from the presidency. But this should not require us to get behind a candidate whose rhetoric may sound progressive but whose policies are anything but. Remember that candidate Obama pledged to work toward a nuclear-free world while President Obama is now presiding over a trillion dollar modernization of that very arsenal. Candidate Obama pledged to get us out of wars in the greater Middle East while President Obama has, during the past month alone, dropped bombs on, or fired missiles at, at least six largely Islamic countries: Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia.

People are right to be concerned about Trumps climate change denial, embrace of torture, authoritarian rhetoric and despicable scapegoating of immigrants. But remember that the Democratic Partys betrayal of working Americans, which began in earnest under President Bill Clinton, caused them to turn to someone like Trump. And if we settle for another four years of empty rhetoric about hope and change, coupled with policies that serve corporate backers, we will end up with an anti-establishment Republican even scarier in 2020.

So dont be afraid to vote Green, even if you live in a swing state.

Leonard C. Goodman Leonard Goodman is a Chicago criminal defense lawyer and Adjunct Professor of Law at DePaul University.
About Me

Name: Carl in Jerusalem Location: Jerusalem, Israel

I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com

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[October 03, 2016] Fitch Rates Holy Redeemer Health System, PA's Series 2016A, Revs 'BBB'; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BBB' rating to the $70,865,000 Montgomery County Higher Education and Health Authority Health Care Revenue Bonds series 2016A issued on behalf of Holy Redeemer Health System, PA (HRHS). Additionally Fitch has affirmed the 'BBB' rating on the following series of bonds issued by Montgomery County Higher Educational and Health Authority on behalf of HRHS: --$30,000,000 series 2006A; --$46,320,000 series 2014A. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The series 2016 bonds are expected to be issued as fixed-rate, tax-exempt bonds and sold via negotiation the week of Oct. 10. Proceeds will be used to refund the Montgomery County Higher Education and Health Authority Health Care Revenue Bonds series 2006A for savings and fund $50 million of system capital needs. SECURITY Debt payments are secured by a pledge of the gross receipts of the obligated group and a mortgage on the Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center (HRHMC). Fitch bases its analysis on the consolidated system, which includes both obligated and non-obligated entities. In fiscal 2016 (draft audit, year-end June 30), the obligated group (OG) accounted for 82.9% of consolidated system assets and 78.3% of system operating revenues. The issuer is considering potential restructuring of the OG structure, subject the requirements of the HRHS Master Trust Indenture. Since Fitch bases its analysis on the consolidated system, the agency would view any changes as neutral to its analysis. KEY RATING DRIVERS THINNER 2016 OPERATING RESULTS: Operating income of $956,000 was weaker than $5.5 million in fiscal 2015 but only slightly behind the budgeted $1.3 million. While HRHS' 0.2% operating and 6.5% operating EBITDA margins were below Fitch's 'BBB' medians of 1.5% and 8.7%, respectively, the maintenance of the current rating is based upon the management's expectation of improved performance over the next two years. The fiscal 2017 budget is conservatively set at a $3 million loss (0.7% negative operating margin), but management is focused on managing expenses in order to produce break-even performance. Moreover, the organization's board expects a return to positive operations by fiscal 2018. SOLID LIQUIDITY: The system's liquidity metrics have historically been solid and favorable to the 'BBB' medians. Unrestricted cash and investments at June 30, 2016 were reported at $186.9 million, translating to 183.7 days cash on hand (DCOH) and 13.1x cushion ratio. Due to the inclusion of $50 million of new money for projects in the series 2016A transaction, cash to debt is expected to decline to 114.3% from 164.7% at 2016 year-end. The system has a relatively aggressive asset allocation, but this is partially offset by a conservative debt structure with approximately 90% of its debt in fixed rate mode post issuance and front loaded debt service. REVENUE DIVERSIFICATION: Fitch views the system's diversified service lines, which include acute care, long-term care, and robust home care presence as a credit strength, providing an attractive platform for population based health care delivery model. MANAGEABLE DEBT BURDEN: While the system's coverage of pro-forms MADS by EBITDA in 2016 was slightly lower at 2.5x than Fitch's 'BBB' median of 3x, MADS as percent of revenues is manageable at 3.5% and consistent with the category median. Fitch employs MADS for the consolidated system; the coverage of the OG MADS is slightly higher at 2.8x. RATING SENSITIVITIES NEED FOR STRONGER OPERATING PERFORMANCE: Failure of Holy Redeemer Health System to return to positive operating performance over the next two years, with coverage closer to the 'BBB' rating category or a material deterioration in liquidity would likely produce negative rating pressure. CREDIT PROFILE HRHS' obligated group consists of Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center (HRHMC), a 250 licensed-bed acute care hospital in Meadowbrook, PA, approximately 20 miles from downtown Philadelphia), St. Joseph Manor (St. Joseph), a 66 unit assisted living and 296 skilled nursing facility (SNF) bed facility, Lafayette Redeemer (Lafayette), a Type C continuing care retirement community (CCRC) with 296 independent living units (ILUs) and 120 SNF beds, Hospice, Home Care presence in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey and HR Physician Services. The consolidated system includes a number of non-obligated entities, including home care agencies and senior living facilities. In fiscal 2016, (year-end June 30, draft audit) the consolidated system had $392 million of revenues, a 5% increase over the prior year. New Issue Details The series 2016 bonds are expected to be issued as fixed-rate, tax-exempt bonds and sold via negotiation the week of Oct. 10. Proceeds will be used to refund the Montgomery County Higher Education and Health Authority Health Care Revenue Bonds series 2006A for savings and fund $50 million of system capital needs. The final maturity of the series 2016A is Oct. 1, 2036 and maximum annual debt service (MADS) of $13.9 million, provided by the underwriters, occurs in 2017. The refunding is expected to generate net present values savings estimated at $6.6 million. A debt service reserve will not be funded in for the series 2016A bonds. The principal projects for which the 2016 transaction will provide partial funding include a much needed memory care facility (60-70 beds) which will be constructed across from HRHMC ($10 million) and expected to be completed in 2019, ambulatory expansion, upgrades to the non-acute care facilities and various improvements at HRHMC, which are estimated at $15-18 million. Weaker Fiscal 2016 Results The consolidated system reported operating income of $956,000 for fiscal 2016, slightly lower than the budgeted $1.3 million. Contributing to the lower profitability was a significant increase in malpractice insurance, higher employee benefits expense, increased supply costs and continued investment in physician recruitment. HRHMC's admissions were 7.6% lower in 2016, but ambulatory surgery registered a solid 9.7% increase. Despite operating in the highly competitive north Philadelphia market, HRHMC was able to maintain its market share at a stable 11.5%. While the budget for 2017 is a loss of $3 million, management views it as conservative and is committed to work towards producing a break-even year end. The board also expects a return to positive operating performance by 2018, which Fitch views as possible given strategic initiatives being planned and implemented. Revenue Diversification HRHS continues to operate in a competitive and over bedded market. Fitch views HRHS' platform, which includes the entire spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services, including long term care, and home health and hospice care in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as uniquely positioned as the delivery model moves closer to population health management. HRHS ontinues to pursue ambulatory and outpatient expansion strategy. The addition of two ambulatory in Warminster (2017) and Richboro (2018) to the current four should further help solidify market share. HRHS participates in Tandigm, a company which manages primary care practices with over 300 locations in southeast Pennsylvania. The relationship with Tandigm has enabled HRHMC to participate in Tandigm's performance based contracts.



Effective June 30, 2016, HRMC has exited from the Delaware Valley ACO, where it was a 9% partner with two Philadelphia providers, but will continue to participate until 2016 calendar year-end in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. In May 2016 HRMC and Doylestown Hospital founded the Community Collaborative of Pennsylvania and New Jersey (CCC) ACO, which will be the region's only community Tier 1 hospital based ACO. The two partners filed for an ACO in Medicare Savings Program to start Jan. 1, 2017. Management anticipates this to be accretive to operations with covered lives estimated at 30,000 initially. Holy Redeemer already has two collaborative relationships intended to reduce outmigration for tertiary services to Philadelphia - with Temple Health in neurology and neurosurgery and Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health in cancer. An agreement was signed recently with MDAnderson to evaluate HRHMC for potential participation, under the auspices of the MDAnderson Cancer Center at Cooper University Hospital, in MDAnderson's model which provides access to MDAnderson's cancer expertise and clinical treatment plans. If approved, management would anticipate the impact of the relationship in 2018.

Solid Liquidity Cash and unrestricted investments were reported at $186.9 million at June 30, 2016; the liquidity metrics of 183.7 DCOH, 13.4x cushion ratio and cash to debt of 164.7% were all favorable to the 'BBB' category medians of 161.2 DCOH, 11.7x cushion and 90.8% cash to debt. The $50 million of new money in the series 2016A transaction will have the effect of reducing cash to debt to 114.3% on a pro forma basis, but by providing partial funding of the organizations' capital plan, which combined with historical level of cash flow, should allow for absolute liquidity to remain at a stable level. The system's investment portfolio has an aggressive asset allocation with 40% in alternative investments and private equity. Offsetting this concern is the system's conservative debt structure and absence of swaps. Furthermore, there is no life care or health care liability associated with St. Joseph's and Lafayette. Debt Profile Despite relatively thin profitability, the system generated a still adequate coverage of pro forma MADS by EBITDA of 2.5x in fiscal 2016. The $13.9 million pro forma MADS includes debt outside of the OG, some of which is non-recourse to HRHS. The OG had a higher coverage at 2.8x. MADS uses the Master Trust Indenture provisions for smoothing bullet maturities, which are outside of the OG. Holy Redeemer's debt structure is very conservative and relatively short, 90% of its debt is fixed rate and all material debt matures by 2036 (debt service after 2016 is a mere $615,000). Disclosure HRHS covenants to provide audited annual financial statements within 120 days of each fiscal year end and quarterly disclosure within 60 days of each fiscal quarter end. Quarterly disclosure consists of management discussion, balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and utilization statistics. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Applicable Criteria Revenue-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 16 Jun 2014) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/750012 U.S. Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Systems Rating Criteria (pub. 09 Jun 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/866807 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1012597 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1012597 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEB SITE AT WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM. 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As a result, despite any verification of current facts, ratings and forecasts can be affected by future events or conditions that were not anticipated at the time a rating or forecast was issued or affirmed. The information in this report is provided "as is" without any representation or warranty of any kind, and Fitch does not represent or warrant that the report or any of its contents will meet any of the requirements of a recipient of the report. A Fitch rating is an opinion as to the creditworthiness of a security. This opinion and reports made by Fitch are based on established criteria and methodologies that Fitch is continuously evaluating and updating. Therefore, ratings and reports are the collective work product of Fitch and no individual, or group of individuals, is solely responsible for a rating or a report. The rating does not address the risk of loss due to risks other than credit risk, unless such risk is specifically mentioned. 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Fitch receives fees from issuers, insurers, guarantors, other obligors, and underwriters for rating securities. Such fees generally vary from US$1,000 to US$750,000 (or the applicable currency equivalent) per issue. In certain cases, Fitch will rate all or a number of issues issued by a particular issuer, or insured or guaranteed by a particular insurer or guarantor, for a single annual fee. Such fees are expected to vary from US$10,000 to US$1,500,000 (or the applicable currency equivalent). The assignment, publication, or dissemination of a rating by Fitch shall not constitute a consent by Fitch to use its name as an expert in connection with any registration statement filed under the United States securities laws, the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 of the United Kingdom, or the securities laws of any particular jurisdiction. Due to the relative efficiency of electronic publishing and distribution, Fitch research may be available to electronic subscribers up to three days earlier than to print subscribers. For Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea only: Fitch Australia Pty Ltd holds an Australian financial services license (AFS license no. 337123) which authorizes it to provide credit ratings to wholesale clients only. Credit ratings information published by Fitch is not intended to be used by persons who are retail clients within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003006504/en/

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NCKU Launches "Mosquito Man" Cloud Platform to Raise Awareness of Dengue Fever

A cloud analytic framework for dengue fever designed by a research team from Department of Electrical and Computer Sciences (News - Alert), National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, helped the Tainan City Government to control the outbreak of dengue fever effectively. The university recently launched another new cloud platform named "Mosquito Man" to help raise deeper understanding and awareness of dengue fever.

A press conference was held on September 2 to announce the kickoff of the "Mosquito Man" cloud platform which is the result of interdisciplinary efforts from computer sciences, engineering and medicine in the university.

NCKU President Huey-Jen Jenny Su hosted the conference and extended her warm welcome to the guests. Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-te and Tainan DOH Director Lin Sheng-che attended the conference to show their support.

The "Mosquito Man" cloud platform provides real-time forecsts of epidemic spread, information from clinics offering rapid screening, reports and feature stories about dengue fever, and QA service.







Another fun feature of "Mosquito Man" is a game which allows the users to play and learn more information about the disease and the prevention measures.

Dr. Chuang Kun-ta, a professor of electrical and computer Sciences, employed big data and web visualization to illustrate spatial temporal dispersion of dengue fever and hot spot detection in Tainan City.

He set up an organization called Taiwanstat where a map of dengue transmission in Tainan City is shown to illustrate and visualize the prevalence of dengue fever and abundance of their vectors.

The variation of determinants for dengue infection in space and time could be taken into account when designing local dengue control programs, Chuang said.

On the website of Taiwanstat, the spatial and temporal clustering of dengue virus transmission in the districts of Tainan City is observed, demonstrating variation in local infection patterns.

More information about "Mosquito Man," please visit www.denguefever.tw

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[October 04, 2016] TmaxSoft Redefines the Digital Infrastructure at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016

TmaxSoft ITXpo Theater Session: Top 10 Reasons Why Digital Businesses Must Consider Mainframe RehostingDate: Wednesday, October 19Time: 1:15 p.m.  1:35 p.m. EDTLocation (Hotel  Room Name): Stage 2  Pacific Hall - ITxpo ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GARTNER SYMPOSIUM/ITxpo -- TmaxSoft, a multinational technology innovator focused on infrastructure software, today announced it will be showcasing its solutions that offer CIOs viable alternatives to support their global IT powerhouses and drive competitive advantage for todays digital businesses at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016, Booth 855. Gartner's leading analysts at the Symposium will explain how driving digital to the core will challenge CIOs and IT leaders to become "panoramic leaders," changing the way they view the digital business landscape to open up new doors all around them, reveal unexpected potential, and make the right choices. CIOs will learn how to become better builders to leverage the power of platforms and determine how to connect to a burgeoning and unprecedented digital infrastructure that sets them up for a successful future.1 Joshua Yulish, president and CEO, TmaxSoft, Inc, stated: Cloud computing and digital infrastructure allow companies to stretch boundaries and reach new levels. For organizations embarking on this modernization journey, there is an opportunity to look for solutions that will help them take advantage of more agile and affordable infrastructures. Tibero is a secure, fully compatible SQL RDBMS that scales easily and conforms to todays cost optimized cloud architectures. It has been designed from its inception to facilitate efficient and flexible integration of data and business logic, as well as providing various database management utilities. It meets hese needs perfectly by supporting the database infrastructure, the foundation for corporate businesses, providing both high performance and reliability. Tibero enables economical use of system resources to provide excellent performance. OpenFrame is a proven and advanced re-hosting solution that enables mainframe assets, including applications, resources and data residing in a legacy system to be migrated to a more reliable and high-performance cloud platform without modifying original business logic and data. This year's conference program centers on the CIO and IT leaders' key priorities categorized into six tracks. Along with 12 industry tracks and a renowned CIO Experience, Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is a one-of-a-kind event, specifically designed to focus on three key areas: Technology and Information, Leadership and Business Strategy. Fast moving trends such as big data, hybrid/cloud data management and the IoT--all offering agility, speed, scaling and high-impact business outcomes--enable an incredible amount of strategic and tactical decision making capabilities. However, many legacy mainframe architectures are unable to support the demands of applications that support digital business, and they can pose serious headaches for businesses with sluggish and inert technologies looking to remain competitive and agile. Were working with CIOs around the world to offer them viable alternatives for modernizing their infrastructures to support the new demands of digital business, concluded Joshua. 1 Gartner Press Release, Gartner Announces Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016, October 16-20, in Orlando, July 19, 2016, http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3382718 NOTES TO EDITORS About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the world's most important gathering of CIOs and senior IT executives. This event delivers independent and objective content with the authority and weight of the world's leading IT research and advisory organization, and provides access to the latest solutions from key technology providers. CIOs and IT executives rely on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to address business challenges and improve operational efficiency. For more information, please visit www.gartner.com/us/symposium. About TmaxSoft, Inc.TmaxSoft is a global software innovator focused on infrastructure and data modernization, with solutions that offer enterprise CIOs viable alternatives to support their global IT powerhouses and drive competitive advantage. Tibero is the best enterprise RDBMS for the Virtual Data Center. Our licensing model allows enterprises to fully maximize their virtualization investment by only licensing the cores associated to a given VM, resulting in drastically lower TCO. OpenFrame is a legacy rehosting solution that enables mainframe applications, resources and data to be migrated to a less expensive, high performance open system while reducing TCO and minimizing risk of migration. JEUS is the first Web Application Server in the world to be J2EE 1.4, JAVA EE 5, and JAVA EE 6 Certified, and delivers improved security over traditional WAS. TmaxSoft was founded in 1997 and is the largest independent software company in South Korea. We have over 800 employees in 12 strategic centers around the world. TmaxSoft U.S. headquarters for sales, service, and customer support is located in Chicago. Please visit www.tmaxsoft.com for more information. CONTACT: Paul Moore Spreckley Office Phone: +44 (0)20 7388 9988 Cell Phone: +44 (7)7446 406 468 E-mail: [email protected]

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[October 04, 2016] Fujitsu Launches Resale, Deployment and Support for Cisco Retail Technology Solutions in North America

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fujitsu today launched its Cisco retail technology resale, deployment and support program. As first announced earlier this year at the National Retail Federation (NRF) BIG Show on January 19, 2016, Fujitsu has expanded its Gold Partnership with Cisco providing a targeted set of in-store technology solutions to retailers across North America. This expanded partnership enables Fujitsu Americas to source, deploy and support Cisco in-store retail technology solutions including: Aironet and Meraki wireless LAN infrastructure

Catalyst LAN switching and Integrated Service Routing (ISR) technologies

Unified Retail Platform (URP) computing solutions These three in-store technologies enable retailers to provide a wider range products and services to customers in retail locations. Whether the customer's goal is public Wi-Fi, highly secure private networking driving new business functionality on mobile devices, digital media or traditional core applications, Fujitsu will now be able to provide turn-key, end-to-end sourcing, deployment and support services for these Cisco technology solutions. Since the aforementioned announcement in January, Fujitsu has been preparing with Cisco for the launch of this new program by training and certifying solution architects and field engineering teams, building training and support labs and gearing up to provide services such as wireless site surveys, advanced staging, consolidation and support programs. "By purchasing Cisco solutions directly through Fujitsu, retailers are provided with the advantage of having a "one-stop-shop" for sourcing, staging, installation and ongoing support," said Marc Janssens, executive vice president of retail at Fujitsu America, Inc. "This streamlined process allows new Cisco assets to be tracked from order to installation at each site through Fujitsu. Once installed, Fujitsu can deliver warranty support on-site or through depot "advance exchange" service depending on the asset and retailer's needs." Innovative new solutions like Fujitsu Retail Engagement Analytics (REA) depend on the sophistication of Cisco's latest Aironet and Meraki wireless solutions to delivr accurate Wi-Fi data. REA is a new Wi-Fi analytics solution that can provide valuable customer behavior insight, help drive employee interaction with customers and improve visual merchandising in the store.



Advanced in-store switching, routing and compute solutions from Cisco will be critical for new "Fog" or "Edge" computing strategies as well as "hybrid" cloud routing needs. Pushing as much of the data transport and computes to the edge of the enterprise will be key to optimizing cost and performance by conserving computes at the core of retailer's networks, data centers and cloud service providers. As IoT and analytics rapidly expand across most retailers' enterprises, the ability to exploit their in-store infrastructure by weaving a routing and computing fabric will mirror operational and inventory ecosystems needed to compete in new areas such as buy on- line and pick up, deliver or ship from store, direct fulfillment distribution centers or direct from supplier and expediters. "Cisco and Fujitsu have a long heritage of collaboration," explains Ed Jimenez, Retail and Hospitality Practice Director at Cisco. "Since 2004, when Cisco and Fujitsu first announced our strategic alliance, we have worked together to co-develop, brand and deliver a range of award-winning computing and routing solutions across North America. With so many changes taking place across the retail landscape, this is a natural and exciting extension of our collaboration."

Online resources Cisco and Fujitsu Partnership: http://www.fujitsu.com/us/about/info-center/global-alliances/cisco/

Fujitsu Cisco Retail

Fujitsu Connected Retail: http://connectedretail.us.fujitsu.com

Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.ts.fujitsu.com

Follow Fujitsu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FujitsuAmerica

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-america

Find Fujitsu on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fujitsu/

Fujitsu pictures and media server: http://mediaportal.ts.fujitsu.com/pages/portal.php

For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: http://ts.fujitsu.com/ps2/nr/index.aspx Press contacts

Fujitsu America, Inc.

Bryan Hollar

408-746-6412

[email protected] Finn Partners

Andrew Corcione

212-593-5844

[email protected] About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 156,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com. About Fujitsu Americas

Fujitsu America, Inc. is the parent and/or management company of a group of Fujitsu-owned companies operating in North, Central and South America dedicated to delivering the full range of Fujitsu products, solutions and services in ICT to our customers in the Western Hemisphere. These companies are collectively referred to as Fujitsu Americas. Fujitsu enables clients to meet their business objectives through integrated offerings and solutions, including consulting, systems integration, managed services, outsourcing and cloud services for infrastructure, platforms and applications; data center and field services; and server, storage, software and mobile/tablet technologies. For more information, please visit: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/ and http://twitter.com/fujitsuamerica Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo and "shaping tomorrow with you" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. Cisco, Aironet, Meraki, and Catalyst are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140618/119400 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fujitsu-launches-resale-deployment-and-support-for-cisco-retail-technology-solutions-in-north-america-300338740.html SOURCE Fujitsu

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[October 04, 2016] City of Wichita, Kansas, Selects Tyler Technologies' Munis Financial System

Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) has signed an agreement with Wichita, Kansas, for Tyler's Munis enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. In addition to the core financial, procurement, and human capital management functions, this agreement includes integrated content management through Tyler Content Manager as well as Munis analytics and reporting to support Wichita's financial, human resources (HR) and payroll operations. Additionally, the city will protect their data with Tyler Disaster Recovery services. The city sought to integrate its financial, payroll and HR processes. For the past 25 years, it had been using two systems that were creating process redundancies. Officials chose Tyler's integrated Munis solution to offer several critical benefits over its current systems. Wichita will benefit from the following features: A user-friendly and familiar end-user interface

Employee and vendor self-service portals

Easy-to-use reporting tools for staff with non-technical backgrounds

A single software platform and single relational database, which will combine all functions and create efficiencies

Electronic workflow and a robust content management system to store and retrieve electronic images of supporting documents such as purchase orders, invoices, and payments Wichita's agreement with Tyler will also help elevate the city's involvement in the "What Works Cities" initiative, one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance the use of data and evidence in the public sector. Wichita was selected as one of 12 new cities this year to participate in the program, which is funded by Bloomberg (News - Alert) Philanthropies and launched in April 2015. It is designed to help cities use data to improve the lives of its residents. "What Works Cities" collaborates with participating municipalities - 40 cities in total - and reviews their current use of data and evidence to identify both best practices and growth areas.



"Wichita is making significant strides to utilize data to actively improve the lives of our citizens and best position ourselves for future growth," said Jeff Longwell, mayor of Wichita. "We're pleased to bring Tyler's Munis solution to Wichita and also support them in this unique initiative to better serve their constituents," said Chris Hepburn, president of Tyler's ERP & Schools Division. "By creating efficiencies and introducing an easy-to-use tool, we hope to significantly streamline Wichita's HR and financial operations."

Wichita will also benefit from Tyler's evergreen perpetual licensing approach that provides regular and significant, yet manageable, software enhancements without an additional relicensing or service fee, ensuring the county has continued access to evolving technology. Wichita is the 48th largest city in the country and most populated city in Kansas, with nearly 390,000 residents. About Tyler Technologies (News - Alert), Inc. Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Tyler's client base includes more than 14,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other international locations. In 2016, Forbes ranked Tyler on their "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list, and it has also named Tyler one of "America's Best Small Companies" eight times. The company has been included six times on the Barron's 400 Index, a measure of the most promising companies in America. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005088/en/

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[October 04, 2016] Nfina Technologies announces VMware certification for the 324i2 server

MOBILE, Ala., Oct. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nfina TechnologiesTM Inc., manufacturer of highly reliable servers and storage devices, announced today that the Nfina 324i2 Server has achieved VMware certification, letting end users know that the 324i2 seamlessly integrates with VMwares vCenter management capabilities. This designation indicates that 324i2 has completed the VMware Hardware Certification Program testing criteria for use with VMware ESXi 6.0 and it is now listed on the VMware Compatibility Guide. The VMware Hardware Certification Program enables VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program members to provide mutual customers with jointly supported hardware solutions. Virtualizing platform and computing resources with VMware significantly reduces the time it takes to provision custom, multi-tier network topologies and enterprise class services, cuts operating and capital expendtures, and increases deployment flexibility. With dual sockets for Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 processors, four 3.5 drive bays, dual power supplies, best in class components, and optional LSI RAID capability with caching capability, the 324i2 is a high performance, extremely fault-tolerant and reliable server platform. The 324i2 is also an extremely power-efficient server. Add VMware virtualization capabilities and IT professionals now have the tools to create an extremely robust and power-efficient computing environment. Learn more about the 324i2 here. The 324i2 server is the first in a series of Nfina products to earn VMware certification, said Warren Nicholson, CEO of Nfina Technologies. We are actively working on securing VMware certification on our other products as well, you will see more announcements very soon. This relationship between VMware and Nfina will deliver the power of VMware virtualization technology along with Nfinas reputation for building high-performance, reliable, fault tolerant, and energy efficient computing products at affordable prices. At present, we are the only VMware certified server and storage provider that offers five-year standard warranty; that's two years longer than our competitors. The net result to the end user is higher performance, higher reliability, lower cost of acquisition, and lower cost of operation. Nfina Technologies, Inc., develops, manufactures, and markets highly reliable server and storage products: designed to provide the highest value proposition in the most demanding mission critical data center and enterprise IT environments. Our customers are Engineering and Information Technology professionals who require products designed and manufactured to the highest standards in the industry. Media Contact: Julie Norman 251.243.0043

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[October 04, 2016] Network-1 Announces Settlement Of Patent Litigation With Polycom, Inc.

NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Network-1 Technologies, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NTIP) announced today that it agreed to settle its patent litigation against Polycom, Inc. ("Polycom") pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of Network-1's Remote Power Patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930). Polycom was one of sixteen original defendants named in the litigation. Under the terms of the settlement, Polycom will license the Remote Power Patent for its full term which expires in March 2020, and pay a license initiation fee of $5,000,000 for past sales of its Power over Ethernet ("PoE") products. In addition, Polycom will pay ongoing royalties based on its sales its PoE products, including those PoE products which comply with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ("IEEE") 802.3af and 802.3at Standards. $2,000,000 of the license initiation fee will be paid within 30 days and the balance will be paid in three annual installments of $1,000,000 beginning in October, 2017. Payments due in October 2018 and October 2019 need not be paid if all asserted claims of the Remote Power Patent have been found invalid. In September 2011, the Company initiated patent litigation against sixteen data networking equipment manufacturers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of its Remote Power Patent. Network-1 previously reached settlement and license agreements with eleven of the original defendants. The remaining four defendants in the lawsuit are Avaya Inc., AXIS Communications Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, and Juniper Networks, Inc. Network-1 seeks monetary damages based upon reasonable royalties. The Remote Power Patent relates to, among other things, delivering power over Ethernet cables to remotely power network connected devices including, among others, wireless access points, VoIP telephones and network cameras. In June 2003, the IEEE approved the 802.3af PoE Standard. The IEEE also approved the 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE Plus) Standard, which increased the maximum power delivered to network devices to 40-60 watts from the current 15 watts under the 802.3af Standard. Network-1 currently has twenty-five license agreements with respect to its Remote Power Patent, which include, among others, license agreements with Cisco Systems, Inc., Extreme Networks, Inc., Netgear Inc., Dell, Inc., Alcatel-Lucent USA, Sony Corporation, Shoretel Inc., Microsemi Corporation, Motorola Solutions, Inc., NEC Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and several other data networking vendors. ABOUT NETWORK-1 TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Network-1 Technologies, Inc. is engaged in the development, licensing and protection of its intellectual property and proprietary technologies. Network-1 works with inventors and patent owners to assist in the development and monetization of their patented technologies. Network-1 currently owns twenty-eight (28) patents covering various telecommunications and data networking technologies as well as technologies relating to document stream operating systems and the identification of media content. Network-1's current strategy includes continuing to pursue licensing opportunities for its Remote Power Patent and its efforts to monetize two patent portfolios (the Cox and Mirror Worlds patent portfolios) acquired by Network-1 in 2013. Network-1's acquisition strategy is to focus on acquiring high quality patents which management believes have the potential to generate significant licensing opportunities as Network-1 has achieved with respect to its Remote Power Patent. Network-1's Remote Power Patent has generated licensing revenue in excess of $90 million from May 2007 through June 30, 2016. This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements address future events and conditions concerning Network-1's business plans. Such statements are subject to a number of risk factors and uncertainties as disclosed in the Network-1's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, among others, the continued validity of Network-1's Remote Power Patent, the ability of Network-1 to successfully execute its strategy to acquire high quality patents with significant licensing opportunities, Network-1's ability to achieve revenue and profits from its Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio and the Cox Patent Portfolio as well as intellectual property it may acquire in the future, the ability of Network-1 to enter into additional license agreements, the ability of Network-1 to continue to receive material royalties from its existing license agreements for its Remote Power Patent, the uncertainty of patent litigation and proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the difficulty in Network-1 verifying royalty amounts owed to it by its licensees, Network-1's ability to enter into strategic relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property, the risk in the future of Network-1 being classified as a Personal Holding Company, the continued viability of the PoE market, future economic conditions and technology changes and legislative, regulatory and competitive developments. Except as otherwise required to be disclosed in periodic reports, Network-1 expressly disclaims any future obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein.







Corey M. Horowitz, Chairman and CEO Network-1 Technologies, Inc. (212) 829-5770

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/network-1-announces-settlement-of-patent-litigation-with-polycom-inc-300339235.html SOURCE Network-1 Technologies, Inc.

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On Wednesday, Congress approved a bill to keep the federal government open through Dec. 9. That continuing resolution ensures our troops will be paid, and includes funding to implement my landmark chemical safety legislation and fight the spread of Zika, without allowing those funds to be used to pay for abortions.

One thing the continuing resolution didnt include, however, was a provision to prevent the United States from relinquishing oversight of the internets Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS, which can be thought of as the internets master phone book, ensures that when you type in a web address (like house.gov) you reach the correct website. This matching process makes browsing the internet possible for the average user.

The day-to-day management of the global DNS is handled by a California-based nonprofit group called ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN, which is made up of engineers, academics, businesses and individual internet users from all over the world, was created in 1998 to ensure the internet would never be controlled by governments or an intergovernmental organization like the United Nations.

Much like the framers of our Constitution sought to balance the influence and power that competing factions like political parties, unions or trade groups could exert on our Republic, ICANNs "multi-stakeholder" structure seeks to prevent any one entity -- be it a multinational corporation or a government -- from gaining control of the DNS.

To help apply this uniquely American idea of government by the people to the global internet, the U.S. Department of Commerce established itself as an overseer of ICANN and the DNS management it performs. This U.S. oversight was never intended to be a permanent feature of internet governance, but was thought of more like training wheels -- a temporary measure to be removed once ICANN proved it could stand on its own, independent of government control.

In calls and emails Ive received over the last few days, many of my constituents have expressed a concern that this year was not the right time to end U.S. oversight of ICANN. I share those concerns, and thats why I immediately engaged on this issue in 2014 when the Department of Commerce announced they intended relinquish their oversight of ICANN and the DNS. That year I introduced legislation to ensure the change would be made only if it was found to be in the best interests of the American people and done in a way that preserved and protected the free and open internet.

My legislation, which was approved by the House last June for the second time, would have empowered Congress with necessary and meaningful oversight of the proposed changes. It would have given us an opportunity to investigate whether ICANN was actually ready to operate on its own and would have allowed plenty of time to extend Commerces oversight authority if it was not.

Unfortunately, my bill was held up in the Senate until it was too late. So with Congress unable to fully consider this important change, I urged the Department of Commerce to extend their contract with ICANN and preserve U.S. oversight until we could be sure the time was right. I also communicated my desire to have a provision included in the continuing resolution to maintain our oversight until that time.

Again, however, the Senate failed to act and the provision was not included (last) week. As a result, the Attorneys General of Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada and Texas filed a lawsuit to stop the Department of Commerce from moving forward with their plan on Oct. 1. Like the attorneys general, I remain concerned that ICANN may not yet be fully prepared to stand on its own. Should their lawsuit prove unsuccessful, it will be up to the system of checks and balances established at ICANN to prevent foreign governments from seizing control.
Why do you suppose we have heard nothing from our Navy men who were captured by the Republican Guard of the Iranian government at gunpoint some weeks ago, instructed to kneel, were soundly humiliated, made to apologize to Iran, and then turned loose when their ship supposedly strayed into Iranian waters? The reason is a simple one. They were given a gag order by this administration, and threatened with all manner of recriminations if they uttered so much as a word to the press. Obama didnt want us to hear what they would have to say, and there was no retaliation.

Obama has seen fit to release several hundred prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Hundreds of whom have returned to the battle field to kill Americans. Not just some wild conjecture on my part, but a verified fact. They have been released to a number of nations who have consented to take them. Nothing has been said, and wont be, regarding the amount of money that has been paid by us to those countries just to take them off our hands. Those nations would not be willing to take known killers out of the goodness of their hearts. Of course money was involved. Wouldnt that simple fact alone make your President an accessory to murder?

And what of the thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees that this President is allowing to enter this country? What percent of them will plot to successfully murder Americans? Furthermore, how many illegal alien criminals from south of our border have committed crimes against Americans, have not been deported, but have been given sanctuaries in cities across America, time after time?

When every President is sworn into office, he agrees to protect and defend we American citizens. This President is woefully deficient in doing so.

We are lied to, both by this administration, and Hillary, Obamas chosen contender for the Presidency. Lied to, and the liberal media swears to their lies. All of which indicates to me that a thorough political house cleaning is in order for the good of the country. Maybe, a meticulous house cleaning on both sides of the aisle in order to end this completely corrupt government.

Jack Pierce, Mattoon
On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ...
More people signed up this year for Black Hills Energy's annual price option to lock in gas prices.

The company said 4,449 people enrolled in the program this year. That was less than half of the 9,500 available slots but about 700 more signups than last year. The deadline to sign up was Friday.

Kevin Jarosz, Black Hills Energy business operations director, said he's not sure why more people signed up this year, but it could be due to the fact that the company made it easier to sign up online.

Brandy Johnson, a Black Hills spokeswoman based in Lincoln, said predictions of a bitterly cold winter also could have spurred some people to sign up.

Weather forecasting company Accuweather last week said that the Northern Plains, including Nebraska, could be in for a shot of bitter cold in November and could see lower-than-normal winter temperatures.

People who signed up for the program will pay a set rate of 44.98 cents per therm from Nov. 1-Oct. 31. That's slightly higher than what people in the Lincoln area and suburban Omaha paid last year and slightly less than what people in southeast Nebraska paid. The current billing price is 35.199 cents per therm.

The fixed price covers only the cost of the natural gas. Monthly bills will still increase or decrease based on how much natural gas a customer uses.

Though numbers have fluctuated from year to year, the general trend has been fewer customers signing up for the option because gas prices have generally stayed stable over the past few years.

Johnson said that most people who sign up do so to gain some certainty about their rates rather than trying to save money. Still, she said, those who signed up for the program saved about $5 over what they would have paid otherwise.
LifeLoop, an Omaha company with a software platform that connects staff, families and residents at senior living facilities, won Monday's Rise of the Rest pitch competition at the Rococo Theatre.

LifeLoop was one of eight companies, five from Omaha and three from Lincoln, that pitched their businesses to AOL founder Steve Case and a panel of judges as part of Case's bus tour.

In announcing LifeLoop as the winner, Case said the judges chose the company "because of the size of the market and need."

The prize for winning the competition is a $100,000 equity investment from Case, who is now chairman and CEO of Revolution LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm.

Case said 100 companies applied to be a part of the pitch competition, and only eight could be chosen.

"All eight were awesome," he said.

LifeLoop co-founder Amy Johnson also used the word awesome after being named the winner.

"I'm a little overwhelmed," she said.

The other companies that competed in Monday's pitch competition were:

* Drive Spotter of Omaha, a machine learning platform for training human and machine drivers.

* Gear Supply Co. of Omaha, which offers guitar strings and other guitar goods through a subscription program.

* Nobl Health of Lincoln, which provides software solutions that improve communication, workflow and processes for health care providers.

* Opendorse of Lincoln, which helps brands easily secure sponsored social media activations with professional athletes.

* Places VR of Omaha, a virtual and altered reality social platform connecting people and businesses.

* Quantified Ag of Lincoln, which provides sensors and a data platform to help cattle ranchers track the health of their herd.

* RaceNote of Omaha, a motorsports management platform that improves racing times.
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A bat-twirling clown was nowhere to be found when Lincoln police were sent to Wilderness Park Monday afternoon.

But someone did tell dispatch they saw him -- or her -- about 3:45 p.m.

Even if officers had found a clown, its possible they wouldnt have been able to do much.

Its not illegal to dress as a clown, Officer Katie Flood said Tuesday.

However, if someone dressed as a clown is threatening someone or acting suspicious, people should call police.

Since August, people in at least 20 states have reported seeing scary clowns, some of whom have threatened people or tried to lure children into the woods, according to news reports. Police nationwide have encouraged caution amid reports of clowns acting suspiciously.

In Grand Island, Police Capt. Jim Duering said police have investigated three separate incidents since Friday in which clowns threatened or chased people.

The first happened at 9 p.m. Friday just south of downtown. On Saturday, someone reported knife-wielding clowns about 8 p.m. in nearly the same place. And on Sunday afternoon, police got a report of a third sighting, this one involving a BB gun.

The juveniles were copycatting what they were seeing from social media posts and media stories about clowns, he said Tuesday morning. They went too far and actually caused some fear in some of the people they were terrorizing, and they were brandishing weapons ... luckily no one was hurt."

Grand Island police cited four people -- ages 14, 15 and 16 -- and referred them to the Hall County attorneys office.

"This was not your normal Halloween prank given the current atmosphere surrounding clowns and the fact they brandished weapons," Duering said.

In Lincoln, the Wilderness Park sighting was the first report Lincoln police got.

On Tuesday, scanner traffic indicated a woman heard a banging on her back door and saw a clown mask tapping on a window. She ran into the basement and called 911.

Other reports of clowns seen across town have been posted on Facebook, including claims of sightings near 84th Street and Cornhusker Highway Wednesday night and near Northeast High School.

Capt. Jerry Plessel with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department said someone reported a clown on campus just after 10 p.m. Wednesday. There were no threats and no clown was found.

"It looks like it was some kind of prank, someone wearing a clown mask," he said.

Tuesday morning, Lincoln Public Schools sent an email to all parents assuring them they'll take any reports of clown sightings seriously.

"At the same time please know: We have excellent security measures in place at all of our buildings and we work closely with our school district security director to ensure the safety of all our students," the email says.

The email also reminds parents that LPS policy prohibits students from wearing clown outfits to school.

Spokeswoman Mary Kay Roth said the system wanted to stay on top of any possible rumors, and in a Tweet, La Vista's police chief said, "In these times of instant information, please don't perpetuate the stupid rumors."

The Omaha Police Department said while there's been no actual sightings in Omaha, investigators have looked into online threats from people dressed as clowns.

While some people might think it's fun to dress up like a clown and scare people, Teresa Forst, also known as Shades the Clown, says the practice is hurtful to her and other professionally trained clowns.

"It really hasn't affected my business yet, I have things booked in advance, but it has the potential to affect our business later," she said Tuesday.

Forst said the new scary trend is heartbreaking to those who spend their lives trying to make others happy.

"There's so much negativity in the world," she said, addressing the people who are dressing up to imitate clowns. "You're just creating fear. Let's make this a happier world and not bring people down, especially when you're doing it on purpose. ... It doesn't do any good."

Forst belongs to many online professional clown groups and said they're lending each other their support.

"People are saying, 'Don't lose heart, just keep doing what you're doing. Keep making people happy.'"

As a professional, Forst said, she's spent numerous hours in education classes and in her free time, she learns new skits, how to make new balloon animals and new face painting techniques.

"We put a lot of time and effort into our art," she said. "We don't want it to go sour on us, we want to keep making people happy and bringing smiles to people who are hurting. ... The people doing evil clown stuff, they're not clowns. They're just dressed up in costumes and we have nothing to do with any of them."
A 32-year-old South Dakota man died and three people were injured in a collision with the Nebraska State Patrol cruiser that was chasing him in Sheridan County Monday night.

A state trooper saw a 2001 Mercury Sable run a stop sign while pulling onto Nebraska 27 from a county road just north of Gordon about 10:20 p.m., the patrol said in a news release.

The car didn't have a plate, and the trooper followed it as it headed south on the highway, patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said. When the trooper tried to stop the car, she said, driver Antoine Ladeaux took off on county roads before going back to the highway and heading north.

About 2 miles north of Gordon, his car and the trooper's patrol car collided, and Ladeaux went into the ditch, Collins said in the news release. He was thrown from the car and died at the scene, she said.

"The investigation continues," Collins said when asked for more details. "Investigative reports once completed will be forwarded to the Sheridan County Attorney."

She declined to answer questions about Ladeaux' destination or if drugs or alcohol were factors. The chase, which lasted for about five minutes and reached speeds of about 80 mph, involved only the one trooper, Collins said.

Three passengers in Ladeaux' car -- Alicia Munoz, 25, of Rapid City, South Dakota, Cameron Ladeaux, 30, of Alliance, and Alanna Rosales, 25, of Gordon -- were released after treatment at Gordon Memorial Hospital.

There was no word Tuesday on whether the trooper was hurt or whether he or she has been suspended pending completion of the investigation.

A grand jury will be convened to look into the death of Ladeaux, as is required by Nebraska law whenever someone dies while in custody or while being apprehended.
Sheriffs from at least 38 Nebraska counties have added their names to a list showing support for restoring the death penalty.

The list includes Sheriffs Terry Wagner of Lancaster County, Tim Dunning of Douglas County and Jeff Davis of Sarpy County.

It was compiled by the group Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and released Tuesday at the Nebraska Sheriffs Association's annual conference in Kearney.

Several sheriffs also appeared at a news conference on the subject.

For corrections officers in particular that are housing inmates, or are even in the jails, there is nothing to lose for a prisoner that is already sentenced to life in prison," Dunning said in a news release.

"The death penalty means those prisoners have something to lose. The other fear that I have is that prosecutors will lose a hammer in negotiating cases if the death penalty goes away.

State lawmakers abolished capital punishment last year, but death penalty supporters petitioned to place the issue on the ballot. Voters will decide this Nov. 8 whether to retain the Legislature's law or repeal it.

Almost immediately after Tuesday's announcement by the sheriffs, the anti-death penalty group Retain a Just Nebraska issued a statement by former Bellevue police officer and homicide investigator Joe Jeanette.

He called the death penalty expensive and fiscally irresponsible at a time when state agencies are being urged to cut their budgets.

We should keep the death penalty gone, and invest the millions we will save in more officers on the streets," Jeanette said. "No state law is going to protect someone from a violent crime, but a cop can.
The National Weather Service has expanded a tornado watch to include Lincoln.

At 6 p.m., severe thunderstorms were reported in Fillmore, Thayer, Saline and Seward counties. Egg-sized hail was reported earlier near Bruning.

The tornado watch through 9 p.m. includes Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson, Saline and Seward counties in Southeast Nebraska.

Although isolated tornadoes are possible, especially across Kansas, high winds, large hail and heavy rain are the more likely threats with afternoon and evening storms, forecasters said.

On Monday night, storms in central Nebraska dropped 5 inches of rain near Tryon in McPherson County, and Stapleton saw 2 inches in a 90-minute period.

As the storms moved east overnight, ping pong-ball sized hail was reported near Aurora.

Morning showers had moved out of the Lincoln area by 11 a.m. -- dropping 0.18 inches of rain at the Lincoln Airport -- but storms are expected to redevelop and move east on Tuesday afternoon. The stronger storms are expected along and south of Interstate 80.

In Lincoln, the forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms, mostly between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

On Wednesday, skies will clear before chances of rain return on Thursday.
In every election cycle since Jimmy Carter introduced "born again" into the political lexicon, a politician's faith has been an object of curiosity and contention.

At an appearance in Iowa in January, Hillary Clinton responded to a question about her faith, saying she is a Christian and a Methodist and that to her "the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself."

She is correct, but the challenge comes in how that commandment and Scripture are applied in the political arena. The same Scripture in which Hillary Clinton says she believes also teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman and that human life begins at conception. Hillary Clinton is pro-choice and favors same-sex marriage and the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funds being used for abortion.

This brings us to Tuesday's debate between the two candidates for vice president. Gov. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) is a pro-life evangelical Christian who believes in traditional marriage. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) is a Roman Catholic who takes the opposite view.

Most evangelicals believe "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16). Many Roman Catholics accept the authority of Scripture, but also place tradition and the teachings of the Pope on par with it.

Why does this matter? If candidates for high office claim inspiration, even instruction, from an authority higher than themselves, they should be asked about it. If they deviate from their faith's teachings, they should be required to explain.

Tim Kaine often refers to his Catholic faith and to what he calls "a turning point in my life," which came in 1980 while on a "mission trip" to Honduras. Left out of his narrative is the liberation theology taught by radical Catholic priests in the region at the time, a theology which closely tracked with Marxists committed to the violent overthrow of Latin American governments.

We have been down this road before with Catholic politicians including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, all of whom have taken political positions diametrically opposed to Catholic teaching.

About his departure from Catholic instruction and statements from the current and previous popes, especially on social issues, Kaine has said: "I think it's going to change. ... Who am I to challenge God for the beautiful diversity of the human family? I think we're supposed to celebrate it, not challenge it." That attitude might legitimize a multitude of sins.

Writing about church teachings on same-sex marriage, Maureen Ferguson of The Catholic Association says, "If Sen. Kaine wants to go beyond politics to opine on the theology of the Catholic Church, he should at least consult Pope Francis' most recent exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, in which Francis states, 'There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.'"

The same can be said of consistent Catholic teaching about human life.

In another statement from the Catholic Association, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie writes: "Senator Kaine's attempt to cloak his political pandering as theological speculation exposes the Clinton campaign's profoundly anti-Catholic ideological agenda. Hillary Clinton has previously stated that pro-life people of faith will simply have to change their religious views. ... Now her running mate suggests the church needs to do the same on the issue of marriage and family..."

These issues of faith and public policy should be raised during the one vice presidential debate Tuesday night.
Twenty years ago Michael Chertoff was near the top of the Clintons' enemy list. He was the lead Republican counsel on the Senate Whitewater Committee, one of the first of many Congressional investigations into Hillary Clinton.

She later cast the only vote in the Senate against him when he was nominated in 2001 to head the Justice Department's criminal division. She was also the lone no vote against Chertoff in 2003 when he was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the third circuit.

All of this, though, was before the Republican Party nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. This has shaken the party of Reagan. Chertoff, a lifelong Republican, will be voting for the Democrat in November.

Over the weekend, the former secretary of Homeland Security said his decision came down to national security.

"I realized we spent a huge amount of time in the '90s on issues that were much less important than what was brewing in terms of terrorism," he said. "(Clinton) has good judgment and a strategic vision how to deal with the threats that face us."

Whitewater has not come up much in this election season. But it was the Benghazi of the 1990s. Just as the Benghazi investigation begat a Congressional probe into Clinton's e-mail server, the Whitewater investigation led Congress to President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. So it's significant that an investigator from that era is now in Hillary Clinton's corner.

Just as Chertoff does not think Clinton's dodgy friendships from her Arkansas days disqualify her from the presidency, he says the same thing about Clinton's use of a private e-mail system. It was a mistake, he said, but "she did not intentionally endanger national security."

Trump, on the other hand, lacks the temperament and knowledge base to be president. Chertoff has made his views on the Republican nominee known before. Last month, he was one of the 50 former senior Republican national security officials to sign a letter warning Trump would be a dangerous commander-in-chief. But many of those former officials have not crossed over to publicly endorse Clinton.

Chertoff says he made the decision to go public for Clinton after watching the debate last week.

"Trump's sense of loyalties are misplaced," he said. "Some of our NATO allies sent troops overseas, at the same time he is defending Russia and trying to dismiss what is widely acknowledged to be Russian intrusions into the databases of our political parties and political figures." Chertoff said this amounted to "making enemies of your friends and cozying up to your adversaries."

For Chertoff it's also a question of Trump's impulse control.

"This issue came up at the debate about Miss Universe," he said. "Not only did he seem at the debate to lose his temper, but to get up at 3:30 a.m. and reach for your smartphone is to me a hysterical reaction. If you're president, the button you reach for is not the Twitter button; it's the nuclear button."

Chertoff's relationship with Clinton began to heal after he was nominated to be the second secretary of Homeland Security in 2005. Clinton voted for him that time. Chertoff said that while he was secretary, he found Clinton to be "clear eyed and tough on national security issues."

Chertoff said he expects Clinton will be different from President Barack Obama when it comes to Middle East policy.

"There are things Obama did that I disagree with, not to have a no-fly zone and a safe zone in Syria, for example," Chertoff said. "My understanding from having talked to her and seeing what she has said publicly is that she would have been tougher on that."

Chertoff's decision to endorse Clinton puts him on the opposite side of one of his earliest political patrons. In 1983, Chertoff was hired as a prosecutor by then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani. Together they waged a devastating legal war against the five mafia families of New York. The success of those prosecutions laid the groundwork for Giuliani's successful campaign to become mayor of New York.

Today Giuliani is one of Trump's closest advisers. Chertoff said he hasn't talked to Giuliani about Trump. "People make their own decisions," he said. "I can't get into someone else's head."
I appreciated the article Americans favor paying to fight global warming (Sept. 15) and am grateful to live in Lincoln where I actually can pay, through the LES SunShares program, to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.

I was struck by the fact that 71 percent want the federal government to do something about global warming. Global warming is a complex phenomena and what the government might do about it is not always clear. Many are leery of increased regulations or being told what to do. There is, however, a simple first step: reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by putting a fee on carbon. When the cost of products and services that use carbon rises, people will use less and innovative folks will devise noncarbon alternatives.

Prices of carbon products will go up, and prices of the alternatives will probably drop. Americans are willing to pay more. A well-developed plan, carbon fee and dividend, proposes that the fees collected on carbon be returned to American households, so people will get a rebate to offset the higher prices. Studies forecast that most middle and low-income households will come out ahead and end up not paying more, even though we are willing to.

Whats not to like about this idea? The catch is that only the federal government can implement it. Please let your congresspeople know that its time to act, and this is an action they can take.

Lorene Ludy, Lincoln
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is hosting a series of public meetings to discuss the future of the state's aquatic resources.

The commission has been developing a road map for the state's fisheries and aquatic resources and is encouraging the public to participate in the process.

Each of the two-hour meetings begins at 7 p.m. Meetings were set for Monday in Scottsbluff, Omaha and Norfolk; Tuesday in North Platte and Valentine; Wednesday in Kearney; and Thursday in Lincoln.

Meeting locations are available on the commission's website.
GRETNA  A Gretna High School student is questioning the school's unwillingness to sponsor her club dedicated to fighting abortion and educating mothers-to-be on other options.

On Monday, the Thomas More Society wrote a letter to district administrators saying the school is violating the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act.

The society describes itself as a national nonprofit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family and religious liberty. It's representing high school junior Bridget Christensen, who is a co-president of Dragons for Life, a chapter of the Students for Life of America.

School administrators said the club was denied sponsorship because its topic is a controversial one that's political and religious.

Superintendent Kevin Riley said the public school is "not just anybody's socioeconomic, religious, political or ideological playground."

But Danielle Conrad, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said students do not check their rights at the schoolhouse door.

If the school allows one non-curricular student group to meet during school hours it cannot deny access to other groups based on religious, political, philosophical or other reasons related to the subject matter, she said.

The Thomas More Society argued that the district's policy is inconsistent, pointing out some of the school's sponsored clubs have nothing to do with curriculum.

Jocelyn Floyd, the Thomas More Society attorney, said the society is asking for the student's pro-life club to be treated on an equal basis.

"We're going to have our attorneys thoroughly go through all of our club situations and make sure we're following the law," said Riley. "We'll get this worked out."
Her son had already been dead a month when the telegram made it to Chadron two days before Christmas 1943.

The note from the commandant of the U.S. Marines was short, bitter.

Deeply regret to inform you that your son  was killed in action in the performance of his duty and in the service of his country.

He continued. Sgt. Fae Moore had to be buried, temporarily, where he fell. Don't aid the enemy by divulging his ship or station. And accept my heartfelt sympathy.

Mary Moore didn't know when or where her youngest son had been killed, or where he was buried. She didn't know his ship or station. She just knew she needed him home, where he belonged, in their corner of northwest Nebraska.

She responded to Lt. Gen. T. Holcomb the same day: Send my sons body back to us if possible.

And then she began the task of telling her nine surviving sons and daughters, sending more telegrams that afternoon. Just received word Fae was killed in action. Mother and Dad.

Lawrence Denton was just a few years old when his uncle died, too young to know the man.

But I can remember being little, he said. And everybody crying.

Mary Moore would be tested by another tragedy that year, and another. But she kept trying to bring her son home, even after she learned he'd died before Thanksgiving, on an island in the South Pacific smaller than most ranches in the Sandhills, and that the military had deemed her son's body unrecoverable, one of about 500 U.S. servicemen whose remains were lost in the chaos of battle.

That was her hopes and prayers and wishes, and I heard her say it many, many times, said Denton. Usually, the words were: 'I wish they could bring Fae home.'

* * *

The Beaver Valley Cemetery is 17 miles from the nearest paved road, in the hard country between Chadron, Whiteclay and Rushville.

Glenn Denton grew up on top of the cliffs overlooking the cemetery. His great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran who planted the family's first roots in the area, is buried there. So is his father, a World War II veteran.

My dad brought me over here every Memorial Day; we'd pick wildflowers and put them on every grave.

He served 30 years in the Marines, learned to like warmer weather and retired in California. But two years ago, he and his wife, Esther, felt the need to begin cleaning the cemetery.

They returned last summer, serious about the work. They equipped a horse trailer with tools to tame an overgrown graveyard: chain saws, weed wackers, a 350-gallon water tank, a riding mower.

They labored for two weeks, trying to get the grass under control, the dead trees and overgrown branches cleared, the flagpole replaced.

This was personal. Glenn Denton is related to roughly half of the 150 or so people buried there, and he and Esther plan to spend their eternities in the shadow of the cliffs, too.

They returned to California, not quite satisfied with their progress. But then his phone rang, two days later: 75 years after Sgt. Fae Moore had left Sheridan County, his remains had been recovered, and he was coming home to the Beaver Valley Cemetery.

I think God had something to do with it, Glenn Denton said.

Time to return to work. But now it was an honor, a matter of respect for a lost -- but not forgotten -- relative. They came back to Nebraska and have spent the past dozen days getting the graveyard in order. They've had help, cutting grass, cleaning graves, mending fence, leveling land.

Preparing for an overdue ceremony.

Someone said, 'It looks almost good enough to be a cemetery in town.'

* * *

Fae Moore was the youngest of 10 and, at 5-foot-6, dwarfed by his five older brothers.

Mary and Alonzo Moore raised him on a ranch east of Chadron in Sheridan County, and then on the Pine Ridge Reservation across the South Dakota border. Months before Pearl Harbor, the 21-year-old reported to a recruiter in Rapid City.

The Marines are a lot tougher and stricter than the Army or Navy, he wrote. I don't get to leave this post for seven weeks and after that they may send me somewhere else.

He became a member of Easy Company -- Company E, 2nd Battalion, Eighth Marines, designating a portion of his pay to be sent home to help his parents.

Then the young man was at war. He fought at Guadalcanal the year after enlisting and then was sent to New Zealand for more training.

He kept in contact with his family. When a sister sent a photo of their parents, he wrote: You may not be able to notice it  but they look quite a bit older to me. Of course I havent seen them in over two years.

In New Zealand, he proposed to a woman, Jill Hudson. And he kept going on training missions.

They knew something was coming, said Larry Miller, a family friend who's written extensively about Moore. Eventually, they went out on what they thought was another training mission and they did not come back.

Operation Galvanic hit the Tarawa Atoll early Nov. 20, 1943, and Moore stormed what was known as Red Beach on the 380-acre island of Betio, a key for allied forces, between Hawaii and Australia, but small.

In most spots, a good ballplayer can throw a ball from ocean to ocean, Lawrence Denton said.

Moore died early in the 76-hour battle that would kill an estimated 6,000 -- most of them Japanese but more than 1,000 Americans. Some bodies were washed to sea, many more were quickly buried in mass graves.

My gosh, 6,000 bodies strewn around the island, Miller said. The way to prevent against disease and the stench was to bury all the remains.

As the Seabees moved in to fortify the Japanese airstrip, bodies were moved, and moved again. At one point, the island held more than 40 cemeteries. Some of the fallen were honored with so-called honor graves, marked by crosses but empty beneath the soil.

In 1946, military officials moved all known U.S. remains to the central Lone Palm Cemetery but still couldn't account for nearly 500 men. A year later, those buried at Lone Palm were moved to Hawaii.

Moore's mother received another letter from the Marines. Her son's marked grave had been a broken promise. He remained lost.

I am deeply grieved that there must now be added to your sorrow this most distressing information. It is earnestly hoped that the continuing and unremitting efforts which will be made may yet lead to the location and identification of your sons remains.

By then, Mary Moore had been through more than most. Her baby was gone. A grandson that lived with her had drowned. She'd lost her husband.

It was a lot of grief for one woman to have to deal with, Miller said.

But Mary Moore was determined. She wrote back to the commandant.

I will not give up.

* * *

Lawrence Denton's phone rang in suburban Denver last year, a Marine on the other end.

He said, 'I have one question. What does the name Fae Moore mean to you?''

The military believed it had identified Moore but needed Denton to provide a DNA comparison. He swabbed his cheeks, sent in the sample and the blanks began to fill themselves in.

More than a decade ago, the founder of the nonprofit History Flight was researching a lost aircraft at Tarawa when he learned nearly half of the men killed in the battle were still missing.

When I saw that, I almost fell out of my chair, said Mark Noah. And I began researching that.

His group has searched the atoll for 10 years, uncovering the remains of more than 100 Americans, including about 35 last year beneath a parking lot.

Sgt. Fae Moore was among them.

His body was expected to land in Rapid City late Tuesday, met by Marines from Montana. It will be escorted to the border by South Dakota law enforcement and then picked up by Nebraska officers.

Near the cemetery, his flag-draped casket will be loaded on a horse-drawn wagon for the final stretch home. And this is home: As a child, he lived just about half a mile from the graves.

His brothers and sisters are all gone. But Fae Moore will be greeted at the cemetery by dozens of family members from several states, mostly grand-nieces and nephews, and as many as 200 strangers -- area veterans, Patriot Guard riders, Legion members from several posts.

And then, 75 years after he left Nebraska, Sgt. Fae Moore will be buried next to his father and his mother, who waited so long for him to come home.
Join us today (Saturday) at Lincoln High School for the Diggin Pink Rally" -- an event to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month.

There will be a junior varsity and varsity volleyball tournament from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with four other Nebraska high school teams competing at LHS. In the hallways, we will be having some fun and raising money for Making Strides of Lincoln and Every Woman Matters, which provides free mammograms for those without health insurance. All money raised will go to these two local non-profits.

Our event will include a silent auction, raffles, games, pink concessions, a memory/honor wall, photo booth, and some great high school volleyball. We are also selling Diggin Pink t-shirts for $10, which our volleyball teams will be wearing when we walk in the Making Strides Walk on Sunday, Oct. 23.

We will also have a Best Pinked Out Fan contest complete with a trophy and a Queens of the Court Rally to end the day with a trophy for the winning team. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @LinksDigginPink Go Big Pink!
Dr. Earl Lampshire, Lincoln Center Kiwanis Club member, was honored last week for 70 years of service in Kiwanis. Keith Prettyman, club president remarked, Seventy-years of membership in an organization is a remarkable achievement. It is almost unprecedented.

Lampshires daughter Dr. Linda Lampshire, who accompanied her father to receive the recognition, remarked: We are very proud to be a Kiwanis family, I am a member of the Columbus, Nebraska Kiwanis Club, have served as club president and have also served as a Kiwanis lieutenant governor. My Dad led the way.

Earl Lampshire had a distinguished career as a dentist.

'Great class' of 1991

Kiwanis clubs all over the world present Legion of Honor awards to members that achieve 25 years of service. Prettyman remarked, "The Lincoln Center Club had a great recruiting year in 1991. Seven current members were honored for their 25 years of service: Judge John Colburn, Melvin Faas, William Overton, Roger Millnitz, Ty Westover, Shirley Deethardt and Russell Roberts.

In addition to the 25-year honors, members are recognized for each additional 5 years of service. Those honored at the club event for this additional service were:

Dayle Williamson, 30 years; Douglas Curry, 35 years; James Budka and Roger Madden, 40 years; Lowell Vestal and Joe Geist, 45 years; Lawrence Young and Gerald Jordon, 50 years and William Caldwell, 55 years.

Curry said, I am truly honored to receive a Legion of Honor for 35 years as a Kiwanis member. He has also served as club president and a Kiwanis Division lieutenant governor.

Lincoln Center Kiwanis Club Secretary Sandra Williamson remarked, When we checked the records and found Dr. Lampshire had completed 70 years of service to Kiwanis, we were thrilled to find that the Kiwanis International organization had a special recognition for this lengthy period of distinguished service.

The Lincoln Center Kiwanis Club is number 65 in the International Kiwanis organization and was organized in 1919. Members are looking forward to the club's 100th anniversary.
Phyllis Lehrer, known internationally as a performer, teacher, clinician, and author will present a solo recital Oct. 13 to kick off the 2016 Nebraska Music Teachers Association [NMTA] Conference from 7:30 to 9 p.m., with a post-recital reception at the Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska-Omaha. Tickets will be $5 at the door. Questions: 402-554-3427.

Founded in 1916, NMTA will celebrate its 100th anniversary at the conference. During the Conference to be held at UNO on Oct 13-14, Lehrer will also present two conference sessions on the "Inner Game of Music: Strategies for Developing Optimal Performance" and "Musicianship Skills for the Developing Pianist: The Early Years." She will also present a master class for state level winners of the solo piano MTNA competitions.
Her son had already been dead a month when the telegram made it to Chadron two days before C
RACINE  With strong developer interest in a historic Downtown building, the city is moving toward formally selecting a developer to convert it to residences.

The city Redevelopment Authority on Monday unanimously recommended issuing a request for qualifications for the four-story, 193,000-square-foot building at 615 Marquette St. The 1910 building was originally the Case Plow Works and, more recently was home to an aquaponics operation called Natural Green Farms and the Factory of Fear haunted house.

It is directly across Water Street from part of the 20-acre Machinery Row property that Davenport, Iowa, developer Rodney Blackwell wants to redevelop.

The citys purchase of 615 Marquette was directly linked to the Machinery Row proposal. It was part of a package deal to lend Blackwell of Financial District Properties $4.5 million to buy his riverfront land, because former owner Rick Olson would only part with a building Blackwell wanted if Olsons buildings at 526 and 615 Marquette St. were also purchased.

So, wanting to give Machinery Row a chance to happen, the city negotiated a combined $1.8 million price for those two other Olson buildings and bought them. The money for those and the loan to Blackwell came from the intergovernmental sewer revenue-sharing agreement; this is money Racine receives each year from that agreement with surrounding communities, a fund intended to help Racine spark development within its borders.

City Administrator Tom Friedel said Monday about the former Plow Works, When we acquired that building we saw it had potential. He said it is similar to the former Badger Uniforms factory at 720 Marquette St., which was redeveloped into Riverbend Lofts.

City Development Director Amy Connolly said five developers from Milwaukee and Chicago are seriously interested in the former Plow Works building as a residential project. By the time an RFQ has come back there could be up to 10 proposals, she estimated.

The building has some historic preservation potential, Connolly said, so historic tax credits could be available to help fund a redevelopment project.

The right developer

Connolly told the RDA Monday that with an RFQ, she wants the city to focus on finding the right developer instead of looking at pretty pictures. The RFQ would elicit information such as examples of what projects developers have done before, their financial capacity to do a project of this size and scope, what they would pay for the building, expected rents or purchase prices on the living units, and what incentives they would ask from the city. The city should focus on the economics of a project, she said.

Then the RDA would select and interview two or three finalists, rate them and choose a winner to take to the City Council, Connolly continued, and do a development agreement with that one, essentially creating a partnership.

With the RFQ, instead of waiting to be asked to the prom, were going to be doing some asking, Connolly remarked.

RDA member John Crimmings, general sales manager for First Weber Group, argued for giving the winning developer an option to purchase, so the developer would have time to flesh out a market study with a plan that would be successful.

If the market doesnt support what theyre going to do, itll be a failure  whether we own it or they do, he said.

Connolly agreed there could be a 3- to 6-month option, or a predevelopment agreement that would accomplish the same thing.

Earlier Monday Connolly said, The market for warehouse residential is hot everywhere. This building has high ceilings and really interesting support structures that would lend themselves to that kind of development.

She estimated the city could issue its RFQ on the building within a month and would likely give developers 20 to 30 days to respond.

The RDAs recommendation will go to the City Council for possible adoption.
MOUNT PLEASANT  A Mount Pleasant man was arrested Friday after allegedly stealing and attempting to steal from local Walmart and Menards stores last week.

Israel G. Betancourt, 39, of the 2600 block of N. Green Bay Road, reportedly robbed and attempted to rob the stores a total of three times last week, according to a criminal complaint.

The first incident occurred at Walmart, 3049 S. Oakes Road, at about 3:16 p.m Tuesday. Betancourt reportedly picked out items including T-shirts, boxers, socks and facial tissue, went to the self-checkout area, pretended to check out the items and then walked out of the store without paying, the complaint said.

The second incident occurred at Menards, 3101 S. Oakes Road, located just west of the Walmart, when Betancourt attempted to steal an impact wrench from the store valued at $149 Wednesday, according to the complaint.

Betancourt allegedly attempted to return the wrench after he took it off the shelf in the store. He reportedly told store employees it was a gift and that is why he did not have a receipt, the complaint said.

The store manager reportedly asked Betancourt when he received the wrench and he said a few weeks ago. The manager knew that the store had not sold one of the wrenches in the past 90 days so he did not allow Betancourt to receive a refund or store credit and Betancourt left the property, according to the complaint.

The third incident reportedly took place Thursday at the same Walmart when Betancourt allegedly attempted to steal $390.34 worth of merchandise. He attempted a similar approach to the Tuesday theft but was stopped by door greeters and allegedly abandoned his shopping cart, the complaint said.

Betancourt was detained Friday and taken to the Racine County Jail, according to the complaint.

Betancourt faces two misdemeanor charges for retail theft. He is scheduled for a pre-trial conference at 3:15 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.

He remained in custody as of Monday night at the County Jail, online records indicated.
RACINE  A Milwaukee man charged with trying to rob a neighborhood convenience store in 2015 was sentenced Monday to one year in the Racine County Jail and five years on probation for the crime.

Samuel V. Johnson, 31, of the 5000 block of South Green Bay Road, was charged in November with attempted robbery with the threat of force in a botched robbery attempt on April 28, 2015, at the Neighborhood Pantry, 1511 W. Sixth St.

Racine police were called at about 11:59 p.m. that night to the store after a man dressed all in black and wearing a black plastic bag over his face tried to rob the store by holding his hand in the shape of a gun and pretending to pull the trigger.

Johnson pleaded guilty in August to the robbery charge, and in exchange an unrelated charge of felony marijuana possession was dismissed but read into the court record.

On Monday, Racine County Circuit Judge Mark Nielsen sentenced Johnson to a stayed sentence of three years in prison and three years extended supervision. He then sentenced Johnson to five years on probation, including one year in the Racine County Jail. If Johnson violates the terms of his probation, the stayed sentence could kick in. Nielsen also ordered Johnson to undergo a drugs and alcohol assessment and write a letter of apology.
EAU CLAIRE COUNTY  A 73-year-old Racine man is being held on a $500,000 cash bail for first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the strangulation and stabbing death of his sister in the Town of Bridge Creek.

The woman, Alexandra Sandy Marifke, 75, was killed over the weekend at her residence at E23695 Highway M.

During a bail hearing Monday for James J. Bonczkowski, Eau Claire County District Attorney Gary King said authorities found Marifkes body at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Bonczkowski was taken into custody at the scene.

An autopsy was conducted Sunday and Marifkes cause of death was complex homicidal violence, King said.

There appeared to be evidence of a struggle at the residence.

Bonczkowski had blood on his hands and clothing. Authorities also found a broken cane and bed frame at the scene, King said.

An autopsy showed Marifke had six stab wounds. Authorities found a knitting needle sticking out of Marifkes chest, King said.

Asphyxiation was also evident and Marifke had fractures in her neck. Authorities found a phone cord with blood on it behind a microwave, King said.

A dog in the home was also stabbed and covered in blood when authorities arrived, King said.

Bonczkowski returns to court at 11 a.m. Thursday to face formal criminal charges.

Eau Claire Public Defender Laurie Osberg, who appeared in court Monday with Bonczkowski via videoconference from the Eau Claire County Jail, questioned Bonczkowskis competency to assist with his defense.

Bonczkowski has been diagnosed with Alzeimers disease and stage-2 dementia, Osberg said.

Bonczkowskis wife told Osberg his condition worsened after being given anesthetics for surgery he had earlier this year.

Bonczkowski has no criminal record, is an Air Force Vietnam-era veteran and needs an inpatient evaluation, Osberg said.

Eau Claire County Judge Michael Schumacher approved a court-appointed attorney for Bonczkowski, who does not financially qualify for public defender services.

Schumacher also ordered a competency evaluation of Bonczkowski by a psychologist or psychiatrist.
MOUNT PLEASANT  There is free lunch and breakfast every day. There are free massages and free haircuts.

Those are just a few of the perks that Sturtevant native Shaun Aukland experiences every day as an account executive working at Googles California headquarters.

Ten years ago, when Aukland graduated from Case High School, he never imagined himself working in California at the headquarters of a multibillion-dollar corporation.

His grandfather only had a seventh-grade education and neither of his parents graduated from college. But through the help of federal student loans, Aukland was able to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

That is part of the message he shared with a group of a few hundred Case students last week on a return visit to his alma mater, during which he encouraged the students to go for their dreams.

Aukland admitted that when he applied to Google, he didnt think a kid from Wisconsin would get the job. He competed against students from Harvard and other Ivy League schools.

In the end, the Sconnie got the job and now, as an account executive, he travels all over the world promoting Google.

Develop those goals

We need you, Aukland told his fellow Case Eagles on Thursday. We need you to solve the problems in the world.

Google is looking for people who are constructively unhappy with the way the world is today and want to ask big questions about why, how do we change it, and maybe how can technology change it, Aukland said. Over the next four years at Case, work on your skills. Work on group work. Work on joining a club, work on doing what you can to develop those goals.

While many people know about the free meal and haircut perks at Google, Aukland said one of the big draws for him is how much the company cares about its employees and about what is going on in the world.

Following all of the police shootings, Aukland said Google executives set aside time to have an open meeting during which employees could discuss the issues of the day and how they have personally been affected.

In addition, Aukland, who calls himself a Gaygler, said the company has been very supportive of gay rights and when the former Defense of Marriage Act prohibited immigration rights to his partner, Google even filed an amicus brief in support of them. Eventually, he ended up proposing to his now-husband at Googles London headquarters.

A proud mother

Following Auklands speech to students, his mother, Sherrill Aukland, who was in the audience Thursday, smiled as she talked about her son.

With her son working for Google, Sherrill was able to visit the companys headquarters for take-your-parent-to-work day, which included parents from all over the world. Google fed the parents and taught classes on topics like meditation, she said.

From a young age, Sherrill said she knew her son was going to go places.

Shaun Aukland would take charge with his siblings and they would call him chairman of the board.

Now that Shaun works for Google in California and travels all over the world, Sherrill misses him.

But she said, Thank God for Google so we can live chat.
Local deputies assist with search

for missing boy

WAUKESHA  The Racine County Sheriffs Office assisted the search for an autistic boy who went missing in Waukesha Sunday night.

Waukesha police say 10-year-old Andrew Ounkham was found safe Monday morning after several hundred volunteers joined law enforcement in the search for the autistic boy. He was last seen running into a large cornfield behind his home in Waukesha late Sunday afternoon.

Helicopters, drones and dogs were used in the search for the boy.

The Racine deputies did not find the boy, but Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schamling said his office was glad to assist Waukesha law enforcement and volunteers.

I think its important to point out that nowadays theres much more to the modern day law enforcement officer than just arresting people, he said. This situation is a shining example of how law enforcement and communities come together during a crisis with one common goal.

The Waukesha search was similar to one in Langlade County. A 3-year-old boy wandered into a cornfield near Antigo Saturday afternoon and was found safe nearly 24 hours later. Volunteers also helped in that search.

Early voting begins in Town

of Waterford

TOWN OF WATERFORD  Residents can begin voting in this falls election after the town extended its early voting hours.

The Town of Waterford began in-person absentee voting, better known as early voting, on Friday. It will continue from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at Town Hall, 415 N. Milwaukee St.

The town was originally scheduled to begin early voting Oct. 24, but moved up the start to Sept. 30 to help voters, Town Clerk Tina Mayer said in an email.

Early voting continues until Nov. 4. Polls are open on Election Day, Nov. 8, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voting has also begun in several other Racine County communities.

Man faces felony charge for fourth OWI

MOUNT PLEASANT  A traffic stop Friday landed a Kenosha man with his fourth operating while intoxicated charge and a drug paraphernalia charge to boot.

Jason C. Cozort, 36, of the 8500 block of 16th Avenue, was pulled over twice by Mount Pleasant Police after a vehicle was seen deviating from its lane at about 9:07 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.

Prior to be pulling over the second time, Cozort reportedly struck the curb three times before coming to a halt. During that stop, the officer could smell intoxicants coming from the vehicle, the complaint said.

Cozort allegedly failed the field sobriety tests an later told the officer he had used heroin earlier that day, according to the complaint.

In searching his vehicle, police discovered a syringe, a small tin cup and a piece of cotton, the complaint said.

Cozort faces a felony charge for his fourth operating while intoxicated offense within five years, three misdemeanor charges for bail jumping, and two misdemeanors for possession of drug paraphernalia and operating while revoked.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 12 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.

Cozort remained in custody as of Monday night at the County Jail, online records indicated.

Steelhead facility

to host open house

RACINE  An open house will be held from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Racine Root River Steelhead Facility at Lincoln Park, 2200 Domanik Drive.

This is a egg-taking facility for salmon and trout. Representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will be on hand showing how the facility works. They will address adult fly casting, childrens fly casting from a bass boat, knot tying and Respect Our Waters with Sparkles the Water Spaniel on hand.

An educational family event, it and also suggested for Scouting troops.

 Journal Times staff and Associated Press
TOWN OF WATERFORD  Residents can begin voting in this fall's election after the town extended its early voting hours.

The Town of Waterford began in-person absentee voting, better known as early voting, on Friday. It will continue from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at Town Hall, 415 N. Milwaukee St.

The town was originally scheduled to begin early voting Oct. 24, but moved up the start to Sept. 30 to help voters, Town Clerk Tina Mayer said in an email.

Early voting continues until Nov. 4. Polls are open on Election Day, Nov. 8, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voting has also begun in several other Racine County communities.
ELKHORN  An annual 1st Congressional District Republican event on Saturday has been moved to a bigger venue, with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump now listed as an invited guest.

The yearly Fall Fest fundraiser, which had been planned for an apple orchard near Bong State Recreational Area in western Kenosha County, will now be held at 1 p.m. at the Walworth County Fairgrounds, 411 E. Court St., Elkhorn.

The Trump campaign said earlier Monday it would make a Wisconsin appearance on Saturday but that it would announce more details later.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson are already confirmed Fall Fest guests, according to an updated event flier.

Spokesmen for the Ryan and Trump campaigns did not immediately return messages on Monday night. Ryan, Walker and Johnson have endorsed Trump but largely steered clear of joint campaign appearances with the polarizing nominee.

The Fall Fest was previously scheduled to be held at Brightonwoods Orchard, 1072 288th Ave., Brighton, east of the Town of Burlington and south of the Town of Dover. The orchard, owned by local Republican booster Bill Stone, has been the site of several GOP events over the years.

According to the flyer, tickets are $60 for a couple, $30 for an individual and $10 for students, while donation levels run from $125 to $1,000.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will return to Wisconsin on Saturday.

The location of Trumps visit has not been released. State campaign spokesman Matthew Schuck said Monday that details of the stop will be revealed later.

Trumps visit will come 10 days after the real estate mogul drew about 1,600 people to a Waukesha rally on Sept. 28.

The Saturday event will be Trumps seventh stop in the state since launching his presidential campaign that until recently had garnered little support from establishment Republicans.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has not campaigned in the state since the April primary.

However, her former primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and daughter Chelsea Clinton will stump for the former secretary of state on Wednesday and Oct. 10, respectively. Sanders trip includes a rally in Madison.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., will campaign for Clinton in Madison and Milwaukee on Friday. Shell be joined by U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold of Middleton.

Chelsea Clinton campaigned in Green Bay last week.
State officials said Tuesday they believe the process by which Wisconsin issues free voter identification cards is a sound one. However, they said they are seriously investigating recent news reports that Division of Motor Vehicles employees gave inaccurate information to people seeking IDs.

"We believe that the process is a sound process that will not disenfranchise any voter," said Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb, speaking to a legislative committee.

Gottlieb and DMV Administrator Kristina Boardman also said DMV workers are being retrained on how to administer free IDs.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson ordered the DMV earlier this week to investigate reports in The Nation and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a 34-year-old homeless man was given inaccurate information from DMV employees.

Since the initial report, the Journal Sentinel has written about several similar instances throughout the state. Recordings of the interactions were provided by VoteRiders, a group that opposes voter ID laws and works to help people obtain IDs in states that require them for voting.

The judge instructed the state to investigate the allegations detailed in the media and provide a report to the court by Oct. 7.

"We still have plenty of time to right any wrongs that may have occurred," Boardman told reporters on Tuesday.

Gottlieb and Boardman said they are still investigating those reports, in conjunction with the state Department of Justice.

Gottlieb said they are still seeking full transcripts of the recordings VoteRiders released to reporters. A VoteRiders representative did not immediately respond to an interview request.

In the meantime, both Gottlieb and Boardman said the DMV continues to train its workers on the ID process.

"This is obviously a somewhat complex process so were always looking to improve," Gottlieb said.

Since July 1, 2011, when the state started to issue free IDs, the DMV has issued 504,054 cards, Gottlieb said. Since the ID petition process, or IDPP  which helps people who don't have the proper documentation obtain IDs  has been in place, 98 percent of people who applied have been given an ID without having to enter the IDPP, he said.

Hundreds of DMV employees throughout the state will be required to participate in a new online training exercise and have one-on-one conversations with supervisors by Friday, Gottlieb said.

In addition, anyone who goes to a DMV bureau seeking an ID will now be given a piece of paper with information including a hotline phone number they can call to report a negative experience.

In his July decision, Peterson overturned laws that limited in-person absentee voting to one location. Peterson also struck down laws that limited early voting hours and eliminated weekend voting, increased the residency requirement for voters from 10 days to 28 days, prohibited distributing absentee ballots by fax or email and required "dorm lists" used as proof of residence to include citizenship information, and a provision of the voter ID law banning the use of expired but otherwise qualifying student IDs at the polls.

Peterson in July found the IDPP system did not require "wholesale invalidation," but that it did not act as an effective safety net for qualified electors who struggle to obtain proper IDs.

"The IDPP is pretty much a disaster," Peterson wrote, later referring to it as a "wretched failure."

Under Peterson's July ruling, once a petitioner submits sufficient materials, the state Division of Motor Vehicles must "promptly issue a credential valid for voting, unless readily available information shows that the petitioner is not a qualified elector entitled to such a credential." The state must also "inform the general public" of that process.

"Petitioners and the public must be informed that these credentials have a term equivalent to that of a driver license or Wisconsin ID, and that they will be valid for voting until they expire or are revoked for good cause," Peterson wrote.

After hearing testimony Tuesday from Boardman, Gottlieb and others, the Legislature's Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules voted to approve a 60-day extension of an emergency rule implemented earlier this summer.

The rule allows the DMV to issue receipts to would-be voters who are in the process of obtaining a photo ID but aren't able to provide the necessary documents in time for an election. Voters are able to cast ballots with those temporary receipts.

Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon, said he believes DMV and DOT are making a "good faith effort" to rectify problems by Election Day. Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, argued extending the rule does nothing to fix "major problems" with the voter ID law.

Democrats on the committee, who voted against extending the rule, argued lawmakers should instead overturn the voter ID law in its entirety. One Wisconsin Institute, one of the plaintiffs in the case that spurred Peterson's ruling, made the same call.

The state is in violation of a federal court order and instead of of spending time considering administrative rules that arent being followed anyway, the legislature ought to return and immediately suspend the voter ID law," said One Wisconsin Institute research director Jenni Dye.
TOKYO  Since North Koreas latest nuclear test, Pyongyang and Seoul have been openly trading threats of decapitation strikes and annihilating capitals populated by millions of civilians. And the talk of how each side might throw that first pre-emptive punch has become more detailed than ever.

Seoul and Pyongyang are now making a point of claiming they are justified, and capable, of striking hard if an attack by the other appears imminent: North Korea with its rapidly developing nuclear arsenal, Seoul with conventional missile attacks and commando operations explicitly aimed at killing Kim Jong Un and his top commanders.

Swings of tension from crisis levels to business as usual, with the white noise of bellicose rhetoric always in the background, have been a fact of life for decades on the divided Korean Peninsula. But with pre-emptive strike scenarios now coming out in the open, there may be new cause for real concern.

Since assuming power in late 2011, Kim has made major strides toward making his country a credible nuclear threat.

This year alone, the North has conducted two nuclear tests, its latest and biggest on Sept. 9. It has test-launched several long-range missiles, including at least one from a submarine, and generally demonstrated its moving toward a stealthier, deployment-ready nuclear and missile arsenal.

Pyongyang may now be capable of launching a nuclear attack on Seoul, which is only about 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone, and on the roughly 28,000 U.S. troops deployed in the South. Also possibly within striking distance are Japan, home to another 50,000 U.S. troops, and even the U.S. territory of Guam, a key Pacific military hub about 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) away.

Its closer than ever to having nuclear-tipped missiles able to reach the U.S. mainland.

Having the weaponry and being able to successfully use it are two different things. Experts have mixed opinions on whether the North can actually mount nuclear weapons on its long-range missiles, and on how reliable either would be.

Obviously, a decapitation strike scenario aimed at North Koreas leadership is something the South would quietly consider  thats what military strategists are paid to do. North Korea attempted one against South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1968; it was a disaster.

But Seoul is now showing its cards.

South Korean media started talking about them in August 2015, when a South Korean defense official said beheading operations would be part of a new joint wartime plan. U.S. and South Korean troops reportedly conducted such training during joint exercises in March. Some military experts say such exercises arent new, but the reports outraged Pyongyang.Seouls rhetoric is now even more pointed. Shortly after last months nuclear test, its Joint Chiefs of Staff announced plans to strengthen its ability to conduct pre-emptive strikes. And it said a Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation system would use special forces, the Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile and the Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile  now under development  to, as one South Korean newspaper put it, obliterate areas where Kim Jong Un and the rest of North Koreas leaders are located.

With presidential elections just over a month away, Washington has been sticking to President Barack Obamas longstanding policy of strategic patience  keeping Pyongyang at arms length, building regional alliances and isolating the Norths government.

It has recently flown B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula and is moving ahead with the deployment of its top-of-the-line THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, though China sees THAAD as a threat to its own defense.Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, assured Congress last week the U.S. has plans in place for de-escalating and defusing a crisis. He said South Koreas official statements on pre-emption did not show it has any intent to take precipitous or provocative action.

Even so, some in Washington view the escalation as disconcerting.

Discussions of things like pre-emption in public obviously add a troubling element to peninsular dynamics, said Evans Revere, a former State Department official and East Asia expert.

Revere blamed Pyongyang for its rapid nuclear and missile buildup. He said Seouls logic in allowing stories about exercise scenarios to leak out is to maximize the deterrent message and to reassure South Koreans.
Tennessee Gun Control Group Spreads

Bad Data to Push Anti-gun Agenda

October 3rd, 2016. BearingArms.com Staff

In mid-September, Tennessee gun control group Safe Tennessee Project trumpeted a disturbing new statistic gleaned from the Centers for Disease Control's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) in order to bolster their anti-gun agenda. The group contended that in 2014, 105 Tennesseans were killed in unintentional shootings, a more than five-fold increase from 2013.

As expected, the press dutifully parroted the group's claims. However, the incredible statistic touted by Safe Tennessee Project turned out to be just that, not credible. Following a review of their data, the Tennessee Department of Health, who provided the unintentional shooting data to the CDC, determined that the 105 figure was inaccurate and that the correct number of unintentional shooting deaths in Tennessee in 2014 was five.

On September 13, Safe Tennessee Project published an item on their website titled, "Tennessee Now Leads Nation in Fatal Unintentional Shootings." The article reported that CDC data showed that there were 105 unintentional firearm fatalities in Tennessee in 2015, and noted that this was a marked increase from the previous five years, in which the total number of unintentional firearms deaths ranged from 19-32. As the article's headline suggests, Safe Tennessee Project claimed that this drastic increase made Tennessee the national leader in unintentional firearm fatalities.

Safe Tennessee Project was quick to blame the Volunteer State's gun laws for the alleged increase in unintentional firearm fatalities. ......

Once again, data innacuracies are used to further the 'gun control' agenda. This appears unsurprisingly to be the norm and when coupled with predictable media bias, serves to deceive the public in the hopes for more support. Any and every time this occurs it is essential that distorted facts are exposed and the truth substituted - all part of the battle to try and maintain a level playing field.

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14 lawmakers from quake-hit districts to be inducted in Reconstruction Consultative Council

A meeting of the Consultative Council of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) on Tuesday decided to nominate 14 lawmakers representing the 14 districts most affected by the last year's earthquake in the Council.
Brand new avatar

The Maoist Centre has changed its ways and now comprises born again democrats
Country roads

The forever unfinished Postal Highway illustrates the low priority accorded to Madhes so far
Dalit man from Bajhang tortured for defiling temple

A 50-year old dalit man was assaulted for entering a temple at Risidi village in Bajhang district.
Finance Secy-level meet after BRICS, China hints

The postponed Nepal-China Finance Secretary-level meeting may take place after the BRICS Summit takes place in Goa, India, on October 15-16, government officials said.
Sangam Prasain is Business Editor at The Kathmandu Post, covering tourism, agriculture, mountaineering, aviation, infrastructure and other economic affairs. He joined The Kathmandu Post in October 2009.
Gas plant encroaches upon road dept land

A gas bottling plant has reportedly encroached upon 13 ropanis of land belonging to the Department of Roads (DoR) and parts of the forest land owned by Sutkeridhunka Community Forest in Baireni VDC-9, Dhading.
Gionee launches 2 new smartphones

The runaway success of the Gionee S6s after its launch a few weeks ago in Nepal has encouraged the manufacturer to roll out two new smartphones, the P7 Max and the S6 Pro.
Indian prez to visit Nepal from Nov 2

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee will be arriving in Nepal on November 2 on a three-day visit, government officials confirmed on Monday.
Kathmandu, Pokhara may have 4G by Nov

Nepal Telecom (NT) is likely to launch fourth generation (4G) mobile services in Kathmandu and Pokhara within two months.
Kin of Kabul attack victims press for compensation

The kin of Kabul suicide attack victims have called on the government to press the Canadian government to ensure compensation.
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
LBRC likely to submit report before deadline

The Local Bodies Restructuring Commission (LRBC) has said that it would be submitting its report to the government soon.
Nepal Army to provide free bus service during Dashain

Nepal Army is preparing to provide free transportation services to its staffers and their family members going outside the Valley for Dashain celebrations from Tuesday.
NFC starts airlifting rice to northern Gorkha

The Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) has started to transport rice to northern Gorkha where the state food agency has not been able to send subsidised food for the last 17 months.
NRA gears up to form a panel for aid management

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is preparing to set up a committee to manage, mobilise and coordinate financial resources from development partners and donor agencies in post-earthquake reconstruction efforts.
Parliament approves proposal seeking consideration on two bills

The House meeting on Tuesday unanimously passed the proposal tabled seeking considerations on Rajarshi Janak University Bill-2071 BS.
Preserving Nepals heritage

Various types of cultural heritage are the backdrops of our lives and tell the story of where we come from
Second EPG meeting to take up 1950 treaty

As the second meeting of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations begins in the Indian capital on Tuesday, the Nepali side is set to push the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950 as a priority agenda.
Skilled Nepalis abroad earn 27pc more than unskilled

Skilled Nepalis working abroad earn around 27 percent more than unskilled overseas migrant workers, a latest study of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows.
'Support to govt to be withdrawn after Tihar if no amendment'

The Madhes-based parties have warned of withdrawing support from the government if there is further delay in registering the constitution amendment proposal in Parliament.
Take action

Govt needs to wake up to the misery caused by the transport syndicate
Achyut Wagle holds PhD in economics and is currently a professor at the Kathmandu University School of Management. He is an econo-political analyst, writing for The Kathmandu Post for many years.
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Turkey has suspended almost 13,000 police officers for their alleged links with the US-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

The latest wave adds to the 100,000 or so government workers dismissed or suspended since Julys failed coup.

Mr Gulen denies the governments accusation that he or his supporters orchestrated the coup.

The government in turn rejects claims it is using the coup as an excuse to get rid of its opponents.

It insists those without proven links to the coup will be freed.

STORY BY BBC NEWS
A senior South Sudanese military general accused of orchestrating the July 2016 fighting in the country has denied re-igniting the conflict, and instead blamed former vice President Riek Machar.

Gen Paul Malong, the chief of general staff of the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), told a team of visiting Ugandan and Kenyan journalists that Dr Machar, who is now exiled in Khartoum, attempted a palace coup.

However, Dr Machars spokesperson James Gatdet, yesterday described Gen Malongs claims as lies calculated to serve a purpose,  maintaining that Malong is one of the coup planners.

The July skirmishes broke out at the Presidential palace in Juba and some 304 mainly pro-Machar soldiers, including his bodyguards, were killed. The Presidential palace fence remains riddled with bullet holes, three months later.
He died this morning at St. Francis Hospital Nsambya where he was admitted on Thursday last week after his health deteriorated.

 He had been suffering with cancer of the bones for about four to five years and had just returned from Italy two months ago where he normally went for treatment, Mr Victor Okello Nam, the Head Teacher of Bishop Cipriano Kihangire SSS told Daily Monitor on phone.

Fr John, as he was commonly known, was 83 at the time of his death.

Mr. Nam has described Fr. Scalabrinis death as a big blow to the country.

He has done a lot. He has supported very many children and orphans, he added.

The school, Bishop Cipriano Kihangiire SSS in the Kampala suburb of Luzira is one of many of his establishments.

The others are a primary school, two nursery schools, and a carpentry workshop that provides skills training for youths, a hospital and a number of churches, and a school for orphans.

Who is Fr John Scalabrini?

He was a catholic priest born in Limido Comasco, Italy in 1934. He came to Uganda in 1964 aged 30, and has been doing missionary work for decades, supporting orphans, the poor and homeless among other charitable deeds.

To many in Acoli where he dedicated decades of his life, Fr. John was considered a pillar and a beacon of hope.

His passion for education saw him support hundreds of children through school. He loved to empower people, and to this end he established he installed a number of flour mills at the mission farm in Gulu archdiocese, to encourage locals to grow maize.

He stood with his people and remained steadfast in supporting them even through the countrys darkest moments.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Occasional rain. High 61F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Rain showers early with overcast skies late. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
American Legion Riders of Butler American Legion Post 202 held rides recently to recognize World War II veterans with Challenge Coins. Edward G. Dooley, a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, was recognized for his service as a recon aviator during World War II. Dooley also served as a quartermaster in Korea. Bob Wilson, a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, served on a B-29 Flying Fortress airplane during World War II. The ALR chapter also met U.S. Navy veteran Atlee Eugene Hamlin, who recently flew to Washington D.C. with Honor Flight Northeast Indiana. Dooley, Wilson and Hamlin are all residents at Presence Sacred Heart Home in Avilla.

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
LAGRANGE  On a day that threatened more rain than sunshine, Indianas bicentennial touch  the symbol of the states 200th birthday celebration  was carried across LaGrange County Monday.

The torch now is in the final third of its run through all 92 Indiana counties. It arrived safely in a caravan from Steuben County, where it spent Sunday. After its journey from LaGrange to Shipshewana, the torch was headed to Elkhart County to continue its 3,200-mile trek.

Sixteen people were selected to carry the torch on its six-mile-plus journey in LaGrange County. The celebration started on the lawn of the LaGrange County Courthouse and finished in Shipshewana.

The torchbearers included a U.S. congressman, a school superintendent, two publishers, a doctor and a handful of local business owners and community leaders.

Marlin Stutzman, a Howe resident who serves the 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives, was selected to carry the torch on its final leg in LaGrange County. Stutzman, a Republican, isnt seeking re-election this year to his 3rd District seat, and earlier this year lost a primary battle against 9th District Rep. Todd Young to succeed Dan Coats in the U.S. Senate.

This was the first and only Monday celebration scheduled on the torchs trip around Indiana. Organizers first wanted to have the torch pass through LaGrange County on a Sunday, but altered those plans by a day to be able to include Shipshewana in the relay.

Hundreds of children from local schools, as well as hundreds of people from around the county, packed the courthouse lawn Monday morning to watch the LaGrange County torch relay opening ceremony start.

State Sen. Sue Glick began the ceremony with a short speech about the states history before lighting the torch by dipping it into a cauldron. She then walked around the LaGrange County Courthouse, starting the torch on its first local leg.

This is fun. It helps get everybody excited about the bicentennial, Glick said. Im honored, I really am. This a special time for me. Im a history buff anyway, and I study Indiana history. Weve had two hundred years of history, and weve got so much more promise ahead. This is a special time.

Stutzman called his selection to be the Bicentennial Torch Relays final torchbearer in LaGrange County a real honor.

This is really special, he said. Its exciting, and its a huge honor. Indiana is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, so its a special day for LaGrange County.

Along its way, the torch was carried by hand, by two carriages and an ambulance.

Shipshewana businessman Nate Jones said the experience was even bigger than hed imagined.

It was a pretty cool experience to be part of this, Jones said. It was a bigger deal than I expected, to be honest. My leg was down through the middle of the county, but I was amazed how many people were there cheering me on.

Stutzman walked the last leg of the relay through downtown Shipshewana, ending up on the towns south side, where he officially transferred the flame back to the cauldron. The flames caretakers carefully captured the flame in a small lantern to be transported to Elkhart County for the next part of its journey through Indiana.

The torchbearers

Sixteen people carried Indianas bicentennial torch Monday through LaGrange County. They are: Sue Glick, Jodi Getz, Eva Merkle, Sue Keenan, Carlos Olivares, Bill Connelly, Patricia Boase, John Senecal, Laney Kratz, Dan Byler, Tom Miller, Dr. John Egli, Nate Jones, Winford Jones, Ryan Riegsecker and Marlin Stutzman.
CHICAGO (AP)  Forget the pink ribbons. Spitting in a tube for science is what unites a growing group of breast cancer patients taking part in a unique project to advance treatment for the deadliest form of the disease.

For many of the 150,000-plus patients nationwide whose tumors have spread to bones, brains, lungs or other distant organs, the hue heralding breast cancer awareness and survival each October is a little too rosy. They know cancer will likely kill them. And theyve often felt neglected by mainstream advocacy and medical research.

But now they have a way to get involved, with a big new project that aims to gather enormous troves of information about their diseases in hopes of finding new and better ways of treating patients like them  women whose cancer has spread, or metastasized, and left them nearly out of options.

Patients want to live and we know that research is the way that were going to be able to live, said Beth Caldwell, a former civil rights attorney in Seattle diagnosed with metastatic disease in 2014.

The idea is to gather molecular and genetic clues from as broad a group of metastatic breast cancer patients as possible. With data from thousands of people, researchers think they will be better able target treatments or come up with new ones by answering important questions about the disease. For example: Is there something unique about tumors that spread to the brain, or that recur many years after diagnosis? What allows a very few women to outlive others by many years despite the same prognosis?

Most breast cancer patients are treated at centers that dont do research on tumors, so participating in studies at academic medical centers far from home is cumbersome at best. Patients sick or dying from their disease face additional hurdles.

This project is different. Patients sign up online, mail in saliva kits for genetic testing, and allow use of their tumor tissue samples and medical records. Researchers use social media to keep them posted about progress, and periodically invite participants to visit the Cambridge, Mass., lab where their specimens are being analyzed.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Project is run by scientists at Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and was launched last October with funding from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, an independent nonprofit group. Using word of mouth and social media, it has already enrolled more than 2,600 patients  a pace nearly unheard of in medical research.

I enrolled from my recliner in my living room. I did my spit tube in bed, Caldwell said.

The mother of two turns 40 on Thursday, and cancer has reached her brain, lungs, bones and liver. She tries to stay positive, but October is a month where I just want to hide under the covers and check out, Caldwell said. I just dont want to be confronted with all this pink garbage.

Lara MacGregor, who runs a Louisville, Kentucky-based nonprofit group for cancer patients, said she feels the same way.

Everything about breast cancer is about survivors and beating cancer, MacGregor said. And were sitting in the wings saying, Im never going to celebrate the end of treatment.

MacGregor was pregnant when diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 2007. She had both breasts removed plus chemotherapy, and went on with her life thinking she was cured until two years ago, when tests for nagging back pain revealed cancer had returned and spread to her bones.

Now 39, MacGregor read about the project online, decided immediately to take part, and emailed dozens of friends and connections who also signed on.

Before she mailed her saliva kit, my 8-year-old drew a picture on the box and said, thanks for helping my mom, MacGregor said. I hope that real data about real people is going lead to better treatment options, she said. My life depends on it.

More than 200,000 people, mostly women, are diagnosed with breast cancer nationwide each year. Most are diagnosed when cancer is at an early, potentially curable, stage. For about 6 percent, or 15,000 patients, the disease has already spread at diagnosis.

And for about 30 percent of patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, the disease will eventually recur in distant parts of the body. The average survival for patients with metastatic disease is about three years.

According to a 2014 analysis from an alliance of breast cancer advocacy groups, less than 10 percent of government and nonprofit groups investment in breast cancer research in recent years went to studying metastatic disease.

Metastatic breast cancer in general is an understudied area, says Marc Hurlbert of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. We dont know, for example, how the tumor has changed. Is it the same makeup as it was before? Do cells have a different molecular profile than cancer that started first in the breast?

By gathering large numbers of tissue samples and information about how the diseases progresses in different people, the project may be able to uncover useful trends. It has produced a few enticing clues already, including small groups of patients whove responded unusually well to standard chemotherapy or to new immunotherapy drugs  some have survived for 10 years or more. The researchers hope DNA analyses will help explain why and lead to treatments that will improve the odds for all patients with the disease.

Data will be posted on a special online site and with the National Cancer Institutes genomic data program  making it available to other scientists and boosting the odds of finding better ways to treat patients with metastatic disease.

And proof that crowdsourcing can draw thousands of patients to medical research is an important discovery itself, given how hard that can be, said Dr. Nikhil Wagle, a project leader and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard and Dana-Farber.

This project makes them feel empowered, makes them feel like they are making a difference  if not to help themselves, then maybe the next generation of patients, Wagle said.

Everything about breast cancer is about survivors and beating cancer. And were sitting in the wings saying, Im never going to celebrate the end of treatment. Lara MacGregor
The Tri-County Chapter No. 1386 of the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees is scheduled to meet on Thursday, Oct. 20 in Tomah.

The meeting will be held at Pizones Restaurant, 202 Superior Ave. Lunch is available at 11:30 a.m. and the meeting starts at noon. The guest speaker will be a representative from AETNA health insurance who will discuss the plan benefits and changes for 2017.
WINONA, Minn.  An armed confrontation in rural Winona County ended with no shots fired and a La Crosse man in custody.

Just after 9 a.m. Saturday, Winona County sheriffs deputies were called to a residence on Hwy. 12 in the Nodine area to assist a person who was afraid of a man armed with a shotgun, Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude said.

The first deputy at the scene was told by the man reporting the incident that he was in his house when heard noises outside. He looked out to see a man, later identified as Tyler Duane Henry, 32, firing a shotgun across a nearby field.

The man approached Henry to tell him he couldnt shoot there because there were hunters in the vicinity, Ganrude said. Henry reacted angrily, and the first man retrieved a handgun from a nearby shed for protection and told Henry to leave.

Henry rushed at the man, shotgun cradled in his arm, his finger on the trigger, and the man retreated inside and called law enforcement.

The man told the deputy Henry was inside a trailer on the property. When the deputy approached, Henry rushed out. The deputy drew her sidearm and ordered him to stop and get on the ground. Henry complied, but when she attempted to handcuff him, he got up and retreated toward the trailer. Another deputy arrived and the two attempted to talk with Henry, who grew more agitated and finally dashed inside the trailer, Ganrude said.

Because the deputies didnt know where the shotgun was, they immediately followed Henry inside, tackling him and attempting to subdue and handcuff him. Two women inside the trailer attempted to help Henry, but when a Minnesota state trooper arrived and weighed in, the cuffs went on, and Henry was wrestled outside, Ganrude said.

Henry continued to resist as deputies forced him into a squad car, and began slamming his head into the cage, which opened a cut on his head. An ambulance was called, and Henry was examined, treated and taken to the Winona County Jail.

He made an initial court appearance Monday, charged with making threats of violence and obstructing the legal process/interfering with a peace officer, both felonies. He is being held in lieu of $30,000 unconditional bond, $10,000 with conditions.
Core Ensemble will present Los Valientes at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, in Viterbo Universitys Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, 929 Jackson St.

Los Valientes (the courageous ones) is a live music theater work for a singing actor and onstage instrumental trio of cello, piano and percussion. Based on the lives of three heroic Latinos, the show celebrates Mexican painter Diego Rivera, martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Mexican-American outlaw Joaquin Murrieta  some say the Zorro character was based on him.

The music ranges from traditional Latino folk and popular songs sung in Spanish to instrumental works by Latin American composers. The work is one of a series of multicultural performance pieces produced by the Core Ensemble over the past 20 years.

David Perez-Ribada will portray the three legendary Latinos. Perez-Ribada has performed a wide variety of stage roles throughout the United States, including the world premiere of Anna in the Tropics. He has appeared on the Fox TV network as well as in several independent films.

Core Ensemble musicians include cellist Ju Young Lee, pianist Mikael Darmanie and percurssionist Michael Parola. The group has toured in Australia, England, Russia, Ukraine, the Caribbean, and in every region of the United States. Los Valientes is touring throughout the U.S. during Hispanic Heritage Month.

The event is free and open to all.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II offered a stately greeting Monday to visitors at Tease Salon & Barbershop on Fifth Avenue.

Salon owner April Benson, in full regal hair and make-up, greeted her customers as the British queen for the first day of her annual 30 Days of Halloween Extravaganza. Benson donned a pastel green suit and pearls in the first of 27 costumes she has planned to bring the Halloween spirit to downtown La Crosse.

Ive always loved Halloween, Benson said. Just the idea that we can transform ourselves and be someone else for a day is so much fun.

As a hair and make-up artist, her Halloween extravaganza is a creative outlet. She can test out new techniques, practice her characters, drum up some buzz for her salon on Facebook.

I have people from as far away as Hawaii and Australia liking photos, Benson said, and her regular customers make it a point to follow the daily costumes.

Sometimes theyll just step in and see who I am today, she said.

Shes on her fourth year and hasnt repeated a costume yet, despite keeping bits and pieces around for reuse. She spends about a week planning out her costumes and shopping, and then makes some of her own alterations.

Even growing up, we always made our own costumers, Benson said.

The first time she made her own costume, Benson was about 9 or 10, dressing up as an old-timey hobo, complete with bindle.

I found a random assortment of stuff from my parents closet and my closet and grabbed a stick from outside, and that was it, she said.

Ever since, shes kept an eye out for quality costume material, picking up pieces here and there at thrift shops to augment the nine large plastic tubs of dress-up clothes in her house.

Even if Im not going to use it that year, then Ill have it, she said.

Bensons love of the spooky holiday is contagious, according to Teases holistic hair stylist, Emilene Heiderscheit.

I never got that into Halloween before I worked here, she said.

Heiderscheit has always been a fan of fall and Halloween decorations, but shes not really a costume-person. When she heard Bensons idea for 30 days of Halloween, she was a bit skeptical.

I thought it was the craziest thing I had ever heard, Heiderscheit said with a smile.

These days, she gets excited to see what Benson comes up with.

Shes just so happy to do it. You have to be a happy person to dress up like that and get into character the way she does, Heiderscheit said.

Tease client Rebecca Roob agreed, adding that it really builds on the welcoming and fun atmosphere at the salon.

When she first saw Benson in costume, Roob was delighted.

I was like, Oh my gosh, this is super amazing, she said. Now I look forward to it every year.

Tease has embraced Halloween, with everyone dressing up for the Downtown La Crosse trick-or-treating event and typically throwing a party for their regulars. While Bensons recent wedding to husband Roger meant she needed to take a year off of planning her annual Halloween party, she has partnered with the Beer By Bike Brigade this year for its traveling party Oct. 28, with Tease agreeing to judge the costume contest.

Everybody who knows us knows we have high expectations for costumes, she said.

While they arent doing much of the planning, the team will still be dressing up and keeping to a specific theme. Exactly what that theme is wont be unveiled until the end of the month.

We cant divulge our secrets, Benson said coyly.

Likewise, her daily costumes will also be a surprise, to customers and staff alike. Bensons eyes lit up as she dropped hints about her plans, sharing that her first week had a political theme.

Theyre good characters. Thats what I like, she said.

Benson also has weeks planned around comic book characters, Disney characters and Tim Burton movies.

Follow the 30 Days of Halloween at the Tease Salon & Barbershop Facebook page.
Heads up on headlights: If your car sliced through the pea soup blanketing much of western Wisconsin Monday morning without its headlights on, you were risking a fine of up to $160.

And if you drove through a foggy road construction zone at the same time while yapping on your cellphone, you could have been slapped with another penalty of up to $40 for the first offense.

Laws requiring headlights during the daytime when weather conditions  fog, rain or snow  cut visibility to less than 500 feet and banning hand-held cellphone use in construction zones took effect over the weekend, after a several-month grace period during which law enforcement could have issued warnings to scofflaws.

Gov. Scott Walker signed the headlight law into effect Feb. 29, after lawmakers passed the bill in a quest to make driving safer. Although headlights on many new cars remain on whenever the ignition is on, and others go on automatically in low-light conditions, the headlamps on hundreds of thousands of older vehicles must be turned on manually.

Walker signed the hands-free construction zone law on March 30 as a protection for road workers against being hit by someone distracted during a phone conversation.

Both laws went into effect Saturday, although there have been no initial reports of citations.

La Crosse police officers are schooled on the laws, said Officer Brooke Pataska, a community resource officer for the citys police department.

Pulling over drivers in foggy conditions can present a hazard, she said.

Any time there is a traffic stop, there is an obvious concern for the safety of the officers and the drivers, she said. They try to figure out the best and safest way to make the stop  especially when it is foggy or raining.

The best option pivots on the location  sometimes pulling into a parking lot or onto a side street is the best bet, Pataska said.

Construction zones, seemingly ubiquitous in the area these days, are a different story: Theres often with no safe place to pull over, she said.

If they (police officers) observe it, they pull to a safe spot out of the construction zone, she said.

Cellphone jabberjaws who are pulled over and express surprise at not having seen an officer may find out that another driver or a road construction worker turned them in. Fines range from $40 for first offenses to $100 for ensuing violations.

Witnesses and construction workers just have to call and report their license numbers, Pataska said.

The only handheld cell call allowed in a work zone is 911, according to the law, which many see as another move toward a universal ban on calls with handheld phones.

The law exempts drivers who are using voice-operated or hands-free devices, although some of even those drivers need to be reminded not to talk with their hands.

Wisconsin Department of Transportation statistics indicate that there were 57 fatalities in Badger State work zones between 2009 and 2015. More than 1,700 crashes statewide occur in construction zones each year, according to the DOT.

Last year, Francis Rychtik Sr., 37, of Arpin, Wis., was sentenced to 16 years in prison and 17 years on extended supervision in connection with a fatal crash on Interstate 90 at La Crosse in 2014.

A dump truck that Rychtik was driving to a construction zone for the new bridge on I-90 did not slow down and killed 29-year-old Jason Songer of La Crescent when it slammed into Songers 1967 Ford Mustang.

Rychtik admitted to having alcohol in his system and checking Facebook moments before the crash, in which the dump truck landed atop Songers convertible, setting both vehicles afire.

A repeat of the foggy conditions Monday are not expected today, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS measured visibility at the La Crosse Regional Airport at less than a quarter mile at one point Monday.

That is less than 1,320 feet but more than the 500 feet at at which headlights are required. But visibility in many areas  especially valleys  appeared to have been much less.

It is now against the law to be on a handheld cellphone in a construction zone.
SPARTA  Educational leader Melissa Herek has received another accolade.

She is among 58 elementary and middle school principals across the nation who have been named 2016 National Distinguished Principals by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Herek is principal of Lawrence-Lawson Elementary School and Cataract Elementary School in the Sparta School District.

Earlier this spring, Herek was named the Wisconsin Elementary Principal of the Year. The distinguished principals will be honored Friday at an awards banquet in Washington, D.C.

This honor is not about me, Herek said. It is about all those who have walked alongside me on my educational journey  current and former colleagues, parents, students, family and friends  who have been and continue to support public education.

Established in 1984, the distinguished principals program recognizes public and private school principals who make superior contributions to their schools and communities. The 58 honorees are selected by NAESP state affiliates and by committees representing private and overseas schools.
A La Crosse man serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of an Onalaska woman wants a state appellate court to overturn his convictions and order him a new trial.

Terrance Shaw, 67, argues in a new appeal that he suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by his military service when Susan Erickson was raped, strangled and stabbed.

Shaw, who wasnt examined for competency, claims he was denied the right to argue he was not guilty by mental disease or defect, according to his brief filed with the District 4 Court of Appeals.

This is shocking under the circumstances that all parties were aware that Shaw was an honorably discharged Vietnam veteran with no criminal history, wrote Shaw, who is representing himself. Mr. Shaw did not have the propensity to commit such violent crime(s) on a sunny afternoon under his normal, unimpeded state-of-mind.

A babysitter and a friend discovered 29-year-old Ericksons body on April 14 in her Onalaska home. A piece of a fingernail was under her body.

Police arrested Shaw about one year later after they caught him prowling a neighborhood in Onalaska.

An out-of-county jury in December 1982 convicted Shaw of rape and murder after a forensics expert testified that Shaws thumbnail matched the nail found under Ericksons body.

Shaw is serving a life sentence, plus 20 years.

The District 4 Court of Appeals upheld the convictions in 1985.

Shaw writes he wasnt diagnosed with PTSD until 1989, although the American Psychiatric Association identified it as a diagnosis in 1980.

It is a shame that Shaws Vietnam PTSD went unnoticed before, during and especially at the trial stage by all parties, according to his appeal.
LANSING, Iowa  Two people are facing meth-related charges after a narcotics investigation in Allamakee County. The Allamakee County Sheriff's Office made the arrests after executing two search warrants in Lansing on Sunday.

At about 11 a.m., officers made a traffic stop on Hwy. 9 near the intersection of Old Stage Road. Authorities arrested Richard Lewis Aswegan Jr., 56, of West Union, on a possession of a controlled substance charge for methamphetamine.

Less than two hours later, deputies conducted a search warrant at 211 Valley St., Lansing. Investigators found several items used with illegal narcotics. Amy Downing, 53, of Lansing, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for methamphetamine.
Apophasis, as students of rhetoric know, is the speechmakers trick of raising a nasty subject by saying youre not going to talk about it. But it isnt easy to pull off. It requires a light touch; once you raise the taboo subject, you cant go back to it  a subtlety lost on Donald Trump, it seems.

At the end of his debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump said he considered mentioning Bill Clintons history of sexual misconduct, but decided that would be wrong. Its inappropriate. Its not nice, he said, noting that Clintons daughter was in the audience.

Allies praised his statesmanship. He was a gentleman, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said. That took a lot of courage, his son Eric Trump said.

His restraint didnt last long, though. Over the next several days, Trump and his campaign continued raising the subject he didnt mention.

I was talking about the affairs  the many affairs that Bill Clinton had, Trump said the next morning. (A telling slip; he meant the affairs he wasnt talking about.)

The American people have had it with years and decades of Clinton corruption and scandals  and impeachment for lying. Remember that, impeach, he said at a New Hampshire rally. The Clintons are the sordid past; we will be the very bright and clean future.

His campaign staff even issued talking points to supporters, offering helpful tips on how to talk about Clinton scandals.

Are you blaming Hillary for Bills infidelities? the tip sheet offered. No, however shes been an active participant in trying to destroy the women who [have] come forward with a claim.

Actually, the evidence that Clinton was an active participant in attacking her husbands accusers is scanty, beyond the fact that she stood by her husband and said she didnt believe their charges. But that didnt stop Trumps surrogates.

Look at what she has done: Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, told MSNBC. My goodness.

GOP strategists have a term for dredging up Bills scandals: the nuclear option. Theyve waited all campaign long to see whether Trump would pull the trigger. Now, despite his short-lived attempt at apophasis, he has.

The danger is obvious: The fallout could hurt him as much or more than the intended target.

Its like a nuclear hand grenade, Republican pollster David Winston told me. As Trump blows everything up, does he blow himself up as well  or does he only get damaged around the edges?

Its totally the wrong direction to go, Gingrich, who led the drive to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998, told the Washington Post. He should not let them bait him into a swamp where they can revel in the mud.

Yet thats where Trump went.

He also made a second, even briefer attempt at apophasis when it came to Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe who accused him of bullying her when she gained weight.

A lot of things are coming out about her, he told Bill OReilly on Fox News on Wednesday. Im not going to say anything.

And then he did, in a flurry of tweets at 5 a.m. Friday, including one that urged voters to check out [a] sex tape that allegedly includes Machado.

As he flails, Trump is using precious campaign time to talk about the wrong subjects: Sex scandals and sex tapes rather than his promises to fix the economy. And these tangents seem unlikely to improve his standing among women voters, most of whom already consider him unpalatable. He might actually end up giving his rival a sympathy boost.

In 1998, during the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton, Hillary Clintons popularity soared. Earlier this year, a Democratic polling firm asked voters whether Hillary Clinton should be held accountable for her husbands misconduct, and a large majority  including 56 percent of Republicans  said no.

That said, Trumps dive into the swamp may also create problems for the Democratic candidate, who says she wants to spend the final weeks of the campaign talking about positive themes  mainly, her proposals for creating jobs and making the economy fairer. When Trumps charges dominate the news and Clinton responds to the targets he provides, few other messages are likely to break through.

On Friday, for example, Clinton gave a long speech outlining her proposal for a national service program  but the headlines, predictably, were about her description of Trumps strongman approach.

Ultimately its the voters, on all sides, who stand to lose the most. We need to hear about job creation and foreign policy. Instead were arguing about Gennifer Flowers and Miss Universe. In a presidential campaign.
Madisons Veterans Hospital wasted $410,000 buying or leasing equipment it couldnt use, including two robots eventually sold for less than 1 percent of their purchase price, according to a federal investigation.

If facility leadership does not take action to strengthen its controls, the facility is at continued risk of expending funds on equipment that provides little or no benefit, the VA Office of Inspector General said in a report released Friday.

John Rohrer, director of the Madison VA since January and associate director since 2012, said Monday he doesnt think the robots were a waste of money because the hospital tried them out for 15 months before deciding the service didnt work.

That was an innovation that we were attempting to put in to be actually more cost effective, Rohrer said.

The hospital bought the two robots in September 2012 for $313,000 to help distribute supplies, according to the federal investigation responding to a complaint filed in February 2015. The robots were taken out of service in July 2014 because they blocked staff and patients from passing in hallways, the report said.

The Madison VA transferred the robots to the VA hospital in Milwaukee, which sent them to a VA Hospital in Chicago. The Chicago hospital sold them in an auction this May to their manufacturer for $1,937.

The robots, called Tug 2.5, were made by Pittsburgh-based Aethon, said Mike Nacincik, a spokesman for the VA inspector general office.

When the robots didnt work well on their own at the Madison VA, employees were sent out with them and the robots were used when hallway traffic was minimal. But they were eventually found to be ineffective.

We determined that the chief of logistics at the time of purchase did not adequately plan for the use of the robots, the federal report said.

Rohrer, who said the robots didnt arrive at the hospital until several months after they were purchased, said the robot vendor visited the hospital and said there was enough space to use them. The robots could have saved money by freeing up workers for other tasks, but they became more of an inconvenience for staff, he said.

Rohrer said he didnt know until the report came out that the robots were sold to Aethon for less than $2,000 but figured the Milwaukee VA had put them to use. I understand how that looks, he said.

In another questionable use of equipment, the Madison VA leased a laser lead extractor from December 2012 to June 2015 for nearly $100,000 to remove faulty leads from the pacemakers and defibrillators of 39 patients. But the lack of a proper operating room, along with staffing and space issues, prevented the device from ever being used.

Hospital officials sent patients to non-VA hospitals to have their faulty leads removed, at the VAs expense. The VA hospital in Milwaukee had obtained the same kind of device in 2005, and Madison patients could have been sent there, investigators said.

Cardiology department officials could have considered the feasibility that another VA facility could perform some of the extraction procedures, rather than lease their own laser, the report said. For example, the Milwaukee facility is about 78 miles from the Madison facility.

Rohrer said it made sense to lease the device for $35,000 a year because it would cost the hospital $32,000 per patient to do the procedure elsewhere. But the lease started before a new operating room was ready, and once the OR opened it was busy with other procedures. Staff at the Madison VA didnt consider sending patients to Milwaukee, he said.

Investigators found another allegation in the February 2015 complaint to be invalid. They said $5,693 spent to acquire and install a ceiling lift in a cardiac echocardiogram room was reasonable because the hospital had previously had an encounter with a bariatric, or obese, double amputee patient.

The inspector generals office visited the Madison VA in September 2015 and conducted its review through August. As a result of the report, equipment purchases at the hospital will now be reviewed in Chicago by a regional VA network, Rohrer said.
Federal and state officials will begin touring Vernon County this week to determine how much damage occurred in the September 2016 flood.

Damage estimates due to flooding in Wisconsin during the week of Sept. 22, range from between $14-$18 million.

Tod Pritchard, public information officer with Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM), said he would be a member of one of three teams that will make preliminary damage assessments  which looks at damage to public property only.

One team will visit Adams, Jackson, La Crosse and Crawford counties. A second team will visit Clark and Richland counties. A third team will visit Chippewa, Eau Claire, Vernon and Columbia counties.

Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and WEM joined with officials from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in Madison on Tuesday, Oct. 4. They began touring other counties on Wednesday. The PDAs should be concluded on Friday.

The Vernon County Emergency Management office announced Tuesday afternoon that FEMA representatives will be in the county Thursday and Friday to inspect public infrastructure only.

People who have damage to their private property are asked to submit that damage to their county emergency government agency, Pritchard said.

This tour is just to assess damage to public property, Pritchard said. Depending on how much damage counties report from private property, well have to see if that reaches the level where private property will be toured.

Pritchard said the tour will collect information with a goal to come up with sum that all agencies agree is fair and then provide that to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Then it is Walker who must ask the federal government for aid due to flood damage, Pritchard said.

Its not only a number, Pritchard said. Were looking at damage based on how it impacts individuals, society, businesses  how it affects the community in a complete sense.

Gov. Walkers office announced that he asked FEMA to conduct preliminary damage assessments in 12 Wisconsin counties on Sept. 30.

In addition to calling in FEMA, the state is looking at other possible programs to assist flood victims, according to the governors office.
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Two leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement were among those arrested Monday morning while protesting an LAPD press conference. Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles chapter organizer Melina Abdullah, and Niki Okuk were arrested just before noon for refusal to disperse from the lobby of police headquarters. All three were released several hours later.

The activists were protesting at an LAPD press conference at police headquarters where Chief Charlie Beck was addressing the two fatal police shootings over the weekend. On Saturday, Carnell Snell, 18, was fatally shot by LAPD officers following a vehicle pursuit and on Sunday an unidentified Hispanic male was shot dead by officers in South L.A.

"It was a closed-door press conference where the public was not allowed to have access," Melina Abdullah told LAist, adding that many of her group were still able to listen to the press conference on the radio while gathered outside.

Abdullah said she became "aware of how they were engaging in this process of double assassinationfirst killing the body of Carnell Snell, and then assassinating his character. And so it was really, really important that we uplifted the stories of the community, pushed back against the posthumous character assassination of Carnell Snell, and gave our own narrative. We know that LAPD continues to kill our people and then justifies the killings with whatever they think makes those murders justifiable. That's why we were there."

"They demanded that we leave, but it's a public building and we have the right to make our voices heard. As they issued the dispersal order, they kept shifting where they wanted us to disperse from and where they wanted us to disperse to," Abdullah said, adding that at one point they were directed to move next to an arbitrary tree. "We're not going to just submit to the will of the police that continue to kill us."

"Carnell Snell was his name. He was an 18-year-old child. He was somebody's baby, and somebody in your department killed him, shot him in the back five times. We're here because we are tired, but we're not afraid," Cullors, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, can be seen telling the crowd and assembled LAPD officers in a Facebook video just before the arrests were made.

After being arrested Cullors, Okuk, and Abdullah were held at police headquarters for a little over an hour.

They were booked into Metropolitan Detention Center, which Abdullah told LAist was "eerie," because it's where Wakiesha Wilson died. "We thought a lot about Wakiesha while we were being booked and processed," Abdullah said. They were booked at 1:48 p.m., according to LAPD Officer Mike Lopez, and released around 3:15 p.m.

Abdullah told LAist that Black Lives Matter activists will be protesting outside of the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting tomorrow at 9 a.m. "This is an especially important one, given that they've killed so many people this week," she said.

Related: How A Black Lives Matter Activist Was Sentenced To 90 Days For 'Lynching'
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17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) 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(2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 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(4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 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Facebook recently estimated that each of its users spends an average of 50 minutes a day on the companys online social network.

But the company wants to find ways to increase the time spent on Facebook and two other services, Instagram and Messenger.

A new product aimed at capturing our interest is called Facebook at Work.

Some businesses bar workers from using Facebook (openly) on the job. Now those individuals actually can use the service -- at least for work purposes.

Facebook at Work is separate from a users personal Facebook. So people will need to sign up with the company for a new account. The idea, however, is exactly the same as Facebook  to connect as many users as possible, this time in the workplace.

Same Facebook look

The look and feel of Facebook at Work is just like the old Facebook. There are groups to join, a News Feed to read, and instant messaging to stay in contact with co-workers.

Naturally, users can add and share comments, photographs, videos and information about the company and its offices. A connected workplace is a more productive workplace, explains the official Facebook at Work page.

Facebook at Work was first announced about two years ago. Since then, the company has been testing the service with several large companies.

One of those businesses is the Royal Bank of Scotland. Its Director of Design, Kevin Hanley, told Business Insider the service has been helpful to the banks 100,000 employees.

I think Facebook lets us communicate, discuss and solve problems that other solutions, such as email, simply cant.

Hanley told the website that within his company, 90 percent of employees who tried Facebook at Work remained active from month to month.

Faces much competition

Facebook at Work will be competing with other workplace products or services already in use. These include LinkedIn, Slack, HipChat, Microsofts Yammer and Salesforces Chatter.

According to the technology website TechCrunch, Facebook at Work will be launching in London on October 10. The site said it had seen invitations to the launch event that have been sent out.

Facebook has not yet confirmed a date for launching the service.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on information from Facebook, and reports from TechCrunch and Business Insider. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Would you like to use Facebook at Work in your workplace? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

network  n. group of people who know each other or work together

account  n. agreement allowing a person to use a particular website or service
Nearly every day, there is a news story about an attack on members of Indias Dalit community.

A few days ago, for example, six men beat a pregnant Dalit woman and members of her family. Al Jazeera television said they were attacked for refusing to remove a dead cow from the street.

Dalits are members of Indias lower caste, or social class. The womans attackers were members of a higher caste.

Beatings and other violence against Dalits are not new. What is new, however, is the communitys reaction.

Recently, Dalits have been protesting in a number of ways. The pregnant woman, for example, is among a growing movement of Dalits who have promised not to clear the streets of dead animals  a job Dalits have long been expected to perform.

Other Dalits are taking their protest to the business world. At the end of September, for example, the writer and activist Chandra Bhan Prasad launched an online food company. The company prepares and sells grains, pickles, and spices.

Food for Thought

For years, Chandra Bhan Prasad has fought to end Indias caste divisions. He was born 58 years ago into a family of pig farmers in the eastern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Prasad grew up experiencing the prejudice of upper caste Hindus against those from lower castes. Historically, Hindu society divided people into four main castes, with Dalits being the lowest.

While doing research for the University of Pennsylvania, Prasad was shocked to find 80-year-old Dalits carrying heavy bundles of wheat on their head and laboring in the fields.

He also learned that the grains his community produced and ate were very healthy. For example, when Prasad was a child, millet was a popular grain among the Dalits. Now, health experts are calling millet a superfood.

Until recent years, Dalits could not prepare or even touch the food of higher castes, or enter their cooking areas. If Dalits touched these foods, the foods became impure.

By naming his company Dalit Foods, Prasad is protesting the belief that Dalits are not pure and therefore untouchable. The company has already received orders from a large hotel chain in India, according to Yahoo! Finance.

If his business is a success, Prasad believes it will support major social changes in India. Younger Dalits will begin believing that the country belongs to them, too, he said.

This Land is Your Land

Dalits are victims of thousands of violent attacks every year, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency. The Times of India reported that crimes against Dalits rose 19 percent in 2014.

In 1955, India created laws banning abuse and caste discrimination.

The country has also established affirmative action programs, such as saving university seats and government jobs for Dalits. But, generally, change remains slow.

Although the social position of Dalits has improved over the years, some leaders and police officers still do not enforce laws protecting them.

In 2014, for example, the crime records office documented more than 47,000 cases of discrimination at police stations around India, the AP reported.

Udit Raj, a member of Parliament, said that only two to eight percent of people accused of crimes against Dalits are found guilty. The AP reported his comment.

Raj, who is from New Delhi, is a supporter of expanding rights for Dalits. Caste divisions in India are not as rigid as they once were, partly the result of the countrys economic growth over the past several years.

New jobs have pulled millions of Indians into large cities, where people of all castes live close to one another.

Where Social Divisions Rule

In rural areas, Dalits still suffer from a deep social divide. In villages, for example, lower castes are usually not permitted to enter religious temples or take water from wells.

Traditionally, Dalits have been forced to perform the least-wanted jobs, such as removing dead animals from roads and cleaning restrooms. Today, many Dalits are still expected to perform these jobs.

In August, thousands of members of the Dalit community attended a protest called Dalit Pride March. The protesters promised to stop removing dead animals and doing other dirty jobs. They made the declaration a month after a group of angry higher caste men brutally beat four Dalit men in public.

The attackers accused the Dalit men of removing the skin from a dead cow. Cows are considered holy in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned attacks by upper caste men claiming to protect cows. These groups, which have been more active in the past few years, accuse lower castes, and sometimes Muslims, of killing the animals or eating their meat.

Protests have taken place all over Gujarat since the four men were beaten, the AP reported. In addition to the refusal to remove dead animals, the protesters want access to land, as most Dalits are landless, according to Al Jazeera.

A Sign of Changing Times

Beena Pallickal is with the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. Pallickal says the Dalit community has progressed much more slowly than the rest of the country.

The biggest problem remains lack of social acceptance of the community. Pallickal hopes businesses like Dalit Foods can make a difference.

I am looking for a world where I can claim my caste and not be discriminated against, she said.

Chandra Bhan Prasad recently said that his business is a social experiment to see if India has really changed and to find out if people are willing to examine their own biases and customs.

For now, Dalits across India continue to battle social and economic barriers and push for meaningful change.

Im Alice Bryant.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Ajana Pasricha wrote this story for VOANews.com. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone

caste - n. one of the classes into which the Hindu people of India were traditionally divided

pickle - n. a cucumber that is preserved in salt water or vinegar

spice - n. a substance (such as pepper or nutmeg) that is used in cooking to add flavor to food and that comes from a dried plant and is usually a powder or seed

prejudice - n. an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.

bundle - n. a group of things that are fastened, tied, or wrapped together

superfood - n. a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being.

affirmative action - n. an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education

rigid - adj. not easily changed

brutally - adv. done in an extremely cruel or harsh way

bias - n. a tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others that usually results in treating some people unfairly
Three British-born scientists have won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award on Tuesday.

The academy is recognizing David J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for their work in topology, an advanced field of mathematics. Topology describes the properties of objects.

Thouless, aged 82, once taught at the University of Washington, but is now a professor emeritus. Haldane, 65, is a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. Kosterlitz, 73, is a physics professor at Brown University in Rhode Island.

The men launched their experiments in the 1970s. The academy said their research projects brought about a new and unexpected understanding of the way solid materials behave. It said they also developed their own mathematical equations to explain the behaviors.

In a statement, the Nobel judges said, This year's laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter."

The judges said there is hope that topological materials will help create new generations of electronics and superconductors.

Haldane told reporters he was very surprised and very gratified to win the award. A lot of tremendous new discoveries that are based on this original work are now happening.

He added that the discoveries came by accident, which is often the case with science. You stumble on it and you have the luck to recognize what you've found is something very interesting.

The Associated Press spoke by telephone with Kosterlitz, who was in Finland. He said he was a little bit dazzled and still trying to take it in.

The Nobel Prize for Physics comes with a monetary prize of $930,000, which is split among the winners. The Nobel laureates will also collect a medal and diploma at an award ceremony on December 10.

The first Nobel Prize of this year  for Physiology or Medicine - was announced Monday. That award went to Japanese scientist Yushinori Ohsumi for experiments related to bakers yeast.

Other Nobel prizes will be announced this week and next week.

Joshua Fatzick reported this story for VOANews.com. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English. Additional information came from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

equation  n. mathematical statement that shows two amounts are equal

laureate  n. person given a prize for achievement

pioneering  adj. one of the first to develop new ideas or methods

exotic  adj. very different, strange, often foreign

superconductor  n. substance capable of allowing electricity to easily flow through it

stumble  v. to come upon unexpectedly or by chance

dazzled  adj. greatly surprised, excited or impressed

bakers yeast  n. the common name given to organisms used to help bread or baking products rise when heated
The memory of a beloved pet inspires one couple's fight against injustice.
If everything goes as planned, the "buckets" for Starr Elementary students and staff should be filled to overflowing by Friday.

This week is Acts of Kindness Week in Grand Island, and one of the traditions is for the AOK Ladies to visit a Grand Island elementary school to read the book "How Full Is Your Bucket?" to students in every classroom in the building. This year, the AOK Ladies decided to bring their message to Starr Elementary.

The premise of "How Full Is Your Bucket?" is simple: Every person has an invisible bucket that either gets filled or emptied because of their interactions with family members, classmates and friends, and often times, even strangers.

The children's book tells the story of Felix, a young boy, who begins the day by refusing to let his little sister, Anna, help him make a tower with building blocks. Anna then gets angry and knocks over the tower, but Felix's grandfather explained that his sister only got angry because Felix had dipped from her invisible bucket when he rejected her request to play building blocks with him.

Of course, the invisible bucket for Felix also was drained when he was mean to his sister. Still, Felix was not quite sure whether or not his grandfather had been joking when he talked about people having invisible buckets.

Dena Sullivan, one of the AOK Ladies, went to Deanna Rundle's fourth-grade classroom to read the book to students. Before she opened the book, Sullivan asked the students if they know what a nickname is. She followed up that question by asking them if anyone knew Grand Island's nickname. The students made several guesses before Sullivan informed them that Grand Island's nickname is "The City of Kindness." One of the students asked how Grand Island got that nickname and Sullivan, perhaps one of the newer members of the AOK Ladies, acknowledged that she was not quite sure.

That perhaps is understandable because Grand Island's nickname was adopted in 2002, 14 years ago, when Mayor Ken Gnadt helped changed the nickname from Third City to City of Kindness via a proclamation issued at a city council meeting. Grand Island had long had the nickname, Third City, because it was the third largest community in Nebraska, behind only Omaha and Lincoln. However, the population count from the 2000 Census officially made Bellevue the state's third largest city. The AOK Ladies, which was then about five years old, then asked Gnadt to change the nickname, with the late Gloria Wolbach the strongest champion of the new nickname.

When Sullivan asked students to give examples of acts of kindness, she got a variety of answers, including sharing and helping other people, not being a bully and being respectful. She then offered her own examples, such as kids cleaning their room without mom and dad asking them first, and making another person smile.

As Sullivan read the story about Felix, the young boy discovered that his grandfather was not joking, because after he was mean to his sister, Felix woke up with a small bucket floating over his head. The young boy's morning got off to a bad start, because of a number of mishaps. Each time that happened, his bucket emptied a little, signified by the sound, "drip, drip."

After Felix got to school, his bucket continued to drip because of unkind comments made by school mates. With his bucket feeling nearly empty, Felix secretly wished that his classmates would trip and fall as they entered the classroom. However, things turned around for Felix when his teacher praised a story he had written and asked him to share it with the class.

When Felix read that story to classmates, they also really liked it and applauded when he was finished. His bucket began to get filled, which was signified by the sound, "drop, drop." By afternoon, Felix's bucket was nearly full and he began to see that everyone else at school had an invisible bucket, too. As Felix began filling other people's buckets with kindness drops, his own invisible bucket got even fuller. Felix kept filling other people's buckets even after he returned home.

The end of Felix's story was not the end of the AOK story for Starr students, who will take sheets home to explain Acts of Kindness Week to their parents. The parents then are asked to fill out a slip of paper each time their child does an act of kindness, such as making their bed, helping with dishes, giving family members an extra hug, or remembering to say "please" and "thank you." Kids will take those slips to their classrooms and drop them into a bucket that the AOK Ladies left in each classroom. The AOK Ladies are scheduled to return to Starr on Friday to talk with students about all the acts of kindness the kids did this week. In their own act of kindness, the AOK Ladies donated copies of "How Full Is Your Bucket?" to each classroom in the school.
This website is inclusive of tolerant people of all faiths, without exception. Neither anti-Semitism nor Islamophobia nor homophobia should ever be acceptable to anyone. We must all strive to live in peace and harmony with each other, regardless of religious affiliations, or none. Intolerance is the mother of strife and conflict.   Mark Alexander

We Britons are Europeans!Wir Briten sind Europaer! Nous, les Britanniques, sommes europeens !  Mark AlexanderEmail me at:markalexander.librabunda@gmail.com
The Fleming-Maness mini-primary wont matter unless one of them breaks away, veteran campaign strategist Roy Fletcher said about the two major GOP contenders for the partys super-conservative wing, U.S. Rep. John Fleming, of Minden, and retired Air Force colonel Rob Maness, of Madisonville.



That goes a long way in explaining the past weeks narrative when Flemings campaign touted a poll showing him up to 14 percent, nipping on the heels of the establishment Republican candidates  U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, of Lafayette, and State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, of Madisonville.



Its a gambit that seemed to pay dividends when Fleming was included but Maness, who polled 4 percent, was left off the stage in the CABL/LPB debate that will be televised statewide on Oct. 18.

U.S. Senate candidate Troy Hebert, no party, said he filed a lawsuit today in state court to block one of the televised Senate debates because he said the criteria to participate was "unconstitutional.



Hebert, former commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, sent members of the media a news release and a copy of an unofficial petition seeking a preliminary injunction. But as of early afternoon, the suit had not yet been filed, according the the clerk's office for the 19th Judicial District.

Last week, the good government nonprofit Council for a Better Louisiana announced it had set its criteria for its Oct. 18 Senate debate which will air across the state on Louisiana Public Broadcasting stations. Candidates had to have raised at least $1 million and polled at at last 5 percent in an independent poll.

Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, has sued the author of a book that contained allegations he was involved with prostitutes in Jefferson Davis Parish who were later murdered, according to his attorney, Jimmy Faircloth.



Boustany, a U.S. Senate candidate, filed the defamation suit against Ethan Brown and the New York publishing company Simon & Schuster Monday (Oct. 3) in state court in Lafayette. Brown's book, "Murder on the Bayou," cited several anonymous sources who said they had knowledge that Boustany was a client of three sex workers in Jennings. Boustany has vehemently denied the accusations and blasted his chief competitor in the Louisiana Senate race, state Treasurer John Kennedy for peddling the story to the media.

There are more candidates running for Senate in Louisiana this year than most voters would probably care to contemplate. Astronomers estimate the actual number may be too high to bother trying to count. The interesting thing about that, though, is that when we break out the higher mathematics necessary to describe such an election, we approach a universe where every candidate cancels some other candidate out Maness might cancel out Fleming. David Duke might cancel out Maness. The two Democrats might cancel each other out. The front runners.. are there front runners? Is it possible that nobody comes out of this black hole alive? Actually, we're saving that for a different post. Today we learned more about what some of the lesser candidates are doing to try and defy gravity.Troy Hebert is one such lesser candidate. His strategy appears to involve pretending to sue people Hebert called a press conference to talk about his not yet lawsuit which he used as a platform to talk about how badly "the system is rigged" against "the 'lil man'" which is probably true although Hebert's own standing as the "'lil man" is dubious. Even so, despite this being an obvious stunt, he does raise an interesting point.In a way, Hebert is suing (if he actually files a lawsuit) to protest the notion of a "money primary" where candidates are determined to be viable based on the clout of their donor list. If he were at all sincere, it might be a laudable windmill to tilt at. Although, the Supreme Court has already ruled that money is speech so it's hard to figure he's got precedent on his side there.What's really interesting about this is that it isn't even the only lawsuit announced by a Senate candidate today. Boustany must think he is Hulk Hogan or something. Pretty sure S&S has the resources to withstand the nasty SLAP lawsuit. It probably won't get very far anyway. But that's hardly the point. Boustany, like Hebert, is just posturing.You have to feel bad for Hebert, though. The cosmic mysteries being what they are and all, it's pretty amazing that a U.S. Senate candidate can't even announce a lawsuit on a given day without it being overshadowed by a different candidate's lawsuit. What are the odds, right? Astronomical, I'm sure. But that's another consequence of having so many people in the race. In the same way the vastness of the universe increases the probability that life exists on other planets, the size of the field increases the chances of something like this happening. Still, in either case, the evidence of intelligent life anywhere is yet to be discovered.
It is often asserted that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 proved that HWA was right and he really did see the future.

This of course is nonsense. Herbert W. Armstrong said that Christ would return within twenty years in his book Mystery of the Ages. (PCG has since deleted those words so someone in there knows HWA spoke nonsense.) How convenient for them to forget this.

Also Herbert W. Armstrong never said the Soviet Union would collapse. He thought it would survive intact until a few years after Christ's return. It shows how biased some many in the COGs are that they never seem to notice this. This inconvenient truth is just tossed into the memory hole.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".
My friends think Im hotter than my boyfriend

The SpeakEasy Stage Company is hosting Love Letters night on Friday (Oct. 7) at a performance of "Significant Other." The show is about a character whose friends start to get married and leave him behind. We'll have a talkback after the performance, and the theater has given us some seats for the house. If you would like to win free tickets for you and friend (or significant other), email me one line of advice you'd give to a single who's feeling left out at weddings. We'll pick some entries and reward with tickets. Send your one-liners by Wednesday at 5 p.m. to [email protected] Put "Significant Other" in the subject line. (Rules here.)

Dear Meredith, I am a 26-year-old woman living in Boston and have been dating my 28-year-old boyfriend for almost a year. My issue is not with him  he has been wonderful, thoughtful, and respectful in every aspect of our relationship, and I can see myself marrying this man. My issue is with my friends. A few of my friends have been very vocal about the fact that I am much more attractive than this man. One of my friends (while she was intoxicated one night, toward the beginning of my relationship with my current boyfriend) asked me why I liked "someone so ugly," and seemed unfazed by my rebuttals. Another friend described me as a "10" and my boyfriend as a "7," and questioned why I would be with him (I heard this when she thought I wasn't listening). I will readily admit, I am more attractive than my boyfriend, but I have never thought this to be a big factor in a relationship. I was raised to value respect over physical appearance. This relationship has been like no other: he sends me flowers, tells me he adores me all the time, and would drop anything to be with me. These girls have been my close friends since freshman year of college, and I highly value their opinions, but I find their behavior completely shallow. It has left me split about two things: One, if this level of attractiveness in men is so apparent to my close friends, should I care as well? And two, are these friends worth keeping if they continue to act in this manner?  Disillusioned Friend
When it comes to choosing regular or premium gasoline, a lot of people think premium is better, even if the manufacturer only calls for regular.

Yomar DaVila drives a Honda Civic, which calls for only regular gasoline. While he doesnt use premium all the time, he acknowledged he does use it sometimes for a boost.

Yes, I have, cause the car runs better on premium, but Id rather go with the cheap brand.

A new study by AAA shows that DaVila might as well save his money, along with more than 16.5 million Americans who used premium last year, when their vehicle only required regular.

For people whose cars are designed to run on regular unleaded, theyre totally wasting their money if theyre buying a higher octane, said AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins.

AAA estimates drivers wasted more than $2 billion last year, unnecessarily buying higher octane premium gasoline.

No Change in Performance

AAA researchers used vehicles with three different types of engines and put them on a treadmill for cars; first, using premium, then regular.

The cars were evaluated for:

Performance

Fuel economy

Emissions

We didnt really find a difference at all in fuel economy, performance, emissions or horse power, Jenkins said. A lot of people think theyre giving their car a little treat or a little spa day by filling up with premium gas. (Thats) not really the case.

Luxury and Performance Vehicles

The AAA research did not test whether luxury cars and performance vehicles, where the manufacturer recommends premium, actually benefit from it.

Mark Klosek drives an Infiniti, which does call for premium gas, but he says hes never used it.

I do not (use premium), and I have never had a problem, ever! Klosek said.

Some vehicles that call for premium can adjust to using regular, according to car experts, but might suffer in performance.

Bryan Meck restores performance vehicles and explained that newer vehicles are more likely to be able to make the adjustment to regular gasoline.

If the engine cannot adjust for the regular gasoline, you will hear popping and pinging, coming from your engine, which sounds like nuts in a coffee can, Meck said.

If that happens, he recommends you go back to premium to avoid damaging your engine.

Knocks and pings could shatter your piston, which could effectively destroy your engine, he explained.

Top Tier

AAA does recommend gas thats labeled Top Tier, for better performance, because it has a better detergent package, which reduces build-up in your engine.

Its a certain standard above what the EPA requires, Jenkins said.

To learn more about Top Tier gasoline and find out which stations carry it, click here.

To see gas prices in your county, check out the Gas Tracker.
The United States Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against a Lakeland mobile home park, alleging racial discrimination.

May Grove Village mobile home park



Accused of violating Fair Housing Act

DOJ suing the park for racial discrimination

More: Read the lawsuit



The DOJ said it investigated the May Grove Village mobile home park last year to see if it was complying with the Fair Housing Act.

It said African-American potential buyers were treated differently than potential white buyers.

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the May Grove Village told African-Americans about fewer mobile homes for sale than whites, quoted higher sales prices for African-Americans and told African-Americans higher down payments would be required.

Park residents we spoke with were surprised by the allegations.

"It would be very shocking if there were any truth to it, said resident Chuck Baggett. Because of all the other people we have had in here.

Some residents said African-Americans had been regular residents at the park over the years.

"I was surprised because it is the first time I hear that, said long-time resident Ana Ocasio.

Named as defendants in the case are owner James C. Goss and park managers Cathy Plante and Joey Gwozdz. Goss didnt respond to a request for a comment.

The DOJ said it was seeking financial compensation for victims and civil penalties for the owner and managers.
Election season is in full swing and that means lots of claims are being hurtled at candidates by organizations, elected officials, and, of course, opponents.

Such is the case in the race for one of Floridas two U.S. Senate seats.

Recently, Democrat Patrick Murphy said Republican Senator Marco Rubio, voted against the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act.

PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a TRUE rating.

Writer Josh Gillin said Rubio cast the votes when the legislation came up for reauthorization, and did so because the reauthorization was not for the original bill.

They [senators] had wanted to add on these amendments that, you know, said change the way the Justice Department worked with states and how block grants were given to states, and jurisdictional things. And Rubio had voiced a lot of opposition to this, Gillin said.

Gillin went on to say Rubio voted against the reauthorization in 2012 and 2013.

For that reason Murphys statement received at TRUE rating.

SOURCES: Rubio voted against Violence Against Women Act
The Tampa Police Department is putting more officers on the street.

TPD receiving $1.9 million grant

Department using funds partially for 15 more officers

These officers will serve as community officers, more directly involved with public

Thanks to a large grant from the federal government, the department is adding more officers for community policing.

The grant, a little less than $1.9 million, ranks third behind recent Department of Justice grants awarded to Orlando-Orange County ($2.5 million) and Miami-Dade County ($3.1 million). TPD plans to use part of the funds to hire 15 more community-based officers, phased in over the next three years.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch made the grant announcement Monday as part of a nationwide investment in community policing.

Tampa's grant comes after the DOJ was in town last year to investigate claims that officers were targeting black bicycle riders and ticketing them for violations at a higher rate than non-black bike riders.

The grant money is aimed at helping bridge the gap between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

"This is community policing week, the president signed a proclamation declaring it so late last week," Lynch said during a news conference in Dallas. "And it was something that we and the department had been working on, but something that the president cares very deeply about also. He and I talk about these issues of the breakdown of trust between law enforcement and communities that we serve, quite often."

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Tampa Police Chief Eric Ward echoed Lynch's sentiments, saying the grant would help the city.

"Its always great when we get to add officers to our world class police force," Buckhorn said. "So to say were just excited about this award is an understatement."

Ward said additional officers will help communities become stronger.

"This grant will help us put more officers on the street as we continue to build relationships with community members," he said.
Story last updated 11 p.m. ET Tuesday:

The hurricane watches that had been issued along the southeastern coast of Florida ahead of the approach of Hurricane Matthew became warnings late Tuesday night, and the watch has crept northward.

Hurricane warning from Golden Beach to Sebastian Inlet

Matthew made landfall in Cuba on Tuesday night

Hurricane conditions expected in Florida late Thursday



The center of the eye of Matthew made landfall near Juaco, Cuba, on Tuesday evening. As of the 11 p.m. ET update, Matthew was about 55 miles east northeast of Guantanamo Bay.

RELATED

The previous hurricane watch was extended northward to the Flagler/Volusia County line.

Because of interaction with land, Matthew weakened slightly Tuesday evening to maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. The east side of Cuba has very tall mountains, and that interaction has disrupted the circulation slightly.

Despite that, Matthew is still a major hurricane moving toward the Bahamas. The track forecast in the next 24 to 48 hours is fairly straightforward. After that, though, there are some elements in the upper atmosphere that will cause Matthew to turn more northwestward rather than north. This motion will bring the hurricane closer to the east coast of Florida.

At some point Thursday or Friday, an upper-level system moving across the northern United States will allow Matthew to turn back to the northeast. The question remains of when this will happen. That's the main reason there's some uncertainty in the track forecast.

When a hurricane is forecast to run parallel to a coastline, as Matthew is forecast to do along Florida's east coast, it presents a larger challenge in the exact track forecast and any concern of landfall this far in advance, because even a small jog to the left or right would make a huge difference in where hurricane conditions may set up. A few miles west would mean a larger area of hurricane conditions along the east coast, and a jog or wobble eastward would mean hurricane conditions would stay offshore.

So it will likely take another day or so to iron out the details of the potential impacts of Matthew in Florida.

Along the east coast, hurricane conditions are possible by Thursday into Friday, first farther south and moving northward through that time frame.

In the Tampa Bay counties, we'll see mainly breezy to occasionally windy with squalls. The region will very likely be on the drier side, especially if the center remains off the east coast of Florida. It's too early to rule out any impacts at all on the west coast. Boating conditions will certainly deteriorate later in the week.

.@Mike_Clay With Tropical Storm Nicole named today, the next name on the list is Otto. pic.twitter.com/Y9zLXErVpN  Bay News 9 Weather (@bn9weather) October 4, 2016

Matthew pounded the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nicole formed Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean, but it's no threat to Florida.

Make sure to watch our Tropical Updates each hour at :49.

Forecast track

 What exactly are the spaghetti plots?

 Information You Need | Supply Checklist

Spaghetti models



Remember that the spaghetti model plot does not indicate the strength of a system or even development at all. It only predicts where this broad area of low pressure is expected to go.

Interactive Storm Tracker
Adnan Sami's statements regarding the Indian Army's 'surgical strike' across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, in the aftermath of thw Uri attacks, continue to make news.

On 30 September, Firstpost reported that Sami  who received Indian citizenship earlier this year  had lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Army for successfully carrying out the attack against insurgents across the LoC.

Sami's tweets earned his criticism from scores of Pakistani Twitter users:

Adnan Sami lauds Indian Army's surgical strike; gets trolled by Pakistanis on Twitter

Sami was unfazed by the backlash, and defended his tweets, stating that he had not mentioned Pakistan at all, only terrorism  and that it was Pakistanis who were conflating the two.

At an event in Delhi, Sami was again asked about the row he triggered on the micro-blogging platform. He said, "My tweets were against a common enemy. An enemy that has been hurting both the nations and the rest of the world, too. If anything, Pakistan should thank India for finishing the terrorists."

The musician equated the Army's surgical strike across the LoC to an individual having to enter his/her neighbour's house and clean out their garbage because the neighbour refused to.

Sami also said that Pakistani artistes who had been working in India should not have 'run away' but stayed, and condemned the Uri attacks instead.

"If your host has extended you a warm welcome, and suddenly a fire breaks out in (his) house, do you just run away? I feel they should have condemned the attack," Sami said at the same event, pointing out that he too had condemned the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
New Delhi: Veteran actress and politician Hema Malini says she appreciates the work of Pakistani actors but cannot say if they should work in India or not.

Asked about her view on the ban on Pakistani artistes in India, Hema Malini, a BJP MP, said, "I don't want to comment much on this controversial question. But all I can say is that we are artistes and so are those who come from there (Pakistan) to perform here.

"As an artiste, I can appreciate their work. But whether they should stay here or not, I can't comment," she added. Hema Malini was launching a new campaign of the brand Kent RO.

The Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association has decided to ban Pakistani artistes from working in Indian movies following a terror attack on Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir that left 19 soldiers dead.

The film industry has been divided on the issue of banning Pakistani artistes in the wake of Uri attack. Actors Randeep Hooda, Anupam Kher, filmmakers Ashoke Pandit, Madhur Bhandarkar are among those who have backed the ban.

The debate began after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) demanded the ouster of the artistes from the neighbouring country.
A police complaint has been filed against veteran actor Om Puri for his comments that were found to be insulting to Indian soldiers by a section of the film industry.

Complainant Prithvi Maske mentioned in the complaint, "Referring to the Indian Army and soldiers, he (Om Puri) said that we had not given the invitation to the soldiers of the Indian Army. They joined the army at their will."

The complaint has been filed at the Andheri police station in Mumbai.

During a debate on IBN7, Om Puri said on Monday, "Did we force them to join the army? My father was also in the army... We are proud of them (soldiers)... I am asking you: Do you want India and Pakistan to become Israel and Palestine?

"I don't give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan... Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors') visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan."

The actor faced flak on social media for these comments and within minutes #OmPuri started trending on Twitter. Celebrities including filmmaker Ashoke Pandit and veteran actor Anupam Kher came out against Om Puri after his comments on the channel.

#OmPuri Ji, #PakArtistsBanned isn't a solution bt show of solidarity 2 our martyrs. V can't b lighting pyres while cont. 2 perform with them  Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) October 3, 2016

Dear #OmPuri ji. Mai aapki bahut izzat karta hoon. Lekin kal tv per desh ke sainik ke baare mein aapki baat sunkar bahut DUKH hua. #VerySad

 Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) October 4, 2016

The veteran actor had earlier come out in support of the Pakistani actors, saying art and politics should be kept separate and banning the artistes will not change the situation.

Puri said Pakistani artistes are not working illegally here and if they are sent back, Indian producers, who have signed them for their films, will suffer heavy losses.

"When the government is taking an action, we all should stay quiet. It hardly matters if we send back the artists from Pakistan, who are working here, or let them stay. I have been to Pakistan six times and have met people from all strata," the 65-year-old actor said here.

"I have always received love and warmth. If the Pakistani actors leave the projects they are doing here in middle, then people in India (filmmakers) will also face financial loss. Hence, this is insignificant. The actors have not come here through any illegal way. They have valid visa. But, if the government will ask them to leave, then it is different," he said.

The remark came days after superstar Salman Khan opposed the ban on Pakistani actors, saying they are artistes not terrorists.

The film industry has been divided on the issue of banning Pakistani artistes in the wake of Uri attack. Actors Randeep Hooda, Anupam Kher, filmmakers Ashoke Pandit, Madhur Bhandarkar are among those who have backed the ban.

The debate began after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) demanded the ouster of the artistes from the neighbouring country.

Recently, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association also announced ban on the actors and technicians from the neighbouring country till things don't get normal between the two nations.

Watch what transpired on the show here:

With inputs from PTI
Reality star Kim Kardashian West jetted home to the United States on Monday to be comforted by husband Kanye West, after she was held at gunpoint in Paris and robbed of jewelry worth $10 million.

The multi-millionaire mother of two and wife of the American rap superstar was holed up at a luxury apartment in New York's swish Tribeca neighborhood 'badly shaken but physically unharmed' by the assault.

Her husband walked off stage during a concert when he learned of the heist, which put renewed focus on security in France, where tourism has taken a hit following a series of high-profile attacks.



Cellphone footage shows Kanye West ending his performance at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in Queens, N.Y., on Sunday, the day his wife, Kim Kardashian West, was held up at gunpoint. Courtesy: AP

Kardashian and West stepped out of the back seat of a car after a convoy bristling with bodyguards pulled up to the apartment block, seen in a video posted on celebrity news website TMZ.

Kanye West has postponed a number of tour dates in the wake of the robbery. The rapper cut short his show at the Meadows Festival on Sunday after learning of the traumatic incident and has now pushed two dates back. Tour promoter Live Nation said in a statement: Due to family concerns, this weeks Philadelphia and Detroit dates on the Saint Pablo Tour have been rescheduled.The Philadelphia show will take place on December 13th and the Detroit show on December 22nd. Its set to kick off again on October 7 in Chicago.

Kardashian kept her head down and ignored questions from reporters about how she was doing, her long hair hiding her face. She wore baggy eggplant-colored pants, towering black stilettos and a plunging black top.

West kept to his usual street cool of jogging bottoms, green raincoat and a grey hoodie as he followed his wife into the building, where a five-bedroom penthouse was recently on the market for $24.5 million.

Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner also entered the apartment building, dressed in black and also ignoring questions from reporters about her and her daughter's state of mind.

Her daughter  a California-based TV and social media star who earned $51 million last year, according to Forbes  has yet to speak publicly about the assault.

French police said the 35-year-old was 'tied up and locked in the bathroom' of a residence in the chic Madeleine district of Paris, near the city's main department stores. The crime occurred at 2:30 am (0030 GMT) on Monday.

Masked men dressed as cops

The robbers made off with a ring worth around four million euros ($4.5 million) and a case of jewelry with a value of five million euros ($5.6 million), a police source said. Two mobile phones were also taken.

Five men were involved, two of whom entered Kardashian's bedroom in the luxury residence where she has stayed before, police said.

The robbers zip-tied Kardashian's hands with plastic handcuffs, duct-taped her mouth and ankles, dumping her in the bathtub, TMZ reported. The star told police that she feared she was about to be raped, the website said.

The robbers allegedly kept saying 'ring, ring' and Kardashian told them where to find a new ring given by her husband, TMZ added.

Kardashian had posted a photograph of the huge diamond sparkler reportedly a 20-carat ring by Lorraine Schwartz  on her finger, while resting her chin on her hand, mouth opened to show off gold dental grillz, as well as a black and gold choker and, of course, serious cleavage.

The reality TV star's spokeswoman said "two armed masked men dressed as police officers" burst into her room.

Another member of the gang restrained the building's security guard during the robbery, police said, adding that the guard was unhurt.

Laurent Riquart, a spokesman for the investigative unit of the Paris police, said Once they were in the building, they tied up the receptionists hands, Mr. Riquart said in a phone interview. They went up the stairs and entered her room. They tied up her hands and put a gag in her mouth.

The men appeared to have worn shirts identifying themselves as police officers  but also balaclavas and gloves, which are not part of the police uniform.

The assailants may have fled on bicycles, investigators say.

The star's bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, was absent at the time, providing security for Kardashian's sister Kourtney at a Paris nightclub, an investigation source said.

It is not known whether Kardashian's two young children were with their mother at the time of the robbery.

Kim's friend was also in the apartment when robbery took place

Mirror UK reported that Kims friend and stylist Simone Harouche was also in the apartment at the time of the robbery. Simone was in a room downstairs while Kim was in bed. By the time [Kim] escaped Simone had heard noises. She was downstairs and called Pascal not knowing what was going on asking if everything was OK, said a source.

Her bodyguard Pascal was with Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner at the time of the robbery. He rushed back to the apartment after getting the call from Simone. Hes said to have arrived back just two minutes after the robbers got away.

Paris Reacts

Kardashian left France on a private jet after being questioned by police about the robbery. She had been in the French capital attending Paris Fashion Week, including catwalk shows by Balenciaga and Givenchy.

One of the most recognizable US celebrities, Kardashian has been a fixture of celebrity news for more than a decade after the leak of a sex tape and the success of the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

In Paris, tourism professionals said such a high-profile incident was disastrous for a city where tourist numbers have declined since jihadist attacks in November killed 130 people.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo sought to downplay the robbery, saying it was "a very rare act that happened in a private space."

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, said the attack on Kardashian West shouldn't put off anyone thinking of coming to Paris.

"This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide. Do not confuse what happened to Ms. Kardashian and probably was the result of an organized team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame (cathedral) or another tourist spot in Paris," Primevert said in an interview with the AP at the Paris police headquarters Monday night.

The police spokeswoman suggested possible imprudence from Kardashian West in showing her valuable jewels on social networks and a possible lack of security in that private residence.

"Clearly when you have a star like Kim Kardashian who has, I think, more than 48 million followers on Twitter ... I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as in Paris. It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these goods that the attackers targeted," Primevert said.

"It's not the safety in Paris that is involved, it's maybe the security situation in that residence", she insisted.

Primevert said the robbery was "the result of people who obviously posed as policemen." Police and authorities were not aware that Kardashian West was staying in that private location, Primevert said.

(With Agency Inputs)
Mumbai: Scriptwriter Salim Khan has taken a jibe at those who have criticised his actor son Salman Khan and director Karan Johar for opposing the demand for a ban on Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood.

While Salman had recently said that Pakistani actors who come to India are artistes and not terrorists, Karan had said banning these artistes was not a solution to terrorism.

Both have received backlash from various sections, particularly Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

The veteran actor vented his anger on Twitter in a series of sarcastic tweets.

Breaking news Saeed, Lakhvi & Masood replaced by Salman Khan Mahesh Bhatt Karan Johar & Yechury on the most wanted list of Times Now  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

as these people are a big threat to the unity of our country. Take heart gentlemen at least you are in the job of entertaining people  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

rather than in a job of shouting screaming hurting & humiliating people. Mr Yechury careful, talking of peace will make you a traitor.  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

Mr Bhatt our country has no dearth of intense and dramatic actors on TV then why look across the border.  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

Meanwhile, Bhatt, who had earlier posted a letter on his Twitter handle, saying "kill terrorists, not talks", on Monday said that he would urge the Pakistani actors to condemn the terror strike in Uri.

"I appeal to Pak stars to join India and condemn terror attacks where our people have bled and lost lives. With folded hands and bent knees, I urge Fawad and all actors to condemn terror when it happens on our soil," Bhatt said.

Salim Khan has always stood by his son and defended him in all his controversies from his rape comment to his views on Yakub Memon's hanging. This makes us ask a question that a popular Bollywood actress recently posed, about another actor in a completely different context.

Salman is a 50-year-old man. Why does his father have to come rescue him from all these controversies?

With inputs from PTI
Guwahati: Assam is committed to working for the economic and social security of the tea community, including the small tea growers as they constitute a sizeable human resource, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

said.

"The state government is committed to bolstering all round development of the tea community including small tea

growers.The state government is also working to create a conducive atmosphere so that the tea tribe community can work to their optimum potential," Sonowal said while addressing the 20th Annual General Conference of All Assam Small Tea Growers Association in Chabua on Monday.

He lauded the contribution of the small tea growers to the state economy with 50 percent of the total tea production being contributed by them.

The state government will take steps so that the small tea growers get the right price for their produce, he said.

The Chief Minister said the government would give Rs 1 crore for the construction of the ongoing small tea growers association head office at Jorhat.

He said the government would do everything needed for a state-of-the-art museum in Dibrugarh so that the rich

heritage, as well as the unparalleled contribution of the tea tribe, can be preserved and documented.

The Chief Minister also called upon the people to extend their full support to the government and work with it

to wipe out corruption from the system as only then the poorest member of the society would be able to live with respect and dignity.
The file clips that television channels kept showing during Sunday nights attack on armed forces camps in Baramulla did not begin to do justice to what was actually happening. Those who saw it at ground zero say that it was like Diwali.

The divisional headquarters is right across the river from the Rashtriya Rifles and Border Security Force camps that were attacked. Apparently, army men opened up with whatever they had, firing from all directions. Some of those who heard the gunfire from up close say they must have heard the sound of no less than 3,000 bullets, and perhaps a dozen much louder blasts  no doubt from mortar shells.

Firing began when the armed men were apparently spotted lurking in the dark on the river bank. Later, covering fire for the attackers also came from an adjacent house.

The army held back from trying to surround the attackers from behind during the two-hour encounter. One reason was to avoid collateral damage: residential houses have come up over the past few years almost right up to the perimeter of those camps, which are near the eastern end of Baramulla. The Old Town is down the river to the west. Over the past couple of decades, the city has spread in this direction and to new colonies south of the river such as Sangri.

The attackers apparently descended from the hills to the south of Baramulla Old Town. From that vantage, they could have either gone towards the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) camp at the stadium beside the highway from Baramulla to Handwara, or towards this RR camp at the eastern end of the city.

There has been speculation, probably unfounded, that the attackers crossed the river  possibly from the Khawaja Bagh locality, which is spread along the bank of the Jhelum a little upriver from the camps that were attacked.

The relatively upper crust southern portion of Khawaja Bagh, uphill from the national highway, contains huge mansions. Relatively more congested parts of Khawaja Bagh are spread along the river, below the highway. Some residents of the city speculate that militants might lurk in that area.

It is true that they could theoretically have crossed the river from there to the camps that were attacked. But that is a very unsettling thought. For, they could surely have attacked the Divisional Headquarters on the same side of the river even more easily. And the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police and the residence of the Deputy Commissioner are also a little further downriver along that bank of the Jhelum.

The reason Khawaja Bagh is in focus is that militants had attacked an army convoy on the national highway right at Khawaja Bagh exactly a month before the lethal attack on the Uri Brigade base. Some city residents are convinced that those militants had come out of some of the bungalows in Khawaja Bagh. They must have conducted recce operations from there over the previous few nights.

Army convoys used to move at night during those first few weeks of this years unrest in Kashmir, in order to steer clear of stone-pelting mobs. The army has been under strict instructions not to shoot in response.

On one occasion, a convoy commander (Major) ran up and down his long convoy to prevent his angry troops from firing back while they were being pelted further along that highway on the outskirts of Srinagar. On at least two occasions, convoys remained on the highway between Anantnag and Srinagar for several hours at night, facing angry demonstrations without firing back. Several CRPF convoys have reversed or turned away at high speed to avoid stone-pelters on arterial highways.

The August attack on the convoy at Baramulla had resulted in a 15-minute shoot-out on the highway in the dark. Several army personnel were casualties. The attackers got away, although a Quick Response Team jumped out of a vehicle just ahead of the vehicles that were directly under attack, and put up a brave fight.

The next day, the Corps Commander, Lt-Gen Satish Dua, ordered that convoys should move during the day and should shoot at the legs of any stone-pelters who tried to stop them.

As anger rises in the armys ranks following the Uri attack, the brass are going to find it increasingly difficult to impose restraint.
Srinagar: The BSF on Monday said the militants, who attacked a joint camp of the force and the army on Sunday in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, had plans to carry out Uri-type terror strike on the installation and complimented the personnel for foiling their plans.

"Certainly, they had such plans. There is a fence in front of the bunker in the camp. The equipment, like wire-cutter, GPS and compass, have been recovered there, (so), they (militants) wanted to cut through the fence and certainly had similar plans like the other (Uri) camp," Additional Director General of BSF Arun Kumar told reporters here when asked if the militants wanted to carry out a similar strike like the one in Uri on September 18 that left 19 army men dead.

He was speaking to reporters after offering floral tributes to a BSF jawan who lost his life in the attack in Baramulla on Sunday night.

The BSF officer said the forces did an excellent job by preventing the militants from entering the security installation.

"Our jawans sacrificed their supreme life to prevent the militants from entering the camp. They have done an excellent job," Kumar said.

Giving details of the attack, he said the BSF personnel suspected movement of militants at around 10:30 pm and the jawans challenged them.

"The militants opened fire, which was retaliated by the BSF personnel. Then, it seems, they attacked the bunker with UBGL grenades. Our constable said there were two militants but they fled in the night," he said.

Kumar said though there were no specific reports about the movement of militants, "there is a possibility of the presence of militants at some places, but our forces are alert".
On the fateful night of 16 February, 2002, Vikas Yadav, the son of a power politician from Uttar Pradesh, along with his cousin Vishal Yadav and aide Sukhdev Pehalwan abducted and killed 25-year-old Nitish Katara  an MBA graduate and the son of an IAS officer. Katara was punished for his closeness to Vikas' sister Bharti Yadav, a relationship that Vikas did not approve of.

It was a case of 'honour killing'.

The 'honour killing' took place in the National Capital Region (NCR), an area representative of a new-age India. The perpetrators were two educated men, who could very well have been mistaken as representatives of the new inspirational middle class.

Fourteen years after that fateful night, the Supreme Court on Monday gave its final judgement in the case. The apex court sentenced Vikas and Vishal Yadav to 25 years in imprisonment without remission. The court also handed a 20-year sentence to their aide Pehalwan in the case.

In the 93-page judgement, Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan made some important observations that leaves one baffled at the way caste and other prejudices continue to dictate social life and individual choices even now. It reads like a social commentary on a disturbing paradox that exists in the extreme: A modern India coexisting with a medieval one.

An India, where a man is brutally killed for loving a woman who does not belong to his caste and where a girl is denied her choice in the name of some mistaken sense of honour. Add to this the irony that the stage for all this is a place where identities forged by achievements have replaced the ascriptive ones, as one may assume.

While sentencing the three accused in the case the court observed, From the aforesaid findings recorded by the high court it is vivid that crime was committed in a planned and cold blooded manner with the motive that has emanated due to feeling of some kind uncalled for and unwarranted superiority based on caste feeling that has blinded the thought of choice available to a sister  a representative of women as a class. The high court in its judgment of conviction has unequivocally held that it is 'honour killing' and the said findings apart from being put to rest, also gets support from the evidence brought on record. The circumstantial evidence by which the crime has been established, clearly lead to one singular conclusion that the anger of the brother on the involvement of the sister with the deceased, was the only motive behind crime.

The apex court made it clear that it highlighted the issue 'honour killing' as, according to the court, it is a seminal ground for imposing the fixed term sentence of twenty-five years for the offences under section 302/34 IPC on the two accused persons. However, it also reflected on the irony that how the two accused (Vikas and Vishal) in spite of being  highly educated in good educational institutions, had not cultivated the ability to abandon the depricable feelings and attitude for centuries.

Perhaps, they have harboured the fancy that it is an idea of which time had arrived from time immemorial and ought to stay till eternity, the judgement added.

In an another important observation the apex court held that Freedom, independence, constitutional identity, individual choice and thought of a woman be a wife or sister or daughter or mother cannot be allowed to be curtailed definitely not by application of physical force or threat or mental cruelty in the name of his self-assumed honour.

The judgement further reads, One may feel 'My honour is my life' but that does not mean sustaining ones honour at the cost of another. That apart, neither the family members nor the members of the collective has any right to assault the boy chosen by the girl. Her individual choice is her self-respect and creating dent in it is destroying her honour. And to impose so called brotherly or fatherly honour or class honour by eliminating her choice is a crime of extreme brutality, more so, when it is done under a guise. It is a vice, condemnable and deplorable perception of honour, comparable to medieval obsessive assertions.

Apart from the Supreme Court, the judgement of the high court also reflects on the absurdity of honour killing in some detail. It reads, The instant case manifests that even in a household belonging to the highest class in society, (one in which you can make day trips with friends from Ghaziabad to Mumbai just to celebrate a birthday; owns multiple businesses and properties, luxury vehicles etc.) what can happen to even a young, educated, articulate daughter if she attempted to break away from the conventional caste confines and explored lifetime alliance with a member of another caste. Especially one who was also perceived to be of a lesser economic status".

It further reads, We have found that immediately after Shivani Gaurs wedding, Bharti was completely segregated and confined by her family. On the 17th of February 2002 itself, she was spirited away from her residence in Ghaziabad to Faridabad. The police could record her statement under Section 161 of the Cr.P.C only on the 2nd of March 2002 that too under the eagle eye of her father, a seasoned politician. Shortly thereafter, she was sent out of India to UK and kept out of court for over three and a half years. Her testimony is evidence of the influence of her brothers and family as she prevaricates over trivial matters and denies established facts borne out by documentary evidence. Finally, when she must have been stretched to the utmost, she succumbs to their pressures when she concedes a deviously put suggestion. Undoubtedly, the family of Nitish Katara has suffered at his demise and thereafter. Having given our thought to this issue, we are of the view that apart from the deceased and his family, there is one more victim in an 'honour killing'.

The observations made in both the judgments raises important issues about the lack of individual choices available to women and reflects seriously on social prejudices that tend to permeate even the lives in the most urbanised of spaces. For the same reasons, it should be read with some seriousness.
New Delhi: Karnataka was on Tuesday directed to release 2,000 cusecs Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from 7 to 18 October by the Supreme Court, which deferred its order asking the Centre to set up Cauvery Water Management Board till it finally decided on appeals relating to the age-old water dispute.

Instead, the apex court agreed to the suggestion that a Supervisory Committee, comprising officials and technical experts from the Centre, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry, be set up to inspect Cauvery basin for assessing ground realities.

The committee was asked by the bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit, to file its report by 17 October. The matter will be taken up a day after when the court reopens after the Dussehra break. The order was passed after taking on record the written note of Karnataka government that it has released around 17.5 TMC of water from 5 to 30 September and the proposal was to release 3.1 TMC by 6 October.

However, Tamil Nadu government complained that there was a deficit 4.6 TMC of supply of water in the month of September and it required a total of 22 TMC of water till October. The bench agreed with the suggestion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the Supervisory Committee can have GS Jha, Chairman/Member of Central Water Commission (CWC) as chairman.

The panel, which would also comprise Chief Secretaries or his nominees of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, will have chief engineers of all stakeholders including Kerala and Puducherry. Rohatgi suggested the names of CWC member Syed Masood Hussain and its chief engineer RK Gupta as other members of the proposed panel.

The apex court deferred the orders of 20 and 30 September for setting up of the CWMB, after the Attorney General said the civil appeals against Cauvery Tribunal's recommendation on it was pending and listed for hearing before a three-judge bench on 18 October.
New Delhi: A supervisory committee, led by Central Water Commission chairman GS Jha, will visit the Cauvery basin area from 7 October to 15 October to assess "ground realities" as directed by the Supreme Court, a top official said on Tuesday.

The team, which will also comprise CWC member Syed Masood Hussain, its chief engineer RK Gupta and chief engineer-rank representatives of the states, will visit the basin areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry before submitting its report to the Supreme Court on 17 October.

The team is expected to visit Hemavathi, Harangi, Krishna Raj Sagar and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, it is likely to inspect water stock at Mettur, Lower Bhavani Dam and Amaravati reservoirs in the basin, which covers approximately 81,000 square km area. "The team will assess water availability in the basin area and crop situation in the wake of drought.

The report will help the Apex Court arrive at a decision on quantum of water to be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu post 18 October when the matter will be heard next," Union Water Resources Ministry Secretary Shashi Shekhar told PTI. Meanwhile, the Centre has issued a notification to states over formation of the committee.

Earlier in the day, the Apex Court asked Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from 7 October to 18 October. The court also ordered sending the committee after the Centre made a suggestion about dispatching a technical team in its plea seeking modification of the Apex Court's September 30 order that the central government forms the Cauvery Water Management Board.
In the wake of India's newly re-imagined policy towards Pakistan  conducting precision strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), reviewing the 'Most Favoured Nation' status tag, and organising high-level meets to discuss withdrawal from the Indus Waters Treaty  China has played its latest card by blocking a tributary of Brahmaputra to facilitate work on of its expensive hydropower projects in Tibet. Power has a lot to do with perception politics and perhaps China intends for this to just be a warning to India, the timing of such a move from China implies that its trying to corner India and showing its support for Pakistan.

On Friday, 30 September, Xinhua reported that Tibet blocked a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo River as part of its most expensive hydro project. The 4.95-billion-yuan project ($740 million) can store up to 295 million cubic meters of water.

This is not too far-fetched a theory, considering that China is known to displays of aggression across the border when it is unhappy. An earlier Firstpost editorial also points out that such aggression is a part of the Chinese blow-hot, blow cold routine. In June this year, the Chinese termed it a "temporary transgression" when about 250 China's Peoples Liberation Army soldiers entered Arunachal Pradesh's east district of Kameng. These incursions are not new and in fact the trend has been rising over the last few years. According to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, in 2010, there were 228 incursions, 213 in 2011, 426 in 2012.

So how is blocking a tributary of the river in its own legal territory one such show of aggression?

The Brahamaputra originates in China (Yarlung Tsangpo) and flows through India and Bangladesh; a part of the rivers basin is also in Bhutan. The river basin covers close to 5,80,000 square kilometres through the four countries. The basin, most certainly poses a security concern for India, since both countries have fought over territories in which the river flows. Dam building activities, water diversion plans  with no bilateral or multilateral treaty on these waters  all actors in the issue have their own set of concerns.

In the Centre for Naval Analyses 2016 report titled Water Resource Competition in the Brahmaputra River Basin: China, India, and Bangladesh, authors Nilanthi Samaranayake, Satu Limaye, and Joel Wuthnow explain that Chinas concerns stem from a fear Indian governments actual control over Arunachal Pradesh (a state it has considered part of China and referred to as Southern Tibet) can be strengthened through dam-building activities. Chinas interests can be inferred as political. However, Indias concerns with any activity upstream (ie in China) is both political and physical. While there is worry over Beijings claim to Arunachal Pradesh, probable water diversion or dam building activities in the upper riparian areas of the river could have large scale implications on the physical level

In 2013, India complained to China about its expensive hydropower projects announced in the Brahmaputra region citing 'irreparable damage' to the Indian basin and also the impact it would have on the physical land and surrounding regions. China didnt budge, only assured that it wouldnt have a negative impact.

In the ongoing scuffle between India and Pakistan  when both sides are unencumbered in their ways to smear the other as the enemy, China is at an advantage to pick a side. China has in the recent past also unequivocally expressed its support to Pakistan  In case of any (foreign) aggression, our country will extend its full support to Pakistan, consul-general of China in Lahore, Yu Boren is quoted as saying in a report published in Dawn. While it may look like China is just being a kind neighbour to Pakistan and supporting it in standing up to a bully like India, but if you look closer there is much more at play here  the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, for instance. H Jacob writes in a paper for the European Council on Foreign Relations, China, India, Pakistan and a Stable Regional Order, that China is steadily increasing its influence in the region with its innovative New Silk Road strategy, and by offering economic and development assistance to Pakistan.

When the Prime Minister Narendra Modi raked up the Balochistan cause in his Independence Day speech, he also loosened the screws on any plans for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. China is looking to gain something  by using Gwadar as another naval base (despite Pakistan and China assuring that it will be used only for economic reasons), China will have fresh access to the Indian Ocean (making it a two ocean power) and if the controversy surrounding South China Sea is anything to go by, India is right in being wary of Chinas agenda. And China involves itself in the international arguments to further its own cause. So Chinas reaction of closing the taps on the Brahmaputra shouldnt be construed as its big-brotherly act towards Pakistan, considering that India threatened to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty.

China is uniquely aware of Brahmaputras importance to lower riparian States like India and Bangladesh and as Brahma Chellaney writes in Coming Water Wars (in The Magazine of International Economic Policy):

Upstream dams, barrages, canals, and irrigation systems can help fashion water into a political weapon that can be wielded overtly in a war, or subtly in peacetime to signal dissatisfaction with a co-riparian state.

China is applying subtle pressure to let India know that the India-Pakistan equation is subject to the complex geopolitics of the South Asian region. The two nations should perhaps engage in cooperation and dialogue, like they did in the early 2000s after a major flood hit the North East of India. Sure, talking about a river that flows through contested territory is not easy, but better than escalation that neither country should attempt.
New Delhi: A delegation of the AIADMK's parliament members on Tuesday marched to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum to constitute a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

"Today (Tuesday) we handed over the memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cauvery Water Management Board will be constituted quickly," AIADMK parliamentarian M Thambidurai told reporters after meeting Modi.

The march came a day after the central government told the Supreme Court that it does not have the jurisdiction to direct it to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board as it was just a recommendation of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal and not binding on the government.

The central government earlier on 30 September had told the apex court that it has no objection in forming the Cauvery Management Board.
Official release with regard to the health condition of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at a hospital since 22 September, will reduce the anxiety of the people, the Madras High Court observed on Tuesday while asking the government to get back on the issue by Wednesday.

The oral observation was made by a division bench while hearing a PIL by social activist 'Traffic' Ramaswamy, who has sought a detailed report from the government on the health condition of Jayalalithaa.

Traffic Ramaswamy had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court seeking the real status of Jayalalithaa's health. Holding that Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan had reportedly visited the hospital, the petitioner said they have not given details about her health condition.

He also submitted that the police had blocked the roads leading to the corporate hospital where Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment by erecting barricades preventing others to go to the hospital for treatment. He sought to know whether Jayalalithaa was in sound health to take important decisions and hold meetings of officials and ministers, stating that the people were eager to know.

The court also observed that people were anxious to know about the Chief Minister's health.

It added that though the hospital was releasing bulletins, being the chief minister of the state, some official release with regard to her health condition will reduce the anxiety of the people.

The bench said that it is not passing any order on the PIL but directed the additional advocate general to consult the government on the matter.

The standard answer from party leaders about Jayalalithaa's health condition is that "Amma is well and will be back soon."

The Hindu reported that Sasikala Pushpa, expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha member had said that the State government should provide details on Jayalalithaa's health, stating that even the State Health Minister had no clue about her condition on Monday.

DMK Chief M Karunanidhi, wishing to put an end to all the rumors surrounding her health, demanded that the state government accordingly release her photograph from the hospital,on Monday. He also demanded that the state governor see to it that a transparent system be available to the people about the actual status of Jayalalithaa's health, according to The Indian Express.

Party spokesperson CR Saraswathi urged the people and the party cadres not to believe the baseless rumours about Jayalalithaa's health."Our Amma (Jayalalithaa) is meeting Ministers and giving instructions on the local body polls. She is fine but needs some rest," Saraswathi told IANS.

Though Jayalalithaa is in the hospital, according to the report, major government decisions are being taken by her. Even the party statements are issued in her name.

The court asked Tamil Nadu's Additional Advocate General C Manishankar to get back to it after consulting the government on the health condition of the chief minister by Wednesday.

With inputs from agencies
Kargil: Amidst the ongoing hostilities with Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Modi government will not allow anyone to dent India's honour and every citizen has faith in the country's armed forces. Singh, who is on a two-day trip to Ladakh, dismissed queries about doubts being raised by some quarters on the surgical strike carried out by the Army on the terror launch pads in PoK.

"I have not read any such statement. Desh ke bache, bache ko sena par bharosa hain aur garv hain, aur rahega (The entire nation has faith in our armed forces and are proud of them and it will remain so)," he told reporters. "Our government will not allow anyone to dent the country's honour and prestige at any cost. We will ensure that the country's head is always held high," he said.

Asked about the demand for Union Territory status for Ladakh, the Home Minister said he has listened to the people of Kashmir, Jammu as well as Ladakh but a decision will be taken only on the basis of consensus. "We always try that any decision is taken only on the basis of consensus," he said.

BJP's ally PDP on Tuesday expelled its Leh district chief Tashi Gyalson from its basic membership for signing a memorandum submitted to Singh demanding Union Territory status for Ladakh, saying under no circumstances will it endorse any move aimed at dividing the state.

The head of PDP's Disciplinary Committee Abdul Rehman Veeri expelled Gyalson for violating the party's whip, a party spokesman said in a statement. The Union Minister said during his trip to Ladakh since Monday, 21 delegations of political parties, religious groups and civil society members have met him and placed before him various demands.

"We will try to resolve their problems as much as possible. If there are issues concerning other Ministries (of central government), we will write to them or tell the concerned Ministers," he said. The Home Minister said he paid homage to the martyrs at the war memorial at Drass.

This is Singh's fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir ever since the unrest began in the state following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on 8 July. Singh had led an all-party delegation to Srinagar and Jammu on 4-5 September.

The leaders of various political parties met over 400 people who came in 50 different delegations representing various sections of society in Srinagar and Jammu. Earlier, the Home Minister had visited Srinagar on 24-25 August and 23-24 July . Singh was accompanied by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officials.
Last week, the Pakistan National Assembly passed a Hindu Marriage Bill to deal with marriage, divorce and maintenance rights for the approximately 3 million strong Hindu community in that country. The law provides for the mandatory registration of marriages, while recognising the customary rights and rituals through which a marriage is solemnised. Sixty-nine years after Independence, and sixty years after India enacted a Hindu Code for Hindus in India, Pakistans Hindus finally have a codified personal law. It has to be approved by the Pakistani Senate before it becomes law, nonetheless, some of the main provisions in the Hindu Marriage Bill are:

-It removes any doubt about the age of majority for marriage. In contrast to Indias Hindu Marriage Act, 1956, it fixes a uniform age of 18 as the age of maturity at which a person can marry.

-Interestingly while it ostensibly outlaws bigamy for Hindu men (and imposes criminal penalties for bigamy), it does not abolish it entirely. It allows men to marry a second time if it is medically proven that the first wife is unable to have children, without necessarily divorcing the first wife.

-It clearly lists out the grounds on which a Hindu marriage may be dissolved by court on grounds of cruelty, impotence, desertion, et al.

-While providing many grounds for divorce, it provides an additional ground for women who wish to divorce a man who had married twice prior to the coming into force of the Hindu Marriage Bill.

-Clear provisions in the law mandate that a divorce petition filed by a man will not be decreed unless the court is satisfied that there is sufficient maintenance being provided for the woman and any children born out of the marriage.

-It also clarifies an issue that was the source of much confusion  the right of Hindu widows to remarry. The Hindu Marriage Bill makes it clear that Hindu widows have a right to remarry, but curiously, not within six months of her husbands death.

Given the vast and confusing body of Hindu religious personal law, which was judge made, often contradictory and not easy to understand, the Hindu Marriage Bill is a step forward for Pakistans largest non-Islamic minority community. It also removes a difficulty that Hindus had of proving their marriage for official purposes since, unlike Muslim marriages which are essentially contracts, there is no one document which could instantly prove the marital status. By making registration mandatory, the Hindu Marriage Bill makes it easier for Hindus to establish the fact of marriage for official purposes.

Apart from comparisons with the Hindu Code in force in India, the Hindu Marriage Bill is also relevant in the context of one area in Indian personal law: The reform of Muslim personal law. Personal law in Pakistan has been a mirror image of the personal law in India. While the majority communitys laws were codified within two decades of Independence, the largest minorities were still governed by non-codified customs as interpreted by courts. The personal laws of Parsis and Christians on the other hand had been codified under British rule and continue to apply in both countries (with subsequent amendments). With Pakistan having taken a step forward in codifying Hindu personal law, perhaps its time for India to seriously consider the codification of Muslim personal law.

The debate on reform of Muslim personal law in India is currently deadlocked between two extremes. On the one hand, an unsatisfactory status quo, and on the other, an abstract, shapeless Uniform Civil Code carrying uncertain benefits and the bogey of majoritarian imposition. Perhaps codification of Muslim personal law, with suitable provisions addressing problems with the law as it stands, may be a better solution. The debate over polygamy, talaq, property rights for women, and all the major areas of dissatisfaction can be engaged in without bringing in concerns of majoritarian imposition.

At present Muslim personal law is governed by Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 which doesnt actually codify the law but simply states that the personal law governing Muslims in India will be the shariat. The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 which was introduced to clarify the grounds on which a Muslim woman may dissolve the marriage is one other law, but deals with a very narrow aspect of personal laws. The only post-Independence statute governing Muslim personal law is the Muslim Womens Protection of Rights on Divorce Act, 1986 introduced by the Government to overturn the Supreme Courts judgment in the Shah Bano case. The latter is perhaps a great example of how not to undertake law reform, and even though it carried out reform by stealth, by introducing a liberal provision for post-divorce maintenance, it cant fully shake away the suspicions of having been enacted in bad faith.

Of course, the actual content of the proposed Muslim personal law will require debate within and without the community. As with Hindus in India, Muslims also cannot be reduced to a single monolithic religious identity and the interests of various sects, classes, castes and sections who are broadly classified under the label Muslim will need to be taken into account, in addition to end of achieving gender justice in the law. This will not be an easy task but it cannot wait another sixty-nine years to be brought to fruition.
The Government of India has finalised a post-retirement home for President Pranab Mukherjee on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road indicating that the President might not be seeking a second term, reported The Indian Express.

The report added that Bungalow No 34, which previously housed former Lok Sabha Speaker the late Purno Sangma and which is occupied by the Sangma family, will be turned into the President's home once his tenure ends in July 2017.

A official of the Ministry of Urban Development told The Indian Express that the Sangma family has been asked for vacate the bungalow as they are not entitled Type VIII property and said that the house might be revamped for Mukherjee, though there has been no request yet.

In her column in The Financial Express, Coomi Kapoor wrote that Mukherjee has confided to his close aides that he is not keen on seeking another term and felt that the BJP might not re-nominate him. "Mukherjee, 80, who completes his term next July, is already sorting out his papers and gifts presented to him during his presidentship, but the NDA government is still to decide on his replacement," she wrote.

Firstpost's Gouri Chatterjee argued that while there is wide speculation on whether Mukherjee will get a second-term or not, it is also a fact that he has built a "close rapport" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She wrote: "But then, if anyone can come in as Sonia Gandhis man and carry on as Narendra Modis man it will be Pranab Mukherjee. He has talents few others do; he has memories that are still sharp in his mind."

The Presidents Pension Rules 1962 states: "A retired President shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of a furnished residence anywhere in India at the choice of the retired president, without payment of water and electricity charges for the remainder of his life."

It further states that "At places where government-owned accommodation is allotted to a retired president, the size of the residence shall be comparable to a residence allotted to a minister in the Union Council of Ministers."
Allowing the RSS to carry rallies at 14 locations in Tamil Nadu in November, the Madras High Court on Monday said that its cadres must maintain dress code (full pant) during processions and should not indulge in any unlawful activities during the rally.

The court also said the RSS cadres should not raise any slogans that will affect the sentiments of others, adding, police could impose any other condition required as per law.

RSS had moved the court after its representations to the respective police and district administrations for permission to conduct route marches on 9 October to mark the 1,000th birth anniversary of saint-philosopher Sri Ramanuja did not evoke any response.

They also planned to hold the marches in connection with the Vijayadashami festivities and 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar. Police said permission cannot be granted as the state is scheduled to hold civic polls on 17 and 19 October, and the situation is volatile after the murder of a Hindu Munnani leader in Coimbatore on 22 September.

The court said RSS could take out rallies on 6 or 13 November.

Earlier, Assistant Inspector-General of police, Headquarters R Thirunavukkarasu sought dismissal of the plea, saying after the murder of Hindu Munnani activist Sasikumar in Coimbatore last month, public tranquility has been affected.

The law enforcement machinery is completely overstretched to contain the volatile communal unrest in addition to maintaining public order in view of local body elections, the counter affidavit said. Police personnel have been deployed in sensitive areas work and hence the RSS request for processions cannot be considered at this stage. If permission is granted to conduct the processions under these circumstances, there is every possibility of outbreak of violence, causing grave danger to public life and property, which will lead to serious law and order situation, it said.
Amidst news of Russian soldiers landing in Pakistan for their first military exercise, there was welcome news for India when Moscows envoy in New Delhi extended unstinted support for last Thursdays surgical strikes across the Line of Control.

Speaking to CNN-News18, Russian Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin said that the Russian Federation was the only country to say in plain words that terrorists come from Pakistan. What should be music to Indian ears is the ambassadors categorical stand that India had been wronged and it was justified to take retaliatory action. The greatest human rights violations take place when terrorists attack military installations and attack peaceful civilians in India. We welcome the surgical strike. Every country has right to defend itself, he said

Assuring India that it does not need to worry about Russia-Pakistan joint military exercise, he pointed out that the exercises didn't take place in the "Pakistan-occupied Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir".

The Russian envoy further said that India should not be concerned about military exercises between Russia and Pakistan because the theme of the exercise is anti-terror fighting. It's in Indias interests that we teach the Pakistani Army not to use itself for terror attacks against India. And the exercise was not held in any sensitive or problematic territories like the Pakistan-occupied Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The announcement of Russia-Pakistan military exercise evoked concern in India and there were fears that New Delhis growing closeness to Washington had led Moscow to take such a decision. However, the Russians have for weeks tried to dispel an impression that Moscow was getting closer to Islamabad. Russia named Pakistan as the home of terror groups and allayed concerns in New Delhis foreign policy establishment when the ambassador stated that the small-scale military exercise was not held in, what he called "Pakistan-occupied Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir".

Moscow daily Pravda published a commentary that stated that the exercises were not an index of friendly relations, but these were the first drills ever to be held with Pakistan. Before that, Russia abstained from military-political contact with Pakistan country, mainly because of very friendly relations with India in the military-political sphere and uncompromising opposition between India and Pakistan, Sergey Lunev, professor at the Oriental Studies Department of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations told Pravda.

The Modi-Putin meeting

Russias affirmation of faith in the relationship with India and its categorical stance on Pakistani support to terrorism must be used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach out to Russian president Vladimir Putin when he visits India in the next fortnight. On the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Goa, Modi and Putin will hold an India-Russia Summit. Unlike his numerous meetings with the US president Barack Obama, the Indian prime minister has only met Putin twice apart from meetings at international conferences.

Growing India-US relations seemed to push Indias old and dependable partner Russia to the background, and the decision to upgrade ties with US to a strategic partnership level, and plans to sign the logistics agreement with Washington have naturally caused concern in Moscow.

Modi will use the October meeting with Putin in Goa to put their relations in perspective.

Russia remains Indias main partner for military technical cooperation with Russia accounting for 40 percent of India's weapon imports. Additionally, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is expected to progress smoothly. In September, the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) met in New Delhi to review the status of the ongoing bilateral projects and further broaden strategic cooperation in the critical areas of trade and commerce, energy, space and high technology.

At the end of the IRIGC meeting it was agreed to launch an industry-level Working Group to fuel energy cooperation, and collaboration in pharmaceuticals under the Russian Pharma 2020 programme and an impetus on enhanced connectivity.

In fact, Home Minister Rajnath Singhs Russia visit last month would have seen the two countries sign agreements through which Moscow will share real time intelligence on terrorism and cyber security. Postponed due to the Uri attack, this agreement will significantly enhance cooperation between the two in such a critical area.

Next year will mark 70 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations. As India deepens ties with the US it would be essential not to take an all-weather friend for granted. The Modi government must use multilateralism to strengthen ties with Russia and seriously look at its proposal for a Russia-India-China Forum that Moscow is keen to build.

An old and trusted ally should not be ignored while a new partnership is being forged with the US.
While the identity of Tamil Brahmins and their conflict with Dalits in the state is much discussed in political circles, a Quora thread tries to neatly sums up the cause of the turmoil between the communities in Tamil Nadu.

Answering the question, "Why is there so much hatred against Brahmins in Tamil Nadu?" Quora user from Chennai, Sagaran explains the issue. According to him, the Brahmin community is misunderstood and other Hindu castes have placed their blames on the Brahmins, since they don't fight back. Sagaran who is a Dalit himself explains that Brahmins are a timid caste and that they should unite with the Dalits. He advises fellow Dalits to be wary of Brahmin baiting by non-Brahmin caste Hindus. This particular thread has garnered a lot of chatter on social media.

Here's a reproduction of the post:



As a Tamil Dalit, my friends who were Brahmin Iyers were the only ones who did NOT question my caste. Everyone else, like the Thevars and Mudaliars criticised the Dalits without knowing which caste I belonged to. Later, they tried to casually talk behind our Brahmin friends backs, saying things like Oh those brahmins propagated caste. This is a typical pattern used by non-Brahmin caste Hindus and every Dalit should be cautious not to fall into this trap.

It is not hard to reverse this interpolation into history. Probably as some say (and I dont care much for religious texts of any faith) the caste was based on occupation not birth. The keepers of the rituals were Brahmins but the powerful ones were the ruling, and business castes. It is very easy to imagine the timid Brahmins being threatened by these powerful ruling castes to change this narrative into one of birth. I use timid not in a negative way but only to mean that Brahmins are not proud of aggression, a trait that I see to this day.

Somehow, I am not convinced that the entire caste Hindu population were asked to take up casteism by the Brahmins who still are merely a 3 percent of the population. The Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are an intelligent bunch. Do you think they would blindly listen to a minority? For a poor priest, it does not matter if a Dalit gives him a rupee or a Devar gives him a rupee. Caste matters however for a powerful landowner who works in the land for cheap. An unending supply of cheap bonded labor is what they needed.

Take a look at caste based violence perpetrated against the Dalits. Vitriolic attacks on Dalits usually come from the non-brahmin castes. Devars, Vanniyars and Gounders have taken up the mantle to attack Dalits. The Brahmins on the other hand rarely (if at all) resort to violence. I have personally seen Brahmins married into Arundhathiyar families and coexisting peacefully. I have a friend married to a Brahmin woman and the family rallies around him like he is their own. Again, these are personal examples and cannot be applied to all situations.

Read the entire Quora thread here.
Srinagar: Two women and a man were injured in mortar and small arms firing from across the de facto boundary with Pakistan on Monday as border tension continued amid fresh ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Defence sources said Pakistan Rangers fired indiscriminately using mortars and automatic weapons to target Indian border outposts in Akhnoor sector of the International Border in Jammu district.

Indian border guards effectively retaliated using same calibre weapons, they said. The intermittent fire exchanges continued in Akhnoor till noon.

Frightened by shelling and firing, dozens of families abandoned homes, cattle and agricultural fields in Pallanwalla area and fled to safer places.

Similar scenes were witnessed in Poonch near the Line of Control (LoC) later when Pakistan Army resorted to heavy shelling and firing in Shahpur, using 82 mm mortar shells which fell in a large area on the Indian side.

Three civilians sustained splinter injuries. Police said the injured were removed to hospital.

The third violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement occurred in Sabjiyan sector of Poonch when Pakistan Army used mortars and heavy fire arms to target Indian posts.

Intermittent shelling and firing exchanges were still going on at both Shahpur and Sabjiyan sectors till late Monday evening.

The fresh border skirmishes came hours after militants attacked the local headquarters of a counter-insurgency military unit on the banks of the Jhelum river in a north Kashmir village on Sunday night, killing a paramilitary trooper.

Border Security Force (BSF) troopers guarding the outpost of the camp were the first to engage at least two militants in a gunfight at the entrance of the camp.

Police said the militants with clear intent to enter the camp lobed over a dozen grenades before opening automatic gunfire at the outpost.

The militants, however, managed to escape under the cover of darkness and a six-hour-long search to locate them yielded no result.

Security forces recovered a GPS set, a compass and a wire cutter besides some ammunition from the shootout site.

Inspector General (Kashmir) of the BSF Vikash Chandra said two militants were involved in the attack.

"My boys from the spot confirmed that there were at least two terrorists who were firing at them," he said.

Security forces are now assessing as to how the militants managed to reach the outpost of the camp since it is situated in a highly secured area of Baramulla town.
Well known Bengaluru figurative artist, sculptor, writer and poet Yusuf Arakkal is no more. The 71-year-old artist passed away on Tuesday morning (4 October), after being unwell for the past few months. Hes survived by his wife Sara Arakkal and son Shibu Arakkal.

An interesting quote by Arakkal, on his website, yarakkal.com describes his lifes work best: There is an anguished being, disturbed and in distress somewhere deep inside me. A human being who yearns for a meaningful existence. It is the human presence that arouses my attention and stirs my creative inner space. I have been committed through my work, seeking a definition of human situations."

Born in Chavakkad in Kerala, in the royal Arakkal family in the year 1945, the young Arakkal lost both his parents at the age of six. He ran away from home at 17 years to Bengaluru to become an artist and worked on many small time jobs before he became who he was.

He got his formal education in arts, from the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (popularly known as CKP), in the city and also trained under Jay Verma, from the illustrious family of Ravi Verma. He won the National Award for his art in 1983 and opened a gallery in his wifes name, Galerie Sara Arakkal at the suburb of Brookefields. The gallery holds regular exhibitions of other artists works. On his Facebook page, Yusuf Arakkal proudly announced the 12th Annual show 2015 in November last year, with 51 Indian artists.

Arakkal has held over 40 solo shows at various cities in India and several solo and collaborative shows abroad in various mediums including oils, watercolours, graphics, collage and sculptures. His last exhibition was a series of 135 portraits of contemporary artists.

Now, what is remarkable about Arakkal is not only did he make Bengaluru his home, he also went on to establish the art scene in the city, along with his contemporaries, many of whom were also from outside Karnataka. Well known as a figurative artist, he is remembered by his friends in the fraternity for his prolific body of work and his unique style as a figurative artist. His friends also remember him for his generosity and how he helped many young artists, some them financially too.

Firstpost reached out to some of his equally famous contemporaries to share their memories of Yusuf.

Renowned artist SG Vasudev, who was on his way to the funeral, said, We have a long association. I knew Yusuf from the '60s. Together we created the Karnataka Artists Association in the '70s. About eight to ten artists would get together and exhibit their works at various places. He had several followers and influenced many other artists. He also wrote a column in the Indian Express and wrote poetry too. 

Visual artist and art historian Suresh Jayaram said, I think he was one of the most prominent artists in South India. He would paint people from the middle class, the poor and farmers. He was somebody who connected with young people and young artists in Bengaluru and encouraged talent. When I was a young student in the 1990s, he encouraged me to write. He was always telling us how he suffered a lot as a child; his was a rags-to-riches story.

Fellow Keralite and sculptor Balan Nambiar, who was also on his way to Arakkals home as soon as he heard the news in the morning, said, I have known him since he came to Bengaluru from Kerala. Must be around 1971 or so, when he joined HAL and arranged to work in shifts, so that he could study art at CKP. He was a very prolific artist and was always working night and day and built a great body of work. He had a very unique style, which allowed him to be technically perfect. He wasnt interested much in cultural functions and you would never see him in Alliance Francaise or Chowdiah. He helped many young artists, many of them financially too.

Renowned painter Paresh Hazra was shocked to hear the news of Arakkal's death. He said, We knew each other since his CKP days, maybe 1982-84. We always went for each others shows. Yusuf was the chief guest for my recent show too. He established his unique style in his oil paintings. Recently he started doing some charcoal drawings too.

But what Hazra remembers best is an article published in the Indian Express 12 years ago, about how artists from outside Karnataka had come to Bengaluru and established the Karnataka art scene, where both he, being from West Bengal and Arakkal being from Kerala were mentioned along with the other names.

In his art column in Bangalore Mirror Jayaram describes how intrinsic Arakkals work was to shaping the art scene in Bengaluru, at the arrival lounge of the Kempe Gowda International Airport, one is welcomed by a gleaming metal mural representing flight, done by Yusuf. The artist's presence is enshrined in this city.

Probably the most fitting finale to Yusuf Arakkals life and times from those who knew him well and admired his work, are lines from his own poem, 'Paper Crosses', written in 1997:

Dead sleep in peace

While the living despair

The absence of death
On Tuesday evening, when AAP minister Kapil Mishra, while speaking at Bharat International Tourism Bazaar function in New Delhi, told Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti that, "It cant be that you dont accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase", he was not even in remotest sense asserting his patriotism. It was rather to use the Orwellian distinction to display his own version of nationalism, which defies certain logic.

The binary which Mishra was trying to create is not new. It is an extension of the one that was created on 9 February, when allegedly some anti-national slogans were raised in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) leading to the arrest of its student union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges.

That was the time when any sympathy with Kumar was good enough a reason to warrant a tag of anti-national, while there were several check-lists to be ticked through to get a certificate of patriotism.

What is tad ironical is that many AAP supporters had then protested against the government's move to brand JNU as anti-national and against this binary.

But in politics, like permanent friends and enemies, perhaps there are no permanent rights and wrongs too.

As reported by The Indian Express, at an event to promote tourism Mishra asked Mufti to clarify her position on Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose killing triggered mass protest in Valley. Kapil began his speech by asking Mufti if she considers Burhan Wani a terrorist or not.

We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir? he added.

The Financial Express reported that Mishra further added, Terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir. Yesterday two terrorists escaped from Baramulla. Where did they go? Somebody may have sheltered them. How long will this go on? Whom to fight with? People of J&K or outsiders.

While the organisers of the event tried to intervene and control the situation, Mishra left the venue, saying he did not wish to share the dais with Mufti.

Mishras sharp statements and accusations brought Mufti to tears who said that she was in two minds about attending the event because things are not good back home.

In last few weeks since Uri attack and Indias surgical strike against terror launch pads across the LoC, the entire discourse on India-Pakistan relations has been captured by the nationalist versus anti-nationalist debate to the extent that those speaking against the attack on Pakistani actors like Fawad Khan have to face the instant ire of social media vigilantes brimming with jingoism.

While this incident will once again, in all probability, ignite a war of words between those who love AAP and those who choose to hate it, a larger point will, perhaps, be ignored: What can propel people to think and paint others in such binaries?; where some arbitrarily predetermined-preconceived conditions; imposed and super-imposed so stringently, decides whether the person is fit to be an Indian or not; whether he is a patriot or not.

In the air filled with a resounding us versus they rhetoric that has been created between India and Pakistan post-Uri attack, emotions tend to flare up, willingly or unwillingly. But when the emotive responses start paralysing the civility of political debate, some amount of introspection becomes an imperative.

In the current situation, the tagging is the most obvious outcome of any discussion. The division is getting intense and ugly. When condemning a killed militant or a Pakistani actor becomes the litmus for your patriotism, then surely the logic can be seen departing.

In last few weeks on several occasions, the binary crafted by over-enthusiastic-hyper-nationalist votaries of Indias pride have created an atmosphere where branding someone anti-national comes handy.

If you condemn Burhan Wani you are a nationalist. If you promise to boycott an upcoming movie where a Pakistani actor has acted, you score extra points on the nationalist chart. In this atmosphere, Kapil Mishra's antics could be clearly seen as an attempt to score those extra points.

In this context, while the attack on Mufti is a sad episode, it is at same time, an inescapable reality.
New Delhi: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to name and shame the top 100 corporate loan defaulters, and to desist from the idea of merging State Banks into one entity.

In a letter to Modi on Tuesday, Yechury pointed out "the alarming increase in the non-performing assets (NPA) of state-owned banks" and the central government's "reluctance" to recover these bad loans, while at the same time "hounding" the farmers for petty amounts even in drought years.

"Recent reports show that bad loan provisioning for most state-owned banks doubled  and even trebled in some cases  in 2015-16. There has been a lack of concerted effort to recover these bad loans, and your government has instead waived Rs 59,547 crore of bad loans of big borrowers in 2015-16," Yechury said in the letter.

"All this while, the farmers continue to be hounded for repayment of minor amounts in drought years," he stressed.

The CPI-M leader said that the big borrowers have "viable assets which can be easily recovered by banks, if backed up with political will and determination".

"Instead, we have seen a proposal to divert all the bad loans from state-owned banks by creating a single 'bad bank'. It is an attempt to portray a clean-up of bank account books by diverting the bad loans to a separate new entity, which will still be government owned," Yechury said.

"This 'bad bank' will still be furnished by public money as all the other banks will be recapitalised by your government, while big borrowers would be allowed to go scot free at the cost of the honest tax-payer."

"This amounts to the cronies being rewarded for their profligacy, bad business practices and their lavish personal lifestyles by the hard earned savings of the vast majority of the middle classes and the poor of this country," he said.

Yechury pointed out that a proposal to create a "bad bank" was publicly rejected by former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.

He had identified the "moral hazard" problem of this proposal, where the banks would continue to lend to the same big borrowers who would display scant regard for returning these loans.

"Before any attempts at whitewashing the bad loans by recapitalising the banks, the principle of 'Recovery First, Recapitalise Later' must be followed in letter and spirit of your government. To not do so would confirm our worst fears of your government  which has written off Rs 1,12,089 crore of loans of big borrowers  being beholden to crony capitalism," Yechury said.

He said that the need of the hour is for the government to put into practice an urgent action plan to start recovery of pending loans from top 100 borrowers.

"You must begin by making public their names with the due amount... We hope that you will reject this proposal of creating a 'bad bank' and start recovery of bad loans on priority," he said.

"A failure to do so would mean that your government is making our working people pay for the criminality of the rich defaulters."

Yechury had written a similar letter to the Prime Minister on 7 July this year.
The BJP, on Tuesday, lashed out at both AAP and Congress for demanding a proof for the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian army against the terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control.

BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a press conference in New Delhi first lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for asking the Central government to respond to "Pakistan's false propaganda".

Kejriwal in a video message on Monday had, in fact, praised the Narendra Modi government and the Indian Army for the surgical strikes. He had also said that the Pakistani government was spreading lies about the surgical strikes and had then asked the government to "unmask Pakistan's false propaganda like the way you (Modi) and the army taught Pakistan a lesson on the ground."

BJP clearly did not take this advice very well as Prasad said that it was unfortunate that an Indian leader was getting influenced by Pakistan's "false propaganda".

"Somewhere or the other, is there a question being raised on the probes conducted by the Indian army?" Prasad said. "A chief minister of India is getting influenced by Pakistan's false propaganda and is asking for proof for the surgical strikes," he added.

"Arvind Kejriwalji, I hope you know that you are in the headlines of Pakistani media today," Prasad further said.

Prasad's remark came after Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune published a report titled "Delhi CM 'questions' authenticity of Indias surgical strikes in Pakistan".

"Indian leaders are questioning the surgical strikes. There can be nothing more unfortunate," Prasad further said.

"In matters of national security, one should not raise frivolous questions just because of political rivalry. No question should be raised which will affect the morale of the Indian army," the Union minister said. "Politics has its own place. Please do not do or say anything which insults the Indian Army," he added.

"All the member nations of Saarc have isolated Pakistan and stand with India today. No country has criticised the surgical strikes done by the Indian army. Today, Pakistan stands completely isolated diplomatically, strategically and also in terms of international relations. There is an online campaign in the US to declare Pakistan a terror state," Prasad said.

"But Arvind Kejriwalji gets influenced by the Pakistani media," he said.

"Please don't belittle the great leadership, courage and sacrifice of the Indian army," the BJP leader added. "It is up to the government to give proof of surgical strikes."

Prasad then targeted Congress leader P Chidambaram for asking the Modi government to provide proof for the surgical strikes.

"Chidambaram has ealier been the home and finance minister of the country. But what is the message he is sending? Is he also joining the bandwagon of creating doubts and seeking to belittle our armed forces?" Prasad said.

"Sonia Gandhi should say whether Chidambaram's comment seeking proof of surgical strikes represent the official Congress line," he said. "If it is Congress's official line, then an answer will be given. If not, I ask Sonia Gandhi to prevent her party leaders from making such statements."

Prasad also said that even Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had praised Modi for the surgical strikes. "We have also seen the statement of Rahul Gandhi openly praising Prime Minister Modi for the first time," he said.

It is not just Chidambaram from the Congress, though, who has questioned the surgical strikes. Another Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam went to the extent of suggesting that the strikes were "fake".

Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP.

Politics over national interest pic.twitter.com/4KN6iDqDo5  Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) October 4, 2016

Seven terror launch pads across the LoC were targeted by the Army on the night of 28 September in a nearly five-hour-long operation during which heli-borne and ground forces were deployed.

The announcement of the strikes came 11 days after the attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad on an Indian army camp in Uri in Kashmir, after which Modi had said the attackers will not go "unpunished" and that they will not be forgiven.

With inputs from PTI
The politicians, at least a section of them are back, at doing what they are best adapted to  petty politicking even on a subject, which has broad national unanimity and support on Narendra Modi government's intent, purpose and action  surgical strike by Indian Army across the Line of Control in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir causing "significant casualties".

An all round public applause for avenging Uri without any visible cost had forced his bitter political rivals including likes of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Mulayam Singh Yadav praise Modi and appreciate his resolve to strike against Pakistan. It seemed that by one singular big brave and bold move Modi had unified the nation, even a bitter and acrimonious political class. It seemed like the nation was speaking in one voice, kind of a  one nation, one voice.

That obviously was a utopian situation and couldn't have lasted long, if not for any other reason than the simple fact that was all helping re-building of a cult persona around Prime Minister Narendra Modi  a strong decisive, no-nonsense leader who wouldn't spare much time in deciding to teach Pakistan in a language it understands. Whether it is about supporting Kashmiris in PoK or the Baloch or the Pashtuns and or taking a surgical military action, there was not a bit of hesitation that the PM showed and let the world know of it.

His actions would surely have been guided by the nation's strategic interest and self-respect but his political rivals who gave him genuine or back-handed compliments would have seen the political dividend that Modi had reaped. A rising assertive nationalistic mood was only helping Modi. Whatever emotions people might have at large, they mean nothing if the leader at the helm is not strong and clear headed.

Much to the dismay of Congress and the AAP, it could potentially swing the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Punjab in BJP's favour.

The kind of adulation Modi was getting domestically and evoking further curiosity, possibly grudging admiration internationally could not have gone unchallenged by the rival political leaders and critics.

Interestingly, it all started on Monday when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress spokesperson and former Union minister Anand Sharma and some columnists started demanding proof from Modi government about the military strike. While they were careful not to directly question PM Modi, even appreciating his political will and valour of the Indian Army but at the same time took a plea that since Pakistan was engaging in a disinformation campaign it should be incumbent on part of the government to "expose" Pakistan by giving proof.

A belated realisation seems to have dawned upon Congress after public praise of Modi by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi that crossing the LoC to strike at the Pakistani Army and terrorists was kind of a routine affair during UPA rule, just that it never had the courage to make it public. Anand Sharma claimed that this was done in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013... but "in the wisdom of the UPA, the political ownership of such actions of the army was not considered necessary." The only difference according to him was Modi government had taken the "political ownership". Former home and finance minister P Chidambaram too joined the issue. Another Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam and a known loudmouth went to the other extreme in questioning the veracity of the surgical strike. He tweeted: Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP. Politics over national interest.

Though each of these statements and critics columns raising doubts appeared separately but coincidentally, it came after one another on the same day. Even Kanhaiya Kumar joined them in advising the government of "adverse impact on society" and potential political use of public pronouncement of surgical strike.

Under the circumstances, it would be pertinent to note what Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had said on 29 September after the CCS meet. Based on very specific and credible information which we received yesterday that some terrorist teams had positioned itself along the line of control, the Army carried out surgical strikes last night at these launch pads. The operations were focused on ensuring that these terrorists do not succeed in endangering lives of citizens of our country. During the counter-terrorist operations, significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who were trying to support them. The operations have since ceased, he said.

It depends on individual discretion on whose words one wants to believe. India is a democratic country and dissent is the essence of democracy.

But the problem here is that Pakistan media has lapped up every word said by senior Indian leaders likes of Kejriwal and Chidambaram for its propaganda. A headline in the Karachi-based The News read "After Kejriwal, Chidambaram asks Modi to prove claims of 'surgical strike'. The Express Tribune headline said Delhi CM 'questions' authenticity of India's 'surgical strikes' in Pakistan.

The BJP leadership decided not to ignore discordant political voices by rivals for "proof" of surgical strike. It fielded Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to take on Kejriwal and Congress, more particularly Chidambaram. "I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal whether he believes in the extraordinary valour of our Army or not in conducting surgical strikes....Under the garb of seeking proof, don't belittle great leadership, courage and sacrifice of our armed forces. Why are you getting influenced by the propaganda of Pakistan?" Prasad asked.

Call it side effects of surgery, a war with Pakistan may still not be on the horizon but a political war over limited strike has already begun. At stake is the domestic political dividend.
Srinagar: Unidentified militants on Tuesday fired at a police station in south Kashmir's Kulgam district, but there was no damage, police said.

Militants fired at police station Yaripora in Kulgam at 7:45 pm, a police official said here.

#FLASH Terrorists attack a police station in Yaripora, Kulgam (J&K); more details awaited.  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

He said the firing was retaliated by the police personnel.

There are no reports of loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing, the official said, adding further details were awaited.

More details awaited.
Colombo: With the collapse of Saarc Summit in Pakistan, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the failure of the regional grouping to deliver "acceptable results" for all members would spell a "bleak future" and compel his country to find other "viable options".

Wickremesinghe's remark assumes significance as Sri Lanka was one of the five Saarc member-states which sided with India in pulling out of the summit scheduled in Islamabad on 9-10 November over an attack on an Indian army base in Uri on 18 September by Pakistan-based terrorists.

Delivering a lecture on 'Sri Lanka and its Place in the World" at the New Zealand Parliament House in Auckland on Monday, the Sri Lankan premier said that following the Uri attack, the 19th Saarc Summit in Islamabad has been postponed. "This year's Saarc Summit is in jeopardy due to the war prevailing on the border. However, as the Saarc plays an important role, carrying out the Summit is a matter of great importance," Wickremesinghe said.

"I explained that while the failure of Saarc to deliver acceptable results for all members would spell out a bleak future, it would also compel Sri Lanka to look towards other viable options," he said. He, however, did not elaborate what he meant by "other viable options" but said it was "imperative" that Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations work together to improve regional cooperation.

Wickremesinghe recalled the 1985 Saarc Summit when Sri Lanka proposed countering border terrorism as an issue, but he rued it was ultimately not agreed upon due to disagreements among member-states. He sought a simple plan from Saarc members which could be agreed upon to move forward in the light of the situation.

Sri Lankan Opposition parties have been critical of the government's decision to pull out of the Summit, alleging it was a decision to "please" India while causing displeasure to Pakistan. Other than Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan

have also pulled out of the summit saying the regional environment was "not conducive" for a successful meet.

Nepal, the Saarc Chair, has asked member-states to ensure their territories are not used for cross-border terrorism.
Herndon: Donald Trump is drawing scorn from veterans' groups after he suggested that soldiers who suffer from mental health issues might not be as strong as those who don't.

Trump was speaking at an event organised by the Retired American Warriors political action committee on Monday when he was asked about his commitment to faith-based programs aimed at preventing suicides and helping soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other issues.

"When you talk about the mental health problems  when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can't handle it," he said.

"And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn't see in a movie, nobody would believe it," he added.

The comment drew condemnation from critics as well as veterans' groups that have been working for years to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues in an effort to encourage soldiers to seek treatment.

David Maulsby, the executive director of the Texas-based PTSD Foundation of America, told The Associated Press that, at first, he hoped Trump's remarks had been taken out of context. But after watching a recording of the exchange, he said the Republican nominee's words were detrimental to veterans struggling with PTSD symptoms.

"At the very least, it's a very poor choice of words. PTSD is basically a rewiring of the brain as the result of trauma or prolonged trauma. That is not a reflection of a person's strength, character, stamina  any of that," Maulsby said.

"Our veterans who are struggling with post-traumatic stress as a result of their combat need to be encouraged to seek help, and not be told they are weak or deficient in character in any way, shape or form," he said.

Zach Iscol, a Marine veteran and executive director of the nonprofit Headstrong Project, which helps provide free care for veterans suffering from PTSD, said Trump's comments weren't "just wrong, they're dangerous."
By Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly

| TOKYO

TOKYO Successful rocket tests have propelled North Korea ahead in a two-decade long arms race with Japan, leaving Tokyo unsure it could fend off a missile strike by the Pyongyang regime without U.S. help, military sources told Reuters. Under young leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has test fired 21 ballistic missiles since the start of the year, an unprecedented burst of activity that has rattled its neighbours and the international community."Their progress has been faster than anticipated," a senior Japanese military commander said. "There is a limit to what our current ballistic missile defence system can achieve," he added, asking not to be identified because he isn't authorized to speak to the media.Planned upgrades to Japan's ballistic missile defence (BMD) are not due to begin until April at the earliest, while the deployment of new systems designed to destroy incoming warheads could take years to complete. Constrained by production schedules and tight budgets that limit its ability to accelerate those plans, Japan may instead have to lean more heavily on its U.S. ally to guard against attacks, the sources said."Our only option for now may be to rely on the U.S. to stop them," said another source at Japan Self Defence Forces (SDF).MUSUDAN THREAT

Tokyo and Pyongyang have been locked in an arms race since 1998 when North Korea fired a missile over Japan. In June, a medium range Musudan rocket reached an altitude of 1,000 km (620 miles) on a lofted trajectory, marking a breakthrough that could allow Pyongyang lob warheads over the range of Japanese BMD Aegis destroyers patrolling the Sea of Japan.

That would leave older PAC-3 Patriot missile batteries protecting major cities including Tokyo as a last line of defence. A $1 billion program to improve their range and accuracy will begin after March, but the first will not be ready until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sources previously told Reuters.Warheads from missiles such as Pyongyang's Rodong, with an estimated range of 1,300 km (800 miles), travel at speeds of up to 3 km (1.9 miles) a second. But rockets like the Musudan, which can fly as far as 3,000 km (1,860 miles), plunge from space at speeds reaching 21 km (13 miles) per second, potentially too fast for existing Patriot batteries.Japan's Ministry of Defense also plans to improve the performance of SM-3 missiles on its small Aegis fleet. The SM-3 missiles are designed to hit warheads at the edge of space, but the sources who spoke to Reuters were unsure they could tackle the Musudan.A more powerful version of the SM-3 jointly developed by Japan and the United States, dubbed the Block IIA, is nearing completion, with Japan planning to buy the first of those next year. It has not, however, said how many it will acquire, or when they will be deployed.Longer term, Japan is evaluating whether to buy Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) system, to add a middle layer to BMD, or build Aegis batteries on shore to bolster its defences.

Any roll out of those, however, would take several years because of time needed to study the technology, secure funding and build and integrate the systems, the sources said. U.S. HELP

As Japan struggles to bolster its defences, the U.S. is stepping up help to neighbouring South Korea, promising last week to speed up deployment THAAD batteries there."We still think they need time, but whatever the purpose is, the North is doing things at a rate that is beyond our imagination," South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo said in parliament in late August.Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross said the United States had recently reaffirmed its "unwavering and ironclad" commitment to defend both South Korea and Japan, "guaranteed by the full spectrum of U.S. military capabilities, including conventional, nuclear, and missile defence capabilities".

"We continue to support (South Korean) and Japanese efforts to strengthen their respective defence capabilities against the North Korean nuclear and missile threat," Ross said in an emailed response. For now, Japan is making do with a diminished force. It has four Aegis destroyers each equipped with eight SM-3 missiles. Two of those, however, are laid up for maintenance leaving only two available to watch for North Korean missiles, a third SDF source told Reuters. The heightened threat "comes just as we face a pinch with our Aegis fleet," he said. "Cooperation with the U.S. Aegis ships deployed in Japan is going to be crucial." By March 2019 Japan plans eight BMD Aegis ships, but training and maintenance means that only two ships will likely be out on regular patrols at any one time.U.S. reinforcements that could help cover more sky are, however, sailing into the region. The U.S. Navy, as part of a plan to bolster its presence formulated before North Korea's latest missiles tests, has increased its BMD Aegis ships patrolling the region to ten from seven in the past two years.Whether that will prove sufficient to protect against further North Korean advances is yet to be seen."North Korean ballistic missile technology is progressing step by step and every time we raise our capability they improve theirs," said a fourth SDF source. (Additional reporting by Jack Kim in SEOUL and Idrees Ali in WASHINGTON.; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamabad: The quantum of airtime for Indian content in Pakistan will mimic the format India has adopted for the airing of Pakistani content, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has said.

Pemra on Monday decided that it will only allow airtime to Indian content if India allows to air Pakistani content, Dawn online reported.

Pemra said the Pakistani government has been requested to schedule airing of the Indian content conditional with that of Pakistan's in India.

The body also said that from 15 October, Pemra will take action against airing of unauthorised content and TV channels in the country.

"Around three million Indian DTH decoders are being sold in the country. We not only want this sale stopped but will also ask the relevant agencies to trace the money trail to determine the mode of payments made to Indian dealers selling these decoders in Pakistan," Pemra Chairman Absar Alam had said last month.
Quetta: Gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a moving bus in Pakistan and killed four women from the Shiite Muslim minority in an apparent sectarian attack, officials said Tuesday.

The gunmen sprayed the vehicle with bullets in the outskirts of Quetta city, the provincial capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan.

"At least two motorcycle riders on one bike fired at the bus when it reached close to Hazara town. Two people, one male and another female, were also wounded in the attack," Abdul Razzaq Cheema, a senior police official told AFP.

"The bus was travelling from one locality of Hazaras to the other," Cheema said.

Qambar Dashti, Quetta city commissioner, confirmed the attack and said it could be sectarian.

"This attack on Hazaras' bus could be sectarian but we are still investigating it," he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban militants have attacked Shiite Hazaras in the past.

Sectarian violence  in particular by Sunni hardliners against Shiites who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people  has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade.

In May last year, 43 members of the Shiite Ismaili minority were killed when their bus was stopped and riddled with bullets in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi by militants claiming Islamic State group affiliation.

Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has oil and gas resources but is afflicted by Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency.
Ankara: Turkish authorities suspended more than 12,000 police officers over alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of masterminding the July failed coup, the police headquarters said on Tuesday.

Of the 12,801 suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, 2,523 were police chiefs, the police authorities said in a statement. In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers.

They were suspended over suspected links to the Gulen movement which Turkey blames for the attempted putsch which tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Ankara's accusations.

Tens of thousands of people in the judiciary, civil service, military and education sector have been suspended while 32,000 suspects have been placed under arrest on charges of links to to the movement.

The government's crackdown has alarmed Turkey's Western allies who have warned Ankara that it must act within the rule of law.

Turkey yesterday extended the state of emergency introduced after the failed putsch for another 90 days starting on 19 October. Erdogan previously suggested that it might be necessary for the state of emergency to be kept for at least 12 months.
United Nations: The UN Security Council on Monday was weighing a draft resolution aimed at imposing a ceasefire in Aleppo and halting all military flights over Syria's war-battered city.

Russia however dismissed the measure as a political ploy.

The proposal drafted by France was the latest bid to pile pressure on Russia and its Syrian ally to halt the air campaign in Aleppo and chart a path towards ending the five-year war.

In the draft resolution obtained by AFP, the Security Council expresses "outrage over the unacceptable and escalating level of violence" and calls on all parties to immediately implement a ceasefire, allow humanitarian aid and ground all warplanes over Aleppo.

The measure, co-sponsored by Spain, would call on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to present options within five days of the adoption to set up a monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire.

Aleppo has been under a near-daily barrage of air strikes since the Syrian army announced an offensive to retake the rebel-held east of the city on 22 September.

Under the draft text, the council would threaten to take "further measures" if the sides failed to comply, but it does not invoke chapter 7 of the UN charter, which allows for sanctions and the use of military force.

The draft resolution urges Russia and the United States to "ensure the immediate implementation of the cessation of hostilities, starting with Aleppo, and to that effect, to put an end to all military flights over the city."

All parties must "implement and ensure full implementation of the cessation of hostilities... including an end to all aerial bombardments," according to the text.

Diplomats were holding negotiations on the text on Monday and a vote at the council could take place this week.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre told AFP that "it's our responsibility to do everything humanly possible" to try to unite the council behind an effort "to end the martyrdom of Aleppo."

Russia, one of the council's five veto-wielding members, said it had questions about the proposed resolution.

"We as a matter of principle do not support such politicized steps aimed at using the Security Council to apply more pressure to Syria and Russia," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies in Moscow.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters that Moscow was studying the text and raised questions about the proposed monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire.

Churkin said there was already such a monitoring group set up in Geneva and asked: "Why not use that mechanism more actively?"

"We are considering" the draft resolution, he said.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said his government's top policy priority was to end violent extremism and terrorism in the country. He was speaking at a meeting convened to review the progress of National Action Plan (NAP) devised after the 2014 Peshawar school attack to eliminate militancy.

National Security Adviser Nasir Janjua briefed the meeting which was also attended by cabinet ministers, four chief ministers of provinces, army chief, and other civilian and military officials.

"War against terrorism and violent extremism is a main component of our national policy aimed at bringing peace and security in the country," Sharif said. The prime minister also said the nation pins hope to steer the society out from these evils once and for all and government is committed to overcome this menace.

He said consensus on National Action Plan was formed after discussion among all the stakeholders. The meeting urged the need for coordinating efforts between federal and provincial governments for achieving desired results. It was agreed that further improvement in intelligence input is required to defeat "designs of enemies".

The meeting agreed on the future course of National Action Plan to achieve the desired results. Janjua briefed the meeting on the implementation status of NAP and the challenges faced at this stage of implementation, an official statement said.

"It was agreed that collective efforts at the national level and specific efforts at provincial level are required to consolidate the gains made so far and move further in certain areas where progress has been unsatisfactory," it said. "It was stressed by NSA that role of provincial governments in implementation of NAP is crucial and it is imperative for all to work with missionary zeal," it said.

The meeting agreed on the future course of action in terms of milestones and timelines for different components of NAP. It was also agreed to further improve the collection, collation, analysis and use of intelligence input for defeating the designs of "enemies".

"We are fighting the war on terrorism and our fight against violent extremism is a national policy imperative," the statement said, underlining that "the nation expects us to rid the society of these evils for all times and we will not fail them under any circumstances".
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The burden of the global refugee crisis is being unfairly shared, with just 10 countries hosting the majority of refugees, humanitarian groups said, urging wealthy nations to step up their response.Fighting in Syria, Afghanistan, Burundi and South Sudan has pushed the total number of refugees to a record 21.3 million in 2016, according to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.Fifty eight percent of refugees recognised by UNHCR have found shelter in one of only 10 neighbouring countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo."The responsibility of protecting refugees is very unequally distributed," UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a statement on Monday.

In a report published on Tuesday, rights group Amnesty International said the unequal sharing was exacerbating the crisis as the main host countries, most of them poor, were unable to provide adequately for all refugees, pushing many to embark on perilous journeys to Europe and Australia."Children are not getting education, people are not getting sufficient, adequate food," Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty's director for global issues, said in a phone interview, describing the current situation as "unfair and unsustainable".

Amnesty called on developed nations to take in more refugees, according to their ability to shoulder the burden."The problem is not the global number of refugees, it is that many of the world's wealthiest nations host the fewest and do the least," Amnesty's secretary general Salil Shetty said in a statement.

"If every one of the wealthiest countries in the world were to take in refugees in proportion to their size, wealth and unemployment rate, finding a home for more of the world's refugees would be an eminently solvable challenge," he added. (Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
United Nations: The UN Security Council has not been discussing the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Russia's envoy to the UN and Council president for October said, in a clear snub to Pakistan which had raised the Kashmir issue and surgical strike by India in the world body.

"I don't want to go there, don't want to go there. No no please, I don't want to go there," Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said as he quickly interrupted a question on India and Pakistan tensions during a press briefing at the United Nations on Monday.

Churkin was addressing the media as Russia assumed the Presidency of the 15-nation Council for the month of October.

When asked why he would not comment on the issue, Churkin said "because I am President of the Security Council. The Security Council has not been discussing it (the India-Pakistan situation)."

"Sorry sir, I don't want to go there. No comment, no comment, sorry please," Churkin said.

When asked again why he and Russia were "so reluctant" to discuss the India-Pakistan situation, Churkin said, "I'm sure you know. There are so many other things."

Churkin's remarks come as a clear snub to Pakistan, which had approached the Security Council just last week on the surgical strikes conducted by India to target terror launch pads across the Line of Control as well as on the Kashmir issue.

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq was asked what the UN position is on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs remarks in her address to the UN General Assembly that Pakistan should "abandon" its Kashmir dream since Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.

"We have issued a statement on the situation between India and Pakistan. I would refer you back to that," Haq said.

When asked again why the UN did not "say anything" to Swaraj's remarks that Pakistan should stop dreaming about Kashmir, Haq said, "We don't comment on every speech made in the General Assembly, but we have been commenting on the situation on Kashmir, and like I said, we issued a statement on that just last Friday."

Pakistans envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had met New Zealand's UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, president of the Council for the month of September, and had raised the issue of the surgical strikes in "informal consultations" of the Council.

She had also met UN Secretary General Ban on the issue but the UN Chief had called on the governments of India and Pakistan to address their outstanding issues, including Kashmir, peacefully through "diplomacy and dialogue".

Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had last week said that Pakistan approaching the UN Chief and the Security Council over the surgical strikes in PoK has not found any resonance at the world body.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too had tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, raising it with almost every world leader he held bilateral talks with on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly last month.
After a dramatic week of beauty queens, sex tape allegations and tax leaks, the upcoming US vice presidential debate could feel like a throwback to simpler times.

Featuring low-key career politicians, the match-up between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence in Farmville, Virginia likely won't exude the reality show drama Americans have come to expect in the 2016 presidential election.

Both VP picks have said their respective running mates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump set a high bar in the first of three presidential debates, which drew a record 84 million viewers.

A showdown between two middle-aged white men that some Twitter users predict will be akin to "watching paint dry," the goal of this debate is to go easy on the zingers and woo undecided voters.

"Given the polarizing nature of the two major-party nominees and the incredible attention paid to each of them, the vice presidential debate in 2016 may be even more of a sideshow than it normally is," said Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

The vice presidential debate on Tuesday will be the only time Pence and Kaine will, for the most part, have the nation's political attention all to themselves, away from their much better-known running mates.

The stakes will be lower than the three presidential debates, but will give each largely undefined candidate a chance to make a mark on a national audience.

Running mates rarely overshadow the top of the ticket, although Sarah Palin caused a sensation as Republican John McCain's pick in 2008. But voters always have a reason to size up the people who would be next in line for the presidency.

Second in line

Easily overshadowed by experienced diplomat Clinton and bombastic real estate mogul Trump, the vice-presidential candidates remain important considering that either could be commander-in-chief should the future president die or resign.

Nine of the 44 US presidents became the nation's leader by succession.

Clinton is approaching 69 and Trump is 70  among the oldest people ever to run for the presidency  and the health of the White House hopefuls has been a top theme of the campaign.

Kaine and Pence also have the chance to compensate for the excesses and weak spots of their running mates.

As Trump wraps a week of campaign bombshells  including his abusive comments about a Venezuelan-born beauty queen  "Pence may try to provide a more respectable face for the Republican ticket," said Joel Goldstein, a constitutional law professor at St Louis University.

Democrat Kaine will "certainly present himself and Clinton as policy-oriented people committed to helping the less fortunate and the middle class," Goldstein said.

"I would expect most of the discussion to be about the presidential candidates and their policies, not about the vice presidential candidates."

Different approach

Pence, Trump's running mate, is taking a decidedly un-Trump like approach to the vice presidential debate. He's preparing for it.

The Indiana governor and former 12-year congressman held mock debate sessions with Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker as a stand-in, studying up on issues likely to be raised and making sure he avoids the criticisms of being unprepared that dogged Trump after his uneven performance a week ago. "We're going to do our level best to be ready," Pence told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt this past week.

Pence was spending the weekend back home in Indianapolis, taking a break from campaign travel to be with his family and continue informal debate preparations, spokesman Marc Lotter said.

Clinton's running mate, a former Virginia governor and current US senator, spent several days preparing for the debate in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. The debate will take place at Longwood University, about an hour west of Richmond.

Helping Kaine is Washington, DC, lawyer Robert Barnett, a veteran of prepping Democrats for debates. Kaine said he's been "thinking hard" about what Pence's record says "about the guy who chose him, because it really is more about Donald Trump than it is about Gov Pence."

Pence and Kaine are practiced public speakers with lengthy political careers who should bring a high level of polish to the undercard debate. Pence is a former talk radio host; Kaine a former Harvard-trained trial lawyer.

Convince the fringes

Both considered safe picks, Kaine and Pence will wield their nice-guy, workmanlike demeanors to entice voters turned off by the circus-like atmosphere of the campaign.

Clinton said she chose senator Kaine because she wanted someone with enough experience to "literally get up one day and be the president of the United States."

"He has never lost an election," she said of the folksy but experienced foreign policy hand from the battleground state of Virginia.

Kaine, 58, is seen as helping Clinton garner support among independent male voters, and the senator's strong Spanish could help cement Clinton's popularity among Hispanic voters.

When he introduced Pence as his running-mate, billionaire Trump called the Indiana governor a "solid" man and a unifying figure.

The 57-year-old conservative evangelical Christian and former congressman could take on the seemingly herculean task of reassuring voters alarmed by Trump's incendiary rhetoric.

"Since so few visible Republicans are supporting Mr Trump with any enthusiasm, Governor Pence has served as an important surrogate for Trump," Goldstein said.

A Gallup analysis done before Joe Biden and Paul Ryan squared off in 2012 showed that vice-presidential debates rarely have much impact.

Even after the 2008 debate that pitted Biden and the high-wattage Sarah Palin against each other  drawing nearly 70 million viewers  voter preference remained relatively unchanged.

Different roles

Pence has frequently been on the hot seat defending, deflecting and explaining some of his unconventional running mate's more inflammatory comments and views. It's made for some awkward moments, with Pence defending Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump's apparent support for a policy of stop-and-frisk by police, and Trump's feud with a Muslim-American family whose son, a US Army captain, was killed while serving in Iraq in 2004.

After Monday's presidential debate, Pence made the rounds on the television networks, where he broke with Trump on global warming. Trump has called warming a hoax, while Pence said after the debate that "there's no question" human activity affects both the climate and the environment.

Kaine, by contrast, is much more in lockstep with Clinton and has rarely faced tough questions on a tightly managed campaign that's so far been heavy with private glitzy fundraisers and lighter moments on TV. He's no fire-eater. He's called himself "boring," a quality Clinton said she loves about him.

Some days Kaine's toughest job is holding his own while jamming on harmonica with some world-class musical talents. That list so far includes Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert house band leader), Lindsey Buckingham (guitarist for Fleetwood Mac), Asleep at the Wheel (local country legends in Austin, Texas) and John Popper (frontman for Blues Traveler).

Recently, while Pence was defending a tweet from one of Trump's son's comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of Skittles, Kaine was in the middle of a California fundraising tour that included a dinner at actress Eva Longoria's house and an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

After the first presidential debate, Kaine and Pence both claimed victory for their candidates and looked ahead to their showdown.

Speaking to volunteers in Orlando, Florida, Kaine said Clinton's performance "raised the bar."

"That puts pressure on me," he joked.

On a TV appearance before flying to Wisconsin for two days of preparations with Walker, Pence said the same.

"Donald Trump raised the bar for his running mate," Pence said.

With inputs from agencies
A soldier fixed his gaze on Saleem-ud-Din Khan as he walked out of his home facing an Army bunker in Silikote village, a sparsely populated and one of the last inhabitations along the Line of Control in north Kashmir's Uri.

Earlier in the day, Khan, a labourer, had heard about the attacks carried out by Indian forces along the LoC. Without wasting time, Khan and his wife bundled their valuables in a trunk and waited, prepared to leave any time in case of escalation.

After India's surgical strikes, panic spread among villages along the LoC, sometimes fanned by government announcements; sometimes by rumour mills. Many residents packed their valuables, waiting for the government's evacuation call. War is still in the air, and on airwaves, but it hasn't happened so far.

We know the cost of war. For people sitting far away, it is easy to speak about war. For us, it is a matter of life and death. We become targets of slight escalation on the borders. We not only have to leave our homes but our very way of life, Khan, 52, said.

At some distance, a shepherd is herding his flock of sheep along the LoC fence which crisscrosses through Silikote. The fence was raised in 2003 after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire, providing much-needed relief to the residents living in border areas of two Kashmirs.

After a decade of raging hostilities and skirmishes along the de facto border, India and Pakistan agreed to the ongoing ceasefire brokered on 26 November, 2003, in the first formal truce between the two armies since the outbreak of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

On the next day, guns and mortars roaring along the Line of Control, International Border and in Siachen Glacier fell silent.

Since Thursday, when India claimed to have carried out strikes along the LoC, Khan, along with other residents of Silikote, have been glued to their satellite dish-powered television sets, surfing news channels which have covered the rising tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours on a minute-to-minute basis.

The advancements made by technology, Khan says, are a cause of psychological trauma for people living along the fragile 740-kilometre LoC. "Before the satellite dish became a norm here, news of Pakistani shelling in nearby village would take days to reach us. Now, it takes minutes for the war between two neighbours to reach your bedroom."

The fear of possible escalation and retaliation by Pakistani troops, after surgical strikes in Pakistani side of Kashmir, has triggered panic and confusion among border residents, some of whom have been evacuated, while many more are moving towards safer places on their own.

A fragile peace that had sustained the changing climate of Indo-Pak relations for more than a decade, villagers fear, is likely to be replaced with the sound of falling mortars and artillery.

On Saturday, minor skirmish between two armies were reported from Jammu region in Pallanwala area of Akhnoor. Officials said five of their posts were attacked with small arms but their was no damage and they have given befitting replay to Pakistan.

The atmosphere around the Silkote village is tense. Residents prefer to walk in groups and the fear of retaliation from across the LoC, catching them unawares, looms large. A Pakistani bunker a few hundred metres from the village is a constant reminder of the dangers faced by them. On Monday, India and Pakistan again resorted to exchange of firing in areas along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Although there has been a massive voluntary migration throughout the towns and village along the LoC and international border in Jammu, the state government has not asked people to vacate their homes in Uri.

But we are prepared for the worst. We have identified places for rehabilitation of people in case of any eventuality of shelling, says Showkat Ahmad Rather, a Sub Divisional Magistrate in Uri.

However, the scene in Jammu region is of chaos and confusion after Jammu and Kashmir government encouraged thousands of people to evacuate areas falling within a 10-kilometre radius of the international border. Many have refused to flee, citing inadequate facilities at the camps and a bumper crop waiting to be harvested.

We were eyeing a bumper paddy crop this year. Now we dont want to leave our farms unattended and move in filthy rehabilitation camps, Rajendra Chaudhary, a resident of Ramgarh village in Samba district along the International Border between India and Pakistan, said.

In villages like Ramgarh of Samba district in Jammu, residents say they have already moved to a school building in the village but not towards the plains. The state government had last year said it was going to construct 20,000 concrete bunkers along the LoC and international border in Jammu and Kashmir to shelter residents in case of such eventualities.

"A proposal has been submitted to the union home ministry for the construction of 20,125 community-type bunkers in Jammu division for people living near the border." Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the former CM of Jammu and Kashmir had said in the state assembly. The cost of constructing the bunkers was expected to be over Rs 1,000 crore.

But the bunkers are yet to come up and the residents says they shelter themselves in old, dilapidated ones, constructed in early nineties, which can give away at any time.

Mohammad Harun Malik, deputy commissioner of the border Poonch district, said the administration will provide accommodation to people who are feeling unsafe in border areas in safer areas. A pilot project is being executed but it will take some time to finish, he said.

Authorities have also shut schools in at least three districts of Samba, Kathua and parts of Rajouri in anticipation of retaliation by the Pakistani troops. Residents have been asked to shelter themselves in the premises of these government institution if shelling takes place.

Swaran Singh, a Sarpanch of Pallanwala village, fears matters can go out of hand at any time and as such he did not wait for the government announcement. This is nothing new. We have migrated four times earlier. Anything can happen at any time, and there is fear of war among people. So we have left our homes, Mr Singh said.
Islamabad: Asserting that it cannot be cowed down by "hollow rhetoric" and "aggressive posturing", Pakistan on Monday said its armed forces are fully capable of thwarting any threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, amid escalating tensions with India after the Uri terror attack.

During the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting attended by top defence officials including army chief General Raheel Sharif, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan's "quest for peace must not be mistaken as a sign of weakness".

"Internal and external security situation of the country with particular reference to the situation on the Line of Control (LoC) and operational preparedness of the armed forces were reviewed in detail during the meeting," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said here.

The leaders expressed "complete satisfaction over operational preparedness" of the armed forces. They resolved that the entire nation stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its armed forces and will ensure defence of the country at any cost.

"Pakistan cannot be cowed down with hollow rhetoric and aggressive posturing," they said during the meeting chaired by Nawaz Sharif at the Prime Minister's House.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan "does not cherish aggressive designs against any country" and believes in "peace and collective betterment".

"However, our quest for peace must not be mistaken as a sign of weakness; our armed forces are fully capable of thwarting any kind of threat to our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Sharif added.

His remarks came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has never attacked any country, nor has it been "hungry for any territory" but made supreme sacrifice fighting for others, referring to the two World Wars.

The developments come amid strained ties between New Delhi and Islamabad after the Uri terror attack and India's retaliatory surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC.

The NSC meeting referred to India's surgical strikes as "recent propaganda and false claims" of attacking terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir across the LoC and said India "should resolve the long-standing issue of Kashmir for enduring peace in the region, instead of such futile efforts of diverting attention of the world".

The leaders also said India must stop "atrocities" in Kashmir and recognise the struggle of Kashmiris for their right of self determination guaranteed by the UNSC resolutions.

Calling Pakistan and Kashmir as "inseparable", Sharif said it is "imperative that the UN and other countries fulfil their longstanding commitment to the Kashmiris" and added that Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people at every forum.

The leaders also noted that escalation on LoC and eastern borders will "shift Pakistan's focus away from its efforts to eliminate terrorism from our soil at a critical stage, and is detrimental" to the successes made by the country in war against terror.
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Nine Australians, including a government adviser, have been arrested in Malaysia for stripping down to their briefs and drinking beer from shoes after Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix, officials said yesterday.

Government officials confirmed that Jack Walker, adviser to Defense Industry Minister Chris Pyne, was among the men aged 25 to 29 who were arrested after they stripped down to Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag in full view of thousands of spectators at the Sepang race track Sunday.

Pynes office said the matter was being handled appropriately by the Australian High Commissioner in Malaysia.

Until we have a clearer picture of the process at hand, it would be unwise to comment further, a government statement said.

District police chief Abdul Aziz Ali said yesterday that the men were being investigated for intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace and public indecency.

He said police would submit a report to prosecutors, who will decide tomorrow if the men will be charged. Abdul Aziz told the AP that the men face up to six months in jail, a fine or both if they are found guilty.

Sepang International Circuit chief executive Datuk Razlan Razali told the New Straits Times website the men deserved to be locked up and have action taken against them.

This shows a huge lack of respect to us as Malaysians; this is stupid behavior from foreigners who have no sense of cultural sensitivity and respect, he said.

It embarrasses their own country as well  it gives Australians a bad name, he said.

Treasurer Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB the arrests were a reminder for travelers to know local laws and respect them. The government already warns travelers that there are conservative standards of dress and behavior in many parts of Malaysia.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten declined to discuss Walkers behavior, saying he did not want to jeopardize a complex situation.

Its incredibly serious when an Australian gets arrested overseas, he told reporters.

Don Rothwell, an Australian National University expert on international law, doubted Malaysian authorities would treat the Australians harshly.

The Malaysian government will be sure to make sure that its international reputation as a tourist destination for the Grand Prix is not too damaged, Rothwell told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Rod McGuirk, Canberra, AP
The aeronautical authorities of Macau and the Republic of Turkey met in Montreal on Saturday to discuss and sign a bilateral Air Services Agreement (ASA). According to the Aviation Authoritys (AACM) statement, the agreement is one of several aimed at encouraging foreign airlines to operate services to and from Macau. During the 39th ICAO Assembly in Montreal, the president of AACM, Simon Chan, and the directorate general of Civil Aviation of Turkey, Bilal Eksi, took the opportunity to sign the agreement on behalf of their governments. The Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications of the Republic of Turkey, Ahmet Arslan, attended the signing ceremony. The memorandum of understanding states that the two parties can enjoy multiple designations of airlines, and the designated airlines can enjoy zero capacity restrictions in their operation of scheduled passenger and all-cargo flights.

Local director nominated for Taiwan film awards

Crash, a short film by Macau director Hong Heng Fai, has been nominated in the category of Best Live Action Short Film for the 53rd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. Hong is the first director from Macau to be nominated in this award ceremony. The director, who is currently an independent producer, explained that the movie was entirely filmed in Macau, with all cast and crew members being Macau residents. The movie was supported by the Macao Cultural Centre. The final results will be revealed during the Golden Horse Awards Ceremony, which will take place November 26.

Fake bomb alert at local hotel

Last Wednesday, a mandarin-speaking man reported to the police he had planted a bomb in the lobby of Galaxy JW Marriott hotel. The suspect told the police the bomb would explode 30 minutes after his call. Explosive ordnance disposal officers and the fire squad were sent to the hotel to search for the bomb, but nothing suspicious was found. The police force later confirmed that the man had faked the incident. This information was released to the media more than two hours after the police completed the search. The police authorities have been placed under fire due to delayed reports to the media. However, the police claims that all reporting procedures have been conducted in accordance with the current reporting system. According to the police, the crime scene was not blocked off during the search for the bomb, which proved they evaluated the scene as safe.
The Chinese units of a former meat supplier for McDonalds and KFC China have been fined more than USD3.6 million for selling expired meat in a fast food safety scandal that erupted two years ago.

Its the latest fallout for OSI Group after a Shanghai TV station reported in 2014 that the company repackaged old beef and chicken under fresher expiration dates.

In a notice posted on its website , the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration said Monday that district market regulators fined Shanghai Husi Food Co. about 17 million yuan ($2.5 million).

Husi parent OSI Groups China office was hit with a separate fine of 7.3 million yuan ($1.1 million).

Husi and OSI will also face tighter scrutiny from the regulator, though specifics werent given.

No one answered the phone at OSI and Husi offices in China, where Monday was the start of a weeklong holiday. Calls to the regulators offices also went unanswered.

The penalties come after a Shanghai courts ruling in February that two local units of Aurora, Illinois-based OSI sold the tainted meat and fined them a total of 2.4 million yuan. The court also sentenced 10 employees to prison, one of them Australian.

The company appealed the ruling, but the regulators notice said the appeal was rejected in July.

Food safety remains a concern for Chinese consumers despite promises from the government to step up enforcement. Other recent high-profile scares include tainted baby formula, fake meat and fruits and even seafood pumped with gelatin.

After the report by Shanghais Dragon TV aired, Husi customers in China including McDonalds Corp., Yum Brands Inc.s KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants and Burger King Corp. stopped using its products. The company was forced to lay off 340 workers and the chairman apologized. AP
Cheng Yu-tung, a gold-shop apprentice who married his bosss daughter and helped develop the worlds largest jewelry retailer, has died. He was 91.

Cheng died peacefully with his family at his side Thursday night, his family said in an e-mailed statement.

Like fellow billionaire Li Ka-shing, Cheng was among Chinese refugees who fled from Japanese invaders and made it big outside of the mainland. Cheng, the third-richest tycoon in the city on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, had an estimated net worth of USD12.7 billion through his holdings in Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. and New World Development Co.

He was a born entrepreneur, Raymond Or, a friend and former vice chairman and chief executive officer of Hang Seng Bank Ltd., said in a September 2012 interview. Chengs business and investment decisions were aggressive yet they hit the spot even in tough times, Or said.

Cheng was honorary chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, which operates more than 2,000 outlets in China and Hong Kong, and whose revenue was more than 70 percent larger than that of New York-based Tiffany & Co. in the latest fiscal year. The jewelry-chain operator has struggled recently in Hong Kong as mainland Chinese tourists skip the shopping mecca for other destinations.

Profit for the year ended March 31 fell by 46 percent, slumping to the lowest since 2010. The chain is now looking to new strategies such as operating art galleries merged with malls in China, and selling diamonds wholesale to U.S. retailers to diversify away from its retail business.

Besides Chow Tai Fook, theres New World Development. In February 2012, Cheng announced his retirement as chairman of the company, which was founded in 1970 and operates in businesses including property, energy, bus services and department stores.

Henry Cheng, who succeeded his father as chairman, said the patriarchs death wont affect New Worlds operations as the billionaire had been in his sick bed in the past four years.

The elder Cheng was born on Aug. 26, 1925, in Shunde, a city in Guangdong, the southern Chinese province adjoining Hong Kong. In 1940, he fled to Macau to escape Chinas war with Japan.

At the age of 15, Cheng got his first job as an apprentice at the gold shop of family friend Chow Chi Yeun, who had founded Chow Tai Fook in 1929. Three years later, Cheng married Chows daughter, Tsui Ying, in a marriage arranged by their fathers.

In 1946, Cheng moved to Hong Kong from Macau to open a store. The jewelry chain expanded as Hong Kongs population doubled to almost 1.5 million with mostly displaced refugees. By 1950, the citys population swelled to more than 2 million as Chinese fled Communist China, and Cheng used the profits from selling gold to fund his property purchases.

In the late 50s, early 60s, I was in the jewelry industry when some friend told me property is better, Cheng said in a 2009 interview with analysts at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. I was not very knowledgeable about properties so I tried out with some small projects in Wanchai, he said, referring to a commercial district.

Cheng expanded his property business in May 1967, when the Cultural Revolution in China spilled over into Hong Kong. Pro-Communist demonstrators rioted against the British rule, leading to 51 people killed and 800 injured. Real estate prices plunged 71 percent. Cheng bought property in the aftermath. He started the New World Centre, a retail-hotel-residential-office complex in Kowloon, followed by the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in the mid-1980s.

As his businesses took off, he would visit jewelry stores unannounced to check on them, and eat with his workers at the company canteen. He wore Nike running shoes with business suits.

Cheng was a major philanthropist in Hong Kong. In April 2012, he spoke at a groundbreaking for a building that was named after him at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In 2008, Cheng pledged a HK$400 million gift to the University of Hong Kong.

Because Ive lost my chance to go to school, I want to help the future generations of our nation to be educated, the Standard reported him saying at the time.

Cheng took Chow Tai Fook public in December 2011, raising $2 billion in a Hong Kong share sale. Two months later, he announced his retirement from that business.

Last December, Cheng transferred some of his stock holdings to family funds and agreed to sell $3.2 billion of Chinese property projects in a move seen as an effort to put his affairs in order.

Cheng and his wife had two sons, Henry Cheng and Peter Cheng, and two daughters, Amy Cheng and Cheng Lai Ha. Fion Li, Vinicy Chan, Bloomberg
A stunning referendum defeat for a peace deal with leftist rebels leaves Colombians with no Plan B to save an accord that sought to bring an end to a half century of hostilities.

Instead of winning by an almost two-to-one margin on Sunday as pre-election polls had predicted, those favoring the accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia lost by a razor-thin margin, 49.8 percent to 50.2 percent for those against the deal.

Both President Juan Manuel Santos and leaders of the FARC, after four years of grueling negotiations, vowed to push ahead, giving no hint they want to resume a war that has already killed 220,000 people and displaced 8 million.

I wont give up. Ill continue search for peace until the last moment of my mandate, Santos said in a televised address appealing for calm.

But its not clear how the already unpopular Santos can save the deal after the stunning political defeat. He has ordered his negotiators to return to Cuba yesterday to confer with FARCs top leaders, who watched the results with disbelief after ordering drinks and cigars at Club Havana, once Cubas most exclusive beach club.

The FARC deeply regret that the destructive power of those who sow hatred and revenge have influenced the Colombian peoples opinion, the FARCs top commander, a guerrilla known as Timochenko, told reporters.

The loss for the government was even more shocking considering the huge support for the accord among foreign leaders, who have heralded it as a model for a world beset by political violence and terrorism. Many heads of state as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry were present when Santos and Timochenko signed the deal less than a week ago in an elaborate, emotion-filled ceremony.

Norway, which along with Cuba co-sponsored the talks, said it would be willing to further facilitate peace talks.

I am very disappointed, and the result shows a very polarized and split Colombia, Norways Foreign Minister Borge Brende told the NTB news agency.

We have told both parties that we will be at their disposal and are available, he said. We must also involve the opposition who say they want peace and hear what they think might be the solution.

With the outlook uncertain, all eyes are on Santos former boss and chief rival: Alvaro Uribe, the powerful former president who led the grass-roots campaign against the accord. With none of the governments huge PR machine, an angry Uribe gave voice to millions of Colombians, many of them victims of the FARC like him, who bristled at provisions in the 297-page accord sparing rebels jail time if they confessed their crimes and instead reserved them 10 seats in Congress.

Uribe, in prepared remarks from his ranch outside Medellin after the results were in, called for a big national pact and insisted on correctives that guarantee respect for the constitution, respect for private enterprise and justice without impunity. But he didnt specify whether he would join Santos in trying to salvage the deal, and took more swipes at the FARC, demanding it end drug trafficking and extortion.

The entire accord was full of impunity, said Ricardo Bernal, 60, celebrating the victory for the no side in a Bogota neighborhood where opponents were gathered. We all want peace but there have to be adjustments made.

Across town, hundreds of supporters of the peace deal who had gathered in a hotel ballroom for what they expected would be a victory party with Santos wept in despair.

The FARCs 7,000 guerrilla fighters are unlikely to return to the battlefield any time soon. For now, a cease-fire remains in place.

One option for Santos would be to reopen negotiations, something he had ruled out previously and his chief negotiator said would be catastrophic. The president, who has a little under two years left in office, could also seek to bypass another popular vote and ratify the accord in Congress or by calling a constitutional convention, something both the FARC and Uribe have previously favored.

Ive always believed in a wise Chinese proverb, to look for opportunities in any situation. And here we have an opportunity thats opening up, with the new political reality that has demonstrated itself in the referendum, Santos said Sunday night at the presidential palace.

But bringing Santos and Uribe together might be harder than achieving peace with the FARC. Santos served as Uribes defense minister, when they worked together with the U.S. to drive the FARC to the edge of the jungles, but the two havent spoken for years and frequently trade insults.

One of the reasons for the surprise defeat was low turnout, with only 37 percent of the electorate bothering to vote, a further sign to some analysts that Colombians enthusiasm for the ambitious accord was lacking. Heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew especially dampened voting along the Caribbean coast, where the governments electoral machinery is strongest and the yes vote won by a double-digit margin.

While urban voters who were being leaned on to pay for the peace largely voted against the accord, the areas hardest hit by the conflict overwhelmingly endorsed it. In the town of Bojaya, where a FARC mortar attack on a church killed dozens of civilians in 2002, the yes vote won with 96 percent of the vote.

The campaign exposed deep rifts in Colombian society, dividing many families and making clear the road to reconciliation would have been long and torturous even had the accord passed. Colombians overwhelmingly loathe the FARC, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group, and many considered the accord an insult to victims of the long-running conflict.

In the end, hate toward the FARC won out over hope for the future, said Jason Marczack, an expert on Latin America at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. Joshua Goodman & Andrea Rodriguez, Bogota, AP


Mastercard and Sands Shoppes at Cotai Strip have established a new and exclusive partnership to reward retail customers visiting Sands properties in Macau, according to statement from the gaming operator.

When visiting Sands Macao and Sands Shoppes, retail customers will be able to earn reward points from accessing three bonus schemes, including Ctrip Traveler Rewards, Mastercard Traveler Rewards and Extra Points. Visitors will also receive special privileges when booking travel to and from Macau and residing at Sands properties during their trip.

The sheer volume of loyalty points available to customers through our partnership with Mastercard will enable visitors to obtain even greater value by spending at Sands Shoppes, said David Sylvester, executive vice president of global retail at Las Vegas Sands.

According to the statement, the retail loyalty program marks a first for the region as Macau increases its position as a lifestyle destination in Asia.

CEM holds energy conservation seminar

Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM) held a seminar on energy conservation in the conference room of the Macao Science Centre last week, attracting around 60 representatives from related industries.

The seminar, titled Experience Sharing Seminar on Energy Saving, hosted keynote speakers from Hong Kong and Macau hotels as well as from environmental protection sectors. There were also representatives from various companies in the regions that have been successful in reducing energy consumption.

According to a statement from CEM, the company hopes that the seminar can become established as a platform from which industry insiders can regularly exchange information and share their experiences regarding the various means of conserving energy.

After the keynote speakers shared their thoughts, a question and answer session was held with the attendees who, according to the CEM statement, raised questions with great enthusiasm.

TTG awards Sheraton Grand Macao hotel

For the first time, Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel located at Cotai Central received the prestigious Best City Hotel  Macau award at the 27th Annual TTG Travel Awards 2016 Ceremony & Gala Dinner in Bangkok, Thailand.

Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel unveiled 80 new, luxuriously oversized Executive Deluxe Suites on the uppermost levels of the hotel earlier this year, which added to its selection of guest suite categories.

There are now more than 350 suites at Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, creating a hotel within a hotel in the 4,001-room property.

The TTG Travel Awards has been recognizing the best of Asia-Pacifics travel industry since 1989, honouring stellar organisations and individuals in four categories: Travel Supplier, Travel Agency, Outstanding Achievement and Travel Hall of Fame.


The bodies of 48 cult members have been discovered by Swiss police following an apparent mass suicide.

Twenty-three of the bodies were found in a concealed chamber beneath a remote farmhouse in the village of Cheiry, 48 miles north-east of Geneva.

A further 25 bodies, including some children, were recovered in three burnt-out chalets in Granges-sur-Salvan, 47 miles east of Geneva, near the Italian border.

The deaths have been linked to the apocalyptical Order of the Solar Temple sect, which was founded in 1984 by Dr Luc Jouret and Joseph di Mambro.

The Order of the Solar Temple condones the mass stock-piling of weapons to prepare for the end of the world.

Just hours before the grisly discoveries in Switzerland, the bodies of two more people, also believed to be linked to the sect, were found in Quebec, Canada, in a burnt-out apartment owned by Dr Jouret.

It is not known yet whether either of the cult leaders are among the dead, but the Swiss authorities have said they are searching for two people in connection with the deaths.

In Cheiry, emergency services were called to the farmhouse after locals reported a fire.

Initially they only discovered the body of the farms owner, 73-year-old Alberto Giacobino, who was lying dead on a bed with a plastic bag over his head. He had also been shot.

The concealed chamber, covered in mirrors, was discovered during a search of the property for further bodies.

Many of the bodies were found with gunshot wounds and plastic bags over their heads. Others were found clasping their hands in prayer. Most of the bodies were clad in ceremonial robes.

According to rescuers, champagne bottles littered the floor and the victims were lying in a star formation.

On a make-shift altar within the chamber there was a rose, a cross and a picture of Mr Jouret. The sects motto is Rose Eternal Cross.

Plastic bags of petrol and gas cylinders wired up to explode by a telephone signal were found although the system had failed to work. It is thought a second fire was started manually elsewhere in the building.

A similar timer device had also been rigged up in Granges-sur-Salvan. However, it is thought the dead may have been drugged or poisoned before the fires began.

Local people in both idyllic villages had no idea that cult members had been living in their midst and have been left shocked by the events of the past 24 hours.

Similarities are being made to events in Jonestown in Guyana in 1978 when 914 people led by the Reverend Jim Jones, committed suicide in a jungle clearing.

And just last year in Waco, Texas 80 members of the Branch Davidian sect, led by David Koresh, died after fire broke out during a siege.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

It was revealed following the mass suicides that the Order of the Solar Temple sect owned extensive property in Switzerland, Canada and France and was heavily involved in money laundering and arms trafficking.

International arrest warrants were issued for Luc Jouret and Joseph di Mambro who were suspected of mass murder, but their bodies were eventually discovered among the dead in Switzerland.

Two days after the Swiss suicides the bodies of Antonio and Nikki Dutoit and their three-month old son, Christopher, were found murdered in their home at Morin Heights, Quebec. The couple had left the Order of the Solar Temple sect three years previously but possibly knew too much.

In December 1995 16 members of the sect were found dead in France and in March 1997 five more died in Quebec.

In 2001, Michel Tabachnik, a former conductor with the Canadian Opera Company, was cleared of contributing to the 74 deaths of the members of the Order of the Solar Temple between 1994 and 1997.
European commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, a latecomer to the race to be the next secretary-general, says being the first U.N. chief from Eastern Europe and the first woman to be the worlds top diplomat would demonstrate the inclusiveness and universality of the United Nations.

But the Bulgarian diplomat and former World Bank vice-president said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of her hearing in the General Assembly yesterday that its the skills and determination she would bring to the job that count most.

I am very clear in defining directions, Georgieva said. I look forward with clarity. I am able to convince. I have my own convictions and I am able to carry people with me. And I have very strong managerial skills, proven, that I can get a job as hard as it may be, done.

The 63-year-old grandmother said there was an element of surprise when Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov asked her to enter the race after deciding to drop the countrys support from UNESCO chief Irina Bokova, a fellow Bulgarian who came in sixth of nine secretary-general candidates in the fifth informal poll in the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 26 which was led by former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres.

I gave it some thought because I recognized that its so late in the process, Georgieva said. But then, I also thought, If I dont run, how would I know if I have a shot or I dont? To find out, I have to run.

Georgieva is currently vice-president of the European Commission and its commissioner for budget and human resources. She formerly held the post of European commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response.

Under the U.N. Charter, the secretary-general is elected by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. In practice, this has meant that the five permanent council members with veto power  the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France  have the final say. Ten candidates are vying to succeed Ban Ki-moon whose term ends on Dec. 31.

Since Borisov announced Georgievas candidacy last week, there have been diplomatic rumblings about her late entry and the fact that Bulgaria now has two candidates.

Both Georgieva and Bokova will be on the ballot in the next informal poll tomorrow which is considered the most important so far. Thats because it will be the first using different colored ballots to distinguish between the five permanent council members who have veto power and the 10 non-permanent members who dont.

As a late-comer to the contest, Georgieva acknowledges she is at a disadvantage because she has less time to introduce herself.

My job is to put my best foot forward, and hope that I will be judged on merits and not on length of campaigning, she said in Saturdays interview during a break from preparing the question-and-answer session in the 193-member General Assembly, a hearing all the other candidates have gone through already. Edith M. Lederer, United Nations, AP
Ian Coughlan was appointed as president of Wynn Macau, replacing Gamal Abdelaziz, who resigned, the Las Vegas-based company said Friday in a filing. Coughlan will be responsible for all operations and development at the Wynn Palace, as well as the Wynn Macau resort, the company said. The Palace opened on Aug. 22, and the part that caters to mass-market customers has been lackluster in its first weeks, analysts said.

According to Bloomberg, Mr Coughlan joined Wynn Macau in January 2007. He has over 30 years of hospitality experience with leading hotels across Asia, Europe and the United States. Before joining Wynn Resorts, Limited, he spent ten years with The Peninsula Group, serving as a general manager of Peninsula Hong Kong from September 2004 to January 18, 2007.

Gamal Abdelaziz led the development of its new USD4.2 billion Wynn Palace resort and served as president of Wynn Macau since 2007. His departure should be an indication that the post-opening ramp of the Palace has been disappointing, Harry Curtis, an analyst at Nomura Securities, wrote in a note Friday. It will take a long time to build a mass presence at the Palace, which was built more for premium players.

Wynn Resorts plans to release opening numbers for the resort at an unspecified time, the company said Friday in an e-mail.

The Palace opened following a two-year a slump in gambling in Macau. Gambling rose 1.1 percent in August and 7.4 percent in September. Analysts are now warning that gaming may take another hit when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang travels to Macau in October to attend the Forum Macaus ministerial conference.

Historically, visits to Macau by high-level PRC officials have had short-term negative impacts on gross gaming revenue and we expect this same dynamic to occur in October, said Grant Govertsen, a Macau-based analyst at Union Gaming.

Curtis at Nomura noted that once Macaus new light-rail system is operational, the Palace could achieve a 10 percent return on invested capital, though he said initial gains should be closer to mid-single digits. MDT/Bloomberg
Since North Koreas latest nuclear test, Pyongyang and Seoul have been openly trading threats of decapitation strikes and annihilating capitals populated by millions of civilians. And the talk of how each side might throw that first pre-emptive punch has become more detailed than ever.

Seoul and Pyongyang are now making a point of claiming they are justified, and capable, of striking hard if an attack by the other appears imminent: North Korea with its rapidly developing nuclear arsenal, Seoul with conventional missile attacks and commando operations explicitly aimed at killing Kim Jong Un and his top commanders.

Swings of tension from crisis levels to business as usual, with the white noise of bellicose rhetoric always in the background, have been a fact of life for decades on the divided Korean Peninsula. But with pre-emptive strike scenarios now coming out in the open, there may be new cause for real concern.

Heres a look at why, from the perspectives of the North, the South and the United States:

PYONGYANG DOUBLES DOWN

Since assuming power in late 2011, Kim has made major strides toward making his country a credible nuclear threat.

This year alone, the North has conducted two nuclear tests, its latest and biggest on Sept. 9. It has test-launched several long-range missiles, including at least one from a submarine, and generally demonstrated its moving toward a stealthier, deployment-ready nuclear and missile arsenal.

Pyongyang may now be capable of launching a nuclear attack on Seoul, which is only about 60 kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone, and on the roughly 28,000 U.S. troops deployed in the South. Also possibly within striking distance are Japan, home to another 50,000 U.S. troops, and even the U.S. territory of Guam, a key Pacific military hub about 3,000 kilometers away.

Its closer than ever to having nuclear-tipped missiles able to reach the U.S. mainland.

Having the weaponry and being able to successfully use it are two different things. Experts have mixed opinions on whether the North can actually mount nuclear weapons on its long-range missiles, and on how reliable either would be.

North Korea has effectively held Seoul hostage for decades with dug-in, well-hidden artillery that could cause massive damage on the crowded South Korean capital and its suburbs. But the immediate U.S.-South Korean counterattack would be devastating.

But by introducing nuclear weapons into the equation, Pyongyang is trying to strengthen its hand  in deterrence, in an actual contingency or at the negotiating table should meaningful talks with Washington resume.

Its a risky, costly and extremely dangerous gambit, and North Korea appears to be doubling down.

In March, its state media reported that Kim personally supervised a drill simulating an attack on the Blue House, South Koreas presidential residence. Late last month, the Norths military issued a statement threatening to use nuclear weapons to reduce Seoul to ashes and sweep Guam, the base of provocations, from the surface of the earth. This week, state media again warned the North is ready to act at the slightest sign of intrusion.

SOUTH KOREA PREPS TO TAKE OUT KIM

Obviously, a decapitation strike scenario aimed at North Koreas leadership is something the South would quietly consider  thats what military strategists are paid to do. North Korea attempted one against South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1968; it was a disaster.

But Seoul is now showing its cards.

South Korean media started talking about them in August 2015, when a South Korean defense official said beheading operations would be part of a new joint wartime plan. U.S. and South Korean troops reportedly conducted such training during joint exercises in March. Some military experts say such exercises arent new, but the reports outraged Pyongyang.

Seouls rhetoric is now even more pointed. Shortly after last months nuclear test, its Joint Chiefs of Staff announced plans to strengthen its ability to conduct pre-emptive strikes. And it said a Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation system would use special forces, the Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile and the Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile  now under development  to, as one South Korean newspaper put it, obliterate areas where Kim Jong Un and the rest of North Koreas leaders are located.

Kim Dae Young, a military expert at South Koreas Korea Defense and Security Forum, questioned whether the South could pull off a pre-emptive strike without nuclear weapons.

Pyongyangs subways run 100 to 150 meters deep. South Korea could fire all of its cruise missiles and ballistic missiles onto Pyongyang and it would still be difficult to break the tunnels, he said. If youre able to take out Kim Jong Un on the first try, good. But if you fail, then you come under a nuclear attack.

Conservative lawmakers, scholars and media agencies are calling for South Korea to develop its own nukes and ask the U.S. to reintroduce tactical nuclear weapons into South Korea. Officials say they have no plans for such changes, which would infuriate neighbors China, Russia and Japan and fly in the face of longstanding U.S. military policy.

PATIENCE AND WORRY IN WASHINGTON

With presidential elections just over a month away, Washington has been sticking to President Barack Obamas longstanding policy of strategic patience  keeping Pyongyang at arms length, building regional alliances and isolating the Norths government.

It has recently flown B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula and is moving ahead with the deployment of its top-of-the-line THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, though China sees THAAD as a threat to its own defense.

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, assured Congress last week the U.S. has plans in place for de-escalating and defusing a crisis. He said South Koreas official statements on pre-emption did not show it has any intent to take precipitous or provocative action.

Even so, some in Washington view the escalation as disconcerting.

Discussions of things like pre-emption in public obviously add a troubling element to peninsular dynamics, said Evans Revere, a former State Department official and East Asia expert.

Revere blamed Pyongyang for its rapid nuclear and missile buildup. He said Seouls logic in allowing stories about exercise scenarios to leak out is to maximize the deterrent message and to reassure South Koreans.

That, too, is a risky game.

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, also at last weeks Senate hearing, warned that if North Korea believes the South intends to use pre-emptive force to kill its leaders, Kim Jong Un would be under pressure to delegate control over nuclear weapons to front-line military commanders. If the North believes Seoul plans to pre-emptively take out its nuclear weapons, he added, that could also create pressure to use them or lose them in a crisis.

Both of those pressures could drastically increase the risk of inadvertent nuclear war on the peninsula, he said. Eric Talmadge, Tokyo, AP
Former journalist and Radio Macau director Alberto Alecrim passed away yesterday morning, falling victim to a long-term illness.

At the age of 84, Alecrim was a resident of Macau for over 50 years. He was appointed as Radio Macau director in 1978. He was also a contributor to local newspaper Clarim and worked in the Government Information Bureau.

Alecrim arrived in the territory in 1965 some years after the invasion of the then Portuguese colony of Goa by the Indian army, which left him arrested in an internment camp for a while. In Macau, Alecrim continued his work as a radio broadcaster, which he had begun earlier in Goa.

Many of his friends have expressed their sorrow for his death and remember him for his sense of humor.

President of the Macanese Association Miguel Senna Fernandes said to Radio Macau, Macau lost an institution. A man that made himself Macanese by his unconditional love for this land that become his own. He added that Alecrim was a man of strong values but also of a lot of savoir-faire, essential characteristics [to have to succeed] in Macau.

Another of his friends, the lawyer and former lawmaker Antonio Correia, commented to Radio Macau, near him there was never sadness  thats Alecrims trade mark, and recalled the friend as a living encyclopedia of what this land is. RM
According to the Public Security Police Force (PSP), around 900 protesters marched on Chinas National Day holiday on October 1. The majority of the demonstrators were pre-sale buyers of the Pearl Horizon development who demanded further action from the government regarding their situation.

The demonstrators held banners and posters with sentences like I want to meet Chief Executive. Give back my home quick! among others conveying similar messages.

Were now all caught up in an impasse. Were here today to appeal to the authorities to find us a solution. The government has to also further supervise Polytech Groups assets as were afraid the developer will intentionally move its money away and file for bankruptcy, said Kou Meng Pok, president of Pearl Horizon Proprietors Association to TDM.

In a prompt response from the government, the office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, issued a statement reacting to the demonstration: The event is about a conflict of interest between the owners and the promoter company and it can only be solved by the law, which includes court actions in case the situation cant be solved through negotiations, the statement read, reaffirming the attention of the government to the situation and its clear intentions to act in accordance with the Land Law.

But Pearl Horizon protesters were not the only ones on the streets last Saturday. There were also other groups urging the government to take action in support of their cause. Among them was a group calling for restrictions and tighter supervision on imported labor in order to better protect the interests of local residents.

According to the PSP, all of the demonstrations took place in an orderly manner without any reports of conflict. RM
Although Chinas One Belt, One Road, (OBOR) scheme is expected to bring vital economic and technological developments in China, a scholar believes that the country still lacks the initiative to deepen its understanding of different cultures.

The principle of OBOR is to promote regional and cross-continental connectivity between China and Eurasia.

Hence, Feng Da-Hsuan, director of Global Affairs and special advisor to rector of the University of Macau explained that the East Asian country ought to promote knowledge about various histories and cultures of different countries in its region.

According to him, only three out of 3,500 institutions in China, are with scale-down efforts in learning about South Asia. There are efforts now, you see a little, but too little, too few, he lamented.

The centerpiece of Chinas economic diplomacy may create new economic opportunities, however he questioned whether it could be a platform for a mindset transformation for the millennium.

Speaking on the sidelines of the monthly French Macau Business Associations breakfast meeting held last week, the scholar recalled that universities in the renaissance period welcomed a new cultural ambience, which then attributed to developing a cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history.

Thus the expert believes that if current institutions in the supercontinent were to be opened to different traditions, similar revolutions may occur.

These great giants in the neo-renaissance [] armed with an amalgamated cultural background, will surely propose breakthrough thinking and methodologies to overcome humanity challenges, he affirmed.

Feng argued that OBOR is a great opportunity for China to transform itself at this point in time. Before it was too poor, too disorganized. Finally, China is organized as a serious nation but then they need to think of how can China, as a nation, help humanity and not just for itself, he explained.

For China to rethink this transformation, it needs to set a new level of humility, which it never had, added the expert.

The scholar is confident that China is capable of promoting various cultures to its peoples, however he doubted whether it has reached the point of wanting to promote this yet.

According to him, the most demanding task for China is how it could preserve its robust culture, while attempting to introduce and understand other philosophies.

Meanwhile, Feng said that Macau is one of the few places in Asia which understands the importance of cultural diversity, adding that the peninsula has a vast history which could influence OBOR enormously.

OBOR cannot just be an economic and technological development. It will be development of China transforming its own thinking in the 21st century and Macau actually did that in the last 500 years, he told the Times.

Further, he noted that higher education in the region has been improving significantly. He said that the local government probably realized that a great university would first be needed to diversify the economy.
Donald Trump was facing renewed pressure to release his personal tax information after a New York Times report that he recorded a USD916 million loss on his 1995 income tax return, a deduction that might have allowed him to cut his federal income tax for several ensuing years.

The Times, citing tax analysts, reported on Saturday night that based on Trumps 1995 income tax documents, he might have been able to reduce his tax bills for as many as 18 years. The newspaper posted to its website three documents, which purported to be from state tax returns in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. It received the documents in the mail last month, the newspaper said.

Trumps campaign said in a statement that he has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes. It also said the tax documents  which it referred to as an alleged tax document, had been illegally obtained.

I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them, Trump said Sunday on Twitter.

Departing from roughly 40 years of tradition for presidential nominees, Trump has declined to release his tax returns. He says they are under an Internal Revenue Service audit and that he wont release them until that audit has concluded. Theres no law preventing people from releasing their tax returns, even if theyre under audit. But tax advisers say that doing so would subject the returns to public scrutiny that might surface issues auditors had missed.

Democrat Hillary Clintons campaign, which has repeatedly faulted Trump over the lack of transparency, seized upon the Times report, calling it a bombshell that reveals both Trumps past business failures and his tax avoidance.

Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon tweeted that the story showed just how lousy a businessman he is AND how long he may have avoided paying any taxes.

During their debate on Monday, Clinton had speculated that Trump was trying to hide politically embarrassing information by withholding his returns  including that he doesnt want the public to know that hes paid nothing in federal taxes. She cited previous reports, including one by the Washington Post, which showed that he had paid no federal income taxes in 1978 and 1979.

Trump responded: That makes me smart. In its statement Saturday, Trumps campaign said he has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.

The Posts report was based on returns Trump had filed with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 1981. For 1978 and 1979, Trump took advantage of a tax-code provision popular with developers that allowed him to report negative income, according to the Post. He told the newspaper, When youre in the real estate business, you do have certain tax advantages. Developers can depreciate the value of real estate to reduce their taxable income.

In Saturdays report, the New York Times cited a $916 million loss and noted the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Several Republican operatives who worked for Trumps opponents in the primary elections predicted the news would weigh heavily on the nominee in the Nov. 8 election, arguing that voters will see his tax avoidance as a matter of fairness.

Most Americans know you cant avoid two things: death and taxes, said David Kochel, who was former Florida Governor Jeb Bushs chief strategist before Bush quit the presidential race.

Trump has in the past criticized people who he says dont pay their fair share of taxes. In September 2015, he tweeted: The hedge fund guys (gals) have to pay higher taxes ASAP. They are paying practically nothing. We must reduce classes for the middle class!

The New York Timess story capped one of the most tumultuous weeks yet for Trump, following what was widely perceived as a dismal performance at the first presidential debate. He has faced a barrage of attacks for his continued abrasive rhetoric against former Miss Universe pageant winner Alicia Machado, including a series of early morning tweets suggesting, without any evidence, that she had a sex tape. He has also repeatedly threatened to make Bill Clintons past infidelities a central issue of his campaign, to the consternation of several of his closest advisers.

If genuine, the 1995 documents that the Times released Saturday revolve around net operating losses  which under federal tax rules allow a business to apply losses from any one year to future years  reducing taxable income in those years.

In 1995, taxpayers could carry forward such losses for 15 years, the Times reported, and apply them for three years retroactively. The rules are meant to smooth out fluctuations in taxable income over time.

While the $916 million loss is substantial  and it would have helped cut future taxes to be sure  its unclear precisely how such a loss would have affected Trumps tax liability going forward. Thats because his taxable income in subsequent years is unknown. Kevin Cirilli, Bloomberg
Non-perishable food and monetary donations can be taken to Alliance Title, 1411 Falls Ave. E., Suite 1315, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, through Oct. 31. At the end of the month, the branch will donate a portion of its October revenue to further support the food bank.
LEWISTON  A group of state, federal and tribal fisheries managers that coordinates salmon and steelhead fishing in the Columbia River basin did something unusual last week  it upgraded its forecast for B-run steelhead.

The Technical Advisory Committee, known as TAC, now estimates 40,500 of the big-bodied steelhead that return mostly to the Clearwater River will make it at least as far as Bonneville Dam. If those fish experience average survival, about 28,350 will make it to Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River.

The preseason forecast called for just 25,800 B-run fish to make it to Bonneville and 18,000 to Lower Granite.

We are getting a pretty good return of Dworshak (National Fish Hatchery) fish coming back, said Alan Byrne, an Idaho Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist at Boise.

I think this will be one of the bigger returns to the Clearwater in the last couple of years, he said. I cant remember the last time TAC increased the group B steelhead.

Over the past several years, the B-run has been far less reliable than the A-run. But with the A-run flagging this fall, the opposite is true.

The B-run fish are bigger and they generally, but not always, spend two years or more in the ocean. The A-run fish are smaller and usually spend just one year in the ocean, but also include some that spend multiple years at sea. Biologists said the A-run is nearly devoid of one-ocean fish this year, meaning those that spend one year in the Pacific. Instead, it is made up almost entirely of two-ocean fish. Since the older fish make up only a small portion of the run, the overall return is down significantly.

Salmon managers have also downgraded the forecast for fall chinook that return upstream of Bonneville Dam. They said an estimated 432,300 of the fish known as upriver brights will return this fall, down from a preseason forecast of 628,000. The return of coho salmon to the Columbia River is also disappointing.

Byrne called the B-run upgrade the one bright spot of the fall season. But its not all sunshine. The wild component of the B-run, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, isnt doing well at all. Byrne said of the more than 40,000 B-run fish expected to pass Bonneville Dam this fall, only 5,700 of them will be wild.

The hatchery returns are pretty good because of Dworshak, but we are not going to have a very good wild return; in fact, the wild run is less than we had forecasted.

The preseason forecast called for about 7,400 wild B-run fish to make it to Bonneville.
It wasnt your typical Idaho roundup  there were no horses, cowboys or even cows  but it was important for one of Idahos most valuable wildlife species: sockeye salmon.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game personnel and volunteers recently held their annual sockeye roundup on the Salmon River near Stanley when about 25 people waded downstream from the Sawtooth Hatchery, spread a net and carefully herded 23 sockeye into waiting transport vehicles.

Every year, some returning sockeye pause downstream rather than returning all the way to the hatchery, and they needed a little push to cross the finish line on their 900-mile journey from the Pacific to Idahos high country at 6,500-feet elevation in the Sawtooth Basin.

Getting every last fish not only contributes more parents to produce the next generation, it allows sockeye managers to see whats working in the sockeye recovery program. With testing, biologists can tell from which genetic line the fish originated, which helps them better understand which fish survive at the highest rates.

Since the days of Lonesome Larry, a single fish that returned to Idaho in 1992, a captive broodstock program was started with 16 adult sockeye that returned from the ocean, along with juveniles and residuals captured from Redfish Lake, which jump-started the modern era of Idahos sockeye.

This years return of 567 fish is slightly below the 10-year average of 664 fish, but a huge improvement over previous decades. As late as 2007, only four sockeye returned.

Its been an encouraging year, said Dan Baker, Eagle Hatchery manager. Were continuing to move in the right direction.

Theres enough sockeye this year to let some spawn in the wild, spawn others in hatcheries and release their offspring to migrate to the ocean, and keep others in captivity to provide a genetic bank that safeguards against natural catastrophes, such as lethal river conditions.

Fish and Game also will collect enough eggs this year to completely fill the Springfield Hatchery for the first time. This will produce approximately 1 million smolts that will be released and migrate to the ocean in 2018. The hatchery was completed in 2013 and is dedicated solely to raising sockeye.

With this years returning and the captive adults, Fish and Game has released more than 1,000 spawners into Redfish Lake and another 100 into nearby Pettit Lake.

This years run was a vast improvement over last year both in numbers and percentage of fish successfully completing their migration. In 2015, unseasonably warm water created lethal conditions in the rivers, so Fish and Game trapped and hauled 35 fish from the Snake River to the Eagle Hatchery to supplement those that naturally returned.
TWIN FALLS  A Filer man pleaded guilty to punching a man and leaving him with a partially detached retina outside a Twin Falls pool hall after the Super Bowl.

Dustin Perry Eli Andresen, 33, was set to face trial Friday on a felony count of aggravated battery. Instead, Andresen accepted a plea deal amending the charge to a misdemeanor count of simple battery. He entered an Alford plea, meaning he maintains his innocence but admits prosecutors likely have enough evidence to convict him.

Andresen was arrested and charged in April, about two months after prosecutors say he sucker punched a man Feb. 7 outside The Pocket. The victim, Brian Grooms, told police he confronted Andresen over a stolen cellphone, and when the confrontation spilled outside, Andresen punched him in the right eye from behind.

Police spoke with both men that night and no charges were immediately filed, but Grooms said he woke up the next day with no vision in the right eye and ultimately needed laser surgery to fix a partially torn retina. That prompted prosecutors to seek the aggravated battery charge and a $100,000 warrant.

The case was bound over to district court after Grooms testified during a preliminary hearing, and it was set for trial last Friday in front of District Judge Richard Bevan. Instead, Andresen submitted the signed Alford plea.

A sentencing date has not been set. Andresen faces up to six months in county jail and a fine up to $1,000.
JEROME  Former brand inspector Justin Wayne Archer, who pleaded guilty to stealing from Producers Livestock earlier this year, violated the trust of this community and the trust of this state, Jerome County District Judge John Butler said Monday.

Archer, 31, of Kimberly was sentenced Monday to five years of supervised probation, 500 hours community service and ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in fines and restitution.

He pleaded guilty in August to a felony count of grand theft for stealing money from Producers Livestock with the help of one of that companys employees and his co-defendant, Georgina Zamora, 40, of Jerome. The pair admitted during an investigation that Zamora wrote Archer a check for $6,571.91 from her employers account. Archer said he cashed the check and they split the money.

As a brand inspector, basically youre a sworn officer, and you engaged in activity that is clearly contrary to your own oath, Butler told Archer. Its hard to believe that someone in your position could even find yourself agreeing to be engaged in this type of activity.

Archer and Zamora were both charged in May with felony counts of grand theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft, but the conspiracy charges for both were dropped as part of plea agreements. Zamora was sentenced last month to a suspended five-year prison term, three years of supervised probation, a $1,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.

Butler sentenced Archer to seven years in prison but suspended the sentence in favor of probation. His attorney, Guy Zimmerman, said Archer is a divorced former U.S. Marine whose many skills will allow him to find work, and Butler cited Archers military service as one reason probation was appropriate.

But the judge also scolded Archer and seemed at a loss for why he committed the crime.

Its troubling there arent mental health issues, there arent substance abuse issues, Butler said. It appears this was purely for financial gain.

An investigation revealed Archer and Zamora were friends who conspired to steal money from Producers Livestock that was sitting in a hold account for the sale of cattle, court documents said. Archer said Zamora told him this money was just sitting there and these people dont even exist anymore; he admitted to police that he asked Zamora to write the check out to him and that they each kept half the money.

Archer resigned as a brand inspector May 2, the same day he was arrested.

The check had no relation to Archers duties as a brand inspector and the agency will continue to cooperate with the sheriffs office and prosecutors office, Idaho State Police said in a statement in May. The Idaho State Brand Inspector expects all employees to obey all laws and maintain the highest standards of professionalism and integrity both on and off duty.

Archer expressed remorse Monday for the harm hed caused his family, friends, the company he stole from and his fellow brand inspectors.

Id like to apologize to all parties involved  Producers Livestock, friends, co-workers, Archer said. I know the court will make a good decision, and I will be able to continue on, become a contributing member of society again, put this behind me.
TWIN FALLS  Standing in front of a group of fifth graders Monday, April Bruns held up a toy car.

What powers a car? Fuel. The United Dairymen of Idaho consultant told more than 50 students at Pillar Falls Elementary School their bodies also need fuel: nutritious food.

If we dont put fuel in our body, we wont be able to keep going all day, she said.

Bruns was one of several speakers during a kick-off event for National School Lunch Week, which begins next week. Speakers during the event included Idaho U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and a representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nutrition officials and educators say children do better academically when theyre well nourished.

During the event, students sampled food at three stations in the school cafeteria.

Chobani served yogurt and children chose which toppings to add. Glanbia handed samples of cheese and United Dairymen of Idaho passed out milk, as well as plastic bags with slap bracelets and jump ropes.

Pillar Falls fifth-grader Drake Hathorne, 10, said he enjoyed the cheese samples. I like the texture of it, he said.

He eats breakfast at home before school each day, but eats school-provided lunch. Some of his favorite lunch offerings so far this year are chicken strips and spaghetti.

The Twin Falls School District serves about 2,550 breakfasts and 6,200 lunches every day across its 15 campuses.

The district has a farm-to-school program, getting products from local growers such as Kelleys Canyon Orchard and Clear Springs Foods.

Food service director Lori Rieth told students the school district is working to replace junk food with fresh fruits and vegetables.

And after surveying students, school nutrition staff made recent changes to menus and incorporated fresh herbs to add flavor to food.

Every Twin Falls School District campus offers free breakfast. And eight schools with high poverty rates offer free lunches through the U.S. Department of Agricultures Community Eligibility Provision.

The nationwide school lunch program is important to Idaho, Crapo told students.

He told fifth-graders he and others in Congress are working in Washington, D.C. to reauthorize and strengthen the school lunch program.

A tremendous amount of food grown in Idaho is used in school lunches nationwide, he said, and its a boost to the states economy.

Idaho is one of our nations strongest agricultural producers, he said. And the Magic Valley is one of the primary agricultural and food producers in Idaho.

Idaho is also the third largest dairy producer in the United States, Crapo said.

During a presentation, Crapo also complimented Pillar Falls school facilities. The school, as well as Rock Creek Elementary School, opened in August.

I congratulate you on being such a fabulous new school, he told students. Im impressed.

Jesus Mendoza, a western regional administrator for the USDAs food and nutrition service, told students his favorite part of the job is going to schools.

This school year, students are eating healthier meals across the country, Mendoza said. The lunches include more whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables.

During her presentation, Bruns put on a turkey hat and students laughed. Like my hat? she asked fifth-graders. Yeah, the children responded.

She told students its her thinking cap.

Who can tell me some dairy products? Bruns asked students. They threw out answers, including yogurt, cheese, ice cream and chocolate milk.

Then, she asked students to hold up fingers for the number of servings of dairy they should get each day. The correct answer, Bruns told students, is at least three.

Dairy is important because it helps build strong bones and muscles, Bruns told students.

And children need good nutrition, she said, to play for the recommended one hour each day.
HANSEN  A loaded gravel truck plowed into a boom truck, injuring three highway district employees Monday morning seven miles south of town.

Daniel Milliken, 33, of Filer was in the bucket of a Twin Falls Highway District boom truck at about 9:40 a.m., trimming trees along Rock Creek Road, when a northbound 1972 Mack gravel truck, driven by 85-year-old John Hadam of Eden, struck the boom truck. The impact threw Milliken to the ground, Idaho State Police said.

The boom truck was facing south in the northbound lane, but highway district workers had flashing lights and warning signs in place, Trooper Scott Bolen said. Two workers standing behind the boom truck throwing tree branches into a chipper also were injured in the crash.

The crash happened at 3050 N. 3800 E., just north of Rock Creek General Store, near where Rock Creek flows under Rock Creek Road.

Milliken was flown to St. Lukes Magic Valley Regional Medical Center. Kody Craner, 43, of Twin Falls was taken to St. Lukes by ambulance, and Arthur Clark, 43, of Kimberly was taken to St. Lukes in a private vehicle, Bolen said. All three were treated and released.

Hadam was uninjured in the crash. He was cited for inattentive driving.

Rock Creek Road was closed for about five hours while the road was cleared of dirt and gravel.
BURLEY  Theres more to manufacturing than the production line.

Thats one of the messages Mini-Cassia business leaders and educators are trying to get across. During October, National Manufacturing Month, the Idaho Department of Labor office in Burley plans to kick off new social media accounts focused on all things food. And more marketing efforts are underway at the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce.

With an unemployment rate hovering just above 3 percent, manufacturers are competing for skilled workers, and business leaders have turned their attention to local students.

In order to develop a bigger work force, were going to have to grow our own, said Chet Jeppesen, work force consultant for the Department of Labor. Were really trying to promote manufacturing and the jobs that exist in manufacturing.

The manufacturing jobs people are used to hearing about are dirty manual-labor jobs on the production line, Jeppesen said. But theres a large need in the area for technology-focused positions such as machine operators, electricians, instrumentation techs and mechanics  jobs that earn good wages, he said.

These jobs arent just washing potatoes, said Kyla Sawyer, president and CEO of the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce. Theyre high tech. They involve more than just soft skills. Its a foot in the door to a career.

One way the Department of Labor plans to reach out to students is through social media  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. As early as the end of this week  National Manufacturing Day is Friday  Jeppesen hopes to use these platforms to spread the message that the Magic Valley produces food for the world.

Our target audience is junior high and high school kids, as well as their parents, he said.

Efforts will be coordinated with the Burley Department of Labor office in conjunction with the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce, Region IV Development and local school districts.

Education within reach

The College of Southern Idaho Mini-Cassia center in Burley is engaged with several businesses to meet their work force needs, said director Amy Christopherson. Businesses are realizing that the education pipeline is a huge source of skilled workers, she said.

We want to be a resource to them, she said. We want our students to be the best employees in the Mini-Cassia area.

The college offers apprenticeship and work force development programs, as well as an introduction class for food processing, in order to give students a basic understanding of the jobs available locally.

That class fills every semester, Christopherson said. We have to cap it because of space.

The class can handle about 30 students, she said.

Jeppesen would like to see more apprenticeship programs in place in Mini-Cassia, particularly for machine operators. This is a direct response to requests from employers, he said.

The individuals who are applying for these positions lack some skills, he said.

Apprenticeships are usually funded by companies, and several  Fabri-Kal, McCain Foods, Amalgamated Sugar Co. and PCA Burley  have expressed interest in coming on board, Jeppesen said. None of these companies responded to requests for comment by the print deadline.

The Department of Labor may have grants available, and Jeppesen hopes to get a program in place by next fall, in partnership with local high schools and CSI.

Were hopefully going to get more companies on board as well, he said.

Marketing

Almost daily, the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce receives calls from people wanting to know about work in the area.

I think theres a misconception that theres nothing to do in Mini-Cassia and nowhere to work, Sawyer said. And that simply is not true.

The Chamber is in the beginning stages of planning, but intends to reach out to the public through marketing through social media and advertising. Sawyer said the Chamber is making a video, and will work with other agencies to spread the message.

There is an awesome work force coming up in the junior high and high school levels that is right here, and they have families here, Sawyer said. But they may not know what opportunities they have here.
ABERDEEN  Three people were taken to an eastern Idaho hospital with injuries Sunday night following a two-vehicle crash south of Aberdeen.

Marcelino Albino, 25, of Fort Hall, was driving northbound on Idaho 39 in a 2004 GMC Envoy. Albino attempted to make a left turn and collided with a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix that was traveling southbound on the highway. The Pontiac was driven by Mckayla Elquezabal, 21, of American Falls.

Elquezabal and her passenger Dustin Brown, 23, of Twin Falls, were transported by ground ambulance to the Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. A child was also taken to the hospital.

Idaho State Police say alcohol was involved in the crash, which police responded to at 6:45 p.m. on Idaho 39 at milepost 11. The highway was blocked for approximately one hour.

Albino was taken into custody and transported to the Bingham County Jail.
BOISE (AP)  Federal safety authorities have fined a southwest Idaho company $77,000 following the deaths of two workers in a trench collapse in Boise.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday issued the fines to Meridian-based Hard Rock Construction.

Thirty-six-year-old Bert Smith and 26-year-old Ernesto Saucedo died when the trench collapsed on May 3 while they worked to install a sewer line.

Federal officials say the company failed to put in safety measures and didn't instruct the employees on methods to eliminate cave-in hazards.

The company declined to comment on Tuesday.
I tried a new chicken recipe last week and it was very good! It goes together quickly in a skillet, and the sauce is oh, so good! You w...
Moroccan security services have announced lately the arrest of 10 women with links to terror ISIS organization. It is the first time that female militants were captured in the North African country, a key ally of the West in the global war against terrorism.

According to the Moroccan Interior ministry, the cell was planning attacks in the country. It was operating in several regions including the cities of Kenitra and Tangier.

Investigators say that the brother of one of the women was involved in bombings in Iraq earlier this year. They found chemicals and bomb-making materials in one of the suspects houses.

The arrest of this new cell is part of Moroccos tireless war against terrorism. The North African country has placed counterterrorism at the top of its priorities following the Casablanca terror attacks in 2003 and the subsequent attacks of 2007 and 2011.

Moroccos Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial arm of the domestic intelligence service, has tracked militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-2015.

Moroccos counterterrorism strategy is based on vigilant security measures, regional and international cooperation, and counter-radicalization policies.

jihadistsAs the international coalition intensified its airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the extremist group started moving to North Africa and particularly to Libya where the jihadists have enhanced their influence and presence.
The Palestinian high court excluded the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip from the upcoming municipal elections in its ruling on Monday arguing that the judiciary in Gaza does not have the necessary guarantees to hold the vote.

President Hisham al-Hatoo of the high court said the court orders the implementation of the governments decision on the holding of local elections.

The court did not state when the municipal elections, previously slated for October 8, would be held, but according to speculations, the poll could take place in November.

The ruling has already been rejected by Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri as politically motivated with the objective of empowering and rooting the internal division between the two Palestinian territories.

Hamas issued a statement claiming that the high courts decision on the elections is discriminatory and ratifies the division between Gaza and the West Bank; under the governance of Hamas and Fatah respectively.

Jehad Mashaqi, an official at the Ministry of Local Affairs, said the ruling was justified in accordance with the law but Muhammad Dib Mansur, Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Palestinian Authority reserved his comments given that his office oversees Palestinian elections.

The development could hamper the election process as opposition groups question the ruling. Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian legislative member and senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) stressed that if things continue like this, it might be difficult for some Palestinian factions to continue this game. She said they are awaiting the actions of the government on the matter. All the democratic factions need to get together and sit down to discuss the issue, she said.

The Central Elections Commission recommended that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas postpone the elections for at least six months, in order to address the best interest of the Palestinian people.

The last time elections were held in Palestine was in 2006
The cooperation between Moscow and Washington in the Syrian war has been suspended due to increasing attacks on civilian areas but the US said efforts to de-conflict counterterrorism would continue.

Announcing the decision, US Assistant Secretary and State Department spokesman, John Kirby, regretted that Washington will withdraw personnel that had been dispatched in anticipation of the possible establishment of the Joint Implementation Center. This is not a decision that was taken lightly, he said.

A high-ranking official at the Russian Foreign Ministry said the decision would be analyzed before a statement is released but noted that Washingtons decision evokes disappointment. While awaiting the official reaction, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the upper chamber of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev linked the decision to the subjective reasons linked to the (US) electoral campaign with elections scheduled in November. The hawks evidently did not support the political process that Lavrov and Kerry agreed on in principle and do not plan on supporting it. And so the process is doomed as things stand, he stated.

Russia intervened in the Syrian conflict a year ago and has contributed to the progress of pro-Assad forces. Recently, it has come under strong criticism from European countries and the US for the targeting of civilians and hospitals by pro-Assad warplanes.

Washington thinks that Russia is either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements of the ceasefire that they agreed upon last month.

Spokesman Josh Earnest of the White House said everybodys patience with Russia has run out, it is clear that there is nothing more for the US and Russia to talk about with regards to trying to reach an agreement to end the violence inside of Syria and thats tragic.

Russia has usually defended its actions by stating that it is fighting against terrorism but some of the groups considered as terrorists by Damascus and Moscow are allies of Western countries in the fight against the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Russia has deployed its S-300 anti-missile system to Syria but there has been no official confirmation.
Ankaras crackdown on the foiled July 15 coup, allegedly masterminded by Fethullah Gulen on self-imposed exile in the US, continued shortly after the announcement that the state of emergency expiring on October 19 would be extended by three months.

In the latest crackdown, 12,801 police officers, including 2,523 police chiefs, were suspended on Tuesday.

A statement stated that the suspended officers have been assessed to have communications or links to the Gulenist Terror Organization, identified as a threat to national security. The number is significant because it represents more than 5% of the police force excluding those who were suspended just after the attempted coup detat.

Gulen has denied any role in the coup and refuted allegations that his supporters were behind it while critics accuse the government of using the failed coup as an opportunity to get rid of its opponents. Ankara has denied such claims and Deputy Prime Minister and Government Spokesman, Numan Kurtulmus, said the extension of the state of emergency will help to wipe out terrorist organizations.

Gulen, his supporters and organization are considered as terrorists. The emergency allows the president and cabinet effectively to rule by decree, bypassing parliament when drafting new laws. The state of emergency enables to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms.

The police force also stormed the IMC TV station and interrupted its transmission before pulling it off air on Tuesday. The Kurdish TV station is accused of spreading terrorist propaganda. The Turkish government is battling Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria and considers their armed groups as a security threat. More than 130 media outlets have been shut down by authorities since July.
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
Several people have been reportedly killed and many injured this weekend during a stampede as police dispersed a crowd at an annual cultural festival of the Oromo people, the nations largest ethnic group.

Among the thousands of festival participants, a number of them marched chanting anti-government slogans with their arms crossed above their heads. Police intervened to disperse them, local media reported.

Ethiopian security forces have killed about 500 Oromo since November during protests against the government, over the eviction of farmers for infrastructure and investment needs, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in June.

The Oromo protesters, who say their ethnicity is marginalized and oppressed, were joined in July by demonstrators from Ethiopias second-most populous region, Amhara.

The anti-government protests were held to demand fair distribution of wealth to Oromia and Amhara, which are the poorest in the country.

This weekend unrest signals an increasing challenge to the government in Ethiopia, which the U.S. considers a bulwark in the Horn of Africa, a region troubled by failing states. The U.S. is using the country as a base for military drones.

Ethiopia, one of Africas fastest-growing economies, is part of an internationally funded African force battling al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia and also has peacekeeping troops in South Sudan and Sudan.
Over five thousand supporters took to the streets in Reo, a city located in the northern part of Burkina-Faso, to demand the release of Djibril Bassole.

Djibril Bassole, a former powerful minister under longtime leader Blaise Compaore, was arrested in mid-September last year. He was accused of supporting a coup against the interim government in the west-African nation.

The government accused Bassole of joining forces with an army General, Gilbert Diendere, claiming the two men sought help from foreign forces.

Bassole was charged with treason, attack on state security and complicity in murder, primarily on the basis of a leaked telephone conversation he allegedly had with Ivory Coasts Parliament Speaker Guillaume Soro.

As a reminder the presidential guard led by General Gilbert Diendere took the interim president, prime minister and cabinet members hostage in mid-September last year, before scheduled elections. Protests erupted against the revolt, and Diendere was forced to hand back power after a week.

They were all arrested and detained by police awaiting their trial.

Bassole who was previously a joint U.N.-African Union mediator in Sudans Darfur conflict, has accused authorities in the west-African nation of detaining him for political reasons. He has requested the United Nations Commission on arbitrary detentions to examine his case.
The United States on Monday said its Banjul Embassy has discontinued issuing visas to Gambian government officials, employees of entities associated with the government, and their families.

The move comes after the West African nation refused to comply with the United States calls for the deportation of over 2,000 Gambians. Some of them are reportedly in detention.

As of October 1, 2016, the US Embassy in Banjul, the Gambia has discontinued visa issuance to employees of the Gambian government, employees of certain entities associated with the government, and their spouses and children with limited exceptions, a State Department official said.

According to the Washington Times, the Homeland Security took the move after extensive overtures to the Gambian government were not heeded.

The visa ban has already caused shakeup in Banjul, with President Yahya Jammeh reportedly apportioning the blame on Foreign Affairs Ministry officials, even though he was informed about a possible visa ban a month ago, local media reported.

The Gambia has seen large-scale migration, which has been blamed largely on high levels of youth unemployment.

A European parliament delegation ended a tour of the country last week by threatening to recommend sanctions if the rights situation did not improve.
This is Professor Mohamed El-Tanani, University of Bradford. Credit: Mohamed El-Tanani

Researchers at the University of Bradford have discovered a way to prevent chemotherapy resistance in lung cancer by blocking a protein found in cancer cells.

Suppressing this protein, called Ran-GTP, also causes cancer cells already resistant to the first-line chemotherapy treatment, gefitinib, to become re-sensitised to the drug.

The research, led by Professor Mohamed El-Tanani, at Bradford's Institute of Cancer Therapeutics in collaboration with Queen's University Belfast, also found that Ran-GTP could be used to predict prognosis in breast cancer patients.

Key to the findings - published today (04 October) in Oncotarget - is the relationship between Ran-GTP and another protein called c-Met, which has previously been linked to several cancers. Overexpression of c-Met is known to cause chemotherapy resistance in breast and lung cancer and drugs which inhibit its activity are currently undergoing clinical trials for treatment of lung cancer. Professor El-Tanani believes the new research shows that targeting Ran-GTP could be a more effective approach.

"Much is known about the activity of c-Met and its impact on cancer, but our research is looking at things a step earlier, by focusing on the protein that regulates c-Met - Ran-GTP," he says. "c-Met needs Ran-GTP to function, and in particular needs very high levels when it becomes over-expressed or mutates - as is the case in cancers. By blocking Ran-GTP, we were able to both undo the resistance caused by c-Met and prevent that resistance occurring. This shows that Ran-GTP could be a good therapeutic target for cancer treatment, particularly in lung and breast cancer."

High levels of c-Met in breast cancer tumours are generally accepted to be associated with poor survival, but the team made a further unexpected discovery. When they analysed tissue samples from 247 breast cancer patients, they found that patients with poor prognosis had tumours with high levels of both Met and Ran-GTP, rather than Met alone.

"This finding emphasises how the role of Ran-GTP, rather than the expression of c-Met alone, seems to be key to the progression of cancer," says Professor El-Tanani. "Even when c-Met was high and Ran was low, a patient's prognosis was much better. This means we might be able to use Ran levels to stratify patients to determine the most appropriate treatment, intervening with more aggressive treatments only in patients with high levels of both proteins. "

Although this study silenced Ran-GTP in lung cancer cells through genetic manipulation in the laboratory, the research team is already well down the road to finding a drug compound that can perform the same function.

"We've already screened millions of potential compounds that have the potential to inhibit Ran to find the most potent one in vitro and in vivo model systems as a preclinical validation," says Professor El-Tanani. "We now have two very strong candidates ready to move forward into clinical trials."

One candidate is a 'repurposed' drug that has been already pre-clinically validated in breast and lung cancer and is ready for clinical trials. As an existing drug, it's already known to be safe for use in humans and could be taken straight to Phase 2 trials. The second candidate is a peptide which has already been tested in animal models.

The University of Bradford is actively seeking further funding and investor support, and once secured, clinical trials for the two drug candidates could start within a few months.

"It's been a long road to get to this stage, but we're very excited about the clinical potential for Ran-GTP inhibitors," he says. "It would be wonderful to see new treatments that block this protein enter trials, hopefully prove their effectiveness in treating cancer and eventually reach the clinic."

Catherine Pickworth, Cancer Research UK's science information officer, said: "When cancer becomes resistant to chemotherapy it's a lot harder to treat. Excitingly, this study has identified a potential target to stop or even reverse cancer resistance to a chemotherapy drug called gefitinib. Now more research and clinical trials are needed to find and test a drug that will help patients whose cancers have become resistant to chemotherapy."

Explore further Identification of a chemotherapy resistance factor in breast cancer patients
Two recent studies led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) psychiatrists have investigated ways of improving the treatment of depression in Chinese American immigrants, a group that tends to avoid mental health treatment because of traditional cultural beliefs. One study evaluates the effectiveness of a telepsychiatry-based version of a previously developed model for culturally sensitive treatment, and the other examines the impact of stigma on the outcomes of depression treatment. Both studies have been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

"We know that stigma tends to drive illnesses underground and leads to delays in seeking treatment, which has been demonstrated in conditions such as HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders and physical disabilities," says Justin Chen, MD, MPH, of the MGH Department of Psychiatry, who led the stigma study. "Chinese immigrants with traditional beliefs greatly stigmatize mental illnesses, often equating them with a moral defect in sufferers and fearing contagion."

To help combat the reluctance of Chinese American immigrants to seek treatment for depression, a team led by Albert Yeung, MD, ScD, also of MGH Psychiatry and the leader of the telepsychiatry study, previously developed a Culturally Sensitive Collaborative Treatment (CSCT) model that includes screening all primary care patients for depression symptoms prior to a physician visit and for those screening positive a specially designed assessment that focuses on patients' beliefs about their symptoms. The results of that assessment are used to discuss depression with patients in ways that are compatible with their beliefs.

A study led by Yeung and published in the December 2010 American Journal of Public Health described a trial of CSCT carried out at the South Cove Community Health Center, which serves Boston's Chinatown community. The study found that use of CSCT was both feasible and effective in helping patients recognize and seek treatment for depression, increasing treatment participation almost seven-fold.

For his current study, which was designed to address the scarcity of health professional with the cultural knowledge and language skills necessary to treat these patients, Yeung added a telepsychiatry component to the CSCT model. Carried out at South Cove from 2009 to 2012, the study randomized a group of 190 non-English-speaking patients who screened positive for depression to receive either usual treatment, which did not include CSCT, or a telepsychiatry-based version of CSCT.

While both groups had an initial videoconferenced interview at South Cove with a bilingual psychiatrist, the special CSCT assessment was given only to the telemedicine group. Those participants also were assigned a bilingual case manager, who monitored and consolidated their treatment and conducted regular telephone "visits" throughout the six-month study period. During those calls the care manager assessed participants' symptoms and discussed how well they were adhering to their recommended treatment and whether those taking antidepressants were experiencing any adverse side effects.

At the end of the study period, participants in the telemedicine-CSCT group had significantly greater improvement in depression symptoms than did the usual care group. "Our results show that telepsychiatry is technologically feasible and acceptable to this population," says Yeung, who is an associate professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "Telepsychiatry could allow such services to be delivered to patients in geographically remote areas, and combining it with CSCT provides a model to overcome the limited availability of bicultural and bilingual clinicians in this country."

Chen conducted his study in the same group of patients who enrolled in Yeung's study. Among the initial assessments of both groups in the telepsychiatry study were measures of participants' illness beliefs, including questions designed to assess stigmatizing attitudes towards their own symptoms. As part of this study, all participants had bimonthly assessments conducted by telephone of depression symptoms and overall quality of life.

At the end of the six-month study period, participants who had exhibited higher levels of stigma towards their symptoms at the beginning showed less improvement in depression symptoms and in overall quality of life than did those with lower initial stigma scores. The association between baseline stigmatizing attitudes and the outcome of depression treatment was seen in both the telemedicine and the control groups of Yeung's study.

An instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Chen says, "Traditional Chinese communities greatly stigmatize mental illness in part due to the concept of 'face,' which reflects a person's or a family's moral standing within the community. But the effect of that stigma on actual outcomes in depression treatment has never been studied before and certainly not in minority populations. Our study suggests that stigmatizing beliefs may exert an independently harmful effect on depression outcomes. As a separate but related issue, we had hypothesized that culturally sensitive treatment might modify the effects of stigma on depression outcomes, but our results suggest that culturally sensitive diagnosis and care management alone are not enough to mitigate stigma's harmful effects."

Yeung adds, "While patients do benefit from the telepsychiatry-augmented CSCT, those with higher levels of stigma tend to do less well. Future research efforts need to include more education and demystification of mental illness to help reduce stigma, along with investigating patient characteristics that may contribute to or reduce stigma. We're also hoping to disseminate the telepsychiatry-CSCT model to different populations and to groups in various geographical locations, which will require training of mental health clinicians and care managers, education of primary care providers and the support of local primary care clinics."

The telepsychiatry study, which was published in the August issue of Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, was supported by National Institutes of Health grant RO1 MH079831.

Explore further Culturally sensitive treatment model helps bring depressed Chinese immigrants into treatment
Credit: axelle b/public domain

Researchers have discovered a gene region that raises the risk a child will have a middle ear infection, known to doctors as acute otitis media (AOM)and known to parents as one reason for a screaming, unhappy preschooler. The finding may offer an early clue to helping doctors develop more effective treatments to prevent one of the most common childhood illnesses.

"Parents and pediatricians are all too familiar with this painful childhood ear infectionit's the most frequent reason children receive antibiotics," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Although microbes cause this condition, it's been well known that genetics also plays a role. This is the first and largest genetic study focused on risk susceptibility for acute otitis media."

Hakonarson and colleagues from CHOP collaborated with Dutch researchers led by Gijs van Ingen and colleagues from the University Medical Center, Rotterdam, in the study published online Sept. 28 in Nature Communications.

The researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on two discovery cohorts with DNA samples from 11,000 children. They found that an association between AOM and a site on chromosome 6 containing the gene FNDC1, and then replicated the finding in an independent pediatric cohort with data from 2000 children. Co-first author Jin Li, PhD, of CHOP, was the lead analyst on the study.

In further studies, the scientists showed that the mouse gene corresponding to FNDC1 was expressed in the animal's middle ear. "Although the gene's function in humans has not been well studied, we do know that FNDC1 codes for a protein with a role in inflammation," said Hakonarson.

Hakonarson added that learning more about the biological interactions between genes and pathogens involved in AOM, researchers hope to develop more specific therapies for the childhood infection, while learning which children are most susceptible to the disease. "As with many other diseases, early medical intervention may offer the greatest benefits," he said.

Explore further More genetic clues found in a severe food allergy

More information: Gijs van Ingen et al, Genome-wide association study for acute otitis media in children identifies FNDC1 as disease contributing gene, Nature Communications (2016). Journal information: Nature Communications Gijs van Ingen et al, Genome-wide association study for acute otitis media in children identifies FNDC1 as disease contributing gene,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12792
(HealthDay)For patients undergoing sclerotherapy, oral minocycline may induce significant pigmentation, according to a case report published online Sept. 28 in the Journal of Cutaneous Pathology.

Phoebe Star, from St. Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research in Sydney, and colleagues describe the case of a 44-year-old male patient presenting with blackened skin overlying veins. The patient had systemic sclerosis and had commenced minocycline for rosacea treatment five months earlier.

The researchers identified hemosiderin deposition in the dermis and pigmented macrophages within the subendothelial layer of the vein wall on histological examination of the discolored tissue and underlying vein; the staining pattern was consistent with minocycline-induced pigmentation. The patient chose to continue taking minocycline to control his rosacea. In follow-up ultrasound the treated vessels were fully occluded with no evidence of recanalization, residual flow, or ongoing thrombophlebitis. The pigmentation did not subside over two years, despite good sclerotherapy outcome.

"This case demonstrates that oral minocycline may induce significant and potentially long-term pigmentation in predisposed patients undergoing sclerotherapy," the authors write.

Explore further Skin pigmentation, fluence determine IPL side effects

Copyright  2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Major development for Georgias western Guria region: Connecting the Black Sea with the mountains

Imagine sitting on the magnetic sand on the Black Sea coastline then catching a cable car up to a nearby mountain to enjoy an alpine adventure.This will soon be a reality in Georgias western Guria region. A major infrastructural project has begun to turn the area into a place that can be enjoyed by tourists all year round.The local government of the Ozurgeti municipality launched the One step from the sea to the mountains campaign to promote the regions unique potential and close proximity of the seaside to the mountains.Gomi Mountain and the Black Sea resort towns of Ureki and Shekvetili are about 60km away from each other, which is about a one hours drive.At 2,700m above sea level, Gomi Mountain is considered a summer resort area mainly for locals, as there are currently no hotels, ski lifts or other infrastructure. But this will soon change  authorities have planned several infrastructural projects that will turn the area into a full-year tourist destination.A development plan for Gomi Mountain has already been approved, which outlined building a cable car to bring people from the Black Sea coastline to Gomi Mountain. This would increase the number of visitors to the area.A spokesperson from Ozurgeti municipality told Agenda.ge the development plan also involved rehabilitating the water supply, connecting the mountain with a reliable source of electricity and building new hotels and new roads.Initially, 800,000 GEL (about $342,637/304,539*) was allocated to fix the water supply systems in Gomi Mountain. Works in this capacity started this week and are expected to be completed by the end of the year. While next year, efforts will begin to supply the mountain with electricity.The spokesperson explained when the area was connected with power and had a decent water supply it would be possible to develop hotels and other touristic infrastructure at Gomi Mountain.After this there were plans to install ski lifts and trails on Gomi Mountain and turn it into a ski resort. The mountain typically has snow cover for eight months per year.The development plan also outlined modernising Ureki and Shekvetili towns. Already new gas pipes were being fitted and a 4km central road had been built to cater for increasing traffic use.Last year, the United Water Supply Company started rehabilitating water supply and sewage systems in Ureki and nearby villages thanks to a 73 million GEL (about $31.27 million/27,79 million*) loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).In autumn 2017 when the work is finished, residents of Ureki and nearby villages will have regular, 24-hour access to water.Currently there are few guesthouses in Ureki and Shekvetili but new hotels planned for the area will offer tourists more options and places to stay.
Trust declines; ambivalence to Georgian media rises, CRRC survey says

By Messenger Staff

The Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), a network operating in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to strengthen social science and policy analyses in the South Caucasus, has released data on how is public trust to Georgias media nationwide.The post released by CRRC stressed the populations trust in the media has been declining steadily since 2008, while ambivalent attitude has been increasing.This increase in ambivalence referred to the fact that people had difficulty stating their opinions about the media, and had no clear answers whether they trusted the media or not.Between 2008 and 2015, reported trust in the media declined by 28 percentage points in Georgia. The biggest drops are between 2008 and 2009 (under the previous United National Movement Govt) and between 2011 and 2012(Under the United National Movement Govt), the CRRC reported.Interestingly, over the same period, the reported level of distrust in the media has remained rather steady. Ambivalence, however, is rising. The share of the population responding that they neither trust nor distrust the media climbed from 28 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in 2015, the post added.The organisation claimed that over time, the populations positive assessment of how well TV journalists inform the population about what is going on in the country has also declined, while their ambivalence has risen.Since 2009, the share of the population who reported believing that TV journalists, overall, serve the interests of people like them decreased by 13 percentage points, while ambivalence increased by 15 percentage points, CRRC said.The population of Georgias trust in the media has been steadily declining since 2008. Interestingly, this decline coincides with an increase in ambivalent attitudes rather than distrust, the organisation said.The CRRC highlighted that the same was reflected in assessments of how well TV journalists keep the public informed and how well they represent the interests of 'regular' people.In all cases, positive assessments have decreased, while ambivalence has increased. If the trends marked here are indeed general shifts in attitudes towards the media, as the data for available years suggests, this has the potential to point to long-term changes that are less attached to specific political events or media scandals and may indicate avenues for further research on public opinion in Georgia about the media, the post said in its conclusion.Such surveys are always important, as the media always plays one of the key roles of any countrys life.The fact that Georgian people have no clear view whether they trust in the media or not is quite natural, as media outlets, especially leading ones, have always been the subject of confrontations and disputes in the country.Successive Georgian Governments have tried to bring leading under their influence, and although situation has improved, as the level of media freedom, compared to previous years, has increased, however, some question marks still remain.Unlike previous years, the Internet and social media have people more critical of conventional broadcasters.Critical attitudes are on the rise, as younger generations use increasingly using the Internet. The more critical people are in the future, the more alert a media outlet will have to be to meet the public demands.
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For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page
One of Missoulas best-kept secrets happens in the galleries of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture. Its there where a dozen docents, all volunteers, give personalized tours of the museums exhibits to groups from all walks of life. High school classes, dinner groups, book clubs, grade school classes, hiking groupsthe only consistent theme is the visitors want to learn about and have a more engaging experience with the exhibit on hand.

No tour is ever the same, says seasoned docent, Herbert Swick. We are in contact beforehand with a member of the group, whether thats a teacher or just a liaison from the group, and we find out what kind of experience theyre hoping to have. He gave the example of a French class from Bozeman who came to a Masterworks exhibit and wanted to focus on French culture and social change. And a history class wanting to focus on 19th century history. And an art class whose focus was on technique. Or it could simply be a group of friends who want to see intriguing art together, he says.

The docents themselves come from a variety of backgrounds including art and teaching. We figured out that collectively we have over 200 years of classroom experiencethis is a group that loves to foster learning.

In order to train for an exhibit, the volunteers get their information from a number of sources. If the artist is still living, says Swick, well often get a presentation from them before the exhibit begins. Other means of education are speakers such as a curator of a body of work and experts on a subject. A recent exhibit was of Remington wood engravings, he says, and we had nationally recognized wood engraver James Todd come and talk to us about the process of engraving and exhibition lender Lee Silliman talk about the collection. It was fascinating. Docents also do their own research and then meet for a Docent Round Gallery (think roundtable) to share what they have discovered. Collectively we get our information from a variety of sources, and by the time an exhibit opens were pretty versed on the ins and outs of it.

The docents also come up with optional lesson plans for some of the exhibits. For example for the current show, Present Tense: Prints from The Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer & His Family Foundation, a sample lesson plan for a high school social studies class was created including learning objectives and learning activities. The Text, Language and Social Communication lesson plan might include guiding questions such as what is the role of text in art? and how can art give us different perspectives on social issues? But that is just one direction we can go when looking at the exhibit- theyre all so multifaceted which makes it enjoyable for both docent and visitor, he says.

Our docent tours take an experience with an exhibition to an entirely different and intimate level, says MMAC Director Barbara Koostra. I cant recommend them enough.

To schedule a docent tour of the current exhibition, Present Tense: Prints from The Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation or any future exhibit, call the MMAC office at 243-2019 or contact Dani Sacks at danidehart46@gmail.com. The exhibition runs through Jan. 13. In addition to private tours, there will be a public docent tour every Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. starting Oct. 6. No reservations are necessary. Academic-year gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday from 12-3 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 12-6 p.m.
Coming soon

Flu shots  The Flathead City-County Health Department will offer a flue clinic Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building. Pneumonia as well as the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis immunizations also will be available. Call 406-751-8110 for details.

Massage clinics  The University of Montana Physical Therapy Student Association will offer massages throughout October as a fundraiser. The clinics will take place 6-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday in Skaggs Building Room 129. The cost is $12 for 20 minutes or $20 for 40 minutes. Only cash or checks will be accepted. To make an appointment, call 243-4753.

American Pharmacists Month Community Health Care - The fair on Sunday, Oct. 16, noon-4 p.m. at Southgate Mall will offer bone mineral density scans, blood pressure screenings, Hemoglobin A1c screenings, flu shots, fall risk assessments, smoking cessation, breast and ovarian cancer awareness, bone marrow registry sign-up, inhaler education, diabetic foot checks, stroke education, Alzheimer's education and more. Free raffle to win prizes, and Monte will make an appearance at 1 p.m.

Red Cross blood drives  The American Red Cross encourages eligible donors to give blood to help ensure a readily available blood supply for emergencies. Donors of all blood types are needed. To make an appointment to give blood, download the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767. Donors are encouraged to make appointments and complete the RapidPass online health history questionnaire at redcrossblood.org/rapidpass to help reduce wait times. Upcoming blood drives:

Charlo: 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Charlo High School, 405 First Ave. W.

11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Charlo High School, 405 First Ave. W. Columbia Falls: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Fellowship Alliance Church, 1025 Seventh Ave. W.; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 603 S. Main St.

9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Fellowship Alliance Church, 1025 Seventh Ave. W.; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 603 S. Main St. Florence: 1-6:30 p.m. Monday, Physical Therapy Specialists of Florence, 293 Rodeo Drive, Suite 1.

1-6:30 p.m. Monday, Physical Therapy Specialists of Florence, 293 Rodeo Drive, Suite 1. Hamilton: 11 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Bitterroot Public Library, 208 Main St.; 1-6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, Grace Lutheran Church, 275 Hattie Lane.

11 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Bitterroot Public Library, 208 Main St.; 1-6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, Grace Lutheran Church, 275 Hattie Lane. Kalispell: 10 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Flathead Electric Cooperative, 2510 Highway 2 E.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center, 126 N. Meridian Road; 10 a.m.-2:15 p.m. Friday, Community Action Partnership, 214 Main St.; 1:30-5:30 p.m. Monday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center.

10 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Flathead Electric Cooperative, 2510 Highway 2 E.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center, 126 N. Meridian Road; 10 a.m.-2:15 p.m. Friday, Community Action Partnership, 214 Main St.; 1:30-5:30 p.m. Monday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center. Missoula: 10:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Wednesday, DNRC, 2705 Spurgin Road; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, U.S. Forest Service, 24 Fort Missoula Road; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Missoula Blood Donation Center, 2401 N. Reserve St., Suites 6 and 7; 10 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Friday, Payne Family native American Center, 32 Campus Drive; 2-6 p.m. Monday, Missoula Blood Donation Center; 11 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, University of Montana Jesse Hall.

Fitness, dance classes  For more information on the following classes offered by the Lifelong Learning Center, call 549-8765 or visit missoula.classes.com:

Introduction to Pickleball-Indoor, Oct. 4-25, 11 a.m.-noon, Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $22.

Beginning/Intermediate CoreAlign, Oct. 5-28, 7-8 a.m., Alpine Physical Therapy, $104.

Introduction to CoreAlign, Oct. 5-26, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Alpine Physical Therapy, $55.

Introduction to Pilates Reformer, Oct. 5-26, 5:35-6:35 p.m., Alpine Physical Therapy, $55.

Beginning Waltz, Oct. 6-27, 7:15-8:15 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $17.

OULA Palooza!, Oct. 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $11.

Romantic Rhumba, Oct. 19-Nov. 9, 6:45-7:45 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $17.

Family Yoga, Oct. 29-Nov. 9, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $24.

Red Willow Center  For more information on the following classes at the learning center, 825 W. Kent, call 721-0033 or visit redwillowlearning.org:

Tai Chi Chih with Lynne Roberts, Oct. 12-Nov. 9, noon-1 p.m. Wednesdays, $60.

"Resiliency for Caregivers" with Christine Lustik, Oct. 10-Nov. 28, 2-4 p.m. Mondays, $200.

"Basics of Resilience" with Glenn Tousignant, 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, free.

"Becoming Fully Alive with Chronic Illness" with Betsy Hart, Oct. 20-Nov. 17, noon-1 p.m. Thursdays, $100.

Ongoing classes include "Yoga for Wellness" at noon Mondays, $12 or $40 for four weeks; "Mindfulness Meditation" at 12:10 p.m. Tuesdays, $12 or $40 for four weeks; "Yoga Beyond Cancer" at 4 p.m. Tuesdays, $40 for four weeks; "Yoga for Chronic Pain" at 5 p.m. Wednesdays, $40 for four weeks plus $50 for prerequisite screening.

BodyTalk programs  For details and registration on the following classes taught by Kathy Mangan at the Red Willow Learning Center, call Tori at 880-8749 or register at bodytalksystem.com.

ACCESS class, Saturday, Oct. 8, $125, including manual.

Fundamentals, Oct. 21-23 and Oct. 29-30. Learn the BT system and skills to become a practitioner, $100 discount available to students who register and pay course deposit of $250 by Sept. 26. New student payment plans are also available.

Ongoing programs

AA and Al-Anon  For the latest Alcoholics Anonymous meetings list, visit aa-montana.org or call the Missoula hotline at 543-0011. For more information on Al-Anon and Alateen, which are 12-step recovery programs for relatives and friends whose lives have been affected by alcoholism, visit mt.al-anon.alateen.org.

Acupuncture for cancer caregivers  Missoula Community Acupuncture, located in the Radio Central Building, 127 E Main St., Suite 314, offers free acupuncture treatments for friends, family, nurses, doctors or anyone who takes care of cancer patients 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays. No appointment is necessary. For more information, call Michael Peluso at 406-926-1611.

Adult Asperger's support group  An open meeting for those with Asperger's as well as their family and friends is held every Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the University Center, Room 215, on campus. Contact Monique Casbeer at 721-3947 or Cindy Bacon Janego at cjanego@communitymed.org for more information.

Alzheimers support  Meets the second Wednesday of each month at noon at the Summit Independent Living conference room, 700 S.W. Higgins Ave. Another group meets the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. For more information, contact Jackie Johnson at 549-3433 or jackiej45@yahoo.com.

Alzheimers caregivers support group  Meets the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m. of each month at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. For more information, call Jackie Johnson at 549-3433.

Arthritis programs  The Montana Arthritis Program offers physical activity and self-management education programs, such as the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, Walk with Ease and Stanfords Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. Classes are available in several communities including Florence, Hamilton, Kalispell, Libby, Missoula, Plains and Polson. To find a class or for more information, visit dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/arthritis.

Bereavement support groups  Frontier Hospice offers open door meetings 6-7 p.m. Thursdays at the following locations: The Springs at Whitefish on the first Thursday; Rising Mountains Assisted Living Community in Bigfork on the third Thursday; and Frontier Hospice in Kalispell on the second and fourth Thursdays. Call 406-755-4923 for more information.

Breast cancer support group  Meets the first and third Wednesday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon at the Montana Cancer Center, St. Patrick Hospital Broadway Building, second floor. Call 329-5656.

Cancer Center support group  Meets noon-1:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at the Montana Cancer Center, 500 W. Broadway. For more information, call Bonnie at 240-0996.

Cancer Resource Guide  The online guide covers resources including support groups, treatment centers, camps and retreats, in Missoula, Mineral and Ravalli counties. It is available at CancerResourcesMT.org.

Cancer support group  A support group for anyone affected by cancer meets noon-1 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays at the Polson United Methodist Church, 301 16th Ave. For more information, call Tammy at 406-883-7284 or 824-2868.

Celebrate Recovery  The Christian-based 12-step recovery program meets 6-9:30 p.m. every Friday at Christian Assembly Foursquare Church, 1001 Cleveland St. Dinner is available from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and child care is provided for ages birth to 11. For more information, call 721-6884 or email cafc@4bible.com.

Cheerful Heart  Lake County cancer patients in treatment can receive a massage and help with hair and skin problems, free of charge, from local therapists and cosmetologists. Other non-medical services include transportation to treatment and doctor appointments, running errands, yard work and meal preparation. Appointments may be scheduled by calling 406-883-3070.

Colorectal Cancer Support Group  Meets 1-2 p.m. the third Friday of every month through March 20, Community Cancer Care Conference Room, 2827 Fort Missoula Road.

"Coping, Education & Support for Women with All Cancer Types"  The support group for women in all stages of cancer treatment or survivorship will be held noon-1:30 p.m. the second Monday of every month through March 14, 2016, at the Community Cancer Care Conference Room, 2837 Fort Missoula Road. For more information, call Deb Rivey at 327-3912, Terri Paxinos at 327-3957 or Kimberly Hardwick at 327-3906.

Diabetes program  At 6:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, there will be a short presentation on a topic related to the management of Type 1 diabetes at the YMCA, 3000 S. Russell St. It will be followed by the option for socializing in the foyer or being active together at the Y. A fee of $5 per person will be collected at the door for those choosing to use the facility. Designed for ages 14 and older, children are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent/caregiver.

Double Trouble in Recovery  The 12-step program for people with mental health and addiction issues meets 3-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Winds of Change Recovery Mall, 2685 Palmer St., No. C (second floor). Coffee is provided. For more information, call Veronica at 721-2038.

Epilepsy support group  Meets the first Monday of the month from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Summit Independent Living Center, 700 S.W. Higgins Ave., Suite 101. Patients, friends, family and caregivers welcome. Call Debbie at 721-0707 for more information.

Free health exams  Women ages 30 to 64 who meet necessary income guidelines and either have no health insurance or have insurance that will not pay for breast and cervical health exams can receive free exams through Partnership Health Centers Montana Cancer Screening Program. Call 258-4162 for more information.

Gentle yoga class  The Missoula Senior Citizen Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave., offers a class that focuses on balance training, back strength and core conditioning through gentle yoga matwork every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m. Fee is $4 per class. All ages welcome. For more information, call 543-7154.

Health Insurance Assistance Service  Montana cancer patients can call the American Cancer Societys 24-hour toll-free number to be connected to a health insurance specialist to ask about coverage and insurance programs specific to the state. The number is 800-227-2345.

Mens cancer support group  Open to men in all phases of testing, treatment and followup, the group meets the fourth Tuesday of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Montana Cancer Center, 500 W. Broadway. It is facilitated by Gary Weisbrich and Tom King. Call 329-5628 or email gary.weisbrich@providence.org for more information.

Narcotics Anonymous  Meets at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Alano Club, 8 Third Ave. W., Polson. Call 406-883-4135.

National Alliance on Mental Illness  NAMI Missoula meets every Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon in the lower level (behind the cafeteria) of the Providence Center. It is open to anyone affected by mental illness or interested in learning more about the group. The NAMI Connection group for adults living with mental illness meets 1:30-3 p.m. Thursdays at the NAMI offices, 202 Brooks St., Room 210. Call 880-1013 with questions.

NAMI Family Support Group  National Alliance on Mental Illness Missoula meets Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks St., in Room 210. The peer-led support for adult family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals with mental illness is free. For more information, call 406-880-1013 or email namimissoula@gmail.com.

My No-Nonsense Nutrition Program  A seven-week webinar course to improve your nutrition and fitness. Faith-based approach to better health. Free initial consult with Judy Gilman, registered nurse, diabetes and wellness educator. mynononsensenutrition.com or 546-7819.

Overeaters Anonymous  Local meetings include 7 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks St. A meeting for newcomers is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday followed by a "Back to Basics" meeting at 7 p.m. at St. Paul's. Everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively is welcome. There are no dues, weigh-ins or lectures. For more meeting information, visit oa.org.

SAA  For the latest Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting list visit saa-recovery.org, call the Missoula hotline at 241-4005 or email MissoulaBetterway@yahoo.com. SAA is a 12-step fellowship of men and women who share experience, strength and hope for the purpose of finding freedom from addictive sexual behavior and helping others recover from sex addiction.

S-Anon  Local meetings are held weekly for this recovery program for people affected by another persons sexual behavior. Visit sanonmontana.org or call 406-544-1271 to learn more.

Stroke and Brain Injury Support Group  Meets the second Thursday of each month from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Providence Center, 902 N. Orange St., in the dining area on the fourth floor. For details, call 329-5784.

Tai Chi for Arthritis  Class offered 9:15 a.m. Mondays at the Missoula Senior Citizens Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. $4 per class. All ages welcome.

Tai Chi Chih  Classes are offered at the following locations: Missoula Senior Citizens Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave., 9:15 a.m. Wednesdays, $4 per class; PEAK Health & Wellness Center, 5000 Blue Mountain Road, 11 a.m. Tuesdays, call 251-3344; and The Womens Club, 2105 Bow St., 9 a.m. Fridays, call 728-4410.

TOPS  Take Off Pounds Sensibly, an affordable, nonprofit, weight-loss support and wellness organization, meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the First Christian Church, 2701 S. Russell St. Another TOPS meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 2512 Sunset Lane. For additional meetings, go to tops.org, click on "Find a Meeting" and enter your ZIP code or call 800-932-8677.

The Women's Club  For more information on the following classes at The Women's Club, 2105 Bow St., call 728-4410:

Foundation Training, 12:15-1 p.m. Monday and Thursday. Improve posture, strength and athletic ability.

Pickleball open play, 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Paddles provided. All levels welcome.

Kick and Core high-intensity cardio workout with focus on strengthening core.
Dr. Steve Miller, the chief medical officer of Express Scripts, sits at the center of the storm over rising drug prices.

His company runs prescription plans for employers and insurers that cover around 85 million people. It buys enough drugs to fill more than 1 billion prescriptions a year.

Miller has watched super-sized drug prices infuriate patients and strain the health care system with growing frequency, starting when a new hepatitis C drug hit the market at $84,000 for a course of treatment and continuing through the recent revelation that the price of Mylan's EpiPen rose more than 500 percent since 2007.

The company uses its buying power to push drugmakers for discounts, and Miller frequently criticizes both the amounts drugmakers charge and the patient assistance programs they offer.

Drugmakers, on the other hand, say these pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, are among the layers of middlemen inflating costs.

Miller spoke recently with The Associated Press. His comments have been edited for clarity and length.

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Q: Why do you oppose the coupons that Mylan and others offer to customers?

A: The patient pays only a small part of the drug cost. It's their employer or their insurance company that pays the vast majority. So giving that co-pay assistance does nothing to lower the price for the U.S. health care system, and every patient pays for it in the form of their (insurance) premium.

Q: Employers and insurers pay you to process prescriptions. Isn't your company part of the pricing problem?

A: We are part of the pricing solution. If you did not have PBMs you'd invent a PBM, because what we do is we aggregate a huge number of patients, and we can drive enormous discounts.

Q: What ultimately stops this pattern of steep price hikes for prescription drugs?

A: Historically, providers of health care never took advantage of the times they had their monopolies. Over the last decade or two, we've seen the tattering of that social contract.

We have really been encouraging the leaders of the pharmaceutical industry to adhere to that social contract, and we're seeing some progress.

Q: Will profit-hungry investors buy into that contract?

A: If a pharmaceutical manufacturer demonstrates scientific innovation, brings new products to the market, we're going to work with them to make sure patients have access to the products. They're going to be successful, patients are going to healthier and society's going to be better for it.

Q: These price hikes seem to be popping up all the time now. What are the chances the average consumer's going to run into sticker shock at the pharmacy counter?

A: The advent of health plans with high deductibles is making it more common. In the past, people had flat (co-payments), which means that you paid either $10 or something similar. Now these plans have gone to percent co-pays. Even if your percent is low, if you have a $10,000 drug, that means a high co-pay.

We're seeing high drug prices, and we're seeing more and more patients with high-deductible health plans.

Q: What is the next area of treatment where we may see some soaring drug prices?

A: Consider how devastating Alzheimer's is, anyone who comes to the market with a treatment would have unlimited pricing power. How much would you be willing to pay for your spouse who is suffering with Alzheimer's? Anything.
Montanas prisons and jails are over capacity. What changes in statute and/or funding at the state level  if any  do you think are necessary? If no changes, why not?

One reason that prison and jail populations are growing is that people are staying in jail longer and after release, returning to jail again. Many of these individuals suffer from unmet mental health and substance abuse problems that incarceration does little to mitigate. During the current interim a Sentencing Commission is studying Montanas justice system and is expected to recommend strengthening various programs to provide psychiatric care and drug treatment to people in need, with the intention that they will avoid committing crimes and incarceration in the first place. I anticipate supporting the recommendations of the commission.

Has the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission adequately guided the states hunting and fishing concerns, or does the Legislature need to give the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks more specific direction regarding topics such as land acquisition, wildlife management, predator control, and bison?

The management of hunting and fishing has to be flexible, timely, and professionally informed, and for that to happen the Fish and Wildlife Commission should enjoy substantial autonomy. The Legislature is not in session often enough, and lacks sufficient expertise, to actively and effectively manage fishing and hunting. In many situations requiring professional or scientific expertise, we rely by law on regulatory agencies and boards. The role of the Legislature, and the public, should be to provide policy guidelines, but not micro-management.

Many Montanans depend on the extraction of fossil fuels for jobs, yet there is a strong demand for clean and renewable energy in the region, especially since prices for the latter are falling. How do you propose to help workers in the coal, oil and natural gas industries find jobs in this new economic landscape?

The problems faced by displaced workers and communities are not confined to the fossil fuel industry. Workers in paper and aluminum production, forest products and even at the university have faced the same issues. We can support displaced workers with unemployment insurance, retraining, job placement and other programs. We can provide economic development assistance to communities in decline. Most importantly, we should promote the growth of a diversified economy that can provide new opportunities when theres a downturn in some part of the economy. Exclusive dependence on a single, volatile sector such as natural resources makes workers doubly vulnerable.

According to Montana University System records, as recently as 1992, the stated funded 76 percent of the university system. Now, though, state support has fallen to 40 percent, which means tuition funds 60 percent of the system  putting higher education out of reach for some Montana families. Do you as a legislator have a responsibility to help and if so, how? If not, why not?

Because universities and colleges are essential vehicles for equal opportunity and advancement, the Legislature and the public should take responsibility for assuring that access to the system is not out of reach. One way to make that happen is to fund a robust, need-based system of financial aid, including for older, non-traditional students who return to college with significant financial and familial responsibilities. But access alone is not enough. Universities need stability in funding to fend of the crises resulting from enrollment swings, which threaten program quality, research productivity, and the ability to attract and retain qualified faculty.

What do you regard as the most urgent problem facing Montana, and how do you propose dealing with it?

One of the most urgent problems  and dilemmas  we face is climate change. We see its effects in more intense fires, changed river flows and altered agricultural production patterns. At the same time, we are concerned about how tackling climate change and carbon emissions will impact our fellow Montanans. So dealing with climate change, which we must do  we will not have much choice in the matter  requires us to sit down and figure out how we can equitably share in the benefits and burdens. That can only be done through thoughtful, respectful and careful public deliberations.
Gov. Steve Bullock fired another shot at his Republican challenger on Monday, announcing that he would ask the Legislature to put a referendum before voters to ban a statewide sales tax.

Montanans have spoken for 40 some years now that a sales tax isnt a good idea, Bullock said at a campaign event at the office of Missoulas UPTOP clothing company. Lets end the debate on a statewide sales tax for good.

Montana is one of five states without a statewide sales tax. Democrats have opposed such a tax because it is regressive, meaning the poorest residents pay a disproportionate share. Some Republicans who generally oppose new taxes also do not support a sales tax, although some say they would prefer it if income, property and capital gains taxes could be restructured to make up for the lost revenue. In 1971 and 1993, Montana voters overwhelmingly opposed ballot measures that sought to enact a sales tax.

Last week, Bullock and the Montana Democratic Party attacked Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte for 2002 testimony to then-Gov. Judy Martzs Income Tax Advisory Council.

Gianforte suggested that adopting a statewide sales tax would allow the state to eliminate income and capital gains taxes that he said choked business growth, according to a Lee Newspaper report at the time. He acknowledged that such an overhaul of the states tax structure would be difficult to accomplish given the states long aversion to a sales tax. Gianforte also described the income tax as a deterrent to the expansion of his company RightNow Technologies, which later sold to Oracle for nearly $2 billion.

His 406 Tax Plan, announced earlier this spring, opposes a sales tax and calls for the reduction of the top income tax rate from 6.9 to 6 percent. He has said much of the lost revenue to the state would rebound because of the economic growth generated and also by no longer allowing state taxpayers to deduct their federal taxes  a pitch he made in 2002 when he called the then-11 percent rate offensive.

Democrats have characterized his comments as proof that Gianforte would push for the creation of a statewide sales tax, suggesting that his promise to oppose one is a lie.

Now on the campaign trail youre going to hear him try to get out of what hes said in the past, Bullock said. The best way youre going to know what somebodys going to do in the future is to also look at what theyve done in the past.

Gianforte spokesman Ron Catlett took the opportunity to turn the tables, noting Bullocks failed record on tax relief for Montanans. Bullock has consistently vetoed Republican-carried measures to decrease the top income tax rate, proposals that Gianforte has said he would sign.

"If this was a serious proposal then why does he wait four years to propose it? Catlett said of the call for a constitutional amendment.

Catlett did not say whether Gianforte would support or oppose such a constitutional amendment, but emphasized that the 2002 comments are being stretched by Democrats.

Fact: Greg said it would be ideal if we got rid of income taxes and capital gains taxes, but was very clear that it would not be politically attainable, the campaign said in a statement.
An Evaro man shot by a Missoula County sheriffs deputy on New Years Day in 2015 after he drove directly at the officer was sentenced to eight years in the Department of Corrections on Tuesday with five of those years suspended.

District Court Judge Robert Dusty Deschamps followed the plea agreement between Eugene Albert Statelen and prosecutors, but said he was doing so with some reluctance.

This was an extraordinarily serious offense, he said.

On Dec. 31, 2014, deputies were called to Statelens Evaro Hill home after his wife reported he had assaulted her. He had driven away by the time officers arrived, but was found shortly after midnight on Jan. 1 by deputies Jace Dicken and Tony Rio.

Rio's wife and Dickens wife both were riding in their patrol cars, so Rio parked his cruiser and approached Statelens vehicle on foot, pointing his gun at the man and telling him to stop. Statelen instead drove at Rio, who stepped to the side and tried to open the passenger door and was dragged by the car. He fired his gun once through the passenger door window and another time through the rear window after falling. The shots hit Statelen in the head and shoulder. The Missoula County Attorneys Office later determined Rios use of force had been justified.

In May, Statelen pleaded no contest to three of his six charges as part of a plea agreement, including assault on a peace officer, felony criminal endangerment and a misdemeanor partner or family member assault. The remaining three charges were dismissed.

For the first time in a criminal case, the Missoula County Attorneys Office used mediation to reach the plea agreement in Statelens case.

As part of his sentence, Deschamps recommended the Department of Corrections put Statelen in its intensive supervision program, but said he wanted Statelens probation officer to have him on a really short leash.

As far as Im concerned you got a screaming deal here, he said.
The City Council approved regulations on tourist homes in Missoula Monday night, at a meeting that was an altogether quiet affair following the lengthy, tense debate around gun sales background checks last week.

The ordinance, which passed on a 9-3 vote, saw little new debate from the council and only a single public comment, which was against the regulation.

Ward 4 representative Jon Wilkins opposed the ordinance, and a later request for an accessory dwelling unit  sometimes referred to as a "mother-in-law apartment"  in defense of single-family neighborhoods, which he said shouldnt have what he sees as commercial businesses running next door. Ward 2 representative Harlan Wells voted no with the same objections as Wilkins.

Were eroding what single-family zoning is in this town, Wilkins said.

Fellow Ward 4 representative John DiBari said most council members wanted to look at the ordinance again in a few months and see whether it is being followed or enforced.

The council will have their finger on the pulse, he said, and if Wilkins ends up being correct that business-like tourist homes are ruining certain neighborhoods, that could be addressed in time.

Ward 5 representative Julie Armstrong supported the ordinance, but not to bring existing operations to compliance.

I dont see this as legitimizing the ones that are already there, she said. Theyre there.

Were giving you an avenue to complain about them.

The ordinance legalized tourist homes operating in residential and commercial zones and would require Missoulians running Airbnb-style operations to register with the city and pay a first-time fee of $50 and an annual renewal fee of $25.

***

Also Monday night, the council, along with the Missoula County Commissions, approved spending $575,000 of city open space bond funds on the South Hills Spur, an 83-acre parcel on the upper slope of Mount Dean Stone.

The county commissioners squeezed in at the table on either side of Mayor John Engen, relegating City Attorney Jim Nugent to the staff table behind the council.

Five Valleys Land Trust Director Pelah Hoyt spoke on the purchase, which is being split between her nonprofit and the citys bond funds.

The spur meets the criteria for open space spending: it will conserve natural habitats, provide scenic views and recreational opportunities.

When youre in Missoula, you have a thriving community you live in next to the natural world, she said. Its the recreational values that are most significant.

Accompanied by a slideshow with picturesque views from all angles of the spur, looking toward the city or toward Miller Creek, Hoyt said eventually theyd like to see a trail network extend from Pattee Canyon across Mount Dean Stone and into the Miller Creek area.

***

In an 11-1 vote, the council passed updated language in the citys lighting ordinance, including banning excessive neon or LED tube lighting on new construction.

The move was spurred by construction of the Verizon store on East Broadway last year, prompting a public backlash against the bright red neon that outlined the walls, sign and roof of the building.

The amended language restricts tube lighting on new construction to one horizontal tube at the top of the roof edge. It also says lighting should be designed to avoid confusion with stoplights and emergency vehicle lights.

No existing neon lighting will have to change.

Wells held the only no vote. He was concerned about what effect the ordinance would have on future construction, as many existing Missoula businesses, like Big Dipper Ice Cream, have more lighting than the ordinance would allow if it were built today.

Imagining 20 years in the future, he thought the Verizon Store could maybe be a funky restaurant  that one with all the cool red lights.

At one time someone was completely annoyed by it, but now its an icon, he said.

***

One Missoulian, Dean McCallum, used the public comment portion of the meeting to bring up the background check ordinance, which he didnt support, though he respected the councils authority in passing it.

You all know that I believe this is a boondoggle, he said.

He asked City Council to consider an education campaign, similar to what they did around the passing of the ordinance banning cellphone use while driving, so Missoulians know how and where they can comply with the new law.

***

Missoula Community Theatre Executive Director Michael McGill brought three visitors from the China National Theater to the meeting, promoting their two-year-old partnership.

This week is the first time the two groups have collaboration between children in their programs, McGill said, after sharing directors for plays in the past.

In Beijing they know the name Missoula, he said.
MyStudentInNeed.org is a website that provides a private way for teachers and staff members of Missoula County Public Schools to ask for help for a student in need, and a way for the community to give back.

If you would like to help, visit mystudentinneed.org/Missoula-MT. The number next to the school represents the current needs at that school. The needs can change every day. Click the school, find a need request and click the "Fulfill This Need" button. Complete the donor form and press the "Submit" button, or call 406-750-2542. A member of our team will contact you.
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I was in Portugal in May/June of this year and was surprised about how much they followed and knew about our politics. I think they might be more informed and care more than many U.S. citizens. I walked the Portuguese Camino for 444 miles through rural Portugal. A female goat herder stopped me and asked if she could talk with me after she got her goats behind the next fence. She said that we in the U.S. are not aware of how much our politics affect the whole world. She also said that Donald Trump reminded her so much of Hitler and Mussolini that they were literally afraid for the whole world. Others said similar things. Upon returning to Missoula, I talked with friends who had visited in Europe, Africa and Asia  all having similar experiences.
The radical animal rights groups led by the Humane Society of the United States are at it again, trying to control other people and how they can recreate on public lands with their attempt to pass Initiative 177. This is not really about the animals that are trapped, this is about land and people control under that facade. The resultant loss of freedom (words you seldom hear anymore) of those being controlled by liberal out-of-state groups and some state groups with national and international connections with unlimited funding is not mentioned. Those losing their freedom are being told their rights dont matter, mostly based on emotional feelings and because the radical animal rights activists dont like hunting and trapping. They say it is cruel and unethical, but nothing in nature goes by those standards. Most predators catch and eat on an animal as it is screaming and dying. They dont kill it first!
BUTTE - Hollywood actor Bill Pullman said making the film "The Ballad of Lefty Brown"  being shot in southwest Montana  is unlike anything hes ever done in the world of cinema.

Pullman, 62, has made more than 60 movies to date, plus acted in TV and on stage. He divides his time between his home in southern California and a ranch outside of Whitehall.

He called the experience hallucinogenic because he is working with his entire family, as well as longtime Montana friends during the 20-day shoot in historic Bannack, 25 miles southwest of Dillon.

His wife, Tamara Pullman, and their three grown children all worked as extras. Montana friends such as retired Montana Shakespeare in the Parks artistic director Joel Jahnke show up in the film. The production hired close to 100 locals to work as extras. Real Montana ranch hands play Montana ranch hands.

Im looking out at my own community and family, Pullman said Saturday from the set.

A former mining town that sprung up in the late 1800s, Bannack went bust by the early 1900s. With historical buildings still intact, it is a state park  and a perfect backdrop for a Western.

Producer Neda Armian said she and the director, Jared Moshe, who wrote the screenplay for the movie, considered other locations to film the movie, but ultimately decided on Montana because of the authenticity that would bring to the project.

Montana lent a heartbeat to our movie that you cant buy, Armian said. Montana is very much a character in the story.

Pullmans character, Lefty, feels he must avenge the death of a friend. Pullman said the movie is a fresh look at a classic Western drama because his character is not equipped to be a hero.

They call him a fool, Pullman said before going into a trailer to have his makeup and hair readied for a scene.

Theres an emotional connection he hasnt learned to hide, the actor said.

To prepare to play Lefty, Pullman said he took unusual steps to get into character.

While traveling, he encountered a woman with a limp walking into an airport bathroom. Pullman approached her when she emerged because his character, Lefty, has a limp and Pullman felt inspired watching her walk. Pullman said the interaction was initially awkward.

I watched her face. I couldnt tell her reaction at first, Pullman said.

But the stranger opened up to Pullman and said her limp was an encumbrance she was trying to overcome.

Armian called working with Pullman a humbling experience.

Aside from being enormously talented, he has a deep humanity about him that is unparalleled, Armian said.
TROY  A 17-year-old, 524-pound male grizzly bear with no previous history of problems has been captured and moved in the Yaak.

The grizzly killed a small domestic pig, according to John Fraley, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The bear was trapped in the Seventeen Mile Creek area of the Yaak on Thursday, and moved to the upper Pete Creek drainage in the Yaak the same day.

Fraley said the pigs owners alerted FWP of the killing immediately when it happened on Sept. 25. FWP loaned the homeowners an electric fence to secure the rest of their small livestock, set a bear trap, and caught the grizzly four days later.

The grizzly is known to be a native of the Yaak, born in 1999, Fraley said. The animal had been previously captured and collared for research purposes by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population monitoring program.

The killing of the pig was the grizzlys first known conflict with humans.

Fraley said it was the first grizzly in the Cabinet-Yaak population to be captured for management reasons this year. The bear is once again wearing a collar; he was outfitted with a GPS collar before being released in the Pete Creek drainage.

FWP used the incident to encourage residents to use electric fencing to secure small livestock from bears. The agency said information, assistance and free temporary loans of electrified fencing are available to Montana residents.
HAMILTON  A Stevensville man charged with assaulting a minor allegedly became so irate following his arrest that he slammed his head on patrol cars window and chewed through an electrical wire inside the vehicle, according to court documents.

Christian Gene Williams, 37, appeared before Ravalli County Justice Jim Bailey on the felony assault on a minor charge and numerous misdemeanor counts.

Williams was arrested on Oct. 2 after law enforcement officers were sent to a residence in Stevensville following a report of a disturbance.

Upon arrival, one of the sheriffs deputies spoke to an 11-year-old girl, who said Williams had grabbed her face and pushed her, which bloodied her nose, according to an affidavit.

When Williams was told he was being arrested for partner or family member assault, he began to pull away from the patrol despite being handcuffed. It took two deputies to restrain him and put him inside the vehicle.

Once placed in the back seat, Williams began hitting his head on the door window, removed his seatbelt and chewed through an electrical wire to the backseat lighting. As deputies were attempting to restrain him again, he leaned forward and attempted to head-butt one of the deputies, according to the affidavit.

Williams was charged with misdemeanor counts of partner or family member assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and two counts of criminal mischief.

Bailey set bail at $15,000.
HELENA  Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte continues to pour his own money into his bid to unseat Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, donating another $1.5 million to his campaign last month, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.

The Bozeman businessman, who sold RightNow Technologies to Oracle in 2011 for $1.8 billion, has now donated more than $3.1 million of his personal wealth to the campaign, stretching back to the primaries.

"I know of no other candidate that has self-invested this much in a (Montana) governor's race," Montana State University political science professor David Parker said.

Gianforte's campaign is pumping most of that money into television ads, spending $1.36 million in media buys between the end of August and the end of September. That represents most of Gianforte's $1.77 million in total spending for the period, which left him with about $224,000 at the end of September.

Bullock spent less than a third of what Gianforte did on ad buys last month, according to the Democrat's campaign finance report.

"It appears to be creating a large informational asymmetry on the airwaves, which creates a possible advantage for (Gianforte) in the final days of the campaign," Parker said.

However, former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg also had the airwave advantage over incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in 2012, but he still lost to Tester, Parker added.

Outside groups are also clogging the airwaves with ads in support of their candidates, with the Democratic Governors Association-funded Good Jobs Montana political committee spending $1 million on ads against Gianforte last month.

The Republican Governor's Association Right Direction PAC spent $730,000 over that period on ads opposing Bullock.

Carroll College political science professor Jeremy Johnson said that because the Montana media market is cheap, both candidates have enough money to get their messages out.

However, too many ads could backfire, he said. "It is important to have sufficient funds for campaigns to reach voters; however, there are rapidly diminishing returns to ad buys when the airwaves are saturated with competing commercials," Johnson said.

Bullock's campaign pounced on Gianforte's latest campaign finance report, repeating its past claim that Gianforte is trying to buy the election. Gianforte's campaign chose not to address the candidate's self-funding, instead highlighting that he took in $226,589 in donations for the period.

Bullock raised nearly $282,000 last month, and he took in large PAC contributions from unions, BNSF Railway, the financial firm Deloitte and the drug company Pfizer.

Bullock spent $538,280 and had more than $1 million to spend going into the final month of campaigning.
Hydrocarbons may throw a new wrinkle into Superfund cleanup along Silver Bow Creek at the Slag Wall Canyon off South Montana Street.

During an investigation of the 20-acre site, the Natural Resource Damage Council found hydrocarbon  likely from diesel fuel  in about half of the 30 test holes dug, said environmental science specialist Jim Ford.

The state will give a presentation on this new problem at the Butte Natural Resource Damage Council meeting 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Butte Public Archives, 17 W. Quartz St.

Formerly known as the Butte Reduction Works, the site is where the county houses its asphalt plant. The site borders Silver Bow Creek.

The state doesnt know yet the extent of the contamination or whether it has entered Silver Bow Creek. The state also hasnt yet learned the source of the contamination. Department Environmental Quality will further the investigation.

It adds complexity to the site, Ford said Monday.

Environmental Protection Agency project manager Nikia Green said he has not yet reviewed the new information on the additional contamination.

A copper smelter site from 1883 to 1911, the area then housed a manganese smelter from 1927 until 1972, said environmental science specialist Pat Cunneen.

Also at Thursday's meeting, the presentation will include information on metal contamination found at the site. Ford said this work furthers the states previous investigation into metal contamination in Silver Bow and Blacktail creeks bed and banks.

NRD director Harley Harris will also update the public on the states planned Parrot tailings excavation, which has hit significant delay.

Gov. Steve Bullock originally said dirt would be moving this summer to remove the source of the smelter waste behind the Butte Civic Center. The state repeatedly pushed back the expected date for dirt moving, as problems arose with the plan.

One issue is where the countys vehicle and maintenance shop will be relocated. The state needs to move the countys shops in order to excavate some of the Parrot smelter waste buried underground. Due to public outcry over the county shops future, Butte-Silver Bow has not yet decided where the shops should go.

The states inability to reach an agreement with Montana Resources and Atlantic Richfield Co. over where the excavated waste will go created a second snafu. The state is trying to negotiate an agreement where the waste will wind up, possibly in a dump near the Berkeley Pit or on a leaching site on MRs property. Talks held over the summer fell through in late August due to liability issues.

Harris said Monday that the state is making progress on reaching an agreement with MR and ARCO.

Were still pushing, Harris said. Wed love to have some good news in the next week or so.
BOULDER  Jefferson County commissioners are anxious to hear from the state about what sort of plans it has for the soon-to-be vacant campus of the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder.

But the chairman of a transition advisory council said its too soon to say what will fill the 47-acre campus because the immediate focus is relocating patients fast enough to meet a July 2017 deadline.

The biggest part of all of this is were still moving clients out, Dan Villa, the chairman of the Transition Planning Advisory Council and budget director for Gov. Steve Bullock, said Monday.

Villa said he doesn't know if its possible to meet that timeline, but that its required by state law.

We will do everything in our power to comply with the law as written, but it is a continuing challenge, particularly as we look to private providers. We dont control their timelines, he said.

Clients who leave the center move into group homes operated by for- and nonprofit entities such as Benchmark, based in Indiana, and Aware Inc., of Anaconda. There are 29 patients left at the center, down from 53 a year ago.

Weve moved more people into the community than at any time in history, Villa said.

The state Legislature in 2015 passed a bill to close the center in two years. Nearly all patients must be out by July 2017, except for those living in a 12-bed crisis unit the advisory council voted to keep open last December.

Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman is worried about what it will mean to keep the 12-bed unit.

If I had a department or a business, I might be a little reluctant to place it that close to a high-security unit. Its really going to limit what else is going to be able to go in there, he said. The best opportunity is to close the whole damn thing and move everybody out and turn it over to the county.

But the state cant give away the property because Montanas Constitution says it must be sold for market value, Villa said.

Wortman would like to see the facility turned into a data center or something that would capitalize on fiber-optics lines coming into Boulder.

Im really going to raise hell if its abandoned, he said.

Villa promised that wouldnt happen, saying the state needs to maintain parts of the campus that provide services for the Riverside Youth Correctional Facility across the river.

Were waiting to see what the state of Montana is going to repurpose it as, commission Chairman Bob Mullen said. Theyve said theyve talked it over with several department directors but they haven't tipped their hand. So we dont know if theres nothing or a multitude.

Not all three commissioners are in agreement over the best use for the property. Cory Kirsch said hed rather have a state facility on the campus, with an agency like the Department of Natural Resources using the space.

Villa said he doesnt want to discuss specifics of what the state is considering because he doesnt want to give the town false hope.

The rumor mill down there is bad enough and hard enough as it is, and I dont want to exacerbate it, he said.

As soon as we come up with viable options we will take it to the committee and the town, he said, referring to the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee, formed with the mission to lessen the blow to the town from the center's partial closure. Villa said the state is getting an appraisal done on the facility.

What I heard very plainly was Do not just think you can put whatever you want here, Villa said. The community needs to be participatory and have a voice in whatever the repurposing looks like.

While what happens to the land is uncertain, its also not clear what will happen with employees as the number of jobs at the center declines. So far, as the center has downsized from about 250 to 160, there have been no layoffs. Some workers have retired and some have transferred to other places like Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.

The 12-bed facility will require about 70 employees, and when asked what happens next for the people who fill the 90-or-so jobs the center still needs to shed, Wortman, whose mother worked at the facility, stumbled for a minute.

I dont know. Its going to be tough.

The county is the next largest employer in this town of about 1,800.

There isnt anything else, once you get past the small businesses, Mullen said.

Mullen wishes the process to close the facility would have gone slower.

Why couldn't they study it for two years? he asked.

A lot of the community feel like they really got screwed. Weve done this for 125 years and all of the sudden they say its gotta go.
Avon turkey dinner is Sunday

AVON  The annual turkey dinner in Avon will be held at the community hall on Sunday, Oct. 9, from noon to 4 p.m. Dinner is $8 for adults, $5 for children 6-12 and preschoolers are free.

For more than 50 years the dinner has been served as a fundraiser to pay to heat and maintain the community hall.

Avon is 25 miles northeast of Deer Lodge on Highway 12.

The entire community plays a role in the success of the dinner. Women will prepare 20 turkeys and all the fixings, including homemade pies. Students will serve beverages and men help with the heavy work.

Chief exec candidates featured guests

Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive candidates Dave Palmer and Matt Vincent will be the guest speakers at the Butte-Silver Bow Democrats Burros Club meeting at noon Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the Butte Country Club.

The public is welcome. Details: 406-498-1678.

Rosary rally Oct. 15 on Harrison

People will pray for the United States at noon Saturday, Oct. 15, at a public square rosary rally at the empty lot at 3558 Harrison Ave. The area is south of Silver Bow Pizza. Bring a rosary and lawn chair.

Ennis to host annual hunters feed

ENNIS  The annual hunters feed will be held on Main Street in Ennis from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21.

Chefs of all abilities offer up their best and most creative wild game dishes for all to vote on. Prizes are awarded for best chili, best non-chili, and most unusual with the coveted trophy going to the Judges Choice entry.

To register your wild game dish, call before 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at 406-682-4388.

A Hunters Feed long-sleeved T-shirt or a 50/50 raffle ticket are available for purchase to help support this free Ennis Chamber event.

Whitehall bazaar seeks vendors

WHITEHALL  A beginning ministry is looking for vendors for its bazaar to be held noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Whitehall Community Center. Bring your crafts, baked goods, jewelry, holiday items, etc. Tables are $10 and provided. Details: Leslie, 406-498-5616 or 406-498-4423.

Anaconda library has movie night

ANACONDA  The Friends of the Hearst Free Library will host a movie night from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, at 401 Main St., Anaconda.

The film is the 1964 political thriller "7 Days in May" starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. The movie is free and so are the snacks.

Prescribed burns are announced

ENNIS  Fire officials from the Madison Ranger District will begin prescribed fire activity which may result in visible smoke through November.

Firefighters will burn piles and jackpots throughout the Gravelly Mountain Range in southern Madison County, and in the Tobacco Root Mountains in the North and South Meadow areas.

Details: Madison Ranger District, 406-682-4253.

Rifle club plans annual meeting

ANACONDA  The annual meeting of the Anaconda Rifle and Pistol Club will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Lime Quarry Rifle Range. All members are asked to attend.

Superfund topic of talk at Tech

Julia Crain, with Butte-Silver Bow, will be the speaker at Montana Techs Restoration Seminar at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the Chemistry/Biology Building Room 102.

Her speech is titled Environmental Planning for Superfund Contexts. Details: Robert Pal, rpal@mtech.edu.
Like a frivolous summer romance that was never meant to be, Butte-Silver Bow officials' flirtation with the idea of hiring the primary contractor for the Stodden Park swimming pool project by some means other than the traditional low-bid process ended with barely a whimper Monday.

Some of the officials in question had spent a few days doing a verbal limbo dance, trying to get past one stubborn and inconvenient fact: They had told the voters  and this newspaper  before the pool bond election that the project would "all be bid out."

No matter how you spin the so-called general contractor/construction manager process, it doesn't meet the definition of "all ... bid out."

Yes, much of the work by subcontractors would be bid out. But if you're picking a primary contractor by committee, it's not the same as the traditional low-bid process.

We congratulate the project's technical review committee for realizing that and voting to go the traditional low-bid selection route. We particularly congratulate Public Works Director Dave Schultz and Commissioner Jim Fisher for consistently advocating the traditional method  for understanding that when you tell the public something, and they take you at your word and approve a bond issue, you don't change the rules afterward.

Kudos too to The Montana Standard's government reporter, Mike Smith, for writing about the issue last Sunday, thus bringing it to the public's attention. Which we believe had a lot to do with Monday's decision by the committee.

We're sure there is much to recommend the general contractor/construction manager process, currently in use with the parking garage project. But there is even more to recommend doing things in precisely the way the public expects. As Schultz told the committee last week, every day spent explaining the new method "is a day we're losing ground."

Doing the right thing is infinitely better than inching under the bar of the public trust.
Here's what I'm wondering: Was it Alicia Machado's really mild sex video that caused Donald Trump to wake up with a start about 3:00 the other morning? What was he thinking about as he fired off that "unhinged" tweet about her recorded activities under the sheets? And, yes, conscientious journalist that I am, I forced myself to see the tape of her romp. Talk about boring  unless you are amused by how unexciting it really was. But apparently Donny found it far more interesting. Something got him going, whatever he was thinking, or maybe fantasizing, as he grabbed his device and pecked out: "Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?"

Actually, he didn't send that one till 5:30 a.m. He obviously was still seething about how Hillary Clinton had blindsided him in their first debate over his cruel handling of his Miss Universe, who was the very same Alicia Machado, when she won the beauty contest 20 years ago. Hillary had him backpedaling as she attacked him for being a serial misogynist. That's when she brought up Ms. Machado and her descriptions of how Trump, who ran the competition, made her life a living hell when she gained some weight. According to Alicia, he ridiculed her as "Miss Piggy." Trump didn't deny it. Adding to his cruelty, he resorted to an ethnic slur to describe Miss Venezuela/Universe as "The Housekeeper."

As much as anything else, Hillary Clinton won the debate when she drew blood by confronting him with Machado's charges. By the way, Hillary did win the debate, even though Trump's various toadies tried to cite totally unscientific web surveys that named him as the victor. Even so, it could have been forgotten after a day or so, except that Donald Trump, like the elephant he is, never forgets. He couldn't let it go, as we found out several days later when he fired off his early-morning tweets. And by the way, if he called Machado "Miss Piggy," can the overweight Trump be called "Mr. Elephant"? Sure. What's good for the piggy is good for the elephant. Or something like that.

The truth is that fat-shaming is as cruel as any other prejudice. It's particularly unfair to women, who still are victimized by a double standard about their looks. An argument can be made that pageants like Miss Universe perpetuate a dangerously unrealistic expectation that's harmful to women. Of course, that would appeal to a warped sleaze like Donald Trump, a dirty old man if there ever was one.

As we've discovered, though, his cruelty is not limited to fat-shaming or misogyny. He is an equal-opportunity bigot. He has managed during this single campaign to insult Hispanics, blacks, Muslims, the disabled -- just about everyone but poorly educated white guys. In spite of that, he has attracted millions of passionate supporters. Actually, it's more accurate to say that it is because of that, which makes his followers pretty, what's that word, "deplorable."

Because he's lately paid attention to his advisers, he's managed to soften his most egregious verbal assaults, mostly sticking to the script and even discussing substance, albeit pretty superficially. This seemed to camouflage his narcissistic nastiness. By doing so, he had moved into a tie with Hillary. Of course, she and her people have helped with an inept campaign.

Trump is now threatening to bring up all the ugly memories of Bill Clinton's infidelities. Considering his unsavory marital record and those of his two loudest surrogates, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, that could severely backfire. Hillary has already called his tweet "unhinged." Ultimately, this election could hinge on his being unhinged, and his inability to hide it. The country's well-being also hinges on it.
The man accused in the serious assault of an East Moline police sergeant had encountered the officer at the police department shortly before the attack.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Rising waters and moderate flooding from the Mississippi, Cedar, and Iowa rivers in Muscatine County was the catalyst behind the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors approving a disaster declaration which was signed by County Board Chairperson Jeff Sorensen Monday at the conclusion of their weekly meeting.

Sorensen said the will allow entities and individuals to ask for assistance should they need any.

County Engineer Keith White said several county roads were damaged, including G28, which was under water for several days.

"Probably on average a foot was washed out along the edge and in other places it was bigger than that. Theres a fair volume of rock washed away," White said.

Crews were able to re-open the road, which had been closed since last Wednesday, at 2 p.m. Monday after working earlier in the day, according to White.

Other roads, such as Saulsbury Road and F70, have water near them, but White does not expect the need to close the roads. He also said the county may not receive federal funding, since the damage must reach $152,599.65, the county threshold based on population and dollars per capita, before that funding is available.

Although the damage does not reach the levels of the 2008 flood, White said this fall flooding should not be underestimated.

"It may be the second largest flood on record," he said.

The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings in Muscatine County. The Flood Warning is expected to continue for the Cedar River near Conesville and the Mississippi River near Muscatine until Saturday morning.

Monday morning, the Cedar River was reported at 15.4 feet and falling. The flood stage is 13 feet and moderate flooding is occurring according to the National Weather Service,

At 15.5 feet, water affects residences along County Road G28 and several gravel roads. The river is forecasted to be below flood stage Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

The Mississippi River was reported at 18.5 feet Monday morning in Muscatine, more than two feet above the 16 foot flood stage, causing moderate flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

At 18 feet, water affects much of the Riverside Park parking lot, where ducks could be seen splashing Monday morning.

According to the National Weather Service, the river appeared to be cresting Monday morning, and is expected to be below flood stage on Saturday.

In other business, a public hearing was held on a request from Kirk and Kim K. Latta to rezone around 75 acres of property located in Moscow Township from A-1 Agricultural District to R-1 Residential District.

"I cant support zoning residential in the middle of all these farms," Bonebrake said.

During the public hearing, Supervisors Scott Sauer and Matt Bonebrake expressed concerns that the property was near farm land, and if houses were built in the area, new residents could complain about smells coming from the farms and hog confinement in the area.

Supervisors Bob Howard and Jeff Sorensen said that they were not concerned, because Kirk Latta said his children were possibly wanting to build on the land, and the creation of a subdivision or housing development, which they would not support, was not being discussed.

"That is not my intention at all," Latta said.

A vote was held on the approval of the rezoning, and the board voted two to two, with Howard and Sorensen for and Sauer and Bonebrake against, causing the vote to fail. Latta will be required to wait six months before appealing to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which had approved his request.
WAPELLO, Iowa - The newly renovated annex of the former Louisa County Jail in Wapello should soon be ready for the relocation of several county offices.

County officials discussed progress on the renovation during Tuesdays Louisa County Board of Supervisors meeting at the Louisa County Complex northeast of Wapello.

County auditor Sandi Elliott reported much of the renovation work had been completed, with floor covering one of the remaining activities. She indicated that work could be completed later this week.

Meanwhile, in his regular monthly report to the board, Louisa County IT Director Chuck Borschel said he was still waiting for the annexs telephones to be delivered before completing that phase of the project.

They will have the same features as the courthouse, Borschel said.

Supervisor Randy Griffin also reported that he had recently talked with the plumbers who are connecting water and sewer lines and completing other work. He said those workers had assured him they will finish once the flooring has been installed.

Although officials did not identify any move date into the annex, during previous discussions they had indicated moving in sometime during mid-October. Elliott had previously said she hoped the move would be early enough to use the former board of supervisors meeting room next to her offices for voting activities.

That meeting room is currently used by the countys mental health and disability services department and general assistance office. Those services are both slated to move to the annex once it is completed.

In addition, the Louisa County Veterans Affairs Department and Emergency Services are slated to be relocated from the Louisa County Complex to the annex. The board of supervisors will also begin meeting in the annex once the work is completed.

In addition to his telephone report, Borschel also told the board he was working on providing email accounts for county sheriff deputies and other personnel and was continuing to issue new E911 signs to local residents.

In other action during the supervisors meeting on Tuesday, the supervisors informally agreed to move forward with correcting a 30-year-old property transfer involving county property.

Jerry Henning, 11791 Co. Rd. G44X, Muscatine, told the board he discovered an error after two neighbors who are reportedly feuding over their property lines, suggested Henning examine his lines.

Henning said it appears property he sold to Louisa County in the 1970s for road and bridge purposes was inadvertently transferred as part of a later purchase of former state sovereign land along the Muscatine Slough that he made. The slough land sale was conducted by the Louisa County Conservation Board, which received the property from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The transfers involving the Muscatine Slough were made through quit claims and without a survey.

County attorney Adam Parsons said correctly Hennings Muscatine Slough deed was likely a relatively easy fix and he would begin working on it.

The board also approved waiving a 14-day period of appeal for the Lone Tree Pork Site #1 northwest of Conesville. The board had approved the sites master matrix at its Sept. 13 meeting.

In final action, the board approved $180,674 in claims.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
The #DataMustFall campaign, which is calling for lower mobile data prices, gained traction in September.

The campaign even made it to hearings into high mobile data prices at Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services.

It was successful enough to convince the committees chairman, Mmamoloko Kubayi, that data prices should be reduced within weeks.

Either [the networks] trim data costs [by November], or the National Assembly will order them to do so, said Kubayi.

In the political and activist utopia, the result of the campaign will be a great network which offers 100% coverage at low prices.

However, the reality looks very different. In the real world where reality drives decisions, the choice is simple:

Have a great network (coverage/performance) with higher prices.

Have a poor network (coverage/performance) with lower prices.

Vodacom has made a business decision to invest billions in its network each year to ensure it offers the best possible service to its customers.

Telkom, in comparison, decided to focus on certain areas to contain costs and offers better value.

Consumers now have the choice between great coverage at a higher price, or limited coverage at a lower price.

With competition, consumers will always have a choice. If you do not like your current mobile provider, you can move to a competitor.

The reality, clearly illustrated

Many #DataMustFall campaigners pointed to lower data prices in Namibia and Nigeria. What they failed to mention is the network quality and coverage in these countries.

In Nigeria, network quality is so bad that the Nigerian Communications Commission fined all four GSM operators for failing to meet Quality of Service standards.

Another thing which costs money is coverage. If you compare the coverage of Vodacom in South Africa and MTC in Namibia, the difference is striking  as shown below.

To provide wide coverage and a solid network is difficult and costly. Unless it makes financial sense, operators will not invest to make it a reality.

If there is one thing worse than paying R149 per GB for data, it is not being able to connect to the Internet when you have to.

So be careful when you tell a network what its prices must be, and remove the option of having a great network and 100% coverage at a higher price.

MTC 3G Coverage in Namibia

Vodacom 3G Coverage in South Africa

More on data prices

How expensive South Africas mobile data prices really are  #DataMustFall

Expiring mobile data bundles prejudice consumers: ICASA

Afrihost Deal: 250MB mobile data a month for only R1.00
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services unveiled the National Integrated Information and Communication Technologies Policy White Paper on Sunday.

The paper calls for radical changes in the telecommunications market, including the creation of a Wireless Open Access Network (OAN).

This network will be a public-private owned and managed consortium, aimed at competition on services rather than networks.

All currently unassigned high-demand spectrum will be set aside for the OAN.

The move will remove infrastructure duplication, lower costs, and encourage service-based competition, said the department.

However, all similar initiatives have failed in the past and left the country licking its wounds for years to follow.

A history of trying to control telecommunications

To understand the skepticism towards the OAN, we must look at these past failures.

The ANC has always shown a deep distrust of free-market capitalism in the telecoms market, thinking it will fail the population.

Below are several examples of how the ANC government meddled in telecoms and supported state-owned networks.

1993: The ANC was opposed to privatising public telecommunications, and tried to stop the licensing of Vodacom and MTN . This would have been a disastrous mistake.

The ANC was opposed to privatising public telecommunications, and . This would have been a disastrous mistake. 1997: Telkom was given five years of exclusivity in the fixed-line market in exchange for rolling out 2.8 million lines  of which 1.7 million were for historically under-serviced areas. This was a big failure and did not serve to connect the unconnected.

in the fixed-line market in exchange for rolling out 2.8 million lines  of which 1.7 million were for historically under-serviced areas. This was a big failure and did not serve to connect the unconnected. 2006: The communications ministry announced that Sentech will form the core of South Africas wireless broadband infrastructure network . This plan never materialised.

The communications ministry announced that . This plan never materialised. 2007: State-owned Broadband Infraco was founded to improve market efficiency in the connectivity market. The company was loss making since it started, and the state is now trying to offload it.

The ANC Government has a long track record of playing in the telecoms market and its projects ending in failure  hurting South Africas economy and its citizens.

The only reason people have access to communication services

The only reason most people have access to telecommunications services in South Africa is due to an aggressive network roll-out by Vodacom and MTN.

High mobile call prices made it possible for the mobile operators to expand their coverage across the country and still make money.

This competition on a network level brought South Africa 99% 2G coverage, 99% 3G coverage, and 58% LTE coverage.

The success of the free market which brought ubiquitous mobile networks and broadband to South Africa is dismissed with near contempt in the new policy paper, and replaced with an unproven alternative.

Wireless OANs have been established in Mexico and Kenya, with mixed results, the policy paper stated.

The truth is that a competitive telecommunications market is proven to be the best way to provide services to people.

The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services policy document does not believe this, and goes back to the ANCs 1993 belief that a single network will be the best way to serve the people.

The worst part is that valuable LTE spectrum, which could have been used by Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom to make broadband faster and cheaper, will once again be wasted because of bureaucracy and poor choices by the ANC.

This is an opinion piece.

More on spectrum and policy

ICT Policy White Paper for South Africa gets Cabinet approval

Spectrum auction postponed, BEE requirements relaxed
The National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper is another nail in the coffin for South Africa, said the DA.

The papers aim is to bridge the digital divide and bring affordable, ubiquitous communications services to citizens, but will fail to do so, said the DAs Marian Shinn.

Shinn said the paper suffers key deficiencies, such as:

It is monopolistic.

It is unconstitutional.

It entrenches ministerial intervention over critical components of the ICT sector.

It will give rise to crony-heavy bureaucracies with powers to impose taxes on the sector and dispense government largesse.

We have no doubt this White Paper is simply to rush to meet the deadlines of South Africa Connect, whose second deadline of delivering Internet speeds of 5Mbps to 90% of the population by 2020 looms. It was supposed to reach 50% of the population this year, said Shinn.

The paper advocates for a single wholesale Wireless Open Access Network, which the DA said shuns international best practices.

The DA said the plan for a single network will not bring down the cost to communicate and will lead to service degradation.

This will in turn lead to a decrease in investment and job creation in the telecommunications sector in South Africa.

More on the government

South African government wants to raise legal drinking age

How Vodacom and MTN can lose their cellular spectrum
Liquid Telecom Kenya is rolling out new Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) addresses to customers, and warns that Africa is set to run out of IPv4 addresses in 2017.

This will cause serious setbacks to the continents Internet growth and security, it said.

Africa is the last continent with available IPv4 addresses, and the uptake of IPv6 is proving slow.

So slow that Liquid Telecom said its roll-out in two of the 12 countries it services (Kenya and Zimbabwe) has more than doubled the use of IPv6 across the continent.

If Africa mismanages the transition to the new IP addresses, it will affect the ability to add any new devices, as well as our cyber security, said Liquid Telecom Kenya.

Moving to IPv6 is well advanced in the rest of the world, it added.

With four billion IPv4 addresses, the global growth in the number of devices saw the world start to run out of IPv4 addresses in Asia in 2011, Europe in 2012, Latin America in 2014, and North America in 2015.

With IPv6 there are almost limitless IP addresses, at two to the power of 128 addresses  340 trillion trillion trillion.

We are almost eating into the last block of 16 million addresses of the IPv4 space that the regional Internet registry for Africa has available  so it is important that ISPs start to deploy IPv6.

More on IPv6

Netflix cracks down on IPv6 tunnels for geo-unblocking

IPv6 adoption and traffic

Shocking IPv6 revelation in South Africa

IPv6: Is SA ready?
Its another big movie release week with music, suspicious woman on trains, and even some peculiar children taking up the spotlight.

Check out this weeks biggest movie releases below:

Cafe Society

Age restriction: 10-12



Run time: 1hr 35min



Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell



Directed by: Woody Allen



Synopsis:

Set in the 1930s, Bobby, a young man from the Bronx finds himself in Hollywood with a little help from his powerful uncle Phil, an agent to the likes of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

He meets and falls for Vonnie, his uncles beautiful secretary, before returning to New York where he immerses himself in the razzle-dazzle of high society night club life.

The Girl on the Train

Age restriction: TBA



Run time: 1hr 15min



Starring: Emily Blunt, Laura Prepon, Rebecca Ferguson



Directed by: Tate Taylor



Synopsis:

Rachels still getting over a painful divorce, which shes reminded of every day she passes her old house on a train to work in New York City.

Trying to shift her focus, she starts watching a couple a few houses down, creating a dream life for Megan and Scott. After witnessing a shocking incident only to wake up, battered and suffering from a horrible hangover, she discovers Megan is missing and takes it upon herself to find out what actually happened.

Ms Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

Age restriction: PG 13



Run time: 2h 7min



Starring: Ella Purnell, Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson



Directed by: Tim Burton



Synopsis:

A 16-year-old boy named Jacob Portman discovers clues to a mystery that spans worlds and times when he begins working for a woman named Miss Peregrine at a home on a mysterious island. Helping and getting to know the group of peculiar, orphaned children imbued with strange powers and traits, he soon learns of the horrible creatures, who are out to destroy them.

Hillsong  Let Hope Rise

Age restriction: PG



Run time: 1hr 43min



Starring: Adam Crosariol, Matt Crocker, Michael Guy Chislett



Directed by: Michael John Warren



Synopsis:

A documentary on the Australia-based band Hillsong and their rise to prominence as an international church.

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Golden 1 Credit Union has launched its fifth annual Food Bank Donation Program providing food to families and individuals in need across northern and central California. During September, in support of Hunger Action Month, Golden 1 donated $52,500 to food banks who help Californians in need of food.

The donation supports 19 food banks in counties across California including Napa County. The funds will provide more than 500,000 meals to local food banks including the Napa Valley food bank.

Food insecurity is a year-round issue for many individuals, children, and families in our community, said Shirley King, program director of Community Action of Napa Valley's food bank.

We are very grateful to Golden 1 for its donation to help provide food to those in need and we hope it helps raise awareness and inspire action in the fight against hunger.
Golden 1 Credit Union has launched its fifth annual Food Bank Donation Program providing food to families and individuals in need across northern and central California.

During September, in support of Hunger Action Month, Golden 1 donated $52,500 to food banks who help Californians in need of food.

The donation supports 19 food banks in counties across California including Napa County.

The funds will provide more than 500,000 meals to local food banks including the Napa Valley food bank.

For more information, visit golden1.com
The Napa Valley Vintners is pledging $1 million over 10 years to support The Culinary Institute of Americas new Copia campus in Napa.

The CIA will name its state-of-the-art wine tasting and culinary demonstration theater at Copia in honor of the NVV. Offering daily programs starting this fall, the Napa Valley Vintners Theater will bring together acclaimed vintners, chefs, visiting scholars, educators, and food and wine leaders who shape the industry for compelling and thought-provoking programs, Vintners announced in a news release.

The Culinary Institute of America is honored to have partnered with the Napa Valley Vintners in pursuit of excellence in wine education over the past 20 years. We look forward to continuing this partnership at the CIAs Copia facility and beyond, said Thomas Bensel, managing director of the CIAs California campus.

The CIA and NVV have a history of collaboration dating back to the opening of the Greystone campus in St. Helena in 1995. The organizations partnered on the launch of the Greystone wine programs, NVV supported the Napa Valley Vintners Sensory Classroom at the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies and the NVV and CIA are longtime sponsors of the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers.

The CIA has been a tremendous partner to us, providing numerous opportunities that support our mission to promote the Napa Valley wine region, said Linda Reiff, president and CEO of the NVV. Were excited to be part of the new CIA facility, which will offer wine education for consumers and wine professionals, and create unique marketing opportunities for our 525-plus winery members.

The NVVs pledge is funded by proceeds from the wine trade associations annual Premiere Napa Valley barrel tasting and auction, held each February since 1997 at the CIAs Greystone facility.

No proceeds from Auction Napa Valley, the NVVs other annual fundraiser which benefits local community health and childrens education charitable nonprofits, will be used toward this partnership, Vintners said.

When it officially opens this fall, CIA at Copia is expected to become a focal point and gateway to the Napa Valley for wine and food lovers from around the world, NVV said.

Visitors will soon be able to enjoy wine tasting experiences, culinary demonstrations and classes, world-class dining, shopping, community events and more. Napa Valley wines will be featured in ongoing educational programs and in a new tasting experience in the atrium of Copia.

The NVV will also host many of its trade, consumer and member education programs at the facility.
Reports of cars striking pedestrians have increased significantly in American Canyon, including one recent accident involving a 13-year-old boy that provoked outcry from many residents calling for greater traffic safety.

In response, the city is promising a new safety measures at key locations in the next 30 to 90 days.

Of the four police reports this year documenting people being hit by vehicles, three of them occurred in September, according to data provided by the American Canyon Police Department to the American Canyon Eagle.

The current total of four is higher than any of the previous eight years except for 2013, when there were six reports of pedestrians being hit by cars.

Furthermore, the statistics show more than a tripling of these cases over the eight-year period.

From 2008 to 2011, there were only three reports of cars hitting pedestrians, an average of less than one a year, according to police data. But from 2012 to 2015, there were 14 such incidents, an average of 3.5 a year.

The local statistics correlate with statewide traffic analyses showing American Canyon ranks poorly among cities its own size for certain kinds of collisions.

In 2013, the most recent year for which data is available from the California Office of Traffic Safety, American Canyon had the second worst ranking for hit-and-run accidents among 105 cities of similar size (populations 10,000-25,000).

American Canyon, with 20,000 residents, was also ranked No. 4 in speed related accidents, No. 5 in total number injured and killed by collisions (85 in 2013), and No. 8 for accidents involving bicyclists.

In June, American Canyon resident Paul Schapiro was killed outside the city limits while riding his bike home from Napa. His death was felt by many in the community who knew Schapiro, an avid cyclist who commuted daily along Highway 29.

A similar reaction occurred last week among residents when a 13-year-old boy was hit by a car and seriously injured while walking to school.

On Sept. 26, Isaac Ortiz was in a crosswalk on American Canyon Road  one of the citys busiest streets  when a truck driven by Fidel Lopez hit him going 25 mph in a 40 mph zone. There were no stops signs at the intersection.

Police say the impact threw Ortiz approximately 20 feet into the street, where he lay unconscious.

The eighth grader at American Canyon Middle School suffered a fractured vertebra, a serious concussion, as well as inflammation on his abdomen and rib cage. He also had multiple bruises all over his body.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by a friend of the family to help pay for Ortizs medical bills.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa and later transferred to Childrens Hospital Oakland, where doctors determined his broken back did not require surgery.

Ortiz is now home, where he must remain for at least three weeks. He cannot walk or get up and down on his own, and at times is in considerable pain, according to his parents.

I have to hold him [while walking] because hes shaking all the time, his father, Carlos Ortiz, said on Saturday while Isaac lay in bed. He cant walk by himself.

The driver, who was traveling eastbound on the morning of the accident, told police that the sun impaired his vision.

The boys mother, Sonia Dominguez, said she rejects that explanation.

I have driven that street, Dominguez said through an interpreter. If that was the explanation, there would be an accident on every corner of American Canyon Road.

Other parents reacted angrily when they heard the news about the boy, saying there have been too many close calls involving children and adults in the city.

Im surprised this hasnt happened sooner, wrote parent Lisa Lindsey in a letter emailed to city and school officials on the evening of Sept. 26.

In her letter, Lindsey referred to Ortizs accident and another one four days earlier, on Sept. 22, when a mother and her 5-year-old daughter were hit by a car while walking across Kimberly Drive. They suffered minor injuries.

We live in a city where drivers routinely do not stop at stop signs & speed with no regard to students coming & going to school, Lindsey wrote. Parents are fed up & we need to take whatever precautions are necessary to keep our students/children safe.

Josh Lederer, father of three young children, including two attending Napa Junction Elementary School, says commuters often speed through his neighborhood of Rancho Del Mar without regard for anyone.

The most dangerous thing our children do every day is just walk to school, said Lederer.

He faulted the city for not doing more to keep the highway traffic off local roads, a byproduct of congestion on Highway 29.

Some people are in Oakland right now at the Childrens Hospital because of this problem, he said, referring to the family of Isaac Ortiz.

Other parents took to social media to vent and share their own stories of near misses.

A parent living in Victoria Faire noted on Nextdoor that the intersection where Ortiz was hit  American Canyon Road and Hummingbird Way  did not have stop signs.

But the intersection did have them at one time, said the mother, adding that her daughter was almost hit twice while in a crosswalk on Benton Way near the middle school, which is only two blocks from Ortizs accident.

City Manager Dana Shigley confirmed there were stop signs at American Canyon and Hummingbird from 2000 to 2001.

The stop signs were installed when the road was extended 15 years ago and removed shortly thereafter, Shigley wrote in an email to the Eagle on Sept. 29.

They were removed before the housing development was completed, she added. Although the road was designed to include the stops at Hummingbird, the very small amount of traffic at that end of the road at that time did not justify them.

Shigley said traffic studies conducted in 2003 and again this year showed the volume of cars in the area did not warrant putting the signs back in.

And yet, three days after Ortiz was hit, a Public Works crew was seen installing stop signs at Hummingbird and American Canyon Road in response to the accident.

For Ortizs father, the action was too little, too late.

Why didnt they do that before [the accident]? he asked, insisting the city has to have safety for the pedestrians.

Shigley insists the city is taking steps to improve pedestrian safety.

In her weekly Friday Update emailed to the community on Friday, Shigley opened by saying it was important to talk about traffic safety, since it is on all our minds right now in light of recent accidents.

She promised that in the next 30-90 days Public Works will install new signs for multiple locations around town, in addition to other work recently done to make streets safer.

Upcoming changes include:

 Summerwood Drive and Tapestry Lane will receive crosswalk signage and new painted red curb to improve pedestrian visibility of the intersection.

 Donaldson Way East at the Arco gas station driveway will receive enhanced No Left Turn signage.

 A speed feedback sign will be installed on southbound Broadway at Cartagena Way.

 Improvements in the School Zone signage and striping near American Canyon High School will also be completed.
Its the woman with the brass backbone against tenacious Charlie in the Assembly race to represent the 4th District that includes Napa County.

Thats how the two candidates described themselves Monday at a Napa Valley Vintners forum. Democrat and Winters Mayor Cecilia Aguiar-Curry is facing Republican and Esparto resident Charlie Schaupp in the Nov. 8 election.

The first question to candidates during the event at the Napa Valley Marriott & Spa was why voters should send them to the Legislature.

Im a woman who gets things done, Aguiar-Curry said. Ive been known as the woman with the brass backbone.

Economic development in the Yolo County city of Winters during her eight-year City Council tenure and five-year mayoral tenure has totaled $200 million, she said. As an example, she mentioned a $75 million Pacific Gas & Electric training facility that broke ground in late 2015.

Schaupp, a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps, met the question head-on.

Why should you vote for Charlie? he said. Because Charlie is a tenacious fellow. I will always be honest with you  I will stand tenaciously in Sacramento and in the Assembly and stand up against the lobbyists and special interest groups.

He mentioned the $2 million-plus spent to back Aguiar-Curry during the June primary by independent expenditure committees, which are the super-PACs of California politics.

Why? Schaupp said. The special interest groups want to control Sacramento.

They tackled the issue of climate change and Californias cap-and-trade program that allows companies to buy carbon emission credits and uses the money for greenhouse gas mitigation efforts.

Aguiar-Curry made it clear she wouldnt back every climate change bill. For example, she criticized Senate Bill 350. The original version of the bill featured a petroleum-cutting requirement that some  including Aguiar-Curry  feared wold have raised gas prices.

You go up to Lake County and you ask people, If the price of gas goes up, how is that going to affect your business? she said. How is that going to affect people who are living in poverty? How is it going to affect the people who live in rural areas?

Aguiar-Curry said she will be the voice for rural America.

Schaupp said the climate has always changed and no one has a crystal ball to know whether it will be hotter or colder in the future. California needs to be proactive, but cap-and-trade has been a huge tax on industry, he said.

We need to let our government do what government does best and this is to let industry thrive and take cap-and-trade off of them so we can get ready for the future, Schaupp said.

California will survive and overcome climate change, unless it kills the goose that lays the golden egg, he said.

The candidates talked about how they would handle Californias drought. California is requiring cities to create groundwater sustainability plans. Schaupp views this as a prelude to a state takeover of groundwater.

You need surface water, Schaupp told his audience of vintners. Youre vintners, youre farmers, you need water. Im going to fight for that.

Schaupp said he supports building the proposed Site Reservoir in Colusa and Glenn counties. The project would allow the state to store more water north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

He suggested using some Sites Reservoir water for Yolo County farms. That could free up some of the water Yolo County gets from Clear Lake to be used in Napa County, he said. He didnt have time during his allotted answer period to give details on the water rights trades idea, such as how surface water would be physically moved.

Aguiar-Curry said not everyone likes the state program that has cities preparing groundwater sustainability management plans. But she urged Napa County to move forward with it.

Id rather have us have local control figuring this out, rather than having the state tell us what to do, she said.

She talked of moving ahead with plans to upgrade the North Bay Aqueduct. The state water project brings Delta water to American Canyon, Napa and Calistoga, with American Canyon largely dependent on North Bay water.

Aguiar-Curry supported the Sites Reservoir and opposed the Brown administrations plan to build Twin Tunnels in the Delta.

Aguiar-Curry is a Democrat in an Assembly district where 47 percent of voters are registered as Democrat, 25 percent as Republican and the remainder for another party or decline-to-state. In addition, she holds a big fundraising advantage.

She reported raising $182,212 and spending $126,089 from July 1 through Sept. 24 and had $80,241 remaining. She reported raising $307,469 from Jan. 1 through Sept. 24 and spent much of the money on the June primary.

That doesnt include the $2.4 million that independent expenditure committees spent on her candidacy in the primaries on mailers, television commercials and other expenses. Under state law, she could have no input on those outlays.

Contributions in the latest reporting period included $8,500 from the California Real Estate PAC/California Association of Realtors small contributor committee, $8,500 from the California State Council of Laborers small contributor committee, $4,200 from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association PAC, $4,200 from the California Dental PAC and $3,654 from the California Farm Bureau Federation Fund to Protect the Family Farm PAC.

Schaupp reported receiving $7,044 and spending $16,316 from July 1 through Sept. 24 and had $3,257 remaining. He raised $42,630 from Jan. 1 through Sept. 24. For the year, he has lent his campaign $37,000.
A 25-year-old Napa resident was arrested for investigation of felony DUI Sunday night following a crash on Highway 12/121 near the Sonoma County line, the California Highway Patrol reports.

The collision between a pickup and a car was reported at 10:50 p.m. at the intersection with Haire Lane.

Rossmery V. Romero, the driver of the pickup, was arrested for possible DUI, while the 22-year-old woman who was driving the car, was taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center with injuries, the CHP said.

Additional information was not immediately available.
Californias five-year drought may be taking a toll on the Napa Countys steelhead trout population, though Chinook salmon appear to be making a modest comeback.

The Napa County Resource Conservation District each spring operates a funnel-shaped fish monitoring trap in the Napa River between Napa and the Oak Knoll Avenue bridge. The district recently released data from this years program.

Chinook salmon and steelhead trout are species of special note. Various volunteer and regulatory efforts are underway to boost fish populations that have plummeted since pioneer days.

Despite efforts over the last decade to control watershed erosion and recontour sections of the Napa River to a more natural state, the Chinook and steelhead populations have yet to see dramatic surges.

As long as its stable, as long as its not continuing downward, at least were holding the line, said Jonathan Koehler, senior biologist with the Napa County Resource Conservation District. Biologically, thats a good thing.

Restoration projects sometimes take 10 to 20 years or longer to produce more fish, he said. This is an undertaking where patience is needed.

The live-release trap operated 1,474 hours between March and late May and caught an average of one steelhead smolt daily. Thats similar to results from the previous three years, but less than the 2.9 in 2012, 2.3 in 2011 and 2.7 in 2010.

Steelhead trout stay in the local waterways for a year or two before going to the ocean. They need cold, clean water year-round, Koehler said.

If that year or two isnt favorable, they are out of luck, he said.

The monitoring report suggests a link between smaller steelhead populations and drier rain seasons that provide less stream flows continuing into the summer. The other possibility is the fish trap is simply less effective at catching smolt during drier years when river flows are weaker.

Koehler said the steelhead population has suffered from death from a million cuts. There hasnt been one, specific cause for the drop-off from historic populations.

A draft report last year from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries recommended 170 steps for the Napa River watershed to boost the steelhead population. They ranged from releasing water from dams at key times to placing woody debris in streams at key locations to building a fish ladder at 125-foot-tall Conn Creek Dam that forms Napas Lake Hennessey reservoir.

Monitoring results are more favorable for Chinook salmon. The program this spring trapped an average of 9.4 Chinook salmon every 24 hours. Thats far short of the 101 average in 2011, but more than the average of none in 2014 and 2015.

Koehler said making correlations is difficult, but the comeback could be related to rainfall patterns. Good early-season flows gave the salmon access to their spawning grounds.

They just wait around, Koehler said. If the river isnt flowing, they get diseases, they get eaten by sea lions, they get caught by fishermen This year, there was good flow. From what we can tell, they went up all the way to Calistoga.

Hopefully, Koehler said, the bigger numbers seen last spring for Chinook salmon is the start of a trend.

Overall, the fish monitoring program captured 5,648 fish of varying species last spring. It yielded 580 Chinook salmon smolts, 548 California roaches, 221 blue gills, 166 Sacramento suckers, 146 Pacific lampreys and 87 river lamprey, among other species.

The unusually high number of river lamprey and Pacific lamprey warranted mention in the monitoring report. Little is known about the life history and spawning habitats of these fish, it said.

It seems like Napa is one of these weird, little lamprey oasis in the state, Koehler said.

That could reflect well on Napas watershed restoration efforts. Koehler said lamprey require good water quality.

Not too many people get excited about lamprey, but fish biologists do, Koehler said.
September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, and NVUSD middle and high school students are already signed up, thanks to a new partnership between Napa County Library and Napa Valley Unified School District.

The One Card program  the first of its kind in California  allows middle and high school students to use their school-generated student ID as their public library card, with a ready-made account ready to greet the student at the library building or online.

When students are enrolled with NVUSD  either as kindergarteners or transfer students  they are issued a six-digit ID number that stays with them for their entire student career. By the time they reach sixth grade, students are comfortable with using these numbers to access a variety of services and programs available to them through the school district. With this new program, when a student enters middle school, this same number can be used to access resources through the public library.

Students can check out materials; place holds on materials from partner libraries; download ebooks, audiobooks, music and magazines; access hundreds of research databases; get live, homework help from real tutors; take practice standardized tests like the SAT, ACT; practice driving tests, and more.

As of Sept. 23, more than 99 percent of the student IDs submitted have been successfully turned into library cards, adding 9,953 new users to the four-branch system, the officials reported.

For more information about the One Card program, visit www.nvusd.k12.ca.us/1card.
The human remains found north of Pope Valley Road last March have been identified as two brothers from Santa Rosa who may have been seen fleeing a wildfire in July 2014, according to the Napa County Sheriffs Office.

The brothers  Mario Avendano, 31, and Florentino Avendano, 45  were reported missing to the Santa Rosa Police on Jan. 3, 2015, said Capt. Keith Behlmer. They were last seen in June 2014, a month before the fire, he said.

Their unidentified remains were found by concrete workers who noticed what appeared to be a human skull within view of Butts Canyon Road on March 7. Although it looked like a skull, the workers did not stop to check it out until they noticed it again two days later when they reported it, Behlmer said in March.

After determining that the skull was human, investigators guarded the area overnight in order to continue the investigation the following day. Additional bones were located throughout the area, which was devastated by the Butts Fire in July 2014.

The remains appeared to have been washed down from the top of a nearby hill. There were enough bones to assemble two human skeletons, but only one skull was located.

More bones, but no additional skull, were found in the same vicinity in the following days with the help of the Search and Rescue Unit.

During the initial search, Behlmer said that there was no immediate indication of how the individuals died or how long ago.

The bones were sent to the Anthropology Department at California State University in Chico, and, after DNA was collected from living family members, the remains were identified.

Behlmer said that the brothers were identified using DNA collected from their two sisters and with help from Santa Rosa Police.

It was pretty cut and dry, Behlmer said. Luckily, we knew that there was a missing persons report prior, he said.

Investigators believe the brothers were in the area during the July 2014 wildfire, Behlmer said. Santa Rosa Police informed the Napa County Sheriffs Office that they believed the men had been dropped off at Butts Canyon Road in the Pope Valley area in 2014, he said.

The Butts Fire, which began July 1, 2014 off Butts Canyon Road in Pope Valley northwest of Lake Berryessa, burned 4,300 acres, according to Cal Fire. There were four reported injuries as well as two residences and seven outbuildings that were destroyed.

Berryessa Estates and the west side of the 7800 block of Butts Canyon Road north of Snell Valley Road were evacuated during the fire, according to Register reports. James Creek Road residents in Lake County were also evacuated.

Snell Valley, Butts Canyon and Aetna Springs roads were closed.

Firefighters at the time also reported seeing two Hispanic men running in the area of Butts Canyon Road and Snell Valley Road during the fire, Behlmer said. Firefighters tried to contact the men, but could not locate them.

Although people do hike in the area, Behlmer said that there are no known hiking trails. The area has also been known for illegal marijuana cultivation, he said.

That is an area where there is a lot of illegal marijuana cultivation, Behlmer said.

Why the brothers were in the area and how they died remain undetermined.
Back in 2011, there were big plans for the vacant lot on California Boulevard just north of Embassy Suites, across Napa Creek.

The field  primarily used as a footpath leading to a passage under the freeway  was to become home to 48 condos with two- and three-bedroom units, said the developer at the time.

Prices would range from $150,000 to $200,000  figures that seem a steal in todays real estate market.

The city approved the new housing units, but for an unknown reason they were never built.

Now the 3.8-acre parcel, with a current address of 1701 D. St. Alley, is being listed for sale for $7.25 million. The owner of the land is listed as NCCH 103 NAPA LP of Mill Valley.

The property listing notes that construction drawings for the project are 95 percent complete and all permits are in process.

The site work, including concrete, construction and electrical is estimated to cost an additional $1.8 million, said the listing.

Napa Creek 2016 would include 48 units ranging from 1,201 to 1,819 square feet. Those units could range from two to four bedrooms.

Neither a representative from NCCH 103 NAPA LP nor the broker representing the project were available to discuss the development.

This site is an excellent location for an in-fill project of this type, said Napa real estate broker Burt Polson. Homes of this size can be difficult to find at this time.

I like this location, said Joe Fischer of Strong & Hayden commercial real estate. Theres good access to downtown Napa and the highway, he noted. Its also close to a hotel and grocery store.

The sale price for the completed condos is the biggest question said Polson.

At $7.25 million that calculates into a land cost of more than $150,000 per unit. This is on the high-end of the scale for a project of this type, Polson said.

Its a little steep, Fischer said. But I see it ultimately transacting.

To compare, Polson described a project he is working on at the corner of Imola and Golden Gate Drive. That 17-unit townhome project, called Courtland Commons, has land costs of $75,000 per unit, he said.

What will the developer need to sell a (Napa Creek) home for when complete and will it compete in the marketplace? he asked. The price of the land plays a big part in the profitability of the project and what the final market price per unit needs to be in order to be profitable.
The Napa County Taxpayers Association recommends the following for your ballot on Nov. 8.

US Representative District 5 - Carlos Santamaria; CA State Assembly in the 4th District - Charlie Schaupp; District 2 County Supervisor - Ryan Gregory; Napa Valley College Trustee for Area 6 - Debra Alter Starr; Napa Valley College Trustee for Area 1 - Jennifer Baker; Napa City Council - Doris Gentry

And Two Thumbs Down for CA State Senator District 3 - Mariko Yamada.

Locally in Napa County 2 tax measures will be on our ballots for November 8;

In St. Helena Measure D would add a 0.5 percent general sales tax. The city has been struggling to control their budget by reducing services and staffing. In searching for additional revenues this sales tax measure has been proposed. The Napa County Taxpayers Association has taken no position on this measure. Residents of St. Helena should decide this issue.

In Napa County Measure Z would increase our sales tax by 0.25 percent to fund unspecified parks and open space activities. The Napa County Taxpayers Association notes that the current parks and open space organization has been doing a good job with the limited funds provided by park fees, grants and the county of Napa. Our association believes an added sales tax which greatly increases funding for which specific projects have not been identified would create a slush fund for another level of unnecessary bureaucracy. Our detailed arguments against this measure will appear on the November ballot.

A record total of 17 state propositions are on your November ballot. Fifteen of these were added by the initiative process. The Napa County Taxpayers Association supports propositions 53, 54, and 59 and opposes propositions 51, 55 and 67.

Here is our alternative recommendation: The largest voting guide in California history will be mailed with 17 ballot propositions detailed, A lot of trees were sacrificed to produce these voter pamphlets. My SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) is over 300 tons.

Can voters study this mass of paper in order to vote intelligently? A simplified suggestion is; vote No on all 17 propositions. This would miss a couple of good ones but it would still stop a $9 Billion school bond, stop legalization of marijuana, stop the extension of a promised temporary income tax on the wealthy, stop arguments that, "You have to pass it to see whats in it and stop the tax paid with your grocery bills for recyclable and biodegradable paper and plastic bags which were previously provided for free.

It might also cause some decline in the growth of feel good measures developed in attempts to govern by the initiative and balloting process.

Additionally you can immediately feel good about your personal action to stop global warming. Just think of all of the trees your vote would help to save in the future that could fight global warming by sequestering CO2.

Jack Gray, Director

Napa County Taxpayers Association
Vote for Mary Luros and Scott Sedgley. We have a lot at stake in this coming election. I look for candidates that understand that they serve the people that live here and are environmentally and socially responsible. Mary and Scott are open to the public and will consider varying views before making decisions. I know that they cannot be corrupted, tainted by an ideology, political or social, that will sway their good judgment.

Mary and Scott will listen and respect your opinion and consider your thoughts when they make a decision. Again, the issue for me is that they honor and respect democracy, equal rights, womens rights, environmental rights, workers rights, and work for affordable and low income housing. I believe that Mary and Scott understand the full economic, environmental and societal impacts of their decisions.

I do not support Doris Gentry because I feel she cannot separate from the political and social agenda to which she is registered.

The community needs to be active in discussing their issues with their council members and challenging them to hear and understand the community needs. I do not have an illusion that I will agree with every decision they make. It takes an active community to participate in the political process and to challenge positions before decisions are made.

Vote for Mary Luros and Scott Sedgley. And, by all means, vote for Hillary Clinton, too. Vote yes on Measure Z to protect open space in Napa County.

Lowell Downey

Napa
Auberge in, Sharp out at Solage

Returning to its roots, Solage Calistoga is once again being managed by Auberge Resorts.

Auberge opened the resort  and until two years ago actually did manage it, said Philip Kendall, general manager of the property. We couldnt be more pleased to be back.

While Kendall said the switch back to Auberge from the Solage Hotels and Resorts group, which managed the property the last two years, should be seamless, the resort lost Brandon Sharp, the executive chef who maintained a Michelin star for the propertys restaurant, Solbar, for seven consecutive years.

Kendall denied that Sharps departure had anything to do with the management move saying that Sharp is taking over the role of executive chef at the Carolina Inn, a historic Chapel Hill, North Carolina hotel. Sharp is from North Carolina and wants to be closer to family there, Kendall said.
Supervisors volunteer for wine conferences

Napa County Supervisors Diane Dillon and Keith Caldwell will travel 5,500 miles to represent the county at the Great Wine Capitals conference in Porto, Portugal.

Agricultural Commissioner Greg Clark will also attend the event from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11. The estimated cost is up to $17,500 in public money.

Great Wine Capitals is a network of nine wine destinations across the globe, including San Francisco/Napa Valley. Napa County began sending the agricultural commissioner and one supervisor to the annual conference in 2006 and in 2008 increased the Board representation to two supervisors.

Local wine industry and tourism officials also attend, though not using county money.

The county Board of Supervisors last week approved the travel expenses for Dillon and Caldwell, as well as Clark. It also agreed Dillon should serve as one of the Boards two representatives through 2018.
The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce, the city of St. Helena, The League of Women Voters and the St. Helena Kiwanis Club will hold forums and workshops featuring political candidates, the proposed Measure D half-cent sales tax and the 17 ballot propositions.

Chamber of Commerce

The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce will host a candidate debate at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at Vintage Hall. The debate will include the four City Council candidates: incumbents Sharon Crull and Greg Pitts and challengers Geoff Ellsworth and Mary Koberstein. The debate will be broadcast live on Channel 28.

City of St. Helena

The city will hold two community workshops on The State of the City and Measure D:

10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the St. Helena Public Library

6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at City Hall.

Kiwanis Club

The St. Helena Kiwanis Club will host a number of breakfast forums starting at 7:30 a.m., on the following Wednesdays at the American Legion Hall, 1291 Madrona Ave. RSVP to StHelenaKiwanis@gmail.com.

Oct. 12: Mayor Alan Galbraith on Measure D;

Oct. 19, Councilmember Greg Pitts;

Oct. 26, candidate Geoff Ellsworth;

Nov. 2, Councilmember Sharon Crull.

League of Women Voters of Napa County

This November, voters will have to wade through 17 propositions as well as local measures.

The League of Women Voters of Napa County (LWVNC) wants to make voting easier by deconstructing the measures to help you make more informed decisions. To that end, League members present a program St. Helena, on the Pros and Cons of the Ballot Propositions 2016. It will be 7 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 20 at the St. Helena Public Library, 1492 Library Lane. Attendees are asked to bring your ballot pamphlet as a guide. For more information, contact LWVNC at lwvnapa@gmail.com.
Businesses hit with ADA lawsuits

Local small businesses have been hit with a flood of lawsuits from a Napa woman who says she is being discriminated against under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Nearly two dozen businesses including flower shops, restaurants, burger joints, liquor stores and automotive shops have been served with these lawsuits, 11 of them in September, leaving the owners frustrated, angry and scrambling to do whatever they can to minimize losses.

Most of the lawsuits, which have been filed in federal court, complain of parking lots that are out of compliance  a few of them only lacking updated signage and fresh paint  and narrow doors and aisles.

The plaintiff, Pamela Koussa of Napa, says in the suits that she is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair for mobility. Multiple attempts to reach Koussa for comment failed. Her lawyers, based out of the Center for Disability Access, a law firm in San Diego, also did not respond to media inquiries.

In her lawsuits, Koussa says that the business and property owners are intentionally discriminating against her.

The ADA protects people who have disabilities from discrimination and ensures them equal opportunities. Koussa is seeking compliance from businesses as well as $4,000 in minimum damages under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California legislation that outlaws discrimination.
Friends of the Cameo, the nonprofit arm of the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena, has been awarded a grant from The Coolidge Corner Theater in concert with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as part of its Science on Screen program. Now in its 11th season, Science on Screen is offered in only 47 cinemas nationwide. Friends of the Cameo is just the fourth California nonprofit organization to ever receive this award.

Friends of the Cameo supports a wide range of programs ranging from documentary, arts and classic films and speakers to the annual Family Film Festival and live streaming of historical and sporting events, including the Olympics.

This $8,000 grant provides the financial support for Friends of the Cameo to work with Cathy Buck, owner and creative director of the Cameo Cinema, to develop an exciting science-related series of films and speakers over the next year. We are thrilled to receive national recognition for our community programs at the Cameo Cinema, said Stacey Bressler, Friends of the Cameo board president.

Our Science on Screen programs will be an entertaining way to learn something new  especially if youre years removed from school like me, but still enjoy thought-provoking discussions with brilliant experts, said Buck, who will design the program.

Each film will be a jumping-off point for speakers to introduce current research or technological advances in a manner that engages popular culture audiences.

The first two Science on Screen programs funded by this grant begin on Sunday, Oct. 9 with a showing of the film The Man Who Knew Infinity. It tells the story of the life and academic career of the pioneer Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and his mentor Professor G.H. Hardy.

A Q&A follows with professors Keith Devlin and Tucker Hiatt. Devlin, in addition to being NPRs entertaining Math Guy, is a professor at Stanford and is renowned for his innovative approach to mathematics as it relates to logic and linguistics. He will be joined by Tucker Hiatt, a visiting scholar at Stanford and founder of Wonderfest.

Tickets are available at cameocinema.com" href="http://%20www.cameocinema.com" target="_blank">cameocinema.com

On Friday, Oct. 21, the Cameo will show Life Animated, a coming-of-age story about a boy with autism and his family who overcame great challenges by turning Disney animated movies into a language to express love, loss, kinship and brotherhood.

The film is based on the best-selling book by Ron Suskind. A Q&A follows the film with Andrew Gordon, a directing animator at Pixar; Dr. Elysa Marco, associate professor and cognitive and behavioral child neurologist at UCSF and innovative pediatrician Dr. Sherry Pejka.

Two additional Science on Screen programs are scheduled for spring 2017.

The Cameo Cinema is at 1340 Main St. For more information, call 707-963-9779 or go online to cameocinema.com
Armenia renowned stage director, ex-MP Vahe Shahverdyan dead at 77

Turkey plans to open 100 oil, natural gas wells on land in 2023

Japan to establish new unified command to manage operations of land, sea and air forces

French Foreign Minister calls on Russia to reconsider its decision on grain deal

Ferrari unveils 499P hypercar with all-wheel drive

Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that Putin, Pashinyan and Aliyev meeting will help conclude peace treaty

Pashinyan to meet with Putin in Sochi, followed by trilateral meeting of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani leaders

Reuters: Border Agency building set on fire in Britain

US recognized as most powerful country in world for seventh time

Iran accuses Israel of organizing terrorist attack in Shiraz

Reuters: NATO urged Russia to urgently resume grain deal

Guterres intends to achieve resumption of Russia's participation in grain deal

Resistance Movement calls rally on November 5

La Stampa: Italian farmers fear rising cereal prices due to disruption of grain deal

Beglaryan: About 33% of the entire population of Artsakh gathered at the Renaissance Square in Stepanakert

Sweden's new government is ready to supply Kiev with heavier weapons

Babayan: Any proposal in which Artsakh will be considered part of Azerbaijan will be rejected

Dozens of female students protest in Afghanistan

Biden confuses number of states in U.S.

Peskov: Russia cannot be someone's vassal

Minibus carrying party members overturns in Ankara

Dashnaktsutyun: Any document that will include Artsakh into Azerbaijan must be torn up

Speaker: We hope that no document ignoring the Artsakh issue will be signed in Sochi

Italian MFA comments on Russia's withdrawal from food deal

Economist: High inflation took Western countries by surprise, which were wrong in their forecasts

Artsakh National Assembly issues statement: Artsakh has never been and will never be part of independent Azerbaijan

Parliament of Republic of Artsakh unanimously adopts statements

NA holds extraordinary meeting in Artsakh: Big rally takes place on Renaissance Square (photos)

Lavrov confirms Putin's readiness for negotiations with Ukraine

La Repubblica: Italy supplied Kiev with 20-30 M109L artillery guns and PzH 2000 howitzers

Typhoon in Philippines affects more than 932,000 people

Source: Turkey conducts 'telephone diplomacy' on food deal

Television and partially radio broadcasts will be turned off in Armenia for two hours on October 31

Borrell: The EU urges Russia to revert its decision

Haiti PM Ariel Henry: The leader of a political party was murdered in the republic

Armenia MFA expresses condolences to South Korea over Seoul tragedy

Seoul receives more than 3,700 missing persons reports after crush

Armenian Defense Ministry: Private received fatal gunshot wound

Toivo Klaar: I emphasised the European Unions continued strong engagement in the peace process

Arrested for assaulting Speaker Pelosi's spouse faces charges

Major crush in Seoul: There are victims

Britain needs air defense in connection with war in Ukraine

France to plant 1 billion trees by 2030

Armenian FM meets participants of World Armenian Summit

The Swiss are going to set record for longest passenger train in the world

At least 146 people killed and 150 more injured in Seoul as they were crushed by crowd

Europeans frightened by growth of household appliances exports to Armenia, Kazakhstan

Russia requests UN Security Council meeting in connection with Ukraine's attack on Black Sea Fleet ships

Michel Aoun: Lebanon could slide into constitutional chaos

Zelensky intends to have Patriot SAMs, Abrams tanks and aircraft from US

President discusses latest foreign political developments around Artsakh

Azerbaijan officials considering opening embassy in Israel

Pashinyan receives Youri Djorkaeff

Thierry Breton talks Twitter purchase by Elon Musk: In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules

Armenia PM, EU Special Representative for South Caucasus discuss regional security and peace

Nikol Pashinyan, Garo Paylan exchange views on Armenia-Turkey normalization process

Quake hits Armenia-Turkey border zone

Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Garo Paylyan discuss prospects of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations

Armenia ruling party adopting new vision regarding Karabakh conflict settlement

Russia MOD: Ukraine carried out terrorist attack on Black Sea Fleet ships, civilian ships in Sevastopol

Premier: CSTO should plan force operation, restore Armenias territorial integrity

BloombergNEF: Gas reserves from the U.S. will not be enough to fill the gaping hole left by Russia in Europe

Armenia PM: All countries consider Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan

Armenias Pashinyan: CSTO does not exist

Kremlin responds to question on extending mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Armenia premier: We need to know, ultimately, what Russian peacekeepers are doing in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia PM: Im ready to sign document, accept that Russian peacekeepers term in Karabakh be extended 10-20 years

Armenias Pashinyan: We are ready to delegate border guard service operation to Russian border guards

Finland, Sweden promise to join NATO together

European Parliament calls on Armenia to consider diversifying its security partnerships

Visiting Armenia MPs brief Canada lawmaker on recent Azerbaijan military aggression

Armenia PM at ruling party congress: We declared repairing states foundation our primary task

UK prime minister may freeze foreign aid for two more years

Karabakh President: Russia leaders statement inspires certain hopes

Armenia ruling party congress kicks off

Man breaks into US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home, demands to speak with her, beats husband with hammer

EU-Armenia Joint Committee on Research and Innovation first meeting to be held in November

Provincial governor of Armenias Gegharkunik: EU monitoring mission already started

US accuses Russia of disinformation regarding Washington intentions towards Armenia, Azerbaijan

Mexico fully legalizes gay marriage

Newspaper: Azerbaijan not inclined to sign anything with Armenia in Russias Sochi

Armenia ruling party convening closed convention

India's ruling party spokesman sues news portal

Archaeologists discover 240-year-old American camp for British prisoners of war

Subglacial river of 460 kilometers long discovered in Antarctica

Italian prime minister demands that she be addressed as prime minister in masculine form

Pentagon to send Ukraine new aid package worth $275 million

Europe will ban sale of one type of car

European Commission head announces new aid and investments for Serbia

Biden calls Putin's rhetoric on nuclear weapons 'dangerous'

Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: What are you fighting for in these mountains, where not even goats walk?

Swedish authorities offer to create united northern army

Lukashenko: Conflict issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved now - with Ilham Aliyev

Lukashenko about situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border: Where are we racing horses, where are we rushing to?

Pashinyan: Armenia-Diaspora relations undergo profound substantive changes

Lukashenko to Pashinyan: Sit down with Aliyev and make a decision, if you don't make it today, it will be worse

Bulgarian interim government urges to speed up transition to euro zone

President of Karabakh: It is necessary to unite all national potential and efforts

IMF: China's sharp and uncharacteristic economic slowdown will stall growth in Asia by the end of 2023

Iran: Riots in country were planned by the intelligence services of the USA, England, Israel and the KSA
YEREVAN.  They say the dismissal of now former Defense Minister of Armenia, Seyran Ohanyan, has quite deep roots, according to Irates newspaper.

Actually, this was the last episode in the President [Serzh Sargsyan]-defense minister conflict.

They also say that, after the war in April[, which Azerbaijan had unleashed], the defense minister openly expressed disagreement with this or that action by the President.

And the statements about [Ohanyan] turning down [the offer for assuming] the office of CSTO [i.e. Collective Security Treaty Organization] Secretary General have put an end to the Serzh Sargsyan-Seyran Ohanyan tandem.

Nonetheless, the latter definitely will not remain without a job. They say, in the future, the former minister will enter the political arena with a [chess] knights move, wrote Irates.
iStock/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) -- The defense gave its opening statements Tuesday in the murder case against Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia man accused in the 2014 hot-car death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper, maintaining that it was an accident and that Harris had "forgotten" to drop the child off at day care that day.



Harris' minutes-long drive to work was so short that "there wasn't enough time for anything to re-engage his memory that Cooper was in the car, Maddox Kilgore, Harris' lawyer, told the court.



"If he had driven another five miles, chances are pretty good he'd have had to look over his shoulder and see him, but the drive was so short there wasn't time for that cue that we normally get: 'Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got to do this,'" Kilgore said.



Harris had not forgotten that he had a son but had "lost awareness that he's in the car, Kilgore added.



Cooper died June 18, 2014, after spending about seven hours in a rear-facing car seat in Harris' 2011 Hyundai Tucson in Atlanta, police said. Temperatures in the area reached the low-90s that day.



Harris drove to work at the Home Depot corporate office that morning with Cooper in the back seat before leaving the boy in the car when he went into the building, authorities say.



Harris returned to his car during lunch to put something away, then went back to work. Later that day, after Harris returned to his car and drove away from work, he pulled over in a shopping center where he asked for help for Cooper, authorities say.



Harris tried to perform CPR but was too overwhelmed and couldnt concentrate, his lawyer said.



Cooper died from hyperthermia.



Court documents show Harris had allegedly researched child deaths in hot cars before this incident.



Kilgore said during defense arguments Tuesday that Harris had looked into a family vacation for the trio. Kilgore maintained Tuesday that Cooper's death was an accident.



"Ross loved that little boy more than anything," Kilgore said Tuesday. "Cooper's death was an accident. It was always an accident and that's exactly what he told the police."



Harris, of the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, was indicted in September 2014 on eight charges that include malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children. Because of pretrial publicity, the trial was moved nearly 300 miles away from Atlanta to the coastal Georgia city of Brunswick.



He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.



If convicted of all charges, Harris could face life in prison, according to the Cobb County District Attorney's office. A life term in Georgia is 30 years, unless the sentence is life without parole.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
In the run-up to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs visit to the region, Ambassador James Warlick, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, expressed the hope that the Presidents of Armenia and AzerbaijanSerzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyevwill agree to hold a regular meeting toward resolving the Karabakh conflict.

Warlick told RIA Novosti news agency of Russia that the co-chairs hope that the presidents will agree to hold the next meeting, but added that the date and location of this talk have not yet been determined.

In his words, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are working with the parties to the conflict, and to resolve it.

James Warlick stated that they plan to meet and discuss the respective matters with the parties, during their slated visit to the region, at the end of October.
Washington, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomes San Francisco Bay Area Congresswoman Jackie Speier as a new Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, noting that her addition, as an American of Armenian heritage, will expand its bipartisan leadership, build upon its past accomplishments, and help chart an assertive, pro-active legislative course for the future.

Among the key public policy matters set to be advanced by Congresswoman Speier are priorities, supported by the ANCA, to secure a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty - an initiative being actively pursued by House Financial Services Committee member Congressman Brad Sherman

She is also exploring prospects for a second Millenium Challenge Account (MCA) compact with Armenia. Among her other priorities is backing the continuation of direct U.S. aid to Artsakh, initiated in 1997 with the ANCA's support. She is also working to put in place the legislative and regulatory framework for direct flights from airports in the United States to Zvartnotz airport in Yerevan, Armenia.

We are deeply gratified that Congresswoman Speier is bringing her can-do track record to the table as a new Co-Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus. She is, as our ANCA community in California has long known, a pro-active and relentless legislative leader, said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian.

She joins current Co-Chairs Robert Dold (R-IL) and Frank Pallone, and new Co-Chairman David Valadao (R-CA) in the leadership of the Caucus. The new Vice Co-Chairs are Reps. David Trott (R-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
STEPANAKERT.  In accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission will conduct a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

The monitoring will be held on Wednesday, to the south of Gulistan settlement of the Shahumyan Region

The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that, from the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring will be conducted by Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), field assistant of the Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO); Simon Tiller (Great Britain), Personal Assistant to the Personal Representative to the OSCE CiO; and Klaus Keller, representative of the OSCE Chairmanship, and staff member of the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring will be held by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative to the OSCE CiO; his field assistant Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria); and Peter Svedberg (Sweden), staff member of the Office of the Personal Representative to the OSCE CiO.

The NKR authorities have expressed their readiness to assist in conducting the monitoring and to ensure the safety of the OSCE Mission members.
YEREVAN.  The Ministry of Finance does not expect external shocks for Armenia, starting from the coming year, newly appointed Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan said at a press conference on Tuesday.

He noted this as he presented the 2017 budget expenditure plans with respect to economy.

As per Aramyan, owing to not expecting external shocks and an increase in tax collection, a 3.2 percent economic growth is expected for Armenia in 2017.

The minister of finance noted that the two main risks for Armeniai.e. the economic difficulties in Russia, and the drop in world metal pricesseem to be reducing. And based on these positive forecasts, as per Aramyan, the Russian ruble also will start to strengthen.

The minister added that all this has also helped the exports from Armenia to Russia.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance of Armenia expects a 4.6-percent increase in raw material prices, in 2017.

Vardan Aramyan added that the reduction in economic risks will enable to pass to the anti-phase budget expenditures that are aimed at reducing the budget deficit.
"The women were returning from the city towards their destiny Hazara Town when armed men intercepted the bus and one of them barged inside and started shooting indiscriminately." Abdul Razaq Cheema a local police officer in Quetta told media.

Following the Muharram procession, security measures were already tightened in the capital city of Balochistan and the authorities had already imposed section 144 and ban pillion riding.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri condemned the "unfortunate" incident which "cost loss of valuable human lives".

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

--IANS ahm/

( 131 Words)

2016-10-05-01:32:08 (IANS)
H.E Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development, France will be leading the French delegation of business leaders at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017.

France is strong sectors such as engineering, aerospace, energy, etc. and ensures support of investment by French Companies in Gujarat. France will host their country seminar during Vibrant Gujarat Summit to start working on mutual areas of interest.

To take it further, a delegation from France focused on food and food processing industry will visit Gujarat next month.

A high profile Vibrant Gujarat delegation visited France and met their senior government officials extending an invitation to become the partner country for Vibrant Gujarat summit 2017.

The delegation was led by L. Chuaungo, Principal Secretary (Primary and Secondary Education), Education Department, Government of Gujarat, accompanied by senior industry representatives from across sectors and had a series of one-to-one meetings with CEO's and top-level management of French companies. The delegation highlighted the growth prospects in Gujarat and the opportunities it has to offer for further enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries.

The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017 will bring together Heads of States and Governments, Ministers, leaders from the corporate world, senior policy makers, heads of international institutions and academia from around the globe to further the cause of development and aid cooperation. (ANI- Business Wire India)
New Delhi [India], Oct 4 (ANI-NewsVoir): Making the brand experience more enticing to its consumers in the city, Swatch today opened its first corporate store at Phoenix Marketcity-Kurla, Mumbai, with celebrated actress Radhika Apte. On this occasion the brand showcased its latest collections - Fall Winter 2016 and Sistem51 Irony. Flaunting her new Swatch Multi Collage, Radhika Apte said, "I have always been a great fan of Swatch and it's a great honour for me to inaugurate Swatch's first corporate store. I am floored by the sheer grandness of the store and the plethora of choices that it offers. In fact I was given a choice from nearly 100 watches from the Fall Winter Collection to choose this Swatch that I have been presented today." Swatch will open its own mono-brand boutiques in the most important cities in India, and plans to open additional Swatch shops in the coming years by selecting the best locations in several cities. Emerging from its roots as the automatic watch for everyone, the new Sistem51 Irony is for people who value clean, classic design, while the Fall Winter 2016 Collection explores six different themes in contemporary Swatch style. (ANI-NewsVoir)
Prabhas gets his place in the Madame Tussauds museum in Bangkok. News is that the actor was approached by the Tussauds museum authorities two months ago after which he underwent a sitting in Hyderabad with the artists during which 350 photographs were clicked and measurements taken. Prabhas, an actor who shot to stardom with 'Baahubali' said, "I am really happy to have been selected by Madame Tussauds. I'm also thankful to my guru, SS Rajamouli, for giving me the opportunity to work on this fantastic project." Director SS Rajamouli took to his Twitter handle to post, "Very happy to announce that Madame Tussauds is making a wax statue of our PRABHAS... First South Indian to be honoured thus. The statue will be unveiled at Bangkok in March 2017 and subsequently will be toured all over the world." The statue will be in his 'Baahubali' avatar at the Tussauds museum and will be placed in the movie room, alongside James Bond, Spiderman, Wolverine and Captain America. The actor added "The look was finalised a week before the shoot. My first visit to Tussauds in Hong Kong was in 2013 but I had never imagined that I would be waxed in a statue." On the same note, the second part, titled 'Baahubali: The Conclusion' is set to release on April 28, 2017. (ANI)
Actress Amyra Dastur, who will be seen sharing screen space with the "Rush Hour" star, shared the release date along with the film's first poster on Twitter.

"'Kung Fu Yoga' all set to release on the 28th of January 2017! Wait for it," Amyra posted on Tuesday.

"Kung Fu Yoga", a Sino-Indian project, is a part of the three-film agreement signed between the two countries during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India.

The film also stars actor Sonu Sood. It is reported that the Hindi film stars have performed some adrenalin-pumping action sequences and even a Bollywood number, choreographed by Farah Khan, for the movie.

Directed by Stanley Tong, the action comedy film is also shot here and Iceland, where Jackie got Amyra a farewell cake, as a warm goodbye gesture from him.

This is not the first time that "The Legend of Drunken Master" star will be starring along Indian actors. Chan has previously collaborated with Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat in his 2005 film "The Myth".

--IANS dc/rb/vt

( 199 Words)

2016-10-04-11:44:08 (IANS)
One CPI Maoists and six Armed Militia Members today surrendered before police.The CPI Maoist identified as M Veera(25) belongs to G K Veedhi Mandal of Peravaram Village was carrying a cash reward of one Lakh. The six militia Members has been identified as D Veeranna Padal(22), K Chinti Babu (29), P Ramamurthy(26), G Subba Rao(29), P Suammra(18) and L Seshidhar(20).Superintendent of Police Rahual Dev Sharma told mediapersons here that the six Maoist had joint the outfit due to motivation by the Maoists ideology. Later, they realized that red-rebels had deviated from the ideology and due to much work pressure with the depletion of cadre, leadership crisis, poor medical facility and few others in the group, they decided to lead normal life and surrendered before the police, he added. UNI BSR SHS 1936 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-962479.Xml
Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], Oct. 3: Reprimanding the Chinese government's recent statement that "countering Dalai Lama is its top ethnic priority", Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay on Monday said the Dalai Lama is a solution to the issues concerning Tibetans, and not an obstacle. Alleging that "it's a wrong policy on the part of Chinese government", Sangay said, "His holiness the Dalai Lama is a solution to the (Tibetans') issue and not an obstacle. They (China) know for sure that they are dealing with situations in Xinja, Mongolia and other parts of China." "A leader is an important component of a solution when there is an agreement. Now, you have a leader, a great leader in the form of His holiness the Dalai Lama whom 99% of Tibetans follow. Hence, if there is an agreement, he is the person to make sure that it is implemented. So, he is the solution to the issue not an obstacle, and therefore, the Chinese government's statements are wrong, and it will be wrong as long as they maintain that policy," Sangay added. Sangay's reaction came in the wake of Communist Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region Wu Yingjie's statement to a Tibetan daily on Friday, "First, we must deepen the struggle against the Dalai Lama clique, make it the highest priority in carrying out our ethnic affairs, and the long-term mission of strengthening ethnic unity." As per media reports, China had said that it would make countering Dalai Lama's influence "highest priority" in its work on ethnic affairs in Tibet, vowing to uproot the monk's "separatist and subversive" activities, after the spiritual leader while speaking at the European Parliament in France said he merely seeks "genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland". Exiled Tibetans and rights groups say China, which took control of Tibet in 1950, has tried to stamp out religious freedom and culture in the Himalayan region. China rejects the criticism, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development. In 1959, Chinese army brutally quelled a people's uprising in Tibet. Thousands of Buddhist monasteries were attacked and destroyed by China's People's Liberation Army. It was then that the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, sought refuge in India, with many of his supporters following suit. (ANI)
The Karnataka Assembly in its special session passed a resolution on Monday that the government would release the Cauvery water for the state's farmers. However, the resolution has no mention of the recent Supreme Court orders, which directed the Karnataka government to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till October 6. During the session, it was argued that due to the increase of water in the four reservoirs from 27.6 tmc to 34.13 tmc, it had been be decided to us water not only for drinking but farming purposes as well. "There was 27.60 tmc of water in the four reservoirs. On 23 September, we had decided only to release water for drinking purposes. Now, the storage has gone up to 34.13 tmc. And the farmers in the Cauvery basin are requesting the state government to release the water. Keeping this entire things in mind, this house passes a resolution for releasing water to the farmers for their standing crops and keeping in mind the requirement for drinking purpose," the resolution stated. Speaking to ANI, Karnataka Water Minister M.B. Patil said, "The house has authorised to take decision at the best interest of the state. The resolution clearly states that the water will be released to our farmers." On September 23, the state legislature had unanimously resolved to reserve waters of the Cauvery river for drinking purpose of the people in the state. The apex court had on September 30 directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from October 1 till October 6 and asked the CWMB to visit both states and file a report on the "ground realities" by October 6. However Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi moved to the Supreme Court against its last order on the Cauvery water. The Attorney General has in his plea stated that only Parliament has the power to constitute the CWMB and not the apex court. (ANI)
The accused arrested from Kerala's Kannur district for their alleged involvement in a criminal conspiracy to commit terrorist acts across southern India were today produced before the NIA court.

According to an NIA release, the accused were inspired by ISIS and were collecting explosives and other offensive material for targeting important persons and places of public importance in various parts of south India.

Acting on a tip-off, the NIA along with Kerala Police, Delhi Police and Telangana Police, launched surveillance on the movements of the accused involved in the conspiracy.

During searches conducted yesterday in Kozikhode and Kannur, NIA arrested five people while they were conducting a meeting at Kanakamala hilltop, whereas the sixth person was detained from Kuttiyadi in Kozhikode district and arrested later on.

Incriminating material, including electronic devices, were seized from their possession while searching their premises.

The investigative agency had registered the case under Sections 120B, 121, 121A and 122 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the accused who have been identified as Manseed, Abu Basheer, Swalih Mohammed, Safwan P, Jasim NK, Ramshad and Nageelan Kandiyil.

The accused will be produced before the NIA Special Court in Ernakulam seeking their police custody for further examination.

Meanwhile, follow up searches are being conducted by the NIA in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Kannur, Kozikhode and Mallapuram in Kerala with the support of Tamil Nadu and Kerala police. (ANI)
Taking a turn from his usual attacking stance on the Centre, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "decisiveness" to act against Islamabad with a surgical strike and called on a latter to now wage a war against the 'dirty propaganda' being spread by Pakistan against India. Speaking in a message posted on YouTube, Kejriwal admitted that he may not see eye-to-eye with the Prime Minister on several counts, but saluted the move by the latter to carry out a surgical strike against active terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). "19 jawans lost their lives in Uri and the Indian Army took revenge for that last week and carried out surgical strikes in terror launch pads. I have 100 disagreements with the Prime Minister on several issues, but I salute the will power shown by him in this matter," he said. Asserting that Pakistan is losing its mind since the operation was carried out, Kejriwal said that the hostile neighbour has now resorted to dirty propaganda against India in an attempt to save its image. "We have seen in the past two weeks that Pakistan is taking international journalists to the border and trying to show them that no surgical strike happened in the first place. Two days ago, the United Nations gave a statement that no untoward activity has been spotted on the border. CNN ran a report that Pakistan government took a bus filled with international journalists to prove that no such strike took place, and that people are living regularly and that enraged me to no end," the Chief Minister said. Emphasising that several international news organisations like BBC and the New York Times were running reports questioning the existence of such an operation by India, Kejriwal added that Pakistan is working hard to insult India on an international level. He then appealed to the Prime Minister to expose Pakistan's propaganda and attempts to malign India, in the same way the Indian Army took revenge for the deadly Uri attack. "I appeal to the nation not to fall for Pakistan's false propaganda," he added. Earlier, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also took a major detour from his usual narrative and congratulated Prime Minister Modi for the "first action worthy of his stature". "When the Prime Minister does the job a PM is supposed to do, I support him. I want to congratulate him. In the last two years and more this is the first action worthy of a PM. The whole country is with him. All of us stand firmly united against terrorism and those who support and sponsor it," he said addressing a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr. (ANI)
The Indian Army retaliated to the ceasefire violation.

Earlier today, Pakistan violated ceasefire in Shahpur along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir.

Heavy mortar shelling and firing was reported from the Pakistani side in Poonch.

Till now there are no reports of casualties on either side.

The fresh attack comes after terrorists attacked the Indian Army and BSF camps in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, in which a Border Security Force (BSF) personnel was killed.

The terrorists attacked near a camp of the 46 Rashtriya Rifles in Baramulla, late on Sunday night.

Around three-four terrorists, tried to enter the camp through a public park near it, but failed to breach the security.

Senior Superintendent of Police Imtiaz Hussain claimed that the security forces could not retaliate in a heavy manner fearing civilian casualties.

Earlier, Pakistan targeted Indian posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Akhnoor tehsil late Sunday evening.

Pakistan has stepped up cross-border firing after the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). (ANI)
In the wake of the recent terror attack in Baramulla and repeated ceasefire violations, the Congress Party on Tuesday warned Pakistan and said that New Delhi would give a befitting reply to Islamabad if it does not stop such activities. "It is a matter of grave concern that terrorists attack the BSF camp in Baramulla and the RR camp and fled. One of our jawan's got killed. Also, there are regular ceasefire violations at the LoC," Congress leader PL Punia told ANI. "I am happy that the Army chief paid to visit to Jammu and Kashmir and reviewed the security situation. We are very much confident that the Indian armed forces are capable of handling any situation. If Pakistan continues to indulge in such activities, then I am sure a befitting reply would be given to them," he added. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday said that the security forces are giving a befitting reply to the terrorists from the other side of the border. Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Leh and Ladakh to take stock of the situation, said that he would make all efforts to try and resolve the issues of the region. The terrorists attacked near a camp of the 46 Rashtriya Rifles in Baramulla late on Sunday night. Around three to four terrorists tried to enter the camp through a public park near it, but failed to breach the security. Earlier, Pakistan targeted Indian posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Akhnoor tehsil late Sunday evening. Pakistan has stepped up cross-border firing after the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). (ANI)
Security forces have intensified randomly checking of vehicle and frisking at various places in the summer capital, including uptown and civil line areas, besides city outskirts to foil any militant attack. However, due to strike, which has entered 88th consecutive day today, only private vehicles, including two wheelers and three wheelers, though less in number, are plying in the city. The checking comes in view of militant attack on Border Security Force (BSF) and Army Camps in north Kashmir district of Baramulla on Sunday in which a jawan was killed and three others were injured. Militants had managed to escape after the attack under the cover of darkness. Even though the number of vehicle plying on roads is very less, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and Jammu and Kashmir Police men have erected barricades and could be seen randomly checking vehicles, particularly from others districts, at various places in Srinagar, including Budshah Chowk, Lal Chowk, Batamaloo, besides city outskirts. "We have orders to conduct such random checking of vehicles in the city after the Baramulla attack. We have reports that militants would intensify their activities in the valley to retaliate surgical operations conducted by our Army in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), security force officials said at Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the summer capital. Security forces could also be seen conducting random checking in the city outskirts, particularly of the vehicle which were coming to Srinagar from other districts. "We have reports that militants could try to come from other districts to attack vital instillations in Srinagar to get media attention. So we have been directed to conducts search of vehicle coming into Srinagar," security force personnel deployed at Wanbal Rawalpora in city outskirts said. Tension between India and Pakistan along Line of Control (LoC) and International borders in the state has escalated following surgical strikes conducted by Army in PoK in retaliation of a militant attack on Army Brigade headquarters in Uri in which 19 soldiers were killed on September 18.UNI ABS CJ 1334 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0433-963192.Xml
Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking for a viable solution to tackle China's move to block a tributary of the Brahmaputra. "The Central Government is seized of the situation and we are working on it," Paswan said at the sidelines of Hindi Salahkar meeting held at Hotel Pinewood here. China's move coincides with the debate in India on the re-calibration of Indus water flows into Pakistan following a cross-border raid in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. It may be mentioned that days after India reviewed its use of water under the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, China announced that it had blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra to facilitate work on one of its 'most expensive' hydropower projects in Tibet. It is yet unclear whether the dam will have any impact on water flows towards India and Bangladesh - the two riparian states that are drained by the Brahmaputra. So far, China has maintained that its dams do not restrict the flow of water towards India as they are based on run-of-the river principle. However, concerns have been raised from several quarters over the blocking of the dam and this issue constituted as one of the major agendas of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during its 2016 Assam Assembly elections campaign. "Leave it to the Prime Minister and the government. We will come out with a solution," said Paswan. On the recent Baramulla terrorist attack, Paswan said the attack is only a frustration vented out by Pakistan in retaliation to the surgical strike. "Our Prime Minister had already cautioned that India will answer to the act of terrorism at an appropriate time and this is what we did," said Paswan, adding that such strikes were expected. Paswan further said the days of the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress are numbered in the country, adding Meghalaya will be a part of the BJP-led NDA as well in the years to come. "We have a bright future in the country and north-east is not an exception," said Paswan. "In Manipur, we already have an MLA of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). On the other hand, we have a BJP-led government in Assam," he said. The Manipur BJP got yet another favourable message earlier in June. In the Imphal municipal corporation elections, the BJP - for the first time - grabbed ten seats (it won just one seat last time) while 12 went to Congress (14 earlier) and five to independent candidates. (ANI)
Michelin India, the world's tyre technology leader has introduced "X-Guard" truck tyre in to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Markets. The product is launched simultaneously across the country. The new product was introduced to the dealers in a function held here last night.150 dealers from two Telugu states attended the product launch. The product is available through Distributor network. The Sushil Enterprises is appointed as sole distributed for Telangana and Kota Distributors Private Limited for Andhra Pradesh markets. Speaking on the occasion, Michelin India Commercial Director Mohan Kumar said "The new product is brought out as a result of consumer survey of 3000 customers across the country. Now we have created a range, which we couldn't participate earlier. We started our R&D three years ago", he added. In India, Mr Mohan Kumar said there are two types of customer segments. One is the established fleet owners, who comprise just 20 per cent of the market. The other segment is upcoming fleet owners, who comprise 80 per cent of the market. In this two broad group of fleet owners, we could only service to first segment, which is very small. We didn't have any specific product for the upcoming fleet owners, which is a very large market. This segment needs were Price, First Life Tyres, Robustness, Brand . These priorities are taken from the 3000 customers, he said. Two new patented tyre technologies--Infinicoil and Regenion made it possible to offer truck tyres at attractive prices, Mohan Kumar informed. "In a traditional way we could have brought out a new product by reducing price, robustness and compromise on mileage. But, we haven't done that", said Satya Prasad, Regional Manager of Telangana, AP and Chattisgarh. " This tyre is extensively tested. It has travelled 14 crore kilometers so far all over India. Nearly 1500 tyres are fitted on to 700 trucks. It has gone through 60 to 70 tests", Satya Prasad added. UNI VV CJ 1405 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0275-963244.Xml
Election Commission has launched a new mobile app. for electoral rolls monitoring by public so that there could be transparency in the ongoing summery revision of voters lists being prepared for the crucial assembly election of Uttar Pradesh early next year. The new mobile app. named as ERMS monitoring could be downloaded from the website of the CEOUP and it will provide all small details about the addition and deletion of the names from the voters list. UP Chief electoral Officer T Vekentesh said here today that voters can check their names by downloading this app. They can also check the status of their applications and even get the details about each and every booth of the state. "The new app. will have detail about Form 6,7,8 and 8(A),. While form six is for addition, form 7 for deletion and form 8 and 8(A) is for transfer," he said. Earlier there was dispute during the polling with the voters complaining thsat their names were missing from the voters list. But now the voters can check their names in the list any time through this mobile app. However, Mr Vekentesh made it clear that as per the EC directions, the voters whose names have been deleted would be informed personally so that they can know why their names have been deleted and if they want they can contest it. During the ongoing summary revision of the voters list, 2,32,945 people have submitted form 6 for adding their names in the list of which 75,470 names have been approved and 62,852 have been included in the electoral rolls. Similarly in the form 7 for deleting the names from the rolls, 1,08,367 people have applied but 20,539 have been approved so far while names of 9,957 have been deleted from the rolls. "We are double crossing the process for deletion of the names from the electoral rolls and all precautions are being taken," Mr Vekentesh said. The summary revision of the electoral rolls would continue till October 31 with special driver for four days this month. The publication of the final electoral rolls would be made on January 2, 2017. Meanwhile, the CEO said that distribution of Election Photo Identity Cards(EPIC) have speed up with now 33 lakh EPICs were being distributed. "We have got two companies one of Chennai and another of Pune making these EPICs so now there would be no delay in distributing these cards," he stated. UNI MB AE AS1534 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-963307.Xml
After seven months of the inauguration, the functioning of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court started today at the new sprawling building. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik hoisted the national tri-colour at the new permises in the presence of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale along with several judges, senior lawyers and other court staffs. Earlier the governor was also given a guard of honour by the security personnel. The lawyers also raised ' slogan 'Bharat mata ki Jai' to welcome the guests on the inaugural functioning of the court. The first case in this new building would be heard by a bench headed by the Chief Justice in connection with a matter related to a fourth class employees of Faizabad. Yesterday, a farewell was organised at the old building in Kaiserbagh area when the judges and the lawyers expressed the historic importance of the building. With this shifting, an era of the old historical building, where the Lucknow bench existed came to end which had witnessed verdicts against the freedom fighters-- Ram Prasad Bismil, Rajendra Nath Lahari, Ashfaq Ullah Khan and Thakur Roshan Singh- during the British period. Recently, on September 30, 2010, the Lucknow bench gave another historic judgement on the Ramjanambhoomi title suit saying that the disputed site in Ayodhya was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The new building of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court would be inaugurated by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur in the presence of UP Governor, Chief Minister and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court on Saturday. West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi is also likely to be present. The ceremony will begin with the lighting of the lamp by the CJI 1100 hrs. CJ DY Chandrachud will deliver a welcome speech thereafter. Along with judges and lawyers of the HC, members of Oudh Bar Association will also be present during the programme. The new building, in Vibhuti Khand of Gomtinagar, which was inaugurated by Chief Justice of India on March 19 ,has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,300 crore, sprawling over an area of around 2.5 lakh sq mt. There are 56 courtrooms with 69 chambers for judges, an office for the advocate general, 1,440 chambers for lawyers and a library on the compound. The compound also boasts of a three-tier underground parking facility with a capacity of 4,000 four-wheelers and 20,000 two-wheelers. A guest house, a club house, canteen, a dispensary, a gymnasium, a physiotherapy and a yoga centre besides an independent computerised railway reservation centre are the other facilities in the compound.UNI MB AE AS1615 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-963453.Xml
Food Mela, set up as part of Dasara festivities, is attracting huge crowd to enjoy varities of delicacies from North to South. The Mela has on display food varieties from across the country, under one roof. Young and old alike are satiating their appetites at the mela, which has been drawing huge crowds. Every day, the visitors have the opportunity to choose from the stall of their choice. Food from Coastal belt is getting good demand, especially the 'Pandi Curry' (Pork). The 'jolada rotti and ennegayi' combination is a big hit, as is the 'Davangere benne masala', 'Bangarpet panipuri', 'dum biryani' of Hyderabad, and 'donne biryani' of Mysore. A variety of fish items are also being sold. But the cost of most of the food items is not exactly reasonable. Many visitors were seething at the high cost of food. The Yuva Dasara programme at the Maharaja College grounds is a small distance away from the food mela venue. Stalls selling famous dishes from Davangere, including 'masala mandakki' and 'nargis mandakki' (snacks made of puffed rice), 'mirchi bajji', and 'Davangere benne dose' welcome visitors. Stalls from Dakshina Kannada are teeming with people, thanks to the coastal specialities. Long queues of people are seen in front of the stalls selling 'neeru dose', 'patrode', special 'shavige', 'gole bajji', and 'Mangalore bun'. It was a common sight to see people standing in long queues at several stalls, particularly those which, sold 'jolada rotti' and Melokote original 'Iyengar puliyogare'. While several people waited to have a bite of their favourite snack, a few had to return disappointed owing to the crowd. Apart from the traditional food items, special millet foods, tribal foods and thematic foods have been introduced this year. Rameshwarappa, Deputy Director of Food and Civil Supplies Department told UNI that over 40,000 people visited the food fair on Sunday. Mr Rameshwarappa said the shops were allowed to be open even after the scheduled closing time to cater to the large number of visitors. As many as 94 stalls have been set up. A few stall owners said if a similar number of visitors visit the foodfair for a few more days, they will make a decent profit. "We were caught unawares by the huge crowd on Sunday had we known that the food fair received such a good response, we would have prepared the dishes well in advance. We had to prepare the dishes even on Sunday night to meet the increasing demand", a stall owner said.UNI BSP MSP SW SB NS1600 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0275-963256.Xml
Newspaper employee P Safwan, who was held by the National Investigation Agency alongwith five others in Kerala for their alleged links with terror module Islamic State two days ago, was an accused in a police station attack case in neighbouring Malappuram district few years ago. Police today said Safwan was the 11th accused in Kottakkal police station attack case in 2007. An activist of Kerala based National Development Front (NDF), the forerunner of Popular Front of India, which also formed its political arm as Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Safwan alongwith a group of NDF men barged into the station to get released two of their leaders involved in the killing of a worker of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. Three policemen, including an inspector, were injured in the late night attack on March 26, 2007. Besides, many vehicles were damaged in the attack in which 27 NDF were arrested. Meanwhile, his family said Safwan, 30, a designer with vernacular daily Thejas, continued to work with the outfit despite strong objection by them. However, his mother said she came to know about the arrest after the sleuths visited their house at Ponmundam on October 2. Calling for a foolproof investigation into alleged recruitment in the IS from the state, PFI has said this would bring out truth into the issue. PFI General Secretary K H Musthafa in a release here said, "there was no need for Indian Muslims to cooperate with the terror outfit". Stating the PFI has already come out on his stand on the IS, he said, adding it was also creating awareness campaign for its workers and people on the issue, it added.UNI PCH AE SB NS1525 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0275-963270.Xml
Nagaland Governor P B Acharya today extended his warm greetings to the Pochury Community on the occasion of Yemshe Festival and the Khiamniungan Community on the occasion of Tsokum Festival, as both the festivals are great harvest festival of the Pochury and Khiamniungan communities of Nagaland. In a message, Mr Acharya said, ''Nagaland is a state, where most of the rural population is dependent on agricultural produce.'' "Our men and women are working in the fields to meet our food requirements. We should focus on more welfare project/schemes for the welfare of farmers by reaching out to them and motivating them to go for Kisan Credit Card, Kisan Soil Card of Central Government Welfare Projects and Jhan Dhan Yojna, Re 1 Insurance,'' the message read.Initiative to be taken up for development of irrigation infrastructure, including canals from rivers, groundwater well-based systems, tanks, other rainwater harvesting projects and Solar Energy wherever feasible for agricultural activities. ''At the same time, high yielding varieties of seeds should be provided to the farmers to increase the productivity. With the improvements in irrigation infrastructure will improve food security, reduce dependence on monsoons, improve agricultural productivity and create rural job opportunities," the message said.Our NGOs, Hohos, Social organisation, church leaders and most important organisation like students' and youth organisation should be the nodal agents to reach the kisans and involve them in our CVS welfare projects. Much of the welfare projects are not known to the kisan. The youths and various organisation groups have a duty to reach them. As we celebrate, let us thank Almighty God and pray for plentiful harvest along with good health, and prosperity. On this day we respect our 'Kisans' and pray for their welfare. Acharya said, ''may this festival bring peace, unity and wellness to each and every household. Let the festive period be a blessing and also promote the spirit of love and forgiveness.'' UNI AS RN AE VP1605 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0311-963376.Xml
Ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today expelled Leh district president Tashi Gayalson from basic party membership after he signed a memorandum, demanding Union Territory (UT) status for Ladakh region. A PDP spokesman said the head of the party's disciplinary committee, Minister for Public Works and Parliamentary affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri took the decision against Mr Gayalson for going against his party. "Mr Gayalson signed the memorandum demanding union territory status for Ladakh which is against the policies of the PDP. That is why he has been expelled," he said. The spokesman said the PDP believes in unity of the state and any move which aims at dividing it on regional & religious lines would only be an unfortunate development, and the party under no circumstances can endorse any such divisive move. "People of different faiths, ethnicity and languages live cordially in J&K since ages. PDP believes of taking everyone together to find a lasting solution to our problems," he said. "It was with this aim that the party took a bold and historic decision of forming a government with the BJP," he added. He said the people here are still suffering the fallout of partition any further division of the state will only add to the problems of the state and region.UNI ABS QAB SB VP1600 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0433-963321.Xml
A bank manager, who also belonged to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was assaulted up by a four people after two bikes dashed against his two-wheeler at Tiruvottriyur in North Chennai today. The manager, Narahari, was on way to his office when the four men, whocame on two motorbikes dashed against his two-wheeler. When he fell, they assaulted him badly. But before anyone could react, the four men escaped after injuringNarahari. He was later admitted to a private hospital where his condition wasstated to be stable. The motive behind the attack was being probed, police said.UNI GV 1625 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-963621.Xml
Indian Air Force's spearhead, Sukhoi-30 MKI multi-role aircraft will become more potent with the completion of integration of air-to-surface version of indigenous BrahMossupersonic missile, by the year-end, a top IAF official today said.Speaking to mediapersons Air Vice Marshal K Y Sandeep Singh, Commandant of Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) here, pointed out that the highly skilled test pilots from the establishment had conducted the test towards the integration process and separation trials carried out by them had been successful. ''Soon Sukhoi-20 MKI will be ready with BrahMos missile,'' he said.He said the establishment was also working towards realising the use Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNNS), a constellation of earth observing satellites launched by ISRO, and also to integrate indigenous LCA Tejas with weapon systems.The ASTE chief said Su-30MKI had been test flown with improvised version of BrahMos and two separation trials had been successful. With this test the integration of the missile on the aircraft islikely to be completed by year end, he said.This means that the heavyweight missile weighing up to 3 tonnes would be test fired by 2017.Air Vice Marshal Singh also said the IAF was looking towards utilising the country's latest indigenous technology and fully supported the light combat aircraft Tejas, which had already been inducted by the air force. Meanwhile, ASTE Chief Test Pilot Subrato Chaki said the establishment had tested six aircraft for the country's acquisition of MMRCA induction programme and had selected Harpoon and Rafale andthe later was selected by the government.Mr Singh revealed that the Programme Management Team (PMT) from IAF would soon be flying to France to discuss matter with the Rafale team over the specifications on the supply of 42 aircraft. He also said that for the first time, the LP1 and LP2 of LCA Tejus will fly at during the Air Force Day at Hindon near Delhi under Air Force colors, after the induction had been completed. ''The Tejas flight testing we had conducted by the expert team from here and ADA, who were also trained by us had been successful. The aircraft has completed 3300 flights.MORE UNI RS SHS 1747 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-963840.Xml
Two auto-rickshaws were set ablaze by unidentified persons in separate incidents in downtown Srinagar for ignoring the strike called by separatists against killing of civilians in security force action since July 9. Officials said that an auto-rickshaw was set on fire by unidentified person at Saida Kadal in Srinagar for ignoring the strike called by both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), spearheading the present agitation since July 9. Meanwhile, they said another auto-rickshaw was set ablaze at Baba Demb in Srinagar. Reports of damaging of private vehicles for ignoring the strike have been come from many places in the valley in last 88 days of unrest that left 85 civilians dead and over 9500 other in security force action. The separatists have been issuing weekly protest calendars since July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Burhan Wani and two other militants were killed in an encounter in Anantnag, demanding right to self determination. They have extended the strike till October 6.UNI ABS QAB SB BL1830 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0433-963891.Xml
"Can't say you don't accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and expect tourism to increase," the Minister said at an event organised by Delhi Tourism where Ms Mufti was also present.

In an attack on the Mufti government, he said, "We can combat Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in J&K?"

His speech created a furore at the event with Ms Mufti breaking down in tears.

The AAP Minister said, "Terrorism and tourism can't go together.

''Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there."More UNI DS SW RP1915

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Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) Deputy Chairman P L Haranadh today welcomed Nepal Economic Minister Krishna Hari Pushkar, and Ambassador Krishna Prasad Dhakal. According to VPT Deputy Chairman P L Haranadh, the Nepal government and the team made a brief presentation and explained the infrastructure available in the Port of Visakhapatnam and movement of cargo through container terminal on to the rakes with fully mechanized system to the importers at Nepal and to make use of the facilities available through VPT.An interaction session to some of the queries were elaborated by the Deputy Chairman regarding bill of entry of the licensed and non-licensed commodities, dispatch of rakes, and the cost advantage compared to Kolkata Port.The Nepal team had expressed their satisfaction and sought for a trade meet with all the Stake holders, Customs, Railways for considering Import and Export of Cargo by Nepal Government to India through VPT and looking forward for business in the years to come, he added.UNI BSR SHS 1910 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-964211.Xml
Talking to mediapersons at Chikhalthana airport here, Mr Munde demanded that the CM declare 'wet drought' in Marathwada region in the wake of the recent unseasonal rains indifferent parts of the Marathwada region, ruining several lakh hectors standing crops, which were ready for harvesting.

He also demanded that the Chief Minister provide fund for the development in respect of Marathwada region by declaring a special package for it.

First information reports said at least 10 to 15 lakh hectors crops have been totally damaged in the region.

The region experienced severe drought situation in the past four years and this year, exactly opposite situation appeared in the region.

The state government should declare 'wet drought' in today's cabinet meeting and provide the adequate compensation to the affected farmers in the region, who were once again found inpanic-stricken condition.

Criticising the cabinet meeting, Mr Munde said it was only politically motivated, which should have been held in the previous years, when the region was suffering severe drought-like condition.

Later, Mr Munde who submitted his 24 pending demands, including memorandum towards the development of Marathwada region to the state Chief Minister at airport here.

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According to official sources, the meeting started at 1000 hrs today amid tight security arrangement.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis was to announce the cabinet decisions at a briefing in press by this evening.

Nearly 20 morchas alongwith 55 memorandums were witnessed during the day.

Various issues were be discussed, including implementation of 'Watergrid' system in the region in two phases on the line of Telangana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to overcome the scarcity of drinking water in parched region.

The focus of the meeting was to take corrective steps to enhance the irrigation potential in the drought-prone Marathwada through 'Jalyukta Shivar'.

Other issues including work of second and third phase of forthcoming Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) was also discussed in the meeting besides others developmental related to the Mararthwada.

The recent rain havoc which ruined standing crop on severl lakhs hectors in the Mararthwada issue will also be discussed in the meeting, they added.UNI VKB NV SB PM1952

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A police complaint was today filed against actor Om Puri for allegedly insulting the Uri martyrs (Army jawans) with his remark during a TV debate. The complaint was filed at the Andheri Police station in north-west Mumbai by a social activist. Sixtyfive-year-old Puri attended a debate on a national news channel during which he firmly backed the artistes from the other side of the border and said he would continue to work with them. As the anchor quizzed the veteran actor on his thoughts on continuous proxy war on the part of Pakistan, he retorted, ''Ask the government to cancel their visas.'' To a question on the slain jawan during the Baramulla attack, Puri remarked, ''who had asked him to join Army?'' Om Puri is one of India's greatest actors. Over the years, he has delivered some of the bestperformances Indian cinema has ever seen. From Aakrosh to Sadgati, Ardh Satya to Dharavi, and more recently, Maachis to Tamas, the veteran actor has stood tall over his contemporaries in Indiancinema simply on the basis of his acting abilities and not tact or politics. Eighteen soldiers were killed in a terror attack on an Army Camp at Uri in Kashmir recently.UNI AAA SS AE SB 1927 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-964178.Xml
Senior GM (HR) NRL AK Bhattacharya formally handed over the Veterinary ambulance to Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Assam, B Brahma, at the Assam State Zoo premises.

The ambulance which will cater to the city of Guwahati and its outskirts is equipped with basic first aid facilities for treating animals and transferring them to animal clinics / natural habitats.UNI SG KK SDR SB BD1944

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Nagaland Governor P B Acharya today said the World Animal Day, which is celebrated on October 4, is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare and it is a day for advocacy, education, unity, involvement and raising of awareness for all of the animal issues that exist throughout the world. In a message on the occasion of World Animal Day, Mr Acharya appealed to all stake holders, government, NGOs, village councils, student bodies and civil society to come together to ''preserve our birds and animals and their natural habitat from extinction''. He said the objective of World Animal Day is to ''celebrate animal life in all its forms, celebrate humankind's relationship with the animal kingdom, acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play in our lives, from being our companions, supporting and helping us, to bringing a sense of wonder into our lives and acknowledge and be thankful for the way in which animals enrich our lives. ''Though Nagaland is blessed with rich habitat for animal kingdom, every day our natural resources are being misused, our forests are being destroyed randomly, and habitats are being fragmented for roadways. Illegal wildlife trade and poaching are wiping out the entire population of animals and birds,'' he added. Mr Acharya said the Blyth's Tragopan, which is one of the most beautiful birds among the pheasants found in India and also a state bird, is hardly seen in the wild anymore and is on the verge of extinction. Mithun, which is a state animal, is also seen only in those few breeding places. ''Through increased awareness, education and the concerted efforts of all, we can create a world where animals are always recognised as sentient beings and full regard is paid to their welfare,'' he said. The Governor further said that it is everybody's responsibility to help protect them so their future generations can grow and thrive and, in turn, the future generations of humans can be blessed with the joy of sharing their lives with them too. ''We have to preserve our environment, trees, greenery and hills. For all animal worlds, it is necessary to preserve environment. Disturbing nature is inviting national calamity like floods, landslide, change of river course, erosion and change of climate. ''Let us live and let live our birds, animals for our symbiosis happiness and safe life,'' Mr Acharya added. UNI AS AKM RJ 1917 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-964039.Xml
"AAP stands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi against terrorism," the party leader Dilip Kumar Pandey told reporters.

Shouting slogans like "Pakistan Murdabad" and "Pakistan Hai Hai", the party said that whole country salutes the ambition of Indian Army and supports the decision of the Prime Minister.

The party's officials staged the protest outside High Commission of Pakistan in Chanakyapuri here and demanded that the false propaganda of Pakistan over surgical strikes be exposed.

The party leaders sought a "befitting reply" to Pakistan for spreading false information that no such operation took place.

"Pakistan media is spreading false propaganda on surgical strikes and is telling the international media that no surgical strikes took place. We protest against Pakistan media," party leader Pandey said.

The party also condemned the BJP for doing politics over the army action.

Meanwhile Delhi Police detained eleven party leaders including Pandey and seven legislators.

"There was a gathering of around 125 party leaders. we have detained eleven leaders including seven legislators who were released later," a senior police official told IANS.

--IANS sp-akk/lok/vm

( 224 Words)

2016-10-04-21:42:08 (IANS)
Expressing alarm over the politics-money nexus, former West Bengal Governor and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Tuesday said Indian politics was in danger. "Today, politics is in trouble; the word politics now suggests intrigue, manipulation and rivalry, every conceivable form of rivalry ranging from simple envy to most complicated and psychopathic jealousy," said Gandhi, who was conferred the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award at the Vigyan Bhavan here. The 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award was conferred on Gandhi for excellence in public administration, academics and management. "Politics has come to being something which simple people are wary of and keep a distance from. The word politicians are in even greater trouble. It conjures the image of a person who is one thing in appearance and another in reality," Gandhi said durign his acceptance speech. "This is more than a pity -- it is a tragedy," said the former diplomat. Observing that politics not long ago meant "public service of the highest order", Gandhi said unlike earlier, politicians now make calculated moves. "Politicians of today don't walk, they make moves. Like chess players -- some moving sideways and then leaping forward; some take two steps at a time, replacing the one ahead," he said. Reflecting on corruption, Gandhi questioned why the country did not get the Lokpal. "Why is Lokpal still eluding us? Why are whistleblowers still in danger?" Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, who presented the award to Gandhi, hailed late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for his leadership role during the 1965 India-Pakistan war. Reminiscing his memories of the 1965 war as a school boy, Justice Thakur said: "War is a very very scary and unnerving experience. I have seen how bodies of the soldiers lay scattered on the ground. I have seen severed legs of soldiers being eaten by dogs. It's very unnerving." Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Deputy Prime Minister and BJP veteran L.K. Advani were among several dignitaries present on the occasion. --IANS and/tsb/vm ( 342 Words) 2016-10-04-21:42:09 (IANS)
In a first by any Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will be celebrating the festival of Dussehra in Lucknow, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president and city Mayor Dinesh Sharma said on Tuesday. Sharma also said that Modi would witness the famous 'Ram Leela' at Aishbagh and thereafter stay back for the 'Ravan Dahan', burning of Ravana effigies. It is for the first time any Prime Minister is celebrating the festival in the state capital. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was Lok Sabha member from Lucknow when he was Prime Minister, did not visit the city on Dussehra. As tradition, all previous prime ministers have spent Dussehra in the union capital and have witnessed the Ravan Dahan in Delhi where even the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha shares the stage with the PM at the Ram Leela ground festivities. The move is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to gain a foothold in the state which is slated to go to polls early next year. Dinesh Sharma said that Prime Minister Modi, after spending around two hours in the city, will fly back to New Delhi. He has no other engagements during his visit to Lucknow. It is however not clear whether Modi will attend the Ram Leela in New Delhi and then fly to Lucknow or skip the Delhi event. --IANS md/rn/vm ( 240 Words) 2016-10-04-22:18:11 (IANS)
The Bar Council of India (BCI), had restricted the age limit for admissions in five-year and three-year undergraduate law courses to 20 years and 30 years, respectively. After several bumps in the admission process for law courses in the State, the Law Students Council (LSC) inMumbai filed a writ petition, challenging the decision by the BCI on September 30. The court, however, on October 4, allowed the colleges in the State to carry on with the admission process forfour weeks until the BCI gives a clean chit notice on the issue. The State of Maharashtra has decided to conduct the first round of admissions under a centralised admission process without considering the aspirants' age. Talking to mediapersons , Sachin Pawar, Chairman, LSC, said, "Admissions of students will continue as how it is supposed to be.Students' future completely depends upon the decisions taken by the High Court. "The circular was imposed after the first-round admissions was completed. Following which, many students in the three-year programme will now face problem, as they do not meet the age criteria."The council has issued a circular to the chiefs of law universities and colleges and asked them to abide by Clause 28 of Schedule III of Legal Education Rules, 2008, which deals with age restrictions in LLB courses. Apparently, such a rule was an attempt to ensure that only those students, who are genuinely interested, should be able to practice law. The age criterion is supposedly to prevent over-aged students from pursuing the law,who are looking for an additional qualification.Reportedly, the reason of annoyance among most students is because colleges have concluded the initial rounds of admissions. This was before the decision taken by the BCI. Moreover, the State government had not mentioned of age restrictions in the law admission brochures, which kept other older aspiring lawyers in the dark.When contacted, Vinod Savgnikar, one of the Advocates in the case said, "The Court is inclined to give a favourable decision, but the ultimate matter is in the hands of the Bar Council."UNI-AAA RJ PM2205 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-964495.Xml
Underscoring the significance of India's strong scientific heritage and its potential for technological innovations, British Council is inviting applications from scientists, engineers, mathematicians and researchers for FameLab India 2017 - world's largest science communication platform that it launched in India earlier this year. The competition is aimed at presenting scientific concepts in an interesting and innovative manner to the non-science audience. Open to applicants aged over 20 to 40 years as on 1 June 2016, the competition requires students to fill in an application form and submit a three-minute video of their 'Science Talk' in a unique format. The winner of the national FameLab competition will get an opportunity to represent India and compete with contestants from over 27 countries at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK in June 2017. The last date for applying to FameLab India is 30 October 2017. "In India, our key focus is in three areas: education and science, culture and promoting the English language. India is on the cusp of digital and technological revolution. Through FameLab, we would like to work with the next generation of young Indians to help them present useful science in an interesting and innovative manner. Scientific information is becoming an essential and integral part of people's daily lives," said OBE Director British Council India, Alan Gemmell. "We want to create a platform that promotes a culture of science and improve people's understanding of science and science related information," added Gemmell. FameLab works towards encouraging scientists to inspire and excite the public's imagination with a vision of science in the 21st century. The competition will provide a platform for researchers to put forth their ideas to the public in an interesting manner; enhance their communication and presentation skills; and engage with like-minded individuals and alumni network besides. Shortlisted applicants from each region will get an opportunity to attend a fully funded science communication workshop jointly delivered by UK and Indian trainers in each region. The FameLab finalists will also get an opportunity to attend a science communication master class lead by the best UK trainers. Cheltenham Festivals began FameLab in the UK in 2005 but, with British Council involvement since 2007, the programme is now truly international, taking place in 27 countries in 2016. National FameLab programmes currently run in Australia, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam. There is growing, unprecedented global FameLab network of 5000 multi-disciplinary, multi-national, early-career researchers, connected with research, industry and education networks, that are helping to address the issues of diversity and mobility (including social mobility) to support the future growth of the STEM pipeline and the wider social economic benefit this delivers. More than 200 local partners including ministries of education, ministries of science, universities, science foundations and academies already support FameLab, underlining its importance to science communication across the world. The UK is the world leader in the area of science communication - there are academic programmes in the field and a number of annual, exciting science festivals. Science Communication is a recognized profession and the UK's experience in science communication has changed the way the media report on scientific topics. (ANI)
"This time, the Taliban won't be able to capture any part of Kunduz," said Mahfoz Akbari, spokesman for the police in Kunduz, reports the CNN.

Akbari was referring to the Taliban's brief capture of the strategically important city in September 2015.

Ehsanullah Sadiqi, an aid worker living in Kunduz, described an eruption of gunfire early Monday morning.

He said a lot of people, who fled Kunduz last year at this time when the Taliban had taken over the city, returned so the number of people trying to flee again today was huge.

However, the US military in Afghanistan downplayed the situation with Brigadier General Charles Cleveland saying, "We are not observing evidence via our internal means to support the reports that Kunduz is under significant attack."

He characterised the current clashes in Kunduz as "ongoing sporadic fighting".

The Taliban on Monday claimed to have the capital cities of two southern provinces, Helmand and Uruzgan, surrounded and "under severe military operations." (ANI)
"We condemn India's documented interference in Balochistan, a federating unit of sovereign Pakistan," said a joint statement issued after the meeting.

The statement added, "We express Pakistan's continued and unwavering support to provide political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of 'India occupied' Jammu and Kashmir in their just struggle for self-determination."

It also called upon the United Nations Security Council to interfere in the Kashmir issue.

"Recognising the UN Security Council's implementation of its resolutions on self-determination for East Timor and South Sudan, we urge the international community, especially the P5, to take concrete steps for implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people."

The statement added that Pakistan is engaged in an unprecedented war against terrorism and violent extremism, and reiterated the country's resolve to implement the National Action Plan.

It also rejected India's "false" claims of terrorism across the LoC.

The meeting was attended by leaders of all political parties, including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) among others. (ANI)
Asserting that Bangladesh has done an impressive job in reducing poverty over the last decade, the World Bank in its report on Monday said the country has the potential to end extreme poverty by 2030 if firm steps are taken to make growth more inclusive to benefit all. Two new reports titled 'Bangladesh Development Update' and 'Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality' published today said that Dhaka is making sustained progress in poverty reduction and increasing opportunities, reports the Daily Star. According to the reports, 28 million or 18.5 percent of Bangladeshis lived in extreme poverty in 2010 under the new USD 1.90 poverty line based on 2011 purchasing power. Between the year 2000 and 2010, more than 16 million people in Bangladesh graduated from extreme poverty, the reports said. To achieve the aim of reducing extreme poverty to less than three percent of Bangladeshis by 2030, the country will require an economic growth becoming more inclusive with the poorest 40 percent of society receiving greater benefits from development. On the other hand, the reports also ranked Bangladesh the 64th poorest nation out of the 154 countries. The development update stressed upon increasing resilience to security, financial and trade shocks along with weaker than expected global trade and growth. The report pointed out the country needs to maintain its economic and remittances growth, create more and better jobs, focus on energy and transportation infrastructure, and make progress on improving the quality of health and education so that it moves to the next level and achieves its goals of becoming a middle income country by 2021 and overcoming extreme poverty by 2030. As part of a global End Poverty Day campaign, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim is planning to visit Bangladesh later this month. His visit is intended to draw attention to Bangladesh's impressive record in dramatically reducing extreme poverty. "I'm very much looking forward to seeing firsthand Bangladesh's progress in improving the livelihoods of tens of millions, empowering women, and enhancing the quality of education," Kim said. He added that many developing countries in the world can learn important lessons from Bangladesh to reduce extreme poverty and to promote sustainable development. (ANI)
Addressing the leaders, Sharif said the session was very important because a unified message from the political leadership of Pakistan will be sent out, reports Geo News.

He said that the Kashmir issue had become a flash point after Burhan Wani's death, adding that the United Nations should take up Kashmir as an issue which threatens peace in the region.

A joint statement for the parliamentary session is being prepared.

The statement will call for matters to speed up on the diplomatic front. It will call for a United Nations Human Rights Commission to be sent to the Indian side of Kashmir.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said it was a moment of great pride for the nation that all political parties were united on the Kashmir issue, adding that there could be no compromise on the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was representing chairman Imran Khan at the meeting, said that his party had several differences with the government, adding yet he chose to attend the meeting as they were on the same page with the government on the Kashmir issue.

The leaders of other political parties including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) also echoed similar sentiments. (ANI)
Foreign affairs expert Bhesh Bahadur Thapa is leading the team which includes former minister and constitutional expert Nelamber Acharya, lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai and former Commissioner for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyay, reports The Himalyan Times.

According to lawmaker Bhattarai, Nepal, in the meeting, would recommend to review the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

India in the previous meeting of the EPG, held in Nepal in last July, had said it was ready to revise the treaty and asked Nepal to come up with a proposal towards this end. (ANI)
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign defended comments he made on combat veterans and mental health, after some said his remarks implied service members diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were weak.At an event with veterans in Herndon, Virginia, Trump called for better mental health services for those returning from combat, saying that while many are "strong," others "can't handle" what they have seen on the battlefield.The response struck some as insulting to veterans struggling with PTSD, as the Republican candidate works to motivate traditionally conservative military voters to support him in the November 8 presidential election.Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a Trump adviser on military issues, said in a written statement that the candidate's comments were taken out of context "in order to deceive voters and veterans."Marine Staff Sergeant Chad Robichaux, whose question at the event prompted Trump's statement, said the critical reaction was "sickening" and accused others of manipulating Trump's words."I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have," said Robichaux, an Afghanistan combat veteran who has been diagnosed with PTSD.Trump made his remarks at an event hosted by a political action committee called Retired American Warriors. Trump has cast himself a champion of veterans during his campaign and in July pledged to reform federal programs for war veterans.He attended a military preparatory school but did not serve in the US military.Joe Donnelly, a Democratic US senator from Indiana, was one of the first to criticize Trump's remarks."We need to dismiss the idea that mental health issues signify weakness, and reinforce that there is strength in seeking help," Donnelly said in a written statement.PTSD was among the most talked about topics on Twitter yesterday, as many social media users responded to Trump's comments."@realDonaldTrump As a Veteran with PTSD, I'm stronger than you could ever be," tweeted Kevin Plantz (@KevinPlantz)."My husband served this country honorably," tweeted Melissa Bird (@birdgirl1001). "He has #PTSD. #Trump has officially crossed the line for me and my family."Neither the US Department of Veterans Affairs nor the campaign for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, immediately returned requests for comment.REUTERS PS 0404 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-962864.Xml
Successful rocket tests have propelled North Korea ahead in a two-decade long arms race with Japan, leaving Tokyo unsure it could fend off a missile strike by the Pyongyang regime without US help, military sources told Reuters.Under young leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has test fired 21 ballistic missiles since the start of the year, an unprecedented burst of activity that has rattled its neighbours and the international community."Their progress has been faster than anticipated," a senior Japanese military commander said. "There is a limit to what our current ballistic missile defense system can achieve," he added, asking not to be identified because he isn't authorized to speak to the media.Planned upgrades to Japan's ballistic missile defence (BMD) are not due to begin until April at the earliest, while the deployment of new systems designed to destroy incoming warheads could take years to complete.Constrained by production schedules and tight budgets that limit its ability to accelerate those plans, Japan may instead have to lean more heavily on its US ally to guard against attacks, the sources said."Our only option for now may be to rely on the US to stop them," said another source at Japan Self Defence Forces (SDF).MUSUDAN THREATTokyo and Pyongyang have been locked in an arms race since 1998 when North Korea fired a missile over Japan.In June, a medium range Musudan rocket reached an altitude of 1,000 km on a lofted trajectory, marking a breakthrough that could allow Pyongyang lob warheads over the range of Japanese BMD Aegis destroyers patrolling the Sea of Japan.That would leave older PAC-3 Patriot missile batteries protecting major cities including Tokyo as a last line of defence. A 1 dollar billion program to improve their range and accuracy will begin after March, but the first will not be ready until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sources previously told Reuters.Warheads from missiles such as Pyongyang's Rodong, with an estimated range of 1,300 km, travel at speeds of up to 3 km a second. But rockets like the Musudan, which can fly as far as 3,000 km , plunge from space at speeds reaching 21 km per second, potentially too fast for existing Patriot batteries.Japan's Ministry of Defense also plans to improve the performance of SM-3 missiles on its small Aegis fleet. The SM-3 missiles are designed to hit warheads at the edge of space, but the sources who spoke to Reuters were unsure they could tackle the Musudan.A more powerful version of the SM-3 jointly developed by Japan and the United States, dubbed the Block IIA, is nearing completion, with Japan planning to buy the first of those next year. It has not, however, said how many it will acquire, or when they will be deployed.Longer term, Japan is evaluating whether to buy Lockheed Martin Corp's Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) system, to add a middle layer to BMD, or build Aegis batteries on shore to bolster its defences.Any roll out of those, however, would take several years because of time needed to study the technology, secure funding and build and integrate the systems, the sources said.U.S. HELPAs Japan struggles to bolster its defenses, the US is stepping up help to neighbouring South Korea, promising last week to speed up deployment THAAD batteries there."We still think they need time, but whatever the purpose is, the North is doing things at a rate that is beyond our imagination," South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo said in parliament in late August.Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross said the United States had recently reaffirmed its "unwavering and ironclad" commitment to defend both South Korea and Japan, "guaranteed by the full spectrum of U.S. military capabilities, including conventional, nuclear, and missile defense capabilities"."We continue to support (South Korean) and Japanese efforts to strengthen their respective defense capabilities against the North Korean nuclear and missile threat," Ross said in an emailed response.For now, Japan is making do with a diminished force. It has four Aegis destroyers each equipped with eight SM-3 missiles. Two of those, however, are laid up for maintenance leaving only two available to watch for North Korean missiles, a third SDF source told Reuters.The heightened threat "comes just as we face a pinch with our Aegis fleet," he said. "Cooperation with the U.S. Aegis ships deployed in Japan is going to be crucial."By March 2019 Japan plans eight BMD Aegis ships, but training and maintenance means that only two ships will likely be out on regular patrols at any one time.US reinforcements that could help cover more sky are, however, sailing into the region. The US Navy, as part of a plan to bolster its presence formulated before North Korea's latest missiles tests, has increased its BMD Aegis ships patrolling the region to ten from seven in the past two years.Whether that will prove sufficient to protect against further North Korean advances is yet to be seen."North Korean ballistic missile technology is progressing step by step and every time we raise our capability they improve theirs," said a fourth SDF source.REUTERS PS 0433 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-962867.Xml
Northern Ireland's High Court is to begin hearing a legal challenge today against British plans to leave the European Union without a vote in the Westminster parliament.The case is being brought by a cross-party group of politicians, including members of the province's two largest Irish nationalist parties, who argue a vote in the Northern Ireland regional assembly should also be required.The British government has said its legal advice is that triggering Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty, the formal process to start a two-year countdown to an exit, can be invoked under the royal prerogative, which does not require parliamentary approval.Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would begin the divorce process by the end of March.Similar legal challenges have been launched in England and London's High Court is due to hear them later this month. It is expected their outcome will be appealed to the Supreme Court, the United Kingdom's highest judicial body, to deliver the final verdict on the constitutional question in December.While overall 52 per cent of the United Kingdom voted in favour of leaving the EU in June's referendum, a majority - 56 per cent - of those living in Northern Ireland backed remaining in the bloc.Irish nationalist parties oppose Brexit, saying it could undermine a 1998 peace deal, reinstate a hard border with the Republic of Ireland and cut EU cross-community funding. The province's largest party, the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, supports Brexit.Lawyers for the politicians will argue that the British government is legally obliged to maintain the statutory recognition of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland, which contains references to the EU.The agreement ended three decades of tit-for-tat killings between Catholic Irish nationalists, who want the province to unite with Ireland, and Protestant unionists, who want to remain part of the United Kingdom. The conflict left 3,600 dead.They will also argue that the British government is legally obliged to safeguard EU laws incorporated into Northern Ireland law.In parallel, the court will hear a similar case being brought by Raymond McCord, the father of a man killed by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997, who says Brexit would undermine the Good Friday Agreement, the peace process, and human rights. REUTERS PS 0452 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-962868.Xml
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was in deep talks after the United States suspended talks with Russia on the conflict, his spokeswoman said today."He is still in intensive consultations on the way forward," spokeswoman Jessy Chahine told a news briefing in Geneva. "He is of course consulting with his team and other relevant stake-holders."The United States broke off talks with Russia yesterday on implementing a ceasefire agreement in Syria and accused Moscow of not living up to its commitments under the Sept. 9 deal to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities.REUTERS SDR NS1505 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-963425.Xml
Indonesia's air force is holding its largest military exercise this week, near some of its islands in the South China Sea, in a show of sovereignty over the gas-rich area on the fringe of territory claimed by China, officials said today.President Joko Widodo in June launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defence facilities around the Natuna island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats.China, while not disputing Indonesia's clams to the Natuna islands, has raised Indonesian anger by saying the two countries had "over-lapping claims" to waters near them, an area Indonesia calls the Natuna Sea."We want to show our existence in the area. We have a good enough air force to act as a deterrent," said Jemi Trisonjaya, spokesman for Indonesia's air force.More than 2,000 air force personnel were taking part in the two-week long exercise, which includes the deployment of Indonesia's fleet of Russian Sukhoi and F-16 fighter jets, he said.Other branches of the Indonesian armed forces are not taking part in exercise, which ends on Thursday.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, where about 5 trillion dollar worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.While Indonesia is not part of the dispute over claims in the South China Sea, it objects to China's inclusion of waters around the Natuna Islands within its "nine-dash line", a demarcation line used by China to show its claims in the sea. REUTERS AKC VP1425 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-963273.Xml
Refusing to get involved into Pakistan's move to internationalise the Kashmir issue, the US has once again emphatically stated that the issue was a bilateral one between the two countries. "Our position on Kashmir has not changed. We are having conversations with both India and Pakistan on the importance of reducing tension in the region,'' US State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said. Her statement came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he would appeal to international fora to ensure that the Kashmiri people got their "right to self-determination". He also called for sending a fact-finding mission to Kashmir. Ms Trudeau also refused to comment on the surgical strike. "We are not going to speak about specific reports of incident along the border. We urge calm and restraint on both sides," she said, adding that absolute communication was vital for reducing tension. Meanwhile, Pakistan's ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani today handed over 'evidence'' on human rights violations in Kashmir to US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson, according to Dawn. Mr Jilani told him that the US should take note of the plight of the innocent, including children and women in Kashmir, according to Pakistani media.UNI XC NAZ SW SB 1625 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-963579.Xml
The Afghan Government has agreed to take back an 'unlimited number' of refugees deported from the member states of the European Union (EU) after the two sides signed an agreement. The deal has been in the pipeline for months, leading up to a large EU-hosted donor conference in Brussels this week, reports the Guardian. According to a previously leaked memo, the EU suggested stripping Afghanistan of aid if its government did not cooperate. The deal that was finally signed on Sunday has not been made public, but the Guardian reports that Kabul commits to readmitting any Afghan citizen who has not been granted asylum in Europe, and who refuses to return to Afghanistan voluntarily. It is the latest EU measure to lighten the weight of the many asylum seekers who have arrived since early 2015 as Afghans constituted the second-largest group of asylum seekers in Europe, with 196,170 applying last year. While the text stipulates a maximum of 50 non-voluntary deportees per chartered flight in the first six months after the agreement, there is no limit to the number of daily deportation flights European governments can charter to Kabul. With tens of thousands set to be deported, both sides will also consider building a terminal dedicated to deportation flights at Kabul international airport. The agreement, Joint Way Forward, also opens up the deportation of women and children, which at the moment almost exclusively happens from Norway: "Special measures will ensure that such vulnerable groups receive adequate protection, assistance and care throughout the whole process." The EU has negotiated the agreement with the Afghan government as part of the run-up to this week's Brussels donor conference, where international donors will pledge aid for Afghanistan for the coming four years. (ANI)
Three British-born scientists won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics today for revealing unusual states of matter, leading to advances in electronics and potentially helping work on future quantum computers.David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, who all now work at US universities, share the prize for their discoveries on abrupt changes in the properties, or phases, of ultra-thin materials.Their research centres on topology, a branch of mathematics involving step-wise changes like making a series of holes in an object. The difficult-to-grasp concept was illustrated by Nobel Committee member Thors Hans Hansson at a news conference using a cinnamon bun, a bagel and a pretzel.Phases are obvious when matter goes from solid to liquid to gas, but materials can also undergo topological step changes that affect their electrical properties. One example is a superconductor, which at low temperatures conducts electricity without resistance."Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in awarding the 8 million Swedish crown (937,000 dollar) prize."Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics."Thouless was awarded half the prize, with the other half divided between Haldane and Kosterlitz."Suddenly, people are realising that the topological effects in quantum mechanics are just a tremendously rich subject," said Haldane, speaking via a phone link to reporters in Stockholm.The 65-year-old said he was "very surprised and very gratified" at receiving the call to say he had won.GRAVITATIONAL WAVES MUST WAITAndy Schofield, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Birmingham, where Kosterlitz and Thouless carried out their early work in the 1970s, said the new understanding of phase states was particularly promising in computing."One of the most exciting technological implications is in insulators that don't carry electricity normally but can be forced to carry electrical current at the surface," he told Reuters. "That's a very robust state, which gives a stability that is essential to quantum computing."Superfast quantum computers, one of the holy grails of science, should be able to test multiple solutions to a problem at once and could in theory solve in seconds problems that take today's fastest machines years to crack.Traditional computers use binary bits of information to store data while quantum computers use "qubits" that can simultaneously be 0 and 1, making them ultra-fast but unstable.Physics is the second of this year's crop of Nobels and comes after Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the prize for medicine yesterday.There had been speculation this year's prize might be awarded for the first detection of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time first predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein.Finding gravitational waves has been the biggest story in physics this year but the breakthrough, announced by international researchers in February, may have come too late for the Nobel Committee.As Nobel physics laureates, the trio of researchers join the ranks of some of the greatest names in science, including Einstein, Niels Bohr and Marie Curie.The prizes were first awarded in 1901 to honour achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with the will of the Swedish dynamite inventor and business tycoon Alfred Nobel, who left much of his wealth to establish the award.REUTERS SDR BL1846 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-964123.Xml
Rebels said today they had repelled a Syrian army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to pound residential areas in besieged parts of the city where thousands of civilians are trapped.They said they inflicted losses on pro-government fighters after several hours of clashes on the fringe of Sheikh Saed district, at the southern edge of the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo city."We repelled their attempt to advance in Sheikh Saed and killed 10 regime fighters and destroyed several vehicles," said a fighter from the Failaq al-Sham rebel group who gave his name as Abdullah al-Halabi.Pro-government media said the Syrian army was pressing ahead in a major campaign supported by Iranian-backed militias and Russian air power to take full control of the divided northern Syrian city after a ceasefire collapsed last month.The army offensive is backed by an air campaign by President Bashar al-Assad's government and its allies that has hit hospitals, destroyed infrastructure and caused hundreds of civilian casualties.In the 15 days since the collapse of the ceasefire, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 293 civilians in besieged east Aleppo as a result of air strikes and shelling.It documented 25 deaths in government-held west Aleppo as a result of rebel shelling.Another rebel commander from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki group said the army had opened several fronts simultaneously since the launch of a ground assault in order to stretch rebel forces, and had dropped leaflets from helicopters calling on them to surrender.After securing the strategic Handarat camp in the northern edge of the city last Thursday following what rebels described as carpet bombing, the army pressed on south of the camp.It took the ruins of the former Kindi hospital, from where soldiers could control the Jandoul traffic circle, a major road intersection. "They levelled the ground and our people had no choice but to retreat under the bombing of the Russians," the Zinki commander said.Rebels say Kurdish YPG militia controlling the strategic Sheikh Maqsoud district in north Aleppo city have also taken advantage of the army gains to move towards the Shuqif industrial area that lies between Handarat and their enclave.That would allow the army and its allied militias to move deeper into rebel-held northern districts of the city, although rebels expect the army thrust will slow in residential areas that offer them more cover from air raids."The battles inside the city's districts as the regime applies more pressure will be difficult as these areas are better defended and will allow the rebels to hold out," said Halabi.In the heart of the city, war planes believed to be Russian and flying at high altitude hit Bustan al Qasr, Hay al Huluk and Fardous neighbourhoods with reports of casualties, several rebel contacts said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented 20 deaths from shelling and air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo today.State television said insurgent shelling killed five people in government-held areas of the city today. State media said rebel-shelling into a university complex in government-held Aleppo had killed one and injured eight.In the Aleppo countryside, Russian and Syrian war planes dropped incendiary bombs on the towns of Darat Izza and al-Zirba.RUSSIAN EMBASSY HITThe Russian embassy in Damascus was hit by mortar fire yesterday, a Russian foreign ministry statement said.According to the statement, two mortar shells exploded near the embassy and another hit the area close to an apartment block on the mission's territory."It was by chance that none of the embassy employees were injured," the statement said.The Russian foreign ministry said the shells had been fired from the Jobar neighbourhood east of Damascus. Jobar is controlled by rebel groups Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Failaq al-Rahman and mortars fired from there occasionally reach central Damascus.This is not the first time this year shells have fallen around the embassy."We see the shelling of the Russian embassy in Syria as the result of actions of those, who like the US and some of their allies, provoke the continuation of the bloody conflict in Syria by flirting with militants and various kinds of extremists," the Russian ministry added.Separately, rebels fighting Islamic State militants said they killed at least 30 militants after a failed attempt to gain ground in Eastern Qalamoun area, north of Damascus, where fighting has escalated in recent weeks. REUTERS SDR BD1857 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-964164.Xml
Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's remarks telling US President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and saying he could get weapons from Russia and China seem at odds with the warm relationship between the Philippine and US people and the record of cooperation between the governments, the US State Department spokesman said today."We've already spoken to this sort of rhetoric," John Kirby said when asked about Duterte's comments today. "Frankly, it seems at odds with the warm relationship that exists between the Filipino and American people and the record of important cooperation between our two governments, cooperation that has continued under the Duterte government." REUTERS SDR BD1931 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-964279.Xml
US Secretary of State John Kerry said today efforts to end Syria's war must continue despite Washington's decision to break off talks with Moscow over its "irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised" support for President Bashar al-Assad.The United States yesterday suspended talks with Russia on implementing a ceasefire deal in Syria, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities."We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said in a speech in Brussels."We will continue to pursue a meaningful, sustainable, enforceable cessation of hostilities throughout the country - and that includes the grounding of Syrian and Russian combat aircraft in designated areas."Kerry charged that Russia had "turned a blind eye" to Assad's "deplorable" use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs and suggested they were pursing a scorched earth policy in place of diplomacy."Where they make a desert, they call it peace," he said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus. He said if Russia was serious about peace, it would have to behave differently than it was now in Syria."Russia knows exactly what it needs to do in order to get that cessation implemented and in a fair and reasonable way," he said.Kerry said all parties had a duty to enable delivery of humanitarian assistance, adding that opposition groups had told the United States they agreed with that."It still remains for Russia and the regime to permit that and guarantee it," he said.Russian news agencies, citing Kerry's Syria interlocutor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would continue to make efforts to resolve the Syria crisis despite the US suspension of the talks.A spokeswoman for UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he was in "intensive consultations" on the way forward.The end of the talks could trigger deeper US consideration of military options such as providing more sophisticated arms, logistical support, and training to rebel groups.But the speed with which the ceasefire collapsed - after a UN aid convoy was bombed in Syria - appeared to surprise some US officials, leaving them without a clear plan on the immediate way forward.US President Barack Obama has been loath to get more deeply involved and US officials have said he is unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office.UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein warned Russia today over the use of incendiary weapons in Syria's besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, and said crimes by one side did not justify illegal acts by the other.REUTERS SDR BD1935 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-964295.Xml
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to make future aid to Afghanistan conditional on Kabul's agreement to implement reforms and repatriate migrants, ministry officials said today.Steinmeier is due to announce the decision at an international aid conference for Afghanistan that begins in Brussels today.Germany had planned to provide 1.9 billion dollar in help for Afghanistan over the next four years, but wants Kabul to do more to combat corruption, protect human rights and work for democratic and economic progress.Ministry officials said Steinmeier would also insist that Kabul accept its citizens who had been denied asylum in Germany and continue to cooperate with German officials on broader migration issues.Germany is one of the main donors to Afghanistan, where the Islamist Taliban group has made significant territorial gains against government forces.Afghan security forces are due to start a major push into the northern city of Kunduz today with the support of US forces.US officials last week said they expected donors to pledge over $3 billion a year in development support for Afghanistan, but funds would be dependent on reforms and countering corruption. REUTERS PY BL2035 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-964435.Xml
A US service member was killed in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province today while carrying out operations against Islamic State, the US military said in a statement."The service member was killed conducting operations with Afghan forces when the patrol triggered an Improvised Explosive Device," the statement said. REUTERS PY BL2238 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-964590.Xml
MANILA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that the joint war games between the United States and the Philippine marines in October will be the last.

"So I am serving notice now to the Americans. I will maintain the military alliance, the PH-U.S. pact which our countries signed in the early 50s. But I will establish new alliances for trade and commerce. I will serve notice to you now that this will be the last military exercise," Duterte said in a speech before the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnam where he is on an overnight working visit.

Starting Tuesday next week, about 1,400 U.S. marines, sailors based in Okinawa, Japan will take part in the Amphibious Landing Exercise with about 500 Philippine troops on multiple locations in the Philippine main Luzon island and Palawan, the province facing the South China Sea.

Duterte said on Monday that he would open up all avenues of trade and commerce for China and Russia, adding that he is about to "cross the Rubicon between me and the United States."

"I am about to cross the Rubicon with the U.S. It is a point of no return," he said in a speech during an oath-taking event at the Malacanang presidential palace.

On Tuesday, Duterte accused the United States of "undermining" the Philippines currency, causing the Philippine peso to tumble against the U.S. dollar.

"The Americans are undermining us now. They are manipulating..the peso weakened," Duterte said in a speech at the Philippine marine headquarters in Taguig.

The Philippine peso hit a seven-year low on Monday, closing at 48.25 to a dollar, the weakest since the close of 48.335 on Sept. 15, 2009.
DAMASCUS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Warplanes struck the largest hospital in the rebel-held part of Aleppo city on Monday, completely destroying it, a monitor group reported.

The war jets "directly targeted the hospital," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It added that three maintenance workers were killed, spelling no details on other casualties or the identity of the warplanes.

The same hospital was struck by airstrike a couple of days ago, with no information on casualties, according to the Observatory.

The situation in Aleppo has dramatically escalated over the past few days, when the Syrian army unleashed a wide-scale offensive to recapture the rebel-held part of Aleppo, following a crumbled truce, blamed by the Syrian government on the U.S. and the rebels it's backing on ground.

Aleppo, Syria's largest province and once the economic hub, has a strategic importance for the warring parties due to its location near the Turkish borders.
A train runs on the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway during an operational test near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Oct. 3, 2016. Africa's first modern electrified railway -- the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway built by Chinese firms, is set to become fully operational on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)

by Xinhua writers Wang Xiangjiang, Wang Shoubao and Yao Yuan

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- African people cherish a dream that one day the capitals of all African countries will be linked by high-speed railways, Chairperson of African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma once said.

Perhaps, the African people have never come closer in their endeavor towards making the dream a reality.

On Wednesday, Africa's first modern electrified railway -- the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway built by Chinese firms, is set to become fully operational.

With the inception of what has been hailed as the "Tazara railway in a new era", a new chapter will be turned over in Africa's railway history, while a new milestone will be set up in China-Africa traditional friendship.

TAZARA RAILWAY IN A NEW ERA

During a visit to Ethiopia in May 2013, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang hailed the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway as the "Tazara railway in a new era."

In 1970s, China, where a thousand things still waited to be done, resolved to support the construction of the Tazara railway which links Tanzania's Dar es Salaam with Zambia's Kapiri Mposhi. More than 50,000 Chinese railway workers worked for construction of the railway. Among them, 64 Chinese experts made the ultimate sacrifice in a land far away from home.

But Tazara Railway has since become a symbol for China-Africa friendship which opened a new era of development for China-Africa friendly relations. China has since put on top agenda its assistance to African countries in building infrastructures.

He who wants to get rich must first build roads. This is one of the key lessons China has learned after realizing rapid economic development following decades of reform and opening up to the outside world. China is willing to share the lesson with African countries so that they will get rid of the bottlenecks that have been holding back economic growth for centuries.

In recent years, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the new concept of "building nests to attract phoenix" and "teaching them how to fish" in China's cooperation with Africa. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also proposed that China and Africa work together to develop the "Three Major Networks" -- railway, road and regional aviation.

With sincerity and good faith, China is helping African countries to boost infrastructural construction, promote Africa's inter-connection and integration process and help Africa realize independent sustainable development.

It is against this historic backdrop that the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, which links Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with the port of Djibouti, comes into being as an early fruitful result in China-Africa cooperation in building the Three Major Networks and driving industrialization. Thus, the railway, following its predecessor Tazara Railway, has become another symbol for China-Africa friendship.

AFRICA'S NEW GROWTH ENGINE

Built in 1970s, the Tazara Railway played a major role in the socioeconomic development of Tanzania and Zambia. As the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway commences operations, it will avail landlocked Ethiopia a precious access to the sea, greatly improving its logistics capacity. On the other hand, the small, resource-poor Djibouti will have a chance to realize its ambition to become a regional transport hub.

The railway's operation will also help boost economic growth along the railway, speed up urbanization, create jobs, improve people's living standards and promote socioeconomic sustainable development.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti is built with a complete set of Chinese standards and equipment. During the process, a great number of Ethiopian and Djibouti technical and managerial personnel received systemic training in Chinese railway technical knowhow, paving the way for the development of their own railways by the two countries themselves.

It is foreseeable that more and more African countries will improve their understanding of and finally accept the Chinese railway standards, pushing forward their own railway development, which in turn will speed up their industrialization process.

Besides, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is also expected to give impetus to the economic development of East Africa and even that of the whole Africa. African countries will have a new engine for economic growth.

THE CRADLE OF AFRICA'S RAILWAY TALENTS

Give a man a fish and he eats a day. Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime. The railway's two contractors -- the China Railway Group (CREC) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), have attached great importance to the training of local railway talents.

Li Weidong, a senior engineer of CREC, told Xinhua that an international training center at CREC has organized nearly 100 African railway officials and technicians for training programs in China. Trainings are also offered at all levels, covering the complete spectrum of job titles in the railway industry.

Li disclosed that CREC is helping Ethiopia in planning for Africa's first railway institute, where Africa will be able to train its own railway talents.

CCECC Ethiopia manager Li Wuliang said that his company is now focusing on the training of Djibouti technicians in the field of railway operation and management. Since June 2015, 94 Djibouti students with academic credentials above undergraduate have been sent to China for half-year training programs in railway technology.

After the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway's official operation, a consortium of CREC and CCECC will manage its operations for six years, during which the Chinese firms will teach the Ethiopian and Djibouti staff knowledge in railway operation and management, including the maintenance of the railway systems.

Six years later, the consortium will hand over the operation and management to the two countries, which means they will be in charge of running the railway independently.

SWEAT, BLOOD AND LIFE

Chinese railway construction workers have sacrificed a lot for building the railway. No one can tell how many of them had lost precious gatherings with loved ones, lost health and even life.

On March 27, 2013, Zhang Peng, a 33-year-old CREC engineer who only got married half a year ago, was the first fallen hero while working for the railway's construction, when a sudden flooding swept him away. Two years later, on July 2, 2015, Yang Hongwei, a 31-year-old site manager, made the ultimate sacrifice in a flooding, leaving behind a son less than four.

Colleagues of the fallen heroes told Xinhua that Chinese firms have taken various measures to ensure the safety and security of their staff working in Africa, with their living and working conditions now far better than that of their predecessors during Tazara railway's construction decades ago. However, they said despite all security measures, zero casualty is something that is impossible to avoid.

Long gone are the Chinese fallen heroes who had fought for Africa's railway dream, but the railways they had built with sweat, blood and life will signify the everlasting friendship between China and Africa, which both the Chinese and African peoples will treasure forever.
MAPUTO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- A canoe transporting 16 people in central Tete province shipwrecked, killing three people with seven still missing, Mozambique police authorities confirmed Monday.

Joint rescue operations by Mozambican police and Armed Forces told Xinhua that six people were found alive and the rescue was continuing to identify the others.

"The shipwreck occurred at around 7 a.m. in the morning on Monday, most of the victims are children and young people," said Isabel Francisco, one of the eyewitness, told Xinhua.

The police said they suspect that the tragedy occurred because the canoe with capacity of 12 people carried more than 15.

"We appeal transporters of small ship vessels not to carry more than what they can, because this might cause shipwrecks. When there is small wind or a wave, shipwrecks easily happen because of overload," the police spokesperson Lurdes Ferreira said.

Last week a shipwreck happened in southern Inhambane province which left four people dead with two others missing.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on Monday called for boosting strong global growth to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

"In most parts of the world we are facing strong headwinds - a slowing global economy hit by falling commodity prices and stagnating global trade," said Kim in a speech at the Brookings Institution on Monday.

The World Bank expects the world economy to grow a modest rate of 2.4 percent this year, with soft investment and deteriorating export prospects.

Kim pointed out the tough challenges the world is facing now in poverty and inequality reduction. The Sub-Saharan Africa where nearly half of the world's extremely poor live is expected to grow only 1.6 percent this year, far below the 3-percent population growth in this region; labor productivity growth is negative in U.S., near zero in euro zone and falling in East Asia.

"Economic growth has to be more robust and more inclusive and human capital investments have to grow in size and effectiveness," said Kim.

The World Bank President called on countries to promote trade and infrastructure investment in order to restore strong economic growth.

He pointed out that technology is fundamentally reshaping the world, which has threatened jobs in certain industries.

In order to address the issue, Kim called for investment in human capital to build a workforce that can be competitive in the economy of the future.

Kim's speech came ahead of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings later this week, when world's policymakers will gather to discuss how to boost global growth.
iStock/Thinkstock(HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.) -- Hurricane Matthew made landfall on the eastern tip of Cuba Tuesday night after tearing through Haiti earlier in the day and officials were making preparation for coastal evacuations in the U.S. ahead of the massive storm's arrival there.



The storm continues to be classified as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of up to 140 mph as it moves north at 6 mph. On Wednesday, it is expected to make a northwest turn and head through the Bahamas, with hurricane force winds extending 45 miles away from the center of the storm.



"We will get full impact," said Bahamian Director of Crisis Management, Geneva Cooper.



The hurricane made landfall in Haiti Tuesday morning, lashing the western shores of the country with 145 mph winds and causing thousands of Haitians to seek emergency shelter.



Forecasters predict it could reach the United States and brush Florida by Thursday morning.



South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency Tuesday and has begun medical evacuations for residents living along the coast.



She said that all coastal communities in South Carolina - about 1.1 million people - will be asked to evacuate tomorrow.



Schools and government offices will be closed tomorrow in South Carolina, and Haley recommended that residents move at least 100 miles from the coast.



Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned that the storm "could bring devastation to Florida [that] we haven't seen in years," adding that "we cannot rule out a direct hit on Florida" starting as early as Wednesday. He declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm.



He said that the effects of Matthew could be "catastrophic," bringing with it a chance of heavy rain, rip currents, beach erosion, tornadoes and hurricane-force winds.



Mandatory evacuations for Brevard County, on the east coast of central Florida starting Wednesday at 3 p.m., and shelters will begin opening about an hour later, city officials announced. Public schools and government offices will be closed Thursday and Friday.



The National Hurricane Center has heightened the status of Hurricane Matthew for Broward County, Fla., to a Hurricane Watch, said Broward County Mayor Marty Kiar. The county plans to open shelters on Wednesday for children with special needs and residents with pets. The county's schools will be closed Thursday and Friday.



"This is serious, and our residents need to take this seriously as well," Kiar said. A Hurricane Watch has been issued for Lake Okeechobee as well.



In neighboring Miami, the mayor, Carlos Gimenez, said there are no plans yet to evacuate the city but residents should brace themselves for possible danger from the storm.



"The message is simple," Gimenez told reporters of his message to the city's residents. "You should be prepared."



Further north, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for 13 counties Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew.

Hurricane Matthew is life threatening and approaching Florida. Make sure to prepare https://t.co/ePtCVx0AU9  Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) October 3, 2016

In Haiti, some 6,000 people were being housed in temporary shelters, the country's civil protection service said on Twitter. Many more remained in flood-prone areas.

Ouragan #Matthew : lanme a komanse monte. L ap rantre nan vil #Okay. Tanpri, mande moun yo deplase san pedi tan. #Femesajlapase pic.twitter.com/5ym5Xj7gTk  Pwoteksyon sivil (@Pwoteksyonsivil) October 3, 2016

"Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides are likely from this rainfall in southern and northwestern Haiti, the southwestern Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba," the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.



Some 10.6 million people are in the storm's path in Haiti, according to the United Nations, in addition to 11.2 million in Cuba and 2.8 million in Jamaica.

Citing "life-threatening rains, winds and storm surges," USAID released $400,000 in initial assistance to mount a humanitarian response to the storm.

We are prepared to mobilize emergency supplies like hygiene kits, tarps and blankets in response to #HurricaneMatthew. pic.twitter.com/5suJDCLDyI  USAID (@USAID) October 4, 2016

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for 66 counties in his state in anticipation of Matthew's arrival Thursday night. He said he has been in contact with FEMA to prepare for the storm.



"I'm hoping this is a false alarm, but we can't gamble," McCrory said.



A FEMA representative said the storm is being monitored very closely, adding that the agency is in touch with officials in potentially affected states.



"It's too soon to know what impact, if any it, will have on the U.S., but we're urging individuals to take advantage of the time they have right now to prepare," the representative said.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
BERLIN, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- There are good job opportunities in area of handcraft and in small businesses for refugees in Germany, considering their skills brought from home countries, a senior executive from German largest service provider in labor market told local media on Monday.

There are relatively fewer domestic applicants for jobs in handcraft, and related small companies should better exploit potentials of refugees, said Raimund Becker, board member of Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Germany.

Big companies can also contribute in this regard. Becker cited Thyssenkrupp, a German conglomerate in steel industry which has created 200 internship positions for young refugees since last autumn, as an example.

BA offers a broad range of services on German labor and training market for citizens, companies and institutions.
CHICAGO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures close mixed on Monday, with corn and soybean futures rising while wheat declining after Friday's quarterly grain stockpiles report.

The most active corn contract for December delivery rose 9.25 cents, or 2.75 percent, to 3.46 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery dropped 6.5 cents, or 1.62 percent, to 3.955 dollars per bushel. November soybeans rose 19 cents, or 1.99 percent, to 9.73 dollars per bushel.

The positive signals for corn demand came as asset managers plowed fresh capital into corn and soybean markets Monday, which marked the start of a new quarter and an opening for some funds to deploy further capital into commodity markets, analysts said.

Traders are looking ahead to that report to see if the USDA continues to project a record-breaking soybean crop as well, which could keep soybean futures trading within the same roughly 50-cent range that they have covered over the past month.

The USDA on Friday said U.S. wheat stocks as of Sept. 1 were the biggest since 1987, while corn supplies were smaller than expected.

On Monday, the USDA also reported increases in export inspections for corn and soybeans from the previous week, with a drop for wheat.

Traders attributed some of Friday's gains to fund managers closing out longer-standing bets that wheat prices would fall. On Monday, wheat futures' decline represented what some said was the more fundamental picture facing the world's most widely grown grain.

"The world is saturated with wheat," said Mr. Roose, a scenario which continues to encourage commodity-trading funds to bet against the contracts.

After markets closed, the USDA's weekly update on U.S. Crop progress estimated the corn and soybean harvest at 24 percent and 26 percent complete respectively as of Sunday. Analysts' estimates of harvest progress ranged from 22 percent to 28 percent for soybeans and from 23 percent to 30 percent for corn.
BRASILIA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Workers' Party (PT) did poorly in Brazil's municipal elections on Sunday, losing over half of the municipalities it governed, according to the final results published Monday.

In the 2012 elections, PT candidates won 630 municipalities but this number was just 256 yesterday.

The election was a better success for President Michel Temer, whose Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) won most municipalities with 1,208, followed by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) with 1,028 and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), with 538.

However, the PMDB suffered in Rio de Janeiro, long a bastion for the party. The outgoing mayor, Eduardo Paes, once a popular flagbearer, saw his popularity fall in the run-up to the Olympic Games and his chosen successor, Pedro Paulo, only finished third.

The PT suffered its worst result in Brazil's largest cities in the last two decades. It seized only one provincial capital in the first round, Rio Branco, the capital of the northwestern state of Acre, and will contest just one other in the second round, Recife, capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco.

In 2012, the PT had won four provincial capitals, down from five in 2008.

After governing Brazil for over 12 years through the presidencies of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, South America's largest left-wing party is in crisis.

Rousseff was impeached in August from the presidency for financial manipulations and Lula is facing corruption charges stemming from the Petrobras corruption ring, which has already brought down a number of prominent PT figures.
A Syrian man walks past a bus set ablaze following a reported air strike in the rebel-held Salaheddin district of Aleppo on September 25, 2016. (AFP/AMEER ALHALBI)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States has suspended negotiations with Russia on restoring a ceasefire in Syria, the State Department said on Monday, blaming Moscow for its military role in the attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The decision followed a threat from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week as Washington is growingly impatient with Moscow on the Syria issue and posed new challenges on the prospects of a political solution to the five-year-old conflict.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement, accusing Russia of failing to live up to its commitments on the ceasefire agreement on Syria reached last month.

Russia was "either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," he added.

The spokesperson also accused Moscow and Damascus of targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need.

In response to Washington's decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. is trying to shift the blame on Russia.

"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements -- to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of the Aleppo city...(and) to apply pressure on the armed opposition groups," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

As part of the decision on Monday, the U.S. will withdraw personnel that had been dispatched in anticipation of the possible establishment of the Joint Implementation Center with Russia.

However, Kirby said the U.S. will continue to utilize the channel of communications established with Russia to de-conflict counterterrorism operations in Syria "to ensure the safety of our respective military personnel and enable the fight against Daesh (the Islamic State)."

"Everybody's patience with Russia has run out," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday, blaming Moscow for undermining the fight against Islamic State and for indiscriminate bombing that has killed civilians and targeted hospitals in Syria.

"There is nothing more for the United States and Russia to talk about," Earnest said.

On Sept. 10, Russia and the U.S. announced a landmark agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which both sides hoped would lead to their countries' military cooperation to end more than five years of bloodshed there.

However, crossfire resumed in the first hours after the week-long truce deal expired on Sept. 19, with both parties trading accusations of failures to implement the deal.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week, slammed airstrikes by Russia and the Syrian government on Aleppo.

Obama and Merkel believed Russia and the Syrian government "bear special responsibility for ending the fighting in Syria and granting the UN humanitarian access to besieged and hard to reach areas in Syria," said a White House statement.

In another sign of worsening relations between Washington and Moscow, Russia halted on Monday cooperation with the U.S. on a program for disposal of weapons-grade plutonium.

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) has been halted due to "the emergence of a threat to strategic stability as a result of hostile actions by the U.S. in respect to Russia," as well as "Washington's inability to fulfill its commitments to disposing of surplus weapons-grade plutonium behind its decision," said a document published on the Russian government's website.

First signed in September, 2000 and updated in 2010, the PDMA committed each side to disposal of no less than 34 metric tons of weapon-grade plutonium, enough to produce 17,000 nuclear weapons.

The White House has expressed disappointment over Russia's decision.

"We've obviously been quite disappointed about a range of Russian decisions however both inside of Syria but also in Ukraine," Earnest said. "And unfortunately the announcement about the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement is more in line with those kinds of decisions that have only deepened Russia's isolation in the international community."
BOGOTA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Colombia woke up to political confusion on Monday, a day after a referendum narrowly rejected a peace agreement between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

As the country wondered what comes next after four years of negotiations were essentially torpedoed, Santos called an emergency political meeting between all sides at the presidential palace in Bogota.

However, he was in for a shock when the main opposition party, Democratic Center, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, declined the invitation.

After this rejection, the Democratic Center explained that "in order to identify the right steps to reach a national agreement, we want to express our willingness to meet with the delegates appointed by the national government."

Another statement put out by the Democratic Center on Monday contained a list of their demands, including for a deal that brings "political diversity without it being perceived as a prize for crimes."

A particular sticking point of the original agreement is that FARC members would have been pardoned, leaders confessing to crimes would not face prison and the group would be guaranteed seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The No campaign has been clear that a renegotiated peace agreement should not pardon FARC members guilty of crimes against humanity but send them to jail.

Faced with this uncertainty, the government is scrambling to cobble together its response to the unexpected result.

Last night, Santos said he would be sending his chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, to begin discussions with the FARC.

Yet on Monday, de la Calle revealed he had offered his resignation to Santos, who rejected it.

"Peace has not been defeated. While the Democratic Center spokespersons have revealed they have objections, the desire for peace is universal and unanimous," he told the press.

The president of the Senate, Mauricio Lizcano, after meeting with Santos, said that time was needed to "create a broad and inclusive commission to open a national dialogue with the No side."

Reassuringly, the FARC have maintained a compassionate attitude. Yet in an official statement published on their website, the FARC said they would "remain faithful to what has been agreed to." This would seem to indicate the FARC may have little desire to renegotiate what they have already approved.

However, it is unsure how and if their process of disarmament, supposed to take place at security zones across the country overseen by the UN, will take place.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced he would be sending a special representative to Havana to continue with all talks.

The country's other main guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), which is involved in its own talks with the government, continued for peace efforts to continue.

In a Twitter post, the ELN said that "despite the adverse results to the Havana agreement, Colombians must continue fighting for peace."
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva, the latest candidate to enter the contest for the next secretary-general of the United Nations, on Monday went through a public grilling by members of the UN General Assembly.

Georgieva, an economist and diplomat, only threw her hat in the ring last week, joining eight others, including Irina Bokova, also of Bulgaria, but who has not been doing well in the informal "straw polls" conducted among members of the UN Security Council. Antonio Guterres, former prime minister of Portugal and former head of the UN Refugee Agency, has been holding a substantial lead in the race.

The "informal dialogue" is a two-hour interview by members of the assembly, mostly representing various groups in the 193-member UN body, a few independent states and even some civil organizations. It is a new process, for candidates for the post, introduced during the previous session of the General Assembly in a bid to make the selection process transparent.

Georgieva is expected to be tested for the first time in the next straw poll, a secret and informal vote, by the Security Council, the sixth one scheduled for Wednesday.

The UN Charter says only the 15-member council shall recommend its choice of candidate to the General Assembly for secretary-general. It is a five-year position normally limited to two terms.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is retiring Dec. 31 after two terms.

During her interview, Georgieva emphasized multilateralism and "the need to build political will so we can have the alliances locally and globally to turn the tides on conflict. Conflict prevention has to become an overwhelming priority."

And during conflicts, she said, "It is unforgivable that when people who are risking their lives to save the lives of others that international law is trampled over in so many places," an apparent reference to violence directed against humanitarian aid convoys, particularly in Syria.

A former World Bank vice president, Georgieva, 63, expressed concern for refugees.

"As a European, I would start by saying, it was for us the refugee convention was actually adopted," she said. "It was for us the High Commissioner for Refugees took office. We were the refugees and we all need to understand that in this fragile world of ours there is no guarantee for anyone that we would not become refugees again."

"I think that for us to have a strong voice on understanding that helping people pushed out of their homes, displaced forcefully by conflict or a natural disaster is not only morally right, it is in all our interests," Georgieva said, her voice almost choking on the word "morally." "But, also recognize that the increase of displaced populations is so dramatic that it has created a situation that we as a global community have to reassess."

"No more we can only worry about taking care of people temporarily, with these protracted displacements we have to worry about creating opportunities for refugees to be integrated and not to forget that 85 percent go from one poor country to another," she said. "It's a matter of moral responsibility, resource allocation and reassessing the nature of the problem so we can actually deal with the root causes of displacement more seriously and deal with the impact of displacement more responsibly."

Georgieva thought that perhaps xenophobia has arisen in some Eastern European countries because many of those same countries had been isolated during the Cold War from the diversity Western Europe has experienced.

Then she had some advice on what seems a perennial problem.

"On young people I have been thinking about the importance of focusing on youth," Georgieva told assembly members. "We often say the youth is our future. Well they are present. This is our presence as well. They're here."
LIMA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) must improve soft skills in the workforce, said Alfonso Grados, Peru's Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, on Monday.

Speaking at the 6th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting (Oct. 3-6), Grados said that the members needed to improve the productivity of their labor market, especially among young people, and encourage the development of soft skills, such as empathy, problem resolution and communications ability.

Grados inaugurated the symposium by focusing on a dearth of soft skills among APEC economies, leading to difficulties in finding employment and job creation.

He cited a World Bank report which stated that Peru was among the 35 countries with the worst deficit in the development of soft skills.

According to the minister, this means that workers face restrictions in accessing stable employment, especially young people.

Therefore, Peru is currently working on an in-depth analysis of global best practices in developing soft skills.

This meeting is being held in preparation for the bloc's 2016 Summit, to be held in Lima on November 19-20.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Monday said that evidence is increasing that climate change is taking the biggest toll on poor and vulnerable people, and these impacts are largely caused by inequalities that increase the risks from climate hazards.

The statement was contained in a new UN report, the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: Climate Change Resilience -- an Opportunity for Reducing Inequalities, produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

"Sadly, the people at greater risk from climate hazards are the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized who, in many cases, have been excluded from socioeconomic progress," noted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the report. "We have no time to waste -- and a great deal to gain -- when it comes to addressing the socioeconomic inequalities that deepen poverty and leave people behind."

EXTENSIVE IMPACT

Over the past 20 years, 4.2 billion people have been affected by weather-related disasters, including a significant loss of lives, the report said, adding that developing countries are the most affected by climate change impacts.

Low-income countries suffered the greatest losses, including economic costs estimated at 5 percent of gross domestic product.

While climate adaptation and resilience are overshadowed by mitigation in climate discussions, they are vital for addressing climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), approved by world leaders here in September 2015 to serve as the blueprint for the global development efforts for the years leading to 2030, the report said.

Specifically, the report found that families living in poverty systematically occupy the least desirable land to damage from climate hazards, such as mud slides, periods of abnormally hot water, water contamination and flooding.

Climate change has the potential to worsen their situation and thereby worsen pre-existent inequalities, the report said, adding that structural inequalities increase the exposure of vulnerable groups to climate hazards.

According to the latest data, 11 percent of the world's population lived in a low-elevation coastal zone in 2000.

Many of them were poor and compelled to live in flood plain because they lacked the resources to live in safer areas. The data also underscore that in many countries in South and East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, many people have no other option than to erect their dwellings on precarious hill slopes.

The report also found a larger concentration of poor and marginalized groups in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid aridity zones which cover about 40 percent of the Earth's land surface. About 29 percent of the world's population live in those areas and are facing additional challenges owing to climate change.

PERSISTENT INEQUALITIES

"Persistent inequalities in access to assets, opportunities, political voice and participation, and in some cases, outright discriminations leave large group of people and community disproportionally exposed and vulnerable to climate hazards," said the UN assistant secretary-general for economic and social affairs, Lenni Montiel said while speaking to reporters here on the launch of the report.

Through transformative policies, he said, the government can "address the root causes of inequalities, to reduce the vulnerabilities of people to climate hazards, building their longer term resilience."

On transformative policies, the chief of development strategy and policy at UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Diana Alarcon, said such policies could help build climate change resilience, close inequality gaps, provide access to financial services, to diversification of the livelihoods, to quality education and health and social security.

"It is that kind of transformation that leads to development," Alarcon said.

While there is considerable anecdotal evidence that the poor and the vulnerable suffer greater harm from climate-related disasters, the report determined that much of the harm is not by accident, but that it is due to the failure of governments to close the development gaps that leave large population groups at risk.

TRANSFORMATIVE POLICIES

According to the report, building resilience to climate change provides an opportunity to focus resources on reducing long entrenched inequalities that make people disproportionately vulnerable to climate hazards.

The best climate adaptation policies are good development policies that strengthen people's capacity to cope with and adapt to climate hazards in the present and in the medium term, the report said.

Meanwhile, the report also recommended the use of improved access to climate projections, modern information and communications technologies, and geographical information systems to strengthen national capacity to assess impacts of climate hazards and policy options statistically.

The report voiced a concern that international resources to support climate change resilience are insufficient. At last year's UN climate conference in Paris, informally known as COP21, countries committed to setting a goal of at least 100 billion U.S. dollars per year for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries.

However, adaptation costs alone range from 70 billion dollars to 100 billion dollars per year by 2050 in the developing countries, and these figures are likely to underestimate real costs, according to the report.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for transformative policies to deliver on our collective promise to build a life of dignity for all on a cleaner, greener planet.

"The challenges are enormous, but the world possesses the know-how, tools and wealth needed to build a climate-resilient future -- a future free from poverty, hunger, discrimination and injustice," the secretary-general stressed in the report, stressing the importance of the enabling policy environment as well as the support of the international community.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Vitaly Churkin, the Russian permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Monday that without Moscow's help the black flags of rebel Islamic extremists could be flying over the Syrian capital of Damascus.

"Had it not been for our involvement in Syria, it might well be that the black flags (of ISIL or ISIS) would be flying over Damascus," he told reporters here. "This is the reality of the situation and this is the reality of the situation that (al) Nusra moved to eastern Aleppo."

Churkin, this month's president of the UN Security Council, made the statement as he was holding a routine briefing for reporters on the program of work for the 15-nation council this month. However, Churkin was clearly speaking in his national capacity on the topic.

The Russian envoy had been asked about his nation's involvement in Syria.

"The UN people (Special Envoy for Syria) Staffan de Mistura in open chamber of the Security Council (in a briefing last month) said like half of the fighters -- and we think that may be slightly over half the fighters, al Nusra -- they are keeping the civilian population hostage," he said.

"What we wanted to do is to have very close cooperation with the United States to fight al Nusra as together as we possibly could, given all the political circumstances," Churkin said. "Unfortunately it didn't work out from the perspective of the United States."

"We see an extremely, extremely dramatic situation where we must make sure that the Nusra influence is not going to continue to spread in the eastern parts of the country and they have been trying to go on the offensive," in some areas near Aleppo," he said.

"I have no doubt that our military is trying to do their best to avoid civilian casualties," the Moscow envoy said.

The United States has suspended negotiations with Russia on restoring a ceasefire in Syria, the State Department said on Monday, blaming Moscow for its military role in the attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The decision followed a threat from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week as Washington is growingly impatient with Moscow on the Syria issue and posed new challenges on the prospects of a political solution to the five-year-old conflict.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement, accusing Russia of failing to live up to its commitments on the ceasefire agreement on Syria reached last month.

Russia was "either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," he added.

The spokesperson also accused Moscow and Damascus of targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need.

In response to Washington's decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. is trying to shift the blame on Russia.

"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements -- to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of the Aleppo city...(and) to apply pressure on the armed opposition groups," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
MELBOURNE, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A West Australian family has survived a close encounter with a 1.5-meter crocodile, footage has revealed.

The Timms family were swimming in a gorge in the Kimberley region of West Australia (WA), in the far north of the state, unaware that they were sharing the water with a freshwater crocodile.

It was only when Cameron Timms, 14, emerged from the water to find he was bleeding from wounds on his elbow stomach and arms that the family realized something had happened.

Upon reviewing footage from a waterproof video camera that Cameron had attached to his swimsuit to capture what was happening beneath the surface the family realized that a freshwater crocodile had caused the injuries.

"I had the camera on to see if anything cool was happening underwater and it captured the croc swimming around," Cameron Timms told the Kimberley Echo newspaper on Tuesday.

Cameron's father, Mark Timms, said the family had felt something in the water but didn't think twice about it.

"A couple of us felt something," he told the ABC.

"Cameron felt it bump him and then, I don't know, not very long after his elbow hurt a little bit, and had a look and it was bleeding and so he hopped out and his stomach was bleeding a little bit and his elbow had quite a lot of blood coming out of it.

"So we realized something had happened. We weren't really sure at that stage until we looked back on things."

Timms said while the injuries were minor and accidental the puncture wounds on Cameron's elbow and wounds that were "like needle marks up in a row" on his arm made him think the crocodile's teeth caused the wounds.

"The elbow one's the definite puncture wounds," he said. "It's not a brushing thing, they're puncture wounds."

Freshwater crocodiles are not considered dangerous to humans but people are advised to be cautious around the aquatic reptiles nonetheless.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned a series of attacks against UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, which killed one peacekeeper from Chad and injured eight others.

According to the UN, four different attacks targeting MINUSMA personnel and installations took place in Aguelhok, Kidal region of northern Mali, earlier on Monday.

Recalling that attacks on UN peacekeepers constituted war crimes, Ban called for swift action to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice, said a statement released by his spokesperson.

MINUSMA has become a frequent target of terrorist attacks in Mali. So far, the mission has lost more than 60 of its members, making it the deadliest active UN mission.

In May alone, a series of attacks directed against the mission killed 12 peacekeepers and injured many more.

In late June, the UN Security Council decided to increase the force level of MINUSMA to counter the grave security situation provoked by armed groups in the country.

In the statement, Ban also urged all Malian parties to fulfill their obligations under the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, which tries to restore stability and security in the region.

The peace accord was signed in June 2015 by the Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad armed group, following its signature in May 2015 by the Malian government and a third party, the Plateforme coalition of armed groups.

The Malian government has been seeking to restore stability after a series of setbacks since early 2012, including a military coup d'etat, renewed fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by radical extremists.
U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General John Jansen (3rd L, front) and Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps Maj. General Andre Costales Jr. (3rd R, front) stand with fellow army officials during the opening ceremony of the annual Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise in Taguig City, the Philippines, Oct. 4, 2016. U.S. and Philippine marines and sailors kicked off on Tuesday what could be their last joint military exercises in the Philippines' main Luzon island and Palawan. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)



MANILA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. and Philippine marines and sailors kicked off on Tuesday what could be their last joint military exercises in the Philippines' main Luzon island and Palawan.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said last month that at least 1,400 U.S. marines based in Okinawa, Japan, and 500 Philippine troops will participate in this year's Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise codenamed PHIBLEX 33.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said this year's PHIBLEX, which wraps up on Oct. 12, will be the last joint war games that will take place during his term which ends in June 2022. PHIBLEX is the first and perhaps the last joint military exercises between the two treaty allies during Duterte's six-year term.

Duterte lamented the U.S does not share military technology with the Philippines. "They asked for a joint maneuvers, operations, and yet there is no capability between the weapons and the armaments they use, and even the communications," he told a news conference on Sept. 30 in Davao City.

The president also said over the weekend that he would review the existing security arrangements with the United States, including the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed in 2014.

The 10-year EDCA allows an increased presence of U.S. forces, ships, aircraft and equipment in the Philippines and greater access to Philippine military bases. Under the new defense accord, U.S. military personnel in the Philippines are to be deployed on a rotational basis.

Earlier, Duterte also called for the expulsion of about 100 U.S. Special Forces posted in Zamboanga City on Mindanao, who were tasked to help the Philippine military fight against terrorism.

He also said he was not going to allow the Philippine military to participate in joint patrols with the U.S. military.

However, Duterte has repeatedly said that the Philippines is not cutting its ties with the United States, saying he is merely pursuing an independent policy.
LUSAKA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's main opposition party defended on Monday a decision by its lawmakers to stay away from the parliament opening later last week.

All the 58 members of Parliament (MPs) of the United Party for National Development (UPND) boycotted the official opening of the first session of the 12th National Assembly.

The assembly was only attended by 88 lawmakers from the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), one from the opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) and 14 independent lawmakers.

The session was officially opened by President Edgar Lungu, and various stakeholders condemned the opposition party's decision to boycott the opening.

Charles Kakoma, the party's spokesperson, refuted the criticism, saying the party does not recognize Lungu as duly elected.

The UPND has refused to recognize that Lungu was duly elected in the Aug. 11 election. However, its efforts to overturn the result in the Constitutional Court have failed. The party has since taken the matter to the Supreme Court.

Lungu succeeded Michael Sata as head of the ruling PF in 2014 after the latter died. He won the presidency the following year in a by-election, defeating opposition candidate Hichilema.
WELLINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- New DNA evidence showing Pacific peoples originally came from Asia could lead to better health treatments in the Pacific, said a New Zealand researcher Tuesday.

The new study was the first to sequence DNA from 3,000-year-old skeletons and identify who were the first people to reach the Pacific islands, said Massey University Professor Murray Cox, a co-author of the international project.

By examining skeletal remains from the first people to settle in Vanuatu and Tonga, the research was able to put a 40-year debate to rest, Cox said.

Researchers had shown that ancient settlers had little to no Papuan ancestry, which proved that the first people to reach remote Oceania were from Asian farming groups, with later movements bringing Papuan genes into the region.

Before this work, no ancient genomic DNA had ever been obtained from any tropical region, including the Pacific.

This had resulted in two opposing scenarios to explain why New Zealand's indigenous Maori and Pacific island peoples (Pasifika) had Papuan and Asian ancestry.

The other theory had stated that farming groups moving out of Asia mixed with Papuans near New Guinea and created a mixed group with both ancestries and the mixed group settling in the Pacific.

"This paper gives us the first basic picture of the genomic makeup of Pacific islanders," said Cox.

"Knowing this is important because some of the genetic variations caused by this population mixing will likely be linked to health outcomes, perhaps explaining why health issues like obesity and diabetes are such challenges for Pacific peoples today. Ultimately, understanding this DNA may give us new ideas for health treatments."

The study examined ancient DNA from three individuals who were among the earliest to settle in Vanuatu up to 3,100 years ago and one who was among the earliest to settle in Tonga up to 2,700 years ago.

The data was then compared to DNA samples from 356 present-day humans from 38 Southeast Asian and Oceanian populations.

The study also reported the most accurate estimates of sex-biased admixture - the difference in the proportion of males and females contributing to a person's genes - in diverse Southeast Asian and Pacific peoples to date.

"During the later stages of the settlement process, when the two groups were mixing, marriages between Asian women and Papuan men occurred very frequently, leading to unusual 'sex-biased' patterns of diversity in the genomes of their descendants," said Cox.

"It is likely that this later mixing of people with Papuan ancestry was largely driven by Papuan men who came to Oceania and married resident Asian women."
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces on Tuesday continued clashes with the Taliban militants in Kunduz city, capital of the country's northern province of Kunduz, police said.

On early Monday, the Taliban launched coordinated attacks and took positions in residential houses and buildings in the city, 250 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul, triggering fierce clashes with the security forces.

"The clearing operation has been continuing. The joint Afghan security forces have managed to clear several districts, including downtown areas overnight from militants," a senior police officer, Mahfuzullah Akbari, told Xinhua.

The militants seized the main intersection of the city for a short time late Monday before being driven back by Afghan army troops.

Most of the streets remained deserted Tuesday morning as sporadic clashes continuing and the government forces backed by helicopter gunships have been targeting Taliban positions, according to witnesses.

"The ongoing operation will take more time as the situation in the city is tense. The security forces are moving cautiously as the militants are using private properties as bunkers, they are using civilians as human shields," a provincial security source told Xinhua anonymously.

At least three civilians were killed and more than 50 people injured since the fighting began, the source said.

The Taliban militants, which ruled the country before they were ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, staging ambushes and suicide attacks, killing combatants as well as civilians.

They have intensified attacks over the past couple of years since early 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed the full security responsibility from NATO-led troops.

The Taliban also stormed several districts in southern Uruzgan, Helmand and neighboring Farah province on Monday.

Kunduz city was briefly captured by Taliban in September last year, leaving several people killed and over 2,000 civilians and security forces injured.

The clashes in Kunduz came as an international conference is expected to be held in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, Oct. 5, with development and economy of the war-hit country in top of its agenda.
MOSCOW, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO) identified over 20 launches of Russian and foreign intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2016, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

"Moreover, the VKO has conducted 16 launches of spacecraft under the Russian Federal Space Program, the Federal Target Program GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and international cooperation programs," the ministry said.

The ground-based forces of automated control complex of the VKO conducted over 420,000 sessions with Russian spacecraft constellation, with about 1,500 sessions per day.

According to the ministry, the specialists of the Main Space Intelligence Center found over 650 space objects, controlled the in-orbit delivery of more than 180 spacecraft and terminated ballistic existence of about 60 space objects.
HAVANA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Raul Castro has supervised the measures taken in the eastern part of the country to face the major hurricane Matthew, expected to hit Cuba on Tuesday afternoon.

During a tour to the provinces of Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba, the Cuban leader urged relevant departments to be prepared for the hurricane, and seize even the smallest detail of previous experiences in order to preserve human lives and material resources.

In the Guantanamo territory, authorities have evacuated some 179,000 people from areas prone to be hit by landslides and floods.

On Saturday, Castro established the National Civil Defense headquartered in the city of Santiago de Cuba, and has assumed the presidency.

Given the strength of the weather event, category four on the five-degree Saffir-Simpson scale, the rest of Cuban provinces are ready to lend support to the affected areas.

A railway operation is ready in Havana for bringing in the possible shortest time the resources needed for the recovery of infrastructure and energy networks.

At 6 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) on Monday, the center of Matthew was estimated at about 415 km southeast Santiago de Cuba, and 390 km south of Guantanamo.

Matthew comes with maximum sustained winds of 220 km per hour, with higher gusts.

In the next hours the hurricane is expected to continue its route in north direction, with an increasing speed of 11 km per hour.
File photo taken on Oct. 8, 2015 shows U.S. and Filipino soldiers participating in a boat raid during the Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) in Cavite Province, the Philippines. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. and Philippine marines and sailors kicked off on Tuesday what could be their last joint military exercises in the Philippines' main Luzon island and Palawan.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said last month that at least 1,400 U.S. marines based in Okinawa, Japan, and 500 Philippine troops will participate in this year's Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise codenamed PHIBLEX 33.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said this year's PHIBLEX, which wraps up on Oct. 12, will be the last joint war games that will take place during his term which ends in June 2022. PHIBLEX is the first and perhaps the last joint military exercises between the two treaty allies during Duterte's six-year term.

Duterte lamented the U.S does not share military technology with the Philippines. "They asked for a joint maneuvers, operations, and yet there is no capability between the weapons and the armaments they use, and even the communications," he told a news conference on Sept. 30 in Davao City.

The president also said over the weekend that he would review the existing security arrangements with the United States, including the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed in 2014.

File photo taken on July 25, 2016 shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivering a speech during the State of the Nation Address in Quezon City, the Philippines. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

The 10-year EDCA allows an increased presence of U.S. forces, ships, aircraft and equipment in the Philippines and greater access to Philippine military bases. Under the new defense accord, U.S. military personnel in the Philippines are to be deployed on a rotational basis.

Earlier, Duterte also called for the expulsion of about 100 U.S. Special Forces posted in Zamboanga City on Mindanao, who were tasked to help the Philippine military fight against terrorism.

He also said he was not going to allow the Philippine military to participate in joint patrols with the U.S. military.

However, Duterte has repeatedly said that the Philippines is not cutting its ties with the United States, saying he is merely pursuing an independent policy.
by Abu Hanifah

JAKARTA, Oct.4 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia recorded impressive foreign tourist visits in August and in previous months this year, giving bright prospect for the government to further boost the tourism sector as the nation's essential economy propeller in coming years.

The archipelago country in Southeast Asia posted a significant foreign tourist visits figure of 1.03 million, or 13.19 percent higher than the same period last year. The total figure throughout the first eight months added up to 7.36 million, Indonesia's central statistics agency said on Monday.

The government set the target of foreign tourists arrivals this year at 12 million people, or 15 percent higher than last year.

The goal was set based on optimistic prediction for the economy for 2016. Indonesia is expected to see a 5.2-percent growth this year, compared with 4.78 percent achieved last year.

Indonesia has seen impressive growth of foreign tourist arrivals in the past few years, with 8.8 million recorded in 2013 and 9.4 million in 2014.

Tourists from China contributed the largest number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia in the first eight months this year at almost 15 percent, followed by Australia and Singapore.

The figures have shown huge potential for Indonesia in further tapping the tourism sector to propel the nation's economy amid downturns in its key sectors of oil and gas, coals and palm oil.

"For this year I want the growth in tourism sector can be accelerated so as to highly support national economic growth," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said recently.

The country's tourism ministry is taking various measures to attract tourists.

Besides promoting domestic tour destination, the ministry also implemented digital systems to analyze tourist characteristics.

Aligning with other ministries, the tourism ministry is now developing 10 "New Bali" tour destinations, designed to have equal capabilities with Indonesia's famous resort island of Bali.

The new destinations were Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuhan Bajo, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru, Kepulauan Seribu, Toba, Wakatobi, Tanjung Lesung, Morotai, and Tanjung Kelayang.

To provide better accommodations for visitors, the ministry has recently synergized the management of 36 hotels operated by state-run firms.

Through the management consolidation of state-run hotels under the new business flag of Hotel Indonesia Group (HIG), the ministry expected that tourists can get the best of Indonesian hospitality and services during their stay in the country.

Indonesia's Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said recently that investments in the tourism sector continued to expand from 700 million U.S. dollars in 2014 to 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.

As of the first half this year investments were recorded at 858 million U.S. dollars, expected to reach 1.5 billion U.S. dollars by year end.

The minister said the tourism sector now contributes 10 percent to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the fourth largest sector to make earnings for the nation.

Indonesia's tourism sector was expected to contribute more than 24 billion U.S. dollars to the state coffers and welcome 20 million foreign tourists by 2019.
SANAA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A French-Tunisian staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who had been abducted here was released on Monday night, a spokeswoman for the ICRC's Sanaa branch said in a statement.

"It is a happy day for the ICRC delegation in Yemen as we have the pleasure to announce the release of our abducted staff member Nourane Houas, after 10 months of abduction," Rima Kamal said.

"She has just arrived in Muscat one hour before Monday midnight," Kamal said.

"Her release was the painstaking work of ICRC teams in Geneva, Sanaa and beyond. It has taken a lot of effort, inside and outside Yemen and over many months," the spokeswoman said.

"We are grateful for the support and cooperation of all those who helped secure her release," she said, without giving further details or who was behind the kidnapping.

On Dec. 1, 2015, Yemeni gunmen abducted Houas while she was on her way to work in Sanaa, capital of Yemen.

The ICRC had halted all field movements in Yemen for days after the kidnapping, but then resumed its humanitarian activities.

Foreigners were frequently abducted in Yemen, a country that has seen turmoil since the 2011 political upheaval against then President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Militant groups kidnapped foreigners to ask for ransoms. But it is rare that aid group staff was kidnapped.

Security in the country has deteriorated since March 2015 when war broke out after dominant Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Saleh's loyalists, seized Sanaa and drove out the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

More than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed in ground battles and Saudi-led coalition air strikes since then, half of them civilians.
ANKARA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 12,801 police officers have been suspended from their posts over suspected links to Gulen, Turkey's Security General Directorate announced in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the statement released on its website, out of the dismissed, 2,543 are ranking officers.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Interior Ministry dismissed 37 people over links to Gulen, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based preacher, is blamed by Turkish government for orchestrating a failed coup attempt on July 15. At least 241 people were killed and over 2,000 were injured in the attempt.
MEXICO CITY, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries have lamented the outcome of a Colombian referendum that rejected a long-awaited peace agreement to end more than five decades of civil fighting in the country.

After nearly four years of negotiations, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a definitive accord last Monday at a ceremony in Cartagena, Colombia, which was accompanied by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and regional leaders.

Both sides have agreed that the agreement should be ratified by plebiscite, which unexpectedly rejected the deal on Sunday by a close vote of 50.21 percent from the "No" camp and 49.78 percent from the "Yes."

As the result sent the two sides back to the negotiating table again to hammer out terms acceptable to all sectors of society, regional governments and organizations pledged to support the ongoing peace process.

The 12-member Union of South American Nations (Unasur), a sub-regional integration bloc headquartered in Quito, Ecuador, issued a statement following the poll results late Sunday.

"At this decisive moment for Colombia, the Secretary General ... renews its commitment to continue supporting Colombia so that it can achieve peace through dialogue, the preservation of the validity of the Havana Agreements, consensus and understanding," said Unasur, which gathers Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group began in 2012, with host Cuba and Norway serving as guarantors, and Venezuela and Chile accompanying the negotiations.

On Monday, Santos said he will consult with all political parties, especially those who oppose the peace deal, towards a new negotiated agreement.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose country borders Colombia to the west, said on Monday, "peace and war in Colombia affects our country directly," and that his government was ready to continue to support the peace process.

In a message to the Santos government, Maduro said "you can count on all the support of the Bolivarian and Revolutionary Government (of Venezuela) to continue developing peace in Colombia."

In a Twitter post that echoed Santos' and FARC leaders' quick affirmation following the vote, Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said, "the results of the referendum do not signal a return to fighting."

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was more circumspect, saying "'No' won in Colombia, but everyone insists they want peace .... Hopefully peace will win in the end."

His Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said the "marginal win by 'NO' saddens us. President Santos ratifies the cease-fire. FARC also. Onwards in seeking the path to peace in Colombia."

Those oppose to the agreement argue it does not go far enough to hold the rebels accountable for their actions during more than five decades of fighting, including kidnapping and aiding drug trafficking, both of which were used to raise funds for the guerrillas.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said rejecting the deal plunged the country into uncertainty.

"I think renegotiation will be quite hard," Kuczynski told the state news agency Andina. "The Havana negotiations went on for years and were on the verge of collapse ... it raises a great deal of uncertainty."

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it hoped Colombia continues to explore "all possible avenues for moving forward in a united way towards a peaceful and prosperous future."

The ministry added that "the Mexican government reaffirms its commitment to support Colombia and President Juan Manuel Santos along this path."

Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz echoed that sentiment, saying "Chile is available to accompany this new stage of the peace process, to persist, if Colombians so decide, on the path to peace and help to the best of our ability."

Munoz, whose country was accompanying the peace talks, told reporters in Santiago he had spoken with his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin, "and we are going to see over the next few hours what is happening.

"Everyone was surprised," Munoz said of the referendum results. "Those of us who were in Cartagena de Indias (for the signing of the peace deal), including the secretary general of the United Nations and several presidents who were there, were told polls showed 'Yes' would win."

He added, "a number of factors could have contributed to the 'No' (vote) and we have to listen to what the Colombians have said."

Talks aimed at restarting the peace process are about to get underway, he said.
HARBIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- An explosion in a residential community in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has killed three people and injured another three, according to local sources.

The explosion occurred at 4:57 a.m. on the 14th floor of a high-rise building on Tuesday. Windows were blown out in an apartment on the 14th floor and the 13th and 15th floors of the building were damaged, according to Xinhua reporters at the scene.

According to a preliminary investigation, the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

Other residents have been evacuated. Further investigation is underway.
CAIRO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Interior Ministry said in a statement early Tuesday that police killed two Muslim Brotherhood leaders in a shootout in Cairo.

"61-year-old Mohamed Kamal, a physician, one of the group's top leaders, and another leader Yasser Shehata, both were killed," a ministry statement said.

It said the forces raided an apartment in Cairo's Bassateen neighbourhood after learning it was used by the leaders as headquarters.

Kamal was wanted for more than a dozen of armed attacks and was twice sentenced to life in prison in absentia for establishing an armed group, the statement added.

Shehata was also sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for assaulting a citizen and forcibly detaining him in the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice party, the group's political wing, according to the statement.

The Muslim Brotherhood was labeled as an outlawed group by the government after it launched anti-security attacks in revenge for the killings and detention of its members after the ouster of its leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and the arrest of the group leaders.
KATHMANDU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese investors have shown interest in developing Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nepal after Nepal's Parliament endorsed the SEZ Bill last month which paved the way for the private sector to establish, operate and manage the SEZs.

According to a senior official of SEZ Development Committee of Nepal, Ping An Insurance (Group) of China in partnership with Lhasa SEZ have sought permission to conduct feasibility study of potential areas where SEZ could be established and run the SEZ.

"The Chinese investors have proposed to explore the areas in Nuwakot and Kavrepalanchowk districts in central Nepal as well other potential areas," Chandika Prasad Bhatta, executive director of SEZ Development Committee told Xinnua on Monday.

According to him, it is the first time foreign investors showed interest in developing SEZ in the country.

The Chinese proposal came after the SEZ bill, which has been sent to the president for a stamping after the parliamentary endorsement, made provision that the SEZ could be developed and operated under public private partnership or sole investment of the private sector. This paved the way for domestic and foreign investors to enter into the venture.

According to the SEZ committee officials, the Chinese investors had met with them a month ago and they received email from the Chinese side seeking permission to explore the possibility of establishing the SEZ in Nepal.

According to Bhatta, his office has notified the Industry Ministry about the proposal.

Dinesh Ghimire, joint secretary at the ministry, told Xinhua that they have got notification about the proposal from the Chinese investors and it would move ahead in an administrative process.

Nepal has sought to develop 14 SEZs in different parts of the country. But the infrastructure has only been developed in a single SEZ in Bhairahawa, a south western city of Nepal, so far.

The SEZ Committee has started infrastructure development in two other proposed SEZs. Construction of roads is ongoing in another proposed SEZ and a feasibility study is being conducted for another SEZ, according to Bhatta.

Nepal specifically aims to attract export industries inside SEZ and more foreign investment and the SEZ bill has offered several incentives.

According to the bill, the industries operating inside the SEZ will get special treatment including taxes and fees to be levied and leasing of buildings and lands.

It has made provision of full income tax exemption for five years for the industries operating inside the SEZ. The industries that use at least 60 percent domestic raw materials will get 50 percent tax exemption for additional 10 years while others will get additional five-year tax exemption.

The bill has also banned workers from holding all forms of protests that could affect the production of the factories in the zone. Strikes by different trade unions, caused by the interests of certain political parties, have been blamed for a major constraint for attracting investment in the Himalayan country.

The bill has also allowed foreign investors to repatriate dividends and payment of foreign loans and do transactions in foreign exchange.
Afghan security force members take part in a military operation against Taliban militants in Kunduz city, Afghanistan, Oct. 4, 2016. Afghan government forces in counter-attack have killed more than 40 armed Taliban insurgents, forcing the hardliner group to vacate many areas in and around Kunduz city on Tuesday, senior security official Mahfoozullah Akbari said. (Xinhua/Ajmal Kakar)



KUNDUZ, Afghanistan Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Afghan government forces in counter-attack have killed more than 40 armed Taliban insurgents, forcing the hardliner group to vacate many areas in and around Kunduz city on Tuesday, senior security official Mahfoozullah Akbari said.

"More than 40 Taliban rebels have been killed since early morning when the government forces launched counter-offensive and forced militants to retreat from several areas in Kunduz city," Akbari told Xinhua.

Taliban militants in a surprise move entered the northern Kunduz city, the capital of the strategically important Kunduz province, along the border with Tajikistan on Monday.

To recapture the city, government forces sent reinforcement to Kunduz and kicked off counter-operations, So far, according to Akbari, security forces have regained many areas captured by militants on Monday.

Four security personnel have been killed and 13 others injured during counter-offensive against Taliban militants, the official said.

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Majahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, in contact with media has claimed that Kunduz city is still in the control of Taliban fighters.
HANOI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Anti-corruption has been a hot topic in Vietnam in recent days as it dominates almost all exchanges between the country's parliament members and local voters.

Although the amended anti-corruption law will not be reviewed at the upcoming second session of Vietnam's 14th National Assembly (NA) later this month as earlier planned, anti-corruption remains hot topic in the country.

Speaking with voters in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said anti-corruption is a hard task. It is not easy to detect corruption.

"In order to bring serious corruption cases to justice, it requires coordination and determination of various organizations," said Quang.

"Today, I would like to affirm that Vietnamese party and state are determined to deal with corruption and waste. The recent assertive activities by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong have shown that the head of Vietnamese party and state publicly declared to fight against corruption," said Quang.

Recently, Trong has assigned nine organizations to look into local media reports regarding a former official who allegedly caused serious loss in a state-run oil and gas corporation.

Dinh The Huynh, permanent member of the CPV Secretariat said the fight against corruption needs both persistence and determination. Policies are needed to prevent corruption from happening but also to detect and strictly handle those with corruption, Huynh said.

Vietnam first passed anti-corruption law in 2005. The law took effect from 2006. The country is seeking to amend the law to increase its effectiveness in the fight against corruption.
by Ahmed Shafiq

CAIRO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Amid the green farms of Giza governorate in Egypt, stray and abandoned dogs can have a safe haven at HOPE Society, a welfare sanctuary that provides food, medication and housing for all sorts of dogs.

"This place is home to tens of abandoned, lost, stray and injured dogs," Ahmed al-Shurbaji, founder of HOPE told Xinhua, noting that he has so far rescued some 160 dogs since two years ago.

Every year on Oct. 4, the World Animal Day is celebrated around the globe to pay tribute to those animal lovers like Shurbaji and to raise people's awareness of animal protection.

Shurbaji's sanctuary is an organization that provides a network of rescuers, sponsors and medical resources to help save and rehabilitate dogs in Egypt, the most-populous Arab country that has no strong animal rights protection laws.

Shurbaji, a young Egyptian civil engineer in his 20s, said he never thought he could start such project despite his love to animals. But the heartbreaking sufferings of many animals in his country made him think of giving a hand.

"I started to rescue and help animals and send them to private clinics, but all of a sudden I found out that I'm paying much for the medication and treatment of 13 dogs. At that very moment I decided to start the shelter project," he said as dozens of dogs cheerfully surrounded him, playfully barking and jumping in joy.

Starting with a small shelter in Cairo, Shurbaji and a few number of activists began to rescue dogs across the country and raise funds for treating and feeding the animals.

It did not take long time until the shelter was known among Egypt's only six dog sanctuaries, and in a few months it became packed with dogs.

"This forced me to think of moving to a larger place which should preferably be away from the city," he said as he checked a dark brown Labrador recently diagnosed with cancer.

HOPE now is a three-acre safe-house, with a vet clinic, located in Shabramant village in the countryside of Giza governorate, where wheat, corn and vegetables are grown; a healthy and preferable environment for animals.

At the moment, the shelter offers comfortable rooms for some 108 dogs where they can enjoy vast spaces and play areas.

The dogs are being cared of by highly trained pet care providers 24 hours a day, with two vets to deal with any urgent medical problems the dogs may suffer from.

Throughout his two-year rescue work, Shurbaji, has been facing criticism in the Middle Eastern conservative country for helping animals when millions of Egyptians suffer from poverty, unemployment and homelessness.

The man also said he wants to change the misconception of many people in Egypt who are wrongly told by some clerics that dogs are traditionally unclean and impure and they should stay away from them.

"Our target here is not only to rescue, rehabilitate or re-home ... we want to encourage people to adopt dogs and treat them humanely," he said. "Those people cannot touch my feelings when I see a dog joyfully playing with his mates after a long suffering in the street."

In Egypt, animal adoption is not a common phenomenon as most of animal lovers depend on pet stores which sell pets, mainly dogs, for very high prices.

"I aim to spread the culture of pet adoption which is growing slowly in Egypt. This will also boost me to help more dogs as adopting dogs will make space for new ones," said Shurbaji, whose shelter has nearly no room for newcomers.

Shurbaji further explained that HOPE is not just a shelter, adding that his staff teaches rescued street dogs to be home pets to get accustomed to home life once adopted.

So far, HOPE managed to help dozens of people adopt dogs in the past two years. During the past 11 months, HOPE sent 38 dogs to their new homes in Canada, U.S. and Europe.

"I have good relations with other international sanctuaries and animal rights activists all over the world and they help me find people abroad to adopt my dogs," he said.

The job Shurbaji does is really great and applaudable, but things are not very rosy to him as they really appear to everyone.

The founder of HOPE said the lack of finance is a major obstacle that may hinder or slow down his work at times.

"HOPE mainly recounts on donations and fundraising for the food, the rent of the sheltering house and salaries of the workers," he said. "Sometimes we have no budget to receive or rescue more dogs and they just end up suffering in the streets."

Every month, the man needs to get at least 40,000 Egyptian pounds to pay for the expanses of the shelter, including the salaries of his eight-member team.

"But I never give up... I will spend everything I have to provide dogs with better lives," he said, cuddling a five-week old little German shepherd puppy which was recently rescued by Shurbaji's team.
KABUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Twelve militants of the Islamic State (IS) have been killed in an airstrike overnight, the Afghan Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"The air force of Afghan National Army launched an airstrike against an IS position in Achin district of eastern Nangarhar province last night, killing 12 IS militants," the ministry said in a written statement.

Nangarhar province has been the scene of clashes between security forces and militants since the emergence of IS there in early 2015. The Achin district has been regarded as IS militants' stronghold in Nangarhar.

In addition, one IS local commander Murtaza, alias Kaka, was captured along with four of his men after the joint Afghan Special Operation Force members carried out a ground offensive in parts of Achin Monday night, the statement noted.

The militant group has yet to make comments.
JAKARTA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's tax revenue rose by 15 percent by the end of September compared to the same period last year thanks to the successful results of government's tax amnesty program in the first period, a senior official at the financial ministry said here on Tuesday.

Government collected 791.9 trillion rupiah (around 61 billion U.S. dollars) in total tax revenue by the end of last month, or 15.5 percent higher from 687.7 trillion rupiah (about 52.9 billion U.S. dollars) recorded in the same period a year earlier, according to the data released by Indonesia's financial ministry.

Taxation Director General at the ministry Ken Dwijugiastead said the first period of the tax amnesty program which ran from July to September contributed to the significant increase of tax collection.

"We're going to continue with our efforts to collect more," he said here.

The second period of the program was scheduled to end at the end of this year. The last period was scheduled to last till March 31, 2017.

As of September, the government earned 97.2 trillion rupiah (about 7.4 billion U.S. dollars) in additional tax revenue, including from tax amnesty penalty funds, according to the ministry's taxation office.

Some 368,000 taxpayers were reported to have declared 3,625 trillion rupiah (about 278.7 billion U.S. dollars) of their unreported assets during the first period tax amnesty program and paid up 93.8 trillion rupiah (about 7.2 billion U.S. dollars) in tax amnesty penalty funds.
COLOMBO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lanka Navy assisted the Sri Lanka Coast Guard to arrest five Indian fishermen who were poaching illegally in Sri Lanka's northern seas on Tuesday, the navy said in a statement here.

One Indian fishing trawler was also taken into custody.

"The fishing trawler and the arrested fishermen were brought to the Kankesanthurei Harbour to be handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Jaffna for onward action," the navy said.

Sri Lanka and India have been trying to resolve the long standing fishermen issue with fishermen from both sides having to face arrests and boats being detained when they stray into each other's waters illegally.

Both countries have held several rounds of talks in an attempt to resolve the matter but have failed to reach a final solution.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena had sought for an early solution to the issue during a discussion with Indian minister of state for external affairs earlier this month.

Sirisena said both the Indian and Sri Lankan governments looked at it as a human issue and whenever fishermen were arrested for illegal border crossing, the respective governments released them as early as possible.
FREETOWN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The government of Sierra Leone late Monday announced strict and stringent measures to turn around the country's ailing economy.

The announcement came after an emergency cabinet meeting held at the office of the President to find ways to stabilize the Sierra Leone economy.

The measures include a thirty percent cut in the country's recurrent expenditure across the board, suspend all domestic finance capital contracts until further notice, and no new procurement of government vehicles.

Also the government announced a fifty percent cut in fuel allocations to all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the restriction of all overseas travels, among others.

President Ernest Koroma told his cabinet that "these measures will be implemented up to the first half of 2017 as to stabilize the economy."

He expressed the need for the country to take an inward look under the current domestic revenue mobilization, urging all MDAs to cut down on expenditure and focus on measures that would be implemented to stabilize the country's economy.

The measures came a week after an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission meeting in Freetown, during which the mission called on the government to cut down on their expenditures.
BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua)-- China has seen a marked increase in tourist visits and spending during this week's national holiday.

Altogether 415 million people visited tourist attractions around the country in the past four days, up 13.8 percent from last year, according to estimates by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

Nationwide, tourist spending rose 15.1 percent to 340 billion yuan (50 billion U.S. dollars), the CNTA said.

Tourist visits and spending reached their peaks on Monday, with about 108 million people making trips and spending about 88 billion yuan.

Railways carried over 47.73 million passengers from Oct.1 to Oct.4, up 10.5 percent, according to the China Railway Corporation.

A total of around 480 billion yuan is expected to be spent during the holiday week, 13.5 percent more than last year, according to a survey by China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, an online travel agent.
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) consensus government decided on Tuesday to postpone local elections for four months, a decision rejected as "absurd" by the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told a cabinet during its weekly session held in the southern West Bank city of Hebron that the decision was made after all the needed legal and judiciary measures.

"The aim is to hold the local elections in all the Palestinian territories in one time," Hamdallah said.

The cabinet decision came one day after the Palestinian Supreme Court ruled that the municipal elections be held on the West Bank only, but not in the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007.

Following the court ruling, the Palestinian Central Elections Commission said that it recommends to President Mahmoud Abbas to postpone the local elections so that elections can be held in the West Bank and Gaza on the same day.

The Islamic Hamas movement rejected the PNA cabinet decision as "absurd" and "playing with the Palestinian process of democracy."

"The movement rejects any postponement of the (local) elections and insists on holding it on its proper date and time," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told a news briefing in Gaza. "It is a kind of confusion and evasion of the elections,"

Abu Zuhri held rival Fatah Party "fully responsible for these decisions," saying that "Fatah doesn't respect laws and the decisions of the Central Elections Commission."

Hamas would not accept "these absurd decisions," he added.
RAMALLAH, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Central Elections Commission on Tuesday welcomed the cabinet's decision to postpone the local elections for four months.

In a statement, the commission said the decision came in harmony with its bid to temporarily postpone the vote, instead of implementing it only in the West Bank, which could have deepened the internal division and negatively affected the interests of the Palestinian people.

The commission announced that it would proceed with the new electoral procedures soon, expressing hope that it would be able to "include the entire Palestinian territories."

The Palestinian government decided Tuesday to delay the municipal elections for up to four months after the high court ruled they should be held only in the West Bank and not in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas rejected in a statement the cabinet's decision to postpone the vote.
Shurbaji's sanctuary is an organization that provides a network of rescuers, sponsors and medical resources to help save and rehabilitate dogs in Egypt. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Amid the green farms of Giza governorate in Egypt, stray and abandoned dogs can have a safe haven at HOPE Society, a welfare sanctuary that provides food, medication and housing for all sorts of dogs.

"This place is home to tens of abandoned, lost, stray and injured dogs," Ahmed al-Shurbaji, founder of HOPE told Xinhua, noting that he has so far rescued some 160 dogs since two years ago.

Every year on Oct. 4, the World Animal Day is celebrated around the globe to pay tribute to those animal lovers like Shurbaji and to raise people's awareness of animal protection.

Shurbaji's sanctuary is an organization that provides a network of rescuers, sponsors and medical resources to help save and rehabilitate dogs in Egypt, the most-populous Arab country that has no strong animal rights protection laws.

Shurbaji, a young Egyptian civil engineer in his 20s, said he never thought he could start such project despite his love to animals. But the heartbreaking sufferings of many animals in his country made him think of giving a hand.

"I started to rescue and help animals and send them to private clinics, but all of a sudden I found out that I'm paying much for the medication and treatment of 13 dogs. At that very moment I decided to start the shelter project," he said as dozens of dogs cheerfully surrounded him, playfully barking and jumping in joy.

Starting with a small shelter in Cairo, Shurbaji and a few number of activists began to rescue dogs across the country and raise funds for treating and feeding the animals.

It did not take long time until the shelter was known among Egypt's only six dog sanctuaries, and in a few months it became packed with dogs.

"This forced me to think of moving to a larger place which should preferably be away from the city," he said as he checked a dark brown Labrador recently diagnosed with cancer.

HOPE now is a three-acre safe-house, with a vet clinic, located in Shabramant village in the countryside of Giza governorate, where wheat, corn and vegetables are grown; a healthy and preferable environment for animals.

At the moment, the shelter offers comfortable rooms for some 108 dogs where they can enjoy vast spaces and play areas.

The dogs are being cared of by highly trained pet care providers 24 hours a day, with two vets to deal with any urgent medical problems the dogs may suffer from.

Throughout his two-year rescue work, Shurbaji, has been facing criticism in the Middle Eastern conservative country for helping animals when millions of Egyptians suffer from poverty, unemployment and homelessness.

The man also said he wants to change the misconception of many people in Egypt who are wrongly told by some clerics that dogs are traditionally unclean and impure and they should stay away from them.

"Our target here is not only to rescue, rehabilitate or re-home ... we want to encourage people to adopt dogs and treat them humanely," he said. "Those people cannot touch my feelings when I see a dog joyfully playing with his mates after a long suffering in the street."

In Egypt, animal adoption is not a common phenomenon as most of animal lovers depend on pet stores which sell pets, mainly dogs, for very high prices.

"I aim to spread the culture of pet adoption which is growing slowly in Egypt. This will also boost me to help more dogs as adopting dogs will make space for new ones," said Shurbaji, whose shelter has nearly no room for newcomers.

Shurbaji further explained that HOPE is not just a shelter, adding that his staff teaches rescued street dogs to be home pets to get accustomed to home life once adopted.

So far, HOPE managed to help dozens of people adopt dogs in the past two years. During the past 11 months, HOPE sent 38 dogs to their new homes in Canada, U.S. and Europe.

"I have good relations with other international sanctuaries and animal rights activists all over the world and they help me find people abroad to adopt my dogs," he said.

The job Shurbaji does is really great and applaudable, but things are not very rosy to him as they really appear to everyone.

The founder of HOPE said the lack of finance is a major obstacle that may hinder or slow down his work at times.

"HOPE mainly recounts on donations and fundraising for the food, the rent of the sheltering house and salaries of the workers," he said. "Sometimes we have no budget to receive or rescue more dogs and they just end up suffering in the streets."

Every month, the man needs to get at least 40,000 Egyptian pounds to pay for the expanses of the shelter, including the salaries of his eight-member team.

"But I never give up... I will spend everything I have to provide dogs with better lives," he said, cuddling a five-week old little German shepherd puppy which was recently rescued by Shurbaji's team.
The cabinet decision came one day after the Palestinian Supreme Court ruled that the municipal elections be held on the West Bank only, but not in the Gaza Strip. (AFP photo)

RAMALLAH/GAZA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) consensus government decided on Tuesday to postpone local elections for four months, a decision rejected as "absurd" by the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told a cabinet during its weekly session held in the southern West Bank city of Hebron that the decision was made after all the needed legal and judiciary measures.

"The aim is to hold the local elections in all the Palestinian territories in one time," Hamdallah said.

The cabinet decision came one day after the Palestinian Supreme Court ruled that the municipal elections be held on the West Bank only, but not in the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007.

Following the court ruling, the Palestinian Central Elections Commission said that it recommends to President Mahmoud Abbas to postpone the local elections so that elections can be held in the West Bank and Gaza on the same day.

The Islamic Hamas movement rejected the PNA cabinet decision as "absurd" and "playing with the Palestinian process of democracy."

"The movement rejects any postponement of the (local) elections and insists on holding it on its proper date and time," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told a news briefing in Gaza. "It is a kind of confusion and evasion of the elections,"

Abu Zuhri held rival Fatah Party "fully responsible for these decisions," saying that "Fatah doesn't respect laws and the decisions of the Central Elections Commission."

Hamas would not accept "these absurd decisions," he added.
COLOMBO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickramamsinghe has called for greater economic and trade links among Commonwealth nations after the Britain's decision to exit the European Union, a local media report said here on Tuesday.

"The time has now come to think of a new arrangement to strengthen economic and trade link among members of the British Commonwealth," Wickremesinghe said, adding that the Kotte declaration, made in Sri Lanka, following a summit meeting in 2013, can be used as a basis for economic integration.

Britain sent shock waves throughout the world after it voted to leave the EU in June, a move which Wickremesinghe had said would put "Britain's economic success in danger."

In an opinion piece written to a British newspaper, just before the June vote, Wickremesinghe said the IMF Spring Meeting of 2016 had concluded that the outlook for global economic growth had worsened, and one of the greatest risks to the health of the global economy was the possible exit of the UK from the EU, which would potentially lead to further financial turbulence.

"We in Sri Lanka - as well as many other Asian countries - cannot afford further financial turbulence and another global economic downturn," he wrote.

"So we are very concerned about the probable impact of a British exit from the EU - on the global economy, on Sri Lanka, and on the UK."
MOSCOW, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Russian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus was shelled with mortars on Monday with no casualties reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday.

"The Russian diplomatic mission in Damascus was caught in mortar shelling on Oct. 3, and one of the mortars exploded in the embassy's territory near a residential complex, causing damage to the embassy's property," the ministry said in a statement. "Two other mortar shells landed near the embassy building, causing no casualties."

According to the statement, the explosion was carried out from the region under control of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as Nusra Front, and Faylaq al-Rahman militant groups.

Moscow blamed the shelling on the United States and some of its allies for "provoking the continued bloody conflict in Syria."

Tensions between Russia and the United States over Syria have been escalating recently, with each accusing the other of derailing the ceasefire.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department said Washington was suspending negotiations with Moscow on restoring a cease-fire in the war-battered country.
JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Tuesday hailed a decision by the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) not to include all African elephant populations in Appendix 1.

At the CoP17 being held in Johannesburg, Southern African countries garnered enough support to block an attempt by Western countries to up-list all elephant populations from appendix II to appendix I.

"This decision is a victory for evidence-based decision-making and also a victory for African science," South African Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said.

"Delegates at CITES COP17 have also sent a strong message that reinforces the adherence to the founding principles of evidence-based decision-making and compliance to the listing criteria of CITES," added Molewa.

The elephants are currently under appendix II where trade is allowed with the permission of CITES, but ivory trade still remained banned.

Listing the elephant under appendix I would have meant that no one will be allowed to trade in live elephant or their parts.

The proposal to up-list elephant populations of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana was roundly rejected as it could not attract enough number of votes necessary for listing.

A change in appendices for a proposal to be adopted requires a two-thirds majority.

Namibia and Zimbabwe, both of which are African elephant range states with significant elephant populations, argued that their respective countries' elephant populations did not meet the criteria to be included in Appendix 1 of CITES.

In support of the Namibian and Zimbabwean position, South Africa concurred that the listing criteria was not met.

South Africa's elephant population is increasing, and the total population in the country is 27,000 elephants.
The slogan "CLIMATESIGN" is seen on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, Dec. 12, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Genxing)

STRASBOURG, Oct.4 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament on Tuesday approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union (EU), paving the way for the deal to come into force globally.

The parliament gave its consent to the EU's ratification of the Agreement by 610 votes to 38, with 31 abstentions.

"Our vote paves the way to ensure that the agreement meets the necessary threshold,"said European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

The entry into force of the Paris agreement less than one year after its signature is a massive achievement, given that it took eight years for the Kyoto protocol, he added.

Ratifications representing at least 55 parties and 55 percent of global emissions are needed for the agreement to enter into force. To date, 62 parties, accounting for 51.89 percent of global emissions.

That means the first condition is already met. Tuesday's vote allows the second to be met too as the EU accounts for some 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, thus triggering the entry into force.

With the approval by the European Parliament, the Council can formally adopt the decision via a written procedure. That means the EU, together with the seven member states that have completed the ratification process, can hand over the ratification to the United Nations headquarters by Friday.

In parallel, the other EU member states will ratify the Paris Agreement individually, in accordance with their national parliamentary processes.
JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Police on Tuesday fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at protesting students at Wits University in Johannesburg as efforts to resume class failed.

Students defied police orders to disperse, saying they would not stop protest against fee increases.

The protest escalated despite a majority of students voted in favor of returning to class on Monday. Last week, most students at Wits University voted to end protests through cellphone SMS.

Police said they fired rubber bullets and stun grenades after being attacked by students with rocks.

Hundreds of students marched through the campus as a strong contingent of police was deployed to maintain order.

Also on Tuesday, student protests took place at the University of Cape Town and some other institutions of higher learning in the country.

All academic activities at several major universities have been suspended for about one week due to the protests against fee increases.

Protests erupted late last month when Minister of Higher Education and Traning, Blade Nzimande, announced that universities can raise fees for 2017, provided that it does not exceed eight percent.
MANILA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he would "eventually" cut ties with the United States.

Duterte again hit out at the United States and its president, the European Union and the United Nations for using human rights to criticize his campaign to curb the illicit drug menace in the Philippines.

"I am very emotional because America has certainly failed us," Duterte added.

"I will be re-configuring my foreign policy," Duterte said in a speech before the Jewish Association of the Philippines in Makati City.

He added, "Eventually I might in my time break up with America. I would rather go to Russia and to China. "

In another speech earlier, Duterte vowed to continue the war on drugs amidst the "hypocrisy" of the U.S., the EU and the UN.

"I will not stop despite the hypocrisy of the EU, and America and Obama. They seem to refuse to understand," Duterte said.

Duterte said he has no plan to stop his rant again his critics.

Duterte again apologized to the Jewish community. "I am not one of the racist member of this republic," he said.

"But it was only because that they pictured me to be killing so many persons of the drug problem. And I would say that it is true but not all were killed with their hands tied behind their backs. That would have been an exaggeration," he explained.

Last Sunday, Duterte apologized to the Jewish community who were outraged by his comments that made reference to Adolf Hitler who ordered the cold-blooded killings of the Jews.

"I would like to make it (clear) now, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered," Duterte said in a speech in Bacolod City in the central Philippines.

Related:

Philippine president says to order review of defense pact with U.S.

MANILA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday that he will order a review of the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between his country and the United States.

Duterte made the remarks at a local festival in Bacolod City in central Philippines. Full story

Duterte says upcoming Philippine-U.S. joint war games will be last

MANILA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that the joint war games between the United States and the Philippine marines in October will be the last.
MOMBASA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's anti-terrorism police on Tuesday arrested a suspected Al-Shabaab member and recovered a rifle in the coastal city of Mombasa.

Police say the suspect is believed to be a member of the Somalia-based Islamist group and behind previous grenade and gun attacks in Mombasa.

Mombasa police commander Willy Simba said Rama Ali Bamama, 30, was arrested during a major operation conducted within Likoni area. His two accomplices however managed to escape.

Detectives said Bamama had crossed into neighbouring Somalia, where he had joined Al-Shabaab, before returning to stage terrorist attacks in Kenya.

The suspect will be questioned by anti-terrorism police before being arraigned in court.

The discovered G-3 rifle was stolen from the house of a police officer early June under unclear circumstances, according to police.

The police recently shot dead a wanted terror suspect and recovered another G-3 rifle belonging to police officers killed in 2014 by suspected Al-Shabaab members.
NAIROBI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and its partners on Tuesday launched an organic compound to boost the fight against aflatoxin infestation in key staples like maize and groundnuts.

Officials hailed the organic pesticide called Aflasafe KEO1 as a game changer in the war against aflatoxin, a fungal disease caused by poor post-harvest handling of cereals.

Director general of the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization, Eliud Kireger, said that Aflasafe presented to smallholders a cheaper and effective option to contain aflatoxin in maize.

"Development of an organic product to fight aflatoxin will be a welcome relief to maize farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions where the fungal diseases are more pronounced," Kireger said.

Kenya is among 11 African countries where field trials on the efficacy, human and environmental safety of the organic product have been ongoing.

According to Kireger, Aflasafe has a "90 percent" efficacy in controlling aflatoxin infestation in maize and other key staples grown in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Smallholder farmers in Africa are looking for alternative methods to fight crop pests and diseases. Aflasafe is not only efficacious but has negligible harm to human health and the environment," said Kireger.

Kenya is an epicenter of aflatoxin infestation in maize that is to blame for food insecurity and rising cases of liver cancer.

Likewise, aflatoxin contributes 20 percent of post-harvest losses in cereals thereby undermining food security and regional trade.

Commercialization of the bio-control product to fight aflatoxin is being fast-tracked in 11 African countries with the highest burden of the disease.

A Kenyan agricultural expert, Leena Tripathi, said that empowering local institutions was key to facilitating the commercialization of Aflasafe.

"We need to build the capacity of local research bodies to manufacture and distribute Aflasafe to farmers," Tripathi said.
BERLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced at a press conference on Tuesday that his platform will release new material in the coming months.

It is planned to publish new material every week in the next ten weeks, Assange said in a live video broadcast to Berlin on the 10th birthday of WikiLeaks.

The new releases will cover the themes such as oil, weapons and corporations like google, according to Assange.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks also wants to publish new details for the U.S. election, but left the exact date open. However, WikiLeaks is working on publishing the material before the election date on November 8, said Assange.

The upcoming publications were "of significant importance for the elections," the 45-year-old Australian said in response to a question whether the new information "will destroy the Democratic presidential candidate."

With a view to the 10th anniversary of the founding of WikiLeaks, Assange emphasized that despite all the hostility of "powerful opponents," the website is still well positioned.

"We have a strong position, we are debt free and completely independent," he said.

"The attacks only make us stronger," Assange said, "We believe in what we do, and when we are put under pressure, we will fight back."

WikiLeaks has published hundreds of thousands of secret documents over the past few years, including the U.S. military's actions in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The Australian, who has taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012, claimed that Sweden intends to hand him over to the United States, where he may face espionage charges for leaking thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables and, if convicted, could be given a death penalty.
ISTANBUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- E-commerce and drone technology are seen as fresh impetus to the world's postal sector, as a Universal Postal Congress underway here has been exploring the best means to face the fierce competition.

Transportation ministers from 50 countries met on Tuesday in Istanbul, determining e-commerce and unmanned delivery by air to be the new hope for a sector beset by growing influence of new technologies and the internet.

The ministers mainly focused on how the postal service in each country can better serve the nations and citizens in a rapidly changing world and help grow the economy and drive development.

"The criteria of success in the 21st century are renewal and innovation," said Ahmet Arslan, Turkey's minister of transport, maritime and communication. "It is unavoidable that the postal sector follows."

"The postal sector has pledged to realize the dreams of entrepreneurs who are eager to sail in the sea of e-commerce," the minister added.

Singapore's national postal service drew the attention of the congress, as it has managed to increase sales despite decreasing postal operations.

The Singaporean service, by moving toward e-commerce, is now in a position to dominate the entire Asia, noted the magazine published by the Turkish Postal Service (PTT).

The ministerial meeting of the postal congress laid significant importance on and discussed the ways to improve services to rural areas.

"The postal sector is dedicated to easing the lives of those in the most deserted places of the world who could only communicate with the rest of the world via posts," Minister Arslan said.

"We see that at times post offices are the only points of connection between small settlements and civilization," said Rashid Ismailov, Russia's deputy minister of telecom and mass communications.

He called for the global postal sector to reach the widest segment possible.

Sector representatives agreed that deliveries with drones in rural areas will be much easier than the conventional means.

How to better approach those living in apartments in crowded cities remains unclear, however.

Experts predicted that as the drone technology is widely adopted in ten years, the delivery costs will be reduced by half, according to the PTT magazine.

The PTT has been preparing to launch its own drone project in the very near future, the company's head Kenan Bozgeyik announced recently.

The Universal Postal Congress, the supreme authority of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), is aiming for a new world postal strategy for the three-year period running from 2017 to 2020 at its latest meeting.

Some 2,000 delegates from 192 UPU member nations are participating in the current congress, a quadrennial event.
ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway will set a new paragon for China-African cooperation on railways, said Meng Fengchao, board chairman of China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC).

The railway, which links the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the port of Djibouti in Djibouti, will officially open service on Wednesday as Africa's first electric railway. It is constructed by China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, a subsidiary of CRCC.

Meng told Xinhua in an interview Tuesday that the project has set two successful models: introducing Chinese standards overseas to facilitate export of Chinese equipment and management; building railways to boost development of industrial parks, logistic centers and real estates along the route.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is the first railway built using a complete set of Chinese standards outside China, which Meng said is key to its success.

Thanks to China's outstanding performance in building and managing railways, Chinese railway standards eventually helped Chinese firms win over the project in Ethiopia, which, like many other countries, once viewed Western standards as the orthodox.

"After rounds of negotiations, The Ethiopian government came to realize that the Chinese standards are no inferior to Western ones, and more importantly, they best suit the country," Meng said.

The option for Chinese standards facilitated the use of Chinese equipment, trains and materials in the construction. Working together, the Chinese firms ensured the railway's completion in just four years, despite the conclusion of Western experts who evaluated the project that for Ethiopia to have an electric railway was a mission impossible.

The railway's construction has also seen Chinese investments channeling into the industrial parks and other development projects along the line, which will help create jobs and boost industries for Ethiopia, Meng added.

HELPING HAND

The 752-km railway is capable of slashing travel time between Addis Ababa and Djibouti from 7 days on roads to about 10 hours, and providing landlocked Ethiopia with a faster access to the port. There have been high expectations for the railway to boost industrialization along its route.

Viewing the railway project not just as a commercial act, the two Chinese firms responsible for the construction have highlighted social responsibilities and localization.

According to Meng, CRCC has hired over 20,000 local workers in Ethiopia and 5,000 in Djibouti, who made up the majority of the construction workers.

The company also responded swiftly to the drought that has plagued Ethiopia since last year. Upon the request of the Ethiopian government, CRCC has employed its own locomotives to transport over 100,000 tonnes of relief supplies, according to Meng.

"We see the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway not just a region-connecting project. It is also a project to improve locals' livelihoods and strengthen China-African friendship," he said.
TIRANA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian government is determined to start constructing Arber road between Albania and Macedonia in the spring of 2017, Albanian Transport Minister Sokol Dervishaj told Macedonian minister for foreign investors Arlind Zeqiri during a meeting here Tuesday.

The two ministers stressed that more had to be done on infrastructure projects in order to increase trade exchanges between the two countries, the Albanian transport ministry said.

The Albanian minister considered the Arber road as a very important road artery which strengthens the connection between Albania and Macedonia as well as with regional corridors, the same sources said.

During the meeting, the two ministers also discussed the establishment of a joint working group at the technical level in order to coordinate work on the rail link between the two countries.

On his part, Zeqiri said several Macedonian companies had expressed interest in investing in the Albanian coast.
A person waves a flag during a protest in front of Colombian Congress, in Bolivar Square, in Bogota, capital of Colombia, on Oct. 3, 2016. The demonstration was held against the results of the plebiscite on Sunday which sank the peace agreement signed by the governmet and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). (Xinhua/Jhon Paz)

BOGOTA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Six days after President Juan Manuel Santos and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader Timoleon Jimenez signed a peace agreement to end 52 years of a civil war, Colombia's peace process has come to a halt.

In a referendum Sunday, Colombian people voted to reject the deal by 50.21 percent to 49.78 percent.

In a television address, President Santos said that he respected the decision of the people and hoped to fight for a solution to the new crisis.

"The majority, even if by the thinnest of margins, has said no. I am the first to recognize this result," he said.

He added that he guaranteed the continuation of the unilateral ceasefire, a message which was backed by FARC commander Timoleon Jimenez.

"The bilateral and definitive ceasefire...remains in place and will remain in place. I listen to those who said no and I listen to those who said yes. All without exception want peace, they have clearly stated it," he added.

The results showed that the zones where the conflict has left the greatest numbers of victims, the Yes camp easily won out, but this was not enough to beat the No dominance in cities that did not feel the war as strongly.

Outside the country, Colombians voted around the world, with 54 percent supporting the agreement and 45.86 percent opposing it.

In an interview with Xinhua, Bogota councilwoman Angelica Lozano lamented the decision, but said she trusted the president and his team to protect the peace agreement.

While Lozano is from the opposition Green Alliance party, she said that "it has to be recognized...Santos did the impossible to bring a realistic and transcendent agreement with the FARC."

"We cry today and we will cry for a few days but this country will continue to move forward. We will now continue counting the dead, we will succeed in an uncertain and difficult process," she continued.

Residents react during the ballot count for the peace agreement signed by the Colombian government and the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), in Bogota, capital of Colombia, on Oct. 2, 2016. (Xinhua/COLPRENSA)

Fernando Sarmiento, a researcher in the peace process at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota, told Xinhua that "this leaves our country in a very complicated movement toward a deepening divide. This shows that the conflict has other paths that need to be looked at. I had thought that the true war was not only centered on the guerrillas but on other sectors and interests that must also be negotiated with."

Through the night, members of the Democratic Center, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, celebrated the result after an intense campaign which painted the agreement as being far too forgiving to the FARC.

"We want to create a grand national pact. It seems crucial that, even in the name of peace, we do not create risks to the values that made this possible: freedom, institutional justice, pluralism," said Uribe on Sunday in a speech after learning of the result.

On Sunday morning, as he cast his vote, Uribe challenged those backing the deal. "What will we say to 140,000 Colombian prisoners who overall have committed crimes less serious than those of the FARC. What will we say to those prisoners when the main leaders of the FARC do not receive due punishment and can stand for political election?" he asked.

On Monday, it certainly seemed that amid national uncertainty the winner of this result is Uribe, who has shown that a large part of Colombians still believe in his vision for the country.
TEHRAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) killed 12 terrorists that intended to cross into the country from the western province of Kermanshah on Tuesday, IRGC website reported.

The terrorists were killed in the clashes between the IRGC security forces and a team of "terrorists and counter-revolutionary elements" which intended to cause insecurity inside the country, the ground force commander of IRGC, Brig. Gen. Sardar Pakpour, was quoted as saying.

In the operation, three of the IRGC forces were injured, Pakpour said, adding that a sizeable number of ammunition was seized.
KIEV, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The peace process to end a 30-month-old violence in eastern Ukraine showed clear signs of progress in September, as the government army and pro-independence insurgents finally agreed to withdraw their weapons and troops from the frontline after the establishment of a shaky ceasefire.

Yet the conflict remains far from over as the sides show little enthusiasm for political compromise.

CLEAR ROADMAP FOR PEACE

It has become tradition that the Ukrainian army and insurgents establish a ceasefire every September to allow children to peacefully return to school.

However, this year's "back-to-school" truce was unlike the previous one and was short lived.

Only two weeks into the ceasefire, the conflicting parties reported an escalation of the hostilities in which six combatants were killed and 15 others wounded.

The quick crunch of a truce was yet another example of how the implementation of Minsk peace deal, brokered by Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine in early 2015, has stalled.

To revive it, on Sept. 15, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault paid a visit to Kiev, which some Ukrainian analysts said became a turning point in the peace process.

"During the briefing in Kiev, the French foreign minister for the first time has announced a detailed plan, in fact -- a roadmap, for the implementation of the Minsk agreements," said Aleksey Popov, an expert at the Kiev Center for Political and Conflict Studies.

The proposed plan includes three stages, the first of which is a security phase envisaging a cessation of hostilities and separation of forces along the frontline.

Next comes a political stage that gives international monitors full access to the conflict area and drafts a set of laws aimed at settling the confrontation.

The final step is the practical stage, providing for holding local elections in the Donbas region and granting it special status.

"In fact, this three-step plan was proposed to introduce broad local autonomy in Donbas in accordance with the Minsk agreements," said Ruslan Bortnik, a political analyst at the Ukrainian Institute of Political Management.

POSITIVE TRENDS

The new roadmap, which established more or less a clear strategy for the implementation of the Minsk agreements, has the prospect to become a major diplomatic breakthrough in settling the conflict.

The ceasefire that had been ignored by both sides for months is largely holding, and more importantly the parties have agreed to withdraw their troops and weapons from the contact line.

A distinctive feature of this agreement is that it provides for separating forces at only three areas of the frontline during the initial stage, unlike the preceding failed deals, which stipulated a simultaneous pullback on the entire frontline.

Certainly, the gradual withdrawal has a better chances of being fully implemented since it would be easier to control and verify.

"The three areas are just the beginning. If the first experience proves itself effective, we plan to carry out the withdrawal on dozens of other sites to gradually complete the process of separating forces along the entire 426 km-long frontline," said Eugene Marchuk, a Kiev representative in the security subgroup of the Ukraine crisis Contact Group.

Yet, some local experts do not share the same optimism regarding the possibility of demilitarization, saying that the pullback of weapons and troops does not mean they cannot return if tensions escalate.

"I think that these actions would have a positive effect, but it is questionable how long it will last," said Volodymyr Fesenko, the director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies

"Experience suggests that there could be an inverse trend in this situation because there is no single provision in the Minks agreements that was implemented irreversibly and in full so far," said Fesenko.

NO PREREQUISITES

The obvious readiness of the conflicting parties to make advances on security issues indicates that they are already looking for a way out of the conflict and ready to stop the fighting.

However, the cessation of the hostilities and the withdrawal of forces, even if completely implemented, do not guarantee a durable peace in the area.

"The creation of the security zone, even along the entire frontline, will not lead to the resolution of the conflict. It could only turn the situation into a 'frozen conflict,'" said Mykola Sungurovsky, the director of the military programs at the Razumkov Analytical Center.

To push the peace process ahead, the conflict settlement plan suggested by the French and German foreign ministers needs to be implemented in full.

Yet distrust between both sides remains. Examples include procrastination in releasing prisoners, failing to grant international monitors full access to the conflict zone and little preparation for establishing a legal basis for the autonomy of Donbas.

Furthermore, the practical phase has even fewer chances for realization because of deep divisions inside Ukraine's ruling political elite.

Even if Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his faction prepare the necessary legislation for the special status for eastern regions and submit it to the parliament, there seems little prospect that the law would gain enough support from the lawmakers.

"The probability of making the Constitutional amendments on decentralization is negligible, at least this year. President Petro Poroshenko does not have enough political resources in the parliament to make these changes," said Andrei Zolotarev, a political analyst at Third Sector Centre.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine could last as long as each side insists on demands that the other side rejects.

The conflicting parties must do more to show a real commitment to compromise in order to break this vicious circle. It may just be the only way to finally put an end to the violence that has killed more than 9,600 people.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Timoleon Jimenez attend the signing ceremony of the final peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC, in Cartagena, Colombia, Sept. 26, 2016. (Xinhua/Jhon Paz)

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries have lamented the outcome of a Colombian referendum that rejected a long-awaited peace agreement to end more than five decades of civil fighting in the country.

After nearly four years of negotiations, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a definitive accord last Monday at a ceremony in Cartagena, Colombia, which was accompanied by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and regional leaders.

Both sides have agreed that the agreement should be ratified by plebiscite, which unexpectedly rejected the deal on Sunday by a close vote of 50.21 percent from the "No" camp and 49.78 percent from the "Yes."

As the result sent the two sides back to the negotiating table again to hammer out terms acceptable to all sectors of society, regional governments and organizations pledged to support the ongoing peace process.

The 12-member Union of South American Nations (Unasur), a sub-regional integration bloc headquartered in Quito, Ecuador, issued a statement following the poll results late Sunday.

"At this decisive moment for Colombia, the Secretary General ... renews its commitment to continue supporting Colombia so that it can achieve peace through dialogue, the preservation of the validity of the Havana Agreements, consensus and understanding," said Unasur, which gathers Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group began in 2012, with host Cuba and Norway serving as guarantors, and Venezuela and Chile accompanying the negotiations.

On Monday, Santos said he will consult with all political parties, especially those who oppose the peace deal, towards a new negotiated agreement.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose country borders Colombia to the west, said on Monday, "peace and war in Colombia affects our country directly," and that his government was ready to continue to support the peace process.

In a message to the Santos government, Maduro said "you can count on all the support of the Bolivarian and Revolutionary Government (of Venezuela) to continue developing peace in Colombia."

In a Twitter post that echoed Santos' and FARC leaders' quick affirmation following the vote, Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said, "the results of the referendum do not signal a return to fighting."

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was more circumspect, saying "'No' won in Colombia, but everyone insists they want peace .... Hopefully peace will win in the end."

His Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said the "marginal win by 'NO' saddens us. President Santos ratifies the cease-fire. FARC also. Onwards in seeking the path to peace in Colombia."

A woman reacts after knowing the result of the vote for the peace agreement signed by the Colombian government and the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) at the headquarters of the "yes", in Bogota, capital of Colombia, on Oct. 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Jhon Paz)

Those oppose to the agreement argue it does not go far enough to hold the rebels accountable for their actions during more than five decades of fighting, including kidnapping and aiding drug trafficking, both of which were used to raise funds for the guerrillas.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said rejecting the deal plunged the country into uncertainty.

"I think renegotiation will be quite hard," Kuczynski told the state news agency Andina. "The Havana negotiations went on for years and were on the verge of collapse ... it raises a great deal of uncertainty."

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it hoped Colombia continues to explore "all possible avenues for moving forward in a united way towards a peaceful and prosperous future."

The ministry added that "the Mexican government reaffirms its commitment to support Colombia and President Juan Manuel Santos along this path."

Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz echoed that sentiment, saying "Chile is available to accompany this new stage of the peace process, to persist, if Colombians so decide, on the path to peace and help to the best of our ability."

Munoz, whose country was accompanying the peace talks, told reporters in Santiago he had spoken with his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin, "and we are going to see over the next few hours what is happening.

"Everyone was surprised," Munoz said of the referendum results. "Those of us who were in Cartagena de Indias (for the signing of the peace deal), including the secretary general of the United Nations and several presidents who were there, were told polls showed 'Yes' would win."

He added, "a number of factors could have contributed to the 'No' (vote) and we have to listen to what the Colombians have said."

Talks aimed at restarting the peace process are about to get underway, he said.
Photo provided by the Colombian Presidency shows Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (5th L) delivering a speech in Bogota, capital of Colombia, on Oct. 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Colombia's Presidency)

BOGOTA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Colombia woke up to political confusion on Monday, a day after a referendum narrowly rejected a peace agreement between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

As the country wondered what comes next after four years of negotiations were essentially torpedoed, Santos called an emergency political meeting between all sides at the presidential palace in Bogota.

However, he was in for a shock when the main opposition party, Democratic Center, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, declined the invitation.

After this rejection, the Democratic Center explained that "in order to identify the right steps to reach a national agreement, we want to express our willingness to meet with the delegates appointed by the national government."

Another statement put out by the Democratic Center on Monday contained a list of their demands, including for a deal that brings "political diversity without it being perceived as a prize for crimes."

A particular sticking point of the original agreement is that FARC members would have been pardoned, leaders confessing to crimes would not face prison and the group would be guaranteed seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The No campaign has been clear that a renegotiated peace agreement should not pardon FARC members guilty of crimes against humanity but send them to jail.

Faced with this uncertainty, the government is scrambling to cobble together its response to the unexpected result.

Last night, Santos said he would be sending his chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, to begin discussions with the FARC.

Yet on Monday, de la Calle revealed he had offered his resignation to Santos, who rejected it.

"Peace has not been defeated. While the Democratic Center spokespersons have revealed they have objections, the desire for peace is universal and unanimous," he told the press.

A person waves a white flag during a protest in front of Colombian Congress, in Bolivar Square, in Bogota, capital of Colombia, on Oct. 3, 2016. (Xinhua/Jhon Paz)

The president of the Senate, Mauricio Lizcano, after meeting with Santos, said that time was needed to "create a broad and inclusive commission to open a national dialogue with the No side."

Reassuringly, the FARC have maintained a compassionate attitude. Yet in an official statement published on their website, the FARC said they would "remain faithful to what has been agreed to." This would seem to indicate the FARC may have little desire to renegotiate what they have already approved.

However, it is unsure how and if their process of disarmament, supposed to take place at security zones across the country overseen by the UN, will take place.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced he would be sending a special representative to Havana to continue with all talks.

The country's other main guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), which is involved in its own talks with the government, continued for peace efforts to continue.

In a Twitter post, the ELN said that "despite the adverse results to the Havana agreement, Colombians must continue fighting for peace."
KATHMANDU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Nepal has ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change here on Tuesday, aiming to make a contribution towards combating global climate change.

The Paris Agreement on climate change was approved unanimously at a House session in the Nepali Capital Kathmandu.

Earlier Tuesday, Environment Minister Jayadev Joshi had tabled the Paris Agreement on the climate change at the House seeking its endorsement.

Nepal had signed the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in April in New York.

Climate negotiators of 196 parties had adopted the accord at climate change talks in Paris, France, on Dec. 12, 2015.

The Paris Agreement on the climate change will go into implementation post 2020, after the expiry of Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding agreement to fight climate change.
By Spencer Musick

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Andy Murray overtook Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 7-5 to enter the second round of the China Open here on Tuesday.

The number one seed in Beijing needed only 34 minutes to close out the first set, and although Seppi made him work for it a bit more in the second, Murray closed it out at 7-5 in just 52 minutes of play.

Murray was able to break Seppi's serve twice during the opening set.

In the second, things were more touch and go. Murray had to battle back from 2-0 down in order to seal the straight-sets victory.

Murray's attempt to fight back at Seppi was spurred by two double-faults that the Italian committed; one of those occurred on the point that clinched the match.

It's his eighth consecutive win against the Italian, and Murray said that Seppi tends to allow him chances during play.

"I feel like I'm able to get a lot of chances when he's serving. You know, give myself a lot of opportunities to break," he said.

Murray added that another key to combating Seppi is to vary his playing style.

"Then in the rallies, you know, I try and use a lot of variety, not give him the same ball twice in a row because he's got very good timing, hits the ball very clean off both sides. So try to use some variety, not let him get into a rhythm. That's worked well for me."

Murray also said that he sees no sign of his previous injuries in his performance.

"Well, I thought I did okay today considering I hadn't played much the last couple of weeks. I felt okay. Body felt fine. No injuries. Felt healthy. Just need matches now," he said.

Murray will face one of two Russian players in round two: Andrey Kuznetsov or Konstantin Kravchuk.
SHENZHEN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Shenzhen on Tuesday rolled out a spate of measures, including higher down payments and purchase restrictions, in its latest attempt to stabilize the red-hot property market.

Shenzhen became the 10th major city around China to clamp down on property speculation in about one week, following cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Hefei and Suzhou that have all seen home prices skyrocketing during the past more than one year.

Liu Hongyu, head of the real estate research institute of Tsinghua University, said the loan and purchase restrictions could help restrain speculative demand while increase in land supply could bridge the supply-demand imbalance.

First-time homebuyers who have no mortgage records in Shenzhen will continue to pay a minimum down payment of 30 percent. But the down payment for those who have mortgage records but no homes is raised to no less than 50 percent and that for second home purchases will be no less than 70 percent, the municipal government said in a circular.h Meanwhile, purchase restrictions were upgraded to rein in speculation in the southern Chinese booming city where prices of some homes have more than doubled since 2015.

People without a local hukou (household registration certificate) are allowed to buy only one house if they have paid five or more years of personal income tax or social insurance. The earlier minimum requirement is three years.

For those who have hukou certificates, a family continues to be banned from buying a third home and a single adult is banned from buying a second home.

The municipal government also said it will increase land supply in the coming years. It aims to have 800 hectares of land for housing development in the five years to 2020.

In some land sales, developers need to have plans for construction of some low-cost houses for rent or sale to win the auctions.

Also it ordered property developers to build more smaller homes: 70 percent of the total floor area of a real estate project shall be apartments smaller than 90 square meters.

The authorities also ordered enhanced market monitoring and crackdown on market activities that violate rules and laws.

Also late on Tuesday night, the municipal government of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, ordered strict implementation of existing purchase restrictions and lending policies.

In a circular, the municipal government pledged to increase land supply and curb rapid rises in land prices by granting land to developers who offer same price but pledge to build more low-cost houses for sale or rent in auctions.

It also promised to beef up market supervision and crack down on market irregularities. Developers must start to sell within 10 days after getting pre-sale permits.
KATHMANDU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The partnership between United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Finland over the past five years has significantly contributed in increasing access to water and sanitation in Nepal.

Issuing a joint statement here on Tuesday, the two partners informed that the 9.8 million euro Finnish-UNICEF partnership, which started in 2011, has helped Nepal to achieve remarkable result. The partnership has assisted in increase of national sanitation coverage from 43 percent to 87 per cent between 2010 and 2016.

"Twenty districts benefiting from this partnership have achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, which represents more than half of the total number of districts that achieved ODF status nationwide", the statement reads.

Till date, only 38 districts have been recognized as ODF districts.

The two sides further informed that the partnership will continue with a focus on four earthquake-affected districts Dolakha, Kavrepalanchowk, Nuwakot and Gorkha.

Access to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene has been one of the major health challenges for the most vulnerable population, children and women, in Nepal.

Finnish-UNICEF partnership has further focused on enhancing access to child, gender and disabled friendly water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools.

Earlier in March, the two parties had signed an agreement to co-finance recovery and reconstruction of WASH facilities in communities and schools affected by the devastating earthquakes.
A woman inspects the ruins at her damaged house in Gorlovka, eastern Ukraine, on July 10, 2016. (Xinhua/Alexander Ermochenko)

KIEV, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The peace process to end a 30-month-old violence in eastern Ukraine showed clear signs of progress in September, as the government army and pro-independence insurgents finally agreed to withdraw their weapons and troops from the frontline after the establishment of a shaky ceasefire. Yet the conflict remains far from over as the sides show little enthusiasm for political compromise.

CLEAR ROADMAP FOR PEACE

It has become tradition that the Ukrainian army and insurgents establish a ceasefire every September to allow children to peacefully return to school.

However, this year's "back-to-school" truce was unlike the previous one and was short lived.

Only two weeks into the ceasefire, the conflicting parties reported an escalation of the hostilities in which six combatants were killed and 15 others wounded.

The quick crunch of a truce was yet another example of how the implementation of Minsk peace deal, brokered by Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine in early 2015, has stalled.

To revive it, on Sept. 15, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault paid a visit to Kiev, which some Ukrainian analysts said became a turning point in the peace process.

"During the briefing in Kiev, the French foreign minister for the first time has announced a detailed plan, in fact -- a roadmap, for the implementation of the Minsk agreements," said Aleksey Popov, an expert at the Kiev Center for Political and Conflict Studies.

The proposed plan includes three stages, the first of which is a security phase envisaging a cessation of hostilities and separation of forces along the frontline.

Next comes a political stage that gives international monitors full access to the conflict area and drafts a set of laws aimed at settling the confrontation.

The final step is the practical stage, providing for holding local elections in the Donbas region and granting it special status.

"In fact, this three-step plan was proposed to introduce broad local autonomy in Donbas in accordance with the Minsk agreements," said Ruslan Bortnik, a political analyst at the Ukrainian Institute of Political Management.

POSITIVE TRENDS

The new roadmap, which established more or less a clear strategy for the implementation of the Minsk agreements, has the prospect to become a major diplomatic breakthrough in settling the conflict.

The ceasefire that had been ignored by both sides for months is largely holding, and more importantly the parties have agreed to withdraw their troops and weapons from the contact line.

A distinctive feature of this agreement is that it provides for separating forces at only three areas of the frontline during the initial stage, unlike the preceding failed deals, which stipulated a simultaneous pullback on the entire frontline.

Certainly, the gradual withdrawal has a better chances of being fully implemented since it would be easier to control and verify.

"The three areas are just the beginning. If the first experience proves itself effective, we plan to carry out the withdrawal on dozens of other sites to gradually complete the process of separating forces along the entire 426 km-long frontline," said Eugene Marchuk, a Kiev representative in the security subgroup of the Ukraine crisis Contact Group.

Yet, some local experts do not share the same optimism regarding the possibility of demilitarization, saying that the pullback of weapons and troops does not mean they cannot return if tensions escalate.

"I think that these actions would have a positive effect, but it is questionable how long it will last," said Volodymyr Fesenko, the director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies.

"Experience suggests that there could be an inverse trend in this situation because there is no single provision in the Minks agreements that was implemented irreversibly and in full so far," said Fesenko.

A woman and a child are pictured outside a damaged house in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, June 9, 2016. (Xinhua/Alexander Ermochenko)

NO PREREQUISITES

The obvious readiness of the conflicting parties to make advances on security issues indicates that they are already looking for a way out of the conflict and ready to stop the fighting.

However, the cessation of the hostilities and the withdrawal of forces, even if completely implemented, do not guarantee a durable peace in the area.

"The creation of the security zone, even along the entire frontline, will not lead to the resolution of the conflict. It could only turn the situation into a 'frozen conflict,'" said Mykola Sungurovsky, the director of the military programs at the Razumkov Analytical Center.

To push the peace process ahead, the conflict settlement plan suggested by the French and German foreign ministers needs to be implemented in full.

Yet distrust between both sides remains. Examples include procrastination in releasing prisoners, failing to grant international monitors full access to the conflict zone and little preparation for establishing a legal basis for the autonomy of Donbas.

Furthermore, the practical phase has even fewer chances for realization because of deep divisions inside Ukraine's ruling political elite.

Even if Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his faction prepare the necessary legislation for the special status for eastern regions and submit it to the parliament, there seems little prospect that the law would gain enough support from the lawmakers.

"The probability of making the Constitutional amendments on decentralization is negligible, at least this year. President Petro Poroshenko does not have enough political resources in the parliament to make these changes," said Andrei Zolotarev, a political analyst at Third Sector Centre.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine could last as long as each side insists on demands that the other side rejects.

The conflicting parties must do more to show a real commitment to compromise in order to break this vicious circle. It may just be the only way to finally put an end to the violence that has killed more than 9,600 people.
GENEVA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday urged all parties to the Yemeni conflict to protect schools, students and teachers as the war-torn country's schools open this week.

"Parties to the conflict should keep children and schools out of harm to give education a chance," UNICEF Yemen Representative Julien Harneis said in a statement.

"Children who are out of school are at risk of recruitment to fight," he warned.

The United Nations has indicated that since violence escalated over 18 months ago, 1,210 children, some as young as eight years old, have been recruited by armed factions.

According to figures, over 2 million Yemeni children do not have access to education as a result of the violence which kicked off in March last year.

UNICEF indicated that over 2,100 schools across the country can no longer be used because of damage, destruction or the fact they are being used by internally displaced people or for military purposes.

In light of this, UNICEF is asking for 34 million U.S. dollars to reconstruct damaged schools, provide resources for teaching, training and learning while carrying out the Back-to-School campaign which aims to provide children with a learning opportunity.
BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraq launched a new radio station on Tuesday to help the residents of the city of Mosul to be safe during the upcoming major offensive aimed to free the city from Islamic State (IS) militants, the official television reported.

The radio station based in the town of Qayyara, some 55 km south of Mosul, will give instructions to the residents to guide them to safe zones and possible safe exit routes that will be decided by the security forces during the battles to free the city from the extremist IS militants, the state-run channel said.

The Radio of the Republic of Iraq will also provide emergency phone numbers for the residents to call if they need help, the channel said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi inaugurated the new radio station and sent a message to the people of Mosul saying "be ready, the promise (of liberation) is coming closer. Today you are closer than ever to get rid of oppression and injustice and of Daesh (IS group)."

Abadi called on the residents of Mosul to cooperate with the security forces, like the residents of the other freed cities and towns did, according to a statement issued by his office.

Mosul, about 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, is the second largest city in Iraq. The city has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
NICOSIA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus on Tuesday handed the remains of 16 soldiers to their relatives for burial, 42 years after they were killed in the crash of a military transport plane that was shot down during the Turkish military action in Cyprus.

The soldiers were part of a commando unit sent from Crete to reinforce the Greek Cypriot National Guard.

The remains of the soldiers were received by Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos at a special ceremony and were transported to Greece on board a military transport plane.

The Cypriot commissioner for humanitarian affairs apologized to the relatives of the killed men for the delay in recovering and delivering the remains of their loved ones for burial.

He said this was made possible after an excavation of the site of the crash in August and the DNA identification of the men.

The remains were recovered from inside the mangled fuselage of a Noratlas transport plane of the Greek Air Force which was shot down by friendly fire as it was approaching Nicosia Airport for landing in the early hours of July 22, 1974.

Rescuers could recover 16 bodies scattered in the area of the crash. But what remained as the main part of the plane and the bodies inside were covered under a mound on top of which a monument was later erected.

The Noratlas plane was one of the 15 aircraft that were sent from Greece to help Cypriot forces defend against a Turkish army that was sent to Cyprus one week after the military rulers of Greece staged a short-lived coup against the island's government.

Two of the planes could not make it to Cyprus because of technical faults and two landed but were unable to take off and returned to base.

Of the 32 people on board the Noratlas, only one survived, Thanasis Zafiriou, aged 20 at the time. He jumped out as the plane was coming down in flames.

He died early in September at the age of 62, from complications resulting from his injuries. Enditem
BRUSSELS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced new financial assistance to Afghanistan on the sidelines of a two-day international conference here to aid the country.

According to a statement released by the European Commission, the EU pledged to provide up to 200 million euros (223 million U.S. dollars) in direct budget support over a two-year period from 2017 onwards.

EU's new aid for the war-torn country will be in the form of a state-building contract. Through this new mechanism, the EU will provide direct budget support to countries in fragile and transitional situations, the statement said.

EU said the new aid would assist the government of Afghanistan in defining its own strategic development priorities and policies so as to increase the country's self-reliance.

Meanwhile, the EU expected the new financial assistance would support more effective budgetary management and the fight against corruption in Afghanistan.

However, the EU said the aid would only be disbursed when specific reform targets were reached. Under the contract, a robust policy dialogue on reform progress in public policies, the macroeconomic framework, public financial management, as well as on transparency and oversight, will be put in place with the Afghan government and determine the payments.

"As the state-building contract is indeed a contract, both sides agree to play their part. We will provide the funding on the basis of satisfactory progress in key reform areas," Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, said at the signing ceremony.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan, co-hosted by the EU and Afghanistan kicked off, mainly focusing on the topics of international support for peace in Afghanistan, state-building and development, and Afghan reform efforts. Enditem
BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament rejected the Turkish parliament's decision on Tuesday to extend the mandate of Turkish forces for one more year near the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, considering the Turkish troops occupying forces.

The majority of the 189 legislators who attended the regular 328-member Iraqi parliament session passed the decision.

"We reject the decision of the Turkish parliament which permits incursion of Turkish troops into Iraqi territories. The Iraqi government must consider Turkish troops as hostile occupying forces," said the parliament.

The parliament further asserted that the Iraqi government must take all legal and diplomatic measures to salvage Iraq's sovereignty, including reconsidering trade and economic ties with Turkey.

In addition, the parliament rejected and condemned the Turkish president's recent comments over Ankara's willingness to join in the upcoming battle to flush out Islamic State (IS) militants from their last major stronghold in Mosul.

"The Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) rejects and condemns Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement, and we find such statements divisive for Iraqi people," added the parliament.

The parliament's decision comes just one day after Iraq's Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Erdogan's comments regarding the battle to liberate Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Such comments "represent a blatant interference in Iraqi internal affairs and violate the principles of bilateral relations and good neighborliness," the spokesperson of the foreign ministry said in the online statement.

Ankara has ignored Baghdad's repeated calls for the withdrawal of Turkish troops deployed in Iraq, he added.

Iraq's government and parliament stances follow the comments by Erdogan during a parliamentary session on Saturday where Turkish legislators voted to extend the mandate of Turkish forces in Syria and Iraq for another year.

The mandate, which was issued to the Turkish armed forces in 2014, was last extended for one year in September 2015.

Erdogan said Mosul can be freed from IS militants, however he warned that Ankara must be involved in any operation and included in the decision-making process.

"Turkey cannot be left off the table. The others don't have such a border (with Iraq)," he said. "They may want us to stay as spectators but that decision is also going to be made here."

The deployment of hundreds of Turkish troops into northern Iraq led to a dispute between Turkey and Iraq as Baghdad repeatedly said that Turkish forces entered Iraq without the knowledge of the Iraqi government, which views their presence as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

However, the Turkish government said that withdrawing Turkish troops from Iraq is out of the question and that Turkish soldiers in Iraq are part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces fighting the IS group.
An Ethiopian driver gets on the train in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Oct. 1, 2016. A Chinese-built railway linking the Ethiopian capital and the port of Djibouti will become fully operational on Oct. 5.(Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway will officially start operation on Wednesday to become Africa's first electric railway. Here are eight facts about this historic project.

1. The 752-km railway links the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the port of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden country Djibouti. It offers both passenger and freight services.

2. The majority of the railway is located in the Horn of Africa country Ethiopia. The rail line runs from plateau as high as 2,400 meters in the west to flat deserts in the east. The big altitude difference was a major technological challenge in its construction.

3. The railway is the continent's first electric railway, which powers the trains through overhead wires. Compared with locomotives that burn diesel, the electric trains boast powerful traction and are more environmentally friendly.

4. The railway has a designed speed of 120 km per hour, which may not be impressive to countries that have high-speed rails. But with faster trains come higher costs, both in construction and operation, so experts say the current speed design proves more cost-effective for Ethiopia and Djibouti given their industrial levels and freight volumes.

5. With a total investment of 4 billion U.S. dollars, the line is constructed by China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, two state-owned companies of China. It is the first railway built using complete sets of Chinese equipment and standards outside China.

6. The railway is also the second trans-national railway built by Chinese firms in Africa, following the Tazara railway, which links Tanzania's Dar es Salaam with Zambia's Kapiri Mposhi. During a visit to Ethiopia in May 2013, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang hailed the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway as the "Tazara railway in a new era."

Yet, unlike the Tazara railway, which was built in the 1970s as a foreign aid project by the Chinese government, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is a commercial act by Chinese firms.

7. Prior to the project, there was no modern railway in Ethiopia or Djibouti. The railway is capable of slashing travel time between Addis Ababa and Djibouti from 7 days on roads to about 10 hours. It also provides landlocked Ethiopia with faster access to the port in Djibouti. There have been expectations for the railway to boost industrialization along its route.
U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 29, 2016. (Reuters photo)

ANKARA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 12,801 police officers have been suspended from their posts over suspected links to Gulen, Turkey's Security General Directorate announced in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the statement released on its website, out of the dismissed, 2,543 are ranking officers.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Interior Ministry dismissed 37 people over links to Gulen, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based preacher, is blamed by Turkish government for orchestrating a failed coup attempt on July 15. At least 241 people were killed and over 2,000 were injured in the attempt.
A member of the Iraqi government forces flashes the sign for victory as he stands on a military vehicle while smoke billows from oil wells, set ablaze by Islamic State (IS) group militants before fleeing the oil-producing region of Qayyarah, on August 30, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua)

BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament rejected the Turkish parliament's decision on Tuesday to extend the mandate of Turkish forces for one more year near the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, considering the Turkish troops occupying forces.

The majority of the 189 legislators who attended the regular 328-member Iraqi parliament session passed the decision.

"We reject the decision of the Turkish parliament which permits incursion of Turkish troops into Iraqi territories. The Iraqi government must consider Turkish troops as hostile occupying forces," said the parliament.

The parliament further asserted that the Iraqi government must take all legal and diplomatic measures to salvage Iraq's sovereignty, including reconsidering trade and economic ties with Turkey.

In addition, the parliament rejected and condemned the Turkish president's recent comments over Ankara's willingness to join in the upcoming battle to flush out Islamic State (IS) militants from their last major stronghold in Mosul.

"The Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) rejects and condemns Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement, and we find such statements divisive for Iraqi people," added the parliament.

The parliament's decision comes just one day after Iraq's Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Erdogan's comments regarding the battle to liberate Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Such comments "represent a blatant interference in Iraqi internal affairs and violate the principles of bilateral relations and good neighborliness," the spokesperson of the foreign ministry said in the online statement.

Ankara has ignored Baghdad's repeated calls for the withdrawal of Turkish troops deployed in Iraq, he added.

Iraq's government and parliament stances follow the comments by Erdogan during a parliamentary session on Saturday where Turkish legislators voted to extend the mandate of Turkish forces in Syria and Iraq for another year.

The mandate, which was issued to the Turkish armed forces in 2014, was last extended for one year in September 2015.

Erdogan said Mosul can be freed from IS militants, however he warned that Ankara must be involved in any operation and included in the decision-making process.

"Turkey cannot be left off the table. The others don't have such a border (with Iraq)," he said. "They may want us to stay as spectators but that decision is also going to be made here."

The deployment of hundreds of Turkish troops into northern Iraq led to a dispute between Turkey and Iraq as Baghdad repeatedly said that Turkish forces entered Iraq without the knowledge of the Iraqi government, which views their presence as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

However, the Turkish government said that withdrawing Turkish troops from Iraq is out of the question and that Turkish soldiers in Iraq are part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces fighting the IS group.
CAIRO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian police shot dead two leading members of the currently-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group in a shootout earlier on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

"Mohamed Kamal, a 61-year-old physician, one of the group's top leaders, and another leader Yasser Shehata, both were killed in the fire exchange," the ministry's statement said.

The police said the forces raided an apartment in Cairo's Bassateen neighborhood after learning it was used by the leaders as headquarters.

Kamal has been wanted over several charges including armed attacks and was twice sentenced to life in prison in absentia for establishing an armed group, the statement added, noting he has links with the assassination of the country's top prosecutor in mid-2015.

As for Shehata, he was also sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for assaulting a citizen and forcibly detaining him in the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party, the group's political wing, according to the statement.

The Brotherhood group has been designated as "a terrorist organization" in 2014, a year after the military ousted former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and the police launched a massive crackdown on his loyalists that left about 1,000 of them killed and thousands more arrested.

Most of the group leaders, including Morsi himself and the group's top chief Mohamed Badie, are currently in custody over various charges including inciting violence to espionage.

Since Morsi's removal, growing anti-government attacks left hundreds of police and military men killed with a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) group claiming responsibility for most of the attacks.

The liquidation of the two Brotherhood members came a few days after several anti-government attacks in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula as well as the capital Cairo.

On Saturday, five police conscripts were shot dead by unknown gunmen while they were on their way back from vacation to their police central security department in Arish city of North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

A day later, also in Arish, four were killed and two others wounded in a blast that targeted an electricity company's vehicle, according to the Egyptian Interior Ministry.

Egypt's Deputy Prosecutor General Zakariya Abdel-Aziz survived an assassination attempt with a car bomb last Thursday in Cairo, and an emerging militant group calling itself "Hasm" claimed responsibility for the failed attempt in a statement circulated on social media.

Egyptian security forces have been launching massive anti-terror operations in North Sinai over the past three years, which killed about 1,000 militants so far and arrested a similar number of suspects.

The security raids in Sinai are part of the country's "war against terrorism" declared by then military chief and now President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following the fall of Morsi.
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) consensus government's decision on Tuesday to postpone for four months the Palestinian municipal elections has deepened feuds between Islamic Hamas movement and Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The postponement allows Gaza and the West Bank to unify legal and judiciary systems, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said when addressing his cabinet in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

The decision came one day after the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) suggested a six-month postponement to President Abbas on Monday.

A ruling of the Ramallah-based Supreme Court decided Monday to allow holding the municipal elections in the West Bank only and excluded the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007.

The court said that Hamas has changed the legal and judiciary systems during the last decade.

In June, the cabinet called on the Palestinians and CEC to prepare for holding the municipal elections in 391 councils in the West Bank and 25 councils in the Gaza Strip.

However, the Supreme Court decided in September to halt all preparation for the election scheduled on Oct. 8, until it takes its final decision.

"Within the coming four months, a proper legal and judiciary atmosphere has to be ensured to guarantee holding the municipal elections in all councils in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in one day," said a statement issued at the end of the cabinet meeting.

Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, rejected on Tuesday the postponement.

"The movement insists on holding it on its proper date and time," Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman, told a news briefing held in Gaza, adding that it is "a kind of confusion as well as evasion of the elections."

Abu Zuhri held rival Fatah Party "fully responsible for these decisions," saying that Fatah didn't respect laws and the decisions of the CEC.

He stressed that Hamas won't accept "these absurd decisions and (they are) plying with the Palestinian process of democracy."

The last unified municipal elections held in Gaza, West Bank and east Jerusalem was in 2005, where Hamas won in most of the municipal councils in Gaza and West Bank. In 2012, municipal elections were only held in the West Bank, while Hamas decided to boycott it.

Osama Qawasmi, Fatah party spokesman in the West Bank, said in an emailed press statement that the postponement "shows President Abbas and the Palestinian government is concerned with unifying the Palestinian territories, which were divided due to the internal split."

He accused Hamas of obstructing the elections, saying that "Hamas had canceled several Fatah lists in the Gaza Strip and claimed that the lists were not meeting the legal terms of their courts there."

The crisis of holding the municipal elections reflects the crisis of the Palestinian political system, an absence of the internal accordance and a missing of a clear vision to all parties, said George Jaqman, a Palestinian think-tank, director of the Institution for Democratic Studies.

"Postponing the elections was not only due to differences and feuds between Fatah and Hamas, but also due to internal differences in Fatah itself," he said, adding that he thinks the local elections would be postponed indefinitely amid deepened internal Palestinian feuds.
KABUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- One soldier of the NATO-led coalition was killed Tuesday during a fight with the Islamic State (IS) militants in eastern Afghanistan's province of Nangarhar, the coalition said.

"One U.S. service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations in Achin district, Nangarhar Province today," the U.S. Forces - Afghanistan said in the statement.

"On behalf of all of U.S. Forces - Afghanistan, we are heartbroken by this loss and we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the service member," said General John W. Nicholson, commander of USFOR-A, in the statement.

"Despite this tragic event, we remain committed to defeating the terrorists of the Islamic State, Khorasan Province and helping our Afghan partners defend their nation." he said.

The victim was killed after an Improvised Explosive Device was detonated and an investigation is being conducted to determine the exact circumstances of the event.

Nangarhar province with Jalalabad city as its capital, 120 km east of Kabul, has been the scene of clashes between security forces and IS militants since the emergence of IS there in early 2015. The Achin district has been regarded as IS militants' stronghold in Nangarhar.
Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence (R) speaks during the 2016 U.S. Vice Presidential Debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the United States, Oct.4, 2016. Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence clashed Tuesday night during the only vice presidential debate, accusing the other side of launching an insult-driven campaign. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

By Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Unlike the first debate between U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton that was a full-on brawl, Tuesday night's Vice Presidential debate is expected to be more sedate, experts said.

Tuesday night's debate between two VP candidates -- Indiana Governor Mike Pence, the Republican pick for Vice President, and Senator Tim Kaine, Clinton's running mate -- will be their first face-off during which they are expected to focus on policy issues rather than on insulting.

Recent weeks have seen the sparks fly between Trump and Clinton, with the two making comments back and forth at the first debate on Sept. 26 and in speeches on the campaign trail and via social media.

With all the jabs back-and-forth and tit-for-tat, talk of policy has fallen short.

"I think the VP debates will be a much more sedate affair compared to the first presidential debate," Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua.

"With Kaine and Pence, there is less of an issue about personality and temperament, and, thus, we are likely to see a far more policy-driven debate," he said.

Kaine will continue to demonstrate his appeal to moderate voters, while Pence will have to balance the need to espouse the Republican policy platform, while also having to defend comments that Trump has made, said Mahaffee, referring to the many controversial statements that Trump has made during his campaign over the past year.

"Also, in an election where shoring up younger voters and moderate voters is key for the Clinton campaign, I think Kaine will try to attack the strict social conservatism that Pence has advocated during his career in Congress and as governor of Indiana," Mahaffee said.

While the VP debate will likely fall far short of the viewership of the first presidential debate, this is the one chance that the VP candidates share a national stage.

A recent poll showed that 40 percent of Americans can't identify the VP candidates, so it is important to take advantage of this debate to increase attention towards the individuals that will be a key part of the next administration, Mahaffee said.

"That said, given that attitudes are so firmly established for-or-against the names at the top of the ticket, I doubt that there will be a strong swing one way or another from this debate," Mahaffee said.

Pence will certainly try to present a far calmer, more policy-oriented approach, and likely try to emphasize the role that he and other establishment politicians will have in a potential Trump administration, he said.

Brookings Institution's Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that the VP debate will attract much less attention than the presidential debates.

Neither nominee is well known nationally and each pales in comparison to their running mates, West noted.

"I expect the debate to be very substantive because each of the VP nominees is very knowledgeable about the issues and have very different views of public policy," West said.

Pence is very conservative, while Kaine got his start in public service by defending capital punishment defendants. Viewers will see sharp differences in the candidates' views about the future of America, he said.

"Pence will make Trump look like less of a loose cannon," West said, but adding that the Indiana governor will be put in the awkward position of having to defend controversial things his running mate has said.

"That will be the most interesting aspect of the debate -- how Pence defends his boss," West said.
BERLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The founder of Wikileaks announced a series of new disclosures would be revealed in the coming months in a live video broadcast here on Tuesday, local media reported.

Julian Assange, who founded the disclosure website on Oct. 4, 2006, said new materials would be released over each of the next 10 weeks, but did not give any concrete information regarding the form of publication.

The anticipated revelations about the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did not happen at the press briefing marking the 10-year anniversary of the website's founding.

Wikileaks had published previously thousands of emails of the Democratic National Committee.

Assange is wanted by the Swedish government for an allegation of rape against him, which he denies. He was granted asylum by Ecuador in 2012 and has stayed in the embassy of Ecuador in London since then.
MADRID, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Spanish acting Minister of Economy Luis de Guindos said on Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts for the Spanish economy were very positive.

The IMF has revised up its economic predictions for the Spanish economy in 2016 from the previous 2.6 percent to 3.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) would grow by 2.2 percent in 2017 according to the new forecast, which is 0.1 percent higher than the last one published in July 2016.

De Guindos said IMF revised up its forecasts due to better performance of the economy, including exports, investment in capital goods and job creation.

"The reforms implemented have worked and help the Spanish economy to be on its way out of the crisis," de Guindos said.

The acting economy minister said the country needed a stable government in order to keep the improvement of the economy.

A stable government will be able to meet the commitments agreed with Brussels and continue with the economic reforms to boost the economic recovery, he said.

Spain held general election for the second time in six months in June which resulted in a hung parliament without absolute majority. So far, political parties have not reached an agreement to form government, which could lead to a third general election. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, on Tuesday concluded his three-day visit to Yemen, calling for all parties to grant humanitarian access and uphold their responsibilities to protect civilians in a conflict that has displaced three million people, injured and killed thousands of innocent civilians, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

Relevant parties should be also held accountable for shattering the civilian infrastructure, and destroying livelihoods in a country which was already suffering from endemic poverty, the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said at a daily news briefing here.

In Hudaydah on Monday, O'Brien, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator, was able to go to Al Honood, where he saw the devastation and terrible losses suffered from the airstrike on Sept. 21, Haq said.

Meanwhile, in Taiz, Yemen, at least 10 civilians, including six children, were killed, and 17 others wounded on Monday afternoon after an artillery shell struck a busy street next to a market in Bir Basha, Al Mudhaffar district, he said.

"The shell appeared to have been fired from an area in Al Ta'iziyah district, where the artilleries of Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis and Army Units loyal to former president Saleh are positioned," he said.

The overall casualty figures verified by UN human rights staff in Yemen from March 2015 up until Sept. 30, 2016 stand at a total of 10,963 civilian casualties, including 4,014 people killed, he added.
BERLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- German home appliance manufacturer BSH Tuesday announced recall of 170,000 gas ovens carrying Bosch and Siemens branding because they could explode.

The affected gas ovens were produced between January 2009 and October 2011 and sold primarily in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, according to the company's announcement.

There may be an uncontrolled gas leak under certain circumstances, which could lead to an explosion in the worst case, the company said.

BSH, a joint venture set up in 1967 by Bosch and Siemens, is one of the largest manufacturers of home appliances in Europe and a major company in the sector worldwide.
JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Some of the delegates attending the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on Tuesday hailed the meeting as a success.

South African Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa told Xinhua that she is happy with the outcomes of CoP17.

"This Conference of Parties has made good decisions about our natural resources. What have won too, are the sustainable utilisation of the natural resources," she said.

The CoP17 started on September 24 and will end on October 5. Most of the recommendations approved by the Working Group Committees were unanimously adopted.

But CoP17 rejected the proposal to close domestic markets for ivory.

Molewa said it's a victory for the Southern African countries which will continue to allow sustainable hunting for trophies and sell skins of certain animals domestically.

A clause has also been approved, which stipulates that domestic markets be closed in a country if it is proved that there is a link to poaching or illegal trade.

Namibian Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeka said Southern African countries managed to get what they wanted.

He stated that as Southern African countries they had good policies to sustainably manage the wildlife and are happy with the acknowledgement from CITES that they are doing well.

Shifeka said, "We are content with the outcomes of CITES. There were no much controversy. We got what we wanted. We fought and succeeded and its good for us. We feel vindicated about what we always said that our natural resources, like elephants, are not under threat."

He said Southern African countries are happy with their support for domestic trade in ivory.

The minister said that while Namibia is currently not involved in domestic trade in ivory but they want to consider that in future people will form cooperatives and do business in the species there.

He criticised some conservationists for trying to dictate to them what to do with their natural resources.

Zimbabwean Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said Southern African countries will not watch while their resources in stockpiles are being burnt.

He said they have some plans but he did not elaborate.

Rosalind Reeve, senior advisor to Fondation Franz Weber and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, said the conference was a huge success.

"Overall, there were lots of success at CoP 17. These includes the up listing of grey parrots, numerous species like reptiles and sharks... the big controversy was the issue of elephants. The defeat of Swaziland proposal is a good outcome, if it had succeeded, it could have been disastrous," Reeve said.

She was referring to Swarziland's proposal to sell rhino horns confisticated from poachers and the animals which could have died of natural causes. But CITES rejected the proposal.

Reeve said it was also a success in the rejection of opening international trade in ivory.

"There was a big step forward but we wanted a better decision on elephants. It is important to make a follow up on domestic market resolution. From now up to the next CoP, we would like to see the implementation of the decisions taken here," she said when referring to the closure of domestic markets for ivory.

Reeve said that the EU and Japan should consider joining other countries on domestic trade since their domestic trade in ivory is linked to illegal trade.

The conference imposed a ban on international trade in pangolins and grey African parrots. Stricter regulations were also imposed on the trade in rosewood tree, devil rays and silky. For the first time CITES also resolved to include corruption in the fight against wildlife illegal trade.
DUBLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's unemployment has fallen from a peak of 15 percent in 2011 to 7.9 percent, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed the unemployment rate for September 2016 was 7.9 percent, down from the 8.2 percent in August 2016 and down from 9.1 percent in September 2015.

For the first time in eight years, there are more than two million people at work, according to the CSO.

Irish Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar welcomed the latest CSO figures, saying that the government would exceed its target of moving 20,000 people from long-term unemployment to work this year.

"Essentially, unemployment and long-term employment has fallen to almost half what it was at the depths of the recession, but I want to get it down even further," he said.

"My target is to bring unemployment down to between 5 percent and 6 percent and long-term unemployment to 2.5 percent, matching the performance of the most successful tier of countries in Europe. I want to move 100,000 people from welfare to work over the next five years," he added.

But the Irish minister said the government cannot afford to be complacent about the progress made to date.

"As unemployment falls, it gets harder to bring it down further," he said. Enditem
DUBLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss more actions to prepare for Brexit, including in particular on priority concerns for the country.

Following British Prime Minister Theresa May's weekend announcement that she intends to trigger Article 50 by March 2017, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and his cabinet ministers discussed preparations for the negotiations that will then take place, the government said.

Kenny reaffirmed that the priorities of the government were the economy and trade, the peace process and Northern Ireland, the Common Travel Area and the future of the European Union itself.

After a detailed review of action to date, the cabinet agreed to intensify preparations over the coming weeks, including in particular through closer political and official engagement, including with Northern Ireland, the British government, and the EU member states and institutions, and by broadening dialogue with civic society.

The government said Budget 2017 will include measures which will support the overall economic response to Brexit.

The government added it would continue engagement with other EU leaders and governments and the EU institutions, including high-level government meetings with Michel Barnier, the newly appointed European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, who is expected to visit Dublin shortly.

In the meeting, the government approved a range of further actions to ensure that Ireland is fully prepared for the difficult negotiations ahead.

"Now that we have clarity from Prime Minister May regarding the timetable, we will intensify our engagement and preparation for the negotiations," Kenny said.

"Ireland faces unique challenges from Brexit, not least given the all-island issues that arise," he said.

Kenny said he would continue to engage with Northern Ireland party leaders on the range of issues involved.
DAMASCUS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. decision to suspend talks with Russia over restoring a ceasefire in Syria will further escalate the situation in the war-torn country and thus prolong the crisis, analysts say.

Analysts here in Damascus deemed the American decision, which was ostensibly based on Washington's frustration with Russia and the Syrian government, as a reflection to the lack of the U.S. seriousness in resolving the Syrian crisis, and bringing the bloodletting to an end.

A day earlier, the United States has suspended negotiations with Russia on restoring a ceasefire in Syria, blaming Moscow for its military role in the attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Both Washington and Russia have traded blames for the faltering ceasefire efforts in Syria.

U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement that Russia was "either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed."

The spokesperson also accused Moscow and Damascus of targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need.

While lamenting Washington's decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry charged that the U.S. was trying to shift the blame on Russia.

"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements -- to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of the Aleppo city...(and) to apply pressure on the armed opposition groups," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The suspended dialogue had previously resulted in a short-lived cessation of hostilities in Syria, which held for a few days last month, and was never renewed, after breaches had occurred, with both the opposition and the government forces trading accusations.

Mahmoud Muri, a Syrian political analyst, told Xinhua that "the diplomatic rift between the United States and Russia on the Syrian file, will only contribute to the continuation of the bloodshed in Syria," urging both countries to hasten to find a political settlement to Syria's over five-year-old conflict.

"The United States is apparently not serious about finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and that's evident by the escalatory rhetoric," he said.

Muri pointed out to the U.S.-led airstrikes on Syrian military positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour last month, which led to the killing of 90 Syrian soldiers and enabled the Islamic States (IS) militants to take over the bombed out military sites, large parts of which were later recaptured by the army.

The U.S. said then the strikes was "unintentional," a claim denied by the Syrian government, as President Bashar al-Assad accused the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition of deliberately targeting the Syrian army.

"The U.S.-led strike was the largest breach to last month's truce," Muri said.

For his part, Hmaidi Abdullah, another political analyst, said the U.S.-Russian dispute goes back to last month, when both parties have reached an agreement, part of which was the ceasefire.

The agreement wasn't made public, which was apparently the request of Washington.

"It seems there were different opinions in the U.S. administration regarding the deal and they didn't want to release it to the public so they can backtrack at any time," Abdullah told Xinhua.

Abdullah said that the negotiations were suspended until after the U.S. presidential elections, noting that "if there was no negotiation table, then certainly the battlefield will be the arena in which scores will be settled, and we will for sure see more intense confrontations across Syria."

Meanwhile, Maher Ihsan, a journalist and political analyst, played down the U.S. move, saying it was a "media bubble."

"I think the Russians and the Americans will keep on negotiating on Syria, because they cannot act unilaterally without declared, or undeclared coordination," he said.

Ihsan said that any dispute between the U.S. and Russia will negatively reflect on the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

Other analysts, meanwhile, said that the U.S. is maybe searching for alternatives, following the crumbled negotiations with Russia.

They say that during the next three months, until the end of the U.S. elections, Washington could undertake some steps that could put the pressure on Russia.

One of the options, analysts say, is establishing a safe zone in northern Syria, with the help of Turkey, which has for long demanded the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria near the Turkish borders.

Such an area will be later handed over to certain Syrian rebel groups, which are supported and trained by Turkey and the U.S..

Another less likely option, is limited strikes by the U.S.-led coalition against Syrian military positions, akin to what happened in Deir al-Zour, as such strikes could boost the morale of the rebels.

Experts also said that Washington could also work on increasing its support to the rebels, by sending them more qualitative weaponry, amid reports that large amount of weapons and munition, including anti-tanks and Grad missiles, have reached some opposition forces in northern Syria over the past two days.

Such options are not expected to be decisive in tilting the balance in favor of the rebels, but it will for sure make the power balance in the middle until the advent of a new U.S. president, analysts say.

Related:

Russia to continue cooperation with U.S. on Syria despite strained ties: Kremlin

MOSCOW, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia would continue cooperation with the United States despite Washington's suspension on the interaction with Moscow over the Syrian settlement, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"Russia will continue contacts with the U.S. on issues that are necessary to maintain the global peace and security in general," Peskov told reporters. "Despite anything, Moscow remains interested in normalizing the relations with the U.S.." Full story

Russia slams U.S. for trying to shift blame over Syria ceasefire suspension

MOSCOW, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the United States is trying to shift the blame on Russia, in response to Washington's decision to suspend cooperation with Moscow on Syrian settlement, local media reported.
BRUSSELS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) said in a report on Tuesday that the EU-Turkey Statement on refugees is delivering results despite some challenges.

As a result, the EU pledged to continue its financial assistance for Turkey in dealing with refugee crisis.

Since the EU-Turkey refugee deal came into force in March, the average daily refugees crossing the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands has dropped from 1740 to 94, according to the report released by the European Commission. Meanwhile, the number of losses of lives also fell.

Meanwhile, under the so-called "refugee swap" mechanism, 1,614 Syrian refugees have been resettled from Turkey to Europe and the return of 578 irregular migrants has been carried out from the Greek islands to Turkey.

The EU said the deal had delivered "steady results" in the face of many challenges. However, it is widely believed that the implementation pace of the deal was lagging far behind.

The report said the total numbers of arrivals from Turkey to the Greek islands since June 2016 was 9,250, representing an average daily arrival of around 81.

Although the numbers were 97 percent lower than in August 2015, the refugees remained in Greece awaiting relocation has increased to around 60,500.

The EU pointed out the challenges ahead in the report, including the slow pace of resettlement of refugees, and the pressure on reception facilities on the Greek islands, saying it would speed up asylum applications as well as the pace of returns to Turkey, and increase reception capacity in Greek islands.

Meanwhile, the EU reiterated its call for its member states to accelerate their receiving of Syrian refugees from Turkey under the relocation and resettlement schemes.

The EU-Turkey deal to curb refugee influx into Europe came into force in March. Under the agreement, Turkey agreed to take back all undocumented migrants, while the EU has Syrian refugees resettled from Turkish camps on a one-for-one basis.

As part of the deal, Brussels promised to introduce visa liberalization for Turkish citizens on the condition that Turkey must fulfill all benchmarks.

According to the report, Turkey still has to meet 7 benchmarks to secure visa free travel, including two benchmarks for which a longer timeframe for implementation is required.

After accessing the results achieved under the deal, the EU said in another statement on Tuesday that it will continue providing financial assistance to Turkey in dealing with refugee challenges.

Currently, Turkey hosts more than 2.7 million registered Syrian refugees. The EU has pledged to provide 3 billion euro aid in the year of 2016 and 2017 under the the so-called "Facility for Refugees in Turkey" mechanism.
HAVANA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Matthew reached eastern Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, "pounding" the area with rain and wind.

The "northern eyewall of extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew already pounding the eastern tip of Cuba," the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest bulletin.

Cuba's state daily Granma ran images of rough seas and high waves along the country's eastern shores.

Cuban President Raul Castro personally inspected storm preparations in easternmost Cuba earlier in the day.

The category four hurricane, meaning it can pack winds of between 209 and 251 km per hour, is forecast to dump as much as 200 to 300 mm of rain, up to 500 mm in mountainous areas, and cause flooding along the island's southeastern coast, according to Granma.

Matthew earlier barreled through western Haiti, killing three people, while another remains missing, and displacing some 9,000 people.

In Cuba, more than 430,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas prone to flooding, with the eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago, Holguin, Granma and Camaguey under a "hurricane warning" since Monday.

Flights, trains and bus transport from Havana and other parts of country to the eastern provinces have been suspended until the hurricane passes.

The president was in eastern Cuba since Saturday, touring the provinces of Santiago and Guantanamo to personally oversee preparations.

The last major storm to hit Cuba was 2012's Hurricane Sandy, which caused widespread damage to southeast Cuba, killing 11 people, and went on to cause catastrophic flooding in New York City, after making an unexpected left turn into the U.S. Eastern Seaboard as she traveled north.

Matthew is expected to turn north-northwest by Wednesday, heading to the Bahamas and the east coast of the United States.
ABC News(NEW YORK) -- On Tuesday night, two relatively unknown politicians will be thrust into the national spotlight for the vice-presidential debate.



Tim Kaine, the junior Democratic senator from Virginia, and Mike Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, will take the stage at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.



Here are five memorable moments in veep debate history ahead of Pence and Kaines faceoff:



1984 - George H. W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro



The 1984 election featured the first female member of a major-party ticket in Geraldine Ferraro, a New York congresswoman chosen for the No. 2 spot by Democrat Walter Mondale. Displaying a New York toughness, Ferraro stood up to George H. W. Bush after the sitting vice president explained the difference between U.S. intervention in Iran and in Lebanon during the past decade.



Let me just say, first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy, responded Ferraro.



Despite the retort, Bush seemed pleased with his performance the next day, saying -- without realizing he was near a microphone -- that he tried to kick a little ass last night.



1988 - Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle



Sen. Dan Quayle, George H. W. Bushs running mate, was just 41 years old when he was selected, and faced questions about his relative youth and inexperience throughout the race. Facing off against 67-year-old Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Quayle tried to defend himself by pointing to another youthful politician.



"I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency," Quayle said.



"I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine," responded Bentsen. "Senator, youre no Jack Kennedy."



1992 - Al Gore, James Stockdale and Dan Quayle



The only three-person veep debate in history was between Democratic VP nominee Al Gore, Republican VP nominee Dan Quayle, and Admiral James Stockdale, Ross Perots running mate on the independent ticket.



During the 1992 debate in Atlanta, Georgia, Stockdale made the fated decision to begin his opening statements with, "Who am I? Why I am here?"



It elicited applause and laughter from the audience.



"Im not a politician, everybody knows that," Stockdale said. "So dont expect me to use the language of the Washington insider."



The Vietnam veteran stumbled through the rest of the debate.



2004 - Dick Cheney and John Edwards



The 2004 debate featured Vice President Dick Cheney and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who was just completing his first term in Washington. Cheney honed in on Edwards inexperience during their back-and-forth, highlighting his anonymity on the Hill.



"The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight," Cheney -- who, as vice president, served as president of the Senate -- said.



2008 - Joe Biden and Sarah Palin



A record 70 million Americans tuned in to watch the Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin face off against then-Sen. Joe Biden at Washington University in St. Louis.



Kicking off the debate, the two candidates walked on stage, waved to the crowd, and then shook hands.



It was then that Republican Sen. John McCains running mate, Palin asked Biden: "Can I call you Joe?"



Biden answered, "You can call me Joe."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Central businessmen say Budget fair

However, Sookhai said the oil price should have been pegged at US$40 per barrel and not between US$48 and $50 per barrel given the volatility surrounding the world oil market.

He (Imbert) did peg oil prices at between $48 and $50 per barrel and although it was indicated by the IMF that anything $50 or lower would be reasonable, I think he should have kept it at least around $40 a barrel, given the volatility of the market especially if there is another fallout with OPEC, Sookhai said.

Regarding the 15 percent increase in the cost of diesel, Sookhai said this should not have a harsh impact on the economy as a similar increase during the mid-year review saw no significant increases in transportation cost. He said the reduction of the Budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector was not a good sign but applauded incentives for the agro-processing industry which would utilise local food items.

He reduced some of the money going to agriculture from last year to this year and we believe agriculture is key in the scheme of things especially for diversification of the economy away from oil and gas and also help reduce our food import bill, but they should be credited for giving a tax break for people going into agro processing operations. It is going to create an enabling environment to allow people to go to agro processing, he said.

And regarding the creation of a new tax bracket, he said this was justifiable and a great initiative though expressed the opinion that they bracket should have been increased beyond the $1 million mark for individuals and companies. We welcome this, this is a actually a great initiative, it going to stimulate and justifiably tax the higher income earners but we do believe the million dollars is too low and that bracket should be raised a little, Sookhai said.

I think it is a very fair budget that was delivered I believe the government thought about every fact of the economy and they delivered a reasonable budget, he said. Meanwhile, president of the Penal/Debe Chamber of commerce, Shiva Roopnarine expressed reservations about the deficit saying this may be higher should oil prices decline below the projected price. We dont see the six billion dollars deficit as being realistic, we would have liked to see lower projections or estimates for that, Roopnarine said, adding, we could expect no contribution to the heritage and stabilization fund for the next year because we didnt see oil and gas maintaining prices up above what the Minister has projected. He too expressed the opinion that the diesel increase should not adversely affect the cost of transportation and commodity prices though he too applauded the proposal to regulate he gaming industry which he said had plagued Trinidadian society for some time.
Malick man is 347th murder victim

Dead is Charlton Huggins, of 6 th Avenue Malick Barataria.

Newsday understands Huggins was at Upper 10th Street, Barataria, at about 2.30 pm yesterday when loud explosions were heard.

When residents checked, they found Huggins lying in a pool of blood, on the side of the road.

Police and emergency services were immediately alerted and officers of the San Juan Police Station responded.

Huggins was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries while en route.

He was pronounced dead on arrival.

An autopsy is expected to be performed on his body today at the Forensic Science Centre, St James
Attorney: Wrong to find Gulf View Medical guilty

Gulf View Medical and anaesthesiologist Dr Crisen Jendra Roopchand have appealed the March 2015 ruling of Justice Vasheist Kokaram who found both parties to be in breach of their duty of care to Tesheira, the late husband of former Peoples National Movement (PNM) finance minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira. More than $18 million in damages were awarded to Nunez-Tesheira. She was initially seeking $20 million in damages.

The negligence lawsuit was filed following Russell Tesheiras death at the hospital on April 13, 2004, after undergoing a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).

Based on the evidence, the procedure was performed at 1 pm, but Nunez-Tesheira had testified that at 7 pm, she was informed an emergency had taken place and her husband had to be taken back to surgery.

By 11.30 pm, he was dead, she testified. Nunez-Tesheiras claim was the medical institution, along with Roopchand and urologist Dr Lester Goetz, were negligent and placed her husbands life at risk by proceeding with the surgery and he died because of this negligence.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed in 2012 after Nunez-Tesheira failed on two occasions to file witness statements and list of documents.

The former minister appealed the dismissal of the application, but prior to the hearing of that appeal, she and Dr Goetz entered into a settlement discussion on September 21, 2012, with a compromise agreement and the appeal against the latter was dismissed.

The Appeal Court later ruled in her favour and remitted the matter to the High Court. Justice Kokaram said both Gulf View Medical and Dr Roopchand admitted to being under a duty of care to the patient and found that they both failed to discharge said duties to the requisite standard expected of specialists and hospital authorities, in managing the risk of post-operative bleeding arising out of a TURP procedure. But ORourke said the case pleaded before the judge did not include vicarious liability or the liability of the nurses, neither of which, she said, could give instructions as it related to the TURP procedure. Hearing of the appeal continues tomorrow.
Arson suspected in Monkey Town fire

The owner, Clifford Smith recently died and investigators said there have been conflict over who ought to occupy the house from people within the area. A report was recently made to Tableland Police Station about threats a person received from another over the house. The house has been unoccupied since Smiths death but was being maintained by his relatives.

A police report stated that at about 10.10 pm on Sunday, appliances from the Princes Town Fire Station responded to a report of a fire in Monkey Town and upon arrival were able to successfully extinguish the blaze.

They returned to the station only to receive a call at 1.53 am yesterday, that the building was once again on fire. When the officers arrived they found the entire building engulfed in flames. It was completely destroyed.
Housewife charged with DUI

It was the womans second offence, police reported. She recorded a breathalyser reading of 109 micrograms, 74 micrograms over the legal limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitre breath.

Police said she explained to officers that she was returning home after a night out liming with friends.

Officers conducting drunk driving exercises are reporting seeing a slight increase in females who risk their lives and those of others by driving under the influence of alcohol. The previous weekend, two women were arrested in Chatham and fined $7,000 each for drunk driving when they appeared in the Siparia Magistrates Court.

Over the weekend, 12 people were arrested and charged in a DUI exercise carried out by Sgt Gosine and his team of the South Western DUI Unit.
Sex offenders registry

The pair has drafted a treaty and accompanying handbook, detailing the necessary policy changes and end goals of the CCASC.

They intend for it to work in tandem with the US International Megans Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (HR 4573).

They are seeking consultation from the United Nations, as well as the US Department of State, to perfect the policy prior to it being signed into international law.

From our research Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are the only two countries in the region with sex offender registry policies implemented, said Bhagan.

He asserted that this was insufficient and that local and regional registries were necessary, because sex offenders often cross borders to satisfy their predilections.

He spoke with the local Interpol office and was informed that notices about registered sex offenders are already being issued based on recent deportation.

He notes that from CCASCs research, there is no procedure in place to utilise the information on the TT sex offender registry, because it only deals with crimes committed in TT jurisdiction.

As such, registered sex offenders from elsewhere are free to roam in our region almost unhindered.

The Caribbean Treaty Against Sex Crimes will mandate all Caribbean territories to implement local sex offender registries.

These local registries will subsequently be amalgamated to form one regional sex offender registry, which will be available to Interpol and other international bodies.

Local and regional authorities will be notified every time people who have committed sex crimes enter the Caribbean.

They will be placed in the registry and their behaviours monitored.

Timely communication between authorities in the region to which registered offenders travel will be facilitated and the relevant international bodies informed, whenever they leave for other jurisdictions.

Bhagan and Maharaj note that some offenders displaying paedophilic behaviour are abuse victims themselves and believe that true justice will include the adoption of policies that are both rehabilitative and preventative.

One example they gave was a programme in Germany which provides a support system for people who struggle with paedophilic inclinations.

Statistics seem to prove that programmes such as this one work and as such, the draft treaty also encourages them.

Further, the Caribbean treaty Against Sex Crimes ultimately seeks to aid in increasing the conviction rate of offenders.

Victims advocacy and support services are essential to this.

Because victims rarely report sex crimes, it adds a layer of complexity to the problem of identifying sex offenders.

The draft treaty provides for these centres to be opened in Caribbean territories.

These will aid in the criminal justice process, by helping to care for victims of gender-based violence and sex crimes.

The Organisation for Abused and Battered Individuals (Oabi) has, under the leadership of Sherna Alexander-Benjamin, opened one such centre in TT .

The Victims Advocacy Service Centre and Office (Vasco) at Bellesmythe Street, Curepe, is a supplementary agency that provides victims with a safe environment to address the crimes perpetrated against them.

It functions as a bridge between law enforcement, medical professionals and the judiciary, to facilitate the administration of justice.

At Vasco counselling is available and there is a focus on victims well being and rehabilitation.

Training for civil society is also available.

Recently CCAS C and Oabi partnered with the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Law Society, to host a panel discussion.

Feature speakers included Bhagan, who discussed the treaty and handbook, Alexander-Benjamin who spoke on the success of the Vasco and counter-terrorism expert, Paul Nahous, who discussed human trafficking, as well as why he supports the CCAS Cs initiatives.

Maharaj and Bhagan continue to be driven by morale and understand that justice is multi-faceted.

They envision a safe, fair world where people can be free to be their whole, best selves and intend to do all in their power to achieve this.

Further info can be found at www.zandoli.

org/ccasc.html and oabivoices.org.
Man crushed to death

Shane Diaram of Forest Reserve was employed as a lorry man with Dansteel Limited at South Trunk Road, La Romaine for the past seven years. Reports are that shortly after midday, a forklift was loading steel beams on a truck while Diaram was fixing a wooden palette when one of the beams fell on him.

He was rushed to the hospital but was already dead by the time he got there.

At the familys home at Forest Reserve in Fyzabad yesterday, Diarams mother was too distraught to speak with Newsday. His uncle, Anthony Manorath, 59, revealed that Diarams father, Rooplal Diaram, was killed in a similar fashion at San Francique Road, Penal 33 years ago, also at the age of 36.

Diaram, who was involved in a common-law relationship but had no children, was described by Manorath as a kind and loving person and an angel who was willing to help everyone. Accidents do happen, Manorath said. It is sad.

The entire family is hurting.
$1M for other dead cops

The Ministry of National Security wishes to place on record that Cabinet agreed to the payment of the sum of $1 million to the estates of members of the Protective Services who were killed in the line of duty, with effect from January 1, 2013 and not July 24, 2015 as incorrectly reported in the media. The statement said that both the Minister of National Security (Edmund Dillon) and the Government are committed to providing protection for law enforcement officers and citizens who have been victims of crime.

Further, continued efforts are underway to ensure that the members of the Protective Services who have given their lives for the security of this country receive the recognition that they deserve.
CAL cancels Jamaica flights

CAL cancelled three flights yesterday.

Cancelled are BW 016 that was due to depart John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, for Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston; BW 010 from JFK to Montego Bay; BW 031 from NMIA to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, Florida; BW 414 from NMIA to Nassau, Bahamas, and BW 415 from Nassau to NMIA.

The flights cancelled yesterday were BW 036 from Fort Lauderdale to NMIA, BW 011 from Montego Bay to JFK, and BW 017 from NMIA to JFK.

A release from CAL said the airline has activated its call-out plan to contact customers travelling on these services.

Customers are advised to keep checking flight information on the website www.caribbean-airlines.

com or to contact CAL call centres in the US and Canada, 1-800-920-4225; Jamaica (international), 1-800-523-5585; Jamaica (local calls), 1-888-359- 2475; Nassau (local calls), 1-242- 377-3300; and TT, 1-868-625- 7200.

CAL said the circumstances leading to the flight disruptions are completely outside of the control of the airline.
South drivers: Fares will raise in due course

Three years ago I paid $100 to fill my tank and this increased to $120 and now it costs $150, he said. Sonnylal said he owned a 25-seater maxi taxi but he had no choice but to sell it, since it was difficult to get a trip. He now owns a seven-seater taxi. Jeffrey Edwards who works the Chaguanas / San Fernando route says there has not been a big increase in the price of diesel but he expects that drivers will be lobbying to increase the fares in due course.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Curepe Taxi Drivers Association, Elton George, says with the increase in the price of diesel, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

The rich man does not have to put out more money when they are filling their tanks at the gas station but poorer man has to find the money to pay and increased price.

Business people are also contemplating what impact the higher diesel price and the current recession would have on their businesses and customers.

Dominic Deonarine of DGs Jewellery, High Street, San Fernando, says sales have been at an all-time low even in the lead-up to Divali. Clearly people are buying the necessities and saving their money, he said. He noted that with the downturn in the economy, the price of gold has remained stagnant.

However, he says, people are still not buying as before. He also said that in September he was expecting good business in the leadup to school re-opening but customers spent wisely.

Ryan Ramberran, who sells sweets and Indian delicacies at Eden Centre, High Street, San Fernando, is not happy with the business generated in recent months.

Sales have been very slow. Even at the end of the month people are not spending their money to buy these products, he says noting that there has been a decrease in the flow of people to the mall.
Fire incidents rise, 14 deaths this year

The alarm was sounded as the TTFS embarks on its annual Fire Services Week beginning on Sunday with the theme for this years observations being Dont Wait __ Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.

We are placing greater emphasis on fire safety in the home and visiting various communities to share practical messages on how fires can be prevented, said Acting Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Arjoon Lalchan yesterday.

Statistics have shown a drastic increase in reports of structural fires this year resulting in fatalities especially in homes.

So far, 14 people have perished in fires __ three children, one teenager and ten adults and the senior citizens recorded the highest in the casualties.

These are persons over 60 years of age and as such we are placing greater emphasis on fire safety in the homes, and visiting various communities to share practical messages on how fires can be prevented.

Of the 14 deaths, the Southern Division alone recorded 11. Lalchan said a lack of proper fire intelligence and awareness of the inherent dangers have led to major incidences of fires and he called for persons to become more educated on fire prevention.

He explained that poor electrical system in buildings such as an overloaded circuit, stealing current, poor maintenance, faulty wiring, naked flames, leaking LPG lines and children playing with matches are among some of the major causes of fires while more and more, firemen are seeing heavy burglar proofing __ placed in houses to keep intruders out __ are preventing persons from escaping a burning building.

Do not sacrifice your safety for security, he warned as he called for a more intelligent approach to making ones home safe from intruders.

Lalchan added, We want to partner with the community as one life lost in a fire is too many.

We are appealing to members of the public to increase their safety intelligence so that we can reduce loss of life, these lives that could make a contribution to society.

Fire prevention is everybodys business, dont be a victim.
30 sheep put to sleep

It is believed the Cubans were waiting to board the pirogue with the food items to head to Venezuela, after the sheep was off-loaded.

Officials from the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU), Immigration, Customs and Excise and the Ministry of Agriculture were alerted. CTU officers have since interviewed the four locals who were later released while the foreign nationals were handed over to the Immigration Department and remain detained while investigations continue to determine if they are legally in this country.
Zika babys blood for US tests

Tests would be done by the Pan American Health Organisation/ World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) to find out the cause

Deyalsingh said he had made arrangements with PAHO/WHO since the Caribbean Public Health Agency did not have the capability to do that confirmatory test

The tests would be conducted in Washington DC. Last week, the minister said he could not give any details as to the mothers condition as she had been treated at a private medical institution

The baby is now warded in the Intensive Care Unit at the San Fernando General Hospital
Cabrera: PM must temper his tone

I dont know if he wants to become a trade union leader, Cabrera quipped, but he needs to temper his tone. Cabrera criticised Rowley yesterday at a post-Budget breakfast forum hosted by the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and the Co-operative Credit Union League of TT at the OWTUs Paramount Building in San Fernando. He was responding to Rowleys statements made on Saturday at the launch of the Ministry of Educations School Improvement Project at the Success Laventille Secondary School. Rowley lamented that every road to be built in this country must be built by the Government, every school, every health centre, every this, every that, because in this country for the last generation or two, we have grown up on the Government. Cabrera acknowledged the countrys difficult economic times but suggested the nation considers them as challenges that are more than possible to overcome. This, he argued, would be a better approach than telling people to not depend on the Government, and if the Government wants the support of the people to drive the economy forward, it should recognise its role in doing so. Developing countries need the State more than ever, Cabrera said.

University of the West Indies economist Indira Sajewan-Ali, one of six panellists, said that the Prime Ministers statements offended her. She agreed that TT has a dependence economy as over 60 percent of the Budget goes into subsidies and government transfers like CEPEP and URP.

However, this dependence was not chosen by the people but fostered on them by successive governments who have deliberately used the largess from the oil and gas sector to implement a programme of dependency economics. Sajewan-Ali went on to remind Rowley that the money used by the Government is drawn from taxpayers and is supposed to be used on their behalf.

President of the Trinidad Unified Farmers Union, Shiraz Khan, said that current legislation limits the growth of the farming industry, forcing farmers to be dependent on the State. Who else do I go to if not the State? he asked. I have to come to you to get land because it is the State that owns the land. Shiraz called on the Government to change the legislation which, according to him, limits farmers to erecting only one building on their two acres of land which they do not own themselves.
Minister: Reduce treatment time at NCRHA

Even as he expressed sympathy to the Chang family, the minister mandated that immediate and appropriate action be taken by the board to reduce the waiting times for admission, and to ensure that optimal care was provided to all patients.

Deyalsingh said he was holding the board responsible for the implementation of sustainable solutions to improve the quality of care provided to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. This, he said, was in keeping with good governance practice.
5 times the US has helped ISIS

A bombing attack in Syria killed more than 160 people, 60 considered to be fighting ISIS, in mid-September. In turn, this left a newly developed ceasefire in Syria in a state of concern for Russia as it was performed without approval of the United Nations nor the Syrian regime. The United States offered apologies and promised to launch an investigation into the matter as the initial plan had been to bomb a strategic location which would have given gains to the Syrian army over ISIS.

This is not the first time the United States has provided aide to the increasingly powerful terrorist organization which owes its creation to the US and UK in the first place. Here are five other instances in which the US has contributed to ISIS instead of attempting to dismantle it:

Mosul and Baiji

ISIS took over the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Baiji in June of 2014. Following images of death and destruction during this campaign, as well as the acquisition of a large amount of American military equipment, the US did nothing to prevent it despite having a tremendous military presence in the area. Instead, the US was engaged in unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan.

Oil Revenue

Due to ISISs capture of oil fields in the Middle East, the organization was making around $50 million per month. While the US could have used its vast Air Force to eliminate a main source of terrorist funding, instead it was left up to Russia to bomb Turkish bound oil tankers with America eventually having to catch up.

Palmyra

Palmyra, a city with a population in the tens of thousands of civilians, was overrun by ISIS in May of 2015. Despite spending five billion dollars during all of 2015 fighting ISIS, the United States did nothing to prevent the attack and annexation of Palmyra.

Air Drops

When Kurdish militants in Kobane, Syria were fighting ISIS, the US government air dropped weapons to support. In actuality, the weapons landed with ISIS troops. Syrian and Iraqi troops are still finding these weapons in the hands of ISIS militants.

Ramadi

Just like its successor, Palmyra, Ramadi was invaded and taken over by ISIS in 2015. When questioned as to why the US did not intervene, the explanation was that there was a concern for civilian life.

At this rate, it seems to be rather alarming that the United States has repeatedly done more good for its number one enemy with little in the way of actually stopping them.

Sources:

The DailySheeple.com

Truth-Out.org

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Controversy erupts over ban of hot new drug

(BigGovernment.news) A pending federal ban on an ancient Asian herb called kratom is drawing pushback from some researchers and alternative-medicine advocates.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agencys proposed restrictions on kratoms painkilling properties could take effect after a 30-day notice period ends Friday. DEA spokesman Russ Baer couldnt give the exact date that possession, manufacture and distribution of kratom is likely to become illegal.

Its not if, its when, he told American Media Institute.

Kratom poses an imminent hazard to public health, Baer said. It is often marketed as a safe, natural alternative to controlled opioid medications such as oxycodone, morphine and codeine. But with effects that are similar to prescription painkillers and heroin, it can also be abused, Baer said.

Despite mounting opposition from politicians and the public, the DEA plans to take emergency action to temporarily classify two of the tropical trees alkaloids  mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine  as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The designation is for drugs with no accepted medical use and the high potential for abuse, such as heroin, LSD and ecstasy.

The move gives the federal Food and Drug Administration up to three years to study the substance to determine whether kratom has legitimate medicinal uses before its active ingredients are classified permanently.

The DEA points to 15 known kratom-related deaths since 2014 as proof of the problem. However, the botanicals backers argue it cant be blamed because other drugs were involved in at least 14 of those casualties.

One death is sufficient in and of itself, Baer said. We truly are in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Too many people are dying.

The DEA also cites a rise in the nationwide number of calls to poison control centers related to kratom as evidence of its danger. Calls increased tenfold from 26 in 2010 to 263 in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On the other hand, katom might be the holy grail doctors and researchers have long been looking for as an alternative to highly addictive opioids, according to Andrew Kruegel, a medicinal chemist at Columbia University.

Kruegel said the Southeast Asian plant has shown potential in his studies to relieve pain with fewer risks than traditional medicines. He said kratom seems to deliver analgesic effects without slowing breathing, the most common cause of drug-related death.

The looming ban will put up regulatory roadblocks that would cripple Kruegels studies and add significant costs.

Frankly, its ridiculous, he said. Were trying to do scientific research.

The extra burden and the stigma associated with Schedule I substances is also likely to deter labs from starting new studies on kratom. Similar hurdles have for decades prevented most medical marijuana research.

The proposed ban comes at a time when many states across the country are considering lifting the prohibition to allow the recreational or medicinal use of marijuana.

The American people have got to wake up, said Angela Harris, who sells kratom at her Las Vegas shop Herbally Grounded. Im tired of plants being taken off the market.

Harris said the real reason kratom is being banned is because it cuts into the profits of pharmaceutical companies. Her customers tell her it reduces their pain and has helped them get off prescription pills.

Susan Ash of Norfolk, Virginia said kratom freed her from the chains of addiction. Lyme disease left the 46-year-old disabled and suffering from chronic pain. Ash said she started the American Kratom Association after the herb helped her get off pain pills.

I cant imagine a life without kratom, she said. I dont know what Im going to do without it.

The nonprofit has gathered more than 140,000 signatures on its petition asking the Obama administration to stop the ban.

More than 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter urging Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan to use his authority to delay the planned action. The 22 Republicans and 29 Democrats also wrote to the DEAs acting administrator, Charles P. Rosenberg, to encourage him to halt the decision until the public has had a chance to weigh in.

Kruegel urges leaders to reduce the drug problem with education and appropriate medical treatment instead of prohibition.

Its time that we stop demonizing drug addicts and recreational drug users and start looking at practical and compassionate approaches, he said. The War on Drugs has been one of the greatest public policy failures of the last century.

Reporting by Amy Nile, AMI Newswire.

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GOP leaders say voter fraud exists and is a threat in Virginia

(Freedom.news) Republican leaders told reporters on Thursday that an alleged case of voter fraud in Harrisonburg, Virginia proves that those who say voter fraud is a myth are being naive.

Earlier this month, Andrew Spieles, a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, confessed to authorities he had filed voter registration forms for as many as 19 deceased individuals, including the father of a retired Virginia judge.

The fraudulent registrations were discovered when an assistant voter registrar noticed the name on one of the forms matched that of the deceased father of retired judge Richard Claybrook.

Claybrook told AMI Newswire the Harrisonburg registrars office contacted him before it sent a confirmation of registration letter addressed to his father at his mothers home.

Claybrook said the idea that someone would use his name in such a manner was disgusting.

My dad was a law abiding citizen who served his country in World War II, and his community as an educator, Claybrook said. This situation is just appalling to me and my mother.

Claybrook notified Commonwealths Attorney Marsha Garsts office, which is looking into the allegations.

The FBI is also investigating, and is reviewing all the voter registration forms submitted by HarrisonburgVOTES, the group Spieles was working with when he submitted the illegal forms.

The group has disavowed Spieles, who was fired once the allegations became known.

The Harrisonburg registrars office said it will cancel the registration forms Spieles submitted containing the names of deceased persons.

Delegate Rob Bell, who is also a GOP candidate for the partys 2017 attorney general nomination, said it was only a good catch, and extraordinary diligence by a deputy registrar that caught this.

Howell said voter fraud is difficult to prosecute. Nevertheless, he said Virginia voters should be alarmed by it, because the allegations are proof that voter fraud exists and is a threat.

Howell cited a 2012 case from Northern Virginia, where 17 voters cast ballots in both Fairfax County and in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Virginia enacted a law in 2013 requiring individuals to present photo identification before being allowed to cast a ballot. Virginias Democratic party challenged the laws constitutionality in federal court.

In May, 2016, Federal District Judge Henry Hudson ruled the law was constitutional, and had no discriminatory intent toward minority voters.

In a 2015 report for the Brennan Center for Justice titled The Truth About Voter Fraud, author Justin Levitt said actual cases of fraud are extraordinarily rare.

This is because fraud by individual voters is a singularly foolish and ineffective way to attempt to win an election, Levitt said.

Each act of voter fraud in connection with a federal election risks five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, in addition to any state penalties. In return, it yields at most one incremental vote. That single extra vote is simply not worth the price, Levitt said.

Bell called the states voter ID law the last line of defense against voter fraud.

Republican Delegate Mark Cole said part of the challenge in crafting such voting requirements is striking the right balance between ease of registration, and maintaining the integrity of elections.

Voter fraud is an issue in Virginia, Cole said. Anybody who says its not is being naive.

Reporting by Norman Leahy, AMI Newswire.

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U.S. suspending all contact with Russia as White House declares there is nothing more to talk about

(NationalSecurity.news) Following weeks of deteriorating diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Russia over Syria  to the point where the U.S. has now placed additional military options on the table  Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a nuclear pact with Washington on Monday, Reuters reports, indicating his willingness to play the nuclear card with the United States.

Reports the news agency:

Starting in the last years of the Cold War, Russia and the United States signed a series of accords to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenals, agreements that have so far survived intact despite a souring of U.S.-Russian relations under Putin.

But on Monday, Putin issued a decree suspending an agreement, concluded in 2000, which bound the two sides to dispose of surplus plutonium originally intended for use in nuclear weapons.

Putins decree, released by the Kremlin on Monday, cites unfriendly acts by Washington as motivating factors for the move. Under the accord, the U.S. and Russia were each to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium  enough for about 17,000 nuclear warheads.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on President Putins move on Monday, stated: The Obama administration has done everything in its power to destroy the atmosphere of trust which could have encouraged cooperation.

The agency added: We want Washington to understand that you cannot, with one hand, introduce sanctions against us where it can be done fairly painlessly for the Americans, and with the other hand continue selective cooperation in areas where it suits them.

Diplomacy between the U.S. and Russia in Syria appears to have cratered entirely, in fact. On Monday, officials from both countries indicated that talks of any potential ceasefire in Middle Eastern nation have completely fallen apart.

All contacts between the military have been stopped of late, TASS reported Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying, adding there has been no exchange of information.

Then, in a statement issued by the U.S. Department of State, spokesman John Kirby said:

The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities. This is not a decision that was taken lightly. The United States spared no effort in negotiating and attempting to implement an arrangement with Russia aimed at reducing violence, providing unhindered humanitarian access, and degrading terrorist organizations operating in Syria, including Daesh and al Qaeda in Syria.

So  for now, at least  it appears any pretext at diplomacy regarding Syria has evaporated, as the worlds two greatest superpowers continue to jockey for dominance in the war-torn region.

In addition to these ominous developments, the White House has very publicly shut off any further diplomatic discussions with Moscow. On Monday White House spokesman Josh Earnest declared ominously that everybodys patience with Russia is running out, adding, there is nothing more for the United States and Russia to talk about.

As for Russia, Bloomberg News reported, its foreign ministry has sent a much more conciliatory  if not equally ominous  response. We urge the U.S. to assess the situation once more in light of how their actions appear before the world. The stakes are very high, a statement from the ministry said.

All of this comes as Russia conducts the largest civilian nuclear drill in years. The Sun reports:

Russia is holding a massive evacuation drill for more than 40million people to prepare for nuclear war.

More than 200,000 emergency services personnel and soldiers will use 50,000 pieces of equipment during the massive civil defence exercise.

The former Soviet nation is ramping up fears over nuclear war and blaming the West for the unsettling possibility of a conflict.

As international tension builds following attacks in Syria, Russian state officials are preparing terrified citizens for a nuclear war  which they say would be started by America.

Todays exercise is being run by EMERCOM, Russias Emergencies Ministry.

Its not clear whether this drill will change anyones mind in Washington about opening up a dialogue again. And its uncertain as to why the Obama administration continues to pursue a policy of unseating Syrian President Bashar al Assad, especially after helping to depose other former leaders of Middle East countries has led to such turmoil and chaos.

Reporting by James Holbrooks, Underground Reporter. NationalSecurity.news also contributed to this report. Article published under a Creative Commons license.

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Indian politics in trouble: Mahatma's grandson

Delhi,National,Politics, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Expressing alarm over the politics-money nexus, former West Bengal Governor and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Tuesday said Indian politics was in danger.

"Today, politics is in trouble; the word politics now suggests intrigue, manipulation and rivalry, every conceivable form of rivalry ranging from simple envy to most complicated and psychopathic jealousy," said Gandhi, who was conferred the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award at the Vigyan Bhavan here.

The 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award was conferred on Gandhi for excellence in public administration, academics and management.

"Politics has come to being something which simple people are wary of and keep a distance from. The word politicians are in even greater trouble. It conjures the image of a person who is one thing in appearance and another in reality," Gandhi said durign his acceptance speech.

"This is more than a pity -- it is a tragedy," said the former diplomat.

Observing that politics not long ago meant "public service of the highest order", Gandhi said unlike earlier, politicians now make calculated moves.

"Politicians of today don't walk, they make moves. Like chess players -- some moving sideways and then leaping forward; some take two steps at a time, replacing the one ahead," he said.

Reflecting on corruption, Gandhi questioned why the country did not get the Lokpal.

"Why is Lokpal still eluding us? Why are whistleblowers still in danger?"

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, who presented the award to Gandhi, hailed late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for his leadership role during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Reminiscing his memories of the 1965 war as a school boy, Justice Thakur said: "War is a very very scary and unnerving experience. I have seen how bodies of the soldiers lay scattered on the ground. I have seen severed legs of soldiers being eaten by dogs. It's very unnerving."

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Deputy Prime Minister and BJP veteran L.K. Advani were among several dignitaries present on the occasion.

--IANS

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Punjab border area schools to reopen on Wednesday

Punjab,National,Defence/Security,Education, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

Chandigarh, Oct 4 (IANS) The Punjab government has ordered that schools in the border belt of the state would reopen from Wednesday

"All schools in border belt will open from tomorrow (Wednesday). These had been had been closed due to security reasons," Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said on Tuesday.

All schools, which were situated within the border area of 10 km from the international border with Pakistan, had been ordered closed on Thursday last week following the Indian Army's surgical strikes at the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terror pads.

"This decision has been taken keeping in mind that the students are in the midst of the academic session and that their studies are being affected," Cheema said.

The Punjab government, based on directions from the Union Home Ministry, has also ordered the evacuation of villages in the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Fazilka.

Though thousands of people were evacuated, many of others refused to move out of their homes in the border villages, saying that they had to tend to their properties, crops and cattle.

Punjab shares a 553-km long international border with Pakistan.

--IANS

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AAP minister rakes up Burhan at tourism event, Mehbooba hits back (Roundup)

Delhi,National,Kashmir,Politics,Terrorism, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Drama unfolded at a tourism event here on Tuesday as Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti if she considered slain militant Burhan Wani a terrorist and said that tourism and terrorism cannot co-exist. An emotional Mehbooba hit back by referring to crimes against women in the capital and how her state was the "safest" place for them in the country.

However, even before the Chief Minister could respond, Mishra, refusing to share the stage with her, walked out of the event after his comments.

"Can tourism and terrorism go together? How will tourism grow in India? Before leaving she (Mehbooba) has to tell us if she considers Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru terrorists," he said.

Some people in the gathering stood up to protest and asked Mishra to desist from making such remarks.

But he said he would leave only after saying what he has to, and it would not take much time.

"It cannot happen that you (Mehbooba) do not accept that Burhan Wani was a terrorist, and seek boost in tourism," Mishra said.

"You say (executed Parliament attack convict) Afzal Guru is not a terrorist, and that he should not be hanged. And then you seek boost in tourism. How will tourism grow? It won't grow.

"It is very painful that terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir.... I don't feel like sharing the stage with Mehbooba Mufti, I will go out," he said before stalking out.

In response, Mehbooba Mufti referred to the increasing number of crimes against women in Delhi.

"Of all the places in the country, girls and women are the safest in Kashmir. They cannot be raped in a moving car. They move around in shikaras and houseboats," she said.

"Kashmir needs you, I don't know whether you need us. Biggest confidence building measure is if you visit our state; it will show that you trust us," she added.

Referring to beauty of Indian democracy, she gave instances related to life of her father and late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

She said when a group of Pakistani journalists visited the state, they were surprised to see how situation was far better than what was portrayed to them.

She said they also visited Kashmir University where they witnessed slogan-shouting by students who later returned to their classes.

She said that at a dinner later with her father, the Pakistani journalists expressed surprise at how easily the hostile slogan shouting was tackled and situation eased after students returned to their classes.

She said her father told them that it was a reflection of the depth of India's democracy.

The event, the 'Bharat International Travel Bazaar', also attended by Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma and Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, was co-hosted by the Delhi government.

Later, addressing reporters, Mishra said: "If Mehbooba doesn't answer these questions, then the BJP will have to answer. What is the compulsion to keep such people on the chair who don't love the nation, and don't recognise Burhan and Afzal as terrorists."

Asked if the party agrees with his views, the Minister said that not just his party, but the entire nation, including RSS, is asking these questions.

"Mehbooba Mufti is anti-national... She is not willing to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. She is not willing to say Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru are terrorists. It is betrayal of the nation to keep her sitting on the CM's chair," he added.

Reacting to Mishra's remarks, the BJP dubbed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders as "anarchists".

"This party is working like an anti-national party, whether it is the case of Jawaharlal Nehru University or the case of its Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is acting and speaking as the spokesperson of Hafiz Saeed," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit chief Satish Upadhyay told IANS.

--IANS

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Venkaiah slams leaders 'speaking language of Pakistan'

Delhi,National,Politics,Art/Culture/Books, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Union Information & Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition for "speaking the language of Pakistan" and seeking proof of India's surgical strikes across the border.

"Some people are today speaking the language of Pakistan..... There is no need of any proof of Pakistan aiding and abetting terrorism," asserted Naidu speaking at a launch ceremony of book "Modi's Midas Touch in Foreign Policy" by former diplomat Surendra Kumar.

The minister asserted that soon such political leaders would "realise their mistakes" in endorsing the views of Pakistan.

A visibly-irked Naidu said Islamabad has never "walked the talk" for seeking a peaceful solution to problems and also in reference to the "assurance" it gave in 2004 that its territory would not be allowed to be used for terror activities.

He said that "India wants peace with all neighbouring countries including Pakistan", but added that Islamabad has not reciprocated the Indian gestures of friendship especially during last two years.

Naidu said some leaders are indulging in "irresponsible talk" by demanding proof of surgical strikes as these only show their "lack" of confidence in and respect for Indian army.

The strong remarks come in the wake of demands from some Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including P. Chidambaram and Arvind Kejriwal, that the government needs to give proof of the recent surgical strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the last two-and-a-half years, has shown "incredible skill" in making new friends and establishing stronger bonds with old friends.

He said Modi has particularly given new dimension in the foreign policy in his dealings with African countries and while visiting and interacting with smaller Pacific Ocean based island nations and Indian diaspora across the world.

"Such leadership has changed the scenario," he said and specially mentioned about improved ties with countries like Iran and United Arab Emirates.

Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had hailed Indira Gandhi for defeating Pakistan in the 1971 war, Naidu said the nation needs to stand united when forces inimical to India and its progress are bent upon disrupting the socio-economic fabric of the nation.

"Political considerations should be kept out of security operations," he said.

Former diplomat Lalit Mansingh, who also spoke, however, said the book was written little ahead of its time as it says "India cannot conduct surgical strikes or use drones".

"I do not blame the author Surendra Kumar for this. Circumstances have overcome him. Now you have to eat your words," said the former Foreign Secretary.

BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and Tarun Vijay also spoke at the event.

--IANS

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Russia delivers S-300 missile system to Syria

Russian Federation,Defence/Security,Terrorism,Diplomacy, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

Moscow, Oct 5 (IANS) A battery of Russian S-300 air defence missile launchers has been transported to Syria, Russias Defence Ministry said in a statement. Its sole purpose is to defend a Russian naval base and warships, the ministry added.

The information about the S-300's deployment was confirmed by ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

"Indeed, the Syrian Arab Republic received an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. This system is designed to ensure the safety of the naval base in (Syrian city of) Tartus and ships located in the coastal area (in Syria)..." he was quoted by RT online as sayiing.

Konashenkov said it is unclear why the deployment of the missile system has created such a fuss in the West.

"The S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat," he said.

He recalled that before the deployment of S-300, Russia had delivered Fort air defense missile systems to Syria.

The statement comes after a report by Fox news that a Russian S-300 was deployed to Syria. The media cited three US officials who claimed that Moscow "continues to ramp up its military operations in Syria."

In November 2015, Moscow deployed its newest S-400 air defense missile system to Khmeimim in Syria as part of a security boost following the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey near the border with that country. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the S-400 systems are not targeting Russia's partners, "with whom we fight terrorists in Syria together."

The S-400 is the most advanced anti-aircraft defense system in Russia.

--IANS

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BJP protests Kejriwal's 'pro-Pakistan stance', demands resignation

Delhi,National,Politics,Terrorism,Defence/Security, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The BJP Delhi unit on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of acting as "Pakistan's spokesperson" and held a protest outside his official residence here to press for his resignation.

Hundreds of protesters, led by Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, raised slogans against the Chief Minister outside his Civil Lines residence.

Activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the minority cell also joined in the protest.

They shouted: "Jo Hafiz Saeed ka yaar hai, desh ka gaddar hai (friends of Hafiz Saeed are traitors)." Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is a co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and chief of now-banned Jamaat-ud-Daawa.

The Delhi Police later used mild force to disperse the protesters.

On Monday, Kejriwal hailed Modi for taking strict action against Pakistan and urged him to "expose the false propaganda" being spread by Islamabad.

In a short video message, the AAP leader focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strikes were ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control. He had urged Modi to fight Pakistan's propaganda "just like we have been fighting Pakistan on ground".

The Congress had said that by retweeting Pakistan's false propaganda, the AAP leader had actually given credence and publicity to Islamabad's point of view that no surgical strikes ever happened.

"He is talking like a spokesperson of Pakistan and speaking in Saeed's language. He is also demoralising the military of India," Upadhyay told reporters.

"The (Indian) Director General of Military Operations held a press conference to announce the surgical strikes. He (Kejriwal) is raising questions on the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, which doesn't behove of a person in his position," Upadhyay said.

"He should feel ashamed and resign," the BJP leader added.

Upadhyay said the BJP will intensify its protest against Kejriwal.

The Indian army on September 28 night carried out surgical strikes across the LoC and destroyed seven terror launch pads.

The strikes followed a terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of Kashmir on September 18, in which 19 soldiers were killed.

--IANS

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Cohesion, Fragility and the Challenge of Our Times: M. Hamid Ansari

Kolkata, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 NI Wire

Delivers Indira Gandhi Memorial Lecture of The Asiatic Society

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has delivered the Indira Gandhi Memorial Lecture of The Asiatic Society, in Kolkata,yesterday. The Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, the President of The Asiatic Society, Prof. Isha Mahammad and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Following is the text of Vice President's Lecture:

"This is a rare honour. I feel humbled by your decision to confer on me the 2015 Indira Gandhi Memorial Lectureship of The Asiatic Society.

This institution is of ancient vintage. Its founder found time, and inclination, to combine his colonial pursuits with serious scholarly inclinations and to inscribe an expansive objective in its Memorandum of Articles delineating its area of work. 'The bounds of its investigations', it said, 'would be the geographical limits of Asia and within these limits its enquiries will be extended to whatever is performed by MAN or produced by NATURE.'

Three years later, in 1787, he spelt out his personal objective in a letter to Lord Althorp: 'it is my ambition to know India better than any other European ever knew it.'

Colonial rule ended in August 1947. The institution created by Sir William Jones, and some others like it remained relevant and continue to do good work of investigating and understanding the work of Man and of Nature. If the primary objective of the colonial rulers was to understand India to control and rule it more effectively and exploit it more thoroughly, the task bestowed on usyesterday as the citizen-body of the Republic is to assess and comprehend the direction of change achieved, or is desirable, to fulfil the ideals set out in the Preamble of the Constitution.

The political and administrative integration of post-independence India was at times an exercise in 'blood and iron' and achieved in 1947-48. The achievement, and its limitation, was commented upon authoritatively by its principal architect, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel:

'Almost overnight we have introduced in these (Princely) States the super-structure of modern system of government. The inspiration and stimulus has come from above rather than from below and unless the transplanted growth takes a healthy root in the soil, there will be a danger of collapse and chaos.

This was amplified by V.P. Menon who played a critical role in the endeavour:

'We had demolished the artificial barriers between the States inter se and the rest of India and had indeed laid the foundations for an integrated administrative and financial structure. But the real integration had to take place in the minds of the people. This could not be accomplished overnight. It would take some time for the people of erstwhile States to outgrow their regional loyalties and to develop a wider outlook and a broader vision'.

This integration of minds extended beyond the formerly princely states and covered the rest of the country also. The reason for this was the presence of human diversities that are both hierarchical and spatial; hence the necessity of building the political structure keeping in mind the need to accommodate linguistic, religious and caste sentiments that together account for the 4,635 communities 78 percent of whom are not only linguistic and cultural but social categories including religious minorities amounting to 19.4 percent of the population; of these, Muslims account for 13.4 percent amounting in absolute terms to around 180 million.

Much has happened in the past seven decades. A complex Indian reality has emerged. There is much to celebrate, much to ponder over. Sociologists have argued that the requirement is of 'a broad societal rather than a just political perspective.' Some years back the late George Verghese had noted the emerging trends of opinion, observed that 'a culture of silence has yielded to protest,' and suggested that 'we need instrumentalities of communication, education, institutions and policies to help negotiate the country's myriad diversities in the years ahead.'

Two eminent scholars of socio-economic development in modern India have noted that 'the societal reach of economic progress in India has been remarkably limited', adding that the agenda for political, economic and social democracy remains unfinished because of continued disparity between the lives of the privileged and the rest and because of persistent ineptitude and unaccountability in the way the economy and society are organised.

Given the dimensions of the challenge, the relevance of the course of action suggested by Bhimrao Ambedkar to his followers many years before independence needs to be recalled: 'My final words of advice to you is educate, agitate and organize, have faith in yourself, and never lose hope.

It has been opined that the modern state is a fictive entity that also maintains a stubborn reality. This necessitates the effort to make it acceptable and trustworthy to its citizens through a state structure and practices that provide physical and emotional security by making it sufficiently accommodative. It leads us to interrogate the evident. The quest could, as with Ananya Vajpeye, begin with the search for self in modern India and in going beyond a series of binaries like modernity/tradition, secular/religious, Hindu/Muslim, the social/the transcendental, egalitarianism/inequality, modern political society/premodern cultural communities.

Each of these compels us to question the obvious and the manifest. Thus the de jure WE, the sovereign people in the first line of the Preamble is in reality a fragmented 'we', divided by yawning gaps that remain to be bridged.

This exercise was conducted in the Constituent Assembly and is reflected in its totality in the Preamble to the Constitution. It sought to attain Justice (social, economic and political); Liberty (of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship); Equality (of status and of opportunity); and promotion of Fraternity (assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation).

The Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949 and formally came into force on January 26, 1950. Almost three years later Dr. Ambedkar, who chaired the drafting Committee gave a speech on Conditions Precedent for the Successful Working of Democracy wherein he defined democracy 'as a form and method of government whereby revolutionary changes in the economic and social life of the people are brought about without bloodshed.' He went on list the essential ingredients of a working democracy: (a) absence of glaring inequalities; (b) presence of an opposition; (c) equality in law and administration; (d) observance of constitutional morality; (e) avoidance of tyranny of majority over minority; (f) a functioning of moral order in society; and (g) public conscience.

Given the overall sense of debates in the Constituent Assembly, it is safe to assume that this text reflected the general approach of those who drafted the document. At the same time, one does not have to be a sceptic to conclude that the last two in Ambedkar's list of requirements might be in short supplyyesterday, as also the avoidance of Mahatma Gandhi's Seven Social Sins inscribed on a tablet near his Samadhi at Raj Ghat in New Delhi!

These fissures raise questions. 'Democratic mobilization, while it has produced an intense struggle for power, has not delivered millions of citizens from abject dictates of poverty.'

Our questyesterday is to assess the balance between factors of cohesion and fragility in the polity and in the process to gauge the achievements and shortcomings on each of these counts - particularly on institutions, integration, empowerment, and identity - and gauge their impact on social cohesion in whose absence inclusive development would be impeded, even distorted. We would overlook at our own peril Ambedkar's caution about 'a life of contradictions.'

For this purpose, social cohesion may be defined as the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation; its absence, on the other hand, contributes to fragility.

Justice, it has been rightly said, is the first virtue of social institutions and in a just society the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests. It is therefore a matter of satisfaction to us as citizens that the bill of rights in our Constitution is comprehensive and includes a judicial mechanism for the enforcement of these rights.

Notwithstanding the formal position, however, the challenge of securing justice is a complex process and has been dwelt upon by Amartya Sen:

'The question to ask, then, is this: if the justice of what happens in a society depends on a combination of institutional features and actual behavioural characteristics, along with other influences that determine the social realizations, then it possible to identify 'just' institutions for a society without making them contingent on actual behaviour?...

'Indeed, we have good reasons for recognising that the pursuit of justice is partly a matter of the gradual formation of behaviour patterns  there is no immediate jump from the acceptance of some principles of justice and a total redesign of everyone's actual behaviour in line with that political concept of justice.'

The discussion thus leads us to assess the efficacy of institutions beginning with the ones relating to representative government. Universal adult franchise has given us an effective tool that has been exercised with great effect for over six decades at state and national levels and has been supplemented powerfully by the 73rd and 74th Amendments of 1992. We also hold that the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system has served us adequately. The Supreme Court in 1994 had characterised it as possessing 'the merit of preponderance of decisiveness over representativeness.'

Despite this, the FPTP continues to be the subject of considerable discussion. It has been argued that 'it has not been able to uphold majoritarianism in a multiparty system since the winning candidate wins only about 20-30 % of the votes.' In fact, in the 2014 general election only 117 of the 539 winning candidates secured 50% or more of the votes cast. This, in the context of the overall national voting percentage of 66.4% makes evident the actual representativeness of the elected representative. One study shows that it was 31% in 2014. This is accentuated by the unequal presence of weaker sections, especially women and minorities, in the power structure as reflected in elected bodies. In the 2014 general election, women constituted 11 per cent of the total elected Lok Sabha members and while some religious minorities are well represented, the representation of others is noticeable deficient.

A related question pertains to the financing of elections. It is corroding the system. A remedy may lie in state funding that will curb corruption by wealthy parties and support resource crunched parties; opinion on implementing it, however, is divided and this is reflected in the Law Commission Report.

yesterday, we are confronted by a paradox. While the registered voter participation in elections has steadily increased, the actual functioning of the legislatures has steadily decreased. The Lok Sabha, in the period 1952-1974 uniformly registered more than 100 sittings each year; the corresponding figure in the 2000-2015 period has never exceeded 85 and has in some years gone as low as 46. (The Rajya Sabha sittings in earlier years were at times fewer but now the two Houses adjourn on the same dates). As a consequence, scrutiny of proposed legislation is in many cases perfunctory; also, less time is available for seeking the accountability of the executive through procedural devices like questions, debates and discussion.

The picture in state legislatures is worse with some state assemblies being convened, in a pro forma exercise, for less than 10 days every year.

Thus while the public participation in the electoral exercise has noticeably improved, public satisfaction from the functioning of elected bodies is breeding cynicism with the democratic process itself. The imperative for a corrective is evident to reinforce public confidence in the ability of the system to deliver, as intended.

Representative governance functions at levels other than national. The Constitution was crafted in the context of its times. Its predecessor, the stillborn Government of India Act, 1935, visualised a transition from a unitary to 'a centralized federal system' with provision for 'accession' by the princely states. The text produced by Constituent Assembly depicted the Republic as 'a union of states', aptly described by Ambedkar as 'both unitary as well as federal according to the requirement of time and circumstances.' It was understood to be 'a live document in a society rapidly changing and almost frenetically political.'

Over succeeding decades, and contingent on issues and the balance of political forces, the debate over the operational modalities of the centre-state relations has developed. An early advocate of decentralization was C. Rajagopalachari 'who thought that the solution to centrifugal forces was to concede greater autonomy to the states.' The same line of argument was adopted by Tamil Nadu's Rajmannar Commission in its 1971 Report of the Centre-State Relations Inquiry Committee. Some years later, the Sarkaria Committee noted that 'while the Union-State relations were intended to be worked on the basis of co-operative federalism and consensus in all areas of common interest, they have not been so worked and the forums envisaged by the Constitution for that purpose have not been established.'.

Emanating from different quarters, and premised on the actual experience of political parties that came to power in state elections, a generalised approach was suggested that 'for proper and ideal Centre-State relations, there should be more powers for the States. To be more appropriate and precise, there should be autonomy for the States and federalism at the Centre.'

In recent years, and whenever a party in opposition to the ruling establishment in the Centre was in power in the State(s), somewhat similar views were articulated in Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. More specific demands for devolution of powers and for 'autonomy' have also been made in Jammu & Kashmir and in Nagaland.

The debate on co-operative federalism was rekindled after the last general election. A meeting of the Inter State Council, envisaged under Article 263, was held on July 16 this year after a gap of a decade. Several strident comments on Centre-State relation relations and for 'a radical rearrangements of the Union-State relationship' were articulated. The Prime minister, on his part, said his government's 'main aim has been to promote federalism, be it cooperative or competitive.'

The Inter State Council however is not a permanent body and is not viewed by many as satisfying the demand for 'a truly federalist structure of governance(since) the liberalised economy requires that the Centre expand the co-operation with the states on issues relating to land, natural resources and investment. It is time to enhance, and not reduce, states' powers.'

This demand for devolution of powers is, however, selective and there is a marked propensity in most states to deny or delay financial empowerment of local bodies under the 73rd and 74th Amendments.

Can we do better?

A scholar has noted that 'the trajectories of federalism and democracy in India have thus frequently intersected, with more federalism containing the potential for greater democratisation. In neither case, however, is there cause for complacency, for both projects have yet to realise their fullest potential.' One observer of the national scene has argued that 'the metaphors with which we like to think of the federal arrangement are outdated,' that 'the idea of centre and periphery creates the sense of the marginality of the outer, instead of the diversity of the whole' and that 'the current politics can create an empty or indifferent Centre, enacting a form of federalism where the whole is less than the sum of the parts.'

In technical parlance, the Indian Union is an 'asymmetrical federation' and instances of it exist in the text of the Constitution itself. This suggests the need for a wider, reinvigorated, perspective on the shape of the Union of India. Such an exercise would challenge the maturity and creative capacity of the polity and should be welcomed.

Liberty, equality and fraternity form, as Ambedkar put it, a trinity and divorcing one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. Liberty necessitates accommodation and acceptance of the 'other'; this generates fraternity. The critical link in this chain is provided by equality  substantive and not merely formal.

It was assessed a few years back that poverty rates in the country have declined substantially going from 54.9 per cent of people in poverty in 1973-4 to 27.5 percent in 2004-5 as measured by the NSS.

This has improved further in the past decade. Despite it, three challenges remain:

Historical fault lines along gender, caste and religious boundaries that remain persistent;

Global forces have widened the disparities between big cities and villages and between more advanced states and those mired in economic doldrums;

Despite some noteworthy achievements, public institutions in most parts of the country have failed in delivering basic services.

Thus the ingredients that would help promote equality remain undelivered in many cases and unevenly distributed in others. It is these impulses that have shifted the political discourse from mere growth-centric to vociferous demands for affirmative action and militant protest politics. Urban middle class activism, often taking the form of violence, is being increasingly witnessed; Maoism is an extreme manifestation of it. Both are tending to exercise a new hegemony over civil society; both are also inviting a strong response from the state apparatus which is alleged by its proponents as 'endemic, extra-judicial and unaccounted violence.' One consequence of it is reflected in allegations of constraints on freedom of expression; another in dilution of efforts at promoting fraternity by constricting the accepted norms of pluralism in our society.

'Where does India's democratic project stand yesterday? is the question posed recently by an eminent political scientist. He opines that having successfully overcome the challenges posed by questions of procedural and social legitimacy, the crisis of 'moral legitimacy is perhaps the severest test yet' and has rekindled the impulse on the one side for 'a strong leader' to fix problems and on the other for 'a stronger participatory impulse that demands more information, accountability and transparency from the rulerswhere people act as watch dogs and vote-wieldersso that public policy is shaped by popular participation' since only thus 'will the overall life of the vulnerable and marginalised get better.'

Others in the same vein have argued that 'any form of direct democracy complements representative democracy and does not replace it. Introducing them therefore does not require an overhaul of our existing democratic set-up, but an addition to it. Committing ourselves 60 years ago to a representative democracy with universal adult suffrage was a progressive step. The time has come to further recommit ourselves to a deeper and more participatory and decentralised democracy  a democracy with greater congruence between people's interests and public policy.'

Do we then, as citizens of the Republic, stand at a crossroad undecided on how to proceed?

We have to acknowledge that the representation system in Indian democracy has fissures that need attendance, that claims of inclusiveness are only partially valid, that the objective of bestowing equality of opportunity to all citizens remains a promise particularly to the weakest segment, that demands and pressures generated by non-fulfilment of commitments emanating from the Constitution are propelling the state apparatus to resort at times to violent suppression accompanied by curtailment of some fundamental freedoms, that the inherent plurality of Indian society can be endangered by suggestions of uniformity, and that sufficient effort remains to be made to promote tolerance and acceptance as essential civic virtue essential for achievement of fraternity.

Immobility is not an option; nor is certitude bordering on smugness, or panic on an impending doom. A saner course may be to be receptive to the complexities of the Indian reality and its contradictions, respond to it in all its diversity and refrain from a priori solutions not embedded in ground realities. This is our creed and has been reiterated to be so by leaders of governments, past and present.

The question of its fuller implementation remains in the realm of public debate. This, to me, is the imperative challenge of our times.

Jai Hind.

Source: PIB
US Presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State has been blamed for chaos in Libya after she opposed, for personal reasons, a peace deal signed by Muammar Gaddafi to organize democratic elections in 2011, Dr Kilari Anand Paul; a US peace activist who oversaw the deal told the media.

In 2011, NATO forces had backed the Libyan revolution to topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafi blamed for decimating his own population.

Dr Kilari Anand Paul, a naturalized American of Indian origin, who oversaw peace efforts in Libya before the revolution told infowars.com that Hillary Clinton nixed the peace deal accepted by Gaddafi to end the political crisis in the country and to organize democratic elections.

Dr Paul, well-known for his peace initiatives, arrived in Libya on August 5, 2011 upon invitation from the Libyan ruler to assist in the peace efforts. After ten days of negotiation, Gaddafi agreed to end the conflict and organize democratic elections set to end his long reign in Libya.

The deal was rejected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who wanted the Libyan ruler gone.

According to the peace activist, Clinton wanted to set record straight with Gaddafi for refusing to back her for the run-up to the US 2008 election. Gaddafi chose Barack Obama over Hillary something the US presidential hopeful bitterly swallowed.

Its well known in Libya that Gaddafi supported Obama over Clinton in the run up to the 08 elections, although the Clinton team approached Gaddafis son, Saif al-Gaddafi, and asked the family to invest in Hillarys campaign and foundation, which they did not,

Libya has been embroiled in anarchy with several armed factions tearing the country apart for power. Terrorist organizations like the Islamic State (IS) have found fertile land in Libya following Gaddafis death. UN-backed unity government has been struggling to impose its authority.

Last month, a committee in the British parliament laid out a report pinning the Libyan debacle on former minister David Cameron assisted by Frances former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The report blamed the NATO leaders for ignoring Gaddafis positive moves.

They wanted him dead, the report stressed.
A Tunisian court has sentenced to death 31 convicted for 2014 terror attacks against then interior minister, a judicial official says.

The accused at large were condemned in absentia, Sofiene Sliti, judiciary spokesperson, said, adding that some of them are believed dead. The ruling was pronounced on Friday but was only made public on Monday.

The accused including Tunisians and Algerians are part of 46 people prosecuted for terror acts in 2014 against Lotfi Ben Jeddou, Tunisias then interior minister. The terrorists attacked his house in Kasserine while he was not there.

In addition to the death sentence, the 31 terrorists were also found guilty of willful homicide and membership in a terrorist group and handed additional 36 years in prison.

Among the 31 sentenced to death was Seifallah Ben Hassine; founder of the jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia, a group close to al Qaeda. He is believed killed in a US air raid in Libya in June last year.

The convicts also include Algerian jihadist Lokmane Abu Sakhr; head of Tunisian terrorist group Okba Ibn Nafaa also known as a local franchise of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He was probably killed in March this year in Kasserine in a lengthy confrontation with security forces.

Eight out of 15 other offenders were handed sentences ranging from three to ten years in prison for association with a terrorist group. The remaining seven were cleared and charges against them were dropped.

Since the overthrow of autocratic leader Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia has been unsettled and has been rocked by terror attacks.

In a hard drive against terrorism, authorities have adopted capital punishment for terrorists.
Hundreds of civilians currently trapped by fighting in Benghazi are facing the threat of starvation, Amnesty International warned.

The stranded civilians could die from lack of food and water as fighting between rival Libyan factions intensifies in Benghazi compelling besieged civilians to survive on rotten food and dirty water, the international right-watchdog said.

Amnesty International deplored that all roads are blocked by the fighting or by the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar leaving the besieged population without food, water and electricity.

The Organization said that 130 Libyan families and hundreds of foreign nationals have been trapped for months in the residential district of Gandoufa, in southwestern Benghazi, where tribal leaders fighting Islamist groups have ruled no children over the age of 14 should be allowed to leave that area alive  for fear they could be jihadists.

Several international groups have been appealing for the creation of safe corridors to evacuate civilians trapped in Ganfouda.

A military offensive named Operation Dignity was launched in mid-2014 by General Khalifa Haftar against Islamist militias and armed groups in Benghazi, which later formed a coalition known as the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries.

Two years on, the Libyan National Army under General Haftars command is carrying out repeated air strikes on areas under Shura Council control in Benghazi.
Maybe it was the Hofstra debate, maybe something else, but Hillary Clintons back on top. Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

With the release of a batch of new national polls Monday and Tuesday, it is now safe to say Hillary Clinton has rebuilt the small but steady lead she had over Donald Trump in early September. You can attribute it to the debate at Hofstra, or to the bad week Trump had in the ensuing days when he went all Mr. Hyde pretty heavily  it really does not matter. That moment when Trump seemed to be moving into the lead, to the shock of Democrats and the horror of financial markets and mainstream media, has abated.

Clinton has led in all nine four-way national polls that were in the field after the debates, including three iterations of Rasmussens tracking poll. Her lead in the RealClearPolitics polling averages in a four-way race is back up to 3.7 percent, a bit more than double its size the day before the debate. In two-way trial heats, the picture is the same, though Trump does continue to enjoy a steady 3- to 4-point lead in the USC/L.A. Times tracking poll, which has showed him continuously leading since September 12.

There hasnt been quite a luxurious volume of battleground-state polls in the last week, but those we have similarly indicate a small but significant Clinton bounce. Nate Silver calculates that shes led in 18 of 20 post-debate battleground-state polls, including surveys of states (e.g., Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, and Colorado) where she had been slipping (a Quinnipiac poll of Ohio is the only one showing her actually behind). Election forecasts have, unsurprisingly, been more bullish on Clinton since the debate; her win probability is up to 72 percent at FiveThirtyEight, 78 percent at the Upshot, and 80 percent at the betting-market aggregator PredictWise.

All in all, and for whatever reason, Clinton has reassumed a lead highly reminiscent of where Barack Obama ultimately wound up against Mitt Romney in 2012. Aside from the debate and Trumps bad week, Clinton is benefiting at the margins from a slow but steady decline in the minor-party vote; Johnson and Stein were drawing a combined 11.9 percent of the vote three weeks ago, according to RealClearPolitics; they are now down to below 10 percent most days. And these trends are separate from whatever intangible x-factor you assign to Clinton thanks to her advantages in paid media, field operations, and voter targeting.

Nate Cohn looks at all of the data and discerns a distinct boost in enthusiasm for Clinton among nonwhite voters, which is helping her in sunbelt states like Nevada, North Carolina, and, most crucially, Florida, the state without which Trump almost certainly cannot win. He concludes Clinton is clearly ahead, but Trump is still in striking distance. Nate Silver assesses the race according to the precedents:

If Trump manages to keep his deficit to 3 or 4 points heading into the second presidential debate on Sunday, his probability of a comeback will be a lot better than if hes down by something like 5 or 6 points instead. In recent elections, weve seen several shifts of 3 or 4 points late in the race, but not many of a larger magnitude than that.

So for those who fear or hate Trump, perhaps the best way to put it is that the wolf is still at the door, and you can still hear him howl in rage and frustration. But so far the deadbolt is intact, and times running out for the beast to figure out a way to get in.
A tap tap (public transportation) crosses the water left by the rain after Hurricane Matthew, in Port-au-Prince, on October 4, 2016. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Hurricane Matthew touched down in southwestern Haiti around 7 a.m. this morning, pummeling the island with 145-mile-per-hour winds, torrential rains, and turbulent seas. Forecasters predict the Category 4 storm, the strongest to slam Haiti in more than 50 years, could be catastrophic for the impoverished nation.

#Matthew made landfall near Les Anglais, Haiti at 7 am EDT. This is the first Category 4 #hurricane landfall in Haiti since Cleo in 1964. pic.twitter.com/0Ux7qriWBn  National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 4, 2016

Even before Matthew hit, Haiti felt its life-threatening force. Videos and pictures posted on social media capture wailing winds, darkened skies, and deluged roads on an island ill-equipped to deal with a natural disaster.

Pray for Haiti  #prayforhaiti #haiti A video posted by ChefJoe (@cheflakayselakay509_) on Oct 4, 2016 at 7:24am PDT

The predictions for Haiti are dire. Up to 40 inches of rain are expected in some parts, yielding flash floods and mudslides. Storm surges will rise up to ten feet, and shorelines will be under siege from squally, violent surf.

#HurricaneMatthew Water rising up to 3 m in some areas. Hundreds of flooded houses. @ACTED has 8 teams on the ground pic.twitter.com/64VKSp6skq  ACTED (@ACTED) October 4, 2016

Haiti, still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, lacks the infrastructure to withstand the brunt of the storm. Were expecting a lot of houses to go down because of the poor housing infrastructure in a lot of the rural areas where we work, John Hasse, an aid worker with World Vision, told USA Today. With wind this strong, it will be extremely damaging and dangerous and homes for the average person are made of mud and sticks or poorly constructed cinderblocks. Another aid group, Operation Blessing International, warned of a tsunami of cholera in the aftermath of the storm.

#Boutilliers getting some major gusts for the past 2hrs now! #MatthewHaiti from my balcony  pic.twitter.com/guS9sU98BG  gilbrius maximus (@GillesM_) October 4, 2016

This river water has come down from the hills of Jacmel, here in Leogane. #HurricaneMatthew #MatthewHaiti pic.twitter.com/CarYU0aDAV  Jacqueline Charles (@Jacquiecharles) October 4, 2016

From my backyard #MatthewHaiti Only have a few banana trees left. They are all down. Thinking about those who are in in the middle of it pic.twitter.com/8TiB1T1yeQ  Jo-Ann Garnier (@joanngarnier) October 4, 2016

Hurricane Matthew also threatens Haitis already shaky political stability. Haitis presidential elections are scheduled for Sunday, a do-over after Haiti threw out its presidential-election results last year over accusations of fraud, and canceled a runoff in January after violent protests.

.@cep_haiti to hold emergency meeting today on fate of Sunday's presidential and legislative elections. #MatthewHaiti  Jacqueline Charles (@Jacquiecharles) October 4, 2016

Hurricane Matthew is plodding toward eastern Cuba and the Bahamas Tuesday. About 300,000 people in the path of the storm were evacuated in Cuba, and about 700 Navy family members posted at Guantanamo Bay have been flown to Florida. Officials said the buildings at the detainee camp at Guantanamo should be able to withstand the current projected storm strength, though theres a plan in place to move the 61 remaining prisoners to alternate shelters, if needed.

High tide and wave action ahead of #HurricaneMatthew heavily damaged this beachfront restaurant at Siboney Beach #Cuba pic.twitter.com/zTslOCz7EU  Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) October 4, 2016

Ciudad de Baracoa se prepara para minimizar los danos por el paso del huracan #Matthew | #Cuba pic.twitter.com/jylNjFdkEv  CubanitoenCuba (@CubanitoenCuba) October 4, 2016

Matthew also walloped parts of Jamaica, with heavy rains and flooding.

A section of Marcus Garvey Drive at Industrial Terrace intersection washed away during heavy rains associated with #Matthew - @rmakyn pic pic.twitter.com/ZL4F3alc7y  Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) October 3, 2016

#HurricaneMatthew: Dangerous storm surge in Kingston; kid almost pulled out to sea as people watched the waves hit the shoreline. @NBC6 pic.twitter.com/E4GJYz1vLK  Michael Spears (@MichaelKIRO7) October 3, 2016

My sister sent me this. Hurricane Matthew in Jamaica yesterday. pic.twitter.com/DIoX7YQrCb  ev (@underpriv) October 4, 2016

The National Hurricane Center predicts that Matthew will remain a destructive, powerful storm through at least Wednesday night. Right now, the models are trending westward, which means Matthew could get pushed closer to the eastern coast of Florida or the Carolinas, with the potential to make landfall  possibly as a Category 2 storm, with winds at about 105 miles per hour. Florida governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, and North Carolina governor Pat McCrory activated a state of emergency in 66 counties near the coast.

A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Florida from the 7 Mile Bridge to south of Deerfield Beach #Matthew https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/p7WfsMHU89  National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 4, 2016

Parts of Florida are already under a tropical-storm watch. Matthew could approach the southeastern coast by Thursday and, if current models hold, track up the Atlantic seaboard near the Carolinas at the start of the weekend, then head up to Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Even our beloved CMC trending east coast style with #Matthew over its last few runs. Threat increasing for multiple land impacts thru wknd pic.twitter.com/KBZela8tVc  John Kassell (@JPKassell) October 4, 2016

New York City, New England, and much of the East Coast now in the "cone" for Hurricane Matthew this weekend: pic.twitter.com/hC8UCPUXLL  Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) October 4, 2016

And just to keep things interesting, Tropical Storm Nicole has formed in the Atlantic Ocean. But unlike her older sibling Matthew, she poses no threat to land right now.
Photo: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president whos previously called President Obama a son of a whore, was back at it in Manila on Tuesday. In a speech about his brutal war on drugs, Duterte said the United States should have supported his crackdown instead of criticizing him for a campaign of extrajudicial killings. Then he told President Obama to go to hell.

Duterte suggested that he will begin working to break up with the United States and mentioned how much more friendly Russia and China have been to him. Both nations have offered to supply the Philippines with weapons that Duterte says the United States has refused to sell him.

As for his verbal outbursts, Duterte defends them even as allies have begun to call on him to cut it out. When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult, he said. That is my retaliation.
Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage

On Tuesday, MSNBCs Morning Joe turned its attention to the recent revelations of Donald Trumps epic feats of tax avoidance. The ensuing discussion illustrated so much of what ails 2016 punditry, its worth quoting at length:

Joe Scarborough: Hillary Clinton is more in the pocket of Wall Street than anybody else who has run for president for years. So please, anybody who is looking at Donald Trump and going, Oh, hes so horrible, hes so corrupt. Oh, we need to elect Hillary Clinton because shes gonna fix the system. No, its not gonna happen, so where do they go?







Mike Barnicle: I realize its hard to do, but has anyone taken a look at Donald Trumps big tax plan that he announced about two weeks ago in New York City? Did he address any of the things that he took advantage of?



Mika Brzezinski: I totally agree with you, Mike. I agree with you. Im just telling you, Im watching these two candidates. And theres one thats just kinda doing this thing that penetrates the ether. The people are hearing, they feel, the truth from Donald Trump.



Barnicle: And that is on Secretary Clinton, that she hasnt told us, really, where she wants to go, where she wants to take us.



Brzezinski: And I think the reaction to this New York Times story, on Donald Trumps part, was brilliant. And the thing is, he didnt even think twice about it. He just went there, while she has been hiding this speech money, hiding this foundation stuff, hiding this email stuff, and trying to get around it. Mistakes were made. And Im telling you, people dont, they are not feeling a complete connection with her. And this doesnt help, to get all high and mighty, to get off your high horse. Unless laws were broken, its not an issue. You guys cancel each other out.

.@morningmika to Clinton: Get off your high horse about this tax thing. Unless laws were broken, it's not an issue. https://t.co/u23j8b83dY  Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) October 4, 2016

The copious problems with this analysis all flow from three basic premises:

1. Policy and reality dont matter.

2. Personality and perception do.

3. The political media has no responsibility to try to change these facts.

First, lets take Scarboroughs opening salvo: To say that Hillary Clinton is more in the pocket of Wall Street than anybody else who has run for president is to pretend that policy agendas dont exist. Clinton has certainly collected a tremendous amount of campaign donations from the finance industry. As the front-runner  and the one remaining candidate whose election isnt widely considered a threat to the global economy  it makes sense that Wall Street would invest in her.

But to say that she is more in the pocket of Wall Street than her opponent is to suggest that she is more likely to do the finance industrys bidding once she gains power. This is factually wrong, as my colleague Jonathan Chait recently observed:



[T]he reality is that Clinton favors strengthening the already-tough regulations on Wall Street created by Dodd-Frank, by levying a risk fee on the largest banks and tightening the Volcker Rule. Trump, on the other hand, proposes close to dismantling of Dodd-Frank, which, he claims, has made it impossible for bankers to function.



One doesnt need to personally trust Clinton to know she will be tougher on Wall Street than her opponent. For Clinton, the political price of repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Dodd-Franks other reforms is immense  she would lose the support of an enormous swath of her partys base. This is not the case for Trump, who has lost none of his base since calling for a moratorium on financial regulations.

Next, Barnicle, to his credit, tries to inject some substance into the conversation. Following the revelation that Trump had claimed a $916 million loss in 1995, and thus had likely avoided income taxes for more than a decade afterward, the GOP nominee offered this reply:

I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them. #failing@nytimes  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2016

But as soon as Barnicle alludes to the fact that Trump has no intention of fixing the tax system (at least, not in the sense of repairing it), this reality is tossed aside so the panelists can return their focus to perception: The people are hearing, they feel, the truth from Donald Trump.

The panelists then promptly absolve themselves of responsibility for this misperception, faulting Clinton for failing to tell us where she wants to go, where she wants to take us.

But this is demonstrably untrue. On Monday in Toledo, Ohio, Clinton tied her attack on Trumps tax avoidance to his broader policy agenda, which lavishes benefits on the wealthy. She then contrasted this with her own tax plan, which would raise the top marginal rate for high earners and close the carried interest loophole.



The Democratic nominee has presented her tax policy in more detail than her opponent. She has championed it on the stump, at the first debate, and over social media. If people dont know where she wants to take us, the fault lies, at least in part, with the pundits who share their ignorance.

This failure to correct public misperceptions is even more glaring in Brzezinskis ensuing suggestion that Trump has been forthright and transparent in reacting to scandals, while Clinton has been hiding the speech money, hiding the foundation stuff, hiding the email stuff.

The idea that Clinton has hidden speaking fees (which we know about from the tax returns that she has made public) whereas Trump has been charmingly transparent about his tax history (which he has broken decades of precedent to conceal) is mind-bending.

The Clinton Foundation does raise legitimate questions about conflicts of interest. But so does the Trump Organization. And Clinton has agreed to drastically scale back the charity upon her election, while Trump has offered no coherent plan for reducing the conflicts of interest his business will present. Its true that some of Clintons emails from her time as secretary of State remain missing. But its also true that the public has gained access to more of the Democratic nominees professional correspondence than that of any major-party candidate in memory.

To be fair, Brzezinski is ostensibly offering an analysis of public perception, not reality. In a tonal sense, Trump appears to have owned up to the revelation, rebranding it as evidence of his unique qualifications for fixing the tax code he exploited. Clinton, by contrast, gets technical and defensive when confronted with her speaking fees or use of a private email server.

Trumps response reads as more transparent. But only if one ignores that what hes saying is often a lie.

Brzezinski concludes by advising Clinton to get off your high horse and abandon the tax issue, because unless laws were broken, its not an issue. You guys cancel each other out.

The Washington Posts Greg Sargent makes a strong case that Brzezinskis read of the politics here may be wrong. But as a substantive matter, the fact that laws werent broken is precisely why Trumps tax avoidance is an issue  specifically, an issue of tax policy.

Should businesses be allowed to offset net operating losses against money earned in the future? Here, focusing on the substance of the matter may aid Trumps cause  the argument for this arrangement is actually compelling.

But Trumps return also draws attention to smaller  but less defensible  tax breaks exclusive to real-estate developers. As Allan Sloan writes in the Washington Post:

By my read of the Trump tax return published by the New York Times, he would have been tax-free because of a $15,818,562 loss reported on Line 11 of the return under Rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, trusts, etc. It looks to me that this loss reflects the outrageous, special tax break that real estate developers  like Trump can get, but that the rest of us cant.



To give you the brief version, people who qualify as real estate developers or managers can use depreciation deductions to offset non-real-estate income. But people who dont qualify for this special treatment cant do that.



In other words, by claiming that one of his real-estate holdings had depreciated in value, Trump could subtract that depreciation from his Apprentice paycheck. And as the New York Times James Stewart notes, depreciation itself is largely an accounting conceit.

The theory is that real estate loses value over time and is eventually worthless, Stewart writes in a recent column. As everyone surely knows, most real estate has historically appreciated in value.

Now, when a developer eventually sells a given property, the jig is up: If the asset has actually increased in value, then the mogul has to pay taxes on that appreciation. Except if that developer invests those profits back into another, more valuable real-estate property  then the gain goes untaxed.

The Obama administration has called for repealing this loophole. Trumps tax plan retains it.

Whats more, while Trump has called for closing the capital gains loophole, his new 15 percent rate on corporate and business income would actually decrease the tax liabilities facing real-estate investors and hedge-fund managers.

The Republican nominee has also called for allowing real-estate investors to expense capital investments  and deduct interest on loans  a policy combination that even George W. Bushs advisory panel on tax reform found absurd, as it would result in a net tax subsidy to new investment  Projects that would not be economical in a no-tax world might become viable just because of the tax subsidy.

All of which is to say: Trump has claimed that his past exploitation of the tax code makes him uniquely prepared to fix it. But his actual tax policy makes it clear that this is only true if he means that he is uniquely prepared to rig the system for his own benefit.

Clinton has claimed that Trumps exploitation of the tax system reveals how the system is rigged for the wealthy  and that the Republican nominee will only make the system more generous for people like him.



Trumps response to the New York Times story is false. Clintons is largely true. These positions do not cancel each other out.

To be sure, a morning roundtable is not going to be well-positioned to dig into the nitty-gritty of real-estate tax policy. And the hosts of Morning Joe are hardly the only pundits who often privilege perception over reality, and personality over policy.

But by relentlessly reminding voters of what they already believe  instead of working to bring their beliefs into better alignment with the reality of the choice they face this November  political commentators do their audience a disservice.

The *one* issue Millennials prefer Trump to Clinton on: bank regulation! https://t.co/w2hBlZTLCC pic.twitter.com/l0XHl2CRfv  Will Jordan (@williamjordann) September 29, 2016

And when the horse race is over and reality asserts itself, the consequences of that disservice can be profound.


Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

For 90 minutes on Tuesday night, America will get a reminder of what politics was like before it was taken hostage by a reality-TV star. While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spent much of the last debate lobbing insults at each other, their running mates are the opposite of combative and colorful  unless youre into harmonica music. Mike Pence, the Republican, is the soft-spoken governor of Indiana, and a former six-term congressmember. Tim Kaine, the Democrat with nice dad charm, as Bustle put it, is the U.S. senator from Virginia, and the states former governor. Theyre expected to try to win over undecided voters with a relatively calm debate focused on policy issues (though, if they really wanted to win over Americans, theyd agree to let Joe Biden and Paul Ryan debate again in their stead).

Heres a guide to get you up to speed for the Pence-Kaine showdown. Be sure to check back tonight for Andrew Sullivans liveblog and complete debate coverage from the New York politics team.

When and where is the debate being held?

Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. The debate will run from 9:0010:30 p.m. EST with no commercial breaks.

How can I watch it?

The debate will air on all major networks and cable-news channels. You can also stream the debate online via Facebook (with ABC News coverage), Twitter (with Bloomberg coverage), and YouTube (with coverage from PBS, Fox News, Telemundo, Bloomberg, NBC News, and the Washington Post). Youll also find feeds on many websites, including C-SPAN, CNN, and Politico. Basically, itll be hard to avoid.

Stand-ins onstage during rehearsals ahead of the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University on October 3, 2016. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Whos moderating?

Elaine Quijano, a CBS News correspondent and anchor for CBSN, the networks 24-hour streaming-news service. Quijano, who is Filipino-American, will be the first Asian-American to moderate a general-election debate. At 42, shes also the youngest moderator since Judy Woodruff moderated in 1988 at 41.

Whats the format?

According to the Commission on Presidential Debates, the forum will be divided into nine segments. Each section will begin with a question from the moderator, and the candidates will each have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the rest of the time for a deeper discussion of the topic.

How are the candidates preparing?

Unlike certain candidates we could name, both Kaine and Pence appear to be putting a lot of effort into debate prep. Pences spokesperson, Marc Lotter, told NBC News that the governor developed a plan shortly after he joined the ticket to make sure he had the time and information he needed to be prepared for the debate. Pence has been going through debate-prep binders since the Republican National Convention, and hes had several mock debates with Wisconsin governor Scott Walker playing Kaine.

Democratic campaign aide Mo Elleithee, who has worked with Kaine during his Senate and gubernatorial campaigns, told ABC News that Kaine usually begins debate prep by studying on his own. He doesnt have a pair of lucky debate socks or anything crazy, Elleithee said. He takes his prep seriously, spends a lot of time thinking about how he wants to frame the arguments he wants to make.

Kaine has been prepping for the past few days in Raleigh, North Carolina, and his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Washington attorney Bob Barnett is playing Pence in mock debates. Barnett has been part of Clintons debate prep team for decades, most recently playing her primary opponent Senator Bernie Sanders.

Last month, Kaine told reporters that the challenge this time is that hes promoting Clinton, not himself. Its a different kind of a debate for me because I have done debates where its, at the end of it, Please vote for Tim Kaine, he said. If I talk too much about Tim Kaine during my debate, Im wasting my time.

What topics are likely to come up?

On the campaign trail, the two potential veeps usually focus on the top of the opposing ticket, and theyll likely spend much of the debate defending their running mate. As NBC News notes, for Kaine that means having a response ready on topics like Clintons private email, the Clinton Foundation, and Benghazi  some of which Trump failed to bring up during last weeks debate. And Pence has the thankless task of trying to clarify or soften Trumps position on everything from Alicia Machado to why he wont release his tax returns.

In recent days, however, Pence has lobbed some attacks at Kaine. At a rally in Virginia on Monday, Pence accused Kaine of trying to raise taxes by $4 billion as governor. In Indiana, were the crossroads of America, I actually signed into law $2.5 billion in roads and bridges and infrastructure for Indiana, Pence said. He left the state $2 billion in the hole, Im proud to say weve got the largest surplus in Indiana history, more than $2 billion in the bank.

Kaine is expected to hit back at Pence, noting that while he touts his economic record, when compared to the rest of the country on a number of economy factors, Indiana is just somewhere in the middle.

While social issues have not played a large issue in the campaign, Kaine will likely be asked about one significant difference with his running mate. While Clinton is very pro-choice, Kaine, who is Catholic, is personally against abortion. He opposes creating new restrictions on abortion access, but unlike Clinton, he is in favor of keeping the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal money from funding abortions.

Pence will almost certainly be asked about two actions he took as governor that generated controversy nationwide. In 2015, Pence, an Evangelical Christian, signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allowed businesses to refuse service to LGBT people on religious grounds. Following accusations of discrimination and a backlash from business leaders, Pence and Republican state legislators modified to law to make it clear that businesses could not deny services.

The governor also suffered a blow on Monday over his refusal to let Syrian refugees settle in his state. Pence made the stand against President Obama last spring, along with about 30 mostly Republican governors, but now a federal-appeals court has ruled that his effort to withhold money for resettling Syrian refugees is discriminatory. The court said, per the Washington Post:

The governor of Indiana believes, though without evidence, that some of these persons were sent to Syria by ISIS to engage in terrorism and now wish to infiltrate the United States in order to commit terrorist acts here. No evidence of this belief has been presented, however; it is nightmare speculation.

And to make matter worse, one of the judges behind the decision is on Trumps list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

Whats each candidates goal in the debate?

The challenge for both of them is to make absolutely no news, Michael B. Murphy, a former Indiana Republican state legislator, told The Wall Street Journal. As the VP candidate, the last thing you want to do is draw attention away from your running mate and his or her agenda.

That may be true for Kaine, but Pence has a bigger task. The vice-presidential debate comes after one of Trumps worst weeks on the campaign trail, and Pence will likely try to downplay the recent controversies and play up the distrust voters have for Clinton. Trump tends to derail Pences efforts to help, so the real test may be whether the candidate can get through a debate hes not participating in without generating a new controversy.
Googles event today was ostensibly about showing off various new products  in particular, a quartet of hardware devices: a new phone, the Pixel; a new home-speaker device, Google Home; a new virtual-reality headset, the Daydream View; and a new Wi-Fi router. All of Googles forays into hardware look intriguing, if not potentially best-in-class. But what people are going to really remember from the event is Googles aggression, and not just because many of the presenters zingers were painfully bad.

The event was Google showing it wants not only to dominate search, mapping, web advertising, and email; it wants to own hardware as well. It clearly sees its own artificial-intelligence systems as the future, and ensuring that AI gets embedded everywhere means making openly aggressive moves against other hardware manufacturers.

Apple

Google started by throwing shade at Apple, and veered into talking about your ex way too much territory, taking potshots at Cupertino throughout its presentation of its Pixel phone, from pointing out that its camera didnt protrude from the back of the phone (unlike Apples newest iPhones) to directly using Apples storage-warning screen while talking about the Pixels ability to use cloud storage to ensure your phones physical storage never fills up. The phones pricing exactly mirrors the iPhones (and breaks tradition with Googles Nexus phones, which offered high-end hardware at budget prices), showing that Google believes it has a phone that can directly take on the iPhone.

Meanwhile, its demonstration of the new Google Assistant on the Pixel was a more indirect jab at Apples Siri, with a rundown of all the ways Googles AI assistant can gather context and clues in ways that Apple simply cant right now.

Finally, while the Google Home obviously is going after a space owned by Amazon so far, its also making the same play Apple is trying with HomeKit: provide a central hub for all of your smart home devices (including an upgraded Chromecast that now functions a lot like Apple TV, thanks to voice commands).

Amazon

Google Home is either directly inspired by the Amazon Echo (if you want to be kind) or a complete ripoff of it (if you dont). But Google Home is also poised to be a better choice for anyone who hasnt gotten an Echo. It costs less, $129 to the Echos $179, and Google Assistant is simply more powerful than Amazons Alexa, thanks to a much larger body of voice data to work with and its ability to follow conversations. Itll be easier to use as well  installing new functionality on the Echo is a laborious process that you need to use your phone or laptop for, and the Echo will never be able to match Google when it comes to directions or keeping a daily calendar for you. Amazon has a jump on Google as the hub for smart home appliances, but Google seems to have already wrapped up the main players in the space (and, of course, has its own smart home offerings from Nest). The only thing that could hold Google Home back: Amazon is (wisely) refusing to sell it, the same way it has refused to sell Googles Chromecast.

Behind the scenes, Google poached Amazons vice-president of product engineering, David Foster, just days before the event. Foster helped develop the Amazon Kindle, perhaps the most successful foray into hardware for Amazon, to the point where Kindle is a synonym for e-reader in the same way Google is a synonym for search. Foster will be heading up Googles newly minted smartphone division.

Samsung

Poor Samsung. The best smartphone it had ever made started exploding, preventing it from perhaps overtaking the iPhone 7. Googles Pixel is definitely aimed squarely at Apple, but its also poised to take on Samsungs Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge as well  and stands a better shot of winning that fight, since migrating from a Galaxy S7 to a Pixel is relatively painless compared to switching from iOS to Android.

But the real stab to the heart for Samsung must be Googles Daydream View VR headset, which is about as direct an answer to Samsungs Gear VR as you can get. Googles presentation was full of subtle digs at the Gear, from saying that they wanted a headset that was like what people actually wear to showing off that the Daydream headset worked wirelessly with any phone that meets Daydream specs, unlike Samsungs offering, which only works with Samsung phones and requires you to (somewhat awkwardly) plug the phone into the headset before maneuvering it into place. The final touch: The Daydream View will be $79, versus the Samsung Gear VR at $99, and the Daydream will include a remote. The Gear has a helmet-mounted control pad, but handheld controllers cost extra.

Google and Samsung have had an uneasy alliance for years. In 2014, Google and Samsung had to hammer out a deal about how much Samsung could alter the Android OS. More recently, there have been rumors that Samsung wants to flee Android altogether for its own Tizen OS, already used for phones sold in India. With Samsung by far the largest manufacturer of Android smartphones (and thus carrying the suite of Google apps that help Google make money off distributing Android for free), a rift between the two would hurt both companies. But Google seems willing to chance it.

Eero, Luma, and Roku

Googles hardware efforts will step on the toes of smaller players as well. Where in the past Google may have acquired a company, its now just putting out its own product.

Take Googles Wi-Fi routers mesh networking capabilities. For anyone trying to extend their Wi-Fi signal throughout their entire home, their options have largely been limited to ugly and difficult Wi-Fi extenders, or expensive solutions like Eero or Luma. Eero, for instance, does offer mesh networking, but it costs $499 for a pack of three. Luma, the closest competitor Eero had until now, comes in a three-pack for $399. A three-pack Google Wi-Fi routers will cost just $299.

Meanwhile, Roku, the upstart streaming set-top box company that showed the rest of the market how to make life simpler for cord cutters, has already seen Google sweep in with the Chromecast, which was the best-selling streaming solution in 2015. The newly announced Chromecast Ultra will now stream in 4K resolution and cost just $69. In what looks like a direct response, Roku announced that its own 4K streaming solution, the Roku Ultra (sensing a theme here), will offer $50 off its normal price of $130, bringing it almost into price parity with Googles offering  though it will lack the ability to work in a smart home network the way Chromecast will.

Indeed, in every area except smartphones, Google seemed to look at the competitive space and offer a slightly better product at a slightly lower price point than what already exists in the market, a sign that Google perhaps isnt that interested in making huge profits from its hardware, but simply getting Google hardware into consumers homes and hands (and thus using Googles AI assistant). Companies facing this assault will have to choose: Either hope that their own offering is clearly a better one to dissuade price-sensitive shoppers from going the cheaper route, or lower their own prices to match Googles. Google can almost certainly sustain selling hardware that makes little money or even acts as a loss leader, thanks to its deep pockets. Other companies may not be able to do the same.
Photo: Richard Davis/Getty Images

Elena Ferrante is no longer just Elena Ferrante. Now, as we learned over the weekend on the New York Review of Books website, she is probably also Anita Raja, a translator and German-born daughter of Holocaust survivors whos lived most of her life in Rome. This revelation, the work of Claudio Gattian Italian investigative reporter who used Ferrantes publishing houses royalty payments, along with a look at some of Rajas real-estate moves, to reach his conclusionhas been greeted on the literary and feminist internet with unhappiness and accusations: What right do journalists have to intrude upon writers?

The objections start with the idea that the true identity of the writer isnt newsworthy enough to justify violating her requested privacy. In part, this seems to be a reaction to a perhaps overly blunt few lines in the NYRB piece: [B]y announcing that she would lie on occasion, Ferrante has in a way relinquished her right to disappear behind her books and let them live and grow while their author remained unknown. Indeed, she and her publisher seemed to have fed public interest in her true identity.

Gattis logic here is not exactly airtight, and does have an unfortunate whiff of she was asking for it. But Ferrantes true biography had long been an object of interest in newspapers and magazines; literary scholars have tried to track her down by analyzing the text and the biographies of various possible Ferrantes. The problem here seems to be that Gatti actually got it RIGHT. Part of the Ferrante phenomenon  a sensation that I dont think its crass to call massively profitable  was driven by the mystery of who the author was. People are naturally curious about the people who make the culture they consume, especially when its culture that they feel as strongly about as they do about Ferrante. And especially when the books themselves seem to invite a conflation between narrator and author. Despite her anonymity, Ferrante has given plenty of interviews, especially recently. If the pseudonym allowed us to encounter her work in a specific way initially, the status of the work has changed in the last several years: Enormous success comes with burdens as well as benefits, but it certainly makes her identity more newsworthy than it was when she first started writing under a pseudonym.

Which brings us to some of the more complicated objections. Ferrante consistently venerates the creative space that anonymity affords her. She has spoken of shyness, and even said shed consider not writing again if exposed. In a long Twitter essay, the critic Lili Loofbourow contends that anonymity is an act of feminism: Naming IS reductive. Naming affects how youll receive a thing and the prestige and authority you grant it  The fact is, we have a LOT more experience naming and reducing women  and their aspirations, and their behaviors, and their authority. Were really good at reducing female artists to their names & associating their artistic efforts w/the horrible language of branding. According to the current conventional wisdom, the expose was a kind of emotional violence, both against the writer and the readers; further, goes this thinking, there is a particular roughness inherent to a male reporter unmasking a female author who has asked for privacy. The New Yorkers Twitter account uses the language of consent: In his apparent unmasking of Ferrante  the journalist does not explain why he felt free to take her no as his yes. As does Charlotte Shane, a writer and co-founder of TigerBee Press, who tweeted, Leave it to a goddamn man to decide that the tremendous gift that is Elena Ferrantes writing needs to repaid with senseless violation. In The Guardian, Suzanne Moore writes that those who love Ferrantes work are appalled, partly of course because she writes so well about the ways in which men humiliate women. Ban men, concludes Roxane Gay.

It is true that, thanks to the searing portrait of male cruelty her novels paint, the mere mention of Ferrantes name might get many of us in the mood to discuss a generalized terribleness of men. And yet this all seems to me both an almost-insulting underestimation of the fortitude of the author, and a severe overestimation of the harm that might be done by connecting universally praised work to its actual creator.

Then there is the question of whether we are degrading the work itself by connecting a real flesh-and-blood person to it. At n+1, Dayna Tortorici writes that The persona of the author is an intrusion on the solitary psychic space of a novel. By protecting her privacy, Ferrante protected ours.  The New Yorkers Alexandra Schwartz lays out her case with the metaphysical focus and fervor of a religious acolyte whose deity is under attack.

Like many  maybe most  enthusiastic Ferrante readers, I have no interest in knowing who the writer who publishes her novels under the name Elena Ferrante is. I dont care. Actually, I do care: I care about not finding out. There are so few avenues left, in our all-seeing, all-revealing digital world, for artistic mystery of the true kind  mystery that isnt concocted as a publicity play but that finds its origins in the writers soul as a prerogative of his or her ability to create. That kind of mystery has a corresponding point in the soul of the receptive reader. To fall in love with a book, in that way that I and so many others have fallen in love with Ferrantes, is to feel a special kinship with its author, a profound sort of mutual receptivity and comprehension. The author knows nothing about you, and yet you feel that your most intimate self has been understood.

The experience Schwartz has just described  an imaginative, neutral ground  is the experience of  reading. I too felt recognized in Ferrante, addicted to the fierceness of the books emotional intelligence. Did her anonymity enrich my experience? Maybe! Ferrante could seem like an additional primary character in her novels, as unknowable as Lila but still as proximate as Lenu. (And the breadcrumbs of probably-false biography she scattered through interviews and her collected nonfiction, out soon in English, only fueled that.) I understand some wistfulness. But all books have authors, and having access to that knowledge and context doesnt have to take anything away from the text. The Bible didnt come directly from God, and Shakespeare maybe had some help, and George Eliot wasnt a dude, and Joe Klein was more than a Newsweek reporter, and Raymond Carver had an editor with a very heavy pen. Ferrante herself said not long ago in an interview, If the books dont contain in themselves their reasons for being  questions and answers  it means I was wrong to have them published.

Yet according to the New Inquirys Aaron Bady, there is something inherently squalid about the corporeal reality of Raja. They want to make her small, by making her a real person with a real history and real name and real background. They want to assert control over that person, and what it represents, by revealing it. This is a real leap, to assume that knowing someones name and a few biographic details can erase the sum total of their work. Being attached to a specific, limited, actual person  rather than an airy abstraction  is only damning if you think theres something lacking about being an actual person. All of which seems contrary to the very humane sensibility of Ferrantes books.

I suspect part of whats going on, below the surface, is disappointment in who Ferrante has turned out to be. Shes not a self-taught peasant who has lived closer to the bone than the rest of us. For all the intimate femaleness of her work, she may or may not have asked her Naples-born husband to (at the very least) fill her in on some of the details of life there. Shes an intellectual, and a novelist, not a Knausgaardian diarist. She is not a literary or feminist pinup upon whom you can project your wildest fantasies. Shes a middle-aged woman who has spent a lifetime observing human frailty and strength and figuring out the best way to tell us what shes learned  reaching the conclusion that the specifics and stories of peoples lives (as imagined, confidently, by her) are the best form. Im delighted by that. Im also delighted to hear she got a very nice country home in Tuscany out of it. Lenu would approve.
Good luck on Mars, Leo. Photo: Walter McBride/FilmMagic

Leonardo DiCaprio  as always  has been living his life to the fullest. The actor, whose pastime involves being on the prowl for a hot, blonde model to fill his plus one, has been pretty busy as of late. After all, hes been promoting his new documentary about the environment, Before the Flood, and his latest stop was none other than 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And it was at this stop, where, with a simple I did, DiCaprio let the world know he has a future trip planned for Mars. Yes  the man has his eyes set on experiencing the wonders of another planet.

.@LeoDiCaprio has "signed up for a trip to Mars," per WH pool report pic.twitter.com/Q4Z6fsurfU  Michael Rusch (@weeddude) October 4, 2016

DiCaprios news came during Katharine Hayhoes speech at the White House. Hayhoe, a climate scientist, addressed DiCaprio, President Barack Obama, and others about the importance of making science relatable to the public so that climate change can be combated. Then, she had this little joke. The reality of it is, if youre a human living on this planet  which most of us are, yeah? she said. As long as we havent signed up for the trip to Mars. I dont want to know if anyone has, I think youre crazy. To this, DiCaprio merely said, I did.

Ah, Leo. What beauties  er, beautiful sights you must be after.
Women in Poland took to the streets on Monday. Photo: Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Women in Poland took to the streets on Monday dressed in black to protest a new total anti-abortion bill. Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, and the proposed restrictions would criminalize any form of abortion, even in instances where the mothers life is in danger, according to the New York Times.

Protests broke out in 90 cities across Poland during so-called Black Monday, which saw people skipping work to wave black flags and draw international attention to the proposed ban. The events Facebook page said 116,000 people across the country participated in the protests, while the mayor of Warsaw said the capital drew in 24,000 protesters.

The Black Monday protest was inspired by Icelandic women who, in 1975, apparently paralyzed their country by not going to work and refusing to do domestic tasks in order to protest unfair employment practices and wages. The protests began two weeks ago, but Black Monday was the highest point of the protests, the Times reports.

Under Polands current abortion law, abortion is permitted in three instances only: severe fetal abnormality, when the mothers life and health is in danger, or pregnancy stemming from rape or abuse. However, the proposed legislation, written by a group called Stop Abortion, would criminalize all abortions, with women, doctors, and anyone who assisted the procedure facing up to five years in prison.

This is a barbarian proposal that will move Poland back to medieval times. The worst thing is that this barbarity finds approval in the eyes of those in power, the leader of liberal initiative Save Women, Barbara Nowacka, told the Times.

However, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said the protesters could have their fun but otherwise dismissed their concerns. There is no such problem as a threat to womens rights. If someone thinks that there are no greater concerns in Poland at the moment, let them be, he said in a radio interview, per the Times.
Photo: Courtesy of E! Entertainment

This week on Married at First Sight Rob & Chyna, Rob and Chyna continue to try and concoct a relationship out of the thinnest of air. The couple resorts to online quizzes for measuring their compatibility and trying to get to know one another after realizing that they, you know, dont. Thankfully, this episode does see a moment of Tokyo Toni and two Kardashian sisters. For that we are grateful. So, lets take a look at what went down between Oil and Vinegar Rob and Chyna this week.

The episode begins after last weeks ominous To be continued  moment with Blac Chynas mom, Tokyo Toni, warning Rob about being a good father to his baby with Chyna. Tokyo Toni is not having any of Robs mental-health issues (that are beyond his immediate control) and believes he can easily step up and be a better partner for Chyna. Rob promises that he will do better after his transformative D.C. experience, to which Tokyo Toni promises that hell just go home and be a jerk again. She also goes through his phone to make sure hes not cheating. Hes not, which is par for the course for someone who never leaves their home.

Back in California, Rob goes over to Chynas house in hopes of getting some booty. She declines after a very difficult game of rock, paper, scissors. However, in a moment of clarity, Chyna asks Rob if theyre moving too fast since they dont really know one another. This, a question that should have been asked and answered last winter, doesnt get a very smart response from Rob. Rob thinks its all good since they can go in reverse. Now that the babys on the way, and the rings on the finger, they can get to gettin and have an honest and open conversation about what they want in life and need from a relationship. Super romantic and not at all dumb as a box of bricks. They decide not to go in reverse at just that moment, since Rob wants to take a shower before he graciously spends the night even though he hasnt been promised the booty. Chyna points out that Robs never taken a shower before giving her the dick.

The following day, Scott visits Rob. Scott asks Rob how he feels about Tyga and if he saw him at Khloes birthday party. Rob says the two avoided one another, because he cant even imagine how Tyga feels seeing Chyna having a baby with some other dude. Again, maybe something to be looked at and discussed before any of this happened. Scott makes the point that Rob and Tyga are practically family, even without Chyna in the picture, so they need to figure something out. Mr. Wisdom, Scott, thinks Tyga is chillin since hes in love and has a new thing going with Kylie. Rob counters that Scott would be pissed if his former girlfriend and current babies mother, Kourtney, had a baby with another man. Scott admits that now he would be in jail if Kourtney had another child with someone else, but thats only because hes single and still in love with her. Sure.

The show moves on to introducing this weeks story line, about Rob reconnecting with his friends, when he asks Scott to go hiking with him. Scott declines and tells Rob to ask a real friend he hasnt seen in years, JJ, who still has a relationship with the rest of his siblings. Robs not down because hes missed so many of their life milestones and doesnt feel like explaining himself or his absence. Scott still thinks Rob should reach out since its been years, and I think he should reach out since its been mere days, as he saw most of his closest pals at Khloes birthday party on June 27, 2016.

Chyna is lounging at her house when she asks her friend Sam whats up with the relationship-compatibility quiz hes taking online, which is about the 5 Love Languages. Chyna decides to take the quiz and also sends it to Rob. They get vastly different results, meaning they arent compatible. Honey child, Chyna, you didnt need a quiz for that, you just needed to play back footage of this here little show!! Chyna finds out her love language is Acts of Service and Robs is Quality Time, which dont seem incompatible, but Im not the quiz-maker nor do I care.

Chyna isnt the only one concerned with her love-language score. Rob enlists Paige, Chynas BFF and roommate, to help prepare Chynas favorite meal  since, according to the quiz, she loves Acts of Service. He has some trouble with the meats, as the sausage resembles a penis. In the end, I think he does well, but theres no way of knowing since we never see or hear word of this meal ever again. What we do hear is Rob say the words Im trying, in response to Paige asking him to stay black, my brother. Jesus be a fence around Calabasas and all of its inhabitants.

Over at Chynas, she receives a visit from Scott. He wants Chyna to help Rob reconnect with his old friends. Scotts also not understanding why no one thinks its a big deal that Robert hasnt introduced anyone to the mother of his child and fiancee. Chyna agrees to facilitate a gathering, but it cant be a barbecue. Shes over those. She wonders if the get-together should maybe be a surprise, since Rob gets so nervous in anticipation of events.

Scott continues to make his little rounds in Rob and Chynas business, and goes to Robs house to talk more about his strained relationships with his friends. Rob isnt in a great mood, since hes now getting text messages from his friends asking him to hang out. How dare they!? Hes not responded to their correspondence in years, and homeboy isnt looking to change that now. Scott tries to understand, but instead suggests that they just break the ice by eating sushi off a fat-ass bitch. Robs silent.

Later, Chyna takes Rob out on a faux first date. She sets up a picnic in the hills and asks Rob some real-life questions. Most important, she asks if he truly intends to marry her next year. Rob says he does, but he also once said he was capable of running a sock company. Good luck, Chyna.

After the picnic, Rob takes a drive with Woodland Hills Monotone Queen, Kourtney Mary Kardashian. They reminisce about his time at USC, which Rob sort of regrets attending. Since he was so close to home he doesnt think he got a proper college experience, which might inform some of his behavior today. Kourtney agrees, and she also does her part to facilitate this weeks story line and asks Rob about reconnecting with his friends. She understands Robs hesitations, but thinks he needs to just get it over with and see them. Rob agrees.

At Chynas house, Chyna tells her friend Paige that she needs to move out before the baby arrives. Chyna then takes Paige to a sex shop to find some toys and whips to use on Rob. Chyna wants to give Rob a kinky reward for being a mediocre partner, and to abuse him.

Meanwhile, at Kimberly Kardashians house, Kimberly sets up a Baby Bootcamp for Rob. The only obstacles are hearing Kim talk about the tarlike substance of newborn poop and how to swaddle a baby. She unfortunately does not teach him how to undo the braids that are posted up in her hair. Rob excels, and Kim is proud of her student.

Its finally time for Rob to reconnect with his friends. He hosts a get-together at his house with Chyna, Kourtney, and Scott in attendance as well. To prepare, Rob mixes himself a smoothie consisting of salmon, steak, blueberries, and milk. Chyna wonders if any of his black friends will be there, and Rob tells her that they wont. The whole event is terribly awkward. No one wants to speak, Chyna and Rob sequester themselves in the kitchen, and when Rob finally comes out, its just a roundtable discussion of texts Rob hasnt responded to and weddings hes missed. The gathering ends while the sun is still up.

That night, Chyna sets up her sex dungeon for Rob. Shes dressed in a sheer negligee and handcuffs Rob to his couch. He asks if he can keep his hat on; Chyna says no. Nothing about this is sexy or fit for television. Rob is fully clothed and complains that Chyna is pulling on his dick; plus, his hands turn blue from the cuffs and his eagerness to free himself from any sort of on-camera vulnerability.

Well, thats all for this week, Dolls. Keep Rob and Chyna in your thoughts, prayers, and tweets as they continue to try their best. Next week were in for more fighting and more Scott. How lucky are we. Until then, tweet me your cell-phone numbers!
Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images

Yesterday, Republican nominee for POTUS Donald Trump released a campaign video about his plan for paid maternity leave. In it, his daughter Ivanka, who has become Donalds stand-in for women, explains the plan for him. Unsurprisingly, the very first thing out of her mouth is kind of a problem: The most important job any woman can have is being a mother.

Using any woman here is just a nicer way of saying all women. What that sentence really means is that Ivanka  and by extension, her father, whose platform the video was created to advertise  thinks that all women should have children, because its the most important job for them. Of course, this line of thinking isnt exactly reflective of American womens lived experience: More women today are either putting off having children or choosing to not have them at all. Saying that womens most important job in life is motherhood suggests that women without children are lacking not just children, but a true calling in life.

By declaring motherhood the most important job, were also forcing women to organize priceless parts of their lives by value. First Lady Michelle Obama has famously said that raising her daughters is her proudest achievement during her time in the White House, and that makes sense: Creating two people out of thin air isnt easy, and its right to feel extremely proud when you dont, as she said, mess up your kids.

But the reality is that we rarely ask men to rank their jobs in life: Is being a father more important to Keith Richards than being in the Rolling Stones? I have no idea; I didnt even know he had children until three months ago. The question itself is an impossible test for women who have children: Which do you value more, your kids or your job? The trick is that theres no right answer, so no matter what your response is youre wrong.

Of course, being a mother can definitely feel like a job sometimes. It is, in base terms, labor. There is extra laundry and cooking and cleaning up. The hours are longer than anything even my forefathers saw in the mines. But many of the people who tout motherhood as their most important job arent single mothers juggling a kid and an actual paying gig: Theyre not people who worry about the cost of day care or health insurance. In short, theyre people like Ivanka Trump.

Still, if Ivanka wants to say that motherhood is a job, Im happy to agree with her. Because if it is, then I assume Trumps maternity plan comes with the bare minimum of benefits for its workforce: universal pre-K, affordable and high-quality child care, and health insurance. Throw in a salary and a retirement plan and Ill change my business cards to Mother right away.




As previously reported, Utada Hikaru was initially in a dead heat against EXILE for the #1 weekly position on the Oricon (Japan's most notable physical sales chart). Two days after the release of her comeback album Fantome, her album was less than 2,000 units away from overtaking EXILE's best/collection album EXTREME BEST. Despite EXILE's marketing strategy which includes three different editions and purchase incentives, Hikki was able to surpass Fantome was able to surpass EXTREME BEST on its third day and increased the gap as the week continued. By the end of the charting week, Oricon reported that Fantome has sold 253,000 copies. This makes Fantome the best selling album released by a female soloist this year in Japan. The previous holder of this title was likely Kana Nishino's JUST LOVE with 126,000 units (But don't take my word for granted, this is based off of the largest female soloist album release I can think of within this year). This also marks Utada Hikaru's 8th consecutive album to debut at #1 on the Oricon weekly charts. Finally, this also makes Fantome the second highest selling album of the year released by a female soloist worldwide (Beyonce currently holds the top position with Lemonade).It should be noted that Oricon is strictly a physical sales chart within Japan, so all digital sales as well as physical copies sold internationally are not included in this sales number. Considering the relative international success of Fantome on iTunes as a Japanese album with no intentional promotion beyond east Asia as well as her digital singles' longevity on the domestic digtal charts, one can only imagine how much higher her sales would be with the inclusion of digital sales (Which would be unknown until RIAJ releases its list of certifications for a ballpark number).
Get those tax right offs queen!!

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I don't like her but as someone who was raised by a single mom all I can say is bless ha

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My biggest fear is being a single mom..You literally cant take a day off work to meet bills, you cant have a life outside of your kid without criticism, Hospital visits would leave you broke, not sure I could afford tutor or daycare while working full time. Much less trust a babysitter to take care of them. Too much expenses. I dont think I could hack it & would jump man to man for the weight lift.

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ia. even the prospect of dating as a single mom is terrifying, you never know what kind of sinister intentions a man has when he finds out you have little kids :\

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fff that is exactly what happened to my friend when her mum started dating again. he was a piece of shit.

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This might sound stupid, but is it that bad outside of America? Mainly talking about in western Europe.

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it fucks up everything. I don't even want kids because I saw every day what my single mom went through with two of us.

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That's amazing, $1 million is no small amount and will really make a difference to those affected. Props to her for focusing on single mothers as well.



"Single moms impacted by the August flood can now apply to receive a brand new refrigerator filled with groceries, a slow cooker, a cookbook and a gift card for fruit and vegetables to assist with recovery efforts."

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My kind of support.

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sometimes i fantasize about the meltdown white america would have if taylor spoke up about state-sanctioned police violence against black people



anyway, how's your day ontd?

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That would be a day.

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i really believe that post would hit max comment capacity



Edited at 2016-10-04 08:41 pm (UTC)

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LMAO!

Hell would freeze over 10 times before the THOUGHT would even cross her mind.

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I would D I E lmao

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i hope this ministry she donated to aren't some crazy christians

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take it to Capitol Hill

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Get those tax deductions

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very rad. my friend worked for hfh in portland last year and had very good things to say about his experience.

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Ok but is she seriously going to do that new AT&T preshow superbowl event every year? Great for her stans but damn we'll never get a break from her. Ever

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it's a contract.

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It's a private show

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Good

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Her hair was so pretty here.

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The first time she donated $1M I was like whatever Tay that's nothing but this is like the fourth time in four weeks so I'm actually impressed now.

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Meanwhile I was stoked on my 10 dollar donation to Ol Pejeta'a chimpanzee fundraiser today.

Full time student with a dog here. Don't judge me!

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no judgement, that's awesome! people donate what they can afford to do without, and any amount helps towards the bigger picture

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lmao i tried to do street fundraising a few weeks ago by busking and i managed to make ten pounds. Was hoping i'd be able to make MORE than i could afford to donate on my own, like damn.

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what the fuck is she talking about?



eat shit

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Oh yeah I forgot him and jen were really close to her at one time

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Man she really hates Angelina.

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didn't she also criticize angelina for her double mastectomy?

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Yep, and claimed Angelina could've avoided cancer if she'd just have kept her stress levels low. Thanks, Dr. Etheridge!

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in her defense, she's been an asshole for a long time already.

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what's sis done?

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She had a bad/messy break-up with Tammy Lynn Michaels, IIRC

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...because Evil Angie didn't allow him to talk with anyone for ten years?

And get an editor, you're circling around your point.

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Sometimes when people haven't contacted you in 10 years it's because they didn't want to.

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Seriously. Guess what, if a grown-ass adult ditches their friends when they get into a relationship, that's the choice of said grown-ass adult who obviously didn't value those friendships enough to maintain them. Don't try to blame it all on their evil spouse.



Does Brad have some kind of Teflon coating where no accountability of any kind sticks to him or...?

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Maybe he heard she was talking shit about his new girlfriend and realized she was never a friend to begin with, and dropped her as anyone he could trust.

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lol mte. take a hint lady

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She would

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Pot meet kettle: she claimed Tammy Lynn burned one of their kids with a cigarette.

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she looks like a mix of samantha bee and jk rowling



and is she rly making this about herself lol

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bye melissa, both brad and angie are filth, trash if you will

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We all lost a friend.



that's sad huh

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i wonder who 'we' is 

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ppl who were so scared of angelina they didn't even call their bff in 10 yrs apparently

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Lmao she over here acting like Brad joined Scientology instead of being a grown ass man in a devoted relationship.

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Member hot Brad? 

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RIP to his Cool World era

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Brad's still hot. Hot and old.

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You're hot, then you're old

You're yes, they you're GET OFF MY LAWN!



I'm sorry...I'll see myself out. -_-

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Member him on Friends? My word! 

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Hottest actor ever in the 90's.he was perfection.especially during Fight Club era.

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I've never been able to see him as hot, because he has no personality

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she makes it sound like he was in a cult

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For real, lol

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WHO TOOK JOHNNY

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Really? I really thought they breezed over a lot of the details of the child sex ring.



However it was really nice to see Noreen trying to help those in the same situation, despite the sad ending.

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It's so good. I had recently watched Conspiracy of Silence and had no idea the two were going to be connected. It's so scary to think about all the things like this that could be going on around you and you'd have absolutely no idea.

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legit disturbing. like... where to even begin?

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I enjoyed the doc, but did anyone else believe Johnny really visited his mom as an adult? That's just the one part I couldn't wrap my head around.

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I think someone visited her, but whether it was really him, someone playing a fucked up joke, or someone who wanted to trick her to get her to stop looking? Who knows.

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I believe that she believes he came and saw her, but not that he necessarily actually did. If that makes sense. Maybe some sort of wicked hallucination or a very vivid dream, maybe something alcohol or drugs (prescription, not illegal) brought on? I don't really know anything about the woman outside what I saw in the movie so idk if she was on any medication or drank at all.

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I remember reading certain details about the encounter from the mom's book on r/UnsolvedMysteries that made the whole thing sound even more bizarre. According to the mom, Johnny now has dyed black hair and is pretending to be Native American, and is getting by by living at various reserves*??? ok sure nbd

*and then other redditors commented stating that you can't just hop around to different reserves lmao *whatisthetruth.gif*

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I just feel for her, but I don't believe it. She was everywhere surrounding after his disappearance, so the case was known. I think someone visited but as a very cruel joke.

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after watching that doc on that man who pretended to be that missing kid and living with the family, it wouldnt surprise me if it was just some fucked up person pretending.

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that doc has severely affected my sleep for the past week since i watched it, ngl :/

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I just watched the trailer for this and it looks so interesting.

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Who Took Johnny was so interesting and it is crazy how the police handled child abductions back then, really worth watching if not just for the "twist" towards the end.



Edited at 2016-10-04 09:05 pm (UTC)

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how did policemen handle child abductors in the past?

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In this particular instance, and what seemed like was the trend at the time, police often thought missing children were runaways in spite of that obviously not being the case (i.e.. literally leaving all your stuff and your dog in the middle of your paperboy route), the FBI would not get involved and parents basically had to do all the investigation on their own, keep on track of the case/evidence themselves.

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how did dear zachary not get nominated for an academy award is beyond me

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That film fucked me up so bad.

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My husband and I watched that together when I was heavily pregnant. Wowww. We were in tears and just so angry by the end of it.

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tbh stylistically i didn't care for how it was done - some of the cut-ins/transitions and music felt really cheesy. but it didn't even matter because the content of the story was so gripping

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Powerful story but the film itself was pretty amateur.

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Yeah, I honestly tried to watch it but the weird transitions coupled with the fact that it looks like it was shot on a point and shoot camera from 2003 made it hard for me to get past the first 5 minutes...

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that movie fucked me up

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That's probably the most powerful film I've ever seen, period.

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Is Soaked in Bleach the one where the investigator got a "bad feeling" about Courtney and shaped his entire opinion around the fact that he didn't like her so she must have done it? (Defying possibility, chance, etc., relying on mysogny and feels?)

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Tom Grant has been trying to profit off the fact that Courtney hired him as a PI for years now. The depth of the misogyny that Courtney has had to endure about Kurt's death is nothing short of horrific.

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Ah! I saw this on HBO a while ago at my mom's house. If you get a chance, it's a really great documentary. I learned so much about the industry. I just never realized the name of it.

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I recently watched The Imposter and I swear to gawd, with every passing minute it got weirder and weirder. And just when I thought it reached peak weird, IT GOT EVEN WEIRDER. LIKE.....HOW?????



Honestly how is any of that real life.

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IKR that's def one of my fav docos

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Yeah that documentary was insane to me.



I totally think someone in the family had something to do with the kid's disappearance and so when the imposter showed up, they couldn't say they definitively knew it wasn't him for fear of the authorities asking them why and snooping around.

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This is exactly what I think, too. They knew that boy was dead.

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Definitely. The imposter even said himself they knew he wasn't the boy the whole time

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I just re-watched it with your comment in mind because when I first saw it that hadn't occurred to me. The only thing I find odd is how much the sister chose to believe it off the bat - I have to think she knew the truth too?



Especially since if she said so definitively it was him once they got home then perhaps the rest of the family would be more apt to believe it?



Edited at 2016-10-09 06:18 am (UTC)

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Came here to post about the imposter. Someone here posted about it and it's literally my fave. It's just so wtf. It's brilliant

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I really enjoyed this one. I looked up about the Algerian man that impersonated the kid and saw how he was trying to turn his life around, so I hope he succeeds!



That being said, I think the family knew something or did something to the missing kid.

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mfte I kept thinking like, if this was a movie (fiction) people would say it's not believable... but this actually happened. wtf.

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I think the dead brother killed him and the family knew, thus why they believed the imposter b/c they didn't want to raise any sort of suspicion (which actually is much more suspicious)

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yeah, that whole story was weird af

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Yes! Somebody mentioned it here on ontd and talked about a ~twist~ so I watched it. Definitely interesting. Not only the content, but the filming/editing was done in an engaging way, I think. Docs can be so boring.

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I've considered watching soaked in bleach before but i just...idunno if I really want to, I was really obsessed with Kurt Cobain death conspiracy theories for like a year of my teens but I got over it and I dont wanna risked getting pulled back in





all the other ones are too real for me, I'm a weak person and can't handle these kinds of things. I know if I watched one of these it'd affected my brain for months and months. It'd be a constant thought in the back of my mind...it's just too exhausting for me.



Give me a doc about history and shit anyday but stuff about real problems happening right now, nope, nope, I can't.

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I loved Shenandoah, The Invisible War, Matthew Shepard was a Friend of Mine, Dear Zachary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Holy Hell.

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Matthew Shepard Was a Friend of Mine sounds like it's gonna rip me in two

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It was so heartbreaking but I think it's worth it because I really only knew him as being the victim of a hate crime; it was kind of bittersweet to see the person he was and with his friends and family.

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I loved the Invisible War and Mathew Shepherd was a friend of me (even though it destroyed me!)

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holy hell was really good imo



i hated that egomaniac prick so mucchhh, but at least it had a -happy- ending

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The Hunting Ground destroyed me. Everyone needs to see it.

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anyone have recs for historical crime docs? I don't like true crime stuff that has happened recently because it's too sad & scary :[ (lol) I like docs that are about, like 100-year-old crimes

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i recently watched the jinx and thought it was really well made and interesting.



for whatever reason i can't get into making a murderer, i've failed to finish the first ep three times

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The first ep is pretty dull but it picks up in the second ep imo

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i couldn't get into it either. steven avery is just not a sympathetic figure imo. i think some of what happened to him was supremely fucked up, but he doesn't sound like a very pleasant person whatsoever, so i found it really hard to get invested in his story.

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Yeah, he sucks, even if I don't think he committed the murder, but that documentary is hard to get into because there're literally no people to root for until Dean Strang, Brendan Dassey, and his mom.

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when i first watched the first ep i swore to god i like. missed something and came in half way into the series. it's super weird and disjointed, but the doc definitely picks up the more you watch it.

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I love documentary posts. I always bookmark them for when I have time. Great post OP.

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I literally just finished the Amanda Knox documentary. Depressing af.



Watching Audrie & Daisy now.

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Yeah the Amanda Knox documentary was so sad and just...I can not imagine going to study abroad only to end up in a foreign jail for almost a decade for something I didn't do.



That journalist can diaf. He was horrid.

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And like, they found the person who actually did it? And they still pushed ahead with trying to railroad Amanda and Rafaelle. And that one detective still believes she was involved!!

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mte about the journalist, what a disgusting person! everytime he laughed about the way they handled the story i wanted to scream.

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That journalist is a fucking asshole. Essentially, "that's what the media does and I'd do it again"...fuck off dude.

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What is it called?

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Does anyone have a link to steaming this show? I've looked but can't find anything that works.

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https://watchseriesfree.to/serie/Victoria-

should work should work

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This is such a watchable show.



I do love a show where you can compare what really happened.

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This week's episode needed more Dash, tbh!!!



It was good though. When Victoria was saying she was afraid of the pain of childbirth, I was like "I feel u". But also like yeah, the fear of dying in childbirth was very real. And she NEEDED an heir because Britain was running out of options for monarchs if Victoria died.

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victoria had two legitimate male cousins that were around her age (george of cumberland and george of cambridge) so there were at least two additional options in addition to the 3 or 4 aging uncles she had left but yeah it was pretty dismal lol

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Right? Not only are you the fucking monarch but you've also got to give birth and not die or have your kids die.

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This week's episode needed more Dash, tbh!!!



iawtc!



iawtc!

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love this show. albert+victoria=5eva

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Mte. They are so cute.

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They have really grown on me. I was grossed out by Albert at first but now, I'd do him.

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Right? When he first showed up I was like 'tfffffff' but he's really grown on me!

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i love this show, i just need everyone in the show tag (and jenna's tag) to stop going on and on about fucking melbourne. everyone just seems to care more about him and his uwu hurt feels uwu than actually... queen victoria??? the person this show is about??? ANYWAYS.

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that melbourne storyline was so gross and unnecessary tbh. thankfully superior suitor albert came to the rescue and saved us from that shit.

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I'm problematic so I was into it but after Albert showed up I was totally sold on him and Victoria. They are the absolute cutest!

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i didn't mind it while it lasted, victoria was young and immature so having that kind of crush made sense i guess. and maybe it helped that i knew it wasn't going to last too long so i was like whatever sure why not he's pretty and kinda gives a shit i get it girl lmao but i was waiting for albert anyways, so the second he showed up i was already in love. it's fandom that made me so annoyed at the melbourne storyline/ship tbh rather than the actual show tbh.

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Seriously, they need to let it go!



Or at least keep it out of my happy Victoria/Albert tag :/

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Albert/trains OTP.

(someone's got a gif of him being really excited on the locomotive, right?)

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I love this show. I'm so sad we're already at episode 8



Anyone read the article about The Crown's producer talking shit about Victoria and its creator? Bad taste imo

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No. Link? Or summary?

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Yeah, that was really tacky. And dampened any interest I had in The Crown (which was admittedly very little because I can't stand the royal family, especially racist curmudgeon Phillip). I might watch out of sick fascination though.

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ughh. i'm really looking forward to the crown, but trashing a successful show before yours has even aired is never going to look good.

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The fuck?! How bizarre. I'll think twice before streaming it on Netflix then (and just watch a stream instead).

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bad taste for sure, even if Victoria does veer more into the soapy side of period dramas

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How is everyone still going on about Vicbourne when the actual historical couple has this much chemistry?!

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shit i would take tom hughs over rufus anyday too tbh

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Thisssssssss

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the romanticization of that relationship is so icky to me, ugh.

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tbh I was really here for the sexual tension on the show but as soon as Albert showed up I was all in with him and Victoria. I actually appreciate that this show gave me two OTPs that I could get behind featuring the same character, if that makes sense.

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Jenna is great on this

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lmao i won tickets to this really random film's premiere in london last week. i basically only entered because tom hughes is fit and i dragged my friend with me



the film was so random, it was about this girl who wanted to have a show in the chelsea flower show and tom played a rockstar/wildflowers enthusiast (for real)



the most bizarre part was that it was based on a TRUE story and the irl people came up at the end to talk about it, i was screaming bc it seemed like the most fake plot? but it happened!!

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Omg I can't believe it is based on a true story lol

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When are we getting this in the US?





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January, I believe.

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January 2017 on PBS. I was reading that the USA will get longer versions of the episodes too!

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Longer, sexier versions, like the US version of The White Queen? Because I highly recommend that version.



Oh but wait, it's PBS, not STARZ.



Edited at 2016-10-04 11:53 pm (UTC)

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Now that there's no swooning over Melbourne I enjoy this show even more.

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also the whole episode was about TRAINS and how TRAINS ARE GREAT.



and ironically after i finished watching that episode, I tried to look up how much it would cost to take the train to cornwall or newcastle (I have friends there, and I need to escape my home for a bit) but it was just extortionate. albert would not stand for the nonsense that is the UK railways ughhh.

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I was cracking up when Albert was geeking out about the train.



"THIS IS THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING I'VE EVER SEEN"

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We really need to nationalise the railways again.





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How much would've it been for you? I remember when I was at uni in Colchester I decided to take the train to Edinburgh for a trip and it was like 35-40. This was 2005 btw. I thought it was a really reasonable rate for the train, considering here in America, when I took the train from Chicago to Memphis (pretty close in distance as Colchester-Edinburgh, just a bit further) it was almost $200 in 2006 (equivalent to about 100 at the time).

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How's Jenna in this? Is she still all just big wet eyes or

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I am so obsessed with this show right now. We are truly blessed that this and Poldark are on right now! I am in period drama heaven.

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Oh man, Poldark KILLED me this week.



But not quite Outlander! ;)

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I'm catching up on Poldark, and I love it so much. I keep harassing my sister to watch, and I made my best friend (who hates period dramas) watch it. She loved it.

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And we welcome the distraction of tomorrow's inventory report with open arms, as well as Nonfarm Friday after that, as it takes some focus away from the ongoing OPEC shenanigans. As prices maintain a footing despite a super-strong dollar, hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets.

1) Iranian export loadings continue to hold close to pre-sanction levels of 2.6 million barrels per day, buoyed by a rise in export loadings of South Pars condensate. Production of the condensate is currently at around 550,000 bpd, and as our ClipperData illustrate below, the vast majority of this is getting exported - all loaded at Asaluyeh.

Projections suggest exports could keep on rising, with barrels being pulled from floating storage to meet demand. Our latest floating storage report pegs Iranian barrels at just over 32 million barrels. The leading destination of South Pars condensate so far this year is South Korea, followed by UAE, Japan and China.

2) Even though Hurricane Matthew is not set to enter the Gulf of Mexico, it will have all manner of other ramifications on crude flows despite the lack of threat to U.S. oil and gas infrastructure. While the storm is set to hinder imports into the Gulf coast (and gasoline flows to the East coast later in the week, most likely), it is also causing the shutting in of 33 million bbls of storage in the Bahamas.

There are two key storage terminals in the Bahamas: Buckeye's Freeport terminal, which has storage capacity of 26.2 million bbls, and Statoil's South Riding terminal, which has 6.7 million bbls of capacity. The two send oil to nine different countries, but with the U.S. being the key destination.

As our ClipperData illustrate below, crude loadings from the Bahamas to the U.S. have averaged 3.74 million barrels per month so far this year, with most coming from the Buckeye terminal. The majority of the crude in storage is from Latin America, which makes logical sense, given its proximity. Related: Shell, Chevron Drop Off Platts Top 10 Energy Firm List

Colombian medium sour Vasconia accounts for just over half the export volumes from the Bahamas to the U.S. this year, with Venezuela's heavy sour Merey in second place, accounting for ~15 percent of exports.

3) I feel like I should almost be apologetic for including the chart below, because it is frankly a wee bit depressing. It illustrates how global growth is now approaching stall-speed at ~3 percent, the slowest pace in six years.

IMF head honcho, Christine Lagarde, labels the global economy as 'weak and fragile'; this coincides with the great (ahem) British pound reaching a 31-year low today amid concerns about the economic ramifications of Brexit. As the globe appears to be shifting towards being more isolationist, the fear of increasing trade barriers and less integration poses a threat to global growth going forward.

4) The chart below shows the spread for WTI crude prices for the prompt month versus 12 months out. Just as near-term weakness has caused the spread to blow out in the last year and a half or so (think: Mar '15, Aug '15, Jan '16), it has been near-term strength which has driven the narrowing of the spread.

Hence as we reach a 3-month high for WTI, the 1-12mth spread is at the narrowest since late August, with the longer end of the curve kept in check, as U.S. producers take the opportunity to hedge 2017 production at over $50/bbl. Related: Oil Rig Builders Tap Into Offshore Wind Market

Pioneer Natural Resources, one of the most active U.S. producers for hedging in recent years, was 55 percent hedged for 2017 in July. I bet they are more than that now.

5) Finally, ClipperData's Kanan Mehra is the author of today's rather splendid blog on RBN Energy, highlighting how the flexibility of waterborne supply helped to mitigate the impact of the Colonial pipeline outage. You can read the whole piece here.

By Matt Smith

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
We begin with a quick look at some of the critical figures and data in the energy markets this week, with both oil prices and the rig count rising, as news of an OPEC agreement saw markets turn bullish.

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Chart of the Week

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 The disruption of the Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline carrying gasoline from the Gulf Coast to the U.S. southeast, led to a temporary spike in gasoline prices.

 The two-week outage also led to a drawdown in gasoline stocks, particularly in PADD 1C, the region covering the southeast. PADD 1C saw stocks fall by almost 6 million barrels during mid-September, the largest draw on record.

 The Gulf Coast (PADD 3) saw an increase in gasoline inventories of about 4.8 million barrels, a record high. Refined product was trapped on the coast without the pipeline. The downed line is back up and running.

Market Movers



 Transocean (NYSE: RIG) saw its share price drop more than 7 percent on Monday after it revealed that Reliance Industries cancelled an ultra-deepwater drillship. The contract consisted of a dayrate of $508,000, through January 2021. The loss more than outweighs a contract that it won with Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU).

 SM Energy (NYSE: SM) was up nearly 2 percent on Monday after it said that it planned on selling off 54,000 acres in North Dakota. SM plans on focusing its efforts in the Permian Basin.

 Disasters hit oil majors: a helicopter transporting people to Chevrons (NYSE: CVX) platform off the coast of Angola crashed, killing at least four people. Separately, BP (NYSE: BP) reported an oil spill in the North Sea. The oil, the company said, will disperse into the sea.

Tuesday October 4, 2016

Oil prices rose to a three-month high as the markets took a more optimistic view of the OPEC deal announced last week. Hedge funds and money managers made highly bullish bets on oil in the lead up to the meeting in Algiers, and while the rally has slowed, oil prices are holding onto their gains. Brent closed above $50 per barrel for the first time in weeks.

Hurricane Matthew barrels through Caribbean. The Category 4 hurricane is threatening small islands in the Caribbean, with Haiti expected to bear the brunt of the storms carnage. In addition to the pending humanitarian disaster in the region, the storm could also disrupt petroleum trade. The hurricane could shut in about 33 million barrels of oil in storage in the Bahamas, and could disrupt gasoline shipments along the Atlantic seaboard, potentially delaying cargoes into New York Harbor, for example. A few weeks ago, a major storm in the Gulf of Mexico interrupted shipments, leading to huge drawdowns in oil inventories in the weekly EIA data, which led to higher prices. Hurricane Matthew could also have unpredictable effects on short-term prices for crude and refined products. Related: Expert Analysis: A Long Road Ahead For OPEC

Canada introduces carbon tax. The Canadian government unveiled a plan to implement a carbon price beginning in 2018. The carbon tax plan from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls for a C$10 per tonne charge beginning in 2018, rising C$10 each year until it tops off at C$50 per tonne in 2022. The government in Alberta, home to the vast majority of Canadas oil production, demanded that in exchange for its support, it demanded the federal approval of a major pipeline, which would help open up new markets for Canadas oil sands.

Libya increases oil production to 0.5 mb/d. After years of outages, Libya is finally poised to breathe new life into its oil sector. The war-torn North African country has succeeded in bringing some key oil ports back online, and production has jumped to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 260,000 bpd as recently as this August. The National Oil Company says that is just the beginning. It expects to see output rise to 600,000 bpd by the end of October, and is ultimately targeting 950,000 bpd by the end of the year. Libya is exempt from the recently announced OPEC production cut, and if it succeeds in ramping up production, it could potentially overwhelm the cartels planned cutbacks.

Iran signs $2.2 billion oil contract, with new model. Iran secured a contract with Persia Oil & Gas Industry Development Co. to increase oil production at three oil fields along Irans border with Iraq, Bloomberg reports. The $2.2 billion contract was based on Irans overhauled framework, a contract that offers oil companies more incentives to boost production. The new oil contract is intended to attract more international investment to help Iran ratchet up oil production in the years ahead.

U.S. shale industry increases 2017 hedging. Bloomberg reports that a range of shale companies have moved over the past week to secure hedges for their 2017 oil production, protecting themselves from any renewed downturn in oil prices and guaranteeing them a certain price for their output. The 6 percent jump in oil prices after the OPEC deal provided a lifeline to shale companies, and they are reportedly hedging their output in droves. The spike in hedges suggests that a substantial slice of the shale industry will keep production steady or even increase oil flows, potentially prolonging the slump. Related: Smoke And Mirrors: What Did OPEC Really Agree On?

Nigeria says oil companies illegally export oil. The Nigerian government is suing several oil majors over what it says were illegal oil exports with an estimate value of about $12.7 billion. The companies  Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Eni (NYSE: E) deny the allegations, but the government says that about 57 million barrels of oil were exported and not declared between 2011 and 2014. The government wants $407 million from Shell and $463 million from Chevron.

BP oil spill in North Sea. BP (NYSE: BP) shut down an oil well after leaking oil into the North Sea near the Shetland Islands. A technical issue caused the company to spill roughly 700 barrels of crude oil into the sea. The Clair platform, as it is known, produces about 20,000 barrels per day and will be offline until the exact cause of the leak can be determined.

Pemex sells $4 billion debt. The state-owned Mexican oil company issued $4 billion in bonds in order to pay off old debt and also finance its 2017 plans. Pemex is selling off assets to whittle away at its massive debt pile, and is also looking for partners to drill in deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mexican oil company has $97 billion in total debt.

EU, India move to ratify Paris climate treaty. The Paris climate change accord agreed to last year required the ratification of countries representing at least 55 percent of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions for it to take effect. With India and the EU approving the treaty, the necessary number of countries has been reached and the treaty should take effect before the end of the year. The treaty calls for keeping global average temperatures from rising no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

By Evan Kelly of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The world is waiting on the newest release of information by Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, who has announced that over the next ten days, he will release a whole new spate of information covering a wide range of topics, including oil.

In addition to information about oil, Assange has promised that the latest series of unveilings will include the goods on the elections in the United States, arms, tech Giant Google, and mass surveillance. Assange made the announcement Tuesday to a press gathering in Berlin, from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, stating: We hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks. We have on schedule, and its a very hard schedule, all the U.S. election-related documents to come out before Nov. 8. Our upcoming series includes significant material on war, arms, oil, Google, the U.S. elections and myself.

Ecuador gave Assange political asylum after he was charged with rape in Sweden, a charge that Assange denies. He feared that ultimately he would be extradited to the United States where he would face charges of espionage. The announcement from Assange came as a disappointment to many who stayed up late in the hope of hearing in the late-night hours at least some tidbits of the promised information, especially anything that might pertain the upcoming elections in the United States.

Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com

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Petroperu will restart early next year the operation of its four-decades-old crude oil pipeline, which has caused several major leaks in the Amazon, after completing extensive repairs. The company also said it will seek support from Amazonian communities to help protect the pipeline from further vandalism.

It is vandalism that Petroperu blames for the spillsover 7,000 barrels just this yearalong the 687-mile pipeline that supplies crude to Perus state-owned oil refining and transportation companys refinery on the Pacific coast. Vandalism was one reason for the spills, according to the countrys environmental regulator, OEFA. Another was poor maintenance, which sparked massive protests from communities living in the Amazon jungle, which the pipeline crosses for most of its course to the Pacific.

The regulator fined Petroperu US$3.5 million for the latter, saying the company was guilty of repeated and systematic failure of its environmental obligations. In an interview with Reuters, Petroperus president, Augusto Baertl, said that making the company more environmentally responsible was a top priority, but added that it had a problem in this respect.

Although Petroperu is trying to get the communities on board, they do not see Petroperu as an ally, and are unwilling to cooperate. However, their support is necessary if Petroperu is to protect the pipeline from acts of vandalism, especially since, according to Baertl, some of these acts may well have been committed by members of these communities as an attempt to get a job in the cleanup operations.

Initially, the pipeline, which was shut down in February, was to remain so for a year, while Petroperu replaces the damaged parts it was ordered to replace by OEFA. Prior to the shutdown, the pipeline produced a relatively small amount of crude15,000 bpdbut nevertheless, stopping the shipments has affected Perus economy, as it necessitated the suspension of production at two oilfields.

Besides the repairs of the pipeline, Petroperus plans under the new president also include a US$4.8-billion expansion of the Talara refinery, which is currently in construction. Baertl did not rule out venturing into production, but said for the time being that Petroperu had neither the workforce nor the funds to do so.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn. Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.



Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women. She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fairs Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
For the 10th straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee, presented by the restaurants of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, dining guides, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as voting for your "Best of Dining 2016."

Classy Girl Cupcakes invites kids of all ages to a sweet day at The Domes to celebrate Cupcake Fest MKE, Oct. 15 (fittingly, Sweetest Day) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Mitchell Park Domes are located at 524 S. Layton Blvd.

Now in its second year, Milwaukees first cupcake festival will offer a variety of attractions, including the new Cupcake Land  a life-sized, cupcake-version of the popular Candy Land board game  and Cupcake Carnival, featuring kid-friendly carnival games with prizes.

Returning attractions will be the interactive Cupcake Factory, where guests choose among flavors of buttercream frosting and sprinkles to decorate their treats; Community Cake Decorating, where guests unleash their inner artist to decorate a six-foot-tall display cake; a scavenger hunt to find Cupcake Crew characters hidden among the plants of The Domes; a cupcake-themed coloring station; and the DJ dance party, with family friendly music by Sound By Design and special performances by "American Idol" contestant Gina Naomi Baez and Milwaukees own Stephanie Marie Dance Company.

Also returning is the Cupcake Creation Contest. Each guest may submit one idea. Five finalists, age 8 and up, will be selected by Classy Girl Cupcakes after the festival. Finalists will develop their ideas and bake samples at the bakery with help from parents or staff. Finalists will be invited to present their cupcake at a special event at the bakery, where guests will vote to determine which cupcake will be added to the Classy Girl Cupcakes permanent menu.

For a memento of Cupcake Fest, guests can have their photo taken on the celebrity red carpet. Classy the Cupcake Mascot, Olaf (from "Frozen"), a Minion, and the Shopkins Cupcake Queen will be on hand to pose for photos with guests. Photos will be available for free download after the festival.

"Cupcakes arent just a fad," said Erica Elia, owner of Classy Girl Cupcakes. "They bring happiness to special occasions and can brighten any day, just like flowers do. This is why the Domes is the perfect venue, and Cupcake Fest MKE is my way of responding to the need for quality childrens activities in Milwaukee."
There are a number of ways to get from Milwaukee to Yellowstone National Park by air  and if you havent been there, you definitely should get to Yellowstone National Park somehow, sometime soon.

There are flights (typically via connections) from Milwaukee to Jackson Hole, Bozeman, West Yellowstone, Salt Lake City and Denver, though the latter two require fairly lengthy drives to the park upon arrival. Flying to Billings, Montana, however, comes with a number of benefits, beyond the fact that its less than two hours by car from butte-top airport to park entrance.

I doubt youll be headed to Yellowstone this year (unless youre a snow fiend), but you know you ought to plan your trip well in advance, so in that spirit, here are five reasons (in no particular order) that you should fly to Billings (pop. 109,000) when you visit Yellowstone next year:

Beartooth Highway

With absolutely stunning vistas and dramatic drops  to say nothing of the picturesque beauty of Beartooth Lake with the mountains behind it  Beartooth Highway is about as gorgeous as Yellowstone itself. Theres a quicker way to get from Billings to the park and back, but you miss this route at your peril. As my co-worker Jimmy Carlton said with characteristic understatement, "Its Americas most beautiful highway."

Plan four hours, even though it doesnt technically take that long to make the trek to Yellowstones northeast entrance. But youll pull over constantly to snap photos and breathe in the views  and youll want to stop in quaint, bustling Red Lodge for some ice cream, too.

Breweries

When you get to Billings, you might notice that one of the tallest buildings  if not the tallest  downtown has a U.S. Bank sign on top, reminding you of home. Also like Milwaukee, Billingsonians enjoy a good beer. Head over to Montana Avenue, between about 22nd and 30th Streets, to walk the brewery district.

Here, in old Billings, theres great 19th and early 20th century building stock, including the old train station buildings (pictured above), and many of them house restaurants, brew pubs and distilleries. You can find a map on VisitBillings.com, but definitely check out Trailhead Spirits for small-batch whiskey, and Uberbrew across the street, where you can buy flights at just a dollar a sample (pictured below).

(NOTE: Just after this story was written Uberbrew won four medals and 2016 Small Brewery & Brewer Of The Year title at the Great American Beer Festival and was runner-up in the Alpha King Challenge.)

Rimrocks

Billings is surrounded by rimrocks, long flat sandstone outcroppings that are remnants of a sea that once covered the area. Now, your plane will touch down on one, offering a dramatic introductory view of the city and there are other rimrocks where you can also go hiking, running, biking or for a drive. Head up there at dawn or dusk for a stunning sunrise or sunset.

Family fun

We set up shop at the Best Western Kelly Inn, which is a bit out of downtown, but in compensation has a great little waterpark-style pool that was the perfect way for us to close out our Yellowstone trip. Just heading home wouldve been a downer, but giving the kids a couple hours on the slides and other features in the pool thrilled them ... and, therefore, us. We also enjoyed the bears  fake, dont panic  climbing up the side of the building to peek into the windows. There's free breakfast in the lobby and did I mention the casino across the street?

While youre in Billings, you can also check out the Yellowstone Art Museum; Moss Mansion, which offers a glimpse into Western life at the dawn of the 20th century; Wise Wonders Childrens Museum, which focuses on STEM topics; and the Western Heritage Center, which uses a series of exhibits in a stunning Romanesque Revival library building to tell the story of the history of the Yellowstone River Valley, where Billings is located.

Pictograph Cave State Park & Little Bighorn



(PHOTO: Tbennert, Creative Commons)

Both of these parks are easy drives from Downtown Billings. Just five miles from Billings, Pictograph Cave State Park has 23 acres of caves that are adorned with images created between 200 and 2,100 years ago by the native peoples of the area. A bit farther afield  60 miles southeast  is Little Bighorn, the site of Custers famous last stand: the battlefield where the U.S. Armys 7th Calvary fell to the Sioux and Cheyenne in 1876. The national monument memorializes the Sioux, Cheyenne and 7th Calvary.

For details on sites, lodging, restaurants and more, go to Visit Billings.com.
See original here



WikiLeaks will release documents on the US presidential elections before November 8, the group's founder, Julian Assange, said in an eagerly anticipated address via videolink at the Volksbuhne Theater in Berlin to mark WikiLeaks' 10th anniversary.

WikiLeaks hopes to be publishing documents "every week for the next 10 weeks,"Assange said.

Assange also promised to publish about a million documents related to at least three governments before the end of 2016, saying that the organization is evolving and planning to expand its collaboration with media outlets beyond the 100 it is already working with.

Assange hinted at some changes in WikiLeaks' funding and organization.

He also denied that any of WikiLeaks' publications are aimed at damaging the image of US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, saying that some of his statements in this regard had been misquoted.

"WikiLeaks has released 10 million documents over 10 years. That's 10 billion words, averaging 3,000 docs a day,"said the WikiLeaks founder.

According to Assange, the documents released or to be released by the organization "are revealing, but also the government/state reactions to the releases are revealing also."

Assange also promised to release documents on war, oil, Google, and mass surveillance.

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Reprinted from Counterpunch

To my many friends and readers who plan to vote for Hillary Clinton: please stop bullying me.

Also please lay off other people, progressives and liberals and traditional Democrats and socialists and communists, citizens who identify with the political left, who plan to vote for Dr. Jill Stein or stay home.

I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump. I agree with the mainstream liberal consensus that he should never hold political power, much less control over nuclear launch codes. He's dangerous and scary. But that doesn't mean I have to vote for Hillary Clinton.

So I won't.

1. The main reason that I'm not going to vote for Hillary Clinton is the same exact main reason that I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump: I don't vote Republican. Being age 53, Nixon was the first president I remember. Hillary Clinton's politics (and her paranoia and insularity) remind me of Richard Nixon's. I can't bring myself to think of a Democrat as someone who solicits millions of dollars from Wall Street or votes with crazy Republicans (like George W. Bush, whose stupid wars she aggressively supported) to invade foreign countries just for fun. She plays a Democrat on TV, but we know the truth: she's a Republican.

2. I'm anti-political dynasty. There should be a constitutional amendment banning anyone related by blood or marriage to a former president from running for the presidency.

3. There's a big difference between an impressive resume and a list of accomplishments. Hillary has the former, not the latter. I hold her resume against her: she has held tremendous power, yet has never reached out to grab the brass ring. As senator, her record was undistinguished. As Secretary of State, she barely lifted a finger on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, contributed to the expansion of the Syrian civil war, and is more responsible than almost anyone else for destroying Libya. What she did well she did small; when she went big she performed badly.

4. #MuslimLivesMatter. More than a million people died in Iraq. She voted for that. So she isn't, as the current Clinton campaign meme goes, merely a "flawed" candidate. Voting for the violent deaths of over a million people, and the maiming of God knows how many more -- when there was no reason whatsoever to think Iraq had WMDs -- is not an "oops, my bad" screw-up. Those were real people, real human beings, and they're dead because of her. You don't get to soak your hands in that much blood and just walk away, much less into the White House.

5. She still hasn't made an affirmative case for herself. By clinging to President Obama, she's running as his third term. The standard way to pull this off is to present yourself as new and improved: the old product was great, the new one will be even better. Her campaign boils down to "I'm not Donald Trump." No matter how bad he is, and he is awful, that's not enough.

Watching her in the first presidential debate, at the beginning when Trump was besting her over trade, I kept asking myself: why doesn't she admit that the recovery is good but has left too many Americans behind? Why hasn't she proposed a welfare and retraining program for people who lose their jobs to globalization? A week later, the only answer I can come up with is that she has no imagination, no vision thing.

6. She has made no significant concessions to the political left. Frankly, this makes me wonder about her intelligence. Current polling shows that the biggest threat to her candidacy is losing millennial, working class, and Bernie Sanders supporters to the Green Party's Jill Stein and Libertarian Gary Johnson. She would not have this problem if she'd picked Sanders as her vice presidential running mate. Even now, she could bag the millennial vote by promising the Vermont senator a cabinet post. Why doesn't she? For the same reason that she won't embrace the $15-an-hour minimum wage (she gets $225,000 for an hour-long speech but wants you to settle for $12) -- she's a creature of the corporations and therefore the political right. She's not one of us. She doesn't care about us.

7. My vote is worth no less than the vote of someone who supports a major party nominee. So what if the polls say that Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be elected president? Why, based on those polls, should I strategically vote for someone whose politics and personality I deplore? By that logic, why shouldn't they change their votes to conform to mine? I have my vote, you have your vote, let Diebold add them up.

I don't have a problem with you if you plan to vote for Hillary. This year is the best argument ever for lesser evilism. But the fact that we are selecting between two equally unpopular major party presidential standardbearers indicates that the two-party system is in crisis, if not broken. We need and deserve more and better options. The only way to get them is to start building viable third parties -- voting for them, contributing money to them. What better time to start than now?

Anyway, there's absolutely no way that my refusal to vote for Hillary will put Donald Trump into the White House.

How do I know? Arithmetic. The closest state margin in an American presidential election was four, in Maryland in 1832. Like you, I only get one vote. Whatever I do can't and won't change the result.
Reprinted from Campaign For America's Future

Hillary Clinton gave a speech on the economy in Toledo, Ohio on Monday. Her primary topics, corporate predation and a broken economy, leaned left. Some of the speech's most important ideas were hidden in plain sight but could have long-lasting significance.

The speech wasn't perfect, and some will undoubtedly question her sincerity. But it showed just how far the candidate, and her party's leadership, have come in a very short time.

Characteristically, Clinton's speech blunted its message with hedging phrases like, "There are lots of principled law-abiding business leaders out there who are horrified by all this."

And Clinton couldn't resist boasting that "I've been endorsed by very successful people," while "not a single CEO of a Fortune 100 company supports the Trump campaign."

To millions of American voters, that will look less like validation and more like guilt by association. Those CEOs aren't avoiding Trump because they're patriots. They're probably more concerned that his unpredictability would be bad for business. And many would lose out if Trump ever followed through on his anti-trade-deal rhetoric.

Still, the speech showed that Clinton is grappling with this populist moment, and is accommodating herself to it.

Donald-Baiting Put To Good Use

She spent a good portion of the speech attacking Donald Trump, of course. It would be political malpractice for a candidate in her position not to dwell on her opponent's venality, vulgarity and greed.

But the outsized and cartoonish nature of Trump's villainy can also be an impediment, a distraction from the deeper debate that we need. Every moment spent discussing Trump's personal failings is a moment spent not addressing the fundamental injustices built into our economy.

At least Clinton put her Donald-baiting to good use, by linking his faults to broader concerns. "Trump represents the same rigged system that he claims he's going to change," she said. "He's taken corporate excess and makes a business model out of it."

Trade is the one subject where Trump has a populist edge. While Clinton could not bring herself to condemn past trade deals, she said that she would "ramp up enforcement of trade rules by appointing a new chief trade prosecutor and tripling the number of enforcement officers." And she repeated her recent, more forceful language on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying "I oppose TPP now, I will oppose it after the election, I will oppose it as president -- because it is one-sided and unfair to American workers."

That language would be more convincing if Clinton were to personally lobby Democrats in Congress, asking them to vote against TPP in the lame-duck session. And if Clinton opposes the TPP because "it sets up a dispute resolution system that favors large corporations over everyone else," she should fight to renegotiate or remove the same provision from NAFTA. A recent study confirmed that it has benefited extremely wealthy individuals and very large corporations.

Still, her words of opposition are a step in the right direction, reflecting the deep unpopularity and poor outcomes of past trade deals.

Wall Street "Bully"

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Reprinted from The Nation

The ugly political climate of 2016 has made this a rough year for the Arab-American community.

Donald Trump's cruel and unusual campaign has had many targets. But he has been particularly vile in his targeting of Muslims and immigrants from Middle Eastern countries.

By openly disregarding constitutional provisions that were designed to guard against religious tests and to guarantee equal protection under the law for all Americans, Trump has mainstreamed deliberate ignorance and crude bigotry. He has called for banning Muslim immigration. He had stoked resentment against Syrian refugees of all backgrounds. He has entertained the idea of compiling a national database of Muslims living in the United States. And he has opened a discussion about surveillance of houses of worship, saying, "We have to be very strong in terms of looking at the mosques."

The Arab-American community is diverse. Arab Americans are Muslims and Christians; they are religious and secular; they trace their roots to many countries; some are recent immigrants but many have family histories in the United States that extend back as far as those of the Republican presidential nominee. What they have in common is a shared sense of having been stereotyped and targeted unfairly in this election campaign.

Arab-Americans of all backgrounds say they feel frustrated and "exhausted" after a year of having to defend themselves from Trump's attacks. "I was born, raised in America," Ron Amen, a member of the large and well-established Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan, told NPR in a poignant discussion of the campaign. "I served this country in the military. I served this country as a police officer for 32 years. I don't know what else I would have to prove to people like Mr. Trump that I'm not a threat to this country.

It is by now well understood that Trump's rhetoric has fostered a climate of fear and intimidation that is not just divisive. It is, as Congressman Keith Ellison and others have suggested, a source of understandable anxiety and fear for those who Trump targets.

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Samantha Nuttis an award-winning humanitarian, bestselling author and acclaimed public speaker. A medical doctor and a founder of the renowned international humanitarian organization War Child, Dr. Nutt has worked with children and their families at the frontline of many of the world's major crises -- from Iraq to Afghanistan, Somalia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone to Darfur, Sudan.

Dr. Nutt is a respected authority for many of North America's leading media outlets. In November 2015, Dr. Nutt spoke at TED Talks Live "War & Peace" at The Town Hall Theater in New York, which aired on PBS on May 30, 2016. Dr. Nutt's TED Talk can be viewed on TED.com:

http://www.ted.com/talks/samantha_nutt_the_real_harm_of_the_global_arms_trade

Dr. Nutt's critically-acclaimed debut book, entitled Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid,was released by McClelland and Stewart Ltd. (a division of Random House) in October 2011 and was a #1 national bestseller in both hardcover and paperback.

For more information, see www.warchildusa.org or www.samanthanutt.com

Total run time: 29:00

Host: David Swanson.

Producer: David Swanson.

Music by Duke Ellington.

Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive.





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Reprinted from Counterpunch



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James Galbraith's articles and interviews collected in his book Welcome to the Poisoned Chalice trace his growing exasperation at the "troika" -- the European Central Bank (ECB), IMF and EU bureaucracy -- which refused to loosen their demand that Greece impoverish its economy to a degree worse than the Great Depression. The fight against Greece was, in a nutshell, a rejection of parliamentary democracy after the incoming Syriza coalition of left-wing parties won election in January 2015 on a platform of resisting austerity and privatization.

The world has seen the result: In contrast to the support given to countries with right-wing regimes, the ECB and IMF tightened their financial screws on Greece. The incoming finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis -- who had been Galbraith's faculty colleague at Austin, Texas -- asked Galbraith to join him in February to help develop an alternative to the austerity being demanded. They were optimistic that reason would prevail: an awareness that the creditors' program of "cutting wages and income without providing any relief from private debts (such as fixed mortgages) merely deepens debt burdens and forces people into bankruptcy and foreclosure."

This book reflects Galbraith's disappointment at how matters turned out so disastrously. In early June, a month before the July 5 referendum in which Greek voters rejected ECB-IMF demands by a heavy 61.5 percent, he thought that the government would fall if it capitulated. "So this option is not a high probability." But that is just what did happen. Tsipras surrendered, prompting Varoufakis to resign the next day, on July 6.

A week earlier Galbraith had spelled out what seemed to be the inherent logic of the situation: Tsipras "could not yield to the conditions being demanded. So then the onus will be back on the creditors, and if they choose to destroy a European country, the crime will be on their hands to all to see."

Tsipras did yield, and the Greece's economy was destroyed by the Eurozone getting its way and imposing insolvency within the euro, not by forcing it out of the euro and leaving it bankrupt resorting to anti-Cuba or anti-Iran-type sanctions. Galbraith's book presents the prosecutor's case for what ensued. By May 3, he wrote to Varoufakis that he found "no prospect for development inside the current economic structures of the Eurozone."

The essays in this book present Greece's experience as an object lesson for other countries seeking to free themselves from right-wing financial control. The IMF and ECB do not even consider their destruction of Greece's economy to be a failure. They continue to impose an austerity doctrine that was shown to be fallacious already in the 1920s.

The EU Constitution imposes debt deflation and austerity

Galbraith expressed his "epiphany" already in 2010 that a "market-based" solution was a euphemism for anti-labor austerity and a reversal of political democracy. "In a successful financial system, there must be a state larger than any market. That state must have monetary control -- as the Federal Reserve does, without question, in the Untied States." That was what many Europeans a generation ago expected -- for the EU to sponsor a mixed public/private economy in the progressive 20th-century tradition.

But instead of an emerging "European superstate" run by elected representatives empowered to promote economic recovery and growth by writing down debts in order to revive employment, the Eurozone is being run by the troika on behalf of bondholders and banks. ECB and EU technocrats are serving these creditor interests, not those of the increasingly indebted population, business and governments. The only real integration has been financial, empowering the ECB to override national sovereignty to dictate public spending and tax policy. And what they dictate is austerity and economic shrinkage.

In addition to a writeoff of bad debts, an expansionary fiscal policy is needed to save the eurozone from becoming a dead zone. But the EU has no unified tax policy, and money creation to finance deficit spending is blocked by lack of a central bank to monetize government deficits under control of elected officials. Europe's central bank does not finance deficit spending to revive employment and economic growth. "Europe has devoted enormous effort to create a 'single market' without enlarging any state, and while pretending that the Central Bank cannot provide new money to the system." Without monetizing deficits, budgets must be cut and the public domain sold off, with banks and bondholders in charge of resource allocation.

As long as "the market" means keeping the high debt overhead in place, the economy will be sacrificed to creditors. Their debt claims will dominate the market and, under EU and ECB rules, will also dominate the state instead of the state controlling the financial system or even tax policy.

Galbraith calls this financial warfare totalitarian, and writes that while its philosophical father is Frederick Hayek, the political forbear of this market Bolshevism is Stalin. The result is a crisis that "will continue, until Europe changes its mind. It will continue until the forces that built the welfare state in the first place rise up to defend it."

To prevent such a progressive policy revival, the troika promotes regime change in recalcitrant economies, such as it deemed Syriza to be for trying to resist creditor commitments to austerity. Crushing Greece's Syriza coalition was openly discussed throughout Europe as a dress rehearsal for blocking the Left from supporting its arguments. "Governments from the Left, no matter how free from corruption, no matter how pro-European," Galbraith concludes, "are not acceptable to the community of creditors and institutions that make up the European system."

Opposing austerity is called "contagion," as if prosperity and rising living standards are an economic disease, not national bankruptcy being enforced by the ECB and EU bureaucracy (and the IMF). To prevent Podemos in Spain and similar parties in Portugal and Italy from mounting a recovery from eurozone austerity, these financial institutions support right-wing governments while tightening the screws on Left governments. That is what happens when central banks are made "independent" of democratic electoral politics and parliamentary control.

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This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Last month, near the end of the first presidential debate, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton laid a masterful trap for her Republican rival. Reminding viewers of Donald Trump's frequent crude comments about women, she mentioned "a woman in a beauty contest," and then unpacked the story of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

"And he called this woman 'Miss Piggy,'" Clinton told around 80 million Americans. "Then he called her 'Miss Housekeeping,' because she was Latina."

Clinton paused, waited, and revealed her name.

"Where did you find this? Where did you find this?" Trump sputtered, to which Clinton countered with a kicker: "She has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she's going to vote this November."

A more conventional candidate than The Donald might have spent that night and the next day carefully prying the jaws of the bear trap off his leg and licking his wounds, but Clinton and her coterie knew their opponent well. No doubt stung by his overall poor performance and a wave of withering criticism over his treatment of Machado two decades earlier, Trump figured out a way to squeeze his other leg into the vice grip of that metal maw. As Machado and the Clinton campaign carried out a masterfully orchestrated media blitz, the Republican hopeful went on Fox News to double down. "She gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem," he told the seemingly shell-shocked hosts of Fox and Friends.

Days later, the story was still going strong, garnering media attention, generating headlines, and prompting discussions about everything from Trump's own weight (five pounds shy of clinical obesity) to his past comments about the size of a pregnant Kim Kardashian culminating in an early morning Twitter storm last Friday.

This is American politics today: crude, crass, freewheeling, and tending toward the frivolous. America has had sexist, misogynist presidents, of course. Some have been astonishingly lewd and crude. I'm looking at you, LBJ!

Lyndon Baines Johnson may have been an incorrigible bully and inveterate womanizer -- to say nothing of the copious amounts of Vietnamese blood on his hands -- but his 1964 campaign featured a nuclear war-themed political attack ad that, though only aired once, is still lodged in the American consciousness.

At the end of that so-called Daisy ad, as a mushroom cloud rises onscreen, we hear Johnson's voice: "These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." The implication was clear. Johnson's Republican opponent, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, was too dangerous to entrust with America's nuclear arsenal.

Clinton has made a similar point about Trump. "A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons," she's said -- a suitable enough line but without a Daisy punch. Barring a Trump win and a resulting nuclear exchange, don't expect people to remember it 50 years from now. Don't even hold your breath about whether it might affect a single news cycle between now and Election Day or morph into the kind of substantive discussion of nuclear policy that spawns 100 headlines and a million tweets. There have been many scandals deserving of mention during this long presidential campaign, many controversies demanding attention, many travesties deserving of discussion but as TomDispatchregular Andrew Bacevich, author most recently of America's War for the Greater Middle East, observes today, the biggest travesty may be that an issue with the potential to end life as we know it on this planet can't compete with one candidate's seemingly hysterical obsession with publicly criticizing women's bodies. Nick Turse

What We Talk About When We Don't Want to Talk About Nuclear War

Donald and Hillary Take a No-First-Use Pledge on Relevant Information

By Andrew J. Bacevich You may have missed it. Perhaps you dozed off. Or wandered into the kitchen to grab a snack. Or by that point in the proceedings were checking out Seinfeld reruns. During the latter part of the much hyped but excruciating-to-watch first presidential debate, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt posed a seemingly straightforward but cunningly devised question. His purpose was to test whether the candidates understood the essentials of nuclear strategy. A moderator given to plain speaking might have said this: "Explain why the United States keeps such a large arsenal of nuclear weapons and when you might consider using those weapons." What Holt actually said was: "On nuclear weapons, President Obama reportedly considered changing the nation's longstanding policy on first use. Do you support the current policy?" The framing of the question posited no small amount of knowledge on the part of the two candidates. Specifically, it assumed that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each possess some familiarity with the longstanding policy to which Holt referred and with the modifications that Obama had contemplated making to it.

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Sen Blumenthal Speaks with Defense Sec Carter & Chairman of Joint Chiefs Gen Dunford, Jr Senator Richard Blumenthal speaks with Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. about ...

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunsford speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee

Madness reigns. How else to put it considering the vitriol coming from the west and more specifically the US demonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and nuclear armed Russia. This is simply insane.

Yet to hear the bluster coming from US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power [1] or Hillary Clinton calling Putin the "new Hitler", Russia hacking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters-no evidence given- Russia being the aggressor in Ukraine, "usurping" Crimea, responsible for shooting down the Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine and now threatening to invade the Baltic states are all unfounded accusations, false allegations, even absurdities yet mouthed by the aforementioned US "officials" as if they are truths, then regurgitated by the complicit corporate MSM onto a US public that sees and hears this constant drumbeat of vitriol aimed at preparing them for a war with Russia.

Only through alternative media with the likes of investigative reporters such as Robert Parry whose latest, "Do We Really Want Nuclear War with Russia?" [2] cuts through the fog of "official" misinformation to get to the core of what's going on.

It seems unfathomable to consider how ruthless "official" Washington will go to attain hegemony over the world including Russia and China two countries capable of annihilating the US in a retaliatory nuclear strike.

Other than the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 the US has not directly confronted and provoked a nuclear armed Russia and China until now.

That's because MAD, mutually assured destruction was the reality during the cold war with the USSR.

Since the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 NATO-with the US the principal driver-has moved eastward to the doorstep of Russia's borders betraying the verbal agreement between Bush Sr. and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev that with the reunification of Germany NATO would not move "one inch eastward" toward the Soviet Union.

With this broken pledge, first by Bill Clinton in the 90's, "Dubya" Bush and now Barack Obama, NATO has moved to the doorstep of Russia, in the Baltic's, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and verbalized the intention to add Georgia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile China is provoked by the US "pivot to Asia", now with the US Naval presence in the South China Sea under the guise of "freedom of navigation"-something that China has never interfered with-in an area of Chinese domestic influence. But not only China also the Philippines, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Brunei where regional disputes have historically been dealt with diplomatically and resolved peaceably between the neighbors.

That is until US Naval "gunboat diplomacy" arrived on the scene, and the US established treaties with China's neighbors for "protection" against China, now cast as a belligerent in the South China Sea. Yet the US that has no national security interests in the area; just exerting imperial overreach and attempted hegemony over China.

Think about it...if a country is surrounded geographically and provoked by adversaries on its border, Russia, and another country, China, is provoked needlessly in its own domestic area of influence, it doesn't take much imagination to realize both Russia and China are in the crosshairs of US belligerence aimed directly at them. So they do what any country would do under the circumstances, prepare to defend themselves.

And they have with advanced missile and nuclear arms capability that could annihilate the US in a retaliatory strike if they're attacked.

So when there's been loose talk of using "tactical" nuclear weapons or "winning" a nuclear war or more recently US Marine General Joe Dunford saying "We are on the brink of war with Russia" who along with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week calling for a no-fly zone in Syria except for US war planes-which Russia will never agree to-where does the US insanity begin and end?

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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
by NW Spotlight

Brad Avakian is the current Oregon Labor Commissioner and hes the Democratic candidate for Oregon Secretary of State.

He supports Measure 97  the largest tax increase in Oregons history.

Avakians also someone who should understand how excessive taxes can hurt Oregonians  someone who should understand why businesses like Powells Books are concerned that Measure 97 could force them out of business.

Willamette Week reported back in 2011 that Avakian hasnt always paid his taxes on time. In 2005, the IRS filed a $13,120 lien against Avakian for unpaid federal income taxes dating back to 2002.

Avakian also failed to pay his Washington County property taxes of about $4,000 in 2006. He paid them seven months late, along with $500 of interest charges.

One of the responsibilities of the secretary of state is to be the auditor of public accounts: they examine and audit accounts of all publicly funded boards, commissions and agencies.

Given Avakians own history of tax delinquency, where is his compassion for those who will be hurt by Measure 97 and also should someone with his personal tax history be entrusted to be Oregons auditor of public accounts?
by NW Spotlight

In the Troutdale mayors race the past of both candidates has recently been brought into the public arena. Allen who is being supported in this non-partisan race by both Democrats and Republicans was accused of animal cruelty over 17 years ago. Allen explains that at the time he was a single parent of two small boys and they had a family dog living inside their house. The original charge was against his roommate while the Allens were out of town. A neighbor down the street accused the man Allen rented his master bedroom to of being abusive to their dog. The charge was then expanded to include Allen when the code enforcement officer discovered that the Allens didnt have a dog house. Allen says he didnt know that a dog house was allegedly required since their dog Lady lived and slept in the house with the family and there was outside shelter available.

After pleading not guilty, he had a choice of going to trial for an estimated $8,000 dollars in additional attorney fees, or take an offer from the city to drop the charges, provided Allen split the kennel fee with the city, pay $250 to an animal protection agency or humane society, and do 20 hours of community service at an animal protection agency or humane society. Allen gave his attorney strict instructions that he was not to plea bargain or admit any guilt because the dog was a beloved family member. Allen accepted the citys offer to drop the charges, but then Allen failed to comply with the 20 hours of community service within 2 months (Allen says he thought he had 2 years). The court record showed that a notice of hearing for noncompliance was sent to Allens old address. Allen says he didnt find out about the hearing until the city called his cell phone, at which time his address was updated and he was notified of a bench warrant for failure to appear. Allen says by that time he had already moved, the expense of hiring a lawyer and the loss of his renter made it impossible for the family to continue to live in their old home. Allen then complied with the 20 hours of service and paid $40 to have the bench warrant recalled.
Why don't you sit next to the lady? you will have company," a male senior helpfully suggested to a young Tarjani Vakil. The lady Vakil was told to sit next to was a stenographer at the newly constituted IDBI, then a wholly owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where Vakil had joined as an 'officer' from the Maharashtra State Finance Commission. Since the order came from a senior - deputy manager - Vakil obliged. "Such was the level of hierarchy at RBI, and the mindset of men," she says. "Not just that, I could sense a discomfort in the lady, too. All she said was, yes ma'am and no ma'am."

A postgraduate in History from Bombay University, Vakil, 22, had started picking up the nuances of finance after joining the Commission (rechristened Bombay State Finance Commission) in 1958 as clerical staff at a monthly salary of Rs 75. "My father's dream was to see my signature on the Indian currency note," reminiscences Vakil on a long phone call from Mumbai. With experience in small-scale industrial lending, a pre-requisite that the newly formed bank was seeking, Vakil was the only woman 'officer' of the first 40 recruits IDBI had in 1965. While women as clerical staff or 'stenos' were common, a woman officer was rare. "In the initial years, we all were made to sit in a big hall, and whenever I looked up, I found someone staring at me," she says. Slowly the glares faded, but the discomfort in her immediate seniors and colleagues was apparent as she was rising up the ranks. "After all, who wanted a woman boss?"

She says things changed when "a very important assignment" was given to her in the early 1970s by RBI's then deputy governor Ardhendu Bakshi. The assignment entailed unloading some shares without affecting the market. She was provided 'facilities' - a desk with a phone connection - to deliver the important assignment. "I am giving this to you because I have faith in your integrity, you understand Gujarati, and I know you will be able to do it," Bakshi had said. Gujarati was the language of brokers, and Bakshi believed nobody would approach a woman for undue favours. The successful completion of the assignment not only created a buzz in the market, but also earned Vakil a reputation.

The reputation helped her become the first woman to head a financial institution in India as Chairperson and Managing Director of EXIM Bank in 1993. She was ranked the highest woman official in banking in Asia, and named in the 50 world-class women executives in a 1996 survey conducted by KPMG Peat Marwick, US. Richard Rekhy, CEO of KPMG in India, says: "Post the nationalisation of banks in 1969, it took almost three decades for a woman to ascend to the top spot of a large bank. Vakil's climb was momentous, and marks the beginning of the change that I regard no less than a revolution."

"At IDBI, we were made to sit in a big hall and whenever I looked up, I found someone staring at me"

When Vakil retired in 1996, she was asked how many years before the next Tarjani: "It's just a matter of time? of five-six more years," she had said. By then, Vakil was seeing women as officers and general managers, and not just backend staff. And she was proven right when Ranjana Kumar, a 1966 direct recruit probationary officer in Bank of India, took over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Bank in mid-2000, steered it through a rough patch, and later headed the NABARD.

Banking On

Janaki Krishnan, author of Breaking Barriers, points out that studies have shown "in demographics where income levels are low, employment of women is higher. When income levels improve, their employment levels fall as there is no necessity for them to work. Therefore, earlier women largely played supporting roles - secretaries, assistants, typists, clerks". But when education levels improve, their participation in the workforce rises. This helped women gain entry into non-clerical roles, particularly in banks, tax and customs through common entrance exams, she says.

A revolution was evident in public sector banks as more women came through the probationary officers' recruitment. Eventually, Vijayalakshmi R. Iyer (CMD of Bank of India), Archana Bhargava (CMD of United Bank of India), Shubhalakshmi Panse (CMD of Allahabad Bank), and Usha Ananthasubramanian (CEO and MD, Punjab National Bank) became beacons of the sector. The 2013 appointment of Arundhati Bhattacharya, a 1977 probationary officer, as the Chairman of SBI, India's oldest and largest bank, cemented the rise of women in banking PSUs.

While the PSUs were a play of seniority and merit, the private sector was scripting a new story with merit-only policies. The 1970s witnessed the influx of women in entry-level management roles such as Lalita D. Gupte (1971), Kalpana Morparia (1975) and Renu Sud Karnad (1978) in the financial arena. While Karnad joined HDFC Ltd, India's first mortgage company, Gupte and Morparia joined the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), which provided medium- and long-term project financing to businesses.

The 1980s laid the path for what women would achieve in financial services. Early 1980s saw the entry of the first Indian woman graduate from the Harvard Business School - Naina Lal Kidwai - guiding the functioning of a foreign bank in India in 1982 at ANZ Grindlays. Chitra Ramkrishna, who joined IDBI in 1985, was handpicked in the early 1990s in the core team to establish a financial institution to reform India's capital markets - the National Stock Exchange - and is now its chief. IIM-A graduate Roopa Kudva joined IDBI in 1986, and in 2007 became the MD & CEO of CRISIL. During her leadership, its market capitalisation grew from Rs 2,900 crore to Rs 14,000 crore, and revenues tripled.

ICICI recruited Shikha Sharma in 1980, Chanda Kochhar (1984), Renuka Ramnath (1986), and Zarin Daruwala, Vedika Bhandarkar, Madhabi Puri Buch and Shilpa Kumar in 1989, all of who went on to handle some of the biggest investment portfolios post the first phase of banking reforms triggered by the Narsimhan Committee in 1991. The licensing of new private banks in the next two decades proved that women and financial services really gelled well. Kochhar, who became MD & CEO of ICICI Bank in 2009 (and continues to be so), says that the biggest draw of ICICI was its level playing work environment. "It provided an enabling environment that did not discriminate on the basis of gender," she says. "And women felt comforted that only merit will be in consideration."

Renuka Ramnath, Founder MD, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, says the women who joined ICICI in the 1980s were all ambitious. "ICICI groomed the talent, and provided a safe and respectful environment where we all blossomed. Interestingly, the men left for greener pastures post 1995, while the women grew with the organisation. It was a unique setting."

KPMG's Rekhy says financial services allowed women to work in a profession unencumbered by masculine stereotypes: "It is also a sector that intentionally started to build diversity before other sectors. Structure in thought, analytical acumen, sound instinct and intellectual ability are skills that might make their way into requisites in the industry. And women are excellent at it."

The IT Factor

Ramnath points out that in the mid-1970s, when women started pursuing professional education - engineering, accountancy, business administration - outlooks changed and it progressively started to change things on the ground. "Later, liberalisation threw open a host of new opportunities. As new sectors and segments were growing, people were travelling more and interacting with the world at global forums. We were more amiable to change and the need for quality talent was growing. This is when mindsets started to change and one thing led to another."

In 1970, barely 910 women enrolled in engineering colleges, which increased to 26,470 in 1995. The enrolments further shot up to 22 per cent of the total in 2001 from 16 per cent in 1995, even as the IITs remained male-dominated. In 2005, at IIT Bombay, women comprised 8 per cent of graduates at the Bachelors level, and 9 per cent at the Masters. Management institutes, too, started to witness trickling in of women. Even as the IIMs saw just a handful of women in the initial years - market strategy consultant Rama Bijapurkar recalls that her IIM-A batch of 1977 had only eight women - the management departments of universities such as FMS, Delhi, Jamnalal Bajaj and private business schools such as XLRI and Narsee Monjee started churning out women management graduates.

"With growing computerisation, both families and organisations were keen that women engineers should get into design aspects rather than work on shop floors "

And even this small presence was commendable. "Gendering in India is so deep," says Vasanthi Srinivasan, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources at IIM Bangalore. "Even today, I meet smart young girls and ask them why they did not study science. Many of them say that their brothers had to do engineering, so the family decided to send her to the local college." A closer look at the data shows what's happening: Women enrolment in 2010/11, as per UGC, was 41.21 per cent in Arts; 19.14 per cent in Science, and 16.12 per cent in Commerce/Management. Krishnan says participation of women in the workforce actually fell between 1987 and 2009. Reason: high economic growth in India and higher income levels. "So, the women who entered the workforce were only those who were serious about their careers."

Post liberalisation, while banking was scripting success stories, information technology was not far behind. The sheer number of women in the sector since 2000 became a testimony of how it developed into a 'women-friendly' sector. S. Ramadorai, former CEO of TCS who now chairs the National Skill Development Corporation, talks of a Nasscom-PwC survey of March 2016, according to which women constitute 34 per cent of the IT-BPM workforce (over 1.3 million women employees) - an increase of around 1.8 times since FY2009. Nearly 10 per cent of these women are in senior management roles (approximately 1 per cent in the C-suite). Further, around 28 per cent of the women employees in the sector are primary breadwinners, thereby indicating the changing trend of women's employment and inclusion in the sector. Today, the sheer number of women in IT says it all. IBM (Vanitha Narayanan), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Neelam Dhawan) and Accenture (Rekha Menon) in India are all headed by women; while Capgemini (Aruna Jayanthi) and Intel (Kumud Srinivasan and Debjani Ghosh) have recently seen Indian women graduating to bigger global roles.

"Our industry functions with the intent of being an equal opportunity employer. We make an effort to fine-tune and amend policies pertaining to the health and safety of women. This is perhaps one of the most important reasons that led to more women joining and remaining with IT," says Ramadorai. For him, the biggest landmark was when TCS became the first employer to have 100,000 women employees.

Aruna Jayanthi, who was recently elevated to a global role at Capgemini as CEO, Business Services, says the services sector had some inherent factors that made it more viable for women. "Its favourable attitude towards implementation of latest technology, which allows for more time-flexibility (ability to check mails on the go) and work-life balance (video calls instead of in-person meetings) has only helped."

"Good leaders are expected to be strong, confident and assertive. Yet, when women are strong, confident and assertive, they're often perceived as uncaring, self-promoting and aggressive "

The IT sector found its first woman head in 2005 with Neelam Dhawan becoming the Managing Director of Microsoft India. Dhawan's rise was unconventional in many ways. She was not trained in software, but had an MBA with specialisation in marketing. When she joined HCL in 1982 as a management trainee, she was the only woman in hard-core sales. "Sales or quota-carrying roles were considered very high-pressure jobs, and that's why many women did not opt for it. And in those days, the conversation started with, what does a computer do? That was the stage of IT maturity. Since then, I never felt overwhelmed by carrying a quota, as it was just a goal to be achieved."

Dhawan says owing to her specialisation in marketing and working in sales, she was used to being in a minority. "In one of the roles I took on, on day one, my boss told me that out of the three GMs who have to report to you? one has quit saying 'I can't tell my wife that I am reporting to a woman'. The second said 'since she is from HCL and I from Wipro, I think I don't want to report to her'. So my boss said, 'I am ok to let them go, because we have taken a decision to hire you for this job'."

Vinita Bali, Strategy Advisor & Independent Director and former MD of Britannia Industries, says women role models in the corporate world were just a handful when she started working in the late 1970s: Camillia Panjabi in marketing, Lila Poonawalla in engineering, Lalita Gupte in banking and Roda Mehta in advertising. "There were very few women in marketing when I started working," Bali recalls. "In 1980, when I joined Cadbury India, I was the first ever woman manager in the company! In all my roles in marketing and general management across three companies and five continents, where I have lived and worked, Nigeria and South Africa were the two countries that had a very good representation of women in marketing." The pipeline, though, dried up in general management. Bali recalls that when she became division president of Coca-Cola in Latin America in 1999, she was only the third woman in the history of the company in a general management role. In 2006, when she took charge of Britannia, she was the first woman MD of a listed food company in India.

Dhawan says it's an irony that, in IT or otherwise, more women are not opting for sales and marketing roles. She cites the example of HPE: In a workforce of 33 per cent women, sales and marketing would be just around 10 per cent. Majority still are in the services, software development, application develop-ment and back office support. "It is great to have so many women on the development side, but in sales and marketing the ratios are much less." Obviously, something is still amiss.

Missing Links

Other sectors, however, could not keep pace with BFSI and IT. Manufacturing remains a stark case. Even as Sudha Murthy's legendary fight against 'men only' bias led her to become the first female engineer to be hired at India's largest auto manufacturer Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company in 1974, it remained a long haul for other women to get into manufacturing. The reasons cited to Murthy (then Kulkarni) during her interview, remained valid for the longest time: "This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories." Krishnan cites the example of Priti Shankar. "She was the first woman electrical graduate from IIT Delhi and that was in 1968! After completing her PhD, she got a job at the Indian Institute of Science." Qualified women, as researchers and professors, were acceptable, but not as engineers in factories and shop floors.

"Once more women start entering other sectors  manufacturing, FMCG  more will follow suit. Its just about creating a gender neutral environment"

No wonder, then, manufacturing has not seen as many women role models, such as a rare Lila Poonawalla who became the first woman Managing Director of an engineering MNC in India, when she headed Alfa Laval from 1987 to 1996. The first woman engineering graduate from College of Engineering, Pune, she started her career as a trainee engineer on the shop floor of Ruston & Hornsby in 1967. Poonawalla says there were very few female engineers in the late 1960s and 70s, let alone mechanical engineers. In the 1980s, even as their numbers started growing, organisations and parents did not prefer women to work on the shop floors. "With growing computerisation, both families and organisations were keen that women engineers should get into design aspects rather than work on shop floors," she says, pointing out that organisations believed women could bring more value in design, and parents wanted their daughters to pursue software development careers as opportunities increased in the 1990s.

The Annual Survey of Industries conducted by Central Statistics Office says women had 1.5 million jobs in organised factories out of the total 6.9 million jobs in 2013/14. KPMG's Rekhy says women are neither made aware of, nor given opportunities that would catapult them to the upper echelons. "Often, women with technical competencies in line functions, such as manufacturing, R&D and operations, end up in staff functions. Experience in line or operational functions, during one's mid-career are often an unwritten prerequisite to getting into the C-suite." A rare case was of Nishi Vasudeva, an IIM Calcutta graduate who went on to head Hindustan Petroleum Corporation from 2014 to 2016, after joining the company in 1979.

Poonawalla says that as automation is growing, we are witnessing assembly lines exclusively being run by women in some units. Even as Kirloskar's all-women operated and managed manufacturing plant at Coimbatore is an exception, Tata Cummins's Phaltan plant, GE's Pune facility and Bajaj Auto's Chakan are examples of having majority women on the shop floor. Ramadorai says as the manufacturing industry moves forward contributing to 25 per cent of GDP, women must have an equal share in employment.

Bijapurkar agrees. "While there is as much focus on women in banking, the fact is that bank jobs make for just 6 per cent of the organised job market. How about other sectors?" Zia Mody, Managing Partner of AZB & Partners and one of India's leading corporate lawyers, says while the biggest change happened in the BSFI space, legal has a long way to go still. "There are very few women Councils in India. It continues to be a man's world. Councils require rigorous, undivided attention, and sacrifices in a normal course. Since women do not get the support structure, they tend to fall through." Data by Legally India shows that only 2.8 per cent members in bar councils are women, and eight out of 12 bar councils do not have a single female member. In the non-litigation space, Mody feels that women are making some progress, but in the smaller cities things have not changed at all.

Business historian Gita Piramal, who was one of two female reporters in Financial Times, Asia bureau in 1988 along with Christina Lamb, says that change in other sectors has been slow. "Nobody is doing what the Tatas are doing? to look within the group, identify and mentor women to rise within the organisation?" The initiative will place 300 women under a cross-company mentoring programme, enabling female executives to be mentored by 18 CXOs and 35 CEOs from 45 group firms.

"Interestingly, the men (at ICICI) left for greener pastures post 1995, while the women grew with the organisation "

"As more women join an industry, others follow suit," says ICICI Bank's Kochhar. "Banking was one of the few industries where women who joined as management trainees grew to be CEOs. Once more women start entering other sectors - manufacturing, FMCG - more will follow suit. It's just about creating a gender neutral environment. ICICI is an example of what can be achieved and replicated."

Making Business Sense



What was playing out in corporate India was a reflection of India's overall societal set-up from the pre Independence era. Raman Mahadevan, an economic and business historian, says Indian business was largely dominated by members of the vaishya or merchant castes. "Being essentially conservative social groups, the women from these communities were by design excluded from the nitty-gritty of the world of commerce and business," says Mahadevan. "Even the Parsis, who were otherwise considered relatively more westernised, were no exception. The only Parsi woman and probably the first Indian woman in Imperial India to be co-opted as a director of a company was Navajbai Tata, wife of Sir Ratan Tata, the younger son of Tata Group founder Jamsetji Tata. She joined the Board in 1918, following the death of her husband and remained in that position for several decades."

Business historian Dwijendra Tripathi says that like most professions, business traditionally has been male dominated. He cites the example of Sumati Morarji, the first woman head of a prominent business. "Morarji stepped into the shoes of her husband Narottam after his death around 1950, as her son Shantakumar was not yet ready to take over the leadership at Scindia Steam Navigation Company. It was around the same time, Lilavati Lalbhai, Kasturbhai's sister, was placed at the head of Raipur Mills, one of the seven cotton textile units that the family controlled. But it was more of a technical arrangement; the real power remained in the hands of Kasturbhai, the head of the group and the family." A notable exception was Simone Tata who took over as MD of Lakme - a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills - in 1964 and ran it independently.

The Amendment of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, with the right of women to an equal share of the family property, was a catalyst for change. "This, along with dissolution of joint families, and its substitution by the growing nuclearisation of families, created the necessary space for women to be involved in the family business," says Mahadevan.

"A significant section of our talented workforce quits work mid-career. When the question becomes of selecting one of these (personal or professional) lives, we lose the plot "

Of course, with daughter-only heirs, the choice was easy. Mallika Srinivasan, daughter of industrialist A. Sivasailam, became CEO and Chairman of Tractors And Farm Equipment (TAFE) in 2011, after growing through the ranks. Shobhana Bhartia, daughter of industrialist K.K. Birla, was an unprecedented example in the Birla clan when she joined the board of Hindustan Times in mid-1980s. The Reddy sisters taking charge of Apollo Hospitals was a given. However, families such as Godrej and Guptas (Lupin) in recent times have become benchmarks in giving merit-based roles to their daughters and sons.

A unique case is that of Anu Aga, who took over the leadership of Pune-based Thermax on the premature death of her husband, Rohinton. Aga served as the power major Thermax's chairperson from 1996 to 2004, and she steered the company through many a tide - when she took over, Thermax's share price had plunged from Rs 400 to Rs 36.

However, Tripathi feels that no achievement comes close to that of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who at barely 25 launched Biocon in 1978, which has developed into the biggest biotech company in India. "But her example has not been replicated," he says. "Although there was nearly 100 per cent growth in women entrepreneurship during the decade beginning 1991, according to the FICCI women cell, none has made any impact on the Indian business scene, with the exception of Shahnaz Hussain's herbal empire."

Mazumdar-Shaw says she was driven by a sense of challenge to break away from the mould. She has recently invested in India's first women's venture capital fund, SAHA, and is also mentoring women entrepreneurs. "Scaling is not a gender specific issue, though for women, balancing family and enterprise can be a challenge if they do not have an enabling support system. Scaling is all about strategising, hanging on and not going for an early exit," she says. "I started Biocon with Rs 10,000. If I would have thought of exiting when its valuation reached Rs 10 crore, the company would not have scaled." She says that things are changing for women. "The fact that Naina Lal Kidwai headed FICCI and now Shobana Kamineni is President Designate of CII says it all. These industry bodies were male dominated for the longest time. For them to have women heads is path breaking."

So Far, So Good?

While there is no doubt that over the past two decades, women have become more visible in the workplace, IIM-B's Srinivasan says that the findings in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2015 are not very heartening. "Out of 145 countries, India ranks 139th when it comes to Economic Participation and Opportunity pillar. While data on the number of women in skilled and leadership positions is not available, India was ranked 136th in terms of labour force participation. So, we have a long way to go in terms of presence of women in more powerful roles in the corporate sector."

Krishnan questions how many women are in board positions in Indian companies, despite the Sebi mandate of 2014 to have at least one woman on every board. Tripathi says even as prominent business families are inducting their lady members into boards, these are nothing more than cosmetic changes. But Chitra Ramkrishna, MD & CEO of National Stock Exchange, disagrees: "Policies such as these may initially look like tokenism, but they at least start a discussion point. Companies start thinking about the issue, discussions happen on how to address the gaps, and slowly it creates a catalyst impact."

Shachi Irde, Executive Director, Catalyst India says while we do see a number of women making it to senior positions, women constitute only 14 per cent of executive officers and only 7.7 per cent of board seats, while in the US women hold 19.9 per cent of S&P 500 board seats. "As per our analysis, nearly 50 per cent Indian women drop out of corporate employment between junior and mid-levels, compared to 29 per cent across Asia. Also, women at executive levels leave at a higher rate."

Adds Capgemini's Jayanthi: "Most women quit their jobs primarily due to inability to balance their personal and professional life and choosing the former as their priority. It is when the question becomes of selecting one of these (personal or professional) lives that we lose the plot. The focus should be on creating an environment where both can co-exist."

Bali highlights the fact that the leading management institutes only attract 20-25 per cent women, creating a supply-side constraint at the entry level itself. "Women are totally absent at the CXO level from some of our largest and most respected conglomerates," she points out. "Independent directors on the boards of such companies must also consider it their responsibility to drive that change in a systemic manner, based on merit and not gender alone."

Beyond the life-stage years' challenges, women tend to face some inherent biases that can be very subtle, but impact career growth. Ramadorai says that in organisations, biases exist at every level of employee - while preparing a job description, hiring, promotions, opportunity for key job assignments, performance appraisals, etc. He cites a simple example of how men tend to inflate their ratings during self-evaluation. On the other hand, women may be hesitant to self-promote.

Kalpana Morparia, CEO of JP Morgan Chase India, points out that women face a peculiar situation: "Good leaders are expected to be strong, confident and assertive. Yet, when women are strong, confident and assertive, they're often perceived as uncaring, self-promoting and aggressive. When they act in more collaborative ways, they're stereotyped as ones who do not possess 'good' leadership skills. A a classic case of double bind."

Dhawan says, "The issue is not if a woman is cut out for a job or not. The issue is, will the woman fit into the old boys' club? Everyone is comfortable working with someone they know? there isn't an old girls' club yet!"

Nurturing and retaining women during life-stage years and increasing diversity at the senior levels are two challenges that need to be addressed on priority. "The defining moment for India Inc. will be when diversity moves from a nice-to-have human resources project to a basic requirement for talent scouting and leadership," says Morparia.

Even as India has a long way to go to be truly gender inclusive, Vakil says a lot of good things are happening now. "Women are travelling, they are getting training? so many of them are leading organisations? it's no more a man's world." She has a regret, though: she could not fulfil her father's dream of having her signature on the Indian currency. But she believes it's just a matter of time, "of five-six years, maybe, a woman will get there".


APC held for discussing LoC violation 04 October, 2016



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Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Ways that Players Used to Take Advantage of Slot Sites ISLAMABAD: An All Parties Conference with the sole agenda of discussing Indias Line of Control (LoC) violations and the unrest in Kashmir on Monday united the countrys otherwise wrangling political leaders as the government and opposition said they stood united against "Indian aggression".



We dont want our disagreements to damage the Kashmir cause, said Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the conference concluded and the heads of political parties spoke to journalists about their hours long deliberation.



I told the prime minister that this is a unique moment for Pakistan Unity at home can win Kashmiris their freedom. We have all agreed on this.



Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar, too, echoed his sentiments. We want to send a message to the outside world that our unity is undeterred, said Sattar, adding that all political leaders were given a warm welcome by the PM at the conference.



India should know that it will get a befitting response for its terrorism over water in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding that Pakistan needs to fine tune its diplomatic efforts on Kashmir.



Despite their major reservations with the government and prime minister on individual issues, the usually disgruntled political leaders spoke with one voice at the conference today, setting aside all differences to project a united front on the India issue.



Just days earlier, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan held a massive rally in the prime ministers homeground of Raiwind, demanding that he be held accountable for his familys links to offshore accounts.



But today, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi talked about a need for all parties to "put up a united front before the world."



The PTI leader, before the meeting, appreciated PM Nawaz's speech at the United Nations General Assembly and noted that the "present government has taken positive steps regarding improvement in relations with India but regrettably, the other side has not reciprocated."



The meeting was convened with the one-point agenda to send a "clear message to the outside world" regarding what the government feels is continued Indian aggression along the LoC as well as Indian atrocities in held Kashmir.



The PM said Pakistan's political leadership stands united on matters of national importance, particularly the Kashmir cause, a statement that was echoed by parliamentary leaders after the meeting.



The Kashmir movement cannot be suppressed by Indian brutalities, the PM said, adding that the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination is legitimate and mandated by the United Nations Security Council. Kashmiris and Pakistanis are inseparable, he said.



Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry during the meeting briefed participants about the latest situation in occupied Kashmir and the LoC, and about human rights violations in IHK, especially those against women and children.



Leading his party at the meeting, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had said, "Despite our differences with the government on multiple issues, we are with you, prime minister, on the Kashmir issue and Indian aggression along LoC."



"We will support you. The PPP has taken a clear stance on these issues. This is a turning point in Pak-India relations," he added.



He also said, "A united Pakistan can counter Indian aggression and by working together we can achieve our national security goals. There is no military solution to Kashmir."



"It is a proud moment for Pakistan that all parties are together on Kashmir issue," he told reporters after the meeting.



"We all agreed to work together for national unity of Kashmir issue. If we dont answer India collectively, our diplomatic stance gets week internationally.



"This resolution is on the issue Kashmir, we dont want our disagreements to damage Kashmir cause."



Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, "India's behaviour, the way they have tried to breach the Indus Waters Treaty, should be considered an act of aggression, a hostile act."



The PTI leader was referring to Indian Prime Minister Modi's move to suspend Indus Waters Commission talks and reports that India plans to accelerate building of new hydro-power plants along three rivers that flow into Pakistan.



Qureshi added that the situation in Balochistan should be kept separate from the ongoing situation in held Kashmir. "Kashmir is an internationally-recognised dispute whereas Balochistan is a part of our sovereign nation," he said.



As reported by Radio Pakistan, PML (Q) leader Kamil Ali Agha said no compromise can be made on Pakistan defence. We are one nation and one voice on this issue.



He said Indian state sponsored terrorism is condemnable and Pakistan should expose Indian propaganda on Balochistan and Gilgit. He said Pakistan should work hard to forge new alliances at international forums.



Ghulam Ahmad Bilour of Awami National Party said the prime minister's speech at the UNGA has given a new life to Kashmir dispute on diplomatic front.



He congratulated the Prime Minister for holding the meeting of parliamentary leaders at this critical juncture.



Addressing the conference, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said, "We need to form national unity at this critical moment and we need the collective voice and resolve of the entire nation at the political and diplomatic level."



He added, "We need to denounce and highlight the brutal atrocities in IHK. Today's meeting has sent a positive message to the world over."



During the meeting, political leaders decided to send delegations to countries in order to highlight Indian atrocities in Kashmir. Political parties have also demanded that a security committee should be formed.



It was also said that the United Nations Commission of Human Rights should be made aware of Indian atrocities in the valley and that a delegation from the international body should be sent there to investigate the ground reality.



An invitation to attend the meeting was extended to heads of all parties across the two houses of parliament without discrimination.



The only exception was Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the sole member of his Awami Muslim League in the National Assembly. According to a senior PM official the exception has been made at all such gatherings during the term of the current government.



Members of government present included PM Nawaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Khan.



The PPP delegation at the meeting today, headed by Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, included Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah, Sherry Rehman and former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar.



PTI's Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Shireen Mazari represented their party at the conference, whereas Dr Farooq Sattar represented the MQM. JI leader Sirajul Haq also attended the meeting.



Earlier in September, tensions between India and Pakistan soared as at least two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in an incident of open firing by Indian troops on the first line of defence. While India claimed to have performed a "surgical strike" by crossing the disputed boundary, Pakistani Army rubbished those claims as "baseless".
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
Meteorologist Paul Douglas writes about Minnesota weather daily, trying to go beyond the "highs" and "lows" of the weather story to discuss current trends and some of the how's and why's of meteorology. Rarely is our weather dull - every day is a new forecast challenge. Why is the weather doing what it's doing? Is climate change a real concern, and if so, how will my family be affected? Climate is flavoring all weather now, and I'll include links to timely stories that resonate with me.
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
Ghanas growth has been reversed by 30 years due to the poor leadership style of President Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.



Those were the exact words of Akwasi Addai, affectionately called Odike, presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP), when asked about the state of Ghana.



He has consequently admonished the electorate to vote massively against the non-performing NDC government during the December national elections.



According to Odike, the country can experience transformation again only when the NDC government is kicked out of office.



Speaking on Nhyira FM, Odike stated categorically that with the exception of the NDC, all the other political parties in the country can bring the needed renaissance to the country.



I wont have any problem if any of the opposition political parties win the December 7 elections because all of them have the potential to develop the country. In fact, it is only the NDC that I dont want to see winning the elections because they have reversed Ghanas growth for 30 years with their bad policies so far, the UPP leader stated.



He continuedMy fear is that Ghanas problems would be compounded if we make a mistake by retaining the NDC in political office, because the NDC cant develop Ghana.



Odike who had successfully filed his nomination to contest for the presidency stated that he would campaign vigorously so as to ensure that President Mahama is ousted from political office.



I will unseat President Mahama this year, whether he likes it or not, the UPP leader stated with confidence, stressing his readiness to expose the inefficiencies in the ruling government.

Source: Daily Guide









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Featured Video
Ilia Solov'yov. Credit: Syddansk Universitet

Every time we breathe, we bring crucial oxygen into the body. However, a very small part of this oxygen may be converted to so-called free radicals, which have the ability to damage our cells. The older we become, the more our cells are damaged, and thereby also our organs, muscles, etc.

Free radicals also have great significance concerning aging and thus, understandably, attract great scientific interest.

Researchers Ilia Solov'yov and Peter Husen are trying to understand how free radicals form. Their interest is not only medica; they are just as much concerned with the opportunities that computer power holds concerning analysis of extremely complex biological systems  such as the formation of the special group of free radicals called superoxides.

"We wanted to find out exactly which factors lead to the formation of these superoxides. We knew as much that the formation occurs in a cluster of proteins but the rest was a mystery. And of course, it is interesting to find out the details, because it is only when we know them that we can hope to be able to control and perhaps even prevent the formation of superoxides," says Ilia Solov'yov who is an associate professor and head of the Quantum Biology and Computational Physics Group at SDU.

Together with postdoc Peter Husen from the same research group, he fed the Danish super computer Abacus molecular biological data and asked it to make a simulation of what is going on inside the relevant cluster of proteins that leads to the formation of superoxides.

"The simulation showed us that an oxygen molecule can penetrate and reach specific locations in the cluster of proteins where, potentially, it can absorb an extra electron and thus turn into superoxide. This cannot be observed with a regular microscope, and therefore, this process has so far been unknown."

The scientists' next step is to examine whether it is possible to prevent the oxygen molecule from entering the protein cluster and initiate the formation of the harmful superoxides.

Explore further Researchers describe how free radicals contribute to aging

Provided by Syddansk Universitet
Allatostatin A-producing cells in the nervous system and midgut (magenta) and genetic labeling (green) in fruit flies. Credit: Team Wegener

Neurogeneticists from the University of Wurzburg have discovered a peptide in Drosophila that has a strong impact on the fly's feeding and sleeping habits. At the same time, it is associated with the insects' circadian clock.

Taking a nap after lunch to digest and relax sounds like a good strategy. However, feeling drowsy after breakfast already would make less sense. Scientists from the University of Wurzburg have now identified a peptide that could assume a key role in the complex interactions of hunger, sleep and digestion in the fruit fly Drosophila. The receptors which these peptides act on have closely related counterparts in humans.

Researching genetically modified fruit flies

The peptide is called allatostatin A in scientific speak. "We already knew that allatostatin is produced by both cells in the brain and in the intestine of Drosophila. But we did not know what effects they have there," Professor Christian Wegener describes the starting point of the new study sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Wegener is a neurogeneticist at the Department of Neurobiology and Genetics at the University of Wurzburg. Together with his PhD student Jiangtian Chen, he investigated which influence the peptide has on the flies' behaviour.

The researchers studied fruit flies that were genetically modified to have only six allatostatin-producing neurons in their brains. Furthermore, these cells were fitted with a kind of temperature-controlled molecular "switch". An ambient temperature above 29 degrees Celsius caused the allatostatin signal to be "switched on" whereas it was "switched off" at lower temperatures.

The study results

The study provided surprising results: when the cells released allatostatin, the fruit flies consumed much less food than insects from the control group. At the same time, they moved much less compared with the non-modified animals. At first, the scientists were uncertain about the cause: "When looking at the insects, it's not evident whether they don't have the energy to walk because they don't eat or whether they are unable to move for other reasons. Also it is unclear whether they are hungry or whether they just don't need so much because they exhibit so little activity," Professor Wegener outlines the dilemma.

Further experiments were required to answer these questions. They demonstrated that fruit flies with activated allatostatin signalling do not seem to be hungry. When the scientists lowered the ambient temperature back to values below 29 degrees  thereby switching peptide release off  the insects did not consume more food than the control group. So they were obviously not ravenous. Their locomotor system, too, worked normally  they exhibited no differences compared to the control group in terms of the speed with which they climbed up a tube.

But there was one distinct difference in the locomotor behaviour: Fruit flies that are temporarily exposed to slight shaking on a kind of "vibrating plate" usually respond with a significant increase in locomotor activity. Insects with a high allatostatin level did not deviate from this behaviour  however only in the morning. At noon and in the evening, their activity patterns were unaffected and the flies remained stationary. This finding put the scientists onto the right track: "If the fruit flies move so little, it might be that they are asleep," Wegener says. They were right: Fruit flies with activated allatostatin A cells sleep during 1,400 minutes of the day's 1,440 minutes.

Surprising link to the circadian clock

Normally, the work of Christian Wegener and Jiangtian Chen would have ended at this point had it not been for the cooperation with Professor Charlotte Forster, Head of the Department of Neurobiology and Genetics, within the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1047 "Insect Timing". An expert in circadian clocks, Forster noticed that the six allatostatin-producing neurons in the brain of Drosophila are located in the direct vicinity of clock neuron terminals. The two researchers acted on her suggestion to take a closer look at this aspect.

What they found was that allatostatin neuron arborisations overlap exactly with clock neuron arborisations, and carry receptors for the neuropeptide PDF which is released by the clock neurons. But the circadian clock's influence at this point is comparably small. "When the PDF receptor is activated, fruit flies will sleep a little longer in the morning and in the evening. This is about the only change we were able to identify," says Christian Wegener. After all, any other findings would have surprised the researchers: "There are many peptides that control the sleeping and feeding behaviour." So it might be that the recently discovered mechanism is not a main path but an ancillary path of sleep control that connects sleeping with feeding habits.

Similarities to human receptor

There is another interesting aspect from a scientific viewpoint: The cells of vertebrates, and hence of humans, do not produce allatostatin. But the receptor on which the peptide acts has a comparable counterpart, namely the galanin receptor. "It controls sleep, eating behaviour and the peristalsis of the digestive system and hence adjusts to the digestion phase," Wegener says. However, it is unknown whether the galanin receptor is also associated with the circadian clock. Further studies are necessary to answer this question.

In the future, Christian Wegener and his team plan to focus on the fruit fly larvae which eat constantly and never sleep. Moreover, the allatostatin-producing cells in the larvae could be switched off selectively in the intestine or the brain, which was impossible in adult flies.

Explore further Light causes drosophila to take longer midday nap

More information: Jiangtian Chen et al. Allatostatin A Signalling in Drosophila Regulates Feeding and Sleep and Is Modulated by PDF, PLOS Genetics (2016). Journal information: PLoS Genetics Jiangtian Chen et al. Allatostatin A Signalling in Drosophila Regulates Feeding and Sleep and Is Modulated by PDF,(2016). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006346

Provided by Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg
A worker saws through deadwood in a Gabonese forest to allow scientists to measure its volume. Credit: Ben Carlson, Duke

Logged forests in Central Africa may contain more than three times as much carbon-emitting woody debris left on the forest floor after logging than previous estimates have suggested, a new Duke University-led study finds.

The researchers measured the debris, known as deadwood, at 47 forest sites in the Central African nation of Gabon.

"We found that selectively logged forests in Gabon contained nearly twice as much deadwood as unlogged forests, and up to 3.8 times more than past estimates indicated," said John R. Poulsen, assistant professor of tropical ecology at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

"That's a huge difference, with broad implications for regional forestry practices and policies, as well as global carbon emissions," he said.

Vast underestimation of deadwood is likely also to have occurred in forests of tropical America as well, the research shows.

Most models currently used for calculating forest carbon assume that deadwood accounts for about 9 percent of all biomass in forests, Poulsen said. But, based on the new findings, "we need to adjust that figure upward for forests in the humid tropics, to around 30 percent for logged forests and 18 percent for unlogged sites."

The study, published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Global Change Biology, is the first large-scale analysis of deadwood in Central Africa and currently the largest such study anywhere in the tropics.

The researchers surveyed the volume of deadwood on forest floors at 19 logged sites and 28 unlogged sites across Gabon. To determine the density of the deadwood found there, they cut apart, measured and weighed each individual piece they encountered along straight sampling lines at 16 of the sites.

"It was pretty labor-intensive, but it gave us real, on-the-ground numbers for quantifying the amount of necromass, or deadwood, at the 47 sites. These new numbers reveal how inaccurately low past estimates, which were not based on field data, have been," said lead author Ben S. Carlson, a 2013 Master of Environmental Management graduate of Duke's Nicholas School who is now a doctoral student at Yale University.

A similar pattern of inaccurately low deadwood estimates was revealed when Carlson and his colleagues critically examined a large number of earlier, small-scale studies conducted throughout the neotropics of the Americas.

"The results really jumped out," said Poulsen. "The implication is that not only is deadwood underestimated in Central Africa but it is most likely underestimated in tropical America and quite possible in all of the tropics."

Most countries in the tropics are required to provide estimates of how much carbon is stored in their forests to qualify for programs run by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that compensate them for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

"Since most of these governments don't have accurate field data, their estimates have been based on default values of forest carbon in other parts of the world, where necromass-to-biomass ratios are much lower," Poulsen explained. "This has likely led to vast underestimates of deadwood stocks in humid tropical forests, especially in selectively logged forests, which account for more than 50 percent of all forested lands in Central Africa."

In other words, he said, "there may be a lot more deadwood on the forest floor, potentially emitting carbon back into the atmosphere, than we previously thought."

Explore further Conservation key to curbing emissions from palm oil agriculture in Africa

More information: Ben S. Carlson et al, Deadwood stocks increase with selective logging and large tree frequency in Gabon, Global Change Biology (2016). Journal information: Global Change Biology Ben S. Carlson et al, Deadwood stocks increase with selective logging and large tree frequency in Gabon,(2016). DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13453
Backman's imaging technique can capture nanoscopic information from dozens of nuclei within seconds, as seen here in cancer cells. Credit: Northwestern University

When scientists finished decoding the human genome in 2003, they thought the findings would help us better understand diseases, discover genetic mutations linked to cancer, and lead to the design of smarter medicine. Now it's 13 years later, and not all of these ideas have not yet come to fruition.

"We thought that understanding genes would answer all of our questions," said Northwestern Engineering's Vadim Backman. "But it's not that simple."

It turns out that genes are just one piece of a much larger puzzle. To help put this puzzle together, Backman has developed a new way to image chromatin, a complex of macromoleculesincluding DNA, RNA, and proteinswithin living cells that house genetic information and determines which genes get expressed.

"If you think of cellular systems as computers, then genes are the hardware, and chromatin is the software," said Backman, the Walter Dill Scott Professor of Engineering at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering.

Chromatin's organization plays a major role in many molecular processes, including DNA transcription, replication, and repair. The structures within chromatin that regulate these processes span from nucleosomal (10 nanometers) to chromosomal (longer than 200 nanometers) length scales.

Little is known about chromatin's dynamics between these length scales due to lack of imaging techniques. Because they require toxic fluorescent dyes to enhance contrast, previous techniques could not image chromatin in living cells without killing or perturbing the cells. Understanding this missing length scale is crucial, however, because it is the exact area where chromatin undergoes a transformation when cancer is formed.

"Changes in chromatin's structure have been linked to the regulation in genes often implicated in cancer," Backman said. "The organization of chromatin correlates both with the formation of tumors and their invasiveness. We want to understand how chromatin regulates these genes."

Backman's new imaging technique allows researchers to peer inside of chromatin at the missing, mysterious length scale (20-200 nanometers). Not only is the technique label-free, allowing researchers to study chromatin within unharmed, living cells, but it does so with high-throughput and at very low cost.

Supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Chicago Biomedical Consortium, the research is described online on October 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Luay Almassalha, Greta Bauer, John Chandler, and Scott Gladstein, all graduate students in Backman's laboratory, served as co-first authors on the paper. Northwestern Engineering's Igal Szleifer, the Christine Enroth-Cugell Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Hariharan Subramanian, research assistant professor in biomedical engineering, also contributed to the work.

"Now we can look at live, healthy cells unperturbed and see their dynamic processes," Almassalha said. "We can see how the chromatin is organized and how it responds to stimuli, such as drug treatments."

Called live cell Partial Wave Spectroscopic (PWS) microscopy, the technique detects chromatin by using scattered light. Particles smaller than the diffraction limit of light cannot be visualized but their presence and organization can be sensed by analyzing the light they scatter. The approach can measure the nano-architecture in live cells within seconds, opening the door for large-scale screens. Researchers can run high-throughput screens on thousands of compounds and drugs, for example, and watch how they affect cells in real time.

"We know that chromatin is a major player in complex diseases," Backman said. "We just haven't had the techniques to study it. Now we can watch and record these dynamic processes as they unfold."

Explore further Researchers discover that DNA naturally fluoresces
The new NC State high-power switch has the potential to work more efficiently and cost less than conventional solutions. Credit: North Carolina State University

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a high voltage and high frequency silicon carbide (SiC) power switch that could cost much less than similarly rated SiC power switches. The findings could lead to early applications in the power industry, especially in power converters like medium voltage drives, solid state transformers and high voltage transmissions and circuit breakers.

Wide bandgap semiconductors, such as SiC, show tremendous potential for use in medium- and high-voltage power devices because of their capability to work more efficiently at higher voltages. Currently though, their high cost impedes their widespread adoption over the prevailing workhorse and industry standard  insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) made from silicon  which generally work well but incur large energy losses when they are turned on and off.

The new SiC power switch, however, could cost approximately one-half the estimated cost of conventional high voltage SiC solutions, say Alex Huang and Xiaoqing Song, researchers at NC State's FREEDM Systems Center, a National Science Foundation-funded engineering research center. Besides the lower cost, the high-power switch maintains the SiC device's high efficiency and high switching speed characteristics. In other words, it doesn't lose as much energy when it is turned on or off.

The power switch, called the FREEDM Super-Cascode, combines 12 smaller SiC power devices in series to reach a power rating of 15 kilovolts (kV) and 40 amps (A). It requires only one gate signal to turn it on and off, making it simple to implement and less complicated than IGBT series connection-based solutions. The power switch is also able to operate over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies due to its proficiency in heat dissipation, a critical factor in power devices.

"Today, there is no high voltage SiC device commercially available at voltage higher than 1.7 kV," said Huang, Progress Energy Distinguished Professor and the founding director of the FREEDM Systems Center. "The FREEDM Super-Cascode solution paves the way for power switches to be developed in large quantities with breakdown voltages from 2.4 kV to 15 kV."

The FREEDM Super-Cascode switch was presented by Xiaoqing Song, a Ph.D. candidate at the FREEDM Systems Center under Huang's supervision, at the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Exposition (ECCE 2016) held in Milwaukee from Sept. 18-22, 2016.

Explore further New tech promises to boost electric vehicle efficiency, range

More information: "15kV/40A FREEDM Super-Cascode: A Cost Effective SiC High Voltage and High Frequency Power Switch." IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Exposition in Milwaukee "15kV/40A FREEDM Super-Cascode: A Cost Effective SiC High Voltage and High Frequency Power Switch." IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Exposition in Milwaukee Abstract: High voltage wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices like the 15kV SiC MOSFET have attracted great attentions because of its potential applications in high voltage and high frequency power converters. However, these devices are not commercially available at the moment and their high cost due to expensive material growth and fabrication may limit their widespread adoption in the future. In this paper, a 15kV/40A three terminal power switch, the FREEDM Super-Cascode, is reported for the first time which is based on series connection of 1.2kV SiC power devices. The design and operation principle of the FREEDM Super-Cascode are introduced and the performance including the static blocking capability, conduction characteristics over a wide range of temperatures, and dynamic switching performances are analyzed. In addition, the thermal resistance of the FREEDM Super-Cascode is measured and the power dissipation capability is projected. The FREEDM Super-Cascode costs only one third of the estimated high voltage SiC MOSFETs, and will facilitate early applications of SiC in very high voltage and high frequency power converters.
Pictured are frozen flowers of an apple tree in South Tyrol, Italy that have been protected from damage by late frost with frost-protection sprinkling. Eremina et al show that in the freezing tolerance of plants steroid hormones take part, and elucidate molecular pathways, which contribute to this activity. Credit: D. Mitterer-Zublasing

Plants cannot simply relocate to better surroundings when their environmental conditions are no longer suitable. Instead, they have developed sophisticated molecular adaptation mechanisms. Scientists at the Technical University Munich (TUM) in cooperation with the Helmholtz Center Munich and the University of Nottingham have been able to demonstrate that brassinosteroids, which until now have mainly been regarded as growth hormones, increase the resistance of plants against frost.

"Stress caused by cold is an environmental influence which has a direct effect on the growth and yield of plants", says plant molecular biologist Professor Brigitte Poppenberger. With her research group at the Biotechnology of Horticultural Crops institute at the TUM, she investigates the mechanisms used by plants to adapt to external influences. Her research activities have centered on brassinosteroids for quite some time.

In earlier work, her group already used common thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) as a model plant to demonstrate exactly how this plant hormone, which was identified for the first time in rapeseed in 1979, promotes plant growth. In fact, it had been known for a long time that this hormone plays a role in plant development. However, the exact mechanism of action was unknown. It was the work of the biotechnology experts at the TUM School for Life Sciences in Weihenstephan that first made it possible to gain a precise understanding of this phenomenon.

It's no coincidence that Brigitte Poppenbergers team once again picked Arabidopsis for the current study. Due to its relatively undemanding nature, simple structure, and its compact size, it isn't simply a favorite among geneticists in generalthe tiny herb also provides optimal conditions under which to search for cold protection mechanisms in plants, as it's able to survive low temperatures and increase its tolerance to frost by adapting to the cold. In the current issue of the specialist journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS), the scientists describe the hitherto unknown side of brassinosteroids, which up until now have been known as growth hormones.

In order to gain a detailed understanding of their mechanisms, the researchers carried out experiments in which they exposed Arabidopsis plants to slowly decreasing temperatures. Experiments with wild-type varieties in the laboratory showed that as the temperature decreases, the plant reacts by beginning to modify the expression of genes for which DNA is transcribed to RNA within its cells. "This reduces its growth, which increases its chances of survival", Poppenberger explains, describing the natural protective mechanism of the normal plants.

A molecular path to 'winter fat'

The researchers obtained a different result with their experiments involving genetically modified model plants, which are no longer able to synthesize brassinosteroids themselves or recognize them as a signal. While wild-type varieties often still managed to survive temperatures of six degrees below zero, most of the mutants already displayed clear signs of damage at this point, which demonstrates the essential role steroid hormones play in this process. By analyzing the process, the researchers found that brassinosteroids increase frost resistance by regulating a protein called CESTA. This protein uses a signal cascade to control gene expression. In this manner, it in turn influences the protein composition of the cells, which among other things appears to lead to a change in the fatty acid composition. This ensures that the plant stocks up on a type of 'winter fat' on a molecular level, thereby protecting it from potential cold damage.

Spray-on steroids for plants

These exact findings regarding the order and type of chemical processes for the effects of steroid hormones in plants are not only an important step forward for basic research into the adaptation strategies of plants. More importantly, according to the researchers, they may also provide solutions to problems, which have occurred in agriculture as a result of climate change. Although people generally only associate global warming with an increased occurrence of hot periods, it also causes an increase in the number of frost events, such as early and late frosts, which can lead to devastating harvest shortfalls. "The conventional method of breeding more resistant plants has not been very successful so far, as resistance to cold and reduced growth are difficult to separate", says Brigitte Poppenberger. But she's convinced that "our discovery that brassinosteroids boost both growth and cold resistance will open up new possibilities for bringing out both characteristics in plants." She asserts that it's also possible to spray crop plants with brassinosteroids to achieve both effects. "That may be a viable methodat least, that's what the findings suggest."

Explore further Plant growth requires teamwork between two hormones

More information: Marina Eremina et al, Brassinosteroids participate in the control of basal and acquired freezing tolerance of plants, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Marina Eremina et al, Brassinosteroids participate in the control of basal and acquired freezing tolerance of plants,(2016). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1611477113
The New York League of Conservation Voters is staying neutral in the 21st Congressional District race, despite U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, scoring just 9 out of a possible 100 points on the advocacy group's 2015 National Environmental Scorecard.

The league's board interviewed Stefanik and Democratic candidate Mike Derrick and decided not to endorse, said Jordon Levine, a spokesman for the league.

"We are not planning to weigh in on that race," he said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Levine would not discuss what factor Stefanik's low score played in the endorsement process.

"The deliberations are private. ... Our board met with both candidates and decided not to endorse," he said.

Stefanik, a first-term incumbent, is running against Derrick, a retired Army colonel from Peru, in Clinton County, and Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello, a bread company owner and political activist from Hudson Falls.

The Sierra Club, a separate national environmental organization, has endorsed Derrick.

In 2014, New York League of Conservation Voters endorsed Democrat Aaron Woolf, one of Stefanik's opponents in a three-way race, and the league's national affiliate contributed $3,440 to Woolf's campaign.

Click here to read more about Stefanik's score on the league's scorecard.
Robert A. Caruso Sr.

GANSEVOORT  With his loving family by his bedside, Robert A. Caruso Sr., age 76, passed away at the Wells House in Johnstown on Friday evening, Sept. 30, 2016. With their support and the support of many friends, Bob fought a brief but brave battle with GBM brain cancer.

Born on April 6, 1940 in Fort Edward, New York, Bob was the son of the late Charles W. and Susie T. Cimo Caruso. Upon graduation from Fort Edward High School, Bob joined the Navy, both in active duty and as a reservist. He served aboard the USS Beatty, the USS Haley and the USS Little Rock CLG4. He loved the sea. One of Bob's happiest memories occurred during the time he was stationed in Italy. Bob and his family were able to visit the birthplace of his mother, Susie, in Fondi. There, they were able to meet his Italian relatives with whom, to this day, are still close. It was truly a special experience for Bob and one he would always treasure.

Bob was also a retiree of the Scott Paper Company in Fort Edward. Last acting as a purchasing agent for the company, Bob, in previous years, would teach basic paper making skills to children at local schools. He always enjoyed seeing the smiles and laughter of the children when they finally rolled out one of Scott's famous products-TP. He also worked in the mill performing many different jobs.

As a young boy and as a youth, Bob worked alongside his father building Camp Andre on Adirondack Lake. He and his siblings would spend many summer and winter nights there fishing, hunting and swimming. Bob often brought his own children to Camp to enjoy the same activities.

Anyone who knew Bob was aware of how much he loved his coffee and donuts at Stewarts!

He and Linda could often be found at the Jones Road Stewarts in Wilton. He loved to visit, laugh and kid around with all who worked there. He will be missed. According to Bob, his greatest blessing and happiness was serving his Father, Jehovah God. He was an active minister in the Door to Door Ministry of Jehovah's Witnesses. He would visit many in their homes sharing the Good News of the many promises God's Kingdom would bring, including the resurrection of our loved ones back to a Paradise Earth. He knew, according to the Bible, the Paradise Earth is God's original purpose for mankind. And, even though Adam and Eve lost that hope for us, Jehovah God has not changed that purpose. Soon, these last days will end and Paradise Earth will be a reality along with the resurrection of our dead loved ones.

Bob loved to build and was often busy working on small projects at home. This love of building carried over to one of his greatest joys  working with the RBC (Regional Building) of Jehovah's Witnesses. He and Linda would travel to many areas of New York State building local Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses. Many times, Bob would be at the site a week before the build, setting up the receiving department. He loved this volunteer work and the association of his many spiritual brothers and sisters.

Bob also served as an Elder in the local Saratoga Springs East Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses where he encouraged and comforted many who too lost loved ones in death.

In addition to his parents; Bob was predeceased by two brothers, Anthony Caruso of Fort Edward and Jerry Caruso of Hudson Falls.

Bob is survived by his wife of 55 years, Linda (Hayes), for whom he was an Alzheimer's caregiver; his three children, Valerie, Charles and Robert Jr. along with their families; his sister, Carol Cicero of Hudson Falls; his brother Charles of Florida and several nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his family in Fondi, Italy; Anna (Cherubino) Salemme and her husband Giuseppe, Rosalba and her husband Tonino and their daughter Giulia and the families of Massimo, Patricia, Egidia and Roberta.

We wish to thank the incredible staff of Wells House in Johnstown for their loving and compassionate support of Bob and his family. Your exceptional care will never be forgotten. Thank you all so much!

A memorial service for Bob will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Saratoga Springs Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Edie Road in Wilton.

A private burial service was held at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, 200 Duell Road, Schuylerville.

Arrangements are under the direction of the William J. Burke & Sonsussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes of 628 North Broadway (584-5373).

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Bob's memory to the Wells Nursing Home Inc., 201 West Madison Avenue, Johnstown, NY 12095 or to JAVAC (Johnstown Volunteer Ambulance Company), 231 North Perry Street, Johnstown, NY 12095.

Condolences can be made online at www.burkefuneralhome.com.
FORT EDWARD  Charges against a Whitehall woman who was accused of using fake names when questioned by police for a confrontation with a store owner have been dismissed in an unusual twist to what has been a bizarre case.

Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan sided with the defense lawyer for Ayn F. Stern, who claimed there were procedural issues with the grand jury investigation that resulted in his clients arrest, but also that Sterns prosecution served no purpose going forward. McKeighan granted a motion to dismiss in the interests of justice.

McKeighan dismissed the felony counts of forgery and offering a false instrument for filing that alleged the 68-year-old Stern used fake names on police and jail documents when she was arrested. Police said she had a lengthy history of using false names during prosecutions around the country.

The charges had spawned one court-ordered mental health examination for Stern, and McKeighan ordered a second last month when postponing her trial.

Sterns court-appointed lawyer, Garfield Raymond, said his client served more than 8 months in jail in a case that should never have been.

You have to go back to where it was started. She was accused of yelling at someone and giving them the finger, which is constitutionally protected, Raymond said. It didnt make sense.

Stern was arrested in January after a dispute at a store in Whitehall where she allegedly identified herself as a representative of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Police began looking into her background, and when they sought to arrest her for misdemeanor false personation, she allegedly gave a false name of Danby Flatcher and signed it on police and jail documents.

She was later indicted under 14 aliases, as authorities said she has had a history of moving around the country, using various names and becoming involved in fraud before she moved to Washington County from New Mexico. Her criminal record includes a conviction for conspiracy to commit murder in New Jersey in the 1990s, according to prior media reports.

Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said his office did not plan to appeal McKeighans ruling, which he said reflected the reality of continuing the prosecution.

Re-indicting the case would have resulted in another 4 to 6 months of delays and likely another mental health exam for Stern before trial.

Stern failed an initial psychiatric review earlier this year and was sent to Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center. But doctors there determined she was likely manipulating her diagnosis, and they released her back to the countys custody for the prosecution to continue after 7 days.

Jordan said the totality of the circumstances made continuing the prosecution questionable.

He cited valid and cogent reasons for it, Jordan said of the judges dismissal.

Stern was released from Washington County Jail on Friday.
MOREAU  Police removed three dead cats from a Grey Fox Drive home on Monday and charged a resident of the home with animal cruelty in connection with the conditions of two live felines, police said.

Regina Glowinski, 69, was charged after State Police went to her home after getting a report of possible animal neglect from the SPCA of Upstate New York, according to State Police.

Trooper Mark Cepiel said a trooper who was sent to the home was accompanied by a veterinarian, and Glowinski was charged when maggot and flea infestations were noted among the cats.

The causes of death for the three cats that were found dead had not been determined, but the State Police investigation was continuing.

Glowinski was charged with two misdemeanor counts and released pending prosecution in Moreau Town Court.
WHITEHALL  A Vermont woman was seriously hurt Monday afternoon when a sport utility vehicle she was a passenger in hit a utility pole, police said.

Hoy T. Nguyen, 69, of Colchester, Vermont, was taken to Albany Medical Center via helicopter after the 3:04 p.m. crash near Ryder Road, according to State Police. She suffered internal injuries and was admitted, but her condition was not released by the hospital.

Police said she was a passenger in a 2014 Honda CR-V that was headed south when the driver, Liem T. Phan, 44, of Colchester, Vermont, fell asleep, crossed the oncoming lane and hit a utility pole and a stone barrier in front of Adirondack Natural Stone.

Phan, who is Nguyen's son, was not hurt, but his 3-year-old child, An Phan, was taken to Glens Falls Hospital for treatment of a head injury. The child was treated and released.

No tickets were issued, but the investigation was ongoing Tuesday.

Troopers Robert Van Anden and Tiffany Bezio investigated the crash, assisted at the scene by Whitehall Rescue Squad and Whitehall Fire Department.
ALBANY  Improving the North Countrys economy, addressing veterans needs and assisting struggling farms were among the topics in the first of three scheduled debates among candidates for the 21st Congressional District seat.

Incumbent Republican Elise Stefanik of Willsboro, who is seeking her second term, squared off against Democrat Mike Derrick, a retired Army colonel from Peru in Clinton County, and Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello, a bread company owner and political activist from Hudson Falls.

The debate was taped Monday afternoon at Time Warner Cable News studio in Albany and broadcast later in the evening. It was moderated by Capital Tonight host Liz Benjamin, along with Time Warner Cable North Country reporters Brian Dwyer and Matt Hunter.

Jobs

The candidates were asked what they would do to create jobs, especially in the economically depressed areas of the North Country  Oswego and St. Lawrence counties  which have two of the highest unemployment rates in the state.

Funiciello said he opposes corporate bailouts, such as the nearly $70 million that Alcoa received to save union jobs at the roughly 600-worker aluminum plant in Massena.

He said he does not think the government should be in the business of propping up businesses.

Stefanik said generations of residents have worked at Alcoa. She believes that area needs to capitalize more on its proximity to Canada, which she said is an attractive proposition for businesses and manufacturers.

She also said she supports increased tourism through pre-clearance in which Canadian tourists could be screened ahead of time. She also would like to work with the local colleges, including community colleges, so they can meet the needs of businesses.

Derrick said the federal government needs to invest more in infrastructure. He favors creating a national infrastructure bank, where the federal government would put in seed money and leverage private funds to spur projects.

Invest in infrastructure in our own country, so we have the means to produce and means to create jobs, he said.

Agriculture

The struggling farming economy also was a hot topic. Jefferson County recently was declared a disaster area by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Stefanik said her office worked to ensure the county received that designation after fielding calls about how costly it was for farmers to haul water. She said the farms also need to have a supply of labor. She is supportive of a three- to five-year visa program for farm workers.

The farmers knew they could call my office and we would go to work with USDA, she said.

Derrick said the United States has ignored the needs of the local farmers.

We have favored the large corporate agriculture farm and weve favored crops other than the ones that we have here, he said.

Funiciello said the country is ignoring the root issue of climate change and the resources used to grow meat and dairy products.

Only the Greens are having this conversation, he said.

Trade

Trade was also another issue. All three candidates oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is a pact between the United States and 11 other nations that would eliminate more than 18,000 tariffs on U.S. imported goods.

Derrick criticized Stefanik for her vote in favor of Trade Promotion Authority, the so-called fast track that allows the administration to negotiate trade deals that then head to Congress for an up or down vote.

That freezes out the voice of our elected officials, he said.

Funiciello said trade deals have led to wage slavery in other countries, where workers work 80 hours a week making goods that just as easily could be made in the United States.

Back out of the trade deals  all of them. We dont have to be isolationist to have fair trade, he said.

Stefanik said Trade Promotion Authority ensures that Congress will have a voice in any trade deal. She said wished that President Barack Obama had negotiated a better agreement. She said she is concerned about some of the provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership regarding dairy goods, environmental standards and currency manipulation by other nations. She criticized Derrick, who she said muddied the issue.

Mike Derrick actually had to correct his first ad because he didnt know the difference between TPA and TPP, she said.

Broadband

Stefanik and Derrick said they are in favor of expanding broadband access into the North Country. Funiciello cited the peacefulness of the area and said he does not want to see forever wild land turned over to cell towers.

One of the things I find most wonderful about the Adirondacks is my phone does not work most of the time, he said, adding he is more worried about government surveillance of citizens activity on the internet.

Stefanik said she has introduced legislation to allow farmers to have first priority when it comes to applying for federal grants for broadband internet.

Derrick said he lives in an area that does not have access to broadband and said the federal government needs to make investments.

Veterans

Veterans issues were another focus, as the 21st Congressional District is home to a large number of veterans. Stefanik said she has been able to help veterans in her districts claim more than a million dollars worth of benefits they were owed.

She said the Department of Veterans Affairs should use technology to streamline the process of seeking benefits. She does not support privatization, but said veterans should have the option of accessing health care at a local provider.

Derrick, whose wife is also a veteran, said he supports the creation of more community-based outpatient clinics where veterans can get health services.

Funiciello is advocating for a Medicare for All option for health care. The United States subsidizes health care in the amount of $6,000 per person, but other countries only spend $4,200 and get far better outcomes, he said.

Terrorism

Stefanik and Derrick both supported increase use of social media to fight homegrown extremism, where citizens have been exposed to radical propaganda from terrorist groups. Stefanik pointed out that the suspect in the New York and New Jersey bombings, and the Orlando nightclub shooter, had both been on the terror watch list and cleared. She said she opposes Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps proposal to ban immigrants from areas of the world with a history of terrorism.

Derrick said the United States is using military, financial and other tools at its disposal to combat terrorism.

Funiciello said the United States is seen as the empire, with 900 military bases around the world, and it is imposing its will throughout the world.

Terrorism in other countries that has come home to roost in the United States doesnt get created in a vacuum, he said.

Immigration

On immigration, Derrick said Congress has failed to deal with the 11 million undocumented people already living in this country. He has lived in New Mexico and Texas and has seen their contributions up close.

When you live in those places, its abundantly clear that theyre an integral part of that society, he said.

Funiciello said walls are not the answer. People are crossing the border because of poverty and the violence that has been created because of the drug cartels. He said he is in favor of decriminalizing all drugs and dealing with the issue as a substance abuse problem.

Stefanik said she does not support amnesty, but said the district needs to reform its border security and revamp the program for high-tech and agricultural visas.

Qualifications

The candidates summed up their qualifications.

Funiciello said he is fighting for a $15 an hour minimum wage and to divert some of the money the United States spends on the military to projects at home. The Green Party offers a different choice.

We are the party of common sense. We are the party that wishes to give voice to the workers of this world, he said.

Stefanik said she has worked on policies to help small businesses and manufacturers thrive, has focused on constituent services and has been transparent in posting her votes and activities on Facebook.

When I ran for this office, I promised that I would work my hardest. I am so proud that I have kept that promise, she said.

Derrick said he has a lifetime of public service.

Congress should be about public service. It shouldnt be about careerism. It shouldnt be about partisanship. It should be about delivering results, he said.

The candidates will debate again Oct. 17 at SUNY Adirondack in Queensbury, which will be conducted by the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce. Another debate, on Oct. 24, will be televised on Mountain Lakes PBS.
GLENS FALLS  The city of Glens Falls on Monday fired city Assessor Lauren Stack, who was recently convicted of driving while impaired on two occasions.

Sarah Burger, a lawyer for Stack, said Stack will file a lawsuit to keep her job.

The city Common Council held a special meeting Monday evening to consider a recommendation from the hearing officer who heard the disciplinary case on Wednesday.

After opening the meeting, Common Council members met in closed session for about a half-hour to discuss the case, and then returned to public session and voted 5-0, with no discussion, to accept the hearing officers recommendation, without specifically disclosing the recommendation.

Mayor Jack Diamond said after the meeting the hearing officer recommended terminating Stacks employment effective immediately.

Diamond would not release the hearing officers report or discuss it.

Diamond said the report in not a public document.

Theres nothing else to share about this.  Were moving on with this today, he said.

Neither Stack or Burger, Stacks lawyer, attended the meeting.

Burger, contacted later Monday evening, said she was not aware of the meeting.

I had no knowledge of the council meeting. We intend to proceed with legal recourse against the city, she said.

Stack recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless endangerment and reduced noncriminal charges of driving while ability impaired in two arrests over six months in 2014 and 2015.

The firing on Monday completes a disciplinary process that began Sept. 13 when the city suspended Stack without pay, pending the disciplinary hearing that was held Wednesday, with City Clerk Robert Curtis as the citys hearing officer.

Diamond said in September the citys labor lawyer advised him Stack, a mayoral appointee, could be fired for violating the City Charter.

Section 3.24 of the charter allows the city to fire appointed officials for violation of law or duty, inefficiency, intemperance  or unbecoming official or personal conduct..

Stack had worked for the city since 2009.

Her salary in 2015 was $62,409.
QUEENSBURY  Local voters will find a question on political term lengths on the ballot on Election Day, but a second choice  on term limits  may be made for them the night before.

On Nov. 8, voters will decide whether the four Town Board members will continue to serve two-year terms or switch to four-year terms. This would also affect the town clerk and highway superintendent. It would not affect the town supervisor, who still would serve two years.

The night before, the Town Board is expected to vote on whether to limit the number of consecutive terms an individual can serve.

Earlier this year, when the issue of the vote on term lengths came up, Councilman Doug Irish said he felt it needed to be paired with term limits.

The board will hold a public hearing Nov. 7 on whether to limit the supervisors and council members time in office to eight or 12 consecutive years. The two rules would be separate, between supervisor and council member, and the clock would start over if the member stepped down and was later re-elected. A vote is expected to follow the hearing.

Rachel Seeber, a Queensbury at-large supervisor to the county board, raised concerns over the timing of the vote, noting that some people might not know the result of the Town Board vote prior to going to the polls on Tuesday.

The Monday Town Board decision on term limits for the supervisor and council members does not directly affect Tuesdays vote on whether to switch from two- to four-year terms for council members.

But Seeber and others said it is important for voters to know, when they go to the polls, whether there will be term limits in the future.

Eight towns in New York currently have term limits for town supervisors and Town Board members, ranging from 8 to 12 years in office, according to the Association of Towns of New York State.

Seebers term as at-large supervisor to the county board is controlled by state law, and her number of terms is not limited.
FORT EDWARD  Washington County has a looming hole in its 2016 budget as sales tax revenue continues to level out.

For years, the county could count on big increases in sales tax revenue every year. But the increase slowed last year, and now it has come to nearly a halt.

Budget Officer and Hebron Supervisor Brian Campbell summed up the situation in one word: Bad.

The county will likely end up collecting $400,000 less than it budgeted for this year. Campbell is already certain that the budget will come up short.

We wont make the budget number for 2016, he said.

The county does have a healthy savings account, so the downturn isnt going to push the county into crisis. But the county will have to use savings to pay for items that were to be paid for with the sales tax revenue.

Its too late to cut spending effectively for this year, Campbell said.

Now, he has to decide how to budget for next years sales tax revenue. The big question: Should he assume revenue growth is over, and the county will simply collect $19 million in sales tax every year from now on? Or should he assume some modest growth, and perhaps budget for $19.3 million?

Im still looking at it, he said.

Currently, the 2017 budget cuts the amount of sales tax revenue it disburses to the towns and villages. The county gave $1.4 million in sales tax revenue to the towns and villages this year. For 2017, the estimated amount to disburse is $1.26 million.

Other than sales tax questions, the 2017 budget is nearly balanced already. Officials began examining the revenues this week, making tweaks and correcting mistakes where some revenues were left out. The current draft shows revenues very close to expenditures.

Its looking so good that next week, the Board of Supervisors will consider $250,000 in requests for promotions and new hires. If the supervisors were to accept every request, the county would add about a dozen employees, Campbell said.

He cautioned thats not likely.

Its easy for them to say no, he said of the supervisors.

The board must also decide how to spend $350,000 from the state. Thats a one-time payment for the countys share of the Schenectady Rivers Casino licensing fee.

Thats a one-time deal, Campbell said.

Hes advocating for the money to be spent on computer upgrades at the jail. The upgrades would be about $300,000 and are needed now, he said.

The computer system is part of the jails security.

Its pretty high-tech, he said. All the doors move (by computer).

He doesnt want to use the casino money for any recurring cost  such as paying for new employees.

You always use a one-time revenue for a one-time expense if you can, he said. Because its not going to be there again.

The Board of Supervisors will meet next on the budget at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 13 at the Washington County Municipal Center.
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Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

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Every single day it seems that the rhetoric and the actions escalate, and if you are following this story (unfortunately the U.S. media is ignoring this very important emerging subject) - about the U.S. and Russia (and China for that matter) gearing up for war, then you share my concerns. This is getting downright scary at this point - as stated before, either this stops and stops soon, or we are going to find ourselves in war with another world power and that can't be a good thing...At all.





























As relations between Russia and the US disintegrate as a result of the escalating proxy war in Syria, which today culminated with Putin halting a Plutonium cleanup effort with the US , shortly before the US State Department announced it would end negotiations with Russia over Syria, tomorrow an unprecedented 40 million Russian citizens, as well as 200,000 specialists from "emergency rescue divisions" and 50,000 units of equipment are set to take part in a four day-long civil defense, emergency evacuation and disaster preparedness drill, the Russian Ministry for Civil Defense reported on its website According to the ministry, an all-Russian civil defense drill involving federal and regional executive authorities and local governments dubbed "Organization of civil defense during large natural and man-caused disasters in the Russian Federation" will start tomorrow morning in all constituent territories of Russia and last until October 7.

While the ministry does not specify what kind of "man-caused disaster" it envisions, it would have to be a substantial one for 40 million Russians to take part in the emergency preparedness drill. Furthermore, be reading the guidelines of the drill, we can get a rather good idea of just what it is that Russia is "preparing" for. The website adds that "the main goal of the drill is to practice organization of management during civil defense events and emergency and fire management, to check preparedness of management bodies and forces of civil defense on all levels to respond to natural and man-made disasters and to take civil defense measures." Oleg Manuilov, director of the Civil Defence Ministry explained that the exercise will be a test of how the population would respond to a "disaster" under an "emergency" situation.





Why now? Perhaps, in addition to the sharp deterioration in relations between Russia and the west, where tensions are on par with the cold war, another answer may come from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, who last week warned Congress that the implementation of a No Fly Zone in Syria as proposed by John Kerry recently, and a centerpiece of Hillarys foreign policy strategy, would result in World War III. During testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services last week General Joseph Dunford rang the alarm over a policy shift that is gaining more traction within the halls of Washington following the collapse of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia in Syria saying that it could result in a major international war which he was not prepared to advocate on behalf of. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi asked about Hillary Clintons proposal for a no fly zone in Syria in response to allegations that Russia and Syria have intensified their aerial bombardment of rebel-held East Aleppo since the collapse of the ceasefire.





"What about the option of controlling the airspace so that barrel bombs cannot be dropped? What do you think of that option?" asked Wicker. " Right now, Senator, for us to control all of the airspace in Syria would require us to go to war against Syria and Russia. That is a pretty fundamental decision that certainly Im not going to make ," said the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suggesting the policy was too hawkish even for military leaders.









As a reminder, Hillary Clinton strongly argued in favor of a no fly zone ever since October 2015, just days after Russia began a bombing campaign aimed at maintaining the stability of the Syrian government. "I personally would be advocating now for a no fly zone and humanitarian corridors to try to stop the carnage on the ground and from the air, to try to provide some way to take stock of whats happening, to try to stem the flow of refugees," said Clinton in an interview with NBC in October 2015 .





































According to head of the Main Organization and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Russia is holding a fall draft to gain 152,000 new servicemen. Another 155,000 were just drafted last spring. Via Sputnik





In the fall of this year, 152,000 people will be drafted for military service and sent to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as other troops, military formations and bodies, to complete it, Col. Gen. Vasily Tonkoshkurov told reporters.













Obviously they are gearing up for something













































The Russia-US peace effort in Syria broke down due to the lack of a unified stance on the issue in Washington and the US should acknowledge its failure, Maria Zakharova, Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told RT. The problem is that for the whole time we were involved in Russian-American negotiations we realized very clearly that the US had no joint position. Different organizations, different structures in Washington were taking different positions on whats going on Syria. They had absolutely different views, Zakharova said. The Americans were changing their opinion and their point of view on whats going on in Syria, actually, every day Probably, that was the main reason why they failed in fulfilling those agreements that we achieved, she added.

Zakharova blamed the American side for the breakdown of the peace deal and said they should be honest with this. The reality was very clear. We had two main tasks. First one was the separation of Jabhat al-Nusra [terrorists] and moderate opposition. And our American colleagues failed in fulfilling their promise. The second task was to pull back the governmental forces and moderate opposition forces from Castello Road. And our American colleagues, unfortunately, failed for the second time, she said. According to the spokeswoman, the Americans told us that they have no possibilities to influence the moderate opposition.





Actually, were not sure that moderate opposition still exists. Because these guys, who were fighting for many months as Jabhat al-Nusra  with the same weapons, using same methods  hardly could be called moderate opposition. But we respected our American colleagues, who were insisting that these guys are still moderate, she said.





































A battery of Russian S-300 air defense missile launchers has been transported to Syria, Russias Defense Ministry said in a statement. Its sole purpose is to defend a Russian naval base and warships, the ministry added.









The information about the S-300s deployment was confirmed by ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. Indeed, the Syrian Arab Republic received an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. This system is designed to ensure the safety of the naval base in [Syrian city of] Tartus and ships located in the coastal area [in Syria] he told the media. Konashenkov said it is unclear why the deployment of the missile system has created such a fuss in the West. The S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat, he said.





































As Washington has officially halted all bilateral contacts with Moscow regarding Syria, a hard-won truce in the war-torn country is collapsing.









Catherine Shakdam, director of programs for the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies told Radio Sputnik that Russia has repeatedly attempted to bring all the warring parties in Syria to the negotiating table, including President Bashar Assad, the countrys legitimate leader. And, unlike Washington, Moscow has consistently operated within international law in Syria, and has done everything it can to de-escalate the violence. Washington, however, has gone to great lengths to fabricate and trade narratives in establishing blame, without offering practical solutions.





The US goes and starts wars without knowing what they want to see happen, Shakdam said, referencing numerous American interventions in the Middle East and other areas. They are always putting the powers against each other, always playing both sides of the river  because they want to make sure theyre sitting on the right side of the history. Theres no endgame, as such.













In Syria, the US tries to sanitize the radicals, saying theyre the solution to the Assad problem, she said. President Assad is portrayed as a war criminal that has to go, but we havent been told why, she stated, adding, they are trying to sell terrorism as the lesser evil against the greater evil, which makes no sense.









The academic suggested that she has found it revealing that Washington seeks to balkanize the Middle East by means of military violence, which, conversely, creates perfect conditions for interventionism. But the truth is, according to Shakdam, that the crisis has spiraled out of Washingtons control.













The US is trying to play stability and pretend they are in control, but instability is pulling the train today, Shakdam said. In reality, they [Washington] dont have a plan except driving Assad out, which will create another vacuum, just like in Iraq or Afghanistan.

















































Now that the gloves have come off in the faux diplomacy between Russia and the US, which yesterday culminated with Putin halting a Plutonium cleanup effort with the US, shortly before the US State Department announced it would end negotiations with Russia over Syria , the next step may be one which John Kerry warned last week is "back on the table ", namely the launch of military strikes on the Assad regime. As WaPo reports, meetings have been going on within US national security agencies for weeks to consider new options to recommend to the president to address the ongoing crisis in Aleppo. A meeting of the Principals Committee, which includes Cabinet-level officials, is scheduled for Wednesday while a meeting of the National Security Council, which could include the president, could come as early as this weekend.

As Reuters hinted last week, at a Deputies Committee meeting at the White House, officials from the State Department, the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed limited military strikes against the regime as a "means of forcing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to pay a cost for his violations of the cease-fire...Or, in other words, to cut to the chase and go right back to what the US was hoping to achieve in Syria in the first place: another regime change. Or, in other words, to cut to the chase and go right back to what the US was hoping to achieve in Syria in the first place: another regime change.

Among the options considered include bombing Syrian air force runways using cruise missiles and other long-range weapons fired from coalition planes and ships. One proposed way to get around the White Houses long-standing objection to striking the Assad regime without a U.N. Security Council resolution would be to carry out the strikes covertly and without public acknowledgment, the official said. In other words, the warhawks in the administration are actively contemplating not only bypassing the White House, but flaunting the UN and launching a sovereign incursions, also known as a war, against Syria.









There is another problem: launching bombing raides over Syria would necessarily require the creation of a "no fly zone" for Syrian and, more importantly, Russian warplanes. However, as we noted yesterday , during testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services last week General Joseph Dunford rang the alarm over a policy shift that is gaining more traction within the halls of Washington following the collapse of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia in Syria saying that it could result in a major international war which he was not prepared to advocate on behalf of.









"What about the option of controlling the airspace so that barrel bombs cannot be dropped? What do you think of that option?" asked Wicker. "Right now, Senator, for us to control all of the airspace in Syria would require us to go to war against Syria and Russia . That is a pretty fundamental decision that certainly Im not going to make," said the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suggesting the policy was too hawkish even for military leaders.





As we further added last night, despite Dunford's warning, the military angle has gained traction in recent weeks among top US diplomats, as today's WaPo report confirms. And since the report is, at least for now, just a trial balloon to gauge the Russian reaction to a potential US military incursion, we now wait to see what Putin's reaction to the possibility of a US military campaign in Syria will be.

































The Russian embassy in Damascus was shelled from the areas controlled by al-Nusra Front and Faylaq al-Rahman militants, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The Russian diplomatic mission came under mortar shelling on October 3. One of the mines exploded on the embassy area near its residential department. Fortunately, no one was wounded. The diplomatic mission sustained material damage. Another two mines went off next to the embassy." The Ministry said the shelling was conducted from the Jobar municipality controlled by al-Nusra Front and Faylaq al-Rahman terrorists. "We view this shelling of the Russian embassy as a consequence of actions of those who, like the US and its allies, provoke the violent conflict in Syria, flirting with militants and extremists of different sorts."
















This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of TOR, Kwame Awuah Darko.

There have been a number of concerns raised as to whether TOR has the capacity to undertake such refineries. This is mainly attributed to the accumulated debts and other financial challenges being faced by the refinery.

However, Awuah Darko argues that the restructuring undertaken by government puts the company in a position to contain any significant costs that the process will require.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has reviewed the national sulphur specification for diesel from 3000 parts per million (ppm) to 500ppm.

READ ALSO: NPA revises national sulphur levels for imported diesel

The reduction is as a result of a report by Public Eye which criticised Swiss firms for their links to the trade of diesel in Africa that contain high Sulphur considered illegal in Europe.
According to the Product Manager of Tisu.com.gh, Albert Boateng, increasing service convenience for Ghana's growing online market consumers is at the heart of the partnership.

READ ALSO:

Mr. Boateng continued by saying, "Tisu.com.gh prides itself in leveraging technology to create value for our clients and partners. As a homegrown business, it is our core value to make life more convenient for Ghanaians.""This is the motivation behind introducing the Card On Delivery payment option. We believe this is an innovative step to growing the e-commerce ecosystem."

Head of Digital Banking& Product Sales for UBA Ghana, Mr. Johnson Olakunmi said UBA Ghana as part of its bid to provide cashless, seamless and secure services to all Ghanaians is pleased to offer one of our best digital services to our partner Tisu.com.gh. UBA provides world class digital solutions deployed on our secured platforms attested to international certification including PCIDSS, to ensure that all transactions done are safe and securely delivering total customer satisfaction.

The new service means that once a customer places an order, they can choose the cash on delivery option while placing an order and opt to pay by card by presenting their mastercard or visa card to the delivery agent or at the Tisu pick-up store.
According to the prosecuting officer Detective Inspector Kofi Atimbire, the victim who vomited as result of Badus act resides at East Legon with her family.

He added that the victim is the daughter of the complainant in the case who lodged a complaint with the police after the victim informed her of the incident.

Detective Inspector Atimbire said the accused who have been working at the residence of the complainant with the help of an agency two months ago starts work at 0800 hours and closes at 1700 hours daily.

He revealed that on September 24, Badu reported to work and met the complainant and the victim in the house.

At about 1530 hours, the complaint was busily attending to some visitors and left the victim in the living room to watch television when Badu sneaked into the living room and lured the victim into a corner of the living room and inserted his penis deeply into the victims mouth.

Due to that, the prosecutor said the victim vomited but Badu cleaned it and warned her not to inform anyone about what had happened.

The victim, however, informed her mother a day after the incident, who also reported the case to the Police.
Chefs from across Africa met in Ghana last week to discuss how they can work together to boost their profession as part of the African Chefs United Hospitality All African People Imbizo (HAAPI) Festival.

The festival celebrated Africas indigenous food, exotic drinks, arts and heritage.

Across Tema and Accra, chefs from as far as South Africa, Togo, Senegal, Mauritania, Lesotho, Togo and Nigeria met, cooked, ate and planned through the HAAPI festival.

Two barbecue chefs from outside the continent, one from Ireland the other Australia also took part.

The festival is an initiative from South African chef Citrum Khumalo, founder of African Chefs United. The first event was in Johannesburg four years ago.

Speaking to Pulse Ghana, Chef Khumalo said the festival and African Chefs United wanted to see African cuisine recognised and enjoyed across the world. But first, chefs needed to work together to increase professionalism and standards in the industry, he said.

He had travelled extensively and seen how the profession is treated abroad  particularly in Europe where chefs work together.

Chefs are the ambassadors of any tourism and hospitality industry in their respective countries. We saw huge gap in Africa. First the standard of food is very low, the quality, the systems are not right, the hygiene, the safety, you name it.

"It is all because we are not united. We don't come together to work together to share ideas. I believe when we share ideas we are going to come out victorious across the entire continent.

A way to do this is through the festival, he said, as it worked to bring together chefs from across the continent, and ever further afield.

Ultimately, he wants to see cuisine across the continent receive global recognition.

If you walk around here in Ghana you see Chinese restaurants but if you go around the world you hardy see African restaurants. We need to bring the food standard to a level where it will be accepted across the world  they way we prepare it and present the food.

Ghanaian chef Micheal Quainoo, who is head chef at Alisa Hotel in Accra said the event was important as chefs were able to learn from each other and learn other cultures.

As part of the festival, African Chefs United formed an alliance with local food charity Food For All Ghana to feed patients at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

Founder of the charity, Elijah Amoo Addo said about 40 chefs feed 200 patients and the two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding which aims to reduce food wastage within Africa's hospitality/culinary chain.

Amoo Addo said the event and the signing was about getting chefs to understand the inefficiencies within the industry and recognise they can stop waste and help to feed vulnerable people in their societies.

The leadership of African Chefs United signed a 14 year memorandum of understanding to work together in reducing food wastage along the hospitality chain across the continent.
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We do not need the [Mo Ibrahim] survey to actually know how we are faring as a nation. The reality is that Ghana is rising, Ghana is making significant progress. ... If you are to look at the peace and stability that we enjoy...do you need a Mo Ibrahim index?" he questioned.

READ ALSO: Mo Ibrahim Index

The 2015 Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance has ranked Ghana 7th for the second time. This years release which featured 54 African countries was released by Mohammed Ibrahim, the Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim foundation on Monday.

A summary of the report said that "even if Ghana and South Africa feature in the top ten performing countries in overall governance in 2015, they are also the eighth and tenth most deteriorated over the decade".

But Dr Boamah disagrees with the report, saying Ghanas performance on governance had been positive in recent years.

Dr Boamah further asked the foundation to rely more on quantitative surveys, adding: If you are dealing with qualitative, the biases are in there, the subjectivities are in there," he said on Accra-based Joy FM.

The foundation, owned by Sudanese multi-millionaire businessman Mo Ibrahim revealed that even though Ghana scored 63.9 out of 100 for the year under review, the trend for the past decade saw a decline of 2.1.

Ghana recorded an increase in the participation and human rights indicator with a score of 72.1 and a rank of 4th out of 54 countries. A look at the trend for the past decade shows an increase of 0.1.

For sustainable economic opportunity, Ghana ranked 15th and scored 39.1 with the decade trend showing a decline of 4.2.

Under the human development category, Ghana ranked 11th, scoring 64.2. The country also recorded a decline of 1.6 over the past decade.
His comment comes on the back of an assault on the Grand-Bassam hotel in Cote d' Ivoire by armed attackers on March 16,2016.

The Grand-Bassam resort in Cote d' Ivoire was attacked heavily by armed gunmen who entered from Mali in a Niger-registered 44 and hid their weapons in the petrol tank where 19 people were killed and about 35 injured.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility as well as for a similar strike in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, in January which left 30 dead.

He made this known to the media after French MP Cochet Philippe paid a courtesy call on him at the ministry on Monday, October 3, 2016.

The MP and his delegation visited the Minister of Interior of Ghana to address the issue of terrorism. He visited because Ghana is surrounded by French speaking countries like Cote D'Ivoire that had experienced terror threats recently.

Philippe said the meeting was important as it was on the "crucial topic" of terrorism.

He was pleased to note Ghana has not experienced any terror attack.

He added that "this topic needs a lot of energy mobilization" and will need communication and collaboration to make it work.

France has been victim of a series of deadly terror attacks over the past two years, killing scores.

Philippe added that France found Ghana a very stabilized country, and the stability is very crucial for the entire sub-region of Africa, especially during this election year.

He applauded the measures Ghana has taken to ensure a peaceful election.

He noted Ghana has a crucial role to play in Africa, more so because of its importance in combating terror threats.

In response Bani said: "since the Burkina Faso, Mali and Grand Bassam in Cote DIvoire events occurred, Ghana has strengthened and enhanced its security systems to be prepared for any uneventful attack".

He added that there are systematic programmes that the police and other security agencies have put in place," regarding the upcoming elections.

He said Ghana would continue on its path of safe elections.

"This country never witnessed any security breaches before, during and after our election. The coming elections is also going to be the same based on the presence of our security agencies at all flash point areas to ensure that our citizens are able to go through their political dispensation without fear or anticipation of any violence.

Bani further reiterated that the security forces have engaged groups from all over the country to ensure that they become aware of the state of the security in the country.

The Minister revealed that during the meeting with the French MP, they discussed issues concerning migration and refugees and that is affecting not only Africa but the Europeans and Americans as well.

He, however, said that several processes have begun including the commitment made by the global system to ensure that refugees are humanly treated and have free legal movement of persons from country to country.

Referring to the United Nations 71th General Assembly, in New York last month, the Minister said "government after government committed themselves to ensure that we should continue to have free movement of persons, proper and legal protection of all refugees as well as proper system of arrangements that brings about the reintegration of refugees, properly documented and properly protected at home.

The Minister said Ghana is committed to working with the international community to ensure refugees benefit from enhanced migration systems globally, and in Ghana.

We have come out with a national migration policy which will involve the establishment of a national migration commission of which proposals are far advanced and very soon will be launching.
Read the full petition below:Economic and Organised Crime OfficeHead OfficeAccra, GhanaPublic Petition Of Inquiry/ComplaintPetitioner: Great Consolidated Popular Party (and the Ghanaian Public at Large)Respondant(s): Mr. Jerry Rawlings, and Nana Konadu Ageyaman RawlingsDear Commissioner,The Great Consolidated Popular Party is requesting a formal petition of inquiry into key dealings of former President Jerry Rawlings. The thematic areas of inquiry/complaint are the following:1. The historic public record notes that in 1998 Former President Rawlings denied having received financial support from the then President of Nigeria, Sani Abacha. Today, he has publicly declared that he did in fact receive $2 million from the Nigerian President. This petition of inquiry seeks to ascertain:2. The full context and/or reason(s) in which the funds were issued: In particular, were these funds issued in support of killing the prominent Nigerian environmental journalist Ken Sara-Wiwa?3. The actual amount of funds issued (as there are discrepancies regarding the amount): Did he receive $2 million, $5 million, or $100 million?4. What happened to the remaining 30 million loan from the initial 31.5 million that was issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland to International Generics (for which Mrs. Rawlings was the primary benefactor through a frontman named Leon Tamman) under the British Export Guarantee Facility for the construction of La Palm Hotel and Coco Palm Hotel? It has been reported by the former Deputy British High Commissioner in Ghana, Greg Murray, in his book entitled The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and Other Conflicts I have Known that only 1.5 million of the funds actually went towards the development of these enterprises, while the remaining 30 million was privately looted by Mrs. Rawlings via Leon Tamman. Is this true?5. How did the Former First Lady Mrs. Rawlings acquire the Nsawam Cannery in light of her financial capacities at time?6. Is it true that the Rawlings hold substantive shares within the Ghana Rubber Estate Ltd.?7. Is it true that the Rawlings were using transporting gold to Switzerland on a regular basis?8.The Black Star Shipping Line was sold during the Rawlings administration: What was the reason for selling the Black Star Shipping Line and its assets?9. In 1979 the AFRC opened Account 48 for the deposit of seized funds which were deemed corrupt. What happened to the funds of Account 48?We trust that Former President Rawlings will answer these questions honestly since he is the Champion of probity, transparency, and accountability.The full support of EoCo is herewith called upon in this petition.Yours faithfully,Dr. Henry Herbert LarteyPresidential CandidateGCPP
The EC Chair has explained that she accepted the money from the PPP because she thought the party had withdrawn its suit challenging the fee.

Some Ghanaians believe the EC could be cited for contempt following her decision to accept the filing fee from the PPP.

But private legal practitioner, Elikplim Agbemava disagrees.

Normally, when a party is asking for an interlocutory injunction, it is for the compliance of all the parties in the case; it is not the compliance of just the defendant. So I would say that the PPP was supposed to also comply with the injunction by not doing anything that will prejudice the case, he said.

I wouldnt say they are both in contempt. I would say that the matter has been rendered academic. We have to wait for the High Court to decide...from where I sit, I think the issue has been complicated by the PPP and not the EC, he explained on GBC News.

The PPP is in court over the GHC50, 000 filing fee for presidential nominees, leading to an injunction placed on some aspects of the filing process.

The party is pursuing a declaration that Regulation 45 of C.I. 94 is discriminatory, arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. That the entire C.I. 94 does not contain the appropriate relevant provisions that meet the intendment of Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution.
This is according to the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Patricia Asante.

Presidential aspirant of the GFP, Akua Donkor nominated Mrs Asante, 34 as her running mate for the December 7 polls.

Speaking on Accra-based Accra FM Mrs Asante noted: I could not complete my JSS (Junior Secondary School) education, but that will not prevent me from contributing the rich ideas I have to build the nation.

She added that: Akua Donkor has given an opportunity to those of us who are not educated to also have a say in Ghanaian politics and governance. The fact that I cannot read and write doesnt mean I cannot contribute any ideas. People are in parliament today but do not contribute to discussions on the floor because they cannot speak English and so I will deliver.

Background:

The founder and leader of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor has selected 32-year-old farmer Mrs Patricia Asante as her running mate for the December 7 polls.

Akua Donkor, who is a cocoa farmer by profession, and believed not to have had any formal education, has often been criticized for her unsavoury comments in public.

She told Graphic Online that her running mate, who is also unlettered, was chosen to prove to Ghanaians that they are capable of running affairs of the country as the educated ones.

She said with her selection, Ghanaians will be able to differentiate between governance of educated and uneducated people.

When asked whether she was perturbed by Ghanaians who subject her to ridicule in her bid to contest the presidency, the 64-year-old farmer said her critics are only surprised at her ability to be the first uneducated woman to launch and operate a political party in the country.

I am not doing concert and if they say it is concert that I am doing they should wait and see what God will do.... That is why I always speak the truth because God says we should love our neighbours as ourselves, she said.
In most of the cases, they (NDC) select only two years to demonstrate growth of the whole period of eight years  2008-2015.This is tantamount to intellectual dishonesty to say the least, the ranking member of the Food and Agriculture Committee, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto said at a press conference on Tuesday, October 4, 2016.

READ ALSO: NDC Manifesto

He argued that The NDC selected the year 2008 and the year 2013 to show that distribution had increased over the whole period of eight years. They failed to mention that there was no distribution of subsidised fertiliser in the year 2014, and that only 90,000 metric tonnes out of the 180,000 that they put in the budget were distributed in the year 2015. That takes no mention at all in the manifesto.

Touching on rice production, Dr Akoto said the NDC had a whole period of eight years but they just showed numbers for 2008 and 2014 to show that rice production has also increased over the period of 2008-2015. What they failed to show is that rice production was down in the intervening years that is 2009-2013 and after 2014. What is worse is that they failed to mention that rice imports rose from 425,390 metric tonnes in 2008 to 630,200 metric tonnes in 2015.

President John Mahama during his presentation of the highlights of the National Democratic Congress 2016 manifesto said, if he is re-elected in the December 7 general elections, he will invest massively in the sector.

He said he will expand investments into SADA, including provision for more than 100,000 hectares of irrigation-fed farmland.
Speaking at his campaign launch in Accra on Sunday, Vanderpuije said: This time I am committed to making sure that we get the 70% target and the message is simple, I want John Mahama retained as president of this country. Hes done so much, hes laid a solid foundation that we in this country cannot allow to be messed up and since Odododiodioo decides elections in Ghana, I want to make sure that we give John Mahama the 70% that he deserves to continue the good works, to continue changing lives and transformation in Ghana.

I just want my opponent to understand that if they want to win elections, not in 2016 because there is no way they can win elections in 2016 because there is no way they can beat Nii Lantey Vanderpuije in Odododiodioo.

But the former MP of the area, Niibi Ayibontey has said the incumbent MP might be defeated in this election if he is not careful.

Nii Lantey should be very careful; if he becomes complacent he will have the shock of his life, he said on Accra-based Citi FM.

He [Vanderpuye] must go down to the people. You know, the very things that you think are not important to them are the things that matter, they can throw out propaganda out there and once the people accept it you are in deep trouble, he added.

READ ALSO: NPP responds to Nii Lante Vanderpuye

Ayibontey won the Odododiodioo constituency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2000, but was defeated by the NDCs Samuel A. Mankattah.
Since the creation nearly a decade ago, of an office by the EC in the region, the commission is yet to install a server for the new Tatale- Sanguli constituency.

Due to this, voters who wish to transfer their votes to other voting centres will have to travel to Zabzugu to do so.

Some supporters of the NPP have accused the Member of Parliament of the area for transporting foreigners to participate in the exercise which resulted in violent clashes.

The clashes, however, continued on Tuesday, October 4, between the ruling NDC and the opposition NPP.

The Ghana Police Service has since deployed men to the area to maintain law and order.
Attempts by KMA to elect a PM last week proved futile as the exercise was marred by violence between some Assembly members.

READ ALSO:KMA Elections KMA fails to elect Presiding Member again

The elections held on Tuesday, September 27 failed to produce two-thirds majority of the votes as required by law, hence the need to conduct another polls for the sixth time.

Assembly member for Ayigya electoral area in the Ashanti Region, Abdullah Muaza traded blows with and a known serial caller of the governing National Democratic Congress, Yakubu Tony Aidoo.

The brawl ensued after Tony Yakubu Aidoo allegedly accused the Assembly members of the metropolis of being corrupt.

READ MORE:Election 2016 Exchange of blows at election of KMA Presiding Member

Assembly elections are to be non-partisan as stipulated in the constitution, but political parties are usually involved in the elections behind the scenes.

The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been blamed for the bloody fight for a new presiding member in the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.

A Local Government expert, George Kyei Baafuor believes power sharing between the two leading political parties will ensure peace in the KMA.
The company has submitted a prospectus to Ghanas securities regulator and plans to sell 35 percent of the business, Adu Anane Antwi, director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said by phone on Wednesday.

The Johannesburg-based mobile provider plans to raise $500 million from the sale and is approaching wealthy individuals in the West African country, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company was granted a 15-year license for fourth-generation spectrum on the condition that 35 percent of the business would be owned by Ghanaian investors.

A representative of MTN declined to comment.

MTN said earlier this month it raised more than $1.3 billion from loan agreements as it works to improve its debt structure and support its credit rating.

MTNs move to attract funding comes after the company reported its first-ever half-year loss in August, partly caused by an agreement to settle a record 330 billion naira ($1.1 billion) fine in Nigeria for missing a deadline to disconnect customers.

MTN said is strongly refutes an accusation by Nigerian lawmakers that the wireless carrier illegally moved almost $14 billion out of the country over 10 years as the company tries to quell the latest controversy in its largest market.
"We had to temporarily suspend our operations in the country. It is the third time this happened since we started working there," Nespresso spokeswoman Jacquelyn Campo said on Tuesday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

"The situation has deteriorated and is very difficult at the moment," she said, adding it was impossible to say at this stage when the company would be able to resume business there.

The premium coffee brand started working with local farmers in South Sudan in 2011, in partnership with non-profit organisation TechnoServe, to revive coffee production which had been destroyed by years of armed conflict in the region.

It launched a first limited-edition Robusta coffee from South Sudan one year ago.

South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war fuelled by ethnic divides and disputes over oil, but internal conflicts and political power struggles have persisted, with fresh clashes flaring in July.
He gave this advice on Monday, October 3, 2016, in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to mark the 56th anniversary of Nigerias independence.

"The youths, who are supposed to ask their leaders questions are the ones carrying brief cases for them.

Some of them are still sagging their trousers without being moved by the bleak future that successive leaders have created for them.

Why cant they stand up and take their future in their hands by holding their leaders accountable? he asked. Adding, "We started with countries like Brazil, Singapore and others; today they are among strong and self-sustaining nations. Nigeria as a nation still imports almost everything, including staple goods. Is it not pathetic to see a 56-year-old adult who cannot take care of him or herself?

Charly Boy stated that leaders at all levels in the country are insensitive to the collective interests of the people because the youths of the present generation are passive.

The youths of the 70s used to stand up and agitate against policies and programmes of government that are not people-oriented thereby holding the leaders accountable. Today, our youths have decided to suffer and smile, while others have chosen to be political tugs and body guards to the same people who have traded off their future, he said.

"The youths must refuse to be divided as a people with common struggle and destiny so that they can win together. The Nigerian youths have been manipulated too long along tribal and religious sentiments by their leaders. It is time they stood up and save their future together, Charly Boy urged.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
According to Star, Alfayo was arrested in his hideout in Sotik, a constituency situated in the Rift Valley area of the country.

It was gathered that Alfayo who had bragged about his sexual prowess, is currently in detention at the Sotik Police station, and is being interrogated just as the police have vowed to take him for a medical examination to determine his mental state.

The Sotik OCPD Jonathan Ngala also told the Star that officers were still interrogating Alfayo with a view to finding out if he was the one who posted the images on his account or his account was hacked before charging him.
The 28-year-old Bourdilon was arrested alongside four others including his lover, and the gang's informant, ThankGod, shortly after they abducted the landlords in the Isheri area of the state and demanded a whopping N300 million each, but were released after a ransom of N12 million was paid to them.

According to the suspect, his father, who is currently on the run, is the brain behind most of the kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun States.

Describing the landlords abduction as their last operation before operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Squad (IRT) arrested him, Bourdilon stated that said the gang collected N12 million ransom for the landlords, but his father gave him just N350,000 as his share.

A police source narrated how the suspects were arrested:

The suspects were arrested in parts of Lagos, Ogun, Delta and Ondo States. Bourdilon confessed that his dad is the leader of the gang and used to bring kidnapping operations to them to execute. His dad used to locate targets, which the gang goes after.

The gang has six AK47 rifles, which they use for operations. The last operation was the abduction of the landlords.

ThankGods role in the gang is that of an informant. His job is to go out, mix with members of the community where they had kidnapped people and get information on what is happening and what police are doing about the kidnap."
According to the Daily Post News, the accused committed the offence with her accomplices on September 2, 2016 at No. 307, Banana Island, Lagos.

She is being charged with two counts of conspiracy and stealing, crimes she has pleaded not guilty to.

Stating the offences, Inspector Daniel Ighodalo said the accused fled with 18 pieces of gold watches, 15 pieces of gold rings, 10 sets of gold necklace and earrings and 10 costume beads, all valued at N3 million belonging to her employer.

He mentioned that the crimes contravenes Sections 285 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

Abimbola Awogboro, the Chief Magistrate on the case granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Gbadamosi, who resides in the Aboru area of Iyana-Ipaja is being charged with breach of peace, assault and threat to life according to Inspector George Nwosu, the prosecutor in the case.

Nwosu stated that the accused committed the offence on September 4, 2016 at his home.

The accused and his accomplices beat up the complainant and damaged four chairs valued at N4,000 and mixer valued at N35,000 being church property."

The accused and others also threatened to bathe him with acid if he refused to stop converting his clients to his church."

The complainant was in the fellowship with his members when the accused stormed the church with hoodlums carrying iron rods, sticks and other dangerous weapons."

The accused obstructed the complainant from performing his duty as a pastor by chasing away all his members before descending on him", the prosecutor said.

Gbadamosi's offences contravenes Sections 56, 166, 170 and 348 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, Daily Post reports.
According to a popular online media site in that country, Aminata.com, the unnamed Nigerian man had met the girl identified as Kadiatou Bah, at a brothel known as Akouna Matata Hotel, Kipe, for an all-night sex romp.

They had allegedly agreed on a payment of 300,000 Guinean francs, an equivalent of N10,000, but in the morning, the suspect who is said to be on the run, refused to pay the amount in full, claiming the prostitute did not give him the ultimate satisfaction and as such, he was only going to pay her half of the amount.

The commercial sex worker allegedly insisted on getting her full money, shouting at the same time to attract other prostitutes.

The dead body being evacuated from the hotel

Photo Credit: Aminata.com

This action was said to have angered the alleged Nigerian who beat the lady till she gave up the ghost.
For centuries men have been perceived to be sexual predators always on the hunt for the sex. It is because of this perception that it is believed that men cannot be raped.

Also, because it is believed that men are the stronger of the sexes, therefore men cannot be subdued. These wrongful notions have perpetuated rape culture and have made millions of men suffer in silence from the trauma of being raped.

This is a reference to men who have been raped by women. The thought alone does not seem plausible to many but male rape happens a lot.

Men who have been raped by women have been afraid to come out because they do not want end up being the butt of jokes or afraid they would be described as effeminate.

Last weekend, a video of three women raping a man in South Africa went viral. "I told my older sister about what happened but she thought I was joking," said the rape victim. After the video went viral his sister believed him and told him to report to the police.

For female victims of rape, the unfortunate rhetoric for most of them is that they caused it. For men, no one believes them because it sounds ludicrous.

ALSO READ: 50 cases of child rape reported in Plateau in 1 yea

When the video made its rounds on Twitter, the general response was more of confusion. It wasn't a sharp outcry like when a video surfaced on Twitter of a young woman being gang raped in Abia State University.

Society still does not know how to respond to male rape stories and male rape victims. This is because we have been wired to thinking that men cannot be dominated and they are 24/7 sex machines. Also, we tend to believe male rape victims as being lucky. The South African man who was gang raped said the experience for him was traumatic.

On a lot of rape literature and messages, it is mostly if not totally tilted towards when a man rapes a woman. In this part of the world, male rape is hardly covered.
Ndukwe who posted the assault on his Facebook wall said the man was left bloodied as he was given the beating of his life with his head broken.

This is what Ndukwe wrote on his Facebook wall:

"Police brutality by Mile 1 policemen in Port Harcourt. One Corporal Uche and two of his colleagues descended on this innocent man who sat innocently with some family members in front of his house at No 5, Jaja street, Mile 1, Diobu, this evening."

"Corporal Uche ordered them to raise their hands for no reason and when he sought to know why, he was hit with the butt of their gun, while the others descended on him and gave him a thorough beating.

RIVERS OF BLOOD!

Attention : Rivers State Commissioner of Police.
According to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Shagamu, SP Moses Aduroja, Akorede was arrested on Sunday night by a police team on stop and search duty when the two skulls were found in his possession.

Aduroja said that the suspect had confessed to exhuming some dead bodies and cutting the heads which he intended to use for money making rituals.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi who confirmed the arrest of Akorede, said the suspect was being interrogated to unravel the reasons for his action.
Tucked somewhere in this all-star list of warlords, generals and generals turned civilian rulers is Valentine Strasser who holds the continental record of being Africa's youngest military ruler.

Valentine Strasser came into power on April 29, 1992, at the age of 25. The junior military ruler along with six other young military officers led the charge to overthrow the Sierra Leonean government headed by Joseph Saidu Momoh.

To put things in perspective, Yakubu Gowon of Nigeria (the most populous country in Africa) came into power when he was 32 years old. J.J Rawlings of Ghana came into power at the age of 31.

Just like every other typical coup in Africa, the new military junta in Sierra Leone were welcomed by the masses who came out on the streets and celebrated the youthful soldiers.

Under Saidu Momoh's leadership, the economy of Sierra Leone fared badly. There was hardly gas and water for the country's citizens and civil servants were owed months of salaries.

Known as '', the leading officers in the coup formed the National Provisional Ruling Council to rule the country. The early months of the military rule were positive. The economy bounced back and people were generally happy. Strasser and his gang even planned to hand over to a democratically elected government.

The optimism and vigour that youth brings also have its disadvantages. The government showed a lot of youthful exuberance, appearing at public events in blazers and aviators.

Strasser was chosen to rule Sierra Leone, not because he was smart or authoritative but because he was one of the few who actually went to secondary school, and could speak English.

Unfortunately, the educational system in Sierra Leone was so bad that Strasser's spoken English was weak. Because of Valentine Strasser's lack of educational polish, he was shy at international gatherings. He once blew off a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II because he was reportedly too shy.

Also, Valentine Strasser and the rest of the boys behaved like spoilt kids. They drove flashy cars, sold diamonds abroad and lived lavish lifestyles, acts that they condemned the previous administration for.

ALSO READ: Yahya Jammeh replaces minister with coup plotter

Eight months after the coup, the honeymoon was over for Sierra Leone. In the month of December, the military junta executed twenty-nine men accused of plotting a coup.

Sierra Leone would fall back to the dark times with the economy falling again, 'The Boys' were accused of corruption and embezzlement. In a bid to appease the international community, the military administration planned to conduct elections in 1996.

Just like J.J Rawlings and Sani Abacha, Strasser put himself forward as a presidential candidate which angered a lot of people. As the nation tumbled further, Valentine Strasser was ousted as the leader of Sierra Leone by his 32-year-old deputy Maada Bio.

Strasser wasn't killed but flown out to Guinea. The young leader and his fellow members who were kicked out were involved in a deal with the United Nations to allow them to study in England.

Valentine Strasser studied at the University of Warwick in Coventry but did not finish due to protests about a military dictator and a human rights violator to study in England.

Broke and nowhere to go, Strasser descended into alcohol and jumped from couch to couch. In 2000, he left England for Gambia but his time there was troublesome. He was attacked by relatives of one of the people that were killed on the beach in 1992.

The Gambian government accused him of plotting a coup and deported him. This time around, the United Kingdom did not take him in. He had no other place to go other than back home, Sierra Leone.
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr Dennis Alagoa, who declared the training open, said that the three-day capacity building exercise was to update the skills of the workforce.

Represented by the Centres Director of Clinical Services Dr Pre-Preye Numbere, the CMD said that the collaboration between the hospital and ONG POBIC-ONLUS, a medical charity group, dated back to 2014 when the two signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

He urged the beneficiaries drawn from various units of the hospital to utilise the training opportunities to update their knowledge to improve service delivery to their patients.

Mr Paolo Novelin, the President of POBIC-ONLUS, who spoke through an interpreter, said the training was a follow up to an earlier one on Basic Life Saving Scheme conducted at the hospital in 2015.

According to Novelin, the organisation has facilitated 17 free open heart surgeries on indigent children below 15 years in Italy.

He added that plans were underway to open a unit with FMC to carry out such surgeries in Nigeria.
He stated this in Abuja during a book launch titled, 'Muhammadu Buhari, the Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria,' written by professor John Paden.

The former president recounted the days Buhari served under him as commissioner.

He said: "President Buhari and I have had many encounters, but most of them in parallel. Not too long ago, we had a direct opposition at the ballot box. But even then, it did not affect our relationship.

"And fortunately, we didnt have to look at each other through the barrels of our guns. I thank God for that.

"On one occasion when President Buhari was a commissioner for petroleum, he went for an OPEC meeting in Saudi Arabia, and each leader of a country was given a special gold coin. President Buhari, then an army officer, came back to show his superior the gold medal which was very expensive, and said: This I was given, if I give you, promise me that you wont give it to somebody else.

"And that came about because one of his colleagues bought me a hand-made shoe, and after I discovered that it was too luxurious, I gave it to my ADC. I believe President Buhari heard about that story, and he wanted to make sure that I didnt give out the gold coin But dont ask me where the coin is today."

The audience at the launch were said to have erupted in laughter at the remark.

In his vote of thanks, Buhari reportedly identified the officer Obasanjo referred to as the late John Garuba."
A three-member panel of the ECOWAS court, led by Justice Friday Nwoke, also described Dasukis arrest and detention as unlawful and arbitrary.

The court gave the ruling on Tuesday, October 4, 2016, adding that the re-arrest of Dasuki after he was granted bail amounts to a mockery of democracy and the rule of law.

It also ordered the Federal Government to pay the sum of N15 million as damages to Dasuki.

Dasuki has been accused of fraud by the Nigerian government and is alleged to have supervised the laundering of $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms for Nigerias fight against Boko Haram.

He was initially arrested by the Department of State Services on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the following day.

Dasuki was subsequently released on bail by an Abuja High Court on December 18, but was rearrested by the DSS after his release from the Kuje Prison in Abujaand has been in custody since then.

President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the arrest of Dasuki and others indicted in the alleged fraud after receiving a report submitted by a panel instituted by him to probe Nigerias arms purchases from 2007-2015.

ALSO READ:undefined

Dasuki's homes in Sokoto and Abuja were raided by agents of the DSS and he was subsequently charged with money laundering and illegal possession of weapons.
This is contained in a statement by the companys Head, Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria [NAN] in Kaduna on Tuesday.

He said that the unveiling of the smart metres would be performed in Sokoto on Monday by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and Gov. Aminu Tambuwal.

Abdullahi said customers to be provided with the free smart meters had been identified in the four franchise states under the company.

According to him, the company had also commenced the distribution of metres to customers who had earlier paid for the facility under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) system.

We are set to provide meters to customers who have since paid for CAPMI meters and also launch the new prepaid smart meters next Monday.

The spokesman said that the development was in compliance with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which ordered winding down of CAPMI by November 1.

We assure all customers that have already paid for the CAPMI meters that arrangement have been concluded between Kaduna Electric and the accredited CAPMI meter providers to provide them with the meters they paid for on or before October 31, 2016.

Our esteemed customers are therefore advised not to make any payment at any Kaduna Electric Office or Cash Centre or any staff for that purpose.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the delay in installing the meters may have caused those who have paid for them.
Toward this, it has constituted a 10-member ad hoc committee headed by Sen. Shehu Sani to conduct the probe, including a public hearing on the issue.

The committee is expected to ascertain how much has been released to the Presidential Initiative on the North-East and how the funds have been utilized from inception to date.

It is also expected to investigate the diversion of grains and other food items from the strategic grains reserves, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other sources for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The Senate also mandated the committee to investigate the insignificant presence of the Ministry of Health in the zone, and charged it to complete the assignment in two weeks.

It stated that no fewer than 4.5 million people in the zone were in dire need of assistance, adding that one million people were in danger of extreme malnutrition.

The lawmakers alleged that the Federal Government had not done enough in providing relief materials to the IDPs camps in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

The move by the red chamber was sequel to a motion by Sen. Baba Garbai and 18 others.Presenting the motion, Garbai said that the presidential initiative on the North-East which was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari about a year ago to manage the crisis was yet to show tangible result.He said that although half of the money had been released, the project was yet to show signs of yielding results.

I am also worried that notwithstanding the huge budgetary allocation by the National Assembly, and the various releases by the Executive as exemplified in the table, including significant donations from many donors, the situation on ground is not cheering.

Rather than use the money appropriated for the IDPs and the North-East to ameliorate the problems, the focus of the disbursement so far may have been used to feather other interests.

All these are replete in the summary of transactions so far released.There are some allegations of diversion of 63 trucks of grains released from the strategic grains reserve allocated to the IDPs in Borno by the Federal Government, he said.

In his contribution, Leader of the Senate, Sen. Ali Ndume, pleaded with his colleagues to take a firm position and demand that the right thing should be done.

He painted a gloomy picture of the humanitarian crisis in the area and queried why the Federal Government had refused to intervene.

I beg you in the name of God, take this motion seriously; time is not on our side.In Borno, the situation is unfair compared to other places. The last time I tried to go to my local government, I could only access the local government headquarters but could not access my town.This Senate is known for standing up for Nigerians when its needed; I beg you to stand up.

The suffering in Borno State is beyond any bodys imagination. Almost one hundred trucks have been diverted and these trucks were for IDPs.

Out of the 133 trucks approved for them, only 53 have been delivered. We need to stand up and do the right thing; the humanitarian crisis in the North-East is bad.

If you go to Maiduguri, you will not see the presence of the Federal Government. You only see foreign donor agencies, he said.

In his remarks, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, compared the situation in the North-East to post-Nigerian Civil War humanitarian crisis in todays South-East.

He said that as a witness to the humanitarian crisis, he would support any move to assist the victims.

I saw the humanitarian crisis in the North-East and I wept. I have been a victim and that was during the Biafran civil war.

ALSO READ: Senate says 2019 polls in danger without RECs

Then, we were told that the Biafran war was the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world.

Today, we are being told that the North-East is witnessing the worst humanitarian crisis. Some people are making fortunes from the misfortunes of other Nigerians, Ekweremadu said.

According to details on the motion, over N1 billion has been released by the Federal Government out of the N10 billion budgeted for resettlement and welfare of IDPs.

The senate alleged that some companies handling the contracts for food supply and some temporary construction work had not lived up to expectation.

The chamber listed 21 companies that were awarded contracts and paid by the Federal Government to supply food items and provide logistics for the resettlement of IDPs.
Nwoko, who is also the attorney- General, revealed this at the opening of 2016/2017 legal year in the state.

He said that the statutory allocation from the Federal Account could not sustain the state, pointing out that tax evaders had rendered the state financially incapacitated.

I hereby call on all tax evaders to urgently retrace their steps and ensure payment of taxes and revenue to Akwa Ibom State.

As a matter of financial responsibility, the government of Akwa Ibom State will treat all tax evaders as saboteurs of government, Nwoko threatened.

He called on the judiciary to ensure speedy determination of suits affecting revenue generation, and appealed that cases of revenue accruing to the state should not be lost on altar of technicalities.

Nwoko said that taxes were sources of revenue that helped government to discharge its responsibilities and appealed to companies doing business in the state to pay their taxes promptly.

I therefore urge all tax payers to toe the path of responsibility and without further delay, pay all taxes and revenue as at when due.

I will particularly pray my colleagues to advise their clients appropriately in the matter of taxation, the commissioner appealed.

He said the state government had formed a Specialised Tax Unit headed by him with the intention to address all legal concerns of the State Internal Revenue Service.

Nwoko used the occasion to appeal to workers in the state, especially the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria to be patient with the state government.

I am equally aware that the Judiciary is affected by the scarcity in resources and that the government is not unmindful of its plights, Nwoko said.

He assured that the state government was working out measures to contain the suffering of the workers and other citizens under the current recession.

In his address, the Chairman of Uyo branch of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Aniekan Akpan, urged the state government to make available all financial entitlement owed the judiciary.

Akpan, who spoke on behalf of Eket and Ikot Ekpene chapters of NBA, had advised the state government to prevent any strike by judiciary staff this legal year.

He said that 116 lawyers working for the state government had yet to take possession of the vehicles earlier approved for them.
This is coming following the fraud that has trailed the North East Humanitarian gestures after over 21 companies have been found guilty of diverting food items and funds meant for the IDPs.

After constituting a 10-member ad hoc committee headed by Sen. Shehu Sani to conduct the probe, including a public hearing on the issue, the lawmakers have agreed to also contribute towards the cause.

The Senate alleged that there was nothing on ground to show that the companies had made supplies to IDPs, hence the need to rise up to the occasion.

ALSO READ: Senate President to investigate food diversions in IDP camps
At a time, the National Assembly members met me in a certain place where they requested that I should buy houses for them in Abuja and luxury jeep cars, but I told them that even if Im bathing in a pool of money, I cannot afford to meet their demands, Abubakar said according to Daily Trust.

Im ready to give them any assistance they may require, but not houses or cars, especially with the present economic predicament, he added.

Abubakar also said that he had tried to make peace with the legislators in question but his attempts had been in vain.

The Bauchi governor has taken steps to regulate the finances of his state and, on Monday, June 1, 2015, ordered the
The judgment was delivered by Tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar on Tuesday, October 4, 2016.

I hereby seize, on behalf of the federal government, the property known as plot 2057, Danladi held.

The prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and all evidence tendered are admitted, he added.

Orubebe had been charged with the offence after being accused by the federal government.

The former minister made headlines in 2015 for his dramatic outburst during the collation of presidential election results.

Orubebe refused to release the microphone he was holding and accused the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega of bias.
In a report by Daily Post, Orubebe insisted that he is not guilty as pronounced by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as the plot of land in question was given to him by the Federal Government while he served as a minister in the Goodluck Jonathan led administration.

Orubebe, who vowed to appeal the CCT judgment, said he didn't own the said plot of land upon his assumption of office as a Minister in 2007.

In his words: As at September 26, 2007, I never had a property named plot 2057 Asokoro District, Abuja. So I could not have declared it upon my assumption of office as a Minister.

On June 29, 2011 when I was temporarily disengaged from the Federal Executive Council when it was dissolved before I was re-appointed, I never also had Plot 2057 Asokoro District. So I could not have declared it as mine because it was no longer my property, Orubebe said.

As an honest Nigerian, other pieces of land that were given to me by the government I served, I declared them. The plot in question which was ordinary empty land in the bush that was given to me by the federal government that I served, bear the offer letter from the FCT Minister," Orubebe narrated.

ALSO READ: CCT finds Orubebe guilty of false declaration of assets

Speaking further he said: I decided to give it out to my landlord, Barr. Ajibola to settle for my two years house rent. This is because, so many people do not know that the annual salary of a Minister, accommodation, transportation and inclusive of everything, per month in 2007, was N1.3m, by 2008, it came down to N990, 000.

It is important to disclose that annual salary of a Minister from that time and even today cannot pay rent for him in befitting places like Maitama, Asokoro, Mabushi or Wuse 2. All Ministers in the FEC were given offer letters. Therefore when I got the offer letter for the land, I saw it as an opportunity to settle my house rent. I never saw the land and the C of O. The same day it was given to me was the same day I parted with it for N10m for two years house rent of N5m each.

I love this country, but I have a pain in my heart. When oil production went down to 700, 000 barrels per day, this was the man, the only Minister that went to the creeks to meet the militants. I slept in the creeks with militants for two weeks, an effort that led to the amnesty programme and subsequent increase of oil production from 700, 000 barrels to 2.6m barrels.
For today, October 4 2016:

THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

Buhari took over Aso Villa like a combatant, says Gowon

Eminent Nigerians including former Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday extolled the virtues of President Muhammadu Buhari whom they described as a dogged fighter for good governance.

Nigeria, India consider visa waiver, exchange of prisoners

Nigeria and India are considering an exchange of prisoners as well as the possibility of diplomatic passport holders of both countries to visit one another without visas.

Scientists close to HIV cure as treated patient shows remarkable progress

Scientists are close to a breakthrough in the search for a Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) cure as a British man suffering from the virus shows remarkable progress after treatment.

THE VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

Nigerias oil, gas reserves running out, NNPC warnsThe NNPC in a statement in Abuja, therefore, begged oil and gas exploration companies, professionals and other stakeholders to focus on increasing the nations oil and gas reserve base to match national aspirations to increase oil production.

PDP supporters protest Edo governorship poll result

Supporters of the Peo- ples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the just concluded Edo State election, Pastor Osagie Ize- Iyamu, yesterday, took to the streets of Benin City, calling for the cancellation of the results announced by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declaring the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, Godwin Obaseki, winner of the September 28, governorship election.

Nigeria ranks 36th in overall governance in Africa  Mo Ibrahim International Governance IndexOLD Britain is in need of a rebirth. A born-again Britain has the potentials to help steer the world away from endless conflicts and strife. I say Britain because the worlds most powerful nation, the United States presents us with a choice of either Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump. While it makes common sense for Americans to vote Clinton who at this weeks first Presidential Debate showed she is intellectually endowed in contrast to noisy Trump, she is not committed to a new world.

THE NATION NEWSPAPER

N23.29b poll bribe: Buhari to determine fate of RECs

All is set for the trial of about 100 Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) officials who allegedly collected over N23.29b bribe to influence the 2015 general election.

Police declare factional cult leaders wanted in Oyo

POLICE in Oyo State have declared wanted two leaders of rival cult groups that unleashed bloody mayhem on the people of Ekotedo, Ibadan during the last Eid-El-Kabir carnival.

Ekiti Assembly member-elect demands swearing-in

EKITI State House of Assembly member-elect Toyin Obayemi (Ado Ekiti 1) has called on Governor Ayo Fayose to prevail on the Speaker, Kola Oluwawole, to obey court order and swear him.

THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER

FG moves to reopen N100bn fraud case against Odili

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has faulted Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court for granting a perpetual injunction to a former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Peter Odili, which has scuttled the ex-governors prosecution.

NJC to convene emergency meeting over new CJNs appointment

With about 38 days to the retirement of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, the National Judicial Council is set to convene an emergency meeting on the appointment of his successor.

EFCC, Ex-gov Sylva disagree on 48 houses
The Corporation, therefore, appealed to oil and gas exploration companies, professionals and other stakeholders to focus on increasing the nations oil and gas reserve base.

The NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr Maikanti Baru, stated this in Abuja when the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) hosted him.

He said the reserve base has to be upped to match national aspirations to increase oil production.

Baru also expressed the readiness of the NNPC to partner with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to grow the nations fast depleting reserves in order to increase productivity in the petroleum sector.

He said: "Our national gas demand forecast to year 2020, domestic plus export, indicates a rapid growth to 15 billion Standard Cubic Feet per day (bscfd), meaning current reserves level can only sustain that production for 35 years, if we do not increase the 2bscfd gas reserves base which requires three trillion cubic feet (tcf) to replace production yearly."

With the country's drive for industrialisation risking truncation, Baru stated that the countrys aspirations are to increase oil production to four million barrels per day and meet the gas demand of 15 billion standard cubic feet per day, bscfd, by 2020, required for industrialisation and consumption.

He lamented that less than three percent of all oil wells drilled in the Niger Delta Basin, both onshore and swamp, are deeper than 15,000 feet.

He added that a greater number of these wells have not gone beyond the 10,000 feet as a high-pressure regime seems to be a limiting factor.

Baru, however, said, "some of our earlier drilled non-commercial holes could be turned around if we deploy requisite technologies; we need to change our perspective of risk as technology is advancing."

He explained that the 2016 national average oil production of 1.9 million barrels was low, partly due to oil infrastructure vandalism.

ALSO READ: Shortage of foreign exchange caused recession  Buhari says

According to him, there is the need for stakeholders to share data and use common available resources to reduce the cost of operations in the area of rig-sharing, vessel sharing and synergy in projects development.

This, he said, has become even expedient in this era of low oil prices and security challenges.
Saraki is standing trial before the tribunal over alleged false assets declaration.

The enforcement of fundamental human rights suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/117/2016, was filed by one Timipa Jenkins Okponipere on behalf of the Senate President.

The lawyer seeks the courts declaration that "the plan to resume the trial of Senator Abubakar Saraki at the CCT is a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)."

He also prays for an order compelling the CCT and AGF to suspend indefinitely, any plan to resume the trial at the CCT.

Okponipere said:

"Having regard to the aims and objectives of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and its functions in sections 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal (CCBT) Act, Senator Saraki ought to have been prosecuted by the respondents long before he returned to public life again in 2015 as an elected Senator.

"Indeed, the CCBT Act never contemplated that an incumbent public office holder was already corrupt before he attained public office, otherwise, people like Senator Saraki, who had a case to answer regarding his activities between 2003 and 2011 would not have been permitted to return to public life.

"However, four years later in 2015 Senator Saraki not only returned to public life as a Senator, he went on to become the President of the Senate, Chairman of the National Assembly and Nigerias number three citizen

"It is nobodys fault that the 1st and 2nd respondents were not vigilant enough to stop or prevent Senator Sarki from attaining public office. If truly the respondents were proactive institutions of government, they ought to have prosecuted Senator Saraki immediately after he left office as Governor of Kwara State in 2011, but they never did.

"The failure, refusal and/or negligence of the respondents to prosecute Senator Saraki for the offences he allegedly committed between 2003 and 2011 before he returned again to public life as a Senator, vitiated all his past alleged misdeeds such that, as of June 8, 2015 when he was inaugurated as a Senator, he was assumed to be a public office holder without blemish in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of the respondents, otherwise they would have long since initiated proceedings against him.

"The subsequent attempt to put Senator Saraki on trial over offences allegedly committed between 2003 and 2011 are not only tainted with political mischief and desperation, they constitute a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing".

ALSO READ: FG to open Saraki's case on October 7

In response to the suit, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), in a notice of preliminary objection, said the suit lacks merit and urged the court to dismiss it.

The AGF noted that the subject matter of the suit does not fall within the provisions of chapter four of the Constitution, which contains the guaranteed fundamental human rights.
3 October 2016  From a decades-long conflict which has seen an ever-growing number of civilians killed to rooting out corruption among government bodies, Afghanistan has been facing a range of challenges with the international communitys assistance  and many of these topics will be discussed at a gathering in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Wednesday, 4 October.





Hosted by Afghanistan and the European Union, the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan will have some 70 countries and 20 international organizations and agencies represented, and provide a platform for the Government of Afghanistan to set out its vision and track record on reform.

For the international community, the two-day gathering is expected to provide an opportunity to signal sustained political and financial support to Afghanistans peace, state-building and development.





Attendees will focus on three areas: joint international and Afghan efforts to increase the effectiveness of sustained international support and funding, on the basis of a new Afghan national development framework; Afghan reform efforts, including on economic reform, rule of law, improved public finance management and anti-corruption, so as to ensure the provision of the most important services and public goods; and, regional efforts to support a political process towards peace and cross-border economic cooperation.





The United Nations has a long history in Afghanistan, with various agencies at work there, some extending back until 1949. Spearheading the world bodys current efforts there is the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (

), which leads and coordinates international civilian efforts in assisting the country. UNAMA also provides political good offices in Afghanistan, works with and supports the government, supports the process of peace and reconciliation, monitors and promotes human rights and the protection of civilians in armed conflict, promotes good governance and encourages regional cooperation.





Tadamichi Yamamoto: I think that as a diplomat, or a person working in an international field, to be able to work for a country in its nation-building is something that is really worthwhile. It is something that is extremely exciting in terms of being able to contribute to something which would be lasting.





And when you look at Afghanistan, it is a country which has suffered conflict throughout 30 years, close to 40 years, and it is a country which used to have a glorious history and also enjoyed a high quality of life in the 1960s and 1970s. So the potential for creating or bringing the country back to something really rich in terms of livelihoods is certainly there, and you can see that the Afghan people are very conscious of their nations integrity. There is a real opportunity for this country to be brought back to becoming a very attractive, prosperous country.

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This was revealed by Afolayan who shared the information in a recent post via his Instagram page.

The movie is to be shown at an event titled "The London Gala premiere of Kunle Afolayan's THE C.E.O", where participation is expected to be large.

ALSO READ: Kunle Afolayan set to premiere movie in Ghana

The CEO movie recently premiered in Lagos on Sunday, July 10, 2016 at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

It was first shown on-board an Air France flight from Lagos to Paris.
The election was originally scheduled to hold on September 10, but it was moved to September 28 due to security concerns.

Fayose made the allegation via a statement released by his media aide, Lere Olayinka on Monday, October 3.

The statement reads in part:

The stage for the manipulation of the election was set by the use of security agencies to postpone the election, even when there was no single security threat and what was witnessed in Edo State last Wednesday was the execution of the rigging plans perfected after the postponement.

The power of the people to choose their governor was completely robbed at gunpoint in Edo State. Unfortunately too, these elements have even murdered the rights of Nigerians to protest against the subversion of their will and it is now obvious that only the insistence of Nigerians can save democracy in the country.

Like I have said before, we are already seeing signs of what to come in 2019 and Nigerians should know by now that it will only take their insistence for their votes to count as long as these APC elements remain in power.

ALSO READ: Fayose visits Aregbesola in Osun
The National Youth Leader of the Party, Mr Bishop Amakiri, disclosed this while addressing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

Amakiri said that the resignation of Nya-etok came as a surprise as the party on Tuesday received the notice of his resignation via the partys social media platform.

He said while the party is surprise about the resignation of Nya-etok at this time, we wish him success in his future endeavours.

The national youth leader of the party added that he had contacted Nya-etok on reason for his resignation and he said it was best known to him.

Amakiri said following the resignation of Nya-etok, the partys Deputy National Chairman,Mr Yerima Shettima, would take over the leadership of the party.

What the partys constitution says is that in case the Chairman of the party resigns, the deputy takes over until a new national convention holds, Amakiri said.

When contacted, Nya-etok confirmed that he actually expressed his intention to resign through an in-house social media platform of the party.

He said his intention to relinquish his position was not based on any internal crisis as there was no any crisis in the party.

He said the reason was to allow younger members to take over from the level he lifted the party to.

He noted that the decision was to allow a younger candidate that should preferably be below 50 to take over because I will turn 53 on Nov 1.

This desire will, however, be subjected to the approval of the NWC family upon which the formal transmission in writing will be done in line with the constitution of the party.

It is at this point that the public will be duly notified.

As the National Chairman of the party, its my responsibility to uphold the processes and procedures of our great party, Nya-etok said.

The YDP begun its registration process in December 2013 and completed the submission of its application in April 2014.
The party made the comment while criticizing Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola for visiting Fayose and praising his achievements.

The Ekiti APC made its remarks via a statement released by Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun.

The statement reads:

Aregbesolas visit to Fayose praising him as omoluabi and for the achievements by APC-led government is not only embarrassing but also awful in the face of sustained attacks on APC members, some of whom are still languishing in jail for about two years over trumped-up charges by Fayose.

It is shocking that Aregbesola as a governor and one of the leading lights in APC in the South-west and indeed the nation would be visiting Ekiti State without putting the leaders into confidence, more so on a visit to a man who once wished the President dead and had done unbelievable things both in Nigeria and abroad to bring Buharis government down.

Worse still, Aregbesola was praising the man who will stop at nothing to bring APC-led federal government down after several years of failed attempts by the progressives to win the presidency of Nigeria.

Aregbesola visited the state over the weekend after being invited by Fayose to attend Ekitis 20th anniversary celebrations.

ALSO READ: Fayose visits Aregbesola in Osun
On Tuesday, October 4, 2016, Oyegun stressed that there is no rift with the ex-Governor of Lagos though he admitted they both have different opinion and perception.

There is no rift with Asiwaju; we have difference of opinion, difference of perception, and I think that is normal, Oyegun said.

In a report by TheCable, Oyegun said though Tinubu had called for his resignation, it won't be happening on the pages of newspapers as there are laid down steps to achieve such requests.

In the words of Oyegun: Yes, I agree that the nature of the statement was a bit harsh. The method of getting rid of a national chairman, if that is what I will call it, are spelt out in the constitution; they dont take place on the pages of newspapers.

On Monday, October 3, 2016, Oyegun and Tinubu exchanged pleasantries and shook hands when they met at the book launch in honour of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Oyegun and Tinubu fell out after the APC governorshipprimary election in Ondo state and both have reportedly avoided each other like a plague.
Pulse, citing a Punch report, had on Monday, October 3, reported that Silva had retrieved his 48 houses seized by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The houses were said to have been seized from the former governor during former president Goodluck Jonathan administration over corruption allegations.

Sylva described the report as strange, speculative and malicious, saying he only has three houses in the federal capital territory.

He said the courts never confirmed his ownership of 48 houses and threatened to take legal action over the report.

In a statement issued by Doifie Buokoribo, his media adviser, Sylva he does not own such a number of houses in Abuja or anywhere in the world.

He said: "We have read a report in a national newspaper, which was reproduced by a few online publications and in the social media, claiming that Chief Timipre Sylva had retrieved 48 of his properties which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission seized during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

"We view this report with disgust, given its unconcealed speculation and vindictiveness regarding such a sensitive matter.

"For the avoidance of doubt, Sylva does not own 48 buildings in Abuja or anywhere in the world. So the issue of reclaiming 48 houses does not arise. He has only three houses in Abuja, which he built before he became the governor of Bayelsa State.

"This point has been made several times before, and neither EFCC nor those who had used EFCC as a tool of persecution against Sylva during the Goodluck Jonathan administration have contradicted this fact.

"EFCC had taken their allegations of property ownership against Sylva to several courts without establishing anything against the former governor during the Jonathan era. Beyond the commissions routine media prosecution, no court of law has found Sylva guilty of any crime.

"Indeed, in the course of the trials at the Federal High Court, Abuja, owners of some of the properties wrongfully attributed to him joined to claim their houses. The court ruled on the matter of the said 48 properties since 2013. Why is it now a subject of media attention? Clearly, this is a sponsored publication.

"Sylva takes great exception to the wholly speculative and vindictive report on the matter. He frowns on the malicious audacity of the publishers of such a story, or their sponsors, despite warnings by the courts against media prosecutions and persecutions like this one, and the attempts by the EFCC to burnish its image that was mindlessly battered during the last administration.

"After failing to prove any crime against Sylva in a democratic court of law for the past four years, this latest media show is another desperate attempt to rubbish him politically.

"To correct the wrong impression that sponsors of the falsehood against him are, obviously, trying to create, Sylva has instructed his lawyers to take legal action against publishers of the fake story."

ALSO READ: PDP says Timipre Sylva is desperate for power

The EFCC had arraigned Sylva before three Federal High Courts in Abuja on 50 charges bordering on corruption.
During a recent visit to Azerbaijan, an Asian country, dominated by Muslims, he pleaded with all humans to renounce religious violence, ChristianToday reports.

Speaking to Muslims, Christians and Jews at a Mosque, the pope said: "From this highly symbolic place, a heartfelt cry rises up once again: no more violence in the name of God! May his most holy name be adored, not profaned or bartered as a commodity through forms of hatred and human opposition.

God cannot be used for personal interests and selfish ends; he cannot be used to justify any form of fundamentalism, imperialism or colonialism."

In previous times, the Catholic leader has been open with his thoughts on killings in the name of religion.

He has also refused to condemn Muslims, despite the numerous killings of Christians by ISIS.

"I don't think it is right to equate Islam with violence.

In almost every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. We have them too.

If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics", he told journalists.
Opposition politicians and government officials gave contrasting tolls of casualties that took place during the annual Irreecha festival in the town of Bishoftu, some 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa, where police fired teargas and shots in the air to disperse protesters.

The manager of the town's government-operated referral hospital said the death toll had risen to 55, with 100 injured, from 52 dead on Sunday. An opposition leader told Reuters the number of dead stood at around 150.

"Shots are still being fired. Everything remains shut - Ambo has been brought to a standstill," said Mesfin, a university student who did not want to give his full name out of fear of reprisal.

Two other residents of the other towns said scuffles took place between demonstrators and police.

The region's assistant police chief told journalists that "widespread disturbances" had taken place in several parts of the region.

"Roads have been blocked, while government offices and vehicles have been burnt down. Police are trying to put an end to all this," said Sorri Dinka, deputy commissioner of the Oromiya Police Commission.

The Horn of Africa country has declared three days of national mourning, with flags flying at half mast throughout the country to pay tribute to the victims.

Sporadic protests have erupted in Oromiya over the last two years, initially triggered by a land row but increasingly turning more broadly against the government. Scores of protesters have been killed in clashes with police since late last year.

The developments highlight tensions in the country where the government has delivered high economic growth rates but faces criticism from opponents and rights groups that it has reduced political freedoms.

The government blames rebel groups and dissidents abroad for stirring up the protests and provoking violence. It dismisses charges that it clamps down on free speech or on its opponents.

Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, said Sunday's death toll had climbed to 150 people and that some of the victims were shot dead by police, contrary to official claims.
Lajos Kosa also told a news conference that Hungary's ruling party was committed to the country's European Union membership.

Speaking at the same news conference, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said: "We have to state clearly that without the approval of Hungarian parliament, Brussels .... cannot settle any migrants in Hungary. And we have to state clearly that we ban the forced resettlement of migrants."

An overwhelming majority of Hungarians rejected the EU quotas at a referendum on Sunday even though turnout was too low to make the vote valid.

But Orban said even though the referendum was not legally binding, it gave him a strong political mandate to challenge Brussels as more than 3 million voters rejected the quotas.

Orban has been one of the most vocal opponents to immigration within the EU. Last year Hungary was the main entry point into the EU's border-free Schengen zone for migrants travelling by land until Orban shut the Croatian and Serbian frontier by puttin up a razor-wire fence.

Hungary is already fighting an EU relocation scheme established during the height of the crisis last year, which set quotas for each EU country to host a share of the migrants for two years. Along with Slovakia, Budapest has launched a court challenge against that plan.

Orban said on Tuesday that the referendum and the planned new law would not be able to prevent the relocation of about 1,300 migrants under last year's EU scheme if Hungary loses that court case.

But he said the new law would prevent any further EU migrant quotas being enforced in Hungary.
The former economy minister who quit President Francois Hollande's government this summer slammed the whole political class for failing to reform a country struggling with endemic unemployment and shaken by deadly attacks.

"When politics is no longer a mission but a profession, politicians become more self-serving than public servants," Macron told a rally of more than a 1,000 people in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

The one-time investment banker, who rose to prominence as an adviser to Hollande and then a minister in his government who advocated in vain for bolder reforms, was addressing the first of three rallies outside Paris.

Although he has yet to say whether he will run for president in next year's elections, the rallies are his platform for unveiling his so-called "diagnosis" for the country.

On the day the Socialist government ordered 21 high-speed trains in a pre-election bid to preserve jobs at a struggling locomotive plant, Macron also criticised the knee-jerk reactions of French politicians.

"The only way governments or would-be governments respond to ills these days is by seeking to lower the temperature... and that tends to mean public spending," he told reporters in a briefing ahead of the rally.

"We can't fix the real problems if we only cauterise and don't treat the roots of evil," he added.

CLEAN POLITICS

Macron's aides said it was too early to announce a full manifesto, but that he wanted to use the results of a door-to-door campaign in which hundreds of volunteers collected voters' grievances this summer to first explain what he thinks is wrong in France.

In Tuesday's first instalment focused on the political system, the 38-year old said he was in favour of introducing more proportional representation in electing France's lawmakers, even if that means letting in more far-right or far-left MPs.

He said he also wanted to speed up France's lawmaking process, make ministers more accountable to parliament, and possibly create a committee filled with randomly chosen citizens who could grill the president regularly.

He also said ministers and lawmakers should only be appointed if they have a clean criminal record, a thinly veiled criticism of the leading conservative candidate in opinion polls, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, who in 2004 was handed a suspended jail sentence for corruption.

That went down well with members of the public. "What I really liked was his talk about probity in politics," 27-year-old insurance employee Adelaide Vassor said after the rally.

"I don't think he'll make it in 2017. The country is too sclerotic, but if we can influence mainstream parties in five or 10 years, that's interesting."

Since Macron resigned last August, government and opposition politicians have branded him a "traitor" and called his policies "populist light".

Hardly known to the public two years ago, he has risen to become one of France's most popular politicians.
In addition to a two-year jail sentence, the unnamed man, 35, will be required to give the 15-year-old victim works including novels by Virginia Woolf, Anne Frank's diary and the poems of Emily Dickinson, as well as two feminist-themed films.

Judge Paola Di Nicola's ruling follows an investigation launched in 2013 into a Rome-based prostitution ring that pimped two girls aged 14 and 15 in the upmarket Parioli suburb of the Italian capital.

The teenagers were lured into the world of sex work with cash which they used to "buy new clothes and the latest mobile phones", reports said, citing investigators.

In the 2014 trial of the sex ring's mastermind, who was ultimately jailed for nine years, a judge said the girls were "children who got carried away with the debauchery, without restraint, so they could easily earn money".

A copy of the latest court ruling was not available on Friday.

"But the decision suggests that the judge favoured a remedy that would help the young girl to understand the real 'damage' that she had suffered was damage to her dignity as a woman," wrote the Corriere della Sera daily.

Adriana Cavarero, whose "Notwithstanding Plato" was among the books that the judge ordered the accused to buy for the girl, told the newspaper it would be better if the judge had read the works to the convicted man.
"Commanders of front line units have counted at least corpses (of jihadists) killed as they tried in vain to attack behind the lines" of the loyalists, said the media office of forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA).

It said in a statement sent to AFP that the bodies of another 25 jihadists were found in alleyways of the battleground coastal city.

The pro-GNA forces, who reported eight soldiers killed and 57 wounded on Sunday, said vehicles, arms and ammunition were seized in the latest round of an assault launched on May 12 and executed in phases to recapture Sirte from IS.

A Dutch journalist covering the clashes in Sirte, Jeroen Oerlemans who worked for the Belgian weekly Knack, was shot dead on Sunday.

Oerlemans became the second journalist killed in the fighting in Sirte after Abdelqader Fsouk, a Libyan who died in July.

On Saturday, GNA aircraft conducted six sorties in preparation for another advance on the jihadists' last hideouts in the city's east.

American aircraft have also carried out 177 air strikes since August 1 in support of GNA forces, according to US Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Carnell Snell Jr. was killed in the latest officer-involved shooting to stoke concerns about racial bias in policing in the United States. His identity was confirmed on Sunday by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office.

The shooting occurred on Saturday afternoon after officers saw a vehicle with paper license plates and suspected it was stolen, police said at a news conference. The vehicle did not follow commands to stop and a chase ensued, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

During the chase, a male passenger got out of the car and fled on foot, police said. Officers followed him to a residence, where he was shot and killed, police said.

No officers were injured. Police said a handgun was recovered at the scene but did not say to whom it belonged.

KTLA television reported Snell had been running away with his hands raised in the air when he was shot, citing witness accounts.

Dozens of people gathered in protest later in the day and into the evening, at times shouting at police, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Protesters also rallied outside the Los Angeles mayor's home, throwing eggs at the residence, reporters said on social media.
The move comes amid growing tension with Western nations registering higher levels of Gambian migrant arrivals, and follows a two-day shutdown of the US embassy in the capital Banjul after police protection was withdrawn without warning in June.

A press release by the embassy said that as of Monday "the United States Embassy in Banjul, The Gambia has discontinued issuing visas to Gambian government officials, others associated with the government, and their families."

It said the decision related to "a number of Gambians in the United States who are under final deportation orders," after "exhausting" all legal channels that would have permitted them to remain.

Some were in detention, the embassy said.

Banjul's failure to provide nationals with passports or other travel documents meant they could not be legally deported, and until these were issued the visa ban would remain, it added.

Under President Yahya Jammeh, who is hoping to win a fifth term in office in December after ruling with an iron fist since 1994, the country has seen large-scale migration from a sclerotic economy that suffers high levels of youth unemployment.

A European parliament delegation ended a tour of the country last week by threatening to recommend sanctions if the rights situation did not improve.

"In relation to migration per capita, Gambia has more people coming to the European Union than any country, not in total, but as a proportion of a population of 1.8 million," said British MEP David Martin said.

"You have more Gambians arriving in Europe than any other nationality. That should send the signal to us that we should be doing more in this country," added the head of the human rights delegation.

Although Europe is the top destination for Gambian migrants, the United States remains an attractive alternative.
It said the cell members reflected an Islamic State effort to integrate female militants for attacks in the kingdom and they were inspired by the brother of one of them who was involved in bombings in Iraq earlier this year.

Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial arm of the domestic intelligence service, seized chemicals and bomb-making materials in one of the suspects' houses, the statement said.

The BCIJ has actively tracked alleged militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-2015.

Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb states - Tunisia and Algeria - have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria's civil war. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts say.

Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Islamic State has taken advantage of widespread chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte.

ALSO READ: Syrian rebels aim to reach IS-held Dabiq in 48 hours

The Moroccan government believes 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militant factions in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, while 286 have been killed in battle.
The eye of the violent and slow-moving Category 4 storm was hovering over the western tip of Haiti, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, pounding coastal villages with strong gusts.

One man died as the storm crashed through his home in the beach town of Port Salut, Haiti's civil protection service said. He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said. One fisherman was killed in heavy seas over the weekend as the storm approached, and another was missing.

Overnight, Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks on the Tiburon Peninsula frantically sought shelter as Matthew closed in, bringing heavy rain and gusts and driving the ocean into seaside towns. Several districts in southern Haiti were flooded, with crops inundated with ocean and rain water.

About 3 feet (1 meter) of rain is forecast to fall over hills that are largely deforested and so more prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince, where heavy rain fell overnight.

More than 9,000 people were huddled in shelters across Haiti, authorities said.

Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were likely in southern and northwestern Haiti, thehurricane center said. It expected Matthew to remain a powerful hurricane through at least Wednesday night.

The outer bands of the storm had already reached the area late on Monday, flooding dozens of houses in Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

CHILDREN, PRISONERS MOVED

"We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter," Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre said.

In the nearby town of Tiburon, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also ran for cover when the sea rose.

"Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult," Mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

People in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, are often reluctant to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

Civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus to a high school in the capital from an orphanage in the shoreside Cite Soleil slum, which is made up of tin shacks and open sewers and is known as Haiti's largest shanty town.

Authorities moved around 1,000 inmates from at least four prisons to safer locations outside the storm's path, officials said.

The hurricane comes at a time when tens of thousands of people are still living in tents in Haiti after a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

Cases of cholera, a deadly disease inadvertently brought to the Caribbean country by U.N. peacekeepers in 2010, had been expected anyway to rise in the October rainy season.

The country is due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Oct. 9. The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

Crawling north at about 9 mph (15 kph), the strongest Caribbean storm since Hurricane Felix in 2009 threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage in Haiti, where it will spend much of the day before hitting Cuba and the Bahamas later on Tuesday.

It could reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, although weaker than at present, thehurricane center said. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

CUBA PREPARES

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the town's largest shelter, a school.

"Since yesterday we've had nothing ... We must sleep on the floor ... Everyone is hungry," said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti's neighbor Cuba. That island's Communist government traditionally puts extensive efforts into saving lives and property in the face of storms, and authorities have spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, which is home to the disputed U.S. Naval base and military prison and also to a small Cuban city. The U.S. Navy ordered the evacuation of 700 spouses and children of service personnel as the storm approached.

Guantanamo's mountainous terrain is the country's second coffee producer after nearby Santiago, and the storm poses a major threat to the current harvest.
Some surveillance experts said this represents the first case to surface of a U.S. Internet company agreeing to an intelligence agency's request by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

It is not known what information intelligence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources, who did not want to be identified.

Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request.

According to two of the former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's decision to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc.

"Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," the company said in a brief statement in response to Reuters questions about the demand. Yahoo declined any further comment.

Through a Facebook spokesman, Stamos declined a request for an interview.

The NSA referred questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment.

The request to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified edict sent to the company's legal team, according to the three people familiar with the matter.

U.S. phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies. But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad demand for real-time Web collection or one that required the creation of a new computer program.

"I've never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a 'selector,'" said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and Internet companies on surveillance issues for 20 years before moving to Stanford University this year. A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information.

"It would be really difficult for a provider to do that," he added.

Experts said it was likely that the NSA or FBI had approached other Internet companies with the same demand, since they evidently did not know what email accounts were being used by the target. The NSA usually makes requests for domestic surveillance through the FBI, so it is hard to know which agency is seeking the information.

Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft Corp, two major U.S. email service providers, separately said on Tuesday that they had not conducted such email searches.

"We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'No way'," a spokesman for Google said in a statement.

A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement, "We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo." The company declined to comment on whether it had received such a request.

CHALLENGING THE NSA

Under laws including the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, intelligence agencies can ask U.S. phone and Internet companies to provide customer data to aid foreign intelligence-gathering efforts for a variety of reasons, including prevention of terrorist attacks.

Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and others have exposed the extent of electronic surveillance and led U.S. authorities to modestly scale back some of the programs, in part to protect privacy rights.

Companies including Yahoo have challenged some classified surveillance before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret tribunal.

Some FISA experts said Yahoo could have tried to fight last year's demand on at least two grounds: the breadth of the directive and the necessity of writing a special program to search all customers' emails in transit.

Apple Inc made a similar argument earlier this year when it refused to create a special program to break into an encrypted iPhone used in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. The FBI dropped the case after it unlocked the phone with the help of a third party, so no precedent was set.

"It is deeply disappointing that Yahoo declined to challenge this sweeping surveillance order, because customers are counting on technology companies to stand up to novel spying demands in court," Patrick Toomey, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Some FISA experts defended Yahoo's decision to comply, saying nothing prohibited the surveillance court from ordering a search for a specific term instead of a specific account. So-called "upstream" bulk collection from phone carriers based on content was found to be legal, they said, and the same logic could apply to Web companies' mail.

As tech companies become better at encrypting data, they are likely to face more such requests from spy agencies.

Former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker said email providers "have the power to encrypt it all, and with that comes added responsibility to do some of the work that had been done by the intelligence agencies."

SECRET SIPHONING PROGRAM

Mayer and other executives ultimately decided to comply with the directive last year rather than fight it, in part because they thought they would lose, said the people familiar with the matter.

Yahoo in 2007 had fought a FISA demand that it conduct searches on specific email accounts without a court-approved warrant. Details of the case remain sealed, but a partially redacted published opinion showed Yahoo's challenge was unsuccessful.

Some Yahoo employees were upset about the decision not to contest the more recent edict and thought the company could have prevailed, the sources said.

They were also upset that Mayer and Yahoo General Counsel Ron Bell did not involve the company's security team in the process, instead asking Yahoo's email engineers to write a program to siphon off messages containing the character string the spies sought and store them for remote retrieval, according to the sources.

The sources said the program was discovered by Yahoo's security team in May 2015, within weeks of its installation. The security team initially thought hackers had broken in.

When Stamos found out that Mayer had authorized the program, he resigned as chief information security officer and told his subordinates that he had been left out of a decision that hurt users' security, the sources said. Due to a programming flaw, he told them hackers could have accessed the stored emails.

Stamos's announcement in June 2015 that he had joined Facebook did not mention any problems with Yahoo.
Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg
A local committee that fought against cuts to the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund will hold a meeting at 1 p.m. Friday at the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 25, 4600 46th Ave., Rock Island.

The Quad-City Committee to Protect Pensions, supported by the Teamsters Local 371, invites union members involved in a multi-pension plan to attend. It is open to active members and retirees of all union trades as well as spouses.

The meeting will include updates on the Central States Pension Fund as well as a discussion on a new pension reform bill proposed by U.S. Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, said organizer John Guerdet, a Local 371 trustee.

Organizers also have invited area congressional leaders and political candidates.

 Times staff
A birthday open house will be held at Palmer Hills Retirement Village 2617 Maplecrest, Bettendorf, Iowa on Sunday, October 16, 2016 from 2p-4p to celebrate

the 90th birthday for Mary Ann Fellman.

Mary Ann Klehn was born on October 14, 1926 and married Paul Fellman on January 9, 1946. She worked for various businesses in the Quad Cities during her career.

Her children are Bill (Carole) in Houston, Tx,

Larry (Jean) in Rock Island, Ill, Linda in Bettendorf, Ia and Dan (Nancy) in Walcott, Ia. She has 9 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.

No gifts please; just the pleasure of your company will be appreciated.
Veterans for Peace and Progressive Action for the Common Good will observe the 15th year of the start of the War in Afghanistan with a memorial ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday at the Federal Court House, 131 E. 4th St., Davenport.

The event will include reading the names of Americans and Afghans killed in battle. Veterans will share their experiences of the Middle East wars and discuss what it was like "behind the scenes."

For more information, contact Ed Flaherty, Veterans for Peace, 319-621-6766 or Bob Babcock, Progressive Action for the Common Good, 630-417-0042.
Davenport police investigated reports of criminal damage to several vehicles early Sunday on the southwest side of the city.

Officers responded about 6:28 a.m. to the 300 and 400 blocks of South Hancock Avenue, and found eight vehicles in the area with broken windows, Capt. Brent Biggs said in an email.

It was unknown Monday whether any items of value were missing.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to "DO WHAT'S RIGHT" and call the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-6125 or submit an anonymous tip via the departments mobile app: "CityConnect Davenport, IA."

 Jack Cullen
UPDATED: Micah Bates has been charged with burglary 2nd degree, criminal mischief 2nd degree, eluding, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, and driving under suspension. These charges stem from the incident on Monday, according to a news release from the Davenport Police Department.

He also is being charged with intimidation with a dangerous weapon from an incident which occurred on July 9, 2016 in the 800 block of E. River Drive at the Riverside Liquor Store.

On Monday Bates was initially transported to Genesis Medical Center for treatment due to a self-inflicted stab wound. He has been released and is being held in the Scott County Jail.

EARLIER REPORT: Davenport police arrested a 28-year-old man Monday following a pursuit on the citys east side.

Micah Bates was wanted by the Iowa Department of Corrections for escaping the state prison in Oakdale, according to police.

About 6:28 p.m., officers responded to the 900 block of Sylvan Avenue in reference to reports of a man with a gun. A 911 caller said the suspect fled the scene in a red Ford Ranger, according to a news release from the Davenport Police Department.

Officers located Bates and the suspect vehicle in the 1000 block of Tremont Avenue, where police attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Bates failed to stop and led police on a brief pursuit.

Police vehicles surrounded Bates in front of a home at 227 E. Central Park Ave., where he then fled the vehicle on foot. Police eventually apprehended Bates in the 2500 block of Brady Street.

Several neighbors watched the action unfold from their yards.

Dana LisenBee and his daughter, Berten Joi LisenBee, who live directly across the street from where police cornered the suspect, praised the responding officers for deploying an appropriate use of force.

"When you see what they have to do to defend us, it's just breathtaking." Dana said.

"It was very professional," Berten Joi added. "I'm very proud of the men in blue."

As police gathered evidence near the corner of East Central Park and Pershing avenues, an ambulance with its emergency lights on drove away from the area. A tow truck later transported the red Ford Ranger from the scene.

Bates also was wanted for 1st-degree theft, habitual offender (property) and witness tampering, according to the release.

The incident remains under investigation, and additional charges are pending.
A team of student researchers at St. Ambrose University measured the psychological impact of Instagram use on 24 people, ranging in age from 19-63. Here's what they found: That if people don't "like" your posts, it has a damaging effect on self-image, memory and physical health.

Students studying this reaction to social media rejection were led by St. Ambrose assistant professor of psychology Shyam Seetharaman, PhD.

The student members of the team were Bayley Keys, 20, of Plainfield, Illinois, Abigail Landrum, 20, of Bettendorf, Alexandra Brown, 21, of Kewanee, Illinois, and Ann Froeschle, 20, Davenport.

Instagram is a free online photo sharing and social network platform that allows users to upload, edit and share photos with other members, and through online sources like Facebook.

The researchers created a private Instagram account that only they could see and that they manipulated. Study participants were asked to submit selfies to it from their cellphones.

Participants were told the St. Ambrose community would rate their photos. In reality, the team randomly assigned them to a "high-like" or "low-like" group. The team also Photoshopped some of the pictures that came in.

The idea for this project came while "spit-balling" ideas during Seetharaman's class on behavioral neuroscience, Keys said.

"Previous research has found a link between social media and anxiety, but there's a lack of experimental evidence," Seetharaman said.

The team solicited participants through email and a Facebook page they designed. A Visa gift card incentive was added. The experiment was held in May, before finals week, and in two weeks during the summer session on campus.

Before the tests began, each participant was measured by a memory test, which Keys designed; health markers like heart rate and blood pressure readings; and an anxiety test, done by measuring the cortisol level in saliva.

Research assistants did the tests. They were trained by Seetharaman and they practiced the procedures, he said.

The participants were asked to write a few sentences on their experiences, to be analyzed at a later time. The memory, health and stress tests were repeated after the exercise.

The biggest impacts found, Landrum said:

 Negative self-evaluations in the Low-Likes group: People said their pictures weren't good, or that others did not understand them.

 Memory: Low-Likes performed much worse on the memory test than the High-Like group.

 Health: The Low-Like group had significantly higher heart rates and blood pressure numbers, Keys said.

The High-Like group had 38 "likes," while the Low-Like group had just two. Two age groups were involved  college-age students and older educators, and staff members during the summer session.

The research team did tell the participants about the false findings at the end of the experiment. "There were mixed reactions. The High-Likes were a little sad to hear the truth, while the Low-Like group was relieved," Landrum said.

The team's work was presented at two conferences, the Undergraduate Summer Research Institute at St. Ambrose and the River Bend Psychological Association Student Research Conference in Moline. They are hoping to get the work published in an academic journal.

Both students were asked about their thoughts after the project, and Landrum said she didn't realize social media could be so powerful. "I use it every day and it's normal to use it, but after this, I'm not going to post a photo before a test, for example. We shouldn't take social media too seriously."

"It's a validation of how effective social media can be on social and cognitive abilities," Keys said, who noted she first joined Facebook when she was in the seventh grade.
Big mounds of dirt are growing ever-bigger in Davenport's new River Heritage Park, just upstream from the Government Bridge.

This dirt, up to 10,000 cubic yards, is expected to become the "landing" for a pedestrian bridge that River Action Inc., a Davenport-based nonprofit environmental group, hopes to build across East River Drive/U.S. 67.

Dubbed "First Bridge," the walkway would allow pedestrians and bicyclists to safely cross the highway to the park and the Mississippi River bike path on the other side, and it would celebrate Davenport's unique place in history as the site of the first railroad bridge to cross the Mississippi.

The bridge would be a replica of the original span, with its north end resting on the original embankment between 4th and Federal streets.

The dirt is coming from north Davenport where construction crews are excavating for a new bridge over Crow Creek that is part of the extension of 67th Street, also called Veterans Memorial Parkway, said Zach Peterson, landscape architect in the city's public works department.

"It's free dirt," Scott Hock, director of the city's park and recreation department, said with some excitement in his voice. Obtaining it from the construction site will save the city $250,000 to $300,000, the amount originally estimated for building the bridge landing site, he said.

When the landing will be needed isn't known, however, because River Action still is raising money to build the bridge, Peterson said.

The design and construction cost of the bridge is estimated at $2,736,632, all to be raised through grants and private donations. The project has the city's blessing, but it is not a city project, other than providing the "landing."

So far, River Action has raised more than $130,000, including $50,000 from an online Kickstarter campaign, $30,000 from the Regional Development Authority and $20,000 from the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, Kathy Wine, executive director, said.

Additional grant applications pending, including a $724,680 request from the U.S. Department of Transportation's recreational trails program, Wine said.

But if for some unforeseen reason the "First Bridge" is not built, the landing overlook still fits into city's plans for the seven-acre park. Those plans are designed to tell stories of the city's past, Peterson said, and are an amalgamation of ideas gathered at public meetings.

A walkway on the overlook would spiral from ground level to the top with a series of landings offering views of places and buildings significant to Davenport's history, Peterson said.

Among those are the site of the Black Hawk Treaty signing in 1832, near today's 5th and Farnam streets, which opened 6 million acres to legal settlement. Others include the Clock Tower, Quarters One and Col. Davenport House, all on Arsenal Island. These all were significant in the area's history and played a role in the development of the nation.

The formation will be 25 to 30 feet high to provide clearance for the "First Bridge" across the highway and existing Canadian Pacific railroad track and to make up for the otherwise considerable drop in elevation between the original embankment and the land at Heritage Park, Peterson said.

Although final formation of the dirt won't happen until plans are farther along, the city will grade and seed the dirt in the interim, Hock said.

The park will be developed over a multi-year period as money becomes available. At present, it contains a gazebo donated by the Davenport Rotary, a parking lot and a promenade with 400 feet of railing, lighting and benches.

River Action's idea for "First Bridge" gained momentum in the past few years as redevelopment has pushed east, creating a new gateway to the downtown.

This has included opening of the Halligan Coffee Co. Lofts, the purchase of the 13-acre former W.G. Block property by the Scott County Family Y and the commercial and residential development of the former Gordon Van Tine Co. at 4th and Federal streets. The Y already has built the Davenport Early Learning Center on its property and expects to build a new Y there in five to six years.
Two Muscatine men are vying for the 46th District state Senate seat this fall in one of the most closely watched contests in the state.

Sen. Chris Brase, a Democrat, is running against former Iowa Rep. Mark Lofgren, a Republican. Brase, a first-term incumbent, won the seat four years ago with an especially strong showing in Muscatine County, defeating Republican Shawn Hamerlinck. The district includes much of western Scott County and eastern Muscatine County.

Both Brase and Lofgren say they are practical problem solvers who are most interested in making government work for people. But they come at some of the state's most pressing issues from decidedly different positions.

Brase supports bigger increases in basic state aid to K-12 education than Lofgren, as well as an increase in the state sales tax to pay for improving the state's water quality.

Lofgren, on the other hand, worries that a sales tax increase will hurt the economy.

Lofgren argues that the state's stable budget situation is the state's "greatest economic development tool."

Brase, on the other hand, says that the way to improve the economy is to raise the wages of working people, and he supports an increase in the minimum wage. "The best way (to help the economy) is to get people's wages to where they can buy the products they want," he said.

Lofgren says that a minimum wage hike would hurt businesses and job creation. "I don't want to stifle our economy," he says.

Both men say they have thought about how to deal with how to deal with inequities in K-12 spending. The Davenport School District, in particular, has complained about the state law that prevents it from spending as much per pupil as other districts.

The imbalance comes about because of the state's decades-old school funding formula.

Brase said that it seems prudent to allow school districts to spend more than the state authorizes. (The Davenport district has, unsuccessfully so far, asked for permission to spend some of its tax levy reserves).

Lofgren, like Brase, says there is a need to reform the school formula. But the Republican is less apt to allow district to spend out of their reserves for any great length of time.

"I would be open to maybe let them for a year do something like that," Lofgren says. He says his preference is to shift other education spending to help deal with the problem.

The two also see the state's shift to a privately-managed Medicaid system differently. Lawmakers did not have a chance to vote on the change, which was initiated by Gov. Terry Branstad. However, Senate Democrats have been critical, and Brase says "the whole thing from the very beginning did not make any sense to me."

He says the move has put insurance companies between people and their doctors. "We're experiencing the fallout from it," he says.

Lofgren says he, too, has heard misgivings about the move. And he says the legislature should have been more involved. "I would have slowed it down," he says.

At the same time, he adds, the change has been made. He also believes Democrats are politicizing the issue somewhat.

Lofgren, in interviews and in television advertising, emphasizes his work on the House Appropriations Committee while he was in the legislature. He says that a key guiding light for him is that lawmakers keep a tight hold on spending, especially not using one-time revenues for ongoing expenses.

He says that he understands the challenges of running a business, having done so in the real estate and investment fields.

Brase, whose background is as a firefighter and paramedic, says that a key difference between Republicans and Democrats in the legislature is how they view what is available for programs. And he says that while he wants to keep the state's budget in check his focus is on helping people.

"I truly care about my constituents and what we're doing," he said.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Her message was short, direct and powerful.

In less than a minute, gun violence survivor former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gave gun control supporters their marching orders.

Stopping gun violence takes courage, Giffords, 46, told about 75 people who gathered in Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids Tuesday morning. It was a stop on her 2016 Vocal Majority Tour of 14 states leading up to Election Day. The courage to do whats right. The courage of new ideas.

Gun safety legislation is an idea whose time has come, according to legislators, candidates and representatives of local organizations.

Its time to start flipping how we talk about gun violence, said State Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, D-Cedar Rapids, who is unopposed for re-election.

Its not about us coming for your guns, she said. "Its about coming together as a community to find solutions to keep our kids safe.

Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt that left her with severe brain injury, acknowledged that it wont be easy.

Giffords was elected to Congress from an Arizona congressional district in 2006. In 2011, as she was meeting with constituents, a shooter injured her and 12 others and killed six people. She resigned from Congress in 2012 and has been leading efforts to pass gun control legislation though American for Responsible Solutions, which she co-founded.

Ive seen great courage when my life was on the line, she said. Now is the time to come together, to be responsible, Democrat and Republican, everyone. We must never stop fighting. Fight. Fight. Fight.

Be bold, Giffords said. Be courageous. The nations counting on you.

Her 14-state tour is part of the grassroots effort to push gun control legislation to the forefront of the 2016 election, said Amber Gustafson of Ankeny, president of the Iowa chapter of Moms Demand Action, which has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and other gun sense candidates.

Were making this an issue they can run on and win on, Gustafson said after the rally, and make it politically costly to oppose.
Rap music, lights, and plenty of cellphone cameras got the Student Hunger Drive underway Monday at the River Bend Foodbank, Davenport.

If the high-energy efforts are any indication, local activities to feed the hungry will be unparalleled.

The 31st annual Quad-Cities Student Hunger Drive kicked off as hundreds of students performing skits in a friendly competition that involved 18 local high schools.

Rivermont Collegiate, Bettendorf, won this year's contest with a rap song-and-dance routine. The showing means the school receives 2,000 pounds of food for the hunger drive, donated by Hy-Vee.

Quad-Cities Christian School in Moline was second, and won 1,000 pounds of food, donated by Treiber Construction.

Mary Lujack founded the Hunger Drive in 1986, and enjoyed the high energy and enthusiasm of the high school students. "No adult group could do what these kids do," she said.

Last year, the Student Hunger Drive collected 657,305 pounds of food, which provided an estimated 547,753 meals through the food bank.

Some 20 percent of children in the Quad-Cities go hungry every day, according to Mike Miller, executive director of the food bank. That's one-in-five students, he said, adding that during the Student Hunger Drive, he envisions the students as actually helping some of their own classmates.

There are 46,070 children under age 18 who do not have food security in the 22-county area served by the food bank, Miller said. They live in all areas of the region.

And while the Hunger Drive is a fantastic effort, Miller reminds that people in the Quad-Cities also go hungry at other times of the year.

The number of children affected helps to fuel the passion of Keshav Wagle, a Student Ambassador for the Hunger Drive from Pleasant Valley High School. "I still see hunger a lot, and, 20 percent? That's a lot of hungry people," he said. "It's kids my age. That's why I do this."

The energy and enthusiasm of the students helps infuse the adults in this area, said Beth Hancock, a volunteer at the kickoff who is also on the organization's board of directors.

River Bend Foodbank, which began serving the areas hungry in 1982, distributes more than 7.3 million meals annually to more than 300 charitable feeding programs.

The Student Hunger Drive wraps up Nov. 10.
Hey, the mail carrier is here. Its always exciting when the mail arrives even though the mail now may be email. My batch of mail can be a merry mix; allow me to share a sampling of the last week or so, from distances far apart  Morrison, Illinois, and Munich, Germany.

On the food page of the Bettendorf News last week was a recipe column with the headline Tender, flavorful brisket, easier than you think. It was from a columnist named Katie Workman, and her work is always accompanied by her photo. But somebody goofed. Instead of her photo was mine, with her name beneath it. This prompted Reg Shoesmith of Bettendorf to write me:

GOOD GRACIOUS! We all have our own crosses to bear. With that, a note: Kate Workman bears a striking resemblance to our own Wild Bill Wundram. I guess she cant do anything about her looks, but Im sure she makes up for it in other ways. Im pretty sure she is really a good cook! After that picture mixup, should Katie be a matter of prayer for our congregation? (Christ Family Church.)

KIND WORDS ABOUT ISSY: I enjoyed seeing and reading your piece on Issy, (Aug. 23) the steamboat deckhand who happily spent all the 60 years of his life living in a tiny closet-sized room in the engine room. I was captivated by both the story and picture, writes Jerri Crabtree of Silvis.

WE JUST GOT BACK from the same northern trip you took so often, and laughed to find your reminiscing column in the paper on the same day (Sept. 25), writes Carolyn Smick, Bettendorf. It is our yearly trip to Grand Marais. This year our three grown children joined us for a great week. What could be better than dinner at Naniboujou, the Twisted Spool, the Angry Trout and a trip out the Gunflint to eat at Trail Center? The trees were just beginning to show color, so we did miss autumns real show. But what a way to enjoy a week."

I WAS GREATLY saddened to read your column about the demolition of Jumers Castle Lodge, writes Regina D. Puga-Hertzsch from Germany. We moved to the Quad-Cities when I was about 5 years old (early 1970s) and we stayed at Jumers for about a month before finding a house in Bettendorf. At that young age, that castle was home, and I remember the beautiful wood- paneled rooms, the high ceilings, the lush carpets and the fact that every evening I would order a Kiddy Cocktail before dinner. My father recalls that when we finally moved out of the Jumer Castle, I couldnt understand how we could move out of a home with a swimming pool, yummy daily breakfasts, fantastic rooms and an impressive library. Needless to say, I have a thing for castles and now live in Munich, Germany, and get the chance to visit the castles that fascinated Mr. Jumer. I was able to live in one, if just for a short while. Thank you, Mr. Jumer, for letting me be a part of your house, your world. These memories have been etched deep in my heart.

SO MANY MEMORIES: I never had the pleasure of having dinner at Jumers Castle Lodge, but did the scrumptious Sunday buffets many times. Many the fine memories, writes Marian Osborn of Morrison, Illinois. However, after reading your column about Jim Jumer and his goulash, I wonder if you have the recipe. My parents were from Hungary and I grew up on goulash, when living in Chicago. Most goulash dinners now are just ground beef, macaroni and tomato sauce. My mothers goulash had chunks of beef, potatoes and onions. Sometimes she added carrots and garlic. The sauce was thin.
Jon Alexander Editorial Page Editor Editorial Page Editor, Quad-City Times Follow Jon Alexander 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

Bipartisan populist backlash against free-trade probably killed President Barack Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, Rep. Cheri Bustos said Monday.

"I don't think it's going to be voted on, frankly," the two-term Democrat told the Quad-City Times editorial board Monday.

Bustos ducked questions about how she'd vote if the sweeping free-trade package between 12 Pacific Rim counties ever hit the House floor. She'd first have to establish how it would affect Illinois's industry-heavy, 14-county 17th Congressional District, which was hard-hit by Bill Clinton's North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), she said.

Bustos's prediction adds to a growing bipartisan chorus of lawmakers who see no political path forward for Obama's twilight trade policy. The White House has ramped up the pressure on Congress to act on TPP in recent weeks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, responded by saying it would be up to another president to revive TPP. That's not good for pro-free trade groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, since both presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, now oppose TPP.

Clinton's position on the proposed deal has varied throughout the past couple years. Sen. Bernie Sanders' protectionist political movement during the primaries left her presidential campaign with few options if unifying the fractured Democratic Party was of any concern. Free trade, while controversial in far left circles, had been a stalwart in center-right and neoliberal politics for decades until Sanders and Trump. Rank-and-file lawmakers like Bustos now find themselves in the middle of a paradigm shift.

Most independent studies credit free trade deals, including NAFTA, for pumping billions into the U.S. economy. But it's less clear how much of that cash makes its way to the middle and working classes.

Instead, Bustos has focused recently on support for the suddenly controversial among conservatives Export-Import Bank and on bills such as the stalled-in-committee Boosting America's Export Act, intended to target export aid to small and mid-sized manufacturers and producers.

Bustos is in the midst of an apparently less-than-competitive race for her seat. Centrist Bustos holds exponential advantages in cash and name recognition over tea party Republican challenger Patrick Harlan, of Galesburg. Her minority positions on the Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure have reinforced her in-district cred, particularly her public spat with Gov. Bruce Rauner over state funding for Amtrak in Moline.

Her name has been repeatedly floated as a potential challenger to Rauner in 2018. When asked Monday about her interest in a gubernatorial bid Monday, Bustos smirked and issued a well-rehearsed statement.

"I'm interested in getting re-elected and serving the people of the 17th Congressional," she said.

She wasn't so coy when asked about the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who's blocked Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, the battle between Senate Republicans and the White House.

"When Chuck Grassley comes in, I'll be curious  I know he has his talking points," she said of the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman's reasoning to block Garland's nomination.

As of Monday, the Grassley campaign has yet to indicate whether the long-time senator intends to meet with the Quad-City Times editorial board prior to November's election.

Grassley's unwillingness to confirm Garland might change come November, Bustos predicted. A Clinton victory  especially if paired with Democratic wins in the Senate  could force Grassley to rush Garland through instead of waiting for what's likely to be a more liberal Clinton nominee.

But, as for Grassley's unwillingness to even consider Garland so far, Bustos didn't mince words.

"I think it's disgraceful," she said.
Jon Alexander Editorial Page Editor Editorial Page Editor, Quad-City Times Follow Jon Alexander 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

Donald Trump's fans are unhappy with the society-wide rejection. And they're becoming increasingly aggressive.

That "liberal rag" isn't worth the paper its printed on, they yell over the phone after reading an editorial. "F U editorial board," they digitally scream in all-caps emails.

Listening, responding, sometimes arguing -- this is my job these days. The anger seems directly correlated with Trump's gaffe rate. The more he screws up, the more anger is directed at the news.

Friday was one of those days. Wednesday's Quad-City Times editorial took it to The Donald. It hammered away on the various half-truths, misstatements and outright lies he threw at the political wall in last week's debate.

One caller, who identified himself as a retired police officer, demanded a correction about the editorial's statement that "stop-and-frisk," a New York City program Trump wants nationalized, is unconstitutional. We argued about the context of the district court case where it was ruled a constitutional violation because it expressly targeted black men. He griped that the city didn't move forward with appeal following the election of leftist Mayor Bill DeBlasio.

And then, as so often happens, things got real after several minutes of bickering.

"You've never been on the beat," he said. "When you're out there, when you're on the street, you get an eye for the bad guys."

In a few short words, the crux of his opinion became clear.

The emails, too, are piling and becoming increasingly in-your-face. One included the aforementioned "F U" to the editorial board and the declaration that, since we beat up on Trump, we're just some liberal shills. This assertion always makes me smirk. I'd venture to guess that those union workers who dislike our general support for Gov. Bruce Rauner disagree. The same can probably be said for anyone who backs county ownership of Hope Creek Care Center. So, too, for some business groups that disagree with our regular support of free market competition and aversion to tax incentive programs.

But "the Times would never go after (Hillary) Clinton," other callers and emails allege.

That's demonstrably false. Two weeks ago, this newspaper ripped Clinton's millennial outreach effort. In fact, incensed campaign staff called and proceeded to dress me down for a good 15 minutes. We've hit her for the email server. We've criticized the Clinton Foundation.

Let's be fair here.

There's no "liberal media." The media is a collection of diverse, competitive organizations and individuals. By my count, Republicans outnumber Democrats on the Quad-City Times editorial board. Last week, the Arizona Republic's endorsement of Clinton marked the first time that paper didn't back a Republican in its 126-year history. Death threats flooded the paper's inboxes. The Republic isn't alone. Editorial board members at the Wall Street Journal, a conservative bulwark, are raising red flags about Trump's authoritarian bent.

Let's not act like Trump is just another GOP candidate or that this is just another election cycle. There's a threatening rage bubbling beneath the Trump movement.

Six in 10 voters have an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Clinton doesn't fare much better. That's the real issue. Clinton, for better or worse, is more of the same. She might not inspire but she doesn't make one imagine mushroom clouds. Trump is a disrupter, and that's risky. The risk is why so many conservative news outlets and politicians have endorsed Clinton. The man has done little to address reasonable questions about his temperament, character and intellectual curiosity.

The fact is, the majority of Americans are either turned off by Trump's divisive rhetoric or unsure about his ability to lead. Perhaps 60 percent of Americans are nothing but "liberal shills."
Patience is running out in the racial struggle. Whites for the most part say that patience is required by African-Americans in their struggle for racial justice. African-Americans do not want to wait another 200 years for racial justice to prevail. They say that whites continue to practice racial injustice despite civil rights laws.

African-Americans have fought against the bastions of discrimination since the era of slavery and have excelled in many career fields despite walls of discrimination built to deter them. African-Americans, as well as other minority groups, have served their country with honor and valor in wars against oppression and deserve first-class citizenship.

Black lives matter protesters include many whites who reject racial injustice as an American disgrace that must end. These protesters are much younger than most supremacists who want a biased society to promote their selfish interests.

Supremacists hold to the notion of inferiority of minority groups and need psychiatric assurance there is a pecking order of acceptability in order to feel whole as a human being. This thinking presupposes their racial superiority and hate of people who are different in color, nationality, religion, sex or sexual-orientation.

For the sake of nation, we must be faithful to the ideal that all men are created equal. Peaceful protesting challenges patriotic Americans to firmly stand for racial justice. Our Christian values teach us that we must love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the only road to peace and tranquility.

Ernest Rodriguez

Davenport
CEDAR RAPIDS  Cleanliness, its said, is next to godliness.

It also can boost voter turnout.

Its not that we went out and got more people to vote, Lori Moellers, auditor in Fayette County, said in trying to explain why the northeast Iowa County recorded the highest voter turnout in Iowa in the 2012 general election at 84.5 percent.

They key was that our records are probably cleaner than other counties, Moellers said. Thats not a knock on other counties, but if your records are clean, it drives up your percentage.

By removing the names of deceased voters and people who have moved out of the county, there are fewer inactive voters who are likely to sit out an election and increases the percentage of active registered voters.

An inactive voter is someone who has not participated in two consecutive general elections and has not responded to mailings confirming they still live at that address or the mail has been returned undeliverable.

Whatever the reason, Fayette Countys turnout is impressive even in Iowa where 2012 turnout 2012 was 70.2 percent, fifth highest in the nation. Iowa was one of two states that increased the percentage of eligible voters and the number of people who cast ballots in 2012, according to Bipartisan Policy Center 2012 Voter Turnout Report.

Despite an increase of 8 million potential voters and an estimated $6 billion in campaign spending, voter turnout nationally dipped from 62.3 percent in 2008 to 57.5 percent in 2012. That was below the 60.4 level of the 2004 election, but higher than the 54.2 percent turnout in the 2000 election.

Iowas consistently high level of voter participation can be traced to a variety of sources, according to Iowa political science professors. They generally agree the keys are high levels political competitiveness because of the nonpartisan approach to drawing congressional and legislative districts, the ease of voting and a high level of political awareness because of hosting the first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses.

Its hard not to be aware, Cary Covington of the University of Iowa said. Awareness does contribute to higher turnout rates.

Iowa has the sixth-highest ease of voting ranking based on allowing voters to register on Election Day, 40 days of early voting and no voter ID law, Covington said.

Dianne Bystrom of Iowa State Universitys Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics noted that Iowa and New Hampshire, which host the nations first presidential primary, routinely rank among the top states in voter turnout.

The attention voters in Iowa and New Hampshire get during the caucus and primary phase as well as the general election campaign increases the likelihood of their citizens to be politically informed and civically engaged in the political process, she said.

The attention heightens Iowa voters political awareness, but Tim Hagle from the University of Iowa said that by working to identify less reliable voters and get them to vote increases turnout.

Some of those who vote early would do so anyway, but many are targeted by the campaigns to do so, Hagle said.

He also thinks the intense campaigns increase voter awareness among no party voters who have lower participation rates than Democrats and Republicans. The parties allow them to participate in the caucuses if they change their registration, even if only for a night.

That swing-state status means we have more candidate and surrogate visits and see more commercials and other campaign advertising than most other states, Hagle said. That helps to keep people engaged from the caucuses until Election Day.

There may be more to Iowans high rate of voter participation than ease of voting and being showered with attention, according to Chris Larimer at the University of Northern Iowa. He cited the classic political science work of the late Daniel Elazar who classified Iowa as moralistic, with individualistic strain.

In states where those traits dominate, Elazar said, government is viewed as a positive mechanism for producing policy and citizens are engaged with the actions of government.

Moralistic states have been shown to have higher participation rates than other states, particularly those with more traditionalistic cultures, such as in the South and Southwest, Larimer said.

For Iowa State's Steffen Schmidt, small-town civic engagement culture is the biggest reason for high voter turnout.

Protestant ethic and Garrison Keillor-like guilt culture coming out of Lutheranism plays a big role in this, he said.
A roundup of state government and Capitol news items for Tuesday:

DIGITAL TV SERIES: Produce Iowa, the state office of media production, announced Tuesday that a new digital television series produced by Fox News host Megyn Kelly and Fifty Shades of Grey movie producer Michael De Luca will be shot in Des Moines starting next week. The series, Embeds, will feature five young reporters who are in way over their heads as they find themselves shaping the future of the country on the rough-and-tumble presidential campaign trail. Big-name politicians are expected to make cameo appearances throughout the series, according to the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. Produce Iowa helped the filmmakers with some of the logistics in Iowa, where the presidential campaigns begin. Scott Conroy, co-author of the best-selling Sarah Palin biography Sarah from Alaska, and Peter Hamby, a former CNN correspondent who is now head of Snapchats news efforts, co-created the show and penned the pilot. Verizon-owned streaming platform, Go90, ordered six half-hour episodes of the political comedy, and all episodes will be produced in Iowa. The projects leaders will begin shooting next week and hope to stream the first episode by Election Day.

FISH KILL: Officials with the state Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday attributed a fish kill in northeast Iowa to waste from a nearby farm field. DNR staff investigated the report of a fish kill on a tributary of the Wapsipinicon River on Sept. 28 about 2.5 miles south of Riceville in Howard County. On Monday, DNR field staff traced high ammonia levels in the creek to a farm field where waste from Big Ox Energy of Riceville was applied to a crop field by Trent Linkenmeyer of Linkenmeyer Family Feeders, according to a DNR news release. Investigators found liquids from the land application flowing into the unnamed tributary. They also found live fish above the land application area and dead fish below. Big Ox Energy processes industrial food and agricultural wastes into methane, with byproducts of liquid fertilizer and solids. DNR officials say they are waiting on laboratory reports from water samples but will continue the investigation and may seek penalties and fish restitution.

AMERICORPS CELEBRATION: Gov. Terry Branstad is expected to sign a proclamation this week designating Friday as AmeriCorps Day in Iowa. Officials with the program promoting national and community service since 1994 say the occasion is special because AmeriCorps is celebrating the swearing in of it 1 millionth member in more than 20 years of operation. AmeriCorps officials say they would like to celebrate the milestone by taking an opportunity to recognize all the work their members have done in Iowa. Along with signing the proclamation, Branstad is encouraging Iowans to recognize the positive impact of AmeriCorps around the state.

 Times Bureau
CEDAR RAPIDS  State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald thinks the president of Wells Fargo Co. should be fired, but doesnt plan to close the Iowas account with the bank that keeps the states checking account, if you will.

Wells Fargo is under fire from federal regulators and Congress after its employees opened more than 2 million accounts that may not have been authorized by customers. The company agreed last month to a $185 million civil settlement for restitution and fines, and has fired more than 5,000 employees. CEO John Stumpf has agreed to give up $41 million in unvested stock awards, but not to step down.

I think its horrendous that the president of Wells Fargo would not take financial responsibility, Fitzgerald said Monday. If he didnt know, he should have. Its outrageous. A responsible board of directors should fire him.

However, Fitzgerald a nine-term Democrat, doesn't plan to suspend dealings with Wells Fargo like his colleagues in California and Illinois have done.

To react on a whim would be irresponsible, said Fitzgerald, who was elected 34 years ago and is Americas longest-serving state treasurer. We signed a contract. It would not be appropriate for us to break the contract.

The decision is Fitzgeralds, and Gov. Terry Branstad has no plans to ask him to reconsider, according to the governors spokesperson.

On an average day, Iowa has more than $3 billion in idle cash that Fitzgerald and his staff invest overnight, for a few days or for years.

Occasionally, weve bought a few securities from them if they had the best deal for our taxpayers, he said.

Fitzgerald is confident the state is getting what it is paying for because his office monitors accounts every day.

Were not like most citizens who dont check their back account every single day, he said. We do the math on every single transaction, so we know were being treated correctly.

Last year, Iowa paid Wells Fargo about $290,000 in banking fees, Fitzgerald said. Banking services contracts are awarded on the basis of competitive bids about every five years.

So just by definition because we picked the lowest bidder, there would be a cost to the state of Iowa if we broke the contract, he said.

The security of the states accounts and Iowans private information, such as Social Security numbers, is another concern.

Theyre handling billions of dollars and high-level information, Fitzgerald said. We go through a pretty sophisticated look-see to see who has best security.
This is going to be chancy, since (A) Im not a Netflix patron, and (B) perhaps, more shockingly, I wasnt a Gilmore Girls watcher. Yeah. I know. Stunner.

Fact is, I hadnt even heard of the 2000-2007 Netflix comedy series until former Journal reporter Emilie Rusch-McConnell, now a retail business reporter with the Denver Post, shared a blog post on her Facebook page, and another former Journal staffer, photographer Kristina Barker, mentioned a link to Rapid City.

Whats happening on Wednesday morning, Oct. 5, from 7 a.m. until noonish, is this: hundreds of coffee shops around the nation will be serving up cups of free joe to 250 lucky patrons (first-come, first-served) as the shops are temporarily rebranded as Lukes Diner, favorite gathering place for Lorelai and her daughter Rory Gilmore and others on the show.

Apparently there is also a fun surprise under the coffee sleeve on each cup as part of the giveaway.

In Rapid City, Alternative Fuel at 515 Main St., in Main Street Square will be your only South Dakota place to taking advantage of the Netflix-sponsored pop-up promotion.

Otherwise, Billings, Cheyenne, two locations in Omaha and Fargo and six in Denver are your next nearest places to join in the temporary Lukes Diner experience.

There will be Lukes Diner signage and employees will be wearing Lukes Diner-themed aprons, t-shirts and such for this promotion for the Nov. 25 release of the 4-episode Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. series revival.
CACTUS FLATS | Eric Leonard, superintendent of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site near Wall, said the most popular question he hears from visitors is some variation of this: We dont have any more of these, right?

By these, the visitors mean nuclear missiles in underground silos. Its natural to assume, after a stroll through some of the sites historical exhibits, that intercontinental ballistic missiles are extinct relics of the Cold War.

Part of Leonards mission is exposing visitors to the knowledge that although there are no more missiles in South Dakota, there are still 450 active missile silos spread among North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska.

Nuclear weapons are still keeping a constant watch on the High Plains, Leonard said.

Last week, a guest speaker who is an expert on nuclear weapons expounded on that point. John LaForge, co-director of a Wisconsin-based group known as Nukewatch, visited the historic site and presented information from his groups newly published and revised edition of the book Nuclear Heartland.

The book was first published in 1988 to expose the exact locations of the 1,000 missile silos that were then in existence throughout the northern Plains, a region selected for its remoteness and proximity to Russia over the North Pole.

As LaForge tells it, Americans were vaguely aware that missile silos dotted the Plains states, but there was no publicly available information about the exact locations of the silos or the launch-control centers. Nukewatch volunteers and staffers set out to find every location, and LaForge and his then-partner Barb Katt were assigned to double-check all the work.

Over the course of 125 days and 30,000 miles, LaForge and Katt visited all 1,000 underground silos and 100 launch-control centers. Their observations and their detailed directions to all of the sites were published in the first edition of Nuclear Heartland.

Last week, LaForge reflected on his earlier travels. He and Katt were able to climb some of the high fences that surrounded the missile sites, which led him and many readers to believe the sites were dangerously vulnerable to accidents and sabotage  especially in comparison to nuclear weapons stored on military bases and aboard submarines.

The maps that we produced in 1988 shocked the public, LaForge said. It was the first time that these silo locations were publicly displayed, and the size of the arsenal was graphically depicted, much to the surprise of the American public. We also illustrated how close some of these silos are to regular homes, school yards, farms and ranches.

The books original publication came at a heady time for peace activists. Within a few years, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, and the Soviet Union collapsed.

To honor the terms of the treaty, the United States began disarming and removing some of its underground missiles. All 150 of the missiles in South Dakota have since been removed, as have all of the missiles in Missouri and some in North Dakota and Wyoming, bringing the number of underground nuclear missiles in the United States down from 1,000 to 450.

The removed warheads were sent to a nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility known as Pantex in Texas, and the removed missiles were sent to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. A launch-control facility and a missile silo near Wall were preserved, and they are now star attractions of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, which also features a newly built visitor center on a lonely expanse of grasslands off Interstate 90 at Exit 131.

In the years since the publication of the first edition of Nuclear Heartland, according to LaForges introduction to the revised edition, there has been a rather long lull in popular protest. Lately, though, new international attention to nuclear arms and their health and environmental effects has re-energized the abolition movement.

The revised edition of Nuclear Heartland was easier to compile, because the remaining fenced and concrete-lidded missile sites are plainly visible in satellite images on the Google Earth website. The new book includes maps and directions to the 450 active missile sites, plus a new section about the 1990s draw down of U.S. missiles and other fresh material.

LaForge, one of the revised editions editors, hopes to motivate readers to lobby Congress and the president for the removal of all the missiles.

Maybe we dont need these systems anymore, he said, explaining the thoughts he hopes the book will inspire. Maybe theyre more dangerous than they are helpful.

Similar statements are emerging from a growing chorus of critics, LaForge said, who recognize that land-based nuclear missiles are vulnerable to natural disasters, hackers and terrorists. Meanwhile, confidence in the militarys ability to responsibly manage the missiles has been eroded in recent years by revelations of widespread cheating by missileers on proficiency tests and other issues of lax security at the sites.

In August, retired Gen. James Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, co-wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times advocating for a phase-out of land-based missiles and said it would save the nation $100 billion over the next three decades. Nuclear Heartland notes that even if the 450 land-based missiles were eliminated, the U.S. would still have hundreds of other nuclear warheads on submarines, bomber planes and in storage.

Opinions about nuclear weapons abound among visitors to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, where the staff keeps an over-sized, bound book full of blank pages on a pedestal and encourages visitors to write their thoughts about the site, the Cold War and nuclear weapons. Nearly four books were filled with comments during this past summer tourism season.

LaForge hopes the visitors keep asking about the current state of the nations underground missile arsenal. Even though the historic sites exhibits and staff attempt to educate visitors about the current state of nuclear armament, LaForge worries that visitors will focus mostly on the past.

One exhibit, for example, says that the United States, its allies, and its enemies went to the brink and back during the Cold War.

LaForge contends in his introduction to the revised version of Nuclear Heartland that the world has not yet fully returned from that brink.

Still, he wrote, 25 years after the end of the Cold War, 450 Minuteman IIIs poison the Great Plains with their thermonuclear warheads and their constant threat of unlimited mass destruction.
Chadron State College Army ROTC cadets Jerrick Bowers and Megan McLean participated in a hands-on international learning experience this summer Nepal and Thailand, through the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) program.

According to 1st Lt. Nathan Reicks, assistant professor, CULP immerses cadets into foreign cultures and allows them to examine different lifestyles in a personal way. Through an application process, which considers grade point average, physical fitness, language ability and other selection criteria, cadets are chosen and sent to different sites all over the globe.

In three weeks, cadets experience three separate focused venues in their host countries including military-to-military exchange, humanitarian service and cultural experience.

McLean, of Brewster, Nebraska, spent her three weeks in Thailand. The first two weeks she spent in the city of Nakhon Nayok and the third week she was in the city of Pattaya.

She helped teach English to students in Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, mastered the Thai martial art of Krabi-Krabong and also visited the ancient city of Ayutthaya to learn more about the history of Thailand.

While the experience was beneficial in numerous ways, McLean admitted there were difficulties.

The language barrier was very difficult to work around. Very few people spoke English outside of our supervisors and those we worked with, McLean said.

Bowers, of Bayard, Nebraska, spent his three weeks in Nepal near the capital of Kathmandu. He spent a lot of time with Nepalese soldiers, cleared rubble from a school affected by an earthquake and visited numerous temples and historic landmarks. He also cited communication as a difficult barrier.

Different signs and gestures meant different things than they do in the U.S. Things like shaking your head no took on a different meaning in Nepal, Bowers said.

When traveling to a foreign country, overcoming communication barriers, requires effort and understanding. CULP exists so cadets can exercise these skills, Reicks said.

McLean practiced her communication skills in Thailand.

I really learned how to approach another culture. Sure, I learned a lot about Thailand, but knowing how to go about that when you go to a different country is just as important. Gestures or conversational norms are very different, so you have to understand that going in, McLean said.

Bowers said the experience was beneficial.

Cultural diversity is huge for us in the military. We are constantly seeking to diversify and CULP is a program that allows for that. It is an extremely effective program and if I could do it again I would, Bowers said.
A Pine Ridge, S.D., male died after the vehicle he was driving crashed during a pursuit from law enforcement Monday night.

Antoine L. Ladeaux, 32, was ejected from the 2001 Mercury Sable he was driving after leading a Nebraska State Patrol trooper on a pursuit that reached speeds of 80 mph on Sheridan County roads and Highway 87.

According to a press release from the Nebraska State Patrol, a trooper observed the Sable run a stop sign while entering Highway 27 from a county road north of Gordon. As the vehicle headed south on the highway, the NSP trooper attempted to make a traffic stop of the vehicle, which did not have a license plate. Instead of stopping, the driver made a left turn and accelerated down a county road headed east.

The NSP trooper pursued the vehicle down several county roads before it re-entered Highway 27, this time going north. Approximately two miles north of Gordon, the Sable and the troopers patrol unit made contact with each other and the Sable left the highway, entered the east ditch and rolled.

Ladeaux died at the scene of the crash. Three passengers in the vehicle  Alicia Munoz, 25, of Rapid City, S.D., Cameron Ladeaux, 30, of Alliance, and Alanna Rosales, 25, of Gordon, were treated and released at the Gordon Memorial Hospital.

The press release says the pursuit lasted approximately five minutes. The investigation into the crash continues; Nebraska law requires a grand jury be convened anytime someone dies while in custody or in the process of apprehension.

This is the third high-speed chase that northern Panhandle law enforcement has been involved in this year. A two-state pursuit in Febraury that began in South Dakota and ended in northern Dawes County resulted in one fatality. Earlier this month, several agencies pursued a vehicle from Chadron to South Dakota after the Chadron Police Department attempted to serve a felony arrest warrant. That pursuit ended without injury or fatality.
Dear Folks,

In the spring of 2015, the Nebraska Unicameral passed a new law which did away with the death penalty in our state. When the governor vetoed that legislation, the senators overrode his veto. As a result, this bill became law in Nebraska.

Our elected legislators are sent to Lincoln to exercise the will of their constituents. Sixteen Republicans, 13 Democrats and one Independent applied their judgment and the judgment of their constituents and voted to abolish the death penalty by a collective vote of 30-19. These votes were cast by strong, thoughtful Nebraskans.

One basic reason to abolish the death penalty is the enormous monetary cost from the endless appeals in capital punishment cases. Life without parole is far less expensive than execution. In the case of lethal injection, drugs are no longer available. Our senators also looked at the large number of innocent people who have been wrongly convicted in the United States and decided they did not wish to risk having people executed who were incorrectly convicted for crimes they did not commit.

It is patently obvious that having the death penalty does not deter violent crime. So, what good is it? In what way does this anachronism make Nebraska a safer place? You should know there have been no executions in this state for 20 years. In two separate surveys of the American Chiefs of Police, those guardians of order ranked the death penalty as the least effective of any crime prevention tool.

For the proponents of the death penalty who quote the injunction of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, I remind you of a separate Biblical quotation that says: Thou Shalt Not Kill. The Good Book calls that a commandment; not a suggestion. A separate quote from Scripture says Do not take vengeance, for revenge is mine, sayeth the Lord. Gandhi pointed out that the philosophy of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth soon leaves the world blind and toothless.

I support the Legislatures adoption of Gandhis outlook. I urge you to vote to RETAIN the new law to demonstrate that the majority is still in charge, not the moneyed, privileged elites. It is not only possible to come to sensible choices without the guidance of ego-ridden politicians, it is clearly preferable. In a democratic society, wisdom and leadership come from the bottom up.

The American writer, Kurt Vonnegut, in a speech in Indiana, offered this thought: When you are strapped to the gurney and about to receive a lethal injection for your crimes against humanity, an official will ask if you have any last words to share. Your last words should be: This will certainly teach me a lesson.

Dave Rama,

Chadron
Tiny, troubled Whiteclay got its own cell tower earlier this month, a development some state officials hope will improve public safety and access to services in the unincorporated village and parts of the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Whiteclay has 12 residents and four liquor stores, which sold the equivalent of 3.5 million cans of beer and malt liquor last year despite alcohol being banned on the nearby South Dakota reservation.

Bringing wireless broadband to the area is a step toward ending its historic isolation, said state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who unveiled the new service during a news conference in Whiteclay on Wednesday.

Pansing Brooks was joined by fellow state Sens. Roy Baker of Lincoln, and Brett Lindstrom and Tanya Cook of Omaha.

Paid for by Viaero Wireless, the new cell tower will give people access to remote health care services, distance learning and help during emergencies, and generally connect them with people in other communities and around the world, said Tim Schram, chairman of the Nebraska Public Service Commission. Its signal will carry more than 15 miles into nearby Pine Ridge, across the state line in South Dakota.

Wireless communication is the way we conduct business, Schram said.

That is why the availability of reliable, high-speed broadband service is so significant to Whiteclay and to our ability to help the people living in that area improve their lives.

Yet lawmakers made it clear they feel more must be done to address the ongoing public health crisis.

Pansing Brooks said the senators who attended Wednesdays event have identified five strategies: adding the wireless service, establishing a more substantial presence in Whiteclay by the Nebraska State Patrol, condemning and removing abandoned buildings, establishing a drug and alcohol detox center there, expanding the areas economic development opportunities.

The suggestions closely mirror those identified in June by a task force formed at the urging of Gov. Pete Ricketts.

So there are many opportunities for us all to work to find common ground together to fix Whiteclay, Pansing Brooks said.

She called the area an isolated outpost of misery and hopelessness.

On her first trip to Whiteclay, last May, she saw mattresses scattered alongside garbage and feces, abandoned buildings occupied by people crippled by alcohol addiction, empty beer cans everywhere I looked, and clothes, including a tiny pair of baby shoes, littering the surrounding fields, Pansing Brooks said.

I have been to Vietnam, Egypt and India, yet I have never seen the depth of poverty, degradation and inhumane treatment of a people as I saw in our beloved Nebraska at Whiteclay.
HOT SPRINGS  Uptown, downtown, all around the townrunners hammered the historic steps and hills of Hot Springs on Saturday, Sept. 24, competing for trophies and enjoying the crisp autumn day. Music filled the air, energizing runners as they passed Centennial Park midway through the race.

The weather was great, said Climb Hot Springs Race Director Curt Lout. Sunshine, blue skies, fall colorsperfect running weather.

The runners would probably agree, for the most part, but Andrea Conover of Sioux Falls found the headwinds daunting as she climbed Minnekahta to the State Home.

I wasnt expecting that big hill, she said. I thought we had made our last climb on the [Chapel Charge] staircase, so that one hit me hard. But it was still lots of fun!

The unique race was organized by Hot Springs Rotary Club as a fundraiser. Visitors were treated to some of the towns best views. Runners chose between a seven-mile race and a three-mile fun run. Both routes gave runners a taste of Hot Springs historic architecture and natural beauty.

First place trophies were awarded to top male and female winners in the seven-mile race and 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies in age group categories.

Lout said the Rotary Club was delighted with the turnout. We had 73 participants from ten statesall across South Dakota, the neighboring states, and as far away as Illinois and Nevadatwo groups came all the way from Arizona.

Rotary members cooked a post-race lunch and a huge array of sweet treats was donated by individuals, churches and community groups. Of course, all those visitors are good for Hot Springs economy. Stephanie Keller, a waitress at The Daily Bread, witnessed that first hand.

It was great to have people from all over the country enjoying Hot Springs, Keller said. Several ate dinner here the night before and then came back for breakfast!

Mason VanEssen of Tracy, Minn., placed second in his age group, but seemed more proud of his achievement in the King of the Rings contest later that afternoon at Evans Plunge, where he also placed second in his age group, in spite of never having seen the rings before that day.

After a few discouraging practice tries before the contest began, VanEssen explained, I just hoped to grab the second ring! I was more surprised than anyone when I made it all the way across in 18 seconds! VanEssens time was respectable when you realize that seasoned ring swinger times ranged from 15 to over 20 seconds in the competition!

The day was probably best summed up by visitors. Rachael Settles from Wheatland, Wyo., told Climb Hot Springs, Dean and I had a great time at the stair climb this weekend! We will be back next year!

Cheryl Brock wrote from Tempe, Ariz., Arizona will be back next year! So much fun!

Karen Springer, Rapid City, thanked Climb Hot Springs, for a beautiful course and all the awesome food at the end!

Hot Springs now boasts three unique stair-climbing events. All promote fitness and attract visitors to our community. But Lout wanted to make sure that everyone knows that none of these great events would happen without the support of business sponsors and volunteers.

In the final analysis, he said, they are the key to the events success.

Full race results, can be found at www.itsyourrace.com, and then searching Climb Hot Springs.
ALEXANDRIA, VA  Ethan Dschaak is among 58 outstanding elementary and middle school principals from across the nation and abroad who have been named as 2016 National Distinguished Principals (NDP) by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP).

Dschaak is principal of Piedmont Valley Elementary in Piedmont. The NDPs will be honored Oct. 7 at an awards banquet at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., as part of a two-day program.

Dschaak has served as an administrator in the Meade District for 12 years and has led

Piedmont Valley Elementary School for the past seven. Dschaak and his staff take great pride in having been named a South Dakota Distinguished School in 2010 and 2011 while maintaining strong test scores, with performance index scores consistently highest in the district in recent years.

His arrival at PVE coincided with a period of unprecedented growth with a doubling of enrollment to almost 600 students. This necessitated the construction of a new, state of the art school in 2011, with Dschaak playing an integral role in infrastructural development.

He has implemented initiatives including scheduling plans to support small learning communities, an increased emphasis on early childhood with full day kindergarten, and the transition from targeted to school-wide title services.

With the goal of integrating technology as a tool for research, reading, and word processing, he successfully led a pilot iPad program for fourth and fifth grades in 2013 and 2014, which expanded in 2015 to include MacBook Pros for all sixth graders in the district.

Dschaak holds a B.A. in Special Education and Physical Education from Black

Hills State University and a Masters in Educational Leadership from South Dakota State University.

Established in 1984, the National Distinguished Principals program recognizes public and private school principals who make superior contributions to their schools and communities. The principals will also have the opportunity to share best practices. The 58 principal honorees are selected by NAESP state affiliates and by committees representing private and overseas schools.

NAESP Executive Director Gail Connelly congratulated the class of outstanding principals, noting their significant influence on the students, schools, and communities they serve. Principals are uniquely positioned to impact the academic, social, and emotional success of all students, she said. These exceptional leaders have proven their commitment to providing a high-quality, well-rounded education in their schools. The National Distinguished Principals program recognizes these well-deserving principals for their extraordinary passion, dedication, and contribution to their schools, their students, and their communities.

It is particularly fitting to acknowledge the work of principals in October because it is National Principals Month, which was established to recognize and honor the contributions of school principals and assistant principals toward the success of the nations students, and encourage awareness of their significance.

NOTE: A list of the 2016 NDPs and their biographical information can be accessed at www.naesp.org/2016-class-national-distinguished-principals.
Several Community Development Block Grants went before the Rapid City Council for consideration on Monday.

Four were approved for the regular grant process and two were approved through the use of contingency money through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funded grants.

The largest grant award at $100,000 went to Youth & Family Services for a project that will correct drainage in the alley adjacent to their buildings. The funds will be used to reshape and regrade the alley to fix the drainage issues affecting foundations of the organization's buildings, according to CDBG papers.

A grant for $44,138 went to Behavior Management Systems to fund 1.125 full-time equivalent employees. The employees will focus on assisting low-income adults with serious, long-term mental illness in their applications for free medication from pharmaceutical companies.

Pennington County Health and Human Services received a $28,514 grant dedicated to providing rent or deposit assistance to individuals or families seeking permanent housing or who are at risk of becoming homeless. The program is for clients who are in an intensive case management relationship with the county and assistance can only be received for up to three months, according to the CDBG documents.

Lutheran Social Service Arise Youth Center received $5,000 in CDBG funds that will be used to provide five additional hours of case management per week for youth and their families.

The investment committee recommended the council approve requests from two organizations to receive CBDG contingency funds. The contingency fund balance stood at $174,313, according to the city documents.

The Cornerstone Rescue Mission requested $38,765 of the fiscal year 2016 CDBG Contingency funds because their project to remodel the basement bathrooms to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements went over the original estimate.

The mission received $85,000 from the 2015 CDBG funds for the project, but additional code issues identified in the course of the work had to be brought into compliance, according to the documents. The total cost of the project was $121,765.

The Canyon Lake Senior Center requested $25,209 of the 2016 CDBG contingency funds because of an urgent need to replace insulation in its building. Condensation buildup is causing mold and mildew growth and compacting the current insulation.
SPEARFISH | A Lawrence County deputy shot a tiger at the Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary after it bit an employee and escaped from its enclosure.

A news release from the sheriff's office says an employee of the sanctuary called 911 just before 11:30 p.m. Monday to report a tiger on the loose.

When deputies arrived, they found one sanctuary employee had been bitten several times by the tiger. The deputies found the employee and put him in a vehicle to remove him from further harm.

Deputies then found the tiger, which had escaped its enclosure through an open gate, according to the release. When it tried to escape, a deputy shot it.

It was not immediately clear which tiger was shot, or if it survived.

The employee who was bitten was transported to Spearfish Regional Hospital for treatment.

Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary is on Tinton Road, southwest of Spearfish in Lawrence County. According to its website, it is a "non-breeding animal" rescue for abandoned and surrendered animals.

It houses 320 animals of 40 different species, including bears; big cats, like African lions, mountain lions and tigers; and wild dogs, like wolf-hybrid dogs and coyotes.

Law enforcement and sanctuary staff members conducted a search to make sure all animals were accounted for and that enclosures were secure.

Officials from the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department, the Spearfish Police Department and Spearfish Ambulance Service also responded.

The incident is under investigation by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office. Calls to the sheriff's office and Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary were not late returned Tuesday.
Donated hay bales are showing up at a South Dakota ranch where numerous wild horses have reportedly died of starvation-related causes.

The horses are at the rural Lantry ranch of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, in north-central South Dakota about 110 miles northeast of Rapid City.

According to a former employee who went public last week, a lack of control over the ranchs ballooning horse population taxed the organizations pastures and finances to a crisis point.

The former employee, Colleen Burns, said 30 or more horses have died since June for lack of grass, hay and veterinary care. Her photographic evidence shows badly emaciated horses, some dead and some dying, and some with overgrown hooves or grotesque injuries or wounds.

Representatives of several other wild-horse organizations are now stepping in to help, including Susan Watt, executive director of the Hot Springs-based Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. Watt said $6,000 in total donations from her and from representatives of Return to Freedom and Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue, both in California, enabled two truckloads of hay to be dropped off at the Lantry ranch by Monday morning.

Given the ranchs estimated population of more than 600 horses, Watt figures the two truckloads amount to only three days of feed. She encouraged anyone wishing to donate money, hay or pasture space for the ailing horses to contact her at 605-745-7494 or iram@gwtc.net.

Lets make a happy ending to this story, Watt said Monday.

Watt said shes willing to accept the donations or put contributors directly in touch with a hay seller. Shes also working to establish a website where people can donate to the cause, she said.

Additionally, the Dewey County Sheriffs Office announced Saturday on its Facebook page that the states attorneys of Dewey and Ziebach counties are working to set up a fund for the feeding and care of the Lantry horses. The sheriffs office said it would share further information about the fund when it becomes available.

Dewey County Sheriff Les Mayer said last week that he has investigated the ranch and turned over his findings to the two states attorneys. One of them, Dewey County States Attorney Steven Aberle, declined Friday to comment on the status of the case. A veterinarian for the state Animal Industry Board has also investigated the alleged neglect of the horses and is advising the state's attorneys, according to State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven, who was interviewed Monday by the Journal.

Burns, the whistle-blower who alerted authorities to the dire situation on the ranch, was fired last week by ISPMB President Karen Sussman after Burns went public with her concerns. Burns was originally given two weeks to vacate a house on the ranch that she said was part of her compensation package; since then, Burns said, she has been told to vacate the home this week. Burns is mulling options for her future and said she hopes others will step in to help the horses once shes no longer able to observe them.

Watt said she hopes to be part of the ongoing solution, helping not only with hay but possibly with veterinary care and with assistance in formulating a long-term management plan to get the ISPMB back on stable footing.

Burns said shes not convinced the ranch can be turned around.

If the organization itself is not completely restructured with basic business management functions like a budget and especially with a focus on herd and ranch management, Burns told the Journal, Im not sure this wont happen again.

Sussman did not respond to a phone message Monday from the Journal.
PIERRE | South Dakota's new board that will hold public school districts accountable for using new sales tax revenues to raise teacher salaries as promised by lawmakers and the governor met Monday to firm up the processes to make sure teachers get the money.

The Legislature created the School Financial Accountability Board and set requirements that school districts must meet to keep receiving additional state aid for teacher salaries.

School districts must show the accountability board and the state Department of Education that theyre spending 85 percent of the extra aid for salaries and benefits for certified instructional staff.

Second, school districts must calculate the percentage by which their local needs increase in the coming fiscal year and 85 percent of that increase must be for salaries and benefits for the average teacher.

The example prepared by the state departments staff is that a district with a 10 percent increase in local financial need would need to spend 8.5 percent more on the average teachers salary and benefits.

The Legislature increased the state sales to 4.5 percent from the previous 4 percent to pay for the teacher salary package and provide additional property-tax relief.

The certified instructional staff who qualify for salary increases under the legislation are elementary school teachers, middle school and junior high teachers, high school teachers, gifted education teachers, kindergarten and junior kindergarten teachers, English language proficiency teachers, Title I teachers and special education teachers.

Not included are pre-kindergarten teachers, long-term substitutes, counselors, administrators, librarians, speech therapists and technology coordinators.

The legislation sets a target average salary of $48,500 for the 2016-2017 school year, plus 29 percent for benefits. The target average salary would increase annually by an index factor to be set by the Legislature.

The average salary had been just above $40,000, among the lowest in the nation.

The sales-tax increase was expected to generate $107 million. The additional revenue is to be split 63 percent for teachers, 34 percent for property-tax relief and 3 percent for salaries for instructional staff at the four public technical institutes.

The state accountability board would review each districts data for 2016 and 2017. Districts that dont meet both requirements could face financial penalties.

In turn, school districts may file appeals and seek waivers from the accountability board.

The accountability boards five members plan to review the appeal and waiver forms at their next meeting Nov. 4.

The board's next step would be to ask the state Board of Education to formally propose and set rules for the appeal and waiver processes.

Tamara Darnall, the state departments finance director, said the latest the state Board of Education should consider the rules would be its May 2017 meeting.

She said that would allow time to get final clearance from the Legislatures rules review committee at its June 2017 meeting.

The information reported by state accountability board and any waivers or appeals are to be forwarded to the Legislatures appropriations committee members for their review and ultimate approval.

Travis Jordan, a department staff member, told the accountability board that school districts submitted their preliminary information in September for the 2016 school year.

He said the 2017 preliminary information would be submitted in August 2017, followed by final data in October 2017. School districts could then seek waivers starting in November 2017.

Jason Dilges, commissioner of finance and management for Gov. Dennis Daugaard and a member of the accountability board, said the new formula that distributes state aid by teacher rather than the per-student method used for the previous 20 years appears to have worked as intended except in one or two instances.

I believe all the districts are trying to meet the accountabilities, Jordan said.

The four other members of the accountability board come from school districts.

They are Tri-Valley superintendent Mike Lodmel from Crooks; Brandon Valley superintendent Jarod Nelson from Brandon; Belle Fourche district business manager Susan Proefrock; and Mobridge-Pollock school board member Eric Stroeder.

The five agreed to have five categories for waivers including one for other extenuating circumstances because they dont know what might happen. Proefrock urged the departments staff to stay in touch with school officials.

I just think thats important you hear from the school districts. There are real situations out there that need to be considered, she said.

Proefrock added that, based on what she has seen and heard so far, districts are working to meet the accountability standards.
The Buffalo Roundup last week was a Custer Cluster. The character of the event has changed over the past decade. Inevitable, of course. Reviews are mixed.

Yes, it is thrilling to watch hundreds of buffs charge over the southwestern ridge and into the valley to the corrals. Thing is, they sort of trailed in, late, and managed to make a credible escape to the south before riders could reach and turn the head of the herd.

This is my third Roundup so I have a little experience. And Ive been around cows for a few years. So it was odd to me that the main buffalo wrangler was riding the pavement visiting with tourists while the volunteer buffalo riders and drivers were milling about with him or elsewhere. Definitely not stationed for trouble. No pickets were out on the eastern ridge as in past years to stop the herd from escaping. It was funny.

It wasnt planned, nor was traffic control. After waiting five hours for a ten-minute event, most people out there were long past ready for things to start. For whatever reason, the buffs were not herded into the limelight until after 10:30 a.m. Remember the herd has already been gathered in holding pastures south of the corrals so its not like riders are sweeping Custer Park looking for animals. Many people were content to snap a few photos, take a little video, head for the cars, and then try to make a run for home.

There were no traffic controllers at key points in the parking areas or along the roads until well after the lots had turned into gridlock. A state trooper or two finally staffed the south lot and unraveled the mess one car at a time. Really. It took a half hour to leave after the police engaged.

I had to wonder what happened to the volunteers and police in the interim. I think the lack of traffic management was unplanned as well. Whats the point of having people line up on the highway at 5 a.m. and not start parking cars until 6:15?

The people at Disney provide training and expertise for people who handle these kinds of events. Maybe its time to bring some of them in to help. I can imagine the first roundups were at least as good as the first one I saw in 2004. You could actually hear the thunder of the herd and feel the thrill in the ground.

Not so today. The 15,000 people there, down in numbers from past years, let out a roar. It was like watching poor television coverage from too far away. Should have stayed home and watched the Facebook videos at noon.

Seriously, though, folks, the Roundup had rough sledding this year. It was over-hyped, said one visitor. It definitely wasnt worth it, said another. Our six-year-old visitor slept through most of it, waking for the finale. Her auntie spent the morning on her two cellphones handling calls. The cell reception was great.

We need to rethink the whole deal. Why are we doing it? What kicked the idea off in the first years? Who can help us anticipate and be ready to respond to various circumstances of large crowd control? Maybe video big screens and surround sound. I know our volunteers and staff doing their best. It could be a great event.

I recommend spending the next Roundup morning in the new air-conditioned theater, listening to Kevin Costner narrate a really great movie filled with thundering herds of buffalo.
PIERRE  South Dakota will use a $215,000 federal grant to collect and analyze data about opioid misuse, abuse and overdose, a state health official said today.

South Dakota has some of the nations lowest rates of drug overdose deaths but we cant be complacent and ignore what were seeing in the rest of the country, said Kim Malsam-Rysdon, secretary of health. Its important that we get a good handle on opioid use in our state and how to combat it now and not wait for the problem to grow.

The funding comes to the South Dakota Department of Health through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Prescription Drug Overdose: Data-Driven Prevention Initiative in response to the growing national problem of opioid drug abuse. South Dakota is one of 13 states funded.

Malsam-Rysdon said she is appointing an advisory committee to review opioid use data for the state and develop strategies for preventing opioid misuse and abuse. Members include:

 Tom Martinec, South Dakota Department of Health, Chair

 Kristen Bunt, South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations

 Sara DeCoteau, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation

 Chris Diedrich, MD, South Dakota State Medical Association

 Margaret Hansen, South Dakota Board of Medical & Osteopathic Examiners

 Amy Hartman, Volunteers of America  Dakotas

 Amy Iversen-Pollreisz, South Dakota Department of Social Services

 Pat Kneip, South Dakota Office of Attorney General

 Rob Loe, South Dakota Pharmacy Association

 Jon Schuchardt, PharmD, Great Plains Indian Health Services

 Kari Shanard-Koenders, South Dakota Board of Pharmacy

 Senator Craig Tieszen, Rapid City

 Senator Jim White, Huron

In 2014 South Dakota had the third lowest rate of drug overdose deaths  7.8 per 100,000 population compared to the national rate of 14.7. The state also had the seventh lowest number of opioid painkiller prescriptions  66.5 per 100 people compared to 82.5 for the nation in 2012.

There is a lot of focus on opioid prescribing in both the public and the private sectors right now, said Malsam-Rysdon. This grant and the advisory committee is a great opportunity to coordinate those activities and have a real impact on opioid abuse.
Supreme Court to review sentence for Russian Army ex-commander on October 11

MOSCOW, October 4 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  The Supreme Court of Russia will consider a motion of prosecutors to review sentence for former Army Commander Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin on October 11, RAPSI learned from the courts press-service on Tuesday.

On June 15, the Moscow Regional Military Court upheld mitigation of sentence for Chirkin and his release.

Prosecutors demanded a 5-year prison term for Chirkin on corruption charges. The court dismissed the motion and raised a prohibition imposed on ex-Russian Army commander to hold public or military office for three years.

On August 14, 2015, the Moscow Garrison Military Court sentenced Chirkin to five years in prison for taking bribes. He was also stripped of the military rank, and state and departmental awards. Later the charges were reclassified to fraud and his sentence was changed to a 90,000 ruble ($1,400) fine. Chirkin returned his military rank as well. In April, the Moscow Regional Military Court upheld a lower courts ruling to expunge conviction of Chirkin.

Prosecutors claimed that Chirkin took a bribe to help Major Vladimir Lopanov of the reserves, who had served with the Moscow Military District, receive a one-room apartment to which he was entitled under law.

After paying the bribe, Lopanov was unable to move into the apartment, which was already occupied by another ex-soldier. Lopanov tried unsuccessfully to get his money back and later complained to a prosecutors office.

Chirkin pleaded not guilty in this case and claimed that the intermediaries deceived Lopanov. They allegedly extorted money from him, using the generals name as a cover.
Famous Russian bloggers sentence for extremism appealed

MOSCOW, October 4 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  Moscows Presnensky District Court has registered an appeal against sentence handed down to famous Russian blogger Anton Nosik in extremism case, the courts spokesperson Anna Pylina told RAPSI on Tuesday.

The court on Monday ordered Nosik to pay a fine of 500,000 rubles (about $8,000) for extremist statements.

As previously reported, a criminal case against Nosik was opened after he had posted an article called To wipe Syria off the map on the Internet. He was charged with incitement of hatred or enmity as well as violation of human dignity.

The blogger has pleaded not guilty insisting that the distributed information was his private opinion.

Nosik is a popular Russian blogger and startup manager. He earlier acted as an editor in various outstanding online news media outlets, a manager of Rambler search engine and blog office of Russian media company SUP which owns LiveJournal social networking service.
ECHR awards compensations to Russian convicts over inadequate medical care

MOSCOW, October 4 (RAPSI)  The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday ruled to grant compensations totaling to 52,000 euros to three applicants from Russia, who had alleged inadequate medical care in detention.

Vladimir Klimov, who was serving a 15-year sentence for murder, was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which, according to Russian law, could have warranted his release. Nevertheless, all his respective requests were rejected by courts on the ground that he was a particular danger to society and received treatment in detention. Klimov died in April of 2015.

Artem Maylenskiy suffering from HIV and tuberculosis was convicted of murder in 2014 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In spite of the fact that a medical panel found him eligible for early release, his application was rejected by courts due to his prior convictions and his failure to reform. Maylenskiy died in a civilian hospital in October of 2015.

In these two cases (in 2014 and 2015 respectively) ECHR applied interim measures indicating to the Russian Government that the applicants should immediately be examined by independent medical experts. In both cases experts found that applicants received inadequate medical care in detention.

Nikolay Piskunov was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2012. After he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he applied for an early release. A local court dismissed his application on the ground that he had been adequately treated in detention. Piskunov had complained to various authorities about the quality of the medical care he received in detention, but to no avail.

In all three cases the applicants relied on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention), whereas Piskunov also alleged violation of his other rights, in particular complaining about the appalling conditions of his detention in breach of Article 3 and about the fact that he had no effe4ctive remedies for his complaints either about his inadequate medical care or the conditions of his detention in breach of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

ECHR held to award the following compensations to the applicants: 20,000 euro to Klimovs sister and Maylenskiys mother each and 12,000 euros to Piskunov.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Construction started Monday on a $60 million, mixed-use project that will remake a key intersection at the juncture of the Ohio City neighborhood and downtown Cleveland.

Two years after the Snavely Group announced its intentions for land and buildings at West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue, a development team led by the Chagrin Falls-based company has purchased the properties and put financing in place. Real estate records show that pieces of the complex deal came together Thursday.

With partners Browns Gibbons Lang & Co. and the Orlean Co., Snavely plans to construct a 194-unit apartment building at the northwest corner of the intersection, on a site that's mostly a parking lot today.

Studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments there will range from 500 to 1,100 square feet. Based on what local landlords are charging today, rents might fall between $1,000 and $2,500 a month. Residents will have access to a rooftop deck with a swimming pool on the Lake Erie side of the building, a fire pit, grilling stations, a lounge, a dog-grooming station and indoor parking.

The Music Settlement, an East Side nonprofit focused on early-childhood education, music education and music therapy, has committed to opening a school on the first floor of the apartment building. The Grocery, a local grocery store expanding to its second location, and other commercial tenants will round out the new construction portion of the project, which is scheduled to open in spring 2018.

On the south side of Detroit, the development team is sprucing up the ground floor and basement of two historic commercial buildings, making way for a co-working space. That shared workplace, called the Beauty Shoppe, could debut in spring 2017. Massimo da Milano, a restaurant that anchors the corner, will stay open.

Ground-floor commercial space at the Forest City Bank Building (left) and the Seymour Block (right) will be revamped, with a co-working space set to go in next door to the existing Massimo da Milano restaurant. A later phase of the project calls for low-income apartments upstairs.

"It took time," Pete Snavely, Jr., of the Snavely Group said of getting from a concept to a closing. "It took longer than anybody wanted it to. But it was a nice display of people working together."

The developers paid roughly $3.5 million for the project site and nearby land.

Those acquisitions included the historic Forest City Bank Building, home to Massimo; the neighboring Seymour Block building; the parking lot and a small, vacant building north of Detroit; a two-story building just south of Massimo; and a parcel on the east side of West 25th, on a hillside that's been talked about as a possible park location.

Public records show that more than 40 documents associated with the project were filed last week, speaking to the complexity of the transaction. The deal required a land swap with the city of Cleveland to make room for both the apartment building and an expanded green space next to it - public space the developer will maintain.

The project involved 25 sources of financing, including bank loans; developer equity; bonds issued by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority; New Markets Tax Credits aimed at boosting investment in low-income areas; participation from a bevy of civic groups; a Cuyahoga County loan; and city assistance including property-tax abatement for new residential construction and tax-increment financing, a structure in which some new property-tax revenues generated by a project are redirected to paying off debt.

"This project has taught me a lot about what you can do in Cleveland," Snavely said. "And some of these more ambitious projects have their challenges just by nature of being in Cleveland. The banking environment is challenging right now. ... There's not a ton of people that can do these big projects. And the big banks are focused on coastal markets because they're not in Cleveland."

The $60 million price tag does not include a second phase of planned development, on the upper floors of the Forest City Bank Building and Seymour Block.

The Snavely-led team aims to turn those floors into 38 low-income apartments, in a project that could get under way next year and open in 2018. The developers have secured state and federal historic-preservation tax credits for the renovations and are pursuing additional, competitive tax credits for low-income rental housing.

Buildings once lined both sides of Detroit Avenue, as shown in this undated historic photo looking west.

Referencing historic pictures that show how buildings once lined both sides of Detroit, Snavely described the project as the "rebirth of a significant intersection" - one that's been partially barren for decades. Other developers are filling gaps to the west and south with new apartment complexes and conversions of historic buildings.

"This is a 50-year change for this corner," Tom McNair, executive director of the Ohio City, Inc., neighborhood nonprofit, said of the Snavely project. "These opportunities don't come around very often.

"I think, sometimes, it's easy to lose the enormity of the size of this project," he added. "Most of the time when people think of these large-scale projects, they think of Flats East Bank and those types of things. But this is almost three square city blocks. I don't think people realize the magnitude of the impact that this is going to have on the neighborhood - in a very positive way."
One man's odyssey through the world of books
This week, the European Union and the Afghan government will co-host the

in Brussels that will convene Afghanistans partners to discuss future foreign assistance commitments. At the 2012 Conference in Tokyo seventy international donors promised to mobilize $16 billion for Afghanistan in total foreign assistance over the subsequent four years, with the United States expected to cover about half of the amount. In Brussels, Afghanistan is hoping for a re-commitment to similar funding levels through 2020.





The donor countries and Afghan policymakers gather at a time when the security situation has deteriorated in the wake of the reduction of Western military forces in Afghanistan, attracting much media attention and concern. Security is certainly vital for success, but economic and social progress alongside good governance is also needed. Afghanistans partners seek determined leadership in Kabul and a consensus based on a process for achieving measurable progress. Afghanistans government and its people in return need partners that understand that progress will require another decade of engagement.




SRINAGAR, India, Oct 4: Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have banned the publication of a local newspaper, saying that its contents could incite violence in the disputed region.

The English daily "Kashmir Reader" did not publish for the second straight day on Tuesday following a government order over the weekend for its owner to halt publication.

In July, the government shut down printing presses and temporarily banned newspapers from publishing for three days in a sweeping information blackout after days of anti-India protests.

Kashmir is witnessing the largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, sparked by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian soldiers. More than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in protest-related violence.
Kathmandu, Nepal: a member of the legislative parliament has warned to raise arms against the state if his communitys demands are not addressed immediately.

Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) lawmaker Yogendra Chaudhari made such a warning of an armed revolt if the demands of Tharu communities are not fulfilled.

If the government did not fulfill the demands of the Tharu community, we will be compelled to raise the arms, Chaudhary said while speaking at the Parliament on Tuesday.

Referring to Tikapur incident, where seven police personnel including SSP were killed, Chaudhary warned the government not to repeat such an incident again by ignoring the demands of the Tharu community.
Dr. KC is hunger strike

Kathmandu, Nepal: The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has appealed to save agitating Dr. Govinda KCs life.

The NHRC, the only constitutional Human Right watchdog of the country, has made the appeal after visiting Dr KC at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) in Maharajganj.

A team of NHRC had reacted at the TUTH to acquired information about his health condition on Tuesday.

The NHRC has also urged the Government of Nepal to resolve his demands through the dialogue. Dr. KC has been staging his ninth hunger strike since September 26 reiterating his old demands that the government had already committed to fulfill.

Expressing its serious concerns over deteriorating health condition of Dr. KC, the NHRC has said in a statement that right to live of any persons should not be violated from elsewhere.

Since persons treatment is related to right to live whatsoever be the way of protest, the Commission would like to draw the attention of the concerned side to be sensitive immediately towards saving his life, reads the statement.
File a A woman hovers a mouse over the Google and European Union logos on April 15, 2015. Photo: Reuters

Alphabets Google has been given until the end of October, the fourth extension, to rebut EU antitrust charges that it uses its dominant Android mobile operating system to block competitors, the European Commission said on Monday.

The Commission in April said the US technology giants demand that mobile phone makers pre-install Google Search and the Google Chrome browser on their smartphones to access other Google apps harms consumers and competition.

The EU watchdog had initially set a July 27 deadline for Google to respond to the charges. This had been extended three times at the companys request, with the previous deadline September 20.

The new deadlines are Oct. 31 for the Android case and October 26 and October 13 for cases relating to online search advertising and shopping.

In the shopping case, Google has been accused of favoring its shopping service over those of rivals in internet search results while the AdSense case centres on the companys measures which block competitors in online search advertising.

In each of these cases, Google asked for additional time to review the documents in the case file. In line with normal practice, the Commission analyzed the reasons for the request and granted an extension allowing Google to fully exercise its rights of defence, Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an email.

The EU antitrust enforcer intends to hit the company with deterrent fines in the Android and shopping cases, according to charge sheets seen by Reuters.

Google can be fined up to $7.4 billion, or 10 percent of its global turnover, for each case if found guilty of breaching EU rules.
JOHANNESBURG: It was a big, and ultimately doomed, proposal from a small country at a UN wildlife conference in South Africa: legalise the international sale of rhino horn because a 1977 ban on its trade has failed to stop the scourge of poaching.

The African kingdom of Swaziland, which has 73 rhinos, said Monday that it could use funds from the sale of its stockpile of 330 kilograms (727 pounds) of rhino horn to pay for wildlife protection. Its presentation included an appeal from delegate Ted Reilly, whose voice broke with emotion as he recalled rangers who have been killed across the continent while protecting rhinos and elephants over the years.

We all know the ban is not working, Reilly said at a committee meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

Delegates, however, rejected the Swazi proposal by a vote of 100 to 26, with 17 abstentions. Conservationists said they expected the decision to be confirmed at a plenary session on Tuesday or Wednesday, the last day of the meeting.

Most delegates disagreed with the Swazi stance that a regulated trade would undermine poachers who have slaughtered rhinos in record numbers to meet demand in parts of Asia, particularly Vietnam. Some consumers believe rhino horn in powder form can cure illnesses, although there is no evidence that the horn, made of the same substance as human fingernails, has any medicinal value.

South Africa, home to most of the worlds rhinos, has been hit particularly hard by poaching. It had considered making a similar proposal at the CITES meeting to sell rhino horn but decided more preparation was required. Nevertheless, it backed the Swazi proposal, as did Namibia and Zimbabwe, which also have significant rhino populations.

The three southern African countries also spoke in support of selling ivory on the basis that their elephant populations are stable, even though poachers across Africa have killed elephants by the tens of thousands in recent years. But delegates at the wildlife conference rejected proposals to allow the sale of ivory. China, the worlds biggest consumer of ivory, has said it will close its domestic market.

Countries opposing the Swazi proposal included Nepal, India, Bhutan and Indonesia, all of which have rhino species. Indonesia said a Swazi sale could have grave effects on its critically endangered Javan and Sumatran rhinos if poachers target them more aggressively.

Swaziland has had success in protecting its rhinos, even as neighboring South Africa struggles to protect its far bigger population of roughly 20,000. The two countries say they struggle for resources to protect their threatened species and sometimes bristle at international suggestions about how to handle their wildlife.

The underlying issue is, who pays for it? said Tom Milliken of the TRAFFIC conservation group.
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Polish archaeologists studied an old plantation in French Guiana

Overseer\'s house, a fragment of the plantation owner\'s property and kitchen building in the 200 years old plantation in French Guiana have been studied by Wrocaw archaeologists. It was the first Polish expedition in the overseas department; it was part of a French project.

"Two hundred years ago hundreds of plantations functioned in French Guiana, which used slave labour. Now the jungle has overgrown all of them. So far, only a few of them have been surveyed" - explained participant of excavations, Dr. Pawe Duma of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Wrocaw, who has just returned from South America.

Poles focused on excavations at the plantation La Caroline in the north-eastern part of French Guiana. It is known that the plantation with an area of approx. 100 hectares operated from the late eighteenth century to the 1870s or 1880s.

"Its fall is associated with the end of slavery. The lack of cheap labour made plantations completely unviable due to their poor performance - the climate of Guyana is very unfavourable" - told PAP Dr. Duma.

The plant grown in La Caroline was achiote, used to obtain a dye. Later there were also attempts to cultivate cotton, but these attempts were unsuccessful. Dr. Duma said that in the 1860s the area of La Caroline was visited by Polish naturalist Konstanty Jelski, who searched for rare species of birds and bats. According to his reports, the plantation was neglected and partly overgrown. It maintained a culture of clove trees.

In the late nineteenth century, Guyana planters tried to replace slaves with prisoners sent from Europe. "Those, however, were quickly decimated by the severe conditions of detention, poor sanitation and tropical diseases" - said Dr. Duma.

During this year archaeological research scientists managed to partially unearth the kitchen building with the remains of the furnace, a fragment of the owner\'s house with the main stairs and the overseer\'s house. Dr. Duma explained that the walls of the buildings mostly had a frame structure. This means that the spaces between the beams were filled with local stone or brick.

The plantation owner\'s house was the central building, surrounded by residential and utility buildings. Among them was a free-standing kitchen, overseer\'s house with a workshop, drying house, stables, buildings for slaves or labourers. Also preserved are artificial terraces reinforced with blocks of stone and the monumental staircase leading to the now inactive canal. From there, the goods were floated to the nearby river, and further to the sea port in Cayenne.

"Its relatively shallow depth meant that only a few ships were able to enter it and most sailed to Martinique. This caused shortages in the supply for planters and meant that local producers found it difficult to export their products" - said the scientist.

Archaeologists were surprised by the fact that among the objects discovered inside the buildings dominated items originating from Europe. Among them were pieces of kaolin pipes imported from France, the Netherlands and the British Isles, fragments of pottery and numerous glass bottles.

"This region abounds in the sites of this type, but so far only a few of them have been surveyed. For many decades, researchers have focused attention mainly on the pre-Columbian sites, predating the arrival of Europeans in America. In recent years, archaeologists in the New World are involved in projects that concern modern times and study phenomena related to the period of colonization "- noted Dr. Duma.

Scientists do not yet know the exact number of old plantations in French Guiana and their layout. On maps of the era only part of them are marked, often inaccurately. Some of them could be located with modern technology in the form of air laser scanning (ALS).

The initiator of the project was the conservator of archaeological sites in French Guiana, Dr. Nicolas Payraud (Direction des affaires culturelles de Guyane). American archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania worked at the same time within the area of the same plantation, conducting research within the quarter inhabited by slaves or labourers. The expedition was financed by the French Republic.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Szymon Zdziebowski

szz/ mrt/

tr. RL
Hanuman director Jimmy Henderson returns with upcoming supernatural thriller The Forest Whispers. And while both pictures share a certain fascination with the fantastic and genre elements the content of this newest effort couldn't be much farther removed from Henderson's previous urban action picture.

An isolated village affected by a curse is facing misery and it has been communed to a fate. The uncompromising commune chief who has ruled the village for years has denied the request of his people to migrate to other lands in search of better luck. He took away their only lifeline: Hope. But one night, the prayers of a spiritual leader are head by a mighty tree in the forest. And the following day, a young mysterious woman appears on a nearby river shore. The villagers cannot decided whether to allow her to stay or not so the chief decides to give her seven day to prove she can be useful to the community. From that day on, a series of strange events began to happen, leaving the villagers to wonder whether if this strange woman is their savior or their executioner.

Cambodia remains very much an emerging film culture in South East Asia, the industry there still a young one finding its feet. But there's a definite hunger for local language content spurring production with talents like Henderson leading the charge. The trailer here is quite promising, take a look below.
If you can believe it, it's been 17 years since The Blair Witch Project opened the floodgates for found footage films (ff), causing a long-running influx in the mockumentary genre - more troubling, in regular films that bend over backwards to incorporate a found footage approach, even if in order to do so it means having camera person characters shooting at the most inappropriate of times. Bad films that wear the ff aesthetic like an ill-fitting cloak, do so to appear unique and fresh when they actually drag down the whole affair as played. But for every ten, there is one inspired effort that shows the cynics that not only is ff still kicking, it isnt even close to being used to its full heady potential.

Nobody is doing this better today than Toronto's Matt Johnson. One reason for this, that seems clear to me, is that Johnson is not a child of The Blair With Project, rather he's far more the product of brutal mockumentaries like Man Bites Dog (1992), an unflinching film that takes for its subject a sadistic killer and follows him on his ultraviolet adventures, implicating his audience in the process. Like the team behind Man Bites Dog, Johnson and his crew at Zapruder Films don't make found footage mocks - even if their new film, Operation Avalanche, features a character digging the film in question out of the ground - he turns them inside out.

The teams first effort was a Web series called, nirvana the band the show, and it featured a hyper-ambitious, albeit misguided, whippersnapper named Matt who loved film and television so much, references poured from him like they were a second language. So crucial was the reference that even the shows own theme song was referential. In essence, off the bat, Matt is a character enchanted by the power of images. Once we get into The Dirties, Matt becomes a more seasoned image zealot who's no longer content to play audience. He now wishes to join the rank of image-makers and possess the manipulative power of the image to show the world who the real bad guys are at his high-school. Finally, in Operation Avalanche, Johnsons aspirations have risen to flirting with the ultimate piece of image propaganda - constructing the moon landing.

This time Matt and Owen (Williams), the same buddy coupling as in The Dirties, play characters so sharply wide-eyed, they land positions in the C.I.A.'s A.V. department in the mid-60s, and unsurprisingly get far more than they bargained for when they set out to create footage so powerful, it could single handedly win the space race and unite the nations pride  the ends justify the means, right? I won't spill any of the wonderfully faithful ways in which the Zapruder team play with the era of 60s conspiracy and distrust, and the methods they apply to achieve what surely must be the best making-of doc around: Slam! Boom! Right to the moon. I will say, I am incredibly awed by the meta-intelligence of Operation Avalanche and the way it demonstrates that a genre is only as good as the films in its roster.

The following video interview with Matt Johnson and the rest of the Zapruder family is somewhat of a special occasion. As it happens, the very first interview I ever conducted was with Matt at a bar after he arrived home from Park City, where The Dirties had not only just won the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance, but was also picked up for distribution by Kevin Smith.



I had just started writing for my friend's blog and Matt was an obvious choice for many reasons (like accessibility). Namely it was because I was huge a fan of nirvana the band the show and The Dirties, which I did a number of odd jobs on, not least of which was to hole up in a room that years ago served as my own high school classroom and listen by the door for shots fired. Once I heard Matt clear the hall in search of his best friend Owen (armed), I came out with a giant fan so to prevent activating the fire alarm of my youth.



That first interview was in January 2013 and I still appreciate Matt taking the time to discuss his vision over beers for way longer than I had yet to realize interviews should last. It's funny that three years later - this past January - I would interview Matt again, only this time he would be World Premiering at Sundance where I'd get to watch my chums at Zapruder field questions at Q&As. But the best part of all was that, for our follow up interview, not only could we include everyone on the team, but we could chat while drinking beers at their chalet, again, for way too long  tradition!



Operation Avalanche is currently playing across North America with more dates to follow. Check your local listings.



Clockwise around the table starting from the left: Curt Lobb - Editor, Josh "Boozy" Boles (hiding) - Co-writer/plays a CIA tough, Andrew Appelle - Camerama, Matt Greyson - First A.D., Matt Johnson - Co-writer/plays "Matt Johnson", Matthew Miller - Producer, Jared Raab - Cameraman, Own Williams - plays "Owen Williams", Tristan Zerafa - Visual Effects Supervisor, Zach Gayne - Interviewer/Interview Editor/Me
The surge from Greek peninsula seemed to lull recently although there have been some titles flying under the radar. Sofia Exarchou's feature debut Park does not belong among them. In the development since 2012, Park as a work-in-progress netted handful of awards at script and co-production markets taking the top honor at Karlovy Vary last year, the Work in Progress Award for Most Promising Project, subsequently generating high expectations. Since then, the prospects climbed even higher.

The titular Park refers to the Olympic village in Athens, once a stage of great spectacle, now a deteriorating ghost-town, a great concrete memento of the countrys triumph and followed by immediate downfall. The dystopic wasteland of the Olympic village, their dire and hopeless state resembling Chernobyl, is now the home to a local gang of frivolous youth who is spending their highly excessive free time wandering and fooling around in the area mindlessly. Even though the Greek crisis vanished out of news headlines being replaced by shots of immigrant masses, the countrys crisis persists.

Exarchou does not explicitly revoke the detail circumstances of her story stemming from whatever political and economic climate may dominate over Greece. Park remains throughout the whole running time a quintessentially generational affair unrestrained by the countrys borders. The filmmakers in European cinema refurbished to the antiqued albeit not forgotten notion of lost generation. The cycle that started during World War I repeats itself as millennials come of age and the label makes sour comeback as a bitter testament to their plight and mindscape.

Notwhistanding being centered on a community, a specific subculture, the director singled out two protagonists personifying their generation, younger Dimitris full of untamed energy saturated by more than just youth rebellion and older Anna, athlete sidelined by injury. Eventually both gravitates toward each other in a short-lived romance propelled by primal urges. Dimitri employs his profusion of unprocessed energy to ascend to the rank of alpha-male driving him to act savagely while slender Anna turns herself into a trophy, willingly objectifying herself, her gymnastic routine turned into a saloon trick to attract gazes of hormone-raging young adult males.

Exarchou vividly and painfully palpable captures the current young generations malaise of aimlessness along bouts of hopelessness. Soon, the stray dogs in the film loose the humiliating caricature contours to metamorphose into a heartbroken emblem of disenfranchised youth robbed of future. Dimitra Vlagopoulou as Anna carries all the weight of her character on her shoulders externalizing Annas story and state of mind solely through her own body in an exceptional performance, however the writer-director Exarchou reveals more from the privacy of Dimitris Kitsos protagonist - problems in work and at home with alcoholic single mother - hinting on his social background.

The lenser Monika Lenczewska cloaks the film into earthly tones rendering the unruly rawness virtually ever-present. Lenczewska orbits the cluster of colliding bodies with the curiosity of an explorer mapping unknown tribes. Exarchou exchanges verbal language for more primordial language of physicality as the common mean of communication - copulating, partying or competition in physical prowess verging on bullying  trials and rituals. Park has probably closest to Clark and Korines oeuvre Kids (although Exarchou follows almost similar trajectory as Papadimitropoulos and Vogel in Wasted Youth, topically not stylistically), being physical in the broader sense yet less sensual, focusing on young generation albeit under different circumstances and with further socio-political context.

Body becomes an important motif, not being fetishized but observed with equally anatomic and philosophic fascination. The configuration of single body or a group of bodies in a space, their mostly anonymous and violent interactions, hierarchy and relation stemming from various forms of contact. Dimitris overcompensates dysfunctional relationship with mother and a loss of job as well as bleak prospects of future in the group power dynamics, awkward relationship, selfish sex and trying to prove to be better person than sojourning tourists, only to encounter the same feeling of alienation again.

The dilapidated Olympic village provides equal parts befitting and meaningful background and framing. Furthermore, Exarchou embeds the plot unmistakably into the domestic setting invoking the stereotype of Greece as touristic destination adding another layer, an insider confronting outsiders stereotypes. Papadimitropoulos already toyed with the concept in Suntan (read the review) through mild caricature-shaping subversion. Exarchou heads the opposite route with Lenczewska capturing beaches enveloped in a post-seasonal gloom in rigid realism turning a soulless second-tier resort into a limbo of desperation and estrangement.

Sofia Exarchous Park deviates from the notion of Greek New Wave perceived through the works of its frontrunners Yorgos Lanthimos or Athina Rachel Tsangari gravitating towards contemporary European arthouse. Despite the films origin, Park is essentially European affair (the film was made in Greek and Polish co-production), a fine example of reverse glocalization, tackling highly actual and profoundly pan-European topic easily transferable even beyond the turf of the Old Continent, speaking through the universal body language encapsulated in bare-bone and raw realism where force becomes currency.

Not entirely the degree of depresso-fare the Eastern European cinema became (in)famous for, Sofia Exarchou consciously eschews the preachy moralization and infuriated finger-pointing in favor of observation mode and borderline social realism. Exarchou elevated the Greek New Wave to the global level while remaining firmly anchored within it.
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We get further confirmation today that traffic on Bay Area freeways has jumped a staggering 70 percent since 2010. A report released by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission brings us the unwelcome truth, along with the revelation that traffic now is as bad as it's ever been since 1981  the year the MTC began keeping track.

This report only reiterates the findings of a national traffic study released in March covering 2015 that put San Francisco third in the country for congestion, behind only LA and DC. And it confirms why morning rush hour heading to the Bay Bridge has only gotten earlier and earlier in the last few years.

The Chronicle picked up the report, and explained that at the heart of the matter is what's called congested delay  when drivers are moving at speeds at or below 35 miles per hour.

You see, that happens quite a bit around these parts.

The congestion data really underscore both the robust job growth weve seen in the South Bay and San Francisco, and the persistent imbalance between where those jobs are located and where comparatively affordable housing can be found, Santa Clara County Supervisor and MTC Chair Dave Cortese said in a press release. Routes leading into or out of Silicon Valley and San Francisco dominate the Top 10 [worst commutes], and they account for almost half of all congestion in the region.

According to MTC data, which covers 2015, when it comes to traffic the single worst stretch of freeway is the afternoon drive on the 101/I-80 from San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island (check the map below for the full list of the top ten worst Bay Area commutes).

We all feel the impacts of traffic congestion in our daily commutes, San Jose Mayor and MTC Commissioner Sam Liccardo explained in a press release. But todays data starkly demonstrates how quickly we need to invest in real solutions that can provide congestion relief  expanding mass transit, improving our roads and highways, and more.

Related: Early Bird Gets The Smog: Traffic Now Worst On Bay Bridge Between 5 And 6 AM
It was August 23 when Evaristo Rocha-Rodriguez was badly beaten in a Mid-Market altercation. Three weeks he was dead, succumbing to his injuries the following month. And about two weeks after that, police said Monday, his alleged assailant was in custody.

The attack went down at 12:55 a.m., near 7th and Market Streets. Police said at the time that Rocha-Rodriguez was hospitalized following a beating from which he never recovered, joining the ranks of San Francisco's homicide victims when he died on September 13 of injuries including "blunt force head trauma."

In a press release sent Monday, the San Francisco Police Department says that they have arrested the man allegedly responsible for Rocha-Rodriguez's death. According to the SFPD, homicide investigators "developed leads which led them to the identification" of 31-year-old San Francisco resident Anthony Jones as the suspect in the crime.

Jones was arrested on September 29 at Market and Jones Streets, police say, a block from the scene of the crime. and was booked into San Francisco County jail for voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, and a probation violation. According to a spokesperson with the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, Jones remains in custody as of Tuesday morning, but SFPD says his booking photo "will not be released due to pending identifications."

Despite the arrest, police say that investigators are still gathering information in the case. They ask that anyone with information on Rocha-Rodriguez's death to call them "anonymously at (415) 575-4444 or text-a-tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the start of the message."

Previously: Death Of Market Street Assault Victim Marks San Francisco's 33rd Homicide For 2016
San Francisco could use a little more room, couldn't it? The progressive supervisor triumvirate of Jane Kim, Aaron Peskin, and David Campos will present a resolution today that could eventually give it some, the Chronicle reports, exploring a controversial plan to annex our city's southern neighbor, Brisbane, to make it a part of SF.

While that municipality (population 4,000) prepares to build a massive commercial development called the Brisbane Baylands, it appears unwilling to concurrently introduce new housing units, angering supervisors like Jane Kim, who claimed last week that Brisbane sought commercial benefits while foregoing its housing responsibilities. Those would instead fall to San Francisco.

SF is happy to build housing on Brisbane Baylands- 684 acres of vacant land. We all need to do our share for working families + environment. https://t.co/X1se1UuLwN  Jane Kim (@JaneKim) September 27, 2016

Baylands is a plot of more than 680 acres next to Highway 101. In August, the Brisbane Planning Commission recommended that no housing be allowed on this site, and Brisbane's Mayor Cliff Lentz is quoted as having said "Theres all this housing on the SF side... Well provide the commercial  SF will provide the housing. Lentz has since clarified that he was voicing not his own opinion but echoing a common sentiment from constituents. Still, a city document on the plan says that #8220;There will be ample housing in the new developments planned across the border in San Francisco for those working in the Baylands who wish to live nearby.

Last week, Lentz called Jane Kim's suggestion that SF could annex his city "ridiculous," adding that "Jane Kim obviously doesnt know anything about Brisbanes planning process. Meanwhile, San Francisco advocates have been encouraging Brisbane to adopt a mixed-use plan instead of a purely commercial one, and Brisbane Community Development Director John Swiecki tells Curbed SF that some housing could be provided for. "It's a six to eight month process," he said. "We could end up with any number of units. It doesn't have to be the Doomsday Option of zero."

In order to make a reality of Brannex, as many people and certainly not just one SFist editor are referring to the idea, "landowners owning 50 percent or more of the assessed value of the land within the territory," would need to approve it. And this might be attractive to landowners who believe a San Francisco address will mean an automatic bump in value. (Brisbane is, in case you didn't know, right on SF's border, south of Visitiacion Valley, north of South San Francisco.)

Last week, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Jim Lazarus suggested one reason why Brisbane might be reluctant to create new housing. Brisbanes concern is political," he said per the Chronicle. "They dont want 4,000 new voting residents. And as San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier, whose district includes Brisbane put it, Its easy to take all the revenue and not take any responsibility for the people.

While Supervisor Peskin calls the idea of "exploring annexing Brisbane... provocative," he doesn't seem to consider the proposition unprovoked. "The statements of the elected officials in Brisbane are provocative, too," says Peskin. "What comes around, goes around.

In the end, this may just be an empty threat to make them build more housing. But we'll see.

Related: Supervisors Stutter-Step Toward Development Density Bonuses With Approval Of Limited Measure
Three San Francisco residents have been arrested following a wide-ranging child pornography investigation, police said Monday, with an additional two suspects busted in Sacramento and Los Angeles.

According to a press release sent by the San Francisco Police Department, 38-year-old Gary Waite and 34-year-old Danica Morais were identified as suspects in an online child porn ring by their Internet Crimes Against Children Unit in March of this year.

Police say that the San Francisco duo had "uploaded and distributed child pornography involving children under the age of ten through several online sites." On June 28, police said Monday, they arrested Waite on the first block of Jones Street, which is between McAllister Street and Golden Gate Avenue in the Tenderloin. The next day they arrested Morais on the 100 block of Topeka Avenue in Silver Terrace.

Both were charged with "311.11(a) PC - possession of child pornography, and 311.1(a) PC - distribution of child pornography," police say.

Following Waite's arrest, they realized that another San Francisco resident was allegedly involved: 36-year-old Lorenzo Brown, who police say "was saving the child pornography that was being sent to him." Brown, who "was in custody at the San Mateo County Jail for unrelated charges" (according to the Chron, burglary), was charged with child porn possession on August 3.

Things don't end there, as Morais' arrest led police to two more suspects. According to the SFPD, "she was distributing child pornography to several individuals who were located in Los Angeles and Sacramento." Those individuals, police allege, were 35-year-old Justyn Tomblyn, whose Wilshire Boulevard residence was searched on August 16 by LA's ICAC Task Force. He was subsequently arrested for child porn possession, police say.

Then, in "mid-September," the Sacramento Valley ICAC Task Force searched the residence of 42-year-old Michael Brown, and arrested the Sacramento County resident for child porn possession, as well.

Though the alleged perpetrators in these distribution rings have been caught, the SFPD says their investigation isn't over yet. If you have any knowledge about the suspects, feel you have been one of their victims, or have had any suspicious contact with them, police urge you to contact SFPD's Special Victims Unit at 415- 558-5500.



Related: A Year And A Half After His Arrest In Child Porn Case, SF Politico Enrique Pearce Remains Free On Bail
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Monarch Migration is Magnificent!

This is the time of year when our monarch butterflies begin their trek to Mexico. They begin to sense that the weather is getting colder and their food source...nectar will soon be gone. Their story is an amazing one because these butterflies have never been to Mexico before and of course they don't have maps or GPS to tell them where to fly! Do you know why they have never been to Mexico?

To bring attention to our migrating monarchs, the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center hosted two different learning events. For the preschoolers, a Nature Tales time was held. The preschoolers listened to a story and then were able to tag and release butterflies! The children learned about the life cycle of the monarch, which is: the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and then butterfly. They learned how to determine if the butterfly was a girl or boy. The boys have a black dot on each of their inside lower wings. The girls have no dots. Theresa Kruid, a naturalist at Dorothy Pecaut, brought butterflies which she netted in her backyard. She said most of them were in her mulberry trees. To celebrate Prairie Heritage Week, seven people joined Theresa Kruid in releasing monarch butterflies at the Sioux City Prairie. Theresa reviewed the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. She also shared that the monarchs are beginning their migration to Mexico. The youngest member of the learning group, Lincoln, was given the privilege of releasing the first butterfly. The butterfly was first tagged. Theresa then gently opened the butterfly's wings and determined that she was a girl. The butterfly was placed in Lincoln's open hand. When encouraged to give her a name, he quickly chose Antenna! Antenna was in no hurry to leave Lincoln's hand. Theresa continued to choose people to release butterflies. Each was tagged before being released! Slowly, Antenna decided to flutter off and right away Lincoln asked if he could release another butterfly. After tagging and releasing all of the butterflies, we grabbed nets and searched for monarch butterflies. None we found. It was a cold and cloudy day, so we decided that the butterflies were resting in the surrounding trees.

Theresa shared with us that over 2,500 monarchs have been released from Dorothy Pecaut since they've begun tagging and 58 have been found in Mexico. Each tag has the phone number for Monarch Watch and also the special ID code for that butterfly. If you ever find a butterfly with a tag, please call that number. A naturalist in eastern Iowa found a butterfly that had been released from Bronson, Iowa. Since she should have been headed south and not east, the naturalist was wondering if the wind currents had sent her to the east.

Magnificent Monarch Magic

My orange coloring is a warning sign. I taste bad or may be toxic to you.

I get my toxins from milkweed.

I roost in trees at night

I fly between 4-12 miles an hour. I can fly fast if I use the wind current.

When I'm a caterpillar and I'm two weeks old, I weigh 3,000 times more than when I was born!

It takes me about a month to go from egg to butterfly.

Mary Siepker, Retired Teacher from Lawton-BronsonRegular Contributor

FYI!!! The other day when Mary was traveling from Onawa to Sioux City, she saw at least 15 monarchs! They were flying high and they were in one single This is very important as this entire year, we are going to be taking a look at the monarch population and find ways that we all can encourage the continued growth and migration schedule of the monarch. During the year, as a class, we encourage you to send in photos, stories, and ideas for publication.
National Newspaper Association Newspaper and Education Contest 2016

The Sioux City Journal and NIE Siouxland have been awarded first place in the Division B Category: Newspapers Supporting Education and Civic Literacy for their commitment and support of literacy in the classroom through the NIE sponsored Kid Scoop News Siouxland monthly tabloid. At the same time, The Sioux City Journal and NIE Siouxland received third place in the Division A Category: Educational Support for their Farm to Table monthly section. According to the Association judges, The Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, Iowa has found the perfect ingredients for success in the operation of the NIE Siouxland project. Students in the Sioux City, IA circulation area are supported at all grade levels through various initiatives, including Kid Scoop News Siouxland. There is a clear sense of community demonstrated through the various elements of the project, all of which combine to truly support students and learning in the community.

NIE Siouxland utilizes Kid Scoop News to promote literacy through a community-shared set of news articles that involve writing, art and projects of local and regional teachers and students. The staff at NIE Siouxland provides hands on learning experiences that generate additional reading materials for the tabloid.

The National Newspaper Association was established in 1885 and is a not-for-profit association that represents Americas community newspapers. Each year, the association holds a Newspaper in Education Contest to honor those newspapers that highlight and support literacy in the classroom. According to their website, strong newspapers and strong educational programs go hand in hand.

Nationally, Kid Scoop News is a syndicated tabloid published by Vicki Whiting and her staff in Sonoma, California whose primary mission is to teach children a love of reading and to improve literacy in the community. Through the joint effort of community and school systems, students are encouraged to know about and become active participants in their local community.

NIE Siouxland and Kid Scoop News Siouxland provide children and adults with the powerful message that their community is committed to the enhancement of literacy in the classroom with the goal of having each child become an informed and involved citizen.

Thank you to all of our special teachers, classrooms, businesses, and parents for continuing to support and encourage literacy by reading and sharing Kid Scoop News Siouxland. A special thank you to Mary Siepker, retired first grade teacher from Lawton-Bronson for her classroom series, Food Detectiveswhich was part of our Farm to Table section each month. We are very lucky in this region to have such wonderful teachers and students who are reading and writing wonders! KUDOS to you!
MARTINSBURG, Neb. | When he was in high school, Charley Mahler witnessed a near tragedy from the back seat of a car full of kids.

He still can see the events unfold in his mind, and it's the thought that a friend could have died because of the careless handling of a gun that led him to say yes when asked more than 40 years ago if he'd teach hunter education classes to area youth.

"I thought what a better way to teach kids," said Mahler, a Martinsburg farmer who began teaching hunter education classes in the early 1970s after Dick Turpin, a local game warden at the time, asked him if he'd be interested.

Mahler's been at it ever since, teaching the four-week classes twice a year through Nebraska Game and Parks.

"It was pretty rough when we started. We had it at the school in Ponca and told the kids to bring the gun they were going to hunt with to school," Mahler said, laughing at the memory of asking kids to bring guns and ammunition to school.

As is the case in most volunteer programs, there's a long list of people involved, and for 25 years, Doug Smith has been there with Mahler, two long-serving members of a team made up of a number of other hunting and shooting enthusiasts who help young people -- and a few adults -- from a four-county area learn how to safely handle guns and hunt responsibly.

"It's the idea of trying to keep children safe and don't let them start with any bad habits," Smith said. "Being in such a small community, we really stress safety. We probably know most of the kids or their parents, and we don't want something to happen."

Mahler doesn't want to see a repeat of the incident that continues to inspire him to teach gun safety.

While in high school, he was riding to school in a car packed full of kids. The driver stopped and pulled out a shotgun to shoot at squirrels. When he shoved the gun back in the car, the hammers were cocked and the gun discharged when he slammed the door.

Mahler said the shot shredded the car's seat and the shirt of one of the boys, whose arm was peppered with shotgun pellets. Had the shot been been a couple of inches over, that boy could have been killed.

"You teach kids you can't call that shot back," Mahler said of the importance of the hunter education class.

It's why on four recent Monday nights, the volunteer teachers gathered with 15 students in the Martinsburg Fire Hall, where they've met since it was built in 2014, to show kids how to properly load and unload different kinds of guns. They teach the kids how to carry their guns safely and the various shooting positions.

"Some of them have never handled a gun. Some of them think they'll never hunt, but they want to learn how to handle a gun," said Smith, Dixon County's noxious weed superintendent.

Other lessons include conservation and hunting ethics such as always getting permission from landowners to hunt on their land and picking up after themselves while out in the field.

The emphasis always comes back to safety, starting with helping students identify the parts of a gun and teaching them how each piece works.

"I enjoy handling the guns with the kids and teaching them to be safe," Mahler said. "You want to get those guys on the straight path."

Smith, who said he began hunting as soon as he could walk and hold a gun while growing up on a farm north of Allen, Nebraska, wants to see the next generation of hunters enjoy hunting and other shooting sports.

"I just want the students to be able to have the chance to hunt and to hunt safely like I did when I was a kid," he said.

With the help of Mahler, Smith and the other volunteers, dozens of kids are getting that shot.
SIOUX CITY | One by one, Austin Bulizak walked Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings through a series of four robberies.

Bulizak said he participated in each one. The other person who participated in every one of them: Isaiah Mothershed.

Each time, Bulizak testified Tuesday, Mothershed was armed with a Glock handgun that he identified as belonging to Mothershed when Jennings showed him a picture of it.

"That's Isaiah Mothershed's gun," Bulizak said during the third day of testimony in Mothershed's trial.

Mothershed, 19, of Sioux City, is charged in Woodbury County District Court with two counts of attempted murder and four counts of first-degree robbery. He is accused of shooting Sioux City police Officer Ryan Moritz in the leg while waiting to be transported to jail after his arrest on Feb. 7. Mothershed is also accused of a string of robberies and break-ins that occurred from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6 and firing a shot at a homeowner who interrupted a break-in.

Bulizak, 17, of Sioux City, also was charged with four counts of first-degree robbery. As part of a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges of two counts each of second-degree robbery and second-degree burglary in exchange for his testimony against Mothershed.

Bulizak gave these accounts of the four robberies:

-- Jan. 29, 3300 block of Pierce Street. Bulizak, Jamaal Ferguson, Jory Barthelemy and Mothershed broke in because they believed there were guns there. When the owner, Jacob Hopkins, came home, they confronted him, and Mothershed made him open a gun safe. Mothershed took a shotgun from the house, Bulizak said.

Hopkins testified Friday that the men held him at gunpoint during the robbery, but because they were wearing masks, he could not identify them.

-- Feb. 2, College Court. Bulizak, Mothershed, Barthelemy, who faces two counts of first-degree robbery, Robert Seaberry and Justin Ferguson went to the house seeking marijuana and money.

"Isaiah Mothershed walked in front and we all followed," Bulizak said.

Bulizak said Mothershed took marijuana, some cash and an Xbox video game system from the house.

One of the residents, Tyler Broveak, testified Monday that masked men broke into their house and held the residents at gunpoint. He could not identify them.

-- Feb. 5, 4500 block of Polk Street. Mothershed, Seaberry and Jamaal Ferguson went inside while Bulizak, who drove, and Justin Ferguson stayed in the car. After the homeowners returned home, Bulizak said he heard the back door shatter and saw a woman chasing Mothershed and Seaberry.

"I heard a gunshot go off and then they hopped in the car," Bulizak said.

-- Feb. 6, basement of an apartment building at 2940 Park Ave. Bulizak said he and Mothershed, along with Macayla Knight, planned to rob Lewis Fields, who owed Knight for marijuana he had gotten from her.

Bulizak said he, Mothershed, Seaberry and Devonte Cobbs waited for Knight to bring Fields into the basement, where they confronted him while holding weapons. Bulizak said Mothershed took Fields' wallets, car keys and a pair of boots.

Knight testified Monday that they had planned the robbery and she fled once the men confronted Fields.

During questioning from Mothershed's attorney, Matthew Metzgar, Bulizak confirmed that he told police during an initial interview that he didn't remember much of the robberies because he was under the influence of marijuana and codeine during that time, though he later provided more details after having read police reports.

Seaberry, who was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison on two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of third-degree burglary, refused to testify when called to the witness stand Tuesday.

"I ain't giving no testimony," he said to District Judge Andreasen, who immediately dismissed the jury from the room and then spent the next hour conferring with Jennings and Metzgar. Court resumed with Bulizak on the stand.

Both Justin Ferguson, 20, of Sioux City, who has pleaded guilty to single counts of second-degree robbery and second-degree burglary, and Jamaal Ferguson testified earlier in the day about their roles in the robberies.

Jamaal Ferguson, 16, who has admitted to two counts of first-degree robbery in Woodbury County Juvenile Court and is currently on probation and living at the State Training School for Boys in Eldora, Iowa, was shown photos of guns and ski masks. Ferguson identified them as the weapons and masks used during the robberies.
SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man accused of threatening his girlfriend and trying to light their house on fire has pleaded not guilty to a single misdemeanor charge.

Karl Lyons, 39, entered a written plea Monday in Woodbury County District Court to fourth-degree criminal mischief, a serious misdemeanor.

Lyons had been arrested Sept. 21 on charges of first-degree arson, domestic abuse assault and false imprisonment. First Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark Campbell later dismissed those charges, saying in his motion to dismiss that the victim had recanted her statements to police and that further investigation would be needed to prove the charges in the wake of her recantation.

The remaining charge accuses Lyons of causing $200-$500 in damage to the home he shared with the woman in the 1400 block of West Third Street.

According to court documents, police and fire personnel found a burnt paper bag on the living room floor. The woman initially told police that Lyons had thrown items at her, lit the bag on fire and threatened to "burn them both up" in the house.
SIOUX CITY | Iowa 4th Congressional District Democratic nominee Kim Weaver on Monday laid out key campaign principles and staked out ways she differs on policies from U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron.

"The only thing we agree on is support of renewable energy," Weaver told the Journal's Editorial Board during an hourlong meeting.

She is seeking to oust King, a former construction company owner, who has won seven terms. Voters on Nov. 8 will decide the congressional winner.

Weaver said she has disagreed with King votes such as reducing federal money going to Pell grants for college students. She cited his controversial stances of opposing adding African American Harriet Tubman to U.S. currency and having a Confederate flag on his congressional office desk.

She said the strongest King comments run counter to the mainstream of American politics.

"It shows me a side of his character that isn't somebody I want representing me. I believe in treating people with dignity rather than disdain," Weaver said.

Weaver lives in Sheldon. She is a long-term care ombudsman for the Iowa Department of Aging, where she makes sure people in nursing homes and assisted living residences receive quality care. She said that job has shown her how to mediate disagreements.

"I have always been a problem solver," Weaver said.

Weaver said she understands that agriculture is a prime economic driver in the 4th District, which stretches across Northwest and North Central Iowa counties. The district skews heavily Republican.

"It is daunting. It is," Weaver said of the party demographics that don't favor Democrats.

Weaver said she would like to serve on the House Agriculture Committee if she wins the seat. She said she supports the Renewable Fuel Standard that sets thresholds for usage of corn-based ethanol.

King is a big supporter of enforcing existing immigration policies during a time when there are an estimated 12 million people without legal status. Weaver said her stance on immigration policy has a tie to agriculture.

"I support comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship," she said, which is a position that King has routinely called amnesty to lawbreakers.

Weaver contended that mass deportations of people would have a derogatory impact that some do not consider. She cited a report that massive deportations would increase farm labor costs by 148 percent.

"The American Farm Bureau says it would be bad for agriculture. They even say these mass deportations would hit dairy especially hard," Weaver said.

Weaver said she believes that voters who do not like Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are open to voting for her in the congressional race.

"Republican women under age 45 aren't inclined to vote straight party ticket," she said.
SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Council on Monday voted to amend a pair of agreements specifying the amount of sewage that two neighboring communities can send to the city's wastewater treatment plant.

The amendments will decrease the daily allotment for Dakota Dunes by one-half and double the allotment for Sergeant Bluff.

The Sioux City Council passed both amendments 4-0, with Mayor Bob Scott abstaining from both votes. Scott declined after the meeting to specify a reason for abstaining.

City utilities director Mark Simms told the council that Sergeant Bluff had approached the city late last year requesting the 500,000 additional gallons per day.

"At the time we had some concerns about our capacities, some unanswered questions as to how we were rating our facility and what was available to do that," Simms said.

Following meetings among sister city leaders, Dakota Dunes agreed to give 50 percent of its 3-million-gallon-per-day allotment back to Sioux City under the stipulation that this extra capacity will be added to the allotments of its sister cities.

North Sioux City and South Sioux City, which have both informally requested increases, will potentially have formal requests forthcoming, Simms said.

"We have a request right now from South Sioux that came in after we drafted the RCA (request for council action)," Simms said. "North Sioux just emailed us that they were working on something."

According to city documents, South Sioux City has expressed interest in a 600,000-gallon-per-day increase, and North Sioux City has expressed interest in a 400,000-gallon-per-day increase.

The city has had allotment agreements with the four sister cities for decades for their use of the facility. Each pays the city based on how much sewage each city discharges to the facility.

Simms said Monday's approved changes are effective upon the signing date.

Taxiway project

In other action Monday, the council unanimously approved a $3.3 million contract with Knife River Midwest of Sioux City to replace a current taxiway connector on the far north end of the main runway at the Sioux Gateway Airport.

The project will be funded jointly by the Federal Aviation Administration, the 185th Refueling Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard, and the city. The city's contribution is estimated to be around $279,000.

Pearl Street improvement funding

The council also voted 4-1 to approve $273,669.08 in funding awards for the next fiscal year for the Historic Pearl District Facade Improvement Program. Councilman Keith Radig cast the lone dissenting vote.

Established in 2011, the program grants funding for improvement of buildings within the Historic Pearl District.
SIOUX CITY | Sioux City Councilwoman Rhonda Capron publicly apologized Monday for using the words "idiots," "racists" and "bigots" to refer to at least one Woodbury County supervisor in a Facebook comment last week.

Capron's comment appeared on a Sept. 25 Facebook post in which she responded to a letter to the editor written by supervisor Matthew Ung.

Ung's letter had taken Capron to task for being a panelist at a Sept. 15 forum at Morningside College, promoting a study of a minimum wage increase at the county level while not proposing a study at the city level.

Capron's Facebook post expressed her desire for a discussion on the county level, saying that claiming it is a city issue is a way of "skirting" the issue.

A Facebook commenter then asked Capron whether "they" -- likely referring to Ung and possibly additional supervisors who were in opposition to the increase -- had attended the Morningside College forum. Capron responded:

"Nope! No show which isn't a shock!! What I really want to say I can't print...idiots...racists...and bigots...that's a start..."

Monday, county supervisors Jeremy Taylor and Mark Monson addressed the City Council regarding Capron's comment. Neither had attended the Morningside College forum.

Taylor said Monday that he had not attended the forum because he had received short notice of the event and was busy that evening. He said describing him as a "racist," "bigot" and "idiot" for not attending was inappropriate.

"Personally, it was uncalled for," Taylor said. "I hope this little bump in the road is nothing to the continued promise that we have as a county and city."

Monson agreed, saying that elected officials "can't check an elected position at the door."

"Rhonda, you don't know me to call me those names," Monson said. "I would like a public apology, number one. And if I can get that, I'd like to shake hands and move forward."

Capron responded with an apology, shook Monson's hand and clarified that the comment had not been directed at Taylor or Monson.

"I'm all about moving forward," Capron said.

Capron added that she still believed the county needs to move forward with discussion on the minimum wage. She also said she didn't think she should have been called out in the letter to the editor for her attendance at the forum.

"It got blown out of proportion, which is not good," she told the Journal after the meeting, regarding her attendance at the forum. "But I probably shouldn't have said the things I did."

The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors last week nixed the possibility of studying a minimum wage increase at the county level.
DES MOINES --- Donald Trump may have paid no federal income taxes for nearly two decades, according to a New York Times report published over the weekend.

Iowa Democrats spent Monday admonishing Trump, the Republican candidate for president, for not being more forthcoming with his tax returns and for potentially paying no income taxes for a prolonged period.

State treasurer Michael Fitzgerald and attorney general Tom Miller, both Democrats, discussed Trumps taxes with Iowa reporters in a news conference on the Iowa Capitol grounds. The event was organized by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who also addressed Trumps taxes Monday at an event in Ohio.

Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns, which would have enabled him to avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years, according to the New York Times report.

Unlike most previous major-party presidential candidates since the 1970s, Trump has not released his tax returns. His 1995 tax documents were anonymously mailed to the Times.

Even if Trump did not pay any federal income taxes over those 18 years, such avoidance would not have been illegal, tax experts told the Times.

Were saying that there should be change in the tax code and this really, dramatically points it out, Miller said Monday. But were saying that if hes going to be president of the United States, he should pay his fair share.  Its not unfair to ask someone whos (possibly) going to be president of the United States and have the obligation to watch out for everybody, for them to pay at least their fair share. He should refrain at least in part from using some of these deductions and avoidances and pay an amount thats equivalent to the working person, and should do that voluntarily if he wants to be president.

When Clinton, during the recent presidential debate, suggested Trump may not have paid federal income taxes, Trump responded by asserting that made him smart. Supporters of Trumps campaign, including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, during television interviews said in response to the New York Times report that Trump is a genius to avoid paying federal income taxes.

Trumps campaign issued a statement in response to the Times report saying Trump has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required, although the report is regarding Trump's personal income tax, not corporate income taxes. The campaign also said Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in other property, sales, real estate and local taxes.

The campaign also suggested Trumps business acumen makes him most qualified to serve as president.

Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for president and he is the only one that knows how to fix it, the Trump campaign statement said. The incredible skills Mr. Trump has shown in building his business are the skills we need to rebuild this country.

Terry Branstad, Iowas Republican governor, said earlier Monday at his weekly news conference that while Trump wants to fix the federal tax code from which he has benefitted.

Branstad has been a vocal supporter of Trumps campaign, and his son Eric is the director of Trumps campaign in Iowa.

Branstad in 1982, during his first gubernatorial campaign, criticized his Democratic opponent Roxanne Conlin after she revealed she paid no state income tax in 1981 largely because of depreciation on real estate owned by her and her husband.

(Trump) used the present federal system like my opponents and many others have over the years, Branstad said Monday. Probably hes the best one to fix it because he knows where the problems are.  Donald Trump has been so audacious to admit that. Yes, hes gotten rich off the system. But he says the system is flawed and ought to be changed.

Fitzgerald asserted that Trumps plan for changing the tax code amount to little more than tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
DES MOINES  Leaders of Iowas meat industry hope they can take matters into their own hands with Gov. Terry Branstads help by spurring exports of their beef and pork products to China and Japan with a direct sales pitch while help from pending trade agreements languish in Washington.

To that end, Branstad announced Monday he would be leading a trade delegation to China and Japan next month to tout Iowa beef and pork. The Nov. 11-18 trip will mark his 17th visit to Japan and sixth to China overall as governor and his fourth to China and third to Japan since returning to Terrace Hill in 2011.

Trade missions like this one allow Iowa companies to expand their markets outside of the U.S. and ultimately creates more jobs and strengthens our economy, Branstad told his weekly news conference where he was accompanied by officials from Iowa commodity groups.

In 2015, Iowa companies exported $1.2 billion in manufactured and value-added goods to China and $1.1 billion to Japan, according to the governors office. China is Iowas third largest export destination, while Japan is the fourth largest. In addition, Japan is Iowas leading export market for pork and beef products. Iowa companies exported $564 million in meat products to Japan in 2015.

Chris Freland, executive director of the Iowa Beef Industry Council, said the mission comes at a critical time because Chinas 13-year ban on U.S. beef imports was recently lifted, giving Iowas cattle industry a shot at getting a share of that countrys $2.3 billion market.

We want to be a partner in that game, said Freland, who noted Iowa raises nearly 4 million head of cattle annually as the fifth-leading U.S. state but needs expanded markets to keep the industry profitable.

China is a fifth of the world population, so that makes for a great market opportunity with our beef products, she added. We are cautiously optimistic.

Al Wulfekuhle, a Quasqueton farmer who is president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, said both China and Japan are important destinations for Iowas pork products but exports currently are lagging behind last year and hopes for approval of a Trans-Pacific Partnership to bolster U.S. trade prospects appear doubtful.

Gov. Terry Branstad noted that both presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have said they oppose TPP and he does not believe there is support in Congress to approve it in a lame-duck session after next months election  mean the deal likely will have to be renegotiated.

Branstad blamed the Obama administration for sluggish farm prices, by Wulfekuhle said problem for pork producers taking advantage of low corn prices is rooted in an increase in production coupled with a slowing in the growth of export sales.

The volume of U.S. pork exports to Japan is down 12 percent this year in part because the Japanese buy more pork from Europe, he said. About 25 percent of U.S. pork is typically exported each year, but Wulfkuhle told reporters that exports are down overall this year.

TPP is a huge issue in our industry, absolutely, he said, noting U.S. exports have increased every time barriers, tariffs and quota have been eased under a free trade agreement. Its progress and its a lot better than what we have now.

Branstad said the planned mission is comprised of stops in Beijing and Hebei (Iowas sister state) in China, while Tokyo is the primary destination in Japan.

In China, the governor is slated to speak at Chinas Food Security and Food Safety Strategy Summit and the International Meat Conference. Additional mission highlights include a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping,, who Branstad called my old friend, and attending a reception at U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedys residence and meetings with investment or trade prospects.
CEDAR RAPIDS  State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald thinks the president of Wells Fargo Co. should be fired, but doesnt plan to close Iowas account with the bank that keeps the states checking account, if you will.

Wells Fargo is under fire from federal regulators and Congress after it was learned its employees opened more than 2 million accounts that may not have been authorized by customers. The company agreed last month to a $185 million civil settlement for restitution and fines, and has fired more than 5,000 employees. CEO John Stumpf has agreed to give up $41 million in unvested stock awards, but not to step down.

I think its horrendous that the president of Wells Fargo would not take financial responsibility, Fitzgerald said Monday. If he didnt know, he should have. Its outrageous. A responsible board of director should fire him.

However, Fitzgerald a nine-term Democrat, isnt planning suspend dealings with Wells Fargo like his colleagues in California and Illinois have done.

To react on a whim would be irresponsible, said Fitzgerald, who was elected 34 years ago and is Americas longest-serving state treasurer. We signed a contract. It would not be appropriate for us to break the contract.

The decision is Fitzgeralds and Gov. Terry Branstad has no plans to ask him to reconsider, according to the governors spokesman.

On an average day, Iowa has more than $3 billion in idle cash that Fitzgerald and his staff invest overnight, for a few days or for years.

Occasionally, weve bought a few securities from them if they had the best deal for our taxpayers, he said.

Fitzgerald is confident the state is getting what it is paying for because his office monitors accounts every day.

Were not like most citizens who dont check their back account every single day, he said. We do the math on every single transaction, so we know were being treated correctly.

Last year, Iowa paid Wells Fargo about $290,000 in banking fees, Fitzgerald said. Banking services contract are awarded on the basis of competitive bids about every five years.

So just by definition because we picked the lowest bidder, there would be a cost to the state of Iowa if we broke the contract, he said.

The security of the states accounts and Iowans private information, such as Social Security numbers, is another concern.

Theyre handling billions of dollars and high-level information, Fitzgerald said. We go through a pretty sophisticated look-see to see who has best security.

Erin Murphy of the Journal Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.
Lots of businesses use Instagram as part of their social media promotions. But now you can actually use Instagram as an e-commerce platform. Spreesy is a social commerce solution that allows people to buy and sell items directly on Instagram.

Co-founders Spencer Costanzo and Braydon Batungbacal developed the service while working on another project.

After spending months developing a marketplace app, we were exhausted and looking for ways to quickly scale with no money, Costanzo explained in an email interview with Small Business Trends.

We realized that were tons of people selling on Instagram so we brainstormed on how we could leverage that audience, he added. After a few hours we came upon a method that would simplify Instagram commerce, and Spreesy was born. That night we dropped the project that wed spent so many months working on because we felt that we could have far more impact with Spreesy.

To use the service, businesses and individuals can sign up with their Instagram account on Spreesys website. From there, they can simply post pictures of their products as they normally would on Instagram. Then anyone on the platform can buy products by commenting on the photos with their email address. Spreesy will send them a bill via PayPal. They pay. And the seller sends out the product.

Unlike other online selling platforms, Spreesy charages a flat $15 per month regardless of the number of transactions, the companys website claims.

Before Spreesy, businesses could use a similar method to sell on Instagram. But they would have to bill customers manually. And using a more traditional e-commerce method would require customers to actually click a link in the Instagram users profile or perform a Google search.

Spreesy doesnt require users to leave Instagram to complete their purchase, which can be a huge benefit since consumers tend to have very short attention spans. Any steps you can take out of the buying process means more potential for sales. So aside from being easy to use, this type of platform could lead to increased sales overall.

Batungbacal told Small Business Trends:

Spreesy fully enables businesses and individuals using Instagram to sell directly to where their potential customers are the most engaged and receptive.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
PRINCE FREDERICK, Md.

Raymond Goode, Sr., 51, of St. Leonard and Eric Carr, 24, of Owings.

Stacy Mandley-Adams, 37, of North Beach and Donna Hylton, 50, of Owings.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme.

(Oct. 3, 2016)The Calvert County Sheriff's Office today released the following incident and arrest reports.WEEKLY SUMMARY: During the week of September 26 through October 2, deputies responded to 1,432 calls for service throughout the community.BURGLARY CASE #16-55267: On September 28, Deputy N. Barger observed a suspicious vehicle parked in a driveway on Perspective Place in Owings with a male standing near an open door wearing gloves. Upon investigation he witnessed faint marks on the weather stripping near the lock indicating the door may have been pried open. He questioned, and determined he did not have authority to enter the home. Mr. Goode admitted that he drove himself to the residence. Deputy Barger confirmed Mr. Goode's driver's license was suspended and previously revoked multiple times. He was charged with the appropriate traffic violations and arrested for 4th Degree Burglary.CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-56084: On October 1, at approximately 11:30pm, Deputy J. Livingston observed a vehicle being driven unsafely, crossing the center line and driving onto the shoulder several times. He pulled the vehicle over in the Prince Frederick, Green Turtle parking lot and made contact with the driver,. Mr. Carr began cursing and would not cooperate with instructions. Deputy Livingston discovered illegal drugs in the vehicle. Carr was arrested and charged with CDS: Possession of a Narcotic (Heroin), CDS: Possession of intent to Distribute a Narcotic (Heroin), Possession of Paraphernalia (syringes), Fail to Obey Reasonable/Lawful Order and Resisting Arrest.CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-55617: On September 29, Deputy T. Buckler responded to the area of the Peking Inn Restaurant located on E. Chesapeake Beach Road in Chesapeake Beach for a check welfare call. The complainant had reported seeing a women walking out into the roadway and seemed to have difficulty walking. Deputy Buckler was able to make contact with a woman, matching the description, who was sitting near the restaurant's front door. Upon questioning, he witnessed her slurring her words and appeared to be "out of it". He determined Ms. Mandley-Adams to be in illegal possession of Suboxone and a hypodermic syringe. She was arrested and transported to the Detention Center and also served an outstanding Warrant for a Violation of Probation from Virginia.THEFT CASE #16-56035: On October 1, at approximately 8:00pm, Deputy P. Aurich was dispatched to the Dunkirk Walmart for the report of a shoplifter in custody. The Asset Protection Officer observed a female shoplifter empty the contents of their purse, place a black PVC backpack over their shoulder and attempt to exit the store without making payment for the backpack., was taken into custody and charged with Trespassing on Private Property (from a previous situation where she was instructed not to return to the store), Theft Less than $100.00, and Possession of Controlled Paraphernalia (a Jail inventory search revealed a hypodermic syringe in a pocket of her purse).BURGLARY CASE #16-55817: On September 30, Deputy A. Curtin responded to 3rd Street in North Beach for the report of a home burglary. The victim explained they had left their home unlocked and while they were gone, had received a call from someone claiming to represent the Rental Center they recently purchased a television from. This person stated they still owed money on the television but the victim stated it was already paid in full. Upon returning home, they observed the 65" RCA LED/LCD Smart TV was gone and a door hanger was hanging on their front door. The victim also reported a couple of weeks prior to this, they were approached by a black male, driving a Penske truck, claiming to represent this same company. He had stated he needed to come in to their home and verify the VIN on the TV set they had purchased. The male was refused entry.BURGLARY CASE #16-55354: On September 28, Deputy K. Williamson was dispatched to Watson Road in Owings for the report of a possible burglary. Upon arrival the complainant stated they had closed their garage door at 7:30pm on September 27 and found it opened several inches that morning around 11:00am. The home was not entered and no items appeared to be missing.BURGLARY CASE #16-55315: On September 28, Deputy R. Weems responded to a report of a burglary at the Harbor Island Marina on Charles Street in Solomon's. The complainant explained that someone forced entry into a shed on the gas dock by breaking the lock and stole money. This crime took place sometime between 8:30pm on September 27th5:30am the next morning.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-55657: On September 29, Deputy S. Rediker responded to Long Beach Drive in St. Leonard for the report of damaged property. The victim reported seeing tire marks in his yard, damage to a water meter and mailbox. This crime took place sometime during the day, with no known suspects at this time.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-55215: On September 27, Deputy C. Callison was dispatched to the Prince Frederick 7-11 for the report of vandalism to the business. Sometime around 8:30pm an unknown person spray painted "PFHK" on the outside of the building with lime green paint.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-55036: On September 24, Deputy P. Wood responded to the Sheriff's Office to speak with a victim wanting to report damage to their vehicle. The complainant explained they were driving on Thunderbird Drive in Lusby, and their vehicle was struck by what they later found to be a cinder block. The cinder block struck the top of the right front quarter panel causing a large dent. There are no known suspects at this time.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-55035: On September 27, Deputy R. Naughton was dispatched to 3rd Street in North Beach for the report of damaged property. The victim reported they had parked their vehicle at 4:00pm on September 26 and returned around 6:30am and saw that the window on the rear lift gate had been shattered. The victim also reported a small hole in the vinyl siding near the entrance to their front door. It is unknown what object was used to cause the damage but it is possible a pellet or BB gun was used.THEFT CASE #16-55987: On October 1, at approximately 1:00pm, Deputy A. Curtin was dispatched to Dunleigh Drive in Dunkirk for the report of a theft. The victim stated that sometime between 11:00pm on September 301:00pm on October 1, someone smashed a vehicle window and stole money from the center console. No known suspects at this time.THEFT CASE #16-55820: On September 30, Deputy J. Harms was dispatched to the Prince Frederick Library for the report of a theft. The complainant explained that money had been taken from an unsecured desk at the library.THEFT CASE #16-55776: On September 30, Deputy W. Durner was dispatched to Duchess Lane in Huntingtown for the report of a theft. The complainant explained that he had two (2) contractors in his home between September 2529th and did not witness a theft, but his Motorola APX 7000 police radio, Motorola hand mic and radio holder are now missing. The investigation is continuing.THEFT CASE #16-55631: On September 29, Deputy C. Fox responded to Harrison Boulevard in Chesapeake Beach for the report of a theft. The complainant explained that a gray iPhone 6, with an orange and blue otter box case, had been stolen from a book bag that was at the Northern High School earlier that morning.THEFT CASE #16-55124: On September 27, Deputy P. Mosely responded to August Drive in Port Republic for the report of a mail theft. The victim stated she had ordered several window shades and became concerned she had not yet received them. Upon contacting Fed Ex she was told the package had been delivered on September 17, at 1:30pm, and placed in front of their attached garage. There are no known suspects at this time.THEFT CASE #16-55100: On September 27, Deputy V. O'Donnell responded to Asbury Circle in Solomon's for the report of a theft. The Director of the Facility stated one of the residents had reported money stolen out of their apartment. This crime took place between 9:30am on September 20 and 8:30am on September 27th.THEFT CASE #16-55075: On September 27, at approximately 9:00am, Deputy A. Curtin was dispatched to Dunkirk Way in Dunkirk, for the report of a theft. The victim reported they had four (4) black circular lawn lights and two (2) light posts with octagon lights stolen. The lights were hardwired into the ground; the electrical cable was cut and the lights were removed from the ground.
LEONARDTOWN, Md.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme.

(Oct. 3, 2016)The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office released the following incident and arrest reports.9/19/2016 ASSAULT: Deputy J. Bare responded to St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown for a reported assault. The victim alleged the suspect,, pushed the victim to the ground during an assault. The victim displayed injuries consistent with the allegations. Jordan was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Assault. CASE# 48826-169/20/2016 POSSESSION: Deputy B. Foor responded to the St. Mary's County Detention Center for the report of a contraband violation. The suspect,, was sentenced on an unrelated case at District Court. During a routine search, Correctional Officer G. Irby located marijuana on Beverly. He was charged with Possess Contraband in place of Confinement. CASE# 49060-169/21/2016 ASSAULT: Deputy S. Bowie responded to the 21000 block of Hermanville Road in Lexington Park for the report of a disturbance. The victim alleged the suspect,, bit the victim's finger during an argument leaving a visible injury. Scriber was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Assault. CASE# 1-16-0439079/22/2016 ASSAULT: DFC R. Steinbach responded to the 46000 block of Westbury Boulevard in Lexington Park, for the report of a domestic disturbance. The victim alleged the suspect,, threatened the victim with kitchen knives during a fight. Ramos was arrested and transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center. She was charged with Second Degree Assault. CASE# 1-16-00493229/21/2016 ASSAULT: Dep. T. Siciliano responded to the 46000 block of Valley Court in Lexington Park for a reported assault. The suspect,caused a visible laceration to a victim's hand with kitchen scissors during an argument. Blagmon was arrested and transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center. She was charged with First and Second Degree Assault. CASE# 1-16-0491639/22/2016 ASSAULT: The victim alleged the suspect,assaulted the victim by cutting the victim several times with two knives. The victim displayed visible injuries. The investigation revealed the assault stemmed from Contee stealing a wallet from the victim and then following the victim to the intersection of Missouri Ave and South Shangri-La Drive, where the victim was assaulted. Contee was arrested and transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center. He was charged with First Degree Assault, Second Degree Assault, and Theft Less than $1000. CASE# 49376-169/27/2016 THEFT: Deputy T. Wesner responded to Ollie's Bargain Outlet in Great Mills for the report of theft involving an employee. The suspect,, removed cash from the register and concealed it in her pocket on multiple occasions over a period of time. Moreland was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Theft: Less than $1000 value and Theft - Scheme: Less Than $1000. CASE# 50304-169/27/2016 POSSESSION: Deputy S. Shelko responded to the 21000 block of Great Mills Road in Lexington Park for an urgent check the welfare. Deputies found the suspect,, slumped over the driver's seat of a motor vehicle. She appeared to be sleeping and was unresponsive. In Ferdig's possession was a glass pipe containing residue from suspected crack cocaine. Ferdig was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with CDS Possession: Cocaine and CDS: Paraphernalia. CASE# 50304-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) forced entry into a motor vehicle and stole property at P.J.'s Auto Body in Lexington Park. DFC. T. Teague is investigating the case. CASE# 50417-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 22000 block of Macarthur Boulevard in California. CASE#50426-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered multiple motor vehicles and stole property in the Primrose Park subdivision of Wildewood. Dep. M. Beyer and Dep. D. Holdsworth are investigating the cases. CASE# 50611-19, 50618-16, 50619-16, 50623-16, and 50634-16.BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a residence and stole property on Woodbush Drive in Bushwood. Cpl. T. Snyder is investigating the case. CASE# 51240-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) forced entry into a residence on Three Notch Road near Three Notch trail. CASE# 51231-16HOME INVASION BURGLARY: On Sun., Oct. 2, at approximately 2:45 a.m., deputies responded to a private residence near Old Rolling Road in California for a reported home invasion burglary. Initial investigation revealed an adult female victim was awoken in the middle of the night and assaulted by an unknown male intruder. A prolonged struggle with the suspect occurred inside the residence during which the suspect produced a weapon. The victim fled the residence along with her juvenile child and contacted 911. Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) are continuing the investigation and requesting the public's assistance. The suspect is described as a dark-skinned (possibly Hispanic) male in his 20's, approximately 5'5" to 5'7" with a slim build and short dark hair. Additionally, the suspect may have utilized a bicycle to flee the scene. Detectives are asking anyone with information about this crime to contact Detective Cory Ellis at 301-475-4200, ext. *8125 or by email, cory.ellis@stmarysmd.com. Callers may also call Crime Solvers at 301-475-3333 (callers can remain anonymous, or text a tip to "TIP239" plus your message to "CRIMES" (274637).
GREENBELT, Md.

(Oct. 03, 2016)Nelash Mohamed Das, age 24, a citizen of Bangladesh residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign terrorist organization, in connection with a plan to attack a U.S. military member. Das had an initial appearance at 2:00 p.m. today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan. Das was ordered to be detained pending a detention hearing, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 6, 2016, at 3:15 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Sullivan in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. The complaint was filed on October 1, 2016.The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office."Our goal is to catch dangerous suspects before they strike, while respecting constitutional rights," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "That is what the American people expect of the Justice Department, and that is what we aim to deliver.""The danger posed by Mr. Das during this investigation was very real. He was committed to carrying out an attack against a military member," said Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI's Baltimore Division. "Through our proactive investigative stance, we were able to ensure the citizens of Maryland were protected. The covert nature of the defendant's alleged actions is a stark reminder of the challenges we face in preventing attacks, and underscores the critical need for those with knowledge about terror plots to come forward."According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Das was admitted to the United States in 1995 and is a legal permanent resident.The affidavit alleges that from September 28, 2015 to early 2016, Das used social media to express his support for ISIL, including support for terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and San Bernardino, California.On October 26, 2015, Das tweeted the name of an individual and the city where they lived, stating that the individual "aspires to kill Muslims." Das knew that the individual hoped to become a member of the U.S. military. ISIL members and supporters have posted identifying information about United States military personnel in hopes that those inspired by ISIL would carry out attacks against them. The affidavit alleges that Das was advertising the individual's identity and whereabouts in order to inspire violence against that individual.On January 30, 2016, Das tweeted a picture of an AK-47 assault rifle along with the text, "This is more than just a gun. This is a ticket to Jannah." "Jannah" is a reference to the Islamic concept of paradise.According to the affidavit, on April 30, 2016, Das attended the Handgun Qualification License class at a firing range in Prince George's County, Maryland. After the class, Das told another individual that he wanted to buy a Glock 9mm handgun and an AK-47. Over the next five months, Das returned to the firing range to practice firing weapons, and submitted his fingerprints to obtain a handgun permit.During May 2016, DAS met a confidential source working for the FBI. Das believed the source to be a like-minded supporter of ISIL. On May 24, 2016, Das told the source that he knew people overseas in Al Dawla (a common name for ISIL), and communicated with the Al Dawla members through online communications.On July 23, 2016, Das told the source that he wanted to kill a particular military member who lived in Prince George's County, Maryland, and whose identifying information Das had obtained the prior year from a list posted online by ISIL. Das stated that he could acquire a firearm from an individual he knows and stated his desire to travel overseas for ISIL if he had the opportunity. On July 30, 2016, Das advised the source that he could no longer find the ISIL list from the year before and asked the source if he had any ISIL contacts who could re-send the list.According to the affidavit, on August 19, 2016, even though Das had stated that he could acquire a firearm, the confidential source told Das that he could acquire weapons for both of them. In subsequent meetings with the confidential source, Das continued to state that he was looking for names of targets for them to kill. In a meeting on September 11, 2016, Das confirmed that he was committed "100%" to conducting an attack and, "That's like my goal in life." In a meeting the following day Das stated that he wanted to get paid by ISIL for future killings, but would do it for free as well. Das further confirmed that he specifically wanted to target United States military personnel.On September 28, 2016, Das and the source drove from Maryland to a firearms store in Virginia, where Das purchased one box (50 rounds) of 9mm ammunition and one box (50 rounds) of .40 caliber ammunition. At Das' request, that same day, the confidential source provided Das with the identifying information of a target, who the source claimed was a member of the U.S. military. The confidential source told Das he received the information from an ISIL contact in Iraq. In reality, the source provided false information on behalf of the FBI. Based on discussions with the source, Das also believed that the ISIL contact in Iraq would facilitate the payment of approximately $80,000 in exchange for Das and the source conducting the attack. After purchasing the ammunition, Das and the source traveled from the Virginia firearms store to the Maryland address of the target in order to conduct surveillance.The affidavit alleges that on September 30, 2016, while the confidential source was en route to pick up Das so they could conduct the attack, Das sent a text to the source that stated, "I'm ready." When the confidential source arrived at the residence, Das loaded ammunition into the magazine of one of the, with DAS's knowledge and support. Das inserted the magazine into the firearm and loaded a bullet in the chamber. The firearms were then placed into the trunk of the vehicle. Although Das believed that the firearms could fire ammunition; in reality, they had been rendered inert by the FBI. Das and the source then traveled to the address of the target, where Das exited the vehicle and approached the trunk, where the firearms were located. When Das was standing next to the trunk, FBI agents approached and Das ran away. Das was taken into custody by FBI agents a short distance away from the vehicle.Das faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force for its work in the investigation Mr. Rosenstein thanked his office's national security prosecutors that are handling the matter, and recognized the Justice Department's National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, for its support.
This chart shows how students in the Calvert Co. Public School system compared with the rest of the state in regards to SAT scores. (Source: CCPS)

According to data released by the College Board, SAT scores for the Calvert County Public Schools graduating class of 2016 increased in all three areas-critical reading, math and writing-that are measured by the exam. The composite increased to 1542 from 1524 in 2015. Critical reading increased eight points to 522; math increased nine points to 522; and writing increased one point to 498. Participation declined to 67% of the graduating class testing, down from a high of 70% in 2015.Across Maryland, SAT scores dipped slightly, dropping in all three areas to a composite of 1456 from 1462 in 2015.The College Board began administering a new version of the SAT to students in March 2016. Because of the SAT redesign, this year's performance data for the graduating class of 2016 includes students who took the old SAT through its last administration in January 2016. In prior years, scores of students who tested through June were included in the score reporting for a graduating class.The Board of Education meeting on October 20, 2016 has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. The Employee of the Month recognition scheduled for that date will take place at the meeting on November 17 at 7:00 p.m.Artwork by eight Calvert County Public Schools students has been selected for display in statewide exhibitions. The artworks are chosen from among those submitted to the Maryland State Department of Education by fine arts supervisors in the twenty-four Maryland school systems.Calvert County Public Schools will be represented in 2016-2017 by the following students: Jacob Shanks, Calvert Country School; Carly McCarthy, Huntingtown Elementary School; Ryan Black, Mutual Elementary School; Lillian Barrick, Plum Point Elementary School; Conell Brandner, Calvert Middle School; Zari Archer, Plum Point Middle School; Erin Brown, Calvert High School; and Thessa Vu, Northern High School.Some artworks will be displayed at juried art shows held biannually by First Lady Yumi Hogan, an active supporter of arts education, at a gallery she established in the House of Delegates Office Building. Others will showcased at the Louis L. Goldstein Treasury Building.The exhibits are supported by the Maryland State Arts Council.The results of the second administration of the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments show gains for Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) in both math and English language arts.Students showed gains on the elementary English language arts assessment. The percentage of students scoring a 4 or 5 increased from 47% to 50%. Middle school students scoring a 4 or 5 remained steady at 48%.Scores on the English 10 assessment showed the largest increase, from 51% scoring a 4 or 5 in 2015 to 67% in 2016. CCPS administered the English 11 assessment for the first time in 2016, and 70% scored a 4 or 5.Both elementary and middle school math showed gains, as well. The percentage of students scoring a 4 or 5 increased from 45% to 53% at the elementary level and from 20% to 33% at the middle school level. Some middle school students took the geometry assessment, with 58% scoring a 4 or 5. Scores on the Algebra 1 assessment, taken by both middle and high school students enrolled in the course, stayed constant, with 29% of students scoring a 4 or 5.PARCC assessments are scored on a five-point scale, with level 1 set as not meeting expectations and level 5 as exceeding expectations.Scores on the PARCC Assessment are not being used for student, educator, school, or system-level accountability purposes at this time. Maryland is currently in the midst of reviewing and revising its accountability system under the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act.
A temporary roadside sign in Callaway promotes the grand opening of the food retailer on Friday. The storefront sign has not been installed as of noon today.

CALLAWAY, Md.

The new roadside sign is up at the Callaway location. The parking lot is full of cars and the landscaping is being cleaned up in preparation for Friday's opening.

(Oct. 4, 2016)Weis Markets, which recently purchased the assets of 38 Food Lion supermarket locations operating in the states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, is set to open five of their new locations in the tri-county area this Friday. Three of the 38 stores in the area already sport the Weis bannerlocations in Accokeek, La Plata and Prince Frederick opened on Friday, Sept. 30.Delhaize Group, a Belgian food retailer and the parent company of Food Lion, sold off the stores as part of their merger with Ahold, a food retailer based in the Netherlands. "These divestments are being made in connection with the United States Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) pending review of the proposed merger between the two companies," the companies wrote in a press release on July 13.Weis Markets was founded by 2 brothers in 1912 in Sunbury, Pa. Today, the privately held company is run by one of the brother's grandsons and is still based in Sunbury.The stores set to open Friday include: 45315 Alton Lane, California 20995 Point Lookout Road, Callaway 19 Saint Mary's Square, Lexington Park 210 H G Trueman Road, Lusby 13300 H G Trueman Road, SolomonsThe stores due to open Friday were closed to the public last Friday night. While the large storefront "Food Lion" sign on the Callaway location was promptly removed, the building still does not bear a Weis sign as of noon today. However, the new roadside sign is in place.Many holders of the Food Lion "MVP Customer" cards report having received Weis "Preferred Shoppers Club" cards in the postal mail this week. As with the Food Lion card, Weis customers will be able to load digital coupons on the card. Weis is also promoting double coupons "every day, every week."Weis is also advertising a price matching guarantee on select, tagged items. The store promises to "give you double the difference with purchase" if a local competitor advertises a lower price.In what is likely good news for local farmers, Weis is also advertising that they buy locally grown produce for sale in their stores. Mark Powell, spokesman for the Md. Dept. of Agriculture, confirmed today that while representatives of Weis have attended previous buyer-seller events in Maryland, they have not specifically reached out to the Dept. regarding making connections with local growers in So. Md. as of today.Susan McQuilkin, of the So. Md. Agricultural Development Commission, notes that retailer's definitions of local produce may vary from company to company. While some companies may define local as within the immediate region, others may have a wider definition and their radius may include several states.While Weis has made no public statement regarding their specific plans to buy local in So. Md., their Web site states that they buy produce "from approximately 150 farmers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York,"all states where they have retail locations.McKays grocery storesa locally family-owned businessalso has a long history of supporting local farmers by selling their produce.There are two wholesale farmer's auctions in the region where businessessuch as restaurants and grocery retailerscan purchase locally grown produce. The Loveville Produce Auction is located in Mechanicsville on Bishop Road and the Southern Maryland Regional Farmer's Market is located at 11701 Crain Hwy in Cheltenham.Consumers interested in supporting local farmers can find a list of farmer's markets at www.smadc.com/publications/SMADC_MarketGuide.pdf
For one week each December, Miami becomes the center of the contemporary art universe, thanks to the phenomenal growth of Art Basel Miami Beach, an exclusive annual show for collectors, Dec. 1  4 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Art Week Miami, featuring dozens of satellite fairs and special events from Coral Gables to Miami Beach, Midtown, Wynwood and the Design District draws even more art lovers. This year, Art Week Miami is being celebrated Nov. 30  Dec. 4.

When the doors close at the convention center and exhibition tents, the action is just getting started as galleries, hotels and studio spaces across the city host receptions, parties and late night exhibits. DJs spin tunes well into the wee hours of the night at the most popular venues.

Heres your quick guide to Art Basel Miami Beach and major Art Week Miami shows:

Art Basel Miami Beach

Miami Beach Convention Center

$50 one day/$105 multiple days with advance online purchase

Art Basel Miami Beach is among the most important art shows in the U.S., drawing exhibitors from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa and specializing in contemporary and modern art, as well as works by emerging artists. MiamiBeach.ArtBasel.com

Art Week Miami Satellite Art Fairs

AQUA Miami

AQUA, held at one of SoBes toniest Art Deco hotels, is one of the most popular fairs for emerging art during Miami Art Week. AquaMiami.com

Art Miami

Known as Miamis premier anchor fair, Art Miami kicks off the opening day of Art Week - the first week of December when thousands of collectors, dealers, curators, and artists descend upon Miami. Art-Miami.com

ArtSpot Miami International Art Fair

ArtSpot International is a stand-alone art fair that showcases innovative and alternative contemporary and modern art. ArtSpotMiami.com

CONTEXT Art Miami

CONTEXT is dedicated to the development and reinforcement of emerging and midcareer artists and serves as a platform for the presentation of cutting-edge talent by emerging and established galleries. ContextArtMiami.com

Design Miami

DesignMiami is dedicated to a global forum for design and, in its second decade, celebrates growing interest in the work of the 70s and 80s. DesignMiami.com

Fridge Art Fair (Mini-Fridge)

Eric Ginsburgs famed Ney York Fridge Art Fair moves to Miami Beach this year to the Betsy Hotel on Ocean Dr. Mini-Fridge offers a curated show and sale, open 24/7 from Nov. 27  Dec. 4. FridgeArtFair.com

INK Miami Art Fair

INK is unique among Miamis fairs for its focus on contemporary works on paper by internationally renowned artists and sponsored by the International Fine Print Dealers Association. InkArtFair.com

Miami Project

Miami Project will again present a selection of historically important and cuttingedge contemporary work side by side in Wynwood, with a unique emphasis on the strength of individual exhibitors programs, irrespective of their primary focus. Miami-Project.com

Miami River Art Fair

Miami River Art Fair is providing a unique experience, featuring both an indoor booth setting at the Riverfront Hall of the Miami Convention Center and the one-of-a-kind Riverwalk Sculpture Mall, featuring works from around the world. MiamiRiverArtFair.com

NADA Art Fair

Founded in 2002, the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) is a not-for-profit collective of professionals working with contemporary art and is recognized as a much needed alternative assembly of the worlds youngest and strongest art galleries. NewArtDealers.org

PULSE Miami

This fair is divided into two sections and is comprised of a mix of established and emerging galleries vetted by a committee of prominent international dealers. Pulse-Art.com

RedDot Miami

Building upon its reputation as a diverse fair, Red Dot will once again offer a unique selection of approximately 60 galleries exhibiting painting, sculpture, photography and fine-art objects. RedDotFair.com

Scope Miami Beach

Over 100 exhibitors and 20 selected breeder program galleries will present groundbreaking work, alongside SCOPEs special programming, encompassing music, design and fashion. Scope-Art.com

SPECTRUM Miami

SPECTRUM, a juried show, is where contemporary meets extraordinary in the heart of Miamis Performing Arts District, featuring live music and plenty of parties. Spectrum-Miami.com

Superfine! House of Art & Design

One of the newer satellite fairs, Superfine! is the first to set up in Miamis emerging Little Haiti neighborhood. Superfine.world

Untitled.

This fair presents a selection of international galleries and not-for-profit spaces, positioned side by side to create a less segregated fair installation. Art-Untitled.com

For more information about Art Basel and Art Week Miami events, go to ArtBasel.com/Miami Beach and MiamiAndBeaches.com. Locations are announced and tickets for individual Art Week events generally go on sale after Oct. 1 or later.
There are plenty of boutique hotels in South Beach, but The Betsy is the boutique hotel that is also an art gallery and literary salon. And unlike those boutique hotels that host exhibits and parties during Art Basel and Art Week Miami, the Betsy makes the arts a focus year-round.

Owner Jonathan Plutzik said there are two reasons for this emphasis:

First, our family has always cared deeply about the arts. My father was a poet and, although he died relatively young, the influence was significant. My mother always had the view that creativity and the arts trump everything else... Its very much in our DNA, he explained. The second piece of the puzzle is the brand of Miami Beach. Its all about sparkly, shiny things  all of that is true  but that only describes 50 percent of why Miami Beach is special. Its actually filled with a surprising number of interesting and interested people who care about the arts.

Plutzik, a retired Wall Street banker, jumped at the opportunity to plant his flag in Miami Beach and purchased the Betsy, an Ocean Drive landmark since 1942. The hotel had been host to many historic events over the decades and got a huge boost as the location for a 1985 photo shoot for fashion designer Calvin Klein, beginning the golden era for the neighboring Art Deco district.

As part of a major renovation in 2009, Plutzik sought to capitalize on the revitalized art scene in Miami: In addition to ensuring a luxurious experience, we asked if it was possible to bring these interests into the hotel environment. Plutziks guiding philosophy was to incorporate PACE (philanthropy, arts, culture, education) principles into the design and activities at the hotel, and his sister, Deborah Briggs, a conservatory-trained musician, took on the role of vice president, responsible for programming hundreds of concerts, art exhibits, literary and cultural events each year.

The hotel hosts a writer-in-residence program, welcoming poets and authors at all stages of their careers for free stays. More than 450, including Pulitzer Prize winners and U.S. poet laureates, have called the hotel home for a week.

The hotels new restaurant, Poeti, opening during Art Basel, will incorporate the words of 13 local poets into the design, creating a public art experience, and an adjoining property will soon increase the exhibit and event space.

And, of course, the hotel will host several special exhibitions  24/7  during Art Basel, as well as a new collaboration with the famed Fridge Art Fair, Mini-Fridge.

In so many ways its exceeded our expectations, especially in how much has grown out of the vast number of partnerships we have with local institutions  both big and small  who share this enthusiasm, said Plutzik.

For more information about art events at The Betsy South Beach and reservations, go to TheBetsyHotel.com.
For more than 200 years, the musicians of The Presidents Own U.S. Marine Band have played a role in American history. This September, South Florida audiences will get a rare opportunity to hear the music performed at the White House.

Founded on July 11, 1798 by an Act of Congress signed by President John Adams, The Presidents Own U.S. Marine Band is Americas oldest professional musical ensemble.

Since that day, the band has held a special place in the ceremonial life of our nation:

In 1800, the Marine Band presented its first public concert in the new capital city of Washington on a hill overlooking the Potomac near the future site of the Lincoln Memorial. Residents reportedly thronged to hear the Marines band of music. The band made its White House debut in the unfinished executive mansion at a New Years Day reception hosted by President and Mrs. Adams in 1801.

On March 4, 1801, the Marine Band performed for Thomas Jeffersons inaugural ceremony. Jefferson, an avid music lover and violinist, is credited with giving the band its title, The Presidents Own. Since then, the band has provided music for every presidential inaugural.

In 1863, the band accompanied Abraham Lincoln to Gettysburg, Pa., for the dedication of the national cemetery and delivery of the presidents famed Gettysburg Address.

Since then, the band has played for the dedication of nearly every major monument in Washington, D.C., and provided ceremonial music for state visits of countless world leaders.

The annual Marine Band concert tour is a tradition begun by the bands most famous leader, The March King, John Philip Sousa, who served from 1880-91. Today, the band rotates its itinerary regionally, returning to South Florida every five years.

In the style of the bands 17th Director John Philip Sousa, Director Lt. Col. Jason K. Fettig has chosen a diverse mix of programs

from traditional band repertoire and marches to instrumental solos, said MSgt Kristin DuBois. By the end of October, the Marine Band will have performed a total of 28 concerts in 30 days on its 2016 tour.

Marine Band concerts are free and tickets may be requested by contacting the following venues:

Thursday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m.

Kravis Center, West Palm Beach

Kravis.org

Friday, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m.

Bailey Hall, Broward College, Davie

BaileyHall.org

Saturday, Oct. 15

Miami-Dade College, Kendall

MarineBand.Ticketleap.com

To learn more about The Presidents Own U.S. Marine Band, go to MarineBand.Marines.mil.
Jamaica  its an island paradise, splashed across television ads, billboards and brochures, promising a vacation that one will never forget.

However, many are trying to get away from the white sand beaches, rum, and reggae tunes: LGBT people.

In May, two men were shot and killed at a home they were staying at and rumors circulated that the two were gay. In 2015, a video was released of a young gay man tied up as a crowd stoned him to death, all the while yelling homophobic slurs. In 2015, a 16-year-old transgender girl was stabbed, shot, and run over by a car after she attended a party in a dress. She was buried in a suit and tie.

Because of these horror stories, many Jamaicans make their way to the U.S. in hopes of seeking asylum. When they arrive, many of them meet Grace Gomez, a Miami immigration attorney.

Jamaica is definitely the worst in the western hemisphere, she said about the countrys treatment of LGBT people.

A graduate of Florida State University and Stetson Law School, Gomez knew she wanted to specialize in immigration law, which sent her back to her hometown of Miami. She opened her practice in 2008 after a stint as a public defender, and shortly after was introduced to the reality of life in Jamaica for LGBT people.

It seemed like a normal case of meeting a potential client at Krome Detention Center in Miami. Gomez went through her normal list of questions, receiving the same answers until she asked the man, Do you fear going back to Jamaica?

She was shocked when he said, Yes, Im gay.

To be honest with you, I didnt believe him. How is this on the world stage and Ive never heard about this? she remembers, sending her back to her office to research his claims.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Jamaica under the islands 1864 Offences Against the Person Act, which illegalizes anal intercourse and is punishable up to 10 years of hard labor. Jamaicas Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms was passed in 2011, but it does not include protections for LGBT people.

I actually went back to that guy and apologized, Gomez said.

Since then, she has represented more people seeking asylum to stay in the U.S. because they come from countries where being LGBT is illegal. Now, 25 percent of her practice is representing LGBT people, namely from Jamaica but also from Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and Ghana.

Asylum is very difficult to get, Gomez said, because it requires so much documentation and testimony. For her LGBT clients, she has to prove that they are gay as well as show that they would experience harm should they return home. For people who were in heterosexual marriages, proving that they are gay is even harder.

If you understand Jamaican culture, they would not pretend to be gay, Gomez said. Its so frowned upon over there. They wouldn't take the risk of alienating their family and friends.

Despite the countrys egregious human rights violations, the Caribbean nation continues to be a top tourism destination. According to the World Factbook, tourism accounts for 30 percent of Jamaicas gross domestic product (GDP).

Last year, President Barack Obama was criticized for making a visit to Jamaica, but was also applauded when he hosted a town hall and invited LGBT activists and called for equality. This included telling the story of Angeline Jackson, the executive director for Quality of Citizenship Jamaica, who as a lesbian was kidnapped and sexually assaulted when she was 19.

Youd think as a country that depends on tourism, theyd be worried about giving the public this persona, Gomez said. They hide it well. They dont attack foreigners who are homoseuxal. They reserve that hatred for their own people.

Well known within the LGBT Jamaican community, she has also experienced part of the hatred. When asked if she would ever travel to Jamaica for vacation or otherwise, the answer is no.

I have very much a death threat on my head, she said. Ive received quite a bit of hate mail from Jamaicans from organizations saying Im a gay lover and hurting their communities. All anonymous, nothing is ever attributed to anyone, but Im sure its gotten out.

Thank you, but no thank you. I would not go to Jamaica.
Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.




Hurricane Matthew NASA

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite passed above major Hurricane Matthew and found very heavy rainfall that is expected to affect Hispaniola.

On Oct. 2 at 5:46 a.m. EDT (0946 UTC) GPMs Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments collected data that were used to create a map of rainfall occurring within Hurricane Matthew. GPM found very heavy rainfall falling at a rate of over 6.4 inches (163 mm) in some areas near hurricane Matthew.

Heaviest rain was seen well to the east of Hurricane Matthews center, said Hal Pierce of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who created the imagery. This area of strong convective storms has been persistent over the past few days. This area of intense rainfall is due to convergence between the trade winds (prevailing easterlies) and the wind flow from the south with Matthew. This area of heavy rainfall with Matthew may cause devastating torrential rainfall as it moves slowly over Haiti. Up to 40 inches (1016 mm) of rainfall have been predicted over Haiti.

A 3-D depiction of storm tops was created using data from GPMs radar (DPR Ku Band). The 3-D image showed the area of heaviest rainfall east of Hurricane Matthews eye. Several storms in the area had cloud tops that were measured by DPR reaching heights above 9.9 miles (16 km). GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA.

On Oct. 3 many warnings and watches were in effect from NOAAs National Hurricane Center (NHC). A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Jamaica, Haiti, and the Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma, and Las Tunas. Hurricane Warnings were also in effect for the southeastern Bahamas, including the Inaguas, Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, and Ragged Island.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the Cuban province of Camaguey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Central Bahamas, including Long Island, Exuma, Rum Cay, San, Salvador, and Cat Island.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Dominican Republic from Barahona westward to the border with Haiti, and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Dominican Republic from Puerto Plata westward to the border with Haiti. Interests elsewhere in Hispaniola and in the Bahamas should monitor the progress of Matthew.

NHC said at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) the eye of Hurricane Matthew was located near 15.4 degrees north latitude and 74.9 degrees west longitude. That puts the eye about 220 miles (355 km) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 280 miles (450 km) southwest of Port Au Prince, Haiti.

Matthew was moving toward the north near 6 mph (9 kph). NHC said a general northward motion with some increase in forward speed is expected through Tuesday, Oct. 4. On the forecast track, the center of Matthew will approach Jamaica and southwestern Haiti tonight, and eastern Cuba on Tuesday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph (215 kph) with higher gusts. Matthew is a dangerous category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are possible during the next couple of days, but Matthew is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through early Wednesday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles (315 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 943 millibars.

At NASA Goddard, the NASA/NOAA GOES Project created an animation of infrared and visible satellite imagery that showed the movement and strengthening of Matthew from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. Matthew reached Category 5 status late on Oct. 1 and dropped slightly to Category 4 status the next day where it remained on Oct. 3.

NHC said that NOAA buoy 42058, located about 40 miles (70 km) south of the center of Matthew, recently reported a sustained wind of 58 mph (94 km/h) and a wind gust of 74 mph (119 kph).

For updated forecasts, visit: www.nhc.noaa.gov.
Mars NASA

After collecting drilled rock powder in arguably the most scenic landscape yet visited by a Mars rover, NASAs Curiosity mobile laboratory is driving toward uphill destinations as part of its two-year mission extension that commenced Oct. 1.

The destinations include a ridge capped with material rich in the iron-oxide mineral hematite, about a mile-and-a-half (two-and-a-half kilometers) ahead, and an exposure of clay-rich bedrock beyond that.

These are key exploration sites on lower Mount Sharp, which is a layered, Mount-Rainier-size mound where Curiosity is investigating evidence of ancient, water-rich environments that contrast with the harsh, dry conditions on the surface of Mars today.

We continue to reach higher and younger layers on Mount Sharp, said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada, of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Even after four years of exploring near and on the mountain, it still has the potential to completely surprise us.

Hundreds of photos Curiosity took in recent weeks amid a cluster of mesas and buttes of diverse shapes are fresh highlights among the more than 180,000 images the rover has taken since landing on Mars in August 2012. Newly available vistas include the rovers latest self-portrait from the color camera at the end of its arm and a scenic panorama from the color camera at the top of the mast.

Bidding good-bye to Murray Buttes, Curiositys assignment is the ongoing study of ancient habitability and the potential for life, said Curiosity Program Scientist Michael Meyer at NASA Headquarters, Washington. This mission, as it explores the succession of rock layers, is reading the pages of Martian history  changing our understanding of Mars and how the planet has evolved. Curiosity has been and will be a cornerstone in our plans for future missions.

The component images of the self-portrait were taken near the base of one of the Murray Buttes, at the same site where the rover used its drill on Sept. 18 to acquire a sample of rock powder. An attempt to drill at this site four days earlier had halted prematurely due to a short-circuit issue that Curiosity had experienced previously, but the second attempt successfully reached full depth and collected sample material. After departing the buttes area, Curiosity delivered some of the rock sample to its internal laboratory for analysis.

This latest drill site  the 14th for Curiosity  is in a geological layer about 600 feet (180 meters) thick, called the Murray formation. Curiosity has climbed nearly half of this formations thickness so far and found it consists primarily of mudstone, formed from mud that accumulated at the bottom of ancient lakes. The findings indicate that the lake environment was enduring, not fleeting. For roughly the first half of the new two-year mission extension, the rover team anticipates investigating the upper half of the Murray formation.

We will see whether that record of lakes continues further, Vasavada said. The more vertical thickness we see, the longer the lakes were present, and the longer habitable conditions existed here. Did the ancient environment change over time? Will the type of evidence weve found so far transition to something else?

The Hematite Unit and Clay Unit above the Murray formation were identified from Mars orbiter observations before Curiositys landing. Information about their composition, from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer aboard NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, made them high priorities as destinations for the rover mission. Both hematite and clay typically form in wet environments.

Vasavada said, The Hematite and the Clay units likely indicate different environments from the conditions recorded in older rock beneath them and different from each other. It will be interesting to see whether either or both were habitable environments.

NASA approved Curiositys second extended mission this summer on the basis of plans presented by the rover team. Additional extensions for exploring farther up Mount Sharp may be considered in the future. The Curiosity mission has already achieved its main goal of determining whether the landing region ever offered environmental conditions that would have been favorable for microbial life, if Mars has ever hosted life. The mission found evidence of ancient rivers and lakes, with a chemical energy source and all of the chemical ingredients necessary for life as we know it.

The mission is also monitoring the modern environment of Mars, including natural radiation levels. Along with other robotic missions to the Red Planet, it is an important piece of NASAs Journey to Mars, leading toward human crew missions in the 2030s. JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASAs Science Mission Directorate and built the projects Curiosity rover. For more information about Curiosity, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl

Additional imagery
Earlier this year, a gutsy new cold brew company called Keep It Cool emerged from Montreal. With the slogan on the company website reading, We didnt invent cold brew, but who the fuck cares, and an effortlessly slick package design to match, Keep It Cool are not at all abashed about making a mark.

But what becomes a cold brew brand once the summer turns to fall? After riding out the 2016 heat wave through retailers in Montreal and Toronto, Keep It Cool officially opened a second brewing and bottling facility last month in Miami, seizing the opportunity to tap into a year-round cold brew drinking market. Outfitted in bottles that would look as comfortable on the refrigerator shelves of a corner coffee shop as they would at a high-end cocktail bar, Keep It Cool has an ever-increasing list of vendors including Tokyo Smoke, Kupfert & Kim, and Quantum Coffee, as well as Soho Houses Toronto, Miami, and Malibu locations.

Although Keep It Cool is fresh on the scene, co-founders Roy Buck Riettie and Shayaa Scott will tell you their cold brew, its signature taste, the design, and their partnership have been years in the making. The two met on opening day of Rietties Buck 15 Espresso Bar in Montreals trendy St. Henri neighborhood. Coincidentally, Scott had his eye on building out a coffee shop in the exact same locationhe was one of Buck 15s first customers.

Over the years, Buck 15 Espresso Bar has been the testing ground for Keep It Cool. Riettie has been actively introducing customers to his cold brew and measuring response to the intended company name by using Keep It Cool as the shops internet password. Scott says, [Roy] has been holding that bottle for seven years and not showing it to people. He knew that he needed to put cold brew in those bottles.

Keep It Cool is made with single-origin beans from Toronto-based microroaster de Mello Palheta Coffee Roasters. We are using, in my opinion, the best coffee in Canada, says Riettie, We find that using de Mello Palheta, the consistency [in the roast] is always spot on. With our method of brewing, and their beansits the perfect marriage.

Riettie and Scott brought on 1924 designer and illustrator Christian Watson to actualize their vision for a vintage-inspired whiskey flask. Though the signature hand-drawn label featuring the bust of a lion is unique in its own right, Keep It Cool is making waves by offering different levels of customization to its retail partners. For stockists like Soho House Toronto that prefer more subtle brand integration, Keep It Cool provides a personalized interior label which is revealed only after drinking the cold brew. On the other hand, shops like Sorry Coffee Company, or Sweet Jesus, retail the cold brew with custom artwork inside and out. The results are undeniably handsome.

Keep It Cool retails in shops here in Toronto between $5 and $5.50 CAD per bottle. While wholesale options are available, you can also order the cold brew through their website in a six-pack, or by the dozen.

Though the companys signature flask is made of glass, Keep It Cool also sources a plastic bottle which is suitable for sipping on at music festivals or for lounging poolside. And, in case you were wondering, Riettie and Scotts cold brew will maintain freshness for up to six monthsif refrigerated. In other words, you need to Keep It Cool.

Visit their official website and follow them on Instagram

Ashley Tomlinson is the founder of The Little Black Coffee Cup, a digital coffee publication based in Toronto. This is Ashley Tomlinsons first feature for Sprudge.


Canada could be to cannabis what France is to wine, Toronto coffee shop owner Alan Gertner said in June. He was speaking at The Economists Canada Summit, and the aspirational analogy resonated far and high. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau absolutely disagreed with Gertners assertionbut only because of the high calibre of Canadian wines, reported The Huffington Post Canada.

Gertner, who could be described as an entrepreneurial lifestyle futurist with as genteel an appreciation for kind bud as for a well-tailored oxford shirt, is CEO of Tokyo Smoke. He and his father, retail and real estate impresario Lorne Gertner, founded the company, which today runs two Toronto espresso bar boutiques: Tokyo Smoke Found, opened in May 2015, and Tokyo Smoke Green, opened in May 2016.

Gertners story is a woke, fun one. For years, the Canadian lived abroad and headed Asia-Pacific customer sales at Google, until one day, while on assignment in Ghana, he attended a voodoo ceremony. An epiphany came.

His guide said something to himand Im paraphrasingthat you either work on something you love or you work to support the people you love. And that got Alan thinking about his life and what he was doing, and the reasons behind the work he was doing, recounts Josh Lyon, Tokyo Smokes head of marketing and partnerships. Eventually, Gertner came to realize he lovedworking with family and people he liked, and he liked working on things he loved: coffee, clothing, and cannabis.

Tokyo Smoke Found is the brands flagship. The shop occupies a space once used as a loading bay for its building located in the downtown neighborhood known as Old Toronto. Retaining a garage-like insularity, with strategically placed spotlights, the venue feels more like a speakeasy than a cafe. Yet there is plenty of room for its clientelelargely, young professionals who relish quality coffee, clothing, and/or cannabis. To be clear, Tokyo Smoke currently sells the first two products and only accessories related to the third.

The beautiful thing about what were doing is were not doing anything illegal, says Geoff DeGrasse, the companys head of operations and people, in reference to the shops selling paraphernalia but not pot itself. Were totally aboveboard. Were waiting for legislation till we actually sell recreational pot in Canada.

Canada still restricts cannabis consumption to medical use, but since Trudeau took office last November, the Liberal leader has initiated reforms in recreational marijuanas legalization. Some observers see such laws taking effect by late 2017.



These days, the quickest turnover at Tokyo Smoke Found happens at the espresso bar. A shipping container elegantly built into the storefront holds a two-group Nuova Simonelli Black Eagle espresso machine, a Nuova Simonelli Mythos One Clima Pro grinder, a FETCO CBS 2131XTS drip brewer, and a Newco NHW-15 hot water dispenser. The citys eminent Station Cold Brew supplies the nitro coffee on tap. Toronto microroaster De Mello Palheta Coffee Roasters provides the standard Tokyo Smoke Custom Roast, a blend of two types of Brazilian coffees.

DeGrasse is quick to praise De Mello Palheta, the roaster established by two Melbourne transplants and named after the Portuguese merchant believed to have brought coffee to Brazil. They know coffee really well, he says. Theyve been really good to us, they help us with training, they help us with quality control.

Surrounding the rooms workbench-style communal table are shelves of marijuana tools and toys for sale. The selection is broad, from the Pax 2 vaporizer for the high-tech toker to cannabis-free Malin + Goetz cannabis candles, for those who prefer just an aromatic estimation of the plant. Self-branded merch (rolling papers, coffee tins) and equipmentincluding the Velopresso, a rare pedal-powered coffee tricycle that could be seen shimmying across Toronto this past summerbear the Tokyo Smoke logo. The red lantern-like oval is an aesthetic nod to Japan, where Gertner once lived.

Tokyo Smoke mens apparel is now in its second run. The new fall collection, including button-ups, blazers, and jackets, can be purchased through the boutiques and via a forthcoming e-commerce platform. This marks a second coffee shop-anchored business developing its own ready-to-wear line, the other that Sprudge recently covered being Scandinavian Embassy in Amsterdam.

A more obvious hearkening to the Netherlands, however, is Tokyo Smokes ambition to sell its very own weed. The company is nearing a licensing deal to facilitate sales of four strains of Tokyo Smoke proprietary pot in territories where it is already legal and, perhaps one day soon, in its hometown. The names for the strainsGo, Relax, Relief, Balanceevoke spa treatments more than, say, reefer madness. And thats intentional.

Tokyo Smoke wants to bring a beautiful, design-oriented approach to the [marijuana] industry and a full retail consumer experience around the product, DeGrasse says. It starts with a place like this. You can have some coffee, you can have some food. But you can also feel safe and have a great time buying some cool cannabis paraphernalia.

And maybe soon, some kind bud.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge.

Velopresso operations and latte art by @baristabrian, and photos thereof by @thenomadbrodie.
Algiers, October 3, 2016 (SPS) - People's National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) will take part in the meeting of the UN General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on Western Sahara, to be held in New York early October, the lower house said Sunday in a statement.

The representatives of the People's National Assembly in New York will make an address before the committee about "the necessity for the international community to assume responsibility towards the Saharawi people, who should exert their right to self-determination, according to the UN resolutions.

The Algerian delegation is made up of deputy chairman of the lower house, Salim Chennoufi, the head of the Parliamentary group for Algeria-Western Sahara friendship and fraternity, Bounab Saida Ibrahim, and MPs Ilyes Saadi and Djamel Madhi. (SPS)

062/090/700
Best-selling Authors Release Groundbreaking Book to Help Readers Achieve Lasting Change

'Take Your Life Back' by Steve Arterburn & Dr. David Stoop



Now Available Nationwide



Contact: Heidi McDow, 972-267-1111, heidi@alarryross.com; Zane Harrington, 972-267-1111, zane@alarryross.com



CAROL STREAM, Ill., Oct. 4, 2016 /Standard Newswire/ -- New York Times best-selling authors Stephen Arterburn and Dr. David Stoop, creators of the No. 1 bestselling Life Recovery Bible, are helping readers take action to improve their lives and liberate themselves from personal guilt, shame and pressure in their new book, "Take Your Life Back: Stop Letting the Past and Other People Control You." The book releases nationwide today, Oct. 4, from Tyndale (ISBN: 978-1-4964-1367-3, MSRP: $15.99, Format: Paperback, 272 pages).



"Take Your Life Back" uses personal examples, clinical insight and scriptural truth to help readers of all backgrounds identify and overcome negative relationships and situations that are barring them from living a fulfilled life.



"People are not free in this world. We have to ask ourselves 'Who or what owns you?'" said Arterburn. "Sometimes our entire lives are built on a some kind of fear or past experience. For me, there was a time in my life where I was controlled by darkness. I thought I had to earn forgiveness and freedom from my past actions by living in personal shame as punishment, but that is not the way life is supposed to be. We have to learn how to liberate ourselves from the daily darkness, anxiety and fear."



"Take Your Life Back" is aimed at helping people from all walks of life  whether married or single, dealing with the trials of parenting, facing addiction to food, finding a work-life balance or seeking to overcome shame and regret. In the book, Arterburn and Stoop guide individuals through recognizing and owning the need to change before providing the vital steps to obtain peace and balance in their lives.



"Any book by Steve Arterburn is a welcome event," said best-selling author and pastor Max Lucado. "But this book is especially timely. Read it and be instructed, inspired and encouraged."



In addition to the over-arching concept of the book, Arterburn and Stoop address how to overcome common obstacles in life, including: those with a compulsive need to say "yes;" properly responding rather than reacting to stress and crippling behaviors; toxic friendships and harmful relationships; addiction to social media, substance abuse, pornography and alcohol; and the failure to launch trend when young people in their late 20s and early 30s move back home rather than forging out on their own.



Arterburn and Stoop are well-respected leaders in their field with vital experience in helping people overcome life's trials. Arterburn, the founder Women of Faith and New Life Ministries, hosts "New Life TV" and the No. 1 nationally syndicated Christian counseling talk radio show, "New Life Live!" He has authored more than 100 books, including bestsellers such as "Every Man's Battle," and "Healing Is A Choice." Stoop is a licensed psychologist, a host of "New Life Live!," a pastor and Gold Medallion-winning author of more than 30 books.



In addition to "Take Your Life Back," the book's companion devotional, "Take Your Life Back Day by Day," will further provide readers essential daily encouragement grounded in Scripture for how to create God-honoring, healthy relationships. The wisdom offered in "Take Your Life Back Day by Day" will be able to offer real help to the broken relationships and also challenge people of faith to build stronger relationships.



"Take Your Life Back" is available now, just prior the 25th anniversary of the authors' best-selling Life Recovery Bible in January 2017. More information is available at takeyourlifeback.tv.



Note: To Editors: For more information on "Take Your Life Back," go to www.takebackyourlife.tv. To arrange an interview with Steve Arterburn or Dr. David Stoop, please contact Heidi McDow at Heidi@alarryross.com or call 972-267-1111.
Er is iets heel griezeligs aan de gang in Nederland. Dat wij geleidelijk aan in een totalitaire 'democratie' wegzinken wordt steeds ...
World powers convened in Brussels on Tuesday to raise billions more dollars for Afghanistan to keep the country running until 2020, but hopes for a new start to peace talks were overshadowed by a surge in Taliban insurgent violence.





Fifteen years after the U.S. invasion that ousted Taliban rulers who harbored jihadists behind the attacks on New York and Washington, Afghanistan remains reliant on international aid and faces resurgent militants that threaten its progress.





The two-day, European Union-led donor conference is seeking fresh funds, despite Western public fatigue with their governments' involvement in Afghanistan. Around 70 governments, including the United States, Russia, Iran, China and India, are attending, with pledges to be made on Wednesday.





"We're buying four more years for Afghanistan," said EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Mellbin.





EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini may try to bring together China, Iran, Russia, the United States, Pakistan and India on the sidelines of the conference in what would be the first concerted peace push since 2013.





"If we don't achieve peace, it's going to be extremely costly for the foreseeable future," Mellbin told Reuters.





U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met separately with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah in Brussels on Tuesday, a day after Taliban insurgents briefly entered the center of the northern city of Kunduz, raising questions about Afghan defenses.





A senior U.S. State Department official said the United States was prepared to restart a peace process "without any pre-conditions", and noted that after forty years of conflict, Afghans were tired of war. U.S. and EU officials have been encouraged by a smaller peace agreement last month between the Afghan government and a local warlord. - Read More




It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here.
Earlier this year, when she helping to care for a 93-year-old woman, Molly Monroe remembered how quickly they connected.

One of the first things she said to me is, I think were going to be friends. And I thought, Yes, I think were going to be friends, too,  Monroe said.

Monroe, 60, said she admired the womans outlook on life and her ability to laugh at herself. She cared for the woman for about four months and listened to her stories, sometimes over and over due to the womans failing memory. However, Monroe said she was blessed to have known the woman and been part of her life.

Monroe, who worked in Great Britains energy industry for over 20 years, returned to Longview in the mid-2000s to care for her mother. After her mothers death, she volunteered in hospice and eventually became a board member of the Hospice Care Foundation.

So it was a natural transition for Monroe when, a month ago, she became Executive Director for Amada Senior Care in Longview. Amada provides non-medical care such as housekeeping, meal preparation and transportation services.

Monroe said her passion for elder care comes from her personal experiences and wanting to provide help for people during the natural aging process.

I hope to make a difference in peoples lives. ... We all grow older and we all die. Its a fact. ... And those that have been blessed to grow older and gain the wisdom that comes with growing older ... for them to impart that wisdom is great, Monroe said. I treasure the time spent with older people and for them to tell me what theyve gone through and their stories, even if they tell me the same stories 100 times, I dont mind. Its like listening to history, and I find that wonderful and fascinating.

Amada has had an office in Longview most three years and is part of a larger franchise that includes 40 franchises in 19 states, Monroe said.

Amada serves about 40 seniors in the Longview area. It has 40 caregivers and will expand staff as its client base grows, Monroe said.

Mike Patterson of Longview chose Amada to care for his 93-year-old mother. Patterson said his mother wanted to die at home, rather than in a care facility, and Amada was able to provide the services she needed.

They not only helped mom in the morning with bathing and all those kind of physical needs, but they helped her fix her meals, wash her clothes and bedding, and also talked with her. They were really good at that, Patterson said. They were just great. They got along so good. My mom loved them, and as her dementia and Alzheimers worsened, she kept on repeating the same stories, but they were really patient with her. She even taught them how to knit.

Amadas services typically cost about $22 to $27 an hour, and for now it only accepts private pay. The company hasnt had a presence here long enough to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, Monroe said. However, Amada does work with clients to assess insurance options for long-term care, she said.

We walk them through the process, which for a lot of people is a great relief because it is very complex and very daunting for a lot of these people, Monroe said. Youre usually out of your depth, because youre knowing that they need help and youre not quite knowing how to provide it, and youre looking for help and youre looking for an advocate and we provide that kind of service for them.

The need for elder care is growing as Cowlitz Countys population, and the nations, continues to age.

In 2010, almost 18 percent of the population in Longview was 65 or older, about 5 percent higher than the state average, according to U.S. Census data.

The Baby Boom generation is well into retirement age, and by 2020, 55 million people are expected to be 65 years and older, according to AARP data.

Today, there are shortages of caregivers and wait-lists for assisted living facilities, said Nancy Verhei, CEO and founder of Elder Options in Longview. The situation is so acute that Elder Options recently started a program to train 60- to 70-year-olds to serve as part-time caregivers to older seniors.

Amada covers four counties, including Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific and Clark.

Monroe said Amada tries hire caregivers who provide the type of care they would expect someone to give their own loved ones.

We want them to love what they do and to care for the people that they care for as if they were their loved ones. So we want them to provide comfort, care and companionship to every senior thats in need as if they were their own family and to bring the families of those seniors peace of mind, Monroe said.

Im hoping that we can make Amada the number one choice for elder in-home care in Longview. That is my goal, Monroe said. I want to stay in this field as long as I can.
NASAs Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn has captured stunning image revealing two beautiful tiny moons orbiting the second largest planet of our solar system. One is in the top right corner while the other moon Pan can be seen moving in the Encke gap near lower right region of the image.

All orbiting bodies, large and small, follow the same basic rules. In this case, Pan (17 miles or 28 kilometers across) orbits closer to Saturn than Atlas (19 miles or 30 kilometers across). According to the rules of planetary motion deduced by Johannes Kepler over 400 years ago, Pan orbits the planet faster than Atlas does.

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 39 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 9, 2016.

The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 3.4 million miles (5.5 million kilometers) from Atlas and at a Sun-Atlas-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 71 degrees. Image scale is 21 miles (33 kilometers) per pixel.

Although, Pan may be very small and appears like a walnut sized object orbiting within the Encke Gap in Saturns A Ring but it is very important for the preservation of Rings as it keeps them apart and acts as a shepherd by maintaining the Encke Gap free of ring particles. (Read More)

Previously, NASA released an image in which Saturn rings appeared bending. Scientists of NASA explained that this is caused because the atmosphere of Saturn acts like a very big lens, some of the sunlight falling on it is absorbed but also as it reaches towards Cassinis camera, the path of the light is refracted or bent after passing from space to atmosphere and back into space. Read More

The US space agencys Cassini spacecraft has spotted strange activity on the Saturn rings. Earlier, the shadow of the planet was stretched across all the rings but the height of the shadow is strangely falling short and now covers fewer rings. Read More

In addition, the Cassini spacecraft that is orbiting Saturn had beamed back another beautiful image revealing bright spot on the B ring. It might seem strange to some, but NASA explained that glowing effect on the ring is due to the opposition surge which is making that particular area on the ring glow brightly. Read More

Cassini spacecraft reached Saturn 12 years ago and now it has entered in the last year of epic journey. According to the schedule of the US space agency, the spacecraft will end its mission on September 2017. Read More

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASAs Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
tech2 News Staff

According to a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook, claimed that augmented reality (AR) will be a big thing in the years to come. In fact, he went on to claim that it will be commonplace and that everyone will be using it in the same way as people use their smartphones.

It was indeed interesting to see Cook talk about augmented reality at the Utah Tech Tour. This is more so because Apple seems to be the only company that has yet to officially reveal a VR or an AR product. Apple who is known to make bold moves with its products (removal of the headphone jack, DVD drive etc.) has so far steered clear or VR or AR, which could hint that may be the world isn't ready for it just yet.

Tim Cook's inputs on VR and AR are pretty logical. As reported by MacWorld, he commented "nobody in here, few people in here, think it's acceptable to be tethered to a computer walking in here and sitting down, few people are going to view that it's acceptable to be enclosed in something, because we're all social people at heart." Cook was not against VR as he said, "I'm excited about VR from an education point of view, I think it can be really big for education, I think it can be very big for games. But I can't imagine everyone in here getting in an enclosed VR experience while you're sitting in here with me."

In short, it's just that VR will not cut it for people who are on the move. This may all seem like right direction for VR. But Google seems to have its own stand about VR. It's daydream platform is set to change things and while little has been known about it, we do know that it will be powered by smartphones.

Cook's philosophy about AR being better does hold plenty of water. This thanks to the fact that augmented reality experiences already exist and this is not just with hit games like Pokemon Go. Microsoft too is looking at something similar, but it takes things a step further and calls it mixed-reality instead.

Tim Cook with his comments does indeed hint at AR experiences coming to the company's hero product. The company has been acquiring a number of companies, including motion capture firm, Faceshift and Emotient and more recently, FlyBy Media, a company that creates augmented reality software. So it is clear that Apple will go all in with AR. What isn't clear is weather AR will appear on an iPhone or a new hero product that is yet to come. Something's definitely cooking at Apple.
Nimish Sawant

Back in Google I/O this year, Sundar Pichai had introduced the Daydream VR platform. At the #MadeByGoogle event, Google unveiled Daydream View, the first VR headset which will be compatible with the Daydream VR platform supported handsets. At the moment only Google Pixel/PixelXL phones support Daydream VR platform, but more devices are expected to be added to this list. Along with the Daydream View VR headset, a companion controller was also released.

Daydream View



The Daydream View VR headset will start selling in November at $79 (approx Rs 5300). The Daydream View will be up for pre-order in the US from 20 October and it will go on sale on Best Buy, Verizon and the Google Store in the US. It is also expected to launch in Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia in early November. India launch date is not known.

The first thing that strikes you about the Daydream View is the design. Unlike most plastic-made VR headsets that we have seen off late, the View is made of foam and soft washable fabric. The phone can be placed by opening the front flap of the headset and then the flap can be latched on top of the headset using an elastic loop. There is an adjustable hinge which lets you accommodate phones of different thicknesses inside it. It weighs around 220 grams which is lighter than the GearVR headset. The portion which will be in touch with your skin is nicely cushioned and is washable.

According to Google, even if you put in an unlocked phone inside the Daydream View headset, an NFC chip will tell the phone to launch Daydream VR app. After you have latched the phone using the elastic loop on top, the eye piece will help the headset decide the positioning of the phone and ensure that things are centre aligned. So as a user, you have less work to do getting things aligned.

The Daydream View will come in three colours: Slate, Snow and Crimson.

Daydream Controller



The other half of the headset is the Daydream controller, which was shown as a sketch back in Google I/O. The controller looks like the air remote we see on smart TVs, and it has a circular patch which is clickable on the top and in the centre there are two buttons - one Home and the other Menu button. There are volume buttons on the side and it houses sensors to detect motion. The controller can be slid inside the View's flap when it is not in use.

VR supported apps

Google showcased a VR game featuring JK Rowling's Harry Potter universe with a tie up with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them where you can assume the role of a wizard with the controller acting as a wand. Another game that will be available on launch includes Gunjack 2.

The Daydream app will also support Google apps such as Street View, Google Play Movies, YouTube 360 videos along with apps such as New York Times VR app, Netflix, Hulu, HBO and many more. Ordinary videos from these apps will be projected on a virtual screen which mimics a personal theatre. At launch, Daydream will have around 50 partners with more to be added in the near future. The Street View app will have tours of around 150 landmarks such as the Taj Mahal, Pyramids of Egypt and so on. There is also a virtual planetarium which has been created with Star Chart app, to add an educational edge to the Daydream platform.
Nimish Sawant

Chromecast has been a popular Google device since its first generation. With the latest Chromecast Ultra, Google has decided to go all out and enable 4K streaming. Chromecast Ultra will also support HDR and Dolby Vision.

Chromecast Ultra will start selling from November at $69 (approx Rs 4,600) and it is expected to be released in 16 countries globally. It's not known if India is in that list of countries.

Apps supported for 4K content include Netflix, Vudu, YouTube's 4K channels and even Google Play Movies & TV are expected to get 4K content in November. Here is complete list of apps supported.

Chromecast Ultra is around 1.8x faster than standard Chromecast, in terms of loading content due to improved Wi-Fi connectivity says Google. It also comes with an ethernet port which is integrated into the power adapter making is simple to connect to.

You can mirror content from your phones or laptops and it is also expected to work with Google Home when it is released.

The Chromecast Ultra continues with its circular design, and it now has a magnetic back where the HDMI cable of the Ultra attaches itself when not in use. It comes with a piano black finish with a prominent G logo instead of the Chrome branding.
Sheldon Pinto

In a few hours from now, Google is set to make one its biggest hardware announcements ever. At its October 4 event, the company is expected to announce two new smartphones, a new smartphone brand, an Amazon Echo-like Google Home and the official unveiling of the Google Assistant. While the invitations and marketing collateral focuses on just the Pixel smartphones, Google is going to take a big, bold stride and also make its second attempt to step into your home.

The Pixel conundrum

Starting with the smartphones, this is a big deal because this would be the changing face of Google trying to take control of Android. Think more like Microsoft building its Surface range of tablets, besides the fact that manufacturers already have many offering out there in various shapes and sizes. This is new for Google and the company will have plenty of explaining to do on stage as to why it suddenly decided to take control and build its very own smartphones called the Pixel and the Pixel XL.

Google will need to justify to Android fans as to why it suddenly decided to take control and build its own smartphone when the philosophy has always been about openness. And it is a tough spot to be in. On one side you have Android fans who have been waiting for something like this for a really long time. On the other hand, you have manufacturers questioning why Google who has been supporting them all along suddenly decided to bring its own "perfect Android creation" to the market to compete with its allies. Google could wriggle its way out by simply stating that HTC helped manufacture the smartphone, but then again that "Made by Google" home page that has been dangling on the web for the past couple of weeks will make little sense; won't it?

Pixel should have been Google's first attempt at manufacturing its own smartphone, but plenty have indicated that at least this year, the same will be made by HTC. The true reason (or the one that I choose to believe in) is that Google always needed to exercise some amount of control on Android to prevent it from getting modified and hacked out of its existence (this is a thing). A pure example of Android with the best hardware is going to be that shining example to show what Android without manufacturer customisation and skinning is truly capable of. It may look like a copy of Apple's formula, but it may be the one to help Android succeed, even though Google may have to make a few enemies in the bargain.

Google Home and the Nexus Q

Coming to Google Home, it sounded like a revolution when it was announced at Google I/O this year. But this is in fact Google's second attempt at physically getting into your home. Not many may remember this, but its first attempt was with the orb-like, Nexus Q streaming device. It was Google's attempt at simplifying the digital media player and making it accessible from anywhere provided your owned an Android-powered smartphone. Despite its unique use case, it was priced too high in comparison to the competition and it was discontinued even before it was officially launched. I/O 2012 attendees received their Nexus Qs and those who had pre-ordered them Google shipped the device for free.

So is Google Home the direct successor to the Nexus Q? That's a big no! Home is Google's attempt to step into your living room, but it comes much after the Amazon Echo, a voice based digital assistant. So technically Google Home is Google's answer to the Amazon Echo.

Its second attempt however has some potential and this because it is powered by Google Assistant, the company's smarter Google Now upgrade. Assistant is currently available only on Google Home and via Allo on Android devices. But it is set in a smarter and solid frame work. This is because Google already knows what you are looking for, what you do and what you are going to do next (Calendar). As creepy as this may sound, it knows your every move via your smartphone, and Allo and the Assistant works with this data. The end result is a voice assistant that understands natural language processing and can get things done for you. The only difference between Google Home and Allo is that Google Assistant can understand voice commands and respond via Home. On your smartphone, it is currently only available as a bot-like entity that you will have to type to chat with.

What Analysts think

Julie Ask, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester had plenty to comment about the upcoming launch. The launch of Google Home with Google Assistant uplevels Googles play as a virtual assistant and is a natural extension of Googles path towards becoming the agent that sits between brands and their customers. The holy grail of becoming a consumers virtual assistant will be hard for Google to obtain, but holds unprecedented business value if Google achieves this goal."

"Google faces an uphill battle to succeed with both Google Home or Allo because it does not have a strong track record of selling much of anything direct to consumers at scale. Yes, Google sold some consumer electronics with a few of its own phones and Glass. Platforms like Allo become essential when they have hundreds of millions of daily active users. The year 2016 is late to be starting with 0.

She concludes, "Both Home and Allo along with Google Assistant are essential to Googles portfolio and strength as a mobile power player longer term. Google needs to succeed here.

At the same time, there is another minor problem that comes with Google Home. Fatemeh Khatibloo, Principal Analyst, on consumer privacy and identity said that it could cause plenty of problems in your personal life. "The difference with this being an in-home device v. Google Now is the problem of householding. If there are multiple users of Google Now in a home, Google will have to do a lot of work to prioritize, suppress, manage how it makes recommendations. Imagine if she spoke a calendar reminder aloud that caused a conflict in the home.

So you see Google is playing catch up. This is a big launch and the three products mentioned above do mean a lot to Google because it lays the foundation of many things to come.
Nimish Sawant

Google had a raft of announcements at its #MadeByGoogle event which was held today in San Francisco. While the highlight of the event was the launch of the Google Pixel handsets, which marks a departure from the Nexus line, there were a series of announcements targeted at home users. Google WiFi is the router that was launched to enable multi-point mesh Wi-fi routing.

Google WiFi router can work as a stand alone router or work with multiple Google WiFi routers to create a sort of multi-point router network inside your home. The Google WiFi is built by improving on the Google OnHub router which Google had announced last year. Coming in a one-pack configuration for $129 (approx Rs 8,600) and a three-pack variant for $299 (approx Rs 20,000), the Google WiFi will be available for pre-order in the US in November and start shipping in December. There is no idea when it will be released in India as there was no mention of international availability.

The Google WiFi router supports AC1200 speeds along with simultaneous dual band 2.4GHz and 5GHs network support. It also uses Bluetooth connectivity for simpler set up purpose and making the mesh network. The idea is to get rid of dead spots in your home by having the routers connected to each other, across rooms, so that there is one big network in your house.

The Google WiFi also comes with a Network Assistant app which works in the background to ensure that you can easily add more routers to the network, have strong signals by optimising the network depending on your movements, and also letting you control the routers in different rooms. A companion app also lets you enable or disable router connections.
tech2 News Staff

Google is hosting an event tonight which will be held in San Francisco where the company is expected to launch new hardware. There have been rumours that the company will launch Google Pixel lineup of smartphones, to replace the existing Nexus lineup. The recent leaks and accidental listing have confirmed the launch of Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL. We have covered the leaks in a comprehensive post to keep you informed about all that can be expected from the event. The event will start at 9:30 PM Indian Local Time.

You can tune into the official live stream on YouTube by Google on any desktop or mobile device. Alternatively, you can check out our live blog where we will be posting the announcements and updates as they unfold in real time.

In addition to Google Pixel smartphones, the company is also expected to launch Daydream VR viewer, new Chromecast and audio chromecast and speaker. There are more rumours which indicate that the company may launch Andromeda, the amalgamation of Chrome OS and Android, Android Nougat 7.1 and a new tablet.

This is likely the last event in 2016 for Google as the company has already announced majority of projects like Android Nougat 7, Google Duo and Google Allo.
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Google is searching for the answer to a four-billion-dollar question: can a new, gentler approach from a US tech giant persuade the European Union to be more lenient in competition cases?

The world's dominant Internet search provider has been in the EU executive's crosshairs since November 2010, when the European Commission started an investigation after complaints that it had abused its position to crush smaller firms, an accusation once reserved for rival Microsoft. The Commission could fine Google up to 10 percent of global revenues - nearly $40 billion last year - and order changes to its operations. The alternative, a long battle in EU courts, might harm its image.

Key decisions are likely within months, and all participants in the investigation hope they can do better than previous cases. In the past, companies campaigned aggressively and faced stiff fines. For its part, the Commission was criticised for being too slow in an industry that needed to keep innovating.

Competition chief Joaquin Almunia said last month he was keen to get a faster resolution than in the past. Google says it has learned not to be openly combative.

Almunia has said he has "concerns where Google business practices may be considered as abuses of dominance". These include the possibility Google's general searches direct users to its own specialist search services, away from smaller rivals. He said on Friday Google had until early July to come up with remedies- that is, to decide how much of its operational model it would be prepared to give up. In particular, Google might need to give away aspects of its search algorithms - its Web search instructions, a secret that some compare to the formula for Coca-Cola.

"We Get It"

The case marks a coming-of-age for the company which rose on the mantra "Don't be evil."

Since the EU investigation started, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has been on a campaign to show Google in a conciliatory light, highlighting the ways it benefits Europe. The company has sponsored studies, one of which found that the Internet created 2.6 jobs for each one it destroyed.

However, Google's European story-line now has much in common with those of other big American tech firms: they achieve market dominance and annoy competitors who complain the big company is ruining their business, and attack in the EU.

Microsoft was accused in 1998 of not giving rivals enough information to design products that could work with its dominant Windows PC operating system, a case broadened in 2000 to include video players. In 2004, it was fined 497 million euros and went on the attack, funding lobby groups to push its case. Bill Gates said that Microsoft's rivals were trying to use EU regulators to "castrate" his new operating system.

In 2008, EU regulators slapped Microsoft with the Commission's biggest-ever fine of 899 million euros for delaying changes it had demanded. (The record was beaten in 2009 by a 1.06 billion euro fine on chipmaker Intel.)

Schmidt told a US Senate hearing in September it would not seek to antagonise regulators. "We get it," he told lawmakers, alluding to Microsoft. "By that I mean, we get the lessons of our corporate predecessors."

80 Percent

As well as being an important market for tech firms, the EU for some years has been a more promising arena for antitrust business than the US.

The Commission is obliged to examine all complaints it receives, though it only opens formal proceedings on merit. According to Lars Kjolbye, a partner in the Brussels office of law firm Covington and Burling, US courts and agencies have become quite conservative, whereas EU agencies have been much more willing to expand the limits of the law when they believe something harms the economy.

In Europe, the obstacles to saying, 'You've violated the law because you didn't give competitors access to information' have been gradually watered down over the last 10 or 15 years, he says. "Companies tend to go to Europe as plaintiffs in abuse of dominance cases because they're more likely to get traction with the agencies."

Google's competition includes Microsoft but is mostly small, specialist Internet services which argue the Silicon Valley giant is ensuring their names come low or don't even figure in searches.

In Europe, 80 percent of Web searches are run on Google, according to the most recent figures by comScore, compared with 67 percent in the US. Its opponents say that means Google, which makes its money by advertising sales, can make or break a business by its ranking. They say Google is skewing the market to help its ventures in specialised searches such as travel.

Three firms originally complained to the Commission in early 2010. They included 1PlusV, which runs French legal search website Ejustice.fr, and British search firm Foundem, which helps users find low-cost household gadgets.

Foundem in 2011 published a narrative saying Google had become a strangler of start-ups. "Google crushed competition in price comparison, video search and travel," says Foundem CEO Shivaun Raff. "Many firms have died when shut out of Google results," she adds, citing a British online map service, streetmap.co.uk.

Opponents - the number later grew to 16- also point out that Google has been launching new services such as Google+, a social network which encourages people to spend more time on Google's own services.

Almunia, who has had a team of around a dozen competition lawyers on the case, has alluded to this complaint. He also said he was concerned Google may be copying original material such as user reviews from rival websites such as Yelp; that it might be shutting out online advertising consultants and agencies; and that it might prevent users from reaching rival ad systems from AdWords, Google's auction-based advertising business.

For Google's enemies, the fact Almunia gave a public heads-up in May could herald punishments to come. "It tells us the commission thinks there is substance to a number of the complaints," said David Wood, a lawyer who represents I-comp, an industry group that is highly critical of Google. "Google needs to come up with something pretty substantial."

Google- which has boosted its antitrust team in Europe to five lawyers from three in the last two years- said it disagreed with Almunia's conclusions. Users are not locked in, it says, but can easily switch to Microsoft's Bing or an alternative, a crucial difference between cases where users can run only one computer operating system. It also says the complaints are basically a result of all companies wanting to turn up first in its search results.

"Not every website can come out on top, or even appear on the first page of our results," Susan Wojcicki, a senior executive for product management, and Udi Manber, vice president for Engineering, commented in a joint blog post on the EU probe. "So there will almost always be website owners who are unhappy about their rankings."

Moreover, Google says the small companies claiming to be its victims are linked to Microsoft. The third original complainant, Ciao.de, is a German travel search site owned by Microsoft. Several are also members of I-comp, whose most prominent member is Microsoft, and which produces position papers on subjects such as web market concentration. I-comp lawyer Wood acknowledges the organisation is not independent, but says "our palette is much broader than Microsoft's."

Social Media Rivals

Google also points out that it faces increasing competition, online and on mobiles, from companies such as Facebook. "Competition on the web has increased dramatically in the last two years since the Commission started looking at this and the competitive pressures Google faces are tremendous," Google spokesman Al Verney said in a statement. "Innovation online has never been greater."

Meanwhile, it has been doing deals to try to appease complainants in separate cases and raise its image. It has agreed with several royalty collection societies to deliver payments for material played on its YouTube site, signed an accord with France's biggest book publisher Hachette Livre on out-of-print books, and blurred out photos of German homes on Street View after complaints over privacy. On one trip to France, Google boss Schmidt met then-President Nicolas Sarkozy and pledged to build a European cultural institute and a Paris R&D centre. Sarkozy in turn said he would launch a channel on YouTube.

It's not clear if all this can help.

In the US, says Eric Goldman, Director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, the question is: "Is Google benefiting consumers? So long as they are doing a good job for consumers, we don't care that other companies are getting squeezed." But to establish an abuse in EU law it is not always necessary to prove consumer harm, according to an EU official.

Any disciplinary action could lead to more than a fine. An adverse EU decision may spark damages claims in other jurisdictions worldwide. Seven months after the EU announced its investigation, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched its own probe into Google's business practices.

"The greater risk is to Google's business model," said Albert Foer, president of US-based think tank American Antitrust Institute. "How will it have to be modified in order to satisfy a variety of regulators who reflect different laws, different economic factors, and different cultures?"

Reuters
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Juno Inc, a startup looking to attract drivers from bigger ride-sharing rivals such as Uber Technologies Inc by offering them its own stock, is seeking $50 million in its biggest fundraising round to date, according to a person familiar with the matter. Investors have poured more than $28 billion into the ride services sector over the past decade, propelling growth at Uber, Lyft Inc, China's Didi Chuxing Technology Co and a host of smaller upstarts, such as Gett.

Economists have said there may be scope for even more competition, because ride-sharing services are relatively cheap to start, depend on contract labor with no inherent loyalty or specialized skills, and have free apps that can be downloaded in seconds. Juno is working with investment bank Mizuho Financial Group Inc to find investors, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

The person said Juno had previously raised $30 million from companies such as Japan's Rakuten Inc and angel investors. Chief Executive Officer Talmon Marco declined to comment on the funding, but hinted that Juno had ambitious expansion plans. "Moving forward you should definitely expect to see Juno outside New York City, as for where and when it's too early to discuss this," Marco said in an interview. Mizuho could not be reached for comment.

To stand out in the crowded ride sharing market and compete with well-funded rivals, Juno distributes equity to drivers every quarter in the form of restricted stock units. These stock units, which vest after a certain amount of time, can be cashed out after a "liquidity" event such as a sale of initial public offering, similar to incentives given to employees at technology startups.

"I don't think our drivers are going to make millions, but they will potentially make a nice chunk of money in addition to their ongoing earnings," Marco said. Juno only allows drivers to join the company if they already drive for Uber and Lyft and have high ratings. While its prices for riders are comparable to its competitors, it also takes about 10 percent commission from drivers, a smaller cut than Uber or Lyft, Marco said.

When asked about how Juno will make money with a smaller commission, Marco said it spends less to recruit drivers. Juno has brought on 16,000 drivers since starting its service in New York four months ago, Marco said.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

Finally, Microsoft officials have confirmed there won't be a band 3 this year, according to ZDNet.

While there is no Band 3 at the upcoming event, Microsoft removing any reference of the Band from its stores has only further added fuel to the fire about the dying Band lineup. Citing a tipster, the report claims that a cached version of the Microsoft Online Store listing from October 2 showed the Band devices, but by October 3, all references to the Band devices were gone.

Further hinting at the dying or rather dead Band lineup, the report reveals that the Band software development kit SDK has also been removed. "Microsoft is believed to have disbanded the software team that was looking to bring Windows 10 to the Band a couple months ago," adds the report. However, there is no official word on Microsoft plans to kill the Band fitness lineup.

Some previous reports said that Microsoft Health app could be renamed to Band app, and the company reportedly said that it will continue to support the Band 2. Meanwhile, there are reports about the companys plans to launch an AIO Surface PC this month.
Nimish Sawant

Companion robots as well as humanoid robots are a thing in Japan. And the latest addition to that list is the Kirobo Mini robot, which is a palm-sized robot that is being positioned as a synthetic baby which can carry out casual conversations while being driven around in a car or at your home. In Japan, where the birth rates are plummeting and the population is ageing fast, the Kirobo Mini is being positioned as a companion robot for the elderly as well. Toyota plans to start retailing Kirobo Mini in 2017 for 39,800 Japanese Yen which comes to around $400 (approx Rs 27,000).

According to Reuters, the Kirobo Mini is Toyota's non-automotive product which is aimed at the personal home-robot market. The Kirobo Mini is a smaller version of the Kirobo, which was a robot developed by Toyota and sent into space in 2013 along with Koichi Wakata who was the first Japanese astronaut to be commanding the International Space Station.

Kirobo Mini's chief designer engineer says that the robot is meant to emulate a seated baby and tends to wobble a bit, to mimic a growing baby who is yet to learn the skills to balance itself. Toyota has gone this specific to add an element of vulnerability to the robot which will evoke an emotional reaction from its owners. It can recognise facial expressions, so it can tell if the person is happy or sad and accordingly respond to your emotions. This 10cm tall robot aims to be your companion on your long car rides as well, since according to Toyota, people spend and average of 4.3 years of their lives inside cars.

The Kirobo Mini can respond to your queries, blink its eyes (thanks to the LED lights around the eyes) and has a high pitched voice just like that of a growing baby. Toyota has even gone ahead an added a cradle to go along with the Kirobo Mini, which can fit into a car's cup holder. Sure, the idea of a robot mimicking a little baby and being marketed as a product to fill in that gap, does raise some ethical questions, but then this isn't the first companion robot launched in Japan.

Japan is a leader as far as use of industrial robots is concerned, with around 314 machines per 100,000 employees, as per the International Federation of Robots. Toyota, which is heavily investing in artificial intelligence research, will definitely use the Kirobo Mini to gain more insights to help it make more advanced robots which can recognise as well as respond to human communication.

The Kirobo Mini though looks a bit too similar to the RoboHon robot, which was developed by Sharp. But one major difference is that the RoboHon is priced at $1800 (approx Rs 1,20,000) and houses a fully functioning phone inside it. We had seen the RoboHon at this year's Mobile World Congress, and it is pretty darn interesting.

The Toyota Kirobo Mini on the other hand requires a smartphone connection to work and it will work with a companion app which will require a 300 Yen monthly subscription fee, according to The Verge. The audio is sent from Kirobo's microphone to the companion app running on the smartphone. From here, the voice is passed on to Toyota's cloud service which runs it through its voice recognition service and then an appropriate response is generated which is then sent back to the companion app, to be ultimately spoken out by the Kirobo Mini Robot. The Kirobo Mini can also gesticulate when it is speaking, moving its arms and so on.

Kirobo Mini also has the ability to learn about its owner through conversations. Also so long as it is lodged in the car, it can link to the Toyota car's IT system and know about the journey and provides comments such as 'That was a long drive, well done'. The Kirobo Mini can run on a single charge for up to 2.5 hours.

One of the main reasons for the proliferation of companion robots in Japan can be attributed to the rapidly aging population who need companionship. Japan's immigration laws do not make it easier to get a more younger population from other countries to work in the country. This has led to government looking at robots to fill in the space. One of the most popular examples of a robot being used in therapy is the Paro Robot, which is an advanced interactive robotic seal which uses animal therapy to reduce stress among the elderly. It remains to be seen how Kirobo Mini will be adapted into the average Japanese person's lifestyle, considering its relatively economical pricing.
tech2 News Staff

Amazon surprised everyone with the Echo connected speaker that came with Siri-like assistant called Alexa. No one was expecting such a feat from Amazon, especially after the Fire phones debacle. The product received rave reviews as it served as a control centre for all smart home devices. Now Google plans to go head-on with Amazon with the all-new Google Home expected to be released for users tomorrow. With Alexa's plans to take on your kitchen, hall or probably the whole house, Google has set the stage for its Home.

Google Home, just like Echo, is a Wi-Fi speaker that works as a control centre for your home and your voice will be the remote control. Google also went ahead and announced Google Assistant, which is also a Siri-like bot akin to Alexa, taking cues from Google Now. Users can set alarms, manage to-do list, connect smart home, home networking syncing, Nest devices and so on. Further in the future it will be able to control stuff outside your homes  opening garage doors, ordering flowers, etc. Any member of your family can ask anything and it will provide with an answer. It features the Farfield voice recognition technology, so it knows who is asking the query and offers personalised results. These queries can range from search results, accessing apps or to remind you about your schedule.

It makes use of the Chromecast Audio technology to play music via streaming services, or you can simply push your local music library from your phone. Cast also supports multi room playback and let you control your video content, just tell Google Home and the relevant content will appear on your connected TV. Now Amazon devices don't sync with each other, and that's where Google's Home could have an edge. Google will also allow more personalisation of the device with colours and so on. Having said that, Amazon has ensured Alexa gets timely updates and we've also seen Dots. Amazon had launched Echo along with Alexa just in time for 2014 holiday season, and Google's Home comes in two years later. The head-start allowed Amazon to improve on the product.

Google, that is now playing catch up with Amazon, has to sketch an in-depth plan. Many call Echo and Alexa an 'accidental win', but a win is a win after all. It is to be seen how Google Home manages to woo audiences. Apart from how it fares, it's the reach of Google's Home that could be a deciding factor. So, how soon will Google allow third parties to integrate its Google Assistant-kind software into their devices, just like Alexa is open to all. Rumours trickling in reveal that it could just be in the pipeline.

Along with Chromecast, Google Home is also said to support Samsung SmartThings IoT platform. And allowing integration within third-party smart speakers may just make things difficult for Amazon. However for years, we've seen how Amazon skillfully managed to sell its tablets by camouflaging a forked Android OS. Looks like, Echo's success has miffed Google and in a bid to out-throw its competitor, Google plans to cut off vendors'who products support Alexa, or atleast so says some reports hinting at anti-competitive methods. Google is also planning to rebrand the Google Cast app to the Google Home app.

Another deciding factor could be the price point, Google plans to go head on with Amazon and will reportedly price the Home $50 less at $129 (approx Rs 8,579).
tech2 News Staff

Earlier this year we saw Xiaomi partnering with Google to make a standalone device which could convert your TV into an Android TV. The Mi Box seemed to have potential however it never saw a release date, until now. The Chinese giant has finally made Mi Box official which will be heading first to the US with a price of just $69.

This is Xiaomis first ever product for the US which first made its appearance earlier this year. While Android TV hasnt picked up as much as Googles own Chromecast, it is still quite an intuitive platform. And for those who are concerned, Google Cast as well as Voice Search has been integrated into the Mi Box.

So you can sit back on a comfy couch and cast almost anything from your smartphone to your TV via the Mi Box. You can also do a quick voice search by speaking into the bundled remote, to get results from TV, movies, games and more. Of course you get recommendations and a variety of content including access to the Google Play Store and the plethora of apps.

According to Xiaomi, the Mi Box is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and Mali 450 GPU along with 2GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB eMMC flash. It supports 4K and HDR (High Dynamic Range) with support for 60 frames per second and Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Surround Sound, making it a pretty capable set top box in its range.

Currently India only has Sony selling Android TV based television sets which start at about Rs 50,000, which is quite a price. We are assuming that Xiaomi will take its time if it ever plans to bring the Mi Box to India considering the fact that Android TV not very popular here.
An Australian imam was attacked and beaten with a shoe live on Egyptian television after he suggested Islamic women should not be forced to wear a veil in public.



Sydney-based Mostafa Rashid was debating the issue of female dress codes under Islam when his opponent, Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh, took off his shoe and chased him around the studio, all the while beating him around the head with his footwear.

An Australian imam got attacked by an Egyptian lawyer on television because he suggested women not be forced to wear veils:Many Muslims consider hitting with shoes a big insult, and the crackpot who did that clearly thought so too. A pure disgrace, and for that he should be made to go barefoot.

Labels: Australia, dhimmitude, Egypt, islam, misogyny, Moonbattery
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Students block Sylhet-Tamabil highway, demand arrest of Khadija`s attacker

Students of MC College staged a demonstration blocking Sylhet-Tamabil highway on Tuesday morning, demanding to arrest Badrul Alam, a Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader who stabbed college student Khadija Akter Nargis on Monday.



The protesting students took position on the highway around 10 am and blocked it.



They demanded justice and trial of Khadija`s attacker.



Meanwhile, the victim was shifted to Square Hospital in Dhaka city early Tuesday. She has been kept on life support.



On Monday evening, Khadija Akter Nargis, 23, a student of Sylhet Government Mohila College and daughter of Masuk Miah, a resident of Hausa village in Sadar upazila, was stopped on her way to home from college by Badrul Alam, 30, is assistant secretary of BCL unit at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).



At one stage, Badrul, son of Saidur Rahman, a resident of Manirgati village in Chhatak upazila of Sunamganj district, stabbed Khadija indiscriminately, leaving her critically injured, said ADC of Sylhet Metropolitan of Police (SMP) Jedan Al Musa.



Hearing screams of the victim, locals rescued Khadija and caught Badrul from the spot and handed him over to polic after giving him a good thrashing.



Khadija was rushed to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital from where she was referred to Dhaka around 12.10am on Tuesday as her condition deteriorated.



Badrul was also admitted to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital under police custody.



The victim`s family sources noted that in the past Badrul proposed her, but was rejected. Badrul used to live at the victim`s family residence as a lodging tutor at that time. --Sylhet, Oct 4 (UNB)
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, among others, at a memorial meeting on the party\'s Standing Committee member ASM Hannan Shah in the auditorium of Engineers\' Institution in the city on Tuesday.
USA academic calls on DU VC





Dr EM Pannah, a cyber security expert also Professor of the University of Maryland, USA called on Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. AAMS Arefin Siddique at the latter's office on the campus on Tuesday.

During the meeting, they discussed about the possibilities of development of academic programmes on cyber security at Dhaka University, a DU press release said.

They also discussed for introducing a short course on cyber security at DU Computer Science and Engineering department while they also agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard soon. Professor of DU Computer Science and Engineering department Dr Md Hasanuzzaman joined the meeting, among others, the release added.
Call for raising awareness against breast cancer





State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki on Tuesday called for creating awareness among women against breast cancer."Women are not adequately aware about this (breast cancer)," she said while speaking as special guest at a discussion marking "Breast Cancer Awareness Month-2016" at Uttara Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital in the city.

The state minister said about 22,000 people are being diagnosed with breast cancer in the country annually and the rate of death among them is high. She said most of the women in the country do not have their own money or property to spend for improved treatment in case of any fatal disease. Therefore, they feel helpless and ultimately die. Chumki stressed the need for creating awareness against breast cancer and said the government will give all possible cooperation for the treatment of cancer patients. Awami League Presidium Member and former minister Advocate Sahara Khatun, MP, addressed the function as the chief guest with President of Dhaka Ahsania Mission Kazi Rafiqul Alam in the chair. Prof AMM Shariful Alam, Prof Harun Ur Rashid, Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital Director General Brig Gen (Retd) Syed Fazle Karim, consultant doctors and officials of the hospital were present, among others, at the meeting.

"The number of cancer and heart patients is increasing in the country," Sahara Khatun said, adding that the treatment of breast cancer is now possible in Bangladesh.

She also urged Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital to take special care of poor patients.
Chief Justice calls on President

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha called on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Tuesday. Press Wing, Bangabhaban photo





Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha made a courtesy call on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the Chief Justice apprised the President of various activities of the Supreme Court, President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin told BSS.

He highlighted the shortage of offices and accommodation of the judges across the country and sought the President's cooperation to solve those problems.

Surendra Kumar Sinha said digitization has been introduced in the judiciary and it has brought more dynamism in the activities of the judiciary. This process will be continued in the future, he added.

The Chief Justice also apprised the President of his recent visits to Russia and Belarus.

Abdul Hamid advised the Chief Justice to take necessary steps to settle pending cases within a shortest possible time.

Secretaries concerned to the President were present.
Lightning strike kills 2 in Sylhet

Sylhet Correspondent :

Two people were killed in a lightning strike in front MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital in the city on Sunday morning.

One the deceased was identified as Abdul Mukit.

Witnesses said the thunderbolt stuck them as they were standing in front of the emergency unit of the hospital around 8.30am, leaving Mukit dead on the spot and another unidentified man injured.

The injured was admitted to the hospital where doctor declared him dead.




Gazette of DAP yet to be published by KDA even over two years

Ahsanul Amin George, Khulna :

Khulna Development Authority (KDA) has proposed a plan called 'detailed Area Plan' (DAP) before two ands a half years but Gazette was not published still.

KDA officials, of course, assured that the gazette will be published within short time. Besides, no plans are being approved beyond the DAP, KDA official sources said.

It is mentionable that in the proposed plan 26 maujas of Khulna city corporation, Naoapara Pairashava, (Jessore), Tilok area of Rupsha and 78 maujas of Senhati-Barakpur Area Under Digholia Upazila were included.

With a view to turn Khulna into a modern Metropolitan City, this Master Plan was taken which will be implemented by 33 Government Organizations gradually.

Up to 2023, population of Khulna will stand at around 17 lakh. 171.51 Km new roads will be needed for new areas.

83 Primary Schools, 14 high Schools, one institute, orphanage, 2 general hospitals, one specialized hospital, one nursing institute, 14 markets, 3 metropolitan parks and four town centers will be built according to the plan.

Zero point will be the central trading point as per DAP.

Besides, KDA has extended its area up to Mongla.

Meanwhile, on May 12, 2014 KDA opened its Naoapara office at Naoapara poura bhabon temporarily.

On August 31, 2014, on the banner of 'KDA's land acquire protect Sangram committee, agitated Naoapara inhabitants observed agitation by blocking Khulna Jessore highway. The agitated people are not agree to give their ancestral properties to KDA for any kind of development works.

It is notable that the then KDA chairman Brigadier general Shamsul Alam Khan arranged a press conference at KDA Bhaban on September 2, 2014 while he stated that KDA has no plan to acquire land at this moment at Noapara. They (KDA) are Planning and marking of some projects which might be implemented only after approval of DAP, he added.

KDA is always ready to discus with local people, representatives or any Sangram committee before taking any decision, KDA Chairman added.

KDA Chairman requested to remove all kinds of misunderstandings so that Noapara may be developed in future.

Md. Mujibar Rahman, Chief engineer of KDA Said, DAP means a probable Plan. A Section of people are Spreading rumor that KDA is acquiring lands, but it's not true, he added.
Philippine-US war games under way as doubts hang over alliance

Philippine marines (in green) and their US counterparts (in light brown), seen after simulating an assault during their annual amphibious landing exercise in San Antonio

Reuters, Manila :

The Philippines and the United States launched annual joint military exercises on Tuesday, barely a week after the new president in Manila said they would be the last.

President Rodrigo Duterte has angrily rejected U.S. concerns over the bloody war on drugs he has launched since coming to office in June. His frequent tirades have thrown into question one of Washington's most important alliances in Asia.

However, the annual amphibious landing exercises between the Philippines military and U.S. Marines were to take place as planned in the northern island of Luzon on Tuesday. U.S. and Philippine personnel were seen linking arms and chatting at an opening ceremony in Manila. The exercises run until Oct. 12.

"We share a unique and enduring bond in this region, and each year we are offered an invitation to strengthen our relationship during (these exercises)," U.S. Marine Brigadier General John Jansen said in a speech. Military leaders from both countries have also started preparing for a new set of exercises next year.

Duterte has engaged in near-daily outbursts against the United States for the past month, at one point calling U.S. President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch", raising questions about whether Manila might complicate regional diplomacy. Despite U.S. dismay over Duterte's remarks, current and former U.S. officials played down the impact. Duterte later said he regretted using that language to describe Obama.. Washington relies on its alliance with the Philippines to cement its influence in Asia as a counterbalance to China's rapid rise. Duterte has appeared to actively court its rivals Russia and China, saying they expressed support when he complained to them about the United States.
US drops Russia talks as Syria pushes Aleppo onslaught

Suicide attack on wedding party kills 32

Syrian regime forces gather at the Kindi Hospital as smoke billows following airstrikes on Aleppo.

AFP, Washington :

The United States has abandoned its effort to convince Russia to impose a ceasefire on the Syrian regime as government forces pursued their relentless onslaught on eastern Aleppo.

Accusing Moscow of abetting Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad's assault on civilian districts of the city, Washington said it had suspended bilateral talks with Russia on reviving a truce.

"Everybody's patience with Russia has run out," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

A State Department official said US Secretary of State John Kerry is "laser-focused" on finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict through multilateral channels.

But his near-daily telephone calls and regular Geneva talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the crisis are over.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesman John Kirby said, announcing an end to plans to set up a joint US-Russian military cell to target jihadists. There was no word on what America's "Plan B" might be despite rumors of tougher US sanctions and talk that Saudi Arabia and Qatar might step up arms shipments to anti-Assad rebels.

At the United Nations, Russia dismissed a French-drafted UN resolution aimed at imposing a ceasefire in Aleppo as having "no chance of working," insisting the priority should be fighting jihadists in Syria.

"I'm not even sure many other council members would like to see a resolution on cessation of hostilities which has no chance of working," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

The Russian and US militaries will keep a communications channel set up to ensure their forces do not get in each other's way during "counterterrorism operations in Syria," Kirby said.

But US personnel who had been sent to Geneva to set up a "Joint Implementation Center" with Russian officers are coming home.

"We regret this decision by Washington," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, Russian news agencies reported.

A truce was declared on September 12 under a deal Kerry and Lavrov signed in Geneva last month, but it collapsed within a week.

Washington accused Moscow of failing to rein in Assad's government forces and of carrying out air strikes on civilian targets, including a UN aid convoy.

Moscow, meanwhile, says the United States failed to separate "moderate" anti-Assad rebels from jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda.

According to Kirby, Russia was "unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed."

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber has struck a wedding in northeast Syria as the bride and groom were exchanging vows, killing 32 people and wounding dozens, a medical source and witnesses said.

The bomber blew himself up late Monday in the village of Tall Tawil in Hasakeh province where a Kurdish party official was getting married.

Rows of seats in the wedding hall were still covered in blood on Tuesday morning, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

"As the bride and groom were exchanging their vows I saw a man wearing a thick black jacket pass beside me," a witness named Ahmad said.
Turkey suspends 12,800 police, tightening clampdown after failed coup

Over 12,000 police officers were suspended over suspected links to the Gulen movement.

Reuters, Ankara :

Hours after announcing a three-month extension of a state of emergency, Turkey suspended 12,801 police officers on Tuesday, saying they had suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating July's failed coup.

In a statement, Turkey's national police headquarters said 2,523 of those suspended were police chiefs. The overall number represents more than 5 percent of Turkey's entire police force.

They "have been assessed to have communications or links to the Gulenist Terror Organisation, identified as a threat to national security," the written police statement said.

Turkey lists the religious movement led by Gulen as an illegal terrorist network, though he has denied having any link to the uprising.

State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the Interior Ministry's headquarters had also been removed from their posts. It was not clear if both measures were linked.

President Tayyip Erdogan has taken unprecedented steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies since the attempted coup on July 15. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 people have been arrested.

Tuesday's move came hours after deputy prime minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus announced that a state of emergency imposed shortly after the failed coup would be extended for a further 90 days when it expires on Oct. 19.

The emergency powers allow Erdogan effectively to rule by decree, with his decisions not subject to oversight by the Constitutional Court, Turkey's highest legal authority. Parliament is expected to wave the extension through.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Kurtulmus said the extension would allow Turkey to wipe out "terrorist organizations", code for Gulenists. Erdogan has suggested the state of emergency could last more than a year.

In a further sign of the government's desire to move quickly to quell opposition, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to suspected coup plotters.

"One of the main goals is the shortening of sentencing times," he said at an economic conference. "We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly."
NHA celebrates World Habitat Day

The World Habitat Day was observed by National Housing Authority (NHA) at the Conference room of Chittagong Circle on Monday. This year slogan is "Housing at the Centre".

A discussion meeting was held at the Conference Hall of NHA at NasirabadChaired by Executive Engineer ,Chittagong Division Mohammed SamsulAlam.

Md. Nasim Hossain , Superintended Engineer Chittagong Circle was present as Chief Guest and addressed the function while Regional Vice president of Diploma Engineers association Md Asrafuzzman was present as Special Guest.

Regional Vice President of CBA Md. MasudurRahman, General Secretary of divisional Executive Committee Mohammed Rafiqueullah was also attended the discussion.

Sub-Assistant Engineer Mohammed Jamal Hossain worked as moderator. All officers and Staff of National Housing authority (NHA) attended the discussion Meeting authority sources said.


Forced displacement: A developing world crisis

World Bank Story :

Forced displacement is a crisis centered in developing countries, which host 89 percent of refugees and 99 percent of internally displaced persons, says a new World Bank report. At its root are the same 10 conflicts which have accounted for the majority of the forcibly displaced every year since 1991, consistently hosted by about 15 countries - also overwhelmingly in the developing world.

"Forcibly Displaced - Toward a development approach supporting refugees, the internally displaced, and their hosts" is a groundbreaking study conducted in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which examines the role of development in resolving the challenge of forced displacement. It responds to the growing need to better manage these crises as an important development challenge, part of an overall effort to reduce poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of development support is to address the longer term, social and economic dimensions of displacement, in close collaboration with humanitarian and other partners working in complementary ways.

While the current crisis is severe-with a reported 65 million people living in forced displacement-the report finds that over the past 25 years, the majority of both refugees and Internally Displaced Persons under UNHCR's mandate can be traced to just a few conflicts in the following areas: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Colombia, the Caucasus and the former Yugoslavia.

Since people typically flee to neighbors of their countries of origin, the responsibility of hosting has not been shared evenly. About 15 countries have consistently been hosting the majority of refugees. At the end of 2015, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, Syria's neighbors, hosted 27 % of all refugees worldwide; Pakistan and Iran, Afghanistan's neighbors, hosted 16 %; and Ethiopia and Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan's neighbors, hosted 7%.

"Forced displacement denies development opportunities to millions, creating a major obstacle to our efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. "We're committed to working with our partners to help the displaced overcome their ordeal and seize economic opportunities, while ensuring that host communities can also benefit and continue to pursue their own development."

"The search for durable solutions for refugees, internally displaced and stateless persons is central to our mandate," said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi. "Enabling dignified and productive lives through development investment is key to this challenge. Working in a cooperative and complementary partnership, I hope humanitarian and development agencies can make a real difference in the lives of the world's poorest and most marginalized populations."

Unlike economic migrants who move to places where there are jobs, the forcibly displaced are fleeing conflict and violence, often suffering from a loss of assets, lack of legal rights, absence of opportunities, and a short planning horizon. They need dedicated support to overcome these vulnerabilities and regain confidence in their future-so they can work, send their children to school, and have access to services. Left without support, the displaced may face hardship and marginalization, as do those who are negatively affected in host communities, which can hamper development efforts.

The report identifies three phases of forced displacement where development institutions can intervene to help reduce the costs of the crisis.

1. Prevention and preparedness:

Help potential hosts prepare before large numbers of people arrive by planning for contingencies, developing instruments to transfer resources rapidly, and creating 'surge capacity' for service delivery. Forced displacement peaks at an average of 4.1 years after its onset, giving countries time to prepare.

Strengthen the resilience of those who stay behind, by financing investment in stable parts of unstable countries to maintain livelihoods. People weigh the risks of staying against the risks of leaving, and the majority stay, coping until they have exhausted all other options.

2. Mid-crisis action:

Support host communities in addressing long-standing development issues, such as improving the business environment and reducing inequalities, which the presence of forcibly displaced may exacerbate.

Strengthen and expand delivery of education, health, urban and environmental services to cope with the increase in population.

Encourage policies that enhance freedom of movement and the right to work for the displaced, which are in the interest of host communities as well.

Help the displaced move to places where there are opportunities, create jobs in hosting areas, or invest in skills and education that are in demand in the labor market

3. Rebuilding Lives:

Support successful return by creating jobs and opportunities in communities receiving returnees, and assist with recovery efforts.

Help those in displacement integrate locally, by providing development support for countries that are willing to provide adequate legal status to refugees.

Financing the global response will take significant resources. Development institutions can broaden financing approaches including contingent financing to support preparedness; policy or results-based financing; and guarantees to stimulate stronger private sector investment. Middle-income host countries need access to concessional financing, and low-income host countries require additional resources.
Uncertainties should not overshadow post-Brexit trade

CLOTHING suppliers, who benefit from duty-free access to the UK might suffer as a result of Brexit unless special terms of access are negotiated, as per a report carried out by The New Nation on Tuesday. It said suppliers in major clothing exporting countries, including Bangladesh, could be excluded from preferential access to the UK market now governed by EU laws when Britain leaves the European Union. It is high time in our view to prepare for new negotiation with the British government as soon as possible to avoid any risk.



UK will start the exit process early next year and it will take more or less two years as per the law mentioned in Article 50 of EU. The issue is very critical and the government should properly pay heed to this to keep unhurt our garments export to the country. In 2015, the UK was the EU's second largest clothing import market in terms of value after Germany, with a 17.7 percent share of total imports



Bangladesh earned $28.09 billion from apparel exports in the 2015-16 financial growing by around 10.21 percent from the previous year. Thus, Britain's exit from the EU may hurt Bangladesh's exports, especially in the apparel sector. A weak pound may lead UK buyers of Bangladeshi garments for price cut pressure and also reduce buying to some extent. These are some dangers Bangladesh may have to face in post Brexit period to force producers here to readjust production for British market.



Since the UK is the third-largest single export destination for Bangladesh and it is very important for us to enjoy duty-free market access for all products under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). That is why it has become a big question as to whether it will be able to continue to enjoy the same trade facilities or not.



But of course it needs not be that way. Chief of the Delegation of the United Kingdom (UK) Mathews on the sidelines of the UNCTAD 14 conference held in July this year commented that Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) would not impact on UK-Bangladesh trade and other LDCs. He said that Bangladesh is an important business partner of UK. So bilateral relations, trade and investment would remain as usual in future like the EU era.



In our view, it is indeed a very encouraging comment and also quite usual in the light of the historic relation of Bangladesh with Britain and because of the huge expatriate Bangladeshi community living in the country and contributing to its socio-economic development. We look forward that Britain's exit from the EU will be smooth and end in dignity while having the least dislocation in trade relation with existing trading partners all over the world.






HEC students block road for making college as DU`s institute

Students of Home Economics College on Tuesday blocked Nilkhet intersection in the city demanding turning the college into an institute under the Dhaka University.

Staff Reporter :

The students of Home Economics College (HEC) on Tuesday blocked the Nilkhet intersection and raised slogans to make the college an institute of Dhaka University (DU) and of co-education.

About 200 students of the college took position on the the Nilkhet intersection at 10:30 am, jamming Azimpur, Mirpur Road and adjacent areas.

Sumaiya Akhter, a student of the college, said, they want the college as an institute of DU. But the college authorities remained unheeded to the students' demand.

"Only female students can read in the Home Economics College.

We live in post-modern era. So, why co-education will not be introduced here?" Another female student questioned.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Education Ministry termed the students' movement illogical and said why should a specialized college be an institute of DU. There are five departments: Food and Nutrition, Resource Management and Entrepreneurship, Child Development and Social Relationship, Art and Creative Studies and Clothing and Textile.

They also said that the college was established for building specialised students. There are many institutions in the country where co-education exist.

"Even Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid recently at a meeting expressed his dissatisfaction at the illogical movement of the college students," an official of the ministry seeking anonymity told The New Nation on Tuesday.


Woman killed in bomb attack in Pabna

UNB, Pabna :

A septuagenarian woman was killed and her daughter-in-law injured in a bomb attack at Charbalrampur village of Sadar upazila on Tuesday morning.

The deceased was identified as Mohirun Begum, 75, wife of Taju Pramanik, a resident of the village.

Subrata Kumar, sub-inspector of Pabna Sadar Police Station, said miscreants hurled a bomb in

their house at around 5.30am, leaving Mohiron and her daughter-in-law Reshma Khatun, 30, critically injured.

Later, they were rushed to Pabna General Hospital where Mohiron succumbed to her injuries around 9.30am.
4 `Hizbut Touhid` men held in Netrakona

Four suspected members of Hizbut Touhid including two women were arrested by DB Police from the Ananda Bazar area of Netrakona Town on Monday night.

UNB, Netrakona :

Detectives in a drive arrested four suspected members, including two female members, of banned militant outfit Hizbut Touhid, from Ananda Bazar area of the town.

The arrestees were Moniruzzaman (33) son of Hasen Ali of Sherpur district and his wife Sumaiya Akter (24), Parul Akter (30) wife of SM Abdul Hai of Nalitabari upazila, Sujan Hawlader, son of Anwarul Haq of Shariatpur district.

Khan Md. Abu Naser, Assistant police super, sadar circle said, being tipped off, a police team, led by DB inspector Abul Kayes, conducted a drive

in Ananda bazaar area of the town and arrested the four on Monday night.

The had been living in a rented house belonging to one Mutalib in the area.

Moniruzzaman, Sumaiya and Parul Akter were wanted by Sherpur police for long in connection with several cases, said police.


Hacked Sylhet college girl now on life support

Brought to Dhaka in critical condition: Attacked by BCL man Massive protest in edn instts: Minister assures justice

Unconscious Khadiza Akhter now fighting for life at city\'s Square Hospital.

Staff Reporter :

The hacked college girl Khadija Akhter Nargis, 23, was shifted to Square Hospital in capital Dhaka from Sylhet in critical condition early Tuesday.



Khadija, an honours second year student of Sylhet Government Mohila College, came under attack on the campus on Monday afternoon by a Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader Badrul Alam, also a student of Economics Department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).



She was stabbed in the head, hands and legs by a sharp weapon.



Khadija was rushed to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital from where she was referred to Dhaka around 12.10am on Tuesday as her condition deteriorated.



The victim was first taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) from where she was shifted to Square Hospital. Now she has been kept on life support there.



"There is little hope of her life as she still remained in critical condition after doctors conducted a major operation at her head at about 3:30pm on Tuesday," victim's uncle Abdul Quddus told journalists in the afternoon.



Khadija is now undergoing treatment under Rezaus Sattar, Senior Advisor of Neuro Surgery Department of Square Hospital. Physicians of Square Hospital said they are trying their best to keep the ill-fated college girl alive. She has been kept for 72 hours observation. If she is found alive after 72 hours observation it would be a miracle one, they said.



When contacted Shahjalal Munshi, officer-in-charge of Shah Poran Police Station said Khadija had love affairs with Badrul Alam for a long time.



"But recently Khadija avoided Badrul. And this has made him furious. On Monday afternoon Badrul came to the college campus and tried to convince her. But Khadija did not respond to Badrul. Being failed, at one stage Badrul started stabbing her indiscriminately," he said.



He said Badrul Alam has been sued over stabbing.



The OC said Khadija's uncle Abdul Quddus lodged a case on Tuesday afternoon at Shah Poran Police Station in this connection.

"Badrul is the sole accused in the case. However, he is currently admitted to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital as he was injured after being beaten by the locals," he said.



The OC said Badrul would be presented before the court after receiving treatment.



On Monday evening, Khadija, daughter of Masuk Miah, a resident of Hausa village in Sadar upazila, was waylaid by Badrul while she was returning home from the college.



At one stage, Badrul, son of Saidur Rahman, a resident of Manirgati village in Chhatak upazila of Sunamganj district, stabbed Khadija indiscriminately, leaving her critically injured, said ADC of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) Jedan Al Musa.



Hearing screams of the victim, locals rescued Khadija and caught Badrul from the spot and handed him over to police after giving him a good thrashing.



Victim's family sources said, Badrul used to live as a lodging tutor at the family residence of Khadija in the past and at that time he proposed her, but she had rejected.



Our Sylhet Correspondent adds: Hundreds of students, teachers and local people staged a demonstration blocking Sylhet-Tamabeel Highway on Tuesday morning, demanding Badrul's arrest and capital punishment.

Apart from the Sylhet Government Mohila College, students of different educational institutions, including MC University College, and local people also took to the highway demanding exemplary punishment to Badrul.



They also held protest rally at Chowhatta point in Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar area. They chanted slogans demanding capital punishment to Badrul.



Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Tuesday said the attacker, who stabbed Khadija Akhter Nargis yesterday, will be brought to justice, no matter what his political association is.



Meanwhile, the SUST authorities have expelled Badrul Alam from the University.



Zakir Hossain, General Secretary of BCL central committee, said his organisation does not support any immoral activities. Thus, Badrul Alam has been expelled from the BCL, he said.


Perilous sea route

Over 6000 migrants rescued in a single day: 22 dead

Migrants during a rescue operation, off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea. Internet photo

Reuters, Rome :

About 6,055 migrants were rescued and 22 found dead on the perilous sea route to Europe on Monday, one of the highest numbers in a single day, Italian and Libyan officials said.



Italy's coastguard said at least nine migrants had died and a pregnant woman and a child had been taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the Libyan coast.



Libyan officials said 11 migrant bodies had washed up on a beach east of the capital, Tripoli, and another two migrants had died when a boat sank off the western city of Sabratha.



One Italian coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat, one of some 20 rescue operations during the day.About 10 ships from the coast guard, the navy and humanitarian organisations were involved in the rescues, most of which took place some 30 miles off the coast of Libya.



Libyan naval and coastguard patrols intercepted three separate boats carrying more than 450 migrants, officials said.



Monday was the third anniversary of the sinking of a migrant boat off the Italian island of Lampedusa in which 386 people died.



According to the International Organisation for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died.



Most depart from Libya, where political chaos and a security vacuum have allowed people smugglers to act with impunity.


WB`s secret funding for Rampal!

Special Correspondent :

The World Bank Group has reportedly providing funds to six Indian banks secretly for building the proposed Rampal power plant in Bangladesh.



In 2013, the Bank said it would end virtually all support for the creation of coal-burning power plants, supporting them only in "rare circumstances" where there are no viable alternatives.



"Since the pledge, 41 coal power projects have received funding from banks and investment funds supported by the World Bank's private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC)," said a report by Inclusive Development International (IDI) on Monday.



These included the planned 1,360-megawatt Rampal power station in Bangladesh, to be situated on the edge of the sprawling Sundarbans mangrove forest, which is home to endangered species and supports the livelihoods of two million people.The IDI, a US based rights group, in its report said the World Bank itself declined to directly support the project, which could threaten the Sundarbans with air and water pollution. But six Indian banks, all IFC-financed, agreed to support the project, despite protests from environmentalists.



These banks are: ICICI, HDFC, IDFC, Kotak Mahindra, Yes and Axis.



"IFC-financed banks have provided support at least 20 new coal power projects since 2013 in the Philippines," said the report.



Commenting on the issue, Dr Ahsan H. Mansur Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, (PRI) told The New Nation yesterday that generally, the WB does not finance projects having environment concern. But it provides fund to support private initiative through intermediaries like IFC to build infrastructure projects.



"Even in case of IFC's funding, there are also social and environment requirements," he added.



Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, a former senior IMF staff, also said the financial institutions, which are receiving IFC's fund, are investing the fund to their interest areas without any control and interference by the IFC.



"So, the report of the WB's secret funding to Rampal project requires a careful assessment," he added.



Sources said, initially, the WB was eager to directly involve in the Rampal project. Three French banks, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Societe General, also showed interest to fund the power plant. Later, they disappeared from the scene in the wake of countrywide protest against the power plant, sources said.


BNP wants neutral EC

Reza Mahmud :

"If the government really wants a free and fair national election in the country, then it should sit with the major political parties, who were represented in the National Parliament in past years, in forming the next Election Commission. Without taking with the major parties into account, the one sided EC would not be acceptable. Besides, our demand for the election time neutral government also exists," said BNP standing committee member Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain to The New Nation yesterday.



The BNP has called upon the government to start dialogue with political parties in this regard in recent days. "If the government finally ignores the call, the people of the country will consider that the ruling party wants only a subservient EC as like as Rakib Uddin and his colleagues," Dr. Mosharraf said.



BNP Vice-Chairman Mohammad Shahjahan said to The New Nation yesterday," To form a neutral EC the government should sit with politicians as well as other professional bodies of the society. But if the government appoints partisan EC with the so-called search committee, they would not be able to hold a neutral election."



The tenure of the present Election Commission will expire in February 2017.



According to the Constitution, the President appoints Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Commissioners. But the present Election Commissioners and the CEC were appointed after forming a search committee in 2012.



Official sources said, the government is mulling to form a search committee soon to find out perfect persons for the next EC.



But the BNP has no trust in the government's planned search committee, as the present EC blatantly failed to arrange free and participatory polls in the country.



Sources said, the BNP is now trying to create an amicable environment in the process of forming next Election Commission. The party plans to wage a movement to compel the government to sit with oppositions, including the BNP, to form the next EC. The party also seeks supports from foreign diplomats and development partners in this respect.



According to the senior leaders of the party, it is their initiative to make the next polls free, fair, participatory, and acceptable to all.



Some senior leaders said, the BNP wants the government to form the next EC after discussing with the major political parties including the BNP. The leaders frequently have asked the government to start dialogue about the process of the next Parliamentary polls, especially in forming the new EC. In the meantime, the party's senior leaders are contacting with diplomats to gear-up pressures on the government to form a neutral search committee for forming the next EC after talks with other parties.



As a part of this process, BNP standing committee member Dr. Abdul Moeen Khan and other senior leaders have spoken with diplomats. The party sources said, Dr. Moeen Khan arranged a dinner party in his Gulshan residence with ambassadors and diplomats of 14 countries in the last week of September. They were from US, UK, China, Canada, EU, Germany, Japan, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, France, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Bhutan.


Ultra poor`s rice in black market

Hundreds of sacks seized: Several AL men arrested in different areas: Local lawmakers, upazila parishad chairmen appointed dealers flouting regulations: Affluent people's name in poor men's list: None won't be spared, says Food Minister

Sagar Biswas :

Allegations have been raised about selling of fair-priced rice for the ultra poor in the black market by dishonest dealers getting patronization from a section of ruling party leaders in different parts of the country.



The social safety net scheme recently taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, where rice is sold at Tk 10 per kilogram, has been facing a set back due to alleged relaxed mood of Food Ministry.



Police have already seized several tonnes of rice in different areas of the country and arrested dozens of dealers in connection with the black marketing. Besides, the concerned district administrations have also cancelled several dealerships for this reason.



"We're getting allegations of black marketing from different areas But none



will be spared. We've already issued directives to the Deputy Commissioners and UNOs to check the occurrences," Food Minister Kamrul Islam told The New Nation on Tuesday.



In the latest incident, police arrested Awami League leader Pulin Chandra Roy and recovered eight sacks of fair-priced rice raiding his residence at Goaldihi union under Khansama upazila in Dinajpur district on Tuesday. He is the president of Awami League Ward no-5 unit and authorized rice dealer.



In another incident, police arrested a dealer and ruling party leader Ashraf Faruki Rukon and seized 97 rice sacks from Hajipur Bazar in Sadar upazila of Jamalpur district on Tuesday.



Confirming the incident, Additional Superintendent of Police in Jamalpur Rasel Sabrin said on secret information a team of police and local administration conducted a raid in the area and arrested the dealer Rukon.



This is not an end! There are several incidents where local leaders and activists of ruling party are involved in the black marketing, or stocking. Significantly, most of the dealers have been appointed by the concerned ministry who are leaders and activists of ruling party or its associate organizations.



On Sunday, the authorities cancelled dealership and also forfeited security money of local Awami League Joint Secretary Abdus Salam, who is also former union parishad member of Failjana union under Chatmohar upazila in Pabna district, for black marketing of fair-priced rice.



Although the government has set up a policy with preparing a list of "poor persons" to distribute the rice through the selected dealers, in most cases the dealers have been appointed by local lawmakers and upazila parishad chairmen by flouting regulations.



Against this backdrop, Food Minister Kamrul Islam further said: "We'll not tolerate anyone who is involved in the black marketing, whether he is AL, Jubo League or member of any other ruling party's front."



Officials concerned said that government is giving Tk 27 as subsidy in one kilogram of rice to accomplish the highly ambitious project, when the price of one kilogram is Tk 35-40 in the open market.



When contacted, Shaoli Sumon, Additional Secretary [planning and development] of Food Ministry, told The New Nation on Tuesday night: "Yes, we've got a lot of complaints about selling of the rice in the black market. We'll go for action after scrutinizing the complaints."



Do you know ruling party men are mostly involved in these incidents? Shaoli Sumon said: "It is not possible to make successful any big programme without involving ruling party men So far as I think, it needs consciousness of all to avoid such misdeeds."



It is leant that, the local influential and affluent people's name have also been included in the list of "poor persons" in different areas. Not only that, in several areas the deprived persons have staged demonstrations protesting the irregularities in distributing rice.



Though unbelievable, in many areas the dealers are not selling rice weighing through digital scale, rather they are using buckets. In some areas, the poor persons received sacks of 28/29 kilograms, instead of 50-kilogram sacks.



Police arrested two persons along with 83 sacks of rice [each 50 kilograms] on Thursday night on charge of selling it at Tk 18 per kilogram at Titas upazila in Comilla.



It is to be noted that, the programme "Sheikh Hasinar Bangladesh, Khudha hobe Niruddesh" [Hunger to vanish in Sheikh Hasina's Bangladesh] is aimed at making rice available at a very low price for the ultra poors.

On September 7, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the programme in Kurigram's Chilmari to sell rice at Tk 10 per kilogram to 50 lakh poor families in the country's 64 districts.


Unruly BCL men on rampage

Staff Reporter :

As protest flares up in social media and educational institutions, many are looking at alleged BCL atrocities throughout the country blaming the ruling party student front of such crimes involving killings, rape and sexual harassment of teachers and students all over the country.



They are protected under the cover of ruling party politics and destroying social peace and families with impunity from trial against such crimes. Their activities are exposing the cruelties of bad elements within the student organization while destroying the image of the government as it is allowing them to go unchecked.



Such a BCL leader hacked a female student of Sylhet Government Women's College in broad day-light on Monday. What is incredible is that the gruesome hacking was recorded in video camera and spread to social media by unknown sources.



The victim Khadija Akhter Nargis is now in coma and undergoing treatment at neurosurgical intensive care unit of Square Hospital in Dhaka. She was immediately flown to Dhaka on advice of local doctors.



"Several deep cuts were found in the victim's head, skull and brain. She is in critical condition," Mirza Nazimuddin, Director of Square Hospital, told reporters.



Earlier on August 13, a Tejgaon College Unit BCL leader was accused of rape and murder of a female student of a private polytechnic institute in Mirpur in the city.



Afsana Ferdous, an Architecture student of Saik Institute of Management and Technology, was dumped at a local hospital in an unconscious state by two unidentified BCL activists.



Her dead body was later received by police.



The victim's family alleged that she was raped before being murdered. They have accused Tejgaon College unit BCL Organizing Secretary Habibur Rahman Robin of having masterminded the crime.



On October 5 last year, two BCL activists reportedly sexually harassed two female students at Rajshahi University campus.



The victims - students of philosophy and physics department, later lodged a written complaint over the matter to the proctor.



They also submitted a written complaint to the university's sexual harassment complaint committee accusing BCL activists Sujon Pramanik and Liton Hossain.



On March 9 last year, some BCL leaders gang raped a Chakma schoolgirl at Dighinala of Khagrachhari in Chittagong Hill Tracts.



The 13 years victim was a student of Babuchhara High School. Police later arrested the president of Kabakhali union unit of Chhatra League Md Shahriar Sohel along with his accomplices in this connection. Such examples are hefty but actions are not followed.



Not only harassing female students, they are also fighting themselves and some report said 41 BCL men were killed in their own factional fights in last six years showing that the organization has no control over its own activists.


The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
Prepare for a night unlike any other  a mammoth mashup of colossal fossils and symphonic sounds. The Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory of Music and the Lafayette Science Museum present Acadianas premier costume event dubbed the Baroque & Bones Costume Ball.

Debut your Halloween ensemble in the grand gallery or create a custom costume, but think scales and tails, feathers and strings. Or wear what you will and just give up a toothsome smile while you enjoy savory hors doeuvres from The French Press and signature cocktails.

Dont let the good times die. This fete continues at the upstairs after-party, with DJ tunes and the ultimate costume contest.

This event is a fundraiser for the ASO and the LSM, which will share event proceeds. These community partners are raising funds for two projects: the ASOs five-year initiative to integrate music with STEAM education, and the LSMs collaboration with Dr. James Martin, a highly regarded paleontologist. Martin and a team of experts will visit an Oregon dig site to resume the excavation of a rare fossil, a giant camel called Megatylopus.

The Baroque & Bones Costume Ball takes places on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Lafayette Science Museum in Downtown Lafayette. Tickets are $60 for an individual or $100 per couple and include two drink tickets per person and hors doeuvres from The French Press. For more information visit BaroqueandBones.Eventbrite.com.
Morgan City-based franchisee now operates more than 100 Taco Bell restaurants in Louisiana, Texas (primarily the Houston area) and southern Mississippi.

Morgan City-based B&G Food Enterprises, a Taco Bell franchisee, has acquired nine Lafayette-area locations from Taco Bell corporate, stmarynow.com reports.

B&G now operates more than 100 Taco Bell restaurants in Louisiana, Texas (primarily the Houston area) and southern Mississippi. The company was founded in 1982 by Brenda and Greg Hamer, who opened their first Taco Bell in Morgan City, where a support center and administrative offices are still located.

Over the years, B&G has grown to become the 92nd largest restaurant franchisee in the U.S. and the largest Taco Bell operator in Louisiana. The company has more than 2,400 employees.

Read the story here.
[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Throughout his life, Ma Shida (1943-2012) dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the traditional practices of calligraphy and seal cutting.

Carving on the Heart, a commemorative exhibition now at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, shows 20 calligraphic works and 70 seals marking the achievement of Ma who taught at Nanjing Normal University in East China's Jiangsu province; and 45 of the displayed works were donated by the artists family to the NAMOC.

"Every seal carved by him is impressive, encapsulating his wisdom and persistence," says Li Gangtian, vice president of the time-honored Xiling Seal Art Society based in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. Ma was a society member.

"Besides his exploration with seal art, he also left great spiritual legacy -- he was honest to life," Li adds.

The exhibition runs through Oct 10.
El Pollo Loco's chicken burrito

El Pollo Loco, a fire-grilled chicken chain, has signed a franchise development deal with new franchise partner Listo Way Group, led by Lafayette native Jason Trotter, to expand into Louisiana.

Trotter will open two restaurants in the Lafayette area by 2018.

Were thrilled to welcome Jason to the El Pollo Loco family and partner with him to bring our concept to residents and visitors of the Lafayette area, said Steve Sather, president and CEO of El Pollo Loco in a press release. Louisiana is a natural next step for our brand given our strong and growing presence in Texas.

El Pollo Loco franchise partner, Listo Way Group, is operated by Lafayette native Jason Trotter.

Trotter has extensive restaurant industry experience, growing up in a family that spent decades in the business. He is a former franchisee of the fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant company Zoes Kitchen, joining as the companys second franchisee in 2006. Over the course of nine years, Trotter successfully opened and operated five restaurants across Florida, Alabama and Louisiana. He was responsible for site selection, managing the construction process and restaurant operations.

El Pollo Loco is known for its citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken and handcrafted entrees using fresh ingredients inspired by Mexican recipes. The restaurant has more than 445 company-owned and franchised restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas and Utah.
Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes.

What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection?

Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were.

Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property  there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection:

You get to see exactly what will happen to your money

When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor.

Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on.

A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with.

You find out about potential major repairs

Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing.

If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately.

You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on

One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home.

Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly.

You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for

While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best.

This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit.

Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home.

You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price

If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home.

You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price.

You can sell your home faster and for more money

If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are.

In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price.

Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for.

Your home will hold its value longer

As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property.

When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home.

You can make smart decisions about property investments

Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property.

If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal.

There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about.

If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage

If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing.

They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit.

You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors

If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for.

For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money.

You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition

Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building.

You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure.

Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so.

As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process.
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

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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.

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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.
SAN FRANCISCO  Reorganizing itself under the umbrella company Alphabet has done wonders for Google  but less so for a grab bag of eclectic projects ranging from robotic cars to internet-beaming balloons, which are suffering costly growing pains.

A year after Alphabet took shape, Google's revenue growth has accelerated  an unusual development for a company of its size. That success, however, also underscores Alphabet's dependence on the fickle business of placing digital ads in core Google products like search, Gmail and YouTube video. As a result, it remains vulnerable to swings in marketing budgets and stiffening competition from another equally ambitious rival, Facebook.

Alphabet was supposed to speed the process of turning offshoot businesses into new technological jackpots. CEO Larry Page predicted that separating these smaller "moonshots" from the massive search-and-advertising business would spur innovation by fostering a more entrepreneurial atmosphere.

That hasn't happened during Alphabet's first year.

MAKING THE SHIFT: Until Page and fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin created Alphabet (which turns one on Sunday), investors complained that Google was spending too much on high-risk efforts. New chief financial officer Ruth Porat, who joined Google in mid-2015, responded by reining in expenses to keep them more in line with revenue growth.

A few months later, Page announced the plan to draw a dividing line between Google and the far-flung forays Alphabet now refers to as "Other Bets." The mishmash includes smart-thermostat maker Nest; the Fiber project, a high-speed internet service; and X lab, where the company is building robotic cars and designing the stratospheric balloons designed to beam internet service to remote areas.

Other "Other Bets" include the biotech firm Verify and medical-research firm Calico, which has been studying ways to stop aging. Alphabet also runs funds investing in startups and mid-sized companies.

Page argued that fencing off Other Bets would make Google "even better through greater focus."

CORE SUCCESSES: That part of Page's vision appears to be panning out. After subtracting ad commissions, Alphabet's second-quarter revenue jumped 22 percent from the previous year to $17.5 billion. It was the best performance in four years, adjusted for changes in currency exchange rates, says RBC analyst Mark Mahaney. Alphabet shares rose 25 percent over the past year, easily outpacing major market indexes.

"Folks will be hard pressed to say that Alphabet hasn't been a success," S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Scott Kessler says.

Alphabet declined to comment on its first-year performance. But Sundar Pichai, who became Google's CEO in the restructuring, told investors in July, "There is an amazing energy right now."

Among other things, Google has been making strides in the still-nascent field of artificial intelligence, hoping to create more convenient services that attract even more eyeballs for its advertisers.

STALLED BETS: But the demand for financial discipline and accountability appears to have taken a toll on Other Bets, which lose billions of dollars a year. Key leaders have defected from Alphabet's high-profile self-driving car project and its Nest line of internet-connected devices. Alphabet also has scaled back plans to expand its Fiber service to dozens of U.S. cities.

Creating a holding company also was supposed to make it easier to diversify through major acquisitions. But Alphabet's biggest deal so far has been the $625 million purchase of a business software maker, Apigee Corp., which had annual revenue of just $92 million.

Alphabet could make a much bigger splash if buys Twitter, as recent reports say it is considering. Twitter would give Alphabet a popular publishing outlet to monitor trends, mine data and sell even more ads. Alphabet declined to discuss whether it's mulling a bid, which would be expensive; Twitter might fetch between $20 and $30 billion, despite its problems with user growth and online harassment.

LOOKING BEYOND: Google is doing so well that investors aren't fixating on the losses with Other Bets, Kessler says.

Only three Bets  Nest, Fiber and Verily  are generating even a smidgen of revenue. In nine months, the Other Bets companies have lost a combined $2.6 billion on revenue of $410 million. Another big loss is expected in the July-September quarter; the company reports results on Oct. 27.

BGC analyst Colin Gillis still sees the gamble as prudent and expects at least one of the projects will come up with a breakthrough that lessens Alphabet's dependence on Google.

Optimism is fine as Google keeps growing at a robust rate. But Wall Street will likely ratchet up the pressure if the company falters and nothing emerges from Other Bets to help pick up the slack.
CARBONDALE  Residents in Jackson County will have an opportunity to meet the political candidates running to represent them in the November general election.

The Carbondale and Murphysboro chambers of commerce are hosting a series of events called Coffee and Candidates, to be held in the Carbondale Civic Center.

The first events kick off on Wednesday, featuring the Republican candidates for the state house and congress. The Democrats will follow the next week, on Oct. 12.

These are very important races for Southern Illinois businesses, Murphysboro Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Steve Webb said. We, as chambers, are thrilled to provide our members with opportunities to share their concerns with candidates and learn about each of them before casting their ballots.

This coming Wednesdays candidates include 115th Illinois House District Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, at 8 a.m. She will be followed by 58th Illinois Senate District hopeful Paul Schimpf at 8:30 a.m. Then, 12th District U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, will make an appearance at 9 a.m.

The candidates will have about 30 minutes to present remarks, answer questions and meet voters, the chambers said.

On Oct. 12, the day kicks off with Democratic candidate for the 115th Illinois House District, Marsha Griffin, at 8 a.m. Sheila Simon, Democratic candidate for the 58th Illinois Senate seat at 8:30 a.m., and then 12th U.S. Congressional District candidate C.J. Baricevic at 9 a.m.

The chamber said the events are designed for chamber members, but the events are open to the public.

For more information, call the Carbondale Chamber at 618-549-2146 or Murphysboro Chamber at 618-684-6421.
The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce is staying busy this week by welcoming three businesses to town.

The chamber is hosting three ribbon cuttings at different locations throughout the city Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The first is at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday for Staymobile, located in the SIU Student Center Bookstore.

Staymobile is a national company that specializes in repairing cellphones, digital tablets, gaming systems and mp3 players, according to the chamber. The event will allow business leaders and students an opportunity to learn about the company and the services it offers.

At 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, the chamber will host an event for Complete Family Eyecare at 1241 E. Walnut St.

The business is owned and operated by Dr. Chase Rudolph, who purchased the Carbondale practice of Dr. Shari Burruss. The Carbondale office is the second office in the practice. He established the practice in Herrin in 2010.

The chamber says the eye care practice offers a full-service eye center, with regular examinations, contact lens exams and a variety of glasses available. Both the Carbondale and Herrin offices are accepting new patients.

Thursdays ribbon cutting will include tours of the practice, with opportunity to win door prizes and meet the companys staff.

Fridays event will host the newest dental offices of Dr. Dianna Gaultney. She is relocating her office to 1112 W. Main St. in Carbondale to make room for the downtown Hilton Home2 Suites being built.

The chamber will host a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. Friday at the new office.

If our ribbon cuttings are any indication, things are happening, said Carbondale Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Les ODell. We have three ribbon cuttings this week, several more next week and a few the week after that.

ODell said the chamber is excited by the business growth, including the introduction of new businesses, transition in ownership, and expansion. He said from a business perspective, Carbondale is in a growth mode.

Success breeds success, he said. When we see new businesses or businesses expanding, other businesses may be move off of center and do things as well.
Jason Kasiar wants to represent the 118th District in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Kasiar lives in Eldorado. He owns and operates Becks Drugs in Eldorado. Kasiar purchased Becks from his father, Vince, straight out of pharmacy school 21 years ago. It is a family business. Grandfather, uncle, cousin, brother, sister and his parents have all worked at the drug store.

Kasiar said 21 years in business gives him a unique perspective on budgeting and creating jobs. He has grown the business from eight employees in 1995 to its current 31 employees.

Independent pharmacy is a dying breed. Because Ive been able to surround myself with better people, Ive been able to create business and grow it. Im very thankful for that, Kasiar said.

Kasiar does not consider himself a politician. That is someone who wants to be in office as a career.

People are tired of the same old, same old. They are tired of incumbents who have been in there for years, and what has it gotten us? Kasiar said.

Term limits

Kasiar is in favor of term limits. Holding office should be a service, not a career.

I have a career, and that is being a pharmacist at Becks Drugs and running a business, Kasiar said.

I think if you run for four terms as a representative and you cant get done what needs to get done for your district. Get somebody new in there with fresh ideas."

He added that weve had enough of party politics.

K-12 Funding

As president of Eldorado Schools, Kasiar has some ideas about school funding and sees problems with the current system.

Seventy-five percent of the students in Eldorado qualify for free or reduced lunches. That makes the culture there is a little bit more challenging for teachers.

Kasiar said one suburban district gets $26,000 per student in state aid. Why? Their tax base is greater than if everybody in Southern Illinois was combined into one school district.

So, why do they deserve more state aid than we do? We sit there and blame everyone else about school funding. The blame game has got to stop. Weve got to figure out a way to fix it, Kasiar said.

One plan Democrats had sounded great on paper, but when you dug into the details, it was the same thing.

Kasiar said some campaign ads say he voted to raise taxes because the school board voted a tax increase this year. Kasiar was the only one voting against the hike in taxes. For the last eight years, Eldorado abated taxes and had the lowest factor.

We werent able to abate taxes and the factor went up, Kasiar said. There just has to be some type of equal funding opportunity for every school district.

Budget

Kasiar believes that it will be easier to get a budget after the election. Ninety percent of the budget is being funded already. What is not getting funded is early childhood development and programs for the elderly. Who are the two most vulnerable groups in the state  children and the elderly.

Scare them to death and make them feel like they are not going to get the services they need.

You are playing games with peoples lives. Thats not what this is about, Kasair said.

Legislators have one job to do  pass a budget. Kasiar said everything else, including passing laws, is a part of it.

I dont believe taxes need to be raised. Were taxing people to death, Kasiar said

He could entertain the idea of a sales tax increase because everyone pays sales taxes. That is the only idea that he would entertain.

Kasiar thinks Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Other than not starting new programs, Kasiar could not make recommendations for spending cuts without studying the budget.

These people [retirees] were promised something by the state. Their salaries, their pensions, their healthcare. When you make promises, youd better figure out a way to pay for it, Kasiar said.

Kasiar added that if pensions are reformed, it has to start today with new pensions and not take away what was promised to retirees.

He has signed a pledge not to take a state pension and will donate part of his salary back to the district.

Energy

Kasiar said we are looking into creating jobs in Illinois, and there is enough coal in Illinois to create thousands of jobs.

Illinois coal is shipped out, and Illinois brings in coal from the west because its lower in Sulphur. He suggests bringing owners, miners and local politicians to figure out a better system. They need to educate legislators on what they are voting on.

He said flyash has a use in concrete. Reclaimed lands could be used for trails.

In traveling this area, Ive seen things I never knew existed. There is so much potential, Kasiar said.

He said he believes there is a place for wind and solar, but says he is not well-educated on fracking.

Higher education funding

Looking at an entire budget of a university, just like looking at the state budget, he said there is a lot of waste. He said top university officials should have to justify their salaries.

I think education is extremely expensive, speaking as the father of a senior in high school and a sophomore, Kasiar said. We need to find ways to make our universities more efficient.

Just cutting programs is not the way to do it, either. Kasiar does believe people who are making decisions may not be as well-education on all of that does.

We need to provide a world class education for our students. If you live in Illinois there ought to be incentives for going to school in Illinois, Kasiar added.

He thinks there are more efficient ways to do things.

Kasiar said his campaign is different from any other because the state Republican Party is not funding any part of his campaign.

He said the state party wanted to come in and take over the campaign, fire his campaign manager and control his messaging. He did not want that.

I dont want to be tied to the governor or either party, so I can vote for the people of Southern Illinois, Kasiar said.
State Rep. Brandon Phelps is seeking his eighth term in the 118th District of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Phelps was born in Eldorado and lives in Harrisburg. He graduated from Southeastern Illinois College in 1990 and received a bachelors degree in political science from Eastern Illinois University in 1992.

From 1992 to 1995 Phelps worked for the Illinois Treasurers Office, then Midwest Region of Laborers International from 1995 to 2010. also works for ULLICO (Union Labor Life Insurance Co.), but currently is a full-time legislator.

Term limits and Redistricting

The 118th District changed during the latest round of redistricting, so he is still learning about the newer parts of the district.

I try to vote my district and do what is best for my district, Phelps said. I think Ive got a pretty good picture of what my district is.

Phelps favors the commission form of redistricting, but wants all parts of the state to have equal representation and an equal voice in the process. He does not want the process to top heavy and wants Southern Illinois to have fair representation.

Phelps goes through term limits every two years when he runs for re-election.

Im going to leave that up to the voters, Phelps said.

His friend Jason Brown is a state representative in Missouri, a state that has enacted term limits. What they have found is that lobbyist and directors tell a new crop of legislators every eight years only what they want them to know.

Phelps tries to be accountable every two years, but he has not had an opponent in some elections. He walks the district and believes that no one outwalks him.

K-12 funding

When it comes to funding for elementary and secondary schools, Phelps favors Andy Manars plan. Manars plan would give more funding to districts that need it most, including districts with large numbers of low-income students, students with disabilities and students learning English. It also guarantees that districts would not receive less funding than they did the previous year.

Phelps says districts in poor areas, like most Southern Illinois schools, need more help. Districts that have the tax base to take care of their students should do so.

Down here, I think we tax ourselves to death, Phelps said. I think were going to need some more outside help.

He also believes that transportation costs should be a consideration for funding. Some students in Pope County ride a bus more than one hour to get to school. He calls transportation costs for schools in his districts ridiculous.

A student up north is not worth more than a student I represent. I dont care what zip code they come from, they should all be treated the same, Phelps said.

Phelps believes downstate legislators will have to come together to get fair funding for Southern Illinois schools. Bipartisanship will be key.

Downstate Republicans and Democrats need to come together to fight what is going to happen with Chicago and the suburbs. Its going to be a war, Phelps said.

He does not know if they can find common ground during the election season. He hopes they can come together after the election.

I know I have to have downstate Republicans to help me with issues in my district, to stand up to Chicago, Phelps said.

Another issue important to the 118th District and entire region is funding for Southern Illinois University.

Phelps, who serves on the higher education appropriations committee, suggests giving universities longer term budgets. Six months or even a year is not adequate for long-term planning. He favors a giving universities two or three year budgets to give them more leeway.

Weve got the money. Its just where were putting it. The will is there; its just redirecting the money to where its supposed to be, Phelps said.

Phelps also believes we need to find more ways to bring in funding, like the temporary income tax that Gov. Pat Quinn repealed. Phelps said Quinn took that action to get re-elected, but the state would be in pretty good shape if the tax was still in force.

However, Phelps does not favor income tax increase, but he does favor taxing some service fees, like for tanning or upgrades to first class on airline flights.

Im for getting rid of CMS (Central Management Services), Phelps said.

The move could save the state $2 billion per year, according to Phelps. He explained how the state purchasing system currently works. Department of Natural Resources needs a lawn mower. CMS purchases the lawn mower, then DNR buys it from CMS. Phelps favors letting directors make those purchases directly.

He is not in favor of firing employees, but moving them to other departments.

Another idea being kicked around Springfield is a graduated income tax. Phelps could support such a tax but wants to see projected numbers first.

Id look at anything that would bring more money to my schools and SIU, Phelps said.

Energy

Phelps knows a lot of Southern Illinoisans are anti-fracking, but he is not. He would have liked to see the amount of money and the jobs it could have created for Southern Illinois. He does favor a severance tax on fracking, but not on coal or rock quarries.

Coal is king in my area, Phelps said. If we take coal away, I dont know if anyone could afford their utility bills.

He said coal is necessary for affordable energy. He said 46 percent of energy is produced with coal, 46 by nuclear plants and 8 percent from wind and solar energy. Phelps said we have to have all forms of energy.

Phelps believes in the Second Amendment and remains committed to bipartisanship. He said seniority means everything in Springfield, and he is sad to see Sen. Dave Luechtefeld leave.

I am passionate about what I do. I enjoy this, but its tough right now, Phelps said.
Authorities have returned two men from Alabama to face murder charges in the deaths of four people outside of Holly Hill.

Derrick Warren Coleman, 27, and Antly Jermaine Jackie Man Scott, 35, appeared in magistrates court on Monday.

Coleman, of 1234 St. Julien Drive, and Scot, of 253 Barkley St., are facing four murder charges and one charge each of attempted murder, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

U.S. Marshals apprehended the men in Foley, Alabama last Tuesday.

Ravenell said the pair had been living in Alabama for a couple of weeks prior to their arrests in the case.

Orangeburg County Chief Magistrate Derrick Dash arraigned the men on the charges. He did not set bond on them, but they can ask a circuit court judge for bond consideration at a later date.

Robert Lee Pockets Bailey, 37, of 11269 Old Number Six Highway, faces the same charges and appeared for his arraignment last Thursday.

The three suspects are from Eutawville.

They are accused of taking the lives of Tamara Alexis Perry, 14; Shamekia Sanders, 17; Krystal Hutto, 28, and Jerome Butler, 50, in the early morning hours of July 15, 2015 at a home at 7050 Old State Road.

Investigators also believe they tried to kill 8-year-old Dreamzz Nelson, but he survived and is well.

Family members for each of the victims were present at the arraignment on Monday.

Several of them held hands with one another. A woman quietly fought tears and rocked her head from side to side.

Victims Services Director Chandra McPherson told the court that the families will continue to be present through the judicial process.

Three others are facing obstruction of justice charges in the case.

Most recently, Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office investigators arrested Shyheim B. Lippman, 20, of 327 Boatswain Court, Eutawville. Lippman appeared in bond court on the obstruction charge Friday.

His warrant claims that he told investigators that he hadnt been at the Holly Hill home the day before the murders. Two independent witnesses told investigators he was there.

Two other people were charged with obstruction of justice in early October last year.

Dominique Marquell Washington, 27, of 9919 Highway 78, Lot 46, Ladson, and another, unnamed person are accused of withholding from or falsifying information to investigating agencies in the quadruple homicide case.

Washington was released on a $10,000 cash or surety bond on April 25.

The unnamed person remains at the Orangeburg County Detention Center.

On Monday, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said that law enforcement is withholding the persons name due to safety concerns and because the case remains ongoing.

Another person who remains jailed is Christopher Dean Wright, 37, who lived at the home where the deaths occurred. He was not present during the shootings.

Wright is the father of the two slain teens and the sole survivor. He was also Huttos fiance.

Ravenell said he remains convinced that Wright had information about the case that he could have provided to investigators.

I still stand on that, Ravenell said during a press conference last week.

Wrights attorney, David Williams, says his client has been cooperating with authorities.

Wright faces three unlawful conduct toward a child charges, two drug trafficking charges, one obstruction of justice charge and one trafficking crack cocaine charge.

Ravenell said on Monday that the Orangeburg County Detention Center is making efforts to keep Wright, Coleman, Scott and Bailey separated while they are in custody.

Hopefully theyll be held in solitary (confinement), Ravenell said.

Ravenell also said that the investigation into the Holly Hill quadruple homicide is ongoing.
We are suffering from a loss of confidence in our shared values as a society. The solution lies in a rediscovery of those values. And if we are to understand them fully, it will be helpful to remember, in a friendly and nonadversarial way, that they are values rooted in our experience as a specifically Christian society.

People are feeling an odd sense of rootlessness as they head toward the polling places this year. They feel disconnected from the familiar landmarks of community, shared expectations, international norms of conduct.

For the past two years, more than 60 percent of voters have been telling pollsters that the country is on the wrong path.

Politicians have tried to address this by proposing one or another mix of specific programs. None of them have really caught fire, however, because they are looking for solutions in the wrong place.

That sense of being on the wrong path comes in large part, I think, from a feeling that we have drifted away from our cultural roots. And a great part of those roots lies in Christian thought. Our moral code is a mix of the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus. The scenes in Renaissance paintings are drawn, as often as not, from the Bible. Even our language is laden with phrases taken, often unrecognized, from the King James Version  turn the other cheek, love your enemies, go the extra mile.

To renew our connection with this material means that we must renew our acquaintance with the Bible in general and the New Testament in particular. This is not for narrow reasons of proselytizing, but rather to reconnect with our roots.

This cultural inheritance will suggest, first of all, several kinds of spiritual values for daily living, which are now in short supply, and whose restoration is keenly desired.

Most important are the values of community, solidarity, a sense that we are all in this together. Jesus honored all people equally: Your heavenly Father is kind even to the ungrateful and the selfish. Gods eye is on the sparrow as well as on the king.

Then there are the values of humility, forbearance and tolerance. Jesus teaches us to be on guard against our own self-righteousness. Judge not, he says, that ye be not judged.

The cultural inheritance of the Bible also suggests a literary store of anecdotes and stories, which can be drawn upon as shared examples. Communication improves a great deal when speakers can refer to bank reform as driving the money-changers from the temple, or say that some person in authority has washed his hands of a problem, and know that everyone will understand what is being said.

Quoting Jesus does not mean that we have permission to be narrow-minded or to exclude people of other faiths. Jesus was tolerant and inclusive. Our Jewish and Muslim cousins are a part of the American fabric.

And so are we. The story and teachings of the gospels, which record the life of Jesus in all its decency and humaneness, are an inheritance that we can be proud of. The first thing we need to do is to become more familiar with the texts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The next thing is to think about the guidance that their core principles will give us.

And that is the message that the voters this year seem to be seeking.
Democrats have their polls that say South Carolina is in play in this presidential election. But the party that holds no statewide offices and has one member of the congressional delegation has not seen its presidential candidate win in the Palmetto State since 1976.

Republicans counter with their own polls that offer a more predictable outcome favoring GOP nominee Donald Trump. As South Carolina is considered as solid a red state as there is, a victory by Hillary Clinton here likely would signal a national landslide by Democrats on Election Day.

Even if Democratic presidential predictions are overly optimistic, there is reason to believe the party that once dominated S.C. politics could make a rebound. A growing and increasingly diverse population may tend to favor Democrats.

After November, the next big test for Democrats will come in 2018 when Republican Gov. Nikki Haley will not be eligible to seek re-election. Much political speculation surrounds a number of Republicans. Not so much for Democrats.

That led a Charleston public relations firm that specializes in political consulting, SPEAK Strategic, to recently offer its own list of leading Democratic prospects.

For The T&D Region, which is the states bastion of Democratic politics, the list is of interest as it includes a number of local officials. Here is what is said about each.

 Bakari Sellers of Bamberg County: The former legislator and former lieutenant governor candidate has spent the last year fighting the good fight on the national stage as a CNN contributor and prominent Hillary Clinton supporter. In doing so, hes increased his national profile more than any South Carolina Democrat outside of Jim Clyburn. The conventional wisdom is that Sellers will run to replace Congressman Clyburn upon his retirement, though few think that will happen any time soon.  Hes positioned himself well  If Sellers sees an opening in the 2018 governors race, dont be surprised if he takes it. And watch the primary field clear out if he does.

 State Representative Russell Ott of Calhoun County: Many people dont realize that it was a white, conservative Democratic farmer from St. Matthews who negotiated the deal to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds last summer. And that farmers name is Russell Ott -- and hes going places. If Ott ran for governor and was able to make it through a primary, it would take one heck of a Republican candidate to beat him in the general election. Ott could bring the Democratic Party back to its roots of representing working people in rural America.  If the Democrats ever hope to bring rural white voters back into the party, its going to take someone like Russell Ott to do it.

 First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe of Calhoun County: Could we have yet another Pascoe vs. Wilson matchup in the governors race in 2018? Probably not, but it wouldnt be the craziest thing that has happened in politics recently. Fresh off a huge (court) victory over the states top lawyer, Solicitor David Pascoe has the wind at his back as he ponders his political future. A lot will depend on how he handles the Statehouse corruption probe that currently sits on his desk. If he defeats the Republican Attorney General in a high-profile Supreme Court case, then takes down a bunch of corrupt legislators, its hard not to see him considering a run for something.

 State Sen. Brad Hutto of Orangeburg County: Longtime Orangeburg state Sen. Brad Hutto is an unabashed progressive who ran against Lindsey Graham for U.S. Senate in 2014. While that campaign did not go as planned, Hutto is a favorite among the base who admires his fearlessness to stand up for progressive issues like women's reproductive rights, equality and Medicaid expansion.  You won't be able to run to his left nor will you be able to beat him in a debate. If he runs, he'll make it very interesting.

The PR firm also cites Rep. James Smith of Columbia, Charleston Sen. Marlon Kimpson, former state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum and Sumter state Sen. Thomas McElveen among leading potential contenders.

Sellers, Hutto, Smith and Kimpson are the most frequently mentioned names in media reports. All know that taking back the Governors Mansion that has been home to a Republican in all but four years since 1987 remains a long shot.

Yet for The T&D Region, the prospects are intriguing.

Smith told The State newspaper of Columbia: It wont be long before South Carolina is electing Democrats all across, statewide on a regular basis.

The list of top contenders for governor is evidence that leading Democrats from the region would gain stature and political power with the partys improved electoral fortunes, whether one seeks and is elected to the office or not.
Since 2001 the Ministry of Culture has presented varieties of activities in many countries under the program Happy Chinese New Year, Celebrations Worldwide with an attempt to promote cultures of Chinese Spring Festival.

A photo exhibition now at the National Art Museum of China reviews the program of 2016 whose exhibitions, expos and performances attracted crowds in more than 400 cities around the world during the festival. These activities not only help the Spring Festival traditions, which can be traced back to hundreds of years ago, to pass down to the younger generations of Chinese immigrants living abroad. Also they make more foreigners aware of the celebrations and meanwhile build a platform for home-grown creativity industry who sources inspiration from traditions to create cultural productions.

The exhibition ends on Oct 9.
He was a great man. He was a man of stature and a man of God, Yolanda Hammonds said.

Hammonds is one of the Rev. Frank C. McNairs three children. The others are sons Kevin McNair and Kenneth McNair.

The Bamberg County man, who lived at 1077 Spring Branch Road, was discovered dead in his home on Saturday.

Bamberg County Coroner Billy Duncan said Monday that an autopsy showed McNair died of a single gunshot wound in the thoracic area.

In the meantime, a woman underwent treatment for a gunshot wound at a Columbia-area hospital.

Bamberg County Sheriff Ed Darnell has said the incident is an apparent murder and attempted suicide.

The S.C. Law Enforcement Division is handling the investigation and has not yet released the name of the woman.

Hammonds said Dash Funeral Home is handling McNairs arrangements, which have not yet been finalized.

She remembers her father as someone who was caring and loving.

He cared about our youth and he lived what he preached, Hammonds added.

He was formerly pastor at Holy Temple Church of God in Christ in Bamberg. Most recently, he served as an elder at St. Noah Church of God in Christ in Aiken.

From 2001 until 2008, McNair taught math at Denmark-Olar High School. At some point during his tenure, he also served as vice principal at the school, Hammonds said.

Prior to teaching at Denmark-Olar, he taught for one year in Timmonsville.

He was a man of excellence and stature. He loved people, she added.

McNair was born in Plymouth, North Carolina but raised in Brooklyn, New York.

He had five grandchildren.

Bamberg School District Two Superintendent Dr. Thelma Sojourner said she remembers McNair as someone who taught basic and upper-level math at the districts high school. He retired several years before she became the districts superintendent.

He was a no-nonsense person and very caring, she said.

Sojourner also said McNair was very profound.

He believed very much the students could learn, she said.

Sojourner said that she, the board of trustees and staff and teachers at Denmark-Olar High School are very saddened that he passed away.
He is always open to discuss new and innovative ideas and hopes someday to see the building of a functional solar city as well as a fair and community-driven compensation system. Robert J Dornan is someone who wishes to leave a better world to his children. He realizes that the odds are slim but he will do whatever he can to increase the probability of success.He is always open to discuss new and innovative ideas and hopes someday to see the building of a functional solar city as well as a fair and community-driven compensation system.





23 Minutes Past 1 A.M. Roberts latest book is the historical fiction,

For More Information

Visit Robert J. Dormans website.

Connect with Robert on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Book:





In the early morning of her sister's wedding day, Mila Kharmalov stared in stunned silence at the coloured sparks streaming from Reactor Four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant. At that very moment, her life and the lives of everyone she knew changed forever.





Years later and on another continent, Adam Byrd was writing biographies for everyday people looking to leave their legacy in book form. When the woman he loved phoned from Kiev offering him the chance to write the story of a lifetime, he jumped at the opportunity not realizing that his voyage would be a bumpy ride through a nations dark underbelly. With the help of his friend's quirky cousin, Adam is nudged into a fascinating adventure of love, greed, power and psychotic revenge, culminating with a shocking finale.





23 Minutes Past 1 A.M. is a work of fiction based on factual events from Chernobyl and villages throughout Ukraine.

For More Information

23 Minutes Past 1 A.M. is available at Amazon ..

Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.





Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life! Now that your book has been published, wed love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?





In short, I was a member of a discussion board that had several politically motivated threads. Chernobyl was mentioned in one of the threads but more in reference to the main theme. I had no idea what or where Chernobyl was or what had happened. Truth be told, I had lived a rather sheltered life and was for the most part, too self-involved to care about world events. Many people, like me, live these bubbled lives until something happens that effectively changes their survival instincts. 9/11 comes to mind and it was, in fact, the event that opened my eyes.





This particular discussion board had several categories, one of them being the Arts, which included Poetry, Music and Lyrics et al. After researching a couple of days, I wrote a lyric about Chernobyl that was well received but no musician would touch because it was fifteen verses long. One forum member commented that lyrics should not be as lengthy as a book, and of course, this got me thinking about a new novel. During that same time period, I had been working on a couple of teen oriented books and had no desire to convert a lyric into a full novel.





And then, Fukushima happened.





I was glued to my television watching this event unfold over four days. It was both frightening and maddening. How could any responsible corporation and/or government be so incompetent? A week later, coverage began to dwindle and within two weeks, newscasts dropped the subject altogether. I started following YouTube broadcasts to get updates. How could this not be front page news? I had already begun my Chernobyl research but now I was all in and within a couple of months, the novel began to take shape. If the mainstream media wasnt going to warn its viewers, then maybe I could play a part.





Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?





I found the subject of Chernobyl fascinating so creating a story based on the disaster was not difficult at all. Ive been involved in some writing jobs that were mind numbingly boring but 23 Minutes Past 1 A.M. was an adventure in itself. The primary characters are unique and I enjoyed creating them.





My number one tip for anyone writing a Historical Fiction would be to research until you drop. Look for comments and interviews from witnesses. If something sounds too unbelievable dont dismiss it as you may have a new chapter and a lasting book memory for your readers.





Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?





I went the self-publish route. This is and will continue to be a popular and debatable subject in our collective group. At my age I dont suppose that Publishing Houses will barge down my front door so there is no animosity or expectations in that regard. The industry has changed immensely and budgetary concerns are front and centre. It makes more economic sense for any up and coming author to consider their personal franchise/branding and go it alone. To me, there are very few benefits to sign with a Publishing House unless you are an established author. Its all fine and dandy to have your book in the neighborhood book chain store but without your own marketing, youre depending on word of mouth. As for sales, I may buy a book from a brick and mortar retail store at Christmas but other than thatonline only. That being said, I have not sent any manuscripts to a Publishing House and wouldnt know where to begin.

.Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?





Yes, for sure. Im astounded at how many people have spent their weekends working on the next great generational book. Seriously, its mystifying to see so many authors peddling books to so few readers and expecting anything else but disappointment. Metaphorically, its like an outside market with twenty stalls selling different sized carrots.





Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?





I just finished a revision of a teen novel called Jack City and am close to completing the sequel. I have another teen novel called, Gwydion, that is completed and awaiting a virtual tour. I am also working on a very ambitious Historical Fiction called, Sins of the Samurai, which I hope to release this time next year. If 23 Minutes Past 1 A.M. shocked you, this upcoming book will blow you away.





Q: Whats one fact about your book that would surprise people?



Most people have no clue that three men saved Europe. Its befuddling and also disturbing that an ongoing tragedy such as Chernobyl is so unknown. There should be high school or university classes devoted to the pain that Chernobyl has caused and continues to cause. Its almost sickening that so many of us know the name of three Kardashians but a miniscule amount of us know the names of the three Chernobyl divers that saved Europe. If these divers dont complete the task they risked their lives for, all of Europe could have been lost.





Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?



Yes, of course. The first message in 23 Minutes Past 1 A.M. is that nothing good  absolutely nothing good  comes from building nuclear power plants. We hear of huge accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima but we never hear of the smaller ones, or the leaks that pollute the Columbia River (example). The world has made tremendous advances with alternative energy so nuclear should never be an option.





Secondly, oppression makes ordinary people hard and angry. They become unforgiving and desperate. This is what happened in the USSR and especially Ukraine. Many villages in Ukraine were hubs for criminal activity because of harsh conditions caused by political oppression.





Q: Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words?





Yes, thanks for reading. Please feel comfortable to write me at jackcityguy@gmail.com. Im always open to discuss my books, alternative energies, vertical farms and societal reform/equality. Say no to nuclear power plants!












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This site focuses on Republican politicians and conservatives that rip off their constituency. We have the Tea Party, fundamentalist churches, the corruption of ALEC and other special interests groups. But the site also supports progressive Democrats and the local Democratic Socialist of America. We must have ideas on how to replace regressive and corrupt politicians with something better. For comments steveotto2001@yahoo.com or ottozero2001@yahoo.com.
By Trend





Azerbaijans first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva met with a delegation led by member of the National Assembly of the French Republic, president of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France, Jean-Francois Mancel.

The first lady hailed the participation of members of the French National Assembly in the 5th Baku International Humanitarian Forum and in events relating to Pope Francis visit to the country.

Mehriban Aliyeva expressed her confidence that the visit will be a good opportunity for the French delegation to familiarize itself with the country.

The first lady pointed to the increasing number of members of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France, adding this contributes to further strengthening of Azerbaijani-French ties.

The president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation praised the two countries ties and emphasized cooperation in humanitarian and educational fields.

Mehriban Aliyeva said the relations between Azerbaijani and French regions and cities have strengthened in the last years.

The first lady said the city twinning agreements opened up new opportunities for expanding the bilateral cooperation.

Mehriban Aliyeva also noted that a monument to Azerbaijani poet Mahsati Ganjavi will be erected in the French city of Cognac in October.

Jean-Francois Mancel commended the opening of the Azerbaijan Village in Paris as an important step towards strengthening the bilateral ties.

The president of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France stressed the importance of the events held in Baku.

He said such contacts give a message to the world that a peaceful co-existence of representatives of various religions and cultures is possible.
By Azertac





Finnish Iltalehti magazine reporter Antero Eerola and photographer Jael Karppanen, who attended the 5th Baku International Humanitarian Forum, have visited Tartar district, Azerbaijan, to familiarize themselves with the situation on the frontline and living standards of civilians and refugees and displaced persons temporarily living there.





They first visited the District Executive Authority where they were informed about the challenges facing the civilians living on the frontline, and the problems caused as a result of Armenia's shelling the residential areas. Head of Tartar Executive Authority Mustagim Mammadov said that the district's territory was located 48 km from the frontline. "The Armenian armed units keep under constant fire the residential areas of the district which are close to the line of contact and prevent the civilian population from doing farm works."





Mammadov said that as a result of Armenia's ceasefire violation this April, 23 residential areas close to the line of contact, as well as 15-20 km from the contact line were subjected to heavy artillery fire. "The Armenians even used the prohibited white phosphorous bombs. As a result nearly 400 houses, 4 schools, 2 medical centers, and a kindergarten were damaged, 32 houses were completely destroyed. Nine civilians were injured, 3 people died 2 of whom were IDPs. 52 houses, where internally displaced persons lived, were destroyed, 198 persons were left homeless again. Power facilities, communication lines and an agricultural area of 1500 hectares have been seriously damaged in Shikharkh, Chayli and Hasangaya villages where the majority of population were IDPs.





The journalists then visited a military unit and the houses which were destroyed by the Armenian shelling.





In Hasangaya village, they met with IDP families and enquired about their problems.





The Finnish media representatives also viewed the remains of Maragha 150 monument which was erected in Shikharkh settlement by the Armenians themselves on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the resettlement of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Please note that the poems and essays on this site are copyright and may not be reproduced without the author's permission.






The property sector in Dubai, UAE, still remains robust despite the oil slump with the city attracting billions of dollars in real estate investments this year, said a report.



Significant progress of the region in the real estate market shows increasing interest from 149 nationalities from across the globe.



According to data released by Dubai Land Department (DLD), more than 26,000 investors have pumped in Dh57 billion ($15.5 billion) into Dubai's real estate sector during the first half of the year.



Of this, the Gulf nationals' investment accounted for Dh22 billion ($5.98 billion), while the rest of the investments in the residential, commercial and mixed-used real estate came from Pakistan, USA, UK, Europe and Turkey.



Among the GCC nations, Emiratis topped the list with about Dh14.52 billion ($3.95 billion) worth of investments.



According to DLD, the foreign investment in Dubai's real estate market surged to more than Dh28 billion ($7.62 billion) whilst Arab investors outside GCC contributed to more than Dh7 billion ($1.9 billion).



Top countries which have shown interest in property investment in Dubai are US, Canada, UK, Europe, India, Turkey, South East Asia besides the GCC states.



"Witnessing an increased interest in the real estate investments by international and local consumers is very valuable to us as we aim to provide a right platform that caters to all the needs of investors, visitors and the market," remarked Dawood Al Shezawi, the president of Strategic Marketing & Exhibition, the

organisers of The International Property Show (IPS).



A leading property event held annually for international and local investors and market players, IPS delivered about billions of dirham worth of projects during the first half, he stated.



The 12th edition of IPS catered to 137 countries with around 15,222 attendees and 172 exhibitors.

UK, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Philippines, Qatar, Greece, and Cyprus are among the countries that actively took part in the exhibition.



Al Shezawi said every year a huge floor size of 13,032 sq m is allocated for the show to accommodate large number of people.



"Developments, projects and services from mortgage financing, real estate holiday destinations, migration and citizenship offers and other aspects of the real estate sector will be covered in the 2017 IPS," he added.



According to him, the next year's edition of IPS, to be held from April 2 to 4 at Dubai World Trade Center, is set for much greater heights. It will be held alongside the important Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).



"International and local community of high level real estate professionals, high net worth individuals, government officials, entrepreneurs, end-users and alike are amongst the visitors to be present at the event," stated Al Shezawi.



Wide scope of projects from residential, commercial, industrial, retail and mix-use properties from across the world will be showcased at the event, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai's property market is about to start its next growth curve and the time is now ripe for investors with a mid to long-term mindset to take the plunge, according to Knight Frank, one of the citys leading property firms.



Despite a two-year period in which property prices in Dubai have cooled and stabilised, Knight Frank has moved to predict a recovery in 2017.



According to its latest Dubai Insight report published in September, the real estate expert sees the residential market levelling out by the end of the year before making a gradual recovery in 2017.



This is supported by continued government spending on infrastructure and facilities, in preparation for the Expo 2020, it stated.



With Dubais property sector all set to recover in 2017, SRG Holding, one of the leading family-owned holding companies in Dubai, believes it is a 'great time' to launch its latest project - Dh700-million ($191 million) Marquise Square - in Business Bay, Dubai.



A striking 29-floor development, Marquise Square will boast 384 residential units with impressive views of the world-famous Burj Khalifa tower on completion in 2018.



Just seconds from the waterfront of Dubai Canal, Marquise Square will feature a podium-level swimming pool, hitech gymnasium and cinema room.



We feel that, after a period of stability over the past two to three months in the market, we are now reaching a point in time where we are about to see the next growth curve in Dubai, remarked Adam Price, Select Propertys managing director for the Middle East.



With Expo 2020 on the horizon, its a great time to be launching Marquise Square, stated Price.



"For us, its a very straight-forward decision. Weve always had unwavering and the utmost confidence in Dubai as a world-class location for investment and lifestyle. The market fundamentals here, we feel, are very strong," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai government has announced plans to build a new residential complex for employees of the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services in Warsan-3 area of the emirate at an investment of Dh128 million ($35 million), said a report.



The initiative is part of a joint co-operation between Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, reported state news agency Wam.



The announcement comes following the approval from Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance for the project, it stated.



The residential complex will boast of five apartment buildings with ground plus three floors besides two swimming pools, two playgrounds, green patches and a children's play area.

Of the five buildings, two units with a total of 48 apartments are for families, while the other three with a total of 284 residential units are for bachelors, the report added.
Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, was recently honoured with the industry choice award for Overall Carrier of the Year at the Payload Asia Awards Ceremony, held in Hong Kong, China.



Emirates SkyCargo won this prestigious award for the fourth year running, said a statement from the company.



The award was accepted by Ravishankar Mirle, Emirates vice president of Far East and Australasia, Cargo, at a gala dinner at the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel, it said.



Organised annually in conjunction with the Payload Asia Conference, the awards recognise excellence in the global air cargo industry, it said.



The industry choice award for the Overall Carrier of the Year was determined by a senior level industry panel of 17 judges drawn from across the global air cargo industry who assessed nominees on a number of criteria including operational performance, customer service, product innovations and network coverage, it added.



Emirates SkyCargo is the largest international airline cargo operator with a fleet of over 245 wide bodied aircraft, including 15 dedicated freighters- 13 Boeing 777-Fs and two B747-400ERFs, it stated.



The carrier connects cargo customers in 154 destinations across 82 countries in six continents through its hub in Dubai, UAE.



In addition to offering cargo capacity on board its passenger flights, Emirates SkyCargo operates freighter services to over 50 global destinations. In June 2016 Emirates SkyCargo launched a new freighter route from Hong Kong to Delhi onwards to Dubai strengthening its footprint in East Asia and the Indian subcontinent.



With a strong focus on customer service, Emirates SkyCargo leads the air cargo industry with its state of the art infrastructure and innovative product and service offerings.



Emirates SkyPharma, the carriers new purpose-built GDP* certified facility at Dubai International Airport (DXB) dedicated to the timely and secure transport of pharmaceutical shipments was officially inaugurated earlier in September 2016.



Together with the facilities for pharmaceutical products at its freighter hub at Dubai World Central (DWC), Emirates SkyCargo operates the first and largest GDP certified multi-airport hub in the world.



Some of the innovative protection products in Emirates SkyCargos portfolio for temperature sensitive cargo include White Cover Advanced - a specialised cover that acts as a barrier against varying external temperatures and direct sunlight; White Container - a temperature controlled container with thermal insulators to counteract high external temperatures and the Emirates SkyCargo Cool Dolly - a special piece of equipment that transports cargo from the aircraft to cool storage areas, while maintaining temperatures of as a low as -20C, it added.  TradeArabia News Service


Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a leading international aluminium smelter, today (October 4) participated in the high-level 7th GAC Aluminium Market Update meeting, held at the Sofitel Dubai Downtown Hotel, UAE.



GAC Aluminium Market Update is a full-day discussion aimed at the aluminium industrys growth and future plans, and is well-attended by the chief executives, marketing directors and managers of the smelters and downstream industries in the Gulf.



Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray; chief finance officer Ali Al Baqali; chief marketing officer Khalid Abdul Latif and acting director Admin Waleed Tamimi along with other Alba officials were among the key attendees of this event, said a statement from the company.



Murray said: Our company is pleased to be a key participant of the fundamentally important Aluminium Market Update by the Gulf Aluminium Council (GAC).



It keeps us abreast of the market and economic conditions of the global aluminium industry as well as provides a platform to share our ideas to capitalise on the potentials for a better future, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
The Obama administration on Monday withdrew its cooperation with Russia over Syria, while Moscow suspended a key nuclear weapons accord it had signed with Washington more than a decade ago, a report said.



The US announced it was canceling plans to share military intelligence and operations-related information with Moscow, reported the Los Angeles Times.



"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesman John Kirby was quoted as saying in the report.



The decision came after negotiations between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed at reducing violence and opening up routes for food and medicine for besieged communities.



"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments," Kirby said, "and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed."



Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended his countrys participation in a treaty with the US designed to eliminate nuclear weapons, the report said.
Muslims represent a core viewer segment in the $443 billion global television broadcasting and online television industry, a report said, exploring the growing demand for Islamic-themed media content.



The report titled "Developments and opportunities in Islamic-themed television and online video content from industry intelligence leader Salaam Gateway identifies 188 Islamic-themed television and online channels globally.



Muslims spent an estimated $179 billion in the broader culture and recreation market in 2014, accounting for 5 per cent of global spend on such services, the report said.



The report is produced by Thomson Reuters and Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre in partnership with DinarStandard. It identifies the global Islamic-themed media for advertising, television and production senior managers seeking to target the lucrative and high-growth Halal/ Muslim consumer segment globally.



The report identifies the main Islamic-themed broadcast media markets in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 57 member countries. OIC markets generated a total of $10 billion in advertising revenue during 2015. The report also covers the geographic locations and core languages for the identified Islamic-themed television and media channels globally.



According to Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO, DIEDC, this report is proof of the sustainability of Islamic values and culture that endure the test of time, even while growing in influence and spreading organically across the world.



The digital revolution has heralded a new era in Muslim culture and driven the development of Islamic-themed content as well as increased programming and television fare targeted at Muslim audiences - including childrens television, documentaries, and comedy.



Muslims today represent a sizeable share of the total spend on culture and recreation. The opening of digital and electronic avenues offers a unique opportunity to promote sharia-compliant concepts through media, advertising and television. This can - if leveraged effectively - spur greater investments in shaping quality infrastructure to portray an authentic image of Islams peace-loving culture to the world, Al Awar said.



Mustafa Adil, head of Islamic Finance at Thomson Reuters, said: We are proud to present this latest report which is another first of its kind global publication featuring Islamic economy developments and opportunities. Islamic-themed media is a high-growth segment that is seeing diversification and new program formats.



The report identifies major opportunities for prospective players in the Islamic-themed media market, including mainstream and existing Islamic-themed media channels, investors and advertisers.



Haroon Latif, director of Strategic Insights at DinarStandard, Lead Analyst on the report, said: Muslim viewers are a key customer segment accounting for five percent of spend across the Culture and Recreation sectors, and are in need of the positive reinforcement of their values and lifestyle, especially after negative press in the media in light of recent unfortunate events. There are significant untapped opportunities across genres in Islamic-themed media  the market is ripe for new entrants."  TradeArabia News Service
Samsung Gulf Electronics and The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) have announced the opening of entries for the third annual Samsung SHRT Film Cntest.



The contest aims to give art students and filmmakers the platform, the knowledge and the technology to bring their stories to the big screen. Ten shortlisted entrants will have the opportunity to make a short film under the guidance of acclaimed director Majid Al Ansari.



These films will then be screened as part of a dedicated segment at DIFF that is in its 13th year, taking place from December 7  14, 2016 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.



Equipping contestants with the latest camera technology, Samsung will be providing shortlisted candidates with the Galaxy Note7 that is ready to record high quality videos, enabling a cinema-like experience including brighter colours and a deeper black. The device also features expandable storage that supports a microSD card up to 256GB, capable of recording hours of high-quality video. The advanced camera leverages dual-pixel sensor technology, wide aperture and fast auto focus that work together to create sharp and beautiful photos and videos even in low-light environments.



The winning filmmaker would have a chance to travel to France to screen his or her film at the Short Film Corner within Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 17 to 28 2017 celebrating its 70th anniversary edition.



We had conceptualised this contest as a platform to identify and nurture creative talent within the UAE. Over the years, with advancements in camera and sound technology, we at Samsung have been supporting such talent not only with the freedom of mobility and professional-quality equipment, but also an opportunity to unleash the full potential of their creativity. Through our association with DIFF, such talent will receive not only expert guidance but also a global platform to demonstrate their work, said Ali Ahmed, head of brand management, Samsung Gulf Electronics.



Shivani Pandya, DIFF managing director, said: We are excited to collaborate with Samsung for the third year to recognise, encourage and nurture the next generation of creatives from the UAE. This years promising selection of budding filmmakers will have the opportunity to accomplish their ambitions under the guidance of talented mentor Majid Al Ansari, the critically acclaimed director of the thrilling Zinzana. Competitions such as this are key to helping burgeoning talent release their full potential and flourish in the spotlight. We look forward to this competition and the new talents that may be gracing future editions of DIFF.



Entries have to be original films of any length, genre or style while telling a compelling story. All applicants for the 2016 Samsung Short Film Contest are required to submit their initial film entry to be considered for shortlist from October 4 to November 7 on www.diff.ae/samsung. - TradeArabia News Service
Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company, is conducting a feasibility study on two Iranian oilfields in a bid to step up output, a report said.



"We now have a data room with them for evaluation [purposes], so we can assess the value and other things," Pertamina managing director Dwi Soetjipto was quoted as saying in the Iran Daily report, which cited jakartapost.com.



Pertamina recently signed an agreement with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), marking the beginning of the six-month study on the two oilfields, Ab-Teymour and Mansouri, the report said.



The two onshore fields have a combined production rate of 74,500 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and reserves of more than five million barrels, according to the report.
Leading global experts in the field of green economy will collaborate on topics that are on top of the global agenda including renewable energy and green funding at the World Green Economy Summit (WGES) 2016, which opens tomorrow (October 5) in Dubai, UAE.



It is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai at Dubai International Convention and Exhibitions Centre.



A leading platform for sustainability and the green economy, the WGES 2016 Dubai is the third edition of the event.



The opening ceremony will present a comprehensive update on the implementation and achievements of the previous Dubai Declaration, pave the way for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and outline the expected contributions of WGES 2016, said the organisers.



Throughout the two-day event, delegates in the field of green economy will collaborate on topics that are on the top of the global agenda, including renewable energy, green funding, innovation, smart technology and cities.



The summit will also host a plenary session titled "The Road to COP22 in Marrakech: Bringing the Paris deal from agreement to action," expected to establish the foundations for further progress in climate change mitigation to be made.



Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the vice chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, managing director and chief executive of Dewa and chairman of WGES, pointed out that the UAEs 2021 Vision stipulates six priorities areas, among which achieving sustainable development in parallel to economic and social development is key.



"The green economy forms a core pillar of this priority area, and requires collaboration between top decision-makers and experts in the public and private sector. To this end, the WGES, which aims to make Dubai the global capital of the green economy, has established itself as the leading platform for environmental and economic development, which falls directly in line with the UAEs efforts to achieve this vision," he stated.



According to him, such a progress in a two-year time frame is considerable, and has set the stage for even greater success via the WGES summits.



With this in mind, WGES 2016 aims to achieve strategic objectives that complement the key commitments contained in Dubai Declaration: to help promote Dubais position as a global capital of green economy and sustainable development; to raise the profile of key issues such as Clean Energy, The Green Fund and the development of a dedicated Green Business Zone; and to maintain WGES as the premier international platform for Green Economy, said Al Tayer.



With the guidance of its wide leadership, the UAE has already achieved many milestones in its mission to driving the global green economy  and through the WGES platform and other initiatives, it is clear that the path to make Dubai the capital of this economy is not only achievable, but within reach, he added.



WGES 2016 runs in conjunction with the 18th session of Water, Energy & Environment Exhibition (Wetex) and Dubai Solar Show 2016.-TradeArabia News Service
Oil prices hit a four-month high on Tuesday as investors felt increasingly optimistic about the ability of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to reach a deal on its first output freeze in eight years.



Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 0.45 per cent to $51.12 per barrel in late afternoon trading. West Texas Intermediate crude swelled 0.08 per cent to $48.85.

The market has been buoyed by a tentative agreement from the Opec to cut output to between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels a day.

Despite the small losses on Tuesday, prices were up 8.8 per cent since the day before Opec members met in Algeria and discussed the deal last week, according to Wall Street Journal.



Iran, which would be allowed to produce "maximum levels that make sense" as part of the Opec deal, said today that co-operation between Opec members and non-Opec members would play an important part in stabilising oil prices, it added.
Arjaan by Rotana, Media City was named the Middle East Leading Luxury Apartment at the World Travel Awards which was held recently in Dubai.

This is the seventh consecutive year for Arjaan to receive the award.



We are ecstatic to be named the Middle East leading luxury hotel apartment. This award demonstrates the commitment, dedication and hard-work from the team stated Ayman Ashor, general manager.



The contemporary Moorish-style interiors host 168 luxurious one, two and three bedrooms suites and apartments consisting of 16 premium rooms with private plunge pools. Experience the true luxury residence with spacious living room and the fully-equipped kitchen. Arjaan by Rotana located in the heart of media city and overlooks the Palm Jumeirah Island and within easy access by the tram.



The awards ceremony dubbed the Oscars of the travel industry also announced Rotana as the Middle Easts Leading Hotel Brand for the tenth consecutive year. - TradeArabia News Service




Saudi Arabian national air carrier flynas has been named the "Middle East's Leading Low-Cost Airline" at the prestigious World Travel Awards(TM) 2016 for the second year in a row.



The award was presented to flynas during a ceremony in Dubai on September 29, 2016.



In bestowing the award, the organisers noted flynas' significant expansion over the past 12 months, an increased number of destinations, growth in their loyalty programme - naSmiles, and market leading enhancements in their customer focused mobile app and ecommerce suite of products.



Bander Al Mohanna, CEO of NAS Holding, said: "We are delighted that this work continues to be recognized by the global aviation industry for the second year in a row."



"While 2016 was a year of major expansion for flynas in terms of business growth and business decisions we remain committed to continuing to invest in our products and services for the benefit of our guests," Al Mohanna added.



For this special occasion, flynas has also announced that all guests can now get a discount of SR100 ($26.6) on all of its international destinations by using the promo code "WEWON" on flynas.com or on flynas's mobile application. The offer will last for seven days starting from October 3 until October 10, 2016, and will give flynas guests the chance to travel from October 3 until December 31, 2016. - TradeArabia News Service
An employee of Cameco, which operates Wyomings largest uranium mine, falsified a health survey required after two other workers were potentially exposed to radioactive material in 2013, regulators announced Monday.

In an agreement confirmed Friday between the company and federal regulators, Cameco will not be cited for a violation or pay a penalty but must take steps to ensure a similar incident doesnt again take place.

Cameco is also working to end a federal halt on the transport of its nuclear waste after two spillage incidents in the last nine months.

The false document was uncovered three years ago by the company during an internal investigation. Federal regulators requested that Cameco conduct the investigation when the issue of proper documentation came up during a routine inspection, said company spokesman Ken Vaughn.

The incident took place Sept. 12, 2013, at the companys North Butte satellite facility in Campbell County.

The occurrence was isolated to a single survey of two individuals, but the disregard for safety was a serious issue, said Victor Dricks, spokesman for the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Texas division, which oversees Wyomings uranium operations.

We have very rigorous regulations that require all employees be surveyed for radioactive contamination when they are exiting the facility, and even one incident is one too many, he said.

The NRC can use punitive measures after serious infractions, but in this case, both parties reached an alternative solution that did not involve fines, Dricks said.

Our officials sat down with company officials and discussed the issue. We talked about corrective actions they had already taken and others that they had promised to take, Dricks said.

In an agreement reached with regulators, Cameco, also called Power Resources, must hold annual meetings with management and radiation safety officials that emphasize proper record-keeping. It must provide a health specialist on site during high-risk situations and conduct additional safety training with periodic updates.

The falsified documents may have been an isolated event, but they are reflective of an attitude of carelessness in Wyomings uranium industry, said Shannon Anderson, an organizer with the Powder River Basin Resource Council, which advocates for environmental issues on the behalf of landowners.

The uranium industry has a long history of violations and incidents at all of the facilities in Wyoming and around the West, she said. Its a legacy of issues and this just seems par for the course.

The company faced $500,000 in fines in 2008 from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality for repeated violations and routine spills at its mining facility north of Glenrock.

However, Wyoming does not have regulatory authority over radiation safety. That area is completely monitored by the NRC, Anderson noted.

They dont have a lot of on-site oversight of these companies, she said.

Industry officials do not agree that uranium has a bad record in Wyoming, said Vaughn, the spokesman for Cameco.

I would say overall the uranium industry has an excellent record. It is held to high standards, as it should be, he said. When we do have issues arise, we work to correct them, as we are doing in this case.

This is the second time Cameco has been in trouble with the federal regulatory agency in recent months.

On Aug. 31, the company was ordered to indefinitely stop shipments of radioactive waste, a result of two spills within nine months. The hazardous waste was being taken from the Glenrock mine to a disposal facility in Utah when the spills occurred.

The company is continuing to work on a resolution to that issue, Vaughn said. In neither case were people or the environment adversely affected, he said.

But those cases are unacceptable, and we are implementing changes to ensure they are not repeated, he added.

They only halted shipping of waste material; it didnt affect production, he said. We are continuing to finalize measures in that case with the NRC.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is currently developing a state plan that, if approved by the NRC, would give the state authority over the radiological components of uranium mining. If state regulators are successful, the change could happen by late 2018.

There are pros and cons to giving the state that power, said Anderson, the resource council organizer. The regulations could be costly and require new hires and training during an economic ebb for the state, she said.

On the upside, there will be local regulators, she said.
Casper residents and business owners could see their insurance rates drop following a dramatic improvement in one of the citys fire protection ratings.

Many insurance companies rely on a company called ISO Mitigation to rate fire safety in municipalities across the country. ISO uses a 10-point scale to rate communities, and Casper improved from an ISO rating of 3 five years ago to a 1, the highest possible rating.

The new ratings were released last week.

I was so shocked, City Manager V.H. McDonald told city council last Tuesday. This is pretty amazing news.

There are only 173 ISO Class 1 fire departments in the nation, McDonald said. According to the ISO Mitigation website, Casper appears to be the first community in Wyoming to receive a Class 1 rating.

Its a lot of the stuff weve done right over the years, McDonald said.

The ISO rating is based on the quality of a communitys fire department, water supply and emergency communications system.

We always felt that we ran a very efficient  given our resources  service to our community, said fire department operations chief Dan Griswold. Getting this rating somewhat affirms that.

But Griswold said the biggest change was in ISOs methodology, not in the quality of fire protection in Casper.

Griswold said that in recent years ISO has brought its rating system in line with that of the National Fire Protection Association. Since the Casper Fire Departments emergency response times and other metrics fall within NFPAs recommendations, the citys ISO rating improved once the organization began incorporating NFPA standards.

The fire departments average response time is just shy of five minutes from the time a 911 call is received until the first fire unit arrives at the scene, Griswold said.

The rating improvement is a bright spot for a fire department that has been hit by the nearly 40 percent reduction in Caspers budget. Griswold said the department had lost two fire investigators to attrition.

The department has an $8.9 million budget this year and 66 firefighters working across five fire stations in town. There are nine office staff, including the fire chief.

The lost staff werent the people in the firehouse on Christmas morning, Griswold said, but the cuts did affect non-front line workers.

Mills also announced an improvement in its ISO rating from a Class 5 to Class 2. As of 2015, there were only 1,342 Class 2 fire departments in the country, the town said in a statement.

Council was excited by the improved rating and while council members acknowledged there was no guarantee that insurance rates would drop, the improved rating was seen as potentially excellent news.

Time to call your insurance company, councilman Bob Hopkins said.

While insurance companies rely on ISO ratings when setting property insurance rates, and better ratings usually correlate to better rates, there is no standard for how a communitys ISO rating affects insurance costs. Some insurance companies rely on their own databases to determine fire risk, though in 2011, ISO said a better class rating could halve the cost of homeowner insurance policies.
In the early 1900s at the invitation of the U.S. government, a wave of tenacious Russian immigrants began settling on lands abandoned by homesteaders across the West.

Those immigrants, different strains of crested wheatgrass, were planted to preserve soils and provide food for livestock on more than 26 million acres.

Motivated to create better habitat for greater sage grouse, over the last couple of years in northeastern Montana the Bureau of Land Management has become one of the latest groups to experiment with removing crested wheatgrass and restoring native species.

Im really happy with what were seeing out there, said Abel Guevara, a BLM wildlife biologist who in worked in Glasgow, Montana, but just recently transferred to Cody.

Most of these projects are within pronghorn and mule deer winter range. A sharptail lek even popped up. There were 20 birds there.

History

Crested wheatgrass was introduced across the West by the Department of Agriculture around 1906, with the big plantings in Montana occurring in the 1930s as homesteaders abandoned their lands in the Great Depression. The plant is a native bunchgrass from Russia and Siberia, where it became well adapted to the similarly dry, cold climate of North Americas prairies.

The bunchgrass is valued because it grows quickly and protects soil from erosion, which is why it has been used in restoration work. The grass can be grazed in the spring and fall, but is unpalatable to livestock in the summer. Its also so productive and protective of its space that it often creates a monoculture, blocking natives from re-establishing.

Crested wheatgrass may be the most useful and controversial grass currently used in rangeland seedings, according to a paper published by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

The Alberta Fish and Game noted in its publication on the grass that, Crested wheatgrass is an extremely competitive grass species that has the ability to out compete many of our native grass species, and as such is threatening the biodiversity of our prairie ecosystem.

According to the Forest Service, crested wheatgrass has been planted from Alaska south to California, throughout western Canada, east in the United States to Ohio, and south to Texas.

Its persisted now for 80 years, said Pat Gunderson, field manager for the BLMs Glasgow office. Its essentially a monoculture that never really gets grazed off. It provides minimal wildlife and livestock benefits unless its grazed in the spring.

Testing

To improve habitat for sage grouse, in spring 2014 Guevara oversaw a prescribed burn on the 375-acre Tomato Can Unit as a test project.

It was then sprayed with herbicide once the crested wheatgrass was partially grown and sprayed a second time the following spring, according to Jonathan Moor, a BLM information officer. The area was seeded with a native grass mixture using a no-till method during the fall of 2015, he added. Once seeded, project units are rested from grazing for two years to allow newly seeded native plants to grow.

Similar projects have been tried and tried everywhere, Gunderson said, with limited success. Its not inexpensive, either, at a projected cost of about $100 an acre.

But if you look at it over the course of 30 years, if we can change the dynamics on the landscape, its cheaper than CRP, he said.

The Conservation Reserve Program pays ranchers and farmers to idle a portion of their land to create wildlife habitat in return for a cash payment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. CRP has been widely hailed by conservation groups as key to sustaining and creating habitat for a variety of wildlife species, everything from waterfowl and pheasant to big game like deer.

Like CRP, the work on BLM lands still requires the cooperation of ranchers who have permits to graze on the federal lands. So far a few have stepped forward to help get the test project off the ground. Word of success could spread the treatments to other lands.

Moving on

Given the success of its first project the Glasgow BLM office has decided to expand the experiment to other lands. The 600-acre Mooney Coulee and 430-acre North Tomato Can Units will be seeded with a native grass mixture this fall. The areas were treated with prescribed fire and herbicide in 2015, according to Moor. A second herbicide treatment was applied this past spring. By the end of 2017 a total of 2,000 acres will have been converted from crested wheatgrass to native grasses, he said.

Guevara said the 2,000 acres is just a fraction of the regions total crested wheatgrass lands which amount to more than 40,000 acres. But he sees it as a step in the right direction.

What we want to do is restore the habitat, he said.
Two Wyoming residents have been killed in separate crashes in the past two days, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

One wreck took place in Green River; the other was east of Laramie. They marked the 90th and 91st highway fatalities in the state in 2016. At this time last year, the state had seen 115 such deaths.

Green River resident Maicy Braden, 17, was driving just after 9:30 a.m. Monday near the intersection of Flaming Gorge Way and Wyoming State Highway 530 (Uinta Drive) in Green River, according to a news release from the highway patrol.

Braden, who was driving a 2002 Chrysler 300 car south on Wyoming 530, drove through a red light into the intersection and was struck by a 2006 Volvo commercial truck towing a trailer west on Flaming Gorge Way, the patrol reported. Traffic traveling west had the green light at the time of the crash.

A 2001 Ford E250 van that was stopped in a turn lane on eastbound Flaming Gorge Way waiting to turn north onto Wyoming 530 was also struck after the first collision, the release said.

The driver of the truck  38-year-old Wisconsin resident Travis Holcombe  was wearing his seat belt and was not hurt. The same was true of the driver of the van, 79-year-old Utah resident Walter Jensen.

Braden, who was not wearing her seat belt, was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County in Rock Springs, where she died, the release said.

Contributing factors in that crash are under investigation.

In the Laramie-area crash, 24-year-old Laramie resident Tyler Barber was driving a 2009 Ford F350 pickup east on Interstate 80 early Tuesday when the truck drifted into the median.

The truck overcorrected and started to slide, during which it left the roadway again, tripped and rolled into the median.

Barber, who was not wearing his seat belt, was ejected. He sustained fatal injuries in the crash.

Driver inattention is being investigated as a contributing factor.
Yellowstone National Park officials determined Tuesday that a top Wyoming Highway Patrol leader did not violate park rules when he took a photo near a bison at the park.

Park officials began investigating Major Keith Groeneweg last week after he posted the photo of him posing behind a bison, possibly violating a park rule that people stay at least 25 yards from all wildlife.

Groeneweg, the third-highest official at the highway patrol, posted the photo on Facebook with the caption: Yellowstone signs everywhere: Stay 100 yards from animals. They can be dangerous. Keiths translation: Time to sneak up and hug a buffalo!#YNP #ILoveWyoming.

The photo, which Groeneweg made his profile picture, was taken during his recent vacation and shows him behind the bison with his arms outstretched as if to hug the animal.

Groeneweg told park rangers and his boss at the highway patrol that he was respecting the rule and was more than 25 yards away. The photo made him appear closer than he actually was, and there was a ravine between him and the animal, he said.

Major Groeneweg fully cooperated with the Park Rangers throughout the investigation and the National Park Service has advised the investigation has been closed with no further action, Highway Patrol Colonel Kebin Haller said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

People shared the photo with park officials, who then investigated this incident, Pete Webster, the parks top ranger, told the Star-Tribune last week.

Bison have injured more people in the park than any other animal and can run three times faster than people, according to the park website. Bison injured five people in 2015, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. Two of the people were gored, and the other three were tossed into the air.

People on foot must remain at least 100 yards away from wolves and bears and 25 yards away from all other animals, according to park rules. Violations of the wildlife rules as well as other park regulations have been on the rise in Yellowstone over the past few years, increasingly damaging natural resources and displacing animals.
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Aeromars inaugural flight from Hermosillo to Tucson was nearly an hour late Monday, but supporters didnt seem to mind.

After all, theyve waited and worked for eight years to get nonstop flights to Mexico to return to Tucson International Airport.

With a traditional firehose welcome from TIAs firefighting vehicles, Aeromar Airlines Flight 106 pulled up to the ramp with a nearly full passenger load around 1 p.m., after experiencing delays in customs processing in Mexico.

Fresh off the plane, Aeromar CEO Andres Fabre thanked TIA and officials on both sides of the border during a gate ceremony with a mariachi band, margaritas and tapas.

While Aeromar initially is flying to Tucson Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, Fabre said he expects that to grow.

We expect that frequency will increase to almost daily very soon, Fabre said.

And Fabre gave fans of the new flights more reason to celebrate: A promotional, $149 round-trip air fare from Tucson to Hermosillo.

The fare  which represents a discount of nearly 50 percent off the lowest regular fares  is available through Oct. 14 for travel through Dec. 12.

Were doing this as a big gesture, to get things started on the right foot, Fabre said.

Tucson Airport Authority CEO Bonnie Allin said the flights were the result of years of effort by backers which, besides the airport and Aeromar, included Pima County, the city of Tucson, the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Tucson Metro Chamber, Visit Tucson, Mexican provincial officials and business leaders on both sides of the border.

The secretary of tourism for Sonora, Mexico, said he was amazed by the response so far, particularly since Aeromar has yet to launch a major marketing effort.

Antonio Berumen said he hopes Tucsonans will now consider a beach vacation to San Carlos, rather than perhaps Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Penasco, to support the new flights.

It depends on all the people here in Tucson and all the people in Sonora to buy the tickets, he said. It will be easier to go to Sonora, easier to do business in Sonora  this will be a good business for Aeromar.

One of the passengers on Aeromars first Tucson departure said he was pleasantly surprised to find the flight on Expedia.

I had no idea this was the first flight for Aeromar, said David Mayorquin, who was flying on to Mazatlan to do some business for his seafood company.

Not only was his airfare relatively inexpensive, but Mayorquin said hes pleased to avoid having to travel through congested Mexico City International Airport.

Im very happy about it, said Mayorquin, who has in the past driven or flown to Phoenix to fly to Mexico for his frequent business trips south of the border.

Based in Mexico City, Aeromar was founded in 1987 as an executive airline and is flying the 48-seat ATR 42 turboprop on the Tucson flights. From Hermosillo, Sonora, the flights go on to Los Mochis and Mazatlan, Sinaloa; then to Guadalajara, Jalisco, returning on the same route.
UHS given top

national distinction

University High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

National Blue Ribbon is distinction given to schools for overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups.

UHS is one of four Arizona schools to be honored this year by the federal education department. The three others are: Fuller Elementary School in Tempe, Vista del Sur Traditional School in Laveen and Jack Barnes Elementary School in Queen Creek.

The school previously received the distinction in 2005. Two other TUSD schools were previously recognized as National Blue Ribbon schools. They are: Sabino High School in 2013 and Drachman Montessori Magnet School in 2015.

2 students named Hispanic Scholars

Two Green Fields K-12 School seniors were selected National Hispanic Scholars.

Jasmine Romanov and Tanner Schmidt were chosen by the College Boards National Hispanic Recognition Program.

Students must have a GPA of 3.5 of higher and score in the top 2.5 percent among Hispanic test takers.

Romanov has attended the independent school since first grade. She is also part of the National Honor Society. Schmidt has been at the school since third grade and is also a member of the honor society.

Pueblo High names 12 to Hall of Fame

Pueblo High Schools foundation will induct 12 people into its Hall of Fame at its second annual banquet on Oct. 23.

The inductees are:

Robert J. Acuna

Adelita Grijalva

Leonard E. Basurto

Dan A. Klingenberg

Tim Dong

Miguel Palacios

Dale Frederick

Rafaela M. Santa Cruz

Richard M. Gastellum

Saturnino Curly Santa Cruz

Conrado L. Gomez

Ramon Valadez

The banquet is at 11 a.m. at the Hotel Tucson City Center, 475 N. Granada Ave. A brunch ticket costs $40 and a table for 10 people costs $375.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.phswarriorfoundation.org or by calling 520-260-8993. The deadline to buy a ticket is Oct. 9.
Five candidates are vying for three seats on the Amphitheater School District board.

They are: Scott Baker, a PE teacher; Vicki Cox Golder, a former board member and real estate broker; Julie Cozad, retired teacher and incumbent on the board; Deanna Day, current board president and retired teacher; and Mick Stewart, a former Amphi teacher and current Sunnyside High School social studies teacher.

The Star asked the candidates on their views on some key education issues. The answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Testing

Baker: I feel that we have too much of an emphasis on testing and that the time that teachers need to spend in their classes actually testing students should be reduced, even if the state of Arizona requires testing as some type of an accountability measure.

Cox Golder: I know that teachers complain about testing but there has to be some testing in schools, because you have to know how youre doing compared to other state districts. How would you know how youre doing unless youre testing? They perhaps over do it because teachers are spending an enormous amounts of time preparing for and administering tests.

Cozad: I dont mind accountability. In fact, I think its crucial for everybody. One of my frustrations with AzMERIT is that it recently changed and the teachers dont know if what they are teaching is what would be asked on the test. Im OK with testing if its a reliable and valid test.

Day: There is way too much testing for students. And when youre not testing, youre preparing for testing. Id have more curriculum that mirrors problem solving, science technology, engineering and math.

Stewart: As a public school teacher, I have seen the stress that over-testing can do to students. I think we over-test. But I see the value of assessing so that you can figure out what students need. I am concerned that the current format doesnt do that well enough. Im a proponent of giving more authority and more decision making to local schools and local teachers.

Teacher retention

Baker: One thing I would do to improve teacher retention is to make sure that the maximum amount of money possible is going into teacher salaries. Other things that I would do to increase teacher retention is to work to create a culture of respect for teachers in the district.

Cox Golder: You need to have a good climate in the schools and of course you have to pay them a decent salary. Its also appalling that first-year teachers make as much as they did 20 years ago. We have to make sure that teachers are paid decent salaries.

Cozad: For the teachers that weve got, weve got to hang on to them. I want to make sure they are heard and valued and were doing anything that we can do to support them. It comes down to hourly wage. I also like the idea of going in and listening to make sure people feel that Im approachable and they can talk to me.

Day: Salaries are a huge issue at the moment. We need to get better salaries for teachers. But its not only salary. Its also job satisfaction with teachers.

Stewart: Arizona is limited because the pay for teachers is low in comparison to surrounding states. What we can do is make teachers feel better about the job they are doing. What I want Amphi to do is to allow teachers to have more voice in decision making and a bigger part. When teachers are empowered, they are more effective in their jobs and they are happier.

Academic achievement

Baker: The most important ways to affect academic achievement are through having quality teachers and having a quality curriculum. Im very knowledgeable about curriculum and I think that I would have a very experienced eye towards curriculum that is being brought to the school board.

Cox Golder: Some of the things were already doing, such as Odyssey of the Mind and academic decathlons, help improve academic achievement. They are good for children and they are fun. We have to try to make education fun and enjoyable.

Cozad: I recently met with the director of Pima County libraries and found out that all the things that libraries do. Amphi does so much for kids but the library system does too. I think branching out with the community and seeing whats available is going to be crucial because of limited budget.

Day: We do a lot of things in academic achievement. Teachers are professionally trained. There are high levels of professional development that focus on how to get the most out of students. We know that parents choose schools based on academic achievement.

Stewart: We need to find programs that promote high rigor and also provide enrichment for the students to make the connection to higher-level thinking. That is allowing teachers to find and implement programs that use inquiry model of teaching; allowing students to seek, learn and discover. With high expectations and great support, students will thrive.
Help India!

By Moin Qazi for TwoCircles.net

The best of you are those who are the kindest to their wives. Al-Tirmidhi

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The issue of Triple Talaq or instant divorce has engaged the Muslim mind for several years. It refuses to die and the discussion is marked by rancour and animated debates on account of which the main issues get clouded and no clear thinking has been able to emerge.

The current debate centres on the practice of Triple Talaq. The Muslim clergy has refused to be drawn into discussion insisting that the issue has already been sealed by the Quranic edicts and it is meaningless to reinvent the wheel once again. They feel that any new attempts at a fresh discourse are ill intentioned and have a misguided agenda.

What irks Muslims is that voices that are so strident on matters of Triple Talaq turn absolutely mute and shrill when it comes to chronic problems which are responsible for growing ignorance in the community. Discrimination against Muslims in India is very rampant. As a group, Muslims have fallen badly in recent decades in education, employment and economic status, with persistent discrimination a key reason. Muslims are more likely to live in villages without schools or medical facilities and less likely to qualify for bank loans. Let these activists ponder before their actions turn further progress on economic reform into a sideshow, with secondary issues occupying center stage.

It is true that in societies trapped in poverty, illiteracy and ignorance, women continue to receive abominable and oppressive treatment. But then, this is true of all societies. Muslims cannot be singled out for such a flawed social order. In several cases, the plight of Muslim women is a direct consequence of a repressive and highly discriminatory State. We dont have to personally visit places to see the face of the demeaning levels of poverty and destitution women suffer in so many countries.

To be honest the Triple Talaq is almost a non issue and activists are trying to make it a centerpiece of Muslim gender issues and turning a mole hill into a mountain. There are more pressing issue confronting Muslim woman, most of whom live in abysmal conditions of poverty and destitution. It is this appealing condition that needs an urgent focus. Newspapers and media are blaring day in and day out the plight of these women. But his does not in any way detract from the gravity of the issue of Talaq that has now become a rage in feminist circles.

All too often, Muslim women are used as pawns to justify Western imperialism, colonialism, and militarism. Rape, sexual harassment, and violence against women are not isolated to a particular faith, but instead, exist in every country, religion, and community that is patriarchal.

The problem is not Islam; the problem is patriarchy. The stereotype of the helpless Muslim woman, oppressed by her faith and her nation, is used by secular liberals and conservatives alike for their hidden agenda. All too often, Muslim women are used as pawns to justify. Yes, Islam may have patriarchal elements, but so does every religion and culture. It is written into the fabric of how we interact and how we organize ourselves. To criticize Islam as a uniquely violent or particularly patriarchal religion is a racist characterisation based on a narrow set of assumptions about who Muslims are and what faith they practice.

The community resents that Muslim family laws are sacrosanct and even courts cant examine their validity. Legal experts say the practice is unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court has been pushing for uniformity in laws. In 1985, the top court ruled ordered a man to pay alimony to his elderly wife, after verbally divorcing and abandoning her. The Indian government in office at the time, however, managed to overturn the verdict retroactively by passing a law to protect Muslim divorce law. Many suspect the government was under pressure from Muslim leaders to stay out of their business or lose their electoral support. The main argument of those who opposed the judgment of the top court was that it made a sweeping generalisation of the plight of Muslim women and strongly advocated the Uniform Civil Code without elaborating its meritocracy. They believed it was part of a larger agenda of diluting Muslim religious practices. .

It may come as a shock to numerous Muslims and others that the Quran does not prescribe this form of divorce at all. It is not just Indian Muslim women who are suffering. In some countries in the Middle East and Malaysia, mobile devices have been used to end marriages by simply texting Talaq, Talaq, Talaq. And before the advent of mobile devices, there were instances when telephone calls, snail mail and even telegrams were used to communicate divorce.

The truth is that the concept of instant Triple Talaq is alien to Islam as it goes against the very spirit of the procedure of divorce laid down in the Quran. Even the Prophet (PBUH) when he was informed about a man who gave three divorces at a time was so enraged that he said, Are you playing with the Book of Allah who is Great and Glorious while I am still amongst you? The acclaimed Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiya rejected the traditionalist view on the triple divorce  Muslim institutions must understand that Quranic ontology revolves around the principles of justice, fairness and equity, and therefore, any law that contravenes or abridges the rights arising out of these standards of ethics automatically becomes unacceptable.

In fact, the Quran has specifically laid down a formula of a three-tiered calibrated divorce, keeping in mind human frailties. The first two stages give an opportunity to the estranged couple to reconsider their decision and, if possible, reconcile and resume their married relationship.

But it is only the third and last step, if traversed that would make the Talaq irrevocable. Therefore, the most important injunction in the Quran, in this regard, is that after each pronouncement of Talaq there has to be compulsorily a period of waiting or iddat that provides a timeout to reflect on the alternatives to a divorce.

It is noteworthy that neither the utterance of Talaq thrice in one sentence nor a single pronouncement to indicate an intention of irrevocably dissolving the marriage had the approval of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The triple Talaq in one sitting is called Talaq-ul-Biddat  a heretical Talaq. The Triple Talaq, which Muslims are made to believe is based on divine revelation, is nothing but a man-made legal evasion created by a pliant Muslim clergy during the second century of the Muhammadan era.

There are two hadith (narrations of sayings of the Prophet) in (Divorce -Kitab Al Talaq  of Sunan Abu Dawud)

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: Abdu Yazid, the father of Rukanah and his brothers, divorced Umm Rukanah and married a woman of the tribe of Muzaynah. She went to the Prophet (PBUH) and said: He is of no use to me except that he is as useful to me as a hair; and she took a hair from her head. So separate me from him. The Prophet (PBUH) became furious. He called on Rukanah and his brothers. He then said to those who were sitting beside him. Do you see so-and-so who resembles Abdu Yazid in respect of so-and-so; and so-and-so who resembles him in respect of so-and-so? They replied: Yes. The Prophet (PBUH) said to Abdu Yazid: Divorce her. Then he did so. He said: Take your wife, the mother of Rukanah and his brothers, back in marriage. He said: I have divorced her by three pronouncements, Apostle of Allah. He said: I know: take her back. He then recited the verse: O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them at their appointed periods. (Divorce (Kitab Al-Talaq) of Sunan Abu-Dawud: 2191)

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: Tawus said: Abus Sahba said to Ibn Abbas: Do you know that a divorce by three pronouncements was made a single one during the time of the Prophet (pbuh), and of AbuBakr and in the early days of the caliphate of Umar? He replied: Yes. (Divorce -Kitab Al-Talaq-of Sunan Abu-Dawud: 2194)

It is necessary for the Muslim community to look inward and reexamine the whole issue in the light of the scriptural injunctions. It need not be overemphasised that Islam assigns a very dignified status to women, but sadly they continue to remain undervalued. The key to reformation is: empowerment. Muslim womens empowerment, like many things, cannot be imposed on a country or a culture from the outside. Men and women within these conservative communities must first find their own reasons and their own justifications to allow women a fuller role in society. Increasingly, they are finding those reasons within Islam. Like men, women deserve to be free. In todays increasingly global world, the stakes are higher than everfor everyone. Societies that invest in and empower women are on a virtuous cycle. They become richer, more stable, better governed, and less prone to fanaticism. Countries that limit womens educational and employment opportunities and their political voice get stuck in a downward spiral. They are poorer, more fragile, have higher levels of corruption, and are more prone to extremism. Islam

Empowering women should be as much a mans responsibility, as it is a womans aspiration. Interestingly, some of the most influential Islamic feminist thinkers are men.

It is only a matter of time until the day comes when they [women] test their chains and break free. As Rumi says in the Mathnawi, This woman, who is your beloved, is in fact a ray of His light. She is not a mere creature. She is like a creator.

[Moin Qazi is a well known expert in microfinance and co-authored the widely popular book, The Essential Microfinance. He is a PhD in English and Economics. He was associated with SBI for three decades as a grassroots field officer, program manager, policy maker and researcher in development finance.]
The Government of Cameroon has announced it will be recruiting 1,800 commandos into the elite unit of the armed forces  the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR.Joseph Beti Assomo, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, disclosed the development in a communique he issued over the weekend.According to the communique, the special recruitment exercise of young Cameroonians into the BIR will take place across the ten regional headquarters in the country from January 7 to February 16, 2017.

Selection criteria

Prospective BIR commandos must be Cameroonians by nationality, be single and between the ages of 18 and 23, the communique specified.

They also have to be holders of at least a First School Leaving Certificate, FSLC, be enjoying their civic rights and must be 1.66m tall and above.Candidates are expected to drop their complete application files at the various Military Sectors. An official of the BIR at Man OWar Bay in Limbe; the BIRs main training and instruction centre, told Blasting Newsthat the recruitment exercise will entail rigorous medical and physical aptitude tests.During the last BIR recruitment exercise, conscripts underwent a 20km test race carrying 20kg bags of sand each. They also took on a 10km race without load as well as a military walk in small teams carrying heavy poles. Muscular activities featured too on the selection test.

Cameroon's war efforts

Cameroon is boosting its Armys manpower at a time the country is engaged in a war against the Nigerian-based terror group, Boko Haram. The Multi-purpose Response Squad of the National Gerdarmerie, GPIGN, the Motorised Infantry Battalion, BIM, and the Israeli-trained Rapid Intervention Batallion, BIR, are the main units of the Cameroon Army pushing forth the war efforts.Boko Haram has been launching spades of attacks on Cameroon territory since 2013, but the BIR in particular has been succeeding in repelling such attacks. We learned the commandos are armed with American and Israeli assault and sniper rifles, 50mm heavy machine guns, 105mm cannon and mortars, amongst others.
The European Society for Translational Medicine (EUSTM) and Global Translational Medicine Consortium (GTMC) cordially invites you to attend the 4th International Congress on Translational Medicine (4th Annual Congress of the European Society for Translational Medicine) (EUSTM-2016) from 17-20 October, 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic.EUSTM-2016 will discuss and showcase latest developments in specific areas of cellular & molecular biology, big data mining & omics sciences, biomarkers & molecular imaging, drug discovery & development, Precision medicine & point of care diagnostics and disease modeling. The conference will unite scientists, clinicians, world leaders and experts from research institutions, industry, regulatory agencies, policy makers, and governments.EUSTM-2016 provides the key to future success in global healthcare by addressing current challenges and by highlight novel solutions. The conference represents a unique opportunity for global networking with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and service providers. Participants will also include practicing physicians with clinical experience in various therapeutic areas and members of patient organizations. Pharmaceutical and biotech industries, medtech and medical instruments companies, consultancy firms, clinical research organizations and data management companies will showcase and exhibit their products and services.We hope you will find time to sample many of the unique features within the city of Prague as you greet old friends, make new connections and develop a network that will last a life time. We look forward to welcoming you in Prague.
IMF forecasts subdued global growth, urges action Updated: 2016-10-05 00:15 By CHEN WEIHUA in Washington(chinadaily.com.cn)

The global economic growth is subdued, and economic stagnation could fuel stronger protectionism, according to a report released on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In its October 2016 World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF forecast global growth at 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent in 2017, the same as IMF predicated in July shortly after the Brexit.

The pickup in 2017 will be driven mainly by emerging market strength, the report said.

The WEO report has marked down its growth prospects for advanced economies while marking up those for the rest of the world. But prospects for 2017 for both country groupings remain unchanged.

"Taken as a whole, the world economy has moved sideways," IMF chief economist and economic counsellor Maurice Obstfeld told a press briefing on Tuesday morning in Washington.

The IMF forecast China's economy, the world's second largest, to grow 6.6 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent in 2017, down from growth of 6.9 per cent last year.

It said that policymakers in China will continue to shift the economy away from its reliance on investment and industry toward consumption and services, a policy that is expected to slow growth in the short term while building the foundations for a more sustainable long-term expansion.

But it said China's government should take steps to rein in credit that is "increasing at a dangerous pace'' and cut off support to unviable state-owned enterprises, "accepting the associated slower GDP growth" the IMF said, according to the report, echoing a recent warning by the Bank for International Settlements.

The IMF also forecast India's GDP to expand 7.6 per cent this year and next, the fastest pace among the world's major economies.

It forecast the growth of emerging market and developing economies to speed up this year for the first time in six years, to 4.2 per cent, slightly higher than the July forecast of 4.1 per cent. Next year, emerging economies are expected to grow 4.6 per cent.

The WEO report said that advanced economies will expand just 1.6 per cent in 2016, less than last year's 2.1 per cent pace and down from the July forecast of 1.8 per cent.

The IMF has marked down its forecast for the US this year to 1.6 per cent, from 2.2 per cent in July, following a disappointing first half caused by weak business investment and diminishing pace of stockpiles of goods.

But it said US growth is likely to pick up to 2.2 per cent next year as the drag from lower energy prices and dollar strength fades. "Further increases in the Federal Reserve's policy rate "should be gradual and tied to clear signs that wages and prices are firming durably," the report said.

The report said uncertainty following the Brexit will take a toll on the confidence of investors. It forecast the UK growth to slow to 1.8 per cent this year and to 1.1 per cent in 2017, down from 2.2 per cent last year. Meanwhile, the euro area will expand 1.7 per cent this year and 1.5 per cent next year, compared with 2.0 per cent growth in 2015.

Growth in Japan, the world's third largest economy, is expected to remain subdued at 0.5 per cent this year and 0.6 per cent in 2017, according to IMF.

"A return to the strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth that Group of 20 leaders called for at Hangzhou in September still eludes us," Obstfeld said.

The director of IMF's research department explained that dissatisfaction with the recent growth rates is due to the belief that the trend shift in global output away from mature and relatively slow-growing economies, toward emerging and developing economies, should raise global growth over time.

"But this has not happened," he said.

He said the financial crisis has left a cocktail of interacting legacieshigh debt overhangs, non-performing loans on banks' books, deflationary pressures, low investment, and eroded human capitalthat continue to depress potential output levels.

"Because investors and consumers become more cautious when they fear income growth may lag for longer, realized growth can fall as well," he said.

The IMF report expressed concern that persistent stagnation, particularly in advanced economies, could further fuel populist calls for restrictions on trade and immigration. Obstfeld said such restrictions would hamper productivity, growth, and innovation, citing the examples of Brexit and the anti-trade rhetoric on US presidential campaign trail and describing them as uncertainty for investors.

"It is vitally important to defend the prospects for increasing trade integration,'' he said. "Turning back the clock on trade can only deepen and prolong the world economy's current doldrums."

The IMF report emphasized the urgent need for a comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated policy approach to reinvigorate growth, ensure it is distributed more evenly, and make it durable. By using monetary, fiscal, and structural policies in concertwithin countries, consistent over time; and across countries  the "whole can be greater than the sum of its parts" according to Obstfeld.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
China-based tire maker chooses Georgia for US plant Updated: 2016-10-03 17:58 By PAUL WELITZKIN in New York(chinadaily.com.cn)

They looked at more than 50 sites in almost 20 states. After visiting the sites and reviewing tstate incentive packages, the choice came down to LaGrange, Georgia, or one near Memphis, Tennessee.

And the city of about 30,000 that is about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta won out, with Sentury Tire deciding to build a manufacturing and design center in LaGrange that is expected to start production in 2018 and employ more than 1,000 people.

"This project will have a very significant economic effect for La Grange,'' Mayor James Thornton said in an email. "An investment of $530 million that creates over 1,000 jobs is very important. I hope that other Chinese manufacturers and businesses will take a look at LaGrange and Georgia for their future plans."

"We are very happy to select LaGrange for the location of our North American manufacturing," Executive Vice-President Rami Helminen said in a statement when the announcement was made. "The education systems and high quality workforce complement our leading edge technology."

Sentury makes tires for cars, pickups, and aircraft under the Sentury, Delinte and Landsail brands. Its parent company, Qingdao Sentury Tire Co Ltd, is based in Qingdao in Shandong province, employs 2,500 people worldwide and currently has manufacturing operations in Qingdao and Thailand.

Sentury said it specializes in the advanced manufacturing of tires in which robotics plays a key role in the production process. The company said Sentury is now ranked among the top 75 tire companies in the world.

"When Sentury Tire connected with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, we knew they were focused on being in the right spot. Their commitment to locate in LaGrange speaks to Georgia's business-friendly climate and the strong relationship we maintain with our economic partners in China," Nico Wijnberg, director of international investment for the department said in an email.

Wijnberg said Sentury will be eligible for a variety of tax credits, including some tied to the creation of the 1,000 jobs.

Sentury's LaGrange facility will be 16 miles from a plant owned by Kia Motors in West Point, Georgia, and about 95 miles from a Hyundai factory near Montgomery, Alabama.

In 2015, Chinese companies Linhai Powersports and Ningbo Huige Outdoor Products Co. Ltd, announced plans to establish US and North American operations in Gwinnett County, which is located near Atlanta.

Georgia has aggressively pursued Chinese investment. The state has had a trade office in China for about 10 years and moved the office to Qingdao in 2013.

paulwelitzkin@chiandailyusa.com
Merkel calls for mutual respect during German reunification celebrations Updated: 2016-10-04 07:16 (Xinhua)

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for mutual respect and openness to dialogue on the sidelines of the celebrations to mark the Day of German Unity on Monday in the eastern German city of Dresden.

Bundesrat President Stanislaw Tillich, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Joachim Gauck (LtoR) arrive near Frauenkirche cathedral for celebrations marking the German Unification Day in Dresden, Germany, October 3, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Twenty-six years after the reunification of Germany, the Day of German Unity is still a day of joy and gratitude for the vast majority of Germans, said the chancellor, but added that there were also new problems."I personally wish that we solve these problems together, with mutual respect, in the acceptance of very different political opinions, and that we also find good solutions," said Merkel.Norbert Lammert, President of the Bundestag, pleaded in his speech for more optimism in the country.The country is faced with challenges "which we must and can cope with," emphasized Lammert in front of about 1,000 invited guests.At the same time, he also urged people to meet "the minimum demands of civilization" in the political and social debate, which includes respect, tolerance, respect for rule of law, freedom of expression and freedom of religion.Saxony Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich said that words should not be allowed to cross certain boundaries."We are embarrassed to see that words can spark hatred and violence," said Tillich at the ceremony on Monday.Tillich said in his speech: "We must all ensure that the dangerous seeds, including those of populism, do not take root."Dresden hosted the central celebrations for the Day of German Unity this year. Some 750,000 visitors are expected to attend the celebrations this year under the motto "Building bridges."
As the oldest city in in South Carolina, Charleston is filled with historic attractions, scenic harbor views, romantic inns, award-winning seafood and other restaurants. Top things to do in Charleston for families include the aquarium, a picnic in Waterfront Park and shopping at the Charleston City Market. Couples can explore the oldest museum in the country, walk though romantic plantation gardens, get married at one of these unique Charleston wedding venues and dine at a great breakfast and seafood place.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Magnolia Plantation & Gardens  Courtesy of anwin - Fotolia.com

Founded by the Drayton family in 1676, the Magnolia Plantation is one of the oldest plantations in the South. The plantations beautiful gardens were opened to the public in 1870 and are absolutely stunning. Today, the Magnolia Plantation has been restored to the original plantation house prior to the Civil War and is operated as a house museum. The museum has wonderful interactive and interpretive programs that reflect on the African-American history at the plantation, including slavery and freedom. Other interesting attractions at the plantation include a marsh boat tour through the surrounding waterways, a nature train, a wildlife area and a petting zoo. The gardens have beautiful collections to explore, such as the Barbados Tropical Garden, the Biblical Garden, the Cattail Wildlife Refuge and bird observation tower. Cypress Lake is home to impressive 100-year old bald cypress trees and is one of the top attractions for outdoor enthusiasts in Charleston SC. 3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29414, Phone: 843-571-1266

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2. Waterfront Park  Courtesy of eurobanks - Fotolia.com

Stretching over 1,000 feet along the coast with spectacular views of the Charleston Harbor, Waterfront Park is one of the peninsula's most visited parks and a favorite among locals and visitors alike. Dotted with old-fashioned park benches where visitors can sit and watch sail boats cruise past, the park boasts winding walkways, ornate fountains that light up at night, a large grassy lawn for picnicking, sun tanning and playing, and beautiful floral displays year round. Drinking fountains are scattered throughout the park, as well as wireless Internet access. Centrally located, the park is within easy walking distance of the harbor and the bustling Market district for great shopping and sightseeing. Take a relaxing stroll through the park in the evening and watch the twinkling lights of the harbor come alive. If you are looking for great things to do in Charleston, South Carolina on a sunny afternoon, Waterfront Park is a beautiful place to visit for couples and families.

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3. Things To Do: South Carolina Aquarium  Courtesy of Jill Lang - Fotolia.com

Located in the historic Charleston Harbor, the South Carolina Aquarium provides a fun-filled day of adventure and exploration for the whole family. Home to more than ten thousand marine plants and animals, ranging from sea otters and seals to penguins, sharks and tiny seahorses, the aquarium not only offers an array of mind-boggling displays and exhibits, but also interactive dive shows, animals programs and conservation workshops. Visit the Great Ocean Tank, which spreads over two floors of the aquarium and houses some seven hundred sea creatures, including tiger sharks and sting rays; come face-to-face with with rays in the Stingray Encounter; or touch a horseshoe crab and other marine animals in the interactive Touch Tank. See a rare albino American alligator or take a tour of the Sea Turtle Hospital to learn how the aquarium takes conservation to the next level. 100 Aquarium Wharf, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 800-722-6455



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4. Charleston SC points of interest: Charleston Music Hall  Courtesy of maxcam - Fotolia.com



The Charleston Music Hall in downtown Charleston hosts extraordinary musical, artistic, and theatrical experiences for audiences in the city, with the aim of promoting local, regional, and national talent and encouraging communal participation. Built in 1849 as a passenger station for the South Carolina Railroad, the building, which is the oldest on the block, had a tumultuous history of construction, renovation, decoration and, following the Charleston earthquake of 1886, dereliction, leaving it standing empty for 60 years. Finally, in 1995, it was transformed into the amazing arts venue that it is today. Since opening its doors, the Music Hall has hosted a variety of top class performers, including David Byrne, Joan Baez and world-renowned bluegrass musician, Ricky Skaggs. Next read: South Carolina beaches and South Carolina resorts 37 John Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403, Phone: 843-853-2252

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5. Charleston Culinary Tours  Charleston Culinary Tours



Experience the best of Charleston with Charleston Culinary Tours, which combine the history, heritage and culture of this charming Southern city with its unique and world-renowned cuisine. Five tours are offered through various districts in the city, which visit several different restaurants, bars, and markets to taste the best of Charlestons cuisine, while at the same time highlighting the history of the area. Each tour is led by a local culinary and history buff, who will take you on a journey through the citys history, with stops at popular restaurants and bars. Each stop will allow you to sample and taste some of the Lowcountry's finest food offerings, as well as meet with the owners and chefs of the establishments making a mark on Charleston's burgeoning culinary scene. The five tours that can be taken are Downtown, Upper King Street, Chefs Showcase At the Farmers Market, Chefs Kitchen and Mixology.

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6. Things To Do in Charleston, SC: Charleston Museum  Charleston Museum



Founded in 1773 as the first museum in the United States, the Charleston Museum was opened to the public with the aim of exploring and preserving the natural and cultural history of Charleston and the South Carolina coastal region. Today, the museum is home to a number of collections and exhibits that display the heritage of the region. The museum is spread over two historic buildings, namely the Heyward-Washington House - an 18thcentury house owned by Revolutionary patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Heyward, Jr, and the Joseph Manigault House  a federal-style home adorned with early 19th century furnishings. The museum's exhibits include local history displays and decorative arts, including an exquisite silver collection. Visitors can view the only known fossil of the largest flying bird ever discovered  the now extinct Pelagornis sandersi. 360 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403, Phone: 843-722-2996

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7. Joe Riley Waterfront Park  Liudmila/stock.adobe.com

The Charleston Waterfront Park was established by mayor Joe Riley in the late 1980s to beautify and rejuvenate a large tract of land which had become neglected. The land occupies a prime location close to the harbor and the Cooper River and now provides Charleston locals and visitors with a serene and attractive place to relax and watch the world go by. The shady park boasts both riverside and interior walking paths, multiple benches, a picnic lawn and a festive fountain suitable for wading. At the northern end of the park you will find a pier jutting out into the harbor where you can spend some time watching all the maritime activities. Joe Riley Waterfront Park, Vendue Range, Concord Street, Charleston, SC 29401



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8. Calhoun Mansion  Courtesy of Shelley - Fotolia.com

Calhoun Mansion is a 35-room Italianate mansion built in 1876 for businessman George W. Williams and his family. It is the largest historic private home in Charleston and arguably one of the most beautiful. Open to the public, it is part of many tours of the citys historic downtown. Elegant and stately, the mansion has a grand ballroom, high ceilings, terraces, elevators, piazzas, Japanese gardens, and even a koi pond. Lawyer and preservationist Howard Stahl bought it in 2004 after it had been meticulously renovated and is using it today to display his extensive collection of Gilded Age artifacts. 16 Meeting St, Charleston, SC 29401, Phone: 843-722-8205



9. The Ordinary, Charleston, South Carolina  Squire Fox, The Ordinary

Serving sublime seafood dishes, and out-of-this-world shellfish, the Ordinary is a Southern seafood hall and oyster bar located in a historical bank building in the heart of Charleston. The beautifully refurbished bank building sets the backdrop against which an exceptional seafood menu is served, with 22-foot high ceilings and stylish round-topped windows. A gleaming white bar serves towering platters of oysters and clams on the half-shell from local producers, while regular fixtures, like pickled shrimp and fried oyster sliders have become firm favorites. The menu changes daily - there is a prix fixe option with a featured entree dish. If you are looking for date night ideas in Charleston, this is a great restaurant to try. 544 King St, Charleston, South Carolina 29403, Phone: 843-414-7060

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10. Points of interest: Middleton Place  Courtesy of Daniel Meunier - Fotolia.com

Once the primary residence of several generations of the Middleton family, an important family at the center of the colonial and antebellum history of South Carolina, Middleton Place is a sprawling plantation in Dorchester County that is now a National Historic Landmark and home to Americas oldest landscaped gardens. Built in 1755, Middleton House is a museum with a wonderful collection of furniture, silver, rare books and portraits, displaying the rich history and heritage of a home that remained under the same family stewardship for 320 years. Spread over 65 acres, the exquisite gardens surrounding Middleton Place are home to a wide variety of blooms, designed so that there are blossoming flowers year round. 4300 Ashley River Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29414, Phone: 843-556-6020



11. Husk Restaurant  Husk Restaurant

Tucked away in historic downtown Charleston, in two beautifully restored Victorian-era buildings, Husk Restaurant celebrates Southern cuisine with an ever-changing menu of locally sourced seasonal delights. Dating back to the late 1800s and evoking the timeless grandeur of Charleston, the adjacent buildings retain their antique charm on the exterior, while the interiors represent the transformation of the city with original windows, contemporary flooring, and exposed brick. And the food makes just as bold a statement, with classic Southern cuisine at its core. Feast on old favorites like Deviled Eggs, South Carolina Shrimp and Choppee Okra Stew. Husk prides itself on being a gathering place for friends to enjoy Southern cuisine at a Southern pace  slow and relaxed, in a casual, yet elegant environment. 76 Queen St., Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 843-577-2500

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12. What to do in Charleston, SC: Drayton Hall  Courtesy of KAREL - Fotolia.com

Drayton Hall is an 18th-century plantation located on the Ashley River in the Low Country of Charleston, founded circa 1738 when the property was purchased by John Drayton. The plantation was constructed in a Palladian style and was the only plantation house on the Ashley River to survive both the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Drayton Hall is a National Historic Landmark, surrounded by early-English historic landscape. The National Trust for Historic Preservation acquired the property in 1974 and has preserved it in such a way that lets visitors observe the impact of changing tastes though the centuries. 3380 Ashley River Road, Charleston, South Carolina 29414, Phone: 843-769-2600



13. Best Places to Visit in Charleston, SC on a Date: Sesame Burgers and Beer  Sesame Burgers and Beer

For mouthwatering burgers and artisan craft beers, Sesame Burgers and Beer is the place to go. The relaxed, family-friendly chain on Spruill Avenue is famous for taking burgers to new heights with a menu of gourmet burgers made with 100% USDA hormone-free prime beef or chicken blanketed in a variety of toppings such as bacon, scallions, fried pickles, queso, chili, and bourbon-jalapeno glaze, to name but a few. The restaurant offers gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options and uses only the freshest, locally sourced and hormone-free ingredients from regional farms and purveyors. Sesame Burgers and Beer is open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week. 4726 Spruill Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405, Phone: 843-554-4903



14. Rainbow Row  gb27photo/stock.adobe.com

Rainbow Row is an iconic landmark of Charleston that wasnt always the beautiful and colorful historical site that it is today. In fact, in its earlier days, Rainbow Row, which has homes dating back to the 1800s, was a rundown area and was largely considered to be a slum during the years that followed the Civil War. These conditions stayed the same until the early 1900s when members of the community started purchasing the houses. The neighborhoods conditions started to improve with the purchases, and many homeowners made the collective decision to paint their homes in eye-catching pastels colors due to the popular use of colonial Caribbean color schemes at the time. By 1945, the majority of the homes were restored. While the homes remain to be private properties, its certainly worth the time to take a stroll down Rainbow Row to see the unique colors and architectural styles of the buildings. 83-107 E. Bay Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 803-538-8317



15. Stars Rooftop and Grill Room  Stars Rooftop and Grill Room



The only rooftop bar in Charleston, Stars Rooftop and Grill Room is located in the citys downtown entertainment and dining district in a beautifully restored Arts and Crafts building. Rooftop Bar is a popular spot for a drink with friends, offering spectacular views of the city landmarks and a full drink menu that includes tap wines and interesting signature cocktails. Grill Room has a sophisticated 1930s decor and a beautiful fully stocked walnut bar. Guests can enjoy watching distinct Carolina cuisine dishes being prepared on a wood fire in the exhibition kitchen. The bar offers exceptional selection of beverages and cocktails, from artisan wines to local craft beer. 495 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403, Phone: 843-577-0100 More places to visit: Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina.

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16. Joe Riley Waterfront Park  zimmytws/stock.adobe.com



Offering visitors a great overlooking view of the Cooper River and Charleston Harbor is the 10-acre Joe Riley Waterfront Park. It is a great place to just stretch out and enjoy the surrounding vistas, which are best described as serene, romantic, and engaging all at the same time. However, the Joe Riley Waterfront Park isnt just a great place to enjoy recreational activities like walking paths and riverfront attractions, its also, historically speaking, the epicenter of local maritime travel in and out of Charleston Harbor. At the park, guests will find a beautiful fountain adorned with a statue of a Palmetto Tree, tons of sites for nature watching, and a huge central lawn perfect for sunbathing or picnicking with your loved ones. Vendue Range, Concord Street, Charleston, SC 29401



17. Lewis Barbecue  Lewis Barbecue



Located in Charlestons North Morrison Drive, Lewis Barbecue is a popular and always packed Texas-style barbecue joint. Pit master John Lewis serves succulent cut-to-order brisket, house-made sausages called hot guts, and mouth-watering ribs prepared in his huge custom-built smokers. The spacious industrial-chic counter-serve dining space has high ceilings, concrete floors, a large bar, and several different seating areas. There is also a nice outdoor space with picnic tables shaded by an ancient oak. With delicious meats come some great sides, such as the green chili corn pudding. Wash it all down with their excellent sangria or margaritas. 464 N Nassau St, Charleston, SC 29403, Phone: 843-805-9500

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18. Charleston City Market, Charleston, South Carolina  Courtesy of Grafvision - Fotolia.com



As one of the nation's oldest public markets, the historic Charleston City Market is the bustling and vibrant cultural heart the city. The year-round market plays host to over 300 local entrepreneurs who come together to display their wares, ranging from arts and crafts, collectables and antiques to jewelry, clothing and artisanal fare. The market is spread over a large area, which includes The Market Hall, a Greek Revival-style Market Hall built in 1841, and three Open Air Sheds, which house hundreds of entrepreneurs operating small local businesses. The popular night market is held from Thursday to Sunday, featuring an array of local items, from handmade clothing and body products to fine art and sculptures, as well as a variety of food and beverage stalls, offering tasty treats. If you are wondering what to do in Charleston with kids, this is a great place to visit. 188 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 843-937-0920



19. Charleston Brews Cruise  Charleston Brews Cruise



Discover Charlestons beer scene with a Charleston Brews Cruise tour of the local craft breweries. Charlestons beer scene has grown in leaps and bounds, with an array of local breweries dotted about the city. Brews Cruise Tours offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the art of beer-making, the art, science and passion behind the craft and the hard work that goes into making every glass of beer as unique and special as the next. Brews Cruise tours are run by bus on a daily basis, and include complimentary samples of beers and ales, snacks and water at each brewery, as well as the provision of a large cooler on the bus to keep any brewery purchases cold. Brews Cruise also offer Tap into History walking tour through the streets of Charleston, which focuses on the history of the city as well as a visit to three local pubs, each of which offers a unique flavor of micro-brews that have been brewed locally in the Lowcountry.

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20. Cru Cafe  Cru Cafe



Cru Cafe is a delicious fine dining experience in Charleston, owned and operated for nearly two decades by restaurateur and executive chef John Zucker. The restaurant, which opened to the public in 2002, is an extension of Zucker's award-winning catering company, which is known for its exquisite gourmet takes on comforting Lowcountry cuisine. Lunch and dinner are served daily, featuring entrees prepared with locally-sourced, farm-fresh ingredients. Small plates and entrees focus on comfort fare such as fried green tomatoes, pork schnitzel, and potato gnocchi, with unique land and sea fare available, including maple leaf duck breasts, grilled basil shrimp, and mojo-marinated pork chops. Extensive wine and beer menus are served, with a focus on regional craft drafts and international wines. 18 Pinckney Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 843-534-2434



21. Theatre 99  Theatre 99



Theatre 99 is a comedy club in the heart of downtown Charleston that displays original and upcoming comedians on three nights of the week. Known as Charleston's Home For Improv Comedy", Theatre 99 boasts a variety of humor-based entertainment, ranging from sketch and standup comedy, cabaret and music shows during the week, as well as showcasing top talent from around the country at festivals throughout the year. Shows are generally PG-13 as they contain adult language and tickets can be bought at the door. Theater 99 also offers supportive, non-competitive classes for those wanting to learn how to improvise or improve their stand-up skills. Classes do not require previous theater experience and need to be booked in advance. 280 Meeting St # B, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 843-853-6687



22. The Edmondston-Alston House, Charleston, SC  The Edmondston-Alston House



The Edmondston-Alston House is one of Charlestons historic houses that are steeped in history. Located at 21 East Battery, the house was originally built by Charles Edmondston in 1825 and was later sold to rice plantation king Charles Alston. Built in the the late Federal style by Edmondston, when Alston bought the house, he updated the design to the Greek Revival Style, adding Corinthian columns, a cast-iron balcony, and the Alston coat of arms. Many of the original family items remain untouched in the house, such as family portraits, books, furniture and silver, documenting life in the house as it was decades ago. Managed by the Middleton Place Foundation, the museum is open to the public every day and holds private tours that can be booked in advance. 21 East Battery, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 843-722-7171

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23. The Darling Oyster Bar  The Darling Oyster Bar The Darling Oyster Bar is a lively Charleston seafood restaurant operated by Robert Young and Ben Russell-Schlesinger, opened to the public in 2016 within a restored century-old storefront. The restaurant has become an instant classic in the city's culinary scene, offering a 12-seat raw bar serving up delicious oysters caught in South Carolina, Texas, Rhode Island, and New Brunswick, alongside seafood delicacies such as king crab parfait, ceviche, and tuna tartare. Classic and inventive land and sea entrees are available at dinner, including oyster spaghetti, shrimp and grits, and house-smoked salmon dip, with shrimp, fish, and oyster fry buckets available for sharing. A full-service bar also serves up local draft beers and clever house cocktails. 513 King St, Charleston, SC 29403, Phone: 843-641-0821



24. Old Slave Mart Museum  Old Slave Mart Museum The Old Slave Mart Museum is a moving and informative place to visit as it is the first African American slave museum and tells the harrowing tales of the slave market. Founded in 1938, the museum is oftentimes staffed by men and women who can trace their lineage back to Charleston slaves. With as many as 40% of the slave market entering the country through Charleston, the Old Slave Mart Museums building is an eerie and heavy reminder of the people who were once shuffled through its walls. Guests can read informative posters that are scattered throughout the building, hear an interview with a former slave, and see haunting artifacts. 6 Chalmers Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401, Phone: 843-958-6467



25. Charleston Charter and Yacht  Courtesy of nd700 - Fotolia.com Charleston Charter and Yacht offers a variety of yacht-based tours and cruises for every occasion, ranging from harbor cruises and tours to custom charters, corporate events, business meetings and weddings. The Charleston Charter and Yacht fleet consists of state-of-the-art air-conditioned luxury yachts, which can be rented on an hourly, daily or multi-day basis. The company offers exclusive tailor-made excursions to various scenic spots, including Kiawah Island, Beaufort, Fripp Island, Hilton Head Island, McClellanville, and Georgetown, as well as customized charters to destinations of your choice. The yachts are fully-equipped with high-end technology, such as GPS, generators, chart-plotters, and auto-pilot and boast luxurious amenities to ensure absolute comfort at sea. The vessels are captained by highly trained and experienced sailors who will ensure the utmost safety and take care of your every need during the trip.



25 Best Things To Do in Charleston, South Carolina

More ideas:

Wild Olive Restaurant, Charleston, SC

Striving to capture the cultural magic of true Italian dining, Wild Olive focuses on seasonal cuisine, and complimentary wines, served in a relaxed and casual atmosphere.

In true Italian style, food comes first and Wild Olive prides itself on sourcing as much product locally as possible and turning them into artisanal variations of regional Italian classics. The menu boasts Italian favorites such as crispy bruschetta with fresh goats cheese, beef carpaccio with parmesan, handmade pastas and house-cured charcuterie.

Beautifully prepared, simply seasonal food served in a convivial, friendly atmosphere, Wild Olive brings Italy to the table.

2867 Maybank Highway, Johns Island, South Carolina 29455, Phone: 843-737-4177

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The inclusion of Chinas yuan into the International Monetary Fund (IMF)s basket of reserve currencies last Saturday will impact finance across the globe, and Viet Nam is no exception.  Photo vtc.vn

HA NOI  The inclusion of Chinas yuan into the International Monetary Fund (IMF)s basket of reserve currencies last Saturday will impact finance across the globe, and Viet Nam is no exception.

The yuan joined the US dollar, the euro, the yen and British pound in the IMFs special drawing rights (SDR) list of currencies that countries can receive as part of IMF loans. It marks the first time a new currency has been added since the euro was launched in 1999.

According to economist Nguyen Minh Phong, the change will have both positive and negative impacts on Viet Nams economy.

He suspects China will now have to restrain its devaluation of the yuan in order to take more responsibility in applying policies to harmonise global benefits. The expected stability of Chinese foreign exchange policies would therefore benefit Viet Nams economy.

Also, if the yuan becomes even more popular, stable and healthy, then Chinese and Vietnamese firms would not have to use the US dollar in payment.

The shift could also help stabilize the payment and trade relations between the two countries.

However, Phong was concerned that a high reserve of the yuan could create favourable conditions for China to dominate Viet Nams currency policies.

Especially, Phong noted, Vietnamese firms would be at a high risk of Chinese takeover, as many Vietnamese firms are scheduled to be equitised.

Phong therefore suggested that the country scrutinise the proportion of yuan in its reserves.

Expert Nguyen Tri Hieu, however, argued that the impacts on Viet Nams economy would be limited and indirect.

Hieu said when the yuan joins the IMFs SDR basket and takes a new role in international payment, its value will increase. If the yuans value increases, the US dollar will devalue compared with the yuan. At that time, Viet Nams exports to China will have advantages, while its imports from the market will face disadvantages.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese exporters and importers said that the inclusion of Chinas yuan into the IMFs basket would not affect their trade in the short run.

Nguyen Van Sua, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Steel Association, said that in the immediate future many firms, including both Vietnamese and China, would remain the hahit of using the US dollar in payment.

However, in the long run, a more prevalent yuan in payment would impact Viet Nams exports and imports.

Sua said when the yuans value and popularity increase, Chinese partners could suggest making more use of the yuan in payment. Prices of materials and equipments imported from China will increase, causing Vietnamese commodities to cost more.

To minimise the impacts, Sua suggested that domestic firms capitalise on advantages from the free trade agreements Viet Nam has signed in order to diversify material import markets.
HA NOI  Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh yesterday sent a letter complimenting the General Department of Viet Nam Customs for discovering the trans-border trafficking of elephant tusks.

Last Saturday, the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department under the General Department of Viet Nam Customs in co-ordination with Ha Nois Customs Department seized 309kg of elephant tusks hid in a sophisticated manner in imported packages of goods at the Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi.

The goods were transported on an Etihad Airway plane from the Lagos Airport in Nigeria to the Noi Bai International Airport.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, who is also head of the National Steering Committee on Combating Smuggling, Commercial Fraud and Counterfeit Goods, also known as National Steering Committee 389, on behalf of the Prime Minister and the committee, acknowledged and praised the excellent achievement of the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

The seizure contributed greatly to the implementation of the governments resolution on Combating Smuggling, Commercial Fraud and Counterfeit Goods in the new current context and the Prime Ministers directive recently issued on September 17, 2016, on measures to prevent and fight illegal wildlife trade, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Finance to order the General Department of Viet Nam Customs to work with relevant authorised agencies to continue the cases investigation and impose stiff penalties on violators following regulations.

Earlier under the directive, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc instructed the Ministry of Public Security and other concerned ministries to organise campaigns to destroy trans-border organised crime groups, which are involved in trading, storing, trafficking and importing/exporting illegal specimens of wildlife species, especially ivory and rhino horns.

Besides gold and weapons, elephant tusks are a popular good smuggled by air, according to the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

Official statistics from the department reveal that customs officers handled 353 cases of goods being illegally transported by air in the first six months of 2016, worth more than VN14 billion (US$627,000) in total.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday asked Ha Noi Peoples Committee to handle the West Lake mass fish death incident, of which fish losses have already reached 60 tonnes and counting.  Photo vietnamnet.vn

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday asked Ha Noi Peoples Committee to handle the West Lake mass fish death incident, of which fish losses have already reached 60 tonnes and counting.

PM Phuc also ordered district authorities to work with water service agencies to inspect all lakes in the city and report their findings to the Government.

Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to the lake yesterday to help urban environmental staff and residents remove the dead fish.

Most of the fish were retrieved as of yesterday evening, reported a Vietnam News Agency reporter at the scene.

The fish deaths reportedly began on Saturday night, leaving the lake surface covered with a layer of floating dead fish. Authorities are yet to determine the cause of the phenomenon.

A preliminary report from the city Peoples Committee said an initial quick test conducted on Sunday showed the oxygen level of lake surface water measured zero.

"All the dead fish in the lake died between Saturday and Sunday," Ha Noi Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen uc Chung told the press yesterday during his trip to the West Lake.

"After the city administration took prompt action to provide oxygen for the lake, the die-off ended."

In an early attempt to fix the situation quickly on Sunday, the Ha Noi administration directed the Ha Noi Urban Environment Ltd, Co to install 20 aeration devices to provide oxygen to save fish in the lake, with the companys staff working overnight.

The company director Nguyen Huu Tien said the company also sent 50 employees to remove dead fish and 20 trucks to transport the dead fish to the Nam Son Waste Treatment Complex for treatment as per regulations.

The city subsequently ordered authorised agencies to use RedOxy-3C, a substance manufactured in Germany to treat surface water and ground water.

In the meantime, health department staff were dispatched to spray chemicals to sterilize areas around the lake.

Environmental police also took samples of the dead fish and lake water to conduct tests.

The city administration has warned residents not to eat fish from West Lake until authorised agencies issue their final conclusions about whether or not toxic substances are present in the dead fish.  VNS
HUNG YEN  A 19-century Buddhist statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes  a treasure of the Me So Pagoda in the northern province of Hung Yens Me So Commune, Van Giang District, was stolen on Saturday.

With exactly 1,113 eyes and 1,113 hands, the statue is known for having the most in Viet Nam. It also has been praised as the most refined and beautiful statue among three masterpieces of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in the country.

Security camera footage shows a masked man wearing gloves, breaking into the pagoda to access the statue, which was placed on an altar platform on the second floor of the pagoda.

The burglar then used a shirt to cover the camera.

Head nun of the pagoda, Thich am Lan, said the burglary might have been orchestrated by a group of four or five people, who seemed to know the pagodas layout.

According to ancient documents, the 1.93m-high statue made from jackfruit wood, weighs more than 100kg, so a sole burglar couldnt have done this, she said.

Cultural relic: The 19-century Buddha statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes was stolen at Me So pagoda. - VNS Photo Chu Minh Khoi

Head of Me So Hamlet, Le Tuan Anh, said the burglary happened at about 2am on Saturday but was only discovered at 6.15am, when nuns woke up and realised that the lock on the entrance was broken.

Anh believes the burglar group used a rope to remove the statue from the second floor.

In October, 1988, the statue was stolen, but luckily, it was found. Now, it once again has been abducted, Anh said.

As well as the statue, the thief also took a pair of valuable bronze candle holders.

Talking with Lao ong (Labour) newspaper, chairman of Van Giang District said the burglary is a big loss for the region and the local people because the statue is their pride and their belief.

He also said that the case is now under investigation by local police and relevant agencies.

Commenting on the burglary, an expert on ancient art, Bui Hoai Mai, said antique theft and smuggling, which has been occurring for decades, is partly caused by loose cultural management.

Lack of knowledge on antiques of Vietnamese customs is another reason contributing to the antique smuggling, he told Viet Nam News,

He also said that the awareness of most Vietnamese people on antique protection is still limiting.

Built in the Le dynasty (1427-1789), the Me So pagoda was recognised as a national historical and cultural relic in 1988. Alongside the stolen Buddha statue, the pagoda also has a 0.95cm-long bronze bell, which was cast in 1822.  VNS
Viet Nam and South Africa have agreed to enhance their traditional friendship and multi-faceted co-operation, particularly in politics, trade, justice, science-technology, and defence.  VNA/VNS N Nguyen Khang

HA NOI  Viet Nam and South Africa have agreed to enhance their traditional friendship and multi-faceted co-operation, particularly in politics, trade, justice, science-technology, and defence.

The agreement was reached at talks between Vietnamese Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh and her South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Ha Noi yesterday.

The two sides expressed their satisfaction with Viet Nam-South African relations over the past two decades, especially since the establishment of a partnership for cooperation and development in 2004.

They agreed to boost cooperative ties between the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) and the African National Congress (ANC), which will lay a foundation for the enhancement of high-level delegation exchanges and bilateral collaboration in politics, economics and trade.

Both countries pledged to work together at international forums. South Africa agreed with Viet Nams standpoints of addressing any dispute in the East Sea (South China Sea) through peaceful means and international law.

Vice President Ramaphosa proposed the two nations diversify their economic and trade links to double two-way trade and create a trade balance for mutual benefits.

The two sides hope to coordinate in the trade of farm produce, shipbuilding, fishing and seafood breeding.

They also discussed co-operation in telecommunication, training, and crime prevention, as well as implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to protect wildlife animals.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged ministries, industries and localities to make all efforts to achieve annual economic growth of 6.3 to 6.5 per cent.  VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged ministries, industries and localities to make all efforts to achieve annual economic growth of 6.3 to 6.5 per cent.

He was speaking at the Cabinets regular monthly meeting which convened yesterday, with an agenda focusing on socio-economic development and institutional building.

The PM said the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the first nine months of the year was only 5.92 per cent, lower than the same period last year. To achieve the governments annual GDP growth target, the economy needed to expand 7.1 to 7.3 per cent in the 4th quarter.

Although this target was high, it was achievable because the economy often had better performance in the last quarter, he said.

Despite the lower-than-expected growth rate, the economy enjoyed some upbeat news in the first nine months which include increases in both foreign direct investments and trade surplus, according to PM Phuc.

Overseas remittance was high, with much of it being spent on production activities. The number of businesses increased with more than 91,000 new businesses, he said.

The PM also acknowledged the rapid changes in agriculture over recent months.

While the sector experienced a contraction of 0.18 per cent in the first half of the year, it ended up expanding 0.65 per cent by the end of the 3rd quarter.

Many localities had good results in budget collection and spending of investment capitals, the PM said.

To attain the annual GDP target of 6.3 to 6.5 per cent, the PM urged the government system to create favourable conditions and remove all obstacles for businesses and people.

Determination is not enough. We need to have concrete solutions, the PM said.

The Asia Development Bank has forecasted Viet Nams economy will achieve a 6 per cent growth this year due to objective reasons, namely fish deaths in the central region, droughts, floods, storms and a reduction in mine ore exploitation. We must take drastic measures to reach beyond the ADBs forecast, he said.

He noted the risk of insufficient power supply for production, businesses and daily life and urged solutions in order realise both short-term and long-term development goals.

The PM also asked ministries and sectors to review their policies and repair their shortcomings to create a good environment for businesses.

We should not only care about the goals for 2016, but also for those of 2017 and a medium-term plan for 2016-2021, he said.

Selling stakes in SOEs

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has emphasised the need to publicly choose qualified consultant firms to prevent state capital losses caused by wrong stake valuations while selling State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) business shares.

He gave the instruction after hearing Minister of Finance inh Tien Dungs report on the SCICs selling of its shares in enterprises listed on the stock market or those in the unlisted public company market (Upcom) during the regular Cabinet meeting yesterday.

The SCIC reported that it successfully sold stakes in 12 enterprises in 2014 and 2015.

According to the finance ministry, the corporations divestment over the years is in line with the law and helps hasten the selling of State capital in the State-owned enterprises.

Established in 2006, the SCIC is currently managing State capital in over 500 enterprises operating in different sectors, ranging from financial services to energy, manufacturing, IT, telecommunications, transportation, consumer products and health care.  VNS
National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) receives Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Eleanor Laing in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Trong uc

HA NOI  National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan expressed her wish that Vietnamese and United Kingdom legislatures will exchange legislative experience and capacity for parliament work, especially among young deputies.

She called on visiting Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Eleanor Laing to continue her support for the two countries co-operation in science, education and training, including an English teaching programme for Vietnamese NA deputies and officials of NA agencies.

During their meeting yesterday, the host said the UK is an important partner of Viet Nams in Europe and the world, with two-way trade reaching US$5.4 billion in 2015, which, however, is still short of potential.

The top legislator said she hopes that Viet Nam will step up its investments and exports to the UK.

Eleanor Laing expressed the UKs wish to boost affiliation, particularly in trade and economy, with foreign countries, including Viet Nam, she said.

The head of the UK Department for International Trade will soon visit Viet Nam to discuss this issue, she informed.

Regarding the East Sea (South China Sea) issue, Laing said the UK backs the Permanent Court of Arbitrations ruling as well as the peaceful settlement of the disputes in line with international law.

The same day, Eleanor Laing was received by President of the Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan who said Viet Nam attaches importance to the partnership with the UK.

He affirmed that the UKs decision to leave the European Union will not affect relations between the two countries.

The VFF leader suggested the two sides enterprises expand investment and business links, and called on UK firms to increase their presence in Viet Nam in finance, banking, infrastructure development, insurance, and science-technology, oil and gas, and aviation.  VNS
HCM CITY  Experts have recommended that the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, the countrys largest producer of fruit, set up concentrated fruit cultivation areas and apply advanced farming techniques.

The delta has a fruit cultivation area of 300,000ha, accounting for 37 per cent of the countrys total area, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments (MARD) Plant Cultivation Department.

The region produces an annual total output of 3.5 million tonnes of fruit a year.

Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Hau Giang, Soc Trang and Ben Tre are the deltas largest fruit cultivation provinces. They have many fruit varieties with high value, such as mango, orange, grapefruit and dragon fruit.

Last year, the delta exported US$1.8 billion of fruit to 60 countries and territories, including the US, EU and Japan, according to MARD.

Speaking at a forum in Tien Giang Province on August 12, Tran Van Khoi, acting director of the National Agriculture Extension Centre, said the quantity, varieties, export markets and value of the deltas fruit had increased rapidly.

However, linkage between farmers and consumption outlets where sales occur remains weak.

In the delta, many farmers have to sell fruit at retail markets during peak harvest seasons as they can not find traders to buy their fruit.

Small-scale, unzoned cultivation and poor fruit processing facilities are the major limitations, according to MARDs Plant Cultivation Department.

Le Hoang Anh, who grows 1.2ha of Cat Chu mango with an annual output of 15 tonnes in ong Thap Provinces Cao Lanh District, said that farmers were most concerned about sales outlets.

The sale of mango depends on traders, so the price is not stable, he said.

Nguyen Van Hoa, deputy head of MARDs Plant Cultivation Department, said policies to improve links between fruit growers and companies had yet to be created.

Though companies link with farmers to buy fruit, they do little to establish links in cultivation.

The obligations of farmers and companies under their sale contracts are not secured, so when one party breaches the contract, nothing can be done, according to Hoa.

Nguyen Huu at of the Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetables Association said cooperation should be improved in fruit cultivation and use of advanced farming techniques to produce off-season fruits under Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards.

Companies should also be more proactive in establishing linkages as well.

Only about 3 per cent of the deltas fruit cultivation area is cultivated under Vietnamese or global GAP standards.

Most of the VietGAP and GlobalGAP cultivation areas contain dragon fruit, according to MARDs Plant Cultivation Department.

Farmer co-operatives

The development of co-operatives and teams in the delta has helped secure outlets for many farmers, improving income and sustainable development.

A co-operative requires a minimum of seven members, while a co-operative team has at least three members.

The delta has 69 fruit-cultivating co-operatives with a total of 4,022 members and 489 co-operative teams with a total of 12,722 members, according to MARDs Co-operative Economy and Rural Development Department.

They grow a combined area of 7,662ha of fruit, accounting for 4.1 per cent of the deltas farming area.

Vo Chi Thien, director of the My Tinh An Dragon Fruit Co-operative in Tien Giangs Cho Gao District, said the My Tinh An Fruit Co-operative was set up based on demand of participating members.

The co-operative aims to develop the brand name Cho Gao Dragon fruit, a specialty of Tien Giang.

The co-operatives ensure the purchase of dragon fruit at a minimum price of VN10,000 (45 US cents) a kilo and VN2,000-4,000 higher than the market price.

Before joining the co-operatives, the members with small-scale farms and unzoned cultivation areas had to sell their dragon fruit at a low price after a good harvest because traders had pushed the price down.

MARDs Co-operative Economy and Rural Development Department said the delta should focus on developing so-called new-style fruit co-operatives linked with companies to ensure material input supply and sales outlets.

Under a Government pilot project approved in March, about 300 co-operatives in the rice, fruit and fisheries sectors will be turned into new-style co-operatives in the Mekong Delta over the next four years.

The project is focusing on improving the capacity of management and technical staff of co-operatives and providing capital solutions for production and business operations of co-operatives.

Hoa, deputy head of MARDs Plant Cultivation Department, said the department would consult MARD and relevant agencies to increase linkage in fruit cultivation, and manage the cultivation of off-season fruits and fruit zoning areas.

He said the Government should outline new policies on fruit cultivation development. VNS
HCM CITY  President Tran ai Quang yesterday beat the drum to open the 2016-2017 academic year at Viet Nam National University-HCM City.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the President spoke about the challenges created by the fourth industrial revolution which is occurring around the world today.

One of the important solutions to develop the countrys intellectual human resources for the fourth industrial revolution is to improve the quality of education and training which directly affects stable development. Education and training gives us a foundation to make achievements in technology and science, he said.

He said the government attaches great importance to education and training, keeping education reform as a top government priority.

Investment in education is for the countrys development, he said.

He encouraged Viet Nam National University-HCM City to develop its leading role in scientific research and technology transfer in the country, and to attract more excellent students to its programmes.

It should improve the quality of education by standardising training programmes and the process of quality assessment, he said.

It should also create an environment that stimulates creativity, he said, adding that students and lecturers should conduct scientific research that is highly practical and effective.

After 20 years of development, the Viet Nam National University-HCM City has taken a role as a pioneer in higher education in education and global integration.

It has 32 training programmes that meet ASEAN, European and American standards.

Cybersecurity

The President also spoke about cybersecurity, saying that there had been an increase in hackers attacks to collect secret information but also destroy database and IT infrastructure.

The countrys information system, especially key state organisations, is a target of attack by foreign hackers, he said.

The risk of losing secret or important information will have serious consequences if no preventive methods are taken.

To speed up the process of global integration, the country needs to carry out a master plan to develop IT for security as well as take advantage of IT, he said.

The awareness of the importance of cybersecurity for officials and the public needs to be improved as well.

Moreover, policies are being set up that would develop IT experts and scientists.

Training at universities with majors of IT, electronics and telecommunications as well as curricula for cybersecurity at every level of education would be given priority, the President said.

On the occasion, the President helped plant trees during his visit to the Viet Nam National University-HCM City campus.  VNS
Several main streets in HCM City were flooded yesterday afternoon after rain fell for several hours as forecasted.  Photo dangcongsan.vn

HCM CITY  Several main streets in HCM City were flooded yesterday afternoon after rain fell for several hours as forecasted.

The rain, which began at 2am on Monday, caused serious traffic congestion at several main streets in the city centre and entrances to the citys downtown area, from Hang Xanh to ien Bien Phu Roundabout, in Binh Thanh District.

Traffic jams affected most districts in the citys centre. Several streets including Luong inh Cua in District 2, Huynh Tan Phat in District 7 and o Xuan Hop in District 9 and others were flooded.

Reports from Voice of Viet Nams traffic channel announced that streets in more than eight out of 24 districts in the city faced traffic congestion and flooding.

Tran Van ang and Cach Mang Thang Tam Streets in District 3, as well as Nguyen Huu Tho in District 7 faced traffic jams.

In Tan Binh District, Truong Chinh and Cong Hoa streets and the area near Tan Son Nhat International Airport were congested.

A week ago, heavy rains caused historic flooding, the worst in 40 years, and traffic congestion in the city.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, a tropical low pressure area yesterday afternoon located in the southern part of the Paracel Archipelago caused rain in several central and southern provinces, including Long An and Ca Mau.

The forecast also said the tides on the Sai Gon River are expected to rise to the level of 1.4 metres within a few days.

Le inh Quyet, deputy head of the Southern Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecastings Forecast Department, said heavy rain was also reported in Long Ans uc Hoa and uc Hue districts.

The rain also fell in outlying areas of Cu Chi, Hoc Mon and Thu uc districts in HCM City.

Heavy rain was reported in Thuan An and Di An Towns and Thu Dau Mot City in Binh Duong Province and Bien Hoa City. Rainfall was estimated at 30-50mm, Quyet said.  VNS
HA NOI  Switzerland has pledged to continue its support to Viet Nam through overseas development assistance (ODA) projects, which focus on achieving sustainable economic growth.

Speaking at a workshop to review the completion of 25 years of Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation (SDC) in Viet Nam last Friday, Swiss ambassador to Viet Nam Beatrice Maser Mallor said that as Viet Nam had become a lower-middle-income country, Switzerlands assistance needed to be adjusted to reflect this new reality.

Perhaps SDCs most significant achievement has been to give people a voice in the local government and to promote peoples participation in decisions affecting their livelihoods at the grassroots level, she said.

Between 1992 and 2016, SDCs primary focus was to alleviate poverty and improve local governance. This paved the way for a new phase of bilateral development co-operation between the two countries, with SDCs sister organisation  Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)  to take over from 2017 onwards.

Viet Nam will continue to benefit from SDCs various regional and global programmes that tackle climate change, water and food security, said Tim Enderlin, head of SDC in Viet Nam. Over the past 25 years, an estimated 4.6 to 6.8 million people nationwide have benefited directly and indirectly through 32 SDC programmes, with a total assistance of CHF216 million (approximately US$236 million).

SDCs programmes help people climb out of poverty. I dont like the phrase lift people out of poverty. I think people do this themselves, with SDCs assistance, Jacob Gammelgaard, independent reviewer of SDCs portfolio in Viet Nam, said. Other than promoting local governance, all of SDCs programmes contribute to poverty reduction through self-empowerment.

Speaking at the workshop, deputy minister of the investment and planning ministry Nguyen The Phuong said the collaboration between the two countries made effective use of Switzerlands expertise and experience in development, most notably, decentralisation and local-level planning, which is in line with the governments policy of fostering grassroots democracy.

Our co-operation spanned various areas, from education, vocational training, capacity building, management and public administration reforms to urban development planning and rural livelihoods, he said.

Independent assessment based on documentation and interviews with stakeholders and beneficiaries rated 43.5 per cent of SDCs portfolio disbursement as excellent and very good and 29.7 per cent as good, while 17.3 per cent and 4.1 were rated as below average and failed, respectively. Three OECDs (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) criteria to assess the programmes, namely sustainability, effectiveness and impact, and a fourth criterion of replicability was added.

Some of SDCs flagship programmes include the one-stop shop model which aims to streamline public administrative services and is now implemented nationwide; the Strengthening Vocational Training Centres programme to build a base of Vietnamese researchers and educators; and the Market Access for the Rural Poor programme that helps rural products reach more customers locally and abroad.

The northern Hoa Binh province is a long-time beneficiary of SDCs investment, seeing rural and forestry development, improved public services in agriculture and community participation programmes between 1998 and 2015.

Deputy Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Van Dung said, SDC projects approached people directly to mobilise their participation in planning, implementing and monitoring their community plans. The projects practices were institutionalised by the decisions of the provincial authorities. This substantively contributes to the implementation of grassroots democracy.

Incidentally, 2016 also marked the 45th anniversary of Viet Nam-Switzerland diplomatic relations.  VNS
HA NOI  Birds crashed into the engines of two aircraft of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) Sunday evening, a representative of the airline said.

The incidents took place while the aircraft were taking off at the Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi and the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City

The airline has temporarily stopped operations of these two airplanes -- a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and a Boeing 777 -- for inspection and repair, resulting in a change in the schedule of some domestic and international flights departing from the two airports Sunday night and Monday.

Flights VN310/311 from Ha Noi to Tokyo in Japan and flights VN408/409 from HCM City to Seoul in South Korea were delayed by six to eight hours.

Domestic flights departing Monday from the two airports were delayed by 30 minutes to one hour.

VNA has rolled out several measures to limit the effects on passengers, while calling for passengers cooperation in case of delays due to unforeseen circumstances.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and the Boeing 777 usually carry passengers on long trans-continental journeys, with a capacity of more than 300 passengers per aircraft.

Last Friday, while taking off from the Noi Bai International Airport, a dent was found on the nose cone of an aircraft of low-cost carrier Vietjet flying from Buon Ma Thuot to Ha Noi. The reason was reportedly due to a collision with birds.

A similar incident occurred with a VNA aircraft flying from Ha Noi to HCM City on August 15. The plane had to turn back to the Noi Bai International Airport 20 minutes after takeoff as a bird collided with the engine.

Cao Van Thai, deputy head of the security committee of the Airports Co-operation of Viet Nam, said bird hits posed a potential risk to aircraft.

Any collision with birds can damage an aircrafts body. Birds can enter the engines and destroy equipment if the aircraft is flying at high speed, Thai said.

Airports have taken measures to keep birds away, such as by shooting them with guns or by trapping them.

The Airports Corporation of Viet Nam proposed a project worth 1.160 trillion (US$ 51.6million) to identify foreign objects on runways at the two largest airports in Ha Noi and HCM City.  VNS
President Tran ai Quang requested the business community in HCM City take a pioneering role in the development of the private sector, especially small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during a meeting in the city yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

HCM CITY  President Tran ai Quang requested the business community in HCM City take a pioneering role in the development of the private sector, especially small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during a meeting in the city yesterday.

He also asked local businesses to help develop the economy in the southeastern and southwestern regions while supporting breakthrough business initiatives.

The President said that Viet Nams international integration and involvement in the ASEAN Economic Community as well as engagement in new-generation free trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and the Viet NamEU Free Trade Agreement has created new opportunities for the domestic economy.

These deals will allow Vietnamese businesses to access more than 80 per cent of global market with zero-per cent tariffs and become deeply involved in global value chains, he said.

However, in addition to opportunities, there were numerous challenges, he said, highlighting fierce competition and rapid automation in developed countries.

Unless the implementation of international labour standards was controlled, this could distort relations in the field and affect the sustainable development of businesses, he stressed.

Given these obstacles, the Vietnamese Party and State pledged to create specific policies to improve the socialist-oriented market economy and guarantee political and economic stability to create a healthy environment for businesses, he said.

The President urged entrepreneurs to build a dynamic and competitive business community while ensuring economic independence and autonomy, and promoting modernisation and integration.

He called on businesses to take part in programmes to ensure social welfare, reduce poverty, and address consequences of natural disasters.

On the Viet Nam Entrepreneurs Day, which falls on October 13, the President hoped HCM City would soon become one of the economic, financial, trade and science-technology hubs of Southeast Asia.

Having existed for 40 years, the business association in HCM City is now home to more than 60 voluntary organisations with 8,000 members.

By the end of 2015, the country had 535,920 active businesses, over 97 per cent of which are SMEs, contributing 49 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and around 38.5 per cent to the total social investment, and generating about 45 per cent of total jobs.  VNS
HCM CITY  A major fire razed a one-floor house on Nguyen Van Qua Street in HCM Citys District 12 and killed three members of a family at about 3am this morning.

Locals saw the blaze and tried to stamp it out but did not succeed. There were items inside the house that easily caught fire, making it more difficult to control the blaze.

Colonel Le Tan Buu, director of the citys Firefighting and Prevention Police Department, told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper six fire engines and firefighters were dispatched to the scene upon receiving the news. The fire was controlled soon after.

The three victims were Trinh Ngoc Tin, his wife and their two-year-old daughter.

The family runs a business offering wedding services, such as printing wedding invitations, selling wedding ceremony supplies and renting wedding outfits.

The case is being investigated further.  VNS
HA NOI  Soon after the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) proposed that Chinese and Russian be taught as first foreign languages from next year, a controversial discussion followed.

The proposal is applicable for students from grades three to 12, the highest grade in Vietnamese high schools.

According to the proposal, the first foreign language, which must be compulsorily learned from grades six to 12, can be chosen from these five languages: English, Russian, French, Chinese and Japanese.

The second foreign language is optional and can be learned depending on students demands and schools conditions. It can be chosen from the above-mentioned five languages.

German and Korean will be taught on a trial basis as second foreign languages if provinces and schools have the demand and the conditions needed.

The foreign language teaching and learning proposal towards 2020, compiled by the MoET, also focuses on building the Russian and Chinese curriculum from grades three to 12, like English, French and Japanese.

Associate Professor Trinh Thi Kim Ngoc gave her consent to the proposal, saying that learning the language and culture of China or Russia is an advantage on the international negotiation table.

English is predominant in international negotiations, but we cannot ignore the giant culture of the Russia, she said.

Nguyen Hieu Trung, a research student in South Korea, told the Tin Tuc (News) newspaper that learning Russian, Chinese and Japanese is never needless because these countries have influences on Viet Nams society and culture. Learning languages and cultures of neighbouring countries should be encouraged, he said.

Meanwhile, some experts argued that Vietnamese students should focus on learning only one language that was recognised by the world as an international language, instead of offering various choices. Students might learn the basics of 5-7 languages, but they would end up not excelling in any language.

The Vietnamese must focus on English. Learning other languages depends on the demand and orientations of families and the ability of learners, Professor Nguyen Vo Ky Anh said.

Experts also say English has been universalised in Viet Nam for more than 20 years but the quality of teachers and teaching material was inadequate.

According to the MoET, nearly 90 per cent of students got English scores below five (out of ten) in the national high school exam this year. Many graduates could not apply English in real life and work.

Investment on improving the quality of teachers is more urgent than adding more languages to the curriculum, experts say.

Other experts suggest spending a specific amount of time to prepare the schedule on compiling material and training teachers.

Professor Nguyen Quoc Hung, former deputy rector of Ha Noi-based University of Languages and International Studies, suggested conducting surveys on what students wanted before making official decisions.

The most important thing is not to make it mandatory for students to learn some languages but to let them choose. Each student should learn only one foreign language that they love and choose themselves following their parents investment, he said.

In response to public controversies on the foreign language teaching and learning proposal between 2016 and 2020, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha advised parents and students to avoid worrying about the many foreign languages being taught at school.

Teaching Chinese and Russian is not new but has just been applied from grades six to 12 (seven years) in universal education. The ministry has only made changes in its design of the 10-year curriculum, according to the minister.

He emphasised the necessity to review teachers quality and the curriculum to provide uniform teaching material nationwide, while stepping up supervision on learning quality to meet standards.

We must not only focus on English, but also pay attention to demands of localities and grades. Besides prioritising English, we need to develop other foreign languages, he said. Cities and provinces which have the necessary facilities to teach other languages should be encouraged.  VNS
LAI CHAU  Border guards in the mountainous northern province of Lai Chau today charged two people with human trafficking, after they were caught trying to cross illegally into China with two women.

Ma A Lau, 27, from Lai Chau Provinces Hong Thu Commune and Thao Thi Say, 24, from ien Bien Provinces Nam Nhu Commune were caught on September 29. During questioning, the duo said they had enticed Mua Thi Dua, 25, and Mua Thi Sua, 17, into travelling with them to China and that they had planned to sell them to a middle man.

They would have been paid between 1,000 and 2,000 Chinese yuan (US$150- 300) if they had been successful, they said.

The two victims hail from ien Bien Provinces Phin Ho Commune.

The case has been handed to the police in ien Bien Province for further investigation.

Since 2011, the border guards in Lai Chau Province have come across around 26 cases of human trafficking and arrested 35 suspects. As many as 38 women have been rescued so far.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ha Noi Police have decided to prosecute inh Ngoc Thach, 52, for violating driving regulations after the sharp iron sheet he was carrying on his cyclo caused the death of a nine-year-old.

Thach has been prosecuted under article 2020 of the Penal Code.

The incident occurred on September 23 when his cyclo carrying long, sharp roofing iron sheet illegally stopped on Tan Mai Street. A nine-year-old boy, Tran Minh Hoang, was riding his bike on the street. He was talking to his friends and did not notice the stationary cyclo and crashed into it. He slashed his neck and died of blood loss.

In 2013, the administration banned three-wheelers and cyclos from transporting bulky goods across the city.  VNS
HCM CITY  Vo Van Hoan, chief of staff and spokesperson for the HCM City Peoples Committee, said the ban on extra classes would be reviewed.

The citys policy is to prohibit misuse of extra classes, in accordance with Circular No. 17; however, the implementation will need a carefully considered roadmap, based on peoples needs and survey results, he told the press.

At the press conference held last week, Vo Van Hoan admitted that the policy-making process behind the uncompromising ban of extra classes or private tuitions had not taken peoples opinions into account.

A heavy-handed approach to the implementation of this policy, when students and parents were not psychologically prepared, has led to a number of issues, causing backlash.

This is a valuable lesson for the citys authorities. The psychological impact on society must be taken into account, Hoan said. Even among the policy-making group, a consensus on the ban on extra classes and private tuitions has not been reached, he added.

In Viet Nam, private tuitions and extra classes have existed for a long time to assist academically weaker students and prepare strong students for important national examinations/competitions.

"The demand for these extra classes is totally justified," former minister of education and training (MOET) Prof. Dr. Tran Hong Quan said.

Parents want their children to attend more classes to avoid lagging behind their peers or simply to cut down the time their children spend on the internet, which they deem fraught with temptations and inappropriate content.

A sense of one-upmanship also plays an important role -- when all other parents send their children for extra classes, its hard not to do the same.

Private tutoring is not inherently a bad practice; however, the widespread misuse of this form of teaching has led to numerous problems.

In some cases, the official lessons in schools are limited, while the after-school lessons offer more knowledge, tips, knowhow or even exam questions and answers.

This unfair treatment generates mounting pressure for students to join these classes, and hence, abuse is bound to follow.

Teachers try to teach as many classes as possible to gain additional income, but their standard of teaching cannot be guaranteed.

Several private tutoring institutions and training centres are substandard, even though the fee remains exorbitant.

Prohibit the abuse of private tuitions

Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc, headmaster of the Gia inh High School, said Current examination system and textbooks are flawed. Its unreasonable to expect students to acquire all the necessary knowledge on their own, keeping in mind the current difficult and heavy curriculum. In addition, MOET now encourages the self-study approach, but in a classroom, the capacity of students is not the same; some might understand and perform well, while others may not and have to seek extra classes organised by their teachers.

Hoan stressed, Abuse of private tuitions will need to be categorically dealt with. In the near future, HCM City will review and rectify state management of extra classes, both in and out of school, formulate better policy to ensure teachers income, and renew curriculums, textbooks and the examination system.  VNS
MANILA The Philippines and the United States launched war games on Tuesday against the backdrop of the unusual threat of American forces being ejected from the Southeast Asian nation, as its firebrand leader pivots to China.

President Rodrigo Duterte has sustained a verbal assault on the United States, the Philippines former colonial ruler and mutual defence partner, since he took office on June 30 in response to criticism of his deadly war on crime.

Duterte has in recent days warned the war games will be the last of his six-year term, and threatened to scrap a defence pact implemented by his predecessor that was meant to see more US troops in the Philippines to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea (called East Sea by Viet Nam).

Better think twice now because I will be asking you to leave the Philippines altogether, Duterte said on Sunday in his latest outburst against the Americans, full of typical invective.

The Americans, I dont like them... they are reprimanding me in public, he said, while signalling again that he wanted to forge closer alliances with China and Russia.

Last week Duterte, 71, also claimed the CIA was plotting to assassinate him. This came after he branded Barack Obama a son of a whore in response to being told the US president planned to raise human rights concerns over his drug war.

Duterte has vowed to eradicate illegal drugs in the Philippines, warning the nation is in danger of becoming a narco-state.

His crime war has seen more than 3,000 people killed, with the United Nations, the European Union and rights groups raising concerns about alleged extrajudicial killings and a breakdown in the rule of law.

Duterte has insisted he is not doing anything illegal, yet at the same time said he would be happy to slaughter three million drug users. He also likened his crime war to Nazi leader Adolf Hitlers effort to exterminate Jews, but following an outcry apologised for referring to the Holocaust.

China circling

A total of two thousand troops from the two sides are taking part in the war games, including in waters close to flashpoint areas of the South China Sea (East Sea).

China claims nearly all of the sea, even waters close to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, and has in recent years built artificial islands in the disputed areas capable of hosting military bases.

To counter China, the Philippines previous president, Benigno Aquino, sought to draw the United States closer. This included the signing of the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement that Duterte now wants to scrap.

Duterte appears intent on adopting the opposite tactic, saying recently he hopes to travel to China and meet with President Xi Jinping.

Aquino also launched international legal action that in July saw a UN-backed tribunal declare Chinas vast claims in the sea illegal.

However Duterte has declined to use the verdict to pressure China. He has also said there will be no joint patrols with the United States in the sea.

Still Dutertes comments have not filtered down into government policy, and it remains unclear to what extent he is prepared to damage ties with the United States.

The (US military) relationship has not changed as of today, Philippine defence department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said on Monday. The US Embassy in Manila urged the Philippines on Tuesday to live up to previous agreements.

We will continue to honour our alliance commitments, and we expect the Philippines to do the same, embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina said.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the military was aware of Dutertes comments.

But it hasnt really so much translated into tangible actions that weve seen with regards to our actions under the alliance, he said.VNS
Sydney woman identified as Australian killed in Halloween stampede A 23-year-old production assistant from Sydney has been revealed as the Australian woman who died after being crushed at a Halloween party in South Korea.

Warning of huge fines as state clamps down on single-use plastics Businesses and corporations in one state could be fined tens of thousands of dollars if they are busted selling or handing out particular single-use plastic products, as the government further tightens restrictions on plastic.

Coalition further demands government come clean on ISIS families The Coalition has again accused the Albanese Government of not being upfront about the secret return of four ISIS brides and their children over the weekend.

Andrews couldnt run a hotel quarantine program  let alone an energy network The Victorian leader is going to take another $1 billion from the taxpayer to bring electricity generation under state control  a bizarre and disastrous decision that will only lead to higher energy prices.
CHARLES CITY  Extremely wet weather and flooding is delaying the harvest for some area farmers.

Erwin Johnson farms just west of Charles City and was hit by flooding in late September.

Our soils were well saturated prior to the rain, Johnson said. We had an incredible amount of rain all summer.

It wasnt just the fields that were flooded. Johnson and his family had water in their basements as well. All three roads leading out from his farm were impassable, but the water receded fast, Johnson said.

Because his soybeans and corn are maturing, they are no longer pulling moisture from the ground. Now Johnson and his family have to wait for the ground to dry out before harvest.

Im trying to practice patience, Johnson said. I have to avoid taking machines out while its still wet.

Mark Licht, an assistant professor of agronomy at Iowa State University, said one concern is corn ear or soybean pods that were submerged in floodwaters, although its a small number of acres along the rivers.

For those affected, this is a big deal, Licht said. Flooded and saturated soils can have a pretty big impact on growing crops and the quality of matured crops.

In fields with saturated and ponded water, stalk and stem quality and the potential for lodging can be issues.

Lodging results in more time and fatigue in harvesting and could lead to greater harvest losses than normal, Licht said.

The bigger issue probably is the weather conditions, Licht said. The wet weather can lead to ear mold and possibly even sprouting of corn kernels.

The weather conditions are delaying harvest and keeping grain from drying down as quickly as normal, Licht said.

Charles Hurburgh of Iowa State University and the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative said getting moisture out of the ground as quickly as possible will be the key to avoiding mold problems.

Cloudy weather doesnt help much. We need sunny, low-humidity days to take some of the moisture out of the fields, Hurburgh said.

Assuming fields are passable for machinery, Hurburgh recommends getting the grain out of the fields as soon as possible.

Normally Johnson would be harvesting in late September, but with the excessive rain he has to wait at least seven to 10 days  if it doesnt rain.

Its tough because you hear about the combines rolling in Mason City or New Hampton, and I cant get out yet, Johnson
WATERLOO  Suspicious clown sightings popping up across the country have made their way to the Cedar Valley.

On Monday night alone, Waterloo police received nine calls regarding clowns, said Lt. Greg Fangman.

Many of the reports were third-hand sightings, and several involve social media and Internet threats, he said.

None have lead to an arrest.

One threat about a pending clown attack led the department to post an additional officer at West High School in addition to the school resource officer already stationed at the building, Fangman said.

According to Fangman, other clown-related calls included:

A resident heard people outside a home and feared they were clowns.

A passerby called police after spotting two people in clown costumes at the strip mall on Sovia Drive at 2:48 a.m. Thursday. Two officers were sent, but were unable to locate any clowns. People at a laundry in the mall said they hadnt seen any clowns in the area.

A resident received an anonymous phone call in which the caller said something about knowing all about their family. Apparently clowns were mentioned.

A clown entered the McDonalds restaurant on La Porte Road and left, prompting workers to lock the doors, Fangman said.

On Tuesday, police at the University of Iowa in Iowa City said they had heard of clown sightings in the prior two nights and issued a statement on Facebook.

We have not received reports of this clown harming or threatening anyone. The Department of Public Safety is taking all reports seriously, and at this time there is no threat to the University Campus or its students. If you have any information or see the clown, please contact us, the statement read, listing the UI police phone number.

Nationally, suspicious clown calls have been coming in for weeks.

On Sept. 30, the Barbourville (Ky.) Police Department used its Facebook page to issue a warning about clowning around.

With the current mainstream media and social media coverage of clown sightings, clown pranks have created a real concern and risk. Dressing as a clown and driving, walking or standing in public can create a dangerous situation for you and others. This creates a risk of harm to you, of collisions near roadways and to bystanders and children who become frightened, statement read.

The statement continued While dressing up is not, in and of itself against the law, doing so in public and thereby creating an unnecessary sense of alarm is illegal. Approaching people in a threatening manner and threatening people is illegal.  Also falsely reporting incidents to law enforcement is illegal and can lead to arrest. Assaulting, shooting, attacking or otherwise injuring someone simply because they are wearing a costume can lead to criminal charges.

Three days later, police in Middlesboro, Ky., arrested a 20-year-old man who was wearing a clown costume and hiding in a wooded area behind an apartment complex, according to a BBC report.

On Tuesday night, a mob of college students at Penn State in took to the streets in a clown hunt after a clown rumor.
WATERLOO  East and West high school band directors say their students performed well at marching competitions last weekend in Cedar Rapids.

Both schools marched in Bands Across the Prairie at Prairie High School on Saturday. West came in fifth and East was eighth out of 10 4A bands. West also competed in the Five Seasons Marching Invitational at Kingston Stadium, earning fourth out of six 4A bands.

The kids did pretty well, said West co-director Danny Kleinheinz, despite the long day that had them arriving back in town around midnight. They were about where we expected them to be.

The performances will help Kleinheinz and co-director Michael Prichard focus on what theyll work on this week. Weve got a few things in all the tunes that were fixing and well add a couple things in still, said Kleinheinz. The 190-member bands show is Prince of the Universe, based on the music of Queen.

East director Joelle Smith said we were really, really proud of her bands performance. They were right where I expected them to be. We have some tweaking to do and some special effects to be added this week.

The band, which has about 90 members, is performing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, featuring music from the original trilogy and the newer movies.

According to information available online, other Northeast Iowa bands competed Saturday, as well. At Prairie, Independence High School came in first among 3A schools, also earning best drum major, winds, color guard and percussion. West Delaware and Oelwein high schools were sixth and seventh, respectively, out of eight bands in that class.

Those three bands plus East Buchanan, Aplington-Parkersburg and Benton Community high schools competed at Five Seasons. Results were not available online for that competition.

A number of Cedar Valley high school bands will participate in the State Marching Band Festival next Saturday, many at Dubuque Senior High School.

Smith said her East students are beginning to see the results of their work with last Saturdays performance, which she hopes will spur them to do well at the state festival.

Theyre really motivated now, she said. Theyre gearing toward what they need to do and making it an awesome performance on Saturday.
CEDAR FALLS  A retired University of Northern Iowa speech professor has continued criticizing the conduct of Cedar Falls City Council meetings.

Several times during Mondays council meeting, Jim Skaine questioned the conduct of council committee-of-the-whole meetings; demanded answers to his questions from city staff and council members; complained about a lack of information on agenda items; accused council members of deciding items in advance of the meeting and demanded Mayor Jim Brown apologize for having police remove Skaine from a council meeting Aug. 1.

Skaine cited Roberts Rules of Order and the U.S. Constitution in maintaining he had a right to hold the floor  and had a copy of each with him. He also compared Cedar Falls city government to that of Russia or the former Soviet Union.

Brown and council members said public notice is given and agendas posted of all council and committee of the whole meetings; that agendas and supporting materials are public record and available on the citys website; that residents may request to be notified of meetings by e-mail and may call or come to City Hall any time during business hours with questions.

Skaine maintained there should be more public discussion.

Its not a matter of hide and seek, Skaine said. Its not a matter of the people trying to find out through some untenable means what youre doing.

Skaine said he was embarrassingly and wrongly removed from the Aug. 1 council meeting in violation of Roberts Rules, when he rose to ask a question about a previous meetings minutes.

I would think that the mayor would at least have the courtesy to apologize for what happened. Do you, Mr. Mayor? Skaine said.

I certainly will be happy to answer any question you have after youre done speaking, sir, Brown said.

See? No dialogue, no dialogue. Youre not following Roberts Rules of Order when youre doing that, Mr. Mayor, Skaine said, thumping the podium. Theres other forms of government that operate this way ... . Theyve operated for a long time in Russia and the Soviet Union.

Brown repeatedly gaveled him out of order when he refused to be seated, and threatened to call a recess to restore order until Skaine finally yielded to frequent council speaker Larry Wyckoff.

The mayor noted that legal counsel advised state code allows the City Council, within reason, to legally establish its own meeting procedures in place of Roberts Rules  including allowing answers to information requests at the discretion of the chair.

Brown avoided a running dialogue with Skaine, noting that public hearings on agenda items are for public comments, not question-and-answer sessions.

Skaine taught speech at UNI from 1965-98 and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1972.
DES MOINES  Democratic challenger Patty Judge called out GOP incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley, accusing him of telling a downright lie Monday in blaming her for the cancellation of a planned televised debate that would have aired statewide on Iowa Public Television on Oct. 20.

Judge said it was Grassley who took the unprecedented action last Friday to back out of the IPTV debate, which is a traditional, long-standing venue for face-to-face meetings of candidates seeking Iowas most prominent statewide public offices.

Judge said she initially wanted the IPTV debate to originate in Davenport, so every part of the state got a chance to see the candidates, but when the statewide station said the event would take place at its Johnston studio, she agreed to accept conditions she said Grassley already had approved.

Thats when Grassley rescinded his acceptance without giving voters a reason, Judge said, and announced he had accepted an Oct. 19 debate invitation from Quincy Media Group for a televised debate at Morningside College in Sioux City and a broadcast debate sponsored by WHO radio but would not participate in an IPTV debate due to a format dispute.

Later Friday, IPTV officials announced they had cancelled the Iowa Press debate for the U.S. Senate race after Grassley, a six-term GOP incumbent from New Hartford, had rescinded his acceptance of IPTVs invitation, leaving former Lt. Gov. Judge, D-Albia, as the sole participant.

We are disappointed the debate will not be available to all Iowans on our air, online or in our studio, IPTV Executive Director and General Manager Molly Phillips said in a statement, which indicated Judge had accepted an invitation Sept. 23 and Grassleys campaign issued an Aug. 5 press release announcing his participation in an hour-long debate.

On Monday, Grassleys campaign issued a statement calling Judge, who also served as a state senator and state agriculture secretary, a debate dodger with a clear record of snubbing Iowans, and urging her to accept the WHO radio debate that all Iowa voters could access online.

Patty Judge has an unfortunate history of dodging debates and chronic absenteeism on the campaign trail, starving voters of critical information about where she stands on the important issues facing our state and nation, said Grassley Committee campaign manager Bob Haus in a statement.
WATERLOO  The citys building inspections department will rebate permit fees for homeowners repairing damage from recent floods.

Waterloo City Council members voted unanimously and without discussion Monday to approve a resolution calling for the return of building, plumbing, electrical and heating permit fees taken out for owner-occupied homes.

Mayor Quentin Hart said the city is still waiting to see how many homes were damaged when the Cedar River and Black Hawk Creek went well over flood stages last week. There have been reports of homes damaged in Cedar Terrace, Chautauqua Park and North Hackett Road.

We had a few areas impacted, but not nearly as many as 2008, Hart said.

The program adopted by the council this week is identical to the resolution approved after the 2008 event, which saw hundreds of homes severely damaged and even destroyed by record flooding.

The 2008 waiving of building permit fees involved lengthy debate before narrowly passing 4-3. An effort to extend the program to businesses and residential rental property failed in 2008 and also is not part of the program adopted Monday.

Residents making repairs to their homes must still take out the proper building permits, pay the costs and have the work inspected. Upon final inspection approval, the homeowner can apply for a full rebate.

Homeowners may be required to submit a copy of their Federal Emergency Management Agency application and insurance report of the damages along with the rebate request.

In other business, council members unanimously voted down an ordinance which would have upgraded technology requirements and forced more types of business to have surveillance cameras.

Council members said they supported the intent of the ordinance but voted it down because Safety Services Director Dan Trelka said the measure was being taken back to the drawing board for revisions.

There are going to be significant changes made to this ordinance before it returns for a vote, Trelka said.

While police officials said the current ordinance, which requires the cameras in convenience and liquor stores only, was outdated, some business owners have voiced concerns about their cost of compliance.
The Waterloo City Councils approval to hire a national retail recruiting firm is another step in the right direction, as efforts in creating economic development opportunities in the city continue.

Council members voted unanimously to approve a three-year contract with Buxton Co., based in Fort Worth, Texas, at a cost of $50,000 per year.

Buxton is a tool and a more aggressive approach than weve had in the past to making sure were doing everything that we can to attract and recruit businesses locally, said Mayor Quentin Hart.

The company collects customer information that national retail chains use to help identify where goods and services will find a market. The company has contracts with more than 750 cities, including Ames and Cedar Rapids in Iowa, to help identify which retailers would be a good fit given local consumer habits.

Some council discussion centered on concerns about the scope of the agreement, noting the contract specifically noted it would focus on efforts around Logan Plaza and the Crossroads Center areas.

However, both Hart and Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson, said the Buxton services could be used throughout the community, including downtown, which has a number of empty storefronts.

Frankly, we dont mind if initial efforts focus on these areas, particularly Logan Plaza. Revitalization efforts have made some headway in the area, but plans for Logan Plaza have come and gone before. The once-robust shopping area had dilapidated into a community eyesore, before demolition began earlier this year.

There are promising signs since North Crossing LLC, and investment group spearheaded by Ben Stroh, began redevelopment of the Logan Plaza area in an agreement that will build medical offices and retail spaces. Progress is being made there, but there will have to be some successful retail in the mix.

The mayor has pushed for the redevelopment of Logan Plaza for several years, as he represented the Fourth Ward on the council.

Should efforts around Logan Plaza and Crossroads prove fruitful, then those services should indeed be used elsewhere.

Councilman Tom Powers noted the plan is in line with the councils stated goals of growing the population, now 68,000, and expanding the tax base  an important part of the formula that keeps residential property taxes as low as possible.

I think Buxtons proposal is a cost worth bearing, Powers said. If we want to grow our community to 85,000 we have to bring in businesses to do that and reduce the cost to the taxpayer.

We also feel this is a cost worth bearing and appreciate the efforts of city officials in the ongoing pursuit of economic development that can benefit all of Waterloo.
Honor Flight

CRAIG WHITE

EVANSDALE -- Thank you to all who have been a part of another great year of Honor Filghts; this year's flights have been very emotional for me seeing my brothers in arms from the Vietnam War getting their welcome home.

I can't thank the board of Cedar Valley Honor Flights enough for all their hours put in on this labor of love. My hope is some Santas will come forward this year to help fund 2017 flights; we do a lot of fundraising and have hit somewhat of a brick wall, so I'm asking each and everyone of the readers from the Cedar Valley to loosen their purse strings and give to an organization who gives back 100 percent to the cause; no paid staff.

Frank Magsamen has been a godsend in his tireless devotion since the start, as has some others. God bless all of you and let's contact our legislators on the vets fund and have yearly seed monies given to the Honor Flight hubs to support an awesome organization.

See you all in '17, I pray, and give from the heart. These vets did.

Flood after-effects

CHRIS HOFFMAN

WATERLOO -- In the aftermath of the disasters of 2008, Pathways Behavioral Services became involved in a crisis mental health outreach project that lasted 18 months. One of the biggest lessons learned was not to forget about the kids. Children are impacted disproportionately to disasters but often are the most sidelined.

Adults are focused on cleanup, insurance and getting back to work. Children are given a place to play, basic needs are taken care of, but little time is usually taken to talk with them about how they feel. Small children do not understand what is going on. They find the entire series of events scary and disorienting. They are often afraid it may happen again and may panic the next time it rains.

Make sure you take the time to talk to your children. Assure them they are safe. Keep an eye on them the next time the weather turns stormy. If symptoms such as nightmares, sleeplessness, anxiety or other behaviors unusual to your child occur, seek out a professional. Being proactive can save your child from years of misery.

Honor Flight

FRED HUTING

WATERLOO --- I just returned from the wonderful Honor Flight and was completely amazed at the whole perfectly-organized trip.

Everyone involved was so pleasant and generous. Arlington Cemetery and all our government buildings and grounds were so beautifully kept.

I just had to be proud of our country all over again. The home town reception was simply astounding. My thanks to those in charge of this great program.

Hillary and the early voting

JAMES ZEINER

WATERLOO -- I noted in the Sept. 30 Courier that Hillary is asking everyone to vote early. There can be only one reason for her to request this. She is trying to get as many people as possible to vote now and have their votes locked in. Must be a reason, and it probably has to do with her expectation of more damaging news about her.

I would hope voters will wait until the last moment to vote and then vote their conscience.
Q: After reading Melody Parkers article about daylilies in the Sept. 25 Courier, when is the best time to plant the daylilies?

A: As the article says, fall  now  is a good time to plant daylily roots or fans, as long as you dont wait too late. You want to give the roots a little time to get settled in before winter sets in. Now is a good time to take advantage of sale prices from daylily sources. Daylilies also can be planted in the spring, of course.

Q: A Sept. 25 letter talked about the Pants on Fire ratings for Trump and Clinton. What was Bernie Sanders rating?

A: According to Politifact, the organization that provides the ratings, Weve rated Sanders True, Mostly True and Half-True more than twice as often as we rated him False or Mostly False. Perhaps most remarkably, none of the statements we checked earned a Pants on Fire. Checking the usual suspects, we believe Sanders has the most fact-checks without a Pants on Fire rating of anyone measured.

Q: Does all the rain weve had the past few months mean we will have a snowy winter?

A: Harry Hillaker, the state climatologist, said, Looking at the 20 wettest July-to-September periods there have been 10 followed by snowier-than-normal winters and 10 followed by less snow than usual. The 10th-wettest July-September came in 1961, and was followed by Iowas snowiest winter ever. Meanwhile the third-wettest July-September came in 1965 and was followed by Iowas least snowy winter of record. Overall, rainfall in mid- to late summer does not seem to provide any indication of snowfall for the following winter in Iowa.

Q: The TV guide lists an ALN station. What is this station?

A: Its a cable channel, formerly known as the American Life Network.

Q: Is Lara Spencer married? Does she have kids?

A: Spencer and her husband were divorced last year. They have two kids.

Q: Did Eric Branstad have to serve any time after he killed those people?

A: Branstad ended up being ticketed for improper lane usage after the 1991 crash that killed a Des Moines couple.

Q: Cedar Rapids has a Time Check neighborhood. What does that name come from?

A: Heres how the Neighborhood Development Corp. of Cedar Rapids explains it: In the earliest days of Time Check, a great majority of residents worked across the river at the railroad yards north of downtown. The name Time Check is said to have evolved from this relationship  the railroads were often short on payroll, and would regularly provide the workers post-dated paychecks. Under credit arrangements with local banks, workers would be allowed to bank these checks in advance of noted dates to cover expenses, and the banks would delay the railroads obligation. These checks become known in local parlance as time checks, and over time the term grew to be used to describe the neighborhood as a whole.
* * *

While the Pope marked his adopted feast with a surprise visit to quake-ravaged Rieti, this St Francis' Day has brought a double shifting of plates in the top ranks of the Stateside church.At Roman Noon, Francis tapped Bishop Paul Etienne (above)  the avid outdoorsman who's reveled in the "smell" of Wyoming over seven years at the helm of its statewide diocese of Cheyenne  to another sprawling pioneer's paradise, elevating the 57 year-old to Alaska's lead post as archbishop of Anchorage. At the same time, months of anxiety in Raleigh have surprisingly been realized as Bishop Michael Burbidge, 59  the USCCB chair for clergy and religious, who's brought the 500,000-member North Carolina fold to the threshold of a new cathedral set to open next July  has been transferred to the outskirts of the nation's capital as the fourth bishop of Arlington.In both cases, the moves infuse their respective locales with a fresh dose of energy  both a year past the retirement age of 75, retiring Archbishop Roger Schweitz and Bishop Paul Loverde have each held their posts since the turn of the millennium. Both dioceses likewise face intense challenges of scale: in Anchorage, the 140,000 square-mile spread makes for a daunting haul much of the year, as a crunch of priests has seen Schweitz  who pilots his own plane to cover the stops  pitch in by taking the full-time pastorate of a parish on top of the wider role. In Arlington, meanwhile, the ongoing growth of Washington's Northern Virginia suburbs hasn't merely doubled the size of the diocese since 1990 toward the 600,000 mark, but in the process yielded a Catholic population coming ever closer to a Hispanic majority.A son of rural southern Indiana, Etienne ("A-chen") hails from an almost-storybook ecclesial clan: one of six siblings, three became priests, and his sister is a Benedictine. For his part, the archbishop-elect's vocation had its fits and starts  needing a break from the seminary, the future prelate managed a shoe-store before his first brush with church officialdom as a lay employee of the US bishops in planning the mammoth Papal Visit of 1987, when John Paul II cris-crossed the country for two weeks.Ordained in 1992, Etienne was immediately placed in vocations work alongside parish ministry, pastoring four churches alongside a stint as vice-rector of Indianapolis' college seminary. Only underscoring his love for life on the land, the 2009 phone call with word of his appointment to Wyoming famously came while the nominee was surrounded by power tools, cutting down trees on family property for his day off. (As the new Alaskan's mentor tells it , the priest-brothers gave each other hunting rifles as ordination gifts, to boot.)A fly-fishing rod ever tossed in the back of his truck  and tipped as a rising star from the get-go  the boyish bishop has brought Wyoming two qualities that are exceedingly difficult to pull off for a statewide fold spanning 100,000 square miles: cohesion and action. While interminable hours behind the wheel to reach every place went a long way toward doing the trick, technology's provided a useful assist, with Etienne taking to a blog (and, with time, a Twitter feed ) that, beyond keeping the locals updated on his travels, often veered into reflections on prayer and things in the news.This morning, with the nominee said to be "shaken" over the move, the new archbishop's page carries a simple message to Wyoming: "I love you." Though Anchorage's Catholic population of 35,000 is relatively small, it has grown markedly over recent years, with a sudden influx of Latinos becoming a priority for ministry. In light of the uptick, in late 2014 Schweitz moved the the archdiocese'sseat from the cramped Holy Family Cathedral downtown to one of the city's newer parishes, Our Lady of Guadalupe (above), designating the ample church as his co-cathedral.Etienne will be installed there, with an early November timeframe in the works  the usual appointment day presser is slated for 11am local time/3pm ET. Full remarks , headlined by the archbishop-elect's rare admission that, on being told of the Pope's move, he couldn't accept on the spot. His installation at Guadalupe is set for Wednesday, 9 November.)As for the fourth bishop of Arlington, it's a sign he'd appreciate  word his appointment set off some rather remarkable flights of eyebrows up and down the East Coast.Indeed, it's an unwritten rule that a bishop engaged in building a cathedral is not to be moved until it's dedicated (and, preferably, paid off). Yet after a decade that's seen Raleigh nearly double in size, exponentially increase its number of seminarians, make significant strides at serving the Hispanics who now comprise roughly half the diocese  and its bishop elected to lead the US bishops' arm for clergy, religious and vocations  an infinitely more charged assignment with similar needs and challenges apparently could wait no longer.Along those lines, history's repeating itself  before Burbidge, the last time the rector of Overbrook had been a bishop, he ended up in Arlington, too... yet while the latest of the line doesn't share Tom Welsh's penchant for weeping openly, it'd be a surprise if he didn't shed a few tears over this. In any case, given the NoVA diocese's firm bond with St Charles Borromeo Seminary from the very founding of the Beltway church, this move has the makings of a family reunion to it.Lest anyone's looking for the longtime Eagles' season ticketholder to transfer an iota of loyalty to the Redskins, though, just know there will be none of that... to repeat: there will beof that  the way this season's going, Lord knows there'll probably be more bleeding-green crowing than anything else. (Welcome back to the NFC East, brother.)A diocese whose core is overwhelmingly comprised of DC commuters and government or non-profit employees, Arlington has long enjoyed a reputation as a bastion of conservative Catholicism, both ecclesiologically and in terms of its secular politics  not for nothing was the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (father of the diocese's clergy-personnel chief ) fittingly the local church's most celebrated and revered member, ordained or lay alike.Even if the long-awaited appointee certainly fits the bill on that front, it bears noting that the descriptor is not as maximal as some might seek (or fear) it to be. To cite but one recent example, after national controversy erupted over the North Carolina law restricting transgender access to their preferred restrooms, in early May Burbidge issued a conciliatory statement drawing back a prior show of support for the measure, and urging  as the church's lead advocate in the state capital  that "another remedy" be found, one which would "defend human dignity; avoid any form of bigotry; respect religious liberty and the convictions of religious institutions; work for the common good; and be discussed in a peaceful and respectful manner."In the final analysis, he said, "no person should feel as though they are unwelcome in our communities of faith."Having long advocated the solid coordination of bishops across diocesan lines  above all when they share a media market  today's move bears the quiet yet palpable imprint of Burbidge's new neighbor across the Potomac: Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, now the East's principal architect of the docket from his seat on the Congregation for Bishops.In a markedly ebullient statement released shortly after the appointment was made, Wuerl lauded the Pope for "once again show[ing] his love and care for the Church in our Country" with the Arlington pick."With joy we receive this news," the cardinal said, seeing "in Bishop Burbidge a shepherd of the flock who possesses great zeal and has long demonstrated his love for the people entrusted to his pastoral care."Truth be told, however, the Michael Burbidge now returning up I-95 is a changed man from the one who left the only place he ever knew a decade ago. Back then, Philadelphia might've sent Raleigh a bishop... but it took the newness, challenges, energy  and, indeed, honesty  of a living church to make the pastor who now heads back North.Even if a rising cathedral captures the work of these years in stone, the crafting of its builder is no less striking a result. And despite being taken from the Triangle before he could enjoy the fulfillment of his efforts, the Dedication Day honors next July 26th will be his nonetheless, as they should be, the successor only to emerge after that point.Burbidge will be installed in Arlington on Tuesday, 6 December  in the meantime, he's slated to stick around to celebrate the Noon Mass tomorrow (5 October) in his soon-to-be Cathedral of St Thomas More.Here, video of this morning's presser:
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Russia suspends plutonium agreement with USA

04 October 2016

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Russia has suspended its 2000 agreement with the USA to reduce their surplus weapons-grade plutonium. The suspension was made via a presidential decree issued yesterday 'on the management and disposition of plutonium designated as no longer required for defence purposes and related cooperation in this area and the protocols to this agreement'.

The agreement may be resumed if the USA meets certain conditions, according to a bill presented yesterday to the Russian parliament, the State Duma.

The two countries were each required to dispose of 34 tonnes of weapons grade plutonium under a weapons reduction agreement signed in June 2000. They reconfirmed the deal in 2010, but President Barack Obama's FY2017 budget submission proposes a "dilution and disposal" approach as enabling the material to be disposed of sooner, at lower cost and with lower technical risks than conversion to mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel.

Obama has proposed halting construction of a facility in South Carolina to downblend the plutonium into MOX fuel for use in commercial reactors. That form of use for the material was specified in a 2010 protocol to the agreement as the sole disposal option for the USA. Russia had agreed to dispose of the material in fast reactors.

In April, Putin said the USA was failing to meet its obligations to destroy plutonium by instead permitting a reprocessing method that allows plutonium to be extracted and used again in nuclear weapons.

The bill Putin submitted to the State Duma yesterday sets out pre-conditions for the agreement to be resumed. These include reduction of US military infrastructure and troops in countries that joined Nato after 1 September 2000 and lifting of all US sanctions against Russia - imposed after Russias annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in 2014 - and "compensation for the damage they have caused".

In May 2015, Obama drew a line under the completed Megatons to Megawatts program by terminating a state of national emergency that had been declared in 2000 to help to ensure that payments to Russia under the 1993 agreement to downblend surplus military high-enriched uranium could not be derailed by unrelated legal actions.

In a letter to the US Congress, Obama said then that, with the completion of the program, the order was no longer needed.

"With the successful conversion of 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium extracted from Russian nuclear weapons into low enriched uranium, the transfer to the United States of that low enriched uranium (LEU) for use as fuel in commercial nuclear reactors, and the completion of all payments to the Russian Federation, there is no further need for the protective blocking imposed by Executive Order 13617. For this reason I have determined that it is necessary to terminate the national emergency  and revoke that order," he told Congress.

In 1993, the US and Russian governments signed an agreement for the purchase over a 20-year period of 500 tonnes of Russian 'surplus' high-enriched uranium (HEU) from nuclear disarmament and military stockpiles. These were to be bought by the USA for use as fuel in civil nuclear reactors. Under the deal, the USA transferred to Russia a similar quantity of natural uranium to that used to downblend the HEU.

Also known as the HEU Agreement, the Megatons to Megawatts program was implemented through a 1994 contract between the US Enrichment Corporation and Techsnabexport (Tenex), which acted as executive agents for the US and Russian governments. After the HEU Agreement was signed, the US Enrichment Corporation was later privatized, becoming USEC Inc. Since 2000 the program has been under the US National Nuclear Security Administration.

In August 2013, the final shipment of LEU from Russian TVEL's JSC Electrochemical Plant marked the completion of Russia's commitments under the Megatons to Megawatts program. The US-Russian agreement to downblend weapons-grade uranium expired at the end of that year.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Oct 4, 2016 | By Benedict

iJet Inc., a 3D printing solutions company from Tokyo, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for ONE HUNDRED TOKYO, a 3D printed replica of the Tokyo cityscape. The complete set consists of 100 pieces (each 100 x 100 x ~3 mm), but individual neighborhoods can be ordered separately.

Tokyo, the capital and most populous city of Japan, is home of the Japanese government, the Emperor of Japan, and some of the most important cultural and business organizations in the country. The city also ranks fifth on the global list of cities most populated by skyscrapers, giving it an unmistakable skyline punctuated by silver towers and neon lights. The citys vertical characteristics are therefore an integral part of its visual identity, but is difficult to really comprehend the cityscape through images or even videos. ONE HUNDRED TOKYO, a giant 3D printed map of the city, gives people a chance to see the glorious metropolis in full 3D from a birds eye perspective.

With inner Tokyo spanning a huge 845 square miles, iJet took on a huge challenge with ONE HUNDRED TOKYO, a 1/12,500 scale model which has been separated into 100 individual sections which can either be connected together to form a complete map or kept separate to highlight an individual region. Incredibly, the buildings and landmarks of the 3D printed map are all incredibly realistic and accurately proportioned. In recent years, you might have noticed the 3D feature of online map services such as Google Mapsswitch to Google Earth, flick on 3D mode, and a citys buildings become erect as though youre looking at the real thing.

To generate these virtual 3D models of cities and their buildings, map services require data obtained through special vehicles which capture the scenery around them in full 3D. One provider of such services is ZENRIN, which has worked with Google Maps, Microsoft, and others to provide realistic urban model data. ZENRIN also provided the data for ONE HUNDRED TOKYO, which means that the giant 3D printed model uses visual data as accurate as that used by Google, Microsoft, etc.

The 3D printed map sections themselves are each 3D printed on full-color 3D Systems 3D printers. The base print is made from gypsum powder, which is then coated in special resin. Once this layer hardens, it is coated with a final layer of resin paint. Each map section measures 100 x 100 mm, with the Z axis variable depending on the specific area and its landmarks, and has a magnetic area underneath for securing to metal surfaces. Each piece is labelled on the reverse so the complete set is easy to fit together, though determined geographers may prefer to assemble the puzzle without help!

Lovers of Japan should be warned that the map wont come cheap: a single piece, which fits in the palm of your hand, will cost an $85 Kickstarter pledge, while the entire 100-piece set is available for $8,750 (early bird). The Kickstarter campaign for ONE HUNDRED TOKYO now requires just one purchase of the complete 100-piece set to meet its target, which has been set at $10,000. The campaign wraps up on October 17, and estimated delivery for all orders is November 2017.

We want people from all over to world to be able to enjoy the beauty that is Tokyo's cityscape, iJet says. Your support will allow us to complete the additional data needed to expand to a wider range of available Tokyo areas beyond the original 13 finished areas.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Sylvia Stavridi wrote at 10/6/2016 6:19:52 AM:Amazing how the 3D printing technologies are evolving in ways we never thought possible!




Oct 4, 2016 | By Alec

The Dutch city of Utrecht is well known in 3D bioprinting circles, largely thanks to the fantastic efforts of the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrechts Biofabrication Facility. Through a collaboration with Swiss company regenHU, researchers from that facility have now moved one step closer to 3D printed organs, as they have jointly developed a melt electrospinning device that increases the accuracy of 3D bioprinting and resultant the tissue structures.

This is not the first 3D bioprinting success of the UMC Utrecht Biofabrication Facility, which was founded back in 2013 and provides a unique environment for 3D tissue development. Back in April, this tissue factory run by associate professor Jos Malda completed a test with a 3D bioprinted rabbit shoulder implant. In August this year, the MC Utrecht and several local partners also launched the separate Utrecht3DMedical lab to pioneer further 3D bioprinting breakthroughs.

The facility also regularly works with other partners, both Dutch and international, through the Utrecht Life Sciences (ULS) innovation network. RegenHU is the perfect partner for developing new bio-systems, as this Swiss company specializes in tackling various hardware challenges faced by the biomanufacturing industry. They have previously also pioneered several 3D bioprinting systems.

For this particular project, the 3D bioprinting and biomanufacturing experts joined forced to develop the first melt electrospinning device that incorporates bio-inks. It is intended to be a solution for the classic 3D bioprinting challenge: creating a sustainable environment in which cell material can live and grow. Melt electrospinning technology does exactly this by producing ultrafine and durable fibers, arranged in a pre-defined mesh structure. The cells are subsequently 3D printed into the mesh, forming tissue structures over time that can be used for drug testing and even implants. The machine is currently housed in the Utrecht Biofabrication Facility.

As Malda explained, it is already producing more accurate scaffolding than previous methods. This new device allows us to build complex tissue constructs with high precision, that are mechanically more stable, Malda explained. regenHU has a legacy of experience in machine building and this partnership offers strong support for the biofabrication field.

The device will initially be used during various tests with bio-inks, in an attempt to optimize the integration of the two systems. The current goal is the generation of composite materials and the ability to determine the performance of the cells that are packed into the bio-inks. Thanks to the fiber strength and breadth, the Utrecht researchers will hopefully become able to build structures that more closely resemble the hugely complex human tissues. That would be a huge step towards 3D printed drug testing models and regenerative implants.

Posted in 3D Printing Technology

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Kenny Killkenny wrote at 10/6/2016 9:27:42 AM:Wow, that guy Jos Malda of UMC Utrecht fame, look exactly like a James Bond villain.Jakethewhistler wrote at 10/5/2016 12:41:36 PM:I work in bioprinting, but I have to admit that I have never heard of Utrecht. I always thought that Holland was only known for Amsterdam and all the stuff that goes on there.




Maya Jasanoff at the New York Review of Books:

Americans learn about slavery as an original sin that tempted the better angels of our nations egalitarian nature. But the thing about American slavery, writes Greg Grandin in his 2014 book The Empire of Necessity, about an uprising on a slave ship off the coast of Chile and the successful effort to end it, is that it never was just about slavery. It was about an idea of freedom that depended on owning and protecting personal property. As more and more settlers arrived in the English colonies, the property they owned increasingly took the human form of African slaves. Edmund Morgan captured the paradox in the title of his classic American Slavery, American Freedom: Freedom for some required the enslavement of others. When the patriots protested British taxation as a form of slavery, they werent being hypocrites. They were defending what they believed to be the essence of freedom: the right to preserve their property.

The Empire of Necessity explores the fullness of the paradox of freedom and slavery in the America of the early 1800s. Yet to understand the chokehold of slavery on American ideas of freedom, it helps to go back to the beginning. At the time of the Revolution, slavery had been a fixture of the thirteen colonies for as long as the US today has been without it. Slavery was in Englands American colonies, even its New England colonies, from the very beginning, explains Princeton historian Wendy Warren in her deeply thoughtful, elegantly written New England Bound, an exploration of captivity in seventeenth-century New England.

more here.
As New Delhi and Islamabad trade nuclear threats and deadly attacks, a brewing war over shared water resources threatens to turn up the violence.

Michael Kugelman in Foreign Policy:

Early on the morning of Sept. 29, according to Indias Defense Ministryand military, Indian forces staged a surgical strike in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that targeted seven terrorist camps and killed multiple militants. Pakistan angrily denied that the daring raid took place, though it did state that two of its soldiers were killed in clashes with Indian troops along their disputed border. New Delhis announcement of its strike plunged already tense India-Pakistan relations into deep crisis. It came 11 days after militants identified by India as members of the Pakistani terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 18 soldiers on a military base in the town of Uri, in India-administered Kashmir.

Amid all the shrill rhetoric and saber rattling emanating from India and Pakistan in recent days  including Indias home minister branding Pakistan a terrorist state and Pakistans defense minister threatening to wage nuclear war on India  one subtle threat issued by India may have sounded relatively innocuous to the casual listener.

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We're beyond obsessed with their motos, trenches, dresses, bucket bags and bangles.

So, we sat down with this talented quintet of emerging San Francisco designers to learn more about their labels, find out how they got their starts, where they like to shop, and where we can buy their stuff. Meet this season's crop of fashion mavens to watch.





Catherine Wu

Founder and designer, Cat Wu

(Courtesy of Catherine Wu)

It was lust at first sight when we met Cat Wu's signature modern moto, which debuted in spring. The jacket, made of the softest, butteriest, Italian lambskin leather, comes in a range of gorgeous colors (navy!), fits like a dream and sells for $1,150 (think about cost per wear). Moto mama Catherine Wu was born and raised in LA but has been happily settled in San Francisco for years. She got her first taste of the Bay Area while studying sociology at UC Berkeley.





7x7: Long story short, how'd you get here?

CW: I spent over 10 years as a buyer [for a global luxury home decor brand]. It was my job to conceive and obsess over the smallest details, even the ones that aren't visible at first glance. So, when I couldn't find the perfect motomany were too heavy, too bulky, or too stiff I decided to use my decade of experience to create the perfect one myself.

I went through many rounds of getting the fit just right and finding the perfect leathers. When I received the final approved sample, I was so excited, I wore it right out of the meeting. That day, I got stopped twice on the street by people asking where I had gotten it, and suddenly my brand was born.





What sets your designs apart?

I obsess over the details. I'm a little OCD about it. From obsessing over the cut of the shoulder to the custom silk lining to scouring Italian leather mills for the softest leather I could find, I wanted my collection to be the perfect piece. It's equally important how you look and how you feel. Even if you're the only one who knows that the inside of your jacket is as gorgeous as the outside, it makes all the difference.





Go-to uniform:

My moto jacket, skinny jeans, and a loose T-shirt or blouse. I have the Alexander Wang tees in every color.





Design heroes:

Some of my favorites are Isabel Marant, Phoebe Philo, and Phillip Lim. Each has a very distinct look that they've cultivated into their own, which I think is so difficult to do.





Local shopping:

One of my favorite neighborhoods is Jackson Squareit's a great place to wander whether it's for antiques or fashion. Some of my favorite brands have opened there recently, Isabel Marant and APC.





Fun fact:

By the time I was ready to launch my line, I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. I felt like I had two babies on the way. Both very exciting for different reasons.





Cat Wu is available for purchase online only. // catwu.com





(photography by Michael Bennett)





Angie Kim

Founder and Chief Creative, AYK

(Courtesy of Angie Kim)

About a year-and-a-half ago, Angie Kim got her big breakthanks to a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $30,000 for her upstart accessories brand. AYK's signature leather Moon Bucket Bag, handcrafted and hand-dyed with a unique gradient treatment, has been wooing stylish shoulders ever since. When she's not traveling, the SF-based designer creates out of her cool Bayview studio. Handbags range in price from $195$695.





7x7: Describe your trajectory to this moment right now.

AK: Born in Seoul, South Korea. Moved to San Francisco at age three, and grew up loving art and making things. Graduated with a major in industrial design, moved to Boston, and worked for IDEO for six years. Lived in India for seven months, hit a eureka moment, and moved back to SF three years ago to start AYK. I'm currently traveling back and forth between San Francisco and Hong Kong with my boyfriend so that we can both pursue our careers together.





What distinguishes AYK from other bag brands out there?

We put a unique touch on classic silhouettes with a hand-dyed technique that brings an organic quality, making each piece personal and individual.





Go-to uniform:

Black leather jacket, black T-shirt, black jeans, black heels, black liner...and nude lips.





Favorite wardrobe staple:

It's is more of a style philosophy: I love contrast and the juxtaposition of colors, textures, and styles, whether it be a feminine lace dress worn with a camo-print jacket, or ripped-up jeans and a T-shirt topped with delicate, gold jewelry pieces.





Design heroes:

Ray and Charles Eames.





Fun fact:

I like to hula hoop while watching television.





AYK is available for purchase in San Francisco at Dish and Seldom Seen (Hayes Valley), Elizabeth Charles (Pacific Heights), Alys Grace (Presidio Heights), and Maude Shop in Petaluma. // shopayk.com













Danielle Colen

Designer and founder, Waltz

(Courtesy of Danielle Colen)

She may be a native New Yorker but designer Danielle Colen's simple, high-quality pieces are tailor-made for effortlessly chic San Francisco women. Her two-year-old SF label Waltzwith pieces priced from $100 to $600is all about minimalist design with a menswear vibe and feminine fit. Signature items like the trench and pleated trousers are made to wear everywhere, year-round and forever. (Everlane, watch your back.)





7x7: What's your story?

DC: I moved to San Francisco in 2006 to study photography at CCA [California College of the Arts]. But just before moving, I had been taking night classes in New York to learn to sew, drape, and make patterns. I really loved making clothing but I didn't realize it was my true passion until after I completed my photography degree.





I was resistant to the idea of fashion design as a profession because it felt too frivolous. But I couldn't shake the desire to continue learning how to design and make clothes, so I returned to school and got my MFA in fashion design at Academy of Art. I started my business a few years out of school and haven't looked back.







Describe your design aesthetic.

Minimal, clean, and quiet with an emphasis on shape and color.





What makes your label unique?

I'm not too concerned about being different. I would rather do something that you've seen a million times beforelike a trench coatbut just do it really, really well.





Go-to uniform:

My Waltz trench, vintage Levi's, T-shirt, and APC boots or Nikes.





Local shopping:

Anaise, Anomie, Voyager, Maas & Stacks, James Rowland Shop, Press, Mill Mercantile, Reliquary, Gravel and Gold.





Fun fact:

My great-grandmother was a milliner and my grandfather once owned a textile mill in Pennsylvania.





Waltz is available for purchase in San Francisco at Anaise (Mission), Anomie (Cow Hollow), Voyager (Mission), and online. // waltzstudio.com









Meghan Kanodia

Owner and designer, Svelte Metals

(Courtesy of Meghan Kanodia)

SF-dweller Meghan Kanodia, a St. Louis native and graduate of Parsons the New School for Design, creates sleek (with an edge) rings and bracelets that fit small-fingered, dainty-wristed ladies just like her. Since its launch three years ago, Svelte Metals has been quietly building a local following of fashion peeps who can't stack on enough of the jewelry, available in various metals. Even better? Most pieces won't set you back more than $100 to $150.







7x7: How'd you get here?

MK: After stints in styling and fashion marketing I decided to venture out on my own to create a collection that would solve my personal search for chic jewelry that fits beautifully.





Signature item:

Our best-selling ring is the Lancaster . Like most Svelte pieces, it's versatile and can be worn with everything from jeans and a tee to a gown at a black-tie event.





Describe your design aesthetic.

Streamlined, approachable, sleek. I'm known for designing pieces that work well together so that the Svelte girl can keep it simple with a couple pieces, or stack a whole bunch for a bolder look.





What makes your pieces distinct from the rest?

Svelte Metals are made using the same processes and care as fine jewelry. Each piece is made in the USA by a skilled artisan alongside some of the most coveted jewelry collections in the country.





Go-to uniform:

The chilly (and unpredictable) SF weather tends to dictate my wardrobe, so I pretty much live in a leather jacket or long trench and ankle booties.





Fun fact:

My ring size is just under a size 4, and I used to shop in the children's department for jewelry before I started Svelte.





Select pieces of Svelte Metals are available for purchase in SF at Seldom Seen and Amour Vert (Hayes Valley), with the full collection available online. // sveltemetals.com







Previous Next Previous Next Previous Next The Patton Necklace Previous Next The Lancaster Ring Previous Next









Lily Harris

Owner and designer, Lily Stan Studio

(Courtesy of Lily Harris)

Lily Harris' two-year-old women's collection is all about staple pieces for creative womenthink "tomboy with a touch of femininity and humor." Every garment is handmade to order in San Francisco, and we think that's pretty damn cool. (Similarly cool in our book: nothing is priced over $295.) A multitasking lady, Lily also works full-time as a childrenswear designer at Old Navy.





7x7: Tell us about your trajectory.

LS: I went to design school at RISD [Rhode Island School of Design], moved to New York to design for Kate Spade, moved home to Minneapolis to design childrenswear for Target, then moved to San Francisco with my now fiance and found myself freelancing for Levi's short-term. Then, I was hired full-time at Old Navy doing childrenswear.





When I started working at Target, I really missed the tangible, creative work of sewing, so I started sewing myself. Eventually, I had enough response from people that I decided to sell the clothes, which is when I began Lily Stan Studio. I make clothing that I wish I had in my closet.







How does your own style inform your work?

My designs are not seasonal, so I only release newness when I feel like I need it in my own closet. Also, my aesthetic is a mix of tomboy and feminine with a minimalist direction, all layered together. I really am a one-woman show, so I feel like my personality shows through in my collections.





Favorite wardrobe staple:

Right now, it is my Tencel V-neck midi dress with a mock-neck top underneath.





Go-to uniform:

Black culottes and a Lily Stan Studio top if I'm outside. Bike shorts and a knit T-shirt or a vintage graphic tee if I'm inside.





Local shopping:

Voyager Shop always has unique pieces. Oak + Fort is great for decently priced minimal silhouettes. Legion carries a nice selection and has shows, which I appreciate. I love to go dream in Barney's sometimes, too.





Fun fact:

I own two Cornish Rex kittens, and I spend most of my time playing with them.





Lily Stan's collections are available for purchase online only. // lilystanstudio.com




San Francisco weather may be fickle, but the climate remains so consistent for restaurant openings, our stomachs can hardly keep up. Here's where we'll be wearing our stretchy pants this month.

The new Plaj Restaurant interior (Courtesy of Plaj)

Plaj

Lover's of Plaj's perfect meatballs will be queuing up to dig in at the recently reopened Plajthe Scandinavian-meets-Californian restaurant from Swedish-born chef Roberth Sundell and his wife, Andrea, is fresh from a lovely makeover. The updated interior is transportive, with simply elegant floral wallpaper and warm touches like lambswool throws on the chairs. The cuisine remains as innovative and tasty as ever, making this Opera Plaza gem very much worth a revisit. In the mood for something more casual? Have a glass of wine and a dessert at Plaj's sexy bar. // 333 Fulton St. (Hayes Valley), plajrestaurant.com





The moody, romantic interior at The Rambler. (Kelly Puleio)

The Rambler

When the Gettys and Trainas host a restaurant's opening, you know it must be a big deal. Opening this month inside the Hotel Zeppelin, the 100-seat spacethe latest venture from Hat Trick Hospitality Group (Aventine, The Brixton, Redford)has exposed brick, factory-style windows, and encaustic tiles courtesy of interior designer Lori Yeomans, who aimed for a fresh Californian vibe to match the restaurant's Italian-inflected Cal cuisine. Executive chef Robert Leva (formerly of Salt House and Yountville's Redd) will be turning out handmade pastas including fromage blanc gnocci, pizzas, and mains such as white sea bass with beans and basil. Classic and seasonally inspired cocktails will be poured at The Rambler's two bars. // 545 Post St. (Union Square), ramblersf.com





A few of the mezcals offered at Mezcalito. (Patricia Chang)

Mezcalito

For a taste of Oaxaca by way of Russian Hill, Mezcalito is the new go-to for SF connoisseurs of the smoky Mexican spirit mezcalmore than 53 varietals are served here by the glass. Mezcalito is also the only restaurant in town offering Mexican craft beers, making this a hot spot come happy hour (nightly from 5 to 6:30pm). Designed by Architecture & Light, the space is offhandedly warm, with natural wood accents and flatscreen TVs. Chef Matt D'Ambrosi's Oaxacan-inspired dishes come with American influences and the occasional surprise twistthink octopus tostada with peanut salsa, or a salad topped with salsa verde and granola. But the gouda burger is already a hit, and fish, shrimp, and pork belly tacos do the job of soaking up the spirits. Prepare for a lengthy wait, and look out for weekend brunch and patio seating coming soon. // 2323 Polk St. (Russian Hill), mezcalitosf.com









The Bird

Restaurateur Adriano Paganinithe man behind Belga, Beretta, Delarosa, Super Duper Burgers, and moremay have another hit on his hands. His new baby, The Bird, seems poised to draw flocks of foodies with locally raised, free-range fried and grilled chicken sandwiches. Affordable, wholesome, indulgent, delicious. The Bird will open soon for lunch and dinner. // 115 New Montgomery St. (SoMa), thebirdsf.com







Old Devil Moon



Beer lovers are already in heaven at Bernal Heights' Old Devil Moon, where 19 Perlick beer faucets, a beer engine for a cask ale, and 20 rotating taps spout draft brews from Almanac Beer Company, Bare Bottle Brewing Company, Bruery Terreux, Ferment Drink Repeat, and many more. More spirited drinkers will also find local liquors, whiskey, and rum. For those wanting food, consulting chef Charlie Kleinmen keeps the po'boys coming. // 3472 Mission St (Mission), olddevilmoonsf.com









The modern minimalist interior at the Excelsior's new Korean restaurant, Hwaro. (Courtesy of Hwaro)

Hwaro

Meanwhile in the Excelsior, Hwaroa small, family-run Korean restaurant that opened quietly this past Augustis starting to catch the attention of local gourmands in search of authentic flavors. Chef Ryan H. Lee has sharpened his skills in various Korean and Japanese restaurants around SF, and is now serving lunch and dinner menus of traditional Korean fare and contemporary dishes, including fried chicken, rice cake skewers, Korean barbecue, and plenty of kimchi. // 4516 Mission St. (Excelsior), hwarosf.com





[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fbphoto%2FM6aAO9Ujodmp3trNGyjceg%2Fo.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com&s=137&h=74547cde2323cae813ba58dffaa5707790f85656a30bf9b4aed33cdb8bfe1602&size=980x&c=1062151221 pin_description="" caption="Cherimoya 2's vermicelli noodles with garlic shrimp." image-library="0" expand="1" photo_credit="(via Yelp)"] Cherimoya 2's vermicelli noodles with garlic shrimp. (via Yelp)

Cherimoya 2

If you're craving a quick and casual Vietnamese noodle dish or delicious banh mi, head to the new outpost of Burlingame's Cherimoya, in the Outer Sunset. Because who wouldn't want a bowl of lemongrass pork on a foggy fall day. // 2110 Irving St. (Outer Sunset), 415.650.3009
The San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques Show, now in its 35th year, is the oldest and most prestigious show of its genre on the West Coast.





Presenting the finest international art and antiques dealers showing a breadth of works from across the globe from antiquity to today, it is a must-see destination for collectors and enthusiasts of art, antiques and design. Genres represented include furniture, modern, contemporary and fine art, decorative objects, works on paper, jewelry, ceramics, Asian and ethnographic art, precious metals and rugs.





Gregori Maiofis, Taste of the Russian Ballet, 2008 (Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery)

Programming includes the renowned lecture series, loan exhibit, cocktail hour panels and book signings. The 2016 theme, Animalia: Animal Imagery in Art and Antiques, explores our fascination with the beauty and mystery of the animal kingdom, as well as its symbolism throughout the ages. The theme is represented in our annual Loan Exhibit, as well as in the Grand Entry Hall Display, designed by show chair Suzanne Tucker and architect Andrew Skurman and featuring designer vignettes which will showcase the work of top four designers in their field: Ann Getty, Jonathan Rachman, Antonio Martins and Catherine Kwong. The Lecture Series features renowned speakers talking about the history, design and importance of art, architecture, design and antiques in our culture.





Honorary chair Aerin Lauder will greet guests at the opening night preview gala, which has been called "the highlight of the San Francisco social season," known for its live music, caviar and Champagne bars, sumptuous buffets and the first glimpse of the best art and antiques from around the world, all available for purchase.





Victorian Enamel, Diamond and Natural Pearl Snake Bracelet. (Courtesy of Lang Antique and Estate Jewelry)





100 percent of net proceeds support the non-profit Enterprise for High School Students to help primarily disadvantaged high school students pursue life after school with passion and purpose. Enterprise offers students everything they need to get and keep their first job, including intensive workshops, pragmatic skills training and career exploration, a network of advisors and peers, a broad database of paid internships, and college and career counseling. For tickets and information visit sffas.org







// October 27-30, Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason (Marina), sffas.org
Last flu season the vaccination rate for all Americans was 45.6 percent, a drop of 1.5 percent, but the largest decreases were seen among adults 50 and older. CDC officials reported a 3.4 percent drop among those ages 50 to 64 and a 3.3 percent dip among those 65 and older.

"Flu is serious. Flu is unpredictable," said CDC director Thomas Frieden, M.D., at a recent press briefing in Washington, D.C. "Flu often does not get enough respect."

Although the flu can strike people of all ages, those 65 and older are disproportionally affected, according to infectious disease expert William Schaffner, M.D., of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. By getting vaccinated, older adults not only reduce the chance they will get the flu but may also reduce the diseases severity and complications if they catch it, Schaffner said.

There are two new vaccine options available this season, including one that protects against four strains of the flu and another aimed at those 65-plus that includes an adjuvant  an ingredient to increase the shots effectiveness by boosting the bodys immune response.

On a positive note, the CDC reported that more health care workers are getting vaccinated (79 percent last season, compared with 77 percent in the 201415 season), including more staff at long-term care facilities, whose flu shot rate went up from 64 to 69 percent. The vaccination rate among doctors hit an all-time high at nearly 96 percent.

Because the vaccine needs two weeks to take effect, officials urged Americans to get their shot as soon as possible. They also stressed the importance for those 65-plus to get a pneumonia vaccine, because pneumonia is often a deadly complication of the flu.
While the media report high levels of voter dissatisfaction with the presidential choices and predict low voter turnout, voters 50+ know from history that every vote counts and that voting is our opportunity to have a voice in deciding what direction America will take.

So, even if you are one of those who doesnt particularly like the presidential choice, or who believes your vote doesnt matter, I would remind you that there are still plenty of good reasons to vote.

In addition to the presidency, every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is on the line this time, along with 34 U.S. Senate seats. Forty-two out of 50 state legislatures are holding elections, and 12 governors seats are up for grabs.

Your one vote in a sea of 126 million might feel trivial, but weve seen elections in which a few more of us showing up could have changed history.

John F. Kennedy won the 1960 presidential election by one vote per election district in 12 states. U.S. Senator Al Franken won his seat by 312 votes after an eight-month recount and court challenges. And, of course, George W. Bush versus Al Gore in 2000 was so close it had to be decided by the Supreme Court.

Your vote takes on even more weight in state legislative contests. This past November, two candidates for the Mississippi state legislature tied at 4,589 votes apiece. State law required them to draw straws to decide the winner. At stake was a crucial supermajority required to pass hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue. The loser in that election would have given a lot for a single additional vote.
Business roundup: Dunn Bros. to open in November, E Glass's big pitch

In business news, an Aberdeen entrepreneur is making a nationwide pitch, car wash coverts to Tunnel of Terror, Dunn Brothers to open in November.
Global Advanced HVAC Control Industry 2016 Market Research Report

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Global Advanced HVAC Control Market report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Advanced HVAC Control industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.

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6 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control by Regions, Types and Applications

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8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control

9 Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control

10 Industry Chain Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control

11 Development Trend of Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control

12 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control

13 Conclusion of the Global Advanced HVAC Control Industry 2016 Market Research Report

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Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.
Lekki Lagos, February 1st 2019. Rilla Web Hosting, one of the top players in domain registration and web hosting has announces its full ...
Top 100 Firm Sikich has struck a deal to acquire SCS, a technology firm based near Los Angeles in Glendale, Calif.

SCS offers ERP solutions across industries and specializes in Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions. The company, founded in 1979, is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with annual revenues of more than $9 million. In addition to its headquarters in Glendale, SCS has satellite offices in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The deal is set to close Nov. 1.

This West Coast expansion is part of a larger strategy of growth for Sikich. Earlier this year, the company bought Akron, Ohio-based BCG & Co., a firm specializing in audit and assurance, tax, technology and wealth management services. Last year saw the acquisition of Altico Advisors, a tech firm located near Boston.

The addition of SCS establishes a coast-to-coast presence for Sikich and will better position us to bring a broader suite of services to our West Coast clients, said Jim Drumm, partner-in-charge of Sikichs technology practice, in a statement. With extensive experience helping companies improve business processes through ERP solutions, SCS will bring impressive talent to our team, expand our NAV capabilities and strengthen our robust technology practice.

Joining forces with Sikich greatly enhances our ability to serve our clients and creates new opportunities for our staff, said Kolbeinn Einarsson, CEO of SCS, in a statement. Together we will be one of the largest teams of Microsoft Dynamics NAV professionals in the country. We are excited to bring an expanded portfolio of services to our clients, along with an amazing team of experts in all aspects of Microsoft's business solutions. The acquisition gives us the ability to accelerate our growth in the West and continue to be a market leader.

Sikich made it to No. 7 on Accounting Todays 2016 VAR 100 list, while SCS was ranked No. 30.
(Bloomberg) Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of gaming the tax system to avoid paying federal income taxes while the Republican nominee said the blame lies with politicians who created a complex Tax Code at the bidding of special interests.

"Trump was taking from America with both hands and leaving the rest of us with the bill," Clinton said Monday at a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio. "Hes taken corporate excess and made a business model out of it.

At an event later in Pueblo, Colo., Trump said he's brilliantly used system for his own benefit, but added that the unfairness of the tax laws is unbelievable.

"I have a fiduciary responsibility to pay no more tax than is legally required," Trump told his audience. "This is not the fault of the IRS but the political class that is owned outright by the special interests and lobbyists."

Both candidates' comments were their first since the New York Times reported late Saturday that Trump recorded a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, potentially allowing him to take large deductions for more than a decade.

Clinton used the report to hit Trump on one of his central arguments  that he is best suited to be president because of his business record  in a broader speech outlining her proposals aimed at raising corporate accountability and rooting out corporate malfeasance. "What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?" she said.

While it's impossible to tell from the partial state tax records that the New York Times published, tax experts told the newspaper that the $916 million loss probably resulted from more than one year's worth of activity.

Trump, unlike presidential candidates of both parties in recent times, has refused to release his tax returns. Clinton has posted nine years of tax returns for her and husband Bill Clinton online. And the campaign has said that together, the Clintons have released returns going back to 1977.

Clinton endorsed passage of a federal law requiring major-party nominees to release their tax returns. In May, Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, filed a bill he called the Presidential Tax Transparency Act that would require each major-party nominee to release his or her three most recent tax returns.

Trump on Monday gave no indication he would release his returns. He again argued that his understanding of tax laws makes him best suited to make changes. Neither candidate has made specific proposals to change the tax law to prevent the sort of deductions Trump legally used.
Believe that ADHD is real. I wish that our world understood that a lack of chemicals in the brain is not that different from having chemical deficiencies in other parts of the body, like an insulin shortage leading to diabetes.

-D.S., Arkansas

Stop being so judgmental about medications being used for ADHD treatment. They do not realize how heart-wrenching it was for my husband and me to decide to take this route for our son. Its not like we woke up one day and said, Hey, we have nothing better to do than place our son on drugs. Lets do it! There were thousands of tears shed first  by my husband, me, and my son.

-Michelle, Ohio

Can the remarks about needing to focus on tasks and not responding quickly enough to phone calls and e-mails. At 52, Im a little tired of it.

-Andrea, New York

[Free Handout: Debunking Annoying ADHD Myths]

Stop being so critical of me. I struggle with constant lack of understanding from my spouse. I also struggle at work. Many times I feel that, due to my inability to get to the point, I am ignored and misunderstood.

-George, Louisiana

Understand that its not the end of the world if my child wants to stand up when he works or takes his shoes off when he sits. Hey, maybe its not about them.

-Jeanette, Virginia

Shut up, instead of saying, I had an ADD moment. Comments like that depreciate the challenges that ADHD brings to our lives every day.

-Erin, Florida

Be more forgiving. We all have strengths and weaknesses.

-Diana, Maine

[Answers to the ADHD Questions You Didnt Know You Had]

Refrain from saying that my ADHD will go away and that Ill be fine when Im older.

-An ADDitude Reader

Realize that dealing with a physical disability would be easier than dealing with a disability that no one can see.

-Kerry, Alabama

Quit telling me theres no such thing as ADHD, that its all a drug company conspiracy, and that I dont need meds.

-Cliff, Colorado

Be quiet more. I think having ADHD is a lot like being left-handed. The world isnt designed for you, but that doesnt mean you cant learn to navigate it.

-Brendan, Massachusetts

[What NOT to Say to the Parent of a Child with ADHD]

Understand that I dont care what they think. In the long run, what matters is what we think about ourselves!

-An ADDitude Reader
Radio City 91.1FM, the countrys leading radio network is celebrating Indias most awaited, traditional festival of song and dance, Navratri with special events organized across the country.

Gujarat is all geared up to enjoy the festive mood with the most popular Garba Premier League 2016. As a part of Radio Citys Garba Premier League, Garba competitions are being organized from 1st October  10th October amongst various housing societies in Ahmedabad, Baroda andSurat. Radio City will be visiting 50 societies per city for the league, where 5 winners will be shortlisted from each city. The competition will end with a grand finale on the 11th October 2016 where the winners will be felicitated with mega prizes.

In Bangalore, Radio City Studio Ratha is celebrating Navratri in full zeal with all the Bangaloreans and their beloved celebrities. In this unique on-ground event a stunning canter ornamented like a real life Ratha, which will act as a mobile studio, will visit a different location every morning with RJs going live from there. This will give Radio City listeners a chance to meet their favorite RJ and a chance to go live. Celebrities like Duniya Vijay and Priyamani will also join these celebrations atStudio Ratha. This activity is being held from 3rd October till 8th October 2016.

Radio Mantras popular Dandiya Raas is all set to rock the celebrations in Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. Agra will twirl to the tunes of Dandiya Raas this year on 5th October followed byVaranasi on 7th October. Dandiya Raas will spread its fun and enthusiasm in Gorakhpur andKarnal on 8th and 10th October respectively.

To add zest to the auspicious festival of Navratri, Planetradiocity.com has launched their first web radio station in Gujarati, Radio City Gujrati, which will play Gujarati music across all genres including devotional, folk, garba, and film music. A special musical treat for all garba lovers who want to enjoy the festivities at home, Radio City Gujarati will play best of Garba and Dandiya songs on all 9 days of Navratri from 5pm onwards.

Staying in rhythm with its mantra Rag Rag Mein Daude City, Radio City captures the essence of City ke kone kone se with Garba Premier League.
Life OKs flagship series Savdhaan India has received tremendous love and respect from the viewers in the last 4 years. In this journey, it has not only alerted citizens against crime and but has also given them the strength and motivation to face crime. In addition to showcasing real life incidents, the show has also advanced to acknowledging brave hearts who chose to fight against crime through Samman Awards.

Savdhaan India is all set to start its new season with a hard-hitting avatar. The new seasons philosophy - darr kar nahi, datt kar urges the citizens to break their prevailing attitude of letting things be, of letting the powerful get away with crime, of not speaking up out of fear and face crime head on. As a brand that has always believed in walking the talk, Savdhaan India took the campaign on ground across the country and interacted with the citizens of Delhi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad

The campaign began at the capital city Delhi where the darr kar nahi, datt kar anthem along with the pledge movement was unveiled for the very first time. In the next leg of the campaign, the anchors visited notorious crime locations and interacted with the citizens there. Sarkhej Gandhinagar Highway in Ahmedabad and Patrakarpuram Chauraha in Lucknow were visited as hit and run cases and eve-teasing incidents are very prevalent in these locations respectively.

Savdhaan India has always acknowledged the youth to be change agents. Hence, following the visit to the crime locations, the team of Savdhaan India visited schools and colleges. The hosts invited the students to become partners in this attitudinal revolution. The students using a palm scanner digitally pledged their support. The hosts discussed youth related issues like eve teasing, ragging, bullying and cybercrime. At HK College in Ahmedabad many students shared harrowing experiences of being bullied and eve-teased and how they fought it. While in CMS, Gomtinagar - the students and the hosts had a very relevant discussion on how to protect oneself on social media.

A picture lasts forever and with that thought - the team of Savdhaan India created a huge pledge wall in these 3 cities. All those who were a part of this initiative clicked a picture of themselves against the wall to remind themselves of the pledge they took. More than 1000 pictures were collected. Lastly, the hosts felicitated the bravehearts who narrated their own stories of facing crime fearlessly thereby taking the of initiative darr kar nahi, datt kar to life.
SBI Life Insurance, one of the most trusted private life insurers, this Durgotsav, encourages the idea of planning and celebrating as an important aspect of life, through its Planobonto Campaign. SBI Life has chalked out an integrated plan for carrying out various branding activities across Kolkata during the Durga Puja festival. The overall objective of the campaign is to create buzz around the word Planobonto, which means celebrate life with planning. The term Planobonto has been derived from a beautiful Bengali word Pranobonto, which means celebrating life to its fullest. SBI Life tweaked it to Planobonto, the new word gives an interesting tweak and further emphasize on the importance of planning, security and protection.

Wishing everyone on Durgotsav, Mr. Arijit Basu, MD & CEO, SBI Life Insurance, said, Celebrate Life is the essence that we would like to communicate through our communication. This festive season, we took up the route of planning and celebration where we want to encourage the concept of well-planned life, through the Planobonto campaign.

Echoing the sentiment, Mr. Ravindra Sharma, Head- Brand and Corporate Communication, SBI Life Insurance, said, The insight for this campaign came from the thought that how we plan everyday in small ways for the big festive celebrations, similarly, in life too, we should plan for our future. The overall objective is to create buzz around the word Planobonto. Enjoy the festivals in the Pranobonto way and live life in the Planobonto way!
A couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary were surprised with VIP treatment as they become milestone passengers on a new route launched earlier this year.

Nicola Saunders from Taunton received a welcome surprise upon arriving at the departure gate for her WOW air flight from Bristol to Reykjavik yesterday, receiving a surprise congratulations for becoming the ten thousandth passenger to check-in to the airport with the Icelandic low cost airline.



As she arrived at Gate 26, Nicola was met by her WOW air flights Captain Siggeir dor Siggeirsson, members of the cabin crew and Bristol Airports Head of Aviation Peter Downes who surprised her with a bottle of champagne to enjoy on arrival at her destination and a free trip away for two with WOW air to any of their North American destinations that connect from their Icelandic hub.



As an extra treat, Nicola and her husband Les, were also offered free food and drinks on their flight once they boarded.



Delighted, Nicola and Les said: "It's very surreal but perfect timing as it's our first wedding anniversary! We feel completely overwhelmed!"



Svana Fririksdottir, Head of Communications at WOW air commented: Though weve only been operating from Bristol since May, weve been thrilled to fly so many passengers to our home in Iceland and, for many, on to our destinations in the US and Canada. We wish Nicola and Les a wonderful first anniversary celebration in Iceland and look forward to having them on board for their next trip on us!



Peter Downes, Head of Aviation, Bristol Airport added: This is an exciting day for Bristol Airport, celebrating 10,000 passengers departing from the region to Iceland with onward connections to North America. After a very successful first summer, WOW air continue to go from strength to strength at Bristol.



Since the first flight departed in May, the service has been a revelation in terms of opening up the South West region and its fabulous tourist attractions to more overseas visitors than ever before. It has also given customers living in the region the opportunity to take advantage of incredibly low fares to North American destinations which they might previously have considered unaffordable. Passenger numbers on the service have been excellent and we are looking forward to the next chapter of our partnership with WOW air when onward connections from Iceland to New York commence next month.



WOW air fly from Bristol three times a week with onward connections to North American cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, Boston and Washington DC. From November, passengers will be able to connect on to New York City.
ASKER, Norway, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The advanced RAS (re-circulating aquaculture system) facility is expected to commence construction in 2017 and will incorporate Aqua Maof's proprietary, world leading, RAS technology. Project investment is estimated at $60M.

Grieg NL, one of the world's leading fish farming companies specializing in Atlantic salmon has selected AMG Norway, a subsidiary of the Aqua Maof Group, to build its state-of-the-art hatchery and nursery facility in Marystown, Newfoundland.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412738 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412739 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412740 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412741 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412742 )



The facility, which will deploy Aqua Maof's cutting edge RAS technology, will produce 7 million smolt ranging up to 1500 grams. Grieg NL will stock 11 sea-cage sites for the subsequent grow out and harvest of 33,000 annual tons of Atlantic salmon. The overall project investment is estimated at $200M.

Aqua Maof's proprietary technology has proven to be the most efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly articulation of RAS. The new facility in Newfoundland will be the largest and most advanced in the world for salmon. This construction will join other advanced RAS facilities around the world that the company has built and deployed using the company's technology platform. All facilities are demonstrating impressive production results. In addition to the Newfoundland facility, Aqua Maof is in the advanced planning process for 7 more facilities in locations across the globe. About 70% of the planned future facilities will be dedicated to salmon, leveraging Aqua Maof's proprietary technology and efficient cost of production.

Construction of the hatchery will be completed in 2017 with construction of the grow-out sites set to begin in 2017 as well. The companies expect the facility's annual production to reach 33,000 tons by 2023. This will more than double Newfoundland and Labrador's current production of Atlantic salmon.

David Hazut, CEO of Aqua Maof: "We are happy and honored to be chosen by Grieg NL to build the world's most advanced RAS facility that leverages both our company's technology and aquaculture experience. Indeed, our advanced solution for indoor fish production is sustainable, environmentally responsible (green) and cost efficient. This facility will be another confirmation that our technology is the best solution to the aquaculture industry's challenges and the growing demand for seafood in all markets."

Knut Skeidsvoll, General Manager of Grieg NL: "We are happy to collaborate with AMG Norway and Aqua Maof to build the world's most advanced RAS facility. Aqua Maof's technology will protect our project's values of sustainability, maintain the highest environmental standards and also achieve the most efficient cost of production, thus contributing to the project's overall success. We see great potential for salmon farming in Newfoundland and Labrador and plan to leverage Aqua Maof's experience and technology to deliver the best production results and become a leading producer of fresh salmon products."

About Grieg NL:

Grieg NL is part of the Grieg Group of Companies, headquartered in Bergen, Norway. With over 2000 employees in 15 countries, its main activities, in addition to salmon farming, are deep sea shipping, logistics and advisory services. Grieg has been involved in salmon farming for 23 years in Norway, Shetland and British Columbia, Canada.

For more information please visit: http://www.griegseafood.no/

About the Aqua Maof Group:

The Aqua Maof Group is a world leader in indoor aquaculture technology. With over 30 years of experience, Aqua Maof's team of technology and aquaculture experts have been providing research and development, as well as comprehensive production, systems and operations solutions for aqua farming in over 50 locations around the world. Aqua Maof's unique indoor fish production facilities offer the world's most advanced, sustainable and environmental friendly solutions to today's industry's needs and goals. The company has in operation several facilities and is currently in advanced planning to build 7 additional facilities in locations around the world.

One of these advanced facilities will facilitate Blue fin tuna broodstock spawning for an associate company's fingerling production.

For more information please visit: http://www.aquamaof.com

Contact:

Yoav Dagan, VP

yoavd@aquamaof.com
First Bankcard, a division of First National Bank of Omaha and a leading issuer of credit cards, has announced the release of three new credit card benefits designed to support the business needs of todays small business and middle market business customers. The new benefits, which include Cell Phone Protection, MasterCard Easy Savings and MasterCard Business Lounge Powered by Regus, were introduced to more than 200 of First Bankcards co-brand and financial institution business card partners on October 1.

Were excited to introduce these three new card benefits to the small business and middle market business audience, said Mark Chronister, Senior Vice President, Consumer Product Group. We continually strive to help business owners succeed. First Bankcard is committed to proactively researching and identifying new value-add credit card features and benefits our business customers desire. Our culture enables us to create customized programs and innovative products our card partners want for their customers.

The new Cell Phone Protection benefit is now available to over 250,000 of First Bankcards Visa and MasterCard Small Business, Small Business Secure and VOX business card accounts. The Cell Phone Protection benefit covers theft and damage to a cell phone that renders the cell phone unusable and non-functioning (excluding cosmetic damage). The new benefit is automatically provided by First Bankcard, at no additional cost, when business customers pay their monthly cell phone bill with their eligible business credit card.

MasterCard Easy Savings is an automatic rebate program that enables participating merchants to provide rebates to eligible First Bankcard business cardholders registered in the program. Small Business, Small Business Secured and VOX MasterCard cardholders are now automatically enrolled by First Bankcard in the Easy Savings Program.

Regus Business Lounges are professionally equipped workspaces, with locations available in cities around the world, that offer Internet access, administrative support and refreshments for business travelers. For VOX MasterCard cardholders, First Bankcard will pay the annual fee for the Business Lounge Program. Cardholders will also receive discounted rates for individual lounge visits.

About First Bankcard

First Bankcard, a division of First National Bank of Omaha, is a leader in the credit card partnership arena, serving approximately 400 financial institutions, co-brand and affinity partners nationwide. For 60 years, First Bankcard has offered quality products and superior service to help its customers achieve their goals. Visit www.firstbankcard.com for more information.

About First National Bank of Omaha

First National Bank of Omaha is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. First National of Nebraska is the largest privately owned banking company in the United States. First National and its affiliates have more than $21 billion in assets and 5,000 employee associates. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005414/en/

First Bankcard

Kevin Langin, 402-602-3541

klangin@fnni.com
How did you become a writer?

Ive become a writer many times. Decided at 13 I had to write. Wrote poetry for years, always feeling bad that I wasnt writing more. Became serious at around age 30an emotional change brought on, I think, by motherhood. Published one poem, then nothing for years. Published a book of poems in my late thirties. Started writing fiction at 34 or 35, published stories for the first time in my forties. Stories in magazines, then books of stories, then a novel (age 50), then more novels. I had one big break: The New Yorker took several stories, one after another. Other than that, slow shifts in direction, small failures and successes.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

I was turned into a writer first, as a child and young woman, by reading a lot of poetry, studying Latin and some Greek, and reading a great deal of Henry James. Dubliners. Jane Austens Emma. Around the time I started writing fiction, books by Grace Paley, Tillie Olsen, William Maxwell, Peter Taylor, and, more recently, Edward P. Jones affected my writing of short stories. As for novelsE.M. Forster, Lore Segal, Paule Marshall. But I was also made a writer by friends: the writing friends who have read my manuscripts over the decades, talked writing, talked books, showed me their work, rivaled my anxieties with theirs. THE KITE AND THE STRING is dedicated to my novelist friend Sandi Kahn Shelton, who writes as Maddie Dawson. Weve been yanking each other along for almost forty years, since we met and said we were writers (on slim evidence back then), then slowly began to do it for real.

When and where do you write?

Im the worlds only afternoon writer (and of course its often hard to free afternoons). I rarely have a good idea before lunch, and close down around suppertime. I usually write in my house. I have a room for writing but its crowded with rational thoughts: Ive written so much nonfiction, emails, letters to students (my job in the Bennington low-residency MFA program requires writing many letters to students) that its hard to write fiction there. To think incoherent, messy, fictional thoughts, I retreat to a different room, with soft furniture.

What are you working on now?

Im finishing a novel about friendship in a difficult world. Three women protested the war in Vietnam. One became a violent revolutionary. One wrote a novel about the revolutionary. The third is the main character. The book is also about her friendship later in lifethat is, nowwith a woman who runs a social services program. Also her marriage, to a man whose conscience is even more vigorous than hers, and all the trouble that causes. Also about the novel within the novel, which causes even more trouble.

Have you ever suffered from writers block?

Not enough writers block. Being stuck is goodit means that what needs to be written is intense, maybe painful. Or its complicated and requires careful consecutive thought. Its often possible to get unstuck by asking oneself simple, sensible questions (like, What do I already know about this story? or about the next scene?). But maybe Id write better books if I let myself remain stuck longer.

What is your advice to new writers?

KITE is all advice, so its hard to choose. Also, not everybody needs the same advice. My guess is that the five things I say to students most frequently are: 1. Never mind whether its good. Write it whether its good or not. 2. Protect your writing time. 3. Plot is whatever provides forward momentum, and, yes, you can make up a plot. 4. If you say whats happening, the reader will know how it feels, so you dont have to say. 5. Write when youre sleepy and stupid, so your strongest feelings get into the work.

Alice Mattisons new book is THE KITE AND THE STRING: HOW TO WRITE WITH SPONTANEITY AND CONTROLAND LIVE TO TELL THE TALE. She is also the author of six novels, four collections of stories, and a book of poems. She teaches fiction in the low-residency MFA program at Bennington College.
AMC consolidates with MAC

The secretary of the Air Force announced recently that Headquarters Air Mobility Command will consolidate with Headquarters Military Airlift Command, effective Oct. 1, 2016.



With this, AMC will add 51 years to its history, tracing its lineage back to May 29, 1941, and the Air Corps Ferry Command.



This consolidation makes AMC the oldest major command in the Air Force, said Gen. Carlton D. Everhart, the AMC commander. For more than 75 years, Mobility Airmen have been critical to growing global reach and operational agility for the joint warfighter. As we inherit the rich history of MAC, we will continue to build upon their legacy through our dedication to rapid global mobility.



The Air Force established the AMC in 1992 as part of a post-Cold War reorganization that inactivated three major commands; MAC, Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command. These three major commands were replaced with two new major commands, AMC and Air Combat Command.



Through this change, AMC received the airlift and aeromedical evacuation mission from MAC along with the air refueling mission from SAC.



During that same year, U.S. Strategic Command was established as a unified command of the Defense Department. As a result, the Air Force authorized the use of the SAC emblem while AMC used the MAC emblem and ACC used the TAC emblem. Although this decision helped preserve the emblems of the Air Forces inactivated commands, there was no lineage connecting the new organizations and the old ones with their predecessors.



This created confusion as an emblem should belong to one organization only, said Ellery Wallwork, the AMC command historian. In 1992, the Air Force reorganized to acknowledge the diminishing traditional division between strategic and tactical missions. This inappropriate use of another organizations emblem continued to cause confusion over the separation of AMC and MAC ever since.



In 2009, the Air Force redesignated and reactivated the inactivated SAC as Air Force Global Strike Command.



In an effort to eliminate the confusion and validate the use of past command emblems, the Air Force Historical Research Agency advocated for the AMC consolidation with MAC along with the ACC consolidation with TAC, said Wallwork.



Now that MAC and AMC share one genealogical line, the history of the two organizations will remain a part of the Air Forces active history.



AMC now shares in the honors and campaign streamers earned by MAC, said Wallwork. All of this does not lessen the creation of AMC in 1992 which still highlights the mission merger of MACs airlift and aeromedical evacuation with SACs air refueling force creating the strong mobility team that has been so successful in meeting todays global peacetime, contingency and humanitarian missions.
Get AfricaFocus Bulletin by e-mail! Format for print or mobile West Africa/Europe: Toxic Fuels for African Markets AfricaFocus Bulletin

October 4, 2016 (161004)

(Reposted from sources cited below) Editor's Note European commodity trading companies in Switzerland, using petroleum 'blending' plants in the Netherlands and Belgium, are exporting toxic fuels to Africa in large quantity. "Their business model," according to a new report from the Swiss organization Public Eye, "relies on an illegitimate strategy of deliberately lowering the quality of fuels in order to increase their profits. Using a common industry practice called blending, trading companies mix cheap but toxic intermediate petroleum products to make what the industry calls 'African Quality' fuels." The findings come from a three-year study by Public Eye (formerly the Berne Declaration), in which researchers collected and analyzed samples of fuel from petrol stations in eight countries: Angola, Benin, the Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Zambia. The problem is particularly intense in West Africa, which imports half its refined petroleum products despite being a significant producer of crude oil. The full 164-page investigative report is available on the Public Eye website (https://www.publiceye.ch/en/campaigns/dirtydiesel/), with extensive background material, audiovisual resources, and a petition targeting the key Swiss companies involved, linked to campaigns in the West African countries affected. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts, including the executive summary. The fuels exported from the "ARA Hub" of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, which supplies approximately half of fuel exports to West Africa, include diesel with sulphur content "at least 100 times the European standard." The Public Eye campaign in Switzerland, called "Return to Sender," calls for African governments to set stringent fuel quality standards, for Swiss trading companies to stop abusing the current weak standards, and for European governments to prohibit the export of any health-damaging fuels that would not be allowed under their own domestic standards. See, in particular, the short video and other resources at

https://www.dirtydiesel.ch/en/campaign/?section=intro This expose of trade in "African Quality" fuels is one of the most dramatic illustrations of structural environmental racism at the international level. It is also a clear illustration of why combating such abuses effectively requires an international response. For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on environmental issues, visit http://www.africafocus.org/intro-env.php ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Upgrade on AfricaFocus Website: Embedded Facebook Feed As readers are aware, AfricaFocus has increasingly been used its Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/AfricaFocus) for posting of links to stories such as these. If you use Facebook to follow news and commentary, please follow the page. Now, however, these same resources are also conveniently available on the web to those of you who don't use Facebook regularly. Go to http://www.africafocus.org and just look on the right-hand side of the home page, where you can see the latest AfricaFocus posts, and scroll down for earlier posts. ++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++ Dirty Diesel. How Swiss Traders Flood Africa with Toxic Fuels A Public Eye Investigation, September 2016. http://www.publiceye.ch by Marc Gueniat, Marietta Harjono, Andreas Missbach, Gian-Valentino Viredaz [Public Eye (formerly the Berne Declaration) is a non-profit, independent Swiss organisation with around 25,000 members. Public Eye has been campaigning for more equitable relations between Switzerland and underprivileged countries for more than forty years. Among its most important concerns are the global safeguarding of human rights, the socially and ecologically responsible conduct of business enterprises and the promotion of fair economic relations.] Executive summary Swiss commodity trading companies take advantage of weak fuel standards in Africa to produce, deliver and sell diesel and gasoline, which is damaging to people's health. Their business model relies on an illegitimate strategy of deliberately lowering the quality of fuels in order to increase their profits. Using a common industry practice called blending, trading companies mix cheap but toxic intermediate petroleum products to make what the industry calls "African Quality" fuels. These intermediate products contain high levels of sulphur as well as other toxic substances such as benzene and aromatics. By selling such fuels at the pump in Africa, the traders increase outdoor air pollution, causing respiratory disease and premature death. This affects West Africa, in particular, because this is the region where the authorised levels of sulphur in fuels remain very high. West Africa does not have the refining capacity to produce enough gasoline and diesel for its own consumption, and so it must import the majority of its fuels from Europe and the US, where fuel standards are strict. Fuels have been on the agenda for some time already. Beginning in 2002, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) conducted a ten-year campaign that led in most countries to a ban on lead in gasoline. However, fuels still account for other severe health issues. The issue of sulphur content must be urgently addressed. This report is the result of three years of research by Public Eye (formerly the Berne Declaration). It highlights the contribution by the commodity trading industry to outdoor air pollution in Africa and the related health effects. The Issue: Sulphur, A Ticking Bomb that Needs Defusing African mega-cities such as Lagos or Dakar already have worse air quality than Beijing. Rapid urbanisation, the growing numbers of cars, and the poor quality of these cars, which are mostly second hand, partly explains the worsening air pollution in African cities. The crucial factor though is that most African countries still permit the use of high-sulphur diesel and gasoline. On average, African sulphur limits in diesel are 200 times above the European limit, in some countries this figure is as high as 1,000. Sulphur in fuels is crucial to air pollution because of its direct health-damaging effects but also because it destroys emissions control technologies in vehicles. As long as fuel sulphur content remains so high, any efforts to reduce air pollution (for example, by modernising Africa's car fleet) will be in vain. Without rapid and meaningful improvements in fuel quality, traffic-related air pollution will soon be a major health issue (see chapter 3). Respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive lung diseases, lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases will rise. On the other hand the use of ultra-low sulphur fuels (10 parts per million [ppm] sulphur) would immediately halve the emissions of pollutants. If done together with the introduction of cars that use existing emissions control technologies, the emission of pollutants could be reduced by 99 percent. The Players: The Swiss Trading Companies The fuel business in Africa is very opaque. Over the past decade, important shifts have happened, almost unnoticed. As oil majors pulled out from Africa's retail business, Swiss trading companies moved in, expanding downstream to control key as sets such as storage facilities and hundreds of petrol stations across Africa (see chapter 4). Hidden from view by operating behind the Shell and Puma Energy brands, two big Swiss trading companies Vitol and Trafigura, together with smaller Swiss companies, have a dominant position in the import and distribution of petroleum products in many African countries, especially in West Africa. Other heavyweights, namely Glencore, Mercuria and Gunvor, that don't own petrol station networks, are equally important in supplying African markets. To access markets and increase their market share, they often rely on dodgy local door-openers or other politically exposed persons (see chapter 5). The Test: Sampling at the Pump Public Eye tested fuels sold at the pump by Swiss trading companies (see chapter 6). Countries were selected based on their weak fuel standards and on the presence of petrol stations owned by Swiss trading companies. We analysed samples from eight coun tries: Angola, Benin, the Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Zambia. The trading companies sampled were Trafigura (operating through Puma, Pumangol, Gazelle trading, UBI), Vitol (Vivo Energy with Shell brand), Addax & Oryx Group (Oryx) and Lynx Energy (X-Oil). More than two thirds of the diesel samples (17 out of 25) had a sulphur level higher than 1,500 ppm, which is 150 times the European limit of 10 ppm. The highest level of sulphur was in a diesel sample from one of Oryx's petrol stations in Mali, where the sulphur content was 3,780 ppm. Almost half of the gasoline samples (10 out of 22) have a sulphur level between 15 and 72 times the European limit of 10 ppm. Worryingly, we also detected other health damaging substances in concentrations that would never be allowed in a European or US fuel. These substances include polyaromatics (diesel), aromatics and benzene (gasoline). In a number of samples, we found traces of metals that would also contribute to higher emissions of pollutants and damage car engines too. The Context: Toxic Fuels Brought to Africa West Africa is a significant producer of crude oil. But due to its lack of refining capacity, the region must import roughly half of its diesel and gasoline, which is high in sulphur, mostly from Europe and the US. Around 50 percent of the fuels imported to West Africa come from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp, collectively known as the "ARA" region (see chapter 8). Trade statistics show 80 percent of the diesel exported from ARA to Africa has sulphur content at least 100 times above the European standard. This figure soared to an average 90 percent for West Africa, with Ghana (93 percent), Guinea (100 percent), Senegal (82 percent), Nigeria (84 percent) and Togo (96 percent) receiving the biggest volumes. Based on specific cargoes, official documents from Ghana show that, in both 2013 and 2014, diesel imports contained sul phur levels extremely close to the legal limit. This all happened even as specifications were changed between 2013 and 2014. This shows how trading companies are able quickly to adapt to new standards, sticking as close as possible to the limit (see chapter 7). Swiss trading companies play a major role in transporting fuel from the ARA region, and from the US, to West Africa. In the case of Ghana, these companies delivered most of the known high sulphur cargoes in 2013 and 2014. The Business: Blending Fuels Contrary to what most people might think, fuels such as diesel or gasoline tend not to come straight from refineries. Instead, the refineries produce intermediate products, which are then mixed together, occasionally with intermediate products from other sources (such as the chemical industry). This process is called "blending" (see chapter 9). To make matters more com plex, different types of refineries produce different intermediate products or "blendstocks". Gasoline is always a blended product because vehicle engines require a particular mix, which usually consists of between six and ten blendstocks. By contrast, diesel does not need to be blended. However, since blending is a profitable activity and since refineries do not produce enough diesel by them selves, diesel is also blended. It usually consists of between four and six blendstocks. Blending does not require a huge infrastructure. A few pipes and tanks are usually enough to prepare a specific blend of diesel or gasoline. It can be done in tank terminals, onboard ships, or at the interface between the two while still in port. Having become giants with revenues of hundreds of billions of dollars, Swiss commodity trading companies have more oil tankers at sea and own more storage capacity than the oil majors. Storage capacity is key not only to trading but also to blending. The Illegitimate Business: Making "African Quality" Fuels As trading companies (and other blenders) explain, they "tailor" fuels to meet the standards of the country they supply. They call this blending "on-spec", or according to required specifications. This can refer to the required specification of sulphur content, or to the content of any other regulated substances, such as ben zene or aromatics. Differences between national fuel quality regulations offer opportunity for companies to profit from a form of regulatory arbitrage. With weak standards, Africa is an excellent example. And industry uses the term "African Quality" (see chapter 10) when referring to low-quality fuels, characterised primarily by their high sulphur content, although the term also refers to fuels with other low-quality aspects. Africa's weak fuel standards allow traders to use cheap blendstocks, dropping production costs and making the produc tion of low fuels a lucrative business model. These cheap blendstocks are also of poor quality and, most importantly, they damage health through their high levels of sulphur, aromatics and benzene. Such blendstocks could never be used in European or American markets. Sometimes fuels also contain waste and recycled blendstocks from the chemical industry and elsewhere, posing additional risks. Traders and other blenders, who have a below specification petroleum product on their hands, will search the market for other blendstocks (nicknamed "tasty juices") that will enable the production of an onspec fuel. The closer to the specifica tion boundary the product lies, the larger the potential margin for the trader. On the other hand, if the trader has a product that is above the specification, then it may be able to purchase cheap, low-quality "juices" to blend in. The process of lowering product quality is known in the industry as "filling up quality give-away". In principle, blending is a legitimate and necessary technical process, but there is a large margin for abuse when it comes to blending low-quality blendstocks - a practice we call "blend dumping". We consider this to be an illegitimate practice. Con taminants present in any blendstock, such as sulphur and benzene, should be minimised or fully eliminated by further refining, not diluted to meet the weak standards of African countries. The Hub: Where African Quality Fuels Are Produced While African Quality fuels could never be legally sold in Europe, they are produced in Europe nevertheless. The ARA region has become the main hub for the blending and shipping of fuels, especially diesel, to West Africa for a number of reasons, includ ing its extensive refining and blending capacity, its strategic po sition (which allows it to receive petroleum products and blend stocks from the UK, Russia and the Baltic countries), and its geographic proximity to West Africa (see chapter 11). The Swiss trading companies own or hire extensive blending facilities in ARA and we can prove for the first time that they dominate the export of African Quality fuels to West Africa. Besides Europe, the blending is also done offshore the West African coast. Most West African ports are too small to receive a large number of tankers or have limited draft, which prevents the larger European tankers from entering. Mostly coming from the ARA region, these oil product tankers sail across the Atlan tic Ocean and meet in the Gulf of Guinea. Mostly in Togolese waters, they transfer petroleum products from one vessel to an other in an operation known as ship-to-ship (STS) transfer. The usually smaller tankers then sail off, discharging the products to different countries in the region. These STS operations are also a common way to blend products. The Conclusion: Ban All Dirty Fuels Now is the time for African governments to act. They have the chance to protect the health of their urban population, reduce car maintenance costs, and spend their health budgets on other pressing health issues. By moving to ultra-low sulphur diesel, Africa could prevent 25,000 premature deaths in 2030 and al most 100,000 premature deaths in 2050. An examination of past experience, the price structure of diesel, and recent developments on the continent show that African leaders shouldn't fear significant price increases from improving the standards of fuel (see concluding chapter 12). In January 2015, for example, five East African countries adopted low sulphur fuels with no impact on prices at the pump, or on government spending through subsidies. A limited increase of prices at the pump should in any case be balanced with the health and associated savings of reducing air pollution from high sulphur fuels. The savings from better health are by far higher than the effects of the potential costs of cleaner fuels. Four different sets of actors should take decisive steps immediately: African governments (and others with weak fuel standards) should set stringent fuel quality standards of 10 ppm sulphur for diesel and gasoline, and introduce European limits on other health damaging substances. Whether or not they have sufficient refining capacity in the country or can only import, governments should be strict with implementing fuel standards. If not, their fuels will quickly contain bad blendstocks. The blenders know exactly which standards apply where, and how best they can dump their African Quality blends.

Swiss trading companies should stop abusing Africa's low fuel quality standards, recognize that if left unchanged their practices will kill more and more people across the continent, and immediately produce and sell to African countries only fuels that would meet Europe's high fuel quality standards.

Governments of export hubs for African fuels (such as Amsterdam, Antwerp or the US Gulf) should prohibit the export of any health damaging fuels or blendstocks, which would never be used in their own country.

The Swiss government should implement mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence requirements for Swiss companies, covering the entire supply chain and including potentially toxic products. AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please write to this address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the bulletin, or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the original source mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see http://www.africafocus.org
The US, which has USD 20 trillion in debt, over USD 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities and a massive trade deficit of almost USD 800 billion a year, is broke, and the worlds biggest economy can no longer create high-paying jobs, the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said today.

Our country is broke, Trump, 70, told a well-attended election rally in Colorado.

We owe USD 20 trillion in debt, but thats only part of the story  we have over USD 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and we have a budget thats out of control with annual deficits, the real estate tycoon said.

In addition, because of the incompetence of our leaders, we run massive trade deficits on an annual basis, now almost USD 800 billion a year, he added.

The US, he said, has a decaying infrastructure, failing schools, rising crime, a depleted military, an open border, and an economy that cant create full-time high-paying jobs.

We are a divided nation, and each week it seems we are getting more and more divided, with race riots in our streets on a monthly basis, he said.

This is not the America that was handed down to us, and its not the America we want for our children. And its certainly not the America we want to pass down to our grandchildren. But this is the America we will have if we dont turn things around  starting today, he said.

What I say is not lost on the American people, because 70 per cent of you believe our country is headed in the wrong direction. We cannot have another four years of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It will be worse, he said.

Mr Trump said while Americans have lost their jobs and employment opportunities, his Democratic presidential rival Ms Clinton has raked in cash from her contributors.

She and Bill have made USD 150 million in speeches to special interests. They gave 39 speeches to big banks and took USD 2 million in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.

The Clintons received another USD 2 million from a Swiss Bank after Hillary negotiated a favorable settlement for them as Secretary of State, he alleged.

Mr Trump alleged that to hide her corruption, Clinton put her emails on an illegal secret server open to foreign hacking.

Then she deleted and bleached 33,000 emails  after a congressional subpoena  to hide them from the public.

She lies to Congress, under oath, and her ringleaders took the fifth amendment and got immunity deals. Its worse than Watergate, he said.

The investigation of Hillary was rigged, and its a shame, and its one of the saddest things that have ever taken place in our nation. We have become a banana republic. Now, today, we learned, that the FBI made a side deal with Clintons top aides to destroy their laptops, he alleged.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]am Aadmi Partys (AAP) well planned stunt gets flopped in Mumbai. A complaint was filed against cow-vigilantes by the Creative Director Barun Kashyap Bhuyan, however, after investigations the police said his claim was found to be creative fiction story. Amboli police filed a case against Barun for inciting communal violence and arrested him on Tuesday morning. Eventually, during investigation it was found that the day he claimed the incident happened, most of the time he was at home. Police confirmed this by tracing his mobile location. Later, he himself confessed before the police that he was at home that day and was late for work, so he cooked up the story as an excuse. He has been booked for creating animosity between groups.

However, to save this boy Preeti Sharma Menon, an AAP spokesperson issued mails to media alleging Daya Nayak for registering a false case against Barun Kashyap Bhuyan and arrested him. Barun in his statement to media said that he was threatened by Daya Nayak to change his original statement made on 20 August, 2016 in front of an ACP and Senior PI of Amboli Police Station on Friday 30 September. He was threatened, he feared for his life and so he signed on anything that Daya Nayak said. Barun Kashyap heard from the media that there was a case filed against him. According to him, he went to the police station on Saturday 1st October to ask if the media was saying was true to Nayak on which he was assured that there will be no case against him. The boy then approached AAP leader Menon for the help. She took him to Advocate Mihir Desai and Advocate Vijay Hiremath and they agreed to take his case. This morning, Barun again went to Mrs. Menon and she accompanied him to drop him to the above said lawyers in her car with her driver Roshan Pashilkar. The police swept down on them in Chembur and arrested both Barun and her driver. She claimed that she has no idea where they have been taken and she feared for Baruns life.

It was on August 19, when Kashyap who was heading to work from his home had taken an auto rickshaw. Due to his hippy look, Kashyap alleged that the auto rickshaw driver started asking him questions. Kashyap was carrying a leather bag which was made of camel hide and had been bought a few months ago from Pushkar. Amboli police that is probing the case of an alleged cow-skin vigilante case, has drawn a blank after the clues received by them could not lead them to the suspects involved in the case. The police were armed with a two-digit number and a mobile number, following which, they scanned through hundreds of auto-rickshaws starting with that number, but could not find anything. Also, the mobile number which is believed to be of the auto-rickshaw driver was not active in Mumbai on the day the victim claimed he was threatened.

The auto driver enquired about my native place and I responded by saying  Assam. After he further enquired if the proximity of my native was near Bangladesh, and when I replied in affirmative, he started the ride, Barun had written on his Facebook wall.

The post further read: To my horror, he stopped the auto near a small temple and signalled at three men sitting in front of the temple. The three men approached the auto and started conversing in Marathi which I could not decipher, his post reads. When I protested, the three men asked me for my full name and when I replied saying that my name is Barun Kashyap Bhuyan, they conversed in Marathi but I could make out only the word Brahmin. Maybe by hearing Kashyap, they thought I am a Brahmin. They left the site after bidding farewell to the auto driver. At the next signal, I got off from the auto, noted down the auto number and asked for his phone number, which he proudly gave to me saying  aaj toh bach gaye, Kashyap said.

Anyway, if we put some light on this story, you may realise people in Mumbai do not bother about such bags, hair or your awkward or odd look. There is a big leather industry in Dharavi. Most of the streets have small cobblers who mend leather shoes and even sell leather shoes, etc. No auto carries only Marathi number plate, this is an observation of the so called creative director of a nameless production house who wanted to create a sensation just because of some creepy auto driver was suspicious about his smelly bag. He created a hype. I think he forgot that he is in Mumbai were nobody gives a damn what you eat or dare to peep into your bags. This was a well-planned conspiracy which is being methodically performed but back fired. Around 49 rickshaw drivers were interrogated but none of them matched the details given by the complainant. Besides, Kashyap was also called to identify the rickshaw driver and around 50 drivers were shown to him, but he couldnt find the accused. The police interrogation revealed loopholes in the story of the complainant, but when they expanded their search, they found nothing that matched the story. Later on, police recorded statements of 13 rickshaw drivers about the incident. However, all of them denied any such incidence. Aam Aadmi Party tried its best to bake this story for its own political motive, but this time it was hard luck for them.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday morning seized a Pakistani boat from river Ravi in Punjabs Amritsar district. The boat was seized from Tota post area in the district.

Inspector General of BSF Anil Paliwal confirmed the incident and said that nothing was found inside the boat but an investigation has been launched into the matter. However, he added, that boats of fishermen from the neighbouring country sometimes come near the Indian border due to the flow of water.

A search operation was carried out by the police near Shikar Machhian (in Dera Baba Nanak) village here, Batala SSP Daljinder Singh Dhillon said on Tuesday.

He said a woman had on Monday claimed to have seen a man wearing black clothes and carrying a weapon moving in a suspicious manner. We immediately launched the search operation which went on during the night as well as today, Dhillon said. The police used hand-held thermal imaging devices to trace any suspicious movement in the civil areas, the SSP added.

However, we have not found anything suspicious so far, he said, adding that the police were acting immediately on any information regarding any suspicious movement. We are considering information on suspicious persons very seriously, the SSP said, adding that the security personnel were on high alert in the backdrop of escalating tension between India and Pakistan.

The ICG ship Samudra Pavak had seized another Pakistani boat with nine crew members on board off the coast of Gujarat on October 2. The crew members, along with the boat, were escorted to Porbandar for further investigation.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian special forces will be extremely marginal.

Addressing a gathering at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management, Jaitley said that any impact that had been felt on the markets and the rupee had been temporary, and that foreign direct investment into India continues to increase.

Even recently, when the news came that India had made certain surgical strikes at the launch pads where the terrorists used to cross into Indian boundaries, there was obviously a certain amount of speculation as far as the markets were concerned. The impact was not what it would have been years ago, he said.

Economic impact arising from recent tensions will be extremely marginal, he said.

Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan last week after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India.

The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists stormed an Army camp in Kashmirs Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Pakistan has denied Indias claim of surgical strikes and termed it as cross-border firing.
Indias civil aviation regulator on Friday lifted the restrictions on in-flight use of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone  but only those purchased after September 15.

On September 9, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had prohibited the use of the high-end smartphone on-board aircraft.

The DGCA said the usage restrictions have only been lifted for mobile phones purchased after September 15. Restrictions still continue for Note 7s purchased before that date.

The select type of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone allowed to be used on-board have a green battery charge indication on their screen, the DGCA said in a Public Notice issued on Wednesday.

A Samsung India Spokesperson said: It is important to note that Samsung has not sold a single unit of Galaxy Note7 in India so far. The green battery icon will apply to all Galaxy Note 7 units that will be sold to customers in India when it is launched.

The DGCA notice said: In the light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, travelling public and airlines are advised to ensure the following in respect of Samsung Note 7 purchased before 15th September 2016 which have been recalled by Samsung and have white battery charge indication on their screen.

In the public notice, the regulator advised travellers and the airlines to ensure that the communication device is not turned on or its battery charged on-board the aircraft.

The notice further detailed that the smartphone should not be stowed away in any checked-in baggage. However, the smartphone can be carried in a switched off mode in hand-baggage.

Civil aviation regulatory and safety authorities around the world and several airlines have issued warning not to charge or switch on Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on-board aircraft.

Samsung has recalled its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over battery overheating issues globally.

On September 23, the civil aviation regulator had summoned officials from Samsung India Electronics for questioning after one of the companys smartphones  the Samsung Note 2  emitted smoke on-board an IndiGo flight causing panic.

We recognise the inconvenience this has caused to customers, flyers and airline authorities, and remain committed towards customer safety, the Samsung spokesman said.








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(NC) It's been 20 years since farmers first started growing genetically modified crops, and the positive impacts on consumers, farmers, the environment and global economies are undeniable. Here are four ways GMOs are leading to healthier lives and more sustainable agricultural production processes.

1. More nutritious, accessible food: Growing GMO crops helps farmers increase crop yields by 22 per cent, growing 158 million more tons of soybeans and 274 million more tons of corn annually around the world. The next generation of biotech crops will have more direct human benefits, such as a new variety of rice that will prevent blindness in 500,000 children in the developing world, and a drought-tolerant maize that will keep 300 million Africans from starving during drought.

2. Helping farmers make a better living: In the last two decades, GMO crops have increased income for farmers by almost 70 per cent, contributing $133.5 billion U.S. to global farm incomes. Eighteen million farmers are growing these crops on 181.5 million hectares, and 90 per cent of them are smallholder farmers. GMO crops have helped 65 million people  including 16.5 million smallholder farmers and their families  escape poverty.

3. Making farming more sustainable: GMO crops have let farmers reduce their pesticide use by almost 40 per cent in the last 20 years  a reduction of 500 million kilograms that's the equivalent of nine giant cruise ships. Similarly, they've reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 28 billion kilograms, which is like taking all the cars in London, England off the road for five years. They're also using less water. In Brazil, for example, farmers have reduced their agricultural water use by 16 billion litres.

4. Supporting healthy economies: GMO crops are grown in 28 countries, including eight industrial and 20 developing nations. India is now the second largest cotton producer in the world, while GMO crops have added 1.82 million new jobs to the Argentinian economy.








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WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2016 - Net farm income is likely to be flat next year despite an increase in government payments but should improve somewhat in the following two years, according to a new analysis.

The report by the University of Missouris Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) projects that net farm income will fall by more than $10 billion this year to $69.6 billion despite falling production costs and rise only slightly to $70.3 billion in 2017.

Farm earnings are expected to rise to $73.7 billion in 2018 and $74 billion in 2019 because of a modest recovery in crop prices and cash receipts, the report says.

FAPRI projects that farmers will receive $13.4 billion in government payments this year, up from $10.8 billion in 2015. The economists see even higher payments in 2017 at $14.4 billion before they drop to a projected $9.9 billion the following year.

Much of the increase this year and in 2017 is due to payments under the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, which is tied to a moving average of average crop revenue. Payments under the program are expected to drop sharply because of the prolonged slump in prices for corn and other commodities.

ARC payments are expected to peak at $6.4 billion for the 2015 crop marketing year before dropping to $5.8 billion for 2016 and $2.2 billion for 2017. ARC payments for 2015 are being made this month.

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The report projects that debt-to-asset ratios will rise from 12 percent last year to 14 percent in 2019 because of slipping land values. Cropland rental rates and average farm real estate values have declined this year, according to USDA data cited by the report.

FAPRIs latest forecast for net farm income is actually $15 billion higher than its March estimate largely because of historical data revisions. USDA reduced its estimates of 2015 production expenses by more than $21 billion, with reduced capital consumption accounting for nearly half the difference, according to FAPRI.

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 - The Agriculture Department will be distributing more than $7 billion in payments to farmers under the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs for the 2015 crop year. These payments will help provide reassurance to Americas farm families, who are standing strong against low commodity prices compounded by unfavorable growing conditions in many parts of the country, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a release. The initial ARC payments are expected to total $5.6 billion to about 1.2 million farms, compared to $4.4 billion in payments to 900,000 farms for the 2014 crop year, according to the Farm Service Agency. FSA posted a series of maps showing the range of payment rates by county. Additional payments are expected later as more price and eligibility data become available, the agency said. The initial PLC payments for 2015 will total $1.2 billion to more than 350,000 farms. FSA provided $800,000 to 90,000 farms for 2014. Additional payments will be made later for rice and other commodities when their marketing year average prices are released. Payments for long and medium grain rice, except for temperate Japonica rice, will be announced in November. Payments for some oilseeds as well as chickpeas will be announced in December, and for temperate Japonica rice in February. Keep up with ag and rural policy and energy news as it happens. Sign up for a four-week free trial of Agri-Pulse. ARC provides payments when county revenue for a commodity falls below the average for previous years. PLC payments are triggered when the average annual price for a commodity falls below a target level. Farmers enrolled 96 percent of their soybean base acres, 91 percent of corn base acres and 66 percent of wheat base acres in the ARC-County program. Some 99 percent of long grain rice and peanut base acres and 94 percent of medium grain rice base acres were enrolled in PLC. #30http://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/arcplc_program/index
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016  CHS Inc., a fuel, grain and food cooperative based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, remains the largest cooperative in the United States, according to a new USDA report on the nations top 100 coops.

CHS topped USDAs list with $34.7 billion in total business volume for 2015, down $8.19 billion from its 2014 revenue mark, but still significantly larger than the next biggest cooperative.

Dairy Farmers of America, a milk marketing cooperative based in Kansas City, Missouri., came in second place, with $13.9 billion in total revenue. Land O'Lakes Inc. a dairy foods and farm supply co-op, based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was third, with $13.1 billion in sales.

Rounding out the top five were GROWMARK Inc., based in Bloomington, Illinois, with $8.74 billion in sales, followed by Omaha-based Ag Processing Inc. with $4.45 billion in revenue.

For the full list of the top 100, click here.

Total business volume fell for the top 100 cooperatives, from $177 billion in 2014 to $149 billion in 2015, USDA indicated in an annual report on national cooperative sales. However, net income for the top 100 rose from $4.3 billion to $4.9 billion in 2015.

"The cooperative business model continues to perform strongly," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a release. "While the model has long been one of the hallmarks of rural economies, its reach has greatly expanded to include almost every aspect of U.S. commerce. The latest data show that cooperatives are a key to building stronger and more vital communities, particularly in rural areas."

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The biggest gainer on the list from 2014 was Producers Livestock Marketing Association, based in North Salt Lake, Utah. It rose to 58th place, from 90th in 2014.

Again, this year's list shows that Iowa is home to more Top 100 co-ops than any other state, with 15. It is followed by Minnesota with 11 and Nebraska with nine. California and Illinois each have six, while Wisconsin has five. Minnesota and California each gained a new co-op in the Top 100 in 2015.

The release of the co-op Top 100 report comes as USDA celebrates National Cooperative Month throughout October. This year's theme is "Cooperatives Build." Vilsack kicked off the month-long celebration with an official proclamation.

Sam Rikkers, Administrator of the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, told Agri-Pulse that the cooperative model is probably even more relevant than years past because the model works for the biggest businesses like CHS and also the little guys who are trying to start a business. For example, he cited the Big Flat Market Cooperative which formed in Turner, Montana in order to keep a local grocery story in operation. Residents were without a grocery store for almost a year until the community came together to form a cooperative. Meanwhile, CHS President Carl Casale touted the cooperative business model during a lecture at the University of Minnesotas Carlson School of Management. CHS released data from an economic impact study that the cooperative commissioned from Ernst & Young (EY). The consulting firm found CHS economic activity supported more than 60,700 jobs directly and indirectly, far exceeding the company's 12,100 employees. "That means for every job CHS creates itself, there are four more jobs supported indirectly in the community as a result of the economic activity from the cooperative system," Casale said. "This 'job multiplier' factor far surpasses that of other sectors of the economy." Based on fiscal 2014 data, the report showed that CHSs $33.45 billion in gross global business in the U.S. translated to direct gross economic output of nearly $18.5 billion dollars locally. In addition, each $1 million of CHS economic output supported an additional $600,000 in output for other U.S. businesses. The study analyzes CHS economic data and impact for all U.S. states and every congressional district. For more details visit www.valueofthecoop.com This story was updated at 7 am to include comments from Rikkers and Casale.



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WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 - In rural America, poverty, hunger and unemployment rates are down and population declines have stopped, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said today, attributing much of the improvement to the efforts of the White House Rural Council. The Council was formed early in the Obama administration to streamline federal assistance and strengthen local and state resources to support the rural economy.

To keep up that momentum, Vilsack today announced $24.4 million in new grants and loans to bolster business and job growth in rural America, where an estimated 6 million people still live in poverty, including about 1.5 million children.





About $10.9 billion of that total will go towards zero-interest loans for people trying to start new businesses, $9.1 million will be used to establish a revolving loan fund for small businesses, $3.2 million for technical assistance and training for small business owners, and $1.2 million will be used for microloans to companies with less than 10 employees.

President Barack Obama also pointed to improved conditions in rural America in an open op-ed piece released today.

Over the last eight years, my administration has worked hand-in-hand with rural communities to build more opportunity  investing in rural schools, supporting rural small business owners, deploying high speed internet and wireless, and building partnerships between businesses and colleges to help train folks not just for a job, but for a career, Obama said. Today, rural unemployment has dropped from a high of about 10 percent during the Great Recession to 6 percent. The rural child poverty rate is dropping, and rural median household incomes are rising again. We certainly still have more work to do, but we're moving in the right direction.

Perhaps the biggest effort during the Obama administration to improve the rural economy came in the form of the U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund. The White House Rural Council created the fund two years ago to support private operations that want to finance investment in rural infrastructure projects.

CoBank, a national cooperative bank, kicked off the fund with a pledge to finance $10 billion worth of projects.

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Since 2014, more than $3 billion in private sector funding has been lent to over 400 financings of projects in the power, water, communications and community facilities industries, USDA and White House said today in a fact sheet that outlines other projects totaling more than $35 million aimed at helping rural communities.

On Wednesday, Vilsack, who chairs the White House Rural Council, will convene a forum at Penn State University. Along with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, he plans to lead discussions on critical issues facing rural communities, including opportunities for growth and strategies for improving health care and housing. Vilsack was also to travel to Berea, Kentucky, to call attention to rural issues, USDA said.

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Dutch photojournalist Jeroen Oerlemans, 45, was killed in Sirte, Libya, on October 2 while on assignment for the Belgian magazine Knack and other publications, reports PDN Pulse. His body was taken to Misrata, where a doctor reported that Oerlemans had been shot in the chest by a sniper for ISIS, 
Assyrian Organizations Submit Report on Syria to UN

(AINA) -- A joint report by the Assyrian Universal Alliance, the Assyrian Human Rights Network and the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO) has been submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Syrian Arab Republic. This is the second UPR of Syria conducted by the UN.

The report highlights the human rights abuses against Assyrians in Syria.

The Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO) is the largest Assyrian political party in Syria and several of its members have been detained without warrant by the Syrian regime.

The report cites the case of Gabrielle Moushe, chairman of the ADO's political bureau, who was arrested on December 19, 2013 and held for three years without being charged. He was released two weeks ago.

The report also cites the ISIS capture of 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur river in Syria in February 2015, and the abduction of 255 Assyrians. They were subsequently released for ransom over the next year.

The report makes the following recommendations:

Abolish the 2012 Counter-terrorism law and implement new legislation and protections to end the arbitrary arrest and detention of political dissidents

Immediately release all detainees who have yet to be charged or receive a judicial review by a competent judicial body

Implement its due process and fair trial obligations under Article 9(3) of the ICCPR by ensuring each instance or case of preventative detention is reviewed by an impartial judicial body

Launch an independent investigation into all allegations of torture and degrading punishment and prosecute all officer personnel found responsible

Amend the penal code to include penalties against government officials' use of torture or degrading punishment against individuals in detention centers

Take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of civilians from all armed groups, including non-state actors such as the so-called Islamic State

The full report is available here.
The aircraft will be the first H215 in service in Spain

It will be based on Gran Canaria to perform Search and Rescue missions





A member of the tried-and-tested Super Puma family, the H215 is a twin-engine, heavy rotorcraft equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, which complies with the most stringent safety standards. Its onboard equipment includes multi-function digital screens and an advanced 4-axis autopilot which provides flight envelope protection, unrivalled precision, and stability in even the harshest operating conditions.



The aircraft carried out final test flights at the Albacete plant on 22 September, where it was painted and fitted with specific mission systems enhancing its Search and Rescue (SAR) and Personnel Recovery/CSAR missions. The Air Forces H215 boasts additional fuel tanks that extend its range up to 560 Km, an emergency buoyancy system, a high-frequency radio, a hoist, and a cockpit compatible with night vision goggles, among other equipment.



The Spanish Air Force operates several helicopters belonging to the Super Puma family, in both civil and military versions. The aircraft operate in 3 SAR Squadrons as well as in the 402 Air Force Squadron, which is responsible for the transport of senior government officials. The new H215 will be assigned to the Air Forces 802 Squadron/RCC Canarias and will arrive at its base in Gando (Gran Canaria) before the end of the year.



The new helicopter will enter into service straightaway, following a short training program for crews, who already have extensive experience of flying other versions of the Super Puma.



We are very grateful to the Air Force for its renewed confidence, and I am proud to be here today to deliver a helicopter that is not only powerful, rapid and reliable, but also cost-effective, offering a highly optimized operating costs, said Francisco Verge, General Manager of Airbus Helicopters in Spain. I wish you many flight hours, all with our first-rate support, which we are committed to providing you with. Albacete  In a ceremony held at the Airbus Helicopters plant in Albacete, the Spanish Air Force yesterday took receipt of its first H215 , a robust, cost-effective latest-generation helicopter with an extensive mission capability. The purchase was negotiated in July by the Spanish Ministry of Defense, through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).A member of the tried-and-tested Super Puma family, the H215 is a twin-engine, heavy rotorcraft equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, which complies with the most stringent safety standards. Its onboard equipment includes multi-function digital screens and an advanced 4-axis autopilot which provides flight envelope protection, unrivalled precision, and stability in even the harshest operating conditions.The aircraft carried out final test flights at the Albacete plant on 22 September, where it was painted and fitted with specific mission systems enhancing its Search and Rescue (SAR) and Personnel Recovery/CSAR missions. The Air Forces H215 boasts additional fuel tanks that extend its range up to 560 Km, an emergency buoyancy system, a high-frequency radio, a hoist, and a cockpit compatible with night vision goggles, among other equipment.The Spanish Air Force operates several helicopters belonging to the Super Puma family, in both civil and military versions. The aircraft operate in 3 SAR Squadrons as well as in the 402 Air Force Squadron, which is responsible for the transport of senior government officials. The new H215 will be assigned to the Air Forces 802 Squadron/RCC Canarias and will arrive at its base in Gando (Gran Canaria) before the end of the year.The new helicopter will enter into service straightaway, following a short training program for crews, who already have extensive experience of flying other versions of the Super Puma.We are very grateful to the Air Force for its renewed confidence, and I am proud to be here today to deliver a helicopter that is not only powerful, rapid and reliable, but also cost-effective, offering a highly optimized operating costs, said Francisco Verge, General Manager of Airbus Helicopters in Spain. I wish you many flight hours, all with our first-rate support, which we are committed to providing you with.





About Airbus Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters, a division of Airbus Group, provides the most efficient civil and military helicopter solutions worldwide. Its in-service fleet includes nearly 12,000 helicopters operated by more than 3,000 customers in 154 countries. Airbus Helicopters employs more than 22,000 people worldwide and in 2015 generated revenues of 6.8 billion euros.

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Cargolux has taken early delivery of its 14th Boeing 747-8 freighter to meet increased demand during the coming high season.

The aircraft  LX-VCN, Spirit of Schengen  was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2017. However, Boeing and Cargolux agreed to advance the delivery, with a handover ceremony at the US plane makers Everett factory in Seattle.

The Luxembourg-based all-cargo carrier said that it expects to cover increasing demand for cargo space during the upcoming high season with the new freighter.

LX-VCN will operate its first commercial flight from Seattle to Luxembourg with a full load of cargo. All Cargolux B747 freighters have traditionally operated their delivery flight as a revenue-earning flight. The aircraft arrives in Luxembourg today, September 30.

Richard Forson, Cargolux president and chief executive, said: Cargolux operates in a highly competitive market. In such an environment, an aircraft that combines economic efficiency with high earning potential gives a clear advantage.

I see the B747-8F as an industry stalwart; this aircraft has already proven its worth for Cargolux in five years of reliable and efficient operation and it will continue to drive growth and revenues for Cargolux in the years to come.

The Luxembourg carrier became the launch customer for the B747-8F with an initial order for 10 units in 2005 and was the worlds first operator of this aircraft type in October 2011. Boeing has since acknowledged that, without Cargolux, there would be no B747-8 today.

Monty Oliver, vice president of European Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: The 747-8 freighter has proved to be a tremendous addition to Cargoluxs fleet, providing increased capacity, more range and outstanding economics. We congratulate Cargolux on this latest delivery and are honored that the 747 remains the mainstay of its all-Boeing fleet.

LX-VCN brings the Cargolux fleet to 26 B747 freighters, a mix of B747-8 and B747-400 aircraft, the largest complement that the company has ever operated.

The B747-8 freighter offers 16% more revenue cargo volume than the B747-400 freighter. The maximum range with full fuel is 8,130 km, with nearly equivalent trip costs and 16% lower ton-mile costs than the 747-400 freighter.

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Just because it's not happening to your kids doesn't mean it's not happening.

Which Vice Presidential candidate has been described as a human sweater vest? Test your knowledge.

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June 13, 2014

Egypts next president, former Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, faces daunting security, political and economic challenges.

I met the former field marshal in February during my first trip to Egypt. On that trip I discovered that Egypts citizens are locked in a debate over whether last summers events were a move forward on the path to democracy or a step back to authoritarianism. As a US senator who understands the value of a strong US-Egypt partnership, I view the current chapter in Egypts history as an opportunity to put the country on a positive trajectory, and a chance to mend the relationship with the United States. Former President Mohammed Morsi wasted a historic chance as Egypts first democratically-elected leader by placing himself above the law, alienating a large percentage of the Egyptian population, excluding political opponents from politics and tearing at the fabric of a society that sees itself as Egyptian first.

The only way Egypts next president can put Egypt back together is with bold and courageous policy initiatives that clearly demonstrate Egypt is moving forward on the path to democracy. Absent some combination of the following moves, I fear more chaos in Egypt and a continued US-Egypt relationship adrift.

First, Sisi should narrow the definition of terrorism and announce ambitious security sector modernization. Egypt is facing a real terrorism threat, but labeling everyone who disagrees with you a terrorist is not the answer. In fact, its counterproductive and drives peaceful dissenters to violence. At the same time, Sisi should announce ambitious security sector reform. For too long an overly brutal security service has fractured the relationship between the Egyptian state and its citizens. Sisi must commit to an atmosphere of dignity that creates a stable environment while not being oppressive. Egyptians must be able to assemble peacefully, and voice opposition to government policies without fear of arrest and torture.

Second, Sisi needs to get his politics right. Two Egyptian presidents have fallen in the past three years practicing exclusive politics. A repressive campaign environment, with the senseless jailing of journalists, and dramatically lower than expected voter turnout in the latest presidential election, is a bad start. To change the momentum, Sisi should release political prisoners, including all uncharged American citizens, pardon nongovernmental organization workers convicted under Morsi and invite all Egyptians who renounce violence back into the political process. The fact that a substantial number of Egyptians who supported ousted President Morsi have no political outlet is a problem. A strong Egyptian president should have no problem genuinely extending a hand to all Egyptians interested in participating peacefully in politics, particularly before the parliamentary elections.

Once this move is made, the United States should aggressively support the Egyptian governments efforts to combat those who choose violence. There should also be an accompanying pronouncement for the protection of womens and minoritys rights by the incoming government and the announcement of a truth commission to investigate the violence at the Rabia al-Adawiya protest camp last August. The results of the investigation should be made public and hold accountable all responsible for violence.

Third, Sisi needs to get the economy right. For decades, the state has not been able to create jobs at pace with Egypts youth bulge mostly because of a bloated subsidy program for energy and food. Egypt is suffering from budget and trade deficits and poor infrastructure. The economy is being propped up by Gulf states on a month-to-month basis, but soon these allies will start asking for a real economic plan. Sisi must pursue difficult but practical reforms, and engage the international financial institutions, his Gulf partners and the United States in a coordinated way. Sisi also needs to create a business-friendly environment to invite investment and tourism to return.

These are some ideas that I believe could help resuscitate the stale US-Egypt partnership. I want it to work. When I was in Egypt in February, I also realized that US policy was trying to adjust in real-time as the democratic struggle in Egypt plays out. For its part, the Barack Obama administration needs to clear up internally what it wants from the relationship and set out a clear path for a 21st century US-Egypt relationship that protects our interests and is consistent with our values. That should include a shift for future military spending from the purchase of conventional big-ticket items to counterterrorism and counterinsurgency equipment and training. On economic support, the administration should focus its assistance on programs that help Egypt build a middle class, whether thats small business development, education, water or infrastructure.

Ideally, Egyptians will organically develop a third political option, and not be stuck with the same old choice between the statist establishment and the Muslim Brotherhood. And if the incoming Egyptian government does not like this new blueprint, then the United States should have the patience to cooperate on a tactical basis on issues of mutual interest, but wait for Egyptian leadership that truly wants to work for the betterment of its citizens.
September 30, 2016

The death of Shimon Peres, Israels ninth president and former prime minister and defense minister, has pushed the current corruption scandal out of the public eye. The Ministry of Justice's press release on its decision to press charges against 16 suspects under investigation in the Yisrael Beitenu corruption case called it "one of the biggest ever revealed in Israel." The prosecution expects to soon press additional charges against senior figures in the party, whose founder and leader is Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and State Attorney Shai Nitzan noted that the case is unusual in the complexity and sophistication of the misdeeds as well as the scope of activity and number of people involved. The investigation has found a series of alleged corruption affairs that are apparently linked and organized. Of course, all involved are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

In the worst case scenario, the threads will lead to Liberman and his name would be added to the list of the accused. In a slightly better scenario, it will be determined that Liberman knew the leadership of his party was rotten and turned a blind eye. But even if no criminal charge sticks, the Justice Ministrys grave announcement throws a shadow on his public status. At best, the man responsible for the safety of Israels citizens fell asleep at the wheel. After he failed for years to protect his political home, how can we entrust him with responsibility for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)? Who can guarantee that the man who failed to choose people well suited to lead his party will make good choices about the officers tasked with heading the IDF? Even if theres no truth at all to the charges and the sharp words of the attorney general, Liberman must vacate his place at the governments table.

The list of those charged includes men and women who held senior posts in the party. Liberman was the one who appointed former Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum secretary-general of Yisrael Beitenu  the most senior position in the partys organization. Kirshenbaum is suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, money laundering and tax fraud. Liberman, and no one else, entrusted the leadership of the Knessets Finance Committee and then the Ministry of Tourism in the hands of Stas Misezhnikov, suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, possession and use of a dangerous substance and disruption of judicial proceedings. As party chair, Liberman is personally responsible for the appointment of David Godovsky as director of the organizational wing of the party. Godovsky is suspected of bribery, money laundering, conspiracy to commit a crime, fraudulently obtaining benefits under aggravated circumstances and willful tax evasion. And who appointed Ronen Moshe, suspected of bribery and money laundering, as Libermans media adviser?

Lobbyist Israel Yehoshua (suspected of bribery, deceitful receipt of goods, money laundering and willful tax evasion) is part of Libermans closest circle of loyal associates. Rami Cohen (suspected of bribery, deceitful receipt of goods, forgery, false declaration in documents of incorporation and disruption of judicial proceedings) owes Liberman his position as director of the Ministry of Agriculture. A note from the chairman is necessary for landing a position as assistant spokesman for any Yisrael Beitenu minister.

This is where we should quote what Liberman said about the scandal in the conference that kicked off Yisrael Beitenus campaign in the last election, at the Ariel settlement in December 2014. He argued that most of those investigated are not party members and never had been. According to him, even though ministers and Knesset members from other parties were convicted of crimes, We never heard of the Labor Party scandal or the Likud scandal or the Kadima scandal. Liberman noted that no member of Yisrael Beitenu had been convicted of embezzlement, bribery or breach of trust, and suggested changing the label Yisrael Beitenu scandal to Lahav 433 scandal for the name of the police unit that investigates corruption cases. His words came close to accusing law enforcement officials of political persecution.

If this story were to come to light two days after the election, I would understand, he said, but the fact that it was announced two weeks after the Knesset was dissolved [ahead of elections], I would like to believe it was coincidental. But what can we do? Ive encountered this kind of coincidence six times already.

Indeed, Liberman has spent long hours of his life in interrogation rooms and prosecutors offices, and he left all of them without ever sitting trial. Maybe key witnesses got lost on the way to testify or lost their memories. What can you do? It's a coincidence. Apparently, his daughter Michal turned the company she heads, M.L. 1 International Trading Company, into a goose that lays golden eggs worth millions of dollars. Of course, any connection to her dad and his friends is a coincidence. The success of Michael Gorlovsky, Libermans driver who became a Knesset member, in amassing his own fortune is also coincidental. That very talented driver was arrested less than a year ago on suspicion of receiving goods in deceit and bribery under threat.

In an actual coincidence connected to the Yisrael Beitenu scandal, mere hours after the announcement of Peres death, the High Court announced its decision to defer the appeal of Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister. As a result of the decision, eight months were added to the 19 he has already served in prison. Justice Salim Jubran wrote that Olmert damaged the faith of the public in the political system. Liberman has done no less damage. Justice Neal Hendel wrote in the decision that the tragedy of the former prime minister isnt only that of a leader who transgressed, but that of the whole public. Liberman sitting in Peres seat at the Ministry of Defense is the tragedy of the entire Israeli public.
October 3, 2016

CAIRO  A number of Egyptian members of parliament have proposed a draft law to create a so-called family police to deal with family issues and marital disputes and address the growing cases of divorce. This sparked a heated debate among parliamentarians and a number of specialists concerning the draft laws significance and viability.

This special police department would look into domestic and family disputes in an attempt to prevent divorce cases. The bill includes the establishment of buildings that are independent from the police departments. The department will be separated from the detention and investigation cells where criminals and suspects are held so as not to have a negative psychological impact on young children or the entire family.

The idea started when the Justice and Equality Center, a nongovernmental organization, made a proposal to establish a family police to look into family-related problems such as domestic violence, issues with babysitters, the elderly, inheritance, addiction and mental illness, among other problems.

This proposal was endorsed by a number of parliamentarians, including Abdel Hamid Sheikh, a member of the Information and Communications Technology Committee, who stressed that once the center is done with preparation of the draft law, he will be working on collecting the signature of 60 members of parliament to be submitted to the Proposals and Complaints committee for deliberation and approval.

The draft law will stipulate the need to have social experts and specialists qualified to play a reconciliatory role, with the necessary shrewdness to deal with domestic issues and problems in households, in a bid to fill the gap between the conflicting parties, especially with the high rates of divorce nowadays. This role could help families not fall apart and thus preserve the cohesion of the entire Egyptian community, Sheikh said in a press statement.

He also stressed the need for the introduction of a family police to coincide with the launch of awareness campaigns on domestic and family cohesion in various media outlets. In addition, he noted, the National Council for Women and civil society organizations must work to ready the public opinion for this new experience; otherwise, it wont succeed.

Hala Othman, the head of the Justice and Equality Center, said in a press statement, The family police will be at the service of the entire community, specifically women and children. This is especially true for child custody and alimony cases, where women suffer for their rights, in addition to cases that should be dealt with in a different security manner, taking into account the social and psychological dimensions of the children and mothers. To this end, the family police will hire social workers and psychologists along the lines of the work of the family court.

UN statistics released last year showed that divorce rates are soaring in Egypt, to the extent that Egypt became the No. 1 country in terms of the highest number of divorces, with a rate exceeding 170,000 cases in 2014.

In December 2015, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics revealed that the divorce rate in 2014 reached 180,244 cases, an increase of 10.9% compared to 2013.

According to the same statistics, urban areas recorded the highest numbers of divorce cases, with a 54.3% rate as opposed to 45.7% in rural areas.

Yet implementing the proposed bill on the ground will not come without impediments and obstacles, according to experts. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Noureddine, the former assistant to the minister of interior, said that while the proposal is a good idea, it could still fail if it is not carefully thought out and planned, whether in terms of securing the necessary financial resources or taking into account the input and suggestion of civil society organizations and the national councils for motherhood and childhood.

Noureddine said, The idea of having a separate police department for family affairs  whether in terms of issuing official reports by police officers or final judgments by the public prosecution and the court judges  is of paramount importance. This would prevent mixing family issues with criminal cases inside the police station, not to mention the importance of such a step for the welfare of children.

He added, However, this proposal needs major funding at a time the Ministry of Interior cannot bear this burden, in light of the major challenges it is currently facing. The ministry is currently preoccupied with tracking down terrorist cells in addition to working on bringing in new technologies to face terrorist threats at the highest levels.

Noureddine said, I am totally aware that Egypt is in dire need of this idea being implemented, given the rising divorce rate that has reached alarming levels over the years. This is true particularly since the idea is being implemented in many European countries and other Arab countries, and thus Egypt is already late in this regard, due to the hard living conditions the ordinary citizen is facing, the lack of financial resources for this session and the significant economic challenges Egypt is facing.

He said that there are highly efficient people at the Interior Ministry, and the police officers who graduated from the sociology and psychology departments and have the ability to deal with all marital disputes. Yet this will only happen when the necessary financial resources are available. This is because we need 30 buildings in all parts of the republic, four of which are in Cairo, as it is overpopulated, and 26 buildings in the other governorates, for the family police to be present in all governorates. Thus, if the government provides funds for this idea, the Interior Ministry will be ready to implement it immediately.
October 3, 2016

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appeared before the Iranian parliament Oct. 2 to address questions about Irans diplomatic approach in the aftermath of the nuclear deal. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed with six world powers led to the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in return for restrictions on Irans nuclear program.

Javad Karimi Ghodoosi, a member of parliament from the Principlist faction who has been an outspoken critic of Irans current government, posed questions that triggered an outburst by Zarif. Ghodoosi, a representative from the conservative city of Mashhad, raised three issues in the National Security Commissions report:

What he saw as discrepancies in the Foreign Ministrys quarterly JCPOA report.

Replacing Irans deputy for Arab and African affairs amid the critical conditions in the region.

Why the foreign minister "disagrees with the exhibition on the Holocaust myth," referring to a May cartoon contest in which some of the entries suggested that parts of the Holocaust are myths. The Iranian government has distanced itself from the contest, calling the organizers "nongovernmental."

Enraged by the insinuations, Zarif accused Ghodoosi of pursuing his own short-term agenda at the expense of the Islamic Republics revolutionary image.

In his answer to whether Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the former deputy for Arab and African Affairs, was replaced to soothe the unease of certain foreign powers, Zarif furiously stated, This is not an insult to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but an insult to the [political] establishment to claim that our officials are replaced due to foreign concerns.

Voicing his displeasure with Ghodoosi and stressing his ministrys compliance with the policies of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Zarif replied in a harsh tone, I am happy and proud of the fact that my brothers Qasem Soleimani, Hassan Nasrallah and Ramadan Abdullah [Shalah] contact me every day and thank me for the Islamic Republic's policies.  So please do not question our foreign policy.

In its Oct. 3 report, "Zarif's 8-minute storm," Reformist newspaper Shargh Daily made reference to the parliamentary election on Feb. 26: Only months after the opponents of the JCPOA were sidelined in the parliament, once more their voices were echoed in [the parliament]. According to Shargh Daily, Pretending to pose questions, Ghodoosi came to prosecute the JCPOA agreement  [but] Zarif did not refrain from answering back [while] the parliament voted in favor [of him].

In his response to the complaints around the Holocaust "myths," Zarif said, I respect the freedom of speech.  It is my personal belief that addressing the issue of the Holocaust contributes to the victimization of the brutal Zionist regime and is not in the interest of the Palestinian people.

Zarif later apologized for his ill-tempered tone after complaints from some of the hard-liners in parliament who oppose his and President Hassan Rouhanis policies.
October 4, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran  On Sept. 10, Iran and Russia launched a project to add two new 1,000-megawatt (MW) reactors to the already existing 1,000-MW reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southwest of the country. The operating plant was connected to Irans national grid in September 2011, following a long series of delays and technical problems, and amid a dispute between Tehran and the West over Irans nuclear program.

Iran, with a population of over 80 million, has the fourth-largest oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves in the world. But despite its rich hydrocarbon resources, the country is pursuing projects to construct more nuclear reactors as part of efforts to increase its reliance on renewable energy sources as it has an advantageous topography for renewables.

Under such a policy, Iran has in the past years taken measures to increase power capacity via sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. Projects to produce 600 MW of electricity through wind and biomass and the construction of a 50-MW geothermal power plant in the northwest of the country are among these measures.

According to official figures, Irans existing power generation capacity stands at 74,000 MW, of which nearly 200 MW is currently produced via renewable sources, mainly solar and wind. However, the renewable energy production capacity is predicted to reach 5,000 MW in the next five years, under Irans sixth Five-Year Development Plan that envisions the construction of new power plants with a total capacity of 26,000 MW.

The sixth development plan also requires the government to focus on clean energy to protect the environment. Rik Teeuwen, the project manager of Solarplazas Renewable Energy Trade Mission Iran, told Al-Monitor that for Iran, which is among the nearly 200 countries committed to the 2015 Paris climate deal that calls for cutting emissions, renewable energy is a major tool to reduce impact on the environment as it reduces the use of fossil fuels and saves water.

If you can get wind energy and solar energy cheaper than old ways of generating, you save money and you can sell the fuels you dont need to other countries at a premium, Teeuwen, the manager of the Netherlands-based private firm, said.

Teeuwen also believes that renewable energy helps Iran attract foreign capital, which benefits both its local industry and employment. With Iran already attracting foreign investment in renewable energy, he believes that the country definitely is well underway to become a regional electric hub that will significantly export electricity in the years to come.

To help speed up renewable energy production and fulfill the set targets, the Iranian government has facilitated investment rules and offered incentives to encourage both local and foreign investors to cooperate on the renewables sector. Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said in July that the purchase guarantee period will be increased from five years to 20 years to further support domestic production, while the guaranteed purchase price will be raised by 30% for companies that use local technology and equipment. Jafar Mohammadnejad Sigaroodi, a senior official at the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran (SUNA), which is the central institution in charge of renewable energy, has mentioned other incentives.

We have facilitated the permit issuance process that investors need to go through, including permits demanded by the Department of Environment. Moreover, based on the talks held between the ministries of Energy and Economy, foreign investment in the sector will be guaranteed. This is an important step as it is a cause of concern for many foreign investors, Sigaroodi, the deputy chief for planning and development at SUNA, told Tehran Times in April.

Government measures appear to have been successful enough to attract foreign investors whose presence, according to Iranian officials, has increased following the nuclear deal. European firms from Germany, Italy and Denmark as well as companies from Norway, China and South Korea have either reached agreements or expressed readiness to cooperate with Iran to boost its renewable energy production.

Giles Dickson, the CEO of the European Wind Energy Association, who traveled to Iran in July, has also announced his organizations readiness to encourage European investors to have a more active role in Irans renewable energy projects, particularly wind energy, as Iran enjoys high potentials in wind energy  even more so than Europe.

To learn more about why Iran has focused on renewable energy in recent years, Al-Monitor spoke with Mohammad Reza Babaee, an economic strategy expert in Tehran who believes that the importance of sustainable development and the necessity of supplying energy needs for future generations make the use of renewable energy more than reasonable.

Theres a strategic need for oil and its refined derivatives in the future. At the same time, fossil fuels will definitely be used up, and renewable energy can gradually replace them to meet Irans growing household and industrial needs for energy, Babaee said.

Pointing to the fact that renewable energy can also help the country have more control over possible price fluctuations in fossil fuels, Babaee said, "Other than being a source of improved energy security, renewable energy provides Iran with export opportunities as well.

As Irans significant resources of solar, wind and geothermal energy along with its special geopolitical location has made the country one of the best areas for investment in renewable energy, experts like Babaee and Teeuwen believe that Iran could become an electric hub in the region to export the produced electricity, as its production could exceed local demand in coming years.

Up until last year, when nuclear-related sanctions against the country were still in place, Irans plan for investment in renewable energy projects would have appeared highly ambitious and very difficult to achieve. But with the removal of major restrictions on foreign investment in Iran, in the eyes of many experts, the countrys investment goals of $10 billion by 2018 and $60 billion by 2025 now appear quite feasible.

Experts say development of the industry involves various challenges, including aged or underdeveloped infrastructure or a lack of expertise in certain specialized renewable energy technologies. But many believe that the governments strong commitment to diversifying its energy mix and modernizing its infrastructure along with local and foreign investors interest to invest in renewable projects leaves little doubt that Iran is moving in the right direction.
October 2, 2016

During the Sept. 30 state funeral at Mt. Herzl cemetery for Shimon Peres, Israels ninth president and former prime minister, the cameras paused at length on the face of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. When one of Peres sons eulogized his father, Abbas appeared to be covering his face as if shedding a tear over the demise of his partner to the Oslo process. That photo unleashed a huge storm in the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Gaza Strip and across the Arab world. Hamas news websites and social media decried this action, with one site saying, Mahmoud Abbas weeps over the departure of a terrorist. Others said that although he covered his face, his true colors were revealed.

The criticism that was leveled at the Palestinian president came as no surprise to senior Fatah officials who predicted its magnitude. They knew that the footage would be exploited by his rivals  both from Hamas and from his own Fatah movement. While municipal elections originally scheduled for Oct. 8 in the West Bank and Gaza were suspended by a Palestinian court last month, there is no doubt that when and if they take place, the footage of Abbas with Peres will surface again and be used against Abbas. The West Bank elections have now been reset for February.

Mahmoud Abbas knew exactly what he was getting into. Yet he chose to pursue the road he believes in, a Fatah official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. According to that official, despite the fact that many Fatah people thought it was a misstep by the president, as soon as his mind was made up to go ahead with it, they took it upon themselves to defend his decision and explain that he had taken yet another step proving he is a man of peace who wants to make peace with the Israelis.

After being demonized for many years and considered by large sectors of the Israeli public not as a peace partner but rather as a partner to unbridled incitement who promotes terror attacks, Abbas certainly demonstrated courage. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oftentimes repeated such sentiments, including at the November 2015 20-year memorial for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was Peres partner to the Oslo process. We are seeing growing incitement by the president of the PA, and this incitement is translated into acts on the ground, Netanyahu charged.

Naftali Bennett, the education minister and chairman of HaBayit HaYehudi, was even more critical. After the terror attack on a Jerusalem synagogue in 2014, he called the Palestinian president one of the biggest terrorists to come out of the Palestinian people and someone who is directly responsible for the Jewish blood that was spilled on the talith [prayer shawl] and tefillin [phylacteries].

Yuval Steinitz, the minister of national infrastructure and one of Netanyahus confidants, even pledged to expose Abbas real face just as Israel did to his predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat (who, according to Steinitz, was on the one hand speaking in favor of peace and on the other inciting terror).

The Israeli public has long been familiar with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's attitude toward Abbas and the smear campaign Liberman has waged against the Palestinian president. Liberman, whose goal is to do whatever it takes to bring Abbas term to an end, has been in charge of the Israeli Defense Ministry since May.

The efforts the Palestinian president has made during 2016 to curb the wave of terrorism in the PA have gone unrecognized by the Israeli political establishment, be it from the left or right. And such recognition and gratitude have been forthcoming only on rare occasions from the defense establishment. This lack of recognition has occurred even though there is no one in Israels defense establishment who isnt aware of Abbas contribution to calming the atmosphere and the fact that he continues to consider security cooperation with Israel sacred, as he has put it. He remains steadfast despite realizing that he is paying a stiff political price among his fellow Palestinians.

Only rarely have Israeli security officials dared to acknowledge  and even then anonymously  the role Abbas has played in calming the ground and his bona fide war on terror.

Surprised by Abbas rare gesture, most Israelis are unaware of the harsh criticism leveled by the Palestinians at their president and the fact that he is being denigrated for his security cooperation and his objection to a violent struggle against Israel. Even when former PLO Chief Arafat was at the helm, Abbas publicly opposed Arafat's policy and confronted him head-on during the fiery days of the second intifada, from 2000 to 2005. Back then, speaking against the armed struggle was tantamount to high treason.

With almost the same resolve he decided to attend Peres state funeral and did not balk at shaking hands with his rival, Netanyahu, in front of the TV cameras. Abbas was undoubtedly aware that a picture of him and Netanyahu, whose eulogy failed to mention Abbas, would be exploited by his rivals.

His attendance at Peres funeral shows Israelis to what extent they have been saturated with misleading information about the character of the Palestinian president. The delegitimization campaign spearheaded by Netanyahu, his ministers and right-wing Knesset members was designed to justify their opposition to a diplomatic process that would come at a price  handing over territories, evicting settlements and perhaps also paying a political cost.

For years Abbas has been touted in Israel as a spineless, cowardly leader. Even if he wants to champion diplomatic steps, he is not cut out for it. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon even called him a featherless fledgling.

Yet Abbas demonstrated great courage, showing that unlike his portrayal in Israel, he is not afraid of domestic criticism. If he has to embrace dramatic moves in a peace process with Israel, he will be able to follow through with determination. Anyone who is willing to supply his rivals with propaganda weapons only to pay his last respects to his partner to the Oslo process can also make brave decisions in a diplomatic negotiation.

At the end of the funeral procession, Abbas stood before Netanyahu face to face. After a brief, awkward moment, he said, Its been a long time. That was a broad hint. Netanyahu responded by saying how much he appreciated his attendance. Yet it was Netanyahus wife, Sara, who picked up the gauntlet. Wed be happy to host you in our residence in Jerusalem, she said. All we can do now is wait and see if that was mere etiquette.
October 3, 2016

BAGHDAD  Factions of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) are threatening to attack US troops that participate in the battle to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State (IS), but the Iraqi government hopes to smooth things over.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his government will work on a consensus formula to convince PMU factions of the need to involve US troops in the battle to resolve the problem as soon as possible. He also hopes to persuade Washington that the PMU is a national force of the Iraqi state and should be part of a special military system to liberate Mosul.

It seems there is a strong possibility an understanding can be reached  if the PMU is assured the United States does not intend to build a military base in Ninevah province. Mosul is the capital of Ninevah.

However, many are not convinced. Hassan al-Kaabi, a member of the PMU backing up the Iraqi government forces, rejects the presence of US troops in the battle for Mosul and believes they are not keen to help Iraqis fight terrorism.

I will fight them wherever they are," he told Al-Monitor. "They are an occupation force that pretends to be assisting us."

Kaabi joined the PMU on June 14, 2014, one day after Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for the PMU's formation. Kaabi said, Iraqis are capable of liberating their cities on their own." He is but one of the thousands of PMU fighters who think the presence of US troops does not serve the interests of the Iraqi people.

Late last month, PMU leader Rayan al-Kaldani issued a threat, saying, The PMU will be dealing with any illegitimate and foreign forces in Mosul the way it deals with the gangs of the Islamic State."

Akram al-Kaabi, the secretary-general of PMU faction Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, said, The Americans are worried about the PMU joining the battle for Mosul because  it will prevent [US troops] from establishing a base there. He added, The Americans intention is to seize the Qayyarah air base in southern Mosul.

Qais al-Khazali, the general secretary of the prominent PMU faction Khazali Network, also has threatened to kill US troops in the battle for Mosul. Michael Pregent, a former US military intelligence officer, told Fox News last month that Khazali's fighters pose a true danger to US troops. In fact, he said, most of the PMU factions that are fighting alongside US forces have fought against US forces in the past.

Pregent expects the PMU to clash with US troops, making it more difficult for the Iraqi government to liberate Mosul.

Khazali has been backed by Iran, which seems to be pushing toward preventing any US participation. Ali Akbar Velayati, the president of the Expediency Discernment Councils Center for Strategic Research, an Iranian think tank, agrees that the PMU  will not allow Washington to assume any role in the battle.

Most, if not all, PMU factions perceive the US military presence in Iraq as an occupation. The PMU also fears falling victim to US air raids, as happened last month in Syria.

An Iraqi local news website reported that US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones has warned that if the PMU acts without coordinating with the Iraqi government, the PMU might be hit accidentally during the US-led coalitions raids. A lack of coordination on the battlefronts is a new dilemma adding to other factors affecting ties between the PMU and the United States.

It is not the first time armed factions have threatened to target US forces in Iraq. Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of the Sadrist movement, said in July that any US forces present in Iraq will be targeted.

While US forces do not want to clash with the PMU, both parties will try to avoid any contact and move forward with the operations to liberate Ninevah without any problems or obstacles. Conditions and settlements shall be certainly applied in this regard.
October 4, 2016

As Turkey continues to reel in fugitive disciples of Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Sunni cleric accused of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt, a key suspect remains on the run: Adil Oksuz, an obscure theology professor who is now being touted by the ruling pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) media as the top civilian organizer of the putsch inside Turkey.

Like much else about the attempted takeover, Oksuz case remains shrouded in mystery. He was detained by gendarmerie forces on July 16 near the Akinci air base in Ankara on suspicions of participating in the coup. During his interrogation Oksuz denied any involvement, saying he had never set foot in Akinci, which served as the operational headquarters of the putschists. Oksuz was then released on strict condition that he not leave the country and has not been heard from since.

But a new warrant for Oksuz arrest was issued soon after a prominent defector from the Gulen network claimed that the academic had likely played a central role in the coup as Gulens air force imam  the person charged with recruiting for him within the air force.

A countrywide manhunt is now in full swing. Media reports suggest Oksuz may have fled Turkey.

Speculation about the man intensified when the leader of the opposition Republican Peoples Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, claimed he had information about Oksuz. Who is Adil Oksuz? Why isnt he arrested? I have an answer, of course, but I cannot share it now. I need to have documents [proving it]. I have some information, Kilicdaroglu told CNN Turk.

The evidence of his complicity thus far is a GPS tracking device that is said to have been among Oksuz personal effects when he was detained and a video showing Oksuz and his sons paying homage to Gulen at his Pennsylvania compound. There appears to be no prior connection between Oksuz and the Turkish air force.

The allegations swirling around Oksuz in the pro-government media may be something of a fig leaf. The real target may be a far bigger fish: former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who was unceremoniously booted out last year. The former academic has become something of a rallying point for disgruntled AKP members upset with Erdogans ever tightening grip, and perhaps more importantly, over being excluded from patronage networks.

The opening shot came from Duvardibi, an online news portal that is run by a small group of Erdogan loyalists and continually attacks Davutoglu. In an Oct. 1 editorial, Duvardibi claimed that Davutoglu had been discovered as a doctoral candidate by a Gulenist professor who taught at the same university that Oksuz did, Sakarya.

And that's not all. This professor, who also has a warrant issued for his arrest and is on the run, is said to have discovered Oksuz as well. If anything, such commentary sheds more light on the divisions within the AKP than on the coup itself.
October 3, 2016

ANKARA, Turkey  Late Sept. 28, the Turkish prime ministers office issued orders for the closure of 23 TV and radio channels on the grounds they backed separatist and subversive activities. The decision was based on a legislative decree issued immediately after the July 20 declaration of the state of emergency over the failed coup attempt five days earlier.

Using the decree, the government moved the same day to close down all newspapers and radio and TV stations linked to the Fethullah Gulen community, which is held responsible for the putsch. With the state of emergency ongoing, the same decree was employed once again Sept. 28, but this time it targeted media outlets that had nothing to do with the Gulenists. They were all broadcasters with overwhelmingly Kurdish, Alevi and leftist audiences. The channels were accused of spreading propaganda in favor of separatist and subversive activities and the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization, a term Ankara uses to refer to Gulen followers.

The closed channels include the music-only Govend TV and Turkeys first Kurdish-language cartoon channel for children, Zarok TV. Zaroks chief broadcast coordinator, Dilek Demiral, expressed dismay at the move to Al-Monitor. We are a cartoon channel. We broadcast cartoons from the Cartoon Network and similar channels after dubbing them into Kurdish and Zazaki. Those include the Smurfs, Garfield and SpongeBob. How could we possibly engage in separatist and subversive activities? she said.

The moment the channel was taken off the air, it was broadcasting a puppet show called The Rooster and the Cow, Demiral said. Our only objective was to make sure that Kurdish children can watch cartoons in their mother tongue. We sought to provide some remedy for Kurdish children unable to speak and learn their mother tongue. So, the closure decision inflicts an injury on Kurdish children."

The other Kurdish-language TV channels the prime minister's office targeted had news programming in their broadcasts. Judging by the scope of the decision, it seems the only Kurdish channels that were spared were those that broadcast solely music videos.

Some of the channels were not only taken off the air, but had their properties sealed. Denge TV was one of them. Channel manager Ferhat Sevim recounted what happened after their broadcast was terminated by Turksat, the countrys satellite provider, on the evening of Sept. 28. He told Al-Monitor, We came to the studio on Sept. 29, and at around 5 p.m. police and Finance Ministry teams arrived. Our lawyer examined the decree, and it included a provision for the seizure of assets. They took the inventory of the building, then sealed the section where all the technical equipment was and took away our outside broadcast vehicle. The raid has left the staff bewildered, Sevim said, adding, I never expected that. We had always maintained impartiality and abided by universal broadcasting norms.

The list of closed channels includes also TV10, which is popular with Alevis. Since Sept. 29, Alevi organizations have been holding protests, with a banner reading TV10 is the voice of Alevis, it cannot be silenced hung on the channels building. Veli Buyuksahin, the TV10 board chairman, stressed the channel was closed at the beginning of Muharram, the Islamic month held sacred in the Alevi faith. Weve come to a point where words fail, he said.

The closed media outlets may be relatively small but each has a symbolic importance for being the voice of Kurdish, Alevi and socialist groups. Their closure is perceived not only as an affront to media freedoms, but also as a threat to the very existence of each of those communities.

The protest held Sept. 29 outside the building of Hayat TV in Ankara attracted mostly people of leftist socialist leaning. Al-Monitor witnessed scores of solidarity visits by representatives of trade unions, leftist socialist parties and human rights organizations to the inside of the building. Though the channel was off the air, a program featuring leaders of the Labor Party and the Peoples Democratic Party continued in the studio broadcast via the internet. Soon, however, the online broadcast was also cut.

Hayat TV reporter Cem Gurbetoglu, who was on duty on the evening of Sept. 28, said workers learned the channel had been taken off the air from viewers who began calling the station. We then called Turksat and they told us our broadcast had been terminated in line with a Prime Ministry decision. We have received no official notification so far, he told Al-Monitor.

Gurbetoglu said he was on duty also on the night of July 15 when the coup attempt unfolded. I was on air here, reporting that a coup attempt is underway in Turkey and taking a stance on the side of democracy. The channel as a whole took a stance on the side of democracy because our [movement] is one that has suffered a lot from military coups, the journalist said. Yet the aftermath of the coup attempt has turned into an onslaught on those who stood against it, against those who defend democracy and labor. According to Gurbetoglu, the ruling Justice and Development Party has taken advantage of the coup attempt to launch a counter-coup against its opponents.

Radio Yon, one of the 11 closed radio stations, represents perhaps the most poignant irony in this latest onslaught on the media. Yon, which is popular with Alevis, broadcasting mostly folk music, was among the media outlets that the Higher Board of Radio and Television had thanked for their anti-coup stance after July 15.

In the 2 months under emergency rule, the state of press freedom and free speech in Turkey has regressed far beyond the already alarming point it stood before the coup attempt. According to the Turkish Journalists Association, more than 100 journalists have been arrested since July 15, in addition to 2,500 who were left jobless and 660 who saw their press cards canceled.

Yet seeing things only from the perspective of press freedoms and the freedom of information leaves the picture incomplete. The opposition groups protesting the governments latest move see the media closures as a matter of their own survival. These anxieties are bound to grow as the government appears in no hurry to lift the state of emergency.
October 4, 2016

In the past, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan never missed an opportunity to thrash Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling him the brutal dictator who kills his own people. These days, however, Erdogan has been noticeably low-key in his criticism of the Syrian leader as his regime pounds Aleppo and, according to independent observers, commits war crimes. It is not difficult to fathom the reason behind Ankaras reticence to take a tough line in keeping with its stance against such attacks in the past: Russia is also involved in the brutal operation against Aleppo.

During an Oct. 1 address to parliament marking the opening of the new legislative year, Erdogan only touched on the situation in Aleppo once in passing, without mention of anyone specifically while laying blame in general terms on the West.

Those countries and societies that are merely watching the brutality as every innocent life is extinguished among the ruins of Aleppo will have to account for this in the face of history, Erdogan said. He made no other reference to Aleppo although it was the topic dominating world headlines.

Erdogan preferred instead to talk at length about the Turkish military's operation in northern Syria, where it is backing fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) against the Islamic State (IS) and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara accuses of being a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Erdogan evidently does not want to endanger Ankaras recent reconciliation with Moscow after ties hit rock bottom following the downing of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey in November 2015. The plane was shot down after it strayed momentarily into Turkish airspace while on a bombing mission against Turkish-supported Syrian rebels in northern Syria.

The subsequent Russian economic embargo, implemented at the personal instruction of President Vladimir Putin, who accused Ankara of stabbing Russia in the back, resulted in heavy losses for Turkey in trade and tourism revenues and contracts, not to mention potential losses in the energy field.

The political-military costs were also high. Turkey could not fly its jets into Syrian airspace without risking a retaliatory strike from Russia, and Moscow began to openly support the PYD and YPG.

Unable to continue bearing such costs, Erdogan was forced to apologize to Putin in June over the jet incident and to extend his condolences for the pilot killed in his parachute by Turkish-supported rebels. Ankara also offered to pay compensation to the pilots family. Erdogan subsequently traveled to St. Petersburg on Aug. 9 for a summit with Putin aimed at normalizing ties.

Meanwhile, pro-government circles have begun circulating a narrative arguing that the pilot who downed the Russian jet belonged to the Gulenist movement, which is accused of masterminding the failed July 15 coup attempt. The pilot is alleged to have acted on instructions aimed at destabilizing Turkish-Russian ties in order to undermine Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Russia and Turkey are currently engaged in a high-level military dialogue, which has included a rare visit by Russias chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, to Ankara for talks on Sept. 15 with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar. During the meeting, the two sides reportedly agreed on a mechanism that would prevent them from stepping on each others toes in Syria.

On the economic front, a delegation from the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) visited Moscow the last week in September to break the ice and kick-start a new era in economic ties. TOBB President Rifat Hisarciklioglu told reporters that Putin is expected to visit Turkey in October for a meeting of the Intergovernmental Joint Economic Council.

These renewed contacts enable Ankara not only to recoup some of its economic losses, but also to regain the military advantages it lost in downing the Russian jet.

Fikret Bila, a veteran journalist and political commentator for the daily Hurriyet, talks of a military trade-off between Ankara and Moscow. The reconciliation allowed Turkish forces to enter Syria and to operate in the region from Jarablus to Azaz in the west, and south toward al-Bab, without any objections from Moscow. Turkey in return agreed not to help rebel forces in Aleppo, Bila told Al-Monitor.

He also noted that Turkeys priorities in Syria have changed, saying, What is important for Ankara now is to secure the region along its borders, and move south toward al-Bab. This is why it is relatively silent on Assad and on what is taking place in Aleppo.

Retired Maj. Gen. Armagan Kuloglu observed that the downing of the Russian jet seriously harmed Turkeys security interests by enabling the PYD to gain ground in Syria after Turkish forces were prevented by Russia from intervening in the region.

Turkey backed the wrong horse, and this enabled the PYD to entrench itself near its borders with support from the United States, Kuloglu said. We say that we support Syrias territorial integrity to prevent threats to our security, but who will secure this? Of course, the Syrian regime. We should not have been so opposed to this regime.

Kuloglu added, Cooperating with Damascus will enable Turkey to get rid of both IS and the PYD. I know that the Assad regime is bad, but what concern is that to us when Turkeys vital security interests are at stake?

Not everyone is happy with this line of argumentation, however, or with Turkeys current reticence in regard to Aleppo. Galip Dalay, a foreign policy analyst for the daily Karar, which is close to the AKP, believes Turkeys policy of opposing Assad was correct and contends, There is no evidence that shows that giving up on this policy will guarantee Turkeys security interests.

Dalay also questions the morality of Ankaras current position on Aleppo, where, he says, Russia is actively applying the Grozny model. He added that the re-establishment of the alliance with Russia is why the Turkish media is barely discussing the massacre and barbarity in Aleppo.

Whether Ankara can ultimately rely on Moscow in containing the PYD remains a big question. Russia has allowed the group to open an office in Moscow and has not designated it a terrorist organization. It has said in the past that the Syrian Kurds must be represented at any peace talks.

Turkey and Russia also remain at odds over other issues, including the Crimea Peninsula. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic expressed regret this week after Russias Supreme Court confirmed a lower court ruling declaring the Crimean Tatar parliament to be an extremist organization and banned its activities.

Bilgic said Turkey would continue to support the Tatars, a remark undoubtedly noted in Moscow with dissatisfaction. Bilgics relatively mild criticism of Moscow was nevertheless noteworthy and indicative of how far Ankara is prepared to go in criticizing Russia at the moment.
October 3, 2016

WASHINGTON  Saying its patience with Russia has run out, the United States formally announced Oct. 3 it was suspending its bilateral engagement with Russia on Syria, a decision the United States said it did not take lightly. While the United States was withdrawing its personnel from Geneva and Amman, Jordan, where they had been sent to oversee a partial Syria cease-fire deal reached in March, the United States will continue to talk to Russia in multilateral settings, and de-confliction channels would continue to operate, it said.

The United States spared no effort in negotiating and attempting to implement an arrangement with Russia aimed at reducing violence, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement announcing the decision Oct. 3.

Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments  and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence, Kirby said. Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course  as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas.

The US decision came after American and Russian officials held talks all weekend in Geneva on ideas for reviving the Syria cease-fire, which collapsed last month, and as US Secretary of State John Kerry held multiple phone calls with his Russian counterpart in recent days. The deals failure has been followed by a punishing, unrelenting Syrian regime and Russian air assault on eastern Aleppo that has leveled hospitals, bakeries and apartment buildings, and killed and wounded hundreds of civilians in the enclave that is home to an estimated 250,000 people, shocking many in the West with its savagery.

It is outrageous, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said of a reported air attack with bunker buster munitions that leveled east Aleppos M10 hospital Oct. 3. It is unconscionable, an outrage.

There is "nothing more for the US and Russia to talk about" in Syria, Earnest said. "Everybody's patience with Russia has run out.

We felt we came to a point with Russia where we were not reaching the same goal, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told journalists at the State Department press briefing Oct. 3.

Russian officials, apparently anticipating the coming US announcement, lashed out at Washington on Oct. 3, saying the Syria cease-fire had collapsed because the United States had not fulfilled its obligation to separate the Syrian moderate opposition from al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra (now named Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) in the seven days before a truce collapsed Sept. 19, after suspected Russian or Syrian strikes on a UN aid convoy.

But Trudeau said the United States had been working hard to talk to opposition groups about the importance of separating themselves (or demarbling) from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, but knew that such a separation was not going to occur overnight  and not under bombardment.

The US continued to have detailed ongoing discussions with members of the opposition emphasizing our view on the importance of demarbling, Trudeau said. Our view on that is that Jabhat Fatah al-Sham is al-Qaeda, a terrorist group. As we said, it was never going to be fast and we were working hard on that goal.

The US view is that if opposition groups were attacked, they have a right to defend themselves, Trudeau added.

Separately, the Defense Department said Oct. 3 that it had conducted a drone attack targeting a senior Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and al-Qaeda figure in Syria and was assessing the result. Jabhat Fatah al-Sham confirmed the death of Ahmed Salameh Mabrouk (Abu al-Faraj al-Masri) in a US airstrike in Idlib on Oct. 3, Syria expert Charles Lister said.

Acknowledging the Pentagon strike targeting the leader, the White Houses Earnest expressed a sense of bitterness as he jibed at Russia for lamely claiming credit for successful US operations to take extremists off the battlefield. Over the last seven months, Russia does not have a single counter [Islamic State] objective they have been achieving, he added.

The suspension of US efforts to work with Russia to try to end the Syrian civil war comes as US-Russian relations seem to be deteriorating on multiple fronts, amid US suspicions that Russia has been behind high-profile cyberattacks against the Democratic National Committee and other US electoral entities, and as Russias recent bombing against heavily populated areas in Syria has shocked many in the West with its utter disregard for international humanitarian law.

Russia in turn railed at Washington for what it said was threatening behavior.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree Oct. 3 withdrawing from a US-Russian arms control accord on decommissioning weapons-grade plutonium, accusing the United States of unfriendly acts.

"Unfortunately, recently the United States has taken a number of unfriendly steps toward Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Oct. 3. In particular, on far-fetched pretexts Washington imposed economic and other sanctions on Russia. NATO and the United States started military buildup near Russian borders. The United States and its allies openly  without holding back  are talking about adopting a containing policy toward Russia. They even threaten Russian cities with terror attacks," Lavrov added.

I think we are entering a period of heavy brinkmanship, a former Russian diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor by email Oct. 3.

The suspension of [the plutonium] agreement as such is not immediately threatening, but there is a lot of ire in Moscow and pressure to make them feel the heat, the former Russian envoy said. I am afraid we would continue to observe crescendo on both sides."

He added, Yet I am not expecting a sudden eruption of all-out war."

Washington, too, is under pressure to react to perceived Russian provocations, former US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said.

The administration seems to think there is no damage to US credibility worldwide in constantly being rebuffed, publicly and aggressively, by Moscow, Ford, now a fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al-Monitor Oct. 2, before the United States announced the decision to suspend Russian engagement.

It has no plan B or C or D for Syria, even as the media images keep haunting the waning hours of the administration, Ford said. Thus, the administration has no incentive to stop knocking, however forlornly, on Moscows door.
Text and Photos by Anna Mazurek

This story appears in Birmingham magazine's October 2016 issue. Subscribe today!

Deep in West Texas is a tiny little town called Marfa. It's so small that it doesn't even have a proper stoplight. But every weekend the former railroad town comes alive and attracts crowds and celebrities like Beyonce for two reasons--the art and most importantly, the food.

On a Friday night at the Museum of Electric Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour, life-changing grilled cheeses are served up inside the quirky eatery. The venue is only open on weekend nights. It's packed with people and vintage TVs. (At press time, it was being remodeled, and is expected to reopen in October.) Just down the way is another funky venue: Planet Marfa, an eclectic bar with a courtyard centered around a teepee.

The best way to kick off a Saturday morning is with a breakfast burrito at Marfa Burrito, a favorite of Matthew McConaughey. Everything--including the tortillas--is made from scratch. Be prepared to order in Spanish and pay cash. Another great breakfast joint is Squeeze, a colorful cafe with a patio that serves up excellent waffles and homemade soups. For lunch, stop by Food Shark's Mediterranean-inspired food truck for a slow-roasted pork and okra sandwich--you won't regret it.

Dinner options include the airy Capri restaurant located at the funky art-deco Thunderbird Hotel. The menu varies nightly but features staples including fire-roasted chicken and duck. Grab a beer with the locals at the Lost Horse Saloon, a dive bar with pool tables and a fire pit.

In between meals, explore the local galleries and art installations that put Marfa on the world art scene.

Exactly how does a town with a population of just under 2,000 become a mecca for art? Well, in the 1970s, famed minimalist artist Donald Judd moved to town from New York City in search of a location to permanently install his work and founded the Chinati Foundation, a contemporary art museum located on a former military fort.

Columbus Day (October 10 this year) weekend is always Chinati Weekend, one of the biggest events of the year. The foundation offers free admission for all exhibits and hosts lectures, special exhibitions, and a benefit dinner. Every gallery in town is open late the Friday before as part of the Made in Marfa event.

One of the most famous art installations, known as the Prada Marfa, is actually 37 miles west of town on Highway 90. It is a non-profit project by the Ballroom Marfa gallery and features a replica of a Prada store including shoes and bags donated by Muccia Prada.

This weird, funky little town gets even weirder: The mysterious Marfa Lights, first documented in 1883, are visible on clear nights. Between Marfa and the Piasno Pass, balls of light appear at random, move, and fade. There is a viewing station nine miles east of town on Highway 90.

For some shopping, drop by Cobra Rock Boot Company to watch Colt Miller and Logan Caldbeck make western-inspired leather boots by hand and inquire about their waiting list. There storefront is only open on Saturdays and features a selection of leather goods. Around the corner is Mano Mercantile, a well-designed space run by a pair of artists that features an amazing collection of life-sized jack rabbits made from a variety of scavenged fabrics, leather, and other materials.

Part of Marfa's charm is the sleepy small town appeal. Call ahead for hours for all galleries and restaurants. Many close at random and change locations on occasion. Remember, it's all part of the adventure.

Where to Stay

Always dreamed of sleeping in a teepee? El Cosmico can fulfill your wish. The 21-acre campground features furnished tents, trailers, and teepees for rent. If those fill up, then bring your own tent!

How to get to Marfa

The most amazing places in the world are amazing because they aren't easy to get to. Marfa is located deep in West Texas and is roughly a six to seven-hour drive from both San Antonio and Austin. The nearest airports are El Paso and Midland, which are both three hours away. Plan some extra time to visit Big Bend National Park and McDonald Observatory, which are less than a two-hour drive away.

Marfa Festivals

Chinati Weekend: Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the museum's founding on October 7-9

Marfa Film Festival: Five-day film festival with outdoor screenings held every July

Marfa Lights Festival: Labor Day weekend at courthouse grounds

Marfa Myths: Art/music event co-run by Ballroom Marfa and the Brooklyn-based record label Mexican Summer in March

Trans-Pecos Festival: A music and arts festival held at El Cosmico every September

Details

Anna Mazurek is a freelance travel writer and photographer. Follow her adventures on TravelLikeAnna.com and on Instagram at @annamazurekphoto.
Here are the top stories in Alabama business for Monday, Oct. 3, 2016:

(Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com)

Golden Flake's sale is complete, and the iconic Birmingham brand is no longer Birmingham-owned.

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A privately-owned Birmingham company is seeking dozens of employees to fill federal and industrial construction jobs in the Huntsville area.

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Another new-to-Huntsville fast casual restaurant will open next year at Bridge Street Town Centre.

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The Transportation Security Administration spotted a loaded pistol this morning at the security checkpoint of Huntsville International Airport.

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Five Alabama coffee shops are bringing a little Stars Hollow to you.

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A prominent South Alabama attorney who represents the Mobile County Commission is set to receive upwards of $6 million dollars as part of a land deal that will bring retail colossus Walmart to Alabama.

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Bass Pro Shops will acquire a major competitor early next year. The retailer said it will purchase Cabela's for $65.50 per share in cash, or approximately $5.5 billion.

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Follow all of Alabama's business news here anytime.
More than 70 employers as well as the armed forces will be seeking workers at a job fair in Pelham on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016.

The event will go from 9 a.m. until noon at the Pelham Civic Complex at 500 Ampitheater Road in Pelham. Job seekers should bring resumes and dress professionally. All ages, education levels and skill sets are encouraged to attend.

A wide variety of industries will be represented, from hotel and food service to healthcare to media.

Employers who have committed to attend include: the Birmingham Police Department; Buffalo Rock; CVS distribution and retail; St. Vincent's; Auto Zone; Regions Bank; ACIPCO; Schneider Trucking; Shelby County Sheriff's Department; T-Mobile Call Center; UAB; Waffle House; Wells Fargo; Alabama Department of Corrections, and others.

Positive Maturity, the City of Pehlam, Employ Support for Guard Reserves, the Alabama Career Center, the Shelby County Reporter and FM 97.7 The PEACH are sponsoring the fair.

Positive Maturity organized a similar event in Gardendale in April, where more than 70 companies participated.
Every first time mom-to-be worries about making the best decisions for her baby.

Miriah and Adam Brink are expecting their first child in November. (Courtesy photo)

Should we choose a doctor or midwife? What kind of crib and car seat should we use? Is the swaddle blanket we received at the baby shower safe enough?

Miriah Brink and her husband, Adam, always wanted children, but when they learned they would be parents this fall, it came as a surprise. Miriah, who is pursuing a second degree in general business from the University of Alabama, is due Nov. 12 with a baby girl and the time cannot pass quickly enough.

The Shoals couple recently launched a company so they can spend more time with their daughter, but also to give back and create positive change within the community. Their focus? Handcrafted, Alabama-made swaddle blankets.

The inspiration behind Southern Swaddle came after Miriah read a few bad product reviews about blankets that were inconvenient or causing safety issues with little ones. Miriah, who also prefers to buy made in America products, said it was nearly impossible to find a manufacturer that fit the bill.

"I was discussing my concern with Adam when he suggested that we just try and sew our own," she told AL.com. "We decided that we could research swaddles and come up with a design that would best fit our needs. It started as something we wanted to make for us, but then we thought why keep it to ourselves?"

The Brinks spent a lot of time digging through swaddle reviews during the research and design process. Adam, a search engine consultant for Leapforce, said they were going to develop a smarter pouch swaddle with zippers and Velcro before deciding to keep it simple with a straightforward swaddle blanket.

The Southern Swaddle blanket will come in three colors: baby blue, light pink, and soft yellow. (Courtesy photo)

Unlike many companies that import fabric from outside the U.S., Southern Swaddle uses a breathable, moisture wicking material made domestically.

"We consider it a better alternative to muslin," Adam said. "Muslin is very thin and flammable, and must be treated with fire retardant to be sold. Do you trust the overseas companies to seek out chemicals that are sustainable and safe for your baby? Neither did we."

Adam said his mother has sewn prototypes for Southern Swaddle from the start, but they plan to work with a woman in Mountain Brook to produce the blankets in the future. They also have plans to sell a pouch swaddle, but Adam said the process will take many more months of testing and research.

Miriah and Adam launched a Kickstarter campaign this week to raise $3,200 for Southern Swaddle. Funds collected through the crowdfunding effort will assist with the costs of fabric, hang tags, labels, sewing labor and promotional materials to be given out with each pledge.

"We chose to use Kickstarter because it will give us the freedom to create a brand unaffected by investor interest or bad debt," Adam said. "Investors can sometimes have a focus only on the profit, which can lead to cutting corners and using cheaper materials. There are too many businesses that have started out with a huge monthly loan payment and have failed because of it. We want to start out as lean as possible, so that success will follow our persistence."

The material is 100-percent polyester and made in the United States. (Courtesy photo)

The couple's relationship dates back to high school when Miriah and Adam were "really good friends ... but never really dated or made things official." Their friendship grew even stronger and eventually became a romance when they moved to Tuscaloosa in 2011 to attend Alabama. After four years of dating, the Brinks finally said, "I do."

The young entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future of Southern Swaddle, which they hope to expand to include a full bedding line, array of infant sleeping products and showroom to display their products. Adam said they will have a small research facility that will innovate solutions to consumer needs through big data and focus groups.

They also hope to work with moms and doctors across the South to lower the infant mortality rate, which is high in Alabama.

"In five years, I see Southern Swaddle as a household name when it comes to swaddles and baby bedding products," Miriah said. "We are working really hard to get a quality product out that we really think parents will love and I think that will take us far in the market."
Walmart will expand its Neighborhood Market concept this week with a new store on Jordan Lane Southwest in Huntsville.

Walmart will open a Neighborhood Market store on Jordan Lane in Huntsville on Oct. 5, 2016.

The big-box retailer will launch a 41,000-square-foot store at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday on 2305 Jordan Lane. The location, which employs 95 full- and part-time workers, has an on-site fuel station, deli, pharmacy with drive-thru and free store pickup service for customers who shop on Walmart.com.

Manager Iris Gonzales runs the small-format store, which isn't as large as a typical Supercenter but provides produce, meat, baked goods, personal care items and other staples. Prospective employees can apply for positions at the store's hiring kiosk or on Walmartcareers.com.

Louis J. Morris Elementary, Spay/Neuter Action Project (SNAP), the Huntsville Community Drumline and Huntsville Fire Department will receive a combined $6,000 in grants during the grand opening Wednesday. A larger public event will take place Oct. 8-9 with free food while supplies last.

Walmart, which generated $482 billion in revenue during fiscal year 2016, currently has 11,527 stores under 63 banners in 28 countries and more than 2.3 million associates. Last month, the company said it will eliminate about 7,000 back-office positions from its U.S. workforce in the coming months.

The accounting and invoicing job cuts will affect all of Walmart's 4,600 stores, including locations in Alabama. The number of associates per location will vary, but no more than three positions per store will be affected.

In January, Walmart shut down nine Alabama locations, affecting 500-600 jobs throughout the state. The closures were part of a larger plan to shutter 269 Walmart stores across the world, including 154 in the U.S.

A spokesman said more than 400 associates were able to transfer to other stores. Dozens of associates also took severance in lieu of transferring to another store or elsewhere within the company.

Keep up with other Walmart news from AL.com here.


Fat Sam's collage.jpg

Salman Shatara opened Fat Sam's Sub Station in March 1990 at 1154 11th Ave. South in Birmingham, Ala. Mr. Shatara died May 18, 2016, from complications following a car wreck. (Left photo by Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com; right photo courtesy of the Shatara family)

Fat Sam's Sub Station, a favorite of UAB students and faculty for 26 years, is closing following the death of its beloved owner earlier this year.

Salman Shatara, affectionately known as "Fat Sam" to his longtime customers, died in May from complications following a car wreck.

Since then, Shatara's oldest son, Mitri, has kept the sandwich shop running with the help of his employees, but the family has decided to close the shop so that Mitri and his brother, Salman II, can finish their college educations.

The final day for Fat Sam's Sub Station will be Saturday, Oct. 15.

"I'm taking five classes at UAB and working a full-time job already," Mitri Shatara said in an interview with AL.com this morning. "I just don't have time to be there and be as active as a boss needs to be.

"After sitting down with my mother and my brother and discussing it, we decided to let it go," he added. "It was not any easy decision.

"They say you can't do business with your heart. If I was doing business with my heart, we would be staying open. But I'm doing business with my head."

The family is not interested in selling the shop to a new owner, he said.

Mitri Shatara, who is studying history and business administration at UAB, plans to graduate this coming spring and hopes to attend law school. His brother is studying graphic design at the University of Montevallo and is also scheduled to graduate this spring.

Their father opened Fat Sam's Sub Station in March 1990 after he moved to Birmingham from San Francisco.

"My dad, as many parents do, wanted us to go on and do better than he did," Mitri Shatara said. "He told me he didn't want us involved in the business. He wanted us to go on and get careers and have more than he had.

"I've always wanted to be a lawyer, and that's what he wanted me to do -- follow my dreams."

Fat Sam's Sub Station is located at 1154 11th Ave. South, in a retail center on the southwestern fringe of the UAB campus.
Calcedeaver Elementary School in Mount Vernon, 40 miles north of Mobile, is featured in a story in the Sept. 28 edition of "Education Week" that trumpets the school's transformation over the past 15 years, despite many obstacles the students face.

The school, which is composed mostly of MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, a tribe based in Mobile and Washington counties, was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2006.

"More than a decade after the praise began rolling in, the school remains a beacon, not only for its success in teaching students the three R's, but also for its focus on what could be called the three H's--heart, home and hope," the article states.

Bryan Brayboy, director of the Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University, is quoted as comparing Calcedeaver to a unicorn, because of its almost mythical turnaround.

Among the solid results at Calcedeaver is the graduation rate at Citronelle High School, which, at 91 percent, is one of the highest in Alabama. More than 90 percent of its students now score "advanced" or "proficient" on the state's reading and math tests.

Calcedeaver students moved into a new, $10.5 million building in 2015, just as Laura Hittson arrived as principal.

Alumna Nicole Williams, who now teaches Native American culture, language, dance and history at the school, is featured in this video on the "Education Week" website:
The U.S. Court of Appeals Monday upheld a 2014 decision by the National Labor Relations Board that employees can unionize at Alabama's Mercedes-Benz plant, even as it struck down a portion dealing with when and where information can be shared.

While the key provisions of the ruling - that employees are free to solicit other employees in certain areas of the plant - stayed intact, the ruling agreed with Mercedes that the original decision was overly broad in defining where those areas are.

Specifically at issue were the plant's 19 Team Centers, which are employee gathering spots scattered across the plant and used for meetings as well as breaks. Mercedes considers those to be work areas.

15 of them are immediately adjacent to the production line and all are adjacent to the plant's logistics line, an indoor path used by forklifts to transport parts, according to the decision. Centers not immediately adjacent to the production line are between 10 to 60 feet from the production area.

The company's policy has been to treat the team centers as work areas when production is running, and as non-work areas when it is halted. Production is stopped for 30-minute meal breaks, 10-minute shift breaks, and briefly during shift changes.

The original case stemmed from an incident in June 2013 when an employee went to his team center and distributed copies of a pro-union flyer to other off-duty employees. He was later told by two employees that he was not permitted to distribute material while the production line was moving.

He was not disciplined, and the conversation was described in the court ruling as "polite and non-threatening."

In the decision, the court stated the original order was made to apply to other team centers when it may have only applied to the center where the incident happened.

George Jones, president of UAW Local 112, hailed the decision.

"MBUSI has spent years interfering with its employees' rights to organize," Jones said. "It's overdue time for the company to abide by federal law and live by Daimler's globally respected Principles of Social Responsibility."

In a statement to IndustryWeek, Mercedes parent company Daimler said it was pleased the court had determined its policy of when and where to distribute documents was "reasonable."

"This litigation has been ongoing since 2013, and we are pleased the court upheld our position to not allow distribution of union literature in the team centers during working hours," said Jason Hoff, President of MBUSI, in a statement. "We cannot compromise team member safety by allowing distribution while the production line is running, and we are gratified the court agrees with our position," Hoff said.

Marcel Debruge, a Birmingham lawyer representing Mercedes, said the ruling was important because it affirms that the company is neutral to union organizing. In fact, the court ruling states "MBUSI has a policy of strict neutrality with respect to unionization but maintains rules regarding solicitation and distribution of non-work related material by employees on MBUSI property."

Debruge called the decision "a big win" for the company in that it "protects the culture of the team centers."

"No one's rights have been interfered with," Debruge said. "No one has been prevented from doing what they want at Mercedes. It's just a way to cast the company in a false light and paint a picture that it hasn't been neutral, when in fact it is."
Sylacauga Police said officers responded to a fight at the high school on Monday that could be related to an assault of a student on Friday night.

Chief Kelley Johnson said the minor altercation occurred at Sylacauga High School during lunch time. The one who initiated the fight had friends with him who were filming the incident, he said. The victim's friends stopped the fight before police arrival.

Although no one was arrested, Johnson said school officials will punish the attacker academically. The victim's parents are pursuing charges, police said.

The victim in Monday's fight is a friend of Brian Ogle, the 17-year-old student who was assaulted at a hardware store Friday night. Ogle was sent to Coosa Valley Medical Center with multiple head injuries and was later transported to UAB.

Johnson said no one has been arrested for Friday's assault, but investigators did speak with the district attorney to discuss charges and present evidence.Up to eight people were involved in Ogle's assault, which Johnson believes was racially motivated.

"Black former students are the ones that assaulted the white victim in the parking lot," Johnson said. "All because of postings that were being made on social media."

Johnson said Ogle's condition is improving, but he is experiencing a lot of discomfort.

"He is talking to friends and family members, but he does get sedated because of the pain."
The day East London stood up to the far-right and took on Oswald Mosleys Black Shirts.

London, United Kingdom  Uncertain, turbulent times: the far-right on the rise in a fractured, fearful Europe and in Britain, a chilling wave of xenophobia and attacks on immigrants and refugees.

The circumstances may strike a chord with us today. But this was London at the height of the Great Depression, when gangs of black-shirted fascists brought fear and violence to immigrant communities, and one violent, dramatic day of barricades and riots would become mythologised as the Battle of Cable Street.

On October 4, 1936, the charismatic leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), Sir Oswald Mosley, set out to march 5,000 of his uniformed Blackshirts from the Tower of London to the heart of the immigrant communities of the East End. In the mid-1930s, the borough was mostly Irish and Jewish [PDF]. Today, it is home to Londons largest Muslim community.

It was to be a triumphant march for Mosley and his fascist legions. The aristocratic former Member of Parliament would march through London and then fly straight to Berlin to marry the famous socialite (and fervent Nazi) Diana Mitford. Their wedding would be at the home of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, with Adolf Hitler as the guest of honour.

Max Levitas, now 101 years old and still living close to Cable Street, was there on October 4, 1936, with his brother and father. They stood with tens of thousands of Londoners packed into the narrow streets of the East End, waiting behind police lines and improvised barricades.

Eighty years on and sitting in his modest home on nearby Sidney Street, Max recalls one of the most dramatic yet often overlooked days in 20th century British history.

We had to stop Mosley and his fascists. We had to ensure these racists could not terrorise the people and march through the East End, says Max.

There were huge crowds. Everybody was shouting: Cmon lads, were going to go out and stop them. They want to march  were not going to let them. We stood together; we fought back, he recalls.

A fight against European fascism

In 1936, fascism was on the ascendency in Europe. Civil war had just broken out in Spain. In Britain, the Daily Mail newspaper, whose proprietor Lord Rothermere was an early admirer of Italys Benito Mussolini and Hitler, had carried a front-page headline proclaiming, Hurrah for the Blackshirts.

The Daily Mail editorial, written in 1934 by Lord Rothermere himself, eulogised Mosley and his fascist movement of some 40,000 men as the powerful alternative to the weak democrats who had failed in the face of the Great Depression, stating: The new age requires new methods and new men.

Rothermeres admiration for the BUF cooled as they got involved in violence and civil unrest. On that October day, 80 years ago, Mosleys BUF was still on the fringe of British politics. But fear and paranoia were in the air.

READ MORE  Oldham: United across racial divides to fight poverty

Posters pasted to walls all over London proclaimed the march through the Jew-ridden and communistic streets of Stepney and Whitechapel. The Blackshirts had already brought violence and intimidation to the narrow dockside streets, crowded with immigrant Irish dock workers, who had fled poverty and famine in their native land, and a huge Jewish population, recent refugees from the Tsarist pogroms and upheaval in Eastern Europe.

On the day of the march, the response was the mobilisation of the immigrant communities of the East End, together with British trade unionists and leftists, to stand against Mosley with barricades, bottles, bricks and fists. Figures for the crowds who opposed the Blackshirts vary dramatically, but historians agree that it was in the many tens of thousands.

Irish dockers, Christians, Jews, socialists, union men, communists. We all joined together to fight, says Max.

Mosley had official permission to stage his demonstration. But the thousands of policemen, including many on horseback, swinging batons as they charged the crowds, could not force a path through the barricaded streets.

And in what has been celebrated as a rare, if not unique, victory against European fascism before the Second World War, the people of the East End stopped the British Blackshirts in their tracks, forcing Mosley  who had been giving the Nazi salute from his open-topped Rolls-Royce limousine  to beat an ignominious retreat.

A myth partly based on reality

The 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street will be marked with a series of events this October, and the streets in which the clashes took place are today marked with many commemorative plaques and signs as well as one of Londons biggest street murals.

However, while it remains a shining moment for the British Left, some, such as Daniel Tilles, a historian and specialist on British fascism in the 1930s, believe the events have been mythologised over time.

There is a myth but it is partly based on reality, says Tilles.

On the day itself, it was a great victory for the anti-fascists, who greatly outnumbered the Blackshirts and stopped them from marching through the East End of London.

But Mosleys deliberate aim had been to provoke counter-violence to what was a lawful demonstration. In a way, he got exactly what he wanted. It allowed him to portray what happened as immigrants, aliens, violent communists stopping British citizens from exercising their lawful right to demonstrate.

In the months after Cable Street, British Jews suffered far greater violence, intimidation and abuse than they had beforehand, So Cable Street unleashed this wave of anti-Jewish violence and abuse and gave the fascists a boost in popularity.

READ MORE: Oldhams Chai ladies tackle racism after Brexit

Tilles says that those who opposed the fascists in Britain learned important lessons from Cable Street: that it was better to organise politically, to infiltrate the far-right groups, gather intelligence and deny them the sense of victimhood that came with confronting their actions with counter-violence.

Just like Mosley in his day, the far-right today thrive off that sort of conflict; it gives them media attention, it helps them to sustain this victimhood narrative, and when its ethnic minorities, Jews in the 30s or Muslim communities today, violence helps them to reinforce that narrative and the prejudices these groups want to exploit and spread, he adds.

Fiyaz Mughal is the founder and director of Faith Matters, a charity which works for interfaith understanding and against radicalism in Britain and in countries including Pakistan, Egypt and Syria.

Mughal also believes that Cable Street has important lessons for those combating racism and radicalisation today.

Ive been involved in anti-racism for 15 years or more, but Ive been aware of Cable Street from a young age. It has always resonated with me, as a person who is of a minority who came to the UK, he says.

Mughal has recently set up Tell MAMA UK  a social-media based service which records and highlights racist incidents. And he says he has seen a very sharp spike in hate crimes, intimidation and abuse based on religion and ethnicity since the Brexit vote.

It is impacting greatly on Muslim communities such as those in the East End. And the main type of Islamophobia reported there are comments made from passing cars to Muslim women. We have also had far-right groups such as Britain First demonstrating there, he says.

The level of fear within Muslim communities has risen rapidly. Those being targeted most are Muslim women, because the way they dress makes them visible. It is causing fear and resentment. You have today, as you did in the 1930s in the same area, different communities becoming isolated, becoming fearful.

And when people are isolated and fearful, when they believe they are being victimised, there is the danger of some becoming more open to the message of those who want to radicalise.

Mughal believes that there are important lessons to be learned from the violence in the East End in the 1930s.

They are pretty clear. We have given, as a society, extremist groups the opportunity to promote hatred and intolerance, he says.

Cable Street shows us that we cannot stand by. We must work extremely hard, be proactive, use intelligence gathering, outreach into communities, devote resources and support for those being targeted, to combat extremism on all sides.

What the events of 1936 did was rouse people and ensure that they focused on using many ways to isolate and fragment the far-right. We must do the same with all extremist groups who would threaten us today.

For the British fascists of the 1930s and those who opposed them, Cable Street was in many ways the high-water-mark of street violence and confrontation. Oswald Mosley did get married in Berlin, but was jailed at the start of World War II and faded into obscurity afterwards.

The Irish and Jewish communities mostly left the East End in the post-war era, to be replaced by new immigrant communities, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia and the Far East. The streets themselves are also changing quickly today as gentrification takes hold.

However, with racism and Islamophobia on the rise across London and the UK, it seems the tensions and dangers of 1936 still echo through the decades.
Emotions ran high in the streets of Bogota as referendum results came out.

Bogota, Colombia  On Sunday, the Colombian people voted against a peace deal designed to end a 52-year war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Voters cast their ballots, answering Yes or No to the question, Do you support the accord that puts an end to armed conflict and constructs a stable and durable nation?

Polls had predicted the peace deal would pass by a large margin, making the 50.2-percent victory by the No camp an upset that shocked much of the country.

Emotions ran high in the streets of Bogota, where Colombians gave their reactions to the vote and their thoughts on the future of the country.

Juan, 22



Juan brought his camera to document what he thought would be a joyous rally celebrating the end of the conflict. Instead he became part of a crowd that grew quiet as the results came through just minutes after the gates to Plaza de Bolivar had been opened.

I expected a Yes. For 50 years, No has had the power. The results came through so quickly  it seems a little suspicious.

Whats next? The FARC believe in the Yes, they gave their weapons away. Its hard to know what will happen  I just have sad people in my camera.

It gives me a little hope that some areas where the FARC were strongest voted Yes. But theres no collective conscience in Colombia. Most of the people are very individual. Were split.

Lorena Castro, 55



Lorena voted No, and was vocal about it. She disagrees with amnesty provisions the FARC would have been given under the deal, but is more adamantly against President Juan Manuel Santos government, which she sees as corrupt. She held a sign condemning the deal and arguing with those in support of the accord. Lorena thought she would have to protest throughout the night  she expected the vote to pass.

Im absolutely surprised! If Yes had won, this scene would have been much different.

I voted No because justice wont ever be welcome in this very bad country, this unfair country. The government is so corrupt, I could not vote for this deal. There is no justice.

Diego, 18



Like many in Plaza de Bolivar, Diego stood silently stunned by the outcome of the referendum. As the sun set, he grabbed a Colombian peace flag and took to the square, yelling and openly weeping, calling for Colombians to find common ground and ultimately, peace. Saddened and outraged, Diego said he thought the Yes campaign might fail.

Im not surprised. Last night I was at what we called a BBQ Plebiscite, where my friends got together to discuss the vote.

I realised that the people voting Yes were not very clear, but the people voting No were very clear on their arguments. I knew then that it wouldnt pass.

I dont know whats going to happen next.

Leonel Moreno, 53



Leonel served for 26 years in the Colombian Air Force, and voted against the deal. Hes happy with the way things turned out.

People who voted Yes think the people who voted No are voting for war. I dont want war! Who wants war? But I dont want guerrillas going straight from the mountains to the Congress. No. If they want to be in the government, they can enter an election, have the people vote for them and be elected democratically just like everyone else.

I dont 100 percent believe the FARC. I dont really mind if they dont go to jail for their crimes, but five seats in each house? No. I cannot support that. I cannot hand over Colombia to the FARC on a silver platter.

Mario Carvajal, 24



An hour or so after the results came in, a group of protesters came through Plaza de Bolivar dressed in white and carrying white flags. They marched to a road blocked by barricades and guards, and after about 20 minutes they were let through, running with their flags to the house of President Santos. As supporters of the peace deal, they chanted and cheered in support of the president, a main proponent of the peace agreement.

Mario, who worked with the Javerianos por la Paz movement in support of the referendum, stood comforting some of his crying friends as they surrounded the presidential mansion.

This is a long battle. Im tired of living under the same circumstances, 52 years of killing each other. The plebiscite is more than being pro-Santos  its bigger than any one person. We must work together to get to the peace we so want and desire.

I believe FARC will continue on a peaceful route. Its a setback we have to be able to pass. We cant forget the ultimate goal is peace for the country. If we forget that, well be back where we were.
How Afghan leaders deal with the security crisis, amid their own internal disputes, will determine Afghanistans future.

David Kilcullen is a senior fellow in the Future of War Program at New America.

Afghanistans two key political leaders  President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah  today meet European Union representatives, 70 donor nations and 20 international organisations in Brussels, to review progress and agree on future assistance.

As the Brussels conference gets under way, Afghanistan is increasingly fragile. Ghani and Abdullah jointly head the National Unity Government (NUG), which is now reaching the end of its second year. But in a recent interview, former president Hamid Karzai directly questioned the NUGs legitimacy.

The political agreement that created the NUG requires a constitutional Loya Jirga (grand assembly) to decide on a change of political system, from a presidential to a parliamentary model, by the end of its second year.





Likewise, the NUG was supposed to undertake electoral reform and hold parliamentary elections. But as the two-year deadline passes, none of these conditions has been met. Political opposition groups are relishing these failures, trying to further weaken the government.

Early elections

Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi, a prominent opposition politician, has suggested early elections as the only solution. NUG leaders have instead pushed a new reform agenda, promising to fulfil 30 commitments by the end of 2016.

Beyond the political sphere, Afghanistan remains vulnerable in security terms. A renewed Taliban offensive threatens city centres in the northeast and south, while Islamic State has emerged in the countrys east.

OPINION: No consensus in Afghanistan on how to deal with Taliban

The provincial capital of Kunduz, in the northeast, has been under near-continuous siege for more than a year, briefly falling to the Taliban last October, while Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, is almost encircled and Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan, came dangerously close to falling to the insurgents last month.

Ordinary Afghans, the ones legitimising the government through high turnout in elections, accept the current system and support the state. by

How NUG leaders deal with the security crisis, amid their own internal disagreements and weakening legitimacy, will determine Afghanistans future.

Most Afghans still prefer the post-Bonn order that has governed Afghanistan since the Taliban. People prefer a democratic state, despite its inadequacies.

Ordinary Afghans, the ones legitimising the government through high turnout in elections, accept the current system and support the state. Thats why the NUG, as a symbol of the first peaceful transition of political power in Afghan history, should continue for its constitutionally defined term.

Even its strongest political opponents  groups such as the Enlightenment Movement  agree that the NUG must serve its full five years. A government collapse would set Afghanistan back, running the risk of a return to its brutal past. To address these challenges, the NUG needs to focus on bolstering its legitimacy.

In the past 15 years, reactive tactics and short-term solutions dominated Afghan government thinking. Both Afghan leaders and the international community invested primarily in insurgent-dominated population groups and violence-affected provinces through developmental projects and security programmes.

Pakistani-centric foreign policy

The idea was not to focus on the majority of citizens who support the government, but to win over the minority who dont. This red-centric approach was partly to blame for the rifts that have appeared between the government and the people over the past decade.

Ghani and Abdullah continued the same approach, adding a Pakistani-centric foreign policy in their first year in office. But this futile methodology must change.

The Afghan governments key source of political legitimacy is the majority of the Afghan population who continue to support the state despite all its challenges.

OPINION: 9/11: Afghanistan still at the mercy of myopic policies

Through a people-centric  or, we might say, a green-centric strategy, the NUG would focus on delivering nationwide services comprehensively, seeking to reward and integrate the majority of Afghan citizens who support the state, rather than trying to win over the minority who support an expanding insurgency.

In foreign policy, just as in its internal security, Kabul has traditionally invested much political capital on winning over Pakistan ... by

In foreign policy, just as in its internal security, Kabul has traditionally invested much political capital on winning over Pakistan, gaining support from China and reinvigorating a failed peace process, with consequences that can be described as mixed, at best.

Ghani trusted Pakistans political goodwill gestures, failing to understand, or preferring to ignore, the real Afghan affairs doctrine of Pakistan.

The Pakistani military Green Book, which underpins Pakistans foreign policy towards Afghanistan, was updated in 2013, and indirectly treated Afghanistan as its primary enemy. With this doctrine in place, it is hard to see a strategic change in Pakistans vision towards Afghanistan.

Moreover, Afghanistan faces the challenge of managing conflict security interests of regional and international players. Until 2014, NATO member states, along with key non-NATO coalition members such as Australia, were the key players engaged in security affairs of Afghanistan.

But since then, major economic players such as China and Russia have become increasingly involved in the security arena. Managing these conflicting states interests in Afghanistan is challenging and the country needs a more focused foreign policy. Thats why the NUG should not put Kabul in the circle of conflicting security interests of major players.

Despite the daunting list of challenges, Afghanistan is changing for the good and there is every chance of a positive future.

But multilateral domestic development is time-consuming, and with an increasingly active insurgency actively threatening cities across more than two-thirds of the country, there is no doubt that Afghanistan remains in dire need of international support.

This support should be conditional, requiring ongoing reform and development efforts, but despite all the difficulties, a strong international commitment is a must for the future of the country.

Forgetting Kabul, or treating Afghanistan as a burden on the international community increases the risk of a catastrophic collapse, as we saw in Iraq in 2014, or at the very least a backsliding that would wipe out current achievements and might lead Afghanistan back to the chaos of the pre-9/11 era.

Neither the world as a whole, nor Afghans  the overwhelming majority of whom reject a return to that disastrous past  can afford that outcome.

Waliullah Rahmani is director of the Kabul Centre for Strategic Studies. A former senior adviser to the Afghan government, he has worked on terrorism, insurgency and Islamic movements in South Asia since 2006.



David Kilcullen is a senior fellow in the Future of War Program at New America. A former Australian infantry officer, he served in Afghanistan in 2006-2008 as a US State Department adviser in support of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts, and from 2009 to 2012 worked as a consultant on stabilisation and reconciliation programmes.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
What the US lacks and desperately needs is not a political but a moral education for its corrupt and dangerous leaders.

Recently the former New Mexico governor and Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson has found himself in some quite embarrassing situations.

What is Aleppo? he wondered when asked on a television interview to share his thoughts on the dire circumstances in Syria. The interviewer was incredulous. But that was indeed the answer. He had no clue what  let alone where  Aleppo was or is.

The embarrassment was repeated again a few days later when Johnson was asked to name his favourite foreign leader and he was unable to name a single head of state.

Go ahead, you gotta do this, the interviewer insisted. Anywhere. Any continent. Canada, Mexico, Europe, over there, Asia, South America, Africa. Name a foreign leader that you respect.

Johnson could not.

I guess Im having an Aleppo moment, he finally confessed.





The New York Times, the tall bastion of normative neoliberalism in the US, gleefully reports such embarrassing incidents, obviously hoping they will help the rush of people to vote for its favourite corporate icon Hillary Clinton.

Such ignorance and illiteracy is not limited to those aspiring to the highest political office of this land.

We know that at least 30 million American adults cannot read, said The New York Times in a recent op-ed.

But the current presidential election may yet prove that an even bigger part of the citizenry is politically illiterate  and functional. Which is to say, they will vote despite being unable to accept basic facts needed to process this American life.

OPINION: US presidential debate  Hillary versus Hillary

The moral of such stories is that Hillary Clintons rivals and those who might opt to vote for them are ignorant people.

What do you know?

These criticisms might indeed be true and put to good liberal use. But suppose everyone from Gary Johnson to Donald Trump and his supporters are all dumb and illiterate  then what?

The astonishing ignorance of this clumsy and dysfunctional empire is far more calamitous than an off-Broadway candidate not knowing where Aleppo is or cannot name any head of state. by

The key question is not what they do not know. Far more critical is what those of whom The New York Times and the rest of the neoliberal literate establishment approve do know, and how do they know what they know, and to what use do they put what they know.

No doubt Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton can identify scores of world leaders and know perfectly well where Aleppo is. But has the world at large or Syria in particular benefited from that knowledge?

We can be fairly sure Obamas drones dropping bombs on people anywhere in the world are equipped with state-of-the-art GPS to the smallest villages in Pakistan to Syria to Libya so they can target them well. But he still manages to kill more innocent people than he does terrorists.

So what good does his GPS-equipped knowledge of geography do for the people at the receiving end of his drones?

The astonishing ignorance of this clumsy and dysfunctional empire is far more calamitous than an off-Broadway candidate not knowing where Aleppo is or cannot name any head of state.

The problem is with what their smart and knowledgeable leaders actually do know, how they know it, the whole regime of knowledge they have learned and internalised through their wicked think-tanks and native informers who keep feeding them rubbish and telling them what they want to hear and not what they need to know.

By scandalising someone like Gary Johnson for not knowing what he ought to know, The New York Times & Co are celebrating those who do know, meaning people such as Obama and Clinton, and with that celebration is the tacit endorsement, approval, and authentifying of the kind of knowledge they flaunt.

Not political but moral education

Far more dangerous than ignorance is when you take, camouflage, and sell your moral obliviousness as political knowledge. What difference does it make if you dont know where or what Aleppo is compared with where and what Jerusalem is?

Barack Obama gives a speech praising his friend Shimon Peres in Jerusalem and he thinks he is in Israel, before he goes back to Washington and has to cross the word Israel from the top of his White House stationery where he had made this ignorant blunder.

OPINION: The garden of Americanly delights

On the very same land where Obama stood and staged his eulogy for his friend Shimon Peres, human suffering soars from Gaza to Palestinian refugee camps. To this he has been completely blind, deaf, and indifferent. What nauseating knowledge of geography and world leaders is that?

Just within earshot of his waxing eloquence about a war criminal, Zionist settlements are mushrooming with his full knowledge and financial support.

The man he knew well and could name as his most favourite foreign leader was chiefly and singularly responsible for vastly expanding those ugly and vulgar settlements.

The man instrumental in transforming the Zionist wet dream into a racist apartheid garrison state he compares to Nelson Mandela.

Ill take Gary Johnsons ignorance of foreign leaders and distant cities over that kind of familiarity and knowledge any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Obama's moral ignorance is far worse than Johnson's political ignorance. by

What the US lacks and desperately needs is not a political but a moral education for its corrupt and dangerous leaders. You will not see a sleeker operator and more refined Chicago politician than Barack Obama for quite some time, yet he stood there for more than 23 minutes and with barefaced vulgarity spoke of a vicious ideology of land theft, ethnic cleansing, and incremental genocide of Palestinians as a beacon of justice and hope, regurgitating the historic Zionist lie of making the desert bloom. He ignored which settler colony sits over 200 nuclear bombs, courtesy of his friend Shimon Peres, and charged his brutalised victims as the Arab youth [who] are taught to hate Israel from an early age.

What wicked knowledge predicated on what depth of moral depravity is that?

This is no longer just sanctioned ignorance, as the Indian scholar Gayatri Spivak has correctly called it. This is far worse. This is transvalued ignorance, ignorance celebrated as knowledge, ignorance transformed into false and murderous intelligence, an Orwellian knowledge, successfully elevating a moral destitution into a militant banality.

Obamas moral ignorance is far worse than Johnsons political ignorance. Obama stages his worldly knowledge and political eloquence with the spilt blood, broken bones, demolished homes, uprooted olive trees, tall and thick apartheid walls, and stolen lands of Palestinians.

Compared to Obamas vicious knowledge, Johnsons innocent ignorance is positively saintly.

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policies.
The outcome of the referendum on the peace accord may be shocking but it is largely a result of domestic politics.

Just last week, western media was praising the Colombian peace agreement. Four years of negotiations in Cuba, commentators noted, had finally put an end to a 50-year conflict between the government and the left-wing rebel movement Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and involving various right-wing paramilitary groups and narco cartels that had claimed an estimated 200,000 lives, and displaced five million people.

The negotiators had hammered out a 300-page document, and on September 26, Colombian officials and FARC representatives signed an accord in Cartagena, in front of foreign dignitaries including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry.





When Colombias President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, the leader of the FARC, shook hands, jets flew overhead trailing smoke in the yellow, blue and red of the Colombian flag. The upcoming referendum on the accord, pollsters predicted, would be a resounding Yes.

Peace process in limbo

And yet on Sunday the pact was rejected  50.21 percent to 49.78 percent, a difference of 53,894 votes  in a referendum that has thrown the peace process into limbo.

The result while shocking, is not inexplicable. The vote was largely a result of domestic politics.

Colombia referendum: Peace deal with FARC rejected

For all the backing that Santos managed to secure at the international level  from Washington, the European Union, Pope Francis and several Latin American states  he failed to build domestic support, and to persuade Colombians of the merits of the accord.

Moreover, he was sharply out-manoeuvred by former President Alvaro Uribe, who led the No campaign, bringing together various conservative actors, in a sign that perhaps the right is making a comeback in Colombia, just as it resurged in Brazil and Argentina.

For months now, critics of the accord have argued that, by granting amnesty to FARC, the agreement secured peace at the expense of justice.

The accord would have granted amnesty to rank-and-file FARC fighters  who would be disarmed by the United Nations  as well as to commanders who ordered atrocities.

The latter would have to confess their crimes in front of a special tribunal, and then do community service. These commanders would have their movement restricted for some years, but would not have to serve a prison sentence.

Critics of the accord have argued that, by granting amnesty to FARC, the agreement secured peace at the expense of justice. by

Critics also noted that implementing the deal and integrating former fighters into Colombian society would have cost the Colombian government an estimated $31bn to $90bn over the next decade.

Furthermore, to help transform the 5,800-strong rebel army into a political party, the accord also reserved five seats in both houses of Colombias Congress in the 2018 election for a four-year term.

Eating toads

Over the past few months, opposition to the accord was publicly expressed in Colombia.

Im voting No because the FARC have been untruthful in the whole process, stated Enrique Celis, who believes his brother-in-law, a Colombian soldier, was kidnapped by the FARC in 1990, This deal doesnt get a real justice or reparations for the victims.

Colombia: Government, FARC scramble to save peace deal

Santos has fully acknowledged the compromises he made. He compared the peace negotiations to eating toads  but insisted that an amnesty was the only way to get the rebels to lay down their arms.

Denunciations of the amnesty formed the crux of Uribes opposition to the agreement. Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010, had, with US President George W Bushs support, launched a military campaign against FARC.

Uribe endorsed Santos as his successor, but became a strong critic when the Santos embarked on peace negotiations with the FARC. Last year Uribe, launched his No campaign, travelling across Colombia arguing that the deal offered amnesty to war criminals.

Uribe also took advantage of the unrest in neighbouring Venezuela, warning that the agreement if approved could bring narco-chavismo to Colombia, and give cartels a greater role in national politics.

He also cautioned that the accord would choke Colombias already struggling economy, and stated that allowing the FARC to become a political party would pave the way for a far-left government.

The conservative politician successfully tapped a widespread hatred of the FARC, and fear that the rebel army could simply transmute into myriad criminal organisations involved in extortion and narcotics.

A geographic depiction of the referendum shows that the no side got most votes in areas where Uribe and his Democratic Centre party have their strongest support.

National dialogue

Shortly after the results appeared, FARC announced that it would abide by the ceasefire, which has held for a year now. On Monday, Santos, called for a new national dialogue convening all political groups, including the opponents of the deal.

In a televised address, he had asked former vice president Humberto de la Calle  the governments chief negotiator who earlier had offered his resignation  to begin discussions as soon as possible.

The message that Colombians who voted No, sent on Sunday, was not for a return to armed conflict, but for a deal that is not so generous to the rebel group.

No voters want FARC commanders to face prison time for their crimes, be banned from entering Congress and surrender ill-gotten land and money. These are the demands that Santos, who has staked his legacy on the peace process, will now try to extract from the rebel side, in face of greater domestic opposition and international scrutiny.

Hisham Aidi is a Harlem-based writer. He teaches at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Government opens new national dialogue after voters reject proposed peace deal with FARC in a shock referendum result.

Colombias government has started a national dialogue to seek peace with the FARC Marxist group, as both sides scrambled to revive a historic truce accord in the wake of a shock referendum defeat for the deal.

President Juan Manuel Santos held an emergency meeting on Monday with nearly all of Colombias political parties to try and chart a way forward, a day after voters narrowly rejected the hard-negotiated deal as too lenient on the rebels.

After the talks, Santos said he had asked the governments chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, to begin discussions as soon as possible addressing all the necessary issues to have an agreement and realise the dream of every Colombian to end the war with the FARC.

INSIDE STORY: Can peace in Colombia be saved?

De la Calle had earlier offered his resignation, saying he did not want to be an obstacle to what comes next.





Both Santos and Rodrigo Londono, the top FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, put a brave face on the referendum setback after four years of negotiations in Cuba.

They vowed to maintain a ceasefire and keep working together, even though that could be another lengthy and complicated process.

I will keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term, said Santos, who leaves office in mid-2018.

In a statement, the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, said it would remain faithful to the accord and called on Colombians to mobilise peacefully to support the terms of the existing agreement.

The group also said it was prepared to fix the rejected deal, adding that the result does not mean the battle for peace is lost.

Senate President Mauricio Lizcano said that those who took part in the meeting at the presidential palace in the capital, Bogota, supported Santos in an attempt to salvage the peace process through renewed dialogue with a specific timeline and concrete results.

Not tough enough

But Santoss top political rival, former president Alvaro Uribe, who led the opposition to the deal during the referendum campaign, was notably absent from Mondays talks.

Instead, his far-right Democratic Centre party issued a statement saying that it was ready for dialogue and asking the country to take note of its reasons for the No vote.

READ MORE: Colombians divided after voters reject FARC peace deal

Uribe and other opponents say they support the peace process but believe the accord was not tough enough on FARC.

The deal would have allowed the groups leaders to serve in Congress, with a guarantee of 10 seats, and serve reduced sentences for crimes committed during a 52-year-old conflict that killed at least 220,000  concessions opponents say went too far.





International reaction

Any renegotiated peace accord now seems to depend on whether FARC could accept tougher sanctions against them.

No voters want assurances that the rebels will hand over drugs, spend time in jail, and earn their political future at the ballot box rather than get guaranteed, unelected seats in Congress.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who had offered a UN team to oversee the disarmament process, said he had urgently sent his Colombia envoy to Cubas capital, Havana, where the four-year talks have been held, for new consultations.

In a joint statement on Monday, several Latin American governments also expressed their continued support for the peace process in Colombia.

The surprise referendum defeat of the deal should not be interpreted as a rejection of peace, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay said.

Rural-urban split

The peace deal had been hailed as historic from the time it was concluded on August 24 to the moment it was signed last week in Cartagena in the presence of Ban and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Opinion polls had showed the Yes camp well ahead, and negotiators had said there was no Plan B in the event of a No vote.

But voters rejected the agreement by a razor-thin margin: 50.21 percent for the No camp to 49.78 percent for Yes.

Voter turnout was low at just over 37 percent.

Although a referendum was not required to adopt the deal, Santos insisted on holding one to ensure its legitimacy.

The deal broadly split the country between those who have experienced the war first-hand and those who have mainly watched it on the news, experts said.

The rural world, which has lived through the conflict, bet on peace. The urban world said No, Ariel Avila, of Colombias Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, told AFP news agency.

Because urban Colombia didnt live through combat, air strikes  it doesnt see the need for making concessions to the leftist rebels, Avila said.
Controversial agreement allows the EU to forcefully return any number of failed asylum seekers back to Afghanistan.

The European Union has struck a tentative deal with Afghanistan to return an unlimited number of Afghan asylum seekers with a conference to start in Brussels aimed at securing international financial aid for the war-torn nation.

EU officials, however, have denied that aid pledges would depend on the Kabul government accepting the return of tens of thousands of Afghans from an overstretched Europe.

This agreement allows for the repatriation of failed asylum seekers from EU member states. There could be tens of thousands of them, Al Jazeeras Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said.

It allows planeloads of up to 50 failed asylum seekers [the EU] wants returned to Afghanistan, and that the Afghan government must accept them and repatriate.

EU member states last Thursday endorsed the plan to pave the way for signing the deal in the run-up to the Brussels aid conference starting on Wednesday.

The European Council, which represents the 28 EU member states, said the deal reflects the commitment of both sides to step up their cooperation on addressing and preventing irregular migration, and on the return of irregular migrants, who do not fulfil the conditions for staying in the EU.

READ MORE: Fighting rages in Afghanistans Kunduz for second day

Like other parties to international treaties, the EU is legally obliged to admit people fleeing war and persecution, but can turn back people classified as economic migrants.

Al Jazeeras Naeve Barker, reporting from Brussels, said the deal had been seen in some circles as something of a condition, and perhaps Afghanistans hand has been forced  largely because of the insecurity on the ground there  to agree to a situation that would see potentially tens of thousands of people returned.

Amnesty Internationals Horia Mosadiq said international and Afghan rights groups were quite appalled at the secret deal, and many viewed it as some sort of blackmail.

Yesterday, when I spoke with one of the officials in Kabul, he told me that it was a poisoned glass that we had to drink because of the future of our country, she told Al Jazeera.





It is concerning that there is no upper limit to the number of refugees that can be deported, and more concerning is the security situation in Afghanistan that is deteriorating every day.

We already have more than 1.2 million internally displaced people, with over three million refugees living in Iran and Pakistan that are also in danger of being deported back to the country.

The EU, faced with its worst migrant crisis since World War II, has already come under fire for a deal with Turkey to take back Syrian asylum seekers from Greece in return for billions of euros in aid.

EU officials last week denied linking aid to migrant returns after the leak of an EU memo in March suggested that financial pledges would be made in return for Afghanistan accepting 80,000 asylum seekers deported from EU countries.

One anonymous Afghan government told Al Jazeera the government felt pressured to sign the deal.

They said it was a rather diplomatically put polite threat, and that perhaps if it werent signed before the Brussels conference, it could affect the level of aid that Afghanistan gets, said Al Jazeeras Glasse.

EU Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic declined to comment on the memo and said EU work to implement the deal will respect international standards.

Among those attending the aid conference formally starting on Wednesday will be US Secretary of State John Kerry, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and European Council President Donald Tusk.
The decline of main socialist party prompts emergence of far-left groups offering fresh alternatives for October vote.

Rabat, Morocco  A new wave of radical left-wing parties in Morocco is growing, with emerging groups offering fresh political alternatives to the main socialist party, which is in a state of decline.

The rise of the far left comes after a dramatic fall in electoral support for the Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP), the countrys main leftist party and a genuine opposition force in the 1970s and 80s, and amid the extreme fragmentation of Moroccos left, exacerbated by ideological differences and diverse stances on issues such as the constitution, monarchy, elections, and social and economic reforms.

The USFP used to pride itself on being the party of the educated and the urban. Its electoral base is now restricted to districts with high rates of illiteracy.

The beginning of the fall started when USFP decided to join subsequent coalition governments between 2002 and 2011, but failed to play a substantial role.

READ MORE: Morocco election  everything you need to know

The other leftist party, the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), has been part of several coalitions, including the outgoing government led by the Islamic PJD party, despite fundamental ideological differences. PPS is now seen as an establishment party and is no longer considered to represent the ideals of the left.

According to Driss Maghraoui, associate professor of history and international relations at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, the logic of leftist parties is to change the political system from within. But for many Moroccan socialists, this was not the case.

Ultimately [the USFP] and the PPS ended up changing themselves but not changing the system, hence losing their legitimacy, Maghraoui told Al Jazeera.

Ali Sedjari, UNESCO human rights chair and professor of juridical science at Mohammed V University in Rabat, said the decline of the left is a global phenomenon and blames globalisation for the weakening of socialist movements.

Globalisation has diffused the global [socialist] movement, Sedjari told Al Jazeera, and public politics today doesnt divide itself into conservative and socialist. Public politics has no ideological colour.

The inferior electoral support of the USFP and the absence of bold progressive strategies from the PPS pave the way for far-left parties to emerge, despite their weak electoral performances so far.

The Democratic Left Federation (FGD), a coalition of three far left-wing parties  the Socialist Democratic Vanguard Party, the National Ittihadi Congress Party, and the Unified Socialist Party (PSU)  is building momentum to form a left-wing political force.

The FGD is backed by some members of the 20 February Movement, a group behind street protests in 2011 calling for social justice, and by the influential Moroccan Association of Human Rights.

Despite the difficulties in reaching out to Moroccan voters, the coalition has managed, as its first step, to generate enthusiasm among left-wing activists and offer a glimmer of hope for the left.

Female trailblazer

One of the FGDs rising prominent figures is Nabila Mounib, secretary-general of the PSU  one of few female trailblazers in a male-dominated political scene.

For some, Mounib symbolises hope for democracy in a country which, according to many experts, suffers from corruption and widespread apathy.

She was one of the first to criticise King Mohammed VI when he accidentally pardoned a Spanish paedophile whod been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

She was vocal about her wish for Morocco to become a parliamentary monarchy, in which the king has only nominal power.

After boycotting the 2011 elections to protest against a lack of transparency, the PSU participated in the 2015 local elections and is again hoping to gain ground in this months vote.

Many criticised Mounib and PSU for participating in electoral politics, saying it is a sign of the partys acceptance of the government.

But for Mounib, the tactic of changing the system from the inside is a way to achieve her ultimate goals.

My country needs intellectuals, needs dedicated people, in politics, in civil society  people capable of fighting for the preservation of the public interest, Mounib told Al Jazeera.

For me, its a goal of democratisation, a goal of modernisation, a goal of solidarity, a goal of social justice, a goal of equality. I think its a very beautiful cause that merits our engagement.

INTERACTIVE: Morocco votes  the voices of the people

The number of women elected in Morocco still does not meet the countrys minimum 27 percent quota, according to Emma Welford, a Rabat-based member of the International Republican Institute, which trains political parties in democratic processes.

The key will be for other women to take inspiration from women like Nabila, to have the confidence that they too can be a leader, Welford told Al Jazeera.

Mounib said one of her main ambitions is to combat apathy and provide a clear platform.

Im someone who is ambitious for my party, for my country. I want our struggle to evolve the political system in Morocco, she said.

With more than 30 parties to choose from, many of which have no clear platform, voters seem to be turning to religion and nationalism to guide their political choices, UNESCOs Sedjari said.

Referring to what Mounib offers and symbolises, as a female politician with a clear vision and platform, Sedjari said: We need many Nabila Mounibs.

Story done in collaboration with Round Earth Media. Hajar El Kahlaoui contributed reporting.
Afghan forces say Taliban pushed from city centre but fighting continues for city that briefly fell to group last year.

Afghan forces say they have regained control of Kunduz city centre from the Taliban, but heavy fighting continued in and around the provincial capital for a second day.

Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, Kunduzs police chief, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that hundreds of Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes and that the group was cleared from the centre of the city.

The ambitious assault on Kunduz came almost exactly a year after the Taliban briefly captured the city in one of its biggest successes in 15 years of fighting.

The attack in Kunduz, as well as Taliban gains in areas of Helmand and Uruzgan where they also threaten provincial capitals, has underlined the groups growing strength and exposed weaknesses in the government, which is meeting foreign donors in Brussels this week to try to secure billions of dollars in extra aid.

Al Jazeeras Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said one major problem facing Afghan forces was that Taliban fighters had infiltrated residential areas and in many cases homes, making it difficult to distinguish between civilians and the Taliban.

Witnesses say gunfire can still be heard around the city, that battles are going on from street to street as the Afghan special forces try to get the Taliban out, Glasse said.

They have largely put themselves in civilian areas. The Taliban do have some civilian sympathisers in Kunduz, which made their move into the city a little bit easier.

NATO, which is backing Afghan forces in with air raids, implied in a tweet that they had the upper hand in the battles, saying the government controls Kunduz city.

US Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis, though, described the situation as fluid.



Analysis: Why Kunduz matters

Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for the NATO-led mission in Kabul, said in a statement: Our Afghan partners are responding to the increased Taliban activity within the area, and US forces have multiple assets and enablers in the area to provide support.

Taliban in empty streets

According to local officials, clashes continued on Tuesday in areas near the police headquarters, the governors compound, and the National Directorate.

Zar Gul Alimi, a provincial council member from Kunduz, said: there is fighting going on in district 1 and district 3 of Kunduz city.

She also said that overnight on Monday the Taliban had managed to move fighters into the compounds of the Afghan Red Crescent Society and the counter-narcotics police and that they were currently involved in gun battles with Afghan forces.

Footage posted by the Taliban on social media appeared to show fighters in Kunduz walking around empty streets, describing how they had captured army strongholds and taken prisoners.

The authenticity of the footage has not been verified.

The fighters appeared to have slipped through a defensive security line set up around Kunduz, entering the city from four directions before fighting broke out, witnesses said.

As the clashes spread, senior officials, including the provincial governor and the police chief, abandoned the city for the airport.

On Monday, Taliban fighters also stepped up attacks in different parts of Afghanistan, including in Helmand, where they are threatening the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

Positioned just across the Helmand river from the city centre, they took control of Nawa district to the south, killing a district police chief, officials said.

Heavy fighting also continued along the main road to Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan, also in the south, where a Taliban raid on September 8 sparked fears of another collapse.
At least seven dead as fiercest Caribbean storm in a decade hits Cuba after slamming Haiti on its way toward the US.

Hurricane Matthew has lashed eastern Cuba after the deadly storm ploughed through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, triggering mass floods and leaving at least seven dead, a US-based monitor said Tuesday.

Northern eyewall of extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew already pounding the eastern tip of Cuba, read the latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center issued at 2100 GMT.

The Category 4 storm, the strongest in the Caribbean in nearly a decade, cut across the southwestern tip of Haiti earlier on Tuesday, uprooting trees and tearing roofs from homes in a largely rural corner of the impoverished country.

At least one fisherman reportedly drowned off the Haitian coast as the storm closed in, and four deaths were recorded in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, bringing the hurricanes death toll in the Caribbean to at least seven.

READ MORE: Hurricane Matthew storms towards Haiti and Jamaica

Matthew inflicted major damage across Haiti, though the extent was not immediately clear, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the countrys Civil Protection Agency.

Its much too early to know how bad things are, but we do know there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed or damaged in the south, Jean-Baptiste said.

Al Jazeeras Teresa Bo, reporting from Haitian-Dominican Republic border, said the situation was very serious especially in the southern part of Haiti.

The hurricane has wrecked homes and hit transport and communication in the western hemispheres poorest country, which is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake.

A crucial bridge connecting the southern part of the country to the capital Port Au-Prince has collapsed, Bo said, adding that it is likely to hamper aid delivery to the affected areas.

Many streets were flooded or blocked with fallen trees throughout the southwestern peninsula. Rivers surged with muddy water as heavy rain fell. Local radio reported that the water was shoulder-high in parts of Les Cayes, close to where the storm hit shore.

Haitian authorities had tried to evacuate people from the most vulnerable areas ahead of the storm, but many were reluctant to leave their homes. Some sought shelter only after the worst was already upon them, making their way through debris-strewn streets amid pounding rain.

READ MORE: Atlantic hurricane season flickers into life

Many people are now asking for help, but its too late because there is no way to evacuate them, said Fonie Pierre, director of Catholic Relief Services for the Les Cayes area, who was huddled in her office with about 20 people.

The UN dubbed the Category Four hurricane the worst humanitarian crisis to hit Haiti since the devastating 2010 earthquake which killed more than 200,000 people.

Haiti is facing the largest humanitarian event witnessed since the earthquake six years ago, Mourad Wahba, the UN Secretary-Generals Deputy Special Representative for Haiti, said.

Late on Tuesday, the storm moved along the Windward Passage between Haiti and Jamaica, where it dumped heavy rain that caused flooding.

The centre of the storm is projected to pass about 80km northeast of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Forecasters say Matthew could hit the US state of Florida toward the end of the week before pushing its way up the east coast over the weekend.

Cubas government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces, and workers removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to keep them from falling.

In the US, Florida Governor Rick Scott urged residents along the states Atlantic coast to prepare for the possibility of a direct hit, and the Red Cross put out a call for volunteers in South Carolina.
Residents of Haitis southwestern peninsula are bracing themselves for a long night of dangerous rain and catastrophic storm surges, as the strongest Caribbean storm in nine years began bearing down on the country.

Hurricane Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm packing 230k/h winds, was due to pound the western tip of Haiti early on Tuesday, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Life-threatening rain, wind and storm surges had begun to spread over parts of the country as Matthew approached, the centre said in a 09:00 GMT advisory on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Hurricane Matthew storms towards Haiti and Jamaica

Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks frantically sought shelter as the outer bands of the cyclone had already reached the countrys southwestern areas late on Monday.

Dozens of houses were flooded in the town of Les Anglais when the ocean rose, according to the local mayor, while strong winds caused power outages in Les Cayes, on the southern coast.

We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter, Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre told Reuters news agency.

In Tiburon, another town nearby, authorities said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also fled when the sea rose.

Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult, mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

The storm is forecast to spread hurricane force winds and up to three feet of rain across denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince.

This is the most vulnerable suburb in the area. Here people are going about organising things, we know that the hurricane is coming, Afou, a volunteer at a childrens home in the Cite Soleil slum in the capital, told Reuters.

If things are bad then we will come together, said Afou, who only gave his first name.

The Mayor of Cite Soleil, Frederic Hislain, said 150,000 people whose homes were threatened needed to be bused to safer places, but accepted that many people would not want to leave. Poor Haitians are often reluctant to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their belongings will be stolen.

The cyclone comes at a bad time for Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas and where 80 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Tens of thousands of people in the country still live in tents after a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

Cholera introduced by UN peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on October 9.

The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

Regional threat

Warnings and watches were in effect across the Caribbean, with five provinces of Cuba as well as parts of south-eastern and central Bahamas and Haiti under a hurricane warning.

Cuban authorities have evacuated about one million people from coastal regions, while the US Navy has ordered the evacuation of about 700 non-essential staff from its base at Guantanamo Bay.

Matthew is forecast to sweep over Cuba to the Bahamas on Tuesday and possibly reach the US state of Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present.

Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.
Armed group announces death of Ahmed Salama Mabrouk in Syria, shortly after Pentagon says it targeted him near Idlib.

A US-led coalition air strike has killed a senior leader of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, the group has announced, shortly after the Pentagon said it targeted him near Idlib.

Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known as Abu Faraj, was martyred after a coalition air strike in the west of Idlib province, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said in a statement on Monday on the Telegram app.





Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed that a US strike near Idlib had targeted Mabrouk, describing him as one of al-Qaeda in Syrias most senior leaders and a legacy al-Qaeda terrorist who previously had ties to Osama bin Laden.

However, officials are still assessing the results to determine whether he had in fact been killed in the air raid, Cook said in a statement.

Born in 1956 in the suburbs of Cairo, Mabrouk was known as a veteran al-Qaeda leader, and a commander of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the group formerly known as al-Nusra Front that changed its name after cutting ties with al-Qaeda in July.

The Pentagon spokesman said that Mabrouks death, if confirmed, would disrupt and degrade coordination among senior AQ leaders and extremists.

The United States military will continue to target al-Qaeda leaders to disrupt their operations and counter the threat posed by this terrorist group, he said.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham split in July from al-Qaeda, a move analysts said was aimed at easing pressure from both Russia and the United States.

However, US military officials do not consider the group to have truly broken with the Osama bin Laden-founded group.

We are aware of al-Nusras announced name change. The individuals that are there are still Nusra to us, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

Theres obviously close affiliations to al-Qaeda, he added.
Even after five years of brutal civil war, members of Antakyas Alawite community stand behind the Syrian president.

Antakya, Turkey  As he discusses the war in Syria, Gunes speaks rapidly, his brow creased into a scowl.

A Turkish Alawite who runs a quaint, bustling cafe in the old city of Antakya, he lambasts the international community for portraying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a monster.

The real monsters are fighting in his land. What do you expect him to do? Gunes told Al Jazeera, speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retribution.

They say Assad bombed and massacred his people, but its not true  Yes, hes bombing Aleppo, but hes bombing the terror groups who hide behind innocent people and use them as human shields, he said. If you dont bomb them, they will kill more soldiers.

OPINION: Inside Bashar al-Assads mind

After Syrias civil war erupted more than five years ago, members of Antakyas Alawite community poured into the streets to voice their support for the Assad regime, rejecting global calls for the Syrian president to step aside amid a massive public uprising.

The city, with a population of more than 200,000 people, is located in the Turkish province of Hatay, about 150km north of Syrias Qardaha, home to the Assad dynasty. The Assads also belong to the Alawite sect of Shia Islam. Most of Turkeys Alawites, estimated to number around one million, live in Hatay  and many say they feel they have been marginalised within Turkish society.

I've heard some Syrians say we don't just need one Assad - we need 100 Assads to fight this. by Selcuk, 35-year-old Alawite from Antakya

As the war in Syria grinds on, with Ankara backing Syrian rebel fighters, the Assad regime and its Russian allies have been accused of mounting atrocities and violations of international law. But while residents say the prevalence of pro-regime demonstrations in Antakya has dwindled in the years since 2011, many members of the Alawite community privately maintain their support for Assad.

In Syria before, healthcare, education  these were free, and now people cannot access any services. The opposition terrorists have destroyed everything, said Selcuk, a 35-year-old Alawite from Antakya who would not provide his last name for fear of retribution.

Ive heard some Syrians say we dont just need one Assad  we need 100 Assads to fight this, Selcuk told Al Jazeera.

The residents of Hatay who remain in the pro-Assad camp are typically bound by ethno-religious loyalties or by the fact that they still have family members in regime-held areas of Syria, local journalist Akin Bodur told Al Jazeera.

Many different religions, cultures and nationalities  from Turkmens, to Christians, to Sunni and Shia Arabs  populate the Hatay region, he said, noting that activism on both sides has been on the downturn in recent months. There have been just a handful of pro or anti-Assad protests in 2016, compared with dozens in years past, he said.

People are used to hearing about the war in Syria  They are simply living with it, Bodur said, noting that for the pro-Assad camp particularly, it may be that Russias involvement started to affect the level of support. Assads supporters prefer to remain silent [since] they dont want to be seen as supporting an international war.

Unver Tumer, a 30-year-old Turkish Arab who works in Antakyas medical industry, noted that while Alawites in the area tend to support Assad, people of other backgrounds are more likely to sympathise with the moderate Syrian opposition.

I believe that no president should stay for more than two terms  Assad should work with the opposition to create a real, national government for the country, he told Al Jazeera.

The last public demonstration of support for Assad that Tumer could recall took place months ago, and drew just a few dozen people. But to Mufeed Haroon Khattab, a 64-year-old who fled to Antakya from the western Syrian city of Hama in 2012, the notion of continuing support for Assad at any level is incomprehensible.

He is a criminal and a dictator who has massacred Syrians, Khattab told Al Jazeera, noting that when he first arrived in Antakya four years ago, some Turkish Alawites lashed out at him, saying: You say you want freedom, but you sold out your homeland to the West.

[Assad by Mufeed

is a criminal and a dictator who has massacred Syrians.]

As hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have flowed into Hatay over the years, however, the political climate has improved, he said. They have realised it is in their interests to treat us well, Khattab surmised.

According to Hakan Mertcan, an associate professor at Mersin University with expertise on Turkeys Alawites, the communitys support for Assad is unlikely to falter in the months and years ahead, as the sect has felt increasingly targeted by and isolated from Syrias opposition movement.

Nobody can convince the Alawites that [Syrian rebels] will bring democracy, Mertcan told Al Jazeera, noting that Alawites continue to view Assad as the assurance symbol of Syrian unity, multiculturalism [and] secular life.

READ MORE: Syrian civil war  Running from a nightmare

Back inside a breezy restaurant in a quiet residential area of Antakya, Selcuk described the Syrian war as a financial game in which a disorganised array of armed fighters  many non-Syrian  have been angling to seize power.

If it was a real political movement, [Assad] would have stepped aside by now. But its not. We cant call a bunch of people killing and beheading others a revolution, he said, accusing Western powers of pushing for regime change in Syria in order to bolster their own economic interests in the country.

The Syrian army is fighting imperialism around the world  Five years ago, many people said Assad must go, but after seeing the situation in Syria  hunger, displacement  they are more supportive.

Gunes maintains that many Alawites in Antakya share similar views  and while he continues to live, work and engage in lively debates with people across the citys religious and political spectrum, he appears immune to criticism of the Syrian regime.

The media says Assad broke the ceasefire. This is not true. Assad [might have bombed] the aid convoy, thats true, but  they could have hidden anything in there, weapons even, Gunes said, rationalising a bombing that even Assad himself has denied carrying out.

Khattab, whose brother was among thousands of people tortured in the prisons of Assads father, suggests that such attitudes are the result of blind loyalty in the face of ugly truths.

When Bashar came [into power in Syria], we were initially optimistic, because he was not his father, he said. But it turned out he was the same.

Follow Megan OToole on Twitter: @megan_otoole
Philippine president suggests he may eventually break up with America after US criticises his bloody anti-drug war.

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte has told President Barack Obama to go to hell in response to the US leaders criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign, suggesting he may eventually decide to break up with America.

Instead of helping us, the first to criticise is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell, Duterte said in a speech on Tuesday.

His anti-drug crackdown has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the United States, and human rights groups.





Duterte outlined his disappointment with the US, which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings and questioned whether human rights are being violated.

The United States, he said, had refused to sell some weapons to his country, but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

If you dont want to sell arms, Ill go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said do not worry, we have everything you need, well give it to you, said Duterte.

And as for China, they said just come over and sign and everything will be delivered.

READ MORE: Playing dead to survive Dutertes drug war

The White House said on Tuesday it has not been formally notified about changes in bilateral ties.

The diplomatic lines of communication between the United States and the Philippines remain open, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. We have not yet received any sort of formal communication  about making substantial changes to our bilateral relationship.

The response came shortly after Duterte said without elaborating: Eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America. I would rather go to Russia and to China.

Hell is filled up

He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the bloc, which has also criticised his brutal crackdown, better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.

Since becoming president in June, Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the US and with Obama, and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps Philippine foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

Last month, Obama cancelled a planned first meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Laos after the Filipino leader blurted son of a bitch in warning the US leader not to lecture him on human rights ahead of their meeting.

Duterte later expressed regrets over his remarks.
South African police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades against students protesting for free education in Johannesburg.

Two students were arrested and another and one staff member were injured in the violence on Tuesday at the University of the Witwatersrand, or Wits.

Similar unrest has occurred since last month at other financially struggling South African universities, forcing a number, including Wits, to close.

The university sought to re-open on Tuesday; the main campus was disrupted, but classes proceeded on other Wits campuses.

Protesters said they want free university education to help close South Africas inequality gap, which is still largely divided along colour lines.

Poor students can get government loans to cover their fees, but when they get a job they are also expected to support family members, so they say it was a double burden of repaying loans and trying to lift their loved ones out of poverty. They call it a Black Tax, said Al Jazeeras Tania Page, reporting from Johannesburg.

The students were angry at how President Jacob Zuma treated them at a meeting on Monday.

When we arrived the president read out a statement and then he left, Fasiha Hassan, a protest leader, told Al Jazeera. They are not taking us seriously. We dont come out on the streets for fun. Its the only way to get anyone to listen to us.

Historically, the governing African National Congress (ANC) has promised free education, free housing, and free healthcare, which won the party votes in the past. But the ANC has not delivered.

The government said, however, that it would cover next years fee increase for the majority of students.

Adam Habib, chancellor of Witwatersrand university, told Al Jazeera he too was committed to the students cause  but not at any cost.

Many of us actually warned about this very crisis, and thats the dilemma we are in, so yes to the cause as a legitimate one, no to losing the 2016 academic year, he said.

Two students were also arrested at the University of Cape Town, where protesters tried to block entrances and disrupt lectures, said Max Price, the vice-chancellor. However, he said, most operations proceeded at the university, which had also been shut because of demonstrations.

Last year, students  many of them so-called born frees, who grew up after apartheid  staged a series of huge demonstrations that forced the government to abandon planned fee increases for 2016.

Funding for South Africas universities has been stretched as the economy endures flatlining growth and the government struggles with a 27 percent unemployment rate.

Student activism played a central role in the fight against apartheid, with the massacre of pupils in Soweto by white police officers in 1976 seen as a key date in the countrys tumultuous history.
Somalis are returning to Kismayo in a voluntary process to a homeland still stricken by war, drought, and hardship.

Kismayo, Somalia  The camp sprawls across a grey sand dune overlooking the Indian Ocean. A multitude of small shacks lashed together quickly by hand using whatever could be found: crumpled sheet-metal, acacia branches and cardboard. Children play in heaps of rubbish.

More than 16,000 people are living here, destitute and stranded, on the fringes of Kismayo, a port town in Jubaland state, on Somalias southern frontier.

There is nothing, there are no good services here  We dont have a house, no education, no health, no work. We dont know where to go and where to find what we need, said Ahmed Mohamed Abukar, a father who returned to Kismayo  his hometown  in February.

Abukar arrived in a truck with his wife and six children, crossing the wild border from northeastern Kenya where his family had lived as refugees for seven years in Dadaab, the worlds largest refugee camp.

He said he felt forced to return to Somalia because of food and healthcare cuts in Dadaab last year, and because of threats from the Kenyan authorities, he told Al Jazeera, seated on a plastic chair in the sand, a crowd of fellow returnees gathering around him.

Abukar knew the situation in Kismayo would be worse than Dadaab. He suspected there would be scant help for the returnees and he knew his country was still at war.

Nevertheless, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has spent much of 2016 trucking and flying thousands of Somalis back into their country as part of a voluntary repatriation agreement between that organisation, the Kenyan government, and the fledgling federal government of Somalia.

Between December 2014, a year after the repatriation agreement was reached, and September 2016, a total of 30,731 Somali refugees from Dadaab went through the voluntary return process, according to UNHCR statistics.

Of that total, 24,630 were returned in 2016 alone as the process was accelerated under pressure from the Kenyan government to close the camp.

Kismayo is the first main town after the Dhobley border crossing and an island of relative security.

On the outskirts stands a large UNHCR-supported reception centre, built in 2014 and expanding to process 500 new arrivals per day in anticipation of an influx later this year, according to staff on the ground working with Mercy Corps, the non-governmental organisation running the centre.

In early September, however, Jubaland state authorities called a halt to the returns process.

We are overwhelmed  The returning of these refugees [from Dadaab] is neither safe, secure and definitely not dignified, said Adam Ibrahim Aw Hirsi, Jubaland states justice minister.

Families of five or six are living outside with their children, there are no schools, there is no food, not even basic hygiene like drinkable water, no toilets. Some are sick, some elderly and some are very young.

Hirsi said the returnees are being misled by UNHCR and Somalias federal government with false promises of support to start a new life, when in reality little has been prepared for their sustainable resettlement and Jubaland is not ready to receive them.

The number of refugees returning is very big. We need more time to prepare areas and allocate the services they need, said Daud Aweis, the federal government presidential spokesperson in the capital, Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, UNHCR has received only 27 percent of the $148.8m it requested from donors to support the reintegration of Somali returnees in 2016.

Kenya has hosted more than 400,000 Somali refugees for two decades.

In May, the government vowed to close the Dadaab refugee camp by the end of 2016, calling it a security threat and an economic burden.

It backed down from this position in August after the United States pledged more than $146m in additional aid to support refugees, returnees, and drought victims in Kenya and Somalia. Some $59m of that will go towards refugee assistance in Kenya and continued repatriation to Somalia.

[Food] ration cuts of one third mean that the returns cannot be voluntary. Refugees are choosing the return package because they are starving, said Ben Rawlence, an author and researcher who has spent five years visiting Dadaab.

The returnees give up their refugee status upon accepting the package and will receive overall about $2,400 per family of six in allowances over six months after their arrival in Somalia, explained a Mercy Corps operations manager at the Kismayo reception centre, who asked not to be named.

Many families, however, have also come back spontaneously with the wave of returns. They remain unregistered with UNHCR and, therefore, not entitled to any aid package.

Kismayo is ill-equipped to welcome the returnees. No land was set aside for them to settle, according to Hirsi, the state justice minister.

There are already 40,000 people displaced internally by conflict and sheltering in the Kismayo area, as well as refugees from Yemen and Ethiopia and an impoverished host community.

After the six-month support the returnees receive, there is nothing, said the Mercy Corps operations manager.

This country has been at war for 25 years. Society and the economy are devastated. The returnees were meant to use the cash allowance to find land, build a house, and start a business. But life here is expensive and opportunities are few.

Swaths of Somalia are still an active battleground between Western-backed African Union and Somali national forces and al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab fighters.

The insurgents continue to mount deadly attacks across the country, including the capital Mogadishu, with a car-bomb killing four people on Saturday and the storming of a beach restaurant in late August killing at least 10.

The federal government cannot access semi-autonomous Jubaland and has no control over activities there, according to Hirsi.

Kismayo keeps a fragile peace maintained by a well-armed local security force. But beyond the town, much of the countryside remains under al-Shabab.

The federal government cannot even secure the Somali citizens that have never left Somalia for all their lives, said Hirsi. So to claim that they can give the returning refugees justice, a secure environment and a dignified return was, at best, careless.

UNHCR said it is transparent in providing information and support to refugees interested in returning home and emphasised that the decision to return has to be taken freely and voluntarily.

However, the reintegration process needs collective efforts not only by UNHCR but by other actors such as local administration, other UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, to ensure that the returnees join the community, said a spokesperson via e-mail.

Back in the sands outside Kismayo, Abukar makes one plea specifically to the government of Kenya.

We are requesting, as your brothers and your neighbours that you have taken care of for 20 years. But you dont end an old relationship in a shameful way  Since you have taken care of these [refugees], please take care of them the way you did before, until our government has put its feet on the ground.
One sides war crimes do not justify illegal acts by the other, says Zeid Raad al Hussein as Aleppo battle intensifies.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al Hussein warned Russia on Tuesday over the use of incendiary weapons in Syrias besieged rebel enclave of eastern Aleppo, and said crimes by one side did not justify illegal acts by the other.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured in air strikes since the collapse of the latest ceasefire and the Syrian governments announcement last month of a Russia-backed offensive to retake Aleppo.

Repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, have drawn international condemnation  and accusations of war crimes.





Zeid said that the situation in Aleppo demanded bold new initiatives including proposals to limit the use of the veto by the permanent members of the Security Council, which would enable the UN body to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Such a referral would be more than justified given the rampant and deeply shocking impunity that has characterised the conflict and the magnitude of the crimes that have been committed, some of which may indeed amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, he said in a statement.

Syrias government and its allies had undertaken a pattern of attacks against targets with special protection under international humanitarian law, including medical units, aid workers and water-pumping stations, he said.

Civilian deaths

According to Fadela Chaib, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, at least 342 people, including 106 children, had been killed in eastern Aleppo between September 23 and October 2. A further 1,129 people, including 261 children, had been wounded.

Those figures were based on reports from functioning health centres and the true figures were probably much higher, Chaib said.

As of yesterday, we had only six partially functioning hospitals that are in service, only one hospital that offers trauma services, Chaib told the briefing.

Meanwhile, Syrian state TV reported on Tuesday that shelling by opposition groups killed at least five people and wounded 20 more in government-held areas of Aleppo.

Since fighting first broke out there in 2012, Aleppo has been divided by a frontline between rebel forces in the east and government troops in the west.

READ MORE: This is why Aleppo matters

Russia is a key player in the Syrian civil war by virtue of its military support for President Bashar al-Assad and its role as one of five veto-holding powers on the Security Council.

The use of indiscriminate weapons such as incendiary weapons in heavily populated areas was of particularly grave concern, Zeid said, drawing a parallel with the battles of Warsaw, Stalingrad and Dresden during World War Two.

I remind all State parties to Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, including the Russian Federation, that they are strictly prohibited from using incendiary weapons in air strikes on heavily populated areas, and that the use of such weapons by ground forces is severely restricted, Zeid said.

The rebels use of inaccurate hell-fire cannons, homemade mortars that fire gas cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel, was also totally unacceptable, he said.





Designating the enemy as a terrorist organisation was not an excuse to ignore the laws of war, Zeid said.

Talks suspended

Zeids warnings came hours after the United States suspended talks with Russia over the conflict in Syria, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments under a ceasefire agreement.

Moscow and Washington had brokered a previous ceasefire but it collapsed last month after several days of relative calm.

The US government released a statement on Monday confirming the suspension of talks, following weeks of intense air raids on Aleppo carried out by the Syrian and Russian armies.

The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Monday.

This is not a decision that was taken lightly.

Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree to suspend an agreement with the US on disposing of weapons-grade plutonium, citing unfriendly acts by the US.

Russias foreign ministry said it regretted the US decision to suspend the talks, saying Washington was trying to shift responsibility for a failure to stop the violence on to Moscow.

Washington simply did not fulfil the key condition of the agreement to improve the humanitarian condition around Aleppo, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

After failing to fulfil the agreements that they themselves worked out, they are trying to shift responsibility on to someone else.
Syrian government tanks crossed the frontline in the battleground city of Aleppo for the first time in four years, as a Russian-backed offensive to retake the rebel-held east escalated on the ground.

Pro-government forces were gradually advancing after street battles on Tuesday in the divided citys rebel-controlled neighbourhoods, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Tuesdays offensive came as Russia said it has sent an advance missile system to the Syrian port city of Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. The S-300 was a defensive system and did not pose a threat to anyone, a Russian defence ministry spokesman said, adding that it was unclear why its placement had caused such a stir among our Western colleagues.

A day earlier, Washington suspended direct US-Russia talks on a Syria ceasefire  a move US Secretary of State John Kerry blamed on Russias rejection of diplomacy in favour of helping the forces of President Bashar al-Assad achieve military gains over opposition fighters.

Today there was very heavy bombing. More than 16 civilians were killed and more than 32 people were injured, Ibrahim Abu Leith, spokesman for the Syrian Civil Defence in Aleppo, told Al Jazeera.

The regime is trying to enter the east from several different points. So far, theyve only been able to take territory in the northeast, taking the Handarat camp and the Shuqayif area.

The Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, is a volunteer rescue group that operates in rebel-held areas across the country.

READ MORE: Syrian army advances as Aleppo carnage sparks fury

Government troops, with Russian air support and Iranian and militia ground forces, launched an assault to retake all of Aleppo last month after a week-old ceasefire agreed to by Washington and Moscow steadily fell apart.

Last week, government forces captured the Handarat Palestinian refugee camp north of Aleppo and the nearby Kindi Hospital, which overlooks a key intersection of vital roads. Government troops also took the central neighborhood of Farafra after pushing forward from the Old City.

Tanks will not be able to advance easily in the streets, Aleppo-based activist Baraa al-Halabi told The Associated Press news agency, adding the Handarat camp was only taken because it is in an open area.

The US and other Western countries say Moscow and Damascus are guilty of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals, and aid deliveries to crush the will of more than 275,000 people trapped under the siege of Aleppo. The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only terrorists.

Rebels said they inflicted losses on pro-government fighters after hours of clashes on the fringe of Sheikh Saeed district on the southern edge of the citys rebel-held sector.

We repelled their attempt to advance in Sheikh Saeed and killed 10 regime fighters and destroyed several vehicles, said a fighter from the Failaq al-Sham rebel group, who gave his name as Abdullah al-Halabi.

But pro-government media said the Syrian army was pressing ahead.

In the 15 days since the collapse of the ceasefire, the Syrian Observatory said it had documented the deaths of 293 civilians in east Aleppo as a result of air strikes and shelling, including 20 on Tuesday.

It has documented 25 deaths in government-held west Aleppo from rebel shelling during the 15 days.

The White Helmets said the death toll in rebel-held areas was more than 500 in a bombing campaign described as unprecedented in its ferocity.

Many hundreds of wounded people have been brought to a handful of functioning hospitals, which are short of supplies and have themselves come under attack.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said four of the last eight functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo had been damaged by air strikes in the past four days.

Doctors are performing brain and abdominal surgeries  on the floors of the emergency rooms, for lack of available operating theatres, said Pablo Marco, MSFs Middle East operations manager.

Irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised

Turkey, a long-time foe of Assad, but which has recently repaired damaged ties with Russia, said on Tuesday that it planned to make a proposal to Moscow and Washington to resurrect last months collapsed ceasefire.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could speak by telephone to President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin about a proposal to revive the failed ceasefire, according to a spokesman who spoke to Reuters news agency.

The spokesman did not give details of the proposal, but a German official said US, British, French, German and Italian officials would meet in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss the next steps.





At a speech in Brussels on Tuesday, Kerry vowed to continue pushing for peace.

We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, he said.

He accused Moscow of turning a blind eye to Syrias use of poison gas and barrel bombs  oil drums packed with explosives  to kill civilians.

The top US diplomat called Russias decision to associate its interests and its reputation with that of Assad as irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Moscow would make efforts to resolve the crisis despite the US suspension of talks.
Worlds wealthiest nations accused by Amnesty of leaving poorer countries bearing the brunt of global refugee crisis.

Ten countries  which account for just 2.5 percent of the global economy  are hosting more than half the worlds refugees, a rights group has said, accusing wealthy countries of leaving poorer nations to bear the brunt of a worsening crisis.

In a report published on Tuesday, Amnesty International said the unequal share was exacerbating the global refugee problem, as inadequate conditions in the main countries of shelter pushed many to embark on dangerous journeys to Europe and Australia.

The London-based group said 56 percent of the worlds 21 million refugees are being hosted by just 10 countries  all in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Top refugee hosting countries 1. Jordan (2.7 million)

2. Turkey (2.5 million) 3. Pakistan (1.6 million)

4. Lebanon (1.5 million) 5. Iran (979,400) 6. Ethiopia (736,100) 7. Kenya (553,900) 8. Uganda (477,200) 9. Democratic Republic of Congo (383,100) 10. Chad (369,500)

Jordan, which has taken in more than 2.7 million people, was named as the top refugee hosting country, followed by Turkey, over 2.5 million; Pakistan, 1.6 million; and Lebanon, more than 1.5 million.

The other top six nations were Iran, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad.

A small number of countries have been left to do far too much just because they are neighbours to a crisis, said Salil Shetty, Amnestys secretary-general.

That situation is inherently unsustainable, exposing the millions fleeing war and persecution in countries like Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq to intolerable misery and suffering.

Amnesty said many of the worlds wealthiest nations host the fewest and do the least, highlighting a stark contrast in the number of refugees taken in by countries near crisis-hit areas and by wealthier nations with similar populations elsewhere.

Download a GIF of this video here

Dangerous routes

Britain, for example, has taken in fewer than 8,000 Syrians since 2011, while Jordan  with a population almost 10 times smaller than Britain and just 1.2 percent of its GDP  hosts more than 655,000 refugees from its war-torn neighbour, Amnesty said.

It is not simply a matter of sending aid money. Rich countries cannot pay to keep people over there, it said.

Amnesty proposed a solution, whereby the worlds richest countries would find a home for 10 percent of the planets refugees every year, and singled out Canada, which has resettled some 30,000 Syrian refugees in the past year, as a wealthy country doing its part.

It is time for leaders to enter into a serious, constructive debate about how our societies are going to help people forced to leave their homes by war and persecution, Shetty said.

They need to explain why the world can bail out banks, develop new technologies and fight wars, but cannot find safe homes for 21 million refugees, just 0.3 percent of the worlds population.

Kathleen Newland, cofounder of the Migration Policy Institute, said unless more countries step up their response, the refugees will continue to flee using dangerous routes

I think well see more people trying to move through clandestine channels using smugglers, putting themselves in great danger to try to reach a place where they can restart their lives, she told Al Jazeera.

The more governments try to close off those routes, the more dangerous the alternatives become.
Government says two men killed in shoot-out but Brotherhood says they were killed in detention.

Egypts Interior Ministry said police killed a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader and another member of the group in a shoot-out in the capital Cairo  a version of events contested by the group.

A ministry statement carried by the state MENA news agency on Tuesday said Mohamed Kamal, 61, was killed in an exchange of gunfire along with Yasser Shahata Ali Ragab as police tried to arrest them at an apartment in Bassateen neighbourhood.

Sources in the Muslim Brotherhood, though, told Al Jazeera that security forces killed two of its leaders hours after detaining them.

The ministry accused Kamal of running armed branches of the group. But the Arab worlds oldest Islamist organisation insists it is committed to peaceful activism.

Kamal was twice sentenced in absentia to life in prison on charges of setting up an armed group and setting off an explosion near a police station, while Ragab was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail.

The government of President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi has outlawed the group and cracked down harshly on its members since toppling Mohamed Morsi, the countrys first democratically elected president, in 2013.

Thousands of the groups members, including its top leadership, have been jailed for opposing the coup.

Kamal was one of the most prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and a member of the Guidance Bureau. He was previously in charge of the supreme Administrative Committee, known as the youth committee.
Tweets supporting Donald Trump are grabbing most of the attention on Twitter in the US presidential race, with the Republican candidate obtaining more support than Hillary Clinton every day except for a week in September, researchers say.

The number of supportive retweets for Clinton spiked sharply above Trumps on only two days during the month  the day following the September 26 televised presidential candidates debate, and after Trump disavowed his false claim that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

OPINION: Trump for dummies

Additionally, 31 percent of unique viral retweets supporting Trump originated from his own campaign account, whereas two-thirds of the pro-Clinton messages were retweeted from her campaign account.

Scientists from the Qatar Computing Research Institute, part of Hamad bin Khalifa University, used the website TweetElect.com, which aggregates tweets on the 2016 presidential election, to analyse whether tweets were favouring Trump, Clinton or neither candidate.

Walid Magdy and Kareem Darwish analysed the top 50 retweets every day for the month. Theose were retweeted about 6.7 million times, accounting for more than half of Septembers total volume of tweets about the presidential election.

They defined support as clearly providing positive facts about a candidate, attacking a candidates opponent, or making fun of the opponent or their supporters.

INTERACTIVE: Clinton vs Trump  Money spent on the campaign trail

The study showed 51 percent of retweets supported Trump, whereas only 43 percent supported Clinton. The remaining six percent of tweets were news, had no clear bias, or were negative towards both of the candidates.

Trump has been getting a greater share of press coverage in the mainstream media, so we were wondering if this is being reflected on social media. It turns out it is, Darwish said.

Trump is getting more volume and a greater number of users who are actually tweeting positively about him,, and when you remove the two official campaign accounts, the relative volume of tweets supporting Trump is even greater.

Donald Trump said pregnancy is very inconvenient for businesses, like his mother's pregnancy hasn't been inconvenient for the whole world.  Ozzy Etomi (@ozzyetomi) September 15, 2016

While the analysis showed retweets supporting Trump dominating every day, some of the individual most viral tweets during September supported Clinton, including the most popular, retweeted 153,000 times from @Ozzyonce.

Donald Trump said pregnancy is very inconvenient for businesses, like his mothers pregnancy hasnt been inconvenient for the whole world, it said.

However, when Clinton enjoys success, it appears short-lived, lasting roughly a day. Trump averages 8,400 retweets per tweet, whereas Clinton averages only 5,100.

TweetElect is a version of another platform, TweetMogaz, an Arabic news portal generated automatically from tweets, which QCRI and software company Badr previously developed.
More than 5 percent of countrys police force suspended as state of emergency is extended for three more months.

Turkey has suspended almost 13,000 police officers  more than 5 percent of the countrys entire police force  over suspected links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup attempt.

In a brief statement, the Turkish police headquarters said that 2,523 of the 12,801 suspended were police chiefs.

The officers suspended have been assessed to have communications or links to the Gulenist Terror Organisation, identified as a threat to national security, the police statement said.

The government blames the July 15 failed coup bid on Gulen, though he denies the charges.

According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, 37 people working in the interior ministrys headquarters had also been removed from their posts. It was not clear if both measures were linked.

READ MORE: Turkey  32,000 jailed for links to group behind coup

The suspensions came hours after the government announced a three-month extension of a state of emergency, imposed for three months in the wake of the coup attempt, which gives President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers.

Turkish opposition parties have increasingly expressed concern, calling for the measures to end and demanding a return to parliamentary governance.

Erdogan, who has suggested that the state of emergency could be in place for up to a year, says the legislative branch is ill-prepared to handle the countrys current situation.

The government has used the emergency laws to issue decrees to close down institutions including dozens of media outlets.

READ MORE: Turkey attempted coup  Fethullah Gulens brother held

About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 have been arrested since the failed coup bid.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to suspected coup plotters.

One of the main goals is the shortening of sentencing times, he said at an economic conference. We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly.

Turkey wants the United States to extradite Gulen and prosecute him on charges that he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, a former ally of Erdogans, has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Gulens brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relatives house. Several of Gulens relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15.
Julian Assange pledges to release one million documents related to US vote, but denies aiming to harm Clinton.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the group will publish about one million documents related to the US presidential election and three governments in coming weeks, but denied the release was aimed at damaging Hillary Clinton.

Assange, speaking via a video link on Tuesday, said the documents would be made public before the end of the year, starting with an initial batch in the coming week.

Assange, 45, who remains at the Ecuadoran embassy in London where he sought refuge in 2012 to avoid possible extradition to Sweden, said the election material was significant and would come out before the November 8 vote.

He criticised Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, for demonising WikiLeaks work after a spate of releases related to the Democratic National Committee.

READ MORE: UN panel says Assange arbitrarily detained since 2010

The material that WikiLeaks is going to publish before the end of the year is of  a very significant moment in different directions, affecting three powerful organisations in three different states as well as  the US election process, he said via a video link at an event in Berlin, marking the groups 10th anniversary.





He said the material would focus on war, weapons, oil, mass surveillance, the technology giant Google and the US election, but declined to give any details.

There has been a misquoting of me and WikiLeaks publications  [suggesting] we intend to harm Hillary Clinton or I intend to harm Hillary Clinton or that I dont like Hillary Clinton. All those are false, he said.

For weeks Donald Trump supporters had been waiting for WikiLeaks to publish documents they hoped would destroy Clintons chances in November.

Long-time Trump supporter Roger Stone even tweeted that after the Assange press conference, the Clinton campaign would be done.

https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/782443074874138624

Thousands of Trump supporters from around the US stayed up on Monday night to find out about the much-hyped WikiLeaks revelation, and shared their comments under the hashtag October Surprise on Twitter.

Assange's #Octobersurprise is kinda like Christmas morning for Trump supporters. We don't know what we're getting but we're sooo excited!!  DeplorableYalie (@CleanGOPHouse) October 3, 2016

Assange also signalled changes in the way WikiLeaks is organised and funded, saying the group would soon open itself to membership. He said it was looking to expand its media ties beyond the 100 outlets it already works with.

Asked how he felt after four years in the embassy, he said pale and joked that he would be a good candidate for a medical study since he was otherwise healthy, but had not seen the sun in more than four years.

READ MORE: The curious case of Julian Assange

Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning over sexual assault allegations in 2010. He denies the charges, and says he fears subsequent extradition to the United States, where a criminal investigation into the activities of WikiLeaks is under way.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released more than 90,000 secret documents on the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, followed by almost 400,000 US military reports detailing operations in Iraq.

Those disclosures were followed by the release of millions of diplomatic cables dating back to 1973.
The United Nations humanitarian aid chief has described as absolutely devastating the sight of Yemeni children suffering malnutrition as a result of the countrys 18-month conflict.

The UN childrens agency, UNICEF, says nearly three million people in Yemen are in need of immediate food supplies, while 1.5 million children suffer from malnutrition.

That includes about 370,000 children enduring very severe malnutrition that weakens their immune system.

As he concluded a two-day visit in rebel-held Sanaa, the UNs Stephen OBrien said that he visited a hospital in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah, where he met very small children affected by malnutrition.

It is, of course, absolutely devastating when you see such terrible malnutrition, he said, hailing the efforts of relief agencies trying to meet the very severe needs for food in the country.

We need to do more. We need to do everything we can to meet the very large scale of needs which are here in Yemen, he said, in his first visit since August last year.

OBrien also said the very best humanitarian solution is that we see a political solution to this crisis.

READ MORE: Who controls what in Yemen

The conflict between Yemens government and Houthi rebels escalated last year after the fighters captured the capital Sanaa and other territory, and a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened militarily in support of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The coalition has imposed a sea blockade on Yemen and conducts daily air strikes on areas under the rebels control.
Fresh blow for US Republican presidential candidate as attorney general says his charity engaged in illegal fundraising.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suffered a punishing new setback on Monday as authorities clamped down on his charitable foundation, while his opponent Hillary Clinton seized the opportunity to brand the property tycoon an unscrupulous businessman.

With just five weeks to go before the November 8 election, the billionaire Trump is struggling to regain his footing against a surging Clinton and climb out of one of the darkest periods of his campaign.





Already weakened by damaging revelations about his taxes, Trump was hit with an order by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that the Donald J Trump foundation must cease and desist from soliciting contributions in New York.

The notice informed the charity that it had engaged in fundraising activities that were not legal because it had not been registered with state authorities.

With Team Trump on the defensive after leaked documents suggested that he may have paid no income tax for two decades, Democratic party candidate Clinton rounded on him as a bully who cares little for his fellow countrymen.

While millions of American families, including mine and yours, were working hard paying our fair share, it seems he was contributing nothing to our nation. Imagine that, a fired up Clinton said in Toledo, Ohio.

He has been dissing America in this whole campaign, she charged, riding high on a surge in polling after a bruising first presidential debate.

The pair face off in their second showdown on Sunday.

Vice presidential nominees Mike Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia take the stage on Tuesday for their only debate of the campaign cycle.

Personal attacks

Trump used an appearance before military veterans in Virginia to pound former Secretary of State Clinton again for handling classified information via a basement private email server.

READ MORE: Donald Trump may have avoided paying taxes for years

But he appeared to stumble when he addressed mental health issues facing army personnel and suggested some were returning from battle ill-equipped to cope with debilitating conditions.

When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and youre strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people cant handle it, Trump said.



Donald Trump is a hawk, not a dove

Retired Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn, a Trump adviser, said the candidate was merely highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country.

In recent days, Trumps strongest line of attack has been seen as personal, and of a rare brutality even for this bare-knuckles campaign: he mocked Clinton over the weekend for coming down with pneumonia and even questioned her fidelity to her husband.

Hillary Clintons only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself, he said.

I dont even think shes loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. And really, folks, really, why should she be, right? he said, having already revived talk of former President Bill Clintons past infidelities after a lacklustre debate performance.

A defiant Trump meanwhile dodged the swirling questions about his tax record.

Trumps top allies praised their candidates business acumen following the bombshell revelation by The New York Times that he declared a loss of $916m on his 1995 tax return, enabling him to legally avoid paying taxes for up to 18 years.

If true, the report based on documents leaked to the Times is proof of the tycoons absolute genius, said former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump adviser.
Whistle-blowing website promises to reveal more secret and significant documents before years end.

It was once celebrated as a champion of transparency. But now 10 years old, WikiLeaks has lost a lot of friends.

The whistle-blowing website serves as the worlds best known source for leaked government and intelligence information.

It has exposed corruption and misuse of power in many countries, including the United States.

But WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has become increasingly controversial over the past decade.

Critics say his site is manipulated by politicians, and the way it releases classified documents is irresponsible.

Assange has been hiding in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid possible extradition to Sweden, where he faces questions over allegations of sexual assault.

So, what has been the impact of WikiLeaks and is it still relevant today?

Presenter: Hazem Sika

Guests:

Sarah Harrison  Editor at WikiLeaks and close adviser to founder Julian Assange.

JD Gordon  Former spokesman for the Pentagon and a national security adviser for Donald Trumps campaign.

Alan Jones  Journalist with the Press Association.
The room that used to be the Reitz Union printing lab now has three walls covered in board games.

Student entrepreneurs Andrew Birkett and Chuck Call of Atheris Games and Pablo Casilimas of Raw Moment Film Studios were awarded a two-semester contract for the space across from Wells Fargo on the ground floor of the Reitz after placing at the Big Idea Gator Business Plan Competition in Spring.

Casilimas, the CEO and creative director of Raw Moment Film Studios, said the Reitz location gives him a place to expand his business.

Having this space at the Reitz is like a dream, the UF advertising junior said. Its so surreal. I never thought Id have my own company running in the Reitz Union. We feel pretty fortunate because were just students.

After placing in the top five at the competition with his business partner, UF advertising senior Stephen Kim, who is also the companys business developer and content creator, the two turned their passion for film and the creative arts into a business plan for a film studio that offers competitive rates.

Besides producing video content for university student organizations, local businesses and nonprofit organizations, the company specializes in wedding photography, professional headshots and website design, he said.

After the companys contract is over, Casilimas said the business is hoping to expand.

We want to turn this into a full-blown agency and be able to travel for certain gigs and bigger projects for bigger companies, he said.

With the help of the Warrington College of Business Gator Hatchery, an office that provides a workspace, office support, mentors and resources for startup companies to succeed, the founders of Atheris Games were able to turn their ideas into a business.

Call, a UF graduate student in entrepreneurship, said the space gives the startup business a place to test new games among students.

Our store fills a need for students who want to play tabletop games on campus without having to go to inconveniently located stores elsewhere, said Call, the companys chief financial officer.

With Birkett, a UF marketing junior, he created Cul-De-Sac Conquest, a board game about annoying your neighbor.

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Currently, the store sells board games, card games and collectible figurines, but they hope to expand to sell comic books. Once their two-semester contract at the Reitz is up, they want to open an off-campus location.

Weve built great relationships with the people whove come in so far, and we just want to keep making better games, because the tabletop gaming market is so diverse, Call said.

From left: Pablo Casilimas, the CEO and creative director of Raw Moment Film Studios; Stephen Kim, the content creator and business developer for Raw Moment Film Studios; and Andrew Birkett, a co-founder of Atheris Games, pose for a photo at the Reitz Union on Monday afternoon.
A naked Gainesville man was arrested Monday morning after attempting to block traffic on South Main Street, police said.

At about 3 a.m. Monday, a motorist reported Kurt W. Holley, 46, standing in the 200 block of South Main Street with his genitals exposed, attempting to slow down traffic, according to a police report.

Officers responded and found Holley, who refused to give his name or any form of identification after several requests, according to the report.

Holley told officers he would not give his name and that it was their job to figure it out, according to the report.

After refusing officers commands multiple times, Holley was forced to the ground, according to the report.

In February 2015, Holley was charged with criminal mischief for kicking and damaging a fence, according to Alachua County Court records. He refused to identify himself in that case as well.

Police arrested him on charges of breach of the peace and resisting an officer without violence, according to the report.

Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail where he remains, as of press time, in lieu of a $2,000 bond.
After word spread that Burrito Bros. Taco Co. was struggling to stay afloat in the midst of large-scale construction next door, persistent customers took matters into their own hands.

On Saturday, after the local restaurant announced its revenues had dipped 23 percent since last year, donors have raised more than $5,000 through a GoFundMe page created Saturday.

The 1402 W. University Ave. restaurant has been in Gainesville for the past 40 years, but with the construction of The Standard at Gainesville apartment complex next door, Burrito Bros. owner Randy Akerson said the removal of customer parking spots on Northwest 14th Street and the noise and dust from construction has turned away prospective customers.

But despite the outpouring of affection for the restaurant, Akerson said he still hopes to be compensated for his revenue loss by the city or by Landmark Properties, the company that owns The Standard at Gainesville.

Five-thousand dollars in a GoFundMe will certainly help us for now, and we are so grateful, but it just keeps the wolf from the door for a time, he said.

On Sept. 27, Akerson took to Facebook to inform fans of the restaurant about its struggle with The Standards construction. The post reached 90,000 people, he said, and led to a couple of busy lunch rushes and a response from Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe.

Akerson received response from local government officials via Facebook, but he said they have yet to reach out to him personally.

People from our city government have been here to eat lunch and talk to my customers, but have never asked to speak to me, he said. The only reason I knew they were here is photos they posted on my back patio.

On Saturday, Akersons wife, Janet, and one of their friends created the GoFundMe page for the restaurant as a way to show support. As of press time, the website has brought in 118 donations and has raised $5,537.

Grace Wenham, a UF alumna who helped create the page, said although she lives in Wisconsin, she felt compelled to help the restaurant, which has become a Gainesville mainstay.

Im overwhelmed, but I kind of did think that people would come together for this, Wenham said. As Gator fans, the Gainesville community is so tight and strong. I know we rally very well, and I knew there would be support. Its blown my expectations out of the water, though.

Noy Epstein, a UF electrical engineering sophomore, said that she has eaten at Burrito Bros. and learned of the apartments struggle through its Facebook post.

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She said GoFundMe is a powerful tool people can use to raise money for causes they care about. The amount of money raised in such a short amount of time just shows how strongly people feel about the restaurant.

I know a lot of people love that place, and to raise all that money in three days  power to the people, she said.
           2005     ..        
The Wells Fargo fake account scandal, first uncovered by the Los Angeles Times in 2013, is growing. Perhaps that is not surprising, given how egregious the scheme was and the tepid response from the bank. In creating a boiler-room sales environment, the bank failed its investors and front-line employees, but it also failed its customers and communities.

While the Wells Fargo board faces an important decision about whether or not to fire CEO John Stumpf (it should), this scandal also makes it clear that the results of the Community Reinvestment Act exam of Wells Fargo from 2012 must be made public, and regulators should downgrade their CRA rating of the bank.

We're approaching the 40th anniversary of the CRA, passed in response to communities of color being redlined. The CRA is one of the primary ways regulators measure if and how a bank is meeting the credit needs of its local communities. This can include financing for affordable housing, lending to small business owners, philanthropy and more. Bank regulators conduct a CRA exam and typically release the bank's CRA rating shortly thereafter.

However, Wells Fargo has not had a new CRA rating released since 2008, even though its last CRA exam occurred in 2012. The absence of a recent CRA rating for Wells Fargo raises questions about enforcement of the CRA, including accountability for harmful practices.

The public is encouraged to give feedback during a CRA exam, and advocates from around the country weighed in during Wells' 2012 exam. Citing the many negative impacts from Wells' lending, mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices, they urged a downgrade in Wells Fargo's rating from "Outstanding" to "Needs to Improve."

As one example, advocates urged regulators to consider the "deposit advance" loans which Wells offered until 2014 in which loan repayments were connected to a customer's checking account. This arrangement meant high profits for Wells that were low-risk. But it meant financial harm to customers like Annette Smith, a senior on a fixed income from Rocklin, California. As Smith testified to a U.S. Senate committee, the high cost and short terms on a $500 loan were similar to a payday loan and translated into repeated renewals and her paying almost $3,000 in fees over a five-year period.

While the 2012 exam results still haven't been released, what we have seen since that exam is Wells Fargo having to pay well over a billion dollars for alleged violations  regulator settlements and class-action lawsuits related to overdraft fees, student loans, homeowners steered into costlier mortgages, a settlement over Federal Housing Administration loans, and failures to comply with several of the requirements in a 2011 mortgage servicing consent order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

While most of these settlements and violations have been public, the bank has tried to keep others quiet in the same way that the bank leadership decided the account fraud problem was "not material" enough to let shareholders (or the public) know about it. As an example, in 2012, the bank quietly mailed checks to roughly 10,000 homeowners as a refund for allegedly steering them into more costly mortgages. The letters came to light only after a homeowner shared a copy of his letter from Wells Fargo with the Los Angeles Times. Homeowners could cash the checksbut only if they agreed not to sue the bank.

Nearly four years after Wells Fargo's CRA exam, people are wondering when its CRA rating will be released. It may well be that the OCC, the regulator that conducted the 2012 exam, will release it soon. We hope so. It is high time a more comprehensive assessment of Wells Fargo's community track record is made public by the people in charge of regulating the banks.

The harmful impacts Wells' activities have had on consumers and communities since the 2008 exam should mean a downgrade in its rating. In response, a good first step for Wells Fargo would be to start talking about concrete plans to chart a new course that doesn't include settlements, violations and lawsuits. Given the well-founded anger about executives retaining bonuses while lower-level employees were fired, Wells should voluntarily implement incentive-based pay changes that would mandate clawbacks and that would better align the financial interests of senior executives at the bank with the financial health of the company, employees and customers. Given the role that forced arbitration clauses may have played in hiding this scandal for so long, another obvious step would be for the bank to voluntarily drop those clauses.

Regardless of what happens with the leadership at Wells, the OCC should move quickly to release Wells Fargo's rating, and explain to the public what role the numerous settlements and violations played in determining the rating. This would send a clear signal to the public and to banks that there are significant consequences for banks engaging in harmful behavior. The Community Reinvestment Act can only be as effective as the banks that follow it and the regulators who enforce it. This is a rare and important opportunity to demonstrate that strength.

Paulina Gonzalez is the executive director of the California Reinvestment Coalition.
When I first started working in banking, the industry was at the peak of its obsession with offshoring. All I ever heard about for the first three years of my career was offshoring this and offshoring that. If I wasn't working with a team offshore, I was working with a team that was about to be.

Offshoring had become something of an El Dorado for the industry  the myth had become so tantalising that any semblance of realism was lost. And much like the hundreds of explorers who succumbed to the temptation of looking for the lost city of gold, banking executives bought into the hype. Offshoring was going to save the banking industry millions. We just had to do it. Every other industry was. It made perfect sense. How could the talent locally compete with India or China? These countries had more students graduating with MBAs every day than we had students  period. Banks invested millions in setting up offshore campuses all over Asia. There were assimilation programs, training courses and cross-pollination of resources. Special two-way video screens were even purchased  it was Skype before Skype.

Banks tried ever so hard to make it work. In some cases they even pretended everything was going according to plan. But firms were taking one step back for every two steps forward. From a set-up perspective, the regulatory and cultural challenges were underestimated. On paper, employees were cheaper, but more were required. Offshore staff was not as efficient and rework was common. Frustration at home was further exasperated by having to deal with poor communication lines. The media was quick to jump on any negative customer experiences.

Besides not delivering the benefits expected, offshoring was actually adding overhead to projects and processes. There were challenges with communication as teams worked at different hours around the world. Local and offshore teams were suspicious of each other  both felt as if the other was slacking off. It also necessitated an overreliance on email messages and lengthy documentation. Offshoring also made it practically impossible to adopt more innovative delivery models such as Agile that rely on face-to-face interaction. The final nail in the coffin was the genuine appreciation that teams developed better products collaborating in the same environment.

Finally, it dawned on the industry: El Dorado didn't exist. Now, after many years of searching and coming up empty-handed, offshoring has lost its appeal and banks are starting to bring the work back home.

So why does onshoring make so much sense in banking? With both China and India growing year on year, the cost savings are less appealing. Wage growth in these regions means that the difference in salaries, compared to local talent, has become increasingly marginal. Banks are also more focused on the cost reduction opportunities offered by an increase in digital channel usage and a decline in branch activity. Regional branch closures are expected to grow again this year. There is also an acceptance that delivering quality technology now, more than ever, relies on face-to-face interaction. Having a team full of people co-located and empowered means not only an improvement in product quality, but a significant increase in time-to-market.

Whereas offshoring was once considered a competitive advantage, it is now considered the opposite. More and more banks are looking to bring jobs back home, and even analysts and investors are starting to ask questions. The key to the transition is to do it smartly. No more inflated business cases. No more forced changes. By onshoring too rapidly you run the risk of making the same mistake most banks did with offshoring. Have clear objectives so you can easily decide what roles or departments are going to grow locally.

With wage costs on the rise offshore, talent available in abundance locally, and new delivery models required to create exciting new products, the world has moved on. The sad irony is that for banks that are willing to pack up and abort the mission, the real gold is waiting for them right at home.

Michael Nuciforo is a mobile and digital banking consultant and the founder of Keatan who previously worked at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. on the ANZ goMoney application and more recently was head of mobile banking at Royal Bank of Scotland managing the U.K. retail portfolio. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheBoldWar.
"Why do we want to pay you x amount of dollars when we can get three workers in India for the same price without paying any benefits?" a Bank of New York Mellon manager is said to have told a back-office worker who, along with some veteran co-workers, was laid off in late August.

The manager could speak freely because the about-to-be-laid-off operations staffers were under a gag order  if they spoke to the press, their entire severance package would be revoked, the ex-worker recently told me on the condition his identity be protected. Company officials deny any recent layoff but say some jobs may have been lost to attrition, though documents supplied by the worker say 69 employees were subject to a layoff.

Offshoring and layoffs, of course, are nothing new, nor probably are conversations like the one related by the worker. Banks were early participants in the offshoring movement, which started about 20 years ago. They have been under pressure from activist investors and other shareholders to cut expenses even as regulatory costs are on the rise, and sending work to India, the Philippines and other locations where salaries are still lower than in the U.S. and exchange rates are favorable is a means to that end.

Yet the two decades of experience with offshoring has shown that shifting operations work from knowledgeable, local workers to people in another country with oftentimes limited training comes with risks  of errors, of misunderstandings and of security lapses.

"I'm not sure offshoring is the greatest long-term macrostrategy, because as they offshore services, they become harder to manage," said Larry Tabb, the chief executive of Tabb Group, a New York consulting firm.

The custody banks are under as much pressure as any financial services organization to rein in costs. State Street in Boston has announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers by 2020, and Bank of New York Mellon has been engaged in a multiyear cost-cutting plan.

Samir Pandiri, global CEO of asset servicing at BNY Mellon, can testify to the advantages of offshoring but acknowledges that there are some challenges, too. About 40%-45% of the operations he supervises are in the United States, and the remainder are distributed equally between Europe and Asia

BNY Mellon has been outsourcing work to India for 10 years; it has operations in the cities of Pune and Chennai. Its goal is to have a "follow-the-sun model so you could get more work done around the clock, so you're much more responsive and you can reduce the time to do a transaction," Pandiri said.

Geographic dispersion also mitigates risk. During Hurricane Sandy, for instance, work that normally would have been done stateside was done in Europe and Asia without interruption. And international clients sometimes ask to have work done locally, in their own time zone, Pandiri said.

Time differences do present a challenge, he noted. If a European client's work is being done in Florida or in India, "the disadvantage is if the client needs to talk to somebody right away, you may not be able to get to them unless you're doing a night shift," Pandiri said. "The advantage is you can continue to do the work even after the client has gone to sleep."

Other things can be a problem, too, some sources point out.

One downside to shipping work overseas is the potential for errors as newbies try to decipher shorthand instructions from long-term clients.

In one case told by the ex-BNY Mellon worker, the bank's India outpost received an order from a shareholder who wanted to withdraw $20,000 from an account and requested that 100% of that amount be removed from a certain fund, but an India-based worker misunderstood the instruction and redeemed 100% of the account, or $100,000. The bank had to purchase that back at no penalty to the shareholder.

"A lot of times, they have that lack of comprehension because it's not black and white," the ex-BNY Mellon worker said. "If it's not written so it's understandable by them, they will make a mistake on it."

The misunderstandings brought on by language can be comical. "We had an ongoing issue where one of [the workers in India] kept saying to some of the women in our group, 'Hey, babe,' because he'd heard that on TV," the ex-worker said.

In addressing the general problem of errors, Pandiri acknowledged that understanding client preferences can be an issue for new workers at a foreign location who speak another language, especially for call center work. But whether domestic or foreign workers involved, a learning process is involved, he said.

"Call centers have been around for almost 20 years and almost everybody does call centers in every location  in Asia, Latin America and Canada," Pandiri said. "It's a pretty well-established routine. But the training and how you run the place are going to be critically important when you start the process."

Another issue is that offshore workers tend to conduct their own form of labor arbitrage. They can come to a bank, take the training, gain experience, and then go to the next outsourcer and double their salary.

"Once you've finally taught somebody what to do, they leave," Tabb said. "Then you're stuck with another person who just came out of school."

Data security is another concern.

When custodian banks open accounts for clients, the information they gather can include Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, next of kin, job titles, salaries and other types of personally identifiable information.

"If you're transferring this kind of information, as a general rule, the more people see it, the less secure it becomes," said Siddharth Kalla, chief technology officer at Acupay System, which provides software to global custodians. It's one more place where data can be exploited.

"Security definitely is an issue that has to be addressed within a good contract," said Simon Tarsh, a director with Deloitte Consulting and leader of its business process outsourcing advisory practice. "There are regulations around where original source documents need to be kept. And equally, physical security has to be addressed within these offshore centers. Many have secure doors and don't allow flash drives or cameras."

The benefits to keeping certain types of complex operations work in house with experienced U.S. staff are clear.

"The local people understand the business much better, they're much less likely to make a mistake, they can do it faster and more efficiently," Tabb said. "I think banks take a big risk in firing all their domestic people and hiring people overseas. That said, I don't know that they have much choice."

Editor at Large Penny Crosman welcomes feedback at penny.crosman@sourcemedia.com.
First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., has agreed to buy Ameriana Bancorp in New Castle, Ind.

The $5.9 billion-asset First Merchants said in a press release Monday that it will pay $68.8 million, or $22.71 a share, in stock for the $483 million-asset Ameriana. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, with integration set to take place in the second quarter of 2016.

Ameriana also has 14 branches, $325 million in loans and $391 million in deposits.

"The addition of Ameriana... supports our goal of becoming a more efficient, higher performing company," Michael Rechin, First Merchants' president and chief executive, said in the release. "With the addition of significant deposits in Henry and Madison counties, First Merchants will hold the lead market share position.... The merger will also add five locations to our 13 banking centers in Hamilton County, the fastest-growing Indiana market."

First Merchants said it expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share in the first full year of combination. The company said it should earn back the deal's tangible book value dilution within four years.

First Merchants was advised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Bingham Greenebaum Doll. Ameriana was advised by River Branch Capital and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.
After five years as a public accountant at Deloitte, a plum job for any former accounting major, Diane D'Erasmo began looking for a fresh challenge. She made the switch to finance, landing a job at the 1,000-employee Republic National Bank of New York in 1980.

But even years later, she wasn't sure she had what it took to make it in commercial banking.

In 1985, having joined Republic's new middle-market commercial-loan group as a relationship manager, she was "a little nervous that I was working with people who had been in commercial banking for so long," said D'Erasmo, who retired in June as vice chair of corporate banking at HSBC Bank USA and on Thursday will accept a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance program. "But one night we were working late and one of my colleagues asked me, 'What's working capital?' And I thought, 'She's been working here 10 years and doesn't know what working capital is. I'll definitely be able to nail this.'"

Therein lies a paradox that has repeated itself throughout D'Erasmo's career. She exudes confidence, yet at key moments D'Erasmo found herself beset by uncertainty and self-doubt. At times she had to be pushed to accept greater responsibility or tackle new challenges.

"My biggest stretches and biggest successes came when others gave me opportunities I never would have raised my hand for," she said.

It was after HSBC acquired Republic for $10.3 billion in 1999  then the largest foreign takeover of an American bank  that D'Erasmo's career really took off. By 2007 she was president of corporate banking for the Northeast region, which then accounted for about 50% of the bank's total North American book of business in commercial banking. During her tenure, she recalled, she built new middle-market, asset-based lending and large-corporate business units pretty much from scratch.

What D'Erasmo loved about corporate banking, she said, was that it allowed her to couple her financial acumen with her people skills.

"The clients made it so interesting for me," she said. She enjoyed winning their trust and became known for her ability to put them at ease.

Irene Dorner met D'Erasmo upon moving to New York in early 2010 to take over as president and chief executive of HSBC's U.S. operations. "She is genuinely a people person," Dorner said. "Customers just loved her. If you went on a customer visit with Diane, you found she knew them intimately  she knew their families, she knew exactly what to talk to them about  and you felt as if you were visiting somebody at home. That's how she was, and she was that way with everybody."

That talent allowed D'Erasmo to play a leading role in helping to advance other women's careers. She helped found a women's networking group at HSBC in 2001 and sat on an advisory board that promoted a gender-balanced workforce. She also made International Women's Day an annual event for HSBC, which it remains to this day.

Dorner sees D'Erasmo as a trailblazer for women in banking. "She did her best to be the living proof of 'You can have it all,' and she did her best to lower the ladder down and help people up it behind her," said Dorner.

Even so, D'Erasmo occasionally needed a helping hand herself. In 2012 her manager "gently persuaded" her, as she puts it, to leave the Northeast and travel the globe as the head of a new international banking unit.

Knowing the job required a different skill set and a lot of travel, she said, "I was overcome with uncertainty." But she embraced the opportunity to grow professionally, and fell back on her inner resources. "I am very driven and very results-focused, and I find that if I 'just do it' I will succeed," she said.

Success did follow. In 2014 the international unit's revenue grew 24% over the prior year, as D'Erasmo's team successfully built from scratch a network of relationship managers to service overseas clients who had U.S. investments.

Meanwhile D'Erasmo, a native New Yorker who had done little traveling up to that point, found herself visiting India, China, Turkey, Brazil, and other far-flung destinations.

"Talk about brave," Dorner said. "She really went for it, and my hat is off to her."

In the end, said D'Erasmo, "stretches" like that one made her a better banker and a better manager. "Plus I had the wonderful opportunity to see the world and meet many clients and colleagues I never would have met had I not been 'tapped on the shoulder.'"

Despite ending a distinguished career at HSBC, D'Erasmo intends to remain active.

One of five children, she learned from her mother at an early age the importance of community service. She sits on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, and for the past three years has chaired an annual fundraising event which has raised a total of $750,000 in that time, exceeding its goal.

In addition to her charity work, she is hoping to gain a seat on the board of a company somewhere that could benefit from her financial expertise. That is a tall order; it may take some time. "I have the benefit of being a woman  diversity," she said. "But still it's not so easy to get on a board.

"A year from now," she added, "I may not be on a board and I may be dying to get back to work, and maybe I'll change my mind, but I really do want to try to do something different."

Having left HSBC, D'Erasmo is able to be clear-eyed about the institution and the state of banking industry. "When I first came into banking there was no such thing as a compliance department," she said, adding that the raft of post-crisis regulations has made banking a much harder job to do  especially for a big multinational.

"HSBC operates in so many different countries under so many different regulatory environments that it is a challenge for us, and we're struggling to make it seamless to the clients," she said. "Every year we get a little better at it, but we need to satisfy a lot of different regulators, and it is challenging."
This idea will be immediately dismissed in some quarters as just another conspiracy theory concocted by the vast right wing but it is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Several items lend credence to the idea that the IRS has once become an arm of the political left targeting conservatives.

Could it really be just coincidence that Hillary Clinton focused on Trumps failure to release his tax returns, surmising that the reason might be he hasnt been paying any taxes, just days before the New York Times printed pages from his 1995 return showing a loss that may have allowed him to not pay taxes for the next 18 years? Was this Hillarys October surprise for Trump?

Here is what Hillary surmised during the first presidential debate:

So you've got to ask yourself, why won't he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he's not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he's not as charitable as he claims to be. Third, we don't know all of his business dealings, but we have been told through investigative reporting that he owes about $650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks. Or maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax.

Compare this to the eerily similar statement released by Team Clinton almost immediately after the New York Times published the excerpts from Trumps 1995 taxes:

There it is. The bombshell report reveals the colossal nature of Donald Trumps past business failures and just how long he may have avoided paying any federal income taxes whatsoever. In one year, Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollars. A billion. He stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from hardworking communities. And how did it work out for him? He apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades  while tens of millions of working families paid theirs. He calls that smart. Now that the gig is up, why doesnt he go ahead and release his returns to show us all how smart he really is?

Did Hillary know in advance Trumps documents would be leaked and that this story would break within days of the debate? At this point, this can only be surmised that someone at the IRS leaked the documents, but when you consider the 2012 targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups by the IRS for the purpose of reelecting President Obama, the thought that this politicized agency might do a similar favor for Obamas successor is, again, not so far-fetched.

As Investors Business Daily has noted, the adventures of Hillary Clinton and her missing and deleted emails from her private server are similar to the crashed hard drives of Lois Lerner, who masterminded the Tea Party Targeting by the IRS in 2012:

Clinton, under this administration, will likely not fear or face any criminal prosecution for violating the Federal Records Act and doing her official business on that personal server now deliberately wiped clean of records she knew were under subpoena and the subject of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. But then, Lois Lerner, poster child for hard-drive crashes and missing emails, won't face charges for contempt of Congress either. After pleading her innocence at that 2013 hearing, Lerner went on to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

Both Hillary Clinton and Lois Lerner used their political positions for their personal and political agendas. Both lost or destroyed the emails that would have proven their crimes. Lerner targeted the Tea Party. Hillary targets Donald Trump. Both benefit from acts that violated the laws. The New York Times says someone sent the documents to a reporter so they have no criminal liability. One finds it odd that if a private citizen receives stolen property, they go to jail. If a reporter receives stolen documents, they receive the Pulitzer Prize.

The IRS Chief and Lois Lerners boss, John Koskinen, has been the target of a move to impeach him for his role in covering up Lerners crimes, his obstruction of Congress, and outright lying to Congress. He is the poster child for political hacks and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that on his watch employees of a politicized agency that has the power to tax and therefore the proverbial power to destroy leaked Trumps 1995 return for the political purpose of helping Hillary Clinton. After all, a Trump Department of Justice would not hesitate to prosecute both.

As the Washington Times notes, Koskinen has been knee-deep in the IRS corruption and its cover-up:

Among the specific charges leveled by Mr. Chaffetz and 18 of his fellow Republicans on the committee were that Mr. Koskinen, appointed by President Obama in December 2013 after the targeting scandal broke, misled Congress when he said he had turned over all of former IRS senior executive Lois G. Lerners emails and that he oversaw destruction of evidence when his agency got rid of backup tapes that contained the emails.

Lying to Congress and destruction of evidence under subpoena are federal crimes, and that includes the arrogant Mr. Koskinen, who is just one example of being an Obama donor can get you a good job with the administration. As Investors Business Daily noted:

Certainly it might be argued that Koskinen's current position is owed to four decades of being a prodigious Democratic donor. Koskinen has contributed to every Democratic presidential candidate since 1980, including $2,300 to Obama in 2008, and $5,000 to Obama in 2012.

Of course, being an Obama donor with a government job in and of itself is not a crime, but how Koskinen has used that job is positively criminal. Koskinen once confessed before Congress that obeying the law was a difficult task.

Whenever we can, we follow the law," IRS chief John Koskinen recently told the House Ways and Committee in a Freudian slip of the truth that says it all.

Or is that whenever he could, this longtime Democratic donor and the IRS breaks the law to help President Obama and his wannabe successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton?

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
Great news! The Obama administration is proposing a new race category. Its for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent -- MENA for those in the know. Why? Its obvious when you go to USA Today and read the blather about how the new race category could solve all kinds of problems with community identity and private-sector discrimination. In other words, liberals are going full-speed ahead to square up Muslims as another victim group for their victim politics.

See, creating a MENA race category could be used in drawing congressional and state legislative district boundaries. In other words, majority-minority congressional districts. Imagine! Up to now MENAs have been categorized as white and so not eligible for all the victim programs so thoughtfully set up and administered by our liberal masters. The new category would set up Middle-eastern Muslims as a historically marginalized group and help liberals divide America.

Dividing America is the whole point of the globalist project that I discussed last week in AT. The globalist project wants to pierc[e] the shell of national sovereignty so it can rule us all direct. How does it do that? It destroys the power of the nation and replaces it with quarreling victim groups that can be divided and conquered by the global elite.

I want a president that will declare war on liberal race politics, liberal gender politics, in fact on Victimism in general. And I say that not just because I am a racist and sexist, a homophobe and a hater, although I am certainly all of that. I say it because once you become a victim category you get drafted into the political army of the ruling class and you become their political cannon fodder. And that is a fate worse than death.

We talk about PTSD and the mangled warriors left in the wake of Americas foreign wars. But what about the grunts that liberals have enrolled in their progressive army and used as cannon fodder in their fight to bend the arc of history towards justice? What about the sad fate of the little darlings, the victims of the ruling class?

Workers of the world, the revolutionaries of 1848 manifestoed: join us and go for a soldier in the wars against the employers. Yes, what a good idea! Why the very idea that the rancher and the plowman should be friends, or the worker and the employer might benefit from working together was nonsense! On the contrary, why not provoke the workers into rebellion against the jobs in the city that saved them from starving on the land? Then the progressive elite could divide and conquer, and throw the workers an occasional entitlement.

But just like the soldier in a real army, the little darling in the liberal army eventually gets left by the roadside. Liberals got tired of the working class and discovered in 1971 that Archie Bunker was a racist sexist bigot. So they tricked out blacks and women and made them their little darlings instead.

Hey blacks and women! How yer doin, kids! How is the marchin and protestin life in the liberal army for the last 50 years working out? Chow any good?

And then liberals enlisted homosexuals and transgenders, and invented the pejoratives of homophobe and transphobe to take their honored places beside the hallowed racist, sexist, fascist insult labels known and loved by all.

Now liberals want to make little darlings out of MENAs, and they already have their pejorative of Islamophobe tested and ready for deployment with the rest of the liberal insult artillery.

I pleaded, almost a year ago, Muslims: Dont Become the Little Darlings of the Liberals! But I dont expect it will do any good. When you think of it, Muslims -- sorry, MENAs -- dont need the encouragement of a George Soros to create mayhem. They do it without encouragement from the globalists.

America needs a president who will declare war on the liberal culture of victimism. Because the wages of victimism are the slow death of the little darlings from opioids.

Victimism is a lie. The only way to make it in the modern capitalist economy is to take the oath that I am not a victim and then dive into the labor market and start swimming. But the simple maidens of the working class did not do this, and so they were pimped out by the agitators of 1848 and the entire activism culture that it spawned.

And now look at the working class. Fifty years too late they are leaving the Democratic Party to follow a new leader that promises them those good manufacturing jobs at good wages that left town decades ago.

Before the liberals turn the rest of Victim America into opioid-addicted zombies, we need a president that will put the boot to the evil of Victimism.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also see his American Manifesto and get his Road to the Middle Class.
Hillary Clinton has been running as the status quo U.S. presidential candidate while Donald Trump has been running as the candidate of change. Neither the United States, Israel, nor the rest of the Middle East can afford what will amount to a third term of Obamas failed foreign policy. Particularly the continued implementation of the disastrous Iranian nuclear deal.

The facts show that on Hillary Clintons watch as Obamas Secretary of State she initiated the Iran deal, embraced it fully when it was signed, and has been a silent cheerleader ever since. This in spite of the warning signs of an emboldened and cheating Iran.

Under Hillarys watch as president there is high probability, based on her poor judgment and weakness as Secretary of State, that when Iran attempts to finally acquire a nuclear weapon, which they will surely do, she will not take any military action to deter it. Although the U.S. may impose unilateral sanctions, in the end, her efforts will fail to dissuade Iran to give up its program just as the U.S. failed to stop North Korea after her husband Bill Clinton signed a similar nuclear deal as president. Consequently, for the first time in history, a jihadist Islamic state, which has been publicly declaring for years, their willingness to wipe the Jewish state off the map and be destroyed for the sake of Allah, will possess the bomb.

As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on September 8, 2015, Hillary Clinton in her last six months as Secretary of State helped open the door to a dramatic shift in US policy towards Iran by suggesting that the US will concede to let Iran continue enriching Uranium at small levels in order to convince, a bankrupt and internationally isolated Iran, to hold negotiations with the Obama Administration. In July 2012, Mrs. Clinton s closest policy aide, Jake Sullivan, was the first one to meet in secret with Iranians diplomats in Oman, with many meetings to follow, while Holocaust denier President Ahmadinejad was still in power. As Mr. Sullivan, who now serves as Mrs. Clintons top presidential campaign advisor, said she recognized the difficulty of reaching a solution, with zero enrichment. Mrs. Clinton left the state department in early 2013 and later that year, the Obama administration agreed publicly that Iran could continue to enrich Uranium.

When the Iran deal was signed, she endorsed it fully as an important step in putting a lid on Irans nuclear program, and the most effective path... to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

However, in reality the deal does not derail or abolish Irans quest for the bomb, but merely slows it down, and in less than 10 years the deal makes it legal for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

But in the meantime, it fundamentally unraveled the global sanctions regime against Iran, and no one except the U.S. will ever try to bring it back. Iran has been infused with multiple billion dollars trade and military deals with Russia, China, and Europe. This is in addition to $150 billion dollars paid to them by the U.S., including $1.7 billion in cold cash from the U.S., paid as ransom for the release of four American hostages, which in all likelihood will be used to fund terrorism. In addition, the WSJ just reported that on the same day Iran released the American hostages, Obama agreed in secret to remove UN and EU sanctions emplaced eight years earlier on Irans main missile financing banks. Iran has conducted up to 10 ballistic missiles tests since the forging of the nuclear agreement in July 2015.

Moreover, now that they have more financial resources and international breathing room to expand their influence in the Shiite world, and increase military interventio and terrorism in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America in order to build an anti-American, anti-Israeli and anti-Sunni axis

Hillary has repeatedly stated that the agreement will have to be enforced vigorously, relentlessly", but in reality the Iranians have already broken the agreement and she and the administration appear to have chosen silence.

According to the German intelligence agencys annual report issued in July, Iran has been cheating and has a clandestine effort to seek illicit nuclear technology and equipment from German companies at what is, even by international standards, a quantitatively high level. Moreover, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Iran continued unabated to develop its rocket program in conflict with the relevant provisions of the UN Security Council.

When Hillary stated in 2015 that she will not hesitate to take military action if Iran attempts to obtain a nuclear weapon, she was bluffing or lying in order to assuage Jewish-American voters concerns. Any honest assessment of Clintons tenure in office would conclude that she was among the weakest secretaries of state, undermining and deserting allies and protecting and appeasing enemies.

After the success of General David Petraeus military surge in Iraq defeated the terrorists there, as Secretary of State she supported Obamas decision in 2011 to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq, without keeping a small force behind as the generals recommended Obama to do. This created a power vacuum which ISIS took advantage of to form, flourish, and expand.

Secretary Clinton assured us for months that Assad was a reformer, and supported Obamas decision not to attack or remove Assad even when he crossed the red line by using chemical weapons against his own civilian population. She delayed and postponed providing arms and aid to the anti-Assad Syrian rebels, until ISIS spread to Syria too. Because of her misjudgment, she left a human catastrophe of 500,000 dead Syrians and millions of refugees streaming into Syrias neighbors and Europe. She supported bringing Russia back to the Middle East and Syria to supposedly fight ISIS which only helped to sustain Assad, its patron Iran, and therefore the civil war.

She was in favor of U.S. intervention in Libya and Egypt, undermining governments that were no threat to American interests which led to Islamic jihadists taking over in those nations. In Libya, this resulted in the murder of the American ambassador and the flourishing of ISIS.

It is true that president Obama has made his own foreign policy, but Hillary Clinton had the option of resigning if she did not agree with it but in reality she shares Obamas central vision and judgment about the Middle East and the success of the Iran deal.

If Hillary is elected, almost certainly she will continue Obamas kowtowing to the Iranians and facilitate any further concessions they may request instead of confronting their lies and ambitions of regional aggression and hegemony.

If Trump is elected, a change from the disastrous past eight years is likely. Even though there is no certainty of Trumps actions as president, it seems that he possesses a better sense of judgment and the willingness to change Americas ongoing downhill course. Trump has consistently been against the signing of the Iran deal and campaigned against it, at the time saying I never seen something so incompetently negotiated, suggesting that he will re- negotiate it if elected. He has also been publicly critical of Obamas weakness and silence regarding a newly strengthened Iran.

A Trump presidency is the only thing that will restore deterrence and American leadership in the world while protecting its allies and confronting evil.

Shoula Romano Horing is a Law Professor. Her blog: www.shoularomanohoring.com
Its not good to get into personal appearances especially when, like me, you live in a glass house. But I believe what Brit Hume was hinting at in regard to Hillarys appearance the other night was that she was so made up and rigidly coiffed she could have been prepared for the debate by Don Corleones undertaker Amerigo. Scary, like one of those creepy clown dolls which move from the couch to the chair when the lights go off is scary.

But scarier is her pledge to create five million new jobs. Because she doesnt mean what it sounds like she means. Hillary Clinton is not going invent a new industry like computers and produce her five million jobs that way. Shes not going to found a new Internet business like Jeff Bezos or a new retail chain like Sam Walton. She doesnt have the I.Q., training or motivation for anything like that.

Instead what shes talking about is: (A) creating new government jobs; or (B) creating new jobs with lobbyists and influence peddlers, the Public-Private-Partnership grifters who fund her political machine. Guys whose sons and daughters run companies who insist they can make jet fuel out of algae or better knock-off Chinese solar panels if only they get stuffed with enough Federal cash.

In other words, bad jobs. Jobs which, whether in government or in corrupt private entities, consume wealth rather than create it. Indeed, they will wolf taxpayer money down to no purpose like contestants at a Coney Island hot dog eating contest. And just as bad money drives out good in Greshams law, bad jobs drive out many times their number of good jobs in what we can call the Liberal Law Of Creative Job Destruction.

Its not a joke. One of the clearest examples of how certain types of jobs drive out other more valuable jobs is in public schooling. Teaching the young how to read, write and sum isnt rocket science. It isnt even model airplane science. Nor does it take a lot of manpower. But the layering on with new government jobs year after year; school psychologists, nurses, professional unionized custodians, assistant teachers, grievance counselors, teacher aides, curriculum specialists and junior teachers, playground monitors, security guards, nutritionists and in some cases more administrators than classroom teachers has meant that spiraling school taxes have helped drive something like two million manufacturing jobs out of my state and into oblivion. Its also why something like forty percent of the houses in my neck of the woods are for sale.

A process that only goes on. For example not so long ago I remember an official in a nursing union testifying before Congress that Obamacare would produce 25,000 new nursing jobs in California alone. But when asked how many other jobs the oppressive new regulatory regime would at the same time eliminate in California, she refused to answer.

Because in the computation of a Left Wing Liberal, the massive job killing consequences of their new jobs dont count.

But it actually does -- big-time, so when Hillary says she has plans for five million new jobs, more jobs than there are people in many States, you cannot, cannot and cannot, be certain the nation will survive the experience. Because with a hundred million already out of the work force there may not be a single solitary good job left anywhere to support us or your aged Nanny when she finishes creating her five million moon children.

While what you can be sure of is that as bad things happen, nothing will be Hillary Clintons fault. It will be the rich (the other rich -- not her friends the super-rich and Hollywood rich) or maybe Americas systemic racism which will be to blame, the fact that Congress wouldnt pass a family leave act or raise the minimum wage to a hundred dollars an hour, the refusal of Republicans to prioritize our inner city schools or offer trans-gender bathrooms. Not to mention the blame she will heap on The Little Sisters Of The Poor who year after year stubbornly insist upon caring for the abandoned instead of promoting abortion.

In fact, Hillary Clinton will blame anybody and anything for the disaster she will produce, except her own corruption, incompetence and deceit.

And so winding down, we have scary Hillary the clown and the scarier Hillary the jobs creator but the really, really scary aspect of Hillary Clinton, the scariest thing about her is another thing entirely. Its the spell she casts. Something Im immune to, I guess, because I go to church every week and eat enough garlic or more likely because Im already under the spell of the wild Irish girl I married fifty years ago who likes to remind me that while St. Bridget may have given away her fathers sword to a mendicant beggar a thousand three hundred years ago, she never let go of her own.

But in any event, so many people are not so immune and its a fact that even face-to-face with the economic end-of-times, that huffing and puffing little Arkansas tugboat will tow into port millions and millions of our fellow citizens who will continue to believe every word out of that lying mouth.

Kind of like how You-Know-Who insisted upon believing Mrs. You-Know-Who about that fruit.

And no, Im not talking about Barack Obama.

Richard F. Miniter is the author of The Things I Want Most, Random House, BDD See it Here. He lives and writes in the colonial era hamlet of Stone Ridge, New York with that wild Irish girl, blogs here and can also be reached at miniterhome@gmail.com
Another country and another group of voters who sent the experts to that place we can't say in a family blog.

Let's go to Colombia first:

A Colombian peace deal that the president and the countrys largest rebel group had signed just days before was defeated in a referendum on Sunday, leaving the fate of a 52-year war suddenly uncertain. A narrow margin divided the yes-or-no vote, with 50.2 percent of Colombians rejecting the peace deal and 49.8 percent voting in favor, the government said. The result was a deep embarrassment for President Juan Manuel Santos. Just last week, Mr. Santos had joined arms with leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC, who apologized on national television during a signing ceremony. The surprise surge by the no vote -- nearly all major polls had indicated resounding approval -- left the country in a dazed uncertainty not seen since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union. And it left the future of rebels who had planned to rejoin Colombia as civilians -- indeed, the future of the war itself, which both sides had declared over -- unknown. Both sides vowed they would not go back to fighting.

So what happened in Colombia?

Let me introduce you to my good friend Daniel Duquenal, who lives next door in Venezuela. I agree with him that President Santos, who was President Uribe's defense minister, made a huge mistake in bringing Cuba (not an honest broker) into the middle of these negotiations:

Then came the choice of Havana and Castro's guidance to negotiate with its allies, the communist FARC. If at first there could be a case written for it, if anything to guarantee the discretion that the Cuban jail brought, it soon became clear that Santos was negotiating on the FARC turf, on the FARC mood swings, etc. But it got worse. As Venezuela started to unravel fast, that it was one of the garant of the process became a minus. Colombians simply could not help but think as to whether an agreement with the FARC, made in Havana under the eyes of Venezuela's colonial masters, had a Venezuelan like future in store.

Furthermore, what led President Santos to make this deal anyway? Maybe he was looking for a Nobel Peace Prize. Frankly, it's easier to win one of those than to do anything about peace these days. Just ask President Obama!

So the bottom line is that a majority of Colombians saw through this deal. They saw Cuba and Venezuela and said "aqui no," or "not here" in Spanish.

Colombia has made amazing progress since the narco wars. The country has a decent economy, and they are sick and tired of FARC, a narcoterrorist organization responsible for the murder and chaos of the 1980s. Only an insane person would believe that FARC was serious about forming a government rooted on democratic principles.

Moral of the story: Don't assume that voters like peace agreements because they are called so. And more importantly, don't go to Raul Castro to do anything about improving anyone's future!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
If Hillary Clinton should win the presidency on November 8, for all intents and purposes, it's over for the country.

This might be hyperbole, but how can one not look at it any other way? She will absolutely be the third term of Obama, and can anyone say with a straight face that he's had a successful presidency? His two signature achievements, Obamacare and the Iran agreement, domestic and foreign, respectively, are universally agreed to be failures.

Hillary will continue Obama's legacy of demagoguery and divisiveness eloquently described in this commentary here:

Instead of offering hope, Obama gave us demagoguery. Instead of fostering unity he stoked and encouraged divisiveness. Instead of providing concrete solutions, he issued speeches laced with empty rhetoric and platitudes. Instead of calming the nation in times of crisis, he engaged in race baiting.

Hillary Clinton will continue the Obama way of governing through unconstitutional executive orders and imposition of bureaucratic regulations since the Republicans will most likely retain the Senate and the House of Representatives and impede most of her radical left-wing legislative initiatives just as they did with Obama. This forced him into executive overreach for most of his presidency. A Clinton administration would be not at all different.

As a result, the Democrats will own every problem - unemployment, the chaotic Middle East, racial division and urban poverty, ISIS and domestic terrorism, imploding Obamacare  and the list goes on and on. Democrats have been in the White House for 16 of the last 24 years. And other than the Iraq War, George W. Bush pretty much governed like a Democrat by expanding the entitlement state with Medicare Part D and the reach of the federal government through programs like No Child Left Behind, not to mention enlarging the bureaucratic state with the creation of Department of Homeland Security, which included the Transportation Safety Administration. With another four to eight years of Hillary, that will be a total of a possible 32 and at least 28 straight years of essentially Democrat governance.

What the media and all of the other anti-Trumpers don't understand is that the reason Trump is the Republican nominee for president is because he has zero political experience. He doesn't act, talk, or even look like a politician, and that's exactly what people want in the current rebellion against D.C. and the political establishment. So what if Hillary sounded great in the debate, as the left-wing media like CNN and websites like Huffington Post were screaming from the rooftops? That is exactly why the non-"elite" regular people don't like her or want her in office. She is just a continuation of what the career politicians have been doing to the country for 45+ years.

"Why Donald is Winning, Because Washington is Losing" hits the nail on the head:

As for Hillary she has made her case. She has more experience governing than Donald. Another way of putting it is she is part of the problem. America is, as the pollsters say, on the wrong track.

So if Hillary wins, she and the Democrats will own every single problem the country faces today, from the highest level of poverty in the history of the country to the highest levels of debt to the highest levels of unemployment and underemployment. And those who vote for her will own the country's problems, too.

To repeat Albert Einstein's famous quote: "The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again, and then expecting different results." There won't be enough psychiatrists in the world to cure the irreversible condition of the country after another four to eight years of the insanity of the status quo.
President Obama doesnt see himself as a lame duck president, and you can expect him to be transforming America until the day he leaves office. Now the administration is trying to change the census so Middle Eastern people have their own category.

As it stands now, whites of European ancestry and people of Middle Eastern ancestry are classed together as Whites. This change would remove the Middle Eastern ancestry people from the White category and create the new MENA category  that is, Middle East and North Africa.

According to the USA Today article White House wants to add new racial category for Middle Eastern people (Gregory Korte, Oct. 1, 2016), [t]he White House is putting forward a proposal to add a new racial category for people from the Middle East and North Africa under what would be the biggest realignment of federal racial definitions in decades. If approved, the new designation could appear on census forms in 2020 and could have far-reaching implications for racial identity, anti-discrimination laws and health research.

So whats going on here? According to the article,  scholars and community leaders say more and more people with their roots in the Middle East find themselves caught between white, black and Asian classifications that don't fully reflect their identities.

So its about their identities, not the well-being of our nation.

Plus theyd be eligible for government goodies and would have preference over European-origin whites in affirmative action. No wonder it sounds so popular.

Back in the old segregation days, immigrants from the Middle East wanted to identify as white. Now that our nation discriminates against whites (in affirmative action programs and disparate impact rulings), it appears that many Middle Eastern origin people want off the white train and on to the Gravy Train.

Helan Samhan of the Arab American Institute said that the change  helps these communities feel less invisible. Its a good step, a positive step.

Feelings, feelings, feelings. And power. Yes, its about feelings and power.

The White House Office of Management and Budget has placed a notice of the proposal in the Federal Register, where you can comment on it if you like.

Heres how the article describes the proposed new category: Under the proposal, the new Middle East and North African designation  or MENA, as it's called by population scholars  is broader in concept than Arab (an ethnicity) or Muslim (a religion). It would include anyone from a region of the world stretching from Morocco to Iran, and including Syrian and Coptic Christians, Israeli Jews and other religious minorities.

Wait a minute  if Israeli Jews are included in the MENA category, what about American-born Jews? Will they be considered MENA?

How about people of Turkish, Sudanese, and Somali origin? Theres been debate about these groups. Where do they fit in?

According to the USA Today article, [a]dding a box on the census form could have implications beyond racial identity. According to the White House notice, the new data could be used for a wide range of political and policy purposes, including ... and then it lists five areas in which the category would be relevant. Lets look at each one and cut through the rhetoric:

Enforcing the Voting Rights Act and drawing congressional and state legislative district boundaries.

TRANSLATION: More federal meddling in local politics. Establishing federal affirmative action plans and evaluating claims of employment discrimination in employment in the private sector.

TRANSLATION: More discrimination against European-origin white people who remain in the White category. Monitoring discrimination in housing, mortgage lending and credit.

TRANSLATION: More meddling and social engineering. Enforcing school desegregation policies.

TRANSLATION: More federal meddling in local education. Helping minority-owned small businesses get federal grants and loans.

TRANSLATION: Allowing MENA-origin people to get goodies from the government they cant get now by being classified as lowly whites.

Also, says the article, the new category would help the government and independent scholars understand more about trends in health, employment and education.

Well, we no longer have religious questions on the census, but scholars can still research religious demography. Why does the government have to be involved in everything?

This proposed change would mean more government expense, more intrusive Big Government, and more discrimination against European-origin white Americans.

Michigan congresswoman Debbie Dingell thinks its great, because then a lot of her constituents would be enabled to accurately identify themselves and access the employment, health, education and representation services that are based on census data. TRANSLATION: More goodies from the government, subsidized by non-MENA taxpayers.

And think about this: if Hillary is elected, you can expect a lot more refugees from the Middle East, thus increasing the MENA population.
The Soros-funded, Obama-backed Black Lives Matter movement has just chalked up another white victim, this time in Alabama.

Seventeen-year-old Brian Ogle is fighting for his life after he dared to post "Blue Lives Matter" on his Facebook page. The Sylacauga High School teen was attacked by multiple suspects on Friday evening at an abandoned parking lot. He is listed in critical condition after being transported by helicopter to University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital with bleeding on the brain and three skull fractures.

Ogle's mother, Brandi Allen, called it a 'hate crime" and said he was targeted for posting pro-police comments on Facebook after students at his high school wore BLM t-shirts to school last week. Local police agreed that racial tensions at the school may have contributed to the assault.

What will it take for the media to cover this story 24/7, as they do when there's a cop shooting? Does one of their children have to wind up in the ICU or dead from a beating before they report this black-on-white savagery?

Soros, Beyonce, Obama, Ayers, and any other supporters and funders of the Black Lives Matter terrorist group need to be held accountable. All of them are responsible for inciting the attempted murder of Ogle and so many other victims of these hate crimes.

Obama has invited members of this far-left criminal goon squad to the White House. Moreover, no matter which part of the world Barack Obama is bashing America from, he finds time to weigh in and incite more violence from his BLM soldiers. His Department of Justice is just as bad. When it comes to a police officer shooting a black person with a long rap sheet, Attorney General Loretta Lynch races to the scene and within hours opens a federal investigation. Without facts, and with the mainstream media aiding and abetting with round-the-clock coverage, Lynch greenlights BLM-inspired thugs to loot, riot, and beat up white people.

The other accomplices to Brian's horrific attack are the nation's elected representatives in both parties. I'm sure Brian's mother would love to know if local civic leaders as well as her congressman and senators will stand up once and for all, and not only denounce BLM's funders and political ringleaders and their hate-filled agenda, but start criminal proceedings against them.
Potentially the single biggest threat to our well-being is the threat of war with nuclear-armed Russia, a threat that Barack Obama airily dismissed in a presidential debate with Mitt Romney four years ago, when the challenger named Russia as a foreign policy threat:

Then there was the cringe-worthy reset button photo op of Hillary and the Russian foreign minister, with his middle digit artfully extended toward Herself.

Well, it is all falling apart. Russia has unilaterally scrapped its disarmament deal with the U.S.:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered a halt to an agreement with the United States on plutonium disposal, citing Washingtons unfriendly actions The deal, signed in 2000, was meant to allow both nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium from their defense programs, a move seen as a key step in the disarmament process. The two countries recommitted to the deal in 2010. Humiliating as the wreckage of an Obama prioritized nuclear disarmament deal must be to Obama and Hillary, it is the least of our worries. Consider this from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (via Sputnik News): Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford warned Congress that the implementation of a No Fly Zone, a centerpiece of Hillarys foreign policy strategy, would result in World War III. During testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services last week General Joseph Dunford rang the alarm over a policy shift that is gaining more traction within the halls of Washington following the collapse of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia in Syria saying that it could result in a major international war which he was not prepared to advocate on behalf of.

Odd, isnt it, that the media have not publicized the nations top military leader warning that Hillarys policy would lead to war with Russia?

If Syria seems remote, how about the Baltic States? Kris Osborne writes at Scout, a military site:

The current NATO force structure in Eastern Europe would be unable to withstand a Russian invasion into neighboring Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, a new think tank study has concluded. After conducting an exhaustive series of wargames wherein red (Russian) and blue (NATO) forces engaged in a wide range of war scenarios over the Baltic states, a Rand Corporation study called Reinforcing Deterrence on NATOs Eastern Flank determined that a successful NATO defense of the region would require a much larger air-ground force than what is currently deployed. In particular, the study calls for a NATO strategy similar to the Cold War eras AirLand Battle doctrine from the 1980s. During this time, the U.S. Army stationed at least several hundred thousand troops in Europe as a strategy to deter a potential Russian invasion. Officials with U.S. Army Europe tell Scout Warrior that there are currenty 30,000 U.S. Army soldiers in Europe. The Rand study maintains that, without a deterrent the size of at least seven brigades, fires and air support protecting Eastern Europe, that Russia cold overrun the Baltic states as quickly as in 60 hours.

Sixty hours: The nation is in deep peril.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman, Stephen Green, Instapundit
David Foster, vice president of hardware engineering at the Amazon-owned Lab126 in San Francisco has joined Google, and will head the companys Pixel division as the VP of product engineering at the companys hardware group, The Information reports. Foster has been with Amazon for almost six years and has been the main person responsible for the development of Kindle and Kindle Fire devices. In addition to that, he oversaw the research and development for Amazon Echo, Fire TV and Dash, the companys first Internet of Things (IoT) gadget.

Interestingly enough, Amazon isnt the only tech giant Foster worked for. Prior to getting hired by one of the largest online retailers in the world, this Oxford graduate has been the hardware manager at Microsoft for over five years. Among other things, he was managing hardware research and development for the Windows Phone Chassis program and Zune HD. Back in the late nineties, Foster was at Apple, involved in various projects involving core technologies. His four-decade career originally started at IBM back in the late eighties. In other words, if Google was looking for an experienced product manager who both understands technology and consumers, the Mountain View tech giant has probably found the right man as Foster has a rather stellar resume.

All in all, this appointment is definitely another huge statement of intent by Google regarding hardware and its vision of the future. With the upcoming launch of Pixel and Pixel XL, Google Glass 2, and a plethora of other products, its clear that the Internet giant has big plans for consumer electronics. As to how big, exactly, well find out later today after Googles huge hardware event in San Francisco finally kicks off. Amazon declined to comment on Fosters departure while Google is yet to officially announce his appointment. However, sources report that the ex-Amazon employee hasnt replaced anyone at Google, adding that his new position has just opened and wasnt previously filled. Being a vice president of product engineering at the companys hardware group, Forster will report directly to Rick Osterloh, head of the tech giants unified hardware division who returned to Google earlier this year.
Google is one of the largest tech giants working on developing self-driving car technologies and has been doing so for more than half a decade. Its safe to assume that half a decade would have been enough for a company to develop and manufacture a non-smart vehicle for the roads, but in reality, Googles top priority lies in developing self-driving software thats smart enough to safely push autonomous vehicles on public roads. This is an enormous challenge in itself, and as Googles head of self-driving technology told the media in a recent interview, the companys endeavors in the automotive market arent as much about building a vehicle as they are about creating a superhuman driver.

In a way, creating software and an array of sensors to allow vehicles to drive themselves in a controlled environment isnt that much of a challenge, but building a system that can function in the real world and on public roads requires a lot more work. In other words, its not enough for the sensors to detect objects and obstacles; the system also needs to act intuitively and on a case-by-case basis in accordance with changes in its environment. Furthermore, the companys vision is to create a self-driving system that can technically be used anywhere and regardless of the car model. This is the reason why Googles head of self-driving technology, Dmitri Dolgov, claims that Google is not developing a car, but rather a driver. Were building a driver. Weve been on Prius, Lexus; we have our own prototype, and were now working with Fiat Chryslers on a new platform. Mr. Dolgov also added that as far as the software is concerned its like you getting into another car. You get a rental  maybe its a little bit bigger, and it doesnt quite handle the same way as your own car  it takes you time to get used to, but the core tasks transfer.

As for the magic behind Googles self-driving car system, these superhuman drivers are designed to rely on a series of long-range lasers and radars that allow the car to see to a distance of at least 100 meters around it. The system can detect and understand hand signals (a symbolic language we humans take for granted) and react accordingly, so for instance, if a self-driving vehicle encounters a bicyclist who signals using his or her hand, the self-driving car (or superhuman-driver) should technically react much like a human would. Furthermore, the system is connected to a cloud and self-driving vehicles can communicate with, and learn from each other. On the other hand, this type of system can technically increase the risk of hacking, and for this reason, Google has taken extra precautions by separating the communication interface used by self-driving cars to share information with one another from the interface required to control the car. In closing, you can take a look at the image below to get a general idea of what a Google self-driving vehicle sees when roaming the streets alongside human drivers.
Google Fiber is one of those services which is looking to offer consumers something they really want, faster internet speeds. As such, when Google Fiber expands to new areas, it does become fairly big news and especially for those living in those newly-created Fiberhoods. The issue is though, Google Fiber does not seem to be expanding widely enough or quickly enough for either consumer demand or for Google and Alphabet. This has led to some rumors developing that Fiber has taken a hit of late in terms of the number of actual people still working on the project. However, back in June of this year Google did announce that Google Fiber had picked up a new company, Webpass. An acquisition that Google has today confirmed has now been finalized, with Webpass now officially becoming part of the Google Fiber family.

Webpass is a company who has been operating for some time and like Google Fiber, looks to offer its customers speeds of up to 1Gbps and at an affordable price. However, also like Google Fiber, the expansion of Webpass has been somewhat limited with even now (after years of being in service) the blog post from Google noting that Webpass only serves tens of thousands of customers. Likewise, it seems those customers are limited to five major areas consisting of San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and Miami.

That said, Google, Alphabet and Google FIber are hoping that the acquisition of Webpass will allow Google Fiber to serve far more people in the future. Not specifically due to the tens of thousands of Webpass customers they have now effectively taken control of, but due to the point-to-point wireless technology that Webpass possesses and makes use of. Point-to-point wireless is especially useful in built-up areas where the technology is able to connect all of these closely populated customers together, quicker and easier. As a result and reiterating what Google has said before, they are hoping to make use of point-to-point wireless along with their own already-existing solution to offer a hybrid approach to satisfy those looking for faster internet services in the future. Those interested in reading more about this can read the full blog post on the completion of the Webpass acquisition by heading through the source link below.
After months of waiting, as well as a very brief and limited experience with Google Assistant through Allo, Googles most recent chat application, the Google Assistant-powered Google Home speaker was officially launched today at Googles event where they unveiled a number of new products including the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, Google Wi-Fi, and the new Chromecast Ultra which features 4K content support. If youre one of the many consumers who was likely excited about the prospect of having Googles new smart speaker in your house to power anything from smart lights to your Nest thermostat, then youll be happy to know that alongside Googles unveiled pricing for the Google Home speaker, they have also confirmed the availability details for the US, which begins from today set at a price of $129 when you pre-order the device, and it will be shipping on November 4th.

Of course knowing the price and when you can buy one makes no difference if you dont have any idea where you can purchase the product. As expected, Google Home will be available in the US from today where it can be picked up from the Google Store alongside all of Googles other products.

At the moment there are no other listed retailers for Google Home here in the US so those who are interested in picking it up will be looking at pre-ordering (and buying once available) directly from Google only. With pre-orders being live today, the Google Store lists that Google Home units will ship out in 4-5 weeks, which is about the time of the November 4th date that was mentioned above. In addition to the Google Home units, those who order the device can also choose to customize their Google Home speaker with a little bit of color by ordering an extra base, which in total includes six different colors. There will be three metal colors that include Carbon, Copper, and Snow, as well as three Fabric colors of Mango, Marine, and Violet. The different Google Home bases arent yet available for pre-order, but they will start from $20 once theyre ready, with $20 likely being the cost of the fabric bases.
Googles Pixel and Pixel XL phones sport the latest in processing power, screen technology, and incredibly solid and satisfying build, as well as the latest in software technology. Launching with Android 7.1 Nougat, its pretty clear that Googles vision for the future of smartphones is in a more tightly controlled, AI-assisted future, and one that it can oversee the quality and design of. This certainly doesnt mean were saying goodbye to Android as we knew it, far from it in fact, but Googles phones going forward are going to be a different version of what weve come to know in the past.

Whats not changing are the number of carrier-specific features that Googles phones support, and its clear that Googles Pixel and Pixel XL have been built with the widest compatibility for modern carriers weve seen yet in any Android phone. Sold exclusively through Verizon in the US, EE in the UK and a number of other notable carriers throughout the world, Googles Pixel is here to support technologies like HD Voice through LTE connections, as well as WiFi calling for those times that the network just wont reach where youre at. Whether it be in a basement, somewhere high in the peaks of the mountains, or maybe just on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, wherever a WiFi network can be reached your phone can operate 100% as normal via WiFi calling.

T-Mobile may have pioneered the WiFi calling effort here in the US, but since its invention and adoption so many years ago, a number of other carriers in the US and worldwide have taken up the technology as their own. Passing data through a secure channel, data exchanged via WiFi calling is encrypted and secured much in the same way it is through your carriers cell network. Given that the Pixel and Pixel XL are only sold through Verizon in the US, its certainly no surprise to see official support for Verizons WiFi Calling service, and marks a first for any Google phone to support such tech. What might come as a bit of a surprise is full support for T-Mobiles WiFi Calling, which has been available since last years Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, but are refreshing to see considering the phone is being sold unlocked through the Google Store. There is no word yet on WiFi calling support for international carriers or other US carriers at this point, but time and updates will certainly tell.
Albuquerque's newest neo-burlesque troupe, Arthaus Burlesque is presenting its first full stage show. The fetish-friendly group will kick it off with Virgins and Veterans , an intimate collection of performers uniting the past, present and future of burlesque in Albuquerque . Representing the new guard are newbies like River Delacour, Eddi Fication and Rozalyn Black. Stepping in for the veterans are local faves like Paris A GoGo, Mary Jane Monroe and Joy Coy. For this Keshet Center for the Arts show, tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door. VIP tickets are $15 presale and $20 at the door. (Devin D. O'Leary)

A burlesque show spotlighting new performers and their expert counterparts are River Delacour, Holly Rebelle, Eddi Fication, Paris a Gogo, Rozalyn Black and more, hosted by Julian Addams.

Join Arthaus Burlesque for their premier production at KESHET Center for the Arts as we celebrate the past, present, and future of Albuquerque Burlesque. Bring your tip money and we'll bring you the greatest in talent that ABQBurlesque has to offer.

Virgins and Veterans honors the people who helped bring the art of Burlesque to ABQ, and spotlights new performers who have been on the burlesque stage less than a year. Come see these titans of the scene mix with newbie movers and shakers for a show that's sure to leave you titillated!

Then join us after the show for an afterparty you won't forget!

Tickets: $10 presale/$15 at the door

VIP Tickets: $15 presale/$20 at the door

Purchase tickets here! : http://holdmyticket.com/tickets/255101

*VIP ticketholders will have access to bistro-style seating and front-row access to performers during the show. If you are looking for a more intimate experience, this is your chance. Seats are limited, so purchase soon

Doors: 7PM

Show: 730PM

**THIS IS AN 18+, DRY EVENT. There will be no alcohol or food permitted on the premises. Thank you for your cooperation

Featuring:

River Delacour

Holly Rebelle

Eddi Fication

Paris A Go Go

Rozalyn Black

Mayo Lua de Frenchie

Wasabi Mynx

Annie O'Roar

Curio Lecter

Joy Coy

Venus de Folie

Kit Kombat

Satyricon Boylesk

and

FEMME FATALE BURLESQUE CABARET

MARY JANE MONROE

Hosted by: Julian Addams
Google is set to launch new smartphones later today (October 4th) during their press event in San Francisco. The company had scheduled this event a while back and has been teasing the arrival of their new phones for quite some time now. Google is actually expected to introduce the Google Home speaker (powered by Google Assistant) next to these phones, and also their Daydream VR headset, but lets focus on the companys smartphones in this article, shall we. The two upcoming devices are going to be called the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, as the company is stepping away from the Nexus branding, whether we like it or not. That being said, in addition to a ton of Google Pixel leaks weve seen lately, some new ones just leaked, read on.

Verizon, a US-based carrier, has leaked some Google Pixel content as well, following Bell (a Canadian retailer) and the British phone store, Carphone Warehouse. Verizon has more or less confirmed the info both Bell and Carphone Warehouse shared, at least as far as the design of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL is concerned. Now, in addition to sharing images of these two devices, Verizons leak also confirms that the Pixel devices will be available in Blue, Black and White color variants, and that youll be able to purchase them in 32GB and 128GB storage variants (image down below). Now, on top of all this, the listing mentions something called Google Magic, which is the first time we see this feature, or whatever it is. Chances are that Google Magic is something related to software, though we have no idea what it might be, well just have to wait for the company to unveil their devices in order to find out.

Now, in addition to Verizons leak, @evleaks also has something to share with us. This well-known leaker has shared some images of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL through his official Twitter page. If you take a look at the image above this article, youll get to see Googles upcoming devices in both Gray and Blue color variants. The companys logo is placed on the back of this phone, and this is a familiar design weve seen in a number of leaks thus far. The bezels seem to be a bit too thick for todays standards (though thats a matter of preference), and the fingerprint scanner will be placed on the back of both the Google Pixel and Pixel XL it seems. Both the power / lock and volume rocker keys will be placed on the right-hand side of this phone, and its SIM tray will be included on the left. Googles event is kicking off at 9AM PST (October 4th), so stay tuned.
While today has become known as Pixel Day for a lot of people out there, we have seen our fair share of more than just the Pixel and Pixel XL. Google finally let us know when we should expect the Google Home to be available, and for how much, and we also said hello to a new WiFi router. A product that we also thought was going to get something of an upgrade was the Chromecast, and with the announcement of the Chromecast Ultra, Google have gone ahead and confirmed those rumors. With little in the way of design changes from the last generation of Chromecast devices, this new model is all about streaming content in 4K, while also offering users on a budget a great option. Of course, like any good Google product, people are wondering when theyll be able to get their hands on it.

As we covered earlier, the Chromecast Ultra is all about being able to stream content to your TV in 4K, and as such the power adapter will support Ethernet, allowing users to tap into better connections. Its also 1.8x faster than the previous model, and it also features much better WiFi, too. Google Play Movies will shortly start airing movies in 4K as well, and of course 4K YouTube willw ork well with the new Chromecast Ultra.

Google hasnt announced full availability all over the world just yet, as some regions do take a little longer than others to see new releases from Google. They have however, announced that the new Chromecast Ultra will be available in regions where the existing Chromecasts have gone on sale during November. Specifically, the Chromecast Ultra will be $69 but will vary in cost depending on where you are in the world. Here in the United States, Google has set a price of $69, while those in Europe will be looking at something similar and our friends across the pond in the UK a similar price as well. These are all prices similar to last years, but having the ability to stream in 4K is something that has clearly put the price up a little bit. Even so, compared to the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which does not allow streaming in 4K, Google still has a competitive piece of hardware on their hands.
Earlier this week, a research covering the third quarter of the year showed that Samsung Galaxy is still the most valuable brand in South Korea despite the Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco. However, experts claimed that the companys leading position in its home country during the last quarter of the year will heavily depend on how well its customers will accept the Galaxy Note 7 exchange program. While its still too early to predict consumer behavior in the Far Eastern country with absolute certainty, initial reports suggest that Samsung has a lot of reasons to be happy about.

More specifically, after the company recommenced Galaxy Note 7 sales in South Korea on Saturday, it has managed to sell over 45,000 new units by the end of the weekend. Thats definitely an impressive number given all of the battery-related drama surrounding the device in recent weeks which was only reinforced by numerous false reports of perfectly safe Galaxy Note 7 units catching fire or exploding. Unfortunately for Samsung, these reports still havent stopped. As reported by Korean media outlets, a woman from Seoul has reported that her Galaxy Note 7 exploded while charging overnight. She even provided Samsung with a video depicting the device burning and a picture of its box marked with a black square which is used to label replacement Galaxy Note 7 units.

As reported by Korean media outlets on Sunday, a woman from Seoul has reported that her Galaxy Note 7 exploded after being left to charge overnight. She even provided Samsung with a video depicting the device burning and a picture of its box marked with a black square which is used to label replacement Galaxy Note 7 units, both of which can be seen below. Not surprisingly, Samsung went into full-on panic mode because of the implications of this incident and has momentarily paid a hefty sum to the renowned Swiss testing company SGS which conducted an extensive investigation. More specifically, the burned Galaxy Note 7 was quickly sent to Switzerland where SGS ran a CT on the destroyed Galaxy Note 7 and X-rayed it. According to completely conclusive results, the cause of the battery explosion was external as SGS failed to spot a single defective battery cell in the unit. Nonetheless, Samsung disclosed this incident to the public and once again stated that all of the Galaxy Note 7 replacement units are perfectly safe to use.
Samsung is one of the few smartphone manufacturing companies that are still interested in manufacturing flip phones. Flip phones were extremely popular back in the day, but ever since smartphones came to the scene, flip phones are almost extinct, well, there are still some flip phone cellphones out there, but not many companies manufacture flip phone smartphones. Well, Samsung had released the Galaxy Folder 2 flip phone smartphone quite recently, an entry-level device, and their high-end Veyron smartphone (SM-W2017) has been leaking out for months now, read on.

This smartphone had surfaced on Geekbench, GFXBench and AnTuTu, and weve seen a ton of its leaked images, so we basically know what will the phone look like, and we also have its partial spec sheet thanks to aforementioned benchmarking sites. That being said, it seems like the device has been certified by the FCC as well. The certification listing reveals that the phone will sport a 2,300mAH battery. Now, for those of you who are interested, youll be glad to know that Qualcomms Quick Charge 3.0 will also be included here, and considering how small this battery pack is, youll be able to charge it in no time. This listing doesnt exactly confirm that the device will come to the US, though it definitely gives us some hope it will. Chances are, however, that this phone will launch in either South Korea or China first.

That being said, the Samsung Veyron will sport a 5.2-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) Super AMOLED display, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of native storage. The device will be fueled by the Snapdragon 820 64-bit quad-core processor, along with the Adreno 530 GPU. The 12-megapixel snapper will be placed on its back (quite probably the same sensor that Samsung used in the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge and Note 7), while youll get a 5-megapixel shooter up front. The Type-C USB port will be placed on the bottom of this phone, and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow will come pre-installed on this device, along with Samsungs custom UI. That is more or less everything we know thus far, Samsung is expected to introduce this phone soon, so stay tuned for that.
Earlier today in San Francisco, Google unveiled a whole range of new hardware which collectively the company hopes consumers will start to identify as their own hardware products and associate them less with the manufacturers, who put the hardware pieces together on behalf of Google. The Most obvious example of this was the two headline devices, the Pixel and the Pixel XL smartphones. Both of which are now confirmed and all their specs known.

As these are more than just Googles latest hardware you might be wondering what makes the likes of the Pixel XL standout from the rest? Especially considering the specs on offer are not exactly market-leading. Yes, they are competitive but nothing that you cannot find elsewhere on other devices. Well, therein is what makes these devices a bit more unique. While their hardware is somewhat run-of-the-mill (by flagship standards), the software is another story entirely and where Google hopes their devices will become more known. While Nexus devices ran stock Android, Pixel devices run stock Android, but with a few tweaks.

While that might sound contradictory (and it arguably is), the software is the big selling point here and these tweaks are as Google intends for its new flagship smartphones. Thereby, they are technically stock Android. The biggest overlay in use is the Pixel Launcher. This was highly rumored on (and even leaked) prior to the unveiling. Google has made it clear that the Pixel Launcher is designed for the Pixel phones and looks to combine many of the Google Assistant-related features together. The Pixel is just a smarter type of smartphone and the inclusion of Google Assistant is a big part of the driving force behind the smarter ambition. In fact, Google makes the point that the Pixel XL and the Pixel are the first phones to come with Google Assistant as a built-in feature. Thereby harnessing the smarter capabilities of Google Assistant and its your Google features is one of the clear special benefits that are on offer with the Pixel XL.

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Generally speaking, the Pixel and the Pixel XL are largely the same phone although they do come with some specific differences which are likely to make the Pixel XL the better option to go for. The first is the larger 5.5-inch display which comes with a greater (than the Pixel) QHD resolution. While the battery on the Pixel XL has also been boosted compared to the Pixel, as the Pixel XL comes loaded with a 3,450 mAh capacity. This is also a smartphone which is able to make use of faster charge speeds with Google stating that a seven hour level of usage can be achieved after only 15 minutes of charging.

There are also a number of other features that on offer with the Pixel XL which are based on the software, like automatic downloading and installing of software updates so the whole experience feels more natural. Likewise, Google is looking to offer a more cohesive product all-around and as such the Pixel XL does come with the likes of Duo installed, as well as the ability to make use of free unlimited storage (at full resolution) for photos and videos through Google Photos. Not to mention, Googles Pixel XL is also a Daydream-ready smartphone.
Ben Needham: demolishing a home with care

The hunt for Ben Needham continues. A round up of media reporting on the missing child. The renewed search is in its ninth day.

BBC: Farmhouse extension demolished

Police has demolished part of a farm house on the Greek island of Kos. The extension was built after the 21-month-old from Sheffield went missing in 1991. The Beebs report contains this eyebrow raiser: South Yorkshire Police said the owners had agreed to officers dismantling the lower part of the building.

You can knock down the ground floor but keep all the floors above it intact. Easy!

This is what it looks like in the Times:

The hunch is that Ben Needham was accidentally killed and, well, you can guess the rest. Unless you read the Sheffield Star, wherein we read: LATEST: Farmhouse demolition starts in search for remains of Ben Needham.

ITN invites armchair detectives to wonder: Could farmhouse extension hold key to Bens whereabouts?

Det Insp Jon Cousins, of South Yorkshire Police, tells media:

Early this afternoon I will be dismantling the lower part of the farmhouse including the ground around it just making sure that I havent missed any opportunity to get the answers that we require. The [Greek] family are clearly upset about what were doing. They have very kindly agreed to allow us to do that and I am extremely grateful. Clearly its going to be a very distressing time for them. This is where many generations, including the current generation, were born and grew up and weve got to deal with it as sensitively as possible.

So youre knocking down part of their home.

But needs must.

Thoughts are with Ben family. His sister Leigh-Anna is quoted in the Sun: We just feel numb and very empty and the moment. Were a family thats lived in hope for 25 years that one day he will walk back through that door and now were facing the possible reality that he was there all along.

Lets hope this story gets an end.

Anorak

Posted: 4th, October 2016 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
Pentagon paid UK firm 500m for cheap looking Al-Qaeda propaganda films

Al Qaeda have been a bit quiet of late. We used to see lots of their gurning loons on the TV news. Now nothing. Might this be down to the rise of Islamic State and the apparent fact that a lot of the stuff we watched was made in the Pentagon?

Sputnik News looks at a report by the grandiose Bureau of Investigative Journalism which says the Pentagon paid at least $540 million to a UK public relations firm to produce fake Al-Qaeda videos as part of a clandestine propaganda campaign.

The company that won this lucrative contract is Bell Pottinger, which gave high-ranking military officials information on people who watched the fraudulent segments, which were made to look like insurgent videos and Arabic news programs.

Got that? 12th Century Wolf, or whatever the big Qaeda film co. is called, made movies as honey traps for would-be enemies of the State. Pop one these films in a player and your details are sent to the National Security Council, the Pentagon and the CIA. (Anyone familiar with those old adverts for TV detector vans will think thats getting off lightly.)

Crofton Black & Abigail Fielding-Smith of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism tell the Daily Beast:

In the first media interview any Bell Pottinger employee has given about the work for the U.S. military in Iraq, video editor Martin Wells told the Bureau his time in Camp Victory was shocking, eye-opening, life-changing. The firms output was signed off by former General David Petraeusthen commander of the coalition forces in Iraqand on occasion by the White House, he said There were three types of media operations commonly used in Iraq at the time, said a military contractor familiar with Bell Pottingers work there. White is attributed, it says who produced it on the label, the contractor said. Grey is unattributed, and black is falsely attributed. These types of black ops, used for tracking who is watching a certain thing, were a pretty standard part of the industry toolkit.

And the films?

Bell Pottinger would send teams out to film low-definition video of al Qaeda bombings and then edit it like a piece of news footage. It would be voiced in Arabic and distributed to TV stations across the region, according to Wells.

Thats 500m to make sub-standard YouTuber videos.

Ker-ching!

Anorak

Posted: 4th, October 2016 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
CAIRO - A leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the leader of its armed wing, Mohamed Kamal, was killed last night in Cairo, in a shootout with police during an operation to arrest him, according to the interior ministry.



Some of the leaders of the group - considered a terrorist organization in Egypt - used the apartment in the Basateen district as a hiding place ''to plan armed operations''.



Last night - according to Mena news agency - security forces broke into the apartment and the occupants shot at the officers.



In the shootout Kamal, a 61-year-old doctor, died together with Yasser Ragab, another influential member of the group.



Kamal had reportedly become the group's leader in 2013. His operations, the interior ministry also said, included the assassination of prosecutor general Hesham Barakat and police colonel Wael Tahoun. He was sentenced to life in two different trials.


NEW YORK - The United States suspended bilateral contacts with Russia over a ceasefire in Syria, also threatening new sanctions against Moscow. After weeks of tensions and threats to interrupt contacts issued by US Secretary of State John Kerry, especially due to the Russian-Syrian pounding of Aleppo, the Department of State last night made the official announcement, after one made by Russia earlier in the day over a halt in military contacts between the two countries.



The announcement, which shows a worrisome deterioration in the relationship between the two countries, comes after Moscow's decision to suspend a plutonium-dissolution pact, a staple of the post-Cold War era.



Escalating tension weighs on an Aleppo increasingly struck by bombs, with a third air raid reported over one of the city's main hospitals, which had already been struck twice before in similar attacks over the past week.



The raid, which in the end completely destroyed the building, caused at least three victims - workers who were trying to repair the hospital after bombings over the past days. Explaining the suspension in relations, the Department of State criticized Russia for failing to respect its engagements and for choosing, with the Russian regime, to continue along the military path, destroying the slim truce that had been agreed.



The proof, according to the Department of State, lies in the attacks against civilian areas, which target structures like hospitals and prevent the arrival of humanitarian aid, as shown by the raid on September 19 against a humanitarian convoy.



The attack has further harshened tensions between Washington and Moscow, until the breakup today.



A State Department spokeswoman, Elizabeth Trudeau, said the US would continue to dialogue with other members of the international community and the decision taken with Russia would not preclude this, stressing that Washington's position on Bashar al Assad - that he does not have any legitimacy - remains unvaried.



The White House has expressed ''concern'' for the situation in Syria and also disappointed that Russia did not respect its engagements. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that everybody's patience with Russia had ended and that a political transition is necessary, recalling how Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke in favor of a transition.



Moscow's first reaction, through a foreign ministry spokesman, was to say Washington had failed to respect the agreements and was now blaming someone else.
PISA - A Leaning Tower of Pisa, the largest alabaster work of art in the world, is leaving for Japan. The work has already acted as ''ambassador of Pisa and Tuscany'' throughout the world. After its debut in 2011 in Moscow, in 2015 it was flown to San Francisco and for now will be exhibited for four months in Tokyo Dome City as part of the 150th Italy-Japan Friendship Treaty. It will later be flown to the UAE, the Pisa town council said. The tower is three meters high and required a ton of alabaster. ''After an extended period in the Baleari hall of the town council,'' said Paolo Ghezzi, deputy mayor in charge of tourism.



''The alabaster tower, owned by Opera Primaziale, which kindly lent it out, will become the ambassador of Tuscany in Japan.'' The tower will later continue its 'tour' with a stop in the UAE.
Over 2 million see Fire at Sea on Italian TV Italian Oscar contender doc about migrant crisis

(ANSAmed) - ROME, OCTOBER 4 - Some 2.273 million people tuned in to watch Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare) when it was screened for the first time on Italian television by State broadcaster RAI on Monday.



The film, a documentary about Italian migrant stepping-stone island Lampedusa, had 8.8% of the overall audience share and was the third most-watched programme of the evening.



The movie won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and is Italy's contender for the best foreign language film at the 2017 Oscars. (ANSAmed).




Tunisia: minister, aid for 20 bn dollars necessary International conference in Tunis on November 29-30

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, OCTOBER 4 - Tunisia ''needs financial aid for a value of 20 billion dollars over the next five years to promote the national economy'' said the Tunisian minister for development, investments and international cooperation, Fadhel Abdelkefi, opening a workshop on competitiveness in Tunis.



The minister also stated that ''public finances are not sufficient anymore to improve the country's growth rate''.



The advantages for foreign investors will be announced in the new code of investments and in a draft law on the economic emergency soon to be discussed in parliament, he said.



Abdelkedefi also stressed the importance of attracting investors to Tunisia, recalling the international conference ''Tunisia 2020'' scheduled in Tunis on November 29-30. (ANSAmed)
CAIRO - At least 30 migrants drowned and 305 others have been rescued in several different incidents of large boats capsizing off the Libyan coast over the past 24 hours, Anadolu reported on Monday.



The news agency quoted Sabratha official Bassem al-Gharabli as saying that two large boats went down, resulting in 19 deaths and 16 rescued. Libyan navy spokesman Ayoub Qassem added that the Coast Guard had ''saved another 139 migrants in Tadjoura (east of Tripoli) and 150 in Gasr Garabulli'' and that 11 had died.
Egypt: Brotherhood armed wing leader killed in shootout During operation in Cairo hiding place to arrest him

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, OCTOBER 4 - A leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the leader of its armed wing, Mohamed Kamal, was killed last night in Cairo, in a shootout with police during an operation to arrest him, according to the interior ministry.



Some of the leaders of the group - considered a terrorist organization in Egypt - used the apartment in the Basateen district as a hiding place ''to plan armed operations''.



Last night - according to Mena news agency - security forces broke into the apartment and the occupants shot at the officers.



In the shootout Kamal, a 61-year-old doctor, died together with Yasser Ragab, another influential member of the group.



Kamal had reportedly become the group's leader in 2013. His operations, the interior ministry also said, included the assassination of prosecutor general Hesham Barakat and police colonel Wael Tahoun. He was sentenced to life in two different trials. (ANSAmed).




Egypt Mufti asks media not to call ISIS Islamic State 'Terrorism must not be attributed to Islam'

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, OCTOBER 4 - The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheik Shawki Allam, has condemned the use of the term Islamic State when referring to ISIS, stressing that terrorist activities must not be attributed to Islam.



''Daesh is not a State but those who destroy and create displacement are terrorists'', said Allam in an interview to Al Arabiya, Mena reports, asking the media not to use the words Islamic State anymore to define the group responsible for crimes against humanity. (ANSAmed)
EU risks 'serious crisis' over migrants says Gentiloni Europe at risk if each country builds wall says minister

(ANSAmed) - ROME, OCTOBER 4 - The European Union runs the risk of "a very, very grave crisis" over migrants and refugees, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday.



"The willingness to enact shared policies is lacking (in Europe)," the minister told a conference on migrants organized by Italian trade union federation CISL.



"If the idea is allowed that each country can raise its own wall, the European edifice could really be at risk".



Gentiloni went on to say: "I sincerely hope Europe will go beyond policies involving walls and closure. If we continue down this path, Italy will become more and more a country of arrival and not of transit".



This means Italy needs to step up its reception and integration policies, Gentiloni said. (ANSAmed).




BRUSSELS - The decision to suspend bilateral contacts with Russia about a ceasefire in Syria does not mean abandoning Syrians, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. Kerry stressed that the United States would continue efforts to end the fighting in Syria through the United Nations. He added that ''we acknowledge in sorrow - and, I have to tell you, outrage - that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assad's deplorable use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs against his people. Together, the Syrian regime and Russia have rejected diplomacy and seem to have chosen instead to continue their pursuit of a military victory over the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals and traumatized children of a long-suffering land.''

Kerry stressed that the decision to suspend bilateral talks had been made with a ''heavy heart'' but that the commitment remained to work towards a peaceful, united and non-sectarian Syria through a diplomatic solution. The issue of Syria is on the agenda of a meeting between Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels, where a conference on Afghanistan is underway.

Moscow says no cold war with US after halted contacts, but US 'ready for pact with devil'

NEW YORK - Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow is not going through a new cold war with the United States, after the suspension of bilateral contacts by Washington to continue Russia-Syrian bombings on Aleppo. ''Cold war means clashing on any subject, this is not the case, but there are differences, diverging interests'', he added. ''In Syria, the problem about the inactivity of the Security Council is that there are fundamental divergences: the US are explicitly trying to use the UN institution for a regime change, but this is not the mandate of the Security Council'', stressed Churkin.

For its part, the Russian foreign ministry said Moscow has ''the impression'' that ''in its efforts'' to obtain the wished-for regime change in Damascus, Washington was ''ready for a pact with the devil - an agreement to forge an alliance with real terrorists''. In a statement published last night, Moscow also accused the US of ''never exercising real pressure'' on the Qaedists of Jabhat al Nusra in Syria and not undertaking ''any action against members'' of this group, ''who are continuing their bloody attacks''.
NEW YORK - Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow is not going through a new cold war with the United States, after the suspension of bilateral contacts by Washington to continue Russia-Syrian bombings on Aleppo.



''Cold war means clashing on any subject, this is not the case, but there are differences, diverging interests'', he added. ''In Syria, the problem about the inactivity of the Security Council is that there are fundamental divergences: the US are explicitly trying to use the UN institution for a regime change, but this is not the mandate of the Security Council'', stressed Churkin.



For its part, the Russian foreign ministry said Moscow has ''the impression'' that ''in its efforts'' to obtain the wished-for regime change in Damascus, Washington was ''ready for a pact with the devil - an agreement to forge an alliance with real terrorists''. In a statement published last night, Moscow also accused the US of ''never exercising real pressure'' on the Qedists of Jabhat al Nusra in Syria and not undertaking ''any action against members'' of this group, ''who are continuing their bloody attacks''.



War is continuing on the ground. Rebels supported by Turkey and the US are tightening their grip around Dabiq, the Syrian village at the center of the apocalyptic propaganda of ISIS, and are aiming to conquer the town ''by tomorrow'', according to a rebel commander quoted by Turkish media, who warned this effort will not be easy because the jihadists ''have sent massive support''.
Syria: U.S. suspends talks with Russia Obama also evaluates sanctions. Moscow: 'It's their fault'

(ANSAmed) - NEW YORK, OCTOBER 4 - The United States suspended bilateral contacts with Russia over a ceasefire in Syria, also threatening new sanctions against Moscow. After weeks of tensions and threats to interrupt contacts issued by US Secretary of State John Kerry, especially due to the Russian-Syrian pounding of Aleppo, the Department of State last night made the official announcement, after one made by Russia earlier in the day over a halt in military contacts between the two countries.



The announcement, which shows a worrisome deterioration in the relationship between the two countries, comes after Moscow's decision to suspend a plutonium-dissolution pact, a staple of the post-Cold War era.



Escalating tension weighs on an Aleppo increasingly struck by bombs, with a third air raid reported over one of the city's main hospitals, which had already been struck twice before in similar attacks over the past week.



The raid, which in the end completely destroyed the building, caused at least three victims - workers who were trying to repair the hospital after bombings over the past days. Explaining the suspension in relations, the Department of State criticized Russia for failing to respect its engagements and for choosing, with the Russian regime, to continue along the military path, destroying the slim truce that had been agreed.



The proof, according to the Department of State, lies in the attacks against civilian areas, which target structures like hospitals and prevent the arrival of humanitarian aid, as shown by the raid on September 19 against a humanitarian convoy.



The attack has further harshened tensions between Washington and Moscow, until the breakup today.



A State Department spokeswoman, Elizabeth Trudeau, said the US would continue to dialogue with other members of the international community and the decision taken with Russia would not preclude this, stressing that Washington's position on Bashar al Assad - that he does not have any legitimacy - remains unvaried.



The White House has expressed ''concern'' for the situation in Syria and also disappointed that Russia did not respect its engagements. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that everybody's patience with Russia had ended and that a political transition is necessary, recalling how Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke in favor of a transition.



Moscow's first reaction, through a foreign ministry spokesman, was to say Washington had failed to respect the agreements and was now blaming someone else. (ANSAmed)
Oman Airports was again Platinum Sponsors for the Strategy Summit at World Routes, where many Aviation senior representatives had important heated debates and talks in all three days of the route development forum.



The commercial operation team scheduled substantial meetings with targeted airline network managers to talk about possibilities in adding new frequencies or new routes to Oman Airports, including Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Duqm airports.

Kimmo Ruotsalainen, head of sales and marketing, the meetings consisted of current customers as well as meetings with key target markets in the Middle East, the Gulf, and South Asia; as well as further connecting Africa and the Far East in the future.



Oman Airports focuses on enhancing the relationship with existing airlines and to develop relations with potential carriers for new opportunities. The long-term goal is to connect Africa and Asia (specifically China) as well as Asia and Europe. The number of passengers at Muscat International Airport exceeded 10 million passengers and Salalah Airport broke its record to over 1, 0 million passengers to the newly opened state of the art airport, resulting an increase in both domestic and international travel.



Oman is looking forward to building direct routes with Asian carriers and partner with Oman Air to enhance the Muscat hub connectivity. Oman Airports aims to have a couple of new airlines to start operating to MCT during this year and more is planned to commence in 2017, said Ruotsalainen. Both Oman Airports and Oman Air have a close relationship and are working together to strengthen the transfer traffic via Muscat hub. World Routes in Chengdu opened doors to develop, initiate and develop new networking chances- making it accessible to reaching the target goal.

Kimmo Ruotsalainen, head of sales and marketing at Oman Airports accepts appreciation award from UBM routes team. Chengdu 2016.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Parliament Speaker of Armenia Galust Sahakyan confirmed that MP Tigran Urikhanyan has presented a resignation letter.

I would like to recall that the MP can take back his resignation letter within 15 days. Otherwise, the resignation is considered accepted, Galust Sahakyan said, reports Armenpress.

MP Tigran Urikhanyan has presented a resignation letter to Speaker of Parliament Galust Sahakyan on October 3. He also presented a resignation letter from the post of Chairman of Alliance party, at the same time he will continue being a member of partys administration.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. MasterCard is now allowing online shoppers to use fingerprints or selfies to verify their identities, as it looks to fend off growing disruption in the payments sector from both established technology groups and fintech startups, Financial Times reports.

The Identity Check Mobile application will allow customers to complete purchases without the need to enter a password or PIN, measures the company hopes will make them more likely to complete purchases as well as improving security.

The US-based cards issuer is rolling out the service in 12 European countries from today, following trials in the Netherlands, US and Canada. Further countries are expected to follow in 2017.

Ajay Bhalla, MasterCard president of enterprise risk and security, described the development as a significant milestone in the evolution of payments.

Established payments groups like MasterCard face increasing competition thanks to the emergence of mobile payments, where barriers to entry are much lower than the traditional credit card business.

The global value of payments made by mobile devices or wearable technology is expected to reach $95bn annually in 2018, up from $35bn last year, according to Juniper Research, the market research group.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The 2017 state budget doesnt include raising pensions and benefits, Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan told reporters.

A conservative approach is present in the 2017 budget draft. It is very difficult to look into the eyes of pensioners and tell them no rise in pensions is planned, however on the other hand it wont be correct to take debt to raise the pensions. Thats why we prefer to first of all heal the economy, after which we will address the increase of pensions, the minister said.
Barcelonas system of superblocks  called superilles in Catalan  would go well beyond the pedestrian plazas that have sprouted up on the streets of New York City. While those spaces have carved out more room for pedestrians in busy corridors, the superblocks represent a more radical approach that fundamentally challenges the notion that streets even belong to cars.
Border disputes and divergent views over the South China Sea have cooled relations between the two countries. Vietnam is Cambodias fifth trading partner. However, losses in investments will [not] have major consequences in Cambodia, because China will be happy to step in and feel the vacuum," source told AsiaNews. In return, the Chinese will want to decide Cambodias foreign policy.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews)  Cambodia and Vietnam are at loggerheads. Now "Phnom Penh will end up increasingly in Chinas sphere of influence," a source, anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews.

In recent months, tensions between the two countries have led Vietnam to suspend its investments in Cambodia. Border disputes and divergent political views over the South China Sea have cooled relations.

Vietnam, Cambodias fifth largest trading partner after China, South Korea, the European Union and Malaysia, has not invested in the Cambodian market in the first six months of 2016.

According to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), bilateral trade in 2015 reached US$ 3.37 billion, with Cambodian exports to Vietnam amounting to US$ 954 million and imports at .41 billion. Investments from Vietnam in Cambodia were expected to reach US$ 6 billion by 2020.

Some Cambodian financial analysts expressed deep concerns over the sudden end of Vietnamese investments. However, for CDC Deputy Secretary-General, Chea Vuthy, It does not matter if we do not have any Vietnamese investment coming in, though we are a bit baffled.

Various commentators believe that Hanoi wants to impose a price on Phnom Penh for its foreign policy. Two issues dominate relations.

The first concerns the 1,228 km land border between the two countries whose demarcation has never been agreed. The second relates to disputes in the South China Sea.

During the last ASEAN* summit, Cambodia vetoed any criticism of Beijing's policy in disputed waters. Phnom Penh succeed in keeping any reference to China out of a joint statement. Conversely, Vietnam has been complaining for months over Chinas harassment in the seas.

After this, " the friendship between the Vietnamese and the Cambodian governments could not continue, the source said.

However, I do not believe that losses in investments will have major consequences in Cambodia, because China will be happy to step in and feel the vacuum for Phnom Penh. It has already done so in the past."

Beijings influence in Cambodia will thus increase. "The Chinese have already built roads and bridges for free. In return, they will want to decide Cambodias foreign policy."

Despite strong anti-Vietnamese sentiments, the source said, "there are many Vietnamese companies in Cambodia. Now, however, they will have to close. Already unpopular, most Vietnamese workers will have to leave the country."

* Association of South-East Asian Nations.
by Santosh Digal

Card Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (Latin rite), and Mgr Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, archbishop of Faridabad, speak out on the issue. Fighting between separatists and the Indian Army could lead to a disastrous conflict between India and Pakistan, both of which have nuclear weapons.

New Delhi (AsiaNews)  Indias Catholic bishops have urged prayers for India and Pakistan over Kashmir following an escalation of violence between local separatists and the Indian military in the past few weeks.

"Today, which marks the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, let us pray for peace, says Card Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (Latin rite), in a message to AsiaNews. I appeal for dialogue and cooperation between the two governments."

For the past 88 days, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been under a curfew. The confrontation between separatists and the authorities has intensified in July, when security forces killed Burhan Wani, an important militant well versed in using social media.

Since then, the state has been in a state of paralysis with tight controls on civilians, and schools, universities and shops closed.

Volunteers in private homes and mosques have allowed some children to continue their education, but the authorities have banned religious celebrations to prevent rallies.

Despite calls for dialogue, tensions have escalated in the past few weeks. On 18 September, a group of militants stormed an Indian military base in Uri, killing 18 soldiers before they were "neutralised".

The Indian government has taken a hard-line against separatists, carrying out "surgical strikes" against their bases along the border with Pakistan, and using diplomacy to isolate Pakistan.

New Delhi for example boycotted the recent meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Islamabad, accusing Pakistani authorities of backing international terrorism.

Despite its harshness, Indias response has not halted the violence. Sunday night, militants raided another Indian base, in Baramulla, using civilians as human shields.

The latest surge in violence in a dispute that goes back to 1947 has left more than 90 people dead and more than 12,000 injured and wounded.

Reports indicate that the local population is under shock. Kashmir state authorities have called on residents along the border to move back ten kilometres.

Faced with the prospect of a new war, the Catholic Church has decided to speak out. Mgr Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, archbishop of Faridabad, issued a statement strongly condemning the killing of 19 army men who have become martyrs".

The prelate is concerned about the turn of events. "It is time that reason and common good should prevail over emotion and retaliation, he said.

India's national Father Mahatma Gandhi had said that an eye for an eye will make everyone blind. Any instantaneous action against Pakistan is bound to exacerbate the situation. And that is exactly what the terrorists want.

According to Mgr Bharanikulangara, Any thoughtless strike can lead to war with disastrous consequences for the country," a frightening prospect given that both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons.

"We must abjure all talks of a war. Instead it is imperative to strengthen the path of dialogue and diplomacy," the archbishop insisted.

At the same time, It is equally important to fortify security on the borders so that no terrorist can sneak into India. What is, India has the diplomatic strength to isolate Pakistan on this issue and put it in the dock.

(Nirmala Carvalho contributed to this article)
Arif Hidayatullah was arrested on 23 December 2015. He had packed homemade bombs to target the politician and places of worship in the city of Bogor. He had close ties with prominent jihadist Bahrnu Naim, now in Syria to fight for the Islamic state.

Jakarta (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Arif Hidayatullah, an Indonesian militant close to the Islamic State, was sentenced to six years in prison for plotting to kill the Christian governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama also known as Ahok. ". The terrorist had also planned to attack some places of worship in Bogor, with homemade bombs.

The court held the hearing yesterday and found that Arif has close contacts with Bahrun Naim, the first Islamic terrorist linked to the Islamic State and the main suspect in the bombings of January 14 last year in Jakarta. According to the Indonesian intelligence, Naim  who is now in Iraq and Syria to fight in the ranks of the Caliphate - also designed the failed missile attack in Singapore last July.



According to the judge, he provided Arif Bahrun Naim instructions on how to obtain explosives and other materials to manufacture the bombs. The two chatted on the Telegram app.



Arif was arrested December 23, 2015 as he was attempting to attack "Ahok", the governor of Jakarta. A Christian ethnic Chinese, he is one of the few Indonesian political leaders to fight for freedom of conscience. Last June he opposed to the obligation imposed on Jakarta students to wear the Islamic veil. In July 2015 the governor promoted a fight for civil rights of the Ahmadi minority, considered heretical by the majority Sunni Muslims. Several leaders and Islamic parties opposed his candidacy for the 2017 elections.
by Mathias Hariyadi

About 2,600 youth and 16,000 Catholics are taking part in the event from 1 to 6 October.

Manado (AsiaNews)  The second Indonesian Youth Day currently underway in Manado is centred on the values of pluralism and acceptance with the participation of 2,548 young "agents" of evangelisation.

The brainchild of Pope John Paul II, the gathering will also see the participation of at least 24 bishops.

Young people came from 37 dioceses in Indonesia, plus two foreign delegations: one from Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian state of Sabah) and the other from East Timor (Asias most Catholic nation in percentage).

The youth will share experiences and testimonies, put up for free by local Christian and Muslim families, evidence of the spirit of hospitality and pluralism that characterises local society and culture.

According to Mgr Pius Riana Prabdi, chairman of the youth committee of the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia, young people will show the true nature of their society based on pluralism during these six days.

In this spirit, difference and unity in diversity are the values that characterise the event. The Church plays a role of reform and support for the growth of the countrys youth.

Each participant will be able to strengthen his or her faith and make an important contribution to the development of the Catholic Church in society.

Another goal, the bishop noted, is to revive the original spirit of the early Christians after the ascension of Christ, based on mutual support, prayer and sharing as pivotal elements in the community.

No less important is the great involvement of the organisation at regional and local levels.

Mgr Joseph Theodorus Suwatan, bishop of Manado, explained that local residents and government authorities at the regional, provincial and local levels strongly backed the meeting.

Finally, all participants will have the opportunity of meeting the bishops in a more informal situation outside the official agenda.

They will be able share ideas and offer reflections on different topics related to the Church and its place in society.
by Sumon Corraya

The findings come from a survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. This represents an improvement over 2011. Violence is no stranger to Catholic families, where a woman in two is mistreated.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  In Bangladesh, 80.2% of women are victims of spousal abuse, this according to the Violence Against Women Survey 2015 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Catholic families are not exempt. Fr Albert T Rozario, convener of the Dhaka Archdiocesan Peace and Justice Commission, told AsiaNews that 50 per cent of all Catholic women are mistreated because married men do not live their family life in the faith.

Findings in the national survey were made public on Sunday during a meeting at the National Economic Council auditorium in Dhaka.

Although very high, domestic violence is actually down compared to the last survey carried out in 2011, when 87 per cent of women reported incidents of mistreatment.

One story is that of Nomita Rozario (not her real name), a Catholic. "My husband beat me cruelly when I refused to have sex with him. He tortured me almost every day. He was an alcoholic. I was not worth anything in my family. My husband dominated me and my life was a living hell."

Eventually, Nomita found the courage to get away and has lived alone for several years. Like her, more than 80 per cent of surveyed married women have experienced physical, mental, economic or emotional abuse by their husband at least once in their lifetime.

Fr Rozario, who is also a Supreme Court lawyer, reports that "almost every day Christian women come to the parishes to seek the help of priests against their husbands' violence."

For this reason, "family outreach by the Catholic Church is important in Bangladesh. Our bishops are aware that different problems exist and therefore the family is discussed at every pastoral meeting."

A disturbing trend is developing among Catholics, according to the clergyman. "In Dhaka, many Christian leaders have two or three wives and those who lead a disordered life do not speak with priests and do not participate in pastoral work."

For Angela Gomes, 64, founder of Banchte Shekha (Learn to survive), a non-governmental organisation, violent attitudes stem from a deep-rooted traditional mind-set that accepts that men dominate women. Only men make decisions for the family. To subvert this, we must change society. The government and organisations involved in development must work hard on this issue."

The Catholic activists association, which received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1999 (the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize), is present in 18 districts across the country. "We want to transform the lives of thousands of women," she noted.
by Hui Taiyang

There are priests and lay people who collect funds online and give transparent account of the projects, receipts and expenditure. But there are also many who steal the digital identity of priests and nuns to raise money, telling of illnesses, problems or the desire to study abroad. The story of Mr. Jing. Among the easiest victims: rich and middle-aged women. The Church needs to be careful and cautious.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - With the exponential growth of Internet use in China, on-line charities have grown as have cases of online donation scams.

According to the World Bank, this year, at least 721 million Chinese (52.2%) will use the internet. Even the on-line donations are widespread, replacing ordinary means of charity. So, every day new groups appear online seeking donations and many claiming to do so on behalf of the Church.

They use QQ, Weixin and other platforms geared to raising funds. Some donation campaigns have been launched by priests for specific projects such as building a church, or helping a group of poor. These sites are often managed by nuns or priests, although the manager is usually a layman (expert) who collects the "red envelopes" (donations), giving a transparent account at the conclusion of the campaign, with photos and receipts as proof.

A large number of sites with fundraisers are organized by lay people or charitable organizations. Given the ease of online transfers and the opportunity to donate any amount, however small, donors do not care how their offerings are used. There is no control system and this leaves room for scams and fraud. The result is that cases of scams are growing hand in hand with the internet.

In general there are three types of scammers.

Priests thirsty for money

The first group consists of a small percentage of priests who love money so much they search for it on the Internet. It must be said that they do so almost privately, passing a long time online, getting to know many people, especially wealthy middle-aged women.

Every so often, these priests ask for money from these ladies who feel very protective towards these online priests. They cite poor health, their need for study abroad, etcto justify their demands. And because these middle-aged women are very well-off and take care of the priests, the fraudsters are able to get what they want. For example, two ladies who were in this situation, turned to me and I told them that the diocese provides for priests and is responsible when they are sick. Therefore there is no need for them to intervene.

As for studies abroad, as far as I know, every priest, nuns or seminarian who goes abroad to study, is covered by a scholarship, to the extent that they also have the bishop's approval.

As for fundraising in a diocese - for example, to build a church - the local bishop must first verify the project in a written form before he can affix his signature and his seal.

Scammers

A second group comprises those who delight in stealing the digital identity (ID) of many pastors and priests, seeking donations with any excuse. Of course, they have to be very clever, otherwise the donors realize immediately that there is something unusual and begin to suspect that there is something rotten. In doing so they then call the real priest to have insurance and almost everyone hears the answer: "I do not know what you're talking!", Or "Is there really such a thing?"

For this reason, the cunning of this group continue to change ID to avoid being caught and continue to do what they do. And since the internet is full of gullible people, they manage to succeed in getting with it.

A typical example of this group is a Mr. Jing. It should be said at once that I am not damaging his reputation, but he himself is damaging it because he leaves behind many traces of his actions, much to be discovered. A priest of the Diocese of Dali, which recently found out that Mr. Jing is using his name to seek donations, commented: "Jing has a bad reputation in my diocese as a scammer ... not only for money but deceiving women to have sex with them."

Mr. Jing began in 2014 to demand money and deals in many QQ groups, using every possible excuse, such as disease, and many of these groups believed him, and gave him money. Soon people became aware that they had been deceived. As I was responsible for some of these groups, once I was aware of the situation, I warned him to stop. I thought he would stop, and instead, surprisingly, he has started again!

Having informed many faith groups on QQ, only few of them have made donations to Jing. Gradually they all found out his real intentions and they stopped giving him money. So Jing left the QQ groups and turned to Weixin!

In 2015 he began using Weixin to raise money. I found this out: one day, I realized that my friend, the Anglican pastor Fan, had suddenly started to ask for money and donations in a very compelling way. Because I know him very well, I wondered what happened to him. I called him and he was surprised. In fact it was a scam. And who was behind all this? Mr. Jing!

Pastor Fan immediately warned his Weixin circle. But since then, Jing has used the identities of many priests to ask for money right and left. Although there are some volunteers who are trying to track him down, it seems that Jing knows a lot of priests and how they exploit the trust of people towards them. With a rough calculation, it seems that so far he has collected between 800 thousand and one million yuan [between 110 thousand and the 243 thousand euro - Ed]: which means that he has violated the law.

We then decided to report him. Which he did not like and he became furious: not only has he attacked us verbally, he has also threatened reprisals. Meanwhile, I have collected a lot of evidence about him: telephone conversations; videos of some of his conversations with people via the internet; documentation of bank transfers that people have made to him. I did not hand this material to the police because I still considered him a brother who needs to change his life. But press then picked up a story of a man who collected money for a non-existent church in Shanghai. Some became suspicious and reported him to the police who arrested him, they sent him to trial and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Professional scammers

The third group are experts who employ subtleties. Usually they present themselves to others and share something deep about themselves to win over peoples trust and even their admiration. Later, with great care and caution they choose some rich and good-hearted women. They try to gain their sympathy by telling of their problems and their pain. So, very often these women open their wallets with eyes full of tears. Subsequently, these experts deny that such a thing ever happened. Donors who feel cheated can not prove anything because the expert was able to do everything with great subtly and in private.

Apparently, in today's world, people lack the basic criteria needed to assess the true and the false, and some people tend to believe everything they read on the Internet.

On the other hand, seeking donations via the Internet is a more direct and convenient method, although it is open to a crisis of confidence. This field requires regulation for all the parties involved.

The Church needs to be more conscious and more cautious on this point, otherwise it is likely to do a lot of damage and invalidate the proclamation of the Gospel.

It must be said that September 1, the government passed a law on charitable organizations. Article 33 says: "It is forbidden for any organization or individual to use in lies the name of a charitable organization, or to pretend to be such; to conduct charitable activities or obtain funds by fraud ".
Francis visited Amatrice. " Lets move forward; there is always a future. There are many loved ones who have left us, who fell here under the rubble, he said. Addressing fire fighters, with whom he took a picture, he said, Every day I pray for you so you do not have to work, because your work is painful.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis celebrated the feast day of his namesake, Saint Francis, by visiting earthquake victims in central Italy. The timing of the visit was unannounced, but on Sunday, during his in-flight press conference from Azerbaijan, the pontiff mentioned that he would travel to the quake zone.

The pope arrived in Amatrice at 9.10 am on a car with tinted windows. The town was hardest hit in the quake and has come to symbolise the tragedy.

Accompanied by the Bishop of Rieti, Mgr Domenico Pompili, he went inside a red-coated container that serves as a temporary school. The primary school children welcomed him by singing the song of friendship and giving him their drawings about the earthquake.

Outside, surrounded by people, Francis expressed his closeness and encouragement. "I thought long and hard in the first days of these many pains that my visit, perhaps, would be more of a hindrance than a help, a greeting. I didnt want to be a bother so I let a little time pass, so that some things could be resolved, like the school. But from the first moment, I felt that I needed to come to you! Simply to express my closeness to you, nothing more. And I pray, pray for you! Solidarity and prayer: this is my offering to you. May the Lord bless you all; may Our Lady watch over you in this moment of sadness, pain, and trial.

After saying a Hail Mary and blessing them, the Holy Father said, Lets move forward; there is always a future. There are many loved ones who have left us, who fell here under the rubble. Let us pray to Our Lady for them; let us do it together. Always look ahead. Courage, and help each other. One walks better together, alone we go nowhere. Forward! Thank you.

The pope then hugged and greeted teachers, professors and students, Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. He then walked to the danger (red) zone for a personal prayer.

Francis also stood with fire fighters for a picture. I want a picture with them because they are the ones who save people," he said. Then, turning to them: "Every day I pray for you so you do not have to work, because your work is painful. It is I who should thank you."

The local parish priest, Fr Savino D'Amelio, was surprised by the popes visit. "We did not know, he told Vatican Radio. We realised it when we suddenly saw a gathering of reporters, cameramen and photographers . . . As soon as he arrived, he went straight to the tent city where he met children. It was all very beautiful and meaningful."

After that, "the Bishop of Rieti, Monsignor Domenico Pompili, introduced to the Pope all of us priests and those who were present, there, next to him. A very nice and sudden gesture, as we have grown accustomed from the pope, who invited all of us to pray. The reaction of the people was very emotional. It is significant that he shared with us the very day of his namesake, the feast day of Saint Francis. "

The pope had expressed a desire to show his closeness and sympathy to the people affected by the earthquake during the Angelus of 28 August, four days after the earthquake. On that occasion, he said, I wish to renew my spiritual closeness to the inhabitants of Latium, the Marches and Umbria, hard hit by the earthquake in these past days.

I think in particular of the people of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Norcia. Again I say to those dear people that the Church shares their suffering and their worries.

Dear brothers and sisters, as soon as it is possible, I hope to come to see you, to bring you in person the comfort of the Faith, the embrace of a father and a brother, and the support of Christian hope.

Last Sunday, on the return flight from Azerbaijan he told reporters, "It is my wish. Three dates have been proposed to me, two of which I do not remember them, the third one is the first Sunday of Advent. As soon as I am back I will choose. I will make a private visit, alone as a priest, as a bishop, as pope. I would like to be close to the people". In saying so he tried to "throw off" journalists.

This morning, Francis, after his stop in Amatrice, travelled to the other quake-hit areas in the Marches.
He studied autophagy, the process by which cells are renewed. A decrease of this process leads to diseases such as Parkinson's, diabetes, cancer. He is the fourth Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize for medicine.

Tokyo (AsiaNews) - 71 year old scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi, has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in medicine for his studies on the way in which cells destroy and rebuild some components.

In making the announcement the Swedish Nobel Committee, praised "the brilliant experiments" conducted in the 90s on so-called "autophagy" (or "self-eating") that enables cells to renew themselves. A drastic decrease in this process can lead to diseases, infections, tumors. These include Parkinson's, diabetes, cancer.



Born in 1945 in Fukuoka, Ohsumi is at present professor at the Institute of Technology in Tokyo. In an interview on national television, he said he would "be extremely honored as a scientist" for the prize which consists of 8 million Swedish kronor (about 933mila dollars).



Prime Minister Shinzo Abe congratulated Ohsumi, by expressing "pride in his being Japanese."



This is the second consecutive year that a Japanese scientist has won the Nobel Prize in medicine. In 2015 Satoshi Omura, Kitasato emeritus professor of Tokyo University, won the award for his work on how to defeat diseases derived from parasites.



Ohsumi is the fourth Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize in medicine. In 1987 it went to Susumu Tonegawa, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); in 2012 Shinya Yamanaka, a professor at Kyoto University was awarded for his pioneer work in the study of stem cells; in 2015 Satoshi Omura.
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The United States has announced the suspension of talks with Russia on Syria, accusing Moscow of failing to keep the commitments it made about a ceasefire. According to the US government, Kremlin and Damascus have intensified the bombing and military operations. The biggest controversy revolves around the city of Aleppo, where, according to experts, the final battle is about to begin.



Last week, the White House had already threatened to suspend talks with Moscow until the suspension of air strikes on the city of Aleppo, the economy and trade capital of the country. In response the Russian government said they are sorry but refute the United States accusations who they claim are instead to blame.



For the past two weeks the northern metropolis - divided into the western areas under government control (over one million people) and eastern (250 thousand inhabitants) in the hands of the rebels and the jihadist galaxy  has been subjected to a massive bombing campaign.



Yesterday, in the eastern neighborhood activists have denounced the bombing of a hospital by Damascus. The hospital was hit for the third time in a week. At the same time, the western district reports more civilian casualties, especially in Armenian Christian areas, targeted by jihadist groups rockets.



In an official note yesterday US State Department spokesman John Kirby, said that "the United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities. "Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments... and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed. "Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course".



Moscows Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded saying " We regret this decision by Washington." "Washington simply did not fulfil the key condition of the agreement to improve the humanitarian condition around Aleppo.

The Russian government also accuses the US of an inability to separate the movements of moderate opposition from than jihadist groups and Islamic extremists in the area.



The summit due to have been held in Geneva, under the auspices of the United Nations, has been called off with the American delegation ordered to return home. Washington has already decided to withdraw the staff also made available to create the future "joint Russian-American center" for the monitoring of the ceasefire. But contacts remain open on the issue of anti-terrorist operations in Syria, to avoid clashes or incidents between the two sides.



The Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011 as a popular revolt against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and turned into a regional war with jihadist tendencies. So far it has caused over 300 thousand deaths (430 thousand according to other sources). There are millions of refugees, forced to flee their homes because of violence, causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. More than 4.8 million people have fled abroad, 6.5 million internally displaced persons.
by Purushottam Nayak

Calcutta (AsiaNews) - The federal government of India paid tribute to Saint Teresa of Calcutta with an impressive ceremony, which was attended by over 20 thousand faithful. The tribute was held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, Calcutta, West Bengal, October 2, which marks the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. In his homily, the apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal [and soon to be sent to Poland] Msgr. Salvatore Pennacchio, said: "Santa Teresa is a model of compassion, who has dedicated her entire life to the service of the poorest of the poor and at the service of 'humanity".



The great numbers at the solemn celebration displayed the deep affection that the Indian population has for Mother Teresa. In addition to the 20 thousand faithful, the Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari, the highest government officials of West Bengal and the church hierarchy were present.

The Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Thomas D'Souza, Archbishop of Calcutta, who welcomed with affection Msgr. Pennacchio, Card. Baselios Cleemis, president of the Indian Bishops' Conference, the Cardinals Moran Mor George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and Telesphore Placidus Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi, besides 49 bishops, 500 priests and nearly 1,000 nuns.

The vice-president of India quoted a famous prayer of Mother Teresa: "The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace".



Those present were reminded that St. Therese is without doubt one of the people who have most influenced the current society. The founder of the Missionaries of Charity was awarded with the most important awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, and in 1979 she won the Nobel Peace Prize.



Savarimuthu P. Sarkar, the Archdiocese of New Delhi, said: "Mother Teresa is a woman of our century. She was a person with a unique charisma. People have various names for her, including 'The angel of Calcutta', 'The champion of the poor', 'The voice of compassion', 'The Saint of the Gutters' ".



Mother Teresa created consensus across the social strata, although she received criticism from the "rationalists" (atheists) who dream of an India without religions. The current Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said: "Every Indian is proud of her canonization. Her message of love continues to inspire millions of people around the world ". Before the canonization ceremony last September 4th at the Vatican, in which the government has taken part with a delegation led by Foreign Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "Mother Teresa spent her life serving the poor and needy in India . When such a person is declared a saint, the most natural thing for the Indians is to be proud of her".
The oceans are crucial to regulating climate and act as the lungs of the Earth, with algae and cyanobacteria in seawater providing up to 80 percent of the atmospheric oxygen which we rely on to breathe. The oceans also house over 230,000 marine species, with estimates that there are between one and 10 million species still undiscovered. Alongside their own intrinsic value, many of these marine species provide important goods and services. Collectively, ocean-related services and business are estimated to contribute over USD500 billion to the worlds economy.
Duke University Students Launch Program For Men To Discuss Male Privilege And Patriarchy

Trending News: The 'Toxic' Parts Of Manhood To Be Discussed At New Duke Program

Why Is This Important?

Because there's more than one way to be manly.

Long Story Short

A new nine-week program being offered at Duke University is meant for "male-identified" individuals to discuss some of the "toxic" parts of masculinity including male privilege and patriarchy.

Long Story

Not every man rapes. Not every man bullies. Not every man hazes. But some do.

A new program at Duke University is offering a "safe space" for male students to mull over ways to be a man without giving into the aforementioned "toxic" behaviors. It'll also discuss issues such as male privilege, "the language of dominance" and feminism.

The Mens Project, as it's been called, is sponsored by the Duke Womens Center and has a mission to "critique and analyze [men's] own masculinity and toxic masculinities to then create healthier ones, said student Dipro Bhowmik to the Duke Chronicle student paper.

The student newspaper endorsed the program in an editorial and said the program isn't out there to say masculinity is bad or evil because, well, "few rational people believe that."

"If masculinity describes the spectrum of attitudes and characteristics that a society expects men to express, toxic masculinity refers to a harmful narrow band of that spectruma band that includes the ideas that men ought to be mocked for being anything but stoic testosterone-bots, that masculinity ought to dominate femininity and that deviation from the norms of masculinity lessen the worth of a man," writes the Chronicle, adding that the behavior isn't just for the benefit of women. "Toxic masculinity is what encourages men to suffer in silence from depression, internalize stress instead of releasing it and develop unhealthy sexual attitudes that can manifest in abuse and assault."

Duke  like many campuses across the nation  has a sensitive history when it comes to stories of toxic male behavior. In particular, the case where a stripper accused Duke lacrosse players of sexual assault.

But Duke isn't the first campus to offer a class on masculinity, or men's issues. One example is the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook University in the New York City area.

Should men feel threatened by programs like this? No, I wouldn't say so. Knowledge is power and no topic should be too taboo for any campus. That being said, our society is still a long way from gender equality and if we're going to get there one day, men will need to be on board too.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Should women be invited to the group as well?

Disrupt Your Feed

It takes a strong man to speak out about rape culture and male privilege.

Drop This Fact

Just because the stats don't show how many sexual assaults happen on college campuses in the U.S., doesn't mean they don't happen.
Study Finds Doctors' Political Views Influence Patient Care

Trending News: Your Doctor's Politics Might Influence The Treatment You Receive

Why Is This Important?

Because as much as some of them may want to deny it, this shows that doctors are actually human beings and not gods.

Long Story Short

A study by Yale University researchers found that doctors advice to patients often differed depending on their political affiliation. The difference was even starker when hot button topics like guns, marijuana and abortion were involved.

Long Story

Researchers at Yale wanted to know if a doctors political views affected the advice they give to patients. So they researched the political affiliations of some 20,000 primary care physicians and then asked 200 of them how theyd react to different given scenarios involving new theoretical patients describing their medical histories during routine physicals.

While there wasnt much difference in the advice the MDs offered in some cases  depression, alcohol abuse, motorcycle helmets, for instance  things changed when they touched on issues that are politically more sensitive.

Faced with a woman whod already had two abortions but wasnt currently pregnant, Republican doctors were more likely to discourage future abortions, and were 35% more likely to discuss mental health-related issues attached to the procedure.

Fox

A man who admits to using recreational marijuana three times a week would be almost two-thirds 64%  more likely to be confronted with its attendant health risks and be 47% more often likely to be urged to cut back by a doctor who identifies as a Republican than one who is a Democrat.

And when it came to guns, Democratic doctors, were two-thirds more likely to suggest to parents of small children they not store them indoors at all. Republicans would ask about safe storage.

Everyone can look up their doctors politics  its all public record, said the studys co-author Eitan Hersh. If the treatment decisions the doctors are making are informed not only by medical evidence but their ideologies as well, then patients might want to think about this when they are choosing their doctor.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Would you choose a doctor based on his or her political beliefs?

Disrupt Your Feed

Welcome to Dr. Echo Chamber, America! Our society is so politicized we cant even get a straight answer from our health care providers.

Drop This Fact

A study from 2003 shows that counselling from a physician, either verbal, written or both, can have a significant impact on the way people store their guns at home.
One District Court judges retirement has become heated after he criticised the Court of Appeal a day before he retired from the bench.



The Queensland Law Society has defended the Court of Appeal after Judge Clive Wall, QC, criticised the appellate court for thinking more of the accused instead of the victims.



I have no doubt that theres a large section of the community that would agree with the comments by Judge Wall, Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts told the publication.



However, he added that a one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable for justice.



I think it is important members of the public realise sentencing, and the way in which the courts deal with both victims and perpetrators, is a case-by-case undertaking, Potts said.



Earlier, judge Wall told the publication that, Too much emphasis is placed on accused people at the expense of victims, and that is all encouraged by the Court of Appeal.



I dont go around trying to provoke the Court of Appeal, (but) I try to impose sentences which go some way to satisfying the community and the victims, he added.



Some judges on the Court of Appeal have never sentenced anyone. Im not criticising them personally, but I think it helps if appellant judges have trial experience, Wall said.



However, the Law Society president cautioned about doling out harsh sentences without thinking of other factors such as rehabilitation.



A sentence which does nothing but deliver the harshest of penalties to the offender is unlikely to benefit the community in the long run, nor the offender, who is likely to commit further crime, he said.



There are always issues on which reasonable minds might disagree. The fact some sentences may be altered on appeal is merely an indication the system works. Queenslanders can be confident they are well served by their judiciary at all levels, Potts said, adding that the Law Society wished the judge a long and happy retirement.
The British man who has crowdfunded over 145,000 to prosecute politicians who had lied about Brexit now has a team of lawyers for the cause.



According to a report from Business Insider, Marcus J. Ball has hired a legal team for the crowdfunded campaign #BrexitJustice.



Ball  who has interestests in higher education reform, politics and start-ups  is said to have has hired the services of London-based law firm Edmonds Marshall McMahon (EMM) for the cause.



After a run of 28 days, the campaign raised 145,270 of its 100,000 target from 4,913 backers on the Crowdfunder site.



The campaign is interested in bringing cases against Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage.



The #BrexitJustice campaign will prosecute dishonest Brexit politicians and bring integrity back to British politics, according to the campaign crowdfunding page.



One of the campaigns objectives is to prosecute vote leave leaders based upon fraud, misconduct in public office, undue influence and, possibly, inciting racial hatred.



Initially focused on politicians campaigning for a leave vote, the campaign now aims to prosecute politicians whether they campaigned for leave or stay votes so long as they lied.



If Brexit Justice is really about truth in politics then we need to investigate dishonesty on both sides of the political divide. If we can build strong cases against political leaders from both leave and remain camps then we will prosecute both leave and remain camps, Ball told Business Insider.



He added that the shift is a far better way forward, according to his solicitors, as it will strengthen our case before the courts.



Nonetheless, he cautioned backers that it would be very difficult to win, but not because of a lack of effort. To bring cases against Westminster, however, Ball said he would need to raise at least 2m to sustain a drawn-out legal stoush.



Ball has also crowdfunded for a 30,000 salary because he will work full-time on the campaign.
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Foreign citizens who buy property in Australia and are not entitled to do so will have them forcibly sold, the Government has confirmed.Indeed, Treasurer Scott Morrison has confirmed that he has ordered the divestment of a further 16 Australian residential properties that have been held by foreign nationals in breach of the foreign investment framework. The properties were bought by people from a range of countries including the UK, Malaysia, China and Canada in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia ranging in price from $200,000 to $2 million and totalling $14 million.The Australian Government has been clamping down on foreign investors buying property and since new rules were introduces over $92 million of property has been sold. The Government is concerned that foreigners are pushing up prices for local people.'The divestments of these 16 properties, which have a combined purchase price of over $14 million, are further evidence of the Turnbull Government's commitment to enforcing our rules so that foreign nationals illegally holding Australian property are identified and their illegal holdings relinquished,' Morrison said.'Foreign investment provides significant benefits for Australia but we must also ensure that such investment benefits all Australians, is in line with our rules and is not contrary to our national interest,' pointed out.'The foreign investors either purchased established residential property without Foreign Investment Review Board approval, or had approval but their circumstances changed meaning they were breaking the rules,' he added.Since taking office in 2013, the government has forced foreign nationals to divest a total of 46 properties. Under the previous Government, no foreign nationals were forced to divest illegally held Australian property.Increased compliance measures included transferring responsibility for residential real estate enforcement to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to help ensure foreign investment rules are being enforced.Morrison said that since the transfer of responsibility to the ATO for compliance in May 2015 over 2,200 matters have been referred for investigation. Through information provided by the public, together with the ATO's own enquiries, approximately 400 cases remain under active investigation.A new penalty regime was introduced in December last year and since then 179 penalty notices have been issued totalling over $900,000. Penalty notices have been issued to people who have failed to obtain FIRB approval before buying property as well as for breaching a condition of previously approved applications.Illegal real estate purchases by foreign citizens attract criminal penalties of up to $135,000 or three years' imprisonment, or both for individuals and up to $675,000 for companies. The new rules also allow capital gains made on illegal investments to be forfeited.'In addition to divestments, a number of people came forward during the reduced penalty period who were not in breach and some who voluntarily sold their properties while the ATO was examining their case,' Morrison explained.There are at least 25 examples of foreign investors self-divesting in this way showing a change in behaviour towards more compliance with the rules and a strengthening of the program overall. While Australia welcomes foreign investment, foreign investors must comply with our laws,' he added.
Dear Jeremy, Thank you so much for the reply.

Those 13 months are from May2009 to June2010 which are already deducted to apply 6 years deduction rule for RPL guy like me.

My actual experience starts from September 2011 which is giving me 5 years (10 points). Those 13 months are getting utilized in those deducted 6 years.

It is said that DIBP does not ask documents for old deducted experience but in my case it is valid experience for same ANSCZO Code.

This experience is already considered not relevant in EOI as it falls in 6 years of deducted experience. But since it is same ANZCO code, it is relevant in a way.



If I get those 13 months removed from ACS report then my complete case would be straightforward, although I will fall from 5 years valid experience to 4 years valid experience which is ok for me.

Sorry for missing to include all this information in earlier post.

Please let me know if ACS would be correct route.



Thanks again,

Nararavi
The recall has been issued to replace the Eon's battery cable, if found damaged; affects units manufactured in January 2015.

The Indian subsidiary of Korean carmaker Hyundai today announced a recall of its Eon hatchback to inspect the issue of clutch cable fouling with the battery cable.

The recall affects 7,657 units of the Eon manufactured in January 2015. The company will get in touch with the affected customers in a phased manner to inspect the issue and replace the battery cable, if found damaged, according to a company statement. The replacement of the cable will be done for free.

Hyundai launched the Eon hatchback in India in 2011 and, although the vehicle hasnt received any facelifts, new variants with extra features were added to the line-up, a year after the launch. The compact hatch also came with factory-fitted LPG kit.
Domestic sales milestone achieved in less than a year of launch.

Indias largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki today announced that its hugely popular hatchback Baleno has crossed sales of one lakh units in the country. Besides, the company has exported 33,800 units to Japan and some European countries.

Launched in October 2015, the hatchback generated much interest among car buyers, and has marked its entry into the list of Top-10-selling passenger vehicles within a month of launch. In fact, the car has even edged ahead of key rival, the Hyundai i20 in December sales to become the best-selling premium hatchback. However, it hasnt been able to repeat the feat since.

Moreover, the Baleno is Nexas most successful model, and has proven to be a volume seller in the premium segment, since the S-cross met with a tepid response.

The popularity of the hatch hasnt dimmed despite nearly three subsequent hikes in its price  in January 2016 by up to Rs 12,000 followed by another one in March of up to Rs 16,699 and the latest hike in August was by Rs 10,000 (all prices, ex-showroom, Delhi).

Maruti is now gearing up to launch a sportier Baleno RS, powered by a 111hp, 1.0-litre, three-cylinder Boosterjet turbo-petrol, in a bid to expand the cars appeal.
Likely to be created by January 2017, the company will be responsible for planning and producing compact vehicles for emerging markets.

Toyota Motor Corporation and its fully-owned subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co plan to form a company that will be responsible for compact vehicles for emerging markets, from product planning to production. Last month, Autocar India reported that Toyota was planning to take the help of Japanese small carmaker Daihatsu for production and sales of small cars in India.

The new company is likely to be set up in January 2017. The objective and outline of the new entity is to develop and launch competitive compact vehicles  based on Daihatsu's approach to manufacturing affordable, high-quality products  for emerging markets, in which the potential for growth is high. However, competition in the segment is intensifying.

While Daihatsu will basically be responsible for unified development, procurement and production preparation for compact vehicles for emerging markets based on DNGA, a Daihatsu vehicle architecture now being defined, Toyota will support these efforts by providing knowledge and resources.

Toyota and Daihatsu will jointly formulate and share product and business plans and also put their existing production bases to mutually effective use. As such, the company will be positioned differently from the so-called "companies" of the product-based in-house company system Toyota introduced to innovate its work processes in April 2016.

Explaining one of the benefits of this initiative for Toyota, its executive vice-president Shigeki Terashi said, "With the establishment of the internal company, Toyota intends to learn the very fundamentals of Daihatsu's competitiveness and change the way we work."

Daihatsu president Masanori Mitsui said, "We will further advance our knowhow cultivated in the manufacturing of mini vehicles and be a Toyota Group driving force, not only for mini vehicles, but also for compact vehicles for emerging markets. For Daihatsu, this initiative represents an important opportunity for enormous and sustainable growth. Separately, both companies confirmed today that Daihatsu will continue to take the lead in the development of the Daihatsu brand."
EV

Luckily, he proves to have a lot more inspiration when holding a pencil in his hand, with countless designs showing this man's mind isn't so lackluster as his naming habits would have you believe. Out of them all, we're probably most familiar with the Fisker Karma, the beautiful GT-shaped sedan that shows Porsche Panamera how it's done.Unfortunately, Fisker's business know-how wasn't up to his design talents, so his company has had a bit of a roller coaster ride before going bankrupt. It is now owned by the Chinese Wanxiang Group , but the Danish artist kept the rights to the name. Which kind of makes sense considering it's the same name written on his ID as well.We've told you earlier today that Fisker is relaunching the brand, but now more info on the actual vehicle has surfaced. It would appear that Mr. Fisker is aiming really high and plans on releasing anwith a maximum range of over 400 miles. In an interview with Bloomberg , he revealed that the company had been working in stealth mode for the past two years and plans on releasing images of the new car sometime mid-2017.The yet unnamed future Fisker EV will boast not only an enviable range, but also the ability to charge extremely quickly. That's down to the new technology used in manufacturing the battery pack, which Fisker Nanotech (the company's battery division) CEO, Jack Kavanaugh, says is based on the work of several UCLA professors who have been toying with energy storage solutions. The battery pack will reportedly contain some lithium, but it will be different from what we've grown accustomed to in current EVs. Electrek claims that the technology Kavanaugh talks about is most likely related to hybrid capacitors, which would fit the bill. Capacitors are known for their ability to charge and discharge extremely quickly, but they are also famous for having a very low energy density. If Fisker found a way around this caveat, then we could be looking at the first EV with ultra-fast charging times. Couple that with the promised maximum range of 650 km, and nobody will be missing the internal combustion engines anymore.Fisker's plans are to release a mass market car a few years after its initial luxury model. To get the money for that, Fisker is considering selling its battery technology to other carmakers. They say they are in tentative talks with a couple of them, but it's still too early to talk about any concrete deals. It's a little too early to talk about anything related with Fisker, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. A 400-mile EV designed by the man who drew the Karma, the Aston Martins DB9 and Vantage, and the BMW Z8? Yes, please.
AMG

From the wheel arches up, the G500 44 is pretty much your regular G-Class, albeit on that's painted in a color more suited to Lamborghinis or tuned up Japanese imports. It has the same cabin as any other G-Class, but it does come with a less powerful version of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine found on all recentmodels.Under the G500 44 's hood, it's only good for 421 hp, but we say "only" simply because we know for a fact it can easily go past the 600 hp mark. On the other hand, on a car such as the G500 44, its torque is more important, and it delivers plenty: 610 Nm, or 450 lb-ft.However, it's what happens under the waistline that makes the G500 44 truly unique. The car has been fitted with the same portal axles that, besides the extra set of wheels, are what makes the G63 6x6 the off-road monster that it is. This setup essentially allows the actual axle to be moved higher up than the wheels' center, giving the car greater clearance and improved abilities over rough terrain.Seeing it negotiate those man-made obstacles is like watching a professional athlete in a children's playground. Talk about not taking advantage of its entire range of skills... The Mercedes-Benz G500 44 is probably one of the best luxury SUVs when it comes to tackling the most difficult courses without any modifications.Why don't all off-road cars come equipped like this, then, you'll ask? Well, it may have something to do with its price. The G500 44 costs way more than the 571 hp Mercedes-AMG G63 , and we're not talking 10 or 20,000 dollars here. In Germany, it's a full 80,000 euros costlier. Be that as it may, it's not like anybody is paying that extra so it can take advantage of the benefits brought by the portal axle system. Nope, it's the exclusivity of owning such a vehicle that gets people to fork that kind of money. Which is really a shame. Well, as long as they make videos such as this and post them on YouTube, all is forgiven.
Hennecke European fleet management provider Fleet Logistics has gone live in Latin and Central America, managing Syngenta's fleet of around 1,600 vehicles in eight countries across the region.

Fleet Logistics is doing this in two ways. First, the fleet management provider, which has more than 150,000 vehicles under management world-wide, is managing a fleet of 800 Syngenta cars in South Americas largest country, Brazil.

These will be managed directly from the special hub operation that Fleet Logistics has created in Sao Paulo, offering the same full portfolio of fleet management services that it offers throughout Europe. This range of services will also be available for other fleet clients in a variety of different South American countries, according to the company.

Second, Fleet Logistics will be responsible for overseeing the management of an additional 800 Syngenta vehicles in seven countries across Latin and Central America  namely Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico.

These vehicles will be managed through an assortment of local suppliers with Fleet Logistics responsible for the management and co-ordination of suppliers to bring a series of standardized processes and efficiencies from the customer perspective.

Fleet Logistics began the implementation of the LATAM project with Syngenta at the end of last year, with a go-live in July, overseen by Business Development Director Marcus Hennecke.

We are now live in eight LATAM countries and we will see a second wave of a further 10 countries come on-stream in the region in September. We are already seeing interest from other international fleet clients in supporting their fleets in the region, but our initial ambition will be to stabilize our operations in Syngenta before taking on any further commitments, he said.

The LATAM project further expands the relationship with Syngenta as Fleet Logistics also manages the Syngenta fleet of 1,700 vehicles in 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, through the hub it created specially in Singapore last year, according to the company.

Fleet Logistics also manages the Syngenta fleet in Europe with 2,400 vehicles in 20 markets at the moment and plans to expand to 3,600 vehicles by the end of 2016.

Syngenta, which is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, employs 28,000 people in 90 countries worldwide, and last year had worldwide sales of $13.4 billion.

In Asia Pacific, under a four-year-agreement, Fleet Logistics said it is responsible for managing Syngenta vehicles  cars and motorcycles - in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
Photo courtesy of Enterprise Holdings.

Enterprise Holdings has announced that its Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand has started operating in Argentina, Paraguay, and Curacao this month.

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand  including the Enterprise Plus loyalty program  will be offered to customers at the main airports in Bariloche, Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina; Asuncion, Paraguay; and Willemstad, Curacao.

Enterprises first city-center location also opened in Asuncion in September  and additional locations are planned for the three countries, according to the company.

National Car Rental also recently expanded its service offerings  including the brands Emerald Club loyalty program  at locations throughout Argentina and Paraguay.

Theres tremendous growth potential for both corporate and leisure car rental in Latin America, said Peter A. Smith, vice president of global franchising at Enterprise Holdings. Smith was a keynote speaker at the 2016 International Car Rental Show where he highlighted the companys rapid international expansion and integrated global network.

Currently, Enterprise Holdings brands (Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent A Car) operate in more than 85 countries, including 29 countries in Latin America.
Photo courtesy of car2go

Montreals carsharing companies (car2go and Communauto) face new regulations from the city of Montreal, according to a report by Global News.

Mayor Denis Coderres administration wants to limit the number of carsharing vehicles in Montreal to 1,000, says the report.

car2go and Communauto told Global News that recent changes to regulate the industry and introduce electric vehicles are hurting the carsharing business.

It makes it very difficult to move forward, Jeremi Lavoie, car2go director general, told Global News. Our projects are on hold at this point because we dont know what the conditions will be like. Thats unfortunate because, at the same time, the business is growing. We are now with 40,000 members in Montreal alone.

Currently, there are more than 1,000 vehicles between car2go and Communauto, according to the report.

When it comes to changes in parking permit regulations, carsharing users would have to pay 30% more for parking permits, says the report.



Someone who owns a car in Montreal can buy [a permit] for roughly $100, Benoit Robert, CEO and founder of Communauto, told Global News. Why would people who decide to be part of the solution and decide not to own a car  why would they have to pay more than their share?

Click here to read the full Global News report.
Photo courtesy of CarHopper.

Miami-based startup CarHopper is a car rental booking platform that connects independently-owned local car rental companies with those looking to rent the car of their choice. CarHopper offers both a web and app platform.

CarHopper has no initiation fees for car rental companies, but Bora Hamamcioglu, CEO of CarHopper, says that its team handpicks its affiliates based on their customer service standards.

We want the customer to go through the same streamlined CarHopper experience no matter which city and which company they rent from, says Hamamcioglu.

CarHopper runs MVR background checks on all customers looking to rent a vehicle, according to the company. Once a booking is confirmed, the renter is emailed the exact pickup location of the car. At the pickup time, the renter can check-in through the app and get the car keys.

The rental companies that CarHopper works with are usually looking for alternative ways to increase fleet utilization. CarHopper is a desirable option since it targets a younger and mobile generation while offering a streamlined process with little to no paperwork, according to the company.

To date, CarHopper has grown its inventory, with vehicles ranging from Hyundai Elantras to higher-end vehicles like Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Whether it is a Jeep Cherokee to drive out to the Everglades for the day, a Mercedes to go out to dinner in Miami beach, or a Toyota Camry to run errands, at CarHoppper we want the renter to get exactly what they are looking for, while also giving the smaller car rental companies the chance for exposure in a market where 95% is controlled by just three holding companies, says Hamamcioglu.

Since its launch in early 2016, CarHopper has raised $500,000 in funding, according to the company.
It has been announced that the 2017 Honda Civic line-up will be an exciting automobile to look forward to as it fuses a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine to a manual transmission. The MY 2017 Honda Civic Sedan Coupe models will be available for a preview tomorrow.

According to Jeff Conrad, the senior vice president and general manager of the Honda Division, the company has updated the 2017 Honda Civic sedan and coupes lineup with features relating to its improved transmission and engine features.

The EX-T Model Upgrades

As reported by Car Scoops, the EX-T guise franchise in the 2017 Honda Civic models will be presented with a sporty look, will be available for the manual transmission that boosts of a 1.5-liter turbocharged DOHC engine. Additionally, it has been lodged to reach 174 horsepower as well.

The models would be able to garner torque of up to 167 lb.-ft. and 5 lb.-ft. and generate 174 HP.

The 2017 MY Model Upgrades

With respect to the 2017 Honda Civic MY models, it will retain its available extra feature of turbocharged EX-T trims but will have a standard on EX-L and Touring trims as well. Furthermore, the 2017 Honda Civic EX sedans will also be installed with an HD Radio and XM Satellite Radio as part of its interior upgrades.

According to Road and Track, the 2017 Honda Civic franchise has been one of the top-selling compact sedans in the automobile industry in the U.S. In fact, the report indicated that thee updated models will be a more fun ride for the JDM car enthusiasts.

Prices

For the six-speed manual mid-level 2017 Honda Civic EX-T coupe and sedan, the price is lodged at $21,500. For the lesser versions, the price for the sedan is lodged at $18,740 while the Coupes will be sold for $19,150. All updated models of the franchise will be available for a preview tomorrow.
Chevrolet has come up with a new green solution for the US Army's mobility requirements - the Colorado ZH2. It's a big badass all-terrain vehicle that's typical of any built for military application though the real game changer with the ZH2 is its fuel cell power source.

That alone sets the new Chevy truck miles apart from the usual fuel guzzling monster trucks that armies around the world rely on. So with the new ZH2, the US Army will have a truck that is silent and 'has reduced acoustic and thermal signatures,' thereby making it near stealth in its operations, TechCrunch reported.

The other positive attributes of the ZH2 include low fuel consumption and high wheel torque at all speeds. Also, the fact that hydrogen powered vehicles have water as waste product also makes it an unlikely source of water as well, which makes the ZH2 ideal for extended military operations farther away from their base. That is not all as the ZH2 can also act as a secondary source of power, with the ability to export anywhere between 25 kW to even 50 kW of power when needed.

That said, the ZH2 is still to be certified for military use with the US Army set to put the vehicle to a thorough test starting next year.

"Fuel cells have the potential to expand the capabilities of Army vehicles significantly through quiet operation, exportable power and solid torque performance, all advances that drove us to investigate this technology further," said Paul Rogers, director at TARDEC (Tank Automotive Research, Development & Engineering Center).

As for the vehicle itself, Chevrolet has based it on the Colorado midsize pickup but with the chassis stretched and reinforced all round. According to Carscoops, The measurements are massive too what with the truck standing an imposing 6 and half feet tall while measuring more than seven feet across. It rides on equally massive 39-inch tires with suspension specially modified and strengthened for extreme off-roading abilities.

However, a few details have been kept withheld, like what its range is or how much it weighs and so on. The US Army will have the ZH2 for field trials that will last an entire year.

Meanwhile, here is the link to the Colorado ZH2 gallery.
Aiming to reduce costs and speed decision making, Airbus Group will merge with Airbus Commercial Aircraft, the companies announced last week. Both companies are headquartered in Toulouse, France. The merger paves the way for an overhaul of our corporate set-up, simplifies our companys governance, eliminates redundancies and supports further efficiencies, said Airbus CEO Tom Enders. One way to reduce costs will be the elimination of redundant positions, but Airbus offered no details on job cuts. According to Bloomberg News, Enders told employees in a memo that the impact of the merger on the workforce would be not negligible, but the cuts will be fewer than in a previous restructuring, when 8,000 jobs were lost.

We arent just trying to get leaner at the shop-floor level, we are really starting at the top of the company, Enders told The Wall Street Journal. The goal is to ensure that the changes to management ranks are made as thorough and substantial as possible, he said. The changes will yield financial benefits starting next year, Enders said. The Journal noted that Airbus faces many challenges, including high costs to build its new A350 long-range jet, technical problems and delays with the A400M military transport plane, and declining sales of the A380 superjumbo. Enders said he is working to make the company faster and leaner and aims to fight off competition not only from Boeing but from fast-moving startups like SpaceX.
Pilots in Canada can meet their requirements to stay current without ever getting into an actual airplane, under a rule exemption that was enacted by Transport Canada in August. The change will make pilot training more cost effective and efficient, officials at Transport Canada told The Globe in a statement. The agency also said the rules would not put public safety at risk. Simulators offer pilots a realistic environment that accurately replicates the cockpit and electronic equipment and provides flight and ground-handling capabilities identical to those in an aircraft, the statement said. The Canadian Federal Pilots Association, which represents federal aviation inspectors, called the rule change reckless in a statement posted online on Monday.

It affects all pilots and assures all pilots can maintain pilot currency and never fly an airplane or helicopter again, Greg McConnell, CFPA national chair, told the Globe. There are real safety concerns here. McConnell said TC enacted the rule mainly to save money, so its own inspectors could stay current without the expense of flying in actual aircraft. Under previous rules, a pilot in Canada could not legally fly an aircraft unless they had acted as a captain or copilot within the previous five years, or completed a flight review with an instructor and met other standards. The new exemption permits all pilots in Canada who have not been a captain or copilot during the past five years, from private pilots to airline pilots, to satisfy the recency requirement by way of flight simulator time only.

However, the TC rule does require that the recency requirements are met in a Level C or D simulator, which are full-motion platforms with sophisticated capabilities.
Armenia delivered on Tuesday the first batch of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Syria increasingly suffering from the countrys devastating civil war.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said a transport plane carrying the aid landed at the Russian militarys Hmeimim airbase in northwestern Syria early in the morning. Photographs released by it showed Armenias consul general in Aleppo and the airbase commander standing on the tarmac and watching as the cargo was unloaded from the plane.

In a series of tweets, the ministry thanked Russias defense and foreign ministries for assisting in the transportation. It was not immediately clear whether the aid, presumably including food, was airlifted by a Russian or Armenian aircraft.

The Armenian government announced Friday that it will send two planeloads of relief aid to Syria to support the population affected by the Syrian conflict. It did not specify where and how the supplies will be distributed.

The announcement came shortly after five ethnic Armenian residents of Aleppo were killed and 11 others wounded amid intensifying fighting in the war-ravaged city between Syrian government forces and rebels. The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan condemned the deplorable use of weaponry against the civilian population of Aleppo, including of the Armenian districts.

An estimated 80,000 ethnic Armenians lived in Syria before the outbreak of the bloody conflict there five years ago. The mostly middle-class community was concentrated in Aleppo, the countrys formerly largest city.

Only several thousand Syrian Armenians are thought to remain in Aleppo now. Virtually all of them live in neighborhoods controlled by government troops. Many are apparently unable to flee the war zone or simply have nowhere to go.

Fridays deaths, reportedly caused by rebel shelling, led to renewed calls for the Armenian government to help evacuate the remaining Aleppo Armenians. An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that the authorities are not discussing such a possibility yet.

More than 16,000 Syrian Armenians have taken refuge in Armenia in the last four years.
Prime Minister Karapetian expressed his governments readiness to deepen Armenias commercial ties with Russia and the United States during separate meetings with the Russian and U.S. ambassadors in Yerevan on Tuesday.

Karapetian was reported to note the solid foundation of the Russian-Armenian allied partnership when he met with Ivan Volynkin, the Russian ambassador. According to a government statement, he called for further development and expansion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The prime minister assured of his governments readiness to take all necessary steps in this direction, adding that there is great potential to implement new investment projects and increase trade turnover, said the statement.

Karapetian, who was appointed prime minister less than a month ago, conveyed a similar message to the U.S. envoy, Richard Mills.

A separate statement by his press office said he told Mills that Armenia wants to build up strong ties of partnership with the United States, including in the fields of trade and investment. Yerevan is ready to take steps towards tapping the existing potential and expanding cooperation, he was quoted as saying.

Karapetian has lived and worked in Russia for the past five years, holding senior executive positions in local companies belonging to the Gazprom gas giant. He had managed Armenias Gazprom-controlled gas distribution network from 2001-2010.

Russia is Armenias leading trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling $600 million in the first half of this year, according to Armenian government data. It is also the main source of large-scale cash remittances from Armenian migrant workers.

Official figures also show that U.S.-Armenian trade stood at $57 million in January-June 2016. The U.S. and Armenian governments hope that it will rise as a result of the U.S.-Armenian Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed last year.

In line with that agreement, the two sides set up a joint Council on Trade and Investment tasked with addressing obstacles to bilateral trade and facilitating U.S. investments in Armenia. The council held its inaugural session in Yerevan in November 2015.
4 October 2016 10:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The proportion of old people within the total population is increasing in Armenia, and this has turned into one of the main problems of this poor country. This problem surely negatively impacts the countrys doleful economy along with its demography.

The National Statistical Service of Armenia reported that as of early 2016, the country has over 387,000 older persons, that is, the people over 65 years old. The elderly makes up 12.9 percent of the total number of Armenia's population, Novosti Armenia states.

Moreover, Armenia has 195 older people for every thousandth able-bodied citizen.

Armenia joined the list of aging countries, and, perhaps, it will be considered as a country with aging population in the near future. Aging brings socio-economic problems and negative consequences to the country," Anahit Gevorgyan, the head of Department on Elderly Affairs of Armenias Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, said on October 1 during a press conference.

She noted that the increase in the number of old people in the countrys population is triggered by the reduced birth rate and emigration factor, that is, the reduction in the number of able-bodied citizens in Armenia.

According to official statistics, the unemployment rate in Armenia is 18.4 percent, or 77,000 people. That is one of the main causes of emigration from Armenia is that the countrys youth cannot find appropriate jobs in their homeland. Thats why more and more people head abroad, mostly to Russia, to find money for themselves and for their parents, who, in most cases, stay in Armenia. And this apparently leads to aging of population in this Caucasian country.

The official statistics show that 250,000 people left Armenia in 2008-2014, while the non-official data is 1.5 million. It is not surprising that the global demographers have included Armenia in the list of states that suffer from the elderly crisis because of a significant decrease in the proportion of youth in the total population of the country.

Experts argue that in case the migration continues with the same trend, Armenia will turn into a country consisting of only elderly and poor people receiving their meager pensions and wages, and who can barely make ends meet.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 October 2016 11:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Finnish Iltalehti magazine reporter Antero Eerola and photographer Jael Karppanen have visited Tartar region of Azerbaijan to familiarize themselves with the situation on the frontline and living standards of civilians and refugees and displaced persons temporarily living there, Azertac reported.

They first visited the Region Executive Authority where they were informed about the challenges facing the civilians living on the frontline, and the problems caused as a result of Armenia's shelling the residential areas.

Head of Tartar Executive Authority Mustagim Mammadov said that the regions's territory was located 48 km from the frontline.

"The Armenian armed units keep under constant fire the residential areas of the region, which are close to the line of contact and prevent the civilian population from doing farm works, he noted.

Mammadov said that as a result of Armenia's ceasefire violation this April, 23 residential areas close to the line of contact, as well as 15-20 km from the contact line were subjected to heavy artillery fire.

"The Armenians even used the prohibited white phosphorous bombs. As a result nearly 400 houses, 4 schools, 2 medical centers, and a kindergarten were damaged, 32 houses were completely destroyed. Nine civilians were injured, 3 people died 2 of whom were IDPs. 52 houses, where internally displaced persons lived, were destroyed, 198 persons were left homeless again. Power facilities, communication lines and an agricultural area of 1500 hectares have been seriously damaged in Shikharkh, Chayli and Hasangaya villages where the majority of population were IDPs, he said.

The journalists then visited a military unit and the houses which were destroyed by the Armenian shelling.

In Hasangaya village, they met with IDP families and enquired about their problems.

The Finnish media representatives also viewed the remains of Maragha 150 monument, which was erected in Shikharkh settlement by the Armenians themselves on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the resettlement of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh.

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.

More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 October 2016 10:53 (UTC+04:00)

The Armenian armed units shattered ceasefire with Azerbaijan a total of 14 times throughout the day, Azerbaijan`s Defense Ministry reported on October 4.

The ceasefire was violated in Chilaburt village in Tartar region, Marzili village in Agdam region, Garakhanbayli village in Fuzuli region, Kuropatkino village in Khojavand region, as well as at nameless hills in Goranboy and Fuzuli regions.

The OSCE is expected to monitor the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops October 5.

The monitoring will be held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative along the line of contact near Gulustan village of Azerbaijans Goranboy district, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring will be held by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, and by Hristo Hristov and Peter Svedberg, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million.

With a population of over 9.6 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 October 2016 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The artistic-documentary novel Pain was published a few days ago in the Israeli publishing house Medial in Tel-Aviv. The novel is dedicated to the terrible events of the genocide in Khojaly committed by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

The authors of the novel are Amir Gut and Arye Gut, the head of the representative office of the Baku International Multiculturalism Centre in Israel.

Pain tells the story of romantic love between two young people belonging to different faiths. At the same time, the novel describes the horrors that the Armenian fascists and thugs perpetrated in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly.

Despite the fact that more than two decades have passed since the massacre occurred, it left an indelible scar in the soul and an incurable wound in the heart of every miraculously survived Khojali civilian," said one of the authors, Arye Gut.

The heroine of the novel Roya is a living witness of the genocide that occurred in Azerbaijani city of Khojaly in February of 1992 during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war, the scientific editor of the novel, PhD in political science Mahsati Aliyev says.

Pain shows the sorrow and tragedy of the Azerbaijani people, telling about the crimes of Armenian terrorists who sowed death and fear, destroy of the material and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan history.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian Armed Forces in 1992.

About 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 October 2016 10:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Institute of Catalysis and Inorganic Chemistry named after Academician M.F.Nagiyev of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) and Turkish company AYESAS signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of defense industry, ANAS told Trend on October 3.

The Memorandum was signed within the 2nd Azerbaijan International Defense Industry Exhibition ADEX-2016.

The document was undersigned by CEO of AYESAS Aziz Sipahi and academician-secretary of the Department of Chemical Sciences, Director of the Institute of Catalysis and Inorganic Chemistry, Dilgam Tagiyev.

The Memorandum envisages the implementation of joint projects with participation of not only Azerbaijan and Turkey, but also other countries.

AYESAS Company operates in aerospace, defense and security businesses and provides advanced solutions in the business areas of C4I, avionics, electronic and electromechanical systems. The company offers products and services from design and development to build-to-print manufacturing solutions like tactical data communication, automated target detection and tracking, radar integration and automation, digital moving maps, multi-function consoles, wiring harnesses, rugged workstations and circuit card assemblies.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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4 October 2016 12:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF), which performs a role of a liquidator in the closed banks, has appealed to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) to get a credit worth 460 million manats ($ 282 million).

The appeal is connected with the insurance event that occurred in Bank Standard, one of the largest private commercial banks operating in Azerbaijan since 1995. The insurance event became the biggest ever occurred in the banking system of Azerbaijan.

The volume of compensations to be paid to the depositors of Bank Standard, which was liquidated, will amount to 460 million ($282 million).

ADIF head Azad Javadov said the total volume of deposits in the bank stands at 603 million manats ($ 370 million), while the volume of insured deposits is 568 million manats ($ 348 million). The number of insured depositors in the bank is 138,000 people.

In May, the FMSB appointed a temporary administrator to the Bank for three months, due to the deterioration of the quality of its assets, as the banks liquidity and capital position have significantly weakened. New management of Bank Standard was formed during the extraordinary meeting of its shareholders on August3.

A moratorium was imposed on payments for all deposits, except for social payments. Bank Standard got support from the CBA and a recovery program was worked out for the bank to restore its financial sustainability. The controlling stake of Bank Standard was transferred to Azer Turk Bank for recovery. The measures, however, turned to be insufficient.

Javadov further said that the recently-closed Zaminbank was declared bankrupt, mentioning that the fact will inevitably influence the insurance market of the country, as the bank holds some 24 percent share in the Bashak Inam insurance company.

Meanwhile, ADIF will soon launch return of uninsured deposits to the customers of three liquidated banks in Azerbaijan - Parabank, Dekabank and Caucasus Development Bank. The Financial Market Supervisory Body reported that the payment of compensations to the insured depositors of the banks will soon be completed.

ADIF paid compensations worth some 32.68 million manats ($ 20.07) to the depositors of Parabank as of September 30. Depositors of Dekabank and Caucasus Development Bank received compensations worth 2.77 million manats ($ 1.70) and 1.71 million manats ($ 1.05 million). In tote, the Fund has so far paid compensations worth over 37.15 million ($ 22.82) to the depositors of the three recently-liquidated banks.

Depositors of Caucasus Development Bank receive compensations at the banks main office. Payment of compensations to insured depositors of Bank of Azerbaijan has been carried out since January 29, 2016 at branches of Muganbank and Rabitabank, and since September 8 at ADIFs office. Acceptance of applications from insured depositors of DekaBank and Parabank began on August 1, 2016 and the payment of compensations has been carried out since that day.

The Funds insurance reserves are formed from membership, calendar, supplementary, fine fees paid by member banks, proceeds from management of the Funds resources, grant money, donations and funds from other sources not prohibited by the law.

National currency-denominated deposits are compensated in the national currency, while foreign exchange-denominated deposits in the deposit currency. If deposits are not USD or Euro-denominated, compensation is calculated and paid in one of these currencies based on cross exchange rates set on the basis of the CBAs official exchange rates for relevant currencies.

The CBA has withdrawn licenses of six banks operating in the country since early 2016. Moreover, FMSB revoked licenses of four banks after the authority got a right to held supervision over the banking sphere in the country.

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4 October 2016 15:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan, the leading country of the region in the sphere of information and communication and technologies, continues to develop the sector and expand international cooperation in this area.

Azerbaijans Ministry of Communications and High Technologies will sign an agreement on the cooperation in the sphere of ICT with the relevant authority of Russia. The document will be signed within the framework of the 22nd BakuTel-2016 International exhibition and conference, which is scheduled for November 29- December 2.

Moreover, the ministry will sign a MoU in the sphere of e-government with the Communications and High Tech Ministry of Singapore.

Moreover, the agenda of BakuTel-2016 will also include the fourth meeting of the working group on the development of information society, the meeting of the council of Turkic-speaking states, the fourth regional forum on the Internet management and Azerbaijan-UK forum on high technologies.

The Bakutel exhibition and conference, which have become a tradition, have great potential in terms of showcasing the latest achievements, exchange of experience and business contacts.

Every year, the exhibition attracts the main players, experts and industry professionals, as it offers a platform for presenting the achievements of the telecommunications and information technologies sector.

ICT is considered to be one of the crucial spheres for the further development of the economy and an integral part of the economic and political reforms which are currently implemented in Azerbaijan.

The milestone events in the ICT sector of Azerbaijan includes creation and developing of the E-government system, expanding the broadband internet services, launch of the telecommunication and low-orbit satellites. The income obtained in the sector in Azerbaijan is projected to hit $9 billion by 2020.

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4 October 2016 18:06 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan has offered the UAE to introduce mutual visa-free regime for citizens of both countries.

The statement was made by Azerbaijani Ambassador to the UAE Dashgin Shikarov on October 4.

Currently, there is a visa-free regime for persons with diplomatic and service passports, and since 2015, the UAE citizens has been visiting Azerbaijan on the basis of a simplified visa system, he told Trend.

Now Azerbaijan proposes to introduce a visa-free regime for citizens of both the UAE and Azerbaijan, the ambassador emphasized. The UAE government has already given prior consent, and now the issue is under consideration, said Shikarov.

Starting November 10, 2015, citizens of the UAE has visited Azerbaijan on a simplified procedure. They can obtain entry visa, valid for 30 days stay, at any international airport in Azerbaijan.

The introduction of a simplified visa system with the UAE has led to a significant increase in numbersof tourists from the UAE to the country.

The number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan from UAE, increased by 10 times from January to August, compared to the same period of last year.

Until this year, such stream of Arabic-speaking guests have been not observed in the country. This summer, all the luxury hotels in Baku on 50-60 percent, are filled with tourists from Arab countries, what is considered as a huge plus for the national tourism, according to experts.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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4 October 2016 15:44 (UTC+04:00)

The presentation of a unique project by Danish artist took place at YARAT Contemporary Art Centre.

Performance is at the heart of the work of Christian Falsnaes. His actions are presented live or filmed, with or without an audience, and with man as study object and material. The theatrical, often absurd situations he creates with the active participation of the audience, are accompanied by cheers such as, This is happening right now, this is the moment weve all been waiting for!

Front is a participatory performance in which a large scale structure is continuously spray painted, torn down, paraded through the city and subsequently rebuild into new forms. The artist takes on the role of a director, who, through his instructions to the viewers, dissolves the aesthetic boundary between the stage and the audience.

YARAT creates a platform for the audience to participate and take part in the creation of the work. The resulting sculpture is a collective piece, which remains at its place of origin as a document of the collective performance.

The actions create an ambiguous feeling or experience that gives rise to questions about the relations between the individual and the group and those between the artist and his audience. Falsnaes engages in penetrating, physical explorations of a wide range of issues of social codes, group dynamics, power relations, authorship, gender roles and more. One of the forms this exploration has crystallized in, are the series of unannounced performances in which the artist took on several roles to direct the audience: from didactic artist to actor, from authoritarian leader to entertainer, clown, hooligan, and outcast. Increasingly, however, Falsnaes develops performative formats in which he himself is not physically present, making use of a telephone connection or stand-in. In other instances, he examines how the particular situation of a performance may facilitate the creation of an autonomous video piece.

Christian Falsnaes was born 1980 in Copenhagen, Denmark, currently lives and works in Berlin. He graduated from University of Copenhagen in 2003, and then in 2011 from Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Falsnaes has been widely exhibited internationally including solo shows at the Castlefield Gallery, Manchester; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen; 1646, The Hague; Juan & Patricia Vergez Collection, Buenos Aires; Kunstverein Braunschweig; KIOSK, Ghent; Bielefelder Kunstverein; PSM, Berlin; Art Basel Statements, Switzerland; KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin; DREI, Cologne; 21'er Haus, Vienna; PSM, Berlin; OSLO10, Basel; Skanes Konstforening, Malmo, Sweden; Kunstraum Niederosterreich, Vienna.

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4 October 2016 17:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The embassy of the Republic of Korea hosted an official reception of the 4348th anniversary of National Foundation Day on October 3.

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Kim Chang-gyu presented the self-esteemed and peace-loving spirit of South Korea, which has contributed to peace and stability of the world, and requested the international communitys support for a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem.

Noting the successful launch of the South Korea-Azerbaijan Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in June, and the dynamic cultural exchange between South Korea and Azerbaijan, ambassador Kim was confident in further development of relations between the countries. He also expressed his sympathy and solidarity with internally displaced people in Azerbaijan.

On behalf of Azerbaijani government, Iltimas Mammadov, Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies and co-chair of the South Korea-Azerbaijan Joint Commission, wished the South Korean people progress, prosperity and peace.

The deputy minister said developing cooperation between two countries in the fields of science and education, information and communication technologies, culture, tourism, energy and other spheres.

Government officials, MPs, the members of the diplomatic corps, public representatives joined the celebration.

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4 October 2016 11:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Latvia supports the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict within the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.

This was said by Speaker of the Latvian Saeima Inara Murniece at the meeting with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on October 3, Trend reported.

Informing the Latvian official about recent negotiations in connection with the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Mammadyarov stressed the inadmissibility of changing internationally recognized borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

The Minister thanked Latvia for supporting the fair position of Azerbaijan in connection with the conflict.

Mammadyarov also stressed that appreciates the adoption of Declaration on Khojaly genocide by 53 members of the Latvian Parliament.

During the meeting, the sides also exchanged opinions on prospects of deepening relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia, Azerbaijan and the European Union, and discussed issues of cooperation in economic, trade, energy and transport sectors.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The same day, Inara Murniece discussed the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the meeting with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade.

The Speaker of the Saeima noted that the dispute must be solved in compliance with the norms of international law and principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders of Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, the sides also noted that relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia are steadily developing, and underlined the necessity of boosting mutually beneficial cooperation even further.

The parties highlighted huge potential for the implementation of joint projects in a number of sectors of economy, and pointed out wide opportunities in transport, passenger and freight transport, agricultural, cultural and other humanitarian spheres.

During the Baku visit, the Latvian delegation also met with speaker of Azerbaijans Parliament Ogtay Asadov.

The speakers exchanged views on developing prospects of Azerbaijani-Latvian inter-parliamentary relations.

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4 October 2016 12:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The United States supports the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations, said Elizabeth Trudeau, spokeswoman of the U.S. State Department

As a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group [mediating for peaceful resolution of the conflict], we continue to engage actively with the sides, she noted during a briefing on October 3.

Trudeau also stressed that the fair settlement must be based on international law, including the principles of the Helsinki Final Act  non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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4 October 2016 15:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group hope for the consent of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to hold the next meeting on the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, MGs U.S. co-chair James Warlick told RIA Novosti.

We hope that the presidents will agree to the next meeting. Currently, the date and place of the next meeting is not defined", Warlick said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan twice since the April escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh, first in Vienna in May, and the second time in St. Petersburg in June along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Then, experts have positively assessed the intensification of talks, along with the signs of more constructive spirit of the talks.

He noted that the co-chairs work with the parties to the conflict in order to resolve the issue.

During the UN General Assembly in New York, the co-chairs held separate meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, as well as to discuss further steps, Warlick said.

We plan to hold meetings and discuss issues with the parties during our visit to the region by the end of the month", the diplomat concluded.

Earlier, Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated that the co-chairs plan to visit Azerbaijan and Armenia and perhaps, then they will determine which suggestions will be made for a possible meeting of the two countries presidents.

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. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

Two decades of talks mediated by the OSCE MG group have failed to produce a breakthrough, and the April hostilities, the worst since the ceasefire deal signed in 1994, were assessed as the result of inactivity of the international community.

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3 October 2016 17:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Baku has reaffirmed the status of a capital of inter-religious dialogue, becoming one of the places of visit of Pope Francis, as part of his swing through the Caucasus preaching tolerance and peace.

During his historic visit to Azerbaijan on October 2, Pope Francis met with leadership of the country and the local Roman Catholic community and led Sunday Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baku.

For the Holy See, as well as other religious institutions, Azerbaijan should be one of the examples of how different religions can peacefully coexist, not just without interfering with each other, but also supporting the peace dialogue.

Azerbaijan has fewer than 300 Catholics in its predominantly Shi'ite Muslim population.

Not infrequently one can see an Azerbaijani, practicing Islam, who go to the Orthodox and Catholic churches and vice versa, any Christian living in the country can visit the mosque.

This means that calls from different religions are heard and properly understood in one country. And it seems that in a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic Azerbaijan people knows that God is one, and does not use religion as an instrument of influence or a reason for contention.

Following the official welcoming ceremony, The pontiff met with Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.



President Aliyev called the visit "historic" and noted that the visit is very important for the relations between Vatican and Azerbaijan and for the dialogue among civilizations.

During the meeting of Pope Francis with representatives of the general public at the Heydar Aliyev Center, Ilham Aliyev said that representatives of all religions and nations have lived in Azerbaijan in peace, dignity and friendly atmosphere for centuries, adding that this continues in the same way today as well.

Regardless of the socio-political structure, civilizations have always come together in our land. Azerbaijan has always played a role of a bridge between the East and the West. This is both a geographical and moral bridge, said the president.

He pointed out that the historical monuments of all religions are protected and restored in Azerbaijan.



Azerbaijan is a very ancient land. We are proud that one of the oldest mosques in the world, the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi, which was built in 743, is situated in Azerbaijan, said President Aliyev.



At the same time, one of the oldest churches in our region, the Church of Caucasian Albania, is also in Azerbaijan, said the president. The ancient temple of fire worshippers, Orthodox and Catholic churches, synagogues are protected and restored by the state in Baku.

The head of state went on saying that Azerbaijan is a native land of all peoples living in our country.



Azerbaijan stands strong. It is a modern, secular, developing country open for cooperation, said the president.



President Aliyev pointed out that Pope Francis visit to Azerbaijan is a great honor for the country.

You sent a clear message from Baku to the whole world, saying that multiculturalism, the interreligious dialogue, good will and good attitude should gain victory and prevail, President Aliyev said to Pope Francis.

President Aliyev further spoke about the most vulnerable occasion of Azerbaijani people Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, emphasizing that regretfully, Azerbaijani people have faced a humanitarian disaster.

President Aliyev mentioned that Azerbaijans historical land Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts have been occupied by Armenian armed forces as a result of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan in early 1990s.

Our citizens, more than a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs on their native lands. Twenty percent of our lands are under occupation. A policy of ethnic cleansing was pursued against us. Khojaly genocide was committed against our people and ten countries have officially recognized this genocide, said the president.

OSCE has sent fact-finding missions to the occupied lands twice and the report of these missions are horrifying, said the president. All of our historical and religious monuments have been destroyed by Armenia. Our mosques, graves have been destroyed and our museums have been ravaged, he added.

We restored an Armenian church in Baku and more than 5,000 books in Armenian language are kept in this church. This is the difference: their actions and our attitude. Therefore, it is not accidental that Azerbaijan is known in the world as a center of multiculturalism, said the president.

President Aliyev pointed out that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved in line with the international law.

Speaking at the event, Pope Francis said that, the world, unfortunately, is experiencing the tragedy of many conflicts fueled by intolerance, which in turn is fomented by violent ideologies and by the effective denial of the rights of the weakest.

"Mindful also of this country, I wish to express my heartfelt closeness to those who have had to leave their land and to many people who suffer the effects of bloody conflicts. I hope that the international community may be able to offer unfailingly its indispensable help," he said.

He also said that the Catholic Church, even though it has a small presence in the country, is truly present in the civic and social life of Azerbaijan; it participates in its joys and shares the challenges of confronting its difficulties.

The juridical recognition, made possible by the ratification of the international agreement with the Holy See in 2011, has furthermore offered a stable regulatory framework for the life of the Catholic community in Azerbaijan, said Pope Francis. I am moreover particularly pleased with the cordial relations enjoyed by the Catholic, Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish communities.

Within the framework of his visit to Azerbaijan, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"You are a little flock that is so precious in God's eyes," Francis told the more than 800 people who followed the Mass inside the church and outside in the courtyard.

While citing the words of St. Mary, Pope Francis left a message to Bakus believers.

"The fruit of faith is love, he said. The fruit of love is service and the fruit of service is peace."

During his 10-hour visit to Baku, Pope Francis also met with the Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade and representatives of all the main faiths and also visited the Heydar Mosque, the largest in the Caucasus, where he said God should never be used to justify fundamentalism.

Azerbaijan, as a phenomenon, should interest many people and countries, who are increasingly faced with the implacable enmity of religions and nationalities.

Centuries of anti-Semitism, the persecution of the Muslim refugees, the attacks that were organized by Islamists, that undermine the already fragile dialogue of religions in the world all together create a negative background for seemingly such a simple thing as a peace between believers.

In these circumstances, Azerbaijan should be a vivid pattern and an example of how public policy of tolerance and dialogue multicultural could create a fertile ground for interreligious peace.
4 October 2016 10:04 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva met with a delegation led by member of the National Assembly of the French Republic, president of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France, Jean-Francois Mancel, Azertac reported.

The first lady hailed the participation of members of the French National Assembly in the 5th Baku International Humanitarian Forum and in events relating to Pope Francis visit to the country.

Mehriban Aliyeva expressed her confidence that the visit will be a good opportunity for the French delegation to familiarize itself with the country.

The first lady pointed to the increasing number of members of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France, adding this contributes to further strengthening of Azerbaijani-French ties.

The president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation praised the two countries ties and emphasized cooperation in humanitarian and educational fields.

Mrs. Aliyeva said the relations between Azerbaijani and French regions and cities have strengthened in the last years.

The first lady said the city twinning agreements opened up new opportunities for expanding the bilateral cooperation.

She further noted that a monument to Azerbaijani poet Mahsati Ganjavi will be erected in the French city of Cognac in October.

Jean-Francois Mancel commended the opening of the Azerbaijan Village in Paris as an important step towards strengthening the bilateral ties.

The president of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France stressed the importance of the events held in Baku.

He said such contacts give a message to the world that a peaceful co-existence of representatives of various religions and cultures is possible.

Earlier, the delegation was received by President Ilham Aliyev.

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4 October 2016 13:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Baku and Tehran have exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest, as an Iranian Interior Ministrys delegation visits Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev received the delegation led by Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on October 3, where the head of state hailed the successful development of Azerbaijan-Iran bilateral relations in all areas.

Emphasizing the importance of raising the bilateral ties to a higher level in all areas, the head of state stressed the necessity of developing cooperation between the two countries' interior ministries.



Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli extended greetings of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to President Aliyev. President Hassan Rouhani noted that all efforts should be made to further enhance and promote the work in accordance with the agreements reached by the two sides. President Rouhani expressed his hope that these works would be successfully implemented," Abdolreza Rahmani said.

President Aliyev thanked for the greetings of President Rouhani, and asked the Interior Minister to extend his greetings to the Iranian president.

During the Baku visit, the Iranian minister was received by Chairman of the State Security Service, lieutenant-general Madat Guliyev.

Guliyev spoke of the successful reforms carried out in state-building, socio-economic development and law-enforcement spheres.



He noted friendly ties between the two countries boosting thanks to joint efforts of Azerbaijani and Iran presidents that served strengthening of the relations towards ensuring security of the two states.

The Iranian minister praised the importance of enhancing cooperation between the relevant bodies of the two countries for creation of favorable conditions for prosperous development and security policy conducted under the leadership of the head of states for progress of friendly and fraternal peoples of the two countries.

Abdolreza Rahmani expressed confidence that his visit to the country would contribute to the development of relations between the two states, as well as the relevant bodies.

The Iranian minister also met Azerbaijan's Emergency Situations Minister, Kamaladdin Heydarov, who spoke of the joint work of Azerbaijan and Iran done in this direction.

Abdolreza Rahmani, in turn, said that the potential of mutual relations will create opportunity for expanding the cooperation.

At the meeting with his counterpart Azerbaijans Interior Minister Ramil Usubov said Baku was keen to improve cooperation with Tehran in the fight against terrorism, organized crimes as well as human and drug trafficking.

He hailed Irans support for Azerbaijans territorial integrity over the past 25 years.

Rahmani Fazli, for his part, pointed to the spread of instability and extremism in the region and said, Unfortunately, world powers are interfering in the internal affairs of regional countries and provide terrorist groups with political, financial and logistical assistance.

The Iranian minister emphasized that any kind of extremism is irrational and unacceptable.

He further said Iran and Azerbaijan have secure border areas and called for more efforts to facilitate visits between the two countries' enterprises to expand their economic activities.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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The air cargo markets deceleration this year had a greater impact on third-quarter cargo revenues at American Airlines than its primary rivals, Delta and United Airlines. But the best revenue quarter in company history and a $483 million profit painted a positive financial picture that could be replicated in the final quarter thanks to resilient []
4 October 2016 14:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

The amendments to be made to the Constitution of Azerbaijan will lead to an improvement in the social well-being of the population and more harmonious development of relations between the state and citizens in the future, said MP Musa Guliyev on October 4.

The MP stressed that the referendum means the beginning of a very important stage in the socio-economic life and system of statehood in Azerbaijan.

"Undoubtedly, it will start to strengthen management of the state system. The creation of Vice-Presidency institute will extend the possibilities of control over the implementation of signed decrees and orders by the Head of state and participation in this work. One of the most important amendments to be made to the Constitution is related to unused lands. It is a social responsibility for the use of thousands of hectares of land acquired by various officials, said Guliyev.

Azerbaijan held a nationwide vote on amending the country's founding law  the Constitution on September 26. The citizens of Azerbaijan were asked to express their will by repealing or accepting particular changes and proposals through a direct vote.

As many as 117 international observers  MPs from over 30 countries as well as observers from various international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)  were accredited by Azerbaijans CEC to observe the referendum.

Observers fixed high activity of the population, while no serious breach of law was registered. The number of polling stations in the referendum was 5,600 and there were about 10 observers in each polling station.

The proposed changes envisage the extension of the presidential term from five to seven years, the establishment of the first vice-president and vice-president positions in the country as well as the cancellation of minimum age limit for presidential candidates, dissolution of parliament by the president.

Final results of the nationwide vote will be announced until October 21.

Previously, referendums were also held in Azerbaijan in 1995, 2002. The last time changes to the Constitution were made seven years ago, following Constitutional referendum held in 2009

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4 October 2016 17:27 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan, situated at the juncture of several bio-geographical areas, contains species of European, Central Asian and Mediterranean origin and forms an integral part of the Caucasus Ecoregion.

The country is currently in the process of updating its NBSAP for the 2017-2020 period, including developing national biodiversity targets, with the global framework being taken into account.

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has recently signed a decree approving the "National Strategy for the Protection and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in Azerbaijan for 2017-2020 years".

The coordination over the implementation of the national strategy has been entrusted to the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, according to the order.

The Ministry was tasked to inform the president about the work done in connection with the implementation of the national strategy within a year.

The richness and biodiversity of Azerbaijan just amaze. Approximately 4,500 species of vascular plants have been recorded in the country, of which 210 are considered endemic.

The number of endemic fish species in the Caspian Sea region is very high, and includes one lamprey species, 11 herring species, 24 species of Caspian gobies and five anadromous sturgeon species, all of which are fished commercially. The Caspian seal is the only resident endemic mammal.

The country is especially noted for fruit and nut trees, and the forests of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains and the Talish Mountains contain wild ancestors of apples, persimmons, walnuts, chestnuts, pistachios and many other species that have been widely domesticated into many different varieties and strains.

2010 was declared the Year of Ecology in Azerbaijan. Within the scope of the Year of Ecology various activities are realized, e-resources on specific fields are prepared, educational measures among the population are enhanced.

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4 October 2016 17:12 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay a working visit to Belgium to participate in the Conference of the European Union on Afghanistan to be held in Brussels on October 4-5.

Mammadyarov will address the conference, and hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event, Azertac reported.

Azerbaijan is a partner country contributing to the reconstruction measures implemented in Afghanistan in bilateral and multilateral formats.

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4 October 2016 17:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Some diplomats still fail to realize that theyre among the reasons for world being in this situation, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department, tweeted on October 4.

Mammadov said the US ambassador to the OSCE, Daniel Baers interview demonstrates that in the OSCE, he acts like a First Secretary, just like in Soviet times.

He must know that the president didnt and never would mention him. The president referred to the US ambassador to the OSCE, Mammadov added.

Why is he in search of facts?! Known event requires no fact-checking, he said. Take a look at Baers Twitter. Day cant go by without lies and denigration about Azerbaijan coming out of his mouth.

By now Baer has belabored the term international law, Mammadov said. But no one heard him using the same term about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. What a classic case of barking at the moon.

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4 October 2016 18:01 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijans state-owned company SOCAR has closed its official representation in Vienna (Austria), Head of the office Gulmirza Javadov said on October 4 in a letter sent to the media.

The letter states that the closing of representation is related to the reforms and restructuring in SOCAR.

Due to the restructuration in the company, the representative office in Vienna and other offices of SOCAR in relevant countries have been liquidated and are no longer functional, the letter reads. However, the offices of SOCAR Trading company, as well as foreign daughters of SOCAR, will continue the normal operation.

The decision to suspend the activities of all foreign representations of SOCAR was made back in December 2015.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, as well as oil and chemical products in domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to the industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

The company invests billions of dollars annually in transportations infrastructures and is involved in projects designed to increase Europe's energy security through diversification of natural gas.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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4 October 2016 10:34 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Iran has proposed to Interpol to create an international cyber coalition against the Islamic State (aka IS, ISIL, ISIS, Daesh) terrorist group, Commander of Irans FETA (cyber) Police Kamal Hadianfar said.

The initiative which also included a report on IS activities on cyberspace around the world was welcomed by the Interpol, which thanked FETA for it, Hadianfar said, IRIB news agency reported on October 3.

Today, 75,000 users affiliated to the IS are operating around the world on social media and elsewhere, he noted.

He also provided details on a recent cyber attack on Iran, claimed to be carried out by Saudi Arabia.

The attacks were carried out under the name Daes from Turkey and Italy. We identified the IPs and reported them to Interpol.

However, he said, Tehrans efforts to draw some response on the attacks from Saudi Arabia have failed.

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4 October 2016 11:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

In response to Washington's decision to end bilateral contact with Moscow over Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the U.S. of attempting to shift its own responsibility, Sputnik International reported.

"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements  to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of Aleppo city," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Russia's First Channel.

"And now, apparently, the Americans are apparently trying to shift the responsibility on somebody else, she added. "We are sorry about Washington's decision to curtail the work of groups of experts in Geneva, to withdraw experts from there and limit the domain of conflict prevention.

She pointed out that "the United States failed to comply with its obligations pertaining to the delineation of the opposition from the terrorists in Syria."

Previously spokesperson of the U.S. State Department John Kirby announced that the United States has suspended bilateral channel" with Russia created to maintain the cease-fire in Syria

In turn, the press secretary of the White House Joshua Ernest expressed disappointment over Russia's decision to suspend the agreement with the U.S. Plutonium Disposition at a regular briefing.

The two countries own the world's largest stockpiles of plutonium that can be used for nuclear weapons.

During the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed a protocol amending the 2000 Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), which commits each country to dispose of no less than 34 metric tons (MT) of excess weapon-grade plutonium and envisions disposition of more weapon-grade plutonium over time.

The Protocol reaffirms both countries commitment to nuclear disarmament under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by ensuring that excess weapon-grade plutonium is never again used for nuclear weapons or any other military purpose.

However, a Russian presidential decree made public on October 3 says the implementation of the U.S.-Russia Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) must be put on hold, "due to Washington's unfriendly actions toward Russia.

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4 October 2016 13:34 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Uzbekistans delegation led by the countrys Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov will participate in the interregional ministerial meeting Central Asia-European Union and in the international conference on Afghanistan, the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service said on October 4.

The meeting will be held on October 4-5 in Belgiums capital.

During the visit, the Uzbek delegation is going to hold negotiations with officials of the European Union (EU).

The strategy of cooperation in the Central Asia-European Union format was approved in 2007.

Regional programs within the strategy are effective in the field of stability and security, sustainable economic development and poverty reduction, as well as regional cooperation both within the region and between the EU and Central Asia.

Energy and water resources, transportation, small and medium businesses, border management and fight against drugs, education and science, as well as environmental protection are among priority directions of cooperation between the EU and five countries of Central Asia  Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Since 2007, the EU has allocated more than one billion euros for the implementation of various regional programs and projects in concrete countries.

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4 October 2016 13:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

The state of emergency in Turkey has been extended for another 90 days, Anadolu Agency reported on October 4.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that Turkey's state of emergency initially declared after the July 15 defeated coup, will be extended for 3 more months.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, which was held at the Presidential Palace under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara, Kurtulmus said that the ministers decided that the state of emergency would be extended as of October 19 for 90 more days, with parliaments approval.

Turkey will determinately fight against all terror organizations, Kurtulmus said.

The National Security Council had advised extending the state of emergency last week.

The Turkish Constitution indicates that a state of emergency can be declared for a maximum period of six months, but can also be extended if necessity occurs.

The Parliament must ratify states of emergency, and the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has a comfortable majority for doing so.

To enact the state of emergency, the government must see serious indications of widespread violence which could interfere with Turkey's democratic environment or its citizens' basic rights and freedoms as established by the Constitution.

On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about the transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded.

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4 October 2016 18:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

Turkey does not want the clash of interests of Russia and the United States in Syria, said Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik, Anadolu Agency reported on October 4.

The minister stated that, in the case of sharp clashes of interests of the U.S. and Russia on the Syrian issue, Turkey is determined to protect its own interests.

Recently, the U.S. State Department announced that the United States has suspended bilateral channel" with Russia created to maintain the cease-fire in Syria.

In response to Washington's decision to end bilateral contact with Moscow over Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the U.S. of attempting to shift its own responsibility.

On August 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force with the support of the coalition aircraft launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo city.

The operation was carried out under the name Shield of the Euphrates. Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border.

Ankara announced that this operation will continue until the PYD militants are completely liquidated.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh), the YPG and the PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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4 October 2016 17:58 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Irans President Hassan Rouhani is expected to arrive in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, on October 5.

Parviz Esmaeili, deputy for communications and information at the presidents office, has said the visit will take place at the official invitation of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Mehr news agency reported.

The presidents are expected to discuss expansion of bilateral ties.

Parviz Esmaeili added that the sides are also expected to sign several documents on the expansion of cooperation.

An economic delegation will also accompany President Rouhani during the visit.

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One of the top financial backers of the Kern High School Districts campaign for a $280 million bond measure told The Californian this week th
San Francisco sourdough originated with the Gold Rush of 1849 when French immigrants brought traditional breadmaking methods with them to California.

Pursuing its aim to preserve the biodiversity of leavening agents around the world, Puratos NV, Groot-Bijgaarden, Belgium, has nearly doubled its global collection of authentic sourdoughs.

The world heritage sourdough library is housed at Puratos Center for Bread Flavour located in the Ardennes region of southern Belgium. It opened in October 2013 and today maintains 87 sourdoughs collected from around the world, including 12 from the US. It is a non-profit initiative on the part of the company and intended as a means of safeguarding the rich diversity of sourdough.

Long before bakers yeast was commercialized in the nineteenth century, bakers leavened their breads through natural fermentation caused by wild yeasts and bacteria in the environment. Such microorganisms occur in unique populations around the world. More than 700 strains of wild yeast and 1,500 lactic bacteria have been recorded so far.

Puratos partners its library with Marco Gobbetti, PhD, a professor at the University of Bari in Bari, Italy, an international expert in fermentation technology and author of Handbook on Sourdough Biotechnology. All sourdoughs collected by Puratos are analytically characterized in Dr. Gobbettis laboratory as a step in their addition to the library.

Karl de Smodt, communications manager for bakery flavors and yeasts at Puratos, recently produced and narrated three new YouTube videos tracing the history and development of sourdoughs from Greece, Mexico and the US that are now part of the library.

San Francisco sourdough, Mr. de Smodt explained, originated with the Gold Rush of 1849 when French immigrants brought traditional breadmaking methods with them to California. There was something about the air and water in the Bay Area that yielded a unique style of fermentation. He interviewed Michel Suas of the San Francisco Baking Institute, Steve Sullivan of The Acme Bread Company and Tim Frainier of Semifreddis about this style of natural leavening.

Kosmas sourdough, sourced from the small Greek town of Kobothekia, is started with basil-infused holy water distributed during local church services. In Guadalajara, Mexico, the citys signature Birote sourdough can be traced to Camille Perote, a soldier who served in Emperor Maximilian Is army during the 1850s. This sourdough is refreshed with limes, eggs and beer.
run75441 | October 4, 2016 12:57 am



Authored by Mike Kimel

In this post, I want to demonstrate the importance of a specific cultural trait, namely punctuality, on the economy. The difficulty, of course, is coming up with a good measure of punctuality, and in particular, one that isnt regularly gamed.

Digging around, I found a paper entitled The Pace of Life in 31 Countries by Robert V Levine and Ara Norenzayan in the Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology in 1999. For the purposes of this post, the most interesting thing about this paper was this measurement:

As a sample of concern with clock time, the accuracy of 15 clocks, in randomly selected downtown banks, were checked in each country. The criterion for the correct time was that reported by the telephone company.

The 31 countries span the globe, and seem to encompass every inhabited continent, though it should be said, the list is Europe-heavy; unless I miscounted, 14 of the 31 countries are in Europe. The clock accuracy results for the countries, as well as several other measures of less relevance to this post, are returned in a table in the paper. I then compared those results (compiled in or before 1999, I remind the reader) with the real GDP per capita in US dollars for those same countries in 2015. That data was pulled from World Bank tables. The World Bank data excluded two of the countries in the Levine & Norenzayan paper, Taiwan and Syria.

Heres what the data looks like, graphed:

I took the liberty of highlighting and labeling the three points at either end of the curve.

The figure shows that the correlation between the natural log of clock inaccuracy, as measured in average seconds of clock error in or before 1999 and real GDP per capita in 2015 is -0.56. That is, countries with more accurate clocks in or before 1999 tend to be wealthier in 2015. Note also that the correlation is a bit lower (-0.50) when data from the year 2000 is used. This suggests that if there is a causation, it isnt running from wealth to clock accuracy.

Frankly, there are a few anomalies with the graph, and they tend to be where my intuition doesnt match the accuracy ranking provided by Levine and Norenzayan. Having stated that, I should note that my intuition is informed primarily from having lived abroad for about a decade and a half, and from having a fair number of interactions (professional and personal). For example, Italy ranks second in clock accuracy, but my experience is that there are a fair number of Italians who tend to be relatively tardy to meetings, etc., relative to people from a number of other European countries. My admittedly snide hypothesis is that the Italian post offices clock is simply just as late as the clocks in private Italian banks. Not surprisingly (to me, anyway), Italian GDP per capita is 9th among European countries included by Levine and Norenzayan, not 2nd.

Nevertheless, despite the anomalies, at a high level, this data seems right to me, and it provides a bit of confirmation to the idea that punctuality is tied to positive economic outcomes.



The backstory, for those interested:

A few weeks ago, I had a post showing that at the national level, over the past few decades, there is a negative correlation between immigration and subsequent job creation. In a more recent post, I looked at state level data to determine whether states with a greater percentage of immigrants created more or fewer jobs for the native born population. The results showed that outside the old Confederacy, the more immigrants as a share of the population, the less jobs were created for the native born population. In between the two posts, I tried to provide a few explanations for why the observed relationship exists.

In the explanations post, I mentioned cultural traits as issues that make a difference in whether immigrants contribute positively or negatively. In the comments to the post, I mentioned timeliness (i.e., punctuality) as one such trait. That statement met with resistance from other commenters. It was even suggested that such a view might be racist. This post is intended to support my comment.
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Betty White  Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...

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Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...

Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...

Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...

Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...

Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...

Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...

Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...

Joel Osteen  Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...

Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...

Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...

Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...

Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...

Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...

Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...

Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...

Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...

Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...

Demystifying Pokimane  Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...

A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...

Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...

Alex Aiono Biography  Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...

Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...

Princess Love Bio  Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...

Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...

Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...

Safiya Nygaard  Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...

The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

Kay Adams Biography  Does The Sportscaster Have A Husband or Boyfriend? When you hear the phrase sports enthusiast, women are hardly the first group that comes to mind. Well, thats changing pretty fast. Especially with the rise of female sports analysts and broadcasters like Kay Adams who is famed for knowing more about sports than most men do. And why not, shes paid handsomely for it ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...

Natasha Bertrand Biography  Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...

What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...

Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner  Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...

Nikki Mudarris  Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...

5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...

Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...

Why Did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws, Where Is He Now And Why Did He Divorce His Wife? Justin Shearer, otherwise known by his professional name Big Chief is a famous street racer and television personality. He is famously known for being one of the main characters on the racing reality television series, Street Outlaws. Justin, who had been a significant part of the show since its premiere in 2013, appeared in a ...

Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...

Is Brittany Wagner Married, Who Is The Husband, How Old Is She? Brittany Wagner has been an inspiration to a lot of sports youngster. She has won the hearts of many athletic students with her role as a life coach and an academic counselor. She is well groomed in her career and has worked over a decade for The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The National ...

Tati Westbrook Bio  Age, Husband & Net Worth With five videos dished out every week, alongside running her own brand, beauty guru, and YouTube superstar Tati Westbrook has proved to the world that theres utterly no impossibility or limit to whatever one is passionate about. Tati is best known for being the owner and manager of the worlds most-viewed beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel, ...

Cathy Areus Long Road to Becoming a Freelance Journalist and What to Know About Her Kids An American freelance journalist, news analyst, and author, Cathy Areu has built a lasting reputation for herself on cable television. Popular for her skillful and sassy presentation of professional views on varying topics including cultural and feminist issues, Cathy is an inspiration to many women across the globe. In addition to being a journalist, she ...

Tucker Carlsons Love Story With Wife Susan Andrews, their Children and Net Worth Today On the TV screens, Tucker Carlson is that fiery fellow who passionately dishes out his conservative and often controversial views on issues of national importance. Such brazenness has fetched him many enemies, especially on the left-wing, but it has also helped him cement a reputation as one of the foremost broadcast journalists in America. His ...

Paige Wyatts Net Worth, Boyfriend and Where She Is Now Paige Wyatt became popular after the Wyatt family began running the reality television show, American Guns. The Wyatt family comprises Rich Wyatt (father), Renee Wyatt (mother), Paige and Kurt Wyatt (children). Rich Wyatt originally ran a gun shop, the Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado which is outside of Denver. The business which he ran together ...

The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...

Lisa Joyners Biography  Ethnicity, Net Worth and Other Key Facts Lisa Joyner is an American Journalist, TV talk show host, and actress. Some of her well-known works are her correspondences for the Los Angeles based TV KCBS, inFANity show, Find My Family Show including her film and television appearances in Brimstone, American Sweetheart, The Bold and The Beautiful among others. Lisas passion for reconnecting people with their biological families ...

Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...

Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...

Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...

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President Barack Obama has postponed a Wednesday visit to Florida because of Hurricane Matthew.

The president had previously scheduled visits to Tampa and Miami.

In Tampa, he was to discuss the Affordable Care Act.

In Miami, the president was to talk about the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

"We are hoping to reschedule those events relatively soon, but that will be determined by the impact of the storm and by other components of the President's schedule," according to a statement from the White House.
Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti on Tuesday morning as a Category 4 storm packing 145 mph winds, knocking down trees and tearing off roofs of homes.

By nightfall, at least 11 deaths had been blamed on the powerful storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean. But with a key bridge washed out, impassable roads and phone communication cut off with Haiti's hardest-hit area, there was no way to know how many people might be dead or injured.

The storm made landfall around dawn on Haiti's southern peninsula, where many people live along the coast in shacks of wood and corrugated steel that stand little chance of withstanding the force of the system's maximum sustained winds of 145 mph.

Matthew was expected to bring 15-25 inches of rain, and up to 40 inches (100 centimeters) in isolated places, along with up to 10 feet (3 meters) of storm surge and battering waves, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

At least five deaths were blamed on the storm in Haiti, including a 26-year-old man who drowned trying to rescue a child who fell into a rushing river, authorities said. The child was saved. The mayor in flooded Petit Goave reported two people died there, including a woman who was killed by a falling electrical pole.

Four deaths were recorded in the neighboring Dominican Republic and one each in Colombia and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday declared a state of emergency for all of Florida.

"If Matthew directly impacts Florida, there will be massive destruction that we haven't seen in years, comparable to what we saw after Hurricane Andrew," Scott said.

Matthew briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, as it moved across the Caribbean late last week, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
With Hurricane Matthew expected to cause major flooding in Haiti, many people from the island nation who live in Central Florida are worried.

Many people from Haiti who live in Central Florida gathered to pray

Many homes in Haiti are not built to withstand hurricanes

Related stories: Orlando-based mission prepares to help Haiti after Matthew Hurricane Matthew may have impact on Florida



On Monday night, people gathered at Church of God in Kissimmee to pray.

Were going to stay in prayer, were going to kneel down before God, so God can hear our prayers and people can be safe in this weather, said Myriem Norgisse, a church member.

Norgisse saw the bleak weather outlook for parts of her home country. She joined a couple dozen people Monday night for what was a regularly-scheduled prayer service. But their prayers had a message of urgency.

We ask God for favor, because this is a country that has suffered a lot, Norgisse said.

Norgisse grew up in Haiti. Her family has traveled back home often and seen how the country is still rebuilding from a devastating earthquake in 2010.

She worries about what the hurricane-force winds and the more than three feet of rain will do to the country she calls home.

Especially that area of the south, said Norgisse. They can have a lot of mud, a lot of floods. People have homes that are not built to withstand that kind of hurricane, but we also have people that dont have homes  they live in the woods.

Communication isnt as advanced in Haiti, and Norgisse fears some people havent been fully informed about the dire situation expected there.

And my prayer is those people, as much as possible, can hear the news and move out, said Norgisse.

But Norgisse said shes holding on to faith  and hope  that the devastation wont be as bad as what has been reported.

We ask all of the churches to pray tonight, so God can really work against the winds that are coming, said Norgisse.
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Kanye West will take some time off the Saint Pablo tour to spend more time with his family after his wife, Kim Kardashian West, was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night, Rolling Stone reported.

Due to family concerns, this week's Philadelphia and Detroit dates on the Saint Pablo Tour have been rescheduled, Live Nation said in a statement. The Oct. 4 show in Philadelphia has been postponed to Dec. 13, and the Detroit show on Oct. 6 will be held on Dec. 22.

Police said Monday that armed robbers forced their way into a private Paris residence where Kim Kardashian West was staying, tied her up and locked her in a bathroom before making off with more than $10 million worth of jewelry.
I don't know how many young women come to this blog or how many are parents of teenage or young adult women, but here are some safety tips from Kelsey's Army:

T

I

P

S

1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.Remember the acronym TIPS:ake Chargenform others of your whereaboutsrepare for any situationurvival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen)For more information, go to Kelsey's Army
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Get excited, Ford fans, the beloved Ford Bronco and Ford Ranger are both coming back to the streets according to the United Automobile Workers union.

According to car news outlet Car & Driver, we can all thank Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for forcing the news.

RELATED: The Ford Ranger is coming back

Last week and in weeks previous Trump has said on the campaign trail that more and more jobs were leaving the United States for Mexico, namely Ford moving production of two products down south. Ford confirmed that in the summer of 2015.

Bill Johnson, UAW Local 900 chairman, told the Detroit Free Press last week that although that is true there is a bright spot for Detroit in the near future.

We hate to see the products go to Mexico, but with the Ranger and the Bronco coming to Michigan Assembly that absolutely secures the future for our people a lot more than the Focus does, Johnson said.

Johnson added that Trump is absolutely beating up on Ford for doing what everybody else has already done.

RELATED: 22 years ago O.J. Simpson took a ride in that white Ford Bronco

Both the Bronco and the Ranger are crazy beloved among SUV devotees and nostalgia-crazed (Thanks, O.J.!) car fans.

Its presumed both products would be going up against similar Jeep and Chevy vehicles like the Wrangler and the Colorado. A version of the Ford Ranger has been sold in other markets outside the U.S. for some time.

The new Bronco, Autoweek reported, will likely be bigger than the one that exited the market in 1996, and built onto the existing F-150 template.

Its believed that the new vehicles would begin production in 2018 and 2020.

According to Ford's official site, the first model year for the Ranger was 1983 with a second-generation model introduced in 1993. It ended its 29-year run in 2012. The popular vehicle has continued on in international markets in various forms.

Most auto blogs have said that Ford missed a golden opportunity around that time to keep some of the truck customers that GM and Toyota snagged with the Colorado, Canyon and the Tacoma. Heck, even the Nissan Frontier has made inroads into that niche market.
On Monday afternoon, a 14-year-old Houston ISD student was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat, according to school officials. The student is accused of threatening an HISD school on social media using an image of a clown. School officials did not disclose which school was targeted.

The student being charged is not being identified because he is a juvenile.

The non-specific threats, HISD officials said, were posted anonymously using accounts with a clown image and are believed to be part of a national hoax.

RELATED: 2 men dressed as clowns reportedly arrested in Houston area

"We take threats against our schools seriously, and our officers are actively investigating this criminal matter," said HISD Police Chief Robert Mock. "At this time, there is no evidence that the threats are credible. Students are safe, and all HISD employees are being vigilant."

Some schools in Spring Independent School District beefed up security Monday after an unidentified bogus threat against them involving violent clowns recently spread on social media, officials said.

"We have been made aware of a social media hoax made toward school districts and campuses across the state, including several Spring ISD campuses," district officials announced Sunday evening in a statement on the Spring ISD Facebook page. "Although this was determined to be a hoax and we will have school tomorrow, please know that we have taken precaution with extra security at our campuses."

The hoax, officials said, concerned clowns threatening the schools and people on campuses. No activities have been reported.

Details of the phony threat were not released. Also, officials did not release information about what led investigators to determine the threat was a hoax. No details were released about who made the supposed threats.

However, district officials said they were working with other districts and local law enforcement agencies to ensure student and staff safety. The bogus threats have been made at other districts locally and statewide.

Other school districts have received similar bogus threats.

Officials with Klein Independent School District said Klein Forest High School was mentioned as a campus where a clown would appear. The district increased security at the school and alerted parents as well as local law enforcement agencies.

"Klein ISD is aware of posts made on social media sites regarding perceived threats toward several state and local schools, the officials posted on the district Facebook page. "Although law enforcement has indicated that these clown posts are a social media hoax, the Klein police continue to actively investigate in conjunction with local law enforcement.

"The Klein police, local law enforcement, and Klein administrators will remain diligent throughout the week at our schools as the safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority."
A man who called in a false bomb threat against the Exxon Mobil refinery earlier this year awaits sentencing after his guilty plea was accepted Monday by a U.S. district judge.

Lance Giovanni Fontenot, 23, faces up to 10 years in prison for maliciously conveying false information about explosive material in the June 15 incident, which put the Beaumont refinery on lockdown and kept surrounding residents inside their homes for much of the day.
A 39-year-old Lumberton woman said she was attacked by a suspect early Thursday morning at her residing trailer park in Lumberton, according to the Lumberton Police Department.

Lumberton Captain Forrest Cobb said the alleged assault happened at 200 Raider Lane around 1 a.m.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh told ARMENPRESS Azerbaijani forces made 30 ceasefire violations along the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The ministrys announcement reads: Overnight October 3-4 Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime along the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact 30 times. Azerbaijani forces fired around 300 shots from various caliber small arms at Armenian positions.

The Defense Army is in control of the tactical situation and confidently continues military service.
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Last spring, Lamar history professor Mary Scheer accepted a challenge from university president Kenneth Evans.

Evans had asked the Lamar University faculty to submit proposals for "visionary projects" for new teaching or research initiatives. The projects that were selected would be funded.

Scheer and eight of her colleagues proposed creating a center for Southeast Texas history and culture, a place Scheer envisioned as a cultural hub for those who want to learn about the region.

"As a historian, I just knew this center, if we could get it funded, could be of real value, not just to Lamar, but to the community. There's nothing like this in the region," Scheer said.

In July, the university announced it had selected five of the 49 proposals submitted. Scheer's was one of them.

She was awarded $210,000 on Sept. 1 to fund the first three years of the project, to be called the Mirabeau B. Lamar Center for the Study of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast.

Scheer, the center's director, said that though a lot of sites and museums celebrate the region's history, the Lamar Center will be a place to showcase history from all angles. Scheer also plans for it to be a major resource for those conducting research.

"We want to tell the story - the music, the history, the food - of this region," she said. "There's a lot of people who do that, but it's been all sort of piecemeal."

The center is still in its "start-up" phase, Scheer said. She currently runs the operation out of her office and plans to use university space for events until the center can get its own permanent gallery space for events and exhibits.

The center will host its first event on Nov. 9 at the University Event Center at the Mary and John Gray Library on campus. Local historians Ellen Rienstra and Jo Ann Stiles will talk about their book, "The Long Shadow: The Lutcher-Stark Lumber Legacy," followed by a book signing and reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Students can attend a special session before the event from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Rienstra said she is glad to see a central location dedicated to Southeast Texas history located at Lamar University because of its vast resources.

"It's really important because we've got a unique history and culture here in Texas and on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. We've got a separate history and culture and terrain and climate from the rest of Texas," Rienstra said.

Upcoming events include a lecture by Lamar University history professor Rebecca Boone on the culinary traditions of southeast Texas and Louisiana in February.

In March, Scheer said they're hoping to bring in James Bruseth, an archaeologist who was involved in the exploration and excavation of the La Belle shipwreck.

Scheer said going forward they hope to host a speaker every month.

"We want to show how rich and vibrant the region is," she said.

NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/Natalie_Krebs
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Graphic and disturbing video has surfaced online showing young people central Texas repeatedly shooting a dog before shoving firecrackers inside its body and watching it burn.

Police are investigating after a cell phone recording of Snapchat video was posted on Facebook - and a trail of tips led authorities to a town outside Waco.

"I have no idea how the dog died or who this kid is, but since he found it so funny and cool to post it on his snapchat, I figured he wouldn't mind if I shared it with facebook," wrote Serena Kristiana Teakell when she shared the chilling content on social media.

READ MORE: Judge scolds man on trial for burning Chihuahua on stove

"I hope you're embarrassed of yourself."

It's not clear when the dog died.

The shocking footage went viral and has been viewed more than 2 million times.

In a follow-up post, Teakell explained why she felt the need to publicize the graphic footage.

READ MORE: Houston man convicted again of selling animal torture videos

"I posted it because, as it goes with all things, when the public is outraged they can not turn a blind eye to the subject," she wrote. "At the very least, he will be shamed publicly and at the very least, everyone will be aware of his deep seeded psychological issues."

She went on to identify the teen shown in the video, calling him a "bratty sadistic child."

"He needs punishment and therapy," she said.

READ MORE: Videographer gets 50 years in animal crush videos

Afterward, the dog's owner, James Plant, came forward to identify his beloved furry friend and share his heartbroken reaction in an interview with NBC affiliate KCEN-TV.

Plant only found out about the tragedy after he saw the video circulating on social media - and recognized his pup's face from her mismatched eyes. Ellie had one blue eye and one brown eye.

"I froze up," he said, recalling the first time he saw the footage. "I was definitely horrified to say the least."

READ MORE: Man accused of shooting dog with BB gun

Ellie went missing about a week earlier after she broke free and ran off, he explained in an emotional interview.

"I'm really mad at myself now," he said, faulting himself for not finding his dog right away.

Now, he wants to see the perpetrator brought to justice.

"I want to see him be charged with the criminal act it was," he said.

READ MORE: Dog stabbed, set ablaze; Houston man charged with cruelty

Initially, Hewitt police launched an investigation Friday evening, after several members of the public recognized one of the suspects shown as a Hewitt resident, according to police press release Saturday.

During the course of their investigation, police found out the gruesome incident actually took place outside city limits, in the jurisdiction of the McLennan County Sheriff's Department near China Spring.

The sheriff's office confirmed its ongoing investigation online.

READ MORE: Woman seen dragging puppy by leash in Houston

"I can assure you our Criminal Investigation Division is working on this right now and any and all charges that apply to this incident will be filed and we will push for prosecution to the fullest extent," sheriffs wrote in a Facebook post.

"If you have any information that may assist in this investigation, please contact dispatch at 254-757-5222."

In the aftermath, friends of the dog's owner started a GoFundMe page to help fund civil litigation against the parties involved.
In a room full of veterans Monday, the Republican nominee for president might have suggested that those who suffer from PTSD when they come home from combat, maybe weren't strong enough to deal with the effects of war.

Donald Trump was in Virginia Monday for the Retired American Warriors PAC where he did a Q&A session.

RELATED: Trump sets Oct. 11 for 2nd S.A. campaign visit

When asked if he would restore the historic role of chaplains and importance of spiritual fitness programs, Trump said he would and went on to discuss the mental health of U.S. veterans.

And when you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see maybe what the people in this room have seen many times over, and youre strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people cant handle it, Trump said. And they see horror stories, they see events that youd see in a movie and you wouldnt believe it. We need mental health help and medical.

He then went on to explain that 22 veterans commit suicide daily and that the whole mental health issue is going to be a very important issue when I take over.

RELATED: Mark Cuban offers Donald Trump $10 million for interview

Many took to Twitter to express their outrage at his comment that "a lot of people can't handle" what they see in combat as to why they suffer from PTSD.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a number of veterans experience post traumatic stress disorder, but the statistics vary by war.

RELATED: 27 people you can vote for this election who are not Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton

About 30 out of 100 Vietnam veterans, 11-20 of 100 Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom veterans and about 12 out of every 100 Gulf War veterans experience PTSD in their lifetimes.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
While the Affordable Care Act has provided millions of Americans coverage, The New York Times reports the health law will need to change to survive the tumultuous healthcare environment.

Here are seven things to know:

1. Individual insurance market health plans are quite pricey and not accessible for many Americans, with Janet S. Trautwein, the chief executive of the National Association of Health Underwriters, noting the market is unstable compared to the 'fairly stable' employer markets.

2. In July, President Obama said in a Journal of the American Medical Association article, more work needs to be done in healthcare reform. He wrote, "Too many Americans still strain to pay for their physician visits and prescriptions, cover their deductibles or pay their monthly insurance bills; struggle to navigate a complex, sometimes bewildering system; and remain uninsured."

3. National payers like Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth have left many ACA exchanges amidst substantial losses, leading Americans in many counties with few or even one payer offering coverage.

4. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) proposed a resolution to the ACA on Sept. 15 that called for a public option. The proposal has 32 co-sponsors. Sen. Merkely noted competition is crucial to ensuring the exchanges are fruitful and the way to achieve competition is through a public option. America's Health Insurance Plans, like many insurance lobbyists, counter the public option will have a minimal impact on stabilizing the exchanges.

5. CMS is working to make healthcare more affordable and stabilizing the marketplace by giving insurance companies higher payments for high-cost enrollees and limiting abuse of special enrollment periods by Americans who only obtain coverage after becoming sick.

6. John W. Rowe, MD, a former Aetna chief executive and former president of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, told NYT the insurance marketplace will stabilize in a couple years. He noted if the ACA were a patient, "I would say that he's not in intensive care, but he's still in the hospital and requires careful monitoring."

7. Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said legislators and other officials need to work to improve the ACA, as it won't self-heal. She told NYT, "Even the most ardent proponents of the law would say that it has structural and technical problems that need to be addressed. The subsidies were not generous enough. The penalties for not getting insurance were not stiff enough. And we don't have enough young healthy people in the exchanges."

More articles on coding & billing:

The complexities of properly staffing your ASC's business office

5 key thoughts on ASCs navigating TJR reimbursement with commercial payers

UnitedHealthcare to leave Kansas ACA marketplace: 2 things to know
Healthcare is a labor-intensive industry. And for many providers, payroll expenses can really add up. According to a 2014 Beckers Hospital Review survey, more than half of the chief financial officers surveyed said personnel costs posed the biggest operational challenge to their organizations during the previous 12 months.

When deciding what your operational business costs should be, its important to take many things into consideration to maximize cash flow, which should help to mitigate labor costs. To help guide decision making, outpatient surgery centers frequently turn to caseload- and volume-based benchmarks, which provide simple metrics for determining when to hire additional business office staff.

But its not a simple problem to solve. While benchmarks like case volume per FTE do offer some clarity, these tools often dont tell the whole story about an ASCs unique operation. Heres the plain truth: There is no easy way to determine when and if a facility needs to add or reduce staff size. The issues involved are simply far too complex and dependent on a combination of variables specific to each center. Yes, benchmarks can help, but theyre only one of many factors that should be assessed when it comes to proper resource allocation. Other variables to consider include:

Specialty

ASCs offer a wide range of specialty surgical care. According to data provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the nations 5,400-plus Medicare-certified ASCs have specialized service in ten major areas: orthopedic (13 percent), ophthalmologic (13 percent), plastic/reconstructive (11 percent), podiatry (11 percent), ENT (9 percent), pain management (9 percent), OBGYN (8 percent), endoscopy (8 percent), dental (2 percent) and other (16 percent).

Specialty plays a critical role in how an ASC is staffed. For example, the billing and coding functions at a specialty spine facility are going to differ dramatically from other specialties. Complex spinal surgery can often generate numerous line items of individual procedures and implants that need to be documented. As a result, it takes billers and coders significantly longer to code and bill spine claims than it would to code and bill other specialties such as pain management and ophthalmology.

Along with benchmarks and other data, understanding such billing and coding differences across specialties can help facilities make more informed decisions as it relates to their billing staff.

Out-of-network vs. In-network

While out-of-network centers typically receive higher reimbursements, they also often have much higher labor costs than in-network ASCs, which can develop and implement efficient business office processes around the standardized terms of a managed care contract.

Out-of-network cases, however, offer few opportunities for process standardization. For these cases, accounts receivable representatives typically must master the numerous terms and conditions of various health plans and then negotiate virtually every step of the reimbursement process directly with the payer or third party for every patient. Payment posting also is far more labor-intensive for out-of-network patients, as business office staff must determine the appropriate payment for each case and ensure its in line with a facilitys policies.

Does your facility primarily treat in-network or out-of-network patients? Answering this questionand understanding what it means from a staffing perspectivecan prevent a facility from the costly expenses associated with under- or overstaffing. Facilities across the country are likely losing, on average, 10-20 percent of additional revenue due to insufficient staffing.

Payer mix/Geographical location

The payer breakdown for the average ASC in the United States is 25 percent Medicare, 5 percent Medicaid, 58 percent commercial, 5 percent workers compensation and 4 percent self-pay, according to VMG Healths Intellimarker report.

All ASC revenue streams, however, do not look the sameand nor should their workforces. For example, facilities with high workers compensation volume, typically orthopedic and pain management centers, require higher staffing levels than ASCs that have a high number of Medicare cases. Workers compensation cases require a lot of legwork, and most carriers dont accept electronic claims or electronic claims status tools, resulting in higher operational labor costs per case.

Similarly, facilities that have high cash per casefor example, $10,000 or morealso should scrutinize their staffing levels to determine if overstaffing or higher-paid billers could actually improve their return on investment. For these centers, quicker turnaround times, better quality and more optimized billing and coding functions often make the additional investment worthwhile.

Technology

Practice management systems are playing an increasingly important role in our industry. By utilizing the software tools appropriately, ASCs can improve efficiency, automate many repetitive tasks and optimize reimbursements.

But technology isnt a cure-all for every operational ailment. Its also not a suitable substitute for human judgment in all situations. For example, while these systems are very helpful at many in-network centers for auto-posting, they tend to be less so for out-of-network centers that require extensive analysis of the issues involved. And the same is true for the claims step of the revenue cycle process, which can be successfully automated and considerably lower labor costs.

Still, automating the wrong function can have disastrous financial consequences for an outpatient surgical center. As with payer mix, managed care contracting, specialty and other revenue cycle-related variables, understanding how to leverage technology around a unique set of circumstances can help a facility determine the appropriate staffing levels necessary to optimize reimbursements, provide high-quality care and deliver the best customer service.



More articles on surgery centers:

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A New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine study found a physician's political beliefs may affect his or her treatment decisions on various politicized health issues, according to Yale News.

In the study, researchers gathered political party affiliations of 20,000 primary care physicians in 29 states through a public voter registration records database. Then, the researchers surveyed the physicians and asked them a series of questions about health issues including marijuana use, firearms storage and abortion.

Here are six takeaways:

1. Republican physicians voiced more concern about marijuana use and abortion, compared to their Democratic counterparts.

2. Comparatively, Democratic physicians were more concerned with firearms.

3. Physicians of both parties had similar rates of concern on non-political issues, such as obesity, alcohol abuse and depression.

4. Democratic physicians reported being more likely to advise patients against storing firearms in the home.

5. On the other hand, Republican physicians were more likely to speak to patients about the mental health risks associated with abortion and encourage patients to limit marijuana use. They were also more likely to talk about the legal risks linked to marijuana use.

6. The researchers noted, "Given the politicization of certain health issues affecting countless patients, it is imperative that physicians consider how their political views may affect their professional judgments. The evidence calls for heightened awareness among physicians and more training concerning our biases in how we address politically salient health issues."

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Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare will pay the federal government, Georgia and South Carolina $514 million to settle kickback allegations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Here are six things you need to know:

1. The allegations involve Tenet hospitals paying kickbacks for obstetric referrals in Georgia and South Carolina.

2. The settlement, still to be approved by a court, will see two Tenet subsidiaries pleading guilty "to one count of conspiracy to violate federal kickback laws," according to The Wall Street Journal.

3. A criminal investigation and civil litigation surrounded four Tenet hospitals allegedly paying "kickbacks for referrals of low-income patients from an operator of prenatal clinics," according to The Wall Street Journal.

4. Allegedly, the prenatal clinics referred undocumented Hispanic women to Tenet hospitals. The hospitals utilized contracts for translation to pay the clinics illegal kickbacks.

5. Tenet plans to pay the $514 million with cash and its revolving credit facility.

6. Tenet will also receive additional scrutiny over the next three years, to ensure it is following anti-kickback laws.

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Skiff Medical Center in Newton, Iowa, announced the departure of its President and CEO Brett Altman, according to a Newton Daily News report.

Here are three takeaways:

1. Mr. Altman will leave his post on Jan 2, 2017, to take on the CEO position at Cass County Health System in Atlantic, Iowa.

2. He was named president and CEO of Skiff Medical in 2014.

3. He joined Skiff Medical in 1994 and has served in a number of leadership roles prior to being named chief executive, including COO and clinical operations officer.
At 28-years-old, Stephanie Beauton already has quite a list of accomplishments to her name. She serves as an off-shift executive administrator at Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital, holds a master's degree in health administration and is finishing up a health and human services doctorate with a concentration in community health and education. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Conn., and co-founded a nonprofit organization called Fitizen, which she sits on the board of directors for.



Ms. Beauton was raised in a small town in Connecticut. While her mom and dad didn't go to college, they always encouraged her to work hard and open up her mind to learning. Starting at age 18, she participated in as many healthcare-related internships as possible  including one at New Haven, Conn.-based St. Raphael's Hospital, which was acquired by Yale-New Haven in 2012  and eventually earned a bachelor's degree in political science and public health from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

She received the 2013 Alumni Community Service Award from Southern Connecticut State University, sits on the board for Get Healthy CT and acts as a liaison for the New Haven Chapter of the Crisis Intervention Stress Management Committee.

Ms. Beauton shared her thoughts on leadership and her role at Yale-New Haven with Becker's Hospital Review.

Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Question: What made you want to go into the healthcare field and pursue an MHA?

Stephanie Beauton: When I started as an undergrad at Southern Connecticut State University, I was actually interested in nursing. But once I got in a clinical setting, I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do. I saw things around me that could be more efficient, and I wanted to make a difference more universally  as opposed to through direct patient care  so I switched my major to health administration. While I'm not directly related to patient care, I still have an impact on overall patient outcomes.

Q: What's one piece of leadership advice that has always stuck with you?

SB: When I was an undergrad working at my first job as a medical records clerk, I put a meet and greet on my boss' calendar to set up my own conversation with him. I asked about his career and how he got to where he was. One of my biggest takeaways was the importance of learning from your network or the individuals you look up to. Align yourself with individuals that can mentor and guide you. Find someone who believes in your vision and will push you outside of your boundaries.





Q: What do you wish you knew before stepping into your role as off-shift executive administrator at Yale New Haven Hospital?

SB: The challenge of being an administrator, especially when you're in charge of one of the largest organizations in Connecticut, is that there are so many other service lines and departments involved with patient care. Stepping into this role, it's crucial to learn how each department leader expects their department to operate. Meeting with leaders beforehand to understand their goals and visions for their departments would have allowed me to better align what I was doing at work with their goals from the very beginning. Once I got this information, it made my nights a lot smoother and opened up a more fluid line of communication.

Q: How do you ensure your organization and its activities are aligned with your core values?

SB: Yale has five core values: integrity, patient-centered, respect, accountability and compassion. These are the most important factors that drive me and ensure I'm in the right place. Working for an organization that stands firm on trust and integrity  and lets my own personal mission to be part of its larger vision  allows me to do my job better. My biggest conversation with staff is that respect is first and foremost in all conversations and interactions with patients and family members. As a leader, to ensure the organization aligns with these values, you have to show your coworkers that you practice and live by them every day.

Q: What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?

SB: It's very important to be relatable. This is the one thing that has made me stand out and earn respect from my peers and colleagues, especially as such a young leader. I try to make myself as available and connected as possible to staff and patients. If there is a situation that arises, or a department is short-staffed, I don't hesitate to jump in. I've rolled beds to the ER because we were short on transfers. That's what embodies a leader. No task is too big or too small.





Q: How do you ensure positive communication and transparency between leadership and staff?

SB: I'm a liaison between managers, directors, vice presidents and the hospital president. When they leave at night, it's my job to ensure the facility is in better shape than they left it when they come back at 7 or 8 a.m. The unique quality of my job is the structure of hierarchy. Since I don't have any direct reports with other service lines on the off-shift, it's easier to be more transparent and approachable with staff. This has made me more effective and accountable. I'm neutral, yet always keep patient and staff safety first and foremost in my mind. It's easier to facilitate conversations with leadership and staff because I am almost a third party that's saying, "Here's the problem that happened overnight. Let's address this to make sure it doesn't happen again."

The best part of this role is it's never the same. When I start the night shift at 7 p.m., I'm handed a phone that every person in the institution  or management at home  can reach me at. I'm able to both problem solve  take action when needed and be accountable for risks  and recognize staff members for their outstanding work. It's great on both sides.

Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement at Yale New Haven Hospital so far?

SB: I was working the night we had our first potential Ebola patient. When the whole Ebola scare first happened, we made sure we had policy and procedures in place, so I was prepared. We had to get a bunch of resources overnight from epidemiology and the Department of Health; we had to alert the media; alert the fire department. There were a million things to do and I was in charge of the whole thing. People turned to me for guidance, and I knew I had to know my job and know it well. In the end, we did a great job handling the case and the patient had positive outcomes. That was probably the highlight of my career so far. I was on the cover of our newsletter after the incident and got a lot of accolades and respect, including from executive leadership, who I highly admire.





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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. 20 thousand Syrian-Armenians have settled in Armenia as result of the Syrian crisis, Chief of Staff of the Diaspora Ministry Firdus Zakaryan told ARMENPRESS.

According to Zakaryan, employment and accommodation issues hinder the Syrian-Armenians to finally integrate into the society.

Several non-governmental and charitable organizations, as well as international organizations provide the Syrian-Armenians with accommodation fees. However the number of Syrian-Armenians who need fees for rent is changing all the time, and this creates quite big problems, he said.

Speaking on employment issues, Zakaryan said the majority of Syrian-Armenians are employed, however they are dissatisfied with their salaries.

Many of them dont adjust to the remuneration, saying that their salaries were comparably higher in Syria, he said.

Zakaryan assured that several issues of the Syrian-Armenians have already been swiftly solved.

Healthcare is free of charge. Those Syrian Armenians who are studying Bachelor in higher educational institutions receive the fees. The issue of cemetery/burial location is also free of charge, he said.

Asked if the recent shelling of Armenian populated districts in Aleppo have impacted the flow of Syrian-Armenians to Armenia, Zakaryan said it hasnt, noting that Armenians of Syria are already used to the war situation and do not panic.
Hillary Clinton was lauded for cracking America's glass ceiling when she became the first woman to accept a presidential nomination from a major political party. This progress stands in stark contrast to the experience of women in medical schools, where glass ceilings remain thick, one physician states.

Allyson Herbst, MD, a resident physician in internal medicine at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, penned an op-ed for the Washington Post that details examples of sexism she's encountered during surgical procedures, lunch breaks, routine patient rounding and interviews with department chairs.

Her commentary arrives at a time when more women are working in medicine than ever before. But as long as women have to endure medical training "rife with sexism," the entire profession is in serious trouble, she contends.

Dr. Herbst highlights large and small reminders of sexism. Gaps in pay and disproportionate gender representation among leadership account for big reminders. Although women make up 46 percent of medical school applicants, students and residency trainees, they account for 38 percent of medical school faculty, 21 percent of full professors and 16 percent of deans. A recent JAMA study found female physicians earn 10 percent less per year at prominent public medical schools.

While pay and leadership opportunities lag, women are near equal with men when it comes to rates of depression and ailing mental health. "Female physicians have a higher rate of major depression than women with doctorate degrees in other fields," writes Dr. Herbst. "Overall, men commit suicide four times more often than women; female physicians, though, kill themselves at a rate equal to male physicians."

Dr. Herbst also touches on smaller, conversational reminders of a profession in which men and women are not seen nor treated as equals. "My young female colleagues and I are constantly mistaken for nurses by patients and visitors, only because we're women. We are referred to as 'girls' by patients and medical colleagues alike, while our male counterparts are 'young men' or just 'men,'" she writes.

The op-ed closes with a probing question: "Just as we want our little girls to feel free to dream to be president, we should want our female physicians to aspire to be deans, chairs and leaders in their fields. How can we treat our patients fairly when we don't equally respect each other?"

Read Dr. Herbst's op-ed in full.
The University of Chicago Medicine finalized an agreement to merge with Harvey, Ill.-based Ingalls Health System. U. of C. Medicine officials said they hope the merger is just one of many in the next few years, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The deal reportedly did not involve a monetary transaction, according to the article.

Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at U. of C. Medicine Kenneth Polonsky said the health system is also discussing potential affiliation options with a number of community hospitals. He did not disclose the names of any interested parties, according to the article.

U. of C. Medicine officials said they also expect to hire additional physicians to be primarily based at Ingalls, as well as to provide additional services for patients receiving care at the hospital.

Ingalls retains nearly 450 physicians and 473 beds. The 805-bed U. of C. Medicine maintains approximately 850 physicians and more than 1,100 residents and fellows.
Striking Allina Health nurses voted Monday to reject a contract offer from their Minneapolis-based employer, thereby extending their open-ended walkout, reports the Star Tribune.

The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents the nurses, had not advised the workers to reject Allina's latest offer, according to the article. However, many nurses said they felt the offer was too much like the contract they rejected in August, and to the terms their union negotiators rejected during last-ditch negotiations in September to avert a strike, the report states.

MNA executive director Rose Roach said in the report that the nurses' vote sent a clear message to go back to the bargaining table. "Each of them voted with their conscience, and with their patients and their families in mind," she said.

More than 4,000 nurses began their latest walkout on Labor Day following a week-long strike in June. With the new voting results, strikes over health benefits, staffing and safety concerns will continue at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United Hospital in St. Paul, Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and Unity Hospital in Fridley.

This means the open-ended walkout could become the longest nursing strike in Minnesota history, surpassing a state record 1984 strike that lasted 38 days.

Allina spokesman David Kanihan provided a written statement to the Star Tribune, saying hospital executives are willing to return to negotiations as soon as possible, but disappointed at the nurses' decision to reject the health system's contract offer.

"This proposal was eminently fair and went very far in addressing the issues the union raised during negotiations," the statement said. "We are disappointed that our nurses will remain on strike instead of returning to the bedside to care for patients."

A key sticking point in the dispute between Allina and its 4,800 nurses has been the nurses' health insurance.

Allina wanted to eliminate the nurses' union-backed health plans, which include high premiums but low or no deductibles, and move the nurses to its corporate plans, reports the Star Tribune. Allina has estimated that eliminating the nurses' union-backed health plans would save the health system $10 million per year.

The MNA ultimately agreed last month to move all nurses by 2020 to Allina's three corporate health plans, but they asked for some oversight of the corporate plans to ensure their cost and quality, reports the Star Tribune.

According to the publication, the latest Allina offer did not grant what the union wanted, but it did agree to leave two of the union health plans untouched through 2019. The report states that the offer also guaranteed that the actuarial value of Allina's most popular health plan won't change by more than 7 percent in any three-year contract period.

Striking nurses lost their health insurance as of Oct. 1, and it was unclear how heavily that would influence the voting, according to the report. Allina also has reported that 595 nurses have crossed the picket line and returned to work, though the union has questioned that number.

The Star Tribune reports that the MNA filed claims with the National Labor Relations Board that Allina had engaged in "unfair" negotiating practices, such as declining to provide requested financial information. These claims provide striking nurses with federal protection against being permanently replaced. Allina hired more than 1,000 temporary nurses to step in during the walkout.

The two strikes have easily cost Allina more than $40 million so far, according to the Star Tribune.

More articles on human capital and risk:

New labor contract for Hazel Hawkins Memorial nurses includes raise

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Government health exchanges are on track to offer shoppers fewer options than ever before in 2017.

Recent studies from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Avalere Health suggest one-third of all U.S. counties will only have one insurer offering plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2017, leaving an estimated 2.3 million ACA marketplace enrollees in uncompetitive markets. High-profile exits like UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, as well as double-digit premium rate increases nationwide, have caused some experts to question the individual market's long-term viability.

Still, the exchanges have positively impacted healthcare access across the country. Reforms introduced under the ACA have expanded coverage to nearly 20 million Americans between 2010 and 2016. America's uninsured rate reached a historic low of 8.6 percent in the first quarter of 2016. And while millions will face uncompetitive individual markets next year, the majority (62 percent) of 2017 individual marketplace enrollees are projected to be able to choose from three or more insurers next year.

The following is a state-by-state look at 2017 ACA individual marketplaces.



This list was last updated Oct. 19 at 5:09 p.m. CST.

Alabama

Overall market: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is the only insurer selling plans through the state exchange in 2017 following Humana and UnitedHealthcare's departure at the end of 2016.

Average rate increase: The insurer was approved the following average rate hike:

BCBS of Alabama (36 percent)

Medicaid: Alabama did not expand its Medicaid program under the ACA. It is struggling to find alternative sources of money to continue funding its Medicaid program, including implementing a lottery and re-allocating BP oil spill reparations. It is currently reconsidering Medicaid expansion.

Alaska

Overall market: Premera is the only insurer selling individual plans through the state exchange in 2017 following Moda Health's exit at the end of 2016. In light of the news, policymakers and Premera officials predicted the insurer could not realistically raise rates high enough to cover customers' medical bills. To prevent Alaska's marketplace from folding, state legislators set up a $55 million fund  financed through an existing tax on all insurers  to subsidize enrollees' costs as insurers exit Alaska's marketplace.

Average rate increase: The insurer requested the following rate hike:

Premera (9.6 percent)

Medicaid: Alaska expanded Medicaid under the ACA, despite serious opposition from Republican state lawmakers. Some lawmakers sued Gov. Bill Walker (I) for expanding the program.

Arizona

Overall market: Arizona has experienced one of the steepest declines in insurer competition on its ACA exchange between 2016 and 2017. Arizona is one of several states that have become insurance deserts in 2017. However, Blue Cross Blue Shield's decision not to leave Arizona entirely has assuaged some policymakers' fears the exchange would fold.

Residents in approximately 87 percent of Arizona's counties will have only one carrier offering plans in 2017. Pinal County in Arizona, which regulators feared wouldn't have an insurer at all, gained coverage from BCBS of Arizona on Sept. 8.

UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Health Choice, Phoenix Health Plan and Humana will exit the market in 2017. Cigna, BCBS of Arizona and Centene will sell plans on the market next year.

Average rate increases: The weighted average increase for premiums is 49.3 percent next year. Insurers on the exchange requested the following rate hikes:

Cigna (8.7 percent)

BCBS of Arizona (64.9 percent)

Health Net (29.1 percent)

Centene (new entrant)

Medicaid: Arizona expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA. Arizona re-opened new member enrollment in its Children's Health Insurance Program in July, reversing a six-year enrollment freeze.

Co-op: The Arizona Department of Insurance put failed insurance co-op Meritus Health Partners and Meritus Mutual Health Partners in receivership for lack of assets to pay provider claims Aug. 11, after the insurer was suspended from doing business Oct. 31, 2015.

Arkansas

Overall market: United Healthcare will exit the market in 2017.

Average rate increases: Insurance regulators approved the following rate hikes in September:

BCBS of Arkansas (9.7 percent)

Centene Celtic Insurance (4 percent)

QualChoice (23.7 percent)

QCA Health Plan (13.5 percent)

QualChoice Life and Health (13.5 percent)

Medicaid: Arkansas has a private option Medicaid model. The state-run program uses Medicaid funds to purchase private plans through the exchange for Medicaid-eligible consumers.

California



Overall market: California residents who enroll in plans on the individual exchange will have plenty of competition to choose from. Eleven carriers will offer plans in 2017. The statewide average rate increase next year will be 13.2 percent, according to calculations from Covered California, one of ten state-run exchanges that negotiates directly with carriers to ensure rates, networks and benefits are consumer friendly. Covered California pointed out some insurers have expanded their coverage areas, which may make shopping health plans more productive for some enrollees.

UnitedHealthcare will exit California's individual marketplace and Oscar Health Plan will expand into San Francisco in 2017.

Average rate increases: The following 11 insurers in the marketplace have requested the following average rate increases:

Anthem Blue Cross of California (17.3 percent)

Blue Shield of California (19.2 percent)

Chinese Community Health Plan (16.6 percent)

Health Net (9.1 percent)

Sharp Health Plan (7.8 percent)

Kaiser Permanente (5.6 percent)

LA Care Health Plan (3.8 percent)

Molina Healthcare (5.3 percent)

Oscar Health Plan of California (11.3 percent)

Valley Health Plan (0.8 percent)

Western Health Advantage (7.7 percent)

Medicaid: California expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA. The state still has a significant uninsured rate. More than 3.8 million residents were uninsured in 2015, two million of which qualified for Medi-Cal benefits. The federal government updated California's 1115 waiver early this year, bumping up its uncompensated care funding to $1.8 billion over the next four years.

Colorado:

Overall market: Humana and UnitedHealthcare will exit the market at the end of 2016. Rocky Mountain HMO has discontinued individual plans in every county except for Mesa County. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will stop offering its preferred provider organization plans. These insurers' policy changes will affect nearly 100,000 state residents who purchased plans through the exchange in 2016. Some counties will have only one payer offering individual plans through the exchange in 2017.

Bright Health Insurance gained regulatory approval to offer plans both on and off the exchange in 2017.

Colorado voters will vote this fall to implement a universal coverage system that would go into effect in 2019, if approved.

Average rate increases: Regulators approved an average 20 percent rate hike in 2017. Insurance regulators approved the following average rate changes for insurers:

Cigna (9.5 percent increase)

Colorado Choice (proposed 42.9 percent increase)

Denver Health Medical Plan (0.5 percent decrease)

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (25.8 percent increase)

Kaiser (18 percent increase)

Rocky Mountain HMO (34.9 percent increase)

Bright Health Plans (new to market)

Medicaid: Colorado expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.

Co-op: Colorado HealthOP closed in October 2015. The insurer fought the state insurance department's decision, claiming it had a strong financial position. However, it received $2 million out of $12 million in reimbursement owed by the federal government under the risk corridor program. This caused the carrier's rainy day fund to fall below minimum requirements set by insurance regulators to sell products on the exchange.

Connecticut

Overall market: Two of the state's four carriers that offered plans on the exchange in 2016 will exit in 2017. One of the remaining two insurers, ConnectiCare, sued the state insurance department and temporarily withdrew from the exchange after insurance regulators denied its requested average rate increase of 27.1 percent.

Average rate increases: The state insurance department approved the following rate increases:

Anthem (22.4 percent)

ConnectiCare (17.4 percent)

Medicaid: Connecticut expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.



Co-op: Insurance regulators placed HealthyCT into receivership July 5. The insurer will continue to pay beneficiaries' claims through the end of the year. HealthyCT escaped the initial wave of co-op failures in the fall of 2015, but when it was determined that it would owe $13.4 million in risk adjustment payments, regulators determined the payer wouldn't remain operational. The shutdown affects 13,000 enrollees.

Delaware

Overall market: The two insurers that offered plans on the ACA marketplace in 2016 will remain in 2017. Delaware is one of four states where Aetna will offer plans on the ACA exchange. In 2016, nearly 85 percent of Delaware exchange enrollees received subsidies for coverage.

Average rate increases: Approved rate increases per insurer are as follows:

Aetna (23.6 percent)

Highmark BCBS of Delaware (32.5 percent)

Medicaid: Delaware expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.



Florida

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare will exit Florida's ACA exchange in 2017, leaving 44 of Florida's 67 counties with only one carrier offering plans. Harken Health, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, initially applied for approval to sell plans on Florida's exchange but reversed its decision in August. Aetna will also exit in 2017. Humana notified regulators it would scale back the number of counties in which it will offer plans.

Cigna, however, will re-enter the market after departing from Florida's exchange in 2015. Florida currently boasts eight insurers in its exchange in 2017.

Average rate increases: Participating insurers' premiums will increase by an average of 19 percent next year. Insurance regulators approved the following rate increases:

Florida Blue (19 percent)

Celtic Insurance (20 percent)

Florida Healthcare Plan (15.4 percent)

Health First (11.7 percent)

Health Options (18.9 percent)

Humana (36.8 percent)

Molina Healthcare of Florida (17.4 percent)

Medicaid: Florida has not expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.



Georgia

Overall market: Four of nine carriers that offered plans on the exchange this year will exit at the end of 2016: Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, its subsidiary Harken Health and Cigna. Aetna's departure has caused BCBS of Georgia to consider raising its requested rate hike as it prepares to absorb new enrollees. BCBS is the only insurer to offer plans in every county.

Average rate increases: Insurers average requested rate increases are as follows:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (15.1 percent)

Humana (67.5 percent)

Kaiser Permanente (18 percent)

Ambetter from Peach State Health Plan (7.4 to 8.3 percent, depending on dental or vision coverage)

Alliant (10 percent)

Medicaid: Georgia is one of 19 states that chose not to expand its Medicaid program under the ACA. However, legislators introduced a bill in February that calls for premium assistance to help people with incomes of up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level purchase plans through the exchange.

Hawaii

Overall market: After two years of using a technologically troubled state-based enrollment system, Hawaii began using the federal Healthcare.gov platform in 2016. Hawaii has just two carriers offering individual health insurance plans both on and off the exchange. Hawaii Medical Service Association launched a capitated payment pilot program in 2016. HMSA will use the capitated model for all of its primary care physicians in 2017.

Average rate increases: Insurers proposed the following average rate hikes:

Hawaii Medical Service Association (35 percent)

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (25.9 percent)

Medicaid: Hawaii expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA. However, Hawaii's uninsured rate has consistently been lower than the U.S. average due to the Hawaii Prepaid Healthcare Act, which requires employers to provide health insurance to employees who work at least 20 hours a week. In 2015, Hawaii was among one of nine states that had an uninsured rate less than 7 percent.

Idaho

Overall market: Every county in Idaho will have five or more carriers offering individual plans through the exchange in 2017. Montana's Mountain Health Co-op expanded into Idaho's marketplace in 2014, and it will continue to offer individual plans in 2017. In December 2015, a Leavitt Partners study called Idaho's exchange a "model for state based adoption [of an exchange]" and noted that the exchange has a budget well below average, a "lean organizational structure" and "strong financial controls."

The Idaho Department of Insurance does not have the authority to prevent health insurers from implementing rate increases it deems unjustified.

Average rate increases: Regulators approved the following average rate increases in 2017:

Blue Cross of Idaho (19 percent)

BridgeSpan (23 percent)

Mountain Health Co-op (29 percent)

SelectHealth (29 percent)

PacificSource (15 percent)

Regence BlueShield of Idaho (25 percent)

Medicaid: Montana has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. Idaho's House of Representatives killed a Senate-approved bill that would have expanded the state's Medicaid program in March. Legislators are considering more modest healthcare legislation aimed to help Idaho's population that falls into the coverage gap, or the population that makes an annual income below the federal poverty line but is ineligible for Medicaid assistance.

Illinois

Overall market: Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and its subsidiary Harken Health will exit Illinois' market in 2017. Cigna will sell individual health plans on the ACA marketplace in the Chicago area for coverage beginning Jan. 1. Prior to Cigna's entrance, the Illinois Department of Insurance said three-fourths of Illinois counties will have one or two payers offering coverage next year on the state's ACA exchange.

Average rate increases: Insurers were approved the following average rate hikes for 2017:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (50.8 percent)

Celtic Insurance, Ambetter (47.8 percent)

Cigna (new to market)

Conventry (13.4 percent)

Health Alliance Medical Plans (30.4 percent)

Humana (46.3 percent)

Medicaid: Illinois expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.



Co-op: Insurance regulators took control of Land of Lincoln Health July 13 in light of $31.8 million it owed in risk adjustment payments to the federal government. Approximately 49,000 beneficiaries were affected by the closure. The insurer filed suit against the federal government in June, claiming it is owed more than $70 million in risk corridor payments.

Indiana

Overall market: Five carriers will offer plans in the Indiana exchange in 2017. Three insurers  All Savers (a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare), Southeastern Indiana Health Organization and Physicians Health Plan  will leave the market at the close of 2016. Aetna filed rate proposals to join the exchange, then withdrew its request in August.

Average rate increases: The overall average approved statewide increase was 18.5 percent. Insurance regulators approved insurers' rate requests as follows:

Anthem BCBS (29 percent)

CareSource Indiana (16.1 percent)

Celtic (-5.3 percent)

Indiana University Health Plans (14.9 percent)

MDWise (11.5 percent)

Medicaid: Indiana opened enrollment in its expanded Medicaid program in February 2015. The Healthy Indiana Plan requires newly eligible beneficiaries to contribute to a health savings account and to pay co-payments for emergency and non-emergency healthcare services.

Iowa

Overall market: Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield has committed to joining the Iowa exchange in 2017, although it will only offer plans in 47 of 99 counties in the state. UnitedHealthcare will exit the individual market next year, affecting about 9,000 state residents.

Average rate increases: Insurance regulators approved the following average rate hikes for individual plans in 2017:

Aetna (22.6 percent)

Gundersen Health Plan (19.8 percent)

Medica (19 percent)

Wellmark (new to market)

Medicaid: Iowa expanded Medicaid under the ACA, but with a waiver that allowed insurance regulators to use Medicaid funds to help residents purchase private health plans. The state reversed its decision in June 2015, instead switching enrollees to Medicaid managed care plans administered by three commercial insurance carriers  AmeriHealth Caritas, Amerigroup and UnitedHealthcare.

The transition, which took effect in March, has sparked anger from some providers and healthcare organizations who claim the carriers have fallen months behind on reimbursement payments during the transition.

Kansas

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare entered the individual insurance market this year and will exit at the end of 2016. Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medica, which is new to the market, will offer plans next year. One of Blue Cross Blue Shield's three subsidiary plans will exit the exchange at the end of the year  Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.

Average rate increases: Insurers requested the following average rate increases for individual plans in 2017:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Solutions (47.41 percent)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (28.1 percent)

Medica (new to market)

Medicaid: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) reduced Medicaid funding by more than $120 million in combined federal and state money in fiscal year 2017. Healthcare providers who serve Medicaid patients saw reimbursement rates drop by 4 percent in July. Healthcare advocates fear the funding reduction will cause a number of crucial healthcare providers to fold due to financial strain.

Kentucky

Overall market: Four carriers that offered plans on the exchange in 2016 will leave the market next year  Aetna, WellCare, Baptist Health and UnitedHealthcare. The federal government granted cautious approval Oct. 4 for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) to unplug the state's health exchange Kynect, rerouting enrollees to the federal Healthcare.gov exchange.

Average rate increases: Insurance regulators approved the following average rate increases for individual plans in 2017:

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (22.9 percent)

CareSource Kentucky (22.6 percent)

Humana (33.7 percent)

Medicaid: Kentucky's uninsured rate plummeted from 14.3 percent to 6 percent after former Gov. Steve Beshear (D) expanded Medicaid eligibility in 2013. State legislators submitted a proposal to HHS this year that would implement premiums and require community service from eligible members. HHS is unlikely to approve changes to Kentucky's Medicaid program that would limit access to care for residents, according to policy experts.

Louisiana

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare will exit the individual market in 2017, affecting approximately 214,000 residents. According to an analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation, UnitedHealthcare currently offers one of the two lowest-priced silver plans in the exchange in 50 of the state's 64 counties. The insurer's exit is expected to leave 59 of the state's counties with just two carriers offering plans in the exchange.

Average rate increases: Insurers requested the following average rate increases for individual plans in 2017:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana (28 percent)

Humana (29.5 percent)

Vantage Health Plan (30.4 percent)

HMO Louisiana (22.86 percent)

Medicaid: Louisiana expanded its Medicaid program in July. More than 305,000 adults have enrolled to date. The federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs for the state's newly enrolled beneficiaries through the end of 2016, and the state gradually will take on up 10 percent of the costs by 2020.

Co-op: In July 2015, the Louisiana Health Cooperative announced it would not participate in the 2016 period, and that existing policies would terminate at the end of 2015. Louisiana Health Cooperative was the second co-op to fail out of the 23 co-ops established under the ACA.

Maine

Overall market: Five carriers offered individual plans on the exchange in 2016, including the PPO and HMO arms of Harvard Pilgrim. Aetna and Harvard Pilgrim PPO will exit the exchange in 2017. Anthem, Community Health Options and Harvard Pilgrim HMO will offer plans in every county in Maine in 2017.

Average rate increases: Insurers proposed the following average rate increases:

Anthem (14.1 percent)

Community Health Options (22.8 percent)

Harvard Pilgrim HMOs (18.7 percent)

Medicaid: Maine has not expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.



Co-op: Maine Community Health Options is one of the six remaining co-ops. Maine's co-op has contracted with a new pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, with the aim of saving about $14 million annually by paying lower drug prices. It has 80,000 members, about 60 percent of the ACA marketplace in the state. But the co-op estimated it has less than 5 percent of the market when large employers are included.

Maryland

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare is the only insurer slated to exit the exchange at the end of the year. Four carriers will continue to offer plans in each county in the state.

Average rate increases: Insurers proposed the following average rate increases:

CareFirst Blue Choice, HMO (12.4 percent)

CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield (16 percent)

Cigna (29.8 percent)

Evergreen Health (8 percent)

Kaiser Permanente (25 percent)

Medicaid: Maryland expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.



Co-op: Maryland's Evergreen Health is one of the six remaining nonprofit co-ops. Evergreen Health filed suit against the federal government earlier this year, challenging the $24 million in risk-adjustment payments the government says it owes. The insurer filed a request Oct. 3 to transition to a for-profit company to avoid a potential shutdown. The transition is pending state and federal approval.

Massachusetts

Overall market: According to the June 2016 enrollment report for Massachusetts Health Connector, more than two-thirds of the exchange's enrollees are covered by one of three health insurance carriers: Neighborhood Health Plan, Tufts Health Direct and Harvard Pilgrim. The other eight carriers combined have just 32 percent of the exchange enrollees.

UnitedHealthcare is the only insurer that will exit the market at the end of the year.

Average rate increases: Insurers requested the following average rate changes for individual plans in 2017:

Ambetter (6.6 percent increase)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue (6 percent increase)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (8.2 percent increase)

Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan (8.3 percent decrease)

Fallon Community Health Plan (1.3 percent increase)

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care HMO (15.2 percent increase)

Health New England (5.6 percent increase)

Minuteman Health Plan (18.9 percent increase)

Tufts HMO (7.6 percent increase)

Tufts Insurance Company (7.4 percent increase)

Medicaid: Massachusetts expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.

Michigan



Overall market: Michigan has maintained one of the most robust marketplaces in the country. The region around Detroit, for instance, has some of the greatest market competition in the country, according to Vox. Four payers  Harbor Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare, Priority Health Insurance preferred provider organization and Alliance Health and Life Insurance PPO  will all exit Michigan's 2017 Affordable Care Act marketplace. Approximately 10,000 consumers will be affected.

Average rate increases: Insurers were approved the following average rate increases for individual plans in 2017:

Blue Care Network of Michigan (14.8 percent)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (18.7 percent)

Health Alliance Plan (16.8 percent)

Humana Medical Plan of Michigan (39.2 percent)

McLaren Health Plan (12.2 percent)

Meridian Health Plan of Michigan (9.3 percent)

Molina Healthcare of Michigan (3.2 percent)

Physicians Health Plan (6.7 percent)

Priority Health (13.9 percent)

Medicaid: Michigan expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA.

Minnesota



Overall market: Insurers were approved average premium increases for individual plans between 50 percent and 67 percent for 2017. BCBS of Minnesota announced in June it would stop offering individual health plans on the exchange, affecting about 103,000 individuals. HealthPartners will not sell plans beyond the Twin Cities and St. Cloud regions.

In an effort to recruit more carriers to offer plans through the marketplace in 2017  particularly outside the Minneapolis metro area  state regulators sent out a request for proposals from health insurers on Aug. 15 and offered to waive certain regulations to make approval for participation more straightforward. No applicants surfaced.

Average rate increases: Insurers were approved the following average rate increases for on exchange individual plans in 2017:

HealthPartners (50 percent)

UCare (66.8 percent)

Medica Health Plans of Wisconsin (59.4 percent)

Medicaid: In 2015, Minnesota's uninsured rate was less than 4.5 percent, well below the national average of 9.1 percent at the time. Minnesota's Medicaid program has grown by more than 200,000 people since 2013 due to the expansion in eligibility under the ACA.

Mississippi



Overall market: UnitedHealthcare will exit Mississippi's exchange at the end of 2016, leaving only two carriers that will offer plans in 2017. About 80 percent of Mississippi's counties will have only one carrier to choose from next year, according to Kaiser Family Foundation.

Average rate increases: Insurers requested the following average rate increases for individual plans in 2017:

Humana (43 percent)

Magnolia Health (7 percent)

Medicaid: Mississippi is one of 19 states that chose not to expand its Medicaid program under the ACA.

Missouri



Overall market: Four carriers will offer plans on the exchange in 2017, but almost 85 percent of counties will only have one carrier from which to choose.

Average rate increases: Insurers requested the following average rate increases for individual plans in 2017:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (29 percent)

Cigna (9 percent)

Healthy Alliance Life (20.6 percent)

Humana (34.9 percent)

Medicaid: Missouri submitted a waiver to CMS to expand its Medicaid program in 2016. The proposal included a provision that would allow physicians to bill Medicaid patients penalty fees for missing medical appointments, and charge recipients $8 co-pays to receive treatment in an emergency room for a non-emergency health issue. The federal government is expected to respond by January 2017.

Montana

Overall market: Three insurers will participate on Montana's federally-facilitated marketplace in 2017.

Average rate increases: The following average rate increases were approved for the three insurers for 2017:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (50.3 percent)

Mountain Health Cooperative (29 percent)

PacificSource (30.4 percent)

Medicaid: Montana expanded Medicaid effective Jan. 1, 2016. Montana Medicaid enrollment as of July was 47,399  nearly double initial projections of 25,000 expected enrollees. Recipients have used their benefits to receive $75 million worth of healthcare services, according to state figures.



Co-op: Montana houses one of six remaining health cooperatives created under the ACA, Mountain Health Cooperative.

Nebraska

Overall market: Two insurers, Medica and Aetna, will participate in Nebraska's federally-facilitated marketplace in 2017. UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska will exit the state's exchange at the end of the year.

Average rate increases: The Nebraska Department of Insurance approved the following rate increases for two insurers for individual plans offered on the state's 2017 exchange:

Medica (53 percent)

Aetna (30.5 percent)

Medicaid: Nebraska has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. Lawmakers have tried three times to expand Medicaid coverage in Nebraska. Lawmakers disclosed a new plan to cover the state's Medicaid coverage gap population in January. The potential bill would cover approximately 77,000 adults without children.

Co-op: CoOportunity, a health cooperative created under the ACA, was taken over by the state in late December 2014. Officials found the nonprofit's medical claims would exceed its available cash. The closure affected 120,000 policyholders in Nebraska and Iowa.

Nevada

Overall market: Nevada's state-run exchange, Nevada Health Link, will have three insurers offering individual plans next year, though residents of some counties will not have three insurers to choose from. Ten out of the state's sixteen counties are projected to only have one insurer participating on the state's exchange as of late August. Four counties are projected to have two insurers and three counties are projected to have three or more insurers, including Clark County, housing the state's highest projected enrollment.



Average rate increases: The following are average approved premium rate increases for individual plans from insurers offering plans on Nevada Health Link next year:

Health Plan of Nevada, or UnitedHealthcare's HMO (8 percent)

Prominence HealthFirst (17 percent)

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, or HMO Colorado/HMO Nevada (7.9 percent)

Anthem BCBS, also called Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service (12 percent)

Medicaid: Nevada Health Link enrolled 182,946 applicants in the state's Medicaid program as of April, which was expanded under the ACA.

Co-op: Nevada Health CO-OP closed Jan. 1 due to challenging market conditions. The insurer said the growth needed to provide health plans at reasonable rates would not be likely in 2016.

New Hampshire

Overall market: New Hampshire's state-partnership marketplace (in partnership with the federal government) is projected to have at least three insurers offering ACA plans in all counties next year. Sixty-seven percent of New Hampshire residents eligible for subsides are enrolled in health plans through the ACA.

Average rate increases: Insurers requested varying rate increases on individual ACA exchange plans, from about 1 percent to almost 60 percent. The following are average premium rate increases proposed for individual health plans on New Hampshire's public exchange:

Celtic Insurance (1.4 percent)

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England (5.5 percent)

Minuteman Health (30.7 percent)

Medicaid: New Hampshire expanded Medicaid under the ACA effective January 2014.

Co-op: Community Health Options will pull out of New Hampshire's health insurance market next year to concentrate on its Maine market. The co-op is preparing for a total $43 million loss this year.



New Jersey

Overall market: In all New Jersey counties, at least two insurers are projected to offer plans on the state's federally-facilitated marketplace next year. UnitedHealthcare, Oscar Health and co-op Health Republic of New Jersey will not offer plans on the exchange next year, and Aetna retracted its plans to enter the market. Seventy-seven percent of marketplace enrollees eligible for subsidies in New Jersey are enrolled.

Average rate increases: The following average rate increases for individual plans on the state's public exchange were proposed:

AmeriHealth Insurance (19.2 percent)

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (4.4 percent)

Medicaid: New Jersey expanded Medicaid under the ACA, effective January 2014. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said in August the state's Medicaid expansion allowed more than half a million residents to obtain health insurance.

Co-op: Nonprofit insurance co-op Health Republic of New Jersey exited the exchange marketplace in early September, forcing 35,000 policyholders to find new plans in 2017. The insurer owes $46.3 million in risk adjustment payments to the federal government. Health Republic of New Jersey is the 17th insurance co-op to fold under the ACA. Only six insurance co-ops remain operational of the original 23.



New Mexico

Overall market: One insurer, Presbyterian Health Plan, will drop out of New Mexico's exchange Dec. 31. The change affects nearly 10,000 New Mexico residents who received federal subsidies to buy insurance from Presbyterian on the federal exchange. The insurance plan is expected to lose about $23 million on its individual plans this year. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico will reenter the state's exchange after not participating in 2016. Fifty-six percent of enrollees eligible for subsides were enrolled as of March, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Average rate increases: The following average approved rate increases for 2017 are from the four insurers offering individual plans on the state's ACA exchange:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico (91.8 percent)

New Mexico Health Connections (34 percent)

Molina Healthcare (23.9 percent)

Christus (12.6 percent)

Medicaid: New Mexico expanded its Medicaid program effective January 2014.

Co-op: New Mexico Health Connections is one of six remaining health insurer cooperatives created under the ACA. The co-op sued the federal government in August for allegedly mismanaging the ACA's risk adjustment program, under which the insurer owes $14.6 million.



New York

Overall market: As of Aug. 28, 95 percent of New York's state-based marketplace is expected to have three or more health insurers to choose from in the next open enrollment period. Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties are projected to have two insurers. WellCare is exiting the exchange  called New York State of Health  for 2017. In total, 14 insurers will offer individual health plans through New York State of Health. On average, on-exchange individual plans will increase premiums 16.6 percent next year.

Average rate increases: The following are average approved rate increases for individual plans on New York's 2017 public exchange:

Affinity Health Plan (22.4 percent)

Capital District Physicians' Health Plan (13.9 percent)

Empire HealthChoice HMO (15.2 percent)

Excellus Health Plan (15.4 percent)

Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (13.9 percent)

Healthfirst PHSP (7.4 percent)

HealthNow New York (8.7 percent)

Independent Health Benefits (19.6 percent)

Metro Plus Health Plan (29.2 percent)

MVP Health Plan (6 percent)

Fidelis Care New York (11.6 percent)

North Shore-LIJ CareConnect Insurance (29.2 percent)

Oscar (19.6 percent)

UnitedHealthcare of New York (28 percent)

Medicaid: New York expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

Co-op: Health Republic of New York, an ACA-created co-op, was terminated in September 2015. The insurer was ordered to cease operations after regulators determined it was likely to become financially insolvent.



North Carolina

Overall Market: Next year, 90 percent of North Carolina counties are projected to only have one insurer offering individual plans on the state's federally-facilitated marketplace, including its most populous county, Mecklenburg. The other 10 percent, including the state's second most populous county, Wake, are projected to have two insurers offering individual plans on the exchange. UnitedHealthcare and Aetna will exit the state's exchange. Cigna will enter, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will stay in the market. In June, BCBS of North Carolina sued the federal government, claiming the U.S. failed to pay the insurer $147 million in payments owed under the ACA's risk corridor program. In September, the North Carolina Department of Insurance issued a $3.6 million fine against BCBS of North Carolina for chronic IT malfunctions that have led to billing and enrollment errors for customers since January. The insurer reported a $282 million loss on plans sold on the ACA exchange in 2015 and increased rates by 32.5 percent for 2016 and has requested to raise rates for 2017.

Average rate increases: The following are average requested rate increases for the two insurers offering individual plans on the exchange for 2017:

BCBS of North Carolina (19 percent)

Cigna (new to market)

Medicaid: North Carolina did not expand Medicaid under the ACA.



North Dakota

Overall market: Three insurers will offer individual health plans on North Dakota's federally-facilitated marketplace for 2017. As of August, 92 percent of counties in North Dakota will have three insurers to choose from in the next enrollment period. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota has the majority of the exchange's enrollment, so its small rate decrease means the overall average rate increase in North Dakota could be much lower than the national average for 2017.

Average rate: The following rate changes were approved for 2017:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (1.6 percent decrease)

Medica (13.8 percent increase)

Sanford Health Plan (7.9 percent increase)

Medicaid: North Dakota expanded Medicaid under the ACA.



Ohio

Overall market: Ohio's federally-facilitated marketplace will have 10 insurers offering individual plans. InHealth Mutual, Aetna and All Savers, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, will exit the market in 2017. CareSource will absorb about 40,000 displaced policyholders following other insurers' exits. As of August, 94 percent of Ohio counties are projected to have three or more insurers offering individual health plans on the exchange for 2017.

Average rate changes: Ten insurers have requested the following average premium rate changes for 2017 for individual plans offered on the exchange:

AultCare (24.1 percent increase)

Buckeye Community Health Plan (0.97 percent decrease)

CareSource (13. 4 percent)

Community Insurance, or Anthem BCBS (10.8 percent increase)

Humana (39.3 percent increase)

Medical Health Insuring of Ohio, or Medical Mutual (17.1 percent decrease)

Molina (2.4 percent increase)

Paramount (9.9 percent increase)

Premier Health Plan (39.8 percent increase)

Summa (5.6 percent increase)

Medicaid: Ohio expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

Co-op: InHealth Mutual, a struggling health insurance co-op providing coverage to nearly 22,000 Ohioans, was taken over by the state in May. The federal government ramped up oversight of the co-op in fall 2015 after it reported a $9.1 million loss for the first six months of fiscal year 2015.



Oklahoma

Overall market: Oklahoma's federally-facilitated exchange will only have one insurer offering on-exchange, individual plans in all counties next year. UnitedHealthcare will exit the individual exchange next year. The state's sole insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, holds 95 percent of the individual market.

Average rate increase: Oklahoma's sole ACA insurer requested the following average premium rate increase for its on-exchange, individual plans:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma (76 percent)

Medicaid: Oklahoma has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. In May, the state said it was considering Medicaid expansion after years of resistance due to a $1.3 billion budget deficit caused by low oil prices and overspending. If Oklahoma expands Medicaid, the state could move 175,000 women and children into subsidized coverage while opening Medicaid to 628,000 working-age adults, according to Forbes.



Oregon

Overall market: Seven insurers will offer on-exchange, individual plans for 2017 on Oregon's federally-facilitated, state-based marketplace. The marketplace is projected to have three or more insurers offering on-exchange, individual plans for 2017 in all 36 counties. Oregon Health CO-OP and LifeWise Health Plan of Oregon will exit the market next year. Moda Health Plan, PacificSource and Providence Health Plan will reduce their statewide coverage to select counties. Ninety percent of Oregon residents eligible for subsidies under the ACA have enrolled in plans as of March 2016.

Average rate increases: These are the average requested rate increases for the seven insurers offering on-exchange, individual plans next year:

Atrio Health Plans (14.9 percent)

BridgeSpan (18.8 percent)

Kaiser Permanente (14.9 percent)

Moda Health Plan (24.7 percent)

PacificSource (15.2 percent)

Providence Health Plan (29.6 percent)

Zoom+ Performance Health Plan (27.3 percent)

Medicaid: Oregon expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

Co-op: Oregon's Health CO-OP went into receivership status in July and will close  leaving 23,000 uninsured  in light of $900,000 it owes under the ACA's risk corridor program and its high medical loss ratio.

Pennsylvania

Overall market: The Pennsylvania Insurance Department said premium rates for individual ACA plans will increase an average 32.5 percent next year. UnitedHealthcare will exit the market. Seventy-five percent of Pennsylvania residents who purchase ACA health plans receive subsidies to offset costs.

Average rate increases: The following seven insurers were approved these average premium rate increases for on-exchange, individual plans next year:

Capital Advantage Assurance (43.3 percent)

Keystone Health Plan Central (32.4 percent)

Highmark (50.2 percent)

Geisinger Health Plan (42.1 percent)

Keystone Health Plan East (28 percent)

Independence Blue Cross (28.4 percent)

UPMC Health Coverage (17.9 percent)

Medicaid: Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid under the ACA effective January 2015.



Rhode Island

Overall market: Rhode Island's state-based marketplace, HealthSourceRI, is expected to have two insurers offering plans in all of the state's five counties next year. UnitedHealthcare will exit the state's marketplace in 2017. The two remaining insurers  Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island  hold the majority of the state's individual market. Sixty-three percent of residents eligible for subsidies through the ACA are enrolled.

Average rate changes: The two insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans have been approved to implement the following average rate changes for 2017:

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (5.6 percent increase)

Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island (5.9 percent decrease)

Medicaid: Rhode Island adopted Medicaid expansion under the ACA.



South Carolina

Overall market: Only one insurer is projected to offer on-exchange, individual health plans on South Carolina's federally-facilitated marketplace next year. UnitedHealthcare and Aetna will exit the market at the end of the year. Sixty-two percent of individuals eligible for subsidies under the ACA are enrolled.

Average rate increase: South Carolina's sole insurer offering on-exchange, individual health plans next year requested the following average premium rate increase:

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (14.5 percent)

Medicaid: South Carolina has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA.



Co-op: Consumers' Choice Health Plan shuttered at the end of 2015, leaving 67,000 members to look for new health plans.



South Dakota

Overall market: South Dakota's 66 counties are each projected to have two insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans for 2017. Forty-one percent of individuals eligible for subsidies under the ACA are enrolled in health plans through South Dakota's federally-facilitated marketplace.

Average rate increases: The following average premium rate increases were approved for the two insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans for 2017:

Avera Health Plans (38.2 percent)

Sanford Health Plan (36.3 percent)

Medicaid: South Dakota has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA.



Tennessee

Overall market: BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will pull back its ACA footprint in three of Tennessee's most populous regions for 2017, affecting 100,000 members across the state. BCBST cited $500 million in losses on ACA plans over the past three years. UnitedHealthcare will not participate in the 2017 exchange. Tennessee's Insurance Commissioner Julie McPeak said in August the state's exchange may collapse after insurance regulators approved major rate hikes for insurers. Sixty-six percent of the state's population that is eligible for subsidies under the ACA have enrolled in health plans through the exchange.

Average rate increases: The following average premium rate increases were approved for the three insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans for 2017:

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (54.6 percent)

Cigna (47.9 percent)

Humana (44.3 percent)

Medicaid: Tennessee has not adopted Medicaid expansion under the ACA. However, the Tennessee state legislature released a new proposal for Medicaid expansion in July.



Co-op: Community Health Alliance, Tennessee's health cooperative created under the ACA, closed two weeks before open enrollment in 2016.



Texas

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Scott & White Health plan will exit Texas' ACA exchange in 2017. Cigna is considering leaving the market as well. Thirty percent of Texas counties are projected to only have one insurer offering on-exchange, individual health plans next year. Fifty-one percent of counties are predicted to have two insurers and 15 percent are predicted to have at least three. As of September, 13 insurers will offer on-exchange, individual plans next year. Fifty-one percent of Texas' eligible population for subsidies under the ACA have enrolled through the state's federally-facilitated marketplace.

Average rate increases: The following are the average requested premium rate increases for the 13 insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans for 2017 :

Allegian (27.5 percent)

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (58.4 percent)

Celtic, or AmBetter (15.6 percent)

CHRISTUS Health (26.8 percent)

Cigna (23.5 percent)

Community First (8.1 percent)

Community Health Choice (6.9 percent)

FirstCare, or SHA (29.1 percent)

Humana (45.4 percent)

IdealCare, or Sendero Health Plans (19.7 percent)

Molina (10.3 percent)

Oscar Insurance Company of Texas (17.3 percent)

Prominence HealthFirst (31.9 percent)

Medicaid: Texas has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

Utah

Overall market: Humana will exit Utah's federally-facilitated marketplace next year. Sixty-nine percent of counties in Utah are projected to only have one insurer offering on-exchange, individual plans next year. Seven percent of the state's counties are projected to have two insurers and 24 percent are predicted to have at least three. Seventy-nine percent of individuals eligible for subsidies under the ACA were enrolled in health plans via the public exchange as of March 2016.

Average rate increase: Three insurers were approved the following average premium increases for on-exchange, individual health plans for 2017:

Molina Healthcare (37.1 percent)

SelectHealth (30.6 percent)

University of Utah Health Plans (4.5 percent)

Medicaid: Utah has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

Co-op: Arches Health Plan, Utah's health insurance co-op, stopped offering coverage as of Dec. 31, 2015. The co-op insured 66,000 Utahans. It did not receive any of the $8.7 million it expected from the federal government in risk corridor payments.

Vermont

Overall market: All of Vermont's 14 counties are projected to have two insurers offering individual health plans on its state-based marketplace, Vermont Health Connect. The exchange has struggled with IT problems since its onset, most of which have been resolved. Vermont is one of only two states to merge its individual and small group risk pools. Fifty-six percent of individuals eligible for subsidies under the ACA have enrolled in health plans through Vermont Health Connect as of March 2016.

Average rate increases: The following average rate increases for the two insurers offering on-exchange, individual and small group health plans on Vermont Health Connect have been approved for 2017:

BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont (7.9 percent)

MVP Health Plan (3.7 percent)

Medicaid: Vermont expanded Medicaid under the ACA.



Virginia

Overall market: Cigna is predicted to join Virginia's federally-facilitated marketplace next year. Coventry is leaving the exchange. Aetna purchased Coventry in 2013, and Aetna is expected to offer plans on the exchange next year. Twenty-two percent of Virginia's counties are projected to only have one insurer offering on-exchange, individual health plans next year. Twenty-eight percent of the state's counties are projected to have two insurers, and half are projected to have three or more insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans.

Average rate increases: The following nine insurers requested these average premium rate increases for on-exchange, individual plans for 2017:

CareFirst BlueChoice (25.3 percent)

Cigna (new to market)

Group Hospitalization and Medical Services (25.9 percent)

Health Keepers (14.9 percent)

Innovation Health Insurance (14.4 percent)

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic (6.7 percent)

Optima Health Plan (39.3 percent)

Piedmont Community Healthcare (15.3 percent)

UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic (9.4 percent)

Medicaid: Virginia has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) vetoed language in May that Republican lawmakers included in the state budget earlier in the year that would prevent him from expanding Medicaid without legislative approval.



Washington

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare is exiting Washington's state-based exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder, in 2017. Fifty-nine percent of counties in Washington are projected to have at least three insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans in 2017. Twenty-eight percent of the state's counties are predicted to have two insurers participating on the state's exchange next year and 13 percent will only have one participating insurer. Thirty-six percent of residents eligible for subsidies under the ACA have enrolled in health plans through the state's exchange.

Average rate increases: Seven insurers were approved to offer on-exchange, individual health plans on Washington Healthplanfinder for 2017. The following are their average premium rate increases requested:

Community Health Plan of Washington (11.3 percent)

Coordinated Care (7.4 percent)

Group Health Cooperative (9.5 percent)

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest (10.3 percent)

LifeWise (10.9 percent)

Molina Healthcare of Washington (9.6 percent)

Premera Blue Cross (20 percent)

Medicaid: Washington expanded Medicaid under the ACA.



West Virginia

Overall market: Eighty-two percent of West Virginia's counties are projected have one insurer offering on-exchange, individual health plans in 2017. The remaining counties will have two insurers. Forty-one percent of residents eligible for subsidies under the ACA enrolled in plans through the state's exchange as of March 2016.

Average rate increases: Two insurers offering health plans on the state's individual exchange requested the following average premium increases for 2017:

CareSource (35.8 percent)

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield (31.8 percent)

Medicaid: West Virginia expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

Wisconsin

Overall market: UnitedHealthcare will exit Wisconsin's federally-facilitated marketplace next year. About three-fourths of the state's counties (76 percent) are projected to have at least three insurers offering on-exchange, individual health plans next year. Eighteen percent of counties are projected to have two insurers and four counties are projected to only have one insurer. Milwaukee-based Children's Hospital and Health System will sell its Children's Community Health Plan through the ACA marketplace next year. Sixty-three percent of residents eligible for subsidies under the ACA have enrolled in health plans through the state's exchange.

Average rate changes: These insurers were approved the following average premium changes for next year:

Children's Community Health Plan (new to market)

Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative (26.9 percent increase)

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Comp-Care (21.7 percent increase)

Dean Health Plan (18.6 percent increase)

Group Health Cooperative (5.4 percent increase)

Gundersen Health Plan (18.2 percent increase)

Health Tradition Health Plan (24.4 percent increase)

Medica Health Plans (11.5 percent increase)

MercyCare (13.1 percent decrease)

Molina Healthcare (27 percent increase)

Network Health Plan (20.1 percent increase)

Security Health Plan (15.6 percent increase)

United Health Plans (31.9 percent increase)

WPS Health Plan (12.3 percent increase)

Medicaid: Wisconsin has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA.



Co-op: Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative is one of six remaining health cooperatives established under the ACA. The co-op, which insures about 20,000, lost $43.2 million last year. Despite the challenges, Common Ground's CEO Cathy Mahaffey said in July she is confident the insurer will break even and exist through the end of the year.

Wyoming

Overall market:Wyoming's federally-facilitated marketplace will only have one insurer offering on-exchange, individual health plans in all of the state's counties next year. Forty-eight percent of residents eligible for subsidies under the ACA enrolled in health plans through the state's exchange.

Average rate increase: The only insurer offering on-exchange, individual health plans for 2017 requested the following average premium rate increase:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming (8 percent)

Medicaid: Wyoming has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. State lawmakers rejected Gov. Matt Mead's (R) proposal for Medicaid expansion in January.

Correction: In Kentucky, former Gov. Steve Beshear (D) expanded Medicaid in 2013, not current Gov. Matt Bevin (R). We regret this error.

More articles about payer issues:

Feds drop push to end fixed indemnity health plans

New West Health CEO offers insight into insurer's closure

GAO: Feds illegally paid insurers $3B in reinsurance funds
Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md., reopened its neonatal intensive care unit Tuesday following an August shutdown after three babies tested positive for Pseudomonas bacterial infections.

After three infants tested positive for the bacteria, nine other babies were transferred to nearby hospitals, and the NICU shut down Aug. 10.

According to the local NBC affiliate, four sinks in the NICU and two elsewhere in the hospital tested positive for Pseudomonas. Those sinks were removed and treated.

However, state officials found "some deficiencies relate[d] to policies and performance improvement processes in the NICU," Sherry Perkins, PhD, RN, the hospital's executive vice president and COO, told NBC4.

Therefore, the hospital will have heightened reporting requirements to state regulators, and it also implemented a more intense water monitoring plan.

Pseudomonas can cause potentially deadly infections in people with weakened immune systems and more mild infections in healthy individuals. It is found naturally in the environment and can spread on the hands of healthcare workers or by equipment that isn't properly cleaned, among other transfer methods, according to the CDC.
Nearly 30 years ago, Kaiser Permanente, headquartered in Rockville, M.D., teamed up with University of California, Los Angeles to launch a bundled payment initiative for kidney transplantation services. Today, commercial payers have also worked with UCLA on its bundled payment initiatives, with healthcare facilities around the nation participating in bundled payments for a variety of specialties.

In Health Affairs, Alan L. Kaplan, MD, Chad Ellimoottil, MD, and J. Thomas Rosenthal, MD, highlight lessons learned from bundled payments over the past three decades.

Here are five key points:

1. Facilities can utilize bundled payments to enhance care coordination and multidisciplinary care. Because providers share risk in bundled payments, team coordination is of the utmost importance. Failure to work together and provide the optimal care experience may result in reduced reimbursement.

2. Quality improvement will follow bundled payments. In the majority of bundled payments, insurers reimburse providers on quality scores. Facilities are continually striving to improve quality as increased reimbursement will ensue if they meet these requirements.

3. Bundled payment initiatives promote efficient use of healthcare services. Many providers participate in "process mapping," in which they define care pathways, identify waste, and decrease variation in care. They can find ways to limit variation and improve clinical outcomes by getting rid of unnecessary tests.

4. Negotiations may not fare well for bundles. Drs. Kaplan, Ellimoottil and Rosenthal note the duration of a bundle is not as significant as many believe. When looking at the UCLA bundle, bundle pricing was not drastically different for a 60-day bundle versus a 90-day bundle. UCLA and Kaiser Permanente eventually got rid of carve-outs when determining they were not used frequently. When providers are continually negotiating bundles, this could lead to excessive carve-outs and detailed negotiations, thereby limiting the number of eligible patients that make bundle successful.

5. Bundled payments remain an administrative challenge. The transition to value-based care poses an administrative challenge for many providers, who are faced with reporting requirements and complex contracts. Drs. Kaplan, Ellimoottil and Rosenthal note, despite providers using bundles for 30 years, they continue to put an administrative burden on practices.

More articles on practice management:

Medicare sets new safety goal for hospitals to lower readmissions: 3 things to know

Mountain States Medical Group Orthopedics moves to new location in Virginia: 4 points

FDA regulation, insurance coverage: Dr. Raj N. Sureja talks challenges in regenerative medicine
Growing exports is a crucial step to developing and expanding Northern Irelands business landscape, the Economy Minister has said.

Speaking ahead of his trip this week to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Simon Hamilton said he wants to ensure Northern Ireland can expand sales across the globe.

Growing our exports is an absolutely critical element of creating the increasingly outward looking, globally competitive economy that I want to see Northern Ireland become, he said.

Thats why I have already launched a new Trade Accelerator Plan. The plan provides a range of enhanced support for businesses to explore more trading opportunities outside of Northern Ireland.

As well as providing the right level of support, it is also my job to help open international doors for Northern Ireland companies and in the months ahead I will be working in close co-operation with our network of Invest NI teams around the globe to expand our exports.

If we are to transform Northern Ireland into a globally competitive economy, then we need to capitalise on the fact that Northern Ireland was the only part of the UK to expand its exports in the last year.

During his trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Mr Hamilton will meet a number of business groups, as well as some of those companies already working in the Middle East.

A number of Northern Ireland firms have already expanded into the UAE, including equipment manufacturer CDE and bus maker Wrightbus.

He said: This week I am travelling to the Middle East for the first time, where I will meet a number of influential business leaders in the United Arab Emirates and build on the brilliant relationships already built by Arlene Foster when she was Enterprise Minister.

The Middle East offers unbelievable opportunities for Northern Ireland companies, with the UAE strategically positioned as an important gateway to the whole region.

Local firms have seized the opportunity of trading in the Middle East, with exports to the United Arab Emirates alone standing at 60m in 2015/16, which was an encouraging increase of almost 15% on the previous year.

Businesses like CDE, Wrightbus and Brett Martin have set up offices in the UAE to act as a Middle East base to boost their trade opportunities in the region.

It is great to see a succession of success stories, with local firms like AJ Power supplying diesel generators, Mallaghan Engineering from Dungannon providing airports with ground handling equipment and Cunningham Covers in Maghera designing and manufacturing industrial textile covers in the Middle East.

Mr Hamilton said Northern Ireland is on the cusp of an exciting new era.

I am determined to make every effort to ensure that Northern Ireland is perfectly placed to take full advantage of the new trading opportunities that will emerge.
The first 100 days are seen as a critical time in politics. Coined in a 1933 radio address by Franklin D Roosevelt, it is often used to measure the successes and accomplishments of a president during the time that their power and influence is at its greatest. Chief executives of companies also view their first 100 days as a period in which their authority has to be asserted and their intentions known.

We have just passed 100 days since the result of the UK's EU Referendum, and what have we learned about the direction, intentions and plans of the Brexiteers?

Other than 'Brexit means Brexit', we don't know an awful lot about when and how the UK separation from the EU will take place.

In this 100 day period, economic conditions have largely been better than expected. Indeed, the Citi Economic Surprises Index recently hit a three-year-high - indicating that reality has been much better than economists had anticipated.

One sector that has had a particularly good hundred days is agri-food. The exchange rate has made Northern producers much more competitive in the GB-market relative to their eurozone counterparts, particularly those in the Republic of Ireland.

Local farmers are also benefiting from sterling's weakness with their EU single payment. Last year's payment was set at a conversion rate from euro to sterling of 73p. This year's is based on the average euro exchange rate for the month of September. This is above 85p, a much-needed boost to farm incomes.

Ironically though, while agri-food has probably done better than any other sector in the relatively short period since the Referendum result, it is actually the sector that perhaps stands to be the most adversely affected in the longer-term.

If access to the single market (for goods and labour), as well as the significant subsidies that the local agri sector receives, are switched off, the impact on the sector will be very large.

The extent to which agri-food - and other sectors - is impacted will depend on what kind of Brexit that comes to pass.

Will it be a so-called 'hard-Brexit', a 'soft-Brexit', or something in between? Rare, medium, or well done? The next hundred days will be critical. They will take us into the middle of January, and by that stage we will likely have further detail in relation to the nuances of the different Brexit options.

We will also be into 2017, when the consensus view is that Article 50 will be triggered. Last week, there were signs that attitudes to Brexit were hardening on both sides of the negotiation. In a speech in Manchester, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was passionate about free trade and has been interpreted as advocating a "hard Brexit".

Dr Fox said he wanted Britain to be a full, independent member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This implies the UK would leave the EU single market and the customs union. Such a scenario would have significant implications for the economy, not least our agri-food sector.

Fox railed against protectionism. It is worth remembering that agriculture is historically the most protected industry of all. Furthermore, Northern Ireland's agriculture and the wider agri-food industry accounts for a larger share of the economy than the equivalent sector does in any other UK region. Mr Fox's comments may have sent a chill down the spines of many farmers and businesses in Northern Ireland's agri-food sector.

There will be winners and losers from the type of free trade agenda that Fox seems to be advocating. According to Fox, protectionism "may be a short-term vote winner or temporarily prop up failing industries, it is always the consumer and the often the poorest in society that ultimately lose out". This suggests an emphasis on the consumer as opposed to the producer.

Indeed, the UK government will be keen to demonstrate and pass on the benefits of Brexit to the UK consumer, and one of the most tangible ways they can do so is through a policy of cheaper food. The Common Agricultural Policy arguably took the opposite approach, protecting producers, therefore effectively artificially inflating food prices.

So post-Brexit farmers and other producers would face a dramatically different environment, as the UK would be opened up to fierce competition, for instance from South American beef.

While this cheaper produce would be strongly welcomed by consumers, it would have the potential to threaten the viability of many UK farmers and food businesses.

We know that the first 100 days in politics are generally the most important. But when it comes to Brexit, the second 100 days since the vote are actually going to be even more significant, when we will see some more meat on the bone of the detail.

Northern Ireland policy makers need to prepare for the multitude of scenarios, and the best starting point is perhaps what some people would perhaps describe as the 'worst-case' scenario of a very hard Brexit - leaving the single market and the customs union - and what it would mean for different sectors, including agriculture.

The challenge will be how to avoid a hard border in this scenario. Preparation done now will stand us in good stead whenever Article 50 is actually triggered. The importance of the 100 days after that can't be overstated.
One of Northern Ireland's main campaigners for Brexit has welcomed clarification from the Prime Minister on when she will invoke Article 50 to start the process of leaving the EU.

At the Conservative Party Conference on Sunday, Theresa May said Article 50 - which starts the two-year leaving period - would be invoked by the end of next March.

Jeff Peel, the head of Quadriga Consulting in Northern Ireland and one of the main Leave voices in the run-up to the referendum, welcomed her remarks. He said: "Now we can get on with the job of negotiating the nature of the exit."

The pound hit a three-year low against the euro yesterday as fears mounted of a so-called 'hard' Brexit - although the weaker pound has boosted UK manufacturing, which last month recorded its strongest results.

Despite fears over the implications for Northern Ireland - and particularly its trade with the Republic - Mr Peel said a "hard exit" was required "not the type of arrangement that would require us to stay in the single market and continue to accept EU strictures".

But drinks giant C&C has warned that a change in the trading relationship between Ireland and the UK would lead to increased costs and bureaucracy for its all-island business, in a detailed submission to the House of Lords. The manufacturer of Magners said while its Irish and UK businesses have separate sales teams, the supply chain is integrated across both jurisdictions.

In its submission to the House of Lords enquiry into the impact of the Brexit vote on the UK and Ireland, the Dublin-headquartered company said the change posed could impact on the livelihood of its suppliers in the UK.

The submission notes that the company buys around 80,000 tonnes of apples every year to make cider, with 70,000 from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dr David Armstrong, a partner with business advisors PwC in Northern Ireland, said that while the Prime Minister had laid down a timetable, there was still much to be done. The Prime Minister had indicated she would consult with the devolved nations but that negotiations would be between the UK and the UK, "the responsibility of the government and nobody else".

He said: "That implies that the UK regions and devolved nations need to have completed their own assessment of the implications, cost and opportunities associated with leaving the EU and fed these into the consultation process.

"Given that the Brexit clock starts counting down sometime inside the next 24 weeks, there's a lot of work still to be done."

Dr Esmond Birnie of the Ulster University economic policy centre said the Prime Minister had made it clear negotiations would be a UK issue rather than a regional one. He added: "It is a separate question how far the London central government will give weight to Northern Ireland, especially if Northern Ireland's interest appears to differ from that of, say, England."

Meanwhile, the Ulster Farmers Union said the confirmation of a timetable highlighted the need for a real debate about what will replace the common agricultural policy (CAP) for UK farmers.

UFU president Barclay Bell said: "The sooner the debate begins in earnest, the greater the chances of this being an opportunity to create a new support model that will deliver a thriving future for farmers, the countryside and the rural economy."
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The most trade turnover between Armenia and foreign countries during January-July of 2016 took place with Russia, China, Germany, Georgia, Iran and Bulgaria.

The National Statistical Service told ARMENPRESS the highest indicator for trade revenue was documented with Russia, which amounted 684 million 604.9 thousand USD (196 million 573.2 thousand USD export), which has grown by 10% compared to last years same period.

Trade revenue with China amounted 218 million 835.4 USD (45 million 355.7 thousand USD export), however this indicator has decreased by 19.2 percent compared to last year.

With Germany the trade turnover indicator amounted 178 million 824.2 thousand USD (78 million 18.7 thousand USD exports), decreasing by 5.2 percent compared to last years same period.

The trade turnover with Georgia has grown by 52.5% - 147 million 991.8 thousand USD (86 million 25.1 thousand exports).

Trade turnover with Iran amounted 136 million 980.5 thousand USD (42 million 18.1 thousand exports), a decrease of 12.1 percent, and with Bulgaria the turnover was 114 million 129.4 thousand USD (Exports  91 million 620.4 thousand), the indicator has grown two times.
Major planning applications dating back more than a decade have still not been decided on (stock photograph)

Major planning applications dating back more than a decade have still not been decided on, the Belfast Telegraph can be reveal.

A decision has yet to be made by the Department for Infrastructure on several applications, including a significant out-of-town food superstore in Londonderry dating back to February 2006.

And the lack of action has been blasted by one planner, who said the huge delays create "uncertainty" which gives investors "a negative view of the Northern Ireland planning system".

It can be revealed a total of 10 major applications sitting with the department still remain undecided.

Andy Stephens of Matrix Planning said: I fail to see how it could take a decade to make a decision on any application irrespective of whether it is a Regionally Significant Development (RSD) or not.

Planning powers were devolved to Northern Irelands councils in April 2015, but major and significant applications were retained by the Department of the Environment, now Department for Infrastructure, for decision.

The retail application in Londonderry dates back to 2006 and a decision on whether to give it the go ahead, or refuse, has still not been made. It is for a development on the Buncrana Road, just outside the city.

The application is still active, with developers having met with planners as recently as May 2014.

Consultations have been issued by those behind the scheme and a number of objections have been raised, including from the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association.

And another application for a retail development at Castlebawn in Newtownards, Co Down, has only just been refused after being first submitted in 2005.

There are also several other applications which have yet to be decided. That includes a mixed-use development including a hotel, offices and healthcare facility at Crescent Link in Derry, which was submitted to the planning process back in 2009.

And another application from the same year, which proposes demolition of unlisted buildings and restoration of the former Clarks Mill in Upperlands, is also still under consideration.

A spokeswoman for the department said a small number of so-called Article 31 applications were transferred to the new Department for Infrastructure in May this year.

She said that while it is not appropriate to comment on individual applications the subject cases have involved a range of complex policy and procedural issues.

There have also been a number of significant amendments and additional information required from applicants over an extended period of time, she added.

The department continues to expedite former Article 31 cases, of which only 10 remain (from a total of 60 that were in the system in 2011). The majority of these applications are close to being concluded.

The spokeswoman said measures have been put in place in the new planning system to help ensure applications of regional significance are processed quicker.

Mr Stephens said: Decisions have only recently been made or have still to be made on such historic applications.

There are also a number of applications from 2010 and 2011, so it is not an isolated situation.
Millions of workers with mental health problems are suffering in silence because of a lack of support from their employers

Millions of workers with mental health problems are suffering in silence because of a lack of support from their employers, according to a new report.

Bosses were accused of being "disconnected" from their staff over mental health - with most believing their organisation helps employees with mental ill health, said charity Business in the Community.

A survey of 3,000 workers found that in the last month alone, one in four had symptoms of poor mental health where work contributed, but most did not feel able to talk to a colleague or manager.

Around one in four workers have access to an employee assistance programme, but only 2% used it, or contacted human resources.

Business in the Community called on employers to do more to tackle the issue.

Louise Aston, of the charity, said: "Millions of employees are suffering in silence and feel unable to share their experiences at work. When they do reach out, many are met with an inadequate response.

"Our findings show that we need more openness, more training and information, and more support for employees and managers.

"It is good that mental wellbeing is on the radar for leaders and managers, but this is still not translating into adequate support for employees experiencing poor mental health."

Poppy Jaman, chief executive of Mental Health First Aid - which helped with the study, added: "We need a culture change in our workplaces. We will only make headway when employers value mental health as they do physical health."
Actress Emma Thompson is visiting one of the UK's most famous court complexes in preparation to play the role of a High Court judge in a new film.

Thompson is set to star in the film of Ian McEwan's 2014 novel The Children Act.

She was at the Royal Courts of Justice in London - where High Court judges are based - on Tuesday carrying out research.

"I don't think I can say too much," she said, while waiting to make her way into the main entrance on the complex.

"I'm playing the role of the judge in the film.

"I'm just here doing a bit of research."

The Children Act is a story about a High Court judge who specialises in family cases and is asked to decide whether a 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness should have medical treatment against his wishes.

A synopsis of novel on the website www.ianmcewan.com describes the plot.

''Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge, presiding over cases in the family court,'' says the synopsis.

''She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude and sensitivity. But her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife. There is the lingering regret of her childlessness, and now, her marriage of 30 years is in crisis.

''At the same time, she is called on to try an urgent case: for religious reasons, a beautiful 17-year-old boy, Adam, is refusing the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents share his wishes. Time is running out. Should the secular court overrule sincerely held faith?

''In the course of reaching a decision Fiona visits Adam in hospital - an encounter which stirs long-buried feelings in her and powerful new emotions in the boy. Her judgment has momentous consequences for them both.''

A year ago a real High Court judge who specialises in family cases mentioned the novel in a footnote to a ruling on a case about whether a child should have medical treatment against his parents' wishes.

Mr Justice Mostyn said in October 2015 that the novel was ''excellent'' - but suggested that it had the wrong title.

The judge said legal proceedings relating to the 17-year-old boy would not have been launched under the 1989 Children Act.

He said an issue relating to whether someone aged 17 should have medical treatment forced on them would have come to court via a different legal avenue.

''In my opinion, a question of whether a medical procedure should be forced on a 16 or 17-year-old should be sought solely under the High Court's inherent jurisdiction, and not under the Children Act,'' says Mr Justice Mostyn.

''It is for this reason I think that Ian McEwan's excellent novel The Children Act (Jonathan Cape 2014), which is about a 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness refusing a blood transfusion, is in fact incorrectly titled.''
A former bodyguard of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is to appear in the Channel 4 series SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Mark 'Billy' Billingham will join the line-up of ex-Special Forces soldiers who will take the new batch of 25 contestants in to the Ecuadorian jungle.

Billingham, who reached the rank of Sergeant Major, was a member of the Special Air Service (SAS) for 27 years where he was an instructor in the jungle phase of the selection process.

He was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery and was appointed a member of the British Empire.

Other high-ranking celebrity clients he has provided private security for include actors Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe and director Clint Eastwood.

Returning to lead the pack is Anthony Middleton, who will be joined again by Jason 'Foxy' Fox and Matthew 'Ollie' Ollerton, as well as newcomer Billingham.

They will push the physical and psychological boundaries of the new recruits as they subject them to various tests, all of which are based on the real selection process used by the SAS.

The selection process begins in Wales and the show then moves to second jungle stage.

Chief Instructor Middleton said of the jungle stage: " Now you need to prove that you can deal with the harshest environment in the world, that you can operate in it. This phase is all psychological.

"It's designed to bring out certain characteristics and certain attributes that you don't know exist within yourself but you will find out once you're on selection.

"Y ou're not designed to conquer the jungle, all you can predict is that you've got two feet and you can put one foot in front of the other."

No air date has yet been confirmed.
Reporter Luke Barnes with a copy of Charlie One, which the MoD wants the Irish publisher to withdraw

A book the Ministry of Defence had attempted to stop from hitting shop shelves is already on sale in Belfast.

Charlie One tells an insider account of missions carried out during the Troubles by the covert Force Research Unit.

The MoD has told Dublin-based publisher Merrion Press it knows the real identity of 'Sean Hartnett', the author's pseudonym, and that he will be arrested if he enters the United Kingdom.

He will also no longer receive his Army pension.

It has accused Mr Hartnett of breaching his special forces confidentiality agreement, disclosing classified operational details and breaching the Official Secrets Act. In a statement the MoD said: "While we would not comment on individual cases, the security of our armed forces is paramount.

"If we deem any publication to threaten that we request its withdrawal and take legal action."

Conor Graham, publisher at Merrion Press, said he had no plans to comply.

"We are seeking legal advice on the solicitors' letters and calls we have received from the Ministry of Defence, but we are not withdrawing the book," he said.

"The MoD has asked us to halt distribution. They claim the contents of the book pose a threat to Britain's national security.

"They have asked us not to distribute it until they can assess the implications.

"We don't believe there is an obligation on us to do this."

Bookshops in Belfast city centre have had Charlie One in stock for several weeks.

Waterstones said it had sold 80 copies and an Eason's staff member said it had also shifted a significant number of books.

Sean Hartnett grew up in Cork in the 1970s before joining the British Army in the 1990s, much to the surprise of his family, which had strong republican ties.

In 2001 he began serving in Northern Ireland with the secretive Force Research Unit, otherwise known as 'The Det'.

Hartnett claims to have been privy to "some of the biggest blunders by paramilitaries and British Army alike".

He was involved with the arrests of the 'Colombia Three' and chronicles the prevention of an assassination attempt by the UDA on Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair.

Charlie One also claims to reveal new information about the 1987 Loughgall ambush, where eight IRA men and a civilian were shot dead by the SAS.

Soldiers opened fire on the gang as they were preparing to bomb the village police station.
Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye File images showing the Twaddell camp as an agreement to allow the parade to rerun next Saturday , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Nightly protests were held in the nearby unionist Woodvale/Twaddell area in the years since the camp was set up, with a protest parade every Saturday

A loyalist protest has been going on in the Woodvale/Twaddell area since 2013 after an Orange Order parade was stopped from marching past the Ardoyne shops

Members of the Orange Order at the height of the Twaddell Avenue dispute

Members of Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) protest against an Orange parade in July 2015 Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

GARC stages a protest in Ardoyne following a deal which will allow the Orange Order to stage a return parade delayed by three years.

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Dee Fennell GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Dee Fennell GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye GARC stage a parade in Ardoyne in response to a parades commission determination on September 30th 2016 , Northern Ireland (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye)

Businessman Jim Roddy has been earmarked as the man to resolve Northern Ireland's last big parading dispute.

The Parades Commission is believed to be keen to use Mr Roddy in a new effort to end the stand-off over Drumcree in Portadown, which has been ongoing since July 1998.

A source said officials at the NIO had been impressed with his work in dealing with other marching controversies.

"He is someone with a proven track record," the source said.

It is understood that no approach has been made as yet to Mr Roddy.

When contacted yesterday, he told the Belfast Telegraph: "I know nothing about this at all."

And a senior Orange Order source said it was unaware of any approach to Mr Roddy in the long-standing impasse over a parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in the Co Armagh town.

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The commission, however, is said to want Mr Roddy to be involved in efforts to try and initiate discussions between Portadown District Lodge No.1 and the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition.

There have been suggestions that the agreement that ended the Ardoyne dispute last weekend could be a template for Drumcree.

The contentious Ardoyne march went ahead early last Saturday following an agreement between Orange lodges and the nationalist Crumlin Ardoyne Residents Association (Cara) that Secretary of State James Brokenshire said provided a "platform of co-operation" which could be built on.

Former Derry city centre manager Mr Roddy and ex-Methodist Church president the Reverend Harold Good were involved in brokering the deal to end the long-running Ardoyne dispute.

Mr Roddy, who was awarded an MBE earlier this year for services to business and the community, was also at the forefront of successful negotiations between the two communities over parading in the Maiden City.

Policing the Drumcree dispute costs the PSNI more than 23,000 a year, as Orange Order members still stage a token protest each week.

Every Sunday a number of lodge members walk from Drumcree Church of Ireland to a nearby small bridge, where they hand in a letter of protest to police.

It means three PSNI officers attending for around two hours most weeks.

And then on the day of the once-annual parade itself - the Sunday before July 12 - around 60 PSNI officers are deployed for several hours.

However, at the height of the Drumcree dispute during the mid-1990s the annual cost of the policing bill was estimated to be 14m.

Breandan MacCionnaith, who for years was the main spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, has said the issue is a "dead duck" and no longer on the radar.

Earlier this year Portadown district master Darryl Hewitt revealed - after years of the Orange Order refusing to talk to residents - attempts had been made in 2014 to engage with them through a Catholic priest.

But the proposal was rejected out-of-hand by the Garvaghy Road residents.

And Mr Hewitt claimed a Parades Commission member had said he had "not heard anything new coming out of Portadown" for three years.
'Details emerged yesterday as Davidson was granted bail on charges brought over the seizure in Belfast's docks area on September 23'

A so-called 'petrolhead' smuggled nearly 1.5m worth of cocaine and heroin from Holland to Northern Ireland under threat of being killed by a man linked to a deadly Dublin gangland feud, the High Court heard.

Neil Davidson claims he agreed to conceal the drugs in his stockcar trailer as part of efforts to pay off debts of 27,000, his lawyer said.

A judge was told the 28-year-old had been introduced to a man connected to the Hutch-Kinahan feud who warned he would get "a bullet in the head" if the operation failed.

Details emerged yesterday as Davidson was granted bail on charges brought over the seizure in Belfast's docks area on September 23.

He was arrested after exiting the Cairnryan ferry in a BMW X5 transporting his stockcar back from Rotterdam.

Cocaine with an estimated street value of 960,000, heroin worth 500,000, and cannabis resin valued at 2,000 was discovered under the floor of the steel trailer.

Prosecutor Stephanie Boyd said police had never before seen such a well-compressed consignment, with a blade required to obtain a sample.

Davidson, of no fixed address but living at rental accommodation in Portadown, faces charges of importing and possessing class A and class B drugs with intent to supply.

He made admissions to police straight away, claiming to have acted under duress and in return for a 5,000 payment.

The court heard he had made 11 trips to Holland since March.

Opposing bail, Mrs Boyd claimed he was a trusted member of a gang attempting to bring in a major drugs haul for distribution across Ireland.

Defence counsel Joe Brolly argued, however, that Davidson was a classic patsy identified because he was a "clean potato" who regularly travelled to the Netherlands with his stockcar.

The accused, an unemployed steel fabricator, has raced competitively since the age of 14, according to the lawyer.

"He would be described as a petrolhead, his passion for stockcar racing has brought him all over Europe in the past decade," Mr Brolly said.

The court heard that after getting into debt through being out of work Davidson was put in touch with a man from Swords, Co Dublin, referred to only as "Joe".

According to Mr Brolly, Joe was said to be involved in the ongoing gangland feud between the Hutch and Kinahan crime families that has claimed a number of lives.

"He (Davidson) was told by Joe he would have to do this or a bullet would be put in his head," the barrister continued.

"Arrangements were made for him to travel to Amsterdam and on to Rotterdam where he met two men in a car park. Packages were then secreted in a trailer and he drove them back with his stockcar."

Mr Justice Burgess was told he refuses to reveal the identities of those he dealt with.

Granting bail, the judge held that Davidson was now firmly on police's radar.
Police revealed they are not pursuing allegations that William John Paul tried to kill two men due to their refusal to provide statements.

A man accused of wielding a samurai sword during violence in north Belfast is no longer to be charged with two attempted murders, a court heard today.

Police revealed they are not pursuing allegations that William John Paul tried to kill two men due to their refusal to provide statements.

However, the 32-year-old is still accused over an attempt to hijack a taxi using a pizza cutter and then threatening to kill a father and daughter following suspected clashes at Woodvale Drive in January.

Details emerged as he was granted bail if an approved address can be found well outside the city.

Paul, of Harmin Drive in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, was arrested with a co-accused following outbursts of violence that culminated in a number of men being taken to hospital with serious injuries.

He had faced two counts each of attempted murder, attempted wounding and threats to kill, four counts of possessing an offensive weapon in public, and further offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, attempted hijacking, two common assaults, criminal damage and theft.

But an investigating detective told Belfast Magistrates' Court: "The attempted murder charges will not be proceeded with because of the lack of injured party statements."

Opposing Paul's bid to be released from custody, the detective insisted he will still face prosecution for allegedly trying to seize a taxi and then attacking a house armed with weapons.

The court heard the cab driver fought off two men who produced a pizza slicer and tried to take his keys after picking them up on the Limestone Road on January 17.

Later the same day it was alleged that he was waving a samurai sword and trying to force his way into a house in the Woodvale area.

The detective claimed Paul's DNA has been found on the sword.

Defence counsel John O'Connor argued that his client was raising an issue of self-defence, having disarmed one of the men allegedly targeting him.

He stressed that Paul and his co-accused were both taken to hospital with significant injuries.

Mr O'Connor added: "At first blush it's an horrendous case of attempted murder, but we now know it's not attempted murder."

District Judge Fiona Bagnall decided to grant bail based on a previous ruling in favour of the co-accused.

Ordering Paul to stay at an address approved by police outside Belfast, she stressed: "I don't mean just beyond the city."
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said an investigation has been launched

A nine-year-old boy has been injured after being hit by a scrambler motorbike in Northern Ireland, police have said.

The accident happened at Mossley Pavilion in Carnmoney Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, at about 8.45pm on Monday.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said an investigation has been launched and officers are following a definite line of inquiry about the identity of the motorcyclist.

The injured boy was said to be in a stable condition in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

The issue of the law regarding the use of scramblers and quad bikes was debated in the Stormont Assembly hours before the accident.

It was raised after mother-of-three Valerie Armstrong, 35, was killed when she was knocked down by a motorcyclist while walking her dog in a forest park on the outskirts of Belfast in July.

Sinn Fein MLA for North Belfast Gerry Kelly said urgent action should be taken to highlight the dangers of scramblers.

"There is a clear need to address the problem of scrambler and quad use as a number of adults and children have lost their lives or have been seriously injured by these vehicles.

"Everyone, parents in particular, needs to be made aware of the law on scramblers and quads and where they can and cannot be used before they buy them for their children."

Mr Kelly said the PSNI also need to use their powers of seizure to prevent accidents.

Newtownabbey Ulster Unionist councillor Alderman Mark Cosgrove said: "My heart goes out to this young boy and his family. I hope he can make a speedy recovery.

"I would appeal to people to think about what they are doing because there have been far too many tragic accidents already. Scramblers and quads must be used safely and only in appropriate settings."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with John McDonnell following his speech during the party's conference in Liverpool

Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are a threat to the Union, Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster has suggested.

Mr Corbyn has previously expressed support for a united Ireland while Mr McDonnell has apologised for offence caused by calling for Irish republican terrorists to be honoured.

Nigel Dodds, the deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), criticised the Labour leader and the shadow chancellor at a Conservative conference DUP fringe event.

He described the pair as a "threat to the Union" and Ms Foster, the leader of the DUP, agreed with his assessment.

Mr Dodds said: "But when we think, and you don't need me to remind you, of the sort of opposition that is now on offer in the United Kingdom and in the House of Commons, men like Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell who have supported in the past people who carry out such bombings, it is more important than ever that we who are Unionists, together, whether from Scotland, Wales, England or Northern Ireland, stand together against all the threats to the Union.

"I include the current leader of the opposition and the shadow chancellor in that threat to the Union."

When asked by the Press Association if she shared the view expressed by Mr Dodds, Ms Foster said: "It is, absolutely, because of what they have been associated with in the past and indeed it appears in the present as well given some of the press coverage over the weekend in connection with John McDonnell with some of those who have been convicted of dissident republican activity.

"That is very concerning from our perspective that somebody who would hold such a high office in the Labour Party would be associated with those sorts of people."

Ms Foster and DUP representatives met with Theresa May on Tuesday morning amid speculation about the level of support the party will give the Tories in the House of Commons.

Mr Dodds addressed the issue at the fringe event and said: "We will lend our full support to the new Prime Minister who I think has got off to a fantastic start in leading this country forward.

"We will lend her our full support in terms of making Brexit work for all of the United Kingdom."

Mr Dodds said the DUP will work with the Government "on other areas of policy on which we agree, like grammar schools".

Ms Foster told the Press Association: "Obviously, in terms of the big ticket issue, in terms of Brexit, we are on the same page, we want to make a success out of leaving the European Union."

Beyond that, she said, there are "some synergies" between the two parties.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS.Turkish authorities have suspended 12,801 police officers from duty, police headquarters said on Tuesday, over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in July, Reuters reported.

The move came after the Interior Ministry launched an investigation into the police force, broadcaster CNN Turk reported, and a day after the Turkish government extended a state of emergency for another three months.

Of the total number of police suspended across the country, 2,523 were police chiefs, the statement said. Turkey's total police force numbers about 250,000.

About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police and judiciary have already been sacked or suspended in a post-coup crackdown, and some 32,000 people have been arrested for their alleged role in the abortive putsch.

President Tayyip Erdogan said last week Turkey would benefit from an extension to the three-month state of emergency declared after the failed July 15 coup, saying more time was needed to hunt down those responsible. He suggested it may last for more than a year.

However, the crackdown has raised concerns from rights groups and Western allies who fear Erdogan is using the failed coup as a pretext to curtail all dissent and to intensify his actions against suspected Kurdish militant sympathizers.

Turkey wants the United States to extradite Gulen and prosecute him on charges that he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement.
A couple were tied up and robbed in their own home

A couple in their 30s have been tied up and robbed in their home by an armed gang.

PSNI detectives said three men, two of whom were suspected of carrying guns, confronted the man and woman when they called to their house in the Chinauley Park area of Banbridge, Co Down on Monday night.

It is understood the gang knocked on the couple's door. They then tied them up, demanded money, ransacked the house and stole a sum of cash and the family car, a white Mercedes CLA 45.

A PSNI spokesman said the couple were not physically injured, but left shocked by their ordeal.

Detectives have appealed for information on the gang and said one man was in his mid 30s or early 40s, of medium build and height and with dark brown stubble. A second is about six feet tall and well built, and a third was about five feet five inches tall and of slim build.
The previous one, which was burned down

A GAA club in Londonderry is back on home ground - five years after losing its clubhouse in an arson attack.

Sean Dolan's in Creggan is the oldest GAA club in the city, but has been forced to play all its games on pitches belonging to others since 2011.

The fire at the very end of that year destroyed not only the building, but left the pitch unplayable.

But a new state-of-the-art building and renovated playing surface means the club is back where it belongs.

Committee member and player Eamon McGinley said the past five years had been a serious challenge for members.

He added: "We are delighted to have our own premises and grounds again after such a long time.

"Thankfully our insurance company, along with a grant from the Department for Social Development, covered the costs of the rebuild and additional security measures like the fencing for us, which spared us a massive fundraising campaign.

"To be honest, it has been incredibly soul-destroying having to play all our home games at the grounds of other clubs, but the whole club is really looking to the future now.

"We had a fantastic weekend of celebrations to mark the reopening, but now we have to start building the club again, starting with the under-age teams."

Local Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Campbell congratulated Sean Dolan's on the new facilities.

Mr Campbell said: "Sean Dolan's has been at the heart of the Creggan community for the past 40 years and has given the young people an interest in sport and something to belong to.

"It has been difficult since they were robbed of the clubhouse and the grounds by the arson attack.

"But we had a wonderful opening ceremony.

"I would encourage the whole community to continue to show support for Sean Dolan's and all they do, for the young people especially."

The arson attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday, December 28, 2011 and caused extensive damage to the clubhouse building.

As a result the club lost its entire under-age structure, and has been surviving with just the senior team.

The PSNI initially said the fire had been caused by an electrical fault despite strong local suspicion that it was a result of deliberate action.

However, police later issued a statement saying they were, after all, treating it as arson.

In June 2014 it emerged that five officers had been disciplined following a Police Ombudsman investigation into the case.

The watchdog found police failed to properly investigate the blaze and recommended that a detective sergeant and a constable be disciplined.

A duty sergeant and two detective inspectors were also disciplined after they were found to have failed to supervise and guide the investigation into the inferno.
Police have seized two dogs and arrested two men following a search of a home in east Belfast on Tuesday.

The search was carried out at a house in the Lower Newtownards Road area and under Animal Welfare legislation.

During the search the two dogs were located and seized.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police while a 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault on police.

Both men have since been released and issued with penalty notices of disorder.

Inspector Keith Hutchinson said: The PSNI takes animal welfare very seriously.

"I would urge any member of the public to report anything to do with fighting offences, other criminal activity and/or a possible breach in a court order to their local police station on the non-emergency number 101. Information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The parents of Frances McKeown at the inquest into the death of their daughter

A mother-of-two who killed herself in prison had attempted to take her own life months before her death after she was refused bail, an inquest has heard.

Frances McKeown (23), who had a history of mental health issues, hanged herself inside Hydebank Wood Women's Prison in Belfast in May 2011.

In the opening day of the inquest, which is set to last six days, Belfast Coroner's Court heard how Mrs McKeown had suffered from mental health problems and had been diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder and had attempted suicide a number of times.

Barrister Ronan Daly, who represents the Coroner's Service, told the jury that Mrs McKeown had been taking various medications including the anti-psychotic medication risperidone before she went into Hydebank.

The court also heard that she was referred for mental health assessments and in November 2010, she was referred to a prison psychiatrist but she didn't see one until April the following year - just weeks before her death.

He revealed that she had taken an overdose of paracetamol in December 2010 and was taken to the Accident and Emergency deparment for treatment after she had been refused bail to be released from prison.

Furthermore, in February 2011, her medication was stopped in prison for 19 days after she was found not to be in possession of her prescribed medication which is an offence in prison.

At the time of her death, Mrs McKeown was awaiting sentencing after being convicted in relation to a hijacking.

She had two children - a girl and boy now aged eight and seven - with her husband, Brian.

The court also heard that the children were taken into care before her death as a result of problems between the married couple and their mother's mental health issues.

Before she was convicted of the hijacking offence, Mrs McKeown had been admitted into Bluestone psychiatric unit in Craigavon on 11 different occasions.

While in prison, she was placed on the SPAR (Supporting Prisoners At Risk) process five times. These prisoners are subject to more regular monitoring by prison guards.

It was also claimed that she was being bullied by other inmates because she saw inappropriate behaviour between a prison officer and another inmate.

In his report, Northern Ireland's deputy state pathologist Dr Alastair Bentley said that she had self-harm marks on her body. Other drugs found in her system included Fluoxetine and Trazodone - both used as anti-depressants.

Giving evidence, prison staff nurse Audrey McCorry said that she was called to Mrs McKeown's cell after two prison guards found her behind the door of her room.

Ms McCorry told the court that when she arrived at Ash House, Mrs McKeown was lying on her back on the prison landing. However, there were no signs of breath or pulse and despite applying the defibrillator, there was no shock.

The Coroner's Court also heard that a Code Blue had been issued to alert staff to Mrs McKeown, who was the second prisoner to take their own life that day following the suicide of 19-year-old Samuel Carson in the young offenders centre.

Governor Keiran Magennis, who was the senior prison office that night, described the number of Code Blues as "unusual".

The inquest continues.
Police are investigating and have appealed for witnesses.

A Banbridge couple were left in shock after they were tied up in an armed robbery.

The incident happened at their house in the Chinauley Park area on Monday night at around 8.30pm.

The couple, aged in their 30s, answered a knock on the door at around 8.30pm only to be confronted by three men, two armed with firearms.

The men tied the couple up and demanded money before ransacking the house.

They fled with a sum of cash and the family car, a white Mercedes CLA 45. The couple were not physically injured but left shocked by their ordeal, police said.

One of the men is described as being aged in his mid-30s or early 40s, of medium build and height and with dark brown stubble.

The second male is described as being approximately 6 tall and well built. The third male is described as being approximately 55 tall and of slim build.

Police are appealing for information.
Raymond McCord, whose son was murdered by loyalists, is among those backing the legal challenge to Brexit amid fears that European peace money for Troubles victims may be stopped

Northern Ireland could veto its withdrawal from the EU, lawyers opposed to Brexit have argued.

A barrister said the country had control over its own constitutional change following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which largely ended republican and loyalist violence.

Ronan Lavery QC said leaving the EU would have a catastrophic effect on the peace process during a legal challenge by a cross-community group of politicians and human rights campaigners to the Prime Minister's plan to trigger Article 50 negotiations on an exit.

Mr Lavery told Belfast's High Court: "Sovereignty over constitutional affairs has been ceded. It is not the relationship, as it might once have been, between a dominant partner in a relationship and a submissive partner in a relationship.

"The people of Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change, it cannot be imposed upon the people of Northern Ireland.

"If that means that Northern Ireland could exercise a veto over withdrawal then I am (asserting) that is what Britain and Ireland signed up to when they signed the Good Friday Agreement."

Some 56% of Northern Irish voters backed Remain in the June 23 referendum but some unionist-dominated parts supported Leave. The country's largest party, the Democratic Unionists, campaigned for Leave.

Theresa May plans to begin negotiations with the EU by next March.

Northern Ireland shares the UK's only land border with an EU state, the Republic of Ireland, and the British and Irish Governments have said they are keen to ensure there is no return to the hard borders of the past.

If the UK leaves the customs union, the EU could demand a hard border in Ireland to prevent goods flowing in and out of the EU from Northern Ireland without paying required tariffs or facing checks on rules of origin.

Mr Lavery warned that after Brexit any move to create a United Ireland would be subject to the permission of the other EU member states that Northern Ireland should join the EU - rather than the will of people who live there.

"That is a practical and illegal impediment to the nationalist aspiration for a United Ireland."

He said the referendum result had implications for unionists.

"What this upheaval has also caused is the nationalists' call for a border poll and a very real threat to the Union as it exists."

He warned: "Withdrawal from the EU could have a catastrophic effect on the peace process and that delicate constitutional balance which we have reached."

David Scoffield QC, who represents politicians opposed to the triggering of Article 50, said Brexit would cut across the operation of North/South all Ireland and East/West ministerial links with Great Britain.

The lawyer said parliament should have the final say on whether negotiations are triggered, legislative consent from the Northern Ireland Assembly should be sought and if the court rejected that, then constraints must be imposed on the power of the Government to begin the negotiations and the Northern Ireland Secretary should assess the impact of Brexit on those who live in Northern Ireland.
Colette and her other daughter Lisa during the funeral at St Patrick's Church last month

It is less than four weeks since Lurgan teen Rebecca Haughey lost her brave battle with cancer, and her devastated mum Colette says life is so empty without her fun-loving daughter that she has to force herself to get up and face every day.

Colette and her other daughter Lisa (21) have been left bereft by the loss of 18-year-old Rebecca, who until her tragic death on September 8 had been full of plans for her future.

When she learned in late July that there was no more treatment available, Rebecca refused to accept she was going to die, and, sharing the latest prognosis from doctors on her Facebook page, told everyone she would beat it.

Her mum says: "She never thought of dying. It never crossed her mind. She was going to beat it, no matter what the doctors said. She wanted to live so much and she had so much to live for.

"She had always wanted a career in drama, but her illness made her change her mind and she decided she wanted to become a psychologist and help people.

"Shortly before she died she was walking past the mental health unit in the hospital and told her friend: 'I might be working there in 10 years' time'. She didn't know her life was coming to an end so soon and neither did I. It shocked everyone. She was so positive right until the end."

Colette (53), who lost her husband Owen three years ago at the age of 51, has found some solace since her loss in raising funds in her memory for charity CLIC Sargent.

The charity's new Home From Home Amy House - which Belfast Telegraph readers helped raise more than 50,000 to build - provided a sanctuary for her while her daughter spent months in hospital earlier this year.

Knowing that her mum was staying in Amy House just a couple of minutes from Belfast City Hospital also gave Rebecca peace of mind and took a lot of pressure from both of them during a traumatic period.

Colette was the first person to use the new facility, and her gratitude is obvious: "CLIC Sargent was fantastic. Our social worker Simon Darby was there for us and still is there for me, every step of the way.

"Amy House really was a home from home. It has a kitchen and laundry facilities and I had my own bed. Rebecca was so long in hospital that even though the food there is fine, you can only take it for so long. I was able to cook for her in Amy House and bring her hot meals.

"She knew she only had to text me and I would be with her in minutes if she needed me.

"Having to drive up and down every day, morning and night from Lurgan seven days a week, and then having to do washing late at night and get it dried would have made things so much harder.

"It was also good to talk to other families and share our experiences, and I was able to help some of the other parents and put their minds at ease about treatments Rebecca had already been through."

Rebecca fought cancer twice in her short life.

She was first diagnosed at 16 with a tumour - known as a Ewing sarcoma - which developed on her face.

She missed a year of school as she came through 10 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but made a full recovery.

Her life had returned to normal and she went on to sit her GCSEs, passing eight of them, and had been enthusiastic about doing her A-levels when tragedy struck again in February this year with a shocking leukaemia diagnosis.

Colette says: "When she was 16 she developed this lump on the side of her face at her temple from the tip of her ear to her eye and it would come up like an egg and then go away. Usually it came up at weekends, and by the time we got to the doctor on Monday it had gone again.

"She was eventually sent for a biopsy and we were told she it was a Ewing sarcoma, which is a rare cancer of the bone. She had 10 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"She sailed through it. She was fatigued and at one point got an infection that meant she had to be hospitalised for 10 days, which set her back a bit, but she was determined to get back to normal, and she did.

"She had to resit a year of her GCSEs and she was doing great, and we thought it was all behind us."

It was at the beginning of February of this year that Rebecca started to suffer from nausea and bouts of vomiting.

Her mum says she was so committed to her school work that she insisted on going into class despite being sick one morning. Teachers had to persuade her to go home when they saw how ill she was.

Colette says: "There was a bug going round school and we thought it might be that, but then I noticed funny marks like a rash on her feet and took her to the doctor who, because of her history of cancer, sent her straight to A&E at Craigavon Hospital.

"She had tests and we were told she had leukaemia. It was horrendous. The consultant told us it was the second worse case he had ever seen, which really put the frighteners on us."

Rebecca was admitted to the cancer unit at Belfast City Hospital and immediately started chemotherapy, which at first appeared to be working.

However, her white blood cells started to multiply again.

Doctors then resorted to a new treatment that had not been used before in Northern Ireland.

Initially it appeared to be working and everything seemed positive, but by the end of July it became obvious that her body could no longer fight the multiplying white blood cells.

Her mum recalls: "Everything was looking really positive, but within just two weeks it all went pear-shaped. Her body just couldn't fight it any more and there were no more options as the treatment was starting to poison her system.

"When she realised there was nothing that could be done she was so positive about it. She said that it wasn't going to take her and she was so determined and so strong. But she then developed E. coli, which seeped into her blood system."

When she was given the devastating news that nothing could be done to save her Rebecca showed the strength of her spirit in a moving Facebook post to her friends.

She wrote: "Hi everyone, I guess there's no time like the present to give you guys an update on everything. I got some bad news on Friday: my consultant told me that my white blood cell count was back up and it looked like the cancer was working too fast for my treatment to catch up with it.

"She doubted there was much she could do for me. Understandably, I was in a state of shock. I was basically just told that I was going to die.

"All I could say was, no. This can't be happening. No. There has to be something you could do. No. No. No. You need to do something. I need to do something. We can't let this happen. I'm not going to die. I need to do something.

"That news gave me the kick up the backside I needed to make me more determined than ever to succeed... to beat this ruddy cancer that had taken over my life.

"I was determined to see the end of this. I told the doctor to put me back on to the steroids and other medications to keep my white cell counts under control.

"It's going to be a long, difficult journey ahead, but through Hell or high water, I'm going to get through it all and prove to my consultant that this will not beat me."

Rebecca put up a brave fight, but in the end nothing could stop the progression of the disease, which cut her life short just weeks after her 18th birthday.

Her schoolfriends and teachers were among the first to lead tributes to the popular and fun-loving teen.

Noeleen Tiffney, principal of St Catherine's College in Armagh, said she would be remembered as "a delightful girl, multi-talented, gifted and full of laughter".

She added: "She had kindness and compassion at her core and was a true friend to everyone. The loss of this precious member of our school community has left those of us who knew her deeply saddened. She gave so much of herself to St Catherine's College and we were all enriched by having known her."

Rebecca's school had sprung a surprise for her to mark her 18th birthday on March 22. Allowed home from hospital to celebrate, she had no idea that teachers in St Catherine's had organised for all her school friends to visit her at home with a cake and presents.

Colette says: "Rebecca didn't want her friends to see her in hospital, so she didn't see a lot of them, and she was so delighted when they all arrived at the house to surprise her on her birthday.

"We also had a party for her and her friends came back for that without their school uniforms on."

Rebecca was a talented and intelligent teenager who loved singing and drama. She played the piano and had hoped for a career in the theatre, but changed her mind during her illness and decided instead to go into nursing to help others. She loved make-up and her mum says she would have skipped breakfast in the morning to ensure she got her "eye flick" perfect before she went into school.

Colette recalls fondly: "She wasn't into heavy make-up, but she would have spent an hour getting her flick right and then put on her mascara in the mornings."

Contemplating life without her lovely daughter is unbearable now for Colette and Lisa.

She says: "Lisa is at university in Newcastle, although she is home at the minute. She is devastated and misses Rebecca so much. She is coping the best she can, but it is just so hard.

"I'm taking it one day at a time. I need to find something to do to get me out of bed in the morning to face the day.

"The house is just so quiet. Rebecca used to watch funny programmes on her computer and you could hear her laughter right through the house, and now there is only silence and that silence in deafening. It doesn't feel like our house any more.

"Lisa will be going back to uni in January and I will be here on my own and I don't know how I am going to cope with that."

Colette has been delighted that so many people have supported her Just Giving appeal for CLIC Sargent in memory of Rebecca.

More than 2,000 has been raised so far towards the costs of running Amy House, which provides a lifeline to families from all over Northern Ireland who have a loved one going through cancer treatment.

She adds: "I am so grateful to everyone who has supported the appeal.

"We couldn't have coped without Amy House and it is wonderful to know people are donating in Rebecca's memory."

To support Colette's appeal you can go to justgiving.com/fundraising/inmemoryofrebecca

Charity homes give families chance to be together

CLIC Sargent launched its Home From Home campaign in Northern Ireland in 2012, backed by the Belfast Telegraph.

A total of 3.7m was raised in order to open and run a pair of new Homes From Home in Belfast. The homes provide free accommodation for families of young cancer patients, a short walk from Belfast City Hospital and Cancer Centre. This saves the families the often prohibitive expense of regular travel to the hospital, giving them a base nearby and helping them concentrate on spending more time together.

Paul's House, the first Home From Home, was completed and opened in February 2014. Amy's House, a Home From Home aimed specifically at supporting the families of teenagers and young adults, was opened in January this year. CLIC Sargent has 10 Homes From Home across the UK, with running costs of 850,000 per year supported by donations.

This month, during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the charity has been raising awareness of the financial impact of cancer on families, finding that families of a child with cancer can spend an average of 600 more every month on additional costs. CLIC Sargent is calling for more support for these families.

For more information on the campaign and the charity's services, visit www.clicsargent.org.uk
Paul McCusker and Nichola Mallon watch on as Dee Fennell confronts Fr Gary Donegan

A war of words between two former Belfast Lord Mayors has erupted online after a senior Sinn Fein politician accused an SDLP MLA of failing to stand up for a priest berated by dissidents at a parade.

Ardoyne cleric Father Gary Donegan bore the brunt of anger from hardline dissident republican protesters after a contentious Orange Order parade was permitted to pass a contested stretch of road in north Belfast on Saturday.

The high-profile priest has been widely praised for his dignity in the face of a tirade of abuse from dissident republicans, such as Dee Fennell of the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective (GARC), which opposed the parade peace deal.

The crowd shouted "shame" at Fr Donegan, who has called on the group to abandon its protest against Orange parades following the agreement.

One of the group, a brother of an SDLP councillor, also threatened a Sunday Life journalist, saying he was "coming after him".

The group tried to confront North Belfast Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly, but were blocked by ranks of riot police.

Last night Sinn Fein MLA Alex Maskey suggested the SDLP's Nichola Mallon - both are former Lord Mayors - had failed to act while Fr Donegan was abused.

"Was Nichola Mallon SDLP close to Fr Gary Donegan when he was being baited by protesters?" he wrote, posting a video of the scene.

But Ms Mallon replied: "I pushed though the crowd twice to personally intervene to help Fr Gary so appalled was I by his treatment."

One republican backed Mr Maskey, tweeting: "You watched on, as Fr Gary was receiving a barracking and didn't intervene - yet you're the local MLA?"

However, South Belfast SDLP MLA Claire Hanna retorted: "Have you not watched the video? She very clearly walked to his side & offered support.

"What else would you suggest she do?"

She also accused Mr Maskey of trying to "smear" Ms Mallon.

Ulster Unionist MLA Jenny Palmer tweeted: "Well done Nichola - very courageous lady."

Another bystander to the 'Twitterstorm' asked: "What do they expect her to do, throw punches?"

And another said Ms Mallon was "leading the way and going beyond public duty".

Meanwhile, SDLP councillor Paul McCusker, whose brother Gerard threatened Sunday Life journalist Christopher Woodhouse, has not publicly responded to the actions of his sibling. Councillor McCusker was not present at a Belfast City Council meeting last night, and did not respond to repeated phone calls from the Belfast Telegraph.

Another SDLP councillor made apologies on behalf of Mr McCusker for not being able to attend the City Hall meeting.

The SDLP did not return a request for comment.

The PSNI said: "Enquiries into the matter are currently ongoing."
Police are appealing after a teenage girl was sexually assaulted and then followed onto a bus by her attacker.

It happened on Chichester Street in Belfast on Friday September 23.

Sometime between 12.05pm and 12.15pm a 16-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a man as she was waiting at a bus stop between the junctions of Callender Street and Arthur Street.

Officers said as the girl boarded the bus it is believed that the man followed her.

The male is described as being aged in his mid to late 40s with short dark hair that was shaved on the top.

He had black stubble, a thin square face with a tanned complexion, approximately 5ft 7inches or 5ft 8inches in height and of medium build. He spoke with a foreign accent and was wearing a burgundy or purple waist length coat.

Constable Conan Magee said: "Police would like to hear from an elderly male with grey hair and beard, who let the female go ahead of him in the queue in order to get on the bus, and then sat near her as he may have information which would assist our enquiries.

We are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the assault to contact Lisburn Road PSNI Station on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 551 of 23/09/16. Or, if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111.
More than 200 thefts have taken place at churches all over Northern Ireland in the last year, as robbers steal everything from headstones to guttering, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

Mobile phones, computers, cheque books, handbags, purses, flat screen televisions, cameras, wheelie bins and even lead from church roofs have been taken during a 12-month period.

The figures, released by the PSNI following a Freedom of Information request by this newspaper, outline thefts at places of worship across the province.

They include Belfast, Dromore, Larne, Lisburn, Hillsborough, Omagh, Trillick, Warrenpoint and Portadown.

Jewellery, house keys, bank cards and cash - including 1,000 in one case - were among items commonly taken.

Other items include iron gates, roof tiles, 500 litres of heating oil, a cement mixer, spectacles, a dishwasher, groceries, cigarettes - and 10 from a collection tin.

North Antrim DUP MLA Paul Frew, the chairman of Stormont's justice committee, said stealing from a place of worship was "a despicable act".

"The range of items that have been stolen shows the brazen attitude of those who have committed these opportunistic crimes," he said. "Church thefts are not specific to one particular area and I know police have been liaising with churches and communities to make sure they are safety-conscious and secure any valuable items. I would urge anyone with any details of suspicious activity around places of worship to contact the police.

"Similarly, I would also encourage any church-goers to keep their valuables safe and secure when going to their place of worship."

UUP justice spokesman Doug Beattie described the figures as "staggering".

"It is clear that there is a major problem with regard to thefts from churches and religious buildings," he said. "It is a sad indictment of our society that so many people should have personal property and possessions stolen while they are at places of worship.

"Stealing lead from the roof of a church is also indicative of a complete lack of respect.

"When people attend places of worship they may, quite understandably, regard themselves as being in a safe environment, where the theft of property is far from their minds.

"Unfortunately, thieves see opportunity everywhere, and people must take reasonable steps to secure their property and valuables at all times."

Mr Beattie said the justice system must be firm on those who target our churches.

"I would also call on the courts to ensure that when people are caught and convicted of thefts they are given the sentences that serve as both punishment and deterrent," he added.

"Light sentences do nothing to help public confidence in the justice system or to protect the public."
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the situation in Syria on Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Sputnik News reported.



The talk was initiated by the EU side.



"During the meeting, the issue of Syria was discussed. Both sides have confirmed that every effort to resolve the Syrian crisis, namely, sustaining the ceasefire, expanding the humanitarian access and beginning political process, must be, as provided in the UN Security Council resolutions, implemented without unilateral preconditions and attempts to make headway in one area by achieving progress in another," the statement read.

The sides agreed to continue contacts regarding the issue. On September 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the conflict in Syria in Geneva. The ceasefire deal was later shattered by numerous violations, which resulted in intensified fighting between the Syrian government and militants in Aleppo. The Syrian government later announced an end to the ceasefire regime. Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with opposition factions and Islamist terrorist groups such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front, now known as Jabhat Fatah al Sham, both outlawed in Russia, fighting the Syrian Army.




Hundreds of people queue for jobs at a supermarket in Dublin.

The taxman took in 484 million euro more tax than expected this year.

Despite the promising collection, a report on the state's coffers just a week out from Budget 2017 raised concerns about the amount of tax that is being paid directly out of workers' pay packets - 114 million euro below profile.

The Department of Finance said a total of 33.4 billion euro in taxes was taken in over the first nine months of the year, up 5.7% on the same period last year.

Some 12.95 billion euro of that was income tax, including the Universal Social Charge which is up 509 million euro on the same period last year, but almost 1% below were it had been expected to be.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan hinted said the main taxes are performing as expected.

"These improved Exchequer results together with today's revised unemployment figure of 7.9% shows how Ireland is growing in resilience," he said.

"We should guard this improvement and be prepared for external shocks so that we can all continue to enjoy the benefits of our recent hard work."

The Exchequer figures, including the weak trend in income tax, were released as the latest report on the jobs market showed u nemployment has fallen below 8%.

According to the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) latest monthly review of the jobs market, 172,900 people were out of work last month - a drop of about 24,000 over the course of the last year.

The CSO reported that almost 16% of 15-to-24-year-olds are out of work, a fall of 1% since August with the figure now made up of 19,300 young men and 13,100 young women.

It also coincided with revised economic growth figures for this year of 4.2%, down from 4.9%, mainly due to the risk from Brexit and uncertainty worldwide.

Budget 2017, to be announced next Tuesday, is expected to be a package worth about one billion euro with about 300 miliion euro going on tax cuts and 600-700 million euro in new spending.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe said: " Prudent management of our finances and a sensible approach to spending are key to ensuring that we can deliver a fair society supported by a strong economy. Next week's budget will build on that."

Elsewhere, the Exchequer report showed c orporation tax rose to 4.159 billion euro this. The figure is 644 million euro higher than expected for the year.

VAT was below the target for the nine months of the year by 278 million euro and e xcise duties were 211 million euro ahead of target.

Meanwhile, o n the employment figures, Ian Talbot, chief executive of Chambers Ireland, urged the Government to capitalise on the falling numbers out of work and to focus on options for young people.

"In spite of terrific progress in increasing the overall employment rates over the past few years, the youth unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high," he said.

The business lobbyist called for apprenticeships and further education and training programmes to be expanded.

"Investing in increased opportunities for our young people is not only important for economic reasons, it is essential for future social cohesion of Ireland. We must ensure that all our citizens have the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career," Mr Talbot said.
Arrivals and departures were held up at Belfast International Airport

Pacemaker Press 4/10/2016 Significant disruption for passengers at Belfast International Airport on Tuesday after a freight plane got stuck on the runway. The airport said the runway would open for arrivals from 09:00 BST but there would be knock-on delays. Earlier, all flights were suspended. A short time ago, the airport said some flights were starting to take off but inbound flights so far, have been cancelled. A freight air coming in to land just before 6am had a number of burst tyres and had to stop right in the junction of both runways. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker

Pacemaker Press 4/10/2016 Significant disruption for passengers at Belfast International Airport on Tuesday after a freight plane got stuck on the runway. The airport said the runway would open for arrivals from 09:00 BST but there would be knock-on delays. Earlier, all flights were suspended. A short time ago, the airport said some flights were starting to take off but inbound flights so far, have been cancelled. A freight air coming in to land just before 6am had a number of burst tyres and had to stop right in the junction of both runways. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker

There was significant disruption at Belfast International Airport after a freight plane got stuck on the runway due to a burst tyre

There was significant disruption at Belfast International Airport after a freight plane got stuck on the runway due to a burst tyre

Pacemaker Press 4/10/2016 - There was significant disruption at Belfast International Airport after a freight plane got stuck on the runway due to a burst tyre

There was significant disruption at Belfast International Airport after a freight plane got stuck on the runway due to a burst tyre

There was significant disruption at Belfast International Airport after a freight plane got stuck on the runway due to a burst tyre

The damaged cargo plane that was stuck on Belfast International Airport's runway after its tyres burst has been towed away.

Both runways are now back in full service. The incident happened just before 6am on Tuesday with the plane left stranded at the junction between the two runways, causing major disruption with the airport having to be closed.

Update 1745: Aircraft has been moved off the runway. Runway will be reinstated to full length shortly.  Belfast Airport (@BelfastAirport) October 4, 2016

Flights were cancelled and arrivals suspended. By the afternoon the airport was operating at a reduced capacity with the plane still stranded between the two runways.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch was notified and sent to the scene.

Graham Keddie, managing director of the airport, told the BBC that the incident happened at "the wrong place and at the wrong time".

He said the freight plane was being unloaded for it to be moved and one runway had been freed up to allow planes to land.

"We are doing all we can," said Mr Keddie, "and we are asking people to bear with us."

By 9am, the airport was opened for arrivals, while departures were expected to be disrupted through the day.

Some flights were allowed to depart, while others were cancelled. Those cancelled include flights to Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and London Luton.

Earlier Alan Whiteside, operations manager at the airport, said using a shortened runway some flights were able to land.

"This has resulted to significant delays to operations," he said.

"After the Air Accident Investigations Branch arrive - which should be around lunch - and give us the ok to move the aircraft we should be able to get operations back up and running."

Mr Whiteside said the plane's starboard undercarriage had been damaged.

Among the passengers affected was 64-year-old Violet Slater from Crieff in Perthshire. She told how she had to wait in a queue for more than two hours after her flight home was cancelled.

But she praised the airport staff who were "fantastically helpful".

"I didn't enjoy joining the queue because I stood for over two hours in the queue," she said.

"When I got through to customer service desk the staff were fanatically helpful, they rearranged my flight for me, gave me all the information they could give me, gave me a telephone so I could try and make contact with family.

"I have no complaints, there was an accident on the runway this morning, no-one was hurt, nobody died. I'm a bit fed up listening to other people having big gripes about very little.

"I was here sadly because of the death of my sister and for her funeral. Maybe that makes you a bit more tolerant of little things that are outside people's control."

The Air Accident Investigations Branch is to investigate.

For the latest flight information is available here.
A young boy whose debilitating medical condition means he is barely able to walk has used his strength to stand up and give Prince Harry a hug.

Ollie Carroll (5) suffers from the rare Batten disease, which affects his mobility and will soon lead to the point where his muscles stop working.

But when the youngster, from Poynton, Cheshire, met Harry at the WellChild Awards, where he was receiving the Inspirational Child award for ages four to six, he stood up to embrace Harry.

The prince, who is patron of the WellChild charity, was at the event to recognise the courage of children living with serious illness and the medical professionals who care for them.

Ollie's mother Lucy said: "He was thrilled - they both were. He (Harry) is very privileged because Ollie cannot stand up by himself, and he used his strength to stand up and hug him."
Arlene Foster today warned against a "Donald Trump-style" border with the Irish Republic as a result of the Brexit negotiations.

In a speech at the Conservative Party conference, the First Minister said not even the Troubles had led to anything as extreme as the controversial plan for a wall between Texas and Mexico floated by the US Presidential candidate.

"I do not wish to see a hard border with the Republic of Ireland," the DUP leader said.

"If we didn't have a Donald Trump-style wall during the Troubles, I think that it's very hard to make that case now!"

And in the wake of the Prime Minister announcing that the Government will begin Brexit negotiations next year, Mrs Foster said she wanted to see the province's eight DUP MPs working as closely as possible with the Government "in the best interests of the country as a whole".

"It is even more important that the integrity of the United Kingdom is maintained in any new arrangements. We won't agree on everything, but I do believe we share many of the same core values," she said.

During the breakfast-time event she also backed moves towards new Assembly structures at Stormont - if the current system for an Opposition proves a success.

The First Minister said if the new arrangement was successful in the longer term, there would be a strong case for a reform of the Assembly structures.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Mrs Foster commented: "Though the 'official' Opposition has been taking its time to get up and running, government is undoubtedly being forced to up its game and perform better under the new arrangements.

"If this new Opposition arrangement does prove to be a success in the longer term I believe that there would be a strong case for reforming our structures to make it the norm rather than the exception.

"For Northern Ireland, this has been a good 12 months. A year ago the political institutions were in crisis, with a threat to devolution itself. Today we have entered a new and, I believe, better era in politics - one where our governmental structures are beginning to normalise and real progress is being made."

Referring to last November's Fresh Start Agreement as a turning point for devolution, she said it resolved the welfare reform crisis, stabilised finances, paved the way for a 12.5% corporation tax rate, and kickstarted measures "which I hope will lead to the end of paramilitary activity". Brexit also featured at question time in the Assembly yesterday when Mrs Foster told people to "calm down" after the emergence of a document last week in which Stormont civil servants listed more than 20 ways Brexit could damage Northern Ireland's economy.

Questions were raised over why the report, compiled by officials in the old Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister, had been kept under wraps during the referendum campaign.

Yesterday, Mrs Foster revealed the document was commissioned by the head of the Civil Service, Dr Malcolm McKibben, rather than her or Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

"Everybody needs to calm down about this so-called Brexit paper," she said, adding that she had spoken to Dr McKibben about it earlier yesterday.

"He had been on leave for a time. When I asked him why it had not been brought to my attention, he said: 'Well, I wouldn't have brought it to your attention, as it was not completed'," she said.

Meanwhile, Mr McGuinness warned that Westminster was on a "collision course" with the EU over Brexit. "This is more about the internal division within the British Tory party, which clearly has no clue whatsoever about what it is facing," he said.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd on the third day of the Conservative Party conference

Businesses and universities face new restrictions on recruiting overseas workers and students under a new drive to bring down immigration.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd revealed the shake-up as she reaffirmed the Government's controversial commitment to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands.

She said a "tick box" exercise has allowed some firms to get away with not training local people, revealing ministers will consider whether new tests should be imposed to ensure those coming to the UK are "filling gaps in the labour market, not taking jobs British people could do".

In her first major address since being appointed to the post, Ms Rudd also revealed proposals to overhaul the "one size fits all" regime for student immigration.

Ministers are considering whether the rules should be tailored to the quality of the course and educational institution.

Ms Rudd told the Conservative conference: "I'm passionately committed to making sure our world-leading institutions can attract the brightest and the best.

"But a student immigration system that treats every student and university as equal only punishes those we should want to help."

Under current rules for the main route for sponsoring skilled non-EU workers, businesses must satisfy a "resident labour market test", which involves placing two adverts to ensure there are no suitable workers already living permanently in the UK.

Students from outside the European Economic Area must apply for visas and obtain sponsorship from a university or college which has been granted a licence.

An estimated 111,000 non-EU citizens migrated to the UK to study in the year to March.

Ms Rudd's speech sparked warnings from business groups.

Josh Hardie, CBI deputy director-general, said it is "time to be clear about the value of migration to the UK, as well as its challenges", adding: "Businesses will not welcome further restrictions on high-skilled migration from key trading partners around the world."

Mr Hardie warned the government to "tread carefully" on any changes to student immigration "to make sure we don't undermine this critical sector for national prosperity".

Seamus Nevin, of the Institute of Directors, said the evidence is clear that migrants "are a benefit to the economy".

He said: "The Home Office also must not try to make employers do the work of government. Small companies do not have the expertise or know-how to vet immigration applications."

Dr Wendy Piatt, of the Russell Group, which represents 24 leading UK universities, said: " Our universities compete on the global stage so we welcome the Government's commitment to help us attract the brightest and the best from around the world.

"It is essential that our immigration system takes a risk-based approach to support legitimate students who want to study here."

Ms Rudd also set out a three-pronged crackdown on illegal immigration.

From December, landlords who knowingly rent out property to those with no right to be in Britain will be committing a criminal offence and could face prison, while immigration checks will be made mandatory for people wanting to get a licence to drive a taxi.

From next autumn, banks will have to carry out regular checks to ensure they are not providing essential banking services to illegal migrants.

Measures to make it easier for Britain to remove foreign criminals were also outlined, with EU nationals who repeatedly commit so-called minor offences facing deportation and a ban from returning to the UK for five to 10 years.

Ms Rudd announced a new 140 million Controlling Migration Fund designed to ease the pressures on public services in areas of high migration.

The Home Secretary told activists the vote to leave the EU was a "clear message" from the British people to tackle high immigration.

She stressed it remains the Government's commitment to reduce net migration - the difference between the numbers of people arriving and leaving - to five figures, but warned: "This will not happen overnight."

Official figures show the net migration is running at close to a third of a million.

Alp Mehmet, vice chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: "These are very welcome steps forward. The referendum underlined public concern about immigration so it is only right that the Government addresses all aspects of the problem."
Ex-PC Steven Walters has been jailed for four years for sexually assaulting one woman in back of police car and other in her own home (Picture: West Midlands Police)

A policeman who sexually assaulted a female passenger in his patrol car and went on to grope a woman who reported a missing person has been jailed for four years.

Pc Steven Walters, 48, left his victims suffering panic attacks, anxiety and depression after committing the offences two months apart while on duty in 2015.

Stafford Crown Court was told the West Midlands Police officer, who was based in Sutton Coldfield, attacked the older of his two victims in her own home - touching her under her skirt before asking to be taken to a bedroom.

Walters admitted two counts of sexual assault at a previous hearing, including an offence in which he placed his hand on the thigh of a woman aged in her 20s who was offered a lift home in the early hours.

Passing sentence, Judge Paul Glenn told Walters: "The public are entitled to have faith in police officers and to trust them in the discharge of their powers and responsibilities, which are considerable.

"You exploited that trust and you have brought disgrace on yourself and indeed the force you served."

The first victim, the judge said, had simply been walking home after midnight when Walters' colleague asked her "what she was doing at that time of night in that dress".

The court heard the woman, who cannot be named, was left scared and feeling "creeped out" by the sustained incident in Sutton Coldfield.

Walters' other victim, whose children were in her property in other rooms, experienced feelings of disgust and anxiety after being forced to avoid attempts to kiss her face and neck.

Judge Glenn, who opted not make an order against Walters for 18,500 in prosecution costs, said the officer believed he could easily explain away the offences if he was reported to his own force.

Referring to a probation report prepared on Walters, the judge added: "Nowhere within that report do I see any remorse.

"The inference I draw is the same as the probation officer - you did not expect the victims to report this because of the fact that you were a police officer.

"You were confident you could deal with any allegations by lying."

In a statement issued after Walters was jailed, West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson confirmed that the response officer had been dismissed from the force on Monday for gross misconduct.

Apologising for Walters' offences, Mr Thompson said: "The public expects simple things from the police: that they can trust us, that we offer friendship and service to people in need, and that vulnerable people are safe in our care.

"Pc Walters has engaged in criminal activity that has shocked me. In 26 years' police service, this is one of the worst violations of policing integrity I have ever seen."

The older victim was attacked after dialling 999 to report that a child had gone missing, police said.

Walters, whose address cannot be published because of a court order sought by West Midlands Police, was dismissed from his post without notice.

The Pc was arrested in May last year and initially denied any wrongdoing, but pleaded guilty last month after his DNA was found on garments worn by his second victim.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which investigated the offences, praised the courage of the victims who reported the assaults.

IPCC Commissioner Derrick Campbell said: "We carried out a thorough investigation after this matter was referred to us, and that found that Walters had completely abused his position of trust by targeting and taking advantage of vulnerable women for his own sexual gratification.

"Walters has now paid a heavy price for his actions, and I hope this case demonstrates that those who engage in such inappropriate and criminal behaviour will be held to account.

"I would like to again praise the courage and bravery of the women who came forward to give evidence against him, and hope that they can now move on in the knowledge that justice has been done."
Asda spokeswoman: 'Our customers can be assured that we are working closely with industry groups and farmers to make sure that antibiotics are used responsibly in farm animals'

The "superbug" MRSA has been found in British pork, reports have suggested.

However, experts stressed the finding does not pose a significant risk to the public and said sensible food hygiene should minimise any risk.

A test, commissioned by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, Compassion in World Farming and Sustain, examined 97 UK-produced pork products from supermarkets.

Two samples of minced pork from Asda and one from Sainsbury's were found to have the livestock strain of MRSA, the Guardian reported.

Emma Rose, from the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, told the newspaper: "It is extremely worrying to find LA (livestock-associated)-MRSA in British-produced pork. LA-MRSA is able to cause serious and potentially fatal infections in humans, and as the bacteria is resistant to antibiotics, it is extremely difficult to treat. What's more, even more dangerous variations are emerging as the superbug evolves."

But Nicola Williams, professor of bacterial zoonotic disease at the University of Liverpool, said: "Current data does not suggest that livestock-associated MRSA is common among UK pig herds. Even if herds are infected with significant levels of the bacteria, the extent of contamination of meat with MRSA will be much lower than compared to food-poisoning bacteria such as salmonella, so the risk of transmission to people will be lower."

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "We only allow the use of medicines on farms for animal health and welfare purposes, and under the strict supervision of a vet. We work closely with our farmers to ensure antibiotics are used responsibly.

"MRSA CC398 is uncommon in British pork and, through basic kitchen hygiene and thoroughly cooking meat, any food safety issue is removed."

An Asda spokeswoman added: "Our customers can be assured that we are working closely with industry groups and farmers to make sure that antibiotics are used responsibly in farm animals. We are doing all we can to promote good animal health and welfare conditions without relying on antibiotics."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "Livestock-associated MRSA is not the same as MRSA strains that can cause healthcare-associated infections and if meat is handled and prepared properly, the risk to people is low."
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The US supports a negotiated settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, US State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said during a daily briefing.

We continue to engage actively with the sides. You know were co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Our longstanding policy shared by the Minsk Group co-chairs is that a just settlement must be based on international law, which includes the Helsinki Final Act, the principle of non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity, and self-determination, she said.

She noted that responsibility for peace rests on the leaders of the two countries, and reiterated their importance in finding a negotiated peace.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was said to have been insulted in the poem (AP)

German prosecutors have dropped an investigation into a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime.

In April, the German government granted a Turkish request to allow the possible prosecution of Jan Boehmermann for insulting a foreign head of state.

German law requires the government to grant permission before prosecutors can consider whether to press charges.

Boehmermann had read the poem on ZDF television to illustrate what he said would not be allowed in Germany, contrasting it with another channel's earlier satirical song that also poked fun at Mr Erdogan and angered Turkey.

Prosecutors in Mainz, where ZDF is based, said in a statement on Tuesday that "criminal actions could not be proven with the necessary certainty".
You report the presence of the First and deputy First Ministers and various members of their respective parties at the celebrations of the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (News, September 29).

That several members of Sinn Fein were there is hardly surprising, but perhaps Mrs Foster and her DUP colleague would explain why they were celebrating the foundation of one of the most murderous regimes of the last century.

C D C ARMSTRONG

Belfast
The Kitchen Cabinet is a BBC radio show about food and drink. A few weeks ago it came from Northern Ireland and it was striking to hear the presenter alternate between the different names for the city from which the programme was being broadcast. First it would be Derry, then Londonderry, then back to Derry and so on.

It was almost as if there was a nervous producer sitting backstage, counting the number of times each name was used, then yelling in the presenter's earpiece: "Too many Derrys! Switch at once to Londonderry! This is not a drill!"

It was funny, but sad too, because it was a reminder that this is how those who live in Northern Ireland are seen - as people so quick to take offence where none is intended that it's better to tread carefully not to rouse our wrath.

And maybe they're right to think of us that way, when even the naming of a boat can provoke a row.

In Britain earlier this year when a name was needed for a new polar ship, the choice was put to a public vote. The runaway winner was Boaty McBoatface, though killjoys in Government eventually called it RRS Sir David Attenborough instead. So much for democracy.

We should be so lucky.

When a name was needed in 2010 for the fisheries protection vessel that patrols the seas between Lough Foyle and Anglesey, the-then Agriculture Minister, Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Fein, christened it Banrion Uladh.

Now that the equivalent position at Stormont is held by the DUP's Michelle McIlveen, the name has been changed to its English language version, Queen of Ulster.

Gildernew is furious with her fellow Michelle, branding the decision "petty in the extreme". And, of course, it was.

As one-time Culture Minister Gregory Campbell made plain, the DUP has little patience for all that "curry my yoghurt" business. They've clearly taken the first chance to replace it with one more acceptable to their tastes.

But to complain that this particular decision was petty is bizarre when the original decision was equally petty.

When Sinn Fein had the power to name the boat it used that power, without any consultation, to make a political point. When the DUP got the power, it used it, again without consultation, to make a political point.

That proves we're being ruled by children, but neither has any right to take the moral high ground. All they've done is show that, despite all the positive developments in community relations, we're still stuck in an "Ussens and Themmuns" mindset and that language remains one of the chief battlegrounds.

Gildernew even said in response to the DUP decision that "there were other names that were far more Irish that I could have went (sic) with, but I didn't".

How can one name be "far more Irish" than another? A word is either Irish or it isn't. That's like saying one woman can be "far more pregnant" than another. You're either having a baby, or you're not. Relativity doesn't come into it.

It was quite a revealing comment, though. Evidently, there was a process of consideration going on in Sinn Fein to see how much they could get away with and they now think they should be congratulated for not calling the ship something outrageously provocative, such as Tiocfaidh ar La, perhaps, or ordering it to set sail each day to the strains of Paul McCartney's Give Ireland Back To The Irish.

If so, then surely McIlveen should be applauded for not choosing a name that was "far more British" too?

This urge to get one over on the other side is the dark underbelly of local politics, the bit we don't really want to admit still exists.

It came to attention again last week with the survey from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, which found that, compared to five years ago, fewer young people now believe that relations between Catholics and Protestants are getting better. It's not that they're bigots. The same surveys shows that more than 80% are tolerant these days of those with a different sense of identity. They just don't happen to think that the separate communities are mixing that much, or that successfully.

Instead, they're looking around and wondering why ancient divisions they had no part in creating and no interest in perpetuating cling on.

The fact that outwardly intelligent adults can fall out over a boat hardly helps. Ministers have a duty to rise above these ridiculous squabbles, but they rarely do.

If those who regard themselves as pure-blooded Irish really do want their British neighbours not to feel hostile towards Gaelic and to listen to Irish music and feel positively towards Irish culture in general, then they should stop using these markers of identity as weapons.

The same goes for unionists. Northern Ireland is unique in having a fusion of Britishness and Irishness. By trying to make one half of it invisible, they actually undermine what makes the place special, for good and, yes, bad, too, sometimes. You can't have one without the other.

In setting their faces so stubbornly against the Irish language, the DUP is being particularly foolish.

If anything, the best way to stop the Irish language being used more widely would be to make it compulsory in schools.

After decades of forcing the language down the throats of every child in the Republic, hardly anyone speaks it regularly. Most couldn't even pronounce "Banrion Uladh", let alone translate it. That's why there's so much importance attached to symbolic gestures, such as having Irish accepted as an official language of the EU, or putting up street signs, or hearing the odd "go raibh maith agat" ("thank you") or "dia dhuit" ("hello").

On one level, it seems silly, because what difference does a street sign make? On another, if these small tokens are all that those who see themselves as Irish are asking for - and evidence from south of the border suggests that it is - then why antagonise them needlessly by taking those symbols away?

Maybe the BBC had the right idea after all. Just call the ship Banrion Uladh/Queen of Ulster and let people choose which name they want to use at any given moment. It's only a boat, after all.

Northern Ireland has enough real problems without creating new ones where none need to be.
Jamie Dornans dad has revealed how he landed himself a role in hit BBC drama The Fall.

Retired obstetrician Professor Jim Dornan stars as Policing Board member John Porter in this weeks episode of the crime thriller series, which stars his son Jamie as serial killer Paul Spector.

It was the writer and producer Allan Cubitts idea, Prof Dornan told Sunday Life.

I met him socially and he asked me to take part in The Fall. He really wanted me to do it for Jamie.

Jamie had finished filming and he had no idea I was going to be in it. It came as a real surprise to him when he found out.

In episode two, Professor Jim brings gravitas to the role of John Porter, who quizzes Assistant Chief Constable Jim Burns (John Lynch) over developments in the case of the Belfast strangler.

Jim Dornan had one line to say at a Policing Board meeting at Clarendon Dock  Can the Assistant Chief Constable please provide us with an update on the progress of the Operation Music Man taskforce?

It was quite a difficult line to say, laughed Jim, who admitted he needed a few takes to satisfy the director.

John Lynch was lovely  he was very helpful. He had kind words when I got it right and smiled sweetly when I got it wrong. I really enjoyed it and it was a very interesting morning. I would say it was awe-inspiring.

I was very impressed with the professionalism of everyone involved in the production and the detail they went into to get things right.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Genevieve O'Reilly in The Fall. Genevieve O'Reilly alongside Gillian Anderson in The Fall. Helen Sloan / The Fall 3 Ltd / Facebook

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I thought my scene would end up on the cutting room floor, admitted Jim, who has not viewed the episode yet.

Im looking forward to watching it this week.

Jim joined the actors union Equity prior to taking his first professional role in The Fall, but he has experience treading the boards. He acted in school plays and later performed with amateur drama group, The Clarence Players, but he gave up on acting around the time Jamie was born.

I certainly would have considered acting as a career if medicine hadnt worked out, said the 68-year-old granddad.

Also starring in episode two of The Fall is Dublin-born actress Genevieve OReilly, who has gone from killer to cop for her latest role filmed here.

The Dublin actress impressed as Sunday school teacher turned killer Hazel Stewart in ITVs The Secret co-starring James Nesbitt as her twisted, Bible-bashing lover Colin Howell.

She gets to speak in a Northern Irish accent again in The Fall, playing a Police Ombudsman investigator who grills Gillian Andersons Stella Gibson over the operation which resulted in Spector being shot by a loyalist gangster.

OReillys methodical inquisitor demands to know why both Gibson and the suspect were not wearing body armour when jealous husband Jimmy Tyler ambushed Spector in the woods.

Gibson is put through the ringer over her failure to abide by police procedures in the hunt for the Belfast strangler and the search to find his final victim, Rose Stagg.

The Fall continues on BBC 2 on Thursday at 9pm.
Google's new own-built smartphone, Pixel in Quite Black and Very Silver (right), which the tech giant says has been built with artificial intelligence at its centre. PA

Google has revealed its new own-built smartphone, Pixel, which the tech giant says has been built with artificial intelligence in mind, at a live press event in San Francisco.

The Pixel has Google Assistant built into its software, the firm's artificial intelligence program that is designed to understand context and help with tasks.

The new phone was unveiled at an event in San Francisco, and comes in both a 5in and 5.5in size.

It has been billed by Google as housing the "best smartphone camera ever made" and the first device to be built to work with Google's new Daydream virtual reality platform.

Users will be able to access the Assistant AI program from any screen on the device, and it will be able to understand context.

When demonstrated on stage, Pixel was able to find details on a restaurant that was mentioned in a text message conversation - offering contact details, photos and directions.

Google chief Sundar Pichai said the Pixel marked the beginning of a new era in computing and smartphones.

Expand Close Google's new products including its new own-built smartphone, Pixel (centre), which the tech giant says has been built with artificial intelligence at its centre. PA PA / Facebook

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"We're at a seminal moment in computing," he said.

"We've always had big shifts in computing in every 10 years or so. It began in the 1980s with personal computers. In the 90s the web arrived and it was the biggest platform shift ever.

"10 years later in the mid 2000s, we had the smartphone revolution. Now the shift continues. We are evolving from a mobile first to AI first world."

Google also revealed the first virtual reality headset for its new Daydream VR platform, Daydream View.

Unlike rival headsets - including Samsung's Gear VR - View is finished in fabric, a conscious design decision, the tech giant said, aimed at replicating the type of materials used in other wearable products.

The new headset is powered by placing the new Pixel smartphone into it, though Google did also confirm that future Android phones would also come with Daydream support.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images) Getty Images Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images) Getty Images Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images) Getty Images Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images) Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)

It will enable users to watch YouTube videos and access Google Maps in virtual reality, as well as play games.

The headset is also supported by a companion controller that can be used as a remote as well as a way to write and draw in virtual reality.

The tech giant revealed that the View headset will go on sale in November.

Google also introduced a range of new products aimed at creating a "smart home".

This included Google WiFi, a new system of small WiFi receivers placed around a home to build a network that will improve signal, the internet company said.

The system will also enable users to control access to the internet, turning off WiFi during dinner time for example.

Expand Close Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images) Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pichai Sundararajan, known as Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc. speaks during an event to introduce Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California. The Google Pixel is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone in the premium smartphone category. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)

The tech giant's popular Chromecast streaming device has also been updated to now support 4K definition for the first time, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) content, which offers better picture quality.

The new Chromecast Ultra will cost 69 when it launches later this year.

As expected, the firm's smart speaker aiming to rival Amazon's recently-launched Echo was also unveiled.

Google Home is voice controlled and can be used to manage and control other smart appliances, as well as using artificial intelligence to answer questions.
The start of the Jewish New Year, the month of Tishrei, is filled with holy days, among them four foundational celebrations: Rosh haShanah, Yom haKippurim, Sukkot and Simchat Torah-Shemini Atzeret. They are as different from one another as possible.

Yet, we may also think of all four holidays as two pairs of two. The first two the day of memory and accounting and the day of atonement  are awe-inspiring and grave compared with the last two festivals, which are days of joy. At the same time, the first three holidays do have a common denominator: as much as these are Jewish holidays, they carry a universal message. Here, embedded within them, are three of humanitys cardinal touchstones: accounting and judgment; mercy and atonement; and the joy of life. These attributes and qualities are essential to the lives of every human being. We mark the New Year by commemorating creation on the one hand, and celebrating the Kingship of the Lord on the other.

Both creation and Gods sovereignty pertain to all humankind and are not specifically Jewish. The Day of Atonement, too, is relevant to every human being. Life is full of mistakes and transgressions. Without atonement it would be unbearable to go on living with the unresolved and painful pieces of our past. Sukkot, at first glance, seems to be far more connected with Jewish history. Yet, at its essence, this holiday is actually a festival of thanksgiving for what we have.

We acknowledge the tranquility in our lives and express our gratitude for Divine gifts. Moreover, our sages teach us that during Sukkot -- in the days of the Holy Temple  70 bulls were offered to God in the name of the 70 nations of the world. As the prophet Zachariah foretells, in the days to come it is on Sukkot that all the peoples of the world will come as pilgrims to the Temple in Jerusalem (14:16-21).

This combination of the particular and the universal is not just one more interesting point: it is the key for understanding the meaning of these three holidays. In all our other celebrations and perhaps in Jewish religious life in general, we stress the specificity of Jewish existence. Most of our holidays and memorial days are deeply connected with our own history. In Tishrei, however, we focus on our fundamental humanity, on the fact that we are human beings with great problems. In this context, humanity is not defined as a group of human beings; here we speak of our basic humanity -- humanity as a quality. The very touchstones that we mark in Tishrei are what make us human. The essence of the universality of these holidays, then, is not in the point of sharing with others: it is in delving into ourselves in order to reveal and find some of the fundamentals of our existence. We explore and acknowledge what is universal to all humankind within our own selves.

The fourth and last of the holidays of the month of Tishrei, Shemini Atzeret (and with it Simchat Torah), stands in clear contrast to the first three. As beautifully depicted by our sages, the King made great banquet, to which he invited all the citizens of his realm. At the end of these feasts, he called his most beloved friend and said: now that all these big events are over, let us have a small banquet just for the two of us (tractate Sukkah 55b).

Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz is a world-renowned distinguished scholar, teacher, mystic and social critic.

The first volume of the new Koren Talmud Bavli with Rabbi Steinsaltzs English translation and commentary is available through the publisher and Amazon. The Koren Talmud iPad App will be available soon. November 18th is the Third Annual Global Day of Jewish Learning, a program spearheaded by Rabbi Steinsaltz to bring the study of Jewish texts to communities around the world.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Kim Kardashian is back safely in NYC with Kanye West, and they arrived with around two dozen bodyguards, TMZ reported.

There was an insane show of force as Kim, Kanye, Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble pulled up outside their residence -- they had a caravan of about 10 vehicles with 15-20 bodyguards watching everything and everyone in the area. NYPD's also on the scene.

The amount of security is almost like what you see when the President makes an appearance.

Interestingly, Pascal Duvier ... Kim's bodyguard was still with them. As we reported ... he was not at the apartment with Kim when the armed robbery went down in Paris.
Malaysian army personnel demonstrate combat skills in a war situation during the opening day of 15th Defense Services Asia Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, April 18, 2016.

Fifteen Malaysian military personnel have been arrested for alleged involvement in terrorist activities since 2013, according to the nations anti-terror chief, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

Of the 15, three were released after investigations, five were charged for terrorism-related activities, and seven others are being held under anti-crime laws that cover acts of terrorism, Ayob told BenarNews.

We are working with the military on this matter. IS influences everybody; military and police personnel are not exempted, he said, referring to the so-called Islamic State group.

On Sept. 26, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was quoted as saying that about 1 percent of suspected IS supporters arrested to date were members of the nations armed forces.

He did not give the number of military suspects, or an overall number of people arrested for suspected ties to IS. But he said his department was taking the development seriously.

We are going all out. The Military Religious Corps (Kagat) and Military Intelligence have been tasked to monitor and gather intelligence on our men and women for any signs that they may be influenced by militant propaganda, Malaysian daily The Star quoted him as saying.

Whoever has access to computer is exposed to the threat of Daesh, he said, using another name for IS.

Whether they are a soldier, whether it is our son, our children, could be a bus driver, they are considered to be someone that is potentially capable of conducting threats of that nature, he said, speaking on the sidelines of an international military seminar in Kuala Lumpur.

Born-again Muslims

Low education levels and poor religious knowledge make some army personnel an easy target for IS radicalization, former Royal Malaysia Police special branch deputy director Hamid Bador told BenarNews.

At the same time some of these soldiers, those who have gone astray, became born-again-Muslims. They cut corners to redeem past sins. Thus the shortest way to heaven is to be a mujahideen and die as a martyr, he told BenarNews.

He said there is a need for a special de-radicalization program for the armed forces. Mobilise the lower ranks in peacetime military activities. Do not leave them idle for too long, he said.

Ahmad El-Muhammady, an analyst assisting Malaysian authorities in de-radicalization programs, said the backgrounds of terror suspects detained by Malaysian police are diverse, indicating that IS propaganda has reached many parts of society.

[T]o me this is not about number and percentage, it is about the existence of radical ideology that penetrated into military and security forces, regardless of how many of them [are] involved, he told BenarNews.

A majority of the detainees are sympathetic to the sufferings of Muslims in war-torn countries such as Syria and trying to help with all sincerity, he said.

In the case of military men, they feel that they can contribute to the struggle of Syrian people because they have combat skills, and weapon handling, and physical fitness. Knowing and unknowingly, they have breached the law of the land, he said.

Ayob said 58 Malaysians are with IS in Syria or Iraq: 32 men, 10 women and 16 are children.

Of the 90 who joined the extremist group in the Middle East since 2013, 24 are believed to have been killed in battle, and eight were arrested after returning home, Ayob said.

Since 2013, authorities have arrested at least 230 suspected IS supporters on home soil and have warned that Malaysians returning from combat stints in Syria or Iraq could launch terrorist attacks at home.

In late June, IS claimed its first terrorist attack in Malaysia when two motorcyclists threw a hand grenade that exploded outside a nightclub in Puchong, Selangor, injuring eight people.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on October 4 sent a congratulatory letter to Distinguished Art Worker of Armenia, author, and publicist Alvard Petrosyan on the occasion of her 70th birth anniversary, press service of the Presidential administration informed Armenpress.

The Presidents letter reads:

In your activities your dedication to humanism and truth is obvious. Your stories about common people, simple men, and the country are a continuation and development of the rich traditions of our modern literature.

You are a peculiar face in the modern Armenian prose writing whose works are full of intellectuals pain and concern as well as unbound love and trust towards the future of the country.

Your pen of a publicist has always been sharp and actual, raising pressing social issues and inviting attention to the important problems, offering realistic solutions.

I wish you good health and new creative achievements.
As part of a research project Im conducting, I have just completed listening to 40 college students who say they have become Christians within the past two years. I have interviewed each student for 45 minutes or more to probe, gain insight, and learn what worked in their journey from unbelief to salvation. I hope, as a result of analyzing the transcripts of these interviews (and writing a little thing they call a dissertation towards a PhD in missions), to offer insights about how the church can be more effective and fruitful in evangelism.

Here are ten initial thoughts by way of observation and concerns:

- Nothing can thwart God. I know that sounds like a cliche but the stories highlighted just how powerfully God can break through to those who seem the least likely to respond. There were many moments when I marveled at how relentlessly God pursues the lost.

- So many of these students come from terribly messed up backgrounds. Their parents divorces, alcoholism, and irresponsible lifestyles have had devastating effects on them. And they connect the dots from their parents divorce or other problems to their own self-destructive behaviors. At times, it was difficult to listen.

- The social experiments of the 1960s (so-called free love, easy divorce, gay pride, and more) have proven to yield disastrous results. This generation has not benefited from the self-expression their parents thought would be so healthy, freeing, or better than the repression they rebelled against. During the interviews, I often reflected on which social experiments were launching today that may yield even worse consequences.

- The hookup and porn cultures are not as much fun as theyre portrayed to be by irresponsible television shows or other culture-shaping outlets. The women feel abused by a system that insists upon conformity to sexual pressures. And some men are near suicidal in their loneliness.

- This generation has imbibed mammoth quantities of alcohol and drugs. It was deeply disturbing to hear of blackouts and forgotten weekends (behaviors often associated with people much older and with longer dramas of addiction) from people only 19 or 20 years old.

- Most of them dont read. Personal relationships and conversations with friends clarified the issues for them and helped them find answers to their questions. Happily, many of them became serious and diligent readers after conversion. But for those of us who write or want to write evangelistic books, this was a sobering finding.

- The so-called new atheism is real and growing among this age group. But most of the converts out of this background admit that, for them, it was more of a persona than a deep intellectual conviction. Compassion from Christians and friendship during crises pointed them to God more often than philosophical arguments.

- The questions have changed. Christians used to feel the need to defend the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, the historicity of the resurrection, and the uniqueness of Jesus to unsaved inquirers. Today the questions are:

Why are Christians so homophobic? (iterated in a variety of ways as the biggest objection to responding to the gospel!)

If I believe what you believe, do I have to become judgmental, too?

Why are Christians so weird?

Do I have to be against science, evolution, abortion, and gay marriage to become a Christian? If so, Im not interested.

- A loving community of Christians who seemed to have a purpose, be accepting of others, express love, and not be cynical was a common thread through most of the stories. For some, coming from unloving, dangerous, or blatantly harmful home situations, the church provided a refuge beyond their wildest imaginations.

- We, the church and all our outreach ministries, need to do a better job with clearly articulating the gospel message. Many students had moving emotional experiences or made firm commitments to stop certain behaviors or felt loved by a community of believers in ways that healed painful wounds of their dysfunctional families messes. But Im not totally sure they were regenerated by the power of God made manifest through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. The need for deep, thoughtful, penetrating Biblical teaching is no less urgent than ever.

Randy Newman has been with the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ since 1980. Find out more at his blog, Integration Points.




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

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For Immediate Release, October 4, 2016 Contact: Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495, ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org

Jim Scheff, (859) 334-0602, jim@kyheartwood.org Southeastern Kentucky Fish Protected Under Endangered Species Act With

248 Stream Miles of Critical Habitat Kentucky Arrow Darter Lost From Half Its Range Due to Mountaintop Removal LEXINGTON, Ky. Under a settlement agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity expediting protection decisions for 757 species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today protected the Kentucky arrow darter, a small fish found only in southeastern Kentucky, under the Endangered Species Act. The agency also protected 248 miles of streams in 10 eastern counties as critical habitat for the fish. The fish has been lost from about half of its historical range due primarily to water pollution from surface coal mining. Much of this loss has occurred since the mid-1990s. Kentucky arrow darter photo by Dr. Matthew R. Thomas, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. This photo is available for media use. The Kentucky arrow darter and the streams it depends on have been absolutely devastated by surface coal mining, said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center. Endangered Species Act protection will not only help the darter survive, but will also help protect the health of the people who have to live with polluted water and air from coal mining every single day. The streams being proposed for protection as critical habitat are found in Breathitt, Clay, Harlan, Jackson, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Owsley, Perry and Wolfe counties. Critical habitat protection means that any federally funded or permitted project will have to consult with the Service to make sure activities do not hurt the fish or its habitat. The Kentucky arrow darter has been lost from 36 of 74 sites, with 16 of these extirpations having taken place since the mid-1990s as mountaintop-removal coal mining expanded. In some counties in eastern Kentucky, nearly one-fifth of the total surface area of the county has been permitted for coal mining, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. As of 2008, 23 percent of the total area of Perry County and 18 percent of the total area of Knott County were under open permits for surface coal mining.

I grew up on Troublesome Creek, where the Kentucky arrow darter is now nearly wiped out, said Curry. I don't want to see this beautiful fish disappear from any more streams. Populations in nearly half of the darters occupied streams are ranked as vulnerable and are isolated, putting the species at risk of extinction throughout its range. In addition to coal mining, the Kentucky arrow darter is threatened by logging, oil and gas well development, agricultural runoff and inadequate sewage treatment. The healthiest surviving populations are found on the Daniel Boone National Forest and Robinson Experimental Forest. If oil prices go up again, this unique little fish will be in real trouble, said Jim Scheff, executive director of Kentucky Heartwood. The oil and gas industry is gunning for fracking in the Rogersville Shale in eastern Kentucky, and there are pending oil and gas projects in Kentucky arrow darter habitat on the Daniel Boone National Forest, where because of antiquated policies concerning split estates, the Forest Service and industry argue that federal environmental laws that would otherwise protect the arrow darter dont apply. Kentucky arrow darters are 5 inches long, with a straw-yellow to pale-green background color most of the year; males become brightly colored during the breeding season, becoming blue-green with scarlet spots and orange bars. They feed on mayflies and young crawdads. Pollution from surface coal mining in Appalachia has been linked to declines in downstream fish, salamanders, insects and mussels. Mining also threatens downstream communities with pollution and risk of flooding. More than 20 peer-reviewed scientific studies have linked mining pollution in Appalachia to health problems, including increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and birth defects. More than a million acres of hardwood forest and more than 2,000 miles of streams have already been destroyed by surface coal mining in Appalachia. To date 177 plants and animals have received protection as a result of the Center's agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, and another 20 have been proposed for protection. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has shown determination in fighting racism and intolerance, integrating refugees and supporting ethnic minorities, said the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in its new report.

Since the adoption of ECRIs fourth report on Armenia on 7 December 2010, progress has been made in a number of areas covered by the report.

Armenia has shown determination in the fight against racism and intolerance. For example, in October 2013, it took the initiative of organising a Conference on Combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe, during the Armenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

As far as legislation is concerned, the Armenian authorities have launched a process to revise the Criminal Code. Attention will be focused on bringing the provisions criminalising hate crimes into line with the terms of ECRIs General Policy Recommendation No. 7.

In addition, the authorities have embarked upon drawing up draft comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.

Regarding the fight against racism and intolerance, Armenia takes an active part in the Council of Europes HELP assistance programme. This initiative has helped to improve the ability of justice professionals to respond effectively to racism and racial discrimination issues.

In the field of integration, Armenia has taken measures to integrate a large influx of people from Syria. For example, the authorities have opened an integration centre.

Concerning the ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities historically present in the country, the Armenian authorities have significantly increased their financial support for the ethnic minorities. The Co-ordination Council of Ethnic Minorities has adopted objective criteria and rules of procedure. Financial assistance is granted according to each ethnic minoritys real needs. Lastly, the authorities have made considerable effort to increase the capacity of pre-school education facilities and to improve childrens readiness for school.

ECRI welcomes these positive developments in Armenia. Nonetheless, despite the progress made, certain points remain matters of concern.

The Armenian authorities have embarked upon significant legislative initiatives. However, the criminal, civil and administrative legislation suffers from numerous shortcomings with the result that it is not possible to combat racism or racial discrimination comprehensively. The courts lack expertise in the application of the international standards which plaintiffs could rely on to rectify the existing legal shortcomings.

In cases of racial discrimination, the lack of any mechanism for sharing the burden of proof makes it difficult to establish evidence. This undermines the Human Rights Defenders ability to gather information on cases of racial discrimination submitted to him.

ECRI notes a rise in hate speech leading to acts of violence. The main targets of this are members of the LGBT community and non-traditional religious groups. This situation is all the more worrying given that there is a high level of under-reporting of racist and homo/transphobic crime and that the effectiveness of the criminal, civil and administrative law provisions dealing with hate crime or discrimination is seriously hampered by the shortcomings in legislation. In addition, political discourse frequently contains statements stigmatising these vulnerable groups, which helps trivialise racist and intolerant attitudes within the population. On this question, ECRI deplores the lack of any condemnation by the authorities or political leaders of the homo/transphobic statements made following the arson attack on a Yerevan gay bar in May 2012.

Measures to promote the integration of vulnerable groups are not clearly set out. There is no overall planning of their funding (which, moreover, involves numerous external donors) and there are certain gaps. The support and assistance measures for migrants, as they currently stand, do not last long enough to ensure their integration into Armenian society. The priority housing programme adopted for persons forcibly displaced from Azerbaijan has not yet been finalised.

In this report, ECRI calls on the authorities to take additional measures in a number of areas; it makes a series of recommendations, which include the following.

With regard to the criminal-law provisions to combat hate crime, the authorities should bring criminal legislation into line with its General Policy Recommendation No. 7.

Sexual orientation and gender identity should be added to the list of prohibited grounds. A provision explicitly stipulating that homo/transphobic motivation constitutes an aggravating circumstance for all ordinary offences should be added. With regard to civil and administrative legislation, the authorities should enact a comprehensive anti-discrimination law covering all the grounds of interest to ECRI, in all fields of life.

Concerning the Human Rights Defender, the authorities should either amend the law to enable him to deal with discrimination in the private sector or establish an independent equality authority.

The ability to combat hate crime would be enhanced by establishing an independent mechanism responsible for dealing with all types of complaint against the police.

There should also be a code of media ethics comprising clear provisions against racist and homo/transphobic hate speech. The code of conduct in force in parliament should allow for the punishment of racist and homo/transphobic hate speech made by MPs. The authorities should initiate investigations and prosecutions for all cases of incitement to violence and hatred, or threats against LGBT persons. The Armenian authorities should make a public statement condemning hate speech and homo/transphobic violence.

In the field of integration, the authorities should draw up a national strategy and establish a system to collect equality data and produce equality statistics.

The programmes for the integration of vulnerable groups should comprise a description of their objectives and a complete set of criteria for assessing their impact on these groups. They should also comprise a clear financial plan, identifying actions to be funded by the state budget and actions for which funding must be sought from external donors.


For Immediate Release, October 4, 2016 Contact: Jaclyn Lopez, (727) 490-9190, jlopez@biologicaldiversity.org South Florida's Miami Tiger Beetle Gains Endangered Species Act Protection ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. In response to a scientific petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and partners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today protected the Miami tiger beetle under the Endangered Species Act. Found only in the pine rocklands of South Florida, the tiger beetle was believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 2007. The Center petitioned for Endangered Species Act protections in December 2014 after learning that the beetle is threatened by a planned strip mall featuring a Walmart and a proposed theme park. Miami tiger beetle photo  Chris Wirth. Its a huge relief to know that this tiny, mighty creature will now be around for years to come, said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center. Endangered Species Act protection will help ensure the beetles rare pine rockland hunting grounds remain intact in the face of ever-pressing development. The shiny-green Miami tiger beetle is so named for its aggressive, predatory behavior, strong mandibles and fast running speed. The South Florida pine rocklands where its found are some of the most imperiled lands in the world. Other endangered species that make their homes in the pine rockland habitat include the Florida bonneted bat, Carters small-flowered flax, Florida brickell-bush, Bartrams scrub-hairstreak butterfly, Florida leafwing butterfly, deltoid spurge, tiny polygala and sand flax. Pine rockland habitat has been fragmented and degraded by agricultural and urban development. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


For Immediate Release, October 4, 2016 Contact: Collette Adkins, Center for Biological Diversity, (651) 955-3821, cadkins@biologicaldiversity.org

Amey Owen, Animal Welfare Institute, (202) 446-2128, amey@awionline.org Lawsuit Filed to Protect Endangered Ocelots in Arizona, Texas From Government Killing Fewer Than 100 of Rare Wild Cats Likely Remain in United States TUCSON, Ariz. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Animal Welfare Institute today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that endangered ocelots arent inadvertently killed as part of the Departments long-running program to kill coyotes, bears, bobcats and other wildlife in Arizona and Texas. The Departments Wildlife Services program kills tens of thousands of animals in the two states every year using traps, snares and poisons. Ocelot photo by Tom Smylie, USFWS. This photo is available for media use. All the latest science shows Wildlife Services predator-control program is expensive, ineffective and inhumane, said Collette Adkins, a Center attorney and biologist. With fewer than 100 ocelots remaining in the United States, were trying to ensure that none will suffer and die in traps set for bobcats, coyotes and other predators targeted by Wildlife Services. Wildlife Services is required by the Endangered Species Act to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on its activities that may affect endangered species, including its predator-control activities. Because Wildlife Services kills wildlife within the range of the endangered ocelot, and given the similarity in size between ocelots and many of the targeted predators, the Fish and Wildlife Service warned Wildlife Services in a 2010 biological opinion document that ocelots could be harmed by its use of traps, snares and poisons (including baited M-44 devices that propel lethal doses of sodium cyanide into animals mouths). Since that 2010 opinion, ocelots have been spotted in several additional locations in Arizona, including the Huachuca and Santa Rita mountains. New evidence also indicates that Wildlife Services has failed to comply with the documents mandatory terms and conditions, intended to minimize risk to ocelots. This new information requires the program to reinitiate consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service to examine risks to ocelots and develop risk-mitigation measures. The complaint also alleges that Wildlife Services must use recent science to supplement its outdated environmental analyses of its wildlife-killing program in Arizona, which were prepared in the 1990s under the National Environmental Policy Act. The ocelot population is crumbling at the feet of Wildlife Services indiscriminate and haphazard wildlife-killing activities, said Tara Zuardo, a wildlife attorney with Animal Welfare Institute. With this lawsuit, we are sending a message to Wildlife Services that its tactics should not come at the expense of the future of this critically endangered species. To protect ocelots while the Fish and Wildlife Service completes the required analysis, the groups are seeking a halt to Wildlife Services animal-killing activities throughout the ocelots range in southern Arizona and Texas. Background

The ocelot has a tawny coat marked by elongated brown spots with black borders. It can weigh as much as 35 pounds and stretch to 4 feet in length (including the tail). Ocelots seem to prefer dense cover but use a variety of habitats. Hunting mostly at night, they target rabbits, birds, fish, rodents, snakes, lizards and other small- to medium-sized prey. The ocelots range includes Texas, Arizona, Mexico and Central and South America. Monitoring of collared individuals has shown that ocelots travel as far as 10 miles outside their home ranges. Since 2009 ocelots have been detected at least five times in Arizona, including a road-killed ocelot near Globe in 2010, a treed ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains in 2011, and a male ocelot photographed in the Santa Rita Mountains in 2014. Since 1982 the species has been designated as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Although never abundant, ocelots were historically killed incidentally during the hunting, trapping and poisoning of coyotes, bobcats and other predators. Habitat loss also contributed to the animals decline; only a fraction of the less than 5 percent of original native vegetation remaining in the lower Rio Grande Valley is optimal habitat for the cats. Now continuing habitat loss, collisions with vehicles and inbreeding resulting from small and isolated groups are keeping the wildcats population numbers low. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org The Animal Welfare Institute (awionline.org) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. AWI engages policymakers, scientists, industry, and the public to achieve better treatment of animals everywhere  in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild.


For Immediate Release, October 4, 2016 Contact: Patrick Sullivan, (415) 517-9364, psullivan@biologicaldiversity.org Report: Californians May Be Drinking Oil Industry Chemicals Scientists Identify Cancer-causing Substances in Oilfields Supplying Wastewater to

Irrigate Food Crops, Recharge Underground Water Supplies BAKERSFIELD, Calif. People in California's Central Valley could be drinking water tainted by cancer-causing chemicals used in oilfields, and current water-testing procedures would not detect these substances, according to a scientific report released today by researchers at PSE Healthy Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California and the University of the Pacific. Given these shocking findings, California regulators should immediately halt the use of oil-waste fluid in any procedure that could contaminate the water we drink or the food we eat, said John Fleming, a staff scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity and member of the Protect California Food coalition and Californians Against Fracking. Its absolutely unacceptable that people in the Central Valley could be drinking dangerous oil-industry chemicals right now without even knowing it. This report shines an important light on a troubling reality  the state of California is allowing the oil industry to experiment on consumers of our food products and the agricultural workers that grow them, said Madeline Stano, a staff attorney with the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. The report demonstrates that the use of oil wastewater adds serious risks to both consumers and agricultural workers health and safety. The state should stop this practice immediately. Today's report identified dozens of hazardous chemicals used in oilfields that supply waste fluid used to irrigate food crops and recharge underground water supplies in California. Researchers note that produced fluid from these oilfields is recharging regional aquifers used for agriculture that can also be used for domestic water supply (including drinking water). Many of the chemicals used on oil fields do not have standard analytical protocols for their detection in water, so current water quality monitoring programs are mainly focused on naturally occurring contaminants, the report noted. Oilfield wastewater has been used to irrigate food crops in the Cawelo Water District since the mid-1990s, the report noted. The practice recently spread to the North Kern Water Storage District, and state officials have said they hope to further expand it. But there has been little evaluation of risks posed by the threat of chemicals in such fluid. In today's report researchers noted that many chemicals used in these oilfields cannot be evaluated for hazards because oil companies have withheld key information. But more than 40 percent of those substances that can be identified can be classified as potential threats to human health or the environment. Ten of the oilfield chemicals evaluated by this research team have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as either carcinogenic or possibly carcinogenic in humans. More than 100 farms in the Central Valley use oil wastewater for irrigation. Some of the United States most popular brands grow food in the Cawelo and North Kern water districts, including Trinchero Family Estates (makers of Sutter Home wines) and Halos Mandarins (formerly known as Cuties). The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
The human body is an amazing place to be. Physiology aside, the most remarkable thing about our coordinated mass of flesh and bones that we call home, is the life that it carries. You and me. Our personalities, our character, the things that distinguish us and the things we do to fit in or out of the contexts we find ourselves in. According to data, around half a million people worldwide find themselves within the context of advertising and communication.

Compare that to the company you work for and its quite a big number. Compare it to the worlds population and it doesnt seem that grand. Either way, if you took away those 500,000 people, the world would be a very different place.

Thinking of our industry in this way has led me to believe that the world, in most instances, experiences or interacts with advertising as a 'whole being'. Advertising, like politics and other industries that have a direct impact on society, is often referred to in the singular. Its seen through the lens of what the whole industry is doing. Undoubtedly, each country has its own advertising climate, like the Scandinavians being known for their amazing tech or the Japanese for their larger than life imagination. The same could be said for agencies like Wieden + Kennedy, who are consistently pushing the boundaries of whats creatively possible with the so-called 'dying medium that is television. Closer to home, Im seriously starting to wonder if there is something in the water at Ogilvy Joburg as they have on more than one occasion, spectacularly set the global benchmark for radio advertising. And yet all these feats of advertising excellence, and the creative nuances of the countries that produce them, are but a part of the overall footprint that advertising makes on the world. I want to believe that its the sum of the entire effect of the 500,000 people in our industry that, if significant enough, history will record.

But all these thoughts, when coupled with my slight dabbling in human anatomy, paint a simple notion that perhaps advertising can be likened to the human body. Filled with an abundance of life, diversity, complexity and the capacity to use its capabilities for a variety of outcomes. One such capability that has interested me of late, is advertisings ability to think and to think fast. In fact, if you look at it from a physiological angle, you could get painfully technical about whether this quick-thinking is as a result of our industrys autonomic or somatic nervous system. Simply put, the body's autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for functions not consciously directed such as breathing and digesting whereas the somatic nervous system (SNS) refers to voluntary muscular and skeletal control. In fact, for you and me, our ANSs are at work right now as we have probably taken a couple of breaths while reading this sentence. Neat huh. And it's your SNS that is making the muscles in your eyes move from left to right as you read this sentence. One happens on its own, and the other receives a cue.

As an industry, you could argue that were built on relying on our SNS because thats how we do the actions that we are in control of. We make projections and billings and media plans. We create artwork and budgets and strategies. Youre 100% in control and therefore, generally, theres a 100% predictable outcome. But then you get that Superbowl tweet from Oreo (360i, actually) in 2013 when the stadium lights went out. Or that time when Nandos (Black River FC) made an unforgettable ad in response to Ard Matthews very forgettable national anthem mess-up in 2011. But forget about real-time marketing or tactical advertising. Buzzwords are not a guarantee for successful or memorable advertising. The success behind the tactical pieces of work is that the agencies set themselves up to do them. No luck involved. Canadian agency john street created a delightful parody video called reactvertising that sums up how buzzwords (particularly 'real-time) can actually end up skewing our common sense as an industry.

But when you put real-time and tactical advertising aside, the real challenge for our industry is to remain as fleet-footed as possible. One of the most amazing functions of the autonomic nervous system is what is commonly known as fight or flight. When induced, people are known to jump over ridiculously high walls and mothers can move cars off their children. In those moments, the body does some incredible things to go into superhuman mode. In that light, the popularity of real-time advertising isnt quite yet at that level, its more like a twitch at the moment. But I believe this is still good news for the industry. Brands like Adidas and their 2014 brazuca campaign prove that twitch-thinking isnt about a few lucky posts or tweets, but it is actually a campaignable methodology. For sure, we sometimes twitch and say really silly things, but that further buttresses why it shouldnt be about jumping on the hashtag-wagon.

Doing it right is going to be a stretch for agencies and brands because how do you begin to plan to react or contribute to something you dont know will happen? As we figure it out, Im sure well come to realise that the nimbler our industry is, the better. That a place does exist for us to be as fleet-footed as we are sure-footed. And it could be that that place may never overtly introduce itself to us, it could start off as a little twitch.
The under-fire SABC board is likely to be dissolved as the governing ANC has resolved that there should be a parliamentary inquiry into its fitness to hold office.

This comes after months of impasse between the board and the party over the former's handling of affairs at the national broadcaster.

But most recently, the ANC has been annoyed by the board's defiance of the Supreme Court of Appeal's decision setting aside the appointment of its former chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The board's chairman Mbulaheni Maguvhe agreed to Motsoeneng's new appointment as head of corporate affairs last week. This drew the wrath of cabinet and ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu last week.

The former said the appointment was a total disrespect of the rule of law while Mthembu didn't mince his words, saying it was "the last straw that breaks the camel's back".

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the party's national executive committee had agreed that there should be an inquiry into the board's fitness to hold office. The committee is the highest decision-making structure of the ANC between conferences.

Two committee members who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Times that an inquiry was a mere formality as the party was clear that the board should go.

One committee member said: "We are dealing with it [SABC board]. We are not compromising regarding those board members who have been disrespecting the ANC. We have given the mandate to dissolve it in parliament. They [parliament] are the ones who will decide but this is just a formality."

Another committee member said they felt the board was making a mockery of the public broadcaster.

"Many agreed that the board was now defying those that had elected it and going against not only the rule of law, but the ANC itself," said the source. "Our comrades have been given a strong mandate and they will see it through."

The chairperson for the portfolio committee on communications, Humphrey Maxegwana, was cautious yesterday with regard to the committee's decision.

"The NEC's decision is an NEC decision, we will follow our own processes. We are going to listen to the board regarding all the issues and questions, we will analyse them and take a decision."

The board appears before the portfolio committee on communications tomorrow and is unlikely to survive, as both the opposition and the ANC want them out.

Also the NEC dealt seems to have also dealt with those who have been speaking in support of the SABC board and Motsoeneng, the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association. Mantashe said the NEC asked members of cabinet and NEC members to stop talking outside structures. "This free for all does creates confusion is society and we encourage from the NEC to branches to stop it, that goes to our leagues, that goes to MKMVA," said Mantashe.

The SABC board has also been at loggerheads with Mthembu after he criticised its decision to ban protest footage being shown on television.The Democratic Alliance last week said it would approach the courts if the board is not dissolved.

Source: The Times
#SustainabilityMonth: Life's too Lush for normal cosmetics, Q&A with co-founder Rowena Bird

Here's a company that believes in true sustainability to the extent of turning shampoo into a bar and toothpaste into a tablet, thoughtfully designing out the need for packaging at the product creation stage.

We believe that true sustainability should cover environmental, social and economic impacts, says co-founder and product inventor Rowena Bird. Our long-term vision is to create supply chains that are not only sustainable but regenerative, giving back more than they take in resources. A company that would rather spend its money on beautiful ingredients like real jasmine, rose and sandalwood absolutes and oils than on expensive packaging and advertising. By keeping these things simple we are able to invest in the things that really matter to us  not only top quality ingredients but also the SLush (Sustainable Lush Fund) projects around the world and charitable giving. For a combination of #InnovationMonth and #SustainabilityMonth, I interviewed Rowena and South Africa MD Nic Malan on this global beauty supply store (currently 928 stores in 49 countries) thats as serious about fighting animal testing as it is about creativity and innovation, changing what people think is normal about cosmetics. You have some unusual products, like fizzing bath bombs, shower jellies and solid shampoo bars. Why is innovation important in todays business landscape? You have some unusual products, like fizzing bath bombs, shower jellies and solid shampoo bars. Why is innovation important in todays business landscape? Rowena: It keeps us fresh and our customers excited. It also allows us to invent products without the need for packaging or excessive preservative  so better for the environment. Innovation allows us to use new ingredients from around the world to help grassroots organisations and permaculture projects in a regenerative business model. It also means we can buy and use ingredients that are not tested on animals, and discover new scientific alternatives that are safer and more reliable. Innovation is also a part of who we are, it is what makes Lush exciting for us as inventors, ideas seem to pop out of the brickwork so it is great to have an avenue to showcase them. And ethics Lush fights tirelessly against animal testing and operates an Ethical Buying Department, supporting fair trade and community trade initiatives. What are some the ways Lush has tried to raise awareness of animal testing cosmetics? And ethics Lush fights tirelessly against animal testing and operates an Ethical Buying Department, supporting fair trade and community trade initiatives. What are some the ways Lush has tried to raise awareness of animal testing cosmetics? Rowena: Yes, ethical buying is central to our business. We build personal relationships with our suppliers and move beyond simply purchasing fairly traded ingredients, to developing supportive partnerships with the communities that produce them. Years of hard work accumulated with the introduction of the Sustainable Lush Fund (SLush Fund) six years ago. Lush donates 2% of the amount spent on raw materials and packaging to the Fund, the money is then used to start sustainable farming and regenerative community projects. To date, the fund has distributed over 2.5m to permaculture projects worldwide. We have also purchased over 1m in materials that will go on to help establish these projects as financially independent.

We continue to fight the fight against animal testing. For the whole of Lush's existence we have built our testing strategy on using traditional ingredients that have been in safe use for many years. We only buy those ingredients from suppliers who do not test on animals. Then, when we turn those ingredients into a product, we test the finished product on our panel of human volunteers. We think that this is a far safer way to test products than to test them on animals. When our products go onto the market we know how those products behave on people - not just the effects they have on rabbits or rats!

Our passion for taking animals out of testing has led to us starting the Lush Prize four years ago. The Lush Prize is a partnership between Lush and Ethical Consumer to support animal-free toxicology and is designed to reward groups or individuals working in the field of cruelty-free scientific research, awareness-raising and lobbying to help bring an end to animal testing. The 250,000 annual prize fund  the biggest prize in the non-animal testing sector  seeks to focus pressure on safety testing for consumer products in a way which complements projects already addressing the animal testing of medicines.

Lush Prize has already awarded 1.2m to previous projects to end animal testing and were excited this year to add two new categories, for young researchers in Asia and the Americas. These new awards allow us to reach scientists who want to work in non-animal testing but face obstacles such as lack of funding or few opportunities for training and support.

We are also a campaigning company and think nothing of dressing people in Orangutan outfits, strapping them to a wheel and spinning them around whilst someone throws knives at them or hanging people from hooks in the shop window to raise awareness of barbaric shark finning. One of our most well-known campaigning activities was when we did human testing in one of our shop windows - it was hard to see, but that is the reality faced by millions of animals in safety testing. We want to open our customers eyes on certain issues and arm them with as much information as possible so they can make informed decisions.

Lush runs public awareness campaigns about over-packaging and develops products that can be sold naked to the consumer without any packaging. When I shop at Lush, I love being able to hand-pick the products. Theres something nostalgic about being able to touch and feel them before purchase. But thats just me. What is the general consumers response; and from an industry perspective, have you noticed a reduction in packaging since? Lush runs public awareness campaigns about over-packaging and develops products that can be sold naked to the consumer without any packaging. When I shop at Lush, I love being able to hand-pick the products. Theres something nostalgic about being able to touch and feel them before purchase. But thats just me. What is the general consumers response; and from an industry perspective, have you noticed a reduction in packaging since?

Rowena: Our customers seem to love it too! From a packaging perspective, we strive for true sustainability which for us, means using innovation to design out the need for packaging at the product creation stage. Where products need packaging, we look to keep it to a minimum and create it from locally sourced, recycled materials that are easy for customers to reuse, recycle locally or feed back into one of our closed loop systems. We believe that true sustainability should cover environmental, social and economic impacts. Our long-term vision is to create supply chains that are not only sustainable but regenerative, giving back more than they take in resources. We are definitely seeing success here in our packaging reduction, for example, by using one of our shampoo bars you are saving three bottles of shampoo heading to landfill and with our Toothy Tabs you get solid toothpaste tabs that replace aluminium tubes. Innovation is important for us here. Sadly we haven't really noticed the industry following our lead.

Lush only uses natural ingredients, such as fruit and vegetables. Does this present any barriers or limitations to what you can produce? Lush only uses natural ingredients, such as fruit and vegetables.

Rowena: Not at all  nature has all you could ever need to create the most effective products. It also means we dont ever need to test anything on animals, because ingredients like plants, fruits, vegetables, herbs, butters and clays have long histories of safe use and dont make any miracle claims, so no need for any safety testing. Instead we test products on ourselves and a panel of human volunteers. We do use some safe synthetics, shampoo bases, etc. but the fresh content does outweigh the safe synthetic elements.

Does this affect the shelf life of your products?

It is the lower level of preservative that affects our shelf life but that only goes to make the product so much nicer to use. We much prefer for you to use your cosmetics quicker while they are at their most effective. This is why we will never offer discounts or special buy one get one free offers  because this simply encourages stock-pilling which will inevitably result in the throwing away of things youve grown bored of or forgotten you had. We would prefer you come in regularly for your fresh cosmetics in the same way youd go to a delicatessen for your fresh groceries.

Lush even uses real jasmine absolute perfume (more expensive than gold) in affordable objects to throw in the bath. Why is quality important?

Why wouldnt you do this if you could? We prefer to spend our money on beautiful ingredients like real jasmine, rose and sandalwood absolutes and oils than on expensive packaging and advertising. By keeping these things simple we are able to invest in the things that really matter to us  not only like top quality ingredients but also the SLush projects around the world and charitable giving.

Lush believes words like fresh and organic have honest meaning beyond marketing. What is your definition of these? Lush believes words like fresh and organic have honest meaning beyond marketing. What is your definition of these?

Rowena: We make our products using fresh ingredients like fruit and vegetables and set ourselves the target of getting those products out to our shops quickly. We run our cosmetics company like a bakery - with batches made by hand in small quantities. This means we can manage our costs in order to spend extra on staff, rather than machines, making our products and for top quality ingredients and fair trade projects with our growers, because we save money by not indulging in expensive packaging or expensive advertising and marketing campaigns and by not having huge storage warehouses to hold our products.

We believe in fresh cosmetics being better for your skin, in the same way that fresh food is better for your body. When you use our cosmetics as soon as they are made, you get the benefit of the fruits vitamins and enzymes at their most potent and effective, so you get better results.

It says on the website, Products may be different shapes in different countries because individuals mould them in their own style. They may be different colours; the oranges available in Italy are different from the ones used in Japan; Australia uses different grapes from the UK. Nevertheless, you will always recognise Lush by the quality of the ingredients, the freshness and the unmistakable scent of hundreds of essential oils. Because Lush products are handmade, when you expand you employ more people, not machines. How do you stay true to your original aims of keeping the feel small, yet growing as a business? It says on the website, Products may be different shapes in different countries because individuals mould them in their own style. They may be different colours; the oranges available in Italy are different from the ones used in Japan; Australia uses different grapes from the UK. Nevertheless, you will always recognise Lush by the quality of the ingredients, the freshness and the unmistakable scent of hundreds of essential oils.

Rowena: It doesn't feel small to us, we love people and because we would much rather be in our kitchens surrounded by people than by machines this comes easily to us, we just move into bigger kitchens!

Products are imported to SA with the fresh cleanser and facemask range being made locally. Why is this?

Nic: With anywhere between 350 to 450 unique products in store at any one time, we simply dont have the scale locally to set up production for the whole range. We do however believe in making the fresh cleansers and fresh face masks locally, as these products in particular require the freshest ingredients, and producing locally allows us to have these products on a chilled ice-display in store within hours of production.

What are some of the challenges to running a global brand locally? What are some of the challenges to running a global brand locally?

Nic: Well, besides the obvious currency challenges. I think in the case of Lush, there are a number of very important values and principles that are at the core of the brand, things such as the product freshness policies, the environmental and ethical policies, not to mention the global customer experience standards. In a developing country such as South Africa, it is sometimes a challenge to live up to these global standards as the local environment can be quite different to that of Europe for example.

What advice can you give to our readers in this regard? What advice can you give to our readers in this regard?

Nic: If you are going to run a global brand here, I think you have to truly believe in that brand, and do everything you can to make sure you do not compromise on what the brand stands for. You also need to have a strong relationship with the international team, with lots of mutual respect, so as to be able to agree on how to tell the brands stories within the local context.

Will you be bringing the Lush spa to SA anytime soon? Is it an in-store experience or a stand-alone? Or any other plans for Lush South Africa in the near future? Will you be bringing the Lush spa to SA anytime soon? Is it an in-store experience or a stand-alone? Or any other plans for Lush South Africa in the near future?

Rowena: We have no plans to open anymore spas for the next year, however please do check to see if theres one in the next city you visit as you should definitely book yourself in for a treatment if so!

Our spas are very unique in that they are English spas offering our guests a slice of English tranquillity amongst the hustle and bustle of busy cities around the world. We want our guests to feel comfortable, just like in their own home. And give you the gift of time and space. Always situated next to a Lush shop, once you enter the serenity of the Lush Spa you will be taken on a journey where all your senses merge and your subconscious is tapped into and your mind is nurtured to effect behaviour in some way.

More than simply treatments to fix an ache or pain; all these experiences are designed to prevent the pain happening in the first place. We believe in looking after yourself, having regular treatments and creating a little time for clearing your mind.

What you can expect is more creativity and innovation, changing what people think is 'normal' about cosmetics, continuing to campaign and bring awareness to the masses.

Nic: With regards local expansion, we are super excited to be opening up two new stores before Christmas, the first being in the Cresta Shopping Centre in Johannesburg in October, and then our first store in Pretoria at Menlyn Park at the end of November. These two new stores will take the brand to a total of eight stores in South Africa. There are also plans for further stores in 2017.

Just for fun, what is your favourite Lush product and why (or some of your favourites if, like me, you cant only choose one)?

Rowena: The products that send me into a panic if I run out are, Ultrabland, my skin would never forgive me, Gorgeous moisturiser, same. I love our facial scrubs, Dark Angels or Angels on Bare Skin, as we use only natural gentle scrubby bits like charcoal or ground almonds, not nasty micro plastics. Our soap, especially Sandstone for smooth body skin and Karma soap to leave skin scented, I love knowing there is no animal fat in them or palm oil which cannot be always guaranteed with other soaps. I have bleached hair so our hair treatments are essential to keep it in good condition and Dream Cream or Ro's Argan Body Conditioner for all over body moisture. Then there's Magical Moringa Moisturiser to stop my face getting all shiny in the hot weather and my make-up stay on longer and I cant be without Glamorous lip colour, in fact I just cant do without Lush!

And lastly, why South Africa?

Rowena: South Africa was the country I was most excited to open Lush in, we waited a long time till economically the time was right and the perfect partners were found. It is a place of inspiration for me. I am still trying to invent a product that is as good as a lime milkshake from Mugg & Bean!
The legal battle between Lewis and activist shareholder Dave Woollam appears to have moved back to the Financial Services Board (FSB) where its directorate of market abuse, hours after clearing Woollam of insider trading charges, informed him he was once again under their spotlight.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/retail/2016/10/03/lewis-targets-woollam-with-fresh-claims?src=ilaw

In a SENS statement on Friday, Lewis referred to a complaint it had lodged with the FSB against Woollam in July 2015 "for the making and/or publishing of false, misleading or deceptive statements, promises or forecasts, of and regarding it".

This was the same letter that prompted the insider trading investigation.

The statement said the directorate of market abuse had confirmed in a letter dated September 28 that the investigation into these allegations was still ongoing.

The directorate's head, Solly Keetse, said he could not provide information about the latest move on Woollam, but confirmed the FSB had received a complaint of false and misleading reporting that it would probe.

Last Wednesday, the directorate confirmed it had closed its investigation into insider trading by Woollam in Lewis shares. Late on Friday, Woollam was informed of the second investigation.

Lewis' 2015 complaint referred to potentially price-sensitive information Woollam had uncovered in his investigation of Lewis. The complaint suggests Woollam intended using it to benefit his investment in Lewis shares. This was the motivation, said the letter of complaint, for Woollam's engagement with Lewis, and not the protection of consumers.

An unfavourable FSB finding would help Lewis fight the Section 165 notice Woollam lodged with the Cape High Court in June.

The notice requires the board to take legal action against four of its directors - CEO Johan Enslin, chief financial officer Les Davies, board chairman David Nurek and chairman of the audit and risk committee, Hilton Saven.

The board's best hope of winning this legal action is to persuade the court that Woollam is not acting in good faith.

On Friday, Lewis in a SENS statement informed shareholders it was appealing against the National Consumer Tribunal's order last month and would send notice of this to the High Court in Pretoria "imminently".

The tribunal found Lewis had missold insurance and ordered an independent audit of its credit agreements. On Friday, National Consumer Regulator manager of investigations and enforcement Jacqueline Boucher said she could not comment on Lewis' appeal as she had not received it.
In order to raise awareness of the petition to get McDonalds SA to commit to a cage-free policy, and in aid of World Farm Animal Day (2 October), and World Animal Day (4 October), media and other influencers joined Angus McIntosh at the Spier Biodynamic Farm last week to see what free range chickens actually look like.

McIntosh showed attendees what free-range and cage-free chickens experience compared to the cruelty of battery cages. Guests included well-known conservationist Braam Malherbe and Yolanda Guse, the petition starter.

Guse, a 23-year-old student, with the support of four animal protection organisations including Beauty without Cruelty SA, United Front 4 Animals (UFA), OWL South African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Animal Voice are promoting and supporting a petition encouraging McDonalds South Africa to adopt a cage-free egg policy like their international counterparts - McDonalds US, Canada Australia and Europe - have already done.

Despite more than 17,600 people signing the online petition and additional pressure from these four animal protection groups, the public and local celebrities, McDonald's SA still wont make a commitment to stop the suffering of their hens and commit to cage-free eggs used in their most popular products.

To sign the petition, please click HERE.
Despite rumblings from SA's tax authority suggesting that the opposite could be true, Nedbank Private Wealth believes its offer to SABMiller shareholders - which would delay capital gains tax (CGT) liabilities on profit earned in the Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) takeover - is provided for in the Income Tax Act.

Bottles of SABMiller's flagship brew, Castle Lager, at a bar in Cape Town. Almost 120 years after first listing, its name will disappear from the JSE board this week.Picture: Reuters/Mike Hutchings

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) on Friday warned SABMiller shareholders that entering into transactions that postponed potential CGT liabilities might be considered "impermissible avoidance arrangements" under the Income Tax Act, given that they resulted in a tax benefit and that their main purpose was to obtain such a benefit. Individual shareholders pay CGT on profit made when selling shares.

Nedbank Private Wealth, which is among a number of boutique fund managers offering clients a way of delaying CGT, said its action "followed careful consideration of the facts and circumstances relating to the investment, client, business and regulatory contexts".

It referred to an earlier statement from SARS spokesman Sandile Memela, which said that the Income Tax Act made provision for the type of transaction it was offering.

The wealth unit earlier said SABMiller shareholders could switch their shares for units in the Nedgroup Investments Private Equity Wealth Fund without triggering an immediate CGT event on profit earned in the 45 per share AB InBev offer.

Section 42 of the Income Tax Act exempts pension funds and unit trusts from CGT on trading shares. A tax event is triggered only when the units are sold. SABMillers share price has soared over the past 10 years. Depending on when individual shareholders bought the stock, they might be subject to considerable CGT.

But swapping their shares for units in a unit trust fund might not result in a more favourable outcome.

Any profit earned on the disposal of the shares by the fund as part of the takeover could be taxed as revenue, according to SARS, which said it had not made any decision on this question yet.

"SARS wishes to advise original shareholders and schemes to carefully consider the questions set out above with respect to any decisions to enter into the transactions described," it said.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis has visited the earthquake-hit towns of central Italy in a surprise journey, visiting Amatrice, Accumoli, and Arquata del Tronto, Vatican Radio reported.

The Holy Father arrived by car with the Bishop of Rieti, Domenico Pompili, in Amatrice on Tuesday morning at 9:20 a.m. to visit those people affected by the earthquake of 24 August.

His first visit was to the newly constructed school Capranica, where the Pope met with elementary and middle-school aged children, who gave him several of their handmade drawings.

Pope Francis hugged them one-by-one and listened to their stories of the deadly earthquake in which 231 of the total 297 people died.

The Holy Father then went to the heavily damaged centre of Amatrice accompanied by the Mayor Sergio Pirozzi. There he paused for several minutes to pray.

During his visit, Pope Francis told the residents of Amatrice, I didnt come earlier so as not to cause problems, given your conditions. I didnt want to be a bother.

A press release by the Holy See Press Office said, Already on Sunday, during his inflight press conference on the flight from Baku to Rome, Pope Francis had said he would make this visit privately, alone, as a priest, as a bishop, as Pope. But alone. This is how I want to do it. And I would like to be close to the people.

Nealy 4,000 people are living in tents near Amatrice after their homes were destroyed in the 6.0-magnitude earthquake.

Afterwards the Pope headed to nearby Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto to bring a message of hope and solidarity to them as well.
The current South African aspiration crisis should come as no surprise, as consumers struggle daily with the reality of simply not being able to afford what we want. Here's what the UCT Unilever Institute's 18-month long countrywide research means for marketers.

On Friday, 30 September 2016 I attended the launch of the UCT Unilever Marketing Aspirations Report 2016 at the Sport Sciences Institute of SA. The final stop in a countrywide tour that kicked off in Johannesburg and Durban earlier in the week, marketing minded folk were schooled in insights presented by Professor John Simpson, director and cofounder of the UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing; as well as Neo Makhele, group strategy director at Ogilvy Johannesburg; and research associate Martin Neethling, CMO at Pioneer Foods.

Simpson explained its a difficult topic to broach because while aspirations form the very fabric of marketing, everyone has a different understanding of what aspirations actually are, making it a little like nailing jelly to the wall. Respected marketer Andy Rice calls aspirations a marketing term many people use but few understand. Simply put, its about the desire to change your current circumstance and move to a better state. Clever marketers realise this and meet those needs. Sadly, in many cases theres a mismatch about what consumers are really aspiring for, especially when marketers assume their consumers are People Like Us or PLU. South Africa is incredibly diverse; our poor and rich are literally poles apart, and our poor are not like the poor elsewhere, he said.

So when a poor person has been living in a shack without running water and electricity and suddenly receives an RDP house, their lifestyle changes completely. But theres a catch, as no one gives you the appliances you need, so those are bought on an HP or credit basis. Missing a payment then adds to the overall loan amount they need to pay back, so our poor are asset rich but money poor, making it a hybrid situation that shows overseas marketing aspiration models just dont work here.

Moving on to how that impacts aspiration, Simpson said a large number of South Africans are heavily in debt and unable to meet their aspirations due to lack of jobs, education and family responsibilities. While many take matters into their own hands by lighting their entrepreneurial fire and generate a fair amount of money by working in the informal sector, a job to many means working in the formal sector, with all the associated benefits.

Aspirational differences across the have nots and the have lots

Simpson

Taking a step back, Simpson pointed out that were driven by consumption, and while the economy grows when consumers spend, they recently stopped spending overnight as overreaction to messages of an economic depression many feared was another recession as overseas media reported on our junk status. Sales performance also tends to be measured against consumer confidence  note that SA is currently ranked as far down as 128th of 140 countries on the Happy Planet Index.

This can be attributed to the fact that if we dont achieve our aspirations, we enter a world of frustration that results in a sense of resignation and desperation as we move our dreams goalposts. At the end of the day its all about money, with a huge gap locally between the have nots and the have lots. The most income volatility is in the middle of the spectrum, with the new missing middle class having studied but not found a job. So while the world of the have nots is filled with uncertainty and many ups and downs, for have lots its about following a fairly predictable life path of getting a better job, having a successful career, then focusing on family and enjoying a comfortable retirement.

Simpson said their next research study will focus on marketing in Africa and the danger of imposing Western models on Africa, as there is no middle class as the western world understands it on the continent, like Woolworths failing in Lagos a few years ago as they didnt do the required research into their potential customers' aspirations and current shopping habits.

Makhele

Makhele was next, explaining that marketers are guilty of seeing consumer needs as hierarchical (hello, revisited Maslows Hierarchy of needs meme). This is why advertising that used to try sell archetypes of an aspirational life didnt prove that popular, and advertisers have woken up to the reality of the tri-component aspiration model. Consumers want to be free, want to do better and want to have  these basic aspirations exist in all of us at any point in time.

In addition, there are eight key aspirations that differ between have nots and have lots despite a number of similar nuances:

1: Stability  mainly financial security for your family

2: Freedom  Millennial attitude, independence to be the boss of your own time

3: Respect  cultural variance, based on education, owning assets

4: Health  this ranges from access to basic healthcare to prevention and wellness.

5: Comfort  we all want better quality products and experiences

6: Belonging  based on subculture, peers and brand communities

7: Experiences  including adventure and excitement, like #Instameets and bucket lists

8: Giving back  motivations for upliftment range from black tax to guilt and altruism

Neethling

Neethling ended the presentation by pointing out that aspirations change depending on life stage, so as we get older and richer it becomes a move from stuff to significance, and from have to be. Advertising fails if not enough research is involved in determining who is aspiring to be like who, or if the pitch promise is simply too far from the consumers current situation and seems unrealistic. Think of Nandos and Coca-Cola as examples of advertising that matches most consumers aspirations  its inclusive, local and relevant.
South Africa's top mining companies need to implement innovative technology, alternative sources of capital, as well as standardised processes and systems to improve project delivery and remain relevant.

Michal Kotze, energy, utilities and mining industry leader for PwC Africa, says: SAs mining industry is set to undergo significant transformation in the next decade. Technology will drive a lot of what we currently see in the mining industry going forward.

Conventional mining does not have a long life. It is expensive and unsafe. Mining will not be available in the current form and format in the medium term in South Africa. It will be a different set up and way of mining. The mining industry will have to adjust and embrace new technology and innovation, as well as new ways of working.

Definitely a future

Kotze says there is definitely a future for SAs mining industry: We have a fantastic resource base. The local industry also has good infrastructure, compared to other countries on the continent. The mining industry is cyclical in nature.

As a result, the cycle is likely to undergo change, with the emergence of new role players. We may see new infrastructure requirements come into play, which in itself may change the whole supply and demand process. These may significantly impact commodity prices, which may become attractive again.

Lack of investor confidence

Globally, there has been a move out of investment in the mining industry because of the lack of investor confidence. To some extent, there has been an acknowledgement by mining executives that they should not have invested in some of the big projects.

Some of the projects invested in were not as feasible if you took a long-term view of the commodity cycle and the standing dynamics of China. The lesson that has been learnt is that the hurdle for investing in projects has been set higher, adds Kotze.

Synergy between SDGs and NDP

PwCs SA Mine report provides guidance on how companies can achieve the United Nations (UN) 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The mining industry has the potential to become leading partners in achieving the SDGs, says Kotze. The SDGs were agreed in 2015 by 193 countries, to tackle 169 goals across 17 areas of economic, environmental and social impact, creating a new framework for how government and business work together. It has been estimated independently that over $11,5trn is needed to achieve the goals through investments, in large partly driven by the private sector, including the potential for upgrades to existing technology, processes, skills and wages.

In South Africa, the government has developed the National Development Plan (NDP) which aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. The objectives of the NDP appear to have similar interest to a number of the SDGs, which show how aligned the government is with regard to the implementation of the SDGs.

Mining companies committed to the SDGs will benefit from better relationships with the government, civil society, communities and other stakeholders. Those that fail to engage meaningfully with the SDGs stand to put their operations at risk in the long-term. Numerous opportunities exist for the mining industry to contribute to the SDGs.

In addition, SAs mining companies are paying more attention to risks in the wake of the current environment forcing management to make some tough operational and financial decisions to ensure sustainability.
Telecommunication Minister Siyabonga Cwele has scored three major victories against Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, one of which is the introduction of a new regulator that will take over some of the Independent Communications Authority of SA's crucial oversight functions.

Telecommunication Minister Siyabonga Cwele.

This is one of the sweeping changes in the National Integrated Information and Communication Technologies white paper approved by Cabinet last week that will be gazetted this week.

The approval came on the eve of Cweles successful court challenge to Icasa opening a spectrum bidding process despite objections from the telecommunications minister. The High Court in Pretoria barred the regulator from proceeding with the action, which would have netted about R12bn. Icasa falls under Muthambis department.

The Cabinet-approved white paper proposes that regulatory functions be handled by two entities: one will oversee telecommunications, and postal networks and services, and the other will focus on content and audiovisual services.

Icasa currently has a monopoly on all regulatory functions. However, there have been complaints about its efficacy as a regulator.

Cwele told Business Day on Sunday: "The other regulator must focus on the network and services, so that the issues of economic regulation are not constrained by challenges of content regulation because that is the problem"

He declined to comment on whether Icasa, often criticised as toothless, would continue in its current form, saying this would be determined by legislation.

But the introduction of a new regulator would be wrapped up in two years because it had to go through Parliament, he said.

The new regulator would also incorporate the .za Domain Name Authority, overseen by Cwele. "This will facilitate decisive intervention to achieve the inclusive broadband roll-out target envisaged," he said.

A source in Muthambis department said the creation of a new regulator was seen as part of an ongoing spat between Cwele and Muthambi. "They are pushing for their own regulator," said the source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Other changes mooted in the white paper include the transfer to Cwele of all policy-related functions in the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA and that the entity be disbanded. Agency representatives told Parliament in September it would stop manufacturing and procuring set-top boxes until the Constitutional Court decides on the validity of changes to the broadcasting digital migration policy.

This proposal represents another coup for Cwele because the agency falls under his department but reports to Muthambi on digital migrations. She went against an ANC policy decision and said government-subsidised set-top boxes would not be encrypted.

The new regulator will also take over functions such as determining licence conditions and monitoring the roll-out of networks.

The paper also proposes scrapping the Universal Service and Access Fund and replacing it with a Digital Development Fund.

Crucially, an open-access network, managed by a public-private sector consortium, has also been proposed. The proposed network has placed the probability of a spectrum auction in jeopardy.

High-demand spectrum will be set aside for the shared open-access network, the white paper reads.

Joe Mjwara, telecommunications acting director-general, said parcelling spectrum to current licence holders would result in the consolidation of the industry.

Department of Communications spokesman Mish Molakeng on Sunday said he was not in a position to comment about the proposed regulatory regime in the white paper.

Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka on Friday said it accepted the high court judgment.

Telkom, a respondent in the matter, said it had recommended to Parliament an inquiry into competition in the broadband market in SA and the associated pricing.

Source: Business Day
Growthpoint Properties plans to dispose of a R1bn portfolio of 13 noncore office properties on an invited tender basis.

The group said the disposal would give small listed funds and private property companies access to high-quality assets in an undersupplied market.

Growthpoint had sold about R2.5bn worth of assets in the past few years, but this was the first time the real estate investment trust (Reit) had a portfolio of this size on the market simultaneously, Rudolf Pienaar, Growthpoint Properties' divisional director of offices, said.

The properties for sale are all in Gauteng and together span about 80,000m of investment-grade office space occupied by tenants on leases that extend for as long as 2021. As the largest South African primary listed Reit, Growthpoint's assets are valued at R112.5bn.

"The properties for sale represent a potential deal value of over R1bn. However, this is small compared with Growthpoint's overall office portfolio value of R33bn, thanks to its significant growth over the past two years," said Pienaar.

Pienaar said Growthpoint's investment criteria had improved in the past few years and the assets earmarked for sale were no longer core to the overall portfolio. But Pienaar said these properties were of a high standard, which could make them attractive to smaller Reits and private groups.

Pienaar said Growthpoint was not set to acquire any large new office portfolios domestically this year and was "in a consolidation phase".

Growthpoint's CEO, Norbert Sasse, has said the group is looking for offshore opportunities that meet the group's investment criteria.

Commentators have said Growthpoint is struggling to locate a strong partner that would complement an offshore strategy in growing markets such as Eastern Europe and also the UK.

Grindrod Asset Management's chief investment officer, Ian Anderson, said Growthpoint's management team were cautious and would take a measured approach when acquiring new properties.

Source: Business Day
After a nine-hour journey across the Atlantic Ocean, taking off from Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport, LATAM Airlines flight JJ8162 touched down at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport yesterday (3 October 2016). The inaugural flight marked the start of the only direct flight service between Latin America and Africa operated by a Latin American commercial carrier.

LATAM Airlines Boeing 767

We strive to take our customers further and, in this respect, the service to Johannesburg inaugurates the fourth continent to receive the airlines operations, connecting passengers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, said Claudia Sender, president of LATAM Airlines Brazil. This is our first international service outside the continent after the launch of the LATAM brand. We are connecting two strategic regions that have a lot to offer to both tourists and business travelers.

LATAM Airlines Group expects to fly more than 50,000 passengers a year on the Sao Paulo-Johannesburg-Sao Paulo route. In South America, the new flight will easily connect with destinations such as Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires and other Brazilian cities, apart from Sao Paulo. South African passport holders can benefit from visa-free travel throughout most of Latin America, a boost for tourism and business opportunities.

The inaugural LATAM Airlines flight was welcomed by a host of dignitaries, including, Maria Soledad Cordova, Ambassador from the Embassy of Ecuador, Carlos Parker, Ambassador from the Embassy of Chile, Nicolas Roncagliolo, Ambassador from the Embassy of Peru and Daniel Castillos, Ambassador from the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and other representatives from the Embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Bongiwe Pityi, general manager: O.R. Tambo International Airport for Airports Company South Africa and her team were also on hand to welcome LATAM Airlines to South Africa. O.R. Tambo International Airport Emergency Services laid on the traditional welcoming water salute for the aircraft, as it taxied towards its parking bay.

LATAM Airlines JJ8162 from Sao Paulo touches down for the first time at Johannesburgs O.R. Tambo International Airport today (3 October 2016). The arrival of the flight marks a historic occasion, with LATAM Airlines becoming the first Latin American Airline with a regular commercial service between Latin America and Africa. Pic: LATAM Airlines/Trevor Crighton

LATAM Airlines is Latin America's largest airline, with the region's most complete network  flying to 115 destinations in Latin America, with connections to over 1,000 other international destinations via its membership of the oneworld alliance. LATAM Airlines was created through the coming together of legacy airlines LAN (Chiles national carrier) and TAM (the national carrier of Brazil), with LAN recently named as Best Airline in South America in the 2016 Skytrax World Airline Awards.

Flights

The flights between Johannesburg and Sao Paulo will be operated on LATAM Airlines technologically advanced Boeing 767-900, with LATAMs fleet amongst the youngest in the world. Premium Business Class passengers have access to LATAMs excellent VIP Lounges throughout Latin America, with the oneworld partnership opening access to 650 more lounges around the world.

During October, LATAM Airlines flight JJ8162 will leave Sao Paulo at 11.55pm (local time) on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and arrive in Johannesburg at 2.10pm the next day (local time). The return trip, flight JJ8163, will leave at 11.10pm (local time) on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and arrive in Sao Paulo at 4.45am the next day (local time).

Starting November, flight JJ8162 will start operating its definitive schedule, leaving Sao Paulo at 11.55pm (local time) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and arriving in Johannesburg at 2.10pm the next day (local time). The return trip, flight JJ8163, will leave at 11.10pm (local time) on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, and arrive in Sao Paulo at 4.45am the next day (local time).
Veeam Software, provider of solutions that deliver availability for the Always-On enterprise, will be hosting its annual VeeamON Tour on 13 October in Johannesburg. The event will feature global leaders who will provide insight into meeting the availability challenges of the modern enterprise.

Claude Schuck, regional manager for Africa, Veeam.

The one-day event will be attended by top Veeam executives Doug Hazelman, vice president of product strategy and chief evangelist; Gregg Petersen, regional director for the Middle East and Africa and the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation; and Claude Schuck, regional manager for Africa.

Connecting visionaries

They will offer delegates insights on IT trends and the latest research to help customers make the most of their IT investments in server virtualisation and storage in the cloud. The event will connect leading IT experts and visionaries throughout the region, to share knowledge and learn how to ensure availability across businesses in different industries.

The keynote speaker will be a respected South African independent trends analyst, Dion Chang, who will discuss the ripple effect that game-changing technologies have on business and how companies manage the disruption and alter business models to ensure that they do not become obsolete. Chang will give IT decision-makers an overview of automation, mechanisation and the rise of machines, and the near future challenges these technologies pose to industries across all sectors.

AlwaysOn demands

Availability is something that has become of critical importance to many corporates in South Africa. Given the connectedness of business, the value of data and accessing it in real-time, and the imperative to ensure business continuity takes place at all costs, no decision-maker can afford to ignore the Always-On demands of the digital world, says Claude Schuck, regional manager for Africa at Veeam.

VeeamON Tour will be targeting Veeam partners, customers, and private and public sector stakeholders who want to gain a clearer understanding of what being available means for South African business and what needs to be done to embark on the Always-On journey.

For more details and to reserve your free seat at the VeeamON Tour, visit https://go.veeam.com/veeamon-tour-sa-en.
On 3 October, six South African chefs were announced the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) Trailblazers at the 2016 SASSI Trailblazer Awards at The Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town.

The six new trailblazers are Carl Van Rooyen of The Vineyard Hotel; Claire Blinkhorn-Street of Haute Cabriere; Leon Coetzee of The Kurland Hotel, Plettenberg Bay; Constantijn Hahndiek of Hartford House, KZN; Simon Ash of The Fat Fish Restaurant, Plettenberg Bay; and Andrea Burgener of The Leopard Restaurant in Johannesburg.

SASSI Trailblazer Chefs 2016 - (pictured, from left to right) Claire Blinkhorn-Street of Haute Cabriere; Constantijn Hahndiek of Hartford House, KZN; Carl Van Rooyen of The Vineyard Hotel; Simon Ash of The Fat Fish Restaurant, Plettenberg Bay and Diana Howel representing Leon Coetzee of The Kurland Hotel, Plettenberg Bay. (SASSI Trailblazer not pictured: Andrea Burgener of The Leopard Restaurant in Johannesburg)

SASSI was established in 2004 to drive change in the local seafood industry by working with suppliers and sellers of seafood, as well as informing and inspiring consumers to make sustainable seafood choices.

Building on the success of the SASSI "Green, Orange, Red guide amongst the South African public, the SASSI Trailblazer Awards recognises and celebrates chefs who are actively championing sustainable seafood practices in their restaurants.

Pavs Pillay, programme manager at WWF-SA, commented, Our partnerships with chefs are inspired by a love of seafood, the oceans and a shared commitment to help restore our overfished marine resources. The chefs we are recognising have gone the extra mile in not only helping to get the sustainability message across, but also in believing in the SASSI message by employing sustainability practices.

Clare Mack, of Spill Communications, and the awards organiser, said, We believe that the SASSI Trailblazer Awards is increasingly helping to raise awareness and guide chefs to make sustainable seafood choices. Its gratifying to see, in the fourth year of these awards, that many restaurants are adopting sustainable practices in seafood, without any intervention or prompting. Sustainability is now mainstream, it has really caught on.

The following criteria was judged:
The opinion held in some quarters that the fishing industry is neither transformed nor socially inclusive is predicated on the misconception that it only serves a few in the South African economy and that fragmentation of the industry (allocating rights to more companies) would be beneficial to all those who have been historically marginalised.

Felix Ratheb

The deep-sea trawl fishery for hake is South Africas most valuable commercial fishery. With annual sales of R5 billion, it is a beacon for the performance and sustainability of a commercial fishery in a rapidly changing world. As the fishery continues to perform well in an international environment where it constitutes only 2% of global whitefish catches, there is a view that the industry requires restructuring in order to share its successes with the rest of South Africa.

What is absent from such positions is the real, current state of the fishery and its beneficial impact on the communities in which it operates, and the South African economy as a whole.

Since the mid-1990s the industry has undergone a certain degree of restructuring, either on a racial transformation or increased general participation basis  in the form of more rights-holders introduced at every re-allocation period. Structural change has been good for the industry which is more competitive today than ever before.

Over the past ten years, trawling companies have expanded markets for South African hake and they are now supplying some of the most sophisticated markets in the Northern Hemisphere, largely on the strength of the certification of the industry by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC  the worlds leading certification body for sustainable, wild-caught fish). As a result of its success, the industry has the rare distinction of providing quality sustainable jobs, wealth creation through share schemes, other employee benefits and training up to 7,050 people in coastal towns and cities where economic opportunities are often few and far between.

Underlying statements that advocate the further fragmentation of the industry is the assumption that giving more companies access to the deep sea trawl fishery will create opportunities for small- and medium-sized entities and result in long-term benefits for the fishery and the country. In fact, the opposite is true. To substantiate this point, it is appropriate to describe some of the characteristics of the current South African deep-sea trawling industry.

Trawling inherently risky, particularly for small operators

An economic study of the deep-sea trawling industry conducted by a University of Cape Town Honours student, Diederick Ferrandi, found that hake trawling is inherently risky and economic risk is particularly acute for small operators. In spite of the risks, South African hake producers compete successfully in the 13 million ton global market for groundfish, even though they (and their counterparts in Namibia) produce barely 2.2 percent of the global groundfish catch.

Positioning Cape hake as a premium groundfish species

There are several reasons for their success, among them is the fact that they have succeeded in positioning Cape hake as a premium groundfish species, and the good job that the Regulator has done in managing the fishery. In 2015, the MSC certified the fishery for a third consecutive five-year period, evidence of the opinion that it is a sustainable and well-managed fishery. It is still the only fishery in Africa to have achieved the MSCs prestigious endorsement. The MSC certification critically allows the industry to remain in markets where maximum beneficiated fish is sold and allows for maximum job creation in rural areas in South Africa. The addition of significant numbers of new rights-holders puts all of this at risk because compliance with fisheries regulations by all rights-holders will be difficult to manage and may work against the pursuit of keeping the resource healthy.

Volume is critically important

Another important reason for the industrys success is that in spite of fundamental changes to its structure, hake producers have succeeded in securing sufficiently large volumes of hake to remain sustainable. Volume is critically important because it allows producers to achieve economies of scale. Deep-sea trawling requires massive capital investment. The newest freezer factory trawler introduced into the South African fleet was purchased for R255 million in 2015.

Similarly, the processing of hake is highly capital intensive. To make such large investments worthwhile, the volume of hake that is caught, processed and marketed needs to be sufficiently large so that the overheads (fixed costs) are spread as thinly as possible.

With large volumes acknowledged to be a critical element in the success of the deep-sea trawl fishery, why are there continued calls to allocate rights to more companies?

Pattara Singsuwan via 123RF

Arguments in favour of fragementation

Three arguments generally support calls for the fragmentation of the industry. The first is that there is a common misconception that the deep-sea trawling industry is untransformed: this argument is easily disposed of by a report released by the independent economic empowerment verification and research agency, Empowerdex, in July this year. The Empowerdex report, which was compiled on behalf of the industry, shows that the ownership of South Africas deep-sea trawling industry is transformed - at least 62.36% of the industry is black owned.

The second argument in favour of fragmentation is based on an innate fear of monopoly power. But this fear is not relevant to an industry that exports most of its catch and where there are numerous close protein substitutes for hake and associated products on local markets.

The third reason is the most difficult to overcome because it goes against the widely accepted notion that big is bad and that encouraging and empowering SMEs is good. In the case of the deep-sea trawl fishery, the opposite is true. Volume has enabled the industry to achieve the requisite economies of scale and compete globally. Reversing this trend, by introducing ever more small operators, would result in the export of more commodity hake products, less beneficiation and, therefore, less employment and lower returns. The result would be a lowering of corporate tax and inflows of foreign exchange.

The deep-sea trawl fishery for hake operates in a worldwide seafood industry where competition from other species is incredibly difficult to overcome. However, the fishery continues to perform in line with, if not better than its peers, owing partly to its sustainability credentials but more importantly to its ability to achieve economies of scale. The rhetoric of fragmentation that has crept into the discourse in the local fishing community should be tempered with caution because it will have dire unintended consequences on an otherwise shining jewel in South Africas fishing crown.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament has adopted the Tax Code after the third reading of the bill.

78 lawmakers voted in favor, 19 voted against.

ANC faction MP Hrant Bagratyan delivered a speech before the voting. He said the bill will in no way contribute to the development of Armenia. He added the Code contains unconstitutional provision.

PAP faction lawmaker Michael Melkumyan said is a step back for SMEs. He said the party wing of the faction wont take part in the voting.

MP Kokobelyan also shared the opinion that the Tax Code is an extra burden for tax payers. He said there are numerous editorial errors in the Code, which havent been corrected.

ANC faction leader Levon Zurabyan noted the discussion of the Tax Code didnt correspond to norms of democratic discussions.

Chairman of the Permanent Comission on Economic Affairs of the Parliament Vardan Ayvazyan jokingly addressed Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan: Mr. Sahakyan, I have to express my dissatisfaction now. For instance, why didnt you send an invitation to me. There were 26 discussions over the Tax Code.
After launching the Gauteng Data to the industry last month, the Out of Home Measurement Council (OMC) will be presenting their new Roadside Outdoor Audience Data (ROAD), currency overview and methodology, Gauteng insights and the Quantum software, to AMASA members and friends.

The presentation will demonstrate the strategic value this new outdoor roadside currency will provide to OOH media owners, marketers and media planners.

The presentation will include: OMC Structure, Members and Methodology, Video Presentation, Topline Findings and Insights.

Join us as we talk The Road to Outdoor with:

JCDecaux



Primedia Outdoor



Outdoor Network



Kuper Research



Telmar

Free entry, drinks and snacks.

Date: 5 October 2016; 16h30 for 17h00.

Venue: Ster-Kinekor Preview Theatre, 185 Katherine Street, Marlboro.




ISTANBUL - The chief executive of one of Turkey's top private media firms quit on Friday over emails purportedly showing him allowing the government dictate editorial policy but that he said were fake.

123RF

Mehmet Ali Yalcindag had since last year been the head of the Dogan Media Group which groups together key interests including the Hurriyet newspaper, CNN-Turk news channel and Kanal-D channel.

The newspaper and channels are generally seen as independent of the government while taking care not to follow an overtly oppositional line.

However, Yalcindag's position came under scrutiny when emails purportedly written by him were released on social media by a group calling itself Redhack.

The emails purportedly showed him expressing willingness to Energy Minister Berat Albayrak -- who is also Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law -- to keep coverage favourable to the government.

In a statement published on the website of Hurriyet, Yalcindag denied the authenticity of the emails and said he was victim of an "ugly fraud".

"A technical analysis of my personal computer has revealed that the emails were not written by me and were not sent using my computer."

He added: "I will use every legal right available to me against these publications," saying that detailed analysis would be carried out to explain what happened.

He said he was leaving with immediate effect "with the aim of not harming the reputation of the Dogan group."

In the purported emails, Yalcindag is alleged to complain of Hurriyet's editor-in-chief Sedat Ergin and details plans to force him out.

Ahmet Hakan, a Hurriyet columnist, and Hande Firat, CNN-Turk's Ankara bureau chief, are cited as "reliable" names to replace him. Aydin Dogan, the founder of the family-controlled Dogan Group, said he respected the decision of Yalcindag, who is also his son-in-law.

The tycoon said he considered it an "offense" to access personal data through illegal means and present it through manipulation.

"I strongly condemn the unlawful and immoral attacks targeting my son-in-law Mehmet Ali, our family unity and Dogan Media Group's prestige and standing in public opinion."

"It is clear that such an attack on a valuable individual of the Dogan family is deliberate."

The scandal has come at a time of growing concerns for press freedom in Turkey in the wake of the July 15 coup with several prominent journalists under arrest.

Dogan Media Group strongly backed Erdogan in facing down the plotters with the president famously calling into CNN-Turk to issue a crucial statement through Facetime.

Source: AFP
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Parliament of Armenia discusses the election of Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission.

Before the discussion Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan said according to the decision of Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Tigran Mukuchyans candidacy was nominated for the post of CEC Chairman.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovhannes Sahakyan said based on 2015 constitutional changes the Parliament will appoint the CEC Chairman and its members.

We have 7 candidates from whom one must be elected as CEC Chairman. Now we are discussing Tigran Mukuchyans election as CEC Chairman. We came to such a decision as a result of quite substantive discussions, Sahakyan said, reports Armenpress.

In his speech Tigran Mukuchyan said in terms of electoral processes the CEC is formed in quite complex times.

First of all, new Electoral Code has been adopted which includes new legal regulations, new approaches were adopted in terms of organization of the electoral process. The adoption of the new Electoral Code supposes adoption of about 5 dozen new decisions for implementing the complete regulation of legal relations. Some of that decisions have already been adopted, the other part must be adopted as soon as possible in order for the participants of the electoral process to have sufficient time to become familiar with new rules, Tigran Mukuchyan said.
10-4! Employment and wages of truck drivers in 2015

October 4 is National CB Radio Day. CB or citizens band radios were widely used by truck drivers and other motorists to communicate with one another over short distances. In the 1970s, CB radios also became a popular way for people in all walks of life to communicate with a wide audience. Think of CB radios as an early form of social media. CB radio users had a special set of codes to communicate. Probably the best-known code was 10-4, which meant understood, OK, or message received. Thats why October 4, or 10-4, became National CB Radio Day.

Most people associate CB radios with truck drivers. In May 2015, there were 1,678,280 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the United States. Their median annual wage was $40,260. North Dakota, Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Wyoming had the highest concentration of truck drivers in 2015. We measure this concentration with the location quotient. A location quotient greater than 1 means the state has a higher share of employment than the national average.

View Chart Data Location quotients for employment of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, May 2015 State Location quotient Employment Median annual wage United States  1,678,280 $40,260 Alabama 1.36 31,280 37,470 Alaska 0.66 2,610 51,280 Arizona 0.73 22,840 38,680 Arkansas 2.33 33,400 36,310 California 0.68 129,170 42,010 Colorado 0.85 25,350 44,370 Connecticut 0.65 13,110 45,680 Delaware 0.72 3,790 40,890 District of Columbia 0.06 480 48,250 Florida 0.75 72,280 36,070 Georgia 1.04 51,980 39,630 Hawaii 0.48 3,620 43,930 Idaho 1.66 13,000 36,810 Illinois 0.98 69,590 43,750 Indiana 1.41 50,480 40,190 Iowa 2.03 37,800 39,790 Kansas 1.15 19,260 38,870 Kentucky 1.27 28,410 38,210 Louisiana 0.97 22,950 37,710 Maine 1.21 8,680 36,300 Maryland 0.64 20,250 42,410 Massachusetts 0.58 24,030 46,510 Michigan 1.02 51,340 38,570 Minnesota 1.02 34,550 41,540 Mississippi 1.64 22,080 38,080 Missouri 1.23 40,660 39,910 Montana 1.14 6,210 41,360 Nebraska 2.32 26,940 39,660 Nevada 0.69 10,370 47,050 New Hampshire 0.83 6,410 39,720 New Jersey 0.85 40,280 45,690 New Mexico 1.01 9,800 39,870 New York 0.51 55,560 44,250 North Carolina 1.04 52,430 38,390 North Dakota 3.02 16,450 49,570 Ohio 1.12 71,710 40,860 Oklahoma 1.26 24,480 39,940 Oregon 1.00 21,160 40,740 Pennsylvania 1.11 76,960 42,100 Rhode Island 0.50 2,870 41,400 South Carolina 1.06 24,770 38,480 South Dakota 1.49 7,490 37,130 Tennessee 1.54 52,580 38,660 Texas 1.29 181,640 38,280 Utah 1.25 20,170 42,380 Vermont 0.93 3,440 40,040 Virginia 0.84 37,610 38,270 Washington 0.84 30,500 43,360 West Virginia 1.27 10,940 35,690 Wisconsin 1.41 47,500 39,210 Wyoming 2.03 7,020 46,580

Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio had the largest number of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in May 2015. Truck drivers in Alaska had the highest median annual wage, $51,280.

These data are from the Occupational Employment Statistics program. To learn more, see "Occupational Employment and Wages  May 2015" (HTML) (PDF).
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on October 4 received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Armenia Ivan Volynkin, press service of the Government informed Armenpress.

The PM said the Armenian-Russian allied, friendly relations have strong basis and emphasized that the bilateral mutual cooperation is developing at all directions. PM Karapetyan said Russia is Armenias major economic partner and attached importance to the further development and expansion of trade-economic cooperation between the two states.

Karen Karapetyan highlighted that the Armenian Government is ready to take the necessary steps towards that path and added that there is a great potential for implementing new investment projects and increasing the trade turnover volumes.

In his turn Russian Ambassador Volynkin congratulated Karen Karapetyan on his appointment as PM and wished him new achievements. The Ambassador said he believes in the success of Armenias new Government and said he is ready to assist on implementing joint initiatives.

At the meeting the sides discussed a number of issues related to the Armenian-Russian relations agenda and economic cooperation.
Going to South Africa to represent the EAOs who signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) are: The Karen National Union (KNU) General Secretary Padoh Saw Kwel Htoo Win; the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) General Secretary (2) U Sai La; the Chin National Front (CNF) Vice-Chairman (2) Dr Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong; and the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation (PNLO)s leading patron Khun Okkar.

Representatives of EAOs that have not signed the NCA are also taking part in the visit. They include: the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) Vice-Chairman (1) Maj Gen Gun Maw, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) Vice-Chairman Khu Oo Reh, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) General Secretary Nai Aung Min, from the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) Sai Hin Hseng, the Wa Special Region 2 Chief Financial Officer U Nyi Lin and from Special Region 4 (Mongla) U Sai Mauk.

The EAO representatives and eight representatives of the Burmese Government left Rangoon on 1 October for the visit, which is due to run from 1 to 9 October.

The Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor, U Kyaw Tint Swe, is leading the Burmese Government delegation. The other members of the government delegation are: the leader of the advisory commission for the Peace Commission, U Aung Kyi; the Rangoon Region Social Affairs Minister U Naing Ngan Lin; the Deputy Director-General of the Presidents Office U Zaw Htay; and from the ministry of Defence Brigadier-General Sein Tun Hla and Lieutenant-Generals Yar Pyay, Aung Lin Dwe and Tin Maung Win.

When asked about the lack of an Arakan EAO delegate the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP)s top leader Daw Saw Mra Raza Linn said she knew nothing about the details of the visit.

She said to Narinjara News: We were informed about this visit at first but we dont know what happened after that. The partys vice-chairman U Khaing Saw Naing Aung also hasnt given me any information about this visit, so I have no details about this visit to South Africa.

The ALP is one of the eight EAOs that have signed the NCA with the Burmese government.

Currently there is ongoing conflict in Arakan State between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army. The state is also being destabilised by racial and religious conflicts.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. On October 3-4, 2016 the 12th annual RIPE NCC Regional Meeting of the Eurasia Network Operators Group (ENOG) took place in Yerevan, reports Armenpress.

As platinum sponsor of the ENOG / RIPE NCC Regional Meeting, we are glad to host in Armenia the leading international and regional experts, network operators, service providers, internet community representatives, in a word, - all our partners. ENOG / RIPE NCC Regional Meeting is an excellent platform for experience exchange and discussion of the most important regional and international issues concerning the internet community. Some of the key topics relate, first of all, to free and safe access to the Internet, said Hayk Yesayan, the General Director at Ucom.

Nowadays, it is impossible to handle security issues at a local level. Due to globalization, these issues can be solely handled through international cooperation and our active involvement, says Information Security expert Samvel Martirosyan.

During the 2-day discussion the participants have touched upon a number of key topics, such as: what makes DDoS attacks possible and how to combat them; transition to IPv6, which is called to solve all the problems with current version of Internet protocol (IPv4) and which is already implemented by Ucom; cooperation with the scientific community; new features of DNS technologies in convergent solutions and other highly professional, but too important issues for the end users, which should ensure Internet security and accessibility in the countries of Central Asia, Europe and Middle East.

This meeting has been held in many countries of the region, among them, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. Today Armenia has replenished the list of these countries. 200 field experts have gathered together, ready to propose practical steps towards real ameliorations, Chief Communications Officer for RIPE NCC Serge Radovcic said.

Vahan Martirosyan, Minister of Transport, Communications and IT, and Paul Vixie, the American Internet pioneer, author of several RFCs and some Unix software were also present in the event.
Col. Sai Hla said that Burmese army battalion 292 on Saturday attacked a relief center in Wan Boi village, Donglao village-tract, in southern Shan States Mong Kung Township.

This relief center was initiated by local people and our armed group, he said. We set up the facility to treat drug addicts  we have about 50 addicts in the program.

The assault on Wan Boi has continued through Monday, the Shan army spokesman said, compelling some 2,000 local villagers to flee their homes.

We dont want to create problems for these civilians, Sai Hla told Shan Herald today. When there is fighting, people suffer. We do not want this to happen, and we try to avoid it. However, the Tatmadaw [government forces] attacked us, and we have to protect ourselves.

The RCSS/SSA was among eight ethnic armed groups that signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the government on October 15 last year.

As per the conditions of the accord, Sai Hla said, the RCSS/SSA informed the government and the regional military command of the assault by its troops after the attack.

They [the Burmese military] said they will help solve problems, he said. But, on the other hand, they are attacking us.

He added: This is quite the opposite of our agreement to solve issues by peaceful means. And then they told us not to make a big issue out of it.

Several clashes have broken out between Burmese government units and the RCSS/SSA since the signing of the NCA nearly a year ago. The first clash occurred on December 31 in Mong Peng Township in eastern Shan States Kengtung District.
I knew that Mongla, due to its aspiration of becoming a Self Administered Zone (SAZ), was developing closer relationship with Naypyitaw. But I had mistakenly taken for granted that the Wa, that already has been awarded a Self Administered Division (SAD), wouldnt be hard to convince.

Most likely I didnt have all the facts and the crack between two allies are deeper and wider than what we outsiders knew.

On 28 September, 63 Dongfeng military trucks led by 3 (some say 5) armored vehicles rolled into the NDAA domain, that occupies Burmas part of the Other Golden Triangle, the remaining two being Laos and Chinas Yunnan.

The 600 troops quickly surprised the defenders and seized the two strategic mountain outposts (Loi Kiuhsai and Loi Hsarm Hsoom) and the border checkpoint (Pang Markfai), apparently without facing resistance (some said the NDAA leaders thought the misunderstandings could be sorted out without resorting to bloodshed).

We tried to contact Panghsang to inquire what this is all about, said an official source from Mongla. But there was no response.



Zhao Zhongdang Zhao Zhongdang

As the two strategic outposts and the border checkpoint are facing the Burma Army-guarded Taping checkpoint on the Lwe, a tributary of the Mekong, its Triangle Region Command based in Kengtung at once made inquiries. The responses from the Wa side were not clear, according to Burma Army sources. One Wa official said it was just a military exercise, nothing to worry about, said one. The other said it was just a dispute between subordinate units of the two sides and leaders believe they will be able to fix it in no time.

SHAN said it was able to reach U Aung Myint aka Li Julie, the UWSAs spokesman (at least until recently), but he had politely declined to answer.

The latest report is that Zhao Zhongdang, the UWSAs deputy commander-in-chief, is coming to Mongla to parley.



Bao Youxiang with U Aung Myint on his left Bao Youxiang with U Aung Myint on his left

The Wa presence in Mongla goes as far back as 2011, when the NDAAs outposts along the Mekong: Wankho, Pong Hiet and Mongfan, were attacked by the Burma Army, citing security along the international river. The outnumbered NDAA had called for help and the Wa reciprocated by dispatching 3 battalions from the Mongpawk-based 468th Brigade (now commanded by Bao Ai Ban, nephew of the Wa supreme leader Bao Youxiang).

And, like most invited armies, the UWSA hasnt bothered about returning to their home base since.



Sai Leun Sai Leun

Of course, we dont know what exactly Zhao is going to tell the Mongla leaders. But two things are certain:

It will be easier for the Wa to give up its southern bases along the Thai border than to give up Mongla, the obvious result of which will be getting itself completely encircled by hostile forces

The Wa now enjoy a distinct upper hand over Sai Leun. It stands to reason that he will have to accept most, if not all, of the conditions imposed by the Wa

As for Naypyitaw, and the other ethnic armed groups, both signatories and non-signatories, the time will soon come to decide whether to choose the victor or the vanquished. And their decision will definitely affect the ongoing peace process.
Best Tips For Brittle Nails That Totally Work! Body Care oi-Riddhi

A lot of people have dry and brittle nails, especially people who are trying to grow their nails or already have big nails. For those of you out there, we've listed certain tips for brittle nails that will make your nails stronger and look even better.

People with dry and brittle nails live with a constant fear of the nails breaking, which prevents them from trying to grow them, and even if they do grow, they start peeling or breaking. Sometimes, this problem is accompanied by yellow, stained nails as well.

Putting nail polish on such nails can be even worse, as it may not allow the nails and cuticles to breathe.

Other problems of dry and brittle nails include unmanageable cuticles. A lot of people forget to take care of the cuticles when taking care of their nails.

Cuticle care is one the first steps in taking care of your nails to get rid of dry and brittle nails. You must also ensure that the nails are always moisturised well.

If the condition is really bad, you must not grow them and keep them at a very short length till they are stronger. So, have a look at these tips on how to get rid of brittle nails and keep the nails stronger.

1. Cuticle Cream: Use an oil or a cream or even a lip balm to moisturise your cuticles and push them back. Softened cuticles are easier to push back.

GET THE BEST BOLDSKY STORIES! Allow Notifications

2. Trim: Trim your nails to a decent length every week. Longer nails have a tendency to break quite often easily.3. Shape: Round-shaped nails are easier to break than square-shaped nails. So, make sure your nails are shaped in a square form and keep the edges blunt to avoid cuts from the nail.4. Buff: Buff the tops of the nails to make sure there are no ridges or edges in the nails. This is one of the best tips for brittle nails to keep in mind.5. File: File the nails, so that they get that right square shape with rounded blunt edges.6. Clean: Make sure your nails are always clean. Ensure that there is no dirt stuck inside the nails. And regularly opt for following manicures at home.7. Soak: Soak your nails in a mix of warm water and lemon to get the yellow stain off them and to make sure they are squeaky clean. This is one of the natural ways to get rid of brittle nails.8. Olive Oil: Use olive oil on your nails to make them naturally healthier and shinier. This is the best way to get rid of brittle nails.9. Lemon Oil: Mix a few drops of lemon essential oil into any other oil of your choice to get your very own nail oil that smells so refreshing because of the lemon.10. Lip Balm: Use any basic lip balm to condition your cuticles and then soften and push them back in. This is a really important step to getting rid of brittle nails.11. Petroleum Jelly: And if you don't wish to use lip balm, you can just use petroleum jelly for the very same purpose. That's how you can get rid of brittle nails which will work wonders.12. Almond Oil: Almond oil is one of the best oils for good skin and hair, so it would be a really good way to naturally strengthen your weak, brittle nails.
Navratri 2019: Significance Of Worshiping Devi Kushmanda On The 4th Day of Navratri Festivals lekhaka-Staff

Navratri festival has begun and in many households, Goddess Durga is welcomed as the daughter of the house and is worshipped.

This is one of the biggest festivals of the Hindu religion that is celebrated with pomp and vigour throughout the country. Do you know the significance of the Navratri festival?

Have you ever thought why the festival is celebrated for nine days and why is it the Visarjan day on the tenth day specifically? What is the value of each day of the Navratri festival?

Goddess Durga took nine forms to kill Mahishasura, the demon. Each form has its own significance and importance. According to another belief, 'Nava means new.

Therefore, people worship nine appellations of Goddess Durga on Navratri with 'Nava Patrika (nine leaves or herbs) and 'Nava Graha are also worshipped during this time.

The festival starts from the 'Pratipada and continues up to nine days. Each day, people worship different appellations of Devi Durga.

If the first day is dedicated to 'Shailaputri, the second day is dedicated to 'Brahmachari. The third day is for 'Chandraghanta and now, the fourth day is dedicated to 'Devi Kushmanda.

Here, you will know about the significance of worshipping Devi Durga in the form of Kushmanda on the fourth day of Navratri, have a look.

1. Appearance Of Devi Kushmanda: Mata Kushmanda has eight hands, holding a bow, a jar of nectar, arrow, lotus, mace, discus, chakra and the eighth hand, she has a rosary for blessing her devotees. Due to eight hands, she is known as Ashtavuja. Her complexion is radiant and body colour is golden. She rides on a lion. Often, she is regarded as having ten hands.

2. Worship To The Creator Of The Universe: According to an ancient belief, when there was no universe, there was only deep darkness around. Goddess Kushmanda smiled and thus, there was light everywhere. In this way, she created the Universe and filled it with life. The fourth day of Navratri is for worshipping the source of this creation.

3. Controller Of The Solar System: Devi Kushmanda resides in the core of the sun and gets her energy from there. According to a popular belief, she controlled the sun and also the entire solar system. From now on, while worshipping Devi Kushmanda, you will know that you are worshipping the ultimate power of this universe.

4. Meaning Of 'Kushmanda: Here 'Ku means little, 'Ushma stands for warmth and 'anda is equal to a cosmic egg. As she is the creator of the Universe, her name justifies her role, right?

5. Significance Of Her Blessings: According to popular belief, Devi Kushmanda is reflected in every living and non-living entity of this universe. She is the source of energy, which gives her devotees the ability to make decisions intellectually.

She is there to show the right way in life and to overcome all sorrows and pain and fill life with happiness and laughter. If someone worships her with complete devotion, he will get everything to be happy in this world.

Now, you know the significance of the fourth day of Navratri. In many households, Devi Kushmanda is worshipped as Goddess Lakshmi who removes all miseries of humans life and fills it with blessings.

Also, the fourth day signifies the women power. It is believed that lord Vishnu needed the help from Devi Kushmanda to make the universe throbbing with life.
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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Russian embassy in Damascus came under fire on Tuesday from a neighborhood controlled by militant groups, including Al-Nusra Front, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, reports RT.

One of the mortar shells fired at the embassy complex hit the residential area, while two others landed near the embassy building, the ministry said in a statement. Nobody was injured by the explosions.

According to reports, the shelling came from the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, which is under control of the terrorist groups Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and Failak ar-Rahman, the ministry said.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham is the new name taken by Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda offshoot universally considered a terrorist organization. Failak ar-Rahman is a lesser-known Islamist group.

Moscow said the shelling is result of the actions of those who, like the US and some of its allies, provoke the continued bloodshed in Syria and flirt with militants and extremists of all flavors.

The ministry said Russia would take all necessary measures to return peace and security to Syria.

The Russian embassy in Damascus has come under militant fire on several occasions. The Syrian capital remains under threat despite the efforts of the army to fend off armed groups.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Terrorist groups have shelled Sepil, Suleyman al Halapi, Meritean and the nearby areas of the University of Aleppo, Gandzasar Weekly reported.

The shelling left five dead, 32 wounded, the majority of whom are women, children and students.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on October 4 received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the US to Armenia Richard Mills, press service of the Government informed Armenpress.

PM Karapetyan said the Armenian-American dynamically developing relations are effective and emphasized that Armenia attaches great importance to the development of strong business ties with the US, including in trade and investments sectors. Karen Karapetyan thanked the US Government for the assistance provided to the reforms in various sectors of Armenia since the Independence and in this context he underscored the implementation of projects through the USAID assistance.

Karen Karapetyan said the relations of the two states cover a wide range of cooperation, and stated the Armenian Government is ready to take steps for fully utilizing the existing potential and expanding the cooperation.

On behalf of the US Government, Ambassador Richard Mills congratulated Karen Karapetyan on his appointment as PM and wished him productive work. The Ambassador expressed confidence the cooperation with K. Karapetyans Government will contribute to intensifying and deepening the bilateral ties.

The sides exchanged views on the Armenian-US cooperation and development prospects.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia plans to cut expenditures in a number of directions, Minister of Finance of Armenia Vardan Aramyan told the reporters.

I have to say that 6 billion AMD will be cut from subsidies. It is conditioned by the fact that a new lease will be signed with the operator of the water supplies, Minister Aramyan said, adding that expenditure cuts will take place in other spheres as well, such as state apparatus or agriculture.

The Minister referred to the issues of external debt, presenting a number of indexes. According to preliminary forecasts, the external debt of the Government will amount to 4.4 billion USD in 2016. Overall, the state debt will amount to 5.8 billion USD.

People often ask the question which is the acceptable Debt to GDP ratio. I can say that 60% is the acceptable level, but it is not necessarily dangerous when you exceed that threshold. The structure of the debt is very important. The overwhelming part of our debt is comprised of soft loans, the Minister of Finance said, explaining that if a country continuously records negative economic growth, even a low level of external debt can cause the investors to withdraw their money from the country. I dont think we have an uncontrollable situation in this context, he concluded.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The possibility of acquisition of Israeli made Iron dome anti-missile system by Azerbaijan raises both political and military suspicions, Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute, political scientist Sergey Minasyan told Armenpress commenting on the media reports that Israel allegedly plans to sell Iron dome anti-missile system to Azerbaijan.

First of all, they have not purchased it at the moment. The Azerbaijani press spread information about its intention to acquire this system or they will be provided with it. This system was elaborated not only by Israeli experts, but they did it with collaboration of US experts, Minasyan said, adding that it is hard to imagine that Israel, possessing one of the worlds leading systems of that type, will provide it to a country that has started to strengthen its relations with Russia and Iran.

The second factor according to the political scientist is that Azerbaijan will have to empty its pockets if it really wants to purchase it. For a country that faces rather serious social-economic problems, it will be a very heavy spending. But even if Azerbaijan takes that path, we can say that the purchase of Iskander by Armenia is equivalent to Azerbaijani acquisition of Iron dome in terms of cost-effectiveness ratio, since the costs Azerbaijan will have to invest in counter-balancing Iskander will far exceed the costs of Armenias acquisition of Iskander, Sergey Minasyan stated.

The third factor is there are no such evidences that Iron dome is effective against Iskander or other operational and tactical missiles such as Tochka or even Scud systems modernized by Armenia. That system is first of all designed against small and medium-caliber missile systems, such as Grad, Smerch or other similar systems. Iskander missiles have quasi-ballistic trajectory and other features, against which, as American and Israeli experts note, there are no effective counter-measures, the expert stated.

According to Minasyan, the information spread by Azerbaijani media is a result of psychological shock after Armenia demonstrated Iskander systems.
Waltham Group set to celebrate 50th anniversary

Leading up to this weekend's celebration, former volunteers and coordinators were asked to send in their memories of the Waltham Group. Take a look at what they had to say.

Photo courtesy of Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Chuck Gordon '86 serves as a tutor and mentor to two local children as part of the Big Siblings program. The program continues today: About 40 children are matched with "bigs."

Brandeis University and Waltham community organizations are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Waltham Group, one of the oldest and largest university-based student service organizations in the country. The yearlong commemoration begin with a weekend of service and celebration on Oct. 8 and 9. Activities include volunteer opportunities, a carnival for kids and a gala dinner.

The Waltham Group was founded in 1966 in response to student activism and in recognition of the university's responsibility to be engaged in the community. More than 20,000 Brandeis students have volunteered in and around Waltham with the Waltham Group since then.

Through the Waltham Group, Brandeis students work with every age group from kindergarteners through elders, with Waltham-area organizations tackling issues from student achievement to homelessness to health. Volunteer opportunities include short-term projects like collecting canned goods to long-term mentorships that in some cases have lasted a lifetime.

Leading up to this weekend's celebration, former volunteers and coordinators were asked to send in their memories of the Waltham Group. Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

Daniel Nestel '88: I recently had lunch with Peter Joyce, who was the Waltham Group Director during my time at Brandeis from 1984-88. It had been nearly 30 years since we had last seen each other but it didnt feel that way as we reminisced about old times. One of Brandeis most appealing qualities is its community which invites students to get involved and assume leadership roles. As an entering freshman, I was welcomed into the Waltham Group and in just one year I was co-coordinator of the Companion to Elders program. The Waltham Group soon became family and this environment was fostered through Peters leadership and his ability to forge a cohesive group of student leaders. We were all involved in community service before it was cool. My lunch with Peter demonstrates why the Waltham Group has thrived for 50 years, the connection to the group remains strong even after a 3 decade absence. Congrats, WG on your 50th!

Ashley (Ruskiewicz) Hinds '08: I joined the Waltham Groups Companions to Elders program my first year at Brandeis. I was matched with a 93-year-old woman named Marie. Marie loved word games, so we played Scrabble once or twice a week. I really enjoyed hanging out with her because she was so funny. She even had a boyfriend. I got to spend with Marie through my senior year at Brandeis. At a certain point, her macular degeneration made it too difficult for us to play word games, so we would just sit and chat. I still visited Marie even after I graduated, until she moved to the western part of Massachusetts. I think if I had to say just one lesson that I learned from Marie, it was that life really only has the limitations that we set for ourselves. I have carried that with me ever since. I always think of how Marie used every resource she had to live her life to the fullest. I know that I was supposed to be there for Marie, but really, Im forever grateful for the lifetime of lessons that she taught me.

Ellen Seidman '89: For a couple of years, I ran Toddler Playgroup. On Friday mornings, we'd head to the rec room of a local housing development and watch tots for a couple of hours to give their moms a break. Senior year, I learned to drive a Brandeis van to transport the group there, which my friends found amusing given my so-called driving skills. Lisa Steckler ('89) and Lisa Rus ('88) also volunteered, and we had a great time playing with the kids and doing crafts. Now that I'm a mom, I know how precious free time is and I'm glad we were able to give some to those moms.

Kathryn Semerau '17: Helping people with disabilities is a cause I take to heart. Both of my twin sisters were born premature and, as a result, are severely intellectually disabled. I was first an advocate on their behalf, loving them as a sister and attending to their special needs as a third parent. When I left home for Brandeis I missed them dearly and sought a way to give back to others with intellectual disabilities. Spectrum, a Waltham Group organization that facilitates tutoring and mentorship programs, gave me this opportunity. I was delighted to be paired with Christina, a rising ninth grade student who struggles from learning disabilities, primarily number blindness. She and I bonded over our mutual interests in music and fashion, and exchanged stories about what a rollercoaster life can be. Our rapport grew quickly. We have been working together for the past three years; next year will be our last since we are both rising seniors! I am consoled knowing that our relationship has grown beyond Algebra II and that we will be lifelong friends. My favorite experience with Christina was when she bounded towards me and exclaimed that she had won an academic award at her school because I helped her get her grades up. I will never forget how her eyes sparkled that day, a mark of pride and gratitude.

Dorian Block '04: I had been a volunteer before coming to Brandeis, but the Waltham Group taught me that I could think big and execute. Being able to take on a leadership role and develop programming however we saw fit, gave me the freedom to dream. While a part of the Waltham Group, we organized the annual campus-wide Halloween canned food drive, volunteered regularly at several local shelters and developed educational programming around hunger and homelessness. I also tutored kids one-on-one and worked at an after-school program during my time at Brandeis. I can still remember the feeling of holding the babies at one shelter and feeding them bottles. Many of their mothers were HIV positive. We helped in a tiny way so that the mothers could have some time to take care of everything they had to. I remember watching early intervention specialists evaluate children in the shelter for developmental delays. These rich memories have stuck with me in my own work and understanding of poverty. They have also shaped my worldview now that I have my own children. My husband, who I met while we were freshman at Brandeis, was a tutor through the Waltham Group as well. I encouraged him to do it, and in a letter before we got married, he wrote that I helped teach him that giving back was a way of living not just something people put on their resume.

Jessica Israel Cannon '90: My work with the Waltham Group, over a quarter of a century ago, set the stage for much of who I am today. From 1987 - 1990, I coordinated the PT/DC Rec program providing after school programs for kids living in Waltham's public housing. Through this program, I was exposed to children whose day to day realities were dramatically different from what I had experienced. The time I spent with the children living in Prospect Terrace and Dana Court deeply impacted me. Witnessing the impact of capitalism, racism and poverty gave new meaning to my courses and inspired me to commit to a life of social action. My role as coordinator developed my leadership competencies. After graduating, I continued directing after school programs. In 1997, I received my Masters in Social Work and started working in schools. I obtained a teaching credential and spent ten years teaching in an East Oakland middle school. I used the skills I developed through the Waltham Group every day. Today, I am the proud principal of an Oakland elementary school - working hard to make the world a better place for all children.
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This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is no going back to the comfortable life Dylan Gray once led; never again will he live in a nice apartment in Calgary, take care of nightclub security while doing investment work on the side.

He prefers where life has him now, even if that has him drenched head to toe during a cross-country journey to find himself.

Originally from Winnipeg, the 27-year-old has only a cart and backpack to his name as he takes the well-travelled road from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean  this time by foot.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Dylan Gray makes his way west along the Trans-Canada Highway toward Virden in the rain on Monday after leaving Oak Lake earlier in the day during his walk across Canada in support of the Against Malaria Foundation. Gray began the journey at the Atlantic Ocean on June 24, and has travelled more than 3,800 kilometres by foot.

Taking a rest at the Virden A&W early Monday afternoon to dry off amid the steady rainfall, Gray said he is even in high spirits contending with pouring rain.

Im inside, Im dry right now, so thats something to be happy about, he said.

I would never go back to the way I was. I mean, I was never really an unhappy person, but sometimes you dont know what true happiness is until it kind of hits you in the face.

A turning point in Grays life came a few years ago when his head slammed against concrete after falling down a set of stairs at a party.

When the paramedics got there, I was dead on arrival, Gray said.

Somehow, he was given a second chance at life, and this June his head hit water. He dipped his head in the Atlantic Ocean on June 24 to mark the start of his journey.

Experiencing death and coming back to life, it kind of shows you how precious life is, he said.

The near-death experience accelerated the speed he got rid of his belongings. Now he only has whats on him, like a tent, food, water, spare wheels, clothes and items of sentimental value.

When I was getting rid of my things, it shows you whats important. You can have all the money and all the nice things in the world, but one day everybody is going to die and you cant take those things with you, he said.

Grays trek is also for a cause important to him, raising money and awareness for the Against Malaria Foundation, which distributes nets for populations at high risk of malaria. A half-million people die each year of the mosquito-borne disease, 70 per cent of which are children under five, according to statistics provided by the charity.

For that charity, and as an avenue to learn more about himself, Gray has travelled more than 3,800 kilometres by foot, often at a steady walk. He has withstood wind and rain, blown-out tires and the times his body aches.

He hopes to be in Regina by Thanksgiving and will continue on to Vancouver, stopping at campgrounds and crashing on friends couches along the way while the temperature dips.

He doesnt have a set goal once this trek, a spiritual experience for him, runs its course  only that hes a changed person because of it.

I just know how the pieces have kind of fallen together  the answer will be there once I get there.

You can follow Grays journey on his blog at EternalEqualEarth.com.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
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This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The mayor of Neepawa said the public should weigh in on plans for a long-awaited hospital to serve his community and Minnedosa now that the project has sat in limbo for eight years.

A pitch for a joint health centre located between those communities was submitted to the provincial government in 2008, but the idea has languished ever since.

In succeeding years, surrounding communities have amalgamated, new municipal councils were elected and Neepawas population has surged to more than 4,000 people, suggesting to Mayor Adrian de Groot another round of public consultation is needed.

My recommendation to the new minister of health, and even the previous minister of health, is that the review process be redone, de Groot said.

When asked about the planned location of the hospital near Franklin, de Groot doesnt doubt the location, but questions how the decision was made.

My view has always been the process, the process of selection, and it needs to be unbiased, it needs to be fair and it needs to be, in my estimation, somewhat scientific, he said. Those are elements that I did not see being a part of that initial go-around.

If (Franklins) the right location, great, but it should be based on a more scientific approach rather than making a political approach.

An official with Manitoba Health said in a statement they are currently reviewing the proposal.

Our government is always looking for innovative and sustainable ways to provide health-care services to Manitobans.

De Groot recalled there was a meeting last year with various municipal officials to discuss the hospital, but its location was not discussed.

In some minds, thats still a very sensitive area, and Ill be honest with you, I dont know what that sensitivity is all about, de Groot said. If you do it very objectively, you answer all the questions, theres no bias that should come into it.

Both de Groot and his Minnedosa counterpart, Ray Orr, said they have not heard from the provincial government officials on what they think of the new hospital.

The previous government said at one point it was on the burner, but the burner wasnt very hot, Orr said.

Reading news articles on the new Progressive Conservative government preaching spending restraint doesnt leave him hopeful, though.

Its an expensive matter to deal with it, and Im not sure that the new government is really going to speed it along all that much, he said.

Orr said he would reiterate his views on the project: that a new, larger facility, built between the two communities would be a major driver in attracting and retaining medical staff.

Prairie Mountain Health, which has listed the project as its No. 1 capital project, would follow a construction model similar to Southern Healths Boundary Trails Health Centre, which was constructed between Morden and Winkler.

Orr said Minnedosa is planning to build a new clinic, which they expect will aid recruitment efforts, but he admits a state-of-the-art hospital would make for a better sales pitch.

Orr said his community of more than 2,500 people has three doctors currently at its 27-bed facility, but we could quite nicely handle five or six without any trouble.

Weve had situations where our emergency room has been shut down. Were pretty fortunate right now. Weve got one doctor who is in his 70s who puts in a lot of time  He takes his share of on-call. When he decides to retire, it might be kind of interesting to see what happens.

Neepawa has been fortunate retaining medical personnel at its 38-bed acute care facility, according to de Groot, and officials are planning to build a new clinic and hope to attract more than their six doctors with it.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Germany confidently advocates peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Armenpress reports German Ambassador to Azerbaijan Michael Kindsgrab told report.az.

We, as OSCE Minsk Group member, make all efforts to restore negotiation process, the diplomat stated.

Kindsgrab touched upon the visit of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Yerevan and Baku as a representative of a state chairing the OSCE.

The Minister clearly expressed his opinion on the settlement of the conflict during those visits. Preservation of the status-qua is inadmissible. We are always in touch with the sides aimed at restoring the negotiation process for a peaceful settlement, the Ambassador said, adding that they also make efforts to de-escalate the situation.
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This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two new Veteran Fields of Honour will be established at Brandon Municipal Cemetery as part of a new bylaw adopted by city council on Monday.

The definition of a veteran will also be expanded to include all Canadian military personnel who served the country. Previously, the cemetery only recognized veterans who served in the South African War, the First World War, Second World War and the Korean War.

Several other changes will now come into effect, including the removal of grave borders and fencing that have been added by the public since 2000.

File The definition of a veteran for the purposes of burial in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery will include all Canadian military personnel who served the country under a new bylaw adopted by council.

Perry Roque, director of community services, explained the previous bylaw stated fencing was not allowed around a grave site, but it has not been enforced. A review determined the structures create hazards in the cemetery. There will be an inventory conducted and removals will begin, with the exception of some historic fencing.

The new bylaw will also discontinue the use of grave covers and concrete vaults.

The storage, handling and installation of concrete vaults is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and presents unnecessary safety risks, states Roques report to council. It is our recommendation to eliminate their use altogether. For lawn sections and extra-depth interments when we require a liner, other approved options are available that are as strong, infinitely easier to handle/install, cheaper and require less storage space.

Heavy marble covers can pose safety issues for visitors, staff and equipment due to the settlement of the ground underneath, leading to breakage.

Coun. John LoRegio (Meadows-Waverly) raised concern about a surcharge for funerals after 3:30 p.m. The surcharge previously came into effect after 4 p.m. He also attempted to remove the clause allowing pets on cemetery grounds, but his amendment was not supported.

Roque said the more positive community traffic in the cemetery, such as walkers, joggers, cyclists, the less opportunity for negative traffic, such as vandals.

All pets shall be on a leash or other such restraint and confined to the paved walkways in the cemetery, states the bylaw.

Coun. Lonnie Patterson (South Centre) praised the new bylaw and the effort that went into it.

This has been a while in the making, she said, adding kudos to city staff doing a lot of work to modernize this bylaw for us and make sure we have a plan moving forward.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
618 | October 28, 2022 17:40 Putin to have private talks with Pashinyan and Aliyev

604 | October 26, 2022 17:43 10 residential buildings built in Ivanyan with the funds of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund will soon be put into operation

600 | October 29, 2022 11:04 The statement of the President of the Russian Federation inspires certain hopes. We anticipate that the vital interests of the Artsakh Republic will be fully protected. President Harutyunyan

593 | October 26, 2022 16:27 Pediatric neurologists from Yerevan conduct free exainations in Stepanakert

581 | October 28, 2022 16:52 Zatulin: West seeks to push Russia out of negotiation process at any cost

573 | October 28, 2022 17:54 Power supply may be restored, if Kiev recognizes Russias new regions  Medvedev

548 | October 28, 2022 15:51 Garo Paylan arrives in Armenia

541 | October 24, 2022 15:04 Video shows destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Azeri-occupied Artsakh territories
Opinion

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This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The fact is we have the Conservative Party thinking we go too far, we have the NDP thinking we do not go far enough. I think, like most Canadians will think, that we have the right balance.

 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

As often happens when governments with diverse and competing interests try to build a consensus, the push to create a national price on carbon emissions seemed like another failed experiment as Canadas environment ministers met yesterday in Montreal.

According to a report by The Canadian Press from the weekend, a federal-provincial working group of officials that spent the summer looking at carbon pricing failed to reach a consensus on how to equate direct carbon taxes, like those in British Columbia, to cap-and-trade markets like the one under construction between Quebec and Ontario.

So when provincial environment ministers met yesterday, it was with the intention of hammering out a pan-Canadian climate plan  to hopefully succeed where the working group failed. This push for a pan-Canadian plan came at the behest of the federal Liberals who earlier this year talked about creation a national carbon tax.

Apparently, the feds were tired of talking, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to lay a bombshell on the provinces yesterday  even as the environment ministers were meeting. All provinces will have to have some kind of carbon pricing scheme in place by the year 2018 or have one imposed upon their jurisdiction by the federal government.

The proposed price on carbon dioxide pollution will start at $10 per tonne in 2018, and rise $10 per year to $50 a tonne by 2022.

A CBC report yesterday stated that as part of the plan, provinces and territories that choose a cap-and-trade system must decrease emissions in line with both Canadas target and with the reductions expected in jurisdictions that choose a price-based system. All of this would apparently be revenue-neutral for the federal government, with any revenues staying within the province or territory where they were generated.

Trudeau has made no bones about the fact that he intends to meet Canadas pledge, made at the Paris climate summit last fall, to cut emissions by 30 per cent over the next 14 years. Clearly he believes that Canadas political process has been moving too slow. And predictably, the news sparked an immediate backlash by a few of our more bombastic right-leaning personalities.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was apoplectic in his criticism.

I cannot believe that while the countrys environment ministers were meeting on a so-called collaborative climate change plan, the Prime Minister stood in the House of Commons and announced a carbon tax unilaterally, Wall said in a prepared statement. The level of disrespect shown by the prime minister and his government today is stunning. This is a betrayal of the statements made by the prime minister in Vancouver this March. And this new tax will damage our economy.

Saskatchewans environment minister, Scott Moe, also likened Trudeaus announcement to Pierre Trudeaus implementation of a the National Energy Program, which was introduced in 1980  a move that led to a political and fiscal rift between the western provinces and the federal Liberals.

But perhaps such seeming Liberal perfidy  what Wall is bound to call it  should be seen in terms of opportunity, rather than an economy-wrecker. There is something worthwhile in the fact that  if such an ultimatum must be made to reach Canadas targets  at least the provinces will have some leeway in how their province approaches carbon pricing.

Certainly, new taxes on business and taxpayers are always poorly received, even though a large number of Canadians understand that something must be done to address climate change.

In B.C., for example, when that province introduced a carbon tax in 2008 on consumers and businesses that used any carbon-producing product, the price of gas jumped by six cents per litre, prompting gas consumption between 2008 and 2011 to drop significantly. While that may work well in Vancouver, which has ample high-speed public transit, the same cant be said for provinces like Manitoba and Saskatchewan that still have a large rural component. Farmers especially will feel the hurt from such a tax increase.

Interestingly, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister took a decidedly more cool-headed approach than his Saskatchewan counterpart, saying yesterday that Manitoba has begun to work on a made in Manitoba carbon-pricing system that he hopes would be announced in the not-too-distant-future.

There will need to be a great deal of thought by our province as to what that system will look like, and how, as Pallister promised, it could actually work, without damaging the economy. But the Manitoba Tories have a real chance here to do exactly what the NDP couldnt bring itself to do in 17 years of power  put a price on carbon and cut emissions in a meaningful way. And they have a perfect excuse right now to do so  the Trudeau Liberals.
Opinion

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This article was published 04/10/2016 (2218 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG  Democracy: the word carries a deep meaning for citizens of nations rooted in Western democratic traditions. The full measure of the word far exceeds the individual rights it implies. For Canadians, it is viscerally connected to the foundations of our history.

The word embodies the weight of sacrifices made by the many who defended democracy against grave dangers in the past, and their memory occupies the deepest recesses of our collective consciousness, imploring us to forever stand vigilant against future dangers. As Canadians, we will never lack the inspiration to defend our rights. We are bound by these principles, not only as Canadians but across borders with citizens of other nations, near and far.

When democratic principles are summoned in support of public policy, our first instinct is often a supportive response. In Manitoba, democratic rights have been invoked to support legislative changes proposed under Bill 7  the proposed labour-relations amendment act introduced by the Pallister government. Contained in the bill is the suggestion union workers are entitled to cast secret ballots.

Bill 7 will be debated in the Manitoba legislature, and as it winds through the legislative process, those opposed will raise questions of fairness and public necessity. These arguments, although reasoned, may do little to overcome our emotional connection to the democratic principles invoked by its supporters. Lynton Crosby, a Conservative Australian political mastermind, has said when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins.

The suggested rationale for Bill 7 is simple: it is about democracy. In our system, it is a compelling argument that the franchise, whether to elect governments or to unionize, is an individual right best exercised in secret. But is that the full extent of our democracy?

Democracy is more than the right to cast secret ballots. A healthy democracy needs an informed and economically secure electorate. Being informed requires that we are able to reason through hollow arguments that, if accepted at face value, would only serve to undermine our enduring interests. Economic security depends on a foundation that offers a reasonable degree of equality for all citizens. Democracy is not solely a function of the single moment citizens vote.

As the Manitoba legislature debates Bill 7, we cannot be distracted by the invocation of democratic principles and overlook fundamental socio-economic factors that must also be taken into account. But what are these factors?

The International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development say when unions decline, so does the middle class. At the same time, more wealth concentrates into fewer hands. This is not just the position of left-leaning, union organizations. Neither the IMF nor the OECD can be accused of occupying a position on the left side of the political or economic spectra.

These organizations have consistently promoted pro-business, small-government economic policies. Hard economic data have forced them to admit the polices of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were very bad for our economies. They now acknowledge a 30-year assault on the right of workers to unionize has tipped the balance far too far.

Ironically, while Mr. Pallisters government is seeking to enact Bill 7, the Trudeau government is repealing bills C-377 and C-525 put in place by the Harper Conservatives. Former prime minister Stephen Harper also used democracy to rationalize legislation that was roundly criticized as an American-style attack on the right to unionize. What was seen as bad legislation for Canada is now being presented as good policy for Manitoba.

Past experience in other Canadian provinces tells us the proposed legislation will make it harder for Manitoba workers to unionize. Will Manitobans be better off if Bill 7 becomes law and the province has fewer unionized workers? The evidence clearly suggests not. Based on reasoned evidence, Bill 7 should never become law.

Sometimes, we need to check our instincts and let emotions take second place to reason. Bill 7 professes to restore democracy in the workplace. It is in fact an instrument of its demise. Manitoba deserves better.

We deserve thoughtful governance that places a premium on hard evidence and discounts raw ideology with extreme prejudice. The defence of our democratic traditions demands nothing less.

 Sudhir Sandhu is the CEO of the Manitoba Building Trades and Allied Hydro Council.
President Serzh Sargsyan on Tuesday issued a congratulatory message to the Distinguished Art Worker of Armenia, author, and publicist Alvard Petrosyan, on the occasion of her 70th birth anniversary.

October 4, 2016, 12:14 Armenia President congratulates distinguished author, publicist

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: Your dedication to humanism and truth is evident in your activities. Your stories about common people, simple men, and the country are a continuation and development of the rich traditions of our modern literature.

You are an original face in the modern Armenian prose writing whose works are full of intellectuals pain and concern as well as unbound love and trust towards the future of the country.

Your pen as a publicist has always been sharp and actual, raising pressing social issues and inviting attention to the important problems, offering realistic solutions.

I wish you good health and new creative success, reads the congratulatory message by the President of Armenia.
Irish SMEs are lagging behind consumers' e-commerce expectations, according to the IE Domain Registry.

It is warning firms that they need to keep pace with digital trends or risk sending shoppers elsewhere.

The registry is saying that, with the digital marketplace said to be worth in excess of 8.8bn, the risk in remaining offline is considerable.

Retail Excellence Ireland estimates that consumers will spend 487bn across Europe in 2016.

The IE Domain Registry said that a significant number of Irish SMEs remain offline, often due to barriers like skills and time.

David Curtin, Chief Executive of IEDR, said: "A significant cohort of Irish SMEs remain offline with no intention of building a website in the near future.

"Many arent aware of how being online can drastically improve their business and others feel like they dont have the skills to do it."
In accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission will conduct a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

October 4, 2016, 13:47 OSCE to conduct monitoring on Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: The monitoring will be held on Wednesday, to the south of Gulistan settlement of the Shahumyan Region.

The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that from the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring will be conducted by Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), field assistant of the Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO); Simon Tiller (Great Britain), Personal Assistant to the Personal Representative to the OSCE CiO; and Klaus Keller, representative of the OSCE Chairmanship, and staff member of the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring will be held by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative to the OSCE CiO; his field assistant Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria); and Peter Svedberg (Sweden), staff member of the Office of the Personal Representative to the OSCE CiO.

The NKR authorities have expressed their readiness to assist in conducting the monitoring and to ensure the safety of the OSCE Mission members.
A report by Amnesty International says a lack of leadership from wealthy nations will lead to a worsening of the refugee crisis.

Italy's coastguard reported that more than 6,000 migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean yesterday, one of the highest numbers recorded on a single day.
Northern Ireland has a veto over the planned withdrawal from the EU, lawyers opposed to Brexit have argued.

An exit would have a catastrophic effect on the peace process, Ronan Lavery QC said.

He claimed people in Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change affecting the North following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which ended the Troubles.

A cross-community group of politicians and victims campaigners is challenging British Prime Minister Theresa May's ability to trigger Article 50 negotiations on an exit at the High Court in Belfast.

Mr Lavery said: "Sovereignty over constitutional affairs has been ceded. It is not the relationship, as it might once have been, between a dominant partner in a relationship and a submissive partner in a relationship.

"The people of Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change. It cannot be imposed upon the people of Northern Ireland.

"If that means that Northern Ireland could exercise a veto over withdrawal then I am (asserting) that is what Britain and Ireland signed up to when they signed the Good Friday Agreement."

Special provision has been made in that agreement governing whether Northern Ireland can become part of a United Ireland if the majority wish it.

Mr Lavery added: "The people of Northern Ireland are the sole entity which has sovereignty over any change in constitutional status and it may be that change in the constitutional status is something which Britain, or England more correctly, wishes to put into effect but it does not mean that it is not a change of constitutional status here."

He said: "Withdrawal from the EU could have a catastrophic effect on the peace process and that delicate constitutional balance which we have reached."

Judicial review of PM's powers

Theresa May has said she plans to begin negotiations with the European Union next year.

Former Stormont justice minister David Ford is among a cross-community group of politicians and human rights activists whose lawyers are taking the judicial review of her powers at Belfast's High Court.

Mr Lavery represents Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond McCord Jr was murdered by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in north Belfast in 1997.

Some 56% of Northern Irish voters backed Remain in the June 23 referendum but some unionist-dominated parts supported Leave.

Northern Ireland shares the UK's only land border with an EU state - the Republic - and the British and Irish Governments have said they are keen to ensure there is no return to the hard borders of the past.

Mr Lavery added that under Brexit any move to create a United Ireland would be subject to the permission of the other EU member states that Northern Ireland should join the EU.

"That is a practical and illegal impediment to the nationalist aspiration for a United Ireland,"

Those supporting the legal action include: Green Party leader Steven Agnew; Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood; senior Sinn Fein Stormont Assembly member John O'Dowd; former head of the Progressive Unionist Party Dawn Purvis; ex-Equality Commission member and disability rights activist Monica Wilson OBE and the Committee on the Administration of Justice human rights group.

They want to ensure the Brexit process complies with the rule of law, takes account of parliamentary sovereignty, protects progress made towards a more peaceful society and accords adequate weight to the democratic will of those in Northern Ireland who voted in the European referendum and in the poll on the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Lavery said Northern Ireland has special status.

"It is a union of partners and we say that equal weight should be given to each partner in that union, to the views of each partner."

He said there had to be a check and balance on parliamentary sovereignty and, following the GFA, sovereignty over constitutional change had been transferred to the people of Northern Ireland.

"The one part of the UK which will be most affected by withdrawal is that part which shares a land border with the rest of the EU.

"But it is not simply the effect of the land border. The constitutional settlement which was reached in the GFA and in negotiations which led to the agreement is a delicate one and firmly based on partnership between two members of the EU.

"The Northern Ireland situation is a microcosm of the European project where the one aspiration of the founders of the EU was that 19th century notions of nationalism in whatever form it takes would become irrelevant, that borders would disappear, they would trade with each other and that crossing the border should be no more than the equivalent of crossing between one county council area to another, one administrative regime to another, and whatever side of the border you live on should be a matter of insignificance because you will be living in an impartial, fair, administrative regime subject to fundamental rights which are enshrined at a supra-national level within the EU."

He said his client, Mr McCord, was concerned that the withdrawal from the EU would be followed by repeal of the Human Rights Act and withdrawal from the Convention on Human Rights.
WikiLeaks has more than a million documents to study and will release a series of publications in the coming weeks, its founder Julian Assange has revealed.

Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the whistle-blowing organisation, Mr Assange said some of the information relates to next month's US presidential election.

He spoke via a video link to a press conference in Berlin, signalling that WikiLeaks will be stepping up its investigative work.

The Australian has been living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for the past four years to avoid extradition to Sweden - where he is wanted for questioning over a sex allegation which he has always denied.

Wearing a black t-shirt bearing the word Truth, he said WikiLeaks had released an average of 3,000 documents a day over the past decade.

The 45-year-old had been due to make a statement from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy, but it was changed to a video link due to "recent security concerns."

A man scaled a wall at the embassy in the early hours in August. The intruder was spotted at the side of the building, which includes a window, and fled after being caught by the embassy's security staff.

The embassy complained it was two hours before anyone from the British authorities arrived.

Asked during the two-hour press conference how his health was after spending four years inside the embassy, Mr Assange replied that he was "a bit pale".

He said: "I was thinking, it would be pretty interesting for Vitamin D research. It's pretty rare to have a subject who has not seen the sun for four years but is otherwise healthy."

WikiLeaks has published 10 million documents over the past decade, including top-secret US State Department cables, saying they revealed "covert operations and cover-ups".

Mr Assange said the information would have been "stored away" if it had not been for WikiLeaks.

"We have a great many upcoming publications. We have more than one million documents to go through."

He said WikiLeaks was engaged in a new project to recruit people across the world and would be releasing "many publications" before the end of the year.

These will include significant material affecting three "large organisations" in three different US states.

Material will be published every week for the next 10 weeks, with those relating to the US election being available before November 8.

He said WikiLeaks needed to recruit an "army" of people to defend it from the pressure it was facing.
In the run-up to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs visit to the region, Ambassador James Warlick, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, expressed the hope that the Presidents of Armenia and AzerbaijanSerzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyevwill agree to hold a regular meeting toward resolving the Karabakh conflict.

October 4, 2016, 14:17 Warlick: We hope Armenia, Azerbaijan presidents will agree to hold next meeting

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: As NEWS.am reports, Warlick told RIA Novosti news agency of Russia that the co-chairs hope that the presidents will agree to hold the next meeting, but added that the date and location of this talk have not yet been determined.

In his words, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are working with the parties to the conflict, and to resolve it.

James Warlick stated that they plan to meet and discuss the respective matters with the parties, during their slated visit to the region, at the end of October.
Hungary's prime minister is proposing a constitutional amendment that would ban the mass settlement of migrants without parliament's approval.

Viktor Orban said on Tuesday that the amendment would reflect the will of 3.3 million voters who, in a weekend referendum, supported the government's opposition to any future attempts by the European Union to relocate asylum seekers.
The president of the Philippines has hit out at ally Barack Obama in his latest tirade against the US over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign.

During a speech, Rodrigo Duterte told the US president "you can go to hell", while also lashing out at the European Union - another critic of the campaign - as he said the 28-nation bloc "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up".

The president, who took office in June, has been sensitive to criticisms over his anti-drug fight, which has left an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the US and human rights watchdogs.

The tough-talking former city mayor, who describes himself as a left-leaning leader, has had an uneasy relationship with the US and Mr Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps the country's foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

In his speech, Mr Duterte outlined his disappointments with the US, which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings under his anti-drug campaign and has questioned whether human rights are being violated.

He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with US troops.

"Instead of helping us, the first to criticise is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," Mr Duterte said.

Angered by US criticism, Mr Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting US troops in the country. He said he wants them out of the volatile south, saying their presence has inflamed restiveness among minority Muslims, which could complicate efforts to forge a peace accord with Muslim insurgents.

Mr Duterte has announced he will not allow the Philippine navy to conduct joint patrols with the US military in the disputed South China Sea because it could spark an armed conflict in Philippine territory.

Still, Mr Duterte has said he will not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty with the US and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country's largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defence equipment.

Last week, Mr Duterte said the joint US-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centring on amphibious landing drills, started on Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.

Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.

US Embassy officials said Washington has not been formally notified by the Philippine government of any move to scrap other planned drills. Such a move by the Philippines would impede Washington's plans to expand the footprint of US forces in south-east Asia to counter China.
British police searching for missing toddler Ben Needham on the Greek island of Kos have said they now have permission to demolish part of a farmhouse and work will start very soon.

A specialist team has begun a ninth day of excavations close to where the 21-month-old British boy went missing in 1991.

Detective Inspector Jon Cousins told reporters his negotiations with the farmhouse owners were successful but he acknowledged it was a difficult decision for them.

The officer thanked the family for their understanding.

He said on Tuesday: "Discussions I've had with the family that own the farmhouse have resulted in the fact that at some stage early afternoon I will be dismantling the lower part of the farmhouse and clearing the ground around it - as I said before, just making sure that I haven't missed any opportunities to get the answers that we require."

File photo of the farmhouse in Kos, Greece.

Mr Cousins said a newspaper photograph from 1991 had alerted the team to the fact that the extension he is to demolish was not there when Ben disappeared.

He added that it will be up to the family whether it is rebuilt but he confirmed that was not the plan at the moment.

Mr Cousins said: "The family are clearly upset about what we're doing.

"They have very kindly agreed to allow us to do that and I am extremely grateful for that.

"Clearly it's going to be a distressing time for them. This is where many generations, including the current generation, were born and grew up and we've got to deal with it as sensitively as possible."

The excavation began after new evidence was found that Ben, from Sheffield, may have been killed and buried there, yards from where he vanished while his grandfather was renovating the property.

A 19-strong team from South Yorkshire Police was sent to the island to investigate claims that the toddler might have been killed by a digger driver working on the 2.5-acre site.

Ben's mother, Kerry Needham, had been warned to "prepare for the worst".

Konstantinos Barkas, also known as Dino, was clearing land with an excavator close to where the youngster was playing on the day he vanished and may be responsible for his death, a friend of the builder reportedly told police following a TV appeal in May.

The driver reportedly died of stomach cancer last year.
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Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on October 4 received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Armenia Ivan Volynkin, press service of the Government informed.

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: The PM noted that Armenian-Russian relations have a solid foundation, and stressed that bilateral cooperation is developing.

Noting that Russia is the main economic partner of Armenia, Karapetyan underscored the further development and expansion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. He added that there is great potential for the implementation of new investment projects and the increasing of trade.

Ambassador Volinkin, for his part, noted that he believes in the success of the new Armenian government, and added that he stands ready to assist in the implementation of joint initiatives.

Subsequently, the interlocutors reflected on Armenian-Russian relations and economic cooperation.
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The government is pushing ahead with reforms that will allow life insurance brokers to pocket commissions as high as 60 per cent, despite calls for them to be banned altogether.

The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O'Dwyer, has defended the government's decision to leave upfront broker commissions for the $44 billion life insurance sector in place  instead capping them at 60 per cent.

Currently brokers pocket on average around 120 per cent each time they sell a new policy.

The reforms are part of broader legislation due to be re-introduced to parliament this month, after failing to get through parliament before the election.
A senior Telstra executive says it is a myth and "rubbish" its mobile network is a legacy of public ownership, and the competition regulator "will kneecap regional investment" if it allows domestic mobile roaming.

The group executive of corporate affairs at Telstra, Tony Warren, lashed out at Vodafone, telling an industry audience only 'large multinationals' think domestic roaming would be good.

"The lack of choice for a very small percentage of the population is simply a function of extremely large multinationals, like Vodafone, deciding not to invest in regional networks," Dr Warren said at the CommsDay conference in Melbourne.

He also revealed that in the past decade 15 per cent of Telstra mobile network investment "has gone to provide services to the most remote two per cent of the population".
If the Australian National University's appeal for the community to underwrite the $800,000 annual cost of an advanced performance program at its beleaguered School of Music is to succeed it must rebuild the trust lost in the wake of savage budget cuts in 2012.

That will involve stumping up the resources, and attracting the internationally recognised staff, to give the much-loved Canberra institution a respectable profile at the national and international level.

This is not going to be an easy, or swift, journey given, according to the review headed by former public service commissioner Andrew Podger, the school is in a parlous state.

Morale is low, there is a legacy of distrust at all levels, the remaining staff are emotionally stressed and students are thin on the ground.
Hermione Harvey, who has died aged 85, was a dancer and musical comedy star of the 1950s who appeared on the West End stage with Peter Sellers, on television with Morecambe and Wise and Frankie Howerd, and on screen with Diana Dors, Donald Sinden and Dame Anna Neagle.

She was born Hermione Helen Mary Hudson in Mussoorie, India, in 1931, the daughter of Lt-Col Charles Hudson of the Black Watch regiment, and his wife, Helen, who, after her husband's death, married Eric Beauchamp Northcliffe Harmsworth, son of the 1st Lord Harmsworth. As Hermione Harvey, she made her first appearance on the West End stage in 1946 as a 15-year-old dancer in a production of The Wizard of Oz.

Actress Hermione Harvey

She then joined the Metropolitan Ballet, and in 1950 appeared in her first film, The Dancing Fleece, about the life of a young ballet dancer. Also in 1950, she made a striking impression at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, with a vivid performance as the June Girl in the London production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel, before sailing with the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company for a 70-city tour of Canada and the United States.

Back in London she appeared for the BBC in Eric Robinson's Music for You and Puzzle Corner. She went on to appear in Morecambe and Wise's first television series, Running Wild, and with Frankie Howerd in The Howerd Crowd. In 1954, she was seen with Donald Sinden in the film, You Know What Sailors Are, and with Brian Rix, Bryan Forbes and Anthony Newley in the comedy, Up To His Neck. In 1955 she joined Diana Dors in Value For Money, as a chorus girl named Rabbit Doll.
Birmingham: Tony Abbott has told right-wing allies in Britain that he believes he has a reasonable chance of becoming prime minister again, Fairfax Media has learned.

The revelation confirms the former leader is hoping to emulate Kevin Rudd's 2013 success in returning to the Lodge after being booted out by his own party, and despite Mr Abbott's public assurances that his leadership is "dead, buried and cremated" and the "Abbott era is over".

A senior Liberal source close to Mr Abbott said the former prime minister maintained a "good chance" of returning to the job because he is popular with the party membership compared to Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull is widely perceived within the party to have failed to live up to expectations, scraped through the election with just a one-seat majority and continues to perform poorly in the polls.
"How much cash can you get right now?" he asked. What is a daughter worth? Anything. Everything. "$10,000," she replied. The voice - calm and eloquent with a very faint accent but an American command of the language - warned her not to try to get help from anyone. Otherwise, they would kill her daughter. Her youngest child attends college hundreds of miles away in a town that's a little rough around the edges, and Mueller had no way of knowing if she was really safe.

"They told me that they were actually targeting someone else, someone they would be able to get a lot of money for. But they said my daughter intervened when they tried to grab him. And that sounded exactly like something she would do," Mueller explained. "I was terrified," she said. "They told me they wouldn't hesitate to kill her." The caller told Mueller he had hacked her phone and knew exactly where she was going. And then, for hours, he instructed her to go to small offices and stores across Northern Virginia, where she wired the maximum amount - usually $1900 - to the name and addresses in Mexico that he had given her. She went from Leesburg to Reston to Herndon to Arlington to Seven Corners, criss-crossing Northern Virginia until nightfall, following his exact directions, turn by turn. She kept asking to talk to her daughter.

"They kept promising me: 'As soon as you send the last one, you will talk to her,' " she said. He described the buildings in front of her or the fields she had passed, almost like he was following her. She thought of flagging someone down, but he could hear every move she made. After every deposit, he told her to rip up the receipts. When he didn't hear the ripping sound once, he noticed. So she grabbed another piece of paper and ripped it. And he was satisfied, and she stuffed that whole receipt into her purse. "I'll call you mom and you call me son," he told her. She began crying.

"Stop crying, mom," he told her. He talked to her throughout the whole ordeal, making sure he had her attention every minute. He told her he was a professional, and part of a group of kidnappers - "a huge organisation" - who do this all the time, and that they kill. He said that they had put a set of headphones on their daughter, so she could hear everything, so she would know if her mom did anything to cause her death. At each stop, in between answering his questions, she thought about how to ask for help. What if she wrote a note to the clerk? But one word from the clerk, and he would hear it.

And at each money wire window or international mini-mart he sent her to, the clerks didn't speak English very well. One question, one "I can't read this, " and her daughter could be dead. "It was torture," she said. And none of it was true. Wendy Mueller's daughter was in class, working on an artsy movie poster. The caller was a scam artist. Scores of families have been targeted in California, especially in Beverly Hills, since last year. Then it happened in New York and Texas. And now there's a rash of them in the Washington region.

"In the scheme, individuals call claiming to have kidnapped a family member," the Prince William County police warned in May. "While no actual kidnapping has taken place, the callers often use co-conspirators to convince their victims of the legitimacy of the threat." In some cases, scammers gather enough online information to target their suspects. By her zipcode, it's easy to tell that Mueller lives in the nation's wealthiest county, Loudoun. There's a chance they may have also figured out that her ex-husband, Keith Mueller, is a CEO of Bookkeeping Express, a company that helps small businesses with their finances, and he was a longtime managing partner at Accenture. But it's also possible that the man who reached Wendy Mueller knew nothing about her until she picked up the phone. There's a chance he made call after call, reaching voice mails and plenty of folks who don't even have kids, or who have sons, or whose kids were right there at home, or who didn't sound at all like the screaming woman who was in on the caper. Those folks hang up and rarely call police. So the caller tries again and again, until he reaches the ideal victim.

Mueller was it. Her ordeal didn't end until 8.30pm, after she had wired a total of $9100 to the scammers. Then she got a text from her daughter. "Hey guys, look at what I was doing in class today," her daughter wrote. Mueller stopped cold. Wait. Her daughter was okay? But then, the photo of her project popped up: an artsy movie poster of a girl shrouded in bindings. The film title was Snatched.

That was a coincidence, but it confused Mueller. She was able to keep the caller occupied long enough to get a couple more texts from her daughter to make sure she was safe. And finally, Mueller hung up. And that was it. The man never called back. He had already persuaded her to wire thousands of dollars. "It was a total brainwashing," she said. She went to Leesburg Police and reported it.

Detective Doug Shaw, who interviewed Mueller, said the case is still open and the FBI is also looking into it. Police were able to verify that the numbers and addresses she'd been given were those used in past scams. There have been at least four others in the Washington area in recent months. Mueller wanted me to tell her story so others don't fall prey to the same scam. "It shatters everything. I can't feel safe anymore," she said. "I didn't even want to get back into my car at first." Unlike a break-in or a robbery or some other crime that has a place, this virtual crime happened on her phone and in her head. And there is no escape from its consequences.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate fears his city will be plunged into a climate of fear under a crime wave unleashed by outlaw motorcycle gangs under the new Serious and Organised Crime Legislation Amendment Bill.

In a letter tabled to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee on Tuesday, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he had serious concerns about the repeal of the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment (VLAD) Act and what he described as the proposed "softer" laws.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate says he is worried the new bikie laws will bring increased crime. Credit:Paul Rovere

Mr Tate, who is LNP-aligned, was concerned about the image of the Gold Coast with the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

"The eyes of the world will be on south-east Queensland in a little over 18 months," he said.
A man shot in the leg south of Brisbane isn't co-operating with investigators, police say.

The 19-year-old man was wounded at Kingston about 10am, sparking a large-scale search for his attacker.

Police were still searching for the shooter on Wednesday morning.

The shooting, which happened at Mudgee Street near bushland, also sent Kingston State College into lockdown.
Australian entrepreneur and marketing expert Franziska Iseli is always getting called a "girl boss".

It mainly happens on social media, where the hashtag #girlboss has exploded on the back of a business memoir by American e-fashion merchant Sophia Amoruso.

Marketing guru Franziska Iseli

"I started noticing it a couple of years ago, people came to my events and will post photos with the hashtag 'girl boss'," she said.

On first glance, the title is a good fit. Iseli is a woman and a successful entrepreneur. Three years ago she started a branding agency called The Business Hood and more recently has headed up an environmental social enterprise called Ocean Lovers.
A 32-year-old Deer Park woman is in custody after allegedly committing a spree of carjackings, robberies and attempted carjackings with a knife in Melbourne's north-west on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident began about 4pm when police allege the woman, armed with a knife, approached a 68-year-old woman in her car, in the carpark of a shopping centre on Melton Highway, Taylors Lakes, and demanded money.

Victoria Police spokesman Kris Hamilton said the woman allegedly made the woman drive to an ATM at the shopping centre and withdraw money.

"Leaving behind the traumatised victim she moved to another nearby car which she jumped into," Sergeant Hamilton said.

"There, she made the 76-year-old woman drive her towards the perimeter of the shopping centre carpark and demanded she hand over an amount of cash, which she did."
Washington: Just when Donald Trump thought it was safe to go back into the electorate after a bleak week of presidential campaigning, he took a clobbering from all sides  and even from himself (again).

In a sense, the Republican candidate was a sitting duck. That he made no attempt to deny a sensational weekend report on his taxes was widely taken as confirmation that The New York Times was correct.

The gist of it was that by transferring close to $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) in losses from his corporate books to his personal income tax assessment in 1995, Trump had probably freed himself from paying any income tax for as many as 18 years.

But even before Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton could take a crack at him, Trump was doing what he's been doing so well in recent days  committing his own gaffe, which then puts his campaign on a back foot as it crams to explain what the candidate really meant to say.
Birmingham: The Tory government is shutting the UK's doors to international students and foreign workers, announcing a harsh new policy to prevent overseas workers from "taking jobs British people could do".

In moves that could affect Australians wanting to live, work and study in the UK, the Conservative government says students and skilled workers, foreign taxi drivers and Europeans convicted of minor crimes would all be targeted as part of a tough new stance aimed at reducing the number of migrants to the UK to the "tens of thousands" post-Brexit.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the harsh crackdown on day three of the Tory conference in Birmingham  just one day after pouring cold water on the Australian government's hopes for easier access for Australians wanting to live and work in the UK.

Mrs Rudd said the crackdown would extend to landlords and banks, with homeowners jailed if convicted of knowingly renting out properties to illegal immigrants. Banks would be forced to conduct more checks to ensure their customers were not living in the country illegally.
A Time Warner Cable News/Siena poll released Monday found the 24th Congressional District race isn't particularly close at the moment.

U.S. Rep. John Katko, a freshman Republican, leads Democratic challenger Colleen Deacon by 19 points, 53 to 34 percent.

FAVORABILITY

Katko has a 51 percent favorable rating among 24th District voters. Twenty-nine percent have an unfavorable view of the congressman.

Deacon's favorable rating is at 32 percent. Twenty-seven percent view her unfavorably. A plurality of voters  41 percent  said they don't know or have no opinion of the Democratic challenger.

GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

Katko leads in Syracuse, 50 to 38 percent. He also leads 51 to 35 percent in the rest of Onondaga County.

In Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties, Katko leads 58 to 31 percent.

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

More than three-quarters of Republican voters  77 percent  said they would vote for Katko. Sixty-two percent of Democrats would vote for Deacon.

What's more interesting: Twenty-eight percent of Democrats would vote for Katko, while 13 percent of GOP voters would back Deacon.

Among independents, Katko leads by a 55 to 28 percent margin. He also leads among men (56 to 34 percent).

Arguably the biggest surprise: Katko leads 50 to 34 percent among women voters.

Katko has a 53 to 38 percent advantage among 18- to 34-year-olds. In the 35 to 54 age group, he's up 54 to 32 percent. Among votes ages 55 and older, he's winning 53 to 35 percent.

PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Hillary Clinton holds a 12-point lead over Donald Trump in the 24th Congressional District.

Forty-five percent said they would support Clinton. One-third of voters would vote for Trump.

The most telling result related to the congressional race: Of the voters surveyed who are supporting Katko, 53 percent are voting for Trump. Twenty-three percent are voting for Clinton and 13 percent are supporting Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

Katko has declined to support Trump for president. Based on the results of this poll, it doesn't appear he'll change his mind.

U.S. SENATE RACE

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer leads Republican challenger Wendy Long by 34 points, 62 to 28 percent, in the 24th Congressional District.

Schumer, D-N.Y., holds big leads in Syracuse and Onondaga County. In the rural counties of Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne, his lead is 25 points.

ISSUES

On the Affordable Care Act, 50 percent of 24th District voters want to keep and improve the health care law also referred to as "Obamacare." Forty-five percent support repealing and replacing it.

Two-thirds of voters believe there should be a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Twenty-seven percent said those here illegally should be deported.

A majority of respondents  54 percent  consider themselves Second Amendment supporters. Forty-three percent support gun control.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said they believe climate change is a real, significant threat to our planet. Twenty percent said it's neither real nor based on science.

Voters were split on the best economic approach. Forty-seven percent said the federal government should do more to stimulate economic activity, while another 47 percent said the government should lessen its role and allow businesses to have more freedom to operate.

The single-most important issue for voters is jobs and the economy (36 percent). The runner-up is keeping America safe at 28 percent. Health care was third with 14 percent.
Ambitious target of a deal a day for brokers

The prudential regulator has a new chair, deputy chair, and members
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It was Bavaria in Brooklyn!

Members of Brooklyn Heights German community partied at Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Churchs annual Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday  a tradition so beloved that one man comes all the way from the nations northern reaches each year to provide some Teutonic tunes.

Its a fun tradition, said Henry Leschke, who has traveled from Vermont for the past seven years to play the schifferkalvier  or buttonbox  accordion for the festivities. They dont even have to make a date with me, I already know in advance.

Around 200 people dressed to the neins in dirndls and lederhosen and hit the Henry Street house of worship for beer, brats, and plenty of dancing to Leschkes music.

The 161-year-old religious institution originally helped German immigrants get settled in the New World, and guests say the annual volksfest is still a wunderbar way to mix and mingle with others who share their heritage

It was great meeting other members of the local Brooklyn German community and getting to know them a little bit better, said neighborhood resident Amy Todenhagen.

But for Leschke, the humble local gathering still doesnt hold a candle to the real thing.

We dont get close, said the musician, who immigrated from Germany 58 years ago. They have a 20-piece band over there in the big tent.
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They had to have it!

Hundreds of wannabe actors lined up for hours in Fort Greene for the chance to appear in Spike Lees next joint  a 10-episode Netflix remake of his trailblazing 1986 neighborhood-set flick Shes Gotta Have It  when the local filmmaker held an open casting call in the Masonic Temple on Clermont Avenue on Monday night.

Locals arrived as early as noon for the 6:30 pm event and the epic line eventually stretched around the block and snaked across the street from Lafayette Avenue to Myrtle Avenue  proof of just how much locals love the original film, according to one starry-eyed local.

I think Shes Gotta Have It is a big New York staple, its really big culturally, said Beford-Stuyvesant resident Candice Stewart, a social media guru who doesnt have any acting experience. Obviously from the line, a lot of people are excited about it.

Stewart was in the back of the queue but still made it inside, where casting agents took two photos of her and her resume before shuffling her out. No one read lines, she reported  casting agents were just seeing who had the look for the series.

And Lee was there in person, standing off to the side and checking out the action, she said.

But for at least one hopeful, the prospect of performing in a Netflix series was just as exciting as working with the legendary movie maker.

Im really down with the Netflix movement  after seeing The Get Down, it got me really inspired, said Long Islander Dani Wilson, who also auditioned for that series  a look at the early days of hip-hop set in the Bronx.

Lee filmed the original Shes Gotta Have It in Fort Greene in for just $175,000 over the course of 12 summer days in 1985. The film  which tells the story of local artist Nola Darling and her attempts to juggle the affections of three men without committing to any of them  is widely credited with putting both Lee and his neighborhood on the map.

The 2016 remake will be a contemporary update of the same story, Netflix told Deadline Hollywood.

He has already cast Hamilton star Anthony Ramos as sneakerhead Mars Blackmon  the part Lee himself played in the original, and one he successfully spun off into a series of Nike Air Jordan commercials.

But for the amateur actors trying out on Monday night, any character would be the role of a lifetime.

This was a miracle to have the opportunity to be part of a classic with Spike Lee, said Pharoah Folk, an East New York resident. Id be happy to be anything from the dude at the pizza shop to the dude harassing Nola.

s
The case in Criminal Minds season 12 episode 2 is a tough one for JJ, as she arrives home shaken and breaks down and tells her husband about the abduction of two children in Sick Day. But as the sneak peek asks, is the BAU looking for someone who has done this before?

Criminal Minds Season 12: Damon Gupton Joins Cast as New Series Regular>>>

Watch the promo for Sick Day:

This UnSub likes fire, and hes aiming to perfect a fantasy hes trying to live out, with his endgame in Los Angeles. But is JJ going to end up in danger?

Check out a sneak peek from this Criminal Minds episode:

Instead of heading home, the teams on the way to the next case. The bodies of two children were found in an abandoned building that burned down in Los Angeles, and it looks like these are the missing kids Hotch is consulting on: 14-year-old Hannah from Irvine and 11-year-old Max from Anaheim, both abducted in broad daylight from low-risk neighborhoods. The UnSub could have stalked them and learned their daily, and a blitz attack would not only be faster, but also intimidating, which he could use to establish control.

Two years ago in San Diego, the bodies of two runaways and foster kids with police records were also found burned in abandoned buildings, but months apart. So why were the latest victims found together? Reid focuses on the fire, which could be a forensic countermeasure, but also could have something to do with the UnSubs childhood since pyromaniacal urges emerge in early adolescence. However, as Alvez wants to know, how can they be sure this is the same guy?

Are you looking forward to seeing JJs family again?

Criminal Minds season 12 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on CBS. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.

(Image courtesy of CBS)
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October 3, 2022

Dee Gambit

Hundreds  if not thousands  of new and returning TV shows and movies are released every month  your options of what to watch are endless. Variety, they say is ...
In the series premiere of Timeless, were introduced to a world where time travel is possible. The pilot episode sees a team hastily put together to bring a time-traveling criminal back to the present day before he can rewrite the past and change the future. The only rule is that they cant interfere with the past, though they find this is easier said than done.

Review: How Does the New Series Compare to Other Time-Travel Shows? >>>

Past and Present

Opening with the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, Timeless shows us the passengers aboard the infamous blimp excitedly looking out the windows. Reporters below quickly snap photographs and jot notes into their notebooks. Hindenburg workers throw down ropes to people on the ground who start pulling the aircraft down. Then we see a hole inside the Hindenburg. A worker inside touches a metal railing which sparks and creates an explosion. The Hindenburg burns and crashes to the ground.

Then its back to present day. Clearly, Timeless is just getting started.

We meet Lucy, a history professor, recognized more for following in her mothers footsteps than her own work. After her class, a colleague informs her that shes not receiving tenure this year, which devastates her as shes worked hard to become a staple at the school.

Saddened, she returns home, where her sister Amy sits next to their mothers sick bed. Their mother lies unresponsive with oxygen tubes in her nose. Lucy and her sister leave the room to talk about Lucys disappointment at not getting tenure, and Lucy worries about paying the bills, joking that they cant pay them with Amys podcast money.

The Crime

A group of men invade a building, Mason Industries, where innocent coders and analysts eagerly await their weekly Taco Tuesday. The men threaten the workers with guns, shooting one of their security guards. They make their way into the giant machine in the center of the room, and, after much whirring, the capsule disappears into thin air.

Building the Team and Visiting the Past

The doorbell rings, and Lucy opens her door to find a man who introduces himself as Agent Kondo from Homeland Security. He informs her that they need her help. They travel to Mason Industries, where Lucy meets Agent Denise Christopher and another man, Wyatt Logan, who shell soon be working with. Connor Mason, the presumed company founder, soon joins them as they enter the headquarters.

Denise informs them that Garcia Flynn, an ex-NSA asset who previously killed his family, stormed Mason Industries with his men and stole a time machine. Lucy and Wyatt watch the security footage and cant believe their eyes. Denise likely just learned about the existence of a time machine as well, as she remarks that Mason created it but didnt tell the government until it was stolen by terrorists.

They present Lucy and Wyatt with their earliest time machine prototype, which they call the Life Boat. With it, theyll be able to not only travel through time but also determine when (not where) Flynn has fled. Noticing the date of May 6, 1937, Lucy realizes that hes traveled to the time of the Hindenburg disaster.

Denise informs Lucy that she needs her to travel back in time after Flynn. Lucy is alarmed, but Denise tells her that they need a historian to go back so the team can keep a low profile. Wyatt, a trained soldier, will also be going on the mission. Mason Industries coder Rufus is ordered to go accompany the two, although hes understandably against traveling back in time at all. He points out, Im black. Theres literally no place in American history thatd be awesome for me.

The trio changes into new wardrobes more appropriate for 1937 America, although Lucy finds flaws with the details, stating that the clothing isnt accurate. She points out that underwire bras werent invented yet.

The team gathers in the time machine, and soon enough, they arrive in the past. Stumbling out of the machine, they look to the sky and see the Hindenburg traveling through the air.

After walking through town, they enter a bar. Rufus almost immediately feels uncomfortable, and Lucy tells him to wait outside and avoid eye contact with anyone. Lucy and Wyatt spot Kate Drummond, a known reporter. Wyatt is intrigued by her, telling Lucy that she reminds him of someone. They introduce themselves to her and ask if shes seen the man in their photo, Flynn. She informs them that he was there about two hours ago, but he left to join the ground crew to help bring down the Hindenburg.

Lucy and Wyatt leave, and Lucy tells him that Kate will die that day. He seems upset, but she tells him that its Kates time, reminding him that they cant change the past.

Quiz: Which TV Sidekick Are You? >>>

The Hindenburg

On the field beneath the Hindenburg, Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus search for Garcia. Lucy approaches a man who she recognizes as Commander Rosendahl. She introduces Wyatt as Dr. Dre and herself as Nurse Jackie and informs the commander that theyre from General Hospital searching for one of their patients. She shows him the photo of Garcia, stating that hes very sick and needs to be brought back right away. The commander, worried for the welfare of the ground crew, tells his men to look for Flynn.

Wyatt finds Kate in the crowd and runs to save her life. But instead of crashing, the Hindenburg lands gracefully on the field. They realize Flynn saved the Hindenburg by never letting the ropes touch the ground, protecting it from sparking and igniting. Meanwhile, Lucy chases after Flynn, but one of his men grabs her from behind. Luckily, Wyatts there to save her, shooting the man and killing him. Rufus finds what he originally thought was a radio on the man, but it turns out to be a detonator for a bomb. The three realize that Flynn didnt want the Hindenburg to blow up upon its arrival; he wants to blow it up when it departs, catastrophically altering the timeline and killing important historical figures.

Before the team can stop Flynn, theyre arrested. In their cells, Kate asks Wyatt about his fascination with Kate. He admits that she reminds him of his late wife, Jessica.

They team soon switches its focus to escaping. Wyatt realizes he can pick the locks of their cell with the wire from Lucys bra. He tells Rufus to create a distraction. Rufus asks for a glass of water, but after being treated with disrespect from the cop, he begins ranting at him about how he hopes he lives to see Michael Jordan dunk and Michael Jackson dance. He tells him, History is not on your side.

The cop leaves but soon returns with another police officer, and they look ready for a fight. They approach Rufus cell with their batons out. Wyatt hurries to pick the lock and then, just in time, attacks one of the guards while Rufus knocks the other unconscious with his own nightstick. They hurriedly lock the officers in Rufus former cell and depart to save the Hindenburg.



The Hindenburg, Part 2

Aboard the Hindenburg, they encounter Kate again. Shes frightened by Wyatt, who she believed had attacked her during his initial rescue attempt, but they quickly tell her that theres a bomb on the Hindenburg and that the man they showed her in the photograph planted it. She tells them that she saw Flynn in the kitchen. They enter and search for the bomb, only to find it underneath a counter. Rufus and Lucy head to the cockpit to convince the pilots to land while Wyatt tries to diffuse the bomb.

Rufus and Lucy hold knives to the pilots throats, threatening them to land the Hindenburg. Lucy tells them that theyre from the Anarchist Black Cross.

Wyatt struggles to determine how to stop the bomb when he is attacked by Flynns men. Eventually, hes able to cut the wires in time to diffuse the explosive when one of the men fires his gun. The bullet misses Wyatt and ricochets through the Hindenberg, creating a hole that results in a fiery explosion.

The team and Kate hurriedly jump out of a window and land safely on the ground, but their mission isnt over yet. Flynn grabs Lucy. He claims to know all about her, including her name, her fathers death and her wishes to follow in her mothers footsteps. He shows her a book written in her handwriting. She says she didnt write that; he tells her she will. Flynn then tells her to ask why she was chosen for the mission and to ask the people at Mason Industries what Rittenhouse is.

Wyatt approaches and shoots at Flynn, and Flynn shoot back. Wyatt moves out of the way, but Kate was behind him and takes the hit. Lucy and Wyatt hold her as she dies on the ground and the Hiddenberg burns around them.

Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus arrive back at Mason Industries. They learn that historys been rewritten. The history books say that the Anarchist Black Cross was responsible for the event. Lucy soon asks Denise what Rittenhouse is, but she claims she doesnt know.

Lucy theorizes that Flynn is trying to kill Americans in the crib. He wants to rewrite history before its even written.

Back Home

Lucy returns home and calls for Amy. Not receiving an answer, she wanders into the kitchen and finds her mother healthy and cooking. Lucy cries with happiness, unable to understand how this happened. Her mother asks where Lucys engagement ring is, but Lucy dismisses it to instead ask where Amy is. Her mother doesnt know who shes talking about. Picking up a family photograph, Lucy realizes that her sisters been erased from history. Her phone then rings. Its Denise ordering her back to Mason Industries. They have another lead on Flynn. Lucy, determined to get her sister back, asks, When?

Whatd you think of the premiere of Timeless? Do you think Lucy will be able to alter history to get Amy back?

Timeless season 1 airs Monday nights at 10/9c on NBC. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.

(Image courtesy of NBC)
With the presidential election one month away, New York is celebrating an online voter registration record.

More than 140,600 voter registration applications were submitted through the state Department of Motor Vehicles' website in September. More than half of the applications  over 78,400  were from first-time voters.

The online registration available through the MyDMV web portal was launched in 2012. Over that time, the website has processed more than 607,600 online voter registration applications, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.

The previous record for most voter registration applications received in a month was set earlier this year. The state DMV received more than 98,400 applications, including close to 50,400 from first-time voters, in March  one month prior to the state's presidential primary.

In September 2015, the state received more than 9,200 voter registration applications, including approximately 3,400 from first-time voters. The state processed more than 13,700 applications in September 2012.

"Knocking down artificial barriers to New York's voter registration process has encouraged hundreds of thousands of voters to get involved," Cuomo said. "I encourage eligible New Yorkers to take advantage of this convenient and accessible online tool before October 14 in order to ensure their voices are heard this November."

The deadline to register to vote in the presidential election is October 14.

Election Day is Nov. 8.
Phillies are World Series bound! How to watch, plus the full schedule

The Phillies are heading to the World Series for the first time since 2009. Follow along as Philadelphia takes on the Houston Astros.
Republicans are once again questioning whether Democratic congressional candidate Colleen Deacon would be an independent voice for central New York in the House of Representatives.

The National Republican Congressional Committee released a new TV ad Tuesday that contains a clip featured in a previous commercial. The video is from "Capital Tonight's" interview with Deacon, D-Syracuse, in April.

In that interview with Liz Benjamin, Deacon was asked if she would be able to break away from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and party leadership and vote with the Republicans.

"I think a lot of what the Democratic platform is what I stand for," Deacon said in her response. "So I don't know necessarily why I would break away from ... why I would want to break away from any of the issues, you know, anything specifically. I think that's what I would stand for."

U.S. Rep. John Katko's campaign used those comments against Deacon in the first TV ad of the race that was critical of either candidate.

Now, the NRCC is using the same clip to label Deacon a rubber stamp for Pelosi and House Democratic leadership.

"Colleen Deacon admits that she cannot find any issue where she would break from Nancy Pelosi and her extreme agenda," NRCC spokesman Chris Pack said in a statement. "Central New York voters deserve better than a politician like Colleen Deacon who puts blind partisanship ahead of delivering results for New York's 24th District."

The NRCC's latest TV ad is airing on Syracuse-area broadcast and cable TV stations.

A poll released Monday found Katko, R-Camillus leading Deacon 53 to 34 percent in the 24th Congressional District race. Katko holds double-digit leads among key demographics, including women, and is up nearly 30 points in Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties.

Election Day is Nov. 8.

UPDATE: Bryan Lesswing, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, responded to the NRCC's new ad:

"It's laughable that Washington Republicans are running ads attacking Colleen Deacon on independence. As soon as he stepped into Congress, Congressman John Katko secretly forfeited his agenda to Washington Republicans in exchange for campaign cash," Lesswing said. "Whether it's submitting to Washington Republicans or failing to stand up to Donald Trump, Congressman John Katko is the saddest example of independence."

Lesswing is referring to the story that Katko and other participants in an NRCC program submitted their legislative agendas to the political organization. That revelation led to criticism from Democrats and calls for an ethics investigation.
Somerset Skills and Learning (SS&L) has introduced a new programme of classes at its Burnham-On-Sea Centre this autumn.

Ranging from Arts & Crafts and Business & Administration to Bread Making and Sugarcraft, there promises to be something for everyone.

Whether you want to unleash your inner Picasso in Arts and Wellbeing or Painting and Drawing, or attempting your best Andy Warhol impression in Studio Portraiture Photography  our tutors are all fully qualified and practising professionals, ready to help you along the way, said spokeswoman Charlotte Goodby.

Among the classes are Breadmaking Made Easy (5th November, 10am, 39.00 for a day workshop). Does your forte lie in the kitchen, but your buns will not rise? This workshop is ideal for those who have always wanted to make their own bread but thought it was too technical. You will learn about the importance of using certain flours and how yeast works, while making a variety of tasty doughs and breads to take home.

Sugarcraft  Peony Tea Cup and Saucer (2nd November to 7th December, 7pm, 100 for 6 sessions). This is suitable for those with experience with Sugarcraft and wish to develop their knowledge and skills further. Create a large multi layered Peony flower and Tea Cup and Saucer with a hand painted design.

Painting and Drawing (5th October  2nd November, 10am, 79 for 5 sessions) is a

a practical course suited for all abilities. Learning new techniques using an array of materials under professional guidance. You will also be introduced to relevant artists to place your work in a context, as inspiration and to increase your art history knowledge.

Art for Wellbeing (5th October to 7th December, 1pm, 125 for 10 sessions) is aimed at those wanting to discover or rediscover creativity and their talents. This course offers participants a chance to gain confidence in their skills and acquire new ones. You will be able to work on your own individual projects in a relaxed learning environment.

Stained Glass (6th October to 23rd March, 6.30pm, 335 for 20 sessions) is taught by a qualified and practising Stained Glass professional who will guide you through the stages of planning and creating your own beautiful designs.

Creative Photography (5th October to 9th November, 10am, 75 for 5 sessions) is aimed at giving you the basic understanding of how to make the most out of your camera, a hands on approach to the creative photographic possibilities available to you. Your own camera is essential.

Studio Portraiture Photography (16th November to 14th December, 10am, 45 for 3 sessions) is for those with an interest in photography and looking to set up a home studio. You will be able to set up the appropriate lighting settings, use appropriate camera settings and know about good portrait composition. Your own camera is essential.

Computing for You (Various start dates, 7pm, 36 per block) is for those who need help with a specific topic from Word Processing to Internet Security, then our Computing for You Workshop will be ideal. Working with tutor support in three week block sessions.

Computer Qualifications Workshop (Flexible Levels 1  3 ECDL Essentials & ECDL Extras, 4th October till 18th June, 6:30pm) is ubsidised by the Skills Funding Agency. If youd like to further your skills and gain qualifications then Computer Qualifications Workshop Levels 1-3 is perfect for you. The flexible workshop will allow you to study for an internationally recognised qualification, demonstrating your skills at a level appropriate to you.

Apps for your Tablet and Phone (3rd November till 10th November, 7pm, 24 for 2 sessions) is perfect for anyone who has bought an iPad or tablet, been bought one as a present by the family or who is thinking of buying one! Youll discover the best apps out there to help you plan, get fit, keep in touch with your family, find your way, find whats happening around you, plan your daily menus, and much much more.

Dyeing to Knit (3rd December, 10am, 50 for a day workshop) centres on learning how to dye your own yarns in a range of vibrant and unique colours which can then be used for knitting projects. Using acid dye suitable for protein fibres like wool, angora and cashmere, you will learn about different methods that create different effects.

Sewing  Japanese Knot Bag (5th November, 10am, 50 for a day workshop) is for those who want a bag to hold their knitting, or even to use as a handbag. Come along to this Sewing  Japanese Knot Bag class and make your own. Using traditional techniques, your tutor will help you complete each stage of the process.

Flower Arranging Christmas Workshop (17th December, 10am 50 for a day workshop). Perhaps you wish to extend your floristry knowledge and are keen to create the Christmas Day table centrepiece of your dreams. You will learn how to make wreaths, garlands and candle displays, helping you get into the festive spirit.

Somerset Skills & Learning CIC is a vibrant staff-led Social Enterprise, which delivers a wide range of education services to young people and adults across Somerset. A customer-focused organisation, SS&L works closely with Somerset communities, and is committed to changing peoples lives for the better. SS&L understands learning and development, and shares this understanding with its learners, partners and the employers that it works with.

SS&L has 11 centres across Somerset, including Bridgwater, Burnham, Chard, Frome, Ilminster, Minehead, Taunton, Wellington, Wells, Wincanton and Yeovil. The organisation also delivers learning in a range of other locations across Somerset and works with a large number of employers to support the learning and skills needs in Somerset.
Diane Dwire, a Democrat challenging Assemblyman Gary Finch in the 126th Assembly District, will hold public campaign events in each of the district's four counties over the next two weekends.

Dwire, D-Camillus, will hold a campaign headquarters open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at her office, 5111 W. Genesee St., Camillus.

On Sunday, she will appear from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, 170 Genesee St., Auburn.

The following weekend, Dwire will make appearances in Chenango and Cortland counties.

From 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 15, she will meet with voters at the Sherburne Post Office, 4 W. State St. And from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, she will appear at 17 S. Main St. in Homer. The site is located across from the post office.

"I'm looking forward to talking to more folks here to find out about the issues that matter most to them," Dwire said. "I'm ready to bring new energy to the Assembly and fight for more jobs and lower taxes to make life better for central New York families."

Dwire plans to hold similar events if she's elected to the Assembly. She has pledged to hold at least one town hall meeting annually in each of the district's four counties.

The 126th Assembly District includes parts of Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland and Onondaga counties.
Airlines have already started playing Santa Claus. To boost their forward bookings in the post-festival season, airlines are offering cheap fares.The October-December quarter, which coincides with the festive season starting with Durga Puja and ending with the Christmas-New Year break, is considered to be the peak season for airlines, followed by April-June when schools close for summer breaks. Budget carrier AirAsia India has announced a year-end sale, offering tickets from Rs 899, all-inclusive. According to AirAsia India, the offer ends on October 16 and is applicable on travel between October 4, 2016, and April 27, 2017. The Rs 899 offer is applicable on the Guwahati-Imphal route, while Bengaluru-Kochi tickets are priced from Rs 999.As part of this offer, Bengaluru-Goa prices start from Rs 1,199, Bengaluru-Chandigarh Rs 3,399, Goa-Hyderabad Rs 1,799, Jaipur-Pune Rs 2,399 and Delhi-Bengaluru Rs 2,699, among others. From October 8, AirAsia India will start flying on the Kochi-Hyderabad route.Tickets on this route are priced from Rs 2,699.SpiceJet on Tuesday announced its special festival sale of all-inclusive one-way tickets starting at Rs 888 for the domestic sector and Rs 3,699 for the international sector in direct flights. Tickets for popular routes such as Bengaluru-Kochi, Delhi-Dehradun, Chennai-Bengaluru are priced at Rs 888 (all-inclusive, one-way). In the international sector, the offer covers the Chennai-Colombo route at Rs 3,699 (all-inclusive; one-way).Full-service carrier Jet Airways, too, has joined the race, announcing an offer on economy fares for passengers travelling on the airlines domestic network on some sectors within India starting from base fares of Rs 396.The four-day offer is effective from October 4 to 7 and valid for travel from November 8 on the airlines domestic networks.Jayaraj Shanmugam, chief commercial officer, Jet Airways, said: This exciting limited-period offer is our way of joining the festive celebrations, together with our guests, their families and loved ones. It will be an opportunity to experience the joy of flying and Jet Airways renowned signature Indian hospitality at unbeatable prices.
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Even as the Monsanto-NSA tussle is on, India's indigenously developed hybrid quality variety, Shanker-6, is being globally threatened by African and Peru Pima .Lack of global branding of the medium staple high quality Shanker-6 could lead to sluggish export demand going forward, amidst rising popularity of the Sudanese cotton from Africa and Peru Pima cotton which are being heavily branded by the respective countries.

On the production front, India pipped China in 2015-16 to emerge as the world's largest cotton producer at 5.7 million metric tonnes as against the latter's 4.7 MMT.



However, in absence of any branding efforts of its prominent Sanker-6 variety, international clients are increasingly turning towards Africa, Peru and US, who have in recent times engaged in branding activities. For instance, Africa has been running international campaigns and branded its cotton as CMIA which stands for Cotton Made in Africa.
will operate 16,600 flights per week in the winter schedule  a growth of 20.8 per cent over last winter. The growth is led by IndiGo and Vistara, which will operate 40 per cent more flights this winter.
Hyundai, the countrys second biggest car maker will recall over 7,600 Eon, its hatchback car to inspect and address an issue with clutch cable. Replacements, if needed will be done free of cost.
A fall in rig rates and low utilisation were likely to have led to Reliance Industries decision on Monday to terminate its contract with Transocean for an ultra-deepwater drillship, analysts and industry executives said.
India is the largest market for two-wheelers in the world, yet a handful of machines made in the country are not sold here.
At 16.4 million India is the largest market in the world. Yet there are few handful of machines that do not get sold here despite them being very much made within the country.
U.S. Rep. John Katko has a 19-point lead over Democratic challenger Colleen Deacon in the 24th Congressional District race, according to a poll released Monday by Time Warner Cable News and the Siena Research Institute.

Katko, R-Camillus, is ahead of Deacon, D-Syracuse, by a 53 to 34 percent margin. Twelve percent of voters said they don't know or have no opinion.

A majority of voters  51 percent  have a favorable opinion of Katko. Deacon's favorability stands at 32 percent. A plurality of voters  41 percent  said they don't know or have no opinion of Deacon.

Katko is supported by 77 percent of GOP voters and 28 percent of Democrats, the poll found.

A majority of independents (55 percent) and half of women surveyed said they would vote for Katko.

Siena polled 655 likely voters in the 24th Congressional District, which covers all of Cayuga, Onondaga and Wayne counties, plus the western portion of Oswego County. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.8 percent.

"Five campaign weeks is a long time, but Katko is in a strong position for re-election in this district that has changed the party of its representative in each of the last four elections," Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said. "And he's in a strong position despite being both an incumbent  incumbents have lost the last three elections  and a Republican, when Democrats have won the congressional seat in the last two presidential elections."

Katko holds double-digit leads in each of the district's geographic areas. In Syracuse, which is a traditional Democratic stronghold, he has a 50 to 38 percent lead over Deacon.

In the rest of Onondaga County, his lead is 16 points  51 to 35 percent.

Katko's largest lead is in the district's three rural counties. In Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties, he's ahead by a 58 to 31 percent margin.

While 24th District voters prefer the Republican incumbent in the congressional race, a plurality supports Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the presidential campaign.

Forty-five percent of voters said they would vote for Clinton. One-third of those surveyed said they'll support Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for president.

Democrats have linked Katko to Trump throughout the campaign, even though Katko has declined to endorse his party's presidential nominee.

Erin Fleck, Deacon's campaign spokesperson, once again made that connection when responding to the results of the Time Warner Cable News/Siena poll.

"It's clear that voters in central New York are rejecting Donald Trump, and Colleen's support will only grow as voters continue to learn about the dangerous and hurtful policies of both Congressman John Katko and Donald Trump," Fleck said. "Despite Trump's dangerous rhetoric and love for nuclear weapons, John Katko still refuses to denounce him.

"Katko, like Trump, wants to criminalize abortion and dismantle women's access to health care, and is the wrong choice for central New York."

Erin O'Connor, Katko's spokesperson, said the poll shows the congressman is "well positioned in this race."

"Ranked one of the most independent and effective members of Congress, John Katko's results-driven, inclusive record is supported by his constituents," O'Connor said. "The campaign is focused, and looks forward to the hard work in the critical weeks remaining."

The poll followed announcements made by two political forecasters that they have changed ratings for the 24th Congressional District race.
Basmati rice miller and exporter Ltd (UAL) has received notices for two winding up petitions filed by one of its importers and a bank for their accumulative outstanding dues of Rs 83.26 crore.
The temporary ban on Pakistani actors in Bollywood seems to be creating more than just a hiatus as several A-listers including veteran actor Om Puri have openly opposed the move.

65-year-old Puri attended a debate on a news channel during which he firmly backed the artistes from the other side of the border and said that he would continue to work with them.

The Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association, popularly known as IMPPA, had earlier carried out a temporary ban on all Pakistani actors working in Indian cinema. This came in the wake of the killing of 19 Indian soldiers in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir.

As the anchor quizzed the veteran actor on his thoughts on continuous proxy war on the part of Pakistan, he retorted and said, "Ask the government to cancel their visas."

When asked as to why he is supporting Salman Khan's statement on Pakistani actors being "artistes not terrorists," Puri replied, "You want India-Pakistan to be turned into Israel and Palestine and indulge in a fight for centuries."

"It is not merely a division of the country; it is the partition of families. Our country houses 22 crore Muslims and they have their relatives on the other side and vice versa. India has the second largest population of Muslims in the world," he said.
Intensifying attacks, Pakistani troops again violated ceasefire on Tuesday by resorting to mortar shelling and firing on Army posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in three areas of Noushera sector in Rajouri district.
A public interest litigation (PIL) petition asking the Madras High Court to order a private hospital to provide a detailed report on the health of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Tuesday introduced a new twist to the ongoing mystery about who was actually running the state in her absence and raised questions about how much the privacy of a public person could be breached.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jawhar Sircar has offered to resign from his post.

It is reported that Sircar has written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu expressing his desire to quit the post before his term expires in February 2017.

Sircar had retired as secretary of culture with the Union government and was then appointed as CEO in 2012.
The government has ordered that schools in the border belt of the state would reopen from Wednesday

"All schools in border belt will open from Wednesday. These had been closed due to security reasons," Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said on Tuesday.

All schools, which were situated within the border area of 10 km from the international border with Pakistan, had been ordered closed on Thursday last week following the Indian Army's surgical strikes at the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terror pads.

"This decision has been taken keeping in mind that the students are in the midst of the academic session and that their studies are being affected," Cheema said.

The government, based on directions from the Union Home Ministry, has also ordered the evacuation of villages in the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Fazilka.

Though thousands of people were evacuated, many of others refused to move out of their homes in the border villages, saying that they had to tend to their properties, crops and cattle.

shares a 553-km long international border with Pakistan.
Singapore Prime Minister arrived in New Delhi on Monday night and in a break from tradition opted to take a chartered bus to his hotel rather than an official entourage of official cars.

Prime Minister Loong, who is accompanied by his wife Ho Ching and a delegation comprising key ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials, was received by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Statistics and Programme Implementation, Planning and Defence Rao Inderjit Singh upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a luncheon in the honour of Prime Minister Loong. The two leaders will hold bilateral talks, which will followed by signing and exchange of three memorandums of understanding (MoU), including on cooperation in industrial property between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Singapore's Intellectual Property Office and on cooperation on establishment of a North East Skills Centre in Assam.

Loong will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on the visiting dignitary.

Later, Loong will also attend a reception hosted by the Singaporean diaspora living in India.

The visiting premier will also tour Udaipur in Rajasthan on October 5 and 6, where Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will call on him and also host a luncheon for Loong.

An agreement on a capacity building programme in tourism and hospitality will be signed between the Rajasthan government and Singapore's Cooperation Enterprise.

Loong last visited India in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.
The situation on the frontier with Pakistan is still "live" after the on terrorist launch pads by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir, the IAF chief said Tuesday, adding that the force is fully capable of handling any eventuality, including a two-front war.

"Things are still live," Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said while addressing the annual Indian Air Force press conference ahead of Air Force Day on October 8 but refused to answer questions on last week's .

Asked about IAF's preparedness in case of a two-front war, Raha said: "we are always ready and we will be ready".

He said the IAF had adequate resources to take on any challenge.
Subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders will now be available only those who have with cards. Those who do not have the unique identity number will be required to enroll for it in order to continue availing the subsidy.
Here is a snapshot of Donald Trump, the human being, as extracted from two Trump biographies written by two journalists who have both won Pulitzer prizes for journalism previously. "The Making of Donald Trump," By David Cay Johnston, and "The Truth About Trump," by Michael D'Antonio.

When he was in the second grade at Kew-Forest elementary school, Donald struck his music teacher, Charles Walker, in the face giving him a black eye because he didn't think he knew anything about music. Years later, Charles Walker, on his death bed, when he heard that Trump was running for president, told his family members, "When that kid was 10, even then, he was a little "bleep." (sic)

After the seventh grade, his parents couldn't control him anymore so they sent him to the New York Military Academy that specialized in spoiled, rich kids.

Much later in life, Fred Trump Jr.'s son (Donald's nephew) had a 3-year-old son whose medical bills approached $300,000 per year just to keep him alive. In the fight over Fred Trump Sr.'s (Donald's father's) estate, Donald and his siblings chose to shut off 3-year-old William's money for medical expenses in order to keep more money for themselves.

Additional patterns of Donald Trump's behavior are: He took credit for charitable contributions that were actually other people's money; ties with crooked unions; Mafia ties; four bankruptcies (investors took the losses); and refusing to pay workers and contractors for work that they had performed.

John (Jake) Herrling

Auburn
If winning the Gujarat Assembly polls, due by end-2017, is a matter of prestige for Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, the success of the 2017 edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit has become equally important.
Even as tension is rising between India and Pakistan following the Uri and Baramulla attacks, the Indian government has clarified there is no plan to shelve the $9-billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) natural gas pipeline project. The project aims to transport 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year through a 1,820-km pipeline from Turkmenistan to India.
Finance Minister has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian special forces will be "extremely marginal".
The final tally of disclosure might be Rs 10,000 crore more than reported so far under the recently concluded scheme in this regard for hitherto undisclosed money, tax officials said.
The government has given in-principle approval to about 9,020 seats under the business process outsourcing (BPO) promotion scheme to set up such units in smaller towns.
The sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra will start from December 1, instead of November 1, because of prolonged rains and inadequate stock. The states output is expected to be five million tonnes (mt), the lowest since 2010-11. It was 8.41 mt in 2015-16.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pressed the pedal on handling risks and of stemming other instances of fraud in the banking system. In fact, the regulator has been increasingly focusing on tackling cyber-crime-related issues at a time when digital transactions have been on the rise.
Union Textiles Minister speaks of importance of technical textiles, textile machinery and Make in India

The Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani today said that a programme is on the anvil, which would enable international academicians to come and teach at NIFT, New Delhi, at no extra cost to the institute or the student. She said that this would be on the lines of Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in Higher Education, a programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

heTextiles Minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani said that NIFT has been a small revolution that began thirty years ago. Congratulating the graduating students,she highlighted the achievement of two differently abled students one of them, a girl student with hearing impairment who sat at the back of the class, lip-read and graduated with honours, and the other a boy student who graduated in flying colours, despite having locomotor disability and having to travel a long distance to the institute by metro every day.

The Minister was speaking at the 22 nd Convocation

The Minister encouraged the students to reflect on what they can leverage from the textile industry. She reminded the graduating students that like doctors, fashion professionals also deal with the lives of common people every day. Citing some recent research papers of the faculty members of NIFT, the Minister told the students that only they can decide as to whether they would like to contribute to sub-sectors such as technical textiles, which are of strategic significance to national development. Smt. Irani said that as a nation that prides in self-sufficiency, textile machinery is another area that needs strengthening and support.

Earlier, welcoming the audience, Director General, NIFT Shri Sudhir Tripathi, spoke of the contributions of NIFT to the development of fashion education and industry and said that the institute provides students an intellectually stimulating environment.

Chairperson, Board of Governors NIFT, Shri Chetan Chauhan, exhorted the graduating students to take their learning to the real world and create a globally relevant fashion environment in India.

In all, 325 graduating students received their degrees today; this includes four doctoral degrees, 92 postgraduate degrees & 229 undergraduate degrees. Distinguished members from Board of Governors, NIFT, leaders from the Indian fashion industry such as

Shri Sunil Sethi, President, Fashion Design Council of India

, and faculty members of NIFT were present on the occasion.
A 24-year-old Bangladeshi national in the US has been charged with providing material support to the Islamic State militant group in connection with a plot to kill American service members, the US.

Nelash Mohamed Das is currently resident of Hyattsville in Maryland. On conviction he faces 20 years in prison.

"Nelash Mohamed Das is alleged to have plotted to kill a US service member on behalf of ISIL," said Assistant Attorney General John P Carlin.

"Individuals intent on carrying out violence in the name of foreign terrorist organisations pose one of the most concerning threats that law enforcement faces today and stopping these offenders before they are able to act is our highest priority," Carlin said in a statement.

Das, who has permanent residency status, had an initial appearance at a US District Court in Maryland.

The court has ordered Das to be detained pending a detention hearing, which is scheduled for October 6.

The affidavit alleges that from September 28, 2015 to early 2016, Das used social media to express his support for Islamic State militant group, including support for terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and San Bernardino, California.

On October 26, 2015, Das tweeted the name of an individual and the city where they lived, stating that the individual "aspires to kill Muslims".

Das knew that the individual hoped to become a member of the US military.

The Islamic State members and supporters have posted identifying information about US military personnel in hopes that those inspired by the Islamic State would carry out attacks against them.

The affidavit alleges that Das was advertising the individual's identity and whereabouts in order to inspire violence against that individual.

On January 30, 2016, Das tweeted a picture of an AK-47 assault rifle along with the text, "This is more than just a gun. This is a ticket to Jannah (paradise)."

According to the affidavit, on April 30, this year Das attended the Handgun Qualification License class at a firing range in Maryland.

After the class, Das told another individual that he wanted to buy a Glock 9mm handgun and an AK-47.

Over the next five months, Das returned to the firing range to practice firing weapons, and submitted his fingerprints to obtain a handgun permit.

During May 2016, Das met a confidential human source (CHS) working for the FBI.

On July 23, Das told the CHS that he wanted to kill a particular military member who lived in Prince George's County, Maryland, and whose identifying information Das had obtained the prior year from a list posted online by ISIL.
Thanks to the hypersonic growth of Airbnb and the sharing economy, having a spare room can be more profitable than having a roommate. Multiply that spare room into a spare villa or a second home in Paris and you're sitting on a gold mine. There's just one problem. Renting your home through Airbnb requires a certain amount of on-the-ground presence: someone to exchange keys or to call in a housekeeper after guest stays. You're still on the hook for plumbing repairs, digging out the driveway, or responding to enquiries via e-mail. In some locales, taxes must be collected as well - ...
Moscow today summoned the Dutch ambassador to complain over the findings of a criminal probe into the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 that said the missile used to shoot it down was brought in from .

The Boeing 777 passenger jet was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014 over war-torn eastern Ukraine killing all 298 on board, the majority Dutch citizens.

Criminal investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine last week said they had "irrefutable evidence" that a BUK missile slammed into the plane and was fired from a field in a part of eastern Ukraine then controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

reacted with fury to the allegations and tried to push a range of its own claims in a bid to shift any potential blame onto Ukraine  prompting Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders to summon Russia's ambassador to complain about the "unacceptable" comments by Moscow over the findings.

In a tit-for-tat move, the Russian foreign ministry said today that it explained to the Dutch ambassador Renee Jones-Bos why the findings "could not be recognised as satisfactory by Russia".

The Dutch foreign ministry responded that the ambassador had taken the opportunity to "call again for Russian cooperation" to help bring those responsible for the slaughter to justice.
Sri Lanka Prime Minister will on Tuesday arrive in New Delhi for a three-day visit to India.

During his stay, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss issues of mutual interest. The visiting dignitary will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will also call on the visiting dignitary.

Wickremesinghe will address the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday.
A suicide bomber killed at least 22 people today in an attack targeting a party in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and medics said.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a hall in Tall Tawil village during the wedding of a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, killing at least 22 civilians," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The SDF is an Arab-Kurdish coalition battling jihadists of the Islamic State group in northern .

"The bridegroom was among the dead," Abdel Rahman added.

A hospital source in Hasakeh city told AFP there were "more than 20 dead and dozens wounded".

The AFP correspondent saw many wounded people, some with bloodied bandages on their heads.

A source in the Asayesh security forces in the self-administered Kurdish territories also said a suicide bomber had blown himself up in the wedding hall a few kilometres (miles) north of Hasakeh.

The almost entirely Kurdish-held city has often been targeted by jihadists of the Islamic State group.
The United States today suspended negotiations with Russia on efforts to revive a failed ceasefire in and set up a joint military cell to target jihadists.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesman John Kirby said, accusing Russia and its Syrian ally of stepping up attacks on civilian areas.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest added: "Everybody's patience with Russia has run out."

"What is clear is there is nothing more for the US and Russia to talk about with regard to trying to reach an agreement that would reduce the levels of violence inside of . And that's tragic," Earnest said.

Kirby said the Russian and US militaries will continue to use a communications channel set up to ensure their forces do not get in each other's way during "counterterrorism operations in ."

But the United States is calling back home personnel who had been sent to Geneva in order to set up a "Joint Implementation Center" with Russian officers to plan coordinated strikes.

And US diplomats will suspend discussions with Russia on reviving a September 9 deal reached between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Under that protocol, a truce came into effect on September 12, but it collapsed within a week amid bitter recriminations and a surge of fighting in the five-year civil war.

Washington has accused Moscow of failing to rein in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government forces and abetting his strikes on civilian targets.

"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments, including its obligations under humanitarian law," Kirby said.

According to the US spokesman, Russia was "either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed.

"Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the cessation of hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas," Kirby added.

Kirby accused Moscow and Damascus of "targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need."

And he repeated Washington's charge that Russia and the regime were responsible for the deadly September 19 attack on a United Nations aid convoy in northern Syria, outside Aleppo.

Moscow, meanwhile, says the United States failed to separate "moderate" anti-Assad rebels from jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda.

"We regret this decision by Washington to curtail the work of the specialist groups in Geneva, to withdraw their experts and to limit contacts only to the area of avoiding any conflicts," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

"Washington simply did not fulfil the key condition of the agreement to improve the humanitarian condition around Aleppo," Zakharova said.
A US air strike targeted a "prominent" Al-Qaeda leader in today, the Pentagon said, amid reports a senior leader of the group was killed near Idlib.

Word of the strike came as regional news reports and social media postings said Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre Abu Faraj, had been killed in Idlib province in northwestern .

"We can confirm that we targeted a prominent Al-Qaeda member in Syria, and we are assessing the results of the operation at this time," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

"This is a prominent Al-Qaeda leader."

Davis said he was unable to discuss the target's identity until the Pentagon could confirm the strike was successful.

"Each time we remove a significant Al-Qaeda leader, we disrupt and degrade their command and control and halt their expansion," he said.

Mabrouk was born in 1956 in the suburbs of Cairo.

He is known as a veteran Al-Qaeda leader and a commander of the Fateh al-Sham Front.

The group is a former Al-Qaeda affiliate in previously known as Al-Nusra Front.

It split in July from the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden, in a move analysts said was aimed at easing pressure from both Moscow and Washington.

Though the Pentagon would not confirm the target was indeed Mabrouk, military officials do not consider Fateh al-Sham to truly have broken with Al-Qaeda.

"We are aware of al-Nusra's announced name change. The individuals that are there are still Nusra to us," Davis said.

"There's obviously close affiliations" to Al-Qaeda, he added.
Prashant Kumar scored 96 percentile in the Common Admission Test but it was inadequate to get him into any of the top Indian Institutes of (IIM) - Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore or Lucknow. He grabbed the offer when the recently set up IIM Bodh Gaya (BG) said yes to him last year. With the coveted IIM brand in their mind, many students like Prashant readily took admission in Bodh Gaya campus, but it has been a roller coaster ride since then.
Four days after the government notified new commodities to be allowed for futures trading, the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) on Tuesday began mock trading in polished diamonds. The response has been good.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman U K Sinha on Tuesday said the regulator would reduce the timeline for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to four days from six days now.
The Congress Party on Tuesday distanced itself from its party inmate Sanjay Nirupam's comment that 'Surgical Strikes' which took place on the terror launch pads of Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC) was fake.

Asserting that Congress have full trust on the Indian Army, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, while addressing a press conference, said the grand old party has taken cognizance of Nirupam's comment.

"Congress doesn't agree with the statements made by Sanjay Nirupam, we have taken a serious note of it," said Surjewala.

"The Congress fully trusts the Indian Army," he added.

Surjewala further advised the Government of India to share the evidences it has in regard with the surgical strikes.

"It is time that Government of India unmasks Pakistan's false propaganda by revealing and making public the evidences we have," he said.

Courting a massive controversy earlier in the day, Nirupam called on the Centre to give proof of the surgical strike that took place in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), while asserting that India was by not doing so, being insulted by Pakistan in the international arena.

"Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP. Politics over interest," he tweeted.

Stating that the Congress supported every step by the Centre against Pakistan, Nirupam maintained that the BJP was using the achievements of the armed forces for political benefits.

"Surgical strikes used to happen before, but they were never publicised. Three surgical strikes happened during the UPA regime, the Congress never displayed a banner about it, but the BJP is putting up banners across the nation. I have even heard that Defence Minister is going to be felicitated in Goa," he said.

Emphasising that reports were emerging from the world questioning the authenticity of the surgical strike and that Pakistan was responsible for these developments, Nirupam called on the Centre to respond to the challenge by the hostile neighbour or the nation will face humiliation.

"I think all claims made by the government on surgical strikes are fake and will be fake until the Centre gives proof that such an operation existed. I am proud of the army and their power, but the Centre is trying to take political advantage and make political gains out of the sacrifice of our soldiers," he said.

When asked if he was questioning the Army's word on the covert operation as the DGMO had made a public announcement regarding the strike, the Congress leader mentioned that such strikes had happened before as well but the DGMO never made a statement on a large scale before.

"After the Uri attack, the Centre was under pressure as the entire nation wanted to see action. The world is raising questions now thanks to Pakistan and our government is so weak that it is not responding. Some sort of evidence needs to be provided by the Centre. We cannot bend to their (Pakistan's) propaganda when we have begun the mission to isolate them," Nirupam said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP) on Tuesday trained guns at Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam for dubbing the surgical strikes by the Indian Army as fake and said that the grand old party members should not speak the voice of Pakistan but stand united as one nation.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that such immature statements give Islamabad more ammunition to attack New Delhi.

"It is quite childish behaviour on part of Mr Sanjay Nirupam, who claims to be a tall leader of the Congress Party when he questions the credibility of the Indian Army by questioning the surgical strike which was conducted by the Indian Army on the launch pads of Pakistan," said Patra.

"This gives more ammunition to Pakistan to attack India. The Congress Party should not speak the voice of Pakistan, they should speak the voice and sentiments of India," he added.

Meanwhile, another BJP leader G.V.L Narsimha Rao echoing similar sentiments said it is strange that few opposition leaders want to believe the false agenda of Pakistan which has no credibility.

"At such time we should all stand untied like one nation. But few opposition leaders are wanting to stand by the false propaganda of the Pakistani leadership which has no credibility," said Rao.

Courting a massive controversy earlier in the day Nirupam called on the Centre to give proof of the surgical strike that took place in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) while asserting that India was by not doing so being insulted by Pakistan in the international arena.

"Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP. Politics over interest," he tweeted earlier.

Stating that the Congress supported every step by the Centre against Pakistan, Nirupam maintained that the BJP was using the achievements of the armed forces for political benefits.

"Surgical strikes used to happen before, but they were never publicised. Three surgical strikes happened during the UPA regime, the Congress never displayed a banner about it, but the BJP is putting up banners across the nation. I have even heard that Defence Minister is going to be felicitated in Goa," he said.

Emphasising that reports were emerging from the world questioning the authenticity of the surgical strike and that Pakistan was responsible for these developments, Nirupam called on the Centre to respond to the challenge by the hostile neighbour or the nation will face humiliation.

"I think all claims made by the government on surgical strikes are fake and will be fake until the Centre gives proof that such an operation existed. I am proud of the army and their power, but the Centre is trying to take political advantage and make political gains out of the sacrifice of our soldiers," he said.

When asked if he was questioning the Army's word on the covert operation as the DGMO had made a public announcement regarding the strike, the Congress leader mentioned that such strikes had happened before as well but the DGMO never made a statement on a large scale before.

"After the Uri attack, the Centre was under pressure as the entire nation wanted to see action. The world is raising questions now thanks to Pakistan and our government is so weak that it is not responding. Some sort of evidence needs to be provided by the Centre. We cannot bend to their (Pakistan's) propaganda when we have begun the mission to isolate them," Nirupam said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Punjab Police on Tuesday carried out search operations in Shikar Mashia area (Dera Baba Nanak) of Gurdaspur sector in Punjab after suspected movement was spotted.

This comes in wake of the Punjab Police writing to the Centre asking for additional 15 companies for security alert due to the firing at Gurdaspur that took place yesterday morning.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) earlier today seized an abandoned Pakistani boat from Tota Guru post (Dera Baba Nanak post) on Ravi river in Punjab.

However, Inspector General, BSF Anil Paliwal said the boat was seized but nothing was found within it, adding that an investigation is currently underway.

The BSF yesterday opened fire after suspected infiltration at Chakri post of Gurdaspur sector of Punjab.

However, the BSF confirmed that there was no retaliation of fire from the other side, adding that it was not at all trans IB.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi's Health Minister Satyendra Jain appeared before Income Tax Department officials on Tuesday to establish his bonafides and clear his name with regard to allegations that he was involved in hawala transfers worth nearly Rs. 17 crores.

He said he is neither a shareholder nor a director in any of the four companies that have come under the IT Department's scanner, and added that he has no link with them since 2013.

Jain told the media that he was not been given any notice and has only been called as a witness.

"No questionnaire or document has been asked for and I have only been called as a witness, and I will answer all the questions that will be asked," Jain said.

"It is a political matter and there is nothing big in it. Everybody knows about it, that after 2013, I have no link with them, and neither am I their shareholder or their director. Why will they call me?"

Earlier, the IT department has asked Jain to appear before it on October 4.

According to the IT Department, four companies of Jain have illegally transferred Rs. 17 crores while he received cheques issued to these companies.

He is alleged to have used that money to buy properties near unauthorised colonies.

Four companies belonging to Jain are under I-T scanner are - Indo metal impax, Akinchan developers Pvt Ltd, Paryas Info solution and Manglyatan projects.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Defense PRO Manish Mehta on Tuesday confirmed the fresh reports of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops at three different locations of Kalsian in Naushera sector, which took place during wee hours today morning and said that the Indian Army is replying with appropriate weapon system.

Mehta told ANI that according to the reports, no causalities have been reported so far, but at two different locations the ceasefire has stopped.

"The ceasefire has taken place in Naushera sector and at different three places. It started at 5 a.m. and at two locations it has stopped, while at the third location it is still continuing," Mehta said.

"They are using small arms automatics and mortars. There are no reports of causality as of now and we are responding appropriately with a befitting reply to the Pakistani unprovoked seize fire violation," he added.

He further said that Indian army is replying with appropriate weapon system.

Yesterday, Pakistan violated ceasefire in Shahpur along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir.

Heavy mortar shelling and firing was reported from the Pakistani side in Poonch.

The fresh attacks came after terrorists attacked the Indian Army and BSF camps in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, in which a BSF personnel was killed.

The terrorists attacked near a camp of the 46 Rashtriya Rifles in Baramulla, late on Sunday night.

Around three-four terrorists, tried to enter the camp through a public park near it, but failed to breach the security.

Earlier, Pakistan targeted Indian posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Akhnoor tehsil late Sunday evening.

Pakistan has stepped up cross-border firing after the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Irish Government is to apply to the European Union (EU) for special status to prevent a hard border being re-established if the UK leaves the EU Customs Union.

Irish Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan said the British and Irish governments would seek special legal status for Ireland, even though an open border between Ireland and the UK would in theory be a route through which tens of thousands of EU citizens could travel to the UK, reports The Guardian.

Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness, spoke to UK's Brexit Minister David Davis on Sunday, to discuss government plans after speeches at the Conservative conference revealed a cabinet leaning towards leaving both the EU single market and the customs union.

McGuinness said the UK was facing a "head-on collision" with the EU over Brexit, and suggested Northern Ireland was likely to be "collateral damage".

The Irish government will announce that it is setting up a civic dialogue to be held in Dublin on November 2 involving political parties, business organisations and non-governmental organisations from Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Flanagan stressed the need for Brexit negotiations to take account of the Good Friday agreement under which all citizens in the north are entitled to an Irish, and therefore, an EU passport.

A legal challenge is being mounted on Tuesday in Belfast claiming that Brexit breaches the Good Friday agreement, and the Northern Ireland assembly must be consulted before the UK government starts Brexit talks with Brussels.

About 56 percent of Northern Irish voters backed the remain camp in the 23 June referendum but some unionist-dominated areas supported leave.

If the UK leaves the customs union, the EU could demand a hard border in Ireland to prevent goods flowing in and out of the EU from Northern Ireland without paying required tariffs or facing checks on rules of origin.

If the UK reverted to tariffs in line with Trade Organisation rules, this could also spell serious trouble for agriculture in the north as tariffs are especially high for this sector.

A "hard Brexit", including a return to UK border controls, also makes it more likely that the common travel area between the Republic and the north will be abandoned, hitting the Northern Ireland economy and one of the main tenets of the peace process.

UK withdrawal from the customs union would make goods exported across the border subject to various forms of customs controls with duties determined according to complex rules of origin on each individual piece of a product assembled in Europe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday assured the people that no compromise would be made with regard to country's prestige and added India's head will always remain high.

"Every child of the nation believes in our army, whatever the army has done until now has been well respected. I want to assure the people that the country's honour and prestige will not be compromised with and its head will always remain high," said Singh while interacting with the media here.

The Union Home Minister also praised the armed forces and said they have the backing of the entire nation. While concluding, he said that the crux of all the meetings is that the government won't allow anyone or anything to malign the name of the country.

Singh is on a two-day visit to the Ladakh region as part of the Centre's outreach to Jammu and Kashmir.

He interacted with a cross-section of people in Kargil and also held meetings with delegations of political parties, civil society groups and individuals and took their views on development related issues.

In the wake of the terror attack in Baramulla, the Home Minister yesterday said the security forces are giving a befitting reply to the terrorists from the other side of the border.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following Indian reports of a pigeon being detained at the border with Islamabad after it was found carrying a warning note to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan media has trolled the entire story by releasing 'proof' about the pigeon named 'Ghutarghoon Khan'.

Taking a humorous angle on the report, the Dawn carried a story saying that India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) released some photos that show the Pakistani pigeon indulging in various spying actives in and over India.

"RAW chief, Roger Binny, told reporters that the photos also proved that the Pakistani pigeon (code name: Ghutarghoon Khan) had been conducting spying missions in India for many years, maybe even decades!" states the article.

The article then went ahead to post pictures of random pigeons in different actions with hysterical and ludicrous captions, for example:

. Ghutarghoon Khan fighting a patriotic Indian squirrel. The squirrel's body was found in a fish pond nearby.

. An ISI agent paying Ghutarghoon Khan money to conduct more aerial bombings in India

The final image in the article, that has gone viral, shows a pigeon in a cage and titled "Ghutarghoon Khan apprehended and put where he belongs. The Republic of India is safe. Long live RAW! Ghutarghoon Khan's final words: 'My name is Khan, and I'm not a spy!"

Last week, a white pigeon with an Urdu inscription on its wings dropped in a house in Mukerian sub-division's Motla village, raising suspicion that it could be a 'spy' from the neighbouring country.

Mukerian is 35 km from Pathankot, which remains on high alert after the airbase attack.

Last year, the international media had ripped into a similar report from India, where a pigeon with illegible Urdu message stamped on its wings and a small wired object around it was enough for residents of Pathankot to turn it over to the police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tribute to freedom fighter Shyamji Krishna Varma on his birth anniversary.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Modi said his phenomenal contribution to the freedom struggle lives in people's heart.

He said Shyamji Krishna Varma is remembered as a torchbearer of patriotism who motivated many to join the freedom struggle.

The Prime Minister has always considered Shyamji Krishna Varma as one of his ideals and has sought to preserve his legacy in the hearts and minds of a billion Indians.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Government of Rajasthan will introduce Family Centered Care (FCC) in district hospitals throughout the state.

This is an initiative where parents and hospital staff work together and will help save even more newborn babies.

Family Centered Care (FCC) is an innovative approach where parents and providers work in tandem to ensure the well-being of vulnerable newborn babies.

In 2015, the FCC was set up in Alwar's district hospital in cooperation with the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).

The FCC represents a paradigm shift in the newborn care continuum by moving from a predominantly provider-centric to a shared model of care. Sick and low birth weight newborns are highly vulnerable and require careful nurturing in order to survive the first year of life.

Improved communication and involvement of parents in their baby's care can reduce the length of stay and need for re-hospitalisation of newborns.

After testing FCC in the district of Alwar, The State department of Rajasthan has now decided to expand the innovation to all 33 districts of Rajasthan. The state-wide launch was announced on 2 October 2016, at the event of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday.

"Family Centered Care ensures true empowerment of the mother for taking care of the small babies in the community, as per principles taught by Mahatma Gandhi," emphasized state Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore in his opening address at the launch.

He thanked Norway for the technical assistance provided to the state for scaling up Family Centered Care.

In his address, he also highlighted that the Rajasthan Government is committed to the welfare of the mothers and children of the state. The health initiatives were launched in the presence of the Norwegian Ambassador, Mr. Nils Ragnar Kamsvag earlier this week.

"The Family Centered Care initiative builds on the simple truth that the family is the cornerstone in our societies, and that that the family is the primary source of strength and support for any child," said the Ambassador.

The Government of Norway through the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI), was the first to implement Family Centered Care on India. The approach has been successfully implemented in several district hospitals in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. In addition to Rajasthan, the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha are also in the process of scaling up FCC using existing Government health funds. FCC is integrated in the Operational Guidelines for Strengthening Paediatric Health, which was issued by the national Ministry of Health and family Welfare in September.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Looks like a ray of hope to cure HIV patients is here.

Researchers at National Institute for Research are hopeful of a cure after treating the first patient with a promising new treatment that could kill all traces of the virus.

A partnership sparked by NIHR is behind this collaborative UK effort for the new treatment, which is a first-of-its-kind.

Six years ago this month, a meeting took place between five leading UK research establishments which resulted in a shared commitment to find a cure for HIV.

A partnership sparked by the National Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI), part of the NIHR, identified in that meeting that while there is research into treatment of HIV, as there is for many chronic conditions, there was no research into eradication of the disease.

Each of the British research institutions present- Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, King's College London and University College London- agreed that they could provide a part of the jigsaw needed to find the cure, but could not achieve this in isolation.

Managing Director of NOCRI Mark Samuels said, "This was a meeting of some of the UK's top medical research leaders and it was a privilege to encourage joining forces."

"We understand the power in brokering crucial relationships to pioneer breakthroughs, and this meeting was a prime example of that," he continued. "Together, we identified a research need which could only be achieved by creating a collaboration between these leading establishments."

"The competitive nature of the relationship between Oxford and Cambridge, spanning 800 years, is widely known, but there is also competition running across all these leading universities, particularly in terms of vying for research funding," he added.

Samuels further said, "Yet here was an opportunity to put that competition aside, and collaborate on a global challenge. As a result, the Medical Research Council awarded one of the first joint grants to these five leading biomedical research institutions."

"And in return each research centre provides its expertise to complete the jigsaw needed to find a cure for HIV- from patients, to the right doctors, the right diagnostic technology, the mathematician to analyse results and so on. CHERUB was born."

CHERUB (Collaborative HIV Eradication of viral Reservoirs: UK BRC) is a new approach to HIV therapeutics in the UK.

It is one of the first co-operatives of UK Biomedical Research Centres to engage internationally in one of the most exciting new fields of biomedical research, that of HIV cure.

CHERUB brings together, amongst others, clinicians, virologists, immunologists, molecular biologists and mathematical modellers under the umbrella of the NIHR.

Over 30 medical researchers attended a kick-off meeting, and it was acknowledged that so many world-leaders in the field had never been in one room together, even on the conference circuit.

This collaboration is the most significant attempt to find a cure for HIV in the UK.

And in the six years since, great progress has been made. The 'Kick and Kill' study will recruit 50 HIV study participants, in which researchers activate HIV infected cells which are 'asleep'.

By waking them and treating them with an HDAC inhibitor drug, the body's own immune system is encouraged to fight the disease.

HIV is a virus infection that is treatable using Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). ART works by stopping HIV from copying itself and spreading. ART reduces the amount of virus in the blood stream to such low levels that it prevents the virus from being passed on to others, and gives the body's immune system a chance to recover.

But ART alone cannot cure HIV. This is because it only works on HIV infected cells that are active, and most cells infected with HIV in the human body contain resting or sleeping virus. These cells represent an invisible reservoir of HIV, and are one of the reasons it is so difficult to cure the infection. If ART is stopped, usually the virus returns.

There is a strong interest amongst people living with HIV, as well as researchers, to look at different ways that could help to cure HIV and allow people to remain healthy without needing lifelong medication.

Sarah Fidler, the co-Principal Investigator on the study, said, "This first participant has now completed the intervention and we have found it to be safe and well tolerated. Only when all 50 study participants have completed the whole study, by 2018, will we be able to tell if there has been an effect on curing HIV. Professor John Frater's lab in Oxford will lead on the tests and assays to determine if the trial has had an effect."

Professor Jonathan Weber, Chair of CHERUB Scientific Steering Committee and Director of Research for the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, said, "CHERUB has made great progress since it was born six years ago. We are now actively recruiting patients to test the 'Kick and Kill' theory."

"NOCRI was instrumental to this research starting. We are all thoroughly committed to finding a cure for HIV, but if the collaboration between this set of HIV researchers had not been prompted at that meeting six years ago, this simply would not have happened," Weber added.

The NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI) brings world-leading investigators, scientific industries and research facilities together, acting as a catalyst to make vital research happen.

By brokering crucial relationships, NOCRI helps deliver pioneering health breakthroughs, bringing drugs, devices and diagnostics to patients faster.

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Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe will today arrive in New Delhi for a three-day visit to India.

During his stay, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss issues of mutual interest. The visiting dignitary will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will also call on the visiting dignitary.

Wickremesinghe will address the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday.

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World number three Stan Wawrinka, who captured his maiden US Open title this year, has revealed that he suffered an anxiety attack just minutes before stepping out onto the court to face top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the finals at Flushing Meadows.

"A lot of people are asking me how I was able to take the court, nonchalantly, when five minutes prior to that I had a stress attack and I was trying to hold back tears. I tried [but] I wasn't able to," Wawrinka was quoted as saying by Sport24.

The 31-year-old Swiss informed that he deliberately tried to 'hurt' himself on court in order to take his mind off the stress, which he was feeling before his 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win over Djokovic.

"I was close to breaking point - the moment where you let it all out, physically and nervously. I really felt I was at my limit. Maybe with the heat everyone thought I was perspiring. So, how did I do it? I'll tell you. I hurt myself. I tried to extend rallies as much as possible - one more shot, and another - to make the legs churn and not the head," he added.

Wawrinka was fatigued before the start of the summit showdown as he spent nearly 18 hours on court between his third round clash against Briton opponent Dan Evans and his semi-final encounter with Japan's Kei Nishikori.

"When I'm nervous like that, the fatigue feels a lot, lot stronger. And my legs hurt so much. I even screamed at my box, 'I can't make it. I'm dead. My legs are gone'. I was hurting so much. I was pushing myself so hard. I was so out of breath that I finally ended up muffling those little voices in my head," he said.

With the win, Wawrinka also became the oldest US Open men's champion in 46 years. Earlier, Ken Rosewall held that record when he won the tournament in 1970.

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Making the brand experience more enticing to its consumers in the city, Swatch today opened its first corporate store at Phoenix Marketcity-Kurla, Mumbai, with celebrated actress Radhika Apte. On this occasion the brand showcased its latest collections - Fall Winter 2016 and Sistem51 Irony.

Flaunting her new Swatch Multi Collage, Radhika Apte said, "I have always been a great fan of Swatch and it's a great honour for me to inaugurate Swatch's first corporate store. I am floored by the sheer grandness of the store and the plethora of choices that it offers. In fact I was given a choice from nearly 100 watches from the Fall Winter Collection to choose this Swatch that I have been presented today."

Swatch will open its own mono-brand boutiques in the most important cities in India, and plans to open additional Swatch shops in the coming years by selecting the best locations in several cities.

Emerging from its roots as the automatic watch for everyone, the new Sistem51 Irony is for people who value clean, classic design, while the Fall Winter 2016 Collection explores six different themes in contemporary Swatch style.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday taunted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for not accepting Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani as a terrorist.

Speaking at the launch function of Bharat International Travel Bazaar (BITB), Mishra said that said terrorism and tourism cannot go hand in hand.

"It can't be that you don't accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase. Terrorism and tourism can't go together. Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there," said Mishra.

"We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

The AAP minister underlined that it is "painful" to see that "terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir."

The event was held at the Pragati Maidan here. Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung was also present, among others.

Mufti in the month of July had said that she would have given Burhan Wani "a chance had she known he was trapped in the encounter."

Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces on July 8 following which there was a huge unrest in the state.

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After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Sharma taunted Mehbooba Mufti for not accepting Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani as a terrorist; the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister retorted that women are the safest in Kashmir.

Speaking at the launch function of the Bharat International Travel Bazaar (BITB), Mehbooba said, "Any place in the world, including Delhi, women are safest in my Kashmir. They move around in shikaras and houseboats. That's the biggest thing my state can offer. As compared to any place in the world, including Delhi, women and girls are safest; there is no fear of getting raped in a car."

She also said that the biggest confidence building measure would be if a visit is paid to Jammu and Kashmir.

"The biggest confidence building measure is if you visit our state, it shows that you trust us. We need you, I don't know if you need Kashmir or not, but Kashmir needs you," Mehbooba said.

"People of our nation are so nice and so are the people of Jammu and Kashmir," she added.

Earlier, the Delhi Minister asked Mehbooba "if she considered Burhan Wani a terrorist."

"Do you consider Burhan Wani a terrorist or not?" the AAP leader asked.

"It can't be that you don't accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase. Terrorism and tourism can't go together. Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there," said Mishra.

"We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

The AAP minister underlined that it is "painful" to see that "terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir."

Mufti in the month of July had said that she would have given Burhan Wani "a chance had she known he was trapped in the encounter."

Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces on July 8 following which there was a huge unrest in the state.

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Blue Star lost 1.91% to Rs 563 at 12:51 IST on BSE, with the stock sliding on profit booking after the company announced foraying into residential water purifiers business with a stylish and differentiated range.

The announcement was made during market hours today, 4 October 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 52.31 points or 0.19% at 28,295.60.

On BSE, so far 4,865 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 14,204 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 580 so far during the day, which is a record for the counter. The stock hit a low of Rs 561 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 306.10 on 11 February 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 3 October 2016, gaining 15.14% compared with 1.01% fall in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, advancing 31.47% as against Sensex's 4.05% rise.

The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 19.08 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

Shares of Blue Star had risen 5.24% in the preceding two trading sessions to settle at Rs 573.95 yesterday, 3 October 2016, from its close of Rs 545.35 on 29 September 2016.

Blue Star announced its entry into the residential water purifier business with the launch of a range of stylish, differentiated and premium products. The company will initially offer residential water purifiers, and will gradually enhance its range to cover commercial water purification systems as well. This initiative is part of the company's aggressive growth plans to expand its presence in related new product categories.

In terms of advertising and brand communication, the company has plans to invest about Rs 25 crore in the current financial year (FY 2017) on water purifiers, with a TV commercial supported by hoardings and activations as well as digital, especially in social media.

On a consolidated basis, Blue Star's net profit fell 29% to Rs 51.39 crore on 19.5% growth in net sales to Rs 1205.08 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.

Blue Star is India's leading central airconditioning company. The company fulfils the airconditioning needs of a large number of corporate, commercial and residential customers and has also established leadership in the field of commercial refrigeration.

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On 3 October 2016

Bombay Dyeing& Manufacturing Company will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company on 3 October 2016.

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Elantas Beck India rose 0.46% to Rs 1,672.05 at 13:55 IST on BSE after the company said its board of directors granted in-principle approval for the sale of company's property in Pune.

The announcement was made during market hours today, 4 October 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 62.35 points or 0.22% at 28,305.64.

On BSE, so far 2,512 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 2,587 shares in the past one quarter. The stock was volatile. The stock surged as much as 4.72% at the day's high of Rs 1,743 so far during the day. The stock lost as much as 0.19% at the day's low of Rs 1,661.10 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,849.95 on 13 July 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,160 on 1 March 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 3 October 2016, gaining 1.4% compared with 1.01% fall in the Sensex. The scrip had, however, underperformed the market in past one quarter, advancing 3.38% as against Sensex's 4.05% rise.

The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 7.93 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Elantas Beck India's board of directors at its meeting held today, 4 October 2016, granted its in-principle approval for the sale of company's property at Beck House in Pune admeasuring about 2,238.25 sq. mts to Ajay Pitre including his family members or legal entities nominated by him, at a lumpsum consideration of not less than Rs 24 crore.

The approval is subject to the terms and conditions to be agreed vide Memorandum of Understanding to be executed between the company and Ajay Pitre, Pune and also subject to the compliance of the regulatory requirements and due diligence. The proposal will be finally approved at the forthcoming meeting of the board of directors scheduled to be held on 25 October 2016.

Elantas Beck India's net profit rose 11.3% to Rs 14.06 crore on 5.3% growth in net sales to Rs 97.34 crore in Q2 June 2016 over Q2 June 2015.

Elantas Beck India manufactures a wide range of specialty chemicals for electrical insulation and construction industries.

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A delegation of members of parliament belonging to the AIADMK on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Ministry of Water Resources to proceed with its Interlocutory Application filed in the Supreme Court on the Cauvery water case.

They also urged him to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) immediately.

Led by Lok Sabha's Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai, a delegation of AIADMK parliament members marched up to the Prime Minister's Office and submitted a memorandum.

On October 3, 2016, the Ministry of Water Resources filed an Interlocutory Application in the Supreme Court seeking modification of its September 30, 2016, order to constitute Cauvery Management Board by October 4, 2016.

The ministry in its application said the CMB cannot be constituted now.

"In this context, we appeal to you to intervene in the matter and direct the Ministry of Water Resources to withdraw the Interlocutory Application dated 3.10.2016 forthwith and to immediately comply with the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 30.9.2016 and constitute the Cauvery Management Board at once and render justice to the lakhs of farmers dependent on Cauvery water and the people of Tamil Nadu," the AIADMK MPs told Modi in their memorandum.

"We are at a total loss to understand what caused this sudden reversal. The government of India's stance in the latest Interlocutory Application filed on 3.10.2016, is at total variance with the stance taken in the Hon'ble Supreme Court. The stand taken by the government of India is against the State of Tamil Nadu and its farming community," the memorandum noted.

The AIADMK MPs said in a federal polity the government of India is expected to be neutral and fair to all the states of the Union.

"It is also duty-bound to uphold the majesty of law and the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court and Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal," the memorandum stressed.

According to the AIADMK, the Union ministers belonging to Karnataka have been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka government to not release the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

"This is against the constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two States, as they are Union Ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union Ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu," the memorandum said.

On the part of Tamil Nadu government Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao on Monday wrote to Shashi Sekhar, Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources, requesting action to withdraw the Interlocutory Application forthwith and constitute the Cauvery Management Board as per apex court's directions.

Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are at war over the sharing of Cauvery river water for a long time.

--IANS

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Hasan Imam, a prime accused in the terrorist attack on the American Center here 14 years ago, was remanded to police custody till October 15 by a local court on Tuesday.

Imam was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Bihar's Aurangabad district on Saturday and was flown to the city with personnel of the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police on Tuesday.

Imam is alleged to be a member of the "Asif Raza Commando Force" (ARCF) that carried out the attack on the American Center on January 22, 2002. Security agencies claims ARCF has links with the terror group Harkat-ul-Jihadi-e-Islam or HuJI.

Two motor-cycle borne terrorists sprayed bullets randomly on security personnel posted at the gate of the American Center. At least six police men were killed and 16 others injured in the attack that sent shockwaves across the city.

The agencies have claimed that the ARCF wanted to avenge the death of Asif Raza, founding member of the Indian Mujahideen. Raza was gunned down by the Gujarat police in Bharuch district in December, 2011.

Imam is said to have arranged for the motorcycle used by the attackers in the American Center incident.

--IANS

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The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday seized an empty boat belonging to the Pakistan Rangers after it drifted from across the border into the frontier district of Amritsar in Punjab, a senior BSF officer said on Tuesday.

The boat, painted in green and carrying a Pakistani flag, was washed into the Indian territory by the Ravi river that flows into India from across the border.

He said the boat will be returned to the Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday.

"BSF troops deployed in forward area observed a boat coming from the Pakistan side in the Ravi at around 4.45 a.m. today (Tuesday). BSF troops stationed at the ferry point of Border Out Post Rear Kakkar seized the boat," BSF Deputy Inspector General R.S. Kataria said.

"A thorough check of the surrounding area revealed nothing suspicious. A flag meeting with Pakistan Rangers was held, wherein they accepted that the boat belonged to the Rangers New Balam BOP and had drifted into India side. It will be handed over to Pakistan Rangers on October 5," the DIG said.

The boat seizure comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control.

BSF Director General K.K. Sharma said: "There was excessive water flow in the Ravi, due to which the boat accidentally drifted to the Indian side."

The Indian Coast Guard on Sunday apprehended a Pakistani boat with nine crew off the Gujarat coast.

--IANS

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With terror attacks continuing to emanate from Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described cross-border terrorism and radicalisation as "grave challenges to our security".

"Rising tide of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation are grave challenges to our security," Modi said in a joint press statement with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong following delegation-level talks between the two sides here.

"They threaten the very fabric of our societies," Modi said.

"It is my firm belief that those who believe in peace and humanity need to stand and act together against this menace."

The Prime Minister's remarks came following the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army unit at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 19 Indian soldiers and the attack on an army camp at Baramulla on Sunday in which a BSF trooper was killed.

Following the Uri attack, India pulled out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November citing Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism as the reason.

The Indian Army also carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in which "significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who are trying to support them".

In Tuesday's joint press statement, Singapore's Lee, while condemning terrorism in all its forms, extended his condolences to the families of the victims of the Uri attack.

Modi said that India and Singapore have agreed "to enhance our cooperation to counter these threats, including in the domain of cyber security".

"Our defence and security cooperation is a key pillar of our strategic partnership," he stated.

"As two maritime nations, keeping the sea lanes of communication open, and respect for international legal order of seas and oceans is a shared priority.

"Our cooperation in the framework of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), East Asia Summit and the Asean Regional Framework is aimed at building an open and inclusive architecture for regional cooperation, in an atmosphere of trust and confidence."

Modi said that trade and investment ties formed the bedrock of the India-Singapore bilateral relationship.

Stating that the two sides enjoyed a strong network of business to business partnerships, he said: "In this context, Prime Minister Lee and I have agreed to expedite the second review of our Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement."

Following Tuesday's delegation-level talks, India and Singapore signed three memorandums of understanding (MoU), including two on skill development and one on industrial property cooperation.

"Prime Minister Lee and I also welcome the issuance of corporate rupee bonds in Singapore," Modi said.

"It is a step forward in our efforts to mobilise capital for India's large infrastructure development needs."

Recalling his visit to Singapore in November last year, the Indian Prime Minister said that the bilateral relationship was upgraded to the level of a Strategic Partnership with "renewed spirit, new energy".

"To deliver benefits to both our people, our partnership aims to combine the strengths of Singapore with the scale of India; and dynamism of Singapore with vibrancy of our states," Modi said.

Affirming the importance of the bilateral ties, Prime Minister Lee said that Singapore was a firm believer in India and would contribute where it can.

Earlier on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Lee here.

The Singapore Prime Minister, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived here on Monday on a five-day bilateral visit to India.

Lee will call on President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday before leaving for Udaipur where agreements are expected to be signed between Singapore and the Rajasthan government.

--IANS

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Lyricist-writer Gulzar at a music launch of a new animated film on Tuesday told the media to "be relevant to the occasion" when asked to comment on the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.

At the music launch of "Motu Patlu: King of Kings", Gulzar was asked for his views on the feud between India and Pakistan.

He said: "Is this (question) relevant to the programme for which we have come? Aap agar shaadi mein jaao, aur baat Frontier ki karne lage, theek lagega? (If you go for a wedding, and talk about the Frontier, will it look nice?)... Be relevant to the occasion."

While Gulzar chose not to comment on the issue, several Bollywood film celebrities have condemned the September 18 attack in Jammu and Kashmir which killed 19 soldiers.

--IANS

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India and Singapore on Tuesday signed three agreements, including two in the area of skill development, following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong, now on visit to Delhi.

"Strengthening a Strategic Partnership. The two leaders witness the signing of 3 agreements in skill development and industrial property," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

One memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Singapore's Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Education Services (ITEES) and India's National Skill Development Corporation on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

Another MoU was signed between the Assam government and ITEES Singapore also on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

A third MoU was signed in the field of industrial property cooperation.

The Singapore Prime Minister, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived here on Monday on a five-day bilateral visit to India.
The first flight of an intra-state air service from Jaipur to Jodhpur and Udaipur was launched on Tuesday from here.

Rajasthan's Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje along with Gopaldas Ji Maharaj of Dadu Dayal sect flagged off a 9-seater aircraft of Supreme Airlines from Sanganer Airport State Hangar to Jodhpur.

"Bikaner and Kota too would soon be connected by air," Raje said speaking on the occasion.

She said the state achieved another milestone on Monday when Scoot Airlines of Singapore started direct flight from Jaipur to Singapore.

The state government has tied up with Supreme Transport Organisation Pvt. Ltd. to operate air services between different cities in the state.

A state government statement said that in the first phase, flights have been launched from Jaipur to Jodhpur and Udaipur. For both these flights, minimum airfare has been fixed at Rs 3,499 per passenger.

"Afterwards flights would be operated from other cities as well," a civil aviation department official told IANS.

As per the agreement, Supreme Air Lines would operate intra-state flights for six days in a week with 9-seater Cessna Caravan-C 208B aircraft.

Several locations of world-class tourism, religious, historical and heritage importance would benefit by these air operations.

According to travel industry pundits, peaceful atmosphere coupled with lots of sightseeing places and shopping are some of the reasons attracting tourists to these Rajasthan cities.

On an average, Rajasthan attracts over 12 lakh foreign and over two crore domestic tourists every year.

Travel pundits hope that these kind of air services would certainly help in giving a fillip to tourist footfall.

"In fact, tourists had to travel by road and so were avoiding some of the places in Rajasthan. Now with good air connectivity, they (tourists) would be able to see more cities and spend more time in the state. It would certainly give a boost to tourist arrivals," Surendra Singh, a travel agent, said.

--IANS

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Catholics in Kerala are excited at the news that Pope Francis has indicated that he "almost certainly" would visit India and Bangladesh in 2017.

The Pope said this in his interaction with the media on Sunday.

Speaking to IANS, the head of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) here said on Tuesday: "We are all happy and excited to hear the news, but it's early days yet."

Cardinal Moran Mar Baselios Cleemis said, "Last year itself we (CBCI) extended an invite to the Pope to consider a visit to India. Now as he has expressed his interest, an official invite from the Indian government would be required to be forwarded."

"The Vatican state will then hold talks with the Indian government. Once that's done, then the itinerary will be drawn up," said Cleemis, who is the head of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church here and part of the electoral college of cardinals that elected Pope Francis.

If the visit materialises, Pope Francis would become the third pope to visit India.

Pope Paul VI was the first to make a papal visit to India when in 1964 he came to Mumbai (then Bombay) to take part in the 38th Eucharistic Congress.

Pope John Paul II came to India twice -- first to Kerala in 1986 for two days to beatify Sister Alphonsa and Sister Kuriakose Elias Chavara. He visited Delhi next in November 1999.

"It's too early to say whether the visit would materialise and whether the Pope would visit Kerala. Of course, each and every Catholic would definitely want to see the Pope if he comes to our state. Let us wish and pray that he comes to Kerala," said Cleemis.

A top Catholic priest on condition of anonymity told IANS that he is quite certain that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government would only be glad to extend an invite to the Pope.

"If you look back, the Communists had an anti-Christian outlook when they started off, but today they do not have any such notions. Likewise the BJP, which is trying to build bridges across minority communities, will be only glad to get the Pope to India," said the priest, adding that at present none of the three Catholic churches has any major programme lined up for 2017.

--IANS

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A rape victim from Nalanda, Bihar, has said in a WhatsApp message on Tuesday that she and her family are living in fear following the release on bail of her attacker -- a Bihar legislator now suspended from the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal.

"He (Yadav) is out of jail... I am scared and afraid for my family. What will happen to them. I am already... dead after what happened to me. I have nothing more to lose," said the Nalanda schoolgirl in her WhatsApp message to media persons.

She said she is scared that her family might be eliminated, along with her, after the Patna High Court freed on bail her attacker, RJD legislator Raj Ballabh Yadav.

Yadav was suspended by the party after reports of his crime surfaced in February.

He was released on Saturday from jail after spending nearly six months behind bars. The state government on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking cancellation of his bail.

The victim said the family is living under constant fear and uncertainty following Yadav's release. "Me and my family are nothing in front of the powerful Yadav. He can kill me and my family any time. Even the police are afraid of him," she said.

Nalanda Superintendent of Police Kumar Ashish said, "Security of the victim and her family were beefed up after Yadav's release. We have deployed additional security forces."

Kumar Ashish also said the police would provide all possible help to them and take action if the family were pressurised to withdraw the case against Yadav.

The victim earlier appeared for her Class 10 examination amid tight security in March and cleared it.

Yadav, who represents Nawada constituency in the Bihar assembly, was accused of raping the schoolgirl in Bihar Sharif on February 6.

He was on the run for about a month before surrendering before a civil court in Nalanda.

His bail petitions were repeatedly rejected by the lower court. Following this, he moved the Patna High Court, which granted him bail on Friday.

According to the victim's police complaint, a woman named Sulekha Devi had taken her to an undisclosed location in Nalanda and forced her to have liquor, after which she was raped by a man, later identified as Yadav.

After the rape, the woman even offered her Rs 30,000.

The local court in Nalanda in June framed charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against Yadav and all other accused persons.

--IANS

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US President Barack Obama will cast his ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Chicago this month, he told Democratic supporters in a fundraising solicitation on Monday.

"Later this month, I'm going to head back to Chicago and cast an early vote for the next president," CNN quoted an email by Obama.

The President is scheduled to travel to his hometown on Friday to raise money for Democrats.

"There are millions of people across the country who are still making up their minds. And those are the voters who will decide who succeeds me," he wrote on the sidelines of a fundraising solicitation.

He added that those who want to elect Clinton, need to hustle as hard as they can to connect with the undecided voters before their ballots are cast.

To promote the concept of early voting, Obama voted for the incumbent Democratic governor, Pat Quinn, a few weeks before Election Day in 2014.

--IANS

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Pakistan has given evidence of "human rights violations" in Kashmir to the US, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.

Pakistan's ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday gave evidence of "human rights violations in Kashmir" to US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Olson, the Foreign Office said in a statement here.

Jilani submitted a dossier containing evidence of Indian "atrocities" in Kashmir to Olson and called for the US to take action against "the human rights abuse" by Indian forces in the Kashmir Valley, Geo News reported.

He urged the US to exercise its powers as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council to put an end to the "atrocities".

Jilani said Kashmiri people should be afforded their right to self-determination and further called on the international community to send human rights organisations to Kashmir to monitor the situation there.

Recalling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's recent statement that Kashmiris and Pakistanis were inseparable, Jilani reiterated that "Islamabad would continue to extend all possible moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir for realisation of their right to self-determination".

The meeting with Olson comes a day after Pakistani political leaders during an 'All Parties Conference' resolved to raise the Kashmir issue at various international fora and said they stood united against Indian "aggression" and violation of human rights in Kashmir.

The tension between India and Pakistan has been high since July 9, a day after top militant Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight with Indian security forces. Islamabad has described Wani as a "martyr".

Relations between the two neighbouring nations further deteriorated after the September 18 attack at an Indian Army camp in Uri town of north Kashmir, which left 19 soldiers dead, and the Indian Army's surgical strikes to destroy seven terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

--IANS

py/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bollywood actress Radhika Apte on Tuesday expressed solidarity with the Indian Army.

"All I feel is that what is happening is absolutely disastrous. What has happened is beyond our comprehension because we were not there. You can sympathise and talk about it only. I have no words," She said at the launch of Swatch watches on Tuesday.

Asked about banning the Pakistani actors the "Parched" actress said that she doesn't want to indulge herself into the matter.

The 'Kabaali' star also spoke about the recent racial offence made against her co-actress Tannishtha Chatterjee on a popular comedy show.

"I believe in a lot of different things. If you are talking about cracking a joke on colour, I am completely against it. They didn't comment on my colour but called me lizard or something which I found funny. However, I completely support Tannishtha," Radhika said.

"Honestly I knew about the show. If they had done something like body-shaming me, I also would've protested. I spoke to them on backstage. I think Tannishtha wasn't aware of the show but the statement she made I agree with her 200 per cent," she added.

Radhika said, she has finished shooting for "Ghoul", "The Ashram" and "Bombairiya" which will releas in December.

Directed by Ben Rekhi "The Ashram" also stars actors like Kal Penn and Melissa Leo. "Bombairiya" is directed by Pia Sukanya and also stars Akshay Oberoi and Siddhanth Kapoor.

--IANS

iv/lok/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The on Monday urged the US Congress to reconsider a law allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, warning of "grave consequences."

The cabinet said that the adoption of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) is of great concern to the community, Xinhua quoted Saudi acting Minister of Culture and Information Essam bin Saad bin Saeed as saying.

The relations are governed by the principle of equality and sovereign immunity, which has been in place for hundreds of years and the weakening of the sovereign immunity affects negatively all countries, including the United States, he added.

The controversial bill was pushed forward on the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks as some US politicians are pushing for the right of the families of the victims to sue Saudi Arabia for compensations, a matter that was strongly rejected by the kingdom and its allies.

Last week, the US Senate overwhelmingly rejected President Barack Obama's veto of the legislation.

According to US reports, a lawsuit was filed this week against Saudi Arabia.
Fifteen years after US government launched "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks, a majority of US voters are concerned about possible terrorist strikes in the country, a new poll said on Monday.

According to the new Morning Consult poll, 56 per cent of the US voters think it is at least somewhat likely that a terrorist attack will occur in the US over the next few months.

While less than half Democrats say that the US is safer now, an overwhelming majority of Republicans think otherwise, the poll found, with more than seven in 10 Republicans saying that a terrorist attack is somewhat or very likely, Xinhua cited the findings.

The poll came as the country was on high alert against terror attacks after three bomb attacks occurred last month.

Nearly 29 people were wounded in a blast on September 17 in New York City, hours after another pipe bomb exploded on the same day along the route of a Marine charity run in the US state of New Jersey in what authorities believed was a planned attack.

One day later in New Jersey, an explosive device inside a suspicious package at a train station exploded while being examined by the authorities.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that the United States would not be abandoning the Syrian peace process despite the break in talks with Russia.

Washington announced a suspension in talks with Russia just hours before Kerry's speech at a Brussels conference celebrating US-European Union relations, Efe news reported.

The US remained committed to a cessation of violence throughout the whole country, Kerry said, adding that this would only be possible with the grounding of Russian and Syrian warplanes in certain areas.

He said that in order to return to the negotiation table, Russia would have to meet international law and fulfil publicly made agreements.

Further, the Secretary of State accused Russia and Syria of being the only actors in the Syrian war who had yet to agree to the delivery of international aid into besieged areas of the country.

Tensions flared between the US and Russia in September when Washington heaped responsibility onto Moscow for an alleged airstrike on a humanitarian aid convoy en route to embattled areas of Aleppo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is allied to his beleaguered Syrian counterpart Bashar Al Assad and provides aerial support for the Syrian Army operations to regain control of rebel-territory, Efe news added.

Kerry lambasted the military cooperation between Moscow and Damascus and accused the Russian leader of association with a "man who has been responsible for torturing 10,000 people (...) as well as orchestrating this extraordinary slaughter of his own people".

Both Washington and Moscow maintain tactical communications to facilitate military operations against various jihadist groups.

Since the end of the internationally brokered ceasefire in September, violent clashes have escalated across Syria, claiming the lives of hundreds of people, including civilians.

Security and human rights departments within the UN have called upon the international community to address the fallout of the heightened aggression but have had to face increasingly frosty diplomatic ties between Russia and the United States.

--IANS

lok/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced at a press conference on Tuesday that his platform will release new material in the coming months.

It is planned to publish new material every week in the next ten weeks, Xinhua news agency quoted Assange as saying in a live video broadcast to Berlin on the 10th birthday of WikiLeaks.

The new releases will cover the themes such as oil, weapons and corporations like Google, according to Assange.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks also wants to publish new details for the US election, but left the exact date open. However, WikiLeaks is working on publishing the material before the election date on November 8, said Assange.

The upcoming publications were "of significant importance for the elections", the 45-year-old Australian said in response to a question whether the new information "will destroy the Democratic presidential candidate".

With a view to the 10th anniversary of the founding of WikiLeaks, Assange emphasised that despite all the hostility of "powerful opponents", the website is still well positioned.

"We have a strong position, we are debt-free and completely independent," he said.

"The attacks only make us stronger," Assange said, "We believe in what we do, and when we are put under pressure, we will fight back."

WikiLeaks has published hundreds of thousands of secret documents over the past few years, including the US military's actions in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The Australian, who has taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012, claimed that Sweden intends to hand him over to the United States, where he may face espionage charges for leaking thousands of secret US diplomatic cables and, if convicted, could be given a death penalty.

--IANS

lok/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday reiterated support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the surgical strikes and accused the BJP of doing over the army operation.

Speaking in Jodhpur, Kejriwal again urged Modi to give a "befitting reply" to Islamabad's insistence that no such operation took place and New Delhi was lying about the September 28-29 surgical strikes.

"Pakistan is spreading false propaganda on surgical strikes and is telling the international media that no surgical strikes took place," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader told reporters.

"The Prime Minister should give Pakistan a befitting reply," he said.

Kejriwal's comments followed a spate of aggressive criticism by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the Delhi Chief Minister of raising doubts about the surgical strikes across the Line of Control.

India said it carried out the operation and destroyed terrorist launch pads following the September 18 attack by terrorists on an army camp which killed 19 soldiers at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kejriwal said: "We all know that surgical strikes were conducted. In my video, I had appealed to the Prime Minister that we all will have to give Pakistan a befitting reply over its propaganda on the surgical strikes."

Earlier, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Kejriwal of supposedly seeking proof of the surgical strikes carried out by the army.

Hundreds of BJP activists also staged a noisy demonstration in New Delhi against Kejriwal, demanding his resignation.

Kejriwal said: "I am very sad to know that Ravi Shankar Prasad is saying that I am doing over this issue. It is the BJP which is doing .

"Why is the BJP so much rattled if we say that we have to give a befitting reply to Pakistan on its false propaganda on surgical strikes?"

The theme was echoed by AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who urged the Prime Minister to quash the propaganda of the Pakistanis. He said: "There are no questions on the integrity of the PM or the valour of the army.

"In his video, Kejriwal saluted the Prime Minister... He said the Indian Army enhanced the prestige of the country through the surgical strike...

"We said the Prime Minster should put an end to the claims by international and Pakistani media by revealing the truth about the surgical strikes.

"Is it wrong to salute one's Prime Minister or hail the Indian Army? Neither did we question the Prime Minister nor the army," the AAP leader said.

--IANS

team-mr/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, M Devaraja Reddy, seems to have a soft corner for journalists from his home state, as he kept answering questions in Telugu during a press conference. Hyderabad, incidentally, was the biggest contributor to the Income Declaration Scheme, and the institute is said to have contributed significantly to the success of the scheme.
At a time of heightened India-Pakistan tension over Kashmir, the least that needs doing is avoiding obvious errors and strategies that blow up in your face. This does not seem to be the case, going by the two most recent developments.
Members of Parliament of the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Ministry of Water Resources to withdraw its Interlocutory Application filed in the Supreme Court in the Cauvery water case. The State Government once again asked the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) immediately.

The MPs, led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai, submitted a memorandam at the Prime Minister's Office and also met Union Minister for Water Resource Uma Bharati on the .
Hours after Mumbai unit chief embarrassed the Congress by terming as fake the recent strikes by Indian forces across the Jammu & Kashmir border, the party disowned the remarks.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's state executive has convened a meeting on October 5 and 6 in Mumbai, to assess how well the party's district units are prepared for the ensuing election to 214 nagar panchayats and municipal councils, 296 panchayat samitis, 26 zilla parishads and 10 municipal corporations.
Republican presidential nominee said on Monday he "brilliantly used" US tax rules to his advantage in trying to limit the amount he paid in taxes, arguing it helped him survive a difficult period in the real estate market.

"I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess ... when few others were able to do what I did," Trump told a crowd in Pueblo, Colorado.

It was Trump's first extended comments since a New York Times report said he had claimed a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns, which experts said might have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for the November 8 election, has seized on the report, arguing the tax records undercut Trump's business acumen.

"What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? This is Trump to a T, he's taken corporate excess and made a business out of it," Clinton told a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday.

Clinton has repeatedly called on Trump to release his full returns, as presidential candidates have done in the past.

Trump was dismissive of the Times' story in his Pueblo remarks, saying the media was "obsessed with an alleged tax filing from the 1990s."

The Trump campaign has not said, however, that the Times' story was inaccurate. Instead, his supporters, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have contended that Trump's aggressive use of provisions under US law to minimize his tax liability was evidence of his "genius" as a businessman and real estate investor.

Trump picked up on that theme on Monday. "I have brilliantly used those laws," he told the crowd in Pueblo.

The flap over Trump's taxes comes during what has been a difficult stretch for the candidate, who faced criticism for his performance in the September 26 debate against Clinton and his subsequent public spat with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll last week showed a majority of Americans felt Clinton won the debate, the first of three scheduled between the candidates..

On Monday, the state of New York ordered Trump's charity, the Trump Foundation, to suspend raising money amid a probe into its activities.
Addressing his first press conference since India contracted for 36 Rafale fighters from France, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Tuesday outlined his vision for how crippling deficiencies in fighter aircraft would be tackled.
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Downtown Flagstaff has two very different courthouses.

The Coconino County Courthouse is a stately brick building at 200 N. San Francisco St. with a big green lawn and iconic clock tower. It is home to the Coconino County Superior and Flagstaff Justice courts, as well as the old Flagstaff jail.

The Flagstaff Municipal Court is located about two blocks away at 15 N. Beaver St. Originally built as a furniture store in the 1930s, the small, stone-facade building is about to be dwarfed by the new Marriott Residence Inn going up just down the street.

The courthouse over there has really outgrown its life expectancy, said Meg Roederer, interim communications manager for the city of Flagstaff.

This Election Day, Flagstaff voters will decide the fate of the small municipal courthouse when they vote yes or no on Proposition 412.

If passed, Prop. 412 will allow the city to issue up to $12 million in general obligation bonds to fund the construction of a new Flagstaff Municipal Court at 211 N. Agassiz St. The new building would replace the old jail, which is empty and not usable due to asbestos and mold, and would be located adjacent to the Coconino County Courthouse.

Our present courthouse is an embarrassment and not functional, said Mayor Jerry Nabours. When I was a practicing attorney, it was deficient and that was years ago. Now, as the mayor, I believe the city has an obligation to provide a reasonable court building.

Flagstaff Municipal Court handles criminal misdemeanors, local code violations, civil traffic violations and some types of civil disputes that take place within Flagstaff city limits. Its 11 judges and 25 staff members serve more than 1,100 people every week.

The court moved into its current home on North Beaver Street in 1985 but shared space with other city offices until 1996. Flagstaff Municipal Court Administrator Don Jacobson said city staff knew it would eventually need a better facility.

The list of the courthouses deficiencies is long.

For one thing, it is located in a floodplain. Every monsoon season, court staff has to stack sandbags along the sidewalk in front of the building.

Every time a car drives by, it creates a little wake and that goes right in our front door, said Jessica Cortes, the deputy court administrator for Flagstaff Municipal Court. Weve had extensive flooding in the past and we still have quite a bit of flooding even with the sandbags.

After 2010 flooding, all the carpets had to go, exposing of the floors as just painted concrete. Frequent flooding has meant mold. Once, workers had to cut off 10 inches of drywall to get rid of the problem. Due to the age of the building, there are still parts of the building that have asbestos in the walls and ceiling tiles. Patched holes are visible in most rooms and a crack runs along the top of the second floor wall.

The other big problem is space.

The Flagstaff Municipal Court served 60,000 people in 2015. There is one tiny secured interview area, a small conference room where attorneys can talk to their clients and three small courtrooms that can hold maybe 40 people.

We pack 'em in, Jacobson said. We actually had one instance where we had to shut things down because we were over capacity. We had to kick some people out of the building. Its often the case where people are actually standing out in the hallway waiting to get in.

There is no secure entryway or holding area to bring in defendants who are in police custody. Judges, victims, witnesses and defendants all end up in the same public areas.

The plans for the proposed courthouse would include secure holding areas, jury rooms, attorney conference rooms, up to six courtrooms and larger public areas, and would house the Flagstaff City Attorney's Prosecution Division.

The city first asked voters to approve a $23 million bond in 2010, when the Great Recession was still in full swing. That proposition failed.

It was a bad time to ask for this, Jacobson said. It was a bad time to ask for anything.

But he said the city has addressed many of the public concerns that doomed that effort. For one, Prop. 412 is asking for permission to issue $12 million in bonds  about half what it asked in 2010. Back then, Jacobson said, the city had not identified a specific site for the new courthouse, either.

This time, the plan is for Flagstaff to partner with Coconino County for a roughly $40 million project that would bring improvements to the countys existing courthouse on North San Francisco Street and would preserve the small, historic part of the old jail. The citys commitment to the project would be $21.5 million.

The $12 million is only what we have to borrow to build our portion, Jacobson said. The rest of the money is already set aside. Were just short that $12 million. Thats all were asking for to fill that gap and get this project moving.

If Prop. 412 passes, the city would sell the bonds over the next two years and would have 25 years to pay them back. The interest is projected to be about $5 million, bringing the total amount to approximately $17 million.

According to the election materials, the city will use accumulated reserves of past secondary property tax collections to prevent the bonds from increasing the tax rate from about 84 cents per $100 of net assessed limited property valuation.

The tax impact over the term of the bonds on a home valued at $250,000 is estimated to be $30 per year for 19 years, or $570 total. The tax impact on commercial property valued at $1 million is estimated to be $214 per year for 19 years, or $4,066 total.

The city also hopes to use funds from the sale of the existing municipal courthouse.

To sweeten the deal for tax payers, the Prop. 412 plan would include the addition of at least 200 parking spaces for the courts. Currently, the Flagstaff Municipal Court has 21 public parking spaces and the Coconino County courthouse has no public parking.

If the bonds are approved, the project would likely be completed within three to five years.

Former Coconino County Superior Court Judge H. Jeffrey Coker, Coconino County Supervisor Liz Archuleta and Coconino County Supervisor Matt Ryan have filed arguments for Prop. 412. So far, no arguments have been filed against it.

More information about Prop. 412 can be found at www.flagstaff.az.gov/prop412.
Malaysian low-cost airline group AirAsia on Monday announced discounted fares across flights, including those operated by its subsidiary AirAsia India, till April next year.

The bookings for availing the discounts can be made between October 3 and October 16, 2016, AirAsia said in a release.

The airline's year-end sale has fares starting from Rs 999 inclusive of all taxes for a one-way journey to domestic destinations such as Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Guwahati, Jaipur, Pune, Imphal among other destinations connected by AirAsia India, it said.

Passengers can also book tickets to international destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Singapore, Bali, Phuket, Melbourne, Sydney, among others, for fares as low as low as Rs 3,599, it added. According to the airline, the booking period stands from October 3 to October 16 for travel between October 4, 2016 and April 27, 2017.

The Benagaluru-based budget airline AirAsia India is run jointly by AirAsia and Tata Sons. AirAsia India currently flies to 11 destinations with its two hubs in Bengaluru and New Delhi, covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Vizag, Kochi and Hyderabad. To help our guests plan their getaway, we are giving them the best possible deals so they can kick back and relax at various popular holiday destinations that we fly to, chief executive officer, AirAsia India, Amar Abrol said. The airline has also extended the travel period well into 2017 in case its guests prefer to take advantage of the offer during the start-of-year festive period, he said.

In association with Mail Today Bureau


As the top E-commerce unicorns battle it out for a greater market share, purchases on their websites continued at a frenzied pace with Amazon saying it was "midway through the sale, yet #GreatIndianFestival witnesses no slowdown.''

The company said it was the biggest day ever for mobiles as it received orders from 272 new pincodes.

The Indian arm of the US retail giant said Amazon App saw a 5X growth in new users and 7X growth in app adoption. Mobile sales gained traction and established itself as the biggest day for the category in Amazon.in history. The company claimed it had witnessed 1.2x growth as compared to Day 1 on October 1. Amazon had started its sale a day earlier than Flipkart and Snapdeal.

Amazon said the first 3 days sales were comparable to an entire month's sale. Among the mobile handsets sold Lenovo, Moto, Xiaomi, Samsung and OP were the popular brands, it disclosed.

The Consumer Electronics categories were reported to have grown at 20x with TV exclusive brands witnessing a trajectory of 50x.

Amazon Fashion continued its stellar performance into the third day with top brands such as Ziyaa (women's fashion apparel) witnessing a 44X growth, American Tourister growing at 32X, Raymond at 23X, Hush Puppies at 19X and Crocs 16X, the company claimed.

Furniture was another category that performed very well on Day 3 with a 12X jump. Imported beds and Italian design sofas were the top sellers.

SNAPDEAL

Arch rival Snapdeal on Monday said the company witnessed a nine-fold increase in sales volume during the Unbox Diwali discount offer, with 37 sellers on its platform crossing Rs 1-crore turnover mark each on the first day itself. As sales volumes surged nearly 9x of average daily sales, Snapdeal witnessed more than 80 per cent of orders coming from its mobile platforms.

Snapdeal said attractive discounts on footwear were available from multiple fashion brands and more than 1,00,000 pairs of footwear were sold on Day 1 of the sale.

With a surge in demand for home appliances bought during the day, the products to be shipped from Day 1 of sales itself weighed nearly 3,000 tonnes, enough to fill 20 A380 jumbo jets carrying only cargo, Snapdeal said in a statement.

IT claimed mobile phones Redmi Note 3, iPhone 6s, iPhone 5s, Mi Max, LeEco Le Max 2 were the top-selling phones, followed closely by Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro and Samsung Galaxy J3S with bike mode. In addition, Voltas 1.2-tonne split air-conditioners, Dell and Acer laptops, Canon and Nikon cameras, kitchen appliances, including juicer mixer grinders and pressure cookers, were other popular products that sold throughout the day.

Snapdeal shared the list of some products, including JBL SB350 Soundbar, iPhone 6s (16GB), Samsung Galaxy J3, Blue Star 1.5-tonne 3-star split air conditioner, Acer Windows 10 Touch Screen 2-in-1 laptop on which it claimed that there were attractive offers on second day of the sales.

FLIPKART

Flipkart claims to have sold over half a million products within one hour on Day 1 of the sale. Flipkart has dedicated the first three days of the sale to individual categories and the last two days will have everything on sale. For example, Day 1 was dedicated to Fashion, Hone, TV and Appliances. Day 2 and Day 3 will see Mobiles and Accessories and Electronics going on sale respectively.

Flipkart is offering good deals on smartphones and gadgets. Some are even exclusive to the site. For example,Apple iPhone 6s , iPhone 6 and Apple Watch seem to be cheapest on Flipkart right now. Then there's Samsung Galaxy On8 and Nextbit Robin smartphone, which can be bought at cheaper prices on Flipkart. Apple iPhone 6 (16GB) gets a discount of 18 per cent and is available at Rs 29,990 on Flipkart. There's also an exchange discount offer of up to Rs 17,000 on iPhone 6. However, the silver colour variant of iPhone 6 was reported to be out of stock.

In association with Mail Today Bureau
The authorisation process for financial services firms wanting to set up in Ireland following Britain's vote to leave the European Union cannot be short circuited, a Central Bank Official said on Monday.

The Irish government has called Britain's EU exit plans the greatest foreign policy challenge in decades but the potential to draw business away from the City of London could offset some of the economic damage.

Officials have said there has been a jump in enquiries from firms in London about opening offices in Dublin due to fears they will lose access to the EU's "passporting" arrangement that allows them to sell products throughout the bloc.

"Following the UK referendum, there is the potential for a material increase in the number of applications for authorisation by the Central Bank," Gerry Cross, Director of Policy and Risk at the bank, said in a speech.

"We stand ready to do our job; we are open for engagement. We will do so on the basis of an active, open stance, ready to engage, but in line with our duty to protect consumers, and in keeping with international standards," Cross said.

Dublin is one of a handful of European cities competing for potential investment after the Brexit vote. French regulators offered last week to speed up the registration of firms leaving London by handling their files in English.

Cross said the Irish central bank would want to be satisfied that the business, or line of business, of the firm seeking to move would be run from Ireland and that, in general, would mean the board and management were located in the country.

The bank's plans for 2017 reflected the need to increase its supervisory staff, Cross said, but it faced significant competition for skilled resources that could become even tougher if a new wave of financial services firms entered the country.

He rejected the idea applications could be fast-tracked just because a firm had already been licensed by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

"This is not a process that can be short circuited simply because the entity may previously have been authorised elsewhere," Cross said.

"All this being said, a group with an entity that has been authorised and is currently supervised by the FCA/PRA and/or that has had model approval, should be in a position to quite quickly get a complete application together." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
Digital transformation and the increasing application of digital technologies is of growing importance to Irish businesses according to new research conducted by Fujitsu Ireland and TechPro Magazine.



The research of 150 IT professionals also showed that the top three security concerns facing IT professionals is data loss (72%), crypto-attack (64%) and malware (61%). Nearly a third of those surveyed (31%) also listed inadvertent staff errors as an ongoing concern.



Furthermore, the rise of employee mobility and the issue of work life balance also featured in the research with the majority of respondents reporting that over a third of their workforce now require mobile access to work systems on two or more devices.

Security and device management (74%) were identified as the main challenges facing IT professionals when introducing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model to an organisation or business.



CEO Fujitsu Ireland, Tony OMalley commented, "Digital transformation means different things to different people but fundamentally it looks to integrate new front end experiences of technology users with the necessary processes and information at a core level. IT professionals play a pivotal role within this process as their work affects all areas and levels of an organisation."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Monday he brilliantly used" U.S. tax rules to his advantage in trying to limit the amount he paid in taxes, arguing it helped him survive a difficult period in the real estate market.

"I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess ... when few others were able to do what I did," Trump told a crowd in Pueblo, Colorado.

It was Trump's first extended comments since a New York Times report said he had claimed a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns, which experts said might have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 8 election, has seized on the report, arguing the tax records undercut Trump's business acumen.

What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? This is Trump to a T, hes taken corporate excess and made a business out of it, Clinton told a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday.

Clinton has repeatedly called on Trump to release his full returns, as presidential candidates have done in the past.

Trump was dismissive of the Times' story in his Pueblo remarks, saying the media was "obsessed with an alleged tax filing from the 1990s."

The Trump campaign has not said, however, that the Times story was inaccurate. Instead, his supporters, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have contended that Trumps aggressive use of provisions under U.S. law to minimize his tax liability was evidence of his genius as a businessman and real estate investor.

Trump picked up on that theme on Monday. I have brilliantly used those laws," he told the crowd in Pueblo.

The flap over Trump's taxes comes during what has been a difficult stretch for the candidate, who faced criticism for his performance in the Sept. 26 debate against Clinton and his subsequent public spat with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll last week showed a majority of Americans felt Clinton won the debate, the first of three scheduled between the candidates..

On Monday, the state of New York ordered Trump's charity, the Trump Foundation, to suspend raising money amid a probe into its activities. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie


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Fifteen Bronx residents were among 25 people indicted Friday in Bronx Supreme Court as part of a wide-reaching heroin trafficking operation through New York and Massachusetts from Mexico.

NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the arrests Friday morning at a press conference in Manhattan, joined by law enforcement officials from New York, Massachusetts and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Our message to dealers and traffickers is simple: we will not tolerate anyone smuggling death into our state, Schneiderman said.

The multi-agency investigation, Operation Dirty Dope, led to the arrest of Bronx residents Argenis Grullon; Reymon Rivera Ortiz; Francisco Martinez Reyes; Edwin Nunez Sierra; Manuel Castillano; Manuel Amparo; Tomas Salinas; Hector Diaz; Gisette Hernandez; Yeimy Matias; Fernando Suero; Juan Miguel Marte Javier; Carlos Alberto Borges Perez; Jose R. Rodriquez and Luis Martinez.

Also arrested were three Suffolk County residents  Luis Aude-Mora, Oscarhyl Martinez Aude, Manuel Torres, Amauris Sanchez  as well as residents of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Arizona.

Schneiderman said suspects arrested showed total disregard for their customers, cutting their products with chemicals including chicken anesthetic, Novocain, acetone, nail polish remover and even roach killer to increase product and profit.

They used customers as guinea pigs to test their product to see which were too deadly to mass produce, he added.

They knew they were dealing in death  they were proud of it, Schneiderman said.

Also confiscated were 300 grams of cocaine, two semi-automatic weapon and eight vehicles, four of which contain sophisticated concealed compartments, or traps, designed for the purpose of smuggling drugs that could only be opened using special remotes.

Confiscated during the investigation, which used confidential informants, wiretaps, and physical and video surveillance, were 33 kilos of heroin and 2 kilos of another powerful opioid, Fentanyl, together worth a total street value of more than $13 million, according to Schneidermans office.

The AG thanked the members of the 52nd Precinct, who he said played a vital role in the investigation.

NYPD officials declined to comment in the investigation since Schneidermans office was lead agency.

Councilman Fernando Cabrera praised the arrests.

I am encouraged by the work of the Bronx District Attorney, the NYPD 52nd Precinct and the community organizations and leaders who toil daily against this challenge, he said. We will continue to work together to build a safe, healthy community.

Cabrera also said he would continue to try to fight the scourge of drugs in the community.

This year I have provided funds for additional security cameras throughout Council District 14 and $4.6 million dollars for youth, education, violence and gang prevention, and parks and recreation services. Our youth must see options and opportunities that lead to a bright future.

The drug shipments went from Mexico to Tuscon, AZ, where it was tranported to the Bronx and then north to central Massachusetts, where opioid abuse has reached epidemic levels

Those charged as major traffickers could face life in prison if convicted, while others could face 8 to 25 years, according to Schneiderman.
WASHINGTON  Arizona lawmakers are expressing concern over the questionable record the newly appointed director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System racked up in her previous VA positions.

In separate letters Friday to President Barack Obama and VA Secretary Robert McDonald, the states senators and four of the states House members raised questions about RimaAnn Nelsons tenure at the St. Louis VA hospital, where an inspector generals report looked into charges dental equipment was not properly sterilized.

To think that Ms. Nelson, with her less-than-impressive past, is the best possible candidate to provide crucial leadership for the facility equated to ground zero of the VA scandal is unequivocally offensive to us and each of the veterans we represent, said the letter from Reps. Matt Salmon, R-Mesa, Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Flagstaff, and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix.

Their letter to Obama called on him to direct McDonald to delay Nelsons appointment.

VA officials in Phoenix would not comment on the dispute, and officials in Washington only provided a statement from earlier last week indicating that Nelson was scheduled to start this week.

In that statement, VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson said he is confident Nelson will provide the sound leadership required to continue to build upon the progress we have made at the Phoenix facility, where problems in patient care uncovered in 2014 led to discovery of problems systemwide.

The VA announced last week that Nelson would take over as director of Phoenix facility and Dr. Maureen McCarthy would be the new chief of staff. But lawmakers were most interested in Nelson, who most recently served as director of the VA Regional office in Manila, Philippines, after leaving the St. Louis facility.

It was at St. Louis in 2011 that the inspector general investigated reports of unsafe and unsanitary conditions in dental care that potentially infected over 1,800 veterans with HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, according to the House members letter.

That report found longstanding problems with the processing of dental equipment at the facility. Even though the chances of patient-to-patient transmission of a blood-borne infectious disease  was unlikely, the facility acted correctly when it notified 1,812 patients who were treated between February 2009 and March 2010, the report said.

In their letter to McDonald, Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain said they had questions about how Nelsons history qualified her to be director of the Phoenix system, with specific questions about Ms. Nelsons leadership during her time at the St. Louis VA Medical Center. They followed with seven questions on her history, her handling of whistleblowers in St. Louis and the support she would get from the department to ensure that the Phoenix VA Health Care System accomplishes its mission.

Sinema said Monday that lawmakers had not received a response from the VA or the White House to their letters. She said she signed the letter with the other House members in large part because she was frustrated that the VA was making a permanent appointment without us having an opportunity to meet this person and to discuss the concerns that she had in her past.

Unlike with Nelsons appointment, Sinema said the department had reached out to the Arizona delegation before appointing the former Phoenix VA Director Deborah Amdur.

I got to learn all about her history and talk to her about her history before she was actually appointed, Sinema said of Amdur. And in my interview with her and by reviewing her history, I became comfortable with her appointment.

We were not afforded that same courtesy in this appointment, and I think thats a mistake, Sinema said.

Despite lawmakers concerns, however, an official with at least one Arizona veterans organization said he hopes Nelson can do something positive for the Phoenix facility, which serves 85,000 veterans in the region.

Those of us who are veterans and are under the care of the veterans administration  were hopeful that this person is going to be able to do the job that she was assigned to do, said Ken Marshall, senior vice commander of Arizonas Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Marshall said he does not know how many of the lawmakers are under the care of the Veterans Administration, but that its too early to criticize Nelson, who just started in Phoenix.

Theres no way that she can be successful at all if everybody jumps on the negative bandwagon, before she even gets here, he said.
On September 5, Georgias Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, along with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Dondua, paid a one-day visit to Yerevan. Kvirikashvili has previously visited Armenia as Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, however this was his first official visit after he became Prime Minister in December 2015. The visit came nearly a month before parliamentary elections in Georgia, which are set for October 8. Less than one week before, Kvirikashvili made a similar visit to Azerbaijan. During both visits, the Georgian delegation was composed of exactly the same level of representatives, although another deputy foreign minister was present in Azerbaijan  indicating the importance that Georgian authorities attach to demonstrating a balanced policy towards its two neighbor states.

In Yerevan, Kvirikashvili met with his counterpart, Hovik Abrahamyan, and Armenias President Serzh Sargsyan. The prime ministers discussed issues pertaining to Armenian-Georgian cooperation in trade, energy, transport, tourism and education. Armenias Prime Minister stated appreciation for Georgias role in bilateral relations and in the context of regional security. Abrahamyan suggested the establishment of joint companies in Armenia in order to facilitate the activity of Georgian companies in the market of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Kvirikashvili welcomed the proposal, actually suggesting Georgian access to the EAEU via Armenia, and offered to discuss it later within the working group. The prime ministers discussed progress in constructing the Bridge of Friendship on the interstate border, which aims to facilitate border crossing and creating more favorable conditions for bilateral trade.

The parties welcomed the progress made under the newly initiated regional electricity project, which was launched in December 2015 by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran. In this context, they also discussed the construction of a new electricity transmission line, which will boost bilateral cooperation in the energy field. Energy cooperation was also discussed separately, during Energy Minister Kaladzes meeting with Armenias Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Levon Yolyan.

Kvirikashvili also discussed the bilateral agenda with President Sargsyan. Both emphasized that Armenia and Georgia have enjoyed brotherly relations stretching back for centuries. Sargsyan stated that the current high level of the political dialogue between the two countries allows to further deepen the bilateral relations in all areas, taking them to a qualitatively new level. In turn, Kvirikashvili emphasized that the two states have an excellent base for full utilization of the existing great potential.

The Georgian visit was preceded by rumors of an alleged meeting between Sargsyan and representatives of Abkhazian delegation in Nagorno-Karabakh in early September. However, Armenias Ambassador to Georgia, Yuri Vardanyan, declared that such statements do not correspond to reality, whereas Georgias Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gigi Gigiadze said that it was a political speculation common to representatives of the occupation regime [of Abkhazia]. Similarly, Kvirikashvili stated that Armenia has always been and still remains a strong supporter of Georgias territorial integrity, its position in this view remains unaltered and the rest is solely political speculations. Armenias support for Georgias territorial integrity was reaffirmed during a meeting between Edward Nalbandian and Mikheil Janelidze, Armenias and Georgias Foreign Ministers, on September 3 in Bratislava within the framework of the informal meeting of EU-Eastern Partnership Foreign Ministers.

The visit of Georgias Prime Minister to Armenia and the discussion on a wide range of issues on the bilateral agenda showed that Georgia and Armenia successfully deepen their relations in areas of common interest. As Georgias former Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili noticed when commenting on the results of the visit, despite the many difficulties that the two nations faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia and Armenia have successfully pursued exemplary bilateral relations.

Image attribution: www.president.am, accessed on October 3, 2016
Was Hungary's referendum a victory or defeat for Orban?

Published on October 4, 2016

Story by euro topics Translation by: euro topics

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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban described this weekend's referendum on EU refugee quotas an "overwhelming victory" despite low voter turnout. 98% voted against the quota system, but only 44% of the electorate bothered to show up: less than the 50% turnout needed for the vote to be considered valid.

PM still firmly in the saddle - Pravo, Czech Republic

Orban can be satisfied even though he fell short of the quorum for a valid vote, Pravo explains: "Orban believes the time is ripe to change the constitution and give Brussels the finger. Meanwhile the Hungarian opposition won't be deprived of its victory, seconded by Brussels, where there is talk of the glorious victory of 'passive resistance' against Orban... Even if the prime minister didn't obtain a majority - if he retains the support of three-quarters of those who voted for him now he needn't worry about the next elections. Moreover his minority in the referendum was a lot larger than the 'majority' that elected the Hungarian MEPs. And the number of voters who cast their ballot against the quotas was higher than those who voted for Hungary to join the EU 13 years ago." (04/10/2016)

Orban's seeds have borne fruit - Der Standard, Austria

Orban may have failed with his refugee referendum, but Der Standard concludes that he has left his unmistakable mark on EU refugee policy over the last year: "Even back then the Hungarian prime minister was the first to vehemently insist on stringent 'defence measures' on the EU's outer border with Serbia; the first to announce without any beating around the bush that he would build a high fence to stop the refugees on the Balkan route... The seeds Viktor Orban has sown and which aim to fend off foreigners rather than integrate them have borne fruit. He has put his stamp on everything. Without doubt the referendum is a domestic defeat for him. But make no mistake about it, now and for the time being EU policy is aimed at keeping migrants away, not taking them in - to the detriment of refugees." (04/10/2016)

Hungarians see through propaganda - Novi list, Croatia

Novi list comments that Orban's paranoid propaganda over refugees seems to have reached its limits: "Clearly a majority of Hungary's 8.3 million voters did not succumb to the Gobbels-like propaganda. Because the 2,000 refugees that Hungary would have to take in according to the agreed EU quotas would have a hard time competing for any desirable job. Maybe some reasonable Hungarians also asked themselves why Orban has wasted 40 million euros on futile messages and a referendum that will have no legal ramifications in any event. This money could have paid for the creation of a sufficient number of new jobs both for the refugees and for those who fear they'll lose their jobs to the refugees." (03/10/2016)

Hatred won't just go away - Mandiner, Hungary

Mandiner fears that the hatred whipped up by the Hungarian government won't go away after the referendum: "A mood of doom and gloom prevails among broad swathes of the population. Many people really did believe that the fate of the country - and of Europe, even - depended on the referendum... The government incited a huge amount of anger among the people, and that does not bode well for the country... Unfortunately we must conclude that this agitation against the 'migrants' has only reached a temporary high point. For years now foreigners living in Hungary have faced the hatred of mainstream society, to say nothing of the omnipresent hatred of the Roma... It is out of the question that the cumulated hatred of recent weeks will simply dissipate after the referendum." (02/10/2016)

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30 Countries, 300 Media Outlets, one press review. euro|topics presents the issues affecting Europe and reflects the continent's diverse opinions, ideas and moods.

Story by euro topics

Translated from Ungarn: Fluchtlingsparanoia hat Grenzen
The day I understood the addictive nature of protesting

Published on October 4, 2016

Story by Lara Bullens

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All across Europe, dissatisfied citizens are taking to the streets in greater and greater numbers, protesting everything from Brexit to Poland's new abortion laws to the loi travail in France. I joined a march in Paris to find out what keeps die-hard protestors diving back into the tear gas and riot cops.

Walking towards a mass of thousands of people, most of whom have disguised their identity with swimming goggles and scarves wrapped around their faces, would make any newcomer to the Parisian protests feel a tug of hesitation. Nonetheless, I joined the most recent demonstration over the controversial loi travail as an observer, trying to understand the phenomenon that had been blowing up my news feed over the last few months.

Advancing slowly to join the crowd, its striking to see how diverse the protestors are. People of all ages and all social strata unified, supposedly, to contend the labour reforms. But the diversity suddenly became blurred the closer I got to the heart of the protest. Women, children and trapped tourists were quickly outnumbered by die-hard protestors and the omnipresent mass of armed police. Banners disappeared, and I was lost in a sea of teargas, goggles, shouting, and sudden bursts of rushing protestors.

Attempts to lump all protestors in France into one of two categories - the die-hard casseurs or black bloc and the pacifists - make it easy to lose sight of individuals' motivations for protesting. However, being immersed in a setting of constant opposition, I felt as though something much deeper was at play. It dawned on me when I heard a passerby yell: "quand la manif vient a toi, tu ne peux pas la refuser!" ("when the protest calls you, you cant refuse!").

Rather than trying to separate the overzealous protestors from the pacifists and shifting the debate to themes of violence, it is important to reach below the surface and ask ourselves why people are taking part in these protests. The words shouted by my gallant passerby made it apparent that there was an aspect of temptation, a difficulty to say no to a protest. Regardless of his potential grievances, he was there to be part of something bigger. Can protesting become an addictive experience? If so, where is the kick?

The beginnings of an adrenaline habit

Surely there are historical routines that are at play here. The act of protesting has been a cultural heritage here in France ever since the Revolution. Notice how protests also naturally gravitate towards the Place de la Republique if that isnt a sign of eternal recurrence, then I dont know what is. But however these outbursts progress and develop over time, whatever the cause, there are underlying motivations that fuel a kind of obsession with protesting.

Naturally, there is an adrenaline rush that comes with protesting. I would be lying if I said I was unaware of my own heart pounding in my ears I approached the cortege. Immersing ourselves in something chaotic that can quickly turn violent and dangerous is, to an extent, comparable to surfing big waves or skydiving. Although the sensation is self-induced, it feeds off of our innate "fight or flight" instincts and has the ability to make us all adrenaline junkies.

Running to find shelter in the entrance of a shuttered pharmacy on the Boulevard du Temple, a protestor asked me whether I was there as an observer or a participant. I mentioned that I was just observing, and his eyes widened as he warned me - in an almost patronising tone - that I should leave within the next half hour, as things "tend to get violent". I smiled, but toyed with the idea of leaving. And I did shortly after, but only to go home, drop off my computer, and buy some beers. On my way back to the protest, I crossed my usual friendly neighbours playing petanque next to the Buttes Chaumont park. "What a divide," I thought to myself, and waltzed back into the verve of police clashes, the loud banging of tear gas canisters, and the swarm of people.

On a much lighter note, this temptation to protest can manifest itself into something quite remarkable as well. Again and again I saw the strength of compassion between protestors, passing each other saline solutions to help soothe the effects of teargas, or warning one another when things got too heated. Perhaps taking the time to be passionate with those around us is not a significant part of our everyday lives. During a protest, however, there is a powerful sense of community that outweighs the differences that may separate us from each other in our daily routines. Moments like these can be a lure to find communitas in an age where we can so easily dislocate ourselves from our surroundings. Although I was warned to be cautious of how quickly protests can escalate, and my reaction was to seek the borders of danger because I was so pumped with adrenaline, the fact that someone was looking out for me "just because" was quite remarkable.

"We take to the streets to be seen"

It was also striking to see the medias involvement. It was difficult to distinguish some journalists from other protestors, but my instinct told me that the people with monstrous cameras and microphones were there to report. What I found was that many of those armed with gear would gravitate towards areas of friction, where the crowd is denser and the police more numerous. Like Narcissus, but drawn to my 'badassery' rather than my looks, the cameras and media coverage made my involvement in the protest feel important. We protest to fight for a cause, but deep down, we take to the streets to be seen.

When the clashes settled down, and the CRS police in their Ninja Turtle uniforms had broken up the main body of protestors, I decided to make my retreat. I suddenly felt intensely out of place, being told to move along. My role as an observer in the theatre of protest had ended. Sitting by the Canal St Martin, where many other protestors were buzzing about events of the day, discussing whether they thought the protest was a success whilst others were recounting their personal experiences, I tried to gather my thoughts.

The whole experience was a sensory overload. What we forget when seeing a protest from our screens is that we are only digesting the visual dimension. We dont experience the smells, the noise of tear gas canisters exploding, the sensation of that smoke stinging your eyes, the effervescence of the people around us. The 15 September protest on the loi travail was my first real experience of a protest. It wont be my last.

Story by Lara Bullens English editor at Cafebabel and freelance journalist. Paris, France
The following editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday, Sept. 30:

President Barack Obamas decision to put 615 more American troops into the Iraq war, announced Wednesday, is curiously at odds with the peace-builder legacy that he would seem to be working on with his trip to Israel to attend the funeral of Israeli peace-seeker and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres.

The argument for the move, to beef up the fight against the Islamic State, bringing the U.S. troop level in Iraq to 5,180 in the face of Obamas long-ago campaign pledge to end the Iraq war, is weak. The United States already has underway military involvement not only in the 13-year-plus Iraq conflict, but also in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen with little effect. Why raise the level of exposure of U.S. troops in the region further now?

The second argument for increasing U.S. involvement in the Iraq conflict at this point is to raise prospects of fulfilling the boast of U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on Sept. 8 that Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, both Islamic State strongholds, would fall to U.S.-led forces within months.

That is to say, before the U.S. presidential elections. In other words, the fall of Mosul and Raqqa would add to Obamas credentials as a forceful military leader before he left office.

There are some strong arguments against increasing U.S. troop involvement in Iraq at this point. The first is that the Iraqi national army, which U.S. forces are supplying and training, continues to show itself relatively toothless on the battlefield  meaning that U.S. forces will play a prominent role in whatever assault on Mosul occurs. Washington has yet to explain coherently why Americans should care one way or the other who holds Mosul, or Raqqa, for that matter. The argument that taking Mosul would validate continued U.S. support of the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the policy of building it a credible national army has a vaguely dog-chasing-its-tail quality to it. If Abadis government had the general support of the Iraqi people, they would put in the field a credible national army on their own account, and his government would not need more American troops to fight its battles.

Obamas decision to increase U.S. forces in Iraq at this point seems wrong, and may become even more costly when an offensive to take Mosul begins.

Mars, humanity and Elon Musk

The following editorial appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune on Thursday, Sept. 29:

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk used a speech Tuesday at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, to outline how he thinks Mars can be colonized in coming decades. Instead of snickers, Musks vision of humans as a multi-planet species has been met more by warnings about the challenges that lie ahead and by applause for having the courage to think big.

Musk hopes to use massive reusable rockets, engine and fuel technologies that have yet to be invented, and 1,000 spaceships to send enough humans to Mars that eventually there could be a colony of 1 million. He is planning an unmanned mission to Mars in 2018 and thinks SpaceX could take humans there as soon as 2025.

The audacity of his vision is breathtaking  and welcome. Life needs to be more than just solving problems every day. You need to wake up and be excited about the future, and be inspired, and want to live, Musk said in his speech.

Amen. Life in the 21st century increasingly has the promise of century-old John Carter science fiction serials. For all of our personal and planetary concerns, this is a very cool time to be alive.

Stop and frisk is a police tactic nobody needs

The following editorial appeared in Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Thursday, Sept. 29:

Many controversial exchanges marked Monday nights presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, including one on the always-popular topic of law and order.

The two candidates differed on the police tactic widely known as stop and frisk.

Stop and frisk has been used in several large cities, but it achieved wide notoriety in New York before it was discontinued there in 2014.

If the idea is to revive it now and spread it to other cities lets get this straight: Its not needed, and there are better ways to fight crime.

Police would stop and question people who they thought might have committed or might be about to commit a crime. If they felt it necessary, they would frisk those people in search of guns or contraband.

Trump says stop and frisk worked very well in New York. At the policys peak in 2011, police made more than 685,000 stops. More than 90 percent of the people stopped were black or Hispanic, clearly showing an uneven application of the law.

Trump cites as a major benefit that you take the gun away. But the American Civil Liberties Union, after examining police data, says guns were found in only 0.1 percent of the more than 532,000 stops in 2012.

In 2013, a federal judge declared stop and frisk unconstitutional as it was applied in New York, but the case was not yet concluded when New York abandoned the policy.

Crime fell in New York while stop and frisk was in use, but it also fell in other cities where the tactic was not used. And crucially, it continued to decline after stop and frisk was abandoned.

Migration, Brexit and US vote stymie stability

The following editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday, Sept. 27:

September has revealed in Europe at least three phenomena that are evidence of serious, if not tectonic, tremors in its overall stability.

The first and most important of these is that efforts to deal with the ongoing crisis created by migration have worked only middling well. Wars to the east of Europe, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, continue to produce a flood of migrants westward into Europe that an agreement with Turkey has been only partly effective in containing. The United States as well as the United Kingdom and France continue to contribute to the continuation of the wars that put migrants on the run.

In addition, the impact of efforts to stem migration from the east into Europe has been undercut significantly by an increased flow of migrants across the Mediterranean from the south, including from Libya and Somalia, where war also continues to stimulate flight.

Another impact of the continuing migration problem, reinforced by the British position on leaving the European Union voted for June 23, is that the EU has divided on the migration issue, summed up in a Bratislava vs. Brussels lineup, with the richer countries led by Germany accepting responsibility for dealing with migration, while the smaller Eastern European countries want simply to lock the door against migrants, from the east and the south.

This political position is gauged to have lain behind the poor performance of the Christian Democratic Party of Germanys chancellor Angela Merkel in recent state elections. Germany took in 1.1 million migrants last year and the generally popular Merkel appears to be paying a price.

The current ambivalent position of the United Kingdom, having voted to leave the EU but now, under new Prime Minister Theresa May showing no signs of urgency in acting to actually walk out the door, is also leaving Europe in a stew. The British appear to want to preserve access to the single EU market, while avoiding the bonds of a common immigration policy.

The final stimulant of considerable confusion on that side of the Atlantic is the American election situation. The outcome, they imagine, will make a difference to them in terms of U.S. relations with Europe in the fields of defense, trade, climate change and future coordination in many fields. They  as many Americans  remain mystified and to a degree stoic in the face of what is going on here in that area.
GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES

Workers from the Production Resource Group prepare the entrance for the MAC Selena makeup collection Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi.

Selena continues to astound us.

More than 20 years after her death, Selena Quintanilla Perez  or just "Selena"  has again displayed the strength of the magnetism that continues to pull thousands to her.

The latest evidence of that power to attract was on display this past weekend. Thousands of fans and devotees of the late Tejano music star lined up for blocks, many beginning their vigil in the wee dawn hours, for the debut of a new line of cosmetics carrying the "Selena" name.

This power that the Selena name carries is amazing. It is, in some sense, hard to fully explain, as difficult as it is for some of her followers to fully articulate.

Yes, there is the music of the late star, captivating, energetic, full of life and promise, even as we know the tragic end of Selena in 1995 just as she was truly blossoming at age 23.

But there is the life story of Selena, the up-from-the-barrio saga of the little girl with aspirations of being a star even as she danced and sang her way through dozens of quinceaneras, backyard barbecues and birthday parties until she  yes, dreams do come true  emerged as a young star.

It's the kind of story line that demands a musical, perhaps written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Or better yet, let it be an opera because, as in every great opera, there is a tragic death at the end.

At the level of personal career hopes, the story of Selena was yet to be completed when she was murdered. Ahead lay, well, who knows what? Nashville. Hollywood. New York City. She was on the verge of transitioning out of a genre, Tejano music, to full musical stardom.

As the rollout of the cosmetics line by MAC, part of the Estee Lauder fragrance and cosmetics empire, confirmed, the "Selena" name has become a brand and was a brand even before her death.

Sure, that's part of the reason why thousands of devotees, young women who have grown to adulthood since Selena's death and teens who never saw her alive, lined up at the American Bank Center where they waited for hours at a chance to possess some bit of her magic.

But there is also the dream that Selena's short life encapsulated to so many: that you can come out of the barrios, that you don't have to shed your culture, your family, your roots, to reach for the stars.

That brand can sell cosmetics, but, as she unknowingly came to the end of her life, Selena was already using her brand to promote other values. For one, there was education.

She was part of a stay-in-school campaign, perhaps because her own high school diploma came via correspondence course made her value what an education could mean to the thousands of young Hispanic students who idolized her.

We wonder each election year where the thousands of absent voters are. Many of them were right there outside the American Bank Center this weekend.

If they could be motivated to stand outside the convention center in the darkness of the pre-dawn, to wait for hours at a chance to buy cosmetics, how can they be motivated to go the poll to cast a ballot?

Maybe Selena could have helped if she were alive today. That is also part of the unfulfilled promise.

The event drew visitors to the city, even some from outside the nation, but as members of her family said on Friday, this was first and foremost an event for Selena's hometown.

"We could have done this anywhere," Selena's widower, Chris Perez told the crowd. "We could have done this in New York. We could have done this in Los Angeles. ... But Suzette (Selena's sister) said we have to do this in Corpus Christi."

Selena was Corpus Christi's biggest booster and her name remains for many the city's claim to fame. That's a large reason why the city was flooded with visitors this past October weekend. That's why the Selena statue on the bayfront had an even larger number of visitors. Selena brought them here.

We may poor mouth our town, yearning for it to be Austin, or Dallas or some other metro. But Selena was the city's biggest booster. And still is.

Nick Jimenez has worked as a reporter, city editor and editorial page editor for more than 40 years in Corpus Christi. He is currently the editorial page editor emeritus for the Caller-Times. His commentary column appears on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Contributed photo The Rockin' K Maze will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1-5 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 20 at the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 666 and County Road 52 in Robstown.

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TUESDAY

CORN MAZE: The Rockin' K Maze will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1-5 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 20 at the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 666 and County Road 52 in Robstown. Cost: $10, ages 3-64; $8, seniors 65 and older and military; free, children 2 and younger. Information: rockinkmaze.com.

PUMPKIN PATCH: Grace United Methodist Church, 14521 Northwest Blvd., will host its annual pumpkin patch from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 12:30-8 p.m. Sundays from Oct. 3-31. There also will be story times from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays through Fridays. Cost: Free to attend; pumpkin prices vary on size. Information: 361-933-0109.

PUMPKIN PATCH: Asbury United Methodist Church, 7501 S. Staples St., will host its annual pumpkin patch from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11:30-7 p.m. Sundays from Sept. 30 through Oct. 31 or until sold out. Cost: Free to attend; pumpkin prices vary on size. Information: 361-992-7501, 361-563-5141.

BOOK FAIR: The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Early Childhood Development Center will host its Scholastic Book Fair from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the ECDC, room 210. The ECDC Book Fair is a school fundraiser that promotes literacy by putting as many books into the hands of young readers as possible through book sales and through donations from the "All for Books" literacy campaign Cost: Free. Information: 361-825-2812.

WEDNESDAY

LECTURE: The Aquarium at Rockport Harbor will host its Wednesday Lecture Series at 7 p.m. at the Aquarium Education Center, 706 Navigation Circle. Pam Stranahan will speak on Coastal Bend Archaeology. Information: 361-727-0016.
Lorraine Hendle, divisional managing director at William Reed publishing house is to join the board of GroceryAid trustees.

At William Reed Hendle has responsibility for a portfolio of seven brands, including British Baker. She has been with the company more than 17 years and has led the evolution and development of the retail and manufacturing brands to deliver multi-channel information provision through print, online, mobile and events.

Hendle has worked across a number of B2B markets including manufacturing, chemicals and engineering.

She said: Having worked with GroceryAid for a number of years, I am delighted to be joining the trustees and I look forward to contributing to the continued evolution of the charity.

Hendle will have overall responsibility for the governance of the charity, and will bring her particular skills to help shape future strategy, as well as the way the charity operates on a day-to-day basis.
COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES La Lisa Hernandez along with other members from the domestic violence and sexual assault coalition show their support of a victim by coming to the 347th District Court for a hearing Tuesday during which the woman's attacker petitioned to have his GPS monitor removed. His request was denied.

SHARE COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES State Rep. Abel Herrero attends a hearing Tuesday in 347th District Court during which a man on probation for domestic violence petitioned to have his GPS monitor removed. The man's request was denied. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Missy Medary, 347th District judge, denies a request from a man on probation for domestic violence seeking to have his GPS monitor removed Tuesday.

By Krista M. Torralva of the Caller-Times

A Nueces County judge strongly refused to remove a monitoring device with victim notification from a domestic abuser Tuesday.

Joined in the courtroom by several domestic violence advocates, a woman pleaded with 347th District Judge Missy Medary to mandate Benjamin Smith continue wearing the ankle bracelet.

One of the woman's supporters was State Rep. Abel Herrero, who drafted legislation in 2009 that gave judges more authority to issue the devices. Since 2014, Nueces County judges and District Attorney Mark Skurka pushed for more usage. Skurka secured grants for the county to have more devices that are used when the defendant cannot afford it.

Smith, 46, pleaded guilty earlier last year to a third-degree felony of continuous family violence for five years on probation.

The woman cried and showed the judge the inside of her mouth where teeth are missing from his beatings, she said.

"Please don't take him off the bracelet," she said sobbing.

Medary told Smith she remembers a "horrific" offense report and his behavior in a previous hearing in which he deflected responsibility. This time, Smith admitted to his crime and the judge commended him on his progress in a Batterers Intervention and Prevention Program. Still, she refused his request.

"I think you've made some progress but there is no possible way I'm taking you off (it)," Medary said.

Advocate La Lisa Hernandez organized a group of people who didn't know the woman to support her in court. Hernandez has met the woman at recent domestic violence forums.

"She needed support from our community," Hernandez said. "To know she has people literally standing behind her goes a long way toward helping her heal."

The Caller-Times began the Behind Broken Doors series last year to explore domestic violence, including how law enforcement investigates the attacks, how prosecutors pursue offenders in court, how advocates help victims heal, and what the community must do to reverse the deadly trend.

Twitter: @CallerKMT
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By Raul Altamirano, Raul.Altamirano@caller.com

It was a 'blue letter day' for Texas A&M University-Kingsville as campus faculty, staff, and students gathered at Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Center to celebrate something historic.

A news conference lead by university President Dr. Steven Tallant announced a $16.5 million gift from the Caesar Kleberg Foundation for Wildlife Conservation to fund the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. The gift is the largest donation the university has ever received, according to university officials.

"To be able to create a great facility, you need great faculty and great students," Tallant said. "We have the best wildlife research institute in the country, and it's because we're able to support [faculty and students] through these generous donations."

Recent TAMUK graduate Stephanie Shea says the award will not only benefit the research being conducted at the institute, but will also further its international outreach.

"There's representation from almost every state in the country and this award will ensure that more students are able to come here," she said. "We can really dream big here at this institute and I'm honored to be a part of it."

Stephen J. "Tio" Kleberg, a trustee of the foundation, said the donation honored the dedication of the program's scientists and students. Having helped establish the institute with a grant from the foundation in 1981, Kleberg says it is important to not only do something of importance, but also of significance.

"I say that with a lot of pride because it's something Caesar [Kleberg] would look at and say, 'Job well done.' "

The gift is to be used through 2020 and will be dedicated to the Dr. Fred Bryant General Endowment, for general support of the research institute, as well as to support the Tio and Janell Kleberg Research Park, according to a university news release.

Twitter: @CallerRaul
Associated Press photo Oil workers lower the drill from the Centenario deep-water drilling platform off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 22, 2013.

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By Chris Ramirez of the Caller-Times

A federal grant will come to the aid of thousands of oil and gas workers  many of them in Texas  whose jobs were lost during the energy downturn.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday approved a National Dislocated Worker Grant award with an initial release of $13,293,207  of a total approved amount of $16,309,807  to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The grant is designed to provide re-employment services to workers impacted by the downturn in the oil and gas industry, according to a labor department statement. A glut of crude on the global market has sent oil prices into a tailspin since 2014, resulting in energy firms cutting back on production and mass layoffs.

And that includes the Eagle Ford Shale energy play, which stretches from Laredo to Brazos and Burleson counties, and is estimated to have about 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 3 billion barrels of oil.

Energy analysts estimate more than 350,000 workers worldwide were laid off in the oil and gas industry in the past two years. Roughly 99,000 direct and indirect jobs in Texas were eliminated during that period. Rural areas have especially been feeling the pinch, with unemployment in Brooks, Duval and Jim Wells counties climbing past 11 percent.

Monika de la Garza, a spokeswoman for Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend, said the agency was part of the grant proposal request to the labor department. The agency remains hopeful it will receive the grant amount it submitted  $730,433 over two years. That amount would serve the Coastal Bend's rural counties and affected workers, de la Garza said.

President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act into law July 22, 2014. The law is designed to link job seekers with access to employment, education, training and support services they need to succeed, or sometimes re-enter in the labor market. It also aims to connect employers with skilled workers.

As of last week, there were 245 rigs operating in Texas, compared with roughly 900 two years ago.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude on Tuesday sold for $48, compared with $105 in June 2014.

Twitter: @Caller_ChrisRam
John Moritz/USA Today Austin Bureau State Sen. Juan Hinojosa greets Texas Department of Public Safety Chief Steven McCraw before a Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, hearing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

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By John C. Moritz,, USA Today Network Austin Bureau

AUSTIN  The Texas Department of Public Safety will immediately revamp its citation form to include a section showing citizens how to lodge a complaint against troopers who act rudely or unprofessional, the agency's head told a legislative panel Tuesday.

The announcement from Steve McCraw, who runs the agency that oversees state troopers and Texas Rangers, came during an often emotional hearing before the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee exploring ways to improve relationships between law enforcement agencies and Texas' disparate communities.

"A lot has happened in America, in this state and in our communities in the last year," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who chairs the committee. "We are in an emotionally sensitive time."

Whitmire called the hearing a few days after announcing plans to bring legislation requiring high school students to pass a course on how to react if they are stopped by police. He assembled a panel of law enforcement professionals and leaders in the black community to foster dialogue as a way of easing tension between the two camps.

Several of the community leaders made mention of such high-profile confrontations between law enforcement officers and black Americans, including the arrest that preceded the in-custody suicide of Sandra Bland near Houston last year and the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, a teenager suspected of shoplifting in Ferguson, Missouri.

When the suggestion was raised to make it easier for citizens to lodge complaints when they think law enforcement officers step out of bounds, it was quickly embraced by McCraw.

"The mission of the Texas DPS is not to enforce and serve Texans, it's to protect and serve Texans," he said. "We need to be accountable for every stop we make."

He said he will immediately order that the citation forms troopers issue when motorists are stopped for speeding and other violations will be revamped to include the step-by-step process for raising concerns on the part of the person stopped. He said it will take time to make the transition, but encouraged anyone with a complaint to visit the DPS website and follow the instructions.

Rev. James Nash, who leads a predominantly black church in Houston, said more needs to be done to train law enforcement officers to deal with members of minority communities.

"How do you change the heart of man? Nash asked. He also said, "We need to teach our citizens, kids especially, to respect authority."

Another minister, Bishop James Dixon, said his 9-year-old son told him he is afraid of police officers because of the high-profile incidents captured on video, then shared online and on television.

"I am an endangered species, and so is my 9-year-old son," Dixon said.

State Sen. Juan Hinojosa, a Democrat whose district covers much of the Coastal Bend, said the distrust is not limited to the black community, a sentiment also shared by Sen. Jose Menendez of San Antonio.

"You see it in the Hispanic communities as well," said Hinojosa, who added he plans to co-author the legislation to mandate high school training.

He also echoed a remark by Fort Worth Republican Konni Burton, who said more needs to be done to weed out law enforcement officers who abuse their authority.

"It's pretty darn hard to get rid of these bad apples," Burton said. "We don't want to have bad officers in the ranks."

Whitmire said he plans to call additional hearings on the topic before filing what he called comprehensive legislation next year aimed at strengthening ties between an increasingly diverse Texas and law enforcement. He said he hopes it becomes a model for other states to emulate.

"The nation is begging for it," he said.

Twitter: @JohnnieMo

THE PROCEDURE

Texas DPS 7-step procedure for traffic stops

The steps will be used in this order:

1. Greeting and identification of the agency

2. Statement of violation committed

3. Identification of driver and check of conditions of violator and vehicle

4. Statement of action to be taken

5. Take action stated

6. Explain what violator must do

7. Leave

Source: The Texas Department of Public Safety
While not as scrutinized as the suburban and urban voting blocs, the rural vote is considered a key slice of the Republican base. (Photo: Rodney White/The Des Moines Register)

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By Kevin Hardy, USA TODAY Network

The USA TODAY Network is spending time in eight counties in eight states, exploring the key electoral themes that could decide this falls election. Each week from now until the election, we will feature a different one. The series has so far looked at Waukesha County in Wisconsin, Chester County in Pennsylvania, Wayne County in Michigan and Maricopa County in Arizona. Today: Union County in Iowa.

CRESTON, Iowa  On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Nellie Kretz piddled around her empty shop organizing painting supplies.

Down the street, a clothing store is open, but empty. Same goes for a furniture store. Kretz ticks off the latest losses in Crestons central business district: A bakery closed in November. A department store closed in December. And an antique store called it quits in January.

Our uptown is struggling, she said. You can tell by walking around.

Declining sales at her Old Market Primitives & Antiques store has her rethinking the business. Shes selling off her stock of antiques to focus on evening arts and crafts parties, where small groups paint $30-a-pop decorative wooden door hangers together.

Kretz doesnt entirely blame Washington, D.C., for the state of the local economy in this southwest Iowa community of about 7,800 people. But she suspects the presidential election is spreading uncertainty and fear in an already struggling community.

I dont think the political debate is helping, she said. People just arent spending money.

Nellie Kretz, owner of Old Market Primitives & Antiques in Creston, Iowa, faces declining sales at her store. (Photo: Rodney White/The Register)

Here in Union County, its not hard to find people like Kretz who are weary of the Obama years. She plans to vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in November because she thinks hes better suited to address the needs of the average American than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

While not as scrutinized as the suburban and urban voting blocs, the rural vote is considered a key slice of the Republican base. And it has been reliably conservative in recent presidential elections.

This bloc will be crucial if Trump seeks to stack up electoral votes in swing states like Iowa, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Wisconsin  states where rural dwellers make up a sizable chunk of the electorate (more than 30%).

Its not often pivotal in terms of being the component of the electorate that people go, oh because of that,  said Seth McKee, an associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University who studies rural voting patterns. But if we think about presidential elections and the long-term pattern of where the GOP has been successful, theyve been able to marry the northern rural vote with the southern rural vote.

People here see a link between their own pocketbooks and the nations political leadership. And in a community that few describe as flourishing, many are longing for a change in Washington. A big one.

I think we are ready for change, and I think we need it, said Sharon Hower, a retiree of Crestons Bunn-O-Matic plant. I dont agree with everything Mr. Trump says, but I think he deserves a chance.

Hower, a registered Republican, met on a recent day with other retired women in a downtown coffee shop overlooking the towns historic train station and rail yard. They sipped on steaming cups of coffee and ate thick pieces of peanut butter toast.

I think we are ready for change, and I think we need it, said Sharon Hower, a retiree of Creston, Iowa's Bunn-O-Matic plant. I dont agree with everything Mr. Trump says, but I think he deserves a chance. (Photo: Rodney White, The Des Moines Register)

Talk turned to how the town, like many others, has seen better days. Hower cited problems in the schools, declining population and closing stores as a few problems in Creston.

In general, we just are not what we used to be, she said. Its all trickle down. Its affected everybody.

She doesnt know whether Trump can fix things here. But she knows Clinton cant. She said she was disgusted with the former secretary of State, whom she distrusts.

I dont know what he can do, but Id like to give him a chance to see, Hower said. Because, like I said, were on a downhill slide, and anything he could do would be an improvement.

A tailor-made pitch: Rural Americans yearn for a better time

Such attitudes, experts say, should come as no surprise. Because if people in any place yearn to be made great again, its in rural America.

Clinton has promised to build on the achievements of the Obama era, offering policy recommendations to improve health care, the economy and taxes. Trump, on the other hand, paints a darker picture of a limping nation in need of more radical change.

Thats a message that seems tailor-made for rural America.

In small towns throughout the heartland, people reminisce about better days. Days when downtown storefronts were occupied and humming.

While the rural landscape has been changing for decades, many people sense a fresh set of threats. Facing dwindling dollars and students, community schools continue to close and consolidate. Good-paying manufacturing jobs have vanished amid a wave of globalization and automation.

And rural America has accumulated decades of population loss as the young flee to metropolitan areas. In 1950, 36% of Americans lived in rural areas, according to census figures; by 2000, only 21% of people lived in rural areas.

It's perhaps most serious in communities dependent on agriculture. Iowa is the nations leading producer of corn, soybeans and pork. And here in the Corn Belt, local merchants, implement dealers and restaurateurs alike suffer alongside farmers when the ag economy slumps.

Delegates and alternates wait for the start of the Third District Republican Convention in Creston, Iowa, on April 9, 2016. (Photo: Michael Zamora, The Des Moines Register)

American farmers are set to harvest their largest-ever crops of soybeans and corn this year, yet stubbornly low prices mean many of the nation's 3.2 million farmers will yield narrow profits, if any. Farm-dependent communities already have suffered decades of decline as efficiencies have made farms larger and farmers less numerous. Since 1900, the number of U.S farms has fallen by 63%, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, while the average farm size has grown by 67%.

Those who remain tend to larger farms and are thus wealthier on average than in previous decades, said Wayne Steger, a political science professor at Chicagos DePaul University who researches the American presidency.

But their communities have gone down and lost population. They all know friends and neighbors who have gone under, he said. So that weighs on their perception of reality as to where things are.

Steger, a native of rural Iowa, said rural voters are less likely to vote based on their own finances. Much more influential is their perception of how their community is faring. So he expects the change-oriented Republican platform to play well across rural areas in November.

These communities are nowhere near as vibrant as they were 50 years ago. And theyre older, he said. That message is absolutely is going to resonate. And Donald Trump a little more so because he is anti-establishment.

In his quest for the Republican nomination, Trump had mixed success in rural America: He took heavily rural states like Alabama, South Dakota and South Carolina. Yet Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won rural heavily rural Maine, Wyoming and Wisconsin.

The rural vote: Voters spurred by social issues

Religious and social issues play more in rural areas, where people tend to be less educated and less wealthy. Thats a problem for Trump, who lacks the religious bona fides of other prominent Republicans.

But McKee, of Texas Tech, said Trumps economic talk of making America great will endear him to rural voters.

I dont think hes going to hemorrhage the rural vote, McKee said.  If he slips with rural voters, then it would be a bigger story that hes slipping with everyone.

An August NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found Trump outperforming Clinton in Iowas rural western counties (51% of those polled favored Trump, compared with 31% for Clinton). Likewise, Clinton supporters outnumbered Trump in the Des Moines area and the states eastern cities.

In that national poll, 55% of rural voters supported Trump, compared with only 27% for Clinton. Four years ago, Republican nominee Mitt Romney had 59% of support from rural voters polled, while Obama had 42% support.

Tom Moore, a Republican member of the Iowa House whose district includes Union County, said rural voters are drawn to Trumps anti-establishment bent.

I think the mentality and psyche of a rural Iowan is definitely different than that of an urban Chicagoan or a New Yorker, he said. And I think our values are different than those values.

He believes rural Iowans place a different value on work ethic.

Im an ex-teacher and I hear from my ex-students all the time about how theyll go to urban areas and how employers in urban areas really like to get Iowa kids because of their work ethic, he said. I just think that farm, rural life is a different lifestyle that a lot of people dont understand.

Washington resentment: 'Nothing seems to improve'

Jeff Mostek, owner of Creston Farm and Home Supply, can list all the ways government regulations are hurting his customers, and therefore his business.

He can no longer sell rat baits in large quantities. A milk replacer for calves he sells will now require a veterinarians prescription. And an EPA mandate in 2009 required all gas cans to be spring-loaded  which Mostek says also doubled the price.

Its just things that we really should be paying attention to, we dont, said Mostek, 58. We worry more about the gas can.

Mostek, a registered Republican, is leaning toward Trump but is still unsure about many of his policies. He believes Trump is more likely to provide regulatory relief than Clinton.

I think its not just rural America. Its the whole place, he said. Were tired of the same people running the show the way it is. Nothing seems to improve.

Wayne Hanson, 53, will vote for Trump. But as a self-described die-hard conservative, he said hes still having a hard time with the nominee.

For me to jump on that bandwagon and be gung ho about it, I struggle with that, he said. My business has thrived more under conservative values. And I just dont understand his values yet.

Wayne Hanson is the owner of RE Lewis Refrigeration, a Creston-based business that helps build food processing plants across the country. He'll vote for Trump but says hes still having a hard time with the GOP nominee. (Photo: Rodney White, The Des Moines Register)

Hanson owns RE Lewis Refrigeration, a Creston-based business that helps build food processing plants across the country. He said Democratic leadership has pushed his taxes higher, and he blamed Obamacare for creating an absolute wreck of the health care system.

He likes Trumps business background. And he believes the billionaire has a better understanding of small-business issues.

Around here in the Midwest, small business is all we have, he said. In the large cities, theyre second. Out here, were first.

Its not an easy time to run a business in a place like Union County, said 80-year-old Edward Thompson.

Its like all the small towns. Its dying, he said. Its hard to say that.

He runs a combination furniture store and bicycle repair shop in downtown Creston. Thompson, an independent, finds Trumps brazenness refreshing.

He doesnt mess around, he said. If he doesnt like what youre saying, hell tell you so. And I think thats what we need  someone who will stand up to people and talk back.

Yet he doesnt have high hopes for meaningful change.

It doesnt make any difference whos in there, he said. They make a lot of promises that they cant keep.

He doesnt mess around, 80-year-old Edward Thompson says of Trump. If he doesnt like what youre saying, hell tell you so. And I think thats what we need  someone who will stand up to people and talk back. (Photo: Rodney White, The Des Moines Register)

Less political gab: In the land of presidential politics, election chatter is muted

For all the talk of the way things once were, Union County still has signs of quaintness and vibrancy.

An old railroad town, Creston was named for its geography. It sits at the highest point along the BNSF railroad between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Union County, now home to about 12,500 people, has never again reached its 1900 population high of nearly 20,000. But it outperforms its peer counties in Iowa in terms of retail sales and population stability. The county seat serves as a regional hub for retail, education and medical services, drawing visitors from smaller outlying counties.

Crestons 117-year-old train depot still frames downtown. The railroad still employs about 130 people here, but the well-preserved depot is now home to city offices, a community center and intricate model trains and diorama of the town.

Around here, the word coffee doubles as a verb. Each weekday, various groups meet for daily coffee and conversation around town. Several rotate through the cafe housed at the Creston Livestock Auction.

At 6 a.m., its mostly farmers. At 8 a.m., its local business leaders. At 9 a.m., its retirees.

These are the sort of intimate gatherings that would naturally foster political gab. Yet owner Tom Frey said political talk has been quiet around the cafe.

I dont hear any scuttlebutt one way or another, he said. Its not a huge topic.

Frey suspects thats because so many people are disengaged, unhappy with choosing between Clinton and Trump. He didnt want to state his own preference, but had no trouble dumping on both candidates.

When this country was founded, we had half a million people and we had a Jefferson, a Washington and a Benjamin Franklin. Now weve got 350 million Americans and we get these two to pick from? he said. Its sad.

Union County is proof that not all Americans are phased by the constantly talking heads and ever-changing presidential polls.

I havent really heard anything, said Rebecca Colburn, who owns a western-themed bar in town.

Thats unusual in a state that cherishes both the substance and spectacle that accompanies its first-in-the-nation caucuses.

In late 2015 and early 2016, hardly a day went by when a Democratic or Republican presidential contender wasnt visiting a local diner, high school gymnasium or county barbecue.

Ronald Riley, one of the three Republican members of the Union County Board of Supervisors, said the presidential race is now defined by disdain for both candidates.

This is a different election process this year, he said. Rather than maybe voting for a candidate, youre voting against the other candidate. And to me thats not the way you should make you decision.

Voter frustration: Both parties fret about turnout

Historically low unfavorable ratings for Clinton and Trump has leaders of both parties here worried about turnout in November.

Union County isnt as stark red as many other rural areas, though Republicans outnumber Democrats: Among registered voters, 44% are unaffiliated with a party, 35% are Republicans and 21% are Democrats.

Obama carried the county in 2008 and 2012, when voter turnout topped 73%  about on par with Iowa's statewide turnout, which ranked among the top 10 in the country. Yet neither Trump nor Clinton won the county in the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders did.

I think she is more filtered because of the years and years that the Clintons have been targeted, Union County Democratic Chairwoman Marcia Fulton says of Clinton. You become very skittish. And I think she needs to not do that. She needs to stand up and answer all these questions down the line. (Photo: Rodney White, The Des Moines Register)

Union County Democratic Chairwoman Marcia Fulton said she believes Sanders supporters will probably show up to vote, but they may not vote for Clinton.

Some of our best workers have not been as enthusiastic as moving over to volunteer for Hillary, she said. I dont think we're going to get them in the trenches, which is a problem for me.

Fulton caucused for former Maryland governor Martin OMalley but quickly got behind Clinton.

She understands voters' frustration but believes history will prove Obama a better president than his approval ratings do. And she thinks not enough blame is placed on the nations do-nothing Congress. Still, she has ideas on how Clinton could better connect with voters here: She should be more aggressive in calling out Trump.

I think she is more filtered because of the years and years that the Clintons have been targeted, she said. You become very skittish. And I think she needs to not do that. She needs to stand up and answer all these questions down the line.

Joe Owens couldnt be farther from Fulton on the ideological spectrum. The chairman of the county Republican party has come around to Trump after supporting former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee early on.

Its getting very discouraging  he said. I see people and talk to people that arent willing to vote because they dont like the candidates.

Owens, a retired railroad worker, said hes using patriotism in urging local Republicans not to cede their voting privilege. He said this election is probably the most important in the nations history.

He fears the nation has moved away from its Christian moral values. He said Obama has spread racial division. He believes a Clinton White House would not only be harmful, but apocalyptic.

No society, no government has lasted forever, he said. But it would be a crying shame if this one couldnt make it past 250 years.

Its getting very discouraging  says Union County Republican Party Central Committee Chairman Joe Owens. I see people and talk to people that arent willing to vote because they dont like the candidates. (Photo: Rodney White, The Des Moines Register)
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The United States and China recently ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, with the Obama administration's contribution being the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Clean Power Plan  the largest climate-change regulation ever attempted in the United States  whose legality is currently being argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, the public seems to know little about the Clean Power Plan, a point brought home to me recently when I spoke about energy to 200 accountants employed by one of the largest accounting firms. When I asked the group how many had heard of the Clean Power Plan, only about 10 people raised their hands.

The plan is being promoted as a means to accelerate a shift away from carbon dioxide-generating electricity fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to lower CO2-generating sources such as wind and solar.

The EPA's website clearly states the overarching goal: "Nationwide, by 2030, the Clean Power Plan will help cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 30 percent from 2005 levels, while starting to make progress toward meaningful reductions in 2020."

Regardless of your perspective on climate and carbon, or on the legalities of the plan, it is valuable to examine some basic facts: The year 2005, the base year of the Clean Power Plan, is essentially tied with 2007 for the highest year of CO2 power-sector emissions in the U.S. at about 2,400 million metric tons. The 2030 emissions goal is a 30 percent reduction from 2005, or roughly 1,680 million metric tons.

In 2015, U.S. power sector emissions were 1,900 million metric tons, already a 20 percent reduction from 2005. In fact, from 2005 to 2015, the U.S. reduced CO2 emissions more than any other major economy in the world.

In other words, by 2015, we had already reduced emissions by 20 percent without a Clean Power Plan or government carbon price signal. Not only does the 30 percent goal in the plan not seem very ambitious, it appears misleading to trumpet a 30 percent target when 20 percent has already been achieved.

The 20 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 to 2015 happened in three ways: renewable energy such as hydroelectric, wind and solar increased; there was a recession, which dampened energy demand; and the use of natural gas nearly doubled, which had the biggest impact.

Natural gas grew quickly because hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shales created new supplies, causing natural-gas prices to plummet. If the pace of CO2 reduction from 2005 to 2015 continues to 2030, CO2 emissions would be around 1,300 million metric tons  a 45 percent reduction from 2005 and substantially lower than the goals of the Clean Power Plan.

Confused? So am I. Why push for a Clean Power Plan if we are already two-thirds of the way there and headed  without federal intervention  lower than the ultimate goal of the plan?

As with most things in energy, there are politics involved. Take the proposed EPA rate-based CO2 reduction burdens recommended by the Clean Power Plan for each state. If you arrange the states from left to right on a graph, you'll see that the half on the left with the least proposed CO2 reduction burden voted 75 percent Democrat in the 2012 presidential race, and the half on the right with the greatest burden voted 66 percent Republican.

We should not judge political motivation or intention, but we do need to look at actual outcomes. Government carbon interventions have not worked very well in other countries, and in fact they have often had the opposite effect on actual CO2 emissions. In contrast, the U.S. has made great progress thus far, even if not orchestrated, without federal policy or agency rules.

Back in the early 2000s, the Kyoto Protocol  a precursor to the Paris Agreement  set out a similar goal, but in fact had the reverse impact: CO2 emissions in developed nations remained essentially flat, but emissions in developing nations increased sharply.

Nonetheless, some still argue the Clean Power Plan is needed, perhaps on philosophical or moral grounds. But if the goal is actual reductions in CO2 emissions, the road to green is not always a federal highway.

Scott W. Tinker is the state geologist of Texas, the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and the Allday Endowed Chair in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin.
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Stacy Wilson addressed childhood obesity in her guest column (Caller Times 9-26-16) with a description of the consequences, the cost, and recommendations for policies to help decrease childhood obesity. Most recommendations focus on our children's environment at school and in childcare settings, as have most legislative and regulatory actions in the past. Some of Ms. Wilson's recommendations are already being followed in Corpus Christi. Despite earnest efforts, rates of childhood obesity have not improved. It is time to look at factors in addition to the school nutrition and exercise environment that might make a difference when combined with current efforts.

In Texas, the lower the income and education level, the higher the rate of obesity (The Health Status of Texas 2014, Texas Department of State Health Services, pages A43, A47, https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/chs/datalist.shtm). It has been demonstrated that one preschool program for parents, children, and teachers which helped improve success in school (improved graduation rates and test scores) had the unexpected side effect of cutting childhood obesity in half. This program was started in 2001, and has 15 years of documented success. Reports published in Texas for statistics and recommendations, such as the paper by the Children's Hospital Association of Texas, distinguish between school versus non-school policies and programs but never mention the role of parents.

How can we leave parents out of the child's environment when parents are the single most important factor in a child's life, including the provision of food? So in addition to promoting a healthy environment at school and in our community, we could look at ways to help our children succeed in school and life by involving parents. It's a complicated issue, but a difference can be made if we think long term. Childhood obesity has increased dramatically since the 1970s. Let's reverse the trend and support investing locally in the resources needed to help parents and teachers guide our children to flourish in school and life.
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
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Cambridge is set to grind to a standstill  as angry residents and traders stage protest marches against City Deal road proposals.

On Thursday morning at 8am, groups of demonstrators will march along three major roads, all of which are threatened with peak-time restrictions under the controversial transport plan.

The timing of the demonstrations could cause gridlock as people travel to work and parents drop off children at school.

Officials have suggested morning and evening restrictions on six roads in the city, and Thursday's protests will take place in three of them, Mill Road, East Road and Hills Road, culminating in a rally on Parker's Piece.

Protesters are being asked to gather at Mill Road bridge, the Catholic Church in Hills Road, and outside Mackays in East Road.

Mill Road Traders Association member Abdul Arain, who is helping to organise the marches, told the News: We will be gathering at three locations, all at the same time 8am, and then marching slowly, and separately, to Parker's Piece, where we will join up.

At this stage we don't know how many people will be involved altogether, but we expect businesses and residents from all over the city to come along and take part. The marches are open to everyone  people should just turn up.

We are not aiming to be disruptive, and we have informed the police, and have also spoken to schools, so that staff and parents know what we are doing and why. Our intention is not to cause any trouble  it will be a peaceful protest.

If the road closures they are talking about take place, they will cause huge problems for people working in the city, and for businesses.

We're upset because we only happened to come across the information about what is planned purely by chance. We had not heard anything about it. Leaflets explaining it were put through the letterboxes of people in villages near Cambridge, but not through our doors.

In terms of Mill Road, this will affect all the businesses, which are primarily independents. If they can't drive in to their businesses in the mornings, how can they ensure their goods are delivered?"

As the News has reported, two online petitions have been launched against the City Deal scheme, one by the county's Lib Dems, which has clocked up more than 1,700 signatures, and the other by residents and businesses, which is now past the 4,000 mark.

Tomorrow night, a separate business group, Keep Cambridge Open For Business, will hold a meeting at the Hilton City Centre hotel in Downing Street. They have issued a statement saying they are not involved in Thursday's planned marches.

A police spokesman said: We are aware of the protest, and we are in contact with the organisers about how many people might be taking part."
Celebrating 30 years of testings and reviews of consumer goods and pop culture collectibles, first in print and then on the Internet.
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Young people have, at some point, to make decisions about their futures and the career paths they want to go down.

This can be a daunting process but, in Cambridge, there appear to be many intriguing options for those taking their first steps in the jobs market. Where else could you seek work experience in a world-leading laboratory, an historic library, renowned museums, and major technology companies?

Form the Future is working with the Greater Cambridge City Deals skills programme to give youngsters careers a kick start. They are working with local businesses and institutions to get professionals into schools to inspire students and get them thinking seriously about pursuing more adventurous careers.

Anne Bailey, of Form the Future, said: We started it because we thought there should be more links between local schools and the amazing things that are happening in Cambridge. Young people need to learn about the career opportunities on their doorstep.

If we give children in Cambridge the right opportunities, companies like ARM could be recruiting from schools in the area. Cambridge companies can find the talent they need here.

Anne said they are working with more than 400 companies in many sectors including the pharmaceutical industry, IT, sciences, technology and the arts.

Cambridge is uniquely placed to do this really well, she said. It has so many successful, growing businesses. Things are being invented today in the city that career advisors cannot even know about. We are working at the cutting edge in science and technology. We can help bring that expertise into schools.

Anne said that, despite the citys success, some young people still felt excluded from the Cambridge phenomenon and needed to be included in schemes that opened their eyes to the opportunities on offer on their doorstep.

Currently, they have more than 100 events planned in the city. They are also calling for employers and professionals to come forward to help them reach out to young people in the area and encourage them to take a bold career path.

To find out about upcoming events, or to step forward to help, visit http://www.formthefuture.org.uk/ or http://www.gccitydeal.co.uk/citydeal/skills
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The City Deal is getting a lot of attention at the moment but, with only a few days left of the consultation on the eight-point plan to cut congestion, it is worth reminding ourselves what the project is and what it aims to achieve:

What is the City Deal?

The Greater Cambridge City Deal is an agreement set up between a partnership of local organisations and Central Government. It aims to help secure future economic growth and quality of life in the Greater Cambridge city region. It is the largest of several City Deal programmes taking place in the UK.

Why is it important?

The Greater Cambridge city region has achieved global success as a world-leading research and technology hub, with the highest cluster of tech firms in the UK (known as the 'Cambridge Phenomenon').

However, its rapid growth is now contributing to significant traffic congestion throughout the city, a shortage of new homes and affordable housing, and a lack of relevant skills needed to support employment in a growing economy.

In 2014, the Greater Cambridge City Deal partnership successfully agreed powers and funding from Central Government, for infrastructure improvements to help address these issues and secure future prosperity for the people of Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

(Image: Keith Jones)

The five City Deal partners are:

Cambridge City Council

Cambridgeshire County Council

South Cambridgeshire District Council

University of Cambridge

Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership

Funding

The agreement set up with Central Government will provide up to 500 million worth of funding over the next 15 years. The City Deal has secured an initial 100 million investment over the five years to 2020, to progress the first tranche of City Deal projects.

A further 200 million will be available from April 2020 and a final 200 million in 2025, if the City Deal can prove success in driving economic growth from each tranche of the City Deal programme. They aim to generate a further 500 million through other funding streams, bringing in a total investment of 1 billion.

What's planned?

The City Deal is a project backed by 500 million of Government cash, aimed at helping a partnership of local councils and other bodies tackle Cambridge's housing and transport problems.

A range of potential ideas have been out forward on the transport side, the most controversial of which is currently what City Deal officials call PCCPs - Peak-time Congestion Control Points, which may come in on a trial basis in the autumn of 2017 in six roads - Queen's Road, Grange Road, East Road, Hills Road, Mill Road and Coldhams Lane.

Each road will have automatic number plate recognition cameras installed, and at peak-times  the busiest morning and evening periods  only certain vehicles (buses, taxis, cycles and emergency vehicles) will be able to pass freely.

Vehicles with permitted access would be recorded on a database. All other general traffic would need to find an alternative route, around the PCCP, or be subject to a fine.
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Thousands of people are now in open revolt against plans to block off key roads in Cambridge.

City Deal chiefs want to ban cars and vans from six major routes during the morning and evening rush hours.

But 5,000 names have been added to two separate online petitions condemning the idea  and tomorrow more than 60 businesses are set to attend a council-of-war in Cambridge also aimed at getting the plans scrapped.

One of the petitions, set up by husband and wife Peter and Jenny Howard, has topped 3,500 signatures, and the other, created by Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats, has about 1,400.

The couple run a courier business, Grabbit and Run, but Mr Howard said: The people who are signing the petition are not just business people, they are mostly ordinary people who will find life much more difficult if roads are closed off at peak times.

We've had all sorts of people sign  workers, midwives, disabled people, single parents, people caring for elderly relatives, a chap who runs a swimming club who is worried it will fold up.

We, and they, just can't understand why a scheme like this is being thought of when it will clearly cause so many problems."

The petition is accessible here

Neil Bharadwa, who runs the Cambridge Fruit Company  which delivers fresh fruit to 100 customers in the city  said: There are four of us operating two vans, and the hours we work in the mornings are almost exactly the hours they're talking of closing the roads, 7am to 10am. We just don't know what we'll do if that happens. We may even have to consider somehow working throughout the night, so we can get done before 7am."

The City Deal plan involves temporarily closing Grange Road, Queen's Road, East Road, Coldhams Lane, Mill Road and Hills Road during peak times.

As the News has exclusively reported, Cambridge bakery Fitzbillies, world-famous for its Chelsea buns, has warned the measure would leave its delivery van facing a five-mile detour out of, and then back into, the city centre.

Fitzbillies boss Alison Wright said: The main objections are that there has not been a proper consultation on a range of options, that what 'consultation' there has been has been very poorly communicated so people have remained unaware, and that the proposals don't really do enough positively to make public transport cheaper and better  rather they are very negative, impacting adversely on businesses, families, the elderly and many other groups."

City Deal chairman, city council leader Lewis Herbert, said: "This issue is generating public debate and we're pleased because it's one that can't be ignored.

"Far from turning Cambridge into a 'no go' area, this is about maintaining the city as a place for people and business well into the future. Without action, our streets will come to standstill and business will certainly lose out or even worse, go into decline.

"Peak-time Congestion Control Points will address chronic bus delays and massive bus unreliability at rush-hour, doubling journey times for too many bus passengers and causing thousands of people each week to choose cars over buses  all adding to the city's dire congestion problem. Contrary to many reports, every property and every street will still be accessible at all times by motor vehicle.

"The fine detail has yet to be developed so if people have strong views on the where, how and when, now is the time to talk to us about it.

"Some of the emerging themes that we will respond to are businesses needing transport at peak times including to retain access to move goods and mobility for disabled people and for residents including those living immediately next to proposed control points who need to retain access."
| BY Ricki Green |

Renowned photographers Andreas Smetana, Toby Dixon, Adrian Brown and David Maurice Smith have teamed up to form Flint Sydney, a production company with dedicated film and photography production, supporting photographers who direct.

Smetana comes with over 25 years of experience in photography, winning awards on both a local and global stage. For Smetana, forming Flint was a natural progression. After directing numerous TVCs as part of combined stills and motion campaigns as well as working on a personal documentary series called In the Open, Smetana, along with good friend and experienced TVC producer Tim Berriman, saw the potential in combining this growing demand for film with the day-to-day photography work.

Says Berriman, executive producer, Flint: There has been a rapid growth in the industry for combining stills and film elements together in one package. The work we are now briefed on can extend to stills, TVC, web content, digital billboards, pre-rolls, cinema graphs and memes, so to have the capacity to produce both photography and film under one roof, with the same talent, is a great advantage.

Also joining Flint is Canadian documentary photographer and filmmaker, David Maurice Smith. Smith, named Australian Emerging Documentary Photographer of the Year, has had his work exhibited worldwide including The Museum of the City of New York, The State Library of New South Wales, The Reportage Festival, The Contact Photography Festival, The Delhi Photo Festival, and the Angkor Photo Festival. Smiths film Living in the Shadows was part of the official selection for the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival.

Rounding out the Flint team are well-known Sydney photographers, Adrian Brown and Toby Dixon as well as Dixons directing partner, Alex Feggans, whom together make up Stampede. Stampede recently completed an impressive 90 film for Price Waterhouse Coopers with The Special Group. Adrian Brown has also finished up work for Ward 6 and their new Cochlear campaign which required both stills and directing.

Berriman takes up the position of executive producer and managing director, alongside Rachel Henderson. Berriman brings over 20 years experience in the TVC industry, half of which was spent in London agencies, and most recently as a senior producer at Luscious International. Henderson, who has produced for Smetana for over 10 years will work alongside talented producer Rachel Rider who has recently joined Flint from Leo Burnett Sydney.

Flint is already working with an impressive portfolio of clients including Westpac and Qantas with Smetana, Berriman and the team set on additional significant growth for the business.
| BY Ricki Green |

Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, is launching its latest Australian campaign via Ogilvy & Mather London. The campaign promotes its belief, theres always a way to make life better.

Aimed at healthcare professionals, it shows how Philips sees healthcare differently. Philips puts people at the heart of health. They look at problems through others eyes, finding unexpected ways to improve their health and wellbeing.

Says Eva Barrett, global head of brand advertising, Philips: At Philips we start with people. We want to improve peoples lives through meaningful innovation. Our innovative campaign aims to change our audiences perception of the brand.

Philips has launched its campaign with an iconic 90 TV commercial. It shows how an ordinary person goes to extraordinary lengths to improve the lives of children in a hospital.

Adds Barrett: Inspired by a true story, we tell the story of a window cleaner, who dresses as Spider-Man to entertain ill children. He believes that cheering them up helps them recover faster: sometimes laughter is the best medicine. Its a wonderful example of how empathy and insight into people can make a difference. His ethos reflects ours; and we wanted to celebrate it.

The TVC is part of a broader campaign which includes a 30 second TVC, out of home, digital and social media. In Australia, there will also be editorial partnerships with the Australian Financial Review and The Guardian Australia. Additional content is hosted on Philips visual storytelling platform, Innovation and You. Here real-life stories are shared highlighting how Philips is improving lives, in Australia and around the world.

The TVC follows the success of The Breathless Choir, which won a Grand Prix at this years Health Cannes Lions. The event brought together people for whom breathing is a constant challenge, and helped them not only learn to sing, but perform at the Apollo Theatre, New York.

Says Barrett: Many people have grown up with Philips, were over 120 years old, but most people arent aware of the groundbreaking work were undertaking in healthcare. We believe in delivering products and solutions that truly put people at the heart of healthcare, and improve patient outcomes. Our Everyday Hero campaign shows how we find new ways to make healthcare better.

Client: Philips, Global Head of Brand Advertising Eva Barrett

Creative agency: Ogilvy and Mather London

Creative Director: Gerry Human

Managing Director: Craig Burleigh

Planning Director: Gareth Ellis

Group Account Director: Kate Waugh

Account Director: Orla Mateer

Account Manager: Christy Madden

Director: Fredrik Bond

Production Company: SONNY London/MJZ

Exec Producer: Helen Kenny

Producer: Nick Goldsmith

NZ Production Company: Flying Fish

Exec Producer: James Moore

Line Producer: Brian Kassler

DOP: Ben Seresin

Production Designer: Rick Kofoed

Media agency: Carat London
| BY Ricki Green |

Qantas and Airbnb have come together in a world-first partnership to give Qantas Frequent Flyer members the opportunity to earn Qantas Points when they book their Airbnb accommodation through qantas.com. To promote the partnership the companies have released two new videos via The Monkeys.

Australias national carrier and the accommodation leader have partnered to reward Qantas Frequent Flyers 11.4 million members with one Qantas Point for every dollar they spend on any of Airbnbs 2.5 million accommodation listings across 191 countries.

The partnership marks the first time Airbnb has worked with an airline in this way to reward Frequent Flyer members when booking accommodation through Qantas website  and is the next step in Qantas partnerships with innovative digital and technology businesses.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said it was a natural fit for two global brands with a track record of wanting customers to feel at home when they travel as well as using technology to create great experiences for their customers.

Says Joyce: The way that people around the world plan, book and experience travel is changing rapidly with the digital revolution.

We know many of our customers are just as likely to arrange an Airbnb as they are to book a hotel, and we wanted to recognise and reward them for that.

From creating Business class in the 1970s to introducing mobile technology to transform the check-in process in recent years, Qantas has always looked for ways to reinvent airline travel  just like Airbnb has done for accommodation. Were really excited about the potential for this partnership.

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky said the number one reason people travel on Airbnb is because they want to feel like they truly live in their destination, even if its just for a night.

Says Chesky: Our announcement today with Qantas highlights the rapidly growing movement towards the personalised and unique experiences available through the Airbnb community.

People around the world are experiencing a different way to travel through Airbnb. Were focused on connecting people with the hospitality of locals, welcoming travellers into their communities so they can truly belong anywhere. There are just a handful of global brands who understand that travel is now changing for the better. Qantas is one of those brands.

To celebrate the new partnership, Qantas and Airbnb are offering Qantas Frequent Flyer members the chance to win the ultimate Qantas Airbnb experience for members who book an Airbnb via qantas.com by the end of October 2016.

The prize includes four return Business class tickets on Qantas to San Francisco for the winner and three guests from the winners closest Qantas port in Australia; Qantas First Lounge access in Sydney prior to departure; five nights Airbnb accommodation in San Francisco using an Airbnb voucher to the value of $5000; $4000 spending money loaded onto a Qantas Cash card; and return transfers from/to San Francisco airport.

To earn Qantas Points, Frequent Flyer members should visit qantas.com/stay choose the Airbnb option then enter their Frequent Flyer details when prompted. The member is then redirected to airbnb.com.au to complete their booking.

Agency: The Monkeys

Production Company: Rabbit Content
| BY Ricki Green |

New York-based The One Club and Art Directors Club (ADC), two of the most respected non-profit organizations serving the creative communications and design industries, have agreed to merge*, forming The One Club for Creativity, the leading global creative organization.

The new entity will serve as the umbrella organization for The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Young Guns and their respective Halls of Fame, education and diversity programs.

The One Club began as The Copy Club and originally grew out of the ADC. The two organizations co-produced creative awards programs in the 1970s. Together, they combine a vast array of complementary programming across creative disciplines and build on their legacies of honoring excellence and championing inclusion and diversity, gender equality, professional development, mentorship and education.

Says Jose Molla, chairman of The One Club Board and founcer/chief creative officer, The Community: When our board voted, the decision was unanimous. We are committed to preserving the legacy of the programs, while fulfilling the potential of each brand. The One Show is all about conceptual thinking. The ADC Awards recognize great ideas founded on design and craftsmanship. There is a great opportunity to influence new creative disciplines, celebrating innovative thinking from different perspectives on a global scale.

Says Philippe Meunier, ADC president and creative chief/co-founder, Sid Lee: We are very excited about this reunion and the added benefits it offers our members and the creative world. By returning to our roots in conjunction with The One Club, ADC will strengthen its nearly century-long focus as a club of creative leaders, a community of visionary thinkers and passionate, proactive doers dedicated to making and celebrating world-changing ideas. This reunion enables us to better expand our ADC Annual Awards, the worlds longest-running creative awards program now in its 95th year, our fast-growing Young Guns program celebrating the top creative leaders of tomorrow, and other programs and events.

Says Kevin Swanepoel, chief executive officer, The One Club: The One Club and the Art Directors Club share a rich history and a commitment to ideas and craft and the purity of creativity. Both non-profit organizations are dedicated to honoring excellence as well as supporting creative talent from all walks of life and in all stages of their careers. Together, as an organization made by creative people for creative people, The One Club and ADC will tirelessly champion the creative community, maintain the highest standard for creativity, and provide the greatest support network for the creative community in the world.

The following programs and initiatives will retain their own brand identities while benefiting from joined resources and networks: The One Show Awards, Creative Hall of Fame, Creative Week, Creative Boot Camps, Here Are All The Black People multicultural creative career fair, Creative Leaders Retreat, Young Ones Awards honoring students, Creative Womens Leadership Series, ADC Annual Awards, Young Guns honoring top creatives 30 and younger, Hall of Fame, 50/50 Initiative, Paper Expo, Hands On, InspiADCion, Henry Wolf Photography Workshop for NYC public school students, SaturdayCareer Workshops for talented high school juniors in the five boroughs of New York and others.
| BY Lynchy |

TBWA\Hakuhodo Japan has appointed Akihiko Imai as President and Chief Executive Officer as the agency celebrates its 10th anniversary. Imai succeeds Yuzo Sato.

Imai (pictured left) has served in various leadership roles and has been vital in strengthening the agencys capabilities through relationships with Nissan United, Digital Arts Network, and Omnicom Media Group worldwide. With his extensive knowledge in digital and media planning, he has made a significant contribution to the growth of the agency since its launch in 2006.

Chris Iki, appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2012, has helped to drive success and embed a highly unique corporate culture that differentiates the agency from its competitors.

Under the creative leadership of Kazoo Sato, the agency has developed some of the worlds most memorable campaigns, being recognised across all major international, regional and domestic award shows. Sato was promoted to Chief Creative Officer earlier this year.
| BY Lynchy |

McCann Worldgroup Japan has appointed Antony (Tony) Cundy as chief client officer. Previously the CEO of Wunderman Japan, he reports to Charles Cadell, representative director, president and CEO of McCann Worldgroup Japan.

Cundy (pictured) will be responsible for overseeing excellence in the targeted and efficient delivery of campaigns for clients who work across multiple MWG disciplines. This will ensure seamless communications and the best access to talent and resources from the complete McCann Worldgroup stable of companies.

A longtime resident of Japan, Cundy completed his Post-Graduate Studies at Tokyo University before beginning his advertising career at Hakuhodo Lintas, working on brands for Unilever, Nestle, Johnson and Johnson and GM. He then spent six years at DDB first as general manager of the Japan office, working with brands such as Volkswagen and Philips, before running the strategy and account services for McDonalds across Europe, based in London.

Returning to Japan in 2010, Cundy became head of planning and account services for Publicis main agency in Japan, Beacon Communications.

Cadell remarked on the move, I am delighted to have Tony on board. He is representative of our offering in Japan as someone who has deep Japanese insight and understanding, combined with his best in class international experience and knowledge. As McCann Worldgroup refocuses our operations around the opportunities emerging for our clients in our increasingly digital and data-rich world, Antonys experience will be invaluable to help us lead the way.
| BY Lynchy |

Following a competitive pitch involving several other prominent agencies, Kasikornbank has appointed GREYnJ United to its creative duties.

The agency will be responsible for the overall total communications strategy and planning across all segments, including the Retail Business, Small to Medium Enterprise, and Corporate Business.

Kasikornbank is one of the largest commercial banks in the country in terms of total assets, loans, and deposits. For over 80 years, Kasikornbank has operated with a mission to be a strong financial institution that provides services to respond customers needs through innovation and excellence. Kasikornbank strongly drives its business based on the Towards Service Excellence philosophy.

Jureeporn Thaidumrong, Chief Creative Officer of GREYnJ United (pictured), said, Kasikornbank has a strong reputation as the bank that pioneered many financial services. They were the first bank in the country to offer credit card services back in 1972. They are also the no.1 leader in digital banking in Thailand. Were thrilled to have the privilege of partnering with such an innovative institution.
Monday, October 3, 2016 at 5:25PM

It looks like Microsofts attempt at releasing a fitness tracker has reached its end. ZDNet reports the Microsoft Band 2 has been pulled from Microsofts online store. The Verge adds that the wearable device isnt available on Best Buy either and while its still on Amazon, the online retailer is just selling its remaining inventory. The Bands software development kit has also been removed online. And there are reports that the team working on the Band has been dissolved already. One more telling sign is the renaming of Microsofts smartphone health app to Microsoft Band, meaning its moving beyond just working for said wearable. Microsoft has said earlier this month that its remains deeply committed to supporting our customers and exploring the wearables space. Microsoft does have things like HoloLens still in existence. Its just you shouldnt be expecting a Microsoft Band 3 to show up anytime soon.
The party is fronted by Richard Farmer, a former tobacco lobbyist and businessman who has recently worked for the clubs in their campaign to stop the redeveloped Canberra Casino getting pokies, a move the clubs fear will chip away at their gambling revenue.
Independent candidate and former ACT Shelter head Leigh Watson has also criticised the housing affordability measures announced by the major parties in recent weeks, saying they "at best just tinker around the edges and at worst, are punitive measures".
"We will restore ethical government to the ACT. I will establish an ICAC and all of those deals that have been done by Mr Barr and Mr Rattenbury will be referred to the ICAC for investigation. And we will get the priorities right for the ACT. We will fix the health system. That is my No.1 priority."
"The whole process of going through the court was a never-ending horror story, really. At no point was that about our mum, it was completely about him, and what he did, and what was going to happen to him."
The Bureau of Meteorology updated the weather warning mid-afternoon, with the threat reduced for northern areas, but still covering the ACT, Southern and Central Tablelands, Central West Slopes and Plains and Riverina, as well as the Snowy Mountains, where blizzards were expected on Tuesday night.
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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 City of Beatrice is working on plans to further revitalize its downtown district.

A key piece of the revitalization project is to improve the building facades, something that can prove costly for small business owners.

For that reason, the Beatrice City Council is hoping to implement a program that would reduce the financial burden on downtown business owners.

Hanna:Keelan Associates planner Lonnie Dickson and Schemmer and Associates planner Pat Birch both presented Phase I of the Downtown Revitalization Plan at Monday's City Council meeting.

Over the past several months, the two community planning associations have been collecting research on the downtown community.

"Results of the two surveys from the online citizen survey and the downtown business owners were nearly identical with focus on a facade improvement program, historic preservation, and business and marketing," Dickson told the council.

Birch agreed, stating that there were clear common interests.

The estimated cost for the facade improvement project was $95 to $110 per square foot. For infrastructure improvements, estimates for various projects on downtown streets like Ella Street and Fifth Street range between $60,000-$100,000.

The City of Beatrice was recently awarded a grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to help improve and revitalize downtown. Dickson estimates that the credits will provide around $450,000 for the revitalization, including $375,000 of state funds, while the city will have to match at least 25 percent.

The next step of the improvement program will be to get downtown business owners involved in the projects.

City Attorney Gregory Butcher said the city must now communicate the facade improvement program to business owners.

Butcher said he expects downtown business owners to approve of the program because the city has never had historic tax credits available and no one has ever utilized TIF funding for this propose.

Butcher expects up to 60 percent of facade improvement costs for individual businesses could be paid for with the available funding.
A rare and exceptionally desirable 1991 Porsche 911 Carrera RS NGT will be sold by Silverstone Auctions at the companys sale on October 15.



Expected to sell for between 135,000 pounds and 155,000 pounds ($174,730-$200,616), the Carrera RS NGT is considered as one of the purist road-going 911s ever conceived, so focused it is to the driving experience.

While far from the fastest 911 variant of its time, it puts the driver first, thanks to the manual transmission, stripped-out interior, racing bucket seats, 4-point harnesses and a full welded roll cage. In some respects, it could be considered the precursor to the brand new 911 R, even though it has a different badge.

The car heading for auction has had five owners from new and has 25,00 miles on the clock. It originally called Germany home until 2010 and was then exported to a new owner in Japan. Most recently, it was imported into the United Kingdom where it currently resides.

According to managing director of Silverstone Auctions, The 964 is often regarded as the all-encompassing true drivers 911, and there can be no doubt then that this Carrera RS in NGT specification is one of the most driver-focused and rewarding Porsches you will ever find.

Power for the car comes courtesy of a 3.6-liter flat-six engine delivering 256 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque.

PHOTO GALLERY
While some car dealerships are willing to sell die-cast models, clothing accessories and other stuff you really dont need (but probably look cool), Toyota took it up a notch and its offering a friend.



Its called the Kirobo Mini, and the Japanese car manufacturer describes it as a miniature communications partner.

Basically, the gizmo can keep customers company by engaging in casual conversation. Thanks to an integrated video camera, it can also track the person speaking, perform various gestures, remember user preferences and past events  offering a tailored, unique experience for each individual  and respond to user emotions by adjusting its gestures and tone of voice to match the conversation

But before descending into the uncanny valley and imagine a Skynet-type robot revolution, you should know that in order to perform all these things, the Kirobo must connect via Bluetooth to a smartphone installed with a dedicated app.

Thanks to its small dimensions, the Kirobo Mini can be taken everywhere, providing conversations based on information drawn from the vehicle or other visited places.

The Kirobo Mini is based on Japans robot astronaut Kirobo, and will be sold exclusively in Japan for 39,800 ($392).

According to the Financial Times, Japans car market is shrinking due to a decline in population, aging drivers, and young individuals with no interest in owning cars. Thats why Toyota is confronting the issue by venturing outside the automotive realm in order to attract new customers.

This (product) may help people get interested or fond of Toyota, or help in connecting with our customers who have let go of Toyota vehicles, said Fuminori Kataoka, general manager in charge of the Kirobo project.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO
Meg LeFauve, screenwriter of Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, will co-direct Gigantic alongside Nathan Greno (Tangled). The Disney animated feature is currently scheduled for release on November 18, 2018.

When the project was officially announced last year, Greno described it as the definitive version of Jack And The Beanstalk, while promising that Its not what youve seen before. Its not one big castle with one big giant walking around. In this new version, Jack discovers a world of giants in the clouds and teams up with a 60-foot-tall, 11-year-old girl to find his way back home.

It has previously been announced that Frozens husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez will provide songs, and Dorothy McKim (Meet the Robinsons, Get a Horse!) will produce.
Traffic congestion problems along Highway 97, also known as 32nd Street, in Vernon were highlighted during a meeting with Transportation Minister Todd Stone in Victoria last week.

We talked about Highway 97, particularly two intersections  32nd (Avenue) to get two lefthand turn lanes put in there and, of course, 43rd (Avenue) to get a righthand turn going south, said Mayor Akbal Mund, who was attending a municipal convention in the city.

Traffic snarls along the route are especially prevalent in the summer tourist months, leading to congestion and delays at both intersections. At times, traffic heading south and stopped at the 43rd Avenue intersection is backed up towards 48th.

We want to prepare for the future and ensure there are no lefthand turns anywhere along 32nd Street, the highway, except at controlled intersections, said Mund.

Transportation officials have said that some intersections may not be dealt with until 2025 but members of council are pressing for an earlier resolution.

We want to make them priorities...we want them moved up the list.

The mayor said the controversial Stickle Road intersection was not discussed and confirmed he was aware of last week's two-vehicle collision that led to one overturning on the highway.
Photo: Darren Handschuh

The Okanagan Equestrian Society is raising money for next spring's court battle against the City of Vernon over the future of Kin Race Track.

At a special meeting on the weekend, society members voted unanimously in favour of a resolution that allows $250 debentures to be sold to fund the court case.

It is set to be heard in a New Westminister courtroom over 10 days in March 2017, according to society president Robyn Daziel.

Anybody who wants to support the Okanagan Equestrian Society to save Kin Race Track can buy a debenture, said Daziel. The money will go to the lawsuit and later to rebuilding.

Daziel expressed disgust with the state of the grounds, blasting the city for cutting off hydro and water and smashing the stall doors on the barns where homeless people had been camping out.

For those interested in helping the society, Daziel said a $2 membership must be bought before the debentures.

She said they were loans that would pay out five per cent per annum and would be paid back in the event of a courtroom win.

New members are welcome, Daziel said.
To keep the conversation around suicide awareness and mental health going, Castanet has joined forces with The LifeLine Canada Foundation for the month of October.

Local restaurants will bring the message of positive mental health to the dinner table during Food For Thought.

Today, we feature Moxies - Kelowna. Senior sous chef Jamie Woodman cooks up a lemon herb salmon filled with Omega-3, served alongside ancient grains which Woodman considers a super food.

One of the main reasons we are participating in this is because we really like to open the word up about mental health, and issues going on in the world, explained Woodman. I think its about time everyone realizes how important mental health is.

The lemon herb salmon is seared for two minutes on either side, then mixed with ancient grains consisting of a black barley, daikon radish seeds and brown rice. The lemon herb stock is comprised of chicken stock and shallot sauce; infused with fresh herbs and butter.

Woodman also adds local spinach and rainbow heirloom carrots to the dish, to make a cuisine built for good brain chemistry.

Check back now through Oct. 30 to find out which restaurants are featuring delicious meals with unique mental-health benefits.
Contributed - Nick Kwan via Area 27

Speed freaks looking for a peek at a new South Okanagan racetrack are in for a treat.

A new video out of Oliver's new Area 27 racetrack shows a dash-cam perspective of a Porsche 918 tearing through the 4.9-kilometre road circuit.

The track, which opened up near Oliver in the late summer, is phase one for Area 27, which is set to eventually include a clubhouse and vehicle service and storage, condo-style "arrive and drive suites," and event-related infrastructure, such as pit garages and grandstands.

Paving on the track began in August, and according to the website, it's the only track west of Ontario that's longer than two miles.

Its grand opening is set for spring 2017, but those looking to get a look at the track in its current form can check out the video above.
Photo: Contributed

UPDATE 5 p.m.

A grass fire near Stevens Road in West Kelowna turned out to be a controlled burn on private property.

While the owner had the proper permits allowing him to burn, it turns out today is not a burning day.

"He was issued a permit, but as with all of our burning permits, people need to check and make sure it is a day that's appropriate for burning. As it turns out, today wasn't," said West Kelowna fire Chief Jason Brolund.

Brolund said no new materials will be added to the piles and crews will stay on scene until things have died down a bit.

They'll work with the owner to tidy things up.

"They already have some water on the piles and knocked things back a bit."

The property owner could face a fine for conducting an illegal burn.

ORIGINAL

Fire crews in West Kelowna are on the scene of a small grass fire in the Stevens Road area.

The fire broke out shortly after 4 p.m.

It's situated on a hillside behind the Emil Anderson construction yard.

More details when they become available.
First State Bank Nebraska is welcoming Julie Feist as Branch Manager.

Feist brings more than 25 combined years of experience in banking, lending and title insurance fields and holds a State of Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance Executive Officers license.

Originally from the southeast Nebraska area, Feist and her husband Pat, live in Beatrice and have two sons, Jesse and Luke. Feist is active in the Beatrice community, volunteering on several organizations including Main Street Beatrice, Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce, Homestead Running Club, Homestead Conservation Trails Association, Gage County 4-H and St. Josephs Catholic Church.

Feist will be the Branch Manager at the First State Beatrice branch located at 560 Sargent Street, which opened Oct. 3. This new location is a full service branch, including banking, insurance and retail mortgage representatives.

I am excited to be part of a community bank that offers a personalized customer experience and is invested in Beatrice, the surrounding communities and rural areas," Feist said.

First State Bank Nebraska is a $475 million bank with locations in Beatrice, Cortland, DeWitt, Dorchester, Filley, Firth, Hallam, Hickman, Lincoln, Pickrell, Valley, Waverly, Western, Wilber and Yutan and employees approximately 150 people.
Photo: Contributed Concept rendering

Kelowna city council will wait for more information before deciding whether to approve creation of a rooftop patio and possible liquor primary establishment at the Innovation Centre.

Council admitted to being "confused" by what the ultimate goal of the space was while the developer admitted to being ill-prepared for council's line of questioning.

Confusion stemmed from whether the original rooftop space was an agreed upon city amenity.

The developer originally had approval for a storage room, small kitchen prep area and landscaping to allow for a public space.

However, in order for construction of the six-storey project to move forward, the developers went ahead with changes before receiving necessary council approval.

"I feel they have done this in the incorrect order. You should have zoning for something before you do form and character," said Coun. Tracy Gray.

"It would be like picking the colours for the outside of your house without making sure you could build a house on that property."

There were also concerns over the wording of the request, "liquor primary establishment."

Coun. Luke Stack said in three different places in the staff presentation, it mentioned groundwork being laid for a liquor primary establishment, and or a restaurant.

"By giving approval to this, you are tacitly setting the stage for the next and I feel very uncomfortable to give them approval," said Stack.

"I know technically we're not, but when you read this report, and this gets way later down the road, they're going to say you knew what you were doing, you were supporting a liquor primary. And I am not supporting liquor primary."

The new plan calls for an additional 500 square feet of both indoor and outdoor space.

Instead of voting down the proposal, council voted to defer a decision until more concrete details are made available by the developer.

"If council does not approve the amendment, the applicant would have to go back and make some adjustments to the building so it matched the original building permit plans," said planner Ryan Smith.

That would be a shame, said Mayor Colin Basran who did agree the developer was putting council in an awkward spot.

"This is a unique space. Anyone who thinks this developer is getting rich over it ... it's completely false," stated Basran.

"The fact we are limiting 25 per cent of the space to non-tech and the fact we do have public amenity space granted to the city. The rooftop will still be available to the public, which would also include potentially a restaurant."
Photo: Google Street View

A town council in Pennsylvania has approved a motion to censure the town's mayor over racist posts on his Facebook page, including two depicting apes with captions referring to President Barack Obama and his family.

Pennlive.com reports the West York Council unanimously approved a motion Monday night to censure Republican Mayor Charles Wasko.

The council also approved a motion to give the borough solicitor the authority to look into any legal means necessary to remove Wasko as mayor.

One image on Wasko's Facebook page of a wagon full of orangutans refers to "moving day" at the White House. Another refers to lynching.

Wasko, who is white, did not attend the meeting. He told The Associated Press last week that he's the victim of a "witch hunt."
Photo: Contributed

Ignorance abounds!

I am not intending to use that word with a stupidity connotation. My declaration is the written version of a selfie.

Merriam-Webster online defines ignorance as a lack of knowledge, understanding, or education."

I dont lack education. Its the lack of knowledge and understanding Im referring to.

My last column featured the creep-catcher sting of a predatory adult who actively pursued sexualized communications and a meeting with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

The catcher," Shoni, was a 31-year-old woman. She had been victimized as a 14 year old.

The video is compelling. It wasnt the Yer done, bud testosterone-laden spectacle I was expecting to see.

Shoni seemed genuinely interested in making a difference by protecting young girls from being victimized like she had been.

While she knew the posting of her video was going to cause devastation to the husband and father she was sitting across from, she also showed an interest in helping him understand the consequences of his actions and provided resources where he could get help.

I was reluctant to endorse the creep-catcher movement because of obvious problems with unregulated, undisciplined vigilante cowboys sticking their noses in police business. But I felt a sense of security for the safety of my early-teen daughters that Shoni is doing the work she is doing.

I am thankful to those who contacted me after reading my column, with efforts to improve my knowledge and understanding about the dark side of creep catchers.

The video I had seen is on one end of a dramatically broad spectrum. My eyes were opened to the opposite end.

A community support worker told me about a developmentally challenged client, living with fetal alcohol syndrome, who was devastated by a creep-catcher sting.

Unlike the predator in the video I saw, her client wasnt on the prowl for a sexual encounter with an under-aged girl. He was pursued by the catcher on an adult-dating site.

He did meet with the catcher, who did the bait and switch thing, revealing that even though she was on an adult-dating site, she was really under aged.

He was clear in the chat communications leading up to the meeting that there would be nothing sexual.

There was absolutely nothing morally nor criminally wrong with this developmentally challenged fellows behaviour.

The face-to-face creep catcher confrontation, as well as being featured on social media and the creep-catchers website were horribly unfair and destructive to him.

This was not an isolated event. I learned from someone else about another vulnerable victim of creep catchers, this time a situation of mistaken identity, who had already been suicidal before the sting that occurred within the last several months.

She has since taken her own life.

The public shaming of a perceived pedophile is a present-day lynching. A life is not taken in a literal sense, but a life can be destroyed, including to the point of a suicide.

My endorsement of creep catchers in my last column, albeit reluctant, was based on my ignorance about the horrible injustices that can result, just like the horrible injustices of historical lynchings that we now look back on with disgust.

Is there a place for creep catchers in our society? Vigilante lynching is not, and will never be, OK.

I am embarrassed that I had not seen the direct analogy to actually stringing someone up on a tree.

I am disappointed in myself that I had publicly endorsed such conduct.

Please accept my apology.

I do think that there is a place for passionate volunteers, like Shoni, looking to protect young girls from predators.

One way might be for police forces to train and make use of these incredible volunteer resources. Another idea might be for the stings to continue, but without the public shaming element.

I welcome the opportunity to participate in the dialogue.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: The Canadian Press AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo

The leading edge of dangerous Hurricane Matthew drenched Haiti on Monday night, flooding streets and sending people scrambling to emergency shelters as the Category 4 storm threatened to batter the hemisphere's poorest nation overnight with life-threatening winds, rains and storm surge.

A slightly strengthened Matthew had sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) late Monday, up from 140 mph (220 kph) earlier in the day. Its centre was expected to pass near or over the southwestern tip of impoverished Haiti after dawn on Tuesday, then head for another landfall in eastern Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

"We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba," said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the centre. "People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past."

In the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre, officials spent Monday urging shantytown residents living next to a muddy river to take shelter at a local school where cots were set up. While some went, many refused in fear their few possessions might be stolen.

"If we lose our things we are not going to get them back!" Toussaint Laine said as police and officials from the mayor's office urged the jobless man and his family to evacuate.

Haiti's civil protection agency reported the death of a fisherman in rough water churned up by the storm. Agency chief Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste said another fisherman was missing.

The confirmed death in Haiti brought the total for the storm to at least three. One man died Friday in Colombia and a 16-year-old was killed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sept. 28 when the system passed through the eastern Caribbean.

Authorities went door to door in Haiti's south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

"We are continuing to mobilize teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas," Jean-Baptiste said.

There is no shortage of people with flimsy houses set up in risky places in Haiti. In an unregulated sprawl of shacks built on hillsides near the northern edge of Haiti's capital, some poor families did what they could to reinforce their tin-and-tarp houses. But most were just hoping for the best.

"I know my house could easily blow away. All I can do is pray and then pray some more," Ronlande Francois said by the tarp-walled shack where she lives with her unemployed husband and three children.

In Port-au-Prince, schools were closed while cars lined up at gas stations and shoppers cleared shelves at supermarkets as rain fell.

Some worried the crowded capital might not fare well. "We are not prepared," unemployed mason Fritz Achelus said as he watched water pool on a downtown street.

Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 40 inches (100 centimetres) of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country.

In Jamaica, which lowered a hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning as Matthew tracked closer to Haiti, many people chose to stick out the rough rain and winds at home. Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said all but four residents of the Port Royal area near the Kingston airport refused to board buses and evacuate.

Matthew briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

The U.S. hurricane centre said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would threaten the U.S. East Coast.
Photo: CTV

A former Vernon man made his first court appearance Monday in Vancouver, accused in connection with the death of a Japanese student.

William Victor Schneider had his hands handcuffed to his belt as he was granted a two-week delay to find a lawyer.

Schneider, 48, was arrested in Vernon last week after the body of Natsumi Kogawa was found on the grounds of a vacant Vancouver mansion. He is charged with indignity to a body.

Kogawa was reported missing on Sept. 12.

Few details have been released about how Kogawa died. An autopsy was scheduled Monday, but its findings have not been released.

Schneider is the only suspect in the case and has been identified as the man seen on surveillance footage walking with Kogawa in Vancouver on the day she disappeared.

Police say he's a drifter with no fixed address.

Schneider is a former student of Clarence Fulton Secondary School in Vernon, and classmates on Facebook have lit up social media with memories of him being a bully and often in trouble with the law.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: The Canadian Press

High winds led Albuquerque balloon fiesta officials to ground pilots Monday, a day after two balloons hit power lines, sparking an explosion and knocking out electricity to hundreds of residents.

The explosion and outage occurred when the "Outlander" alien-themed balloon hit a line Sunday and knocked out power for about 1,200 residents.

Crews with the Public Service Co. of New Mexico had to cut the gondola from the balloon to rescue the pilot and passengers.

"I thought it was just going to go up in flames, but it didn't. Thank God," witness Allen Escobar told KOB-TV in Albuquerque.

Photos and video of the crash posted on social media showed the balloon dangling from utility lines as crews worked to remove it.

No one was injured. The only damage appeared to be a hole in the balloon, officials said.

Another balloon landed on a power line to the south. A photo released by Albuquerque police showed a balloon hanging from a power line.

Balloon fiesta spokesman Tom Garrity said a female passenger suffered superficial injuries after the gondola was on the ground. She was treated and released from a hospital, he said.

The 45th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta began Saturday and is expected to draw close to a million visitors to central New Mexico before it ends Sunday.

Garrity said the fiesta averages about 4,000 balloon launches and landings and rarely sees accidents.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The Canadian Forces says it is taking a close look to ensure there are no policy gaps when it comes to protecting its cadets, as figures show many alleged military sexual offences involved youth in uniform.

Military commanders declared war on sexual misconduct in the ranks after a scathing report last year found an "underlying sexual culture" in the Forces that was hostile to women and left victims to fend for themselves.

What few have mentioned, however, is that 30 per cent of alleged sexual offences reported to military police last year involved cadets. The actual number of complaints has more than doubled  from 19 in 2013 to 39 in 2015.

Brig.-Gen. Kelly Woiden, the commander of the national cadet program, said he believes the growing number of complaints is a positive indication more young people are coming forward to report inappropriate behaviour.

"I absolutely abhor that the incidents are still occurring," he told The Canadian Press on Monday, "and I'm encouraged that the serving members and cadets are coming forward in higher numbers than before because what it means is that we're reporting all levels of sexual misconduct."

Nonetheless, Woiden said a number of measures have been implemented over the past year to better protect cadets, ensure complaints are properly handled and that victims are supported.

Those include stronger reporting mechanisms and extra guidance to staff before the summer training cycle. Now, cadet commanders are reviewing the training program provided to cadets and staff, which was first implemented in 2010, to make sure it is still appropriate.

"I'm the first one to say: 'Look, just because we looked at this six years ago doesn't mean we've got the perfect widget here'," Woiden said. "We need to go back and say things continue to evolve. The knowledge and the expectations that are out there in Canadian society (have) continued to evolve."

About 54,000 Canadian youth between the ages of 12 and 18 are currently enrolled in the land, sea and air cadets. The program, which has a budget of about $250 million, relies on 7,800 instructors who are drawn from local communities and receive special commissions as military officers.

A number of cadet instructors and volunteers have in recent years been charged with sexual offences. But military police say that fellow cadets are perpetrators in the vast majority of cases.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Crews are continuing to work to recover a data recorder from a commuter train that crashed in New Jersey, killing a woman and injuring more than 100 others.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have not yet been able to extract the recorder from the front car of a New Jersey Transit train that crashed into Hoboken Terminal on Thursday.

An NTSB spokesman says crews are working in 12-hour shifts to clear debris surrounding the train to ensure that it's structurally safe for investigators.

Officials have said a data recorder in the rear of the train wasn't functioning on the day of the crash. That recorder was supposed to store speed and braking information.

The NTSB has said the train's engineer told investigators that he has no memory of the crash.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Obsessed with seeking sex outside his marriage, prosecutors say, a Georgia man left his toddler son to die inside a hot SUV so he could "escape from one life into another."

Prosecutors opened their case Monday against Justin Ross Harris, who is charged with malice murder and other crimes in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring called Harris a deceptive man who saw his wife and child as obstacles to fulfilling his sexual desires.

"This case is about death, deception and a double life," Boring told a jury evenly split between men and women during his opening statement Monday.

Harris' defence attorneys will get their first chance to speak to the jury Tuesday morning. The defence team's opening statement got pushed back after court was delayed for 90 minutes late Monday afternoon. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark recessed for the evening without giving an explanation.

Authorities say Cooper died after sweltering for seven hours in the parking lot of the Home Depot office where his father worked as a computer technician in the Atlanta suburb of Cobb County. Citing pretrial publicity, the judge moved the case 275 miles to Brunswick, on the Georgia coast.

Harris' attorneys have previously called the boy's death a tragic accident. Harris told police he watched cartoons with his son that morning, took him to breakfast at a Chick-fil-A restaurant and kissed Cooper while strapping him into his car seat. But Harris said he forgot to drop his son off at day care and drove to work, forgetting the boy was in the back seat.

Harris faces life in prison if he's convicted of murder. Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Police officers who shot and killed men in two separate weekend shootings were justified in their use of deadly force because they feared for their lives, the Los Angeles police chief says.

Carnell Snell, 18, turned toward officers with a gun before he was shot, and the other, a Hispanic man who still hasn't been identified, pointed a replica that looked like a real gun at police, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Monday.

The shootings come amid heightened tensions over police actions involving black people and other minorities across the country.

In Snell's shooting, officers tried to pull over a car he was in Saturday because it had paper plates that didn't match the year of the vehicle  a possible indication of a stolen car and something commonly seen in drive-by shootings, Beck said.

Snell, seated in the back, looked at officers and then ducked down "as if to hide from them," Beck said.

When officers tried to pull the car over, Snell jumped out holding his waistband and the foot pursuit began, he said.

After a chase of several hundred yards, Beck said, Snell took a gun from his waistband and turned in the direction of the pursuing officers, prompting the shooting.

Snell died at the scene and police recovered a fully loaded semi-automatic gun with one round in the chamber within 5 feet of where Snell lay, Beck said, adding that the weapon had not been fired.

Beck did not say whether one or more officers fired, how close they were to Snell, or whether the car turned out to be stolen.

The officers were not wearing body cameras, but a surveillance video from a business clearly showed Snell was armed, Beck said.

The shooting occurred in a Los Angeles neighbourhood where nearly 450 people have been shot this year, making it the worst in the city for gun violence, Beck said.
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."
Photo: Twitter - Forest Service

A wind-whipped wildfire destroyed several structures and forced hundreds of evacuations near a small mountain community in southern Colorado, authorities said Monday.

More than 500 buildings were evacuated throughout the day and into the evening, affecting about 1,250 residents of Beulah, which is southwest of Pueblo. And more residents were warned to be ready to leave if necessary.

No injuries were reported.

The fire, which has destroyed at least seven structures and burned about 4 square miles, started on top of Beulah Hill on the east side of the community Monday afternoon and jumped Colorado Highway 78, The Pueblo Chieftain reported.

Pueblo County School District officials evacuated Beulah School and bused its students to a middle school. The newspaper reported some children had already learned that their homes had burned down.

A water-carrying helicopter was called from Monument but was diverted to the Fremont County Airport because of high winds, which are making it hard for firefighters to size up and attack the blaze. Gusty winds were expected to keep feeding the fire Monday night.

Pueblo County sheriff's officials have not said what caused the fire about 25 miles southwest of Pueblo.
Photo: DriveBC

UPDATE: 11:40 a.m.

A 42-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries this morning, following a crash on Highway 97 in the South Okanagan.

Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said the man sneezed and over-corrected, causing his vehicle to rollover about 4:30 a.m. in the Okanagan Falls, Vaseux Lake area.

UPDATE: 7:45 a.m.

Highway 97 has reopened in both directions following a crash this morning.

According to DriveBC, the vehicle incident was cleared as of 7:40 a.m. and traffic was reopened in both directions.

ORIGINAL: 7 a.m.

Highway 97 is closed in both directions this morning due to a vehicle incident.

The highway is closed 16 kilometres north of Oliver.

A detour is available via Oliver Ranch Road.

Castanet will have more information as it becomes available.

Send news tips, photos and video to [email protected]
Photo: Dustin Godfrey - File photo

The plaintiff in a lawsuit over the controversial Skaha Lake Park water slide has sent the ball back to the city's court with a rebuttal to the city's defence.

The city responded to both lawsuits filed against it over the water slide on Aug. 31, in which city hall argues that the land in question was not acquired on trust conditions.

However, the 56-part response by Nelson Meikle, who represents the group Penticton Citizens First, states multiple times that the land was dedicated to the public by its previous owners, even reminding the city that its "power is not unlimited, and is restricted ... by various statues, bylaws, previous agreements and contracts."

To that extent, Meikle contends that the city must gain approval from the public to convert the land to commercial property  a point, which the city has already contested, stating that public approval is only required under certain circumstances not applicable to the deal with Trio.

However, Meikle has also argued in this latest document the city would be liable for any debt incurred by Trio, should the construction company be unable to pay for the project, or if it declares insolvency.

The document also calls on the city to give details on the environmental concerns that Trio must address prior to construction, noting that the nearby, potentially affected creek is a fish spawning area, which it argues requires federal approval for projects.

Meikle also argues that the city could be leaving itself open to a lawsuit for negligence or misrepresentation, as his response states that the land upon which the proposed water slide, marina and restaurant would sit is part of the city's use under a licence of occupancy from the B.C. government, which Meikle says expires in 2024.

That could mean the land would become "sole property" of the Crown in eight years' time  a factor not mentioned in agreements with Trio, according to the statement.

Mayor Andrew Jakubeit wouldn't comment much on the debacle, as it is still before the courts, but he did say that Trio has filed its proposal in time for the Oct. 1 deadline for the planned marina expansion.

The details of that have not yet been made publicly available, but Jakubeit said it would be a matter before council in the next few weeks in order to give the public ample time to digest the proposal.

When those documents would be made publicly available was not immediately clear.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A treaty signed by more than 50 aboriginal groups who oppose oilsands project and pipeline developments is based on misinformation, says a northern Alberta chief whose First Nation does extensive business with oilsands companies.

"I was disappointed by the announcement. I felt it was not informed with respect to the people that are affected," said Chief Jim Boucher of the Fort McKay First Nation.

"Our community up there in the Athabasca tarsands is immersed in the economy quite substantially and our people would have the most to lose if they turn off the taps with regard to oilsands development."

Canadian First Nations and U.S. tribal communities signed the treaty two weeks ago in Montreal and Vancouver, vowing to prohibit and challenge the use of their lands for the expanded production of Alberta's oilsands, including distribution of crude via pipelines, trains or tankers.

The groups said they are targeting proposed pipeline projects including TransCanada's Energy East, Enbridge's Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion.

Boucher told reporters it's "naive" to think Canada can prosper without a healthy oil and gas industry. He gave a speech Monday at the Pipeline Gridlock Conference in Calgary hosted by the Indian Resource Council, a group that advocates on behalf of First Nations with energy holdings.

The Fort McKay First Nation owns a group of companies that offer services including earthworks, fuel delivery, environmental services and land leasing operations to the oilsands industry. Boucher said the group earned revenue of $2.3 billion over the past five years.

Last month, the nation agreed to invest $350 million in a $1-billion tank farm being built by Suncor Energy for its Fort Hills oilsands mine.

National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations also spoke at the event Monday.

He said he supports the Indian Resource Council's effort to present the view of those who depend on the oil and gas business.

"It's not about shutting off a pipeline or shutting down the oil and gas industry because we all travel by vehicles, we all travel by planes," he said. "But there has to be a sustained approach."
Photo: The Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley drew a line in the oilsands Monday when she said she will not support Ottawa's climate change plan unless the federal government makes progress on new oil pipelines to Canada's coasts.

"An ambitious public policy move like this, even one as worthwhile as this, needs to be built on top of a fundamentally healthy economic foundation," Notley said at an event at city hall.

"And a new pipeline is what will give that, not only to Alberta, but to all of Canada."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a national floor price on carbon as he kicked off debate in the House of Commons over whether Canada should ratify the Paris accord on climate change.

The federal plan calls for a $10-per-tonne price on carbon starting in 2018. That would rise by $10 per tonne each year until reaching $50 per tonne in 2022.

It would be imposed on provinces that don't at least match the tax with direct pricing or through a cap-and-trade mechanism. All revenue would go to the province or jurisdiction where it was raised.

Notleys NDP is bringing in its own broad-based carbon tax based on the equivalent of $20 per tonne of carbon emissions on Jan. 1. That is to rise to $30 a tonne in 2018.

The tax will raise the price of heating bills and gas at the pumps, but middle- and lower-income Albertans will see some or all of that cost rebated.

Notley said that to ask Albertans to pay even more than the $30-per-tonne level  and to help the rest of Canada  the federal government needs to couple its climate plan with action on energy infrastructure such as a pipeline.

"Albertans, as you know, have contributed to Canada's prosperity for many, many years," she said. "For us to continue doing that, in order for us to come back from the oil-price crash that we're all experiencing, we need Canada to have our backs."

Notley had not previously tied support for a climate change plan to infrastructure, but did say it was hoped Alberta's actions would build ``social licence'' to remove the province's climate record as an impediment in discussions.
Photo: The Canadian Press Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall tore a strip off Justin Trudeau while frustrated environment ministers walked out on their federal counterpart Monday after the prime minister promised to unilaterally impose a carbon price in those provinces and territories that won't do it themselves.

With provincial and territorial ministers gathered for a day of climate-change talks in Montreal, the prime minister kicked off a House of Commons debate on the Paris climate change accord with unexpected news: Ottawa will set  and enforce, if necessary  a minimum price for carbon pollution.

The federal plan sets a "floor price" of $10 a tonne starting in 2018 that increases to $50 a tonne by 2022.

Wall  a longtime opponent of pricing carbon  did not pull his punches.

"The level of disrespect shown by the prime minister and his government today is stunning," he said, accusing Trudeau of reneging on his promises to collaborate with the provinces.

"This is a betrayal of the statements made by the prime minister in Vancouver this March. And this new tax will damage our economy."

Wall said Saskatchewan will be one of the hardest hit by the carbon tax, which he estimated would siphon more than $2.5 billion from the province's economy once fully implemented, and cost the average family $1,250 a year. He called it "one of the largest national tax increases in Canadian history," saying Saskatchewan would investigate "all options" to mitigate the impact.

Trudeau gave the provinces just two options for implementing the carbon price: either impose their own direct price on carbon that meets or exceeds the national floor price, as British Columbia has already done, or set up a cap and trade system, such as Ontario and Quebec are developing.

If any province or territory does not implement one of the two options by 2018, "the government of Canada will implement a price in that jurisdiction," Trudeau warned, adding that all revenue would be given to the province or territory in which it is generated.

"There is no hiding from climate change," he told the Commons on Monday. "It is real and it is everywhere."

"We cannot undo the last 10 years of inaction. What we can do is make a real and honest effort  today and every day  to protect the health of our environment, and with it, the health of all Canadians."

Scott Moe, Saskatchewan's minister, said, "Many westerners will see this as 'national energy program 2.0." Moe later echoed his boss's words, suggesting Trudeau's "betrayal" could have lingering effects.

"It's not a good day for federal-provincial relations," he said.
Photo: The Canadian Press

What does a $37.5-million lottery windfall get you?

For Canada's latest multimillionaires, a new computer and a pair of new shoes to start.

Loto-Quebec unveiled the winners of Friday's Lotto Max at a news conference today.

Patrick Lamothe, his wife Johanne Leblond, her father Guy Leblond and the couple's son, Yannick Lamothe-Leblond, will share the prize.

The shoes are for Johanne Leblond and the computer is for her son.

They say they won't change their lives despite the stroke of luck  both husband and wife continued working this week as if they hadn't hit the jackpot.

The family hails from the southwestern Montreal borough of LaSalle and Lamothe says he hopes everyone will respect their privacy.
Photo: Contributed

A home the Penticton RCMP have visited several times was covered with graffiti in recent days.

Someone came by early Friday and wrote "Buy Drugs Here," as well as profanity and other references to drugs on the residence on the 700 block of Revelstoke Avenue.

By Tuesday, most of the graffiti was covered up, but some neighbours said they weren't surprised it had appeared on this particular home.

"Neighbours have been upset by the activity here, people coming and going," said one, who did not wish to be named. "They, the residents, have been gone since there was a grease fire there."

Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said there are over 30 files on the location, mostly related to property crime.

The house is also a popular hang out for people with criminal records, according to the police.

A resident of the home, who showed up Tuesday to see the graffiti for himself, denied it was a drug house.

"That's not the case whatsoever," he said. "I'm sick of people treating me like a degenerate, just because I'm young. It's unjustified and unfair."

The young man added he is staying in a hotel for now.

As for the neighbours, it is their hope that the house stays empty.

"I don't want to see any tenants at all," said one.
Photo: The Canadian Press Dan Markel

A man charged with murder in the shooting death of a Canadian legal scholar in Florida has pleaded guilty to the crime.

Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs says as part of the deal, Luis Rivera will testify against his two co-accused.

Tallahassee police have alleged the killing of Dan Markel  a law professor at Florida State University who was born in Toronto  was a murder-for-hire triggered by an acrimonious divorce from his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson.

Adelson and her family have denied any involvement in Markel's death in July 2014 and she has not been charged, but her brother, Charlie Adelson, and a woman he was romantically involved with have both come under police suspicion.

That woman, Katherine Magbanua, was arrested in the case on Saturday, and Meggs says statements Rivera made to investigators "most certainly" played a role.

Police have alleged Markel's killing, at the hands of Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia, was arranged by Magbanua, who had been romantically involved with both Garcia and Adelson.

Police allege Magbanua is the only tie between Rivera and Garcia, and Markel.
Publisher's note: Stay connected to BCN for all of our many Hurricane Mathew updates We here in the EOC just completed a Conference call with the National Weather Service, NCEM, Eastern Branch Counties and other Federal and State partners.The key words heard on the conference call:Based on those words and the variance of guidance we cannot afford to let our guard down and preparation is the key.At the present time the EOC support team should be prepared to arrive at the EOC no later than 1130 hours Wednesday as we move to a Level 2 of activation. We are starting to participate in Conference calls at 1200 and 1800 hours daily until further notice with NCEM and the surrounding counties.Fire Chiefs and EMS Captains are given advanced warning of a meeting Wednesday evening here in the EOC to ensure coordination of activities and to discuss Task Force organizations. Equipment and Personnel status reports are requested from those attending so we know how many personnel from each agency are available.BCDSS, BCHD and BCAC personnel should be notified that we could activate two human shelters and one animal shelter if the need arises. Coordination with BC Schools has already begun to include the use of ten school buses for evacuation if necessary as well as use of schools for sheltering the public. Northside High School cannot be considered for a Pre-Storm shelter as the generator is not operational.Coordination for the possible movement of Prisoners from the jail to other locations has begun. Assisted living facilities should begin taking the necessary steps to imitate their emergency action plans. Electric companies and CO-OPS have already begun their preparations for Hurricane Matthew.Our last thoughts are this: Hurricane Matthew has a fifty-fifty chance of impacting Beaufort County possibly as a Category 3 storm. Please ensure your family disaster plans are complete. We will need everyone available if this Hurricane comes to visit in its aftermath and that can only happen if we know our families are taken care of as we go out the door prior-to, during or after the storm arrives.The Beaufort County Control group will have a briefing at 4:00pm on Wednesday, here at the EOC, to discuss the time table for Evacuation, if necessary, and State of Emergency planning.Subject to your questions.Hurricane Mathew Alert and Notification of position PDF John Pack, Beaufort County Emergency Services1420 Highland DriveWashington, NC 27889Office Fax 
India: calls to assist cement plants in energy conservation

ICR Newsroom By 04 October 2016

Executive director of Dalmia Cement, R A Krishnakumar, has called for a special package of concessions, particularly in taxes, for cement factories in an attempt to encourage them to adopt energy conservation measures.

Mr Krishnakumar said at the second Energy efficiency technologies in cement and manufacturing sector conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry that there had been a marked improvement in the cement industry bringing in efficiency measures through the adoption of latest equipment and technology. There was a four per cent reduction in the use of conventional raw materials and it was noted that there is a growing awareness of the importance of energy conservation among stakeholders, although there is still more to be done.

The Union Ministry of Energy and the Bureau of Energy Efficiencys Perform, Achieve, Trade (PAT) scheme to promote energy efficiency was applauded by My Krishnakumar.

Ulhas Parikar, deputy head of Geocycle India, addressed the conference to speak on the maximum utilisation of waste products in wealth creation. He suggested that cement plants should adopt the co-processing technique to help reduce the emission of hazardous elements and reduce wastage of raw materials.

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DR Congo: CIMKO plant nears commerical production

04 October 2016

This October the US$270m CIMKO plant owned jointly by Lucky Cement and Groupe Rawji located 240km (150 miles) west of the capital, Kinshasa, will start producing cement and work towards its 1.2Mta cement capacity.

The project has been financed by lenders including the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, Denmarks Export Credit Agency EKF and by Habib Bank Ltd.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Prime Minister, Matata Ponyo Mapon, said his government will protect local industry as Lucky Cement Ltd and Groupe Rawji when their plant opens and boosts production four-fold in the central African nation.



"We will take care of everything that can hinder your production, unfair competition, fraudulent imports, we will take care of that, "Matata told CIMKO executives last week. "We are conscious of the support that the government must bring," he said at a 27 Sept meeting that was also attended by the ministers of finance and economy.



Congo produced 398,749t in 2015, according to the central bank and only 114,604t in the 1H16, 41 per cent less than the same period the year before. CIMKO estimates that current cement consumption in Congo is about 1.5Mta, with the rest imported, but is betting that the market should be much bigger.



PPC Ltd, South Africa's biggest cement maker, is also preparing to open a 1Mta factory in the same area as Lucky Cement. Combined, the two facilities can increase Congos current output by more than seven times.



When Lucky and Groupe Rawji began construction in 2014, Congos economy grew 9.5 per cent, according the central bank, the third-fastest growing economy in the world that year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The collapse in prices for copper, oil and other key exports has since led to a slowdown, with the government in August slashing its growth forecast for 2016 to 4.3 per cent.



The slowdown will have an impact on cement-consumption growth, but the partners are not overly concerned, Khalifa said. Greater domestic production can lower cement prices, currently among the highest in the world, and drive increased demand, according to CIMKO.



"We still do not know the true size of the market because high prices and a lack of production have held back consumption," he said. In Kinshasa, the cost of a 50kg (110lb) bag of cement has risen as high as US$15 in the past three months.







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Philippines: government urged to curb smuggling

04 October 2016

The United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) is urging government officials to stop smuggling at Iloilo pots and across the rest of the region. UFCC President, Rodolfo Javellana Jr noted that the Port of Iloilo was one of the main entry points for cement smugglers. Of nine smuggled cement shipments, three entered through the Port of Iloilo.

Speaking at the groups anti-smuggling campaign, Mr Javellana Jr said cement shipments were not only undeclared, but also underpriced. Between January - April 2016 an estimated 12,000t of cement arrived at Iloilo port. The cement was charged a freight rate of US$8/t rather than the standard freight rate of US$23/t.

The UFCC estimates that the government is losing PHP547m (US$11.3m) daily, or PHP220bn annually from smuggling.

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Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, on Monday morning issued a cease and desist order to the Donald J. Trump Foundation to stop the organization's soliciting contributions. The allegation against Trump's operation is that his charityHowever, despite allegations of fraud and money laundering at Bill and Hillary Clinton's own foundation, there are no pending investigations in New York or at the federal level.a spokesman for the attorney general's office said in a statement While Schneiderman issued the "Notice of Violation" letter on Friday, he warned on Monday that the charityunless it provided required paperwork regarding its fundraising activities within the next 15 days.said a former police detective and intelligence operative Joel Egransky.This latest legal action comes after the anti-Trump news media claimed last week that the campaign lacked a required state certification that would allow it to request contributions from the public. Trump organized a veterans event after canceling a Fox News Channel primary debate in January and collected $1.67 million through a website directing donations to the Trump Foundation. The WaPo failed to mention all the money raised went to help military veterans.The Trump campaign on its website had previously denounced Schneiderman, a Democratic Party stalwart who is supporting Hillary Clinton for president. The campaign described him as being a "partisan hack."Trump campaign said in a press statement released on Monday.Meanwhile, last year, a former Department of Justice prosecutor, now heading a public-interest watchdog group, filed a RICO-related lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and their lucrative family foundation. The lawsuit filed on March 24 before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida alleges that the Clintons and their foundation committed criminal violations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).The attorney, Larry Klayman , reported that the RICO (Racketeering Influenced Criminal Organizations Act) lawsuit accuses the Clintons of engaging in a criminal enterprise during the last 10 years with the goal of enriching themselves personally.Klayman alleges that the Clinton family - through mail and wire fraud, and various fraudulent statements - misappropriated government documents to which Klayman and his group Freedom Watch were lawfully entitled to receive and possess under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).Also, claims he is entitled to Mrs. Clinton's and her underling's records linked to the "granting of waivers for persons, companies, countries and other interests to do business with Iran. In essence, the allegation is that Hillary Clinton knowingly undermined U.S. economic sanctions on the terrorist-sponsoring, nuclear-weapons-seeking nation of Iran to enrich herself and her high-priced speaker husband.Klayman alleges that these acts are the result of the Clintons and their foundation'sIt's also alleged that the Clintons were paid exorbitant speaking fees and money was transferred to them by other means.Both the federal Attorney General and New York State's Attorney General have shown any interest in conducting even a semblance of an investigation of the Clinton Foundation despite mounting evidence of wrongdoing, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to Conservative Base.
This is part 2 of a feature on my delicious experience with Chef Douglas Ruley at Bluecoast Seafood Grill in Bethany Beach, Delaware. You can find part 1 here.

Freshly popped popcorn is a fun, slightly crunchy topping for this silky smooth seafood starter.

Have you ever made a dish with raw fish at home?

It doesnt need to be intimidating! The trickiest part is finding a place to source your seafood.

Youll need sushi grade tuna for this recipe  dont just use any piece of tuna from the store!

I found this piece at a sorta-local (but totally worth the drive) Korean market, but many natural food stores also carry it if you dont have a dedicated seafood shop in your area.

Chef Ruley told me that this dish was something that you could prep ahead of time for a dinner party  just arrange the sliced tuna on plates, cover with plastic wrap and pop them into the refrigerator until youre ready to serve.

Once its time to eat, top them with the relish, garnish, and dive on in!

When I made this at home, I decided to chill one of my serving platters for a bit before I started prepping the fish. When I sliced the tuna, I arranged it right on top of the chilled platter, then topped that with the relish, greens and popcorn.

Another drizzle of oil, a bit of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper on top and it was ready to hit the dinner table!

Me and my hubby each grabbed a set of chopsticks and went to town on this  directly from the chilled platter. We split the whole thing as dinner for the 2 of us. It was super light, fresh, and surprisingly filling.

We loved the sweet-and-spicy topping, and the tuna absolutely melted in our mouths. The little bit of char from the grill was a great addition to all of the other flavors in this dish.

A few quick notes on my preparation  I didnt find any micro celery, but I had picked up some Chinese celery at the same shop as the tuna, so I chopped up some of those leaves for garnish. Regular celery leaves would be a good option, too.

I also couldnt find any yuzu, so I ended up using ponzu with a little squeeze of lime juice instead. It was still delicious, and Ive since tracked down some yuzu, so Im excited to try this recipe out again as written.

Chef Ruley used a lot of locally sourced ingredients when he made this dish, so I did my best to work in local goods from The Hudson Valley, where I live, when I made it at home. I used a really nice local Goldenrod honey, corn, popcorn, and sea salt from the farmers market, a quality extra-virgin olive oil for the topping, and the freshest peach I could find (which, sadly, was a little mealy).

This dish is deceivingly simple and super elegant. It would be a great way to start off a dinner party, or even just to bring something fresh and upscale up your regular dinner routine.

Id love to hear what you think if you try this out. Drop me a note in the comments if you do, and definitely let me know if you go full-on with the popcorn garnish, too (I highly recommend it!).

clock clock icon cutlery cutlery icon flag flag icon folder folder icon instagram instagram icon pinterest pinterest icon facebook facebook icon print print icon squares squares icon heart heart icon heart solid heart solid icon Raw Tuna, Quick Pickled Local Peach & Corn, Yuzu, Soy, Chili, Virgin Oil & Micro Celery Author: Chef Douglas Ruley of Bluecoast Seafood Grill

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 1 - 3 Servings 1 x

Category: Appetizer

Method: Grill

Cuisine: Asian Print Recipe Pin Recipe Description Freshly popped popcorn is a fun, slightly crunchy topping for this silky smooth seafood starter. Ingredients Scale 1x 2x 3x 4oz . sushi grade tuna

. sushi grade tuna 1 ripe peach

ripe peach 1 ear corn

ear corn Splash yuzu juice

Splash low sodium soy sauce

1 tbs. chili paste

tbs. chili paste 1 tbs. honey

tbs. honey Cracked pepper & sea salt to taste

Virgin oil drizzle

Pinch micro celery Instructions You can pop the corn ahead of time or completely omit it. I like the crunch it provides to the dish. Heat outdoor grill to high, clean grates. Quarter peach, shuck corn and toss in olive oil, sea salt. Grill peach flesh side down until charred 2 to 3 minutes, only one side. Grill corn until lightly charred. Fine chop peach and place in small bowl. Shave corn and add to peaches. Add yuzu, soy, chili, honey. Toss and set aside in fridge for 20 minutes. Have your fish guy cut a nice center cut block of sushi grade. Thinly slice the tuna and arrange on your best plate. Spoon the peach/corn mixture to the top of the tuna. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Drizzle with virgin oil. Top with popped corn and micro celery. Serve with an ice cold beer. This recipe is for 1 to 3 people. If you need more, you can just double the amounts. Nutrition Serving Size:

Calories: 505

Sugar: 43.2 g

Sodium: 2809.7 mg

Fat: 17 g

Saturated Fat: 2.7 g

Carbohydrates: 61.4 g

Fiber: 6.8 g

Protein: 34.5 g

Cholesterol: 44.3 mg Keywords: raw tuna, sashimi, seafood appetizer
Bird hunters may not be aware that they have multiple walk-in hunting areas available across the state through the Open Fields for Game Bird Hunters program.

The program allows hunting of game birds and waterfowl on enrolled tracts of CRP and associated habitats with no further permission required.

Since Open Fields began in 2012, nearly 150 private landowners across Montana have enrolled more than 44,000 acres.

In recent years, more Conservation Reserve Program land has been converted to cropland, which decreases game bird habitat. Open Fields offers landowners an incentive to enroll CRP parcels in the program to expand habitat and create more public hunting access.

In FWP Regions 6 and 7 there are 100 properties allowing walk-in access, but Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks would like to recruit more landowners to the program. Those areas are listed in the 2016 Access Guide for Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program Projects, which is available at any FWP office, or it is accessible online at fwp.mt.gov. Click on the Hunting tab and under Hunter Access, go to Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program.

Under Open Fields, landowners can enroll up to 160 CRP acres per application in exchange for a one-time lease payment of $5 per acre for each year that remains in their CRP contract. The land must be legally accessible for walk-in game bird hunting, and it cannot be used for emergency grazing or haying. Since the goal is to expand public hunting access, owners cannot be enrolled in Block Management or adjacent to BMAs under the same ownership, and they cannot be part of an active contract in the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program.

Funding comes from a grant received by the Natural Resources Conservation Services Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program. Federal Farm Bill funding is delivered to FWP through the Farm Service Agency.

The walk-in hunting areas are marked with special signage by FWP staff to mark project boundaries. No motorized vehicles are allowed beyond the designated areas, and no big game hunting is allowed without the landowners permission. No fires or smoking are permitted, and hunters must pack out all litter and spent shells.

For more information about hunting through the Open Fields program or about enrolling land in it, contact Jackie Tooke, upland game bird biologist, at 406-234-0940 or at jtooke@mt.gov.
A man found parked behind a gas station Sunday morning was arrested for drunk driving.

If convicted it would be the man's eighth DUI.

John Walter Girgich, 49, appeared Monday in Yellowstone County Justice Court and was charged with felony driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and misdemeanor driving while license suspended or revoked.

Yellowstone County Justice of the Peace David Carter held Girgich in place of a $35,000 bond. If released Girgich was ordered to participate in alcohol monitoring at the county jail.

Girgich was arrested at about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday parked oddly behind a Holiday gas station near the intersection of North 27th Street and Sixth Avenue North, according to court documents. A Billings police officer found Girgich slumped over the center console. When the officer woke Girgich up and asked why he was parked behind the gas station, Girgich said it was because he was too drunk to drive, according to court documents.

The officer arrested Girgich and a blood sample was taken for testing at the Montana State Crime Lab.

Girgich has seven previous DUI convictions dating back to 1993, according to court documents.
HELENA  Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte continues to pour his own money into his bid to unseat Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, donating another $1.5 million to his campaign last month, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.

The Bozeman businessman, who sold RightNow Technologies to Oracle in 2011 for $1.8 billion, has now donated more than $3.1 million of his personal wealth to the campaign, stretching back to the primaries.

"I know of no other candidate that has self-invested this much in a (Montana) governor's race," Montana State University political science professor David Parker said.

Gianforte's campaign is pumping most of that money into television ads, spending $1.36 million in media buys between the end of August and the end of September. That represents most of Gianforte's $1.77 million in total spending for the period, which left him with about $224,000 at the end of September.

Bullock spent less than a third of what Gianforte did on ad buys last month, according to the Democrat's campaign finance report.

"It appears to be creating a large informational asymmetry on the airwaves, which creates a possible advantage for (Gianforte) in the final days of the campaign," Parker said.

However, former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg also had the airwave advantage over incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in 2012, but he still lost to Tester, Parker added.

Outside groups are also clogging the airwaves with ads in support of their candidates, with the Democratic Governors Association-funded Good Jobs Montana political committee spending $1 million on ads against Gianforte last month.

The Republican Governor's Association Right Direction PAC spent $730,000 over that period on ads opposing Bullock.

Carroll College political science professor Jeremy Johnson said that because the Montana media market is cheap, both candidates have enough money to get their messages out.

However, too many ads could backfire, he said. "It is important to have sufficient funds for campaigns to reach voters; however, there are rapidly diminishing returns to ad buys when the airwaves are saturated with competing commercials," Johnson said.

Bullock's campaign pounced on Gianforte's latest campaign finance report, repeating its past claim that Gianforte is trying to buy the election. Gianforte's campaign chose not to address the candidate's self-funding, instead highlighting that he took in $226,589 in donations for the period.

Bullock raised nearly $282,000 last month, and he took in large PAC contributions from unions, BNSF Railway, the financial firm Deloitte and the drug company Pfizer.

Bullock spent $538,280 and had more than $1 million to spend going into the final month of campaigning.
The Obama administration wants a federal judge to uphold its decision to block oil and gas drilling on land considered sacred to some tribes in the U.S. and Canada, as industry groups warn the government's move sets a precedent against energy development.

Justice Department attorneys urged the judge in court documents filed last week to reject a lawsuit that seeks to reinstate a 6,200-acre energy lease in Montana that was canceled by the Obama administration in March.

The cancellation of the lease near Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation has been assailed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Petroleum Association of Montana.

Federal officials contend the lease was improperly issued by the government in 1982, in part because environmental studies by the U.S. Forest Service did not consider the effects of drilling on the tribes.

The lease is within a 165,000-acre area deemed by the government to be a traditional cultural district of the Blackfoot tribes. It's the site of the creation story for the Blackfoot tribes of southern Canada and the Blackfeet Nation of Montana.

Even if the government validated the lease, it would not avoid cultural harm to the Blackfeet Nation if drilling occurs, Assistant U.S. Attorney General John Cruden wrote in a court brief.

A Louisiana company held the lease for 33 years but had not yet drilled because of numerous bureaucratic delays within the U.S. departments of Interior and Agriculture.

Attorneys for lease-holder Solenex LLC say the establishment of the cultural district was simply a pretext to deny the company its right to drill.

They point to a 1986 letter from Earl Old Person, at the time the chairman of Montana's Blackfeet Nation, in which he argued against designating the Badger-Two Medicine as a wilderness area in part because it would take away the rights of mineral lease holders.

"They saw it for what it was, a real economic opportunity," said William Perry Pendley with the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents Solenex.

Blackfeet Nation historic preservation officer John Murray did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon.
Bethany Yellowtail doesn't usually design hoodies and T-shirts.

Yet when the L.A.-based clothing designer saw the widespread involvement of tribes protesting the North Dakota Access Pipeline, she knew she wanted to help in whatever way she could.

Yellowtail, an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, grew up with her family on the Crow Reservation.

So for two weeks in September, Yellowtail set aside her B.YELLOWTAIL brand ambitions of producing "wearable art" and went to work creating what she has now dubbed Protector Gear, the sales proceeds of which will go toward the Standing Rock Sioux's legal fund, she said.

"It just kind of fell together really last minute," the designer said. "I really felt like I was drawn to support in any way I know how and, you know, I'm fortunate enough that I have a platform that I can do that immediately."

One of the first things Yellowtail said she settled on was the typeface that appears on shirts spelling out words like "Protector" and "Warrior."

She was familiar with a script an artist and activist friend Jaque Fragua had designed, so she reached out to him and obtained permission for its use.

"Anyone can use something that says the word 'Protectors' in any font you want," Yellowtail said. "I was drawn to Jaque's font because it had this kind of street graffiti-type feel that was still very minimalist and that's definitely a design aesthetic that I carry."

Yellowtail said she decided to call the items "Protector Gear" because "on the front lines they're saying, 'We're not protesters, we're protectors.'"

What she said began as a few shirts ultimately expanded to include beanies, hats and even water bottles.

One added bonus of the line according to Yellowtail is that it has given "opportunities for people who may follow me and have not been able to purchase my items."

Because she isn't equipped to produce items in bulk, Yellowtail said she had to use a third party website for help printing and delivering, which has limited some of her profit margins.

Still, Yellowtail said sales of Protector Gear have so far come in the range of $6,000. The project has helped her supply people "a garment that is for something and not just yourself," and that's a good feeling, Yellowtail said.

Protector Gear will be for sale until Oct. 10 at www.byellowtail.com.

Recently, Yellowtail flew back to Montana with a friend, a couple hundred yards of wool fabric, thread, needles and other sewing supplies.

Her father, a Wyola rancher named Wailes Yellowtail, drove them up to Cannon Ball, N.D. The experience left a powerful impression upon Yellowtail.

While there, Yellowtail contributed to a sewing circle organized by a woman named Lee Ann Eastman.

The gathering for the circle included a conversation about traditional women's roles in tribal culture, before the group attempted to connect with some of those roles by producing traditional clothing for those seeking to halt the pipeline's construction.

A registered Northern Cheyenne member who grew up part-time on the Crow Reservation, Yellowtail said she knew it was not her place to speak about those roles in Lakota Sioux territory, so she listened.

Then the work began. A line formed and Yellowtail said she went down the line showing participants basic clothing construction skills, with the aim of teaching them the skills to make a traditional ribbon skirt that could be worn at what she said are demonstrations called "nonviolent direct actions."

After providing tips, measurements were taken and Yellowtail said she then spent much of the remainder of the day cutting fabric.

Many of the participants were youth, along with a few older women and a few men, including a father making a skirt for his daughter, "which is really beautiful," she said. "A few men, I helped them make ribbon vests so they would have a vest to go out on the frontline because it's important for Native people to have our traditional wear and regalia for specific events like this."

Later in her stay, she said she participated in a demonstration on a "beautiful, beautiful day."

"I can't even describe how powerful it was out there, to be with all those people, praying and asking for help from the Creator."

Yellowtail said an elderly Lakota Sioux woman handed her and her friend willow tree seeds that they planted in the path of the pipeline. "The intent is these willows will be there when we had children, when our grandchildren come about."

"I was so overwhelmed with emotion," Yellowtail said. "(It's) Something I'll never, ever forget."

The experience was so positive, she said she came back to L.A., "floating."

"I feel really inspired and really grounded," she said. "I know that whatever comes next is going to be really inspired."

Yellowtail said she wouldn't call herself an activist, "So I would be the last person I thought would be on the front lines, but I did it," she said. "I just had faith that that was exactly where I was supposed to be in that moment."

The entire experience, from designing Protector Gear to visiting the camp, has also deepened her relationship with water and made her a more conscious consumer, she said. It has also given her increased confidence in her professional pursuits.

"It was good affirmation for me to go there," Yellowtail said. "I see how my work and my career path and the things Im passionate about, how theyre still very much intertwined in the big picture."
Yellowstone County officials said theyll explore having a construction manager oversee its $18.3 million jail expansion after talking to representatives from a large construction company interested in the project.

Officials from Dick Anderson Construction, Inc., a Montana firm with offices in Billings, met with county commissioners and other county officials during a Monday afternoon discussion meeting.

Dick Andersons Scott Chartier, project manager, and Kevin Hintt, vice president, said the company has been following the jail expansion project and suggested the county consider hiring a construction manager to work with the architect and the county.

Hintt contacted Commissioners John Ostlund and Jim Reno in an email late Friday afternoon and asked if the county was considering using the construction manager approach similar to what it used when it rebuilt the MetraPark Rimrock Auto Arena after it was damaged by a tornado.

Our belief is that this method of delivering a product is by far the best way to go, Hintt said.

Ostlund invited Dick Anderson officials to the Monday afternoon discussion meeting and the topic was added to the agenda.

The construction manager approach, Dick Anderson representatives said, is the best way to ensure large, complex projects, like a jail expansion, are successful, finished on time and within budget.

Dick Anderson is the contractor for RiverStone Healths new $11 million clinic and was the contractor for Billings new Medicine Crow Middle School in the Billings Heights and the remodel of McKinley Elementary School. The company also worked with High Tech Construction, which merged with Dick Anderson, for the reconstruction of MetraParks Rimrock Auto Arena.

Having a construction manager brings another set of eyes to review the budget and design plans while there is still time and would work as a team with the county and architect, Chartier said.

With a construction manager approach, the manager has a guaranteed price and risks having to pay for the difference if the project exceeds the price, Chartier said.

The construction manager also would work with the architect to develop bid packages for the various parts of project and review the bids.

If the county bids the project using a design, bid and build method, it could award the project to contractor with the lowest price but who may not have qualified subcontractors, Dick Anderson officials said.

Contractors trying to bid projects using a design-bid-build approach scramble up to the deadline to prepare a bid they think will be the lowest and may not have time to check out all of the subcontractors, Dick Anderson officials said.

To select a construction manager, the county would seek interested contractors through a request for qualifications, develop a short list and then seek a request for proposals from which the county would select a construction manager.

Dick Anderson would submit its qualifications and a proposal like any other potential contractor, the company officials said.

Yellowstone County is in the final design phase with its architect, Schutz Foss Architects, of Billings, on plans to add a 148-bed womens housing unit to the jail, expand its kitchen and laundry and make other improvements.

The plan is to seek bids in March and begin construction as soon as possible next year.

The project will relieve severe overcrowding in womens unit and upgrade the nearly 30-year old building.

Voters authorized the county to borrow up to $9.7 million to help pay for the expansion, which also will be funded through existing funds and operations.

Commissioners Ostlund and Jim Reno supported getting more information about the construction manager approach.

Reno said the county would talk to School District 2 officials, who have used the approach in its building projects.

Its a concept worth pursing, Ostlund said. He asked department officials to look into the idea and to make a recommendation.
With no one in opposition, at a public hearing Monday night, Collegedale Commissioners approved on a second and final vote to rezone property on Apison Pike for a large new development. North American Development Group is planning a commercial/residential development on 100 acres where Meridian Drive intersects Apison Pike. The property is zoned and planned for commercial use with a Planned Commercial Development overlay, which will allow housing. In addition to the commercial buildings, 180 residences have been proposed for the location.

A multi-use community project named Collegedale Commons is taking shape on eight acres just south and adjacent to the city hall. When complete, it will have a pavilion, a shade market, bathroom pavilions, soundstage, outdoor amphitheater, a covered market space and in the long term, a community center/event hall. The commissioners passed a resolution that prohibits the service and consumption of alcohol on this property during any city-sponsored event. All parks and greenways in Collegedale are already alcohol free, said City Manager Ted Rogers. The vote Monday night pertained only to the Commons for events sponsored by the city. This rule will not apply to private events.

The commissioners unanimously approved entering into an agreement with the Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) that should prevent overflows of the pumping station in Collegedale.

Mayor Katie Lamb appointed Jerry Moody, an experienced planner with the city of Chattanooga, to fill a vacancy on the Collegedale Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals.

The Collegedale Fall Festival is scheduled to take place on Sunday, Oct. 30, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Veterans Park. This year will mark 100 years since the community was founded. October is also significant because the name Collegedale was given to the area in October, 1960. This year the festival will have a stage with live music provided by the jazz band from Southern Adventist University. There will be booths with activities for small children, an antique car show and food vendors. In case of heavy rain, the location will move to the parking lot of the Community Church at 4995 Swinyar Dr.
TENNESSEE STATE LINE RAILROAD, 1883

This line is better known as the Ooltewah Cut-Off, even in legal documents at the beginning of the 20th century.

According to A Legal History of the Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company by Fairfax Harrison (1901), after the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad (ETV&G) acquired the Macon and Brunswick Railroad, interested parties decided the railway needed a shorter route to connect with the Cincinnati Southern Railway that had recently begun operations into Chattanooga. These parties incorporated the Ooltewah and Red Clay Railroad Company in Tennessee in December 1881; the same individuals incorporated the Tennessee and Cohutta Railroad Company in Georgia in January1882. In May 1882, they won approval to consolidate as the Tennessee State Line Railroad Company. This was the entity which built the Ooltewah Cut-off.

In the legal proceedings which accompanied the receivership of the ETV&G Railroad which resulted in its being reorganized as the ETV&G Railway, it was discovered the ETV&G did not own the Ooltewah Cut-off. The Tennessee State Line Railroad Company had merely leased it to them. The ownership did not get sorted out until Southern Railway (SOU) incorporated the entire holding of ETV&G in 1894. After that merger, these stations became part of SOUs Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Brunswick and Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Meridian Divisions.

The stations on the Tennessee State Line Railroad were as follows.

Ooltewah Junction

The northern terminus of the Cut-off, this schedule stop was briefly called Turners Station. It stood at the end of Rail Road Avenue in the V of the railroad junction. Passenger service moved here, and freight service to the original Ooltewah Depot at the east end of town. The latter closed sometime in the 1910s, and the name of this station became simply Ooltewah. Passenger service continued here at least through 1960; SOU closed the depot in 1976.

Thatchers Switch

The signal stop here primarily served shipping needs to limestone and lime mined nearby, loaded onto cars on a side-track. The station stood at the eastern mouth of McDaniel Gap between the tracks and Apison Pike across from the end of Sanborn Drive.

When the Seventh Day Adventist Church decided to close its Southern Training School in Graysville, Tennessee, in 1916, it chose the valley here for its new Southern Junior College. That institution grew into Southern Missionary College in 1944, which became Southern College of Seventh Day Adventists in 1982 then Southern Adventist University in 1996.

The post office of Thatchers operated here from 1895 to 1901. Postal service was reestablished here in 1919 as Collegedale, as which the community incorporated in 1968.

Wootens Switch

A mile-and-a-half downtrack, this signal stop primarily serviced a side- track.

Apison

This schedule stop was originally called OBrian, but was soon changed because of another station by that name in Tennessee. In the early years of settlement in the 19th century, the area was known as Zion Hill.

The post office of Zion Hill operated in the vicinity from 1848 until 1866. Postal service was reestablished as Apison in 1882.

Howardville

This schedule stop stood at the Howardville Road crossing of the railway.

The post office of Howardsville operated from 1887 until 1931.

Cohutta

The southern terminus of this line, its junction with the Western and Atlantic Railroad, was originally intended to be State Line Station at Red Clay, Whitfield County, Georgia, but this station proved better suited.

For further Cohutta information, see the section on the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, 1851.

Chuck Hamilton

<natty4bumpo@gmail.com>
Solid state physics offers a rich variety of intriguing phenomena, several of which are not yet fully understood. Experiments with fermionic atoms in optical lattices get very close to imitating the behaviour of electrons in solid state crystals, thus forming a well-controlled quantum simulator for these systems. Now a team of scientists around Professor Immanuel Bloch and Dr. Christian Gro at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have observed the emergence of antiferromagnetic order over a correlation length of several lattice sites in a chain of fermionic atoms. Contrary to the ferromagnetism we experience in everyday life, these antiferromagnets are characterized by an alternating alignment of the elementary magnetic moment associated with each electron or atom. Combining their quantum gas microscope with advanced local manipulation techniques, the scientists were able to simultaneously observe the spin and the density distribution with single-site resolution and single atom sensitivity. By approaching the conditions prevailing in macroscopic crystals with fermionic quantum many-body systems, one hopes to achieve a better understanding of phenomena such as the so-called high-temperature superconductivity.

The experiment started with cooling a cloud of fermionic lithium-6 atoms down to extremely low temperatures, a millionth of a Kelvin above absolute zero. These ultracold fermions were then trapped by light fields and forced into a single plane, which in turn was further split in several one-dimensional tubes. Finally, an optical lattice was applied along the tubes mimicking the periodic potential that electrons see in a real material.



On average, the one-dimensional optical lattices were completely filled, meaning that each lattice site was occupied with exactly one atom. Two internal quantum states of the lithium atoms mimic the magnetic moment of the electrons, which can point either upwards or downwards. As long as the temperature of the system is high compared to the magnetic interaction between these spins, only the density distribution of the system shows a regular pattern dictated by the optical lattice. However, below a certain temperature the magnetic moments of neighbouring atoms are expected to anti-align, leading to antiferromagenic correlations. These correlations arise because the system aims to lower its energy, Martin Boll, doctoral student at the experiment, explains. The underlying mechanism is called superexchange which means that the magnetic moments of neighbouring atoms exchange their directions.



The team around Christian Gro and Immanuel Bloch had to tackle two main challenges: First, it was necessary to measure the particle density with high resolution to unambiguously identify single particles and holes on their individual lattice sites. This was achieved with the quantum gas microscope where a high resolution objective images the atoms all at once, such that a series of photographic snapshots of the atomic gas can be taken. The second really big challenge was the separation of atoms based on their magnetic orientations, says Martin Boll. To this end, we combined an optical superlattice with a magnetic gradient that shifted the potential minima depending on the orientation of the magnetic moment. As a consequence, opposite magnetic moments were separated into two different sites of the local double well potential created by the superlattice. In a series of measurements we have tuned this method to such a degree that we obtained a splitting fidelity of nearly 100 percent.



Having all these tools at hand, the team succeeded to observe the emergence of antiferromagnetic correlations that extended over three sites, well beyond nearest-neighbours. Quantum simulations with fermions in optical lattices is of particular interest because it may lead to a better understanding of the so-called high-temperature superconductivity for which the interplay of holes and antiferromagnetic correlations is believed to be crucial., Dr. Christian Gro points out. In the near future, we might be able to even prepare our samples with a certain degree of hole-doping that resembles the conditions in superconducting materials.
Billings City Council members lauded the work done for homeless and financially struggling people by St. Vincent de Paul, but the nonprofits request for money from tax increment financing funds was met with skepticism by some council members.

St. Vincent de Paul is asking for $350,000 to purchase the Crane Building, which is at the corner of First Avenue South and South 30th Street. The group has already sold its Grand Avenue building and would sell its current downtown building on Montana Avenue if it moves to the Crane Building. The total project would cost about $1.4 million.

Would we move without your money? Possible, said St. Vincent director Ed Zabrocki. But we wouldnt have a first class facility.

St. Vincent de Paul operates thrift stores and provides services to homeless and financially struggling people, like free meals or rent assistance. The group is moving because its current downtown building, which houses charity operations, is far from first class. The wooden structure doesnt have a sprinkler system, and a remodel might be more expensive than moving.

Mayor Tom Hanel and city administrator Tina Volek both recommended that the group move to a new location instead of remodeling the current one.

St. Vincent de Paul targeted the Crane Building for its renovation possibilities and available outdoor gathering space. But not everyone was on board with a move across the railroad tracks.

Councilman Mike Yakawich, whose district includes Crane Building, said he worries that our vision is, were gonna put all these people on the South Side theres no thinking of the impact of the homeowners on the South Side, or the residents on the South Side.

Zabrocki said that 60 percent of St. Vincents resources support people from the South Side already.

I think there could be an impact, and I think it could be a good impact, he said.

Yakawich and Matt Lundgren, who chairs the South Side Task Force, a community improvement group, both said that they were disappointed in a lack of communication between project planners and South Side leaders.

Moving it across the tracks doesnt solve the problem, Lundgren said.

Downtown Business Alliance executive director Lisa Harmon called homeless issues a difficult conversation.

We really do need to talk about a nonprofit that is willing to bring resources to the table, she said.

Hanel cut off an exchange that grew testy between Harmon and Yakawich.

Councilman Ryan Sullivan expressed concern about using TIF funds to aid a nonprofits move to another location and whether or not the project met legal requirements for use of the funds.

Several council members also expressed support for the project, and Hanel recommended Volek put the item on a future agenda for a business meeting. Mondays meeting was a council work session where no action was taken.

Legislative outlook

The council also heard updates on several issues that could generate bills in the upcoming legislature, including a revamped version of a 2015 bill that would have outlawed public intoxication.

A new proposal will more broadly address chronic public incapacitation because of substance abuse, said city lobbyist Ed Bartlett. The previous bill addressed only alcohol.

Councilman Shaun Brown questioned the wisdom of increasing how many more people we can throw in jail, when the county currently struggles with jail overcrowding.

The new bill will have more emphasis on treatment, Bartlett said, promoting a carrot and stick approach.

He said two very experienced legislators from Billings have said they would carry the bill.
While some voters already know who they'll support for president come November, the rest of the ballot is a mystery for many. Chicago startup BallotReady wants to help voters fill in the blanks.

The company will introduce free online voter guides for more than 20,000 candidates in 25 states and Washington, D.C., by the end of the week  put together with help of online contract workers and IBM Watson.

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The Illinois guide went live on Monday, with profiles of each of the state's more than 1,900 candidates up for election, as well as details of their policy stances.

Previously, the company had covered just five elections, all in the past year  Kentucky's gubernatorial election in 2015, and 2016 primary elections in Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland and Colorado.

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CEO and co-founder Alex Niemczewski said many voters are less informed about lower-profile, down-ballot races, which makes it harder for them to choose a candidate who matches their values  or any candidate at all.

"I hope that no one leaves any blanks and no one guesses on their ballot," said Niemczewski of the coming election.

There are nearly 100 candidates on the upcoming ballot in Cook County, including 69 judicial candidates. Voters will also have the chance to support or oppose an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would keep the General Assembly from spending transportation funds for other uses.

BallotReady provides voters a head-to-head view of candidates' experience, education, personal information and policy stances. The company originally worked with political science students at universities to compile that information, but found the results to be slow, costly and sometimes inaccurate.

Instead, the company turned to Amazon's Mechanical Turk, an online crowdsourcing marketplace, where it asked random individuals to pull the needed information. Niemczewski said she realized they were getting answers faster and cheaper than with the student interns, cutting costs from about $14 per candidate profile to less than $2.

People who accept the Mechanical Turk assignments check candidates' websites, news article and other sources to answer specific questions such as, "Where did Hillary Clinton go to college?" or "What is Donald Trump's stance on the tax code?"

About five people answer each question, and if they all provide the same answer, BallotReady adds that detail to its database. The company then feeds the information on candidate's policy stances into a program it designed to work with Watson, which automatically tags them by category.

This use of artificial intelligence and structured crowdsourcing, which refers to relying on many people to perform specific tasks, brought BallotReady's costs down and allowed it to cover so many candidates in so much detail, Niemczewski said. She aims to have BallotReady cover every race in the country by the 2020 election.

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The upcoming election could serve as a proof of BallotReady's worth, if the company can get enough voters to its site, said Dick Simpson, professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He said no one will use BallotReady to decide who to vote for for president, but the site could illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of candidates in state and local races.

"Can they reach enough voters that it actually affects the outcome of any election? They're not going to probably achieve that this election," Simpson said. "By 2018 election, that's conceivable.  If they can inform enough voters so that (a bad) candidate loses, that would make people really pay attention."

BallotReady raised $750,000 in seed funding earlier this year from the University of Chicago, Mergelane (which supports female-led companies), and a number of angel investors, Niemczewski said. The for-profit, nonpartisan company previously received grants from the National Science Foundation and the Knight Foundation, as well as $30,000 from the University of Chicago's Social New Venture Challenge.

BallotReady is also supported by the University's Institute of Politics, whose director, David Axelrod, sits on the company's board of advisors along with Republican political strategist Mike Murphy. The company remains based at the University of Chicago's Polsky Exchange, where it employs seven full-time and about 10 interns.

aelahi@tribpub.com

Twitter @aminamania
Tock, the online platform that aims to help restaurants better manage reservations and reduce no-shows, has raised $7.5 million in new funding as it plans to expand and take on OpenTable  and beyond.

The Series A round, announced Tuesday, was led by Chicago-based Origin Ventures. Other local investors included Chicago Ventures, Hyde Park Ventures and the Pritzker Group.

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Restaurateurs also joined in the round, including the Melman family, founders of Lettuce Entertain You; Travel Channel host and chef Andrew Zimmern; and Will Guidara and chef Daniel Humm of famed New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park. The Melmans also participated in Tock's seed funding round.

Tock's web-based platform allows diners to make pre-paid, ticketed reservations. It was co-founded in 2014 by Nick Kokonas  with chef Grant Achatz; they are also the owners of restaurants Alinea and Next. Brian Fitzpatrick , a former Google engineer, is co-founder and chief technology officer.

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Tock works with 167 restaurants in 38 cities across nine countries, and the company has 21 people on staff, said Kokonas, who is Tock's CEO.

With the funding, Tock plans to double staff to about 40 employees in the next six months and hopes to be in 500 restaurants within a year.

The company's growth has been organic, with no sales or marketing team, Kokonas said  it just made offers to its first two marketing employees in the past week. Instead, the focus has been on engineering and building out a hospitality staff to support existing clients.

The company recently hired an employee in the United Kingdom who'll service Tock's clients in the U.K. and Ireland, and it's looking for more help abroad.

"Right now, we're serving customers in Hong Kong, Australia and Amsterdam from Chicago," Kokonas said. "It's working great, but it cuts into our sleep schedule a bit."

Kokonas decided Tock was ready to go into rapid expansion mode about eight months ago  and mount a challenge to online restaurant reservation leader OpenTable, which he sees as vulnerable because of an "antiquated, janky old system."

OpenTable did not immediately return requests for comment.

Instead of using a standalone phone app, Tock's platform is entirely web-based, with a back end hosted by Google Cloud. That cloud platform has allowed the company to handle massive demand, Kokonas said  it processed $1.8 million in payments in 30 seconds when Copenhagen, Denmark-based restaurant Noma released tickets for its pop-up in Australia last October.

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On top of new restaurants, Kokonas sees opportunity to move into other industries. While Tock was created, in part, to deal with customers who ditch their dinner reservations, he said other businesses have contacted him too: dentists or other non-emergency medical services, MRI facilities  even proton acceleration facilities.

The company would not comment on revenue. Kokonas said it has processed $7 million in payments in the last 30 days, and $104 million since launching. Tock's eventual goal is to process $1 billion annually, he said. Tock has two pricing plans  $99 per month with a $0.99 per-diner additional charge, or $695 per month with no per-diner charges.

Tock's cash flow is roughly neutral right now, Kokonas said, but added that's likely to change once they begin expanding payroll.

The company previously raised $2 million in a seed funding round, bringing total funding to $9.5 million. Previous investors included Basecamp founder and CEO Jason Fried  and 1871 CEO Howard Tullman   both of whom also participated in the new round. Twitter's CEO at the time, Dick Costolo, and Jellyvision CEO Amanda Lannert  also participated in the seed round.

bmeyerson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter: @bmeyerson
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has been slipping in recent election polls, has lost ground in another measure of success  his ranking on the annual Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans.

Trump's net worth was pegged at $3.7 billion, an $800 million decline from last year, according to Forbes. The real estate developer and presidential candidate's ranking fell 35 spots to No. 156 on the gilded list, released Tuesday.

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Meanwhile, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin retained his title as Illinois' richest man, with a net worth of $7.5 billion, a $500 million increase over last year. Griffin moved up 12 slots to rank 57th on the list.

Overall, the rich got richer this year, with the Forbes 400 representing a record-breaking combined net worth of $2.4 trillion. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates retained the top spot for the 23rd consecutive year with a net worth of $81 billion. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, moved past Warren Buffett for the No. 2 slot with a net worth of $67 billion, up $20 billion from last year. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ranked No. 4 with a net worth of $55.5 billion, cracking the top 5 for the first time.

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Forbes said a softening of the New York real estate market contributed to Trump's decline. The value of Trump Tower in Chicago also declined, dropping $39 million, to $169 million. The property carries $50 million in debt, according to Forbes.

In Illinois, real estate investor and former Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell ranked No. 117 with a net worth of $4.7 billion, down $200 million from last year. Other Illinoisans on the list are J.B. Pritzker at $3.4 billion (No. 190), Neil Bluhm at $3.2 billion (No. 204) and Thomas Pritzker at $3.1 billion (No. 214). Beanie Babies creator Ty Warner, who was convicted of tax evasion in 2013 and paid a $53 million fine, had a net worth of $2.5 billion (No. 274), up $200 million over last year.

Trump, who claims his own net worth to be $10 billion, can take some consolation in the latest Forbes 400 list, the publication's 35th annual wealth ranking. He's still ranked above chief billionaire reality show rival and political tormentor Mark Cuban, whose net worth came in at $3.2 billion (No. 204).

The complete Forbes 400 list can be found at www.forbes.com/400.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertChannick
ConAgra Foods paid $108.9 million in cash to acquire Frontera Foods, the Chicago-based packaged Mexican food company founded by celebrity chef Rick Bayless, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

The cost of the acquisition, which was announced Sept. 26, was not previously made available. The deal, which moved the Frontera, Red Fork and Salpica grocery brands under the ConAgra banner, did not include any of the Frontera-branded restaurants.

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ConAgra CEO Sean Connolly has said ConAgra is moving toward value over volume, a distinct shift for a company long known for deeply discounted brands like Banquet frozen dinners and Chef Boyardee. The acquisition of Frontera, known in the Chicago area for its gourmet chips and salsas, reflects that change. So do other products in ConAgra's portfolio, such as Alexia frozen potatoes and Blake's All Natural pot pies.

Coincidentally, $108.9 million was also the amount a Nebraska district judge ordered ConAgra to pay in March in a civil lawsuit over the 2009 explosion of a Slim Jim factory in North Carolina. The plaintiff, California-based Jacobs Engineering, a contractor for ConAgra, had paid about $108 million in settling lawsuits that stemmed from the explosion, then eventually sued ConAgra to recover those costs.

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Last month, ConAgra filed a notice to appeal the Nebraska judge's ruling, according to the SEC filing.

gtrotter@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
Johnson & Johnson is warning users of its OneTouch Ping insulin pump that hackers could exploit a cybersecurity flaw to infuse additional doses of the diabetes drug without their knowledge, which could be life-threatening.

"The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping System is extremely low," the company said in a letter to patients alerting them to the risk. "It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the Internet or to any external network."

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based device maker said it has worked to address the issues and laid out steps patients can take to reduce their risk, such as turning off the pump's wireless connection to a blood sugar meter, or setting a limit on the amount of insulin that can be delivered. While the potential risk with insulin pumps has been known since at least 2011 when a security conference in Las Vegas featured the hack of a Medtronic Plc device, the issue has gained attention as more devices include wireless technology to make them easier to use.

A cybersecurity researcher brought the risks to J&J's attention in April after identifying ways to hack the device, according to Reuters, which first reported the weakness. That allowed the company to investigate and work with U.S. regulators and the hacker, the same security researcher who earlier exposed the issue with Medtronic's pump.

The experience with J&J's device stands in sharp contrast to the disclosure of similar potential vulnerabilities with St. Jude Medical Inc.'s pacemakers and defibrillators in August. Short-seller Carson Block and his Muddy Waters Capital investment firm issued a report with MedSec, a cybersecurity company, alleging possible cybersecurity flaws in St. Jude's products. The investment company made a simultaneous short call on St. Jude's shares that allowed it to profit if the stock fell.

Block and his colleagues said they didn't give St. Jude early warning about the potential risks, which has traditionally been the standard in the cyber community, because the deficiencies were so great and St. Jude had been negligent in ignoring them.

St. Jude countered that the deficiencies identified by Muddy Waters and MedSec were actually a safety feature, and that the device the firms tested was functioning normally. Abbott Laboratories, which agreed in April to buy St. Jude for $25 billion, has said it remains committed to the transaction.
Kronos Foods, a Glendale Heights food service company that specializes in Mediterranean cuisine, has been acquired by a Colorado-based private equity firm.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

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The firm acquiring Kronos, Grey Mountain Partners, manages about $700 million in assets.

Kronos CEO Howard Eirinberg said in a statement that the company "looks forward" to Grey Mountain's support as it expands into new product lines. Kronos makes and distributes food such as gyros, pita and baklava for chain restaurants, schools, hotels and businesses.
Developer Sterling Bay unveiled plans for McDonald's Fulton Market headquarters June 22, 2016. The burger chain is slated to move to the site in spring 2018. The area where it is located is variously known as Fulton Market, West Loop and West Town. (Sterling Bay rendering)

McDonald's has bought some breathing room in its planned Chicago headquarters.

The Oak Brook -based burger chain, which is set to move downtown in spring 2018, has leased more space in the building it will occupy on the site of Oprah Winfrey's former Harpo Studios, McDonald's spokeswoman Terri Hickey said. The chain now plans to lease just under 500,000 square feet in the new building, up from the 390,000 square feet previously planned.

In total, the two-building structure, which at its highest will reach nine stories tall, will encompass more than 600,000 square feet. Taking out underground parking and other amenities, there's a total rent-generating space of about 540,000 square feet. That also includes planned retail on the ground floor. No tenants in that space have yet been confirmed.

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McDonald's officially announced its plan to move to the neighborhood alternatively known as the West Loop, West Town and Fulton Market in June. The old Harpo Studios was demolished in July to make room for the new construction. Last month, developer Sterling Bay got approval from the Chicago City Council to increase the site's allotted density and build a bigger building.

McDonald's operates an 86-acre campus in Oak Brook, which it has called home for nearly four decades, but it owns 150 acres of land across five sites in the village. By moving, McDonald's is hoping to cater more to young workers who increasingly prefer the city to the suburbs.

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The expanded lease was first reported by Crain's Chicago Business.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SamWillTravel
Procter & Gamble Co., which is losing market share to eco-friendly products, is under mounting pressure to either fend off the competitors or buy one of them.

The maker of Tide and Crest is struggling to maintain its position in key categories, including skin care, razor blades and laundry detergent. Companies with so-called sustainable brands  products that are seen as more natural, environmentally sensitive or purpose-driven  are chipping away at P&G's longstanding hold on American households. Though P&G remains the world's largest consumer-products company, its wares don't have the same maverick appeal as newer brands.

Unilever, P&G's top competitor, raised the stakes last month when it agreed to acquire Seventh Generation, a Vermont-based company that makes sustainable cleaning products. The company had previously acquired Dollar Shave Club  another startup targeting America's bathroom cabinets  and expressed interest in Honest Co., the household-products company co-founded by actress Jessica Alba.

The situation may lead to a broader hunt for other sustainable acquisitions, said Philip Gorham, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. Buying a brand like Honest Co. or Method Products  assuming those businesses can be acquired  could help P&G appeal to younger consumers.

"The consumer products industry is going niche," he said. "Any number of the multinational consumer product manufacturers would want companies like Honest Co. and Method Products in their portfolio."

P&G's sales in core categories have slipped in recent months. Its share of the U.S. skin care market fell to 12.7 percent in September, down from 14.2 percent in July, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, which cited IRI retail data. And the company, which owns Gillette, is facing a declining market for razor blades.

At the same time, Dollar Shave's smaller rival, Harry's, has been gaining share. That company recently began selling at Target stores, further squeezing P&G.

P&G just sold 41 beauty brands to New York-based Coty Inc., a deal that closed on Monday. But the company may soon return to acquisition mode. Chief Executive Officer David Taylor signaled on a conference call in August that P&G will rely on deals to fill out its product portfolio.

"Am I open to M&A bolt-on acquisitions that we think are strategic and would help accelerate the growth in any of our 10 core categories? The answer is clearly yes," he said.

Damon Jones, a spokesman for Cincinnati-based P&G, declined to comment on its acquisition strategy.

Unilever, meanwhile, has been more aggressive in snapping up nontraditional brands. It agreed to acquire Dollar Shave Club in July in a deal that was said to be worth about $1 billion. Unilever then set its sights on Seventh Generation, announcing plans to purchase that company in September.

The buying spree raised questions about other brands in the category. Unilever has also discussed an acquisition of Honest Co., according to a person familiar with that matter. But Honest Co. may push ahead with a plan for an initial public offering. The startup has been working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley on a possible IPO, people familiar with the matter said earlier this year.

Since Alba helped start Honest Co. in 2011, the company has branched out from natural baby products to home cleaning and beauty items. Honest Co. has gotten a foothold in stores such as Target and Whole Foods Market Inc., but it's also faced challenges. Honest Co. was the target of a class-action lawsuit filed last year in which customers claimed its products were deceptively labeled and contained unnatural ingredients.

Eco-friendly products typically carry a premium over traditional cleaners and hygiene items  a key advantage at a time when supermarket prices are getting squeezed. Consumers are often willing to pay about 20 percent more for sustainable products, according to Bill Harrison, head of consumer investment banking at Headwaters. The market for sustainable personal health products alone could be worth $117 billion, his firm estimates.

But there's always the chance that smaller brands don't want to be acquired by a consumer-products behemoth. Take Method, the San Francisco-based company that sells green cleaners. It agreed to a merger with Belgium's Ecover in 2012 because the companies seemed to have the same philosophy.

Drew Fraser, CEO of Method, says Seventh Generation's deal with Unilever was quite different.

"By becoming part of Unilever  a company that isn't built on the same philosophy  Seventh Generation risks alienating its current customer base," he said in an e-mail. "Customers in our category want to buy and support brands aligned with their values, so joining Unilever's portfolio may feel disjointed to Seventh Generation's consumers."

These concerns may make it difficult for P&G to buy its way into the hearts of sustainable-product shoppers. Instead, the company may need to focus on rehabilitating its own brands, said Ali Dibadj, an analyst from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

"P&G is still trying to get its house in order," Dibadj said.
Ingalls Memorial Hospital in south suburban Harvey now is officially part of the University of Chicago Medicine system. (Ingalls Health System 2014)

University of Chicago Medicine has officially scooped up its first community hospital, finalizing a merger expected to expand the academic medical center's reach and improve the outlook for a smaller south suburban health system.

U. of C. Medicine announced Tuesday that it has gained all the necessary regulatory and institutional approvals to finalize its merger with Ingalls Health System, which runs a community hospital in Harvey. No money was exchanged under the terms of the deal.

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The merger might be just the beginning of a larger quest by U. of C. Medicine to expand into community hospitals.

Kenneth Polonsky, U. of C. Medicine executive vice president for medical affairs, confirmed to the Tribune the health system is in talks with other community hospitals about potential partnerships, though he declined to say which ones.

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In Chicago and across the country, health care providers are consolidating to reduce costs, offer more services and, some say, to boost their bargaining power with insurers.

This latest merger will allow the academic medical center to serve a wider geographic area, Polonsky said. U. of C. Medicine also can learn much by partnering with a community hospital, he said.

"We can programmatically learn a lot from having a hospital like this," Polonsky said. "It gives us an opportunity for our physicians to partner with community physicians."

Meanwhile, Ingalls hopes to get a lift by being part of the highly esteemed U. of C. Medicine system. Historically, it's been challenging for Ingalls to compete with other hospitals for doctors, said Kurt Johnson, Ingalls Health System president and CEO.

"With their reputation and clinical stature, I'll be in a much stronger position to recruit stronger, better-trained physicians, all of which benefits our community," said Johnson, who will remain president and CEO at Ingalls.

U. of C. Medicine expects to hire a "significant" number of additional physicians who will be based primarily at Ingalls, as well as add additional services there, Polonsky said. Ingalls has about 450 physicians in 30 medical and surgical specialties and 473 beds. The University of Chicago Medical Center has about 850 physicians, more than 1,100 residents and fellows and 805 licensed beds.

Ingalls had revenue of $298 million, and a surplus of $16 million in 2013, according to the most recent federal tax filings available. U. of C. Medical Center had revenue of $1.5 billion in 2013 and a surplus of nearly $115 million.

Johnson said the merger also will help Ingalls provide higher levels of cancer care in the south suburbs, or refer patients to U. of C. Medicine's Hyde Park campus.

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Polonsky said he expects the integration between the two systems to be complete within a year to 18 months. Ingalls will keep a local board and be represented on the U. of C. Medical Center board.

The integrated system includes Ingalls' five outpatient centers, U. of C. Medicine's Hyde Park medical campus and planned ambulatory facilities in Orland Park and the South Loop.

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), right, talks with Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) before the start of the panel's Sept. 20 hearing on Wells Fargo's fake-accounts scandal. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

Washington  Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Monday that he plans to push legislation that would allow Wells Fargo & Co. customers to sue the bank over unauthorized accounts opened by employees trying to meet aggressive sales quotas.

The escalating scandal also drew the attention of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who in a speech criticized the San Francisco bank and other companies that use the fine print in customer contracts to force disputes into private arbitration instead of allowing consumers to go to court.

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She said Monday that if elected, she would "rein in the abuse."

Brown's bill, which he plans to introduce when Congress returns after the November elections, would invalidate mandatory arbitration clauses in the contracts of customers who were among those who had unauthorized accounts opened in their names. About 2 million such accounts were opened.

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"Secret arbitration proceedings allowed Wells Fargo to get away with this fraud for far too long already," Brown said. "And even now that it's out in the open, Wells Fargo still hasn't given us straight answers as to how long this fraud went on, exactly how many customers were hurt or how the bank will restore damaged credit scores that could end up costing customers thousands of dollars.

"Giving customers back their right to take Wells Fargo to court gives them the power to ensure they are made whole and helps prevent cases like this in the future," he said.

Brown, an outspoken opponent of mandatory arbitration clauses, pressed Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf on the matter during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee's Sept. 20 hearing on the bank's recent $185-million settlement related to the opening of the unauthorized accounts.

Stumpf said he would have to discuss with his legal team whether customers would be forced into arbitration on disputes about the unauthorized accounts.

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing last week, Stumpf said he believed that the arbitration process was fair, but that the bank would pay for a mediator to assess any additional customer concerns.

"Will you let them to go to court if they want to go to court, yes or no?" Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch) asked Stumpf.

Stumpf said he would not.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed new rules that would prevent arbitration clauses for financial products from including language that bans customers from joining in class-action lawsuits.

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Such bans are common in mandatory arbitration clauses. The bureau's latest proposal, released in May, could take effect next year.

Clinton said in a speech in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday that she would push to eliminate mandatory arbitration clauses from financial products and other consumer and employment contracts, such as those for student loans.

"We are not going to let corporations like Wells Fargo use these fine-print 'gotchas' to escape accountability," Clinton said. "This has become a common practice across a lot of industries  from nursing homes that mistreat seniors to for-profit colleges that defraud students. Who reads all that fine print? I don't. So you get  mistreated, and all of a sudden they say, you can't sue us. So we're going to rein in the abuse."

Clinton's campaign said she would build on the efforts of the CFPB and other regulators to eliminate mandatory arbitration clauses by "ordering executive agencies to pursue additional measures to level the playing field for consumers and employees under their existing authorities."

Brown supports the CFPB rules for financial products, but noted that they would only apply to future customer contracts.

Brown's bill would invalidate arbitration clauses for unauthorized accounts at Wells Fargo or any other bank in the past.

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In a statement, Wells Fargo responded that it is "working to make things right" for customers with unwanted accounts and reiterated that it is paying for mediation through an "impartial" third party.

"This is fast and free to the customer," it said.

The bill would stymie a legal strategy The Times documented last year: Wells Fargo has repeatedly argued that customers, when opening genuine accounts, agreed to arbitrate all disputes with the bank  including disputes over accounts they never authorized.

Though attorneys for bank customers have called that argument "laughable," and said there's no way customers knew they would be giving up the right to sue over accounts they never authorized, local and federal judges have ruled in the bank's favor.

"The arbitration provisions in the plaintiffs' customer agreements with Wells Fargo are broad," covering any dispute between customers and the bank, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria wrote in a 2015 order calling for a suit over unauthorized accounts to go to arbitration.

Brown's bill would allow customers to sue even if they agreed in other valid contracts with the bank that all disputes would be resolved through arbitration.

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While the issue of the arbitration clauses became an election issue Monday, more state and local officials moved to sanction Wells Fargo over its accounts scandal.

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said his office would not use Wells Fargo to buy or sell securities for the next year, an attempt to punish the bank for behavior he called "downright shameful."

Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers, meanwhile, said his office would divest itself of about $25 million in Wells Fargo securities.

Those moves follow last week's announcement by California Treasurer John Chiang that his office would temporarily suspend Wells Fargo from doing several types of work for his office, including underwriting some bond deals.

The loss of the business from both states and Chicago is not expected to materially affect the bottom line of Wells Fargo, which recorded more than $22 billion in revenue and $5.6 billion in net income in the second quarter.

Wells Fargo said Monday that the Illinois state treasurer's office only generates about $50,000 in annual revenue. But if other jurisdictions follow suit, losses would mount.

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jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

james.koren@latimes.com

Follow @JimPuzzanghera on Twitter

Follow @jrkoren on Twitter

Times staff writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

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6:40 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Wells Fargo's legal strategy, actions taken by the Illinois state treasurer and a response from the bank.

This article was originally published at 12:45 p.m.
The first-generation Bronco was Ford's first compact sport utility vehicle, and it was an original design that did not share a platform with any other Ford model, according to Hagerty, the classic car insurance company. It was not the best-selling SUV at the time, nor was it the best-selling Bronco generation. However, unmolested examples with the optional V-8 are the most desirable Broncos for today's collectors. The versatility of the body style and its good looks are defining qualities of the Bronco. (Ford)

If there's one thing auto lovers can take from this (insert adjective here) election cycle, it's confirmation that Ford is resurrecting the Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup truck.

The news break comes from an unlikely source: A plant chairman for United Auto Workers Local 900 responding to Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's accusations in the first debate that Ford is moving jobs to Mexico.

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Bill Johnson, who represents workers at the Wayne, Mich., plant that made the Focus and C-Max compact cars now being moved to a plant in Mexico, told the Detroit Free Press on September 30 that Trump needs "to get his facts straight."

Trump said in the debate that thousands of jobs would be leaving Michigan as a result of Ford's decision to move its small-car production south of the border.

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Ford fired back that no jobs would be lost. The UAW supported this, with Johnson adding that while autoworkers "hate to see products go to Mexico," the return of the Ranger midsize pickup truck and Bronco SUV will secure the future of UAW workers at the Michigan Assembly Plant more than the comparatively low-volume compact cars.

The SUV/crossover is the best-selling segment in the U.S. The midsize pickup truck segment is hot with the return of the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, and overdue redesigns of the Honda Ridgeline and segment best-selling Toyota Tacoma. These models, along with the Nissan Frontier, are averaging double-digit sales increases over 2015.

Ford is missing the action, despite having the best-selling vehicle in America for more than three decades with the Ford F-150.

Ford Vice President Mark LaNeve whetted speculation in February at the 2016 Chicago Auto Show by announcing the automaker will add four new SUVs globally by 2020.

Yet Ford refuses to confirm the return of the Bronco and Ranger.

"We do not speculate about future product plans," Ford spokesman Bill Collins said, in response to what is becoming increasingly obvious.

Automakers use carefully crafted promotional cycles to maximize interest  and media coverage  during the long introductory period of new models. Ford's unwillingness to confirm what its workers are planning for is less a denial than a preference to control that cycle.

In place of specifics we have speculation, which dates back much further than 2016.

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In August 2015, John Wolkonowicz, a former Ford product planner and current independent analyst told Bloomberg the Bronco will have newfound appeal. "Gen Y has discovered the original Bronco," Wolkonowicz said. "Ford has seen what the Mustang can do for them, and they are bringing back their iconic names."

Originally launched in 1966, the rugged two-door off-road vehicle competed with the Jeep CJ, now known as the Wrangler. It grew over time on a truck platform shared with the Ford F-150 pickup truck. Due to increased safety standards and the third brake light, it became illegal to remove the top in 1992, though there is ample evidence of users getting around that on Ford truck forums. After 30 years of production, and one infamous stint in 1994 as O.J. Simpson's getaway vehicle in a surreal televised low-speed chase as Los Angeles police pursued him for the alleged murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend, the Bronco was discontinued in 1996.

Vehicles were getting smaller and more fuel-efficient, and the versatile Explorer appealed to families as a minivan alternative while retaining some of the ruggedness of a utility vehicle.

While the Bronco helped usher in the SUV-era, its demise helped enter in the crossover era.

The difference between an SUV and crossover, which often are lumped together in sales statistics and marketing materials, is that SUVs like the Bronco were based on stiffer, rougher riding body-on-frame construction, same as a pickup. Crossovers are the same size, but have moved to the unibody construction used on cars for smoother, softer rides.

The new Bronco is expected to be similarly sized to the Ford Explorer midsize crossover, but the Bronco should be a true SUV built on a body-on-frame truck platform. It should be more off-road capable, thereby able to better compete with Jeep's portfolio of trail-rated crossovers.

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It would make sense to share the platform with the Ranger midsize pickup truck, which was discontinued in the U.S. in 2011 but is still manufactured and sold in 180 other countries, including Mexico. It was redesigned in 2015 and shares a platform with the Everest three-row SUV available in Australia. Chances are the Bronco will look more like the Everest than the fanboy images going around social media, where all this speculation was ignited.

rduffer@chicagotribune.com
Should sellers should hire realtors or go the for-sale-by-owner route? Here are the the pros and cons of both approaches. Jeff Thiel went the for-sale-by-owner route and sold his condo to the tenant who had rented it for two years. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Brian and Sheila Rafferty sold their Glen Ellyn house in 2014 without using a real estate agent. He estimates that the commission would have been about $40,000  money the Raffertys got to pocket instead.

That kind of savings can make for sale by owner (pronounced "fizz-bo" in industry-speak) seem awfully attractive. The math comes easy: At the standard 6 percent, selling a $400,000 home on your own saves you $24,000 in commission. Even with a negotiated lower commission, you'd save thousands of dollars.

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Changes in the real estate market make for sale by owner easier than ever these days, with options that are a little bit FSBO, a little bit traditional.

Years ago, if you wanted to sell your house solo, you'd put an ad in the classified section and a sign on your front lawn. To determine your asking price, you'd make the best guess you could. The internet has upended those dynamics completely.

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Some of the most popular real estate websites put FSBO listings side by side with those from the tried-and-true Multiple Listing Service, and they provide ready comps from your neighborhood and an estimated price for your home too.

"I looked at Zillow and Redfin to see what other places sold for in the area, similar kinds of condos," said 38-year-old pharmacist Jeff Thiel, who didn't use a real estate agent in May when he sold the condo in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood that he and his wife had owned since 2007.

Add in that we've all become more comfortable handling transactions without real-life expert guidance  from planning a vacation to purchasing stocks  and you might guess that the market share of for sale by owner would be growing by leaps and bounds.

Jessica and Jeff Thiel now live in Glenview. When they sold their condo in the city's Logan Square neighborhood, Jeff Thiel looked at Zillow and Redfin to see what other places sold for in the area. He did not use a real estate agent. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)

But surprisingly, 92 percent of home sellers last year were assisted by a real estate agent, according to the National Association of Realtors, and that number is on the rise.

"Twenty years ago, for sale by owner comprised about 20 percent of transactions," said Tom Salomone, president of the Realtors group.

Salomone said the percentage of FSBOs has dropped because buying and selling real estate is getting more complex, from the cost of marketing homes these days and banks' tendency to be more stringent in handing out mortgages to the increase in buyers from overseas. "The process and everything involved is so complicated now."

Steve Udelson has a different explanation. Udelson is president of Owners.com, one of several websites that allow a seller to put up an MLS listing for a flat fee, instead of the typical seller-agent relationship.

Because only agents can post to the MLS, a seller is technically assisted by a real estate agent, even if he or she is not earning a commission. Nobody measures how many sales run through these kind of 21st-century arrangements, although a recent Redfin survey found that 69 percent of buyers and sellers were open to an alternative to the traditional real estate service.

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"A real estate agent commission is a legacy product designed for a radically different era when there was absolutely no information available at all to the consumer," Udelson said. "It was natural to put all the services together in a bundle."

Today's sellers don't have to buy that whole bundle. They can pick and choose costs and benefits. No MLS listing means no commission, but also no connection to the real estate industry. Paying a flat fee MLS saves the seller's half of the commission  but when a real estate agent brings in the buyer, you're still on the hook for the buyer's half.

When bypassing an agent, be very clear about what you're giving up.

"FSBO is easier to do in theory. Most people who try it then go, 'Oh, I need help.' Good agents are great at helping, that's their job," said Jeremy Wacksman, chief marketing officer of the Zillow Group, whose websites include Zillow and Trulia.

Nine out of ten buyers today look at homes online. Inducing them to travel and take a look in person requires a strong first impression from photos and occasionally video.

"A Realtor obviously knows what buyers are looking for in the photography, what factors to highlight, because she knows what buyers want in a house in that community," said Stephanie Szigetvari, managing broker of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Northwest office in Arlington Heights.

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Once the listing is up, a real estate agent vets potential buyers, networks with other agents to promote the sale, and handles scheduling and conducting open houses and home showings.

None of those services were necessary for Rafferty, a retired PR professional in his late 60s with a vacation house on Amelia Island in Florida. Rafferty's permanent move to the Sunshine State came about when a young couple knocked on his front door and asked if he and his wife were interested in selling. Another sale had just fallen through and the couple was desperate to stay in the school district.

Still, Rafferty had to work through a checklist of tasks without an agent at his side  setting and haggling over the price, getting through the inspection and navigating the closing process.

"If you're going to sell the home yourself, you have to be the type of individual open to actively negotiating with people," Rafferty said.

Even without an agent, Rafferty didn't go it alone. He gives high praise to his lawyer, whom he often sought out for advice and who once served as a surrogate when the back-and-forth negotiations became particularly sticky. That meant extra billable hours, but much less expense than a full commission.

Like Rafferty, Thiel found a buyer without any marketing. He and his family moved from Chicago to Glenview two years ago, renting their Logan Square condo while waiting for the real estate market to recover from the recession.

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When Thiel told their tenant this past spring that her lease would have to end when he put the place on the market, she broached the subject of buying the unit.

"It was an easier decision for us not to go with a real estate agent because we had a ready audience," Thiel said. "Now that I know the process, I definitely would be open to for sale by owner for my next sale. The challenge is marketing the home. I absolutely would have used a real estate agent if we had to show the place."

Ultimately, the decision to go FSBO depends on your circumstances. If your home is worth a lot, a percentage-based commission is a big number. If you live in a hot market, attracting sellers isn't as daunting. If you work from home or are a stay-at-home parent, you may have flexibility in your schedule for showings.

Consider, too, that selling your home is a hefty financial transaction. Having an experienced adviser to help along the way can bring some peace of mind  and maybe even a higher final sale price.

Making the case for her profession, real estate agent Szigetvari adds, "Hire someone who has the highest possibility of getting you over the finish line."

Carl Vogel is a freelance writer.

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ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com







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Recently closed Carol's Pub in Uptown is accepting donations to get the 43-year-old bar up and running again. (Michael Walker / Chicago Tribune)

A Go Fund Me campaign titled "Save Carol's Pub" has been launched to aid the 43-year-old late-night honky tonk bar, which closed last month and has had its state liquor license revoked, according to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 40 donations totaling $630 had been raised toward a goal of $55,000.

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"Carol's Pub has been around since 1973 when it was known as Pam's Playhouse," reads the Go Fund Me page, set up by a friend of pub owner Carol Harris. "Since then, it has been a staple in the community for Country/Western music, reasonably priced beverages, late night fun, and has been known to be a matchmakers pocket.

"The owner has gone out of her way to help people ... in the community against the well being of her own business. The late night (open till 4/5am) atmosphere would be lost forever if the establishment can't be reopened. We gracefully ask for donations to help save this diamond in the rough and help keep Uptown alive, both for regulars and first timers alike. Help spread the word!"

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The page does not specify what the $55,000 will be used for, as regards to saving the pub. On Tuesday, Harris said a state liquor control commission official told her the state license would be reinstated if she paid $51,000 in back sales taxes, based on an audit of the business for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

"I don't have the money," said Harris.

Carol's Pub, 4659 N. Clark St., also had a federal tax lien filed against it earlier this year for $8,315, Cook County property records show. (The IRS defines a tax lien as "the government's legal claim against your property when you neglect or fail to pay a tax debt.")

Carol's Pub went dark in September, posting Sept. 23 on its Facebook page that it would "remain closed until further notice." On Sept. 30, the page posted an item that began, "It is indeed sad that Carol's has closed!" But a comment reads: "From the mouth of Carol herself.... Carol's Pub is not 'officially' closed. We are setting up a fundraiser. More details to come, as soon as I hear anything I will post it. Hang in there folks, 'last call' has not been given !!!!!!"

What's next for Carol's Pub?

"I don't know," Harris replied. She asks people considering a contribution to the Go Fund Me page to make one.

wdaley@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @billdaley






Radicchio with grapefruit, golden raisins and crispy pancetta is one of eight sides on the dinner menu. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

Terra & Vine, the latest restaurant from master sommelier Alpana Singh and business partner Matt Fisher, and their first in Evanston, opened Sept. 29. There are two things I suggest you look for when dining: Can you find the visual pun on the Terra & Vine name in the bar? And in the handsome dining room, can you locate the one book from Singh's extensive library that is not food- or wine-related?

Mum's the word on my part; you're going to have to go and find out. That shouldn't be an onerous task, I would think, for the legion of followers Singh won over during her 10-year stint hosting WTTW's "Check, Please!" Nor for those faithful customers of Seven Lions and The Boarding House, the two Chicago restaurants she co-owns with Fisher.

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What of Evanston residents who aren't already fans? Singh is optimistic.

"People really want to eat good food in their neighborhood," she says. The menu at Terra, a lineup of Italian dishes with a Mediterranean slant, comes from executive chef Andrew Graves, formerly of the Alinea Group. But don't think of the restaurant as fancy: "We're very mindful to make sure that the dishes are comfortable ... approachable in price point, approachable in presentation, bountiful," Singh says.

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That includes items like pizzettes, spaghetti Bolognese, meatballs with Parmesan and fried shallots, and roasted salmon with blood orange vinaigrette. Glasses of wine start at $9, and a short dessert list includes a chocolate torte, a tiramisu sundae and an Italian cookie plate.

Terra & Vine is in the space formerly occupied by Italian chain restaurant Bravo! Singh, laughing, says she chose Italian fare because her partners weren't going to pull out the massive brick pizza oven. But they also thought the community needed an Italian place. "Mediterranean-inspired Italian," Singh emphasizes.

"When I think of Mediterranean, I just think of lighter, fresher flavors," she explains. The food at Terra has "a lighter hand; things aren't weighed down with so much cheese. It's not rich."

Radicchio with grapefruit, golden raisins and crispy pancetta is one of eight sides on the dinner menu. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

The old Bravo! space has been carved up, she noted, into a dining room that seats 105, an adjoining 30-seat bar dominated by a long marble-topped counter, and four private dining areas, three of which can be combined to create a large space for group functions. A 60-seat patio is slated to open next spring. In the dining room, an open kitchen shows off the pizza oven and wood-fired grills. Fisher oversaw the design of the restaurant, which includes weathered wood finishes, Mediterranean-patterned tile and tufted-leather banquettes.

"I think, in Evanston, community is everything," Singh said, explaining the decision to divide the space into smaller areas. "A sense of neighborhood and community and everybody breaking bread together."

Terra & Vine, 1701 Maple Ave., Evanston, 847-563-4333, www.terraandvine.com

wdaley@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @billdaley






Lifeng Si, left, and Phoenix Peng, both from China, take a selfie with the Trump Tower in Chicago on Sept. 27, 2016. Peng said she was here a year ago and took the same photo then. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

No one knows when or how it started, but last winter, during primary season, and perhaps every day since, someone somewhere in the world has taken a selfie flipping off a Trump property and posted that picture on Instagram. In fact, less than two months before the presidential election, there are so many selfies now on social media of people flipping off properties branded by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump  photos of blurry fingers and entire tour groups cheerfully flipping the bird  there are Instagram accounts that exist solely to gather up hundreds of these pictures.

The problem is, what most of these properties offer, composition-wise, is not terrifically dynamic. A middle finger to Trump Tower in Manhattan means a very '80s gold-mirrored facade, a clutter of cabs, gray sidewalks, dull passersby. Chicago, though, offers drama.

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As election season goes nuclear, consider Trump International Hotel and Tower in River North. It boasts a backdrop for your middle digit that, as countless Instagram photos can attest, is tough to match: A Kong-sized "TRUMP," a 98-story glass facade that reflects endless Midwest skies, shadows against the Chicago River, drawbridges stretching into the distance, boats winding through a steel canyon of skyscrapers curling along Wacker.

All in one lovely frame.

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On a recent afternoon, Egypt Wallace was wrangling tourists for boat tours outside the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue. She stood behind a makeshift booth in the shadow of the "TRUMP" lettering. Nearby, three women, with the patience of pros, held pouty faces and clicked away with a selfie stick, careful not to allow the "TRUMP" in the background. Wallace didn't seem to notice them, typical tourists. What she noticed, she said, were the middle-finger selfies, "which are like all the time, constantly, every day."

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Wait long enough on Michigan Avenue, along the Riverwalk, at the Wrigley Building courtyard: Every 45 minutes or so, and more frequently on weekends, you'll see it too. The other day, a couple from St. Louis, passing through Chicago on their way back from Milwaukee, made a spontaneous stop. Jessica Kammer, 22, a sixth-grade teacher, and John Schulte, her boyfriend, a political science major at University of Missouri, had been to Chicago many times before, they had done the touristy stuff, they had no reason to stop again. "Then we were like, 'We're too close not to do this,' " Kammer said. At the Michigan Avenue Bridge, Schulte positioned Kammer in the foreground, low against the looming tower. She turned her back to him and raised a middle finger, then he snapped.

Some tourists cheered, and some, delighted, took their own one-fingered selfies.

Eight years after artist Shepard Fairey single-handedly resurrected election-centric political art with his iconic "Hope" posters of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, the middle-finger selfie is arguably the best election-year art we can muster. Unless you count Donald Trump's red "Make American Great Again" hats, iconography itself seems absent from this election. And protest art  it's a caricature or conceptual and oblique.

Or just non-existent.

Consider a quiet neighborhood corner in suburban Park Ridge, a mere 16 miles from the Trump building. Say the focus of your outrage is not Trump but Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. She grew up in the tastefully weathered brick two-story where Wisner and Elm streets meet here. On the same day that Tash and the couple from St. Louis were flipping the bird, not much of anything was happening here. Dogs were being walked and garages were being cleaned. The universe was still. Cars did not stop, and tourists were not clustering. The only birds that were flying had wings.

The childhood home of Hillary Rodham Clinton along the 200 block of North Wisner Street in Park Ridge on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. The house sits on the corner of Wisner and Elm, facing Elm. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Granted, the old Rodham homestead doesn't scream "CLINTON" in stadium-size letters across the door and is not smack in the heart of a bustling metropolis; Hillary Rodham moved here in the 1950s as a child and her family sold the home in the 1980s, and it is now privately owned. And yet the neighborhood itself seems like an America that many Americans feel has been endangered by politicians, a well-tended place that smacks of postwar prosperity and secure jobs  a place that, quite literally, smells like fresh mulch.

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"No, I can't remember a single protest in front of that house," said Karen Reardon, who lives a few houses away. There are lawn signs nearby for Republican candidates in Illinois state races  McAuliffe, Murphy  and one for Clinton/Kaine, but not even an obvious riff of "Nightmare on Elm Street." The only overt election-year protest ephemera that Reardon remembers seeing in this neighborhood was a makeshift sign erected last spring beneath the honorary "Rodham Corner" sign at Wisner and Elm. It read "Bernie Boulevard"  and someone took it down not long after it went up.

But what that fleeting act shares with middle-finger selfies is a bracing directness, a kind of street-art prankishness that feels like the right protest for the right election  populist, not subtle, not inspiring, or especially clever or even insightful. Only fleeting, frustrated.

And so, in front of the Trump building recently, on Wacker, an older man with white hair and an expensive camera lowered the lens, faced the "TRUMP," stuck his middle finger in front of his lens, clicked and walked off. Nearby, at Michigan and Wacker, Gregory McElrath, a new graduate of Columbia College, snapped a similar shot, one long finger raised high. Explaining it, he said: "I took into consideration the architecture, the space between me and the 'TRUMP,' how he stands for division  therefore, (expletive) him."

Many of these shots are taken at night and feel clandestine. Sometimes the person in the photo holds up a middle finger on each hand and stands in the middle of Wacker like a gunslinger, calling out a foe. More often the people in the pictures look weirdly satisfied  Mitchell Webster, a DePaul freshman, smiles broadly in his middle-finger selfie, standing on the "L" platform at Lake Street, "TRUMP" framed artfully at the end of the Wabash Avenue canyon. "I'm a registered Republican from Oklahoma, and I'm giggling because I've never been one to publicize my politics, but after this election ..."

He looks happy and resigned.

Like Paul Mallory, of Mesa, Ariz., who saw a group of men taking a photo of the "TRUMP" with their thumbs raised upward. So he flipped off the "TRUMP" in his photo. "But the truth is, I wish there had been a 'CLINTON' there. I would have flipped that off too."

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cborrelli@chicagotribune.com

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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)
Jeff Buonomo, Manager of Special Exhibitions at the Museum of Science and Industry discusses the new Above and Beyond exhibit at the museum on Oct. 4, 2016. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

In "Above and Beyond," the new exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry about humanity's urge to defy gravity, visitors can fly like an eagle  or maybe it's a seagull  amid seaside cliffs. They can design and pilot a fighter jet. And they can clean up space junk.

Granted, these video simulations are not dissimilar to what you might be able to do at home with an Xbox and time on your hands. But at the South Side science palace, the activities are presented in a broader context, as part of an effort by big planemaker Boeing to inspire people to want to work in the aerospace industry.

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The exhibit, which opened Tuesday and will be up through January, is one of three such that Boeing, working with partners including NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, currently has traveling the world's museums and science centers. Its not nearly as promotional in the execution as it might sound in the concept.

Students from from Immaculate Conception St. Joseph in Chicago fly along with birds at the "Spread Your Wings" exhibit as the Museum of Science and Industry, (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

The Boeing branding is there, as the show uses many images of Boeing aircraft and Boeing wind-tunnel models and the like. But other companies are present as well.

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And more than a flat-out recruiting poster, like the recent MSI exhibit by the government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the same museum galleries, this show is a snapshot of what is cutting-edge in flight, both within Earth's atmosphere and beyond it.

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So along with the video-game components  simple enough for children, but compelling enough to engage adults  visitors will see scale models of many current or next-generation aircraft, including a powerful new rocket designed for space travel. And they'll see full-size versions of some drones, known in the trade as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle). These include Robobee, a craft displayed under a microscope that attempts to mimic the humble honeybee's complex flight mechanics, and a slightly larger hummingbird simulator, another aircraft using the flapping of wings as propulsion.

There's a big, touch-screen light board that will take you, episodically, through the history of flight.

In a neat, back-to-the-roots touch, the entry displays a roughly 14-foot-wide model of the B&W Seaplane, the first product by Boeing, now headquartered in Chicago. It was made, we learn, of wood, linen, and wire, none of which could have withstood the big weight that patrons later on get to drop onto a sheet of a newer plane material, carbon fiber.

Chicago is commemorating 100 years of flight and space exploration with a new exhibit titled "Above and Beyond." (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

But while you'll likely stay for the wealth of information about where flight is at right now and where it is going, you may very well come, and bring your kids, for the video game aspects. After trying the avian flight simulator, which turns your silhouette into a bird's, your arms into wings, I can report that birds must have ridiculously strong shoulder muscles.

In other words  borrowed from an old joke, in fact  I went to "Above and Beyond" at the Museum of Science and Industry, and boy, are my arms tired.

sajohnson@chicagotribune.com

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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)
A group of rogue summer students made Montana Tech "tech" in a very bad way recently.

Fifteen students were expelled from the university in Butte for cheating and tactics ranging from threats to theatrics. Even more were reported for fraud, but not expelled, Montana Tech reported.

Curiously, none of these students were enrolled at Montana Tech during the regular fall-spring semesters, all of them transferring ostensibly for just the summer term. It is both unclear where the students were from and if they were United States citizens. Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education for Communications Kevin McRae said that federal privacy laws prohibit the university system from giving any identifying characteristics of the students. However, similar cheating scandals by Saudi Arabian and Kuwati students have been reported in Idaho and New York.

This isn't the first time Montana Tech's name has been associated with a cheating scandal recently, or foreign students. Several years ago, Montana Tech found that one of its own employees -- now former employee -- had altered transcripts for a Saudi student, likely to make it look better.

It's as important to note the differences between the two incidents as it is to draw one overarching conclusion. First, the previous incident involved a Montana Tech staff member changing grades. It was an inside job, so to speak.

The most recent case involved an incredibly well orchestrated attempt at cheating in which a group of students apparently enrolled in four or five courses then worked an elaborate series of dishonest moves with cell phones, ear pieces, cameras and hand signs. It's a shame that such a creative bunch of students couldn't harness their smarts in a more productive way. If half the time they spent scheming would have gone to studying, grades would not have been an issue.

When their little plot was discovered and professors insisted on no cell phones, electronic equipment and pencils, as well as assigned seating and no talking during exams, the students became enraged. Some were booted. Some were caught still trying to cheat. And yet others even became belligerent, created disturbances and one professor received threats. It's so outlandish that's it's hard to believe it happened here in Montana.

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Doug Abbott refused to contact the Butte-Silver Bow law enforcement for additional security during some exams even though faculty members had been threatened and were concerned for safety. He asked rhetorically when police presence has made things better?

We believe McRae when he said this instance was an "anomaly." Moreover, the statistics bear that out. The 46 cases of academic cheating during this summer session alone were as much as 10 times the average number Montana Tech would expect to see in a single year consisting of Fall, Spring and Summer terms.

Professors and exam proctors did absolutely the right thing by trying to thwart cheaters, requiring stringent test-taking conditions. Montana Tech did the right thing by refusing to give credit for cheating and kicking more than a dozen students out.

However, Abbott's inaction when it came to protecting those professors who felt threatened, should be answered with another rhetorical question: What would have happened if some of those confrontations would have turned violent?

It seems like Abbott's not wanting to call the authorities may have been out of more concern for protecting the university's reputation than his own faculty's safety. We're glad they didn't let the matter go. Employees had justifiable concerns, and Montana Tech needed to address them. Maybe it was worried that after the first black eye with international students, another scandal would be too much.

That raises another question: Should more scrutiny be given to screening students who don't have closer ties with the area or the university system? We can't help but wonder if these students were truly qualified to even be in class or if they were just passed off by some other institution, happy to be rid of the overgrown problem children?

Finally, even after this cheating scandal was revealed, it's unclear whether there'll be any long-term consequences for the students who were expelled or caught cheating. In other words, some other institution may have to deal with the same students under the same conditions. That because there are no rules that dictate how one higher education institution communicates past behavior problems with another, except through the very limited process of transcripts.

We understand that problems, whether academic or behavioral, shouldn't be a scarlet letter -- or grade -- for the rest of a student's life. But, we can't help but wonder how ethical it is for Montana Tech not to reach out to wherever it was these students came from. Then again, would federal privacy laws even allow it? And, if they don't, isn't this inviting more problems and possibly violence when the situation escalates, like it did in Butte?

We salute the faculty who pushed back when they were bullied. We believe the administration's tough approach to the students was good, but it seemed more worried about its reputation than the safety of its faculty. We just wonder if the lessons of summer have even more to teach us in the future?
Paul Green, a researcher of Chicago political history, author, educator and media pundit, died Sept. 10, 2016, due to complications from an aortic aneurysm. He was 73. Read more . (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

He could "deliver a dozen quips in 30 seconds," so it was no surprise that laughter mingled with tears at a touching memorial service Tuesday for Paul Green, the quick-witted City Club of Chicago chairman and political pundit who could seemingly reduce a room to cackles at will.

Green's catchphrases  "Who are all these people?" as he'd say before he went on stage at Maggiano's banquet hall, where he emceed events for years, or "I can say that, I'm not running for office," as he'd tell his political students at Roosevelt University after revealing some devilish insight  were fondly remembered by friends and family shocked by Green's sudden death last month at the age of 73.

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Politicos including Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a Chicago Democrat, and Democratic Cook County State's Attorney nominee Kim Foxx were among audience members laughing along at anecdotes, including one about a lawyer who criticized Green for talking too fast, only to be admonished, "No, you listen too slow!"

Speakers also stressed Green's deep love of the art of politics and democracy, and his respect for and equal treatment of women, while his daughter, Sarah, demonstrated that she had inherited his gift for comic improvisation when she riffed that her tearful sniffles on the dais made her "sound like Donald Trump  it's the mic!"

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And Green's longtime pal Edward Mazur gave a classic example of Green's wit when he recalled an encounter Green had after he started training would-be cops in the late 1960s in sociology, history and criminology at the Chicago police training academy.

Mazur said an officer who'd "gone on to be the Cook County state's attorney"  an apparent reference to Jack O'Malley, the only top Cook County prosecutor to have served as a city cop in the last 40 years  approached Green with a question at the end of the semester.

"Dr. Green, you assigned three books, do I have to keep them?" Mazur said the officer asked Green.

"Paul said, 'Officer, if you keep them, you will triple the size of your home library.'"

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimjnews
The FBI released the surveillance camera image of a person believed to have robbed the Fifth Third Bank. 57 E. Randolph, Chicago, on Tuesday, October 4, 2016. The suspect is in custody.

A man was arrested shortly after he allegedly robbed a Loop bank Tuesday morning, according to Chicago police and the FBI.

The man, whose age wasn't available, was arrested near 18th Street and Michigan Avenue after the bank at 57 E. Randolph St. was robbed about 9:05 a.m.

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Chicago police said the man slid the teller a note, and the FBI described the robbery as a "non-takeover."

Charges were pending, according to Chicago police.

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Norman McIntosh is released from Stateville Correctional Center on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, after Cook County prosecutors announced they were dropping the charges against him. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

Norman McIntosh was in his cell Tuesday afternoon at Stateville Correctional Center when he got the news he'd been dreaming about for 15 years.

With fellow inmates volunteering their allotted time, McIntosh was handed a prison phone to call his cousin to confirm whether a Cook County judge had just thrown out his murder conviction and ordered him freed. Not quite convinced, McIntosh called his attorney, who assured him he was coming home.

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"I needed to hear it again, just to make sure," McIntosh said in a telephone interview as he rode back to Chicago with his lawyer, Jennifer Blagg. "It was unreal."

McIntosh, 37, was the third inmate in just eight days to be freed from the maximum-security Stateville facility outside Joliet after a Cook County murder conviction had unraveled.

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Charles Johnson was released Sept. 26 after a judge dismissed his conviction for a 1995 double murder at a Southwest Side car dealership in light of new fingerprint evidence. A day later, Mark Maxson's 20 years behind bars ended when new DNA evidence exonerated him in the brutal murder and sexual assault of a 6-year-old boy in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood.

McIntosh, who was serving a 45-year sentence, said he's looking forward to reconnecting with his family, including his son, Hassan, who was born eight months after his January 2002 arrest and has met him only through prison visits. McIntosh's father, meanwhile, was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer last year and has been too sick to make the trip to the facility.

"My dad was able to hang on long enough for us to spend some time together," McIntosh said.

McIntosh was convicted in the November 2001 gang-related shooting of Devon Hobson and wounding of Hobson's brother, James, as they walked with two of their younger cousins in the 1800 block of West 60th Street in Chicago.

The decision to throw out McIntosh's conviction came more than three years after he filed a petition for a new trial, claiming that police had rigged a lineup and pressured several witnesses into identifying him, all of whom testified at trial but later recanted.

His lawyer also turned up fingerprint evidence that appeared to point to another man as the killer, and records that showed the car McIntosh was allegedly driving that day had been impounded by the city months earlier.

Last year, McIntosh's murder case was identified as one of hundreds of so-called "street files" found in old filing cabinets in the basement of the Area Central police station, files that are now at the center of a federal lawsuit alleging police routinely buried information about homicide investigations that could have helped defense attorneys prepare for trial.

Blagg told the Tribune the information she found in McIntosh's street file including lineup cards, detectives' notes and other materials  helped her piece together details of the investigation and poke holes in the police theory.

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In a statement Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said the decision to drop the charges was made after "additional evidence" surfaced in the case, not because of the street file litigation. Without the evidence, the office said, it wasn't confident of being able to prove McIntosh's guilt.

The case began to unravel in early 2013 when Blagg tracked down the witnesses who told her they'd been pressured by detectives to identify McIntosh as the gunman.

In a sworn statement, James Hobson, who was wounded in the chest in the shooting, said police told him after he was released from the hospital that they had caught the killer and wanted him to identify the man at the police station.

"They showed me a picture of Norman and said, 'This is the guy,'" Hobson said in the statement. "I knew (the shooter) wasn't Norman because the guy who did it was taller and looked older."

Hobson said he made the identification only after detectives threatened to pin the murder on him because a robbery of a gang rival he'd committed had led to the killing.

Hobson's cousin, Darius Thompson, who was only 12 at the time of the shooting, said in his own recantation that police had shown him McIntosh's photo, told him the man was the killer and asked him to pick McIntosh out of a lineup. Thompson said in his sworn statement that he was standing in the station when Hobson came out of the lineup room, walked past him and said, "Dude got on red," court records show.

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"When I went into the room, the dude in the red shirt was the same dude that the police had pointed out to me and had been telling me about," Thompson said in the statement. "I picked him out of the lineup because both the police and James said it was him."

Blagg also matched fingerprints to a convicted felon who lived in the neighborhood and drove a similar car, court records show. Recently, Blagg said she found records showing the owner had the car salvaged for scrap shortly after the slaying.

In August 2015, while McIntosh's petition for a new trial was under review by the state's attorney's office's Conviction Integrity Unit, Blagg was contacted by attorney Candace Gorman, who had found McIntosh's street file among hundreds of other old murder cases in filing cabinets at the detective headquarters at 51st Street and Wentworth Avenue.

The Tribune first wrote about the cabinets' discovery in a front-page report in April 2014. A street file on Gorman's client, reputed El Rukn lieutenant Nathson Fields, had been found there three decades after his conviction in an infamous 1981 double murder. Fields was sent to death row, but his conviction was later overturned after it was discovered the trial judge had taken a bribe to fix the case.

After he was freed, Fields filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit against Chicago police and prosecutors alleging his street file was buried in an effort to frame him for the killings. The file contained evidence of other potential suspects that was not turned over to his trial lawyers.

At trial in 2014, Gorman had the cabinet hauled into a federal courtroom to show the jury where Fields' file had been found. The jury, however, ruled against Fields on all but one count and awarded him just $80,000 in damages.

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But in April 2015, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered a new trial. In doing so, Kennelly made the bombshell decision to allow Gorman to expand her investigation well beyond Fields' file, giving her wide range to dig into the rest of the cabinets in her effort to show the burying of street files was a de facto policy of the Police Department.

The retrial on Fields' lawsuit is set for next month.

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Blagg, meanwhile, said she was able to compare the information found in McIntosh's street file with the file kept by his trial lawyers with the Cook County Public Defender's Office. There were numerous discrepancies, she said, including progress reports with times and dates that didn't match up, handwritten notes on witness statements that described the car differently and two versions of a lineup report that were signed by different supervisors.

"There wasn't anything explosive, but little things that made you question different aspects of his case," Blagg said.

In court Tuesday, Judge Evelyn Clay, who had convicted McIntosh in a bench trial in 2003, apologized to McIntosh's family, saying "an injustice has been corrected." Outside the courtroom, Blagg said she was grateful to prosecutors for their willingness to take a hard look at the case.

Before she left the Leighton Criminal Court Building, McIntosh's sister, Claudette, who was just 13 when her brother was arrested, wiped tears from her eyes as she described how their father had struggled with cancer while the case faced delay after delay. Now 28 and a mother of two, she said she was overjoyed to welcome her brother into her home.

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"I made his bed this morning hoping this would be the day," she said.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jmetr22b
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence sought to stabilize his Republican campaign by accusing the Democratic ticket of the same insult tactics and raw partisanship that have been a hallmark of Donald Trump's candidacy as he faced off against Sen. Tim Kaine here Tuesday night in a combative and at times grating vice-presidential debate.

With Trump reeling from self-inflicted controversies at a critical juncture in the campaign, Pence projected a steadier temperament than Trump and largely ducked Kaine's demands to answer for the GOP nominee's incendiary actions and statements.

But Pence made numerous statements that conflicted with positions taken by Trump. He suggested that Trump would not immediately deport all undocumented immigrants, that he believes military action is warranted to help the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo and that Russia is a dangerous country that must be dealt with aggressively by the United States.

Pence on several instances denied statements that Trump had made in the past, including his assertion that NATO is "obsolete" and his suggestion that Putin is a "stronger" leader than President Barack Obama. Pence repeatedly accused Kaine and Clinton of running "an insult-driven campaign."

Kaine's retort: "I'm just saying facts about your running mate."

The first and only debate between the vice-presidential nominees, a 90-minute forum on the campus of Longwood University in historic Farmville, showcased the two tickets' vastly divergent plans, from illegal immigration to foreign policy.

Pence injected a number of traditional conservative priorities - abortion, taxes and entitlements - to help reassure Republicans who have misgivings about Trump's populist agenda, which they see as out of step with GOP orthodoxy.

Kaine and Pence sparred vigorously over Trump's avowed affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pence called Putin "a small, bullying leader," but Kaine repeatedly reminded viewers that Trump has praised the Russian's leadership style.

"If you mistake leadership for dictatorship," Kaine said, "you can't be commander in chief."

Kaine sought to put Pence on the defensive by bringing up Trump's attacks on Mexican immigrants, dismissive comments about prisoners of war and years of falsely questioning President Obama's birthplace.

"If you want to have a society where people are respected or respect laws, you can't have a person at the top who demeans every group he talks about," Kaine said.

Kaine repeatedly mentioned Trump's comments in his 2015 campaign announcement speech that some Mexicans were "rapists" and "criminals."

"Senator, you whipped out that Mexican thing again," Pence said.

Kaine countered, "Can you defend it?"

"I couldn't be more proud to be standing with Donald Trump," Pence said.

Unlike Trump's response to Clinton's aggression on the debate stage last week, Pence refused to be baited into a point-by-point discussion of Trump's controversies. Rather, Pence drove a pointed contrast between the economic policies and worldviews of Trump and Hillary Clinton, arguing that she and Kaine "want more of the same."

Responding to Kaine's comments about the improving economy, Pence said: "Honestly, senator, you can roll out the numbers and the sunny side, but I've got to tell you: People in Scranton know different. People in Fort Wayne know different. People are struggling."

The two men, who sat around a table with moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS News, displayed different strategies and mannerisms. Kaine was aggressive, interrupting and hurling rehearsed insults at Pence, while the Indiana governor was calmer, spoke in homespun language and counterpunched with an edge of disdain for Kaine's tactics.

A number of times, Kaine delivered the kind of catchy one-liners commonly delivered at debates. "Do you want a 'You're hired' president in Hillary Clinton or do you want a 'You're fired' president in Donald Trump?"

Pence replied: "I appreciated the 'You're hired,' 'you're fired,' thing, senator. You use that a whole lot. And I think your running mate used a lot of pre-done lines."

Tuesday's debate came at a critical juncture in the presidential race. With five weeks until Election Day, Trump has been reeling from his rocky performance during last week's first presidential debate in Hempstead, New York. In the days that followed, he took a combative posture and at times displayed erratic behavior.

Trump continued a bitter feud with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado for a full week, lashing out at her for gaining weight as a beauty pageant winner two decades ago and urging his supporters to view her "sex tape," although it was not evident that one existed.

Trump also attacked Clinton in strikingly personal terms at campaign rallies, including imitating her unsteadiness at a public appearance during a bout with pneumonia, and he suggested without evidence that she had been disloyal to her husband, former president Bill Clinton.

Trump has slipped in polls nationally and in nearly every battleground state. In Pennsylvania, a vote-rich state in which Trump is competing aggressively, Clinton has widened her lead against Trump to 10 percentage points, according to a Monmouth University survey released Tuesday.

On stage in Farmville, the No. 2s showed different styles than the candidates at the top of their tickets. Both talked movingly about their personal faith, something Clinton and Trump rarely do, for example.

Tuesday's forum was marred by so many interruptions that Quijano interjected: "Gentlemen, the people at home cannot understand either one of you when you talk over each other." Kaine's impulse to interrupt and rattle Pence was so strong that he interrupted Quijano just as she was trying to force Pence to answer a difficult question about police bias.

Kaine and Pence clashed over criminal justice policies in light of the recent spate of police shootings of black men. Waxing about his uncle, who was a career cop in Chicago, Pence called for unity behind law enforcement and accused Clinton and Kaine of politicizing shootings.

"We ought to stop seizing on these moments of tragedy," he said. "Enough of this seeking every opportunity to demean law enforcement broadly by making the accusation of implicit violence every time a tragedy occurs."

Kaine responded by saying, "If you're afraid to have the discussion, you'll never solve it." He added, "I can't believe that you are defending the position that there's no bias."

Pence took the debate stage here under intense pressure to shift the campaign's narrative in a way that benefits Trump. Last week, Trump missed several opportunities to put Clinton on the defensive.

Pence tried to correct his running mate's errors. He fired barbs at Kaine over Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state and her comment at a fundraiser last month describing half of Trump's supporters as "a basket of deplorables."

"If Donald Trump had said all of the things that you've said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters were 'a basket of deplorables,' " Pence said. "She said they were irredeemable, they were not American. I mean, it's extraordinary."

Pence was asked about a New York Times report, which relied on leaked pages from Trump's 1995 tax returns, which showed that Trump had claimed a $916 million loss - and might have been able to avoid federal income taxes for up to 18 years. Pence did not make any claim that Trump had paid federal income taxes.

"His tax returns showed he went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code the way it was meant to be used, and he used it brilliantly," Pence said.

Kaine challenged Pence repeatedly to say why Trump had not released his tax returns, as other nominees have for 40 years. Pence repeated what Trump has said - that he would release the tax returns, but only when an Internal Revenue Service audit is over. The IRS has said that there is no legal prohibition on releasing taxes while they are under audit.

The vice-presidential candidates also clashed over entitlement spending, something the presidential candidates have not often discussed. Kaine argued that Pence and Trump would hurt the middle class by privatizing Social Security, calling Pence the "chief cheerleader" for such a plan during his time in the House.

"There they go again," Pence responded curtly, echoing a line made famous by former president Ronald Reagan.

The Libertarian Party's vice-presidential nominee, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, did not participate in Tuesday's debate because he and running mate Gary Johnson, a former New Mexico governor, did not meet a minimum national polling threshold. Weld offered his commentary throughout the debate via Twitter.

Clinton was expected to watch the debate from her home in Chappaqua, New York, aides said, while Trump was planning to watch and tweet about it from Las Vegas, where he is staying during a Western campaign swing.
A college student has been charged with double murder and taken to jail, two months after he allegedly stabbed a south Florida couple to death and tried to bite the face off one of the victims.

Austin Harrouff, 19, who was charged Sunday, was noticeably thinner after a stay in the hospital following the Aug. 15 attack, according to the Associated Press. He didn't answer any questions as he was escorted from the hospital to a waiting Sheriff's Office SUV for the trip to jail.

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He was charged in the Aug. 15 killings of John Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, at their home in Tequesta, Florida. He was also charged with the attempted murder of Jeff Fisher, who was stabbed after he heard the couple's screams and ran to help.

Officials are waiting for toxicology tests to reveal whether Harrouff was under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs like bath salts or flakka, which have caused violent outbursts in the past.

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Investigators said Harrouff may have ingested caustic chemicals inside the couple's garage. His father, a dentist, said that at one point, Harrouff's liver was failing, he had fluid in his lungs and his esophagus was bleeding, the AP reported.

Sheriff William Snyder said the teen will need ongoing therapy after the attack.

A shackled and noticeably thinner Austin Harrouff didn't speak to reporters Monday as he was led to the SUV that took him to the Martin County jail. Photo courtesy of Martin County Sheriffs Office

The bizarre case began on a Monday night, when a sheriff's deputy responded to a 911 call in an upscale neighborhood and found a shirtless person on top of a man he had apparently just stabbed, "biting and removing pieces of the victim's face with his teeth," Snyder said.

The deputy fired her stun gun at the shirtless man, but it had no effect.

Other deputies arrived and punched and kicked the suspect. Nothing.

Even a police dog's bite didn't deter the attacker from biting the dead man's face, authorities said.

"He was exhibiting abnormal levels of strength," Snyder said in a press conference after the attack.

In the end, it would take four deputies and the police dog to subdue the attacker.

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As deputies took Harrouff into custody, he was making "guttural sounds and animal noises," Snyder told The Post.

With Harrouff in custody and on his way to the hospital, investigators surveyed the grisly scene at the home near Jupiter, Florida.

Stevens was pronounced dead in the driveway. Mishcon, his wife, was found dead in the garage. Fisher returned home bloodied, but managed to call 911.

Snyder told The Post that Stevens and Mishcon typically spent evenings sitting in their garage with the door open, looking out at the neighborhood and talking. That's what they were probably doing when Harrouff came across them, the sheriff said.

"It was a random, unprovoked brutal attack on people enjoying a quiet South Florida evening," Snyder told The Post. "There was an extraordinary amount of violence in that garage."

The victims were stabbed with Harrouff's pocket knife and may have been attacked with "tools of opportunity" in the garage, the sheriff said.

They had never met their attacker, Snyder said, and probably had no idea why he wanted to kill them.

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"He exhibited every indication of a flakka overdose - abnormal strength, peeling off some of his clothes, making guttural sounds, fighting with law enforcement, not stopping when a tremendous amount of energy was expended by my deputies," Snyder said.

Flakka has also been referred to as "$5 insanity," "powdered psychosis" and "total mind melt." It has surfaced in Ohio, Chicago and Houston, according to a Post article on the epidemic; but is most prevalent in Florida.

Until recently, the drug was easily obtained online from Chinese retailers. In Broward County, a major hospital system said it seen up to 20 flakka-related emergencies in one day last year. At least 16 deaths have been attributed to the cheap drug since September.

Flakka causes users' body temperatures to soar to 104 or 105 degrees, causing them to rip off their clothes. It also sends a surge of adrenaline through their bodies, giving them seemingly superhuman strength and a high pain tolerance.

But slight changes in purity or dose can result in bizarre or deadly reactions. In April 2015, a man high on flakka tried to have sex with a tree, according to the Miami Herald. An officer used a Taser to try to subdue the man, but the suspect pulled the electric probes from his body and tried to stab the officer with his own badge.

Last summer, an 83-year-old grandmother was badly beaten by a 26-year-old man who had ingested flakka before knocking on her door and attacking her, according to the Palm Beach Post. She died three months later.

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As The Post's Peter Holley wrote:

"Flakka, according to the county's human services department, "is a potent, highly addictive stimulant drug. In a small amount the drug provides euphoria, stimulation, and hallucinations. However, just a little bit more can trigger heart problems, agitation, aggressiveness, psychosis, paranoia and excited delirium.

"The drug - a more potent form of what was previously known as bath salts - gets its name from 'la flaca,' Spanish slang for a beautiful woman, according to CNN. It is known elsewhere in the country as "gravel" and, according to Reuters, has surfaced in Ohio, Chicago and Houston.

"People, they start going crazy, just like PCP and LSD did in the old days," Kevin Stanfill a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration's Miami field office, told Jacksonville station WJXT. "They get superhuman strength, they get paranoid. We get instances here in Florida where a man bit his baby; we get instances here in southern Florida where a man put this baby under water."

But after the drug strained emergency services and hospitals for nearly two years, authorities had seen a significant decline in flakka use in recent months.

According to a Post report in April: "What happened in Florida, experts say, was the result of unprecedented coordination among local groups to fight flakka's demand and - most importantly - the unusual willingness of the Chinese government to halt flakka's production."

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The August attack, however, may be a sign that the drug isn't totally gone from the region, Snyder said. His investigators are trying to piece together how Harrouff may have gotten the drug and what he was doing in the minutes before he encountered the middle-aged couple relaxing in their garage.

Nothing in Harrouff's past pointed at any violent tendencies, Snyder told The Post. Before he was accused of a double homicide, he had no criminal record.

Harrouff was in town visiting his family and hanging with fraternity brothers a few weeks before school was scheduled to resume.

His family met up at a nearby restaurant for dinner, but Harrouff grew agitated when the food took too long to come to the table. He walked out of the restaurant and his worried family called the Jupiter police, asking officers to help locate him.
President Barack Obama and actor Leonardo DiCaprio walk to the stage to talk about climate change as part of the White House South by South Lawn event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington,Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)

Capping a day-long futurist fair and alternative music fest on the South Lawn of the White House Monday, President Barack Obama told actor Leonardo DiCaprio and atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe "we're really in a race against time" to curb the worst impacts of climate change.

The hour-long panel discussion, which was immediately followed the U.S. premiere of "Before the Flood," a National Geographic documentary on climate change which DiCaprio starred in and produced, aimed to shift public opinion on an issue that even DiCaprio acknowledged rarely galvanized voters.

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As he introduced Obama and Hayhoe, who directs Texas Tech University's climate science center, the Oscar winner said he and director Fisher Stevens wanted their film "to be released before this upcoming election because after first-hand experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change worldwide, we like many of you here today realize that urgent action must be taken."

"We must empower leaders who not only believe in climate change but are willing to do something about it," DiCaprio said. "The scientific consensus is in, and the argument is now over. If you do not believe in climate change you do not believe in facts, or in science, or empirical truths, and therefore in my humble opinion should not be allowed to hold public office."

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Those lines, and others, drew loud applause from the crowd. And while the president endorsed the idea of "turning up the dial" to enact even more aggressive carbon cuts globally, he cautioned that incremental steps were essential to making meaningful progress.

Recalling that he often instructed his international climate negotiators, "Better is good," Obama said he understood some activists' frustration. "But if we get enough better . . . then that's ultimately how we end up solving this problem."

Noting that most Americans rely on their cars to commute to work as well as travel across the country, the president said, "We can't overnight start having everyone start taking high-speed trains, because we don't have any high-speed trains to take."

The audience cheered the president's initial reference to imposing a carbon tax, even though he cautioned it was "a while's away" from being enacted. But Obama suggested Americans should be extracting natural gas through fracking, which many liberal activists oppose, because "the fact that we're transitioning from coal to natural gas means less greenhouse gases."

Neither Obama - who relies on the presidential aircraft and an extensive entourage to travel nearly every week - nor DiCaprio, who owns a yacht and routinely travels across the globe, addressed their own, considerable carbon footprints.

Stevens said in an interview that the film's backers paid a voluntary carbon tax to offset the greenhouse gas emissions involved in traveling to China, India, Greenland, the Arctic, Indonesia, Micronesia and multiple cities in the United States and Europe. The money, which he said was in "the tens of thousands" of dollars, will support reforestation projects in areas such as Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico.

With many audience members sitting on red-and-black plaid woolen blankets throughout the lawn on a balmy evening and a warm-up performance by the Denver-based band, The Lumineers, the gathering felt at times like a genuine music festival. But the wonky crowd was clearly more focused on the panel discussion than many of the acts that had preceded it, erupting into loud cheers when DiCaprio made a reference to Obama's broad use of the 1906 Antiquities Act to protect federal lands and waters.

Hayhoe, for her part, said people who are invested in cutting greenhouse gas emissions need to recognize that they will not win converts by lecturing people who are skeptical of their position.

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"The biggest thing I've learned is facts are not enough," she said, noting that being exposed to more scientific facts about climate change often creates greater political polarization.

There is still "plenty of time" to take action and avert the worst impacts of climate change, Hayhoe added. "My only concern as a scientist is it's not happening fast enough."

In addition to meshing with the White House's climate agenda, "Before The Flood" shows the extent to which the National Geographic Channel has not shifted ideologically since being purchased by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox. Both the documentary and the second season of "Years of Living Dangerously," a climate series that debuted on Showtime, will premiere on Oct. 30.

Joe Romm, who serves as chief science adviser for "Years of Living Dangerously" wrote in a recent blog post, "I can personally attest that this season's science-driven episodes are every bit as blunt about the urgent nature of the climate crisis as Season 1 was."

"Before the Flood" was produced independently and later acquired by National Geographic, but Stevens said the channel's executives were supportive of his and DiCaprio's desire to air it before most voters head to the polls in early November.
Video released Tuesday shows a black man killed by Los Angeles police was armed just before he was shot dead but the footage failed to capture him when officers say he twice turned toward them holding the loaded semi-automatic handgun.

The video shows the man identified by police as 18-year-old Carnell Snell crouching behind an SUV parked at a strip mall and pulling a handgun from the waistband of his sweatpants.

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Snell then tucks the gun back into his waistband and runs around the corner of a strip mall as officers chase him. All then disappear from view because they were no longer within the range of the surveillance camera.

Snell's shooting Saturday came amid heightened tensions over police actions involving black people and other minorities across the country. Snell was the third black man in five days killed in confrontations with Southern California police.

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Police said the video  posted to the police department's YouTube channel following pressure by protesters to release it  supports the account LAPD Chief Charlie Beck gave defending the shooting.

Beck said the video showed Snell had an opportunity to get rid of the gun but decided to keep it when he ran around a corner of the strip mall, disappearing from the footage that showed two officers running after him.

"Obviously if you're not seeking confrontation why wouldn't you just discard the weapon?" Beck said.

After Snell ran around the mall's corner and out of range of the camera, he sprinted between two houses and turned toward officers while holding the gun, Beck said.

Officers fired three shots that missed Snell, who then climbed a fence and turned again toward the officers while holding the gun, Beck said. Police fired three more times, hitting Snell in the torso and knee.

The video showing the moments leading up to the shooting was made public just as Black Lives Matter organizers gathered Tuesday morning to protest Snell's killing at a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Demonstrators at the civilian oversight board's meeting continuously disrupted Beck and commission members with expletives and insults and ignored repeated requests to maintain order. One woman who said her son had been killed by police threatened to kill officers herself.

No arrests were made but the meeting was closed to the public after protesters refused to stop chanting, "Black lives, they matter here!"

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Protester Melina Abdullah accused police of selectively releasing a portion of video of Snell's shooting to "posthumously assassinate" his character.

"I don't care if he had a gun," she shouted. "His life matters."

The release of the video marked the latest example of police departments that have decided to release footage of deadly confrontations amid public pressure.

In North Carolina, Charlotte police released snippets of recordings showing Keith Lamont Scott slowly backing out of an SUV on Sept. 20. Police fatally shot Scott after they say he refused commands to put down a gun.

In the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, police released a still frame showing 38-year-old Alfred Olango with his hands together at chest level and pointed at an officer directly in front of him.

Olango was fatally shot after he swiftly drew an object from his front pocket and pointed at the officer in a "shooting stance," police said. The object turned out to be a 4-inch vape pen  an electronic cigarette device.

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The LAPD typically releases video of police shootings only when ordered to do so by courts. Beck told reporters the Snell video was released in the interest of public safety and to correct misinformation.

"This is not done in any way to denigrate Mr. Snell," he said.

Asked whether he thought the video would ease anger among protesters, he said "there are folks that will not believe any narrative" presented by police.

"I think that this video is not for them, the folks that are going to find holes in whatever I present to them," he said. "Unless they were physically present they are not going to believe the police's point of view on this."

Mayor Eric Garcetti, who helped decide to release the video, said in a statement that doing so "contributes to transparency in a case that has raised many hard questions."

The police pursuit of Snell began when officers tried to pull over a car he was in because it had temporary paper license plates that did not match the year of the vehicle. Beck has said that was a possible indication of a stolen car and something commonly seen in vehicles used in drive-by shootings.

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Snell, seated in the car's back seat, looked at officers and then ducked down "as if to hide from them" shortly before he jumped out of the car and ran, Beck said.

Los Angeles police last weekend also shot dead an unidentified Hispanic man. Beck said the man pointed a replica that looked like a real gun at police and officers opened fire because they feared for their lives.

Associated Press
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses army troops during his visit to its headquarters in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines, on Oct. 4, 2016. (Bullit Marquez / AP)

MANILA, Philippines  Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte told President Barack Obama "you can go to hell" in a speech Tuesday that was his strongest tirade so far against the U.S. over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign, adding that he may eventually decide to "break up with America."

He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the bloc, which has also criticized his brutal crackdown, "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

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Since becoming president in June, Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S. and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps Philippine foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

The brash-speaking leader also has been hypersensitive to criticism over his anti-drug crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the U.S. and human rights watchdogs.

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In a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the U.S., which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings and has questioned whether human rights are being violated. He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with U.S. troops.

"Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell," Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: "Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

In a later speech at a synagogue in Makati city in the Manila metropolis, Duterte warned he may decide to "break up with America" in his most serious threat so far to push relations back with Washington.

"Eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America," he said without elaborating. "I would rather go to Russia and to China."

Duterte has given assurances that he would not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country's largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defense equipment.

The U.S. has expressed concern over the extrajudicial killings and urged Duterte's government to ensure law enforcement efforts comply with human rights obligations. Last month, Obama canceled a planned first meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Laos after the Filipino leader blurted "son of a bitch" in warning the U.S. leader not to lecture him on human rights ahead of their meeting. Duterte later expressed regrets over his remarks.

Angered by U.S. criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting U.S. troops in the country.

Last week, Duterte said the joint U.S.-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centering on amphibious landing drills, started Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.

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Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.

U.S. Embassy officials said Washington has not been formally notified by the Philippine government of any move to scrap other planned drills. Such a move by the Philippines would impede Washington's plans to expand the footprint of U.S. forces in Southeast Asia to counter China.

A Philippine military spokesman for the ongoing exercises, Capt. Ryan Lacuesta, sidestepped the question of whether Duterte's remarks have affected the troops and the atmosphere of the drills.

U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. John Jansen said that aside from promoting regional security, the exercises have helped save lives in terms of fostering more rapid and organized responses to disasters like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

"Our alliance remains a key source of stability in the Asia-Pacific region," Jansen said, expressing confidence "that we will continue to build our partnership and capabilities together."

While the Obama administration maintains that its alliance with the Philippines remains "ironclad," a senior U.S. diplomat cautioned Duterte last week against more anti-U.S. posturing. Many of Duterte's stunning pronouncements have typically been walked back by other Philippines officials.

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"I think it would be a serious mistake in a democratic country like the Philippines to underestimate the power of the public's affinity for the U.S. That's people power," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told The Associated Press.

Russel did not draw a direct comparison, but past Philippine presidents have been toppled by popular protests dubbed "people power," including former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in 1986.

Associated Press
Democrats on Tuesday seized on comments Donald Trump made suggesting that military members and veterans with mental health issues are not "strong" and "can't handle it," remarks they said render him out of touch and unfit to be commander in chief.

The Republican presidential nominee, speaking to a group of veterans in Virginia on Monday, said that some troops see things in combat that "a lot of folks in the room" have seen many times.

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"And you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it," Trump said.

The backlash to his remarks was swift and harsh, with Democrats and veterans groups assailing him as insensitive to an issue that mental health advocates have spent decades working to destigmatize and raise awareness of among veterans.

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"This is an ignorant man," Vice President Joe Biden said of Trump on CNN on Tuesday.

A visibly angry Biden recounted going to Iraq and pinning a Silver Star on a young soldier. The soldier told Biden that he didn't want the Silver Star because the fellow soldier he had pulled out of a burning Humvee had died.

"That kid probably goes to sleep every night with a nightmare, and this guy doesn't understand any of that? How can he not understand that? How can he be so out of touch?" said an emotional Biden, whose late son served in the military. "He's not a bad guy, but how can he be so out of touch and ask to lead this country?"

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said on Twitter that veterans who experience post-traumatic stress disorder are "stronger than we'll ever understand" and that they are owed "nothing short" of the best care.

"A person who implies that veterans suffering from PTS are not 'strong' is unfit to be commander-in-chief. Period," Clinton tweeted. Her campaign also pushed out a nearly four-minute ad that questions Trump's respect for veterans.

Trump's campaign pushed back against the criticism of his PTSD comments, saying that the media took his words out of context "in order to deceive voters and veterans" about what he said.

"He has always respected the service and sacrifice of our military men and women - proposing reforms to Veteran Affairs to adequately address the various issues veterans face when they return home," retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Trump surrogate, said in a statement.

Trump's website says the candidate wants to increase the number of mental health professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs and allow veterans to access mental health care outside the agency.

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Trump's comments Monday are the latest in a long line of questionable remarks about the military that Democrats said show the Republican nominee is not fit to serve as president. In July, Trump got into a feud with the Muslim American parents of a soldier killed in Iraq after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Days later, a service member gave Trump a Purple Heart at a campaign stop in Virginia. The real estate mogul said that it was something he "always wanted" and that having one gifted to him was "much easier" than participating in combat.

When asked a question about what he had sacrificed, referring to military parents' sacrifices, Trump pointed to his business successes. And last year, Trump said he doesn't consider Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, to be a war hero.

"He's a war hero because he was captured," Trump said in Ames, Iowa, in July 2015. "I like people that weren't captured."

In January, Trump held a fundraiser for veterans where he said he raised about $6 million, including $1 million of his own money. Trump's campaign said later that Trump had given his own $1 million, but that wasn't true. Trump only donated the money later, after news reports brought the issue to light. He also waited months to give away more than $1 million that other donors had entrusted to his Donald J. Trump Foundation.

In a statement put out by Trump's campaign, the man who asked Trump the question in Virginia that prompted Trump's remarks on PTSD said he took Trump to mean that the health care system for veterans is broken. Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, president and founder of Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs in Temecula, Calif., said he has struggled with PTSD and has helped nearly 1,100 veterans who also suffer from the disorder.

"I think it's sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trump's comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda," Robichaux said in a statement. "I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them."

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According to the Department of Veteran's Affairs, from 11 percent to 20 percent of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan after 2002 suffer from post traumatic stress disorder in a given year. Of those who served in the first Gulf War, 12 percent suffer from PTSD in a given year, as do 15 percent of Vietnam War veterans.

"PTSD can happen to anyone. It is not a sign of weakness," the department's website reads.

Angela Kimball, the national director for advocacy and public policy at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said she can see how Trump's comments may have been taken out of context but that they may also illustrate a lack of understanding about PTSD.

"It's really a rewiring of the brain in response to trauma. To talk about somebody being strong in handling something is to, in a sense, dismiss the legitimacy of a mental health condition," she said. It implies that someone ought or should be able to get over something, she said, and "that does a disservice to all of our men and women in uniform who are battling PTSD, depression, anxiety and other conditions."

Paul Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, urged Americans to educate and inform themselves on PTSD.

"Every national leader has a responsibility to use accurate and appropriate language when talking about mental health and suicide especially. The wrong messages on PTSD and suicide can perpetuate stigma and complicate an already complicated problem," he said in a statement. "Getting help for a mental health injury is not a sign of weakness, it's a demonstration of strength."

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The Washington Post's David A. Fahrenthold and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.
It has been an expensive few months for Safe Montana, which spent tens of thousands battling the signature tally for its ballot measure.

The group spent $43,554 in legal costs to challenge the signature total for I-176, which would have repealed the state medical marijuana program. That money was spent from Aug. 29 through Sept. 2, according to the latest financial reports.

Safe Montana also made big advertising buys in late August and September against I-182, an initiative that will be on November's ballot.

I-182 would remove restrictions on the medical marijuana program and allow for testing of the product. The groups supporting I-182 don't have any ad buys planned at this time, five weeks before Election Day.

Safe Montana's I-176 ballot initiative fell about 4,000 signatures short of the necessary amount to reach the fall ballot. Safe Montana, led by founder Steve Zabawa, went to a Flathead County judge to try to verify signatures the group said were lost or mistakenly rejected.

The judge ruled in August that there was not enough evidence to back Safe Montana's claims.

Safe Montana's $43,554 expenditures covered legal fees related to its effort to reclaim rejected signatures.

After that legal battle, Safe Montana began campaigning against I-182. The group paid $1,500 to a Florida media company to produce a video ad. Public records with large Montana television statements show that Safe Montana hasn't purchased any airtime for the video as of Monday.

On Aug. 29, the group paid $20,560 for a group of billboards that went up across the state.

Safe Montana is almost exclusively funded by Zabawa, who has pumped more than $125,000 into the campaign. That includes $27,000 over the most recent reporting period, which was Aug. 28 to Sept. 26.

Montana Citizens for I-182 spent $2,000 over the last reporting period on "communications work on I-182," according to the financial report. The funds have been reported as in-kind donations from the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, which has been a major financier of the campaign.

The MTCIA has spent $229,500 on the campaign since late March.

It's one of the smallest expenditure periods for the I-182. There are no ads planned at this time, according to Greg Zuckert, vice-chair of the MTCIA.

He indicated that since strict restrictions to the medical marijuana industry went into effect on Aug. 31, funding for the trade association has slowed. The organization is supported by medical marijuana providers.

Montana Citizens for I-182, which is the main campaign committee, did receive more than $6,000 in individual contributions over the reporting period.

Official briefs for and against I-182 can be found on the Montana Secretary of State's 2016 voter information pamphlet.
NATO is not just another business deal. Donald Trump doesn't understand this. But it definitely is a bargain. He doesn't get that either.

There's a lot Trump doesn't know about NATO, including why it exists, what it's for and why it's indisputably the most successful alliance in history.

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He thinks he knows how much we pay into it, and how this dwarfs what the 26 European NATO members pay. But he's wrong on this too.

Ignorance has consequences, especially in a presidential candidate. In particular, Trump's off-the-cuff comments about NATO could make a potential foe, such as Russia, doubt that we're really serious about defending our NATO allies against attack. That doubt, all by itself, could lead to war.

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So if NATO has become a campaign issue, it's worthwhile nailing down some of these facts and truths.

In his first debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump repeated his familiar misstatement that the U.S. pays "approximately 73 percent of the cost of NATO." He went on to complain that many European NATO members "aren't paying their fair share. We're defending them and they should at least be paying us what they're supposed to be paying by treaty and contract."

Trump, a maestro of tax avoidance, is the last person to be accusing anyone else of freeloading. In this case, he's just wrong.

First, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not a business deal with a balance sheet and profit motive. It was set up in 1949 to protect Western Europe from the Soviet threat and to prevent a repetition of the world wars that had destroyed that continent in the previous 30 years. Its key purpose, as the treaty said, is to "safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization" of the North Atlantic nations.

The original 12 nations signed a mutual defense pact, not a prenup agreement. Sixty-seven years and 16 more members later, that's still what it is.

The United States, by far the biggest and richest NATO member, still pays more into the alliance budget than any other nation. But 73 percent? Not even close.

The total U.S. defense budget does indeed amount to 73 percent of the total defense spending of all NATO members. But the U.S. is the alliance's only global power, with defense obligations that span the world. Most of that U.S. spending is in places such as Asia that have nothing to do with NATO.

So far as NATO itself goes, the U.S. provides 22 percent of its common fund budget. That's still more than any other nation, but the other 27 nations  Canada and the Europeans  pick up no less than 78 percent of the NATO tab.

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In the debate, Trump imagined that the allies are committed "by treaty and contract" to paying more. Sorry, but that's flat wrong. The NATO treaty is silent on dues and no contract exists, just a commitment by each ally to "maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack."

Officially, NATO says each member should spend at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense. Only five nations meet this mark  the U.S., Greece, Poland, Estonia and Britain. France, at 1.8 percent, is close. Germany spends only 1.2 percent but, considering its history, there may be worse things than a dovish Germany.

So what do we get for our money? Just this:

For one thing, as the biggest contributor, we have the most clout. Through decades, NATO has been a useful arm of American foreign policy. We have 27 allies sheltering under the American nuclear umbrella. In return, these allies have helped us do things that without them we'd have to do ourselves.

More important, NATO is the difference between war and peace. In the two great European wars of the 20th century, 300,000 Americans died. In the 71 years since then, no American has died in European combat. What price tag do we put on seven decades of peace?

This is what Trump really doesn't get. NATO has turned the Western world, and especially blood-soaked Europe, into a zone of peace. It won the Cold War, virtually without a shot being fired. Early on it provided the security framework within which the West Europeans rebuilt their shattered societies. And then, in the 1990s, it did the same for the post-Communist East Europeans.

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All this was, and is, enforced by NATO behind American leadership. Crucially, it is based on Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which says flatly that an attack on any NATO member is an attack on all members, which will respond immediately.

This promise deterred the Soviet Union for the 46 years of the Cold War. Would we really have gone to war if the Soviets had attacked Germany, or Norway or Turkey? Who knows. The point is that Moscow didn't know either but thought we would and wasn't willing to take the chance.

In other words, peace in Europe rests totally on trust in the credibility of NATO and the United States. Now comes Trump saying that we may or may not defend our allies, depending on whether they've paid their dues.

This rips up Article 5. It undermines the trust and credibility of America's word. Trump has given Russian President Vladimir Putin reason to believe that, if he wants to attack Poland or Lithuania, a President Trump will let him get by with it.

When Trump the businessman broke his word, the result was bankruptcies. If Trump the president breaks his word, the result could be World War III.

Richard C. Longworth is a distinguished fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former chief European correspondent for the Tribune.
A Colombian man who lost one of his legs due to a landmine, and who voted for the ratification of a historic peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla, stands on a street in Toribio, department of Cauca, Colombia, on Oct. 3, 2016. (Luis Robayo, AFP/Getty Images)

The hard part was supposed to be over. After a half century of war, and after four years of grinding negotiations, the Colombian government and leaders of the country's insurgency reached an accord in August to end a conflict in which more than 220,000 people were killed and six million displaced. The world watched Sept. 26 as President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed the agreement, hailed as a blueprint for resolving war through dialogue and compromise.

On Sunday, Colombia tackled one final task  voter approval through a referendum.

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Polls had the yes vote comfortably ahead by a 2-to-1 ratio. Instead, the referendum narrowly failed. The conflict continues, a fault line in the country has emerged, and Santos faces a problem without a Plan B.

Early in negotiations, Santos gambled. Deciding that the peace deal's legitimacy would be strengthened if it won backing through the ballot box, he had legislation passed that required a pact with FARC to be approved through a national referendum.

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He learned the hard way the lesson David Cameron learned June 23, when the then-British prime minister's big gamble to put Brexit to a referendum backfired and British voters stunned the world by deciding to leave the European Union. Cameron didn't have to put the Brexit question on the ballot, and neither did Santos. In both cases, too much was at stake to risk rejection by voters.

At the accord's core was the recognition that peace in guerrilla wars is possible through re-integration of rebel forces. Rebels would have turned over their weapons to United Nations teams over the next six months. In return, the FARC would become a political party, and would get 10 seats in Congress. Rank-and-file fighters would be given amnesty. FARC leaders would face tribunals, and if they confessed their crimes and paid reparations to victims, they could avoid prison time. That proved to be too big of a giveaway for many Colombians who had been victimized in some way by FARC violence  and believed rebels should be imprisoned for their deeds.

Renegotiation now appears to be Santos' only option, but his chances for success are bleak. Rebels aren't likely to accept any provision that involves prison time. Spearheading the "no" vote in Colombia was former president and current senator Alvaro Uribe, whose father was killed by FARC rebels. Uribe led the country when Colombian forces, with a helping hand from the U.S., drove rebels out of urban areas and back toward the jungles' outskirts. Santos was Uribe's defense minister back then, but now the two are political archrivals. Uribe insists on prison time for FARC commanders, and opposes the group's inclusion into politics.

Nevertheless, it's up to Santos to work with Uribe and craft a revamped accord palatable to the FARC and Uribe's legions who demand more concessions from the rebels. It's not just Santos' political future that's at stake. Colombia has emerged from the conflict as one of South America's brightest lights. It has thrived as a stable democracy amid neighbors governed by leftist leaders. Tourism is on the rise, and it's one of Latin America's foreign investment leaders. The last thing that Colombia needs is the yoke of a war it was so close to ending.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
The Tribune continues its endorsements today in Illinois House races. Just keep murmuring: Thanks primarily to gerrymandering, only 48 of the 118 House races statewide are contested. Voters get no say on 70 representatives. They're shoo-ins.

42nd District: Democrat Kathleen Carrier of Carol Stream got so frustrated with the state's budget stalemate, she decided to run for office. She blames government misspending for the crisis that has resulted in less money for social services. Yet she said she would have voted for the budget Democrats introduced and passed in May  a budget that was at least $7 billion out of balance. Huh? Carrier doesn't quite grasp the connection: Approving wildly out-of-balance budgets is exactly what led to social services cuts. Her opponent, though, gets it. Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, is a fiscally conservative straight-shooter who consistently fights unbalanced budgets and unaccountable spending. She's also about as wonky on policy as you'll find. Ives is endorsed.

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44th District: Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, made a name for himself as a budget hawk when he was first elected in 2006. But over the years, he has become less so. He is an appropriations committee chairman  yet he went along with his party leaders when they plopped a budget on lawmakers' desks, with only a few hours to vote on it, that had not gone through the appropriations process. Oh, and it was $7 billion short of revenue. Voters should signal their frustration with budget games by voting for Katy Dolan Baumer of Streamwood, who refused a pension as Hanover Township clerk and advocated for less spending as a former library trustee. Baumer is endorsed.

45th District: One of the biggest quality-of-life issues in this suburban district is noise from O'Hare airport. Rep. Christine Winger, R-Wood Dale, introduced legislation to give homeowners who installed soundproofing a tax credit. It's sitting in Speaker Michael Madigan's rules committee. Winger also passed legislation to provide more specialized courts for veterans accused of nonviolent offenses. She is endorsed over her opponent, Cynthia Borbas of Carol Stream, the owner of a technology consulting firm.

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46th District: In her first term, Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, worked across the aisle on legislation allowing governments to streamline. Kudos. But this term, she has stuck to her party's script. She voted for a controversial union-backed bill that had been roundly criticized by editorial boards and nonpartisan groups as anti-taxpayer. She doesn't demonstrate much independence from House Speaker Michael Madigan. Suburban voters, wise up. You won't get change unless you vote for it. Our endorsement goes to Heidi Holan, R-Glen Ellyn, who came close to beating Conroy in 2014 and who offers a no-nonsense approach to state finances: "Springfield has no standing to ask taxpayers for more revenue at this time."

48th District: If village officials in your town try to hand out big raises to retiring employees, they'll have to disclose it publicly under a new law sponsored by freshman Rep. Peter Breen, R-Lombard. Breen worked with Democrats to pass a bill cracking down on end-of-career pay bumps for municipal officials. His bill got watered down, but in Springfield it's a step. Expect bigger steps from Breen the longer he's there. He is endorsed over Steve Swanson, a retired pastor from Lombard, who is running because he believes Breen and Gov. Bruce Rauner are holding vulnerable populations hostage to the budget crisis. Breen and Rauner aren't the problem. Decades of overspending by the other guys  that's the problem.

50th District: Freshman Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, said he made a mistake earlier this year when he agreed to co-sponsor a bill that would have restricted single mothers from accessing state aid if they refused to identify the fathers of their children. The bill was widely viewed as draconian. He says he agreed to sign onto it before he realized what it would do. Fair enough. Wheeler faces former Yorkville Mayor Valerie Burd for a second time. She says Wheeler is too conservative for the district and too closely aligned with Gov. Bruce Rauner. This district, though, needs to attract more industry to ease the property tax burden on homeowners. Wheeler's and Rauner's pro-business agenda would help create jobs here. Democratic policies simply have not worked. Wheeler is endorsed.

55th District: Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, is finishing his second term in the House. He was outspoken during the yearlong budget stalemate, seeking to speed up state payments owed to local governments. He has supported pension reform and government consolidation and resisted pressure from his party to keep the 2011 income tax hike in place. Moylan is endorsed. He faces Republican Dan Gott, a retired engineer and chaplain from Des Plaines.

56th District: We were fans of Rep. Michelle Mussman and her "Mom on a Mission" slogan when she first ran for office in 2010. Now it seems she's a mom on a mission to bankrupt the state. After running for office promising to whip Springfield into shape, she has voted for phony, unbalanced budgets, including House Speaker Michael Madigan's spending plan in May that spent $7 billion more than the state would collect in revenue. Voters: You've been duped. Republican Jillian Rose Bernas of Schaumburg would be a proper check on state spending and would promote policies to attract to Illinois more businesses and jobs  maybe even bring back residents who've fled to other states. Bernas is endorsed.

58th District: Democrats hold a supermajority in the Illinois House, but they can't always get what they want  not with Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, in their caucus. Drury voted against a plan for a so-called millionaire's tax because it was not a comprehensive budget solution. He voted with Republicans to stop a bill that would have limited Gov. Bruce Rauner's authority at the bargaining table. And he voted against his party's deeply flawed and unbalanced budget proposal in May. He has earned voters' loyalty and our endorsement. He faces Republican Martin Blumenthal, an attorney and CPA who supports much of Gov. Bruce Rauner's agenda  but doesn't make a strong case to oust Drury.

59th District: Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, is a stronger, more accountable representative because she gets challenged each election cycle  unlike many of her colleagues who will cruise to re-election unopposed. This year, Sente faces Mundelein village Trustee Dawn Abernathy. Abernathy points to several bad votes Sente took: empowering the state's largest employee union over taxpayers during contract talks and voting repeatedly for sham property tax freeze legislation that (conveniently!) never got voted on in the Senate. But Sente did stand up to party leadership in May by voting against a wildly unbalanced budget pushed by Speaker Michael Madigan. She is one of few Democrats who isn't afraid to challenge him, publicly and privately. Sente is endorsed for another term.

Click here for round three of Illinois House endorsements.

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Read candidate questionnaires and see other endorsements at chicagotribune.com/candidates.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Akron, Ohio, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. Behind is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. (Gerald Herbert / AP)

I grabbed my earlobe and jiggled it in disbelief at the words I was hearing from former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's mouth.

Giuliani, a surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, was responding to a very good question from NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd on Sunday morning.

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Todd wanted to know whether Giuliani's own history of marital infidelity disqualified him to be "the right person" to lead the Trump campaign's latest tactic: criticizing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's response to then-President Bill Clinton's sexual behavior with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky.

"You have your own infidelities, sir," Todd reminded the former mayor.

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"Everybody does," Giuliani casually responded. "You know, I'm a Roman Catholic and I confess those things to my priest."

Those of us who were paying attention during his mayoral years don't need a priest to tell us that Trump and Giuliani  with their three marriages apiece  make an odd couple.

"Just bizarre," tweeted lawyer-journalist Glenn Greenwald, founder of The Intercept news site. "Trump & Giuliani have 6 wives between them & are sermonizing about marriage to the Clintons, who have been married 41 years."

And none of that's a secret. Trump's affairs were carried out on the front pages of New York's tabloids and gossip columns. Giuliani announced the end of his second marriage in a news conference in 2000 before he told his wife at the time, Donna Hanover.

When she refused to leave the official residence with their two children, the mayor's divorce lawyer said someone would have "to pry her off the chandelier to get her out of there."

Yet, Giuliani's casual attitude toward infidelities today sounds even more bizarre when compared to the shock and outrage of Republicans who voted for Bill Clinton's impeachment in the late 1990s.

Compared to those days, Giuliani's attitude sounds as suspect as Trump's recent and sudden reversal of his 5-year-old doubts that President Barack Obama was born in the United States. (It was about time, Donald.)

Even more suspect is Giuliani's tone-deafness to the irony of his new position. After all, if "everybody" cheats, why make Bill Clinton's cheating the focus of an attack against his wife?

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Ah, but Trump and Giuliani insist they are not rehashing Bill Clinton's infidelities. Rather, they are attacking his wife for defending him during the Lewinsky scandal and for her attempts to discredit women who accused her husband of sexual assault.

"After being married to Bill Clinton for 20 years, if you didn't know the moment Monica Lewinsky said Bill Clinton violated her that she was telling the truth," Giuliani told website Elite Daily after the first Clinton-Trump debate, "then you're too stupid to be president."

This from a man whose own campaign to be president in 2008 flamed out after he came in third in Florida.

Perhaps Trump himself sensed the weakness of this line of attack when, during a full-steam ad-libbed tirade against his opponent at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania, he shouted, "I don't even think she's loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. And really, folks, why should she be? Why should she be?"

Really? Trump offered no evidence to back up his suggestion that the former first lady might be cheating.

On Sunday, Giuliani the Trump surrogate dutifully dismissed Trump's suggestion of infidelity by the former first lady as a "sarcastic remark."

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"After she called him a racist and misogynist, xenophobic ... I think it's fair game," Giuliani said.

Maybe. But at least Clinton actually has something that looks and sounds like evidence to back up her argument. The list of Trump's attacks and insults against Mexicans, Muslims, women and other groups runs long and, by all indications, probably will grow longer any minute now.

Does Trump really help himself by taking us back to Monicagate?

Sure, Hillary-bashing wins applause  which he loves  from his hard-core supporters, but he's already won that group. The remaining slice of moderates and independents who haven't made up their minds is small, pollsters say, but also likely to be decisive. Team Trump appears to be doing a great job  of delivering that group to their opponent.

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

cpage@chicagotribune.com

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An employee of Cameco, which operates Wyomings largest uranium mine, falsified a health survey required after two other workers were potentially exposed to radioactive material in 2013, regulators announced Monday.

In an agreement confirmed Friday between the company and federal regulators, Cameco will not be cited for a violation or pay a penalty but must take steps to ensure a similar incident doesnt again take place.

Cameco is also working to end a federal halt on the transport of its nuclear waste after two spillage incidents in the last nine months.

The false document was uncovered three years ago by the company during an internal investigation. Federal regulators requested that Cameco conduct the investigation when the issue of proper documentation came up during a routine inspection, said company spokesman Ken Vaughn.

The incident took place Sept. 12, 2013, at the companys North Butte satellite facility in Campbell County.

The occurrence was isolated to a single survey of two individuals, but the disregard for safety was a serious issue, said Victor Dricks, spokesman for the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Texas division, which oversees Wyomings uranium operations.

We have very rigorous regulations that require all employees be surveyed for radioactive contamination when they are exiting the facility, and even one incident is one too many, he said.

The NRC can use punitive measures after serious infractions, but in this case, both parties reached an alternative solution that did not involve fines, Dricks said.

Our officials sat down with company officials and discussed the issue. We talked about corrective actions they had already taken and others that they had promised to take, Dricks said.

In an agreement reached with regulators, Cameco, also called Power Resources, must hold annual meetings with management and radiation safety officials that emphasize proper record-keeping. It must provide a health specialist on site during high-risk situations and conduct additional safety training with periodic updates.

The falsified documents may have been an isolated event, but they are reflective of an attitude of carelessness in Wyomings uranium industry, said Shannon Anderson, an organizer with the Powder River Basin Resource Council, which advocates for environmental issues on the behalf of landowners.

The uranium industry has a long history of violations and incidents at all of the facilities in Wyoming and around the West, she said. Its a legacy of issues and this just seems par for the course.

The company faced $500,000 in fines in 2008 from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality for repeated violations and "routine spills" at its mining facility north of Glenrock.

However, Wyoming does not have regulatory authority over radiation safety. That area is completely monitored by the NRC, Anderson noted.

They dont have a lot of on-site oversight of these companies, she said.

Industry officials do not agree that uranium has a bad record in Wyoming, said Vaughn, the spokesman for Cameco.

"I would say overall the uranium industry has an excellent record. It is held to high standards, as it should be," he said. "When we do have issues arise, we work to correct them, as we are doing in this case."

This is the second time Cameco has been in trouble with the federal regulatory agency in recent months.

On Aug. 31, the company was ordered to indefinitely stop shipments of radioactive waste, a result of two spills within nine months. The hazardous waste was being taken from the Glenrock mine to a disposal facility in Utah when the spills occurred.

The company is continuing to work on a resolution to that issue, Vaughn said. In neither case were people or the environment adversely affected, he said.

"But those cases are unacceptable, and we are implementing changes to ensure they are not repeated," he added.

They only halted shipping of waste material; it didnt affect production, he said. We are continuing to finalize measures in that case with the NRC.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is currently developing a state plan that, if approved by the NRC, would give the state authority over the radiological components of uranium mining. If state regulators are successful, the change could happen by late 2018.

There are pros and cons to giving the state that power, said Anderson, the resource council organizer. The regulations could be costly and require new hires and training during an economic ebb for the state, she said.

On the upside, there will be local regulators, she said.
Chicago Tribune reporter David Jackson explains how wealthy nursing home operator Philip Esformes allegedly became the orchestrator of a $1 billion Medicaid and Medicare bribery and kickback scheme. Oct. 4, 2016. (Chicago Tribune)

For years, wealth and controversy have followed Chicago-based nursing home operators Morris Esformes and his son Philip Esformes, who was arrested in July in what prosecutors have called one of the largest health care bribery and kickback schemes in U.S. history.

Their dozens of Illinois, Florida and Missouri nursing facilities have earned millions of Medicaid and Medicare dollars annually despite repeated federal law enforcement probes and Chicago Tribune investigations alleging substandard care and incidents when disabled patients were assaulted by fellow residents.

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A lawyer for Philip Esformes, Michael Pasano, told the Tribune that Esformes is innocent of the current charges and added that no wrongdoing was proved in the other, prior cases. "While Mr. Esformes and his father have been involved in prior litigation in connection with their nursing homes, those cases were resolved and no finding of misconduct was ever made," Pasano said.

Among the allegations the Esformeses have faced:

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1998: A Tribune investigation found that Morris Esformes had employed three people to scout shelters and hospitals for recruits to nursing facilities he and Philip Esformes controlled. Some of those homeless people caused violence in the homes and surrounding communities, the Tribune reported.

2006: Without admitting wrongdoing, Philip and Morris Esformes joined a group of businessmen who paid $15.4 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice Medicaid fraud civil lawsuit alleging they paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for patient referrals to a Florida hospital they controlled.

2009: The Tribune's "Compromised Care" investigation found that violent felons had assaulted elderly and disabled residents in Esformes homes, including south suburban Burnham Healthcare. There, 63-year-old invalid Thomas Donovan died after beatings by fellow residents, the Tribune reported. No one was charged in Donovan's death.

"Unfortunately, nothing has ever happened," Donovan's sister Diana O'Connell told the Tribune in a recent interview. "It's sad. He didn't have the best of life, but for that to happen was very difficult. I would have liked to have seen some justice."

2010: The Tribune used confidential FBI reports and interviews to show the Esformeses had been at the center of what prosecutors called a "horrific" patient-brokering scheme in which nursing home residents were shuttled to and from a Northern Illinois psychiatric hospital for unnecessary treatments. The Esformeses denied wrongdoing and were not among the medical professionals charged in that case. About two years later, the Esformeses sold their Illinois facilities and focused on their Florida operations.

2013: Philip and Morris Esformes paid the U.S. government $5 million to settle a whistleblower's court allegations that they took kickbacks to complete the sale of a nursing home pharmacy company. Again, the father and son did not admit wrongdoing.
Dozens of protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline project caused fireworks briefly during a gubernatorial debate in downtown Bismarck Monday with a coordinated outburst expressing opposition to the multi-billion dollar project.

Following candidates responses to a debate question inside the Belle Mehus Auditorium, protest organizer Joye Braun walked down one of the aisles toward the stage, beginning a tirade against the pipeline project and oil and gas development in general.

Republican Party candidate Doug Burgum, state Rep. Marvin Nelson, D-Rolla, and Marty Riske of the Libertarian Party looked on from their podiums as the disruption unfolded over several minutes.

We will never allow this pipeline through! Braun shouted, prompting dozens of fellow protesters to rise in unison and begin chanting water is life, and heckling the candidates.

You have to listen to the people, Braun said, while North Dakota Newspaper Association officials sponsoring the debate tried to calm things down. You need to stop fracking because its poisoning our water.

Nearly one-third of the crowd of about 175 people walked out and continued their demonstration outside, which could still be heard for some time from inside the venue as the debate resumed. The protesters were among a group of more than 100 that gathered to demonstrate outside the venue as the doors opened.

The process seems to be a mess from the start, Nelson had told the audience of the pipeline project's permitting before the protesters' outburst.

Nelson said there should have been more input from stakeholders and the tribes concerns taken into account. He added that the pipeline shouldnt have been sited under a large source of water like the Missouri River. He said further review is necessary to come to a reasonable compromise.

Burgum said the recent protests are a collision of a number of issues including the publics right to peacefully assemble and the hundreds of years of tribal mistrust of the government over broken promises and treaties.

Theres an opportunity to open up a new dialogue, he added.

Riske said President Barack Obamas move to offset a federal judges rejection of the tribes request for an injunction of the project puts the onus on the White House.

Shortly after the judges decision last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Army and Department of Justice issued a joint statement saying the Army wont allow construction near or under the Missouri River until further review is completed. The agencies also asked Dakota Access, LLC, a partner of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., to not undertake construction within 20 miles of either side of the river.

I see it as President Obamas job, Riske said.

Dakota Access, LLC, has been working on the 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline for months. When completed, it would transport crude oil from Stanley to Patoka, Ill. If completed on schedule before the end of the year, the nearly $3.8 billion project would transport up to 450,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude with a future maximum capacity of 570,000 barrels per day.

The project has sparked opposition from Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officials, Native Americans and activists from around the country to camp out and oppose the project, part of which is planned to go under the Missouri River less than a mile from the reservation border.

Ive never seen anything like that before, North Dakota Newspaper Association Executive Director Steve Andrist said. They were attempting to make a point and we were able to move on.

The rest of the debate was relatively uneventful compared to the outburst, although candidates did differ on how to improve under-performing K-12 schools.

Burgum said the state cant continue to drop money into education and expect different results if some schools continue to lag.

Its unfair to students  its unfair to taxpayers, Burgum said, adding that charter schools or a school voucher system may need to be considered.

Nelson sharply disagreed, saying punishing under-performing schools would only exacerbate the problem.

Where more money is spent the schools do better, Nelson said of other states. We should be helping them.

Riske was on board with Burgums line of thought: Im in favor of charter schools and vouchers."

Prairie Public Television will record the third and final debate next Monday in Fargo, which will air Oct. 12.
The artist Christopher Lucero will be showing his work at Ballydoyle during First Fridays in downtown Aurora. (Aurora Downtown / Handout)

A pop-up shop at the old Waubonsee College building, a new art gallery on the lower level of the old library, and Waubonsee's International Wood Fire Conference will highlight this month's First Fridays event in downtown Aurora.

First Fridays bring art, music and more to downtown Aurora on the first Friday of the month. Free trolley rides run from 6 to 10 p.m. during the event.

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Activities this Friday include:

 Gallery 1904, 1 E. Benton St., celebrates its grand opening with "A Celebration of Old and New" on the lower level of the old Aurora Public Library, now owned by SupportTechs, 7 to 10 p.m.

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 If These Walls Could Talk, 32 S. Stolp Ave., opens "Dark and Lovely: Angel E. Perez and Jorge Alvarez" in their storefront gallery for the month of October, 7 to 11 p.m.

 The Yetee, 110 Cross St., hosts "Art of the Derby," the last gallery show at the space until Public Access, a coffee shop and arcade, opens at 1 W. Downer Place. Gobble Doggs food truck will be in the parking lot, 7 to 11 p.m.

 Waubonsee Aurora Downtown Campus, 18 S. River St., presents the International Wood Fired Exhibition for ceramic arts in the campus library. The college is hosting three Waubonsee Community College ceramic artists: Doug Jeppesen, Dan Merkel, and Jon Pacheco, 6 to 9 p.m.

 David L. Pierce Art & History Center, 20 E. Downer Place, is open with exhibits on the second and third floors. In collaboration with Waubonsee Community College, Aurora Public Art Commission hosts "Train Kiln Invitational" from 5 to 8 p.m. Aurora Historical Society's "Aurora Story" and the Museum Store are open from 6 to 9 p.m.

 Emergent Gallery at Metropolitan Coworking, 14 W. Downer Place, Suite 16, hosts the Waubonsee Invitational as part of the Wood Fire Conference, 6 to 10 p.m.

 The ArtBar at Two Brothers Roundhouse, 205 N. Broadway, pops up for one night with "The Creep Show," 6 p.m. to midnight.

 Repertoire Reservoir Studios, upstairs at 14 W. Downer Place, is open with "Life's Rich Pageant," 7 to 10 p.m.

 Oxie Affordable Optical, 131 W. Galena Blvd., features original silkscreen art prints by artist Justin Lirot, 5 to 8 p.m.

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 River's Edge Cafe, 14 W. Downer Place, Suite 18, hosts musical group ToneDeft starting at 7 p.m. Photography by Tim Perroud is featured on the cafe's gallery wall, 5 to 9 p.m.

 Ballydoyle, 28 W. New York St., music by Joey Fernandez is on the main stage from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Artist Christopher Lucero and others are featured in the restaurant, 5 to 10 p.m.

 Leland Legends, 1 S. Stolp Ave., hosts karaoke every Friday, 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

 Pop-Up Shop, 5 E. Galena Blvd., is open with a dozen local vendors and artisans, 6 to 9 p.m.

 The Mayan, 77 S. Stolp Ave., offers tours of the former Elks Building, 5 to 8 p.m.

 Culture Stock, 43 E. Galena Blvd., hosts spoken word open mic, 8 to 9:30 p.m.

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 SciTech Hands On Museum, 18 W. Benton St., is open with free admission and exhibits on three floors, 6 to 8 p.m.

 Aurora Regional Fire Museum, 53 N. Broadway, celebrates Fire Prevention Week with hands-on fire prevention and safety activities, 6 to 8 p.m.

 G.A.R. Museum, 23 E. Downer Place, hosts an open house, 6 to 8 p.m.

Friends of the Fox invites all ages to learn how to be a Watershed Watchdog to help monitor the health of the Fox River. Those interested can meet at the Waubonsee boat launch and get down to the river bank, take water samples, and learn about the world living just under the surface, 4 to 6 p.m.

Participants can pick up a free First Fridays passport at any of the venues. People can turn in the passport at the last venue they visit for a chance to win a First Fridays treat bag filled with gift certificates and more.

All events are free and art is for sale. For more information, a list of First Fridays specials at participating businesses, and for a map of venues, go to www.auroradowntown.org.
Serious threat or a sick joke? An unsettling craze that's ignited a national phenomenon has hit close to home. Oct. 5, 2016. (CBS Chicago)

School District 308 officials said a clown-related social media threat concerning Oswego Monday was a hoax.

Around 12:30 p.m. Monday, District 308 administrators were made aware of a social media message involving a clown persona directed toward Thompson Junior High School and Traughber Junior High School, district officials said in a news release.

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The post involved a threat from a clown carrying black balloons.

Administrators immediately investigated the claims and were able to determine it was a hoax, according to the release.

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"We ask parents and students to be cautions of what they share via social media," the district said in the release. "We appreciate students and parents alerting the schools to any potential threats. Be assured that the safety of our School District 308 students and staff is our top priority."

District 308 spokesman Brian Graves did not immediately return email and voicemail messages seeking further information Monday evening.

Oswego police were aware of the social media post but are not investigating it, said police spokeswoman Cathy Nevara. Police have not heard about any other clown-related incidents, she said. Similarly, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said Monday afternoon that Aurora police had not taken any reports concerning clowns.

On Monday, Elgin officers were called to the area of College Green Drive about 3 p.m. for the report of someone dressed as a clown lurking in the area, according to Elgin officials.

Officers arrived on the scene but were unable to locate the clown, officials said.

The incidents in the Fox Valley come after numerous unsubstantiated reports of menacing clowns in other parts of the country, particularly on the East Coast.

The New York Police Department's top counterterrorism official on Monday told people not to fear the so-called "creepy clowns."

Deputy Commissioner John Miller said his department had assessed similar threats on social media that related to New York and deemed them harmless.

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Miller suggested it's all an internet hoax. He said the message is "don't believe the hype and don't be afraid of the clowns."

Freelance reporter Janelle Walker and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
A 31-year-old Elgin man is accused of exposing himself to a casino employee as he was driving away from Aurora's Hollywood Casino.

William C. Stephenson, of the 300 block of South Belmont Street, Elgin, is charged with public indecency involving sexual conduct, a misdemeanor, in connection to the incident, Kane County records show.

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At about 12:40 p.m. Sept. 8, a 48-year-old woman was walking on New York Street toward River Street when Stephenson approached her in a car, police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said in an email. Stephenson is accused of trying to engage the woman in conversation and fondling himself while exposed, Ferrelli said.

The woman works at the casino, Ferrelli said. Casino security video showed that Stephenson had left the casino shortly before the incident and was able to be identified, Ferrelli said. The casino, at 1 W. New York St., is about a block away from where Stephenson approached the woman, police said.

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An arrest warrant issued Sept. 22 charged Stephenson with a single count of public indecency. He turned himself in at about 11 a.m. Saturday to the Aurora Police Department on the 1200 block of East Indian Trail Road.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Barrington High School graduate Courtney Quigley, who co-founded the organization Hope's In, will talk about her community work during a "TEDx" talk at the Barrington Area Library (Barrington Area Library)

Four people in the Barrington area will detail Thursday the work they do in the community during a Barrington Area Library event styled like a TED Talk.

TED is a nonprofit that organizes short discussions covering various topics relevant to today's society. Similar to what the Barrington library has planned, communities will independently organize "TEDx" talks to share local ideas, according to the TED website.

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The four Barrington area speakers during the event at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the library, 505 N. Northwest Highway, are coming together to share their endeavors and ideas affecting the community, said Rose Faber, head of adult services at the library. The group organized a similar TEDx talk last year.

"There are many people in our community who have done and are doing good things," she said. "We felt they could share with others their ideas."

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The four speakers include Courtney Quigley, a 2014 Barrington High School graduate who co-founded the organization Hope's In with her twin sister, Ashley, in 2012.

Hope's In works with the Potter's House Association to build homes and host medical clinics for the poor in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala.

Quigley will discuss how younger millennials should give back to society, Faber said.

Brian Harris, who has been the superintendent of Barrington School District 220 since 2014, will discuss the different ways Barrington students are being prepared for success in the future.

He previously worked as superintendent of District 220 in the Wheaton-Warrenville area and also as area superintendent of secondary education for St. Charles Community Unit School District 303.

Barrington resident Bob Lee, who has biked cross country to raise money for ALS, cancer research and hospice education, will discuss why he does service work in a talk titled the "Unintended Consequences of Serving Others," Faber said.

For his fundraising efforts regarding ALS and cancer research, Lee received a volunteerism award from the Chicago chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2012, according to the library.

Joyce Palemquist, executive director of the Barrington Area Council on Aging, is one of four speakers for the "TEDx" talk at the Barrington Area Library. (Barrington Area Library )

The fourth scheduled presenter is Joyce Palmquist, executive director of the Barrington Area Council on Aging, which serves seniors, family caregivers and the community. She plans to address how people can shape and influence another person's career.

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"Hopefully, through this talk the audience will gain insight into themselves and others and possibly take some action they may not have otherwise," Palmquist said.

She has worked as the council's executive director since 1995.

Palmquist also has worked as the community relations representative for the Northeastern Illinois Area Agency on Aging, as well as social services director for McHenry County Senior Citizens Council, according to the library.

tshields@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @tshields19
Dakota Access Pipeline protesters were disappointed by the gubernatorial candidates they heard from at the debate in downtown Bismarck on Monday night.

About 200 arrived at the Belle Mehus auditorium in the hopes of hearing their efforts reflected in the candidates  and having their say.

Some stayed outside, waving yellow flags and chanting "Mni Wiconi, Water is Life" loud enough for debate-goers to hear, while others headed inside.

Frustrated to learn there would not be a Q&A where they could speak and ask questions, many shouted their concerns about water to the candidates during the event and then walked out.

"As soon as we discovered there wouldn't be a Q&A, we had to get our voices heard in some way," protest organizer Joye Braun said after she and dozens of others exited the venue about 20 minutes into the debate.

Braun said the candidates didn't seem to be listening to the message the protesters have been sending during past months, namely that the oil will pollute the Missouri River should a pipeline leak develop and that the state should move away from a reliance on fossil fuels.

Another protester, Rodney Wabashaw, of Colorado, said he was frustrated with how candidates seemed to pass the buck, especially to the Obama administration.

"I didn't like what I heard when they blamed somebody else," he said.

Janell Cole, of Bismarck, said she thought the event seemed "scripted."

Instead of the cops hustling people, they let them have their say, she said: "The demonstrators played their role and got out."

Susan Beehler, of Mandan, said she had no problem with the protests, though she had a hard time catching the candidates' positions on the pipeline because she was distracted by the outbursts.

She was, however, impressed by Democratic candidate Marvin Nelson's questioning of the attorney general's position on the Industrial Commission and Republican candidate Doug Burgum's interest in innovation.

No one was arrested at the event, and there weren't any incidents, said Bismarck Police Deputy Chief Dave Draovitch. About 30 officers were there, and Sixth Street in front of the Belle Mehus auditorium was blocked.

"They did exactly what they said," Draovitch said, noting that the protesters cleaned up any trash and headed out by 8 p.m. when the debate ended.
Even though it is fall, a Homewood family is already starting to think about Christmas.

It will be a sad one for the family.

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That's because the holiday was a special one for Alisia Dieudonne, a 19-year-old who was killed Sunday after stray gunfire erupted during a party at her friend's house in the college town of Greensboro, N.C.

"Every year, she was the one who made sure everyone had a present," said her brother Matthew Dieudonne, 22. "Even the dog."

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Investigators are still searching for a suspect in the early Sunday morning shooting that killed the teen and a second student from North Carolina A&T State University, Ahmad Campbell, 21, of Kittrell, N.C.

"We are interviewing a lot of people, but we have not identified a suspect at this point," said Susan Danielsen, spokeswoman for the Greensboro Police Department.

While the Greensboro police have yet to determine a suspect, Alisia Dieudonne's family searches for closure. Oct. 2, 2016. (CBS Chicago)

The local Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line is offering rewards up to $2,000 for information that leads to an arrest of the man who opened fire at the off-campus party. The shooting remains under investigation.

Police said there is no evidence either victim was a part of the fight that instigated the shooting, and both appear to be innocent bystanders.

The party was at the home of new friend Alisia Dieudonne had made in college, her family said. A group of people who weren't supposed to be there showed up and weren't allowed in. An argument started outside the home, but gunfire struck her daughter inside, her mother Mary Dieudonne.

Alisia Dieudonne graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in 2015. She was a sophomore studying computer science at the historically black university when she was shot.

College life was starting to become more comfortable for the teen, who had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder when she was younger and struggled at first in the new environment, said Mary Dieudonne, who still spoke to her daughter over video chat several times a week.

From a young age, Alisia Dieudonne was fiercely loyal and giving, said her sister Jacqueline Hill, 22. Hill remembers when Alisia Dieudonne was in middle school and she didn't have money to buy anyone anything for Christmas. So, she found items the children had lost or important items they needed and wrapped those as gifts, Hill said.

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Alisia Dieudonne kept the same group of close friends all the way through high school, and remained close even as they all spread out to different parts of the country for school.

After a rough first semester, Alisia Dieudonne buckled down in the second half of her freshman year. She stayed in North Carolina over the summer and took 12 credit hours.

"She didn't need the support as much. She started making friends," Mary Dieudonne said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

A dancer in high school, Alisia Dieudonne joined the dance team at the university. The calls home were becoming less frequent.

"She was branching out," Mary Dieudonne said.

Wednesday nights were for dinner and debate when the children were younger, said Dieudonne's stepfather, James Hill III. It was a tradition he started with his children that carried on when the two families blended together.

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James Hill said that "was the night we always sat in the dining room and talked."

The family recalled that Alisia Dieudonne also was opinionated.

"She had to make sure the others heard her voice," Mary Dieudonne added. "She stood her ground. That's who she was."

Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
A happy crowd gathers at State and Madison Streets to celebrate Japan's surrender on Aug. 14, 1945, also known as V-J Day. (Max Arthur / Chicago Tribune)

Each year the silent parade of fire equipment from Park Forest and neighboring fire departments rolls past our house in an impressive display of flashing lights. Only the hushed rumble of trucks and ambulances breaks the silence of the darkening night. When we can, we stand and silently salute this proud patrol with flashlights in hand, wig-wagging soundless thank-yous.

For 36 years the fire department has held this parade honoring those who have died or been seriously injured fighting fires. This year's parade will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 and, as in the past, will be preceded by a short memorial service in St. Irenaeus Catholic Church at 6:30 p.m. From 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 15, the doors to the station house will be open to the public for tours and such. The firefighters and paramedics are often the first responders to a crisis. Consider yourself among the fortunate if you have never instantly needed an ambulance at your door or been awakened at night by the terrifying smell of smoke. It is a fearsome experience.

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Sweet journey

The last hummingbird, a fat little flitter, left over the weekend. Hopefully, its 2,500-mile journey southward to Mexico or Central America will be made easier by the vast amounts of sugar-water nectar it sipped from our feeder in the back yard. Because they travel so far, they are among the first to leave. "Gotta go," it whispers between split-seconds sips from the feeder. "Sorry to eat 'n' dip, but times a' wastin'"

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These birds are among the most intriguing of creatures, keeping time faster than the blink of an eye or the throb of a heart. The books say hummingbirds can flap their wings about 50 times a second and can fly at speeds of more than 30 miles an hour. Feeding hummingbirds can maintain their stable flight in a turbulent wind tunnel. They can move their bodies sideways to shake off rain drops which can weigh as much as 30 percent of the weight of the bird.

But most impressive is that these birds, the smallest of which can weigh as little as a Lincoln penny, are among the sturdiest of animals, with life spans ranging up to 10 years.

Bon voyage, little guy.

Still waiting

We talked about this earlier in the year, but the time is right to recall two fond memories.

On Aug. 14, 1945, I gripped my mother's hand as we walked along State Street from Van Buren Avenue to Lake Street and back again. It was V-J Day in America. The war was over.

All public transportation leading to and from the Loop was at a standstill and no one seemed to mind. Thousands were crammed into that one street and I imagine thousands more were on the other streets in the downtown area. Confetti was everywhere. Horns were tooting and people were singing and shouting. It was almost impossible to walk unhampered for more than a few steps. End to end and side to side, is seemed to be just one long, loud party.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

It should have been.

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Two months later, the Cubs were in the World Series, playing Detroit.

At the age of 10 I awaited two sure things. One: We were on the verge of universal peace. Two: the Cubs would play in a lot of World Series.

I am still waiting.

Reality came quickly. My fourth grade teacher at Lawson Grade School allowed us to listen to the seventh game of the Series. When Detroit scored four runs in the first inning, the teacher turned off the radio and told us to open our workbooks.

Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.

jerryshnay@gmail.com
The clock tower for the Elgin National Watch Co. factory off National Street at Grove Avenue was demolished Oct. 2, 1966. (Elgin History Museum / handout)

Fifty years ago, Bob Schroeder was on duty as a 32-year-old rookie Elgin patrolman when he heard about something happening in the city that he wanted to see for himself.

So that Sunday, he drove his squad car to a parking lot for the National Guard Armory at Raymond and National streets to witness the symbolic end of an era for Elgin  the Oct. 2, 1966, demolition of the clock tower for the Elgin National Watch Company factory.

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"I had a great view. They set off the dynamite and I watched it fall," Schroeder said. "It looked as if the building dropped from among all the pigeons that flew out of it."

"The factory was part of almost everyone's life," local historian Jerry Turnquist said. "If you didn't work there, your brother did or your neighbor. It touched us all."

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Turnquist also witnessed the clock tower falling section by section.

"I was 17 then, and my father managed the Elgin News Agency, located a block north on Grove Avenue," he said. "We worked from about 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. to get all the Chicago newspapers to stores and homes. We thought it would fall earlier than it did, and I joined crowds that waited there for a long time.

"The clock tower had four faces that could be seen from various directions. I especially remember it as a young child when I'd look out the window of our family car as we drove down South Grove Avenue and it hung over the street like a magnificent full moon."

Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain, 68, said he was there on National Street near Raymond, as well, with friends and others watching to see the tower tumble.

"There was a lot of dust, and the building just kind of crumbled as it came down," Kaptain said.

"There was a sober mood in Elgin after this, but our great city rebounded from this loss," Turnquist said.

That mood came from the fact that the Elgin National Watch Company once was a huge regional employer and a main cog in Elgin's economy.

But the company had closed its big National Street plant in 1964, and the clock tower had been put out of commission in late August 1965, said Bill Briska, president of the Elgin Area Historical Society. Other businesses had come to town, and industrial parks were starting to spring up on what was then the outskirts of Elgin, he said.

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In 1927, the watch company had 4,000 employees in its sprawling plant along National Street at the foot of South Grove Avenue. The Illinois Watch Case Co., a separately owned firm based on Elgin's north side, had 1,200 employees. A few dozen other manufacturers employed no more than 400 people each.

"It seemed as if every paycheck in town at one time or another was connected to the watch company," Kaptain said.

At the time of the clock tower demolition, the Elgin Watch Company had less than 500 Elgin area employees working at a plant on Fleetwood Drive that closed in 1970, according to Briska's research.

Briska and E.C. "Mike" Alft co-authored "Elgin Time: A History of the Elgin National Watch Company 1864-1968" and interviewed former employees for the video documentary, "Circle of Time," which can be found on YouTube.

The company specialized in mid-priced watches, and a confluence of forces at work in post-World War II America contributed to the company's demise, Briska said.

One issue was that Swiss watches gained a hold in the marketplace, Briska said, and by 1954 controlled 75 percent of the U.S. market. Cheaper watches became readily available, too.

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The company also had government contracts, but cost overruns hurt profits for its 1964 fiscal year, Briska learned. And while sales were up in dollars, profits were declining. In 1964, the company reported a loss of more than $2.4 million and of more than $6.8 million in 1965.

Moves such as opening operations in lower-wage South Carolina in 1962 and in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1963 didn't help, Briska said.

With mergers and acquisitions, business eventually became part of what was called Elgin National Industries in 1969, he said.

Animosity built in Elgin when, in 1973, ENI proposed liquidating a pension fund the watch company had in place from 1918. According to a placard at the Elgin History Museum, the dispute led to a change in federal law to require separation of pension funds from employer assets to protect pensions from corporate raiders.

Today, the Elgin watch brand name lives on through the collectibles market.

As for the city of Elgin, economic recovery was slow. Elgin's population in 1966 was somewhere between 49,000 and 55,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers from 1960 and from a special census taken in 1969.

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"It took decades to sort things out  even into the 1990s," Kaptain said.

That included cleaning up the site where the factory stood (and where a strip mall and a subsidized apartment complex now stand). The factory, at one point, used radioactive materials to make dials glow in the dark, Kaptain said.

Elgin was hit by the recession of the 1970s, then another economic downturn in the early 1980s with the arrival of Spring Hill Mall north in West Dundee and Carpentersville. In the late '70s, the city closed off part of the downtown to auto traffic, creating the Fountain Square Plaza pedestrian mall, which failed to draw people back to the downtown.

The effort to revitalize the downtown continues, with the current project turning the Depression Era-built Tower Building into market-rate apartments the most recent example.

What helped Elgin come back was the arrival of Grand Victoria Casino in 1994, Kaptain said, which at one time was the highest-grossing casino in the state. What also helped was the city opening a water plant in 1982 that allowed the city to get its water from the Fox River instead of deep wells, Kaptain said, meaning more water was available to homes and businesses.

As the housing boom went bust during last decade's recession, the city's boundaries expanded. As the housing market comes back, the population of Elgin now stands around 112,000.

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The casino's tax dollars have allowed Elgin to fund public works projects and other efforts to revitalize the city, Kaptain said.

Elgin is building its industrial base and adapting to a changing housing market, with a 248-unit higher-end apartment complex in the works along Randall Road and Route 72 as well as the Tower Building Downtown and a senior apartment complex planned for State Street (Route 31) across the Fox River from the heart of the city's downtown.

"So the lesson learned from the watch factory is the need for the city to diversify its industrial and business base as well as its revenue streams," Kaptain said.

That diversification will be part of the broader topic of Elgin as a sustainable community, which will be the theme in his December state of the city address, Kaptain said.

And for those who need a physical reminder of the end of the watch factory era, among the items the Elgin History Museum has it its collection are the large steel inner workings that ran the 14.5-foot-diameter clock faces on the four sides of the clock tower.

According to Briska, the clock tower was operated by slowly falling weights, like a grandfather clock. When the weights reached bottom, a switch activated an electric motor that pulled the weights back to the top.

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The workings at one time were at a museum in Denver, then in Rockford before returning to Elgin.

While the clock faces said "Elgin" on them, the machinery was made by the Seth-Thomas company: Elgin Watch Company didn't make clocks, only watches.

With Courier-News reports.

mdanahey@tribpub.com
Sleepy Hollow officials a cell tower for the area behind the village hall and police station. (Erin Sauder / The Courier-News)

Negotiations over the proposed 125-foot cell tower on Sleepy Hollow village property continue, despite the objections of several residents  and some board members.

"I don't mean to be a wet blanket," Trustee Scott Finney said.

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National Wireless Ventures LLC would like to install the tower in the area behind the south end of the village hall and police station building on Thorobred Lane.

According to village ordinances, a cell tower is a permitted use on village-owned property. The tower lease could put about $20,000 annually into village coffers.

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At Monday's board meeting, company representative Mike Stevens said the tower would cater to three wireless service carriers.

"Right now we have AT&T. We're going to get them all filled up. It just takes a little bit of time," he said.

National Wireless Ventures officials have proposed several tower designs to board members, including a monopole and a tri-tower, named for its triangular base.

Finney asked if the company had exhausted all the alternatives in lieu of erecting the 125-foot pole.

Stevens said company officials had considered microcell antennas for the village's light posts. But he said that option wouldn't provide the necessary capacity.

"It's not for phone coverage. It's for data. We're using our phones a lot more to look up things on Google and that's where this comes in," Stevens said.

Finney asked about the possibility of a distributed antenna system.

But National Wireless Ventures officials said that system is too costly.

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Finney said he found the options uncompelling.

"I'm somewhat skeptical of this rather easy dismissal of an alternative approach, which would be much less visible  which is our primary concern," he said.

Finney added that while board members are precluded by federal law from considering the technical and health aspects of the proposed cell tower, they can still consider aesthetics.

Trustee Jeff Seiler also weighed in on the topic.

"I think the comment needs to be made that in spite of all the things we don't like about this, the fire department has made it clear they'll put it on their land if we don't put it on ours," he said.

But other board members said the fire department still falls under the village's ordinances.

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During public comments, Sleepy Hollow resident Rich English spoke against the tower. He has been before the board several times to voice his objections.

"I've already raised the many concerns I have about the health effects of this cell tower," he said. "I would like to add yet another reason why I think the board is obligated to vote against this."

He read an excerpt from the village's newsletter about the history of Sleepy Hollow Road, which states that protecting the road "is essential to the character of Sleepy Hollow."

"It is written in the village's comprehensive plan that 'one of the highest priorities of the village should be the scenic aspects of Sleepy Hollow Road. Sleepy Hollow Road is the central showpiece of the village, and the preservation of its country lane atmosphere is one of the keys necessary to the rural nature of the village,'" English read from the newsletter.

He followed with his own comments.

"This is part of the village's comprehensive plan you sent to all of us. Which I took as something you all promised to preserve. I don't see or understand how a cell tower along Sleepy Hollow Road fits in," he said. "I don't think you should be going against your own newsletter."

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Board members plan to continue discussing the proposal.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
Rachel Weiss is the new rabbi at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston. Weiss is the synagogue's first female and openly gay rabbi. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

After taking over at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston in August, Rachel Weiss is the synagogue's first openly gay senior rabbi.

But the significance of that distinction lies more in the changes that have occurred in the last 30 years than in Weiss herself, she said.

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"One of the things that is important is that a generation ago an out, gay rabbi would have had very limited access to a mainstream congregation," Weiss said. "Generations ago, you couldn't be ordained if you were out of the closet.

"Today, thanks to the work of all the rabbis on whose shoulders I'm standing, my sexuality informs who I am as a human being and as a rabbi."

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Weiss, 40, a graduate of Evanston Township High School, expressed excitement about returning home from New York City, where she served as the associate rabbi at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York City's 43-year-old LGBT synagogue.

"This is thrilling," she said. "Most rabbis don't have the opportunity to come back to their home congregation with their family in tow. My family is still at JRC, and I'm bringing my (current) family to the congregation. This is really the beginning of a wonderful, wonderful new chapter."

Weiss grew up as a member of JRC, where she became a bat mitzvah and served as a religious school teaching assistant.

"JRC was a community that I knew very deeply was important to be part of," she said. "I was a strange kid who asked to go to Hebrew school because I wanted to know more. It expressed the values of my family and me in the Jewish language."

Rachel Weiss is the new rabbi at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston. Weiss is the synagogue's first female and openly gay rabbi. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

Weiss learned to be "present and engaged" with all parts of her life in connection with her faith, she said.

"I did not have to abandon religion," Weiss said. "My religion is big enough to hold my place."

In its search for a new rabbi, the JRC board was impressed with Weiss' resume, but bowled over by her services, said board president Robin Trilling.

"She had amazing energy," Trilling said. "She was easy to connect to. Because she had grown up here, it was an added special component. She had such joy leading services. I was personally very impressed with that."

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Weiss' strong education background and experience at a synagogue that valued inclusion and boasts the largest gay congregation in the country "were extremely important to us," Trilling said.

"We loved the way she spoke," she said. "For example, she did not speak down to children. She uses everything as a teaching moment and a way to illustrate our connection to each other."

Evanston Community Development Director Mark Muenzer, who also serves as the city's LGBT liaison, said he was not surprised by Weiss' appointment.

"The faith-based community in Evanston has always been very supportive of the LGBT community," Muenzer said. "This is a reflection of that. Whenever you have individuals in positions of influence, whether at a church or school or synagogue, as positive role models, that reflects well on the community at large."

Muenzer said it makes perfect sense to him that Weiss grew up in Evanston.

"It speaks so highly of Evanston that this is a place that recognizes diversity of all types, including LGBT," he said. "I'm always happy when an Evanston native comes back home and takes a position of positive influence."

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Trilling, who did not grow up attending JRC, said she was thrilled that Weiss wanted to come home.

"To know that somebody who had these years of experience here wanted to come back, there is an enormous amount of pride in that," she said. "She came back as a different person to a different synagogue in a different time. It seems like a perfect fit."

Weiss is also the first female senior rabbi in JRC's 52-year history, according to JRC communications and program coordinator Nina Litoff.

"It's a pretty big deal," Weiss said. "It's not such an anomaly in the liberal Jewish world anymore. More women are becoming rabbis than men."

"It's hugely significant," Trilling said. "It makes me very proud that for the first time in our 52-year history we have a woman as senior rabbi. The fact that she's openly gay is wonderful. It speaks to who we are as a community. It's great to have her at the helm because we are all about inclusion."

Inclusion and social justice are among Weiss' top priorities, Weiss said.

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"JRC has always been home for me," she said. "I want to make sure the doors are open to anyone who wants to come in and be part of a diverse community.

"Part of doing that means making sure congregants  whether families or singles, 20- to 30-somethings or empty-nesters, parents or non-parents, LGBTQ or straight, of the same skin color or not  have the chance to pull up a chair and say, 'I belong here,' to say, 'In 2017 this is what Judaism looks like.'"

Phil Rockrohr is a freelancer.
I feel like Im going above and beyond my job, giving patients an opportunity to save a life and giving people with blood diseases and blood cancers a better chance of a donor match, dentist Samantha Sacchetti said. (Jackie Pilossoph / Pioneer Press)

During a routine dental exam and cleaning, it's pretty typical for the dentist to encourage brushing and flossing regularly. But Samantha Sacchetti is asking her patients to do something else.

The Glenview dentist, who joined the practice of Victoria Remien Bigg last spring, is on a mission to get as many patients as she can to participate in a cheek swab test and register as bone marrow or stem cell donors. The test collects cells from the cheek and detects if someone is a bone marrow or stem cell match with another person.

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"I'm in a good position to educate patients and to have a conversation with them about the huge need for donors, to determine eligibility, and to swab their cheek if they accept," Sacchetti said.

Sacchetti was inspired to implement the testing by the recent passing of her fiance's best friend, Glenbrook South High School graduate Mike Lanphere, to Burkitt lymphoma, and is partnering with DKMS, (formerly known as Delete Blood Cancer), a Germany-based nonprofit bone marrow donor center.

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"Burkitt lymphoma is an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells, where a stem cell transplant is a treatment option," Sacchetti said. "A couple years ago, my own best friend was a member of the registry and ended up being a match and asked to donate. She gave a total stranger a second chance at life."

Sacchetti, who recently underwent training for the procedure, said the test is simple. After screening the patient to make sure he or she is eligible to donate, she takes a swab of saliva from the inside of each cheek and then sends the samples to the registry.

Sacchetti said she also educates the patient on the commitment required should they become a match and be asked to donate. Responsibilities of the donor can include traveling, which is covered by DKMS, injections prior to the donation procedure, and the procedure itself, which can require minor surgery.

"I feel like I'm going above and beyond my job, giving patients an opportunity to save a life and giving people with blood diseases and blood cancers a better chance of a donor match," Sacchetti said.

Bone marrow and stem cell donor drives are typically large, single day events planned either by individuals or donor center representatives, who recruit as many community members as they can to stop by and get tested.

But according to Kelly Taylor, donor recruitment coordinator for DKMS's U.S.-based headquarters in New York City, the organization recently ran a campaign to recruit dentists to start swabbing in their offices.

"Dentists are great people to deliver this message," Taylor said. "They are medical health professionals who are trusted by their patients, and they are local members of the community, so they have this connection to everyday people who could become life-saving donors."

Taylor said the start of dentists performing cheek swabs in their offices began in 2012, when a Michigan-based dentist with a personal connection to blood cancer and bone marrow transplants approached DKMS with the idea.

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In addition to cheek swabbing, Sacchetti plans to offer free oral cancer screenings in her office on certain days of the week.

"When people think of the dentist, they think of their teeth and not the rest of their mouth," she said. "So by the time they feel something, if it is cancer, it has progressed and I'm trying to prevent that for as many people as possible."

Jackie Pilossoph is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Glenview residents can register to vote for the November elections through Oct. 11, and early voting will start at Glenview Village Hall on Oct. 24, according to the village's website.

Residents can register to vote at Glenview Village Hall, 2500 East Lake Avenue, during regular business hours, online, by mail, at any Cook County Clerk's office or at an Illinois Secretary of State driver's license facility, it said.

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The League of Women Voters of Glenview/Glencoe will hold a voter registration event on Oct. 10 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Glenview Public Library, it said.

From Oct. 12 through Oct. 24, residents can register to vote at any Cook County Clerk's office during grace period registration, said village spokeswoman Lynne Stiefel.

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Any Cook County resident can register to vote and cast their ballot at the 51 early voting locations in Cook County, including Glenview Village Hall, from Oct. 24 to Nov. 7, Stiefel said.

However, Glenview Village Hall will not serve as a polling place on election day, Stiefel said.

"At Old Village Hall, we were the polling place for three precincts, but because we moved, we no longer are," Stiefel said.

Early voting in Village Hall will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 24 through Oct. 29, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 31 through Nov. 4, according to the village's website.

On Nov. 5 and Nov. 7, early voting will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, it said.

akukulka@tribpub.com
North Shore School District 112 plans to create secure vestibules for screening visitors next summer at the eight schools set to remain open under the district's school closing plan.

Schools to be retrofitted with entryways that allow a two-step screening would be Braeside, Indian Trail, Oak Terrace, Red Oak, Sherwood and Wayne Thomas elementary schools as well as Edgewood Middle School and Northwood Junior High.

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Secure vestibules were flagged as an urgent priority in the school district's most recent Health and Life Safety Survey, which school districts are required to conduct once a decade under Illinois law. In District 112's last survey conducted in early 2015, the addition of vestibules was assigned an "A" priority code, meaning "the deficiencies present an immediate hazard to the safety of students" and must be corrected within a year, according to the state's coding system.

"You are basically building a contained space where somebody comes in and can be greeted and processed," explained John Fuhrer, the district's director of operations and facilities. "Do you need to come in? Are you just dropping something off?"

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A visitor with a legitimate reason to enter the school building is buzzed in to another enclosed area, where their identification is checked before they are allowed to enter the school corridors.

"Right now, when you are in, you are in and you are free to go where you want to go," Fuhrer said.

Security vestibules were created at both Highland Park and Deerfield high schools during the summer of 2013.

In District 112, administrators announced in late September that the vestibules were being moved up a year on the district's project schedule. Fuhrer estimated the vestibules, which in some cases require relocating the school's main office, could cost about $2.5 million. The district is planning about $9.7 million in building work at the eight school buildings during the summer of 2017. Administrators said they expect to have bids ready for school board approval in December.

Fuhrer stressed that the district needs to adopt a security-conscious mindset, and eliminate staff practices like propping open back doors to catch fresh air.

"If we put in security vestibules at the front door and we have the back door wide open, we have a fundamental problem," Fuhrer said. "Security is only going to be as good as the people in the buildings want to keep it."

kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com

@KarenABerkowitz
The leaders behind the newly-formed Fort Sheridan Historical Society don't claim to be experts on the fort's history and lore just yet.

But there's stacks of material to probe, and plenty of people eager to share stories from the time they or their ancestors spent on the military base.

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For starters, there's the curious reason the base was established on Chicago's North Shore in the late 1880s. The threat wasn't a foreign power, but worries about an insurgency close to home, according to Anne Maxfield, a resident of Fort Sheridan and a vice president of the group.

"It all started because there was a lot of civil unrest in downtown Chicago with the Haymarket riots," said Maxfield, speaking of the violence that erupted around Haymarket Square during a labor demonstration in 1886. "The wealthy families  the Marshall Fields, the Armours and the Swifts  were afraid that the civil unrest would come up the North Shore, so they petitioned the government to build a base here. That's how it came to be."

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Then there are the ghost sightings recalled by people who lived in Fort Sheridan during a tour of duty. Various people have referred to an apparition known as "the lady in red", and a photo showing a shadowy figure.

"A couple of gals on Facebook ... remembered the ghosts that came out around the hospital," said Donna Fitzgerald, the preservation commissioner for the Master Homeowners' Association at Fort Sheridan and the society's founder.

Fort Sheridan opened as a military base in 1887 primarily to protect and maintain order in Chicago. In 1917, the base hosted the nation's first Reserve Officer's Training Corps camp. During World War II, the installation was one of four reception centers for new recruits, and also processed personnel at the time of discharge.

The base officially closed in 1993 following a federal decision to close Fort Sheridan five years earlier. Nearly 100 historic properties were preserved and rehabilitated as mostly private housing. New homes and buildings were designed to match the original Holabird and Roche architecture. The new buildings used a pale yellow brick that matched the original bricks made from clay on the bluffs of Lake Michigan.

An early resident of the private housing, Fitzgerald is hopeful the Fort Sheridan Historical Society will bring a social side to living in the town of Fort Sheridan, which actually is split among Highland Park and Highwood.

Donna Fitzgerald (left) and Anne Maxfield outside the Fort Sheridan Tower. (Karen Berkowitz / Pioneer Press)

"We were kind of asleep for a period of time," said Fitzgerald, noting she'd lost touch with people she knew early on. "We don't have a church or synagogue. We don't have a community center."

Starting from scratch, the society showed movies this summer outside the iconic Fort Sheridan Tower, which stands at the center of a former army barracks that has been converted to condominiums. Maxfield has created a video on the tower, which once held 90,000 gallons of water. The video will be shown during the society's Italian dinner Sunday, Oct. 16 at Ginger's restaurant in Highwood. Another outdoor event at the tower on Oct. 29 will feature "Ghost Telling Stories" from two storytellers.

The society's long-term vision is to create a small museum inside the tower with a meeting space and a place to store collections and artifacts.

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Money is one major hurdle, as the space has no heating or air conditioning and will need to be retrofitted with climate control features. Another hurdle involves how the public would enter and leave the museum.

Fitzgerald imagines a time when the Fort Sheridan Historical Society will be hosting its own walks and tours.

"Right now, the goal is to stay alive, keep the activities going and get the community involved," Fitzgerald said, noting the support from residents has been enthusiastic.

She's also excited about the prospect of reaching out to people with a connection to the base.

"Can you imagine the number of people who have been going through here since 1887, and the number of descendants?," she asked. "Everybody you talk to has a story to tell about Fort Sheridan."

kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com

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A referendum to build a new Hinsdale Middle School is being suppored by the citizens' group Citizens for a New HMS. (Chuck Fieldman / Pioneer Press)

A flier/ad produced by a citizens group supporting the Nov. 8 referendum to fund the building of a new Hinsdale Middle School doesn't tell the whole story when it states that owners of a median-value home will pay just $100 more a year in property taxes if the referendum is successful.

Citizens for a New HMS had its ad published in one local paper, plans to publish it elsewhere, and use it as a flier for distribution throughout Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181, said Denise Pacioni, one of the group's organizers, who added that group members plan to start going door-to-door this weekend in an effort to gain support for the referendum.

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Information from District 181 states that the increase in the debt service portion of tax bills for the district would increase from current amounts by about $100 only for each of the first seven years over a 20-year debt service payment. The actual additional tax amount going to pay back HMS bonds would range from $99.26 to $200.93 during those seven years, ending with the 2023 tax bills.

However, on 2024 bills, when existing debt service for other district buildings ends, the additional tax for the HMS bonds would increase to $683.96 for a home with a median district value of $765,000. The tax bill for debt service would continue at about the same annual amount through 2035 tax bills.

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Pacioni said she didn't believe the citizens group flier/ad was misleading in not specifying that the $100 annual increase was only for the first seven years.

"I don't have to tell you what happens in part two, I'm not the district," Pacioni said. "There's only so much I could put out on one page."

She said it's important to note that the total tax payment for District 181 debt service actually will decrease at the same time the HMS portion increases dramatically. That is because debt service on other district buildings will be paid off at that time.

While that is true, as indicated by an estimated total property tax payment for debt service of $1,009.96 in 2023 decreasing to $683.96 for 2024 bills, the payment for debt service would be eliminated on the 2024 bills and beyond if the referendum doesn't pass.

District 181 estimated the total HMS referendum tax bill would be $9,089 over 20 years for the owner of a median-valued home.

Former District 181 Board member Yvonne Mayer called the flier/ad by the citizens group misleading and inaccurate.

"I just think it's very irresponsible to put out information like that and not tell the complete story," she said. "It's fine to be behind something, but present facts that support your view and then let the voters decide."

Mayer sent an email to District 181 superintendent Don White, asking that the district send a letter to the entire community, indicating that the information in the flier/ad is not factually accurate.

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"They sent something out last time with the March referendum when a different group against the referendum put information out, and they should do it again to let people know this information isn't accurate," Meyer said, referring to Citizens for Clarendon Hills, which opposed the March referendum.

Bridget McGuiggan, District 181's director of communications, said the board already has decided that no communications will be sent out in response to information disseminated by citizens groups.

McGuiggan said she was sent the Citizens for a New HMS flier/ad to "fact check" before it was published, and added that the published version is different than what she was given. She said she didn't remember any specific differences.

cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @chuckwriting
An Antioch woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated DUI in connection with the death of a motorcyclist last summer and received a 10-year prison sentence under a negotiated deal.

Leena Ultsch, 35, pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated DUI resulting in death and one count of identity theft, and, in exchange, the state dismissed additional counts of aggravated DUI against Ultsch, as well as charges of failing to report an accident with injuries and failing to give aid.

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The aggravated DUI charges resulted from a crash on Aug. 26, 2015, that killed 50-year-old Gregory Boyes, an unincorporated Antioch resident who was riding his motorcycle on Route 173 west of Linden Lane near Antioch.

In a statement to the court, Ultsch apologized for her actions and said she hopes that someday Boyes' relatives will be able to forgive her.

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Ultsch said she replays the events of the crash every day, and that she has spent the last year in "repentance."

"I am confident I will never again make this kind of mistake," Ultsch said, adding that she hopes to participate in programs with groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving to speak to others about the effects her actions had on the victim's family and friends.

Under the plea deal accepted by Judge Patricia Fix, Ultsch was sentenced to eight years in prison, to be served at 85 percent, on the aggravated DUI charge, and two years, to be served at 50 percent, on the identity theft charge, which involved her unlawful use of a debit account belonging to someone else.

Fix noted that the charges against Ultsch were her first felonies, but that she had three previous DUI convictions.

While free on bond for the aggravated DUI charges, Ultsch failed a drug test earlier this year and then fled to Wyoming, according to authorities.

After failing the drug test, officials said Ultsch did not show up for a March 30 court date, and was arrested April 6 by police near Green River, Wyo. On April 8, she waived extradition and was returned to Lake County, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Ori said after the plea deal Tuesday that Ultsch was not charged with escape because the case was already in a negotiation phase, and officials believe the number of years agreed to in the plea deal is fair.

Ori said the plea deal was discussed with the victim's family and that the family is "completely satisfied with the sentence."

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Ultsch could have received up to 14 years in prison if convicted at trial of the aggravated DUI charges.

Ultsch will receive credit toward the prison term for the 221 days she has spent in Lake County Jail. Following completion of her prison term, she must serve a three-year term of supervised release.

After the fatal crash, investigators at first thought Boyes had driven off the roadway in a single-vehicle crash, but later found vehicle debris nearby.

About six hours later, Ultsch called the sheriff's office to say she had been involved in a crash and left the scene because she panicked, authorities said. Officials said she told investigators she had been drinking wine the night of the accident.

On the heels of Gregory Boyes' death last year, his brother and father both died in separate but possibly connected violent incidents this year, according to authorities.

Gregory Boyes' brother, 53-year-old Gerald Boyes Jr., was fatally shot by police Aug. 16 in Antioch Township.

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Police in Kentucky had been looking for the Gerald Boyes Jr,. as a person of interest in the double homicide of Boyes' father, 73-year-old Gerald Boyes Sr., and his girlfriend, Billie Potter, outside of Paducah, Ky. authorities said.

The Lake County State's Attorney's Office recently announced, following a review of evidence compiled by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, that the police shooting was justified, and that Gerald Boyes Jr. was holding a gun when he was shot by Lake County and McHenry County deputies.

jrnewton@tribpub.com

Twitter @jimnewton5
You don't have to be a political junkie or a history buff to enjoy Oil Lamp Theatre's "44 Plays for 44 Presidents"  though it probably wouldn't hurt.

"Some of the plays are really intricate in terms of the history of the presidents," said director Becca Holloway. "But one of the great things about this show is that it's really fast-paced and easy for everyone to understand. People who know a lot about history and politics might be more likely to pick up on some subtle things we throw in, but it's not necessary to have a good time. Basically, it's just a fun night out at the theater."

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"44 Plays" opens Oct 6 at the Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview.

Holloway, who is making her directorial debut after stage-managing 10 productions and music-directing another in the last two seasons at Oil Lamp, is in a particularly good position to comment because she has also performed in the show. After creating it for the 2001 election, Chicago's Neo-Futurists company staged it again in 2012 and ended the run with additional productions in 44 theaters across the country. Including the student theater at Hastings College in Nebraska, where Holloway was a student before graduating and moving to Chicago.

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"It's amazing to me that it includes all 44 presidents and they each have their own little piece of the show," said Holloway. "And yet each play is very different from the ones that went before. Some are completely silent, like the segment about John Quincy Adams, some include big dance numbers, including a full ballet for James Garfield, and there's even one where Calvin Coolidge is playing a guitar and singing."

Each president's mini-play is presented in sequential order and without any attempt at impersonation. You won't see someone with a beard and a stovepipe hat playing Lincoln, for example. The presidents in each segment are identified only by the star-spangled jacket the actors pass from hand to hand, and by a slide projection of their portrait above the stage.

For the most part, according to Holloway, the show is light-hearted and entertaining.

"It's very humorous," she said. "It sort of borders on sketch comedy in the sense that there's not a through line or a plot. Though there are a few segments that take you by surprise and break up the comedy a bit  the assassinations of Kennedy and Lincoln and Garfield and McKinley for instance. We don't brush that off or make light of it, so there are some poignant moments in the show."

Just as the Neo-Futurists updated their 2001 show when they re-staged it in 2012, the company has updated "44 Plays" for this election year, including a re-written Obama play and two epilogues about the way things might go if Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins the election. Holloway decided not to include the new segments about Clinton and Trump, however, choosing to close the show with Obama's new play.

"I didn't feel they were in keeping with the rest of the show," she said. "And I felt our audience would appreciate the Obama ending more."

That said, however, Holloway is careful to assert that the production has no political point of view.

"We're just trying to present history the way it is," she explained. "We're not trying to politicize it one way or another and we're not trying to persuade the audience to do anything other than vote."

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'44 Plays for 44 Presidents'

When: Oct. 6-Nov. 13

Where: Oil Lamp Theatre, 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview

Tickets: $35, $20 for students

Contact: 847-834-0738; www.oillamptheater.org
By Shirley Chu

Editor: Jake Liddle

Most MNCs will charge for services provided to other entities within the same company or business. These are classed as intercompany service fees. Often, while trying to protect its tax base, Chinas tax authorities will regularly encounter inconsistencies in transfer pricing for intercompany services, such as lack of access to necessary information due to opaque business structures, unclear rules under Enterprise Income Tax (EIT) laws, and difficulty determining whether selected transfer pricing methods for services comply with the arms length principle. Companies found guilty of these inconsistencies can be penalized by Chinas tax authorities, making it essential to understand the countrys regulations connected to intercompany services.

Transfer pricing analysis of intra-group services

While Chinas transfer pricing regulations do make provision for a selection of intercompany services, guidance is limited to a select amount of company structures, and lacks a wider analysis for services provided by the Chinese subsidiaries of MNCs. Tax authorities have also traditionally upheld that fees charged for intercompany services by parent companies are not deductible for CIT under EIT law.

Guidance on intra-group services from a transfer pricing perspective can be obtained from guidelines provided by the OECD, which highlight two issues that should be observed. Firstly, whether intra-group services have been provided. A service is defined as an activity which provides an entity with economic or commercial value which enhances its commercial position. This can be determined by whether an independent enterprise would pay for an activity (service) provided by an outside entity, or if it could have sourced it in-house.

Secondly, whether services were charged under the arms length principle. The OECD guidelines note that the CUP or cost plus methods are the most suitable for intercompany services. Once an appropriate base rate is determined, a percentage mark-up will typically be added to calculate the total value of the service charge.

Chinas position on intercompany services

Guoshuifa [2008] No. 863 stipulates that intercompany service fees should be calculated by the arms length principle. Furthermore, the 2016 transfer pricing regulations specify that service-related payments should be categorized into a single line item as service payments, and that Chinas tax authorities will examine the provider and recipient of services, their specific contents and necessity, method of conducting, as well as how both parties benefit from the services. Assessment of who benefits from the services is particularly important for taxpayers, as tax authorities pay special attention to discerning service and royalty payments and the supporting documents disclosing this information.

This article is an excerpt from the September issue of China Briefing Magazine, titled Revisiting Transfer Pricing in China: a Year of New Regulations. In this issue of China Briefing, we provide a guide to navigating Chinas latest regulations,

highlighting the main issues that exist for foreign companies, and explaining the various transfer pricing methods and processes that exist.



Establishing & Operating a Business in China 2016

Establishing & Operating a Business in China 2016, produced in collaboration with the experts at Dezan Shira & Associates, explores the establishment procedures and related considerations of the Representative Office (RO), and two types of Limited Liability Companies: the Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise (WFOE) and the Sino-foreign Joint Venture (JV). The guide also includes issues specific to Hong Kong and Singapore holding companies, and details how foreign investors can close a foreign-invested enterprise smoothly in China.



China Investment Roadmap: the Education Sector

In this issue of China Briefing, we navigate through Chinas regulatory framework for investment into education, presenting a roadmap for best practices in the industry. We examine the key market information that has driven the industrys growth, analyze the different investment models that are available for foreign companies, and finally discuss the effect that Chinas recently released NGO law will have on foreign investment into education.



Understanding Mergers & Acquisitions in China

In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we set out to guide foreign investors through the mergers and acquisitions process, from initial market research, to set-up procedures and regulatory hurdles, and finally through important due diligence considerations. With experience in Chinas M&A market since 1992, Dezan Shira & Associates is perfectly positioned to ensure that the M&A is the right investment vehicle for your companys venture into China.
Prospective buyers attend a real estate trade fair in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, on Monday. People will only be allowed to purchase one property in certain areas of the city, while those buying a second property will need to make a down payment of no less than 40 percent of the purchase price, the local government said. [Provided to China Daily]

In the past three days, local governments in nine cities have announced new restrictions on property purchases, designed to dampen speculative buying and curb soaring prices.

At the weekend, Tianjin, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Jinan, Wuxi, Hefei and Wuhan followed an announcement made in Beijing late Friday night, and introduced measures to cool the residential property market, such as raising down payment requirements for second homes or banning the purchase of second and third homes.

Average prices of commercial residential property in the cities have registered doubled-digit, year-on-year rises in the past few months. In August, Zhengzhou, in Henan province, saw the country's fastest monthly surge in the prices of new commercial residences and pre-owned homes.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average price of new homes in 70 major cities rose 9.2 percent year-on-year in August, from 7.9 percent in July. More than 90 percent of the cities saw prices rise on a monthly basis.

Industry experts said cities including Fuzhou, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Shijiazhuang and Qingdao, where home prices have seen runaway growth, are also likely to tighten rules for home purchases

Yan Yuejin, research director of a think tank at the E-House China R&D Institute, a real estate research agency, said the new policies will restrain overheating home prices in some popular areas, and housing transactions in some cities are likely to fall in the second quarter of next year. However, home prices are not likely to see substantial declines because of the shrinking property inventory and land supply, and a swelling urban population, Yan said.

On Monday, as part of its efforts to curb speculation, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a list of 45 housing developers and agents accused of hoarding, price-rigging and other malpractices.

The Beijing government on Friday announced that down payments for first time homebuyers should be no less than 35 percent, up from the previous level of 30 percent, while that for purchases of second homes should be no less than 50 percent.

The land supply for so-called self-use houses, which are sold to qualified families at a price ceiling imposed by the government, will be increased, the government said.

"These measures (in Beijing) will affect potential buyers who are keen on an improved house by enhancing the investment threshold and utilizing financial leverage," said Guo Yi, marketing director at the Yahao Real Estate Selling and Consulting Solution Agency in Beijing.

Before the new regulations, the down payment requirement for pre-owned houses in Beijing had reached 40 to 60 percent of the total price, Guo said, adding that the proportion may rise to 50 to 70 percent under the new policy, which would greatly reduce demand for pre-owned housing.

Fan Hui, 32, a private business owner, bought an 80-square-meter two-bedroom apartment in Chaoyang district of Beijing in May. "I am very lucky because the price has risen by more than 1 million yuan (US$150,000) in the three months since I bought it," Fan said.
Two Chinese investors have shown interest in developing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nepal after Nepal's Parliament endorsed the SEZ Bill last month which paved the way for the private sector to establish, operate and manage the SEZs.

According to a senior official of the SEZ Development Committee of Nepal, Ping An Insurance (Group) of China in partnership with Lhasa SEZ has sought permission to conduct feasibility study of potential areas where an SEZ could be established and runs the SEZ.

"The Chinese investors have proposed to explore the areas in Nuwakot and Kavrepalanchowk districts in central Nepal as well other potential areas," Chandika Prasad Bhatta, executive director of SEZ Development Committee told Xinnua on Monday.

According to him, it is the first time foreign investors showed interest in developing an SEZ in the country.

The Chinese proposal came after the SEZ bill, which has been sent to the president for a stamping after the parliamentary endorsement, made provision that the SEZ could be developed and operated under public private partnership or sole investment of the private sector. This paved the way for domestic and foreign investors to enter into the venture.

According to the SEZ committee officials, the Chinese investors had met with them a month ago and they received email from the Chinese side seeking permission to explore the possibility of establishing the SEZ in Nepal.

According to Bhatta, his office has notified the Industry Ministry about the proposal.

Dinesh Ghimire, joint secretary at the ministry, told Xinhua that they have got notification about the proposal from the Chinese investors and it would move ahead in an administrative process.

Nepal has sought to develop 14 SEZs in different parts of the country. But the infrastructure has only been developed in a single SEZ in Bhairahawa, a south western city of Nepal, so far.

The SEZ Committee has started infrastructure development in two other proposed SEZs. Construction of roads is ongoing in another proposed SEZ and a feasibility study is being conducted for another SEZ, according to Bhatta.

Nepal specifically aims to attract export industries inside SEZs and more foreign investment and the SEZ bill has offered several incentives.

According to the bill, the industries operating inside the SEZ will get special treatment including taxes and fees to be levied and leasing of buildings and lands.

It has made provision of full income tax exemption for five years for the industries operating inside the SEZ. The industries that use at least 60 percent domestic raw materials will get 50 percent tax exemption for additional 10 years while others will get additional five-year tax exemption.

The bill has also banned workers from holding all forms of protests that could affect the production of the factories in the zone. Strikes by different trade unions, caused by the interests of certain political parties, have been blamed for a major constraint for attracting investment in the Himalayan country.

The bill has also allowed foreign investors to repatriate dividends and payment of foreign loans and do transactions in foreign exchange.
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The United States has suspended negotiations with Russia on restoring a ceasefire in Syria, the State Department said on Monday, blaming Moscow for its military role in the attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The decision followed a threat from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week as Washington is growingly impatient with Moscow on the Syria issue and posed new challenges on the prospects of a political solution to the five-year-old conflict.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement, accusing Russia of failing to live up to its commitments on the ceasefire agreement on Syria reached last month.

Russia was "either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," he added.

The spokesperson also accused Moscow and Damascus of targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need.

In response to Washington's decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. is trying to shift the blame on Russia.

"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements -- to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of the Aleppo city...(and) to apply pressure on the armed opposition groups," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

As part of the decision on Monday, the U.S. will withdraw personnel that had been dispatched in anticipation of the possible establishment of the Joint Implementation Center with Russia.

However, Kirby said the U.S. will continue to utilize the channel of communications established with Russia to de-conflict counterterrorism operations in Syria "to ensure the safety of our respective military personnel and enable the fight against Daesh (the Islamic State)."

"Everybody's patience with Russia has run out," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday, blaming Moscow for undermining the fight against Islamic State and for indiscriminate bombing that has killed civilians and targeted hospitals in Syria.

"There is nothing more for the United States and Russia to talk about," Earnest said.

On Sept. 10, Russia and the U.S. announced a landmark agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which both sides hoped would lead to their countries' military cooperation to end more than five years of bloodshed there.

However, crossfire resumed in the first hours after the week-long truce deal expired on Sept. 19, with both parties trading accusations of failures to implement the deal.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week, slammed airstrikes by Russia and the Syrian government on Aleppo.

Obama and Merkel believed Russia and the Syrian government "bear special responsibility for ending the fighting in Syria and granting the UN humanitarian access to besieged and hard to reach areas in Syria," said a White House statement.

In another sign of worsening relations between Washington and Moscow, Russia halted on Monday cooperation with the U.S. on a program for disposal of weapons-grade plutonium.

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) has been halted due to "the emergence of a threat to strategic stability as a result of hostile actions by the U.S. in respect to Russia," as well as "Washington's inability to fulfill its commitments to disposing of surplus weapons-grade plutonium behind its decision," said a document published on the Russian government's website.

First signed in September, 2000 and updated in 2010, the PDMA committed each side to disposal of no less than 34 metric tons of weapon-grade plutonium, enough to produce 17,000 nuclear weapons.

The White House has expressed disappointment over Russia's decision.

"We've obviously been quite disappointed about a range of Russian decisions however both inside of Syria but also in Ukraine," Earnest said. "And unfortunately the announcement about the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement is more in line with those kinds of decisions that have only deepened Russia's isolation in the international community."
SHANGHAI - Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered a major fast food chain supplier and its parent company to pay fines for producing and selling substandard products.

According to the authority, Shanghai Husi Food Co and OSI Group's China office were fined approximately 17 million yuan ($2.5 million) and 7.3 million yuan respectively.

The district market regulators have also added the two companies to a blacklist of those who have committed serious legal violations, meaning stricter regulations in the future.

In a statement, the two companies accepted the punishment and promised to pay the penalty on time.

Husi is a subsidiary of US-based global food processor OSI Group and a former supplier to major fast food chains including McDonald's and Yum! Brands KFC and Pizza Hut.

The case was first exposed after a local TV station reported in July 2014 that Shanghai Husi had supplied products tainted with reprocessed, expired meat to a string of fast food chains and restaurants across China.

A Shanghai court in February ordered Husi's Shanghai and Hebei plants to pay fines and sentenced 10 people to prison terms.
File photo of Jim O'Neill [Photo/China Daily]

BRICS countries need to find their collective purpose again, given that some economies are weak, says Jim O'Neill, who coined the acronym BRIC in 2001 to describe Brazil, Russia, India and China as potential growth powerhouses. South Africa was added nine years later to make it BRICS.

"They need to find their collective purpose and really maintain the collective vision," the former UK Treasury minister told China Daily in an exclusive interview marking the 15th anniversary of the coining of the acronym.

Brazil, Russia and South Africa are in recession, with many questioning their BRICS status.

"Even though they have got problems, they are still key parts of the global economy. They need to be involved in global governance, so the importance of the BRICS is not diminished by the fact that they are in recession," he argued.

The former Goldman Sachs chief economist said: "In the 15-year context people also need to remember, in the first decade after I created the acronym, all the BRICS countries grew much more than I said, so even though Brazil and Russia particularly have been disappointing, the collective size is pretty similar to what I said it would be. Very importantly, so far this decade China is growing by more than I assumed."

O'Neill believes China can play a key role because it is so bigtwice the size of the other four economies combined.

He thinks BRICS economies can reinforce cooperation by undertaking collective investments in environmentally friendly and alternative energies consistent with climate challenges, particularly now China has signed the climate change agreement.

O'Neill, who chairs a formal review into antimicrobial resistance, said BRCIS countries can also take a collective position in that area.

The challenges facing economies are many, but he said BRICS countries should consider sensible shared infrastructure projects.

"Take China's Belt and Road Initiative for example, which touches three out of five BRICS countries. One could conceive of all the BRICS countries' investment banks maybe playing a role in Belt and Road infrastructure efforts. That would be a significant opportunity for them to do things together, which would help strengthen their economies and the world economy," he said.

He described 2016 as a landmark year for China with it hosting the G20 Leaders Summit.

"I like the focus they brought to try to improve the global economy and global governance," he said. "In some way, the best part of the G20 was endorsing China's status as an important part of the world economy."

O'Neill recently resigned as a Treasury minister amid reported tensions over new Prime Minister Theresa May's approach to China and the UK's Northern Powerhouse project.

In the past year, he has been involved in the project with attempts to bring in Chinese investment. O'Neill, who was born in Manchester, said he remains passionate and eager to play a role.

And he hopes Sino-UK relations will remain strong under May's leadership.

"Obviously, I played my own role in developing so-called golden relations, which was very exciting, and I think it is very important for the UK, especially post-Brexit, that we develop stronger trade links with key drivers of the world economy, and obviously China is one of them."
A staff member uses an intelligent home and energy-saving app in a house at Zancheng Intelligent Community in Shaoxing city, Zhejiang province. The network integrates 14 capabilities aimed at making residents' life easier and convenient.[Photo/Xinhua]

Zhang Xueqing, a 32-year-old accountant, has recently been busy redecorating her apartment in Chengdu, while teaching her parents to use the face recognition door control system.

Her residential area in the capital of Sichuan province had some smart devices installed last month, ranging from a gate that recognizes the inhabitants to access control connected with quick-response code via WeChat - the instant messaging application.

"My family and I were surprised when these new technological products were set up at our community, and all can be controlled through one application on my cellphone," Zhang said. "Although I haven't got used to some of the functions, I'm sure they'll make my life more convenient and interesting here."

Like Zhang, an increasing number of Chinese residents are longing for standardized smart community products and a central platform to control the mall.

Most of the smart community devices available on the market, however, could neither interconnect with each other, nor are they compatible with other brands, which has affected the sales of these products.

"I would have installed an electric curtain if it didn't require a remote control," Yang Fan said, citing her concern that she could get confused by having too many remote controls.

For this reason, Chengdu-based Ganide Co Ltd is developing end-to-end solutions for smart communities for China's high-end real estate firms.

"There are quite a few suppliers of smart devices currently. But most of them could not fully meet the clients' demand and only give limited access to other brands' products. That's why business users have to talk with different vendors, and individual consumers couldn't control the devices on one operational platform," said Liu Yeshao, a product manager with Ganide.

The company not only provides a wide range of smart devices for indoor and outdoor use, but has also invented an application for consumers to control the equipment.

A project manager at the property developer located in Chengdu in southwestern China, who declined to be named, said his company was considering purchasing Ganide's products for a newly built apartment complex covering an area of 80,000 square meters, after reviewing the price list.

"We choose Ganide as the supplier because, first of all, it is a State-owned enterprise whose products perform stably in a previous project in which an old residential district of 33,300 square meters was redeveloped in a smart way," he said. "Besides, they provide a wide range of smart devices at a relatively lower price."

Since the beginning of 2015, Ganide began to provide smart community solutions for new apartments constructed by real estate developers such as Vanke Co Ltd, Gemdale Group, while the same time for old residential communities.

For instance, the company tailored the smart community construction plan for Shanghai-based Anting New Town, which was developed by Vanke, and furnished the showroom earlier this year. In mid-September, a smart salesroom of Gemdale Group also opened in Shanghai.

As a unit of the research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Ganide takes advantage of the research and technology to link the devices with software platform, and to integrate outdoor and indoor operations in the community.

Ganide's products have also entered the international market in countries such as Myanmar and Indonesia.

The output of Ganide is expected to reach 500 million yuan ($75.7 million) in the next three years, said Tong Wei, CEO of Ganide.

The development of smart communities in China began to accelerate a year ago when the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development proposed in a guideline that more than 50 percent of communities should be constructed in a smart way by 2020. The guideline defined a smart community as leveraging information technology to integrate resources in the communities to better serve the residents and enable economic and environmental sustainability.

Since then, China's growing urban population has been motivating sections of companies in different industries to eye on the market, putting it on a fast track.

The urbanization rate in China reached 56 percent in 2015, up 2 percent from the previous year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

To seize the opportunity, Shenzhen-based technology giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has been accelerating its research on internet of things to enable the construction of more smart communities, Kong Qingwei, the firm's smart community project manager, said recently.

"Young people welcome the smart community, while the elderly seem to be reluctant about such changes. For example, my parents, both of whom are aged over 60, need much more time to adapt to them," Zhang said.
To a Westerner the English name a Chinese person uses for himself or herself can often trigger a smile or a puzzled look.

Top of my list, when I worked as a correspondent in Hong Kong, was the man who would come regularly to maintain our facsimile machines.

He rejoiced in the name of Faxman Wong. I have his business card to this day.

When I first arrived, I couldn't work out why two of my Chinese co-workers had distinctly old-fashioned, religious-sounding names, Joshua and Fidelia. That little mystery was cleared up when I discovered they were graduates of Hong Kong Baptist College where, in common with other students, they were assigned English names for their language lessons.

Then there were the truly exotic. I will never forget the vivacious sales assistant in the office at the time, who rejoiced in the name of Cinderella Mak. I never did summon up the courage to ask her how she chose that name.

In all the years I have worked with or been involved with China, I have come across people named Pony, Winnie, Bruce (go on, guess who he was named after) and a crop of Benjamins and even one guy calling himself Alien.

I suffered too, though not in China. When I first arrived in Saigon in 1972 as a very green war correspondent for Reuters, the wonderful office manager, Pham Ngoc Dinh, had trouble getting his tongue round my first name.

He tried several times, each time ending up with a sound half way between a snort and a clearing of the throat. He eventually settled on Christ, until a more worldly Vietnamese colleague told him that to Christians it may come across as blasphemous.

With a typical flash of Vietnamese humor he ended up calling me BK, for Beaucoup Kilo, a French reference to my burly frame.
US suspends negotiations with Russia over Syria ceasefire

Xinhua | Updated: 2016-10-04 07:16

WASHINGTON - The United States was suspending negotiations with Russia on restoring a ceasefire in Syria, the State Department said on Monday.



"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement, accusing Russia of failing to live up to its commitments on the ceasefire agreement on Syria.



Russia was "either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," he added.



The spokesperson also accused Moscow and Damascus of targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need.



In response to Washington's decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. is trying to shift the blame on Russia.



"Washington has simply failed to live up to the key commitment under the agreements -- to facilitate the humanitarian assistance to residents of the Aleppo city...(and) to apply pressure on the armed opposition groups," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.



On Sept. 10, Russia and the US announced a landmark agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which both sides hoped would lead to their countries' military cooperation to end more than five years of bloodshed there.



However, crossfire resumed in the first hours after the week-long truce deal expired on Sept. 19, with both parties trading accusations of failures to implement the deal.



As part of the decision on Monday, the US will withdraw personnel that had been dispatched in anticipation of the possible establishment of the Joint Implementation Center with Russia.



However, Kirby said the US will continue to utilize the channel of communications established with Russia to de-conflict counterterrorism operations in Syria "to ensure the safety of our respective military personnel and enable the fight against Daesh (the Islamic State)."
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for mutual respect and openness to dialogue on the sidelines of the celebrations to mark the Day of German Unity on Monday in the eastern German city of Dresden.

Bundesrat President Stanislaw Tillich, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Joachim Gauck (LtoR) arrive near Frauenkirche cathedral for celebrations marking the German Unification Day in Dresden, Germany, October 3, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Twenty-six years after the reunification of Germany, the Day of German Unity is still a day of joy and gratitude for the vast majority of Germans, said the chancellor, but added that there were also new problems."I personally wish that we solve these problems together, with mutual respect, in the acceptance of very different political opinions, and that we also find good solutions," said Merkel.Norbert Lammert, President of the Bundestag, pleaded in his speech for more optimism in the country.The country is faced with challenges "which we must and can cope with," emphasized Lammert in front of about 1,000 invited guests.At the same time, he also urged people to meet "the minimum demands of civilization" in the political and social debate, which includes respect, tolerance, respect for rule of law, freedom of expression and freedom of religion.Saxony Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich said that words should not be allowed to cross certain boundaries."We are embarrassed to see that words can spark hatred and violence," said Tillich at the ceremony on Monday.Tillich said in his speech: "We must all ensure that the dangerous seeds, including those of populism, do not take root."Dresden hosted the central celebrations for the Day of German Unity this year. Some 750,000 visitors are expected to attend the celebrations this year under the motto "Building bridges."
BOGOTA - Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas scrambled on Monday to revive a plan to end their 52-year war after voters rejected the hard-negotiated deal as too lenient on the rebels in a shock referendum result that plunged the nation into uncertainty.

University students and supporters of the peace deal signed between the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels protest during a rally in front of Congress in Bogota, Colombia, October 3, 2016. The sign reads: "For a Colombia in peace, sit here". [Photo/Agencies]

Any renegotiated peace accord now seems to depend on whether the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could accept tougher sanctions against them.

"No" voters, who narrowly won Sunday's plebiscite, want assurances the rebels will hand in cash from drugs, spend time in jail, and earn their political future at the ballot box rather than get guaranteed, unelected seats in Congress.

Both President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, the top FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, put a brave face on the referendum setback after four years of negotiations in Havana between their teams.

They vowed to maintain a ceasefire and keep working together, even though that could be another lengthy and complicated process. "I will keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term," said Santos, who leaves office in mid-2018.

In a statement, the FARC said it would "remain faithful" to the accord signed last week with the government and called on Colombians to mobilize peacefully to support terms of the existing agreement.

Members of the opposition, headed by powerful former president Alvaro Uribe, will meet with the government to try and salvage the accord, Santos said on Monday in a televised address.

"With the will for peace from all sides, I am sure we can reach satisfactory solutions for everyone soon," said Santos, whose political image has taken a beating with the result. "The country will come out winning and the process will be strengthened."

Uribe, a onetime ally who has become Santos' fiercest critic, maintains wide-ranging influence and had argued the rebels should serve jail terms and never be permitted to enter politics.

"We are completely willing to dialogue," Uribe, now a senator, said on the floor of Congress on Monday. "But is there willingness on the part of the government to listen and introduce some changes?"

Latin America's longest conflict has killed 220,000 people, displaced millions and brought atrocities on all sides.

International exhortations for Colombia to stay on the path to peace flooded in.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest expressed US support for efforts by Santos and other parties to negotiate and urged all sides to continue the pursuit of peace. Washington was prepared to play a constructive role, he added.

"We're saddened by the slim victory for 'No'," said Ecuador's foreign minister, Guillaume Long amid a chorus around Latin America. The deal was rejected by a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point, just 54,000 votes.

Turnout for the vote was a paltry 37 percent, reflecting some apathy from "Yes" supporters who had assumed an easy win, in addition to bad weather that deterred voters.

Following the result, which some commentators compared with Britain's shock "Brexit" vote to leave the European Union, peace researchers dropped Colombia from a list of favorites for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Colombian markets dipped in Monday's trading on disappointment at the "no" vote that may complicate government efforts to keep its agency ratings and pass the tax reforms to compensate for lost oil income.

The result will also dent Santos' hopes for a boom in foreign investment in mining, oil and agriculture in Latin America's fourth-largest economy.

U.N. ENCOURAGEMENT

The United Nations applauded the maintenance of a ceasefire in Colombia despite the vote and said its special envoy, Jean Arnault, would also travel to Cuba to help the process.

"We would have hoped for a different result, but I am encouraged by the commitment expressed (by Santos and Timochenko)," U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said. "I count on them to press ahead until they achieve secure and lasting peace.

Colombians, even those who backed the "No" vote, expressed shock at the outcome and uncertainty about the future.

"We never thought this could happen," said sociologist and "No" voter Mabel Castano, 37. "Now I just hope the government, the opposition and the FARC come up with something intelligent that includes us all."

The peace accord offered the possibility that rebel fighters would hand in their weapons to the United Nations, confess their crimes and form a political party rooted in their Marxist ideology.

The FARC, which began as a peasant revolt in 1964, would have been able to compete in the 2018 presidential and legislative elections and have 10 unelected congressional seats guaranteed through 2026.

The rebels softened their stance in the original negotiation, publicly admitting for the first time they trafficked drugs, recruited minors and committed human rights violations, including massacres.

But voters worried the rebels would not turn over assets from drugs and illegal mining, potentially giving them a formidable war chest that could outstrip the coffers of traditional parties.

Regions still riven by the conflict, including poor areas along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, voted resoundingly in favor of the deal, but formerly violent interior areas pacified during the Uribe presidency largely backed the "No" camp.

"How sad. It seems Colombia has forgotten about the cruelty of war, our deaths, our injured, our mutilated, our victims and the suffering we've all lived through with this war," said Adriana Rivera, 43, a philosophy professor standing tearfully at the hotel housing the headquarters of the "Yes" campaign.

(Additional reporting by Colombia newsroom, Alexandra Valencia in Quito, Alexandra Ulmer in Caracas, Alister Doyle in Oslo, Michelle Nichols in New York, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Alistair Bell and Andrew Hay)
Finding a new identity is a venture full of possibilities but many pitfalls

Who would have thought coming up with a name for a baby could be a money-making affair?

Beau Jessup, a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Cheltenham Ladies College in western England, is said to have made a tidy sum by offering advice to Chinese families on how to choose suitable English names for their offspring.

Media reports have said she founded SpecialName.cn, a website that helps parents to choose appropriate names for their child based on five positive personality traits they select. The website is said to have come up with names for thousands of babies.

While a growing number of Chinese parents are keen on choosing non-Chinese names for their babies in the hope of helping them study or work in the West, more and more foreigners, especially those who study Chinese or are interested in Chinese culture, are adopting a Chinese name.

English speakers who study European languages such as French, German or Spanish do not usually pick an alternative name in one of those languages, but it is common in China for students to acquire English names while studying English, just as it is not unusual now for foreign scholars to take a Chinese name when studying Chinese or living in China.

Their names are very often given by the language teachers or chosen in consultation with a native speaker.

In Chinese a name usually consists of two, three or occasionally four monosyllabic characters. The family name comes first, typically one syllable long, or on rare occasions two syllables, followed by the given name, which is either one or two characters long.

Song Lianyi, principal teaching fellow at China Institute, SOAS, University of London, has had extensive involvement in giving Chinese names to his Western students, saying there are about 50 a year who have been given their names by teachers at SOAS.

He has helped students with Chinese names based on transliteration, with sounds that approximate that of their names, with one character for the surname and one or two for their given name.

"Occasionally you see their names given entirely based on their surnames," he says.

For example, a transliteration of Emily in Chinese is Ai Mi Li,and a transliteration of Jack is Jie Ke.

Some academics believe having a Chinese name is also a good way for foreign students to discover Chinese culture, through the choice of Chinese characters that best represent themselves, both in sound and in the meaning behind the words.

Derek Hird, senior lecturer at the University of Westminster, says his rules of giving Chinese names to all students of Chinese studies include possession of pleasing sound and tonal qualities, as well as bearing positive associations.

Hird was given his Chinese name He De Rui, with He corresponding phonetically to Hird, and De Rui to Derek. The characters nd both have positive connotations that signify good virtue and being auspicious respectively.

"Some of my students have asked for Chinese names, and my rule is to have some kind of phonetic connection with how their name is pronounced, and also to use characters that suggest some sort of positive characteristics," Hird said.

He once gave a student whose name was Darren the Chinese name Da Ren , which conveys the meaning of success and benevolence.

Lucia Lorenzo, a postgraduate student at Shanghai Fudan University, is among those particularly happy with her Chinese name, Lu Xia, which her Chinese teacher assigned her in her first year of university.

"Lu Xia sounds a lot like my real name, Lucia, yet doesn't particularly sound like a 'foreigner' name," she says.

By that she means one where people can immediately tell that it is the transliteration of a Western name, such as Ma Li for Mary, or Lu Xi for Lucy.

"When you see such a name, you can immediately guess the person is not Chinese," Lorenzo says. "These names often contain characters used for transcribing sounds, and for girls' names, the characters Mei and Li, meaning beautiful, seem to be exceedingly common."

She is pleased that her Chinese name is short and easy for others to remember, has a nice ring to it, and the meaning of the second character Xia, red cloud, is very poetic.

Sam Hug, unlike Lorenzo, has had a rather bumpy road to get a Chinese name. The most common way of writing Sam in Chinese is Shanmu, which Hug disliked.

"Firstly, Shanmu just sounds like Shanmu, the killer whale at Sea World in Florida that keeps on eating people. I didn't really want that as my name. I thought instead I could simply find the nicest characters that sounded vaguely like my name, and get away with that. "

He also wanted his Chinese name to be one character rather than two, because his English name is only one syllable. There is no character in Chinese the pronunciation of which ends in m, so he had a look at the characters with the reading san, which sounded close.

"Umbrella, three, disperse - none of them really made a flattering name based on the reading san," Hug said. "I didn't really want to end up being called Xiao San either (a euphemism for mistress)."

Then his Chinese tutor suggested Sen, which means forest, and he thought it would be the perfect name, pleasant and simple, and sounding vaguely like his English name, which was also one of the first Chinese characters he learned.

However, most Chinese people he introduced himself to with this name just looked puzzled, he says.

"Why would I be called Forest? That's not a normal name. I would try and explain, and it would just take ages, and they would never be quite convinced."

He quickly gave up as he said he definitely was not going to be Shanmu, and Sen just puzzled people, but most people could pronounce and remember the name Sam easily enough, so he stuck with that.

"I do feel slightly disappointed that no one would let me be 'Forest', but I suppose it's less trouble this way. No Chinese name for me after all."

wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim called on Monday for more global efforts to end "extreme" poverty in the world by 2030 and to boost shared prosperity.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim talks about the group's mission to end extreme poverty, at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Monday. CHEN WEIHUA / CHINA DAILY

In a talk at the Brookings Institution, Kim laid out three pillars that he said will help achieve the goals. They include accelerating inclusive and sustainable economic growth, investing in human capital and fostering resilience to global shocks and threats.

A World Bank report on Sunday, titled Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016, said that there are fewer people living in extreme poverty today, but the challenge is still enormous to hit a global poverty-reduction goal by 2030.

Kim cited the fact that income inequality between all people in the world has decreased, and inequality within nations has been falling in many countries, both rich and poor. But inequality is still far too high, both globally and within countries, including in China, he said.

He described the situation as constraining growth and breeding instability.

"This means that not only do we need to focus on growth, but we must also continue our work to reduce inequality  we have to make growth more equitable," he said.

Kim, a physician and anthropologist by training, called for beefing up infrastructure finance to boost economic growth, with far greater public-private cooperation on infrastructure investment. But with increasing reliance on private sector investments, the World Bank Group will have to increase its vigilance to ensure that privatization does not exclude the poor and marginalized.

"Our top priority is to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity, and our engagement with the private sector must be anchored in these two core values," he said.

Kim expressed his concern of the growing isolationism and protectionism when the world needs more cooperation and economic integration and stronger partnership. He said many people expressed such concern to him at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou last month.

According to Kim, more than 1 billion people have escaped extreme poverty since 1990. "Great strides of ending extreme poverty have been made by countries such as China as a result of trade and openness of their domestic industries to global competition," he said.

"Countries working together and especially trading together have delivered lasting progress," said the Korean American, who took up the current job in 2012.

Kim's talk came on the eve of the 2016 IMF/World Bank annual meeting in Washington this week.

"Much of the success in poverty reduction globally has actually been driven by China's incredible success in reducing poverty," said Ana Revenga, senior director of poverty and equity global practice at the bank, in a Xinhua report. Significant progress also has been made in Indonesia and India.

Despite the good news, "there is no room for complacency", said Francisco Ferreira, senior adviser to the bank's Development Research Group.

The World Bank report showed that half of the world's poorest people now live in sub-Saharan Africa, while another third live in South Asia.

"The pockets of poverty that remain will become increasingly harder to reach and address," Ferreira said.

The report forecast that the world would be unable to achieve the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, even under optimistic scenarios for growth and with no change in the levels of inequality. The World Bank set a target to reduce the global poverty-headcount ratio from 12.4 percent in 2012 to 3 percent by 2030.

China has provided a lesson to the rest of the world on how to tackle extreme poverty in a quick way, Revenga said. "If any country can show the world how to do that last mile (to end extreme poverty), it is probably China."

Xinhua contributed to this story.
Cast members of The Peony Pavilion from the Suzhou Opera Theatre take to the stage for a performance at London's Troxy Theatre. [Photo by Wang Zhiyong/For China Daily]

Tang Xianzu's most enduring love story The Peony Pavilion offers Western audiences a dazzling blend of song, dance, ballet, acrobatics, drama, fashion and music, and for this Kunqu Opera novice it was an unforgettable night out.

Kunqu is the root from which various disciplines of Chinese opera stem. The Suzhou Opera Theatre brought its production to the UK to commemorate the 400th year since Tang's deathan anniversary that the Chinese playwright shares with William Shakespeare.

Further parallels can be made between The Peony Pavilion and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Both are tales of love, loss and an enamoured young couple who will go to any lengths to be together.

Cast members of The Peony Pavilion from the Suzhou Opera Theatre take to the stage for a performance at London's Troxy Theatre. [Photo by Wang Zhiyong/For China Daily]

The Peony Pavilion was staged over three nights in London last week.

Having never been to a Chinese opera, I did not know what to expect, and not much could have prepared me for what lay in store.

Every musical note, every syllable sung was accompanied by a delicate and intentional gesture, perfectly timed to the notes from the live orchestra in the pit. The abilities of the actors is what sticks most in the mindthey are true polymaths of the stage, seamlessly transitioning from poetic chant, to song, to sword dancing.

Preparation for such a night is essential. While English subtitles run on screens that flank the stage, it would be nearly impossible for a newcomer to know what is going on without having read a synopsis of the plot, which centers around two lovers, the maid Du Liniang and young scholar Liu Mengmei.

Cast member of The Peony Pavilion from the Suzhou Opera Theatre take to the stage for a performance at London's Troxy Theatre. [Photo by Wang Zhiyong/For China Daily]

Du meets Liu in a dream and falls passionately in love with him. Upon waking and realizing the romance is not real, her health deteriorates rapidly and she dies of a broken heart. However, the overlords of the underworld deem she and Liu are destined to be together, and allow for her resurrection, which is performed by Liu himself.

The shades of Romeo and Juliet are evident throughout as love, death and sexual awakening are explored, and it's incredible to think these productions ran almost simultaneously at opposite ends of the world all those centuries ago.

Make sure you've cleared your schedule for the show. The complete opera runs for nine hours and is split evenly across three nights.

Astonishingly, this was the heavily-abridged versionTang's original ran for more than 20 hours.

Cast members of The Peony Pavilion from the Suzhou Opera Theatre take to the stage for a performance at London's Troxy Theatre. [Photo by Wang Zhiyong/For China Daily]

While it must be a tall order to translate classical Chinese into any language, the English text was frustratingly stilted. As the production proceeded, and I became increasingly lost in the plot, I eventually focused entirely on the stage and abandoned the subtitles.

This mattered little though, as it was a visual and aural feastwhile the meaning of the rigidly stylized movements was not always clear to the newcomer, they were always impressive.
ATHENS-- Cultural dialogue between Greece and China holds a crucial role in discovering the roots of today's common challenges and find solutions, Greek officials and experts on culture have said.

During a forum titled "China-Europe: Cultural Dialogues in Greece", which was held here on Monday, representatives of both sides gave introductions into the pillars of the philosophy and way of thinking of Greeks and Chinese throughout the centuries, highlighting differences in style and similarities in common values.

Ideals such as the pursuit of truth, kindness, respect for each other, which are at the bases of the two civilizations, can help advance the cross-border understanding and collaboration today to address common problems, they stressed.

Addressing the China-Europe civilization dialogue, Greek Culture Minister Aristides Baltas welcomed Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, as "an ambassador of a great ancient civilization."

"What connects Greece and China above all is civilization," Baltas said, adding Greece was for centuries and is still today a gate between the East and West for products and ideas, therefore can support exchanges, mutual understanding and cooperation in all sectors.

The Greek official made a brief presentation of the main characteristics of Greece's unique identity which are closely interlinked with its geostrategic position on the world map, the landscape, the climate, and the turbulent history.

Greece is a tiny country of rich and diverse culture which during the course of time has combined numerous features in harmony, according to the official.

Through the promotion of cultural heritage, visitors to Greece may review their way of thinking, attain self-knowledge, and open their minds to new ideas, Baltas noted, explaining the reason why Athens strongly supports cross-cultural dialogue and people-to-people exchanges.

The Greek official praised China's stable support to Greece in its difficulties in recent years as an excellent example of win-win collaboration.

"This support was obvious during our recent visit to China," he said, referring to Greek Prime Minister's visit to China this summer.

"It is obvious today, as the Chinese side approaches these exchanges in good faith and with an open mind," he said.

The Greek minister as well as other Greek scholars attending the event underlined both Greek and Chinese ancient civilizations laid the foundations of mankind's efforts to learn about the human being, the functions of society, the process of dealing with fundamental problems which remain the same in antiquity and today.

The event was jointly organized by the two countries' culture ministries and Chinese embassy in Greece.
Chinas employment laws allow employer and their employees to enter into non-compete agreements or agree on a set of non-compete provisions (usually in the employment agreement or a confidentiality agreement) that prohibit the employee from competing with the employer for up to two years after the employment term.

Who can be subject to a non-compete?

China employee non-compete agreements are generally limited to senior management, senior technicians and other personnel who have a confidentiality obligation. Senior management usually means a person in a senior management position with access to the companys confidential information. A senior technician usually means someone engaged in technology research and development, and who has fairly comprehensive access to the companys technological information. Whether an employee falls under the category of other personnel who have a confidentiality obligation is determined on a case-by-case basis by considering all relevant facts, including the following:

The employees compensation

The employees job title

The employees responsibilities

The likelihood of the employees gaining access to and making use of the confidential information

Whether the employee also signed a confidentiality agreement with the employer

Whether the employee is suffering a financial hardship in his or her post-employment period and the extent of that hardship

Non-compete period

The PRC Labor Contract Law limits the non-compete period to no more than two years. The two-year period starts to run from the time the employment contract ends or gets terminated. Some local rules set forth a permissible period longer than this two-year statutory maximum, but the Labor Contract Law must be followed here. As our regular readers know, we are always stressing the need to comply with the national, the provincial and the local laws and this is especially true with labor laws. See China Employment Law: Local and Not So Simple. It is important, however to distinguish between a situation where there is no national guidance or the national law is ambiguous or not detailed and a situation where there is a clear national law and the local rules clearly conflict with the applicable national law. In the latter case, the national law typically prevails. We virtually never say this, but it is almost always best to leave to your China lawyer the task of figuring out how to harmonize two or more laws.

Non-compete Compensation

In exchange for an employees promise to uphold a non-compete requirement, the employer is required to pay economic compensation to the employee. An employers failure to pay the non-compete compensation means the employee can stop abiding by the non-compete provisions.

Under the Judicial Interpretation IV of the Supreme Peoples Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Hearing Labor Dispute Cases (Judicial Interpretation IV), the amount set forth in an agreement between an employer and an employee regarding post-employment compensation for a non-compete provision will prevail. If the agreement is silent on the amount of post-employment compensation for the non-compete provision, the employer must pay the employee 30% of the employees average monthly salary in the twelve months before termination, or the local minimum wage, whichever is higher.

Notwithstanding the issuance of Judicial Interpretation IV, we are still finding local differences regarding the required amount for non-compete compensation.

One question is whether a non-compete compensation provision will be upheld if the agreed-upon amount is less than the local minimum wage. We have seen a trend among Chinese courts in major cities to strictly enforce contractual non-competes even when the agreed-upon non-compete compensation is extremely low. However, for avoidance of doubt and to avoid triggering the default rule, we advice our clients to specify non-compete compensation greater than the local minimum wage.

Contract damages provision

An employee non-compete agreement is one of the few instances where a China employer is legally allowed to impose a penalty on an employee. This is done via a specific contract damages provision. By agreeing to such a provision, an employee agrees to pay a specific damage amount if he or she fails to comply with the non-compete provision.

The standard is simple: the contract damages must be a good-faith estimate of the employers damages in advance. If a PRC court or other arbitral body considers your contract damages amount too high and thus too harsh on your employee (an argument virtually every employee will make), it will reduce this amount or perhaps even eliminate it entirely. For the difficulties inherent in coming up with an appropriate contract damages amount, check out China Contract Damages: More Art Than Science.

An employee cannot simply pay contract damages to get out of his or her non-compete obligations. The employer may demand its employee continue to perform his or her non-compete obligations (provided it is still within the non-compete period) even if the employee has paid contract damages for violating the non-compete agreement.

Geographic scope

The standard here is quite simple: the geographic scope must be reasonable. In determining what constitutes a reasonable geographic scope for a non-compete, the Chinese courts will consider all facts, including the employers business scope, the employers size, the employers industry, and the employees position.

It usually makes sense to make your geographic scope as expansive as you deem appropriate because Chinese courts do not usually strike down a non-compete provision simply because its geographic scope is too broad. They will usually instead employ what is sometimes called the blue-pencil doctrine to reduce the geographic scope of the agreement, but leave it intact. On the flip side, it is nearly impossible to expand the scope of a non-compete in court. This means that you want your non-compete agreement to tilt towards the broad side, but not be so broad that a court throws up its hands and strikes the whole thing.

Early termination

Once the non-compete period has begun, employers cannot terminate a non-compete agreement without being subjected to a penalty. Pursuant to Judicial Interpretation IV, employers that unilaterally terminate a non-compete agreement during the non-compete period must pay the employee three additional months of non-compete compensation for the early termination.

Keep in mind also that if you fail to make compensation payments for three months or longer, the employee has the right to unilaterally terminate the non-compete, provided the employee has performed his or her non-compete obligation and is not the cause for the employers failure to make payments. So if you want your non-compete agreement to remain in force, you should be sure to pay on it.
BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG - The Republican Party is the party of civil rights and the four Fs: faith, family, freedom and fairness. The Democratic Party is the party of the four Ss: slavery, secession, segregation and socialism (Quote By Author Michael Scheuer).
(Photo : Diego, Getty News) Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (L) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping participate in a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People (GHOP) on August 25, 2014 in Beijing, China

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China's rapidly-growing technology giant, Huawei, revealed on Friday that it will be providing 10 scholarships for Tanzanian students in 2017 to promote the growth of ICT (information and communications technology) sector in the said country.



Prime Minister of Tanzania addressed the media at a function hosted by the Chinese Embassy and Huawei.



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In the event held at Dar es Salaam, the economic centre of Tanzania, Mr Kassim Majaliwa shared how Huawei has been instrumental in carrying out various reforms, especially in helping Tanzania's ICT expansion.



The government leader praised the Chinese company for extending support in developing the ICT skills of the Tanzanians. He even committed that "the government will work closely with the private sector towards ICT development."



Administrator d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, Gou Haodong, who was also present at the ceremony, said, "We believe that Huawei, as a global ICT leader, will leverage its advanced technologies and global resources to promote the ICT industry in Tanzania."



Gou also relayed his optimism about sustaining the bond between the two countries.



"China and Tanzania help and support each other through thick and thin," Gou continued. "The support to the education sector, shown by Huawei today, proved it again."



Huawei also donated $30,000 to rebuild the school buildings destroyed during the powerful quake which hit the Kagera district of Tanzania.



Huawei previously launched its initiative 'Seeds for Future' in Tanzania, which set up procedures to ensure that 100 students from Tanzania are engaged in the 10-year scheme. They are not only provided with a chance to reach the Chinese metropolis, Beijing, but also serve in the organisation's head office in Shenzhen.



In 2016, 10 learners from Tanzania have availed the opportunity and a couple of them have been hired by Huawei.



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Tagsinformation technology, Information and communications technology, China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
(Photo : Getty Images/Daniel Kalisz) The Volvo logo pictured during practice for the V8 Supercars Perth SuperSprint at Barbagallo Raceway on May 6, 2016 in Perth, Australia.

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Swedish auto manufacturer Volvo recently announced that it may start rolling out fully autonomous self-driving cars within the next five years.



With the company's upcoming upgraded autopilot feature, Volvo revealed that will add at least $10,000 to the cost of its vehicles.



While many market analysts expressed their dismay about the hefty price tag to embed an autopilot feature into a car, Volvo said its autopilot technology is different from what other auto manufactures have been offering until this day.



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The Swedish company further disclosed that with its autopilot technology, drivers may not even be required to look at the road to guide the car.



It can be noted that Tesla Motors has been among the most prominent brands when it comes to vehicles with auto pilot feature. However, Tesla's autopilot technology still requires drivers to hold the steering wheel to take control of the car in case of emergency.



As with Volvo's planned fully autonomous cars, the company claimed that its autopilot technology would let drivers to "completely disengage."



In an interview with Bloomberg, Volvo chief executive officer Hakan Samuelsson said, "To make a car even more premium, one of the most interesting things is a full autopilot."



"Not a supervised version, but really the one that you can sit back and watch a movie or whatever," he added.



Despite its full autonomous driving mechanism, Volvo said they will still add a steering wheel to their autonomous cars, just in case drivers feel the need of driving manually.



Earlier this month, Volvo signed a partnership pact with automotive safety systems firm Autoliv to develop a "next generation autonomous driving software."



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Tagsvolvo, Self-Driving Car, autonomous car, fully autonomous car, volvo cars, Volvo Fully Autonomous Cars
(Photo : US Navy) Warships of the United States Seventh Fleet.

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China's man-made, militarized islands spread out over the South China Sea are totally indefensible and death traps for their troops, and a top United States spy has confirmed this fact.



Dennis C. Blair, who was the United States' Director of National Intelligence (DNI) from 2009 to 2010, believes the U.S. and China are locked into opposing positions that make it almost impossible to reach a compromise.



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"I think there's a notable inability for the two of us to understand what's going on, on the other side and to find compromises we can both live with," said Blair.



Blair pointed out China's claim to own the South China Sea despite a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration to the contrary is "intolerable" for the U.S. This impasse has created a situation where neither side can be seen to be backing down. And this might trigger a war.



"We seem to have to deal by a series of concessions or wins, and that's the kind of relationship that can escalate up over time," he said.



The prevailing situation could "lead to conflict. Misunderstanding, then fear and conflict."



Blair is also a retired U.S. Navy Admiral who was formerly Commander, United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) from 1999 to 2002, and has the experience and expertise to analyze the military situation in the South China Sea.



USPACOM is responsible for U.S. Navy operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region in the event of war. It commands the United States Seventh Fleet, the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with 60 to 70 ships, 300 aircraft and 40,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel.



Blair is confident the U.S. will quickly and easily defeat China in any conflict.



His optimism might be anchored on the realities the U.S. Navy can bring to bear enormous firepower against any fleet of the three fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), which operates no combat-capable carrier. PLAN has classified its only carrier, the Liaoning, a training carrier unsuitable for combat.



China's much advertised DF-21 anti ship ballistic missile is also under development and its immature kill chain might prevent it from even acquiring fast moving U.S. Navy carrier strike groups hundreds of kilometers distant. Chinese submarines, while a threat, aren't a serious enough threat to curtail operations of U.S. Navy ships.



But if a conflict were to occur, this will likely be triggered by China.



If there should be war, Blair is confident the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force are capable of rapidly "neutralizing" China's outposts in the South China Sea, which are practically defenseless from a determined attack being isolated and strung out over hundreds of kilometers of sea.



These offensive operations by the Navy and Air Force will only take "probably 10 or 15 minutes' worth of worth of work for U.S. forces."



Based on past campaigns such as those against ISIL in Iraq and Libya, the U.S. Navy will likely use waves of Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles fired from Los Angeles-class attack submarines and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers to bombard the militarized Chinese-held islands in the South China Sea.



The Tomahawks can be launched up to 1,700 km from their targets while GPS and inertial navigation systems ensure their 450 kg warheads hit with great accuracy. Since all the Chinese military installations are above ground, a rain of Tomahawks with air burst, high fragmentation or unitary warheads will destroy all above ground structures and the troops manning them.



Priority targets for the Tomahawks will be the Chinese HQ-9 surface-air-missile batteries such as those emplaced on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands China controls. Hardened hangars for People's Liberation Army Air Force jets such as the Shenyang J-11 on Woody Island will also be attacked, along with whatever aircraft are on this island.



An invasion by U.S. Marines can be expected on the larger Chinese islands.



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TagsDennis C. Blair, South China Sea, militarized islands, Director of National Intelligence, U.S. Navy, Permanent Court of Arbitration, United States Seventh Fleet, People's Liberation Army Navy
(Photo : Getty Images) The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing is entering the space tourism industry by developing a spaceplane that could fly several tourists to space.

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The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing is entering the space tourism industry by developing a huge space plane that could fly up to 20 passengers to space, New Scientists reported.



The academy has designed a simple, one-piece space plane that could carry several people, Lui Haiquang, academy rocket scientist, told the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, last week.



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"The vehicle will take off vertically like a rocket and land on the runway automatically without any ground or on-board intervention," Han Pengxin, academy's team leader, said. The space plane will burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen.



The team designed two rockets. The first one has a mass of 10 tons, with a wingspan reaching up to 6 meters. It will have the capacity to fly up to five people at an altitude of 100 kilometers and a speed of Mach 6, giving 2 minutes of weightlessness.



On the other hand, the second design is 10 times heavier at 100 tons and two times wider with a 12-meter wingspan. It could fly 20 people at 130 kilometers at Mach 8, giving 4 minutes of weightlessness. This is huge enough that it could cater some room to deliver small satellites into the orbit through a small rocket stage add-on, according to New Scientist.



"The test flights will be finished in the next two years, because almost all of the ground tests have been finished and all the subsystems of the test vehicle worked very well," Han said.



He further envisioned a space plane being launched in a commercial spaceport with payload launches by the end of the decade. Location of the said spaceport is yet to be decided.



Meanwhile, there are two other companies vying for the business including Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and XCOR, Global News reported.



The plane will start its business once it is considered safe for use, Popular Science noted. In the meantime, interested daredevils should start saving approximately between $200,000 and $250,000 to save a flight seat.



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TagsChina Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, spaceplane, space plane, spaceplane design, space tourism, Space, china
(Photo : BAE) BAE ACV

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One of the two models competing for the right to become the next generation amphibious armored personnel carrier of the U.S. Marines is a huge beast taller than an M1 Abrams main battle tank and almost as fast.



The test vehicle called "SuperAV" produced by BAE Systems and Italy's IVECO Defence for the Marines' Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) program weighs nearly 34 tons and can swim using its eight wheels.



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It stands 2.74 meters tall compared to the M1 Abrams it will accompany into battle with a height of 2.44 meters. SuperAV can also tear across land at 112 km/h after being launched from amphibious assault ships such as those of the America-class. The ACV's role is to partner the Abrams in amphibious assaults on enemy beaches and during the breakout from these footholds.



This vehicle produced as part of the program's ACV 1.1 iteration combines superior protection with amphibious and land capabilities. The ACV 1.1 might join the Marine Corps' Assault Amphibious Vehicle fleet in the future.



The Marines use the AAV-7A1 amphibious assault vehicle to move from ship to shore. The AAV-7A1 has been in service for 45 years.



ACV 1.1 will provide Marines with far better protection against IEDs and landmines, as well as protection from aerial threats. The design for this assault vehicle includes integrated armor for MRAP-level protection.



In 2015, the Marines awarded contracts to BAE Systems worth $104 million and to SAIC worth $122 million for the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development phase of the ACV 1.1 program. SAIC is working on their ACV version called the Terrex 1.



BAE Systems will produce 16 prototypes the Marine Corps will test. The Marine Corps will decide whether to proceed with the SuperAV or the Terrex 1 in 2018.



A winner should be selected in 2018 to build 204 vehicles, with the first entering service in 2020 and all delivered by 2023.



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TagsU.S Marines, Amphibious Combat Vehicle, M1 Abrms, BAE Systems, IVECO Defence, saic, Terrex 1
A lot has happened since my last blog post more than seven months ago. In the fall I made several trips - in October to Wyoming for the annual meeting of ...

3 years ago
(Photo : Getty Images) Military troops from five countries are set to hold military war games in the disputed sea

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Five countries are set to hold multinational military exercises in the disputed South China Sea this month in what military analysts said will be the latest display of strength aimed at Beijing's armed forces.



Military troops from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Britain will take part in a three-week large scale military exercises dubbed "Exercise Bersama Lima" in one of the world's busiest waterways organized by Singapore.



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The military war games will include the army, navy and air force troops from the participating countries which Singapore said were aimed at strengthening regional security in the region and enhancing disaster relief operations skills.



Armed Attack



The multilateral exercises will be held under the participating countries' military pact, known as the Five Power Defense Arrangements, which requires its members to come to the rescue of Malaysia or Singapore in case of an armed attack against either of the two nations.



The Indonesian military will also hold large-scale military exercises in the Natuna Island region in the disputed sea this month.



Increasing tensions between China and its neighbors have sparked concerns of a looming conflict in the South China Sea region.



Island building



Despite the arbitral court ruling rejecting its claims to the South China Sea, China continues to build artificial islands on contested territories.



The ruling said China violated the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Philippines' rights to explore its resources within its exclusive economic zone.



China has rejected the ruling, dismissing it as 'illegal' and 'null and void.'



Military analysts said China has increased its deployments of heavily-armed Coast Guard vessels to patrol the shipping lanes through which $5 trillion of ship-borne trade passes through each year.



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Tagsmultinational military exercises, South China Sea, Natuna Islands, unclos, artificial islands, Chinese Coast Guard, china
(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) Pacific Aerospace to build an assembly line for P-750 XSTOL aircrafts in China.

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New Zealand's Pacific Aerospace is set to open an assembly line for its P-750 XSTOL single-engine turbopop in Changzhou, China, Flight Global reported.



The Hamilton-based Pacific Aerospace has entered in a 50-50 partnership with Beijing Automotive to establish a final assembly base in China, Mark Crouch, Pacific's general manager, global sales, said.



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"China is proving a really popular market for the P-750, and we are struggling to keep up with demand."



The P-750 is powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 engine and could take off and land under 800 feet (244 meters). It also has a maximum speed of 315 km/h and a range of 2,190 km.



Pacific Aerospace's P-750 units in China will be assembled from kits provided by its headquarters in Hamilton, New Zealand. The first batch is expected to arrive within a couple of months in Changzhou, according to Crouch.



The assembly line will be used to produce extremely short take-off and landing type aircrafts for the Chinese market. Such planes, according to Crouch, have already discovered its "niche in very remote areas of the world where it can transport passengers and cargo into and out of the most isolated communities."



The move comes as Pacific Aerospace prepares to send its first Garmin G600 to Papua New Guinea to be used for medical evaluation services.



Pacific has already delivered 110 P-750 units since the first iteration of PAC 750XL, the eight-seat multimission type, was launched more than a decade ago. An additional 10 units are scheduled for delivery this year.







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TagsPacific Aerospace, china, Changzhou, P-750 planes, P-750 XSTOL aircraft, Beijing Automotive, AIRPLANES
(Photo : Getty Images) China's State Oceanic Administration has announced the establishment of nine new state-level marine parks, bringing the total number to 42.

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China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) has announced the establishment of nine new state-level marine parks to safeguard the environment, bringing the total number to 42.



One of the new recreational ocean parks will be built in Hainan Island, which lies south of China where the disputed South China Sea begins, NDTV reported. Although it is not the contested island, Times of India noted that it is one of the most forward places near the South China Sea.



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Aside from Hainan, other new parks are located at the provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Liaoning, and Shandong, Global Times reported.



Meanwhile, the SOA ordered the local marine authorities of these provinces to delimit the areas and stop from arbitrarily adjusting or changing the boundaries and zoning, People's Daily China noted.



Furthermore, the administration also emphasized the need to boost marine environment protection particularly when tourism and aquaculture activities are being conducted on certain areas, according to state-run Xinhua News agency.



Such marine parks including Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai turned out to become major tourist attractions where rare animals such as polar bears, whale sharks, and beluga whales are publicly put on display.



Although the industry is flourishing, it faces criticism from animal right activists for the upkeep and captivity of the animals.



Meanwhile, state-level marine parks in China were first introduced five years ago to cater public space for coastal recreation, boost marine life protection, and develop a sustainable coastal tourism.



The South China Sea, where over $5 trillion of goods passes every year, is a disputed region with rival claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.



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Tagsmarine parks, state-level marine parks
(Photo : Twitter) Baidu's TalkType features support for swiping on the keyboard, restaurants from Yelp, and the ability to send animated GIFs from Giphy.

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Baidu has launched a third-party keyboard app called TalkType designed for Android devices and will be optimized for voice input.



TalkType was developed by Baidu Research, the Beijing-based division of Chinese search company Baidu, which prioritizes voice input over typing.



It appeared first at the Google Play Store in the United States a few months ago. The creators of the app have added features such as support for swiping on the keyboard, restaurants from Yelp, and sending animated GIFs from Giphy, Venture Beat reported. In addition, its virtual microphone listens "for a longer period of time before automatically shutting off."



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According to Baidu, TalkType can enter text three times faster compared to people who put it with normal smartphone keyboard typing. The app is different because it features "a large microphone front-and-center in the application."



TalkType is the first full-function smartphone keyboard that is voice first, not voice also,'" explained Bijit Halder, project leader in Baidu Researchs Silicon Valley AI Lab, during the announcement regarding the launch.



"Unlike conventional smartphone keyboard designs, where voice is targeted for occasional use and delegated to a small mic icon, TalkType is designed to make voice the primary mode, Halder continued.



TypeTalk also personalizes transcription results, tailoring word and phrase suggestions to individual users. When the user taps the microphone icon, it starts the transcription, according to Digital Trends. During the process, it capitalizes words at the start of sentences, stops listening during silent moments, and supports voice commands for punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and colons.



Baidus new keyboard app features a full QWERTY keyboard that can be useful when transcription is not possible. It has emojis, alphanumeric keys, symbols and support for Swype-like gestures which generate AI-powered word suggestions.



The company considers launching Talktype to the keyboard for iOS devices.



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TagsBaidu, Android Keyboard App, Keyboard app, TalkType, voice transcription, TalkType App, Baidu TalkType, voice keyboard, Swype
(Photo : Getty Images) Prescription medication is pictured on May 15, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand.

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At least 80 percent of China's clinical trials on pharmaceutical drugs were fabricated, according to a Chinese government investigation.



China's State of Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) carried out a one-year review of 1,622 clinical trial programs, conducted for new pharmaceutical drugs waiting for approval for mass production. Investigators discovered that at least 80 percent were "fabricated."



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They found that the questionable data failed to meet analysis requirements, were incomplete, or untraceable, the Next Shark reported.



The SFDA said that the scandal is a result of "breach of duty by supervision departments and malpractice by pharmaceutical companies, intermediary agents, and medical staff."



Interestingly, the scandal came to no surprise for industry insiders, with one physician who refused to be named saying "Clinical data fabrication was an open secret even before the inspection."



It is said that China's generic drug industry is facing quality problems thus the need to alter and manipulate clinical trial findings to meet the high standards on paper, Newsgram pointed.



According to Economic Information Daily, clinical trial outcomes have already been written beforehand, with data about combinations of drugs that already exist in the market, with the help of third-party research organizations.



"The domestic market for Western pharmaceuticals in China is either confined to a very straightforward generic products that have been around for a long time... or resolves around joint venture pharmaceutical manufacture with foreign companies," Luo Liang, a health professional, told Radio Free Asia.



"Either that or Chinese pharmaceutical companies get hold of the formula for certain drugs whose patents have expired. There are no new drugs in development in the same way that there are overseas," Luo continued.



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TagsClinical trials, drug companies, Pharmaceutical companies, Scandal, drug scandal, medicine
(Photo : US Army) Bradley IFV and U.S. infantry.

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The U.S. Army continues to transition from a force excelling in counter-insurgency to one that will win the deadlier conventional wars of the near future against China and Russia, said the U.S. Army's top general.



Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, said the army is being redesigned with new equipment and new doctrines to combat modern militaries such as those in Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.



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This, because Gen. Milley foresees a future battlefield that "is going to be intensely lethal, the likes of which the United States Army, the United States military, has not experienced ... since World War II."



He also noted the world's militaries are on the verge of a fundamental change in the character of ground warfare. This "revolution" is perhaps five to 10 years away and will involve infantry, armor and mechanized divisions with the firepower of 20th century armies but that will operate more independently.



Army divisions in 2030 will require the ability to fight in multiple domains to win. Gen. Milley pointed out that some foes will match or exceed the United States in cyber capabilities and the ability to deny air supremacy.



Army divisions in 2030 must, therefore, have the ability to fight in the cyber domain. It must also be capable of defending itself against the air, missile and unmanned aerial system threats.



And to win, the army's future divisions must provide their commanders with land-based maneuver and fires forces that can deliver fires on time and on target. He said the army must combine capabilities across domains to prevent its enemies from successfully employing his tactics and technologies.



Gen. Milley cautions future conventional war won't be World War II reprised with higher tech. Instead, long-range precision weapons will blast big, obvious targets like command headquarters.



The prevalence of smart weapons will force both sides to organizer smaller combat units moving independently with no semblance of a front line.



Electronic warfare, jamming, hacking and cyber warfare will disrupt communications among these scattered units, forcing junior commanders to take the initiative as never before.



As a consequence of the more frenetic future battlefield, the army has to radically overhaul its equipment, training and culture to prevail against near-peer foes like Russia and China.



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TagsU.S. Army, conventional war, Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, china, Russia, 2030
(Photo : Getty Images/Carl Court ) Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, England where he continues to seek asylum.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has announced that his organization would release documents about Google and the United States electoral system over the next 10 weeks. Assange made the announcement via a video address at the end of a press conference in Berlin which marked WikiLeaks' 10th anniversary.



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Aside from Google and the US presidential election, Assange said that the documents WikiLeaks is set to publish would include information about war, mass surveillance, oil, and arms trading. Assange said that the documents would be released on a weekly basis over the next 10 weeks. He noted that the documents about the US presidential race would be published before the Election Day on Nov. 8.



Billed as the "October surprise," Assange's latest revelations had been highly anticipated. However, instead of releasing controversial documents, WikiLeaks devoted most of the press conference to highlighting some of the organization's infamous releases and the criticism levied against them.



Assange declined to answer when asked whether the documents will tilt the election buildup towards Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.



In a statement acquired by The Verge, Assange said, "There is enormous expectation in the United States. Some of that expectation will be partly answered; but you should understand that if we're going to make a major publication in relation to the United States at a particular hour, we don't do it at 3AM."



In July, WikiLeaks published a trove of emails from seven prominent personalities in the Democratic National Convention (DNC). The emails exposed the DNC's partiality towards Clinton over her close rival Bernie Sanders. The leak eventually led to the resignation of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.



Assange denied the accusation that he and WikiLeaks are explicitly targeting the Democratic Party and Clinton. Assange replied saying that both Clinton and Trump are "tormented by their ambitions, in different ways."



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TagsWikiLeaks, Julian Assange, united states election, Hillary Clinton, donald trump
(Photo : Getty Images) Cargo is unloaded off of the Chinese freighter Zhen He as it is docked at Conley Terminal March 21, 2002 in South Boston, MA.

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China's COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited targets to more than double the number of its cruise passengers by extending facilities to cater bigger ships in Greece's port Piraeus, its chairman said on Monday.



"The movement of cruise passenger is around 1.1 million a year at present," Xu Lirong, COSCO Shipping chairman, said during the inauguration ceremony of the new cruise ship terminal of Agios Nikolaos at the port Piraeus.



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"Our short term goal is to increase it up to 1.5 million, and 3 million in the longer term."



COSCO reportedly has entered talks with major firms in the cruise sector to develop Piraeus into a major cruise port in the Mediterranean, Tornos News reported.



Xu also said that Piraeus will be extended for new docking space for next generation, bigger and more luxurious cruise ships, Greek Reporter noted.



Furthermore, "The quality of services will be upgraded, and there is plenty of potential for future growth in this sector."



Tourism has long been Greece's main source of income, accounting for 17 percent of its $206.4 billion economic output. This year, tourism body SETE projects tourism revenue to jump by 1 to 2 percent to about $16.74 billion with 27.5 million anticipated visitors including cruise ship passengers.



COSCO shipping has acquired more than half (51%) of Greece port's operating company for $315 million this year, since a debt crisis hit in 2009. Under the privatization agreement, COSCO must first conclude investments of nearly $335 million within five years before it could buy an additional 16 percent stake in Piraeus, according to Asia Times.



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NEW YORK - More than 160,000 Verizon employees want to help you connect with friends and family in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Verizon is offering free wireless and wireline calling from the U.S. to Haiti to connect with family and friends.

* Home wireline telephone customers will incur no charges to Haiti from their U.S. landlines on October 4 through 7, 2016 (applicable taxes and surcharges will apply).

* Wireless users will incur no charges for texts or international long distance calls originating from the U.S. to Haiti on October 4 through 7, 2016 (applicable taxes and surcharges will apply).

In addition, Verizon Wireless customers who wish to help with Hurricane Matthew Relief efforts, via mobile phone, can donate by texting 80100 with the word"MATTHEW". Customers will receive a text response asking them to confirm the $10 donation. By texting their billing zip code, the user agrees to the terms and conditions. Donations are collected for the benefit of the GlobalGiving--Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund.
DNA used to identify Pearl Harbor chaplain after 75 years 04 October, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

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PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (Christian Examiner)  With a few more tugs through a porthole, Chaplain (Lt. j.g.) Aloysius Schmitt might have been yanked free from the capsized USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, but the 31-year-old Navy chaplain told the sailors trying to pull him free to stop.

Schmitt insisted there was no time to keep trying. He demanded they push him back in the ship. They did and for the remainder of his time on earth he said prayers as other, smaller sailors took their turn trying to squeeze through.

Twelve more sailors passed through the opening before the compartment filled with water.

DAY OF INFAMY

Dec. 7, 1941, was a Sunday morning, which means it was a busy day for chaplains like Schmitt. That morning, he woke up early and prepared for the Mass. A few minutes after the Mass had ended, the thump of bombs outside the ship could be heard.

The surprise Japanese attack on an entire fleet at anchor was underway.

Within minutes, four torpedoes had ruptured the Oklahoma's belly. The rush of water into the ship sent sailors scrambling for higher decks, only to have their escape confused and cut short when the ship rolled on its side.

Schmitt was among them, but survivors relayed stories of the Catholic priest's calm and his assurances that all would be well in the end. For 429 aboard the Oklahoma, it was not.

For his actions, Chaplain Schmitt was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and the Purple Heart, and in 1943 the Navy christened one of his destroyers the "USS Schmitt" in his honor.

Schmitt and those left behind aboard the ship were eventually recovered when the ship was righted, but the decomposition of the bodies left a tangled mass of bones, dog tags, uniforms and personal belongings. Among them was the chaplain's prayer book, the ribbon already placed on the reading for Dec. 8:

"Oh Lord, Our Lord, How great is your name in all the earth" (Psalm 8:1).

Only a few of the bodies were positively identified. The rest were placed in caskets and buried in 1944 in graves marked "Unknown." They were exhumed in 1947 in a last ditch effort to identify them with the scientific tools available at the time. The effort proved futile and by 1950, the remains were again placed in caskets and returned to the ground.

Then, in 2003 and 2007, modern DNA testing was employed on the human remains in two of the caskets. From those efforts, six crewmen were identified. That led the Defense Department to exhume the remaining caskets and try again to identify the 388 still missing in 2015.

On Sept. 5, notification officers with the military arrived at the home of Art and Dorothy Schultz in Milford, Iowa. Dorothy is Chaplain Schmitt's oldest living niece and the "primary next of kin."

The officers told her that the chaplain's remains had been positively identified through DNA analysis and would be transported to the Archdiocese of Dubuque. His coffin, draped with an American flag, will arrive in time for a burial mass at St. Luke's, the chaplain's home parish, on Oct. 5. Following another service at Loras College, where the chaplain's prayer book is currently located, his remains will be buried with military honors.

A GENTLE FARM BOY

Schmitt was born in 1909 and grew up on a farm with nine siblings. He rode the family's horse to Mass daily and went on to enter the priesthood after graduating from Loras College in 1932. He studied in Rome and was ordained to the ministry in 1935. After serving churches in Iowa and Wyoming, he requested endorsement as a Catholic chaplain in the Navy.

He was assigned to the USS Oklahoma in 1940.

Steve Sloan is Schmitt's great-nephew. He never had the opportunity to meet the chaplain, but said family members relayed that he was a "gentle, soft-spoken man" with a "witty sense of humor that drew people to him."

"By all accounts, he was very well respected by the sailors of his ship, both Catholic and non-Catholic alike," Sloan told the Catholic Herald.

Sloan and his wife, Julie, were at the home in Milford when the notification was made.

"It really hit home for me during that family visit," Sloan, who helped contact other relatives with the news, told the paper.

"I knew I was witnessing a historical moment. I thought to myself, 'This is the final chapter in Father Al's journey. We'll truly be bringing him home. We'll finally be able to do something special for this incredible man,'" Sloan said.
Rebel forces near town of Dabiq, site of predicted ISIS 'apocalypse' 04 October, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

DABIQ, Syria (Christian Examiner)  Dabiq is a small Syrian town six miles from the Turkish border, but it figures into the end times theology of the Islamic State (ISIS) in a big way.

According to multiple reports from the region, U.S. and Turkish-backed rebels are advancing on the town of 3,000 in order to free it from the control of terror group. In recent days, 15 of the rebels have been killed in fighting near the village.

"If matters proceed as planned, within 48 hours we will be in Dabiq," Ahmed Osman, the commander of the Sultan Murad Free Syrian Army (FSA), told Reuters Monday.

Turkish forces also have been inside Syria since they crossed the border Aug. 24, and now they are assisting the rebels in the push to take the symbolically important ISIS stronghold.

ISIS's English-language recruitment and propaganda magazine is named for the town, which is where it believes the Muslim messiah  or Mahdi  will return to fight an apocalyptic battle with "crusading" and "infidel" Christian forces. Some sources have claimed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sees himself as the Mahdi foretold in an ancient hadith.

According to Sunnah 54, which relates an oral tradition of Muhammad, "The Last Hour would not come until the Romans would land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them)."

In addition to the armies of Islam gathering against those of the Romans, generally interpreted to mean "Americans," both the Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus feature prominently in the prophecy. The Mahdi will lead the armies of the Islamic State and nominal Muslims will also join in the fighting. During the battle, they believe, "Jesus (peace be upon him), son of Mary, would descend and would lead them in prayer."

According to the story, Jesus  referred to as Allah's "lance"  will defeat the armies of the enemy, even as the Mahdi is martyred for the Islamic faith. He will also vanquish a false messiah called the "Dajjal" and then rule the earth for Allah until the day of final judgment.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights notes that ISIS has sent another 800 troops to Dabiq to reinforce the town. It has also heavily mined the area around it.

The belief that Muslims await a climactic battle with the West which will cause the Mahdi to appear is shared by many Muslims, including the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and Shiites in Iran. Various Muslim preachers have named former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as potential candidates for the Mahdi.

Ahmadinejad was reportedly considering another run for Iranian president. However, Ayatollah Khamenei told him it would not be in the best interest of the country to run for another term. Ahmadinejad then issued a statement claiming he would not run again, dampening his prospects of being recognized as the Mahdi.

In Islam, the Mahdi is seen as an individual who can unite the full spectrum of Muslims.
Officials within Iraqs Syriac Christian community say that unless Syriacs are given constitutional protection, they are in danger of being wiped out.

ChristianToday.com reports that Syriac Orthodox Patriach Ignatius Aphrem II and Syriac Catholic Patriach Ignatius Youssif Ill recently wrote to Iraqs prime minister and other government officials to plead the case for Syriac Christians.

Although minorities such as Turkomen, Chaldeans, and Assyrians are officially recognized in Iraqs constitution, Syriacs are not mentioned by name. The constitution grants the administrative, political, cultural and educational right of the various nationalities, but Syriac leaders say this is not enough, and that Syriacs need to be specifically protected.

To this end, Syriac leaders "demanded the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Parliament to correct this injustice and list the name 'Syriac' in the Iraqi constitution, not just as language, but as an ethnicity and essential component of the people of the Republic of Iraq.

Last year, four Syriac bishops made a similar claim: "Neglecting the Syriacs, leads to great anger. It seems like the Syriacs do not exist in Iraq and as if the Syriacs are no [sic] Iraqi citizens, even though the Syriacs have a historic presence in Iraq  a presence that is older than other communities."

An official letter has also been sent to the Iraqi government by the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs), stating, "Clearly, such a violation of their right to existence in the land of their ancestors flies in the face of international (human rights) law, common sense and the very spirit of recognizing, appreciating and preserving Iraq's rich ethno-religious diversity."

Publication date: October 4, 2016
Pope Francis drew a distinction between providing love and pastoral care to transgender people and attempts to change God-given precepts of gender by teaching children that our gender can be chosen according to our will.

Francis told Catholic News Service that as a priest, bishop and pope, he welcomed transgender people with homosexual tendencies, and "helped them draw closer to the Lord, although some couldn't. But [he] never abandoned them."

However, the pope said that while on his foreign trips to Georgia and other countries including his native country Argentina, he noted that children are studying in their textbooks that the "gender concept" is against nature and can be picked and chosen by people. He called it an 'ideological colonization.'

"It's one thing if a person has this tendency and also changes sex. It's another thing to teach this in school to change mentalities. This is what I call 'ideological colonization,'" he said.

He recounted that a Spanish father once told him that when he asked his son what he wanted to become after growing up, the boy replied, "A girl." Then the father came to know that the child was taught in school that gender is handpicked by will.

Pope added that this belief that men and women can choose a different biological sex was "a great enemy of marriage today."

"Today the whole world is at war trying to destroy marriage," he said.

"We are living in a moment of annihilation of man as God's image," he had said in August.

In a published letter, he wrote that many countries were promoting "legal deconstruction of the family" by making laws that "international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish 'marriage' between persons of the same sex."

But in spite of his serious reservations about politicization of ideologies, he said that transgender people must never be turned away because Jesus would never do so.

"I want to be clear. It is a moral problem. It is a problem. A human problem," he said. "And it must be resolved the best one can -- always with the mercy of God, with the truth" and "always with an open heart."
Mississippi Federal Judge Disregards Decades of Supreme Court Precedent Declaring Public Sidewalks Off Limits for Free Speech



JACKSON, Miss., Oct. 4, 2016 /



The Supreme Court has reiterated time and time again that students do not abandon their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse doorsteps. Similarly, they do not lose the privilege to engage in free speech activity on the public sidewalk after school. Even one of the most liberal appellate district's in the country, the infamous Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has recognized the long-standing right to engage in free speech on the streets and sidewalks adjacent to public schools.



Kristina Garza and Brianna Baxter, along with other members of the Survivors' Campus Outreach team went out to the public sidewalk outside of Murrah High School in 2012 to educate the students about abortion and share with them about life saving alternatives. Survivors is a national Christian pro-life youth organization dedicated to educating high school and college age students about the truth of abortion. The team peacefully held signs, handed out literature, and spoke with students on the public sidewalk. They did not block the sidewalk or prevent anyone from getting to their bus.



"What is appalling is the court's suggestion that Ms. Garza's and Ms. Baxter's mere presence on the sidewalk interfered with ingress and egress to the school buses that were adjacent to the public sidewalk," states Life Legal Defense Foundation Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. "This erratic and unfounded ruling invites other courts to restrict our free speech rights even further in other public areas."



If students are not permitted to disseminate the student paper or flyers about matters of public concern on the public sidewalk outside their schools where students gather, who or what is to stop a court from prohibiting any person from engaging in the same conduct on the public sidewalk near a bus stop or metro station.



If we have learned anything during the last four decades of legalized abortion, it is that awareness and truth changes the heart and mind. We must continue to speak up for the voiceless and that means we must continue to fight for the right to speak the truth freely.



Life Legal is coordinating with local attorneys from Bell & Associates, P.A. in this matter.



About Life Legal Defense Foundation

Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit

Share Tweet Contact: Allison Arands, Life Legal Defense Foundation , 707-224-6675JACKSON, Miss., Oct. 4, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- In a shocking and unprecedented ruling in Life Legal's Garza v. Jackson Public School District case, Judge Henry Wingate obliterated one of our most fundamental rightsthe right to engage in free speech activities on the public sidewalk.The Supreme Court has reiterated time and time again that students do not abandon their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse doorsteps. Similarly, they do not lose the privilege to engage in free speech activity on the public sidewalk after school. Even one of the most liberal appellate district's in the country, the infamous Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has recognized the long-standing right to engage in free speech on the streets and sidewalks adjacent to public schools.Kristina Garza and Brianna Baxter, along with other members of the Survivors' Campus Outreach team went out to the public sidewalk outside of Murrah High School in 2012 to educate the students about abortion and share with them about life saving alternatives. Survivors is a national Christian pro-life youth organization dedicated to educating high school and college age students about the truth of abortion. The team peacefully held signs, handed out literature, and spoke with students on the public sidewalk. They did not block the sidewalk or prevent anyone from getting to their bus."What is appalling is the court's suggestion that Ms. Garza's and Ms. Baxter's mere presence on the sidewalk interfered with ingress and egress to the school buses that were adjacent to the public sidewalk," states Life Legal Defense Foundation Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. "This erratic and unfounded ruling invites other courts to restrict our free speech rights even further in other public areas."If students are not permitted to disseminate the student paper or flyers about matters of public concern on the public sidewalk outside their schools where students gather, who or what is to stop a court from prohibiting any person from engaging in the same conduct on the public sidewalk near a bus stop or metro station.If we have learned anything during the last four decades of legalized abortion, it is that awareness and truth changes the heart and mind. We must continue to speak up for the voiceless and that means we must continue to fight for the right to speak the truth freely.Life Legal is coordinating with local attorneys from Bell & Associates, P.A. in this matter.About Life Legal Defense FoundationLife Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org
New York Times Bestselling Author Dr. David Jeremiah Releases 'Is This The End?'

"Is This The End?" takes events ripped from the headlines  offering biblical signs of God's providence for Christians



Contact: Johnnie Moore for Dr. David Jeremiah, 434-426-5310, Johnnie@theKcompany.co



NASHVILLE, Oct. 4, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, internationally respected Bible Teacher, pastor, TV and radio host and 9-time New York Times bestselling author, Dr. David Jeremiah releases his newest book, "Is This The End? Signs of God's Providence in a Disturbing New World" with the W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.



"Never have the headlines been this jarring, the cultural changes this rapid, or the moral decay this pronounced," says author, Dr. David Jeremiah. "It's easy to look at today's headlines, both in America and around the world, and get discouraged. The questions I hear all the time are 'Will the world ever be the same again?' and 'Where is God in all of this?' From ISIS, to the reemergence of Russia, to the current political climate in the U.S. and an overall rise in intolerance and apathy, there is so much people are justifiably concerned about. I knew the time was now to write this book and deal with these critical issues head on so people can see God's hand in the midst of all the chaos."



The book is split into two sections: 'Is This the End of America?' and 'Is This the End of the World?' Dr. Jeremiah also addresses rising concerns about anti-Christian sentiment, citing five signs of an increase in Christian persecution: (1) stereotyping (2) marginalizing (3) threatening (4) intimidating (5) litigating.



The book includes detailed chapters on:

Terrorism

ISIS and Radicalized Islam

The New Russia

The Bleeding of America's Borders

The "Anything Goes" Society

Polarization and Divisiveness

The Coming of Christ

and much more

"It all goes back to scripture," adds Dr. Jeremiah. "That's where Christians need to look first when they're searching for answers to today's most extraordinary challenges. When you think of ISIS or the resurgence of Russia there are clues in scripture about what God thinks about these issues. There is incredible hope in the providence of God; in remembering that His plan is much bigger than terrorism, politics and yes, America too."



On the heels of 9 consecutive New York Times Bestsellers, presales of "Is This The End?: Signs of God's Providence in a Disturbing New World" have far outperformed all of Dr. David Jeremiah's previous titles.



"So far the response from our audience has been extraordinary, far surpassing any book I've written," adds Jeremiah. "It has only deepened my conviction that people are desperately looking for answers as to how to navigate the world were living in. This book is for everyone asking hard questions, and in every opportunity it points the reader right back to Christ."



Click here to order, "Is This The End?: Signs of God's Providence in a Disturbing New World"



Dr. David Jeremiah is among the best-known Christian leaders in the world. He serves as senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California and is the founder and host of Turning Point. Turning Point's 30-minute radio program is heard on more than 2,200 stations and its television program is accessible to more than 200 million homes around the world. He is the author of more than fifty books including The Jeremiah Study Bible and his latest: Is This The End?: Signs of God's Providence in a Disturbing New World



Website: www.davidjeremiah.org Twitter: @davidjeremiah



Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins, is a world-leading provider of inspirational content and has been providing readers with quality life-changing product for more than 200 years. The publishing group provides multiple formats of award-winning Bibles, books, gift books, cookbooks, curriculum and digital content, with distribution of its products in more than 100 countries. Thomas Nelson is headquartered in Nashville, TN.
home US Alabama court suspends Chief Justice Roy Moore for gay marriage license stance

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was declared guilty of violating judicial ethics for allegedly ordering other judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses. He has been suspended for the remainder of his term without pay.

"This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as chief justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda," Moore said in a statement.

Moore, who serves as an elder in his church, had argued previously that he never encouraged anyone to defy a federal court order and said that he is merely providing a status update.

On Jan. 6, Moore issued a memo to his colleagues at the Alabama Supreme Court informing them of an order that halted the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in March 2015.

"Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court ... remain in full force and effect," he wrote, adding, "I am not at liberty to provide any guidance to Alabama probate judges on the effect of Obergefell on the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court. That issue remains before the entire court, which continues to deliberate on the matter."

Moore was referring to the Obergefell v. Hodges case in June 2015 in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) ruled that Moore's memo did contain orders to the probate judges. Moore was suspended, but he had not been removed as a judge because it requires a unanimous vote.

Moore was also suspended in 2003 for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments monument he installed at a state building. He was re-elected as chief justice in 2012. According to his lawyer, Mat Staver, Moore will not be able to seek re-election after the end of his term in January 2019 because of age restrictions.

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), welcomed the court's decision. "Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher," he said in a statement. SPLC was one of the groups that filed a judicial ethics complaint against the chief justice.
Archbishop Justin Welby And Pope Francis Want Christian Unity. Will They Get It?

When Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby join in prayer at vespers, or evening prayers, in San Gregorio al Celio church in Rome, this will mark another step towards unity between Anglicans and Catholics.

They will literally be singing from the same hymn sheet, with the Sistine Chapel Choir joined by the choir of Canterbury Cathedral.

Events in Rome this week appear to show Catholics and Anglicans, under these two remarkably similar prelates, Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby, could be inching closer.

They are already "85 per cent" there, according to the Archbishop who heads the Anglican Centre in Rome.

But there is a price to pay and it was witnessed in the Pope's visit to Georgia this week. He was snubbed by the Orthodox Church, offended by his apparently liberal attitudes to gays.

Pictures emerged of a stadium of empty seats as Pope Francis celebrated Mass.

The path that Anglican-Catholic unity might take one day was envisaged by a radical 2007 document, Growing Together in Unity and Mission.

The document, produced by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), is a "call for action" for Catholics and Anglicans to engage jointly in Christian mission, from the pews upwards.

This is relevant again today because 38 bishops - 19 Catholics and 19 Anglicans - invited by IARCCUM have been meeting this week in Canterbury.

Yesterday they flew to Rome, and for the rest of this week they are there.

They will be modelling the great commission to the disciples of Christ.

They will themselves be commissioned in pairs to go forward in mission to advance the Gospel.

This will be the high point of a high-level conference marking the 50th anniversary of the Anglican Centre in Rome at which top Church of England theologians such as Paula Gooder will be speaking.

Underpinning it all with prayer will be the Archbishop of Canterbury's community of St Anselm, the young adults who have given up a year of their lives to live as monks and nuns at Lambeth Palace. They have flown to Rome to be with him and the bishops.

The Protestant Church of England came into being in 1534 when King Henry VIII realised the only way he could annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn was to make himself Supreme Head of the Church in England, thus ensuring his excommunication by Rome.

How to treat Catholics who wish to remarry after divorce remain a highly contentious issue in the Catholic Church.

Traditionalists are resisting apparent attempts by Pope Francis to be merciful to such Catholics and admit them to communion.

But as in the Anglican Communion it is the LGBT issues which are at the fore of current difficulties.

Pope Francis is trying to witness well to gay people, having famously said on a Papal plane early in his papacy: "Who am I to judge them if they're seeking the Lord in good faith?"

He has however been critical of gender theory and what he describes as "colonisation" by ideology.

Flying back to Rome on Sunday after his visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan, he was asked on the Papal plane how he would provide pastoral care to a transexual.

According to Catholic News, Pope Francis said he had as a priest "accompanied people with homosexual tendencies and even homosexual activity. I accompanied them; I helped them draw closer to the Lord, although some couldn't. But I never abandoned them."

But then he pleaded with the journalists: "Please, don't say, 'The pope will bless transgender people,' OK?"

This was hours after he had been openly snubbed by the Orthodox Church in Georgia which stayed away from Mass in a stadium inTbilisi. Al-Jazeera reported that the local patriarchate had declined to take part because of "dogmatic differences".

When Archbishop Welby has his private audience with Pope Francis on Thursday at the Vatican, it would be surprising if they did not discuss this issue.

In this at least they are united: both men are leaders of churches whose doctrine puts them at odds with the secular laws of their countries that permit gay marriage.

Closer ties with other churches and faiths are a priority for both the Archbishop and the Pope but neither is blind to the difficulties.

In 597, the prior of the monastery church of San Gregorio, where tomorrow's Vespers will be held, was St Augustine.

That was the year he was sent by the Pope to evangelise England.

Only last year San Gregorio sent its ancient relic, the head of the crozier of St Gregory the Great, to Canterbury for the Primates' Meeting that attempt to begin to resolve the Anglican Communion's own difficulties over its mission to gay Christians.

The relic was intended as a symbol of prayer and support for the Archbishop and the Anglican Communion.

Let's hope it is effective in helping the churches to work together to resolve their differences with secular society as well as among themselves.

To build churches full of people, all made in the image of God.

Not sad and empty ones like the stadium in Georgia, a witness, if ever there was one, to not-so-good disagreement.
Billy Graham's Grandson Will: 'This Is The Start Of The End Times.'

Billy Graham's grandson Will Graham believes the world is entering the "end times" and that Jesus Christ may well return in his lifetime.

William Franklin Graham IV, known as Will, is in Scotland where he is hosting the North East Scotland Celebration of Hope at Peterhead Academy. The events will be broadcast live via this link.

Graham, speaking to Christian Today, said his aim was to lead people to Jesus while there is still time.

"A lot of people are on edge. I think people feel like something has got to come to a climax," he said, referring to events in the wider world.

"There seems to be an underlying climax that is on the horizon. For me, as a Christian, I believe that that is going to be a massive war, what the Bible calls Armageddon. The end of days.

"If things continue as they are going, something has got to give. I believe a lot of people are nervous about the long-term future."

The world is in relative peace, he said, with no world war taking place. "But yet at the same time there seems to be conflict around and hatred."

He added: "This cannot continue. Something is going to snap. Something is going to break. I believe that could be the start of the end times for us."

Graham added: "I do not know when the Lord is coming back." But he had been reading Scripture. "The things we never thought would take place are now starting to take place. I do believe that Christ will maybe come in my lifetime. I do believe Christ is coming so I want to tell people about Christ while there is still chance."

Graham, aged 41, the oldest son of Franklin Graham, proclaims the Gospel under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of which he is a vice-president.

In the last ten years he has held evangelistic outreaches on six continents around worldwide, always by invitation.

Besides Scotland, his schedule this year takes in Arizona, Australia, Uganda, Norway and Canada.

Graham, who with his wife, Kendra has two daughters and a son, said his purpose in the UK this week is "spiritual", to tell people about Jesus and work with the local churches.

He described how, unlike his father Franklin who came to faith in his 20s, he gave his life to Christ when just a young boy.

"I went to church. My mum and dad were Christians by now. My grandparents were Christians. I just went to church because that was what mum and dad told me to do. I wa about five years old."

When he was five, he graduated from the infants' church to "grown-up church", where there was eucharistic bread and grape juice.

"I thought I love this, I love snacks. But when it came around my parents did not let me partake. I thought this was because they thought I might drop it on the carpet. That afternoon when we got home they came into my room and explained why I could not have it. It was because it is for those who believed in Jesus Christ and have asked Christ to come into their lives and forgive their sins.

"When I was five I knew I was a sinner. So that is what I did. As a child I gave my life to Christ."

He described his faith even now as "child-like".

Graham said he does not understand everything in the Bible, but through faith can see that Jesus is real.

"There is something in all of mankind that knows that there is something bigger than them. That is what the Bible says. God has put eternity in our hearts. We are made for a relationship with God."
Christian Pastors Lead Prayer For Unity After Police Gunned Down 3 Black Men In California

Following the police killing of three black men in California in a span of five days last week, more than 30 Christian pastors from various races and denominations in San Diego led the faithful in praying for peace, unity and truth in their community over the weekend.

First to be killed was Alfred Olango who was fatally shot on Tuesday by an officer in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, triggering three days of angry and sometimes violent protests, ABC News reports.

Olango was allegedly shot when he took a "shooting stance," pointing an electronic cigaret device at an officer.

After Olango's killing, two other black men were shot dead by California police officers.

On Friday, Reginald Thomas died after being shot with a Taser by police in Pasadena. He was armed with a knife and his wife described him as mentally ill.

Then on Saturday, the police shot an 18-year-old black man Carnell Snell Jr. near his home in Los Angeles.

Saturday's prayer gathering for unity, which was held at the El Cajon Police Department headquarters at 100 Civic Way, was led by Pastor Rolland Slade of Meridian Baptist Church, Pastor David Hoffman of Foothills Christian Church in El Cajon; Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church; and David Joseph of Last Harvest Arabic Church.

In his prayer, Slade asked for strength for the family of Olango, the first black man to killed by police last week, as well as the policemen from El Cajon. He acknowledged how the recent unfortunate event has heavily affected the community.

"The events of Tuesday, Sept. 27 were tragic and they must be acknowledged. We, Lord  the region, the community, the neighborhood and the family of Alfred Olango  have been dramatically changed," Slade prayed, as quoted by NBC San Diego.

Olango was shot last Tuesday by two police officers in the parking lot of a shopping center, near a taco shop, in the 800 block of Broadway. His death prompted some people to troop to the streets and condemn the police's use of force on suspects.

The Christian pastor also asked God for "truth, transparency and transformation," adding that the issues currently dividing the community can only be solved by being transparent and by not having hidden agenda.

Hoffman, for his part, prayed to God for continued peace and order in the El Cajon community.

"We pray that you would thwart those who would bring unrest, damage and chaos to our city and our county," the Christian pastor said during the event.

Praying in both English language and Arabic, Pastor Joseph meanwhile sought strength for the faithful, noting how we live now at a time of "spiritual warfare."
Christian And Muslim Leaders: Religion Is The Solution To Terrorism, Not The Problem

Christian and Muslim leaders have united to condemn religious extremism and promote the importance of interfaith dialogue.

A two-day meeting between the Muslim Council of Elders (MCE) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) last week focused on the vitality of working for peace and countering violence, especially that which is committed in the name of God.

"Religion came to establish peace between people and lift the injustice of the oppressed as well as to emphasise the sanctity of human blood," said Grand Imam Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb, chairman of the MCE.

He added it is a cause of sadness that religions are considered responsible for the rise of terror.

"Terrorism, which blames religions, mainly Islam, does not differentiate while promoting its acts," he continued.

"No difference is made between religious and atheist, or between a Muslim and non-Muslim. At a quick glance at the victims of terrorism, it is confirmed that Muslims themselves are more than paying the price of this terrorism with their blood."

Al-Tayyeb said it was vital that faith leaders do more than simply condemn acts of violence and terror.

"That is like working on separate islands, which results in weak targets, with no concrete and influential impact on the ground," he said. "However, a joint action must be coordinated to confront the phenomenon and working on the proposed solutions to intellectually, scientifically, socially and educationally confront that phenomenon."

Bishop Angaelos, general bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, agreed that working together is critical.

"Developments over the last years are greater than any individual, church, religion or even state can fix alone," he said. "There must be a new form of dialogue that changes the narrative from helplessness and conflict to the one of hope and promise.

"This new dialogue can not have tolerance as its baseline. Acceptance is what we must be aiming for."

The bishop added that "Religion can not be seen as an enemy" but must instead "be seen as an ally both to the state and civil society".

He continued: "We can not continue to be seen as a problem, but we must rightly be recognised as a solution."

General secretary of the WCC, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, said it was important to recognise that many Christians and Muslims have used religion to justify violence.

"But if religious people can be honest with each other about the ways in which religion has been used to underpin violence  we can also find the ways together for religion to be part of the solution," he said.
Estonian Christians Angry About Artwork Telling Visitors To Kick Virgin Mary

The opening of Estonia's new National Museum has been overshadowed by protests from Church leaders and politicians over an exhibit they say mocks religion.

The exhibit is a virtual image of the Virgin Mary in a glass box. Visitors are invited to kick a spot on the plinth of the display, whereupon the image appears to fly into pieces and the word "Reformation" appears.

The Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Urmas Viilma, said the image offends the feelings of believers. He wrote on Facebook: "I very seriously doubt that this exhibit is suitable for the permanent collection of the National Museum of Estonia, even if it is interesting from a technical point of view or from the perspective of modern approach to the depiction of historical events.

"The virgin Mary for a huge number of believers is not some historical figure or event, gone into oblivion, but a reality today."

He said the "ridicule" was an "insult to the feelings of believers".

Politicians have also waded in to the row. The chairman of the opposition Conservative People's Party, Mart Helme, said there would be a particularly negative reaction in the Russian-speaking community.

"Most Russians living in Estonia are actively religious people and their integration is not helped by religious insult approved on a state level," Helme said.

"The image should be removed as soon as possible because the virtual destruction the authors offer insults the feelings of religious Russian-speaking residents and hinders their integration."

Helme, who was Estonia's ambassador to Russia in the 1990s, warned that "mocking the symbols of faith also has a political dimension to it". He said: "An attack on symbols may lead to an escalation of social tensions and a cooling of inter-state relations."

Formerly part of the USSR, Estonia is on the front line between Europe and Russia and is the focus of rising fears about Russian expansionism following the assault on Ukraine. Last year it announced it would build a border fence to improve security.
iPhone 8 release date, specs rumors: specs to include glass frame and OLED display?

With the iPhone 7 already released, fans are now expecting details on Apple's upcoming iPhone 8. Speculations suggest that the next iPhone will get a major overhaul, including an all-glass construction and a switch to OLED display.

According to MacWorld, noted analyst and Apple release soothsayer Ming-Chi Kuo has noted that Apple will overhaul its iPhone lineup, starting with the 2017 iPhone. Eschewing the standard upgrade naming, the Cupertino-based tech giant will reportedly ditch the iPhone 7S and will go directly to iPhone 8.

Meanwhile, as a redesigned flagship, the iPhone will supposedly introduce a number of major improvements and features. Ostensibly, Apple will bring back the all-glass construction for its flagship, the frame of which was last seen on the iPhone 4 and 4S. However, Apple will still come out with an iPhone that has an aluminum chassis, serving as the entry-level model of the lineup. The all-glass variant will then be the base model of the iPhone 8, while a top-tier "Plus" version will have stainless steel construction.

In addition to a redesigned construction, some of the features of the iPhone 8 are also expected to get an upgrade. Apparently, Apple also plans to switch from LCD to OLED technology for its display. With a new display tech, the iPhone 8 is likely to get an end-to-end display, with curved dual edges. The upper and lower bezels may also receive a razor-thin design.

While Apple has yet to come out with details about its next flagship release, leaks have surfaced that point out the iPhone 8 being in the pipeline already. Business Insider reports that some of the hardware for the next iPhone is already being assembled in third-party plants in Israel. However, it may still take some time for the iPhone 8 to come out in the market since the iPhone 7 lineup has just been released.
Iraq Could Lose Its Syriac Christian Population If It Doesn't Amend Its Constitution

Iraq is at risk of losing its Syriac Christian presence if it does not legally recognise the group in its constitution, leading Church figures have warned.

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Youssif III last week wrote to the Prime Minister of Iraq along with other key government leaders, urging them to recognise Syriac as an ethnicity.

Article four of the constitution secures the right of Iraqis "to educate their children in their mother tongue, such as Turkmen, Syriac, and Armenian".

However Article 125, which guarantees "the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights of the various nationalities", mentions only Turkomen, Chaldeans and Assyrians "and all other constituents". It does not specify Syriacs by name.

According to a statement released by the Holy Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, which met last week, Church leaders "demanded the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Parliament to correct this injustice and list the name 'Syriac' in the Iraqi constitution, not just as language, but as an ethnicity and essential component of the people of the Republic of Iraq".

The call follows a similar demand made by four leading Syriac bishops last year.

"Neglecting the Syriacs, leads to great anger," they warned. "It seems like the Syriacs do not exist in Iraq and as if the Syriacs are no [sic] Iraqi citizens, even though the Syriacs have a historic presence in Iraq  a presence that is older than other communities."

A letter sent by the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (WCA) earlier this month echoed this call.

Addressed to the Iraqi government, the letter said that constitutionally recognising Iraqi Syriacs "is critical to secure their identity and presence in the homeland".

"Because the Constitution does not acknowledge the Syriacs, they have no legal existence, are not able to enjoy the rights mentioned in Article 125 and the current Iraqi ID Cards forces them to adopt an identity that is foreign to them, such as Arab, Turkmen, Chaldean or Assyrian," the letter continued.

"Clearly, such a violation of their right to existence in the land of their ancestors flies in the face of international (human rights) law, common sense and the very spirit of recognizing, appreciating and preserving Iraq's rich ethno-religious diversity."
Iraqi Archbishop: 'In The Midst Of All This Violence, Jesus Is Needed'

An archbishop in Iraq has appealed for Christians to stay in the Middle East, saying that they have "no choice" but to help bring about peace to the troubled region.

Bashar Warda, the Catholic Chaldean archbishop of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, said that the Church must play a role in "rebuilding the future", providing jobs for communities and helping people to preserve their dignity.

Archbishop Warda, who is opening the Catholic University of Erbil, told the National Review: "The Middle East needs Jesus. Christians need to stay. And not just to stay, but to live in a dignified way, and to be able to preach and to give Jesus. In the midst of all this violence, Jesus is needed."

He continued: "A violent, troubled Middle East needs mercy. Jesus is mercy...Most of the communities that you have here  they came running from violence, from persecution, looking for a better life...Enough of wars, enough of violence, enough of all these atrocities. We have to help people live a peaceful life. There's no other choice."

Of the university, the archbishop added: "It's a sign of strength. When people would destroy your churches and your monastery and try to destroy you, you have to come up with a clear message, not just in words that we are here and this is the future. It's not just we are here, but we also have something strong here."

Warda said that Christians and the Church must not accept "victim status" in the region. "I would like that the Church would have a role in rebuilding the future," he said. "I don't like to see our people marginalized. Being a victim is a sad story, but to accept this status that you are a victim is a tragedy. So you have to encourage people to really speak and act and to take an action, provide also some decent jobs for our community."

Many Christians stuck in refugee camps in Erbil feel abandoned by Christians in the West, according to a report published this month by Aid to the Church in Need.

Already there are more than 1.4 million displaced people in refugee camps in northern Iraq.

Around 125,000 Christians were forced from their homes when ISIS launched its offensive in northern Iraq in 2014. The attack, which left Christians with the choice of converting to Islam under threat of death or fleeing, first hit predominantly Christian Mosul in June that year, and then two months later came to surrounding towns in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region.
Parents of Jacob Hall, 6-Year-Old Boy Killed In South Carolina School Shooting, Say He's With God In Heaven, Thank Supporters for Prayers

Jacob Hall, the 6-year-old boy who was shot during Wednesday's elementary school shooting in South Carolina, passed away on Saturday.

His parents Renae and Rodger Hall issued a statement to PEOPLE, saying: "Our son, Jacob Hall, who was shot at Townville Elementary School on Wednesday, died today surrounded by family at Greenville Health System Children's Hospital."

"Jacob came into our lives six years and four months ago and changed it completely. He showed us how to love, laugh and smile even on days we did not want to. God gave him to us and he was taken away from us by a senseless act," they said.

Hall, who was a kindergarten student, was one of the victims of a 14-year-old suspect named Jesse Osborne who was charged as a juvenile on Friday with one count of murder for the death of his father and three counts of attempted murder.

One of the bullets from the gun fired by the suspect hit Jacob's femoral artery in one of his legs, which caused the young boy massive blood loss that led to his cardiopulmonary arrest. Jacob had been on life support because of the major brain injury and massive lost of blood resulting from the shooting.

His doctor, Keith Webb of GHS Children's Hospital, described Jacob as a "tremendous fighter." Unfortunately for his family and supporters, the young boy "was unable to overcome the catastrophic blood loss and resulting cardiopulmonary arrest caused when the bullet hit his femoral artery."

"We grieve for the loss of this little boy and pray for his family as they work through this extraordinarily difficult time," Webb said.

Despite the loss of their son, the Halls are still thankful to Webb and the nurses of GHS Children's Hospital "who did everything in their power to try to save Jacob."

Jacob was shot along with another student and a female teacher named Meghan Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth and the 6-year-old student were released from AnMed Health Medical Center Wednesday evening.

The Halls have tried to remain an optimistic stance even as they lost Jacob. "We know that Jacob has already forgiven this child for what he did to him and his family because that's the kind of child he was," the family said. "Jacob was sent to this earth for this short period of time to show us that there is such a thing as pure love. Jacob is in heaven with God now and everyone who loves him. Words cannot express how much we will miss him."
Egyptian Archbishop Says He Wants To 'Weep As Jesus Did' Over Gay Marriage

Anglicans from the Global South heard the Bishop of Egypt, Archbishop Mouneer Hanna Anis, condemn the way some in the western Church attempted to impose an "ideological slavery" on the Church in the south.

Opening the sixth Cairo Global South Conference attended by 12 Anglican Primates and 90 delegates from 20 Anglican provinces, Anis  who is Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East  said liberals undermine Scripture and the traditions of the Church in redefining marriage.

"The whole truth is revealed to whole Church," he said. "Unilateral decisions have torn the fabric of the communion over the last 13 years, as some provinces went on their way without regard to the rest."

He added: "Some churches are pushing a new form of ideological slavery on us and we must and resist financial and ideological slavery.

"I want to weep as Jesus did over Jerusalem," Anis said.

According to Anglican Ink, he also challenged delegates about corruption, tribalism, polygamy, poor treatment of women, and the prosperity gospel, all of which showed the need for greater theological education.

He said the southern Church should move away from depending on western aid into more sustainable development.

During the opening communion service Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria preached on the peace of Christ and highlighted examples of conflict including Syria, Yemen, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and his own homeland.

Ecumenical and interfaith guests included representatives of Al Azhar University, the Vatican, the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic Churches, and the Armenian Catholics. Political and diplomatic guests included representatives from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the embassies of the United States and Singapore.
Muslim Man Who Killed Sister Because She Married A Christian Says He Had 'No Choice'

A Pakistani man who shot dead his sister because she married a Christian has said he had "no choice" but to kill her for bringing shame on their family.

Mubeen Rajhu, 24, shot his 18-year-old sister, Tasleem, with a pistol at their home in Lahore, northeast Pakistan, in August.

In an extended interview with Associated Press (AP), Rajhu said he loved his sister, and had made her promise not to marry the Christian man she had been seen with.

"I told her I would have no face to show at the mill [his workplace], to show to my neighbours, so don't do it. Don't do it," he said.

"But she wouldn't listen."

Tasleem married the Christian, a man named Jehangir, with another brother as a witness. Jehangir converted to Islam to appease her family, but it wasn't enough.

"I could not let it go. It was all I could think about. I had to kill her," Rajhu said. "There was no choice."

A week later, on August 14, Rajhu shot Tasleem while she was sitting in their kitchen with her mother and sister.

"There was no yelling, no shouting," Rajhu recalled. "I just shot her dead."

Various interviews conducted by AP with members of the Muslim community in Lahore revealed that there is widespread support for Rajhu's actions.

"I am proud of this man that he has done the right thing, to kill her," one neighbour said. "We cannot allow anyone to marry outside our religion. He did the right thing."

Evern Rajhu and Tasleem's father blames his daughter, and is afraid of what their wider family will think of her marriage.

"My family is destroyed," he said. "Everything is destroyed only because of this shameful girl. Even after death I am destroyed because of her."

Meanwhile the Christian community in Lahore say they are living in fear since Tasleem's death. Gunmen have fired bullets into the homes of Christians living in Jehangir's area  he fled the night Tasleem was killed.

"We have been scared since the killing took place," one Christian neighbour told AP.

"There are just a few houses of Christians here, but we have nowhere else to go."

Christians are protected under Pakistan's constitution, but many face severe persecution for their faith. The 'Forced Marriages and Inheritance Deprivation' report from the Karachi-based Aurat Foundation claims that up to 700 Christian girls are married forcibly each year and forced to convert to Islam.

So-called 'honour' killings are also on the rise. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, there were 1,184 victims in 2015, all but 88 of whom were women.

A report released in May by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that the Pakistani government last year "continued to perpetrate and tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations".

USCIRF has recommended Pakistan be designated a 'country of particular concern' by the US since 2002 and its report was damning about Pakistan's failures. "For years, the Pakistani government has failed to protect citizens, minority and majority alike, from sectarian and religiously-motivated violence," it said.

"Pakistani authorities also have failed to consistently bring perpetrators to justice or take action against societal actors who incite violence."

Lahore is considered a particularly dangerous place for Christians to live. Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, a charity dedicated to helping persecuted Christians in Pakistan, has branded Lahore "the province where Christians suffer most".

On Easter Sunday this year, a suicide bombing in a Lahore park killed 72 people. It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since the massacre of 134 children at a military school in Peshawar in December 2014. Though many more Muslims than Christians were killed in the attack, the faction of the Taliban which claimed responsibility for the blast confirmed that Christians were the target.
Nigerian Bishop Who Had Vision Of Jesus Says Boko Haram Will 'Fizzle Out'

A Catholic Nigerian bishop who says he had a vision two years ago of Jesus handing him a roasary and saying "Boko Haram is gone", has declared that the terrorist organisation "will soon fizzle out".

In an interview with the Catholic Herald, Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri said: "Before, Boko Haram members were everywhere. But now they are not everywhere. They have been pushed to the forests."

The bishop went on: "Boko Haram will soon fizzle out, mostly because of the prayers of the people."

Bishop Doeme says that in 2014, he had a vision of Jesus handing him a sword which, as soon as the bishop received it, turned into a rosary. According to Doeme, Jesus then repeated the words: "Boko Haram is gone."

The bishop has since encouraged daily rosary processions throughout the diocese, in schools, homes and parishes.

Boko Haram - which has killed about 15,000 people and displaced more than 2 million in a seven year insurgency in Nigeria - has been on the retreat since 2014, though it still carries out attacks.

The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office last year, said in December that the group had been "technically defeated" because they were no longer able to mount conventional attacks, and that people who had been displaced by Boko Haram's attacks were now returning to their former neighbourhoods.

The diocese of Maiduguri has been at the centre of the attacks.

In 2014, more than 80,000 Catholics were displaced by Boko Haram's attacks, and more than 25 priests and 45 nuns had to flee.

Now, however, many of the displaced are returning, according to the Catholic Herald, and Bishop Doeme says caring for them is a bigger challenge than terrorist violence.

In an interview to be published in this week's Catholic Herald, Bishop Doeme says that he believes Jesus appeared to him appeared to him in 2014 "in order to console his people, that His Mother is there for us." He adds: "Boko Haram is evil, ISIS is evil. So as long as we go to a place with His Mother, especially by praying the rosary, which is the most pronounced form of Marian devotion, we will be victorious."

The interview comes as a new report shows that female members of Boko Haram are almost as likely as men to be deployed as fighters in north-east Nigeria.

According to the report by Finn Church Aid and based on interviews with 119 former Boko Haram members, four in 10 female respondents said they served as soldiers - compared with 45 percent of men - while both sexes carried out domestic tasks like cooking and cleaning.

"Recruiters are adapting to the tightening security environment," said Mahdi Abdile, director of research at Finn Church Aid and co-author of the study.

"The intelligence community is on the lookout for young men, so it is easier for women to navigate past security barriers and penetrate communities," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Police Officer's Prayer Helps Save Life of Baby With Heart Disease

A police officer's prayer helped save the life of a child who suffered from a serious heart ailment, the mother of the child said.

The Daily Mail recently reported how the mother, Jacquelynne Olmedo, rushed last week to the Texas Children's Hospital after her two-year-old son, Michael, turned blue. The child had been diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

While driving to the medical facility, Jacquelynne spotted Harris County Deputy Manuel Edwards, prompting her to pull over and ask for his help. The police officer then used his radio to call for assistance.

The police back-up that Edwards called, however, was not the one that helped saved the child. Seeing how frazzled Jacquelynne was, the police officer asked her to pray with him for the little child's life.

"He called in for help and did something that I was not expecting. He grabbed my hands and started praying. He said 'Believe and trust that this is going to 'pass and that God is with him and all of us right now,'" Mrs. Olmedo recalled, as quoted by The Daily Mail.

"He then went back into officer mode and got us to safety off the freeway until the ambulance got there," she added.

Just a few minutes after Jacquelynne and Deputy Edwards prayed together, Michael began moving around "like nothing happened," according to the report.

Jacquelynne is convinced that the prayer the police officer initiated saved her child's life. "I think that at that moment, it really did something," she said.

Deputy Edwards, for his part, said he asked Mrs. Olmedo to pray with him during that moment primarily to calm her down. He also shared that he lost his own baby granddaughter just a year ago.

The police officer recently visited Michael in his hospital room, complete with balloons to cheer up the little boy now recovering from his recent health scare.
Pope Francis To Make London Nun A Saint

A French nun who lived in London and said she saw the Eucharist turn to bloody flesh in the hands of a priest is to be put on the path to sainthood by Pope Francis, the Catholic Herald reports.

The Vatican has agreed to open the cause for the canonisation of Mother Marie Adele Garnier, the foundress of the Tyburn Nuns who died in Tyburn Convent, near Marble Arch, London, in 1924.

She has been given the title "Servant of God" after the Congregation for the Cause of Saints concluded that there were "no obstacles" to her candidacy.

The Catholic Herald reported that the development is expected to be formally announced by the Vatican later in the year.

The Vatican had been lobbied to open the Cause by Bishop Joseph de Metz-Noblat of Langres, a French diocese close to where Garnier grew up.

The prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato wrote to the bishop during the summer instructing him to establish a tribunal within the diocese to examine Garnier's life and writings.

The conclusions of the local tribunal will eventually be sent to the Vatican and scrutinised by theologians and historians. Two miracles will be needed to be found in order for Garnier to be made a saint.

The assistant Mother General of the Tyburn Nuns, Mother Xavier McMonagle said the nuns had sought the opening of the cause for 20 years.

"It has been a long time, but that's not such a bad thing," she said. "It has given us time to research her writings."

Born near Dijon in 1838, Garnier worked as a governess and turned down a marriage proposal so she could establish her religious order in Montmartre, Paris, at the end of the 19th century.

She gathered a community of women dedicated to the "perpetual" adoration of the Holy Eucharist.

The Catholic Herald said that the burgeoning community was "persecuted by the Devil, with cases of obsession and diabolical possession and objects overturned, picked up and thrown around rooms."

In 1901, the nuns fled to London after the anti-clerical Law of Associations.

They came first to Notting Hill in west London and then in 1903, with the help of a cash gift, bought a house on the north side of Hyde Park. The house was just yards from the site of the Tyburn gallows, where 105 Catholics perished during the Reformation.

Garnier's order of contemplative Benedictine nuns, the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre, has in recent decades opened new convents in South America, Africa, France and New Zealand.

Pope St John Paul II invited the nuns to open a convent near the Vatican, asking them to pray for him and his successors.

In 2012 an Italian priest, Fr Gianmario Piga wrote a biography of Garnier, analysing her writings in depth.

The book, The Path of Mother Adele Garnier, revealed her to be a mystic who underwent experiences comparable to those recorded by such great spiritual writers as St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.

In one letter to a priest friend, Abbe Charles Sauve, she described how she saw the Sacrament turn to bloody flesh.

"At the moment in which the priest took a particle of the Holy Host and put it into the chalice I raised my eyes to adore and to contemplate the holy particle," she wrote.

"Oh, if you could know what I saw and how I am still moved and impressed by this vision. The fingers of the priest held not a white particle but a particle of striking red, the colour of blood and luminous at the same time ... The fingers of the priest were red on the right of the particle, as from a blood stain that seemed still wet."

The Vatican Press offered to publish the work and launch it in the Vatican's Marconi Hall on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The main speech was given by Fr Federico Lombardi, then Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman.

The following year Pope Francis presented the nuns with an engraved gold chalice as a gift to mark the opening of their first French Convent at St Loup-sur-Aujon, near Dijon.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols last week celebrated Mass in Tyburn Convent to mark the golden jubilee of the Tyburn Association of Adoration, a lay movement which shares the perpetual adoration with the nuns.

The cardinal described Tyburn Convent as "a visible representation of the goal towards which the entire Church is journeying".

He added: "Mother Garnier wanted each one of her convents not only to be a place in which Jesus is continually adored in the Blessed Sacrament, but also to be a place in which lay people could share in this perpetual adoration. The association fulfils her deep desire."
The Unmistakable Spark Of Christian Fellowship Between The Pope And The Archbishop

Anglican and Catholic theologians meeting in Rome this week will be examining a new path to possible unity.

After Anglican provinces worldwide began ordaining women priests and bishops, relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion hit their lowest point in modern times.

Commentators described it as an "ecumenical winter".

But now, even Anglican women bishops sit around the table with Catholic bishops at high-level talks between the churches.

And in papers being studied in Rome this week, the word "subsidiarity" is the key to finding a possible way forward.

The climate is now being described as an "ecumenical spring" with even signs of summer in the air.

Archbishop David Moxon, director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week, told Christian Today that Catholics and Anglicans are "85 per cent" in agreement.

He quoted John 17, when Jesus prays for the disciples: "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one."

Seeking to be united as one church is "part of our DNA", he added. The two bodies hold different views on women's ordination. But in talking about "subsidiarity", the theologians and bishops are trying to discern what is essential, core doctrine and what could be said to fall within "reasonable diversity".

The problem now for those who want unity is discover whether women's ordination could be agreed by both Catholics and Anglicans to be part of a reasonable diversity. "How do we discern what is essential and what is non-essential," said Moxon.

Already, the churches share a common baptism. "What unites us is greater than what divides us," said Moxon.

He was speaking on the eve of the third formal meeting between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope in Rome this week.

Moxon was present at their first meeting, three years ago and also when they were together in Assisi a few weeks ago. There was an "instant spark" between the two, he said, and soon they were laughing together. "They clearly saw themselves as brothers. They enjoyed each other's company."

And this friendship has continued to grow since that day.

He said he sees the ministry of Pope Francis as prophetic and apostolic. "This Archbishop of Canterbury is in my view the perfect partner for that kind of mission. They are on the same page of the same song sheet."
Why This Muslim-Born Iranian Converted To Catholicism After Islamist Radicals Killed French Priest

Sohrab Ahmari, an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal in London, grew up a Muslim in Iran. But he began losing his faith following brushes with Nietzsche, Marxism and Roman Catholicism. He finally settled his identity in the Roman Catholic Church.

In an article in The Catholic Herald, Ahmari says the murder of French priest Jacques Hamel in Normandy, France at the hands of two Islamist extremists on July 26 finally convinced him to leave Islam.

Aside from Hamel's martyrdom, Hamel says other factors drove him to follow Christ. "The real story was much longer and more complicated," he says.

When he was only 12 years old, Ahmari decided that there was no God. "At school, I had already begun clashing with my Quran teacher, whose real job was to inculcate students in the regime's ideology, a mix of Shia chauvinism, anti-Americanism and Jew-hatred," he explains.

In the late 90s, Ahmari moved to Eden, Utah, with his mother. It was there where he learned about the Mormon and Protestant faith. "If Shia Islam, with its rich iconography and theology, was all hypocrisy, then Mormonism and America's Protestant ethic and cheerful consumerism were even more contemptible  and equally repressive in their own way," he says.

Before he went to college, Ahmari then discovered Friedrich Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," which he claimed was "half-mad."

"I lived totally in my head. There, the world was meaningless; and if there was any point to life, it could only be reached on the far side of God's absence," he says. "The next stop was Marxism  specifically Trotskyism, a more romantic strand of the totalitarian ideology. In retrospect, it's obvious why Marxism appealed to me: it went well with the latent anti-Americanism still imprinted on my Iranian mind."

After that, he came to terms with the Judeo-Christian foundations of the West. Even though he did not consider himself a Christian, he says their beliefs helped impact his outlook in life.

"If I enjoyed the beauty and ordered liberty I saw around me, then I had to give credit to the ideals that gave birth to it. You couldn't have one without the other. The beauty and order reflected an underlying truth. It wasn't my truth, but I no longer lightly dismissed faith," he says.

Ahmari's mother might have become a Born Again Christian, but that wasn't for him. "Why Catholicism? Well, I dabbled for a couple of years with Evangelical Christianity. Catholics don't exactly send you text messages asking: 'Would you and your wife like to join us for Sunday service?' Evangelicals do," he explains.

And ultimately, Ahmari felt drawn to Catholic Mass. "There was no definitive moment that led from those early experiences with the Mass to my knocking on a priest's door and asking him to instruct me earlier this year. There were no visions or sudden epiphanies," he says. "Somewhere along the way, I resolved to be honest with myself, if not others, about my need for Almighty God."
Mummy portraits: A visual record of changing fashions in Roman Egypt

Hauntingly lifelike, these remarkable portraits were positioned over the heads of mummies and wrapped in place almost 2,000 years ago. Two exceptional examples are offered in the Antiquities sale in New York on 25 October

Painted mummy portraits from Roman Egypt are among the most remarkable survivors from the ancient world, providing insight into Romano-Egyptian burial customs as well as style and fashion trends from the 1st-3rd century A.D. The ancient Egyptians believed that the transfigured spirit of the deceased aspired to dwell in perpetuity in the realm of Osiris, God of the Underworld. For this to happen the body needed to be preserved for the spirit to continue to exist. The time-honoured Pharonic tradition of mummifying the deceased continued for several centuries into the Roman period in Egypt, although in some regions, instead of placing the body in an anthropomorphic coffin of wood, stone or clay, the deceased was ornately wrapped in linen with a naturalistic painted wood portrait positioned over the head. One discovery suggests that these painted portraits hung in frames in homes until eventually they were placed over the mummy. It has also been suggested that they were painted close to the time of death and carried around the local city during a procession (ekphora) celebrating the deceased before being taken to the embalmer. Since a large number were found in the towns around the Fayum oasis in middle Egypt, these painted panels are traditionally called Fayum portraits, even though some have been found in many other parts of Egypt.

The female portrait above dates to the Hadrianic period on account of her distinctive hairstyle, worn up with a single braid encircling the crown. Her earrings are also common to this period, although the gold necklace with lunula pendant was more common in the 1st century A.D., suggesting it may be an heirloom. Remarkably, assessment of hairstyles, clothes and jewellery allows scholars to date the paintings to within a decade or so. This dating is based on comparison to similar finds in other parts of the Empire, since even in remote locations there was a strong desire to imitate the evolving preferences of members of the Imperial families. Most portraits depict their subjects in the prime of life rather than in old age; CT scans of mummies confirm the relatively young ages of the deceased, indicating the relatively low life expectancy of most people in the ancient world.

The careworn expression and unkempt hair of the man in the portrait above suggest that he might have been a soldier. His plain white tunic, however, shows no military accoutrements, which may be a result of the damage to his left shoulder. Like the female portrait, this piece can be dated to the Hadrianic period based on the hairstyle and facial hair. Fayum portraits have been a source of inspiration for artists working in the modernist tradition, with Picasso known to have studied them carefully at the Louvre. Buste d'homme, painted in 1965 and sold at Christies in 2016, echoes the intense, confronting eyes found on mummy portraits from Graeco-Roman Egypt. Frida Kahlo also seems to visually quote the Fayum aesthetic in her Self-Portrait with Curly Hair (1935), sold at Christies in 2003  her curled coiffure, provoking gaze and the inclusion of contemporary jewellery calling to mind the female portrait shown above. The two exceptional Fayum portraits in this story are from the Collection of Rudolf Mosse (1843-1920). A successful entrepreneur, progressive political thinker and philanthropist, Mosse founded a publishing and advertising conglomerate that included the Berliner Tageblatt, an early and outspoken critic of the Nazi party.
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A dozen Houstonians landed on the 2016 Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans and most managed to maintain or grow their net worth.

Houston's wealthiest, Richard Kinder, was one of two local billionaires whose net worth declined. The pipeline magnate, who ranked highest among Houstonians at No. 69, saw his net worth drop by 21 percent to $7 billion from $8.9 billion in 2015.

Jeffery Hildebrand, head of oil exploration and production company Hilcorp, dropped 61 spots to No. 134 in the ranking. His net worth fell to $4.1 billion, down 35 percent from $6.3 billion in 2015.

READ MORE: The best school district in Houston is also ridiculously wealthy

Siblings Dannine Avara, Scott Duncan, Randa Williams and Milane Frantz saw their net worth rise 4 percent to $5.2 billion apiece in 2016 and maintained their No. 94 rankings. They inherited their wealth from the late Dan Duncan, co-founder of pipeline giant Enterprise Products Partners.

Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans, increased his wealth to $3.5 billion this year from $3.3 billion last year, moving him up 10 positions to No. 184.

Tilman Fertitta, head of the Landry's restaurant and casino empire, saw his wealth rise by $400 million to $2.7 billion in 2016. Among Houstonians on the list, he moved up most, 47 positions to No. 246.

READ MORE: Wealthy school district draws critics as students dress as poor people

New to the list is Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets. He ranked No. 361 with a net worth of $1.9 billion.

Falling off the list was financier Fayez Sarofim, who had a net worth of $1.85 billion last year.

Three local billionaires' net wealth stayed the same: Dan Friedkin of auto distributor Gulf States Toyota, $3.6 billion; hedge fund founder John Arnold, $2.9 billion; and oilman George Bishop of The Woodlands, $2.4 billion.

The Houstonians were among 33 Texans on the list. The richest were Alice Walton (No. 13), Michael Dell (No. 20), and Andrew Beal (No. 49).
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Austin-based Envi's plans to provide first-class private air travel across Texas have been dropped.

In mid-August, the company promised to begin offering a new luxury, business travel option for those need to travel between Austin, Houston and Dallas frequently. The launch date for the ambitious travel project was originally going to be Nov. 14.

>>In the gallery above, see the cheapest places to fly from Houston.

Envi president/founder Corey Rust cites stiff competition, as well as low demand as the reasons for the business' suspension. The company announced plans for the new venture just as other companies, including Dallas-based Rise and Conroe's Texas Air Shuttle, began operating. (Story continues below.)

Those companies offer different kinds of memberships for customers. Texas Air Shuttle features an "all-you-can-fly" option priced somewhere between $1,895 and $2,850 per month.
A Spring firm must pay $100,000 to the Texas general fund for selling unregistered investments, the Texas Securities Board announced Monday.

The board concluded that Old Security Financial Group sold mortgage notes to customers that supposedly were backed by commercial real estate. The company is not registered to sell securities in Texas.

Old Security owner and president Donald Anthony MacKenzie and vice president Robert S. Davis Jr. also sold securities while they weren't registered as dealers and agents, which is against state law, according to an agreed order signed Monday by MacKenzie, Davis and state Securities Commissioner John Morgan.

MacKenzie has been sanctioned by state and federal regulators for other violations that include selling unregistered securities, according to the securities board.
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Houston will host a conference next month to bring community leaders together to discuss the pressing issues facing minority communities in the state.

The "Preserving Communities of Color" conference organized by the Texas branch of Historic Black Towns and Settlements Alliance will be held at the Hilton Houston North Hotel in Greenspoint on Nov. 16.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Houston has joined the search for a missing boater near Lake Charles, La., authorities said Monday.

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter based at the Coast Guard Air Station in Houston is part of a multi-agency effort to find a missing man identified as Louis Thibodeaux, 42.

He went missing after his boat capsized. At about 6:50 p.m., the crew of another vessel in the area reported finding a capsized 12-foot boat and a woman who appeared to be showing signs of shock, Coast Guard officials said.

Crew members from a Coast Guard rescue boat treated the woman then brought her to shore where paramedics were waiting.

The search for Thibodeaux is continuing. Coast Guard officials said he is about 200 pounds and was wearing a plaid shirt without a life jacket at the time he went in the water.
A person was rushed to the hospital after a shooting Tuesday in southeast Houston.

The shooting was reported about 11 a.m. after the victim was found in the 4100 block of Reed Road near Scott, according to the Houston Police Department.

Police said the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital. Details of the person's injuries and condition were not released.

Police said initial reports indicate the shooting occurred someplace other than the spot where the victim was found. But it was not clear where the shooting happened or what sparked the gunfire.

More details will be reported as the story develops.
Preliminary results show that Houston Community College nursing students narrowly cleared a benchmark that will mark the first step toward reinstating the program's ability to enroll new students.

On Monday, the Texas Board of Nursing told the college that 80.4 percent of students passed the National Council Licensure Examination, an indication of program quality. Students needed to score higher than 80 percent for the program to enroll new students after it was downgraded in January to "conditional" status.

These initial results mark a potential bright spot for HCC's Coleman College after several challenging years that included the status downgrade, a former president's dismissal and a 20-point drop in exam scores.

In January, the Texas Board of Nursing downgraded HCCs associates degree nursing program to conditional approval status, which gives a program time to meet certain benchmarks but forbids it from enrolling new students within that time frame.

The board in part attributed its decision to the program's test pass rate, which fell below 80 percent for three consecutive years. In 2013, just 66 percent of students passed the exam, a figure that rose to 71 percent and 78 percent in 2014 and 2015.

Regulators also visited the campus and found that students wanted more equipment and longer time in the lab to practice their skills. A subsequent report called on the college's administration to upgrade equipment and offer more resources for faculty.

The nursing board said Monday that these results are preliminary and could change. Though the final day to take the exam was Sept. 30, regulators must validate the results test by test before moving forward.

Should the pass rate clear 80 percent, however, the nursing board would vote on whether to reinstate Coleman College's ability to enroll new students at its next meeting from Oct. 27-28.

HCC has accepted applications for the spring, anticipating it would meet the minimum requirement, but Chancellor Cesar Maldonado said the school would not enroll these students until it received official notice from the nursing board. "We won't do anything until we get that," he said.

He said hitting the 80 percent pass rate was just a first step. "We're not stopping here. We expect to see our first-time exam pass rate continue to increase, back to the level where it was five or six years ago."

Monday's results follow accusations from trustee David Wilson that the school tried to manufacture higher scores by purposefully withholding graduation documents from some nursing students to keep them from taking the test. Wilson's attorney filed suit on behalf of the students.

Later in the summer, the college said it would distribute the forms, attributing the delay to a processing error in confirming program completion requirements.
On the eastern coastal side of Africa is the Republic of Kenya. It is not among the largest countries in Africa by land mass, in fact, it is quite average in size ranking 23rd of the 57 largest African Union (AU) countries on the continent. However, it is dense in population for its size with over 44 million people. It is the 7th largest country in Africa in terms of population.

If Africa or Kenya is on your localization strategy radar, it is important to know that Swahili is their national language, but it is also necessary to know that there are numerous other languages spoken. This blog will you give a brief introduction to the languages of Kenya.

Kenyas Languages

Among the 44 million people of Kenya they natively speak over 50 languages collectively, with 42 languages considered indigenous to Kenya. This is quite a diverse citizen base, among the most diverse in Africa.

The national language is officially Kiswahili, or Swahili, spoken by nearly everyone in the country on at least some level from fluent to basic and is one of the most popular languages in Africa.

The official languages are Kiswahili and English. These two languages serve as the lingua franca in Kenya. English, while considered a minor language in Kenya is typically used in commerce, government and education. It is also a bridge language to communicate among different groups.

The other languages, while some are spoken by large numbers of people are typically spoken in intra-ethnic communication. It is important for Kenya to maintain culture differences and languages among its population. They seek to encourage and support the diversification of the cultures and languages in the country and not mandate that only the official languages should be used. In fact, they feel so strongly about it that the Republic of Kenyas Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology has drafted the  Languages of Kenya Policy.

In article 7, item 3 they state:

(3) The State shall-

(a) Promote and protect the diversity of language of the people of Kenya; and

(b) Promote the development and use of indigenous languages, Kenyan Sign Language, Braille and other communication formats and technologies accessible to persons with disabilities.

The following website has a thorough list of the languages of Kenya and an overview of each is provided: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/KE/languages.

Summary

While in many parts of the world indigenous languages are disappearing in favor of societal, political or globalization market pressures it is encouraging to see a country like Kenya welcoming their diversity and working to protect it for their people.
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A recent report from the Brookings Institute confirms that Houston is a city that values education.

We're among 2015's 19 "Knowledge Capitals" of the U.S. and Europe, based on advances, economic strength and revered schools.

The description of a "Knowledge Capital" according to the institute: "Mid-sized, highly productive knowledge creation centers in the United States and Europe with talented workforces and elite research universities."

Their populations are "supremely well educated," according to the report.

>>Above see why Houston was named among the 19 "Knowledge Capitals" of the U.S. and Europe.

"This group of 19 metropolitan economies has an average population of 4.2 million, the second smallest group by population," the study reports. "But because they are so productive, these metro areas have the third highest average economic output ($283 billion) and the highest nominal GDP per capita ($69,000) and GDP per worker ($136,000) of any group." (Story continues below.)

RELATED: Cool NASA inventions may be in your closet

The majority of the metro areas are in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Hartford, Houston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore.; San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington DC.

Zurich and Stockholm were the only non-U.S. cities on the roster.

It's not too surprising that Houston was chosen, considering the number of scientific inventions born in this city.

SEE ALSO: Born of personal necessity, devices do Houston proud

The institutes's study states that "scientific research tends to translate to new inventions in these regions, which have the highest average rates of patenting in the world."

Controlling for their population size, these economies have the greatest volume of aviation passengers in the world, according to the report.
On Tuesday, Texas A&M celebrates 140 years of history since its classes first began on October 4, 1876. At the time, the university was almost unrecognizable. The "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas," as it was called, opened with only six professors and 40 students.

Now, Texas A&M boasts more than 60,000 students and 3,500 teachers and researchers.
GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Cruisin' the Coast got into full swing Monday and Tuesday after another successful 'Goula Cruise on Sunday as the event celebrates its 20th year on the Mississippi coast this week.

"Things went very well," said Cruisin' chairman Woody Bailey of the week's early events. "Registration has been busy, but went well. We're always getting ideas of how to do things better, make things smoother, even after 20 years."

Sunday's 'Goula Cruise was another rousing success, with hundreds of classic vehicles and even more people flocking to Beach Park for the official Cruisin' event. Along with the star attraction -- the cars -- there was live music, numerous vendors and games for children -- all tucked underneath the park's massive oak trees and with the beach as a backdrop.

"The weather was perfect and the park is a perfect setting," Bailey said. "They moved the stage to the southwest corner of the park, which I think was a great idea. Everyone was having a great time. 'Goula Cruise has become a great Cruisin' event."

City officials were similarly pleased with Sunday's event. Community Events Coordinator Suzanne Steinberger said there were 847 classic cars -- 280 more than the previous year -- for 'Goula Cruise and a crowd estimated around 5,000.

"We are so excited that this is event has continued to grow and appreciate all of the support that the Cruisers give us," Steinberger said. "Beautiful weather and a wonderful view are just a few reasons the Cruisers stated why they love visiting Pascagoula. We are looking forward to this family friendly event for many years to come and hope that it continues to grow."

"I have worked many events in Pascagoula over the years but for me, 'Goula Cruise has been one of the best events I have had the pleasure of participating in," said 'Goula Cruise co-chairman Nicky Maxwell. "This one-day event was a combination of both public and private sponsors and volunteers working over several months for an awesome event to kick off Crusin' the Coast 2016."

Elsewhere, Bailey touted Monday's Cruisers Parade in Long Beach.

"The Long Beach parade was super," he said, "not only because of the cars, but the spectators, as well. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people along the route. The parade just gets bigger and bigger."

Tuesday's highlight was Cruisin' first-ever foray into Moss Point for "Cruisin' the River City" (see separate story), while Wednesday the attention will turn to Biloxi and it's immensely popular Block Party in the downtown area from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This week's enterprise and long-form reporting included coverage of a mass shooting, new life for the beloved Astrodome and so-called "doubly invisible" immigrants. Here's a look back at some important stories you might have missed:

Houston shooter wore military uniform, had Nazi emblems, police say

By Dane Schiller, St. John Barned-Smith, and Shelby Webb

After a lawyer wearing a vintage military uniform with Nazi emblems opened fire on commuters during the pre-dawn rush, police searched for clues to the gunman's motive. Nine were wounded in the West University Place shooting and after authorities identified the killer as Nathan DeSai, Chronicle reporters worked to unravel details about his life and his deadly rampage.

Mark Mulligan/MBI

Young doctor wounded in shooting rampage faces long road to recovery

By Andrew Kragie

Dr. Kevin Chap, promising young doctor and father of three, was one of those shot while on his way to work.

City redevelopment zones face scrutiny for trapping tax revenues

By Mike Morris & Rebecca Elliott

Tax reinvestment zones create pockets of neighborhood prosperity - and raise questions about how the zones are designated and used to benefit both poor areas - and relatively rich ones.

EPA wants to remove toxic waste from San Jacinto River Superfund site

By Kim McGuire

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is recommending the removal of toxic waste from the San Jacinto River, a big victory for residents and local officials who for years have urged federal environmental regulators to get rid of the dioxin-laced remnants a Pasadena paper mill dumped along the riverbanks.

Michael Paulsen/Staff

Houston's spiraling murders spurs surge of officers, confounds experts

By James Pinkerton

The growing spiral of Houston murders, up 15 percent so far this year after a staggering 25 percent hike in 2015, has forced Houston police to spend $2 million in overtime to deploy scores of extra officers at hot spots across the city.

"It's everybody who is moving here, and they are bringing their crime with them," said Tim Mordecai, Harris County sheriff's deputy. But experts are struggling to explain the skyrocketing numbers.

A shift in coverage has even the insured skipping medical care

By Jenny Deam

Twenty years ago, high-deductible health insurance plans were rare. Now they have taken root, shifting more and more out-of-pocket costs onto consumers.This year, for the first time, a majority threshold was crossed as 51 percent of American workers have a deductible of at least $1,000.

As a result, insured Americans are living like they're uninsured, skimping on healthcare when it's needed.

Part of the on-going series called The Uncovered exploring holes in insurance coverage.

Elizabeth Conley/Staff

$105M plan could be Dome's saving grace

By Mihir Zaveri

Harris County commissioners approved the first piece of a $105 million plan to raise the ground level two floors to fit in roughly 1,400 parking spaces, which would make the Astrodome suitable for festivals or conferences and usher in potential commercial uses in the more than 550,000 square feet that surrounds the core.

The Chronicle detailed the plan here, its passage here, and offered a look inside here.

'Doubly invisible' immigrants yearn for ID

By Olivia P. Tallet

A growing number of people aren't registered as citizens in any country. These "doubly invisible" immigrants can't vote, drive or have banks accounts. UNICEF estimates that in 2012 alone, 57 million infants - four of every 10 babies delivered worldwide - were not registered with civil authorities. Poverty lies behind both parts of the problem: In countries around the world, very poor people are more likely to slip through registration systems at birth and also more likely to emigrate in search of work.
The Swedish Association for Sexuality, a nonprofit sexual education organization, recently released a light-hearted video urging NASA to send condoms into space. The Swedish group argues that NASA has previously sent objects into space in the hope that they reach extraterrestrials, but that they've forgotten to "inform the little green people about one super-important object, the condom."

According to the video, the organization is committed to educating everyone, even aliens, about the importance of the only available male contraceptive.
MOSS POINT, Miss. -- If you have an intense passion for old-school cars, plush interiors, suede seats, souped-up engines, and candy-paint exteriors, Moss Point was the place to be on Tuesday as the River City had its first opportunity to be a part of one of the Mississippi Gulf Coast's most iconic events.

Cruisin' the Coast is in its 20th year and officially kicked off in Pascagoula on Sunday. Cruisin' chairman Woody Bailey shrugged off initial concern for bringing a staple of an event such as Cruisin' to Moss Point and said he was thoroughly pleased with the reception given to cruisers who signed up to patronize the River City.

"We didn't know when we were looking at bringing Cruisin' to Moss Point if we'd get 200 cars or a thousand," Bailey said. "Based on what I saw, there were at least several hundred."

Tuesday's cruise brought out an estimated 2,000 people to steamy downtown Moss Point, according to Human Resources Director Antisha Walley. The backdrop of the flowing Escatawpa River was on full display to set the stage for a plethora of activities such as music, food vendors and of course the main attraction -- the cars.

Cars on display provided patrons with a feeling of nostalgia as a "Happy Days"-inspired car was on display, along with a Louisiana State University car that provided pride for fans of the purple and gold. Moss Point resident Willie Steele brought out his 1965 Mustang Coupe to display and said his purpose for participating in the inaugural event for the city was to support his hometown.

"I love old cars and Mustangs are surely something that I love," Steele said. "I'm just looking forward to having a good time and meeting new people. I took off of work today just to be here to support my city. I have been here for over 60 years and most of the things you hear about Moss Point are bad, so I just wanted to come out and do my part in dispelling those notions and to show my support."

Resident Joette Kuhn said she was pleased with Cruisin' coming to Moss Point and echoed some of the same sentiments as Steele.

"This is wonderful for the city," Kuhn said. "We are starving for things to do here in Moss Point and hopefully, things such as Cruisin' will continue to come to come to our city."

As if Cruisin' coming to the city wasn't the icing on the cake, the city also unveiled a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker at the Riverfront Welcome Center. With Tuesday's marker unveiling, there are 178 markers in the state and 193 in all. The goal is to reach 200 by the state's bicentennial.

Moss Point Mayor Billy Broomfield said Tuesday was a great day for the city and one that will be remembered for quite some time.

"Today is a great day for the beautiful River City of Moss Point," Broomfield said. "To have the Cruisers come to see the natural beauty this city has to offer and experience the warmth our citizens display, it's just awesome. It is a great day for the city, county, and state."

Moss Point made the most of its opportunity on Tuesday and one Bailey is glad he decided to extend.

"I wanted to give Moss Point a good opportunity, and with us moving the Veterans Tribute event to Friday, that opened up an opportunity for Moss Point to shine," Bailey said. "They've been in the spotlight today. It was a good chance for people to get to know Moss Point and see what it has to offer. I'm looking forward to getting feedback from our Cruisers."

Cruisin' the Coast continues through Saturday. For a full schedule of events, visit the Cruisin' the Coast website at www.cruisinthecoast.com.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Jackson County's ambulance saga came to an end on Monday as the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to retain Acadian as the county's ambulance provider.

The discussion goes back at least as far as April, when some municipal and county officials backed an effort to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new ambulance service contract.

District 3 Supervisor Ken Taylor and District 5 Supervisor Randy Bosarge voted "nay" while the remaining supervisors all voted "aye" for Acadian. Taylor has been vocal in opposition of some of the members on the reincarnated EMS Advisory Board, which had ranked Acadian the highest out of three companies vying for the contract. Taylor said that with some of its members being employees of Acadian, their assessment of ambulance contracts posed a "conflict of interest."

"My concern is that members on the board are in close association with the contract which gives them a really serious conflict of interest in recommending we stay with the current contractor," Taylor said at the July 18 meeting.

District 3 Supervisor Ken Taylor used this Microsoft Excel spreadsheet as an outlier for his argument that the EMS Advisory Board has too many Acadian employees that he felt presents a conflict of interest. Those are highlighted in tan.

Taylor further reiterated that point on Monday with a powerpoint that showed those who are members of the advisory board and their ties to Acadian. After discussion ended, Taylor made an unsuccessful motion for the supervisors to enter into contract negotiations with American Medical Response (AMR) and provided his reasoning for doing so.

"Overall with AMR, I feel that we are going to have better response times," Taylor said. "I know we are going to save a lot of money and I think we are going to have an opportunity for better training because we had two cities represented on the board that has complaints about the current services as far as complaints are concerned."

Bosarge did not speak when asked if there were any other comments needed to be made in regards to the contract, but has not shied away from making his sentiments known in regards to the subsidy the county has paid Acadian since they have held the ambulance contract.

During the May 20 meeting, Bosarge told the Mississippi Press that he called Acadian when he first entered office to let them know that he would vote against paying them the subsidy, which at the time, the county was paying $180,000 to Acadian. Bosarge reiterated those sentiments on Monday and said his vote has nothing to do with the employees of Acadian, but rather the money that has been paid in subsidy.

"It was never about their performance, for me, it has always been the subsidy," Bosarge said. "I feel like the taxpayers have paid for something for the last 14-16 years that they did not have to pay for and this company is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and to take a subsidy from Jackson County, I find it offensive."

The Mississippi Press surveyed neighboring counties -- Hancock and Harrison to compare and contrast the amount of money that has been paid to their ambulance provider (AMR) to what Jackson County has paid to Acadian.

According to Harrison County's county administrator, Pamela J. Ulrich, "from 2002 through 2005 AMR received $50,000 each year for subsidy. No subsidy in 2006 or 2007. From 2008 through 2012 subsidy amount was $28,440.15 each year and from 2013 - 2015 subsidy was $28,065.75. Total for all years $426,398.00."

According to Hancock County Board of Supervisors President Blaine LaFontaine, American Medical Response (AMR), has held its contract with Hancock County for 24 years. Hancock County has spent a total of $180,000 over the previous 12 year contract life. Hancock County has also lowered its subsidy amount that it will provide to AMR from $15,000 to $7,500.

Acadian has held Jackson County's contract since 2000 and according to Taylor, Jackson County has provided Acadian with over $2 million in subsidy money over the life of the contract.

The subsidy began at $60,000. $60,000 became $100,000, $100,000 became $120,000 and that number then ballooned to a subsidy of $180,000.

Acadian spokesman Bennie French said Monday that he felt relieved after the motion passed signifying that Acadian would continue to be the county's ambulance provider and said he looks forward to working with the supervisors to continue to improve the quality of service Acadian will provide to citizens of Jackson County.

"We are very happy with the process and the EMS Advisory Board going beyond the call to making this decision," French said. "Anytime you enter contractual negotiations, there is always room for improvement and this situation is no different."

Some residents of the county were having trouble understanding the supervisors reentering negotiations with Acadian based on the amount of subsidy that has been paid over the years, but French said the subsidy is no longer in play.

"The subsidy has not been intact for the last six months," French said. "The Board of Supervisors must put forward a subsidy in order for Emergency Medical Services Operating Fund (EMSOF) to trigger those funds."

District One Supervisor Barry Cumbest has been a staunch supporter of Acadian and said that he wanted to keep Acadian based on the lack of complaints he has heard about their services.

"I've been in office almost five years now and I have seen real good results from them," Cumbest said. "I have never worked with any other ambulance provider and I have heard some bad things about some of the others, but I just think it is important that if you have someone doing good work, it is important to keep them around."

Cumbest was asked about the subsidy the county recently ceased paying to Acadian and the difference in subsidy Hancock and Harrison County pay their ambulance providers. Cumbest said Acadian "more or less" asked for the extra money.

"They asked for the money, the county agreed to it and I don't hold that against Acadian," Cumbest said. "They agreed to do away with the subsidy, which I think is great and as long as they keep doing the same job that they have been doing, we will be fine."

According to Mississippi EMS laws, rules and regulations, each applicant (county, municipality or EMS district) must show expenditures from local funds directly to the ambulance service, at minimum, an amount equal to or greater than $0.15 per capita, with population computed from the most current federal census.

The same minimum funding level applies to governmental units that own and operate their own governmental ambulance services, if they are to qualify for state EMSOF funds.

The state distributes EMSOF funding to each governmental unit based on its general population relative to the total population of the state.
First Lady Debra Bryant.jpg

The state's First Lady Debra Bryant visited Pascagoula on Monday visiting the Aaron Jones Interactive Center, Central Elementary School, and the Jackson County Republican Women's Club, and finally, the La Pointe-Krebs Museum. (Tyler Carter/Gulflive.com)

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- What began as a speaking engagement evolved into a full tour as the state's first lady, Debra Bryant, visited the Pascagoula-Gautier School District on Monday.

Bryant was slated to speak at the Grand Magnolia Ballroom for a Pascagoula Republican Women's Club event, but then added a visit to the Aaron Jones Family Interactive Center, read to children at Central Elementary and also visited the La Pointe-Krebs Museum.

Bryant, the wife of Gov. Phil Bryant, began her day at the Aaron Jones Family Center, where she said the kids probably marvel at how high-tech and up-to-date the center is.

"The center is amazing," Bryant said. "I couldn't imagine being a child with all of that technology at my fingertips. It was simply incredible to see."

From there, Bryant traveled to Central Elementary, where she was greeted by a group of kindergartners at the entrance. Their excited voices greeted the first lady with warmth and she walked down a line of about 15 kids and gave them hugs.

First Lady Debra Bryant visited Central Elementary where she was greeted by a group of kids eager to meet her.

She then proceeded to the gymnasium, where she gave a brief introduction of her family and then read to third graders. Questions such as, "Is your house a rich house?" and "What kind of dog do you have?" were just a few of the questions Bryant was asked by the eager group of boys and girls.

Bullying is just some one of the problems children face throughout the state, according to Bryant, and she said she wanted to encourage the kids to treat each other as they would want someone to treat them.

"I wanted the kids to understand that they will likely be in school together for several years, so I stressed to them the importance of treating one another like family," Bryant said. "You should have respect for one another and I urged them to remember the golden rule. That is important for them to learn at an early age so those principles will travel with them throughout life."

The last event was the Pascagoula Republican women -- Bryant was invited to speak to a group of women who she said are her friends. Her role in Monday's event was to encourage the women about things they could do in the state, share what it is she does as the first lady.

Bryant also shared her platform with the ladies and said going forward into the governor's next term, she plans to tackle teenage pregnancy, bullying, and issues teenagers and young adults deal with on a day-to-day basis.
As the media picked over the carcass of Donald Trumps disastrous debate performance last week, Hillary Clintons critics continued to eye one statement by the Democratic nominee. I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police, she said in response to moderator Lester Holts question about recent police shootings of black men. I think, unfortunately, too many of us in our great country jump to conclusions about each other. She promised to fund implicit-bias training for police forces if she is elected.

By citing implicit biasdefined as unconsciously held negative associations about a groupthe ever-studious Clinton introduced into the political conversation an academic term that has migrated from social-justice circles to the mainstream. A new paper by the Yale Child Study Center on implicit bias among preschool teachers gives us a chance to get a closer look at the concept in practice. The results are dismaying. Though endorsed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and gullibly covered in major media outlets, the study is a mess of contradictions and spin. If it proves anything other than the bias of both social scientists and the media on racial issues, its that implicit biasassuming there is such a thing, and that we know how to measure ithas no clear real-life consequences.

The Yale researchers motivation was uncontroversial. They wanted to examine the underlying causes for the disproportionate number of black boys expelled from preschool. Black preschoolers are 3.6 times as likely to receive one or more suspensions relative to White preschoolers, they note correctly. Black children make up only 19% of preschool enrollment, but comprise 47% of preschoolers suspended one or more times. Similarly, boys are three times as likely as girls to be suspended one or more times.

Their hypothesis about the racial discrepancy, too, was reasonable enough: perhaps teacher bias could explain some of the suspension gap. To test the theory, they showed a group of 132 black and white preschool teachers a series of 30-second videos of four preschool children (two black and two white) engaging in typical activities in a classroom without any obvious misbehavior. An eye scanner revealed that the teachers watched the black children more than they watched the white children. The teachers were also given a follow-up questionnaire asking which of the children in the video needed the most attention. The results gave more nuance to the eye scanner findings: 10 percent of the teachers chose the black girl, 13 percent chose the white girl, 34 percent pointed to the white boy, and 42 percent pointed to the black boy.

On first glance, the findings could be chalked up as a win for implicit-bias theory. But there were several puzzles. For one thing, black teachers watched the black boys more than the white teachers did. This is consistent with the reports later finding that black teachers rated black childrens behavior more severely than white teachers did. In an unexpected finding, white teachers were more critical of white children. How do the researchers explain this? By assuming that the white teachers were holding [black children] to a lower behavioral standard. If the white teachers had judged the black children more severely than the white children, would the authors have concluded that they were simply holding black children to higher standards? The question answers itself.

Also worth noting: the questionnaire given after the video revealed more gender bias than racial bias. In fact, the teachers were less likely to think a black girl needed to be watched than a white girl. The researchers werent interested in the implicit bias suggested by this gender gapperhaps because they share it. They have good reason. Boys of any race are more likely than girls to be put in special education classes, to be diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, and to be suspended. Is this evidence of bias against boys? If so, parents are also guilty. In surveys, they consistently report more behavior problems with their boys than with their girls. Boys misbehave more than girls. This is not bias; its fact.

Now, keeping an eye on black boys as potential troublemakers does suggest that teachers (white and black) have more negative expectations about them. Is this a matter of racial bias, or is it something more on the order of the above-mentioned gender bias? That is, could it reflect something in the real world? Theres abundant research thatregardless of colorboys who grow up in father-absent homes have more behavioral problems than those who grow up in two parent homes. Black children are far likelier to grow up without their fathers. If fatherlessness leads to acting out then, yes, black boys would have proportionately more behavior problems than white boys.

Any teacher worth her salt taps into her accumulated experience. What her eyes watch in a six-minute, fictionalized video shouldnt worry anyone. It could be a problem if a teacher lets her past experience determine the way she treats her students. Not only does the Yale paper find no sign of that, it finds evidence for the opposite. No main effects were found for the single indicator item assessing participants recommendations regarding suspension and expulsion or the number of days to suspend or expel the child. Let this sink in for a moment. A paper hypothesizing that implicit bias is the reason why black children are suspended at disproportionately high numbers finds no sign that a childs race affects whether a teacher will recommend him for suspension or expulsion.

How did a media fascinated by putative proof of racism in preschool cover this unexpected (and for the researchers unwelcome) finding? They didnt. The headline on CNNs story suggested that racial bias might start as early as preschool. NPRs Morning Edition noted that bias isnt just a police problem, its a preschool problem. Dozens of other articles on the study ignored the fact that it failed on its own terms.

Maybe before recommending implicit-bias training, Clintons policy staff will read the Yale study more carefully. Call me biased, but Im not counting on it.

Photo by monkeybusinessimages/iStock
New Jersey Transit trains have been involved in more than 150 accidents that caused more than $4.8 million in damage to tracks or equipment since 2011, and the commuter rail has paid more than $500,000 to settle safety violations, according to federal data.

Federal Railroad Administration information shows that NJ Transit settled 183 safety violations  ranging from employee drug and alcohol use to violations of railroad operating rules or practices  since Jan. 1, 2011. The settlement payments include about $70,000 for more than a dozen safety violations in 2014 and 2015. Statistics for the current year are not yet available.

Months before Thursdays deadly commuter train crash in Hoboken, New Jersey, federal rail officials found dozens of violations during an audit focusing on NJ Transits safety and operations, a U.S. official confirmed Saturday.

The official, who was familiar with the railroad administration audit, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official wasnt authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.

The railroad administration began an audit in June after noticing an uptick in rail incidents and found dozens of safety violations that needed to be fixed immediately, the official said. The commuter rail agency was fined as a result of the audit, the official said, adding that federal agencies are continuing to work with the railroad to ensure compliance with federal rail safety guidelines.

There were 25 accidents in 2015 and 10 in the first seven months of 2016, but none caused injuries or death, federal data showed. Most of the incidents occurred at low speeds and more than half were in train yards.

On Thursday, a commuter train smashed through a steel-and-concrete bumper and hurtled into the stations waiting area, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.

The trains engineer, Thomas Gallagher, who was among those injured in the crash, has been interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said, but the agency provided no further details about the interview in a news release Saturday.

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Chris Christie says its still not clear why the train was traveling so fast.

The Republican governor said there were several possible reasons, such as engineer error, a medical emergency or a mechanical failure. But he said people should let the National Transportation Safety Board do their work, adding that you dont jump to conclusions, you let the facts lead you to the appropriate conclusion.

The NTSB also retrieved an event recorder from the locomotive at the rear of the train and investigators are waiting to download speed and braking information it contains. Investigators havent been able to extract a second recorder from the forward-facing video camera in the trains mangled first car because it is under a collapsed section of the train stations roof.

The signals on the tracks leading to Hoboken Terminal appear to be working normally and officials completed a walking inspection of the track, finding nothing that would have affected the performance of the train, the NTSB said in an update Saturday. Investigators have obtained video from other trains that were inside the train station when the crash occurred.

Signs posted at a New Jersey Transit maintenance facility in Hoboken, dated February, said there had been 10 incidents involving trains in the prior two months, including five derailments. The sign said the serious incidents reflect a dangerous trend and that the main cause of the incidents appeared to be caused by human error.

A spokesman for New Jersey Transit didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in Philadelphia and Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton contributed to this report.)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
An explosion that destroyed a New York City home and killed a firefighter has drawn attention to marijuana-making methods that are legal in many states  but can also be lethal.

A New York fire battalion chief died responding to the blast Tuesday in a Bronx home that authorities say had been converted into an indoor marijuana farm. Theyre investigating whether the alleged growers tampered with gas lines and mishandled other materials in ways that caused the explosion.

Indoor marijuana farmers can create potential fire hazards by using natural gas, propane or butane to power carbon dioxide generators that make the plants grow. In recent years across the country, similar methods used to produce more potent marijuana extracts have resulted in explosions and other catastrophes.

Indoor gas use is a standard way to grow marijuana, says Michael OHare, a professor at the University of California in Berkeley who is an expert in cannabis cultivation. If you raise the CO2 level, itll grow faster.

Some growers rely on propane or butane gas because using large amounts of metered gas from a utility could draw the attention of authorities, who might question why so much fuel is needed for a house of a certain size, OHare said. In those conditions, a gas leak could spell disaster, he said.

An hour before the explosion at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday in the Bronx, dozens of nearby residents said they could smell gas wafting over the neighborhood. The house had already been evacuated and fire personnel were on the scene when the blast sent debris flying, killing Chief Michael Fahy, a 17-year fire department veteran and father of three. His funeral was being held Saturday.

Two suspects, Garivaldi Castillo and Julio Salcedo, were arrested and are being held on drug charges while authorities try to determine whether there is evidence they could result in more serious counts related to Fahys death.

Prosecutors said in court this week that the two-story Bronx property was full of combustible items related to the pot operation, including grow lamps and vats of liquid fertilizer. Windows were sealed and other areas covered with extra insulation to retain heat. Plants the size of small trees were growing in bedrooms on the upper floor.

A lawyer for the 32-year-old Castillo has questioned his connections to the house. Castillo has pleaded not guilty. Salcedo, 34, was arraigned late Friday, pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

Firefighters packed the courthouse where Salcedo was arraigned, some telling him to burn in hell as he walked by them, The New York Daily News reported.

Given that only about half of U.S. states have legalized marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, its impossible to estimate how many such growth labs exist, OHare said.

In marijuana production-related accidents, more than 30 people were injured last year in Colorado from butane explosions involving hash oil  a concentrated form of marijuana extracted from the plants leaves and flowers.

Last year, a marijuana dispensary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was engulfed in flames after a blast that injured two workers. Fire department investigators said a butane leak met with an ignition source, causing an explosion powerful enough to separate the roof from the wall and melt fluorescent lights.

And in Washington state, federal prosecutors have brought charges in five cases involving explosions during hash oil production. The former mayor of Bellevue, Washington, died while trying to escape a fire linked to such activity.

In the past year or so, an especially strong concentrate is appearing  shatter, a form of cannabis wax derived from butane hash oil that is about five times more potent and faster-acting than unrefined smoked cannabis. Its legal for recreational use in states such as Colorado and Washington, but sold in medical marijuana dispensaries in other states.

(Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
New claims data released as part of the Farmers Insurance Seasonal Smarts Digest shows the potential for home insurance claims tied to liability and fire should be at the forefront of homeowners minds.

Farmers data shows that liability- and fire-related claims increased by a significant amount (7 percent and 6 percent, respectively) in 2015 over 2014. The report examined all homeowners insurance claims filed between September and November from 2013 through 2015 to identify the major hazards facing homeowners across America.

Regionally, the data shows that homeowners will likely experience a wide variation in the types of hazards to prepare for in the fall months. For example, those living in the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest still must contend with the dangers posed by wildfires, while residents of the Midwest and South Central parts of the country, among others, must be aware of the dangers posed by the strong storms that cross the country during the fall to bring devastating hail.

Homeowners must remain vigilant in protecting their families and homes against a variety of perils during the fall driven primarily by the region of the county in which they live, said Paul Quinn, head of claims customer experience for Farmers Insurance. While homeowners in the west may not have serious hail concerns, the strong winds and hailstorms that roar through the central part of the country often cause significant damage.

During fall, homeowners also need to keep their guards up as the holiday season approaches, with its increase in house parties and guests, which could lead to accidental injuries or a fire starting, unintentionally, among the holiday decorations. The holidays also present the opportunity for theft and vandalism thanks, in part, to travel and the shopping season. The data shows that approximately 1 in 5 theft and vandalism claims (21 percent) are filed in the fall each year.

Quinn recommends homeowners take the following steps to help minimize the chance of a costly accident, fire or theft this fall:

Whether youre lighting up your jack-o-lantern or decorating the table for Thanksgiving dinner, use caution and never leave a burning candle unsupervised. Consider using battery-powered candles instead

To deter potential thieves and vandals, consider using outdoor talking decor. These decorations can be just the thing to scare off a potential intruder.

If youre leaving town, make sure your house is secure. To add extra protection to sliding doors, place a metal security bar or wooden rod in the bottom track.

Ample outdoor lighting can also help ward off thieves and vandals. Most hardware stores sell solar-powered motion lights that are quick and easy to install.

Keep porches, steps, and sidewalksespecially near poolsclean and in good repair to prevent falls. Party hosts should also be prepared for guests who might over-imbibe by taking car keys at the door, arranging alternate transportation, or having them stay for the night.

Winter is Coming

Quinn also recommends that homeowners use fall to get prepared for winter. With a variety of household activities that become more difficult, if not impossible, to complete should you wait for the first big temperature drop or snowfall, Quinn advises taking early action.

Homeowners across the country can benefit from using the fall months to get their winter prep list completed before the colder weather rolls in with full force, Quinn said. It may not seem like it now, but youll be happy you took the time to give your gutters one last cleaning or prepared your sprinkler system ahead of time rather dealing with burst pipes or a leaking roof once theres a foot of snow outside.

Some of the common activities that Quinn suggests homeowners get ahead of before the weather turns include:

Unhook your garden hoses and blow out your sprinkler system to prevent damage before the first freeze hits. You can also place heating tape, insulation, or heating cables around exposed outdoor pipes to avoid bursts.

Install weather stripping on your exterior doors to help lower your heating bills. Its also a good time to seal gaps and cracks around your window frames.

Check out your roof before it gets too icy. Make sure your gutters are clean, seal any cracks in your chimney, and check the flashing around your skylights.

If your house is prone to ice damsa ridge of ice at the edge of your roof that prevents melting snow and water from properly drainingconsider installing heating cables before colder weather arrives.

Source: Farmers Insurance
The National Weather Museum and Science Centers storefront grand opening in September signified completion of phase two of a three-phase project.

The next phase is a $70 million, 120,000-square-foot building.

We have it pretty well planned out, said Doug Forsyth, executive director. Were ready to go. It takes a lot of money to get there.

The plan has been in the works since the early 1990s when Forsyth and his friends at the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration talked about the idea, according to The Journal Record. In the early 2000s, the Norman Chamber of Commerces weather committee had a subcommittee that started working on the museum. The subcommittee formed a 501(c)3 and became a nonprofit organization in 2007.

The first phase was the mobile center. The museum-on-wheels is ready to head to schools. However, it needs a truck to pull it, Forsyth said. The mobile weather museum has been at the National Weather Festival the last two years.

We may have to go on the market and buy a truck, he said. I was asking certain people if they had any vehicles they were going to release. I havent found any of those.

Opening the new storefront and the mobile museum has cost about $250,000, with money coming from the Chickasaw Nation, the University of Oklahoma, Norman Public Schools, a grant, and private donors. About $10,000 per year comes in through memberships.

Besides money, museum organizers are looking for weather memorabilia. Forsyth said some museum artifacts include old radar equipment and a car destroyed in a May 2013 tornado. He said hes spoken with a California man that has the worlds largest thermometer collection. Hes interested in selling it to the museum, but the collection is valued at about $150,000.

Wed be happy to talk to someone that has any sort of memorabilia, even stories we might have to transcribe for future use, said Kevin Kloesel, president of the museums board of directors. (Weather) is part of our heritage. Its part of our culture. Its part of our livelihood.

He said the storefront provides a place where people can see what the future museum could entail. The space is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is an admission cost.

We would love to see the community come and make this part of the community in Oklahoma, Forsyth said. People like to talk about the weather. We love to talk about the weather.

Kloesel said the atmosphere links Oklahomans and the globe. The museum provides a place to learn more about how weather affects people from a cultural or economic stance.

Weather is the tie that binds, Kloesel said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Students and teachers received some much-needed assistance Monday morning as Chevron employees dropped by Kreole Elementary School to surprise students with school supplies.

Public schools in Jackson County face funding challenges similar to those nationwide, resulting in many teachers spending their own money to purchase materials for their students and classrooms. To help alleviate some of this need, Chevron has again launched the Fuel Your School campaign - a fundraising effort to help provide critical education resources to Jackson County schools.

According to Bruce Chinn, General Manager of the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery, 11 projects at Kreole were fully funded by the Fuel Your School campaign and in total, those projects equaled $10,000 to support classrooms in the district.

School and Chevron officials had special surprises placed behind a bus. Those special items came with Chevron employees who greeted students with smiles and hi-fives.

After the children chanted, "move that bus", Chevron employees revealed electronics and various other school supplies to provide a greater learning experience for students as well as alleviate some of the stress their own pockets experience buying supplies for their classrooms.

Assistant principal Carol Jackson said the ceremony provides teachers with extra tools to teach their children as well as meet them where they are in a world where technology continues to evolve.

"Today, teachers were afforded the opportunity to bring more technology into the classroom whereas sometimes, the money is not available due to lack of our schools being fully funded," Jackson said. "Teachers have gone through DonorsChoose.org and Chevron has funded the remaining costs so teachers can bring this extra technology into their classrooms to provide more resources to enhance our kids growth and development."

According to Chinn, teachers spend an average of more than $400 per month, which totals $2 billion a year. Jackson says Chevron assisting the Moss Point School District removes that burden and she is thankful for their help.

"Unfortunately, we only get a certain amount of money from the state each year to go towards education, however, teachers spend up to $400-$500 a month out of their own pockets so this will help alleviate that stress," Jackson said. "This allows teachers to fund other projects if they choose to do so without creating a financial burden for themselves by trying to fund every project on their own."

"We just appreciate Chevron for going through DonorsChoose and for fueling our schools to help our children have the necessities they need to succeed," Jackson said.

Monday's event was "one of the most fun days I have during the year", according to Chinn.

"It's a great day to come out here to support students and teachers and our Fuel Your School initiative has been successful and allows us to go into the classrooms to support the students and teachers with the projects they know they need."

"This is just one small way we can show our support and it is important to Chevron because it supports one of our key platforms around economic development and most importantly, education. That is why today is important to us," Chinn said.
Anita Krajnc is on trial because In June last year, the Toronto resident let pigs crowded into a trailer on a scorching summer day, obviously parched and in distress, lap up some water before they were transported to slaughter. Above, Toronto Pig Save activists feed water to pigs headed for slaughter. Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

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As I write this, a woman in Canada named Anita Krajnc is standing trial for an act of pure compassion. Her alleged crime? In June of last year, the Toronto resident let pigs crowded into a trailer on a scorching summer day, obviously parched and in distress, lap up some water before they were transported to slaughter.

Footage of the incident reveals gasping, desperate pigs drinking the water that Ms. Krajnc provided through the side of the truck. Unbelievably, the driver of the vehicle and the owner of the pigs both called the police in response to Ms. Krajnc doing something that any good person would do for a person or animal in trouble.

While pigs are considered property in Canada, Ms. Krajncs lawyers argue that she was  both through her actions and the motivation for them  serving the public good. The pigs, they assert, were distressed, and in the absence of a sufficient law or common industry standards that compelled the hauler to act, it was her duty to help.

This wasnt the first time that Ms. Krajnc had offered water to animals on their way to slaughter, nor, by her own declaration, will it be her last. In 2010, Ms. Krajnc co-founded Toronto Pig Save, a group dedicated to bearing witness to animals in the last minutes of their lives and, when possible, offering a final act of mercy by providing them with water. In the years since it was founded, Krajncs group has become well-established in the Toronto area, holding weekly vigils outside local pig, chicken, and cattle slaughterhouses. Inspired by Krajnc, dozens of Save groups have been founded worldwide in recent years, including more than 20 here in the United States.

Some might have thought the prosecution of Anita Krajnc would be a deterrent to the Save groups. But it soon became clear that the trial was bolstering their efforts by shining a global spotlight on the terrible plight of farm animals in transport. During their testimonies, both the truck driver and the owner of the pigs testified about the treatment of farm animals during transport and their statements reveal that many standard industry practices subject animals to unimaginable levels of suffering.

In Canada, pigs can be transported in extreme weather conditions for up to 36 hours without being offered food, water, or rest. For other farm animals, the journey can extend to 72 hours. American law is hardly any better, restricting transport to 28 hours for pigs, even while all parties acknowledge its very difficult to enforce. In the European Union, that limit is just eight hours. According to figures from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, up to three million farm animals die during transport each year, with millions more so sick or injured that they must be euthanized upon arrival.

Late last month, California governor Jerry Brown signed AB 797, the Right to Rescue Act, into law. The new law, supported by The HSUS, protects bystanders from prosecution should they have to break into a vehicle to save a pet from overheating. The law was written in response to the tragic and avoidable deaths of a series of family pets across California and will save lives by allowing concerned citizens to act without fear of committing a crime.

As a society, we know that its wrong to let animals languish in hot vehicles, and our laws are changing to reflect our values. Anita Krajnc sought to relieve the suffering of animals in distress, and she did so peacefully. Just because the creatures were pigs, destined for slaughter, doesnt mean they dont deserve our mercy.

Ms. Krajnc testified yesterday and repeated the reason she has already given regarding the motivation for her actionsthat she was practicing the golden rule of treating others as we would like to be treated. Krajnc has said: If someones thirsty, you give them water. I stand with Anita, and hope you will too.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Just in time for Halloween, The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland is hosting one of the darkest, creepiest and strangely fascinating exhibitions of the fall season.

An immersive installation by Anders Ruhwald, a native of Denmark, evokes the fire-blackened interior of a Detroit rooming house, where strange ceramic objects mounted on slender poles emit heat as if they were giant eggs incubating bizarre creatures that could burst forth at any moment.

The installation requires viewers to enter a dimly lighted series of interconnected rooms and passageways, following disorienting twists and turns.

Exploring the shadowy recesses sometimes means groping in the dark for a doorknob, or peering into rooms where everything looks scorched while paradoxically remaining intact.

Alongside the haunting pleasures of Ruhwald's entrancing and scary environment is the more conventional "Wall to Wall: Carpets by Artists," an exhibition that examines how 30 contemporary artists from around the world are using carpets to extend their aesthetic reach to floor- and wall-coverings that refuse to perform merely as decor.

Updating a traditional medium

Outstanding examples in the show include a luscious 1994 carpet by the Italian artist Alighiero Boetti (1940-1994) that combines the format and colors of a traditional Persian rug with shapes and symbols of the artist's invention.

Review

What's Up:

"Wall to Wall: Carpets by Artists," and the installation "Anders Ruhwald, Unit 1, 3583 Dubois."

Venue:

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.

Where:

11400 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

When:

Through Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017.

Admission:

$9.50. For information call 216-421-8671 or go to

.

A rug by Faig Ahmed, a native of Baku, Azerbaijan born in 1982, likewise appropriates the patterns of a traditional Middle Eastern rug in the top half of his design but turns the bottom half of the vertically hung textile into an oil slick pattern intended to evoke the troubled relationship between the region and its valuable natural resource.

Equally compelling is "Sendero," a rug by Alexandra Kehayoglou, born in 1982 in Buenos Aires, that evokes a path heavily trodden by cattle in the Argentine pampas.

Complete with trees and a muddy, meandering trail, the rug is a cross between a textile and a three-dimensional portrayal of an ecologically damaged landscape.

Organized for MOCA by visiting curator Cornelia Lauf, "Wall to Wall" is a lush, engaging and authoritative overview of its subject.

Taken together, the two primary fall shows at MOCA demonstrate the institution's global reach, and its ability to provide a wide array of artistic experiences.

Showstopper

But for my money, the showstopper this season - the not-too-miss-experience - is the Ruhwald installation.

Known for his ceramics, Ruhwald joined the faculty of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills in 2005, where he became head of the ceramic department in 2008.

According to MOCA, the artist bought an abandoned multifamily rooming house in Detroit in 2014, intending to renovate three of its four apartments as residences while turning the fourth unit into a large, permanent art installation.

The MOCA show, "Unit 1: 3583 Dubois,'' functions as something of a test version of what Ruhwald eventually may create in the Detroit apartment.

MOCA visitors first encounter Ruhwald's work by entering the brightly lighted second floor gallery named for donor Toby Devan Lewis, where a temporary wall seals off the dark recesses of the installation hidden behind.

To enter the exhibit, you open a battered, cream-colored wooden door and step inside. What you encounter are eight windowless, interconnected spaces.

The only light sources are a few bulbs that dangle from overhead. They cast a feeble glow while also forcing the irises of your eye to close, making it even harder to peer into the shadows.

Explore - if you dare

Three of the spaces are octagonal; others resemble the proportions of a traditional living room or bedroom. There's a bathroom complete with toilet, tub, medicine cabinet and a radiator.

Everything is completely, utterly black. Some walls and doors are coated in sheets of lead. Other surfaces are charred wood. Everything in the bathroom is covered in petcoke, a byproduct from oil refineries that looks granular and powdery.

In an interview in "Push," the MOCA magazine, Ruhwald said he was interested in evoking industrial processes that involve fire and blackened materials.

He also wanted to bring to mind the fires that claim abandoned houses in Detroit, and the "Ruin Porn," or blight tourism that attracts visitors to abandoned factories and institutions scattered across the city.

It's also fair to say that the Ruhwald installation is firmly planted in the tradition of Surrealism, the 20th century artistic and literary movement that delved into the unconscious through exploration of irrational, bizarre images.

Strange inhabitants

For example, one room in the installation is occupied by a half dozen large, teardrop shaped ceramic objects with pebbly black surfaces and shiny black nipples at the top.

These enigmatic objects, which bring to mind eggs deposited by some giant insect, are packed fairly close together, forcing you to squeeze between them as you explore the room.

Elsewhere, in the octagonal rooms that give the installation a sense of architectural formality, Ruhwald has installed a second type of bulbous, egglike ceramic forms atop the aforementioned slender poles.

As you pass your hands close to these shapes, you can feel the strange heat they emit, as if something were living inside.

Installations of the type Ruhwald has created can feel manipulative, overbearing and unpleasant.

But he's managed to create just the right balance between claustrophobia and fascination, and between a smothering blackness and a dim light that provides just enough illumination to arouse curiosity and a desire to explore.

Ruhwald's extraordinary installation is a waking dream that represents a complete break from the everyday world outside MOCA. It's not often that you get to take such a big trip simply by stepping inside a gallery doorway.
BRUNSWICK --- In the past 18 years, St. Patrick's Episcopal Church's annual blessing of the animals has brought a dizzying array of pets to Neura and North parks each feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.

"It's been mostly dogs, but we had a Guinea pig," said St. Patrick's pastor, Gay Jennings at this year's blessing, held Oct. 2 at North Park. "I think a great part of it is that it's a gift to the community. It is for everyone, whether part of the church or not.

While pets from Guinea pigs to a pair of on-duty horses from Medina county sheriff's office were on hand - to serve and be blessed - overall, it was indeed a day for the dogs.

Lisa Jackson-Clements and her wife, Kim Clements, of Brunswick, attended the blessing with their dogs - Honey and Turbo -and Maddie, a Border Collie mix the couple was dog-sitting for the weekend.

"We love our dogs and I have a deep-rooted faith," Jackson-Clements said. "I believe in prayer for dogs and believe they have souls and (when they die) we are going to see them again."

Anne and Adam Griffith, along with their 2-year-old daughter, Alice, recently returned to Brunswick after living for a time in Florida. The family's Shetland Sheepdog, Dylan, seemed to be enjoying the blessing and a visit with the Sheriff's Department horses.

"He is happy to be back home," Adam Griffith said of Dylan's evidently calmer-than-usual demeanor. "Or maybe it's the blessing."

Businesses pitch in

This year's pet blessing also included a large vendor presence, with area businesses and organizations including Buckeye's Mission and Sanctuary, Pet Valu, Awesome Paws Pet Salon, and People Care Pet Pantry of Medina participating.

"Our goal is to keep pets in the home when a family is in a fiscal crisis," said Shelly Schwartz, public relations and marketing manager for People Care Pet Pantry of Medina.

Pantry manager, Tina Sergent, said that in the past month, the pantry collected 160 pounds of dry dog food and 439 pounds of dry cat food and assisted 74 clients. With such a growing need, she said events like the pet blessing are important community outreach efforts.

Pet Valu manager, Shawn Mallery, agreed.

"It is wonderful - just seeing all the pets and seeing our customers outside the (Pet Valu) building," she said.
BOSNIAN MUSLIM MEN FROM SREBRENICA ENCLAVE

Two Serbian policemen guard a group of Bosnian Muslim men from the Srebrenica enclave that have crossed into Yugoslavia from Bosnia in the Serb town of Uzice on Saturday, Aug. 5,1995. Ratko Maslenjak and his wife, Divna, were deported from the U.S. for their suspected involvement in the Bosnian war.

(Associated Press file photo)

Josh Mandel

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- U.S. immigration officials have deported a suspected Bosnian war criminal who was given an award by Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel after his conviction for lying on forms to gain refugee status.

Ratko Maslenjak, 57, and his wife Divna Maslenjak, 53, arrived in Belgrade, Serbia on Saturday.

U.S. agents watched the couple depart from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Serbian authorities confirmed the former Akron couple's arrival, according to a news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Federal prosecutors said Ratko Maslenjak was in the Bosnian Serb army and was the company commander for the Bratunac Brigade, which was connected to a 1995 massacre. During the attack, 8,300 Bosnian Muslims were executed and more than 30,000 women, children and elderly residents were driven from the city of Srebrenica.

The couple, natives of Bosnia-Herzegovina arrived in Akron in 2000. Ratko Maslenjak and his wife lied to immigration officers when they applied for refugee and permanent statuses.

Ratko Maslenjak obtained permanent residency. A jury convicted him in 2007 of immigration document fraud. Divna Maslenjak became a U.S. citizen in 2007. She was convicted of similar crimes in 2014.

An immigration judge ordered their deportation in May, the culmination of a 10-year effort.

Mandel awarded Ratko Maslenjak his "Ohio Strong" award in 2014, seven years after the criminal conviction. Mandel has said the award was designed to honor Ohio workers and inspire youths to pursue welding and other trades, though union leaders said in 2014 that the award was concocted to generate more buzz for Mandel as he ran for re-election.

Ratko Maslenjak worked at Akron Central Engraving Mold & Machine, according to a July 2014 article by the Akron Beacon Journal. He was nominated through an online form by the company's president, Mandel spokesman Chris Berry said in an email Tuesday.

"By recognizing people like Ratko, we'd like to inspire the next generation of young people to go into the skilled trades," Mandel told the Beacon Journal. "We want people like Ratko as role models for our kids."

Berry said in the email that "The Treasurer's Office was unaware of these disturbing details and strongly condemns Mr. Maslenjak." He said the office does not do background checks on nominees, "but as a result of this experience we will more thoroughly review potential awardees."

The Maslenjaks told U.S. immigration officials that they were seeking refugee status because they feared persecution in Bosnia because Ratko Maslenjak had dodged mandatory enlistment in the Bosnian Serb army. International investigators uncovered Ratko Maslenjak's true role during a war crimes probe.

The Maslenjaks are just two of hundreds of people who U.S. officials believe hid their involvement in carrying out war crimes when they came to the U.S. as part of a wave of refugees fleeing the former Yugoslavia.

More than 100,000 people died in the conflict from 1992 to 1995.

ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls said the office is not aware of any pending criminal charges for the Maslenjaks in Serbia.

Berry said in the email that most submissions for the "Ohio Strong" award come from business leaders, community and educational leaders.

Updated with additional information from Mandel's office.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
bcca collage .jpg

Cleveland has been awarded a national beer 'can-vention' - an annual showcase to buy, sell, and show all things beer-related. It's the first time the breweriana convention will be in Cleveland.

(Marc Bona, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - For the first time, Cleveland has landed a national, annual convention to celebrate all things beer - from its history to collectible items.

The can-vention - as it's known - is put on by the Brewery Collectibles Club of America, a group that has been around since 1970. Cleveland edged several cities for the right to stage the 2017 show. It will be Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 24-26, though organizers said many people begin showing up on Monday, sometimes even the Sunday prior, for a variety of pre-convention events. Attendees will gather at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown and Huntington Convention Center.

Initially, Cleveland and Omaha, Nebraska, vied for the 2017 show. A decision was supposed to have been announced in the first quarter of this year, but earning the rights to the show is a competitive business: Organizers had to pour over and compare hotel rates and other accessibility factors between cities, and revisions were called for.

"We're stoked about it," said convention planner Dave Gausepohl, who is based in Kentucky. "It's a great location, but it took us that long to get us a facility that has the right stuff."

The "right stuff" is really a financial nitty-gritty. When Omaha and Cleveland didn't make the initial grade on persuading planners to land the event, Gausepohl suggested three other cities be considered: Columbus, Louisville and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

It was then, he said, that "people started looking a little closer at what they can do." Gausepohl is prone to calling the negotiations a "dance," and it was one he was willing to scrutinize to find the right partner.

"It was a matter of within the dance 'Can we get the price to make sense?' You can have a great room rate but paying $45 a night to park your car" could negate the hotel stay, he said.

Gausepohl said he thinks Cleveland could bring in 1,200 to 1,400 people. Omaha will host the can-vention in 2018.

The non-profit BCCA is based in Fenton, Missouri. While regional BCCA chapters hold smaller gatherings throughout the year, the national is a chance for breweriana collectors to check out everything from cans, signs, trays, openers, photos, glasses and many items from various parts of the country, all under one roof for several days. The organization promotes buying, selling, trading and displaying of items.

While the show doesn't have the cache of, say, the Republican National Convention that was held in Cleveland this summer, it is a coup for a city that embraces beer, past and present. Last year's can-vention attracted 2,000 people in Milwaukee, and this year's drew fewer than 1,000 Sept. 1-3 in Portland. The numbers dropped in part because of the distance from the heart of the organization's membership, which is heaviest around the Great Lakes, Gausepohl said.

Cleveland has a few things going for it in terms of beer: It has a healthy brewery scene, it counts a long history of regional breweries, and its local BCCA chapter is thriving. The state's first craft brewery - Great Lakes Brewing Co. - was founded in Cleveland in 1988. And Platform Beer Co. has expanded into the old Leisy plant on Vega Avenue.

Collectors often seek older items, and with the roots of Cleveland's brewery scene dating to the 19th century a convention here will include a focus on items from Leisy and other early breweries. Several Northeast Ohio-based authors have written extensively on regional brewing history.

"I really am thrilled to get it here," said Lake Erie chapter President Rodger Brane, who spent a fair amount of time connecting BCCA organizers with officials in Cleveland. "It was grueling waiting and waiting. Everyone kept asking me 'what's going on?' Toward the end, when I went to Portland, I knew everything was worth it. I just had to stay patient, and it worked out in the end."

The Lake Erie chapter will hold a show 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, at the North Olmsted Party Center, 29271 Lorain Road. The free show is open to the public. Those wanting to bring items to be appraised are welcomed.

"It's cool," said Gausepohl, who attended the 2015 Lake Erie chapter show in North Olmsted. "We're coming to a city that has never hosted it before. After 46 years of doing this we finally get to Cleveland. Cleveland has a great collecting scene, incredible current brewing scene, and history."

The can-vention is three days on paper, but it really lasts a week, with folks arriving for room-to-room events for several days prior to the gathering at the convention center. The first two days on the convention floor will be members-only, but Saturday's finale is open to the public. Plus outings will be planned to a Cleveland Indians game, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and other places, Brane said, and beer tours also will be scheduled.

But before anyone goes room hopping with specialty cans or memorabilia to show or sell, Brane will be busy. It's the local chapter's responsibility to produce the traditional specially designed can, and the deadline is coming up on that.

"We want to try to honor some of the past brewing history we have," he said.
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The 25th annual St. Stanislaus festival takes places this weekend.

(Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - How do you say goodbye to summer fun and welcome fall in Cleveland? With pierogi and polka, of course!

The festival season continues this weekend with one of the tastiest events of year: the 25th annual St. Stanislaus Polish Festival in Slavic Village. This year's fest coincides with the 125th anniversary of the gorgeous, Gothic church building, too.

The fest that runs from Friday through Sunday will include home-made pierogi, golabki, kielbasa, kolacke, czarnina duck soup and other Polish treats; Polish dancers; the Box On Polka band featuring a father, mother and eight children; the Raisin' Canes Oktoberfest Vaudeville Show featuring seniors from the Parma Seniors Club; polka bands; and games and raffles.

There will also be tours of the historic Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus, called one of the most beautiful churches in Ohio by many.

The festival is in the parish social center at 6601 Baxter Ave. St. Stanislaus is at 3469 East 65th Street. Call 216-341-9091 for more information.
chez-francois

Chez Francois has several wine dinners coming up this month and in November.

(Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Our wine calendar has a variety of events, from Italian wine dinners at Pranzo Bistro, Vaccaro's and Arrabiata's, plus much more:

OCTOBER

Thursday, Oct. 6: The 19th annual L'Amour du Vin is 6-9 p.m. at Avon Oaks Country Club, 32300 Detroit Road, Avon. Taste wines and food from restaurants from Lorain County and Cleveland's West Side. Tickets are $75 ($95, VIP). Event includes VIP Lounge, silent auction, raffles, more. Proceeds benefit Arthritis Foundation. Business cocktail attire. Call 216-285-2822.

Thursday, Oct. 6: West Shore Wine Co. will feature wines from California's Wente Vineyards 6-8 p.m. Paula Witkowski will guide the discussion on the old winery's history and its wines. Cost is $10 and includes six wines and food. West Shore Wine Co. is at 21629 Center Ridge Road, Rocky River. Call 216-712-6400.

Thursday, Oct. 6: Flour will hold a Maisons and Domaines Henriot wine dinner 6-9 p.m. Flour is at 34205 Chagrin Blvd. at SOM Center Road in Moreland Hills. Call 216-464-3700 for reservations. Here is the wine lineup; bottles will be available for retail sale: 2015 William Fevre Chablis Champs Royaux, 2014 Bouchard Meursault les Clous, 2014 Bouchard Savigny les Beaune Rouge 1er Cru, 2014 Bouchard Nuits St. George 2014 and Henriot Brut Rose, no vintage.

Thursday, Oct 6: Habitat for Humanity will hold the ninth annual A Night 2 Build Hope, a beer and wine tasting event, 6-9 p.m. at the Akron Zoo, 500 Edgewood Ave. Cost is $70 ($125 per couple). Includes silent auction, raffle, mystery prizes, more. Buy tickets online through Wednesday, Sept. 28.

Friday, Oct. 7: The 13th annual Uncork a Cure to benefit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is 7-10 p.m. at Ariel International Center, 1163 East 40th St., Cleveland. Cost: $75 ($125, VIP). VIP reception is 6-8 p.m. General-admission tickets include wine and food tastings, tasting glass and event program. VIP tickets also include a gift and pre-event tasting of high-end wines not available at the main event. Uncork a Cure is part of a national wine-tasting series held across the country. Go to clevelandwine.eventscff.org.

Saturday, Oct. 8: Western Reserve School of Cooking will hold a Tom's Foolery Distillery Bourbon/Whiskey Dinner 6-9 p.m. Chef Catherine St. John will prepare dishes for an interactive dinner featuring custom cocktails by Tom's Foolery Distillery's Lorilei Bailey. Learn how to make cocktails in addition to having the option of working with Chef Catherine creating the menu. WRSOC is at 2800 Euclid Ave #100, Cleveland. Details can be found here.

Saturday, Oct. 8: West Shore Wine Co. will feature wines from California's Wente Vineyards 3-6 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes six wines and food. West Shore Wine Co. is at 21629 Center Ridge Road, Rocky River. Call 216-712-6400.

Saturday Oct. 8: A Natural Areas Wine Tour is planned for South River Winery 10 a.m.-noon. It's a naturalist-led hike that culminates with a wine tasting. The winery is at 6062 S. River Road W., Geneva. Cost is $35. Call 216-231-4600, ext. 3505.

Saturday, Oct. 8: Main Street Medina's Medina Beer & Wine Festival is 6-11 p.m. It will feature more than 40 local and national craft beers, hard ciders and wines at Weymouth Country Club ballroom, 3946 Weymouth Road, Medina. Tickets are $30 ($10, designated drivers). Go to mainstreetmedina.com or buy tickets at the door. Food and a commemorative tasting glass are included with admission.

Monday, Oct. 10: The newly opened CLE Urban Winery is doing a series of Wine Made Fun 101 classes 7-8 p.m. From Grapes to Glass will give an overview of the principles and practices used to grow grapes and make wine, and their impact on wine appearance, aroma, flavor and taste. Cost is $20. A minimum of five wines will be served. The winery is at 2180 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

Tuesday, Oct. 11: Huth & Harris Wine Merchants will hold a tasting of six wines from Vintner Select Wines with appetizers 7-9 p.m. It's $40. H2 is at 221 Court St., Medina. Registration required; go to h2winemerchants.com/#!blank/c1zlc.

Tuesday, Oct. 11: Corks Wine Bar will hold a tasting focused on specific wine regions or varietals on the second Tuesday of each month. Each tasting features five 2-ounce pours, light appetizers and a guest presenter. Corks is at 4084 Erie St., Willoughby. Call 440-918-9463 for details.

Thursday, Oct. 13: West Shore Wine Co. will feature Wine and Chocolates 6-8 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes six wines and food. West Shore Wine Co. is at 21629 Center Ridge Road, Rocky River. Call 216-712-6400.

Thursday, Oct 13: Arrabiata's is holding a five-course Ca Montebello Winemaker Dinner featuring Alberto Scarani from Ca Montebello Winery in Italy. It's at 7 p.m. Cost is $50. Arrabiata's is at 600 Dover Center Road, Bay Village. Call 440-835-9100. Wine lineup: Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir white, Pinot Noir red, Barbera ca Montebello and Sangue di Giuda (sweet red).

Friday, Oct. 14: Heinen's will hold an Italian Wine Experience tasting 6:30-8 p.m. Italian wine expert Claudia Dick will guide the tasting. Cost is $10. Reservations are requested. Call 216-382-4144. It's at 2180 S. Green Road, University Heights.

Saturday, Oct. 15: Rozi's is having its 21st annual wine- and beer-tasting extravaganza, featuring more than 150 wines and 60 beers with food pairing. Cost is $25. Rozi's is at 14900 Detroit Ave., Lakewood.

Saturday, Oct. 15: West Shore Wine Co. will feature an encore presentation of Wine and Chocolates 3-6 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes six wines and food. West Shore Wine Co. is at 21629 Center Ridge Road, Rocky River. Call 216-712-6400.

Thursday, Oct. 20: Chez Francois will hold a California-French wine dinner featuring Jean-Charles Boisset. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $135 plus tax and tip. Sixteen wines from the Boisset portfolio will be paired with a six-course dinner. Boisset's parents founded the family winery in 1961. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. For details, click here.

Saturday, Oct. 22: The Wine Spot is holding a Beaujolais Cru Tasting 4-7 p.m. It will feature wines the store bills as "overlooked, misunderstood and underappreciated." Cost is TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

NOVEMBER

Thursday, Nov. 3: Chez Francois will hold a truffles wine dinner at 6:30 p.m. Ten wines from the Italian importer Winebow will be included. Cost is $150 plus tax and tip. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. For details, click here.

Saturday, Nov. 5: The Grand River Valley Turkey Trot will be held noon to 5 p.m. at assorted wineries in Northeast Ohio. The progressive tasting event costs $5 at each winery. Folks from the wineries will help to pair wines with a Thanksgiving feast. Call Ferrante Winery, 440-466-8466, for details.

Tuesday, Nov. 8: Huth & Harris Wine Merchants will hold a tasting of six wines from Purple Feet Distributors with appetizers 7-9 p.m. It's $40. H2 is at 221 Court St., Medina. Registration required; go to h2winemerchants.com/#!blank/c1zlc.

Friday-Saturday, Nov. 11-12: The 20th annual WVIZ/PBS Grand Tastings & Seminars will be held at Progressive Field's Terrace Club. Tickets will go on sale Friday, July 1. For story, click here.

Saturday, Nov. 12: Picking Thanksgiving wines is the theme of The Wine Spot's tasting 4-7 p.m. Cost is TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

Friday, Nov. 18: Chez Francois will hold its 26th annual Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration at 6:30 p.m. Pre-dinner wines will come from Spain and South Africa. Eight wines will be served with dinner. Cost is $110 plus tax and tip. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. For details, click here.

DECEMBER

Saturday, Dec. 3: The Wine Spot is featuring a Champagne Tasting and Education - Growers Champagne event 6-8:30 p.m. Cost is TBA for this limited-ticketed event, which will be part educational, part Champagne and food pairing. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

Saturday, Dec. 10: The Wine Spot's annual holiday show is 2-5 p.m. It will feature about 50 wines. Cost is TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

Tuesday, Dec. 13: Huth & Harris Wine Merchants will hold a tasting of six wines from Traderman Distributors with appetizers 7-9 p.m. It's $40. H2 is at 221 Court St., Medina. Registration required; go to h2winemerchants.com/#!blank/c1zlc.
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio - Detectives are searching for a man who stole $260,000 in cashier's checks and $2,000 in cash during an armed robbery Sunday in Garfield Heights.

The armed man forced an employee to hand over the cash and checks just after 9 a.m. at Dairy Mart on Turney Road. The employee had the large checks in his pockets because he is in the process of buying the business, according to a police report.

The man also forced the employee to hand over more than $1,000 from his pockets and more than $1,100 from a cash register.

The man asked the employee for cigarettes before he jumped the counter and pulled out a handgun. The man told the employee to lay on the ground while he emptied the cash register.

The man ran from the store moments before a witness walked in. The man left the area in the passenger seat of a black four-door car, the witness told police.

Officers searched the area but could not find the car.

The store's owner provided security images that showed the man is approximately 30 years old and 6 feet tall with a slim build and a trimmed beard.

Detectives are still working to obtain higher-quality security images and video, police said Monday.

Detectives released a surveillance photo on Monday and are asking anyone who can identify the man to call the Garfield Heights Police Department at 216-475-5686.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
02Gletters

Many low-income high school students don't know they can receive money to attend college, a new survey shows.

(John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Many low-income high school students do not know they can receive money for college, according to a report by the National College Access Network.

A survey showed students who did not apply for financial aid did not know what aid is and did not know how they could get it.

Promoting and providing help to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the primary mission of the organization and its members, is not enough, the group said.

"First, providing all students with clear and accurate information at the onset of college exploration is key," the report said. "Second, finding other points to intervene for those who do not receive accurate information early on will present an opportunity to recover those students who do not know if they are eligible."

Almost all low-income students are eligible to receive federal grant aid for college. But nationally, only 45 percent of all high school seniors complete the FAFSA by the time they graduate, according to research.

The group conducted the survey to understand why students thought they were ineligible for aid. "But the whole question of 'eligibility' is moot if students don't actually know anything about financial aid," the report said.

See the report below or click here if on a mobile device.

Efforts began this month to promote the FAFSA and help students complete the application.

The group last week launched a national campaign to encourage high school seniors to complete the FAFSA, specifically targeting low-income students.

The group said the survey confirmed or raised additional insights and questions for further exploration:
AVON, Ohio -- A Lorain County grand jury chose not to indict the hotel desk clerk accused of falsely reporting that an Emirati guest pledged his allegiance to ISIS.

The grand jury opted not to indict the clerk or anyone else involved in the June 29 arrest of Ahmed Al Menhali at the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Colorado Avenue, Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will said Tuesday.

Avon officers arrested Al Menhali at gunpoint after a 911 caller said the United Arab Emirates native was "pledging his allegiance to ISIS" at the hotel. Hotel desk clerk Alexis Silva later told officers that Al Menhali "freaked her out" but never mentioned ISIS, body camera video showed.

The incident garnered national criticism and resulted in Avon Mayor Bryan Jenson and police chief Richard Bosley apologizing to Al Menhali in person.

The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office investigated the incident and presented evidence to a grand jury. The grand jury considered felony and misdemeanor charges, Will said.

"It should be noted that circumstances surrounding inaccurate reports of criminal activity are reviewed based upon a number of factors, including whether there was any intentionally false information or malicious motivations present in making the report to the police," Will said in a statement.

Cleveland attorneys David Malik and Steven Goldberg are representing Al Menhali and still plan to file a civil lawsuit related to his false arrest, Malik said Tuesday.

"The incident was unfortunate. The incident was preventable. And the incident is extremely serious," Malik said.

Malik argued that the false report resulted in Al Menhali, who is a Muslim, enduring an unnecessary ordeal. Malik believes Al Menhali's religion was a factor in the false report.

"I think as we proceed with the civil case, the public will have a much better understanding that Mr. Al Menhali was the victim in this case," he said.

Jensen on Tuesday reiterated his earlier apology to Al Menhali and called the incident a "very regrettable situation."

"Had our officers received accurate information, they would have reacted differently," Jensen said in a statement. "However, given the information they received from the 911 callers, we believe they acted appropriately and professionally to resolve this situation."

Jensen also noted the need for 911 callers to report "fact, not assumption."

"What someone reports to our dispatchers has a dramatic impact on how our safety officers respond," he said in the statement. "Bystanders and officers can be put in unnecessary danger by reporting false or exaggerated information."

Silva's sister and father called 911 after receiving concerned text messages from the Lorain resident, according to recordings of the calls.

Al Menhali collapsed after officers arrived with guns drawn. He later underwent stroke treatment at Cleveland Clinic, police said.

Body camera footage showed Silva offering an explanation to officers. Al Menhali had been trying to check into the hotel but there were no rooms available, she said.

"I said he is dressed in a weird outfit, he's talking on multiple phones, and I don't know what to do because of everything that's going on with ISIS," Silva said in the recording. "I said call the police because he kept asking questions."

Jensen and Bosley said after the incident that officers followed protocol despite the fact they were acting on false information.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
Tuesday night, Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, and Tim Kaine, the former governor and current senator from Virginia, will mix it up in the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.

As governors, both Kaine and Pence were big believers in career and technical education. And both lent their support, with varying degrees of success, to expanding access to early-childhood education. Pence, was a huge fan of school choice, including both charters and vouchers. And he was the first governor to walk away from the Common Core.

For his part, Kaine ordered a review of the racial makeup of gifted and talented classes, to make sure high-achieving minority students werent being overlooked.

But which state saw the biggest gains in student achievement, Kaines Virginia or Pences Indiana? And maybe more importantly: Does this data say anything about what kind of vice-president either man would be when it comes to education?

First, lets look at reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nations Report Card, in Indiana and Virginia while Pence and Kaine, respectively, where in charge. We stuck with NAEP because state tests were in flux in Indiana during Pences tenure.

Here are the fourth grade reading scores for Indiana and Virginia. The years that Kaine and Pence were in charge are highlighted in yellow. Weve included other years so you can see growth: (Click each graphic to enlarge).

Heres the NAEP for fourth grade math:

And heres eighth grade reading:

And eighth grade math:

Youll notice that there neither candidate could claim a big spike in NAEP scores during their tenure. In fact, the scores went down in some years and subjects under both governors.

So what does this mean?

Not necessarily all that much, because you should be careful about jumping to big conclusions based on NAEP scores. The data is fun to look at, if youre the kind of person who reads wonky education blogs. But you shouldnt put a ton of stock in it. Experts we interviewed for a similar story we wrote just over a year ago say its nearly impossible to tell whether a particular governor, or their policies, made any difference when it comes to student achievement.

Those caveats may not stop Kaine, or Pence, from claiming that they were great stewards of their K-12 systems on Tuesday night, of course.

Education Week Librarian Holly Peele contributed to this blog post.

Photos from left: Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence gestures during a speech in Virginia Beach, Va., in August (AP Photo/Steve Helber); Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine speaks in Daytona Beach, Fla., in August (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP).

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
While education leaders debate innovations in school management and teaching strategy, its important not to forget one of the most basic ways to improve student achievement: Actually give them books.

Kristian L. Holden, a researcher for the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes for Research, found spending a little less than $100 per student for new textbooks led to significant improvements in reading and math performance in some of Californias poorest and lowest-performing elementary schools.

This definitely suggests that textbooks in the right situation can make a big difference, he said. Its a two-part policy. You need to be able to identify where there are likely to be shortages, and have a system in place to address those shortages.

Lawsuit Creates Natural Experiment

Back in 2000, 72 districts sued the state of California for massive underfunding of schools. Several teachers testified to having only a single set of textbooks to share among all their students, meaning students had to share books in class and could not use them for homework at home. One middle school had waited so long for new books that the history textbook did not include the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In the 2004 class action settlement, California set a standard requiring each student to have his or her own textbooks and instructional materials to use in class and at home, and provided new money to buy the books.

The settlement raised per-pupil money for textbooks from $25 to more than $54, but the state also provided $138 million specifically for the lowest-performing 20 percent of schools. Some 150 elementary schools serving more than 105,000 students got $10 million in textbook funding from the additional fund.

Holden compared achievement on the state reading and math tests from 2002 to 2011 in schools that were just above and below the cut-off for additional textbook funding. The increase was on average .15 of a standard deviation per schoolin the same ballpark as reducing the class sizes by 10 students. The effects were about the same for reading and math.

The findings come as more districts explore free online curricula , after the Every Student Succeeds Act allowed districts to channel technology block grants toward creating and using open-source instructional materials . The online materials could help cash-strapped districts update their curricula more often, but Holden warned that low-income, high-minority districts like those in the California study also are more likely to have lower-quality internet access.

Sustained Book Funding an Issue

The effects remained significant for about three years, before the additional textbook funding ran out. Holden found about 10 percent of the textbooks in the Los Angeles county district needed to be replaced each year to stay current, at a cost of about $16,000 a year, so one big lump sum didnt fix inequities for long.

Moreover, low-performing secondary schools that received the additional textbook money saw no significant change in test scores. Holden was not able to drawn any conclusions about why that might be, because the pool of middle and high schools receiving money was much smaller than that of elementary schools.

Related:
India's state coffers are $10 billion richer thanks to the unexpected success of a government-led income declaration scheme. But among the many areas in need of urgent investment, from farmers' welfare to job creation schemes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a difficult decision on how to spend the cash. From June to September, Modi's administration sent about 700,000 notices to suspected tax dodgers, persuading them to reveal undeclared income and assets, referred to as black money, and pay a penalty. In return, the tax evaders would not be prosecuted, the government promised. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on Saturday that the program had so far resulted in 64,275 declarations worth a provisional $9.8 billion, well above the government's internal goal of $7.5 billion, Reuters reported. The final figure could be even higher, Jaitely said.

October 3, 2016: Indian artists, dressed as Hindu goddess, take part in a religious procession ahead of the Dussehera Festival in the old city of Allahabad. Dussehera commemorates the triumph of Lord Rama over the demon King Ravana, making the victory of good over evil. Ritesh Shukla | NurPhoto | Getty Images

The heavyweight Asian economy has long struggled to collect tax revenues from its 1.2 billion strong population, for many reasons. For one, many Indians are employed in the country's informal economy that typically pays in cash. Moreover, deeply rooted issues of excessive bureaucracy, inefficiency and corruption make it difficult for the government to collect what it's owed. As a result, just 1 percent of the population paid taxes during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, according to the latest government data released in May; 28.7 million people filed returns that year, but of these, 16.2 million did not pay tax, the report revealed. Modi pledged to crack down on the billions lost in black money during his 2014 election campaign and so far, he appears to be delivering. His administration unveiled new rules this year that made it compulsory to declare a unique taxpayer number when purchasing goods over $2,980. Jaitley announced that the newly-acquired funds would be allocated to social security purposes, local media reported. But current geopolitical tensions in Kashmir could prompt higher defense spending, Citi economists said in a Monday note. "Part of the additional inflow from the Income Declaration Scheme may support higher defense spending in fiscal year 2018," Citi said. India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads over the disputed territory for decades, but the conflict escalated on September 18 when Indian soldiers were killed in an attack in the Indian-administered town of Uri. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan, which denied the charges. In response, India launched "surgical strikes" inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Both sides exchanged gunfire over the border at the weekend and at least one person was killed when six militants attacked an Indian army camp on Sunday. Citi referred to historical evidence as justification, pointing to one of the many wars New Delhi and Islamabad fought over Kashmir.

watch now
Political risks scared companies off inking deals so far this year, according to Dealogicexcept for Chinese and Japanese firms that hunted U.S. and European targets.

In the first nine months of 2016, global merger and acquisition (M&A) volumes slipped 22 percent on-year to $2.55 trillion, from $3.27 trillion in the same period last year, Dealogic revealed in a new report on Tuesday. This ended a three-year streak of on-year increases, the financial data platform said.

"The Brexit vote in June, a turbulent election cycle in the U.S. and a slump in equity capital raising globally have shadowed opportunities for companies considering acquisitions in 2016," Dealogic said. Overall, global crossborder M&A stood at $899.5 billion, down an annual 9 percent, the report found. Among the top ten largest transactions so far this year, Bayer's $66.3 billion purchase of Monsanto in May was number one, followed by ChemChina's $43 billion purchase of Sygenta. Technology was the most active sector for deals globally, with agreements worth $475.4 billion, while healthcarelast year's darlingfell 48 percent onyear to $255.4 billion. Here's a regional breakdown of Dealogic's findings.

Domestic M&A volume tanked 38 percent to $771.3 billion, with fewer mega-deals across sectors. Abbott Laboratories' $30.6 billion bid for St Jude Medical in April was the largest domestic deal in 2016 so far, versus the eight deals that were each above the $30 billion mark in the same nine months of 2015.

Europe

All the largest European economies recorded yearonyear declines in M&A volume.

Following a slow first half, post-Brexit U.K. M&A volume reached $62.1 billion in the third quarter, the highest Q3 result since 2008 thanks to SoftBank's $31.6 billion bid for ARM Holdings in July.

Asia Pacific
Shares of Google parent Alphabet are "incredibly attractive" because investors are undervaluing the potential of the technology giant's "other bets" such as artificial intelligence (AI), according to a Schroders fund manager.

Google has been investing in areas from AI to driverless cars and life sciences. When the company reorganized as Alphabet, it began to break out revenues and operating losses for these "other bets" in its quarterly earnings reports.

James Gautrey, a global sector specialist for technology and telecoms at Schroders, ran the numbers over Alphabet's valuation and earnings expectations. He found that the market was bearish on the potential of Google's other bets.

"We know that they are investing about $1 billion a quarter in what they call other bets. So these are the areas that don't really produce any revenue for them, these include their moonshots," Gautrey explained.

"So $4 billion a year, which as you said the market puts the stock is on forward P/E (price-to-earnings) of 20 times."

"Now the core business is growing 25 percent a year in constant currencies, so the market is ascribing absolutely no value at all, in fact it's probably negative  twenty times on minus four billion a year is minus $80 billion and that's a hell of a bet the market is taking that Google is going to fail in all of these things and I suspect that one or two of them are going to prove to be pretty big, so I think the shares are incredibly attractive."
Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, known for his famous 2012 experiment to slash away at taxes, said Friday the state would have to raise taxes if it loses a funding fight in the supreme court, according to the Wichita Eagle .

The states supreme court heard oral arguments last week in the Gannon v. Kansas case, in which four of the states poorest districts argue that the state doesnt adequately support their school systems. Based on several studies, the districts argue that they need $800 million to $900 million more from the state in order to provide students with the services they need to meet the states academic standards.

Youd have to look at major tax increases to do that, Brownback told the Eagle.

After a series of income tax cuts in 2012 and 2013cuts Brownback pushed forthe state has fallen far short of its revenue projections. It faces a $45 million budget shortfall this month alone, according to local reports .

The Sunflower State lost a separate part of the school funding case dealing with equity earlier this year, and was ordered to provide its poor districts with $400 million more dollars. The state answered that ruling by taking money from wealthier districts and handing it to poorer districts.

If Kansas loses the other part of the case, the adequacy ruling, it would require the state to provide all of its districts more money. The justices are expected to issue a ruling in late November, after election day. At least five of the justices are up for reelection.

Meanwhile, in Washington State, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who is running for another term in office, said last week that his office has tried its hardest to respond to a state supreme court ruling there that ordered the state to provide millions more in funding. The court last year imposed a $100,000-a-day fine until the states funding formula is completely overhauled.

The Washington state legislature, during its last session, approved a plan-for-a-plan to have a new funding formula in place by next spring.

The states educators have said that the governor and legislature have acted too slowly to respond to the ruling and last month asked the court to amp up its threats to get the state to more quickly respond.

If we design our lives based on wishes, yeah, I wished that wed solved everything an hour after I took, you know, my oath of office in 2013, Inslee said, according to the Seattle Times . But these are challenging issues.

Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
Amazon is in early settlement talks with Europe's antitrust regulators over a probe into its e-books, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.



A settlement, which is not imminent, would seek to resolve concerns that Amazon's contracts with publishers prevented other e-book distributors from competing in the English- and German-language markets, an unnamed source told the Journal. Regulators allege that Amazon abuses market power and pushes illegal terms on publishers, the Journal said, citing the source.

CNBC has reached out to Amazon for comment on the report.

Amazon is one of many U.S. technology companies that has faced scrutiny for its business practices.

The European Commission is also intent on levying a fine against Google , the Journal reported earlier this week. Like Amazon, Apple 's tax and e-book practices have also come under fire from the European Commission.

For the full story, see the article at WSJ.com.
Your bank really wants you to use its ATMs.

The average out-of-network ATM fee is now $4.57 per transaction, a 10-year high, according to a new survey of account fees from Bankrate.com. "ATM fees are low-hanging fruit," said David Albertazzi, a senior analyst with financial services research firm Aite Group in Boston. "Banks are under margin pressure to find more income and this is an easy way to do it."

Getty Images

ATM fees deliver a one-two punch. First, people are hit with a fee charged by the bank that owns the ATM if they are not customers. That fee averaged $2.90 per transaction this year, up from $2.88 last year. Then, people are charged by their own bank for going outside its ATM network. That fee grew by 1.8 percent over the past year to $1.67 per transaction. The fees on fees mean that if you withdraw $20 from the average out-of-network ATM, you would pay 22.9 percent of that money in bank charges.
"I am going to support Secretary Clinton tonight because I think it's important. I think she's capable, I think she'd make a great president. I think Donald Trump is just not fit for the job," Cuban said.

Cuban has openly supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for the presidential race, and has publicly challenged Trump on everything from his net worth, to his ability to serve as president.

Tax documentation from 1995 revealed by The New York Times on Saturday uncovered that Trump reported a $916 million loss on that year's tax return, which would allow him to offset future income.

"The problem I have with what [Trump] has done is not that he hasn't paid taxes, honestly  It's that he won't own it and he won't explain it," Cuban told the " Mad Money " host.

Billionaire Mark Cuban told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday that he has also utilized the net operating loss deduction tax code used by GOP nominee Donald Trump . His issue is with Trump's refusal to "own it."

If Trump had just admitted that his business venture had failed and that he had learned from it, Cuban said, that would have been different. That would have fallen within the spirit of an entrepreneur.

"Do I take net operating losses? Yes. Do I use the tax code as it's written? Yes. But, there is a fine line between pushing the tax code and taking a risk and hoping there's an auditor you can negotiate with, and just saying 'you know what, I made $50 million or $100 million this year. If I'm paying $25 million in taxes, which some people might say is not enough, I'm OK with that," Cuban said.

According to Cuban, the example that a potential President needs to set for Americans is one that owns their failures and learns from them.

"If you can't admit a failure, you're not an entrepreneur. You are not a good business person. There's nothing brilliant about what you are doing. And then we would learn what is behind it. Obviously [Trump] is ashamed of it," Cuban said.

Cuban himself has learned from failure in his career. The self-made billionaire and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a middle-class family. His grandfather emigrated from Russia and supported the family by selling items from the back of his car. At 12 years old, Cuban showed early signs of entrepreneurship when he sold trash bags to save money for a pair of shoes.

After getting an MBA from Indiana University, he was hired to work for Mellon Bank. He only lasted for nine months before he left. He was then fired from his next job, and even quit the next one. Eventually, he found his way to Dallas selling software.

"We all fail and you only have to be right one time, and everybody tells you how lucky you are, right. But that's not what he's done," Cuban said about Trump.

Cuban clarified that he is not a Republican or a Democrat. He only wants people to vote. He also said he is not looking for a job in government, and has no interest in being an ambassador. He is simply an entrepreneur who wants to help other entrepreneurs.

Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank," which features Mark Cuban as a judge.
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In 1995, Todd Wagner and his business partner Mark Cuban pioneered streaming audio and then video over the internet. AudioNet, which they eventually renamed to Broadcast.com, went public in 1998 and was sold to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999. It made Wagner and Cuban billionaires. In the wake of the sale, Wagner was twice offered the role of chief operating officer of Yahoo, which, in the 1990s, had the cachet that Google does today. He passed up the opportunity twice because he wanted to figure out a way to give back.

Wagner is from Gary, IN, a small town a couple dozen miles south of Chicago that was founded in 1906 by The United States Steel Corporation as home for the Gary Works, the manufacturing company's largest plant.

Todd Wagner David A. Grogan | CNBC

The Midwestern town's seal calls it the "City of the Century," but today blight and poverty have filled in gaps vacated by changing industry. Once called "Magic City" for the hope and opportunity available, the town's own Department of Commerce doesn't deny the city's misfortune. "Gary Department of Commerce will be used as a tool to mount a full assault on record unemployment and a stalled local business environment," the website reads. Becoming an overnight billionaire compelled Wagner to contribute some of his wealth to those less fortunate. "I had grown up in Gary, Indiana. I'd seen a steel mill, blue-collar kind of town and the decay that that can create," Wagner told CNBC at the Iconic conference in Boston in September. "I wanted the opportunity for me to try to give back, to try to figure out a way to maybe use some of this treasure, some of, hopefully, my talents and time to figure out how to make a difference," said Wagner. His first efforts were all focused on empowering disadvantaged kids, especially through his namesake foundation. Early on, he would swoop in and write checks. Then he got to a point where he determined that charity was operating less efficiently than it could or should. If he could use some of his technology background to help charities, they would be able to raise significantly more money.

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The U.K.'s Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has announced plans to stop legal claims against British soldiers in combat, by exempting them from laws on human rights.

At the Conservative Party conference, Fallon revealed a policy change that will see Britain opt out of parts of the European Convention on Human Rights during future conflicts.

Speaking to CNBC Tuesday, the Defense Secretary said the convention on human rights was being misused and had strayed from its remit to help maintain peace inside Europe.

"We've now found several thousand claims lodged against our brave troops for detaining potential terrorists who have been firing at them.

"[They are] detaining people in Afghanistan or Iraq who are saying they have a right to liberty under the European convention," he said.

Fallon said the U.K. would get out of the convention in future conflicts but would continue to respect domestic laws as well as the Geneva Convention.

The European convention's rules allow for countries to exempt themselves in certain situations, including on the battlefield. The move was a commitment made in last year's general election by the Conservative Party.

In pre-released excerpts from Tuesday's conference speech by U.K Prime Minister Theresa May, the British leader said it was important soldiers were not left to fight legal cases when they came home.

"We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts," she said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his government will introduce a plan that will see every Canadian jurisdiction put a price on carbon pollution by 2018.

In a speech to Parliament on Monday, Trudeau said that provinces and territories would be able to put a direct price on carbon pollution or opt for a cap-and-trade system with the "expectation that it be stringent enough to meet or exceed the federal benchmark."

Setting out his government's plans, Trudeau said that the proposed price on carbon pollution would start at 10 Canadian dollars ($7.60) per tonne in 2018, rising by 10 Canadian dollars each year, and hitting 50 Canadian dollars per tonne by 2022.

"Provinces and territories that choose cap-and-trade systems will need to decrease emissions in line to both Canada's target and to the reductions expected in jurisdictions that choose a price-based system," he added.

The Canadian Prime Minister's announcement came as the country's politicians began debating the historic Paris Agreement, reached at last year's United Nations' COP21 summit.

Trudeau went on to state that putting a price on carbon pollution had been proven to be "a good way to prevent heavy polluters from emitting greenhouse gases that fuel climate change and threaten the entire planet."

Trudeau's announcement drew criticism from some lawmakers, including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, the Associated Press reported.

"I cannot believe that while the country's environment ministers were meeting on a so-called collaborative climate change plan, the Prime Minister stood in the House of Commons and announced a carbon tax unilaterally," Wall said in a statement posted on the government of Saskatchewan's website.

Wall added that the disrespect shown by Trudeau and his government was "stunning."

"This new tax will damage our economy," he went on to say. "The bottom line is that the Saskatchewan economy, already hurting from a downturn in commodity prices, will be one of the hardest hit by a new federal carbon tax because of our trade-exposed resource industries."

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, told CNBC on Tuesday it's unacceptable for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to brag about not paying taxes.

Mook said on "Squawk Box" he found it "particularly outrageous" that Trump called himself "smart" for taking a $916 million tax loss in 1995 and possibly not paying income tax for nearly two decades.

"It just makes no sense for the next leader of our country to be running around saying he's 'smart' because he didn't pay taxes," Mook said. "What does that say about the rest of us who work really hard and pay our taxes."



Mook said he's interested in hearing what Trump running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has to say about taxes in the only vice-presidential debate Tuesday night against Clinton's running mate Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.



Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, appearing earlier on "Squawk Box" Tuesday morning, said the GOP nominee's actions were legal. "It's not a loophole. It's a provision in the tax code."



In addition to attacking Trump on his taxes, Clinton took aim at the Wells Fargo phony account scandal at an Ohio rally on Monday, as the Democratic nominee outlined plans to crack down on corporate excesses.

JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon came to the defense of his industry, while calling out Clinton for what he said was "unfair" comments in which she used blanket statements to condemn all bankers.

In reaction to Dimon's rebuttal, Mook said: "Some of the practices [at Wells Fargo] that we've seen are simply unacceptable. I think Secretary Clinton was simply trying to be clear that she will be tough if there are abuses in the system."
The plan would require somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 U.S. boots on the ground. "Not an insignificant number," he admitted, compared to the 5,000 American soldiers who are in the war-torn area today.

Stavridis detailed a four-step plan for defeating the terrorist group on CNBC's " Squawk Box ," where he made a case for a significant military push into parts of Iraq and Syria .

It's time for America to get aggressive with ISIS, retired Adm. James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander and current Hillary Clinton advisor, said Tuesday.

The retired admiral and current dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University also spoke to what he sees as the differences between Clinton's and Donald Trump's campaigns.

"A Trump administration, as you look at their approach to foreign policy, is more about building walls, about creating distance, [and] about heightening security," Stavridis said.

"A Clinton campaign," he continued, "is about building bridges, not walls. It's about connections, it's about international, interagency, private-public connections to try and create security."

"The right answer is probably a bit of both," he acknowledged, "but I would say, broadly speaking, we need more building of bridges than we do building of walls."

Stavridis had been on Clinton's shortlist for a running mate. The former secretary of state ended up choosing Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who on Tuesday night faces Trump's No. 2, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, in the only vice presidential debate.
The noose around Wall Street's neck is likely to tighten, no matter who is elected president.

Recent events have only increased the possibility that any hopes for banking regulatory relief are likely to go unfulfilled when the nation's 45th president takes office next January.

Deutsche Bank's capital crunch has rekindled fears over too-big-to-fail financial institutions. At the same time, Wells Fargo 's illegal sales practices have stirred memories of big banks duping unwitting customers during the subprime mortgage boom.

What it likely adds up to is a toxic relationship between Wall Street and Washington.

"Look at Wells Fargo," Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said during a campaign stop Monday as the crowd hissed. "Really shocking, isn't it? One of the nation's biggest banks bullying thousands of employees into committing fraud against unsuspecting customers."

"It is outrageous that eight years after a cowboy culture on Wall Street wrecked our economy, we are still seeing powerful bankers playing fast and loose with the law," she added.

Republican Donald Trump has been less fiery in his rhetoric, in fact pledging to repeal the Dodd-Frank regulations that big banks have cast as the enemy. He has, though, labeled Wells Fargo as "stupid" and "greedy." He has avoided the Deutsche Bank issue; multiple press reports indicate that he has done considerable business with the German lender.
Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, commander of the US Cyber Command, director of the National Security Agency and chief of Central Security Services.

The cyberwar over data escalates with each passing day and is impacting the governments and the global enterprises we all rely on in unprecedented ways.

Governments and businesses are waking up to a new reality  it is not if, but when hackers will target their organization. They face enemies that are nimble, motivated and well-funded, and have access to cyberweapons such as malware, ransomware and botnets with the click of a mouse.

Cybercrime will cost the global economy $445 billion in 2016  more than the market cap of Amazon ($397 billion), Facebook ($368 billion) or ExxonMobil ($360 billion)  according to an estimate from the World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Risks Report.

With that backdrop, CNBC is co-sponsoring its inaugural Cambridge Cyber Summit, in partnership with The Aspen Institute and MIT, to be held Wednesday at MIT in Cambridge, MA.

The event will bring together law enforcement and government leaders from a range of public and private organizations. On the government side, the FBI, NSA and U.S. Cyber Command will be represented. From the private sector: SAP, IBM and Akamai, among others. They will be joined by academics and advocates from MIT, The Aspen Institute and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.



The threat is now widely understood to be real and growing, and increasingly touches on every facet of our connected world. Criminals have stolen almost a billion records in more than 5,000 data breaches since 2005, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Add in the Yahoo breach, still under investigation, and that number is likely well over a billion. And those are just the breaches we know about.
California Eliminates Statute of Limitations for Rape

In response to the recent sentencing in the Brock Turner case, or lack thereof, the California legislature has passed new laws relating to the crimes of rape and sexual assault. The new laws not only redefine rape and require mandatory minimum sentencing for sexual assault crimes involving an incapacitated victim, they also eliminate the statute of limitations for a prosecutor to bring criminal charges.

Removing the statute of limitations on rape and crimes such as sexual abuse of a minor takes into account the reality that victims are sometimes too traumatized to go through the court process immediately after being victimized. Additionally, oftentimes victims are afraid to come forward initially due to fear of retaliation, victim shaming, societal stigmatization, or for mental health reasons. These issues can take years to work through, and should not be the reason a violent sexual predator is allowed to walk the streets free.

Mandatory Minimums Include Actual Jail Time

When Brock Turner was sentenced to only six months behind bars, people were left wondering how that happened. When it was discovered, in early September 2016, that he would only serve three of those six months, as he received three months credit for time served during trial, public outcry was reignited, motivating Gov. Brown to sign the bills passed by the legislature.

The twenty-year-old college student was convicted of assault with the intention to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, sexual penetration of an intoxicated person, and sexual penetration of an unconscious person. He was caught on the ground, behind a dumpster, sexually assaulting an unconscious victim. Under the new laws, these acts would have been considered the same as forcible rape of a conscious victim.

While Turner will be on probation for 3 years, and on the sex offender registry for life, his brief stay in jail prompted legislative action to make convictions like his require judges to impose actual prison time in a state, rather than county, facility.

What Removing the Statute of Limitations Means

Under California law, if a crime is punishable by death or life in prison, then there is no statute of limitations for that crime to be prosecuted. For victims of rape and minors that are sexually assaulted, the time they have to come forward has now been expanded. While the prior statute of limitations for adult victims was 10 years, and more than double that for child victims, the new California law puts the perpetrators on the same footing as murders.

Despite the fact that the state can now prosecute an older rape crime than ever before, using old evidence creates reliability problems. Judges, lawyers, and juries will need to grapple with missing witnesses, stale evidence, and other problems that arise when prosecuting older crimes.

Related Resources:
The strongest hurricane to hit Haiti since 1964 is making its way north toward Florida.

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti at around 7 a.m. ET Tuesday. Hurricane warnings are still in effect for Haiti, several Cuban provinces, and the Bahamas. With winds measured at 145 miles per hour, it is the first Category 4 hurricane to hit Haiti since Hurricane Cleo in 1964.

Most global forecast models suggest Matthew will be churning off the east coast of Florida and the southeast United States by Friday morning, according to a National Hurricane Center update Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott tweeted that evacuation orders may begin soon, telling Floridians to keep eyes on local news.

Scott Tweet

The governor has already issued a state of emergency, and hurricane watches have been issued in south and central Florida, including the Keys. "If Hurricane Matthew directly impacts Florida," said Governor Scott in a statement, "there could be massive destruction, which we haven't seen since Hurricane Andrew devastated Miami-Dade County in 1992."

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley also plans to evacuate 1 million people from the coast on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Associated Press.
GoEuro, a travel booking app backed by major investors including Goldman Sachs , has raised $70 million in a bid to expand the offerings on its platform.



The funding round was led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk, a fund of Silver Lake, and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Berlin, Germany-based GoEuro allows you to plan and book a trip across Europe using different modes of transport such as buses, trains and flights. The idea, according to chief executive Naren Shaam, is to make it as easy as ordering an Uber.

The company earns commission off every ticket it sells and the three-year-old company is now looking at adding new transport modes on to the platform including ferries and ride sharing services.



"When you look at the European landscape it has thousands of ground transportation options, but the majority of tickets are bought at station and it's not mobile. The options you have with ride-sharing apps or Amazon aren't there yet," Shaam told CNBC in a phone interview.

"We are going to invest more in our product to bring the whole industry into mobile."
Attendees working on Apple Inc. laptop computers participate in the Yahoo! Inc. Mobile Developer Conference Hackathon in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015.

Microsoft and Google want to make it clear that their email services, Outlook, Hotmail and Gmail, are safe from U.S. government spies.

The two companies issued the following statements to CNBC, following a Reuters report revealing that Internet giant Yahoo secretly scanned customer emails for U.S. intelligence officials, according to reporter Joseph Menn's sources.

"We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo ."  a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed response to CNBC.

A spokesperson from Alphabet's Google's issued this statement to CNBC: "We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'no way'."
Ahead of an official launch event, Bloomberg reported that Google will unveil the Pixel and larger Pixel XL, two new smartphones that were conceptualized, designed, engineered and tested in-house.



The company was largely expected to announce new handsets.

But in the past, Google has relied on co-branding efforts with its Nexus devices. The Pixel, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported, is assembled by HTC in an approach "no different than Apple's partnership with iPhone builder Foxconn."

The new phones, Bloomberg reports, are optimized for photo-taking and battery life.

A device with custom work, like the Pixel, helps the company plan complex efforts like virtual reality, but risks alienating partners like Samsung and LG, Bloomberg reported.

Google's special event on Tuesday is expected to formally reveal the new products, alongside the launch of a smart home device that pits the company against Amazon .



See CNBC's full coverage of the event here.

Tuesday's event is expected to reveal how the software will interact with hardware, where Google has traditionally been less focused than rivals like Apple . But during the company's July earnings announcement, Pichai made it clear that mobile is key to Google's future.

"Our investment in mobile now underlines everything that we do today," Pichai said.

Other products reportedly on deck are Google Home, the voice-activated assistant, as well as Chromecast Ultra, a streaming device that supports video resolution four times better than standard high definition.



Google is also widely expected to announce a "smarter" WiFi router, an operating system that is unified across Android and Chrome, and perhaps a virtual reality headset.

The products may reveal how the company's artificial intelligence software push will reflect on its hardware. Hiroshi Lockheimer, a senior vice president at Google, positioned Tuesday's Twitter event as a potential turning point for the company.

Tweet: "We announced the 1st version of Android 8 years ago today. I have a feeling 8 years from now we'll be talking about Oct 4, 2016."

The core division of Alphabet , Google's vast advertising and search business has expanded over the past decade to include the Android mobile operating system and app store, as well as cloud computing and products like YouTube and Chromebooks.

More recently, CEO Sundar Pichai has set his sights on artificial intelligence as the next inflection point of the company.

"We think of this as building each user their own individual Google," Pichai said at the annual Code Conference earlier this year. "Google does a lot of things, but if you peel away everything and you distill it, this is the heart of what we do. It's what we are about."

That strategy shift was already reflected in this year's Google developer conference, where the company unveiled a virtual reality platform and an artificially intelligent, voice-activated assistant that works across devices like Google Home, as well as new mobile apps.

 Reporting by CNBC's Arjun Kharpal and Harriet Taylor.
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Six-year-old Paxton Padilla's mom, Suzanne, gets choked up when she talks about trying to create the best life possible for her son in spite of his mobility issues. "Since he was born, he has an underlying genetic syndrome that they can't figure out what it is," she told CNBC. "He has a congenital heart defect that's pretty severe, and because of a lot of his neurological issues, he's non-ambulatory, so he can't walk, he can't talk ... he is limited in how he can interact with his environment around him." Suzanne, though, remains hopeful. That's thanks in part to Dr. Cole Galloway, a professor in the department of physical therapy at the University of Delaware and the founder of GoBabyGo, an organization that modifies kids' toys, like Fisher-Price Power Wheels jeeps, so that children with even the most severe mobility issues can still use them. "We make either mechanical modifications to help you sit stably and be ready to drive and/or electrical modifications where we give you a bigger switch. If you can't move anything but your head, that's cool. We'll put the switch behind you and you'll be able to hit it," said Dr. Galloway.

Go Baby Go modifies toys for children with disabilities. The toys, often incorporated into physical rehabilitation, can serve a population of 330,000 kids with relevant disabilities. Source: Go Baby Go

The idea came to Dr. Galloway after families had approached him following a presentation he had made involving robotics.

"We did a National Science Foundation study with robotics and saw that kids that were given mobile robots, driveable robots, had a bump in cognition," Dr. Galloway said. "It's part science, part social, part social justice all wrapped up in a way that people can get behind these kids." Toymaker Fisher-Price's parent company, Mattel , is also getting behind the project. The multibillion-dollar toymaker's support was something Dr. Galloway found surprising, considering he is essentially rigging Mattel's toys in order to build a new product suited for special-needs children. More from Modern Medicine:

New prostate cancer tests aim to reduce the death rate

Antibiotics are becoming the David to the Goliath of 'Superbug' infections

Writing a prescription ... for a dose of electricity Gary Collins, senior manager of design and engineering, Fisher-Price Power Wheels, told CNBC that the partnership with GoBabyGo means much more than just allowing Dr. Galloway to continue to do what he's doing. "He wasn't hacking this for his own promotion; it was essentially allowing these children to play like any other children, and it's just amazing what it brings to these children," Collins said.

He wasn't hacking this for his own promotion; it was essentially allowing these children to play like any other children, and it's just amazing what it brings to these children. Gary Collins senior manager of design and engineering, Fisher-Price Power Wheels

Fisher-Price donates vehicles to Dr. Galloway, including a lot of their jeeps, while also giving the doctor a first look at what the company is planning to design next.

"We do share our upcoming designs with Cole before they're released and launched to the public, so that he can start looking at ways that he can modify these toys for children with mobility issues," Collins said. "Cole also will make suggestions to us during our design process, and if there's ever an opportunity for us to basically work in some of Cole's insight into the design of our product, we do that."

Sidney Mageot, whose son Arthur suffers from intractable epilepsy and had two surgeries in February that disconnected the left side of his brain, attended one of Dr. Galloway's workshops with Arthur, where parents and therapists learn to modify the toys on their own. Sidney witnessed Arthur riding around in a toy car made specifically for him, being able to actually control it as best as he could on his own, despite now being legally blind. "He loves it. So yes, that makes me happy. Makes us happy," Sidney said. Beyond giving parents a chance to see their child doing things others may take for granted, Alison Cernich, director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research at the National Institutes of Health, said Dr. Galloway's project is a game changer for the industry, especially from the rehabilitation perspective. "He makes some cars that you have to stand up to power that car. Now if it's really hard for that kid to stand up like that in a therapy session but they really want to do it to the car, you've given them a motivation. That's key with kids," Cernich said. "What he's done is used play to get them to do the thing we want them to do."
Cuban disclosed that he has investments in machine learning and deep learning because of the multitude of ways that the immense amount of data out there can be processed.

"I think the grand slam is going to come from deep learning, machine learning," Cuban told " Mad Money " host Jim Cramer on Tuesday.

Pokemon Go may have sparked the world's craving for augmented reality, but billionaire Mark Cuban says the industry still has a long way to go. He's banking on machine learning as the next big breakthrough in technology.

"With deep learning in particular, you process all that data and you look for not the 100 percent conclusion, but you look for the 51 percent, the 60 percent opportunities that could send you in a new direction. And I think that's why it's so big," Cuban said.

And while he thinks there is enough room for all of the major tech players like Facebook , Alphabet and Amazon to co-exist, the tough thing is that no one knows what the next big thing in technology is. Right now, executives are simply using their intuition to make moves in the space.

"I could argue for precision medicine. I could argue that's why they are all acquiring artificial intelligence, deep learning companies, right, because they don't know where it will take them," Cuban said.

The industry went through a period of time where it automated analog data, he added. Now it is headed down a path where it is automating automation, and that will change the way everything is done.
For now, Matthew forced airlines to cancel some flights to Caribbean islands like Jamaica, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos.

Ominously for travelers to the region, the forecasts out late Monday evening showed an increasing likelihood that Matthew will at least come close to Florida and the Southeast. A U.S. landfall remained a possibility by late week, though the storm's projected path still had a large degree of uncertainty and it could still turn out to sea.

Air travelers were keeping a wary eye on Hurricane Matthew as forecasts continued to show it tracking toward the U.S. East Coast later this week.

A map released by the U.S. National Hurricane Center at 11 p.m. ET on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, showed the latest projected track for Hurricane Matthew.

U.S. fliers headed to those regions this week should prepare for disruptions. The complete cessation of flights is likely for parts of Cuba and the Bahamas.



The U.S. State Department had already issued travel warnings related to Matthew, advising Americans in parts of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and the Bahamas to leave ahead of the storm, if possible.



So far, no U.S. airlines had waived change fees for airports on the U.S. mainland. But they are waiving change fees for flights in some parts of the Caribbean.

Generally speaking, the change-fee waivers allow customers to make one change to their itineraries without paying additional charges or fares. The fine print varies by airline and by destination.

Waivers covering Florida and parts of the Southeast will likely come in the next day or two if Matthew continues to track closer to the U.S. coastline.

Scroll down to links to the waiver policies in place at U.S. airlines as of 11 p.m. ET on Monday, Oct. 3.

American Airlines

Covers several cities in Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos.

Waiver extends to flights originally booked on the following dates: Varies by destination

Full details: American Airlines

Delta Air Lines

Covers several cities in Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos.

Waiver extends to flights originally booked on the following dates: Oct. 2-6

Full details: Delta Air Lines

Frontier Airlines



As of late Wednesday evening, Frontier said on its website: "We are monitoring the storm and its possible impact. As the week progresses, and forecasts become more reliable, we'll be posting further updates."

JetBlue

Covers several cities in Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos.

Waiver extends to flights originally booked on the following dates: Oct. 2-6

Full details: JetBlue

Silver Airways

Covers numerous destinations in the Bahamas.

Waiver extends to flights originally booked on the following dates: Oct. 4-5

Full details: Silver Airways

Southwest Airlines



Covers Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Nassau, Bahamas.

Waiver extends to flights originally booked on the following dates: Varies by destination

Full details: Southwest Airlines

Spirit Airlines

Covers Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Waiver extends to flights originally booked on the following dates: Oct. 2-3

Full details: Spirit Airlines

United Airlines

No Matthew-related waiver had been posted to United's website as of 10:40 p.m. ET on Monday, Oct. 3.

International Space Station tweet
The Aspen Institute, CNBC, and MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) will hold the first-ever The Cambridge Cyber Summit on October 5th at Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA.

This unique one-day summit brings together c-suite executives and business owners with public and private-sector leaders in security, technology and defense to discuss ways to combat urgent cyber threats and secure America's future. The event, comprised of interviews and live demonstrations, focuses on critical issues such as the next wave of cyberattacks and their perpetrators, countermeasures, privacy and security, public-private cooperation and information sharing, and the latest trends in technology, among others.

For the full agenda go to: http://www.cnbc.com/cambridge-cyber-summit-agenda/

The following panels will be livestreamed (pending breaking news) on CNBC.com:

9:20  9:50 AM NATIONAL SECURITY: ARE WE ALREADY AT WAR?

Our businesses and government have been repeatedly attacked by state actors  China and Russia, mainly. We've reportedly been a part of cyber-attacks or retaliations on North Korea and Iran. Are we already at war and are we winning? Is the US government doing enough to fight and win?

Admiral Michael S. Rogers, Commander, U.S. Cyber Command;Director, National Security Agency; Chief, Central Security Service

Interviewer: Walter Isaacson, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute

10:15  10:45 AM A CONVERSATION WITH THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI

Law enforcement is facing an ever-evolving cyber landscape  new technological threats, foreign and domestic hackers, opaque links between foreign governments and cybercriminals. How is the FBI adapting?

Andrew McCabe, Deputy Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Interviewer: Walter Isaacson, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute

12:00  12:30 PM WHERE BUSINESS AND CYBERTERROR COLLIDE: THE VIEW FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Hackers aren't just after credit card numbers or even social security numbers. Hackers can use information they steal from businesses for far worse crimes than identity theft or financial fraud. What is a 'blended threat,' and what do companies and individuals need to understand to respond to them?

John Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security,Department of Justice

Interviewer: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Co-Anchor, "Squawk Box," CNBC

3:15  3:45 PM KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

Sarah Bloom Raskin, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Treasury

Brief Q & A following presentation with Tyler Mathisen, Co-Anchor, "Power Lunch" and "Nightly Business Report," CNBC

For more information about The Cambridge Cyber Summit go to: cnbc.com/cybersummit.

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An agent from Sunshine Life and Health Advisors offers insight to potential enrollees in Miami about the plans available last year under the Affordable Care Act.

About 2.5 million people now buying health insurance are missing out on getting financial aid to reduce their monthly premiums because they are buying individual plans outside of the government-run Obamacare marketplaces, a new report revealed Tuesday.

Those people would be eligible for those subsidies, in the form of federal tax credits, because they have low or moderate incomes. But they aren't receiving that aid since it is available only when coverage is purchased on either the federal Obamacare exchange, HealthCare.gov, or a state-run marketplace.

Of the 2.5 million person group, a subset of 1.1 million people could also be getting financial help paying for their out-of-pocket health costs  because their incomes are on the lower side  but aren't since they are enrolled in so-called off-exchange plans, the report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found.

And six states  California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and Pennsylvania  each have more than 100,000 residents who could be getting premium subsidies if they were enrolled in exchange-sold plans, as opposed to off-exchange plans, the report found.



The HHS analysis, which comes less than a month before open-enrollment in Obamacare plans for 2017 begins Nov. 1, sheds new light on that off-exchange market for individual plans. Individual plans are those sold by private insurers to people who do not get health coverage through an employer.



The report quantifies the number of people who will be fully exposed to the often hefty premium price hikes that a number of insurers have requested for their plans for next year. People who get tax credits to reduce their Obamacare premiums are largely insulated from such price increases.



The Commonwealth Fund has found that more than half of adults who lack health insurance don't know they can get subsidies on Obamacare exchanges. However, some subsidy-eligible people may be buying outside of the exchanges for other reasons.



HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, noted that "more than 9 million Americans already receive financial assistance" through the Obamacare exchanges, "but today's data show millions more Americans could benefit."

"We encourage everyone to check out their options on HealthCare.gov or their state marketplace and see if they qualify for financial assistance," Burwell said.

"Marketplace consumers who qualify for financial assistance usually have the option to buy coverage with a premium of less than $75 per month."

HHS researchers said Tuesday that before their report there were a wide range of estimates, from about 5 million to 9 million, for the number of people who purchase individual plans outside of the government-run exchanges.

Their own report estimates that 6.9 million currently buy individual health plans in the off-exchange market. That market includes plans purchased from privately run online health exchanges, through insurance brokers and directly from insurance companies.

All of those off-exchange customers have to pay the full monthly premium for their plans.

In contrast, about 11.1 million people are enrolled in Obamacare plans, with 9.4 million of them getting premium subsidies. The subsidies are available to people with household incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or between $24,300 to $97,200 for a family of four.

People with household incomes between 100 percent and 250 percent of poverty also can get subsidies that cut the amount they pay in deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance for health services and medication.

Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the HHS report is important for several reasons.



"It highlights the importance of expanded outreach so people know what financial help is available to them and how to get it," Levitt said. "This is an incredibly complicated and confusing law, and there's an awful lot of noise surrounding it. So, it's no wonder people are somewhat befuddled."

"The premium subsidies cushion the effect of premium increases," Levitt noted. "The more people who are eligible for subsidies, the greater the cushioning effect. With most enrollees in the individual insurance market eligible for premium subsidies, the risk of a dreaded 'death spiral' is quite low."



A death spiral occurs when too many unhealthy people are enrolled in an insurance pool compared to the number of healthy people, costing more in health costs than the premiums that are paid in, which in turn causes insurers to hike premiums more, driving away those with good health.

Levitt said HHS' estimate of the number of off-exchange customers "sounds a tad low to me based on filings to state insurance commissioners, but it's certainly in the right ballpark."

"There are millions of people out there who could be getting financial help but aren't," Levitt said. "That includes people who are currently uninsured as well as those buying their own insurance outside the marketplaces and paying full freight."

He added that, "The number of people currently insured and eligible for subsidies they're not getting is sure to grow as premiums rise in 2017."

The HHS report also found that 1.9 million people in the off-exchange market have incomes of below 138 percent of the poverty level, which is the maximum income allowed for Medicaid enrollees under the Affordable Care Act.

Some of those people could, as of now, enroll in Medicaid programs run by their states, since their states did expand eligibility for that program to nearly all poor adults.

Others can't get Medicaid because of their immigration status.

However, a portion of the group lives in states that did not expand Medicaid to most poor adults under the ACA as allowed, and also earn less than 100 percent of the poverty level, which is the minimum income level for Obamacare financial aid. People in that "coverage gap" are ineligible for Medicaid under their state's stricter income guidelines, and also earn too little to qualify for Obamacare subsidies to buy health insurance on the exchanges.

That perverse situation  where wealthier people get Obamacare assistance and many poor people don't  is the result of a 2012 Supreme Court decision that barred the federal government from imposing Medicaid expansion on the states. So far, 31 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid under the ACA.
Heather Bresch, chief executive officer of Mylan NV, holds up Mylan EpiPen medication while speaking during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016.

A U.S. Senator asked big drugmaker Mylan and federal health officials Tuesday for information about a purported misclassification by the company of its anti-allergy EpiPen devices that would shortchange federal and state governments millions of dollars annually in Medicaid rebates.

Sen. Charles Grassley's letters came a day after a House committee wrote Mylan CEO Heather Bresch asking for a laundry list of documents as it seeks to learn the true profitability of the lifesaving EpiPens for Mylan. Committee members expressed skepticism about Bresch's recent testimony on that point.



Congress has focused on Mylan since late summer, when public outrage exploded over the company raising the price of a two-pack of EpiPens to more than $600, more than 500 percent what the devices were selling for several years ago. The auto-injector is used to counteract the potentially fatal allergic reaction anaphylaxis.

The letters from Grassley, R-Iowa, to Bresch and to the head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services relate to Mylan's participation in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.

That program requires participating pharmaceutical companies to pay rebates to the federal and state governments that jointly run Medicaid  the health coverage scheme for primarily the poor  in exchange for having their medications covered by Medicaid.

Grassley's letters asked, among other things, when CMS told the company it had misclassified the drug for the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, how many times the agency told Mylan that was the case, and what, if anything, the Obama administration has done "to ensure that the EpiPen was properly classified."

At stake is a significant amount of money. Mylan currently pays rebates of 13 percent to Medicaid for sales of EpiPens through that program because it classifies the device as a generic product, or "non-innovator multiple source drug." But CMS last week said Mylan should be paying rebates of more than 23.1 percent because EpiPen should be classified as a brand-name product.

CMS says it has repeatedly told Mylan the company was misclassifying EpiPen. But the agency has refused to say what, if anything, the agency is doing to "correct this misclassification.

"Given the purported misclassification, the federal government and the states may have paid far more for EpiPens than required," Grassley wrote in his letter to acting CMS administrator Andy Slavitt.

"It would be helpful for Congress and the American public to understand what steps, if any, the Obama Administration has taken under its authorities to ensure that companies are not gaming the system and are appropriately held accountable for misclassifying their products," Grassley wrote.

The letter said that knowing when and how many times Mylan was told it misclassified EpiPen "is critical in determining how much Mylan should have paid during the course of the rebate program."

Last week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said that the Minnesota Health Department has reported that a misclassification of EpiPen would have cost the state's Medicaid program $4.3 million in overpayments for this year alone. Minnesota accounts for less than 2 percent of the U.S. population.

Grassley noted in his letter to Slavitt that if Mylan is found to have filed false information with the rebate program, the company would face fines of $100,000 for each instance.
Prison Censorship in Texas Bans Shakespeare Book but OKs Hitler

Being an inmate in a Texan prison is already bad enough, but during Banned Books Week last week, the state's institutions were under the spotlight for their censorship of canonical literary works. Apparently, Texas prisons are notorious for banning books with virtually no oversight and based on extraordinarily subjective criteria.

The Texas Civil Rights Project, a non-profit organization, has been on the front lines of the fight to change the policy within the Texas Department of Corrections and Justice. In the TCRP report, it is explained that the state's prison system in Texas basically leaves the decision of whether to ban a book up to the mailroom clerk. The TCRP report explains that mail clerks are instructed to review for whether the work in question:

Contains contraband

Contains information about how to make explosives, drugs, or weapons

Was written for the purpose of inspiring prison strikes, riots, or gang activity

Is detrimental to offenders' rehabilitation because it would encourage deviant criminal sexual behavior

Contains instructions on how to set up criminal schemes

Contain sexually explicit images

Extraordinary Censorship and Flabbergasting Failures

Even though the rules for the mail clerks allow for discretion, the result is much more surprising than one might expect. Books like Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and David Duke's "My Awakening" are not banned despite being seminal works for racist, bigoted ideologies. However, a book of Shakespearean sonnets was banned because of the artistic depiction of a nude woman on the cover. Dante's "Inferno" and books such as "The Color Purple" remain banned, while a book that celebrates a narrator's deviant life view and details the sexual abuse of a minor, such as Nabokov's "Lolita," are available to inmates.

Most astonishing, however, is Texas prison system's failure to ban books such as Hitler's, Duke's, and even the revolutionary Che Guevara's "Guerrilla Warfare," which explains how to conduct guerrilla warfare, how to make a Molotov cocktail, and how to make a mortar (an explosive). The TCRP report also explains that the policy is so inconsistently applied that in the same month, different magazine titles that contain nearly the same content can be both allowed and banned.

Some Censorship Makes Sense

While clearly the Texas Department of Corrections and Justice has some flaws in the execution of their censorship of books, there is a certain amount of reasonableness to restricting what an inmate can and cannot read. For instance, books that deal with making weapons, explosives, or drugs clearly do not belong in a prison. Regardless, if a prison is going to censor what their inmates can read, the policy should at very least be reasonable, not just on paper, but also in the way it is carried out.

Another criticism levied by the TCRP is that the appeal process for inmates to challenge the banning of a book is not accessible due to the lack of access to attorneys. Texas is not the only state system that bans books. In fact, most states have restrictions.

For the latest legal entertainment news, subscribe to FindLaw Newsletters.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, signalling he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria. Starting in the last years of the Cold War, Russia and the United States signed a series of accords to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenals, agreements that have so far survived intact despite a souring of U.S.-Russian relations under Putin. But on Monday, Putin issued a decree suspending an agreement, concluded in 2000, which bound the two sides to dispose of surplus plutonium originally intended for use in nuclear weapons. The Kremlin said it was taking that action in response to unfriendly acts by Washington. It made the announcement shortly before Washington said it was suspending talks with Russia on trying to end the violence in Syria.



The plutonium accord is not the cornerstone of post-Cold War U.S.-Russia disarmament, and the practical implications from the suspension will be limited. But the suspension, and the linkage to disagreements on other issues, carries powerful symbolism. "Putin's decree could signal that other nuclear disarmament cooperation deals between the United States and Russia are at risk of being undermined," Stratfor, a U.S.-based consultancy, said in a commentary. "The decision is likely an attempt to convey to Washington the price of cutting off dialogue on Syria and other issues." U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Monday that bilateral contacts with Moscow over Syria were being suspended. Kirby said Russia had failed to live up to its commitments under a ceasefire agreement. Western diplomats say an end to the Syria talks leaves Moscow free to pursue its military operation in support of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, but without a way to disentangle itself from a conflict which shows no sign of ending. Russia and the United States are also at loggerheads over Ukraine. Washington, along with Europe, imposed sanctions on Russia after it annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 and backed pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.

List of grievances

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Shares of Team Health spiked 16 percent late Thursday after a report that the health-care services company is discussing a possible sale.

Team Health is in talks with Blackstone Group and Bain Capital and could strike a deal as soon as this month, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The health-care services company offers outsourced emergency medicine, hospital medicine, critical care and other services to more than 3,000 facilities nationwide. The firm had a market value of about $2.4 billion before the report, according to FactSet.

Team Health did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Read the full report in The Wall Street Journal.
Jorg Eigendorf, head of communications and senior group director at Deutsche Bank, told CNBC the bank has a "comfortable cushion." But, presumably it would need to raise more capital to replenish reserves as well as dumping assets overboard. How easily could it do this when many are questioning its business model?

Let's not forget, in July it announced second-quarter net income was down 98 percent from the same period in the previous year. Profits are falling in an environment of little yield, thanks to the ultra-low rates from central bankers.

New safety buffers and litigation provisions that banks are required to hold cannot be helping. The rise of challenger banks must give execs at the established lenders sleepless nights and German consumers still view investment banking with distrust after the financial crash of 2008.



Deutsche Bank itself has even admitted that there's a "perception issue" and analysts who delve deep into the financial figures of the bank have highlighted its large amount of so-called "level 3" assets. These are assets that are highly illiquid and cause many headaches to the people trying to properly value them. In other words, they make analysts a little nervous.
"The loss you are seeing in the 1995 returns might be a decreased loss, because his overall loss could have far exceeded his income. That means, according to the tax laws, he would be allowed to carry over the remaining portion of the loss to another year," Rosenfeld told CNBC. "This billion-dollar loss could be the tip of the iceberg of a far larger loss."

Joel Rosenfeld, an assistant professor at New York University's Schack Institute of Real Estate, speculated that the loss could well be more than a billion dollars.

The spotlight focused this past weekend on Donald Trump 's 1995 tax returns have supporters like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani calling Trump "a genius"  but, according to one tax expert who reviewed the documents, Trump's nearly $1 billion loss doesn't paint the whole picture. In fact, he stressed the loss could be far larger.

But without seeing earlier or subsequent tax returns from Trump, besides 1995, Rosenfeld's views are conjecture. Trump has broken with precedent for a presidential race by refusing to release tax returns, citing an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

The 1995 tax returns and Trump's $916 million loss were first reported by The New York Times. Rosenfeld was also quoted in the Times' article. Trump campaign officials did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.

"I don't think the story stops there," Rosenfeld told CNBC. "In order to really get an assessment of the size of the loss, one has to look back prior to 1995. We need to know what created the loss, and the magnitude of the entire loss that time."



In order to answer those questions, Rosenfeld said you need to see the prior year's tax returns. "You need additional tax returns to really paint the picture of the true size of the loss. Trump could have sucked up the loss in prior years as well in multiple past returns, by offsetting income in those years."



The Trump organization is a limited liability corporation comprised of hundreds of companies. In Trump's financial disclosure forms that he filed to run for president, he accounted for some 500 entities.



"We know before 1995 he had the financial demise of his casinos, airline and the Plaza hotel. That is why we need to see the prior returns," said Rosenfeld.



At a rally in Pueblo, CO, on Monday, Trump was on the defensive, explaining the nearly billion-dollar loss was at the end of "one of the most brutal economic downturns" in U.S. history. He went on to blame the media, saying, "The news media is now obsessed with an alleged tax filing from the 1990s at the end of one of the most brutal economic downturns in our country's history." The Times confirmed the return with the accountant listed on the document.



Rosenfeld explained there are various ways limited to the real estate industry to create losses. "Failure, current operating losses enhanced by depreciation, interest on mortgages and various fees. Bottom line, this billion-dollar loss was a business disaster. Just how large, no one really knows. The loss could be much larger."
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Google unveiled a new high-end smartphone, Pixel, on Tuesday.

The phone starts at $649 and is available for preorder on Tuesday in the U.S., Canada, Germany and the U.K., the company said. Owners of the phone will get free unlimited storage for photos and videos at original quality. It's the first phone made by Google "inside and out," the company said, and is part of an exclusive partnership with Verizon .

Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of hardware at Google, introduces the Pixel Phone by Google during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco, Oct. 4, 2016 Beck Diefenbach | Reuters

Google believes that the next opportunity is building hardware and software together to empower artificial intelligence, an executive said at the event  a shift in strategy that aims directly at rival Apple . They're in the hardware game for the long run, Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of hardware at Google, said at the event. "Since I joined Google, one of the questions I get asked most often is, 'Why should we build hardware?'" Osterloh said. "We often joke that building hardware is, well, hard. People have strong emotional connections to the products they use every day. They are an important part of people's lives ... this is the right time to be focused on hardware and software." The phones have smartphone cameras that were scored higher than the iPhone 7, according to third-party research cited by Google. It has a 12.3-megapixel rear-facing camera and big aperture, and comes along with software that selects from bursts of images and merges pictures in low light. On the outside, it has a combination of aluminum and glass, an OLED display, a fingerprint sensor, a headphone jack and a USB-C charger. It's available in black, silver and blue. Inside, it sports 32 GB or 128 GB of storage. The Pixel also charges up to seven hours of power within 15 minutes, installs software updates in the background and has live customer care built in. In not-so-subtle terms, Sabrina Ellis, director of product management at Google, also demonstrated how to transfer over data from Apple's iOS to Pixel. The Pixel is the first phone with the Google Assistant, Osterloh said, as the company prepares for an "AI-first world." The phone is also made for virtual reality.

The company was largely expected to announce new handsets, and shares of Alphabet stock were flat during the event. Ahead of the event, Bloomberg reported that Google would unveil the Pixel and larger Pixel XL, two new smartphones that were conceptualized, designed, engineered and tested in-house. In the past, Google has relied on co-branding efforts with its Nexus devices, which it does not have plans to continue, according the The Verge. But the Pixel, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported, is assembled by HTC in an approach "no different than Apple's partnership with iPhone builder Foxconn." Tuesday's event revealed how the software will interact with hardware, where Google has traditionally been less focused than rivals like Apple . But during the company's July earnings announcement, Pichai made it clear that mobile is key to Google's future. "Our investment in mobile now underlines everything that we do today," Pichai said.

Google Home and other devices

Mario Queiroz introduces the Google Home device during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco, Oct. 4, 2016. Beck Diefenbach | Reuters

Google also divulged more details on Tuesday of a highly anticipated smart home device, Google Home, that pits the company against Amazon 's $180 Alexa.

The $129 Google Home device is available for preorder Tuesday and ships Nov. 4, and comes in several colors and with a six-month YouTube Red subscription. "Our mission has always been to organize the world's information," said Rishi Chandra, a vice president at Google. "Over the past few years we've gone beyond the 10 blue links into providing direct answers to your questions. ... Now, with Google Home, we give you an easy way to access the knowledge of Google in a hands-free way." The device plays YouTube Music, and of course, Google Play Music as well the Spotify, Pandora and iHeart Radio offerings that Amazon's Alexa has. Other features include a shopping list and morning agenda briefing. Google Home, which has connectivity to other smart home devices like Nest and Chromecast, comes as voice is becoming the standard way to interact devices, Chandra said. The company also announced a new virtual reality headset that connects wirelessly with the phone and connects to YouTube and Google Street View. The Daydream View headset, made of fabric, comes in slate, crimson and snow.



Day Source: Google

The $79 headset will feature a virtual reality experience of J.K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Google said. Daydream View will also support educational programs, and will go on sale in November.

Next, the company announced a Google Wi-Fi router, starting at $129 to ship in December. It is designed to be "visually subtle" and set for automatically optimizing your Wi-Fi network. It also comes with a companion app. Also new from Google was a new version of its $69 streaming device, Chromecast Ultra, that will support new content from Google Play Movies that is four times better than standard high definition.

Google's strategy
Germany Considers Suing Facebook Over Users' Racist Posts

In the United States, social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo Answers generally can't be held liable for the content user's post online. Responsibility for defamatory posts, infringing media, or crazy rantings generally falls on the poster's shoulders, not on the platform that hosts the content.

That's not the case in other countries, however, where websites may have greater responsibility for user's content. Case in point: German prosecutors are currently considering whether to force Facebook to take a more active hand in ensuring its user content complies with the country's anti-hate speech laws by removing users racist and threatening posts.

CDA: The (Accidental) American Way

Here in God's Country, Facebook would be protected from such action by the Communication's Decency Act. Section 230 of that act protects websites like Facebook from liability for user content.

But the CDA has an interesting backstory; it's the free speech law that was never meant to be, the sword that's become a shield.

The CDA was first passed as an internet censorship law, intended to criminalize the transmission of obscene content online, everything from porn to "excretory activities."



But in exchange for limiting internet users' speech, it created a liability shield for online intermediaries like community forums, email services, and social media websites.



The CDA's speech restrictions were struck down as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, but the shield remained.

Going After the Hosts

That approach to regulating internet content hasn't been adopted worldwide and prosecutors in Germany are now considering whether to take action against Facebook over the content of its users. The move comes after a German technology law firm filed a complaint alleging that Facebook was in violation of the nation's hate speech, sedition, and anti-terrorism laws, according to Reuters.

The German attorney Chan-jo Jun is looking to have Facebook compelled to comply with those laws by removing offensive posts. Jun has collected over 400 postings, Reuters said, ranging from political rants to "clear examples of racist hate speech and calls to violence laced with references to Nazi-era genocide."

Facebook claims that such speech is already prohibited on its service and that the claims against it have no merit. Such claims "have repeatedly been rejected," according to the social networking company.

But such lawsuits don't seem to be letting up. Facebook is already facing at least three lawsuits claiming that it provides material support for terrorism by allowing terrorist groups to organize online. One of the most recent claim against it, filed this summer, seeks $1 billion in damages stemming from Hamas's use of the website.

Related Resources:
Is your computer committing cybercrime? New research reveals which countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa have the largest number of internet-connected devices infected with malware "bots" that allow criminals to use the device as part of co-ordinated cyber attacks. The research was released Tuesday by Norton, a division of the security software company Symantec, and found that Turkey had the largest number of "bot" infections. There is one bot for every 1,139 internet users in Turkey, and the country contains 18.5 percent of all the bots across the EMEA region.

The U.K. came seventh in the table, but had a much lower density of bots, with one per 4,573 internet users.

John Lund

Once a device, such as a computer, laptop or smartphone, is infected with a bot, it can be used remotely by criminals as part of a "botnet", a network of hundreds or thousands of devices, which can be used to commit crimes including denial-of-service attacks in order to cause a website to crash. The device owner may not even know their device is being used in this way.

"Where a bot resides isn't indicative of where its controlling cybercriminal may live. Botnets are global in nature, and an infected device in Europe could contribute to an attack in Asia, controlled by a cybercriminal in North America. We'd probably have bots attacking from the Antarctic if there was more bandwidth there," Paul Wood, head of cybersecurity research at Symantec, said in a press release.

Cyber criminals are most likely to target consumer devices that lack security and are easy to infect, according to Nick Shaw, vice president and general manager EMEA at Norton.

"From laptops and mobile phones, to fitness trackers and routers to home security systems, smart TVs and baby monitors, any internet-connected device is a potential target but the ones with default passwords, infrequent updates and poor security protocols are the first to target," he told CNBC via email.

"To reduce their risk of infection, consumers can change the default device's credentials, disabling unused services, modifying the privacy settings of the device and ensuring its firmware is up to date."

The research from Norton raises concerns regarding the internet of things. As more and more appliances become connected, should companies be cautious to implement these innovations?

"Businesses should always consider the security implications of any new investment or integration. Rushing headlong into the latest technology will always have its risks, but the potential gains of internet connected devices are significant," added Shaw.

"Whilst businesses need to ensure they have a robust security strategy in place, manufacturers of these devices should implement security in the design phase to reduce the potential impact to consumers and businesses. Businesses shouldn't be scared away but they should absolutely employ caution and think ahead about their approach to integration."

Top 10 countries by total bot population
The Constitution has required that the vice president be on the ballot, in one form or another, since our nation's founding. But I was relieved to learn that I'm not the only one to think the way we pick VPs in the heat of an election cycle seems somewhat nutty.

In the early 1970s, Michigan Sen. Bob Griffin proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would have ended the direct election of vice presidents and instead let presidents appoint their VPs, subject to congressional approval, after being sworn in.



Of course, the idea didn't go anywhere. But it wasn't without its supporters  especially after Richard Nixon's veep, Spiro Agnew, had to resign over accusations of extortion and tax fraud.



At the time, reporters like Tom Wicker of the New York Times made a case similar to mine, according to John D. Feerick's The Twenty-fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Applications. Wicker wrote:

The fact is that Presidents dictate their choices for Vice President with ruthless disregard for any[thing] but political qualifications, and political conventions approve them with no 'inquisition' at all. The further fact is that no Vice President is really elected by the people or their electors; he is an appendage to their Presidential choice.

Wicker's point is twofold: 1) that VPs are often chosen out of "ruthless" political calculation alone, and 2) that voters don't really get to vote on whether they support the VP.

Some of the contemporary political science research backs Wicker up. "There's little evidence that voters make any consideration based on the vice president," says Joseph E. Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami and the author of several studies on the vice presidency.

You'd think that nominees wouldn't then let electoral factors seep into their choices. "But they do, and sometimes that gives us vice presidents who don't do what the presidents, or the presidents' voters, wanted," Uscinski says.

You don't need to go back to the 1970s to see how short-term electoral considerations can warp presidential candidates' VP picks  with really worrying implications.

The most obvious recent example is Sarah Palin in 2008, when Sen. John McCain  hoping for a Hail Mary comeback in the polls  picked the obviously unqualified Alaska governor in the hopes of firing up his party's base.

McCain and Palin lost, of course. But McCain certainly theoretically could have won, and he could have died while in office. We may have risked a disastrous presidency in part because we make presidents choose their successors when an election is at stake.

There's enough historical evidence of this happening for us to know that it isn't just an unlikely possibility. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln chose southern white Unionist  and, it turned out, white supremacist  Andrew Johnson for his VP, in a bid for geographic diversity. After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson advanced a disastrous set of Reconstruction policies totally at odds with what the "great emancipator" and his Republican base wanted. (Plus, Lincoln lost the Southern state of Kentucky that year anyway.)

Discrepancies between the POTUS and the VP have also made leadership crises more difficult to resolve, and may even create an incentive for political assassins, Uscinski wrote in one recent paper. In 1881, President James Garfield was shot twice in the back but stubbornly clung to life for 80 days while completely incapacitated. Some lawmakers wanted to resolve the crisis by making VP Chester Arthur president but feared the political implications of doing so, because Arthur and Garfield came from different factions and had completely contradictory policies on civil service reform.

"Presidential candidates have often opted for running mates who are politically different from the head of the ticket ... to increase the chances of winning the general election," Uscinski writes. "But when presidents and vice presidents differ significantly, the country could inherit espousing policies the country does not democratically support."

Uscinski's argument here isn't just that an "unqualified" VP could become president despite not enjoying the support of much of the country. It's that we explicitly look to vice presidents to complement the ideological profiles of the nominees, thereby intentionally inserting confusion into our government that could, potentially, be avoided under a different system.
Many business leaders have speculated about the perfect recipe for successful entrepreneurship, but for Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh it's more about creative freedom. It's something he learned at an early age when he tried opening a worm farm at 8 years old, and has since relearned over the years, navigating the sale of his shoe company Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2009. "What I love about being an entrepreneur is that it's really about creativity," Hsieh told CNBC. "I think people that love being creative, love being handed a bunch of different constraints and then try to figure out what to do with it  those are the are people that [should] want to be entrepreneurs."



Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh FilmMagic | Getty Images

And it's this creativity that differentiates entrepreneurial thinking from the more traditional reasoning that might be expected from an MBA, Hsieh said, highlighting a metaphor originally laid out by University of Virginia professor Saras Sarasvathy. "If you look at typical MBAs versus entrepreneurs and asked them to go make some sort of dish ... what a typical MBA might do is decide what they want to make, Google it, go find the recipe and then go buy those ingredients and then follow that recipe and make that great dish," he said. "What an entrepreneur would do is open up the refrigerator and the cupboards and see what ingredients there are and then cobble together something that's never been made before. They're both different approaches to business and there's value in both, but for me I prefer the second approach because it allows for a lot more creativity."
A sign on the wall greets visitors to Syracuse Universitys Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). The IVMF is located at 150 Crouse Dr., between Holden Observatory and the Carrier Dome, on the Syracuse campus. (Eric Reinhardt / BJNN file photo)

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has awarded Syracuse University a $100,000 service-disabled veteran entrepreneurshiptraining program grant (SDVETP).

The funding will target the entrepreneurship bootcamp for veterans with disabilities, which is part of the schools Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF).

Besides the IVMF, the SBA also awarded funding to Oklahoma State University, St. Josephs University in Philadelphia, and Dog Tag Bakery, Inc. in Washington, D.C., the agency said.

The federal grant is one of four that the SBAs Office of Veteran Business Development awarded to assist the recipients in providing entrepreneurial training to service-disabled veterans interested in starting or growing a small business.

The SDVETP grant-funding competition was open to eligible institutions of higher learning; private organizations or businesses; nonprofit community-based organizations; state, local or tribal governmental agencies; and nonprofit organizations.

The initial award is for 12 months. The SBA and the awardees have the option to continue the grant for up to two additional years at the end of the initial grant period.

The SBA looks forward to working with these outstanding awardees to create opportunities for service-disabled veterans and their families who seek to start or grow a small business, Barbara Carson, associate administrator, SBA Office of Veterans Business Development, said in the news release. The SDVETP grantees join SBAs vast network of resources that empower veterans, service-disabled veterans, and National Guard and Reserve service members, and military spouse entrepreneurs.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Photo credit: Masonic Medical Research Laboratory

UTICA, N.Y.  The Masonic Medical Research Laboratory (MMRL) of Utica on Sept. 21 announced it has recently hired John Zielinski of Marcy as CFO.

Zielinski joins the MMRL after a 30-plus year career in which he served as a senior financial officer in fields ranging from high-tech manufacturing to health care and public service, MMRL said in a news release.

In this new role, Zielinski will be responsible for managing the finances and administration of the MMRL.

MMRL consolidated the financial, information technology, administrative, human resources, and maintenance functions under the new CFO position.

The new position allows the organizations new director of research to focus on the scientific staff members and their work, MMRL contends.

The addition of the CFO position is part of MMRLs commitment to strengthen its focus on science and research, the organization said.

We are extremely pleased to have someone as talented and experienced as John join our team at the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory, David Schneeweiss, president of the MMRL board of directors, said in the news release. John brings with him more than thirty years of experience as a financial and administrative executive having recently served as city chamberlain for the City of Elmira. In this newly created position, he will focus primarily on the finances and administration of the laboratory.

A certified public accountant (CPA) since 1976, Zielinski has held senior level finance positions throughout the Mohawk Valley and upstate New York.

His past positions include serving as VP of finance and CFO of Momentum Manufacturing Corporation. He also served as assistant director of finance at St. Lukes Memorial Hospital and CFO of the J.M. Murray Center in Cortland.

He also served as VP of administration and finance of Mohawk Valley EDGE. In that role, Zielinski was responsible for the assets of nine related entities, totaling more than $87 million.

Its truly an exciting opportunity to join the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory, Zielinski said in the news release. The laboratory is a highly regarded and respected cardiac-research institute. I look forward to working with the multi-talented members of the scientific and administrative teams.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
BINGHAMTON, N.Y.  Binghamton University on Wednesday will hosts its first-ever Healthy Campus Summit.

The event is scheduled between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the schools University Union, the school said in a news release issued Monday. This event is free and open to the public.

The schools Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI) strives to cultivate a culture that is supportive of individuals and groups in pursuit of their optimal potential, the school said in the news release.

The purpose of the Healthy Campus Summit is to open a dialogue about its HCI for the campus and surrounding community.

The summit will provide information about campus-wide projects involving new educational programs, research and lifestyle suggestions.

Panels will also explore a variety of health and wellness issues.

The event includes a student-involvement fair, in which attendees can visit with organizations that offer opportunities to become involved in various health-and-wellness-related activities. They include internships, research, and academic programs.

Representatives from several organizations will participate.

The organizations include the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC); Undergraduate Research Center; Campus Recreation; M-HOPE peers and Mental Health Certificate program, REACH peers, Health and Wellness Studies Department, Student Culinary Council, 20:1 Sexual Assault Prevention and Bystander Intervention programs, and the Interdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Program (ITURP), according to the news release.

M-HOPE is short for mental health outreach peer educators.

Megan Amaya, director of health promotion and wellness and an assistant professor in practice at the College of Nursing at Ohio State University, and will give the keynote address, titled Best Practices in Building Cultures and Environments of Wellness in Academic Institutions: What Works!

Amaya is also president-elect for the National Consortium for Building Healthy Academic Communities, the school said.

Brian Rose, vice president for student affairs, will speak in a panel session, sharing thoughts on the strategic direction of the initiative in the years to come.

Johann Fiore-Conte, the schools assistant vice president for health and wellness, will offer closing remarks to end the event.

For a full schedule of events, visit https://www.binghamton.edu/bhealthy/summit.html.

Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com
ROME, N.Y.  Two organizations that work at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome will use a share of $1 million in state funding that two state lawmakers have secured.

The Cyber Research Institute will use $650,000, while the Central New York Defense Alliance will use $350,000, New York State Senator Joseph Griffo (RRome) and State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (DUtica) said in a joint news release issued Monday.

The lawmakers contend the state funding will significantly enhance the organizations efforts.

Those efforts are helping the region strengthen and safeguard its military, technology, and cyber-security presence by solidifying its public-private partnerships and fostering job growth, according to the release.

About the CRI

Established in 2012, the nonprofit Cyber Research Institute (CRI) provides scientific research for government and industry with an emphasis on cyber-security.

It also works to help Central New York attract new industries, while retaining and developing the cyber-security industry in Rome and surrounding communities.

The CRI will use the state funding as it helps public and private organizations confront cyber challenges so they can remain competitive, increase productivity, and reduce risk.

The funding is critical to supporting work in the cyber arena that ultimately maximizes public benefit, and it will allow the CRI to quickly respond to newly identified challenges.

The CRI will work directly with these organizations to understand the obstacles they face in managing their operations in ever-increasing technology environments, along with facilitating solutions for research and development needs.

CRI will work to foster partnerships and collaborations with cyber resources in the academic, government, and industry sectors, both locally and throughout New York.

About the CNY Defense Alliance

Established in 2011, the nonprofit Central New York Defense Alliance works to promote and leverage the significant defense ecosystem that exists in New York, with emphasis on protecting, enhancing, and strengthening the presence of the Air Force Research Laboratorys Rome research site (AFRL Rome) at Griffiss Business and Technology Park.

This ecosystem includes public and private colleges and universities; a strong network of defense and aerospace contractors; and technology companies.

The Alliance is also described as the only nonprofit corporation in the region that is positioned to legally engage in lobbying to strengthen and expand the defense industry and technology base of Central New York.

This funding will be critical to the Alliances efforts in collaborating with AFRL Rome and developing strategies that will support the promotion and strengthening of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS); the Eastern Area Defense Sector (EADS); and the FAA-designated Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) test site, each located at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park, according to the news release.

To accomplish this, the CNY Defense Alliance, along with Mohawk Valley EDGE, Griffiss Local Development Corporation, Griffiss Institute, Cyber Research Institute, and CenterState CEO, will work with federal, state, and local elected officials to maintain an advocacy effort for the regions assets.

Theyll also seek to ensure that these strategies are focused on enhancing upstate New Yorks high-tech ecosystem while creating job growth in Central New York.

Lawmaker reaction

Both Griffo and Brindisi offered reaction to securing the state funding for the nonprofit organizations at Griffiss Business and Technology Park.

As we remain vigilant against an array of security threats we currently witness across the globe, we cannot overemphasize the need for cyber-security and the role it plays in the defense of New York State and our nation, Griffo said in the news release. Our region is on the forefront of the battle to ensure that we have the best talents and technology to defend our borders, and I am pleased that this funding will be instrumental in continuing the important work of strengthening our national security, while preserving the defense assets that are located at Griffiss. Our community is proud to host these standalone military assets and research partners, and with that support we continue to do everything we can to sustain this important presence in the Mohawk Valley.

The funding helps solidify the very significant work that takes place at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park strengthening cyber security, Brindisi said in the same news release.

Both organizations thrive because they continue valuable collaborations that help our nations defense system and businesses respond to cyber threats. This funding also will significantly boost efforts to protect the Mohawk Valleys federal employers, which have long been a very important part of our economy. The future structure of the federal Defense Department is always an unknown, but with these organizations working on our behalf, we can be assured that the Air Force Research Lab, DFAS, EADS and the Unmanned Aerial Systems test site at Griffiss continue to be in a strong position.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
WAMPSVILLE, N.Y.  Madison County officials are reacting after Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill that would have provided the county with its fair share of revenue for any gaming facility located in the county.

The measure would have amended the state finance law to permit the sharing of revenue from casinos located in the county, the Madison County Board of Supervisors said in a statement issued Monday.

Cuomo vetoed the bill on Friday, the statement said.

The legislation would have provided Madison County additional revenue sharing from the Oneida Indian Nations Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango, which represents an expansion of the Oneida Nations gaming efforts.

The veto means Madison County is the only county in New York to host a casino gaming facility but not receive host community benefits.

The governor constantly touts his commitment to upstate New York, but I guess that does not include Madison County. I am not sure why our residents are being treated differently than every other countys residents, John Becker, chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors, said in the news release.

Cuomo vetoed the bill because as drafted, it may have jeopardized [New Yorks] current agreements with Oneida Nation, according to an article on the website of Time Warner Cable News.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in May 2013 announced an agreement between the state and the Oneida Indian Nation that has the Nation paying the state an estimated $50 million a year in Turning Stone Resort Casino revenue in return for a guarantee that no other casinos are built in Central New York.

Background

For over two years now, Madison County, following direction from Cuomos office, has worked to address this glaring disparity.

Initially, Cuomos office directed the county to meet with the New York State Gaming Commission on drafting a supplemental agreement that ultimately went nowhere.

Subsequently, the office instructed Madison County that it needed to address the disparity through the budget process.

Finally, when the issue was not addressed during the budget process, the governors office decided the County needed legislation to correct this wrong, according to the statement.

Madison County, with the support of State Senator Dave Valesky (DOneida) and State Assemblyman (DNelson) Bill Magee, worked to have lawmakers in both chambers pass the legislation with a vote of 183-5.

After all of our good faith efforts, undertaken at the direction of the governors office, the decision was to veto, the statement said.

In the veto message, Cuomo instructed Madison County to once again to go back to the budget office.

We are not sure why Madison County residents continue to get the run around from the governors office, Dan Degear, vice chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors, said in the countys statement.

Sadly, in recent weeks its become clear that too many decisions made in Albany are not based on the merits. We arent looking for a billion; we are just looking for our fair share, Becker added.

Lawmakers react

New York State Sens. David Valesky and Assemblyman Bill Magee on Monday also released a joint statement following Fridays veto.

It goes without saying that we are most disappointed with the recent veto of Madison County gaming legislation that was overwhelmingly approved by both the Senate and Assembly earlier this year. Madison County now hosts casino gaming within its borders but does not receive host community benefits, a situation this legislation would have rectified. However, we are encouraged that the governor has directed his budget director to review and explore a revenue-sharing formula that would provide Madison County with an appropriate portion of the revenue generated from such gaming devices. In this regard, we look forward to continuing to work with the Madison County Board of Supervisors and the governors office to bring about a long-term solution that best serves Madison County residents, the state lawmakers said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Guys,,, please help me to create a TCP connection C# to C++. is it possible to make a code C# SERVER and the Client is C++....please help me guys...thanks



Jarlo Belledo wrote: is it possible to make a code C# SERVER and the Client is C++

Yes.



Jarlo Belledo wrote: please help me to create a TCP connection

What have you tried?

Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...



Jarlo Belledo wrote: is it possible to make a code C# SERVER and the Client is C++

Of course it's possible.





Jarlo Belledo wrote: please help me guys

How to get an answer to your question - C# Discussion Boards



modified 4-Oct-16 9:01am.





This space for rent





Never underestimate the power of human stupidity

RAH



I know this isn't a Powershell forum, but the question is about PS in C#..



I have the following Powershell, that clears my languagebar, Setting Norwegian language. Adds Norwegian Apple Keyboard, removes, then Adds back to the end normal Norwegian keyboard:

$li = New-WinUserLanguageList " nb-NO" ; $li[0].InputMethodTips.Add( " 0414:A0000414" ); $li[0].InputMethodTips.Remove( " 0414:00000414" ); Set-WinUserLanguageList $li -Force $li = Get-WinUserLanguageList $li[0].InputMethodTips.Add( " 0414:00000414" ); Set-WinUserLanguageList $li -Force



This works Peachy when run from the powershell commandline. It updates the Language bar, and

set the Apple keyboard as default.



But when embedding it in C# like this:

C# string script = " " ; script += " $li = New-WinUserLanguageList nb-NO;" ; script += " $li[0].InputMethodTips.Add(\"0414:A0000414\");" ; script += " $li[0].InputMethodTips.Remove(\"0414:00000414\");" ; script += " Set-WinUserLanguageList $li -Force;" ; script += " $li[0].InputMethodTips.Add(\"0414:00000414\");" ; script += " Set-WinUserLanguageList $li -Force;" ; using ( PowerShell ps = PowerShell.Create() ) { ps.AddScript( script ); var result = ps.Invoke(); foreach ( var item in result ) { } }



The language bar does not get updated, although the language IS switched to Norwegian...



Is there any limitations on what kind of ps-scripts you can embed in C#?

(Both the script and the c# code runs as me/current user)...



TIA.



--

Dag.



\"nb-NO\" . Also, you are missing $li = Get-WinUserLanguageList from your C#.

This space for rent







Thats not it, thou... Just me trying small adjustments.



With or without quotes, and with or without re-getting the newly set list.

Results are the same.



--

Dag.







The differences are just me trying small differences. They where the same.

Didn't work in c# when they were identical either...



(But I should of course have posted them equal, to avoid confusion).



--

Dag.



Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope Process

This space for rent





This space for rent







Still got some small problems, thou...



I turned on ExecutionPolicy so it looks like this:

$li = New-WinUserLanguageList " nb-NO" ; $li[0].InputMethodTips.Add( " 0414:A0000414" ); $li[0].InputMethodTips.Remove( " 0414:00000414" ); Set-WinUserLanguageList $li -Force; $li = Get-WinUserLanguageList; $li[0].InputMethodTips.Add( " 0414:00000414" ); Set-WinUserLanguageList $li -Force;



- This creates a new languagelist with Norwegian standard culture,

- Adds the Norwegian Apple input (keyboard).

- Removes the Standard Norwegian keyboard.

- Set the list to be the current one in windows.

- Add back the Norwegian standard keyboard.

- Reapply the list to windows.



The sole purpose of the operation is to set the language bar to "Norwegian, with Apple Keyboard" with Norwegian with std. keyboard as a second option.



And it *ALWAYS* does, when run from Powershell/Command prompt.

When run embedded in c#, it sets Input to Norwegian Standard, and does NOT show Apple keyboard as a first (or second) alternative...



This drives me NUTS!



--

Dag.



Hi there , I am new to using delegates. How can i display the value 8, after I call t he delegate which calls the method Myfunc which doubles the number ?





using System; namespace Akadia.BasicDelegate { public delegate int SimpleDelegate( int a); class TestDelegate { public int n2; public static int MyFunc( int b) { Console.WriteLine( " I was called by delegate ..." ); TestDelegate t = new TestDelegate(); t.n2 = b * 2 ; return t.n2; } public int N2 { get { return n2; } } public static void Main() { SimpleDelegate simpleDelegate = new SimpleDelegate(MyFunc); simpleDelegate( 4 ); Console.ReadKey(); } } }







C# Console.WriteLine(simpleDelegate( 4 ));

or

C# int val = simpleDelegate( 4 ); Console.WriteLine(val);

Cheers,



Mick

------------------------------------------------

It doesn't matter how often or hard you fall on your arse, eventually you'll roll over and land on your feet.



C# public static int MyFunc( int b)

Check your method has return type 'int' and you have also returned the value in your method but while you have made call to this method by delegate you are not using the value returning from it. You can either get that value in another variable for further processing



C# int x = simpleDelegate( 4 ); Console.WriteLine(x);



or print it directly



C# Console.WriteLine(simpleDelegate( 4 ));



I had an idea on how to use httpClient, but I don't know if it can support 1000 users for clients. I want a multi threaded application or Web server that employs parallel programming to interact with client requests. What methods could you suggest to get me up and running? I am already reading a PDF on Socket programming that employs TCP/IP and parallel programming! What is your take on this? And if I were to buy such an application, how would I know if it can support 1000 clients or Multiuser functionality at all? This is for a Grammar checker web server, and client question on C language.



nqioweryuadfge wrote: if I were to buy such an application, how would I know You would ask the people you buy it from.


Included in numismatic literature collector Armand Champas collection was a copy of Thomas L. Elders Catalogue Of The Forty-Eighth Public Sale. Magnificent Collection Of Rare American Coins of William H. Woodin, Esqr., of New York City from March 2 to 4, 1911. Above right, is a special clamshell box Champa had made to house the rare catalog.

A photo of the 1804 Draped Bust dollar now housed in the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Neb., was first published in an 1874 auction catalog. The photo is of a plaster cast of the coins obverse only.

Nineteenth-century auction catalogs from the United States and Germany featuring the earliest known publication of photos of two different 1804 Draped Bust dollars are featured in the online portion of Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers Sale 143.

Lots 1 through 293 will be offered in an online sale beginning at noon ET Oct. 21. Lots 294 to 1113 will be offered via mail-bid only, closing at 9 p.m. ET Oct. 22.

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A 17.5 percent buyers fee is added to the closing pricing of each lot won.

Edward Cogan and an 1804 dollar

Edward Cogans Nov. 27, 1874, sale of a Catalogue Of A Very Rare And Valuable Assortment Of Coins And Medals, In Gold, Silver And Copper, The Property Of E. Harrison Sanford, Esq. illustrates the earliest known photograph of an 1804 Draped Bust dollar. The example of the coin illustrated became known as the Lorin G. Parmelee/Byron Reed specimen.

The photo illustrates the 1804 dollar's obverse only.

According to the auction lot description, Though a fine engraving of the 1804 silver dollar had appeared in Eckfeldt & Du Boiss famous 1842 Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations, the Sanford specimen appears to be the first to be depicted in a published photograph.

The coin itself is the centerpiece of the Byron Reed Collection at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Neb. The coin was graded and encapsulated Proof 64 in 1999 by ICG.

The condition of the Cogan catalog of the 1884 Sanford sale is described as internally fine. It carries an estimate of $1,000.

Another 1804 dollar illustrated

The first photographic evidence of both the obverse and reverse of what is known as the Dexter specimen of Class I 1804 Draped Bust dollar can be found in the auction catalog from Adolph Weyls Oct. 13, 1884, sale in Berlin of Verzeichniss Einer Bedeutenden Sammlung Von Munzen Und Medaillen Von Amerika, Australien, Asien Und Afrika, Sowie Einer Stattlichen Reihe Proklamations-Munzen Von Spanien.

The catalog describes the auction catalog in the sale as in Very good or better condition, with an estimate of $1,000.

Pasted in near the base of the title and measuring 4.5 by 10.75 centimeters is what is referred to as a Lichtdruck, or light impression photographic representation of the 1804 dollar's obverse and reverse. The images were produced through a process similar to a collotype.

A collotype is a dichromate-based photographic process invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1856 and used for large volume mechanical printing before the existence of cheaper offset lithography. The collotype process allows for making high-quality prints from a sheet of light-sensitive gelatin exposed photographically to the image without using a screen.

According to the auction lot description, Collotype or Lichtdruck illustrations, while of excellent quality, are photographically printed from plaster casts and, though the quality of detail is excellent, toning or proof surfaces are not apparent.

Quick tangent: What's so special about the 1804 dollar?

What makes the 1804 dollar, which is often referred to as the "King of American Coins," so intriguing?

The history of the coin  which might be the wrong term for the item  is one of the most famous in U.S. numismatics. That's because no 1804-dated coins were struck for circulation in 1804, according to U.S. Mint records.

Class I 1804 dollars, of which there were at least eight, were indeed issued by the U.S. government, but not until the 1830s. And they were not issued for circulation, but as diplomatic gifts in sets of coins.

"They were intended to be included as part of Proof sets to be given as diplomatic gifts for foreign heads of state beginning in late 1834," Bill Eckberg wrote in his August 2015 Coin World feature about the shadiest of U.S. coins. "Two were actually presented: one to the Sultan of Muscat on Oct. 1, 1835, and the other to the King of Siam on April 5, 1836. Two other sets were prepared in April of 1835 but not delivered. Those four 1804 dollars and four others are known to exist in private and public collections. Remarkably, two of them are in the D. Brent Pogue Collection that was sold at auction by Stacks Bowers Galleries. The King of Siam set, discovered in 1962, provided the key to understanding the origin of these fascinating and expensive pieces."

Classes II and III 1804 Draped Bust dollars were produced clandestinely and illegally for sale to collectors beginning around 1859.

MORE ON THE 1804 DOLLAR: Unlikely stories of finds of 1804 Draped Bust dollars: Coin Lore | Red Book 70th anniversary: The King of Coins

Back to the Kolbe-Fanning offerings

The late Armand Champa is recognized within the annals of numismatic literature collecting for having assembled what was considered among the finest numismatic libraries ever, until its dispersal in 1995.

Included in Champas collection was a copy of Thomas L. Elders Catalogue Of The Forty-Eighth Public Sale Magnificent Collection Of Rare American Coins of William H. Woodin, Esqr., of New York City from March 2 to 4, 1911.

The condition of the Woodin catalog is labeled in the auction lot description as Near fine, with an estimate of $4,000.

The catalog has its original gilt-printed card covers intact, with 1,602 lots featured and 18 photographic plates. It is accompanied by its original prices realized list.

The auction catalog is housed in a brown half calf clamshell box, lettered in gilt. The spine features five raised bands, ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt.

William H. Woodin was the Treasury secretary from March 5, 1933, to Dec. 31, 1933, during President Franklin Roosevelts first term. He was also a coin collector and numismatist who co-authored the first book on pattern and other experimental U.S. coins.
Liberal Politics from the Heart of Bluegrass Country
The charge was brought to the five illegal foreign workers by U Aung Maw, the head of Kyaikmayaw Townships Immigration Department, on September 30, because they arrived at MCL on September 20 and failed to report their arrival to the township immigration department, according to U Shein Win, director of Mon States Ministry of Population and Immigration.

If the foreigners stay at a hotel, the hotel owner must report it. If they stay at the factory, the factory owner must report it. Similarly, if they stay at the company, the company owner must report it. The company must report the foreigners stay at the company within 24 hours, said U Shein Win.

Among the five charged foreigners, are four Chinese and one Thai. The case will be brought to the Kyaikmayaw Township court tomorrow [October 4].

On July 25, when a team from Mon States Immigration Department went to the MCL company without prior warning, they found 292 Chinese citizens at the company, who were there without having reported the nature of their stay to the respective department. On August, 1, at the Mon State Government Office, the 292 Chinese citizens and the company signed off on a promise that it would not happen again in the future, according to the government office.

We went there in July to inspect. At that time we found them but we did not charge them with anything. We overlooked them as it was their first time and they gave their word. They said they werent aware of the procedure. Now, after being well-informed, we went there to check again and found the illegal employees again. Therefore, this time they cant plead ignorance and we will charge them, said Colonel Win Naing Oo, minister of Mon States Security and Border Affair Ministry.

Colonel Win Naing Oo continued that locals have staged protests against the cement company MCL as the companys work has had a considerable, negative impact on the community and the environment.

The five foreigners are facing charges under the Act Law 5(1) of foreigners registration with the crime no. 184/2016 from Kyaikmayaw Townships court. Under the article 14 (3) and 18 (5) of 1948s registration of foreigner rules, the foreigners must report their stay.

There are a total of 361 foreign workers; comprised of 281 Chinese citizens and 80 Thai citizens working at MCL, according to Mon States Population and Immigration Ministry.
Sales of Manhattan co-ops and condos have plunged 20% in Q316, relative to the same quarter last year  sales in excess of asking price dropped from 35% to 17%; days on market before sale increased from 67 to 72; median growth in sale price fell to 2.6% from 18%.

Some people had wondered whether Brexit and the Vancouver crackdown on housing speculation would chase offshore property speculators to New York. Guess not.



The median price of all resales in the quarter climbed 2.6 percent to $950,000, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman said. That's a step down in a three-year period in which annual price growth once reached 18 percent. Many sellers have yet to accept that they can no longer name any price, and the disconnect between their expectations and what buyers are willing to pay is contributing to the drop in overall sales, Miller said. "We're clearly seeing a slowdown," Miller said. "This era of aspirational pricing is coming to an end. Buyers get the message first."

Manhattan Apartment Sales Plunge 20% as Homebuyers Get Pickier

[Oshrat Carmiel/Bloomberg]





(Image: One57 Crane Collapse, Deborah Rasiel, CC-BY-SA)

(via Naked Capitalism)
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Family starts over after losing home, pets in Wooldridge fire

The McComb family called Wooldridge home before losing everything material to wildfire. What hurt the most was the loss of their pet dog Olaf.
Meme factory/Anonymous birthplace/alt-right breeding ground 4chan is facing challenges similar to those plaguing all ad-supported sites, but as with all things channish, 4chan's problems have their own unique and grotesque wrinkles.

4chan founder Christopher "Moot" Poole sold the company in 2015 to take a job at Google; even then, ad rates were in steep decline. But new owner Hiroyuki Nisimura has laid out the new, harsher reality in a post entitled "Winter is coming," where he reveals that he has failed to keep 4chan "as it is" and says that in the future, he would have to close some boards, limit image sizes, and allow invasive and "malicious" ads onto the site.

As early reports of the crisis trickled out of chan-land into the non-shitlord 'net, it caught the attention of pathetic, smirking attention-whore Martin Shkreli, who apparently believes that he'll have enough of his fortune intact after paying off the fines and judgments hanging over his head as a result of his corrupt business practices  running a Ponzi scheme with his investors' money; hiking drug prices beyond all sense or decency  to bail out 4chan before it bottoms out.





In a tweet, Shkreli offered his services, saying he'd be "open to joining the Board of Directors of 4chan."

This ends well.

It looks like 4chan still has a few allies in the tech world, despite its unpleasant reputation. In a now-deleted but still-cached tweet, billionaire Minecraft founder Marcus "Notch" Persson apparently also expressed an interest in helping the site, writing: "Assuming it's not too expensive, and assuming I don't have to do any actual work myself, I'm in."

Winter is coming [Hiroyuki Nisimura/4chan]

I'm open to joining the Board of Directors of 4Chan. @4chan [Martin Shkreli/Twitter]

4chan is running out of moneyand Martin Shkreli wants to help out

[Tom Mendelsohn/Ars Technica]
Columbus Arts Festival 2022 Patron Party

Arts backers and community leaders gathered June 10, 2022, for the Columbus Arts Festivals Patron Party, which raised more than $34,000.
See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Morbid Curiosities: Collections of the Uncommon and the Bizarre

by Paul Gambino

Laurence King Publishing

2016, 160 pages, 7 x 9.8 x 1 inches (hardcover)

$22 Buy a copy on Amazon

Dark and delightful, artistic and unusual, Morbid Curiosities: Collections of the Uncommon and the Bizarre is a glimpse into 18 fascinating collections of oddities. But more than that, it is also a collection of the collectors themselves. Author Paul Gambino's familiarity with these traders of the macabre has granted him access to their greatest finds and most beloved possessions and in turn into their psyches as well.

We are talking about the types of things that most of us don't encounter grouped together outside of museums: Jars of diseased organs and the owner's own placenta; shelves of human skulls of various shapes and histories; exhumed items; masks; ephemera; the letters and art of serial killers; antique wax anatomical dummies; shrunken heads and mummies; parts of deformed people and animals; vintage prosthetic devices; poisons; Ouija boards and seance contraptions; a hangman's record book and tape measureand the list goes on.

Gambino presents the collections to us succinctly, with great visuals and a thoughtful introduction. And in doing so, he also presents to us a look at the folks who champion these items, who go to the ends of the earth to acquire them, who save them from garbage bins and bonfires, and who display them lovingly, beautifully, as objet d'art.

Their collections are every bit as ghoulish as you would imagine, but the collectors themselves are a variety of folks with regular lives. Aside from a high degree of correlation to tattoos (either by having them or by giving them or both) and for preferring bones over beanie babies, they appear to be the same everyday folks who you might encounter in your neighborhood, not knowing they have hair sculptures and jars of brains on their mantels. Their aesthetic tastes are unique, as are their reasons for collecting. But as Gambino notes, the common thread is a love of history. They have a passion for learning and curating and for the thrill of the hunt.

The book itself is a beautiful hardcover with black-edged pages, a nice touch. The photographs are well done and abundant on matte pages. Captions are small, but explain clearly what you're looking at. This book isn't for everybody, but to those it is for, it will be a nice addition to their own collection. The folks herein have undertaken the various dangers of acquiring their pieces, spent large sums of money, and painstakingly displayed them. It can be gross, but it is never dull. You might as well take a peek. You know you want to.

 Aaron Downey
Shoppers at the Wolfchase Galleria walk past the shuttered Reeds Jewelers shortly after an attempted smash and grab robbery at the store Sunday afternoon. A small sledge hammer could be seen on the ground in the store surrounded by broken glass. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

After a jewelry heist at the Wolfchase Gallera Sunday afternoon and a massive search for the suspects, Memphis police arrested a man and two women for the crime.

But on Monday, police released all three suspects in the robbery of Reeds Jewelers without filing charges.

Memphis police officials aren't saying why the suspects were released, but it appears they believe they caught the wrong people.

"The individuals that were detained regarding this incident have been released without charge. This is an ongoing investigation," Memphis Police spokesman Louis Brownlee said in an email.

The holdup happened a little after 1 p.m. Sunday, when a robber with a small sledgehammer apparently smashed a case containing Rolex watches. Although police haven't confirmed that detail, a broken case was visible inside the store Sunday afternoon, a sledgehammer nearby on the floor.

The suspect grabbed several watches, dropped the hammer and ran. Reeds is at least 150 feet from the closest mall exit; police haven't said which way the suspect ran.

Somehow, police apparently got a description of the getaway car: a red-and-white Dodge Challenger. Police saturated the area looking for the suspects, and eventually stopped a matching car near Macon and Tennessee 385. That's where they arrested the three suspects.

But did police have the right car description, and just pull over the wrong car? Or was the description of the getaway vehicle bogus from the start?

Police aren't saying, making what at first looked like an easy case suddenly more cloudy.

This is at least the second heist of that same jewelry store in the past three years. On Jan. 18, 2014, a team of six men with sledgehammers burst into the store and stole more than $500,000 worth of watches. They fled from the mall and effectively disappeared.

But one of the suspects dropped a cell phone during the holdup, and police eventually used that to trace the suspects to Texas, where they were caught.
The Supreme Court convened on Monday for a new term with an old problem: 202 days after President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death last February of Justice Antonin Scalia, the seat remains open and the court remains evenly split between liberal and conservative factions.

Snubbed by the U.S. Senates Republican majority, which apparently prefers a deadlocked court and delayed justice to seating an Obama nominee, Garland, chief judge of the. U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., has now waited longer than any high court nominee in the nations history for a hearing and a confirmation vote. And through it all, not a single senator has questioned his character or his qualifications.

The Senates inaction and the continued division among the eight remaining justices is impeding justice across the country. This term the court is signaling that it will take fewer cases and in particular fewer cases that present major issues than it would otherwise.

United States v. Texas, a suit challenging President Obamas decision to revamp enforcement of immigration laws, illustrates the importance of a full court. After Scalias death, the justices deadlocked 4-4 on the case, putting Obamas policy in limbo and guaranteeing more litigation and perhaps years of additional delay in settling the legal status of millions of immigrants.

On Tuesday, day 202 after the nomination, members of a coalition of organizations gathered on the steps for the latest in a series of protests over the delay. The crowd included James Obergefell, the plaintiff in last years historic case in which the court struck down barriers to same-sex marriage.

The demonstration underscored the court vacancy status as an issue in the presidential campaign, Republican candidate Donald Trump has defended the Senates inaction on Garland while Democrat Hillary Clinton has defended the nomination; polls say most Americans agree with Clinton that Garland deserves a hearing and a vote
The November election will be the first in 50 years conducted without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act, a development that heightens the importance of volunteer efforts to see that every voter has convenient, unobstructed access to the ballot.

But with Election Day just five weeks away, some political leaders are stoking unfounded fears about voter fraud and recruiting volunteers bent on suppressing rather than boosting turnout.

Unfortunately, their rhetoric appears to be sticking with many Americans. In a recent survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 35 percent of American adults said they believe there is a great deal of election fraud in the United States, 39 percent say there is some election fraud, and only 24 percent say there is hardly any. About half of all Republicans, 58 percent of Donald Trump supporters, and 18 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters believe there is a great deal of election fraud.

They are mistaken. Research by Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles who specializes in democracy and election law, has found that since 2000, only 31 verified cases of voter impersonation fraud have been documented out of more than 1 billion ballots cast in the U.S.

Ignoring those numbers, organizations such as True the Vote are fomenting voter vigilantism, recruiting volunteers to stalk the polls and report suspicious behavior. Those groups, which in the past have targeted communities of color, seem more intent on suppressing the vote than on protecting voters however.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump is also fanning popular fears about voter fraud, telling supporters he can lose the election only if cheating goes on and urging them to monitor voting in certain areas.

Many voting-rights advocates hear calls for voter intimidation in Trumps rhetoric. On Saturday, the candidate urged a largely white crowd of supporters in Manheim, PA to go out, and [] get everybody you know, and you got to watch the polling booths, because I hear too many stories about Pennsylvania, certain areas. He continued, We dont want to losebut especially, we dont want to lose for that reason. So go over and watch.

Other groups, including Common Cause and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law are focused on assisting voters and fending off efforts to discourage voting. Were offering poll volunteers in-person and online training sessions on federal and state laws on voter registration and identification. Trainees learn how to deal with equipment issues, provide disability and language assistance, and more.

Sign up to be an Election Protection volunteer.

Those groups also are urging voters who see illegal or intimidating practices on Election Day, to report their observation to the Election Protection hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE. For Spanish, call 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA and 1-888-API-VOTE for Asian languages. More information on Election Protection and how to join its team of volunteers is available here.

Meanwhile many state legislatures have passed strict voter ID laws that are designed to prevent the kind of fraud that Levitt has demonstrated is already almost nonexistent.

Laws aimed to prevent impersonation fraud not only are unnecessary, they prevent many eligible voters from voting. In just four states, during the same time period of Levitts research, 3,000 people were turned away at polling places due to strict voter ID laws.

Until 2013, when the Supreme Court decided Shelby County v. Holder, the Voting Rights Act stood as a bulwark against state attempts to limit the franchise. But because the court eviscerated Section V of the VRA, states no longer need federal preclearance to implement legislation related to voting laws or practices.

Since Shelby, nearly half of the states have passed laws that disproportionately affect low-income voters, voters of color, students, seniors, and the disabled. These restrictive laws have been pushed aggressively by Republican lawmakers and theres considerable evidence theyre motivated by partisanship.

Its something were working on all over the country, because in the states where they do have voter ID laws youve seen, actually, elections begin to change towards more conservative candidates, former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a Republican whos now serving as president of the Heritage Foundation, has said.

In one of the most restrictive examples, North Carolina eliminated Election Day or same-day registration, prohibited preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds, restricted early voting, and required stringent forms of photo identification. Much of the North Carolina law was set aside last month by a federal appeals court.
Cards Against Humanity raised funds to create a Super-PAC devoted to "driving Trump nuts."

The Super-PAC is called "The Nuisance Committee," in homage to co-founder Max Temkin's grandfather, who served time in a Nazi POW camp where he founded his own nuisance committee, dedicated to monkeywrenching and irritating their Nazi captors.

The Committee's goals are to get out the vote, and to create media-friendly Trump stories that scare his opponents to the polls and dishearten and disillusion his supporters.

The other thing is the media has this insatiable thirst for Trump-related stories and trivia. Trump exploits that. He sort of arbitrages the media's unstoppable need for Trump stories by saying crazy stuff and getting millions of dollars of earned media whenever he tweets. A presidential candidate told the American public to go look at a sex tape on Twitter at 3:20 a.m. Not healthy. But meanwhile, every network is talking about Trump's tweets. I feel like we are able to exploit the media's thirst for Trump by doing these sorts of jokes. The more we can pick these provocative issues and do them in a surprising way, the more we'll get our share of the media on the other side. Turn that tactic that's been working really well for Trump against him.

Cards Against Humanity group put up 90-foot taunt of Donald Trump

[Becky Yerak/Chicago Tribune]

IF TRUMP IS SO RICH HOW COME HE DIDN'T BUY THIS WEBSITE? [The Nuisance Committee/Cards Against Humanity]

Can A Popular Card Game Stop Donald Trump?

[Tosten Burks/Top Sports]





(via Diane Duane)

(Image: Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte walks away from reporters Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016 in Hudson, N.H., after telling them she misspoke when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children during a live televised debate the night before. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) Jim Cole

Senator Kelly Ayotte and Governor Maggie Hassan at the debate at New England College Monday night.

First, Republican Kelly Ayotte said Donald Trump is absolutely someone children should look to as a role model. Three hours later, the senator backtracked, saying she misspoke during a televised debate.

But by then, her comments had taken hold, spreading across the internet and capturing national headlines.

Democratic challenger Maggie Hassan was quick to pounce; her campaign put out a web ad contrasting Ayottes statement with video clips of Trumps attacks on women and those with disabilities. Ayotte faced a horde of reporters when she dropped by a McDonalds on Tuesday for a planned visit with workers.

I misspoke, the first-term senator reiterated at the Hudson franchise, where she took customers orders at the drive-thru window.

Throughout the competitive U.S. Senate race, Ayotte has tried to distance herself from Trump, avoiding his campaign rallies and saying she supports but does not endorse his candidacy.

Still, Trump continues to be a torturous subject for Ayotte, who at times has struggled to answer whether she backs him, agrees with his policies or, in this case, considers him a role model for children.

The U.S. Senate race is one of the most competitive in the country, and it could tip party control of the chamber. Democrats have tried to tie Ayotte to Trump, who is deeply unpopular in the state. Ayotte has largely tried to avoid talk of Trump, making the role model comments her most high-profile slip-up yet.

Recent polls show the Republican senator running ahead of Trump in New Hampshire. Real Clear Politics shows Ayotte with a slight edge over Hassan, while Trump trails Democrat Hillary Clinton by 6 percentage points in the state.

It remains to be seen whether this exchange will damage her popularity.

Shes between a rock and a hard place, said Dartmouth College government professor Linda Fowler. Trump won the states first-in-the-nation primary by double digits and rejecting his candidacy outright could anger members of Ayottes base. Embracing Trump fully, however, could alienate independent voters, who could decide the Senate contest and who polls show lean toward Clinton.

I dont think theres a good way for her to handle this, she said. All the options are costly.

Ayottes stance so far has been to support Trump while criticizing some of his more controversial positions and statements, including his attacks on the parents of a fallen U.S. soldier.

She continued to back the nominee even after he verbally attacked her in the press, telling the Washington Post this summer she had offered him zero support and claiming he was beating her in the polls. Trump has since endorsed her campaign, but has stayed silent on her recent role model comments.

They came Monday night in the first televised U.S. Senate debate between Ayotte and Hassan, when the Republican was asked whether children should aspire to be like Trump.

At first Ayotte wouldnt answer directly, but when pressed, she said, I think that certainly there are many role models that we have, and I believe he can serve as president, and so absolutely I would do that.

Hours after the debate, Ayotte issued a statement saying she misspoke.

While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldnt hold up either of them as role models for my kids, she wrote in a statement that she repeated to reporters Tuesday.

Democrats seized on the comments and pushed Tuesday for Ayotte to explain why children should look up to Trump.

Lets not forget. Donald Trump called a Miss Universe pageant winner Miss Piggy. Hes insulted women for being flat-chested and having a fat ass,  former state Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan said on a press call with reporters. Kelly Ayotte should explain to the people of New Hampshire exactly what about Donald Trump she thinks our children should emulate.

Ayotte isnt the only one who has had to contend with the top of the ticket.

In an awkward exchange that aired on CNN recently, Hassan three times dodged a reporters question about whether she thinks Clinton is honest and trustworthy. Hassans campaign later clarified she does find her partys presidential nominee trustworthy.

She addressed it in Mondays debate. I certainly didnt give my best answer, said Hassan, the states second-term governor. I find her honest and trustworthy as do many other people. . . . What I find very concerning is that at a time when our country faces so many evolving national security threats, that my opponent is supporting Donald Trump, who members of her own party say poses an absolute danger to the countrys vital interest.

Ayotte fired back, saying she is willing to stand up to Trump, while accusing Hassan of blindly supporting Clinton.

That is not right for New Hampshire. We need someone who is going to stand up no matter who is in that Oval Office, she said. Look at what Secretary Clinton did with her emails. We havent heard Gov. Hassan call her out at all on those issues, which are deeply troubling to the American people.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307 or amorris@cmonitor.com)
The Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF) received a total of $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to support its small business lending and technical assistance programs as well as its Colorado Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI).Of the total, $1.75 million will go to CEF's small business lending and technical assistance programs. The remaining $650,000 will support HFFI in Colorado."We are honored to receive these two awards from the CDFI Fund this year," says Ceyl Prinster, president and CEO of Colorado Enterprise Fund. "This dual funding will increase our ability to finance businesses that create jobs, enhance economic vitality and expand community prosperity, as well as contribute to the health of Colorado's citizens through broader access to fresh, healthy foods."Since 1996, CEF has been awarded nearly $10.9 million to increase access to capital and technical assistance for small business owners. The awards have helped small businesses leverage more than $54 million in public and private-sector capital lending to more than 1,800 businesses creating over 16,000 jobs.The HFFI awards will help CEF reduce food deserts throughout Colorado and increase access to fresh, healthy food options. Thus far HFFI has received $2.2 million (including the $650,000 just announced) to support its programs.Two other organizations in Colorado also received funding from the CDFI, which gave a total of $185.7 million to 196 organizations designated as CDFIs across the country. The other recipients in Colorado were Colorado Housing Enterprises in Westminster and Alamosa, which received $1.25 million, and La Plata Homes Fund in Durango, which received $700,000.Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com
This week our party is putting forward a vision of a country that works for everyone.

Where you can go as far as your talents take you.

Ultimately the opportunity to get on depends on the security provided by our Armed Forces.

Today British forces are fighting terrorism, countering aggression, and training troops in democracies as far apart as Iraq and Ukraine, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

Here at home, they are patrolling our skies and seas.

Serving around the world, around the clock  to keep our country safe.

Each one of them deserves our thanks.

In Theresa May we have a leader who puts security first.

Her first act as Prime Minister was to win an overwhelming majority in Parliament to build the new nuclear submarines that will deter the most extreme threats through to the 2060s.

That sent a powerful message about Britains commitment to defend our way of life, and that of our allies.

Tomorrow I will be cutting steel on the first new Successor Trident submarine.

A billion pound investment that will benefit businesses from Barrow to Berkshire, from the North of Scotland to Tyneside.

Contrast that with the Labour Party.

While we are getting on with the Successor programme, they cant even agree on a successor to Jeremy Corbyn.

Instead, theyve just re-elected a Leader who wants to scrap our nuclear weapons, leave NATO, and talk to terrorists.

Let me tell you waving a white flag wont keep us safe.

Labour would risk our defence for dogma  thats why they cannot be trusted with Britains security.

Today we face Daesh terrorism, a resurgent Russia, cyber attacks, North Korea illegally testing nuclear weapons.

Unlike Labour, we have the will to respond to these threats.

Were investing in more ships, more planes, a 50,000 strong division, better equipment, and stronger cyber defence.

All paid for by a defence budget that will grow every year of this parliament.

Our party  putting defence first.

Leaving the EU does not mean we are stepping back from our commitment to the security of our continent.

We will continue to have the biggest defence budget in Europe  meeting the two per cent NATO spending target.

And we will lead in NATO  the cornerstone of our defence  putting troops onto its eastern border next year.

But we will go on blocking an EU Army, which would simply undermine NATO.

We will step up, not away from, our global responsibilities.

Our Armed Forces are already playing the second biggest part in the coalition against Daesh.

Last month in Iraq I met our troops training Iraqi Forces and we are doubling the numbers we have therethe RAF is striking Daesh day and night;Royal Navy frigates and destroyers help guard coalition aircraft carriers.

Defeating Daesh will help keep Britains streets safe.

Two years into this campaign, I ask you to pay tribute to all our military are doing

We will also increase troop numbers in Afghanistan and doubling our contribution to UN-peacekeeping missions in Africa.

With new aircraft carriersmaritime patrol aircraftattack helicoptersarmoured vehiclesand the fifth biggest defence budget in the worldwe are ready to defend freedom and the rule of law to advance democracy and protect human rights.

It is the men and women of our Armed Forces who put themselves in danger to provide the security that is essential for a country that works for everyone.

Armed Forces that can be a remarkable engine of social mobility.

Look at Cadet, now Lieutenant, Kidane Cousland.

The school system failed Kidane.

He left a Tottenham estate with a few GCSEs but the Army turned him into the best officer graduating this year at Sandhurst.

Look at how the Armed Forces provide the most apprenticeships.

Helping people develop skills that benefit our military  setting set them up for better careers in civilian life.

I am setting a target to deliver 50,000 apprenticeships over this Parliament.

Look at the young cadets who learn the skills and confidence they need to thrive.

Today I am announcing the first 25 of 150 new units we are creating in state schools.

They include one at Rockwood Academy  in this city  which I will be visiting this afternoon.a phoenix from the ashes of a Trojan Horse school that is now instilling British values, instead of promoting religious segregation.

And look at how we help service personnel buy their own homes.

Last year I told you I wanted our Forces Help to Buy scheme to help 10,000 personnel and were meeting that target.

But I want more people to benefit so I am extending the scheme until 2018.

More homes for heroes.

We arent just helping servicemen and women get on the housing ladder. We are selling MOD land we dont need to build the homes we do.

Thanks to the experience gained serving our country, most veterans find good jobs.

But inevitably a few are scarred by their service and we are doing more to support them, particularly those with mental health issues.

I also know how much stress is caused by legal claims years after conflicts have ended.

It is right that we investigate serious allegations but weve seen our legal system abused to falsely accuse our armed forces.

So were taking action.

Of more than three thousand claims about half have already been discontinued  and another thousand further cases will be thrown out by January.

Already one of the firms that filed thousands of these claims, the so-called Public Interest Lawyers  has had its legal aid contract terminated and shut down in August.

It wont be missed.

So we are working hard to get vexatious claims thrown out.

And we are taking action to draw up a new time limit for bringing claims and to tackle no win no fee deals.

But much of the litigation we face comes from the extension of the European Convention on Human Rights to the battlefield.

This is damaging our troops, undermining military operations, and costing taxpayers millions.

So I can announce today that in future conflicts we intend to derogate from the Convention.

That would protect our Armed Forces from many of the industrial scale claims we have seen post Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now this isnt about putting our Armed Forces above the criminal law or the Geneva Conventions.

Serious claims will be investigated  but spurious claims will be stopped.

And our Armed Forces will be able to do their job, fighting the enemy, not the lawyers.

As Defence Secretary I see how our Armed Forces give people chances they never thought they would have.

And I want to do more to move people through the ranks.

More to ensure any young man or women can aim for Sandhurst, Dartmouth, or Cranwell.

I want more recruits from ethnic minorities and more women.

So Ive challenged the Service Chiefs to get at least 10% of our new recruits from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background by 2020.

And Ive opened up all combat roles to women so ability, not gender, defines how far you can go.

This isnt about tokenism; its about talent.

And we will make sure that our Armed Forces can recruit the brightest and best in our society whatever their background.

Playing their part in a country that works for everyone.

Conference, our Armed Forces keep us safe every day, every night.

Providing the security that underpins our freedom and promotes opportunity.

This party will back them with the equipment they needwe will support the nuclear deterrentand we will stay committed to NATO.

Putting the security of Britain first.
Christopher Howarth is a senior researcher working in the House of Commons. Prior to this he worked for Open Europe, as a Conservative Foreign Affairs Adviser and senior researcher to a Shadow Europe Minister.

The EU referendum campaign saw the formation of a strange coalition of Scottish Nationalists and Pro-EU Tory Unionists all arguing that a vote for Brexit could lead to the end of the United Kingdom. Three months later and polls show that that the SNPs dreams of a Brexit boost for independence have flopped and unionists have unsurprisingly ceased to argue the UK is in danger.

Such a reversal was always likely (as I argued here). Given that a majority of Scots exports are to the rest of the UK it makes little economic sense for the SNP to argue to leave a post-Brexit UK in order to attempt to join the EU. While Brexit has made the case for Scottish independence more difficult, Nicola Sturgeon, the smart politician she is, must by now also realise she has to make an accommodation with the 38% of Scots who voted to Leave.

Scottish nationalists demands for involvement in the Brexit process have so far been extravagant, a veto and demands to stay in the single market (by contrast Wales has ruled out the single market). These claims will come to nothing, but key questions remain unanswered. Primarily whether the SNP will demand that Scotland (rather than the UK) gains competence over all the EU powers they were recently happy to see exercised in Brussels.

These new powers include important areas such as fishing, agriculture, UK trade policy and the environment. These policies all come with implications for who will fund them and thus the Barnett formula. This will become evident as the EU Repeal Bill wends its ways through the UK Parliament as the Governments legal defence to the recent Article 50 case alludes (s 49 of it here).

A quirk of the devolution settlements in Scotland and Northern Ireland is that all powers were devolved except for a long list of reserved powers. Under the 1998 Scotland Act it was sensibly prescribed that Scotland would have to abide by EU law, so that the UK could meet its obligations vis a vi Scotland. However, EU policy areas were however not specifically prescribed as reserved to the UK meaning that by default areas will fall by default into the hands of the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments. If it is not the intention of Westminster to devolve these powers they will need to amend the Scotland Act in the Repeal Bill.

In addition to important policy areas such as fisheries and agriculture the UK will need, like the EU before it, to retain powers over areas needed to sign foreign trade agreements. The Scotland Act forced Scotland to abide by EU law. If the UK is in future to sign its own trade agreements, Westminster will need to be able to deliver on its commitments to its trading partners in areas such as Agricultural subsidies, Fisheries, Government procurement. This has an impact on the nature of powers that can be devolved.

For example, during Canadas negotiations with the EU the EU rightly asked if Canadas provinces would also open up their markets and abide by the regulations and commitments the Federal Government was minded to agree on their behalf. If Scotland were to assume more powers from the EU there would be a similar need to involve Scotland in the UKs future trade agreements. Likewise if the entirety of EU fisheries policy were devolved the UK would limit its ability to sign binding agreements with neighbouring states on fish catches  only sovereign states can enter treaties.

It is no surprise that when Tony Blair drew up the 1998 Scotland Act following devolution he did not anticipate that the UK would ever leave the EU, however the peculiar way the Act was drafted makes an early decision necessary. So what should we do?

I was never a fan of devolution, I voted and campaigned against it, however it is a fact. The question is where we go from here with the EU policy areas. Here is a rundown of the main decisions:

Agriculture

Scotland already has some responsibility in agriculture within the overall EU Common Agricultural Policy. It is likely that the UK will wish to maintain some form of UK policy so as to be able to abide by its WTO commitments, strike free trade agreements and maintain a level playing field within the UK. If it remains a UK policy area the UK government will be responsible for paying for it. Therefore while it may be possible to devolve some aspects of agriculture it is unlikely to be wholesale.

Fisheries

Likewise the UK is likely to wish to retain a single fisheries policy so as to be able to meet commitments and sign treaties with other parties. There is also no clearly defined maritime boundary between England and Scotland when it comes to fishing grounds. While the UK will probably wish to maintain a unified policy, Scotland with 60 per cent of the UKs fisheries must be a part of the process. In order to win over support for Brexit the UK should be able to find a way to involve Scotland in the setting of fisheries policy and potentially devolve some more responsibility over inshore fisheries and administration within an overall policy.

Environment

EU Environment policy covers the whole climate change policy and has big implications for energy policy and consumer costs. Given the UK will abide by its international commitments, such as the Paris agreement, it seems difficult to see how separate climate change policies could exist in the UK, however there may be some scope to give Scotland more responsibility such as for new renewable projects.

EU Regional policy  funding

The EU had a large and expensive regional policy financed out of the UKs contributions. Post Brexit the UK will regain its funds and would have to decide how to spend them, including whether to implement a UK regional policy. As always there will be implications for the Barnett formula. This will primarily be a matter for the UK government in consultation.

Brexit, if handled well, gives the UK government a great opportunity to show, contrary to the alarmist claims, that the devolved administrations will be the beneficiaries of not just a more vibrant UK but new responsibilities, moneys and enhanced influence. The SNP may have already passed its high watermark but to compound it Brexit has made their dream of independence less viable. The new EU Repeal Bill will need to address the issues of Scotland and the devolved administrations in a thoughtful and responsible manner balancing devolution with ensuring that the UK can become again a force for free trade. The dynamics of the UKs devolution settlement have changed again, and this time hopefully for the better.
As I entered the hall where Philip Hammond was about to speak, a short film about him was being shown. He was talking about Runnymede, which is in his constituency, and was about to name his favourite historical figure. For a wild moment, prompted no doubt by conference-induced sleep deprivation, I thought he was going to name King John, conventionally reckoned to be the worst king in English history, who at Runnymede was forced by the barons to agree to Magna Carta.

But the Chancellor of the Exchequer has not gone mad, or developed in late middle age a taste for paradox. He named Margaret Thatcher, conventionally reckoned to be the greatest Prime Minister since Winston Churchill, as his favourite historical figure. Hammond looked as if he was enjoying delivering his speech even more than his audience were enjoying listening to it. Here was no chilly technocrat, but a warm and genial technocrat, who is at last running the department he had hoped to enter, in a more junior capacity, in 2010.

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Anyone who requires a few moments relief from politics, but does not have time to leave the conference centre, should seek out the short exhibition of photographs of Marilyn Monroe, hung on the landing outside the press gallery which leads towards a lofty footbridge. They are by Eve Arnold, who became friends with Monroe in 1952 and was the only woman who took a large number of pictures of her. The sensibility which informs these photographs is quite different to the usual, somewhat superfluous desire of male photographers to maximise the stars sex appeal.

xxxxxxx

Back at the conference, Sexiness levels are down from the Cameroon years, according to Quentin Letts, writing in the Daily Mail. Letts as usual is on to something. Being at a Cameroon event was a bit like attending a fashionable wedding, where a conscious effort had been made to make everyone else feel welcome. Despite Theresa Mays personal interest in fashion, being at one of her events feels quite different. Life is real and life is earnest, and the future lies with manufacturing, not with finance. According to Letts, the whole event is more redolent of a Midlands industrial networking club dinner.

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The real pleasure of these conferences is social rather than political. One sees in a short space of time old friends whom one has not bumped into since Manchester a year ago. Many of them were understandably keen to attend that highpoint of the conference calendar, the drinks reception given by the 1922 Committee and ConHome. The Prime Minister gave a short speech in which she pointed at James Cleverly MP and said, I still havent had that kiss. She is in many ways a reassuringly traditional figure.
In 2015, Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer ordered the company's engineers to build a tool that scanned Yahoo Mail messages in realtime for "characters" of interest to a US security agency, either the FBI or the NSA.

As far as we know, the move was unprecedented in US tech history, and it triggered the departure of then-CSO Alex Stamos (previously), now CSO for Facebook.

The demand to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified directive sent to the company's legal team, according to the three people familiar with the matter. U.S. phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies. But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad directive for real-time Web collection or one that required the creation of a new computer program. "I've never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a 'selector,'" said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and Internet companies on surveillance issues for 20 years before moving to Stanford University this year. A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information. "It would be really difficult for a provider to do that," he added.

CHALLENGING THE NSA

[Joseph Menn/Reuters]
ConservativeHomes full conference programme can be found here, but we would like to draw your attention to three events in particular.

We have a joint event with Policy Exchange called The Governments social reform agenda: what it will mean in practice, at which Philip Collins of the Times, Nick Bosanquet of Reform, and Paul Goodman will be speaking. It will take place today from 15.30-16.30 in the Policy Exchange Marquee, which is inside the secure zone.

And Iain Dale, LBC presenter and our columnist, will interview David Davis live today from 12.45 until 14.00 in Hall One of the International Conference Centre. This is one of the very few conference events that the Brexit Secretary will be undertaking other than his main speech itself.

For those readers with a special interest in Brexit, Liam Fox will be speaking at our joint fringe event with Britain in a Changing Europe later today  from 16.15-17.15 in the ConHome Marquee.
Amber Rudd faced a challenging debut giving a Party Conference speech as Home Secretary for two main reasons.

First of all she was tasked with jollying everyone along about Brexit even though she had been such an emphatic Remain campaigner (her brother Roland is Captain Europe).

During one of the TV debates just before the vote I felt sorry for her as she recited personal attacks on Boris Johnson  that had so obviously been written by others and that she delivered with such discomfort.

In his memoirs the Downing Street press officer Sir Craig Oliver boasts:

Amber delivers the line I wrote for her: There are lots of numbers flying around in this debate but it seems to me the only number Boris cares about is No 10. 

She then went on to say:

Boris, youre the life and soul of the party, but Im not sure Id want you driving me home at the end of the night.

Given her high Remainiac profile she sensibly chose to defuse her dubious past with good humour rather than try to ignore it:

Its no secret that earlier this year I campaigned on behalf of the Remain side in the EU Referendum.

I travelled the country setting out my views and reasons.

I sparred with the Foreign Secretary live on television 

Now he keeps offering me lifts in his car.

But it comes down to the fact that the British people made their wishes very clear, and I absolutely accept the result.

The second difficulty is having her predecessor as her boss.

Rudd cant just sweep in and declare that there are going to be some changes and that she will be running everything differently from now on. Its not so easy for anyone to take over your bosss job, Sir Eric Pickles said introducing her. But Amber is one of the stars of this Government and I am very proud to call her my chum.

Again I thought this was handled tricky matter was well handled the new Home Secretary. Rudd paid a strong tribute to Theresa Mays tenure at the Home Office. Of course simply surviving as Home Secretary for six years is a huge achievement. May was the longest serving occupant of that great but perilous office of state But the speech also got across a message that Rudd would be busy with new initiatives. Certainly the Prime Minister will keep a close eye on what takes place  but then Rudds cabinet colleagues might reflect that they are not exactly give a free hand either.

Of course May would not pretend that it is mission accomplished on ending domestic violence, or modern slavery, or child sexual abuse, or forced marriage or Female Genital Mutilation. Rudd spoke powerfully about carrying on the work to defeat all these evils.

So a well judged speech.

My own concern is that in her eagerness to stress that she got the message from the EU referendum over immigration is that she got the wrong one. The message was about taking control of our borders. It was part of a broader point about wanting us to be a self governing country. That is not the same as being anti immigration  although it so happens that most people would prefer to have lower immigration overall. But as Tim Montgomerie has noted in Australia and New Zealand per capita immigration is high without the political angst  because voters know the tap is under democratic control.

Our present immigration policy is discriminatory. There is an open door for the (mostly white) people in the EU and a much tighter policy for the rest of the world. You dont have to be anti immigration to see that makes no sense. We should admit people on merit adjusting according to circumstances.

Rudd made reference to her constituents in the seaside town of Hastings and their legitimate concerns about immigration. Most of them voted to Leave the EU and she is surely right to reflect that there is a link between the two.

But the real anxiety was that it was out of control. Partly this is over illegal immigration  and Rudd offered some proposals to address this. Mainly it is about free movement in the EU. Once we have control of our borders we can ensure that those who come here obey the law, speak English, create wealth, provide skills and work hard. It might then transpire that the anti immigration sentiment might not prove quite as strong as is supposed.
J. L. BELL is a Massachusetts writer who specializes in (among other things) the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. He is particularly interested in the experiences of children in 1765-75. He has published scholarly papers and popular articles for both children and adults. He was consultant for an episode of History Detectives, and contributed to a display at Minute Man National Historic Park.
Hot Earth

The power outage in South Australia was not the result of too many solar panels or wind turbines, as pushed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the climate change deniers in his government. This orchestrated, apparent knee-jerk reaction to a major weather event is the sound of the vested voice of the coal mining and gas industries.

That the federal government used the natural disaster to push the fossil fuel agenda when the blackouts across the state were in fact caused by unprecedented storms that flattened power pylons and hit other infrastructure, reflects the depth of political influence of those vested interests: follow the money and see how much coal and gas generators are losing to renewables. Last year, for example, a fossil fuels lobby group, the Energy Supply Council  representing the major power generators  set out to label SA an accidental experiment.

The campaigns objective was to cause alarm and plant doubts in peoples minds about the introduction of policies promoting and implementing renewable energy targets, currently set by South Australia (50 percent by 2030), Victoria (40 percent by 2025) and Queensland (50 percent by 2030). This is in contrast to Turnbull governments national target of 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Jobs and change

Climate change, jobs, and corporate profits are interconnected. Unless environmental damage and climate change are brought under control, global catastrophe will result from a collapse of the planets ecosystem. Millions of lives and jobs will be lost. Australia is not immune to the impacts of global warming. We are already experiencing changes in weather patterns, extremes of droughts and flooding, and bush fire conditions of an unprecedented nature. Strong action on climate change that meets the findings of science is imperative.

Decisive action will inevitably affect jobs. The question is how it is done. Workers rights must be protected; they should not be disadvantaged as a result of environmental protection measures. The Political Resolution adopted by the Communist Party of Australia at its 11th Congress in 2009 emphasises:

Workers whose jobs are at risk from measures to protect the environment must be offered employment in environmentally friendly occupations and new green industries without loss of wages or any conditions and with full involvement of workers and their unions  It is necessary to promote jobs growth in the sustainable energy sector and to ensure that job creation is equitable and targets geographic areas and economic sectors disadvantaged by the transition to a sustainable energy future.

Climate change should not result in the destruction of rural and regional communities, but enhance opportunities there.

Job creation and good employment opportunities are central to sustainable development because workers and workplaces are at the centre of production and consumption in society and have a key place in transforming production at all levels, the CPA Resolution says.

The science

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, leaves no doubts as to the impact that human activity is having on the climate and the rapidity of that change.

The IPCC is an intergovernmental body with 194 member countries, sponsored by United Nations Environment Program and World Meteorological Organisation. The report is the product of 209 Lead Authors and 50 Review Editors from 39 countries and more than 600 Contributing Authors from 32 countries.

The IPCC was established in 1988, and from time to time publishes reports on topics relevant to the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since then there have been four Assessment Reports, the last one in 2007.

The function of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The full report, some 2,500 pages of text, draws on millions of observations and over two million gigabytes of numerical data from climate model simulations. Over 9,200 scientific publications are cited, more than three quarters of which have been published since the last IPCC assessment.

The authors have gone to great lengths to be as objective and accurate as possible in estimating possible scenarios based on the outcome of different levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition it has been subjected to extensive reviews by experts and member governments.

The report draws the conclusion that it is extremely likely (95 percent) that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

It is happening

Warming in the climate system is unequivocal and since 1950 many changes have been observed throughout the climate system that are unprecedented over decades to millennia, the report states in its 36-page Summary for Policymakers. (www.climatechange2013.org)

The reports findings are alarming and require urgent action on the part of all nations. They include the following:

Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earths surface than any preceding decade since 1850.

The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. CO2 concentrations have increased by 40 percent since pre-industrial times, primarily from fossil fuel emissions and secondarily from net land use change emissions. The ocean has absorbed about 30 percent of the emitted anthropogenic carbon dioxide, causing ocean acidification.

Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, in global mean sea level rise, and in changes in some climate extremes. It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components of the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

Global surface temperature change for the end of the 21st century is projected to be likely to exceed 1.5C relative to 1850 to 1900 in all but the lowest scenario considered, and likely to exceed 2C for the two high scenarios.

Cumulative emissions of CO2 largely determine global mean surface warming by the late 21st century and beyond. Most aspects of climate change will persist for many centuries even if emissions of CO2 are stopped. This represents a substantial multi-century climate change commitment created by past, present and future emissions of CO2.

Heat waves are very likely to occur more frequently and last longer. As the Earth warms, expect to see currently wet regions receiving more rainfall, and dry regions receiving less, although there will be exceptions.

It is very likely that the Arctic Sea ice cover will continue to shrink and thin and that Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover will decrease during the 21st century as global mean surface temperature rises. Global glacier volume will further decrease.

As the ocean warms, and glaciers and ice sheets reduce, global mean sea level will continue to rise, but at a faster rate than we have experienced over the past 45 years.

The report finds with high confidence that ocean warming dominates the increase in energy stored in the climate system, accounting for more than 90 percent of the energy accumulated between 1971 and 2010.

At the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009, the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales  the only Indigenous leader at thhe summit - in his address, summed up the essence of the struggle: We are dealing here with two cultures; the culture of life and the culture of death  the culture of death that is capitalism. We the Indigenous peoples say it has lived well for too long. Lived well, at the cost of others.
Editorial

The politics of hate and division

Right-wing politicians and the capitalist media argue that legislating against racism and the incitement to racist hatred is an infringement upon the individuals right to free speech. On the contrary, it deepens and broadens freedom of speech.

Communists are in a position to discuss free speech and hate groups, a position that comes from our militant history of being in the forefront of free speech fights.

The Party has  in united action with other democratic forces  fought off attempts to make it illegal, a struggle that in the broader scheme of things, was a victory for the rights of the working people in general: the cutting edge of developing and deepening the democratic ideal of free speech by fighting to extend it to the whole working class.

Democracy and free speech have a class basis. There is freedom for the ruling class and corporate interests, whose bottom line is maximum profit and exploitation, and restrictions for the victims of exploitation and those who challenge it.

There may be free speech for bigots  such as a number of current Liberal-National Coalition MPs and Pauline Hanson and the fascist groups giving her back-up  but not free speech for workers trying to organise a union  those workers get sacked, black-listed and threatened with deregistration and jail. While there may be free speech for neo-Nazis such freedoms are curtailed and restricted for strikers fighting the good fight  the courts hand down decisions preventing strikers from assembling and allowing strike breakers to cross pickets.

There may be free speech for racists attacking people based on their religion and their very culture, but not free speech for their victims. The current atmosphere of suspicion, fear and racism is a direct assault on freedom of speech.

The fascist groups that have recently made themselves known have been emboldened, not to say encouraged, to do so by the current federal government. With its racist, divisive agenda (Attorney General George Brandis statement in Parliament, I want the right to be a bigot) it has not only opened the door to these racist elements, it has sent an invitation and put down a welcome mat.

These groups dont usually publicly push their odious doctrines because they are well aware that the majority of people reject their ideas. But they are now encouraged to the point where a Liberal MP, George Christensen, attends and speaks at their rallies.

Christensen has posted a statement on Facebook, saying, I want to support people who seek to defend our Australian way of life, our culture and our freedoms from the threat of radical Islam. The likes of Reclaim Australia are this governments real constituency: they embody the values and narrow view of the world espoused by Hanson and former PM Tony Abbott and his carefully selected Christian fundamentalist Cabinet members.

The real threat to peoples democracy is the division and disunity being pushed by governments arising out of the continuing economic crisis. Poverty and unemployment are on the rise in all the developed nations; Australia is no exception. The Turnbull government is intent on cutting essential services while pouring billions into the military.

The need for a broad united front in Australia is pressing.

Already there have been statements and formal public protests from church groups, politicians and former MPs  including from both the Liberal and Labor Parties, as well as some trade union involvement  against the governments inhumane refugee policies.

Historically all progressive and democratic sections of society take up campaigns against the effects of social and economic crisis, the drive to war and the attacks on democratic rights and living standards. A range of progressive movements already exists which involve workers, intellectuals, professional workers and other social groups.

In fighting together for a common program, a cohesive democratic unity can be developed and be directed against the most reactionary big business, ruling class circles. Opposition to emerging forms of tyranny at home is a necessary part of the world movement against corporate tyranny everywhere. The one gains momentum from the other.

Dictatorship and war are the grotesque death throws of a doomed system. Let us work even harder to unite together and put it out of its misery.
Action urged to protect children

Leading Indigenous and human rights groups want the federal and Northern Territory governments to immediately protect the human rights of young people currently in detention. Their calls come as the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory prepares to hear evidence. The commission was called after an ABC TV Four Corners report on the treatment of young people in detention in the NT.

The Human Rights Law Centre, Amnesty International and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) urged both governments to be proactive and ensure children in detention are not exposed to mistreatment while awaiting the royal commissions recommendations, expected early next year.

The three organisations have received reports that young people continue to be held in conditions amounting to solitary confinement in the high security unit of Don Dale detention centre in Darwin.

They called on the new NT government to immediately prohibit the use of solitary confinement; introduce an independent inspector of youth detention to prevent abuse; and meaningfully engage with Indigenous communities and organisations. NATSILS also called for the establishment of a special youth court in central Australia.

NATSILS executive officer Karly Warner said more than 95 percent of young people in detention in the NT are Aboriginal.

The federal and NT governments should immediately commit to working closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to find ways to reduce the alarming rates at which Indigenous young people are locked up, she said.

Permanent harm

Amnesty International Indigenous Rights campaigner Julian Cleary said human rights law prohibits the use of solitary confinement on children for any duration, because evidence shows that it can cause permanent psychological harm.

The NT government should immediately commit to upholding its human rights obligations and prohibit the use of solitary confinement on children, he said. Human Rights Law Centre director of legal advocacy Ruth Barson said the NT has the highest rates of youth detention in Australia and that having independent oversight of youth detention facilities is critical if the government is truly committed to preventing mistreatment.

It is essential that children in youth detention are protected from abuse, she said. We shouldnt need to wait for the royal commissions findings to ensure children are safe. Independent inspections and oversight of detention facilities are proven to work to prevent the type of appalling treatment we recently saw in the Don Dale youth-detention facility.

The HRLC, Amnesty and NATSILS are also calling on the federal government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which Australia signed in 2009; and to properly fund Aboriginal organisations to engage with the royal commission.

There is no reason for delaying ratification any further, Barson said.

The Commonwealth government has an important leadership role to play. Ratification will ensure proper and independent mechanisms are in place to prevent the mistreatment of people in detention.

The Commonwealth government must adequately fund Aboriginal organisations to engage with the royal commission. This will ensure affected Aboriginal people, organisations, communities and children are able to have their voices heard.

Koori Mail
News / National

by Staff reporter

The fate of High Court judge Justice Priscillah Chigumba who is accused of soliciting for a $20 000 bribe from a litigant is likely to be sealed in two weeks' time when the Judicial Service Commission meets to consider the matter.According to local media, this comes as unconfirmed reports indicate that panic has gripped High Court judges as the likely bribery probe against the judge, could open a can of worms.Justice Chigumba was among the eight High Court judges that were interviewed by the JSC to be considered for elevation to the Supreme Court bench.JSC secretary Justice Rita Makarau yesterday said, the JSC will meet on October 13 where the matter would be considered.A cross-section of lawyers who spoke on the corruption accusation against Justice Chigumba said the allegations were likely to open a pandora's box, and, several judges were deeply disturbed. A city lawyer Ms Beatrice Mtetwa said she could not give an informed comment on one-sided facts, which have not been established through due process.She, however expressed hope that the JSC would look into the complaint and make an informed decision based on veritable facts.It emerged during the interview last week that Justice Chigumba attempted a bribe-harvest of $20 000 from one of the parties in a case she was presiding over.
Australian crimes in a criminal war

Address by CPA Sydney District Secretary Wayne Sonter to the Hands off Syria rally in Sydney on September 24.

First, I would like to acknowledge the people who have been in this country for 60,000 or more years, who have spent the last two centuries resisting a cruel invasion and occupation and who are still in struggle for a treaty between the original and colonising nations.

The Australian Air Force took part in the bombing and slaughter of Syrian troops at Deir al-Zor.

A week ago the Australian Air Force took part in the bombing and slaughter of Syrian troops at Deir al-Zor, a city in eastern Syria that has been under siege by ISIS for the last two years. It did this in concert with the US forces that are illegally ranging over Syria  in the air and on the ground, justifying their presence by the coverall of waging a war against ISIS, an entity the Americans themselves created.

However the action in Deir al-Zor last weekend has exposed to the world that USA is not at war with ISIS, but that ISIS is a US tool to destroy Syria.

It also exposes the extent to which mainstream media, with their efforts to smother the truth and divert attention from the massacre in the days since, serve as little more than propagandists for US war aims.

That Australian forces could come to be part of last weeks criminal action arises directly from this countrys endless participation in war after war, in other peoples countries, at the behest of US imperialism.

More importantly and most dangerously the United States has particularly targeted for destruction the sovereign nation of Syria to advance US strategic interests in the Middle East and beyond.

That is what makes the war on Syria such a perilous venture for all humanity. It is a step towards the USAs key strategic objective  to take on Russia and deal it a blow once and for all to guarantee the USs over-arching goal  to ensure its status as the worlds first, last and only truly global empire. The securing of this goal requires the dismembering of Russia so it can never challenge US supremacy as a continental power.

Dont forget this is not, so far, costing the USA  or at least, not the military-industrial-financial circles that are running the country. This is a contract job, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar footing the bills while the US and its NATO and their Israeli buddies provide the logistics to the customer at suppliers rates.

In the matter of Deir Al-Zor the Americans first claimed the bombing of Syrian troops protecting the city from ISIS was an accident; when Russia announced it would take the matter to the UN Security Council for full investigation the US mouthpieces declared that Russia was grandstanding and should instead have brought all the Syrian and Russian killings of civilians before the Council.

Then, as if on queue, an aid convoy taking supplies to the rebel (read Al-Qaeda) held a quarter of Aleppo in northern Syria was destroyed two days later (September 19). The US immediately blamed Russian and Syrian air forces for the attack, without any evidence to back the charge, and despite evidence that soon emerged that it was destroyed by ground forces in rebel held territory.

This attack served two purposes  the mainstream media immediately switched their coverage from the US massacre in Deir alZor to the alleged action of the Russians and Syrians in Aleppo; and this incident in turn was used by the US gangsters to orchestrate a push for a no fly zone over Syria which would ground both Russian and Syrian air forces while the US got on with the job of fighting ISIS (while leaving the rebels seeking regime change alone of course).

This switching of attention from the Deir al-Zor incident to the Aleppo incident, especially in using it to demand a no fly zone against the Syrians and Russians, rather than against the Americans and their confessed misuse of airpower in Deir al-Zor, could not have succeeded without the full complicity of the media, who have demonstrated their effectiveness in maintaining full-spectrum dominance for the USA in the prosecution of its wars of choice.

While the US and its allies  the likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey and France, Israel and the UK  have unleashed jihadi death squads on Syria to terrorise Syrians, destroy and dismember the country and bring about regime change, Australian governments have not been backward in doing their bit.

Australia has been from the start a Friend of Syria  the cartel of robbers, murderers and spivs that aim to profit from Syrias destruction and consequent need for reconstruction just like they previously set out to do in Iraq and Libya;

Australia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria when all its mates did and has enforced US-imposed sanctions on Syria that have hurt most of all the Syrian people;

Australian military aircraft have been carrying out strikes in Syria, under US direction, at least since 2015;

Australian special forces have been training rebels at least since 2014, to carry out regime change in Syria, as part of US coalition plans to topple the Syrian government, but using the ISIS threat as a cover.

These military incursions by Australia, the US and its allies are illegal under international law: their very waging of war in Syria, without UN sanction and against the wishes of Syrians, is a war crime.

US and Australian governments claim that Deir al-Zor was an accident. This is hardly believable. Syrian soldiers who survived the US bombing and massacre say US drones were hovering over Deir al-Zor defences for 24 hours before the attack;

the US strikes targeted Syrian command and communication centres and were followed up by strafing sorties;

the Americans ignored repeated calls from the Russians to cease fire and when they did stop bombing, ISIS troops were immediately ready to storm through the breeches to mop up the remaining resistance.

What is more, even in 2012 the USA conceded that its allies  the Muslim Brotherhood Turkey and the sheikdom of the decapitation kingdom Saudi Arabia  wanted to carve out a salafist principality in eastern Syria, based on Deir al-Zor and el Hasaka provinces as the most effective way to isolate and subjugate an independent, secular regime in Syria. This was two years before ISIS miraculously arose out of the desert, equipped with brand new Toyota Hilux utes and heavy weaponry to sweep all before them.

No-fly zone

Deir al-Zor is an outpost of Syrian control in the midst of ISIS controlled territory. There is an airbase at Deir al-Zor which allows Syria to resist the ISIS blockade as well as project Syrian air power into the surrounding region.

The US wants the Syrian Air Force grounded  basically it wants a no fly-zone imposed on Syria. Helping ISIS break a longstanding siege to seize Deir al-Zor air base is one way to enforce this. It is not surprising then that the US attack last weekend was not the first time it has made this mistake in Deir al-Zor, to the advantage of ISIS. It seems to be very slow to learn from its mistakes, but this time the world has seen the mistake for what it is; now it knows.

The Deir al-Zor incident shows that the US line that it is supporting moderate anti-Assad forces while also prosecuting a war against ISIS is a sham. It is now seen as openly backing ISIS against Syrian forces.

We must do all we can to make sure the world does not forget this.

Australia is participating in a criminal war. Its involvement in the Deir al-Zor slaughter means it is now directly responsible for a war crime.

No wonder the Turnbull government felt it prudent to change Australias laws  a mere fortnight before Deir al-Zor  to prevent its military from ever being prosecuted for accidentally hitting the wrong targets when engaged in war!

Australia, as a part of the American Axis, has become part of a predatory coalition willing to use jihadi terrorists  including Al-Qaeda and ISIS  to overthrow legitimate governments.

We the people must demand that Australia, the US and all its NATO allies Get Out of the Middle East Now!

We should demand that Australia give no more support for US Wars!

This includes dropping all Sanctions Against Syria!

However, to stop Australias involvement in US wars we need to build an anti-imperialist, anti-war movement here in Australia.

We need to break our ties with US Imperialism  starting with the Closure of Pine Gap base in Central Australia and all other US Bases in Australia!

The Syrian people vow that they shall never kneel. Here in Australia it is time we learnt to rise and stand on our own feet.
Proud union pioneer

Tribute to Digger Murphy

The passing of 97-year old Charles (Digger) Murphy on September 23 represents the end of an era for Queensland and Australian coal mineworkers.

Charles Digger Murphy was Australias oldest surviving coal mine union official. (Photo: Peter Rae)

Digger, as he was known to his family and friends, was a former President of the Queensland District of the Miners Federation and the pioneer for womens participation in the coal industrys production workforce.

Born in Ipswich on July 13, 1919, his father Ernie Murphy was a coal miner as was his maternal grandfather Charles Kirkpatrick, who became the first full-time President of the Queensland Colliery Employees Union (QCEU). Charles, after whom Digger was named, led the Queensland miners delegation to the founding conference of the Miners Federation as a national union in 1915 and the QCEU became the Queensland branch of the Miners Federation.

As a young child living in Ipswich and seeing hundreds of WWI returned soldiers, the first word he spoke was Digger and from that time on this became the name that everybody used.

When Diggers dad was retrenched in the early 1920s the family made the long trek to the new coal mining town of Collinsville in North Queensland. They lived in a bag humpy and Digger started school there. Ernie came back to the Ipswich coalfield at Moggill and when that mine flooded at the height of the Great Depression in 1931, he was on the dole for about five years.

The Murphy family lived in a very modest house not far from grandfather Charles Kirkpatrick, who became a great influence on the young Digger.

Digger was particularly proud of his grandfather Charless commitment to principles and values. As Queensland miners union President Charles had been appointed to the State Parliaments Legislative Council. He was a member of what became known as the Suicide Squad. The Legislative Council, or Upper House, was dominated by members of wealthy families who continually blocked Labors progressive reforms in the Parliament. Charles and other Labor Party leaders were pledged to abolish the States Legislative Council and on the day Labor had the numbers in the Upper House for the first time, it moved the Bill to abolish it on March 23, 1923. They became the only politicians to vote themselves out of office!

On the Monday that 15-year old Digger started work at the New Ebbw Vale (Woodend) Colliery at Ipswich in 1935, he came home to the news that his grandfather Charles had died. He was still President of the union in Queensland.

Digger recalls visiting his grandfather in hospital the day before and Charles asking the other family members who were with him to leave the room because he wanted a quiet chat with young Digger. He gave the boy who was about to go into the mines the next day some valuable advice and as he bid him farewell he said well, its up to you now young Charles to carry on the work.

And carry on Digger did. He was cut from the same cloth as his grandfather. As a 17-year old on the tough coalfields of Ipswich in 1937, Digger was elected Branch chairman of his Miners Lodge.

It was to be the start of a lifetime of distinguished service to the working class. Digger cut his teeth on helping rebuild the miners Union from the ashes of the Great Depression. He was proud to have supported the first national Communist leaders in an Australian trade union with the election of Charles Nelson and Billy Orr as General President and General Secretary of the Miners Federation in 1934.

Digger himself joined the Communist Party and played a very active role in the 1949 National Coal Strike. Although he was a great supporter of the United Front he never forgave the Chifley Labor government for jailing Union leaders and sending troops in to mine coal during the 1949 strike.

Digger rose through the union ranks and was elected to his first full-time position in 1957 as District Check Inspector (full time safety official elected by rank and file miners). Mine safety was a passion for Digger, following in the footstep of his pioneering grandfather Charles who had become Queenslands first full-time Check Inspector back in 1915.

Diggers election as Queensland Check Inspector was just three years after the Collinsville mine disaster of 1954 when seven miners were killed in a gas outburst. Before the disaster, the union had been locked in dispute with management over safety concerns. The union was ignored and the state government backed management, a fact that contributed to the Collinsville disaster. The plight of miners in his boyhood town greatly increased Diggers determination never to give an inch on safety and health matters.

His role as Check Inspector brought Digger into wider contact with the rank and file mineworkers throughout the state and in 1964 he was elected as Queensland District President. It was a time when the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland was opening up and Australias coal export market was developing.

As President, Digger led the campaigns for decent housing, accommodation and conditions in central Queensland. During his Presidency from 1964 till his retirement in June 1979, Digger was at the centre of some of the most challenging industrial disputes in Australias history as big global business moved for a stake in Australias lucrative coal industry, particularly in the wake of OPEC Oil Crisis in the early 1970s.

But Digger never shirked from even the toughest fights, whether they were on the predominately underground coalfields of Ipswich and north Queensland or the burgeoning open cut operations of central Queensland.

Among the many challenges Digger faced, the toughest times were undoubtedly the two major coal mine disasters he dealt with as President.

The first was in his home town of Ipswich on July 31, 1972 when a massive explosion at the nearby Box Flat Colliery took the lives of 17 miners in an underground gas explosion. Of those killed, 14 men were in the vicinity of the explosion underground and three miners were working on a belt adjacent to the mine entrance. A mine warden who was sent to investigate the explosion died later as a result of his injuries and some workers at the surface were also injured in the explosion.

Charles Digger Murphy working for the Qld mining union in the late 60s. (Photo: Rob Williams)

In a moving recollection featured in the 2015 international award winning documentary Blood on the Coal, Digger recounts the damage and trauma inflicted on the entire Ipswich community. Decades after the Box Flat Disaster, the wounds are still raw and memories of grieving families still haunt.

Digger sat on the Inquiry into the Box Flat Disaster. His grandfather Charles had sat as a member of the Royal Commission into Queenslands greatest mine disaster at Mount Mulligan in 1921 when 75 miners perished in a massive underground explosion.

Just over three years from Box Flat, Central Queensland experienced its first big coal mine disaster when the Kianga underground coal mine near Moura blew up on September 20, 1975 taking the lives of 13 miners.

Digger knew every one of the Box Flat and Kianga miners personally. It was a heavy load to bear. Indeed, on whatever scale loss of miners lives occurred, Digger was always there for the families, work mates and friends.

On the industrial battlefront Digger led his members with great courage and foresight from lengthy strikes, to stay-downs and lock-outs and never faltering.

Digger not only made an enormous contribution to Queensland miners. He played a key role on the unions Central Council, the national governing body his grandfather Charles had been a founder of. Digger represented the Union at ACTU Congresses and internationally as well. Right to the end a staunch Communist, one of Diggers greatest experiences was his visit to the then Soviet Union.

Out of the many wider contributions Digger made there are two that merit particular recognition. The first was in 1975 when the Nymboida coal miners in northern NSW took over their colliery and refused to be sacked. Digger played a key role in making sure the Nymboida miners could occupy and work the mine in the critical early days of the take-over, including personally smuggling a car full of explosives and detonators over the border for the miners. Throughout the four-and-a-half years of the successful miners takeover of Nymboida, Digger was a welcome and honoured guest.

The second was Diggers pioneering role in getting women into the coal mine workforce as production workers. Under his leadership, Queensland became the first place where women started at the Blackwater and Moura mines in Central Queensland. And true to form, Digger and the union insisted that the first mining women were paid exactly the same as the men and received every condition and entitlement equally. To Digger all workers, regardless of gender, religion, race or colour, were all equal.

For all his great achievements, Digger was always adamant that he was only half of a team throughout his working life. His wife Joyce was not only his life partner but his rock. Joyce was a very respected leader of the Miners Womens Auxiliary, the backbone to many of the industrial disputes the miners were involved in and the great supporters of families and communities who endured the pain of lost ones in the mines. Long after the headlines had faded and public attention had moved on, women like Joyce were there at the side of those who needed a helping hand or a kind word for as long as it took.

Digger and Joyce shared more than 70-years together as a married couple. They lived their whole married lives in Ipswich and brought up three wonderful daughters in Judy, Cheryl and Beth. Joyce passed away in March 2014 and although Digger remained staunchly independent living in their home until his passing last Friday, he missed Joyce every day of his life.

Our union today owes much to Digger and his Comrades past and present. To this writer and many others he was also a kind and generous mentor. We will all miss him but none more so than his loving family, those wonderful three daughters who have inherited their parents passion for justice and commitment to a Fair Go. Also his four grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Vale Digger Murphy, you have left a great legacy and one that grandfather Charles would be proud of.

Paddy Gorman
Thailands great leap backwards

Although the military junta which seized power in Thailand in 2014 has now managed to secure public approval for its draft constitution, this was hardly a real exercise of the peoples will. As Tom Fawthrop explains, this move has effectively jettisoned the great democratic strides made by the country since the promulgation of the 1997 constitution.

The country once known as Siam has been promoted by tourism authorities as Amazing Thailand and the Land of Smiles, but for most Thai people, there has been little to smile about since the 2014 military coup and all the political mayhem, corruption and mass unrest that preceded it.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of the military junta and prime minister, has said that individuals who oppose him are in need of attitude adjustment, now a basis for arbitrary detention by the army.

This is a coup-prone country. Thailand is living under the harshest repression since the 1976 coup that unleashed a storm of ultra-right vigilante groups, backed by the military, that forced more than 10,000 students and labour activists into the jungle.

The 2014 coup was not steeped in bloodshed, but the ruling military regimes draconian imposition of censorship and its prosecuting zeal have reached Orwellian Big Brother levels for its unceasing campaign to clamp down on even the smallest gestures of anti-coup sentiment. General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of the military junta and prime minister, has said that individuals who oppose him are in need of attitude adjustment, now a basis for arbitrary detention by the army.

On August 7, the junta proffered their draft constitution for public approval in a referendum, as a first step to garner some gloss of legitimacy since their dramatic seizure of power over two years ago. Key points that were to be decided in the referendum included:

The constitution would allow for an unelected prime minister in the event of political deadlock and an unelected senate appointed by the junta, with seats reserved for military commanders to check the powers of elected lawmakers during a five-year transition period.

Provisions in the charter would legally oblige any future government to follow the militarys 20-year national development plan and allow military allies to take legal action against any government which does not adhere to the plan.

This would be a huge step backwards from the democratic provisions of the 1997 and 2006 constitutions in which the prime minister was required to be an elected member of parliament and the senate was also based on election.

Far from relaxing the state of repression so that a real debate could take place, the military set about framing the referendum campaign as a Yes only campaign. A draconian Referendum Act that carried potential 10-year prison sentences for misrepresenting the draft, criticising its content or disrupting the vote was imposed on the process.

Prime Minister Prayuth brazenly declared that the Thai people have no rights to say that they disagree with him: I dont allow anyone to debate or hold a press conference about the draft constitution. Yet they still disobey my orders. They will be arrested and jailed for 10 years. No one will be exempted, not even the media.

Human Rights Watch reported the arrest of at least 120 people for violating the campaign restrictions. The organisations senior researcher for Thailand, Sunai Phasuk, said the draft constitution essentially enshrines the abuse of power and impunity.

In June, the United Nations expressed its concerns about the restrictions. These were ignored by the regime, which apparently released comments to the local press saying the UN was not concerned. A surprised UN reiterated that, on the contrary, it was deeply concerned and that the restrictions compromised the credibility of the plebiscite.

Very few Thais were exposed to arguments about the charters flaws and merits: few even saw a copy, and the small number who did were hardly likely to wade through its 279 articles. They were clearly not expected to read it. Most voters went to the polling stations with little idea of what was in the charter. They had only frequently heard the drafters argument that it would address political corruption and help reform the country.

It was rare for an opposing view to leak out through the thick curtain of censorship. The blanket ban on expressing opposition meant that the dissenting voices of political parties, human rights activists and most of civil society could not be heard by the general public.

Not surprisingly, there was only a 59% turnout for the referendum. Some 61% of voters approved the draft constitution.

Choice

Paul Chambers, an expert on the Thai military at Chiang Mai University, expounded on the lack of any meaningful choice being offered the Thai people. The referendum was run by and for the military. The voters were pressured to legitimise the junta with a yes vote. The turnout was not high, and voters seeking a way forward for democracy were given little choice between a junta-preferred path to democracy or continued direct military rule.

The Puea Thai party aligned to exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had won the last freely contested election prior to the coup, backed by its legions of Red Shirt supporters. Its north eastern stronghold was the only region to deliver a majority No vote (51%), demonstrating that the silent anger and frustration over the coup had not subsided, despite the detentions of many key cadres and despite the one-sided referendum campaign.

In the end, the Yes vote won the day for a variety of reasons. Most of Bangkoks middle class have never come to terms with the repeated electoral victories of pro-Thaksin parties since 2001, which were based on massive rural support, especially in the vote-rich northeast. After a previous military coup in 2006, the country was returned to democracy a year later and again the pro-Thaksin party was able to sweep back into power thanks to its stronghold of rural poor.

What is very obvious is the 2014 coup leaders determination that this will not happen again. Hence the new constitution is carefully tailored, in the name of guided democracy, to block the rural vote from repeating their previous triumphs at the ballot box.

The junta has made various promises about elections only to postpone the date. Now the polls are maybe set for 2018, but then again it is all up to the generals as to when, and if, there will be any election at all.

Perpetual crisis

Senior researcher at the Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI) in Paris, David Camroux has traced the chaotic path of Thai politics from the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932 to the May 2014 coup  the sixth in this period. He says that each military coup tears up the old constitution and draws up a new one, which leads inexorably to the vicious circles of coups, interim constitutions, permanent (sic) constitutions, elections and protests leading to further coups  The draft constitution [approved] in the referendum [on August 7] will be the 21st or 22nd since 1932  something of a world record.

Prime Minister Prayuth claims that his coup regime has ushered in an era of stability and ended the mass demonstrations and sporadic violence of recent years between rival political movements. But, former cabinet minister Chaturon Chaisang has warned, refusing to allow people to choose their path is a recipe for future conflict.

Millions of voters, especially in northeast Thailand, who previously elected Red Shirt governments will increasingly feel cheated and disenfranchised by the new rules of a guided democracy. Little has been done to advance national reconciliation between the urban elites and the rural poor, a fundamental fault-line of Thai politics. Until some consensus is forged to bridge this great political and social divide, the political deadlock that engulfs Thailand will continue to cripple democratic socio-economic development.

After the democratic 1997 constitution, Thailand enjoyed a high degree of press freedom and a very active civil society, with the rights of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) enshrined as part of good governance. While Thai society advanced during this period, its neighbour Myanmar was still marooned in decades-long military rule.

Ironically, while Myanmar is now fast changing and has a vibrant civil society, Thailand appears to have been pushed down the path of regression. Myanmar, once a pariah state, has gone forwards towards a democratic transition. In contrast, after the August referendum there is no clear roadmap for Thailand to change course with a return to democracy. The dark uncertainty of a future without any guarantees of human rights or checks on the power of the state speaks volumes about how Myanmar and Thailand have sailed in opposite directions since the Thai coup of 2014.

Third World Resurgence
Culture & Life

Russia in Syria, China in Sudan

When my eldest son and his partner toured Europe not long ago, he sent me some postcards from Paris and I thought I might share with you the sentiments inscribed on the back of them. The first, naturally announced their arrival in the French capital. Weve left gay Holland and beautiful Belgium behind us, and now were in Paris.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart: It is built in the style of an Islamic Mosque. Inside is a Catholic church.

Paris, however, failed to impress. This really is the domain of the rich and criminal classes. From the heights of Mont Martre one can just discern the proletariat huddled on the dim horizon ...

The next day he sent a card with a view of the rather splendid-looking Basilica of the Sacred Heart with the comment: It is built in the style of an Islamic Mosque. Inside is a Catholic church. It would inspire more awe if it wasnt jammed full of nuns selling candles for $10 a pop, gift shops where the side-chapels should be and, I kid you not, actual vending machines selling pardons if you put in enough coins!

Whatever would that angry young Nazarene have said if hed found vending machines in the Temple? Probably much the same as Martin Luther if hed found pardons being peddled from a slot machine!

The next day was no better, as the narrow-minded shop-keeper mentality of the Parisian petit-bourgeoisie continued to leave them unimpressed: Everyone keeps telling us were English and spitting on our shoes. When we protest that were Australian their anger vanishes, and they say youre great blokes, Gday mate, Kangaroo! But they dont apologise for having spat on our shoes.

Two days later the temper of the cards radically changed. Vive la France! Long may she vive! Finally met the French working class today when we wandered into a decidedly poor quarter. Strangers smile at one-another, men greet you with a kiss on each cheek. Women ask determined questions about the status of socialism in Australia.

The Africans are similarly chatty and political, and insist on sharing their Moroccan cakes with you  a ploy to keep you talking because they really are interested in that far side of the world, Australia.

Now for a complete change of pace: There has been a lot of media coverage lately given over to the shedding of crocodile tears about the plight of the inhabitants of Aleppo. Formerly Syrias biggest city and economic capital, Aleppo was under government control until 2012. In that year, however, rebel forces armed, funded and clandestinely organised by the US launched their great offensive, with a typically gung-ho American name Operation Damascus Volcano, to attack the countrys two biggest cities  Aleppo and Damascus  and to overthrow the Assad government.

The attack on Damascus was repulsed successfully, but the well-armed rebels managed to capture about half of Aleppo. In the course of 2015, rebel offensives in the area around Aleppo almost succeeded in cutting off the government-controlled part of the city from the rest of the country. In early January 2016, the rebels in Aleppo were reinforced in anticipation of a government offensive.

The Syrian Army, backed by the Russian air force, has now been able to reverse the situation in the city. First, the Army reopened the roads into the city and then surrounded and cut off the rebels. Faced with this impending disaster, the US suddenly became very interested in the idea of a ceasefire and agreed to help negotiate one with the Kremlins assistance. They had invested considerable resources in weapons, training, funds and personnel in the rebel forces now trapped in the non-government part of Aleppo.

The attack by US and Australian aircraft that killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers at the Syrian Armys Deir al-Zor air-base was clearly intended to take pressure off the rebels and to make the Syrian Army hesitate, thereby giving the US the opportunity to extricate its puppet army.

That didnt happen but the adverse media coverage that the attack generated signalled that another line was needed  and quickly! Within a few days, an aid convoy entering Aleppo was pulverised and a media blitz assured everyone that there was proof that The Russians did it. Only a cynic would surmise that the US had a hand in it. Right?

Meanwhile, the CIA is waging a dirty war (or should we say, yet another dirty war?) in South Sudan. Why? Because the oil fields in southern Sudan are the only Chinese-owned and operated ones in Africa. And for the US government, denying China access to African energy resources is in Americas national interest.

The CIAs chosen instrument is a mercenary warlord named Reik Machar, who has a long history of ethnic massacres and mass murder to his credit. Machar has been scheming to overthrow the internationally recognised government of President Salva Kiir in South Sudan since 2006. After a coup he attempted in 2014 failed, he has resorted to sending death squads from his refuges in Addis Ababa and Khartoum to rape and pillage in an attempt to destabilise the country and shut down the Chinese oil wells.

The plan was working until China sent over 1,000 armed peacekeepers to protect their oil fields after which they were able to restore production. The US has not given up, however, and accompanied by the usual mass media disinformation campaign, they are trying to get a resolution through the UN to permit the invasion and occupation of South Sudan in the name of having a Responsibility to Protect.

That was pretty much the rationale they used to cover their war against Libya. The US is the prime backer of UN sanctions against the Kiir government, the aim here as elsewhere being regime change to a government that will toe the American line, especially with regard to China and energy resources.
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News / National

by SImbarashe Sithole

A 76-year-old man, Mariseni Fanta, from Ruzvidzo village in Bakasa Guruve caused fracas when he threatened to kill his daughter in court.The man was dragged to a traditional court by his daughter after labelling her a witch.It is alleged that Fanta went hey wire at Maxiwel Changara's court in Muzowa village refusing to be presided over by traditional leaders and threatened to kill his daughter whom he had labeled a witch on 4 July this year.Fanta appeared before Guruve magistrate court on Monday and was remanded to 13 October.
Cloud News

Unveiling Einstein: Salesforce's Channel Heads To Dreamforce Eager To Get Into The AI Game

Joseph Tsidulko

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Salesforce partners headed to the Dreamforce mega-conference taking place this week in San Francisco are eagerly awaiting their introduction to Einstein, a broad set of artificial intelligence capabilities that will be infused into almost all of the CRM leader's products.

Dreamforce will be Einstein's coming-out party after months of Salesforce teasing an array of cognitive capabilities, such as machine learning and deep learning, that assist users in developing and maintaining relationships with their customers.

The AI technology will be offered as native enhancements to apps like the Sales, Service, Marketing, IoT and Analytics clouds, as well as a stand-alone development platform partners can leverage to customize intelligent solutions.

[Related: InsideSales Reveals Revamped Sales Acceleration Platform Ahead Of Dreamforce]

As is often the case with the introduction of cutting-edge technologies into established product lines, however, it will be incumbent on the channel to figure out how to monetize Einstein by putting it in the hands of customers.

"Ideally, we'll be able to create entirely new enhancements to sales, service and marketing processes using Einstein as a toolset that ultimately drives better user decision-making," Glenn Weinstein, CIO of Indianapolis-based Salesforce partner Appirio, told CRN.

Salesforce has a large role to play in helping partners, and customers, anticipate those use cases for the platform-native AI, Weinstein added.

Charles Landry, chief revenue officer at SpringML, a Salesforce partner based in Pleasanton, Calif., said Einstein will boost the practices of partners that already focus on bringing AI solutions to market.

"As a provider of predictive analytics and machine-learning techniques, we think it's great wind in the sails," Landry told CRN. "We think it's going to be a great platform for us and other partners to develop against."

But even beyond gaining access to a development platform  both programmatic and declarative  to power custom AI projects, Salesforce partners will benefit from the status Einstein helps the CRM vendor secure in a competitive market, Jim Sinai, vice president of marketing at Salesforce, told CRN.

"Whether you're an SI or an ISV, you're looking to partner and align with the most forward-thinking technology vendors out there," Sinai told CRN.

Artificial intelligence has become a major battlefront of late among enterprise tech companies.

"It's pretty clear that AI is the next major technology transformation going on," Sinai said. "Cloud, mobile, social, IoT, all of these things are built on top of each other to unlock all this data, and then all these models unlock AI."

Einstein is an expansive technology that takes different forms in different products, all driven by recent breakthroughs in the automation of machine learning, Sinai said.

Because it's not an add-on capability, but rather a native enhancement to almost every Salesforce product, it will deliver to all customers a unique return on investment, he added.

Einstein will help sales reps score leads, and service professionals classify and direct cases to the right agents. Marketers will benefit from predictions on audience engagement. Even Salesforce's new Commerce Cloud  the rebranded Demandware platform acquired earlier this year  will offer personalized product recommendations thanks to Einstein, according to Sinai.

Consumers have become perfectly comfortable using artificial intelligence  from Facebook identifying people in photos, to Apple's Siri learning our voices and search preferences, to Amazon making product recommendations.

But enterprise tech vendors like Salesforce are still figuring out how best to power businesses with the self-learning technology.

"What they find is putting AI into applications is incredibly complex," Sinai told CRN.

It's also increasingly necessary, he said, as companies struggle to manage massive amounts of data by leveraging predictive models and algorithms, but face a global shortage of data scientists to help them do it.

Bluewolf, a global Salesforce systems integrator owned by IBM, recently released its latest State of Salesforce report, as it does every year before Dreamforce.

Eric Berridge, Bluewolf's CEO, told CRN that half of the companies surveyed for the study said their most essential applications contained elements of artificial intelligence.

"We are in the next wave of computing," Berridge said. "This is where the market is going and what customers are demanding. And AI and cognitive are helping companies get to their future now."

Salesforce has been developing Einstein's underlying technology for several years, Sinai said.

After the decision to take a deep dive into AI, Salesforce hired almost 200 experts and began a string of acquisitions: RelateIQ, MetaMind, Implisit, PredictionIO and Tempo.

"We went to find best-of-breed technologies and people, to bring them into one organization to work on one focus. And that's what Salesforce Einstein has become," Sinai said.

Partners will be able to leverage Einstein to fine-tune predictive models and help enterprises adopt predictive capabilities that supplement human judgment, speeding the process of making critical decisions, said Landry, of SpringML.

"As someone that builds applications on Sales and Analytics clouds, we think our job just got easier," Landry told CRN. "A lot of people are familiar with AI in the consumer space, but it's more complex for the enterprise. No one is certain yet how to take that and translate it to the average person in sales."

Salesforce will have achieved a lot by simplifying that technology and making it approachable, Landry said, but partners have a large role to play, both in evangelizing the technology and helping customers adopt it.

"It's clearly early days, but from our standpoint, we think it's going to speed adoption of these technologies very quickly," Landry said.

The buzz around AI is similar to where analytics and big data were a decade ago, he added.

"A lot of people are going to wake up and say I really want this. A lot of other people are just going to stumble in and start using it," Sinai said. "I think over the first year that most of our customers will be using Einstein features."

Einstein will be like giving every Salesforce customer their own data scientist, Sinai told CRN.

"We're enabling our SIs to go in and deliver predictive applications without having to be AI experts themselves. And to be those thought leaders being backed up by some really powerful technology. We'll build the base version and our partners will come up with industry applications and extensions into verticals," Sinai said.
Trump Talks Cybersecurity

As presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump escalate their fight for the White House, cybersecurity is emerging as a key topic of conversation. In the first presidential debate, both candidates agreed that cyberattacks posed a major threat to U.S. security. On Monday, Trump singled out the issue in a speech at an event hosted by Retired American Warriors in Virginia.

"To truly make America safe, we must make cybersecurity a major priority for both the government and the private sector, Trump said. "As President, improving cybersecurity will be an immediate and top priority for my administration, he said. Take a look at some of the key takeaways from the speech and what some of Trump's policies around cybersecurity might be. (Keep an eye on CRN for a follow-up slideshow on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton).
News / National

by Stewart Murewa

It is surprising for some local tabloids to say that ZANU PF is plotting for the demise of the Zimbabwe People First (Zim PF) leader Joice Mujuru. These papers and politicians should not take people for granted, as we know that each political party should have a clear and well outlined strategy in order to lure and win support from the electorate.The Zimbabwe People First party should first organize itself into proper structures from the grassroots up to the national level. At the moment the party is only known and has its structures at the national level and most people do not know how the party is being run. The party leaders should recruit more people in the rural areas and some urban areas rather than blaming ZANU PF for its lack of strategy.Political parties should stop the blame game and concentrate on solving the problems bedeviling the country especially the economy, which is hurting almost everyone. The sanctions which were invited by the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) should be lifted and be attacked at all corners. At this point in time Mujuru is planning to visit the people who imposed sanctions to us in Britain; is it to her wisdom or lack of it?We hope that in her visit she is going to source funds to improve the economy and not to seek political support from the people in the Diaspora. If she wants political support she is misleading herself as the people are now fed up with these politicians who had been fired from ZANU PF. Most of the politicians who had been members of ZANU PF are not trusted as they are known to be power hungry, which is the reason why they were fired.The Zimbabwe People First is being criticized for being led by political prostitutes in the likes of Kudzai Mbudzi, Dzikamai Mavhaire and Claudius Makova who had been members of more than three political parties. Thus these people are opportunists who are always on the move to any political party they think they can grab positions which they would manipulate for self aggrandizement.Mujuru's party is characterized by divisions as epitomized in Masvingo province where Claudius Makova imposed a candidate without the approval of the party members in the Bikita West constituency. This shows that there is confusion and profusion in the party. Above all the party is composed of spent force members in the likes of Didymus Mutasa who claim to be the champions of democracy. The party's council of elders is of no importance as they continue to blame ZANU PF without proffering proper solutions.The People First's congress scheduled to be held in October might turn to be a fiasco if the party members continue to blame ZANU PF without concentrating on their party programmes. Joice Mujuru herself should not have the audacity to blame ZANU PF as she was part and parcel of the system. If President Robert Mugabe pardons Mujuru it cannot surprise us seeing her taking the offer. Therefore we should be careful of these wolves in sheep skins.The claim that ZimPF had unearthed a plot where ZANU PF activists in the United Kingdom were planning to masquerade as opposition members and disrupt Mujuru's scheduled address at Chatham House should be taken with a pinch of salt. People should be careful when analyzing these issues especially politicians of dubious revolutionary credentials.
Gianni Onorato, president and CEO of MSC Cruises, said that additional supply coming into China will be good for the industry. MSC has also recently launched its own sales and marketing platform in China.

MSC currently has a two-year deal with CAISSA Touristic Group which is chartering the MSC Lirica and sourcing Chinese passengers.

Now, MSC is laying the groundwork for a new chapter in the Chinese market when the MSC Splendida arrives in Shanghai in 2018. A new office has been opened, with the company naming Helen Huang as its president, Greater China.

"The future of MSC in China is with our own organization and our own sales, in which CAISSA will be a partner," said Onorato.

"I think competition always helps," he continued, speaking to a large contingent of Chinese press and Cruise Industry News at China Cruise Shipping. "Additional supply will help the market grow. We all know and we all agree that there is great potential for mainland China. In order to develop this potential, we need to have the supply here.

"The supply must be competitive and diversified, offering different products, so consumers can make their own choices," Onorato said. "More players also mean there will be more marketing money. We all say it's important to explain to the consumers what a cruise is."

Onorato said the brand was the biggest in South America and Europe, and was working to build up in North America, and also has its sights set on China.
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Everyone knows Judy Garland starred as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. But who was she before that life-changing role in 1939? And how did she get it, when it had been promised to Shirley Temple?

Her name wasnt even Judy. It was Frances  Frances Ethel Gumm from Minnesota  and her story is told in a new musical, Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz.

On stage at Goodspeed Musicals, the show shares how Gumms family arrived in California in 1934. She and her two sisters had been performing on the vaudeville circuit, uprooted each time their dad lost his job operating movie theaters.

When she enrolled at the Hollywood Professional School for child performers, things started to happen. But it wasnt easy-breezy. Gumm struggled to navigate Hollywood while her parents marriage was in turmoil.

Chasing Rainbows, on stage through Sunday, Nov. 27, features a book by Marc Acito and music adapted by David Libby. Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, it chronicles a time before Meet Me in St. Louis and Easter Parade, when Gumm was simply an awkward girl with a golden voice.

The show is filled with such tunes as You Made Me Love You and Over the Rainbow. And it includes surprises, too, according to its creator, Tina Marie Casamento Libby.

Q: What inspired you to create this show?

More Information Goodspeed Musicals, 6 Main St., East Haddam. Through Sunday, Nov. 27. $29 and up. Wednesday 2 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday 7:30 p.m. (with select shows at 2 p.m.). Friday 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday 2 p.m. (with select shows at 6:30 p.m.). 860-873-8668, goodspeed.org See More Collapse

A: Ive had this idea since I was a young girl because I always related to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I lost my mother when I was a young girl. Dorothy lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. She was always on her way to find something new and exciting, and then on a quest to find her way home. The idea of that story is that everything she wanted was always within her own power. My mantra has always been to create your own opportunity; its what I teach, its what I live. ... Her relationship to her father is special. Im excited to introduce this story of her and her family, and the people at MGM who discovered her and pushed her stardom forward.

Q: In doing your research, what did you learn about her that you think people may find most surprising?

A: I think that she was the breadwinner of the family in the 1930s. Her contract at MGM supported the whole family, and I think she felt it was all up to her not only to support her family, but to make sure her mother and father stayed together. There was love in the Gumm family, but it was a difficult situation. Nobody expected her to be a movie star; she was just a little girl with a big voice.

Q: Back in the day it seems many actors changed their name: Joseph Yule Jr. became Mickey Rooney. Gumm became Judy Garland. Whats your take on that? Did Frances dislike her name?

A: I think it was all about the studio system; it was all about creating stars and they wanted to reinvent people. We tell that story in the show. Lana Turner was Julia Jean Turner and Deanna Durbin was Edna Mae Durbin. ... Frances Gumm just doesnt sound very exciting.

Q: Ruby Rakos plays Gumm/Garland in your show and Ive seen her perform. She seems so perfect for the role. How did you find her?

A: Ruby is amazing. I found her quite accidentally at a professional theater camp called Broadway Artists Alliance. I was a guest panelist and Ruby ended up in my group of kids and sang Zing Went the Strings of My Heart  one of Judys songs. (Rakos) is naturally an old soul; she literally dresses old-fashioned. She has her own sense of style. ... She sounded just like Garland. I just about fell out of my chair. I asked her if people told her she sounded like a young Judy Garland. She was pretty unaware of it. She fell in love with the role, this role she was born to play.

lkoonz@newstimes.com; Twitter: @LindaTKoonz
One of the reasons Renaissance festivals are so popular is that they encourage both kids and adults to play make believe for a day or more.

At the Connecticut Renaissance Faire visitors can turn off their cellphones and travel back in time to the 16th century, when knights, ladies and townsfolk celebrated life with jousting tournaments, music and theater, hearty feasting and tasty drinks, and a bit of shopping at the village marketplace.
MILFORD  With Hurricane Matthew potentially drawing a bead on the Connecticut shoreline, city officials on Tuesday urged residents to sign up for the citywide alert system.

The Milford Alerts Citywide Notification System auto-dials your home or cell phone and plays a recorded message about an urgent matter.

At no cost to the City of Milford, we utilize a state-of-the-art notification system to alert residents about emergencies and other important community news. This notification system provides essential information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, fires, floods, unexpected road closures, or evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods, reads the statement posted on the citys web site on Tuesday afternoon.

The system also allows residents to sign up for community news like parade routes, festival information, or notices of upcoming meetings. You will receive time-sensitive messages wherever you specify, such as your home, cell, or business phone, e-mail, text messages, hearing impaired receiving devices, and more, the statement reads.

The latest alert, on Monday afternoon, was recorded by Mayor Ben Blake and reminded resident who have received their new garbage tote bins not to put them out for collection until Oct. 30.

Fire Chief Doug Edo recommended that residents sign up for the alerts because well put out notifications on when you should move your car to higher ground, which can be very important.

Go here to sign up for the alerts.

The next alert may be weather-related, depending on the course Matthew takes.
Formula may contain dangerous bacteria

Graceleigh, Inc. Sammys Milk is recalling all lots of Sammys Milk Baby Food because of possible presence of Cronobacter, a bacteria that can cause severe and sometimes fatal blood infections or meningitis in infants.

Sammys Milk was distributed nationwide from http://www.sammysmilk.com/. This product comes in a 12.84-oz white plastic container for all lot numbers with expiration dates of November, 2016 through August, 2018. No illnesses have been reported to date. This recall is being conducted as a result of the FDAs determination that Sammys Milk is not manufactured in compliance with infant formula regulations and that testing to confirm the absence of the Cronobacter bacteria was not performed.

Consumers who have purchased Sammys Milk are urged to not consume and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 949-646-4628, or email at recall@SammysMilk.com between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Buns recalled for potential plastic

Vermont-based Koffee Kup Bakery, Inc. has voluntarily recalled about 99,000 packages of its bread products due to the possibility that there may be clear plastic pieces in some products.

Koffee Kup discovered the presence of a foreign object in its bread and roll production through routine screening. The company ceased production immediately and upon further investigation, discovered that a small piece of clear plastic entered the stream of production and broke apart during the production process, thus creating a hard-material choking hazard. The company elected to commence an immediate product recall of all products potentially contaminated by the plastic that entered the production stream.

The recalled products were shipped to U.S. retailers in 11 states, including Connecticut, and the District of Columbia. A full list of affected products is available here.

Customers who purchased any of the should return them for an exchange or a full refund. When possible, customers are asked to return the product with the bag and closing clip. No injuries have been reported to date.

Consumers with questions can contact Koffee Kup Bakery, Inc. at 800-841-8102.
Find the Best Near You
Cuba and the US negotiate six new cooperation agreements

Cuba and the United States work on the negotiation of six new cooperation agreements in areas such as the implementation and enforcement of law, seismic monitoring and the exchange of meteorological information, said Josefina Vidal, general director for the United States of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

The official said in an on-line interview through the social network Twitter that these work commitments will also include protected marine areas, search and rescue, and the coordination of responses to spills of hydrocarbons and other substances in the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait.

From Washington, at the end of the 4th meeting of the Bilateral Commission between the two nations, Vidal said that seven new visits of high level in both directions were planned for the months of October and November, in addition to a dozen technical meetings on topics of common interest, like health, the environment, education and a wide gamut of bilateral and multilateral aspects.

While answering a question by ACN she underlined that in the Bilateral Commission Cuba reiterated its condemnation of the programs that are tried to be implemented in the island without the authorization and approval of corresponding institutions, like the recent case of the World Learning scholarships for youngsters.

Vidal insisted on the need that the U.S: government eliminates the financing of programs aimed at causing internal changes in Cuba, an action she considered essential to normalize bilateral relations.

The diplomat expressed that even though the U.S. administration approved that Cuba uses dollars in its international financial transactions, so far the island has not been able to make any payment to third parties nor deposits in cash in that currency.

She emphasized that President Barack Obama has wide prerogatives to act in the economic-commercial sphere, like he did with telecommunications, an could authorize the export of more products to the island, as well as to allow U.S. investments in Cuba.

Obama could normalize bank relations by allowing Cuban banks to have correspondent accounts in financial institutions of that country.

In Fridays talks, it was reiterated that in order to advance in the improvement of relations it will also be necessary to return the territory illegally occupied by the Naval Base of Guantanamo and that the Cuban Adjustment Act, the dry-feet-wet feet policy and the Parole Program for Cuban Medical Professionals are eliminated, which not only encourage the illegal and unsafe emigration of Cuban citizens but also deprive the island of vital human resources ad create increasing difficulties to other countries.

The 5th meeting of the Bilateral Commission will take place in December, thus giving continuity to the mechanism of work announced by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations.

Josefina Vidal headed the Cuban delegation to the meeting, while heading that of the United States were Mari Carmen Aponte and Jonathan Finer, Assistant Secretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs and the director of policy planning of the State Department, respectively. (acn)
Tannishtha Chatterjee  Personal Life, Film Career & Controversies. All That You Ever Wanted To Know About Her

How many actors do you think would have been where they are today had it not been for fame? Agreed there is a lot of money involved in the industry, but fame and recognition is one of the prime incentives for making a career in acting. The tag of being a celebrity is enough to get the inside actor out. But is this valid for all? No, there are a few who have a real passion for acting. They would act no matter what  sans money, sans fame, only for their passion! This page is dedicated to one of these stars  Tannishtha Chatterjee, one of the most renowned Indian actors internationally, who has in her decade long career made the country proud with her achievements in films in the country and abroad. Proudly known as the princess of parallel cinema, she has played pivotal roles in films like, Brick Lane, Shadows of Time, Road, Movie, Dekh Indian Circus and so on. She has won several Best Actress awards in various film festivals for her films and been a part of the jury in prestigious film festivals. Furthermore, she is the only Indian actor to have three of her films selected in three different film festivals in a single year, a feat that not many international actors can also vouch for.



Dive Into The Time!

Tannishtha Chatterjee was born on November 23, 1980 in Pune, Maharashtra to a Bengali Hindu family. While her father is a business executive, her mother works as a political science professor. Tannishthas formative years were mostly spent outside the country, in Japan, Australia, England and Kenya. However, the family duly returned to their homeland and made the capital city, New Delhi their new address. About Tannishthas educational background, she is a major in chemistry from Delhi University. After completing her course in Chemistry, Tannishtha followed her passion and enrolled at the National School of Drama.



Career Kick-Start!

How many mainstream actors can claim that their debut movie won a National Film Award? Not many, isnt it? Well, that speaks volumes about Tannishtha Chatterjees mettle as an actor. Do we even need to say anything else? Tannishtha has been on a dream run ever since her career started with National Film Award winning flick, Swaraj, in 2003. She had the audacity to move out of the ordinary and pick movies that catered to a select audience. No run-off-the-mill or sing-and bling tales for this bold actress.



Flying High!

Tannishthas big break came with the German film, Shadow of Time. Not only did the film won her critical acclaim but also took her overseas to be a part of International Film Festivals in Toronto and Berlin that opened new avenues and a new learning experience for the talented actress. It was there that she found work in an Indo-French coproduction Hava Aney Dey (2004), which was a directorial venture of Partho SenGupta. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. It won the best film award at the Durban Film Festival. What followed was a string of successful films including Kasturi, Strings, and Bibar, the latter of which won her Best Actress award in Bengal Film Journalists Association Awards.

It was Sarah Gavrons British film, Brick Lane (2007) that gave Tannishtha the kind of breakthrough she deserved. The film brought her international recognition and fame. For her brilliant performance in the movie, she was nominated for the British independent film awards along with actresses like Judi Dench and Anne Hathaway. Later on, Tannishtha acted in a lot of unconventional films including Bhopal: Prayer for Rain alongside Martin Sheen and Road, Movie with Abhay Deol. Her film, Bombay Summer won her the Best Actress award at the Miaac New York Film Festival. She participated in the 62nd Cannes Film Festival and was referred by the Indian media as the countrys chief flag bearer at the festival.

In 2010, Tannishtha was one of the jury members of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Truly an international Indian actor, her film Dekh Indian Circus (2011) was premiered at the Busan International Film Festival and won the audience choice award at the festival. Back in Bollywood, Tannishtha has donned several characters for various films including, I Love New Year, Gulab Gang and so on. In 2012, she was seen in the directorial venture of Joe Wright for Anna Karenina



Super Year  2013!

Year 2013 was a super year for Tannishtha in terms of her career. She achieved a feat that no Indian can claim to have  having her films selected for three major film festivals in a single year. Her film Monsoon Shootout was an official selection at the 66th Cannes Film Festival and her Canadian film Siddharth was an official selection at the 70th Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.



Streaming Success!

Ever since her super year 2013, Tannishthas career has been on a roll. She featured opposite Brett Lee in the Australian rom-com Unindian. She was a part of the successful films, including Island City, LION and Angry India Goddesses, the latter of which earned her huge acclaim in Toronto and Rome International Film Festivals. Director Leena Yadavs 2016 film, Parched had Tannishtha play pivotal role. The film gained her Best Actress award at the Festival2valenciennes and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2016. Same year, she was given a special award in a ceremony held at the BAFTA for her contribution to Asian cinema. She was the president of the jury of the prestigious MOOOV film festival in Belgium in 2016.



Controversy

Tannishtha Chatterjee was recently invited as a guest at an Indian television show, Comedy Nights Bachao. In the show she was roasted for her dark skin. Furious as she was, she walked out of the show, citing it to have a regressively blatant racist content. Later on, she slammed the channel and the show on social media for taking a dig at her complexion. The channel duly apologized for the prejudiced and bigoted comment on the show.



Did You Know?
Prosser, defense propel Berlin past Penns Manor in Appalachian Bowl

Berlin Brothersvalley made it 2 wins in a row for the WestPAC in the Appalachian Bowl with convincing victory over Penns Manor at Windber Stadium.
- T. S. Eliot

Thoughts After Lambeth

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."
University of Memphis officials condemned the vandalism of a student-athletes vehicle as an act of "racism, bigotry and hate speech" Monday night through an email addressed to the entire campus community.

The email, signed by U of M President M. David Rudd and Provost Karen Weddle-West, said university officials reached out to the family and friends of the athlete and have yet not been able to identify a suspect.

"We will continue to investigate the incident and will respond accordingly. Racism, bigotry and hate speech, in any form or fashion, will not be tolerated on our campus, the email stated.

The athlete found her car keyed and a racist note left on the windshield Sept. 23. She reported the incident to campus police.

The email said that while a university should promote free speech, it must not tolerate racism or attempts to silence speech.
Jonathan Capriel Stuart Dedmon, leader of Students for Concealed Carry at the University of Memphis, explains his position about allowing students to carry guns on campus. The student group held a protest in front of the University Center.

Armed with empty holsters and fact sheets, members of the University of Memphis Students for Concealed Carry hosted a protest in front of the University Center on Monday.

The empty holsters were used to grab peopleas attention and begin the conversation about concealed carry on campus.

Stuart Dedmon, 23, a biology senior who is the current leader of the U of M Students for Concealed Carry said that he believes that if you have a permit to carry a weapon off campus, you should be able to carry on campus. aWe are not trying to replace police and we are not trying to deputize students to protect campus,a Dedmon said. aAll were doing is allowing people to defend their personal selves. We believe in personal safety, not public protection.a

After the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, Students for Concealed Carrying was created and is now in all 50 states, Dedmon said.

The protest allowed students to ask questions and give opposing viewpoints.

aSome people say well what if a teacher gave somebody a bad grade and they got mad and shot them, well whatas stopping them from doing it now?a Dedmon said.

aIt doesnat happen now, what would make it any different?a The same idea goes for students who believe that people may be scared to have critical conversations if they knew that someone in the classroom had a gun.

aPermit holding individuals are not just going to go off and shoot somebody because they disagree,a Dedmon said.

aAgain, it doesnat happen now it wonat happen if permit holders are allowed to carry on campus.a

Another uncomfortable issue for some is the possibility of a gun going off in the middle of campus.

aA gun will not go off unless you pull the trigger,a Dedmon said, aSo, unless youare playing, it wonat go off. Thereas been 3 incidents in the past 15 years that permit holding individuals have been able to carry on campus, so 500 semesters, three discharges, no one was injured and those individuals were apprehended and charged.a

As of July 1, 2016, U of M full-time employees are allowed to carry a concealed weapon on campus, legislation that the U of M Students for Concealed Carry pushed for.

Derek Myers, campus interim chief of police, said that since the university opposed legislation for employees to carry guns, he does not think students will be able to carry on campus.

aIf students had guns on campus, we would receive a lot of calls from people who just see a gun and call police,a Myers said. aWe would have to check everyone out and that would tie up officers.a

Another factor to students having guns on campus is the policy that police would follow if an active shooter was on campus, Myers said.

aThe idea is to get to the threat quickly to stop the loss of life,a Myers said. aWe would have to stop and check everyone who has a gun on campus and secure their weapons, which keeps us from getting to the threat.a

In the next few weeks, another event will be held to keep the conversation going about concealed carrying on campus.

aI will be walking around in a prison jumpsuit asking people to sign a petition that says akeep campus gun free so I can continue to rob people without fear of being shot,aa Dedmon said. aItas just a comical event to make students think.a

The idea was created by the Leadership Institute, an organization that works and trains activists and students.

Patrick Petsche, a field representative for Leadership Institute, said that this event exemplifies the point that crimes are committed in gun free zones, like college campuses.

aThis event shows the fact that criminals want armless victims, where the right of self-preservation is not present,a Petsche said. aConcealed carry is about personal protect; itas a human right.a
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein stopped through Memphis to hold a rally at Amurica Studios, located at North Cleveland Street, on Monday. During the rally Stein promoted bringing social movements into the political battle as well as the growing, amazing Green Party here in Memphis and throughout Tennessee.

At the end of the day we are one small boat, we are one small community, we are one small human family on this planet, Stein said at the rally. Either we are going to fail together or we are going to sail together. So lets make it sailing.

One of the key issues on Steins platform is to Protect Mother Earth by leading a global treaty to halt climate change. One quarter of Americans are climate change skeptics, according to a 2014 report by the Public Religion Research Institute. However, 97 percent of scientists agree that climate change is happening, according to Business Insider and an appearance by Bill Nye The Science Guy on HBOs Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
#madebygoogle Event Roundup

Trending News: All The Big Developments From The #madebygoogle Event

Why Is This Important?

Because if anyone can challenge Apple for tech and computing supremacy, it's Google.

Long Story Short

Google is hosting #madebygoogle, their version of an Apple product event. Rumors are everywhere, but most insiders expect that Google will announce new phones, WiFi and more.

Long Story

Google has their hands in so many ventures, it's easy to forget that at their core, they're a personal technology company. That's probably why they're hosting #madebygoogle, an event similar to Apple's big keynote addresses. And just like the Apple events, the tech world is abuzz over what Google might reveal.

Want to follow along? By all means:

The biggest expectation today (as usual) is the smartphone, but first they're talking about Google Assistant and advances in AI. According to Google, we'll eventually move from mobile-based platforms to an AI-based platform. One example they're showcasing is their new machine learning translation, which is a lot closer to human translation than what we're used to.

Phone

Now we're getting to the good stuff. Google is still focusing on their AI, but that's not especially helpful if people don't have hardware on which to use the assistant. Google isn't known for hardware, making this a pretty significant leap.

As expected, the new Google phone is called Pixel. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like an iPhone without a home button. It looks good! Pixel is the first phone with Google Assistant built-in. This is basically Siri, but better integrated with 3rd-party apps. It's not clear, but it might also be a little smarter than Siri.

Pixel also has the highest-rated camera of any smartphone ever made. It was rated 89 by something called DXOMark. It also has the fastest capture speed of any smartphone camera and some spiffy video stabilization. Pixel owners also get free storage of all of their photos and videos at original quality.

Google claims that Pixel can charge to get up to 7 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes, kind of a halfway compromise between standard charging and newer quick-charging technology. They're also including a quick-transfer kit with every phone to make it easier to switch from an iPhone.

Pixel comes in two sizes, a 5" and 5.5" model. They appear to have identical hardware specs. It's available exclusively through Verizon or unlocked in the Google Store, and it's the latest phone to be compatible with Google's innovative Project Fi network.

Oh, and it has a headphone jack.

Virtual Reality

Daydream is Google's mobile VR platform, and Pixel comes equipped for this as well. Daydream View is their new VR headset, and it looks a lot like Samsung's Gear VR (albeit more comfortable). It comes with a sensor-equipped remote control, designed to make interacting with Daydream easier.

While Daydream has obvious gaming applications, the coolest feature may be their partnership with companies like Netflix and Hulu, which bring their full content library to VR for a big-screen experience. You'll also be able to use Street View to tour far away places.

Home

Lots of people are excited about the prospect of having a fully connected home they can control with their voices, but traditional routers aren't designed for the way we use them now. Google WiFi is designed to power a home more in line with the way we use the internet. It's expandable, modular and portable. It'll intelligently transition you to the optimal hotspot, and there's a feature that allows you to control device access.

It's available for pre-order in November, and runs $129 for a single unit and $299 for a 3-pack.

Also getting an update is Chromecast. The new version is called Chromecast Ultra, promising crisper picture and better performance (up to 4k resolution). It's also faster and more reliable than previous Chromecast iterations. It'll be available for $69 in November.

Google Home is Google's answer to Amazon's Echo. It works similarly, with an active mic and touch capability. It does similar things, too  you can get answers from Google, play music, manage tasks and control devices. What's neat about Google Home, though, is that because it's integrated with YouTube, it can play just about any song without having to subscribe to a music service (though it supports those, too).

It's also pretty smart. It can search for points of interest nearby, tell you how the traffic is and will eventually be able to send directions to your phone. It also translates  ask it how to say something in Spanish, and it'll tell you. And unlike Echo, multiple units can work together. If you want to play the same music in every room of your house, it can do that.

Google Home will run $129, is available for preorder today, and will be in several retail stores starting in November.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

What's next for Google?

Disrupt Your Feed

This might finally convince me to switch from Apple.

Drop This Fact

Every day, 16% of the searches Google receives are ones it's never seen before.
Mother-of-two Michele Wilson literally stumbled across an ingredient she claims may have helped soothe her young daughter's nasty eczema while taking a walk in the bush.

Daughter Eva, five, would scratch at the irritating skin condition so badly she would wake up in the morning with 'blood all over her sheets'.

Desperate to help, and sick of washing the sheets, Mrs Wilson went foraging in the New Zealand bush in the hope of finding something that may help.

Soothing: Michele Wilson (centre) concocted a balm that she claims may have helped soothe her daughter Eva's eczema. She is pictured with Frankie (left) and Eva (right)

So itchy: Mrs Wilson said that her daughter's eczema was so bad, she would draw blood

'Eva could not stop scratching her skin. Every night she would rake at her rashes with her fingernails,' Mrs Wilson told Daily Mail Australia.

'In the morning she would have scratched so much she'd wake up with blood all over her sheets.'

On the advice of her father, Mrs Wilson took to the bush in search of kawakawa, a native plant long used as a soothing substance by New Zealand Maori.

She used the plant to create a herbal eczema balm, which has proved so popular Mrs Wilson has quit her job and is now focused on selling it full time.

'It didn't heal her eczema,' she said, but she claims it is creating a seal over her daughter's skin that 'stopped the rash and stopped the itch'.

Taking off: Mrs Wilson started making the balm for parents at her daughter's kindergarten and was soon inundated with orders

The first inkling the balm might prove a lucrative business proposition came when Mrs Wilson started making it for other mums at her daughter's day care.

'I started making it for a couple of the kindergarten mums.

'Word spread around Auckland and by February this year I was getting calls almost daily to mix a batch up for someone.

'I decided to quit my job as a lawyer, throw everything into this and spend more time with my children.'

Balance: Although she works upwards of 50 hours a week on the business, Mrs Wilson chooses her own hours and has plenty of time to spend with the kids

Eight months ago Mrs Wilson quit her job as a commercial lawyer to focus on the business full time.

Frankie Apothecary, named after Mrs Wilson's youngest daughter, has grown so rapidly since that it is now struggling to keep up with demand.

On its website, the salve - which retails for NZ$32 - is described as an 'Organic, intensive healing balm' which it claims may be able to treat 'dry & irritated skin caused by eczema, psoriasis, nappy rash, bug bites and other general dry skin conditions.'

Spreading the word: Mrs Wilson has now quit her job as a commercial lawyer to make the Frankie balm full time

However, Sydney-based dermatologist and eczema expert Dr Saxon Smith said people with eczema should regularly use moisturiser to soothe dry skin.

'What we are always recommending is that you need to maximise the barrier function of your skin yourself.

'One of the key components that makes eczema is a pre-disposition to dry and flaky skin. Using a moisturiser on a daily basis is critical.'

Namesake: Mrs Wilson named the business after her youngest daughter, Frankie (pictured)

Mrs Wilson has been swamped with orders for her salve throughout New Zealand, Australia and even as far afield as Denmark.

Her company has also been nominated in six categories at the annual OHbaby! business awards, which recognise the best parenting products on the market.

'My goal at the beginning was not to have this sort of success,' Mrs Taylor said.

'My only goal was that I would be able to sustain living in the Auckland property market and not have to work nine-to-five with my children in care.

'I have definitely exceeded that.'
Her 'absolutely horrifying' experience has been liked over 10,000 times

One anonymous single mother has taken to Facebook to share her story

A desperate confession from a student nurse 'on the brink of giving up' gives a no-holds-barred insight into the state of the profession.

The anonymous submission from a nurse who lives in Ireland begins: 'Today, yet again like so many other times, I have broken down crying wondering why the hell I bothered pursuing a degree in nursing.'

The comment, published on the 'Support for Nurses, Midwives and Frontline Staff in Ireland' Facebook page has struck a chord, getting more than 10,000 likes.

The anonymous student nurse took to the Facebook page 'Support for Nurses, Midwives and Frontline Staff in Ireland' to share her story

The woman, who is a fourth year mental health student nurse, describes her job as 'absolutely horrifying'.

She opens the post, with the words: 'Today, yet again like so many other times, I have broken down crying wondering why the hell I bothered pursuing a degree in nursing.'

Despite waking up 'ill, with a sore throat, blocked sinuses, a headache and to top it off I have vertigo', she had to go into work because the hospital is already short of staff and overworked.

She says, quite simply, 'They need me.'

The post, put up last week, has received nearly 1,000 comments.

The frank admission, made by the single mother, highlights what nurses have to go through on a daily basis and the low salaries than can leave people in the profession struggling to pay their bills.

When she arrived at work, the only other nurse on the ward called in sick.

Having only been placed in the hospital three days before, she was told she would have full responsibility of more than 20 patients suffering from mental health issues.

The single mother admits to going without breakfast and being too busy to have a proper lunch or even go to the toilet when she wants.

The anonymous nurse's account of her daily life has gained plenty of attention on Facebook

Only able to stuff a few crackers in her mouth between phone calls, it is all she can afford. The nurse says she felt faint at one stage but had to continue her job.

She writes: 'Words cannot express how miserable I was today and have been on so many occasions in the past.

'If anyone asked me advice on pursuing a career in nursing I would strongly advise against it. It is by far the worst decision I ever made.'

Finding it difficult to strike in numbers, she says nurses are aware patients will die if they do because they are short of staff.

She angrily asks: ' Who the hell else is going to look after the dying patients if we strike????'

Poll Would this admission put you off wanting to be a nurse? Yes, of course! It sounds horrible I really want to help people so I might still try it out No, I still want to be a nurse Would this admission put you off wanting to be a nurse? Yes, of course! It sounds horrible 2677 votes

I really want to help people so I might still try it out 239 votes

No, I still want to be a nurse 482 votes Now share your opinion





The anonymous nurse didn't even get paid for the shift and received 'zilch' for her long hours because she is still a student.

Even when she qualifies, she says, she will get paid 'buttons for the work I do, just like all the other nurses when they qualify.'

She says she is barely able to feed her daughter and unable to pay her car tax/insurance and electricity, and as a result lives in a constant state of uncertainty, tiredness and panic.

Crying herself home from work, she is depressed and seeks comfort from her daughter - who she admits should be seeking comfort from her.

Her daughter makes her a cup of tea and a message: 'It will be okay, I love you.'

She feels the only option is to leave the country and work elsewhere, leaving behind her family, friends, home, culture and take her daughter away from school, her friends, her life and the things she loves.

The nurse ends her post by asking: 'How are we as nurses expected to look after others if we cannot look after ourselves?

'Why does the government not care about us?

'Why are we so undervalued?'

She signs off: 'From a really wore out student nurse on the brink of giving up.'
She implored her followers to help her get there

The Birdcage is an exclusive area where VIPs often mingle

She said she'd love to be in the Birdcage at the Melbourne Cup this year

Ms Magill, from NSW, recently posted about one of her lifelong dreams

The 'Terminally Fabulous' blog has built up followers around the world

Lisa Magill, 34, shares her experience of dealing with cancer on her blog

Her raw and personal blog about dealing with terminal cancer, 'Terminally Fabulous', has attracted praise and followers in equal measures.

And Lisa Magill's latest post, uploaded on Monday, has resonated even more than usual, on account of its honesty.

The 34-year-old, from Brisbane, wrote that she has three dreams in life - one of which is to 'be in the Birdcage, ANY TENT [sic], on Melbourne Cup Day.

The Birdcage is the premium marquee enclosure at Flemington Racecourse, where the Melbourne Cup is held.

Raw: Ms Lisa Magill (pictured), from Brisbane, is the author of the blog 'Terminally Fabulous' - in which she shares her experience of living with a rare form of cancer

New: In her latest post, Ms Magill has revealed that it is one of her lifelong dreams to be in the Birdcage, 'ANY TENT', on the Melbourne Cup day

Ask: She said she was asking because she is 'at a point now where I think if I don't ask I won't receive and my chances of being around for it next year, well, who knows?'

Dream: The Birdcage at the Melbourne Cup (pictured) is the premium marquee enclosure at Flemington Racecourse

'OK, so after a pretty yucky week or so I have woken up at 4am this morning and decided I am going to do something I promised myself I would NEVER do,' Ms Magill said.

'But I am at a point now where I think if I don't ask I won't receive and my chances of being around for it next year, well, who knows?'.

I am at a point now where I think if I don't ask I won't receive and my chances of being around for it next year, well, who knows?

Ms Magill then said that her three dreams are to go to Broome (which she achieved with the help of organisation, Dreams2Live4, in September), to see New York in the months leading up to Christmas (which she is not sure she'll be able to do on account of her health) and to be in the exclusive Birdcage members' area on the day of the Melbourne Cup:

'So here I am putting it out there!,' she wrote.

'If you or you know someone or someone knows Aunty Jean's cousin Jack's cleaner [sic] knows someone that could get me into the Birdcage this Melbourne Cup, I would have achieved one of my dreams,' she said.

'If it doesn't happen, well, at least I know I tried.'

Putting it out there: Ms Magill (pictured) said she put her dream into the public in case anyone knew anyone who could help her - 'If it doesn't happen, well, at least I know I tried,' she said

Viral: Though the post is just over 24 hours old, it has already received hundreds of shares on Facebook - in addition, many people have said they will ask their contacts at the races

Astonishing: Ms Magill told Daily Mail Australia she is genuinely touched by the huge response so far, and the kindness of strangers

Though the post is just over 24 hours old, it has already received 750 likes and 500 shares on Facebook.

It has also seen countless people commenting and saying they will ask around with contacts at the races.

'I am so astonished at the response we have had,' Ms Magill told Daily Mail Australia.

'The generosity of random strangers and the kindness is just unbelievable.'

Personal: Lisa Magill has made a name for herself both within the blogosphere and outside of it, thanks to her honest, witty writing about coping with her rare form of cancer

Good, bad and ugly: She famously talks about the good and bad, and her subjects are as diverse as dating with a terminal illness and discussions about urinary catheters

Lisa Magill has made a name for herself both within the blogosphere and outside of it, thanks to her honest, witty writing about coping with her rare form of cancer.

On 'Terminally Fabulous', she discusses everything, from navigating dating while having terminal cancer, to the things people don't often talk about, such as urinary catheters and 'Fear of Missing Out' on things such as her best friend's phone calls and the next series of House of Cards:

The thought of not being there scares the sh*t out of me

'T he thought of not being there scares the sh*t out of me,' she wrote in one especially frank post.

And even though the 34-year-old said that she considers herself 'no writer', she said that the act of blogging about her experience is worthwhile 'when I get private messages from people suffering saying my blog gives them strength or clarity.

'That really makes me feel like I am achieving something and making a small difference to those who need it,' she said.

To follow Lisa Magill's journey, click here. To get in touch with her about the Birdcage, you can reach Ms Magill here.
Australian supermodel Robyn Lawley has been announced as a the new face of Westfield.

The 27-year-old, who has featured on the cover of Vogue, is the store's latest ambassador for their Spring Summer 2016/17 campaign The Front Line.

Robyn described her position as the Health and Beauty ambassador as a 'huge honour' on Instagram.

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Leading the way: Supermodel Robyn Lawley has been announced as the Health and Wellness ambassador for Westfield

Role model: The stunning 27-year-old will feature in their Spring Summer 2016/17 campaign The Front Line

'Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and body-types,' Robyn said.

'Westfield is such an iconic shopping center even throughout the world and to feature me is beyond groundbreaking.

'I'm thrilled and look forward to sharing all the shots coming soon.'

The mother-of-one was chosen for the role because of her passion for promoting healthy living and positive body image

The stunning mother-of-one will spearhead Westfield's annual Beauty and Wellness weekend.

Westfield said she was chosen for her passion for promoting healthy living and positive body image.

In the past Robyn, who is 188cm and a size 12, has spoken out against the use of the term 'plus size' in the modelling industry.

She runs her own swimwear label catering for all sizes and penned the cookbook 'Robyn Lawley Eats'.

Wellness focus: Robyn is known for promoting healthy living and positive body image

'It's really frustrating': The mother-of-one has previously spoken out against the use of the term 'plus size' in the modelling industry

'It's really frustrating and if it's frustrating for me then everyone must be frustrated,' Robyn previously told Daily Mail Australia about diversity in the modelling industry.

'The fact that being healthy and fit isn't good enough for the catwalk ideal is just mind blowing to me...we have much bigger things in the world to worry about rather than having just one type of body over and over again.

'The reality is not everyone likes that kind of body and everyone has their preferences and choices and types and we are greatly misrepresenting a huge amount of people by doing this...with my swimwear company I just say I need an 18 or a 10 or a 14, it's very easy, it's not about a particular "kind of girl".'

Challenging stereotypes: Robyn, who has her own swimwear line, said the fact that being healthy and fit is not good enough for the catwalk ideal is 'mind blowing'

Robyn is joined by models and fellow ambassadors Emma Balfour, Ollie Henderson, Mattia Harnacke, and Yaya Deng in The Front Line campaign.

Westfields Beauty and Wellness Weekend will run on October 15 and 16, and select centres will host hair, makeup, grooming and wellness masterclasses, demonstrations from beauty experts and in-store styling sessions.

Robyn will make personal appearances in two Westfield locations in New South Wales and Queensland.

'Im excited to share my own experience and connect with like-minded Westfield shoppers,' she said.
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The mum later penned a blog post on the subject and her ensuing outrage

This left both mother and son in 'stunned silence' as the woman walked off

The stranger told Ms Rieschieck she had no manners for giving it to him

She was at the supermarket when someone plucked a dummy from her son

When writer Corissa Rieschieck, 33, from Gippsland, Victoria, put a dummy in her son - who she fondly calls Gizmo's - mouth after he had a tantrum in the supermarket, little did she know it would provoke such outrage.

Several moments later, an older woman approached Ms Rieschieck and her two-year-old son, before 'promptly plucking the dummy out of the gremlin's unsuspecting mouth while scolding me about how he doesn't need it and I shouldn't be so bad a parent as to give it to him', she said.

Ms Rieschieck was so surprised by the response of the stranger that both she and Gizmo were left in 'stunned silence'.

The 33-year-old later took to her popular blog to write about the experience.

Controversy: Writer Corissa Rieschieck (pictured with her son) put a dummy in her two-year-old's mouth at the supermarket, before a stranger ripped it from the child

According to the mother, the woman then walked off with Gizmo's dummy in her hand, before she later returned to Ms Rieschieck to chastise the mum even further:

'I feel really frustrated I didn't use my voice, that I didn't tell her exactly what I thought of her actions

'This time it was along the lines of "what kind of parent did I think I was to be using a dummy?" and "I should know better, it's no wonder he screams",' she wrote in a powerful post on the subject.

'I feel really frustrated I didn't use my voice, that I didn't tell her exactly what I thought of her actions,' the blogger told Daily Mail Australia of the experience.

'I'm not quite as angry anymore, but I'm annoyed that she chose to go near my son at all.'

Chastise: Afterwards, the woman walked off with the dummy before coming back to scold Ms Rieschieck (pictured) and ask her what kind of parent she thought she was

Outraged: At the time both Ms Rieschieck and her son were left in 'stunned silence', but the mum said she felt frustrated she didn't tell the woman exactly what she thought of her

Though the dummy was later returned to Ms Rieschieck, and she swiftly placed it back in her son's mouth, the mother said that she wasn't most bothered about her parenting being questioned.

Instead, she was angry that a complete stranger had the 'nerve to get so close to my son as to take something from him without any care for getting my permission'.

Everyone believes they know better than the person doing the actual parenting

'It seems people feel entitled to comment because it seems to be human nature to judge those around us,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'People who are parents already seem to think they know how it should be done, and people who aren't parents seem to think they know how it should be done too.

'Everyone believes they know better than the person doing the actual parenting. It's messy and people should just stick to worrying about their own business.

'Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the way it works,' Ms Rieschieck added.

Not fair: 'Everyone believes they know better than the person doing the actual parenting,' the mother told Daily Mail Australia

At the end of Ms Rieschieck's blog post, she wrote that she believes it's not the 'youth of today' who have no manners.

'I would argue that the adults of today are often far worse,' she said.

The post resonated hugely with her followers, who commented both on her blog and Facebook page in support.

'Just remember you're a fantastic mum and you do what's right for your son,' someone wrote.

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An online fashion retailer has been accused of 'cashing in' on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's split after selling t-shirts with the slogans Team Brad and Team Angelina.

Missguided, which is popular among teenagers for its low-cost designs, is touting the 12 shirts on its website encouraging fans to 'pick a team' - even including a Team Jen version.

But over on Twitter, furious shoppers have accused them of exploiting the couple's 'broken marriage' after Angelina filed for divorce last month.

Missguided, which is popular among teenagers for its low-cost designs, is touting the 12 shirts on its website encouraging fans to 'pick a team' - even including a Team Jen version

Twitter user Lexi wrote: 'Missguided are selling "team brad" and "team angelina" tops and i think that a bit f***ed up tbh.'

Brittany Joy Woods echoed her sentiments, adding: 'As if Missguided have made Team Brad/ Angelina/ Jen t shirts. Whoever buys one is an absolute melt.'

One shopper commented: 'The fact Missguided are selling Team Brad and Team Angelina tshirts really annoys me.'

And joining dozens of social media users, Jo added: 'How are Missguided gunna sell "Team Brad! and "Team Angelina" tshirts.'

Backlash: Over on Twitter, furious shoppers have accused Missguided of exploiting the couple's 'broken marriage' after Angelina filed for divorce from Brad last month

Tilly-Jayne Kidman tweeted: 'Are the "team Brad" "team Jen" and "team Angelina" tshirst on Missguided really that necessary?? Blergh'

While Sammy Williams commented that it was a 'bit rude cashing in one someone's divorce like that.'

'Missguided are seriously running out of ideas for clothes if they're selling team Brad and Angelina tops,' wrote Lucy. 'Oh, and team Jen?!'

Chiming in on the debate, Jessica Bolingbroke added: 'They have "Team Brad" and "team Angelina! t-shirts on Missguided... are they for real that's someone's broken marriage.'

Others said the product had 'annoyed' them and said the retailer must be 'running out of ideas'

Yazmine blasted 'why is that a thing?' while miss chanandler bong commented: 'they don't mess around.'

Brad and Angelina, who have six children together, shocked fans last month with the announcement that they were filing for divorce, with the actress citing irreconcilable differences.

But the Team Brad/ Team Jen debate has been raging for more than a decade, after Brad left his wife of four-and-a-half years and embarked on a relationship with Ms Jolie.

This is not the first time Missguided has received criticism for one of its designs; in November 2015 the retailer was dragged into a sexism debate after selling a 12 cropped jumper emblazoned with the word 'slut'.

The 'team angelina slogan t-shirt' is available in sizes small to large and costs 12. But shoppers have accused Missguided of 'cashing in' on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's split

A Still Team Jen t-shirt. The Brad/ Jen debate has been rumbling on for more than ten years when Brad left his wife of four-and-a-half years and embarked on a relationship with Ms Jolie

A Team Brad t-shirt. One fan took to Twitter to write: They have "Team Brad" and "team Angelina! t-shirts on Missguided... are they for real that's someone's broken marriage'

Brad and Angelina (pictured in London in February 2014) shocked fans last month with the announcement that they were filing for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences

The fashion website described the jumper as the 'perfect piece for an easy outfit' with a 'fierce fluffy pink slogan'.

They also advised customers to take inspiration from the film Mean Girls, quoting the line: 'In Girl Word, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it!'

As of Tuesday morning the Team Brad, Team Jen and Team Angelina t-shirts were still available on the site.
A man who thought he'd never have kids has chronicled the adventures he and his daughter have in his wheelchair, to give hope to parents with disabilities.

When Glen Dick, 47, from Chalfont, Pennsylvania was paralysed after suffering a spinal cord injury in 1995, he thought his dreams of becoming a father were over.

But in 2010, five years after getting hitched to his wife Monica, 35, the delighted couple welcomed their first child Elaina.

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Glen Dick, 47, from Chalfont, Pennsylvania with his six-year-old daughter Elaina. The doting dad thought he'd never be a father after suffering a spinal cord injury in 1995

Glen and Elaina enjoy an adventures together such as kayaking, which the devoted dad has now turned into a book

Glen credits his six-year-old girl with giving him a new love of life and proving that parenting is possible with a disability.

Together, the fun-loving pair are able to travel the country, go sledding, hiking, kayaking and much more.

And now the Glen has turned their real-life wheelchair adventures into a new children's book called, We Can Go Anywhere: My Adventures On Daddy's Chair.

Heart-warming lines in the book read: 'This is my Daddy, he has a wheelchair.

Elaina enjoys a sledge ride with her dad. Glen wants to show other disabled parents that nothing is impossible

Glen and his six-year-old daughter Elaina go for a walk in the woods

'I know it may look like a wheelchair. But when I am on his lap, we can go anywhere.'

Elaina said: 'When I ride on daddy's chair, I get to go really fast.

'We go on really fun adventures through the woods, to the playground and sometimes he even lets me drive.

Glen added: 'This book illustrates love, optimism and imagination in a new way.

Glen with his wife Monica, 35, who he met online following his spinal cord injury at the launch of his new children's book

Doting dad Glen with his daughter Elaina as a baby. As soon as she was big enough her parents would harness her to her father's chest so she could ride along in his wheelchair

Glen's wife Monica says that her husband and daughter enjoy a unique bond and help each other to learn

'I am so happy that the book, which was inspired by the unique relationship I have with my daughter, is showing both children and adults to look past their limitations.

'It shows people coming back from wars, or people with spinal-cord injuries that this is possible.'

When Glen broke his neck aged 25, while on holiday with pals, he thought he would never become a father.

Elaina is used to helping her father with everyday tasks and the pair enjoy a very close bond

Glen has just released a children's book about his real-life adventures with Elaina to give hope to other parents with disabilities

Elaina helps her dad look through binoculars on a sightseeing trip

But after meeting his wife, Monica, online and getting married the following year, the couple fought to conceive.

When Elaina was born, they rested their baby on specially fitted nursing pillow on her father's lap and once she was big enough, she was harnessed to her father chest.

Monica said: 'I love watching Glen and Elaina together. They have such a special, unique bond that is so different from most father-daughter relationships.

'He teaches her while she has the opportunity to help him with physical tasks.

'They have learned so much from each other and have lots of laughs together too.'

While Elaina helps her father with everyday tasks, she herself loves nothing more than ridding around with him on his chair.
The fifth episode of Cold Feet saw viewers applauding a sucker punch on Twitter, after central character Pete lashed out during the hit ITV drama.

Last night's installment of the compulsive Sunday night viewing saw Pete (John Thomson) fell Grant (Robert Webb) after the one-time love interest of Pete's wife Jenny (Fay Ripley) turned up to deliver some shocking news.

Fans of the show took to Twitter to say they felt a certain satisfaction at the one-punch fight after Grant dramatically revealed that he is the biological father of Jenny and Pete's daughter Chloe (Madeleine Edmondson).

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That's gotta hurt! Pete (John Thomson) lands a punch on the face of Grant (Robert Webb) after the ex-boyfriend of Pete's wife Jenny dramatically declares he's the father of the couple's daughter Chloe

Pete tries to console a distraught Chloe, who's told of her biological parentage in a dramatic living room scene

Slimey Grant, who had waltzed back into the couple's life during a tumultuous time - Pete has been battling depression - got what plenty of viewers felt was coming as the episode neared its end.

@Jensau: 'To be fair, he really did deserve a bloody good punch in the face!'

@Pat_Bryan60 added: 'What a punch'

@susikabusi questioned how the drama played out, saying: 'WTF? That is not the way to announce you're someone's real dad! Good punch tho!'

Guess who's back: Jenny's former lover Grant is played by British comedy actor Robert Webb

Man on a mission: There's no stopping slimey Grant as he arrives to break the news to young Chloe

Jenny (Fay Ripley) tries to stop Grant from breaking the news in sensational fashion...but it's too late

Years of secret unravel in the last few minutes of last night's episode, which had viewers on the edges of their seats

Jenny and Pete look on in horror as Grant reveals the truth...but Grant doesn't stay standing upright for long

@Claireybella74 added: 'Yes to Pete landing that punch!' and @HeddEmrys agreed: 'damn good punch Pete!'

@alstewitn declared the punch: 'the #Gem of all #Gems' while @DoubleUSee predicted it, saying: 'OMG I was just about to say in previous series Pete would just punch him... Then... He did! #ColdFeet.'

But Grant's news was a step too far for troubled Pete, who goes to console Chloe...before turning back to let his fists do the talking

Have that! Grant finally stops talking...after Pete's fist gets to work

The storyline saw Jenny's ex-boyfriend dramatically reveal that he was Chloe's father in a living room scene that saw Chloe run off to her bedroom, with Pete in hot pursuit who stopped only to ensure his fist made contact with Grant's face.

The reincarnation of Cold Feet, written by Mike Bullen and back on our screens for the first time since 2003, has been a huge ratings winner, with fans of the first series seemingly just as hooked this time around.
She has been showcasing her slender frame in skin tight dresses and figure huffing fabrics of late but today Queen Letizia of Spain opted to cover up.

With the colder weather setting in the 44-year-old royal ditched her signature lighter fabrics in favour of a cosier wool cape as she arrived in Mondonedo.

The friendly royal proved popular with the public with hundreds of local wellwishers lining the streets of the Spanish town ahead of her arrival.

Queen Letizia of Spain covered up her famously slender frame today in a loose fitting cape as she arrived at a secondary school in the town of Mondonedo

The mother-of-four performed her engagement solo this morning leaving behind her husband King Felipe IV as she arrived for the inauguration ceremony at the San Rosendo de Mondonedo Secondary School.

Although she may have opted for a boxier shape for her outfit today the Spanish royal oozed her usual elegance during her visit this morning.

Always a champion for colour coordination Letizia paired her nude coloured cape with a matching clutch bag complemented by her white pleated trousers.

The friendly royal proved popular with the public with hundreds of local wellwishers lining the streets of the Spanish town ahead of her arrival

Letizia joined new students of vocational courses for their inauguration ceremony at the San Rosendo de Mondonedo Secondary School

The queen has been favouring a straighter hairstyle of late which could be seen today tamed to its usual sleek finish.

Today's event will see the former journalist welcome the new students taking part in the 2016 vocational course at the school.

Letizia greeted students and teachers alike as she was shown around the vicinity on Tuesday.

While at the ceremony the royal was introduced to some of the vocations that students will be trained in

She chatted with students at a forestry table which seemed to be of interest to the queen

Known as one of the world's most hardworking royals, Letizia was back to work to today having had a hectic schedule last week.

On Friday the Queen took to the stage to hand out awards at the Accion Magistral Awards in Madrid.

The awards recognise the effort that teachers go to beyond their daily jobs, offering children more enriched learning experiences.

The winner takes home several thousand euros as a reward for their efforts, as well as a trophy presented to them by the Queen herself.

Students who study aviation were keen to impress the royal with a blue aircraft

Also exhibiting today were an abseiling team who were pictured scaling the walls of the school

On Friday the hard working queen took to the stage to hand out awards at the Accion Magistral Awards in Madrid

She joined Francisco Gonzalez of Spanish bank BBVA at the ceremony which recognises the efforts of teachers

The winners and runners-up were joined on stage by their students and all appeared to be in high spirits.

Mother-of-two Letizia displayed her toned figure once more on Wednesday with her washboard stomach visible through her elegant white dress.

Looking resplendent Letizia, 44, joined her husband King Felipe VI, 48, in their home where they received winners from the Paralympic games during a celebratory reception.

On Wednesday last week Letizia and her husband King Felipe VI greeted Paralympic medalists at her home in El Pardo Palace
An original artwork that graced the cover of Vogue magazine in 1927 has fetched an incredible $52,500 at auction.

The piece, a watercolor by French artist Georges Lepape, was the jewel in the crown for Swann Auction Galleries during their September 29 Illustration Art auction in New York.

It was only expected to sell for an estimated $6,000 to $9,000, with the final winning bid marking an auction record for the artist.

Record breaker: Le Miroir, a watercolor by French artist Georges Lepape for Vogue, has fetched $52,500 at Swann Auction Galleries

Le Miroir, as the artwork is titled, is just one of many cover designs the artist created in his career for the likes of Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar as well as Vogue.

Lapape had his start after befriending fashion designer Paul Poiret, for whom the artist illustrated a design book, Les Choses de Paul Poiret Vues par Georges Lepape in 1911.

The 15 x 11 inch image featured on the cover of Vogue depicts a woman looking into a hand-held mirror and was crafted using watercolor and ink on paper.

The painting was signed and dated 1927 by the artist, and was published on the front of the magazine on November 15 that year, shortly after Lepape had returned to France following a visit to New York arranged by the US Editor of Vogue in 1926.

Other work: La Cage Improvisee, a Harpers Bazaar by Erte was close behind with a sale of $45,000

Classic style: A painting by Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr Suess, was also on offer

Winner: Charles Addams was one of the other artists with works on sale, eventually selling 100 per cent of his lot

Lepape later died in 1971, at the age of 84.

While Le Miroir was the top lot for the auction, it was closely followed by a 1922 cover for Harpers Bazaar by Erte, entitled La Cage Improvisee, which went for $45,000.

Charles Addams and Aubrey Beardsley were other artists with works on sale, selling 100 per cent of their lots.

Also notable was a work by Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr Suess, whose watercolor, depicting the character of Tadd from his 1950 book Tadd and Todd fetched $23,750 in a sale to a private collector.
Wore a broad-brimmed hat which she co-ordinated with bag and gloves

She attended talks and met nurses to discuss every aspect of elderly care

Arrived at the fifth European Nursing Congress to meet professionals

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands was all smiles in Rotterdam today

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands made sure she stepped out in her signature fashion accessory in Rotterdam today.

The royal, 45, who's rarely seen without a statement hat, donned a broad-brimmed black headpiece as she attended the opening of the Fifth European Nursing Congress.

And always stylish, she opted for a playful black and grey wool dress with two ruffles on the skirt.

Queen Maxima of Holland wore a wool dress with a bow at the neck with her customary broad-brimmed hat as she arrived in Rotterdam today for the fifth European Nursing Congress

The royal, who opted for a playful ruffle-skirt look, beamed as she met officials, removing one of her black gloves to shake their hand

She also wore black tights and platform heels that appeared to have a flash of Christian Louboutin red on the sole.

She completed the look with eye-catching pearl cluster earrings, black gloves and a clutch.

The Argentinian-born mother-of-three appeared her usual vivacious self as she laughed and beamed as she arrived at the conference that addresses scientific research and innovations in elderly care.

Her presence shines a light on the hot-button issues for older people including prevention of illness, homecare, hospital care, long-term care mental health, rehabilitation and transitional care.

Queen Maxima shows off her dashing sense of style in Rotterdam today

The vivacious Queen showed off a coordinated outfit from head to toe on the sunny day in Rotterdam ahead of the European nursing conference

The nursing congress hosts hundreds of nurses, researchers, teachers, nurses and managers of care homes from more than 30 different countries.

It is the second day in a row that the hard-working royal has attended an event.
When a special education teacher was due to wed the important man in her life, she decided that she simply couldn't do it without her class in attendance.

Kinsey French, of Louisville, Kentucky, is a teacher at the Christian Academy Providence School, which specializes in speech and occupational therapy for children with Down syndrome.

And Kinsey, being the dedicated teacher that she is, knew that she needed to have her students by her side when she married the love of her life, Josh.

All together: A special education teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, has touched hearts across the country after inviting her students along to her wedding

Perfect guests: Kinsey French is a teacher at the Christian Academy Providence School

'They were like family to me,' Kinsey told WLKY. 'They were my first class and they've been my only class, and so I knew I couldn't have a special day without them.'

Dressed in their best, the children stole the show at the event, helping make the day all the more special for their teacher.

The girls wore cream bead-embroidered dresses and the boys sported white shirts, suspenders and bow ties.

Friends: The school specializes in speech and occupational therapy for children with Down syndrome

For the day: The kids served as flowers girls and ring bearers for the ceremony

Sunday best: The girls wore cream embroidered dresses and the boys wore bow ties and suspenders

Making it perfect: The presence of the students made the day all the more special

But the students weren't just any old guests for the day, they even served as the flower girls and ring bearers for the couple.

The girls even participated in the throwing of the bouquet.

''It was really special for [husband] Josh and myself just to have them a part of the day, and have them come with us and celebrate with us,' said Kinsey.

Heartwarming photos from the day show the teacher surrounded by her kids posing sweetly for the camera.

Getting their groove on: After the event, the children said that the dancing was their favorite part of the festivities

All in: The girls even participated in the throwing of the bouquet at the reception

Making the day: There wasn't a dry in the house when guests saw the kids in their outfits

Rounding it off: Kinsey and her now-husband Josh enjoyed every minute of the day with the students by their side

And, according to the news site, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

After the celebrations, the kids told WLKY that their favorite part of the wedding was dancing at the reception.
There was a bit of guesswork but the scones turned out 'lovely and light'

FEMAIL's Natasha Clark tried baking the batch after criticism from bakers

Prime Minister shared her mother's recipe for scones in an interview

We're used to Prime Minister Theresa May discussing Brexit, but much less accustomed to her dishing out baking secrets.

So it was a surprise when she revealed she loves to cook - and shared her recipe for scones in an interview with The Sunday Times on Sunday.

But the recipe, passed down from the Conservative MP's mother, was yesterday slated by professional bakers and social media users, who criticised it as 'thrifty' and 'old-fashioned'.

The proof, however, has to be in the tasting, so food writer Natasha Clark, 24, from east London, has put the recipe to the test for FEMAIL - with surprising results.

THE PROCESS

Natasha Clark (pictured with her scones) made a batch of scones using Prime Minister Theresa May's family recipe

I must confess, I've not made many scones. When I first did them at school, I put cheese in them, but have not made many that are plain, or with dried fruit.

This recipe, unlike Mary Berry's or Paul Hollywood's, doesn't have baking powder or egg in it, which had me concerned that they wouldn't rise as much as they needed to.

Nevertheless, this four-ingredient recipe is very similar to Delia Smith's, so I wasn't too worried. Austerity Britain continues.

I began by sieving the flour into a bowl first - I thought Theresa would probably do this, even though she doesn't say so in the recipe.

Next you rub the butter into the flour, much like you would for making the topping for an apple crumble.

Ms May's mother's recipe only requires four ingredients: milk, flour, caster sugar and butter or margarine

Natasha first sieved flour into a bowl, despite the fact Ms May's recipe leaves this stage out

Next Natasha rubs the fat into the flour until it forms a breadcrumb-like consistency

I used butter: because who likes margarine, really? Many have indeed criticised Ms May for even suggesting the two are interchangeable in her recipe.

This rubbing method involves putting it through your fingers and breaking up the butter into small pieces and it's all mixed in together with the flour.

When it looks like a bowl of breadcrumbs, mix in the sugar.

Next add milk to bind it together into a dough.

Natasha then adds sugar to the breadcrumb-like mix in the next stage of Theresa May's scone recipe

Natasha then adds semi-skimmed milk to bind. Ms May didn't specify the amount but Natasha keeps adding until it forms a slightly sticky dough

Unfortunately Ms May's recipe doesn't state a specific amount of milk (or type - I went with semi skimmed), so I dribbled it in slowly and kept mixing with my hands until it resembled a slightly sticky dough.

Next, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface so it doesn't stick, and use a cutter to cut out circles of dough in your preferred size.

My next problem arose when deciding how thick to make the scones.

Ms May doesn't specify, and neither does she say how many the recipe should make so I could make an accurate guess.

Natasha then rolls out the dough onto a lightly floured surface so it doesn't stick

Natasha didn't know how thick to cut them as Ms May only advises bakers to use their preferred shape, so she cut them to a 1cm-1.5cm thickness

Natasha with one of her freshly cut-out scones before they are baked

After a brief consultation with Mary Berry's recipe, I went for around 1-1.5cm in height so I could get 12 in total.

I knew these would be smaller than your traditional scones - these were bite-sized ones so I could feel no guilt at scoffing two later.

After arranging them beautifully on a greased baking sheet, off they went in the oven.

But again, I was stumped as to what temperature to go for.

The recipe specifies a 'very hot oven' - but how hot is very hot?

Mary went for 200 degrees fan, so I went with that.

Natasha with the cut-out scones before they are put into the oven. She later says she wishes she had cut them out a bit thicker

Natasha didn't know what temperature to set the oven at as Theresa May's recipe only says to place them into a 'very hot oven'. Here, the scones go into the hot oven

Theresa May says the scones only need eight minutes, but Natasha left them in for between nine to 10 minutes to make sure they were properly cooked. Pictured, the scones out of the oven

Into the oven for exactly eight minutes, until they started to brown on the top, the smell wafting through my kitchen.

I kept my nose glued to the oven to make sure I didn't overdo them but they actually ended up baking for between nine and 10 minutes overall.

Onto the cooling rack for a minute or two, before I split them down the middle and served them warm with dollops of jam and clotted cream.

Again, Ms May neglected the serving of jam and cream from her recipe (as was any indication of whether the jam or the cream should come first).

Scones mean scones, I suppose.

TASTE TEST

Natasha's take on Theresa May's scones, filled with cream and jam. The Prime Minister did not advise bakers to spread anything on the scones

Natasha said the scones came out 'lovely and light' but said they weren't the best batch she had ever made

Natasha ate two of the scones as they came out quite small - and she says in hindsight she would have made them bigger

The scones were lovely and light, and perfect when slathered with cream and jam.

My first thought was that it wasn't as crumbly as I remember previous scones to be.

They felt a little doughy and I didn't spill crumbs all over the kitchen floor like I thought I would.

Secondly, as my friend pointed out, without the extensive fillings there wouldn't have been much taste to the bake itself.

I wonder if a pinch of salt and an egg would have brought it to life a little more.

Still, warm and fresh out of the oven and with lashings of filling, they tasted great, and were the perfect accompaniment to a cup of strong, British tea.

VERDICT

Natasha (pictured with her batch of scones) says she would try the recipe again by adding egg, baking powder and a touch of salt next time

Overall, the recipe worked just fine, but these weren't my favourite batch of scones.

They are very cheap and easy to make: I had most of the ingredients already in my cupboard.

But if I were to buy them all, it would only cost me a fiver.

And it's a very simple recipe - it does what it says on the tin and doesn't take very long to do either.

Natasha (pictured spreading cream on one of the scones) said the scones were best slathered with cream and jam

As a bit of an experimental baker, I'd like to do them again with an egg, some salt and perhaps a bit of baking powder, to see if the final result would taste any different.

I also think I may have handled the dough a little too much, which can apparently make the bake less crumbly and more compact.

The smaller scones work well for a snack or post-dinner dessert, but in order to serve up the perfect afternoon tea, I would use a bigger cutter and do them a bit thicker next time.

Like Theresa May, these scones are getting on with the job.
Lincoln and North Yorkshire restaurants also make it onto top 10 shortlist

It's one of 10 restaurants fighting to be named UK's best fish and chip shop

Kingfisher Fish and Chips in Devon serves whole lobster and posh coffee

A Devon chippy which serves whole lobster and barista-style coffees has been named as one of the best in the UK.

Kingfisher Fish and Chips in Plympton, which changed owners in 2012, also includes unusual hoki and coley on its extensive fish menu.

It is fighting off competition from nine rivals from across the country for the coveted crown of Britain's best fish and chip shop at the National Fish & Chip Awards.

Kingfisher Fish & Chips, owned by Craig Maw (right) and partner Nikki Mutton (left), serves whole lobster and has barista-style coffees on its menu from its restaurant in Plympton, Devon

Henley's of Wivenhoe in Essex, owned by David Henley (pictured), has been named as one of the top 10 best fish and chip restaurants in the UK in the National Fish & Chip Awards

Owner Craig Maw, 48, who runs the restaurant with his partner Nikki Mutton, told FEMAIL: 'I'm over the moon about it and it's very difficult to put into words.

'We champion sustainability as 50 per cent of our ingredients are seafood so it's very important to us to protect fish and chips for future generations.'

You can buy a whole lobster from Kingfisher for 15 but the cheapest fish item on the menu is its portion of cold water prawns for 3.

Already crowned the best in south-west England, it also has an extensive coffee menu, serving mochaccinos and cappuccinos.

Last year, it was named the most sustainable fish and chip shop in the world after scoring the world record for having the largest number of sustainable seafood and fish items on its menu.

Dudley's Old Swinford Fish & Chip Shop, run by John (left) and Zack (right) Ioannou, is also in the running to be crowned the UK's best fish and chip restaurant

All the restaurants on the list serve up traditional battered cod and haddock with chips (pictured from Hodgson's Chippy) but some also serve more unusual items such as halloumi

The restaurant, which last year was named the second best fish and chip shop, is also one of several on the top 10 best chippy list to offer gluten-free fish and chips to meet a rising demand across the country.

BRITAIN'S 10 BEST CHIPPIES Fochabers Fish Bar, Fochabers, Moray Hennighan's Top Shop, Machynlleth, Powys The Dolphin Takeaway, Dungannon, County Tyrone Miller's Fish and Chips, Haxby, North Yorkshire Hodgson's Chippy, Prospect Street, Lancaster, Lancashire Oldswinford Fish & Chips, Dudley, Stourbridge, West Midlands Burton Road Chippy, Lincoln, Lincolnshire Henley's of Wivenhoe, Wivenhoe, Essex Godfrey's Fish and Chips, Harpenden, Hertfordshire Kingfisher Fish and Chips, Plympton, Devon Advertisement

While Kingfisher has gluten-free Mondays, Burton Road Chippy in Lincoln offers customers gluten-free food all week long.

Meanwhile Miller's Fish and Chips in Haxby, North Yorkshire, turns into a high end restaurant on its 'bistro nights' where it replaces battered fish with dishes such as mussels in white wine sauce and sweet red pepper risotto.

Godfrey's Fish and Chips in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, has added battered halloumi to its otherwise traditional menu in a bid to appeal to the middle classes.

But not every entrant is appealing to posh diners.

Fochabers Fish Bar in Moray, northern Scotland, sells traditional haggis, black pudding, battered Mars Bars - and even battered pizza.

But the traditional chippy also advertises healthy options, offering customers the choice of baked instead of fried fish.

Other restaurants in the top 10 are Hennighan's Top Shop in Powys, Wales; The Dolphin Takeaway in Country Tyrone, Northern Ireland; Hodgson's Chippy in Lancaster; Old Swinford Fish & Chips in Dudley; and Henley's of Wivenhoe in Colchester, Essex.

The Dolphin Takeaway in Country Tyrone, Northern Ireland, run by Oliver McVeigh (pictured) underwent scrutiny from experts and secret reviewers before it was shortlisted for the award

Hennighan's Top Shop in Powys, run by Eleanor and David Hennighan, was named the best fish and chip shop in Wales and is now in the running to be the best in the UK

To be shortlisted, contenders came under scrutiny from industry experts who analysed menu development, innovation, sustainable sourcing policies, staff training processes, and marketing and promotional activities.

Each restaurant also were also secretly reviewed so judges could give a verdict on customer service levels and the quality of the fish and chips.

Having being crowned the top shop in each of their respective regions, the hopefuls now have to go through one more round before the results are announced in January next year at a ceremony in London.
But this causes problems with accuracy because the breast may move

Women are currently required to strip down to the waist for the procedure

Bras with metal interfere with the radiation while fabric absorbs the beams

If trials prove successful, they hope the bras can be bought for 50

Experts claim it helps to improve the accuracy of radiotherapy treatment

The nylon garment uses inflatable sections to gently position the breast

Breast cancer patients are set to benefit for the first time from a high-tech bra which preserves their dignity during radiotherapy.

A nylon garment developed by scientists in Sheffield uses inflatable sections to gently position the affected breast - improving the accuracy of the procedure.

More than 38,000 women undergo radiotherapy for breast cancer in England each year, according to the Royal College of Radiologists.

The procedure, which involves repeated sessions every day for three or four weeks, currently requires women to strip down to the waist.

The nylon garment, created by scientists from Sheffield Hallam University, uses inflatable sections to gently position the affected breast - improving the accuracy of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients

This is because the metal in most bras interferes with the radiation beam, and those without underwiring or metal clips are also discouraged, because even the fabric can absorb radiation, reducing the potency of the treatment.

But undergoing radiation topless creates its own problems.

It is not only undignified, but also causes problems with accuracy, because the breast may move and shift.

This raises the risk of side effects, especially if the heart and lungs are irradiated during the procedure.

Most women are also given permanent pin-point tattoos on their chests in order to guide the radiotherapy beam.

Now Sheffield Hallam University scientists, working with a major lingerie company in a project backed by the NHS, have created a bra which uses inflatable pockets to gently push the breast into the best position for radiation.

Currently, most patients are required to strip down for the treatment because the metal in bras interferes with the procedure and the fabric can absorb radiation beams - reducing the potency of radiotherapy

Keeping it in a compact shape keeps it away from the major organs.

The healthy breast not being treated, meanwhile, is pushed away from the radiation beam so that it is not affected.

Because the bra is stable - held firmly in place with a series of fasteners - it should also end the need for patients to be tattooed.

The bra, which was created in a project funded by the National Institute for Health Research - the research arm of the NHS - is set to undergo the first clinical trials at Sheffields Weston Park Cancer Hospital in January.

Professor Heidi Probst, a radiographer who is leading the project at Sheffield Hallam University, said: Were incredibly excited to be working on a study aiming to improve the accuracy of treatment, while also transforming the experience for women undergoing breast radiotherapy.

Some 46,000 women in England are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

The vast majority of these immediately undergo surgery to remove either the tumour, or the entire breast.

And most of those women - 38,611 last year - then undergo three or four weeks of daily radiotherapy trips to make sure any remaining cancer cells do not spread.

Women often find it difficult to have to undergo treatment topless so soon after surgery, Professor Probst said.

The new bra keeps the healthy breast away from treatment by pushing it away from the radiation beam so that it is not affected by radiotherapy to kill cancerous cells

Being required to lie under the machine naked, just at a time when they are coming to terms with altered body image, is often very hard.

We know that having the ability to wear a bra during treatment can be key in maintaining dignity, which would vastly improve the patient experience during a particularly difficult time.

Professor Probst said if the trials go well, the team hopes to develop a bra which can be bought by the NHS at a cost of 50 to 100.

The aim is to have a bra that will be widely used, she said.

Clare Robertson, of lingerie firm Panache, which is helping on the project, said: The bra will assist medically and provide modesty and comfort during treatment. We are proud to play a part in supporting women during this challenging time.

HOW THOUSANDS OF WOMEN ARE MISSING OUT ON LIFE-SAVING 34P PILL Thousands of women with breast cancer are being needlessly denied life-saving pills that cost 34p a day, experts previously warned. An estimated 27,000 women a year are missing out on bisphosphonates  a drug that stops breast cancer spreading to the bones. If everyone who could benefit from the drugs received them, 1,180 lives could be saved a year in England, according to charity Breast Cancer Now. And its research revealed a lack of clear guidance on funding them was the main obstacle to prescriptions. Bisphosphonates  typically used to treat osteoporosis  alter bone tissue, making it harder for cancer cells to survive there. They are already used for advanced prostate cancer patients. Advertisement

Experts welcomed the development.

Public Health Minister Nicola Blackwood said: It is fantastic that more women than ever before are surviving breast cancer. But it is also important that they feel confident and supported during what can be a tough treatment regime.

This is exciting and innovative research with the potential to improve both the accuracy and experience of radiotherapy.

Katie Goates, of the Breast Cancer Now charity, added: Innovative research like this, which could not only improve the accuracy of treatment but can help women have a more comfortable and dignified experience, is paramount.

It really can have a major impact on their quality of life both during and after treatment.

Dr Seamus McAleer, of the Royal College of Radiologists, said: Any innovation that helps in the safe and accurate delivery of radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer is to be welcomed.

And Catherine Priestley, of Breast Cancer Care, said: Being asked to expose the affected breast at each radiotherapy appointment can add anxiety to what is already a distressing time for patients.

Crucially, by helping to position the breast and removing the need for tattooing, the bra could take away yet another permanent reminder of breast cancer.

Breast cancer turns everyday life upside down  so anything that helps women retain some normality is key.

As many as one in eight women in the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lifetime. Here, AXA PPP healthcare - a health insurance agency - have released images to allow women to be more aware about signs and symptoms before visiting their GP
Flint, Michigan, has confirmed an outbreak of a highly infectious bacterial disease - caused by residents being too scared to bathe in lead-contaminated water.

So far 53 residents in Flint have contracted shigellosis - a virus that causes bloody diarrhea, fever, and nausea. It is usually the result of poor hygiene. A total of 84 cases have been recorded in Genesee County.

It is the latest health crisis to hit the city two years after lead contaminated the water system, leaving scores of residents with potentially life-long side effects.

City health officials claim it is the direct result of residents being too scared to wash themselves with possibly contaminated water. Officials say that instead, they are washing themselves with free baby wipes handed out at community centers following the 2014 lead contamination of the town's water supply.

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Dozens of residents have contracted shigellosis, a virus that causes bloody diarrhea, fever, and nausea. It is usually the result of poor hygiene. Pictured: Shigella bacteria

As with many bacterial infections, tests show all strains of the bug are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

'People aren't bathing because they're scared,' Jim Henry, Genesee County's environmental health supervisor, told CNN.

'Some people have mentioned that they're not going to expose their children to the water again.'

He said residents are washing themselves with the free baby wipes they get from the community centers - such as churches and nonprofits, as opposed to the nine Community Water Resource Sites set up to provide bottled water.

'But baby wipes are not effective, they're not chlorinated, it doesn't kill the bacteria and it doesn't replace hand-washing,' Henry told CNN.

'People have changed their behavior regarding personal hygiene. They're scared.'

Shigella infections are also known as 'Delhi Belly' or 'Montezuma's revenge'.

Outbreaks are incredibly rare in the US, although the CDC reported a small outbreak in 2015 brought over to America by tourists who had traveled to the Dominic Republic.

That outbreak, a drug-resistant strain, sickened at least 243 people, in 32 states and Puerto Rico.

It is not yet clear how Flint's shingellosis responds to treatment.

In 2015, CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement that the drug-resistant strain showed Shigella infections could soon become untreatable.

'These outbreaks [in 2015] show a troubling trend in Shigella infections in the United States,' he said.

To save money, Flint began drawing its water from the Flint River (pictured) instead of Detroit's in 2014. Residents immediately complained about the smell and taste of the water

'Drug-resistant infections are harder to treat and because Shigella spreads so easily between people, the potential for more  and larger  outbreaks is a real concern.'

Kate Baker of Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute said last November that analysis of genetic differences between this 1915 sample of Shigella flexneri and three others isolated in 1954, 1984 and 2002 showed that while the bacterium has changed relatively little, the mutations it has acquired have made it more dangerous and persistent.

It also went though what is known as a 'serotype conversion', she said, which made it able to re-infect and cause illness in people who had already been infected before and would previously have been immune to further attacks.

Shigella causes an estimated 500,000 cases of diarrhea in the United States every year.

CDC and public health partners investigated several recent clusters of shigellosis in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania and found that nearly 90 per cent of the cases tested were resistant to ciprofloxacin (Cipro), the first choice to treat shigellosis among adults in the United States.
Most 13-year-old girls are just started to get to grips with pre-algebra.

But Anushka Maiknaware has raised the bar.

The Oregon teenager has invented a bandage that can tell doctors when it needs to be changed, impressing Google judges and securing a $15,000 scholarship.

Large wounds must be kept moist to promote healing, but changing bandages too often to check moisture levels can make things worse.

To solve that problem, Anushka, a seventh-grader at Stoller Middle School in Portland, designed and tested a bandage that is embedded with tiny monitors.

Groundbreaking: Anushka Naiknaware pictured at home in Beaverton, Oregon, testing a bandage that can tell medical workers when it's time for the dressing to be changed

The monitors can sense moisture levels and allow medical workers to determine whether the dressing has dried out enough that the bandage needs to be changed.

Anuskha created the sensors by printing a fractal pattern using ink containing graphene nanoparticles.

The particles can accurately detect when moisture levels have dropped.

Google judges named her one of 16 global finalists, all of whom traveled to the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, to present their project.

Anushka was the youngest person to win one of the global prizes.

Winning the Lego Education Builder Award, Anuska gets a scholarship and a free trip to Lego world headquarters in Denmark.

Aside from her Denmark trip, the middle schooler will also get a year of entrepreneurship mentoring from a Lego executive, reported the Oregonian.

Anushka was the youngest person to win one of the global prizes. She finished in the top eight in a science contest run by Google, won a $15,000 scholarship, a free trip to Lego in Denmark

She told the Oregonian that being able to interact, debate and play with 19 other curious teen scientists from across the world was one of her favorite life experiences.

Another, she said, was the moment she saw her bandage prototype work.

'My idea became a physical, tangible reality,' said Naiknaware.
Delhi Police have arrested a 22-year-old man from Punjab who is accused of befriending female Facebook users by posing as a girl.

He would then, allegedly, harass them by threatening to leak their morphed photographs.

The police decided to catch the accused red-handed and laid a honey trap for him.

Several incidents of online stalking are being reported in India (file photo)

Stalking cases are on the rise online

A police team lured the accused online and began chatting with him, first on WhatsApp and then over the phone.

According to the police, Jagdeep Singh, who is a B.Sc (final year) student in Punjab, used to stalk schoolgirls on the internet.

The matter came to light after a man filed a complaint at the Kirti Nagar Police station claiming someone was sending derogatory messages through Facebook to one of his female relatives and pressurising her into a physical relationship.

The accused allegedly threatened to circulate her morphed pictures with sexually explicit captions on social media if she didnt give in to his demands.

A case under relevant sections of POCSO Act and Section 354 A of IPC (punishment for sexual harassment) has been registered, the police said.

The members of the investigating team chatted with the accused from the Facebook messenger of the victim to gain his trust. The team further lured him for a chat over WhatsApp and then for conversations over the phone.

The accused told police that he used to befriend girls on Facebook with fake accounts

"After gaining his trust and luring him into having a telephonic conversation, our officers managed to fix a date with the accused. He was arrested on his way to Delhi for the date, said a senior officer.

During the investigation, the accused is said to have told police that he used to befriend girls on Facebook by opening accounts under names of girls so as to gain access to their photos.

Later, he would open another account under the name of a man and stalk the girl and threaten to morph her pictures, said the officer.

He allegedly told police that he had harassed two to three girls in a similar way but forensics will be employed to gain information on whether or not Jagdeep had harassed more girls, the officer added.

Of late, several incidents of online stalking are being reported. As a result, cops have come up with this new strategy to go after offenders.
But Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam accused the government of faking the operation for political gain

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back at Pakistani propaganda which had alleged there had been no military action

Days of rare political unity over last week's surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) were torpedoed as opposition leaders questioned whether the raid even took place.

While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to clarify that he had sought evidence of the military action to counter Pakistani propaganda, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam termed the operation fake and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using it for political benefits.

"BJP, Im convinced that strikes took place, the AAP chief tweeted. But intl media publishing Pak propaganda that no strike took place. Lets expose Pak propaganda."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said claims that the surgical strikes didn't take place were "Pakistani propaganda"

Indian officials announced last week that soldiers had struck terrorists who were planning to infiltrate the country from PoK, an operation that came in response to an attack on an army base in J&Ks Uri sector last month, which left 19 personnel dead.

Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP, tweeted Nirupam. Politics over national interest.

BJP leaders joined the political debate with jingoistic remarks and questions over the patriotism of those seeking proof and information about the strikes.

But Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam also termed the operation fake and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using it for political benefits

Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about the surgical strikes they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan, union minister Uma Bharti told reporters in Pune.

Fearing a backlash, the Congress distanced itself from Nirupams comments, days after its vice-president Rahul Gandhi hailed the Prime Minister for ordering the surgical strikes.

Party chief Sonia Gandhi had also backed the government on the issue.

The BJP has come under fire from opposition parties for trying to use the surgical strikes to win votes in Uttar Pradesh after huge banners were put up in various cities praising Central government and the army for the retaliation

Congress dissociates itself from Nirupams remarks and has taken a serious note, said party spokesman Randeep Surjewala. Its time for the government to expose Pakistans malicious propaganda. The evidence should be made public.

The BJP hit back at rival party leaders for raising doubts about the Army operation and playing into Pakistans hands.

Mr Kejriwal, you need to know, today you are the headline in Pakistani media, said union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Senior Congress party leader Digvijaya Singh said strikes had taken place previously and called the latest action "chest thumping"

Politics is separate but please don't do or say anything whereby our armed forces feel let down.

Government sources said that not only were the surgical strikes part of a flawless operation, the clinical decimation of terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC) was also recorded by Indian Army commandos with their helmet-mounted cameras.

The Centre is mulling if these videos and other evidence can be shared with top leaders of some political parties.

Former union minister P Chidamabaram also stated that the armed forces had carried out suimilar operations in the past

Doubts expressed in India over the raid have been lapped up by the Pakistan army which has been trying to prove that the surgical strikes never took place.

The Pakistani media too highlighted how an Indian chief minister had raised questions.

The development came days after the Pakistan army took international journalists to the LoC to show that there were no tell-tale signs of an Indian strike.

After the Modi government was hailed for its decisive action, the Congress went on the offensive claiming that such army action had taken place during its tenure as well.

Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "Its time for the government to expose Pakistans malicious propaganda. The evidence should be made public."

Senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said the Modi government had got into a chest-thumping mode, while former union minister P Chidambaram stated that the armed forces had carried out such operations in the past too.

The Congress reaction came in response to attempts by BJP leaders to appropriate credit for the Army action.

"Indian troops were like Hanuman who did not quite know their prowess before the surgical strikes, defence minister Manohar Parrikar had said.

The surgical strikes gave our forces an idea of what they were capable of doing.

Posters have come up in various cities hailing Modi for his decisive leadership, with key state elections slated for next year.

The BJP has also decided to expose those who have raised doubts about the operation, with the party vowing to take this campaign to every district in the country.

Sharif vs Sharif over next Pakistan army chief

Once bitten by a general, Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is now twice shy about who should lead his country's army next.

He wants his own confidant to replace Gen Raheel Sharif, who is due to retire in November, as the new army chief.

But Gen Sharif, credited with determining Islamabads India and American policy, has thrown his weight behind someone else in the military hierarchy.

An in-depth assessment carried out by Indian intelligence shows the two Sharifs are at loggerheads over the choice of what is considered to be the most powerful role in the Pakistani establishment.

Gen Raheel Sharif , who will step down in November, is at loggerheads with the Pakistan PM over the succession plan

Gen Sharif's preference for the next army chief, according to high-level Indian intelligence reports, is Lt-Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat.

Gen Hayat is currently the chief of general staff at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a posting that is regarded as a stepping stone to the highest position in the Pakistani army.

Before his present role, Gen Hayat was chief of Pakistans strategic plans division, which controls the countrys nuclear arsenal.

Gen Hayat's worldview has largely remained obscure from public gaze, but Indias intelligence community believes he is far more hardlined than the incumbent.

Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants his own confidant to replace Gen Raheel Sharif

Pakistans prime minister, who was overthrown in a bloodless coup by his handpicked Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999, is batting for the corps commander of XXXI Corps, Lt-Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday.

Gen Ramdays family has been closely associated with Prime Minister Sharif's PMLN party for many years, intelligence reports suggest.

He rose to prominence when he led the Pakistani armys offensive in the Swat valley along the Afghan border in 2009.
Congress alleged a possible conspiracy to sabotage its electoral offensive after vice-president Rahul Gandhi's flight was delayed for the second time in less than a month.

He was stranded for an hour at Delhi airport on Tuesday after the Air Traffic Control (ATC) refused at the last minute to give permission for the chartered plane to take off for poll-bound Uttar Pradeshs Muzaffarnagar district.

He was more than an hour late to a road show he was leading in what was the second flight delay from the IGI airport to a campaign venue in recent weeks.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's flight was delayed for the second time in less than a month

Ghandi is courting voters in the backwoods as his party strives to rise from a rut after being decimated in a series of elections since a humiliating defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress vice-president is an SPG protectee and several procedures are mandatory whenever he travels.

Party insiders told Mail Today that while there might be a political conspiracy, it is a very cheap and petty one.

A source said: While the political spin doctors might want to delay his programmes and may want them to flop, the larger implication of this must be taken into consideration: Rahul Gandhi is an SPG protectee and grave threat to his life warrants that he cannot be made to wait at an airport. Two members of his family have already been killed.

On September 14, he was also held up at the IGI airport over 'contaminated fuel'

Will the ministry of civil aviation take responsibility for any harm that might come his way due to cheap gimmicks? Let them own up and then they can make him wait and delay his flights.

According to a senior airport official, Ghandi boarded the flight on Tuesday but minutes later officials had asked him to alight as the ATC wouldn't allow the aircraft to take off due to lack of necessary documents.

Rahul Gandhi entered through the VIP gate at about 10am for departure by a chartered aircraft to Muzaffarnagar, an airport official said.

However, he returned back along with his escort at about 10.22am as the ATC didnt give route clearance for the flight.

Rahul Gandhi has been relentlessly attacking the Narendra Modi government inside and outside Parliament on farmers issues and has travelled to several states in a bid to rally support against contentious central policies

Rahul had to wait for more that 70 minutes.

Some clearances were not taken because of which ATC refused to give flight permission. At 11am, the aircraft got all clearances and again Rahul Gandhi moved to the bay along with his escort and boarded the flight, which left at around 11.15 am, sources said.

The Amethi MP reached Muzaffarnagar at around 12.15pm and started his road show. He was supposed to visit the police lines, but skipped that part of the programme due to the delay.

On September 14, his IndiGo flight to Varanasi was delayed because of a last minute security check.

The aircraft was stranded at the airport after the security of Gandhi asked for a last- minute check due to a dangerous and high risk to his fuel tank. He was taking IndiGo flight 6E 308 to Varanasi at 8.55am from Delhi, sources said.

The sample of fuel was tested not once, but four times. On all occasions, it was discovered contaminated well beyond permissible limit. Eventually, the airline was asked to refuel, delaying the flight by an hour.

A combative Rahul Gandhi has been relentlessly attacking the Narendra Modi government inside and outside Parliament on farmers issues and has travelled to several states in a bid to rally support against contentious central policies.

Modi ji has given waived off the loans to 15 big industrialists but he has not done the same for the farmers of the country, he told a crowd on Tuesday.

He is only good at making false promises.

According to civil aviation regulator DGCA, the ATC has become the second biggest reason for flight delays in India.

The agencys data show, this year the ATC has delayed 19 per cent of flights. Last year, the figure was merely 7-8 per cent.

Around 8pm on Tuesday too the ATC was reportedly hit by a severe technical glitch that lasted till late night and led to several flight delays.

Officials say the delays due to the ATC have seen a steep rise since May.
Changes to the entrance tests for prospective dental students has led to a 50 per cent drop in people pursuing courses.

The National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) has led to as many of half of the available BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) course seats lying vacant, and the Dental Council of India (DCI) is now urging action to avert a crisis.

It has written to the Union health ministry asking it to lower the percentile to fill up these vacant seats.

The Dental Council of India has written to the Union Health Ministry for lowering the percentile to fill up these vacant seats

Earlier, the government had decided that students will be admitted to medical and dental courses only through NEET, at a time when dental colleges were witnessing full occupancy for the BDS course.

But now the colleges are finding it difficult to fill even 50 per cent seats. These dental colleges have to complete the admission process by October 7.

DCI president Dr Dibyendu Majumdar said: We received representations from various states, including dental colleges, to lower down the percentile to fill up the seats lying vacant in BDS course after exhausting the state lists.

"The decision taken by the General Body is communicated to the Central government to take its final decision in the matter as early as possible.

DCI in conformity with the provisions that when sufficient number of candidates in the respective categories fail to secure minimum marks as prescribed in NEET held for any academic year for admission to MBBS/BDS courses, the Central government in consultation with MCI and DCI may at its discretion lower the minimum marks required for admission to these courses for candidates belonging to respective categories. And marks so lowered by the Central government shall be applicable for the said academic year only."

Colleges are finding it difficult to fill even 50 per cent seats following changes to entry tests

In this academic year the NEET was based on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus. But the academicians said it was a hindrance in clearing the exam for many.

Dr AK Chandna, member, DCI said: "General Body of the DCI has taken into consideration that the CBSE prescribed the course curriculum/syllabus of the NEET based on its syllabus and the CBSE Board exists mostly in the urban areas not in rural areas.

"The students of rural areas are rarely enrolled with the CBSE Board and they have pursued their courses from the board constituted by the respective state or any other board."

DCI has asked the Union health ministry that in order to fill up the vacant seats in different parts of the country, the 50 percentile prescribed for general category and 40 percentile for reserve category be reduced by 10 percentile.

Chandna said: "A student securing 40 percentile in general category and 30 percentile for reserved category be made eligible for admission in BDS course only for the current academic session 2016.

"It is not to be quoted as a precedent in the future, provided that there shall be no deviation or relaxation from academic qualification and percentage as prescribed by the DCI in its Revised BDS Course Regulation, 2007 and only those students shall be admitted who have appeared in NEET, purely on their order of merit.

Considering the problem, the Rajasthan government has apparently permitted to lower the marks to an extent of 10 percentile so that the optimal number of seats is filled through transparent and fair process without compromising merit.
Strength: Modi has emerged statesmanlike

During the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, when Narendra Modi claimed to possess a 56-inch chest, his detractors, especially the Congress leaders, mocked and derided him.

They reminded him that for the Prime Minister, it wasnt the size of his chest that mattered, but an inspiring vision for the nation to take it forward.

After Indias surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by specially trained commandos of Bihar and Dogra regiments, who destroyed seven terror launch pads, killing scores of terrorists, no one would ever doubt that Modi possesses, besides his 56-inch chest, exceptional leadership qualities.

For the first time since the Kargil conflict, the entire nation stands as one. Even Modis bete noire Rahul Gandhi grudgingly admitted that Modi has acted as a PM should. Why do we need national crises to unite?

Why shouldnt there be a national consensus on vital issues despite ideological and political differences? It was a meticulously planned operation based on credible intelligence, coordinated to perfection and executed flawlessly.

Some overexcited admirers of Modi have rushed to compare Modis leadership to Indira Gandhi.

Indian army soldiers patrol the line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan

When not a single Muslim country stood by India, midwifing the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, coping with 10 million refugees and not getting intimidated by the Seventh Fleet of the US, was a totally different ballgame.

However, in the past one week, Modi has amply demonstrated that during a crisis he wont be less than Mrs Gandhi! All Prime Ministers of India since 1947 have attempted good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

But none has staked so much political and personal prestige as Modi did when he stopped over in Lahore in December 2015 to wish Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.

Alas, the Pakistani PM didnt realise the enormity of Modis simple but symbolically historic gesture.

Barely a week later, the terror attack at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot gave ammunition to critics to trash his Pakistan policy as naive and disconnected with ground realities.

A deeply disappointed Modi was also stung by Sharifs scathing criticism in Pakistani Parliament of violations of human rights in J&K. Sharif hailed Burhan Wani, commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who carried an award of Rs 10 lakh on his head.

Modi decided to take his velvet gloves off and show his iron fist. Methodically, he tried to isolate Pakistan by sensitising the international community about the scourge of terror and relentlessly reiterating where terror was coming from.

He also authorised Indian diplomats to highlight violations of human rights in Pakistan.

His mention of excesses committed in Balochistan in his Independence Day speech was part of a campaign.

The Indian-Pakistan Border fence, about 20km from Gurdaspur (above). Fire between Indian and Pakistani troops shows Modi possesses strong leadership qualities, says Kumar

Modi left no one in doubt at the G-20 summit and the ASEAN summit when he singled out the country that exported terror and used terrorism as its state policy.

For the first time, the Indian ambassador raised the issue of violations of human rights in Balochistan at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The unmistakable thrust was: Pakistan was the hub of international terrorism.

The diplomatic offensive started paying dividends soon as two Congressmen in the US introduced a proposal to get Pakistan declared a terrorist state.

Some members of the European Union also demanded that economic sanctions should be imposed on Islamabad for human rights violations in Balochistan.

Earlier, during the Strategic & Commercial Dialogue in Delhi, US Secretary of State John Kerry endorsed Indias view on terror. Barring China, Pakistan has very few friends left. The forthcoming SAARC summit in Islamabad has also been called off after India led its boycott.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated his statesmanlike qualities in recent days

The brazen attack on the military base camp in Uri last month that left 19 Indian soldiers dead was the most blatant provocation by Pakistan. They had underestimated Modis resolve to hit back.

Despite the pressure to act, the PM has been statesmanlike during these tough days.

The cross-border surgical strike has shown how much Modi has grown in the last two years.

Within hours after the strike, the Pakistani Army was informed. Our commandos struck only terrorist launch pads along the LoC and there was no strike at military posts.

Briefing Sonia Gandhi and leaders of other political parties was also wise and helped create a sense of national unity.

Briefed: Sonia Gandhi was informed of the strike, along with leaders of other parties

The shrewd politician and a consummate diplomat that he is, Modi killed several birds with a single stone.

The surgical strike was a warning shot to the Pakistani civilian and military establishment  that if you harbour terrorists and wage proxy wars, it wont go unpunished any more.

The likes of Masood Azhar will now fear for their lives. There was also a subtle message for China: that if it supports a terrorist state, one day it will face jihadi attacks.

Modi also benefited personally, as he emerged as a mature leader who will defend Indias national interest but has no interest in escalating tensions with its neighbours. The message was loud and clear: India is fighting terror and the world should join in this endeavour.
They are mothers united in pain. The mother of Nirbhaya, the 2012 Delhi gangrape victim, says she always drew inspiration from the grit of Neelam Katara for her long drawn battle to bring her sons killers to justice.

The Monday verdict in the Nitish Katara murder case has given hope to Nirbhaya's parents who are also engaged in legal struggle to ensure their daughters killers get duly punished.

Nirbhayas mother has now sought the help and guidance of Katara, describing it as a request from one grieving mother to another.

Asha Singhi (left), mother of the 23-year-old rape victim Nirbhaya is now seeking advice from Neelam Katara (right) who waited 14 years for justice for her murdered son

We have been closely observing the Katara case. And after the Supreme Courts verdict on Monday, I called Neelamji in the evening and sought her support, Nirbhayas mother told Mail Today.

She said Neelam Katara is not a judge who can convict any accused but only a mother who can feel the pain of another mother.

We saw her (Neelam Katara) strength and determination in her fight against the mighty. Similarly, we want her support in getting justice for our daughter, she said.

Protestors along with the mother of Nirbhaya (centre) on a protest march on the third anniversary of the December 2012 brutal gang-rape which killed the student

Nirbhayas parents believe that their case is being intentionally dragged on even as the Supreme Court had on April 4 begun the final hearing of the appeal of the convicts  Akshay, Vinay Sharma, Pawan and Mukesh.

They had challenged their death sentence awarded by the Delhi High Court in the Supreme Court.

The case is in the fast-track court but it is taking so much time. We fear the case will be further delayed. But justice delayed is of no use.

"With passage of time, the accused have no fear and other rape victims also lose hope. Delaying conviction means supporting criminals, Nirbhayas mother claimed.

The incident unleashed a wave of public anger over levels of violence against women in India

On her part, Neelam Katara extended her support to Nirbhayas family.

She said: After the Supreme Courts judgment, I got a call from Nirbhayas mother. She is happy for me and even sought opinion for her daughters case which is still pending in the Supreme Court.

"I just asked her never to lose faith and patience, Katara said. Neelam is now planning to lead a campaign for a stringent law on honour killing. Our youth must have the right to choose.

"This monstrosity in the name of protecting the familys prestige is destroying womens lives. It is rampant not just in north, but in south India as well."

Tragedy: Solidarity in remembrance of the horrific December 16 Delhi gang-rape

Six persons, including a juvenile, had sexually assaulted Nirbahaya in a moving bus in south Delhi in December 2012.

Nirbhaya died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012, triggering nationwide protests that resulted in giving more teeth to laws related to rape and other forms of sexual harassment.

The trial court had in September 2013 awarded death sentences to the convicts. Six months later, the Delhi High Court upheld their conviction and sentence. All the convicts moved the apex court in 2014, which stayed their execution.
Internet users are being tricked by websites on Google into paying hefty fees for government services that should be free or cost far less.

Drivers renewing their licences and holidaymakers applying for travel visas are most at risk.

When you search for these services on Google, as many as four of the top entries on the first page of the search results are copycats that imitate official websites.

Official: The official Australian site where an electronic visa is priced at $20

Copycat: The slick-looking trick website which is charging $35 (20) for a visa

If you click on the links, you are taken to a page that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Typically, copycat sites use the same colours, layout and words. Usually, you do get the real government service  but only after paying a huge premium to the copycat website, which acts as middleman.

To renew a driving licence, which is free to the over-70s and costs 14 online if you're younger, copycat sites charge up to 60.

For a U.S. visa, which should cost just over 10, copycat sites charge up to 80. Victims often believe they are using official web pages and are unaware that they are overpaying.

Copycat sites typically pay for adverts that appear at the top of Google search result pages. These look like normal results  apart from a small green logo saying 'AD'.

In 2014, Google promised to stop unscrupulous firms doing this. Yet, over the summer, Money Mail received a stream of letters from victims of copycat sites.

When we challenged Google, it said its policy 'makes it very clear that we do not allow the promotion of sites that charge for products or services that are otherwise free'.

A spokeswoman says Google has more than 1,000 staff working to take down inappropriate adverts. But we can reveal that copycat sites are avoiding detection by exploiting a loophole in the web giant's rules.

Google says copycat sites can advertise if they 'clearly state the original service is available for free elsewhere, provide a working link to the official source where they can get the free service, as well as accurately represent the added value they are charging for'.

Copycat sites typically put disclaimers about being an unofficial body in the small print of their pages.

And to justify charging extra fees, they offer services that they claim 'add value'  but which are often superfluous  such as 'support' as you fill in the forms.

David Ellis, 73, from Prescot, Merseyside, was caught out when he renewed his driving licence in July.

When drivers reach the age of 70, they must renew their licence every three years. This is free through the official website gov.uk/renew-driving-licence-at-70.

The website David used  he cannot remember its name  asked him to pay 90p for postage. Later, he saw that 49 had been taken from his account.

We found a site that levies this 90p driving licence postage fee called driving-licence-over70.adm-online.co.uk.

It signs you up to a 'subscription service' that costs 49 every two months for tutorials on filling in forms.

If you are searching for official government services, go to gov.uk and search there instead

'The most frustrating thing is that I'm always so careful about these things and I've never been scammed before,' says David. 'It didn't ring alarm bells because 90p wasn't going to break the bank.'

Barbara Faulconbridge, 79, was hit when she had to replace her lost driving licence in July.

The retired company director typed 'renew driving licence' into Google. The top result was ukdrivingsupport.co.uk, whose fee was 59.99 for a replacement that should have cost 20.

Barbara, who lives with her husband Jeffrey, 83, in Selston, Nottinghamshire, says: 'It looked official, I filled in all my details as usual on a proper form.'

Weeks later, she received a DVLA form for a new licence with some fields filled in. She became concerned and tried to phone the company. But despite leaving messages, she never had a response. Her bank agreed to cancel the payment and she has since found her lost licence.

Countries outside the EU often require British citizens to apply for a visa to go on holiday. For instance, a U.S. tourist visa should cost $14 (10.97), a visa for Canada costs $7 (4.17) and in Australia, it's free.

Money Mail typed 'American visa' into Google recently and usa-travel-application.net was the site that appeared at the top of the results. It charges 79 for the visa and services such as an 'online helpdesk'.

When we did the same thing looking for a Canadian visa yesterday, canadaentry.eu was the first result. It claimed to be a Canadian travel authorisation service and charges $89 (53).

The official government site is cic.gc.ca/english/visit. We also found Australian sites charging $35 (20) for a visa. The official site is australia.gov.au.

Gary Davies, 62, and his wife lost 58 after applying online for an ESTA  an electronic tourist visa for the U.S. Ahead of their holiday in May, Gary searched for an American visa and his Google results showed esta-registration.co.uk.

This mimics the official American government site esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta. He was charged 58  more than five times the official cost.

Money Mail searched Google for 'ESTA' yesterday and esta-registration.co.uk showed up as the second result. This was in the normal search results, rather than the paid-for adverts that usually appear at the top.

Trading Standards says it is working with search engines to stop misleading paid for results. Mike Andrews, lead coordinator for the National Trading Standards eCrime Team, says: 'If you are searching for official government services, go to gov.uk and search there instead.'

To get a holiday visa, go to gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, click on a country's 'entry requirements' and you will be linked to an official visa application page. None of the copycat firms responded to requests for comment.
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Cutting your way through a dense jungle in Madagascar or riding on horseback through a war-ravaged village in Afghanistan may not seem like a conventional holiday.

But a group of ex-military officers from the British Armed Forces have worked out the perfect way to open up these inaccessible corners of the world and argue they can offer you the experience of a lifetime.

Graham Wood, from Tallis Journeys, said the guided tours gave him an unprecedented glimpse of life in isolated regions like North Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Uganda - but warned they are not for the 'faint of heart'.

The trips are certainly a little rough around the edges. You will come back feeling tired and worn down, but if you want an authentic, immersive experience then there is no better way to do it,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

A glimpse into the unknown: A young boy in Afghanistan looks into the distance only an arms reach from two rifles

A local in Iraqi Kurdistan charges ahead in poor visibility while followed by the group of intrepid adventurers

He said each trip has been put together by a highly organise survival specialists who will guide you through destinations across Africa, Antarctica, South America and Asia.

'If you are doing white water rafting in Uganda you will be with an experienced rafting specialist while if you are trekking up Kilimanjaro there will be a mountaineering specialist.

All the tour leaders have a very specific set of skills and once they finish up in the military, when a daily nine to five job just doesnt do it for them, they use their experience to put together these amazing trips.'

He said the holidays may not be suited to those who spend most of their time lazing around on the couch, but you wouldnt need to be an uber athlete to meet the physical demands either.

Inquisitive locals gather on a large rock in Madagascar to watch the expedition team set up camp at sundown

The expedition team walk toward the distant horizon in Iran as they prepare to explore the Lut desert

There is a nice mix of the difficult and challenging stuff  it is all graded by how far you travel, how much weight you are carrying, the terrain, climate and altitude.'

The 30-year-old traveller, who has visited 53 countries, said while the trips navigate through regions touched by war, they would never send a group into an active conflict.

There is no voyeuristic element but you are sending people to places that have gone through serious political change or been torn apart by war  like the Congo - so there is always going to be a residual part of that war left.

Mr Wood said the landscape almost appears frozen in time, with rusted tanks abandoned on the side of the road which now serve as playgrounds for the local children.

In any country thats been touched by war there are always vehicles of war left behind,' he said.

'These countries trying to pull themselves out of the grips of war and it takes a lot of time for those scars to heal.'

Two women in Afghanistan walk along a dirt road as their traditional blue Afghani Burqas flow behind them in the wind

The interior of a yurt, a tent like dwelling used by nomads in Afghanistan's Wakhan corridor, is adorned with colourful mats

A tank lay abandoned on the side of a raod in Afghanistan's Wakhan corridor which is now used by children as a playground

An Afghani elder in a fur hat holds on to a loaded gun in the Wakhan corridor as the tour group visit

A local man from the Deomcratic Republic of Congo stands on a gun just outside Virunga National Park

He argued adventure tourists will often re-open the doors to a country forgotten by the Western world, allowing them to re-connect with outsiders.

'I think while these trips are an amazing and life changing experience for the client, it is also about opening these places that have been closed off to the world and adventure travellers are the ones who show people there is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is hope out there,' Mr Wood said.

He said a lot of locals are living 'so far below any poverty line in Australia' and often have no idea about what lies beyond their village.

'I remember chatting to ex-militia guys in the Congo and just showing them that there is a normal life out there, the interaction is unlike anything you will ever experience.'

'Even showing them our Facebook photos, it is so foreign to them but it also illuminates their picture of the world - it is fascinating.'

An armed ranger looks out over the mountain ranges in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park

Two wild hippopotumuses lock jaws in a river that runs through the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

A Silverback Gorilla sits stoically in the Congo's Virunga National Park, with some troupes containing up to 30 gorillas

Three armed rangers smile for a photograph, one with an arm slung over an expedition participant

Adventurers were treated to a glimpse of red hot molten lava in the Congo's Nyiragongo Crater - the world's largest lava lake

Three lone figures involved in the adventure expedition walk across seemingly endless sand dunes of the Lut desert in Iran

Set in the expansive sand dues in the Lut dessert, explorers had the chance to visit an old abandoned fortress in Iran

Mr Wood said he was often surprised by how generous locals were, particularly in Mongolia when he was warmly welcomed into the 'incredibly beautiful' huts they live in.

'It is hard to imagine but when people have very little, the colourful rugs you see on the walls are their entire worldly possessions. They have been handed down from generation to generation.

'They will invite you in and you think it is very simple but it is the literal equivalent of these people rolling out the red carpet for you, a complete stranger, it is incredible.'

He said some critics claim travelling in war torn areas in turn supports negative regimes, but he argues that 'if no one ever visits the country, it will never see change.

An exhausted expedition team follow one another as they approach the summit of Mount Halgurd in Iraqi Kurdistan

The team set up camp overlooking the snowy mountain peaks of Iraqi Kurdistan - taking in the phenomenal view

Above the clouds: Two mountain climbers journey 3,607 metres up Mount Halgurd - the second highest summit in Iraq

The expedition team were treated to a bright orange sunset after setting up camp in the Zagros mountains

The Tallis Journeys team descend down a grassy patch of the mountain after successfully summitting Mount Halgurd

A man sits quietly, allowing a tourist to snap a photograph, as he overlooks a city in Iraqi Kurdistan

Travellers observe two local children passing the time by watching two adults play a game of chess in Iraqi Kurdistan

Two bright orange eyes peirce through the brown scenery as a lemur checks out the travellers in Madagascar

The group look up as they approach Pic Boby, also known as Pic Imarivolanitra, the highest climable summit in Madagascar

Two men wade through a river in Madagascar's highlands during their expedition to Madagascar's Pic Boby

Dappled sunlight pierces through the canopy while travellers take a rest in Madagascar's misty landscape

Two groups sit on opposing rocks as rafts are loaded up for a journey down a remote river in Northern Madagascar

'We can show them what happens in the west, and that we arent just this big empire trying to challenge and change their way of life,' he said.

Mr Wood said he, like many people, often have an idea about what a country is like before ever visiting, but argued his own preconceptions were shattered once he had a chance to interact with locals.

When I went to North Korea I had this vision of a horrible kingdom where you will be watched all the time and not have the chance to interact with people, but they were so open and friendly.

It just goes to show people are people. It doesnt matter where you are in the world, Nabia or North Korea, if you sit down and have a chat with them youre bound to bond no matter who they are.'

You can find out more about organising your own trip with Tallis Journeys on their website.

A tour guide from the Victorious Fatherland Liberation Museum in North Korea motions toward two large sculptures

A captured American tank from the Korean war remains on display at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation Museum

Three North Korean children in red scarves play a song for visitors at the Mangyongdae School Childrens Palace
Midazolam was used in 'debacle' 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire

Has planned three executions in January, February and March next year

Executions will resume in January in Ohio after unofficial moratorium

Ohio plans to resume executions in January with a new three-drug combination after a three-year break.

The unofficial moratorium began in early 2014 due to shortages of lethal drugs. Ohio will return to drugs previously used to execute dozens of inmates.

The state will use midazolam, which puts the inmate to sleep; rocuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced Monday.

Three killers are to be executed between January and March 2017.

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Ronald Philips (left), 43, and Raymond Tibbetts (right), 59, are two of three convicted killers Ohio plans to execute in early 2017 after a three-year pause blamed on drug shortages

Ronald Philips, 43, was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of Sheila Marie Evans, his girlfriend's three-year-old daughter, in Akron in 1993.

His execution has been put on hold several times, including in 2013 when he made a last-minute request that was ultimately denied to donate a kidney to his mother, who was on dialysis, and possibly his heart to his sister.

Philips' execution is now planned for January 12.

Raymond Tibbetts , 59, killed his wife, 42-year-old Judith Crawford, by beating her with a bat and stabbing her during an argument over Tibbetts' crack cocaine habit.

Tibbetts then stabbed 67-year-old Fred Hicks to death at Hicks' Cincinnati home.

Hicks had hired Crawford as a caretaker and allowed the couple to stay with him.

Tibbetts was sentenced to death for the killing of Hicks and life imprisonment without parole for the death of Crawford.

His execution has been set for February 15.

Gary Otte, 44, shot 61-year-old Robert Wasikowski to death on February 12, 1992, and stole about $400 after asking to come inside his apartment in Parma in suburban Cleveland to use the phone.

The next day, Otte shot 45-year-old Sharon Kostura to death in the same apartment and stole $45 and her car keys after forcing his way inside. Otte was sentenced to death for both slayings.

The state plans to execute him on March 15.

The drugs that will be used in the executions aren't compounded and are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, state Assistant Attorney General Thomas Madden said at a federal court hearing.

The US Supreme Court upheld the use of such a combination in a ruling last year regarding Oklahoma's execution protocols.

Gary Otte (pictured), 44, is to be executed on March 15 for shooting two people to death

Madden told Columbus federal Judge Edmund Sargus a new execution policy will be announced at the end of the week.

Attorneys representing death row inmates promised an immediate appeal.

Ohio hasn't put anyone to death since January 2014, when Dennis McGuire repeatedly gasped and snorted during a 26-minute procedure using a never-before-tried two-drug combo.

The state used midazolam in McGuire's execution. Allen Bohnert, a federal public defender representing several death row inmates, found it disappointing that the state would again turn to that drug.

'Following the McGuire execution debacle, they very deliberately and specifically refused to use midazolam any longer for an execution,' Bohnert said.

The state's former policy called for 10 milligrams of midazolam. The state now plans to use 500 milligrams, Madden said.

The prisons agency said state law shields the origin of the drugs. The agency said it plans to proceed with the Phillips' execution after filing the new execution protocol with the judge.

The announcement is a return to a similar three-drug process the state used from 1999 to 2009, during which it executed 32 inmates. The state also used potassium chloride in those executions, along with other sedatives and paralyzing drugs.

In 2009, Ohio switched to one drug, a powerful dose of a sedative, and carried out 20 executions until the sedatives used became unavailable when pharmaceutical companies put them off limits for capital punishment.

The state's largest anti-death penalty group, Ohioans To Stop Executions, criticized the announcement, saying recommendations from a state Supreme Court committee that studied the death penalty should be put into place first to ensure fairness in the system.

The Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called the news disheartening, saying that using new drug combinations 'amounts to little more than human experimentation'.

Ohio will use three drugs to put the inmate to sleep, paralyze the inmate and stop the inmate's heart. One of these drugs was used in a 2014 execution deemed a 'debacle'. Pictured is a death chamber in Lucasville, Ohio

Ohio and other states have struggled to find legal supplies of execution drugs.

The state has more than two dozen inmates with firm execution dates sitting on death row, with executions scheduled out as far as October 2019.

After McGuire's execution, the longest in Ohio using lethal drugs, the prisons agency changed its policies to allow for single doses of two alternative drugs. Complicating matters, neither of those drugs  sodium thiopental and pentobarbital  is available in the United States after their manufacturers put them off-limits for executions.

Madden said the state 'tried hard and long' to obtain those drugs before announcing the new process. The state has unsuccessfully tried to find compounded or specially mixed versions.

Last year, Republican Governor John Kasich ruled out looking for alternative execution methods, such as the firing squad or hanging.

In 2014, Kasich signed into law a bill shielding the names of companies that provide the state with lethal injection drugs.

Supporters said such confidentiality is necessary to obtain supplies of the drugs and the measure is needed to restart executions. Opponents said it was naive to think the bill could truly protect companies' names from being revealed.
warn that severe flooding could cause a death toll that is in the

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The most powerful Atlantic tropical storm in a decade made landfall in Haiti Tuesday, flooding streets and sending people scrambling to emergency shelters as forecasters warn the Category 4 storm could hit Florida by Friday.

A Hurricane Watch has been issued in Florida for the first time in eight years, while the state is also on a Tropical Storm Watch alert as the hurricane is expected to shift north and move along the East Coast as the week goes on.

Anxious Florida residents have flocked to grocery stores to stock up on the essentials, while North Carolina called for the evacuation of three barrier islands as Hurricane Matthew threatened to rake a large swath of the East Coast in the coming days. So far, evacuations have not been ordered in South Florida.

Today, strong winds and heavy rain hit Haiti where it's feared the could cause another devastating humanitarian disaster to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. More than 430,000 were evacuated from the island ahead of the hurricane.

'You could see a death toll in the thousands,' Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach warned as life-threatening 145mph winds and heavy rain battered the island.

The deadly storm has already killed at least eight people in the past week, while at least one fisherman is missing.

'We've already seen deaths. People who were out at sea. There are people who are missing. They are people who didn't respect the alerts. They've lost their lives,' Interim Haitian President Jocelerme Privert said at a news conference.

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The most powerful Atlantic tropical storm in a decade made landfall in Haiti Tuesday, flooding streets and sending people scrambling to emergency shelters as forecasters warn the Category 4 storm could hit Florida by Friday (pictured at 3.15pm UTC as the storm sweeps through the Caribbean)

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for all counties in the state as forecasters predict Hurricane Matthew will hit on Friday, and possibly even later Thursday

The Weather Channel predicts heavy rain in the Bahamas through Thursday, with as much as 18 inches in some parts of the island while the East Coast of Florida can expect between three and five inches

A hurricane warning has been issued across the Bahamas, southern Cuba and Haiti while Florida has been placed on Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Watch

Haiti, Jamaica and southern parts of Cuba are engulfed in the Category 4 hurricane which hit the Caribbean islands at 2pm EDT

Some predictions how that the some effects of the hurricane could be felt as far north as New York

The hurricane's predicted route bears a close resemblance to that of Hurricane Hazel - 1954's deadliest hurricane - which also passed through Haiti and up the East Coast, causing 400 deaths in Haiti, 95 in the United States and 81 in Canada

The eye of the storm hit Haiti at just after 7am, while the neighboring Dominican Republic, which has evacuated 13,000 residents, Jamaica and the southern parts of Cuba were all struck by strong winds and heavy rain.

Isolated areas of Southern Haiti and southwestern Dominican Republic are expected to receive up to 40 inches of rain which are expected to trigger l ife-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

Seven hundred military family members were evacuated from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba over the weekend in anticipation of the storm. The Department of State has authorized family members of US government employees to depart the Bahamas, and has issued a travel warning for the area.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for all counties in the state, and urged residents to prepare at least three days worth of food, water, and medications.

'If Matthew directly impacts Florida,' he said, 'there will be massive destruction we have not seen in years, comparable to what we saw in Hurricane Andrew,' he said, according to the Miami Herald. Hurricane Andrew, which hit in August 1992, killed 65 people and is still the fifth costliest hurricane in US history.

The storm, which has shifted in a more westerly direction today, is predicted to hit Florida on Friday, moving up the East Coast throughout the weekend, landing in Virginia by Sunday. Isolated parts of the Florida Keys will receive up to 10 inches of rain.

'The threat to Florida and the southeastern U.S. coast has increased,' the hurricane center said. 'Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect portions of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week or this weekend, even if the center of Matthew remains offshore.'

A Hurricane Watch is in effect from Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys, to the Volusia/Brevard county line, the Hurricane Center reports.

A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the first appearance of dangerous tropical-storm-force winds.

However, forecasters say that it could change direction at any time, and it is still possible that it could shift east and miss the U.S. altogether - moving up the East Coast but never hitting landfall.

Jamaica has now discontinued the country's tropical storm warning after Hurricane Matthew passed by without inflicting too much damage.

People wade through a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes, in Cite-Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 4

A tap tap (a form of public transportation) crosses the floodwater left by the rain after hurricane Matthew, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti where the hurricane hit on Tuesday

A woman carrying a child walks through the floodwater and rain triggered by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

More than 430,000 have been evacuated out of Haiti, where it's feared the Category 4 storm could cause another devastating humanitarian disaster to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere (Wind blows coconut trees during the passage of Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday)

People try to move a water pump as the river is rising due to the rains caused by Hurricane Matthew passing, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The river looks ready to break its banks in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, thanks to heavy rain and floods brought by the hurricane

A woman protects herself from the rain with plastic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday as Hurricane Matthew battered the southwest of the island

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, residents cling onto the back of a 'tap-tap' truck as it drives through a street flooded by Hurricane Matthew

A woman stands in the floodwater with a broom as she sweeps away the garbage on a street left by hurricane Matthew, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

The most powerful Atlantic tropical storm in a decade made landfall in Haiti Tuesday, flooding streets and sending people scrambling to emergency shelters (Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 4,)

Heavy rain falls in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday, in the mostly empty streets as one man crosses in a rain jacket

A man, wrapped in plastic to protect against the rain, is battered by heavy winds as he walks down the street while Hurricane Matthew passes Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

But hurricane warnings remain in place for Haiti, the Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma,and Las Tunas, regions all over the Bahamas, and part of Florida.

The hurricane's predicted route bears a close resemblance to that of Hurricane Hazel - 1954's deadliest hurricane - which also passed through Haiti and up the East Coast, causing 400 deaths in Haiti, 95 in the United States and 81 in Canada.

Strong winds from the storm may be able to be felt in North Carolina on Saturday. Governor Pat McCrory has declared a state of emergency in 66 counties in eastern and central parts of the state.

Multiple cruise lines around the Caribbean have rerouted some trips to get out of Matthew's path.

Matthew had sustained winds of 145 mph, up from 140mph on Monday evening, and 130 mph earlier in the day.

'We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba,' said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the hurricane center, yesterday.

Anxious Florida residents raided grocery store shelves and North Carolina called for the evacuation of three barrier islands as Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm in a about decade, threatened to rake a large swath of the East Coast in the coming days

Jim LaFeir, of Ft. Lauderdale, buys a gas can at Lowe's in Oakland Park to prepare for the approaching storm

Mike Bresnahan, of Pompano Beach, Fla., loads cases of water into his cart at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida

Kerri Vittimberga, of Wilton Manors, buys a generator, tarps and gas cans at Lowe's in Oakland Park. Originally from Boston, she says this is her 'first big storm' in the two years she has lived in Florida

A man waits with his generator in the parking lot at Lowe's in Oakland Park, where anxious Florida residents raided grocery store shelves

Brothers Danny Delarocca, left and Gino Delarocca, right, both of Boca Raton, load plywood onto their car at the Home Depot in Deerfield Beach, to protect their homes

Hurricane specialist Eric Blake monitors the path of Hurricane Matthew at the National Hurricane Center, Tuesday, October 4

'People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past.'

In the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre, officials urged shantytown residents living next to a muddy river to take shelter at a local school where cots were set up. While some went, many refused fearing their few possessions might be stolen.

'If we lose our things we are not going to get them back!' Toussaint Laine said as police and officials from the mayor's office urged the jobless man and his family to evacuate.

Matthew has been inflicting major damage on Haiti, though the extent was not immediately known, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the country's Civil Protection Agency.

'It's much too early to know how bad things are, but we do know there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed or damaged in the south,' Jean-Baptiste said. Many streets were flooded or blocked with fallen trees throughout the southwestern peninsula.

One man died as the storm crashed through his home in the coastal town of Port Salut, in Haiti, today, according to officials, NY Times reports. The man had been too sick to leave his home for a shelter.

Haiti's civil protection agency reported the death of a fisherman in rough water churned up by the storm. Agency chief Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste said another fisherman was missing.

Riders cling hold onto the back of a truck, using an umbrella to protect against the elements on Tuesday during Hurricane Matthew

A woman pushes a wheelbarrow while walking in a partially flooded street, in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince on Tuesday

Women cover their heads with pans as they run through the rain as Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday

Motorcyclists risk the slippy, flooded streets to drive down the road while Hurricane Matthew passes Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 4

A woman holds a baby during home evacuations due to the risk of flooding of the nearby river, in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on October 4

A pick up truck drove through the flooded streets in St Thomas, Jamaica, on Tuesday where Hurricane Matthew's passage did not cause major damage

In Jamaica, residents have been returning to their homes and businesses after Matthew mostly passed them by. Pictured a worker removes plywood from shop windows in Kingston, Jamaica

A man walks back to his home after passing the night in a shelter in St Thomas, Jamaica, following the hurricane

A Jamaican family walk back home after passing the night in a shelter in St Thomas, Jamaica on Tuesday

A wave splashes on the beach at Siboney ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Cuba on October 4

People walk on the rubble-laden street after strong waves hit the coast at Siboney beach ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Cuba on Tuesday

Baker Dimapico Gonzalez, 51, removes things from his home at the beach in Siboney ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, Cuba

People watch the giant waves splashing on the beach at Siboney ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Cuba, October 4, 2016

The confirmed death in Haiti brought the total for the storm to at least eight.

One man died Friday in Colombia and a 16-year-old was killed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on September 28 when the system passed through the eastern Caribbean. Another four have died in the Dominican Republic, Associated Press reports.

Authorities went door to door in Haiti's south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

'We are continuing to mobilize teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas,' Jean-Baptiste said.

There is no shortage of people with flimsy houses set up in risky places in Haiti. In an unregulated sprawl of shacks built on hillsides near the northern edge of Haiti's capital, some poor families did what they could to reinforce their tin-and-tarp houses.

But most were just praying they would get through the storm without getting hurt.

'I know my house could easily blow away. All I can do is pray and then pray some more,' Ronlande Francois said by the tarp-walled shack where she lives with her unemployed husband and three children.

In Port-au-Prince, schools were closed while cars lined up at gas stations and shoppers cleared shelves at supermarkets as a light rain fell.

Some worried the crowded capital might not fare well. 'We are not prepared,' unemployed mason Fritz Achelus said as he watched water pool on a downtown street.

Although Matthew hasn't yet reached Florida, a heavy rainfall Monday night in the trendy Sunset Harbor area of Miami Beach flooded the area outside of Pubbelly Sushi

Even without a hurricane, parts of Miami easily flood - the Sunset Harbor area of Miami was the first in the city to have its streets raised to protect against floods, leaving many existing properties below street level - which then floods them (pictured, outside of Sardinia restaurant)

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba over the weekend in anticipation of the storm (People evacuated from Cauto Cristo remain at a shelter in Bayamo, Granma Province, Cuba)

A woman holds her baby in a shelter in Guantanamo, Cuba, after thousands were evacuated from the island

Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 40 inches (100 centimeters) of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country.

In Jamaica, which discontinued a hurricane warning late Monday afternoon and replaced it with a tropical storm warning as Matthew tracked closer to Haiti, many people chose to stick it out at home.

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said all but four residents of the Port Royal area near the Kingston airport refused to board buses and evacuate.

Matthew is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history and briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

The U.S. hurricane center said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would threaten the U.S. East Coast.

'Although our track is to the east of Florida, interests there should remain vigilant and we can't rule out the possibility of impacts,' Pasch said.

A hurricane warning was posted for much of the Bahamas, where the storm was expected to move along the eastern length of the island chain starting early Wednesday.

As of 8pm EDT (2100 GMT), the storm was centered about 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince. It was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph).

The above map shows the predicted rainfall from the powerful hurricane as it moves up the East Coast through Thursday

Above the map shows the areas which are on alert and where is likely to be hardest hit today

The impacts for Tuesday can be seen for the storm. Power outages and flooding is predicted

The predicted impacts of the hurricane from Wednesday through Friday can be seen above

The predicted times that the Category 4 storm is expected to hit the US is seen above in this map

The likelihood of hurricane force winds are seen above in this graphic. Florida is predicted to be worse hit

Cuba's government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces and removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to keep them from falling due to heavy wind.

Matthew's center was expected to make landfall in Cuba about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities evacuated about 700 spouses and children of service members on military transport planes to Florida.

The U.S. installation has a population of about 5,500, including 61 men held at the detention center for terrorism suspects.

Navy Capt. David Culpepper, the base commander, said emergency shelters had been set up and authorities were bracing for storm surge and heavy rain that could threaten some low-lying areas, including around the power plant and water desalination facility.
Compared to last Monday's slugfest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, tonight's vice presidential debate is expected to be a bit more wonky, and folksy, as Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence take the stage.

This is the only time Clinton's and Trump's picks for veep will face one another at a debate, which will take place at Longwood University, situated in the quaint town of Farmville, Virginia, located 60 miles away from the closest city, Kaine's adopted home town of Richmond.

Of course, political insiders were familiar with both Pence and Kaine, both considered solid, standard-bearers of their respective parties.

Pence did his time  and brought his family to Washington with him  as a member of the House, before moving into his home state's governor's mansion. Kaine worked his way up from Richmond's mayor, to Virginia's lieutenant governor and then governor, and now has a seat in the U.S. Senate.

But compared to an outsized former reality TV star or the first serious female presidential candidate, two 50-something white guys going at it for 90 straight minutes could seem a little dull.

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (left), Donald Trump's choice for veep and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (right), Hillary Clinton's No. 2, will face off for the first and only time tonight

The scene is being set for tonight's one and only vice presidential debate, taking place at Longwood University in the small town of Farmville, Virginia

The finishing touches were beig put on the set yesterday for tonight's vice presidential debate, taking place at Longwood University

Workers assemble the desk where Sen. Tim Kaine and Gov. Mike Pence will sit during tonight's vice presidential debate at Longwood University

So blah, that the New York Times went as far as to say that it 'might be the least anticipated vice presidential debate in 40 years.'

Time Magazine published a preview of the veep debate and didn't mention the names of the two vice presidential candidates until the last paragraph of the story.

Why? 'Because VP debates generally dont matter. Theyre auditions to become constitutional understudies in a role that one of FDRs Vice Presidents described as not worth a warm bucket of spit,' wrote the magazine's Phil Elliott.

Recent polling shows that 41 percent of Americans couldn't name Pence as Trump's running mate, while an even bigger 46 percent didn't connect Kaine with the Clinton campaign.

Some more interesting facts about the vice presidential candidates include that Pence went from growing up a Catholic Democrat to a evangelical Republican.

He's a former talk radio host.

The closest big city to historic Farmville, Virginia, is Richmond - Tim Kaine's adopted hometown - which is 60 miles away

Farmville, Virginia - which is one of four debate sites this year - is much smaller than the other three locales, which include St. Louis and Las Vegas in coming weeks

He loves to horseback, Western-style.

Popcorn is his guilty pleasure, and he'll share it across-the-aisle.

When he worked on the Hill his office had a popcorn maker  Indiana popcorn, of course  which Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanual and his staff would line up and get, before the congressman became mayor of Chicago.

Kaine's interests include the harmonica and he speaks fluent Spanish  which he used at the Democratic National Convention and in his roll-out speech with Clinton.

He also has a hokey Trump impression, which he showcased at the DNC as well.

And he loves some dad jokes.

As for the debate itself, Elliott also pointed out that very few moments have been memorable besides Lloyd Bentsens jab in 1988 at George H.W. Bush's vice presidential pick Dan Quayle.

'Youre no Jack Kennedy,' Bentsen said to Quayle.

The grounds of Longwood University, in the small town of Farmville, Virginia, are being taken over by vice presidential debate signage

Students at Farmville, Virginia's Longwood University head to class. The school will host tonight's vice presidential debate

His ticket, topped with Michael Dukakis, lost to Bush. Later, Quayle was mostly remembered as the guy who misspelled 'potatoe.'

The most-watched presidential debate, attracting 70 viewers strong, starred Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin going against then-Delaware Sen. Joe Biden in 2008.

She got things started by saying, 'Can I call you Joe?' probably the debate's most memorable line.

Much of the mockery surrounding Palin, Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate, came from interviews she gave before her meet-up with Biden, including the Katie Couric Q&A where she tried to explain how Alaska's maritime border with Russia gave her foreign policy experience.

On 'Saturday Night Live,' Tina Fey spun the line to be: 'And I can see Russia from my house.'

During the actual debate, however, Palin performed well against Biden, who at that point had been in the U.S. Senate for 35 years.

Four years later, Vice President Biden had to sit and debate Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's pick, who has now graduated to become speaker of the House.

'The speaker's mantra for himself has always been to over prepare for these things,' a source familiar with conversations about Ryan's preparations for the debate told Dailymail.com.

Ryan was remembered as being substantive, but was bowled over by Biden's raucous hand gestures and personality. Some polls had Biden 'winning' the debate, while others showed that Ryan had won with independents.

When Pence was back in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13. he and Ryan, who are buddies, met for breakfast and talked about the forthcoming debate, with the House speaker sharing his experiences from 2012.

Pence prepared,according to the New York Times, by using Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, himself once a presidential candidate, as a stand-in for Kaine.

Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway promised that the Indiana governor would be 'feisty.'

Clinton, boarding her 'Stronger Together' plane this morning, gave a thumbs up and said 'great' when asked by reporters how she thought her running mate might fare.

Her campaign manager, Robby Mook, complimented both public servants, before raising the stakes for Pence.

'Usually this is a test to see if these candidates are prepared to serve as president,' Mook said on 'CBS This Morning.'

'I think both of them are regarded as pretty accomplished public servants. The real question is, is Mike Pence going to defend Donald Trump,' Mook said.

Playing Pence for Kaine's preparation, reported Politico, was D.C.-based super lawyer Robert Barnett, who also played Sen. Bernie Sanders when Clinton needed help with her own debate prep.

Kaine prepared with advisers for tonight's debate in Raleigh, North Carolina, during the same time a local bluegrass festival was going on.
A new survey suggests patient care may vary depending on whether the doctor is a Democrat or a Republican - at least when it comes to some hot-button health issues like firearm safety.

Health care has long drawn partisan political fights, like state laws surrounding abortion, or Florida's law restricting doctors from discussing guns with patients.

But there's been little research on the doctor-patient side of those controversies. Can physicians leave their own political ideology at the door during something as simple as a checkup?

Doctors who were registered Republicans were 66 per cent more likely to discuss the legal risks of marijuana with patients - as well as much more likely to urge patients to cut back

Yale University researchers took an initial step in answering this question, looking up voter registration records and linking more than 20,000 primary care physicians to their party affiliations.

Then they surveyed more than 200 of those doctors about how they'd react to different scenarios - health issues that might come up when a new patient outlines his or her medical history during a routine physical.

Doctors loyal to the GOP were 35 per cent more likely to discuss so-called mental health aspects of abortion

Suffering depression? In denial about alcohol abuse? Ride a motorcycle without a helmet? Political affiliation didn't matter; the survey found doctors of both political stripes would react about the same to patients with those and some similar health issues.

But Republican and Democratic doctors differed significantly when it came to some more politicized issues - abortion, marijuana and guns, the researchers reported Monday.

Faced with a woman who wasn't currently pregnant but had undergone two abortions earlier in life, Republican doctors were twice as likely as their Democratic counterparts to say they'd discourage any future abortions and 35 per cent more likely to discuss so-called mental health aspects of abortion, said study co-author Eitan Hersh, a Yale political science professor.

Democratic doctors were 66 per cent more likely to say they'd urge parents of small children not to store guns in the home - while Republican doctors instead preferred to ask about safe storage of the firearms

Faced with a man who uses recreational marijuana three times a week, Republican doctors were 64 per cent more likely to say they'd discuss marijuana's legal risks and 47 per cent more likely to urge them to cut back than Democratic doctors.

And Democratic doctors were 66 per cent more likely to say they'd urge parents of small children not to store guns in the home - while Republican doctors instead preferred to ask about safe storage of the firearms, concluded the survey, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

'This was really an eye-opener,' said bioethicist Nancy Berlinger of The Hastings Center, a nonpartisan research institute.

She wasn't involved with Monday's study but said it sheds light on the problem of 'implicit bias' that affects people throughout society - the judgments we're not consciously aware of making.

Docs who vote for Clinton are more likely to overlook marijuana use while docs who approve of Trump are more likely to forego asking patients not to have guns in a home with small children

'We're all biased in some way. We can be biased for something as well as against something,' Berlinger explained. When it comes to deeply partisan divides, doctors 'can't screen that out just like the rest of us can't screen it out.'

Consider firearm safety, an important public health issue particularly for children, who too often are killed or injured when they find and play with a gun.

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that doctors ask about the presence of guns and counsel parents who keep firearms to store them unloaded in a locked case, with the ammunition locked up separately.

Berlinger said doctors could examine if public health successes - such as how, over decades, child car seats became mandatory and embraced - bring lessons in communicating the need to also keep children safe from accidental shootings without the parent tuning out.

When patients choose a doctor, 'they don't necessarily know what they're getting ahead of time,' Hersh said, noting that many other issues, from transgender health to end-of-life care, may be affected by the physician's political views.

He called the survey a first step to studying the actual impact on patients.

The survey couldn't reflect whether doctors had recently changed their party affiliation, and didn't include those who live in states that don't have registration by party.
Hillary Clinton has opened up a 5-point national lead over Donald Trump in the latest CNN national poll  while ratcheting up leads in a number of battleground states a week after the first presidential debate.

Her gains came during a week when polls show she beat Trump in the first presidential debate Monday, an event Trump followed by going after former Miss Universe Alicia Machado in TV interviews and on Twitter.

She has regained her advantage in Colorado, where the former secretary of state leads Trump by 11 points.

She leads Trump 49 to 38 per cent, with 7 per cent backing Libertarian Gary Johnson and 3 per cent backing Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

Clinton's current lead is as comfortable as it was three months ago, which is probably why her campaign has not diverted a lot of resources here," said Patrick Murray, who ran the poll Monmouth University poll.

WAKE-UP CALL: Clinton has opened up a 5 point lead over Donald Trump in the latest CNN poll

That is a return to the robust leads she held about before the debate.

In North Carolina, Trump and Clinton are in a virtual tie, with Clinton leading by a single percentage point, 46 to 45 per cent in a new Bloomberg News poll. Trump holds a 26 point edge among independents.

When Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included, Clinton leads 44 to 43 percent.

Clinton has regained a lead in Florida in a new Quinnipiac University poll. She leads Trump 46 to 41 percent, with Johnson getting 5 per cent and Stein getting 2 per cent.

On September 8th, the two were tied in Florida at 43-43.

Quinnipiacs North Carolina poll has Clinton at 46 and Trump at 43, with Johnson getting 7 per cent.

Republican Donald Trump still holds a 5-point lead over Clinton in Ohio, where Clinton campaigned Monday

Clinton holds an 11-point lead in Colorado

Clinton returned to Ohio, where Trump is leading her, on Monday, after the Toledo Blade ran an editorial criticizing her for staying away

The battleground where Trumps lead is holding firm is Ohio, where he leads Clinton by 5 points, 47 to 42, with 6 per cent for Johnson and 1 per cent for Stein.

Clinton campaigned in the state Monday and touted the endorsement of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James.

Clinton noted that her husband Bill Clinton is campaigning in the state this week and daughter Chelsea has been there as well. And I will be back because we care about Ohio and we want to sure Ohio makes the best choice, she said.

Clintons potential firewall in Pennsylvania appears to be holding, with her leading trump 45 to 41 per cent, with Johnson at 5 and Stein at 2.

Clinton led by 44 to 39 per cent on September 8th there.

Although Hillary Clinton clearly won the first debate with Donald Trump, this victory did her only little good in her race for the White House," said Peter A. Brown, who conducted the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Hillary Clinton's performance in last week's general election debate boosted her to a six-point lead over Donald Trump. She's now winning 42 percent of registered voters to Trump's 36 percent

Florida voters had Clinton beating Trump in the debate by 56 to 21 per cent.

In Virginia, Clinton leads Trump 42 to 35 in a new poll by the Wason Center Christopher Newport University. She leads Trump by 5 points in the Quinnipiac poll in Virginia.

Hillary Clinton's performance in last week's general election debate boosted her to a six-point lead over Donald Trump in another survey.

Clinton came out swinging, haranguing Trump as a sexist over comments he made about Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe who says the pageant owner called her 'Miss Piggy' and fat-shamed her.

Her digs at Trump over his refusal to release his tax returns had the billionaire declaring he was 'smart' to avoid paying the feds.

A Morning Consult poll released Monday morning in conjunction with Politico shows the full-scale assault on Trump in Monday's clash and the days that followed gave Clinton the upper hand. She's now winning 42 percent of registered voters to Trump's 36 percent.

In a four-way race, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson polls at nine percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein is earning three percent of the vote.

Without the two minor party candidates on the ballot, Clinton would beat Trump 46-39 percent.

Trump still has time to catch up to Clinton, the survey indicated, as 16 percent of voters said they're not sure who they'd back in a head-to-head match-up. They could be persuaded to throw their lot in with Trump if he smacks Clinton down at the next debate.

Voters do not believe that he should try to score points by bringing up her husband's sexual indiscretions, however.

Poll-takers asked voters if they believe it would be appropriate for one debater to bring up the 'other candidate's spouse' - 60 percent of respondents gave a flat out no.

A Morning Consult poll released this morning in conjunction with Politico shows the full-scale assault on Trump in Monday's clash and the days that followed gave Clinton the upper hand

Trump still has time to catch up to Clinton, the survey indicated, as 16 percent of voters said they're not sure who they'd back in a head-to-head match-up. . They could be persuaded to throw their lot in with Trump if he smacks Clinton down at the next debate

Just 26 percent of registered voters said they would be OK with that strategy, and 14 percent gave no answer.

Even 49 percent of Republicans said that would be below the belt, compared to 37 percent who said it would be fine. Democrats were significantly more likely to oppose the move. Seven in 10 said it would be inappropriate and 19 percent said be my guest.

Asked directly about Trump's threats to bring up Bill and allegations that Hillary tried to silence women who accused him of infidelity or sexual misconduct, 56 percent of voters said the Republican shouldn't go there. A third said it was fine.

Women were especially likely to say Trump should not do this - 62 percent - but half of the men who were surveyed were not on board, either - 49 percent.

Likewise, previous marriages should be off the table, voters said, with 66 percent saying it would be inappropriate for Clinton to make reference to the thrice-married Trump's past.

Two in 10 voters said they think the Republican's marriages are fair game - the first of which ended after he was accused of cheating on wife Ivana with the woman who became the second Mrs. Trump, Marla Maples.

Majorities of Democrats, 69 percent, and Republicans, 63 percent, said they would not find that attack acceptable, however.

Trump's comments about the former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, are hurting him with voters, the poll found

The survey was in the field from Friday, Sept. 30 to Sunday, Oct. 2.

Separately, a Rasmussen poll published Monday put Clinton three points ahead of Trump, at 43 per cent to his 40. Johnson received 8 per cent of the vote, and Stein got 2.

And 82 per cent of those surveyed by phone and online are now certain which way they will vote - and Clinton gets 49 per cent of these voters, against 46 per cent for Trump.

Two other polls taken since the debate also have Clinton up: by four according to Public Policy Polling, and five from Fox News.

Morning Consult did not ask voters about Trump's taxes even though Clinton hammered him on this point during the debate. A New York Times article confirming that he may not have paid federal income tax for close to 20 years did not come out until later in the weekend.

The news group did ask about Clinton embarrassing Trump for his comments about the former Miss Universe and found that the controversy was hurting his image with voters.

A full 74 percent are aware of the the Miss Piggy controversy and had heard a lot or some about it, including 63 percent of undecideds.

As a result, 41 percent of registered voters said they have a much less favorable view of Trump.

Of those who said they were bothered, 36 percent were men and 44 percent were women.

Another 13 percent said they had a somewhat less favorable view of him and 9 percent said it improved their view of him.
A 60-year-old woman was found dead in her bed five months before anyone even noticed her absence.

It wasn't until August 14 when a neighbor called the sheriff's office for someone to check on Gwendolyn Johnson.

Her neighbors hadn't noticed that her two vehicles went unmoved for two months or that an orange tag was posted to her front door in Kentucky signifying that her electricity had been cut off, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

Only when Johnson's mail piled up did someone call police to check on her.

Gwendolyn Johnson, 60, was dead in her bed for months before anyone even noticed her absence. The Warren County Coroner's Office estimated that Johnson had been dead between five and six months

The Warren County Coroner's Office estimated that Johnson had been dead between five and six months.

Her remains were found in her bed after a Warren County Sheriff's deputy called for help from a volunteer fire department to force entry into her locked home, the Daily News reported.

Deputies then called one of Johnson's brothers who said they had not spoken in 10 years.

But it's not uncommon for deaths like Johnson's to go unnoticed for days, weeks or months at a time.

Just this year, five people in Warren County died in their homes but no one realized it for several days, the Daily News reported.

'It's hard to see people die like that,' Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby told the newspaper.

'Death sometimes doesn't have much dignity.'

Earlier in September, police responded to a call urging them to check on an elderly couple who neighbors hadn't seen in more than a week.

Johnson's remains were found after a sheriff's deputy called for help from a volunteer fire department to force entry into her locked home. Deputies of the Warren County Sheriff's Office (pictured) called one of Johnson's brothers who said they had not spoken in 10 years

The Bowling Green Police Department found Jack Bates, 81, and his wife, Paula Bates, 63, dead in their home.

Authorities believe Jack Bates was taking care of his wife when he died and she may have died two days later, the newspaper reported.

In August, police responded to a foul odor coming from the apartment of a 61-year-old man.

Police found Terry Fields, who is believed to have suffered a fatal gastrointestinal bleed, dead in the apartment.

His body was found in an advanced state of decomposition five days after he had spoken to his son.

Kirby told the Daily News that these type of deaths are 'happening on our city blocks where there are people in and out all the time'.

'We don't really know our neighbors. If you see something out of the normal... you might want to check on them.

'There have been several cases where the lights have been turned off and nobody checked on them.'
A woman who went to hospital complaining of neck pain died just hours later after a doctor overhead her conversation with a nurse and discharged her, an inquest has heard.

Tamika Ullrich, 23, (pictured) died hours after visiting Northam emergency department, east of Perth, in December 2012

Tamika Ullrich, 23, visited Northam emergency department, east of Perth, in December 2012 and was seen to by nurse Vicky Morrison, who triaged her as an 'uncomplicated patient'.

Dr Anthony Boyd was seated nearby, overhead the conversation and prescribed her an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxant.

'Although he never examined her himself, he believed he had overheard enough to gain a sufficient understanding of her history and presenting complaints,' counsel Kate Ellson told the inquest on Monday.

Ms Ellson said while Dr Boyd believed he told Ms Ullrich she might go home with a further muscle relaxant, Ms Morrison remembered him saying Ms Ullrich could go home and he had written her a medical certificate.

Dr Boyd testified he had planned to check on Ms Ullrich later but when he returned she had left.

Ms Ullrich's mother Lorraine Thomas cared for her that night while she repeatedly vomited and needed help in the shower, but eventually went to her own bedroom about 4.30am.

At about 6am, Ms Ullrich's mother returned to check on her daughter and found the 23-year-old dead.

When Ms Ullrich visited Northam Hospital (pictured) Dr Anthony Boyd was seated nearby and prescribed her with an anti-inflammatory after overhearing her conversation with a nurse

The court heard Ms Ullrich was likely to have died from chronic hydrocephalus with brain swelling, but Coroner Barry King is aiming to clarify her cause of death.

Mr King said he would likely find Dr Boyd's acts and omissions did not cause or contribute to her death.

Ms Ullrich was among five people in less than three years to die after being discharged from the regional hospital and the case was previously examined by chief medical officer Gary Geelhoed.

The Performance and Professional Standards Panel of the Medical Board of Australia determined Dr Boyd's behaviour was unsatisfactory and conditions were imposed on his registration so he retired.
Prosecutors in Nebraska opened a first-degree murder trial Monday against a former doctor by arguing he committed four killings in Omaha to avenge his firing from Creighton University Medical Center.

Prosecutors outlined their case against Dr. Anthony Garcia, who is charged with stabbing to death the 11-year-old son of two medical doctors and the family's housekeeper in 2008.

He is also accused of killing another Omaha doctor and his wife in 2013 in the same gruesome way, stabbing them all in the necks and leaving the knives embedded in their flesh.

Dr. Anthony Garcia is led by deputies at the Douglas County court in Omaha at his trial for the killing of four

Prosecutors say that Garcia, above in handcuffs in court in December, killed four to avenge his firing years earlier

Prosecutors said the killings were motivated by Garcia's long-simmering rage from being fired from the medical school's residency program in 2001, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

'This is a case about revenge,' Deputy County Attorney Brenda Beadle said. 'This is a man whose life was spiraling into disaster, and he blamed Creighton.'

Garcia's attorneys responded that prosecutors lack witnesses or physical evidence.

Defense attorney Robert Motta Sr. called prosecutors' case a 'loosely woven tapestry' that would fall apart as lawyers present evidence.

Thomas Hunter, 11, left, and housekeeper Shirlee Sherman, were victims of Garcia, say prosecutors

Married doctors Roger and Mary Brumback were also murdered, prosecutors say that it was revenge for Roger Brumback firing Garcia years earlier

Garcia was arrested in 2013 and charged with the 2008 killings of Thomas Hunter, 11, and housekeeper Shirlee Sherman, 57. Their bodies were found by Thomas' father, Dr. William Hunter, who works in Creighton's pathology department.

The killings remained unsolved for years, and then, in May 2013, another Creighton pathology doctor, Roger Brumback, and his wife, Mary, were found slain in their Omaha home.

The Brumbacks, both 65, had also been stabbed in the necks, according to Omaha World-Herald. Roger Brumback had additionally been shot three times.

Investigators developed a motive in the killings, noting William Hunter and Roger Brumback had together fired Garcia from the Creighton residency program in 2001 for unprofessional conduct and later wrote letters that kept him from being accepted to other residency programs and approved for medical licenses in other states.

Anthony Joseph Garcia, in 2006, 2012, and 2013, when he was finally charged in the deaths of four in what prosecutors allege are quadruple revenge slayings

After opening statements, Hunter described calling 911 after finding the body of his son and Sherman.

'I didn't know how to explain what I was seeing,' Hunter testified. 'It didn't seem real to me.'

Garcia faces a possible death penalty if convicted.

Defense attorney Robert Motta Sr. strongly hinted that the cases were the work of an unknown serial killer instead - saying that a fifth victim in the area, who had nothing to do with Creighton, also died from neck stabbing.

'This is something thats so striking, its almost like the signature of a killer,' he said in court.

A neighbor, Paul Medin, testified that on the afternoon of the killings of Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman, on March 13, he saw a strange man walk up to the house, but assumed it was a 'traveling salesman.'

However, he said he had such a premonition about the man that he took note of the home's street address in case he heard of something happening there. Two hours later, he learned about the deaths.

Garcia was fired from the Creighton pathology department in May 2001 after a botched autopsy and behavior issues, including pranks.

William Hunter and Roger Brumback signed his letter of termination.

Garcia was fired in 2008 from Louisiana State University after officials there learned of his earlier termination, which he had failed to disclose.

Two weeks later, the Hunter home was the scene of unimaginable horror.

In 2012, he was unable to secure a license to practice medicine in Indiana and his house went into foreclosure.

Prosecutors said Garcia purchased a gun, and did internet searches on how to drive to Omaha.
An Australian family who jumped to the aid of a woman suffering chest pains, sitting with her until an ambulance arrived, has returned to their car to find thousands of dollars worth of belongings stolen.

The Melbourne Verdouw family was on holiday in Auckland, when they fell victim to the disgusting crime on September 25.

Robert, Wendy and their three children Jordan, Caroline and Sophie were enjoying one last meal together at a waterfront restaurant before flying out of the country when a middle-aged woman collapsed with chest pains nearby.

The Verdouw family, Sophie, Karina Hooper, Robert, Caz, Sarah Tyo, Wendy and Rachel Jones

Crippled with pain, the woman grazed her face as she fell to the ground, according to the New Zealand Herald.

While some looked on, the Verdouw family left their meal at the waterfront restaurant and went to the woman's aid, remaining by her side until an ambulance arrived.

Robert Verdouw said his wife Wendy even held the woman's hand as they waited.

'This lady, she just wouldn't let go of Wendy's hand. I think she was comforted to know there was someone there,' he said.

Robert Verdouw (centre) with his daughters Sarah Tyo (left) and Sophie Verdouw (right)

All too happy to donate their time to the suffering stranger, the family was in the dark about what was happening just a stone's throw away.

Returning to their car after the ordeal, the Verdouw family was devastated to discover their car had been broken into, stripped of the family's every belonging.

On a quiet street near Silo Park in the middle of the day, the car had been broken into and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of the family's belongings.

Caught completely off-guard, the family was left shattered.

Sophie Verdouw had her work issued laptop and hard drive stolen, which Mr Verdouw said caused her daughter even more grief.

'She was just beside herself when we found out. Her first thought was 'I'm going to lose my job',' he said.

Robert Verdouw (right) said his wife Wendy (left) held the collapsed woman's hand as they waited for an ambulance to arrive

When her employer found out, Sophie was forced to pay a $1,000 downpayment for the computer until the employer could confirm it was covered by insurance.

The Melbourne man admitted his family didn't take out travel insurance before their trip, but hoped they might be covered by default through their credit card provider.

But Mr Verdouw said it wasn't about the money, and that the family lost a great deal more than just possessions in the Auckland robbery.

Returning to their car after the ordeal, Wendy (left) and Robert (right) were devastated to discover the car had been broken into, and stripped of the family's every belonging

He said his son Robert lost a bag with his passport, phone, books and also a diary he'd kept for the past five years, losing memories, sentimental and personal records.
A $12 million sex abuse verdict against the Boy Scouts of America was overturned by the Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday.

The Irving, Texas, branch of the organization was sued in 2012 by a plaintiff identified as John Doe.

He alleged that he was sexually assaulted three times beginning when he was 11 years old in the mid-1970s by an older Scout in Troop 137 in New Fairfield.

The boy said the abuse sent his life into a downward spiral of suicide attempts, drug abuse and an inability to be intimate with people.

A $12 million sex abuse verdict against the Boy Scouts of America (file photo) was overturned by the Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday. The Irving, Texas, branch of the organization was sued in 2012 by a plaintiff identified as John Doe

On Monday, justices ordered a new trial in a split decision, saying the trial judge improperly denied a defense request to instruct jurors on negligence liability.

Three of the seven justices said they believed the case should have been dismissed because of a two-year statute of limitations on lawsuits alleging negligence and recklessness.

The suit, which alleges that national Boy Scouts leaders failed to protect the boy, is the largest ever against the organization.

Doe said leaders knew for decades about child sexual abuse during Scouting activities  including many instances of older Scouts sexually assaulting younger Scouts  but didn't act to prevent it.

His lawyers, Paul Slager and Jennifer Goldstein, presented evidence introduced at similar trials across the country  that Boy Scouts officials kept confidential files dating back to the 1920s that contained information on alleged pedophiles.

'Rather than use this information to implement basic policies to prevent further sexual molestations, however, BSA ... concealed the information from local councils, local troops, parents and scouts themselves,' Slager and Goldstein wrote in a legal brief.

'BSA placed its reputation above the well-being of its youth members for decades, resulting directly in the preventable sexual victimization of thousands of young boys, including plaintiff.'

After the decision to overturn the case on Monday, Slager said he and Goldstein were disappointed with the Supreme Court's ruling but respected the decision.

Lawyers and a spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts didn't immediately return messages Monday.

On Monday, justices ordered a new trial in a split decision, saying the trial judge improperly denied a defense request to instruct jurors on negligence liability. The suit is the largest ever against the organization (file photo)

Officials with the Boy Scouts said previously that they disagreed with the jury's findings and noted the Scouts now have many measures in place to prevent abuse, including criminal background checks, mandatory reporting of abuse allegations and a comprehensive education program.

A jury in Waterbury Superior Court found in Doe's favor in December 2014 and awarded $7 million in damages, and a judge later added nearly $5 million more.

The verdict included compensatory and punitive damages for negligence, infliction of emotional distress and recklessness.

The Supreme Court on Monday also rejected claims by the Boy Scouts that the organization had no 'duty' to protect Doe from the older Scout's actions and that Doe didn't present sufficient evidence that the Boy Scouts were responsible for what happened to him.

The older Scout accused of abusing Doe was identified in court documents as Siegfried Hepp, who was a Boy Scout leader for two decades before being charged in 2000 with fondling a 15-year-old boy.

Hepp pleaded guilty to risk of injury to a minor and was sentenced to 20 years of probation and 10 years of sex offender registration.
This horrific video shows the moment a vicious gang of girls knocked a teenager to the ground and kicked her in the face while a group of boys cheered them on.

The disturbing footage shows the teenage boys failing to intervene as one of the girls pins their victim down and punches her.

One of the young men watching the brawl can be heard egging the bullies on, saying: 'There's no need to be little b****es about it. Get up and fight one-on-one.'

This horrific video shows the moment a vicious gang of girls knocked a teenager to the ground and kicked her in the face while a group of boys cheered them on

As the beaten and bruised girl tries to get back to her feet, another girl is repeatedly heard telling one of the bullies to 'kick her in the face'.

Barely a second after she has got back up, a blonde-haired girl punches her in the back of the head, sending her stumbling forward.

The victim, who has lost one of her shoes, tries to walk away, only for one of the girls to charge forward and grab her by the hair.

She hurls the teenager back to the ground and punches her in the head twelve times while shouting: 'You f***ing little w***e! I f***ing hate you, you sl*t.'

The victim, who has lost one of her shoes, tries to walk away, only for one of the girls to charge forward and grab her by the hair

The disturbing footage shows the teenage boys failing to intervene as one of the girls kicks the victim in the head

The boys continue watching the assault - doing nothing - as the bully kicks her victims three times as she lays in agony on the ground.

One of the teenagers eventually steps in, moving the girl away, but do not stop her from returning moments later to deliver a fierce kick to the girl's head, who at this time is curled up in an attempt to protect herself.

She kicks the girl once more while screaming at her before the boy returns to lead her away, leaving their victim weeping on the floor.

It is not known who the attackers or the victims are, or where the attack took place other than that it was in Australia.
Roxy Jacenko's estranged sister Ruby Davis has quietly married in a secret Californian ceremony.

Ms Davis announced her engagement to her wealthy partner Jackson to friends just days ago.

The bride and groom wed in Beverly Hills over the weekend, surprising many friends.

They were photographed cutting a cake with the words 'HAPPY EVER AFTER' on top, with Ms Davis wearing a silver dress.

Cutting the cake: Ruby Davis married her fiance, Jackson, at a secret ceremony in Beverly Hills, California over the weekend

'Mazel Tov... I look forward to celebrating with you and Jackson': Friends sent gushing messages of congratulations online

A friend, Margaux Perrier, shared a picture from the momentous occasion: 'my favourite little beautiful bride ever'

Her mother, clan matriarch Doreen Davis, flew to Los Angeles on a Qantas flight late last week.

Doreen has posted Instagram photographs of her flight from Sydney and of Santa Monica beach in recent days.

Gushing friends deluged her with congratulations and shared pictures of themselves with the bride.

'Congratulations Ruby and Jackson! What a beautiful bride and a very lucky groom,' said one mate.

Another friend, Margaux Perrier, shared a picture of 'my favourite little beautiful bride ever'.

Ruby's sister, publicity mogul Roxy, appears to have remained in Sydney. She finished radiation therapy juts last week.

Ms Jacenko was photographed walking around North Bondi with a friend on Sunday, sipping a green smoothie.

Ms Davis, who runs the website Chickdriven, lives in Los Angeles, California

Ms Davis is an entrepreneur who has lived in the United States for the past few years

She only recently returned from a holiday to Europe, visiting the French port of Saint Tropez (pictured) and Ibiza

Roxy Jacenko, pictured at the weekend with her daughter Pixie

The pair have a famously lukewarm relationship after falling out several years ago.

In 2008, a police report contained claims Ms Davis had punched her sister in the face at a Kings Cross nightclub.

Police took out an interim Apprehended Violence Order against Ms Davis. It was later revoked and dismissed.

Ms Davis attended Roxy's wedding to her investment banker husband Oliver Curtis in 2012.

Ms Davis, like her older sibling, is an entrepreneur who runs a car website for American women

Ms Davis had only recently returned to the United States from a holiday gallivating about Europe.

Much like her older sibling, Ms Davis is an entrepreneur who runs a car website for American women, Chickdriven.
An online register of cosmetic surgeons is to be created to help patients avoid cowboy clinics.

Potential customers will be able to type in the procedure they want and their postcode to see a list of qualified doctors nearby.

The register is being drawn up by the Royal College of Surgeons amid fears rogue clinics are using aggressive sales tactics. Some offer 'buy one, get one free' deals for mothers and daughters to get their breasts enlarged at the same time.

But many of the doctors carrying out the procedures have no formal qualifications or training and patients have ended up permanently disfigured.

The register is being drawn up by the Royal College of Surgeons amid fears rogue clinics are using aggressive sales tactics. It aims to allow customers to find qualified doctors by postcode

The royal college predicts that the register will start with 200 surgeons, rising to 1,000 within a few years. However there are thousands of so-called experts at UK clinics. Around 51,000 cosmetic procedures were performed in 2015  a 13 per cent rise on the year before.

Women account for 90 per cent of customers and most favour breast enlargements, eyelifts or facelifts.

Stephen Cannon, who is vice president of the college, said: 'Due to the aggressive marketing and ruthless sales tactics of some unscrupulous companies, it can be very difficult for patients to find independent, trustworthy information which gives them a clear idea of what an operation would entail.

'Undergoing cosmetic surgery is a big decision which should never be taken lightly and we would urge anyone to think carefully about it.

'The vast majority of cosmetic surgery is carried out in the private sector and many people do not realise that the law currently allows any qualified doctor  surgeon or otherwise  to perform cosmetic surgery, without undertaking additional training or qualifications.' Over the next six months cosmetic surgeons who want to join the list will have to prove they are qualified in their chosen area of expertise.

They will be able to be registered as a specialist in more than one technique as long as they have the appropriate qualifications. Surgeons who do not join the list will still be able to carry on operating  although patients will be urged to avoid their clinics.

Before the register is published in April, the college has launched an online service from today with tips on deciding whether to go ahead with surgery.

The Government asked the college to produce a register in the wake of the PIP breast implant scandal, which came to light in 2011.

The royal college predicts that the register will start with 200 surgeons, rising to 1,000 within a few years. However there are thousands of so-called experts at UK clinics (file picture)

Up to 47,000 women in the UK are thought to have been fitted with devices filled with toxic silicone made by a French company.

The NHS and the medical professional bodies are increasingly cracking down on the cosmetic surgery industry. Rules imposed by the General Medical Council in June mean doctors can be struck off for offering two-for-one deals.

The guidelines also state that doctors must properly explain the risks of surgery to patients  without putting undue pressure on them.

A Department of Health spokesman said: 'Anyone who chooses to have a cosmetic procedure should have access to accurate information  that's why we asked the Royal College of Surgeons to develop this new patient resource which will help people make an informed decision.

'We have also proposed extending the Care Quality Commission's powers to rate more providers which is an important step forward in improving standards.'

Professor Terence Stephenson, of the General Medical Council, said: 'People choosing to undergo a cosmetic procedure have the right to expect high quality care and be fully informed about the treatment they receive. We hope patients will feel empowered to take more time, do more research or even walk away if they aren't fully confident.'
A university student was left badly shaken after he was carjacked while speaking to his mother on the phone in his parked vehicle.

Monash University graduate and part-time tutor, Ben van Mierlo, was forced from his car by three men at Southland shopping centre car park in Melbourne on Monday afternoon, The Age reports.

The 21-year-old had driven to the shopping centre to pick up his husband Jay from work and was chatting to his mother Rosyln on the phone when the attack took place.

Ben van Mierlo was carjacked in a Melbourne shopping centre car park

'I don't even remember if I turned the car off. I had seriously just got into the park,' Mr van Mierlo said.

'As soon as the car stopped, the driver's door opened, I thought it was Jay... and then I looked up and I saw this guy in a really puffy jacket, really dark colour. He yelled and screamed at me to "get out of the car, get out of the car".

'And I see two guys come out from this car parked behind me that I hadn't noticed at all, and they came out, opened the door of my car, they are all now sitting in my car. And they are yelling, "go, go".'

Mr van Mierlo described the man who opened his car door as being about 180 centimetres tall, well-built, with an olive complexion.

The Monash University graduate and part-time tutor was left badly shaken after his car was stolen

The incident left his mother in a state of shock as the phone conversation she was having with her son was abruptly cut off as the attack was taking place.

It was made worse because she heard a lot of screaming and shouting with someone saying, "get out of the car, get out of the car", and her son Ben replying "no, no", before the phone went dead.

Mr van Mierlo's prescription glasses and phone were also in the car, although with his husband Jay's wallet, which was later handed into police.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said detectives were appealing for public assistance following two car thefts on Monday, and it was believed the offenders stole a set of number plates nearby and continued driving.
Theresa May suggested foreign NHS workers will only be welcome to stay in the UK until 2025 when they will be replaced by home-grown doctors.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced a major recruitment drive to train hundreds more home-grown doctors to end Britain's reliance on those from overseas, who currently make up one in four NHS staff.

Asked about it today, the Prime Minister said foreign doctors will be able to stay 'until the further number of British doctors are able to be trained'.

Her comments generated a furious backlash, with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accusing her of 'breathtaking arrogance'.

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Britain is to train hundreds more doctors to reduce our reliance on those from overseas, Jeremy Hunt announced today at his Conservative party conference speech in Birmingham

In his keynote speech to the Conservative party conference in Birmingham today, Mr Hunt said it is time to dramatically expand the number of medical student places to ensure the NHS can be self-sufficient in doctors by 2025.

An extra 1,500 students will be taken on in 2018  a 25 per cent increase on the planned numbers.

He also unveiled plans to compel junior doctors to work for the NHS for at least four years or face having to pay back the 220,000 cost to the taxpayer for their training - a measure designed to stop student medics emigrating to Australia within months of completing their seven-year course.

Asked about the status of foreign staff working in the NHS in the interim period, Mrs May told BBC Breakfast this morning: 'There will be staff here from overseas in that interim period until the further number of British doctors are able to be trained and come on board in terms of being able to work in our hospitals.

'We will ensure the numbers are there. But I think it's right that we say we want to see more British doctors in our health service.'

Theresa May (pictured speaking to BBC Breakfast from the Tory conference in Birmingham this morning) caused alarm this morning by hinting that foreign staff currently working in the NHS will only be welcome until 2025

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon immediately hit out at the Prime Minister over the comments, accusing her of 'breathtaking arrogance'

Nicola Sturgeon (pictured in the Scottish Parliament last month) voiced her anger at the move on Twitter. She wrote: 'The arrogance of this from UKG is breathtaking...like they're somehow doing these doctors a favour by 'allowing' them to save lives here'

But Ms Sturgeon voiced her anger at the move on Twitter. She wrote: 'The arrogance of this from UKG is breathtaking...like they're somehow doing these doctors a favour by 'allowing' them to save lives here.'

At present, around a quarter of England's doctors are from overseas. There are fears that many do not have adequate language skills or up-to-date training.

The General Medical Council said last week that patients were being put at risk because the EU does not allow proper checks on foreign staff. The shortage of home-grown doctors also means that the Health Service is dangerously reliant on agency staff who charge sky-high hourly rates.

Mr Hunt told delegates at the Tory conference the state will fund the training of an additional 1,500 students through medical schools from 2018/19. He will also pledge to lift the current cap on the total number of places medical schools can offer.

At present, this is set at just over 6,000 a year, meaning universities are forced to turn away many qualified applicants.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA council, said the announcement 'falls far short of what is needed'

Mr Hunt will say he wants to allow all domestic students with the skills and capability to train as a doctor to have the chance to do so.

'We need to prepare the NHS for the future  which means doing something we have never done properly before: training enough doctors,' he will say.

Desperate to study medicine

'Is it right to import doctors from poorer countries that need them whilst turning away bright home graduates desperate to study medicine? By the end of the next parliament we will make the NHS self-sufficient in doctors.'

Last year hospitals spent 3.3billion on agency staff, including 1.2billion on locum doctors.

The World Health Organisation has said there is now a global shortage of more than two million doctors, meaning self-sufficiency will be even more important.

In order to ensure the reforms deliver for the taxpayer, the Government will also require that all doctors trained by the NHS will be required to work in it for a minimum of four years.

The Health Secretary will say it is time to dramatically expand the number of medical student places

Ministers are considering forcing doctors who do move abroad within four years to hand some of their funding back.

Britain's medical schools have an outstanding international reputation, and these changes will in part be funded by charging overseas students for all of their training, including clinical placements.

Where universities opt to offer increased numbers of places, the Government will ask for assurances that they are offering opportunities to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The costs of around 100million over three years will be met by both the Department of Health and the Department for Education. It is hoped that in the long run, the increased supply will bring down the locum bill.

The NHS is severely short of certain types of doctors  GPs, psychiatrists, radiologists and A&E consultants. The work is deemed either unexciting or antisocial.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA council, said: 'Jeremy Hunt has been health secretary for four years, and while it is welcome that he has finally admitted the Government has failed to train enough doctors, this announcement falls far short of what is needed.

'It will take a decade for extra places at medical school to produce more doctors. This initiative will not stop the NHS from needing to recruit overseas.'
Investigators missed a key meeting between a group of alleged Islamic State supporters in Britain and Mohamed Abrini  which could have led them to the Brussels-based cell

Police and MI5 could have prevented the Paris and Brussels terrorist atrocities after a secret operation targeting British suspects linked to the plot was launched months before the attacks.

But senior officers decided to halt the undercover probe three months before one of the coordinators of the Paris attacks crossed the Channel to meet extremists in Britain, it can now be disclosed.

The decision meant that investigators missed a key meeting between a group of alleged Islamic State supporters in Britain and Mohamed Abrini last summer  which could have led them to the Brussels-based cell before they carried out a wave of shootings and bombings, killing 130 people in Paris last November.

Dubbed the man in the hat, Abrini was later caught on camera fleeing Brussels airport after the bombing in March and he is accused of coordinating both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The crucial missed opportunity has come to light as a result of extensive inquiries by British and European security officials in the wake of the Paris and Brussels attacks.

It can now be revealed that police had arrested and questioned a number of British individuals in early 2015 as part of an investigation into ISIS supporters here in the UK.

Prior to their arrest, the suspects had been the subject of an undercover probe by police and the intelligence services.

But the covert operation ended when they were held by police on suspicion of terrorism offences.

Following extensive investigation, it was decided that there was not enough evidence to bring charges against the alleged British cell and the probe was later dropped.

By the time Abrini visited Britain a number of months later in Summer 2015 police and MI5 were no longer watching the British group.

To make matters worse, following their arrest the suspects had adapted complex security measures to evade the authorities.

They regularly changed phones, deleted data and communicated in internet cafes as they knew they could be under surveillance, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

Dubbed the man in the hat, Abrini was later caught on camera fleeing Brussels airport after the bombing in March and he is accused of coordinating both the Paris and Brussels attacks

Mohamed Abrini travelled to various locations during his seven day trip to the UK in the summer of 2015.

He was later found with images on his phone showing locations he had visited.

During his visit, he stayed in hotels in three cities, but it is thought that the trip was intended to meet individuals here.

It is understood that British detectives have now been able to interview Abrini who has made a full confession, detailing his movements in Britain.

The disclosures are bound to raise questions over whether MI5 and counter-terrorism police did enough to follow up the British connection which could have led them to the Paris plotters.

Sources say the original MI5 operation conducted in early 2015 targeted a group believed to be planning to travel to Syria to join ISIS after at least three other members of the group had already disappeared.

As part of that investigation, they discovered letters which they believed connected the British individuals they had arrested to members of ISIS.

But the information was not enough to bring charges so police were forced to release their suspects.

Mohamed Abrini travelled to various locations during his seven day trip to the UK in the summer of 2015. Less than a year later, 130 people were killed in terror attacks in Paris (above)

Security sources argue that substantial efforts were ploughed into the group but there was nothing to suggest that they merited 24-hour surveillance.

Without such measures it was almost impossible to have spotted Abrinis arrival in Britain and the activity that followed, sources say.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who had returned from Syria to plan the attacks, was a childhood friend of Abrini from the Molenbeek area of Brussels.

Had Abrini been followed back to Belgium the cell is likely to have been discovered.

On November 11 last year, Abrini drove former bar-owner Salah Abdeslam, another of the Molenbeek friends, to Paris as they prepared the attacks two days later which killed 130 people.

Abaaoud, the ring-leader, was killed in a shootout in Saint-Denis, Paris, five days later, along with his cousin, the former party girl Hasna Ait Boulahcen, and Chakib Akrouh, who blew himself up.

Abdesalam, who had driven the attackers around and booked their hotels, was tracked down to a flat in Molenbeek on March 18 this year and arrested.

His brother, Brahim, had died in the Paris attacks.

Abrini remained on the run and went on to appear alongside bomb-maker Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui at Brussels Airport four days later as they launched attacks that killed 32 people.
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While the Church of Scientology has been showing off its new eye-popping $57million headquarters on Sydney's north shore in a bid to attract new members, the secretive religion has been quietly working on its former flagship facility.

The secretive religion's former headquarters tucked in Dundas, in western Sydney, which is believed to be used as a punishment camp for members who stray, is receiving its own massive renovation, including a birthing unit, Daily Mail Australia understands.

Scientologists practice 'silent birth' and discourage any words from being used from any person in the delivery room.

It is understood the new unit for expectant mothers is included in the building's overall face lift to accommodate a mix of families and students that call the quiet facility home.

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The Church of Scientology's former headquarters tucked away in the residential suburb of Dundas (pictured) in Sydney's west is receiving a massive renovation, including a birthing unit

The facility (pictured), which is believed to be used as a punishment camp for members who stray from the secretive religion, houses a mix of families and students

The secretive church recently opened its new $57million Sydney headquarters 20km east in Chatswood

A plan approved by the City of Parramatta states that the renovations will include 'additions to the existing place of public worship including internal reconfiguration, provision of new dormitory.'

The plans show extensive work to the outside of the facility and plumbing but do not depict a birthing unit or new dormitories.

The first application submitted to the city list the price for the renovations at $1,638,627.

The plan was altered and resubmitted again but depicted the estimated price as $0.

Four additional plans have been submitted this year since June for 'alterations and additions,' fire safety upgrades, additional landscaping and 'disabled access upgrades and construction of new external fire stairs'.

The estimated price for all four new applications is around $4.5million.

Vicki Dunstan, the president of the church in Australia, told Daily Mail Australia the improvements were to 'beautify' the building and will include a new gate, landscaping, fresh paint to the inside and upgrades to bathroom facilities.

She confirmed members of the church live there and said many of them are Ministers or Ministers in training for the religion.

Members from overseas can also stay there when they visit, she said.

Ms Dunstan would not say if a birthing unit or additional dorms are included in the renovations, or how much it would cost.

'The Dundas facility used to house administrative offices, as well as living spaces. Now that the administrative has moved to the Chatswood building, we are renovating the existing building,' she said.

The Church of Scientology celebrated the opening of its new $57million Chatswood facility earlier this month with a lavish ceremony

A handful of people were seen wandering around the property (pictured), which was littered with mounds of dirt and construction materials

A woman who has lived across the street from the church headquarters for 16 years said she sees a large bus coming and going from several times a day and often until 3am

Broken blinds hung off of many of the windows and buses come and go 'every 30 minutes', a neighbour said

A handful of people were seen wandering around the property, which was littered with mounds of dirt and construction materials with a broken delivery sign in the front that read 'Church of Scientology.'

A young girl, no older than eight, was seen playing in the dusty yard by herself before being joined by an older man who led her around by her hand. Two women who appeared to be in their 40s or 50s, one dressed in tailored pant suit, were also seen walking onto the property.

A woman who has lived across the street from the church headquarters for 16 years said she sees a large bus coming and going from several times a day and often until 3am.

Scientology leader David Miscavige (pictured) - who reports have named as the 'best friend' of Tom Cruise - cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Chatswood location

Green and gold confetti fell from the sky as Scientology followers gathered to applaud the religion's leader, Mr Miscavige

A picture of the religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, can be seen in the auditorium filled with hundreds of seats (pictured)

Several modern lounge areas can be found throughout the large building (pictured)

The spiritual facility sits on the scenic Lane Cove National Park (pictured is the Blue Gum Creek)

'I think they're going to the city,' she said, adding that the majority of people being transported seem to be of Asian appearance.

Another neighbour, who lives nearby with his newborn daughter, said he hasn't had an problems with the people living in the building because they are quiet but the buses coming and going 'every 30 minutes are irritating.'

In 2013, ABC reported that the Church of Scientology had been focusing on recruiting new members and staff in Taiwan and was bringing many of them to Dundas.

Insiders said that at least 50 percent of Scientology's staff in Sydney are from Taiwan.

In 2013, ABC reported that the Church of Scientology had been focusing on recruiting new members and staff in Taiwan and was bringing many of them to Dundas (pictured)

The facility is believed to have previously been owned by St Patrick's Dundas Marist College, which is located behind

Former Hack host Steven Cannane called the Dundas headquarters a 'penal colony' in his new book Fair Game, and claimed the members sent to the facility were isolated and forced to perform manual labour, while eating 'slops' and leftovers from a nearby market, according to ABC.

The church was accused of holding a woman named Alice Wu hostage in an isolation room in the building in 2012 after a mental breakdown, according to ABC.

Ms Wu's family claim she was trying to escape when she smashed the widow and injured her hand but the church denied the allegations.

Her family said the ordeal began when Ms Wu asked to leave but a statement from the church offered to ABC said Ms Wu had simply come down with the flu, had become delusory and cut her hand.
Lawyers will no longer be able to chase British soldiers with 'vexatious' claims of human rights abuses, Theresa May (pictured at the Tory conference in Birmingham this morning) said today

Lawyers will no longer be able to chase British soldiers with 'vexatious' claims of human rights abuses, Theresa May said today as she told troops: 'We are on your side.'

She announced human rights laws will finally be suspended on the battlefield to end the industry of the claims.

The Prime Minister said it will give British troops the 'confidence when they go out into combat for us that they are able to do what is necessary to keep us safe'.

The plans won an enthusiastic welcome from Conservative members as Defence Secretary Michael Fallon unveiled them at the party conference in Birmingham today.

Under the measures, the Government will free armed forces from two specific articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) before sending them into battle.

These two  Article 2, the right to life, and Article 5, the right to liberty  have been exploited by lawyers to launch thousands of complaints against UK soldiers.

They have also been used as the basis for compensation claims against the British taxpayer.

Defending the move this morning, Mrs May said: Our troops, our men and women of our armed forces go out there and put their lives on the line in order to defend us.

'They do things that most people wouldn't be willing to do in terms of that, in terms of going out and potentially paying the ultimate sacrifice for us.

'I think they should know that government is on their side, they should have the confidence when they go out into combat for us that they are able to do what is necessary to keep us safe and to defend this country.

'And what weve seen is human rights legislation being used to generate all these vexatious claims and troops finding themselves in some difficultly in worrying and concerned about the future as a result of that.

So I think its absolutely right that the Government should say to our troops: We are on your side''.'

The plans won an enthusiastic welcome from Conservative members as Defence Secretary Michael Fallon unveiled them at the party conference in Birmingham today, pictured

Freeing soldiers from human rights laws will mean they can detain insurgents for longer than 96 hours, rather than having to release them (British troops in Afghanistan in 2009)

She added: 'Of course, if there are proper allegations of criminal behaviour, credible allegations of criminal behaviour, those need to be investigated.

'But we need to stop this industry of vexatious claims which has grown up, with lawyers appearing to chase around to see anybody who will bring about a clam about our troops.'

Revealing the measure today, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told the Tory conference: 'It is right that we investigate serious allegations but weve seen our legal system abused to falsely accuse our armed forces.

'So were taking action. Of more than three thousand claims about half have already been discontinued  and another thousand further cases will be thrown out by January.

'Already one of the firms that filed thousands of these claims, the so-called Public Interest Lawyers  has had its legal aid contract terminated and shut down in August.

'It wont be missed.'

Mr Fallon (pictured making his speech at the Tory conference today) used his speech in Birmingham today to unveil new protections for soldiers

Theresa May (pictured at the Conservative party conference today) used a round of TV interviews to announce human rights laws will finally be suspended on the battlefield to end the industry of the claims

The decision to exempt troops from the two articles will go to a vote before the House of Commons and House of Lords. It is expected it will be used only when forces are being deployed in a fighting role.

SO WHICH OF OUR TROOPS ARE AFFECTED? The changes only affect soldiers who fight in future wars  not those who are currently facing investigation for their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. But in future, decisions made in British courts will be upheld rather than re-opened for a second time to fulfil obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Hundreds of soldiers have been quizzed by detectives at the Iraq Historical Allegations Team  which would never have been set up if the new proposals had been in force. It means a Major and two soldiers now facing prosecution by the Service Prosecuting Authority would in all likelihood never have faced a second criminal probe. Soldiers who fight in future wars will not have to face an inquest-style inquiry into incidents on the frontline. Under existing rules dozens of Iraq veterans have been dragged before the Iraq Fatality Investigations probe. Anyone serving with the British Armed Forces will still be subject to British criminal law and the Geneva conventions. If there is a serious allegation of criminality they will still face prosecution. Under the plans, Alexander Blackman, also known as Marine A - who was jailed for life for the murder of a Taliban insurgent - would faced the same proceedings he did in 2013. Advertisement

Freeing soldiers from human rights laws will mean they can detain insurgents for longer than 96 hours, rather than having to release them.

Last night Defence Secretary Michael Fallon  who has spent months working on the policy  said: 'Our legal system has been abused to level false charges against our troops on an industrial scale.

'It has caused significant distress to people who risked their lives to protect us, it has cost the taxpayer millions and there is a real risk it will stop our armed forces doing their job.

'This change is an important step towards putting that right.'

He said the measures would help protect troops from 'vexatious claims' and ensure they can 'confidently take difficult decisions on the battlefield'.

'And it will enable us to spend our growing defence budget on equipment, not fees for lawyers,' he added.

Prime Minister Theresa May will say today: 'Our armed forces are the best in the world and the men and women who serve make huge sacrifices to keep us safe. My government will ensure our troops are recognised for the incredible job they do.

'Those who serve on the front line will have our support when they come home. We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts.'

It comes after Tory MP James Heappey warned last week that soldiers would be killed in conflicts as they would not have the confidence to pull the trigger over fear of being dragged through the courts. Today's announcement is a victory for the Daily Mail, which has campaigned for an end to the witch-hunt against British troops.

Mr Fallon addressed Tory activists in the main Symphony Hall at the Birmingham conference centre today as he unveiled government plans to protect troops from legal claims

This newspaper has revealed how hundreds of innocent soldiers have been mercilessly dragged through repeated investigations for one incident alone. Many have been hounded for more than a decade as law firms cash in on human rights.

However, France is one of a number of European countries to have already pioneered a similar move by opting out of elements of the ECHR to protect its military from the threat of legal claims. Portugal, the Czech Republic and Spain are among other countries to have pulled out from parts of the ECHR for the same purposes.

Military advisers have warned that a series of court judgments have extended the jurisdiction of the ECHR and seriously risked undermining the ability of the UK's armed forces to operate. In one case, a suspected terrorist's detention was ruled illegal despite him being held under a UN Security Council resolution permitting 'all necessary measures'.

Mr Fallon used his conference speech to reveal he would tomorrow see the first steel cut on new submarines to replace the Vanguard-class subs (file picture) carrying nuclear weapons

The new policy removes the threat of potential legal action under specific articles of human rights laws and avoids the stress and uncertainty caused by the claims.

Today's announcement is a victory for the Daily Mail, which has campaigned for an end to the witch-hunt against British troops

It also frees up soldiers from limitations under the act on their ability to hold detainees, so they can get on with their job. General Richard Dannatt, former head of the Army, said: 'I very warmly applaud this imaginative and bold move by the present Government. It will go some way to reassuring our armed forces personnel that they can operate in future without looking out for lawyers over their shoulder.'

The Mail has revealed how soldiers who served in Iraq have faced multiple probes over one incident alone. Even those who were hauled before a court martial and found not guilty, have gone on to be investigated by the Iraq Historic Allegations Team. Ihat was set up in 2010 by the Labour government after the disgraced firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) threatened to use the ECHR to demand judicial reviews into incidents in Iraq.

Since then Ihat has been handed 3,367 allegations of criminality  resulting in hundreds of troops being quizzed by taxpayer-funded detectives.

After Ihat has investigated, the cases are then often passed to the Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI) in order to satisfy Article 2  the right to life. Dozens of soldiers  many suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder  have been forced to give evidence before the IFI, despite fears they could be suicidal and despite one soldier begging to be left alone.

Serdar Mohammed, a bomb maker suing the British government, is using human rights laws to argue he was detained for too long. Depending on the outcome of his Supreme Court case, hundreds more suspected insurgents could be awarded compensation.

There were fears soldiers who fight in future wars would have been forced to let suspected insurgents free after 96 hours in a 'lethal catch 22' scenario where they were forced to adhere to the ECHR.

In an overhaul of current policy, the Government is also looking at drawing up a time limit for future claims and creating tough new penalties for firms lodging spurious claims. Ministers are also planning to crack down on the 'no win, no fee' deals that have been exploited to tout for business.

The money will instead be spent on more ships, planes, troops ready to act and state-of-the-art equipment for special forces.
Christopher Patrick Odom, 26, was charged with rape, sexual battery and two counts of official misconduct

A former police officer in Tennessee has been charged with rape after flagging down two women for traffic stops in two separate incidents.

Christopher Patrick Odom, 26, was charged with rape, sexual battery and two counts of official misconduct by a Maury County grand jury on Monday.

He pulled two women over for traffic stops, once in June and again in July, and allegedly initiated sexual contact.

On the second occasion, he is accused of commencing illicit sexual contact as well, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Spring Hill Police Department, where Odom had served for three years, handed over the investigation of Odom to the TBI on August 1.

A force spokesman said: 'It was with the advice of the district attorney that the investigation be turned over to the TBI due to the severity of the allegations.'

The department put Odom on administrative leave three days after hearing of the allegations and later dismissed him for violating internal rules.

The former officer was arrested Monday and booked into the Maury County Jail on $75,000 bond, but online records indicated he had been released.

There was no information about an attorney for Odom who could comment on the case.

A spokesman said: 'The actions of Officer Odom are not indicative of a Spring Hill Police Officer and is in direct violation of departmental policies'

Odom is no longer employed by the Spring Hill Police Department.

A spokesman said: 'The actions of Officer Odom are not indicative of a Spring Hill Police Officer and is in direct violation of departmental policies.
A lesbian mother who left her wife and abducted their daughter to start a new life with a sperm donor has broken her silence to claim the two-year-old is better off with me.

Lauren Etchells, 31, a teacher who grew up in South Tyneside, is the subject of an international arrest warrant after breaking a court order to fly out of Canada with daughter Kaydance.

She was joined by a second child, born in April, and the babys biological father Marco van der Merwe  a sperm donor she was in a relationship with. But after publicity about the case last week, Etchells contacted a newspaper to speak out and criticise what she described as political correctness.

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Lauren Etchells, 31, left, a teacher who grew up in South Tyneside, is the subject of an international arrest warrant after breaking a court order to fly out of Canada with daughter Kaydance away from wife Tasha Brown, right

Her wife Tasha Brown has made desperate pleas for the safe return of her daughter to Canada.

The couples turbulent custody battle drew headlines when Miss Brown went public almost five months after Etchells fled on a flight to Gatwick airport.

She is thought to have moved on to France and then the Middle East, but has allegedly broken off contact with Mr Van der Merwe and 'hasnt heard from him for months'.

In an email to The Times, in which Miss Etchells refused to give any details which would disclose her whereabouts, she tried to explain her decision to go on the run.

Miss Etchells had a a second child, born in April, and the babys biological father is Marco van der Merwe, pictured  a sperm donor she was in a relationship with

This whole case has been about gay rights and not about what is good for my child, she said. At some point the system needs to look at the straight facts and see that Kaydance is better off with me instead of getting blinded and caught up in political correctness and bureaucracy.

Breaking up her family, separating her from her mother and brother and the man she knows as her father is going to do far more psychological damage to her than growing up not knowing Miss Brown.

Miss Brown, 43, and Miss Etchells met online in 2008 and married in Canada in 2012. Etchells had been living in the country since her father Brian emigrated for work in electrical engineering.

Miss Brown, 43, and Miss Etchells met online in 2008 and married in Canada in 2012. Daughter Kaydence was born in 2014

The couples turbulent custody battle drew headlines when Miss Brown went public almost five months after Etchells fled on a flight to Gatwick airport

The couple decided to have a baby together and because Miss Etchells was younger, it was decided she would carry it. Kaydance was born in 2014 using a sperm donor they found online.

However, he refused to be the donor a second time when the couple decided to have another baby in the summer of 2015.

IT expert Mr van der Merwe  a university friend of Miss Etchells  took on the responsibility, but Etchells and Miss Brown split up before the baby was born.

Fearing the worst, Miss Brown obtained a court order in April preventing her wife and Kaydance leaving Canada, but Etchells fled in May.

Mr van der Merwe said he had been in contact with Canadian police and told them everything he knew.

He also said he did not agree to be a sperm donor and does not know the whereabouts of Miss Etchells.
Jacob Furedi, a journalist and student at University College London thinks students are being nannied

The drunken travails of Kingsley Amiss Lucky Jim  a shambolic junior academic  have long become a byword for the excesses of university life.

Flirting, seduction and seeing how many pints you could fit in between lectures were once relatively harmless pastimes on campuses across Britain.

Yet today, too many universities seem determined to nanny students who are deemed too fragile to be exposed to the rough and tumble of the real world.

Consider the fact that, this week, it emerged that all new students arriving at Oxford and Cambridge are being asked to attend consent classes aimed at preventing rape and sexual harassment at the universities.

At Oxford, the courses are compulsory as part of freshers week, while the student union is urging rugby players to attend anti-sexism workshops to fight lad culture.

At Cambridge, consent classes are also being held for freshers, with students of some colleges having to opt out if they dont wish to attend.

Not everyone is happy to accept instruction in how to avoid raping somebody or becoming a rape victim, however.

At York University, a number of students on campus recently protested against their own sexual consent class by walking out.

According to union officials, the lessons were necessary to protect students well-being, suggesting they had rather forgotten that the students they were attempting to instruct were actually adults.

Innocent fun: Students enjoy themselves in the traditional way, but for how much longer?

Unfortunately, barmy student unions are all the rage these days. Take my own, University College London Union (UCLU), which claims to represent me, a 20-year-old final year undergraduate and one of the thousands belonging to the student body.

It has outlawed, under the guise of its Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment policy, offensive sexual noises in union bars because students supposedly arent able to cope with hearing a few grunts in a public space.

So far, so laughable. But the right-on political correctness of modern student unions and their campus ayatollahs has a far more sinister aspect, as we shall see.

By any measure, Isis would seem a bad bunch, what with their penchant for beheading innocent civilians and journalists. Justifying their actions isnt easy  which is why I was so struck when an official at UCLU attempted to do just that.

Yes, when the universitys Kurdish Society decided to invite former student Macer Gifford, a Briton who heroically chose to fight with the Kurds against Isis, a student union officer insisted he be no platformed  banned from speaking.

According to the union official, the fight against Isis is a very contentious topic and far too complex [for students] to understand in black and white. He went on to maintain that one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist.

This week, it emerged that all new students arriving at Oxford and Cambridge are being asked to attend consent classes aimed at preventing rape and sexual harassment at the universities

Now, ethical relativism  that right or wrong depends on an individuals point of view  is not always without merit.

But I found myself instinctively appalled by the decision. In some situations, morality is a matter of black and white.

And the failure of a student union official to condemn Isis, an intrinsically evil organisation, pointed to something deeply amiss with the current state of universities.

Not only was the officials reluctance to denounce Isis worrying, but his insistence that an external speaker with differing views be silenced demonstrated how universities are no longer the tolerant, open-minded institutions they were.

Simply, student leaders have lost the plot. Rather than treating students as young adults, our union officers treat us like oversized children. From their assumption that students are too vulnerable to be exposed to certain ideas, to the imposition of what they deem acceptable moral values, their influence means that the university experience is now a far cry from the rigorous, mind-expanding education that one might expect.

From the very beginning of my time as a student at UCL, it was clear that the union had decided it knew what was best for us.

According to union officials, the lessons were necessary to protect students well-being, suggesting they had rather forgotten that the students they were attempting to instruct were actually adults

Its mission, regardless of its claims to be tolerant and inclusive, soon appeared to be nothing less than the moral policing of students personal lives.

Thus on Mondays, university cafes were banned from serving meat on the grounds that a chicken sandwich was both unhealthy and bad for the environment, because rearing animals demands more resources than growing an equivalent amount of crops.

The arrogant assumption that a student union was entitled to impose a vegetarian lifestyle on me and my fellow students shows just how little value these people attach to personal choice.

This disregard was seen again in UCLUs call to ban smoking in outdoor spaces on campus. Within the resolutions guidelines, the union laments the dangers of active and passive smoking.

Smoking is bad? Who knew?

While it would certainly be inappropriate if the union started handing out packs of Marlboros, its officials need to respect the fact that students  adults  are capable of making rational decisions. Smokers know it would be healthier to go on a juice cleanse and a jog rather than to light up again, but whether they act on that should be their prerogative.

This assumption that students need mollycoddling in every aspect of their lives is directly harming education. For this attitude is not just confined to the student union, but is seeping into UCLs faculties.

Rather than treating students as young adults, our union officers treat us like oversized children

UCLs archaeology department now warns students that historical events may be disturbing, even traumatising and permits its students to step outside class if they find dealing with the past too difficult  a move akin to allowing medical students to bunk off because theyre afraid of the sight of blood.

Outside of the classroom, the university is doing its utmost to stamp out all sources of fun on campus. Now alcohol, that staple of student life, has come under threat from union officials. Contained within its responsible drinking guide, UCLU warns that drinking doesnt have to be a way of life.

Although its certainly true that you dont need alcohol to have a good time, the suggestion that students require constant reminding to alternate [booze] with some water makes a joke of the notion that we are capable of living independent lives.

And while the union claims that mocktails [non-alcoholic cocktails] are a great way to start the night, its risk-averse approach to alcohol signals, once again, its desire to infantilise students.

This is reflected, too, in the unions ban-happy approach to anything that might be considered offensive. It outlawed the playing of pop star Robin Thickes song Blurred Lines because, with lyrics such as I know you want it, the song supposedly promotes rape and is dangerous.

It has also prohibited the distribution of The Sun newspaper because, with its frequent photos of scantily clad women  though no longer Page Three  it is deemed inherently misogynistic.

This flurry of blacklisting is driven by the belief that students need a bunch of jumped-up, right-on, soya-consuming activists to shield them from the horrors of the world.

Its not surprising, therefore, that UCLU exhibits a shameless disregard towards free speech.

Despite the fact that the union maintains freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, it does not tolerate views that clash with its own. Within its resolution to campaign for freedom of speech, it also agrees to continue to advocate No platform for fascists .

Thus the union took it upon itself to ban the UCL Nietzsche Club because some of the German philosophers ideas were adopted by the far-Right decades after his death.

Now alcohol, that staple of student life, has come under threat from union officials

The fundamental assumption underlying all this activity  that students are feeble creatures who cannot cope with any material they may not like  is absurd. Universities, by nature, are supposed to be places where ideas are challenged.

Indeed, by silencing certain ideas, the union risks leaving problematic beliefs dangerously unchallenged.

The dire state of freedom of speech on campus is further demonstrated by the unions insistence that students should shut their mouths not just because of what they are saying, but because of who they are.

For instance, UCLU issued a letter of support to Goldsmith Universitys BME (black or minority ethnic) network, which maintained that white people shouldnt be allowed to attend their meetings because discussion couldnt take place with oppressors in the room.

So, under the guise of anti-racism, the union decrees that students shouldnt be able to say something because of the colour of their skin  a divisive assumption uncomfortably close to what anti-racists have fought against in the past.

Such is the danger of the unions obsession with so-called identity politics, which focuses largely on an individuals race, class and gender.

Fortunately, however, the clique behind the student union doesnt represent the student body. This isnt surprising, given that only 12 per cent of students bothered to vote in UCLUs elections. Some posts only had one candidate.

Student outside UCL: 'UCLU exhibits a shameless disregard towards free speech'

The schism between UCLU and its students was revealed in the uproar that arose after the union issued a statement praising the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement against Israel, an outside organisation which lobbies corporations, artists and academic institutions to sever ties with the Jewish state  without consulting the student body.

However, while this outcry was a refreshing reminder that the union doesnt rule unquestioned, it wasnt enough to cower its illiberal tendencies.

Sadly, what Ive experienced in London merely reflects the rise of censorship and moral policing that has become endemic on university campuses across the UK.

More than a fifth of student unions in the UK uphold safe spaces, where students are only allowed to profess a prescribed point of view at certain events  often protecting the student unions orthodox perspective from being criticised.

Forty per cent of unions also have no-platforming policies in place against potentially offensive speakers. If this creeping intolerance is going to be combated, students cannot rely on their unions to help out.

Rather, the onus is on students to turn universities back into places of rigorous education. This means refusing to roll over meekly when unions nanny students, and instead demanding to be treated like rational adults.

And when unions attempt to silence speakers, students must refuse to accept the decision.

Its imperative that we protest against intolerance.

As for sexual consent courses, Warwick University student George Lawlor was bullied online and branded a rapist and misogynist by activists last year after he dared to question consent workshops, and argued that most men dont have to be taught to not be a rapist.
Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has arrived at court decked out in designer accessories to fight claims he owes a cleaner $25,000 in unpaid bills.

Mehajer appeared at Sydney's Downing Centre on Monday over claims he did not pay Sydney cleaner Anping Yan for his services.

For the occasion, the controversial figure sported $895 Dita sunglasses, a $265 Gucci belt and a Versace tie worth up to $199.

In place of a wedding ring, Mehajer also showed off a tattoo reading 'Aysha' - the name of his estranged wife.

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Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has arrived at court decked out in designer accessories to fight claims he owes a cleaner $25,000 in unpaid bills

In place of a wedding ring, Mehajer also showed off a tattoo reading 'Aysha' - the name of his estranged wife

The tattoo had previously been concealed by his ring as seen in photographs dating back as far as July.

Earlier this week on Monday news emerged Mehajer had pocketed $4.3 million from the sale of a two-storey building he bought in 2012 through his business the 'Mehajer Brothers', The Australian reported.

The former deputy mayor paid $3.65 million for the building, which eventually became a source of controversy when he failed to disclose to his fellow councillors he owned the property when a potential rezoning of the area came up for debate.

Mehajer made national headlines last year after his lavish wedding to Aysha Learmonth led to the closure of a Sydney street.

Mehajer appeared at Sydney's Downing Centre on Monday (pictured) over claims he did not pay Sydney cleaner Anping Yan for his services

Mehajer made national headlines last year after his lavish wedding to Aysha Learmonth led to the closure of a Sydney street. Pictured are the couple on their wedding day

Since then, he and Ms Learmonth have separated, which triggered her to change her surname from Mehajer back to her maiden name.

Recent footage aired on Channel Nine's A Current Affair showed Mehajer threatening to rape his estranged wife's parents.

'Aysha you've got five minutes to give me a call,' Mr Mehajer is heard saying in the video rants.

'I'm going to rape your mum. Your mum and your f****** dad.'

The tattoo (right) is seen here again when he left his home in Lidcombe in August (left)

The tattoo (right) had previously been concealed by his ring as seen in photographs dating back as far as July (left)

This photograph taken in March this year shows the tattoo is not seen on his ring finger

After the marriage breakdown, Mehajer has since been linked to Kim Kardashian lookalike Constance Siaflas.

But the pair appeared to have split after Ms Siaflas deleted all social media images of the former Auburn deputy mayor and unfollowed him on Instagram.
A young Ethiopian woman claims she was a victim of 'humiliating racial profiling' and made to feel like a 'second-class citizen' during a visit to a Melbourne Priceline store.

In an open letter posted online, Hiwot Birhane said she visited the health and beauty retailer with a group of 'seven black girls' on a Saturday afternoon two weeks ago.

The group of young African women were browsing for false eyelashes and makeup when they claim to have heard a call for 'extra security to the front of the store.'

Ms Birhane said that after her friend bought a pair of lashes the entire group were searched by imposing security guards as they exited the store - despite three customers ahead of them leaving without being hassled or searched.

Hiwot Birhane, a young woman of Ethiopian descent, claims she was the victim of 'humiliating racial profiling' during a visit to a Melbourne Priceline Pharmacy

She penned an open letter on Facebook which soon went viral - claiming the store chose to search the bags of all of her friends despite letting three other customers out hassle free

'If everyone who exited the store was being searched we would have no issue; but what we witnessed and experienced in your store was racial profiling,' she wrote.

'The fact that we have to justify our presence in your store is offensive and deeply hurtful.'

'Women who were not black were not searched. Women who were black were searched.'

Unsatisfied with the response provided by the store manager Marie, Ms Birhane claims to have had a conversation with a regional manager named Rochelle three days later.

She claims that Rochelle said the women who had been let out of the store without being searched were regular customers that management 'actually knew.'

Rochelle defended Marie's decision to call security by explaining: 'Marie is not a racist person at all(you) don't know her at all, (you) don't know what she does she works with refugees,' according to Ms Birhane.

Left feeling dissatisfied, she posted an eloquent open letter to Facebook which soon went viral, demanding a boycott of the pharmacy chain until a proper apology was provided and the CCTV footage was examined.

Priceline has since apologised for the incident, which they described as a 'regrettable series of circumstances'

A spokesperson for Priceline told Yahoo7 they had since apologised for the incident, which they described as 'a regrettable series of circumstances.'

'The experience of these customers is what matters most and a direct apology will be conveyed,' the spokesperson said.

'Our preferred way of dealing with this is to work with our store team to ensure that this wouldn't occur again, as our view is that education is more valuable than punitive action.'

'Our store team member in question does indeed work with refugees in her own time and was highly distressed that anyone would think that she was racially profiling.'

It's not the first time a store in the Highpoint shopping complex in Melbourne has been accused of racially profiling customers.

Last year shocking footage emerged inside an Apple store showing a staff member kicking out six African teenagers on the basis they 'might steal something.'
Two men who were sentenced to death in Virginia will not have their case heard by the US Supreme Court.

The high court on Monday declined to hear the appeals of two men  Ivan Teleguz and Ricky Gray - convicted of murder in Virginia.

Teleguz was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his ex-girlfriend. Gray was convicted of killing a family of four after he broke in to their home on New Year's Day 2006.

In April, the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted Teleguz, 37, a temporary stay of execution.

The US Supreme Court refused to hear the cases of Ivan Teleguz (left) and Ricky Gray (right), two men convicted of murder by the Commonwealth of Virginia

Ukrainian-born Teleguz was sentenced to death in 2006 for hiring men to kill his former girlfriend, Stephanie Sipe, the mother of his 23-month-old son, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Prosecutors believe Teleguz, who had moved to Pennyslvania, wanted to kill his ex-girlfriend so that he didnt have to pay child support, according to the Mirror.

Thats when he hired Edwin Lee Gilkes, Jr. and Michael Anthony Hetrick to kill Sipe.

The jury was told that on July 21, 2001, Teleguz drove the two men from Pennsylvania to Harrisonburg and told Hetrick he wanted him to slash her throat.

Teleguz (left) was sent to death row after he was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Stipe (right), with whom he had a two-year-old child

Hetrick knocked on Sipes door and asked to use her telephone. Moments later, he slit her throat, nearly decapitating her.

During the killing, Hetrick suffered a cut on his own hand, resulting in his blood being left at the scene.

Teleguzs two-year-old son was taking a bath at the time, and Hetrick went into the bathroom and turned off the running water.

Years later, Gilkes reportedly came forward and said that he lied to the jury when he told it that Teleguz was involved in the killing.

Gilkes was reportedly coerced into incriminating Teleguz because he feared that he would be given the death penalty.

Edwin Gilkes (left) and Michael Hetrick (right) were paid $2,000 by Teleguz to kill his ex-girlfriend, Sipe. Gilkes reportedly recanted his testimony, raising questions about the case

In return for testifying against Teleguz, Gilkes was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Hetrick pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was given two life sentences.

Anti-death penalty advocates say that the Teleguz case is a textbook example of flaws in a criminal justice system that allows people to be sent to their deaths based on shaky testimony.

His attorney asked the court for a stay after two witnesses who testified for the prosecution recanted their stories.

After the two prosecution witnesses said they lied at the trial, the appeals court in 2012 ordered a judge to conduct a hearing on Teleguz's innocence claim.

But during that hearing, one of the witnesses refused to testify and another didn't show up.

The judge refused to overturn Teleguz's conviction, saying he failed to prove his innocence claim.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in November 2015 that it had no reason to overrule Jones' decision.

'We think that this is a troubling case when people look at the facts,' said Teleguz's attorney Michael Williams.

Bryan Harvey (right), Kathryn Harvey (second from right), and their daughters Stella and Ruby were bound and brutally stabbed to death by Gray in their home on New Year's Day 2006

'The court's decision has no impact on the significant evidence of Mr. Teleguz's innocence, which includes the admissions of two critical prosecution witnesses that they lied at trial,' Williams said.

'Gov. McAuliffe will have the opportunity to consider that evidence during the clemency process as he decides whether to prevent the Commonwealth from executing an innocent man.'

Gray, 39, was convicted in the grisly deaths of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their two young daughters, according to WTVR.

The Harvey family was found bound, beaten, and stabbed in the basement of their home in Richmond, Virginia. After the killings, their house was set on fire.

Gray was convicted of killing the parents and their two young daughters  Stella and Ruby Harvey. He says that he has no recollection of the killings since he was under the influence of high doses of the hallucinogenic drug PCP.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe now must decide whether to halt the executions or allow them to go forward

Gray has also confessed to being an accomplice in the killings of three other people.

Trial evidence showed that the Harveys were preparing to host friends for a holiday chili dinner when Gray and another man spotted their open front door.

They tied the family up in their basement, where they were stabbed and beaten to death before their house was set on fire.

The other man was sentenced to life in prison.

The American Bar Association had urged the US Supreme Court to consider Gray's case, arguing that the Virginia Supreme Court violated his right to adequate post-conviction review by rejecting his appeal without holding an evidentiary hearing.

Rob Lee, an attorney for Gray, said his legal team will look at other options after reviewing the impact of Monday's decision.

'In Mr. Gray's case, the question remains whether jurors were deprived of truthful information, raising doubts about Mr. Gray's culpability. This refusal to vigorously seek the truth should prevent an execution based on such a fundamentally flawed decision,' Lee said in an email.
by her mother that she would be killed

Council of Ex-Muslims leader Maryam Namazie said 'there is nothing more intolerant than religion'

Young Muslims who abandon their faith face violent retaliation and abuse from their families, a support group said yesterday.

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain said those born into the religion are often frightened of speaking out  and those that do are in danger of attack.

It said one former Muslim said she was warned by her mother that she would be killed if she said she no longer believed in Allah.

The concern over the risk of reprisals against apostates  those who renounce their religion  was made public at a time of deepening scrutiny of the behaviour of some Islamic communities and institutions.

The risks to Muslims who abandon their religion were set out by former believers and campaigners in an ITV documentary to be broadcast on October 13.

Council of Ex-Muslims leader Maryam Namazie told the makers of the film, Exposure: Islam's Non-Believers: 'They see us trouble-makers, deviants, apostates and blasphemers. There is nothing, nothing, more intolerant than religion.'

One former Muslim, who identified herself only as Sadia, told the documentary makers: 'I remember saying to my mum, I don't believe in God any more. And her saying, 'you can't tell anybody else because they'll kill you, we are obliged to kill ex-Muslims'.

'And that it would put me at extreme risk if anybody else was to find out, so that conversation ended there.'

Young Muslims who renounce their faith are said by campaigners to risk discrimination, ostracism, psychological abuse and violence. Some are said to have suffered abuse by family members and to be in danger of suicide or self-harm.

Apostasy is frowned on in most Muslim countries and can be punished in some with the death sentence. The documentary makers allege that critics of Islam have been murdered in Bangladesh and that atheists in the country are under threat both from the government and from Islamist gangs. The Council of Ex-Muslims said that in Britain radical Islamist protesters try to shut down meetings or events.

The inquiry was launched by Theresa May (pictured) when she was at the Home Office

Miss Namazie, an Iranian-born secularist activist, said: 'The internet and social media are doing to Islam what the printing press did in the past to Christianity, because it is one way in which masses of people can connect with each other and can hear ideas that are taboo and forbidden.'

A series of issues relating to some Islamic communities and institutions have come into the public domain in recent times.

One revolves around so-called honour killings, in which Muslim women have been murdered by their own families after marrying non-Muslims or others disapproved of by relatives.

The decision of an Islamic school to launch a court challenge against a critical inspectors' report  and the ruling of a judge that banned the school from being named  has led to a spotlight on the links between some schools and extremists.
She found herself at the centre of a social media backlash for daring to voice her opinion about an unhealthy breakfast she spotted someone tucking into.

But Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp yesterday defended herself against accusations of fat-shaming claiming she had shared her observation to highlight the pressure on the NHS caused by obesity.

Last week she took to Twitter and revealed: Just saw a guy have a glass of coke, a cappuccino, a croissant and a ham & cheese sandwich for breakfast #OurNHSistoast #worldgonemad

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The presenter tweeted: Just saw a guy have a glass of coke, a cappuccino, a croissant and a ham & cheese sandwich for breakfast'

Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp defended herself against accusations of fat-shaming

Yesterday in an open letter she posted on social media, the Location, Location, Location star said the only point she was trying to make is that if we all want a functioning NHS we all need to take a pull [take responsibility].

'Its not healthy [to eat what the man in the cafe was consuming] whether its breakfast, lunch or supper.

'We can either take a pull and accept that what we eat hugely impacts our health and therefore #OurNHS or we can stick our heads in the sand.'

The star caused something of a social media storm following her tweet, leading to a stream of angry tweets from people online

In an open letter she said the only point she was trying to make is that if we all want a functioning NHS we all need to take a pull [take responsibility]'

She added: 'Understand that this is a debate about our eating habits & their impact on the NHS, abuse plays no part in it & Ill block those that swear.

'Say anything about over eating and its impact on the NHS and a whole load of folk go crazy, wonder why....

'How can doctors & dentists help their patients if folk go bonkers if you say coke, coffee, croissant, ham & cheese sarnie not a wise combo?
An 18-month-old child died after being shot in the head with a handgun while in a room with his three-year-old brother.

Authorities responded to a home on King Mill Road in McDonough, Georgia, near Atlanta on Saturday afternoon after reports of a shooting with a .45 caliber gun.

At this point, officials are unsure if the three-year-old shot the toddler, named Noah, or if the younger child's fatal wound was self-inflicted.

Baby Noah, who was 18-months-old, was killed in McDonough, Georgia by a gun, but it is as yet unclear who fired the fatal shot

Several adults were also in the bedroom at the time, reports WXIA.

'There were adults in the room at the time, but the adults were not paying attention to what was going on. They did not actually see the incident occur,' Henry County Police Lieutenant Mike Ireland said, according to the outlet. 'They heard a gunshot and then saw the child laying on the bed.'

Noah was with his three-year-old brother and several adults in a bedroom, but according to police, the adults weren't paying attention when one of the children fired the shot

The parents have not been identified and it's unclear if they or any of the adults present will face charges.

The weapon is being investigated for fingerprints to try to determine who was holding it when it was shot, says the outlet.

Noah was taken to Piedmont Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 5pm.

A GoFundMe page set up by friend Joseph Spain for baby Noah's memorial has raised almost $5000 in two days.

The shooting happened at a home in McDonough, Georgia, near Atlanta on Saturday afternoon

'The parents have suffered the most terrible loss anyone can endure, and are in need of financial assistance to help with funeral arrangements, potential time off work and care for Noah's 2 young siblings,' said the page.
The case against a British aristocrats son accused of smuggling 4.5m of cocaine into Kenya appeared close to collapse yesterday as prosecutors were accussed of clutching at straws.

Jack Marrian, 31, the grandson of the sixth Earl Cawdor, was arrested in July after the alleged discovery of 220lbs of cocaine hidden in bags of sugar being shipped from Brazil to Uganda, via the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

The Marlborough College-educated trader, who is the son of Lady Emma Campbell, was due to go on trial yesterday at the Kibera Law Courts in Nairobi.

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Jack Marrian, 31, the grandson of the sixth Earl Cawdor, was arrested in July after the alleged discovery of 220lbs of cocaine hidden in bags of sugar (pictured in court in August)

But amid farcical scenes it emerged that the authorities had only tested a small portion of the alleged drugs haul.

Prosecutor James Warui, revealed that the Kenyan governments drugs laboratory had been unable to confirm that the shipment was cocaine, having only tested a sample.

He told a magistrate sitting at the Kibera law courts: Due to the volume of the substance that is involved he (the governments drugs analyst) has not yet finalised his report, which we would want to start with

He added: I dont want to start with a case when we still have holes in exhibits.

The trial was adjourned pending further drugs test results to the fury of Mr Marrians family who accused the Kenyan authorities of clutching at straws.

The Marlborough College-educated trader, who is the son of Lady Emma Campbell, was due to go on trial yesterday at the Kibera Law Courts in Nairobi

His father David said: The prosecution dont seem to have presented any evidence to any of the lawyers in court that could in any way work as a case for them.

The prosecution are clutching at straws. They do not know what they are going to do so its easier for them to ask for an adjournment.

Jack is disappointed today because he hoped that the case would be dropped. He knows there is no evidence against him.

We have faith that he will be found not guilty in the end.

Mr Marrian, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, had to fight to be released on bail ahead of the trial after prosecutors argued that he could flee to the UK.

But a High Court judge decided he posed no flight risk and released him from custody in August on a 529,000 bail surety.

Mr Marrian, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, had to fight to be released on bail ahead of the trial after prosecutors argued that he could flee to the UK

Born in Britain, the defendant- whose ancestral home is Cawdor Castle in Scotland, the setting for Shakespeares play Macbeth has lived in Kenya since the age of four.

He was raised in an affluent part of Nairobi and educated at a prestigious international prep school with three-time Tour de France winner, Chris Froome, before going on to study at the elite Marlborough College, where the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Eugenie were students, and later the University of Bristol.

Clutching at straws

For the last eight years he was worked in Africa running a string of sugar and commodity companies.

Police arrested Mr Marrian and his co-accused, Roy Francis Mwanthi, a clearing agent based in Kenya, in dawn raids on their homes in July after discovering 220lbs of suspected cocaine in a sugar shipment that arrived at the port of Mombasa.

The shipment was destined for Mr Marrians employer, Uganda-based Mshale Commodities.

The American Drug Enforcement Authority and Spanish officials at the port of Valencia, where the drugs and sugar shipment passed through in transit, have reportedly said they too believe Mr Marrian was innocent of involvement.

Jack Marrian flanked by a police officer in court in Nairobi on August

They point to a common method of drug smuggling known as rip-on, rip-off, which involves smugglers stowing their drugs in cargo belonging to others and recovering it on arrival at its destination.

Both said they had tipped the Kenyan authorities off about the drugs but had made clear they viewed Mr Marrian as innocent.

Former DEA agent Anthony Coulson, who was in Nairobi at the time of Mr Marrian s arrest has said: They have made public the fact that an innocent man has been falsely accused of a crime.

The Kenyan police and prosecutors are fully aware but are pressing ahead with the charges against him.

Andrew Wandabwa, defending Mr Marrian, said: I read from the prosecution an admission that these charges were initially brought prematurely, that their investigations have not been completed.

As we speak, on their part, it is not certain that the accused persons are accused of trafficking cocaine.

He said his client and his co-defendants lives had been ground to a halt by the charges.

Gordon Ogado, Mr Mwanthis lawyer, said the case, if delayed further, risked infringing the defendants rights.

He said both men had suffered the loss of business and potentially could lose their jobs.

Either there is an offense that has been committed, for which the parties have to face a charge and face a trial, or there is no offence that has been committed and the parties must be set free, he said.

Speaking outside court, Mr Marrians solicitor Sheetal Kapila said that prosecution did not want to lose face.
The ex-guardsman faced a further two probes over the teenager's death

Martin McGing (pictured) was cleared by a court martial in 2006 of the manslaughter of looter Ahmed Jabbar Kareem Ali

A soldier today waives his anonymity to reveal how he has been 'thrown to the wolves' in a 13-year ordeal over the death of an Iraqi teenager.

Martin McGing, a former guardsman in the Irish Guards, was cleared by a court martial in 2006 of the manslaughter of looter Ahmed Jabbar Kareem Ali.

But he has since faced a further two official probes over Ahmed's drowning. The 33-year-old now fears he will be dragged before the International Criminal Court in the Hague  which normally tries dictators for genocide.

Mr McGing told the Daily Mail he believed he had been hung out to dry by his military bosses and the Ministry of Defence.

'I've gone through hell for 13 years and it will be hanging over my head for the rest of my life,' he said. 'I was turned into a scapegoat just to show that the Government was doing something.

'Every day I think about what will happen next and whether I will go to prison. I've never had any support from the Ministry of Defence, I was just thrown to the wolves.'

Mr McGing, who has a baby girl and a seven-year-old son, has had to take medication for anxiety and stress, and suffers from severe bouts of depression.

Even though he was found not guilty of killing the teenage Iraqi after a five-week trial in 2006, he faced an investigation by the controversial Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat).

Ihat began probing his case after being contacted by disgraced law firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL).

But even after Ihat cleared him last year, he was forced to relive the event again in May when he was dragged before a former High Court judge as part of the Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI).

Mr McGing is the third hounded soldier to waive his anonymity to speak about his ordeal to the Daily Mail, which has campaigned for an end to the witch-hunt against troops.

Today the Government will announce it will suspend the Human Rights Act on the battlefield in future conflicts.

If Tony Blair's government had done so before troops were sent to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers like Mr McGing would not have faced multiple probes over the same incident.

There would have been no Ihat to investigate the case after he had already been cleared by a court martial and he would not have faced a third probe at the IFI. Last night Mr McGing said he was 'pleased' soldiers in future conflicts would not have to go through what he had endured.

But he added: 'It is too late now for all the soldiers like me.

'Why can't Theresa May put a stop to what we are going through now?'

Mr McGing was only 19 when he deployed to Iraq with 1st Battalion Irish Guards in 2003.

Martin McGing from Bromsgrove, West Midlands, was in Basra at the hospital in 2003

On May 8 that year, the last day of his first tour, he and three others were given the task of dealing with some suspected looters  who were stealing from a hospital according to McGing. At the time, UK troops were struggling to cope with an 'epidemic' of looting in Basra following Saddam Hussein's defeat.

The men drove four detainees to the edge of a canal, then allegedly forced them into the water to 'teach them a lesson'.

But Mr McGing said: 'The looters were being mistreated by the locals and they were taken away from immediate danger, not to teach them a lesson but to carry out orders that were put together to deal with unplanned events.'

In the process  events at this stage are heavily disputed  15-year-old Ahmed drowned. Mr McGing insisted that once the detainees were in the water they were ordered to 'mount up' and leave.

Several months later, in the summer of 2003, the soldier was on ceremonial duties in London when he was arrested.

'We were preparing for our morning parade  the next minute the door opened with a commanding officer and a company commander and military police and then they just called my name and arrested me in front of everyone,' he said. Despite there being only one eyewitness  who did not identify Mr McGing as being there at the time  the case went to trial.

In 2006, after three years of being 'treated like a criminal', he was found not guilty of manslaughter by a court martial panel in Colchester, Essex, following a five-week trial.

Politicians and retired officers said the investigations were politically driven. Even the key eyewitness admitted he was seeking compensation for detention.

Disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, whose firm closed last month, had represented the victim's father. After the verdicts, Mr Shiner said the military system lacked 'rigour'.

The International Criminal Court (pictured) is now examining whether to launch its own investigation into Iraq after being passed a dossier of cases by Public Interest Lawyers

In 2010 Mr McGing and his fellow soldiers faced a second investigation  this time by Ihat, which is examining 1,668 claims of abuse by British forces.

Again they were cleared, but only after a five-year investigation. Ihat found there was 'no prospect of gaining any new or compelling evidence to go any way to altering a previous decision made by a court martial'.

However, this year the four men faced a further judicial inquiry into their actions as the IFI launched an inquest-style investigation into Ahmed's death.

All four were brought before a former High Court judge in London to give evidence in person.

Mr McGing said: 'When I was told the IFI were investigating it just brought everything back to me. I didn't feel like I had a choice but to give evidence. If I hadn't have done they would have just come and arrested me.'

Last month the IFI published its findings  but the first Mr McGing heard about it was when he was watching television. He learnt that Sir George Newman had found that Ahmed was forced into the water and he said the soldiers' failure to help was the 'plain and certain' cause of the boy's death.

Mr McGing has always maintained his innocence. He said: 'It is our own people putting soldiers like me through this.

'I was just doing my job. The MoD have never apologised to me. It has affected my life, it was the cause of everything breaking down. It contributed to the break-up of my marriage, I have felt so depressed  but you end up bottling everything up and putting on a brave face.

'You think when you join the Army they will back you no matter what. They've not supported me once. Only the battalion have supported me. I feel sorry for all the other soldiers going through what I have, it is disgrace.'

Mr McGing suffers from constant flashbacks to his time in Iraq, with Bonfire Night always being particularly difficult because of the loud bangs of the fireworks.

He added: 'I felt let down because there was no training before I deployed on how to deal with peacekeeping after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

'In the end, not only has a young Iraqi lost his life and the sad impact that has had on his family, but I feel I cannot live my life in peace, and I have lost the ability to live a normal family life.'

The International Criminal Court is now examining whether to launch its own investigation into Iraq after being passed a dossier of cases by PIL. The ICC has failed to give assurances that this particular case will not be investigated again by them.

Mr McGing added: 'It is never-ending. Nobody knows what will happen next.'

His mother Mandy, 55, said: 'He's gone through 13 years of torment and we don't know what is happening.

'All this makes a mockery of the court martials. What was the point of spending all that money on those investigations when they are going to ignore them ten years down the line? It is the uncertainty of it all.'
Foxtel bought out Seven West Media's 50 per cent stake in the service

will be shutting down in January 2017

Presto video streaming service will be shut down next year, with viewers offered a Foxtel subscription instead.

The streaming service - which has been survived by its cheaper competitors Netflix and Stan - will no longer be available to Australian viewers on January 31, 2017 after Foxtel bought out Seven West Media's 50 per cent stake in the joint venture.

Foxtel made the announcement on Tuesday and invited Presto's customers to transition to a Foxtel Play subscription which will allow them to stream new movies and 'premium first run television programs'.

Presto video streaming service will no longer be available to Australian viewers in 2017

'We are delighted to be able to offer Presto subscribers access to the new look Foxtel Play, which we know will be highly attractive to them,' Foxtel's chief executive Peter Tonagh told the Sydney Morning Herald.

The service was launched in 2014 and first offered a selection of movies to its customers with 'no lock in contracts'.

It later started to offer television shows from Foxtel's HBO and Showtime including Dexter, Entourage, Girls, Nurse Jackie, Rake, Redfern Now, Summer Heights High, The Good Wife and The Sopranos.

Viewers forked out $14.99 a month for a movie and television program subscription, around $5 more than competitors Netflix and Stan, which charge $8.99 and $10 respectively.

Foxtel invited Presto's customers to transition to a Foxtel Play subscription which will allow them to stream new movies and 'premium first run television programs'

Viewers forked out $14.99 a month for a movie and television program subscription, around $5 more than competitors Netflix and Stan (stock image)

Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner confirmed the acquisition but did not disclose how much Foxtel paid.

He said the two companies will still be working together to produce new and exciting content, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'We look forward to continuing to work closely with Foxtel, in particular in the creation of new programming content,' Mr Worner said.
President Barack Obama discussed climate change with eco-warrior Leonardo DiCaprio who has been criticized for simultaneously fighting for the environment while contributing to its demise with his jetset lifestyle.

The two appeared together Monday on the White House South Lawn as part of a festival of technology and music meant to re-create the spirit of the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

They were joined by Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric science professor at Texas Tech University, as they discussed climate change before the screening of DiCaprio's new documentary, Before the Flood, about the damaging effects of global warming.

DiCaprio, who has been criticized by environmental advocates for his private jet trips and yacht soiree's, took on the role of interviewing the president and thanked him for his 'extraordinary leadership' on environmental issues.

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President Barack Obama discussed climate change with eco-warrior Leonardo DiCaprio who has been criticized for simultaneously fighting for the environment while contributing to its demise with his jetset lifestyle

The two appeared together Monday on the White House South Lawn as part of a festival of technology and music meant to re-create the spirit of the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas

They were joined by Katharine Hayhoe (center), an atmospheric science professor at Texas Tech University, as they discussed climate change before the screening of the DiCaprio's new documentary on the damaging effects of global warming

Critics have been quick to note that the actor's private jet trips undermine his moral authority to preach about reducing carbon emissions

Critics have been quick to note that the actor's private jet trips undermine his moral authority to preach about reducing carbon emissions.

But on Monday evening, DiCaprio told the White House crowd that the scientific consensus about the dangers of climate change is in, and 'the argument is now over'.

The actor said anyone who doesn't believe that 'should not be allowed to hold public office'.

DiCaprio's comment was reportedly a dig at Donald Trump who has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China, the Daily Beast reported.

Obama, who has made the fight against climate change a priority throughout both his terms in office said: 'We're in a race against time', adding that he is 'very proud' of his administration's record on climate change.

The president also said that 'climate change is happening at a faster rate than what was predicted even 5 years ago'.

But, Obama said, the good news is that 'there's still time to pass the test' and make real progress on the issue.

'If we're going to be able to solve this problem we're going to have to come up with new sources of energy that are clean and cheap.'

Obama, who has made the fight against climate change a priority throughout both his terms in office said: 'We're in a race against time', adding that he is 'very proud' of his administration's record on climate change

The South by South Lawn event ended with the screening of DiCaprio's new documentary, Before the Flood

The documentary features appearances by John Kerry, Elon Musk, Pope Francis and Obama himself (pictured in documentary)

While asking his last question, DiCaprio said: 'President Obama you used the antiquities act to preserve more acres of land and sea than any president since Theodore Roosevelt.'

DiCaprio then asked about the importance of having a knowledgeable president on the issues of climate change and how it impacts future generations, in which Obama responded by saying that we must 'lift up the power and the values that are embodied in conservation'.

Talk also turned to space travel, as Dr Hayhoe joked that it was of paramount importance to preserve our planet, as moving to Mars like entrepreneur Elon Musk had recently pitched wasn't a realistic option.

Dr Hayhoe said: 'If you're a human living on this planet - which most of us are, yeah?

'As long as we haven't signed up for the trip to Mars - I don't want to know if anyone has - I think you're crazy.'

Mr DiCaprio then replied: 'I did,' before Obama added: 'I think he'll acknowledge he's crazy.'

The actor pictured the following day at a screening of his documentary in Miami

DiCaprio, who won the 2016 best actor Academy Award for The Revenant, has been an environmental activist for years.

The South by South Lawn event ended with the screening of DiCaprio's new documentary, Before the Flood.

The documentary features appearances by John Kerry, Elon Musk, Pope Francis and Obama.
Australians are fluent in the language of emojis, with about half of the nation now using them during digital conversations.

And now a campaign has started to introduce more 'Aussie-specific' emojis to cater for Australians - including ones using common terms such as 'budgie smugglers' for swimmers, the Aboriginal flag, and even a symbol for the campaign for marriage equality.

In an attempt to create emojis better representative of Australians and their unique way of life, Australian comedian Dave Hughes hit the streets to discover what people really wanted.

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Budgie smugglers made the list of emojis Australians most wanted, coming in at number four

The ute, with a dog in the back, just made the list, scraping in at number 19

The most requested phrases and emotions Australians wanted were whittled down to just 20, with the Aboriginal Flag topping the list.

The Aboriginal Flag was followed closely by an emoji for 'meat sweats', 'hangry' and even former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in a pair of red budgie smugglers.

Top 20 emojis on the 'wish list' as voted by everyday Australians 1. Aboriginal Flag 2. BBQ 3. Binge watching 4. Budgie Smugglers 5. Digital Overload 6. Espresso Martini 7. Hangry 8. Hey there champ 9. Hungover 10. Joy Of Missing Out 11. Marriage Equality 12. Meat Pie 13. Meat Sweats 14. Meditating 15. Nonplussed Face 16. Sanger 17. Sorry Not Sorry 18. Thong 19. Ute 20. YOLO Advertisement

An emoji for marriage equality came in at number 11

Mirroring the sentiment of Australians, from teenagers to technology forward adults, Mr Hughes said Australians needed and deserved an updated list.

He said the need for emojis was growing greater by the day, claiming there just wasn't enough time to write words when they could be replaced by an emoji.

'In our fast paced world we haven't got time to write out everything we need to tell people, so that's why emoji's were invented. But emojis haven't kept pace with the amount of things we need to say,' he said.

'So the emoji list needs a refresh, an upgrade actually. We need emojis that speak for you and me. There isn't even one for fish and chips.'

The emoji for 'binge watching' (left) came in at number three, and 'sorry not sorry' (right) at 17

The Aboriginal Flag was named the number one most wanted Aussie emoji to take a spot on the keyboard

The BBQ emoji made it to second place on the list, and the meat pie made it to number 12

Hitting the streets, Mr Hughes spoke to real, everyday Australians to find out what they really wanted.

'A swag emoji,' one man said.

Mr Hughes said he wasn't sure what swag was, but he liked it none-the-less.

Another man, who described himself as 'very food centric', said he would like to see a tofu emoji created, dubbed 'tofugee'.

An emoji for 'meat sweats' came in at number 13 on the list

Meditating (left) made it to number 14 and comedian Dave Hughes' suggestion 'nonplussed' (right) came in at number 15

With 50 per cent of Australians injecting emojis into their messages, about 40 per cent admitted an emoji could express how they felt better than words.

To meet the nation's demand, Mr Hughes teamed up with Virgin Mobile, who he said had a team of artists with 'tiny little paint brushes' ready to turn Australians' ideas into emojis.

And he said those ideas could become reality when the top 20 uniquely Australian emojis would be submitted to the official keyboard update in 2017.

The emoji for 'hey there champ' (right) made it to eighth spot

The Espresso Martini came in at number five, and the thong at number 18

YOLO, the expression meaning 'you only live once' just scraped in at number 20

Digital Overload came fifth, and the emoji for 'hungover' came in at number nine

The emoji for 'hangry' which is a combination of being hungry and angry, made it to seventh place, and the emoji for 'joy of missing out' made it to number 10
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she 'misspoke' when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children.

Democrats seized on the Republican lawmaker's tortured response and pressed her to explain what about Trump children should emulate.

Responding to a question during a Monday evening debate with Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat challenging Ayotte in a close Senate race, the Republican senator said 'absolutely' she would tell a child to aspire to be like the New York real estate mogul.

But her campaign issued a statement shortly afterward, in which Ayotte reversed herself.

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Incumbent Republican senator Kelly Ayotte, left, speaks as Democratic challenger Governor Maggie Hassan listens during a live televised debate on Monday

'I misspoke tonight,' the statement said. 'While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example, and I wouldn't hold up either of them as role models for my kids.'

Hassan has worked to tie Ayotte to Trump, who is trailing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the state.

Ayotte, who has tried to distance herself from Trump, has said she wouldn't endorse him but would vote for him.

She reaffirmed that position Monday night.

But Ayotte seemed to be caught off guard when asked by one of the moderators whether she saw Trump as a role model for a child.

At first, she sidestepped the question by saying she would tell a child to aspire to be the best person they can be and seek to run for the presidency.

Ayotte, left, says she 'misspoke' when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children

When she was asked again, she said she believed Trump 'can serve for president' and 'so absolutely I would do that'.

Another moderator then pressed Ayotte to explain why she wouldn't endorse Trump if she felt that way.

'I've had some disagreements with him. I've been quite clear about those disagreements,' she said without providing specifics.

Hassan pounced on Ayotte's answer, saying this was just another example of the senator 'trying to distance herself from Donald Trump'.

'At the end of the day, she is still saying she is going to vote to put Donald Trump in the situation room with access to our nuclear codes,' Hassan said.

'She is going to vote to make him the leader of our country and somebody that our children will be exposed to as the president of the United States.'

Hassan has worked to tie Ayotte (left) to Trump (right), who is trailing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire

The Hassan campaign also moved quickly, putting out a digital ad that highlighted Trump's recent criticism of a former Miss Universe who gained weight, his mocking imitation of Clinton's health-related stumble after a September 11 memorial and his other attacks on women and the disabled.

'To most of us, those with common sense regardless of ideology or party affiliation, these comments and actions by the Republican nominee completely disqualify him from being considered any sort of role model. But not to Kelly Ayotte,' Democratic National Committee Committeewoman and former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan said.

'Kelly Ayotte should explain to the people of New Hampshire exactly what about Donald Trump she thinks our children should emulate  the sexism, the ripping off of small businesses, insulting or nations' heroes, refusing to pay taxes, being a billion dollar loser in business?'

Sullivan also dismissed Ayotte's efforts to clarify her comments several hours later, saying she only did so after realizing what a 'horrible mistake she had made' and one that 'could cost her an election'.

Hassan also came under fire for her half-hearted defense of Clinton earlier this year when she wasn't able to say whether she found the Democratic nominee trustworthy

'You can't really walk something like that back,' Sullivan said.

Trump loomed large in the debate following revelations over the weekend by The New York Times that he claimed more than $900million in losses in 1995, enough to legally reduce his tax bill to zero for as many as 18 years.

Trump has refused to release his tax returns.

But Hassan also came under fire for her half-hearted defense of Clinton earlier this year when she wasn't able to say whether she found the Democratic nominee trustworthy.

This time, Hassan said Clinton was trustworthy and someone who had the support of both Democrats and Republicans.

'What I find very concerning is that at a time when our country faces so many evolving national security threats, that my opponent is supporting Donald Trump, who members of her own party say poses an absolute danger to the country's vital interest,' Hassan said.

Ayotte tried to turn that around by saying she was willing to stand up to Trump, while Hassan has blindly supported Clinton.

'That is not right for New Hampshire. We need someone who is going to stand up no matter who is in that Oval Office,' she said.

'Look at what Secretary Clinton did with her emails. We haven't heard Gov. Hassan call her out at all on those issues, which are deeply troubling to the American people.'
Michael Moore, Jr., 7, was found unconscious in his family's Newark apartment on Sunday

New Jersey authorities have charged a woman and her live-in boyfriend in connection with the death of her seven-year-old son.

The boy, Michael Moore, Jr., was found unconscious in his family's apartment in Newark on Sunday afternoon.

Emergency crews rushed him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police are awaiting autopsy results that are expected to definitively point to the cause of death, according to WPIX-TV.

Nonetheless, investigators were confident they have enough evidence to bring charges against the couple due to what they termed 'suspicious' injuries on the boy's body.

The mother, Khadejrah Rawls, 28, was booked on aggravated assault charges and endangering the welfare of a child.

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The mother, Khadejrah Rawls (right), was charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Christopher Spearman (left) was charged with child endangerment

Her male companion, Christopher Spearman, 29, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

Neighbors and relatives told WPIX that Moore was a 'sweet boy' who 'often went to bed hungry' because there wasn't enough food at home.

The couple had three other children as well as three pit bull puppies.

The children have been placed in the care of welfare services.

Neighbors also told WPIX that they had often heard the couple shouting and arguing. Some even suspected that Spearman was physically abusive toward Rawls.

'She would come around with black eyes,' one neighbour said. 'And you just knew she was getting abused, but I never knew him to abuse the kids.'
Authorities at New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument say a female park visitor was killed by a falling tree.

Park rangers were notified of the incident about 2.30pm Monday.

Rangers responded to the scene along with the Los Alamos County Fire Department and the Los Alamos County Police Department.

A female park visitor at New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument was killed by a falling tree, park authorities say (file)

It's not immediately clear what caused the tree to fall.

The name, age and hometown of the woman haven't been released yet.

The county medical examiner and law enforcement have not completed the investigation, according to authorities.

No other details were immediately available.

DailyMail.com has reached out to park authorities for comment.
A controversial Sydney imam has been attacked with a shoe while live on air on an Egyptian talk show.

Mostafa Rashid was discussing whether Muslim women should wear headscarves when Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh took off his shoe and beat him round the head with it.

Mr Rashid, a moderate Muslim, has courted controversy in the past by saying women should not have to wear the veil and declaring that drinking alcohol is not forbidden.

His comments on headscarves infuriated Mr al-Wahsh, who removed his shoe and tried to assault Mr Rashid with it.

Controversial Sydney imam Mostafa Rashid has been attacked with a shoe while live on air on an Egyptian talk show

Mr Rashid (right) was arguing with Egyptian lawyer Nabih al-Wahsh (left) when the confrontation over headscarves suddenly escalated

Video of the confrontation, which was broadcast live to viewers, showed Mr Rashid standing as the pair engaged in a war of words.

Mr al-Wahsh quickly removed his right shoe and walked round the table, swinging it at the Australian imam.

Mr Rashid kicked back in an attempt to defend himself as presenter Mohammed al-Ghaiti and several members of the production team tried to break them up.

After the pair were broken up, Mr Rashid quickly left the studio, the Middle East Eye reported.

A member of the crew was injured in the scuffle but both the imam and Mr al-Wahsh are believed to have left the studio unscathed.

Mr al-Ghaiti later apologised to viewers as he replayed the clip for those who had not seen it.

Mr al-Wahsh quickly removed his right shoe and walked round the table, swinging it at the Australian imam

Mr Rashid kicked back in an attempt to defend himself as presenter Mohammed al-Ghaiti and several members of the production team tried to break them up

WHY ARE SHOES AN INSULT? Showing the sole of a shoe is one of the greatest insults in Arabic culture, let alone removing one to hit someone with it. Former US President George W Bush became the most high-profile victim of a shoe attack after Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi hurled both of his at the commander-in-chief during a press conference in 2008. President Bush ducked both as the reporter was tackled to the ground. Because they touch the floor, shoes are considered dirty. This is why they are banned from being worn in mosques. Advertisement

'It was a free fight in the middle of the studio,' he said. 'I never expected that something like this could happen on air.'

Mr Rashid came to Australia from Egypt in 2013 and has upset some traditional clerics with his moderate views.

In 2014, he issued a fatwa saying that the veil, which is worn by many Muslim women, was 'not a Muslim obligation' and that the Quran does not force anyone to wear it.

Mr Rashid, a professor of Sharia law, was further condemned later that year when he stated that alcohol was not forbidden by the Quran.
A high-speed train that could see a trip from Sydney to Melbourne take 55 minutes is coming sooner than people think.

Hyperloop, developed by billionaire and head of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk, is the name given to the innovative technology with Hyperloop One leading the charge to bring the concept to Australia.

The high-speed railway technology will use magnetic train-like pods to shuttle passengers and freight around a network of tubes at close to the speed of sound.

While the technology is still largely at the concept stage, early tests have been carried out on the propulsion technology, which could ultimately transport passengers at 1,220km/h.

Hyperloop is the name given to the innovative technology, with Hyperloop One leading the charge to bring the concept to Australia. Pictured is an artist's impression by VicHyper

Hyperloop One's Alan James told The Australian his team was 'very keen to explore the potential for doing proof of operations in Australia'.

'The reason for that is theres a clear long-term need for ultra-fast transport on the Australian east coast,' Dr James, who is vice-president for worldwide business development in passenger systems, said.

'Melbourne to Sydney is the third busiest air corridor in the world and we can give you Melbourne downtown to Sydney downtown in 55 minutes.'

A flight from Melbourne to Sydney usually takes an hour and a half.

Though the concept is still in the development stage, Dr James said Hyperloop One is aiming to test out a prototype in their Nevada base as soon as six months from now.

Earlier this year, a group of Bachelor of Engineering students from Melbourne's RMIT University presented their take on the concept to an international Hyperloop design competition in Texas.

The UK has shown interest in bringing Elon Musk's Hyperloop network to the UK. One of the firms racing to make the concept a reality says it could link the cities of the north

While the technology is still largely at the concept stage, early tests have been carried out on the propulsion technology, which could ultimately transport passengers at 1,220 km/h

Working under the team name of VicHyper, the students' design involves a pod travelling on a cushion of air inside a vacuumed tube at speeds of 1,200km/h.

Their high-speed pod could also see a journey from Brisbane to the Gold Coast reduced to just nine minutes, according to 7News.

The UK government has also shown interest in the Hyperloop concept, which could link cities in the north of England and cut the journey time to London to a matter of minutes.

Both of the firms competing to build the futuristic transportation network  Hyperloop One  have reportedly held conversations with the government and private firms regarding bringing the concept to the UK.

Details of the discussions emerged as part of an extensive report from Wired, in which firms and the governments own Innovate UK showed interest in the technology.

According to Wired, talks with UK firms centred on the potential for a Hyperloop system linking Manchester to Liverpool, which would overcome existing transport issues linking the two cities, creating a true northern powerhouse.

Hyperloop One's Alan James said a journey in the high-speed train from Sydney to Melbourne could take only 55 minutes

WHAT IS HYPERLOOP? Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at 745mph (1,200km/h) between distant locations. It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. Passengers would sit in either individual or group pods, which would then be accelerated with magnets. The superfast Hyperloop transportation system, CGI pictured, was dreamed up by Elon Musk in 2013 and it might be coming to Europe Advertisement

Hyperloop waas unveiled by Elon Musk (pictured) in 2013, who said it could take passengers the 610km trip from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane

But Dr James said the system could be a better bet than the proposed High Speed 2 rail network, which plans to link northern cities to Birmingham and London.

The futuristic tube network would dramatically cut the 163-mile journey from London to Manchester, with passengers travelling between the two cities in just 18 minutes.

Dr James told Wired: 'Hyperloop could connect all the great cities of the English north not just to London, but to each other ... making Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, effectively a single city, for instance.'

The second firm racing to make the concept a reality - Hyperloop Transportation Technologies - has also reportedly made inroads intot the UK, discussing the potential for a 50 million ($67m) investment through the government's investment agency, Innovate UK.

A spokesperson for Innovate UK confirmed the agency had been in talks regarding Hyperloop.

They added: 'Its very early stages, but it is an exciting technology and were following it with interest.'

The brainchild of billionaire and head of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, Hyperloop will use magnetic train-like pods to shuttle passengers and freight around a network of tubes at close to the speed of sound

While the initial talks are hopeful, the technology is still a number of years away. In addition, such huge infrastructure projects would require input from national and local government as well as the treasury, before getting the green light.

But the UK is not the only European target for the network.

In July, Hyperloop One released details of a feasibility proposal which would link Sweden with neighbouring Finland.

The proposal outlined how passengers could make the 310-mile trip (500 km) from Stockholm to Helsinki in just 28 minutes.

Other European proposals include a network connecting Bratislava in Slovakia to Vienna and Budapest.

Earlier this year, researchers working on the project unveiled the system of magnets used to drive the pods.

Tests in the Nevada desert showed how the system could accelerate pods along a track. A test sled reached speeds of 116 mph along a track, but engineers still have a long way to go before reaching the 760 mph speeds needed to achieve the promised travel times.
The bodyguard who was widely criticized for enjoying a night on the town while Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint has vowed to track the perpetrators down.

Pascal Duvier, whose charge was bound and robbed while he was out at Arc nightclub in Paris with Kourtney and Kendall Kardashian unleashed his anger, calling the raid 'one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard'.

Duvier, who rushed to Kim's luxury Paris apartment minutes after the five masked men escaped on bicycles, returned to Manhattan on a private jet with Kim on Monday.

Five masked men broke into Kim Kardashian's exclusive Paris apartment and stole about $11million in jewelry. Pictured, the star returning to her New York apartment on Monday

Pascal Duvier (right) was out at Arc nightclub in Paris with Kourtney (center) and Kendall Kardashian while Kim pleaded for her life as masked me bound her wrists and ankles

Duvier (pictured outside Kim's NY apartment after she returned to the US) vowed to track down the perpetrators and called it 'one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard'

A large security presence was posted outside Kim and Kanye's Tribeca apartment on Monday afternoon after she boarded a private jet headed for the US

Duvier said: 'The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard.

'We have tips and leads and we will find you. That I promise you...you messed with the wrong one.'

The bodyguard, who stands at 6'4' and weighs a hefty 264 pounds, has been at Kim and Kanye's side since 2014.

He made his comments on a personal internet blog tonight where he also re-posted media profiles of him after f the robbery.

Earlier this week, Kim complimented Duvier after a prankster named Vitalii Sediuk tried to tackle her in what appeared to be an attempt to kiss her famous behind.

Luckily he was stopped before reaching the TV superstar and was pinned to the ground by Duvier.

Kim reacted on Twitter by saying: 'My security @PascalDuvier is a G!'

She then shared a paparazzi photo featuring him in the background on Sunday with the cheeky caption: 'This guy is always in my shot!'

Kim and Kanye's former security guard has suggested the possibility of an inside job.

The robbers allegedly kept saying 'ring, ring' and Kardashian told them where to find the 20-carat sparkler worth about $4.5million (pictured)

Steve Stanulis, a former NYPD officer who last worked for Kim and Kanye in May, said he believed police would work on solving the robbery by beginning investigating whether the robbers had some inside help.

He also told Page Six: 'I would say it's either an inside job or publicity stunt. That hotel is so secure, somebody must have tipped them off that she was alone inside, or shown them a way in.'

But Stanulis said he had no criticisms of the star's head bodyguard, adding that both Kim and Kanye needed to amp up their security presence.

Stanluis was fired in May this year after Kanye reportedly flew into a jealous rage after he 'chatted up' his wife while on duty for them in New York.

Stanulis denied the accusation, saying he was happily married and the proud father of three children.

Early Monday morning, five men dressed in clothes with police markings held the concierge at Kim's apartment behind La Madeleine church at gunpoint.

Kim had been asleep in just a robe when she heard the robbers barreling up the stairs of her two-story apartment in the city's 8th arrondissement, TMZ reported.

Steve Stanulis, a former security guard for Kim and Kanye, suggested an inside job

While Kim's phone was snatched out of her hands before she could call for help, her quick-thinking friend Simone Harouche sprung from her bed downstairs and locked herself in a bathroom, the website reported.

The fashion stylist and long-time friend of the Kardashians called Duvier, who was out at the Arc nightclub with Kourtney and Kendall less than two miles away.

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old reality star begged for her life, screaming that she had two children as the masked men dressed in clothes with police markings bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape before leaving her in the bathtub.

They stole a jewelry box worth $6.7million along with a $4.5million ring and two cell phones.

Kim's spokesperson Ina Treciokas told DailyMail.com: 'Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening by armed masked men dressed as police officers.

'She is badly shaken but physically unharmed.'
A polio-like illness that once paralyzed at least 120 children around the country in one year is on the rise again.

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) affects the nervous system, specifically the spinal cord. Symptoms similar to that of a cold can escalate dramatically and leave most of a child's body paralyzed in a matter of days.

Fifty people across 24 states have contracted AFM from January to August this year, the CDC reported Monday.

This increase follows a similar pattern to an AFM surge that affected at least 120 children in 2014.

Many still have not recovered fully today.

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Braden Scott (pictured), 5, was diagnosed with AFM in July in Houston, Texas. He still needs a ventilator and has remained in the hospital, where physical therapy is helping his motor skills

There have already been more than twice as many AFM cases this year than last year. In 2015, 21 people in the US had the disease, according to the CDC.

'My concern is that we are seeing a trend now in 2016 that mirrors what we saw in 2014', Dr Teri Schreiner, from the Children's Hospital Of Colorado, told NBC News.

Researchers do not know what causes AFM, or what triggers weakness in the arms and legs during the disease.

AFM has several causes, which include infections by enteroviruses (polio and non-polio), the West Nile virus and viruses of the same family, and adenoviruses.

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) affects the nervous system, specifically the spinal cord. Braden (pictured) has recently started sitting up again - a skill he practices in physical therapy

'He was a regular kid a few months ago,' Braden's mother wrote in a Facebook update last month. The little boy is pictured before being diagnosed with AFM

Fifty people across 24 states have contracted AFM from January to August this year, the CDC reported Monday. This graph shows the AFM surge in 2014 as well as the recent increase

Children affected by AFM typically experience paralysis on most of their body and need a ventilator to breathe.

There is no specific treatment for AFM and patients work with doctors on a case-by-case basis to recover the use of their limbs.

Braden Scott, 5, was diagnosed with AFM in July in Houston, Texas. He still needs a ventilator and has had to remain in the hospital.

But his parents are hopeful because the little boy has recently started sitting up again - a skill he practices during physical therapy sessions.

McKenzie Andersen was 6 when she got the disease in 2014 and was left paralyzed except for her left hand, feet and toes. She is pictured left before her diagnosis and after.

The recent increase in cases is similar to the 2014 surge that paralyzed more than 100 children around the country, Dr Teri Schreiner, from the Children's Hospital Of Colorado, said

WHAT IS ACUTE FLACCID MYELITIS AND HOW TO SPOT IT? Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) affects the nervous system, specifically the spinal cord. It can result from several causes, including viral infections. Enteroviruses (polio and non-polio), the West Nile virus and viruses in the same family, as well as adenoviruses are associated with AFM. Symptoms include: Sudden weakness in the limbs Loss of muscle tone and reflexes. Facial droop or weakness, Difficulty moving the eyes, Drooping eyelids Difficulty swallowing Slurred speech Some patients have pain in their arms or legs or cannot urinate. The most severe symptom of AFM is respiratory failure, which can happen when the muscles involved in breathing weaken. Patients with respiratory failure need a ventilator. There is no treatment for AFM. Neurologists can work with patients on a case-by-case basis. Physical therapy can help patients regain the use of some of their muscles. Source: CDC Advertisement

In August, his parents decided to teach him as much of the kindergarten curriculum as possible. Braden on Tuesday studied maths on his hospital bed.

'He was a regular kid a few months ago. It seems like it was just yesterday, but at the same time, I can't really remember what his actual voice sounds like,' his mother Rachel wrote in an update last month.

She has urged Facebook users to share her son's story to teach other parents to be on the lookout for the first signs of AFM.

Carter Roberts, 3, of Chesterfield, Virginia,became paralyzed from the nose down over the course of one weekend in July.

He can only move one toe and the left eye of his face, as well as blink and stick his tongue out, NBC News reported.

His mother Robin hopes speech therapy can help her son.

'I got to hear him talk and he said just a handful of words and as a mom, it was the sweetest sound ever,' she told NBC News.

'I wake up and am hopeful every day that he's going to make some progress. It's hard not a feel a little bit robbed because this happened so quickly, but it was just a virus.'

McKenzie Andersen was 6 when she got the disease in 2014.

'Within 12 days 'she was paralyzed from the neck down, on a ventilator to breathe for her. She was left with her left hand and her feet and toes that move,' her mother told the Washington Post.

'How do you ever wrap your brain around the fact that she got a cold, and now she's a quadriplegic on a ventilator? It's a nightmare you never wake up from.'

Carter Roberts, 3, of Chesterfield, Virginia,became paralyzed from the nose down over the course of one weekend in July. He is pictured with his sisters before the diagnosis

The little boy (pictured in the hospital with his mother) can only move one toe and the left eye of his face, as well as blink and stick his tongue out

'It's hard not a feel a little bit robbed because this happened so quickly, but it was just a virus,' Carter's mother Robin (pictured) said
Hall was 10 years old when he killed his neo-Nazi father in 2011

The US Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the case of teenager who fatally shot his neo-Nazi father when he was 10 years old.

Joseph Hall, who is now a teenager, was sentenced to be locked up until he turns 23 after he took his father's gun and shot him in the head while he was sleeping on a sofa in May 2011.

On Monday, the court denied a hearing to Joseph's lawyers and his supporters who argued that children cannot understand or meaningfully waive their right to remain silent, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Joseph's father, Jeffrey Hall, was a leader of a neo-Nazi group called the National Socialist Movement.

Hall was reportedly a drug addict who used to beat his son, according to a state appeals court ruling in the case.

Joseph Hall (pictured at age 10), who is now a teenager, was sentenced to be locked up until he turns 23 after he took his father's gun and shot him in the head as he lay sleeping on a sofa in May 2011

The US Supreme Court refused to intervene in Joseph's case. He fatally shot his neo-Nazi father, Jeffrey Hall (pictured) in 2011. Police read Joseph the Miranda rights but the boy waived his right to remain silent and confessed to the murder

The court said Joseph told police when they arrived on scene that his 32-year-old father had beaten him and his mother the day before.

Joseph had been exposed to drugs in his mother's womb, suffered from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was prone to violent outbursts, the court said, according to SFGate.

A detective read Joseph his Miranda rights and asked him whether he understood that he didn't have to talk.

Joseph answered yes to each question and confessed to the shooting.

A juvenile court judge later used his statements as evidence that he was responsible for the homicide, the equivalent of a second-degree murder conviction, SFGate reported.

The conviction was upheld in June 2015 by California's Fourth District Court of Appeal.

The court said a videotape of the questioning showed that Joseph 'had no trouble communicating' to the detective and, despite his age and emotional problems, 'voluntarily waived his rights', according to SFGate.

Joseph was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to be locked up until he turns 23. His supporters believe the decision is 'absurd' and say children 'can't have any meaningful understanding of Miranda rights and what it means to waive them' at that young of an age

Advocates for Joseph said two-thirds of the states, including California, have no protections for juveniles facing police questioning.

Other states require a parent or guardian to be present for juveniles below specified age limits.

'It's completely absurd,' Frank Vandervort, a University of Michigan law professor representing the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, told SFGate.

'We know that children of that extremely young age can't have any meaningful understanding of Miranda rights and what it means to waive them.'
Federal investigators estimate a commuter train was traveling two to three times the 10 mph speed limit when it slammed into a New Jersey rail terminal last week, a U.S. official told The Associated Press Tuesday.

The official, who was briefed on the investigation, said investigators estimated the train was moving between 20 and 30 mph when it crashed into Hoboken Terminal last Thursday.

The estimate is based on the extent of damage, not on data from the train's instruments.

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Investigators obtained the second black box from the NJ Transit train crash on Tuesday

The first black box, located in the back of the train, was not working. Above, an NTSB investigator handles the second black box, recovered from the front of the train, on Tuesday

The black box will hopefully provide detailed information about the speed and whether the operator was breaking at the time of the crash

The official was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

One woman standing on a platform was killed by debris as the train smashed through a concrete-and-steel bumper and knocked out pillars, causing a section of the station's outdoor roof to collapse.

More than 100 people were injured.

An official said on Tuesday that it appears the train was going about two to three times the speed limit for the station

The train's engineer, Thomas Gallagher, told investigators that he had no memory of the crash but said he was operating at 10 mph as he approached the station, said T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Gallagher, 48, said he only remembered waking up on the floor of the engineer's cab, Dinh-Zarr said Sunday during the most recent public briefing on the investigation.

The NTSB is expected to provide an update on its inquiry late Tuesday afternoon.

The speed estimate comes as investigators extracted the second of the train's two data records on Tuesday. Access to the device, in the front of the train, and video from the train's forward-facing camera had been hampered by the debris.

A second data recorder, which was in the locomotive at the rear of the train, wasn't functioning on the day of the crash and didn't record speed, braking or other information about the trip, the NTSB said.

Train engineer THomas Gallagher (left) has told investigators that he doesn't remember the crash. The crash caused the roof of the station to collapse, killing young mother Fabiola Bittar de Kroon (right)

Dinh-Zarr said NTSB investigators also obtained surveillance video and video from forward-facing cameras on nearby trains.

'We will be able to look at the video to help us if for some reason there is not speed recorded, or if we are not able to get speed from other sources,' Dinh-Zarr said. 'There are ways to use landmarks along the way.'

Federal regulations require commuter trains to have working recorders. The regulations require they be inspected every 92 days. It was unclear when the nonworking recorder, which officials said was installed in 1995, had been last inspected.
A truck accident in west Sydney has caused an 11km traffic jam and massive delays on the M7 motorway.

The truck was heading north when it jack-knifed on the M7 at Prestons, near Liverpool, around 1pm on Tuesday, forcing all northbound lanes to close and creating hefty delays in both directions as traffic came to a standstill.

All lanes were finally reopened around 3.30pm.

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A truck heading north on the M7 motorway in west Sydney jack-knifed at Prestons around 1pm on Tuesday, forcing all northbound lanes to close and creating hefty delays (pictured)

Northbound lanes were backed up for 4.5km for more than two hours while authorities worked to remove the truck from the motorway

Northbound lanes were backed up for 4.5km for more than two hours while authorities worked to remove the truck from the motorway.

Drivers were being diverted to Bernera Road and were seen using the breakdown lane to pass the truck.

Southbound traffic was also at a standstill for 11km.

Motorists were seen getting out of their cars to see what had caused the commotion and took to social media to complain about the heavy traffic.

Southbound traffic was also at a standstill for 11km
Taccara Nauden 'shoved her ID card up her vagina', an arrest affidavit stated

A woman with an active warrant out for her arrest 'shoved her identification card up her vagina' after she was pulled over by the police, according to an arrest affidavit.

Taccara Nauden, 28, was in the passenger seat of a car that was pulled over in Hollywood, Florida, on Saturday after reports of a hit and run, WPLG reported.

She was taken into custody when an officer discovered she had a warrant for operating a vehicle without a valid license - but headed to the hospital instead after revealing where she hid her ID.

It remains unclear how the police officer knew Nauden's name, but a routine check showed she had an active warrant.

She was taken to the main jail of the Broward Sheriff's Office, where she told the medical staff she hid her identification card inside her body.

Nauden was first examined by staff at the jail before she was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital.

An x-ray confirmed her statements, and the identification card was safely removed.

Nauden also pulled down her pants and urinated on the ground when she left the jail, according to the arrest affidavit cited by WPLG.

She has since returned to the jail and faces an additional charge of indecent exposure.
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A waterfront mansion in an exclusive Sydney suburb has sold for an incredible $11 million in just 15 minutes after it went under the hammer.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom waterfront home in Hunters Hill, in Sydneys North Shore, allowed the former owners to pocket $4.3 million after they purchased the estate in 2005 for $6.7 million.

But the record price did not come as a shock with the auction opening at $9.5 million and bidders placing increments of $100,000.

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A waterfront mansion (pictured centre) in the prestigious suburb of Hunters Hill in Sydney's North Shore sells for $11 million

The home was purchased by a family 'with a number of children' who were hoping to up-size their home

The estate was sold in just 15 to 20 minutes after the auction began last Thursday.

'There were three parties interested but two people were bidding on the home,' agent Tracey Dixon from McGrath told Daily Mail Australia.

'It started at 9.5 million and then it was fairly straight forward ... the bidders started off at $100,000 [increments] then went to $50,000 then went to $20,000.'

The former owners who parted with the home were downsizing to another property they owned after all their children had moved out.

The auction for the five-storey waterfront estate concluded in just 15-20 minutes after opening at 9.5 million

Bidders began placing increments of $100,00 before gradually increasing with $50,0000 and $20,000

The former owners were parting with their home in hopes of downsizing to another property they owned after their children had all moved out

The property which has it own private beach and jetty was previously owned by poultry millionaire and racehorse breeder, Jack Ingham

The new owners, 'a family with a number of children,' were hoping to up-size into a larger home.

The property which was previously owned by poultry millionaire and racehorse breeder, Jack Ingham, comes with its own beach, jetty, pontoon and yacht berth.

'I think the market is really strong in the prestige area. [It was] absolutely a fair price for the home, it's in a stunning location,' Ms Dixon said.

The five-storey property also has a pool, alfresco area, a leveled lawn and a lift servicing all levels to reach the generous bedrooms in the upper floors or the billiard room, the 1,300 bottle wine cellar, sauna and gymnasium below.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroon home boasts a billiard room, a 1,300 bottle wine cellar, sauna and gymnasium

Despite selling for a whopping $11 million, the final price did not come as a surprise after the former owners pocketed $4.3 million after they purchased the estate in 2005

The home is flooded with natural light and includes a modern granite kitchen imported from Germany

The prestigious suburb is also home to Australian actress Cate Blanchet who previously put her mansion on the market again after her buyer 'was forced to default given problems getting their funds out of China'.

When sold last year, 47-year-old Cate made a whopping profit of $9.8million from the swift sale after purchasing it for $10.2 million in 2005.

The generous sized bedrooms are all equipped with walk-in wardrobes while the master suite includes a freestanding Parisi bathtub

The secluded estate holds a perfect northern aspect in a quiet, exclusive street with Lane Cove River views

The five-storey property also has a pool, alfresco area, a leveled lawn and a lift servicing all levels
Lowell Thomas, Jr. was Alaska's lieutenant governor from 1974 until 1978

Lowell Thomas, Jr., the author, former Alaska lieutenant governor and son of the famous broadcaster, died on Monday. He was 92 years old.

His death was reported by The Associated Press, which confirmed the news with Thomas daughter, Anne Donaghy.

Donaghy told AP that her father died at his home in Anchorage.

Thomas was born in London on October 6, 1923. He would move to New York at an early age with his parents.

His father, Lowell Jackson Thomas, was the host of a nationally broadcast radio show. He became famous for his reporting during World War I, covering the famous campaign of legendary field commander T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia).

When World War II came around, Thomas, Jr., joined the US Army Air Corps.

'My grandfather was Lowell Jackson Thomas,' Donaghy told Alaska Dispatch News. 'My father didn't have a middle name. But he didn't drop the Jr., even after his father died. He finally decided he didn't need it when he was 90.'

Thomas, Jr., was an accomplished pilot and skier. He also began tagging along with his father whenever he went on reporting assignments abroad.

The family traveled to Tibet before it was occupied by the Chinese military in the 1950s.

Thomas, Jr. is seen here with his father, Lowell Thomas (right), an accomplished broadcaster who hosted his own national radio show from New York

Thomas (left) became best known for his radio coverage of the campaign waged by T.E. Lawrence (right) against the Ottoman Empire during World War I

Thomas, Sr., used his broadcasts to draw attention to the plight of Tibet, and his son met the Dalai Lama.

Thomas, Jr. also wrote a bestselling book about Tibet called Out of This World.

Donaghy said her father was eager to establish his own identity independent of his famous dad, which is what attracted him to Alaska.

'He was so different from his father. But I think that, in all fairness, I think he would not mind me saying that that was part of why he came to Alaska. He and my Mom, they put some actual miles between themselves and their parents on the East Coast,' Donaghy said.

Thomas, Jr. devoted himself to public service in his new home. He advocated for wildlife preservation and he also mounted an unsuccessful bid to be elected to the US House of Representatives.
A shocking surveillance video showed a man being brutally attacked in the Bronx by a group of people after he reportedly shoved a woman.

At least seven people in the group were seen beating the 36-year-old man who was punched in the face and knocked unconscious, DNAinfo reported.

The incident began as an argument between the man and a woman, who according to the NYPD, the man shoved.

A shocking surveillance video showed a man (blurred and circled) being brutally attacked in the Bronx by a group of people after he reportedly shoved a woman

At least seven people in the group were seen beating the 36-year-old man who was punched in the face and knocked unconscious

The incident began as an argument between the man and a woman, who according to the NYPD, the man shoved. The video shows the moment the group of people surround the man who appeared to already be on the ground

During the video, the argument between the man and the woman isn't shown.

The video shows the moment the group of people surround the man who appeared to already be on the ground.

He was then viciously attacked by the group of people around 4.45am Sunday in front of 5523 Broadway, according to the site.

A few people appeared to try and break up the fight.

The man was rushed to the St Barnabas Hospital in critical condition, police told the website.

Officers said they are searching for at least seven suspects in the attack, including the woman who the victim had been arguing with.

The man was then viciously attacked by the group of people around 4.45am Sunday in front of 5523 Broadway. A few people appeared to try and break up the fight
Rapper Kanye West has been reeling after wife Kim Kardashian was bound and held at gunpoint by five masked men who stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry from her luxury Paris apartment early Monday.

Kanye learned about the incident at the Meadows Festival in New York City on Sunday and abruptly announced a 'family emergency' mid-song before walking off the stage during the headline set.

A source close to the rapper told People: 'He's usually in control. And now he realizes that he could have lost her, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.'

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Rapper Kanye West has been reeling after wife Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint by five masked men who stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry (pictured in New York on Monday)

Kanye is intent on finding the men behind the armed robbery, furious that they would terrorize his wife, who told police she thought she was going to be raped, a source said

Kanye met his wife at the airport in New York after the 35-year-old reality star boarded a private jet hours after the robbery to return to the US.

The pair were pictured entering their Tribeca apartment Monday afternoon, and a large security presence remained posted outside.

The mother-of-two, who was in France for Paris Fashion Week, was left 'badly shaken but physically unharmed', a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

And now Kim, who was bound, held at gunpoint, and left pleading for her life, doesn't want to be left alone as she bursts into tears 'every few minutes', the source told People.

Even though Kanye is intent on finding the men behind the armed robbery, he knows it's best to stay by Kim's side, the source said.

But Kanye is furious that they would terrorize his wife, who told police she thought she was going to be raped, the source said.

Realizing how vulnerable his wife was, Kanye is intent on protecting his Kim and their two children North and Saint with increased security, the source said.

Kanye learned about the incident at the Meadows Festival in New York City on Sunday and abruptly announced a 'family emergency' mid-song

'He's really spooked by the whole thing, because he knows that they are targets now,' the source told People.

Kim had been asleep in just a robe early Monday when she heard the robbers barreling up the stairs of her two-story apartment behind La Madeleine church in the city's 8th arrondissement, TMZ reported.

Kim's personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier was out with sister Kourtney at the time of the robbery

While Kim's phone was snatched out of her hands before she could call for help, her quick-thinking friend Simone Harouche sprung from her bed downstairs and locked herself in a bathroom, the website reported.

The fashion stylist and long-time friend of the Kardashians called Kim's personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier, who was out at the Arc nightclub with Kourtney and Kendall less than two miles away.

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old reality star begged for her life, screaming that she had two children as five men bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape before leaving her in the bathtub.

Kim, didn't understand the French-speaking robbers amidst the chaotic scene, but she heard them repeating 'ring, ring'.

She soon realized they were searching for the 20-carat emerald-cut Lorraine Schwartz ring given to her by husband Kanye West, TMZ reported.

She soon told them where she left the ring, which was last seen on Kim's finger in a Snapchat post earlier that night.

The specific items that were stolen have not been confirmed, but a jewelry box worth $6.7million along with a $4.5million ring and two cell phones were reportedly stolen.
The nine Australian men that stripped down to their speedos at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia are likely to be charged and could face a two year jail sentence.

Malaysian police told ABC News they hoped to charge the men under section 504 of the penal code - intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

It's believed federal police will have to wait for an official decision from the Deputy Public Prosecutor before laying any official charges on the tourists.

The men, aged between 25 and 29, were arrested on Sunday afternoon after their wild celebrations following Australian Daniel Ricciardo's Formula 1 Grand Prix win enraged Malaysian authorities.

Photographs on social media show the group holding the Australian flag above their heads, wearing only a pair of speedos with the Malaysian flag printed on them before chugging drinks from their shoes to mimic Riccairdo's own celebration ritual.

The minimum fine for the expected charge is a fine.

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Nine Australian men are likely to be charged and could face up to two years in jail after rowdy celebrations at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia

The men, aged between 25 and 29, held the Australian flag above their heads, wearing only a pair of speedos with the Malaysian flag printed on them

Jack Walker - defence adviser for frontbencher Christopher Pyne, was one of the nine arrested.

Mr Walker has worked with Liberal frontbencher for three years and had previously been employed as a policy and research analyst lobbying for Michael Photios.

A spokesperson for Mr Pyne said the matter is being handled by the Australian High Commissioner.

'Until we have a clearer picture of the process at hand it would be unwise to comment further,' they told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

Sepang police chief Abdul Aziz Ali said on Tuesday the men were allegedly intoxicated when the incident happened.

Jack Walker - defence adviser for frontbencher Christopher Pyne - was one of the nine men remanded in custody in Malaysia

Mr Walker and his friends are currently being detained in a Malaysian jail while authorities decide how to proceed (Pictured: Julie Bishop and Jack Walker)

Mr Walker has worked with Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne for three years

The men are currently being detained in a Malaysian jail and are expected to spend at least four days there while authorities decide how to proceed.

'They will be remanded for four days beginning today. The remand period will be discussed with the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further action,' he said.

They are being investigated for public indecency, intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, and disrespecting the national flag.

If no charges are laid the men will be deported back to Australia.

The incident came in the wake of Perth-born Ricciardo's win and trademark celebration of drinking a 'champagne shoey'.

While to many Australians the semi-nudie run may seem humorous, the same clearly can not be said for Malaysian authorities or locals.

The men (dressed in white shirts), aged between 25 and 29, looked despondent after being arrested

Sepang International Circuit chief Datuk Razlan Razali told the New Straits Times the men deserve to be locked up, investigated and have action taken against them.

'This shows a huge lack of respect to us as Malaysians; this is stupid behaviour from foreigners who have no sense of cultural sensitivity and respect,' he said.

'It embarrasses their own country as well - it gives Australians a bad name.'

The group has also come under fire from Malaysian social media users, who claim their behaviour was unacceptable.

They were investigated for 'intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace' and public indecency

Photos of the men celebrating in their speedos were posted to social media. They are expected to spend four days in jail before they are deported

'Shame on those Aussies by doing this. So inappropriate,' one person posted on Twitter.

'The message will be 'They are Australians... they can do just about what they like in our country',' another man wrote on Facebook.

'[But] we have to send this kind a different message. A small fine just won't do.'

'Malaysia is not ready for this flag underwear display,' another commenter posted.

'These Aussies are not aware that Malaysia does not practise such.'

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the men.
Controversial tobacco tycoon Travers Beynon - also know as the Candyman - has reportedly been the victim of a robbery.

Thieves broke into his company Free Choice tobacco's warehouse at the weekend and made away with a number of shipping containers.

Police said the burglars entered the property in Coomera, Queensland, through the roof before stealing a 'significant amount of tobacco products'.

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Controversial tobacco tycoon Travers Beynon - also know as the Candyman - has been robbed

Thieves broke into his company Free Choice tobacco's warehouse in Coomera, Queenslandf, at the weekend

Officers said the break-in happened 'between 2am Saturday, October 1 and 6.30am Monday, October 3'.

'Once inside the premises, offenders have disabled the alarm system and forced open a number of shipping containers before stealing a significant amount of tobacco products,' Queensland Police said in a statement.

Detectives are now appealing for assistance from the public and have urged anyone with information to come forward.

The break-in happened 'between 2am Saturday, October 1 and 6.30am Monday, October 3'.

Beynon is known for his lavish lifestyle and is constantly surrounded by scantily-clad women

Earlier this week it was revealed the Candyman had ignited a fresh legal battle with his former nanny after winning $25,000 in defamation damages from her last year.

Beynon served Michelle Manthey with a bankruptcy notice from the Federal Circuit Court after she claimed the Gold Coast party king's daughters watched pictures being taken of his wife covered in seafood, according to the Courier Mail.
Five cats have died from smoke inhalation after they were trapped in a fire which tore through a West Melbourne townhouse this morning.

One cat survived, but five others lost their lives after fire rescue crews were unable to resuscitate them using CPR.

Emergency services were called to the two-storey King Street house about 11.30am when a pedestrian noticed smoke billowing from windows.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Kieran Lenehan told Daily Mail Australia fire rescue crews were confronted by an extremely unusual and threatening hazard when they arrived at the property.

Five cats died from smoke inhalation after they were trapped in the West Melbourne house fire, only was could be saved using CPR

While he said the fire itself was not out of control, he said it quickly became apparent the owner of the home was a hoarder, and this made the situation exceptionally dangerous.

'It was very difficult for firies to search the property, we didn't know where (the owner) was,' he said.

'We were lucky she wasn't there, but in the interim, we found six cats.'

Mr Lenehan said emergency crews performed CPR on all six cats, but 'unfortunately this time lost most'.

While it wasn't a normal rescue for fire crews, Mr Lenehan said 'saving any life is important'.

'We were just people seeing animals that needed some help,' he said.

The fire brigade commander said it was devastating to lose the cats, but there was no way they could have avoided the smoke inhalation.

Mr Lenehan said the state of the hoarder house was so bad, fire crews were forced to remain at the property all day to observe it

'These cats couldn't get out, there was no cat flap so they were actually contained,' he said.

But he said the state of the house was so bad that it would have been impossible for the cats to escape even if there had been a cat flap available to them.

'In between the hording and all the cats, it was quite a scene inside,' he said.

Mr Lenehan said the state of the 'hoarder house' was so bad, fire crews were forced to remain at the property all day to observe it.

'Because there's so much fuel in there, if one little ember is trapped, the house could light up again,' he said.

'There's a lot of stuff lying around, mostly clothes.

'It would have had about five to six hundred per cent more fuel load than a normal house.'

While fire crews were able to contain the fire shortly after 11.30am, Mr Lenehan said the property owner was still in the dark about the fire, and the fate of her five cats.

Mr Lenehan said the owner of the house, an RSPCA volunteer worker, could not be reached to be told the devastating news.

'She doesn't have a phone,' he said.

'Her brother said they got her one, but she doesn't like to use it.

'And her neighbour says she goes to the market today.'

But he said the woman's sister and brother were both called to the house, awaiting the return of their sister.

Mr Lenehan said the state of the house was so bad the department of human services were called in to give the home owner an intervention

Mr Lenehan said the state of the home was so horrific, the fire department was forced to report it to the Department of Human Services.

'Because there's such great risk to firefighters and the community,' he said.

In the worst cases of hoarding, like this one, Mr Lenehan said the department of human services would be called in for an intervention.

'They'll be asked to activate a gentle behavioural change,' he said.

Mr Lenehan said it didn't happen often, but it was not extremely rare for the fire department to come across hoarders, because their homes were often at a greater risk.

He urged people to heed warning and seek help if a family member or friend suffered from the same issue.
Former Jackson officer Ivory Harris (pictured) was among those who pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Jackson to conspiracy charges

Tarunkumar and Sachin Patel wanted to find a way so that more of their friends and business associates from India could get permanent legal status to remain in the United States.

But they admitted Monday their plans were federal crimes.

Now they and up to 17 others face prison time.

The men said that in 2011 they arranged four sham marriages between their friends and American women the two Patels had met. The two are business acquaintances.

Then in 2014, Tarunkumar Patel said he began bribing a Mississippi police officer to create false crime reports in an effort to get immigration authorities to grant them special visas for victims of certain types of crimes.

The Patels, former Jackson officer Ivory Harris and lawyer Simpson Goodman pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Jackson to conspiracy charges, as did two of the men who benefited from the fake police reports.

The Patels and Goodman face up to 10 years in prison, having pleaded guilty to both marriage fraud and the police report fraud.

A seventh defendant pleaded guilty Friday, and more guilty pleas from others in the scheme are scheduled this month.

Nineteen people were indicted in two linked cases in April.

The 50-year-old Tarunkumar Patel, who operates a store in a poor area of Jackson, said he arranged the first marriage when a friend came down from Massachusetts.

Tarunkumar and Sachin Patel wanted to find a way so that more of their friends and business associates from India could get permanent legal status to remain in the US. But they admitted Monday their plans were federal crimes (stock)

That friend, Virenda Rajput, met a woman who was a frequent customer of the store.

'My friend told me, "I want to marry her,"' Tarunkumar Patel told U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate.

And they did. The woman took Rajput's name, becoming Javona Shanice Rajput.

But Virenda Rajput returned to his own job in Massachusetts, coming back to Jackson only once every two or three months.

'They were married just for the convenience of getting the citizenship,' said Patel's lawyer, Ross Barnett Jr. 'That was the No. 1 purpose.'

Sachin Patel persuaded another woman with whom he had worked at an Indian restaurant to marry a friend in 2013, and two more marriages were arranged in 2014.

The Patels said they paid the women money on behalf of their friends, although not very large sums.

Tarunkumar Patel said the most he ever gave Javona Rajput at one time was $300.

Tarunkumar Patel was also the prime mover in the fake police reports, approaching Harris, who visited the store often as part of his beat.

Harris said Patel paid him $500 per report at first.

'Then one time, when I had questions about it, he told me, "Don't worry about it," and gave me $1,000,' Harris said. He the reports usually claimed the people had been assaulted or robbed at gunpoint.

Tarunkumar and Sachin Patel, along with 17 others, face prison time (stock)

'In fact, these noncitizen Indians were not victims of crime in Jackson, Mississippi,' Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fulcher said.

Doing the paperwork with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was Goodman, an acquaintance of Sachin Patel.

A 2012 law school graduate, Goodman said he was spiraling into abuse of the stimulant Adderall and marijuana.

More recently, Goodman said he has been treated for drug abuse, hospitalized once for suicidal thoughts and a second time after attempting suicide.

Goodman said he stopped representing Virenda Rajput in his immigration application, but continued representing two others.

The Patels provided him with documents meant to bolster the claim, such as joint bank account statements, life insurance statements and apartment leases.

He said the applications were never completed, with the efforts essentially abandoned before Citizenship and Immigration Services would have interviewed the people.
Los Angeles police released surveillance footage Tuesday showing 18-year-old Carnell Snell running from officers while holding what appears to be a gun in his left hand.

Moments after the recording ends, the black teen was fatally shot by officers in a police killing that has sparked widespread protests.

The 45-second footage shows a man wearing grey sweat pants and a purple hoodie crouching behind an SUV and pulling a handgun from his waistband.

He then tucks the gun back into his waistband and runs around the corner of a strip mall as officers run after him.

The footage posted to the police department's YouTube channel does not show the moment officers opened fire on Snell. But police said the video supports the account Chief Charlie Beck gave Monday justifying the shooting.

Evidence: A screenshot from a surveillance video made available by the LAPD Tuesday shows Carnell Snell Jr holding a handgun moments before he was fatally shot by officers

This zoomed-in grab shows what appears to be a black handgun in Snell's left hand

In the 45-second footage, Snells is seen crouching behind an SUV and pulling the gun from his waistband

He then tucks the gun back into his waistband and runs around the corner of a strip mall as officers run after him

The video does not show moment police officers opened fire on the 18-year-old black suspect

Beck said Snell had a fully loaded semi-automatic handgun in one hand and turned toward officers when they fired Saturday. Protesters had demanded the release of the video.

'While the Los Angeles Police Department has a long standing practice of not releasing video evidence pending administrative and criminal investigations, the Chief is exercising his discretion to release video in the interest of public safety,' police said in a statement released at the same time as the video.

The chief of LAPD has said Carnell Snell Jr was running away from police with a loaded gun when he was shot dead

The video was made public just as Black Lives Matter organizers gathered Tuesday morning to protest Snell's killing at a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

The board of civilian overseers convened at midmorning as demonstrators interrupted speakers and shouted for Beck's resignation.

The 45-second clip is the only surveillance footage connected to the shooting because the responding officers were not wearing body cameras, but detectives are searching for more, according to Officer Sal Ramirez, a police spokesman.

He declined to comment on when Snell was shot after disappearing around the corner where the shooting occurred.

Officers tried to pull over a car Snell was in because it had temporary paper license plates that did not match the year of the vehicle.

Beck said that was a possible indication to officers of a stolen car and something commonly seen in vehicles used by criminals for drive-by shootings.

Snell, seated in the car's back seat, looked at officers and then ducked down 'as if to hide from them,' Beck said.

When officers tried to pull the car over, Snell jumped out holding his waistband and the foot pursuit began, Beck said.

Police said Snell's handgun (pictured) was loaded and had a round in the chamber but was not fired

After police chased Snell for several hundred yards, Snell took a gun from his waistband and turned in the direction of the pursuing officers, prompting the shooting, Beck said.

The cops fired six rounds. Beck said Snell was hit twice - one in the torso and once in the knee - and that he died at the scene.

His handgun was fully loaded and had a round in the chamber but was not fired.

The chief also addressed the fatal shooting over the weekend of an unidentified Hispanic man. Beck said the man pointed a replica that looked like a real gun at police and officers opened fire because they feared for their lives.

The shootings come amid heightened tensions over police actions involving black people and other minorities across the country.

Snell was the third black man in five days to die in confrontations with police in Southern California.

Snell's police-involved shooting sparked widespread protests in Los Angeles

Protesters demand the firing of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck over Carnell Snell's killing

A protester is detained by police in the lobby of Los Angeles Police headquarters during Chief Charlie Beck's news conference Monday, chanting, 'No justice, no peace, no racist police'

Last Tuesday, Alfred Olango was fatally shot by an officer in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon when Olango took a 'shooting stance' and pointed at an officer with what turned out to be a 4-inch vape pen  an electronic cigarette device.

On Friday, Reginald Thomas died after being shot with a Taser by police in Pasadena. He was armed with a knife and was described by family members as mentally ill.

Meanwhile, the family of a black man killed by police in Sacramento in July demanded murder charges Monday against two officers heard on a dash-cam video talking about trying to hit the man with their police cruiser before he was shot 14 times.
Kim Kardashian's best friend locked herself in the bathroom and texted the star's bodyguard from the bathroom 'because she couldn't dial 911' during the terrifying 8.5million robbery, it has been claimed.

Celebrity stylist Simone Harouche, 36, was asleep downstairs at the 25,000-night Hotel de Pourtales complex where armed robbers bound and gagged the reality TV star and stole her 3.5m engagement ring.

Details Ms Harouche's quick-thinking during Monday's ordeal emerged as detectives in Paris investigate how the gunmen got inside her flat.

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Kim Kardashian's (left) terrified 'high school BFF' Simone Harouche (right) is reported to have texted her bodyguard after hiding in the bathroom during the 9m robbery in Paris

Stylist to the stars Harouche (right, with her husband Marc Bretter) texted bodyguard Pascal Duvier because she could not dial 911 from her phone, it has been reported

Some reports claim Harouche raised the alarm after hearing Kim break free from her bonds in the marble bathtub upstairs while others say she alerted Duvier after hearing the reality TV star scream from the balcony over Rue Tronchet

Conflicting reports exist over where Miss Harouche was as the robbers tied Kim's wrists with tags and put her in a marble bath tub.

Initial reports suggested the mother-of-two locked herself in the downstairs bathroom and texted bodyguard Pascal Duvier after 'hearing noises' upstairs.

However others claim she raised the alarm after hearing Kim screaming for help on the balcony over the upmarket Rue Tronchet.

A source told E! she texted Mr Duvier, who was escorting Kim's sister Kourtney and supermodel stepsister Kendall Jenner at the L'Arc nightclub two miles away, because 'she couldn't dial 911 from her phone'.

They added Kim wriggled free from her bonds after the robbers escaped with her 15-carat diamond engagement ring, two smartphones and 1,000 in cash.

The source claimed she ran down to California-born Harouche with duct tape still wrapped around her legs and told her to 'jump off the balcony' to get away.

There are reports mother-of-two Harouche (pictured) locked herself in the downstairs bathroom at the Hotel de Pourtales and texted Duvier after 'hearing noises' upstairs

Harouche's celebrity clients include pop star Christina Aguilera (left), who threw the stylist's bachelorette party, and socialite Nicole Richie (right)

They added: 'She [Kim] thought they were for sure going to kill her. She begged for them to let her live and [said] she has babies at home.'

Sources close to the investigation in France suggest that police accept the five men could have tricked their way into the building.

But it remains unclear how they got into the apartment through an armoured door locked from the inside.

They told MailOnline: 'She [Kardashian] would never open the door in the middle of the night in these circumstances, so who did?'

The star, 35, gave a statement to police before flying back to the US where she was reunited with superstar husband Kanye West.

Stylist Harouche immediately left Paris for Los Angeles, where she lives with her real estate husband Marc Bretter, son Dashiel, and their daughter, Azlan.

Kim Kardashian was rushed onto a plane bound for New York on Monday morning after being robbed at gunpoint (pictured, Kardashian and her personal assistant on the runway in Paris)

Kim Kardashian was greeted by rapper husband Kanye West (right) as she touched down in New York after her terrifying ordeal in Paris

She and Kim are thought to have known each other since childhood when they both attended Marymount High School, in Bel Air.

The reality TV star once posted a photo of the pair together on her Instagram, saying: 'Fun day working with my high school BFF.'

Ms Harouche, who graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York, hosts a stellar list of celebrity clients including the Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Richie and Christina Aguilera.

She masterminded some of Cyrus's most controversial looks and is credited with being the brains behind Aguilera's 50s pin-up style for her 'Back to Basics' album and world tour.

In 2011, The Hollywood Reporter named Harouche in its list of the top 25 'most powerful stylists in Hollywood'.

French authorities suspect Kardashian's attackers tracked her expensive jewellery and possessions through her social media accounts.

They knew the star was alone because they were in contact with her security team, a source told celebrity website Page Six.

It is unclear whether Harouche, who has styled superstars including Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera for their world tours, arrived in Paris as part of Kardashian's entourage (pictured, Harouche, centre, with Nicole Richie, left)

Harouche is credited as the brains behind Christina Aguilera's (left) 50s pin-up style as well as some of Miley Cyrus's (right) most controversial looks

Harouche immediately left Paris for Los Angeles, where she lives with her real estate husband Marc Bretter, son Dashiel and daughter Azlan (pictured, a throwback Harouche posted of her and her husband)

THE CRIME WITH ALL OF THE HALLMARKS OF THE NOTORIOUS PINK PANTHERS The robbery bore the hallmarks of the Pink Panthers, a gang of criminals who have got away with more than 280million in jewels in a series of high-profile raids since 1984. The crime network, whose members mostly come from Serbia and Montenegro, are known for their thorough planning and for using disguise and the element of surprise before overpowering their targets with minimum violence. In the raid on Miss Kardashian, the five men wore police arm bands, waited until there was little security and spoke English with heavy accents. The robbery bore the hallmarks of the Pink Panthers, a gang of criminals who have got away with more than 280million in jewels in a series of high-profile raids since 1984 The Pink Panthers got their nickname after a London robbery in 2003 when a thief hid a diamond in a pot of beauty cream, similar to the plot of one of the Pink Panther movies about an inept French detective, played by Peter Sellers. The group, which has hit targets around the world including in Cannes, Tokyo, Singapore and Dubai, are a loose network of around 200 criminals. Their ruses to gain entry have included dressing as golfers, Hawaiian tourists, workmen and police officers, and for getaway vehicles they have used everything from bicycles in Tokyo to speedboats in St Tropez. One of the gangs most audacious crimes was at the Wafi Mall in Dubai in 2007. In two high-powered cars, they smashed their way into the mall. A man in a black bodysuit and balaclava leaped from one car, which then reversed into the door of a Graff Diamonds store. Armed with a gun and a hammer, he helped himself to 2.1million of diamonds and the gang then sped off, all within 170 seconds. In 1984, three crooks with machine guns stormed into a jewellery shop at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes and cleared its shelves of 39million worth of gems. In 1984, three crooks with machine guns stormed into a jewellery shop at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes and cleared its shelves of 39million worth of gems In 2014, Borko Ilincic, a 33-year-old Serbian, was detained by Spanish police in the town of Alcala de Henares, just outside Madrid. He has been described as one of the leaders of the Pink Panthers  but their survival and success depends on them being a loose and non-hierarchical network who work independently in cells, so his arrest may have had no effect on the gangs effectiveness. Detectives investigating the Kardashian raid are likely to have contacted colleagues in Madrid, Belgrade and Interpols headquarters in Lyon to see if this could have been another robbery by the Pink Panthers or a similar Eastern European gang. Advertisement

Police in France have described the robbery as 'extremely rare' and said the robbers were focused on 'possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media'.

On Thursday, Kardashian posted a close-up photograph of a huge diamond ring on her left hand captioned with three diamond emojis.

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, told the Associated Press: 'This is the result of people who obviously posed as policemen and who assaulted Ms Kardashian in a private hotel in her room by threat of a weapon.

'This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide.

'Do not confuse what happened to Ms Kardashian and probably was the result of an organised team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame [cathedral] or another tourist spot in Paris.'

Only two of the five suspects are believed to have forced their way into the apartment, in the eighth district of Paris behind the Madeleine church, according to the city's prosecutors' office.

Around an hour before the robbery, Kim posted a video on Snapchat showing her wearing the 15-carat engagement ring (pictured) as she FaceTimed Blac Chyna

French police officers stood guard outside the scene of the robbery at the Hotel de Pourtales (pictured) complex where armed robbers bound and gagged Kardashian

Kardashian's husband, rapper West, abruptly cut short his show at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York after being told the news on stage - and told the crowd: 'I'm sorry, family emergency, I have to stop the show.'

Just days before the attack, Kardashian heaped praise on her German bodyguard Duvier after he rugby tackled a notorious celebrity prankster who tried to grab the star as she walked into a restaurant.
The man accused of killing an eight-year-old girl and injuring eight others in a car crash was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road.

Shujaat Bahrami, 40, was driving in the wrong lane when a head-on smash killed Sonia Ewaz Ali, police told Elizabeth Magistrates Court, Adelaide Now reports.

But Mr Bahrami claimed it was the other driver on the wrong side of the road when their cars impacted at Stockwell, north-west of Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.

Shujaat Bahrami (pictured), 40, was allegedly driving in the wrong lane when a head-on smash killed eight-year-old girl Sonia Ewaz Ali

An orange Hyundai SUV and a Pajero Mitsubishi 4WD collided head-on about 4pm on Sunday

The Dandenong, Victoria, man was charged on Monday afternoon with dangerous driving causing death.

Mr Bahrami is also charged with causing serious harm to the passengers in the orange Hyundai SUV he was driving  including his partner and Sonia's mother, Gul Bekht Rajab Ali, and Saima and Nazdana Abdullah, aged 16 and 12 from Pooraka.

They were all hospitalised with serious but non-life threatening abdominal injuries.

Sonia was in the middle backseat of the Hyundai and died at the scene.

The Hyundai and a Pajero Mitsubishi 4WD collided head-on at Duck Pond Road, about 4pm on Sunday, police said.

The 29-year-old man driving the Pajero, his partner and their three children, from mid-north South Australia, were treated for minor injuries.

The crash killed an eight-year-old girl and injured eight others. A woman and two girls remain in hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries

The crash occurred on Duck Pond Road, Stockwell, north-west of Adelaide

In a statement, the 29-year-old man said Mr Bahrami's car was approaching incorrectly in his lane.

The driver said he swerved into the wrong lane to avoid a collision, only for Mr Bahrami to merge back and smash head-on.

Mr Bahrami's counsel rejected that version of events and said the case would rest on 'who was in the wrong'.

Prosecutors opposed Mr Bahrami be released on bail because of the seriousness of the crash.

Mr Bahrami's counsel said there was 'no indication' Mr Bahrami was drug or alcohol affected or driving dangerously.

They asked he be released on bail to visit his passengers in hospital.

Mr Bahrami was remanded in custody until next week for a bail inquiry report.
The Prime Minister was also grilled about her controversial scone recipes

Piers Morgan was accused of being 'sexist' and 'patronising' towards Theresa May after branding her a 'little firecracker' and quizzing her about shoes and her recipe for scones.

The Good Morning Britain presenter claimed the Prime Minister chose to wear her famously distinctive footwear to make her more interesting.

Fellow TV host Susanna Reid asked Mrs May whether she regrets the 'constant insatiable obsession' with her shoes and whether she considered it 'sexist'.

The PM, who has sported everything from sparkling gold wellies to leopard print heels, insisted she doesn't mind the nation's obsession with her distinctive taste in footwear because it meant she could buy new shoes.

But she did question why there wasn't such a focus on her male colleagues' choice of shoes.

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Piers Morgan (pictred alongside fellow presenter Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain this morning) was accused of being 'sexist' and 'patronising' towards Theresa May (right) after branding her a 'little firecracker' and quizzing her about shoes and her recipe for scones

Theresa May (pictured this morning) insisted today she doesn't mind the media's obsession with her distinctive taste in shoes because it 'gives me an excuse to go and buy new shoes'

'It is interesting that people focus on my shoes - I don't think they focus on Philip Hammond's or Boris Johnson's in quite the same way,' she said as she appeared on GMB from the Conservative party conference in Birmingham this morning.

'But look, do I regret the fact that people look at my shoes? Hey - it gives me an excuse to go and buy new shoes.'

Speaking after the interview, Mr Morgan said: 'Let's be honest, Theresa May wears those shoes so we talk about them. 'What she is saying is 'you may think I'm boring but I'm a little firecracker.'

During the interview with the PM he suggested she could set up a 'girl-power triumvirate' with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton if she wins the US presidency next month.

Mr Morgan also quizzed Mrs May over her recipe for scones, which she revealed at the weekend but caused controversy with bakers who criticised her for saying you could use margarine or butter.

Theresa May (pictured speaking to Good Morning Britain on ITV) who has sported everything from sparkling gold wellies to leopard print kitten heels, did question why there wasn't such a focus on her male colleagues' choice of footwear

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip arrive at the annual Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham

But viewers said they were ditching Good Morning Britain after Mr Morgan's performance this morning. One lashed out at Mr Morgan for spending 'more time on PM's shoes and scones' rather than asking her about 'all the problems of this country'.

Another accused him of being 'patronising' and 'sexist' towards Mrs May for using the phrases 'girl power' and calling her 'a little firecracker'.

And on viewer told Mr Morgan on Twitter: 'You sad, sexist man.'

Viewers said they were ditching Good Morning Britain after Mr Morgan's performance this morning. One lashed out at Mr Morgan for spending 'more time on PM's shoes and scones' rather than asking her about 'all the problems of this country'. Another accused him of being 'patronising' and 'sexist' towards Mrs May for using the phrases 'girl power' and calling her 'a little firecracker'. And on viewer told Mr Morgan on Twitter: 'You sad, sexist man.'

Mrs May, 60, opened the Conservative party conference on Sunday in a pair of what appeared to be steel to caps as she sent a stinging rebuke to those trying to block Brexit, accusing them of 'trying to subvert democracy'.

The shoes - a pair of black suede slippers finished with silver toe caps - are believed to be the pair she bought on a shopping trip to Russell & Bromley on Regent Street in central London last month, when she surprised shoppers by insisting on going shopping herself rather than ordering items up to her Downing Street flat.

Among Theresa May's favourite footwear are these leopard print kitten heels, worn by her in March 2013

Theresa May, pictured this morning, left, wearing another distinctive pair of shoes, top middle,

Theresa May recently admitted that her shoes are her 'greatest extravagance'. At the 2014 Tory party conference she sported shoes with leopard-print with a splash of scarlet (left). In 2010, Mrs May left a cabinet meeting at Downing Street sporting a pair of stripy flats (centre) and (right) she famously wore a sari with matching silk heels to an event celebrating the achievements of Asian women in the same year

The PM's penchant for wearing animal prints is well-known...Mrs May famously wore these kitten heels at the Conservatives' annual party conference back in 2002

Yesterday Theresa May wore a pair of black suede slippers finished with silver toe caps

Mrs May is used to facing questions about 'hard' or 'soft' Brexit, but Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan grilled her about the consistency of the fat used to make scones.

At the weekend she shared her recipe for scones but did not discriminate between using butter and margarine. She said she had used both successfully, but hard fat was easier to work into the flour.

Among the critics of her recipe was Bake Off finalist Holly Bell, who said her method was too old-fashioned.

But Mrs May defended her recipe this morning, telling GMB: 'You have to rub it in with the flour and it's often easier actually if it's hard you can get a good rubbing.

'If it's too soft then it starts to become a big claggy, so I actually I have made it in the past with both, but I tend not to make the recipe now because of my diabites - I don't eat too many scones. But I hope whoever makes the recipe enjoys them.'

Asked by BBC Breakfast if her husband Philip was a fan of her cooking, the PM said: 'I don't get quite so much time to do them these days as I did in the past, but whenever I can, my husband and I enjoy walking and I enjoy cooking. And he enjoys eating what I cook.'

'I've always unwound by cooking and walking. These are the things I do,' she added.

The shoes Theresa May wore in her opening conference speech on Sunday - a pair of black suede slippers finished with silver toe caps - are believed to be the pair she bought on a shopping trip to Russell & Bromley on Regent Street in central London last month

The Prime Minister she surprised shoppers by insisting on going shopping herself rather than ordering items up to her Downing Street flat

Mrs May has recently admitted that her shoes are her 'greatest extravagance'.

For her opening conference speech on Sunday the Prime Minister lived up to her reputation by making a no-nonsense selection for her speech  a pair of black suede slippers finished with silver toe caps.

She chose the 215 Charlize design at one of her favourite brands, Russell & Bromley, which is also loved by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Described as 'metal trim slippers', the flats were perfect accessories to Mrs May's severe belted tunic over black trousers.

They contrasted with a more eye-catching pair of Russell & Bromley kitten heels she wore earlier, as she arrived at the BBC studios.

The leopard-print heels with red toe cap, green crocodile-skin heel, tartan edging and bejewelled embellishment jazzed up a relatively sober navy suit.

She last wore the court shoes  thought to retail at more than 200  at last year's party conference.

Theresa May sported gold hologram wellies (left) at a party conference in Blackpool in 2007 and (right), another, earlier, showing for the stripy flats...this time in 2006 at the Bournemouth conference

Mrs May was also asked what was the biggest difference about being Prime Minister, telling Good Morning Britain: 'I seem to be asked to do a lot more selfies these days.

'I do do quite a few of them, but I can't manage to do all of them. I'm afraid time doesn't allow me. There have been quite a few selfies here at the party conference, as you can imagine.'

Speaking on LBC later this morning, Mrs May accepted Ken Clarke's description of her as a 'bloody difficult woman'.

She told the radio station: 'Ken and I had our interesting debates in the past and I stand by doing what I believe to be the right thing.
The National Rifle Association has mocked Kim Kardashian for her support of gun control after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

In reaction to the reality TV star being robbed of millions of dollars worth of jewelry by armed thieves dressed as cops, the NRA called her out on Twitter.

They argued that strict gun control laws - something Kim had called for in the wake of the Orlando gay nightclub massacre - had failed to stop her being attacked in France.

Five masked men broke into Kim Kardashian's exclusive Paris apartment and stole about $11million in jewelry. Pictured, the star returning to her New York apartment on Monday

Response: The NRA claimed that gun control was ineffective after Kim Kardashian was robbed

In a series of tweets from the organization's official account, they said: 'Wait, criminals held Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in Paris? How is that possible? Does anyone know if they passed a background check first?'

It would appear the tweet was in response to Kim's criticism of the US Senate in June, after a gunman killed 49 people in a Florida nightclub.

She said: 'The fact that anyone can so easily access guns is so scary & after all of the devastating loss the Senate should have not failed us!!!'

The NRA tweeted yesterday: 'Wait, criminals held Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in Paris? How is that possible? Does anyone know if they passed a background check first?

'It's shocking that these criminals did not subject themselves to Paris' strict gun control laws before committing this awful crime.'

The robbers allegedly kept saying 'ring, ring' and Kardashian told them where to find the 20-carat sparkler worth about $4.5million (pictured)

Kim's fans were quick to come to her defense, with Kelli Lynn tweeting: 'Really? What a classless tweet.'

Erin Tucker agreed, saying: 'Cheap shots. I hope you wouldn't be this heartless if Kim had actually gotten shot.'

And Twitter user Urdahl Photo joked: 'Seems like the NRA have a snarky teenage girl at the helm of their Twitter, except teen girls love Kim Kardashian.'

Kim was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week, where she was robbed while her bodyguard was out partying.

Duvier (pictured outside Kim's NY apartment after she returned to the US) vowed to track down the perpetrators and called it 'one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard'

A large security presence was posted outside Kim and Kanye's Tribeca apartment on Monday afternoon after she boarded a private jet headed for the US

Pascal Duvier, whose charge was bound and robbed while he was out at Arc nightclub in Paris with Kourtney and Kendall Kardashian unleashed his anger, calling the raid 'one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard'.

It is not known whether or not Duvier - a judo specialist and former German army soldier - carries a gun himself.

Although Kim wasn't directly involved, in an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians in 2013, it was revealed Bruce Jenner kept a gun.
Thomas McLaughlin convinced Matthew Massey to lend him his bank card and reveal his PIN number

A Grenadier Guardsman who took another soldier's debit card and spent 4,500 on champagne and private dances at a strip club card is set to remain in his post.

Thomas McLaughlin, 21, and two other guardsmen convinced Matthew Massey to lend them his bank card and reveal his PIN number at 1.30am on 5 November 2015 so they could nip out of Wellington Barracks, Westminster, to withdraw 20.

The trio then got a cab to Sophisticats and ran up a 4,656.10 bill as they spent hours boozing and admiring the dancers at the gentlemans club in Marylebone Lane, central London.

Mr Massey went to confront a hungover McLaughlin in the barracks later that day and discovered his card and receipts from the lap dancing club in the soldiers discarded trousers.

McLaughlin told his sergeant major he could not remember what happened but later claimed to be disgusted when he was shown CCTV footage from the night.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to one count of theft.

Prosecutor Julian Becker said: One other [guardsman] was the one who asked the victim to borrow the money, and the victim perhaps foolishly gave him his card.

Then the three of them left and spent thousands of pounds.

The court heard McLaughlin joined the army in early 2015 and was placed on ceremonial duties at Buckingham Palace after his initial training.

Tom Horder, defending, said: Im going to invite you to deal with him by way of a community order, an order that doesnt necessitate him doing more than 99 hours unpaid work.

District Judge Timothy Godfrey asked: Is that a magic number?

Mr Horder replied: As far as the army are concerned if an order has more than 100 hours unpaid work they will dismiss someone.

21-year-old McLaughlin appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to one count of theft

He added: Hes a guardsman, part of his ceremonial duties are guarding the three palaces in London.

It would be incredibly difficult for him to do that job if subject to curfew.

Judge Godfrey handed him a 12-month community order and ordered him to carry out 95 hours of unpaid work and pay 4,565.10 compensation to Mr Massey.

He said: You have pleaded guilty to this theft which essentially involved you going for a night on the town, it seems with two fellow soldiers, and you abused the trust of one of your friends with the other people you were out with by using his ATM card and spending some 4,565.10 on one evening.

The trio then got a cab to Sophisticats and ran up a 4,656.10 bill as they spent hours boozing and admiring the women

Its perhaps quite a mean offence stealing from someone in those circumstances.

He added: I bear in mind there may be other disciplinary action taken against you by the army.

McLaughlin, of Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, Westminster, must also pay 85 prosecution costs and a 60 victim surcharge.
Pope Francis paid a 'surprise' visit to the Italian town which was reduced to rubble by a devastating earthquake that claimed the lives of around 300 people in August.

He met with the family members of those killed in the quake in Amatrice and told them he wanted to come sooner - but was worried about being a 'bother'.

The 79-year-old previously said he wanted to go alone so he could be 'close to the people'.

'I didn't come earlier so as not to create problems, given your situation. I didn't want to be a bother,' he told residents on Tuesday.

Pope Francis paid a 'surprise' visit to the Italian town of Amatrice which was reduced to rubble by a devastating earthquake that claimed the lives of around 300 people in August

Powerful photographs show the Pope praying with the survivors of the earthquake

Powerful photographs show the Pope praying silently alone amid the rubble in the hardest-hit part of the devastated town which was near the epicentre of the quake.

In the background of one shot, the town's medieval bell tower can be seen still-standing in what has become a symbol of hope for the community.

He comforted those who lost everything in the earthquake and led a mass prayer for the dead.

'But from the first moment, I knew I wanted to come here, simply to say I am close to you. That I am close to you, nothing more. I pray for you.

He met with survivors of the earthquake when he visited the Italian town on Monday

Pope Francis told the residents he wanted to come sooner - but was worried about being a 'bother'

He was seen speaking with a firefighter as he surveyed the damage in the town - which was near the epicentre of the quake

'My closeness and my prayers are what I offer to you. May the Lord bless all of you,' he said.

'In this moment of sadness and pain, let's move forward while remembering our dear ones who died here under the rubble. Let us pray for them.'

In the days after the earthquake, he had promised to travel to the stricken region 'as soon as possible'.

Pope Francis started his tour on Monday by meeting 100 pupils at the makeshift school set up in containers.

Pope Francis spoke with young pupils at a school in Arquata del Tronto and some presented him with drawings

In the background of one shot, the town's medieval bell tower can be seen still-standing in what has become a symbol of hope for the community

Pope Francis greets pupils outside a school in Arquata Del Tronto on Monday

Pope Francis is given a gift during his visit to the school of the quake-struck town of Amatrice

He later visited a nursing home and prayed with some of the elderly people made homeless by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake.

The 79-year-old also spoke with a man who lost his wife and children in the quake.

Photographs also show the religious leader speaking to firemen who aided the rescue mission when the quake hit on August 24.

It flattened several towns in central Italy and left around 300 people dead.

The Vatican's radio reported that the Pope will also visit Arquata del Tronto and Accumoli, two other towns that were devastated by the quake.

Pope Francis meets students and teachers in the temporary school which was set up in Amatrice

Pope Francis shakes hands with a firefighters in front of the destroyed St Augustine Church in the quake-struck town of Amatrice

Pope Francis poses for a group photo with firefighters in front of rubble, with the standing bell tower in the background
Adrian Greenwood was found dead at his home in Oxford in April. A man has gone on trial accused of his murder

A man accused of stabbing an antiques dealer to death had tried to find out the addresses of famous people including Kate Moss, Simon Cowell and Lord Sugar, a court has heard.

Michael Danaher is accused of stabbing historian Adrian Greenwood to death after he refused to hand over a 50,000 first edition of The Wind in the Willows.

Oxford Crown Court was told today that Mr Greenwood may have been tortured into revealing where the rare book was kept.

The jury heard that Danaher has admitted killing Mr Greenwood after stabbing him 33 times - with one wound being 10cms deep - but he denies murder on the grounds of self-defence.

A court was also told that Danaher kept a detailed spreadsheet on his laptop called 'Enterprises' which showed he was also planning to target other wealthy and famous figures, including Miss Moss and Jeffrey Archer.

He also Googled for information about the homes of Simon Cowell, Rio Ferdinand, Eamonn Holmes, Greg Dyke, Michael Parkinson and Lord Sugar, the court heard.

Danaher planned to get money by either stealing from or robbing the targets' homes, or by demanding a ransom by kidnapping them or their family, a jury was told.

Mr Greenwood's alleged killer, Michael Danaher, had plans on his computer to rob or kidnap Kate Moss or her family, a court heard today. He also Googled Simon Cowell's home

Research into the homes of former footballer Rio Ferdinand and Lord Sugar was also found of Danaher's computer, the court heard

The list featured the words 'daughter' and 'sister' next to some of the names of wealthy relatives he intended to take hostage after knocking them out with a stun gun, prosecutors said.

Venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft was also among the possible targets, the court heard.

Opening the Crown's case, prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC told a jury at Oxford Crown Court: 'These were the schemes the defendant had been cooking up on the internet alone in his small flat often into the early hours of the morning.

'He had drawn up three versions of a list of names and addresses of wealthy people which he called Enterprises.

'Each shared one characteristic - they were people of means, often with large houses.

'He was planning on going to their addresses and stealing with force and demanding a ransom - that is to say, kidnapping an occupant then asking their nearest and dearest for money.'

The body of the Oxford-educated academic Mr Greenwood was discovered with stab wounds by his cleaner in the hall of his four-storey home in Iffley Road, Oxford, on Thursday April 7.

Mr Greenwood captured on CCTV during the last sighting of him at a Sainsbury's in Kidlington

ACCUSED 'PUT THE STOLEN BOOK UP FOR SALE ON THE NIGHT OF THE KILLING' Danaher was experiencing money problems and was selling things on the internet to make ends meet, the jury heard. On the evening of the alleged murder, he put the stolen Wind in the Willows book for sale on the internet at a knock-down price, the court heard At the time of his death, Mr Greenwood had 222 items for sale which he stored at his home and 17 of these were worth 2,000 or more. Prosecutors said he showed 'naivety' by making his home address and phone number readily available on his website. He had rare books including a 16th Century Bible, a first illustrated edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and an oil painting by George Bernard Shaw. Advertisement

The rare book collector, who had a number of Harry Potter first editions, is believed to have been targeted because he owned a 50,000 first edition of The Wind In The Willows, published in 1908, the court heard.

The classic by Kenneth Grahame was worth a 'mouth-watering sum' because it came with an original dust cover.

The court heard today that Danaher conned his way into Mr Greenwood's home before launching a 'savage attack' and taking the valuable book along with Mr Greenwood's wallet, phone and laptop.

Mr Greenwood was found in a pool of blood by his cleaner in the hallway of his 640,000 home at around 3pm the following day.

Danaher was arrested at his home three days later and a stun gun was found at his address after police traced Mr Greenwood's mobile phone signal to north Peterborough.

Detectives identified Danaher - who has no criminal record - by trawling through hours of CCTV footage and spotting his blue Citroen Picasso travelling along the same route where Mr Greenwood's phone signal was last detected.

Danaher denied having anything to do with Mr Greenwood's death when quizzed by police but later admitted killing him, claiming he was acting in self defence, the court heard.

The murder weapon has never been recovered but prosecutors say Danaher got rid of it after fleeing the scene.

Mr Greenwood was found dead at his 640,000 home in Oxford in April this year

Mr Greenwood died of multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck, a post-mortem examination found.

The 42-year-old was last seen alive on CCTV footage at Sainsbury's in Oxford Road, Kidlington, at about 6pm on April 5.

Danaher, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, denies murder. The trial, which is expected to last around three weeks, continues.

'I know where your daughter goes to school': Accused targeted home of venture capitalist and sent chilling not to his wife, court told

Danaher is said to have targeted the home of financier Adrian Beecroft and went to his house shortly before the alleged murder

The jury heard Danaher sent a chilling letter to the wife of venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft (pictured, right), just hours after he allegedly murdered Mr Greenwood, demanding 200 virtual bitcoins, worth 95,200, and saying: 'I know where your daughter goes to school'.

Just a fortnight before the killing, Danaher had turned up at Mr Beecroft's home disguised as a delivery man and claiming he had a parcel for Mr Beecroft's daughter.

The businessman's wife Jacqueline answered the door and recognised Danaher as he had been lurking outside, prosecutors said

As he lunged past her and pushed into the hallway, she screamed to a home help to call the police, the jury were told.

He later wrote a letter, titled 'Dear Jacqui', which read: 'Recently, one of my colleagues had a shoving match with you on your doorstep.

'He was only sent as a warning to show how vulnerable you and your family are if we wanted to hurt you.

'Unfortunately, Adrian Greenwood decided to attack one of my associates and came out second best.
Controversial Corbyn activist Jackie Walker will not be kicked out of the Momentum campaign group despite being suspended from Labour for the second time over anti-Semitism allegations.

Ms Walker was last night removed as vice-chair of the group, borne out of Jeremy Corbyn's first leadership campaign, but she keeps her place on Momentum's powerful steering committee.

In a statement, the group insisted it did not believe her remarks, in which she said Holocaust Memorial Day should be more inclusive, were themselves anti-Semitic. It recommended she should keep her Labour Party membership.

The decision not to take tougher action infuriated Labour MPs.

Momentum activist Jackie Walker has been removed from her post as vice-chair of the campaign group but kept her role on its steering committee

Ms Walker was secretly recorded at a private meeting during the Labour conference in Liverpool last week and has been suspended from the party over the incident.

She said it would be 'wonderful' if Holocaust Memorial Day was promoted to non-Jews and disputed claims Jewish schools need additional security.

Remarks earlier this year also saw her suspended over anti-Semitism allegations but the activist was reinstated in the summer.

Momentum's committee last night voted seven votes to three to remove Ms Walker as a vice-chair of the group. She remains on the powerful committee.

A spokesman said: 'Jackie's actions at Labour Conference, in her subsequent Channel 4 interview, and by not understanding concern caused by her statements, have led the steering committee to view her behaviour as irresponsible and lose confidence in her as Vice Chair.

'Having read reports of what Jackie Walker is alleged to have said, listened to the leaked video, and heard Jackie's version of events, the committee does not regard any of the comments she appears to have made, taken individually, to be anti-Semitic.

'However, the committee does consider her remarks on Holocaust Memorial Day and on security of Jewish schools to be ill-informed, ill-judged and offensive.'

Former Labour front bencher Chris Bryant said Momentum had to go further and remove Ms Walker from the group's ruling committee

MP Tom Blenkinsop also questioned the decision of Momentum to remove the activist from her elected post but not from the committee

Momentum said Walker 'should have done more to explain herself' and been more 'careful' in her statements on the issue of anti-Semitism.

But the group added: 'Momentum is concerned that footage of a training session was leaked to the press. The leak is unacceptable and undermines much needed political education.

'Momentum also calls on Labour to apply the principles laid down in the Chakrabarti report in its investigation of Jackie.

'On the basis of the evidence the committee has seen, Jackie should not be expelled from the Labour Party.'

In his conference speech last week, pictured, Jeremy Corbyn issued his strongest yet condemnation of anti-Semitism by branding it 'evil'

Chris Bryant, a former minister who criticised Ms Walker's remarks when they emerged last week, said the group had to go further.

He said: 'Sacked but kept on the committee. I'm sorry but Momentum should abide by what Jeremy said at conference on anti-Semitism.'

Tom Blenkinsop, another opponent of Mr Corbyn's leadership, said: 'Jackie Walker's comments 'insensitive' enough to the Jewish community to remove her as deputy but not to remove her from steering committee?'

Mr Corbyn conceded to demands from his party to issue a strong condemnation of anti-Semitism in his main conference speech last week amid claims he had not done enough to take on the problem.

The Labour leader branded anti-Semitism 'evil' in remarks that went significantly further than he had done previously.
Pope Francis has said all transsexuals and homosexuals should be 'welcomed' and embraced by the Catholic Church.

He said Jesus would never have turned away transgender people and revealed he had ministered to homosexuals as a priest, bishop and now as Pope.

'When a person arrives before Jesus, Jesus certainly will not say, 'Go away because you are homosexual',' the religious leader said.

'Each case must be welcomed, accompanied, studied, discerned and integrated. This is what Jesus would do today.'

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Pope Francis has said all transsexuals and homosexuals should be 'welcomed' and embraced by the Catholic Church

But despite his message of acceptance, Pope Francis said he was opposed to schools teaching impressionable youngsters about sex changes.

He said teachers should not be able to 'indoctrinate' children by discussing gender theory because it is 'against natural things'.

Gender theory is the concept that while people may be biologically male or female, they have the right to identify themselves as male, female, both or neither.

During his recent visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan, he told priests and nuns that teaching this theory in schools was part of a 'global war' against marriage.

And when asked to elaborate on his comments by reporters aboard the papal plane as he returned to Rome, he said: 'What I was talking about was the nastiness that is present today in indoctrinating people in gender theory.

'It is one thing for a person to have this tendency, this option, and even change sex,' he said.

Pope Francis spoke to journalists on board a plane from Azerbaijan, where Catholics are a minority. He hit out at what he called 'ideological colonisation'

'But it is another thing to teach it, gender theory, in schools along these lines in order to change mentality. I call this ideological colonisation.'

Francis said he had ministered to gay people throughout his career in the Catholic Church.

He said: 'I've never abandoned them. When someone who has this condition comes before Jesus, Jesus would surely never say 'go away because you're gay'.'

Francis recounted the story of a Spanish transgender man who wrote him a letter recounting his transition from a woman to a man, who later married a woman.

The Pope said: 'And I received them. And they were happy.'

Francis praised the bishop who accompanied the man throughout his transition.

But he criticised the man's parish priest, who he said would yell 'You'll go to hell' when he saw him in the street.

Pope Francis (pictured with Vatican spokesman Greg Burke) chose his words carefully but spoke passionately to journalists on the plane

Francis said the man found a retired parish priest who had a different attitude: 'He said 'How long has it been since you've gone to confession? Come on. Let's confess so you can receive Communion'.''

'Understood? Life is life. Sin is sin,' added the Pope, a former Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The pontiff acknowledged that the question of transgender Catholics posed a 'problem of morality'.

He said: 'It's a human problem. And it must be resolved as it can be. But always with the mercy of God, within the truth.'
Police have started demolishing a farmhouse in the hope it might help them solve the mystery surrounding Ben Needham's disappearance.

A wing of the farmhouse on the Greek island of Kos has now been reduced to rubble with concrete littered across the ground at the site where Ben vanished.

A loud crash was heard and dust filled the air as the roof of the building started to tumble to the ground.

A digger has been working on demolishing the building since 10am British time.

The digger has been demolishing a wing of the building, which is owned by a Greek family who now live in Australia

Workers at the property had earlier cut around one end of the building using a petrol-driven saw.

The property, owned by a family who now live in Australia, had not been built at the time the 21-month-old toddler vanished in 1991.

When the rubble is cleared away British police officers will excavate the area underneath the house in the village of Iraklis.

Detective Inspector Jon Cousins, from South Yorkshire Police, told reporters the family were clearly upset but have agreed for the property to be torn apart in the hope it might provide answers for the Needhams.

Ben Needham (pictured) vanished while on holiday with his mother in Kos in 1991

An entire wing of the house - which was not there in 1991 - has now been demolished

The local family have owned the property for generations and knew Ben, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, before he went missing.

The father of the family, who has since passed away, was at the site on the day the little boy vanished and shared lunch with the Needhams in Bens final hours with his family.

He later joined in the hunt for the little boy, scouring the fields surrounding the house in the hope the toddler, who had been playing hours before, would be found.

Days after his disappearance in July 1991, a picture was taken by a British photographer which shows the left wing of the house, which now contains a bathroom and pantry, was not there.

The police are planning to excavate the land under the wing of the house

Police and Greek rescue service personnel rake through excavated soil in front of the farmhouse which is being demolished

It was thanks to the picture police discovered the left section of the property was not there and could hold clues to Bens disappearance.

The photo also showed digger tracks on the very ground where the new wing of the building now stands.

The focus on construction at the site, which was ongoing at the time when Ben vanished, comes as police have focused their investigation on a digger driver, Konstantinos Dino Barkas, who was working there at the time.

A new witness, who was also a friend of the driver who died last year, claimed Mr Barkas had killed Ben and then buried his body.

Officers are now honing their investigation on the new information provided to them by the witness at the beginning of the summer.

The drivers family have always denied Mr Barkas had any involvement in Bens disappearance.
Jeremy Clarkson showed a rare display of diplomacy as he swerved away from a definitive answer when asked if he misses Top Gear.

Clarkson appeared on The Late, Late Show alongside Richard Hammond and James May ahead of the launch of their new show, The Grand Tour, and had to answer questions from host James Corden while driving round a race track at high speed.

Despite Corden's screams as he is flung round corners, Clarkson manages to get most of the fairly simple answers, including the names of Earth's largest ocean and the Chancellor of Germany.

However, from out of nowhere Corden catches him off guard by asking him 'Do you miss Top Gear?'

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Clarkson appeared on The Late, Late Show alongside Richard Hammond and James May ahead of the launch of their new show

Despite Corden's screams as he is flung round corners, Clarkson manages to get most of the fairly simple answers

However, from out of nowhere Corden catches him off guard by asking him 'Do you miss Top Gear?'

A wry smile creeps across the presenter's face as he takes a moment to consider his answer, before retorting, 'Ask me about Egypt and politics' and steering Corden sharply round another bend.

However, when asked to decide between Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, he again sat on the fence, saying 'I think it'll be a combination.'

Whether or not he knew it was coming is unclear, but he took the question about Top Gear - which has lurched from crisis to crisis since he was sacked for punching a producer - in good humour.

Clarkson's original replacement as frontman, Chris Evans, has already stood down from presenting Top Gear after just one season because of plummeting viewing figures and being lambasted by fans for his 'shouty' presenting style.

This has paved the way for his his deputy, Friends star Matt LeBlanc, to quadruple his salary to 2million in order to front the programme alone.

Within two weeks of the show's relaunch, viewing figures had been slashed in half to the lowest number since its first revamp in 2002.

Viewers also expressed an unhappiness at a stunt performed at the Cenotaph, and revelations that canned audience laughter had been put in and that Evans had been sick during filming because of high speeds were ridiculed.

Chris Evans has already stood down from presenting Top Gear after just one season because of plummeting viewing figures and being lambasted by fans for his 'shouty' presenting style

Friends star Matt LeBlanc has quadrupled his salary to 2million in order to front the programme alone

Evans was also investigated by the police over sexual assault allegations that were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Producers have now confirmed that LeBlanc will take on the lead role himself, helped by racing driver Sabine Schmitz, F1 star Eddie Jordan, YouTube star Chris Harris, motoring journalist Rory Reid and The Stig.

The Grand Tour has been in the pipeline even since Hammond and May confirmed that they would be following Clarkson off the show.

Although its name was not met with much enthusiasm, car enthusiasts are hoping it will be more than up to speed with its stalling rival.

The show will launch on Amazon Prime on November 18.
Two drunk men have allegedly car jacked and punched an Uber driver in the face after a night out.

The alleged car jacking occurred at The Corso, one of the main streets of Manly after the 25-year-old driver was booked to pick a client up from a nearby address on Saturday.

Unable to find the client, the driver is said to have parked his vehicle when he was approached by a group of intoxicated men.

Two men have allegedly car jacked and punched an Uber driver in the face at The Corso (above) after a night out in Manly on Saturday

The driver was pulled from his vehicle by two 21-year-old males and punched in the face knocking him to the ground.

The battered driver managed to get to his feet and escape the attackers running away from the scene of the assault.

Northern Beaches duty officer Inspector Gill Hough told the Manly Daily that one of the attackers then hopped in the car and drove it to a nearby location where he was met by four of his friends who were in another car.

The men tried to hop into the friends car but police were able to apprehend the alleged attackers.

Police said that the men involved in the assault had not booked the car and were unaware that the person they allegedly attacked was an Uber driver.

Two 21-year-old males from Sydney's Northern Beaches have been charged with the assault with one also charged with low range drink-driving.
Law enforcement officers in Russia are on the hunt for a 'maniac' rapist after his latest sickening attack was caught on CCTV in St Petersburg.

The suspected serial rapist grabbed his victim, a 58-year-old woman, in her apartment lift after she returned from her shopping late at night on October 1.

In a horrific assault the attacker, reports Russian news site Ren.tv, followed the woman into a lift before he began to beat and choke her.

Chilling: A suspected serial rapist grabs his victim in a life in the Russian city of St Petersberg

In a sickening video the attacker was caught on camera grabbing a woman by her neck

She nearly escaped but she was pulled back in by the neck being overwhelmed by her attacker.

On the fourth floor he then reportedly stopped the elevator, pulled out his victim, and dragged her through the back door to carry out the rape on the stairs.

The suspect, clad in a hoodie and a leather jacket, is believed to have carried out attacks in the past as detectives are investigating similar unsolved cases.

The 58-year-old woman nearly escapes but she is overwhelmed by the man

Detectives are appealing for anyone with information to come forward, after the man's face was clearly captured on camera

Police from the Krasnogvardeysky district department said the rape occurred in building 1 on Mentors Avenue, reports Fontanka.

Detectives are appealing for anyone with information to come forward, after the man's face was clearly captured on camera.
Two cousins have beaten the odds to become the fifth generations of girls on separate sides of their family.

Five-week-old Millie Mae is the daughter of Chantelle and Jack Catterall, the latter of whom has a sister, Emma Suthers, whose child is also the latest in a long line of girls.

Both Millie Mae and three-year-old Faye Suthers have great great grandmothers who are still alive and the two sides of the family joined together for a photograph featuring the five generations of girls.

Rare: Two cousins have become the fifth generations of girls on separate sides of their family. Five-week-old Millie Mae (pictured) is the daughter of Chantelle and Jack Catterall

While Millie Mae's mother's side of the family heralds from the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Faye's great great grandmother came over to England from Germany when she was in her 30s.

The latter's female family all live within a few miles of each other in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, with Ms Suthers, 27, next door to Faye's 47-year-old grandmother Debbie Catterall.

And although Millie Mae was born here, her parents only returned to Bamber Bridge for her birth.

They moved out to the Middle East for Mr Catterall's work as an engineer.

His wife, 27, said they weren't surprised to be told they were expecting a girl.

She said: 'When I was pregnant we found out we were having a girl - we couldn't wait - but we were never too bothered about gender, we just wanted a healthy baby.

'But I suppose that it does make her extra special to be the fifth girl.

'On my side there's lots of girls. My poor dad had three.'

Their return home has meant all five generations from across the globe and Lancashire have been able to meet to celebrate the coincidence.

Both Millie Mae and three-year-old Faye Suthers (pictured as a baby in 2013) have great great grandmothers who are still alive and the two sides of the family joined together for a picture

FIVE GENERATIONS OF GIRLS: THE COUSINS' FAMILY TREES Fifth generation Latest girl: Five-week-old Millie Mae Catterall Fourth generation Millie Mae's mother Chantelle Catterall, 27, whose husband is Emma Suthers' brother Third generation Millie Mae's grandmother Roxey Afflick, 44 Second generation Great grandmother Inez Skerritt, 68 First generation Great great grandmother Clarice Skerritt, 87 Fifth generation Faye Suthers, now three years old, as a baby Fourth generation Faye's mother Emma Suthers, 27, whose brother's wife is Chantelle Catterall, 27 Third generation Faye's grandmother Debbie Catterall, 47 Second generation Great grandmother Margaret Boden, 67 First generation Great great grandmother Helga McConville Advertisement

For Millie Mae, the five generations started with great great grandmother Clarice Skerritt, 87, then great grandmother Inez Skerritt, 68, and grandmother Roxey Afflick, 44.

Her daughter Chantelle Catterall marks the fourth generation.

Mrs Catterall said: 'I knew this kind of thing didn't happen very often but I was used to people being amazed that I had a great grandmother who was still alive.

'Well, she's still alive and very well. She's over the moon to meet Millie, as are the rest of the family. There's been plenty of cuddles with her.'

It is Mr Catterall's sister, Emma, who first gained the generation title, when she had Faye.

More than 81 years separate Faye from her great great grandmother Helga McConville, 84.

Faye's arrival also made Margaret Boden, 67, a great grandmother and Debbie Catterall a grandmother.

Ms McConville, who moved to Preston from Germany in the 1960s, said the family were all strong women, something she put down to her German blood.

After introducing baby Millie Mae to her family, Mrs Catterall and her husband, 26, are going to return to the Middle East in a month.
David Cameron and Boris Johnson buried the hatchet and made up after they split over Brexit during a trip to Israel last week, it emerged today.

Both the former prime minister and the Foreign Secretary travelled to Jerusalem for the funeral of Shimon Peres, Israel's former president.

The pair fell out after Mr Johnson abandoned his old friend's campaign to keep Britain in the EU to lead the charge for Brexit.

But Mr Cameron and Mr Johnson brokered a truce over whisky in a Jerusalem hotel.

Boris Johnson and David Cameron, pictured together on the election trail in Coventry last year, have made up over Brexit after a deep falling out over the referendum, it was reported today

Contact between the old friends gently resumed over the summer via text message - but both are still said to be freezing out Michael Gove after he managed to betray both men over the referendum and its aftermath.

The Sun revealed the pair 'put the world to rights' on Thursday night as they were both staying at the five star King David Hotel on the eve of the major funeral.

Friends of Mr Johnson said they had 'a pretty frank exchange of views' over the referendum before turning their attention to wider world politics.

Michael Gove (file picture) is still being frozen out by both Mr Johnson and Mr Cameron

Mr Johnson and Mr Cameron have known each for more than 30 years after meeting at Oxford University.

The former London Mayor gave the then Prime Minister just minutes notice of his intention to declare for Brexit in February, a day after Mr Cameron fired the starting gun on his own doomed referendum campaign.

The move set in train events which destroyed Mr Cameron's premiership, kicking him out of Downing Street in July and propelling him out of politics altogether last month.

Mr Cameron is now spending his days working on his memoirs while Mr Johnson settles into an improbable role at the Foreign Office and making star turns at party conference as one of three key Brexir ministers.

Both Mr Johnson and Mr Cameron, pictured centre with Tony Blair at the funeral on Friday, travelled to Israel to commemorate the life of former Israeli president Shimon Peres

Mr Johnson has taken a starring role at this week's Conservative conference in Birmingham.

But after quitting Westminster last month, Mr Cameron has been absent from the gathering despite his decade as leader and double election success.

Party activists have been eagerly debating the Brexit vote in June as Theresa May's new government sketches out its next steps.
The Commonwealth will appeal a decade-long prison sentence handed down to Anzac Day terror plot teen Sevdet Besim.

The 19-year-old was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment last month by the Supreme Court of Victoria for doing acts in preparation for, or planning a terrorist act.

It was alleged the Hallam teenager planned to kill a police officer during Anzac Day commemorations in 2015.

The Commonwealth will appeal a decade-long prison sentence handed down to Anzac Day terror plot teen Sevdet Besim (pictured)

The 19-year-old was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment last month by the Supreme Court of Victoria for doing acts in preparation for, or planning a terrorist act

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed on Tuesday that they had lodged a Notice of Appeal in the matter describing the sentence as 'manifestly inadequate'.

'Where the CDPP is of the view that the sentence imposed is manifestly inadequate and that such an appeal would be in the public interest, it will institute an appeal - as is in this case,' a statement on the CDPP website says.

The appeal against the sentence will be heard by the Victorian Court of Appeal at a date yet to be fixed.

Besim pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to do an act in preparation for or planning a terror act - a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

He was handed a 10-year jail sentence and must serve at least seven-and-a-half before he is eligible for parole.

The Hallam teenager (pictured) allegedly planned to kill a police officer during Anzac Day commemorations in 2015
UK resident: Winnie Birkenhead, 53, from Burnley, Lancashire, came to Britain from Malaysia as a five-year-old girl in 1968

She has lived in Britain for almost half a century, so had quite a shock when she was told she could face deportation.

Grandmother Winnie Birkenhead, 53, of Burnley, Lancashire, claimed her employer received a letter stating she was not allowed to work in the UK.

But the mental health worker has won the right to stay after opening her photo albums to Home Office officials to prove she moved from Malaysia 48 years ago.

Mother-of-two Ms Birkenhead came to Britain from South East Asia as a five-year-old girl in 1968 after her mother married a member of the British Army.

But last October, after being told she could face deportation, solicitors told her to put together evidence to prove she had lived here for most of her life.

This dossier included photographs of her youth growing up in Britain  and Ms Birkenhead, has now been granted indefinite leave to remain.

Right to remain: Ms Birkenhead claimed she was told last year that she could face deportation after her employer allegedly received a letter stating she was not allowed to work in the UK

Pictures: Ms Birkenhead was advised by solicitors to build up a dossier of evidence - including photographs of her youth growing up in Britain - to prove she had lived here for most of her life

As a child: Ms Birkenhead, pictured as a schoolgirl (circled), who has never returned to Malaysia since moving to Britain, has now been granted indefinite leave to remain

It comes after the grandmother, who has never returned to Malaysia since moving to Britain, spent a year fearing she would be torn away from her family.

Grandmother-of-two Ms Birkenhead said: I got the letter and I rang up the Home Office and a woman said they could they could whisk me off at any time.

For the last year, every time someone knocked on the door I thought that someone was going to take me away.

I was scared that I would be moved to a country that I didnt even know - they dont realise how it affects your whole life.

Picture archive: Ms Birkenhead, pictured in her youth, came to Britain in 1968 after her mother married a member of the British Army

Younger days: This dossier collected by Ms Birkenhead included photographs of her youth growing up in Britain  and Ms Birkenhead, has now been granted indefinite leave to remain

Unable to work for a year: Ms Birkenhead, who had always thought she became a British citizen when her mother did, said she has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket

Ms Birkenhead, who had always thought she became a British citizen when her mother did in the late 1960s, said she has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after spending a year unable to work.

Looking back: Ms Birkenhead, pictured as a girl, does not understand why the Home Office questioned her right to live in the UK

She also claims that she was banned from doing volunteer work she secured in a bid to stay busy during her period of limbo.

Ms Birkenhead, who has a National Insurance number, driving licence and underwent a Criminal Records Bureau check when she began working with vulnerable adults nine years ago, said she does not understand why the Home Office suddenly questioned her right to live in the country.

The support worker said: Im so grateful to be back at work but I just feel let down by the whole system. It really upset me.

I found volunteer work and they wouldnt even allow me to do that. Ive lost 18,000 in wages, I had to freeze the mortgage but now they want double payments.

They dont give a monkeys if Ive got a house to pay for - Im going to be in bad credit for years now.

Waiting game: Ms Birkenhead (pictured in her youth) claims that she was banned from doing volunteer work she secured in a bid to stay busy during her period of limbo

Younger years: She has lived in Britain for almost half a century, so Ms Birkenhead had quite a shock when she was allegedly told she could face deportation

Living in fear: Ms Birkenhead said 'every time someone knocked on the door I thought that someone was going to take me away'

I have put so much into this country and Ive always worked since I was 16. Ive never had a British passport, its just never been something Ive needed.

Pictured as a girl: The decision to allow Ms Birkenhead to stay in Britian was welcomed by her local MP as 'fantastic news'

I was happy going up to Scotland for my holidays. My mum and stepdad came over here, they fell in love and that was that.

I was brought here through no choice of my own but this is where Ive grown up and its all I know. Why would they question me being here now, why not when I was 16?

Julie Cooper, the Labour MP for Burnley who helped fight Ms Birkenheads case, said: Its fantastic news.

I know we have to be strict on immigration but heres a woman who is an asset to this country and common sense dictates that she should be here.

Of course we have to be firm on immigration, but we have to have an efficient system in dealing with it because during this period she hasnt been able to work.

A Home Office spokesman said: The onus is on the individual to take the necessary action to regularise their own immigration status.
But no one from the Libyan government was

A meeting on the crisis in Libya made little progress in brokering a peace deal after French officials failed to invite anyone from the Libyan government for the talks.

Representatives from Egypt, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, UAE, UK and the U.S. all attended the high-level meeting in Paris on Monday.

UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini were also present at the talks - which were hosted by the French government.

But the Libya Herald reported that no one from the war-torn country was invited to the meeting - despite it being held to discuss the future of the African nation.

A crisis meeting on Libya made little progress in brokering a peace deal after French officials failed to invite anyone from the Libyan government for the talks in Paris

French officials claimed they did have time to ask anyone from the Libyan government because the event was organised so quickly.

They added that they also wanted to attract outside support to the meeting.

It came days after Faiez Mustafa Serraj - the head of Libya's Presidential Council - visited Paris.

'I took this initiative on behalf of France because we want the government of national accord of Mr Serraj to succeed,' said French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Libya has been divided between two rival governments since 2014 and the nation has seen Islamic State establish a foothold

The Arab League also reportedly protested that no representatives had been invited.

Last week, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said the aim of the meeting was to 'see how we can advance the cause of achieving the necessary unity in Libya'.

But the meeting was deemed to be a 'damp squib' by some attendees who said there were 'few high-level figures'.

Libya has been divided between two rival governments since 2014.

The nation has been ravaged by unrest since the fall and death in 2011 of dictator Muammar Gaddafi (shown)

The internationally-recognised and UN-supported Government of National Accord (GNA) is based in Tripoli while the rival House of Representatives government (HOR) is based in the east in Tobruk.

Last week, the EU agreed to extend the sanctions against the head of Libya's internationally recognised parliament as well as two former officials.

The sanctions, which have been in place since April, were imposed for blocking peace efforts by failing to get behind the UN-backed unity government.

They were rolled over on Friday to April 2017.

The European Council said it 'remains concerned by the situation in Libya and in particular the acts that threaten peace, security and stability of the country.'

Libya is facing 'political impasse' and 'hazardous military developments', the UN envoy to the North African country Martin Kobler has warned.

The nation has been ravaged by unrest since the fall and death in 2011 of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

It has also seen Islamic State establish a foothold.
Two baby bears which were dumped in a park have been rescued by Russian police, who captured the cubs on camera.

The young animals are thought to have been bought illegally, and then abandoned when they became too big for their owners.

Locals in the town of Zelenodolsk, near Moscow, raised the alarm after spotting the five-month-old cubs prowling in a wooded area of their park.

When police saw that the bear cubs had collars and realised they had already been around people, they were able to put leads on them and walk them back to the patrol car where they were put in the boot and taken to an animal shelter.

Experts estimated that the bear cubs were aged around four or five months old, and had apparently been dumped in the park by their previous owners.

The video shows the hungry bears eating treats of bread and apples - even being fed by hand.

One young cub happily accepts a piece of fruit from one of the rescuers, who handed out bread and apples to the infant bears after they were discovered dumped in a local park. The youngsters weren't afraid to drink straight from a bottle of water offered to them either

But according to a vet the young cubs were in urgent need of a drink after their period in the woods.

The woman can be heard saying on the video: "They are absolutely normal, but thirsty. I wonder how long it has been since you two drunk any water?"

The woman can be seen giving the bear cubs water from a plastic bottle, and as the bears were calm and seemed comfortable around humans.

The bear were very comfortable in the company of the Russian police, who were called to the town of Zelenodolsk when the cubs were spotted by locals in a wooded area of a park

Collars were still wrapped around the necks of the five-month-old cubs when they were discovered, and they were comfortable with being put on leads temporarily by their rescuers

Police didn't need a tranquiliser as the bears were at ease with people, going quietly into a waiting van to be taken to an animal shelter. Authorities are looking for the original owners of the bears, who they believe were obtained illegally before being abandoned

Police decided it was not necessary to give the inquisitive cubs a tranquiliser in order to bring them in.

The animals were happily led to the back of the waiting police van.
The UK's oldest Indian restaurant has been awarded a Michelin star - 90 years after it pioneered serving curry with a cold beer.

Veeraswamy, which opened in the Regent Street, London, in 1926, and has since catered for many royal events, was honoured in Michelin's 2017 guide yesterday.

The eatery has always been family run and 15 years ago it was in the hands of Ranjit Mathrani and Namita Panjabi.

Veeraswamy (pictured in 1963), which opened in the Regent Street, London, in 1926, and has since catered for many royal events, was honoured in Michelin's 2017 guide yesterday

A spokesman for the restaurant told The Daily Telegraph: 'We never dreamt we would get a star. We have been cooking with the same passion these past few years.

'When we took over this place, we restored it to its original form with vibrant blues, oranges and cream decorations, hand-woven carpets and 200-year-old paintings - just like it was 90 years ago.

'It would be very easy for Michelin to take for granted a 90-year-old restaurant, but we are so glad it has recognised our cooking.'

Veeraswamy is said to have kickstarted Britain's love for a beer and curry.

It became a favourite for Prince Axel of Denmark, who would bring his own keg of Carlsberg lager to wash down and cool off after a duck vindaloo.

Carlsberg became so popular with the rest of the diners, that the restaurant started importing it.

The duck vindaloo is still on new chef Uday Salumkhe's menu and is one of the most popular dishes.

Michelin Guide editor Rebecca Burr said the cooking 'has never been better than it is today' at the Indian restaurant in Mayfair.

Pictured is the lamb shank which is popular at the Veeraswamy Indian restaurant in Mayfair

The restaurant was restored to its original form with vibrant blues, oranges and cream decorations, hand-woven carpets and 200-year-old paintings

Among of the other restaurants to claim a coveted star for 2017 was the Raby Hut in Darlington.

The town is now the only area in the North East of England to contain a two-star Michelin restaurant, with LEnculme in the Lake District being the only other restaurant in the northern half of the country to hold two stars.

Meanwhile, c elebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's restaurant The Fat Duck regained its three Michelin stars to rejoin the elite club of world eateries.

RESTAURANTS WHICH ARE IN THE MICHELIN GUIDE FOR 2017 Three Stars The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire Two Stars Raby Hunt, Summerhouse, County Durham One Star The Ninth, Bloomsbury, central London

Ellory, London Fields, east London

Pidgin, London Fields, east London

Five Fields, Chelsea, west London

Trinity, Clapham, south London

Celeste, Belgravia, central London

Veeraswamy, Mayfair, central London

Ritz Restaurant, Westminster, central London

The Crown, Burchett's Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire

Tudor Room at Great Fosters Hotel, Egham, Surrey

Forest Side, Grasmere, Cumbria

Peel's at Hampton Manor Hotel, Hampton In Arden, West Midlands

Thomas Carr @ The Olive Room, Ilfracombe, Devon

The Wild Rabbit, Kingham, Oxfordshire

Gilpin Hotel & Lake House, Windermere/Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria

Sosban & The Old Butchers, Anglesey

James Sommerin, Penarth, Glamorgan

Heron & Grey, Dublin, Ireland Advertisement

The maverick culinary inventor's high-end venue lost the trio of stars in 2015 after he took it 10,000 miles to Melbourne, Australia, for a year.

At the unveiling of the 2017 Michelin Guide - held live for the first time - it was announced the 50-year-old's 255-per-person restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, had rejoined the exclusive group.
You've heard of a dog on a leash, maybe a cat on a leash, and perhaps even a pig on a leash... but surely not a bee on a leash?

This is the bizarre moment a university lecturer created a buzz by showing his students his 'pet' bee attached to a string.

Professor Ethan Kung presented the lassoed insect to his amazed class during a lecture in fluid mechanics at Clemson University, South Carolina.

Un-BEE-lievable: Professor Ethan Kung presents his lassoed insect to his amazed class

As they watched on, the teacher explained how the tiny creatures flap their wings to change directions.

His students, including Brad Westbury from Hanahan, South Carolina, laughed as the bee began to twist and turn, unable to escape from the leash attached around its waist.

'The whole class just stared at the professor like he was a lunatic,' said Brad.

'We were sitting in class and he told us he had brought in a 'pet' to help us understand a new concept we were studying.

'He walked into the middle of the room and started talking about this bee he had lassoed at the end of piece of string without skipping a beat, like it was completely normal.

'Then he walked it around the room letting it land on desks and people while explaining how he caught it and how he was going to feed it to his pet spider at home.'

The class start to laugh as the bee makes a desperate attempt to fly away, and fails

Dr Kung said: 'In a previous lesson I had talked about the momentum balance equation.

'I spotted the bee and thought it would be good for the students to see something similar in real life.'

The teacher, who joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2014, added:

'The bee's flying mechanics are an interesting phenomenon in relation to how much air it has to eject from its wings to support its body weight.
Wendy Armitage is angry that a Sainsbury's delivery driver told off her son Isaac for wearing a fairy costume

A mother was left furious after a Sainsbury's delivery driver scolded her son for wearing a fairy outfit.

Isaac Armitage, four, was playing with his little sister and answered the door to the delivery man wearing the black and purple costume.

But, to his mother Wendy's fury, the driver then told him: 'Someone needs to take you to one side and have a word with you, you can't be a fairy, you should be a superhero.'

Mrs Armitage, 36, says Isaac has been left upset by the incident and doesn't want to dress up anymore.

She said: 'I just couldn't believe it when I heard it. If he had said it's unusual to be a fairy, we wouldn't have have thought too much of it but saying someone should take Isaac to one side implies he was doing something wrong.

'I feel disappointed that there are still people in this world that ask questions like that and and think it is their right to tell other people what they can and cannot wear.

The incident happened at the family's home in Effingham, Surrey earlier this year, when Mrs Armitage was upstairs resting and her husband was in the kitchen.

Mrs Armitage overheard the conversation after Isaac opened the door to the delivery driver

Mrs Armitage, a former paediatric nurse, said: 'I heard the driver say to my son "where's mummy?" and Isaac said I was upstairs.

'So he asked Isaac "are you the doctor and your sister the nurse?", which I thought was a bit sexist, and he said 'why are you wearing a fairy dress?'

'Isaac said "because I am being a fairy" and the driver said someone should take him to one side and have a word with him.'

She added: 'He first wore a fairy dress after going to a toddler group and they had a big box of dressing up outfits and they had a dress there and he liked it.

'So we got a bag of mixed dressing up clothes and he liked those dresses as well, he also likes the fireman outfit.'

Mrs Armitage and her friends have complained to the company on social media

The company has apologised and says it had taken action against the driver. File photo

Mrs Armitage has since complained to the supermarket and explained to her children that what the man said was wrong.

She has called for the delivery driver to be retrained.
Ministry of Primary Industries says leftovers are diner's

Ban has sparked a fiery debate over the

A New Zealand restaurant has left a bad taste in diners' mouths after banning doggy bags.

Paraparaumu restaurant New Social at Kapiti Lights says they don't want to run the risk of diners falling ill after eating leftovers, reports StuffNZ.

The ban has sparked a fiery debate, with some claiming leftovers are the responsibility of diners, and others arguing restaurants should bear the blame.

New Social at Kapiti Lights has sparked a fiery debate after banning doggy bags

'If someone takes food home, doesn't heat it properly and gets sick, they'll probably blame us,' Phil Ryan, owner of The Social at Kapiti Lights, said.

He said diners have taken issue with the fact they cannot take leftovers home, but it's a matter of 'food safety.'

The national Ministry of Primary Industries says food taken home from a restaurant becomes the responsibility of the patron.

'If you take the food away, the safety of that food is up to you.'

The restaurant says they don't want to run the risk of diners falling ill after eating leftovers

However Mr Ryan said many restaurant partially cooked their meals before preparation, meaning the food would be heated a third time by diners.

The move comes on the heels of several other New Zealand restaurants banning doggy bags, including Duck Creek in Pauatahanui.

However some restaurants, including Monsoon Poon in Wellington, have argued diners should always be given the choice.

'We've done doggy bags for 15 years and never had a problem ... I understand people getting angry if they're told they can't take their food home.'
If the migrant complained about his treatment, Adrian Bostan, 37, (pictured) punched him in the face, it is claimed

A jobless Romanian couple charged a fellow migrant 500 a month to crash on their sofa while they lived off benefits, a court has heard.

Adrian Bostan, 37, and Mioara Toma, 34, are alleged to have exploited Marius Florea, 39, over a period of almost six months after he arrived in the UK in a van from Romania in October 2014.

When he got to their home in Bradford, they took his ID card off him and pocketed the wages he made while working at a packaging plant for DHL, a jury heard.

The court heard Mr Florea was charged 300 a month rent and 200 for food.

If he complained Bostan punched him in the face, it is alleged.

Bostan and Toma, who are married with two children, also allegedly wanted to use his money to buy a new TV and Xbox for themselves.

Bradford Crown Court heard the couple left their fellow countryman with just a bare minimum income for alcohol and cigarettes.

Prosecutor Nick Adlington said: 'It is the prosecution's case that they brought the complainant to the UK to pay for their lifestyle while they claimed benefits.

'They arranged and paid for the transport to the UK and thereafter took control of the complainant's finances for their own financial gain, not only taking the money but making threats if he complained about his situation and taking his ID card so that he could not remove himself from the situation.'

The court heard Mr Florea had been visited in October 2014 by a school friend, Adrian Munteanu, at his home in Brasov, Romania, who had persuaded him to consider moving to the UK for work.

He then spoke to Bostan, who was living in Bradford, who persuaded him to stay with him and work at DHL as the work was 'not difficult' and 'the salary was good'.

The court heard that when Marius Florea arrived in the UK, he had his ID card taken off him and it was put in the hands of Toma (pictured)

After arriving at the house shared by Bostan and Toma, Mr Florea ended up sleeping on the sofa because there was no other room for him.

Bostan also took Mr Florea's identity card off him and gave it to his wife.

The day after he arrived in the UK, Mr Florea was driven to an induction day at the DHL plant in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire.

Mr Florea was paid 200 a week, plus overtime, but as he did not have a bank account, Bostan told him to pay the wages into his account.

Mr Adlington explained: 'There was no agreement at the time as to how the money would be transferred to the complainant from Bostan's account. Bostan told him just to ask for money and he would give it to him.

'The complainant had understood his living costs would be 75 per week.

'However, once his wages began to be paid into Bostan's account, Bostan seemed to calculate the living costs according to how much the complainant was earning.

'He describes being given a bare minimum for cigarettes and alcohol and that when he did ask for his money he would be questioned about why he wanted it and would be told he didn't need any money.

'Bostan would charge 300 for the rent, 200 for food and then added money for transport costs to work.

'That was quite steep given he was only sleeping on the sofa.

'Bostan told the complainant that he deducted money because he had to make a profit.'

Bradford Crown Court heard the couple left their fellow countryman with just a bare minimum income for alcohol and cigarettes

Mr Adlington also claimed Bostan told Mr Florea he would need to apply for a provisional UK driving licence as proof of his address and then charged him 375 for it.

In December 2014, Bostan told Mr Florea he needed to start paying his salary into another one of his accounts.

Mr Adlington said while Mr Florea's change in bank account was being sorted out by his employer, he was paid by cheque, which Bostan allegedly forced him to cash.

Mr Florea was then allegedly forced to hand the money over to Bostan.

The court heard Mr Florea eventually opened his own bank account. However Bostan and Toma allegedly took his bank card and PIN number after it had been posted to him and spent his money.

In April 2015 Bostan and his wife moved to another address in the city where Mr Florea was allegedly forced to share a room with two other men.

Mr Adlington said: 'The complainant describes sharing a room with another migrant, Furus Csaba and at one point a third male during which they had to push the beds together and all three slept on two beds.'

Mr Florea went to the police after Bostan allegedly told him he would be sent back to Romania because of his behaviour.

When police went to the house where Toma and Bostan lived they asked for Mr Florea's bank card and ID and were given them by Toma.

Bostan made no comment when questioned by police and Toma denied exploiting Mr Florea, telling officers he could leave at any time.

Bostan and Toma both deny two counts each of holding another in slavery or servitude and intentionally arranging entry into the UK with the intent to exploit.
Ronald Reagan's son Michael voiced his disdain for Donald Trump on Monday in a series of tweets after the Republican nominee accused Hillary Clinton of cheating on her husband.

'No way do I or would my father support this garbage,' wrote Michael on Twitter just two days after Trump said he did not believe that Clinton was loyal to her husband during a rally in Pennsylvania..

He later added: 'I am glad my father is not alive to watch this...He would tell us to vote the down ticket to stop Hillary.'

Michael then closed out his flurry of tweets with a message to members of the Republican party, stating: 'I think I think more about this country then u kool-aid drinkers..Vote for Trump if you will but stop comparing him to my father..not close.'

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Speaking out: Michael Reagan (above with his father in 1988) went after Donald Trump in a series of tweets on Monday

Bold statement: He said that his father would not have voted for Trump in the upcoming election and that Nancy would have voted for Hillary Clinton

Anger: Michael's comments came after Trump accused Clinton of cheating on her husband Bill while speaking at a rally over the weekend

Trump told a crowd of his supporters on Saturday: 'Hillary Clintons only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself. I dont even think shes loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth.'

He then added: 'And really, folks, why should she be, why should she be.'

It is the first time there has ever been any mention of Clinton cheating on her philandering husband, who own affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky almost led to his impeachment.

Trump's comments were criticized by both Democrats and Republicans alike, including Michael who made it very clear that his father would not stand for the tactics being used by the Trump campaign.

'I can hear my father saying I didnt leave the Party the Party left me,' wrote Michael in one tweet.

That was followed soon after with Michael writing: 'If the RNC supports this I cant suppoet [sic] the RNC.'

He also called for the chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus to 'take a stand.'

And even though Nancy Reagan was his stepmother, he said he was sure that she too would vote for Clinton in the upcoming election.

Comments: Trump told a crowd of his supporters on Saturday: 'Hillary Clintons only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself. I dont even think shes loyal to Bill

Family: He also said that Nancy was 'appalled' when she heard people compare Trump to her late husband (Ronald Jr., Michael, Nancy and Patti at Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004)

Parents: Michael, 71, is the adopted son of Ronald Reagan and his first wife Jane Weyman

Michael also noted that Nancy was 'appalled' when she heard people compare Trump to Reagan.

'My father would not support this kind of campaign,if this is what the Republican Party wants leave us Reagans out.Nancy would vote for HRC,' wrote Michael.

Michael, who was adopted by his father and his first wife Jane Weyman, also wrote at one point: 'Getting a Point with Trump where I just don't give a s***...'

The claim that President Reagan would vote for Trump comes just weeks after Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said that President George H.W. Bush told her that he was voting for Clinton in the upcoming election.
When news broke that Kim Kardashian had been held up at gunpoint inside her luxury apartment in Paris, people around the world reacted with shock and horror.

But in France, where the terrifying incident occurred early on Monday morning, the story failed to make the front page of all but one major newspaper.

On Tuesday, Le Parisien was the only paper to highlight the 35-year-old's night of terror as five masked gunmen stormed the Hotel Pourtales behind the Madeleine church.

'An XXL hold up': Le Parisien was the only national French newspaper to feature the armed robbery of Kim Kardashian as its main front page story

Before and after: Kim is pictured (left) before being held at gunpoint in Paris and after the raid (right) after landing back in New York on Monday

The French media abide by strict privacy laws and are also sniffy about celebrity culture so it is not unusual for them to avoid stories about Kim Kardashian, however this story is not just about a reality star - but also a serious crime.

The gunmen threatened the concierge and tied him up before making their way to the reality star's room. Mystery remains as to how the robbers then got past the armoured door of Kim's flat and entered her bedroom.

Kim begged for her life, screaming that she had two children as the men dressed in clothes with police markings bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape before leaving her in the bathtub.

They made off with her 20-carat emerald-cut Lorraine Schwartz ring given to her by husband Kanye West, which is worth a reported $4.5million (4 million /3.5 million) and was last seen on Kim's finger in a Snapchat post earlier that night.

They also stole a jewelry box worth $6.7 million (6 million/ 5.24 million) before escaping on rented bicycles available throughout the city.

Brexit: Respected newspaper Le Monde opted to cover Theresa May's pledge for a clean break with Europe

Security: Le Figaro featured a picture of reservists during target shooting practice to highlight their lead story on anti-terror measures and security

Le Parisien featured a close up photo of Kim flashing her ring with the headline: 'Un braquage XXL'.

The caption said: 'In Paris for Fashion Week, the American star telerealite was victim of a violent attack in the luxury residence where she was staying. The loot would be $ 9 million in jewelry.'

Daily free newspaper 20 Minutes published a picture of Minister of Social Affairs and Health Marisol Touraine alongside a story on violence in French hospitals.

Instead of Kim, Le Figaro ran a photo of young reservists for the Gendarmerie Nationale during target shooting practice with the headline 'These French who are committed to the security of the country.'

Violence: Daily free newspaper 20 Minutes published a picture of Minister of Social Affairs and Health Marisol Touraine alongside a story on violence in French hospitals on the front page

No Kim here: Les Echos ran a story about train manufacturing, while La Croix focused on life after ISIS in the Syrian city of Palmyra

Le Monde - a highly respected newspaper around the world - ran a picture of Theresa May on their front page with the headline: Brexit: Theresa May calls for a clean break with Europe.

Les Echos ran with a picture of a train being made at a factory and the headline: How the state wants to save Alstom Belfort.

Alstom is a French company that makes trains such as the Eurostar, and Pendolino high-speed trains.

La Croix ran a story about the Syrian city of Palmyra and what is life is like for locals after it was liberated from ISIS.

Paris police are hunting for five suspected assailants after the robbery on Monday, which has raised new concerns about security in the French capital after a string of deadly extremist attacks.

But Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, said the attack on Kardashian West shouldn't put off anyone thinking of coming to Paris.

French police officers stand in front of Kim Kardashian's luxury apartment Hotel de Pourtales on Rue Tronchet in the 8th arrondissement, where she was robbed at gunpoint by masked men

'This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide. Do not confuse what happened to Ms. Kardashian and probably was the result of an organized team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame (cathedral) or another tourist spot in Paris,' Primevert said.

The police spokeswoman suggested possible imprudence from Kardashian West in showing her valuable jewels on social networks and a possible lack of security in that private residence.

'Clearly when you have a star like Kim Kardashian who has, I think, more than 48 million followers on Twitter ... I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as in Paris. It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these goods that the attackers targeted,' Primevert said.

'It's not the safety in Paris that is involved, it's maybe the security situation in that residence', she insisted.
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A new video has emerged showing a mystery car tailing Kim Kardashian as she left a French fashion house just hours before the terrifying 8.5million heist.

The footage shows a grey Fiat 500 trying to constantly cut in front of photographers and wanting to tailgate the car carrying Kim, her husband Kanye and her sister Kourtney after they left a fitting at Givenchy.

According to photographers on motorbikes who were also following the reality TV star, the driver of the car was talking loudly on his phone but looked to be smartly dressed.

A new video has emerged showing a mystery car tailing Kim Kardashian as she left a French fashion house just hours before the terrifying 8.5million heist

The footage shows a grey Fiat 500 trying to constantly cut in front of photographers and wanting to tailgate the car carrying Kim, her husband Kanye and her sister Kourtney after they left a fitting at Givenchy

According to photographers on motorbikes who were also following the reality TV star, the driver of the car was talking loudly on his phone but looked to be smartly dressed

Sources in France said one of the suspect men pretended to be a plain-clothed detective to try to get a seat next to her at the exclusive Ferdi restaurant, where she dined on Thursday night, above

At one point, photographers who were angry by his driving tried to confront him as Kim arrived at a restaurant in the French capital.

And when asked who he was, the man apparently replied that he was a police officer.

It is also claimed that he also tried to enter the restaurant where the family were eating but was turned away by security.

Photographers also claim he was spotted outside the apartment that was raided with Kim inside and that he was stood there for two hours, constantly looking inside the gate and clutching his phone.

The footage comes as sources close to the French police investigation have claimed that Kim was tailed by two men in the days leading up to the robbery.

The two men  described as 'Caucasian' and 'North African'  posed as a plain-clothed detective and as a photographer to gain vital 'close surveillance' information for robbery.

One even tried to gain access to the Kardashian's exclusive apartment at Hotel Pourtales ahead of the raid in the early hours of Monday morning, investigators fear.

The men  who spoke with French accents  are now thought to be suspects in the multi-million dollar jewellery heist in which Kim Kardashian begged for her life with a gun at her head.

Meanwhile it has emerged there is no CCTV footage of the robbers breaking into or escaping the hotel which is said to be frequented by A-list celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna and Jay Z.

Kim Kardashian was tailed by two men in the days before her terrifying multimillion pound robbery in Paris, it has been claimed. A man on a motorcycle aroused suspicions among photographers

As details emerged of how Kim was tailed in the days preceding the robbery, the star told close friends how she feared she would be raped by her attackers. Pictured: Kim reunited with husband Kanye West in New York on Monday

One man is said to have acted suspiciously, joining the paparazzi 'pack' to gain 'inside' information about the star's movements while the other man apparently posed as a detective to seek access to the star at a restaurant.

'Kim Kardashian was tailed for at least three days before the robbery,' the source close to the French police investigation claimed to MailOnline.

'We know there was one man who pretended to be a photographer who followed the American celebrity on a motorbike to find out her whereabouts. Another man pretended to be a plain-clothed detective to try to get a seat next to her at the exclusive Ferdi restaurant on Thursday night.

'But both men were fakes. The photographer tried to listen in to the conversations by other snappers but he was challenged by the genuine ones.

'And the so-called policeman fled when staff at Ferdi asked to see his credentials.'

Detectives are now hunting the two men who are believed to be part of a 'sophisticated international criminal organisation'.

'We know the licence plate of one of the vehicles used, a Fiat 500, and a photograph of one of the suspects. They both appear to be French and highly professional.

'But this kind of robbery could only have been carried out by a sophisticated international criminal organisation. It would have to be if they had any hope of re-classify the stolen jewels and sell them again.'

Identifying the culprits on CCTV proved fruitless as there was no surveillance video from inside or outside the hotel, sources close to the investigation told TMZ.

Police officers remain stationed at the apartment building in Paris where Kim Kardashian was robbed in a terrifying attack in the early hours of Monday morning

Flats in the same Paris block have been rented out for 25,000 a month. The fee includes a private cook, chauffeur and 24 hour concierge

Pictured is one of the luxurious main rooms in the complex where Kim Kardashian had millions of dollars worth of jewelry stolen by five armed masked men dressed as police officers. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from the window

The two men  who spoke with French accents  are now thought to be suspects in the jewellery theft in which Kim begged for her life with a gun at her head. Pictured: Kanye West, left, and Kourtney Kardashian, right, leaving Ferdi restaurant on Thursday where she was apparently followed

Police scoured the area looking for footage from nearby shops and banks in a bid to find the armed thieves who made off with millions of pounds worth of jewelery, 1,000 in cash and a mobile phone which is said to have been remotely wiped.

But the only footage available, from a police surveillance camera, was not facing the front of the Hotel Pourtales and the robbers were able to evade it.

We know police had canvassed the area looking for video from nearby businesses but came up dry.

One source questioned whether the Kardashians had had the appropriate level of security due to the high-profile nature of their visit and the huge value of the jewellery they were carrying.

We know the licence plate of one of the vehicles used, a Fiat 500, and a photograph of one of the suspects. They both appear to be French and highly professional Police source

He told MailOnline: 'They [the Kardashians] had three body guards to protect five members of the family staying at two different locations while flaunting their jewellery for everyone to see on the internet. Clearly this wasn't enough.'

Kim felt there was no need for guards to stand watch outside the apartment complex, a source told Page Six.

Her friend said: 'It sounds crazy but understand shes in her own home, in an apartment with only one entry point which is coded with two keys and keypad.

'If a guard was there, what would have happened differently. Her guard doesnt carry a gun. They had five guns - most likely more.'

Meanwhile Kim's husband Kanye West is said to be hiring look-a-likes in a bid to to act as decoys and keep his family's location private.

A source told the Daily Mirror: 'The whole family are under round-the-clock protection. He even lent Kims mum Kris his own personal security when she sacked hers after an intruder broke into her house while Kim was there.

'A few years ago, he started paying lookalikes of the couple and their son North on a retainer, in case they needed to disguise their location. Now he wants them on the payroll.'

However, Kim has used a look-a-like before as she tried to trick the papparazzi while on holiday in Mexico.

The 35-year-old reportedly used a lookalike friend, sporting a bathing suit similar to one she had worn earlier that week.

She was also spotted sunbathing with Kim's friend and personal assistant Steph Shep.

The new theory emerged after Kim told friends she feared she was going to be raped during the break-in that left her tied up in her luxury Paris apartment as men dressed as police officers stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery.

The 35-year-old reality star begged for her life, screaming that she had two children as five masked men bound her wrists and ankles before leaving her in the bathtub.

Kim Kardashian feared she was going to be raped when five masked men raided her Paris apartment Monday. Pictured, Kim, with a huge ring on her hand, at a private dinner on Sunday with sister Kourtney Kardashian and designer Azzedine Alaia

One of the two men - described as 'Caucasian' and 'North African' - are said to have tried to gain access to the Kardashian's luxury apartment at the Hotel Pourtales ahead of the raid early Monday morning. Pictured: Kardashian with West in New York

There are fears some of the jewelry stolen in the raid could have included a Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring, diamond grillz and sentimental necklaces designed by her husband Kanye West

French police said a robbery, on such a high-profile celebrity, could 'only have been carried out by a sophisticated international criminal organisation'. Pictured: Kim's bodyguard Pascal Duvier (grey t-shirt) in New York with Kanye West

The five gunmen who posed as police officers and wore ski masks to protect their identities escaped the luxury apartment in Paris in the early hours of Monday morning on bicycles. Pictured: Kim was reunited with Kanye in New York on Monday

But once they had gone she managed to break free from the restraints and scream for help from her balcony.

She had been asleep in just a robe early Monday when she heard the robbers running up the stairs of her two-story apartment behind La Madeleine church in the city's 8th arrondissement, TMZ reported.

She was halfway through dialling her bodyguard when her phone was snatched out of her hands. Meanwhile, her friend Simone Harouche sprung from her bed downstairs and locked herself in a bathroom, the website reported.

The fashion stylist and long-time friend of the Kardashians called Kim's personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier, who was out at the L'Arc nightclub with Kourtney and Kendall less than two miles away.

Meanwhile Kim managed to squeeze her hands out of the wrist ties by 'wriggling her hands' then ran 'screaming from the balcony', People magazine revealed.

Kim didn't understand the French-speaking robbers amidst the chaotic scene.

But she heard them repeating 'ring, ring' before she realized they were searching for the 20-carat emerald-cut Lorraine Schwartz ring given to her by husband Kanye West, according to TMZ.

Kim Kardashian West leaves 'L'Avenue' restaurant escoreted by her security Pascal Duvier on Sunday, just hours before the robbery

Kardashian's stylist friend Simone Harouche (left), who was in the apartment as it was being robbed, rang her body guard for help while her other pal Jasmine Sanders (right) rushed back from her night out in Paris to see her

She told them where she left the ring, which is worth a reported $4.5million (4 million /3.5 million) and last seen on Kim's finger in a Snapchat post earlier that night.

The men, who entered the building after holding the concierge at gunpoint, also stole a jewelry box worth $6.7 million (6 million/ 5.24 million) before escaping on rented bicycles available throughout the city.

Bodyguard Pascal Duvier missed the robbery as he was with Kim's sister Kourtney and Kendall Jenner two miles away.

The bodyguard, who managed to return to the apartment two minutes after the men escaped, was blasted for allowing the shocking security lapse while former guard Steve Stanulis, who suggested it was an inside job.

The source added: 'When Kourtney went out to the nightclub on Sunday night Pascal had to go with her  she was in the most danger.

'Kim was at a five star hotel which in any normal circumstances should be a safe environment.'

However the hotel doorman was left with few options when he was confronted by the gang posing as policemen and armed with hand-guns.

Kardashian's main bodyguard Pascal Duvier - who was not with her at the time of the robbery - returned to New York today

After Kim safely made it inside her hotel in New York City with her husband Kanye West, a ring of security was positioned outside the building

'There really wasn't anything the concierge could do when the guns came out,' the source told MailOnline.

'The body guards never would have let me the men upstairs if they had been there.

'They would have stopped the robbers from getting to Kim and putting a gun to her head or died trying. That is what they are trained to do.

'But this was a hotel night porter. There was nothing he could do. He had to let the robbers into Kim's apartment or they would have killed him.'

The five English-speaking robbers posing as policemen are believed to have tracked her via her obsession with updating social media.

Within hours of her ordeal the 'hysterical' star fled Paris by private jet back to New York.

Last night she was reunited with her rapper husband Kayne West, daughter North, three, and ten-month-old son Saint.

French police are said to suspect an Eastern European gang with 'inside' help, while a source told the New York Post it was an 'inside job'. The source said: 'French police suspect that the five alleged robbers had some contact with her security and were tipped off about her procedures.

Kim Kardashian was accompanied by her assistant and personal bodyguard as she rushed on to a waiting plane on Monday morning after being robbed at gunpoint

Kim Kardashian's bodyguard Pascal Duvier speaks to airport staff before they take off back to the U.S. on Monday

'They knew there was no security [with her inside her apartment that night]. All they had to do was go in, make contact with someone inside the hotel. They have issues with story of more than one worker at the hotel. They are also talking to bodyguards who worked with her earlier in the week.'

It comes after

Her social media updates flaunting her 3.5million diamond engagement ring were blamed for 'telegraphing' her whereabouts.

The raiders, who spoke English with heavy accents, bore the hallmarks of the Pink Panther gang of criminals who have been linked to heists worth 280million.

It was feared intimate secrets and photos of the star's family could be revealed after a mobile phone were stolen in the raid.

Celebrities including British star James Corden rushed to defend Miss Kardashian amid claims it was an elaborate publicity stunt.

Security was questioned at the five-star Hotel Particulier Pourtales where Madonna and Leonardo DiCaprio have also stayed.

Just an hour or so before the robbery, Kim posted a video on Snapchat that showed her wearing the engagement ring (left). She posted a video of herself FaceTiming with Blac Chyna during a baby shower with Rob Kardashian

Model Kendall Jenner left a club in Paris where she had been partying and rushed to comfort Kim early on Monday morning

Kendall Jenner is pictured rushing to be by Kim Kardashian's side after hearing about the armed raid at the apartment

Police and medics are pictured at the scene, along with Kendall Jenner (centre), Jasmine Sanders and Terrence J who left the apartment at 4:30am

At the time her main bodyguard Mr Duvier  who hours earlier had boasted on Twitter that 'you don't become a bodyguard overnight.

'It's a job with dedication, responsibility and passion'  was at a Paris club with her sisters Kourtney Kardashian, 37, and Kendall Jenner, 20.

Miss Kardashian, in Paris for Fashion Week, was described as 'badly shaken but physically unharmed'.

She is one of the most successful social media celebrities in the world, constantly filming herself to promote her various interests.

Kourtney Kardashian was seen out with Kim's bodyguard Pascal Duvier (right) on Sunday night, indicating he was not with Kim when the raid took place

Kim Kardashian is seen leaving the apartment in a black Mercedes after the shocking attack in Paris

A woman dressed in a grey coat was led away from the scene by police officers on Monday morning

She has 81million followers on photo-sharing website Instagram, 29million on Facebook and 48million on Twitter.

Her family are almost as prolific. In fact last night, only hours after the drama, her other sister Kylie Jenner was tweeting about her cosmetics range.

Two hours before the raid Miss Kardashian had flaunted her diamond engagement ring in a video to her army of fans on the messaging website Snapchat.

Her husband gave her the piece  her second engagement ring  a month ago and she has been posting pictures of herself wearing it ever since.

Armed police stood guard outside the apartment behind the French capital's Madeleine church

French police were seen leaving the house with bags of evidence after the frightening attack on Monday

A police officer leaves the luxury apartment on Monday after gathering evidence from the scene of the raid

A woman looks out of a window of the residence of Kim Kardashian West in Paris on Monday

Police stand guard outside the Paris apartment were Kim was robbed in the early hours of Monday morning

The Hotel Pourtales was built in 1839 and classified as a historic monument in 2002. It is not a proper hotel, but instead a portered building containing nine flats designed for multi-millionaires.

A French police officer enters the luxury apartment block after Kim was robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week

After being interviewed by French detectives, Miss Kardashian boarded a private jet at around 10am. In New York police officers, a convoy of SUVs with blacked-out windows and more than 20 bodyguards were waiting for her.

Wearing all black, with her head down and her hair covering her face, she went straight into her Manhattan home with her husband.

West had earlier abandoned a New York concert mid-song, telling fans there was a 'family emergency'.

When he first spoke to his wife on the phone, she was 'terrified' and 'just hysterical', a source told People magazine. 'He said she was really upset and it took him a few seconds to understand what she was saying to him. He told her that he couldn't care less about the jewellery, he's just thankful she's OK.'

Hidalgo added in a statement that she is fully confident that police forces will quickly identify and arrest those suspected of robbing the U.S. star.

New York architect Peter Marino (left) poses with Kim Kardashian (left) and Kourtney Kardashian (right) at the private dinner hosted by Surface Magazine and Azzedine Alaia as part of Paris Fashion Week on Sunday night, hours before the robbery

Kourtney Kardashian, shoe designer Azzedine Alaia and Kim Kardashian are pictured at the private dinner on Sunday. Kim's huge ring is seen on her left hand

Showing off: The mother-of-two sported a white two-piece number as she stepped out in Paris

Pictured is one of the luxurious main rooms in the complex where Kim Kardashian had millions of dollars worth of jewellery stolen by five armed masked men dressed as police officers. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from the window

Flats in the same Paris block have been rented out for 25,000 a month. The fee includes a private cook, chauffeur and 24 hour concierge

Hidalgo insisted in her statement that the robbery 'in no way calls into question police work or security of public space' in Paris.

Shortly after the incident, Kanye West ended his concert at Meadows Festival in Queens, New York on Sunday due to a 'family emergency'.

The Meadows Festival is organised by the creators of The Governors Ball. Kanye had been due to play the ball on its third and final day back in June but it was cancelled due to rainstorms.

Many fans took to Twitter expressing their anger that the 39-year-old had walked offstage on Sunday night and there was booing in the crowd. They also said that he was 30 to 40 minutes late for his scheduled performance.

The robbery had happened 'really fast', the source added. 'Kanye says that it all hit her after the guys had left, and then it sunk in. She is very upset and couldn't wait to leave Paris. She gave a statement to the police and left right after.

Hail Yeezus: Kanye was headlining the two day music and arts festival

Interesting: He reportedly cut his headline set 20 minutes early despite showing up 30 minutes late

Tough times: The 39-year-old rapper was in the middle of his 2008 hit song Heartless when he said: 'I'm sorry. I have a family emergency. I have to stop the show.'

'She got robbed of her jewellery, but doesn't care. She is just happy to be alive. She has never been in a more frightening situation.'

A photographer believed to have been following Miss Kardashian since she arrived in Paris was being questioned by police last night. He is said to have gained access to a restaurant where she and her family were dining earlier this week by posing as a policeman.

Security expert Bruce Anderson said Miss Kardashian's obsessive presence on social media may have been her undoing.

He suggested Twitter and Snapchat messages showing her location, combined with photos of her whereabouts and endless photos showing off her jewellery, could have been a toxic combination.

Just an hour prior to Kanye leaving the stage, Kim was active on Snapchat as she posted a video of herself FaceTiming with Blac Chyna during a baby shower with Rob Kardashian.

Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian are pictured front row at the Off-White show in Paris on Thursday

Kim Kardashian is pictured in the front row of the Givenchy show (left) and the Balmain show (right) as part of Paris Fashion Week

Her former bodyguard Mr Stanulis said it 'wouldn't surprise me' if the robbery was a PR stunt, adding: 'If this really did happen, she opened herself up to it.'
Hillary Clinton has opened up a six-point lead over Donald Trump in the latest NBC / Survey Monkey poll  a margin that is consistent with other surveys released in the last 24 hours.

As the two campaigns continued to bloody each other over Trump's tax returns and Clintons' paid speeches, Clinton leads Trump by 46 to 40 per cent in the latest NBC poll.

Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson is at 9 per cent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein is at 3 per cent.

Clinton's lead holds in a two-way race, but she makes it to the critical 50 per cent mark, leading Trump 50 to 44 per cent.

Hillary Clinton holds a six-point lead over Donald Trump in the latest NBC / Survey Monkey tracking poll, a margin that matches other recent surveys

Among likely women voters, Clinton leads Trump by 52 to 34 per cent.

She does even better among women who have never been married, carrying 67 per cent of the group, while also winning 51 per cent of men who have never been married.

The poll comes just hours after a CBS / New York Times poll also gave Clinton a 6 point lead in a head-to-head race. In that poll, Clinton leads Trump 49 to 43.

In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump by 45 to 41 per cent, with Gary Johnson at 8 per cent and Jill Stein at 3 per cent  and just 2 per cent undecided.

In the latest CNN poll, Clinton's lead is 5 points. She leads Trump 47 to 42 per cent among likely voters, with Johnson at 7 and Stein at 2.

Clinton has also regained some lost ground in a flurry of state polls.

She has regained her advantage in Colorado, where the former secretary of state leads Trump by 11 points and where Trump campaigned Monday.

'Clinton's current lead is as comfortable as it was three months ago, which is probably why her campaign has not diverted a lot of resources here,' said Patrick Murray, who ran the poll Monmouth University poll.

Donald Trump campaigned in Colorado on Monday, where Clinton leads him by 11 points in a new poll

In North Carolina, Trump and Clinton are in a virtual tie, with Clinton leading by a single percentage point, 46 to 45 per cent in a new Bloomberg News poll. Trump holds a 26 point edge among independents.

When Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included, Clinton leads 44 to 43 percent.

Clinton has regained a lead in Florida in a new Quinnipiac University poll. She leads Trump 46 to 41 percent, with Johnson getting 5 per cent and Stein getting 2 per cent.

On September 8th, the two were tied in Florida at 43-43.

Quinnipiac's North Carolina poll has Clinton at 46 and Trump at 43, with Johnson getting 7 per cent.

The battleground where Trump's lead is holding firm is Ohio, where he leads Clinton by 5 points, 47 to 42, with 6 per cent for Johnson and 1 per cent for Stein.

Clinton campaigned in the state Monday and touted the endorsement of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James.

Clinton noted that her husband Bill Clinton is campaigning in the state this week and daughter Chelsea has been there as well. 'And I will be back because we care about Ohio and we want to sure Ohio makes the best choice,' she said.

Clinton's potential firewall in Pennsylvania appears to be holding, with her leading trump 45 to 41 per cent, with Johnson at 5 and Stein at 2.

Clinton led by 44 to 39 per cent on September 8th there.
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Clutching her in his arms, this is the heartbreaking moment a rescuer pulled the body of a little girl from rubble following a wave of deadly street battles in Syria.

The Syrian civil defence volunteer could be seen carrying the girl from the debris after air strikes in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Karm Homad in northern Aleppo.

Soldiers, backed by Russian troops, have advanced against rebels during the intense street riots, after the US finally gave up on talks aimed at reviving a ceasefire.

The UN's human rights chief earlier appealed for action to halt the 'ghastly avalanche of violence' unfolding in Syria's second city, which has seen some of the most brutal fighting since the civil war broke out in 2011.

The Syrian army, loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, announced a major push two weeks ago to capture the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo, where thousands of civilians are trapped.

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Clutching her in his arms, this is the heartbreaking moment a rescuer pulled the body of a little girl from rubble in Aleppo following air strikes in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Karm Homad after Syrian regime forces advanced against rebels

Syrian civil defence volunteers could be seen carrying children from the debris after air strikes in the rebel-held Aleppo town

Syrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, hold the body of a man after he was pulled from the rubble

An injured girl receives treatment at a hospital in the rebel-held town of Douma, just outside the capital Damascus

Today Assad's soldiers seized several high-rise buildings from rebel groups in the city centre and pushed north.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the regime's forces were 'gradually advancing' after street battles on the frontline.

'They are focusing on the tall buildings, which were once government administration buildings, because they can monitor entire streets and neighbourhoods from there,' said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Fierce bombardment on the southern edges of the city could be heard throughout the night, although it was quieter by dawn.

Syrian state news agency SANA said six people died when rebels shelled the Aleppo University campus.

Aleppo has been divided since the breakout of civil war in 2011, with the west of the city in the control of the Assad regime and the east holding out against him and, at times, surrounded by hostile forces.

Around 600 have been killed since the end of a ceasefire last month, and a further 250,000 running out of food and water while trapped by Assad's troops on all sides.

The UN's human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said a 'calamity' was unfolding in eastern Aleppo.

More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict erupted in March 2011 but with the United States and Russia backing opposing sides in the conflict there has been little chance of a peace deal.

In this still image taken from video footage, a big blast is seen at the edge of the city accompanied by a large plume of smoke

A digger removes rubble from a devastated district in Douma, near Damascus, following air strikes in the rebel-held town

The rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo, northern Syria, (pictured) is being bombed by the Assad regime and its Russian allies

Washington announced on Monday it would suspend joint efforts to reinstate a nationwide truce.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: 'Everybody's patience with Russia has run out.'

But Moscow blamed the United States for the agreement's collapse, saying Washington had never been able to separate rebels on the ground from the jihadist group Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly al-Qaeda's Syrian ally.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: 'After failing to fulfil the agreements that they themselves worked out, they are trying to shift responsibility on to someone else.'

Residents in the eastern half of the city continue to fight for their lives on a daily basis as their surroundings are destroyed
The cause of death has been revealed as driver fatigue

Driver fatigue has been identified as the key factor in the deaths of an Australian school teacher and pupil.

Andre Daniel Vogel, 36, and Gabriel Conor Runge, 16, died instantly when the mini van Vogel was driving smashed head-on into a milk tanker at Reporoa, near Rotorua, on November 28, 2014.

A reserved decision into the cause of the pair's death was released on Tuesday by coroner Dr Wallace Bain.

Australian teacher Andre Daniel Vogel (above) died when the car he was driving smashed head on to a milk truck in New Zealand in 2014 also killing a student

Dr Bain presided over the inquest last year into their deaths and the crash that injured nine other pupils and a teacher, some seriously.

All came from the Noosa Pengari Steiner School in Doonan, Queensland, and had been in New Zealand on an outdoor education trip to Tongariro National Park, which students described as challenging and exhausting.

Vogel had been one of two teachers escorting them.

The coroner based his findings on evidence heard and a subsequent report from Major Charmaine Tate, a New Zealand Army doctor and expert in the effects of sleep deprivation.

Gabriel Conor Runge, 16, died instantly when the mini van Vogel was driving smashed head-on into a milk tanker

It has been discovered that Vogel was suffering from driver fatigue at the time of the crash

The inquest heard that shortly before the crash a driver had seen the mini van swerve to the left and the driver suddenly take evasive action. The only student awake when the crash occurred saw Vogel's hands slip from the steering wheel and his head loll to the side.

At the inquest in November 2015, Runge's parents raised a number of issues including criticism of the school for having no standard of care for their children and for having no management strategy in place. They also raised the issue of neither teacher monitoring each other's fatigue levels.

The coroner commented that had Mr Vogel appreciated the extent of his fatigue he would not have driven the two-and-a-half hour journey to Rotorua, acknowledging that since the double fatality the school had taken steps to prevent a re-occurrence.

Vogel and Runge (above) were on an outdoor education trip to Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

The crash took place at the picturesque Reporoa, near Rotorua (above), on November 28, 2014

He said organisations and drivers need to take extreme care and vigilance where strenuous activity was involved before a road trip and that drivers are properly monitored.

Dr Bain said it was obvious Mr Vogel was a devoted teacher to his students.

'It seems clear, however, he did not act on the symptoms within himself leading to the drowsiness that occurred.'
A Florida zookeeper mauled by a tiger broke safety rules by not locking up the killer animal before entering its enclosure and by failing to carry pepper spray.

Stacey Konwiser was killed on April 15 when 'Hati' the tiger pounced on her at Palm Beach Zoo.

A report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission absolved the zoo of responsibility over the 38-year-old zookeeper's death, saying they had not breached any state regulations.

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Zookeeper Stacey Konwiser, pictured, 38, died of a fractured spine, a lacerated jugular and other neck injuries suffered when she was attacked on April 15, an autopsy has found

Konwiser's co-workers rushed to the tiger exhibit after hearing her screams and found the tiger standing over her body. Pictured are two of the zoo's tigers

Stacey Konwiser, left, worked at Palm Beach Zoo along with her husband Jeremy, right

Investigators found all the gates in the tiger house were operating normally.

Konwiser, 38 and an experienced keeper, had entered the tiger house to prepare for a presentation.

The report says a warning sign on the door showed the 12-year-old Malayan tiger named Hati wasn't locked up, but for an unknown reason Konwiser entered anyway.

Zoo policy required that she carry pepper spray on her belt for self-defense, but she didn't have any, the report says.

Konwiser's screams caused co-workers to run to the pen where they found the 300-pound tiger standing over her body. Her neck had been crushed and her jugular severed, according to a recent autopsy report.

Investigators found all of the gates on the tiger enclosure were operating correctly at the time

An investigation found Konwiser, pictured, ignored safety protocols when entering the cage

Zoo spokesman Naki Carter said in an email that the zoo appreciates the FWC's diligence and professionalism. She said the zoo continues to cooperate with the remaining agencies investigating this accident.

Zoo officials have defended their decision not to shoot the rare tiger, saying they feared a bullet could strike Konwiser or further enrage Hati if it didn't kill him instantly.

Instead, they tried unsuccessfully to lure him into a cage with food before shooting him with a tranquilizer dart. Paramedics reached Konwiser 17 minutes after the attack and found she had no pulse. She was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.

No cameras were operating in the area of the attack. Officials have said they are only used to monitor breeding efforts, so were turned off.

There are only about 300 adult Malayan tigers in the wild and they are considered endangered.

Konwiser had worked at the Palm Beach Zoo for three years after working at the Palm Springs zoo in California
More than 6,000 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Libya in one day - to mark three years since 366 died in the sinking that alerted the world to the crisis.

Italy's coastguard saved at least 200 children - including nine youngsters under five-years-old - in one of the biggest ever rescue missions in a single day on Monday.

But officials said at least nine women and two children died as they attempted to make the perilous journey from Libya to Europe.

More than 6,000 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Libya in one day, pictured a child is saved from a vessel by a member of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean

Some 6,055 migrants were saved from the overcrowded boats around 30 miles from Libya by nine Italian coastguard ships

The people were saved by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean sea

Italy's coastguard saved at least 200 children - including nine youngsters under five-years-old

A pregnant woman and a young child had to be airlifted to hospital after suffering severe burns caused by spilled fuel during a rescue from a rubber dinghy by a boat.

Smugglers had taken advantage of the calm conditions on Monday and the migrants set off from the Libyan coast in 32 rubber dinghies, five boats and two rafts.

But some 6,055 migrants were saved from the overcrowded boats around 30 miles from Libya by nine Italian coastguard ships.

One Italian coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat.

A pregnant woman and a young child had to be airlifted to hospital after suffering severe burns caused by spilled fuel during a rescue from a rubber dinghy by a boat

A man hangs from a boat as people wait to be rescued 12 nautical miles north of Libya

Smugglers had taken advantage of the calm conditions on Monday and the migrants set off from the Libyan coast in 32 rubber dinghies, five boats and two rafts

One Italian coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat

A young child is seen with tears in her eyes after she is rescued from an overcrowded boat on Monday

The navy and aid groups - such as the Proactiva Open Arms NGO - were also involved in the operation.

It was reported that at least 11 people died - including two children - when a small boat crammed with 160 people capsized off Garabulli, east of Tripoli.

The mass rescue came exactly three years after 366 migrants died when an overcrowded boat sank off the coast of Italy.

The ship caught fire and sank just two miles off the island of Lampedusa, killing Somali and Eritrean migrants.

Two men gesture for help in the rescue, which saw more than 6,000 rescued, including 200 children

Migrants wait to be rescued as they drift in the Mediterranean Sea around 20 miles north off the coast of Libya on Monday

The navy and aid groups - such as the Proactiva Open Arms NGO - were also involved in the operation

Some 6,055 migrants were saved from the overcrowded boats around 30 miles from Libya by nine Italian coastguard ships

Following the disaster, the Italian navy and coastguard stepped up rescue operations.

The tragedy alerted the world to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

Around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Libya has become a hub for illegal migration towards Europe.

Around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Migrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea

A man is rescued from the Mediterranean Sea, to the north of Libya
Labour MP Simon Danczuk will not be charged over an allegation of historic rape following a ten month investigation

Labour MP Simon Danczuk will not be charged with historic rape following a ten month investigation.

The Rochdale MP, who was suspended by the Labour Party, described the probe by Lancashire Police as an 'immensely stressful period for me and my family'.

The Crown Prosecution Service said no further action should be taken against Mr Danczuk because of 'insufficient evidence'.

He said he now hopes to have the Labour whip restored 'as soon as possible'.

In a statement, he said: 'I am grateful for the decision made by the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) and I am relieved that the investigation has now come to an end.

'Even though I maintained my innocence throughout, this has been an immensely stressful period for me and my family. I thank them for their continuing support.'

He added: 'I now expect the Labour Party to conclude their investigation into these matters and lift my suspension as soon as possible.'

A CPS spokesman said: 'The Crown Prosecution Service has decided that no further action should be taken against a 49 year old man after an investigation by Lancashire Police into allegations of rape.

'Following receipt of a file from Lancashire Police in relation to Operation Lotus, the evidence was considered by a specialist prosecutor in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

'It has been decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

'The complainant has been informed and we have written to her to fully explain our decision.'

The Crown Prosecution Service said no further action should be taken against Mr Danczuk (with ex-wife Karen) because of 'insufficient evidence

Mr Danczuk, who became MP for Rochdale in 2010, has rarely been out of the headlines over the last year over a series of alleged misdemeanours.

Aside from the rape allegation, this included 'sexting' a 17-year-old girl and breaking expenses rules.

He remains under police investigation over his expenses after the parliamentary regulator ordered him to repay more than 11,500 in wrongful claims in March.

He was found to have claimed extra accommodation expenses for two of his children  even though they were not living with him. He insisted he had made an honest mistake.

Karen Danczuk led the turkey hunt which was the main focus in this week's Celebrity Island - and was blasted by animal rights groups for killing a turkey live on air

At the start of the year his ex-wife, Karen, accused him of abusive behaviour during their marriage, a claim he strenuously denied.

He reportedly smashed a glass door in a jealous rage after he discovered she had been on the phone to another man.

Karen claimed she needed hospital treatment for her injuries while Mr Danczuk appeared in court on suspicion of domestic violence.

He was later released after Karen declined to press charges for the sake of their children.

The mother-of-two - the self-confessed 'Selfie Queen' - came under fire last night for killing a turkey live on air during Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls.

She was also pictured last week frolicking in the Spanish surf with her new 26-year-old waiter boyfriend known only as 'David'.

She was sporting a bright pink swimming costume with 'Let's get physical' emblazoned across the front.

Karen was staying at the Spanish apartment where she was injured during the bust-up with her ex-husband.

Selfie queen Karen Danczuk, 29, was pictured wrapping her legs around her new lover David's waist while kissing him passionately in the sea in Costa Blanca, on the southeastern coast of Spain, during a trip to her nearby holiday home

Danczuk, 29, wore a bright pink swimsuit with 'Let's get physical' emblazoned on the front as she rolled around on the sand

The 29-year-old mother-of-two rolled around with her new boyfriend on the Costa Blanca sand while his pet dog looked on

The 49-year-old MP remains suspended by the Labour party after sending lewd text messages to a 17-year-old girl asking if she wanted to be 'spanked', which surfaced at the end of 2015. He blamed it on a 'drink problem'.

The MP is also alleged to have exchanged more than 6,000 explicit messages with a 22-year-old blonde woman he met on Twitter just days earlier.

He admitting to having sex with her in his taxpayer-funded constituency office in Rochdale.

Following that he said: 'I've been immature, kamikaze and irresponsible when it comes to sex. I have got a problem and I admit that I need to seek help about sex addiction.'

It is not known when the party will make a decision on his suspension.
A man has been blocked from a dating website after rejecting a woman because she was 'over 30 and overweight'.

A Scottish woman from Edinburgh had messaged 'Ash', from Perth, a simple 'hi' on dating website Plenty Of Fish (POF).

But she received a stock reply Ash claimed to have previously drafted and sent to others because too many women who need to lower their standards message him.

The Australian man claimed he could be 'prescriptive in his search', however, because he's 'fairly good looking' and 'also tall and the ladies like that a lot'.

An Australian man, 'Ash' (pictured) has been blocked from a dating website after rejecting a woman because she was 'over 30 and overweight'

Ash has since gone viral because of his brutal rejection.

'I was specific with age because I would like to start a family one day and, to be honest, I think that the necessary time line before doing so is shortened/compressed with a lady over 30,' Ash said in his response to the Scottish woman.

'I was also specific about weight as I have never been attracted to big women.

'However since moving to Scotland and going on POF I have learned that "average body type" is commonly held to be around a dress size 14/16.

'I had to google this, but that dress size, with a waist around 34"+, indicates a woman as being very overweight and [in] all likelihood medically obese.'

Ash has since gone viral because of his brutal rejection

'P.S. I keep this response on file as I get quite a lot of messages from your cohort. There is obviously a large population of Scottish ladies who have clearly unrealistic opinions of their own appeal/attractiveness as potential partners,' Ash wrote

Despite being critical of others, Ash made sure to remind the woman of his own apparent qualities.

'Without trying to sound big headed, I'm fairly good looking, I keep myself as fit as I can, I have a highly skilled job that I work very hard at and consequently earn well into six figures.

'I'm also tall and the ladies like that a lot.

'This means I can afford to be quite prescriptive in my search and I absolutely don't have to consider dating women who are over 30 and overweight.

'P.S. I keep this response on file as I get quite a lot of messages from your cohort. There is obviously a large population of Scottish ladies who have clearly unrealistic opinions of their own appeal/attractiveness as potential partners.

'I wish you all success in your search but would suggest that you lower your standards somewhat.'

People on Facebook commented it was Ash who had an unrealistic opinion of himself

Others labelled him a 'creep' and a 'narcissistic sociopath'

'Yawn! And that's why you're single a**hole,' one wrote

POF have since blocked his profile after learning 'his views on women'

But when the woman's sister shared the response to Facebook, others commented it was Ash who had an unrealistic opinion of himself.

'And he wonders why he is single?' one woman wrote. 'And he wonders why he needs POF to find a lady?'

'Yawn! And that's why you're single a**hole,' another wrote.

Others labelled Ash a 'creep' and a 'narcissistic sociopath'.

'My boyfriend is over six foot. I suppose I should alert him to the grave mistake he's making by going out with my size 18, 31-year-old a***,' one woman wrote.

'Thanks for the reminder, I completely forgot as an overweight lady I'm not worthy of any love, affection or bare respect.'

POF have since blocked his profile after learning 'his views on women'.

'Every day, millions of singles turn to PlentyOfFish to make connections and cultivate relationships,' POF said in a statement.
He won't release filings from other years because he says he's under audit

Billionaire doesn't deny that he took advantage of the tax system - says it makes him '

The tax break Donald Trump utilized in 1995 to keep his business earnings away from the federal government was also claimed by 500,000 other Americans that year.

But the average losses those Americans claimed were far less than what Trump put down on his forms, according to Internal Revenue Service records.

Trump said he suffered a $916 million dollar blow. Other business owners reported losses of $97,600, on average, the New York Times reports.

The real estate mogul's financial failure was almost 1,000 times worse.

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The tax break Donald Trump (pictured) utilized in 1995 to keep his business earnings away from the federal government was also claimed by 500,000 other Americans that year

Trump's losses alone accounted for nearly 2 percent of the total amount that was claimed that year.

The move, first reported by the Times on Saturday, would have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

Trump and his aides have accused the Times of illegally obtaining the documents that a reporter at the publication says she received in the mail.

The billionaire doesn't deny that he took advantage of the tax system in the way the Times says he did to shield his wealth, however.

'I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit,' he said at a Tuesday afternoon rally. 'Honestly, I have brilliantly used those laws!'

His company operates as a 'pass through,' meaning the profits come through him, as do the losses. That year his casinos, a Manhattan hotel and an airline caused him to hemorrhage money.

The New York Times released pages from a 21-year-old tax return that showed Trump losing nearly $1 billion and paying no income taxes in 1995. The move would have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years

Trump argues that he had a 'fiduciary responsibility to pay no more tax than is legally required' and acknowledged that he sought 'to pay as little tax as legally possible.'

The Republican White House candidate has taken a conservative approach to the tax code and contended that his money would have been misspent by bureaucrats.

He's further asserted that while he used legal loopholes to dodge federal bills, as a real estate developer, he has had to pay 'enormous taxes' to cities and states, as well sales and excise taxes and employee taxes.

His knowledge of the tax code and how it can be manipulated is exactly why Americans should elect him over Democrat Hillary Clinton, he says.

'I knew how to use the tax code to rebuild my company when others didn't,' he said Tuesday, boasting about how he came back from the near collapse to claim his place near the top of the financial food chain.

Document that Trump filed in the '70s alongside a casino licence show that he did pay federal income taxes in 1976, 1977 and 1978. He used tax laws to shield himself from those burdens in 1979 and 1980.

In 1984 he said he earned no income and claimed more than half a million dollars in expenses.

Little else is known about his financial health because he is refusing to make his tax returns from more recent years available to the public, defying political tradition, until he's no longer under audit.
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Newly discovered Nuremberg war trial documents have revealed that one of Adolf Hitler's henchmen tried to have the Archbishop of Canterbury as a character witness.

The papers highlight the desperate attempts made by some of the Nazis to weasel their way out of justice.

Joachim von Ribbentrop was a close aide to Adolf Hitler, who was convicted for helping to start the Second World War, for planning the final solution and the death of six million Jews and for war atrocities in France and Denmark.

The defendants at the Nuremberg Nazi war crimes trials. Pictured in the front row are: Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. In the back row are: Karl Doenitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, and Fritz Sauckel

Nazi defendants (front row - lef to right) Field Marshall Hermann Goering (1893-1946) Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, Joachim Von Ribbentrop (Hitler's Foreign Minister) and Wilhelm Keitel sit in the dock of their war crimes trial at Nuremberg

Pictured left is a document in which Joachim von Rippentop calls the Arch Bishop of Canterbury as a character witness. And on the right is Herman Goring's list addressed to the General Secretary of the International Court of Justice, in German. Goring's states 'I request one of the following attorneys'

Before the war he was a German diplomat and claimed to have previously met Archbishop William Cosmo Lang.

He wanted the leader of the Church of England to give evidence on his behalf and tell how the evil Nazi had spoken to him about establishing friendly relations between Germany and England and securing peace for the two nations.

His request was rejected on account the Archbishop had died a month before it was filed.

Other documents relate to Julius Streicher, a Nazi propaganda chief who incited the extermination of the Jews through hate-filled books, article and speeches he was behind.

He requested several witnesses who could apparently attest how he had tried to stop a demonstration against the Jews in 1938 and had ordered people not to physically harm Jews.

But other documents that have come to light show how some of the Nazis remained defiant over their role in the war.

Before the war Joachim von Ribbentrop (right) was a German diplomat and claimed to have previously met Archbishop William Cosmo Lang (left)

German General Alfred Jodl (third right), flanked by Admiral von Friedeburg (second right), signs the German surrender document at the Allied headquarters in Reims, eastern France, on May 7, 1945

Pictured left is Keitel Wilhelm Summons for Witness, addressed to the General Secretary, and requesting that Otto Wettberg, a Pastor from Mainburg, is summoned by the Tribunal to give evidence on Keitel's behalf. Ernst Kaltenbrunner served as Director of the Reich Main Security Office between 1943 and 1945. He was the highest ranking member of the SS to face trial at the Nuremberg Trials. He writes (right) concerning the Christmas bonus of the permanent SS personnel

German general Alfred Jodl was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to his signing of the order to execute any Allied commando caught in German territory.

After being sentenced to death, he submitted a final statement to the International Military tribunal at Nuremberg, stating how he would leave the court room 'with my head held high'.

And another item shows that Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering was appointed his fifth choice attorney to represent him at the historic trials.

Other documents relate to Julius Streicher ( far right), a Nazi propaganda chief who incited the extermination of the Jews through hate-filled books, article and speeches he was behind

Julius Streicher founded and published the anti-Semitic newspaper Der Sturmer. Pictured (left) is his application for Summons for Witness, requesting Fritz Herrwerth of Nuremberg. Pictured (right) is Alfred Jodl's last statement before being sentenced

At the end of 1945 after he had been arrested for war crimes, Goering made a list of eight lawyers he wanted for the job but was given

Dr Otto Stahmer, who had been at number five. All four defendants were sentenced to hanging at the end of the trials. Goering committed suicide by cyanide on the eve of his execution but the other three hung.

The fascinating documents have now surfaced from the archives of Hans Werner, who was the director of printing at Nuremberg and was responsible for the printing of the 42 volume 'Record of the Trial of Major War Criminals for the Nuremberg Trials' that was released in 1949.

From June 1940 until the end of World War II, Hans served in the Wehrmacht , most recently in the rank of lieutenant.

In the army he initially belonged to 1st Mountain Division on before end of June 1941 to February 1943 in the Economic Staff East was used in the East Prussian Bartenstein. Then he served in the 97th Hunter Division.

Following the Nuremberg trials, he went on to become a lawyer, before publishing several nature and travel guides in 1950.

The fascinating documents have now surfaced from the archives of Hans Werner (left). One item shows that Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering (right was appointed his fifth choice attorney to represent him at the historic trials

Many Nuremberg trial documents didn't make it into the final edition as they weren't relevant.

They are now owned by a private collector who is selling them at International Autograph Auctions (IAA) in Nottingham.

Richard Davie, of IAA, said: 'These first hand documents were submitted at the Nuremberg trials and show, in some cases, their sheer desperation to wriggle out of justice.

'Take the case of Julius Streicher. He spent the whole of the war inciting others to commit crimes against Jews but tried to claim that it wasn't anything to do with him at Nuremberg.

'Von Ribbentrop was a German diplomat before the war and he may have met the Archbishop of Canterbury at some stage.

'Yet it is quite incredible to think of a Nazi requesting the man in the highest role in the church of England to be a witness for his defence. The very notion of it seems crazy.

'All these documents have come from Hans Werner, the man in charge of printing the final record of the tribunal. I doubt some of these papers were published as they were too peripheral and not relevant.'
Three deaf people were caught on CCTV using sign language to plot the murder of their housemate moments before he fell to his death from a balcony, a court has heard.

Robert Wright, who was also deaf, died from catastrophic head injuries after falling from the balcony of the second-floor apartment in Melbourne's east on January 15 last year.

Georgia Fields, Jake Fairest and Warwick Toohey are accused of murdering the 36-year-old, they were each found unfit to stand trial due to their intellectual disabilities and are subject to a special hearing.

Robert Wright (pictured) died from catastrophic head injuries after falling from the balcony of the second-floor apartment in Melbourne's east on January 15 last year

In footage from the foyer and lift of the apartment building which was analysed by an Auslan interpreter, the trio allegedly discuss the best way to kill Mr Wright.

'Ms Fields asked Mr Fairest 'you want dead or alive and how die?' Prosecutor Christopher Dane QC told the Victorian Supreme Court.

'Mr Fairest ... signs 'can strangle neck area, what do you think?'

'Mr Toohey signs to Mr Fairest 'strangle risky' and Ms Fields signs 'fall good, fall good', the prosecutor told the court.

Fields and Fairest have pleaded not guilty while Toohey has pleaded not guilty on the grounds of mental impairment.

Toohey and Fairest are intellectually disabled while Fields suffers from atypical autism and has low intelligence.

'The prosecution case is Mr Wright was pushed in a plan between his housemate and his two other friends,' Mr Dane told the court.

'Fairest and Toohey, the Crown says, lifted him up and forced his body over the railing of the balcony while Fields looked on.'

Georgia Fields, Jake Fairest (pictured) and Warwick Toohey are accused of murdering the 36-year-old

Fields (left) and Fairest have pleaded not guilty while Toohey (right) has pleaded not guilty on the grounds of mental impairment

In footage from the foyer and lift of the apartment building analysed by an Auslan interpreter, the trio allegedly discuss the best way to kill Mr Wright (pictured)

A neighbour who was smoking a cigarette outside will give evidence he saw Mr Wright holding onto the balcony ledge while an unknown person held his wrist, said the prosecutor.

That person then let go of the 36-year-old.

Defence counsel for Toohey said his client is mentally impaired and not legally responsible for his actions.

'Much of what the Crown says happened, we do not disagree with,' barrister Theo Alexander said in his defence reply.

'The issue in relation to Toohey is how his mental capacity interacts with his legal liability.'

Mr Alexander said Toohey was unable to form an intention of murder and was unable to appreciate what was happening.

A neighbour who was smoking a cigarette outside will give evidence he saw Mr Wright holding onto the balcony ledge while an unknown person held his wrist, said the prosecutor

The trio are facing a special hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court (pictured) after being found unfit to stand trial due to their intellectual disabilities

Defence counsel for Fairest said his client was not involved in Mr Wright's murder.

'He says 'I wasn't part of an agreement and I wasn't involved in the ultimate act of pushing him off the balcony',' said barrister David Gibson.

Peter Kilduff, representing Fields, said his client denied murdering Mr Wright.

'She told police ... 'Warwick and Jake both picked Robert up and pushed him off the balcony',' he said.

The prosecution says five days after Mr Wright died, Fields told a friend on Facebook messenger that she, Fairest and Toohey 'pushed Robbie over the balcony'.

'She stated she didn't want to tell the truth to police as she wanted to be free and not in jail,' Mr Dane said.

In a special hearing it is open to the jury to find the accused has committed the offence, or find the accused is not guilty, or not guilty by reason of mental impairment.
A Vermont man has been arrested in connection with more than 40 marijuana plants found growing in a cemetery.

Adam Mahoney, 23, pleaded not guilty Monday in Rutland to a felony marijuana cultivation charge.

Authorities say Rutland County deputies found five grow sites while patrolling the Chippenhook Cemetery in Clarendon in August.

Rick Parrott, who has lived across from the cemetery for 30 years said in August he noticed more foot-traffic than normal.

Adam Mahoney, 23, pleaded not guilty Monday in Rutland to a felony marijuana cultivation charge after being accused of growing the plant in a cemetery (pictured)

Authorities found 45 marijuana plants in Chippenhook Cemetery in Clarendon, Vermont, in August

'Me and my wife both noticed it. People aren't visiting graves at 9 o'clock at night, so it was sort of suspicious,' Parrott told WCAX.

Parrott called the police and they told him it was likely just people playing Pokemon Go.

But when Parrott contacted the sheriff, who agreed to check out the cemetery, no Pokemon players were found.

Instead, Rutland County Sheriff Stephen Benard found 45 marijuana plants.

Rick Parrott (pictured), who has lived across from the cemetery for 30 years, said he called police when he noticed an unusual amount of foot traffic in the cemetery

'Found a path that went down into the woods, went down the path and found the marijuana growing,' Bernard told WCAX.

He said each plant was about five feet tall and were not fully mature at the time they were found.

'It was definitely tended. There was potting soil there and the plants were tied down and thing like that. So I don't think there was any type of drug sales or activity in the are,' Bernard said.

A search of Mahoney's car showed he had quite the green thumb.

An officer spotted Mahoney in the cemetery and arrested him after finding a host of gardening supplies in his vehicle

Authorities say a search of his vehicle revealed items including fish fertilizer, an open box of Miracle-Gro, containers filled with water and animal repellant spray.

While patrolling the cemetery, deputy Jessica Ryan-LeBlanc says she spotted Mahoney in the woods near the cemetery.

He allegedly fled when she told him to stop.
Armed Forces cadet units are to be set up in 150 schools including an academy in Birmingham that was embroiled in the Trojan Horse extremism scandal.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced the first of the new units would be established in Birmingham's Rockwood Academy to boost efforts to instill 'British values'.

In 2014, when it was then known as Park View School, the school was found to have been infiltrated by Islamic extremists who promoted al-Qaeda inspired views to pupils.

After his speech Mr Fallon visited the school, which he told party activists at the conference in Birmingham the new version was like a 'phoenix from the ashes' of its predecessor.

Michael Fallon, visited Birmingham's Rockwood Academy today to launch the first of 150 new school cadet units

Rockwood emerged from the trojan horse scandal after the previous school on the site was closed for being infiltrated by extremists

After the infiltration was uncovered, Ofsted inspectors put the school into special measures and it has since been overhauled by new staff.

The Defence Secretary said: 'Look at the young cadets who learn the skills and confidence they need to thrive.

'Today I am announcing the first 25 of 150 new units we are creating in state schools.

'They include one at Rockwood Academy  in this city - which I will be visiting this afternoon.

'(It is) a phoenix from the ashes of a 'Trojan Horse' school that is now instilling British values, instead of promoting religious segregation.'

On his visit to the school, he added: "This used to be a 'Trojan Horse' school.

"It has been turned around completely and instead of promoting religious segregation, today, as a new academy, it is instilling British values with a school cadet unit that will parade this afternoon, serving the Queen and country."

Michael Fallon, pictured during his keynote address to Tory conference today, announced a cadet unit would be established in Birmingham's Rockwood Academy

Mr Fallon's speech, which also included new legal protections for troops, was well received in the main hall at the party conference in Birmingham

Mr Fallon said the Armed Forces were driving opportunity for young people across the country.

He said: 'Look at how the Armed Forces provide the most apprenticeships.

'Helping people develop skills that benefit our military  setting set them up for better careers in civilian life.

'I am setting a target to deliver 50,000 apprenticeships over this Parliament.'

Mr Fallon rehearsed attacks on the Labour Party over Trident and wider defence policy - insisting 'waving the white flag' would not keep the country safe.

He said instead, the Conservative Government was investing in a new generation of equipment and tackling threats from ISIS, Russia and North Korea.

Shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis, pictured at last week's Labour conference, today slammed Mr Fallon's speech as a smokescreen to cover cuts

But shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis dismissed the speech.

He said: 'Michael Fallon's speech was a smokescreen, designed to deflect from the Tories legacy of failure on defence.

'The reality is their devastating cuts since 2010 have weakened and demoralised our Armed Forces, leaving them poorly-equipped, over-stretched, under-paid and too often living in squalid conditions.

'The Tory obsession with cost-cutting means they are not even using British steel to build our ships and vehicles.

'They have systematically undermined our industrial communities, ripping up Labour's Defence Industrial Strategy and spending billions overseas, instead of investing in British jobs and British steel.

'For Labour, our Armed Forces personnel and veterans will always come first. We will tackle the decline of wages and pensions, the decay of on-base housing and the shocking lack of support for veterans.
Companies will be forced to reveal what proportion of their work force are foreign under new immigration rules that can be brought in before Brexit, Amber Rudd promised today.

The Home Secretary outlined tough new rules on foreign students and taxi drivers in her main speech to the Tory conference in Birmingham.

Ms Rudd has launched a consultation on new powers today as the Government works to outline its Brexit plans.

Immigration has been a heated debate at the conference in Birmingham this week and Brexit Secretary David Davis today floated tough new work visa rules which could be imposed after Britain leaves the EU.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, seen delivering her speech to conference today, has unveiled measures to curb immigration before we leave the EU

During her speech today, Mrs Rudd suggested immigration checks should be mandatory for taxi drivers and landlords who rent to illegals could be jailed

She announced plans to crack down on the 'generous' arrangements for students from abroad, saying they could be blocked from jobs if courses are not high enough quality.

Immigration checks will also be mandatory for taxi drivers, while landlords who rent to illegals could face jail sentences.

New measures forcing companies to reveal how many 'international' staff they employ will effectively name and shame firms which bring in foreigners rather than invest in talent at home.

The package was unveiled in Mrs Rudd's speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham - her first since becoming Home Secretary.

She delivered gushing praise for her predecessor in the job, Theresa May - now Prime Minister.

Mrs Rudd said Mrs May had been 'held back' from stepping up immigration action by Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg and Vince Cable during the coalition years.

But she said the ex-home secretary had made great progress since the Tories were elected with a majority last year, and she wanted to carry the legacy.

Mrs Rudd dismissed suggestions that the commitment to reducing annual net migration - the difference between inflows and outflows - to below 100,000. It has been running at over 300,000.

But she warned that the goal would not be achieved 'overnight'.

'As you know, the Conservative Party was elected on a Manifesto commitment to reduce net migration to sustainable levels,' she said.

'This means tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands. And my commitment to you today is that Ill be working with colleagues across Government to deliver this.

Mrs Rudd, pictured addressing activists in Birmingham today, warned that reducing number would not 'happen overnight'

But I am also here to level with you Conference. This will not happen overnight.'

Mrs Rudd said leaving the EU was 'just one part of the strategy' for controlling numbers.

'We have to look at all sources of immigration if we mean business,' she said.

Mrs Rudd said that from from December, landlords who 'knowingly' rent out property to illegal residents will be committing a criminal offence and 'could go to prison'.

'Furthermore, from December, immigration checks will be a mandatory requirement for those wanting to get a licence to drive a taxi,' she added.

From next autumn banks will have to do regular checks to ensure they are not providing 'essential banking services' to illegal migrants.

But Mrs Rudd said while immigration had 'brought benefits to the nation', wider steps needed to be taken to control numbers.

'This is why I want to reduce net migration while continuing to ensure we attract the brightest and the best,' she said.

The Home Secretary also heaped praise on her predecessor at the department, Theresa May - pictured today walking through the conference venue with her entourage

'Because its only by reducing the numbers back down to sustainable levels that we can change the tide of public opinion so once again immigration is something we can all welcome.'

Mrs Rudd said that meant looking across 'work and study routes'.

'This will include examining whether we should tighten the test companies have to take before recruiting from abroad,' she said.

'The test should ensure people coming here are filling gaps in the labour market, not taking jobs British people could do.

'But its become a tick box exercise, allowing some firms to get away with not training local people. We wont win in the world if we dont do more to upskill our own workforce...

'So I want us to look again at whether our immigration system provides the right incentives for businesses to invest in British workers.'

Mrs Rudd said the government would also look for the first time at whether immigration rules for students should be 'tailored to the quality of the course and the quality of the educational institution'.

'Im proud that we have world-leading centres of academic excellence. Its a testament to our countrys proud history and our top universities ability to evolve,' she said.

The speech by Mrs Rudd was warmly received by the party faithful in Birmingham today

'But the current system allows all students, irrespective of their talents and the universitys quality, favourable employment prospects when they stop studying.

'While an international student is studying here, their family members can do any form of work.

'And foreign students, even those studying English Language degrees, dont even have to be proficient in speaking English.

'We need to look at whether this one size fits all approach really is right for the hundreds of different universities, providing thousands of different courses across the country.

'And we need to look at whether this generous offer for all universities is really adding value to our economy.

'Im passionately committed to making sure our world-leading institutions can attract the brightest and the best. But a student immigration system that treats every student and university as equal only punishes those we should want to help.'

She added: 'This isnt about pulling up the drawbridge. Its about making sure students that come here, come to study.'

Mrs Rudd delivered an explicit warning to business against 'simply opposing any steps to reduce net migration'.

Mrs Rudd was greeted by former Cabinet minister Eric Pickles after her speech today

'This Government will not waver in its commitment to put the interests of the British people first,' she said.

'Reducing net migration back down to sustainable levels will not be easy. But I am committed to delivering it on behalf of the British people.

'So work with us, not against us, and well better control immigration and protect our economy.'

Mrs Rudd said the government would push ahead proposals to overhaul legislation to make it easier to deport foreign criminals.

'By setting out in legislation what is in the fundamental interests of the UK, we will make it easier to deport EU criminals, aligning their fortunes more closely with those from outside the EU,' she said.

'And going one step further, for the first time, we will deport EU nationals that repeatedly commit so-called minor crimes in this country.

'So-called minor crime is still crime  its pain is still felt deeply by victims.

'Well, those criminals will face being banned from coming back to the country from between 5 and 10 years.'

The Home Secretary confirmed that the government would be following through on a manifesto commitment to set up a new 140million Controlling Migration Fund  designed to ease the pressures on public services in areas of high migration.

'The fund will build on work we have done to support local authorities to stop giving housing benefit to people that have no right to be in the country to reduce rough sleeping by illegal immigrants and to crack down on the rogue landlords who house illegal migrants in the most appalling conditions,' she said.

'And for those that are here legally, we will provide more English language support. And with it, the obvious benefits of being able to join the way of life in the country they have chosen to call home.'

Mrs Rudd said: 'So Conference today I am setting out how we will get immigration under control.

'In the long term, by reducing the numbers that come from Europe.

'In the mid-term, by reforming the student and work route of entry.
They have also demanded that he step down as mayor

memes sparked national outcry and calls for him to resign

Another seems to call for the President of the United

Racist mayor Charles Wasko is mayor of West York, a small town just 30 miles south of Harrisburg

The mayor of a small Pennsylvania town who has posted shocking, racist memes on his Facebook page has been censored by his own council.

The West York town council voted unanimously to censure Mayor Charles Wasko to 'send a message to the mayor that his legislative body rebukes him in every way.'

'He has embarrassed all of us. Not just this table but everyone in this room. Everyone in West York. Everyone in York County, everyone in this Commonwealth,' council president Shawn Mauck said at the Monday meeting.

Wasko sparked national outrage it emerged he's posted a series of offensive and racist messages on his social media pages.

In one instance, the mayor posted a picture of a smiling monkey with a shocking caption, apparently referencing First Lade Michelle Obama.

'Most think it is Obama's picture......sorry its Moochelles baby photo.'

In February, he appeared to make a joke about lynching the president.

He had posted an image showing actor Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, holding a noose in front of his face. The caption on the photo read: Barry, this rope is for you. You wanna bring that empty chair over here!' -

Another sickening, racist meme, posted in June, showed a picture of five orangutans sitting in a wheelbarrow with the text: 'Awwmoving day at the Whitehouse (sic) has finally arrived.'

Offensive: This meme shows orangutans transported in a wagon with the words 'Kenya or bust' written on it. The caption above reads: 'Aww... moving day at the White House has finally arrived'

Wasko added his own caption which read: 'Not soon enough.'

The posts sparked national outcry and demands for the mayor to resign.

The council's president, Shawn Mauck, told the local newspaper York Dispatch that the posts are 'disgusting'.

'I almost don't know what to say,' Mauck said. 'I kind of want to throw up.'

Wasko, who was elected mayor in 2013, dismissed the criticism claiming the controversy was political and stemmed from 'bulls**t that's going on up at the borough office.'

The images on the mayor's Facebook page and the resulting fallout prompted senior law enforcement officials in the town - which is 90 per cent white - to clarify that the views do not represent those of the local sheriffs.

'This in no way reflects the ideology of this department,' acting police chief Matthew Millsaps said, adding that he was 'disturbed' by the images.

'Of particular concern are any images with undertones of violence - lynching or that are threatening in nature,' Millsaps said.

West York Borough Council members listen to speakers voice their concerns about Mayor Charles Wasko at the Monday meeting

Concerned town residents piled into the meeting, some holding up signs that demanded Wasko resign

The picture of Eastwood and the noose is particularly incendiary given the history of violence toward African-Americans in this country  many of whom were lynched and hanged.

Hundreds of West York residents had packed into the town's borough hall meeting on Monday evening to denounce Wasko.

'He is not just distasteful, he is dangerous,' said Carla Christopher, a member of local activist rights group Put People First. 'He is dangerous to Hispanics, he is dangerous to African Americans, he is dangerous to women, to our Muslim friends and neighborsHe is dangerous to the economic stability and future of this borough.'

Council members also called on the mayor to resign from the council immediately.

'We are on to you,' Mauck said, according to PennLive. 'We ask you now to do the right thing and resign tomorrow.'

However Wasko, who did not attend Monday's meeting, was unrepentant about his racist posts.

When confronted, the mayor admitted 'the racist stuff' saying he did not care if he was labelled as racist before launching into a rambling rant where he appeared to threaten to spill secrets which would lead to further resignations at the council.

'There's no checks and balances up there in that council. When I ran for Council, I told the people, 'I will work with Council, but I will not put up with their s**t,' he told ABC 27.

The picture of Eastwood and the noose is particularly incendiary given the history of violence toward African-Americans in this country  many of whom were lynched and hanged

'The racist stuff, yeah I'll admit I did that, and I don't care what people label me as,' Wasko said, 'but I will bring everything out and there will be more resignations than mine, believe me.'

Wasko, a Donald Trump supporter, also made several posts in favor of the controversial Republican candidate.

One stated that: 'If Trump loses...No matter where you are or your family go, you won't be safe. America will no longer exist!'

The NAACP has said that it will seek to mobilize public opposition to Wasko.

'We call upon them, other council members and the West York community to take a stand against the mayor's actions that are based on racial bias and stereotypes and that exceed any protections of political speech,' Sandra Thompson, who heads the York branch of the NAACP, told the York Dispatch in an email.
Fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld has criticised Kim Kardashian for flaunting her wealth, a day after the reality television star was robbed at gunpoint in Paris of 8.5million worth of jewellery.

'You cannot display your wealth and then be surprised that some people want to share it with you,' the designer told reporters after his Chanel show.

Lagerfeld had written Kardashian a note on Monday saying: 'Dearest Kim, we are all with you', after she was tied up and robbed at a luxury apartment in Paris.

Kim Kardashian with Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld at an event in 2014. Today he criticised the reality TV star saying she shouldn't have flaunted her wealth on social media

Lagerfeld even did a photo shoot with Kim this summer for the American magazine Harper's Bazaar

But he criticised the celebrity for showing off her jewellery to her more than 100 million social media followers.

'If you're that famous and you put all your jewellery on the net, you go to hotels where nobody can come near to the room,' he said.

Kardashian tweeted a picture last week of a diamond ring worth around 3.5million which police said had been stolen in the early morning raid.

'I think it's a very bad thing for Paris but I don't understand why she was in a hotel with no security,' Lagerfeld said of the robbery, which made headlines across the world.

'Image wise, I think it is very bad. We make all of these efforts to make Paris appealing and then this happens. Apparently they were people from Eastern Europe.'

The multi-millionaire mother of two and wife of the US rap superstar Kanye West had been in Paris for fashion week, where she was a front row guest at Balenciaga and Givenchy on Sunday.

The pair became such good friends that Lagerfield even appeared in Kim's video game

The outspoken 83-year-old German-born designer and photographer has previously been complimentary about Kardashian and her family

The outspoken 83-year-old German-born designer and photographer, who is known as 'the kaiser' for his mastery of the fashion world, has previously been complimentary about Kardashian and her family.

Kim and the fashion designer appear to have struck up an unusual friendship despite the fact she was virtually blacklisted from the biggest designer fashion shows.

The pair seemed to become such good friends that she even got him to agree to appear in cartoon form in her video game.

Last year, she announced on social media that an animated version of Lagerfeld would be introduced for Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, along with cartoon versions of the Fall/Winter 2015 collection for his eponymous label.

Speaking at the time, Kim said: 'Karl Lagerfeld is such an icon and Ive been lucky enough to work with him several times over the years.'

Lagerfeld also did a photo shoot with her this summer for the American magazine Harper's Bazaar in which he had her husband Kanye West taking a picture with his mobile phone of Kardashian draped across a bed.

Kardashian's half sister Kendall Jenner also modelled for him in Chanel's Paris haute couture show last year.

Her mother Kris Jenner is also known to be a client of Chanel.

Lagerfeld has previously said that 'Kim's contribution to beauty and fashion is the fact that you don't have to be super slim and very tall to be beautiful'.

'I like her mother a lot and I adore her little half-sister Kendall. I don't know the rest of this astonishing family,' he told the celebrity news site Page Six.

Kim Kardashian was pictured with her husband Kanye West arriving at her New York City apartment from Paris

Lagerfeld is also known for his devotion to his pet cat Choupette, five, whom he was given as a gift in 2011.

The designer has previously mentioned wishing to marry the female pet in 2013 were it legal, stating he 'never thought that I would fall in love like this with a cat'.

Choupette has her own Twitter and Instagram accounts that have garnered tens of thousands of followers while she also has two 'dedicated maids' employed to look after her every need.

He has also caused controversy in the UK before after calling singer Adele 'a little too fat' in 2012, and saying he 'didn't like Pippa Middleton's face' in the same year after praising her sister the Duchess of Cambridge's beauty.

Meanwhile US singer Usher, who arrived in Paris hours after the heist, said he is defiant in the face of the crime.

'I feel more secure than ever, absolutely (safe),' the 37-year-old said, adding that he has stayed in the No Address Hotel where the incident occurred and believed it to be a secure environment.

The No Address Hotel, or L'Hotel de Pourtales, is a favourite of A-list celebrities, with past guests reportedly including Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince, Madonna, Jay-Z and Beyonce.
Taiquan Mitchell, 24, was found guilty of murder, assault and various weapons counts, but he didn't stay to hear the verdict

Police in Georgia are looking for a man after being convicted of murder on Monday managed to walk out of the courtroom - and now he is nowhere to be found.

Taiquan Mitchell, 24, of Atlanta, was out on $125,000 bond in connection with the January 2014 death of 29-year-old Beanite Waters.

After the jury returned its guilty verdict, Mitchell was gone.

'He was found guilty of all charges, but as of now he's a fugitive,' Marcus Garner, spokesman for the district attorney's office told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Mitchell was dressed in a suit meaning he was able to walk straight out the front door without being noticed by security

The convicted felon is now a fugitive on the run. He is wearing an ankle monitor but police are not sure whether it is active

Mitchell was dressed in a suit meaning he was able to walk straight out the front door without being noticed by security.

Mitchell was originally granted bond in May 2014 with the condition that the murder suspect wear an ankle monitor and be under house arrest with a 7am to 7pm curfew.

It's not known if his ankle monitor is currently operational as Dekalb County police attempt to track the fugitive down.

Mitchell's co-defendant Deon Dorsey was also granted bond but never posted it and has remained in the county jail.
McDonald's has been accused of stealing the artwork of an acclaimed artist in its highly criticized graffiti-themed restaurants around the world, according to court documents.

The estate of New York-based graffiti artist Dash Snow - who died of a heroin overdose in 2009 when he was just 27 years old - is demanding that McDonald's remove his art and pay an undisclosed amount of damages for illegally profiting off his work.

Artwork featuring Snow's name and signature covers the walls of graffiti-themed McDonald's restaurants, which first appeared in London earlier this year, according to his estate.

The estate of graffiti artist Dash Snow (above wearing a mask to protect his face from the spray paint) is demanding that McDonald's remove his art and pay damages for illegally profiting off his work

The McDonald's designs (left) is eerily similar to Snow's famous signature logo 'SACE' (pictured righ)

The estate - run by Jade Berreau, the mother of Snow's daughter - describes Snow as a highly acclaimed artist whose work has been featured in museums and galleries across the world, according to court papers exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.

His work has been sold for six-figure prices in auction houses including Christie's and Sotheby's.

The lawsuit says: 'Inexplicably, Defendants are using Mr. Snow's artwork as decor in hundreds of McDonald's restaurants, and are using his name and signature, in a manner suggesting that Mr. Snow created all the surrounding work (which adorns the entirety of McDonald's graffiti-themed restaurants).'

The estate accuses McDonald's of attempting to profit off Snow's name and reputation by replicating his work as part of the centerpiece of the themed restaurants.

'Indeed, Defendants singled out and spotlighted the display panels featuring Mr. Snow's work. Not only is Mr. Snow's artwork the largest and most prominent element on display, but it is also the only element "created" by a famous artist,' the suit states.

Snow (left, and right with his daughter), who died less than two weeks before his 28th birthday, was a prominent graffiti artist in the 1990s and 2000s

Jade Berreau (above, with Snow), the mother of Snow's daughter, is demanding a court order that will force McDonald's to remove all artwork from its restaurants as well as an undisclosed amount of damages

The suit, filed in a California court, adds: 'The remaining graphic elements are comprised of generic anonymous shapes and scribbles.'

Further, the estate claims that a representative for McDonald's admitted that stores featuring knockoff Snow artwork see greater customer traffic.

'Mr. Snow was mentioned by name in at least one such press article, under the false assumption (which resulted from Defendants' copying) that he authorized the use of his artwork and was therefore affiliated with and endorsed McDonald's,' the suit says.

The estate, however, says that McDonald's exploitation of Snow is especially unfortunate because he avoided any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism.

Snow also never made his art available in retail stores or restaurants.

'Nothing is more antithetical to Mr Snow's outsider "street cred" than association with corporate consumerism - of which McDonald's and it's marketing are the epitome,' the lawsuit states.

It continues: 'Mr. Snow is now open to charges of 'selling out'. And because McDonald's has established a terrible reputation in the art community by copying designs from other artists, Mr. Snow's perceived association with the restaurant chain has further diminished the value of Mr. Snow's work.'

McDonald's was highly criticized on social media when it unveiled graffiti-covered lampshades and walls at a restaurant in Brixton - a district of London - in March

Another Twitter user called out the fast food restaurant for using Snow's signature tag, SACE, in the Brixton restaurant

Snow's estate says that McDonald's exploitation of Snow is especially unfortunate because he avoided any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism

Snow's family demanded that McDonald's remove the artwork in June 2016, but the food chain has refused to comply.

The estate is demanding a court order that will force McDonald's to remove all artwork as well as damages for the harm they have done to Snow's legacy.

McDonald's was highly criticized when it unveiled graffiti-covered lampshades and walls at a restaurant in Brixton - a district of London - in March.

At the time, the redesign of the South London branch was described as 'inauthentic', 'offensive' and 'misguided'.

McDonald's said there was similar coverage about its Redhill, Surrey, store last October but the store saw a nine per cent uplift in sales in the six months after the redesign was introduced.

Snow, who died less than two weeks before his 28th birthday, was a prominent graffiti artist in the 1990s and 2000s. Much of his art featured stylized versions of his signature and logo, 'SACE'.

His maternal grandmother is Christophe de Menil, a famed New York-based art collector and jewelry designer.

Christophe de Menil was briefly married to Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman - the father of actress Uma Thurman.
A McDonalds customer claims he was so upset at seeing a homeless woman being refused a cup of water that he invited her into his home to eat and wash.

Jonathon Pengelly wrote on Facebook how he allegedly witnessed one of the fast food giant's employees turning down a request for some hot water.

He was on a night out at the time and said he was left 'heartbroken' by what he saw as the denial of a 'basic human right'.

McDonalds customer Jonathon Pengelly (pictured) claims he was so upset at seeing a homeless woman being refused a cup of water that he invited her into his home to eat

Posting on the social media site, Mr Pengelly, from Cardiff, wrote: 'I finished my night out, ended up in the dreaded McDonald's queue.

'I couldn't help but notice the lady in front me, all she asked for was a cup of hot water. The member of staff told her "no".

'I don't know what was going through their mind but a lady, clearly homeless was asking for a basic human right; and for a multi billion pound company, for them to say no is disgusting!'

He added: 'My heart was shattered! So I spoke to her and told her to order what she wanted, expecting her to order everything. I was so shocked. She asked for a single cheese burger and that was it. We bought as much as we could carry so I knew she wasn't going to be hungry.

'I couldn't just leave this lady go, she was so warming and so lovely. So I sat with her, on the cold hard floor, in the middle of winter and you know what I did? I cried my eyes out.'

He then claims that passers-by 'laughed' at the homeless woman, called Polly, as the pair sat in the street.

Mr Pengelly said: 'I invited Polly and her mate back to my house and we all cooked enough food to feed them and their friends for the next few nights. We boxed them up and packed them in their bags.

'Polly and her mate have had showers, brushed their teeth and they both said they have ever felt so appreciated in their life.

Pat on the back: Mr Pengelly's post (pictured) has now been shared more than 30,000 times, with him earning plenty of praise from Facebook posters for his good deed

'I'm no saint, but this small act of kindness cost me about 20. I know 90 per cent of people reading this will earn about 10 times that a day.'

Mr Pengelly's post has now been shared more than 30,000 times, with him earning plenty of praise from Facebook posters for his good deed.

He signed off by writing: 'It costs nothing to be kind, and I genuinely hope people share this to raise awareness of homelessness throughout the UK!

'Me and Polly have chatted on the phone and I've promised her that she will never go hungry or cold again! I've given her blankets, pillows and a back pack full of food.

'If you see someone on the streets, don't look down on them like they're nothing. You don't know what they've been though! Spare a little thought!'

McDonald's has denied the claim that the homeless woman was refused water, instead suggesting that she had already been banned from the restaurant for anti-social behaviour.

A spokesman said: 'There is no McDonalds policy to ban homeless people from our stores and the vast majority of such requests are granted by our restaurant teams.
Area was redeveloped into 4,000 high-rise apartments to help the housing boom in nearby city Guangzhou

Yangji village once housed over 1,400 families in low-rise houses but they were demolished in 2010

was hailed as a housewarming for their new 'modern' homes

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More than 15,000 locals have turned out for a street feast to celebrate the rebuilding of their village in China after it was knocked down by developers to make way for high-rise apartment blocks.

Residents of the once historic Yangji village in Guangdong province, southern China, dined in their thousands at red tables during the housewarming to celebrate their new homes on Sunday.

Cars were cleared from the streets and replaced with 1,500 tables. Six makeshift kitchens were installed on site as well as a stage where traditional lion dances and pop songs were performed, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

Feeding 15,000 people is a huge operation and 600 staff were on hand to help out.

Compensation: More than 15,000 locals turned out to celebrate the official opening of their new modern village on Sunday

Street feast: Immense preparation went into the event which included lining the streets with 1,500 tables

View from above: The tables were placed in rows facing towards a huge stage where traditional lion dancers performed

Bitter dispute: Locals watched on as their historic houses were demolished between 2010 and 2012 to make way for the new apartment blocks

Before it was redeveloped into 4,000 new high-rise apartments, Yangji village had a history of more than 900 years and housed over 1,400 families with more than 4,000 villagers.

It was made up of 1,496 low-rise houses.

However, they were all knocked down after the modernisation reconstruction project started in 2010.

When demolition workers first began to knockdown their neighbourhood there was fierce opposition.

The project was suspended for two years when some house owners refused to move due to compensation issues.

Chinese authorities put pressure on residents whose homes were in the way of development projects to clear out and at one point - when they got fed up with negotiating with local home owners to make way for a new office block complex - they took matters into their own hands.

They used bulldozers to divert a local river so it virtually encircled the householders holding out for better financial compensation for losing their homes.

'The ditch is as deep as a man and twice that wide. They've made it clear that if we want to leave we have to get out before they complete the circle,' said one resident at the time.

Redeveloped: What was once a historic Chinese village with more than 900 years worth of history is now another concrete jungle

Big change: A housing crisis in the nearby city of Guangzhou led to developers claiming the villager's land

New beginnings: Former residents of the old village were relocated and given new apartments in the rebuilt village

'They've already cut off most of the electricity and the fresh water and we're struggling to survive.

'But we won't give in. If they can build rivers, we can build bridges,' he added.

Eventually 99 per cent of the villagers relocated after signing agreements with the developer.

Developers claimed only a handful of hold-outs delayed the 200million plan to redevelop the site.

'They have been offered new homes so what more can we give them? Everyone else has gone and these people are standing in the way of progress,' said a spokesman.

People that already lived in the village were given one of the new flats worth around 950,000 and the rest of the new builds will now be sold.

This is not the first story of householders resisting Chinese developers in recent years.

Yangji was just one of 138 villages demolished to make space for the massive housing boom in the nearby city of Guangzhou.

Through the night: The celebrations continued into the night with six makeshift kitchens serving up traditional food

What a sight: The show on stage was projected onto large screens for the people who were sat further back

Community: Locals were able to meet their new neighbours - but it's unlikely they will remember everyone's names
in February accused her sibling of being a drug addict and keeping the kids in filthy conditions

A Pennsylvania couple have been found dead of suspected drug overdoses after their seven-year-old daughter told officials at her school she couldn't wake up her parents.

The Allegheny County medical examiner says the bodies of 26-year-old Christopher Dilly and 25-year-old Jessica Lally were found Monday evening in their McKeesport apartment.

Authorities say a nine-month-old girl, three-year-old boy and five-year-old boy who were inside the home were taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

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No foul play: Police suspect that 26-year-old Christopher Dilly and 25-year-old Jessica Lally (pictured) passed away from a drug overdose

Heartbreaking find: The young couple were found dead in their home in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, after their seven-year-old daughter said in school she cannot wake up her parents

Lt. Andrew Schurman says it appears Dilly and Lally might have been dead for a day or two. He says they are believed to have died from a drug overdose and foul play is not suspected.

Police say another fatal heroin overdose happened on the same street earlier that day.

Police were called to the couple's home in the 900 block of Evans Avenue at around 5pm after Lally and Dilly's oldest daughter alerted a counsellor at her school that something was wrong with her parents.

Police say evidence of drug use was found inside the family's apartment where their bodies were discovered.

Autopsies will be conducted on the two adults to determine the exact cause and manner of death.

Neighbor Jordon McCallister told the station WPXI he saw Dilly and Lally's children on Sunday but there was no sign of their parents.

Lally (left) was a mother of four young children (three pictured right). Police found a nine-month-old girl, three-year-old boy and five-year-old boy in the house with the bodies

Police say Jessica Lally, 25, and Christopher Dilly, 26, might have been dead for a day or two

Back in February, a woman who identified herself as Jessica Lally's sister, Courtney, shared with the true-crime blog Umbrella of Suspicion a series of striking photos that were purportedly taken inside Jessica and Christopher's previous place of residence.

According to the blog entry, Courtney Lally accused her sister of being a drug addict and keeping her four children living in filthy conditions.

Lally aired her grievances against her sister in a rambling, punctuation-free Facebook status update dated February 13, which read: 'this is how Jessica Leigh Lally lives with her children and Christopher Dilly flood Facebook with this in till it gets to them I want people to see what dirty bad parents they truly are its so sad they do not care about their children never have never will they beat their kids and make em stand in the corner all day they children are so damaged its not funny'.

The post was accompanied by photos purportedly taken inside the couple's then-home showing filthy rooms strewn with piles of garbage, a dirty bathroom with stains on the wall and a broken door hanging off the hinges.

Sister's rant: Jessica Lally's sister, Courtney, took to Facebook in February publicly accusing her sibling of being a drug addict and a bad parents

In this post, Courtney Lally doubled down, claiming that Jessica was abusing her two sons and two daughters

In a follow-up post, Courtney Lally claimed that her four nieces and nephews have medical and developments problems allegedly caused by her sisters drug addiction.

She said that one of her nephews was still in diapers and could barely talk at age four, while the womans other son 'walked like a baboon' and communicated with screams and grunts.

Courtney Lally also claimed that one of Jessicas daughters had to stay in the hospital for several extra days after her birth because she had drugs in her system.

She said her and Jessicas mother raised the girl from infancy, which she explains why she was a straight-A student with a nearly perfect attendance in school.

Jessica Lally (left) had no drug arrests in Pennsylvania. Her live-in boyfriend (right) was only arrested in December on a disorderly conduct charge, of which he was later cleared

According to the crime blog, Jessica Lally fired back in a series of text messages, accusing her family of spreading lies about her and her boyfriend so they could take away her children.

At one point, according to the website, the Department of Children and Youth Services had taken Jessica Lallys children away from her and placed them in the care of their grandmother, but eventually the woman regained custody of her two sons and two daughters.

The Tube City Almanac reported that court records in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties showed no drug arrests for either Dilly or Lally.
while she was walking her dog in Mosman, Sydney

This is the former Iraq security guard who was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and common assault after he allegedly punched a woman five times in the face and kicked her in the stomach.

Steven Burke, 34, was denied bail after an alleged racial attack on Jing Song, a 29-year-old Asian woman, and her 26-year-old female partner.

The two women were walking their dogs on Glover Street in Mosman, in Sydney's north shore at 11pm on Monday when a man called out to them from the opposite side of the road.

The pair stopped before the man crossed the street and approached them, allegedly yelling 'racial' abuse, a court heard.

Steven Burke, 34, has been charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and common assault after he allegedly punched a woman five times in the face and kicked her in the stomach

Pictured with an assault rifle: The former a security guard in Iraq was denied bail after an alleged racial attack on Jing Song, a 29-year-old Asian woman, and her female partner, 26

Ms Song was left with a fractured eye-socket after she was bashed while walking her dog with her girlfriend in what is believed to be a vicious racially-motivated assault (stock image)

Mr Burke appeared in Central Local Court in Sydney on Tuesday, where his lawyer, Ted Bramble, said the 34-year-old was under the care of a doctor for mental health issues.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph: 'While he was not engaged in the military, he would have seen and experienced a side of life we would not want to see,' Mr Bramble said.

The lawyer added that Mr Burke was not in a fit state emotionally.

It is alleged Mr Burke pushed the 29-year-old woman before headbutting her, causing her to fall to the ground.

He is accused of punching Ms Song in the face five times and kicking her in the stomach.

Emergency services were called and the woman was rushed to hospital.

Ms Song suffered multiple eye-socket fractures in the attack and prosecutor Dave Anderson said she may need surgery.

Lawyer Ted Bramble, said the 34-year-old (pictured) was under the care of a doctor for mental health issues

The former security guard allegedly changed his version of events after being shown a video of the incident

Burke was arrested nearby and taken to North Sydney Police Station where he was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and common assault.

It's alleged he changed his version of events after being shown a video of the incident.

'He then changed his story and said he couldn't remember what happened,' Mr Anderson told the Daily Telegraph.

Prosecutor Anderson said the victim was not known to her attacker and the alleged assault was 'entirely unprovoked.'

'There seems to be some sort of racial motivation given what he said to the victim,' he added.

Magistrate Les Mabbutt refused bail given the 'serious nature' of the alleged offence and said Burke was to be assessed for mental health issues.

Burke is due to appear in court again on October 6.

The 29-year-old Asian woman and her 26-year-old partner were walking their dogs on Glover Street (pictured) in Mosman at 11pm on Monday
Johnson & Johnson is telling patients that it has learned of a security vulnerability in one of its insulin pumps that a hacker could exploit to overdose diabetic patients with insulin, though it describes the risk as low.

Medical device experts said they believe it was the first time a manufacturer had issued such a warning to patients about a cyber vulnerability.

J&J executives told Reuters they knew of no examples of attempted hacking attacks on the device, the J&J Animas OneTouch Ping insulin pump.

The company is nonetheless warning customers and providing advice on how to fix the problem.

There is a cyber-security issue with the OneTouch Ping insulin pump, specifically that a person could potentially gain unauthorized access through its unencrypted radio frequency and increase dosage levels of insulin without the user realizing

Medical device experts said they believe it was the first time a manufacturer had issued such a warning to patients about a cyber vulnerability

The hacking of medical devices is a hot topic in the industry following revelations last month about possible bugs in pacemakers and defibrillators.

'The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping system is extremely low,' the company said in letters sent on Monday to doctors and about 114,000 patients who use the device in the United States and Canada.

'It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the internet or to any external network.'

A copy of the text of the letter was made available to Reuters.

Insulin pumps are medical devices that patients attach to their bodies that injects insulin through catheters.

The system is vulnerable because those communications are not encrypted, or scrambled, to prevent hackers from gaining access to the device

The Animas OneTouch Ping, which was launched in 2008, is sold with a wireless remote control that patients can use to order the pump to dose insulin so that they do not need access to the device itself, which is typically worn under clothing and can be awkward to reach.

Jay Radcliffe, a diabetic and researcher with cyber security firm Rapid7 Inc, said he had identified ways for a hacker to spoof communications between the remote control and the OneTouch Ping insulin pump, potentially forcing it to deliver unauthorized insulin injections.

The system is vulnerable because those communications are not encrypted, or scrambled, to prevent hackers from gaining access to the device, said Radcliffe, who reported vulnerabilities in the pump to J&J in April and published them on the Rapid7 blog on Tuesday.

J&J executives said they worked on the security issues with Radcliffe.

The Animas OneTouch Ping (not pictured), launched in 2008, is sold with a wireless remote control that patients can use to order the pump to dose insulin so that they do not need access to the device itself, which is typically worn under clothing and can be awkward to reach

Dosing a patient with too much insulin could cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which in extreme cases can be life threatening, said Brian Levy, chief medical officer with J&J's diabetes unit.

Company technicians were able to replicate Radcliffe's findings, confirming that a hacker could order the pump to dose insulin from a distance of up to 25 feet, Levy said. He said such attacks are difficult to pull off because they require specialized technical expertise and sophisticated equipment.

'We believe the OneTouch Ping system is safe and reliable. We urge patients to stay on the product,' Levy said.

J&J's letter said that if patients were concerned, they could take several steps to thwart potential attacks. They include discontinuing use of a wireless remote control and programming the pump to limit the maximum insulin dose.

In August, a prominent short seller and a cyber security research firm went public with allegations of potentially life-threatening cyber vulnerabilities in heart devices from St. Jude Medical Inc.

As its shares tumbled, St. Jude said the allegations were false, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began an investigation.

The FDA is preparing to issue formal guidance on how medical device makers should handle reports about cyber vulnerabilities.

An early draft of that guidance, which was released in January for public comments, called for device makers to work with security researchers, identify steps to mitigate risks, and provide patients with information about bugs so they can 'make informed decisions' about device use.

The FDA declined to comment on J&J's handling of the vulnerability in the insulin pump.

J&J said it had reviewed the matter with the FDA before sending the letters.

Radcliffe said he believed that OneTouch Ping users would be safe if they followed the steps outlined in the letters from J&J.

'They can give peace of mind to the patient or parent of a child using the device,' he said.

J&J Chief Information Security Officer Marene Allison said her team would make sure other J&J products do not have similar bugs.

Radcliffe said he found vulnerabilities in the Animas OneTouch Ping, but not the Animas Vibe line of insulin pumps.

Suzanne Schwartz, an FDA official responsible for reviewing bugs in medical devices, said in a statement that she encourages collaboration between researchers and device manufacturers to identify, remediate and alert the public to vulnerabilities.

'It enables all stakeholders to better address device safety with the interest of patient health in mind,' she said.

The FDA has said it knows of no cases where hackers have exploited cyber vulnerabilities to harm a patient.
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This incredible set of pictures capture three hippopotamuses battling it out to become the alpha male as their herd bathed nearby.

The hippos squared up to each other, butting heads and opening their huge jaws wide to try and clamp down on the throats of the others.

Each of the three male hippos desperately try to get the upper hand, with one left bleeding just under their jaw in a Zambian river.

Hippos - averaging 1,500kg in weight - are extremely temperamental animals, with males often fighting for space when resources are running low or they get overcrowded.

Keen photographer Kanwar Deep Juneja, from New Delhi, India, captured the amazing pictures at close range in the South Luangwa River, Zambia - despite being warned how dangerous it was.

He said: 'The hippos were relatively close and I was sitting just on the edge of the river, surrounded by crocodiles.

'There was a little bit of fear and lots of excitement as they got close to me a few times and I had to move back.

'My guide did shout at me several times to get away from the river's edge and move up the bank.

'In the end the two victorious hippos chased away the loser and then returned to the herd.'

These three hippopotamuses battled it out to become the alpha male in an incredible fight while their herd bathed nearby

The hippos squared up to each other, butting heads and opening their huge jaws wide to try and clamp down on the throats of the others

Keen photographer Kanwar Deep Juneja, from New Delhi, India, captured the amazing pictures at close range in the South Luangwa River, Zambia - despite being warned how dangerous it was

Each of the three male hippos desperately try to get the upper hand, with one left bleeding just under their jaw

The average adult male weighs around 1,500kg and due to their size are not usually preyed upon by other animals
A 47-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly filming women with a hidden camera in a shared shower facility.

Police were called to a property in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney on Monday night after being tipped off that a hidden camera had been discovered in the bathroom of a unit.

Two women, aged 22 and 23, were allegedly filmed taking a shower in the shared bathroom of a Kingsford unit on separate occasions.

A 47-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly filming women with a hidden camera in a shared shower facility in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney (stock image)

A hidden camera was found in the bathroom leading to the man being charged

The women were allegedly filmed between 28 September and 3 October.

The man was charged with three counts of filming a person in a private act without consent and will appear in Waverley Local Court on Thursday.
One of the biggest bombshells of the campaign  that Donald Trump claimed a $916 million loss on his taxes that could have benefited him for decades  may have already been flagged by the candidate himself on at least two occasions.

Trump recounted a story in his 1997, 'The Art of the Deal, where he writes of renegotiating bank loans and other extraordinary efforts to ride out the recession.

Trump told a story of walking by a panhandler on the street near the gilded Trump Tower  something Trump writes prompted a comment from the struggling mogul.

Hes a beggar, but hes worth about $900 million more than me, Trump writes that he said, the Washington Post reported.

Trump told a similar version of the story to the Washington Post in 1992.

SECRET SOURCE REVEALED?: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been telling a story about being $900 million in debt for years

In this version, Trump and then-wife Marla Maples were walking along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where Trump Tower is located.

"You see that man? Right now he's worth $900 million more than me,' Trump told Maples, according to his telling. 'Right now I'm worth minus $900 million," Trump says he told Maples.

On Saturday, in a report that shook the presidential campaign, the New York Times reported that Trump took a net operating loss of $916 million after an anonymous tipster mailed the paper three pages of Trump's 1995 tax return.

The return, which lists Trump and Maples, gives the number as the now presidential candidate's adjusted gross income, income minus losses.

Hillary Clinton has been blasting Trump for his tax loss at campaign events

Theres a lot more to this story and were just slowly getting it into the public eye, Clinton told supporters in Ohio Monday

The paper hired experts and concluded that Trump could have paid no tax for 18 years, given the magnitude of the loss.

Clinton used the tax issue to hammer Trump while campaigning in Ohio.

'Maybe hes not as rich as he claims. Maybe hes not as charitable as he claims. Maybe he doesnt want us to see that he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign banks and foreign lenders. Or maybe he hasnt paid any taxes,' she said.
Daniel Keegan from New York did two army tours of duty in Afghanistan

Donald Trump has been attacked by the mother of an 82nd Airborne veteran who served two tours of Afghanistan and died while battling PTSD.

Stephanie Keegan's son Daniel died in January, she claims, after he failed to receive sufficient help from Veterans Affairs.

Keegan, from Somers, New York, accused Trump of being 'absurd' and 'ignorant' when criticizing those battling PTSD.

Stephanie Keegan, left, defended the memory of her army veteran son Daniel, right, who died following a year-long battle with PTSD following two grueling tours of Afghanistan

Trump, pictured last night in Loveland, Colorado, claimed some veterans were not strong enough handle PTSD, immediately causing great offence among many service personnel

Responding to a question on PTSD while on the campaign trail, Trump made his latest gaffe in claiming that 'a lot of people can't handle it'.

Keegan responded to the insult by the Republican candidate, who avoided service during the Vietnam War, by questioning his record.

She said her son had served his country with honor for almost eight years but died after waiting for support from Veterans Affairs for PTSD for more than a year.

In a letter to the Daily News, Keegan wrote: 'The grace and courage that he showed in his service and after returning home while fighting the demons of war should not be belittled by those who do not understand.'

Keegan argued the VA needed to be reorganized to help those veterans in need.

Attacking the billionaire mogul, she wrote: 'For Donald Trump to say that PTSD is an indication of weakness is absurd and ignorant.

'I would love to meet him and show him the face of a brave and beautiful young man who died way too soon because he tried to make the world a better place. What, I ask, has Donald Trump ever done to make the world a better place?'

The Republican presidential nominee made the remarks during a Q&A session Monday morning following remarks to a military veterans group whose members are mostly evangelical Christians.

He highlighted the suicide rate among veterans  22 each day  and criticized the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to provide them with appropriate care before it's too late.

Campaign: Trump highlighted the suicide rate among veterans  22 each day  and criticized the Department of Veterans Affairs during a stump event in Virginia

Veterans talk: Trump was speaking at a round table hosted by General William Boykin, left, and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, right

'We are losing so many great people that can be taken care of if they had proper care,' he told the Retired American Warriors PAC in a suburban Virginia hotel ballroom.

'People come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it.

'And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn't see in a movie. Nobody would believe it.'

The VFW, America's largest combat veterans organization, seemed to back up Trump in a statement shortly afterward.

'It is true that not everyone can handle traumatic events, be it from war, bad car accidents, violent crime or even surviving a hurricane,' a spokesman for the group said.

'Regarding veterans, we need to treat those who need help and research how two people experiencing the same time and place can be impacted so differently.'

And Marine Staff Sergeant Chad Robichaux, who asked the question that sparked Trump's comment, also said a 'political agenda' was responsible for the firestorm of controversy that followed Trump's appearance.

'I think it's sickening that anyone would twist Mr Trump's comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda,' said Robichaux, who suffered from PTSD after eight combat tours in Afghanistan.

'I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them.

Anger: Some social media users expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's characterization of PTSD

'The nature of my question focused on a broken system that's failing so many of our veterans and, as president, would Mr Trump take a more holistic approach to health care for veterans. I interpreted his answer to affirm that the system is broken and he would take the necessary steps to address it.'

Trump added Monday morning that mental health care for military vets is 'one of the things that I think is least addressed' by the government agency, but 'one of the things that I hear the most about when I go around and talk to the veterans.'

He blamed infamously long wait times at veterans hospitals for driving mentally ill servicemen and women into despair.

'People are killing themselves what are waiting on line because they have days and days before what could be a simple procedure, a simple prescription, and the wait is so long, they can't take it,' Trump said.

News outlets that have covered Trump's campaign aggressively  including some he has accused of being partial to Clinton  enlarged the controversy, drawing a Trump campaign statement from retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.

'The media continues to operate as the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton as they took Mr Trump's words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans  an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice,' Flynn said.

'Mr Trump was highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country. He has always respected the service and sacrifice of our military men and womenproposing reforms to Veteran Affairs to adequately address the various issues veterans face when they return home.'
A coroner in Nottingham slammed the co-operation from Spanish officials and recorded an open verdict

A wallet containing 450 had also been taken from him

Alan Rankin, 75, was found at the bottom of a cliff over a mile away from the popular holiday resort of Benidorm

A British great-grandfather who fell to his death in Spain was murdered with a hammer before the brutal killing was 'covered up by police', an inquest has heard.

Alan Rankin, 75, was found at the bottom of a cliff over a mile away from the popular holiday resort of Benidorm.

An initial investigation by Spanish police suggested he had fallen and the incident was treated as an accidental death.

But a British forensic pathologist found the great-grandfather had suffered head injuries consistent with an attack by an object like a hammer, and inquest heard.

Mr Rankin, from Bestwood, Nottinghamshire, was just one day into his family holiday when his body was discovered at the bottom of a cliff on October 12, 2014.

He had been out having drinks with his son-in-law the night before but the pair became separated around midnight and his body was found in the morning.

An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard how his family had voiced concerns over the Spanish police's decision to treat Mr Rankin's death as an accident.

They claimed he would have been incapable of travelling the distance from the restaurant he had been in due to long-standing mobility problems.

Mr Rankin's wallet, which contained 450 Euros in cash, was also missing.

Mr Rankin (pictured with his late wife Brenda) had a number of other injuries and fractures on his body he also had cuts to his head which were consistent with an assault

A second post-mortem found that as well as a number of other injuries and fractures on his body he also had cuts to his head which were consistent with an assault, the hearing was told.

Spanish police said these could have been caused by rocks along the cliff face but further analysis suggested 'third party involvement', the inquest heard.

Speaking at the inquest on Monday, Mr Rankin's brother David, 76, disputed the Spanish police's conclusion.

He said: 'I believe it's 100 per cent a cover-up. The police have covered it up completely and blatantly.

'We know it was murder.'

Mr Rankin's son Paul, 56, who travelled from Queensland, Australia, to attend the inquest, added: 'I suppose from my point of view it would be good to put it to bed and get on with the rest of lives.

'We don't seem to have got justice for my dad.'

Senior Coroner for Nottinghamshire Mairin Casey heard evidence for more than two hours from Detective Inspector Mike Allen, who investigated Mr Rankin's death.

She asked the Nottinghamshire Police detective: 'It does point to third-party involvement, it does point to this gentleman suffering assault shortly before his death and it does point to injuries that may or may not have caused his death but were inflicted before his death?'

Det Insp Allen's to all these questions was: 'Yes ma'am.'

The detective also said that the Guardia Civil - Spanish Police - were sent a number of questions by his team relating to their initial crime scene investigations.

Coroner Mairin Casey delivered an open verdict and said it was 'unlikely' the family would ever find out if Mr Rankin (pictured with Brenda and their son Paul) died from a fall or was assaulted

But he said the replies he received were 'brief' and 'extremely frustrating' and they repeated their assertion that Mr Rankin's death was an accident.

Ms Casey delivered an open verdict and said it was 'unlikely' the family would ever find out if Mr Rankin died from a fall or was assaulted.

She also mounted a scathing attack on the Spanish Police, adding: 'I have not had a case as clear cut as this but I would say we have had a number of cases where co-operation from Spanish authorities has not been positive.

'The consistent response (from Spanish police) is cursory and non-specific.

'It has been singularly unhelpful and, without any evidence as to do so, has completely rejected a criminal offence in this case.

'It's terribly disappointing that despite rigorous and sustained effort to try and get you the best evidence we have not be able to achieve that for you or Alan.'

His body was found less than a mile from the popular resort of Benidorm, where he had been staying (file image)

Speaking after the inquest, family members said they were not planning to investigate the matter further.

But the relatives want to highlight Mr Rankin's death as a warning to other British tourists.

His brother David, who was living in Spain at the time but now has since moved back to the UK, said: 'I blamed myself, I was really upset for weeks afterwards because I thought if he hadn't come to Spain it wouldn't have happened.'

Daughter-in-law Kath Rankin, 54, added: 'It's scary for people going out there.
Two tigers and a bear named Baloo started a new life in a wildlife reserve in northern Jordan on Sunday.

They are among 25 large animals, many rescued from smugglers, who are being transferred to the 150-hectare (370-acre) Al-Ma'wa Reserve near the town of Jerash over three days, ending Monday.

Heli Dunger of the Austria-based international animal charity Four Paws said the rescued animals 17 lions, five wolves, two tigers and a bear  all 'have a horrific past'.
An autistic boy was targeted by students who took his water bottle and urinated in it (file photo)

A couple in California say they have been left devastated after a group of students took their autistic son's water bottle and urinated in it at school.

The parents, Hilda and Ricardo Lozano, said the incident with their 14-year-old son Michael occurred at Folsom High School, and that the administrators have not handled it in a satisfactory manner.

The two say Michael was in gym class and getting changed in the locker room when someone took his water bottle.

'He said he smelled it ... and it smelled bad and then he poured it out in the drain holes inside of the gym so the water goes in, and it was yellow and foamy,' Mrs Lozano told Fox 40.

Mr and Mrs Lozano were actually at the school for a meeting about their son's autism when Michael called them and told them what happened.

Mrs Lozano told her son to bring the bottle straight to the office where they were having their meeting.

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Devastated: Hilda Lozano says the officials at Folsom High School have not properly handled the way her autistic son was treated by other students in the locker room

However, she says Vice Principal Annie Conover stopped Michael before he got to the office.

'Apparently the school's vice principal took the bottle from him, poured out the urine and then washed the bottle with soap and water and then sent him to me,' she told Fox.

Then, after the meeting, Mrs Lozano could not find the principal. A school official told her that all the principals was in a meeting together and were not available.

'Their attitude was ''we'll get around to it when we get to it'',' Mr Lozano said.

'When we get out of our meetings and do stuff, then we'll address your concerns.

'That's the perception we got, which I'm pretty sure if they had children in their school and they were special needs and someone had urinated in their kids' water bottle, they would think it's an urgent concern.'

The incident occurred on Monday at Folsom High School in California and is now under investigation, according to officials

Daniel Thigpen with the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, told FOX40 in a statement that the incident was under investigation.

'In general, I can tell you that our schools take seriously such allegations; complaints such as these will be investigated fully, and appropriate action will be taken in any case where a student has been found to bully or harm another child.

'In this case, my understanding is that administration is aware of the allegation, has met with the parent who authored this social media post, and has launched an investigation.
Bill Clinton lambasted President Barack Obama's signature law as 'the craziest thing in the world' on Monday.

The poor and the elderly are getting a good deal, the former Oval Office occupant said of Obamacare.

'The people who are getting killed in this deal are small business people and individuals who make just a little too much to get any of these subsidies,' he contended.

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Bill Clinton lambasted President Barack Obama's signature law as 'the craziest thing in the world' on Monday

Embracing her husband: Bill Clinton is now being used by his wife's campaign to reach white men who she is failing to gain support from

The ex-president was campaigning in Flint, Michigan, for his wife when he tore down Obama'a health care law.

'Youve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care, and then the people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half and its the craziest thing in the world,' Clinton said.

Hillary Clinton wants to expand Medicaid and Medicare. Under the current system, retirees become eligible for federally-funded health care when they turn 65.

The Democratic presidential nominee says she wants to amend the program to allow Americans that are 10 years younger voluntarily participate.

She was caught saying at a fundraiser that Obamacare 'has done a lot of good, but Im gonna fix some of the things that need fixing. Its like any other new program.'

'Weve got to make it work even better,' she said in leaked audio, released this week by hackers.

In the Democratic primary Clinton assailed her opponent for proposing a Medicare-for-all program she said would significantly increase middle class Americans' tax burden.

They announced a truce in July, with Clinton proposing an additional $40 billion in funding the program over the next 10 years.

She also threw her support behind the creation of a 'public option' plan that would make the government an insurer in addition to private companies competing on the federal marketplace.

Signature policy: The Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, is seen by the president as the biggest single achievement of his presidency

'The current system works fine if you're eligible for Medicaid, if you're a lower-income working person; if you're already on Medicare, or if you get enough subsidies on a modest income that you can afford your health care,' Bill Clinton asserted in his Monday speech.

The explainer-in-chief said too many Americans are being left in the cold.

The White House said Tuesday it wished Clinton hadn't described the health care system the way he did.

'It's not exactly clear to me what argument he was making, and so I'll let him and his team explain that,' Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

Obama's spokesman said, 'The president's quite proud of the accomplishment of the Affordable Care Act.

'The American people benefit from the way the law has been implemented in terms of expanding coverage; in terms of limiting the growth in but also in terms of the many consumer protections that people who already had health insurance in the past now benefit from.'

Hillary Clinton was caught saying at a fundraiser that Obamacare 'has done a lot of good, but Im gonna fix some of the things that need fixing. Its like any other new program'

The president readily acknowledges 'there are some things that could be done to further strengthen the law,' Earnest said, and supports Hillary Clinton's pursuit of those reforms.

Angel Urena, spokesman to Bill Clinton, told DailyMail.com that the former presidents remarks were taken out of context.

'While he was slightly short-handed, it's clear to everyone, including President Obama, that improvements are needed,' Urena said.

Donald Trump has pledged to entirely abolish the Affordable Care Act, in common with the Republicans' plan in Congress.

He railed against Bill at a Tuesday rally, arguing that the former president 'came out and told the truth about Obamacare.

'He's absolutely trashed President Obama's signature legislation,' Trump said.

Trump said Clinton likely put her husband Bill 'through hell' after he called it 'the craziest thing in the world.'

'And she wants to double down on Obamacare! I bet he went through hell last night,' the Republican presidential nominee told a packed arena in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

'Can you imagine? Can you imagine what he went through after making that statement? He went through hell.'

'But honestly,' Trump added, 'there have been many nights when he's gone through hell with Hillary.'

Bill had brought up Trump on Monday as he said, We got to figure out now what to do on healthcare. Her opponent said, "Oh, just repeal it all. The market will take care of it." That didn't work out very well for us, did it? We wound up with the most expensive system in the world and we insured the smallest percentage of people.

Clinton said the simplest way to fix the system would be to figure out an affordable rate and let people use that.'

Insurers are overcharging in case they get unlucky and lose money, he stated.

It doesn't make any sense. The insurance model doesn't work here; it's not like life insurance, it's not like casualties, it's not like predicting flooding. It doesn't work.

'So Hillary believes we should simply let people who are above the line for getting these subsidies have access to affordable entry into the Medicare and Medicaid programs,' he said. 'They'll all be covered, it will not hurt the program, we will not lose a lot of money. And we ought to do it.

His attack on Obamacare came at the start of a campaign swing for his wife.

The ex-president had until now been largely kept on the sidelines of his wife's campaign but is seen as able to reach the white male voters she is struggling to engage.

However his attack on Obamacare may trigger concern within Hillary's inner circle.

Although initially she had intended to keep her distance from Obama to avoid being seen as seeking a third term to his two, in recent weeks she has embraced his support and proclaimed herself as running as his heir.

Any suggestion of a re-appearance of the sort of tension between her husband and Obama which happened in the final weeks of her failed 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination would be a distraction from her current strategy.

In 2008 Bill was a high-profile advocate for his wife and made a series of attacks on Obama, one of which was criticized as being racially loaded.
Eddie Osborn, who was jailed this week, has developed a rare psychological reaction following the stress of his crimes meaning he now cannot walk or talk

A violent thug who strangled his former partner has been left wheelchair-bound and unable to talk due to a psychological reaction to his own shocking crimes.

Eddie Osborn has an uncontrollable tremor, limited mobility and cannot speak due to conversion disorder, a psychiatric condition brought on by the stress of his offences.

The 45-year-old, who was once fit and healthy, was jailed for 14 years this week for attacking his ex-partner and throttling a cell mate in prison.

Osborn attacked the mother of his child in Newton Heath, Manchester and tied duct tape around her mouth to mask her screams whilst he strangled her.

During the prolonged attacked, the victim lost consciousness as Osborn continued to shout abuse and threaten to kill her before he finally let her go.

He was later arrested and was remanded at HMP Manchester, known as Strangeways prison.

During his time on remand, Osborn attacked his cell mate for smoking and strangled him with an electrical cable.

The victim of this attack was able to fight Osborn off before prison staff managed to restrain him.

Since his second offence, Osborn has become unable to walk or talk and doctors believe he has the rare stress-related conversion disorder.

Osborn strangled his cell mate in HMP Manchester prisoner because he smoked in their cell

WHAT IS CONVERSION SYNDROME? Conversion syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which mental problems manifest themselves as physical symptoms. Its thought there could be up to 140,000 sufferers of the condition - which used to be known as hysteria - in the UK. Sigmund Freud, a leading neurologist, previously concluded the disorder came from internalised anger, disgust or unresolved conflict. Although it is widely recognised that any kind of stress, such as trauma, serious injury or bereavement can also trigger the syndrome. Symptoms of the condition include paralysis, numbness, seizures, coma, movement disorders, blindness and the inability to speak. Advertisement

Osborn was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and two charges of making threats to kill.

Detective Constable Jamie Heaton said after the case: 'Eddie Osborn subjected his first victim to an absolutely terrifying ordeal which left her fearing for her life.

'This incident will no doubt have a long lasting effect on her personally and I would like to pay tribute to her for the courage she has shown in coming forward.

'The fact that Osborn then went on to attack another man in a similar manner whilst on remand would suggest that he is a volatile individual who had no remorse for his previous actions.
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It was virtually impossible to miss this mammoth sailing superyacht as it took to the sea for a test run today - thanks in large part to its three 300ft masts which stand taller than Big Ben's tower.

The 468ft-long vessel, owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, was reportedly pulled out of the German Naval Yard in Kiel, north of Hamburg, by a tugboat and eventually built up a speed of 20 knots.

But the superyacht, worth an estimated $450million (313million), was not able to realise its full potential because the three huge sails have not yet been unveiled. They are expected to be tested at some point in the next week.

It was imaginatively named 'Sailing Yacht A' by its owner - who hit the headlines in September when he moored his other 225 million masterpiece, 'Motor Yacht A', on the Thames.

It was virtually impossible to miss this mammoth sailing superyacht as it took to the sea for a test run today - thanks in large part to its three 300ft masts which stand taller than Big Ben's tower

The 468ft-long vessel (right), owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, was reportedly pulled out of the German Naval Yards in Kiel, north of Hamburg, by a tugboat and it eventually built up a speed of 20 knots

Sailing Yacht A boasts eight floors - with a helicopter pad on one of the decks - and an underwater observation room

Melnichenko, who has an estimated net worth of $11.9 billion (9.35 billion), is said to favour using the letter 'A' so that his vessels are listed first in shipping registers.

Sailing Yacht A boasts eight floors - with a helicopter pad on one of the decks - and an underwater observation room. The behemoth is believed to be one of the world's largest sailing superyachts.

Superyachtfan.com reports that the boat is powered by a 'hybrid diesel-electric package with controllable pitch propellers,' and is designed to accommodate 20 guests and a crew of 54.

The yacht was designed by Frenchman Philippe Starck and built by German Naval Yards, Nobiskrug.

Mr Melnichenko is expected to recover some of the costs by licensing the technology developed for the vessel for commercial applications.

The luxury yacht, that was built at a shipbuilding yard near Hamburg, Germany, has masts that are 300ft high and is one of the world's largest sailing boats in the world

The sailing ship is owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, who is believed to have paid 260m for the vessel

Cruise speed of the ship is 18mph, with a top speed of 24mph. The hull is made of steel, with a teak-finish deck

The epic vessel boasts a staggering eight decks and its keel incorporates one of the largest single pieces of curved glass ever made at 193 square feet and weighs a whopping 1.8 tons

The vessel is an upgrade to the Russian billionaire's 'Motor Yacht A' - which set him back 190million.

Melnichenko also owns a Boeing 737 - but he has now turned his attention to sailing power.

The epic vessel boasts a staggering eight decks and its keel incorporates one of the largest single pieces of curved glass ever made at 193 square feet and weighs a whopping 1.8 tons.

It dwarfs other famous super-yachts like The Maltese Falcon, which is 298ft and weighs 1,367 tons.

The cruise speed of the ship is 18mph and its has a top speed of 24mph. The hull is made of steel, with a teak-finish deck.

This has been used to create a stunning observation pod on the bottom of the vessel so Mr Melnichenko, 43, and his Serbian model wife, Aleksandra, can enjoy stunning views of the sea.

Mr Melnichenko (pictured with wife Aleksandra), who has an estimated net worth of $11.9 billion (9.35 billion), founded the fertilizer producer EuroChem, the coal producer Suek, the power generator SGK, and the pipe exporter TMK

Motor Yacht A was Andrey Melnichenko's first purchase, and now he has moved into the sailing side of the industry

Motor Yacht A was a behemoth of the seas in its own right, now Mr Melnichenko has another toy for his collection

The yacht will have a high-tech digital control system operated using a touch sensitive sheet of black glass in the bridge.

This will allow the crew to raise and lower the sails and even drop the anchor with a brush of their fingers.

Mr Melnichenko founded the fertilizer producer EuroChem, coal producer Suek, power generator SGK and the pipe exporter TMK.

The boat owner billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, pictured with his wife Aleksandra

He was named as the 97th wealthiest person on the planet by Forbes and the ninth richest in Russia.

Speaking about the project earlier this month, a spokesman for Mr Melnichenko said it 'pushed the boundaries.'

'This project was a considerable financial risk for him as he had to fund massive R&D to see if he could achieve his vision,' they said.

'But he is a man to always push the boundaries and to challenge the industries he works with to think out of the box so he can achieve something new and exciting as well as beautiful.

'Sailing Yacht A is a monument to invention.'

Benjamin Maltby of MatrixLloyd, said: 'Make no mistake - this will be a very significant ship.

'While precise details of the sailing rig have yet to be released, not since the days of the mighty clipper sailing ships, such as the Cutty Sark, has such a large sailing vessel been built.

Crowds gathered in northern Germany to catch a glimpse of the mega-yacht as it set on its maiden sail

The masts were prudced by Magma Structures based in Portsmouth, and were shipped out to the German port

An artist's impression gave the idea that the sailing yacht would dwarf other yachts - and so it has been proved

TALE OF THE TAPE Top Speed: 24mph (20.8 knots) Cruise Speed: 18mph (15.6 knots) Length: 468ft Size of sailing masts: 300ft Cost: 260m Crew: 54 Advertisement

'This new superyacht will be nearly twice the length and over twice the width of the Cutty Sark.

'She will instantly become an inspiration to cargo ship owners, and a floating demonstration that sails - combined with the latest materials and technology - mean that dirty diesel engines are no longer needed as the primary means of propulsion.

'The green lobby should be celebrating - as cargo ships are significant CO2 contributors.

'The masts were built by Magma Structures in Portsmouth - just a stone's throw from another well known sailing vessel, HMS Victory, which is less than half the length of this new superyacht.'

Sarah Johnson from Magma Structures told MailOnline Travel: 'We are really proud of the team who build these masts, that are the largest free-standing rigs in the world.

'We are the only company who can produce structures like this of this size, it's great for Britain to be involved.'

Boat International reports that the previous argest sailing yacht on the water is 96.35 metre Sea Cloud, a classic beauty launched in 1931, followed by the modern falcon-rigged iconic yacht Maltese Falcon at 88 metres LOA.

Sailing Yacht A will handily surpass both of these.

After months of preparation work, the Sailing Yacht A finally took to the seas in northern Germany

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO KEEP A SUPERYACHT ON THE WATER? From Russian oligarchs to Middle Eastern royalty to Hollywood producers, it takes a certain type of person to own a superyacht - crucially, they must be super rich. Andrey Milnichenko has invested $451 million into his new vessel Sailing Yacht A. However, the initial cost is only part of owning such a luxurious vessel. For wealthy owners like Roman Abramovich and UAE president Khalifa Al Nahyan, owners of two of the costliest private vessels in the world, the costs associated with keeping such big boats on the water are staggering. The original plans for Sailing Yacht A have become a reality for the wealthy Russian businessman Insurance company Towergate estimates that 10 per cent of the initial value of a superyacht goes on operating costs. For Chelsea Football Club owner Abramovich's Eclipse, a 162.5m vessel with a missile defence system that cost the billionaire an astronomical $500milion (332), that means $50m (33m) a year. The standard fuel usage for a 71m yacht is 500 litres an hour, meaning an average of $400,000 (265,000) is spent on petrol every year per vessel. The Value Added Tax (VAT) works out at 15-25 per cent of the vessel's value while docking costs are an average $350,000 (232,000) and $240,000 (159,000) the standard for insurance sees the costs soar. Add to that the expected $1million (664,000) per year for maintenance and repairs and the wages for an average $1.4m (930,000) for an on-board crew - which can range from less than 20 to 154 staff on the Sultan of Oman's mysterious Al Said superyacht - and it's a significant outlay. Advertisement
It is feared the missing little girl drowned at a picnic held by the

Is accused of manslaughter after the disappearance of a child in 2014

A British woman who moved to India to build an orphanage claims she has been trapped there for two years after being accused of a local child's manslaughter.

Frightened Narges Ashtari, 28, originally from Iran but who grew up and went to school in Exeter, Devon, set up the Prishan Foundation in 2010 with the hope of 'improving the lives of orphans and abandoned children around the world'.

Ms Ashtari's parents both died when she was a child and when she met an orphaned baby boy in Sri Lanka named Prishan he inspired her to help others. The Prishan Foundation has since built an orphanage for girls and a home for blind children in the eastern state of Odisha in India.

However, after the disappearance of a child in 2014, feared drowned, she has become embroiled in a criminal case and now faces a possible jail term if convicted.

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Narges Ashtari (centre), 28, has issued a desperate plea for her old friends and colleagues in England to support her through her ordeal amid fears she could be jailed

Tragedy struck at a riverside picnic for staff, parents and children, where the young girl vanished.

Witnesses have been giving evidence about her disappearance including the child's mother, who testified on September 29.

Ms Ashtari claims to have been targeted by vengeful locals intent on destroying her work or extorting money.

She insists she has been wrongly accused and is the victim of corruption, which is endemic in parts of India.

The terrified traveller grew up and went to school in Exeter, Devon, before setting up the Prishan Foundation for orphans

Ms Ashtari, who was born in Iran, was inspired to help orphans after losing her own parents as a child

She has now issued a desperate plea to her old friends and colleagues in England to support her through her ordeal amid fears she could be jailed.

An online campaign has been launched calling on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in her case, which has been rumbling on for two years.

Ms Ashtari fears she will not get a fair trial and is calling on people to support her by adding their names to an online petition.

She said she has been denied permission to leave the country until the legal action has concluded.

She said: 'I feel betrayed - I have spent years in this area and we have made a huge difference - this is how I have been repaid.

'There is only so much I can put up with - I feel like going somewhere else but this just seems to be dragging on. There have been just three hearings so far.'

Since a child disappeared at a picnic, feared drowned, Ms Ashtari has become embroiled in a criminal case and now faces a possible jail term if convicted

The 28-year-old, a former West Exe and Exeter College student, claims she has been wrongly accused and is the victim of corruption, which is endemic in parts of India

She said the British Embassy has not helped but an online petition has raised awareness of her cause, reminding people in India that she is not alone in her fight.

'I grew up in Exeter and see myself as being as British as you can be.

'Because of the childhood I had - losing my mother and father - I just wanted to give something back,' she explained.

'I travelled a lot and found myself here, a place where lots of people are in need.

'We have done real work but there are lots of bad people here and they take advantage. When they see somebody from the outside they just see money.

The troubled charity worker is seen here in a selfie with a smiling young Indian girl

Ms Ashtari's Prishan Foundation has built an orphanage for girls and a home for blind children in the eastern state of Odisha in India

'At least I have a voice to speak to the outside world, something a lot of people here don't have.

'If this can happen to a British national like me I cannot imagine what can happen to them.'

She added: 'I still have friends in Exeter who I grew up with who have always been in touch even though I have been all over the place.

'If people sign my petition it really helps. People see names from around the world and think 'she's not alone'. All I ask is that I get a fair trial.'

Ms Ashtari first arrived in India in 2011 and began working with local non-governmental organisations to help children get a better education.
A teenage Apex gang member has been rushed to hospital after a vicious detention centre attack.

The 17-year-old boy suffered a cracked skull after being king hit by a rival gang member at the Melbourne youth detention centre in Parkville.

The Monday morning attack knocked the teenager down a flight of stairs where he is said to have hit his head.

A teenage Apex gang member has been hospitalised after being attacked by a rival gang member in the Melbourne youth detention centre in Parkville.

The teenager was treated in hospital and returned to the detention centre on Tuesday.

Detectives from Melbourne North Police Station were investigating the incident.

Community and Public Sector Union spokesman Julian Keneally said that overcrowding in the facility was making it too difficult for staff to control.

'[There's the] influence of gangs, [and] Saturday night is notorious for police picking up drug affected offenders and bringing them into Parkville and being held on remand,' Mr Keneally told 3AW.

'The place is antiquated in sections, it's overcrowded. There needs to be a much different approach put in place.'
Bungling burglars have been filmed fumbling around inside a bank vault unable to open the safes as a year's worth of planning, and digging, comes to nothing.

The thoughtless thieves failed to plan for a way to break into the high security strongboxes in a branch of the Republican Bank of Uruguay (BROU) in Montevideo.

Hilarious images of their desperate attempted burglary have now been released by The Interior Ministry, who has been hunting down those involved.

Bungling crooks fumble around inside a bank vault unable to open the safes in Uruguay

Hilarious images of their desperate attempted burglary have now been released by The Interior Ministry

Police say the crew paid 25,000 pesos (684) every month to rent the shop next door to the bank, where they worked round-the-clock digging a tunnel into the vault.

After seven months of tunnelling they created a 30 metre long, 1.60 metre high entrance into the bank from below.

But CCTV footage shows the whole plan went pear-shaped when the aimless thieves finally made their way in last month.

One of the crooks went backwards and forwards bringing back a multitude of tools and instruments to try and crack the strong boxes.

And one even locked himself in the building after going through a door that locked behind him.

He was forced to climb over a gate to re-join his team at the bank in the Colon neighbourhood of the city.

One crook temporarily locks himself in the bank after exiting a door that shut behind him

According to reports a member of the gang even deposited 210,000 pesos (5,746) in another bank to rent out the shop to stage their operation.

But the young man who paid the rent, named Mario, was shot dead last month, just hours after the failed robbery, reports El Observador.

His mother, Maria Susana Machado, said: 'They wanted to kill my son to erase evidence,' after Mario was shot four times in the arm, leg and abdomen.

After seven months the burglars created a 30m long, 1.60m high tunnel, but it was all in vain

Police are now hunting the ringleader of the heist, who is nicknamed 'El Topo' ('The Mole'). Yet investigators have received information he fled across the dry border into Brazil.
A man in China claims he is magnetic and can hold a kilo of metal on his chest.

The man from Shaoxing, east China's Zhejiang province, was pictured showing off his magnetic ability by sticking objects such as metal spoons and spanners to his chest.

Wang Baoqiang says he only found out he had the ability to stick objects to his chest in May this year after reading about another man who could perform the task.

Impressive: Wang Baoqiang discovered his ability to hold objects on his chest in May this year

Wang told reporters at zj.QQ.com that he saw that someone in India could attach a metal spoon to his body and decided to try it for himself.

He used a metal wrench and found that his chest was magnetic.

Wang says he asked friends and family to see if they were also magnetic but discovered he was the only one.

The 54-year-old claims that he can hold a kilo of metal on his chest.

He said that during his youth, he worshiped Jet Li and practiced martial arts although he doesn't think this was the cause of his magnetism.

Wang says he went for a medical examination and all the indicators were 'normal'.

Talent: Wang says he is the only one out of his friends and family who is 'magnetic'

Chinese web users have been commenting on his story since it emerged.

One user wrote: 'I just tried it. That's why I broke my iPhone 6s.'

And another said: 'Maybe he became sticky after not taking a shower for years.'

While another user commented: 'Would he suffer lung problems?'

Wang is in fact far from the only man with magnetic powers.

In 2013, Etibar Elchyev from Georgia broke the world record for the highest number of spoons stuck to a person.

He managed to secure 53 metal spoons on his neck and chest and lifted a man sitting on a car hood that was magnetised to his chest.

In 2013, Etibar Elchyev (pictured) from Georgia broke the world record for the highest number of spoons stuck to a person
As 27-year-old Jacob Dromgoole lay dying inside an ambulance after getting struck by a car, police say his girlfriend used the opportunity to steal a wallet from a paramedic who was trying to save her boyfriend's life.

Dromgoole got out of his vehicle and was hit by another car Sunday morning in Harrison Township, New Jersey.

Authorities say Dromgoole's girlfriend, 25-year-old Brittany Carulli, of Pitman, was sitting in a Gloucester County ambulance while emergency responders tried to administer medical aid to Dromgoole, who died at the scene.

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'Heartless': Police in New Jersey say Brittany Carulli, 25 (left), stole a wallet from a paramedic who was trying to save the life of her boyfriend, Jacob Dromgoole, 27 (right)

Fatal crash: Dromgoole was killed Sunday after emerging from his vehicle on Mullica Hill Road in Harrison Township, New Jersey, and getting struck by another car

Police say the following day, a female EMT reported her wallet containing credit and debit cards, driver's license and $120 in cash was missing from her purse. The purse had been in the vehicle's center console.

When questioned by police Monday, Carulli allegedly admitted she lifted the wallet and has been charged with theft.

The accident that took Jacob Dromgoole's life occurred at around 6.50am Sunday in the area of Mullica Hill Road and Zee Road.

Police say the man got out of his car for an unknown reason, crossed into the westbound lane of Mullica Hill Road and was fatally hit by a 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

The station 6ABC reported that the driver of that car remained at the scene and will not be facing any charges.

Police say Carulli was allowed to sit in an ambulance to 'grieve the loss of her boyfriend and stay out of the inclement weather'

Police said in a statement that Brittany Carulli was allowed to get inside the ambulance 'in order to grieve the loss of her boyfriend and stay out of the inclement weather.'

An EMT worker told investigators no one except for Carulli had access to the ambulance or her purse during that time.
No illegal drugs were found in the Seychelles hotel room where two sisters from Minnesota died last month, police have told DailyMail.com.

Robin and Annie Korkki were discovered dead by staff at the $1,800-a-night resort where they were spending time after traveling in Africa.

An autopsy found that fluid on their lungs had led to their deaths, a condition often associated with drugs overdoses.

Toxicology tests are still under way but police told DailyMail.com that they had found no illicit substances in the room.

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Beauty: The family of Robin and Annie Korkki attended a memorial on the beachfront of the Maaia Luxury Indian Ocean Resort (pictured)

Annie (left) and Robin Korkki (right) were commemorated by their brother and their mother and friends who will fly back to their hometown of Minnesota where another memorial service for the will be held at a later date

Spokesman Jean Toussaint said they had found 'several' prescription medications and removed those for further examination.

He said the prescription medication had been sent to a forensic laboratory for testing.

Police also found alcohol. Test results from a toxicology lab are likely to take up to eight weeks to establish if the sisters had taken any form of drug or medication before their deaths.

Their brother and mother came to the island for a private cremation ceremony and on Saturday night cast flower petals on the Indian Ocean in memory of the sisters, before returning to the U.S.

Guests at the paradise island resort joined Susan and Mike Korkki for the poignant candlelit ceremony.

A small memorial had been built into the sand as guest stood in dignified silence while prayers were said.

Music from reggae star Bob Marley was played over loudspeakers as family and guests listened to several tracks, including 'One Love'.

The grieving relatives later walked back through the luxury resort from the beach where they were seen 'high fiving' other guests and hotels staff.

'It was a very simple ceremony and there were no tears but just a celebration of the sisters life,' said a guest who witnessed the event held at dusk at the Maia Luxury Resort and Spa.

'I understand the hotel management had invited the family to attend. They threw flower petals out into the ocean. It wasn't a memorial service but a celebration of the sisters' life.

'They later gathered round a memorial that had been prepared on the sand. Some prayers were said and that was it. Music was played as the ceremony ended.

The sisters pictured in a September 19 photo while on vacation in Seychelles. They had been vacationing on the tropical island since September 15 and were due to leave on September 22, but extended their stay at the resort until September 24

The sisters were discovered in their villa at the Maia Luxury Resort and Spa on Thursday 22 September. They were on a lengthy trip to Africa before they went to the Seychelles

'When the mum and brother walked back to the resort they were smiling and high fiving the other guests. It was a celebration rather than a mourning.'

The Korkki sisters were found dead lying side by side on September 22 at their secluded villa set into the hillside at the Maia resort.

An autopsy revealed that both had died from pulmonary edema  a build up of fluid in the lungs usually caused by heart failure.

Both Robin, 43, and Annie, 37, had been drinking throughout the day at the all- inclusive resort and had to be helped to their room by staff.

They were later found dead by their personal butler who was unable to gain entry to the villa the following morning.

Daily Mail.com revealed the sisters were cremated on Friday, the day police in the Seychelles released the results of the autopsy.

Police sources said the swiftness of the cremation showed the family were happy with the autopsy and the investigation.

Robin Korkki, 37, enjoys a glass of wine on vacation before her tragic death

In this September 17 photo from their vacation showing Annie, she commented on the photo, calling the trip 'indescribable'

In one snap, Annie pretends to hold a sign that says 'We want beer' featured in a life-size photograph

Victoria Hospital Morgue where the women where taken after their deaths is shown above. It is located in the Seychelle's capital city of Victoria

An autopsy carried out at the Victoria Hospital (pictured) revealed Robin died from acute pulmonary edema. Annie died from the same condition as well as cerebral edema, which sees fluid build up on the brain

'If there was any doubt what killed the sisters the bodies would have been flown back to the US and an independent autopsy carried out,' said the source.

'This did not happen. It shows the family were happy with what they have been told and there is no dispute as to the cause of death.'

'They have all the best villas on the beachfront and act as if they own the place,' said the guest.

A spokesman for the Maia Luxury Resort and Spa refused to comment.

Visits to the resort are by appointment only. Wooden barriers across the paved entrance prevent cars from approaching the resort.

A card handed out by a security guard at the hotel explained the resort's mission.

It said: 'At Maia, our every aim is to provide out guests with a sanctuary where we respect the need for privacy.

'We therefore regret that in keeping with this philosophy, visitors will need to set up an appointment to visit the property.'

Both Robin and Anne had appeared happy and healthy in a series of photographs posted to social media during their stay in the Seychelles.

They were last seen around 7.25pm on September 22. The door to the villa had been locked from the inside.

The sisters' (pictured) mother Susan and brother Mike were the only people present at the cremation on Friday having traveled to the Indian Ocean island from Minnesota to seek answers over the pair's sudden death

The ashes of sisters Robin (right) and Annie Korkki (left), who were found dead at a luxury resort in The Seychelles, were handed over to their family on Saturday following a private cremation

An itinerary found at the sister's hotel room showed the pair were touring Africa and had already spent time in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

The women had been due to leave on September 22nd,, the day their bodies were found, but extended their stay until the 24th.

The Korkki sisters were originally from Minnesota.

Annie Korkki worked as a senior administrative assistant for JPMorgan Chase in Denver, while Robin Korkki was based in Chicago where she worked as Head of FX and Metals at Allston Trading, according to their professional websites.
This is the amazing moment a woman happened upon a pair of venomous snakes fighting over a mate outside her house in New South Wales.

Rachel White, from Wollongong, captured the two reptiles locked in combat in the bushes as she left her property.

Since then the video has gone viral, attracting thousands of likes and hundreds of comments from stunned viewers.

Rachel White, a resident of Wollongong, New South Wales, filmed these two red bellied black snakes fighting over a mate outside her house

Posting the video on Facebook, the mother wrote: 'To all my Kembla Heights friends, this is just outside my house. Tell your kids to be careful when walking!'

The red bellied black snake is one of the most common snakes in Australia, particularly in the east of the country.

Like many snakes they do carry venom which is injected when they bite, though in the vast majority of cases it is not lethal.

The red bellied black snake is venomous, causing swelling and bleeding at the site of the bite, but the vast majority are not fatal

The venom is an anticoagulant, meaning it stops the blood from clotting, so the most common effect of a bite is excessive bleeding from the affected area.

It also breaks down affected cells, causing swelling which can turn into a festering wound or gangrene if left untreated.
Justine Greening, pictured arriving at Tory conference today, launched a defence of plans for new grammar schools

Labour's opposition to new grammar schools is 'rank hypocrisy' because senior figures send their own children to selective schools, the education secretary has claimed.

Justine Greening - who is thought to be sceptical about Theresa May's plans for a new generation of grammar schools - used her main speech to the Tory faithful in Birmingham to slam Jeremy Corbyn's campaign against the policy.

Ms Greening launched a defence of the policy and insisted it would offer more flexibility to parents and help ensure every child got a good education.

She also announced she would spend 60million on creating 'opportunity areas' in six parts of the country most struggling with social mobility.

Days after it emerged controversial peer Shami Chakrabarti was sending her son to the exclusive Dulwich College, Ms Greening said the Labour campaign against new grammars was 'classic' from a party which insists on telling voters 'do as I say, not as I do'.

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Speaking at Birmingham's International Convention Centre, she said: 'Unless you can afford to move to the right area, education has been the ultimate postcode lottery.

'Thats why our green paper is asking how we can create more great school places in more parts of the country, including selective places.

'Grammar schools have a track record of closing the attainment gap between children on free school meals and their better off classmates.

Theresa May, pictured arriving for the third day of the Conservative conference today, has put grammar schools at the heart of the agenda for her new government

'That's because in grammars, those children on free school meals progress twice as fast as the other children, so the gap disappears. And 99% of grammars schools are rated good or outstanding.

'But in spite of this, Labour's approach to grammars is: close these schools down.

'And its rank hypocrisy. Because Labour Shadow Ministers send their children to grammars too.'

Labour leader Mr Corbyn found a rare issue on which he could unite his fractious party by coming out firmly against grammar schools.

He has been criticised for the move as he and several colleagues attended grammars as children while senior Labour politicians have used private selective schools.

Shami Chakrabarti, who is set to be the new shadow attorney general came under fire this week after it emerged her son was to attend the 18,000 a year Dulwich College.

Diane Abbott was criticised as a hypocrite for years after sending her son to a 10,000 a year City of London school.

Shami Chakrabarti (left), who is set to be the new shadow attorney general came under fire this week after it emerged her son was to attend the 18,000 a year Dulwich College. Diane Abbott (right) was criticised as a hypocrite for years after sending her son to the 10,000 a year City of London school

Despite the controversy, Mr Corbyn scored a win over Mrs May in the final PMQs before party conference season by focusing on the issue.

And he used his main conference speech in Liverpool last week to call Labour activists out for a national campaign day against the policy.

Ms Greening's plan for 'opportunity areas' will aim to offer high-quality careers advice, and mentoring and apprenticeship opportunities.

And they will work with organisations such as the Careers & Enterprise Company, the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, and the National Citizen Service.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pictured making his conference speech last week in Liverpool, found a rare issue on which he could unite his fractious party by coming out firmly against grammar schools

The Education Secretary told activists in Birmingham: 'This Conservative Government is determined to build a country that works for everyone, and education is at the heart of that ambition.

'Opportunity Areas will help local children get the best start in life, no matter what their background.

'Ensuring all children can access high-quality education at every stage is critical. This is about giving children in these areas the right knowledge and skills, advice at the right time, and great experiences.
Bill Clinton put a political truce between his wife and her primary rival in danger on Monday as he defended the crime bill he championed as president.

'Hillary didn't vote for the '94 crime bill even though Senator Sanders did,' he shouted at a protester at an event designed to reach millennial voters.

'And neither one of them were trying to send millions of your people to prison because there were fewer than 10 percent of our entire prison population are in the federal prison system.'

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Student audience: The ex-president went to Athens, Ohio, to speak to Ohio University students - and was heckled by an apparent Sanders fan

Rebuke: Bill Clinton, apparently assuming the heckler was pro-Sanders, said that the Vermont senator had voted for a crime bill which is now seen as an error by progressives

Laying into the demonstrator, Bill said Hillary 'was the first person in this campaign who said we ought to do something to change the incarceration policies.'

'No one else has done that,' he bellowed. 'The facts are difficult there.'

He told the young man, 'If you're really upset, that means you're also upset that we had a 25-year low in the crime rate, a 33-year low in the murder rate, and listen to this, a 67-year low in the rate of people being killed by illegal gun violence.'

'It's OK to hold people accountable for their record, but you need to paint the whole picture,' the ex-president said to the protester, who was not visible from the press section of the event.

Sanders has endorsed Hillary Clinton, speaking on her behalf at the Democratic National Convention and appearing with her twice on the trail in New Hampshire. He's campaigning for her at additional events this week in Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Old habits die hard, though, and Bill was quick to take a jab at him as he was confronted by a progressive demonstrator.

The interruption came several minutes into the two-term president's speech at Ohio University's Athens campus.

It was the first stop on a two-day bus tour throughout the swing state.

Clinton was bashing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for boasting that he didn't pay federal taxes.

'Hillary's opponent is just about the best I ever saw at rubbing salt in [an] open wound,' he said. 'He is really good at it.'

He's with her: Bernie Sanders is now out campaigning for his former rival, but many of his supporters have not followed him

Midway through an impersonation of Trump talking about his taxes, a man began the progressive protest chant: 'Mic check!'

It set off a contentious back and forth between the man and Bill, who doggedly defended the results of the controversial bill that has been blamed for skyrocketing incarceration rates over the last 20 years.

Unable to walk away from the dispute, Bill came back to it later in his speech. 'The young man who was talking at me,' he began.

Hillary was the first to say in this election that too many people serving in prison for non-violent offenses, Bill stated.

'She wants to invest more in education and training, ban the box that they can check on an employment application if they've been in prison and help people start again.'

He used it as a segue to policing reforms that she supports such as proper training.

The Clinton campaign has put Bill on the stump in Michigan on Monday evening and Ohio on Tuesday as part of an effort to reach constituencies among whom she is struggling: white men without college educations, and millennials.

The university campus speech was part of an attempt to woo millennials back, although it is unlikely many of them can remember the 70-year-old president's term in office with any clarity.
Vice President Joe Biden launched a withering attack against Donald Trump Monday night, and continued it into Tuesday morning, calling his discussion of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the U.S. military 'ignorant.'

In the process, however, the gaffe-prone Biden misstated the number of suicides among veterans  by a factor of 33.

Trump told an audience of military veterans on Monday morning that some servicemen and women 'can't handle' the stresses of battle, sending them into a PTSD spiral that results in suicide.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars agreed with him, as did a victims' advocate and eight-tour U.S. Marine who had asked him about the issue.

But Biden laced into the Republican presidential nominee during a Hillary Clinton rally, and then again on television.

Joe Biden went on a two-day campaign blasting Donald Trump for his comments about military veterans and PTSD, but downplayed the magnitude of the problem by understating veteran suicide numbers by a factor of 33

'This is an ignorant man,' he told CNN on Tuesday morning. 'This guy says things he has no idea about. He's not a bad man. But his ignorance is so profound, so profound.'

Monday night in Sarasota, Florida, Biden read part of Trump's comments to a crowd of Clinton supporters.

'Where in the hell is he from?' he asked.

'Over 200,000 coming home with unseen wounds!' Biden marveled. 'Twenty suicides a month.'

In reality, 22 American military veterans take their own lives every day  not every month.

In his remarks to the Retired American Warriors organization, Trump had made the case that many of those suicides stemmed from an incompetent Veterans Affairs department that has proven itself incapable of delivering timely health care.

Biden acknowledged the government's 'sacred obligation' to 'care for those we send to war and to care for them and their family when they come home.'

But he made no mention of Trump's complaint, and he didn't defend the Obama administration's record on veterans issues.

Instead he blasted the Republican nominee for the presidency.

Trump said Monday in Virginia that some veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 'can't handle' their unseen wounds, a line that drew universally negative press coverage despite the fact that the VFW agreed with him

'What are the chances Trump honors commitment to those who are wounded?' he shouted. 'It's not just that he doesn't get it! He doesn't want to find out!'

'I dont think he was trying to be mean,' Biden said in a more subdued moment. 'He is so thoroughly completely uninformed.'

Biden continued the scorched-earth campaign on CNN, calling Trump 'an ignorant man.'

'This guy says things  he has no idea!'

'He's not a bad man  but his ignorance is so profound. So profound,' Biden said.

'What's this say about a guy who doesn't have any notion of that? Look at what these kids are going through. Look at the sacrifices they're making. And look what they go to sleep dreading.'

Trump found himself blindsided within an hour of the Republican's comments on Monday.

'People come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over,' he had said. 'And you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it.'

Most news reports framed his words as insensitive to veterans issues despite agreement from veterans themselves.

One such backer, retired U.S. Army Col. Rob Maness, signed a fundraising letter for Trump on Tuesday morning that played up the conflict.

Retired Col. Allen West, who attended Monday's event, blasted reporters for spinning Trump's comments negatively

Retired Col. Rob Maness signed a fundraising letter for Trump on Tuesday, saying that 'twisting Trump's support of programs for soldiers suffering with PTSD is absolutely DISGUSTING'

Maness, a current U.S. Senate candidate in Louisiana who was at Monday's meeting where Trump spoke, wrote to potential donors: 'The. Media. Straight. Up. Lies. About. Trump. And. Veterans.'

'Twisting Trump's support of programs for soldiers suffering with PTSD is absolutely DISGUSTING. The media is lying and in full assault against Donald Trump who offers real change for Vets,' he added.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, another veteran who backs Trump and attended Monday's event, wrote on his blog: 'I was at Trump's speech today and what CNN is reporting is BULL***T.'

Let me explain something to these liberal progressive media chuckleheads, having served in several combat zones myself,' West wrote.

'Yes, there are those who are able to deal with the rigors and challenges of combat better than others. That has been the case throughout the history of combat.
Nearly 13,000 Turkish police officers have been suspended and a television network was taken off air by police today, as fears grow that the government is using the newly-extended state of emergency to silence critics.

Journalists chanted in defiance as police descended on the Istanbul headquarters of the pro-Kurdish IMC-TV, one of 12 stations ordered closed by the country's government - including one which broadcasts children's cartoons in the Kurdish language.

And today 12,800 police officers were suspended from duty over their suspected links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Police reportedly raided the station's offices during a live broadcast and sealed off the control room

IMC-TV is one of 12 stations which have been taken off air during Turkey's state of emergency

Both moves came a day after Turkey announced it was extending its state of emergency by three more months. It was originally declared in the aftermath of the failed coup, which happened on July 15.

The existing declaration has aroused fears that the government is using its emergency powers to clamp down on critics.

In a brief statement posted on its website Tuesday, the Turkish police headquarters said the suspended officers were allegedly 'in cohesion with or connected to' Gulen's movement. It said 2,523 of them were police chiefs.

Staff at the station broke down in tears during the raid, as others chanted in defiance of the crackdown

The station's headquarters in Istanbul were raided by police during a live broadcast today

The state of emergency, declared on July 20, allows the government to rule through decrees.

Tens of thousands of people have been dismissed or suspended from government jobs in the military, police, judiciary and the education ministry since it was imposed.

Around 32,000 people allegedly connected to the failed takeover attempt have been arrested, including dozens of journalists employed by Gulen-linked news outlets.

Workers at pro-Kurdish television station IMC-TV give victory signs after a crackdown by authorities saw it taken off air

The raid happened on the same day nearly 13,000 police officers were suspended from duty over alleged links with US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is suspected of being behind the failed July 15 coup

Authorities have closed schools, charities, foundations and medical establishments associated with the movement and also appointed trustees to manage Gulen-linked businesses.

IMC-TV said on its website that police raided its headquarters in Istanbul during a live broadcast on Tuesday and sealed off the control room.

Station employees protested the raid, chanting, 'free press is a right' and 'free press cannot be silenced'.

Staff at the television network wait nervously as Turkish police raided their offices in Istanbul today

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup attempt that led to at least 270 deaths.

Turkey, however, wants him returned to stand trial for conspiring to bring down the government and has also requested that he be held in custody until U.S. courts decide on his extradition to Turkey.

Fethullah Gulen has denied involvement in July's failed coup, which led to at least 270 deaths and prompted the government to introduce the state of emergency

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters that Turkey had received intelligence that Gulen was seeking a third country to which to escape in the event the United States agrees to extradite him.

'We have intelligence that (Gulen supporters) are looking for a suitable country or place,' Bozdag said.

A report in Hurriyet newspaper on Tuesday said the countries under consideration include Brazil, Belgium and Canada.

A rally in support of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the aftermath of the failed coup in July

On Friday Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party, or CHP, told journalists on Friday that the government was 'opportunistically' using the coup to go after opponents.

He said: 'The issue is beyond detaining Gulenists. They are using the coup as an opportunity to bolster the administration and silence the opposition. We are currently in a period where everyone is being silenced.'

Turkish and international journalism groups denounced the latest media crackdown.

Robert Mahoney, executive director of the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said last week: 'After silencing much of the critical press, Turkey is now targeting a wide swath of cultural and political expression by shuttering minority broadcasters.

'When the government sees even children's programming as a threat to national security, it is clearly abusing its emergency powers.'

The Turkish Journalists Association has previously called on the Turkish government to stop targeting news outlets.

It said in a statement: 'Journalists that do not share the views of the government are being targeted and taken into custody through false accusations.
A brazen package thief has been caught on surveillance camera in San Francisco stealing a delivery from a stoop while pretending to be a mother out walking her child in a stroller.

Except, upon closer inspection, the woman isn't pushing around her baby, but actually her dog.

The unusual theft was caught on a security camera by a homeowner in Bernal Heights after his package was not delivered at the weekend.

However, after reviewing the footage, the man, Ilan Jacob, realized the delivery had been stolen.

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Caught on camera: This is the woman who was sprung taking a package from a stoop in Bernal Heights on Sunday and then taking off down the street with her stroller

The video clearly shows the thief grabbing the package from the step and fleeing

The unusual theft was caught on a security camera by a homeowner in Bernal Heights after his package was not delivered at the weekend

The woman is seen putting the package underneath her stroller carriage (picture), which is not carrying a child, but a dog

Jacob's wife, Ausra Shtarka, said the woman did not look suspicious because she had the stroller.

'You feel certain things toward a woman with baby carriage, so it was disappointing,' Shtarka told NBC Bay Area.

Jacob installed the cameras because of an increase of theft in the area, particularly packages that have been left on doorsteps.

'We are tied of stuff happening on our block,' Jacob said.

'We talk to neighbors and they've had cars broken into. Another neighbor had stuff stolen.'

The woman then walks away. She is seen wearing a pink hat, white dress and dark jacket

Other residents in Bernal Heights reported a recent rise in theft in the neighborhood

The footage managed to grab one blurry shot of the woman's face. She is seen wearing a floppy pink hat, white dress and dark jacket.

She is also seen wearing stockings and high-heeled brown shoes. She puts the medium-sized box in the undercarriage of her stroller and then takes off down the street.

Inside the stroller is clearly not a child, but a dog.

The package stolen from Jacob included souvenirs a relative visiting from Lithuania planned on taking back home.
Dozens of schoolbooks belonging to British primary school pupils were stolen in the 'Jungle' migrant camp after their teacher went to Calais to volunteer.

Jasmine Kay, a Year Five teacher at Wood Ley Community Primary in Stowmarket, Suffolk, had travelled to France at the weekend to help migrants at the infamous camp.

But the teacher later made a desperate appeal to track down her students' books after her car was broken into and two of her bags were stolen.

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British primary school teacher Jasmine Kay had her car broken into and children's school books stolen while she was volunteering in Calais's 'Jungle' camp

Writing on Facebook, she stated: 'My car window was smashed and I had two bags stolen from my car this weekend by fascists near the camp.

'One of the bags included 45 exercise books that belonged to children in my class in the UK. I had taken them to France to mark.

'If by any chance this bag turns up anywhere please let me know as my head teacher is absolutely fuming as this is a data protection issue and I'm in a lot of trouble.'

Ms Kay has been taking clothing, food and books over to Calais since the summer and recently thanked locals in Stowbridge for their help.

After teaching in the camp earlier this summer, she wrote online: 'I have spent the past few months driving back and forth from Calais with donations.

'I teach in camp and I have recently been interviewed by the ITV news to discuss my experiences of the refugee crisis.

'My heart is broken. I am feeling so much pain for my friends just 21miles from England!'

Ms Kay posted this message on Facebook after the incident, which has been reported to police

The Year Five teacher has been driving back and forth to the camp over the summer and posting pictures of the site on social media

Her recent post was placed on the page of a group called 'Calais - People to People Solidarity', which organises aid from Britain to the camp near the French port.

Fellow members of the group reassured Ms Kay that it was unlikely the school books contained anything that would breach data protection rules.

It is understood Ms Kay has informed the local police of the theft. Her school has been contacted for comment.

The theft of the school books comes after French President Francois Hollande insisted he will demolish the Jungle camp and move residents to reception centres in other parts of the country.

A group of Tory MPs today demanded unaccompanied children with family in the UK should be removed from the camp before it is closed.

Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan is among those urging Home Secretary Amber Rudd to do more to save children from people smugglers and exploitation.
Friends and colleagues described her as a talented and vibrant person

Trilingual, she traveled round the world to find subjects for her work

Andrews was a respected artist and photographer with work published in the likes of National Geographic

Her body was found, strangled and beaten, by the roadside close to her destination

She was the sole passenger on the bus after the other travelers got off

A Canadian photographer was robbed and murdered by an airport bus driver who dumped her body at the roadside in Mexico, authorities say.

Barbara McClatchie Andrews, whose work had appeared in the likes of National Geographic, was found strangled at the side of the road outside Merida, Mexico, on Friday.

The state Attorney General's office believes the 74-year-old was killed by the bus driver taking her from the airport in Cancun to her home in Merida - after a trip to visit family in Canada.

Married father-of-two Juan Carlos Lopez Martinez, a charter bus driver from Veracruz, has been arrested, local media reports.

Authorities say Andrews was the only passenger on the bus back to Merida after the others got off. Her body was found a few kilometers from her destination by a passing farmer at 7.30am on Friday.

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Barbara McClatchie Andrews, whose work had appeared in the likes of National Geographic, was found dead on Friday

Andrews' body was found dumped by the side of the road on Friday (pictured)

The state attorney general's office believe the 74-year-old was killed by the taxi driver she had hired to take her from the airport in Cancun to her home in Merida

The Yucatan Times reported the photographer had been brutally strangled to death, and beaten several times around the face and body. Her camera and money had been stolen.

Yucatan state Attorney General Ariel Aldecua said the motive appears to have been robbery.

Her death is still under investigation.

Andrews, described by friends as a 'fascinating and lively and vital person', had traveled all over the world for her work.

She had moved to the colonial town of Merida, the capital of Yucatan, several years ago where she had opened non-profit gallery in Lak'Ech for emerging artists in 2007 that she was still heavily involved with.

She has also been represented by Art Works Gallery in Vancouver, according to gallery owner Deanna Geisheiner.

The artist and photographer, who split her time between Canada and Mexico was robbed and strangled to death

Andrews, described by friends as a 'fascinating and lively and vital person', had traveled all over the world for her work

Yucatan state Attorney General Ariel Aldecua said the motive for Andrews' death appears to have been robbery

' We are shocked and saddened by the death of Barbara McClatchie Andrews,' the gallery said in a statement. 'We are heartbroken for losing such a dear friend and an accomplished artist.

'Our deepest condolences go out to her family and friends. We strongly demand the investigation brings her murderer to justice.'

The respected photographer loved Mexico and was a fierce defender of the country which is still gripped by a drugs war.

She would 'rail against the media' when it highlighted the dangers of the country, despite the fact that dozens of journalists have been murdered in Mexico in recent years.

Vancouver artist Rodney Clark, who had seen Andrews recently, said that she seemed much younger that her years, and was still a vibrant and outgoing individual.

'She was ageless in attitude, incredibly gifted, wickedly intelligent, kind beyond measure and had the most wonderful sense of humor. We could talk for hours at a time. I feel so blessed to have seen her such a short time ago. A great loss'.

Andrews, who was trilingual, traveled all around the world for her photographic work

Andrews is survived by her son, Julian Andrews, and brother, Sam McClatchie

Colleagues of Andrews say her early work focused on the developing world where she had traveled extensively.

Her photographs were published in international journals including National Geographic and The World & I.

She had also exhibited in shows all around the world.

National Geographic Latin America paid tribute to their occasional contributor Andrews in a statement which read: 'We express our most sincere condolences on the passing of the photographer Barbara Mcclatchie Andrews.'

Locals from the small town of Merida, which has typically avoided some of the worst of Mexico's violence, were shocked by the news.

Andrews, who was trilingual, had studied English and French literature at the University of British Columbia, and went on to pursue post-graduate studies at Montreals Concordia University and the University of Arizona.

She is survived by her son, Julian Andrews, and brother, Sam McClatchie.

She was also a former teacher at South Delta Secondary in British Colombia, Canada. According to the photographer's website, she had homes in both Vancouver and Merida.

Artist friend Martine Janser wrote, partially in Spanish, on Facebook: 'Barbara McClatchie Andrews, I certainly enjoyed your company....Will miss you. Rest in peace, dear friend.'
Beatles producer Sir George Martin left an estate worth more than 1million but failed to leave anything to his eldest son following a rift that has torn the family apart.

Father-of-four Sir George, often described as 'The Fifth Beatle', died peacefully at his home in Coleshill, near Swindon, in March aged 90.

He helped The Beatles achieve global success, producing their early 1960s pop recordings and classic albums Revolver and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

It has now emerged that he left a 1million estate in his will, with the majority of it being left to his second wife Judy.

Father-of-four Sir George Martin, often described as 'The Fifth Beatle' (pictured with Sir Paul McCartney), died peacefully at his home in Coleshill, near Swindon, in March aged 90. It has now emerged he left a 1million estate with much of it being awarded to his second wife Judy

Sir George has left a 1million estate in his will, with the majority of it being left to his second wife Judy. Seven other people - including his daughter and former chauffeur - will get a share

He specified that an amount small enough to avoid UK inheritance tax should shared between seven people, including his daughter Alexis - from his first marriage to Jean 'Sheena' Chisholm - and three of his grandchildren.

His former chauffeur, his secretary, and a niece are also recipients.

However, his wayward older son Greg, with whom he had a troubled relationship, has not been left a penny.

The rest of his estate has been left to Judy and the document states that if she had died before Sir George, her bequest would have gone to their children Lucie and Giles 'in equal shares absolutely'.

Giles Martin is the musical director of the long-running, Beatles-based Cirque Du Soleil show LOVE in Las Vegas, which grosses millions of dollars a year.

The will has added to enormous friction in the Martin family, with his first wife Sheena and two children  Alexis and Greg - now no longer speaking to Judy, Lucie and Giles.

Sir George abandoned Sheena, his wife of 14 years, and their children, for a new life with his glamorous office secretary Judy and went on to have two more children with her.

Sir George Martin (right) married Judy Lockhart-Smith (left) and had two more children, Lucie (pictured centre) and Giles

Following his death in March, long-standing tensions between the two sides of the family have deepened.

At its heart are the terms of the will and the fact he left a small share to Alexis, nothing to Greg and much of the rest of the estate to his 'second family'.

Sir George stated in his will: 'I give free of tax to my trustees such sum as at my death equals the maximum amount which could be given by this will without inheritance tax becoming payable in respect of my estate.' That 'maximum amount', according to tax law, is 325,000.

Alexis is left 21 per cent of the sum, so she can expect 68,250. His grandson Connor Martin, son of Greg, gets the same.

Alexis's son Saul, Martin's oldest grandchild, is left 16 per cent, or 52,000, as is Saul's sister Natasha. Sandra Parrott, Martin's niece, will receive 45,500, while the producer's former secretary and his driver, Shirley Burns and John Grover, share equally the remaining money, at most 39,000.

The rest of his estate goes to his 87-year old widow Judy.

Alexis has previously spoken out over her upset at the division of the will, even emailing Sir George's other children Giles and Lucie to bemoan the 'pittance' she received.

Sir George left his wife Sheena of 14 years and their two children Alexis (pictured) and Greg for a new life with his glamorous secretary. Alexis claims she has received 'pittance' from h is will

Second son Greg has not been left anything by his father Sir George (pictured together above)

In one emotional email to Lucie, she wrote: 'There were so many examples I could cite over the years both big and small, of how we were . . . treated as second class compared to you two and your kids. 'I know it is an uncomfortable thought for you to address but let us not beat about the bush here: the inequality is stark.

'The amount of 68,000 is . . . a pittance compared with what Dad owned. Do you and Giles honestly expect to receive the same amount from Dad's estate? I urge you to think about this fairly.'

Lucie replied that there was a gulf between Alexis's perception of her father's wealth and the reality. And that has been the sisters' last contact.

The will is one of 41 million stored and digitised by Iron Mountain on behalf of HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

At the time of Sir George's death, Sir Paul McCartney described him as a 'true gentleman and like a second father to me', while Ringo Starr praised the producer's 'love and kindness' to the Fab Four through the years.

'If anyone earned the title of the Fifth Beatle it was George,' Sir Paul said.

He added: 'From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I've ever had the pleasure to know.'

In 1962 George made the first decision that changed his life for ever by being the only record label to agree to sign The Beatles. He is pictured with the band in 1963 receiving a silver disc

Sir George helped the Beatles achieve global success as the head of the Parlophone record label after hearing their demo tape in 1962. He is pictured with Ringo Starr in 2005

In a career spanning seven decades, Sir George, who celebrated his 90th birthday in January, signed the Beatles and produced more than 700 records - remaining one of the most influential producers in popular music history.

Often called 'the Fifth Beatle', he gave the Beatles their first recording contract and produced virtually all of their music.

At that point the band consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best. The Liverpool quartet had been turned down by every record company as they tried to make it in the music business.

But when Martin - then head of the Parlophone label - heard their demo tape in 1962, and attended an audition session, a partnership was born which, with the addition of Starr later that year, would turn the Fab Four into the world's greatest band and change the face of popular music forever.

Following his death, his family released a statement thanking 'everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages of support'.

His manager Adam Sharp paid tribute to him as 'a true gentleman to the end'.
It was like blowing into a busted bag.

That's how James Hawkins described to the jury his futile attempts to breathe life into the limp and sweat-soaked body of 22-month-old Cooper Harris, pulled from his father's compact SUV only moments earlier.

Cooper's father Justin Ross Harris, 35, is on trial for the hot-car murder of his son in June 2014 near Smyrna, Georgia. Harris and his defense attorney insist the grisly death was an accident and not an intentional act, as police and prosecutors believe.

Hawkins and his colleague Anthony Pantano were among the first people on the scene as Harris pulled his SUV into a strip mall, exited quickly from the driver side door and began screaming.

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Justin Ross Harris wept in court on Tuesday. He is on trial for the first degree murder of his infant son Cooper

22-month-old Cooper was found dead in Harris's SUV. A witness described trying to revive him via CPR as 'blowing into a busted bag'

The two lighting installers had just finished repairing a restaurant's decorative lights when they heard the screech of brakes and loud screaming, Hawkins testified Tuesday afternoon.

Pantano quickly drove his van to the spot where the SUV had come to an abrupt stop behind a pizza restaurant. James ran to join him.

Pantano testified how Ross Harris tried to unbuckle his young son from a child's car seat behind the driver's seat. Pantano crawled inside to help the distraught driver to get the limp child onto the pavement.

'When I initially got in the car, I asked him what was going on and he said, "I left him in the car. I've left him in the car,"' Pantano testified.

Pantano said he tried to get Harris to focus and perform CPR. There wasn't a lot of emotion at that point, he said. 'We were trying to focus on what if anything we could do for the child.'

Pantano described how Harris attempted to revive his son as he lay on the ground but gave up and walked away from the child's body after 'a few compressions and one breath.'

Hawkins could see the commotion unfold as he joined his colleague. He saw Harris pull his son from the rear seat and place him on the asphalt.

'He was fumbling around with him,' Hawkins said. 'It wasn't right whatever he was doing, so I kind of just moved him out of the way and started CPR.'

James Hawkins, a lighting contractor, was among first on the scene as the lifeless body of Cooper Harris was lifted from Ross Harris' SUV. He performed CPR on Cooper but realized he was dead after blowing two breaths into the baby's mouth. 'It was blowing into a busted bag,' he recalled

Witness Anthony Pantano described how Harris attempted to revive his son as he lay on the ground but gave up and walked away from the child's body after 'a few compressions and one breath'

Hawkins said Harris walked away from Cooper. Hawkins stayed and continued the rescue effort but knew Cooper was dead after blowing two breaths into the baby's mouth. 'It was blowing into a busted bag,' he recalled.

He continued to perform CPR until police arrived and then quietly left the scene.

Hawkins wiped tears from his eyes. 'His tongue was sticking out,' he said. 'His hands were clinched. He was just straight up dead.'

The state's first witness, Jacqueline Piper, was among the Cobb County Police officers who responded to the strip mall scene on that warm June afternoon. 'I saw Cooper on the ground. His legs were stiff, almost like he was fixed in a sitting position,' she testified.

When she questioned Harris he spelled out his name phonetically, such as A-alpha, B-bravo, she recalled. She thought was unusual. 'Most people don't do that,' she said. Harris also tried to make it clear several times that he used to be in law enforcement, she added.

Harris was ordered multiple times to get all the way into the car, she continued. Once into the back seat of her patrol car, Harris complained about handcuffs being too tight and the heat.

'He immediately complained about how hot it was in my vehicle,' she said. 'I told him things were as good as they were going to get,' though she agreed loosen his handcuffs.

'He never mentioned his son,' she added. He was looking out windows and 'kind of nonchalant,' she said.

The state's first witness, police officer Jacqueline Piper, explains aerial photographs made at scene near Smyrna, GA where Justin Ross Harris pulled his lifeless son's body from his SUV. She drove Harris from the scene in a police car. 'He never mentioned his son,' she said. He was looking out windows and 'kind of nonchalant'

The court was shown a police dash cam video of Justin Ross Harris as he was complaining about heat in rear of patrol car. 'The air is all the way up and the windows are down. It's going to be hot for a little bit,' the subtitles of Officer Piper speaking read

Harris was in court, left, and right in his mugshot. 'Ross loved that little boy more than anything,' his defense attorney said in an emotion-filled opening statement

Jurors watched police dash-cam video that recorded Harris as he tried to engage Piper in conversation on the drive to police headquarters. 'He asked how long I had been in law enforcement,' she recalled.

She said Harris' demeanor did not appear consistent with someone who had just lost a child. 'It made me very uncomfortable,' she said.

Harris with his ex-wife Leanna and Cooper. The pair separated earlier this year after Leanna filed for divorce saying their marriage was 'irretrievably broken' after the death of their son

The video shown to jurors showed Harris sitting calmly for nearly 30 minutes in the back of the patrol car before crying out in anguish.

'God, what have I done? What have I done? What have I done? Oh my God. Oh my God. What have I done? My boy. My boy. Oh my God,' Harris sobbed.

Harris's defense rests on convincing the jury that his son's death was an accident. He faces charges of first-degree murder for Cooper's death by hyperthermia while he worked for more than 7 hours inside an office building.

'Ross loved that little boy more than anything,' his defense attorney Maddox Kilgore said in an emotion-filled opening statement to the jury on Tuesday.

'Cooper's death was an accident, it was always an accident. And that's exactly what he told the police.'

Ross Harris wiped his face with tissue as he listened, his eyes filled with tears as his attorney continued.

'Ross is responsible. It's his fault, there's no doubt about it,' Kilgore said.

'From the moment he drove down the road and looked back over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Cooper in the back, he knew what he had done. He knew his child was dead.'

Harris pulled into a shopping mall parking lot, took Cooper out of the car and tried to perform CPR but was 'too overwhelmed and couldn't concentrate,' the attorney explained.

Harris cried, 'My God, what have I done? ' at the scene, Kilgore said. 'I killed my boy, I'm so sorry, Cooper, I'm so sorry,' Kilgore continued.

But 'responsible' doesn't mean criminal, Kilgore stressed.

'You're going to hear a lot of really bad things about Ross Harris. He's earned every bit of shame that's coming his way,' Kilgore said.

There will be 'all kinds of nasty Internet chats and stories of infidelity and adultery, embarrassing and graphic sexual matters,' Kilgore said. But that had nothing to do with Cooper's death, Kilgore said.

Harris's defense lawyer Maddox Kilgore told the court Cooper's death was an accident

Piper (right) explains photographs made at the scene. The car in which Cooper died is pictured

Prosecutors contend Harris misled investigators and tried to get them to believe the young boy's death was an accident.

He described Harris' sexting with women as gross, filthy and graphic, but said his client's sex life, 'no matter how perverse and nasty and wrong that we think it is, it doesn't have a thing in the world to do with the fact that he forgot that little boy. Nothing.'

Sexual behavior isn't some kind of motive for murdering 'the person he loved more than anything in the world,' Kilgore said.

'What it is, is evidence of his filthy sex life. That's all it is.'

He loved his son Cooper dearly, and was hoping to bring him along with his wife Leanne on a cruise, Kilgore said.

The high profile trial began Monday after jurors were selected and the prosecution made its opening statement.

What looked like a tragic accident came under public scrutiny after investigators said they found Harris had researched child deaths inside vehicles before his son perished.

'Evidence will show this was the worst imaginable death for a child,' Cobb County assistant district attorney Chuck Boring told the jury during opening statements Monday.

The car Harris left his son inside while he went to work in Marietta, Georgia, is shown in this image from WSB-TV

Temperatures inside the car were estimated to have reached 120 degrees, according to medical examiner reports. Cooper was found dead eight hours after his father left him in the vehicle.

The prosecution says Harris knew his son was in the car and may have wanted the boy out of his life - so that he could carry on his relationships with various women.

'He closed the door on his 22-month-old son's life and sought another life. Minutes before he closed the door on that child, while that child sat in the car, evidence will show that this defendant had been online and exchanged comments that he'd been unhappy in his marriage.'

Boring said that instead of thinking about his son, Harris had spent the day messaging an underage girl.

'On that day, when his son was cooking to death, he was texting with a 16-year-old girl, trying to get photos of her vaginal area.'

Harris's defense rests on persuading jurors that he simply didn't remember his 22-month-old son was still strapped in his car seat as he headed to his job - even though they had shared breakfast at a Chick-fil-A restaurant just minutes before the brief drive from the diner to his office.

But Harris had a double life, Boring said as he opened the trial.

'While he was doing that all day, his son was out in the car, dying, slowly, painfully... When he was point-six of a mile from the Chick-fil-A where he had breakfast with his son, he was texting a...woman [saying] 'I hate being married with kids. The novelty has worn off and I have nothing to show for it.''

'It's about deception, of family and friends, deception with law enforcement, deception in every part of this case. A double life,' Boring said.

Boring also criticized Harris's reaction upon the discovery of his son's body.

'Harris pulled into a shopping center after leaving work and began shouting, 'What have I done? What have I done?

'His behavior was not consistent with somebody who had just discovered his child in the back seat after forgetting him. Did he cry, 'somebody call 911, somebody come help my child'? No.

'While other people were trying to help his son, he was walking around. He starts trying to call his wife, and trying to call the daycare. He doesn't call 911 and separates himself from his child. No tears,' he said.

Harris, a computer programmer for Home Depot Corporation, sat in his office as his son struggled to breathe in the sun-baked SUV parked outside, police said.

Harris was arrested and charged with murder several hours after Cooper was found dead in the back of the car.

An indictment filed against Harris in September 2014 listed the following eight charges: malice murder, two counts of felony murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, cruelty to children in the second degree, criminal attempt to commit a felony of sexual exploitation of children, and two counts of dissemination of harmful material to minors.

A murder conviction in Georgia carries a life sentence in prison.

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring believes Cooper's death was intentional. Harris had researched child deaths inside vehicles before his son's death, investigators said.

Harris confirmed to police that he researched child deaths inside vehicles, including what temperature it needed to be for that to occur. Harris was 'fearful that this could happen,' according to police.

Prosecutors previously said Harris was messaging six women the day Cooper died. He reportedly told one woman on the app Whisper: 'I love my son and all but we both need escapes'.
Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tried to turn her boss' tax issue back around on Democrats when asked about it on CNN's 'New Day' this morning.

'I didn't see President Obama say  beat his chest and say we need to get rid of this provision,' Conway told the cable channel's Chris Cuomo.

The Trump campaign has spent much of this week dealing with revelations reported in the New York Times that the businessman had lost $916 million in 1995, which would have allowed him to skip paying federal income tax for the next 18 years.

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Donald Trump's Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway pointed to the Democrats when asked about a tax provision that likely allowed Donald Trump to write off $1 billion in losses

CNN's Chris Cuomo (left) couldn't understand why the Trump campaign wouldn't make sure of the New York Times story and say they'd end the provision. Kellyanne Conway (right) noted that it was 100 years old and that it helped people

The newspaper noted yesterday that Trump's net operating losses accounted for nearly 2 percent of all net losses declared by American taxpayers in that year.

The Clinton campaign has used the Times' reporting to mock Trump's business-savvy, while also suggesting that the billionaire is the type of person to profit from the 'rigged' system he so often rails about on the campaign trail.

The Trump campaign has made sure voters are aware that what Trump did was legal.

'And let's review here. It's a provision that's been around since 1918. It's 100 years old,' Conway pointed out, noting how it wasn't a priority for Democrats under Obama to change the tax law. 'Especially when he had Democrats in the House and Senate for two years when her first got there.'

Conway also talked about how Trump's story is one of an epic, American 'comeback.'

'This is American and we appreciate business owners and entrepreneurs and those who take risks,' she said.

She noted how Trump absorbed those 1995 losses, which were due to his failing Atlantic City casino businesses, his airline and his purchase of the Plaza Hotel, and turned things around.

'And what did he do?' Conway mused. 'He invested in New York when very few would not. He created thousands of jobs. You look around the city, and there are many Trump buildings where people  people live and people are in hotels and people eat in restaurants.'

'In other words, he invested that. It's a great American success story,' Conway said.

Clinton, on the campaign trail yesterday in Toledo, Ohio, begged to differ.

'What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?' she asked her crowd, mocking Trump surrogates Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie for using the adjective during the Sunday shows to describe the Republican nominee's mastery of the tax code.

What Cuomo couldn't wrap his head around today was why the Trump campaign wouldn't put forth a proposal to change this rule, which seemingly benefits the ultra-rich.

'But there's nothing in the tax plan that will fix what he does with net operating losses,' the CNN reporter told Conway. 'Why not? This is his opportunity.'

'Because it's been around for  it's been around for 100 years and it benefits many,' Conway replied.

She suggested that Trump wasn't against the provision.

'What he said was, he knows how to leverage the tax system in a way that allowed him to absorb those losses in one year, 21 years ago,' she said. 'And it, moving forward, create thousands of jobs, reinvest and have an amazing comeback.'

'I mean the man is an American success story and I think that's why he's in the hunt in these polls,' she continued. 'I think it's why he's going to win.'

Conway continued to tick off Trump's accomplishments, from 'The Apprentice' to the fact that he represents a 'disruptive outsider versus consummate insider.'

When Cuomo brought up the 2 percent figure reported in the Times, Conway said it was because 'we've never seen anyone like Donald Trump.'

'He'll make it better,' she said of the tax system. 'He goes from seven brackets to three brackets. He has a simplified system.'

Cuomo again brought up that Trump's plan doesn't change the provision in the middle of the tax controversy.

Conway changed the subject.
Most people feel theyre paying too much in taxes to support those who arent employed, an opinion poll for the Irish Daily Mail reveals today.

The findings  in a survey of 1,400 adults by new polling company Ireland Thinks  provide a clear pre-Budget warning to Finance Minister Michael Noonan that most citizens feel severely squeezed by high taxes.

In all, 57% of those polled said we pay too much in tax to support the jobless. Among working people that figure rose to 60%, with 34% saying it was about right. Six per cent thought it was too little.

Most people feel theyre paying too much in taxes to support those who arent employed, an opinion poll has revealed

Among the population at large, more women felt too much was paid, with as many as 60% saying too large an amount of our taxes goes to the jobless  54% of men take that view.

And when the population at large was asked about the amount paid by the working people to support those who are unemployed, 57% said the burden was too much, 37% felt it was the right amount, while a tiny 6% felt it was too little.

The statistics also explode the myth that the high vote for left-wing parties in the general election last February implied public support for higher taxes for dole spending.

For instance just 8% of Sinn Fein supporters said too little is taken from the employed to support those without work, while 55% said too much is taken. Only 37% said it is about right.

Fianna Fail voters are virtually inseparable from Fine Gael, with six in ten Fine Gaelers against extra support for the jobless, while 59% of Fianna Fail supporters hold the same view.

Just one in 20 in both parties believe too little is being paid.

Among the population at large, more women felt too much was paid to support the unemployed

The figures may put pressure on Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin not to support tax-and-spend policies in the next election.

Social Democrat supporters were the most liberal, with 17% saying workers are not taxed enough to support the unemployed, more than twice the level found among Sinn Fein voters. Some 13% of Green voters felt the same way.

Among Labour supporters 48% thought too much was being paid to aid the jobless, 9% said it was too little, and 43% believed the amount was about right. Even AAA-PBP sympathisers were reluctant to pay more towards the unemployed, with just 7% backing this position, while 41% were firmly against it. Some 52% believed the tax/welfare balance was neither too high nor too low.

However, those who voted for Independents or non-party candidates were most likely to say they were being taxed too much to support the unemployed, with the figure at 68% while only 4%, said it was too little.

The survey by Ireland Thinks for the Irish Daily Mail also reveals that resistance to paying more is strongest among young workers.

Of those between the ages 25 and 34, more than two-thirds (67%) say they are paying too much, 30% think the burden is about right, and only a tiny 3% believe it to be too little.

The numbers who believe the unemployed deserve their payments rises as people get older

As this indicates that 97% of young people think no additional tax should be spent on the jobless, there is a clear message to Mr Noonan as he prepares to deliver his Budget one week from today.

However, the numbers who believe the unemployed deserve their payments rises as people get older.

Only 62% of those aged 35-to-44 believed they get too much, while 59% aged 45-to-54 do and 53% of those aged 55-to-64 do. Among pensioners and those aged 65 and over the figure is just 50%.

Of those between the ages 25 and 34, more than two-thirds say they are paying too much tax to help the jobless (file photo)

It also appears that the elderly feel more sympathy for the young, who are statistically the most likely to be without work. While a number of the younger age groups show only 6% who believe too little is spent helping the unemployed, this figure rises to 9% among people aged 65-plus.

And curiously, it is only in the very young age group  18-to-24  that there is a small majority of those who believe that the support for the jobless is the right amount. The figure is 48%, versus a 44% score for those who branded it too much.

Ireland Thinks interviewed a random sample of 1,418 adults aged 18+ by phone between September 26 and 30. This higher sample equates to a margin of error of 2.7%, better than standard methodologies. A Random Digit Dial method was used to ensure a random selection process of households to be included.

Four-fifths of the sample was interviewed using a mobile phone sample, with the remainder drawn from a sample of landlines.

This was intended to ensure that the data is more representative of the adult population.
Former Stormont justice minister David Ford is among a cross-community group of politicians challenging Brexit

Northern Ireland has a veto over withdrawal from the EU, lawyers opposed to Brexit argued.

An exit would have a catastrophic effect on the peace process, Ronan Lavery QC said.

He claimed people in Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which largely ended republican and loyalist violence.

A cross-community group of politicians and victims campaigners is challenging the Prime Minister's ability to trigger Article 50 negotiations on an exit at the High Court in Belfast.

Mr Lavery said: 'Sovereignty over constitutional affairs has been ceded. It is not the relationship, as it might once have been, between a dominant partner in a relationship and a submissive partner in a relationship.

'The people of Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change, it cannot be imposed upon the people of Northern Ireland.

'If that means that Northern Ireland could exercise a veto over withdrawal then I am (asserting) that is what Britain and Ireland signed up to when they signed the Good Friday Agreement.'

Special provision has been made in that agreement governing whether Northern Ireland can become part of a United Ireland if the majority wish it.

Mr Lavery added: 'The people of Northern Ireland are the sole entity which has sovereignty over any change in constitutional status and it may be that change in the constitutional status is something which Britain, or England more correctly, wishes to put into effect but it does not mean that it is not a change of constitutional status here.'

He said: 'Withdrawal from the EU could have a catastrophic effect on the peace process and that delicate constitutional balance which we have reached.'

Prime Minister Theresa May has said she plans to begin negotiations with the European Union next year.

Former Stormont justice minister David Ford is among a cross-community group of politicians and human rights activists whose lawyers are taking the judicial review of her powers at Belfast's High Court.

Human rights activists whose lawyers are taking the judicial review of Theresa May's powers at Belfast's High Court (pictured)

Mr Lavery represents Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond McCord Jr was murdered by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in north Belfast in 1997.

Some 56 per cent of Northern Irish voters backed Remain in the June 23 referendum but some unionist-dominated parts supported Leave.

Northern Ireland shares the UK's only land border with an EU state, the Republic of Ireland, and the British and Irish Governments have said they are keen to ensure there is no return to the hard borders of the past.

Theresa May visited Belfast for early talks on Brexit with Arlene Foster (left) and Martin McGuinness (right) in July just days after entering No 10

Mr Lavery added that under Brexit any move to create a United Ireland would be subject to the permission of the other EU member states that Northern Ireland should join the EU.

'That is a practical and illegal impediment to the nationalist aspiration for a United Ireland,'

Those supporting the legal action include: Green Party leader Steven Agnew; Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood; senior Sinn Fein Stormont Assembly member John O'Dowd; former head of the Progressive Unionist Party Dawn Purvis; ex-Equality Commission member and disability rights activist Monica Wilson OBE and the Committee on the Administration of Justice human rights group.
Dozens pitched up tents in bid to secure one of the two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses

Desperate house hunters camped outside an estate agent overnight in a bid to snap up one of 33 new homes going up for sale.

The houses at the new Oakes Park development in Dartford, Kent, which started at 254,995, were all sold in just hours.

The town is within easy commuting distance of London - taking just over an hour by train - and topped the list for the country's fastest selling house hotspots earlier this year.

Desperate house hunters camped overnight in a bid to snap up one of 33 new homes going up for sale in Dartford, Kent

The houses on the new Oakes Park development, which started at 254,995, were all sold in just hours

Dozens pitched up tents outside the housing development in order to secure one of the attractive properties.

Couple Heidi Stitt and Jack Bartley, both 27, managed to successfully buy a three-bedroom house.

Ms Stitt said: 'We were desperate for a three-bedroom home and luckily most people in front of us were after the two-bedroom properties.

'Jack camped overnight in the tent to secure our new home and I joined him on Saturday morning.

Two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses were on offer in the first phase of the development

Eventually the development will comprise a mix of 72 terraced and semi-detached houses

'The atmosphere was really friendly and it was a good way for us to get to know our potential new neighbours.

'We are meeting up with the couple who have bought the home next to us this weekend.'

Meanwhile, Dan Rawling and fiancee Sam Pelling, both 31, were so desperate to snap up one of the homes that they returned home from a holiday in Cyrus and went straight to put their name on the waiting list.

They said the tents used by the house buyers all came from Argos for 15,

Dozens of hopeful house hunters queued up in order to snap up one of the properties

The town topped the list for the country's fastest selling house hotspots earlier this year

According to Rightmove, homes in Dartford, where the average asking price of a property is under 300,000, usually sell within two weeks.

The property developer, Bellway Homes, said it was pleased with the popularity of its new houses.

Head of sales for the area Emma Denton said: 'Homes in the area are in high demand, and this was reflected in the successful turnout at our Oakes Park launch.

'We are delighted that we could offer many first time buyers and second steppers the chance to either get on the property ladder for the first time or buy a bigger home for their family.'

Eventually the development will comprise a mix of 72 terraced and semi-detached houses and parking. Properties in the next phase will be released in spring 2017.

The houses are within easy commuting distance of London, taking just over an hour by train

According to Rightmove, homes in Dartford usually sell within two weeks
Albanian migrant Agustin Sula, who has been jailed for the murder of a father in a street attack in Hull

A teenage Albanian migrant who was granted asylum in Britain despite being wanted by Interpol has been jailed for the 'violent and vicious' murder of a young father.

Agustin Sula, 18, stabbed 21-year-old Polish national Mateusz Szleper seven times, piercing his heart and lungs, in a street attack in Hull, East Yorkshire, in revenge for a 'perceived slight' by one of the victim's friends.

Sula arrived in Hull in 2014 as a fugitive after being convicted of a crime of theft by collaboration and sentenced to six months in prison in his home country.

However, he fled to Britain and did not end up serving the prison sentence and carried out the murder on February 14 earlier this year.

And sentencing Sula today at Hull Crown Court, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC told him he did not known if he would be ever released and ordered him to serve a minimum of 18 years.

The judge said: 'Immaturity is understood by everyone but it was not your immaturity that governed your conduct that night after the initial incident, it was an innate aspect of your character - a desire for revengeful violence.

'Many young men are immature but they do not act violently and with the level of determined violence you exhibited.

'In my judgement, you are a man - albeit a young man - possessed of a violent character and personality. You are also impetuous and volatile.

'Given what you did, and the fact you repeatedly carried a knife, you are, thus, a dangerous individual.

Sula, 18, stabbed 21-year-old Polish national Mateusz Szleper, pictured, seven times, piercing his heart and lungs

'I have no means of being able to gauge at this stage when, or if, it will be ever safe to release you.'

Sula's brother, Ermal Sula, 24, was also jailed for four years for assisting an offender.

Judge Richardson told him it was likely he would be removed from the UK at the end of his sentence.

Sula was 17 when he murdered Polish 21-year-old Mr Szleper in Hull earlier this year. Judge Richardson said the teenager regularly carried a knife and had been involved in fights on previous occasions.

He told him: 'A knife in the possession of an idle young man in public, who has a tendency to get involved in fights, particularly one who is volatile, as you were, provides the map and compass for a route to disaster. That is what has happened here.'

On the evening of the murder, Sula was carrying an eight inch knife, with a sharp tip and a partially serrated blade, which had the appearance of a knuckle duster.

The judge said: 'You had no lawful purpose for that knife and it was plainly carried by you to bolster your inadequate character and personality, coupled with a plain intention to use it when you saw the need.'

There was a 'minor collision' between Sula and one of the victim's friends, when their shoulders connected as they walked past each other.

Judge Richardson added: 'It was a very minor incident and from that minor incident the horror of the subsequent events unfolded.

The knife that Sula used to carry out the murder. The court heard that Sula initially armed himself with a piece of wood but, when that broke into three pieces, he used his knife, stabbing Mr Szleper

'I will not lose sight of your immaturity but it was subsumed into a desire for violence and your perceived need for retribution for what had been done to you.'

There was a verbal confrontation between the two groups before Sula, his brother and a friend followed the Polish men and the teenager launched his attack, telling his friends: 'Come and watch, I'm going to f*** up that Igor.'

The court heard that Sula initially armed himself with a piece of wood but, when that broke into three pieces, he used his knife, stabbing Mr Szleper with such force the weapon penetrated 6in into his body.

After the murder, Sula disposed of the knife on wasteland and the group all changed their clothes and washed certain items.

The brothers later left Hull and travelled to the Birmingham area, where it is believed Ermal Sula had a job, but both were arrested on February 24 and charged with murder.

Sula was convicted of murder after a 17-day trial. The jury was unable to reach a verdict in respect of Ermal Sula's murder charge and he pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.

Judge Richardson said: 'You, Agustin Sula, remained a fugitive from justice in Albania when you arrived in this country.
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A mass grave filled with the skeletons of men and women executed during Spain's brutal civil war and the ensuing General Francisco Franco dictatorship has been uncovered - and experts believe it is one of more than 2,000 across the country.

Work has begun on forensic analysis that may identify the dead, after three unmarked pits containing 185 bodies were found in the central Spanish city of Valladolid.

It is thought the city's cemetery could contain up to 10 similar mass graves, with the victims among the estimated 100,000 who forcibly 'disappeared' during the 1936 and 1939 civil war, and Franco's subsequent regime.

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People would have been tried by a kangaroo court and then executed, according to the architect leading the project in Valladolid, in central Spain

Biologist Aida Rodriguez, from the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Valladolid (ARMH-Valladolid), exhumes one of the three mass graves in the central Spanish city

Archaeologist Gonzalo Saiz holds up a human skull which was found buried in an unmarked pit in Valladolid

Authorities in Valladolid have paid 25,000 euros (22,000) on employing a professional team to examine the site. with work starting in April.

Mayor Oscar Puente said: 'This is a question of national dignity and human rights rather than opening the wounds of the past.

'We could not simply look away.'

The city 'could not simply look away', said Mayor Oscar Puente as an excavation of the graves revealed up to 200 skeletons, with many more likely hidden below the ground

A member of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Valladolid (ARMH-Valladolid) removes a bullet from a human skull during the exhumation of the one of the three mass graves

In 1977 Spain passed an amnesty law pardoning the crimes of the Franco regime, and the mass graves were left undisturbed.

But there is a renewed interest in facing up to the country's past.

Archaeologist Julio del Olmo said victims were executed following judgment in kangaroo courts, or slain in small groups and tipped into the pit by truck.

After General Franco (above) died in 1975, a law was passed pardoning the crimes of his regime. As a result, no detailed work was carried out to find out who was buried in mass graves across the country

Archaeologist Julio del Olmo said it is 'unforgivable' that it has taken this long to examine the mass graves

Around 200 bodies have been found in the mass graves in the central Spanish city, as Spain comes to terms with the crimes committed in the civil war, and the ensuing years of the Franco regime

He said: 'It's unforgivable that this is being done now and not then.

'Just 25 years ago the widows, who suffered the most from this loss, were alive. Now they're all dead. The only children alive are the youngest.

'That is something to which all the governments of this country have been impervious.'

Boxes containing human remains are piled in a garage after being recovered by a team examining the three mass graves

Some of the people discovered in the pits had been wearing decaying leather boots

Some of those discovered in the pits were wearing decayed leather boots.

Radar pulses are being used to find more unmarked mass burial sites.

The bodies were found interspersed with crumbly white soil, the quicklime that was spread on the recently executed to prevent smells and prevent disease. Even so, slaughter on such a grand scale must have reeked, said del Olmo.

Fernando Serrulla, forensic anthropologist member of the Aranzadi Science Society takes a saliva sample from Julia Merino for a DNA test during the exhumation

The remains of bodies have been collected during the exhumation of three mass graves in the central Spanish city of Valladolid

A human skull is found inside the mass graves, which have remained untouched for more than eight decades

So far only a handful of mass graves across the country have been dug up and documented.

Abilio Perez, a sprightly octogenarian former bar owner, tended the unmarked area above the graves alongside his wife for six decades, leaving flowers on All Saints' Day and marking off the area with four iron rods and chains.

A priest told a relative that the bodies of his wife's father and brother were dumped there after being executed by Franco's forces in the autumn of 1936. But he was told for years by authorities that nothing was there.

'We put a cross there, but it was taken away,' he said.

Julio del Olmo, archaeologist member of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Valladolid (ARMH-Valladolid), digs to open one of the three mass graves

Archaeologist Marta Escribano exhumes one of the grave as authorities endeavour to discover more about the people killed during the civil war and under the Franco regime
A quarter of a century ago black South Africans were living in squalor while most whites lived the good life in apartheid-era South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and four years later he took over as President from F W De Klerk and the pair shared the Nobel Peace Prize.

Apartheid - a grotesque and brutal form of government in which whites held all the power and blacks and other racial groups were segregated and oppressed - was condemned to the dustbin of history.

Nowadays there is a strange form of equality.

While the black South African middle class has grown and many live in big houses, with swimming pools and drive around in BMWs like their white peers; many poor whites live in squalid squatter camps just like their black peers.

Photographer Jacques Nelles has captured the life of a poor white community with these images taken in the Munsieville township, west of Johannesburg.
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Evacuations have begun across Florida and South Carolina as the deadly, skull-shaped Hurricane Matthew bears down on the East Coast.

Hundreds of thousands of families along the coast have either fled their homes or have been battening down the hatches in anticipation of the deadly storm which is now expected to make landfall in the U.S. by tomorrow.

'I cannot emphasize enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,' said Florida Gov. Rick Scott who has declared a state emergency. That means people have less than 24 hours to prepare, evacuate and shelter. Having a plan in place could mean the difference between life and death.'

People along the East Coast have been flocking to hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations to prepare for the devastating hurricane, while Florida coastal resorts, such as Daytona Beach, now resemble boarded-up ghost towns.

At least 11 people in the Caribbean have already died due to the storm including four in the Dominican Republic, and five in Haiti which were both pummeled by the hurricane yesterday. One person died in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and one in Colombia earlier this week.

Today the hurricane moved north, battering parts of Cuba and the Bahamas with 120mph winds, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

Forecasters predicted Matthew will strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane, with speeds of more than 130mph by the times it hits Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center expects the storm to hit southern Florida as early as Thursday.

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A eerie 'skull' appeared in satellite images of Hurricane Matthew yesterday, as the storm barrels towards the US

The creepy image, appears to show a white grinning skull, with a glowing red eye, flicked with green at its very center. It appeared in a weather map of the storm as it hit landfall in Haiti yesterday

Florida is on Hurricane Warning and Tropical Storm Warning, while Cuba and the Bahamas also remain on Hurricane Warning

People along the East Coast are flocking to hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations as the eerily skull-shaped Hurricane Matthew marches toward Florida

Hurricane Matthew is a strong and extremely dangerous Category 3 hurricane. The storm's eyewall is currently hammering eastern Cuba and western portions of Haiti but is predicted to move up through the U.S.

At 2pm today, the storm had moved north from Haiti towards Cuba and the Bahamas with wind speeds of 120mph

The hurricane is due to hit Florida on Thursday and will move up the East Coast through the Carolinas over the weekend

The deadly storm seemed to take on an ominous skull shape during a weather forecast yesterday - to the shock of many viewers.

The creepy picture, which appears to show a white grinning skull with a glowing red eye, was taken from a NASA satellite and shows the hurricane as it made landfall in Haiti. Many took the 'skull of Matthew's' eye, as a bad omen as the deadly storm moves towards to U.S.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the U.S. government has teams and supplies positioned to respond to Hurricane Matthew.

'I want to emphasize to the public - this is a serious storm,' Obama said after a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'It has been building strength on its way to Florida.'

Evacuations began today and at 3pm, Brevard County commissioners ordered one of the Florida's first evacuations for residents of Merritt Island and other barrier islands. Martin County has also ordered for homes along the Barrier Islands and Sewall's Point, as well as for residents living in low-lying areas or manufactures homes.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he didn't know how many people would be ordered to leave as the decision was left up to individual counties but warned Florida could be facing its 'biggest evacuation ever'.

'When you look at this storm as it goes along the East Coast, we're going to have to prepare every county, so it could be the biggest evacuation ever. Every county is focused on it though. We've been working on it even before today,' Scott said in a press conference today.

Theme parks such as Walt Disney World and Sea World were also keeping a close eye on the storm and warned customers they could expect different closing times.

One Florida, resident Randy Jordan of Juniper, told WPEC people were shoving each other as they raced to buy the supplies they needed at the local Home Depot.

'The vibe on the street this morning is pre-panic,' Jordan said. 'By tomorrow, it should just be a brawl.'

Evacuations have begun across Florida and South Carolina as the deadly, skull-shaped Hurricane Matthew bears down on the East Coast (pictured, bus drivers with the Greenville, South Carolina school district wait for word when to start evacuating people to Greenville from North Charleston)

Traffic was backed up for miles as residents make an evacuation route over 520 bridge heading west from Merritt Island, Florida

People along the East Coast have been flocking to hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations to prepare for the devastating hurricane, (a station sold out of gas in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina_

Gas stations have been left empty as South Carolina residents rushed to fill up before the storm hits on Friday

Florida coastal resorts, such as Daytona Beach, now resemble boarded-up ghost towns as people leave ahead of the storm

Hundreds of thousands of families along the coast have either fled their homes or have been battening down the hatches in anticipation of the deadly storm which is expected to make landfall in the U.S. on Thursday ( Staff at Banana Cabana on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina board up the beach front institution in preparation for Hurricane Matthew)

Chris Ramsey installs plywood panels over windows at a auto stereo and window tint shop in preparation for Hurricane Matthew, Wednesday, in Cocoa Beach, Florida

Tanner, left, and Debbie Hrobak, of Port St. Lucie, install storm shutters on their store in Stuart, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Matthew on Wednesday

In South Carolina, residents in Charleston and Beaufort counties began their evacuations at noon today.

The National Guard was mobilized today and more than 300 buses had been set aside to transport families fleeing their homes to safety ahead of the storm, and lane reversals leading out of Charleston began at 3pm.

T raffic was backed up for miles as people fled Charleston on Interstate 26, with gasoline a precious commodity with at least half a dozen stations along the coast out of fuel, ABC News reports.

But not everyone is heeding the warning to leave.

'We're staying because we have to board the house up,' said Buff Schwab, who stocked up on supplies yesterday.

Gov. Nikki Haley had warned yesterday she was prepared to evacuation one million people but had scaled down the evacuation after Matthew's wind speeds of 145mph yesterday, dropped to 120mph this morning.

At a press conference this morning, she added that evacuations in Georgetown and Horry counties will be on Thursday.

At it's height, the hurricane was a Category 5 with wind speeds of more than 157 mph. Those speeds have dropped somewhat overtime and this morning Matthew had sustained speeds of 115mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, making it a Category 3 storm.

Dimitri Pinckney installs hurricane shutters in advance of Hurricane Matthew on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina

Kristen Allen, center front, and Travis Scott, right, fill bags with sand to prevent flooding to a nearby gift shop as they prepare for the hurricane, Wednesday, in Cocoa Beach

A pedestrian walks across normally busy Ocean Boulevard ahead of the expected Friday arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina

Some coastal regions have been left ghost towns, with business closed in preparation for Matthew. One Myrtle Beach restaurant in South Carolina, shows a message revealing it is 'closed until (South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley) tells us what to do'

A worker moves supports in place for boats that will be docked on land in preparation for Hurricane Matthew at Port Canaveral, Florida

But forecasters predict it will strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane by the time it pummels Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Those dangerous high winds caused destruction as they whipped through Haiti, southern Cuba and the Dominican Republic yesterday, with flooding and landslides destroying homes, businesses and bringing down electricity lines.

Islanders have begun the slow process of rebuilding their lives. In Cuba, residents were seen walking through the rubble strewn streets, and digging through the remains of broken buildings trying to recover their belongings.

Meanwhile, a United Nations official said Hurricane Matthew has caused the biggest humanitarian crisis in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of 2010.

Hurricane Matthew has now moved off the northeastern coast of Cuba and is centered over the Bahamas where locals had prepared by boarding up their homes and businesses.

Miami residents flock to the grocery aisles to buy supplies as the eerily skull-shaped Hurricane Matthew marches toward Florida

Shoppers arrive to the Costco store in Altamonte Springs as central Floridians stock up on supplies ahead of the anticipated storm

Shoppers crowd the entrance to the Costco store in Altamonte Springs as central Floridians stock up on supplies ahead of the anticipated strike of Hurricane Matthew

Miami residents buy up big supplies of water on Wednesday to be prepared for when Hurricane Matthew hits Florida

Worried Miami residents buy up wooden boards at a hardware store to help protect their homes and businesses against the coming storm

Lumber manager Shawn Ferris, left, helps customer Ed Painter load plywood in preparation for Hurricane Matthew, Wednesday, in Jacksonville, Florida

Bret Hansen reads over the specs of a generator at The Home Depot in Monkey Junction near Wilmington, North Carolina, as Hurricane Matthew comes up the east coast

Shoppers buy cases and cases of water today in Miami as they prepared for Hurricane Matthew which is predicted to hit the state on Thursday

Jesse Canady brings out a new load of generators at The Home Depot in Monkey Junction near Wilmington

Patrons wait in line for gas at the Costco store in Altamonte Springs, Florida, to buy supplies before Hurricane Matthew hits

People line up to fill their cars with gas in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew, in Coral Springs, Florida, October 5

Much of Florida is now under a Hurricane Warning, according to t he National Hurricane Center, which means hurricane strength winds are expected within 36 hours. While the north of the state including Jacksonville is under a Tropical Storm Warning and the southern tip, beginning just below Miami, is on Hurricane Watch.

Matthew also could cause significant beach erosion all along the Atlantic coast, according to AccuWeather.

The worrying forecast was made all the more unsettling by the appearance of the strange skull formation in the weather map of Hurricane Matthew yesterday.

'I can confirm this satellite image of Matthew's landfall is REAL and not photoshopped,' said Matt Devitt, from the WINK News team in Florida, was noticed the skull while giving a forecast yesterday

'Captured this morning during my weathercast. Freaky!'

Many were disturbed by the strange occurrence, calling the 'monstrous' picture a bad omen for the East Coast.

'East cost(sic) you better dig in this is an evil storm!' one viewer tweeted.

However, meteorologists were quick to assure the public that the image was simply a fluke, as the map used different colors used to identified the strongest part of the storm.

Schools in Broward County and Palm Beach County have cancelled classes on Thursday and Friday, CBS12 reported.

People along the East Coast are flocking to pick up sandbags, raiding hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations as Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida

Long lines in Sandford, central Florida for the free sandbags as residents prepare for the approaching hurricane

A minivan is packed full of sandbags which will be used to protect against flooding and high winds in Florida

Residents are filling sandbags in 90 degree weather in preparation for the approaching hurricane as even the little ones get in on the act

Workers in bright orange shirts help families load up sandbags on Wednesday morning in Sandford, Central Florida

The government have offered free sandbags for Florida residents as they prepare for the approaching storm

A long queue of cars forms in central Florida as residents line up to collect free sandbags to help protect their homes

In South Florida, lines at grocery stores were heavier than usual and some essentials were in short supply.

When Simone Corrado and her husband tried to buy water at their Publix in Davie near Fort Lauderdale, they mostly found empty shelves.

There were a few bottles of high-end water brands, but there was so much empty shelf space that Corrado lay down and fully stretched out on the bottom shelf.

'I got scared because all that was left at Publix was just the pricey water,' said Corrado, who lived through 1992's catastrophic Hurricane Andrew, which practically leveled the nearby city of Homestead.

'They really put the fear into you here. On the television screen every few minutes is the 'beep, beep, beep' storm alert.'

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency in 13 coastal counties yesterday because of Hurricane Matthew.

The White House said President Barack Obama canceled a campaign and health care events in Florida on Wednesday and would instead visit the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an update.

Hurricane Hermine became the first to strike Florida since Wilma in 2005 when it hit the eastern Panhandle on September 2 as a Category 1 storm, causing one death, storm surge damage to beachfront homes and downed trees and powerlines.

That 11-year lull between storms hitting Florida was the longest on record. The last storm to hit the Atlantic side of Florida was Hurricane Katrina, which struck in 2005 on its way to devastating the Gulf coast.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the U.S. government has teams and supplies positioned to respond to Hurricane Matthew as the storm barrels toward Florida and other southeastern states

US President Barack Obama spoke about Hurricane Matthew at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Wilma made landfall as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds, killing five people as it pushed from southwest Florida, through the Everglades and into the Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach area, causing an estimated $21 billion in damage and leaving thousands of residents without power for more than a week.

It concluded a two-year span when a record eight hurricanes hit the state.

Near Miami Beach, The Home Depot in Davie briefly ran out of propane for gas barbecues and the supply of batteries was dwindling.

People bought plywood to cover windows, tarps to put over outdoor furniture and coolers for food storage.

Anesthesiologist Darby Lipka lugged a 20-pound propane tank across the parking lot, saying he had already purchased food and water. He installed hurricane windows years ago so he wouldn't need to erect shutters

'I am just trying to be prepared,' he said.

Dane Vaala, a diesel mechanic, was loading plywood onto his pickup. He needed it so he could stand on his awning to install upper floor shutters at his home.

He moved to Florida from Montana in 2007, so Matthew would be his first storm. He had loaded up on canned food and water.

Two men struggle to secure their home with wooden boarding on Bailou Hill Road as Hurricane Matthew approaches Nassau, Bahamas, October 5

Mark Cartwright loads up on food and supplies at the store ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Nassau, Bahamas

People carry some of their belongings through the rubble of a street after the passing of Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday,where the hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight

Red Cross workers and residents walk among the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba

A bent stop sign lies amid debris, felled by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa,Cuba's easternmost city

People look to salvage personal belongings from their homes damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday

'I'm not too concerned  it doesn't really bother me much,' he said. 'But it is better to prep.'

Haley said state officials would reverse lanes on major evacuation routes in South Carolina.

It would be the first major evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when the governor at the time didn't reverse the lanes and Interstate 26 became a parking lot.

A typically two-hour drive from Charleston to Columbia turned into 24-hour nightmare.

'We've been though winter storms. We've been through a 1,000-year flood. A hurricane is different. I don't want anyone to look at the last couple of tragedies we've gone through and think this is similar,' Haley said.

Some airlines are letting passengers change travel plans without penalty if their trip might be affected by Hurricane Matthew.

United Airlines said Tuesday that it will waive change fees and any difference in fare for customers scheduled to fly Wednesday through Friday to, from or through five airports in Florida.

People wade through a street flooded by a nearby river overflowing from the heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew, in Leogane, Haiti, Wednesday

People try to cross the overflowing Rouyonne river in the commune of Leogane, south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti which was blasted by Matthew yesterday

A motorcyclist rides through the floodwater after Rouyonne river burst its banks following the hurricane in the commune of Leogane, south of Port-au-Prince, on Wednesday

A family clings hold of one another as they try to cross the over flowing Rouyonne river in Haiti where residents began the messy and probably grim task of assessing the storm's toll

Delta Air Lines is waiving change fees on trips through Wednesday in the Caribbean and through Thursday at eight Florida destinations, although differences in the fare would still apply.

Strong winds and heavy rain hit Haiti on Thursday, where at least five are dead, including a 26-year-old man who drowned trying to rescue a child who fell into flood waters. The child was saved, authorities said. One woman was killed by a falling electrical pole.

More than 430,000 were evacuated from the island, the poorest region in the Western Hemisphere, ahead of the hurricane.

'You could see a death toll in the thousands,' Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach had warned as life-threatening 145mph winds and heavy rain battered the island.

Deputy Special Representative for Haiti Mourad Wahba says in a statement that many people have been forced from their homes and communications systems have been knocked out in the country's hard-hit southwestern peninsula. He said at least 10,000 people are in shelters.

Wahba says officials have received reports of destroyed houses and overflowing hospitals, with shortages fresh water. He also says the hospital in the city of Les Cayes had its roof blown off.

But with a key bridge washed out, roads impassable and phone communications down, the western tip of Haiti was isolated and there was no word on dead and injured.

Men dig through the rubble of a collapsed building in Baracoa, Cuba, in the aftermath of the hurricane which battered the island last night

A man is comforted as Cubans begin the slow process of repairing and rebuilding following the trail of devastation left by Matthew

A view of partially destroyed banana trees at a road side after the passage of hurricane Matthew on the coast of Guantanamo province, Cuba, October 5

The rubble left after Hurricane Matthew blew through yesterday destroying homes and business in southern Cuba

A man looks pensive as he sits atop a pile of rubble after the hurricane wreaked destruction in Cuba yesterday

A couple embrace in the remains of their home that was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday

Hours after Matthew swept onto the remote area with 145 mph winds, government leaders said they weren't close to fully gauging the impact in the vulnerable, flood-prone country where less powerful storms have killed thousands.

International aid efforts were stymied Tuesday because of the lack of access to the hardest-hit areas, many residents of flooded areas seen by Associated Press reporters were wading through shin-high waters.

Muddy rivers and tributaries continued to rise as water flowed down hillsides and mountains, making more flash floods and mudslides possible even Matthew tracked away from the country.

Today, the hurricane moved northwards, battering the Bahamas and parts of Cuba including Guantanamo Bay where seven hundred military family members were evacuated from over the weekend in anticipation of the storm.

Several cruise ships are being rerouted from their regularly scheduled Caribbean and Bahamas ports to Key West. Key West is about 40 miles south of the portion of the Florida not currently under a tropical storm warning.

As Hurricane Matthew approaches the Bahamas, officials say nine Royal Bahamas Defence Force vessels have moored at Truman Harbor in Key West.

The streets are filled with broken roofing, bricks and other detritus after Matthew blew through Cuba

Hurricane Matthew left serious damage at the eastern end of Cuba, with landslides, toppling electricity poles and cutting off roads by floods

Cubans stand outside an apartment block on October 5, and consider the damage and havoc caused by Hurricane Matthew

A Cuban street in the Guantanamo province (seen this morning), is buried under huge slabs of rock after Hurricane Matthew passed through yesterday

The coastal road between Guantanamo and Baracoa was left broken and battered after Hurricane Matthew passed through the eastern tip of Cuba on Tuesday afternoon

Naval Air Station Key West spokeswoman Trice Denny says a University of Miami Rosentiel School research called the Whalton Smith is expected to arrive in port in Key West on Wednesday.

Officials are also expecting the USNS Spearhead on Saturday, a 337-foot-long joint (Navy/Army) high-speed catamaran vessel, to be positioned in Key West for possible aid missions.

The Department of State had also authorized family members of US government employees to depart the Bahamas, and issued a travel warning for the area.

Matthew was at one point a Category 5 storm, making it the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade. It blew ashore around dawn in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and a place where many people live in shacks of wood or concrete blocks.

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie voiced concern about the potential impact on the sprawling archipelago off Florida's east coast.

'We're worried because we do not control nature,' he said.
A man from Florida is in prison after being charged with domestic battery for hitting his girlfriend in the face with a sex toy.

Micah Norman, 34, was arrested on Saturday evening after allegedly slapping his live-in girlfriend at their home in Madeira Beach, near St. Petersburg.

According to the Smoking Gun website, Norman and his 29-year-old girlfriend were having an argument just before 10:30pm when he lost his temper and assaulted her.

Norman is seen left in a mugshot and right in a Facebook photo. He has had a number of prior arrests in the past including a number for being drunk

Micah Norman, 34, was arrested on Saturday after allegedly slapping his girlfriend with a sex toy

Micah Norman, 34, was arrested on Saturday after allegedly slapping his girlfriend with a sex toy

He grabbed the woman and shook her before 'striking her in the face with a sex toy.'

Police say that Norman had been drinking at the time of the incident.

After being charged with domestic battery, a misdemeanor, he was booked into the county jail, where he was given strict orders to refrain from contacting his girlfriend.

Norman, who is being held in lieu of $200, has been arrested in the past for drunk driving, disorderly intoxication, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest, The Smoking Gun reports.

It's not known exactly what type of sex toy the woman was hit with, however the criminal complaint stated that no other type of weapon was seized by the police.
European human rights chiefs were today accused of making a slur against Britain after they claimed the Brexit referendum had led to a rise in 'anti-foreigner' sentiment.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said discussions over immigration had caused increasing 'xenophobia'.

Levels of hate speech and racist violence were highlighted in the report that accused the country of not doing enough to challenge intolerance.

The Strasbourg-based body, which is part of the Council of Europe and separate from the EU, said new laws are needed to tackle discrimination.

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The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), chaired by Christian Ahlund (file picture) said discussions over immigration had caused increasing 'xenophobia'.

Christian Ahlund, the chair of the watchdog, said: 'It is no coincidence that racist violence is on the rise in the UK at the same time as we see worrying examples of intolerance and hate speech in the newspapers, online and even among politicians.

'The Brexit referendum seems to have led to a further rise in 'anti-foreigner' sentiment, making it even more important that the British authorities take the steps outlined in our report as a matter of priority.'

MPs questioned why Britain was being criticised while the rest of Europe struggles with the rise of the far-right.

Peter Bone, Tory MP for Wellingborough, denounced the report as 'a slur on the British people'.

Peter Bone, Tory MP for Wellingborough, denounced the report as 'a slur on the British people'

He said: 'There is a group of people in Europe who do not accept the result of the referendum and therefore think it has come about because of lies or that there must be something heinous behind it, that every who voted leave is a racist.

'I did not come across a single racist person in the thousands of miles I travelled during the referendum campaign.

'People did not have a problem with the EU citizens living in their communities, but the numbers putting pressure on public services.

'They were just saying we cannot take that number of people, they were not arguing for no immigrants, they just wanted it to be controlled. That is not racist.

'The left-wing organisations that produce these reports have no idea, hey are talking out of their hat.'

Andrew Rosindell, Tory MP for Romford, said: 'Britain is and will remain one of the most tolerant nations in Europe.

'Brexit has nothing to do with individuals who spread hatred, such people exist in every country, but represent nobody but themselves.'

Ukip MEP Steven Woolfe said: 'When will the establishment learn? This is one of the reasons why they lost in the referendum, dismissing ordinary, hard-working people's concerns as intolerant and xenophobic is patronising and offensive.'

Ukip MEP Steven Woolfe said the attitudes of the people who produced the report demonstrated why the Brexit campaign won the referendum

The report said online hate speech targeting Muslims in particular has soared since 2013. It also reported that anti-semitic incidents reached the highest level ever recorded in 2014.

Former prime minister David Cameron was singled out for criticism for remarks last summer when he described the influx of people across the Mediterranean as a 'swarm' and Nigel Farage was admonished for warning, 'there are some Muslims who want to form a fifth column and kill us'.

The report added: 'There continues to be considerable intolerant political discourse, coming from the populist anti-migrant UK Independence Party (UKIP) as well as other political actors.'

It criticised warnings from politicians ahead of Romanians and Bulgarians being given the right to work freely in Britain at the start of 2014 - even though official immigration figures have shown as many as 50,000 a year have moved to the country since.

'There was large-scale scaremongering by Ukip and some Conservative MPs that hundreds of thousands of people from the two nations could soon be on their way to Britain,' the report said.

The aftermath of the referendum has raised tensions on both sides of the divide but the report today warned of a rise of in racism

The human rights chiefs said there are 'significant gaps' between equality law in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland and pointed to the absence of a national strategy for the integration of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers in the UK.

A number of positive developments were cited in the study, however. The commission welcomed the entry into force of the Equality Act 2010, and said the UK has generally strong legislation against racism and racial discrimination.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last month caused outrage after claimed the murder of a Polish man in Harlow in July shows what happens when Europe does not unite.
Investigators in Paris are now trying to track down the gang responsible for holding Kim Kardashian at gun point at her luxury apartment and stealing 8.5million worth of jewellery.

But mystery surrounds who was responsible for the raid or how the armed gang even managed to make it into the reality TV star's apartment.

They struck at 2.30am on Monday, just hours after Kim wore her 3.5million engagement ring, given to her by rapper husband Kanye West, for only the second time on Snapchat.

Here MailOnline poses 10 unanswered questions that remain following the heist in the French capital while martial arts guru Matt Fiddes, the former bodyguard of Michael Jackson, gives his view on the robbery:

Investigators in Paris are now trying to track down the gang responsible for holding Kim Kardashian at gun point at her luxury apartment and stealing 8.5million worth of jewellery

Kim is believed to have had her 3.5million engagement ring stolen in the heist. The raid took place hours after she wore the ring for the second time on Snapchat

1. Why were Kim Kardashian and her best friend, the stylist Simone Harouche, by themselves in an unguarded flat with at least 8.5m worth of jewellery that Kim has pictured on social media? Family and other aides were staying less than a mile away at the Four Seasons George V Hotel.

Mr Fiddes told MailOnline that there was never an occasion when he was looking after Michael Jackson that the star would be left completely alone.

He said: 'Michael used to tell me that he had never walked down the street alone without security since he was seven years old.

'Kim should have absolutely not have been left alone without security, it is all very fishy.

Kim and her best friend, the stylist Simone Harouche, were left by themselves in an apartment in Paris before the raid

'When you are carrying expensive jewellery such as that, it is not unusual for the jewellery itself to have its own bodyguard.

'It's a different world now with social media and by showing off your wealth you are becoming a target.'

2. Why was there no CCTV whatsoever inside or directly outside the palatial apartment block  where flats rent for up to 8,000 a week? Such cameras not only detect the approach of criminals, but also deter them.

Mr Fiddes says that a celebrity on Kim Kardashian's level should have had security cameras fitted, not only outside the building but inside too.

He explained: 'A camera should have been fitted to the bedroom door where she was sleeping along with a sensor.

'A screen could have been set up in the chief of security's bedroom, and somebody would have watched it all night.

'It is standard procedure. There is something not right there.'

3.Why was only one night porter on duty in a block used to house some of the biggest stars in the world, including Madonna and Leonardo di Caprio? The block provides cooks, chauffers and other staff, so why not a 24/7 dedicated security team?

Mr Fiddes said it seems unusual that Kim's own security did not stay with her at the apartment.

It has since been revealed that there were no CCTV cameras either inside or directly outside the luxury apartment, above, where Kim was staying with 8.5million worth of jewels

He added: 'It is normal for celebrities on her level to bring their own security team.

'I would have said she should have had seven or eight security people outside the building and another two or three more trusted people inside.

'In America, when I was with Michael Jackson we would also have a link to local police and they would come right away if there was an incident.'

4. How did the gang get through a deadlocked armoured door that was also bolted from the inside? There was no sign of forced entry, and no reason whatsoever why anybody would have allowed unidentified men entry in the middle of the night. Even if they were falsely claiming to be police, a simple telephone call could have alerted bona fide officers.

Mr Fiddes said it would be normal for security teams to do a sweep of the building before there client would get there.

He explained: 'A high level celebrity would bring their own security team do to a complete sweep of the building.

'They would normally go to a place a day or two before the celebrity to a reccy and check out everything in the building where their client would be.'

One of the luxurious main rooms in the complex where Kim Kardashian had millions of dollars worth of jewellery stolen by five armed masked men dressed as police officers

Matt Fiddes: Difficult to keep a celebrity's movements under wraps

5. What information would the porter  who was tied up and gagged  have had about Ms Kardashian's whereabouts, movements, and personal security arrangements? It is standard policy in VIP portered blocks for residents to have absolute privacy, and not to divulge any information to what would amount to very junior and low paid staff members.

Mr Fiddes says that it is difficult to keep a celebrity's movements under wraps, especially when they are high profile.

But he added: 'You have people like maids and concierge in hotels, they will tell people who is staying there.

'Usually they want autographs and the celebrity obliges but that is why stars bring their own security.'

6. Why did Ms Kardashian's bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, leave her alone to go to a nightclub? And how  apparently  did the gang know he was not there?

Mr Fiddes claimed it is beyond belief that Mr Duvier was not with Kim, and was instead two miles away with her sisters Kourtney and Kendall Jenner at L'Arc nightclub.

He explained: 'My take on that is that you have to be willing to take a bullet to protect people and when you get to the stage you can't, that is when you have to move on.

On the night of the raid, Kim's bodyguard Pascal Duvier (left, in file image with Kim) was at a nightclub with her sister Kourtney

'That was part of the reason why I left my job with MJ (Michael Jackson) because I had children.

'It seems that he has become more of a friend to Kim rather than an employee. You can see that when the prankster tried to grab her a few days earlier.

'He also has his own social media accounts, which we would not have been allowed to do at all.

'When I worked for Michael, we weren't even allowed to tell our wives or girlfriends where in the world we were.'

7. Why was Ms Kardashian allowed to leave France within a few hours of the crime, so as to return to the USA?

It is common procedure for victims of serious crime to assist police and prosecutors with enquires for at least a few days afterwards. Key information could easily be forgotten if and when Ms Kardashian ever returns [to Paris] to speak to police again.

Just hours after the raid, Kim fled France and boarded a private jet headed for New York

8. Why were only three bodyguards protecting members of the Kardashian clan in France during the country's ongoing State of Emergency, which was imposed following terrorist attacks in Paris? Kim Kardashian was meant to be in her own flat with one bodyguard, while the other two security men were with other family members at the George V.

Mr Fiddes said Kim may have been badly advised to go to Paris for fashion week given the current state of emergency in France.

He explained: 'When her security were doing their research, they would see Paris has had two major terror attacks recently.

Matt Fiddes (pictured with umbrella), Michael Jackson's former bodyguard, believes it was fishy that Kim was left completely alone

'She is one of the most high profile celebrities in the world and I might have advised her not to go, especially if it was just to attend some fashion shows.

'She is a major target, especially as she an high profile American woman.

'There were times with Michael when he really wanted to visit places but they were just too dangerous.

'We had to tell him, look we can't go there.'

9. How did five assailants manage to get in and out of the building, and then away on bicycles? The men apparently escaped with nobody seeing them at all apart from their principal victims, Ms Kardashian and the unidentified porter.

Mr Fiddes says that in his previous role, Michael Jackson had a videographer who would document his every move.

Kim leaves the Ferdi restaurant in Paris days before the robbery, which took place during the city's fashion week

He explained: 'We would do this to protect his safety and the safety of the people around him.

'It meant you could identify people who were constantly following him and we could review the footage.

'One of the reasons was if a fan said MJ's car ran over their foot and they wanted to sue us, we could look back and stop a lawsuit dead in the water.

'We used camcorders back then, but it is easy now to use dashcams or cameras you can wear.'

10. There have been a spate of 'home jackings'  French slang for robberies in private residences  in the district where Ms Kardashian lives in Paris, so why wasn't she warned, and better protected

Michael Jackson's former bodyguard Matt Fiddes, who is also a martial arts expert

Mr Fiddes says that security teams would usually do their research into the place their client was staying.

He said: 'You would get your security to do a reccy beforehand and expect them to look into the history of the area.
A new dad says he was charged nearly $40 to hold his son after he was born.

Ryan Grassley was with his wife Lidia when she gave birth their son Samuel on September 23 in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Soon after they received an itemized bill from the unnamed Utah hospital - showing a $39.35 charge for 'skin to skin after c-section'.

Gobsmacked, he posted a photo of the bill on Reddit, prompting tens of thousands of responses.

Mr Grassley spoke with DailyMail.com after the bill went viral on the website on Monday, saying they were surprised that they would be charged for holding their own son.

'The whole experience has been pretty funny to my wife and I,' Mr Grassley said.

New father Ryan Grassley posted this itemized bill to Reddit on Monday, showing how he was charged for holding his son after he was born at a Utah hospital last month

Mr Grassley later started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to pay off the $39.35 charge. Lidia Grassley pictured above with their son Samuel in the hospital last month

'In the [operating room] the nurse asked if we wanted to do skin to skin ASAP after the baby was born. So we of course said yes, but when the bill came we were pretty surprised that was a line item of the bill.

'It seemed ridiculous to us so I posted it on Reddit and it really blew up,' he added.

Skin to skin contact is something many mothers do after giving birth, since research shows that the physical contact helps regulate a baby's heart rate and body temperature, makes them calmer and helps introduce breast feeding, among other advantages.

On Reddit, Mr Grassley explained that 'the nurse let me hold the baby on my wife's neck/chest. Even borrowed my camera to take a few pictures for us'.

One Reddit user pointed out on the thread that skin-to-skin contact time does involve bringing in multiple nurses to make sure the baby is secure in their mother's arms.

'It seemed ridiculous to us so I posted it on Reddit and it really blew up,' Mr Grassley said

The Grassleys also have an older daughter, who was born in 2014, seen here

'I didn't know that hospitals charged for it, but doing "skin to skin" in the operating room requires an additional staff member to be present just to watch the baby. We used to take all babies to the nursery once the NICU team made sure everything was okay. "Skin to skin" in the OR is a relatively new thing and requires a second Labor and Delivery RN to come in to the OR and make sure the baby is safe.'

Other users were upset that a seemingly routine part of the delivery was added on as an extra cost.

'This is part of the operating procedure, where after the baby is removed, it is placed on the mothers chest and monitored while she is being stitched back up. It should be free and its ridiculous its not,' one user wrote.

Mr Grassley said it was interesting to see the discussion about healthcare in America that the photo started.

It has been interesting to see how shocked people are about the medical expenses in the USA.

Most people seem to be more shocked about the $13,000 for a C-section than the $40 for holding the baby.

We started a GoFundMe trying to raise the $40 we were charged to hold the baby when he was born.
Michelle Obama beefed up her stump speech today in Charlotte with some of Donald Trump's latest headline woes.

'I think we can all agree that someone roaming around at 3 a.m. tweeting should not have their fingers on the nuclear codes,' the first lady told the North Carolina crowd.

She also hit the Republican nominee on a New York Times story that suggested he may not have paid taxes for two decades, along with messed-up-mic excuse at last week's presidential debate for his not-so-perfect performance.

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Michelle Obama toured North Carolina today stumping for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, her second day on the campaign trail since her powerful DNC speech

The first lady predominantly stuck to her new stump speech, though added in some of Donald Trump's newer political problems

Michelle Obama mocked Donald Trump's early morning Twitter tirade, which helped his feud with ex-Miss Universe Alicia Machado live on another day

Obama, doing her second day of campaigning since her popular Democratic National Convention speech in order to boost Hillary Clinton in swing states, used many of the same lines she delivered to Pennsylvanians last week.

But she made use of Trump's early morning Twitter tirade to get off a good line.

On Friday, Trump started tweeted at 3:20 a.m. and ended at 5:30 a.m. with his tweets mainly maligning former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who Clinton introduced to the nation at the end of the first presidential debate, telling voters that Trump had nicknamed the Latina beauty queen 'Miss Housekeeping' and 'Miss Piggy.'

'Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a US citizen so she could use her in the debate?' Trump mused at the time.

This morning, Trump's son Eric came to his defense, telling Fox News that his dad's early morning missives showcase his stamina.

The political world woke up Friday morning to a barrage of tweets sent out by Republican nominee Donald Trump starting at 3:20 a.m. and ending at 5:30 a.m.

'Listen, at least my fathers up at 3 oclock in the morning, right? Which, you know, is great,' the younger Trump said. 'Maybe that energy is sometimes a little bit of a downfall of his, but hes an amazing guy and hell be there to answer the call, you know, when things go bad.'

Clinton interpreted the Twitterstorm as 'unhinged ... even for Trump,' she wrote on her own Twitter mid-morning on Friday.

Obama homed in on the fat-shaming comments, noting how Trump made 'cruel and insulting comments about our bodies,' she said to female voters. 'Criticizing how we look, how we act.'

Obama also laid into Trump over the tax revelations too.

'We need someone who's honest and plays by the rules,' she said. 'Because not paying taxes for years and years, while the rest of us pay our fair share, doesn't make you smarter than the rest of us.'

Michelle Obama told North Carolina's voters that her husband only won their state once, in 2008, and by about four votes per precinct

The first lady made clear that she really did want Hillary Clinton to win the White House. 'I don't have to be here. I'm here because I care,' she told the crowd

'No, we need a president who will choose to do what's best for the country even when it doesn't personally benefit them,' she said.

And she spoke directly to the people of Charlotte, who have watched protests overtake their city in recent weeks, after the death of a black man at the hands of a white police officer.

'Finally, we need a president who's compassionate, who truly cares about all of our families, someone who will help us take on the hard issues our communities face, not just with slogans about "law and order" but with real solutions to heal our divisions here in Charlotte and all across the country,' she said.

Framing the closeness of the vote the same way she did last week in Pennsylvania, Obama reminded North Carolinians that her husband only carried their state once  in 2008  and the difference between Obama's vote total and Sen. John McCain's equated to about two votes per precinct.

The first lady also tried knocking down any rumors that she might be unenthusiastic about backing her husband's former political rival.

'I don't have to be here. I'm here because I care,' she said.

And then touting Clinton, she hit Trump another time.

'When she gets knocked down, she doesn't complain, she doesn't cry foul,' said the first lady.
Dozens of dogs raised for food in South Korea were rescued and transported to North Carolina where they will hopefully find forever homes.

The 31 dogs, referred to as 'dog meat dogs,' were rescued from horror conditions in Jeonju, about 120 miles south of Seoul, before arriving in North Carolina.

It was one of the parts of their long journey after being taken from a dog-meat farm where they would have lived until they were turned into a meal.

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Dozens of dogs raised for food in South Korea were rescued and transported to North Carolina where they will hopefully find forever homes. A dogs shares a kiss with a volunteer

The 31 dogs, referred to as 'dog meat dogs,' were rescued from harsh conditions in Jeonju, about 120 miles south of Seoul, before arriving in North Carolina

The dogs arrived in Cary on Saturday morning and were gently coaxed out of their pens

'The dog meat trade is just outrageous. These animals live in barren cages,' Kelly O'Meara with the Humane Society International told WNCN.

'They're just like the animals in our homes and we've got to stop this trade.'

Organizers from the US-based Humane Society International and a Maryland shelter rescued the animals, WNCN reported.

The dogs were driven to Cary, North Carolina, on Saturday morning.

There, in a shopping center parking lot, volunteers welcomed the dogs after they were gently coaxed out of pens in a tractor trailer, the News & Observer reported.

The pooches of all shapes and sizes were later placed into vans and sent to several different no-kill shelters across the state where they will be made available for adoption.

One sweet dog is seen after it is taken out of its pen in Cary, North Carolina

Volunteers welcomed the dogs into the US before placing them in vans that took them to no-kill shelters across the state

Staff from the US-based Humane Society International and a Maryland shelter had organized the rescue

Before leaving South Korea, the dogs were quarantined before they were flown to San Francisco.

They then headed to Washington DC for a temporary stay before arriving in North Carolina.

O'Meara added that by bringing the dogs to North Carolina they are raising the awareness on a global level that the dog trade has to stop.

The dogs were rescued as part of a program started two years ago to move South Korea out of dog farming.

The 31 dogs were all quarantined before they were flown from South Korea to San Francisco. They then were sent to Washington DC before finally arriving in North Carolina

Humane Society International said that by bringing the dogs to North Carolina they are raising the awareness on a global level that the dog trade has to stop

The agency has brought just over 500 dogs into the US and Canada to be adopted since the program started, according to its website

The agency has brought more than 500 dogs into the US and Canada to be adopted since the program started, according to its website.

The agency has been offering farmers incentives to give up their animals so they can be adopted as pets while turning their operations into agricultural farms, growing produce such as blueberries and green peppers.

Dogs living on meat farms usually live in small, barren cages and are fed discarded scraps until they are ready to be sold to slaughterhouses.

South Koreans are believed to consume somewhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million dogs every year.

The dogs were rescued as part of a program started two years ago to move South Korea out of dog farming

A volunteer who helped in Cary on Saturday said it was amazing to be apart of the rescue operation

The dogs will be in shelters across the state where they will be made available for adoption

But the meat farming industry is in decline, with little demand among the younger generation, according to a report in April.

A volunteer who helped in Cary on Saturday said it was amazing to be apart of the rescue operation.

'It's just amazing,' Paul Alexander told the News & Observer.
Bill Clinton ducked a question Tuesday about Donald Trump's allegation that his wife cheated on him.

Clinton twice ignored a reporter asking about the insult at a restaurant in Marietta, Ohio.

The dodge came after DailyMail.com asked if the very personal attacks Trump's been hurling at his wife on the trail - and threatening to bring up in the next presidential debate - are 'inappropriate.'

The former president, whose affair with a White House intern nearly led his removal from office, looked up at the cameras, shook his head, and scoffed before answering.

'Well, he's been making those attacks, from the beginning of his campaign. So I don't think that's anything new about that, and he should just - look he should run his campaign, and she'll run hers.'

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Former President Bill Clinton dropped into the Third Street Deli in Marietta, Ohio, and ordered lunch during a bus trip across the state

The former president said hello to patrons and answered several reporters' questions today at the Third Street Deli

Bill Clinton surprised patrons at a deli in Marietta, Ohio. He's engaging with voters on a two-day bus trip in the Buckeye State

Clinton said, 'My job is very limited. I'm supposed to tell people why she'd be the best choice for president, which is what I believe.

'I agree with President Obama: he said she's better qualified to be president this time than he was elected, or than I was when i was elected. And I agree with that. That's our job.'

Reporters positioned themselves to follow-up at Bill's next retail stop, Sonny Boy Restaurant in Bridgeport, Ohio, but the ex-president steered clear.

His wife's campaign said Monday that it won't be responding to Trump's suggestion that the former first lady was unfaithful to Bill.

Pollster Joel Benenson called the Trump claim a 'shameless low' and did not dispute it.

National Press Secretary Brian Fallon said Saturday that Trump was 'particularly unhinged' at the rally where he made the remarks but did not take the allegation head on.

He declined to comment to DailyMail.com Monday as he traveled with Clinton to events in Ohio, staring straight ahead and ignoring the question.

Bill Clinton twice ignored a reporter who asked him about Donald Trump's latest claims: That Hillary Clinton also had an affair

Former President Bill Clinton engaged with a prospective voter at a deli in Ohio while on a two-day bus tour of the important swing state

The allegation of infidelity came at a Saturday rally in Manheim, Pennsylvania.

Trump said: 'Hillary Clinton's only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself. I don't think she's even loyal to Bill if you want to know the truth. And really, folks, really. Why should she be, right? Why should she be?'

The Republican presidential nominee, who castigated Hillary as an 'enabler' of her husband's sexual conduct in a New York Times interview Friday and warned that he is 'considering talking about more in the near future,' appeared to be making reference to Clintons' marriage.

In the same speech he imitated his rivals' near-collapse outside a 9/11 memorial following her pneumonia.

'Heres a woman, shes supposed to fight all of these different things, and she cant make it 15 feet to her car.' He added, Give me a break.'

Fallon fired back in a tweet, bringing up a New York Times expose on Trump's taxes published that day.

In Ohio today, Bill Clinton was asked about Donald Trump's allegation that Hillary Clinton cheated on the ex-president, of which there is zero evidence

'Trump arrived late to his event tonight & gave a particularly unhinged set of remarks. Clearly he was sweating this looming NYT report,' he said.

Benenson said Monday on MSNBC, 'I think Donald Trump shows Americans every day how low a campaign he is running.'

The senior Clinton adviser claimed Americans 'know and trust' his candidate, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, 'has put children and families at the center of her career.'

'There seems to be no limit to the shameless lows Donald Trump can go to in this campaign,' he stated. 'And we're not gonna address any of those things he does. He mocked a disabled reporter. He mocked her the other night for being ill when she had pneumonia.'

Clinton and her campaign have made the Times' article on Trump's taxes the focus of their attacks. The newspaper said Trump reported a $916 million loss on his 1995 return that could have exempted him from paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

Trump ally and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Sunday that Trump's tax finagling was 'genius.'

'What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?' Hillary Clinton said at a Monday rally in Ohio.

The Democratic presidential nominee had previously charged that Trump maybe didn't pay federal taxes for years and that's why he's holding back his returns.

Bill Clinton was campaigning for his wife today in Ohio. He's spending Tuesday and Wednesday touring the state by bus. He's set to rally her supporters tonight in Steubenville and tomorrow in Youngstown and Canton.

A spokesman for Bill said he Tuesday he did not know if the former president would be attending the next debate, this Sunday, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Bill and daughter Chelsea sat front and center at the first one. Trump says Chelsea's presence dissuaded him from talking about the Clintons' marriage that night.

With his poll numbers down, Trump says he's considering it as a tactic in next week's match and has talked about Bill's impeachment for 'lying' on the stump.

Before tonight's vice presidential debate, Clinton's Campaign Manager Robby Mook addressed reporters and said he was doubtful The Donald would actually deploy that tactic.

'He has stated that he intends to make all kinds of salacious attacks, we actually don't think he will,' Mook said in the spin room.
Runaway mom: Aida Stovall, of Virginia, 30, has been charged with three felony counts of child abuse/neglect for allegedly leaving her three young daughters alone

A Virginia mother is facing felony charges after police say she left her three young daughters home alone while she vacationed for four or five days in Mexico with her boyfriend.

Aida Stovall, 30, of Henrico, was arraigned Friday on three felony counts of child abuse/neglect.

Court records alleged that Stovall left her 11-year-old and twin 8-year-old daughters without supervision for two days in September, while she and her boyfriend traveled to Cancun, Mexico.

Investigators said Stovall left for Mexico on September 13 and Henrico Police learned of the situation on September 16.

NBC12 reported that a judge revealed in court Friday that authorities launched an investigation after Stovall's oldest daughter told a school principal that she and her sisters had been left alone.

A neighbor told the station Stovall asked two other nearby residents to check on the kids periodically a couple days before she left.

One of the neighbors, a 67-year-old woman, said that Stovall approached her asking if she would watch her three children for five days. It was the first time the two women ever spoke.

Getaway: Stovall is said to have left her 11-year-old and twin 8-year-old daughters without supervision for two days in September, while she and her boyfriend vacationed in Cancun

Stovall reportedly shared photos from her Caribbean vacation on her Facebook page

Stovall left for Mexico on September 13 and police learned of her daughters' alleged neglect two days later

According to the neighbor, Stovall told her that her 11-year-old daughter would cook and do laundry for herself and her sisters.

Court filings indicate that the 30-year-old did not leave an emergency contact number when she left.

Aida Stovall was arrested by US Customs agents when she returned to the country in Florida. She was extradited back to Virginia and has been denied bond.

Home alone: Stovall allegedly asked a neighbor whom she did not know to check in on her daughters periodically at their home in Richmond (pictured)

On Friday, an emotional Ms Stovall appeared in Henrico court via video conference, denying the allegations against her.
A black bear gained access to an unlocked truck in Michigan - and ruined the inside of the vehicle.

Truck owner Claude Conn, of Montmorency County, awoke Saturday morning to the vehicle's lights flashing, UpNorthLive reported.

'I said two words, and the first one was 'Oh'", Conn said in an interview with the television station.

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A black bear gained access to a Michigan man's unlocked truck, ruining the inside of it. Truck owner Claude Conn (pictured) awoke Saturday morning to the vehicle's lights flashing

Conn recalled: 'I said two words, and the first one was 'Oh'"

He said: 'I get over here and the whole interior has been un-assembled.'

Conn explained: 'I have no real anger against the bear. I'm in his territory and he might not like this back here.'

The truck owner said: 'They play, you know just like a dog or a kid, but never any real damage, until now.'

The animal broke in by raising a door handle, according to a report from KFOR.

The animal broke in to the truck by lifting a door handle

Conn explained: 'I have no real anger against the bear. I'm in his territory and he might not like this back here'

Michigan Department of Natural Resources biologist Shelby Hiestand says 'Problems with bears usually are connected with food source issues'

Conn's unlocked van was also broken in to by the bear, who left only paw prints in that vehicle, UpNorthLive.com reported.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources biologist Shelby Hiestand told the TV station: 'It's kind of a rare instance, you know, something like that is definitely possible to happen, but it's not something that people are notifying us about.'

She said: 'Problems with bears usually are connected with food source issues.

'So people who might have bird feeders up, or they might have pet food outside, they might have grills where they were cooking food, so usually if a bear is coming near a human residence it's because of a food related issue.'

Northern Michigan has approximately 2,000 black bears, UpNorthLive reported (file)
Former prime minister Tony Abbott appears to be eyeing off the top job again.

Mr Abbott, who is in Birmingham for the Conservative Party Conference 2016, has been telling his fellow right-wing supporters he can lead Australia a second time, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A well-placed Liberal insider agreed with Mr Abbott's sentiment and said he had a 'good chance' of a comeback as the former prime minister was favoured by his colleagues over Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

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Former prime minister Tony Abbott (pictured) appears to be eyeing off the top job again after telling his fellow right-wing supporters he can lead Australia a second time

The ex-leader has also been speaking unfavourably of his former deputy, Julie Bishop, after she was accused of betraying Mr Abbott during the 2015 leadership spill that saw Mr Turnbull installed as the new prime minister.

When sought for comment, Mr Abbott did not respond to the Herald's questions.

But after the report emerged, the Sydney MP tweeted: 'As for unsourced, unattributed, unprofessional reports, the journalist in question is yet again making things up.'

In the past, Mr Abbott has expressed he had no ambition to be prime minister again.

'The Abbott era has been and I think my role is to be occasionally perhaps an elder statesman, certainly a very vigorous and forthright member for Warringah... to be a standard bearer for liberal conservative values,' he told Sky News back in April.

But his declaration has done little to quell rumours Mr Abbott was seeking to be re-installed as prime minister.

A senior Liberal source agreed with Mr Abbott's sentiment as the former prime minister was favoured by his colleagues over Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured)

Previously Labor Senator Sam Dastyari claimed Mr Abbott had been positioning himself to stage a coup.

Senator Dastyari said he did not expect Mr Turnbull to last more than 18 months as leader, let alone a three-year parliamentary term.

He said the former prime minister had been lurking in the wings and running his own campaign.

'You don't suddenly start going around the country giving speeches on the economy as a backbencher from Warringah,' Senator Dastyari told Sky News in August.

'He's not walking around giving these speeches, building up these issues, reminding people he's around, talking about his legacy, for any reason other than this is a guy who's having another tilt at the leadership.'

His latest entry in his interests' register shows Mr Abbott has been keeping his life interesting by looking into the history of Western culture and helping Ukraine reach its potential as a country.

The former prime minister's latest declaration of his interests shows he's accepted an advisory board position for the newly-established Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation.

'The centre seeks to promote more widespread study and understanding of the Western canon,' he writes on his entry in the parliamentary register.

Following his strong advocacy for the victims of downed fight MH17, the Ukrainian president appointed Mr Abbott to an advisory council which seeks to promote a strong and prosperous country.

'From time to time, I may be invited to attend meetings in Kiev,' Mr Abbott said.
A 15-year-old Georgia teen has allegedly shot dead his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend, according to authorities.

Christopher Andrews is believed to have shot Samyah Copeland after a two year on-again, off-again relationship, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

On Monday evening, a relative of Andrews found the teens' dead bodies inside a home in Clayton County.

Christopher Andrews (left in picture posted on Twitter) is believed to have shot Samyah Copeland (pictured) after a two year on-again, off-again relationship

A preliminary investigation called the deaths a murder-suicide but police are awaiting the results of an autopsy to classify the deaths

Both Riverdale High School students had been shot, according to Clayton County police sergeant Ashanti Marbury.

'The preliminary investigation revealed that the incident was a murder/suicide.

'It appears that the male subject shot and killed the female before shooting himself,' Marbury told the AJC.

Clayton Police Chief Michael Register told the publication that Andrews used his fathers gun.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner's Office is expected to perform an autopsy on Tuesday evening.

One of their classmates posted a picture of the pair and said 'Rest in peace to yall', 11Alive reported.

Video courtesy of 11 Alive

Family members of Copeland described her relationship with Andrews as 'rocky' and said she had just begun dating someone else

Copeland was described as a 'fashionista' who loved her family, especially her brothers and sisters

Authorities say they are waiting for the results of the autopsy to officially call it a murder-suicide.

Family members of Copeland described her relationship with Andrews as 'rocky' and said she had just begun dating someone else, according to FOX 5.

Copeland was last seen on Monday during her sixth period class.

Copeland's father Jermaine Carroll (pictured) said his daughter was the 'star of the family' who always had a smile on her face

On Monday evening, a relative of Andrews found the teens dead bodies inside this home in Clayton County

Jermaine Carroll, Copeland's father, described her as a 'fashionista' who always had a smile on her face.

He called her the 'star of the family' who loved her brothers and sisters, according to Channel 2 Action News.

Andrews' grandmother said she had no knowledge about the young couple's relationship.

'He was a sweet, kind, loving grandson. He was a good kid, a good student', she told CBS46.com.

Jada Dawkins, a Clayton County Public Schools spokeswoman, told the AJC a crisis team was assisting students at Riverdale High School for those in need.
An elderly woman has been left with severe facial bruising and a suspected broken nose after she was knocked to the ground when a robber tried to steal her handbag.

Lorrette Doueihi, 83, was walking in Moorebank in Sydney's south west at about 8am on Wedneday, September 28 when a younger woman pushed her to the ground.

Mrs Doueihi refused to let go of her handbag and the woman was forced to run from the scene on Nuwarra Road.

Lorrette Doueihi, 83, suffered severe facial injuries after she was pushed to the ground by a woman trying to steal her handbag as she walked in Moorebank in Sydney's south-west

Mrs Doueihi was taken to hospital to be treated for facial injuries.

She suffered suspected fractured nose and severe bruising.

'This is a cowardly and disgraceful attack on an vulnerable elderly woman. It is a low act and we need assistance from the community to identify the person responsible,' Detective Chief Inspector Ken Hardie said.

She was walking down Nuwarra Road in Moorebank when a younger woman pushed her

Mrs Doueihi was taken to hospital to be treated for facial injuries. She suffered suspected fractured nose and severe bruising

Police are now hunting for the woman responsible for the attempted robbery.

The woman is described as being 20 to 30 years old, Caucasian in appearance, wearing dark clothing, boots and possibly carrying a backpack.

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.
Dr Stephen Frost was dismissed by the MoD after blowing the whistle on a suspected drugs scam at a British Army base

The Ministry of Defence has halted a legal battle against a senior doctor sacked by text while on holiday after blowing the whistle on a suspected drugs scam at a British Army base.

Dr Stephen Frost, who led the campaign for an inquest into the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly, was dismissed by the MoD after calling for a police investigation.

He claims there was a 'cover-up of criminality' over the ordering and dispensing of 2,400mg of the drug morphine sulphate for a patient, instead of 400mg.

The alleged incident happened before Dr Frost started working at the military camp's medical centre. But less than a month after telling bosses he believed a crime had taken place, he was sacked by text and email while on holiday in North Wales.

He brought a claim for unfair dismissal in a bid to find out why and clear his name which the MoD sought to strike out. He claimed he was given no chance to defend himself.

But in a dramatic twist to the legal battle, which has lasted more than three years, the MoD suddenly withdrew its application to get Dr Frost's claims dismissed.

John Hendy QC, who represents Dr Frost, told a tribunal hearing in Manchester last Thursday that the parties had reached a 'degree of agreement'. The hearing was adjourned so that discussions about a settlement could take place.

No details of why the MoD had changed its approach were given.

It is a major victory for Dr Frost, who has fought to bring a whistleblowing claim against the MoD. If he won the case, he could receive substantial damages that could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Dr Frost, who had worked for the MoD for nearly 20 years, was employed on a six-month contract at Weeton Barracks, near Blackpool

The Mail has long campaigned for the protection of public sector whistleblowers, revealing how NHS doctors have been gagged by their hospitals.

Dr Frost has long questioned the official explanation for the death of Dr David Kelly, who was found dead in woods near his Oxfordshire home in 2003 shortly after being exposed as the source of a BBC claim that Tony Blairs Labour government had 'sexed up' a dossier that helped make the case for war in Iraq.

The Hutton report into the episode concluded that Dr Kelly, a UN inspector sent to Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction, had committed suicide. Dr Frost is among doctors who continue to doubt that conclusion.

Dr Frost, who had worked for the MoD for nearly 20 years, was employed on a six-month contract at Weeton Barracks, near Blackpool.

In August 2013, two weeks after he started the job, he was told a pharmacy technician had mistakenly ordered 40 60mg tablets of morphine sulphate instead of 10mg pills a month earlier.

He checked with the patient, who insisted that the lower strength drugs had been dispensed - leading the doctor to conclude that the stronger tablets were missing.

Dr Stephen Frost led the campaign for an inquest into the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly

He believed it was unlikely the pharmacy technician had made a mistake, and suspected she may have been forced into criminal activity.

Dr Frost expressed his concern to members of the practice team and an internal investigation, and said the matter was so serious that police should be informed.

He was sacked in September 2013, without being given a reason, and told he was barred from working on another Army base.

As long ago as January 2015 the MoD - which said it only employed Dr Frost through an agency - tried unsuccessfully to get his claim thrown out on a technicality.

The department argued that he could not officially be regarded as a 'worker' despite the fact that he had practised almost exclusively for the Armed Forces for almost two decades.

The MoD also argued he could not be treated as a whistleblower because he had not originally stipulated this was a basis of his case  even though the word 'whistleblower' appears on his initial claim form. At that point a judge said a tribunal could take place.

At that time Frost, from north Wales, told the Mail: 'I have dedicated much of my life to working as a doctor for HM armed forces and I took my job of treating sick and injured military personnel very seriously. My summary dismissal came as a great shock to me and has seriously affected my health and my family life.'

He has been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since being dismissed.

Helen Clifford, of lawyers McMillan Williams who represent Dr Frost, said yesterday: 'Whistleblowers are modern day heroes and the law urgently needs to be changed to afford them adequate protection.

'Dr Frost raised genuine concerns about potential criminality following a very serious dispensing error involving Class A Controlled Drugs on a military camp and he believes that he was dismissed for doing so.'

Dr Frost said: This has been a very difficult and sometimes lonely battle but it is not yet over. The consequences for me and my family have been catastrophic.

I have lost over three years of my life and I have been told that it may take some time for me to recover. I have learned of the importance to us all of whistleblowers and of laws being in place to adequately protect those whistleblowers.'

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: It would not be appropriate to comment on the details of an ongoing employment tribunal.
A four-year-old girl has died in Aleppo after picking up what she thought was a shiny toy, but which was actually a cluster bomb.

The tragedy happened while the young girl was collecting water in the under-siege Syrian city, which government forces, backed by Russia, are trying to reclaim from rebels.

As soon as tiny Eman picked the object up to play, it exploded.

Tragic: Four-year-old Eman died after picking up a cluster bomb, thinking it was a silver ball

Shrapnel tore through her tiny frame, and both of Eman's legs were broken in the blast.

Her doctor told ITV that her family and paramedics had said she thought the deadly weapon was a toy.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein decried the 'ghastly avalanche of violence and destruction' in east Aleppo, saying 100 children had been killed in the past 10 days.

Shrapnel tore through her tiny body, and paramedics were unable to save the young girl's life

He urged the Security Council to introduce a limit on its members' veto power, to prevent countries like Russia blocking the referral of Syria's conflict to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

On Monday, the largest hospital in the rebel-held side of Aleppo was completely destroyed in an aerial attack, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports the facility.

Only five hospitals remain operational for the estimated 250,000 people living under a crippling government siege in east Aleppo.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said more than 100 children have been killed in the last 10 days

Syrian rebels said today that they had repelled an army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded residential areas.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced on Monday that Washington was suspending talks with Moscow due to Russia's role in the offensive, said peace efforts must carry on.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, with Russian air support and Iranian ground forces, launched the assault on Aleppo last month, a week into a ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow.

Nearly 300 people have died since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government launched its assault on Aleppo, supported by Russian and Iranian forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

The United States and other Western countries say Moscow and Damascus are guilty of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals and aid deliveries to crush the will of more than 250,000 people trapped under siege in Aleppo.

The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only militants.
Civil complaint alleged that she and her family called Her a rapist on Facebook

Xiong as soon as he was sentenced

A Northern California judge on Monday tossed out a $4million defamation lawsuit against a former college student who says she was raped by a man four years ago.

Attorney McGregor Scott says it took the Yuba County judge 15 minutes to dismiss the civil complaint filed by Lang Her, a 26-year-old former UC Davis student who is in jail for assaulting 24-year-old Yee Xiong of Davis at a party in 2012.

Her sued Xiong and three of her siblings because in 2015 they posted Facebook comments referring to him as a rapist.

Her stood trial in 2015 and this year for assaulting Xiong with both cases ending in hung juries.

Yee Xiong,24, was about to leave the sentencing hearing for Lang Her, who she said sexually assaulted her when they were student when she was handed a $4 million defamation lawsuit

With the prospect of a third trial looming, Her pleaded no contest to assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, a felony.

He is currently serving a one-year sentence in the Yolo County jail. He also agreed to register as a sex offender for the duration of his five-year probation and undergo counseling.

No sooner had Her been sentenced, Xiong was handed a $4million civil lawsuit claiming defamation.

The now-dismissed suit from Her stated that Xiong and her three of her siblings conspired to alienate him from the close-knit ethnic Hmong community and called him a rapist on Facebook.

In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Xiong said the suit was like a 'slap to the face,' what she saw as a way for Her to 'continue to harass my family and me.'

Scott said the suit re-victimized the woman.

A number of postings were made on Facebook by Yee Xiong's family who were supporting her during her rape trial, but her assailant is now suing her for libel and defamation as a result

'This woman had been victimized in the most horrible set of circumstances imaginable,' Scott told KCRA. 'And as soon as her attacker was sentenced in the criminal courts, she got served with a lawsuit as she's walking out of the courthouse.'

According to court documents, Xiong told police she woke in the early hours of July 10, 2012, after a night of drinking in an off-campus apartment, with her arms pinned by Her. She said he was having sexual intercourse with her.

Both were students at the University of California, Davis at the time.

After his semen was found during a rape kit evaluation, Her maintained that no penetration occurred, and testified that he believed Xiong wanted to have sex with him.

During the investigation, Her's story changed more than once. He went from claiming that nothing had happened on the night in question to saying he and Xiong had kissed but had not had sex.

FAMILY TIES OF THE HMONG COMMUNITY Both Her and Xiong are former UC Davis students who were raised in the tight-knit Hmong community of Marysville. Their families once were friendly before the rape trials, Her being expelled from the University of California and the tremendous publicity their case has received. During sentencing, the Xiong's parents threatened Her's mother across the courtroom speaking in the Hmong language. The Sacremento Bee reports how both families exchanged glares and strong words With family pride and tradition at stake, Hers family bizarrely offered to have him marry Xiong before they set about offering the family money in the hope of avoiding any kind of prison sentence and for the charges to be dropped. Advertisement

However, his semen was found inside Xiong. Her has continued to deny that any penetration took place, and his attorneys have used Xiong's behavior after the incident  staying at Her's apartment for the rest of the night and allowing him to give her a ride back to campus in the morning  against her in court.

Her's attorneys questioned why Xiong stayed the rest of the night in the apartment if she had been raped.

The lawsuit cites May 21, 2015, as the date the Facebook postings began: The final day of the first criminal trial, when Xiong learned it had ended in a mistrial.

Though Xiong and her siblings were angry and frustrated, she said, they never hatched a plot to ruin his reputation.

A second trial in February 2016 also ended in a hung jury.

The online postings have since been taken down, but in a formal response to the lawsuit stated that the posts were true or believed by the defendants to be true.

The saga has divided their small, tight-knit Hmong community, Xiong said, with members choosing which family to side with and whom to believe.

California has one of the largest Hmong populations among U.S. states, many of whom live in the Central Valley.

'It was very lonely,' Xiong said. 'I've had to hold off on so many things just because of the trial, like I failed so many classes. Just all of that is putting a hold on my future.'

Her and Xiong are former UC Davis students who were raised in the tight-knit Hmong community of Marysville, California, near Sacramento

Rather than endure a third trial, Xiong and Her agreed to a plea deal that includes a year of jail time and five years of probation, during which Her must also register as a sex offender, and complete a minimum of three months of sex offender counseling.

Her also was expelled from UC Davis. He reported to jail in Yolo County last month.

Xiong was served with a lawsuit within half an hour of her trial against Her concluding.

'We were shocked, speechless,' Xiong said. 'Who in their right mind would do this? I felt re-victimized. I want to move on with my life and this is still holding me back,' she said to the Sacramento Bee.

Her's lawsuit claims that Ger Xiong, one of Yee's older sisters made 'false and defamatory' statements against him in Facebook posts in May 2015, which was the final day of the first trial.

On Monday, Yee's sister Ger Xiong took to Facebook to share her thoughts on the dismissal of Her's lawsuit

'Rapists destroy lives,' the note which was posted on Facebook read. 'Rapists hurt all of us, not just their victims.'

Later that day, the sister continued her protest: 'We will not be silenced. We will fight for justice against Lang Her, who is a rapist.' The post ended up being shared by Yee and two other siblings.

On Monday, Ger Xiong again took to Facebook to share her thoughts on the dismissal of Her's lawsuit.
Hillary Clinton took her attack on Donald Trump's finances and taxes to western Pennsylvania, while she blasted her rival for living a lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Clinton, who has family connections to the Scranton area and whose dad and brother attended Penn State University, pointed for the second day in a row at the $916 million dollar loss that Trump appears to have claimed on his 1995 tax return.

She pointed to comments from Trump where the real estate mogul talked about buying opportunities during the housing collapse.

'Now who says that? Who wants that to happen?' she asked a crowd of about 2,000 who gathered inside the local Zembo Shrine facility, a Shriners facility built in the Moorish style.

Clinton hit him for 'Living in his big tower  he has no idea whats happening,' she said.

Hillary Clinton campaigned in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, where she blasted Donald Trump for living 'like a billionaire'

The former Arkansas first lady frequently dropped her g's when speaking to the crowd.

She spoke about 'Takin on all those kitchen table issues that keep people up at night' as well as 'makin sure that every family has the tools that they need to get ahead and stay ahead.'

Keeping her focus on Trump, amid a polling rise the picked up after the first presidential debate, Clinton said Trump 'embodies the risky behavior that cashed our economy' and called him part of the 'quick buck culture that still rules too many corporate boardrooms.'
She was arrested and charged with DUII and reckless

A seemingly drunk woman who was spotted carrying a beer in her hand was stopped by two young men from driving off while her baby was in the front seat of the car.

Ty Thompson, 20, saw the woman who was identified as 29-year-old Laura Rose Ann Wood, trying to leave the parking lot of a convenience store in Portland, Oregon.

'I saw the lady with a beer in her hand, and I wasn't going to let her drive off with the kid in the car,' he told KATU 2.

Video courtesy of KATU

Ty Thompson (left), 20, saw the woman trying to leave the parking lot of a convenience store in Portland, Oregon. His friend, Koltan Transue (right), 18, said that they both 'took turns holding the baby and just keeping her warm and trying to comfort her'

The woman was identified by police as Laura Wood (pictured), 29, who was arrested and charged with a DUII and reckless endangerment

His friend Koltan Transue, 18, told the station that they both 'took turns holding the baby and just keeping her warm and trying to comfort her'.

Transue said the one-year-old baby girl was only wearing a diaper.

Deputies told the station that the woman tried to walk away from the car with the child when they arrived to the scene.

Sgt Brian Jensen, public information officer for Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said that several people brought Wood, who appeared to be 'extremely intoxicated' back to her car.

Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputies arrested Wood and charged her with a DUII and reckless endangerment.

Jensen said Wood has since been released on her own recognizance.

Deputies said that the woman tried to walk away from the car (left) with the child when they arrived to the scene. The child (right) was taken to the Oregon Department of Human Services

The incident took place in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven (file photo) in Portland

A spokeswoman for Clackamas County Court told ABC News that the district attorney had not yet filed a criminal case against Wood as of Tuesday morning.

The child was taken to the Oregon Department of Human Services, Jensen added.

The two men who said they prevented her from driving off told KATU they hope Wood gets the help she needs.
Outgoing Met Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, pictured, stepped down after learning his force is facing censure over the bungled VIP paedophile investigation

Scotland Yard will only release a summary of a bombshell report into its disgraced VIP child sex abuse inquiry once it has considered whether it agrees with its findings, one of its most senior officers revealed last night.

Assistant Commissioner Helen King wrote to people falsely accused of sex abuse and murder by a suspected fantasist known as Nick to say her force would have to think very carefully about what can and cannot be published from the review.

She said it is her strong expectation that it will not be possible to publish the report by retired High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques in its entirety because it will contain material that is confidential and affects the rights of third parties.

And she added: Once we have received Sir Richards report we will need to consider it very carefully, not just in terms of what can and cannot be published from it  but also the extent to which the Metropolitan Polcie agrees or otherwise with all of its findings and recommendations.

It will clearly take time to work through the detail of it before we will be in a position to decide what may be suitable for sharing with you and a number of others with a similar interest.

Her comments, in a letter sent to victims of Nicks alleged lies or their families, plunged the Met into a new row over censorship.

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Sir Richard is due to hand a draft copy of his highly-critical report to Scotland Yard chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, who announced his surprise retirement last week, in the next few days.

Critics claim Sir Bernard stepped down as Commissioner after learning his force is facing censure over the scandal of the VIP paedophile investigation known as Operation Midland.

Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor accused the Met of orchestrating a cover-up of the 2million police inquiry into Nicks claims of serial murder and rape by an Establishment paedophile ring in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Proctor, falsely accused by Nick, said: I said the Henriques Report would not be independent.

Ex-Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, pictured, who was falsely accused by an anonymous suspected fantasist, said the Met was 'orchestrating a cover-up' over the 2million inquiry

'Not content with appointing their own judge, setting their own terms of reference, excluding evidential matters and ensuring Henriques reports to Hogan-Howe directly, now the Met are ensuring it is not and cannot be independent by tampering with their own report once written.

Their cover-up continues. They are going to doctor their own private investigation. It bears all the hallmarks of a secret police state.

He added: I call on Sir Richard in the best interests of the criminal justice system to publish the report in full himself.

Daniel Janner QC, the barrister son of the late Labour peer Greville Janner  who was also falsely accused of abuse by Nick  said it was in the public interest to publish the Henriques report in full.

He is considering obtaining a legal order to obtain a copy of the report, a move which could pave the way for a private prosecution against Nick for allegedly perverting the course of justice.

Last month the Daily Mail revealed how Sir Richard has already been paid 66,000 to write a report about Operation Midland and other high profile historic sex abuse inquiries  but the public will get to see only selected findings on the orders of Sir Bernard.

The former judge is receiving 1,100 a day to conduct the review, which was commissioned by Sir Bernard in February.

It is expected to highlight key failures in Operation Midland, which will be hugely embarrassing to Sir Bernard and senior officers including Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse.

Operation Midland was wound up in March, 15 months after a senior Met officer publicly described Nicks allegation as credible and true.

But detectives did not find a shred of evidence to support his extraordinary claims.

Scotland Yard, pictured, said it would think 'very carefully' about what could and could not be published from the review

Among the other victims of Nicks alleged lies was hounded war hero Lord Bramall, the 92-year-old former Army chief whose home was raided over Nicks baseless claims as he ate breakfast with his terminally ill wife.

Another victim was the late former Tory Home Secretary Leon Brittan, as was ex-PM Edward Heath.

It is understood that Sir Richards report will address whether the search warrant to raid Lord Bramalls home was issued lawfully, whether it was necessary for 20 police officers to ransack his home at dawn and also the delays in informing him of the allegations.

The retired judge has also examined whether it was necessary for the police to raid Tory peer Lord Brittans two homes in connection with Nicks claims within weeks of his death in January last year.

The Met declined to answer a series of questions from the Mail last night, including whether any officers have been warned they face criticism in Sir Richards report or potential disciplinary proceedings over the fiasco.

It said: The Met made clear when Sir Richard was commissioned to look at the issues that key findings and recommendations from his independent review would be published but the full review would remain private as it would contain confidential and sensitive information.
A 23-year-old man arrested for the murder his fiancee while she was at home with their seven-month old baby wrote a Facebook post expressing his sorrow around the time of her death.

Ethan Reid had gotten into an argument with Kayla Hodges, 20, before he showed up to a Scottsville, Kentucky, home on Monday and fatally shot her, authorities said.

On Facebook, Reid wrote: 'Sorry guys. I'm truly not this bad of a person. I've been pushed to this point over of time [sic]. I'm disappointed in myself too...Learn from my mistakes. Just know this was never my intentions.'

Ethan Reid (left) had gotten into an argument with Kayla Hodges, 20, (right) before he showed up to a Scottsville, Kentucky, home on Monday and fatally shot her, authorities said

He expressed his sorrow and regret on Facebook around the time of Monday's deadly shooting

Reid pulled up to the home on Monday, blocking the porch steps with his car before he entered with a shotgun, according to the Allen County Sheriff's Office.

He pushed Hodge's mother out the back door, but she ran inside to grab the child, according to an arrest report cited by News Channel 5.

The 23-year-old then followed Hodges to the front door. Her mother heard a noise before seeing her 20-year-old daughter falling with Reid standing nearby with a gun, the arrest report stated.

Hodges was found on the front porch with a gunshot wound, and she later died in the hospital, detectives told the Tennessean.

Reid allegedly made a comment regarding suicide before walking off, WDRB reported.

A neighbor who had overheard the commotion ran over and managed to subdue Reid, who had been holding a 20-gauge shotgun, according to FOX 17.

According to both their Facebook pages, the two were engaged. Their daughter was born in March 2016

Hodges (left) died in the hospital, and a neighbor disarmed Reid (right), who was booked in Allen County Jail on a criminal homicide charge

The 23-year-old left a confused Facebook status around the time of the shooting.

It read: 'Sorry guys. I'm truly not this bad of a person. I've been pushed to this point over of time. I'm dissapointed [sic] in myself too. I could have been so much more.

'It's so sad. I'm a terrible person overall. Learn from my mistakes. Just know this was never my intentions. I love all of you. I'm just not meant to be happy. Ever. I'm sorry. I love you all. Xoxo- Ethan Reid'

Reid was taken to the hospital with a head injury he sustained in the confrontation with his neighbor, and was later taken to the Allen County Jail.

The baby, who was born on March 2016, was not hurt in the incident.
Theresa May will today condemn the metropolitan elite for sneering at millions of ordinary Britons over immigration.

In words that will resonate across the country, the Prime Minister will criticise those who try to dismiss the concerns of many voters as parochial.

And she will savage the political and chattering classes who think the publics patriotism is distasteful and their views on crime illiberal.

Mrs May arrived at the Birmingham International Convention Centre today against a backdrop of a growing row about her immigration policies.

Reports suggested energy prices could also feature in the Prime Minister's remarks later this morning.

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Theresa May, pictured arriving at the conference centre today for her keynote speech, plans to make a grab for the political centre ground

Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured preparing her words, will take aim at the 'liberal elite' in her Conservative Party Conference speech today

In her keynote speech to the Tory party conference today, Mrs May will make a pitch to claim the centre ground of British politics  and drive the divisive Labour Party further into the wilderness.

She will also pledge to lead a Government that is unafraid to challenge big business and intervene on behalf of workers on low and middle incomes.

And she will take the elite to task for failing to stand up for their interests for years  and sneering at their concerns.

Setting out her vision for running Britain, Mrs May will tell delegates in Birmingham: Just listen to the way a lot of politicians and commentators talk about the public.

Mrs May, pictured at the conference, will criticise those who 'sneer at' and 'dismiss' voters concerns over immigration

They find their patriotism distasteful, their concerns about immigration parochial, their views about crime illiberal, their attachment to their job security inconvenient.

They find the fact that more than seventeen million people voted to leave the European Union simply bewildering.

Reaching out to the millions of blue-collar workers who were the bedrock of Margaret Thatchers support, she will pledge to put the power of Government squarely at the service of ordinary working-class people.

She yesterday denied that her plans to put workers on company boards and challenge big business amounted to abandoning Conservative free market principles.

And in todays speech, she will say that Government intervention can be a force for good.

Mrs May will say: Thats what Governments about: action.

Its about doing something, not being someone. About identifying injustices, finding solutions, driving change.

'Taking, not shirking, the big decisions. Having the courage to see things through.

I want to set our party and our country on the path towards the new centre ground of British politics  built on the values of fairness and opportunity  where everyone plays by the same rules and where every single person, regardless of their background or that of their parents, is given the chance to be all they want to be.

She will add: Its time to remember the good that Government can do.

Time for a new approach that says while Government does not have all the answers, Government can and should be a force for good; that the state exists to provide what individual people, communities and markets cannot; and that we should employ the power of Government for the good of the people.

She will also warn big businesses that her Government will 'not be afraid' to intervene on behalf of workers on low and middle incomes

It is her second speech to the conference in Birmingham after laying out her plans for Brexit by 2019 in the first, pictured

'Time to reject the ideological templates provided by the socialist Left and the libertarian Right and to embrace a new centre ground in which Government steps up  and not back  to act on behalf of the people.

'Supporting free markets, but stepping in to repair them when they arent working as they should.

Encouraging business and supporting free trade, but not accepting one set of rules for some and another for everyone else.

Listen to the way politicians and commentators talk about the public. They find their patriotism distasteful, concerns about immigration parochial, views about crime illiberal and the fact that 17million voted to leave the EU bewildering Prime Minister Theresa May

'And if we do  if we act to correct unfairness and injustice and put Government at the service of ordinary working people  we can build that new united Britain in which everyone plays by the same rules, and in which the powerful and the privileged no longer ignore the interests of the people.

In her second speech to conference this week  following Sundays address in which she promised to deliver Brexit by March 2019  she will accuse Labour and Jeremy Corbyn of dividing the country.

The PM will say: The main lesson I take from their conference last week is that the Labour Party is not just divided, but divisive.

Determined to pit one against another. To pursue vendettas and settle scores.

Mrs May, pictured, has denied she is abandoning Conservative free market principles

'And to embrace the politics of pointless protest that doesnt unite people but pulls them further apart.

So lets have no more of Labours absurd belief that they have a monopoly on compassion. Lets put an end to their sanctimonious pretence of moral superiority.

Lets make clear that they have given up the right to call themselves the party of the NHS, the party of the workers, the party of public servants.

And in a TV interview last night, she also vowed to get tough on big business which does not behave responsibly.

Politicians don't have all the answers...but we should be a force for good Prime Minister Theresa May

Speaking on BBCs Newsnight, she said: I think people want to feel that everybody plays by the same rules in the economy and feel that there isnt one rule for the privileged few and another rule for everybody else.

Companies must recognise that actually they have a position in society too.

'This is why Im talking about issues like consumer representation on boards, worker representation on boards.

But Mrs May denied that she was abandoning Conservative free market principles.
In a campaign that has been dominated by issues of secrecy and transparency, Hillary Clinton held a brief press conference inside the secretive Zembo Shrine in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she delivered an opaque answer about whether she once joked about offing the founder of Wikileaks.

Clinton fielded a handful of questions from traveling reporters who traveled through hallways lined with black and white portraits of Shriners in their distinct caps inside the shrine in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she held a rally Tuesday.

Clinton took a question about whether she had once spoken about assassinating Assange, after Wikileaks sent around a blog post that claimed Clinton had once said, 'Can't we just drone this guy?'

No secrets here: Hillary Clinton held a press conference in a Zembo Shrine in Harrisburg, PA

Target? Julian Assange had promised a surprise for Clinton early on Tuesday morning, then failed to deliver. But he still claims he will release massive amounts of hacked material

Deadly firepower: Among the armed drones which are at the government's disposal are Air Force Reapers. It can carry Paveway or JDAM bombs or Hellfire missiles

Assange had spoken this week about releasing new hacked materials relating to Hillary Clinton, although he provided nothing new in remarks he gave online.

'I dont know anything about what hes talking about,' Clinton said, asked about Assange's statements.

'And I dont recall any joke. It would have been a joke if it had been said, but I dont recall that,' Clinton said.

The posting was by the truepundit website. Campaign manager Robby Mook got asked about the rumor this week and responded: 'Im reticent to comment on anything that the Wikileaks people have said. Theyve made a lot of accusations in the past.'

Before her remarks, Clinton continued to hammer Donald Trump for secrecy. The public only recently learned about his $916 million write-off, gleaned after a source sent an anonymous letter to a New York Times reporter.

Clinton noted that she has released 40 years of her tax returns.

Clintons spoke inside the Zembo Shrine in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

But Trump continues to demand that she release some of the thousands of emails that were included on her home email server.

FBI Director James Comey faulted Clinton for carelessness, though he did not charge her for violations of government record keeping laws.

Clinton took only a few questions, and didn't respond to a shouted question about her own claim of a $700,000 loss on her 1995 tax return.

She made no mention, nor was she asked, about her emails, although the State Department continues to fight in court over a schedule of release of materials sought in freedom of information lawsuits.

The shrine includes a large auditorium that seated about 2,000 cheering supporters.

Secretive group with a lot to hide: The Clinton campaign held its stump stop and press conference in the Zembo Shrine

Zembos: Former leaders of the Shriners were on the wall behind the Clinton branding

Hillary Clinton earlier campaigned at the shrine in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, where she blasted Donald Trump for living 'like a billionaire'

Earlier, Clinton blasted her rival for living a lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Clinton, who has family connections to the Scranton area and whose dad and brother attended Penn State University, pointed for the second day in a row at the $916 million dollar loss that Trump appears to have claimed on his 1995 tax return.

She pointed to comments from Trump where the real estate mogul talked about buying opportunities during the housing collapse.

'Now who says that? Who wants that to happen?' she asked a crowd of about 2,000 who gathered inside the local Zembo Shrine facility, a Shriners facility built in the Moorish style.

Clinton hit him for 'Living in his big tower  he has no idea whats happening,' she said.

The former Arkansas first lady frequently dropped her g's when speaking to the crowd.

She spoke about 'Takin on all those kitchen table issues that keep people up at night' as well as 'makin sure that every family has the tools that they need to get ahead and stay ahead.'

Keeping her focus on Trump, amid a polling rise the picked up after the first presidential debate, Clinton said Trump 'embodies the risky behavior that cashed our economy' and called him part of the 'quick buck culture that still rules too many corporate boardrooms.'
Officers banged the walls and stomped their feet in the viral video

They went viral earlier this year with a hilarious video of them performing a brilliant 'running man' challenge.

And the New Zealand Police are back again with a new attempt to wow the web with their musical skills - with officers this time creating a catchy tune in an elevator.

The clip was shared online by the police force's recruitment page yesterday and has since been viewed more than a quarter of a million times.

New Zealand Police filmed officers performing a catchy tune in an elevator at a station

The two men quickly stop as the lift doors open to pick up three other officers, but moments later they start the rhythm once again

The video starts with two officers, wearing uniform including body armour, walking into a lift at a police station.

'Boss, listen to this,' one says to the other as he starts stomping his feet and clapping along.

It does not take long for his colleague to join in, hammering out a beat against the wall of the elevator.

The two men quickly stop as the lift doors open to pick up three other officers, but moments later they start the rhythm once again.

The three new cops join in, with a female officer in a high-vis jacket clapping along while the other two tap their feet.

After stopping on the third floor, two more officers walk in.

The three new cops join in, with a female officer in a high-vis jacket clapping along while the other two tap their feet

After stopping on the third floor, two more officers who are busy on the phone and doing paper work move in

One is on their phone and the other is doing paperwork, but they soon forget about that to join the officers in laying down a beat.

The apparently more senior officers tap a pen against the wall of the lift and click their fingers along as the music continues.

But normal service resumes as soon as the elevator reaches the bottom floor, as the cops wipe their grins off their faces and walk out of the lift.

The last time the Kiwi cops took the internet by storm, more than a million people watched them take on the 'running man' challenge.

The apparently more senior officers tap a pen against the wall of the lift and click their fingers along as the music continues

The last time the Kiwi cops took the internet by storm, more than a million people watched them take on the 'running man' challenge

In it officers are seen performing the popular dance move to the Ghost Town DJs track, My Boo.

Dozens of police forces filmed themselves taking on the dance worldwide after the New Zealand officers challenged them to better their attempt.

After posting the new video, commenters asked whether they would be laying out a new challenge to other forces.
A magistrate has ordered a Melbourne man who claimed he was involved in covert military missions in Vietnam and attained the rank of major general to undergo a psychiatric assessment.

Neville Donohue was found guilty of a string of deception offenses at Ringwood Magistrates' Court in Victoria on Wednesday and stripped of his replica service medals.

Photos show Donohue attached the fake medals in four rows to the lapel of his blazer and wore them proudly in public, including on Anzac Day. He has been named and shamed online by veterans' groups.

Neville Donohue claimed he was involved in covert military missions in Vietnam and attained the rank of major general

Helen Gouzvaris, a former employee at the Directorate of the Honours and Awards, told the court that Donohue was only entitled to wear the Australian Service Medal, the Herald Sun reported.

Records show that Donohue served in the Australian Army between 1970 and 1976, but not overseas or in operational areas.

He told the court the rank of major general was equal to the rank he earned while involved in clandestine activities as an intelligence officer in Vietnam in the early 1970s, and work in a paramilitary unit after 1976.

'The rank was used, not conferred, with regards to the practical service,' Donohue was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.

Magistrate Greg McNamara found there was no evidence to support Donohues claims.

He was told to undergo a psychiatric assessment for PTSD, which he had told the court he suffered from his time in Vietnam.

Donohue was found guilty on 36 charges, including deception, wearing medals without entitlement and falsely claiming to be a returned service person.

He was bailed and will be sentenced on December 19.
Main event is an eight-foot wall like the one Trump wants to build on the US border with Mexico

Matt Washauer lives with his family in West Hartford, Connecticut; put up the display on Saturday

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A political history teacher is teaching his neighborhood a lesson with his election-themed Halloween display.

Matt Warshauer and his family live in West Hartford, Connecticut. Their Halloween decorations, which they installed on Saturday, give a spooky account of what the world could look like if Donald Trump were president.

The display's main event is an eight-foot wall, a reference to Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States.

Also included are Hillary Clinton riding a donkey, the Democratic party's symbol, and Bernie Sanders - in jail.

The former presidential candidate is represented behind bars, with a sign that reads: 'jailed by the DNC'.

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A political history teacher who lives with his family in West Hartford, Connecticut is making a statement with an election-themed Halloween display (pictured), which they put up Saturday

The display takes jabs at some of Donald Trump's campaign promises. It includes a dummy of the Republican nominee (pictured), who seems to be screaming and has tiny baby hands

Also included in the display is a dummy of Hillary Clinton riding a donkey, the Democratic party's symbol. The main event is an eight-foot wall comparable to the one Trump wants to build on the border between the US and Mexico

Bernie Sanders hasn't been forgotten in the display. The former presidential candidate appears behind bars (pictured), with a sign indicating he has been jailed by the Democratic National Committee

Skeletons who appear to stand in as immigrants can be seen on one side of the wall carrying signs with messages such as : 'not a criminal' (pictured). A sign pictures Trump pointing his finger with the caption 'I want you to join the circus'

The Democratic National Committee apologized to Sanders in July after leaked emails showed staffers had derided his campaign during the primaries.

In the display, Trump is raising his fists in the air and seems to be screaming, perched on top of the Trump tower above the wall.

'Is the system so broken we need to elect a madman,' a sign reads below an armed guard.

Skeletons who appear to strand in as immigrants hold signs marked: 'not a criminal', 'work ethic', 'hope' and 'we were all immigrants'.

Another sign states: ''Crooker' vs crooked and crazy'.

Warshauer was bothered by Trump's proposal to build a wall on the south border.

'It's something that disturbs me because I believe that we're a nation that gets other nations to tear down walls, not put them up,' he told NBC.

He wanted his display to include both main parties.

'I'm making my statement about what I think of Donald Trump,' Warshauer told Fox 61. 'It's not just Trump, it's the Democratic party as well.'

Warshauer has a history of building Halloween displays with a political message. His past themes include the Vietnam War and the Civil War.

One of the skeletons (pictured) carries a sign with the words: 'we were all immigrants'. A sign on the wall reads: '"crooked" vs crooked and crazy' - a jab at 'Crooked Hillary', Trump's nickname for Clinton

Warshauer was bothered by Trump's proposal to build a wall on the south border and made it the basis of his display, which includes a version of the wall with armed guards and immigrants left at the doors

A longer message posted on the display's wall (pictured) reads in part: 'If you only have love for your own race then you only leave space to discriminate. And to discriminate only generates hate'

'It's something that disturbs me because I believe that we're a nation that gets other nations to tear down walls, not put them up,' Warshauer said about Trump's proposed wall on the south border (pictured is the display)

The display also includes nods to the Democratic party, including a dummy of Clinton in a Stars-And-Stripes-themed costume as she rides the Democratic donkey (pictured)
The new $5 notes have been causing issues across Australia with self-service supermarket registers, pokie machines and TABs spitting out the bills.

Touted as the antidote to counterfeit notes, the clear strip that runs through the middle of the cash has been causing machines to reject the money.

President of the National Vending Association Nick Aronis said the drama has cost businesses tens of millions of dollars.

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Self-serve counters and vending machines are rejecting the new $5 note

'The note reader starts to read the note and sees the clear strip, it identifies that as the end of the note and of course it cant recognise it, so it spits it back out,' he told News Corp.

TAB betting terminals are rejecting the notes which have anti-fraud and vision impaired features, and poker machines will not accept the money.

This comes after it was revealed last month that the newly released five dollar note was being rejected at some supermarket self-serve checkouts and vending machines.

Supermarket giant Woolworths have updated over 100,000 of their check-out machines with new firmware, while thousands more had to be re-calibrated.

The clear strip that runs through the middle of the cash has been causing machines to reject the money

Supermarket self-serve checkouts and vending machines around Australia are unable to accept the new $5 note

Mr Aronis from the National Vending Association, told Nine News at the time that vending manufacturers had a limited time to come up with new firmware and upgrades to release to the industry.

'Anything that's really older than six or seven years old may have to have the note readers completely replaced because they are non-upgradable, so the cost of the industry is absolutely horrendous,' he said.

However, in a statement the Reserve Bank of Australia said they started a consultation process on the notes years ago.

'The Bank started this process seven years ago, and made sample banknotes available to all equipment manufacturers in October 2014 and the actual banknotes for testing in December 2015.'

Pokie machines and TAB gamling stations have been rejecting the notes

The new note has anti-fraud and braille features which can't be read by some note readers

With changes for the $10 and $20 planned over the next few years, the vending machine industry could face millions of dollars worth of upgrades.

Mr Aronis said that companies will have to buy new programmers for the 70,000 vending machines around Australia, which could cost around $330 each.
Greggs the bakers could stop selling loaves of bread as it moves to target the health conscious and the hipsters.

The company is moving away from the traditional concept of a bakery towards selling 'food on the go' and becoming a rival to McDonald's.

It has already introduced a range of healthy alternatives to the sausage roll in the shape of low-calorie sourdough flavoured pasties.

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Greggs could stop selling loaves of bread as it moves to target the health conscious. The company is moving away from the traditional bakery concept towards selling 'food on the go'

Greggs hopes to pull in the hipsters with a winter menu including hot sandwiches with chipotle pulled beef or fiery pulled chicken and onion bhaji burritos.

There are gluten-free options, lower calorie soups and bosses have even suggested it could start selling sushi.

The company was founded from a bakery on Tyneside in the 1930s and the crusty loaf and bloomer have been a mainstay of the business ever since.

However, it says families now buy their bread at the supermarket rather than baker shops.

Bread has already gone from the shelves of some Greggs outlets and it is being phased out of others as sales fall.

Chief executive, Roger Whiteside, said: 'It used to be what the business sold back in the 1930s, and bread still features - in stores in more residential areas - but it has been declining for seven decades.

'If the trend continues it will reach a point where it is no longer worth selling. Basically, people buy bread in supermarkets now.'

Healthier options: Greggs' new menu includes falafel salads and lower calorie veggie soups

Mr Whiteside hopes the chain's new Mexican flavours, including chipotle pulled beef and fiery pulled chicken, will prove a popular addition this winter.

'Pulled anything seems to work, doesn't it?' he said.

The firm was founded by John Gregg as a Tyneside bakery in 1939, but it did not open its first shop in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, until 1951.

It grew to become the UK's biggest bakery business during the 1960s and 1970s through the purchase of chains like Rutherglen, in Scotland, Thurston's in Leeds, Broomfields in London and Price's of Manchester.

Greggs is keen to grab a bigger slice of the growing 'food to go' market, which is worth around 6billion a year. It already has more outlets than McDonald's at 1,743 and is aiming for more than 2,000.

The real growth in the business has come through the launch of a healthier 'Balanced Choice' range, including things like a chargrill chicken salad and Thai chicken soup.

Its new Katsu chicken bake comes in at 288 calories and the Bombay Potato bake is just 274. This compares to 349 calories in a sausage roll.

Greggs has also scored well with its 2 breakfast meal deal which offers, for example, a bacon roll and a coffee. Yoghurt pots and porridge are also on the menu.

The chain said total sales rose by 5.6per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 October compared to the same period last year. Like-for-like sales, which includes shops that have been open for more than a year, rose by 3.4per cent.

Bread has already gone from the shelves of some Greggs outlets across the UK (file picture)

It said: 'The popularity of our summer menu including an extended range of Balanced Choice salads and yoghurts supported sales growth in the period.

'We also saw continued strong growth at breakfast time, helped by our strong coffee offer and value deals.'

Mr Whiteside said: 'We've kept the breakfast deal at 2 for six years now. That' s less than the price for just a coffee in a lot of other places.'

Industry analyst David Cheetham, of XTB.com, said: 'Greggs remains on the right track and on course for a good year.
A court has ordered a mobile phone company to pay a $6,000 fine for selling a faulty phone charger identical to that which electrocuted and killed a young mother.

Sheryl Anne Aldeguer, a 28-year-old nurse, died in 2014 when the $5 USB phone charger she purchased from a store in Campsie, in Sydney's west, sent high-voltage pulses into her headphones, according to Nine News.

This week the phone company, Hua Yang Australia, and its owner, Huadi Bi, were issued fines by the Supreme Court for selling allegedly unapproved products like phone chargers and wall adapters.

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A court has ordered a Sydney mobile phone company to pay $6,000 for selling a faulty phone charger to Sheryl Anne Aldeguer (pictured), 28, who died when the device electrocuted her in 2014

The phone company, Hua Yang Australia, which has a store at the Campsie Centre in west Sydney (right), was ordered to pay $25,000 in court fees on top of the $6,000 and its owner, Huadi Bi (left), will pay an $18,000 fine

NSW Fair Trading brought a civil suit against the company and Ms Bi.

Ms Bi was ordered to pay $18,000 fines out of a possible $55,000 and the company was ordered to pay $6,000 out of a possible fine of $550,000, according to Nine News.

The company was also ordered to pay $25,000 in court fees.

Justice Geoffrey Bellow told the court selling unapproved electronic items is dangerous.

'It was aggravated by the fact it was committed for financial gain and without regard for public safety,' Justice Bellow said.

Ms Aldeguer (pictured) is believed to have been talking to a friend on the phone when it sent high-voltage pulses into her headphones

The young mother of two had purchased the charger for $5

Fair Trade Commissioner Rod Stowe said NSW Fair Trading was 'a little bit disappointed with the financial penalty imposed, given what the maximum could have been.'

Mr Stowe said there has been an emphasis on seizing cheap and often faulty phone chargers since Ms Aldeguer's death.

'NSW Fair Trading on a regular basis does sweeps of the market place and we particularly target those areas we've found these non-approved articles in the past,' Mr Stowe said.

It is believed she died instantly and is said to have had burns to her chest and ears (pictured with her husband Luigi Aldeguer)

A coroner continues to investigate Ms Aldeguer's death.

Her husband, Luigi Aldeguer, previously said his wife was speaking on the phone to a friend in Dubai when the incident occurred and her body was found the next day by friends and her landlord.

It is believed she died instantly and is said to have had burns to her chest and ears.

Mrs Aldeguer, who moved from the Philippines for work, had just become an Australian citizen at the time of her death and was about to start work at Gosford Hospital.
Philip Hammond was facing an extraordinary Cabinet backlash last night over his tirade of negativity about the dangers of Brexit.

The Chancellors claim that the economy faces a rollercoaster ride as Britain leaves the EU dismayed some Cabinet colleagues who are urging him privately to try to boost confidence rather than undermine it.

On Monday, Mr Hammond repeated claims from the Remain campaign that the British economy is set to be four per cent smaller as a result of Brexit.

The Chancellor, who campaigned hard for Britain to remain in the European Union, insisted the Treasury was ready to take whatever steps are necessary to protect this economy from turbulence.

Cabinet ministers have criticised Chancellor Philip Hammond, pictured, for his 'negativity' after the Chancellor warned Britain's economy could shrink as a result of Brexit

Mr Hammonds speech was praised by former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls.

But Cabinet colleagues questioned why he was talking down Britains economic prospects at all.

One minister accused Mr Hammond of going rogue  and suggested he was almost willing the economy to fail to prove he was right about the dangers of leaving the EU.

He seems to be in several stages of denial, the minister said.

I think hes still trying to justify everything he said in the referendum campaign.

It was just a tirade of negativity. Hes got a fantastic opportunity to get out there and roll the pitch for Britains future in the world  thats what everyone else is trying to do. Why is he talking everything down?

Another Cabinet source said: Its partly just Philips manner to be gloomy  thats how he is. But it wouldnt hurt him to be a bit more upbeat about things.

A third minister said Mr Hammonds defensiveness was understandable, but suggested it would do little to boost business and consumer confidence.

You can understand why a new Chancellor might want to play things down now so that he can claim credit when it works out better than expected, he said.

Mr Hammond, pictured with wife Susan Williams-Walker, was accused of launching a 'tirade of negativity' during his Conservative Party Conference speech

But its fair to say he could have been more positive  confidence is important at the moment.

Mr Hammonds glass-half-empty analysis is also said to have angered some in Downing Street.

Theresa May last night struck a markedly more positive tone during a round of broadcast interviews at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

The Prime Minister said economic data in the wake of the June referendum had been more positive than people were expecting.

Its early days, of course, but I think the impression is that the response has been rather calmer to the Brexit vote than many people had predicted or thought might happen, she said.

Mrs May played down concerns about the recent fall in the value of the pound, saying: Currencies, of course, go up and down.

If you stand back and look at the fundamentals of our economy, which are strong, if you look at the other economic data that has been around in recent weeks, if you look indeed at the most recent forecasts now coming out for growth in our economy this year, all of that is more positive than people had expected it to be and predicted it to be.

Mr Hammond is a long-time ally of his predecessor George Osborne, who was the architect of the Remain campaigns Project Fear agenda.

Mr Hammond, right, is an ally of his predecessor George Osborne, left, and campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU during the referendum campaign

The former Chancellor angered many Tory MPs during the referendum campaign by joining forces with his Labour predecessor Alistair Darling to warn that Brexit would spark an immediate recession  a prediction that has proved to be wrong.

Mr Osborne outlined plans for a punishment budget involving 30billion of tax rises and spending cuts he claimed would be needed if Britain left the EU.

Mr Hammond made no mention of this in his conference speech, in which he praised Mr Osbornes stewardship of the economy.

Mr Hammond also faced criticism from some for ditching the Governments plan to balance Britains books by 2018/19 in the wake of the Brexit vote.
This is the moment two gangs of monkeys at a tourist spot in China are captured mid-brawl.

The footage filmed at Mount Emei in southwest China's Sichuan province shows the animals separated into two gangs and fighting each other, reports the People's Daily Online.

The scenic spot is famous for its boisterous wild monkeys who often steal food along with other items from visitors.

Playing around: The monkeys are known for their boisterous behaviour at the tourist spot

Fighting: They are seen making warning sounds and trying to swipe at each other (above)

Arguing: Members of the two sides appeared to be too scared to actually attack each other

Horrific: One monkey is suddenly surrounded by one of the gangs and viciously attacked

In the footage, a group of tourists can be seen watching the animals swarm around each other.

The monkeys can be heard making noises in appears to be an attempt to deter each other from attack.

They are separated into two groups with one on the top of the ridge and the other below them.

As the video progress, the animals can be seen approaching each other before moving back repeatedly.

Vicious: The monkeys begin to get closer, pulling each other before moving back

Violent: All of a sudden one of the monkeys from the rival gang is dragged over the edge

Saving the monkey: A tourist is then forced to step in and separate the animals

Later, one of the monkeys is pulled across the ledge and attacked by the other group of animals.

They swarmed around the animal until a tourist takes matters into his own hands, separating the group and saving the animal.

Mount Emei is a popular tourist spot and is home to a sizeable population of wild monkeys.
A black mole now covers half of her face despite the expensive treatment

A family is desperate for financial aid from strangers to help treat a rare medical condition suffered by their youngest member.

The five-year-old girl from Hanzhong, China, has a form of a rare medical condition called Epidermal Nevus Syndrome where a large patch of her skin has turned black and is covered with thick hair, reported People's Daily Online.

According to the girl's grandfather, she was born with a black mole that has since grown to cover half of her face. And if left untreated, it could mutate and become cancerous.

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The desperate family took the girl to different doctors but none of the treatments helped

She was born with a small mark on the left side of her face that eventually grew into a huge pigmented patch of skin

She suffers a form of a rare condition known as Epidermal Nevus Syndrome, which can be fatal if it mutates into cancer

The girl, identified by her nickname Xiao Yu, is cared for by her grandparents while her parents are working in another city.

Her grandfather, surnamed Yang, told the reporters: 'She only had a small mark on the left side of her face when she was born.'

At that time, the family thought it's a birthmark that would disappear when she grew up.

However, the pigmented spot has since invaded the skin around it and now it covers a substantial portion of her face and part of the scalp.

The desperate family took the girl to different doctors but none of the treatment helped.

The girl, identified by her nickname Xiao Yu, is cared for by her grandparents while her parents are working in another city

EPIDERMAL NEVUS SYNDROME Epidermal nevus refers to an abnormal, benign patch of skin

It's caused by overgrowth of cells in the outermost skin layer of the epidermis

The condition is typically seen at birth or early childhood

It occurs in 1 to 3 in 1,000 people.

Patches may be flat or raised, tanned or brown, depending on the type of epidermal cell involved

Epidermal nevus may become thicker and darker as the individual grows

Epidermal nevus syndrome refers to a condition involving epidermal nevus plus problems in the brain, eyes or bones SOURCE: U.S. National Library of Medicine Advertisement

Over the years, her family has spent over 80,000 Yuan (940) on her treatment - an amount that's equivalent to the total saving of an average agricultural household in rural China.

Although her condition is not fatal at the moment, doctors say that if it's left untreated, the growth could become cancerous.

On expert said that a mole of such size and pigmentation is rare.

Liao Yan, a skin specialist of Hanzhong Central Hospital told People's Daily: 'The mole will expand as the child grows up. It will affect her vision and intelligence.

'It may be life threatening if mutation occurs without a timely treatment.'

Although her condition is not fatal at the moment, doctors say that if it's left untreated, the growth could become cancerous

Her grandfather expressed concern over her condition.

He said: 'We are very anxious about it. It will bring her a lot of issues as the mole grows.'

Xiao Yu's kindergarten teacher said the girl is active and behaves well at school.

'However,' she added, 'She lacks confidence when meeting strangers, especially when others stare at her face.'

But despite their best efforts, her family say they cannot afford to continue paying for her treatment.
Hundreds of tourists were left stranded overnight on China's Mount Hua after cable cars serving the attraction had to be suspended due to gale force winds.

Photographs from the scenic spot showed tourists taking refuge inside the cable car enclave on the mountain's west peak.

Most of those pictured were elderly, women and children, reported the People's Daily Online.

Stuck: Hundreds of tourists were left stranded overnight on China's Mount Hua after cable cars serving the attraction had to be suspended due to gale force winds

Support: In a post on social media site Weibo, the scenic spot's management said rain coats, warm ginger soup and water was distributed to the tourists

Stressful experience: Photographs from the scenic spot showed tourists taking refuge inside the cable car enclave on the mountain's west peak

The cable cars, which were in operation until the early evening, had to be shut down due to winds that measured between eight and nine on the Beaufort scale (gale force to severe gale force winds).

Many visitors were directed to the north peak of the mountain, where the cable cars were still in operation according to The Paper.

However, due to the sheer number of people, many were then forced to walk down the mountain, arriving at the visitor centre in the early hours of the morning according to the report.

Suspended: The cable cars serving the west peak was forced to close due to strong gales

They were then stranded there until public transport restarted.

In a post on social media site Weibo, the scenic spot's management said rain coats, warm ginger soup and water was distributed to the stranded tourists.

It continued: 'We are not sure when, but as soon as the wind dies down a bit, we will send tourists back to the ground.'

The cars resumed operations on the morning of October 4.

Many of those trapped on the mountain shared their experience on Chinese social media.

One user wrote: 'I was there but I was given only a cold bun...many elderly people and children were stuck there too.'

Alternative: Many visitors were directed to the north peak of the mountain, where the cable cars were still in operation

Taking refuge: Many people were left to sleep in a cave overnight in uncomfortable and crowded conditions

The cable cars resumed operations on the morning of October 4, allowing many to finally leave the mountain

Another user commented: 'It was really windy... I was on the verge of collapse.'

According to The Paper, some visitors also claimed that they were forced to buy the rain coats and that the food offered was far from enough.

Mount Hua is one of the five great mountains of China and has an altitude of up to 2,160m (7,087ft).

The west peak, where many tourists were stranded, stands at 2,086m (6843ft) high.

This week is China's golden week, a public holiday where workers are given three days off to celebrate the country's national day plus the weekend to guarantee a week away from work.

At this time, many tourist attractions see their highest traffic of the year.

MailOnline has contacted Shaanxi Huashan Tourism Group for comment.

Unhappy: One person stuck on the mountain claimed they had only been given a bun for food

Mount Hua is one of the five great mountains of China and has an altitude of up to 2,160m (7,087ft). The west peak, where many tourists were stranded, stands at 2,086m (6843ft) high
An Oxford University professor has spent time in rivers, holes and dustbins pretending to be various animals - all in the name of science.

Mr Charles Foster, a Research Associate at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at Oxford University was recently awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for 'achievements that make people laugh, and then think.'

In an article for The Conversation, he explains the reasons behind his bizarre experiments.

For most people, the idea of living in a hole in a Welsh wood, or rummaging through bins in London's East End is not exactly appealing. But one Oxford University barrister did just that, in the hopes of better understanding how different animals live

THE IG NOBEL PRIZES The awards are given annually to celebrate the lighter side of science, focusing on comical yet thought provoking research. The prizes were awarded for a 26th straight year at a zany ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 22 September. Winners receive $10 trillion cash prizes  in virtually worthless Zimbabwean money. This year's awards were sponsored by the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Advertisement

I have lived as a badger in a hole in a Welsh wood, as an otter in the rivers of Exmoor, an urban fox rummaging through the dustbins of London's East End, a red deer in the West Highlands of Scotland and on Exmoor, and, most hubristically, a swift, oscillating between Oxford and West Africa.

For this I was recently awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for 'achievements that make people laugh, and then think'.

Why I did this is not an unreasonable question.

There are many answers. One is that I wanted to perceive landscapes more accurately.

We have at least five senses. By and large we use only one of them  vision. That's a shame. We're missing out on 80 per cent of the available information about the world.

I suspect it's responsible for lots of our uncertainty about the sort of creatures we are, our personal crises, and the frankly psychopathic way in which most of us treat the natural world.

If we only perceive 20 per cent of something, we're unlikely to be able to relate appropriately to it.

In fact, it's rather worse than this. Vision  the sense by which we're tyrannised  is intimately related to cognition.

Mr Foster also spent time living as an otter, swimming in the rivers of Exmoor, largely looking for fish

LIFE AS A BADGER Mr Foster used a JCB to create a badger sett by making a deep trench in a hill and covering it with branches and bracken. He and his eight-year-old son then moved into the sett on their hands and knees and 'shaped it with our paws'. Like badgers, they filled it with bracken, before they 'bustled and grunted and elbowed and pushed and pressed our noses into the ground', just like badgers. The two of them ate earthworms 'both raw and cooked', plus 'any other flotsam tossed up by the valley that we could keep down'. Together, they defecated 'on mounds chosen for their view of the hill', and only washed 'very occasionally.' Advertisement

This is a consequence of our evolutionary history. We grew up as a species on the plains of East Africa.

When we hoisted ourselves for the first time onto our hind legs, some glorious and disastrous things happened.

Most of our senses are embedded in our heads. Those heads were now a long way from the ground.

We suddenly lost the perspective that we'd shared with all our evolutionary forebears. We lost our relationship with them and our relationship with the ground.

Neither we nor the natural world has ever recovered. The best of us feel bereavement and alienation.

Most of us feel colonially superior, and strut around looking literally and metaphorically down on what we were and the place from which we came.

Our new bipedal perspective was useful  as disastrous things so often are.

As part of his study, he lived as an urban fox rummaging through the dustbins of London's East End (stock image)

It gave us big vistas. We could see how things that had been hidden in the long grass were connected.

In some ways, by seeing the patterns made by the wildebeest as they wandered, we understood the lives of the wildebeest better than they understood themselves.

Bipedalism meant a shift to visual processing. Our cognition and our vision were partners for a while, and then cognition became the senior partner.

Charles Foster speaks after receiving the Ig Nobel prize in biology during ceremonies at Harvard University earlier this month

LIFE AS AN OTTER To prepare for his life as an otter, Mr Foster instructed his children to defecate all over the place. 'Whenever you need to go, go up the river and choose a place. It must say: this part of the river is mine.' He then crawled up the river, sniffing at each little mound. 'The results were surprising. Our children have identical diets, but they produced very different faeces.' His days as an otter were spent largely in water, looking for fish. 'I plunged in and drifted down, face first, pausing to nudge and grope.' The otter's outlook is different from a human's, he suggests, mainly because his senses of touch and smell are so highly developed. 'We're closest to a hunting otter when we're in bed with a lover,' he concludes. Advertisement

We're now dismally unsensual creatures. Not only do we not smell, touch, hear or taste. We barely see.

When I walk into a wood I see a tree only for a millisecond. The visual information about the tree that surges in through my eyes is almost immediately translated into abstract code.

When I try to describe the tree I'm describing not the tree at all, but my thoughts about the tree.

That's bad news. My thoughts about the tree are hugely less beautiful and exciting than the tree, and have only a tenuous relationship with it.

We see neither the wood nor the trees.

And part of the personal crisis is that most of my thoughts about the wood are thoughts about my own thoughts. I am achingly self-referential.

When I think I'm relating meaningfully to the natural world, it's probably onanism.

MARINATING IN SENSATION

In crawling through the wood, swimming in the rivers, mooching round Bethnal Green at night, shivering on the moorland and mapping the archipelago of air currents at the top of trees, I was trying to triumph over my cognitive biases.

Most recently, Mr Foster spent time living like a swift, oscillating between Oxford and West Africa (stock image)

Trying to escape the tyranny of the visual and the cognitive. Trying to let my nose and ears and tongue and palms have a say in my brain's reconstruction of the world.

Trying to use some of the overlooked 80 per cent of data. Trying to marinate myself in sensation, rather than being dabbed pathetically by it.

I didn't do very well. But it was well worth a try. It's work in progress. Have a go. It's rather embarrassing, so wait until you're next in a quiet wood. Drop onto all fours.

Sniff the ground, lick a leaf, let your highly sensitive fingers play over the earth. See if you can hear a bird over the cognitive tinnitus that will be hissing in your head.

It would be presumptuous to say what you'll discover.

Mr Foster also spent time living like a red deer in the West Highlands of Scotland and on Exmoor

There are great mysteries out there. Have an explanation prepared for when an officious dog-walker threatens to call a psychiatrist, but remember to comfort yourself with the smug, true thought that you know the wood a little better than the psychiatrist or the walker.

And possibly even than the dog. For cognition can be the cure of the diseases it creates.
Analysts and industry blogs have suggested this could include a new virtual reality headset, and a new home router

As well as the new Pixel smartphone, it may reveal other new gadgets

At Google's official launch in San Francisco at 9:00 PST (17:00 BST), the firm is expected to launch a personal-assistant for the home, alongside the new Pixel phone.

The device, called 'Home', is an internet-connected device, similar to Amazon's Echo speaker and was first unveiled in May.

While Google has declined to confirm any specifics, analysts and industry blogs have suggested that a new virtual reality headset and a home router could also be unveiled.

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The device, called 'Home', is an internet-connected speaker, similar to Amazon's Echo, and was first unveiled in May

GOOGLE'S HEADSET PLANS It is clear that Google is working on virtual reality and augmented reality, but whether a standalone high-end device will be released, remains unclear. Earlier this year, the Mountain View-based firm announced its plans for Daydream, which will be a more advanced version of Cardboard. However, Google has been clear that its long term plans stretch beyond smartphones, to more substantial standalone hardware in future. Rumours suggest that staff from a VR project - which has reportedly been shelved - have been drafted to work on a high end headset project instead. Advertisement

Analysts are expecting Google will announce more details, including price and availability, at today's event.

The 'Home' device will feature Google's digital 'Assistant' service, a voice-activated personal butler that can search the internet, play music or perform other useful tasks.

Users will be able to simply talk to the speaker, telling it what to do or asking it questions in normal English.

The gadget is also a high quality speaker, Google claimed at the unveiling in May, allowing users to play back music from online services of a phone.

It can also control other speakers, forming a voice controlled multi room hifi system, and control other devices such as lights and Google's Nest thermostat.

The internet-connected personal-assistant for the home, was first unveiled by Mario Quieroz, vice president of Google, at an event in May

'Assistant' is the company's answer to similar concierge services from rivals, including Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana.

At the unveiling of Home in May, Google boss Sundar Pichai said: 'We think of the assistant as an ambient experience that goes across devices - this is more than just phones, it will be on devices they wear, in their car and in their living rooms.'

The leading tech companies are all competing to assist consumers in their online activities such as shopping, since that gives the companies a better chance of selling advertising or other services.

Home-based systems like the Echo are taking on more importance with the advent of improved voice technology, according to Julie Ask, an analyst at Forrester Research.

GOOGLE PIXEL SPECS According to the leaked specifications, the Pixel runs on a Snapdragon 821 2.15GHz processor. The handsets come in 32GB or 128GB models, with microSD card slots enabling an additional 256GB of storage. They have 12- and 8-megapixel cameras and a full HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass protection. Included is Google's AI assistant, Allo for messaging and Duo for video calls. Advertisement

'You can't assume somebody is going to go sit down at a computer or pick up a phone and type in a question anymore,' she said.

Most of Google's income comes from online software and digital advertisements, but the firm is starting to put more emphasis on hardware as it faces rivals like Apple, Amazon and Samsung.

New devices could help Google keep its services front and centre in the battle for consumers' attention, said Ms Ask.

Unlike a new mobile app or other software, she noted, it can be an expensive gamble to build and ship new hardware products.

But she added: 'If you're Google, you can't afford to stop placing bets.'

Google already sells smartphones and tablets under the Nexus brand, which it launched in 2010 as a way to show off the best features of its Android software.

Technology blogs are reporting the company is now planning to launch two smartphone models under a new brand, Pixel, and Google has hinted it may invest in an extensive marketing campaign intended to introduce the phones to the mass market

Technology blogs are reporting the company is now planning to launch two smartphone models under a new brand, Pixel, and Google has hinted it may invest in an extensive marketing campaign intended to introduce the phones to the mass market.

Android already powers the majority of smartphones sold around the world.

But Samsung, the biggest maker of Android phones, has increasingly been adding more of its own software on the phones it sells.

In May, the firm announced plans for its Daydream platform, which will be a more advanced version of Cardboard. The VR platform will rely on the user's phone as the basis, with a more comfortable headset to hold the device (pictured)

Another big rival, Apple, has built its own services, such as online maps and its own Siri personal assistant, to replace Google's apps on the iPhone.

Google may also provide a closer look at some other products, including a new virtual-reality headset that it teased in May.

Like the other devices, Google's virtual reality system could be a platform for a wide range of games and applications that are built on Google's software.
Google's Pixel smartphone will launch later today - but it seems most of its details have already been revealed.

Thanks to a number of leaks, Android fans have seen the phone from almost every angle.

Now, high definition shots, leaked by US carrier Verizon, show the Pixel face on and side on in blue and silver models.

Android fans, analysts and the press have now seen the phones from almost every angle following a number of leaks ahead of the launch, with US carrier Verizon being the latest. Verizon released images of the Pixel handset face on and side on in blue and silver models

But in addition to the images, Verizon also leaked an additional nugget of information, a feature listed as 'Google Magic'.

According to Gizmodo, which posted the pictures early this morning, this could be anything from a new software feature to marketing speak for standard features.

Just yesterday, pictures and specifications of the long-awaited smartphone appeared on the Carphone Warehouse website.

The images showed two sleek, white handsets for the Pixel and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL.

Both preorder pages have been taken down since, but not before the images were posted on social media.

Specifications listed on the site match those from a previous leak from Carphone Warehouse, revealing the handsets come in 32GB or 128GB models

Google Pixel (bottom) and Pixel XL (top) for Verizon Wireless, in blue and silver pic.twitter.com/o1phG9esbP  Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 4, 2016

Specifications listed on both sites look to match up,revealing the handsets come in 32GB or 128GB models.

According to TheNextWeb, which reported on the Carphone Warehouse leak, other listed specifications included Googles smart messaging app Allo and Duo for video calls  the Android equivalents of Apples iMessenger and FaceTime.

Pixel is also expected to have 12- and 8-megapixel cameras, full HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass protection, and run on a Snapdragon 821 2.15GHz processor.

Images of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL appeared online on a Carphone Warehouse preorder page (pictured), a day ahead of their official launch

The listed specifications included Googles AI assistant, Allo for messaging and Duo for video calls  the Android equivalents of Apples iMessenger and FaceTime

While a Google search returns a link to the Carphone Warehouse page, it appears to have been taken down since

The new product name was first mentioned last month and a minimalist teaser trailer gave very little away apart from the expected launch date and the generic outline of a smartphone

GOOGLE PIXEL SPECS According to the leaked specifications so far, the Google Pixel is expected to have the following specs: Snapdragon 821 2.15GHz processor. 32GB or 128GB memory, with microSD card slots enabling an additional 256GB of storage. 12- and 8-megapixel cameras. Full HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass protection. Included is Googles AI assistant, Allo for messaging and Duo for video calls. Available in blue, black and silver. Advertisement

Pixel also ships with Androids Nougat OS.

The leak by the British smartphone retailer follows in the wake of Canadian mobile phone carrier Bell, which also jumped the gun by publishing its page for the new handset.

Google is set to launch the new phones at an event in San Francisco on 4 October at 9am local time (5pm BST or 12 ET).

The new product name was first mentioned last month.

A minimalist teaser trailer gives very little away apart from the event date and the generic outline of a smartphone.

The new Pixel and Pixel XL handsets are expected to go head-to-head with Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The European Parliament has voted to ratify the world's first comprehensive climate treaty, in a move that will see the deal come into force.

The European Union's ratification of the Paris Agreement - which commits countries to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero to stop dangerous climate change, - means the thresholds needed to bring it into force have been met.

The deal, secured in the French capital last December, comes into force 30 days after it has been ratified by at least 55 countries accounting for 55 per cent of the world's emissions.

From left, European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker, France's Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Segolene Royal, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and European Parliament President Martin Schulz

THE PARIS CLIMATE DEAL The deal requires all countries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in temperatures within two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and strive for 1.5 C (2.7 F) if possible. It was reached by nearly 200 nations nearly one year ago and could help guide a radical shift of the world economy away from fossil fuels. The European Parliament, the bloc's only elected body, backed a decision by EU environment ministers last Friday to fast-track approval of the deal, despite only seven out of 28 EU countries having themselves ratified it. Fears that China and the US, the world's two biggest polluters, were leaving Europe behind on ratifying last year's historic deal pushed them into rushing through the ratification. Today, it was approved with 610 votes in favour, 38 against and with 31 abstentions. Advertisement

Already 62 countries accounting for 51.89 per cent of global emissions, had ratified the deal, and the EU's move to ratify means its 12 per cent of global emissions will ensure the second threshold is met.

In a session of the parliament attended by United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon, 610 MEPs voted in favour of adopting the agreement - while 38 voted against.

Before the vote, Mr Ban urged them to ratify the deal, saying: 'At a time of record heat, let us take historic action.

'At a time of divisions on many other challenges, let us show we are united on the biggest one of all.

'This is our chance to set us on course to a safer, more sustainable future for all on a healthy planet.'

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said: 'Today, the European Union turned climate ambition into climate action.

'The Paris Agreement is the first of its kind and it would not have been possible were it not for the European Union.

'Today we continued to show leadership and prove that, together, the European Union can deliver.'

The EU joins major polluters including the US, China and India who have already ratified the deal - which will now come into legal force by the time the next round of UN climate talks take place in November in Marrakesh, Morocco.

In a session of the parliament attended by United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon (pictured), 610 MEPs voted in favour of adopting the agreement

Individual European countries can ratify alongside the EU if they are ready or join when their domestic processes are complete, with Prime Minister Theresa May pledging the UK will formally adopt the deal before the end of the year.

Shadow energy and climate change secretary Barry Gardiner said: 'Today marks a decisive shift in the global effort to tackle dangerous climate change.

'By ratifying the Paris climate agreement collectively, European countries have brought this historic deal into force less than a year after it was reached.

'This is a clear sign of the political will to accelerate the transition to clean energy around the globe.'

He called on the Government to urgently complete the domestic process for ratification in Parliament and set out a robust plan that allows the UK to meet its legal climate commitments.

The EU had been under pressure to speed up ratification of the treaty so that it could enter into force this year, much sooner than the originally-planned 2020 start date, to meet the urgent need to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

It comes as the world faces another record warm year in 2016, with every one of the last 16 months to August reaching new record monthly highs across the planet.
This is the moment a brave paramedic flew up a hill in winds of over 30 miles per hour and heavy rain using a jet pack.It marks a new milestone for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), as this was the first time one of their team has been able to fly up a slope with the Jet Suit. The flight was part of a trial of the Jet Suit technology, with the goal of medics using it to reach patients in remote locations, like in the Lake District. Developed by inventor Richard Browning from Gravity Industries, the flying suit can reach impressive speeds of up to 85 miles per hour at more than 12,000 feet into the air. It relies on five mini jet engines, two built into units attached to each hand and one built into a backpack, which gives it a flight time of up to ten minutes. After about ten days of training, GNAAS paramedic Jamie Walsh made the flight up a short, steep ascent in adverse weather conditions, and was joined by Mr Browning. Mr Browning said: 'It is fantastic to see the progress we have delivered since the proof of concept back in 2020. It was a true privilege to fly, literally, alongside Jamie, noting how far we have come in applying Jet Suit technology in the world of medical response.'
Researchers believe that the Mycenaeans stole the rings from the Minoans, and could understand what the iconography on each meant

Four rings could shed light on the dawn of the Mycenaean civilisation

Last year, archaeologists discovered the skeleton of a 3,500 year old ancient warrior in a tomb packed with treasure in Greece.

The find was described as 'the most important discovery in 65 years.'

Until now, little has been known about the findings, but researchers have been working over the past year to uncover new information.

They say that new understandings of the artefacts - particularly four gold rings - could provide fresh insights into the origins of Greek civilisation.

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The rings, three of which the researchers are unveiling for the first time, are crafted from multiple sheets of gold. The first ring shows a scene of a bull leaping - a common motif seen in Minoan imagery

THE MINOAN RINGS The rings, three of which the researchers are unveiling for the first time, are crafted from multiple sheets of gold and feature iconographical references seen elsewhere in Minoan art and religious culture. The first ring shows a scene of a bull leaping - a common motif seen in Minoan imagery. Another, the second largest gold signet ring known in the Aegean world, shows five elaborately dressed female figures gathered by a seaside shrine. A third ring shows a female figure, thought to be a goddess, holding a staff and flanked by two birds atop a mountain glen. The final ring shows a woman presenting a bull's horn offering to a goddess holding a mirror and seated on a high-backed throne atop of which is perched a bird. Advertisement

Dr Sharon Stocker and her husband, Professor Jack Davis, stumbled upon the remarkably undisturbed grave while digging near Pylos, an ancient city on the southwest coast of Greece.

Inside, they discovered the well-preserved remains of what is believed to have been a powerful Mycenaean warrior or priest in his early to mid 30s who was buried around 1500 BC, near the Palace of Nestor.

Immortalised in Homer's 'Odyssey,' the large administrative centre was destroyed by fire sometime around 1180 BC but remains the best preserved Bronze Age palace on the Greek mainland.

The warrior's tomb revealed more than 2,000 objects arrayed on and around the body, including four solid gold rings, silver cups, precious stone beads, fine-toothed ivory combs and an intricately built sword, among other weapons.

The rings - three of which the researchers are unveiling for the first time - are crafted from multiple sheets of gold and feature iconographical references seen elsewhere in Minoan art and religious culture.

The grave and its bounty, including necklaces (pictured), sheds light on the dawn of the Mycenaean civilisation, a transformative period in the Bronze Age. The researchers believe the Mycenaeans understood what they were taking from the Minoans

Inside the tomb, they discovered the well-preserved remains of what is believed to have been a powerful Mycenaean warrior or priest in his early to mid 30s who was buried around 1500 BC, near the Palace of Nestor and several artifacts, including jewellery

THE DAWN OF THE MYCENAEAN CIVILISATION The grave and its bounty sheds light on the dawn of the Mycenaean civilisation, a transformative period in the Bronze Age. A significant number of the artefacts were made by Minoans, a culturally more advanced civilisation that arose on the large island of Crete, southeast of Pylos. Dr Stocker explained: 'The grave was right around the time the Mycenaeans were conquering the Minoans. 'We know there were extensive raids and shortly after the date of our grave, Minoan-Crete fell to the Mycenaeans.' But the researchers said that the carefully selected and hand placed items reveal much about the heart of the relationship of the burgeoning mainland Greek culture to that of the more refined Crete. After a year of careful examination of the grave's artefacts, Dr Davis and Professor Stocker now believe the Mycenaeans understood what they were taking from the Minoans and the concepts behind the iconography of the rings. Advertisement

The first ring shows a scene of a bull leaping - a common motif seen in Minoan imagery.

Another, the second largest gold signet ring known in the Aegean world, shows five elaborately dressed female figures gathered by a seaside shrine.

A third ring shows a female figure, thought to be a goddess, holding a staff and flanked by two birds atop a mountain glen.

The final ring shows a woman presenting a bull's horn offering to a goddess holding a mirror and seated on a high-backed throne atop of which is perched a bird.

Dr Stocker, from the University of Cincinnati, said: 'They are carving these before the microscope and electric tools.

'This is exquisite workmanship for something so tiny and old and really shows the skill of Minoan craftsmen.'

The skeleton was dubbed the 'Griffin Warrior' after an ivory plaque adorned with the half lion and half eagle mythical beast was buried with him.

The grave and its bounty sheds light on the dawn of the Mycenaean civilisation, a transformative period in the Bronze Age.

The skeleton of what is believed to have been a powerful Mycenaean warrior stretched out on his back lay in the grave with weapons arranged to his left and a hoard of fine jewellery on his right (illustrated in the image above)

The warrior's tomb revealed more than 2,000 objects arrayed on and around the body, including four solid gold rings, silver cups, precious stone beads, fine-toothed ivory combs (pictured)

A mirror (pictured) and an intricately built sword were also discovered during excavations

A significant number of the artefacts, including bronze cups and bowls (pictured) were made by Minoans, a culturally more advanced civilisation that arose on the large island of Crete, southeast of Pylos

A significant number of the artefacts were made by Minoans, a culturally more advanced civilisation that arose on the large island of Crete, southeast of Pylos.

Dr Stocker explained: 'The grave was right around the time the Mycenaeans were conquering the Minoans.

'We know there were extensive raids and shortly after the date of our grave, Minoan-Crete fell to the Mycenaeans.'

Several pieces of well-preserved jewellery were found within the tomb, including rings, necklaces and precious beads

The tomb was found on the site of the Mycenaean-era Palace of Nestor on the country's Peloponnese peninsula (marked on this map)

The researchers said that the carefully selected and hand placed items, including intricate jewelllery, reveal much about the heart of the relationship of the burgeoning mainland Greek culture to that of the more refined Crete

But the researchers said that the carefully selected and hand placed items reveal much about the heart of the relationship of the burgeoning mainland Greek culture to that of the more refined Crete.

After a year of careful examination of the grave's artefacts, Dr Davis and Professor Stocker now believe the Mycenaeans understood what they were taking from the Minoans and the concepts behind the iconography of the rings.

Professor Davis said: 'People have suggested the findings in the grave are treasure, like Blackbeard's treasure, that was just buried along with the dead as impressive contraband.

The tomb, which measures seven feet ten inches (two metres) long and five feet (1.5 metres) in width, was unearthed during excavations begun in May near Pylos, on the site of the palace of Nestor

While people have suggested that the items in the tomb, including swords and weapons, were treasure, the researchers thing that they were specifically selected to be taken from the Minoans

'We think that already in this period the people on the mainland already understood much of the religious iconography on these rings, and they were already buying into religious concepts on the island of Crete.

'This isn't just loot. It may be loot, but they are specifically selecting loot that transmits messages that are understandable to them.'

Dr Stocker added: 'They are not just going there and robbing a jewellery store.

'They are thinking about it and selecting specific items for inclusion in the burial.'

The researchers believe that the items, such as this sword, were not just loot, and instead were specifically selected due to the iconography they contain

A mirror found above the Griffin Warrior's legs may relate to the fourth ring, in which a seated goddess is portrayed holding a mirror. The mirror's placement in the grave suggest it holds special significance to the Mycenaeans

The bronze weapons found within the tomb included a metre-long slashing sword with an ivory handle covered with gold (left), and an intact necklace (right)

A mirror found above the Griffin Warrior's legs may relate to the fourth ring, in which a seated goddess is portrayed holding a mirror.

The mirror's placement in the grave suggest it holds special significance to the Mycenaeans while the presence of half a dozen combs may point to a ritual practice of hair combing before battle.

The bull, a sacred symbol to the Minoans, can also be seen in Mycenaean imagery, and features in two of the rings.

The researchers said it is no coincidence the Griffin Warrior was found buried with a bronze bull's head staff capped by prominent horns, which were likely a symbol of his power and authority.

More than 50 seal stones were found with intricate carvings in Minoan style showing goddesses, altars, reeds, lions and bulls, some with bull-jumpers soaring over the bulls horns  all in Minoan style and probably made in Crete
For the first time , four of the world's rarest magpie have been born at a UK zoo.

The first Javan green magpie chick hatched at Chester Zoo on 13th June and the last of the four was born on 15th August.

Since then, the striking birds have remained safely tucked away with their parents.

Four Javan green magpie chicks have hatched at Chester Zoo this summer, boosting numbers of the rare species. Pictured are two of the striking birds perched

JAVAN GREEN MAGPIES With stunning green, red and black plumage, the Javan green magpie is one of nature's most eye-catching species. The birds are listed as critically endangered, with few sightings in their southeast Asian habitat. Bird experts warn the situation may have worsened recently and that the magpies could be close to extinction in the wild. The birds have been losing the battle, as their forest habitat is destroyed to make way for agricultural land. Advertisement

As one of the most endangered birds on the planet, the rare chicks have provided a major boost to conservation efforts to save the magpies from extinction.

Conservationists and bird staff at Chester Zoo are making every effort to try and save the species, which has been targeted by the illegal bird trade in its native Indonesian forests.

Andrew Owen, the curator of birds at Chester Zoo, said: 'I have had the privilege of working with many rare and beautiful birds, but none are more precious than the Javan green magpie - one of the world's most endangered species.

'We've been working with our conservation partners in Java - the Cikananga Wildlife Centre - for more than six years.

'In that time we've seen Javan green magpies disappear almost completely from the wild as they are captured for the illegal bird trade.

'Huge areas of forests that were once filled with beautiful songbirds, are falling silent.'

The Javan green magpie is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Staff at the zoo are part of an international conservation effort to protect the birds and eventually return them to the island of Java

Bird experts have warned that the situation may have worsened in recent months, with no recent sightings reported, stoking fears the striking birds may be close to extinction in the wild.

But now, the breeding of the four new chicks in Chester has given a huge lift to conservation efforts to save the magpies.

Andrew says: 'Knowing that our first pair had nested was a momentous occasion for us - seeing the first chick was even more special.

Conservation experts warn that the birds are perilously close to the edge in Indonesia

The magpies are in trouble due to loss of their jungle habitat as land is developed for agricultural use

'All four chicks have now fledged and are currently sporting blue feathers, which will eventually turn apple green as they mature.

'So far we have successfully bred from two adult pairs and these four chicks are a vital addition to the worldwide population.

'Every individual we breed here could help save the species as the clock is ticking and time is running out.'

The arrival of the four chicks brings the total number of Javan green magpies at Chester Zoo to 11, while the Cikananga Conservation Breeding Center currently has 19 birds, all under the care of Chester Zoo staff and local Indonesian experts.

Vets at the zoo have been closely monitoring the health of the birds since they hatched

The striking colours of the birds have made them a target for trappers in Indonesia, who sell the birds in the lucrative pet trade

Mike Jordan, collections director at Chester Zoo, added: 'The rapid decline of the Javan green magpie in the wild is due to on-going trapping pressures, agricultural intrusion and a continued loss of suitable forest habitat in west Java in Indonesia.

'We started the first ever European conservation breeding programme for the species when six pairs of Javan green magpies arrived in Chester in December last year.

'Our specialist team, in conjunction with two other top European zoos, are aiming to ensure their continued survival.
A complete skeleton of a woolly mammoth is expected to fetch a record 200,000 ($255,000) in an online auction.

The 50,000-year-old beast named Bart comes with intimidating tusks measuring in at ten feet (three metres) a piece.

Standing 10.5 feet (3.2 metres) high and 18 feet (5.5 metres) long, it has been framed using a special technique which means its rare bones are held in place without causing any damage.

A complete skeleton of a woolly mammoth is expected to fetch a record 200,000 ($255,000) in an online auction. The 50,000 year old beast named Bart comes with intimidating tusks measuring in at ten feet (three metres) a piece

It took more than ten years of hard work for one Dutch collector to treat, clean and put all 270 pieces that make up the mammoth together with painstaking anatomical precision.

The mammoth was recovered from the southern part of the North Sea, an area previously frozen over during the last Ice Age and known to experts as the largest graveyard of woolly mammoths on the planet.

Dredged up using fishing nets, the bones were assembled by Dutchman Bart Schenning - who the mammoth is named after - in a shed outside his house.

He is now selling the woolly mammoth on auction site Catawiki, with bidding closing at the end of next week.

The creature believed to be a male would have weighed about six tonnes when it roamed the Earth.

Woolly mammoths were found over much of the world as long as 140,000 years ago and were of similar sizes to today's elephants.

It took more than ten years of hard work for one Dutch collector to treat, clean and put all 270 pieces that make up the mammoth together with painstaking anatomical precision

They eventually died off just 4,000 years ago after the ending of the Ice Age, as rapid climate change made it impossible for them to survive.

Bart is to go under the hammer as part of a special Ice Age auction, which is also featuring skeletons of cave bears, an Ice Age horse and other beasts.

The woolly mammoth co-existed with early humans, who hunted them for food and used their bones and tusks to make art.

It could be brought back from extinction after a preserved body of one of the ancient animals was found frozen in the snowy wastes of Siberia, scientists hope.

The mammoth was recovered from the Southern part of the North Sea, an area previously frozen over during the last Ice Age and known to experts as the largest graveyard of woolly mammoths on the planet

The mammoth, which took its last steps around 40,000 years ago, is in such good condition that biologists believe they may be able to clone the creature.

Today's North Sea was above sea level during the last Ice age.

Because a lot of water was stored in huge icecaps, the sea level was about 492 feet (150 metres) lower than today.

During the Pleistocene era, which lasted from about 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago, the sea between the Netherlands and England was a crossover for mammoths, dears, rhinos, lions, reindeer and horses, and is known as the mammoth Steppe.

When the ice began to melt, their bones ended up on the bottom.

WHY MAMMOTHS DIED OUT While large animals like mammoths became extinct on the continents about 12,000 years ago because of climate change and habitat restructuring, the process was different on a small Alaskan island which was home to the last of the species. The island shrinking meant the mammoths were concentrated in a smaller area and had diminished supplies of water. The researchers studied sediments and the remains of aquatic animals from freshwater lakes, to work out what was happening to the lakes at the time. It showed the lakes were diminishing around the time of the extinction. Nitrogen isotope analyses of dated mammoth bones and teeth also showed progressively drier conditions leading up to the extinction event. Professor Matthew Wooller, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a co-author of the study said these 'multiple lines of evidence' of decreasing lake levels provide a strong case for what led to the animals' extinction. Advertisement

This explains why the North Sea is often referred to as the largest mammoth cemetery of the world.

When fishermen pull their nets across the North sea bottom they regularly find fossils - which there is now high demand for.

Catawiki's fossil auctioneer David Leggett said: 'It is almost impossible to find a complete skeleton of a mammoth.

'Countless mammals lived there and to figure out which part belongs to whom, a bull or a cow, is a very difficult puzzle.

Bart is to go under the hammer as part of a special Ice Age auction, which is also featuring skeletons of cave bears, an Ice Age horse and other beasts

'Because the bones have lain in saltwater for thousands of years they are full of salt crystals.

'All the fossils of this skeleton were laid in sweet water to desalinate, slowly dried and capsuled by a layer of glue for the best conservation.

'The mammoth skeleton counts about 270 bones. Almost every bone is original... not even 10 per cent is restored with plastic.

The mammoth, which took its last steps around 40,000 years ago, is in such good condition that biologists believe they may be able to clone the creature

'It is an exceptional, beautiful, complete and vast copy. A true and unique piece for a museum. The mammoth is mounted in a walking position.

'Anatomically, everything is displayed correctly. A lot of connoisseurs have seen it and were very enthusiastic.'

With five days to go until the auction closes, the current bid for the mammoth is 43,069.

COULD WE RESURRECT THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH? An international team of scientists has reached the 'initial stage' in efforts to clone the hairy beast, which last walked the Earth 10,000 years ago. That's according to a cloning expert who has also claimed Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is backing the Russian-South Korean bid to see the hairy monster tromp the Siberian ice once more. Controversial South Korean cloning guru Professor Hwang Woo-Suk, who is working closely with Russian experts, told The Siberian Times: 'As a result of tireless joint efforts, we have achieved what we call the 'initial stage' on our way to recovering the mammoth.' He did not detail the progress but said 'at this stage, thorough scientific checks are under way.' One of his Russian collaborators, scientist Semyon Grigoriev, said: 'There are two options for mammoth cloning. 'The first is through the search for active cells. The second option is artificial DNA synthesis.' Egor Borisov, head of the Sakha Republic region which is famed for diamonds as well as mammoths, said tourists from around the world will be made welcome at the new complex as scientists work to restore the ancient species. Advertisement




As new mysteries continue to emerge surrounding the dramatic explosion of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket last month, numerous aviation giants have been pulled into the investigation  including the US Air Force.

The Air Force was called upon two weeks after the blast to inspect the roof of a building belonging to the firms competitor United Launch Alliance (ULA) at its facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The move came after a SpaceX employee reportedly visited the facility and requested access, according to The Washington Post.

ULAs building is just over a mile away from the site where SpaceXs rocket blew up on the launch pad on September 1, destroying Facebooks $200 million satellite.

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On September 1, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket (pictured) exploded as it was being fueled for a routine pre-launch test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Earlier this month, a SpaceX employee was visited the company's competitor United Launch Alliance

SATELLITE FIRM CLAIMING DAMAGES FROM SPACEX The Israeli owners of the destroyed AMOS-6 satellite have reportedly been hard hit by the loss. In a press conference last month, Spacecom said it could seek $50m from SpaceX following the explosion on the launch pad last week. AMOS-6 was supposed to provide home internet for Africa and the Middle East. In addition, Facebook had signed a deal with Eutelsat to lease broadband capacity from the satellite as part of its efforts to increase internet connectivity across the African continent. Advertisement

There has been intense speculation that an object hit the ill-fated Falcon 9 rocket during fueling.

Now, it has been revealed that SpaceX has obtained still images from video that appeared to show an odd shadow, followed by a white spot on the roof of a nearby ULA building, the Post reports.

A SpaceX employee was denied access to the roof upon a recent visit to the facility, and ULA instead called Air Force investigators.

But, after their inspection, nothing was found in connection to the explosion.

ULA cooperated with the Air Forces 45th Space Wing, and nothing associated with the SpaceX accident was found, a ULA representative told CNBC.

ULA is a joint project between Lockheed Martin and Boeing and is in heated competition with SpaceX over national security contracts that together are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Post.

It was reported last week that the explosion may have been caused by a large breach in the rocket's helium cooling system.

A preliminary investigation by SpaceX has found the hole in the cryogenic system, which cools the upper oxygen tank of the rocket, occurred just moments before the explosion and appears to have triggered a catastrophic chain of events.

Exactly what caused the breach is still a mystery, the company has said.

The SpaceX employee reportedly asked for access to the roof of one of ULA's buildings, which is a little more than a mile away from where SpaceX's rocket launched. The explosion destroyed the rocket and the satellite it was carrying (pictured)

A source familiar with the incident reported to the Post that the SpaceX employee told ULA officials that the company was trying to run down all possible leads and that they aren't trying to accuse ULA of anything.

Just over a week after the explosion, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter seeking support and advice as the investigation continues, calling the event the most difficult and complex failure the firm has ever had.

And addressing claims that a mysterious object may have hit the rocket, Musk said they have not ruled that out.

Musk also wrote on Twitter that he was 'particularly trying to understand the quieter bang sound a few seconds before the fireball goes off'.

Elon Musk took to Twitter on September 9 seeking support and advice as the investigation continues. SpaceX wrote a similar message on its Twitter account as well, which was retweeted by the billionaire SpaceX CEO

SpaceX's founder and CEO, Elon Musk (pictured), called the failure 'the most difficult and complex' the company has ever had

'May come from rocket or something else,' he added.

Earlier this week, Musk said that finding out what went wrong is the company's 'absolute top priority'.

'We've eliminated all of the obvious possibilities for what occurred there,' he said.

SpaceX is leading the investigation with help from the Air Force, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Despite the investigation, SpaceX has said it intends to return to flight as soon as November.

SpaceX's launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida was destroyed (pictured) by the explosion. It has been revealed that SpaceX had still images from video that appeared to show an odd shadow, then a white spot on the roof of a nearby building belonging to ULA
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It could be straight out of a Bond movie.

This vast underground cavern, formally a top-secret Chinese nuclear base, has finally opened for tourists to have a poke around.

Hailed as the largest man-made cave in the world, the 816 Nuclear Military Plant, located in the mountains of Fuling district in China's Chongqing municipality, was designed to manufacture plutonium in the 1960s - a 17-year project involving more than 60,000 soldiers.

China's vast 816 Nuclear Military Plant (pictured) was designed to manufacture plutonium in the 1960s, but despite being stopped from doing so in 1984, it hasn't been open to the foreign public until this year

While it was stopped from going into operation in 1984, the base wasn't declassified until April 2002, and it hasn't been open to foreign visitors until now.

Yang Yan, an administrator at the site, told China Daily: 'So far, no foreigners have visited the plant. A tour takes three hours, and visitors must follow the guide, otherwise they will get lost in this maze-like cave.'

The enormous space spans more than 12 miles, with 18 main caves and more than 130 roads and tunnels, which vehicles are free to pass through.

It was designed to tolerate thousands of tons of TNT explosives, and at least 100 workers were reported to have died during construction.

These days, it's been renovated to feature colourful modern lighting, as well as educational displays. And visitors need not fear for their safety.

'This base has never been put into operation or stored any nuclear material,' Mr Yang said. 'There is no need to worry about radiation. It is safe to enter.'

The historic base is so enormous at more than one million square feet, that tours take three hours and must be led by a guide

It was never put into operation, despite taking 17 years to be built, nor has it ever stored nuclear material, but it has since been renovated to feature light displays

The enormous space spans more than 12 miles, with 18 main caves and more than 130 roads and tunnels to wander around in

The site boasts educational displays, and hopes to attract its first visitors from overseas - no foreigners have been thus far

It was designed to tolerate thousands of tons of TNT explosives, and at least 100 workers were reported to have died during construction
Bindi Irwin has been busy teaching her boyfriend Chandler Powell everything there is to know about life at Australia Zoo over the past two weeks.

And after recently returning from a trip with her family to catch saltwater crocodiles, it was time for her beau to step into the Crocoseum.

The 18-year-old conservationist co-hosted the Croc Show with the pro wakeboarder in late September and he wasn't shy at getting up-and-close with the reptiles.

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Couples Croc Show! Bindi Irwin hosted a Croc Show in late September with boyfriend Chandler Powell at Australia Zoo's Crocoseum

During the show the couple ran around the enclosure, while Bindi wore a headpiece to document Chandler's attempt at feeding the crocodiles.

Looking every inch like her late father Steve Irwin, Chandler was dressed head-to-toe in khaki with a pair of brown boots.

He fearlessly crouched at the edge of the water reaching for the crocodiles to tempt them out of the water.

Natural! The wakeboarder appeared in his element during the Croc Show, having recently been on a trip with the Irwin family to catch saltwater crocodiles and learn about the reptiles

Donning the khakis: Chandler was dressed head-to-toe in khaki with a pair of brown boots, looking a lot like her late father Steve Irwin

Appearing in this element, Chandler fearlessly threw food for the reptiles during the show.

The Croc Show was full of strikes, tailwalks and deathrolls, as the crowd looked on as the couple talked about Australia's apex predator in further detail.

Bindi, who runs the zoo with her mother Terri, has been regularly posting snaps of her Australia Zoo escapades with her boyfriend to Instagram.

Cute! The pair have also been posing with other animals at Australia Zoo over the past two weeks as Bindi introduces Chandler to the Zoo life

The teenage couple have posed with lemurs, giraffes, crocodiles and koalas.

While the wakeboarder calls California home, their long-distance relationship appears to be going from strength-to-strength.

The couple have been dating now for just shy of two years.

Friends with the animals: The teenage couple have posed with lemurs, giraffes, crocodiles and koalas




They returned from a glamorous stint of filming in Marbella earlier this week.

But it seems there is no rest for the TOWIE crew, as Chloe Sims headed out in her stomping ground of Essex on Monday to film more explosive scenes for the new season.

The blonde beauty, 33, turned heads in a quirky Gothic-style black slip dress and denim choker combo, as she ventured to Faces nightclub with gal pal Amber Dowding and a whole host of other cast mates.

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Gothic girl: Chloe Sims, 33, turned heads in a quirky Gothic-style black slip dress and denim choker combo, as she ventured to Faces nightclub on Monday to film for TOWIE

The star, who first appeared on the ITVBe reality show back in 2011, showed off her gorgeous womanly figure in a satin frock lined with lace trim.

Cutting into a low V the dress gave a subtle hint of bust before skimming her body demurely the rest of the way down.

Combining the look with a sultry burgundy lip and lashings of mascara, Chloe looked every inch a Gothic vixen as she headed to party with her best friends.

Flattering: Cutting into a low V the dress gave a subtle hint of bust before skimming her body demurely the rest of the way down

Sultry: Combining the look with a sultry burgundy lip and lashings of mascara, Chloe looked every inch a Gothic vixen as she headed to party with her best friends

However injecting a hint of her trendy Essex style, Chloe added an unusual denim choker and matching knee-high boots, clashing but adding colour to the sexy ensemble.

Dressing her arm with a leather fringe handbag and draping her black jacket casually over her arms, Chloe exuded glamour as she strutted into the club alongside TOWIE newbie Amber Dowding.

The 22-year-old's more youthful style and attitude was clear to see in the difference in outfit.

Beaming: Meanwhile Amber Dowding, 22, showed off her youthful style and toned abs in a crop top and flares combo

The blonde beauty opted for a tiny crop top, decorated with a jazzy chevron pattern and featuring long bell vintage-style sleeves.

Rising high up her waist, the top showed off her toned, flat stomach above her the waistband of her chic, high-waisted white flares.

Remaining loose-fitting from top to bottom, the strides served to elongate her already enviably leggy figure as she posed for the cameras.

Vintage: The blonde beauty opted for a tiny crop top, decorated with a jazzy chevron pattern and featuring long bell vintage-style sleeves

Keeping on trend like Chloe, the blonde also added a choker to her look - this time of the nude variety, to match her heels and patent clutch bag.

Leaving her hair in tighter curls, the youngster beamed as she headed in to film for the new season, which will only be her second on the show in total.

Flashing plenty of skin in the outfit, Amber also showcased her sun-kissed complexion and faint strap marks from recent holiday to Marbella with the rest of the cast.

Gorgeous: Rising high up her waist, the top showed off her toned, flat stomach above her the waistband of her chic, high-waisted white flares

Accessories are key: Keeping on trend like Chloe, the blonde also added a choker to her look - this time of the nude variety, to match her heels and patent clutch bag

Strutting her stuff, it is clear to see why Amber caught the attention of boyfriend Chris Clark as she dazzled outside the venue.

The girls were also accompanied by a glamorous Lydia Bright - who sported the daring oxblood ensemble she wore to the WellChild awards the same evening.

Teasing at her taut stomach, Lydia slipped into a co-ordinating knee length pencil skirt that hugged her every curve.

Waste not want not! The girls were also accompanied by a glamorous Lydia Bright - who sported the daring oxblood ensemble she wore to the WellChild awards the same evening

Owning her 1940s old glamour ensemble, she highlighted her hourglass figure with a matching leather belt that cinched in her tiny waist.

The girls were also joined by an injured Bobby Norris, who still maintained his Essex glamour in a pair of shimmering studded Converse trainers despite his crutches, Diags and bad-boy Jon Clark.

The 19th series which they are currently filming will launch on October 9, with The Only Way Is Marbs special - which is set to see Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks' highly anticipated showdown in light of his sexting scandal.

It was reported by The Sun last week that the tattooed hunk had sent highly explicit messages to his ex Jacqui Ryland during his time in Marbella - causig a huge row between he and Megan, which resulted in him being sent home.

Sexy: Teasing at her taut stomach, Lydia slipped into a co-ordinating knee length pencil skirt that hugged her every curve

Boys are back in town: The girls were also joined by an injured Bobby Norris and Essex lad Diags (L-R)
His on-screen character doesn't have the most successful love life.

But, thankfully, Coronation Street actor Mikey North - who plays Gary Windass on the ITV soap - has a very different experience with cupid.

In fact, the TV star has told OK! Magazine that his pregnant wife Rachael Isherwood conceived on their wedding night.

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New arrival: TV star Mikey North has told OK! Magazine that his pregnant wife Rachael Isherwood conceived on their wedding night

Speaking in the glossy title's new issue, Mikey revealed that the couple are expecting a baby boy are are stunned that it happened so quickly.

Judging by the date that the babys due, we think we conceived on our wedding night! Which I do remember  just about! he said.

We are really fortunate. We werent expecting it to happen as soon as it did, he adds.

Baby love: Speaking in the glossy title's new issue, Mikey revealed that the couple are expecting a baby boy are are stunned that it happened so quickly

Scoop: Read the full interview in the new issue of OK Magazine, which is out now

We were both feeling emotional but, for once, I didnt cry. That makes a change  I must be starting to man up in my old age!

I was amazed. Its such a big miracle to happen in the first place. You find out and realise that your life is going to change forever.

The loved-up duo tied the knot in January after he popped the question during a romantic break to the Lake District.

Their first-born is expected on 7 November.

Sadly, Mikey's on-screen alter ego is less fortunate. As former squaddie Gary he was sent to Afghanistan  and came home with post-traumatic stress disorder after being blown up by a roadside bomb.

Gary and girlfriend Izzy Armstrong then turned to Tina McIntyre to give them a surrogate son when told wheelchair-using Izzy couldnt conceive.

More recently, Gary has been involved in a plot that explores the issue of a homeowners right to defend his property, having been beaten by Roy Cropper after he broke into his cafe.
She's been taking the fashion industry by storm as one of the biggest up and coming models.

But it seems that gorgeous Lottie Moss is now off the market - having reportedly rekindled her relationship with posh boy Sam Prince.

According to The Sun, the 18-year-old model has started dating West London boy Sam once again - after the pair broke things off two years ago when he supposedly strayed away.

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Loved-up? Lottie Moss, 18, has reportedly rekindled her relationship with posh boy ex Sam Prince

The pair sparked rumours of a reunion earlier in the summer, when they were spotted cosying up at Embargo nightclub in Chelsea in July.

With Lottie flashing her pins in a white silk playsuit and Sam dressed in a crisp white shirt, the pair looked a good match as they co-ordinated for their night out.

Chatting outside the party venue, the pair later left the club side-by-side.

The sweet couple have reportedly been spotted on numerous nights out in swanky London bars and restaurants together since.

Handsome couple: The pair sparked rumours of a reunion earlier in the summer, when they were spotted cosying up at Embargo nightclub in Chelsea in July

However, the pairing may be set to cause further love woe for Lottie - who does not have a positive past with the Chelsea socialite.

A source told the newspaper: 'Lottie and Sam have history but it's not overly positive.

'They dated two years ago but Sam wasn't faithful.

'They have recently rekindled their relationship and although it's early days, Lottie's hoping Sam will behave himself.'

Her wish may be a difficult ask for the heartthrob, who is good friends with Made In Chelsea lotharios Jamie Laing and Alex Mytton.

Heartbreaker: Despite her tender 18 years of age, Lottie has already had her fair share of love drama

Connections: Lottie is likely to have met Sam in Chelsea, where she is often seen socialising with the Made in Chelsea cast such as Jamie Laing and James Dunmore (above)

The blonde beauty has been linked to several suitors in the past - having enjoyed lunch in June with pop star Conor Maynard, and flirted with Geordie Shore star Ricci Guarnaccio on Twitter.

However despite her tender 18 years of age, Lottie has already had her fair share of love drama.

The news of the new romance with Sam comes soon after Lottie's last formal relationship - which has seemingly ended very swiftly.

It was only at the end of July that Kate Moss' younger sister was seen cosying up to boyfriend Josh Goldin outside Conchiglia restaurant in London.

Good genese: Lottie is the younger half-sister of fashion icon Kate Moss

The then loved-up pair were seen leaning in for plenty of kisses on the street outside the eatery - although they had fuelled rumours of a potential split that same week after both retweeting messages about infidelity.

And, back in February 2015, Lottie caused controversy on Twitter when she wrote to her followers after a night-out at 4am: 'You know it's a successful night when you throw your drink in your ex boyfriends face.'

Lottie is signed to Storm Model Management, the same booking company that scouted Kate at 14.

Following footsteps: Lottie is signed to Storm Model Management, the same booking company that scouted Kate at 14.

The school girl was originally scouted at Kate's wedding to Jamie Hince in 2011 but waited until the week of her 16th birthday to sign with an agency.

Lottie first transformed into a cover girl for L'officiel's March issue last month and in the accompanying interview, she explained she feels 'no pressure' to live up to Kate's legacy.

She told the prestigious style bible: 'I am who I am and I do what I want, whether that is modelling or anything else. The success of my sister does not affect me in my choices. I feel no pressure in that respect.'

Lottie described 42-year-old Kate as 'simply someone other than me' and added it's 'my turn to tell my own story'.
She is known for changing looks multiple times in just a day, but obviously when this style star finds something she likes she is not about to let it go.

Sofia Richie stepped out in the same pants she had worn the night before as she ran errands on Monday.

The 18-year-old ex-girlfriend of Justin Bieber was spotted stopping by a Beverly Hills juice spot for a healthy pick-me-up.

Hell for leather: Sofia Richie popped into a juice spot in Beverly Hills, California, on Monday

Sofia popped into Pressed Juicery to grab an green vegetable and fruit blend drink.

The stylish teen rocked a pair of leather trousers which she wore with a white T-shirt with a picture of Kate Moss on it.

Sofia - who wore the tee tied up to show a hint of her flat stomach - finished off her look with a pair of round lensed sunglasses and black Adidas NMD sneakers.

The trousers are clearly a favourite of the clothes horse as she wore the same pants for night at celebrity hot post Craig's the previous evening.

Style in black and white: The stylish teen rocked a pair of leather trousers which she wore with a white T-shirt with a picture of Kate Moss on it

Double up: The trousers are clearly a favourite of the clothes horse as she wore the same pants for night at celebrity hot post Craig's the previous evening

She wore the pants, which were elasticized at the waist, with a cropped black hoodie with 'Hardcore' written on it.

Sofia recently split with beau Justin Bieber and was seen heading to the West Hollywood eatery alone.

However their thrilling intercontinental romance did see them hook up in Japan, the United States and Mexico.
Caitlyn Jenner cut a sombre figure on Monday morning.

The 66-year-old looked anxious just hours after her stepdaughter Kim Kardashian's horrifying ordeal in Paris.

Undoubtedly the I Am Cait star was among the first to be informed the 35-year-old had been robbed at gunpoint at the Hotel Pourtales luxury apartments.

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Worried: Caitlyn Jenner looked concerned as she stepped out for morning coffee just hours after stepdaughter Kim's Paris ordeal

The former Olympian was spotted at the Trancas Country Mart in Malibu grabbing her morning pastry and coffee from Starbucks.

Dressed in skinny cut-off jeans with beige wedge sandals , she finished the autumnal look in a beige pullover.

With her bandolier purse slung over one shoulder, Caitlyn looked lost in thought, even with her trusty aviator shades hiding her face.

Her stern expression never faltering , she made her way back to her white Escalade and drove off.

Lot on her mind: The former Olympian was spotted at the Trancas Country Mart in Malibu grabbing her morning pastry and coffee from Starbucks

Look: Dressed in skinny cut-off jeans with beige wedge sandals , she finished the autumnal look in a beige pullover

While her feelings of concern are certainly warranted, the TV star will now doubt be feeling relief too that Kim made it out of the ordeal unhurt.

The mother of two arrived back in the US from Paris on a private jet earlier that day.

A spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the mother-of-two is 'badly shaken but physically unharmed'.

Concerned: With her bandolier purse slung over one shoulder, Caitlyn looked lost in thought, even with her trusty aviator shades hiding her face

A gang of five armed men barged into her apartment wearing ski masks and clothes with police markings at around 3am Monday morning, who then proceeded to hold her at gun point.

The robbers managed to secure access to her accommodation by handcuffing the concierge on the ground floor, and forcing him to reveal the brunette's location in the building.

Upon entrance, Kim reportedly 'begged for her life' and told the gunmen she had children at home when two of them held the gun perilously to her head.

Family drama: Her stern expression never faltering , she made her way back to her white Escalade and drove off

The group stole a jewellery box worth 6 million ($6.7 million/ 5.24 million) and a ring worth 4 million ($4.5 million/ 3.5 million), prompting fears that the valuables were personal ones, and not just jewellery Kim was borrowing for fashion week.

Husband Kanye West was told of the raid halfway through a headline performance at the Meadow Music and Art Festival, New York, and immediately cancelled the set.

Their daughter, North, three, and 10-month-old son Saint, are not believed to have been in the room at the time.

Safe: The mother of two arrived back in the US from Paris on a private jet with husband Kanye West earlier that day
They recently rekindled their relationship once again following a second split in May.

And Emma Roberts and Evan Peters now appear to be inseparable.

After indulging in a romantic dinner on Sunday night, the couple enjoyed a more casual coffee date in Toluca Lake, California on Monday afternoon.

Inseparable: Emma Roberts and Evan Peters enjoyed a casual coffee date on Monday in Toluca Lake, California, a few weeks after rekindling their romance

But Emma still dressed to impress, looking gorgeous in a navy lace frock by LOFT with tiered skirt and long bell sleeves.

The 25-year-old showed off her slender legs in the shirt dress, which she teamed with chunky black loafers.

Emma pulled her long blonde hair into a ponytail and finished off her look with retro sunglasses over her minimally made-up face.

Meanwhile her X-Men star boyfriend sported a blue T-shirt, black shorts, black and white checkered shoes and a pair of spectacles.

Stunning star: The actress looked gorgeous in a navy lace dress which left her legs on show, and teamed it with loafers and retro sunglasses

Emma and Evan sparked rumours of a reconciliation in August when they were seen arriving separately to a friend's house.

A couple of weeks later a source confirmed to Us Weekly that they were 'definitely back together'.

The pair began dating in 2012 after meeting on set of the film Adult World, and got engaged in December 2013.

They ended their engagement in June of last year before getting back together in October, but split again this May.

Emma, who was arrested after a heated argument with Evan in 2013 (although he declined to press charges), was briefly linked to Christopher Hines after the split.

Keeping it casual: Meanwhile Evan wore a blue T-shirt, black shorts, trainers and spectacles

The niece of Julia Roberts is currently reprising her role as Chanel Oberlin in the second season of Scream Queens.

Emma can soon be seen opposite Kevin Spacey, Taron Egerton, Ansel Elgort and Suki Waterhouse in 1980s set Billionaire Boys Club, about a group of wealthy boys in LA who set up a get rich quick scam which turns deadly.

She is also portraying Jeffrey Tambor's troubled daughter in comedy/drama Four Seasons, due for release next year.

Meanwhile Evan is starring as journalist Jay Bahadur in upcoming biography Where The White Man Runs Away, and is expected to be appearing in the sixth season of American Horror Story, which kicked off last month.
They've been rumoured lesbian lovers since leaving the Bachelor mansion.

And, reality stars Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon have fueled whispers further by sharing more their intimate time spent together on social media.

In a recent Instagram image of the pair, posted by Tiffany on Tuesday, she alluded to looking at porn on their matching Apple Macbooks.

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Cheeky! The Bachelor's Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon fueled 'lesbian' rumour further today on Instagram as they alluded to looking at porn together in their lingerie

'Probably looking at porn... I mean fashion...totally looking at fashion,' the blonde beauty captioned jokingly.

Edited in black and white, the pair were dressed in revealing lingerie as they focused their amusement on Tiffany's screen.

Megan wore a lacey bra that flaunted her ample assets in the sultry shot.

Unlikely pair: Despite vying for the same man on the show, the girls have done everything outside the mansion together, including nude photo shoots

The pair opted for natural makeup and untouched wavy hair, with their long, toned legs on full display.

However, it's not their most raunchy photos to be uploaded so far, with nude and near-nude images uploaded to their public and private accounts over the past month.

In fact, they'd been inseparable ever since leaving the Bachelor mansion.

Inseparable: The pair have formed a VERY close bond after meeting on The Bachelor, with Megan calling Tiffany her 'love'

Tiffany Scanlon had been missing in action over the past few weeks, her BFF and rumoured lesbian love interest Megan Marx was yearning for the blonde's return.

'Baby, come home,' Megan wrote alongside a photo of the pair with their arms wrapped around each other's waists.

'Baby, come home': Megan Marx (R) has pleaded for her reality TV girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon (L) to return home to Perth

Showing just how much she was missing her 'love,' the Perth beach babe added three sad-faced Emojis to the caption.

She also added: 'Attending events without ya sucks! (sic)'

Tiffany had been notably missing from Megan's side as the formerly married star attended Perth's fashion events.

Missing in action: Tiffany, 29, has been notably absent from Megan's side at social events

Megan was also spotted flying solo as she attended the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival.

But she did manage to reunite with former love-rival Alex Nation.

The pair appeared the best of friends as Megan jumped to embrace Alex from behind.

And then Megan was pictured walking arm in arm with fellow Perth contestant Rachael Gouvignon.

Despite acting coy when asked to confirm her romance with Tiffany, saying she's 'keeping [her] private life private,' the health promotions officer did joke that she was 'cheating' on her love.

'I'm cheating on Tiffany! Oh, I didn't say that,' she laughed.

Not ruling anything out: Megan has recently said she wouldn't 'rule anything out' when asked if she's open to having a relationship with a woman

Both hailing from Western Australia, the free-spirited blondes have been flaunting their close relationship on social media recently.

Last week, Megan shared a snap of the pair coming out of the ocean in their bikinis, writing: 'Gettin' muddy with my love @tiffany_janes.'

Their social media posts and captions have led fans to speculate that they're more than just friends.

From sharing spaghetti whilst topless to posing completely naked in the bush, nothing is off limits for the pair.

Speaking to NW, Megan - who famously walked out on Richie - said she wouldn't 'rule out' a relationship with another woman.

'I'm usually attracted to men but I don't rule anything out... I would say Tiff's in the same boat,' Megan said.

She added: 'Tiff is a beautiful woman and we're very close.'

Meanwhile, Tiffany said: 'I did find love on The Bachelor... I love [Megan] so much.'
He has been competing for the attention of Bachelorette Georgia Love.

But handsome entrepreneur Rhys Chilton, 29, may have another reality TV starlet by the name of Faith Williams on the brain.

According to NW magazine, Rhys was spotted getting cosy with the bubbly hairdresser after they were introduced during a group outing in Brisbane, just a month before Rhys entered the Bachelorete mansion.

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Caught in the act? Bachelorette evictee Aaron Brady has revealed that The Bachelorette's Rhys Chilton (right) was keen to spend alone time with Bachelor reject Faith Williams (left) during a chance encounter in Brisbane last month (pictured)

Speaking to NW, Aaron Brady- with whom Rhys enjoyed a brief 'bromance' in the mansion- saw Rhys flirting up a storm with Faith immediately after he realised who she was.

According to NW, Rhys and Faith were seen packing on the PDA after 'sneaking away for some private time'.

'Rhys knew Faith before The Bachelorette,' CEO Aaron explained.

Swapping rose ceremony stories? According to NW, Rhys and Faith were seen packing on the PDA after 'sneaking away for some private time'

He added: 'Rhys was like, 'Wait a minute, that was Faith!' He [slipped away to] chat to her.'

Indeed, Rhys was pictured chatting up a storm with Faith during the Brisbane outing which Aaron is referring.

Bachelor reject Keira Maguire and Bachelorette evictee Tommy Saggus were also seen getting chatty during the flirty day out.

Is he her number one? Meanwhile, Rhys has been seen on The Bachelorette vying for the attention of Georgia Love

Poetry-enthusiast Rhys has made a name for himself as a topless model in the Brisbane and Gold Coast area.

According to his website, Rhys attends 'Bachelorette parties, ladies nights and corporate events' as he enjoys meeting new people and being part of fun events.

A natural entertainer, Rhys writes: 'Yes I've done plenty of ladies events in my time and I'd like to say it's truly a shame there's a sleazy, negative association with this type of work.'
With her stunning red floral playsuit complete with cut out shoulder panels, Olivia Culpo cut a striking figure as she stepped out at a fashion dinner in Paris on Monday.

The 24-year-old former Miss USA showed off her trim figure in the floaty ensemble which showed off her long slim legs to the maximum.

The loose fitting flowery number featured puffed out sleeves tied at the wrists with a v neck and loose drapes of material at the back.

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Flower power: Olivia Culpo looked stunning in a red floral playsuit with shoulder cut outs as she stepped out at Forward by Elyse Walker: Magda Butrym dinner in Paris on Sunday

The brunette teamed her number with matching bright red lipstick and smokey brown eye make-up, while her brown hair was worn sleek and poker straight around her shoulders.

She finished off the look with a pair of fishnet tights from DKNY Hosiery.

She was clearly enjoying herself at the Elyse Walker: Magda Butrym dinner held at La Belle Epoque, in the French capital - as part of Paris Fashion Week.

The stunner has clearly been enjoying all of what fashion week has to offer, attending the John Galliano show the previous evening.

Lady in red: Olivia wore her brunette locks straight and loose around her face and matched her outfit with coordinating red lipstick

She's in fashion: Olivia showed off her slim legs in a pair of fishnet tights from DKNY Hosiery as she chatted to designer Magda Butrym

Catching up: Olivia posed for a snapshot with designer Elyse Walker (left) and Magda (centre)

She joined a smattering of celebrities at the event, including Victoria's Secret star Alessandra Ambrosio who arrived in a simple grey wrap dress.

The simple number was teamed with dramatic over-the-knee boots and a boxy black clutch bag while a simple choker completed the look.

Model Hailey Clauson looked a little more eye-catching in a risque black ensemble.

These boots are made for walking: Alessandra Ambrosio sported a loose fitting wrap dress teamed with over-the-knee boots

Standing out: Olivia's dramatic ensemble proved the most eye catching at the event as she caught up with Magda and entrepreneur Michael Mente

Back to black: Hailey Clauson (right) enjoyed dinner in a risque black ensemble

Meanwhile Olivia has been concentrating on her acting career of late, and is currently filming American Satan alongside Denise Richards, Drake Bell and Sebastian Bach.

The film recalls the heady days of the Sunset Strip with a young rock band, half from England and half from the US, dropping out of college and moving to the rock 'n' roll stretch of LA.

Olivia is also the new face of fashion label, Rampage, and is also the September cover girl for LaPalme magazine.
Her sister Kim Kardashian was robbed of millions worth in jewelry in a terrifying ordeal in the wee hours of Monday morning.

And Khloe Kardashian looked visibly upset as she arrived back in Los Angeles just hours after under the watchful eye of a bodyguard.

The 32-year-old was in Cleveland at the weekend to cheer on new beau Tristan Thompson but by Monday afternoon she was understandably in a somber mood.

Shaken: Khloe Kardashian looked visibly upset on Monday as she arrived back in Los Angeles just hours after under the watchful eye of a security guard

The youngest of the Kardashian sisters wore an Adidas tracksuit as she kept her head low while her security made sure she safely got into her car.

Police said on Monday, t thieves who robbed Kim at gunpoint were targeting possessions seen on social media.

The reality TV star left Paris on a private jet just hours after she was robbed of jewellery reportedly worth 9 million at an exclusive private apartment building.

Difficult day: The 32-year-old was in Cleveland at the weekend to cheer on new beau Tristan Thompson but by Monday afternoon she was understandably in a somber mood

No time: The youngest of the Kardashian sisters wore an Adidas tracksuit as she kept her head low while her security made sure she safely got into her car

Police in the French capital have described the incident as 'extremely rare' and said the robbers were focused on 'possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media'.

Four days ago, Kardashian West posted a close-up photograph of a huge diamond ring on her left hand captioned with three diamond emojis.

The TV star, who was attending Paris Fashion Week, was 'badly shaken but physically unharmed' after masked men dressed as police officers robbed her, her spokeswoman said.

Terrifying: Her sister Kim Kardashian was robbed of millions worth in jewelry in a terrifying ordeal in the wee hours of Monday morning

Lookout: Kim's bodyguard kept an eye out while Khloe got into her car

New details: Police in the French capital have described the incident as 'extremely rare' and said the robbers were focused on 'possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media'

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, told the Associated Press: 'This is the result of people who obviously posed as policemen and who assaulted Ms Kardashian in a private hotel in her room by threat of a weapon.

'This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide. Do not confuse what happened to Ms Kardashian and probably was the result of an organised team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame (cathedral) or another tourist spot in Paris.'

She said the losses were estimated at several million euros, adding: 'Clearly when you have a star like Kim Kardashian who has, I think, more than 48 million followers on Twitter ... I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as in Paris.

In you go! The guard was on his toes

Concerned: The reality star looked visibly concerned

'It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these goods that the attackers targeted.'

Only two of the five suspects forced their way into the apartment, in the eighth district of Paris behind the Madeleine church, according to the city's prosecutors' office.

Two police officials told the Associated Press that robbers tied up Kardashian West and locked her in the bathroom before escaping on bikes.

Kardashian West's husband, rapper Kanye West, was performing at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York when he was told the news on stage.

He abruptly stopped his set, in the middle of his song Heartless, and told the crowd: ''I'm sorry, family emergency, I have to stop the show.''

Just days before the attack, Kardashian West heaped praise on her German bodyguard Pascal Duvier after he protected her from a notorious celebrity prankster who tried to accost her while she was entering a restaurant.

She wrote on Twitter: ''My security @PascalDuvier is a G.''

Safe: The mother of two arrived back in the US from Paris on a private jet with husband Kanye West earlier that day

Close call: A gang of five armed men barged into her apartment wearing ski masks and clothes with police markings at around 3am Monday morning, who then proceeded to hold her at gun point

Hours before the armed raid she shared a photograph of herself on Twitter, with Duvier in the background, captioned: ''This guy is always in my shot!''.

He was photographed accompanying Kardashian West's sister Kourtney on Sunday night and has since been seen climbing on to the private plane in Paris.

West has rescheduled two US tour dates in the wake of the robbery, with promoter LiveNation citing 'family concerns' as the reason.




She's usually flashing her fabulous figure in barely-there ensembles.

But Nicola Hughes, 27, opted for an edgier look as she turned head in a rouched baby pink number while attending the Lifestyle Awards at London's Lancaster Hotel on Monday.

The reality babe displayed her slender figure in a distinctive one-shoulder gown which featured ruffle details and a mullet style hemline, as she posed up a storm at the star-studded event.

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Pretty in pink: Nicola Hughes, 27, opted for an edgy look as she turned head in a rouched baby pink number while attending the Lifestyle Awards at London's Lancaster Hotel on Monday

Nicola opted against high heels, instead adding a rock chic vibe by pairing black untied Doc Marten boots to dress down her striking outfit.

Artfully matching her footwear, the blonde bombshell toted her belongings in a dainty black clutch bag.

The stunners long golden tresses were stylishly blow dried into soft curls as they sprawled down her tanned shoulders.

Contouring her features with a sweep of bronzer, the E4 star was sure to make her eyes pop with a strong smokey eye as she applied a warm nude lipgloss to her pout.

Working it: The reality babe displayed her slender figure in a distinctive one-shoulder gown which featured ruffle details and a mullet style hemline

Dressed to impress: Nicola opted against high heels, instead adding a rock chic vibe by pairing black untied Doc Marten boots to dress down her striking outfit

Gal pals: Contouring her features with a sweep of bronzer, the E4 star was sure to make her eyes pop with a strong smokey eye as she applied a warm nude lipgloss to her pout

Not alone at the Award ceremony, Nicola was joined by the likes of Denise Welch, Jodie Marsh and Lauren Silverman.

The 27-year-old reality star made a name for herself after appearing on Made In Chelsea in the ninth series, in which her tumultuous relationship with Alex Mitton took centre stage.

Nicola opened up about her former flame - who she dated on and off for almost two years - in an interview with OK! Online, declaring the two reality TV stars have no intentions of getting back together.

She said: 'We'll never be in a relationship again but we can be civil. When Alex broke up with me and cheated and what not he then came back to me.

All eyes on her: Jodie Marsh put on a very busty display as spilled out of her skin-tight jumpsuit

Supportive: Lauren Silverman accepted an award on behalf of her partner Simon Cowell

'So for me, that was kind of all I wanted because it was quite a shock when he broke up with me. So for him to then come back, it was just a nice feeling, I guess!'

Despite her absence in the latest series in which the MIC stars enjoyed a trip to the South of France, Nicola confessed she would return to the show but under one condition.

'I was on the show originally as someone else's girlfriend," she said.

'If I was coming back on the show, I would like to be my own person and own character so that's why I'd come back on the show.'
She's the stunning Australian actress who is about to give birth in just a matter of weeks.

Yet being heavily pregnant hasn't stopped Teresa Palmer, 30, from not only jet-setting around the world, but enjoying a day of celebrations with her close friends in Los Angeles - where the actress now resides.

On Monday, her BFF, stylist Annabelle Harron, threw the Lights Out actress a surprise Australiana-themed baby shower.

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BFFs: Teresa Palmer, 30, posted a photo of herself with fellow actress and soon-to-be mother Annabelle Harron from her surprise Australiana-themed baby shower on Monday

Teresa took to Instagram to thank Annabelle.

She posted a four-photo collage of the baby shower - with pictures of friends and children that attended.

'My best friend/sister @annabelleharron threw me this dreamy and whimsical Australiana-themed baby shower as a SURPRISE!' the stunning blonde gushed.

'She did it all by herself. What an incredible gift of love to celebrate this new little soul.'

Loved-up: The stunning blonde actress and her American director husband Mark Webber have been married since 2013

One of the happy snaps in the collage was a pic of her with fellow actress and expectant mother Murisa Harba, who also resides in Los Angeles.

'Forever grateful to you Bellie and all those who joined #Aussiebabe,' Teresa ended the thank you note.

The expecting mother is now 31 weeks pregnant.

Happy family: Teresa and Mark have announced their next child will be named Forest

She has been extremely busy of late, travelling to Italy to premiere her new film, biological war flick Hacksaw Ridge, at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.

The Australian then jet-setted to Canada to attend the premiere of her thriller Message from the King at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Teresa is married to American actor and director Mark Webber.

Last Friday, the proud father-to-be took to Instagram to announce their second child's name - Forest.

Their first child is Bohdi-Rain.

Baby posts: Teresa has been regularly posting pictures of her growing baby bump throughout her pregnancy
Her sartorial prowess regularly earns her the top spot on best dressed lists.

And Katie Piper continued her style reign as she arrived with her husband Richard Sutton at The Dorchester hotel in London on Monday for the WellChild Awards in a sensational sky blue floor-length crocheted gown.

After lovingly adjusting her beau's bow-tie, the philanthropist, 32, went on to work the red carpet in the slinky column dress which showcased her gym-honed physique to perfection.

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Red carpet glamour: Katie Piper, 32, continued her style reign as she arrived at The Dorchester hotel in London on Monday for the WellChild Awards in a sky blue floor-length gown

Stylish couple: Before appearing on the red-carpet, Katie lovingly adjusted her husband Richard Sutton's bow-tie

The statement Kolchagov Barba garment featured a high neck crochet inspired overlay which exuded old school Hollywood glamour

Boasting a ruffled train, Katie's chic number offset her golden glow perfectly as she chose to forgo accessories - bar her engagement and wedding ring - at the charity bash.

She neatly blow dried her blonde bob into a straight style, while working a dramatic smokey eye and nude lips.

Richard, her spouse of one year, was suited and booted well - albeit with a little help from the TV presenter herself.

Stylish: Her statement Kolchagov Barba garment featured a high neck crochet inspired overlay which exuded old school Hollywood glamour

Trend-setter: The philanthropist went on to work the red carpet in the slinky column dress which showcased her gym-honed physique to perfection

Statement sparkler: She chose to forgo accessories - bar her engagement and wedding ring - at the charity bash

It's been a busy time for the mother-of-one who's reportedly set her sights on hosting The Great British Bake Off when it moves to Channel 4 next year.

Katie, who has a long-standing relationship with Love Productions, the producers of the baking show, told The Mirror: 'I would do it - and I can bake. Though I might end up with a soggy bottom.'

Her experience would serve her well, given that she's previously hosted Bodyshockers, Never Seen A Doctor, as well as Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message in 2009.

Bronzed beauty: Boasting a ruffle train, Katie's chic number offset her golden glow perfectly

Loved up: Richard, her spouse of one year, was suited and booted well - albeit with a little help from the TV presenter herself

Arriving in style: All eyes were on her as she arrived at the lavish London location

Stunner: She neatly blow dried her blonde bob into a straight style, while working a dramatic smokey eye and nude lips

Meanwhile, TOWIE's Lydia Bright also flaunted her killer curves in a daring oxblood ensemble for the WellChild Awards.

The blonde beauty sizzled in a sheer chiffon blouse layered over a saucy black bustier that highlighted her impressive cleavage.

Prince Harry also made an appearance, as did former Made In Chelsea pals Hugo Taylor and Spencer Matthews.

The annual awards recognise the inspirational qualities of the UK's seriously ill children, as well as the healthcare professionals who look after them.

Eye-catching: TOWIE's Lydia Bright sizzled in a sheer chiffon blouse layered over a saucy black bustier that highlighted her impressive cleavage
They're known for their stylish ensembles on the red carpet.

So it comes as no surprise Anna Heinrich and Ksenija Lukich would lead the fashionable arrivals at Kookai's Spring/Summer Launch in Sydney on Tuesday.

Anna, 29, and Ksenija, 26, were seen having a laugh and looking a picture of contentment, as they waited to board a luxurious yacht.

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All smiles: Anna Heinrich (left) 29, and Ksenija Lukich (right) 26, were seen having a laugh and looking a picture of content as they waited to board a luxurious yacht in Sydney on Tuesday, for Kookai's Spring/Summer Launch

The blonde lawyer and the brunette host of E! Australia brought their fashion A-game in white-hued frocks by label Kookai, that featured plenty of flesh.

Anna opted for the Atlantic Dress - its strapless design highlighting her delicate decolletage, while a thigh-split showed off a glimpse of her toned legs.

Keeping accessories to a minimum, the partner of Bachelor's Tim Robards, donned a pair of nude strappy heels, adorned her wrists with delicate gold bracelets and added a pair of complementing drop earrings.

White-on-the-mark! The blonde lawyer and the brunette host of E! Australia brought their fashion A-game in white-hued frocks by label Kookai, that featured plenty of flesh

Content: The beauties looked like they had plenty to catch up on, seen engaging in friendly conversation

Simply stunning: Both white-hued frocks by label Kookai, drew attention to Anna and Ksenija's lean frames

Allowing her signature blonde tresses to fall in structured waves around her face and shoulders, she highlighted an elegant makeup palette of defined brows, lashings of mascara, a hint of bronzer on the apples of her cheeks and a soft pink lip.

Meanwhile Ksenija opted to wear the brand's Napoli Mini Dress - its form-fitting design drawing attention to her slender waist.

Allowing a pair of statement red earrings to do the talking, she sported nude strappy heels that elongated her already lean legs.

Best-tressed: The lawyer and partner of Bachelor's Tim Robards allowed her signature blonde tresses to fall in structured waves around her face and shoulders

Bling: Anna kept accessories to a minimum, adorning her wrists with delicate gold jewellery and adding a pair of complementing drop earrings

Leggy lady: Ksenija highlighted her lean legs in a frock with the hem finishing mid-thigh

The media personality's glossy brunette locks were left to fall effortlessly in loose waves, while her beauty look took on a more glamorous edge.

Ksenija opted for a bold red lip to complement her statement earrings, and added a deep burgundy hue to her fingernails and toes.

The leggy ladies were treated to beats and refreshments on board a luxurious Sydney yacht.

Other notables in attendance were Bachelor babes Keira Maguire, Olena Khamula, Stephanie Dixon and Lana Jeavons-Fellows, while television presenter Laura Dundovic also brought her style A-game in a vibrant red frock.
Since being booted off hit dating series The Bachelor, Olena Khamula and Steph Dixon are often snapped together on the social circuit.

And the reality TV stars looked closer than ever as they happily mingled with the show's breakout star Keira Maguire, 29, on board a Sydney yacht on Tuesday.

Ukrainian-born Olena, 23, and Victorian-based model Steph, 25, flaunted their svelte frames in form-fitting Kookai ensembles, as they helped launch the brand's Spring/Summer collection.

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Fashionable get-up! The Bachelor's Olena Khamula (centre) 23, and Steph Dixon (right) 25, looked closer than ever as they attended Kookai's Spring/Summer Launch on-board a Sydney yacht on Tuesday

Olena sported the brand's The Escape strapless top, with the design highlighting her bronzed skin and delicate decolletage.

The Sydney-based makeup artist teamed the form-fitting top with Kookai's Allegra skirt that featured a daring thigh split.

Keeping accessories to a minimum, Olena added a pair of strappy nude heels, coordinating envelope-style clutch and gold drop earrings.

Svelte: The Sydney-based makeup artist drew attention to her lean frame in the brand's The Escape strapless top, teamed with the Allegra skirt that featured a daring thigh-split

Stunning: The Ukrainian-born beauty swept her tresses into a chic high ponytail with the strands falling in soft curls

Vibrant: Victorian model Steph opted for a flirty blue lace number that drew attention to her delicate decolletage and slender waist

Inseparable: Steph and Olena were often seen hand-in-hand as they mingled with other guests

Sweeping her fair tresses into a chic high ponytail with the strands falling in soft curls, the newly signed Chadwicks model opted for an elegant makeup look of defined brows, a subtle metallic eye, a touch of bronzer and a nude lip.

Meanwhile, Steph sported a vibrant blue lace frock, with flirty mid-length sleeves that added a feminine touch.

The structured bodice drew attention to her slender waist, while a pair of simple black strappy heels elongated her toned legs.

What's so funny? The girls enjoyed a good laugh with Bachelor breakout star Keira Maguire (left), 29

Time of their lives: The trio pulled a number of animated expressions as they happily posed for photos

Closer than ever: Despite all vying for the affections of The Bachelor's Richie Strahan, the three blondes looked to be thoroughly enjoying each other's company

Single and ready to mingle: The girls happily chatted with guests on board the luxurious yacht

Leggy ladies: Olena, Keira and Steph drew attention to their bronzed and tanned legs in the fashionable ensembles

Letting her blonde locks fall in loose waves around her face and shoulders, she took on a glamorous makeup look of kohl-rimmed eyes, and a deep burgundy lip that showed off her pearly whites.

The pair were seen taking selfies with one another at one stage, before embracing each other for a series of affectionate snaps.

Their best angles: The girls worked their best poses as they took a series of selfies on Steph's phone

Joined at the hip: The pair were seen pulling a number of playful expressions

Thirsty work! At one stage Steph was seen offering Olena a sip of water in between snaps

While mingling at the star-studded event, the two beauties caught up with Bachelor breakout star Keira Maguire, 29, who cut a chic figure in a semi-sheer playsuit, adding a racy element with a black bralet visible underneath.

Accessorising with a pair of black strappy heels, the Lara Bingle lookalike highlighted a flawless complexion, a metallic eye, lashings of mascara and a soft pink lip.

The three socialites appeared to be having the time of their lives, embracing one another for sweet snaps, with Steph even throwing her head back at one stage.

Sheer darling! Sydney-based Keira added a racy element to her ensemble, teaming a black bralet with a feminine style high-neck top

Standing out: Big Brother star Aisha Jade (pictured) 24, wrapped a vibrant-hued scarf around her head, adding a bold pop of colour to the strapless black frock

Thigh's the limit: The brand's Olsen frock featured a thigh-split, showing just a glimpse of the reality star's toned legs

Making a statement: The svelte beauty teamed a pair of statement gold drop earrings to the look

They weren't the only reality stars in attendance, with Big Brother starlet Aisha Jade, 24, stunning in the Olsen dress - a black strapless form-fitting number with a subtle thigh-split.

Adding a retro vibe, the brunette beauty wrapped a red scarf around her head, and allowed drop earrings to make a statement.

Lana Jeavons-Fellows, 28, from a previous series of The Bachelor opted for the brand's Sicily dress - a flirty white frock teamed with their Vacation wedges.

Body-hugging: Lana Jeavons-Fellows (left) 28, and Laura Dundovic (right) 29, sported flirty frocks from the brand that zoned in on their lean frames

Dressed to impress: Former Bachelor star Lana allowed her long brunette tresses to fall around her shoulders in loose waves

Red hot! All eyes were on Laura's vibrant ensemble that flaunted her cleavage and incredibly lithe frame

Coordinating: The pair coordinated each other, with Lana's bold red clutch complementing Laura's plunging frock that skimmed over her enviable curves

Adding a pop of colour with a simple red clutch, she let her long brunette locks fall in soft waves.

Sidling up to Lana was television presenter Laura Dundovic, 29, who stunned in the brand's vibrant red Olympia dress that featured a plunging neckline.

The frock's body-hugging fabric drew attention to her svelte frame, while a pair of strappy nude heels elongated her endlessly toned legs.

Striking a pose: The two beauties happily posed for photos while seated on board the luxurious yacht
Gerner was also reportedly suspended in 1994 for sexual misconduct with another patient

Relationship happened before he began seeing

Janice Dickinson's psychiatrist fiance Robert Hugh Gerner has reportedly surrendered his doctor's licence after 'engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient.'

According to TMZ, the mental health expert, 68, allegedly engaged in a sexual relationship with a female patient from 2004 to 2011 and lived with her for three years.

While this was before Robert started a relationship with Janice, the reported relationship broke the code of ethics.

Serious: Janice Dickinson's psychiatrist fiance Robert Hugh Gerner has reportedly 'surrendered his doctor's licence after engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient'

The site adds that the California Medical Board filed a complaint against Gerner in 2015.

Back in 1994, Robert was reportedly suspended for 60 days in 1994 for sexual misconduct with another patient.

MailOnline has contacted a rep for Janice Dickinson for comment.

In November last year, Robert admitted to going under the knife and getting a facelift ahead of his wedding to Janice.

Her love: Janice has been engaged to him since 2012 - he proposed to her after three months of meeting

Charge: According to TMZ , the mental health expert, 68, allegedly engaged in a sexual relationship with a female patient from 2004 to 2011 and lived with her for three years

He told Inside Edition: 'I wanted to look my very best. Janice is a supermodel.'

And it seems to have been a magnanimous gesture on the shrink's part, as he also insisted, 'I don't have to change for her to love me.'

As if to reassure her lover, Janice, 60, said: 'I love you the way you are.'

Janice and her psychopharmacology expert fiance - who goes by the nickname of Rocky - have been engaged since December of 2012 - he proposed after three months.

She said at the time of her love for her man: 'I intend to make Rocky the happiest man in the world for the rest of his life,' she told US Weekly.

'I couldn't be happier right now. Oh! And our wedding is going to make Brad and Angelina's look like a trip to city hall!'

Janice met Robert through his real estate son and Janice told the publication: 'It was love at first sight.'
She isn't one to shy away from the camera with a past in television journalist.

And on Tuesday, Bachelorette Georgia Love posed up a storm during a photoshoot in Sydney.

While on set, the 28-year-old flashed a glimpse of her ample cleavage and her long legs as she dressed in a floral mini-dress, which had a low-cut front.

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She's a natural: Bachelorette Georgia Love posed up a storm on Tuesday during a photoshoot in Sydney

The white and blue ensemble fell loosely over her slender figure and featured long bell sleeves that flared out at the ends.

The reality TV star added a pair of black peep toed ankle boots to her choice of attire.

With her brunette locks styled out with a curl, Georgia glowed while her makeup was kept natural with a nude lipstick and a light brush of black mascara.

Showing off: While on set, the 28-year-old flashed a glimpse of her ample cleavage and her long legs as she dressed in a floral mini-dress, which had a low-cut front

Details: The white and blue ensemble fell loosely over her slender figure and featured long bell sleeves that flared out at the ends

Adding some height: The reality TV star added a pair of black peep toed ankle boots

True beauty: She wore her brunette locks out and styled with a tight curl

Keeping it simple: Georgia glowed while her makeup was kept natural with a nude lipstick and a light brush of black mascara

Something funny? While on set, the reality TV star shared a giggle with photo crew

She kept her accessorises to a minimal with silver stud earrings and a matching necklace, which had two rings threaded through.

Earlier in the day, Georgia explained how she keeps her head held up amongst the social media trolls.

When speaking to the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, she simply said: 'Dont read the comments.

Posing up a storm: At one point in the shoot, she sat on the edge of the steps while leaning on a white painted door

Smile: As she posed, the brunette beauty showed off a wide smile for the camera

Strong: Earlier in the day, Georgia explained how she keeps her head held up amongst the social media trolls

How she does it: When speaking to the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, she simply said: 'Dont read the comments

Advice: She admitted 'You have to have a thick skin for this sort of thing'

Bigger person: The former news reader added: 'Any negative feedback youre going to get will come anyway and I just take it in my stride'

'You have to have a thick skin for this sort of thing,' she added.

'Any negative feedback youre going to get will come anyway and I just take it in my stride'.

The Bachelorette Australia airs on Network 10 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm.

On the move: Following the busy day, she was seen leaving the premises holding onto a designer hangbag and black jacket
She's got a figure women half her age could only dream of.

And Brooke Burke showcased her phenomenal form in all its glory as she took a romantic stroll on the beach in Malibu, California, with her husband David Charvet on Monday.

The model, 45, turned heads in a bright yellow bikini which showed off her stunning frame, accentuating her ample assets and pert posterior.

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Little Miss Sunshine: Brooke Burke showcased her phenomenal form in all its glory as she took a romantic stroll on the beach in Malibu, California, on Monday

With her hair tied back in a messy bun, Brooke shielded her eyes from the sun with oversized designer shades for her day at the beach.

And as she ambled with her other half, the actress sported striped beach bottoms before stripping to her skimpy two-piece, making the most of the warm early-autumn rays.

Meanwhile, actor David, 44, showed of his toned physique in snazzy board shorts as he lovingly clutched his wife's waist for the arm-in-arm stroll.

Brooke has two children with her second husband David - daughter Heaven Rain, nine, and son Shaya Braven, eight.

Cute couple: The model and actress, 45, turned heads in a bright yellow bikini which showed off her stunning frame as she strolled down the white sand with her husband David Charvet

She also has two daughters with her ex husband plastic surgeon Garth Fisher - Neriah, 16, and Sierra, 14.

Brooke took an adorable snap with Heaven Rain as they got ready to go for a ride on a roller coaster at a charity event in Los Angeles last week.

The actress and daughter looked like they could hardly wait to get started as they hammed it up at the Mattel Party On The Pier in the trendy Santa Monica area.

But while they were having a great time together, they did not leave out Shaya, who looked like he was having fun in the seat in front of them.

Bikini babe: With her hair tied back in a messy bun, Brooke shielded her eyes from the sun with oversized designer shades for her day at the beach

Brooke, who just turned 45, was looking in fine form indeed in a casual white dress and platform sandals.

The event, the 17th incarnation of the annual bash, featured unlimited rides, carnival games and even had a VIP area with a lunch donated by Wolfgang Puck Catering.

It was held to raise cash for the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA in Los Angeles.

Brooke also recently toasted her five-year wedding anniversary with 44-year-old Baywatch beefcake David.

Snap happy: Brooke took a selfie with daughter Heaven Rain, nine, as they went on a roller coaster ride at a charity event in Santa Monica on Sunday

Brooke has no intention of slowing down, and recently revealed she is teaching a fitness class in her hometown of Malibu every week as 'a passion project'.

She said: 'I have women of all different shapes and sizes and its a place where women find safety and inspire each other as well.

'I dont ever want to get too comfortable in love, in life, as a parent or in my fitness routine. You get complacent with comfort.'
He's taken the phrase 'putting your foot in it' to a whole new level.

And Hollywood star Danny DeVito proved that he's certainly not shy of showing off his 'troll foot' on national TV when he appeared on ITV's Lorraine on Tuesday.

Whipping off his sock and revealing his bare foot to the world, the 71-year-old star even managed to get Lorraine involved, with the pair comparing feet live on the show, and even stopping to take a photo.

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Stripping off: Hollywood star Danny DeVito proved that he's certainly not shy of showing off his 'troll foot' on national TV when he appeared on ITV's Lorraine on Tuesday

When Lorraine questioned Danny on his 'troll foot' phenomenon - with the actor regularly posting snaps of his right foot on his Twitter account - he explained that it evolved from his issues with social media.

Regularly putting his foot in it every time he tried to post a snap or comment, he decided to embrace his Luddite nature and quite literally put his foot in every shot.

Taking his shoe and sock off Danny DeVito joked: 'Now I don't do anything to it [the foot], so don't be shocked. It may have a few little nicks in it and I did take a shower.'

Time for a selfie: Whipping off his sock and revealing his bare foot to the world, the 71-year-old star even managed to get Lorraine involved

Fits of giggles: Lorraine and Danny compared feet live on the show, and even stopping to take a photo which Danny later posted on his Twitter account

Cute: When Lorraine questioned Danny on his 'troll foot' phenomenon, he explained that it evolved from his issues with social media

Not on the table guys! Regularly putting his foot in it every time he tried to post a snap or comment, he decided to embrace his Luddite nature and quite literally put his foot in every shot

Baring his soul: Taking his shoe and sock off Danny DeVito joked: 'Now I don't do anything to it [the foot], so don't be shocked. It may have a few little nicks in it and I did take a shower'

Despite his self-depreciation, Lorraine touched his bare foot, Lorraine says: 'They're the cutest little feet I've ever seen!'

Inspired by Danny's bravado , Lorraine decided to join in on the fun, shedding her scarlet Vivienne Westwood shoe, and showing her petite foot with the world.

The pair put their feet together for comparison foot selfie, with Lorraine apologising for the fact she still had her nude tights on.

Full of foot praise: Despite his self-depreciation, Lorraine touched his bare foot, Lorraine says: 'They're the cutest little feet I've ever seen!'

Family affair: Danny appeared with two of his three children, Lucy, 33 and Jake, 27, who have both followed their father into the acting profession

Dog days: The actor regularly posts snaps of his right foot on his Twitter account, pictured here with a dog

Throwing shade: Danny's foot in silhouette against a beach front seascape and bright white moon

Back to nature: Danny's foot pictured with a bunch of flowers and blue wood sculpture

Despite her tan hosiery, the 56-year-old presenter had made sure to have a pedicure before revealing her toes to viewers.

Danny appeared with two of the three children he shares with Cheers star Rhea Perlman, Lucy, 33 and Jake, 27, who have both followed their father into the acting profession.

The ever-popular actor is lined up to star with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy in director Ivan Reitman's comedy, Triplets, the follow-up to 1988's Twins.

Long-lost twin brothers Julius (Arnie) and Vincent (Danny) discover they have a third brother, to be played by Eddie.

New sibling: The ever-popular actor is lined up to star with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy in director Ivan Reitman's comedy, Triplets, the follow-up to 1988's Twins
They made a star turn on the red carpet at The Shooting Star Chase Ball on Saturday night.

And while Lauren Silverman stole the limelight from her partner Simon Cowell in a daring plum-coloured gown, she also experienced the downside to a racy outfit.

Featuring a sheer torso with intricate floral detailing, the 39-year-old suffered a wardrobe mishap as the see-through nature of the garment exposed her bare chest.

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while Lauren Silverman stole the limelight from her partner Simon Cowell in a daring plum-coloured gown, she also experienced the downside to a racy outfit

Under the bright lights of the cameras as she arrived on the red carpet Lauren's bare breast was clearly visible.

Seemingly unaware of the wardrobe malfunction the mother-of-two was all smiles as she posed for pictures with her partner.

Despite the malfunction Lauren looked absolutely ravishing in the sheer plum-coloured gown

A slight sartorial slip: Featuring a sheer torso with intricate floral detailing, the 39-year-old suffered a wardrobe mishap as the see-through nature of the garment exposed her bare chest

The garment highlighted her curves as it fell in to a figure-skimming skirt, with her matching pedicure peeking out slightly underneath.

And the American socialite's hair and make-up also added to the sex-kitten appeal with her brunette locks parted down the middle and blow-dried to perfection.

She opted for purple smokey eyes and glossy pink lips, while a pair of dangling earrings framed her pretty face.

All eyes on her: Seemingly unaware of the wardrobe malfunction the mother-of-two was all smiles as she posed for pictures with her partner

Sartroial sauciness: Despite the malfunction, the socialite looked absolutely ravishing in the sheer plum-coloured gown

Simon was also suited and booted for the occasion - showing off his signature chest hair with his slightly unbuttoned shirt.

The music mogul beamed on the arm of his other half, who looked just as stunning during the event's afternoon tea session earlier in the day.

Lauren opted for a gorgeous navy dress which boasted flirty material on the front and white details down the front.

Stylish as always: The garment highlighted her curves as it fell in to a figure-skimming skirt, with her matching pedicure peeking out slightly underneath

Brunette beauty: The American star's hair and make-up also added to the sex-kitten appeal with her brunette locks parted down the middle and blow-dried to perfection

Tailored to match: Simon was also suited and booted for the occasion, which saw the music mogul matching his partner's stylish tone

A reason to smile: The music mogul beamed on the arm of his other half, who looked just as stunning during the event's afternoon tea session earlier in the day

Va va voom! Lauren really only had eyes for her partner, with the loved-up heiress unable to tear her eyes off of Simon

Simon recently discussed his relationship with Lauren Silverman on ITV's Lorraine, with whom he raises two-year-old son Eric.

The TV star has a very stressful life thanks to his reality shows in both the UK and the US as well as his running his own record label, and says Lauren helps him get the work/life balance right.

He enthused: '[Lauren calls some of the shots] but for all the right reasons - if you're not careful you can almost burn yourself out - you've got to have that separation."

Daytime glam: Earlier on in the day, Lauren opted for a gorgeous navy dress which boasted flirty material on the front and white details down the front

Fashionable: Britain's Got Talent star Connie Talbot , 15, looked pretty in a slinky key-hole style glittering dress

Flower power: Presenter Angela Scanlon also looked pretty in a floral skirt, which she teamed with a black top and blazer.

The pair have been dating since 2013 and Simon says this relationship is different from his others as he previously always made all the decisions.

Meanwhile, Britain's Got Talent star Connie Talbot , 15, looked pretty in a glittering dress.

Presenter Angela Scanlon also looked pretty in a floral skirt, which she teamed with a black top and blazer.

Another familiar face: Dame Joan Collins arrived on the arm of her husband Percy Gibson
She's the stunning lawyer-turned-Internet-sensation that's known for her picture-perfect snaps.

But Pia Muehlenbeck suffered a wardrobe malfunction on Tuesday as she made her way to Kookai's Spring/Summer Launch on Sydney Harbour.

The brunette beauty failed to conceal her skimpy lace briefs when a gush of wind blew open her slinky white frock.

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Don't get your knickers in a knot! Pia Muehlenbeck (pictured) suffered a wardrobe malfunction on Tuesday while heading to Kookai's Spring/Summer Launch on Sydney Harbour, when a gush of wind failed to conceal her skimpy lace briefs

Pia sported the brand's Huntington Wrap Dress as she made her way to Sydney's King Street Wharf.

The plunging neckline drew attention to her ample cleavage, while the fabric draped across her slim frame revealed far more than she intended when a gush of wind revealed her lace briefs.

Despite the fashion faux-pas, the brunette beauty took it in her stride, and was seen laughing as onlookers took snaps of her arrival.

Male admirers: The brunette beauty had the assistance of a group of photographers nearby who offered to give her a helping hand as she made her way through Sydney's intense winds

Accessorising with a pair of nude strappy heels, Pia adorned her neck with delicate gold jewellery and two cuffs on her left arm.

While being windswept, the model and blogger's striking facial features were brought into focus, enhanced with a glamorous makeup look of defined brows, a metallic eye and a nude lip.

Pia was soon joined by Anna Heinrich and a female friend who also wore pieces from the popular fashion brand.

Company: Pia was soon joined by Anna Heinrich (left) and a female friend who also wore pieces from the popular fashion brand

Not fashion friendly: Anna also suffered from a gush of wind, her blonde tresses swept back off her face in a dramatic fashion

Leggy ladies: The intense winds drew attention the starlet's trim pins

Anna also suffered from a gush of wind, her blonde tresses swept back off her face in a dramatic fashion.

Once inside the venue however, all girls returned to their fashionable best, posing for photos near the media wall.

Pia, who boasts 1.3 million Instagram followers, left the corporate world to pursue a life as an in-demand model and blogger.

The Sydney resident now owns a luxury sportswear line, is a market editor for GRAZIA and has graced numerous fashion magazines.
Pop punk band 5 Seconds of Summer recently flew Down Under for the final leg of their international Sounds Live Feels Live tour.

But it was fun and games for the Aussie four-piece backstage at their homecoming show at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Tuesday night.

Before the concert, the band shared several Instagram photos of themselves playing pranks on each other while preparing to hit the stage.

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A bit tied up? It was fun and games for 5 Seconds Of Summer backstage at their homecoming show at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Tuesday night. Pictured: drummer Ashton Irwin

In particular, it looks like handsome drummer Ashton Irwin was a little tied up in the dressing room before their 100th show.

In a series of photos, the 22-year-old is shown being wrapped up in bubble wrap and sticky tape by several friends.

Meanwhile, the band were spotted arriving at Brisbane Airport and posing for photographs with female fans on Saturday.

Celebrations! On Tuesday, the Australian pop punk band played their 100th concert on their international Sounds Live Feels Live tour

This way up! Before the concert, the band shared several Instagram photos of themselves playing pranks on each other while preparing to hit the stage

They played a concert in the Queensland capital on Sunday night before flying to Sydney Airport on Tuesday.

Because of popular demand, 5SOS are playing back-to-back shows at the Hordern Pavilion and will return on Wednesday.

It comes after Ashton spoke about his personal rule when it comes to having relationships with the group's fans.

Down Under: The four-piece band were spotted arriving at Brisbane Airport on Saturday. Pictured (L-R): Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin

Making a comeback! Because of popular demand, 5SOS are playing back-to-back shows at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion and will return on Wednesday

'Obviously there are many beautiful women who follow this band and that is awesome,' he told Stellar magazine.

'But you need to take care of your actions and make sure that you are respectful all the time,' he added.

Ashton is currently single, having confirmed his split from his bikini model girlfriend Bryana Holly in June this year.
They signed on Fancy hitmaker Iggy Azalea as the show's newest judge.

But even the 26-year-old controversial rap superstar could not save The X Factor Australia's dismal ratings on Sunday night's premiere episode.

The reality singing competition drew in only 904,000 viewers from last year's 1.506 million, resulting in the lowest debut for the show in its history.

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Reality blues! The X Factor Australia hit an all-time low in the ratings on Sunday night's premiere episode, despite signing on controversial rap superstar Iggy Azalea (pictured) 23, as the series' newest judge

According to OzTam overnight metro ratings, The X Factor Australia hit its lowest debut number of all time.

Up against the Nine network's home renovation show The Block and endurance series Survivor, the 7.30pm time slot proved too hard for the singing competition to hit the right note.

The Block managed to draw in impressive numbers, attracting 1.069 million viewers for their room reveal episode.

Hitting the wrong note: According to OzTam overnight metro ratings, The X Factor Australia hit its lowest debut number of all time

Less than stellar: The reality singing competition drew in only 904,000 viewers from last year's 1.506 million, resulting in the lowest debut for the show in its history

Not even tensions between judges Iggy Azalea and Adam Lambert could draw the numbers in.

Auditioning as the first group of the series, the three-piece fd3 performed a choreographed number that had the superstar judges at loggerheads.

The group hoped Iggy would like how they mixed dance elements in with their vocals, saying: 'we're not keen to get on the bad side of her'.

Unfortunately, she cringed and said 'oh no' as soon as the performance started and it didn't get much better for her as they continued.

Meanwhile, Adam was nodding his head with enthusiasm to the high-energy performance.

Difference of views: Adam said he enjoyed the performance and the dancing of three-piece fd3

Adam said he enjoyed the performance and the dancing, while Iggy interjected with 'no, Adam. no'.

She addressed the group with her feedback: 'dancing the whole way through the song can become so personality void and very 90s'.

Adam stood up for the group, mentioning that Justin Bieber dances on stage and that their moves were decent.

The group were then given a chance to redeem themselves without choreography, going back-to-basics with an acoustic One Direction cover.

The rap queen warmed up to their second performance, agreeing with Adam to give them the resounding 'yes' vote with fellow Judge Guy Sebastian.

Boy band: Auditioning as the first group of the series, the three-piece fd3 performed a choreographed piece that divided judges Iggy Azalea and Adam Lambert
She's reportedly rekindled her relationship with posh boy Sam Prince.

And Lottie Moss stayed true to her up and coming model status in an artfully stylish ensemble as she headed for a night out at Jak's Bar in Chelsea on Monday.

The 18-year-old rising star looked like the ultimate biker babe in a leather jacket and ripped jeans, while clutching on to her iPhone contained in a quirky cigarette-packet case.

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Night out: Lottie Moss, 18, looked utterly stylish in a pair of ripped jeans and leather jacket as she headed to Jak's Bar in Chelsea on Monday

Lottie - the half-sister of supermodel Kate Moss - worked her sensational figure in the skin-tight jeans which were strategically ripped at the knees.

The beauty accentuated her frame with a pair of slick black boots which coordinated with her cool outerwear and statement handbag.

She scraped half of her blonde locks up in to a high ponytail while the rest framed her flawlessly rosy features.

It was however her Moschino phone case - retailing at 50 - which proved to be the focal point of the ensemble.

Smokin' hot! She teamed the all-black biker look with a quirky Moschino phone case, retailing at 50

The statement piece is part of the Italian luxury house's Fashion Kills A/W 16 campaign and according to retailer Selfridges, 'the tongue-in-cheek style takes a satirical approach to the world of consumerism'.

Meanwhile it seems the gorgeous girl is now off the market - having reportedly found solace in her former beau Sam.

According to The Sun, the model has started dating the West London native once again - after the pair broke things off two years ago when he supposedly strayed away.

Loved-up? Lottie has reportedly rekindled her relationship with posh boy ex Sam Prince

The pair sparked rumours of a reunion earlier in the summer, when they were spotted cosying up at Embargo nightclub in Chelsea in July.

With Lottie flashing her pins in a white silk play-suit and Sam dressed in a crisp white shirt, the pair looked a good match for their night out.

Chatting outside the party venue, the pair later left the club side-by-side.

The couple have reportedly been spotted on numerous nights out in swanky London bars and restaurants together since.

Handsome couple: The pair sparked rumours of a reunion earlier in the summer, when they were spotted cosying up at Embargo nightclub in Chelsea in July

However, the pairing may be set to cause further love woe for Lottie - who does not have a entirely smooth past with the Chelsea socialite.

A source told the newspaper: 'Lottie and Sam have history but it's not overly positive.

'They dated two years ago but Sam wasn't faithful. They have recently rekindled their relationship and although it's early days, Lottie's hoping Sam will behave himself.'

Her wish may be a difficult ask for the heartthrob, who is good friends with Made In Chelsea lotharios Jamie Laing and Alex Mytton.

Heart-breaker: Despite her tender 18 years of age, Lottie has already had her fair share of love drama

Connections: Lottie is likely to have met Sam in Chelsea, where she is often seen socialising with the Made in Chelsea cast such as Jamie Laing and James Dunmore (above)

The blonde beauty has been linked to several suitors in the past - having enjoyed lunch in June with pop star Conor Maynard, and flirted with Geordie Shore star Ricci Guarnaccio on Twitter.

However despite her tender 18 years of age, Lottie has already had her fair share of love drama.

The revelation of the new romance with Sam comes soon after the seemingly swift end of Lottie's last formal relationship

It was only at the end of July that Lottie was seen cosying up to boyfriend Josh Goldin outside Conchiglia restaurant in London.

Good genes: Lottie is the younger half-sister of fashion icon Kate Moss

The then loved-up pair were seen leaning in for plenty of kisses on the street outside the eatery - although they had fuelled rumours of a potential split that same week after both retweeting messages about infidelity.

And, back in February 2015, Lottie caused controversy on Twitter when she wrote to her followers after a night-out at 4am: 'You know it's a successful night when you throw your drink in your ex boyfriends face.'

Lottie is signed to Storm Model Management, the same booking company that scouted Kate at 14.

Following footsteps: Lottie is signed to Storm Model Management, the same booking company that scouted Kate at 14

The school girl was originally scouted at Kate's wedding to Jamie Hince in 2011 but waited until the week of her 16th birthday to sign with an agency.

Lottie first transformed into a cover girl for L'officiel's March issue last month and in the accompanying interview, she explained she feels 'no pressure' to live up to Kate's legacy.

She told the prestigious style bible: 'I am who I am and I do what I want, whether that is modelling or anything else. The success of my sister does not affect me in my choices. I feel no pressure in that respect.'

Lottie described 42-year-old Kate as 'simply someone other than me' and added it's 'my turn to tell my own story'.
Caitlyn Jenner has come under fire from some of her own social media followers for posting a happy picture of herself and daughter Kylie hours after step-daughter Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

The transgender reality star, 66, posted the snap, which shows her and the 19-year-old smiling with their arms around each other, to her Instagram on Monday.

'Had so much fun with Kylie at Sunday's car show,' Caitlyn wrote.

Inappropriate? Caitlyn Jenner posted this photo of herself and daughter Kylie to Instagram on Monday, prompting some of her fans to brand her insensitive in the wake of stepdaughter Kim Kardashian's ordeal in Paris

However, some of her fans were shocked that she wasn't showing concern for Kim's ordeal.

'Kim got robbed and she doesn't even have a dad to help her so sad,' one follower wrote in response to the photo.

Kim was 11 years old when Caitlyn - then Bruce - married her mother Kris Jenner, who had divorced her biological father Robert Kardashian in 1991, the same year she wed the Olympic decathlon gold medalist.

Another of her social media followers wrote: 'Are you kidding me? Your daughter has a gun held to her head and this is what you are posting.'

Father figure: Kim was 11 when mom Kris married Caitlyn - then Bruce - in 1991. The I Am Cait star was her only father figure after biological dad Robert Kardashian died in 2003

Caitlyn and Kylie were both home in Los Angeles while kim's drama was unfolding thousands of miles away.

They had spent Sunday together at a car show with Kylie also posting a photo to her Instagram on Monday showing her at the wheel of one of the Batmobiles made for the movies starring Michael Keaton.

The Hollywood prop is now owned by comedian Jeff Dunham.

Having fun: Kylie Jenner, 19, also popsted a photo Monday showing herself at the wheel of a Batmobile made for the Michael Keaton Batman films

Going solo: Caitlyn has cut a lonely figure in recent weeks, being seen mostly out running errands and grabbing coffee by herself. She's seen on September 24 in Malibu

The latest reports coming out of Paris suggest that Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Kim, 35, may have been tailed by two men in the days preceding her terrifying ordeal inside an exclusive apartment in a wealthy enclave of Paris.

The two men allegedly posed as a plain-clothed detective and a photographer to gain vital 'close surveillance' information for robbery.

During the heist inside the Hotel Pourtales in the early hours of Monday morning, Kim is said to have been bound and gagged and locked in a bathroom after begging for her life. The thieves got away with $11 million in jewelry.
She's in the final stages of her pregnancy with Rob Kardashian's baby.

And Blac Chyna appeared to be feeling wistful about her pre-pregnancy body on Monday.

The 28-year-old posted a snap in gym gear, which showcased her slimmer former figure, which she captioned: 'Can't wait.' She is expecting a daughter on November 16.

Ready to work out: Blac Chyna appeared to be feeling wistful about her pre-pregnancy body as she shared this old photo on Monday

The former stripper is seen ready for a workout, in the picture, wearing a cropped top and leggings which flaunt her slim waist and curvy derriere.

With her tattoos firmly on display, she also shared a second image which was captioned: 'five weeks', referring to her due date.

She celebrated the impending arrival of her child with a baby shower at the weekend.

Trim: The 28-year-old posted a snap in gym gear, which showcased her slimmer former figure, which she captioned: 'Can't wait'

Planning the party had been fraught with drama, and when the big day finally arrived it went off smoothly.

However, Kim Kardashian was video calling the couple at 2.30am Paris time - apparently her final call before being tied up and robbed at gun-point at 3am.

The 35-year-old had only just hung up the phone to the parents-to-be as they celebrated in Woodland Hills, California, when two masked and armed men burst into the apartment she was staying.

Bump: She's expecting her happy arrival on November 16

Drama-filled! Blac and Rob Kardashian celebrated their imminent arrival with a baby shower at the weekend

On her Snapchat video, as she chatted to the couple, Kim can be seen wearing her large diamond ring which is believed to be have stolen by the men who made off with $11 million worth of jewels.

Chyna and her fiance Rob have recently been through a rough patch, but looked as though they were having the time of their lives and were spotted sharing a laugh and a cuddle during the festivities.

The nail salon owner also enjoyed a time on a fancy party bus which was decked out with a stripper pole, as she headed to the celebrations on Sunday with her four-year-old son King Cairo.
Wrestling legend Ric Flair claimed this week that Halle Berry had accepted an invitation 'to ride Space Mountain' back before she was famous.

But on Tuesday, the Oscar-winning actress, 50, categorically denied that they had ever had a fling.

A rep for the actress told TMZ that Berry 'never' had sex with Flair, 67.

Riding Space Mountain: WWE legend Ric Flair, pictured in the ring in 2004, claimed on his podcast that he'd had sex with Hollywood star Halle Berry back in the late 1990s

The WWE champ made the claim on his Ric Flair Show podcast, bragging that the Catwoman star was one of 'dozens' of celebrities with whom he'd had a sexual encounter - or who had ridden Space Mountain as he refers to his sexual encounters.

Flair said he and Berry had got it together in Atlanta following her 1997 divorce from MLB star David Justice.

'There is NO truth to this!' sources told TMZ. 'Halle has literally never even heard of him let alone met him!!!'

Not true: The Monster's Ball Oscar winner, 50, categorically denied via her spokesperson that she had ever had sex with Flair. She's pictured in LA last week

Not only is the mother-of-two, who is estranged from third husband Olivier Martinez, denying the allegation; she's also said to be 'deeply offended' by the insinuation.

A source said: 'A man doesn't get to sexualize and lie about a woman he's never met to better himself or his name. It's offensive, demeaning and beyond misogynistic.'

Flair's claim happened after he responded to a fan question posed via Twitter, asking if any celebrities had ridden Space Mountain.

Bragged: Flair, 67, euphemistically refers to his sexual encounters as 'riding Space Mountain' and claimed Berry was one of 'dozens' of celebrities who'd taken a 'ride'

'Oh gosh, several dozen,' he responded. 'Do you want me to start with Halle Berry?'

'Of course she did. She was in Atlanta and she had just gotten divorced from Dave Justice,' he went on.

The shows co-host Conrad Thompson asked if it was a true story.

'Would I have to make up a lie?' Flair replied.
Miranda Kerr touched down in France on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a somewhat belated appearance at Paris Fashion Week.

The Australian supermodel, 33, caught the eye upon her arrival at Charles-de-Gaulle airport after jetting into Europe for the last vestiges of the biannual event, which closes on Wednesday evening.

Opting for a striking emerald green blouse, Miranda ensured she commanded attention while making her way across the arrivals lounge shortly after touching down.

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New arrival: Miranda Kerr touched down in France on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a somewhat belated appearance at Paris Fashion Week

A pair of distressed, high-slung jeans clung to the famously toned physique that helped win her a lucrative contract with lingerie brand Victorias Secret, while trendy slip-on loafers rounded things off.

Miranda gave the ensemble a sophisticated flourish by draping a knee-length coat across her shoulders and accessorized tastefully by opting for a chunky buckled belt and heavily tinted shades.

With a green leather handbag casually slung across one shoulder the model cut a relaxed figure while being guided out of the airport and towards a waiting car.

She's a diamond! Opting for a striking emerald green blouse, Miranda ensured she commanded attention while making her way across the arrivals lounge

Shady: The model accessorised tastefully by opting for a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses

She's a jean-ius: A pair of distressed, high-slung jeans clung to the famously toned physique that helped win her a lucrative contract with lingerie brand Victorias Secret

As Paris Fashion Week winds down Miranda is thought to be in the French capital ahead of the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring-Summer 2017 runway show on Wednesday morning.

The event will be followed by presentations from YDE, Moncler Gamme Rouge, Moon Young Here and Miu Miu before Fashion Week officially closes with the Blind Fashion show at 6:00pm.

Miranda was without tech billionaire fiance Evan Spiegel on Tuesday, but recently admitted they might be adding a new additional to their family.

Elegance: Miranda gave the ensemble a sophisticated flourish by draping a knee-length coat across her shoulders

The model opened up about her husband-to-be: 'I am definitely open to the possibility of having more,' Miranda told The Daily Telegraph's Stellar magazine

Miranda also revealed that she's set her wedding date for next year and that she will 'keep our wedding small and intimate'.

The model first stepped out in public with Evan at a pre-Grammys gala in Beverly Hills in February.

Busy girl: As Paris Fashion Week winds down Miranda is thought to be in the French capital ahead of the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring-Summer 2017 runway show on Wednesday morning
She's expecting her second child with high-profile husband Peter Andre.

And Emily Macdonagh seems to be making her latest pregnancy look yet more effortless than the last, after she showed off her glow this week.

The 27-year-old junior doctor offered a glimpse at her blossoming shape, picking out an olive green dress with a flirty kick hem for a promotional shoot with fellow mothers in London.

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Flirty skirt: Pregnant Emily MacDonagh looked chic as she spent a day in London encouraging mothers to get their NHS flu vaccination this week

The brunette looked happy and relaxed, hugging her bump in the long-sleeved number that skimmed over her shape.

Plumping for an autumnal palette, the mum-of-one picked out a pair of knee-high tanned boots that showed off her long legs.

She also looked especially coiffed; her long ombre locks left poker straight and glossy about her shoulders.

In full bloom: The stunning doctor wore olive green, hugging her bump as she showed off her blossoming shape

Emily, who welcomed a daughter in January 2014, announced her baby joy in May and will welcome Peter's fourth child later this year.

Popstar-turned-TV personality Peter, who was previously married to Katie Price, has been trying to help Emily juggle her pregnancy and her job as a doctor.

'I just want to be a shoulder to her and help her through any difficult times,' Peter told Hello! in April, 'It's hard for her.'

He continued: 'We do a "debrief" when she comes home and she talks me through what's happened in the day.

Elegant: The tall and elegant mum-of-one looked youthful in tan boots, which elevated her frame with chunky heels

'I always try to make sure I've made her a nice dinner so that she comes into a nice, calm environment, where the baby is looked after.'

Owing to her pregnancy, health-conscious Emily recently missed out on a family trip to Florida with Peter, Amelia and his two eldest children Princess and Junior.

She's now teamed up with Boots to encourage expectant mothers to get their flu vaccination.

Emily said: 'Like all mums, I have worried about the health of my baby during this pregnancy and my first.

'So I understand it can be difficult to know what precautions are the right ones to take.

'However, from my training as a doctor I know that having a flu vaccination during pregnancy is so important for protecting you and your baby from the complications of flu.'
She was in Paris for Fashion Week at the same time as Kim Kardashian's shocking $11m jewelry robbery.

But Hailee Steinfeld has now moved on to London.

The 19-year-old put on a leggy display in a thigh-skimming leather mini-skirt as she arrived at the Global Radio studios in Leicester Square on Tuesday.

Leggy display: Hailee Steinfeld went hell for leather as she looked delighted to be in London on Tuesday

The pretty youngster sizzled as she flashed her black bra in a sheer nude shirt.

She added lace-front towering heels, and a black leather belt.

Her make-up was kept fresh, with smokey eyes and a natural lip hue.

Sexy: The 19-year-old put on a leggy display in a thigh-skimming leather mini-skirt as she arrived at the Global Radio studios in Leicester Square

Her voluminous locks were in a centre-parting, with a little side bangs skimming one eyebrow.

The teen star, who sky-rocketed to fame for her portrayal of Mattie Ross in the film True Grit, completed her style with a chunky necklace.

She was seen on Monday leaving the George V hotel in Paris, a few blocks from the apartment where Kim was tied up and robbed in the early hours of Monday morning.

Stylish: The pretty youngster sizzled as she flashed her black bra in a sheer nude shirt

Vertiginous: She added lace-front towering heels, and a black leather belt

Beauty: Her make-up was kept fresh, with smokey eyes and a natural lip hue

Hailee looked stylish in over-the-knee boots and a flirty floral dress.

The busy entertainer is juggling her music career and acting, and recently signed on for the third and final installment of the Pitch Perfect franchise.

She has also received strong reviews for her performance opposite Woody Harrelson in The Edge Of Seventeen, which premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.

Fashion forward: She was seen on Monday leaving the George V hotel in Paris, a few blocks from the apartment where Kim was tied up and robbed in the early hours of Monday morning

Prints charming: Hailee looked stylish in over-the-knee boots and a flirty floral dress 24 hours before, in Paris

Busy: The entertainer is keeping busy with juggling her music career and acting, and recently recently signed on for the third and final installment of the Pitch Perfect franchise

The actress, who portrays troubled high school student Nadine Byrd, told Seventeen magazine she can relate to her troubled character.

She said: 'This girl goes through experiences I totally went through, where it felt like it was the absolute end of the world.

'Just having so many moments where you question who you are and what it is that youre good at and what you feel good in. I was home schooled for a reason.'

Close-by: Hailee was in Paris for Fashion Week at the same time Kim Kardashian's shocking robbery took place




Kim has fled home to Los Angeles following the incident, while her friends have stayed on in Paris

Kim Kardashian has fled back to Los Angeles following her terrifying ordeal, which saw robbers steal 8.5million worth of jewellery from her at gun point.

And the 35-year-old reality star's close friends Simone Harouche and Jasmine Sanders have now been seen for the first time since Kim begged for her life after being bound and gagged in her Paris apartment.

Kim's childhood friend Simone is alleged to have alerted Kim's bodyguard to the robbery by text after locking herself in the bathroom of the 25,000-night Hotel de Pourtales complex where the star and her entourage were staying.

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Stepping out: Kim Kardashian's close friends Simone Harouche (left) and Jasmine Sanders (right) have now been seen for the first time since the reality star's terrifying ordeal in Paris

Traumatic time: Kim Kardashian has fled back to Los Angeles after robbers steal 8.5million worth of jewellery from her at gun point at the 25,000-night Hotel de Pourtales complex where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week

Celebrity stylist Simone was seen clambering out of a car, clad in an all black ensemble as she ventured out in the French capital.

Also spotted was Jasmine, who is said to have raced back to the scene of the crime at around 3am alongside Kim's sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner after her bodyguard Pascal Duvier received the distress message.

The brunette was joined by TV personality Terrance Jenkins as they left a restaurant in the city.

Childhood BFF: Celebrity stylist Simone was seen clambering out of a car, clad in an all black ensemble as she ventured out in the French capital

Kim's best friend Simone locked herself in the bathroom and texted the star's bodyguard from the bathroom 'because she couldn't dial 911' during the terrifying robbery, it has been claimed.

The 36-year-old blonde was asleep downstairs at the Hotel de Pourtales where armed robbers bound and gagged the reality TV star and stole her 3.5m engagement ring.

Details Ms Harouche's quick-thinking during Monday's ordeal emerged as detectives in Paris investigate how the gunmen got inside her flat.

Making the call: Kim's terrified 'high school BFF' Simone is reported to have texted her bodyguard after hiding in the bathroom during the 9m robbery in Paris

Stylist to the stars Harouche (right, with her husband Marc Bretter) texted bodyguard Pascal Duvier because she could not dial 911 from her phone, it has been reported

Some reports claim Harouche raised the alarm after hearing Kim break free from her bonds in the marble bathtub upstairs while others say she alerted Duvier after hearing the reality TV star scream from the balcony over Rue Tronchet

Conflicting reports exist over where Miss Harouche was as the robbers tied Kim's wrists with tags and put her in a marble bath tub.

Initial reports suggested the mother-of-two locked herself in the downstairs bathroom and texted bodyguard Pascal Duvier after 'hearing noises' upstairs.

However others claim she raised the alarm after hearing Kim screaming for help on the balcony over the upmarket Rue Tronchet.

A source told E! she texted Mr Duvier, who was escorting Kim's sister Kourtney and supermodel stepsister Kendall Jenner at the L'Arc nightclub two miles away, because 'she couldn't dial 911 from her phone'.

They added Kim wriggled free from her bonds after the robbers escaped with her 15-carat diamond engagement ring, two smartphones and 1,000 in cash.

The source claimed she ran down to California-born Harouche with duct tape still wrapped around her legs and told her to 'jump off the balcony' to get away.

There are reports mother-of-two Harouche (pictured) locked herself in the downstairs bathroom at the Hotel de Pourtales and texted Duvier after 'hearing noises' upstairs

Harouche's celebrity clients include pop star Christina Aguilera (left), who threw the stylist's bachelorette party, and socialite Nicole Richie (right)

They added: 'She [Kim] thought they were for sure going to kill her. She begged for them to let her live and [said] she has babies at home.'

Sources close to the investigation in France suggest that police accept the five men could have tricked their way into the building.

But it remains unclear how they got into the apartment through an armoured door locked from the inside.

They told MailOnline: 'She [Kardashian] would never open the door in the middle of the night in these circumstances, so who did?'

The star, 35, gave a statement to police before flying back to the US where she was reunited with superstar husband Kanye West.

Stylist Harouche immediately left Paris for Los Angeles, where she lives with her real estate husband Marc Bretter, son Dashiel, and their daughter, Azlan.

Kim Kardashian was rushed onto a plane bound for New York on Monday morning after being robbed at gunpoint (pictured, Kardashian and her personal assistant on the runway in Paris)

Kim Kardashian was greeted by rapper husband Kanye West (right) as she touched down in New York after her terrifying ordeal in Paris

She and Kim are thought to have known each other since childhood when they both attended Marymount High School, in Bel Air.

The reality TV star once posted a photo of the pair together on her Instagram, saying: 'Fun day working with my high school BFF.'

Ms Harouche, who graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York, hosts a stellar list of celebrity clients including the Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Richie and Christina Aguilera.

She masterminded some of Cyrus's most controversial looks and is credited with being the brains behind Aguilera's 50s pin-up style for her 'Back to Basics' album and world tour.

In 2011, The Hollywood Reporter named Harouche in its list of the top 25 'most powerful stylists in Hollywood'.

French authorities suspect Kardashian's attackers tracked her expensive jewellery and possessions through her social media accounts.

They knew the star was alone because they were in contact with her security team, a source told celebrity website Page Six.

It is unclear whether Harouche, who has styled superstars including Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera for their world tours, arrived in Paris as part of Kardashian's entourage (pictured, Harouche, centre, with Nicole Richie, left)

Harouche is credited as the brains behind Christina Aguilera's (left) 50s pin-up style as well as some of Miley Cyrus's (right) most controversial looks

Harouche immediately left Paris for Los Angeles, where she lives with her real estate husband Marc Bretter, son Dashiel and daughter Azlan (pictured, a throwback Harouche posted of her and her husband)

THE CRIME WITH ALL OF THE HALLMARKS OF THE NOTORIOUS PINK PANTHERS The robbery bore the hallmarks of the Pink Panthers, a gang of criminals who have got away with more than 280million in jewels in a series of high-profile raids since 1984. The crime network, whose members mostly come from Serbia and Montenegro, are known for their thorough planning and for using disguise and the element of surprise before overpowering their targets with minimum violence. In the raid on Miss Kardashian, the five men wore police arm bands, waited until there was little security and spoke English with heavy accents. The robbery bore the hallmarks of the Pink Panthers, a gang of criminals who have got away with more than 280million in jewels in a series of high-profile raids since 1984 The Pink Panthers got their nickname after a London robbery in 2003 when a thief hid a diamond in a pot of beauty cream, similar to the plot of one of the Pink Panther movies about an inept French detective, played by Peter Sellers. The group, which has hit targets around the world including in Cannes, Tokyo, Singapore and Dubai, are a loose network of around 200 criminals. Their ruses to gain entry have included dressing as golfers, Hawaiian tourists, workmen and police officers, and for getaway vehicles they have used everything from bicycles in Tokyo to speedboats in St Tropez. One of the gangs most audacious crimes was at the Wafi Mall in Dubai in 2007. In two high-powered cars, they smashed their way into the mall. A man in a black bodysuit and balaclava leaped from one car, which then reversed into the door of a Graff Diamonds store. Armed with a gun and a hammer, he helped himself to 2.1million of diamonds and the gang then sped off, all within 170 seconds. In 1984, three crooks with machine guns stormed into a jewellery shop at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes and cleared its shelves of 39million worth of gems. In 1984, three crooks with machine guns stormed into a jewellery shop at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes and cleared its shelves of 39million worth of gems In 2014, Borko Ilincic, a 33-year-old Serbian, was detained by Spanish police in the town of Alcala de Henares, just outside Madrid. He has been described as one of the leaders of the Pink Panthers  but their survival and success depends on them being a loose and non-hierarchical network who work independently in cells, so his arrest may have had no effect on the gangs effectiveness. Detectives investigating the Kardashian raid are likely to have contacted colleagues in Madrid, Belgrade and Interpols headquarters in Lyon to see if this could have been another robbery by the Pink Panthers or a similar Eastern European gang. Advertisement

Police in France have described the robbery as 'extremely rare' and said the robbers were focused on 'possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media'.

On Thursday, Kardashian posted a close-up photograph of a huge diamond ring on her left hand captioned with three diamond emojis.

Johanna Primevert, chief spokeswoman for the Paris police department, told the Associated Press: 'This is the result of people who obviously posed as policemen and who assaulted Ms Kardashian in a private hotel in her room by threat of a weapon.

'This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide.

'Do not confuse what happened to Ms Kardashian and probably was the result of an organised team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame [cathedral] or another tourist spot in Paris.'

Only two of the five suspects are believed to have forced their way into the apartment, in the eighth district of Paris behind the Madeleine church, according to the city's prosecutors' office.

Around an hour before the robbery, Kim posted a video on Snapchat showing her wearing the 15-carat engagement ring (pictured) as she FaceTimed Blac Chyna

French police officers stood guard outside the scene of the robbery at the Hotel de Pourtales (pictured) complex where armed robbers bound and gagged Kardashian

Kardashian's husband, rapper West, abruptly cut short his show at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York after being told the news on stage - and told the crowd: 'I'm sorry, family emergency, I have to stop the show.'

Just days before the attack, Kardashian heaped praise on her German bodyguard Duvier after he rugby tackled a notorious celebrity prankster who tried to grab the star as she walked into a restaurant.
Season six of American Horror Story has only just premiered but already FX has commissioned a seventh outing for the anthology series.

The show, created by Glee's Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, has 11 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter that broke the news Tuesday of a seventh season.

'Ryan, Brad and their team of remarkable writers have done an amazing job of keeping American Horror Story endlessly inventive, shocking and entertaining,' FX Networks and Productions CEO John Landgraf told the trade publication.

Back for more: FX has renewed American Horror Story for a seventh season it was revealed on Tuesday

'The sustained success through six installments only proves how intensely the series resonates with fans,' Landgraf continued.

'AHS confronts our deepest fears with unmatched suspense and style. Each new installment is a cultural event, hotly anticipated for its theme, imagery, cast and twists.'

In a departure after five successful seasons, the show's producers kept the theme for the seventh series tightly under wraps in a successful effort to build anticipation for the new episodes.

Same cast, different stories: Series stalwart Sarah Paulson is joined by her The People v. O.J. Simpson co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. for AHS: Roanoke, that premiered on September 14

The cable network made 24 different promos for the show with the real theme only being revealed in the series premiere on September 14.

Season six centers around the lost Colony of Roanoke, a group of English settlers who mysteriously disappeared from an island off the coast of what is now North Carolina in the 16th century.

AHS regulars Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Evan Peters are back as is season five newcomer Lady Gaga, and they're joined this time around by Cuba Gooding Jr.

Season seven will debut sometime in 2017.
She upped the glamour for her stint at Paris Fashion Week.

But Lara Stone was back to her usual laid-back self upon her return to the UK, cutting a casual figure as she ventured out in London on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old model was dressed down for the occasion, slipping into a pair of ripped skinny jeans and sombre accessories.

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Post Paris Fashion Week outing: Lara Stone was back to her usual laid-back self upon her return to the UK, cutting a casual figure as she ventured out in London on Tuesday

Lara teamed her distressed trousers with a plain black top and a matching jacket.

She wore a pair of wedged trainers on her feet, adding some extra height to her already statuesque frame thanks to the built in heels.

The blonde wore her locks pulled back in a messy ponytail and hid behind a large pair of sunglasses.

Keeping a low profile: The blonde wore her locks pulled back in a messy ponytail and hid behind a large pair of sunglasses

Casual: Lara wore a pair of wedged trainers on her feet, adding some extra height to her already statuesque frame thanks to the built in heels

Lara went make-up free for her outing, giving her skin a chance to breathe after the glitz and glamour of PFW.

The beauty queen was last seen at the Givenchy SS17 show, where she joined the likes of Irina Shayk on the front row.

Lara split from husband David Walliams in February 2015 - who she has three-year-old son Alfred with - after six years together.

Natural vibes: Lara went make-up free for her outing, giving her skin a chance to breathe after the glitz and glamour of PFW

All-black ensemble: Lara teamed her distressed trousers with a plain black top and a matching jacket

Since her marriage ended, Lara went public with one boyfriend in February; a fellow model Andrew Gray.

But things seemed to fizzle out fast since she stopped posting about the hunk not long after their Instagram debut.

She also seemed to be getting close to 19-year-old Australian Jordan Barrett in May when they were pictured cosying up after the Vogue 100 Gala.

But most recently, she appeared smitten with wealthy art dealer Helly Nahmad after sightings on numerous London dates.

Checking in: Lara was gazing intently at her phone as she strolled along
Having arrived for a rather belated appearance at Paris Fashion Week Miranda Kerr was evidently in no mood to waste time as she stepped out in the French capital on Tuesday evening.

The Australian model, 33, looked fresh and vibrant during an outing in Paris shortly after touching down ahead of the biannual events closing stages.

Indeed, Miranda showed no sign of fatigue after trading her casual shirt and jeans flight ensemble for comparatively sophisticated evening wear ahead of her night out in the picturesque city.

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Here she comes: Having arrived for a rather belated appearance at Paris Fashion Week Miranda Kerr was evidently in no mood to waste time as she stepped out in the French capital on Tuesday evening

The former Victorias Secret Angel caught the eye in a busty plunging top, evident between the lapels of an elegant winter coat adorned with studded embellishments.

Fitted leather trousers drew attention to Mirandas toned physique, partially evident courtesy of distinctive lace up splits running from thigh to calf across both legs.

Smart stiletto heels gave the look a conventional flourish, while an on-trend choker and heavily tinted shades rounded things off.

Woman in black: The Australian model, 33, looked fresh and vibrant during an outing in Paris shortly after touching down ahead of the biannual events closing stages

Kerr blimey! The former Victorias Secret Angel caught the eye in a busty plunging top, evident between the lapels of an elegant winter coat adorned with studded embellishments

Fitted leather trousers drew attention to Mirandas toned physique, partially evident courtesy of distinctive lace up splits running from thigh to calf across both legs

The model touched down in France on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a somewhat late appearance at Paris Fashion Week.

Opting for a striking emerald green blouse, Miranda ensured she commanded attention while making her way across Charles-de-Gaulle airport shortly after touching down.

A pair of distressed, high-slung jeans clung to the famously toned physique that helped win her a lucrative contract with lingerie brand Victorias Secret, while trendy slip-on loafers rounded things off.

Pins on parade: Fitted leather trousers drew attention to Mirandas toned physique, partially evident courtesy of distinctive lace up splits running from thigh to calf across both legs.

Classy lady: Smart stiletto heels gave the look a conventional flourish, while an on-trend choker and heavily tinted shades rounded things off

New arrival: Miranda touched down in France on Tuesday afternoon ahead of a somewhat belated appearance at Paris Fashion Week

Miranda gave the ensemble a sophisticated flourish by draping a knee-length coat across her shoulders and accessorized tastefully by opting for a chunky buckled belt and heavily tinted shades.

With a green leather handbag casually slung across one shoulder the model cut a relaxed figure while being guided out of the airport and towards a waiting car.

As Paris Fashion Week winds down Miranda is thought to be in the French capital ahead of the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring-Summer 2017 runway show on Wednesday morning.

She's a diamond! Opting for a striking emerald green blouse, Miranda ensured she commanded attention while making her way across the arrivals lounge

Shady: The model accessorised tastefully by opting for a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses

She's a jean-ius: A pair of distressed, high-slung jeans clung to the famously toned physique that helped win her a lucrative contract with lingerie brand Victorias Secret

The event will be followed by presentations from YDE, Moncler Gamme Rouge, Moon Young Here and Miu Miu before Fashion Week officially closes with the Blind Fashion show at 6:00pm.

Miranda was without tech billionaire fiance Evan Spiegel on Tuesday, but recently admitted they might be adding a new additional to their family.

The model opened up about her husband-to-be: 'I am definitely open to the possibility of having more,' Miranda told The Daily Telegraph's Stellar magazine

Miranda also revealed that she's set her wedding date for next year and that she will 'keep our wedding small and intimate'.

The model first stepped out in public with Evan at a pre-Grammys gala in Beverly Hills in February.

Elegance: Miranda gave the ensemble a sophisticated flourish by draping a knee-length coat across her shoulders

Busy girl: As Paris Fashion Week winds down Miranda is thought to be in the French capital ahead of the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring-Summer 2017 runway show on Wednesday morning
Angelina Jolie has reportedly upped sticks from Malibu and moved to a more secure compound in the gated Hidden Hills community.

The actress, 41, who filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, 52, two weeks ago, is claimed to have 'moved overnight' to the new rental with her six children.

The property boats 8,000-square-feet of living space and is just over a mile from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's mansion, according to Entertainment Tonight.

New pad: Angelina Jolie has rented a lavish estate with an 8,000-square foot main residence and two swimming pools in the gated Hidden Hills enclave that the Kardashians call home

Changes: The actress, 41, who filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, 52, two weeks ago, is claimed to have 'moved overnight' to the new rental with her six children'; here she is seen in 2015

Angelina is said to be paying $30,000 a month for the property which is currently listed for sale at $6.895 million.

The beachfront Malibu house she and the kids moved into after she filed for divorce on September 19 leased for $95,000 a month.

The new estate features two swimming pools, a large cabana and a wine cellar, per ET.com, and clearly has plenty of room for the children to roam whilst keeping them hidden from public scrutiny.

There are six bedrooms and eight bathrooms as well as a gourmet kitchen, entertainer's lounge complete with large wet bar and a luxurious master suite.

In addition to the two beach-entry free-form pools, there are landscaped lawns and an outdoor barbecue and pizza oven.

Kris Jenner, 60, owns a large home in the community. And Kylie Jenner has purchased three dwellings there. Jennifer Lopez listed her mansion in Hidden Hills earlier this year.

DailyMail.com reached out to Jolie's representatives for comment but has not heard back.

Split: Angelina has temporary custody of the children she shares with Brad until October 20 in an agreement worked out last week. The family is pictured in Japan in November 2011

Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and eight-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox are living with their mom under a temporary custody arrangement worked out between Angelina and Brad.

It's believed that the actor continues to remain at his Los Feliz estate, that he purchased before his first marriage to Jennifer Aniston and that had been the family's base when in Los Angeles.

Last week, the estranged couple, who fell in love while making the 2005 movie Mr & Mrs Smith, agreed to a laundry list of things in order to not have the courts jump in and decide what should happen to their children.

Messy: Angelina and Brad, pictured in 2014, have agreed to counselling, together and with their children, as a way of stopping the courts from jumping in and deciding what happens

Angelina will have physical custody of the kids until October 20. In the meantime, Brad has volunteered to have a monitored visit with them as a therapist sits by his side.

After that, the therapist can judge whether he needs further monitoring. It is believed that the LA Department of Children and Family Services will be updated on these meetings.

Both Hollywood stars will get counseling, and the entire family - both parents and children - will also get therapy together.
Spending an hour or more in the hair and make-up chair is par for the course in the world of showbusiness.

But Kristen Stewart instead went for a low-key look, keeping her hair naturally tousled as she dropped by the NBC Rockefeller Center Studios in New York City to tape the Today Show on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old and Laura Dern, her co-star in the new film Certain Women, sat side by side as they chatted about their project for a segment which will air later this week.

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Chattin' in Manhattan: On Tuesday, Kristen Stewart dropped by the NBC Rockefeller Center Studios in New York City

The Twilight star's tight black miniskirt allowed her to show off her toned legs as she crossed them. A grey pair of socks featured black bands at their cuffs, matching her black dress shoes.

Meanwhile, Jurassic Park actress Dern wore a maxi dress with an intricate green and purple floral pattern splattered over a cream field.

Crisscross strapped gold-coloured stilettos complemented her wavy blonde hair, which she'd thrown over her left shoulder.

Duo of blondes: She was joined by Laura Dern, her co-star on the new film Certain Women

Certain Women, which is adapted from Maile Meloy's short story collection Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It, stars Stewart and Dern alongside Michelle Williams.

The film held its world premiere at Sundance this January, but after a string of other festival bookings was also screened this week at the New York Film Festival, where Stewart and Dern spoke at a press conference.

Dern, 49, touched on the way the film focuses on 'the life that happens in the pauses' and 'the space where no one's watching.'

Buttressing the point, the Cafe Society actress defended the film from viewers who might ask: '"Whats the most important part? Show me the point where something happens." Thats what were used to seeing in movies.'

In the offing: The film will have a limited American release beginning next Friday

She insisted that 'if you can look at the stuff that goes on in between, like getting to and fro, thats when things start living. Its really vulnerable to not be expected to play something. All of sudden, you start revealing things instead of displaying them.'

The process of selecting projects is, for her, blindingly quick. 'I typically dont have to spend more than five minutes in a room with someone to know if I want to explore something with them,' she said.

'Ive worked recently with a lot of people Ive grown up loving, which is a great thing, and Im super lucky. Its super conducive to making good s***, because I think I have pretty good taste! Theres no formula - thats so not how youre ever gonna make anything worthwhile.'

IFC Films snapped up the distribution rights to Kelly Reichardt's latest opus in March, and will give it a limited American release next Friday.

Snap judgment: The film premiered at Sundance in January, but also screened this week at the New York Film Festival
He is believed to be one of the world's greatest ballet dancers of all time.

But Mikhail Baryshnikov seems to be most proud of his daughter Anna who he had with Lisa Rinehart.

The icon beamed as he posed with the star at the New York premiere of her new film, Manchester By The Sea.

Loving dad: Over the weekend, Mikhail Baryshnikov, 68, stepped out to support daughter Anna, 24, at the New York premiere of her film, Manchester By The Sea

Not only is Mikhail an accomplished dancer and choreographer, he's also an Oscar-nominated actor, having been acknowledged for his work in the 1977 film, The Turning Point.

So acting runs in their genes.

'Anna's 24. She's had theater training. She went to Northwestern and at first we resisted but she always wanted to be onstage,' he revealed to Page Six.

'She is my award': While there, Mikhail had nothing but praise for his daughter's work

'We haven't seen the movie. I am so nervous to see this. But I was always nervous, even about my own performances. Listen, I don't even go to my own openings.'

'Some say her work could win an award. What are awards? I don't even care about my own award. She is my award,' gushed the father-of-four.

Anna plays Sandy in the R-rated drama, Machester by the Sea.

Her role: Anna plays Sandy in the R-rated drama, Machester by the Sea

The film stars Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, a man who is left to care for his nephew after his brother Joe -played by Friday Night Light's star Kyle Chandler- dies.

He must then return to his hometown, where he must face his former friends and estranged wife (played by Michelle Williams).

As for Anna, she can next be seen in two TV series', Model Woman and Superior Donuts.

Baryshnikov has an elder daughter Aleksandra Baryshnikov, 35, from his relationship with actress Jessica Lange and three children with Rinehart: Peter, 27, Anna and Sofia, 22.

Runs in the family: Performance is in Anna's genes. Mikhail is an Oscar-nominated actor, having been acknowledged for his work in the 1977 film, The Turning Point

Anna shared this photo of herself with her dad in Chicago, where she attended Northwestern

She captioned this sweet photo on Instagram : 'daddy frat and baby frat #tbt'
Reese Witherspoon designs clothes that are charmingly Southern and modern.

The 40-year-old actress had a look with preppy written all over it as she stopped by the Brentwood Country Mart in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Reese wore dark denim jeans with a blue pinstriped shirt buttoned at the throat and tucked into the waist band.

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Preppy style: Reese Witherspoon displayed classic preppy style as she ran a solo errand to Brentwood Country Mart in LA on Tuesday

A wine-hued sweater was tossed over her shoulders for dazzling effect, and matched her suede pumps with the reasonably high heels.

A brown leather bag hung from one shoulder while light-framed tinted shades partially concealed her eyes.

She happened to be having a marvelous day, judging from the beaming smile and the way she strolled across the car park.

A-list look: The 40-year-old actress wore dark denim jeans with a light blue pinstriped shirt

Walk the line: Reese stepped lightly in a pair of wine-coloured heels that matched her sweater

Made in the shade: A parking attendant carried an umbrella to shield Reese from the bright rays of the sun

Reese had the added assistance of a parking valet who shielded her from the hot sun by holding up a beige umbrella.

The Wild actress fluffed up her blonde locks with one free hand while carrying an eco-friendly water bottle in the other.

Reese recently returned home after opening up her new Draper James store in Dallas, Texas on September 28.

Wind in her hair: Reese fluffed up her golden locks while strolling across the car park

Bubbly personality: Reese was happy and smiling during her solo outing

Joining her on the trip were her talent agent husband Jim Toth and her lookalike daughter Ava, 17.

(Her son Deacon, 13, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, and son Tennessee, four, with Toth, were not spotted with Reese on her trip.)

The Oscar-winner started the company to honour her Southern heritage as she is a native or New Orleans, Louisiana.

The new location is the second from the company while the first flagship store is in Nashville, Tennessee.

Reese can often be seen out and about touting her designer wares - by wearing them out.

On Monday, the perky star was seen wearing a purple sweat shirt that read, 'Vote y'all'
They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at a Kent church in 2012.

And four years on, Dermot O'Leary still looked smitten with his pretty wife Dee Koppang as they attended the IWC Schaffhausen Dinner in Honour of the BFI at Rosewood London on Tuesday night.

The X Factor host, 43, looked dapper in a sharp tuxedo as he cosied up to his producer partner, who stunned in a polka-dot maxi dress.

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Loved-up: Dermot O'Leary still look smitten with his wife Dee Koppang as they attended the IWC Schaffhausen Dinner in Honour of the BFI at Rosewood London on Tuesday night

Dermot, who proposed to Dee in New York in 2011 after 10 years together, looked suitably suave in a tailored two-piece which he paired with patent brogues.

The hugely popular host wrapped an arm around his wife, who went for a retro-inspired ruffled gown.

The creation featured a daring front-split and a wide belt to cinch in the director's tiny waist.

She wore her raven tresses swept back in an elegant chignon and wore gold drop earrings to complement the gold accents of her dress.

Simply stylish: The X Factor host, 43, looked dapper in a sharp tuxedo as he cosied up to his producer partner, who stunned in a polka-dot maxi dress

Taking centre-stage: Dermot, who proposed to Dee in New York in 2011 after 10 years together, looked suitably suave in a tailored two-piece which he paired with patent brogues

The pair married at St Mary's Church in Chiddingstone, where they had spent time worshipping for the past six months before the ceremony.

Celebrity guests at the ceremony included James Corden, Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton, Bear Grylls, Gemma Cairney, Antony Cotton and Leigh Francis (aka Keith Lemon).

About 50 villagers and a few children from the Chiddingstone Church of England Primary school also lined the streets of the Kent town to watch out for famous faces.

Meanwhile Dermot has returned to the latest series of X Factor to rave reviews after replacing Caroline Flack and Olly Murs as host.

Looking cosy: The hugely popular host wrapped an arm around his wife, who went for a retro-inspired ruffled gown

Dermot, who left the X Factor in 2014 after seven years, has become the highest-paid presenter on British television this summer after reportedly securing an 8 million four-year deal with ITV to return.

A show insider told The Sun in July: 'This is the comeback of all comebacks for Dermot.

'Just one year after Cowell axed him, he's signing the contract of a lifetime.

'X Factor just didn't work without Dermot. Getting him to come back was absolutely essential for its future.'

Turning heads: Dee wore her raven tresses swept back in an elegant chignon and wore gold drop earrings to complement the gold accents of her dres
Brooke Mueller looked healthy and happy as she took her sons to visit Hearst Castle over the weekend.

The actress and her twin boys Max and Bob Sheen, aged seven, spent time at the estate for the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation weekend in San Simeon, California as guest of heiress Anne Hearst.

The 39-year-old and her sons - whom she shares with ex-husband Charlie Sheen - now live in Park City, Utah.

Fun weekend: Brooke Mueller and her twin sons Max and Bob were all smiles as they attended the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation weekend in San Simeon over the weekend

Giddup: The boys - who Brooke shares with ex-husband Charlie Sheen - looked all grown up as they learned to lasso at the lavish estate

Getting big: The boys played with puppies and went seal watching as they spent three days at Hearst Castle as guests of Anne Hearst

Brooke and the boys spent three days visiting Hearst Castle, where they played Cornpole, learned to lasso and went seal watching.

The boys looked all grown up as they played with puppies and went for a horseback ride.

Brooke has been working on her sobriety and stayed focused on motherhood after leaving Los Angeles a year ago, a source close to her told DailyMail.com exclusively.

All grown up: Brooke and ex-husband Charlie Sheen with their sons as they celebrated his birthday in 2011

She and the boys and their pet dog have settled into life on their 10,000 square foot home on six acres.

'Brooke is healthy and finally happy,' the insider said.

'Most of her time is spent being a mom, and she is actively involved with the boys' elementary school where she is on the PTA.'

Brooke - who went through a nasty divorce and custody battle with ex Charlie and has battled her addictions with multiple trips to rehab - is now 'on the right track,' the insider said.

Taking a dip: The actress is focused on her sobriety and being a good mom after moving with her sons to Park City, Utah last year, an insider told DailyMail.com

'The past several years have had their ups and downs, but she is persevering and continually works to make a better life for herself and the kids,' they added.

The family have thrown themselves into an outdoor lifestyle, with Brooke an avid skiier and the boys riding mountain bikes.

'Moving to Park City and out of Los Angeles has enabled Brooke to finally get on the right path,' the source revealed to DailyMail.com.

'Brooke realized she and the boys needed a healthier and more stable lifestyle in a better environment.'

Healthier lifestyle: Brooke is staying focused on her sobriety and has joined the local PTA

Guest: Brooke and the boys were invited to the Hearst Castle Foundation weekend by heiress Anne Hearst, right

The actress is now focused on staying healthy for her sons, and 'understands substance abuse is a lifelong struggle.'

She understands 'she needs to constantly work on her sobriety,' and is 'focusing her energies on being the kind of mom and person she wants to be,' the insider added.
She recently revealed she was at her lowest point after being axed from Geordie Shore, losing so much weight that her hair started falling out.

And since being invited to come back to the show for the new series, Sophie Kasaei has experienced a new lease of life, returning to her old eating habits.

The reality star was seen sunbathing by the pool on holiday in Bulgaria, showcasing her fuller figure in a black halterneck bikini.

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Living it up: Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei was seen sunbathing by the pool on holiday in Bulgaria, showcasing her fuller figure in a black halterneck bikini

Sophie's polka dot number made the most of her ample assets and killer curves, highlighting her hourglass figure.

The Newcastle party girl was spotted indulging in a fizzy drink, guzzling the sugary treat as she perched at the water's edge.

With her dark locks pulled back in a ponytail and her eyes hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses, her plump, filler-enhanced pout was on full display.

Relaxing in style: The Newcastle party girl was spotted indulging in a fizzy drink, guzzling the surgary treat as she perched at the water's edge

This week, Sophie opened up to New! magazine about her battle with her weight, revealing that she shrunk from 10 and a half stone down to 8 stone 4 pounds after spiralling into a deep depression.

Citing her financial woes, relationship drama and parents' divorce as reasons behind her dramatic weight loss, she admitted: 'I hit an all time low.

'I didn't want to be here. I looked ill. My ribs were on show. My hair started to fall out.'

Secret struggle: Sophie has opened up to New! magazine about her battle with her weight, revealing that she shrunk from 10 and a half stone down to 8 stone 4 pounds last year after spiralling into a deep depression

At her lowest ebb: Citing her financial woes, relationship drama and parents' divorce as reasons behind her dramatic weight loss, she admitted, 'I hit an all time low'

But things turned around for Sophie when her close pal Charlotte Crosby quit Geordie Shore, and producers invited her back to join the cast.

Explaining that this year has been her best to date, she enthused: 'That's why I started eating again - because I was happy!'

The star confessed the binge-drinking and excessive eating that comes with her party lifestyle has had a negative effect on her waistline, but she is determined to get toned and trim again.

Sophie admitted that her problem areas are her stomach and her bum.

Happy again: Explaining that this year has been her best to date, she enthused: 'That's why I started eating again - because I was happy!'




It's been termed The Kate Effect - the phenomenon whereby anything worn by the British Duchess instantly sells out.

But this time, at least, it turns out that Catherine wasn't such a trendsetter.

A red asymmetrical gown picked by Kate Middleton for her tour of Canada last week was also worn by Emmy Rossum - just a day earlier.

Not so Shameless! Emmy Rossum picks Duchess Catherine's red dress for her bridal shower on Sunday, September 25

The Shameless star donned the pricey Preen dress for her bridal shower ahead of her upcoming wedding to Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail.

The 30-year-old actress looked lovely in the mid-length gown, which she teamed with an elegant pair of nude heels for her shower.

Still, she didn't quite achieve the same look as the dazzling Duchess, who added a touch of class with the Queen's own maple leaf diamond broach, which she pinned to her lapel.

The Kate effect: The Duchess of Cambridge wore the gown one day later when she joined Prince William for an historic reconciliation ceremony with Canadian First Nations groups on Monday night

The broach was given to the late Queen Mother by her husband, King George VI, to mark the state visit to Canada in 1939.

The $1,750 dress was designed by London designer Thornton Bregazzi under his Preen label.

Nipped in at the waist, gathered at one shoulder and midi-length, it was the perfect mix and fashion and royal glamour.

Full length and fabulous: The gown flattered both the women's figures

Soon to wed: Emmy is engaged to Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail

The Duchess of Cambridge wore the dress when she joined Prince William for an historic reconciliation ceremony with Canadian First Nations groups on Monday night.

After a dress-down day in the rain forest, Kate was the epitome of glamour in at a reception for political and civic leaders from across British Columbia at Government House in Victoria.

The slightly asymmetric cut of the neckline, draped bodice and the fit and flare silhouette highlighted her trim figure and the sleek up 'do and minimal jewellery only added to the chic effect of this timeless look.
With the Kardashians making undergarments look acceptable as outergarments in Paris this week, Laura Whitmore was experimenting with nightwear on Tuesday.

The television personality added some sex appeal to a silk pajama-style jumpsuit as she arrived at the launch event of Google's new phone Pixel in London.

She wore her all-in-one unbuttoned almost as low as her navel and added heels to give her ensemble the red carpet edge.

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Ready for bed? Laura Whitmore made a bold fashion move in a pyjama style jumpsuit on Tuesday night as she hit the launch of Google's new phone Pixel

Laura drew further attention to her low-cut neckline with long necklaces following the deep V of her unbuttoned outfit.

She cut a particularly cool figure with one hand permanently tucked into her pockets and a pouty expression poised for the cameras.

The floral garment benefitted from a pop of colour as Laura accessorised with a black, red and gold clutch bag.

Elevated: She cleverly added high heels to elevate her frame

Laura was no doubt enjoying a night away from the Strictly Come Dancing rehearsal studio on Tuesday evening.

She wowed with a Waltz in the ballroom this weekend and was saved from the first week's public vote, alongside dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

Writing for Glamourmagazine.co.uk about her first week on Strictly, Laura said last week: 'I've never been more petrified of anything than I was opening the first show last Friday. Everything felt like jelly - knees, legs brain.'

All aboard: The blonde was game for a laugh, trying out the suitably kooky at attractions at the venue

She continued: I'll be honest with you, it hasn't been an easy ride. You have to spend a lot of time with someone you never met.

'And you have to trust them. Giovanni has been great trying to get me to build my confidence in dancing but it takes time.'

This weekend, the dancers said good bye to competitor Melvin Odoom when he was voted off the show in a shock twist that saw Anastacia pull out of the Dance-off due to injury.

A successful week on Strictly: Laura performed a delightful Waltz with dance partner Giovanni Pernice on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend
She suffered a horrific accident during a boating trip in Turkey this week.

But Lindsay Lohan wasn't letting nearly losing a finger stop her from performing her charity duties, visiting a Syrian family in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old star was in high spirits as she surprised the children with presents, giggling in glee as they opened their gifts.

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Devoted to the cause: Lindsay Lohan wasn't letting nearly losing a finger stop her from performing her charity duties, visiting a Syrian family in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul on Wednesday

Lindsay smiled through the pain as she chatted to the family members about their plight and offered her support.

The actress has flown to Turkey to show her support for Syrian refugees, during which she has been paying visits to local families.

She also offered to volunteer at the medical centre, which only employs Syrian doctors and treats refugees, during her trip.

Beaming: Lindsay smiled through the pain as she chatted to the family members about their plight and offered her support to Syrian refugees in Turkey

Surprise visit: The 30-year-old star was in high spirits as she surprised the children with presents, giggling in glee as they opened their gifts

The politically-charged actress earlier made clear where she stands, as she posted an image of the Turkish flag with the caption: '#Start #helping the #refugees suffering in #Syria. As promised. #istanbul stop #massacreinaleppo.'

The actress was accompanied on her jaunt by Abdurrahim Boynukalin, the Turkish deputy minister of youth and sports, according to the Anadolu agency.

Lindsay had to undergo emergency operation on her ring finger Sunday after part of it was mangled in a boating accident off the Turkish seaboard.

Helping hand: Lindsay has also offered to volunteer at the medical centre, which only employs Syrian doctors and treats refugees, during her trip

Hugging it out: The Mean Girls star was a hit with the younger family members

Charitable: The actress has flown to Turkey to show her support for Syrian refugees, during which she has been paying visits to local families

The star had attempted to lift the heavy anchor of the vessel she was on when she got tangled up in the rope and careened into the water, TMZ reported.

The actress attempted to free herself of the anchor ropes when the heavy boating machinery seared into her ring finger, cutting it off.

Lohan shared a more graphic photo of the bloody finger with the note: 'To make this very clear.

Ouch: Lindsay had to undergo emergency operation on her ring finger Sunday after part of it was mangled in a boating accident off the Turkish seaboard

Lindsay revealed: 'I lost half my finger, thank goodness we found the piece of my finger I just had surgery to fix it it hurts so bad'

'The bottom part of my finger was ripped off. It was not "chopped" or "severed" off.'

LiLo's boating buddies scrambled and found the finger of the Hollywood starlet, at which time she was taken to hospital, where an emergency surgical procedure to reattach it was performed.

She shared an image of the injury on her Snapchat account, telling her followers: 'I almost lost my finger from the anchor. Well, I lost half my finger, thank goodness we found the piece of my finger I just had surgery to fix it it hurts so bad.'

Too gruesome to show: Lindsay shared this photo of her bloody finger on Monday

Sending out her message: The star also tweeted this message about what happened
He was fired in May this year after Kanye West reportedly accused him of flirting with his wife.

Now Kim Kardashian's former bodyguard Steve Stanulis, 42, has weighed in on the reality star's terrifying Paris attack that took place earlier this week, calling it a product of 'karma'.

During an interview on an Australian radio breakfast show on Wednesday, Steve was quizzed about whether he felt that he could have prevented Kim from being robbed at gunpoint if he were still employed by Kanye and the Kardashians at the time.

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'It could be karma coming around': Kim Kardashian's former bodyguard Steve Stanulis, 42, has weighed in on the reality star's terrifying Paris attack that took place earlier this week, calling it a product of 'karma'

'I don't know if I could have taken down five assailants with guns, [or] it could be karma coming around,' he responded to radio hosts Sam Frost and Rove McManus with a slight chuckle.

Steve, a former NYPD officer of Staten Island, also took a direct swipe at Kanye, telling Rove and Sam that Kanye 'wasn't one of the best guys to work for', and that he was 'a little high maintenance' as a client.

It's not the first time the bodyguard has suggested that karma may have been responsible for Kim's attack.

Reunited: Kim was reunited with husband Kanye West in NY after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, and was seen flanked by security after fleeing the city on private jet

If you've got it flaunt it: Just an hour or so before the robbery, Kim posted a video on Snapchat that showed her wearing the engagement ring (left). On the right she showed of her Cartier bracelets

Showcasing her bling: Kim also revealed her weighty engagement ring at a diamind-encrusted grill on Instagram just hours before she was robbed at gunpoint

Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Steve claimed that Kim and Kayne's lack of 'respect' for security staff would eventually come back to haunt them.

Look, they had this coming to them. They do not respect the importance of security when you have a profile as strong as theirs,' he claimed.

When I worked for them Kanye would take off on his own in a cab and leave me behind to take another cab.

'They had this coming to them': Steve also appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, claiming that Kim and Kayne's lack of 'respect' for security staff would eventually come back to haunt them

Hitting back at his former employers: Look, they had this coming to them. They do not respect the importance of security when you have a profile as strong as theirs,' he claimed

'It used to infuriate me as I wasnt doing my job as well as I could have,' he added.

Making sure to take a dig at Kanye, Steve added: when he went out for dinner in a restaurant, I would sit on a separate table and he wouldnt even offer me a glass of water.'

In the interview, he also argued that the heist was '100% an inside job' given how perfectly the attack fell into place for the assailants.

Terrifying: On Monday morning, five masked men dressed in clothes with police markings burst into Kim's luxury apartment and held her at gunpoint, stealing $11m worth of jewels

'They went to an exclusive place, with exclusive entrances, they knew exactly where to go, where to find the jewellery,' he said.

'Security was out with the sisters and Kim had been showing all the jewellery on Snapchat. It's a perfect storm to get robbed,' he added.

On Monday morning, five masked men dressed in clothes with police markings burst into Kim's luxury apartment and held her at gunpoint.

Why wasn't he with Kim? Meanwhile, Kim's current bodyguard Pascal Duiver (left) spent the early hours of Monday morning at Arc nightclub in Paris with Kourtney and Kendall Kardashian

They bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and left her in a bathtub before stealing more than US $11 million worth of jewelry.

The gang of robbers had been able to enter the exclusive l'Hotel de Pourtales after the concierge mistook them for police and let them in.

Meanwhile, Kim's current bodyguard Pascal Duiver spent the early hours of Monday morning at Arc nightclub in Paris is Kourtney and Kendall Kardashian.

Coming to the rescue: Pascal, who stands at 6'4' and weighs a heavy 264 pounds, rushed to Kim's luxury lodgings minutes after he heard about the raid from Kim's friend Simone Harouche

Pascal, who stands at 6'4' and weighs a heavy 264 pounds, rushed to Kim's luxury lodgings minutes after he heard about the raid from Kim's friend Simone Harouche.

However, the masked assailants escaped on bicycles with their loot just minutes before Pascal arrived at the scene.

Pascal has since been widely criticised for failing to prevent the attack and for leaving Kim alone in an apartment without another security guard present.

A moment too late: However, the masked assailants escaped on bicycles with their loot just minutes before Pascal arrived at the scene

Shocked: Taking to his personal blog the evening following Kim's attack, Pascal (left) responded to criticism by writing: 'The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard'

Taking to his personal blog the evening following Kim's attack, Pascal responded to criticism by writing: 'The events that occurred in Paris was one of the most sickening things I have seen or heard.'

'We have tips and leads and we will find you. That I promise you...you messed with the wrong one,' he went on.

Kim's spokesperson Ina Treciokas confirmed to Daily Mail on Monday that: 'Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening by armed masked men dressed as police officers.'

'She is badly shaken but physically unharmed,' the representative added.

Kim has stayed silent on social media since the attack.
10 countries host half world's refugees: Amnesty

Ten countries accounting for 2.5 percent of world GDP are hosting more than half the world's refugees, Amnesty International said Tuesday as it slammed what it called the selfishness of wealthy nations.

In a report on the plight faced by the world's 21 million refugees, the London-based human rights body lamented that countries immediately neighbouring crisis zones bear the brunt of the global refugee problem.

Fifty-six percent of refugees are being sheltered in 10 countries, according to the report, in which Amnesty proposed a solution whereby the world's countries find a home for 10 percent of the planet's refugees every year.

A Jordanian soldier stands guard as Syrian refugees arrive to a camp on the Jordanian side of the Al-Hadalat border crossing point near the eastern town of Ruwaished, in May 2016 Khalil Mazraawi (AFP/File)

"A small number of countries have been left to do far too much just because they are neighbours to a crisis," said Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty, presenting the report entitled "Tackling the global refugee crisis: from shirking to sharing responsibility".

"That situation is inherently unsustainable, exposing the millions fleeing war and persecution in countries like Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq to intolerable misery and suffering.

"It is time for leaders to enter into a serious, constructive debate about how our societies are going to help people forced to leave their homes by war and persecution."

Amnesty said the top refugee hosting country was Jordan, which has taken in more than 2.7 million people, followed by Turkey (more than 2.5 million); Pakistan (1.6 million) and Lebanon (more than 1.5 million).

The remaining six nations listed in the top 10 each hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees: Iran (979,400); Ethiopia (736,100); Kenya (553,900); Uganda (477,200); Democratic Republic of Congo (383,100), and Chad (369,500).

The statistics are based on figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Amnesty said many of the world's wealthiest nations "host the fewest and do the least".

"It is not simply a matter of sending aid money. Rich countries cannot pay to keep people 'over there'," it said.

The "self-interest" of such countries meant the international refugee crisis was set to get worse, not better, Amnesty claimed.

"If every one of the wealthiest countries in the world were to take in refugees in proportion to their size, wealth and unemployment rate, finding a home for more of the world's refugees would be an eminently solvable challenge," said Shetty.
Los Angeles police defend weekend fatal shootings of black men

Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck defended the actions of officers involved in two fatal shootings of black men over the weekend that touched off protests and raised tensions.

Beck said one of the victims, 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr, was carrying a handgun that he pointed at officers chasing him on foot after he exited a suspected stolen car and fled.

"At one point during their foot pursuit, which was 200 to 300 yards (meters) in total, they observed him remove a handgun from his waistband and hold it in his left hand," Beck told reporters, displaying a photo of the weapon, which he said was fully loaded.

Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck says one of the police shooting victims was carrying a handgun that he pointed at officers chasing him on foot after he exited a suspected stolen car Frederic J Brown (AFP/File)

He added that Snell during the chase had turned toward the officers with the gun in his hand and was shot twice.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting touched off protests and further stoked a debate over police shootings of African Americans across the country.

Some 40 protesters pelted Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's home with eggs over the weekend and young men were seen spray-painting the windows of local businesses late Sunday.

A group of protesters also gathered on Monday at the Los Angeles police headquarters as Beck spoke to reporters, chanting "no justice, no peace" and "black lives matter." Three of the protesters were arrested.

Beck said that the second man shot by police in south Los Angeles over the weekend was armed with a replica handgun with its orange tip covered so that it resembled a real gun. The man has yet to be identified by the coroner.

Officers from the gang squad had approached the man after receiving a call on Sunday about someone with a gun.

"As the officers approached the male to initiate a pedestrian stop, the male turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, at which time there was an officer-involved shooting," Beck said.

He added that the officers were wearing body cameras and the video of the incident clearly refutes reports that the unidentified man was laying on the ground when shot.

The shootings took place amid heightened tensions nationwide over several high-profile police-related deaths that have sparked protests that have sometimes turned violent.

Seventeen people were arrested in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon over the weekend following protests over the police shooting last Tuesday of Alfred Olango, a Ugandan immigrant.

Olango's sister had called police to report that he was acting erratically and walking in traffic.

Police officials said he was gunned down after he pulled an object that turned out to be a vaping device from his pocket and pointed it at an officer.
Mixed feelings in Marshalls over epic nuclear case

As the Marshall Islands awaits an international court ruling on Wednesday on whether its lawsuit against three nuclear powers can proceed, many in the western Pacific nation question the merit of the David-versus-Goliath legal battle.

The country of 55,000 people is taking on India, Pakistan and Britain in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing they have failed to comply with the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Initially the lawsuit was even more ambitious -- also including China, France, Israel, North Korea, Russia and the United States -- none of which recognised the ICJ's jurisdiction on the matter.

Islanders from nuclear weapons test-damaged Rongelap Atoll march while holding banners marking the 60th anniversary of the Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, in Majuro, in March 2014 Isaac Marty (AFP/File)

The Marshalls has a long, bitter history with nuclear weapons, making it one of the few nations that can argue with credibility before the ICJ about their impact.

The island nation was ground zero for 67 American nuclear weapons tests from 1946-58 at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, when it was under US administration.

The tests included the 1954 "Bravo" hydrogen bomb, the most powerful ever detonated by the United States, about 1,000 times bigger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

They fed into an apocalyptic zeitgeist in Cold War popular culture, giving a name to the bikini swimsuit and leading to the development of Japan's Godzilla movie monster.

In "Godzilla", the creature is awakened by a hydrogen bomb test, rising from a roiling sea to destroy Tokyo, in a walking, radiation-breathing analogy for nuclear disaster.

- 'Sky turned blood red' -

On the Marshall Islands, the impacts of the nuclear tests were all too real.

Numerous islanders were forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, while thousands more were exposed to radioactive fallout.

"Several islands in my country were vaporised and others are estimated to remain uninhabitable for thousands of years," Tony deBrum, a former Marshall Islands foreign minister, told an ICJ hearing earlier this year.

He recalled witnessing the Bravo test as a nine-year-old while fishing with his grandfather in an atoll, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the blast's epicentre.

"The entire sky turned blood red," he said. "Many died, or suffered birth defects never before seen and cancers as a result of contamination."

DeBrum launched the Marshall's ICJ action in 2014 with cooperation from the California-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

His actions prompted the International Peace Bureau to nominate him in January for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize, which is yet to be awarded.

Yet critics argue the ICJ action is a distraction and the islanders' real fight is with Washington, which carried out the tests in their backyard.

They contend the case has no relationship to victims' claims for increased compensation, better health care and clean-ups to make sites habitable again.

Official criticism has been muted recently to avoid undermining deBrum's Nobel nomination.

But his successor as foreign minister, John Silk, made his views clear before an election last November when voters ousted 40 percent of the parliament, including deBrum.

Labelling the action "unauthorised" and "a publicity stunt", he said the focus should remain on petitioning the US Congress for increased compensation.

"What do these lawsuits have to do with resolving the legacy of the US nuclear testing programme?" he asked.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation argues that the Marshalls is taking a broader perspective in trying to re-start nuclear disarmament talks that have stalled over the past 20 years.

"The Republic of the Marshall Islands acts for the seven billion of us who live on this planet to end the nuclear weapons threat hanging over all humanity," its website says.

"Everyone has a stake in this."

The ICJ, the UN's top court, will decide on Wednesday whether it believes the case should go to a full hearing.

Map of Marshall Islands locating the Enewetak and Bikini atolls, where 67 US nuclear weapons were tested from 1946-1958 - (AFP Graphic)

A Marshall Islands police officer raises the national flag to half mast at the March 1 ceremony in Majuro in 2014, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll that caused widespread radioactive fallout exposure Isaac Marty (AFP/File)
Afghan forces flushing Taliban out of stategic city of Kunduz

Fighting continued on the outskirts of Kunduz Tuesday as some frightened residents fled the city a day after the Taliban launched an hours-long assault that was repelled by Afghan forces backed by NATO.

Helicopters hovered over the strategic provincial capital and commandoes were stationed in the main square, an AFP correspondent there said, as Afghan forces conducted a clearing operation warning that militants were hiding in civilian homes.

Dozens of residents could be seen boarding buses, many of them government employees and their families fearing Taliban violence.

Militia forces on patrol during fighting against the Taliban militants in the provincial Afghan capital of Kunduz on October 4, 2016 Bashir Khan Safi (AFP)

"I have to leave the city with my family, because my brother is in the army," 40-year-old Hussain told AFP as he boarded a bus for Kabul.

"The situation is uncertain, if the Taliban find out about it they may kill us. The people are very scared, they are all moving to safer places."

"We could not sleep the whole night, each blast would startle my kids and shake our house," said another resident Amrullah.

"There is no safe place in the city, they are fighting from street to street. I have to move my family to a safer place until the situation comes back to normal."

The assault launched early Monday came just over a year after militants briefly seized the provincial capital, and as President Ashraf Ghani flew to Brussels to meet world leaders for a crucial foreign aid conference.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said fighting was ongoing in the city's outskirts, and that at least 30 Taliban insurgents had been killed.

The defence ministry earlier Tuesday said three Afghan soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the fighting.

The number of civilians reaching hospital with bullet and shrapnel wounds jumped from around 40 to more than 100 Tuesday afternoon, hospital officials said, with one person killed.

Kunduz provincial governor Assadullah Omarkhil said the operation was moving slowly "because the Taliban are using people's houses to hide".

But a Taliban spokesman insisted via Twitter that the militants were still advancing. The insurgents are known to exaggerate their claims.

Jawid Salim a spokesman for the special forces in Kunduz, said the Taliban were setting fire to some buildings as they were pushed out of the city, including the main power station.

On Monday residents had reported being trapped in their homes by intense fighting as the sound of explosions echoed across the city, with provincial officials voicing fears it could fall.

NATO spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said the government was in control of the city, but the strength of the attack was still being assessed.

"We did see fighting but we did not see the scale of attack that was initially being reported," he said, comparing it to "exaggerated" attacks earlier this year on Lashkar Gah in Helmand, and Tarin Kot in Uruzgan.

Afghan troops had responded "effectively", he said.

- 'Pity for MSF victims' -

Ghani is meeting world leaders in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday in a bid to secure financial aid from the international community up to 2020.

The meeting, 15 years after the US invasion of 2001, will try to drum up support despite donor fatigue compounded by conflicts in Syria and Iraq plus the worst migration crisis since World War II.

"The enemy attacked Kunduz to catch the world's attention in Brussels," defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said Tuesday.

After seizing Kunduz on September 28, 2015, the Taliban held the city for two days then withdrew from the outskirts on October 15. More than 280 people were killed and hundreds wounded.

A US air strike during the fighting hit a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres on October 3, killing 42 people.

The organisation, which has not since relaunched its operations in Kunduz, had planned to mark the anniversary Monday by sending its country representative Guilhem Molinie and international president Meinie Nicolai to the city.

But the fresh Taliban assault forced them to hastily cancel and evacuate non-medical staff who had been sent ahead to prepare.

It was "a pity for the victims", Molinie told AFP.
Study reveals Asian ancestry of Pacific islanders

Ancient DNA has revealed the first inhabitants of Vanuatu and Tonga came from Asia, not other Oceanic populations as has long been assumed, a study published Tuesday found.

The study sheds light on the last great human migration into unpopulated lands, when a people called the Lapita fanned out into the South Pacific about 3,000 years ago.

Little is known of the mysterious culture beyond their distinctive dotted pottery and the human remains they left behind.

A skeleton from Vanuatu's oldest cemetery is seen outside the capital Port Vila Australian National University (Australian National University/AFP)

Scientists had speculated that they were an offshoot of Australo-Papuan populations of Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, who arrived in the region 40,000-50,000 years ago.

But analysis of three skeletons from Vanuatu's oldest cemetery found they came from Asia, with no trace of DNA from their Pacific neighbours.

"Their original base population is Asian. They were straight out of Taiwan and perhaps the northern Philippines," said Matthew Spriggs, a professor at the Australian National University and one of the researchers involved in the study.

"They travelled past places where people were already living, but when they got to Vanuatu there was nobody there. These are the first people."

Spriggs said another DNA sample from a Lapita skeleton in Tonga returned similar results.

"We know this because testing conducted by two different laboratories in the United States and Germany confirm that the samples are of the same people, he said.

He added that it now appeared the Asiatic Lapita first colonised the South Pacific, then intermingled with a second wave of Australo-Papuan settlers to create the region's modern genetic mix.

Professor Ron Pinhasi from University College Dublin said the study, published in Nature, was made possible by improved methods of extracting material from skeletal remains.

"The unexpected results about Oceanian history highlight the power of ancient DNA to overthrow established models of the human past," he said.
In Miami, warehouse district becomes art haven

A decade ago, Jessica Goldman Srebnick was afraid of walking through Wynwood, a derelict warehouse neighborhood in Miami.

Today, she is the virtual curator of an open-air art gallery that has turned the area into one of the hippest places in the United States.

Windowless factory warehouses in the bleak urban district have become a venue where artists, including internationally famous ones, paint murals that raise street art to new heights.

Brazilian artist Kobra's mural is seen on a corner of the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida, on September 28, 2016 Rhona Wise (AFP)

The flourishing neighborhood -- which recently made headlines as the first place in America where the Zika virus was locally transmitted -- has about 70 art galleries and 20 restaurants.

As it gentrified, rents skyrocketed, going from $3 to $6 per square foot to between $65 and $95 today.

How did this transformation occur? The alchemy lies in buying up a critical mass of properties and having the vision of revitalizing a neighborhood while respecting its character.

That is what Tony Goldman, the late father of Goldman Srebnick, did in the 2000s, when he focused his Goldman Properties, specialists in turning downtrodden areas into trendy hotspots, on Wynwood.

The real-estate pioneer, for example, was the force behind the transformation of New York City's SoHo neighborhood in the 1970s and Miami Beach in the '80s.

After beginning to buy up properties in Wynwood in 2006, Goldman Properties now owns 30, says Goldman Srebnick, who became chief executive after her father's death in 2012.

"It's part of our model, where we buy a critical mass of real estate. Usually 18 is the minimum because that's what you need to really make a change," she said.

One of its properties is Wynwood Walls, a warehouse-turned-art showcase that greets visitors with a mural by Shepard Fairey, the celebrated artist of the "Hope" poster for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

- Preserving the 'soul' -

Unlike New York or Miami Beach, "with Wynwood there was nothing interesting about the architecture," Goldman Srebnick told AFP.

"What was really interesting was the street art. So we took that, because that was part of the soul of the neighborhood," she said.

"We invited the greatest street artists in the world to paint the canvases of our buildings."

The CEO emphasized that whenever the company focuses on an area "it's not about coming in and imposing what we want on that neighborhood.

"It's about looking at what is there, and just improve it and see what it could be at a more advanced level."

Behind her at Wynwood Walls is the Fairey mural portrait of her father, smiling, his hands extended in welcome against a backdrop of golden beams.

"One of the things my dad taught me was to see things how they could be, as opposed to what they are," she said.

"You might see crime, dilapidation and rundown neighborhoods. Someone else can see the opportunity and the tremendous possibilities."

Forbes magazine named Wynwood to its list of "America's Best Hipster Neighborhoods." Vogue dubbed it one of "the world's coolest neighborhoods."

- 'Different experience' -

"Wynwood has been an amazing place for art," said muralist Chaz, 41, a member of the British-based duo The London Police.

His painting features cartoonish figures set in a futurist world with realistic touches.

Other murals feature the works of Japan's Aiko, the Chilean Inti, France's Miss Van, a Toulouse-born artist known for her sensuous women in masks, and Ron English, an American whose work features a "Hulk"-like baby.

For Chaz, the place "has such a good reputation for bringing some of the world's best artists and showcasing our work alongside one another."

Wynwood Walls and its extension, Wynwood Doors, is changing the way the public interacts with art in general, and with street art in particular.

It is hard to view one of the works without there being someone in front of it taking a selfie.

"When you think of street art, you're driving by it in a car, or you're on a train," said Goldman Srebnick.

"Here people can walk through this living, breathing museum. They can touch it. They can explore it. They can come up close. It's a very different experience to what people are used to with art."

Without knowing it, a Venezuelan tourist agrees with her totally.

"Here you can take selfies and share them. When you're in a museum, you can't, for example, start jumping up and down in front of the painting that you are viewing," said Erika Freijah, 17, after a picture-snapping session with her family.

A woman takes a photo of a mural by German artist Case in Wynwood, Miami, Florida, on September 28, 2016 Rhona Wise (AFP)

A man walks in front of a mural by Brazilian artist Kobra in the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, Florida, on September 28, 2016 Rhona Wise (AFP)
Apple still a star without Steve Jobs, but doubts linger

Five years after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the Silicon Valley tech giant is bigger and stronger, despite lingering doubts over its future without the visionary leader.

In financial terms, Apple has been an unstoppable juggernaut: Its profit for the 2015 fiscal year was a whopping $53 billion on revenues of $234 billion -- both figures doubled since the final year of Jobs's reign before he died of pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011.

Apple's market value is more than $600 billion, below its 2015 highs but more than twice its level of 2011 and holding above Google parent Alphabet as the world's most valuable corporation.

Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the new Apple iPhone 7 during a launch event on September 7, 2016 in San Francisco, California Stephen Lam (Getty/AFP/File)

Still, some analysts question whether Apple -- which redefined the smartphone experience with its trend-setting iPhone introduced in 2007 and created a vast ecosystem of mobile applications -- is losing momentum.

"It's really hard to keep up the innovation cycle when you have developed a successful product," said technology analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates.

"With each successful generation (of a product) it becomes harder. The question becomes, 'What's the next big thing?' and it's not clear what that is going to be."

Vivek Wadhwa, a Carnegie Mellon University professor and former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, was more blunt, saying Apple is living off its earlier innovations with little new to offer.

"We have seen no major innovations for Apple" since the Steve Jobs era, Wadhwa told AFP.

With the latest iPhone 7, Wadhwa said, "they market it well but it's the same device all over again."

- Competing with Tesla? -

Apple has moved into new services such as streaming music and mobile payments, and is believed to be working on virtual reality and autonomous driving technology. But the bulk of its revenue and profits still come from the iPhone.

"They haven't figured out what they want to deliver," Wadhwa said.

"If they wanted an Apple car it should have been out there now to compete with Tesla."

Jobs's successor Tim Cook has won plaudits for his performance keeping Apple on a steady path, even though no one sees him as the same kind of leader.

"Tim Cook is an operations guy, he is great in getting the supply chain to churn out things," said Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research.

"He knows his limitations. He knows he is not the most charismatic presenter. He knows he is not Steve Jobs."

Still, Dawson sees Cook as broadly successful in keeping Apple on track. He noted that Apple has doubled its spending on research and development since Cook took over.

"They stick to a certain price point and a premium experience, and that hasn't changed from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook," Dawson said.

Apple has succeeded not by being first in a market segment but by improving and perfecting certain products.

"They weren't the first to make an MP3 player or smartphone or tablet," Dawson said. "Apple bides its time and when it can make a significant contribution to a category it comes in and improves the experience. That was true in the Steve Jobs era as well."

Dawson said it is not clear if Apple would be in a different place if Jobs were alive today, with the smartphone market largely saturated and touch competition from rivals.

"People look at the iPhone and say nothing else has lived up to that, but there aren't any other technology categories like that," he said.

Wadhwa argued however that Cook has had chances to "reinvent" the company and has failed to do so.

"He's basically an operations guy who is living in the past," Wadhwa said.

Wadhwa posited that Apple, with its vast cash reserves, could buy Tesla and put its highly regarded chief Elon Musk in charge of the company.

"You need a crazy visionary leading the company," he said.

"People have shown a lot of patience because we all love Apple. And I love Apple. So it's not too late to save the company."

Apple iPhone Laurence CHU (AFP)

Apple has been an unstoppable juggernaut with its profits soaring since the final year of Steve Jobs's reign before he died of pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011 Frederic J Brown (AFP/File)
Creaking Afghan hospital symbol of foreign aid failure

Hunched low over a hernia patient on a broken operating table, an Afghan surgeon bemoans the lack of life-saving equipment in a US-funded hospital that is crumbling into disrepair, exemplifying the eye-watering waste of aid dollars.

After fifteen years and tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid, Afghanistan is still dangerously unstable and persistently at the bottom of almost every major human development index.

Its perpetual state of need is a growing impediment to those trying to encourage donors to keep on giving, and will hang over a crucial development aid conference in Brussels this week.

An Afghan man who fell out of a walnut tree receives treatment at a hospital in Salang, north of Kabul Shah Marai (AFP)

The $600,000 hospital, funded by US forces in Afghanistan under a programme to create Afghan jobs, was meant to be a modern 20-bed facility replete with dental, paediatric and surgical wards in the mountainous, poverty-stricken area of Salang near Kabul.

Instead, it is a decrepit, structurally deficient building in an earthquake-prone region, which is underused, understaffed and poorly equipped.

It stands as an illustration of how the West splurged on institutions that Afghanistan cannot afford to run or maintain.

"How are we supposed to treat patients? With tables and chairs?" asked the surgeon Qutbuddin Shams, who must bend to perform surgery because the foot pedal that adjusts the height of the operating table is broken.

Whirring generators offer a fitful supply of electricity, essential anaesthetic equipment is in short supply, and puddles of water and blood have to be manually swabbed in the absence of a proper drainage system.

In a corner of the operating room is something it does not need -- a flush toilet.

"This is like a regular house converted into a hospital. Those who built it don't understand the requirements of a hospital," Shams told AFP.

- Building on sand -

An inspection by the watchdog agency SIGAR found the Afghan contractor who built the hospital was paid in full despite the glaring deficiencies.

Newborn babies are washed with untreated water and patients suffer freezing temperatures in winter because the heaters do not work.

The dental ward, where tooth extractions were carried out with pliers in the absence of equipment, recently shut down over fears the tools had become badly infected.

The hospital is not an anomaly. It is among a series of what observers call "pie in the sky" projects that serve as a cautionary tale of how too much aid money with too little oversight can spell catastrophe in a country roiled by graft.

"Corruption is an existential threat to the mission in Afghanistan," said Jodi Vittori, policy adviser at international campaign group Global Witness.

Donors never put in place basic protections to ensure accountability, even as money pilfered from aid "flowed to predatory elites in the country", she continued.

"That's a massive strategic blind spot that has jeopardised the blood and treasure invested there since 2001."

The United States has spent around $110 billion on Afghanistan's reconstruction since 2001, more than the cost of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt a devastated Europe after World War II.

Reconstruction in one of the poorest, most violent and corrupt nations on Earth can be akin to building on sand.

Many of the schools, clinics and warehouses built by USAID and other development agencies lie vacant, unused or are just shells of concrete and steel bars, SIGAR says.

The US constructed fragile roads to American weight standards -- without factoring in notoriously overweight Afghan trucks -- and spent millions on airplanes that were unfit for use.

- Donor quandary -

Some projects were culturally tone deaf, such as a $34 million programme to push Afghan farmers to produce soybeans  a crop that does not grow well in the country and which Afghans are generally averse to consuming.

And perhaps the biggest failure of the reconstruction effort is the $8.4 billion counter-narcotics programmes that have been so ineffective that Afghanistan now produces significantly more opium than it did before the 2001 US-led invasion.

The opium trade is estimated to be worth around $3 billion a year and is a key source of income for the Taliban.

Worse still, experts say Western assistance has helped exacerbate the very problem that aid agencies were trying to solve -- chronic dependence on aid.

At the Brussels conference on Afghanistan, co-hosted by the European Union, the country is seeking to attract annual pledges of around $3 billion until 2020.

Donor nations are caught in a quandary, observers say. Without continued high levels of international assistance, despite past failures, there are fears that the government could collapse and Afghanistan could once again become a haven for insurgent groups.

Back in the Salang hospital, there are more immediate concerns as doctors receive a man on a stretcher who had fallen from a tall walnut tree, possibly causing serious damage to his spine.

"Allah!" he screeched, writhing in agony as hospital staff swarmed around him. One cleaned the blood stains on his face, another scrambled to cobble together a rudimentary splint with cardboard and wads of cotton.

Ashen-faced, hospital administrator Lal Mohammad Salangi walked out of the scrum.

"We don't have what it takes to treat his injury," Salangi said. "After basic first aid we will have to send him to another hospital."

Kepping track of the Afghan billions -, - (AFP Graphic)

Salang hospital, north of Kabul, is among a series of what observers call 'pie in the sky' projects that serve as a cautionary tale of how too much aid money with too little oversight can spell catastrophe in a country roiled by graft Shah Marai (AFP)

Afghan surgeons perform an operation on a patient in an operating room at Salang hospital, north of Kabul Shah Marai (AFP)
Vietnam War propaganda broadcaster 'Hanoi Hannah' dies

Silky-voiced communist propaganda broadcaster "Hanoi Hannah", famous for urging American GIs to leave her country during the Vietnam War, has died at age 87, friends said Tuesday.

The radio presenter, whose real name was Trinh Thi Ngo, was among dozens of Vietnamese journalists drafted by the communist regime to inundate the country with anti-US rhetoric during the conflict that ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon and America's defeat.

"GI, your government has abandoned you. They have ordered you to die," she said in one of her on-air appeals in English during the draining war.

Propaganda posters displayed at an open-air exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP/File)

"Don't trust them. They lied to you, GIs, you know you cannot win this war."

In daily broadcasts on state-run Voice of Vietnam (VOV) from the northern capital Hanoi, Hannah would list the names of American troops killed in combat, read US newspaper articles about anti-war protests and lull listeners with Joan Baez and Bob Dylan tunes.

She rarely spoke of Vietnamese losses or American successes in her broadcasts, which were carefully controlled by the communist authorities.

Hannah died Friday at her home in Ho Chi Minh City, according to VOV.

"Hanoi Hannah was clearly one of the most prominent broadcasters we had in history of the Voice of Vietnam and the country in general," said Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, a former journalist at VOV's English service.

"She will be remembered for her legendary voice in broadcasts targeting American servicemen. Her influence on Vietnam's success against the US was huge," Thuy added.

Hannah joined VOV at the outset of the war, recalling in her memoir a desire to make a difference to the war effort.

"I thought it was time for me to do something to contribute to the revolution," according to an excerpt reported on VOV.

Hannah went on to work for Ho Chi Minh City Television after the war and was reclusive in her final years, rarely speaking to the press.

The Vietnam War, still called the American War in the country today, ended with the fall of the southern capital more than four decades ago at the hands of communists forces.

The southern capital was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the country's independence icon who died before the war's end.

At least 2.5 million soldiers from Vietnam's communist North and US-allied South died in the conflict, along with three million civilians, according to official figures.

On the American side, more than 58,000 soldiers lost their lives, while some estimates say more Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than died in fighting -- although the figures are disputed.

Relations between the former wartime enemies have warmed in recent years, with many English-speaking Vietnamese youngsters eagerly embracing American culture.

US President Barack Obama visited the country in May, lifting the wartime-era arms embargo and celebrating close ties with its former foe.
Bangladeshi mosque architect smashes glass ceiling

As one of the only female architects in a country where women rarely even enter mosques, Marina Tabassum was an unconventional choice to design Bangladesh's new Baitur Rouf Mosque, which has just won a prestigious international prize.

But there is little of the conventional about the 45-year-old Tabassum or her design, which eschews traditional minarets and domes in favour of a single-storey terracotta brick structure that is suffused with light and remains cool even in the scorching summer months.

Like most women in deeply conservative Bangladesh, Tabassum had barely set foot in a mosque when she was commissioned to design the building in 2005 after her grandmother donated a piece of land.

Bangladesh architect Marina Tabassum speaks with AFP during an interview in Dhaka Rehman Sobhan (AFP/File)

Few of Bangladesh's mosques have dedicated sections for female worshippers, and most women pray at home.

But Tabassum visited over 100 before setting pen to paper for the Baitur Rouf Mosque in north Dhaka, focusing on creating a haven of peace in a poor neighbourhood of one of the world's most congested cities.

"We may not have a tradition of women going into mosques to pray in the Indian subcontinent, but I have experienced some really beautiful spiritual spaces. That has always been a great inspiration to me," she told AFP in a recent interview.

"The whole idea of spirituality as an element in design has always been something very intriguing and I like working with spiritual spaces."

The 45-year-old, who emerged as one of Bangladesh's top architects after designing Dhaka's Museum of Independence, says her sex has not constrained her career.

"I think of myself as a professional. This whole notion of me being a woman really does not exist in my mind. It just does not exist," she said.

- 'Natural air conditioning' -

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is handed out every three years and rewards excellence in architecture serving Muslim communities. This year the $1 million prize was shared between six projects around the world.

The jury said the Dhaka mosque "challenges the status quo", praising its "robust simplicity that allows for deep reflection and contemplation in prayer".

Officially secular but mainly Muslim Bangladesh has a rich history of mosque building, dating back to the Turkish invasion of the 13th century.

The earliest combined their own designs with elements found in local traditions, such as the use of brick and small domes that span the roof, creating a unique style.

Tabassum said she tried to fuse those "glorious lost traditions" of mosque design with contemporary architectural practices.

Since it was completed in 2012, the Baitur Rouf Mosque has attracted visitors from around the country -- to the obvious delight of the imam, Deen Islam.

"Unlike other mosques in the country, it does not have a minaret, or a dome, or a platform to deliver Friday prayers. Yet to these visitors it is one of the most beautiful mosques of the country," the 38-year-old imam told AFP on a recent visit.

"The mild light that enters the mosque is very soothing. Even during a hot summer day, the temperature inside remains mild. You feel like you're in natural air conditioning."

Dozens of tiny windows in the roof and walls create a soft light that changes through the day as the sun passes over the building, while the traditional terracotta bricks keep the interior cool.

Tabassum also teaches architecture students and says she is highly selective about the projects she takes on, and every one must have some social value.

"We are a very young nation and an architect's responsibility goes beyond just designing beautiful buildings," she said.

"We can design buildings like the ones designed by Frank Gehry. But I would question whether that would be the right thing to do in a country like Bangladesh, whose economy is still not developed.

"In the Bangladesh context, that would be an ugly thing to do."

A man offers his prayers at Baitur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, designed by Bangladesh architect Marina Tabassum Rehman Sobhan (AFP/File)
Egypt police shoot dead Brotherhood leader

Egyptian police shot dead two members of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of them a senior leader of the outlawed Islamist group, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry charged that Mohamed Kamal headed the military wing of the movement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, although the group has always denied having one.

It said that he and fellow Brotherhood member Yasser Shehata were killed in a firefight when police raided their hideout in the southeast of the capital late on Monday.

An Egyptian policeman stands guard on top of a vehicle in central Cairo on April 15, 2016 Mohamed El-Shahed (AFP/File)

The ministry alleged that Kamal had founded the Brotherhood's military wing after the army's overthrow of Morsi in 2013.

It said he had been given two life sentences in absentia on charges of forming an armed group and involvement in a bombing near a police station in Assiut in southern Egypt.

It said he was also wanted on suspicion of involvement in the murder of prosecutor general Hisham Barakat in a June 2015 car bombing and the attempted murder of leading Muslim cleric Ali Gomaa in August.

The Brotherhood and its supporters have been subjected to a deadly crackdown since Morsi's ouster but it denied taking up arms in response.
Obama, DiCaprio talk about 'race against time' on climate

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and US President Barack Obama joined forces Monday night on the White House lawn, calling for a strong and rapid mobilization to curb rising worldwide temperatures.

"We are really in a race against time" said the US president, who has made the fight against global warming a priority of his two-term administration.

Obama's appearance with DiCaprio, who visited the White House to screen a new documentary, occurred as the Paris agreement on climate change is soon to come into force.

(From left) Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and US President Barack Obama arrive on stage for a discussion on climate change at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2016 Mandel Ngan (AFP/File)

Nearly a decade after his first environmental documentary "The 11th Hour" hit screens, the actor and producer, who won an Oscar earlier this year for his role in "The Revenant," screened his new climate change flick "Before the Flood," which includes cameos by Obama and Pope Francis.

The meeting between Obama and DiCaprio took place as part of a festival on the White House lawn titled South by South Lawn, which is meant to celebrate creativity and innovation and is modeled after the tech, movie and music conference South by Southwest, which is held every year in Austin, Texas.

"Urgent action must be taken," said DiCaprio, a vocal Democrat, before turning his sights on the US presidential election on November 8.

"If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts or in science... and therefore in my humble opinion you should not be allowed to be in public office" he said.

The reference was a thinly veiled allusion to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has openly questioned the existence of global warming and the impact human activities have on it.

Obama has long insisted that world leaders take bold steps against global warming, acting against inertia or recalcitrance.

"Climate change is almost perversely designed to be very hard to solve politically" Obama said.

"The natural inclination of political systems is to put that stuff off as long as possible" he added.

- 'Energy efficiency of Japan' -

Obama did however warn against a too austere approach, acknowledging that some people had legitimate concerns on the impact of an environmental transition, such as those who can't afford to buy a low-emission Prius or Tesla.

He also urged against the temptation to wait for revolutionary technological advances before adopting change, noting that an energy transition, by definition, would come bit by bit.

"If we just had the energy efficiency of Japan, we could reduce our energy consumption by 20 percent" he said.

The main component of Obama's "Clean Power Plan," which requires US power plants to undergo drastic reductions in CO2 emissions, has been placed on hold as it works its way through the US court system.

Critics of the plan say the restrictions it imposes are too costly, both in terms of implementation and job losses, for regions that live off the production of fossil fuels.

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change -- in which Obama was a key player by sealing an agreement with the world's other biggest polluter, China -- is on the verge of entering into force.

India, the world's third-largest producer of greenhouse gas, ratified the agreement on Sunday, making it the latest big polluter to formally sign on.

The accord, sealed last December in Paris, needs ratification from 55 countries that account for at least 55 percent of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.

With India's move, a total of 62 countries accounting for almost 52 percent of emissions have now ratified the agreement to commit to take action to stem the planet's rising temperatures.

"I anticipate that this agreement will actually go into force in the next few weeks... much faster than many of us anticipated" Obama said Monday evening.
Italian farmers cultivate Jewish tradition with fragrant citrons

There's less than a month to go until the Jewish festival of Sukkot, and New Yorker Hershel Mann is feeling the heat under the broiling sun of southern Italy.

Beads of sweat trickle down cheeks framed by greying sidelocks as Mann, a Hassidic Jew, turns a lime-green citron fruit over and over.

Finally, he delivers his verdict. "It's a nice shape, it's clean, it's a good size: it's kosher!"

The fragrant 'etrog' citron is one of four symbolic plants held while saying prayers during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, which begins this year at sundown on October 16 Alberto Pizzoli (AFP/File)

Orchard owner Angelo Cava smiles as he looks on in vest and shorts. Citrons that pass muster for Sukkot sell for around 10 euros ($11) apiece, more than 10 times the rejects destined for processing into candied fruit, jams, soft drinks and anti-ageing cosmetics.

The next "etrog", as the fruit is called in Hebrew, does not make the grade.

"No buono," says Mann, pointing to a handful of tiny black spots that indicate that this citron has been nibbled by an insect and is therefore deemed unclean.

"The Bible tells us that the Sukkot fruit has to come from a beautiful tree," Mann explains.

"We have learned that this means the citron and, for us, the best come from Calabria."

- Expensive business -

The annual descent of dozens of rabbis, their trained assistants and other ultra-Orthodox Jews on this southern region has become a pilgrimage of sorts, one with roots in centuries of shared Italian and Jewish history.

Notoriously hard to grow, the fragrant citron is one of four symbolic plants (along with palms, willow and myrtle) held while saying prayers during Sukkot, which begins this year at sundown on October 16.

Translated into English as "Feast of the Tabernacles", the week-long festival celebrates the unity of the Jewish people and the biblical account of their escape from slavery in ancient Egypt to the promised land via 40 years in the desert.

Mann could pass for a diamond trader as he studies another newly-picked citron with a magnifying eyepiece.

And like the gems business, there can be big money involved -- with the best Calabrian etrogs changing hands for as much as $2,000-$3,000 in New York in the run-up to Sukkot.

In London, a top price would be around 600 ($780/695 euros) but a shortage this year could push that higher, according to one dealer who was happy to share some tricks of the trade anonymously.

"I grade them 1-4," he said. "Some of the 3s and the 4s might not be a perfect shape or have some slight blemish. But it is a selling thing, you need them to sell the best ones.

"People want the best. It's God's fruit, if you buy his fruit, He will be good to your fruit (children)."

- Labour of love -

Samuel Ekstein, a member of the Satmar branch of Hassidic Judaism, sells cameras in Manhattan when he is not in Italy sourcing citrons.

"It is a hard business," he says.

"Sometimes you have a good year, good fruit and you can sell them all. Sometimes you have problems and you don't have good fruit. What happens is, you (will have) lost all your money. It all depends on God. If he wants you to make money, if not, you know... it's a risky thing."

According to local expert Francesco Fazio, an ex-mayor of Santa Maria del Cedro, Calabria's production of citrons dates back to the arrival of the first Jews in Italy more than 2,000 years ago.

A community has survived in Rome continuously since then but Jews were expelled from Calabria in the first half of the 16th Century as Spanish rule brought the anti-Semitism of the inquisition to southern Italy.

"The community was destroyed but they left many markers, including the Eastern method of farming," Fazio said.

Citron growing dwindled generally but survived along the Riviera dei Cedri thanks to the favourable coastal micro-climate.

"An irreplaceable local culture has been passed down from father to son," said Fazio.

"Through sacrifice and despite poverty, a piece of history has been preserved for humanity."

Local farmer Alessandro Farace says growing citrons is a sometimes painful labour of love.

"It is not an easy fruit to grow. And the needles can really hurt you. It's very delicate and now with climate change, there seem to be more insects that attack it.

"You have to have a passion for it. But it is our tradition and if we stopped doing it, where would they get their citrons from?"

- Not from Israel -

Calabria's citrons used to reach Jewish communities worldwide via wholesalers in Genoa -- until some curious rabbis visited Calabria in the 1950s. To their horror, they discovered much of the fruit being produced from hybrid citron/bitter orange trees.

"The Torah asks us to pray on a citron," says Shimon Lahiany a Jerusalem-based "mashgiach" -- a rabbi or authorised supervisor of kosher food production.

He has been coming to Calabria for 20 years now on behalf of his Chabad (Lubavitch) sect.

"A grafted citron can be better for the farm, but we are not allowed to bless it for the simple reason it is no longer a citron," he said.

Grafted trees usually have a giveaway bulge on the trunk. "But sometimes it's under the ground -- you need people who have had the rabbinical training to spot them."

Kosher citrons are also produced in large quantities in Israel and Morocco. But for some Hassidics, buying produce from Israel is not an option.

"We believe the Jewish people are not allowed to (form) a nation before the Messiah comes," explains Ekstein.

"So we don't take from Israel something we need for a holy (purpose)."

Samuel Ekstein, a member of the Satmar branch of Hassidic Judaism who lives in from New York City, examines an 'etrog' citron fruit growing in Santa Maria Del Cedro, southern Italy, on September 14, 2016 Alberto Pizzoli (AFP/File)

Hershel Mann, a Hassidic Jew from New York City, examines an 'etrog' citron fruit in Santa Maria Del Cedro, southern Italy, on September 14, 2016 Alberto Pizzoli (AFP/File)

A general view shows 'etrog' citron fruit trees growing in Santa Maria Del Cedro, southern Italy on September 15, 2016 Alberto Pizzoli (AFP/File)
Palestinian municipal polls delayed for up to four months

The Palestinian government delayed municipal elections for up to four months Tuesday with Fatah and Hamas so far unable to overcome divisions to organise their first competitive polls in a decade.

The postponement came a day after the Palestinian high court ruled that the elections, initially scheduled for October 8, should be held only in the West Bank and not in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

A new date for the vote was not set by the government based in the West Bank, the Palestinian territory run by president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party.

Hamas boycotted the last Palestinian municipal elections in 2012, but had been due to participate this year Pedro Ugarte (AFP/File)

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission and the United Nations special representative welcomed the postponement, saying they were hopeful Gaza would now be included in the eventual vote.

The Palestinians have not held an election in which both Hamas and Fatah took part since 2006. They have also not held a vote in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip at the same time since then.

"The Palestinian cabinet, in consultation with president Mahmud Abbas, decided to postpone the local elections for (up to) four months," prime minister Rami Hamdallah said in a statement.

Islamist movement Hamas rejected the postponement and said the delay and the decision not to hold the polls in Gaza were Fatah manoeuvrings to avoid an electoral defeat.

Hamas, labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and European Union, had planned to support lists of candidates not officially linked to the movement to avoid potential sanctions if they won.

It was not clear if Hamas would still attempt to do so.

The elections were initially to choose municipal councils in some 416 cities and towns in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

On September 8, the Palestinian high court based in the West Bank suspended the polls following disputes between Fatah and Hamas over candidate lists.

That dispute led to Monday's decision in which the high court ordered the elections to be held only in the West Bank and not in Gaza.

It said that the Hamas-controlled judiciary in Gaza did not have the necessary "guarantees" in place for holding the polls.

- Postponement 'preferable' -

It was unclear if Tuesday's postponement meant Gaza would be included in the elections or another court ruling would be needed first, but the Central Elections Commission welcomed the delay.

In a statement, it said a postponement was preferable to only holding the vote "in the West Bank, which would have deepened the division in the country and negatively affected the public interest of the Palestinian people".

Nickolay Mladenov, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, also welcomed the postponement, saying in a statement it was important elections "be organised both in the West Bank and Gaza".

Mukhaimer Abu Sada, professor of political science at Gaza's Al Azhar University, told AFP that "if a consensus can't be reached, the most likely scenario is cancelling the elections".

Reconciliation attempts between Hamas and Fatah have repeatedly failed, and Hamas boycotted the most recent Palestinian municipal elections in 2012.

An official with the electoral commission said authorities now planned to restart the process from the beginning -- meaning that candidate lists already registered could be wiped out.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters the group opposed that and wanted the process restarted at the point where it was stopped.

Fatah and Hamas have not contested an election since 2006 parliamentary polls which Hamas won -- sparking a conflict that led to near civil war in Gaza the following year.

This year's vote was planned with 81-year-old Abbas under heavy political pressure as opinion polls have suggested most Palestinians would like him to step down.

Some analysts saw Abbas's decision to call for the municipal elections as a failed gambit since he may have been hoping Hamas would repeat its 2012 boycott.
S.Africa students, police clash in campus battle

South African police fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas at student protesters in Johannesburg on Tuesday as authorities tried to re-open the prestigious Wits University after weeks of demonstrations.

The university, along with many campuses across South Africa, has been closed for at least two weeks during protests over tuition fees, with violent clashes regularly erupting between students, police and private security guards.

"There has been an attempt to disrupt lectures at Wits today," the university said in a statement.

A South African police officer looks on during clashes with students from the University of the Witwatersrand during a protest against university fee increases in Johannesburg, on September 21, 2016 Mujahid Safodien (AFP/File)

"Police are dispersing the protesting students as we speak, using teargas and stun grenades."

University authorities had vowed to re-open the campus on Tuesday, with vice-chancellor Adam Habib warning of the "immense consequences of not finishing the academic year".

He said most students wanted to return to lectures, adding that police and security staff would ensure teaching could go ahead and that mass protests would not be allowed.

"The university wants to arrest us, instead of listening to us," said 21-year-old Patrick Shabalala, a third-year law student, as clashes continued outside Wits' Great Hall auditorium.

"We are not criminals. We want to study and not end up paying endless student loans from the government. That is why we are striking."

As police opened fire and protesters threw rocks, television footage showed several students and at least one police officer sustaining minor injuries.

- Nationwide unrest -

Campuses nationwide including the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Pretoria have all been hit by violence, arson and closures in recent weeks.

The wave of protests was triggered by a government announcement that universities would set their own fee increases but that next year's hikes could only be as high as eight percent.

"The struggle continues, not only here at Wits but across the country," said Phelokazi Caluza, 19, a first-year chemical engineering student.

"Students are angry at the government, the governments responds by unleashing cops on us.

"Exams are around the corner but if we don't fight, we will be facing the same problems next year."

Sporadic unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students have protested against fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education.

Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of huge demonstrations which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016.

"We do not agree with those who say that universities should be shut down," President Jacob Zuma said Monday, while confirming that students from poorer families would be given further financial assistance.

"The wanton destruction of university property that we have witnessed are shocking criminal acts," he added.

Funding for South Africa's universities has been stretched as the economy endures flat-lining growth and the government struggles with a 27 percent unemployment rate.

Student activism played a central role in the fight against apartheid, with the massacre of pupils by white police officers in 1976 seen as a key date in the country's tumultuous history.
Russia sends missile system to Syria port

Russia said it has sent an advanced missile system to the Syrian port of Tartus, as tensions escalate between Moscow and Washington over the five-year conflict.

The announcement came after Washington said it was suspending talks with Moscow aimed at reviving a ceasefire deal over Russia's support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On the ground, Assad's forces advanced on rebels during intense street fighting in the opposition-held east of Aleppo city, which Russia has been accused of bombing indiscriminately including targeting its hospitals.

Aleppo is reeling from some of the most brutal fighting in the five-year Syrian conflict Thaer Mohammed (AFP/File)

The UN rights chief called for action to halt the "ghastly avalanche of violence" unfolding in Syria's second city, which is reeling from some of the most brutal fighting in the conflict.

Russia, which has denied its strikes have hit hospitals, said it was deploying an S-300 missile system to Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.

"The S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat to anyone," said defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

"It's not clear why the placement of S-300 in Syria has caused such a stir among our western colleagues," he said in a statement.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the Russian missile system would not affect operations in the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State group in northern Syria, and questioned why Moscow was making the move.

"Last I checked, the Russians said that their primary goal was to fight extremism, ISIL and Nusra, in Syria," he said, referring to IS and another group formerly known as Al-Nusra Front.

"Neither one has an air force... So this is something we'll watch carefully. But it should be clear to the Russians and everybody else operating in Syria how seriously we take the safety of our air crews."

As well as operating a naval facility in Tartus, Russia runs an air base outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which currently houses warplanes used in its bombing campaign in support of ally Assad.

In August, a Russian official said Moscow was planning to expand into a permanent military facility its Hmeimim air base, which already has an S-400 air defence system, its most modern equipment.

Washington announced late Monday that it would suspend joint efforts to reinstate a nationwide truce, accusing Moscow of abetting Assad's assault on Aleppo.

- 'Patience has run out' -

"Everybody's patience with Russia has run out," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

A US official said Secretary of State John Kerry was focused on finding a diplomatic solution, but his talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the crisis were over.

US security and foreign policy chiefs were set to meet Wednesday to discuss "diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options" ahead of a meeting with President Barack Obama, a State Department spokesman said.

"Just because we've temporarily suspended the cooperation that we had bilaterally with Russia on Syria doesn't mean that we've closed any doors on multilateral action," Mark Toner added.

The Kremlin said it "would like to hope for the presence of political wisdom and the continuation of exchanges on particularly sensitive issues that are necessary for maintaining peace and security."

The US-Russia truce plan had envisioned an end to hostilities, increased aid deliveries, and eventual coordination in the fight against jihadists.

But it collapsed after a week, with Russia blaming Washington for failing to convince rebels to distance themselves from jihadists.

Russia and the US will keep a communications channel open solely to ensure their separate anti-jihadist bombing campaigns do not get in each other's way.

The Syrian army announced a major Russian-backed military push nearly two weeks ago to capture the eastern half of Aleppo, once the country's commercial hub.

- 'Avalanche of violence' -

The regime forces were "gradually advancing" after street battles on the front line dividing the city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

State media said rebel shelling on the government-held west, including the Aleppo University campus, killed six people.

More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011, and the latest attempt at securing a diplomatic solution to the war has fallen apart.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein decried the "ghastly avalanche of violence and destruction" in east Aleppo, saying 100 children had been killed in the past 10 days.

He urged the Security Council to introduce a limit on its members' veto power, to prevent countries like Russia blocking the referral of Syria's conflict to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

On Monday, the largest hospital in the rebel-held side of Aleppo was completely destroyed in an aerial attack, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports the facility.

Siege of Aleppo John SAEKI, Laurence CHU (AFP)

Syrian regime forces gather at the Kindi Hospital as smoke billows following airstrikes on Aleppo on October 2, 2016 George Ourfalian (AFP/File)

An injured Syrian child waits after receiving treatment at a makeshift hospital on October 3, 2016 following reported air strikes in the rebel-held town of Douma Abd Doumany (AFP)
200,000 Afghan refugees return in exodus from Pakistan: UNHCR

More than 200,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated from Pakistan this year, nearly half of them in September alone, UNHCR said Tuesday, the highest number since 2002, after the fall of the Taliban regime.

The tsunami of refugees returning to the war-torn country comes after Pakistan tightened its border controls in June and began cracking down on undocumented Afghans.

The vast majority -- more than 185,000 -- returned after July, with nearly 98,000 crossing the border in September alone, UNHCR spokesman Qaisar Khan Afridi told AFP.

Afghan refugees wait for their registration at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation centre on the outskirts of Peshawar on September 7, 2016 A. Majeed (AFP/File)

"From January until today, the number of refugees voluntarily repatriating to Afghanistan has crossed the figure of 200,000," Afridi said.

More and more appear to be going every day, with officials saying that the first four days of October saw up to 5,000 returnees daily.

An Amnesty International report Tuesday said Pakistan hosted 1.6 million refugees, making it the third largest refugee hosting nation in the world.

But UNHCR said the figure, based on its own data, was already out of date and should be revised to 1.4 million after the movement since July. A further one million undocumented refugees are estimated to be in Pakistan.

Since 2009, Islamabad has repeatedly pushed back a deadline for them to return, but fears are growing that the latest cutoff date in March 2017 will be final.

Pakistani officials said the increase came after they vowed to tighten border controls, particularly at the porous Torkham Gate crossing.

However UNHCR cited an array of other reasons that could be helping drive the rush back into Afghanistan, including increasing anxiety and insecurity for refugees about life in Pakistan.

Other factors include the UNHCR decision to double its cash grant for voluntary returnees from $200 to $400 per individual in June, and a campaign by the Afghan government to lure its citizens back with the slogan "My country, my beautiful country".

In Afghanistan, however, torn apart by more than three decades of conflict, authorities warn the number of displaced people has outpaced the capacity of the government and aid agencies to cope.

Meanwhile the EU said Monday it has struck a tentative deal with Afghanistan to take back migrants ahead of a conference in Brussels aimed at securing international financial aid for the war-ravaged nation.
India bans Kashmir newspaper for 'inciting unrest'

Authorities in Indian Kashmir have banned a local newspaper they said was inciting violence in the Himalayan region, which has been roiled by deadly violence in recent months.

The editor of the Kashmir Reader, an English-language daily, said police had come to their office carrying an order for them to stop publishing.

"There was no prior notice or communication from the government," Hilal Mir told AFP. "If there was a problem with the content, they could have sought an explanation from us."

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full Sajjad Hussain (AFP/File)

The order said the Kashmir Reader "contains such material and content which tends to incite acts of violence and disturb public peace and tranquility".

Rights groups criticised the move, which comes weeks after local authorities briefly banned all newspapers from publishing and stopped internet services.

"The government has a duty to respect the freedom of the press, and the right of people to receive information," Amnesty International said in a statement.

"It cannot shut down a newspaper simply for being critical of the government."

Journalists marched to protest the move in Srinagar on Monday, calling it a violation of press freedom.

Nearly 90 people, most of them young protesters, have been killed in clashes with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir since the death on July 8 of a popular militant leader.

It is the worst violence the troubled region has seen since 2010, although several armed groups have for decades been fighting Indian forces stationed there, seeking independence from India.
Second peacekeeper dies in Mali as UN admits failings

The UN said Tuesday a second peacekeeper had died following an attack on a base in northeastern Mali, as it reported serious failings in its most dangerous ongoing mission.

More than 11,000 UN police and military are currently serving in Mali, attempting to guarantee security in lawless swathes of the vast Sahel nation.

A UN statement released early Tuesday said "a second peacekeeper died overnight from his injuries," in the attack near the Algerian border.

The UN report admitted the mission to Mali was responsible for the death of a detainee arrested over terrorism offences and two cases of torture committed in the last four months Sebastien Rieussec (AFP/File)

A peacekeeper from Chad was already known to have died on Monday, joining more than 100 others who have lost their lives serving the UN's deadliest active deployment.

Late on Tuesday AFP learned a civilian was also killed on Monday when he stepped on a mine in Aguelhok. "He died on the spot," his parents said.

The deaths coincided with the scheduled publication Tuesday of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest report on the crisis facing the Mali mission as it loses vital equipment and faces a rising threat from militants.

Attacks against the UN force and Malian security forces were "increasingly frequent, bold and well coordinated," Ban said.

On Tuesday a Malian solider escorting a convoy in the Timbuktu region became the latest casualty, a military source told AFP.

Under increasing pressure, the report admitted the mission was responsible for the death of a detainee arrested over terrorism offences and two cases of torture it said were committed by the mission in the last four months.

Ban said that an investigation had been launched and vowed "corrective measures", and mentioned two other cases of "sexual exploitation" and abuse that have been lodged against its staff since the beginning of the year.

Continued equipment shortages -- particularly a lack of helicopters -- meant peacekeepers would be "handicapped in carrying out its mandate, and the confidence that the signatory parties and the population have in the mission will suffer," the secretary-general said.

The Netherlands is due to pull out its seven aircraft in early 2017, exacerbating the problem.

- Peace deal threatened -

Only a third of the expected financing for humanitarian projects in 2016 has been received, putting civilian lives at risk, Ban said.

The UN's World Food Programme said last week that school meals for nearly 180,000 children in about 1,000 schools were in jeopardy, in a country where one meal a day was a major incentive for parents to send their children to school.

Ban also emphasised that while some progress had been made to secure the troubled peace process that began last year, developments in the country's troubled north had been limited.

Bloody clashes between pro-government armed groups and former rebels were a violation of a peace accord, and those fighting around the Kidal region should potentially face sanctions, he added.

Mali last year concluded a peace deal between the government, its armed proxies, and Tuareg-led rebels who have launched several uprisings since the 1960s. The deal's implementation has been patchy.

There was "no government presence in the regions of Kidal and Taoudenni" for security reasons, Ban said. and a limited presence in other northern areas affected by fighting.

Northern Mali fell into the hands of jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda in early 2012 -- briefly backed by Tuareg-led rebels -- throwing the country into chaos.

An ongoing international military intervention that began in January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from the major urban centres they had briefly controlled, but large tracts of Mali are still not controlled by domestic or foreign troops.
Iraq PM to Mosul residents: 'victory is near'

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said "victory is near" as he pledged to recapture Mosul from jihadists, in a radio address to residents of the city on Tuesday.

It was the first such address by Abadi, though it was unclear how many residents of Mosul, which was seized by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014, heard his remarks, as the jihadists have sought to limit communication with the outside world.

"Today we are close to you, and you are close to us, and victory is near, with God's help," Abadi said, according to a copy of his remarks distributed by his office.

IS seized Mosul along with other areas in June 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground from the jihadists and are readying for a drive to retake Iraq's second-largest city Haidar Hamdani (AFP/File)

"Today we are advancing and tomorrow we will be victorious together, and then we will work together to bring back life and services and stability to every city and village," he said.

Abadi also called for Mosul residents to cooperate with Iraqi security forces, and said that: "You are today closer than any previous time to being rescued from the injustice and tyranny and cruelty of (IS)."

Iraq has not announced a specific time for the start of the operation to retake the city, but various Western officials have indicated it could begin this month.

But even after the operation is launched, a coalition of heterogenous and sometimes rival forces will have to fight their way to the city -- in some cases over distances of dozens of kilometres (miles) -- and then surround it before launching an assault.

The operation may also precipitate a major humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning up to one million people could be displaced.
Russia sent S-300 air defence system to Syria: ministry

Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday that it had sent an S-300 missile system to its naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, a measure it says is meant to bolster its security.

"The S-300 anti-aircraft missile system has indeed been sent to the Syrian Arab Republic," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

"I remind you that the S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat to anyone.

A Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system launcher rolls in central St. Petersburg, on April 28, 2014 Olga Maltseva (AFP/File)

"It's not clear why the placement of S-300 in Syria has caused such a stir among our western colleagues," he said.

The announcement comes as talks on reviving a failed ceasefire were suspended by Washington over Moscow's support of the regime in Damascus.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the Russian missile system would not affect operations in the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State group in northern Syria, and questioned why Moscow was making the move.

"Last I checked, the Russians said that their primary goal was to fight extremism, ISIL and Nusra, in Syria," he said, referring to IS and another group formerly known as Al-Nusra Front.

"Neither one has an air force... So this is something we'll watch carefully. But it should be clear to the Russians and everybody else operating in Syria how seriously we take the safety of our air crews."

Moscow has been accused of indiscriminately bombing Aleppo's opposition-controlled east as it helps an offensive currently being conducted by Syrian regime forces to capture all of the country's second city.

Russia has also denied that its strikes have hit hospitals and other civilian facilities in spite of reports to the contrary.

In addition to operating a naval facility in Tartus, Russia runs an air base outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which currently houses war planes used in Moscow's bombing campaign in support of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad.

A senior Russian official said in August that Russia was planning to expand its Hmeimim Air Base in Syria into a permanent military facility.
UN urges Sudan to shed light on alleged chemical attacks

The United Nations peacekeeping chief on Tuesday urged Sudan to shed light on allegations of chemical weapons attacks in Darfur, but Russia said the claims must not be taken seriously.

Herve Ladsous said he was "very alarmed" by an Amnesty International report that accused Sudanese government forces of carrying out more than 30 chemical attacks this year in villages of Darfur's Jebel Marra region.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in response to the report released last week that it would require further information and evidence to push ahead with a formal investigation.

Amnesty International said that between 200 and 250 people including many children may have died as a result of exposure to chemical agents during attacks by Sudanese government forces in the Jebel Marra region of Sudan Albert Gonzalez Farran (UNAMID/AFP/File)

Ladsous told the Security Council that Khartoum -- which has signed the Chemical Weapons Convention -- should "maintain full cooperation with any future OPCW investigation, as it has expressed readiness to do so."

Amnesty said that between 200 and 250 people including many children may have died as a result of exposure to chemical agents during the attacks.

France and Britain have said the allegations should be thoroughly investigated, but Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the report was unconvincing.

"Those allegations are not serious. There are so many reasons to believe they are not serious," Churkin told reporters.

Ladsous stressed that the United Nations had no evidence of the use of such weapons but that its peacekeepers from the UNAMID joint mission with the African Union had been barred from traveling to those areas to verify the reports.

The peacekeeping chief said UNAMID had once again asked the Sudanese government for access to the mountainous villages where the chemical attacks allegedly took place.

Following a closed-door meeting on Darfur, the Russian ambassador said the council "wouldn't mind" if the OPCW decided to open a formal investigation.

Churkin, whose country holds the council presidency this month, said a team from UNAMID could also be dispatched to the area and could "come to the conclusion that those reports were not accurate."

Up to 194,000 people have been displaced in Jebel Marra since mid-January when the Sudanese army launched a military campaign against the rebel Sudan Liberation Army - Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW) group, the United Nations says.

Darfur has been engulfed in a conflict since 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency.
Christian leaders urge 'safe zones' for Aleppo

The custodian of Catholic sites in the Holy Land and the head of the Franciscan Order called Tuesday for a "safe zone" to be created in Syria's Aleppo as fighting there raged.

Francesco Patton, whose custody of Catholic sites in the Holy Land covers shrines in Syria, and Michael Perry, minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, made the appeal in a joint statement.

"We ask that the entire international community take concrete steps to designate Aleppo a safe zone," they said.

The plea to establish "safe zones" in Aleppo comes as regime forces advance against rebels in the northern Syrian city Ameer Alhabi (AFP/File)

"A safe zone surrounding Aleppo would allow the whole population, worn down by the terrible effects of the conflict, to receive essential humanitarian aid without discrimination, to find safety and security, and to recover some trust and hope in a speedy solution, which would be motivated by peace alone," they added.

Their plea came as Syrian regime forces advanced against rebels in the northern city during intense street battles on Tuesday, after the United States abandoned talks with Russia aimed at securing a truce.

Patton and Perry said safe zones should be placed under the control of UN peacekeepers and operate "under a (UN) Security Council mandate with the full cooperation of the various parties involved in the war".

They also urged nations across the world "to be as generous as possible in accepting Syrian refugees".

The custody of the Holy Land is made up of 285 members of the Franciscan Order from 39 countries.

Its territory covers Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, the Greek island of Rhodes and the monastery of Mosky in Cairo.
Citigroup renames scandal-hit Mexican unit, invests $1 bn

Citigroup announced Tuesday a long-term plan to build up its scandal-plagued Mexican unit Banamex, renaming the company Citibanamex and pumping $1 billion into the business through 2020.

The plan includes a beefed-up physical presence in Mexico, with 2,500 new ATMs and 100 new "digital branches," which typically are staffed with a few humans and provide services through touch-screen and other automated capacities.

Citibanamex will also upgrade its computer infrastructure systems to provide better digital-banking services from personal computers and smartphones. There will be special branch offerings for priority clients and small- and medium-sized businesses.

Citigroup acquired Banamex in 2001 and currently has nearly 1,500 branches in Mexico, 7,500 ATMs and 5.7 million credit cards Mario Tama (Getty/AFP/File)

"These investments in Citibanamex reaffirm our commitment to Mexico and our confidence in its prospects," said Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat.

"Our goal is nothing less than to create a state-of-the-art bank in Mexico, fully focused on delivering a richer, smarter, more intuitive experience to everyone who does business with us."

Citigroup acquired Banamex in 2001 and currently has nearly 1,500 branches in Mexico, 7,500 ATMs and 5.7 million credit cards.

In February 2014, Citigroup announced a one-time charge of $235 million after uncovering fraud on the books of oil contractor Oceanografia, which had borrowed $585 million from a Banamex unit.

The disclosure spurred numerous government probes, including investigations by the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.
Four Shiite women killed in Pakistan bus attack

Gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a moving bus in Pakistan and killed four women from the Shiite Muslim minority in an apparent sectarian attack, officials said Tuesday.

The gunmen sprayed the vehicle with bullets in the outskirts of Quetta city, the provincial capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

"At least two motorcycle riders on one bike fired at the bus when it reached close to Hazara town. Two people, one male and another female, were also wounded in the attack," Abdul Razzaq Cheema, a senior police official told AFP.

Pakistani security officials and residents gather around ambulances carrying the bodies of Shiite Muslim women killed in an attack by gunmen at a hospital in Quetta Banaras Khan (AFP)

"The bus was travelling from one locality of Hazaras to the other," Cheema said.

Qambar Dashti, Quetta city commissioner, confirmed the attack and said it could be sectarian.

"This attack on Hazaras' bus could be sectarian but we are still investigating it," he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban militants have attacked Shiite Hazaras in the past.

Sectarian violence -- in particular by Sunni hardliners against Shiites who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people -- has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade.

In May last year, 43 members of the Shiite Ismaili minority were killed when their bus was stopped and riddled with bullets in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi by militants claiming Islamic State group affiliation.
Women hope to break Gaza sea blockade

A group of women will try to reach the Gaza Strip on board a boat on Wednesday in a bid to break a decade-long blockade by Israel, a spokeswoman said.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2006 but it was tightened in 2007 after the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas seized control in the tiny enclave.

Israel says its maritime, land and sea blockade of Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas from receiving supplies which could be used for military purposes.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire will be one of fifteen women to attempt to break the Israel blockade aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva boat Janek Skarzynski (AFP/File)

Fifteen women will try to breach the blockade aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva boat early on Wednesday, said spokeswoman Claude Leotic.

"But we fear there will be an Israeli attack" to prevent the boat from reaching Gaza's shores, she told AFP Tuesday in a telephone interview.

Israeli media, quoting unnamed officials, have reported in recent days that the navy will intercept the boat and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod to prevent it from reaching Gaza.

The Zaytouna-Oliva is one of two vessels that set sail from Barcelona in September.

The flotilla dubbed "Women's Boat to Gaza", is part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition that consists of pro-Palestinian boats that regularly go to Gaza from all over the world to try to break the blockade.

None have yet managed to get through, and Israeli authorities have made several arrests.

One such operation turned to tragedy in 2010 when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists in a raid on a flotilla.

Among the women of different nationalities on board the Zaytouna-Oliva is Northern Ireland activist and 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire.

A South African passenger, Leigh-Ann Naidoo, told AFP she expected the boat to be 100 nautical miles off the shores of Gaza by 0300 GMT.

"Our goal is to reach Gaza. We are not worried about what Israel plans on doing," she added.
Supreme Court hears whether death sentence carried racist taint

The Supreme Court confronts the issue of racism Wednesday in reviewing a 20-year-old death penalty case involving a black defendant whose race was given as a reason for considering him a danger to society.

The case of Duane Buck, who was sentenced to death in Texas in 1997, comes to the fore amid an intense national debate over racism in law enforcement after a wave of police killings of black suspects.

Buck's case shifts the spotlight to racial prejudice in the US judicial system, with the Supreme Court providing a high profile forum for arguments over the way cases involving black defendants are treated.

Duane Buck's case shifts the spotlight to racial prejudice in the US judicial system, with the Supreme Court providing a high profile forum for arguments over the way cases involving black defendants are treated Alex Wong (Getty/AFP/File)

There is no question about Buck's guilt in the brutal 1995 slaying of his former lover and the man he found her with.

But the court challenge centers not on the ultimate punishment itself, but on how the jury decided on the death penalty in Buck's case.

- 'Tainted' jury -

"What this case is really about," said Sam Pital, a legal expert, "is whether or not the court is going to permit Texas to pursue an execution where the capital sentencing proceeding was fundamentally tainted by so-called expert testimony that the defendant, Mr Duane Buck, was more deserving of a death sentence because he is black."

Under Texas law, a person cannot be condemned to death unless the prosecutor proves that he or she poses a future danger to society.

Today, Buck has an impressive defense team, including lawyers from the NAACP, the nation's leading black civil rights group.

But at the time of his conviction, he was represented by two court-appointed lawyers, one of whom, Jerry Guerinot, had a dismal record.

Guerinot had won zero acquittals over the course of his career and had no fewer than 20 clients who were sentenced to death.

During the sentencing hearing, Guerinot used a pseudo psychologist named Walter Quijano as an expert witness. Quijano told the court Buck presented a higher risk of recidivism because he was black.

Buck's defenders say the racist assumption contained in Quijano's assertion tainted the jury, violating the defendant's constitutional right to a public trial by an impartial jury.

Besides being inadmissible, Quijano's prediction was "patently false," said Kate Black, one of Buck's lawyers.

- Model prisoner -

She says Buck has not had a single disciplinary infraction since his sentencing.

"He has a spotless disciplinary record. And that's really remarkable," she said. "On death row, inmates are routinely written up for trivial things like refusing to shave, having too many postage stamps, putting pictures of art or photos on the wall or windows, refusing to shower on a given day."

Buck was sentenced in Texas' Harris County, which accounts for nine percent of all US executions, a record among the more than 3,000 US counties.

A University of Maryland study found that between 1992 and 1999, Harris County prosecutors were three times more likely to seek the death sentence for a black defendant than a white one, and jurors were twice as likely to sentence a black person to death.

The state of Texas minimizes the importance of Quijano's testimony, contending that Buck would have been condemned to death anyway in light of the charges against him.
Yemen rebels form rival government

Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen formed Tuesday a "national salvation" government to rival the internationally recognised administration of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The cabinet led by Abdel Aziz Ben Habtoor, who was named on Sunday to form a government in rebel-held Sanaa, will have 27 ministers, the rebel's "supreme political council" said in a statement.

The council was created in July by the Huthis and the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yemenis wave the national flag during a gathering in support of the Huthi-led parliament, in the capital Sanaa on August 20, 2016 Mohammed Huwais (AFP/File)

Ben Habtoor is a former governor of the southern port city of Aden and a member of the political bureau of Saleh's General People's Congress.

Abu Bakr al-Kerbi, a former foreign minister of Yemen and member of Saleh's party, will head the foreign ministry while the defence ministry was given to General Hussein Khayran, who held the same portfolio in the Huthis' revolutionary committee.

The rebel government also includes five women -- a number never seen before in Yemen -- as well as representatives of southern separatists and ministers considered independents.

The rebel announcement of a rival government is likely to further complicate the prospects of a political settlement in Yemen.

In early August, UN-backed peace talks in Kuwait between Yemen's warring parties were suspended.

The United Nations says the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led Arab coalition backing Hadi's government launched operations in March 2015.
US mulls 'diplomatic and military' options for Syria

US agencies are considering "diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options" to deal with the crisis in Syria, an official said Tuesday, while stressing the need for a "political resolution."

Top US security and foreign policy chiefs are to meet Wednesday to review their options to present to US President Barack Obama, after abandoning attempts to work with Russia to impose a truce.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed that some military options might be discussed, but said Secretary of State John Kerry is still working hard to pursue the diplomatic track with allies.

US officials say that any new economic sanctions on Russia or Syria would be more effective if applied internationally Abd Doumany (AFP/File)

"Just because we've temporarily suspended the cooperation that we had bilaterally with Russia on Syria doesn't mean that we've closed any doors on multilateral action," Toner said.

US officials say that any new economic sanctions on Russia or Syria would be more effective if applied internationally. Senior US and European officials will meet on Wednesday in Germany.

"We're examining closely our approach going forward," Toner said of the internal US government debate in Washington.

"And in that regard, the departments/agencies are discussing diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options, and we'll all have these discussions going forward.

"But essentially our view remains the same," Toner said. "Our stress is still on a political resolution."

US forces are deployed in Syria and Iraq leading an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group, but the White House has resisted pressure to be drawn into the Syrian civil war.

Russian forces are there backing Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad's forces in their battle against the rebels, some of them supported by the US.

Last month, a US-Russian effort to broker a ceasefire collapsed amid mutual recrimination and Assad's forces backed by Russian air power launched an assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
South Carolina orders coastal evacuations over Hurricane Matthew

South Carolina will start evacuating more than a million people from its coast Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew bears down after killing three people, triggering floods and forcing thousands to flee in Haiti, the governor said.

Governor Nikki Haley said Tuesday she had declared a state of emergency. The evacuations will begin as the state gears up for Matthew, expected to hit the South Carolina coast Saturday with 100-mile (160-kilometer) per hour winds.

"We have decided that we will evacuate all coastal communities starting tomorrow," Haley told a news conference.
At least 22 dead on migrant boat off Libya

At least 22 Europe-bound migrants were found dead Tuesday in an overloaded wooden boat off Libya, an AFP photographer witnessed, on a day of frantic rescues in the Mediterranean.

Photographer Aris Messinis, who was able to go on board the vessel, said many of the dead had suffocated.

"It was a wooden vessel and there were about 1,000 people on three levels. I counted 22 bodies and there are still others in the hold," he said by telephone.

Migrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016 Aris Messinis (AFP)

Messinis was travelling on the Astral, a ship chartered by Spanish NGO ProActiva Open Arms, which rescues migrants at sea.

Towards 2000 GMT the Astral rescuers moved back to allow the Italian navy to take care of the survivors and retrieve the bodies, the photographer said.

The deaths came after the Italian coastguard -- which is coordinating rescue efforts in international waters north of Libya -- said at least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday.

It was yet another day of drama at sea after more than 6,000 migrants, most of them Africans in packed rubber dinghies, were rescued off Libya on Monday. Nine bodies were found in those operations, including a pregnant woman.

- 'Panic onboard' -

The Italian coastguard said operations had been carried out Tuesday to bring migrants to safety from some 30 packed boats.

With numerous rescue boats en route to Italy to unload the huge human cargo collected on Monday, Messinis said the Astral was left alone to deal with the overloaded wooden boat for several hours.

It was aided only by lifeboats dropped by a Spanish military plane until the navy arrived at midday.

"There was panic onboard, there were people jumping into the water," Messinis said.

The Astral's rescue operations had begun before dawn and lasted until nightfall.

The latest people to be rescued will add to a total of some 132,000 migrants who have landed at Italy's southern ports so far this year, fleeing conflict, poverty or persecution and hoping to start new lives in Europe.

The new arrivals are mostly Africans who plan to try to get to northern Europe but increasingly are obliged to seek asylum or the right to remain in Italy, where reception centres have been strained to bursting point.

Migrants gesture towards members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO as they wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016 Aris Messinis (AFP)
Hurricane Matthew pummels Haiti and Cuba, evacuations ordered in US

Hurricane Matthew pummeled Haiti and moved on to Cuba after killing seven people, unleashing floods and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the Caribbean's worst storm in nearly a decade.

Far to the north, the first evacuations were ordered in the United States as coastal dwellers prepared to flee the approaching monster storm, expected off the East Coast later this week.

The death toll stood at seven -- three in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic -- but was certain to rise as dangerous Matthew bruised its way north.

A girl walks over debris after Hurricane Matthew hit Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on October 4, 2016 Erika Santelices (AFP)

The full scope of the damage, both human and material, remained unclear. Civil protection officials in Haiti said they were struggling to communicate with the south after Matthew's furious wind and rain blew down telephone lines.

The collapse of a bridge cut off the only road linking Port-au-Prince to the peninsula that makes up southern Haiti.

"It's going to be difficult to find an alternative route," civil protection spokesman Edgar Celestin told AFP.

Next in line, Cuba was hit late in the afternoon on its eastern tip.

The storm's eye made landfall around 0000 GMT, moving toward the north near 15 kilometers (nine miles) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Americans girded for a taste of nature's fury. South Carolina said it would start evacuating 1.1 million people from its coast starting Wednesday and try to get them at least 160 kilometers inland. Georgia declared a state of emergency in 13 counties.

"It's not going to be a fast evacuation. It could take up to several hours," South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said. "If you can leave early, do that."

- 'Extremely dangerous' -

Matthew made landfall in Haiti shortly after daybreak as an "extremely dangerous" Category Four storm -- the maximum is five -- near the southwestern town of Les Anglais, packing top winds of around 230 kilometers per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.

It marked the first time in 52 years that a Category Four storm made landfall in Haiti.

Even before making landfall along the southern edge of a jagged peninsula on Hispaniola -- the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic -- Matthew was blamed for at least three deaths in Haiti, with fears that the toll could climb.

Four more deaths were reported later in the Dominican Republic, where officials said 200 homes were damaged.

After Cuba, the storm is expected to hit the Bahamas late Tuesday or Wednesday.

It was forecast to dump 38 to 63 centimeters (15 to 25 inches) of rain over southern Haiti with up to a meter possible in isolated areas, and has been blamed for triggering mudslides.

The key port of Les Cayes, the country's third city is "very seriously damaged," said Hervil Cherubin, Haiti director for the aid group Heifer International. "Most roofs of houses, shops, gas stations are all gone."

"Businesses near the ocean have totally disappeared, washed away," he added, with farms "disappeared" and livestock killed.

The country is home to almost 11 million people, many living in fragile housing.

Thousands are still living in tents in Haiti after the country's massive earthquake in 2010. Erosion is especially dangerous because of high mountains and a lack of trees and bushes in areas where they have been cut for fuel.

More than 9,000 Haitians were evacuated to temporary shelters at area schools and churches, the Interior Ministry said.

But civil protection forces have struggled with locals who refused to leave some of the most vulnerable areas, where residents face serious flooding risks.

Schools will remain closed until Monday, but the authorities have not said whether long-delayed presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Sunday will still take place.

- First deluge, then mudslides -

Matthew already holds the longevity record for a Category Four and Five hurricane in the Caribbean, according to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of the Colorado State University.

It is expected to move past Cuba during the night.

Officials reported significant flooding and waves up to five meters (16 feet) in coastal villages in the east -- but no casualties so far.

The authorities evacuated some 1.3 million people.

One stalwart who stayed, 63-year-old Roberto Gates, ventured out to buy rum. "I have food for today and tomorrow, and then we'll see," he said.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) dispatched an elite disaster response team to the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica.

It is also sending some $400,000 in assistance to aid groups in Haiti and Jamaica and emergency relief supplies including blankets, plastic sheeting and water containers.

The Pentagon said 700 family members were evacuated over the weekend to Florida from the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, on Cuba's eastern tip.

Forecasters predict the hurricane could hit the US East Coast around midweek. Florida, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina have also declared states of emergency.

President Barack Obama postponed a trip to South Florida, where he had planned to attend a campaign event in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"If #Matthew directly impacts FL there will be massive destruction that we haven't seen in years," Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter.

The forecast path of Hurricane Matthew through the Caribbean Vincent Lefai, Jean-Michel Cornu (AFP)

A "tap tap" (public transport pick-up truck) drives through floods left by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, on October 4, 2016 Hector Retamal (AFP)

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in southwestern Haiti early on October 4, 2016

A woman pushes a wheelbarrow through a flooded street in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on October 4, 2016 Hector Retamal (AFP)
Google takes on rivals with Pixel phone, new hardware

Google opened fire on rivals Apple, Samsung and Amazon in a new push into hardware on Tuesday, launching premium-priced Pixel smartphones and a slew of other devices showcasing artificial intelligence prowess.

The unveiling of Google's in-house designed phone came as part of an expanded hardware move by the US company, which also revealed details about its new "home assistant" virtual reality headset and Wi-Fi router system.

The San Francisco event marked a shift in strategy for Google, which is undertaking a major drive to make Google Assistant artificial intelligence a futuristic force spanning all kinds of internet-linked devices.

The San Francisco event on October 4, 2016, marked a shift in strategy for Google, which is undertaking a major drive to make Google Assistant artificial intelligence a futuristic force spanning all kinds of internet-linked devices Ramin Talaie (Getty/AFP)

"We are evolving from a mobile-first world to an AI-first world," Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said.

"Our goal is to build a personal Google for each and every user."

Rick Osterloh, head of a new hardware division at the California-based internet giant, added, "We believe that the next big innovation is going to take place at the intersection of hardware and software, with AI at the center."

Pixel will be available with a five- or 5.5-inch display, starting at $649 for US customers, similar to the latest iPhone models. Pre-orders began Tuesday in Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain and the United States.

- Made by Google -

By using its own name on handsets, Google is aiming for a bigger slice of the competitive smartphone market, dominated by Samsung and Apple.

Until now, Google's flagship devices had used the Nexus brand with hardware partners that have included China's Huawei and South Korea's LG. The California group also sought to expand in the smartphone market by purchasing Motorola in 2011, but sold the unit less than three years later.

Unlike past smartphone alliances, Google stressed that it had complete control of Pixel from start to finish, contracting with Taiwan-based HTC to manufacture handsets.

"Google today demonstrated that it's finally serious about hardware," said Jan Dawson at Jackdaw Research. "The Pixel phones are clearly being positioned as peers to the iPhone."

The new Pixel phone is "the first phone made by Google inside and out," said Sabrina Ellis of the Pixel product management team.

By producing both the hardware and Android software, Google is making a more direct assault on Apple and its tightly controlled ecosystem.

Besides being the first smartphone to ship with Google Assistant, it will come with unlimited storage for photos and videos and be compatible with the company's new Daydream virtual reality platform.

Pixel has a "smart" camera for sublime photos, and a program to make it easy for users to switch operating systems, a move aimed at encouraging iPhone users to convert to Android.

However, Google may find it challenging to gain market share, analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said.

"Aside from the camera, the new Google Pixels are pretty undifferentiated compared to Samsung and iPhone 7th generation phones," he said. "They don't exactly swing anyone around the room."

- Apple's world -

Gartner analyst Brian Blau said "the most exciting part" of Tuesday's announcement was the assistant, which showcases Google's strength in artificial intelligence.

"It's a different tactic from Google, taking the stance that they want to have that direct relationship with their customers," he said.

"It is clearly a step into Apple's world" of controlling hardware and software and services, he added.

Pixel will be sold through US carrier Verizon and telecom groups, and be available at Google's online shop unlocked.

Google also showed off a new Daydream View headset into which compatible smartphones can be slipped to serve as screens for virtual reality experiences.

View headsets are made of soft cloth, purportedly inspired by casual clothes. Daydream View bundled with a controller device will be available in November, priced at $79.

Google added to the coming hardware line-up with a modular Wi-Fi system that lets a set of interconnected mini-modems be spread around homes to make signals strong in all spots.

"Unlike a single, central router, multiple Google Wi-Fi points do a better job of delivering connectivity to all parts of the home," Google executive Mario Queiroz said.

The internet giant also introduced its Google Home virtual assistant, which will be a direct challenge to popular Amazon Echo devices.

Google described Home as a voice-activated assistant that enables users to tap into the company's online capabilities to answer questions, manage tasks, control devices in homes, stream videos and more.

"Much like Amazon Echo, Google Home is less a story about a wireless speaker and more about a point of access to a virtual assistant," IHS Markit senior analyst Paul Erickson said.

"Ultimately, it will be the virtual assistants that are the trump card, and Google Assistant is expected to only grow in superiority to Alexa when it comes to personalization and everyday usefulness for mainstream users," he added of Amazon Echo's voice-activated program.

Google Home was also synced to work with the freshly unveiled Chromecast Ultra device for streaming high-resolution online video to television screens.

The $129 Google Home device will be available in retail shops on November 4.

Sabrina Ellis, Director of Product Management at Google Inc., speaks during an event to introduce the Google Pixel phone and other Google products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California Ramin Talaie (Getty/AFP)
Massachusetts man founds political Pizza Party

BOSTON (AP)  Josh Freeman is searching for his slice of the Massachusetts electorate.

The 42-year-old Raynham man is the founder of the Pizza Party, a political designation officially recognized by state election officials.

Freeman tells the Enterprise of Brockton (http://bit.ly/2dF9T6Z ) he doesn't recruit members and no Pizza Party candidate has ever run for office or raised any money.

Still, the Pizza Party has enrolled 184 registered voters.

That's enough to have the party listed as a "political designation" on the state secretary's website, but 42,000 or so voters short of being listed as an official party.

With no Pizza Party presidential candidate on the ballot, Freeman plans to vote for Republican Donald Trump.

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10 Things to Know for Wednesday - 12 October 2016

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:

1. TRUMP CONFRONTS HIS GOP OPPONENTS

The billionaire steps up his attacks on his own party leaders, promising to teach Republicans who oppose him a lesson.

In this Sept. 21, 2016, file photo, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., right, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, laugh at Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. bends his nail during a ceremony to drive in the first nails to signifying the start of construction on the 2017 presidential inaugural platform on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

2. DEMOCRATIC ACTIVISTS RESPOND TO CLINTON'S SPEECHES

They say the private speeches to Wall Street bankers and others confirm suspicions that she will revert to more moderate positions if elected.

3. HURRICANE MATTHEW BLEW OUT TO SEA BUT PROBLEMS PERSIST

Rivers and streams continue rising in parts of flood-stricken North Carolina, threatening to overwhelm bridges and split counties in two.

4. MAKESHIFT BRIGADES TAKE HOLD IN STORM-RAVAGED HAITI

Groups of people are doing this to clear debris and form some semblance of pre-hurricane lives as anger grows over aid delays.

5. SAMSUNG SENDS A MESSAGE TO GALAXY NOTE 7 OWNERS

The memo  "power down and stop using the device"  is unthinkable in an age when smartphones have become an extra limb.

6. HOW SOME WOMEN ARE RESPONDING TO TRUMP'S "GRAB 'EM" REMARKS

The GOP candidate's comments have unleashed a national conversation among women who are sharing bad memories of sexual assaults.

7. A MEDICAL EXAMINER RELEASES FINDINGS IN A POLICE SHOOTING

The findings say that an unarmed black man fatally shot by a white police officer in Tulsa was high on the hallucinogenic drug PCP.

9. WARREN BUFFET'S HIGH-CLASS PROBLEM

Cash is piling up at Berkshire Hathaway faster than he can invest it. Berkshire is holding nearly $73 billion in cash, and the total keeps growing.

10. WHO'S ON THE MOUND

John Lackey is, for the Chicago Cubs, who are trying again to reach the NL Championship Series.

From left, Jennifer Bibey, DJ Bryant and Rickey Bibey rest on the back of a pick up truck after being evacuated from their homes Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 in Vass, N.C. Residents in harms way of a potential Woodlake Dam failure were notified of a mandatory evacuation last night. The Bibey's and Bryant opted out of staying in a shelter because they would not be able to bring their pets with them. (Jill Knight/The News & Observer via AP)
Indiana GOP governor hopeful breaks with Pence on refugees

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The Republican who replaced Mike Pence on the ballot for governor of Indiana broke with his political benefactor on Monday, stating that Syrian refugees should be allowed into the state despite Pence's insistence that they pose a security risk.

Remarks by Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, who was Pence's preferred successor, came the same day a federal appellate court in Chicago rebuked Pence for his unsuccessful efforts to stop the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and other groups from settling Syrian refugees.

"I would honor what the court said. I wouldn't go against the court ruling," Holcomb said during a press conference following a gubernatorial debate. "I would continue to allow the refugees to come in here and find safe haven."

The three candidates for Indiana governor, Democrat John Gregg, Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb and Libertarian Rex Bell participate in a debate, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, Pool)

He spoke one day before Pence, who is Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate, debates Democrat Hillary Clinton's vice presidential hopeful Tim Kaine. Trump and Pence have made restrictions on immigration and refugees a major plank of their campaign.

In Indiana, damage to the state's reputation under Pence has emerged as a potent campaign issue that Democratic candidate for governor, John Gregg, hopes to capitalize on. Pence's tenure was punctuated by his steadfast support for conservative social issues that at times drew unwanted attention to the state, most notably when a religious objections law he signed provoked a national backlash from critics who said it could sanction discrimination against gay people.

Gregg commended Holcomb for saying he would welcome the refugees, but said conservative social issues pushed by Republicans have given the state a black-eye.

"That's what happens when you get in dealing with these social issues," said Gregg, a former statehouse speaker who narrowly lost to Pence in 2012. "Again Indiana has been embarrassed, again we've sent unnecessary tax dollar for litigation. And it is wrong."

On Monday, the court said Pence's warnings about the threat of terrorism by refugees amounted to "nightmare speculation."

The candidates for Indiana governor faced off in a town hall forum, with Holcomb arguing for a continuation of the economic development policies of recent Republican administrations, while Gregg called for passing civil rights protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Holcomb sought to align himself with the state's popular former governor Mitch Daniels while criticizing the fiscal management of state government in the late 1990s, when Gregg was House speaker and Republicans held power in the Senate. The state cut taxes while expanding spending, blowing through the state's budget reserves.

Holcomb, whom Pence appointed as lieutenant governor in March, has said the state's balanced budgets and strong reserves help attract business investment to Indiana. He touted those policies for helping drop the state's unemployment rate to 4.5 percent in August, below the national mark of 4.9 percent.

But he has consistently tried to duck talk of social issues and says there's no appetite to take up LGBT rights in the Legislature.

Democrat John Gregg participates in a debate for Indiana governor, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Indianapolis. Libertarian Rex Bell and Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb also participated in the debate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, Pool)

Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb participates in a debate for Indiana governor, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Indianapolis. Libertarian Rex Bell and Democrat John Gregg also participated in the debate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, Pool)

Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb participates in a debate for Indiana governor, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Indianapolis. Libertarian Rex Bell and Democrat John Gregg also participated in the debate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, Pool)

Democrat John Gregg participates in a debate for Indiana governor, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Indianapolis. Libertarian Rex Bell and Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb also participated in the debate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, Pool)
Aussies partying in skimpy briefs arrested at F1 in Malaysia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Nine Australians, including a government adviser, have been arrested in Malaysia for stripping down to their briefs and drinking beer from shoes after Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix, officials said Tuesday.

Government officials confirmed that Jack Walker, adviser to Defense Industry Minister Chris Pyne, was among the men aged 25 to 29 who were arrested after they stripped down to Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag in full view of thousands of spectators at the Sepang race track Sunday.

Pyne's office said the matter was being "handled appropriately" by the Australian High Commissioner in Malaysia.

"Until we have a clearer picture of the process at hand, it would be unwise to comment further," a government statement said.

District police chief Abdul Aziz Ali said Tuesday that the men were being investigated for "intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace" and public indecency.

He said police would submit a report to prosecutors, who will decide Thursday if the men will be charged. Abdul Aziz told the AP that the men face up to six months in jail, a fine or both if they are found guilty.

Sepang International Circuit chief executive Datuk Razlan Razali told the New Straits Times website the men deserved to be locked up and have action taken against them.

"This shows a huge lack of respect to us as Malaysians; this is stupid behavior from foreigners who have no sense of cultural sensitivity and respect," he said.

"It embarrasses their own country as well  it gives Australians a bad name," he said.

Treasurer Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB the arrests were a reminder for travelers to know local laws and respect them. The government already warns travelers that there are conservative standards of dress and behavior in many parts of Malaysia.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten declined to discuss Walker's behavior, saying he did not want to jeopardize a complex situation.

"It's incredibly serious when an Australian gets arrested overseas," he told reporters.

Don Rothwell, an Australian National University expert on international law, doubted Malaysian authorities would treat the Australians harshly.

"The Malaysian government will be sure to make sure that its international reputation as a tourist destination for the Grand Prix is not too damaged," Rothwell told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

___
Stanford police investigate report of on-campus rape

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP)  Stanford police are investigating a report that a female student was raped by a male student inside his dorm, officials said Monday.

The female student reported Friday's rape to someone in a position of authority at the university, but she hasn't provided a statement to police, said Bill Larson, a spokesman for the Stanford Department of Public Safety.

"She is processing a very traumatic experience, understandably, and I'm sure she is processing whether to come forward to us and give us a statement so we can continue with the investigation," Larson said.

The woman told the unidentified third party that she didn't know the man who attacked her. The alleged perpetrator has not been identified, he said.

Campus police sent out an alert Saturday about the assault, saying "Stanford University does not tolerate sexual assault, sexual misconduct, or sexual harassment."

"The university encourages anyone who has been sexually assaulted or subjected to other forms of sexual misconduct or harassment to report the incident to university officials," the alert said.

The reported rape comes after the high-profile case of former Stanford student Brock Turner, who was convicted of attacking a woman passed out near a trash bin. The case drew national outrage over the six-month prison sentence Turner received.

After serving half of his sentence, Turner, 21, moved back to his home state of Ohio, where he registered as a sex offender.
Timeline of major storms to hit Haiti in recent history

A look at major storms that have hit Haiti in recent decades:

 October 1935: Unnamed storm kills more than 2,000 people before strengthening into hurricane.

 October 1954: Hurricane Hazel kills hundreds and razes coffee and cacao plantations.

A woman protects herself from the rain with a piece of plastic prior the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, in Tabarre, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. The center of Hurricane Matthew is expected to pass near or over southwestern Haiti on Tuesday, but the area is already experiencing rain from the outer bands of the storm. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

 October 1963: Hurricane Flora hits southwestern region as Category 4 storm, killing about 6,000.

 August 1964: Hurricane Cleo hits southwest as Category 4 storm, killing nearly 200.

 September 1966: Hurricane Inez hits southern region as Category 3 storm, killing nearly 500.

 August 1980: Hurricane Allen barrels into southern coast, causing about 200.

 September 1988: Hurricane Gilbert wrecks southern coast, killing dozens and causing $90 million in damage.

 November 1994: Tropical Storm Gordon hits southern region, killing more than 1,100 people causing about $50 million in damage.

 1998: Hurricane Georges kills more than 800, displaces nearly 170,000, destroys 80 percent of Haiti's crops and causes more than $300 million in damage.

 September 2004: Tropical Storm Jeanne causes heavy flooding and landslides that kill about 2,000 and leave 200,000 homeless in Gonaives, Haiti's third-largest city.

 October 2007: Tropical Storm Noel unleashes mudslides and floods, killing about 60.

 August/September 2008: Tropical Storm Fay and hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike strike Haiti in space of one month, killing some 800 and causing $1 billion in damage.

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Top African wildlife park looks to villages to stop poachers

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa (AP)  On the edge of South Africa's largest wildlife reserve, the line between poacher and park ranger can be uncomfortably thin. Sometimes, Marianne de Kock watches it disappear.

She oversees young South Africans during a yearlong ranger training and, on the final day, she looks graduates in the eye.

"Have you ever poached?" she asks. Some admit they have. "Give me three poachers' names," she says. And they do.

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, recruits at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa explain conditions in the wild during their attempts to track poachers. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in Kruger National Park, nearly the size of Israel, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter.

The carcasses of more than 450 poached rhinos have been found in the park between January and the end of August, and elephant poaching is growing. Both are top issues at the conference of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, which ends Wednesday in Johannesburg.

The aim is to use local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. In the two South African provinces where the park is located, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the official unemployment rates were 29 percent and 18 percent early this year.

While well-off tourists with expensive gear bounce through the park on game drives and stay at upscale lodges, their money often doesn't make it to villagers. Poaching becomes an attraction.

At the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of the park, a new government-funded job program is training 119 young men and women "living in marginalized areas" to become field rangers and guides in wildlife reserves that are often near their homes.

"You get the poorest of the poor," de Kock said. Some who apply have never heard of wildlife conservation. They just want a job.

The applicants first must pass a week-long, military-style selection course that includes not being allowed to sleep more than two hours at a time. By day three, people are dropping out.

The trainers have learned to spot signs of determination, such as the hopefuls who arrive in borrowed sneakers a size or more too small. Day by day, pieces of the shoes are cut away to make room for fresh blisters.

"Those people are the quality that we want," said one trainer, Excellent McCabe.

Those selected are taught how to track, shoot, navigate and live in the bush, sometimes lying camouflaged in the grass for days at a time.

"Kids once learned to track from a very young age," said Gawie Lindeque, a head trainer and guide at the wildlife college. "The bush is not their school anymore." The training strips away basic comforts, such as electricity, and reintroduces nature skills. One lesson sends trainees into the bush to collect animals' dung.

As new rangers, the graduates will earn about 6,500 rand ($475) a month. No training is foolproof; there have been cases of Kruger rangers and park staff involved in poaching in the past.

"One is not looking after money, just protecting nature," said one of the 28 women in the program, Dzunisani Ndhlovu. The tall 27-year-old from Limpopo said there are "too many poachers" in her home community who don't know the importance of wildlife, and she called the job of park ranger very challenging.

It's also dangerous. Unlike in neighboring Botswana, rangers in South Africa cannot shoot poachers on sight and have to prove self-defense. Poachers have even shot at Kruger National Park's helicopters as they scan the vast, dry landscape for intruders.

"Better to shoot first" in a confrontation with an armed poacher, said one senior trainer, Wouter Combrinck. "Poachers, they don't care. As long as they get to that rhino, they will shoot."

In August, the shooting of a suspected poacher by Kruger rangers set off days of protests by people in the suspected poacher's nearby village. Burning tires were used to block a road, and tourists were advised to avoid one of the park's gates.

For park rangers from local communities, the risk from both poachers and local sympathizers can follow them home.

"Some, we just meet in the town," Wisdom Makhubele said of poachers. He pretended to duck. "I'm just hiding myself. But my work is my work."

The 28-year-old from a nearby village used to stock supplies at a game lodge. A year ago, after completing his ranger training, he became a full-time trainer and handler of poacher-tracking dogs. He received a gun and the authority to handcuff poachers until the police arrive.

"I'd die for this," Makhubele said of his work in conservation. "This is our legacy. We have to look after it."

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Associated Press writer Christopher Torchia and videographer Renee Graham in Johannesburg contributed.

In this photo taken Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, dog handler, Wisdom Makhubele is attacked by a dog during a simulated tracking exercise at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, a recruit marches during drills at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, a recruit displays a camouflage technique at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa, where young men and women are trained to become field rangers and guides. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, recruits being trained to become field rangers and guides salute during drills at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, an elephant walks through the bush at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, a rhino grazes in the bush on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, recruits stand to attention during inspection of their tents at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, dog handler, Wisdom Makhubele is attacked by a dog during a simulated tracking exercise at the Southern African Wildlife College on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, rhinos graze in the bush on the edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. As teams of poachers stalk rhinos and elephants in the park, wildlife officials are turning to nearby communities to help stop the slaughter by using local knowledge to deter poachers, not join them. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
Hurricane Matthew slams Haiti, takes aim at US East Coast

PETIT-GOAVE, Haiti (AP)  Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling 145 mph winds Tuesday, knocking down trees and tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, while inundating neighborhoods in floodwaters and mud.

By nightfall, at least 11 deaths had been blamed on the powerful storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean. But with a key bridge washed out, impassable roads and phone communication cut off with Haiti's hardest-hit area, there was no way to know how many people might be dead or injured.

Matthew, slightly weakened but still a dangerous Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds, whipped at Cuba's sparsely populated eastern tip Tuesday night, as it headed for a two-day run up the length of the Bahamas that would take it near the U.S. coast.

Residents head to a shelter in Leogane, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds Tuesday, tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Twenty-foot waves pounded the seafront promenade in the Cuban town of Baracoa. Powerful winds rattled the walls of homes and heavy rain caused some flooding. But state media said late Tuesday there were no immediate reports of serious damage.

Hours after Matthew made landfall on Haiti's now-marooned southwestern peninsula, government leaders said they couldn't fully gauge the impact.

"What we know is that many, many houses have been damaged. Some lost rooftops and they'll have to be replaced while others were totally destroyed," Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph said.

At least five deaths were blamed on the storm in Haiti, including a 26-year-old man who drowned trying to rescue a child who fell into a rushing river, authorities said. The child was saved. The mayor in flooded Petit Goave reported two people died there, including a woman who was killed by a falling electrical pole.

Four deaths were recorded in the neighboring Dominican Republic and one each in Colombia and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Forecasters said Matthew could be threatening Florida by Thursday night and would likely push its way up the East Coast through the weekend. The forecast triggered a rush by Americans to stock up on food, gasoline and other emergency supplies.

The storm  at one point the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade  blew ashore around dawn in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hitting a corner of Haiti where many people live in shacks of wood or concrete blocks.

Mourad Wahba, U.N. secretary-general's deputy special representative for Haiti, said at least 10,000 people were in shelters and hospitals were overflowing and running short of water. Wahba's statement called the hurricane's destruction the "largest humanitarian event" in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of January 2010.

Matthew left the peninsula that runs along the southern coast of Haiti cut off from the rest of the country. A bridge in the flooded town of Petit Goave was destroyed, preventing any road travel to the hard-hit southwest. Local radio said water was shoulder high in parts of the city of Les Cayes.

Milriste Nelson, a 65-year-old farmer in the town of Leogane, said his neighbors fled when the wind ripped the corrugated metal roof from their home. His own small yard was strewn with the fruit he depends on for his livelihood.

"All the banana trees, all the mangos, everything is gone," Nelson said as he boiled breadfruit over a charcoal fire in the gray morning light. "This country is going to fall deeper into misery."

Haitian authorities had tried to evacuate people from the most vulnerable areas ahead of the storm, but many were reluctant to leave their homes. Some sought shelter only after the worst was already upon them.

Before cellular communications went out in the southwestern town of Jeremie, one resident described seeing panicked people who didn't evacuate coastal homes and were frantically seeking shelter at dawn.

"Some people who lived by the sea are walking with their things through flooded streets looking for somewhere to go," said Iralien St. Louis, a photographer who was hunkered down at his home.

Matthew was expected to drop 15 to 25 inches of rain, and up to 40 inches (100 centimeters) in isolated places of Haiti, along with up to 10 feet (3 meters) of storm surge and battering waves.

"They are getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Matthew briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, as it moved across the Caribbean late last week, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

As of 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), the storm's center was moving back into open waters from Cuba's northeastern coast. It was heading north at 8 mph (13 kph). Its sustained winds were 130 mph (215 kph).

In the U.S., Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged coastal residents to prepare for the possibility of a direct hit and line up three days' worth of food, water and medicine. The Red Cross put out a call for volunteers in South Carolina. And the White House said relief supplies were being moved to emergency staging areas in the Southeast.

People raced to supermarkets, gas stations and hardware stores, buying up groceries, water, plywood, tarps, batteries and propane. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she would issue an evacuation order Wednesday so 1 million people would have time to leave the coast.

In the storm-hardened Bahamas, Prime Minister Perry Christie voiced concern about the looming hurricane. "We're worried because we do not control nature," he said.

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Associated Press writers Ben Fox and Jennifer Kay in Miami, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Evens Sanon in Haiti, and Joshua Replogle in the Bahamas contributed to this report.

Surf and wind from Hurricane Matthew crash on the waterfront in Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in Haiti. It unloaded heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People watch from the other side of the La Digue river as water roars past the destroyed Petit Goave bridge, as Hurricane Matthew passes over, in Petit Goave, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds destroying the bridge and cutting off road communication with the worst hit areas. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A structure lays on the ground, brought down by the winds of Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Two men remove a downed power line to allow vehicles passage, in Petit Goave, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds Tuesday, tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A vehicles sits next to a house, stranded in the flood waters caused by Hurricane Matthew, in Leogane, Haiti. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A woman carrying a child walks in the rain triggered by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
Hundreds of buildings evacuated as fire rages in Colorado

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP)  A wind-whipped wildfire destroyed several structures and forced hundreds of evacuations near a small mountain community in southern Colorado, authorities said Monday.

More than 500 buildings were evacuated throughout the day and into the evening, affecting about 1,250 residents of Beulah, which is southwest of Pueblo. And more residents were warned to be ready to leave if necessary.

No injuries were reported.

Beulah resident Trisha Anderson checks in with family members after picking up her daughter, Jocelyn, 10, at Pleasant Middle School on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 in Pueblo, Colo. Jocelyn wa one of 77 students evacuated from Beulah School of Natural Sciences after a wildfire threatened the small mountain town west of Pueblo, Colo. Their husband and father, Nathan Anderson, is one of the firefighters battling the blaze. (Chris McLean/Pueblo Chieftain via AP)

The fire, which has destroyed at least seven structures and burned about 4 square miles, started on top of Beulah Hill on the east side of the community Monday afternoon and jumped Colorado Highway 78, The Pueblo Chieftain reported (https://goo.gl/MWZcrk ).

Pueblo County School District officials evacuated Beulah School and bused its students to a middle school. The newspaper reported some children had already learned that their homes had burned down.

A water-carrying helicopter was called from Monument but was diverted to the Fremont County Airport because of high winds, which are making it hard for firefighters to size up and attack the blaze. Gusty winds were expected to keep feeding the fire Monday night.

Pueblo County sheriff's officials have not said what caused the fire about 25 miles southwest of Pueblo.
Kanye reschedules tour dates after Kim's Paris robbery

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Kanye West has canceled and rescheduled two tour dates after his wife Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

LiveNation, promoter of West's Saint Pablo Tour, announced Monday that a concert scheduled for Tuesday in Philadelphia and another scheduled for Thursday in the Detroit area have been bumped back to December.

West's tour will resume Friday in Chicago.

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Kanye West, left, and Kim Kardashian West arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Armed robbers forced their way into a private Paris residence early Monday, Oct. 3, where Kim Kardashian West was staying and tied her up, police officials said. They said five assailants, who are still at large, stole a jewelry box containing valuables worth 6 million euros ($6.7 million) as well as a ring worth 4 million euros ($4.5 million.) (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Early Monday, armed robbers broke into a private residence in Paris where Kardashian West was staying, bound her and fled with more than $10 million in jewels. She had been in Paris for the city's fashion week but returned to New York later Monday.

The statement from LiveNation cites "family concerns" as the reason for the postponements.
China concerned about death of Syracuse student from Beijing

BEIJING (AP)  The Chinese government expressed concern Tuesday about the death of a Syracuse University student from Beijing whose body was found behind an apartment complex near the campus.

Yuan Xiaopeng, 23, was found dead after residents nearby reported hearing gunshots Friday.

The local sheriff's office said Saturday that no suspects had been identified. Syracuse University, in New York state, said in a statement that Yuan was a junior studying mathematics, and that his death appeared to be an "isolated incident."

In a statement issued Tuesday, the Chinese consulate in New York said it had received assurances that local authorities "attached great importance" to Yuan's case. Officials "also requested that the police ensure that the personal safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students not be infringed," the statement said.

The consulate also called on Syracuse University to assist relatives of Yuan who were coming to the United States.

According to Syracuse.com, authorities found Yuan's car in the parking lot of the complex in DeWitt, a Syracuse suburb. The vehicle, a black Chevrolet Camaro sports car with the license plate "SWAG PIP," was seen being hauled away Friday.

Yuan posted a photo of himself sitting atop the car on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

Yuan also posted an August 2015 letter from Syracuse University that indicated he had been removed from the university but allowed to return under disciplinary probation. The letter did not say why Yuan was on probation, and university officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

More than 300,000 Chinese are estimated to be enrolled in American universities.

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Do-it-yourself spirit brings business to vacant Detroit land

DETROIT (AP)  Detroit resident Ron Shelton knows it's a gamble to sink his scant finances that include earnings from carpentry work into a small apple orchard and cider mill in a neighborhood with vacant land and aging homes.

"A profit would be nice. I'd have to see where that goes," Shelton, 51, said after hauling a rusting apple grinder from a pickup truck's bed into his backyard.

He and others are using a do-it-yourself approach to start businesses amid Detroit's overabundance of vacant land and wide open spaces. The city's population loss of about 1.1 million people since the 1950s and subsequent bulldozing of empty and dilapidated houses have left it with about 120,000 vacant lots. Spread across Detroit, the lots are part of about 24 square miles of empty real estate  enough to fit nearly all of Newark, New Jersey, and about half of Miami.

In this Sept. 19, 2016, photo, Ron Shelton stands by one of his apple trees in Detroit. Some Detroit residents are using a do-it-yourself approach to start businesses amid the citys overabundance of vacant land and wide open spaces. Shelton is sinking his finances into a small apple orchard and cider mill in a neighborhood dotted with empty lots and aging homes. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Other former manufacturing hubs are dealing with what to do with empty lots once houses are torn down. Chicago has sold more than 400 vacant parcels since 2014. In Milwaukee, homeowners next to a vacant lot can buy it for $1. Detroit's Land Bank charges homeowners $100 for city-owned side lots next to their homes.

Shelton, who began planting apple trees last year on two borrowed lots near the house he bought from a friend for $1,500, said there's plenty of room to grow and build things cheaply in Detroit. Besides the 55 trees he has on the two lots, he has two more trees growing elsewhere in the neighborhood. He's still collecting machinery for the mill he's assembling in a garage-like building he constructed behind his home.

Others are turning cheap, vacant Detroit land into projects, too. A theater collective is holding plays and other programs on side lots near two homes it owns. A nonprofit has created a flowering prairie amid urban blight.

Jeff Adams has started Artesian Farms with a 7,000-square-foot building he bought in 2014 for $35,000.

"You have to pick and choose what you are capable of and what can make money," said the 61-year-old Adams, who used to sell tech applications to the auto industry and now grows and harvests kale, lettuce and basil in the building formerly used by an auto supplier.

He admits the space that sat vacant for years is an odd place for an indoor farm, but said good business principles can be applied almost anywhere.

Edward Lynch, a planner for Detroit Future City, said the amount of vacant land in Detroit is "larger than what we can use for potential development." Thousands of derelict houses are razed each year or await demolition, and little new housing is coming to neighborhoods outside the greater downtown area.

"The market demand to do a lot of things isn't there," Lynch said.

Detroit Future City, announced in early 2013, is proposing ideas for how to best use land in the city over 50 years.

"With 120,000 vacant lots throughout the city, that essentially means every single street, every single block ends up being impacted," said Anika Goss Foster, executive director of the Detroit Future City Implementation Office. "Because most of these lots are undevelopable, they become an economic detriment to neighborhoods."

She said finding ways to transform property into something productive "strengthens the economic capacity" of those areas.

City officials are being deliberate in how they identify vacant land for development. Detroit planning director Maurice Cox said they want projects that can become long-lasting examples of neighborhood revitalization and "not simply an interim solution or land use of last resort."

The city has identified 10 acres in northwest Detroit for ecological, agricultural, energy, crop or other uses.

"What hasn't been proven yet is if these kinds of productive, land-based businesses can be a generator for neighborhood revitalization as we try to repopulate," Cox said.

In this Sept. 19, 2016, photo, Ron Shelton looks over a rusting apple grinder he is planning on restoring at his home in Detroit. Some Detroit residents are using a do-it-yourself approach to start businesses amid the citys overabundance of vacant land and wide open spaces. Shelton is sinking his finances into a small apple orchard and cider mill in a neighborhood dotted with empty lots and aging homes. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Experts: No clear criminal case over Trump tax disclosure

NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trump tax documents were published without his permission in The New York Times, but that doesn't necessarily make for a clear-cut criminal case against the newspaper or its source.

For one thing, it's not clear who did the divulging  the Times says it received the documents anonymously in the mail. And legal experts say the newspaper itself should be on solid First Amendment grounds if it used newsworthy, accurate information and did nothing illegal to get it.

"When you're in an election and you're looking at candidates' tax returns, I don't think it's dangerous" legally for the Times, said media lawyer James Goodale, the Times' general counsel when the federal government sought unsuccessfully in 1971 to stop the newspaper from publishing the "Pentagon Papers," a classified military study showing that the U.S. had secretly expanded the Vietnam War.

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, in Loveland, Colo. Trump tax documents were published without his permission in The New York Times, but that doesnt necessarily make for a clear-cut criminal case against the newspaper or its source. Legal experts say the newspaper itself should be on solid First Amendment grounds if it used newsworthy, accurate information and did nothing illegal to get it. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

Trump's lawyers have threatened "prompt initiation of appropriate legal action" of their own over Saturday's story, which said the businessman had declared $916 million in losses in 1995. The deduction was so big he could have forgone paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

The Times said Monday it hadn't heard further from Trump's lawyers.

"Our job is to report on matters of public concern, and that's what we did here," the newspaper said in a statement. "Nothing could be more central to the First Amendment than our right to publish, and the public's right to know, important information about presidential candidates."

Trump has built his campaign around his business acumen and financial success, while bucking a 40-year-long custom of presidential candidates releasing their income tax returns.

His campaign told the Times he had paid hundreds of millions of dollars in various forms of taxes, had a duty to his business, family and employees "to pay no more tax than legally required" and had gained a unique understanding of the tax code.

Trump himself has raised questions about publicly disclosing information rival Hillary Clinton has kept private. He urged Russia in July to find emails that Clinton deleted from her personal server, saying they were private, when she was secretary of state. Trump later said he was being sarcastic.

The Times published the first page of Trump's 1995 Connecticut, New Jersey and New York state tax returns and said his former accountant had authenticated them. All three states have criminal laws against disclosing such tax information without permission.

Connecticut Department of Revenue Services commissioner Kevin Sullivan said Monday his agency conducted internal checks and was confident no staffers had improperly looked up Trump's returns.

As for the Times, "there's not, to my mind a pattern, that would suggest anything that would be subject to prosecution," Sullivan said in an interview.

New York's Tax Department answered questions about the Trump records only with a general statement about protecting taxpayer information. The state attorney general's office, which has clashed with Trump over his foundation and the former Trump University real estate investing school, said it would need a referral from another agency to launch a criminal probe.

Representatives for New Jersey's attorney general didn't immediately respond to questions about the tax disclosure. A spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie, who heads Trump's transition team, said it would be inappropriate for the governor's office to comment because such matters are the attorney general's responsibility.

Courts have said news media can disseminate information others have illegally gathered, with some caveats: The news organization must not have participated in any illegal action, and the information has to be newsworthy and true.

For example, a 2001 Supreme Court ruling found in favor of a Pennsylvania radio station that broadcast an illegally recorded phone conversation among teachers' union officials discussing strike plans. An unidentified person had intercepted the call.

Some legal and media commentators have noted that Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet told a panel audience last month he'd push the Times' lawyers to publish Trump's tax records if the paper got them.

But it would be a legal stretch to portray those remarks as inviting law-breaking, Goodale said.

About 2/3 of registered voters say it's somewhat or very important for presidential candidates to release their tax returns, with 46 percent saying it's very important, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll last month.

But regardless of public opinion, "journalists, in their role in holding the powerful accountable ... are going to be looking for information that people might or might not ask for, but the journalist believes helps them be better informed," said Aly Colon, a media ethics professor at Washington and Lee University.

Yet the Trump tax disclosure also comes at a time when waves of hacks and leaks are inuring people to the idea of invading privacy, notes Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard Law School professor whose specialties include privacy.

It may be one thing when journalists are revealing information about as public a figure as Trump, but if everyone's information and communications come to be seen as fair game, "at some point, this is not, then, a phenomenon that is about public accountability," he said. "It's a phenomenon that could be chilling."

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Duterte tells Obama 'you can go to hell,' warns of breakup

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte told President Barack Obama "you can go to hell" in a speech Tuesday that was his strongest tirade so far against the U.S. over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign, adding that he may eventually decide to "break up with America."

He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the bloc, which has also criticized his brutal crackdown, "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

Since becoming president in June, Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S. and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps Philippine foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

Hard-line Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte, pictured, has threatened to scale back military co-operation with the United States over criticism of his incredibly violent anti-drugs policy

The brash-speaking leader also has been hypersensitive to criticism over his anti-drug crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the U.S. and human rights watchdogs.

In a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the U.S., which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings and has questioned whether human rights are being violated. He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with U.S. troops.

"Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell," Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: "Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

In a later speech at a synagogue in Makati city in the Manila metropolis, Duterte warned he may decide to "break up with America" in his most serious threat so far to push relations back with Washington.

"Eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America," he said without elaborating. "I would rather go to Russia and to China."

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the U.S. had not received any official request from Duterte or any other Philippine official to alter any aspect of bilateral cooperation.

"This is an alliance that is robust and that benefits both of our countries," Earnest said. "Even as we protect this strong alliance, the administration and the United States of America will not hesitate to raise our concerns about extra-judicial killings. We remain deeply concerned by reports of widespread extrajudicial killings by or at the behest of government authorities in the Philippines. The use of that kind of tactic is entirely inconsistent with universal human rights and the shared values of our two countries."

Duterte has given assurances that he would not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country's largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defense equipment.

The U.S. has expressed concern over the extrajudicial killings and urged Duterte's government to ensure law enforcement efforts comply with human rights obligations. Last month, Obama canceled a planned first meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Laos after the Filipino leader blurted "son of a bitch" in warning the U.S. leader not to lecture him on human rights ahead of their meeting. Duterte later expressed regrets over his remarks.

Angered by U.S. criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting U.S. troops in the country.

Last week, Duterte said the joint U.S.-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centering on amphibious landing drills, started Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.

Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.

U.S. Embassy officials said Washington has not been formally notified by the Philippine government of any move to scrap other planned drills. Such a move by the Philippines would impede Washington's plans to expand the footprint of U.S. forces in Southeast Asia to counter China.

A Philippine military spokesman for the ongoing exercises, Capt. Ryan Lacuesta, sidestepped the question of whether Duterte's remarks have affected the troops and the atmosphere of the drills.

U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. John Jansen said that aside from promoting regional security, the exercises have helped save lives in terms of fostering more rapid and organized responses to disasters like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

"Our alliance remains a key source of stability in the Asia-Pacific region," Jansen said, expressing confidence "that we will continue to build our partnership and capabilities together."

While the Obama administration maintains that its alliance with the Philippines remains "ironclad," a senior U.S. diplomat cautioned Duterte last week against more anti-U.S. posturing. Many of Duterte's stunning pronouncements have typically been walked back by other Philippines officials.

"I think it would be a serious mistake in a democratic country like the Philippines to underestimate the power of the public's affinity for the U.S. That's people power," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told The Associated Press.

Russel did not draw a direct comparison, but past Philippine presidents have been toppled by popular protests dubbed "people power," including former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in 1986.

U.S. Marines Brig. Gen. John Jansen of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Maj. Gen. Andre Costales, Commandant of the Philippine Marines Corps, salute the flags at the opening ceremony for the 33rd joint US-Philippines amphibious landing exercises dubbed PHIBLEX at the marines corps in Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct.4,2016. President Rodrigo Duterte said he was giving notice to the United States, his country's long-standing ally, that joint exercises between Filipino and American troops this week will be the last such drills. He told the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, last week that he will maintain the military alliance with the U.S. because of the countries' 1951 defense treaty. But he said this week's exercises will proceed only because he did not want to embarrass his defense secretary.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Maj. Gen. Andre Costales, Commandant of the Philippine Marines Corps, salutes the flags at the opening ceremony for the 33rd joint US-Philippines amphibious landing exercises dubbed PHIBLEX at the marines corps in Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016. President Rodrigo Duterte said he was giving notice to the United States, his country's long-standing ally, that joint exercises between Filipino and American troops this week will be the last such drills. He told the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, last week that he will maintain the military alliance with the U.S. because of the countries' 1951 defense treaty. But he said this week's exercises will proceed only because he did not want to embarrass his defense secretary.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

U.S. Marines Brig. Gen. John Jansen, center, of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Maj. Gen. Andre Costales, second from right, Commandant of the Philippine Marines Corps, salute at the opening ceremony for the 33rd joint US-Philippines amphibious landing exercises dubbed PHIBLEX at the marines corps in Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4,2016. President Rodrigo Duterte said he was giving notice to the United States, his country's long-standing ally, that joint exercises between Filipino and American troops this week will be the last such drills. He told the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, last week that he will maintain the military alliance with the U.S. because of the countries' 1951 defense treaty. But he said this week's exercises will proceed only because he did not want to embarrass his defense secretary.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

A U.S. Marine from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, center, flashes the thumbs up sign as he poses with fellow U.S. marines and their Philippine counterpart following the opening ceremony of the 33rd joint U.S.-Philippines amphibious landing exercises dubbed PHIBLEX at the marines corps in suburban Taguig city, east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016. President Rodrigo Duterte Duterte said he was giving notice to the United States, his country's long-standing ally, that joint exercises between Filipino and American troops this week will be the last such drills. He told the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, last week that he will maintain the military alliance with the U.S. because of the countries' 1951 defense treaty. But he said this week's exercises will proceed only because he did not want to embarrass his defense secretary. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The Filipino president, known as 'Duterte Harry', left, indicated he would consider seeking closer ties with both Russia and China as a result of Obama's hostile attitude to his campaign

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, shake hands with Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau, during his visit to the Beit Yaacov Synagogue, Jewish Association of the Philippines in Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Duterte has apologized to Jews worldwide after his remarks drawing comparisons between his bloody anti-drug war and Hitler and the Holocaust sparked shock and outrage. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)

U.S. Marines Brig. Gen. John Jansen, third from left front row, of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Maj. Gen. Andre Costales, third from right front row, Commandant of the Philippine Marines Corps, pose with other military officers following the opening ceremony for the 33rd joint U.S.-Philippines amphibious landing exercises dubbed PHIBLEX at the marines corps in suburban Taguig city, east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016. President Rodrigo Duterte said he was giving notice to the United States, his country's long-standing ally, that joint exercises between Filipino and American troops this week will be the last such drills. He told the Filipino community in Hanoi, Vietnams capital, last week that he will maintain the military alliance with the U.S. because of the countries' 1951 defense treaty. But he said this week's exercises will proceed only because he did not want to embarrass his defense secretary. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The UN believes some 3,000 drug dealers and addicts have died in the three-month purge

The US and Filipino forces have held joint training exercises this week, although Duterte has indicated that this week's operation will be the last of his presidency

Duterte, center, was elected in June with a six-year mandate to clamp down on drug crime

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses army troopers during his visit to its headquarters in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016. U.S. and Philippine forces opened their first large scale combat exercises under President Duterte in uncertainty Tuesday after he said the drills will be the last in his six-year presidency partly to avoid upsetting China.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is greeted by supporters following his visit to the headquarters of the Philippine Army in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016. U.S. and Philippine forces opened their first large scale combat exercises under President Duterte in uncertainty Tuesday after he said the drills will be the last in his six-year presidency partly to avoid upsetting China.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures with a fist bump as he poses with Philippine Army officers during his visit to its headquarters in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016. U.S. and Philippine forces opened their first large scale combat exercises under President Rodrigo Duterte in uncertainty Tuesday after he said the drills will be the last in his six-year presidency partly to avoid upsetting China.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Some Filipinos have demonstrated against the continued presence of US troops in the country

Filipino activists burn a mock U.S. flag during a rally against the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the U.S. and Philippines in front of the U.S. embassy in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. U.S. and Philippine forces opened their first large scale combat exercises under President Rodrigo Duterte in uncertainty Tuesday after he said the drills will be the last in his six-year presidency partly to avoid upsetting China. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during his speech at the Beit Yaacov Synagogue, The Jewish Association of the Philippines in Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Duterte has apologized to Jews worldwide after his remarks drawing comparisons between his bloody anti-drug war and Hitler and the Holocaust sparked shock and outrage. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)
Taiwan seeks to improve conditions in fishing fleet

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan (AP)  Commercial fishing boat owners in Taiwan, one of the world's biggest seafood exporters, face strict rules and potential fines under a new law aimed at preventing overfishing and protecting migrant crewmembers who work far at sea with little oversight.

The Distant Water Fisheries Act, which takes effect Jan. 15, 2017, comes amid growing pressure on Taiwan's seafood industry to crack down on modern-day slavery and other abuses for the more than 20,000 migrants working on the island's fleet of fishing vessels.

Frances Lee, a spokeswoman for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said new requirements for the foreign fishermen will include insurance, health care, wages, working hours and human rights.

FILE - In this July, 22, 2014, file photo, fishermen tie down their boats in Keelung, northeastern Taiwan. Commercial fishing boat owners in Taiwan, one of the worlds biggest seafood exporters, face strict rules and potential fines under a new law aimed at preventing overfishing and protecting migrant crewmembers who work far at sea with little oversight. The Distant Water Fisheries Act, which takes effect Jan. 15, 2017, comes amid growing pressure on Taiwans seafood industry to crack down on modern-day slavery and other abuses for the more than 20,000 migrants working on the islands fleet of fishing vessels. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)

Last year the European Union gave Taiwan a "yellow card" warning for failing to control illegal fishing on its commercial vessels, which sail around the world to catch some $2 billion a year worth of exported tuna and other seafood every year. Without improvements, Taiwan's $14 million worth of seafood exports to the EU could face sanctions.

The U.S. State Department's 2016 Trafficking in Persons report says that while Taiwan has cracked down on forced labor and sex trafficking, fishing vessels need more attention. The report says fishermen mostly from Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam have been fraudulently recruited to work on Taiwan-flagged vessels where they can face abuses including violence, limited food supplies and withheld wages.

The issues extend well beyond Taiwan. Commercial fishing boat owners around the world, including the U.S., recruit foreign crews for the dangerous and exhausting work of hauling in the catch. The migrant fishermen are vulnerable to human trafficking and other exploitation because the work takes place so remotely, far from police or labor officials, and they can remain offshore for years as their catch is shuttled in to port.

Several nonprofit advocacy groups including Greenpeace and the International Labour Organization have repeatedly raised concerns about working conditions for foreign crew in Taiwan's fishing fleet.

Allison Lee at the Yilan Fishermen's Labor Union, which represents migrant workers in Taiwan, said men have been beaten, overworked and denied pay on board boats.

"The captain or first officers will use violence, like hitting their heads, kicking or punching their stomachs," she said.

Migrant workers hired for Taiwanese vessels often report working all but one or two of every 24 hours at times, said Wong Ying-dah, director of the Service Center and Shelter for Migrant Workers in Taiwan.

They may also sleep in crowded quarters with other migrants and eat just one meal a day despite paying up front for three, he said. "Some don't even have a bed," Wong said.

Some workers sign multiple contracts, sometimes without knowing what's in them, and inadvertently agreeing to reductions in wages, activists say.

Steve Trent, executive director of the London-based Environmental Justice Foundation, said Taiwan's domestic and distant water fleet already circumvent its existing labor laws, and that more needs to be done.

"Taiwan needs to develop a far deeper, more rigorous, victim-centered inspection regime on its domestic and distant water fleet if it is to have any serious intention of bringing working conditions up to basic international standards," he said.

Phil Robertson at Human Rights Watch in Bangkok said passing a law is an important first step in providing protections, but said resources will be needed to give it teeth.

"The real difficulty is implementation, not only in court, but in the high seas," he said.

Advocates say they hear dozens of complaints from fishermen each year. But Fisheries Agency Director Lin Ting-jung said his department gets only two reports a year of abuse against migrants. Nonetheless, he acknowledged there are problems on some boats and insufficient government oversight.

"There are some tense moments on the boats and labor rights can be a problem," he said. "The captains are looking for ways to improve rights. But this sweat-blood-seafood problem, is it a common situation or a few isolated cases?"

The new law, ratified in July, requires that foreign crew be hired through registered agents with contracts that specify the workers' rights. Violators who hire foreign crew without authorized agents face fines up to $600,000, and boat owners who abuse their workers could lose their licenses for a year. The bill also lays out specific rules to conserve marine fisheries and curb illegal fishing.

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AP reporter Martha Mendoza in Bangkok contributed to this story.

FILE - In this July 22, 2014, file photo, fishing boats are tied down in the port city of Keelung, northeastern Taiwan. Commercial fishing boat owners in Taiwan, one of the worlds biggest seafood exporters, face strict rules and potential fines under a new law aimed at preventing overfishing and protecting migrant crewmembers who work far at sea with little oversight. The Distant Water Fisheries Act, which takes effect Jan. 15, 2017, comes amid growing pressure on Taiwans seafood industry to crack down on modern-day slavery and other abuses for the more than 20,000 migrants working on the islands fleet of fishing vessels. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2013, file photo, a fisherman leaps to his boat docked in harbor in Toucheng, north eastern Taiwan. Commercial fishing boat owners in Taiwan, one of the worlds biggest seafood exporters, face strict rules and potential fines under a new law aimed at preventing overfishing and protecting migrant crewmembers who work far at sea with little oversight. The Distant Water Fisheries Act, which takes effect Jan. 15, 2017, comes amid growing pressure on Taiwans seafood industry to crack down on modern-day slavery and other abuses for the more than 20,000 migrants working on the islands fleet of fishing vessels. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)
10 civilians, including children, killed in Yemen's Taiz

SANAA, Yemen (AP)  Medical officials say at least 10 civilians have been killed in a rocket attack in the war-torn Yemeni city of Taiz, including children.

The officials said on Tuesday that the attack took place a day earlier in a district called Beir al-Basha in Taiz, which has been besieged by the Shiite Houthi rebels for nearly a year. The district has witnessed previous attacks by Houthis.

Pictures of the dead children in a pool of blood were widely circulated on social media.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.
Taliban press attack on Afghan city; 12 police die in south

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  Fierce gunbattles raged for a second day on Tuesday in Afghanistan's embattled northern city of Kunduz while in the country's south, insurgents killed 12 policemen at checkpoints around the Helmand provincial capital and seized another district they had attacked a day earlier.

The timing of the coordinated assaults was particularly poignant, coming a year after the Taliban captured and held parts of Kunduz before the city was fully liberated weeks later with the help of U.S. airstrikes.

In the latest attack in Helmand, Taliban fighters besieged police checkpoints around the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah late on Monday night, killing 12 policemen and wounding another 11, according to Haji Gran, chief of the city's police district 2.

ADDITION-- ADDS DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT. FILE -- In this Oct. 2, 2015 file photo, an Afghan soldier raises his hands as a victory sign, in Kunduz city, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan officials said Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, that fierce gunbattles are underway for a second day across the embattled northern city of Kunduz after the Taliban launched a new, multipronged attack on the city they briefly captured last year. Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says Afghan security forces are trying to secure the city but that Taliban gunmen are hiding in residential homes, making progress slow and difficult. (AP Photo/Dehsabzi, File)

Lashkar Gah has been under threat of Taliban takeover for months as insurgents have been slowly taking control of Helmand since the beginning of the year, with some officials saying that 85 percent of the province is now under Taliban control  or 12 of its 14 districts.

That includes Khanashin district in the south of the province, which the provincial spokesman, Omar Zwak, said had fallen to the Taliban after coming under attack Monday. In recent days, he said, around 45 members of Afghan security forces have been killed in fighting there and more than 15 have been taken captive.

Zwak said a suicide car bomb attack in district 2 earlier on Tuesday killed six policemen and wounded four others. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lashkar Gah.

In Kunduz, the Taliban began their attack from all directions early on Monday. They briefly raised a flag over a main intersection before being repelled from the city center.

On Tuesday, fierce fighting was still underway with Taliban gunmen using residential homes as hideouts in a number of areas, slowing down the efforts of Afghan security forces to repel them from the city, said the Interior Ministry's spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi.

The Afghan forces were "trying to secure the city," but progress was slow and difficult. At least 30 insurgents had been killed in the two days of fighting, he said. It was unclear how many Taliban were involved in the attack.

Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, the head of the Kunduz provincial council, said the city has become a battlefield, with fighting going on in many areas.

"We can't go to our (council) office because the area is under the control of the Taliban," he said, adding that council members instead were gathering at a location about 1.5 kilometers (a mile) from the city. The militants have planted mines around the city, making movement extremely difficult, he said. "Local people are trapped in their homes."

Gen. Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said five Afghan security personnel had been killed in the fighting and 13 others wounded so far.

"We are very careful in using airstrikes and artillery in this fight, to avoid civilian casualties," Waziri said.

Kunduz is the capital of a province with the same name, a breadbasket region that borders Tajikistan to the north and sits on a major crossroad in the country.

Its fall last year sent shockwaves across the country and among Afghanistan's backers in the international community as it marked the Taliban's first capture of an urban center since the group was driven from power in 2001. Since then, Afghan officials and U.S. military leaders have said it will never fall again.

The city came under threat again in April, when U.S.-backed Afghan forces pushed the Taliban back into surrounding districts.

Sediqqi said Monday's attack could be a Taliban show of force to coincide with a Brussels aid conference where Afghanistan's international partners are expected to pledge billions of dollars in aid through to 2020.

U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland said the Afghan military had moved reinforcements into Kunduz overnight but insisted that the fighting was sporadic and that the government still controls Kunduz.

There had been no U.S. airstrikes overnight but "there was one US air-to ground engagement by helicopter on the outskirts of Kunduz city to defend friendly forces," Cleveland said. "U.S. forces ... will provide support as needed."

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New generation of Israeli ultra-Orthodox challenge old guard

JERUSALEM (AP)  As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel's government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates, despite irking mainstream Israel and endangering its long-term economic prospects.

He insists that shirking compulsory military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah.

"To sit and learn is a mitzvah," or commandment from God, he told The Associated Press. "It is the most important thing."

In this photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in is office in Jerusalem. As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates and which has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered its long-term economic prospects. A new generation of Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews is looking to defy stereotypes and reform the community by demanding academic degrees, satisfying professions and greater immersion in Israeli society. But their leadership remains unapologetic about advocating for an insular lifestyle that has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered the countrys long-term economic prospects. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

But the parochial establishment he represents is increasingly being challenged by a new generation of ultra-Orthodox Jews who are demanding academic degrees, satisfying professions, a bigger role for women and greater immersion in Israeli society.

"We are looking into the future, what will become of the next generation," said Avigayil Karlinsky, a 28-year-old social activist. "I am part of the larger Israel and I want my voice to be heard."

She said the ultra-Orthodox leadership's aversion to progress and integration is mostly about maintaining political power rather than serving their constituents. Until recently, such open criticism was unheard of, but it is gaining traction as people like Karlinsky try to change their world from within.

Experts have long warned that the ultra-Orthodox community's high birthrate and poverty levels, along with low rates of employment and education, could doom Israel's economic prospects.

Many ultra-Orthodox acknowledge this, but they reject any outside effort to enforce changes and insist the process has to happen at its own pace.

Critics inside and outside the community say a more comprehensive reform is needed, including greater emphasis on teaching children math, English and computer literacy. There also are growing calls for outreach to Israel's secular majority.

The ultra-Orthodox, or "haredim"  Hebrew for "those who fear God"  are the fastest growing sector in Israel.

They currently make up about 11 percent of Israel's 8.5 million citizens, with the majority living beneath the poverty line, according to a recent study by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent think tank. With a growth rate four times that of the general Jewish population, their numbers are expected to rise to 14 percent in 2024, 19 percent in 2039 and 27 percent in 2059, the think tank predicted.

Gilad Malach, a researcher who specializes in the community, said reform was already underway. He said a majority of haredi men now work, compared to just a third in 2003. Women continue to be the primary breadwinners, and their employment rates of close to 75 percent are comparable to the general public, he said.

The number of ultra-Orthodox joining the military and pursuing degrees has also quietly grown, but "modern" haredim like Karlinsky still only make up about 10 percent of the community, he said. He says the leadership hopes it stays that way.

"Their approach is 'nothing has changed,'" said Malach. "But regular people are more sophisticated than that. Every mainstream haredi knows he has to make adjustments."

The state offers specialized training programs, study grants and other incentives to haredim, but they have to be handled with care so as not to come off as patronizing. While leading rabbis and their representatives in parliament have given their blessing to some projects, they have offered none of their own.

"There is no vision. That's the real problem," said Malach. "They don't have any plans and it would be best if the push came from them."

Litzman, who has gained popularity with the general public as health minister by campaigning against junk food and advocating for medical marijuana, has defied calls to change his community.

He points to low crime rates as evidence of their superior values and insists that intensive Jewish studies at an early age instill lifelong learning skills that allow haredim to easily pick up professions later in life.

"There is always new ways and new things which we have to get used to and check out if we can live with it, but there is no change in halacha," or Jewish law, he said. "Until the Messiah will come, it will stay like that."

Karlinsky said she too is guided by her religious beliefs, but takes issue with what she considers a hypocritical approach of a leadership that clings to tradition to maintain control and reinforce a false sense of victimhood.

Her husband was a star seminary student in Jerusalem until he decided it wasn't for him. He turned to computer programming and now works among secular colleagues at Google in Tel Aviv.

She established "the Torah Hub," a Facebook support group for like-minded haredim, and another for victims of sexual abuse in the community  another previously taboo topic. She plans to send her two young children to ultra-Orthodox schools but also make sure they learn English so they have more options later in life.

"I'm not afraid of change," she said, dismissing long-held fears that immersion would lead to assimilation. "Perhaps those who are so afraid of being tempted by secularism don't have strong enough faith to begin with."

In Elad, a central Israeli city of 50,000 mostly haredi residents, the ultra-Orthodox are seeking a happy medium. It boasts the highest rates of employment, salaries and high school matriculation of all haredi communities in Israel. It also prides itself in having clean streets, close ties to neighboring secular and Arab towns, and ample public services like libraries, theaters and community centers.

Mayor Yisrael Porush, a 35-year-old father of six and scion of a prominent haredi family, said his main objective was to develop the city and provide opportunities for residents.

"I'm opening the door for them and it doesn't come at the expense of study," he said. "The world is moving forward and everyone wants to feel equal."

He deferred larger questions about haredi society to the rulings of the great rabbis, but clearly reveled in the companies and colleges that had opened branches in his city and accommodated haredi needs, such as separate working spaces for men and women, and flexible hours for working mothers. He said such an approach would be much more effective than open confrontation.

"Everyone understands that you have to provide for your family," he said. "But if you come at us with a gun, or with a whip, or threats, we have a problem."

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Follow Aron Heller on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap

In this photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in is office in Jerusalem. As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates and which has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered its long-term economic prospects. He insists that shirking military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the most noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 Elad's Mayor Yisrael Porush speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in his office in the city of Elad, central Israel. Mayor Porush, a 35-year-old father of six and scion of a prominent Haredi family, said his main objective was to develop the city and provide opportunities for those who wanted them. "I'm opening the door for them and it doesn't come at the expense of study. Those who study, study. Those who work, work. I just need to give them the tools," he said. "I can't say that it is a 'change,' the world is moving forward and everyone wants to feel equal." (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman sit in an employment training center in the city of Elad, central Israel. As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates and which has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered its long-term economic prospects. He insists that shirking military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the most noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 ultra-Orthodox Jewish computer programmer, Shlomo Goldberg, left, speaks in his office, in the city of Elad, central Israel. As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates and which has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered its long-term economic prospects. The ultra-Orthodox, or haredim _ Hebrew for those who fear God _ are the fastest growing sector in Israel. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths walk in the city of Elad, central Israel. As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates and which has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered its long-term economic prospects. Experts have long warned that the ultra-Orthodox community's high birthrate and poverty levels, along with low rates of employment and education, could doom Israels economic prospects. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths walk in the city of Elad, central Israel. As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates and which has long irked mainstream Israel and endangered its long-term economic prospects. He insists that shirking military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the most noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
Gov't bans Kashmir newspaper, fearing anti-India violence

SRINAGAR, India (AP)  Authorities in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have banned the publication of a local newspaper, saying that its contents could incite violence in the troubled region.

The English daily "Kashmir Reader" did not publish for the second straight day on Tuesday, following a government order over the weekend for its owner to halt publication.

The order, handed down by police officials to the newspaper's office, said the paper's contents are "of such nature that can easily cause incitement of acts of violence and disturbance of public tranquility in the state."

Maroof Ahmed, a Kashmiri journalist working for Kashmir Reader watches as he sands inside his office in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have banned the publication of a local newspaper, saying that its contents could incite violence in the disputed Himalayan region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmir is witnessing its largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, sparked by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian soldiers. The protests, and a sweeping security crackdown, have all but paralyzed life in the Himalayan region.

According to the state government, it sent the newspaper a notice a week ago questioning some items it had published, saying they could disturb public order.

However, Hilal Mir, the newspaper's editor, said that his paper was not given any prior notice or an opportunity to explain its stand.

Rights group Amnesty International said the ban was a "setback to free speech" and called on authorities to revoke the order.

The "order does not specifically mention any news items in Kashmir Reader that incited violence," said Aakar Patel, who heads the Indian chapter of Amnesty International. "This vaguely-worded shutdown order suggests that the newspaper is being targeted for its reporting."

In July, the government shut down printing presses and temporarily banned newspapers from publishing for three days in a sweeping information blackout after days of anti-India protests. The officials had said the government action was aimed at saving lives and strengthening peace efforts.

Local newspaper editors had denounced that ban.

On Tuesday, Kashmir's most widely circulated newspaper, "Greater Kashmir," said in a front-page editorial that the latest ban shows that the government is willing to "take extreme measures" to muzzle the press.

More than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in violence related to the ongoing protests, with government forces firing bullets and shotgun pellets at rock-throwing protesters. Two policemen have also been killed and hundreds of government forces have been injured in the clashes.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety. Most people in the Indian-controlled portion favor independence or a merger with Pakistan. A militant uprising and subsequent Indian military crackdown have killed more than 68,000 people since 1989.

Hayat Mohammad Bhat, editor in chief of Kashmir Reader reads newspaper inside his office in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The English daily "Kashmir Reader" did not publish for the second straight day on Tuesday, following a government order over the weekend for its owner to halt publication. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri journalists work in Kashmir Reader newspaper office in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have banned the publication of a local newspaper, saying that its contents could incite violence in the disputed Himalayan region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Feroz Ahmed, manager of "Kashmir Reader" newspaper shows a state government order in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have banned the publication of a local newspaper, saying that its contents could incite violence in the disputed Himalayan region. The English daily "Kashmir Reader" did not publish for the second straight day on Tuesday, following a government order over the weekend for its owner to halt publication. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri journalists hold placards during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have banned the publication of a local newspaper, saying that its contents could incite violence in the disputed Himalayan region. The English daily "Kashmir Reader" did not publish for the second straight day on Tuesday, following a government order over the weekend for its owner to halt publication. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Kyrgios, Monfils advance to 2nd round at Japan Open

TOKYO (AP)  With temperatures soaring, Nick Kyrgios made sure an injured fan at the Japan Open had plenty of water.

The sixth-seeded Australian advanced to the second round by beating American qualifier Ryan Harrison 7-5, 6-2, but the match was suspended for about 10 minutes in the first set after a fan fell on some steps in the stands.

Kyrgios, often criticized for his volatile behavior, sent some water up to the injured spectator while temperatures rose to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) at the start of the second set.

Gael Monfils, of France, returns a shot against Yuichi Sugita, of Japan, during their singles match at the Japan Open mens tennis tournament in Tokyo, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Kyrgios will next face Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who beat Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-1.

"He's a good friend of mine, we get along well. He's going up in age but he's learning to adapt," Kyrgios said of Stepanek. "His level is still high and he can still do damage, especially on a surface like this."

Second-seeded Gael Monfils also advanced, defeating Japanese wild-card entry Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 6-1.

The Frenchman had six aces, and dropped only nine points on serve. Monfils will next face Davis Cup teammate Gilles Simon, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.

"Simon's a tough player for me. He asks you to have a great game plan to play against him," Monfils said. "In the past I've tried to search for a solution. I'm going to have work on a game plan, and work on something different to defeat him a second time."

Fifth-seeded David Goffin defeated another Japanese wildcard, Yoshihito Nishioka, and will next face Jiri Vesely. Goffin won 7-5, 6-2, while Vesely defeated Kevin Anderson 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic beat Federico Delbonis 7-6 (6), 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).

Feliciano Lopez was the only loser among the seeded players, retiring because of illness when trailing James Duckworth 4-2 in the third set. The eighth-seeded Spaniard won the first set 7-6 (5), but Duckworth took the second 7-6 (4).

Duckworth will next face Juan Monaco of Argentina.
Defense: Georgia hot car death is dad's fault, but no crime

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  A Georgia man charged with killing his toddler son wept in court Tuesday as his attorney told a jury the child's death two years ago inside a hot SUV is certainly the father's fault, but he committed no crime.

Justin Ross Harris was charged with malice murder and other crimes after his 22-month-old son, Cooper, perished in June 2014. Authorities say the boy was left for seven hours in his father's vehicle parked outside the Home Depot office where Harris worked in the Atlanta suburbs.

Maddox Kilgore, Harris' lead defense attorney, told jurors during the second day of the trial that Harris forgot his son was in the back seat because of a simple change in routine  he took the boy with him to breakfast that morning, though he usually dropped Cooper off at daycare before eating.

Justin Ross Harris listens to jury selection during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

"Ross Harris is responsible for his child's death. It's his fault, no doubt about it," Kilgore told the jury in his opening statement. "What you're going to see here at this trial is that being responsible is not the same thing as being a criminal."

Prosecutors say Harris actually plotted to kill his son, hoping to escape his family responsibilities to focus on sexual liaisons he was having with prostitutes and women he met online. Harris is also charged with sending sexually explicit text messages and photos to an underage teenage girl.

"This case is about death, deception and a double life," prosecutor Chuck Boring said in his opening remarks to the jury Monday.

Kilgore told jurors they will indeed hear about "immoral sexual behavior" and "graphic, filthy sexual talk" by his client. He said Harris "has earned every bit of shame that's coming his way."

But Harris was also planning a future with his wife and son  from planning a family cruise at the time of Cooper's death to talking with a real estate agent about finding a larger house in a good school district, Kilgore said.

Meanwhile, in the courtroom, Harris dabbed his eyes with a tissue and wiped a finger beneath his nose as he quietly cried at the defense table.

"His sexual behavior isn't some kind of motive to murder the person he loved more than anyone in the world," Kilgore said.

The jury spent Tuesday afternoon watching a 90-minute police video showing Harris' reactions when officers first arrived at the parking lot where the father stopped and tried to help his dead son.

Harris can be seen pacing rapidly with his hands on his head, letting out a loud scream.

Cobb County police detective Jacquelyn Piper, who was a patrol officer at the time, noted on the witness stand that Harris was combative at first. When another officer asked him to get off his cellphone, Harris snapped: "Shut the (expletive) up. My son just died." The officers then handcuffed Harris and took his phone.

The video shows Harris telling Piper: "I was supposed to drop him off this morning and I didn't do it. I swear I dropped him off. I thought I did."

Then Harris is placed in Piper's patrol car and spends the better part of an hour in silence. At first he complains about the car being hot, and that the handcuffs on his wrists are too tight.

Later, when he appears to be alone in the car, he starts sobbing. "Oh my God! What have I done? My boy! My boy!"

Both sides urged jurors to pay attention to Harris' demeanor. Prosecutor Boring said the evidence reveals Harris showing little emotion. Kilgore countered that Harris is obviously distraught.

After moving to Georgia from Alabama in 2012, Harris settled in suburban Cobb County where he worked as a web developer for Home Depot. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark moved the trial 275 miles to the coastal city of Brunswick, citing intense pretrial publicity the case received in metro Atlanta.

Harris faces life in prison if he's convicted of murder. Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty.

Harris told police he watched cartoons with his son that morning, took him to breakfast at a Chick-fil-A restaurant and kissed Cooper while strapping him into his car seat. But Harris said he forgot to drop his son off at day care and drove to work, forgetting the boy was in the back seat.

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This story has been corrected to show that Cooper Harris was 22-months-old, not 22-years-old.

Justin Ross Harris listens to Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring's opening remarks during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring speaks to the jury during his opening remarks of the Justin Ross Harris trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring points out the defendant in a surveillance video taken from the parking lot of Harris' work, during his opening remarks in the Justin Ross Harris trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark holds a booking mug shot of Justin Ross Harris during a pretrial motion during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris, left, listens to jury selection during his murder trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring speaks to the jury during his opening remarks in the Justin Ross Harris murder trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris, left, and his attorney H. Maddox Kilgore, center, discuss the cross examination of Cobb County Detective Ralph Escamillo during his Harris' trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Detective Ralph Escamillo testifies during the trial of Justin Ross Harris at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris listens to jury selection during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris walks into the courtroom during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris, left, listens to opening statements during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris listens to jury selection during his murder trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
VIEWERS' GUIDE: Low-key VP candidates get debate spotlight

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Donald Trump can swallow an entire news cycle with a single tweet. Hillary Clinton's been on a first-name basis with the country for three decades.

Mike Pence and Tim Kaine? Not so much.

Tuesday night's vice presidential debate pits a former radio host who's described himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf" (Pence) against a harmonica-playing former missionary whose aw-shucks style has spawned a thousand dad jokes (Kaine).

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2016, file photo, tables are in place for the media for the Oct. 4 vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. Tuesday nights vice presidential debate between Republican Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia pits a former radio host whos described himself as Rush Limbaugh on decaf against a harmonica-playing former missionary whose aw-shucks style has spawned a thousand dad jokes. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Barring the unexpected, their 90-minute faceoff is unlikely to alter the trajectory of the presidential race.

But don't hit the snooze button just yet. Debate history suggests there's still the potential for some memorable moments.

Some things to watch for in Tuesday's debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

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SAY WHO?

Pence and Kaine have campaigned full tilt for more than two months now, but plenty of people still don't have a feel for them. In a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, more than half of registered voters said they didn't know enough about Kaine to venture an opinion about him, and about 44 percent said the same for Pence. This is their big moment to show they're qualified to be next in line to the president.

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SCOUT MOTTO

Trump may disdain traditional debate prep, but Kaine and Pence both have embraced the Scout motto: Be prepared. Each must be ready to defend his own record, skewer his opponent and do the same for the top of the ticket.

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THE MISSION

Pence and Kaine have to decide whether to focus more on one another or on Trump and Clinton. Watch how they toggle between the two tasks. Look for Pence, who calls Clinton "the most dishonest person ever to seek the presidency," to zero in on lines of attack that Trump hardly touched in the first debate, such as questions about whether Clinton played favorites as secretary of state with donors to the Clinton Foundation. Kaine will try to act as a character witness for Clinton and go after Trump, of whom the senator says his "only recognized passion in his life has been for himself."

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DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE

Pence will have the added herculean task of explaining away the steady stream of insults, barbs and inflammatory comments delivered by his running mate, including the latest contretemps over a beauty queen whom Trump has shamed for gaining weight. Pence has had plenty of practice in recent weeks. Expect him to employ a strategy of praising Trump for his unscripted style as a "bold truth teller" without arguing the merits of the GOP nominee's specific comments.

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THE TAX MAN

Pence could well be asked about Trump's tax strategy after The New York Times reported over the weekend that the billionaire businessman lost so much money in a single year that he could have avoided any federal income tax liability for 18 years. With an audience of millions, will Pence echo Trump's claims that he used the tax laws "brilliantly?" or try some other tack?

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THREADING THE NEEDLE

Both candidates may need to navigate areas where they have policy differences with their running mates; Pence more so than Kaine. Pence, for example, says it's clear that human activity is affecting the climate while Trump has called global warming a hoax. Kaine holds that U.S. military operations against the Islamic State group have not been properly approved by Congress, a point of disagreement with Clinton.

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AMEN CORNER

Expect both Pence, an evangelical, and Kaine, a former Catholic missionary, to showcase their religious backgrounds in an effort to appeal to different constituencies. Pence likes to say of himself: "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican  in that order." Kaine often brings up his time as a missionary in Honduras, working in a few lines of Spanish along the way to reach out to Hispanics.

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TOO CLEVER?

Past vice presidential debates have provided some memorable lines. Republican Bob Dole's cutting quip in 1976 about all the Americans killed in "Democrat wars" did him no good. Democrat Lloyd Bentsen's 1988 putdown of Republican Dan Quayle with his "You're no Jack Kennedy" line still singes. Third-party candidate James Stockdale's rambling 1992 opening questions of "Who am I? Why am I here?" captured a candidate who was clearly out of his element. Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden's denunciations of Republican Paul Ryan's budget math as "a bunch of malarkey" showed considerably more spark than did President Barack Obama's leaden performance against rival Mitt Romney in the leadoff presidential debate.

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MODERATION

CBS News' Elaine Quijano will be under the microscope as moderator, especially since Trump has complained that NBC's Lester Holt, the moderator of last week's debate, was too tough on him.

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What political news is the world searching for on Google and talking about on Twitter? Find out via AP's Election Buzz interactive. http://elections.ap.org/buzz

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Associated Press writers Nancy Benac in Washington and Kathleen Ronayne in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
WHY IT MATTERS: Israel

WASHINGTON (AP)  THE ISSUE: Support for Israel has been a mainstay of American foreign policy since the Jewish state's creation in 1948. Despite occasionally strong and even pointed differences, successive U.S. administrations of both parties have steadily increased financial, military and diplomatic assistance to Israel over the past six decades. The U.S. now provides Israel with roughly $3 billion every year, making it the largest single recipient of American foreign aid, and the Obama administration boosted that amount to $3.8 billion with a new memorandum of understanding on defense.

Public debate over Washington's pro-Israel position has intensified in recent years  notably over the Iran nuclear deal that Israel opposes, failed efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and Israel's continued construction in territory claimed by the Palestinians. But the Democratic and Republican parties and their presidential candidates have never wavered from that stance and strong congressional backing for Israel makes any significant change in policy unlikely.

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FILE - In this March 20, 2013, file photo, President Barack Obama and Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, are photographed through a window and the crowd as they are greeted by children waving Israeli and American flags upon their arrival at the Peres' residence in Jerusalem. Support for Israel has been a mainstay of American foreign policy since the Jewish states creation in 1948. Despite occasionally strong and even pointed differences, successive U.S. administrations of both parties have steadily increased financial, military and diplomatic assistance to Israel over the past six decades. The U.S. now provides Israel with roughly $3 billion every year, making it the largest single recipient of American foreign aid, and the Obama administration boosted that amount to $3.8 billion with a new memorandum of understanding on defense.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

WHERE THEY STAND

Republican Donald Trump raised eyebrows during the primaries by saying he would be "neutral" in trying to resolve the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has since said he loves Israel and he would be "somewhat neutral" in pursuing what he calls "probably the hardest negotiation there is." As a businessman who prides himself on his negotiating skill, Trump says he would try to get peace talks back on track but has offered no specific proposals on how he would do it.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, who as secretary of state oversaw a failed effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, has also pledged to continue work for a two-state solution  one that would create a Palestinian state alongside Israel  while offering strong support for Israel's defense and its co-called "qualitative military edge" in the tumultuous Middle East. She has boasted of helping to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the militant Hamas movement in Gaza, but was also a leading critic of Israel's settlement building while she was secretary of state.

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WHY IT MATTERS

Although it has not been a major campaign issue thus far, Israel remains the staunchest U.S. ally in the volatile region, even after the well-publicized spat over the Iran deal and disagreements over the peace process.

With the war in Syria showing no sign of easing, Iraq on edge and an increasingly authoritarian government in Turkey, Israel is stable and at peace with neighbors Jordan and Egypt. And, U.S. presidents from both parties and Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum have hailed their shared values and democratic ideals.

Israel enjoys great support from members of Congress and American Jews, who are traditionally politically active and courted by politicians, as well as others. But a growing and vocal group of pro-Palestinian activists has tried to blunt U.S. backing for Israel. Given the stated pro-Israel positions of both Clinton and Trump, however, those efforts are not likely to yield much success no matter who wins in November.

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Ericsson cuts 3,000 jobs in Sweden, reduces operations

STOCKHOLM (AP)  Ericsson said Tuesday it will cut 3,000 jobs in Sweden, or nearly 20 percent of its local workforce, and will downsize operations at several plants as part of its global plan to cut costs by 9 billion kronor ($1 billion) in 2017.

The Swedish networks company employs 115,000 people globally, of which 16,000 in Sweden, and said the layoffs are a necessary part of its transformation to meet "fast technology shifts and the digitalization of the telecom industry." The cuts will be made in research and development, sales and administration.

The new demands will also create new jobs, Ericsson said, with plans to recruit 1,000 people in Sweden during the next three years in the R&D sector.

CEO Jan Frykhammar said the company would continue to have "a strong focus" on research and development in Sweden. He described the cost cutting measures as "necessary to secure Ericsson's long term competitiveness as well as technology and services leadership."

In addition to the overall $1 billion cost cuts, Ericsson has said it would double previously announced savings of operating expenses "to reach a reduced run rate of operating expenses of 53 billion kronor during the second half of 2017."

Ericsson, one of the world's leading mobile network operators, has been struggling to improve earnings amid tightening competition. It sacked its previous CEO in July to find a new leader "to drive the next phase in Ericsson's development."

The company's share price was virtually unchanged at 61.65 kronor in morning trading in Stockholm.
Retrial for journalist gets underway in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP)  A court in Kyrgyzstan has begun a retrial for an ethnic Uzbek journalist jailed for life for stirring up ethnic hatred in a case which has drawn international criticism.

Azimzhan Askarov's case was sent for review earlier this year after the U.N. Human Rights Committee in April urged Kyrgyzstan to release him, finding that he had been arbitrarily detained, tortured and denied his right to a fair trial. International rights groups consider Askarov a prisoner of conscience.

Askarov pleaded not guilty to the charges as hearings opened at the regional court in the capital Bishkek on Tuesday.
Kerry says US not abandoning peace efforts in Syria

BRUSSELS (AP)  The United States won't abandon its pursuit of peace in Syria after suspending direct U.S.-Russian talks on a cease-fire, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday, even as he announced no new strategy to replace diplomatic efforts with Russia.

Washington and Moscow will still discuss Syria as part of larger multilateral negotiations, Kerry said, and they'll make sure their warplanes conducting bombing missions in the Arab country don't cross paths. Explaining Monday's announcement to halt bilateral contacts over Syria, he said Russia has rejected diplomacy and chosen instead to help Syrian President Bashar Assad's government achieve a military victory over rebel groups.

"We acknowledge in sorrow and, I have to tell you, a great sense of outrage that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assad's deplorable use of these weapons of war, chlorine gas and barrel bombs, against his people," Kerry said in a speech focused on trans-Atlantic ties at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks on the future of "Transatlantic Relations" during an event hosted by The German Marshall Fund (GMF) and the U.S. Mission to the EU at Concert Noble in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Kerry is in Brussels for a two-day conference, hosted by the EU, with the participation of over 70 countries to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

"Together, the Syrian regime and Russia seemed to have rejected diplomacy," he said, opting for a victory at the expense of "the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals and traumatized children of a long-suffering land."

Monday's announcement dealt peace efforts a serious blow. Coupled with a Russian announcement to put on hold a plutonium disposal deal with the U.S., it showed chilly relations between the former Cold War foes turning even frostier.

Kerry said the decision wasn't taken lightly.

"We are not giving up on the Syrian people. We are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," the secretary of state said, with Washington maintaining its pursuit of a truce that grounds Russian and Syrian planes and allows aid to reach besieged, rebel-held areas of northern Syria.

The U.S. also will press on with military efforts against the Islamic State group, he said, and finding a durable political solution that allows Syrians to return home and alleviates Europe's refugee crisis.

But of Russia and Syria's airstrikes on the city of Aleppo, he said, "People who are serious about making peace behave differently."

The 5-year war has killed as many as 500,000 people, chased millions of Syrians from their homes and allowed IS to carve out territory for itself and emerge as a global terror threat.

The Obama administration had been working with Russia for months to forge a cease-fire that ended Assad's attacks on rebel and civilian areas and separated U.S.-supported, "moderate" groups from fighters linked to al-Qaida. Neither side proved able to fulfill its side of the bargain. But Washington has few other options, given President Barack Obama's opposition to using military force against Assad's military.

The White House and State Department said Monday there was no point to the bilateral discussions any longer because Russia hasn't lived up to a Sept. 9 agreement that included a demand for unfettered humanitarian aid to places like Aleppo, which has been under Russian and Syrian bombardment. They pointed to Russian attacks on hospitals and on an aid convoy last month; Russia and Syria deny they were responsible for the deadly Sept. 19 strike on the convoy.

"Of course I hope that there is not going to be a new Cold War," Vitaly Churkin, Moscow's U.N. ambassador, said late Monday. He said U.S.-Russian differences have been "overdramatized" and voiced hope that cooperation on Syria could be resumed.

The U.S. hasn't ruled out restating talks with Russia, if it takes significant action to halt the bloodshed in Syria.

"Russia knows exactly what it needs to do," Kerry said in his speech.

Russia intervened on behalf of its close ally Syria a year ago, joining Assad's bombardment of both anti-Assad rebel groups and militant groups such as the Islamic State and Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaida spinoff formerly known as the Nusra Front. Russia is interested in propping up Assad in part because Russia's only naval facility outside the former Soviet Union is on the Syrian coast.

If it had been implemented, the cease-fire deal would have created a joint U.S.-Russian center to coordinate military and intelligence operations. President Barack Obama had overruled Pentagon objections to such cooperation, and Kerry made the offer.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed "deep disappointment" about the U.S. move and blamed the diplomatic impasse on Washington's failure to separate rebels from terrorist groups.

"We are under a growing impression that in its striving for a much-desired change of power in Damascus, Washington is ready to 'make a deal with the devil' and forge a union with terrorists who want to turn history backwards and enforce their inhuman norms by force," it said in a statement.

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Lee reported from Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry smiles during a speech on the future of "Transatlantic Relations" during an event hosted by The German Marshall Fund (GMF) and the U.S. Mission to the EU at Concert Noble in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Kerry is in Brussels for a two-day conference, hosted by the EU, with the participation of over 70 countries to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks on the future of "Transatlantic Relations" during an event hosted by The German Marshall Fund (GMF) and the U.S. Mission to the EU at Concert Noble in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Kerry is in Brussels for a two-day conference, hosted by the EU, with the participation of over 70 countries to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
The Latest: Thousands in Florida shelters set up in schools

MIAMI (AP)  The Latest on Hurricane Matthew and Tropical Storm Nicole (all times local):

6:30 a.m.

Officials say some 3,000 people have already checked into shelters in Florida ahead of Hurricane Matthew's approach.

A structure lays on the ground, brought down by the winds of Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

According to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, 48 shelters are already providing refuge for 3,015 people in Florida. Another 13 special needs shelters are already housing 31 people.

The shelters are all in schools in areas where evacuations  either mandatory or voluntary  are underway. The Florida counties include Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Glades, Martin, Duval and Brevard.

Special needs shelters are designed to aid people with disabilities. Shelters are listed at floridadisaster.org.

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6:10 a.m.

The murder trial of a man accused of intentionally leaving his toddler son in a hot SUV to die is being put on hold as Hurricane Matthew heads toward the Georgia coast where the man's being prosecuted.

Local news organizations report a judge said the trial of Justin Ross Harris would be in recess Thursday and Friday and resume Monday.

Prosecutors have said Harris intentionally killed his 22-month-old son, Cooper, by leaving him for hours in a vehicle parked outside the father's workplace in Cobb County near Atlanta. Cooper's lawyers say the death was accidental.

The trial was moved to Brunswick on the coast because of pretrial publicity.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday urged residents of several coastal counties, including the one where Brunswick is located, to evacuate.

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5:10 a.m.

Forecasters say Hurricane Matthew has gained new muscle over the Bahamas and they are also expanding the hurricane warning area further up the Southeast Atlantic seacoast from Florida into Georgia.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Matthew's top sustained winds have risen from 115 mph (185 kph) to 125 mph (205 mph) in just a few hours early Thursday as the storm continues to batter the central Bahamas.

The center says it is extending a hurricane warning area already covering a large swath of Florida's Atlantic coast further northward to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. It also says a newly expanded hurricane watch now extends from the Altamaha Sound up the coast to the South Santee River in South Carolina.

The center added in its 5 a.m. Thursday update that Matthew should gain further in intensity over the next day or so and is forecast to become a Category 4 storm as it approaches Florida's Atlantic coast.

Matthew's center is now about 255 miles (410 kilometers) southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kph) over the Bahamas.

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2 a.m.

Forecasters say Hurricane Matthew is now pounding portions of the Central Bahamas and is expected to strengthen as it approaches Florida.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew remains a powerful Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) as of 2 a.m. EDT Thursday. It added that Matthew is expected to intensify over the next day or so and is forecast to again become a dangerous Category 4 hurricane as it nears Florida's Atlantic coast.

Matthew was briefly a very dangerous Category 5 storm on its march across the Caribbean. By early Thursday, Matthew was centered about 295 miles (480 kilometers) southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida. It also was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south-southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas.

The Miami forecasting center said no changes have been made to the existing hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches as of 2 a.m. EDT.

Lance Gilliam, a Palm Beach native who moved to the Savannah area two years ago, surfs waves on the north end of Tybee as effects of Hurricane Matthew are already being seen in a larger and rougher tide, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 in Tybee Island, Ga. Hurricane Matthew was on track to rake Florida before spinning up the East Coast. The Category 4 storm packing winds of 145 mph pummeled parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Tuesday and is expected to head north over Cuba and the Bahamas before nearing the Florida coast by Thursday. (Josh Galemore/Savannah Morning News via AP)

Yorick Bain uses a drill to secure plywood over the windows of a Dunkin Donuts store in downtown Nassau, Bahamas, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The demand for materials such as plywood and sand caused many businesses to post "sold out" signs as residents moved about the island preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew which is is expected to impact all the islands of the Bahamas in the coming days on its way towards the Florida coastline. (AP Photo/Tim Aylen)

A resident runs in as flooded street as Hurricane Matthew roars over Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in Haiti. It unloaded heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The high winds and rain of Hurricane Matthew roar over the waterfront of Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in Haiti. It unloaded heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The high winds of Hurricane Matthew roar over Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore in Haiti, unloading heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A wave crashes into a building on the waterfront in Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in Haiti. It unloaded heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Jahvez Roberts loads sand bags into the trunk of a car for a customer at Roberts Trucking company in the Eastern district of Nassau, Bahamas, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The rock and sand depot was overwhelmed by the demand of residents who fear widespread flooding throughout the island of New Providence as Hurricane Matthew threatens the entire Bahama Island chain. (AP Photo/Tim Aylen)

Andrell Dames loads sand into bags for customers at Roberts Trucking company in the Eastern district of Nassau, Bahamas, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The rock and sand depot was overwhelmed by the demand of residents who fear widespread flooding throughout the island of New Providence as Hurricane Matthew threatens the entire Bahama Island chain. (AP Photo/Tim Aylen)

A man runs from a wave at the waterfront in Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in Haiti. It unloaded heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A structure lays on the ground, brought down by the winds of Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Beth Johnson fills up her car after waiting in line at a Sunoco gas station in advance of Hurricane Matthew in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew is expected to affect the South Carolina coast by the weekend. Gov. Nikki Haley announced Tuesday that, unless the track of the storm changes, the state will issue an evacuation order Wednesday to help get 1 million people inland from the coast. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

A couple embrace standing among the debris of their home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, leaving hundreds of others damaged. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Red Cross workers and residents walk among the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, and leaving hundreds of others damaged.(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman cries amid the rubble of her home, destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, leaving hundreds of others damaged. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man talks on his cell while searching for belongings amid the rubble of his home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, leaving hundreds of others damaged. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The high winds of Hurricane Matthew roar over Baracoa, Cuba, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore in Haiti, unloading heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman carries a child through a waterlogged street as they head to a shelter under the pouring rain triggered by Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Remodeler Gil Patrick, left, boards the windows and doors of Michael Kitchens residence on Butler Avenue on Tybee Island, Ga., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, in preparation for Hurricane Matthew. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News via AP)

Edgard San Juan, a maintenance worker with the Live Oak Public Libraries, boards the windows Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, on their branch located on Tybee Island, Ga., in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News via AP)

Patrons wait in line for gas at the Costco store in Altamonte Springs, Fla. as central Floridians prepare for the anticipated strike of Hurricane Matthew, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Shoppers enter the Costco store in Altamonte Springs, Fla., as central Floridians stock up on supplies ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Matthew, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Shoppers crowd the entrance as they wair for the Costco store in Altamonte Springs, Fla., to open as central Floridians stock up on supplies ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Matthew, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Ron Davidson, owner of Exclusively Coastal, an ocean-inspired gift shop in Vero Beach, puts up hurricane shutters in advance of Hurricane Matthew on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. (Molly Bartels/The Stuart News via AP)

Employees of Siam Orchid restaurant in Cocoa Beach, Fla., board up the front of the restaurant Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, as Hurricane Matthew approaches Florida. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Billy Conley lifts a piece of plywood to place over a window of a business in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, as Hurricane Matthew approaches Florida. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Jeff Beebe, of Cape Canaveral, Fla., fills gasoline containers, to be later used for his generator, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, as Hurricane Matthew approaches Florida. Beebe is evacuating his home along with his 80 year old parents to Orlando. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Palestinian government postpones West Bank elections

HEBRON, West Bank (AP)  The Palestinian government in the West Bank has postponed municipal elections in the territory until next year, a day after the vote was canceled in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that it was "decided to postpone the local elections for four months."

The Palestinian high court on Monday ruled that elections will be held in the West Bank only and not in Gaza  effectively canceling the first political contest in a decade between rival factions, Fatah and Hamas.

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2006 file photo, a Palestinian police officer fills in his ballot before casting it in parliamentary elections in the West Bank city of Nablus. The Palestinian high court on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 ruled upcoming municipal elections will be held in the West Bank only, excluding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, in a move that suspends the first political contest in a decade between the rival Fatah and Hamas in both territories. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

Palestinians have been divided since 2007 when the Islamic militant group Hamas ousted forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza, leaving Hamas in control of the strip and Abbas governing parts of the West Bank.
Syrian government press in their offensive on Aleppo

BEIRUT (AP)  Forces backing Syrian President Bashar Assad pressed their offensive Tuesday on Aleppo's rebel-held zone from the south, after capturing areas on other fronts in recent days. As reinforcements arrived, including Shiite fighters from Iraq, the strategy appeared to be to retake rebel-held areas bit by bit, backed by massive Russian airpower, rather than risk a potentially costly all-out ground battle.

Tuesday's offensive on the city's besieged rebel-held eastern neighborhoods came a day after Washington suspended direct U.S.-Russian talks on a Syria cease-fire  a move U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blamed on Russia's rejection of diplomacy in favor of helping Assad's government achieve a military victory over the rebels.

The latest tactic of whittling away at rebel-held areas of Aleppo rather than launching an all-out offensive has proved successful in the past: The government reasserted control of the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and most of the central city of Homs using the strategy.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 file photo, Russian air defense system missile system Antey 2500, or S-300 VM, is on display at the opening of the MAKS Air Show in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, Russia. The Russian military said Tuesday it had deployed the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria to protect a Russian navy facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships in the area. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, file)

"The Syrian army and its allies are in a sustained offensive to recapture rebel-held eastern Aleppo," wrote Robert Ford, a veteran diplomat and former ambassador to Syria.

"Unless the balance on the ground drastically shifts, the Assad regime will eventually retake from opposition fighters all of Aleppo and the outlying districts of Damascus," wrote Ford, a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "This may take months, but the balance is certainly in the Syrian government's favor."

"Aleppo is ... the Syrian crisis and its liberation will end plans to divide Syria," agreed Amin Hoteit, a former Lebanese army general and expert on military and strategic affairs.

Syrian troops and their allies have laid siege to rebel-held parts of Aleppo since July 17, except for a few weeks when the militants were able to break it in August, until it was re-imposed in early September. Soon after the government opened a corridor for civilians and fighters to move to government-held parts of the city, and dozens of people and gunmen crossed after a general amnesty was offered by authorities.

Since a cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia ended on Sept. 19, rebel-held neighborhoods where 275,000 people live have been subjected to some of the worst bombardment by Russian and Syrian warplanes since fighting began in 2011. Hospitals have been among the hardest-hit targets.

At least 420 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in and around Aleppo since the cease-fire collapsed, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Most of the deaths were in eastern Aleppo, where scores of buildings were demolished by Russian and Syrian airstrikes.

"The regime is bombing civilians because of its inability to storm Aleppo for years," said opposition activist Abu Firas al-Halaby, adding that talk of the imminent arrival of reinforcements was part of a "psychological war" against the rebels.

The Syrian government is backed in the Aleppo battle by Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Palestinian Quds Brigade and Iraq's Shiite al-Nujaba militia, among others.

An official with the al-Nujaba militia said the group had sent some 4,000 fighters in recent weeks in preparation for a battle to storm Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military strategy, refused to say when such an attack might take place.

Captain Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razek of the Nour el-Din el-Zinki rebel group said a wide ground offensive was unlikely because the government can't match the rebels' advanced street fighting.

"I don't expect that. I expect attrition and attempts on more than one front. But I don't see that it has the capacity to carry out a wide offensive on all fronts," Abdel-Razek said. "As a force on the ground, it is mobilizing and it can possibly later, but not now."

Government forces have made some progress on the ground recently, including last week's capture of the Handarat Palestinian refugee camp north of Aleppo and the nearby Kindi Hospital, which overlooks a key intersection of vital roads. Syrian troops also captured the central neighborhood of Farafra after pushing forward from the Old City.

On Tuesday, government forces and their allies attacked the southern rebel-held neighborhood of Sheik Saeed, opening a third front against the rebels.

An Aleppo-based activist, Baraa al-Halaby, said residents now avoid underground shelters, for fear of bunker-busting bombs that penetrate several floors before exploding. Still, he said government forces will not be able to storm rebel-held neighborhoods of the city.

"Tanks will not be able to advance easily in the streets," said al-Halaby, adding that the Handarat camp was only taken because it is an open area.

Demonstrating Moscow's commitment to backing Assad, the Russian military said it has beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles.

The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems has been deployed to Syria to protect a Russian navy facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships in the area.

The deployment will add punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which has long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

Still, Jennifer Cafarella of the Study of War, a Washington-based institute, said the fight for Aleppo will not end quickly.

"It has taken much of the regime combat power and much of the combat power that Russia has brought to theater in the form airstrikes, and the Iranian ground reinforcement," she said.

"Those military forces are going to be occupied in Aleppo for some time. But after that I do expect that Damascus can become the focus."

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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston and Sarah El Deeb and Philip Issa in Beirut contributed to this report.
Ethiopia arrests blogger, academic critical of government

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)  Ethiopian police have arrested a blogger who criticized the government, especially its handling of the ongoing protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

Seyoum Teshome, an outspoken university lecturer who has been quoted frequently by international media about the anti-government protests, was detained Oct. 1 at his home in Wolisso town in the Oromia region.

Ethiopia's government spokesman, Getachew Reda, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he heard about Seyoum's arrest and is investigating the reasons why.

Days before his arrest, Seyoum told the AP that he was planning to start his doctoral studies at Addis Ababa University and was starting his own blogging website, Ethiothinkthank. He wrote about Ethiopia's anti-government protests on his blogging site and Facebook page.

"This arrest of a prominent writer and commentator is deeply disturbing as it comes against a backdrop of government moves to stifle protests and criticism," said Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "Seyoum Teshome should be released without delay and without condition."

Ethiopia is the third worst jailer of journalists in Africa, and a number of journalists are serving jail terms for writing critical pieces about the government, said the journalists' group.

The arrest came a day before dozens of people were killed in the Oromia region. They were crushed in a stampede after government forces fired tear gas and bullets to disperse angry protesters during the annual Irrecha thanksgiving celebration of the Oromo people. The government has said 55 have died, but online activists and opposition groups outside Ethiopia claim the death toll is much higher.
Clinton reaches out to women while Trump defends taxes

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Arizona (AP)  Hillary Clinton appealed to voting mothers Tuesday outlining ways she hopes to curb gun violence as president and provide paid family leave and sick days for struggling working moms. Donald Trump tried to blame his opponent about revelations that his massive financial losses could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for years.

Clinton, appearing at a family town hall outside Philadelphia, said, "It should not be so hard to be a young parent. And it should not be so hard on the other end of the age spectrum to take care of your loved one."

She was making a case to suburban female voters who have sometimes backed Republicans in past presidential races.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Trump, meanwhile, sought to shore up support in deep-red Arizona during a challenging stretch for his campaign that aides hoped would be steadied Tuesday night by a strong performance by his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, against Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in the vice presidential debate.

The celebrity businessman  who was also grappling with new allegations of boorish treatment of women and criticism of his comments about veterans' health  resorted to blaming Clinton for the tax code that could have allowed him to not pay taxes for nearly two decades after he apparently lost nearly $1 billion in 1995.

"Why didn't she ever try to change those so laws so I couldn't use them?" asked Trump in the Republican-stronghold of Prescott Valley, before suggesting that Clinton's desire to protect her rich donors prevented her from passing any legislation while she was in the Senate.

Trump has refused to release his tax returns. His tax reform proposals do not call for changing the provision that would have allowed him to avoid paying.

He attempted to change the campaign conversation by seizing on former President Bill Clinton's comments describing the nation's current health system as "the craziest thing in the world."

"Can you imagine what he went through after making that statement? He went through hell," said Trump. "But you know, honestly, there have been many nights when he's gone through hell with Hillary."

Despite frequently depicting Bill Clinton as an abuser of women, Trump said he wanted "to thank him, honestly, for being honest" about Obamacare.

Asked about her husband's comment on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said she would attempt to "fix what is broken and keep what works" if elected president, adding that Republicans want to repeal the entire health care program. She also condemned Trump's recent comments about veterans, in which he suggested that soldiers who suffer from mental health issues might not be as strong as those who don't.

She said Trump's comments "are not just ignorant, they're harmful."

Trump's campaign said Monday his comments were being misconstrued.

There were signs Trump's troubles were trickling down to other Republicans on the November ballot.

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican running for re-election, stumbled on Monday night when she was asked whether she considers her party's nominee to be a role model for children. Ayotte, who is in a close race with Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, initially answered "absolutely," but then backtracked in a statement afterward saying she had changed her mind.

"I misspoke tonight," the statement said. "While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example, and I wouldn't hold up either of them as role models for my kids."

Ayotte's trouble answering the question underscores Trump's trouble with independent, moderate and college-educated women who are turned off Trump.

Those were precisely the type of voters Clinton was seeking to connect with in suburban Philadelphia's Delaware County, where President Barack Obama earned 60 percent of the vote in both the 2008 and 2012 election but has often served as a swing area in the battleground state.

During the town hall, 15-year-old Brennan Leach, the daughter of Democratic state Sen. Daylin Leach, told Clinton that "body image" was a major issue for girls her age at school, adding, "I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look."

Responding to how she would "undo some of that damage," Clinton thanked Leach as the crowd cheered, saying she was "so proud of you for asking that question." She said "it's shocking when women are called names."

First lady Michelle Obama joined in, assailing Trump at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. She said, "The presidency doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are."

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Thomas reported from Haverford, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Kathleen Hennessey and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report from Washington.

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On Twitter, follow Jonathan Lemire at http://www.twitter.com/JonLemire and Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton smiles while speaking at a rally at the Zembo Shrine in Harrisburg, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

In this image from video, first lady Michelle Obama taps a microphone as she speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. She didnt mention Donald Trump by name, but Michelle Obama delivered a clear indictment of the Republican presidential nominee during a campaign event for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Praising Clinton, Mrs. Obama said, She doesnt cry foul and tapped her microphone. It was an apparent swipe at Trump, who said the microphone he used during the first presidential debate was defective. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
The Latest: Russia deploys new air defense missiles in Syria

BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on developments in Syria after the collapse of a U.S. and Russia-brokered cease-fire two weeks ago, mainly in the rebel-held east (all times local):

6:45 p.m.

The Russian military says it has beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles, a move that follows Washington's suspension of contacts with Russia over Syria.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gestures before addressing members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke to the European Parliament ahead of a historic vote on the Paris climate accord. Final support from Europe will give the pact sufficient global support for it to enter into force around the world. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems has been deployed to Syria to protect a Russian navy facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships in the area.

The deployment will add punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which has long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

The U.S. announced Monday that it was suspending diplomatic contacts with Russia over Syria after trading blame with Moscow for the collapse of a Syrian cease-fire two weeks ago.

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3:15 p.m.

The Russian foreign ministry says its embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus has come under shelling from rebel groups.

The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the embassy was shelled on Monday, with one mortar landing and exploding near the residential compound and two more by the embassy building.

The ministry said no one was harmed and blamed the attack on two rebel groups, including al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria which was formerly known as the Nusra Front.

The situation in Syria has deteriorated considerably since the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-brokered cease-fire two weeks ago.

The ministry said the attack is the result of a U.S. policy and its allies which "provokes further bloodshed in Syria."

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3 p.m.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the U.S. and Russia to resume talks on a cease-fire in Syria after Washington suspended diplomatic contacts with Moscow over ending the war.

Ban told reporters in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday that he is set to hold talks soon with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and senior Russian officials in Brussels.

He says: "I will strongly urge (them) to resume their negotiations so that there will be a cessation of hostilities."

Ban says a cease-fire is vital to supply aid to the besieged city of Aleppo and give space for political talks to start.

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2 p.m.

Syrian state media are saying that rebel shelling of government-held neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo has killed six people and wounded 47.

State TV says some of the shells hit the dorms area at the Aleppo University on Tuesday, killing two students and wounding eight. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, says two people were killed in the shelling.

Aleppo has been the focus of the fighting in recent months as governed forces have besieged all eastern, rebel-held neighborhoods of the city. Syria's largest.

The Observatory says 420 people have been killed and more than a thousand have been wounded in and around Aleppo since a cease-fire brokered by Russia and the U.S. collapsed two weeks ago. Most of the dead have been in rebel-held parts of the city, which has been pounded by Syrian and Russian warplanes.

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1:05 p.m.

The U.N. human rights chief is decrying an unfolding "calamity" in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo where government forces continue to strike besieged, rebel-held parts in the east.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein in an appeal on Tuesday called for initiatives such as preventing U.N. Security Council's permanent members from vetoing council resolutions to help prevent severe crimes.

He says the Security Council should adopt rules to limit veto use in cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. Russia, an ally of Syria's government, holds veto power along with the United States, France, Britain and China.

Zeid says that attacks over the last 10 days in rebel parts of Aleppo, including airstrikes by Syrian and Russian forces, have been "the most intense" there since Syria's civil war began in 2011.

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11 a.m.

Syrian rebels say pro-government forces are pressing their assault on the eastern, rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo, this time attacking the city from the south in a bid to penetrate opposition-controlled areas.

The Islamic Front rebel coalition said on Twitter on Tuesday that its factions repelled an advance on the Sheikh Saeed neighborhood.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the government offensive is accompanied by airstrikes on the contested neighborhoods.

The monitoring group says more than 400 civilians have been killed in and around Aleppo since the collapse of a U.S. and Russian-brokered cease-fire two weeks ago, mainly in the rebel-held east of the embattled city.
The Latest: Hundreds of migrants marching toward Hungary

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  The Latest on migrant influx in Europe (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Hundreds of migrants set off on foot on Tuesday toward Serbia's border with Hungary to protest its closure for most people trying to reach the European Union.

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2016 file photo, Serbian officers patrol near the border between Serbia and Bulgaria, not far from the border crossing Vrska Cuka, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Belgrade, Serbia. Serbias president, speaking on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, said that the Balkan country would seal its borders to stop migrants if the European Union countries further along the migration route fully block their boundaries against people fleeing war and poverty. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

There are more than 6,000 migrants stuck in Serbia after Hungary this summer introduced strict limits to their crossing into the EU-member country and reinforced its razor-wire fence with heavy border patrols.

The so-called Balkan migrant route, last year used by nearly 1 million people fleeing wars and poverty, formally closed in March, forcing migrants to use alternative routes and pay people smugglers to get them across.

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12:05 p.m.

Several hundred migrants have staged a protest in Belgrade demanding that Hungary open its border.

Police intervened on Tuesday after protesters clashed with other groups of migrants who were against the demonstration. Some 150 of them later marched toward the Hungarian border about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the Serbian capital.

They chanted "Open Hungary Borders" and carried banners saying "we don't need food, water or nothing, we want you to open the borders." There were no reported injuries during the scuffles.

There are some 6,000 migrants stuck in Serbia after Hungary this summer introduced strict limits to their crossing into the EU-member country and reinforced its razor-wire fence with heavy border patrols. The so-called Balkan migrant route formally closed in March, forcing migrants to use alternative routes.

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11:10 a.m.

Romanian border police are investigating 16 Iraqi citizens, including six children, they found in two boats on the River Danube for illegally crossing the Romanian border.

Border police said they spotted the group of eight men, two women and six children, early Tuesday in southern Romania close to the shore. The Danube forms the border between Romania and Bulgaria.

The migrants told police they had traveled through Turkey and then into Bulgaria and wanted to reach Germany. They said each family had paid 35,000 euros ($39,000).

Romania and Bulgarian authorities are investigating. They will be handed over to Bulgarian authorities under the terms of a Romanian-Bulgarian agreement.
The Latest: Obama to head to Chicago to raise cash for Dems

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton (all times EDT):

7:37 p.m.

President Barack Obama is headed for his home town of Chicago this weekend to raise some cash for Hillary Clinton's campaign and for Democrats in the U.S. House.

President Barack Obama talks with actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Katharine Hayhoe about climate change as part of the White House South by South Lawn event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington,Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The president also will attend a Sunday campaign event for Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who's challenging Republican Sen. Mark Kirk.

The White House says Obama will travel to Chicago on Friday and return to the White House on Sunday.

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7:28 p.m.

The Republican National Committee is declaring a winner before the vice presidential debate even begins.

A blog post is already available on the party's website claiming victory for Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. The post also offers a preview of what Pence will talk about. It lists his "top moments" as the economy and "highlighting Hillary's scandals."

Pence squares off at 9 p.m. against Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine. It is their only debate of the cycle.

The blog post goes on to call Trump "the other clear winner" of the debate.

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7:00 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign is preparing for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to project preparedness and reserve at their second debate Sunday in St. Louis.

The Democratic nominee's campaign manager Robby Mook is telling reporters before the vice presidential candidates' debate in Virginia, "We are expecting him to be better prepared."

Mook noted Trump's comments that he plans to introduce criticize former President Bill Clinton's widely publicized infidelity while in the White House 20 years ago.

Trump said after the first debate on Sept. 26 that he had contemplated renewing the topic, calling Clinton "one of the great abusers of the world" and the candidate as "an enabler."

Mook says the campaign thinks "he understands that's not the right strategy."

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5:44 p.m.

Donald Trump is thanking former President Bill Clinton for being "honest" about President Obama's signature health care law.

Trump referenced the former president's comments at a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The former president on Monday described the nation's current health system as "the craziest thing in the world."

Trump said in Prescott Valley, Arizona, that the former president "came out and told the truth about Obamacare," adding that Clinton "absolutely trashed president Obama's signature legislation."

Trump has threatened to discuss the former president's infidelities at his next debate. But on Tuesday, he said of Bill Clinton: "At least he's honest."

He's also joking about how Hillary Clinton must have reacted to the comments. "I'll bet he went through hell last night. Can you imagine?" he asks, adding: "But you know, honestly, there have been many nights when he's gone through hell with Hillary."

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5:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is attacking Donald Trump for suggesting that soldiers who suffer from mental health issues might not be as strong as those who don't.

Speaking to reporters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Clinton said Trump's comments "are not just ignorant, they're harmful."

Trump was asked Monday about his commitment to programs aimed at preventing suicides and helping soldiers suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other issues. He said that people coming back from combat "they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can't handle it."

Clinton said soldiers' wounds "can be visible and invisible," adding that the troops should have a commander in chief who respects their sacrifice.

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5:00 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is promising to get rid of the "cowboy culture" on Wall Street that she says has benefited Donald Trump.

In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Clinton pledged tougher banking regulations. She argued that Trump wants "to eliminate the rules we already have."

Clinton assailed Trump's business record, arguing that he "rooted for the housing collapse" and outsourced jobs to other countries. She stressed a recent New York Times report that he may have avoided paying federal income taxes for nearly two decades after he claimed business losses of more than $900 million in 1996.

Clinton also noted a story in Newsweek that Trump used Chinese-manufactured steel and aluminum in at least two of his last three construction projects.

Said Clinton: "These stories keep coming out don't they?"

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4:46 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's communications chief isn't exactly upset that Donald Trump plans to live tweet tonight's vice presidential debate.

Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said, "Oh good," when informed of Trump's plans. She made the comments Tuesday afternoon at the debate site in Farmville, Virginia, where Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine will take on Trump's No. 2, Mike Pence.

Palmieri said Clinton would be watching the debate from her home in Chappaqua, New York. She wasn't sure whether the former secretary of state would be active on social media.

Trump was campaigning in Colorado on Tuesday. He tweeted earlier in the afternoon that he would be "live tweeting the VP debate tonight starting at 830pm est!"

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4:13 p.m.

Mike Pence is among the Republicans who have compared Donald Trump favorably with Ronald Reagan.

Michael Reagan isn't buying it.

The conservative commentator and son of the 40th president has been using his Twitter account to dismiss suggestions that the billionaire businessman from New York is the coming of a new Ronald Reagan.

He's predicted that if Nancy Reagan were still alive, she would vote for Hillary Clinton.

And in reference to Trump, he tweeted that "my father would not support this kind of campaign."

He added on Twitter Sunday: "If this is what the Republican Party wants leave us Reagans out."

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3:20 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't have anything to do with the release of Donald Trump's taxes, says Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Podesta answered flatly, "No," when asked whether Clinton's campaign was involved in leaking the returns. He spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon ahead of the vice presidential debate in Virginia.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Trump may have avoided paying federal income taxes for nearly two decades after he claimed business losses of more than $900 million in 1996. The Trump campaign has not refuted the report.

It's unclear who leaked the documents. The Republican presidential nominee has broken from decades of tradition by refusing to release his tax returns.

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3:10 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman says Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will have to defend Donald Trump's "division" and "bigotry" at tonight's debate.

Chairman John Podesta suggested Tuesday afternoon that Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, would press Pence to answer tough questions.

Podesta addressed reporters from the so-called "spin room" at the debate site ahead of the vice presidential debate.

He said Pence would "have to defend what in my view is the indefensible, the division that Donald Trump has shown in this campaign, the bigotry that he has shown."

He added, "I think he's got a very tough road to hoe."

Podesta also raised Pence's record on women's rights and gay rights. He said the Indiana governor has "an extreme record."

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3 p.m.

Bill Clinton is shrugging off Donald Trump's threats to bring up the former president's marital infidelity in upcoming debates with Hillary Clinton.

At a stop Tuesday in a Marietta, Ohio, restaurant, Bill Clinton said that Trump has "been making those attacks from the beginning of this campaign, so I don't think that's anything new."

The Republican nominee struggled at times during his first debate performance against his Democratic rival. Since then, Trump has called Bill Clinton as a "one of the great abusers of the world" and cast his wife as "an enabler." Trump has said he's considering renewing those assertions during the next presidential debate on Sunday.

Bill Clinton's relationship with a White House intern was the subject of his impeachment in 1998.

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2:30 p.m.

Campaigning for Democrat Hillary Clinton, first lady Michelle Obama says the presidency "reveals who you are."

The first lady had sharp criticism for Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump, in Charlotte.

"The presidency doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are," she said. "That's the kind of president they will be. And trust me, a candidate is not going to suddenly change once they're in office."

Obama rebuked Trump for his false claim that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, his overnight Twitter tirade about the former Miss Universe and his refusal to release income tax returns.

She encouraged the crowd to vote, saying Clinton is "the real deal."

President Barack Obama won North Carolina in 2008, but lost the state to Mitt Romney in 2012.

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2:20 p.m.

A day after framing President Barack Obama's signature health care law as crazy, former President Bill Clinton is trying to avoid muddling his message again as he touts Hillary Clinton's plans on the economy.

Bill Clinton only briefly mentioned health care during the Ohio University speech campaigning for his wife. It was a far cry from his comments Monday, when he called the health care law "the craziest thing in the world."

"You've got this crazy system where all the sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half," he said.

At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama still has "strong confidence" in the law.

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1:50 p.m.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says President Barack Obama doesn't think Trump is a role model for Americans, and the president has "made that clear in a variety of settings."

Asked whether Trump might be a role model in any setting, not just as president, Earnest added:

"There are hundreds of millions of Americans that, by the way they live their lives every day, are role models for our kids. Based on the president's deep concern about the rhetoric of the Republican nominee, I feel confident telling you that he would not be comfortable with describing the nominee in that way."

The question came after Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said Monday that Trump is a role model for kids, then reversed herself, saying he is not.

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1:20 p.m.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey says Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump isn't a role model for his children, nor is his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

The Pennsylvania senator's comments come after Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said Trump is a role model for kids and then reversed herself, saying he is not. Both Toomey and Ayotte are in competitive re-election contests.

On Trump, Toomey said he's not a role model for his children, "but honestly, neither is Hillary Clinton, I mean, the serial dishonesty, the repeated lies to the American people, to the families of Benghazi victims, the list is endless, and the serious ethical challenges."

Toomey, who has declined to endorse Trump, said he is not a role model because of "the vulgarity and gratuitous insults of people."

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1 p.m.

Former President Bill Clinton wants voters to know that his wife shouldn't be held responsible for spiking incarceration rates that stemmed in part from a crime bill he signed into law.

Bill Clinton had barely begun his remarks Tuesday at Ohio University when a man at the rally began yelling at him about the 1994 law.

As Hillary Clinton's supporters started to drown out the man, the former president waved them off and engaged him. Bill Clinton said his wife "didn't vote for the bill" or try to put "millions of your people in prison."

He noted Hillary Clinton has called for a criminal justice overhaul.

The former president did offer one defense of his decision on the 1994 law: He said it was popular at the time across all income and racial lines.

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12:55 p.m.

Donald Trump is condemning the "tremendous problem with regulations" that he says are damaging the nation's energy business.

The Republican presidential candidate held a roundtable Tuesday with around a dozen oil and gas industry leaders in Denver. At the event at the Denver Energy Center, he acknowledged that some regulations are needed for safety or environmental reasons.

But he warned that if his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, wins in November, she will "double the regulations and put you all out of business."

He also repeated his promise to protect the nation's mining industry.

Trump's energy plan calls for a reliance on federal fuels and a vow to cut bureaucracy.

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12:45 p.m.

President Barack Obama is postponing a planned Florida rally for Hillary Clinton because of Hurricane Matthew.

Obama had been scheduled to appear for Clinton on Wednesday in Miami Gardens. He was expected to emphasize the need for Democrats in Florida to make sure they're registered to vote ahead of Election Day.

But Clinton's campaign says the event is postponed.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for South Florida.

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12:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton are holding a family town hall meeting in Philadelphia's suburbs, pointing to ways the Democratic presidential nominee would try to help children and families.

The Clintons were joined on stage with actress Elizabeth Banks as the former secretary of state vowed to help provide paid family leave and sick days for working mothers.

Responding to a question about Donald Trump's views on women, Hillary Clinton notes that her opponent "insulted Miss Universe. I mean how do you get more acclaimed than that?"

Clinton has made Pennsylvania one of her top targets on the 2016 battleground map and is appealing to women as she tries to become the nation's first female president.

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9:50 a.m.

Democrat Tim Kaine has invited civil rights leader Jesse Jackson to be a guest at Tuesday's vice presidential debate.

Kaine has also invited former Virginia state Sen. Henry Marsh, a civil rights attorney and mentor to Kaine; Lily Habtu, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting, and Okianer Christian Dark, a law professor who Kaine represented in a fair housing case.

Also joining Kaine will be Carol Schall and Mary Townley, a lesbian couple who were plaintiffs in a lawsuit that led to Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage being overturned. Their daughter, Emily Schall Townley, is also a guest.

Kaine is a former civil rights lawyer and Virginia governor. He is now a U.S. senator.

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9:30 a.m.

Donald Trump's campaign manager says Trump has paid "hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes over decades." How much of that was federal income tax, however, remains unclear.

In an interview Tuesday on CBS "This Morning," Kellyanne Conway lists the types of taxes Trump has paid: excise, payroll, real estate, property and state and local taxes.

When the anchor interjects that she left out income taxes, Conway says, "Well, he certainly has, in years that he made a profit, like anybody else."

The New York Times has reported that Trump claimed a loss of nearly $916 million in a single year on his personal tax filings and this could have allowed him to avoid federal income taxes for nearly two decades. Trump's campaign has not denied the report.

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8:30 a.m.

Vice President Joe Biden is criticizing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for remarks suggesting that soldiers who suffer from mental health issues might not be as strong as those who don't.

Biden says, "How can he be so out of touch." In a CNN interview Tuesday, the vice president also said Trump is "not a bad man." But he added: "His ignorance is profound, so profound."

Trump made the reference Monday as he discussed his commitment to improving mental health services for veterans.

He said, "When people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can't handle it."

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8:10 a.m.

Donald Trump's campaign manager says Trump's running mate will put in a "fiery performance" in the vice presidential debate.

Speaking Tuesday on CBS "This Morning," Kellyanne Conway says even though Mike Pence is "known as low key," he will fight to defend the Republican candidate and will go after his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Pence faces off against Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, on Tuesday night in the only vice presidential debate.

Even though Pence and Kaine have campaigned for more than two months, many people say they still don't have a feel for either man. In a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, more than half of registered voters said they didn't know enough about Kaine to venture an opinion about him, and about 44 percent said the same for Pence.

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5:00 a.m.

Hillary Clinton is campaigning in the Philadelphia suburbs on Tuesday with daughter Chelsea Clinton and actress Elizabeth Banks at an event aimed at making the case to female voters.

Clinton is expected to talk about her agenda to help children and families and take questions from voters in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Her campaign is making a major push in the suburbs around Philadelphia and appealing to college-educated voters who have backed Republicans in past presidential elections.

Clinton will campaign later in the day in Harrisburg. Her campaign is looking to deny rival Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, which has supported a Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1988.

Republican vice presidential nominee Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, arrives with his wife, Karen, at a campaign rally at Cox Transportation Services in Ashland, Va., Monday Oct. 3, 2016. (Shelby Lum/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak during campaign rally, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes a photograph with members of the audience at a town hall at the Haverford Community Recreation and Environmental Center in Haverford, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton boards her campaign plane in White Plains, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, to travel to Philadelphia. Clinton is scheduled to attend rallies in Haverford, Pa. and Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Students carry a Trump-Pence sign before the vice-presidential debate between Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (AP Photo/AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable meeting with energy executives, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
French top court to rule on racial profiling for first time

PARIS (AP)  A lawyer who claims French police carried out unjustified identity checks on 13 black and Arab men based only on their racial profiles asked the country's highest court Tuesday to "make history" and rule for the first time that officers acted illegally.

Activist groups hope the much-awaited decision will end what they call routine discrimination by police against minorities. Ethnically-biased ID checks have long been cited as a prime reason for troubled relations between police and residents of poor suburbs.

Lawyer Thomas Lyon-Caen told the Cour de Cassation the ID checks in 2011 and 2012 violated the basic rights of his 13 clients and were discriminatory because a democratic state cannot "link delinquency to skin color."

FILE - In this Feb. 25 2015 file photo, French plaintiffs Amponsah, left, and Elize Novembre stand with Lanna Hollo, senior legal officer with Open Society Justice Initiative, and talk to the media at Paris appeals court, in Paris. A lawyer who claims French police carried out unjustified identity checks on 13 black and Arab men based only on their racial profiles has brought the cases before the highest French court for the first time. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

He said a study conducted by France's National Center for Scientific Research has shown that blacks have 12 times more chance of being checked by police than whites, and those of Arab origin have 15 times more chance.

But the prosecutor at the hearing asked the supreme judges to declare only eight of the 13 cases illegal. He said the remaining five appear valid because the checks were based on "objective elements" and therefore not discriminatory.

The presiding judge said the top court's ruling will be returned on Nov. 9. The decision is expected to set a legal precedent.

Francois Boucard, a lawyer for Defender of Human Rights, a French independent watchdog, said racial profiling has become commonplace even if people are not suspected of any specific offenses. The ID checks are often based "on different facial features, on features from elsewhere, on the skin color," the lawyer told the court.

Boucard said young men with immigrant backgrounds and from "visible minorities" are over-represented among the population "especially targeted" by ID checks and that racial bias often leads to a "feeling of injustice" among young people of black or North African origins, a large part of whom live in deprived suburbs of French cities.

The lawyer for the French state, Alice Meier-Bourdeau, warned the top judges their ruling shouldn't "throw suspicion on any police officer or any representative of the state" and lead to a widespread challenging of ID checks in courts.

Boucard, the watchdog lawyer, said the suits don't intend to prevent police from performing ID checks, especially in the "very sensitive context" of recent attacks by Islamic extremists in France, but only to set a more specific legal framework for those checks.

The arguments focused on alleged victims of racial profiling not being able to prove in court that they were discriminated against.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs ask the Cour de Cassation to rule that the burden of proof must be shared. They say courts should accept even a mere assumption of discrimination  through a single witness's testimony, for instance  while police authorities should prove there were "objective elements" for the ID checks.
Nobel physics prize: A look at the 3 winners, their feats

STOCKHOLM (AP)  Three British-born scientists who have conducted extensive research in the United States won this year's Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday.

They are David Thouless, 82, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington; Duncan Haldane, 65, a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, and 73-year-old Michael Kosterlitz of Brown University in Rhode Island.

Here's a look at why they won and the importance of their achievements:

A overhead projector displays the photos of the winners of the Nobel Prize in physics, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz have won the Nobel physics prize. Nobel jury praises physics winners for 'discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter'. (Anders Wiklund /TT via AP)

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SIGNIFICANCE

Their research broke new ground in the 1970s and 1980s and is being honored decades later as recognition of its lasting impact.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the trio "opened the door" to a new, previously hidden world in which matter takes unusual states.

The academy said their elegant theoretical discoveries had inspired scientists in the intervening years. They are credited with groundbreaking work revealing the secrets of exotic matter such as superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with no loss to resistance.

This may lead to the development of new materials for use in advanced electronics or computers.

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REACTION

A very pleased Haldane took several questions by phone link from journalists covering the Nobel ceremony.

He said the laureates "stumbled" onto the discoveries that would bring them global recognition decades later and said that was often the way new finds are made.

He also paid tribute to the motivation provided by Philip Anderson, an earlier Nobel winner who was one of his professors at Cambridge University.

Haldane said he was "very surprised and very gratified" by the award.

Kosterlitz told The Associated Press he was "a little bit dazzled. I'm still trying to take it in." He said he was in his 20s when the research began and that his "complete ignorance" helped because he wasn't held back by preconceived notions.

"I was young and stupid enough to take it on," he said.

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PRIZE

The Nobel Prize carries with it an 8 million kronor ($930,000) prize in addition to a medal and a diploma that is handed out at the award ceremonies each December.
Oil pipeline protester accused of terrorizing officer

MANDAN, N.D. (AP)  North Dakota authorities have issued an arrest warrant accusing a pipeline protester on horseback of charging at a police officer.

Mason Redwing, of Fort Thompson, South Dakota, is wanted on felony charges of terrorizing and reckless endangerment in the Sept. 28 incident near St. Anthony. He's also wanted on a previous warrant for criminal trespass.

The Morton County Sheriff's Office says the officer shouted a warning and pointed a shotgun loaded with non-lethal beanbag rounds to defuse the situation.

Court documents don't list an attorney who can speak on Redwing's behalf. His home telephone is not listed.
North Carolina man accused of groping teens at water park

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  Authorities say a man faces charges of molesting two teens at a SeaWorld's Aquatica water park.

Local news outlets report 32-year-old Roy McCormick of Havelock, North Carolina, was arrested Sunday after two teens who were visiting the area with a police explorers group say he groped them as they floated down a river at the park.

Deputies tried to talk to McCormick but he asked for a lawyer.

Park officials told investigators McCormick is an annual pass holder who has visited the water park multiple times this year.
Germany hospital fire started by patient's self-immolation

BERLIN (AP)  Prosecutors say a fire at a hospital in western Germany last week in which two people died was caused by a patient pouring disinfectant over herself and setting it alight in an attempt to kill herself.

The fire broke out in the 69-year-old woman's 6th-floor room at the Bergmannsheil hospital in Bochum in the early hours of Friday. She died in the blaze, along with a bedridden 41-year-old man in a neighboring room.

Prosecutors and police said in a statement Tuesday that they are still investigating what prompted the woman to try to kill herself. The fire quickly spread to the building's roof, and 10 people were injured, seven of them seriously.

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2016 file photo, an aerial view shows firefighters working on the burned-out attic of the Bergmannsheil hospital in Bochum, Germany. Prosecutors said on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 that a fire at the hospital, in which two people died, was caused by a patient pouring disinfectant over herself and setting it alight in an attempt to kill herself. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP, File)

None of the injured were still in life-threatening condition on Tuesday.
Virginia police investigating death of special needs student

PRINCE GEORGE, Va. (AP)  Police in Virginia are investigating the death of a 16-year-old special needs student who apparently became sick at school and died at a hospital five days later.

Prince George County police Capt. Brian Kei tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2dAXFKT) that authorities received a 911 call about the boy on Sept. 21 from the front office of Prince George High School.

The boy, whom police declined to identify, was taken to John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell and was later flown to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. He died Sept. 26.

Superintendent Renee Williams says police are conducting an investigation relating to school personnel. She says the student became sick at the dismissal of school before he got on the bus.

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Poland won't back Tusk for second EU term, Kaczynski says

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland won't back former Prime Minister Donald Tusk for a second term as European Council president, the head of the conservative ruling party said Tuesday.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski told the "Polska The Times" newspaper that Tusk might face charges in Poland, and the European Union should be aware of that. But he acknowledged that Tusk still could win a second term next year because Poland has no power to veto the EU vote, which does not require unanimity.

"I can imagine that the Polish government will not back Donald Tusk for a second term in the European Council," Kaczynski said in comments posted on the paper's website. "Tusk is a great problem."

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2016 file photo, European Council President Donald Tusk walks by flags of EU countries prior to a meeting at the EU Council building in Brussels. Polands conservative ruling party leader said in comments published Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, that the government would not back Tusk for a second term as European Council head. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

The European Council brings together heads of state or government leaders of the member nations and defines the general political direction of the EU.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo appeared to endorse Kaczynski's comments, saying later Tuesday she "can imagine" that her Cabinet won't back Tusk in Brussels. That could weaken his position should he win a second EU leadership term.

Kaczynski also hinted he does not consider Tusk's being in Brussels as an asset for Poland and said it did not help in Warsaw's current policy standoff with the EU.

The issue with Tusk is linked to the 2010 death of President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other public figures in a plane crash in Russia.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the late president's twin brother, blames Tusk, Poland's prime minister at the time, with neglecting the president's security amid a simmering political conflict between them. The president and prime minister represented opposing parties.

Tusk denies any responsibility and says he is ready to testify as a witness in ongoing investigations.

"I never had, I don't have now, and I never will have on any matter the support of (the ruling Law and Justice party.) And I can live with it," he said in April.

During the 11-month rule of Kaczynski's Law and Justice party, new investigations have been opened into the crash by prosecutors and by a special parliamentary commission, pushing assassination and explosion theories.

It isn't clear when the work will be finished, but the investigations so far have not yielded any significant new evidence.

Polish and Russian commissions have blamed the crash on human error in conditions of poor visibility. The Russian commission additionally blamed pressure from passengers on the crew to land, despite the risk.

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Philly police investigating big-wheel tricycle on busy road

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Philadelphia police say they're looking into cellphone video reports of a man riding a big-wheeled tricycle down one of the city's busiest boulevards.

Motorists tell WCAU-TV (http://bit.ly/2dttSBC ) they saw the man pedaling down the middle of Roosevelt Boulevard on Sunday.

Motorists including Akeem Edwards tell the station the tricycle was holding up traffic as cars gingerly drove around the pedaling man.

Edwards says the man riding the tricycle "looked at me and smiled as he was rolling by."
Germany: man indicted for joining al-Shabab in Somalia

BERLIN (AP)  Prosecutors have indicted a German man accused of joining the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab in Somalia on terrorism charges.

German federal prosecutors said Tuesday that the indictment against the 28-year-old identified only as Abshir Ahmed A., in line with German privacy rules, was filed Sept. 12 at a Frankfurt court. The suspect was arrested at Frankfurt airport as he returned home in July.

The charges include membership in a foreign terrorist organization and violation of weapons control laws.

Prosecutors say the man is believed to have joined al-Shabab in Somalia in 2012, undergoing weapons training and then being deployed in a defensive position for the group. They say that health problems forced him out of that posting.
German prosecutors drop probe of comedian over Erdogan poem

BERLIN (AP)  German prosecutors on Tuesday dropped an investigation of a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime.

Chancellor Angela Merkel in April granted a Turkish request to allow the possible prosecution of Jan Boehmermann for insulting a foreign head of state. German law required the government to give permission before prosecutors could consider whether to press charges.

Boehmermann had read the poem on ZDF television, to illustrate something he said wouldn't be allowed in Germany. He contrasted it with another channel's earlier satirical song that also poked fun at Erdogan and angered Turkey but was considered acceptable in Germany.

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2016 file photo TV comic Jan Boehmermann arrives for the German TV awards in Duesseldorf, Germany. German prosecutors said Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, they have dropped an investigation of Boehmermann who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime. (Henning Kaiser/dpa via AP, file)

Boehmermann's ditty started by describing the Turkish leader as "stupid, cowardly and uptight" before descending into crude sexual references. ZDF withdrew the passage with the poem from its archives but argued that it didn't break the law.

Prosecutors in Mainz, where ZDF is based, said in a statement Tuesday that "criminal actions could not be proven with the necessary certainty."

They said it was "questionable" whether the poem constituted slander, given the satirical context in which Boehmermann recited it and the fact that it wasn't intended to convey his own view of "personal traits of the Turkish president."

Boehmermann, they said, maintained that he had sought to exaggerate to the extent that "the lack of earnestness and the lack of any seriously intended connection to the personal honor of (Erdogan) were supposed to be immediately evident to every listener."

Prosecutors said they also found no evidence of criminal behavior on the part of other people involved in Boehmermann's program.

A lawyer for Boehmermann welcomed the prosecutors' decision.

"The prosecution decided in accordance with the rule of law and resisted any kind of political pressure," Daniel Krause said in a statement. "This deserves emphasis and respect."

The decision to allow Boehmermann's possible prosecution was awkward for Merkel as she sought Ankara's help in reducing Europe's migrant influx but also expressed concern about the state of media freedom in Turkey.

As she announced the decision in April, she underlined the independence of the judiciary and said her government intends to repeal Germany's law criminalizing insults of a foreign head of state, effective in 2018.
Latest: LA mayor says video released for transparency

LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Latest on fatal shootings by police in Los Angeles (all times local):

3:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says a video showing an armed black man moments before he was shot dead by police was released for the sake of transparency.

Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrate inside the board of Police Commissioners meeting in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Police released surveillance video Tuesday showing an 18-year-old black suspect running from police while holding what appears to be a gun in his left hand just before he was fatally shot by officers in a death that has generated rowdy protests. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Garcetti's statement Tuesday came hours after the video was released showing 18-year-old Carnell Snell with a gun shortly before Saturday's shooting.

The video didn't capture the actual shooting, which happened when police say Snell turned toward them twice with a loaded semi-automatic handgun.

Garcetti says releasing the video "contributes to transparency in a case that has raised many hard questions."

He said concerns over discrimination aren't unique to Los Angeles but it's the city's job to eradicate them "because our communities and law enforcement are counting on the healing that will bring."

Garcetti expressed condolences to Snell's family and expressed empathy for officers "regularly thrust into dangerous, difficult, and traumatic situations, then asked to make split-second decisions with lasting impacts."

11:45 a.m.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says an armed man shot dead last weekend by police twice turned toward officers with a gun in his hand.

Beck disclosed the additional details Tuesday about the shooting of Carnell Snell after police released surveillance video of the suspect holding what appears to be a gun just before the shooting.

The chief said officers fired three shots when Snell turned toward them with the gun. Then he climbed a fence and turned again toward officers, who fired three more times. The shooting was not recorded on video.

Beck's comments came following a raucous police commission meeting that ended abruptly after protesters shouted for his resignation. One woman who said her son had been killed by police threatened to kill officers herself. No arrests were made.

10:45 a.m.

The president of the Los Angeles Police Commission says officials decided it was in the public's best interest to release surveillance video connected to the fatal shooting of an armed black man last weekend.

President Matt Johnson made the comments Tuesday during a meeting of the police department's board of civilian overseers. The meeting was called off because of constant interruptions from Black Lives Matter protesters.

Johnson warned that the investigation is in its preliminary stages and it is too early to determine whether the shooting was justified or not.

The video released Tuesday shows Carnell Snell holding what appears to be a gun in just before officers shot him.

Protester Melina Abdullah accused police of selectively releasing a portion of video to justify the shooting and "posthumously assassinate the character of our brother Carnell Snell."

Police have said the 45-second clip is the only footage they have so far showing Snell.

9:45 a.m.

Black Lives Matter protesters are disrupting a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission in response to the fatal shooting of a young black man by police last Saturday.

The Los Angeles Police Department's board of civilian overseers convened at midmorning Tuesday as demonstrators shouted for the resignation of Chief Charlie Beck.

It's the first meeting of the panel since 18-year-old Carnell Snell was shot and killed during a foot pursuit in South Los Angles.

The meeting comes as the LAPD released surveillance video showing a suspect holding what appears to be a gun just before the fatal shooting.

Beck said Monday that the video shows Snell was armed and turned toward officers when they opened fire.

9 a.m.

Los Angeles police have released surveillance video showing a suspect holding what appears to be a gun just before he was fatally shot Saturday by officers.

The footage posted Tuesday to LAPD's YouTube channel shows a man in gray sweat pants and a blue hooded sweat shirt crouching behind an SUV and pulling a handgun from his waistband. He puts the gun back into his pants and runs around the corner of a strip mall as officers pursue him.

Police say the video supports the account Chief Charlie Beck gave Monday justifying the October 1 fatal shooting of Carnell Snell. Beck said Snell had a fully loaded semi-automatic handgun in one hand and turned toward officers when they fired.

Black Lives Matter organizers are protesting the shooting outside a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

6:40 a.m.

Black Lives Matter organizers are planning a protest at a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission in response to the fatal shooting of a young black man by police last weekend.

The Los Angeles Police Department's board of civilian overseers convenes at midmorning Tuesday.

It's the first meeting of the panel since 18-year-old Carnell Snell was shot and killed during a foot pursuit in South Los Angeles on Saturday.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said Monday that Snell had a fully loaded semi-automatic handgun in one hand and turned toward officers when they fired. Beck says a surveillance video shows Snell was armed.

Beck also said a Hispanic man fatally shot Sunday pointed a realistic-looking replica handgun at officers.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck talks during a news conference in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Los Angeles police released surveillance video Tuesday showing an 18-year-old black suspect running from police while holding what appears to be a gun in his left hand just before he was fatally shot by officers in a death that has generated rowdy protests. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrate inside the board of Police Commissioners meeting in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Los Angeles police released surveillance video Tuesday showing an 18-year-old black suspect running from police while holding what appears to be a gun in his left hand just before he was fatally shot by officers in a death that has generated rowdy protests. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Cyprus returns remains of Greek soldiers killed in accident

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Cyprus has returned remains of Greek commandos and air force crew killed in a military accident in 1974 when Turkey invaded the Mediterranean island.

At a ceremony Tuesday, President Nicos Anastasiades issued an apology for the incident  known as the Noratlas air crash  when a military transport plane was shot down by Cypriot fire and 31 officers were killed.

The remains were located and identified after DNA analysis that lasted several years.

Greek soldiers carry the coffins and the photographs of the Greek commandos who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

The aircraft was one of around a dozen carrying 318 Greek commandos sent to the island following the invasion that was triggered when supporters of Cyprus' union with Greece mounted a short-lived coup.

The island remains divided along ethnic lines, with Turkish-held north and the Greek Cypriot south, where the internationally recognized government is based.

A relative of a Greek soldier leaves olive branches on the coffins with photographs of the Greek commandos who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

An elderly man leaves Greek and Cypriot flags on the coffins of the Greek commandos who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Greek soldiers hold the photographs by the coffins of the Greek commandos who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A Greek Orthodox priest, right, walks with Greek soldiers carrying the coffins and the photographs of the Greek commandos who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

The image of an elderly man waving a Greek flag is reflected in a window, of a vehicle carrying the coffins of the Greek commandos who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A Cypriot police officer, in the background salutes by the coffins of Greek soldiers who were killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A Cypriot military officer, touches a photo of a Greek soldier by his coffin, who was killed in a transport aircraft during the Turkish invasion on 1974, during a handover remains ceremony at the wartime memorial on Nicosia's outskirts in divided island of Cyprus, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. The remains of 16 Greek commandos founded inside the Noratlas' aircraft during an excavation and after identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. Greek military transport aircraft that was brought down by friendly fire in the opening days of Turkey's invasion of the island 42 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
Researchers find abundant life in Hawaii's twilight zone

HONOLULU (AP)  Coral reefs in Hawaii's oceanic twilight zone, where light still penetrates and photosynthesis occurs, are abundant and host a wide variety of life, a new study shows.

A paper published Tuesday in the journal PeerJ revealed that some of these ecosystems off the Hawaiian archipelago, particularly an area off Maui, are the most extensive deep-water reefs ever recorded.

The ecosystems, found in waters from 100 to 500 feet deep, host more than twice the amount of unique Hawaiian fish species as their shallow-water counterparts, and they are much more extensive than previously known.

In this 2009 photo provided by NOAA and the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, fish swim in a mesophotic coral ecosystem about 230 feet deep in the in Au'au Channel off Maui, Hawaii. Coral reefs in Hawaiis oceanic twilight zone, the deep area of ocean where light still penetrates and photosynthesis occurs, are abundant and home to a wide variety of regionally unique fish species. A paper published Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 said that some of the reefs off the archipelago are the most extensive deep-water reef ecosystem ever recorded. (NOAA and Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory via AP)

"What is unique about this study is how vast and dense the coral cover is," Richard Pyle, a Bishop Museum researcher and lead author of the publication, told The Associated Press.

Researchers surveyed much of the twilight zone, technically known as the mesophotic coral ecosystem, around the state and found a few hotspots that were particularly productive.

In a channel off the island of Maui, the team said they found the largest uninterrupted coral ecosystem ever recorded, measuring more than three square miles with some areas showing 100 percent coral cover.

Previously, similar reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and off Okinawa, Japan, had been observed, but in much smaller colonies and at shallower depths.

"Although there was a bit of a hint that corals could survive ... down at those depths, these reefs off Maui were far and away much more dramatic both because they were deeper and they had higher coral cover percentage," Pyle said. They covered a "vastly larger" area.

The Maui corals were in an area that combines clear water, plentiful food and shelter from major swells.

While some coral lives in much deeper water, this discovery represents the deepest reef-building species that rely on sun-fueled algae to survive.

The difficulty of exploring depths beyond 100 feet means a large amount of knowledge about coral reefs is derived from those in more shallow water, said Randall Kosaki, deputy superintendent for the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"So the purpose of this study really was to characterize the other 80 percent of their depth range, and see what's down there," he said.

The team also discovered an unusually high number of endemic fish species living in some areas, particularly in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. There, the team found that nearly 100 percent of the fish species were unique to the region  the highest level of endemism ever recorded in any marine ecosystem on Earth.

It is "absolutely off the scale globally," Kosaki said. "They are very significant contributions to global biodiversity."

The team did not document any coral bleaching at those depths, but heat from spiking surface temperatures can penetrate deep into the ocean and cause harm to the fragile habitats.

"There is a time sensitivity to this exploration because due to climate change and other factors we're at risk of losing species before we even know they exist," Kosaki said.

The study was conducted over the past 20 years by 16 scientists from NOAA, the University of Hawaii, the Bishop Museum and state agencies.

The researchers contend that the largely unexplored ecosystem requires further understanding and protection.

One theory that they are exploring is something called the "deep reef refuge" hypothesis.

"If shallow coral reefs are more vulnerable to threats from say runoff or overfishing or whatever, then down deep these reefs could potentially serve as refuges for those species," Pyle said.

But that assumes that the shallow reefs are more vulnerable, and it would only apply to the species that could survive in at both depths, he added.

"We're not really sure we can jump to that assumption," Pyle said.

Something that affects the shallow reefs a little bit, such as runoff and murky water, could "potentially extinguish" reefs that survive at the edge of photosynthesis.

"They are incredibly unique, with the higher rates of endemism, they are incredibly rich," Pyle said. "We should value them every bit as much as we value the shallow reefs."

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Find more stories by AP's Caleb Jones at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/caleb-jones Follow Jones on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalebAP
Minnesota nurses, Allina Health ready to negotiate again

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The union that represents thousands of nurses who are on strike in Minnesota said Tuesday it is ready to return to the bargaining table after rejecting Allina Health's latest contract offer.

Minnesota Nurses Association spokesman Rick Fuentes said no date has been set to resume negotiations, but that he anticipates it will be soon.

"It's our turn to present. It will move forward toward an agreement," Fuentes told The Associated Press.

Nurses at five Allina hospitals in the Twin Cities metro have been on strike since Labor Day, hoping to persuade the company to maintain their health benefits and address safety concerns. They turned down the company's latest offer Monday.

Allina Health said the proposal would have allowed the 4,800 nurses represented by the union to keep their current health insurance benefits for the duration of the three-year contract. But thereafter the company would achieve its main goal of phasing out the four union-backed insurance plans, which Allina says are too costly to maintain, by the end of 2019.

"This proposal was eminently fair and went very far in addressing the issues the union raised during negotiations," Allina spokesman David Kanihan said in a statement. "We are disappointed that our nurses will remain on strike instead of returning to the bedside to care for patients."

He said Allina was ready to return to negotiations as soon as possible.

Nurses returned to the picket lines Tuesday, the 30th day of the strike. The longest nurses' strike in Minnesota, in 1984, lasted 38 days.

The hospitals affected by the strike are Abbott Northwestern and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United in St. Paul, Mercy in Coon Rapids and Unity in Fridley.

Allina says it has kept the hospitals running close to normally by hiring more than 1,000 temporary nurses from across the country. The company also says more than 500 nurses have crossed the picket lines and continued to work.
Fleeing man wanted in Virginia K-9 shooting captured

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. (AP)  Authorities have captured a man wanted in the shooting of Dux, a K-9 that chased him the night before in Virginia.

The Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday that 34-year-old Joseph Conway was taken into custody in Richmond Monday night. The sheriff's statement says Conway was a passenger in a vehicle whose driver was taken into custody Sunday night, and tried to flee the scene.

Officials say Conway fired at deputies and struck Dux as he ran away. Deputies fired back, then took the dog to a veterinary hospital in serious condition. Officials obtained warrants charging Conway with attempted capital murder of law enforcement and a weapons offense.

An undated photo provided by the Spotsylvania County, Va., Sheriff's Office shows K-9 Dax. Authorities are looking for a man they say shot Dax after he chased after the man in Virginia. The Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office says in a news release that 34-year-old Joseph Conway shot the dog Sunday night, Oct. 2, 2016, while attempting to flee from deputies. The K-9 was taken to a veterinary hospital where it was listed in serious condition. (Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Levitating Hyperloop pods that hurtle through underwater tunnels at 1,220 kph (760 mph) could some day arrive in Dubai.

The city recently hosted a competition for designs related to the high-speed system first proposed by Tesla co-founder Elon Musk in 2013.

While the idea is still being tested, Dubai has already partnered with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to examine possible lines.

Levitating Hyperloop pods that hurtle through underwater tunnels at 1,220 kph (760 mph) could some day arrive in Dubai. Pictured is an artist's impression

WHAT IS THE HYPERLOOP? Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at 740mph (1,200km/h) between distant locations. It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. Passengers would sit in either individual or group pods, which would then be accelerated with magnets. Capsules carrying six to eight people would depart every 30 seconds, with tickets costing around $20 (13) each way. The cost of building a line from LA to San Francisco has been estimated at $16 billion (10 billion) - although critics say it would be nearer $100 billion (65 billion). Advertisement

Musk has encouraged third-party firms to develop the technology.

These firms include Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT).

If the plans go ahead, and the technology proves successful, people could travel the 67 miles from Dubai to Fujairah in 10 minutes.

This currently takes just over 2 and a half hours to drive.

If it spreads to the rest of the country, they could can travel the 190 miles from Abu Dhabi to Doha in 22 minutes.

Currently driving that distance takes just over six hours.

Saif al-Aleeli, the CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, said: 'Imagine that you can live in Riyadh, work in Dubai, have your dinner in Abu Dhabi and watch a movie in Qatar.

'Dubai is trying, as a mission, to prove that concept.'

The heart of this effort can be seen around the Emirate Towers, where construction has begun on the Museum of the Future.

Just around the corner is the Dubai Future Foundation, the government initiative that helped sponsor the Hyperloop competition with the city-state's Roads and Transportation Authority.

Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited the foundation this week.

Dubai recently hosted a two-day competition for designs related to a high-speed system known as a hyperloop, in which levitating pods powered by electricity and magnetism would hurtle through low-friction pipes at a top speed of 1,220 kph (760 mph)

If the plans go ahead, and the technology proves successful, people could travel the 67 miles from Dubai to Fujairah in 10 minutes. This currently takes just over 2 and a half hours to drive

A message on Sheikh Mohammed's official Twitter account read: 'Our goal is to anticipate challenges and explore future investment opportunities.

'We all need to think afresh as we develop for the future.'

It's unclear how much a regional Hyperloop network would cost, or who would pay for it.

Dubai is already home to the world's tallest building and the longest driverless metro line.

A Hyperloop network could cement its status as a global transit hub for decades to come.

Government-backed port operator DP World has held talks with Hyperloop One about cutting transport times for its cargo, said Chris Vasquez, the director of product development for the Hyperloop company.

Such a system could be in place in Dubai as early as 2020, he said.

'This is a place where big things happen,' Mr Vasquez said.

At a presentation this week, Hyperloop One suggested such a network could include an undersea tunnel connecting Abu Dhabi to Doha, Qatar, with a trip time of just under 22 minutes

Under their plans, the Hyperloop trip of some 145 kilometres (90 miles) over a mountain range would be 10 minutes or less, compared to the current hour and 20 minutes by road

HYPERLOOP IN EUROPE Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) met with Slovakian government officials earlier this year to finalise and sign an agreement. They are looking to build a local Hyperloop system, with the vision of creating future routes connecting Bratislava with Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary. They wants the first stage to be complete by 2020. But the company has not secured funding yet, and the project is expected to cost $200-300 million (141  211 million). Meanwhile Hyperloop One is working with FS-Links AB on a Hyperloop system that will operate between Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Advertisement

'They don't get bogged down by regulations, not that those things aren't important and don't deserve due diligence, but we've all seen projects stalled by over-crippling regulatory environments where it just stalls for years and years and years.'

At the ceremony this week, selected groups involved in the 48-hour Hyperloop project presented ideas for a possible track between Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, Dubai International Airport and Fujairah International Airport.

Under their plans, the Hyperloop trip of some 145 kilometres (90 miles) over a mountain range would be 10 minutes or less, compared to the current hour and 20 minutes by road.

Focusing less on the science, those involved offered visions of Hyperloop stations and seating inside bullet-shaped transit cars.

A team from Paris-based transit company Systra won the competition, walking away with a certificate and a crystal trophy resembling Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

But among the contest's competitors were few Emiratis.

Asked about the low participation, Mr al-Aleeli said Emirati university students on hand for the event would help lead the UAE in future innovations.

'We are paving the road to build the right future for them,' he said.
The Latest: Police video shows Georgia dad crying, "My boy!"

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  The Latest on the trial of a Georgia man charged with murder for his toddler son's death in a hot SUV (all times local):

3:30 p.m.

Police video shows a Georgia man crying, "What have I done? My boy!" after his toddler son was found dead in the back of a hot SUV.

Justin Ross Harris listens to jury selection during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

But the 90-minute video from an officer's patrol car watched by a jury Tuesday also shows Justin Ross Harris staying completely silent for long stretches.

Harris is being tried on murder charges in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. The video shows how he reacted after police arrived on the scene.

Harris tells an officer: "I was supposed to drop him off this morning and I didn't do it. I swear I dropped him off."

Prosecutors say Harris, who moved to Georgia from Alabama in 2012, intentionally killed his child. Defense attorneys say it was an accident.

___

12:30 p.m.

A police officer testified that a Georgia man accused of intentionally leaving his toddler son in a hot SUV to die was initially combative with officers.

Cobb County police Det. Jacquelyn Piper was called as the first prosecution witness Tuesday in the trial of Justin Ross Harris.

Harris' 22-month-old son, Cooper, died in June 2014 after being left for seven hours in Harris' vehicle.

Piper testified that Harris was on the phone when she arrived at the scene and initially refused to get off, using an expletive when telling another officer to shut up.

Piper said Harris also insisted he had to call his wife because she was going to go to Cooper's daycare and he wouldn't be there and later made casual conversation while she was taking him to police headquarters.

___

11 a.m.

A defense attorney says a Georgia man is responsible for the death of his toddler son in a hot SUV, but the father did not commit a crime.

Justin Ross Harris cried in the courtroom Tuesday as his lawyer delivered an opening statement jurors at his murder trial. His 22-month-old son, Cooper, died in June 2014 after being left for seven hours in Harris' vehicle. Prosecutors say Harris, who moved to Georgia from Alabama in 2012, plotted to kill his son.

Defense attorney Maddox Kilgore said there's "no doubt" the death is Harris' fault, but it was an accident. He also said Harris was involved in "sexually immoral behavior," but that's no motive for Harris "to murder the person he loved more than anybody in the world."

___

3 a.m.

Prosecutors say a Georgia man left his toddler son to die in a hot SUV so he could "escape" to another life filled with sexual obsession. Now a jury will soon hear from the father's defense lawyers.

Attorneys for Justin Ross Harris were scheduled to deliver opening statements at his murder trial Tuesday morning. Jurors already heard Monday afternoon from prosecutors, who said Harris saw his child and wife as obstacles to fulfilling his sexual desires.

Prosecutor Chuck Boring said Harris sent about 30 phone messages  mostly to women and mostly about sex  on the day his 22-month-old son, Cooper, perished in June 2014.

Harris, who moved to Georgia from Alabama in 2012, is charged with malice murder. Defense attorneys have said the death was a tragic accident.

Justin Ross Harris listens to Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring's opening remarks during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring speaks to the jury during his opening remarks of the Justin Ross Harris trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring points out the defendant in a surveillance video taken from the parking lot of Harris' work, during his opening remarks in the Justin Ross Harris trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark holds a booking mug shot of Justin Ross Harris during a pretrial motion during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris is charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris, left, listens to jury selection during his murder trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring speaks to the jury during his opening remarks in the Justin Ross Harris murder trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris, left, and his attorney H. Maddox Kilgore, center, discuss the cross examination of Cobb County Detective Ralph Escamillo during his Harris' trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Cobb County Detective Ralph Escamillo testifies during the trial of Justin Ross Harris at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris listens to jury selection during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris walks into the courtroom during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris, left, listens to opening statements during his trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Justin Ross Harris listens to jury selection during his murder trial at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Harris charged with murder after his toddler son died two years ago while left in the back of a hot SUV. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Hungary may amend constitution to block migrant resettlement

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  Hungary's prime minister announced Tuesday he will propose amendments to the constitution banning the mass settlement of migrants without parliament's approval.

Viktor Orban said that the amendment would reflect the will of 3.3 million voters who, in a weekend referendum, supported the government's opposition to any future attempts by the European Union to relocate asylum seekers. The referendum, nonetheless, was invalidated by low turnout.

"There are 3.3 million people in Hungary who decided that they won't allow anyone else to decide on ... the matter of settlement and migrants," Orban told reporters in parliament. "This cannot remain without consequences in politics, if there is still democracy in Hungary."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a press conference concerning the referendum held in Hungary last Sunday on the European Commission's proposed mandatory resettlement of migrants in member states of EU following an extraordinary session of the faction of the Fidesz party in the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)

Orban said the composition of a country's population was part of its "constitutional identity," which Brussels had no right to change.

It was uncertain whether any opposition lawmakers would help pass the amendment, which needs a two-thirds majority.

The far-right Jobbik party said it would support any amendment similar to ones it proposed earlier this year. However, Fidesz parliamentary faction leader Lajos Kosa said the Jobbik proposals on blocking the settlement of migrants were retroactive and would lead Hungary out of the EU. Jobbik president Gabor Vona rejected Kosa's assertions.

The Socialists, the largest opposition group in parliament, said it was "not legitimate" to amend the constitution based on an invalid referendum and without approval from a majority of voters.

"Most voters, 5 million people, decided not to take part in the meaningless, expensive and lying drama," the Socialist Party said in a statement.

Hungary is also challenging the EU at the European Court of Justice on a 2015 decision to relocate 1,294 asylum-seekers to Hungary from the 160,000 the EU agreed to move from Greece and Italy.

Orban said that the constitutional amendment, which could be approved by mid-November, would not apply retroactively to the court case.

Orban has said his "zero migrants" policy is meant to safeguard Europe's Christian identity and culture from the mostly Muslim migrants and refugees.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a press conference concerning the referendum held in Hungary last Sunday on the European Commission's proposed mandatory resettlement of migrants in member states of EU following an extraordinary session of the faction of the Fidesz party in the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)
Alabama chief justice begins appeal of ethics conviction

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama's permanently suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore has begun to challenge his ethics conviction, arguing that the state Court of the Judiciary, a body formed to discipline Alabama's judges, was never empowered to rule on a key part of his case.

Moore's attorneys filed a notice of appeal Monday with the Alabama Supreme Court. His full legal arguments will come later.

The court removed Moore from the bench Friday for the remainder of his six-year term after finding that he overstepped his authority when he told judges last year that Alabama's same-sex marriage ban remained in effect, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

Moore's filing Monday said the issues he'll be challenging include whether the court has the power to review administrative orders like his, whether the Judicial Inquiry Commission presented convincing evidence and violated confidentiality rules, whether he should have been automatically suspended when charged, and whether the court can effectively remove him without a unanimous vote.

Moore's eight former colleagues on the all-Republican Supreme Court will consider his prosecution and conviction. Meanwhile, he remains suspended without pay and will not participate in the appeal.
The Latest: Visitors wear superhero gear to remember boy

TOWNVILLE, S.C. (AP)  The Latest on a school shooting in South Carolina (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

People are gathering to remember a 6-year-old boy fatally shot when a teenager opened fire at a South Carolina elementary school.

Local media outlets show people wearing superhero costumes and shirts at Jacob Hall's visitation Tuesday evening.

Jacob, a classmate and a teacher were shot last Wednesday as they left for recess. Authorities say the suspect, a 14-year-old boy, had shot his father to death before driving to Townville Elementary. The other student and teacher were treated and released from a hospital that day.

Jacob's family has encouraged supporters to attend his visitation and funeral Wednesday in costume to celebrate his life. Jacob is dressed as Batman, a favorite of his.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stickers decorate his blue casket, and "God's Super Hero" is written inside.

___

11:45 a.m.

Authorities say a third student's injury in a South Carolina school shooting did not need medical attention.

The Anderson County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday the child's minor injuries were discovered during the police investigation. Lt. Sheila Cole says the child was on the playground at Townville Elementary last Wednesday when a 14-year-old boy opened fire. But authorities have given no other details about the student or type of injury.

As a result of the third student's injuries, Solicitor Chrissy Adams added another attempted-murder charge against the 14-year-old. Her news release Monday evening marked the first time authorities had mentioned a third child victim.

The teen now faces two murder charges for last Wednesday's shooting: He is accused of fatally shooting his father at their home before driving to the school. Adams upgraded an attempted-murder charge after 6-year-old Jacob Hall died Saturday.

Jacob's funeral is Wednesday morning at Oakdale Baptist Church in Townville. The church is expecting an overflow crowd.

A first-grade teacher shot in the shoulder and another student shot in the foot were treated and released the day of the shooting. The teen faces two attempted-murder charges for those shootings.

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7:30 a.m.

Family and friends are gathering to remember a 6-year-old boy who died after being shot at a South Carolina elementary school.

The visitation for Jacob Hall is set for 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Oakdale Baptist Church in Townville. The funeral is set Wednesday morning at the church.

Prosecutor Chrissy Adams said Monday that because of Jacob's death, an attempted murder charge has been upgraded to murder. Adams said a 14-year-old boy also faces five weapons possession counts and an attempted murder charge for a third child who was injured in the shooting last week. That child's name has not been released.
Trump's down-ballot impact? Dems, GOP disagree

WASHINGTON (AP)  From Minnesota to the San Diego suburbs, Democrats are throwing millions of dollars into TV ads tethering House Republican candidates to Donald Trump. They say the strategy is buoying their quest for big gains in the chamber in this November's elections.

Republicans discount the impact their presidential nominee will have on House races, saying voters distinguish between Trump's unconventional candidacy and local, familiar congressional hopefuls. And they're firing back with ads tying Democratic House candidates to Hillary Clinton in Maine, Michigan and elsewhere.

There's no doubt that Trump's incendiary criticisms of women, Hispanics and others have raised Democrats' prospects for gains, especially in suburban districts and those with well-educated or minority voters. Their hopes rose further following Trump's lamentable week in which he performed poorly in a debate against Clinton, repeatedly mocked former Miss Universe Alicia Machado for gaining weight and dealt with the fallout from The New York Times report that he declared enough business losses in 1995 to potentially avoid paying federal taxes for 18 years.

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, in Loveland, Colo. Trump tax documents were published without his permission in The New York Times, but that doesnt necessarily make for a clear-cut criminal case against the newspaper or its source. Legal experts say the newspaper itself should be on solid First Amendment grounds if it used newsworthy, accurate information and did nothing illegal to get it. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

The big question is whether Trump can give Democrats enough ammunition for an unlikely gain of 30 House seats, enough for majority control. They say Trump helps them across the nation, but concede that his usefulness to their congressional candidates has limits.

"Donald Trump is defining this election," said Kelly Ward, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats' political arm. But she said choosing a campaign strategy varies by district, and it "may or may not include Donald Trump."

From this election cycle's start in January 2015 through last Wednesday, Democrats and their allies spent nearly $7 million on almost 10,000 broadcast TV spots using Trump in 22 House districts, according to Kantar Media's political ad tracker.

Republicans and their supporters spent more than $4.5 million mentioning Clinton in ads that ran almost 10,500 times, also in 22 districts, Kantar Media figures show. The figures include primaries.

Among Democrats, the DCCC alone aired nearly 4,000 spots costing around $2.3 million  more money and spots tying House Republicans to Trump than any other Democratic group, ally or candidate. It has run ads featuring Trump in districts including the Philadelphia and Las Vegas suburbs, western Texas and around San Diego, where the party is seeking to oust veteran GOP Rep. Darrell Issa.

One Minnesota spot this week shows two DVDs on a store shelf, one featuring Trump and the other Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., as an actor says, "No one buys these anymore."

The House Majority PAC, which helps House Democrats, has spent nearly $400,000 on 1,300 ads for House races that mention Trump, including along California's central coast and near Tampa, Florida.

But like the DCCC, the Majority PAC is tailoring ads to issues they consider most effective. It released new spots Tuesday in Florida, Michigan, Maine, Minnesota and Nebraska that didn't feature Trump but focused instead on Social Security and attacks on GOP candidates' backgrounds and past statements.

"You can't just say, 'Well, Donald Trump is on the ballot, we're going to win everything and all we have to do is scream about Donald Trump,'" said Alixandria Lapp, executive director of the House Majority PAC.

Historically, the victor of a presidential election in which no incumbent is running has finite coattails. In the six races since World War II in which no sitting president sought re-election, the party winning the White House also gained House seats just three times, and never more than 22 seats.

Republicans say Democrats are overrating the damage Trump could do to GOP House candidates.

GOP pollster Jon McHenry says Trump has "cultivated his own brand" that voters don't automatically link to congressional GOP candidates, especially incumbents who can highlight work on local problems.

They also note that thanks to redistricting and Democrats' concentrations in cities and coastlines, only a few dozen of the chamber's 435 seats are competitive, Trump or not. Republicans have a 247-188 majority, including vacancies in one GOP and two Democratic seats.

"I hope they keep this strategy going. I hope they keep wasting their money," said Mike Shields, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, which backs House Republicans.

Republicans say Trump's limited down-ballot damage is illustrated by GOP candidates who remain competitive in Republican districts that President Barack Obama carried twice in South Florida, the Chicago suburbs and around Denver.

Taking no chances, Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., ran a spot saying of Trump, "Honestly, I don't care for him much, and I certainly don't trust Hillary."

Republicans also cite the Democratic effort to defeat Paulsen, who remains strong in his Minnesota district in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul suburbs. Democrats have spent around $1.1 million on ads linking Trump to the four-term congressman, more than in any other House race, according to Kantar Media.

While the DCCC says Paulsen remains vulnerable, the House Majority PAC recently canceled around $600,000 worth of ad time it had reserved there.

Playing offense, House Republican candidates and their allies have run spots featuring Clinton in states including Maine, Michigan and Arizona. Democrats say that will have little impact because Clinton is doing well in most suburban districts they hope to capture.

"She sides with Hillary, not us," says an ad by the National Republican Congressional Committee aimed at Democrat Emily Cain, who is challenging GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine.
Deputies appeal order for trial in disabled man's death

BALTIMORE (AP)  Three Maryland sheriff's deputies are appealing a federal judge's order for them to stand trial for the asphyxiation death of a man with Down syndrome.

The appeal was assigned a case number Monday in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

Frederick County deputies Richard Rochford, Scott Jewell and James Harris are appealing last month's U.S. District Court ruling denying their motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the parents of Robert Ethan Saylor.

The 26-year-old New Market man died in 2013 as the deputies, moonlighting as mall security guards, struggled to remove him from a movie theater because he hadn't purchased a ticket for a second viewing of a film.
Attack on bus carrying Shiites in Pakistan kills 4 women

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)  Pakistani police say gunmen have killed four women in an attack on a bus carrying members of the country's Shiite minority in the southwestern city of Quetta.

Police spokesman Shahzada Farhat says another woman and a man were wounded in Tuesday's attack. Farhat says the attackers fled the scene on motorcycles and that police have launched a search operation.

No one claimed the attack, but the Lashker-e-Jhangvi group has claimed similar attacks on Shiites in the past. Sunni Muslim extremists view Shiites as apostates deserving of death.

A Pakistani police commando stands guard outside a tent during Shiite Muslims' congregation during the mourning month Muharrum in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities are taking extra precautionary measures to avert any terrorist attempt during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, which is observed around the world for ten days of mourning in remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistani authorities had heightened security across the country to protect Shiites during the month of Muharram, when they mourn the 7th century martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Tax returns could halt talks for Missouri governor debates

ST. LOUIS (AP)  Missouri Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Koster is calling off debate negotiations with Eric Greitens unless the Republican nominee releases his tax returns for the years 2012 through 2015.

Koster's campaign sent a letter to Greitens' campaign manager, Austin Chambers, noting that Koster released his own returns Thursday. The letter says Greitens has promised to release his returns once Koster did so, but so far has not.

Koster, Missouri's two-term attorney general, and Greitens, a first-time politician and former Navy SEAL officer, have debated just once, appearing Friday with three lesser known candidates at a forum in Branson.

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2016 file photo, Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens speaks in Jefferson City, Mo. Gubernatorial candidates in some states including Missouri have been staking strategic positions contrary to their party's national norms and presidential nominees. A former Navy SEAL officer, Greitens faces Democratic nominee, Attorney General Chris Koster in the general election. (Julie Smith/The Jefferson City News-Tribune via AP, File)

The letter calls on Greitens to release his personal returns and those for Eric Greitens LLC by Thursday. It says the release of taxes is an "absolute condition" for continued discussion of a debate on Oct. 14. KTVI-TV would host that debate in St. Louis.

"Only with such candid disclosure is it possible for Mr. Greitens to provide the voters an equivalent assurance, as has Attorney General Koster, that no conflict or inconsistency exists between Mr. Greitens' actual financial history, his campaign's rhetoric, and his suitability to act as Governor," said the letter from Andrew P. Whalen, Koster's campaign manager.

The Greitens campaign responded by accusing Koster of political gamesmanship, saying in a letter it "will not meet the arbitrary and political demands of crooked Chris Koster."

"Letters like the one sent by your campaign scream that Koster is terrified of debating Eric," Chambers wrote. "Koster knows that Missourians deeply disagree with his liberal positions and are tired of his record of epic failure."

Koster's returns showed that he earned $113,000 in 2015, mostly his salary as attorney general.

Records have shown that Greitens earned $175,000 annually as head of the charity he formed to help veterans, The Mission Continues, before stepping down as CEO in 2014. It is not known how much he has earned from other income such as speaking engagement and book royalties.

Tax returns have also been an issue in the presidential campaign, with Republican nominee Donald Trump declining to make his public, citing an ongoing audit. The New York Times recently obtained his 1995 income tax returns, which showed the businessman reported losses of more than $900 million.
Ansel Adams large format camera going to auction

NEW YORK (AP)  A large-format camera used by 20th-century photographer Ansel Adams to record some of the nation's most enduring images is going on the auction block in New York this month.

Heritage Auctions is offering the Arca-Swiss 4 by 5 view camera on Oct. 27. It says the camera and Adams' three lenses, a tripod, a case and other accessories could fetch more than $70,000.

The items are being sold by heirs of Adams' assistant Lillian DeCock.

This undated photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows Ansel Adams' Arca-Swiss 4 by 5 view camera he used between 1964 to 1968. The large-format camera Adams used to record some of the nations most enduring images is being offered on Oct. 27, 2016, at New Yorks Waldorf Astoria Hotel. (Heritage Auctions via AP)

Adams used the camera between 1964 and 1968. He then gave the camera and accessories to her.

Among images he captured with the camera is a work called "Arches, North Court, Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, Arizona, 1968."

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The Latest: Ayotte says neither Clinton, Trump a role model

HENNIKER, N.H. (AP)  The Latest on fallout from comments by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump would be a role model for children (all times local):

11:30 a.m.

GOP U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire says she doesn't believe Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton is a role model for children.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, left, listens as Democratic challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan speaks during a live televised debate by New England Cable News at New England College Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Henniker, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Ayotte said during a Monday night debate that she would "absolutely" tell a child to aspire to be like Trump. She walked back the comments later Monday night and again Tuesday morning before taking a turn working at a McDonald's in Hudson.

She said outside McDonald's: "Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example, and I would not hold out either of them out as a role model for my children."

She says she has confidence New Hampshire residents will support the person who can best represent them in the Senate.

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan (HAS'-uhn) is challenging Ayotte for her seat.

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10 a.m.

The campaign of U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte's challenger has moved quickly to take advantage of comments by Ayotte that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is a role model for children.

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan's (HAS'-uhnz) campaign on Tuesday released a digital ad highlighting Trump's recent criticism of a former Miss Universe who gained weight, his mocking imitation of Clinton's health-related stumble after a Sept. 11 memorial and other distasteful remarks on women and the disabled.

Ayotte said during Monday night's debate with Hassan that she would "absolutely" tell a child to aspire to be like Trump. But her campaign issued a statement shortly afterward in which Ayotte reversed herself and said she "misspoke."

Ayotte had previously said she would vote for Trump but not endorse him.

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Midnight

A New Hampshire Republican senator says she would tell a child to aspire to be like GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte made the comments Monday night during her debate with challenger, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan.

In their second debate, Trump loomed large following revelations over the weekend reported by The New York Times that he may not have paid income taxes after a more than $900 million loss in 1995. Trump has refused to release his tax returns.
Woman who opted for RV trip over cancer treatment dies at 91

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. (AP)  A Michigan woman who decided to take a cross-country RV trip instead of undergoing cancer treatment has died at the age of 91.

More than 400,000 people have followed Norma Jean Bauerschmidt's journey with her son and daughter-in-law on her "Driving Miss Norma" Facebook page. Her final stop was San Juan Island, Washington, located in the northwest corner of the United States.

San Juan County Coroner Randall Gaylord says Bauerschmidt died Friday morning.

FILE - In this June 13, 2016, file photo, Norma Bauerschmidt holds up one of her favorite smiley-face cookies inside the family's recreational vehicle at the Bear Run Campground in Portersville, Pa. Bauerschmidt, who decided to take a cross-country RV trip instead of undergoing cancer treatment has died at the age of 91. More than 400,000 people have followed Norma Jean Bauerschmidt's journey with her son and daughter-in-law on her "Driving Miss Norma" Facebook page. Her final stop was San Juan Island, Wash. San Juan County Coroner Randall Gaylord said Bauerschmidt died Friday, Sept. 30. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP, File)

Bauerschmidt's daughter-in-law writes on the page that she decided to take the trip last year after being told that surgery, radiation and chemotherapy was the likely treatment for tumor.

She began hospice care after arriving in the San Juan Island town of Friday Harbor in August.
UN chief condemns Israeli settlement activity

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israeli plans to build a new settlement and establish an industrial zone in the West Bank.

Spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday that Ban was particularly concerned that "the establishment of a new settlement near Shiloh will make the prospect of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state more remote."

Settlement monitoring group Peace Now said Saturday that the Israeli government approved plans to build 98 housing units as well as the creation of a new industrial zone west of Ramallah.

"The Secretary-General urges Israel to halt and reverse such counterproductive decisions in the interests of peace and a just final status agreement," Haq said.
Russia sends more air defense missiles to Syria

MOSCOW (AP)  The Russian military said Tuesday it had beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles, an announcement that follows Washington's move to suspend contacts with Russia over Syria.

The deployment immediately raised questions in the Pentagon, which wondered about its purpose.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems had been sent to Syria to protect a Russian facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships off the Mediterranean coast. Tartus is the only naval supply facility Russia has outside the former Soviet Union.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 file photo, Russian air defense system missile system Antey 2500, or S-300 VM, is on display at the opening of the MAKS Air Show in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, Russia. The Russian military said Tuesday it had deployed the S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria to protect a Russian navy facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships in the area. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, file)

The deployment adds more punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which already includes long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

Russia has conducted an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad since Sept. 30 2015, saving his army from imminent defeat and helping it win key ground.

The S-300 deployment was announced a day after the U.S. announced it was suspending direct diplomatic contacts with Russia on ending the war in Syria. Washington's decision followed the collapse of the Russia-U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Syria and the Syrian army's onslaught on Aleppo backed by Russian warplanes.

While Washington put diplomatic contacts on hold, it has maintained a military-to-military dialogue intended to prevent incidents in the air between Russian and the U.S-led coalition aircraft over Syria.

Amid the rising U.S.-Russian tensions, the new Russian missile deployment seems intended to send a warning signal to the U.S.

Russia reacted nervously last month when aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition struck Syrian army troops near Deir el-Zour. Damascus said 60 Syrian soldiers died in the air raid. Washington said the strike was launched by mistake, but Moscow has questioned the U.S. explanation.

The S-300, a sophisticated long-range system capable of striking enemy aircraft and cruise missiles up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, could cover other areas in Syria along with Tartus.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook noted that Russia's declared goal in Syria is to fight extremism, but that the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida branch there don't have planes that could be targeted by such a system.

"I would question just what the purpose of the system is," Cook said.

Asked if the system posed a threat to U.S. aircraft or crews, Cook said, "It depends on how the Russians plan to use it."

He said the United States would continue to ensure the safety of its forces, which have the right to act in self-defense.

Konashenkov sought to down play the deployment, saying "the S-300 is exclusively a defensive system that doesn't threaten anyone."

"It's not quite clear why the deployment of the S-300 in Syria has so worried our Western colleagues," he said.

In a sharp attack on Washington, Konashenkov also charged that the U.S.-led action against the Islamic State group was merely an "imitation" that has failed to prevent the IS expansion.

Like other Russian officials, he blamed Washington for the collapse of the U.S.-Russian truce in Syria. He attributed the cease-fire's downfall to the U.S.'s failure to force moderate rebels to break ties with the al-Qaida branch in Syria, which has recently changed its name from Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

"It's time for our American partners to publicly recognize that practically all Syrian 'opposition' nurtured and controlled by them is an inalienable part of the al-Qaida," Konashenkov said.

___

Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.
New charge for woman who allegedly threw twins out window

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Police have upgraded charges against a Rhode Island mother who allegedly threw her 2-year-old twin boys out a first-floor window.

The Providence Journal (http://bit.ly/2cQcyJG ) reports that 37-year-old Benita Barbour is now charged with child neglect.

The Providence woman was originally charged with disorderly conduct after a neighbor reported on Sept. 20 that she witnessed Barbour toss the boys out of a window onto the front porch.

The boys were in pajamas and crying outside when police arrived. Police say Barbour appeared drunk and was belligerent. Her boyfriend was reportedly also at the scene but had left by the time police arrived. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Barbour remains jailed. It's unclear if she has a lawyer. The boys remain in state custody.

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Accused in killing UK lawmaker Jo Cox refuses to enter plea

LONDON (AP)  The man charged with murdering British lawmaker Jo Cox has refused to speak when asked to enter pleas in court.

Thomas Mair is accused of murdering 41-year-old Cox and assaulting an elderly man who was seriously injured. He also faces weapons charges.

He appeared at London's Central Criminal Court on Tuesday by video-link from prison, and stayed silent when asked how he intended to plead. Judge Alan Wilkie ordered that not-guilty pleas be entered on Mair's behalf to all charges.

Mair is due to stand trial Nov. 14.

At his first hearing, 53-year-old Mair gave his name as "death to traitors, freedom for Britain."
Ayotte says she 'misspoke' when she said Trump is role model

CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte said Tuesday she "misspoke" when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children, a tortured response that Democrats moved quickly to exploit in the competitive Senate race.

The Republican presidential nominee's past week of fat-shaming a beauty pageant winner and mocking imitation of an ailing Hillary Clinton combined with his past criticism of Hispanics, women and the disabled has put vulnerable GOP senators on the spot.

Ayotte, who is locked in a tight race with two-term Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, told a debate audience Monday evening that she "absolutely" would tell a child to aspire to be like the New York real estate mogul. A short time later, her campaign issued a statement in which Ayotte reversed herself and said she misspoke.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, left, listens as Democratic challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan speaks during a live televised debate by New England Cable News at New England College Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Henniker, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

The freshman senator reiterated that point on Tuesday before taking a turn behind the counter at a McDonald's in Hudson, New Hampshire.

"I misspoke last night. While I hope that all children aspire to run for president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I would not hold out either of them out as a role model for my children," she told reporters.

Democrats seized on Ayotte's answer and pressed her to explain what about Trump children should emulate. Hassan has worked to tie Ayotte to Trump, who is trailing presidential candidate Clinton in the state. Ayotte, who has tried to distance herself from Trump, has said she wouldn't endorse him but would vote for him.

Another vulnerable Republican senator, Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey, said Tuesday that Trump is not a role model, nor is Clinton.

"Not for my kids and I don't think for most American kids, for a variety of reasons, but honestly, neither is Hillary Clinton, I mean, the serial dishonesty, the repeated lies to the American people, to the families of Benghazi victims, the list is endless, and the serious ethical challenges," the senator said after an event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. "Neither one of them is a role model, which is part of why this is such a frustrating presidential election for so many people."

Toomey has declined to endorse Trump despite being pressed repeatedly about his party's nominee. Questioned why Trump is not a role model, the senator issued a blistering attack on the candidate at the top of the Republican ticket.

"Let's just say the vulgarity and gratuitous insults of people. This is not exactly the way I encourage my kids to behave," he said.

Republicans are struggling to hold onto their Senate majority, with GOP incumbents in swing or Democratic-leaning states the most in jeopardy.

On Monday night, Ayotte seemed to be caught off guard when asked by one of the moderators whether she saw Trump as a role model for a child. At first, she sidestepped the question by saying she would tell a child to aspire to be the best person they can be and seek to run for the presidency. When she was asked again, she said she believed Trump "can serve for president" and "so absolutely I would do that."

Another moderator then pressed Ayotte to explain why she wouldn't endorse Trump if she felt that way.

"I've had some disagreements with him. I've been quite clear about those disagreements," she said without providing specifics.

Hassan pounced on Ayotte's answer, saying this was just another example of the senator "trying to distance herself from Donald Trump."

"At the end of the day, she is still saying she is going to vote to put Donald Trump in the Situation Room with access to our nuclear codes," Hassan said. "She is going to vote to make him the leader of our country and somebody that our children will be exposed to as the president of the United States."

The Hassan campaign also put out a digital ad that highlighted Trump's recent criticism of a former Miss Universe who gained weight, his mocking imitation of Clinton's health-related stumble after a Sept. 11 memorial and his other attacks on women and the disabled.

"Kelly Ayotte should explain to the people of New Hampshire exactly what about Donald Trump she thinks our children should emulate  the sexism, the ripping off of small businesses, insulting our nations' heroes, refusing to pay taxes, being a billion dollar loser in business?" said Democratic National Committee Committeewoman and former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan.

Sullivan also dismissed Ayotte's efforts to clarify her comments several hours later, saying she only did so after realizing what a "horrible mistake she had made" and one that "could cost her an election."

"You can't really walk something like that back," Sullivan said.

___

Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

Democratic challenger for U.S. Senate Gov. Maggie Hassan, left, listens to questions during a debate with Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, during a live televised debate by New England Cable News at New England College Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Henniker, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, left, listens to a question during a debate with Democratic challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan by New England Cable News at New England College Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Henniker, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Indiana State Police's voter fraud probe spans 9 counties

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana State Police are investigating possible voter registration fraud in nine counties, but the organization in question claims the probe is "partisan harassment."

The investigation started in August, when at least 10 voter registration forms were alleged to have fraudulent information in two counties encompassing the Indianapolis area. Police expanded the probe, saying Tuesday that a search warrant was served for the Indiana Voter Registration Project.

President Craig Varoga of Patriot Majority USA, which runs the registration project, says some forms were missing information but none were fraudulent.

He claims most of the registrations under scrutiny in Republican-heavy Indiana belong to Democratic-leaning voters. The group plans to file a U.S. Department of Justice complaint.

Both sides are expressing concerns about the impact on the Nov. 8 election.

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How a banged knee nearly killed 3-year-old Ashley in Caracas

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  "Papi, I fell!" said 3-year-old Ashley Pacheco, showing her father her scraped knee. Her parents cleaned the wound and thought nothing more of it.

Two weeks later, the little girl writhed screaming in a hospital bed, in a life-or-death crisis caused by Venezuela's shattered health care system.

It started with a fever. At the local clinic, doctors said Ashley would soon be on the mend, but her temperature kept rising.

In this Aug. 16, 2016 photo, 3-year-old Ashley Pacheco sucks on her thumb as she rests in a hospital bed during her two-month stay at University Hospital in Caracas, Venezuela. As the health care system collapses, the tiniest slips, like Ashleys tumble while chasing her brother in mid-July, turned into a life-or-death crisis when her scraped knee led to a staph infection. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

So Ashley and her parents, Maykol and Oriana Pacheco, went to three other hospitals. None had the medicine or room to take Ashley in.

The next morning, her temperature had spiked to 103 degrees. Desperate, her parents took her to a fourth hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with a staph, whisked her into emergency care and gave her the last of the hospital's supply of the antibiotic vancomycin.

As night fell, she grew worse. An X-ray at a private clinic confirmed doctors' fears: The bacteria had spread from her scraped knee to her right lung. It had collapsed.

Doctors warned her parents that without a chest drainage machine and more antibiotic, she would die.

Racing through darkened, dangerous streets, they managed to find both. But in addition to medicine, Ashley now needed emergency surgery on her infected knee. Only two of the hospital's 27 operating rooms were fully functional, and 150 children were waiting for a spot.

The hospital was filthy. Stray dogs wandered the building, and the staff had run out of bleach to clean the floors. "It's gross here," Ashley said, watching cockroaches scuttle across the walls. "Papi, kill them!"

As she fought off pain, Ashley was also often hungry and thirsty; families have to bring in their own drinking water. "Can't you find me water?" she begged.

She eventually was booked into surgery. But the next week, the fever was inexplicably worse again, 102 degrees. Without enough antibiotics, the infection had quietly spread to her heart. Soon, it could reach her brain.

Her father spent August crisscrossing Caracas in his quest to find the drug. In the meantime, six children died on the pediatric surgery ward due to the lack of proper antibiotics.

Finally, nearly a month after she was hospitalized, Ashley's fever subsided. Her heart was scarred, and she would likely eventually need a valve replaced.

Suddenly, there was more bad news: She had picked up a fungal infection in her lungs, and needed a medicine no longer possible to find in Venezuela amid worsening shortages.

In the end, help came from the next room over. A mother donated the medicine to Ashley. Her son had died.

In late September, doctors declared Ashley infection-free.

"I'm going to see my baby sister, my brother, my grandma, my aunties. They've all been waiting for me," the little girl said as she limped off the pediatric ward.

Oriana sold the medicine the family had left over to other mothers to pay for Ashley's future treatment.

"We have nothing left," she said.

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A man who said Dennis Hastert sexually abused him decades ago branded the former U.S. House speaker 'a monster' who was protected by the statute of limitations and wasn't appropriately punished.

The comments from Scott Cross, 54, came as lawmakers are considering joining 37 other states that don't have a statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases.

Hastert, 74, was sentenced in April to 15 months in prison for violating banking laws while trying to silence one of four victims identified by prosecutors.

But Illinois' statute of limitations meant he couldn't be charged with sexual abuse, which could've sent Hastert to prison for decades.

Scroll down for video

Scott Cross (above, testifying before members of the Illinois Senate on Tuesday), a victim of sexual abuse by Dennis Hastert, branded the former U.S. House speaker 'a monster' who was protected by the statute of limitations

Hastert (above, during his sentencing in April) was sentenced to 15 months in prison for violating banking laws while trying to silence one of four victims

'This topic, while difficult for me to discuss, is one that cannot be swept under the rug,' Cross told Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday, his voice at times shaking as he urged a panel of lawmakers to change the limits of current law.

Lawmakers have four similar proposals pending that would eliminate Illinois' statute of limitations for sexually abusing children.

No votes were taken on Tuesday and the soonest the bills can be considered is next month when lawmakers return to Springfield for a brief session.

As it stands, victims of sex abuse have 20 years from their 18th birthday to report the crime so it can be prosecuted.

But Cross, who has said Hastert abused him when Cross was a high school wrestler and Hastert was a coach, told lawmakers it's difficult for victims to come to terms with their abuse and overcome feelings of guilt and shame before they tell anyone - a process that can take many years.

'It is unbelievably hard to step forward and confront a person of power and trust and somebody that you idolize and respect,' Cross said.

'This topic, while difficult for me to discuss, is one that cannot be swept under the rug,' Cross (above) told Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday

Cross still refers to Hastert as 'coach' sometimes, and when he testified at his sentencing in April he recalled looking up to him.

After Cross' testimony, the federal judge who was about to sentence Hastert asked him if he abused Cross.

'I don't remember that,' Hastert responded. 'I accept his statement.'

Authorities say Hastert abused at least four students throughout his years at Yorkville High School, about 45 miles southwest of Chicago.

Cross told lawmakers Hastert's punishment amounted to 'a slap on the wrist' and that his victims were 'silenced by Illinois' legal system.'

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who sat next to Cross while he delivered his statement, expressed support for the measures that lawmakers are considering.

Cross (circled bottom left and right) has said Hastert (circled top left) abused him when Cross was a high school wrestler and Hastert was a coach

Scott Cross (left) reacts as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan testifies before members of the Illinois Senate in Chicago. Madigan is calling on state lawmakers to pass legislation removing statutes of limitations for child sex abuse crimes

'The children who suffered from Hastert's abuse, and so many others, may need their entire life to recover,' she said.

Current law in Illinois does have exceptions to the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases, but they're narrow.

They only apply to cases after 2014 and in instances where physical evidence exists or if someone who was required to report the crime failed to do so.

Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said lawmakers should make the pending measures retroactive to apply to cases like Hastert's, even if current case law deems that unconstitutional. Blaine said Illinois should challenge that with new legislation.

'Let Illinois lead the charge,' she said.

Illinois' statute of limitations meant he couldn't be charged with sexual abuse, which could've sent Hastert (above, being sworn in as House Speaker in 1999) to prison for decades




Top Greek official urges global response to refugee crisis

WASHINGTON (AP)  A senior Greek official on Tuesday urged the international community to do more to manage the flow of refugees to Europe  and criticized some European Union countries for refusing to welcome migrants.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas, who heads a task force on migrants, urged the EU and the United Nations to help his country accommodate refugees coming from the Middle East.

More than 60,000 refugees and migrants are currently in Greece, stranded by measures designed by the EU to stop more from traveling to the continent. Only 4,500 people  less than 10 percent of the total  have been placed so far in EU countries, where anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise.

Greek Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas is interviewed by The Associated Press, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

"The migration problem... is too big, it's not only in Syria, it's in Africa, it's in Asia. It's a problem that the United Nations must consider," Vitsas said. "We need to move from words to actions."

Vitsas urged Eastern European countries, such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, which have been reluctant to accept refugees, not to shut their doors on migrants.

He said many citizens of those countries themselves came to Greece as migrants after the fall of Communism in the late 1980's and stressed that they should now follow Europe's core principles of helping those in need.

"They are raising the idea of Europe as a fortress with smaller fortresses within the European Union. That's not a union. Europe was created on the basis of common policies, but also common values," he said. "We must face the refugee crisis together."

Vitsas also criticized recent remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who questioned a historic treaty that defined Turkey's current-day borders with Greece.

Erdogan suggested last week that the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which Turkish nationalists negotiated with the Allies, cannot be considered a "victory" because Turkey had lost to Greece several islands near its coast that were part of the Ottoman Empire.

Vitsas said that treaty must be observed and accused Turkey of seeking to revisit its obligations.

"Turkey finds a way to push things, to negotiate things that ... (do) not exist, like the situation in the islands ... We call it oriental bazaar, oriental bargaining," Vitsas said. "But in our days, this must be forgotten."

Greek Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas is interviewed by The Associated Press, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Greek Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas is interviewed by The Associated Press, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Greek Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas is interviewed by The Associated Press, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Senator reverses embrace of Trump, showing his risks for GOP

CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  Sen. Kelly Ayotte's embrace of Donald Trump as a role model for children  and her abrupt reversal  underscored the risks the Republican presidential candidate poses for purple-state GOP senators who like her are battling for their political lives.

Ayotte, seeking a second Senate term from New Hampshire, used a televised debate against Democratic challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan to say she "absolutely" would tell a child to aspire to be like Trump. Her campaign quickly distributed a statement afterward saying she "misspoke," and Tuesday she told reporters that "neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example."

Ayotte's remark proved irresistible for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., an active campaigner for her party who's had repeated, sharp exchanges with Trump.

Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte talks to reporters Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016 in Hudson, N.H. telling them she misspoke when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children during a live televised debate Monday evening. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

"Think about it: @realDonaldTrump calls Latinos rapists, African Americans thugs, & women fat pigs, & Kelly Ayotte thinks he's a role model," Warren tweeted.

Democrats chortled that Ayotte, considered one of the more vulnerable GOP incumbents, had fumbled with potentially devastating consequences for her re-election bid. They said she wounded herself twice: first by citing as a role model a candidate who's openly ridiculed women, the handicapped and others and second by a retreat that smacked of insincerity and political repositioning.

"I assume this question we're going to hear a lot more of in Senate debates, and Kelly Ayotte created the textbook on how not to answer," said Democratic pollster Geoffrey Garin.

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said it was "the unqualified nature of it and her tone" that made Ayotte's comment truly damaging. "It's like, 'What are you talking about, sister?'" she said.

With the GOP's 54-46 Senate control at stake in November, Ayotte is among a half-dozen Republicans in competitive campaigns or running in swing states like Ohio, Florida and North Carolina that will help determine whether Trump or Clinton takes the White House. Asked Tuesday whether Trump was an exemplar for children, several of them avoided the trap.

"The simple answer is no" and neither is Clinton, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who's not endorsed Trump, told reporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. "Let's just say the vulgarity and gratuitous insults of people. This is not exactly the way I encourage my kids to behave."

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., also facing re-election, stopped short of labeling Trump a role model. Blunt "believes Missourians should choose their own role models," said campaign spokesman Burson Snyder.

And Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said, "I, like many Americans, take issue with some of the rhetoric and actions that have come from both him and Hillary Clinton, and neither are people I'd hold up as exemplary role models."

Trump slightly trails Clinton in the latest national polls after his latest taunts, which have included mimicking how the Democrat staggered to a car after being diagnosed with pneumonia and jeering a former Miss Universe for gaining weight. In a startling departure from most presidential candidates' efforts to avoid alienating blocs of voters, Trump has denigrated the handicapped, women, Hispanics and others.

"The message is run as local a race as possible, and try to stay away from Trump as much as you can," said Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist.

On Monday night, Ayotte initially answered indirectly when a debate moderator asked if she would point to Trump as a role model for children. When the questioner persisted, she said, "I believe he can serve as president so absolutely I would do that."

The campaign of Hassan, a two-term governor, quickly produced a 60-second internet ad featuring Ayotte's response and juxtaposing it with Trump comments imitating a handicapped reporter, referring to a woman's "fat, ugly face" and describing Fox News' Megyn Kelly as having "blood coming out of her wherever."

Around 39 percent of New Hampshire voters are independents, with Republicans slightly outnumbering Democrats in the remaining group.

That makes questions like Monday night's difficult for Ayotte. Distancing herself from Trump risks upsetting his supporters, but embracing him too tightly could alienate independents and Clinton voters, whom she will need for re-election.

Clinton has led Trump by modest margins in recent New Hampshire polls.

Ayotte has labored all year to express her views about Trump. She initially said she would support Trump but not endorse him, then in August said would vote for him but not endorse him.

___

Alan Fram reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Marc Levy in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Jim Salter in St. Louis and Emery Dalesio in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte walks away from reporters Tuesday Oct. 4, 2016 in Hudson, N.H., after telling them she misspoke when she said Donald Trump is a role model for children during a live televised debate the night before. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Official: Investigators estimate train in crash was speeding

HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP)  Federal investigators estimate a commuter train was traveling two to three times the 10 mph speed limit when it slammed into a New Jersey rail station last week, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The official, who was briefed on the investigation, said investigators estimated the train was moving between 20 and 30 mph when it crashed into Hoboken Terminal last Thursday. The official was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The speed estimate is based on the extent of damage, not on data from the train's instruments.

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), James Southworth, Investigator-in-Charge for the National Transportation Safety Boards investigation, is handed the lead cars video recorder in an anti-static bag from NTSB investigator Michael Hiller, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Hobokon, N.J. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone Tuesday from the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station last week. The items were sent to an agency lab for analysis. (N.J. Transit Police Det. Laquan Hudson/NTSB via AP)

Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone from the front car of the train Tuesday afternoon and sent them to an agency lab for analysis.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator James Southworth said they don't yet know if the recorders contain any useful information.

Access to the devices had been hampered by debris from the crash.

Southworth said it would be at least a day before investigators are able to move the crashed train. He said New Jersey Transit service into and out of Hoboken wouldn't resume before then.

A second data recorder, in the locomotive at the rear of the train, wasn't functioning the day of the crash and didn't record speed, braking or other information about the trip, the NTSB has said.

That recorder was built in 1995. The recorder recovered Tuesday was made in 2003, investigators said.

Engineer Thomas Gallagher's cellphone was found in a backpack in the cab of the front train car.

At a briefing Tuesday, NTSB investigator James Southworth declined to address the train's speed. "We're not prepared to make that statement right now," he said.

One woman standing on a platform was killed by debris as the train smashed through a concrete-and-steel bumper and knocked out pillars, causing a section of the station's outdoor roof to collapse.

More than 100 people were injured.

Gallagher told investigators that he had no memory of the crash but said he was operating at 10 mph as he approached the station, said T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Gallagher, 48, said he only remembered waking up on the floor of the engineer's cab, Dinh-Zarr said Sunday.

Federal regulations require commuter trains to have working recorders. The regulations require they be inspected every 92 days. It was unclear when the nonworking recorder, which officials said was installed in 1995, had been last inspected.

The commuter rail service has not responded to requests for comment.

___

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a video recorder, recovered from the control cab of the lead car from N.J. Transits Pascack Valley Line train No. 1614, is removed from the train as part of the National Transportation Safety Boards investigation, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Hobokon, N.J., into last week's commuter train that slammed into the New Jersey rail station. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone from the front car of the commuter train Tuesday afternoon and sent them to an agency lab for analysis. (N.J. Transit Police Det. Laquan Hudson/NTSB via AP)

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), National Transportation Safety Board investigator Michael Hiller places the event recorder, recovered from the control cab of the lead car from N.J. Transits Pascack Valley Line train No. 1614, into an anti static bag, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Hobokon, N.J. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone Tuesday from the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station last week. The items were sent to an agency lab for analysis. (N.J. Transit Police Det. Laquan Hudson/NTSB via AP)

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), National Transportation Safety Board engineer William Tuccio removes the event recorder memory board and video recorder hard drive, recovered from N.J. Transits Pascack Valley Line train No. 1614 lead car, from protective cases after the items arrived at an NTSB laboratory, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Washington. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone Tuesday from the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station last week. The items arrived at the lab for analysis. (Chris ONeil/NTSB via AP)

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), National Transportation Safety Board engineer William Tuccio removes the event recorder memory board and video recorder hard drive, recovered from N.J. Transits Pascack Valley Line train No. 1614 lead car, from protective cases after the items arrived at an NTSB laboratory, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Washington. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone Tuesday from the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station last week. The items arrived at the lab for analysis. (Chris ONeil/NTSB via AP)

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the video recorder hard drive, recovered from N.J. Transits Pascack Valley Line train No. 1614 lead car, is displayed at an NTSB laboratory, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Washington. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone Tuesday from the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station last week. The items arrived at the lab for analysis. (Chris ONeil/NTSB via AP)

In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the event recorder memory board, recovered from N.J. Transits Pascack Valley Line train No. 1614 lead car, is displayed at an NTSB laboratory, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Washington. Federal investigators recovered a data recorder, video recorder and the engineer's cellphone Tuesday from the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station last week. The items arrived at the lab for analysis. (Chris ONeil/NTSB via AP)

NTSB lead railroad investigator Jim Southworth, right, answers questions with investigator Michael Hiller, left, during a news conference on Pier A, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 in Hoboken, N.J. Federal investigators estimate a commuter train was traveling two to three times the 10 mph speed limit when it slammed into a New Jersey rail station last week, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. (Danielle Parhizkaran/The Record via AP)

This Oct. 1, 2016, photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows damage done to the Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, N.J., after a commuter train crash that killed one person and injured more than 100 others last week. Officials said one event recorder recovered so far from the train was not functioning on the day of the accident, but NTSB vice chair T. Bella Dinh-Zarr said the NTSB is hopeful the data recorder that is in the cab control car in the front of the train is functional. (Chris O'Neil/NTSB photo via AP)

This Oct. 1, 2016, photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows damage done to the Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, N.J., after a commuter train crash that killed one person and injured more than 100 others last week. Officials said one event recorder recovered so far from the train was not functioning on the day of the accident, but NTSB vice chair T. Bella Dinh-Zarr said the NTSB is hopeful the data recorder that is in the cab control car in the front of the train is functional. (Chris O'Neil/NTSB photo via AP)
Judge won't drop charges against ex-cop who shot naked man

DECATUR, Ga. (AP)  A judge has declined a request to drop the charges against a white former Atlanta-area police officer who shot an unarmed, naked, mentally ill black veteran.

Former DeKalb County police officer Robert Olsen's attorney, Don Samuel, argued at a hearing last month that the principle of grand jury secrecy was violated and that the charges should be dropped. Samuel said extra people were in the room, including extra prosecutors, and that could have kept grand jurors from feeling comfortable asking questions.

In an order signed Wednesday, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge J.P. Boulee said there aren't grounds under Georgia law to dismiss the indictment.
Michelle Obama makes light of Trump's microphone problem

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  She didn't mention Donald Trump by name, but Michelle Obama had some fun at the Republican presidential nominee's expense during a campaign event for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Praising Clinton, Mrs. Obama said, "She doesn't cry foul" and tapped her microphone. It was an apparent swipe at Trump, who said the microphone he used during the first presidential debate was defective.

"The presidency doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are," Mrs. Obama said. "That's the kind of president they will be. And trust me, a candidate is not going to suddenly change once they're in office."

In this image from video, first lady Michelle Obama taps a microphone as she speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. She didnt mention Donald Trump by name, but Michelle Obama delivered a clear indictment of the Republican presidential nominee during a campaign event for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Praising Clinton, Mrs. Obama said, She doesnt cry foul and tapped her microphone. It was an apparent swipe at Trump, who said the microphone he used during the first presidential debate was defective. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz)

Mrs. Obama encouraged the crowd of 1,400 to vote  and to get others to vote, too.

"This election, it's about making a choice between two very different candidates with very different visions for our nation," Mrs. Obama said. "Hillary Clinton has it all. She is the real deal. . I know she is more than ready, more than able to be an outstanding president for us all."

President Barack Obama won North Carolina in 2008, but lost the state to Mitt Romney in 2012. Mrs. Obama also campaigned in Raleigh on Tuesday afternoon.
Man pleads guilty to DUI in fatal Las Vegas tour bus crash

LAS VEGAS (AP)  A 26-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, causing a fiery crash that killed two people and badly injured three others on a sightseeing bus over Labor Day weekend 2015, a prosecutor said.

Jonathan Carrington Donner admitted to having a blood-alcohol level more than 2.5 times the legal limit, along with cocaine residue and the painkiller hydrocodone in his system when he sped through a red light and crashed a BMW into the tour bus, which overturned and burst into flames, prosecutor Brian Rutledge said.

Rutledge said Donner faces 24 to 60 years in state prison at sentencing Dec. 20. The prosecutor said he'll seek the maximum.

FILE - In this undated file photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Jonathan Carrington Donner. Donner has pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence, and could face up to 60 years in state prison for causing a fiery sightseeing bus crash that killed two people and badly injured three others over Labor Day weekend 2015. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP, File)

Donner's defense attorney, Steve Yeager, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Donner avoided trial with his pleas to two counts of DUI causing the deaths of German tourist Rolf Kloeppel and tour driver Jose Francisco Cosenza.

Donner also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence causing substantial bodily harm for burns and injuries suffered by Kloeppel's wife, Stefanie Kloeppel, and Brian and Sara Zerbee, a couple from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Donner had been facing up to 100 years in prison on five felony charges. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.

The BMW also caught fire and collided with another vehicle, and Donner was hospitalized after the crash. The driver of the second car wasn't injured.
Colombian president meeting rival Uribe in bid to save peace

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  President Juan Manuel Santos is moving quickly on two fronts to save a peace deal narrowly rejected by Colombian voters, holding talks in Cuba with leftist rebels while inviting his chief opponent for a rare face-to-face meeting.

Government officials led by chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle met with their counterparts from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Tuesday in Cuba's capital to check on the rebels' willingness to reopen negotiations.

Santos, after a day of consultations with business leaders and evangelical Christians, who campaigned hard against the accord, said he was extending until Oct. 31 the cease-fire with the FARC to give peace a chance.

A supporter of the peace deal signed between the Colombian government and rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, wave a flag during a rally in front of Congress, in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Colombians rejected a peace deal with leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, by a razor-thin margin in a national referendum Sunday, dismissing years of negotiations and delivering a setback to President Juan Manuel Santos. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

"Time is very important. We can(asterisk)t prolong this process and this dialogue for a long time because we're in a gray zone, a sort of limbo, that is risky and can wash away the entire process," Santos said.

Any renegotiation would likely lead to tougher terms for the rebels than the ones in the accord reached in August, and it's not clear the rebels are ready to return to the drawing board.

Shortly after Santos announced he was extending the cease-fire, rebel leader Timochenko tweeted: "And after that the war continues?"

Showing what*s at stake if Santos* gamble fails, another commander, known by his alias Pastor Alape, said on Twitter that all FARC troops "should move to secure positions, to avoid provocations."

Ever since the deal was narrowly rejected Sunday in a referendum, FARC leaders have made clear they have no intention of resuming warfare but also insisted the vote has no legal implications and the deal signed last month in front of several heads of state is final.

If Santos needs the FARC's support to prevent the peace deal from collapsing, both parties need the help of the man who led the campaign against the accord: former President Alvaro Uribe.

Santos was defense minister under Uribe, when they joined forces with the U.S. to beat back the rebels, and Uribe helped elect him president. But the two angrily split shortly after Santos took office.

On Tuesday, however, the two men spoke by phone and set up a meeting Wednesday at the presidential palace in what is believed to be their first encounter in years. Neither the government nor Uribe said what would be on the agenda.

Both men, at least publicly, have tried to project a conciliatory tone since voters rejected the accord, unlike the public feuding and trading of insults to which Colombians have grown accustomed in recent times.

Prior to the referendum, polls had indicated the "yes" vote was winning by an almost two-to-one margin.

But Uribe tapped into widespread resentment of the rebels. Specifically, he argued that provisions for keeping rebels who committed serious war crimes from going to jail and instead awarding them with seats in congress insulted victims and set a bad example that criminal gangs would seize on.

The electoral upset boosted the former president's political standing to the point that analysts speculate a weakened Santos can only rescue the accord by inviting Uribe to directly negotiate a solution to the impasse with the FARC.

On Tuesday, Uribe told Blu Radio he wasn't interested in assuming responsibilities that belong exclusively to the government, but he reiterated his willingness to provide input on a way forward.

___

Joshua Goodman is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjoshgoodman . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/joshua-goodman .

A man reads a newspaper with the headline that reads in Spanish: "Colombia said No" in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Voters rejected a peace deal with leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, by a razor-thin margin in a national referendum Sunday, dismissing years of negotiations and delivering a setback to President Juan Manuel Santos. Final results showed that 50.2 percent opposed the accord, while 49.8 percent favored it. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos prepares to cast his ballot in a referendum to decide whether or not to support the peace deal he signed with rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Promoter pleads guilty in university concert scam in Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP)  A North Carolina concert promoter pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding the University of Hawaii of $200,000 by promising to secure Stevie Wonder for an athletics department fundraising concert that never happened.

Marc Hubbard pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court in Honolulu, saying he lied about his ability to secure Wonder for a concert.

"First, I would like to apologize to the court for my actions," Hubbard said then added that his mistake was helping co-defendant Sean Barriero, who previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

North Carolina concert promoter Marc Hubbard walks to Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Honolulu. Hubbard pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding the University of Hawaii of $200,000 by promising to secure Stevie Wonder for an athletics department fundraising concert that never happened. (Dennis Oda/The Star-Advertiser via AP)

The university paid the $200,000 deposit in 2012 then began selling tickets before learning that neither Wonder nor his representatives had authorized a show.

Thousands of ticket purchases had to be refunded, causing embarrassment for the school and prompting investigations.

A special state Senate committee that investigated the university's handling of the bungled concert said the incident tarnished the university's reputation.

The committee said no one at the university looked into whether the agent was an authorized representative of the singer. They also faulted a lack of oversight and communication in the school's athletics department, general counsel and disbursing office.

"The University of Hawaii thanks the responsible law enforcement officials and prosecutors for their hard work in successfully closing this case," said university spokesman Dan Meisenzahl.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors will recommend that Hubbard's sentence run concurrently with the sentence he receives for a similar case in Pennsylvania.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in Pennsylvania next week and in Hawaii on Feb. 16.

He could face up to 20 years in prison and must pay $200,000 restitution to the university and $50,000 to a university supporter who provided initial funding.

After the supporter wired the initial $50,000, Hubbard said he couldn't secure Wonder without additional money, which prompted the university to wire $200,000, prosecutors said.

Barriero is also scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 16.

Court records say Hubbard previously pleaded guilty in South Carolina and New York to wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

Court documents show an Oahu concert promoter approached the university about bringing Wonder to Hawaii for the benefit concert. That promoter contacted someone else, who then contacted Barriero.

A University of Hawaii task force reporting to the Board of Regents said the school allowed itself to be deceived because those involved in the financial transactions lacked judgment and didn't take responsibility.

The university reassigned athletic director Jim Donovan after the failed concert came to light. Donovan later left the university.

___
Congo opposition calls for mediation on elections

KINSHASA, Congo (AP)  Congo's main opposition parties on Tuesday renewed calls for the international community and the United Nations to take a more active role with the African Union in bringing about a credible and inclusive dialogue on elections that have raised tensions in the central African country.

The leader of the largest opposition party, Etienne Tshisekedi, called on supporters to demonstrate on Oct. 19 if progress isn't made on holding elections that are scheduled for November, but will likely be delayed.

Dozens died two weeks ago in the capital Kinshasa after security forces clashed with thousands of anti-government demonstrators opposed to delaying the election.

The opposition parties also called for restructuring the electoral commission and the Constitutional Court, saying they are partisan to President Joseph Kabila, who came to power after his father's assassination in 2001.

The opposition blames Kabila for delaying elections in an effort to hold onto power beyond his mandate, which ends in December. A high court has said he can remain in office until a new leader is elected.

The opposition demands come days after the electoral commission announced it wants to delay elections for two years to update voter registration.

The opposition parties, which have refused to participate in the current dialogue, say inclusive talks need to cover the electoral process, and the arrangements needed "to organize elections in accordance with the Constitution and democratic standards," and to ensure successful completion of the electoral process.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende denied that there have been constitutional violations, and criticized the opposition parties' demands.

Kabila said that the dialogue already in progress will lead to credible and peaceful elections. He spoke during a press conference on a visit to Tanzania.

"The goal of the dialogue is to ensure that the next elections, in December this year or after, are peaceful before, during and after the electoral campaign, and after the proclamation of results," the president said.
Oklahoma officer's attorneys want handgun kept as evidence

TULSA, Okla. (AP)  Attorneys for a white Oklahoma police officer who killed an unarmed black man are asking in court records for investigators to keep as evidence a handgun that an anonymous tipster claims the man fired a day before the fatal shooting.

Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby is charged with first-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 16 shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Shelby shot Crutcher after she arrived on a street to find Crutcher's SUV stopped in the middle of the road. Shelby has pleaded not guilty and is on unpaid leave.

One of Shelby's lawyers, Shannon McMurray, said Tuesday that a man called last week and claimed Crutcher was seen Sept. 15 walking on a different street and firing a gun, and that police were notified and recovered a gun left in the road.

RETRANSMISSION TO CORRECT DATE OF FILE PHOTO TO SEPT. 30, 2016 - FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 file photo, Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, right, is escorted from the Tulsa County Sheriff's office into a courtroom with her attorney Shannon McMurray, left, in Tulsa, Okla., Shelby is charged with first degree manslaughter in the Sept. 16, 2016 killing of Terence Crutcher. Attorneys representing Shelby are asking authorities to hold on to a handgun that they say Terence Crutcher may have fired a day before his death. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

"What, if any, material value (the gun) has is to be determined at a later date," McMurray said. "We don't know, but both sides look at every piece of potential evidence to include and exclude. Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing our jobs."

Police found the gun more than 2 miles from where Crutcher was shot the next day. It's not clear whether anyone was harmed in the alleged gun-firing incident.

Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie declined comment Tuesday. Police Chief Chuck Jordan has said that Crutcher did not have a gun on his body or in his SUV when he was shot.

Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney for Crutcher's family, said Shelby's defense team is trying to divert attention from the fact that Crutcher is seen without a weapon and with his hands up on videos from a dashboard patrol car and a police helicopter.
Arrests in Thailand-US sex trafficking ring

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  About a dozen people were arrested in cities across the U.S. on Tuesday for running what authorities called a sophisticated sex trafficking operation in which hundreds of women were brought from Thailand to America under fraudulent visas and forced to work as prostitutes to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in bondage debts.

The women  including one who was forced to have sex with strangers for 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week were not allowed to move about freely and were "effectively modern day sex slaves," according to a redacted indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The arrests, along with the recent arrest of the organization's boss in Belgium, will effectively dismantle the operation, said Alex Khu, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Minneapolis.

"We feel pretty confident that based on the number of important-position folks we are taking down, we'll really hurt this organization," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in advance of an official announcement about the arrests. "It will take down this ring."

Tuesday's indictment charges 17 people with various counts, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit forced labor, conspiracy to engage in money laundering and conspiracy to commit visa fraud. About a dozen people were arrested in the Minneapolis area, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Khu said his office began investigating a sex trafficking case in the Twin Cities in January 2014 and discovered it was part of an international ring and "a very sophisticated, complex network operating throughout the United States ... where women are really placed on a circuit, traveling from one city to the next."

According to the indictment, since 2009, hundreds of women were brought from Bangkok, Thailand, to several U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Washington and Dallas. The women were from poor backgrounds, spoke little English and were lured with promises of a better life.

The operation's bosses or traffickers in Thailand entered the women into a bondage debt "contract" in exchange for a visa and travel to the U.S. As part of the contract, the women would owe a debt ranging from $40,000 to $60,000 and would be "owned" by the organization until that debt was repaid.

The women were often encouraged to have breast implants to make them more appealing to potential clients. The cost of the surgery was added to their debt.

Once they arrived in the U.S., the women were forced to have sex in various "houses of prostitution" including hotels, massage parlors and apartments. They were not allowed to leave without escorts  who would have sex with the victims as part of their payment.

The women were forced to turn over most of the money they earned, as well as pay for rent, food and personal items, making it virtually impossible to repay their debt, the indictment said.

The organization controlled the women by isolating them and threatening to harm their families in Thailand if they escaped. In one case, Khu said, a woman tried to get out of a situation and the organization sent "muscle" to assault a family member in Thailand, breaking his bones.

The indictment says one victim recruited in 2010 agreed to a $40,000 bondage debt. When she arrived in the U.S., she was sent to work at two prostitution houses for 12 hour days, six to seven days a week, and was not allowed to leave by herself. The terms of her contract changed and she was then forced to work at a "spa" in Houston that was open 24 hours a day.

There, she lived on a mattress on the floor with another victim, and was required to have sex at all hours. She ran away one night, and began receiving emails that suggested her family in Thailand would be harmed and her visa would be cancelled.

"They don't control the money. They don't control the customers or the johns. They can't refuse a john. They don't have freedom of movement. ... The female victims are literally helpless," Khu said. "They can't get out."

The indictment describes a highly organized operation, with many tiers of employment. In addition to the traffickers, the organization also employed house bosses who ran the prostitution houses, advertised the women on websites and scheduled customers. Other "facilitators" helped with money laundering or booking travel for the victims, while "runners" would escort the women from place to place.

Khu said the head of the organization, who was based in Thailand, was recently arrested in Belgium for separate trafficking offenses there. He said the U.S. plans to seek her extradition.

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Strange matter wins British scientists Nobel Prize in Physics

Three British-born scientists who joined the brain drain to the US and pioneered research into exotic states of matter share this year's Nobel Prize in Physics.

Professors David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz, were honoured with the top award by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The prize recognised work dating back decades that opened the door to a world where matter can assume unusual properties, such as conducting electricity with no resistance or allowing fluids to flow without friction.

Princeton University physics professor F Duncan Haldane leaves his home after it was announced that he has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics (AP)

The trio used a branch of mathematics called topology to study strange "phases" of matter such as superconductors, superfluids and thin magnetic films.

Their pioneering research has wide-ranging potential applications in electronics, material science, and quantum computing.

The citation read out at the awards ceremony in Stockholm said the prize was for "theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter".

Prof Thouless, 82, from the University of Washington, Seattle, will receive half the eight million krona (727,000) prize money. The rest will be shared between Prof Haldane, 65, from Princeton University, and Prof Kosterlitz, 73, from Brown University.

Both Prof Thouless and Prof Kosterlitz were Scottish born. Prof Thouless, from Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, obtained his PhD in 1958 from Cornell University, New York. Prof Kosterlitz's birth place was Aberdeen.

Prof Haldane is originally from London.

A stunned Prof Kosterlitz heard the news of his win in an underground car park in Helsinki, Finland, where he is currently a visiting professor at Aalto University.

Answering a call from Adam Smith, a journalist working for the Nobel Foundation, his first words were: "Jesus. That's incredible. That's amazing."

Later, speaking to the Associated Press news agency, Prof Kosterlitz said he was "young and stupid" when he took part in the research that earned him and two colleagues the prestigious award.

"It was a piece of work that I did as a very ignorant post-doc," he said. "Complete ignorance was actually an advantage because I didn't have any preconceived ideas. I was young and stupid enough to take it on.

"I'm a little bit dazzled. I'm still trying to take it in."

Prof Haldane said on Twitter that he betrayed his UK roots when told of the award.

He said: "I'm a bit British, or phlegmatic, about these things, so I didn't faint or anything."

The prize was announced by Professor Goran Hansson, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Topology describes properties that remain intact when an object is stretched, twisted or deformed.

The three scientists applied it to the study of very thin layers and ultra-fine threads of super-cooled material, showing how they transitioned from one "phase" to another in a stepwise fashion.

Familiar phases of matter include gases, liquids and solids. But at extreme temperatures unusual phases can arise, such as cold condensates in which separate atoms act as one.

Nobel physics committee member Professor Thors Hansson pulled a bagel, a bun and a pretzel out of a bag in an attempt to explain the difficult concepts.

The bagel had one hole, the pretzel two, and the bun none. Appreciating this was vital to understanding the work, he told the Royal Swedish Academy audience.

He said: " The importance with the hole is that things like taste, shape, and deformation can change continuously. The number of holes, something that we call the topological invariant, can only change like integers - one, two, three, zero.

"I challenge you to imagine what is half a hole. You cannot have half a hole. This fact, that you have integers that are of topological nature - that's intimately connected to the effects and the description of these phases that is at the basis of the prize."

Professor Sir Alan Fersht, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, recalled how in his student days Prof Kosterlitz was a "mad climber".

The young Kosterlitz practised his mountaineering skills in his room on Tree Court, one of the oldest parts of the College.

"He built a traverse around the room where he would climb using his fingers and hanging on to the picture rail," said Sir Alan.

He added: " Mike was obviously an exceptionally clever guy. We went to physics lectures together in our first year, and he continued to specialise in physics in the second year while I specialised in chemistry. He was a very good physicist, and moved from the UK to America fairly rapidly."

Professor Nigel Cooper, from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory, said the prize was "richly deserved".

He added: "T hrough the great breakthroughs they've made, Thouless, Haldane and Kosterlitz took a visionary approach to understanding how topology plays a role in novel materials."

The Nobel announcement came as something of a surprise because three scientists behind the momentous discovery of gravitational waves were widely tipped to win the prize.

They included another Briton, Professor Ronald Drever, 85, who moved to California from his native Scotland and co-founded the Ligo (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) project.

In February Ligo scientists announced the discovery of tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time generated by two colliding black holes 1.3 billion light years away.

The trio may yet win the Nobel Prize. It often takes time for work to be sufficiently recognised to qualify for a Nobel award.

In a telephone interview, Prof Haldane was critical of funding policies that led to the brain drain in the 1970s.

He said: "I suppose in the late seventies I think there was a bit of a de-emphasis ... on fundamental research, as opposed to useful research.

"I think it's a very bad thing when government agencies start to say ... you know, 'what's it used for?' Because all the big discoveries of really useful things don't come about because someone sits down and says: 'I want to discover something useful.'

"They occur because someone discovers something interesting and it turns out to be tremendously useful.

"It's very difficult to know whether something is useful, but one can know that it's exciting."

Prof Haldane said he knew there was a vague possibility of winning the prize, but "didn't think it would happen".
Schoolgirl who compiled 'kill list' tried to murder her best friend, court told

A 14-year-old girl obsessed with serial killers prepared a "kill list" including the names of her friends, mother and brother before she attempted to murder her best friend by stabbing her at school, a court heard.

A jury was told the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, lured her friend at the start of a school day to a quiet part of the grounds where she said she was going to give her a present.

But James Newton-Price QC, prosecuting, told Winchester Crown Court that when the defendant had got her friend alone, she asked her to close her eyes and hold out her hand before she pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest.

A girl aged 14 lured her friend to a quiet part of the school grounds and stabbed her, Winchester Crown Court heard

The girl escaped with a minor injury as she opened her eyes and managed to pull back as she saw the defendant lunge at her, the prosecutor said.

He told the jury that the defendant had researched fatal stab wounds in the early hours of the morning of the alleged attack at the Hampshire school on April 25.

Mr Newton-Price said: "The defendant was for a period of time obsessed with serial killers and school shootings and the notoriety that attaches to those who commit those crimes.

"She had even at one stage prepared what she described in her own words as a 'kill list' of those she didn't like at her school.

"She had even thought about how to kill her own mother and brother and she discussed how to do so in the two or three weeks leading up to an incident in which she stabbed her friend at school.

"It seems that she decided to kill her best friend. She had already researched online how to kill swiftly and effectively with a knife.

"She carried out further research about the position of the heart and the fatality of stab wounds in the early hours leading up the incident."

Mr Newton-Price said that the defendant had targeted the friend out of revenge for tampering with her Instagram and Tumblr social media profiles in the previous summer.

The defendant, who is now aged 15, denies charges of attempted murder and wounding with intent.

Mr Newton-Price said the defendant had told her friend she wanted to give her a present and to close her eyes and hold out her hand, but then attacked her.

He said: "Sometime in the early morning she sent a text message to her friend asking her to meet her at school in the morning before classes started.

"She said she had a present to give her friend but the only present she had in mind was to stab her with a knife she had taken from her kitchen.

"She lured her to a quiet location behind the science block just before 8.30am when the school bell rang.

"She said she had something for her and told her to close her eyes. She then produced the kitchen knife from her bag and stabbed her in the chest.

"The fortunate thing about it is the plan failed because the friend stepped back and opened her eyes just before or at the moment of impact.

"The knife cut through the lapel of her school blazer and her shirt and caused a superficial puncture wound to her chest in a position above the heart.

"Stepping back, she stumbled down steps and was able to raise the alarm. The defendant also ran away and left the premises but was brought back by her parents."

Mr Newton-Price said the defendant denied she had tried to kill the friend but admitted that she had intended to hurt her.

He added: "It appears from what she says in interview she had held a grudge against her about something she had done six or nine months earlier in the summer of the year before; she had interfered with her Instagram or Tumblr social media profiles or blogs."

Mr Newton-Price said the defendant sent her friend a message late the previous evening asking "Are you up?"

Then four times during the night she sent an identical message stating: "Tomorrow make sure you are by the normal bit by the shelter with everyone else. I need to give you something. X"

The friend replied, asking what for, and the defendant sent another message saying: "It's a present and I have got to give it to you in secret. X"

Mr Newton-Price said that between 11pm and 1.20am that previous night, the defendant had made several Google searches including: "How to feel no guilt", "How to eliminate guilt", "Getting rid of your guilty conscience", "Where are stab wounds fatal?", "Where the heart is located" and "How far in is the heart?".

He said the defendant had previously discussed with another friend "plans to kill her mother and brother but a plan she switched to kill her friend instead and the evidence suggests she intended to carry out that plan".

The prosecutor said the friend had been completely unaware of the defendant's intentions as she believed they were friends.

He said: "She thought it was some kind of joke, she didn't expect anything bad to happen at all, she was getting a bit anxious thinking it was a bit odd, she completely trusted her.

"She was expecting to be getting some kind of present about to be put into her hand. The defendant told her 'Close your eyes and put your hands out'. She duly put out her hands and closed her eyes.

"She opened her eyes just a little and it's a good thing she did as she saw her friend with a knife."

Mr Newton-Price said the defendant had been particularly obsessed by the 1970s American serial killer Ted Bundy and had even done a fashion project based on him.

She had also done internet research on serial killers and school shootings including the Columbine massacre in Colorado in 1999.

He said she had planned a school shooting that had been due to take place in January and she had created a list of intended targets which contained 60 names.

She told police after her arrest: "I didn't have any particular targets, I would just shoot one or two."

The prosecutor said another friend had told police that the defendant was "a bit Gothy" and had been "quite depressed and self-harmed" and would show "messed up stuff" from the internet such as snuff movies to people at school.

She had said the defendant sent her messages in which she described how she planned to duct tape her mother's mouth as she lay in bed and to slit her throat before killing her brother on the night before the school incident.

The defendant had also sent another message to the other friend saying that "she was expendable, she didn't want a normal life, she wanted fame, she wanted people to know her."

Mr Newton-Price said that this friend was "a bit worried about the tone of the conversation, she didn't take it seriously but she was concerned about it."

He said the defendant had denied that she planned to kill people, only to hurt them. She told police: "I guess not really killing people but maiming, maiming them, hurting them with a knife."

She added: "When I was having these thoughts I was being influenced by another voice. I was getting quite heavily influenced. That is the reason I was having these thoughts. I do not know what was spurring me on."

Mr Newton-Price said as well as the messages detailing her plans, the defendant had "joked about pleading insanity".

He added: "The disturbing aspect of this case is that having undertaken that research and taken a knife from her kitchen, she actually tried to activate her plan."

He told the jury that the defendant had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful wounding and possession of a bladed article on school premises.

The victim, aged 15, described the moment of the attack in a video interview played to the court.

She said: "I closed my eyes. I opened them a little bit and she had a knife in her hand and she kind of lunged at me. I felt it nick at me.

"I was kind of freaking out, I was screaming, I leant back, I think that's why it didn't go in any deeper.

"I was in complete shock. I leaped off, fell down the steps, then I fell over. She was coming down the steps after me. When I was on the floor she was still coming. I sprinted off."

The schoolgirl, who said that they had been best friends, added: "It was shocking, I couldn't believe what had happened. I can't think of any reason why she would have done it."

She described how the defendant had been depressed, self-harming and suffering from self-harming during the previous summer.

She continued: "She was kind of quite Gothy, into satanism, that kind of thing. She would laugh about it. I would never look. It was quite shocking. She would show us what she followed, these messed up horrific sites, she would show us then laugh about them. She would watch lots of horror movies."

She added: "She would watch snuff movies, she would talk to us as if it was normal. I thought it was her trying to make herself look hard."

She continued: "I am also worried about her. She is still my friend. She has been watching something or something has made her want to stab me."
Archbishop of Canterbury to meet Pope Francis in Rome

The Archbishop of Canterbury will meet Pope Francis in Rome to celebrate unity within Christianity.

The Most Rev Justin Welby will travel to the seat of the Catholic Church for his third formal meeting with the Pope since 2013.

It will be part of a week-long summit celebrating the close relationship between the Anglican Communion and Roman Catholic Church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby

There will be a service at the church of San Gregorio al Cielo jointly led by the Archbishop and Pope Francis on Wednesday.

They will also commission 19 pairs of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from around the world.

The summit is being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the Anglican Centre in Rome, which was established after a historic meeting between Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI.

Archbishop Welby will wear a papal ring that was presented to his predecessor during the visit in 1966.

Archbishop David Moxon, director of the Anglican centre, said: "The Anglican Centre has worked for fifty years to help Roman Catholics and Anglicans work together, pray together, study and talk together.
Stars give voice to historic letters at literacy fundraising event

If letters "cast powerful spells", then actress Noma Dumezweni enchanted an audience with her reading of a deaf-blind author's letter describing the Empire State Building.

The Dirty Pretty Things actress read Helen Keller's 1932 missive to a doctor, describing being "whizzed" up the tower and how constant darkness makes you realise "how divine a thing vision is".

It was one of a series of historic letters read by a string of famous actors, musicians and writers at Freemasons' Hall in London on Tuesday night.

Noma Dumezweni reads a letter during the first night of the Letters Live series at the Freemasons' Hall, London

Veteran actor Michael Palin drew a roar of laughter when reading a producer's letter on making cuts from Monty Python And The Holy Grail to secure an appropriate age rating, recounting: "I would like to retain 'fart in your general direction'."

Not to be outdone, Jude Law put on his best American accent to read Frank Sinatra's attack on a "pimp" Chicago newspaper columnist whose "source of information stinks".

Inspired by Shaun Usher's best-selling Letters Of Note series and Simon Garfield's book To The Letter, Letters Live sees actors and performers reading out literary correspondence to a live audience.

The event was first held in December 2013 and is now established as a sell-out fixture.

It has since travelled to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Los Angeles and even the Calais Jungle.

It was started by the publishing house Canongate to raise money for literacy charities and to celebrate the "pain, joy, wisdom and humour" of the written word.

Charities supported by the event - which runs for five nights from October 4 to 8 - include the Ministry of Stories, Help Refugees and First Story.

Canongate chief executive Jamie Byng said: "Letters cast powerful spells. When you sort thoughts into the written word, you suspend thoughts in time."

Other speakers included comedian Omid Djalili, actor Charlie Heaton and satirist Julian Clary.

Other highlights from the night included Mariella Frostrup reading Sinead O'Connor's letter urging Miley Cyrus to stop "prostituting" herself for the music industry.

Frostrup read: "When you're in rehab they will be sunning themselves on their yachts ..."

Julian Clary read a moving message from a soldier in the Second World War to his deceased lover - a fellow soldier - holding the audience in complete silence throughout.

Television presenter Nicholas Parsons read correspondence from Roald Dahl to a little girl called Elizabeth who hated her new school, encouraging her to never grow up.

The night finished with Law reading a long message from the poet Ted Hughes to his son Nicholas on the importance of embracing his childhood self.

Law read: "The only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough - nothing else really counts."

Letters from figures such as Groucho Marx, Maya Angelou, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Wilder and James Baldwin were brought to life by the speakers.
Chechens go on trial for killing Kremlin critic, lawyers cry foul

By Valery Stepchenkov

MOSCOW, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Five Chechen men went on trial in Moscow on Monday for the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, but lawyers for the dead man's daughter said the investigation had failed to uncover who ordered the shooting.

The 55-year-old Nemtsov, an opposition leader and former deputy prime minister, was gunned down near the Kremlin walls late in the evening of Feb. 27, 2015, as he walked home with his girlfriend from a restaurant.

He was the most prominent opposition figure to be assassinated during the rule of President Vladimir Putin, whose government has condemned the killing and described it as a "provocation" designed to discredit it.

A prosecutor said the investigation had identified a group of Chechens who had been after Nemtsov since autumn 2014. They rented apartments in Moscow, bought a pistol and ammunition and used several cars to keep track of him.

On the day of the murder, two of the accused watched Nemtsov through a window as he dined with his girlfriend at a glitzy cafe near Red Square, the court was told. One of the men caught up with him as he crossed a bridge and fired six shots at him.

After the murder, the group went to their home region of Chechnya in southern Russia. One of the alleged gang was killed while resisting arrest.

Olga Mikhailova, a lawyer representing Nemtsov's daughter Zhanna, told reporters the investigation was not over yet and it lacked evidence: "The main figures and those who ordered (the killing) have not been found yet."

She said investigators had rejected requests by victims' lawyers to question Ramzan Kadyrov, the staunchly pro-Kremlin president of Chechnya. Nemtsov had publicly criticised Kadyrov and his security services, and accused Putin of buying the former warlord's loyalty "with trainloads of cash".

Kadyrov, who calls himself "Putin's foot soldier", has denied involvement in the crime and described Nemtsov as a minor figure. "Nemtsov did not bother me in real life because he was not on my level," he told state-controlled NTV in February.

A close relative of a senator representing Chechnya in Russia's parliament originally figured as a suspect in the investigation but was later dropped from the case, Mikhailova said.

"All this is despite the defendants' obvious link with top officials and Nemtsov's conflict with Kadyrov," Mikhailova said. "They have falsely declared the crime solved."

The court accepted a petition filed by victims' lawyers to conduct a new investigation, but nevertheless proceeded with the hearings.

"I am firmly persuaded that at least some of those who are on the defendants' bench were truly involved in carrying out this crime," said Vadim Prokhorov, another lawyer for Zhanna Nemtsova.

"Nevertheless as far as the organisers and the one that gave the order are concerned, we have repeatedly put forward motions for the interrogation of a number of top officials in the Republic of Chechnya, including Ramzan Kadyrov, (but) this has not been done yet."
More than 6,000 migrants plucked from sea in a single day, 22 dead

ROME, Oct 3 (Reuters) - About 6,055 migrants were rescued and 22 found dead on the perilous sea route to Europe on Monday, one of the highest numbers in a single day, Italian and Libyan officials said.

Italy's coastguard said at least nine migrants had died and a pregnant woman and a child had been taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the Libyan coast.

Libyan officials said 11 migrant bodies had washed up on a beach east of the capital, Tripoli, and another two migrants had died when a boat sank off the western city of Sabratha.

One Italian coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat, one of some 20 rescue operations during the day.

About 10 ships from the coast guard, the navy and humanitarian organisations were involved in the rescues, most of which took place some 30 miles off the coast of Libya.

Libyan naval and coastguard patrols intercepted three separate boats carrying more than 450 migrants, officials said.

Monday was the third anniversary of the sinking of a migrant boat off the Italian island of Lampedusa in which 386 people died.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died.

Most depart from Libya, where political chaos and a security vacuum have allowed people smugglers to act with impunity.
World powers seek billions more dollars to keep Afghanistan running

By Robin Emmott and James Mackenzie

BRUSSELS/KABUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - World powers will convene on Brussels on Tuesday to raise billions more dollars for Afghanistan to keep the country running until 2020, but the bigger prize would be a peace deal after almost four decades of conflict.

Fifteen years after the U.S. invasion that ousted Taliban rulers harbouring militants behind the attacks on New York and Washington, Afghanistan remains reliant on international aid and faces a resurgent Taliban that threatens the country's progress.

The two-day, EU-led donor conference in Brussels will seek fresh funds, despite Western public fatigue with their governments' involvement in Afghanistan. Around 70 governments, including the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, Iran, China and India, are expected to attend.

"We're buying four more years for Afghanistan," said EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Mellbin. But he stressed that the conference would also seek "a realistic timeline" for a new peace process.

"If we don't achieve peace, it's simply going to be extremely costly for the foreseeable future," he told Reuters.

With 1.2 million Afghans forced to live as refugees in their own country and another 3 million living in Iran, Pakistan or seeking asylum in Europe, Afghanistan remains one of the world's most dangerous countries, according to the Global Peace Index of the think-tank Institute for Economics and Peace.

Underlining Afghanistan's precarious situation, Taliban fighters pushed into the centre of the northern city of Kunduz on Monday, a year after it briefly fell to the militants.

BIG STAKES

Long a crossroad for major powers, a prosperous Afghanistan could mean fewer refugees into Europe, an end to its status as a haven for militant groups hostile to the West and more effective police action against its billion-dollar narcotics trade.

For Moscow, which invaded in 1979 and spent a decade trying to control the country, the stability of the central Asian region is paramount. It has its largest foreign military base on the Afghan border, in Tajikistan, and an interest in keeping out the drugs that are trafficked and consumed in Russia.

But even with billions of dollars spent by the United States and NATO for Afghan security forces, some 30 percent of the Afghan population lives in territory that the government does not fully control, according to Western officials.

At the Brussels conference, officials will seek total pledges of $3 billion a year for the 2017-2020 period.

That is lower than the $4 billion a year pledged at the last conference in Tokyo in 2012, partly because Afghanistan is raising its own revenues and because of so-called donor fatigue. Eighty percent of Afghanistan's budget is financed by aid and the money will still fall short, according to one EU official.

On the margins of the conference, EU foreign policy chief Federacy Mongering may try to bring together China, Iran, Russia, the United States, Pakistan and India in what would be the first concerted peace push since 2013.
For now, U.S. tries to ignore Philippine president's broadsides

By Idrees Ali and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. officials are doing their best to ignore Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's hostile rhetoric and taking comfort in the fact that he has yet to translate his words into less military cooperation.

The United States is trying not to give the new Philippine president, who recently appeared to liken himself to Hitler, a pretext for further outbursts while at the same time pressing ahead with military and other cooperation at lower levels, U.S. officials said on Monday.

Two U.S. officials said that while an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China has grown increasingly aggressive, there are no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines.

Mindful of anti-colonial sentiment, despite the estimated 3 million people of Philippine descent living in the United States, U.S. officials do not want to say or do anything that might encourage Duterte to turn his rhetoric into reality.

"He is like Mr. Trump," a senior Southeast Asian official said, referring to U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "He craves attention, and the more he gets, the more outrageous he becomes. It is wisest to ignore him."

In the last month, Duterte has appeared to call U.S. President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch," leading the White House to cancel a planned meeting, and to liken himself to Hitler, saying he would "be happy" to kill 3 million drug users and peddlers in the country.

Duterte said he regretted using that language to describe Obama and apologized to the Jewish community for his references to the Holocaust.

In his latest broadside, Duterte on Sunday said he got expressions of support from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and from an unnamed Chinese official after he complained of ill-treatment by Washington.

While Duterte has publicly suggested he would end joint military exercises, push U.S. special operations forces out of the southern Philippines, and review a defense pact signed two years ago, U.S. officials stressed none of this has happened.

'ALL BLUSTER'

U.S. military officials said they were well aware of Duterte's comments, but their counterparts in the Philippines had reassured them that business continues as usual.

"No one is really losing sleep over it," said one U.S. defense official on condition of anonymity.

"It is all bluster," said a second defense official, saying Duterte's remarks "have not bled over into our world."

There are about 100 U.S. soldiers in Zamboanga City, a Philippine military spokesman said, well below the 1,200 U.S. forces initially deployed to help train and advise local troops fight the Abu Sayyaf Group, an Islamist militant group.

The Philippine military spokesman said he was not aware of any plan to pull them out.

Other than Japan's 1942-1945 occupation, the United States effectively ruled the Philippines from 1898, when it acquired the island chain from Spain following the Spanish-American War, until recognizing its independence in 1946.

The two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951, but their close cooperation diminished a quarter century ago, when the Philippines kicked U.S. forces out of two large military installations, including the naval base at Subic Bay.

ENHANCED COOPERATION

Two years ago, however, the two signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows U.S. troops to build storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

Under the agreement, two C-130 transport planes and 100 U.S. servicemen have been at an air base in the central Philippines since Sept. 25 as part of a two-week exercise.

Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said the EDCA is an international agreement, and the United States and Philippines are bound by international law. Citing the agreement's text, Ross said it has an initial term of 10 years, after which either side may end it with a year's written notice.

The former colony is a key element of the Obama administration's policy of "rebalancing" its foreign policy toward Asia, and the two nations have begun joint patrols in the South China Sea as China asserts its territorial claims.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, its claims overlapping with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

U.S. officials are disturbed by the fact that more than 3,100 people have been killed since Duterte took office three months ago and launched a promised drugs war, yet they value the country's long-standing military ties.

"Sometimes you have to hold your nose about the individuals and deal with the countries. The United States doesn't have the luxury of writing off the Philippines, so we have to find a way to deal with this extraordinarily distasteful leader while still conveying our opposition to his human rights policies," said Frank Jannuzi, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Asia specialist now at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.

U.S. lawmakers have conveyed their concerns in repeated conversations with the Philippine Embassy, where diplomats are torn between their need to represent Duterte's government and their concerns about what he has been saying.

The United States has sent the Philippines hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and military and development assistance in recent years, making it the third-largest Asian recipient of U.S. military aid after Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Two influential senators, Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that handles foreign aid, said Congress would take Duterte's policies into account when deciding on aid for the current fiscal year.

One U.S. official said that while the Obama administration is more worried about Duterte that it is letting on publicly, there is no great concern about the defense implications of a political break because the United States has alternatives.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said these include the Navy Region Center Singapore, training facilities in Brunei, and the possibility of greater naval access in Vietnam.
Brazil's Temer says high abstentions show voters disenchanted

BRASILIA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Monday the high abstention rate as well as the number of blank and spoiled ballots in local elections on the weekend signaled the disillusionment of Brazilians with their political system.

Brazil's electoral authority, the TSE, said the abstention rate averaged 17.5 percent in Sunday's nationwide polls, up from 15.4 percent in the municipal elections in 2014. Brazilians are obliged by law to vote and can face a small fine unless they provide a satisfactory reason for not doing so.

"It's clear there is disenchantment with the political class as a whole," Temer said during a visit to Argentina, saying the high abstention rate was a message to Brazilian politicians to change their ways.

At a later news conference in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, Temer said the "immense number of abstentions, blank votes and spoilt ballots" showed the pressing need for political reform in Brazil.

About 50 politicians are under investigation in a sprawling corruption scandal that has shaken Brazil's political establishment and undermined the faith of Brazilians in their three-decade-old democracy.

The scandal surrounding state-run oil company Petrobras contributed to the removal at an impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff in August, ending the 13-year-rule of her Workers Party.

The leftist group suffered major setbacks in Sunday's vote for mayors and local council members across Brazil.

In Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, a bastion of anti-Rousseff sentiment, the abstention rate was 21.8 percent, and 11.5 percent of the votes cast were spoiled and 5.3 percent were blank.

Temer said the victory in Sao Paulo of businessman Joao Doria, who campaigned saying he was a manager and not a politician, was a further indication that voters were unhappy.

In Rio de Janeiro, the country's second largest city, where Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, was badly beaten on Sunday, the abstention rate was even higher at 24.3 percent, while voters spoiled 12.7 percent of the ballots and left 5 percent blank, according to the TSE.
Taiwan stocks rise; Hon Hai falls after unit issues profit warning

TAIPEI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose on Tuesday, heading for their second straight session of gains, with banking and technology shares leading the way.

The main TAIEX index was up 0.3 percent at 9,265.31 as of 0312 GMT, after closing 0.7 percent higher in the previous session.

The electronics subindex rose 0.4 percent, while the financials subindex gained 0.4 percent.

However, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co fell 0.1 percent after unit FIH Mobile warned its consolidated net profit would more than halve this year as weaker sales dent business at the Hong Kong-listed company.
Iran oil exports hit pre-sanctions high on run-up in condensate shipments

By Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu

SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Iran's total crude oil and condensate sales likely reached around 2.8 million barrels per day in September, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, nearly matching a 2011 peak in shipments before sanctions were imposed on the OPEC producer.

The run-up from shipments of around 2.5 million bpd in August comes mainly from condensate, a light oil excluded from OPEC supply quotas that is often produced with natural gas and can be used to make naphtha for petrochemical production.

Iran sold 600,000 bpd of condensate for September - up from about 350,000 bpd in August and including about 100,000 bpd shipped from storage - to meet robust demand in Asia, the two sources said. September crude exports increased slightly from the previous month to about 2.2 million bpd, they said.

Iran, along with Libya and Nigeria, is allowed to produce "at maximum levels that make sense" as part of any output limits in a surprise deal reached last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Still, the Middle Eastern producer has surprised the market by ramping up its oil output faster than expected, to 3.63 million bpd in August, according to OPEC, up a quarter from end-2015 since sanctions were lifted in January.

"Iran cannot produce much more than the present, so around 3.7 million bpd may be the max," said Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman of consultancy FGE.

Even if Iran's output hit 3.8 million bpd - as an oil official said it had in September - it would not be able to sustain that volume as decline rates at its oilfields are about 400,000 bpd each year, Fesharaki said.

National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) officials did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Iran has said it plans to raise its output to 4 million bpd, although other analysts agreed production has probably peaked for now because investments to pump out more oil are lagging.

SOUTH PARS CONDENSATE TO PUSH GROWTH

Condensate instead of crude oil will drive Iran's export growth for the remainder of 2016, the sources said, thanks in part to developments at its giant South Pars gas field that have increased the supply of the light oil from there.

NIOC also drew in September on condensate stocks held in floating storage and onshore tanks to help meet growth in demand from China, South Korea, Japan and India, as the Iranian condensate became more competitive against the tightening supplies of a rival grade from Qatar.

Iranian ports loaded 2.153 million barrels of crude and 486,000 bpd of condensate in September, according to Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodities Research. That put the month's total at 2.639 million bpd - excluding the condensate loaded out of storage - up from 2.472 million bpd in August, the Reuters data showed.

Condensate sales could reach 800,000 bpd in October, in excess of production at about 550,000 bpd, one of the sources said, suggesting further draws from floating tankers.

"Korea was the main demand driver for the growth. Japanese and Indian plants were also raising imports," said one of the two sources with knowledge of the matter from Beijing, adding that China's Sinopec has also boosted its offtake of condensate since August.

Iran will sell another 2 million barrels, or about 66,000 bpd, of South Pars condensate each month to Hyundai Chemical in Daesan between October and December, the two sources said.

Iranian condensate will meet about 70 percent of the feedstock demand at a new Hyundai Chemical splitter jointly operated by Hyundai Oilbank Co and Lotte Chemical .

A Hyundai Oilbank spokesman declined to comment.

According to trade flow data on the Thomson Reuters Eikon terminal for Iran condensate that discharged in September, about one-third went to South Korea, with the rest going to the United Arab Emirates, India, China and Japan.

Iran's South Pars condensate is usually sold at small premiums to Dubai quotes, free-on-board, much lower than Qatari condensate, which sells at premiums of $2-$3 a barrel, trade sources said.
Sensing opportunity, cities seek business backing for climate change efforts

By Megan Rowling

LONDON, Oct 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Cities around the world, including in developing nations, are increasingly grasping the economic opportunities generated by the need to tackle climate change and are pursuing concrete partnerships with business, a climate research group said.

In a report based on environmental data disclosed by 533 cities this year, London-based CDP said those cities had identified 720 climate change-related projects they hoped to work on with the private sector, worth a combined $26 billion.

They include South Africa's Cape Town, which plans to expand a scheme for companies to buy wind-generated power via green energy certificates; and Quito in Ecuador, which is seeking $800 million to deliver a project to treat waste water using gravity rather than electric pumps, as well as producing hydropower.

Kolkata in India wants business backing for renewable energy projects including solar-powered heating and street lighting.

"Cities have a clear appetite for collaborating with the private sector on climate change, and they see it as an economic opportunity," said Maia Kutner, head of cities at CDP.

Of the cities that reported on their climate change action to CDP, 299 said they were looking to grow new industries, such as clean tech.

Moving from sharing knowledge and ideas, many cities are looking to launch more tangible projects with the private sector and secure financial investment, she added.

The most popular areas for potential collaboration are in energy efficiency, retrofitting buildings, renewable energy and transport, the report said.

"What we'll see is a shift towards more hands-on work on emissions reductions and joint work on financing for these projects - because as we know, that is a big challenge," Kutner told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

NEED FOR FINANCE

The investment needed in cities for low-carbon transport, energy, water, waste and telecommunications infrastructure is estimated at $57 trillion between now and 2030, the CDP report said.

Interest is rising in "blended" models of finance, in which public-sector institutions such as development banks can reduce investment risk for businesses, Kutner said.

"Cities and businesses working together are more likely to be able to attract private-sector finance, because right now (it) just isn't flowing into cities enough," she added.

Another reason for working together more closely is that even though the world's cities are responsible for some three-quarters of global climate-changing emissions, municipal operations produce just 3 percent of total citywide emissions.

The rest comes from sources city authorities do not control or own directly, such as buildings and private transport.

"San Francisco would not have been able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions without working collaboratively with numerous environmental partners including our business community," said the city's mayor Ed Lee.

Cities that work with the private sector are more likely to have an emissions reduction target, the report said. Of the 190 cities with a target, three-quarters partner with business.

Conversely, the low proportion of cities in Africa and Latin America with an emissions-cutting goal could deter businesses from getting involved in municipal projects, the report said.

"In African and Latin American cities, they are less advanced in, for example, setting emissions reductions targets or reporting on their plans or providing comprehensive disclosures," said Kutner.
Physical coal prices surge to highest since start of 2014

By Henning Gloystein and Nina Chestney

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Physical thermal coal prices hit their highest level since the start of 2014 on Tuesday after tougher Chinese transport rules raised freight costs, adding to the earlier impact of Chinese caps on mining.

Coal prices started to soar after China introduced regulations in April to rein in rampant production overcapacity by limiting the number of days that miners can operate.

Prices were given a further boost in late September when China's Transport Ministry introduced stricter rules for land transport, which pushed up freight costs.

"The new rules are expected to effectively crack down on freight over-loading by setting up higher standards, imposing stronger penalties and enhancing inspections," Citi said in a note to clients at the end of September.

The biggest impact has been on Australian coal, the main price benchmark for the Asia/Pacific region, and a core supplier to China.

Australian prompt Newcastle cargo prices have shot up 12.8 percent since the end of September to $82 per tonne, their highest since January 2014. Newcastle cargo prices are up 68.4 percent from multi-year lows touched in January.

One trader said coal prices would keep rising until the situation in the Asia/Pacific region changes, which might not be until the end of the first quarter next year.

Another trader said China's new policies had left the world's biggest coal consumer "desperately short" of supplies at a time when demand seasonally strengthens ahead of winter.

Thermal coal imports surged in August, rising 20 percent month-on-month to 20 million tonnes.

Morgan Stanley, however, said it was possible domestic Chinese coal supplies could rise sharply in October and November to prevent a supply shortfall, and this "would be a short-term bear point for all coal prices".

In a move to boost local supplies, China last week ordered major mines to raise thermal coal output by another 500,000 tonnes per day.

NOT JUST CHINA

Despite the near-term downside risk to prices, there are other supportive factors, including firm demand from developed markets such as South Korea, and across most emerging markets, as well as output cuts in Indonesia and Australia.

"An added bullish factor is by way of increased coal usage from the European power sector as a result of all the nuclear reactors out of action," said Wayne Bryan, analyst at consultancy Alfa Energy.

French utility EDF said last week it would carry out tests on some nuclear reactors during the winter months, triggering fears about the French system's ability to meet peak demand if temperatures fall below normal.

In Europe, coal import prices into Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp (ARA) are up 12.9 percent since the end of September at $71 per tonne, their highest since December 2014, and 69 percent above first-quarter lows.

In the futures market, API2 2017 coal prices have risen to $65.75 a tonne, their highest since January 2015.

Technical analysis suggests that futures might rise as high as nearly $80 a tonne in the next six months the contract has broken a key resistance level of $62.83.
Romania - Factors to watch on Oct. 4

Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Tuesday.

PPI DATA

Romania's National Statistics Day to release producer prices data for August at 0600 GMT.

FX RESERVES

The Romanian central bank's foreign exchange reserves, excluding 103.7 tonnes of gold, rose by 331 million euros on the month to 33.3 billion euros ($37.41 billion) at the end of September, it said on Monday.

CEE MARKETS

Central European stocks rose on Monday as concerns over Deutsche Bank eased somewhat and turnout in Hungary's weekend referendum on the European Union's migrant quotas was too low to make the vote valid.

WHEAT

Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) set a tender on Monday to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from global suppliers for shipment from Nov. 1-10. GASC is seeking to buy cargoes of soft and/or milling wheat from the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Poland, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.

For the long-term Romanian diary, click on

For emerging markets economic events, click on

For an index of all diaries, click on
Hong Kong stocks flat, Evergrande jumps on backdoor listing plan

HONG KONG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks were flat on Tuesday as investors took profits following a rally led by China Evergrande after its backdoor listing plan, and they also squared positions in case mainland authorities take fresh steps to cool China's property prices.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index edged up 0.02 percent at 23,590.00 points by lunch break, while China Enterprises Index gained 0.4 percent to 9,719.54 points.

China Evergrande jumped as much as 12 percent to their highest since Aug. 19 after its plans to inject almost all of its property assets into a Shenzhen-listed firm, orchestrating a backdoor listing in the mainland that could potentially fetch it a higher valuation.

Investors were reluctant to leave positions exposed with mainland share markets closed for a week-long national holiday.

"Without the China market, players were hestitated to take major positions, but still the underlying tone is still firm," said Steven Leung, a director at UOB Kay Hian.

Concern over further property measures to cool the mainland property market triggered selling.

Shares of China Resources Land fell 2.6 percent and China Overseas Land slid 1.6 percent.
Turkey says suspends 12,801 police over alleged links with cleric Gulen

ANKARA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have suspended 12,801 police officers from duty, police headquarters said on Tuesday, over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in July.
Turkey suspends 13,000 police officers, shuts down TV station

By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Humeyra Pamuk

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July's failed coup.

The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, were suspended because of their suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the coup attempt, which led to the deaths of more than 240 people.

The suspensions were ordered hours after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing President Tayyip Erdogan's powers to govern by decree at least until January.

The emergency extension, which parliamentary is likely to wave through, means Erdogan can take decisions without oversight of the Constitutional Court, Turkey's highest legal body.

As well as suspending five percent of the entire police force, the authorities detained 33 air force officers in raids across the country, the private Dogan news agency reported, and the transmission of TV station IMC was cut following accusations of spreading "terrorist propaganda".

State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the Interior Ministry's headquarters had also been removed from their posts, although no explanation was given.

Since the July 15 insurrection, Erdogan has taken steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 arrested.

The government says its aim is to rid institutions of links to Gulen, whose organisation it calls a terrorist network.

One of the police officers suspended on Tuesday, a 26-year-old man, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in a park in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Dogan reported.

SYRIA OPERATIONS

The relentless crackdown has caused consternation among Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups, who fear Erdogan is using the unsuccessful coup as a pretext to curtail any dissent, while at the same time intensifying his moves against suspected Kurdish militants and sympathisers.

On Tuesday evening, the armed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a Turkish military outpost in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, in Diyarbikar province, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, the local governor said.

"An attack has been made by the divisive terrorist organisation on military personnel," the governor's office said in a statement, using the usual terminology to describe the PKK.

In August, Turkish forces launched an offensive into northern Syria in support of rebels fighting against Islamic State, creating a security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border that also appears designed to push Kurdish militia away.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the YPG Kurdish militia, which is backed by the United States, was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State and said Turkish forces were prepared to go after Kurdish fighters in the same way.

"We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus," he said, referring to Islamic State.

Ankara fears Kurdish militants fighting for greater autonomy in Turkey could benefit from turmoil in the region.

In a further sign of the government's desire to move rapidly to quell domestic opposition, Yildirim said the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to prosecuting those accused of backing the coup.

"One of the main goals is shortening the time it takes to prosecute people," he said. "We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly."

While Turkey cracks down at home and expands its footprint in Syria, it also wants the United States to extradite Gulen so he can be prosecuted on charges that he masterminded the failed insurrection.

On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Gulen's brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relative's house. Several of Gulen's relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15.

Erdogan's security clampdown may be bolstering his own authority but it has had economic repercussions, with credit ratings agencies downgrading the country's debt to "junk" and the lira weakening against the dollar.
PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Oct 4

SOFIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said current President Rosen Plevneliev has won the respect of Bulgaria's allies in EU and NATO, but his hawkish statements on Russia have worsened the relations with Moscow, which Borisov has managed to balance. (Trud, Standart, Monitor, 24 Chasa, Capital Daily)

-- Police operation for detaining corrupt border police officers has hindered work at the border checkpoint with Turkey, resulting in long truck queues. (Trud, 24 Chasa)
Poland - Factors to Watch Oct 4

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

PZU

Poland's biggest insurer PZU published on Tuesday its new dividend policy assuming payouts of at least 50 percent of its consolidated attributable net profit in 2016-2020.

EDF

France's EDF received one offer for its heating assets in Poland. The only potential buyer is Australian infrastructure fund IFM, Puls Biznesu daily said, without naming its source.

SABMIller

Polish private food group Maspex Wadowice is looking for a financial investor who will support it in its efforts to buy SABMillers Polish assets in a transaction worth 5-7 billion euros ($5.60-7.84 billion), Puls Biznesu said.

P4

Funds such as Blackstone, CVC, Advent International, Warburg Pincus, and APAX are interested in buying Poland's mobile phone operator P4, Puls Biznesu said. The company which uses commercial name Play was put up for sale by its owners Greek Olympia and Island's Novator.

****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
ABB rejects shareholder calls to spin off Power Grids

By John Revill

ZURICH, Oct 4 (Reuters) - ABB will keep its Power Grids business in a rejection of demands from an activist investor to spin it off and the Swiss engineering group has also unveiled plans for a $3 billion share buy back from next year.

The Zurich-based company's long-awaited decision disappointed Cevian Capital, ABB's second biggest shareholder, which had wanted Power Grids to become a separate entity. Investor AB, ABB's largest shareholder, backed the decision to hold on to it.

ABB said on Tuesday it had made this choice to take advantage of trends like smart grids and linking renewable energy production to consumers and that this was a better option than selling, floating, or spinning off the business.

Cevian Capital, which has a 6.2 percent stake in ABB, was disappointed.

"ABB is a collection of top-quality businesses whose performance has been hindered for many years by the company's conglomerate structure," Christer Gardell, Cevian's Managing Partner & co-founder, said.

Cevian said separating ABB and Power Grids, which makes parts for offshore wind turbines, could create two companies with combined share price of 35 Swiss francs ($35.80).

"The board has decided to keep the conglomerate structure. We think this is an unfortunate decision. The board and management team will be held accountable for realising 35 francs," Gardell said.

ABB's shares, which despite a recovery in 2016, have lagged rivals like General Electric, Siemens and Legrand over the past five years.

ABB's shares were up about 0.8 percent at 22.14 Swiss francs at 13.02 GMT.

ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer said he had had a "friendly and open" conversation with Cevian early on Tuesday, without giving further details.

"Cevian and ABB have a lot in common," he told reporters. "We will drive a lot of value creation for our shareholders."

Chief Financial Officer Erik Elzvik said it would be possible for ABB to increase its share price to 35 Swiss francs, but did not give a time frame.

Power Grids is the least profitable of ABB's divisions due partly to its involvement in low margin projects. Competition has also forced down prices of products like transformers, also hitting margins.

Profitability has improved this year as a result of linking with partners to share the risk on projects and a greater focus on product supply rather than engineering, procurement and construction management services.

Nordea, another shareholder in ABB, said the decision to retain Power Grids meant the company's management had to deliver and improve its performance.

"Now that they have decided to keep it, it increases pressure on them to show the benefits and grow faster and be more profitable than their competitors," John Hernander, portfolio manager at Nordea Asset Management, said.

ABB said it was raising its margin outlook for Power Grids to a range of 10 to 14 percent from 2018, from a previous target of 8 to 12 percent. This would be achieved by focusing on higher-margin consultancy services and software.

Spiesshofer said he saw potential because the power grids market was growing at around 3 percent per year, but some parts were growing much faster.

Investor AB CEO Johan Forssell said: "We see no reason to jeopardise the strong momentum, for example, when it comes to cost savings and the turnaround of the systems part of Power Grids, the company enjoys by breaking it up."

"Secondly, we believe that ABB is more worth kept together than divided into pieces. We simply believe that the separation costs outweigh the positive aspects of a breakup, and we believe that ABB is a good owner of the business."
AstraZeneca's Brilinta fails in peripheral artery disease trial

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca said on Tuesday its heart drug Brilinta failed to show any benefit over an existing medicine in treating peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a large-scale clinical trial.

The company said it was disappointed that the drug, which is used to treat heart attack patients, had not been successful for PAD sufferers.
Slovak Republic - Factors To Watch on Oct 4

BRATISLAVA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview =========================EVENTS================================ BRATISLAVA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka will address a conference on nuclear energy. Related stories: =========================NEWS================================== IMMIGRATION: It is up to Hungary's government to find a response to Sunday's referendum on rejecting European Union migrant quotas which was rendered invalid by low turnout, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday. Story: Related stories: BOND AUCTIONS: Slovakia's state debt agency Ardal will auction bonds maturing in 2023, 2027 and 2031 in American auctions on Oct. 17, the agency said on Monday. Story: Related stories: BUDGET DEFICIT: The Slovak central government budget deficit reached 644.37 million euros ($723.95 million) at the end of September, narrower than a 1.18 billion euro gap posted a year ago, the finance ministry said on Monday. Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jason Hovet on +420 224 190 476 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
South Africa's Sibanye Gold shuts mine after union clashes

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Work at Sibanye Gold's South African Cooke mine has been suspended after two members of the National Union of Mineworkers were left in a critical condition after being attacked, a spokesman for the company said on Tuesday.
Asia refining margins tumble to near 6-wk low on crude price spike

By Mark Tay

SINGAPORE, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Asian refining margins have tumbled to their lowest in nearly six weeks after touching a seven-month high in September, hit by a spike in crude prices following OPEC's decision to curb output.

Singapore refining margins to Dubai crude had fallen over 34 percent from their September-high to $4.98 per barrel on Oct. 3, their weakest since late August.

"Higher crude prices tend to drive down margins - gasoline margins ... should be under pressure when gasoline season is over like it is now," said Oystein Berentsen, managing director for crude at oil trading firm Strong Petroleum in Singapore.

The decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce output to a range of 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day (bpd) has lifted cash Dubai crude prices by 13.6 percent in the last five trading days, indicating that refiner feedstock costs should rise by similar proportions.

Overall refining margins have also been dragged lower by weaker naphtha and fuel oil refining margins amid easing post-summer gasoline demand.

Refining margin discounts for fuel oil have widened as more supplies are expected to flow to Asia after peak-summer demand for cooling in the Middle East fades.

Naphtha refining margins have also been hit by weaker demand following shutdowns of naphtha crackers in Singapore and Japan, traders said.

Naphtha refining margins to Brent crude futures have fallen 22.6 percent in the last five trading days to $36.83 per tonne.

Shell declared force majeure on base chemicals from its ethylene cracker at its Bukom manufacturing site in Singapore after an outage last week. The unit's feedstock is mainly naphtha but it can also process liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and residual fuel.

"Shell's cracker (being) down is taking away demand so prompt naphtha is very bearish," said a Singapore-based trader.

Middle distillate refining margins, which have held steady around $12 per barrel to Dubai crude, were the only bright spot for refiners, a second Singapore-based trader said, adding that ongoing refinery maintenance in Asia was supporting prices.

"Refiners are hoping for a cold winter to boost heating oil demand," the second trader said. Both traders declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media.

Upside for Asian refinery margins in the coming quarter is limited as the supply glut in the naphtha market is expected to grow and gasoline demand is likely to remain lacklustre.

"I think naphtha cracks are going to be hard to recover. Sooner or later Qatar's Ras Laffan 2 condensate splitter will start and it's bearish with more naphtha supply coming from them," the first trader said.

Qatargas will start operations at its new 146,000 bpd Ras Laffan 2 condensate splitter by the end of this month after the firm delayed its September-scheduled start-up.
Conservative lawmakers slam German economy minister over Deutsche remarks

BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Conservative lawmakers lashed out at Germany's economy minister on Tuesday for attacking Deutsche Bank's chief executive, saying the minister's job was to support the country's biggest bank, not talk it down.

Sigmar Gabriel, the economy minister and leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, criticised Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan for blaming speculators when the bank's share price plunged last week.

"I did not know if I should laugh or cry that the bank that made speculation a business model is now saying it is a victim of speculators," Gabriel told reporters on a plane to Iran.

Hans Michelbach, a senior member of Merkel's conservative bloc, called Gabriel's remarks "pretty counterproductive."

"As German economy minister, your task is to promote Germany as a place to do business and not to bad-mouth individual market participants," he told the newspaper Handelsblatt.

Germany needs Deutsche Bank, which employs around 100,000 people, if its export-orientated economy is to fulfil its potential, Michelbach added.

"Therefore, it's inconceivable that Mr Gabriel could let himself get carried away with such comments," he said.

Deutsche Bank has been engulfed by a crisis of confidence after the U.S. Department of Justice demanded last month that it pay up to $14 billion to settle claims it mis-sold U.S. mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.

The threat of the penalty has pushed the bank's shares to record lows. It is pushing to reach an agreement for a much smaller settlement, to reverse the stock sell-off and help to restore confidence.

Gabriel said he was worried for the people who worked at the bank, but conservatives accused him of playing politics.

"I'm not just worried about employees, but also about the German economy," Joachim Pfeiffer, the spokesman on economic policy for the conservatives in parliament, told Reuters.

Attacking the bank when it is in a period of consolidation is not clever but "cheap," conservative lawmaker Michael Fuchs told the Passauer Neue Presse. "The economy minister is abusing his office to do party politics," Fuchs said.

With elections due next year, German politicians have little appetite for helping Deutsche Bank, after its pursuit of business abroad left it facing billions of euros in penalties for wrongdoing.
German minister, in Tehran, urges Iran to push for Syria ceasefire

By Gernot Heller

TEHRAN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged the Iranian government during his two-day visit to the Islamic Republic to do what it can to push for a ceasefire in Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, supported by Iranian-backed militia and Russian air power, have stepped up an offensive against rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, bombing hospitals and damaging water supplies.

"We have of course asked the government to do everything it can to push for a ceasefire," Gabriel told reporters late on Monday after meeting Iranian politicians.

He said he had made clear that no one in Germany could understand that hospitals were being bombed and civilians were suffering.

Everyone who supports the Syrian government "and that includes Iran" shares responsibility for ending the fighting, he said. "I think Iran knows its responsibility there," he said.

The United States broke off talks with Russia on Monday on implementing a ceasefire agreement in Syria, suggesting there is little hope of a diplomatic resolution to the 5-1/2 year-old conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million.

"The ending of talks ultimately is a testament to our joint helplessness," Gabriel said.
-For now, U.S. tries to ignore Philippines president's broadsides

By Idrees Ali and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - U.S. officials are doing their best to ignore Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's hostile rhetoric and taking comfort in the fact that he has yet to translate his words into less military cooperation.

The United States is trying not to give the new president a pretext for further outbursts while at the same time pressing ahead with military and other cooperation at lower levels, U.S. officials said on Monday.

While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China has grown increasingly aggressive, there are no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, according to two U.S. officials.

Mindful of anti-colonial sentiment, despite the estimated 3 million people of Philippine descent living in the United States, U.S. officials do not want to say or do anything that might encourage Duterte to turn his rhetoric into reality.

"He is like Mr. Trump," a senior Southeast Asian official said, referring to U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "He craves attention, and the more he gets, the more outrageous he becomes. It is wisest to ignore him."

Asked by a reporter for his response to that comment, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said: "That is their opinion."

In the last month, Duterte has called U.S. President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch," leading the White House to cancel a planned meeting.

He also appeared to liken himself to Hitler and said he would "be happy" to kill 3 million drug users and peddlers in the country but later apologized to the Jewish community for his reference to the Holocaust. Duterte also said his mention of the Nazi leader was a reference to how his critics had portrayed him.

In his latest broadside, Duterte said on Sunday he got expressions of support from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and from an unnamed Chinese official after he complained of ill-treatment by Washington.

While Duterte has publicly suggested he would end joint military exercises, push U.S. special operations forces out of the southern Philippines, and review a defense pact signed two years ago, U.S. officials stressed none of this has happened.

'ALL BLUSTER'

U.S. military officials said they were well aware of Duterte's comments, but their counterparts in the Philippines had reassured them that business continues as usual.

"No one is really losing sleep over it," said one U.S. defense official on condition of anonymity.

"It is all bluster," said a second defense official, saying Duterte's remarks "have not bled over into our world."

There are about 100 U.S. soldiers in Zamboanga City in the south, a Philippine military spokesman said, well below the 1,200 U.S. forces initially deployed to help train and advise local troops fight the Abu Sayyaf Group, an Islamist militant group.

The Philippine military spokesman said he was not aware of any plan to pull them out.

Other than Japan's 1942-1945 occupation, the United States effectively ruled the Philippines from 1898, when it acquired the island chain from Spain following the Spanish-American War, until recognizing its independence in 1946.

The two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951, but their close cooperation diminished a quarter century ago, when the Philippines kicked U.S. forces out of two large military installations, including the naval base at Subic Bay.

ENHANCED COOPERATION

Two years ago, however, the two signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows U.S. troops to build storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

Under the agreement, two C-130 transport planes and 100 U.S. servicemen have been at an air base in the central Philippines since Sept. 25. On Tuesday, the two countries launched PHILBEX, an eight-day joint marine exercise.

Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said the EDCA is an international agreement, and the United States and Philippines are bound by international law. Citing the agreement's text, Ross said it has an initial term of 10 years, after which either side may end it with a year's written notice.

The former colony is a key element of the Obama administration's policy of "rebalancing" its foreign policy toward Asia, and the two nations have begun joint patrols in the South China Sea as China asserts its territorial claims.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, its claims overlapping with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

U.S. officials are disturbed by the fact that more than 3,100 people have been killed since Duterte took office three months ago and launched a promised drugs war, yet they value the country's long-standing military ties.

"Sometimes you have to hold your nose about the individuals and deal with the countries. The United States doesn't have the luxury of writing off the Philippines, so we have to find a way to deal with this extraordinarily distasteful leader while still conveying our opposition to his human rights policies," said Frank Jannuzi, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Asia specialist now at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.

U.S. lawmakers have conveyed their concerns in repeated conversations with the Philippine Embassy, where diplomats are torn between their need to represent Duterte's government and their concerns about what he has been saying.

The United States has sent the Philippines hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and military and development assistance in recent years, making it the third-largest Asian recipient of U.S. military aid after Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Two influential senators, Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that handles foreign aid, said Congress would take Duterte's policies into account when deciding on aid for the current fiscal year.

One U.S. official said that while the Obama administration is more worried about Duterte that it is letting on publicly, there is no great concern about the defense implications of a political break because the United States has alternatives.
Indonesia air force holds its largest military exercise in South China Sea

JAKARTA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia's air force is holding its largest military exercise this week, near some of its islands in the South China Sea, in a show of sovereignty over the gas-rich area on the fringe of territory claimed by China, officials said on Tuesday.

President Joko Widodo in June launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defence facilities around the Natuna island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats.

China, while not disputing Indonesia's clams to the Natuna islands, has raised Indonesian anger by saying the two countries had "over-lapping claims" to waters near them, an area Indonesia calls the Natuna Sea.

"We want to show our existence in the area. We have a good enough air force to act as a deterrent," said Jemi Trisonjaya, spokesman for Indonesia's air force.

More than 2,000 air force personnel were taking part in the two-week long exercise, which includes the deployment of Indonesia's fleet of Russian Sukhoi and F-16 fighter jets, he said.

Other branches of the Indonesian armed forces are not taking part in exercise, which ends on Thursday.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
Hong Kong stocks rise, China Evergrande surges on backdoor listing plan

HONG KONG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks posted modest gains on Tuesday led by consumer staples and a rally in developer China Evergrande, but gains were capped by concerns that more cities in China may take steps to cool surging property prices.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 0.5 percent at 23,689.44 points, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.8 percent at 9,756.77.

China Evergrande surged 12 percent at one point after it said it planned to inject almost all of its property assets into a Shenzhen-listed firm, orchestrating a backdoor listing in the mainland. The stock ended 8.2 percent.

But fears of more restrictions on home purchases in China triggered selling in the broader property sector.

Shares of China Resources Land slid 2.1 percent and China Overseas Land fell 1.6 percent. Both fell to their lowest close since Aug. 25.

Four Chinese cities have announced news restrictions on property purchases in recent days as local governments try to cool soaring home prices stoked by speculators in second- and third-tier cities.
Iran's NIOC signs first new model oil and gas contract with a local firm - SHANA

ANKARA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Tuesday signed a long-awaited new model contract with an Iranian firm while the OPEC producer hopes to attract foreign energy investors to boost output after years of international sanctions.

"The first new model contract, the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), to develop the second phase of Yaran field also an EOR (enhanced oil recovery) and IOR (improved oil recovery) contracts for Koupal oil field were signed," the Oil Ministry's official website SHANA reported.
Deutsche Bank and Pearson help European shares rally

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - European shares advanced on Tuesday, with Germany's Deutsche Bank hitting a two-week high following recent steep losses and the world's biggest education company Pearson gaining after encouraging comments by Morgan Stanley.

Pearson rose 5.6 percent, the top gainer in the pan-European STOXX 600 index, after Morgan Stanley said the company was unlikely to issue a profit warning, "meaning the shares could recover sharply on the Q3 results".

Deutsche Bank rose 2.7 percent to a two-week high. Its shares had slumped to a record low on Friday before bouncing back on expectations of a swift deal with U.S. authorities over a multi-billion dollar penalty.

HSBC said that despite Deutsche Bank's obvious operational shortcomings, fears over the bank's solvency were overdone. However, HSBC cut its target price for the bank, forecasting challenging conditions for the banking environment.

"Deutsche Bank should be well equipped to deal with this short-term lack of confidence," HSBC analysts said. "We maintain our 'hold' rating despite the selling pressure on the market as we believe the fundamentals of the company have not changed."

The STOXX Europe 600 index was up 0.6 percent, while Germany's DAX, which resumed trading after a holiday on Monday, was up 0.5 percent.

Britain's domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 1 percent to a record high, while the FTSE 100 index, dominated by international firms, gained 1.2 percent to 7,063 points - the first time since the mid-2015 it breached the 7,000 mark - helped by a weaker sterling following the Brexit vote.

"The (sterling) depreciation has been orderly thus far and is delivering the needed boost to UK exporters," Peel Hunt strategist Ian Williams said.

Among sector movers, BMW rose 2.5 percent and helped the European auto and parts index to gain 1.7 percent after Exane BNP Paribas raised its target price for the automaker to 87 euros from 70 euros.
Belgrade refugees seen making a break for the Hungarian border

BELGRADE, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Several hundred refugees set off from central Belgrade on Tuesday morning, heading in the direction of the Hungarian border, Reuters witnesses said.

The large crowd of people were seen walking northwards along the city's Sava river, stopping occasionally to negotiate with police.

Some 7,000 migrants, most fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere, are trapped in Serbia, prevented from continuing further into Europe by fences now running the length of the Hungarian-Serbian border.

Many migrants in Belgrade, most of whom bed down in makeshift camps by the city's central station, had thought Hungary's referendum last weekend on whether to accept European migrant quotas presaged an opening of the border.

A large group of refugees who left Belgrade's camps last month got as far as the northern city of Novi Sad, from where they were taken to reception centres on the Serbian side of the Hungarian border.
Iran signs key oil contract with Khamenei-linked firm

By Yeganeh Torbati

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Iran signed the first oil output contract under a new, less restrictive model on Tuesday, Iranian oil officials were quoted as saying, with a firm identified by the United States as part of a conglomerate controlled by Iran's Supreme Leader.

Iran hopes its new Iran Petroleum Contracts (IPC), part of an effort to sweeten the terms it offers on oil development deals, will attract foreign investors and boost production after years of sanctions.

The National Iranian Oil Company signed the contract with Persia Oil & Gas Industry Development Co., an Iranian firm, according to the oil ministry's official website SHANA. (http://bit.ly/2dGKi8h)

The U.S. Treasury Department named Persia Oil & Gas in 2013 as part of Setad Ejraiye Farman-e Emam, or Setad, a secretive and powerful organization overseen by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

With stakes in nearly every sector of Iran's economy, Setad built its empire on the seizure of thousands of properties belonging to religious minorities, business people and Iranians living abroad, according to a 2013 Reuters investigation, which estimated the network's holdings at about $95 billion. (http://reut.rs/1g1qkCg)

The U.S. Treasury in 2013 sanctioned Setad and 37 companies it said it oversees, calling it "a major network of front companies controlled by Iran's leadership." Those sanctions were lifted in January, as part of the historic nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers in 2015.

Under the contract signed on Tuesday, Persia Oil & Gas will develop four oil fields and reservoirs in southwest Iran, working to increase their output from 185,000 barrels per day now to at least 260,000 bpd, said Ali Kardor, National Iranian Oil Company managing director, SHANA reported. He pegged the project to be worth $2.2 billion.

"Working with Iranian firms is easier, and the contract was signed with them more quickly," Kardor said on the sidelines of the signing ceremony in Tehran.

Naji Sadooni, managing director of Persia Oil & Gas, predicted one of the fields, Yaran, will produce 30,000 barrels of oil per day within the next three weeks, according to SHANA, calling the deal to develop the field "100 percent Iranian."

"Of course in some cases where it was needed we have used foreign goods, but mostly Iranian manufacturers have been used in this plan," Sadooni said.

Persia Oil & Gas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In response to Reuters' findings in 2013, a Setad spokesman said at the time the information presented was "not correct," and did not elaborate.

DELAYS

The new Iranian Petroleum Contract, or IPC, has been delayed several times due to opposition from hardline rivals of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. It ends a buy-back system dating back more than 20 years under which Iran did not allow foreign firms to book reserves or take equity stakes in Iranian companies.

The new IPC has more flexible terms that take into account oil price fluctuations and investment risks, a senior Iranian oil official told Reuters in November.

Oil majors have said they would only go back to Iran if it made major changes to the buy-back contracts, which companies such as France's Total or Italy's Eni said made them no money or even incurred losses.

Iranian media reports did not say why Persia Oil & Gas had been singled out for the new contract. But granting the first IPC to a firm closely linked to Khamenei could be a way around the domestic opposition, because hardliners would be less likely to challenge an agreement with a company associated with the highest echelons of power.

Khamenei said in July that no new oil and gas contract for international companies would be awarded without necessary reforms.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Iran will sign more IPC contracts by March but declined to give details, according to SHANA. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said NIOC will sign the second IPC contract on Wednesday.

OPEC member Iran seeks to raise its crude output to pre-sanction levels of 4 million bpd.
German financial system "very stable", head of BGA trade body says

BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Germany's financial system is stable and the troubles at Deutsche Bank are not comparable to those that afflicted Lehman Brothers in 2008, the head of Germany's trade and wholesale association said on Tuesday.

"I'm firmly convinced that the financial system is very stable," Anton Boerner said during a news conference, adding that comparisons to the bankrupt U.S. Bank Lehman Brothers should not be made.

"If this was to be expected, we would see the shares at a totally different level," he added.

Germany's biggest bank Deutsche has seen its value halve this year amid worries it will have to raise fresh capital to pay for a string of heavy fines, including one of up to $14 billion from the U.S.
Iranian parliament speaker snubs German minister on visit

By Gernot Heller

TEHRAN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, cancelled talks with German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Tehran on Tuesday after the high-profile visitor had urged Iran to pursue reforms at home and act responsibly in Syria.

Larijani, seen as a moderate conservative in Iran, was the highest-ranking figure Gabriel was due to meet on his two-day trip, aimed at boosting trade ties after Tehran's landmark deal with world powers to scale back its nuclear programme.

No reason was given for the cancellation, a spokeswoman for Gabriel said.

Gabriel had on Monday backed reforms pursued by President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who faces resistance from influential conservatives, saying: "The alternative to the current government is a return to the times of great confrontation."

He also said Iran, which provides economic and military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, should help push for a ceasefire in Syria's civil war, adding: "I think Iran knows its responsibility there."

Sadeq Larijani, brother of the parliament speaker and head of Iran's judiciary, criticised Gabriel on Monday for his comments. "If I were in the government's position or in the foreign minister's shoes I would never let such a person come to Iran," he said.

The apparent snub to Gabriel highlighted the challenge facing Western governments as they try to cultivate ties with Iran's political leadership, divided between moderates and hardliners, and seek to position their companies for lucrative new business deals.

'NO PRECONDITIONS'

Touching another sensitive nerve, Gabriel was quoted as telling German news magazine Der Spiegel last week that Iran could have normal, friendly relations with Germany only when it accepted Israel's right to exist.

Iran's government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said on Tuesday: "No country can set preconditions for Iran. We live with our beliefs. Tehran will never recognise Israel."

Gabriel told reporters on the plane back to Germany that the cancellation of the meeting with Larijani was prompted by Iran's domestic politics.

"It is part of the internal Iranian election campaign," he said, referring to next year's presidential contest. "I felt appropriately received, particularly during the talks with the vice president (Eshaq Jahangiri)."

Gabriel said Germany wanted to help improve the economic lot of people in Iran so that the government did not lose support.

The minister was accompanied by a delegation of business executives seeking deals after last year's historic nuclear accord, which paved the way for ending sanctions that had been in place for years. On Monday, Siemens signed a contract to upgrade Iran's rail network.
U.N. envoy for Syria in talks on way ahead - spokeswoman

GENEVA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was in deep talks after the United States suspended talks with Russia on the conflict, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

"He is still in intensive consultations on the way forward," spokeswoman Jessy Chahine told a news briefing in Geneva. "He is of course consulting with his team and other relevant stake-holders."
Seychelles opposition leader calls for elections instead of planned presidency handover

VICTORIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The leader of the parliamentary majority in the Seychelles said on Tuesday President James Michel should not go ahead with handing power to his deputy when he steps down this month, calling instead for a presidential election to be held.

Michel, whose party has been in power since 1977, announced last week he would step down after less than a year in office and that Vice President Danny Faure would take over for the rest of the five-year term.

Michel did not give a reason for his decision, but it followed a victory in September for the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) coalition in parliamentary elections, the first opposition win in decades amid public frustration about economic inequality.

It marked a dramatic political change for the tiny archipelago, which relies on tourism and is seeking to build up its financial services industry.

"A new presidential election needs to be held as soon as possible," Wavel Ramkalawan, leader of the opposition coalition which forms the majority in parliament, told deputies.

"We want a caretaker president who will hold office until elections are held. We do not want this situation where a president can just pass on the baton," Ramkalawan said.

The opposition has said it wants to change the constitution to revise articles that allow presidential powers to be handed over for the rest of a term without a fresh election.
Belgrade refugees make a break for the Hungarian border

By Aleksandar Vasovic

BELGRADE, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Several hundred refugees set off from central Belgrade on Tuesday morning and headed for the Hungarian border, holding handwritten banners and chanting demands for open borders, Reuters witnesses said.

The crowd walked north along the city's Sava river, stopping occasionally to negotiate with police. All of them appeared to be men and boys about 15 or older. "We are people, not animals," read one banner.

Some 7,000 migrants, most fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere, are trapped in Serbia, prevented from continuing further into Europe by fences now running the length of the Hungarian-Serbian border.

"We will walk to border with Hungary," said Sadaqat Khan, a Pakistani in his 20s from Qetta. Most of the migrants seek sanctuary in the wealthy countries of Northern Europe. "We do not want Serbia," Khan said.

Many migrants in Belgrade, most of whom bed down in makeshift camps by the city's central rail station, had thought Hungary's referendum last weekend on migrant quotas meant the border would be opened.

In fact, Hungary voted on whether to accept European Union quotas for taking in refugees, and almost all of those who went to the polls voted against the quotas. However, less than half the electorate voted, rendering the results of the referendum invalid.

A large group of refugees who left Belgrade's camps earlier this year got as far as the northern city of Novi Sad, but from there they were taken to reception centres on the Serbian side of the border.
Pope, in surprise visit, comforts survivors of Italian earthquake

By Philip Pullella

ROME, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Pope Francis made a surprise visit on Tuesday to towns and villages devastated by an earthquake that killed nearly 300 people in central Italy in August, comforting residents who lost everything and praying together for the dead.

The Vatican, which kept the trip secret until he arrived, issued pictures showing him standing alone and praying amid the rubble of Amatrice, one of the hardest-hit towns, with its still-standing church bell tower in the distance.

Addressing distraught residents with a megaphone, he said he wanted to come earlier but he did not want "to bother anyone" and preferred to let things settle down, particularly the building of a makeshift school.

"From the first moment, I knew I wanted to come here, simply to say I am close to you. That I am close to you, nothing more. I pray for you," he said. "In this moment of sadness and pain, let's move forward while remembering our dear ones who died here under the rubble. Let us pray for them," he said.

He visited the "red zone", which covers the centre of Amatrice and is closed to the public because it is still dangerous, with most of the buildings either levelled or considered too badly damaged to live in.

A parent broke down in tears in the school as he greeted the pope. Other residents stopped his car to touch his hand from the window as moved past tent cities to visit one devastated place after another, including Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and San Pellegrino di Norcia.

The visit took place on the feast of the pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.

He also visited a base camp for fire brigades and made a surprise stop to share a meal with residents of a home for the elderly, many of whom lost their houses in the quake.

Luca Cari, spokesman for the national fire brigades, said during the visit to Amatrice's "red zone" the pope stopped to pray with the rescue workers and thanked them.

On the plane returning from Azerbaijan on Sunday, Francis said he had been given a choice of three days when he could visit but would not reveal which one he had chosen.

He said he wanted to visit "privately, alone, as a priest, as a bishop, as pope, but alone, privately. I want to be close to the people."
Burundi dismisses planned U.N. inquiry into killings and torture

NAIROBI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Burundi's government has dismissed a U.N. decision to set up a commission of inquiry to identify perpetrators of killings and torture, saying it was based on a one-sided account of events in the African nation.

The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Friday to set up the commission, saying it would build on a report by U.N. experts who looked into the suspected torture and murder of government opponents. The experts have drawn up a list of suspects.

Burundi has been mired in political crisis and sporadic violence for more than a year, triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015.

Opposition figures and government officials have frequently been killed in tit-for-tat attacks, while hundreds of government opponents have been rounded up and detained.

"The (experts') report was biased, undertaken and produced for the sole purpose of paving the way for this resolution and to destabilise the Burundian nation," government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba said.

He told the state broadcaster late on Monday that the council had failed to take into account Burundi's contribution to balance the report. The resulting decision was "inapplicable in Burundi".

He did not say if Burundi would take further action in response, but added the government would "continue its cooperation with the international community, particularly the United Nations" in line with international agreements.
Vienna zoo appeals for help to name panda cub

VIENNA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo has picked a name for a female panda and is asking animal lovers to help it choose one for her male twin.

Giant Panda Yang Yang gave birth to the cubs on Aug. 7. In keeping with a tradition that stems from the high death rate among baby pandas, the twins will be named once they are 100 days old, after Nov. 15, the zoo said.

"We have already found a name for the female panda but we are not giving it away," zoo director Dagmar Schratter said.

"After three males we were particularly pleased at the arrival of a female and we have always said that if it is a female it should have a special name."
EU backing tips Paris climate deal over threshold to enter into force

By Foo Yun Chee

STRASBOURG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The European Parliament backed the Paris accord to fight climate change on Tuesday, the EU executive said, tipping it over the threshold needed for the global deal to enter into force.

The Paris Agreement, backed by nearly 200 nations nearly one year ago, will help guide a radical shift of the world economy away from fossil fuels in an effort to limit heat waves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

European Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canteen said the milestone heralded a harder phase of turning promises into cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

"Our collective task is to turn our commitments into action on the ground," he said in a statement.

European Union approval, expected to be signed off on by the bloc's 28 nations this week, pushes the deal over the required threshold of nations representing at least 55 percent of global emissions to enter into force.

Ratification by the EU, which accounts for about 12 percent of global emissions, is expected to be deposited with the United Nations by Friday.

China and the United States, the top emitters, ratified the pact this month.

It also marked a rare show of unity by a bloc divided over Britain's vote to leave the EU, migration and the economy. EU leaders agreed a legislative shortcut to fast-track approval of the Paris accord to avoid lagging behind other nations in backing the global pact it championed.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "Today we continued to show leadership and prove that together the European Union can deliver."

The accord aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by shifting away from fossil fuels to limit global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times.

Once ratification is deposited with the United Nations, the accord enters into force 30 days later, early enough for it to be locked into place ahead of the next round of climate talks in November in Morocco.

Cementing the accord before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8 would make it harder to challenge if Republican Donald Trump, who has opposed it, beats Democrat Hillary Clinton, a strong supporter.
Bagel, pretzel show twists of Nobel Prize-winning work in physics

By Niklas Pollard and Ben Hirschler

STOCKHOLM/LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Three British-born scientists won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for revealing unusual states of matter, leading to advances in electronics that could aid researchers trying to develop quantum computers.

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, who all work at U.S. universities, share the prize for their discoveries on abrupt changes in the properties, or phases, of ultra-thin materials.

Their research centres on topology, a branch of mathematics involving step-wise changes like making a series of holes in an object. The difficult-to-grasp concept was illustrated by Nobel Committee member Thors Hans Hansson at a news conference using a cinnamon bun, a bagel and a Swedish style of pretzel with two holes.

"If you are a topolgist, it's only one thing that is really interesting with these things," Hansson said. "The bagel has one hole, the pretzel has two holes ... you cannot have half a hole, or 2-2/3 holes."

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery involved certain materials that go through step changes that affect their electrical properties. The changes are akin to the holes in baked goods, which can have no intermediate steps between one hole or two holes. (http://bit.ly/2dG4v3n)

One example is a superconductor, which at low temperatures conducts electricity without resistance.

"Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($937,000) prize.

"Many people are hopeful of future applications in both materials science and electronics."

Thouless, of the University of Washington in Seattle, was awarded half the prize, with the other half divided between Haldane, of Princeton University, and Kosterlitz, of Brown University.

"We really haven't understood ... the full amount of marvellous things that quantum mechanics can do," Haldane told Reuters in an interview at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. "It does things which we never dreamed of and could actually be tremendously useful for all kinds of new technologies."

'LONG OVERDUE'

Kosterlitz's colleague at Brown, Professor See Chen Ying, said he considered the award long overdue.

"You never know, because there are exciting discoveries everywhere, so every year we start thinking is this the year," Ying said in an interview on Brown's campus in Providence, Rhode Island. "Personally, I think it's long overdue."

Andy Schofield, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Birmingham, where Kosterlitz and Thouless carried out their early work in the 1970s, said the new understanding of phase states was particularly promising in computing.

"One of the most exciting technological implications is in insulators that don't carry electricity normally but can be forced to carry electrical current at the surface," he told Reuters. "That's a very robust state, which gives a stability that is essential to quantum computing."

Superfast quantum computers, one of the holy grails of science, should be able to test multiple solutions to a problem at once and could in theory solve in seconds problems that take today's fastest machines years to crack.

Traditional computers use binary bits of information to store data while quantum computers use "qubits" that can simultaneously be 0 and 1, making them ultra-fast but unstable.

Physics is the second of this year's crop of Nobels and comes after Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the prize for medicine on Monday.

There had been speculation this year's prize might be awarded for the first detection of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time first predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein. The breakthrough, announced by international researchers in February, may have come too late for the Nobel Committee.

The three researchers join the ranks of some of the greatest names in science, including Einstein, Niels Bohr and Marie Curie.

The prizes were first awarded in 1901 to honour achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with the will of the Swedish dynamite inventor and business tycoon Alfred Nobel, who left much of his wealth to establish the award.

For a graphic on Nobel laureates, click on: http://tmsnrt.rs/1jLPeM7
France launches guarantee fund to help struggling farmers

PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - France will launch a public guarantee system to enable farmers facing a sharp fall in revenue to boost their cash position or refinance their debt at favourable rates, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday.

French livestock, dairy and grain farmers have all faced weak prices in the past year, with grain growers also hit by a slump in output this season due to poor spring weather which led to the lowest yields in over 30 years in some crops.

"In light of this (crisis), we need a mobilisation of all actors concerned," Valls told reporters.

The state will guarantee, through public bank Bpifrance, half of farmers' new loans or refinanced ones. The aim is to generate up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of credit to improve rolling funds and cut reimbursement costs.

For those whose gross operating profit is forecast to fall in 2016 by at least 20 percent compared to the average of the past five years, excluding the best and the worst, it will fund the entire public guarantee cost, officials said.

Between 50,000 and 80,000 farmers could benefit from this measure, they said.

"The whole purpose of the state guarantee is to allow everyone to access low rates and favourable refinancing," Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll told reporters.

The new fund will be built up gradually, according to actual needs, and the extent of state's financial involvement is thus yet to be determined, officials said.

Xavier Beulin, head of France's largest farm union FNSEA, welcomed the plan.

"It's finally the recognition of a major crisis in the French agriculture," he told reporters.

"We have been facing an economic crisis for two years and this year we also have a weather crisis never seen probably since the post-war," he added, pegging losses for the sector at between 4 and 5 billion euros this year.

The government had already put forward a set of "initial emergency measures" for grain farmers in late July so that they could start their sowings before the new harvest, including tax rebates and speeding up repayment of value added tax (VAT).

Most of these measures were extended in the latest plan.

France also unblocked nearly 50 million euros for livestock farmers as part of a wider EU plan and slowed down its plan to transfer EU subsidies from large grain farms to smaller livestock ones.
South Korean boy band SHINnee to release fifth album

SEOUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - South Korean boy band SHINee prepared on Tuesday to release its fifth full-length album, "1 of 1", saying its retro sound was a new concept for the group.

"It is a new jack swing type of song and I think its retro sound can really attract people," band member Jonghyun told a news conference in the South Korean capital.

SHINee is scheduled to perform on Thursday on Mnet's M Countdown music chart show, and meet fans on Oct. 16 in Seoul, the group's management agency said.
Court files stolen in case of murdered Honduran land rights activist: UN

By Chris Arsenault

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Court papers relating to the murder of high-profile Honduran land rights activist Berta Caceres have been stolen, the United Nations said, urging government officials to quickly recover the documents and investigate how the theft occurred.

Local media reported that the documents were stolen on Sept. 29 in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Caceres, who had received death threats over her work campaigning against the encroachment of hydroelectric dams and mines on indigenous lands, was killed in March.

It is unclear how the theft of the documents will affect the prosecution of the case in the Central American country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

"If this is how the state is handling evidence in the case, then how can we trust their final outcome?" said Candido Mezua Salazar, a colleague of the environmental rights activist.

"Immediate action is needed to safeguard the rights of communities living in Honduras," Salazar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via email late on Monday following the release of the U.N. statement.

Caceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for her struggle to prevent the construction of a $50 million dam that threatened to displace hundreds of indigenous people.

European lenders who had backed the dam project froze their investments following international outcry over the murder.

In May, Honduran officials arrested four people in connection with the activist's murder, including an employee of the company whose dam project she helped block.

More than 100 land rights activists and environmentalists have been murdered in Honduras since 2010, the U.K.-based campaign group Global Witness said in March.
Poland won't support Tusk for second term in Europe - ruling party head

WARSAW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Poland's government will not support Donald Tusk's candidature for a second term as European Council president, the head of the ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said.

Tusk, a former head of the liberal, pro-European Civic Platform party, was prime minister for almost two parliamentary terms before resigning in 2014 to take on the top European job.

"The Polish government will not support Donald Tusk for the second term in the European Council," Kaczynski, the head of the Eurosceptic conservative Law and Justice (PiS) that now rules Poland, told Polska newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.
EU lawmakers to push own Brexit plan once May declares

STRASBOURG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The European Parliament aims to set limits on what deal Britain can strike with EU governments once it launches the process of leaving the bloc, the legislature's Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said on Tuesday.

Welcoming Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement that she will start the two-year negotiating period by the end of March, Verhofstadt said parliament was overwhelmingly opposed to Britain retaining its trade freedoms with the European Union if it goes ahead with plans to limit immigration from the bloc.

Raising the view of the broadly federalist parliament before the member states agree their response to British demands could stiffen resistance to London's efforts to escape constraints of EU membership while retaining trade and other benefits.

Parliament must approve any final divorce deal.

The former Belgian prime minister, denounced by eurosceptics as a champion of a federal Europe, told reporters parliament would set "negotiating lines" in response to May's notification of departure under Article 50 of the EU treaty before the Council of EU leaders sets the EU's own negotiating mandate.

The European Council is expected to agree an outline of what it can offer Britain in response to May's request and then give a mandate to conduct talks to the executive European Commission and its negotiator, former French minister Michel Barnier.

EU officials say they will consult Verhofstadt and members of the European Parliament during the process.

Senior EU officials believe the Commission and member states can use the hostility of the European Parliament to British "cherry picking" as a tool to pressure London in talks.

May has said she hopes that before she sets out her demands some "preparatory work" will be possible with the other EU states. EU leaders, in comments echoed by Verhofstadt, have insisted there can be no negotiation before May's notification.

In practice, senior officials have said, May is likely to be offered some guidance on what the EU would find acceptable in order to avoid London making demands that are flatly rejected, a scenario that could lead to a damaging stalemate.
U.S. warships make landmark visit to strategic Vietnam port

HANOI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Two U.S. warships made port calls at Vietnam's strategic naval base at Cam Ranh Bay, the U.S. navy said on Tuesday, in a brief but symbolic return for U.S. combat vessels to what was a crucial logistics complex during the Vietnam War.

Submarine tender USS Frank Cable and guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain made the visit on Sunday to the deep-water naval base, marking an important step in fast-growing defence ties between the two former enemies.

The visit came after the full lifting of a U.S. embargo on trade in lethal arms with Vietnam in May as part of President Barack Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward Asia.

At the same time, tension has been rising over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, straining ties between Vietnam and its giant neighbour China.

Vietnam has been intensifying efforts to diversify relations in Europe and Asia and engage more with the United States.

Cam Ranh is the jewel in the crown of Vietnam's military, with an air base once used by the U.S. and Soviet forces and a deep water bay home to its modern, Russian-built submarines.

Visits by foreign ships are rare and usually reserved for maintenance. Japanese and French warships have recently made port calls at Cam Ranh.

Established as a base by the United States during the Vietnam War, Cam Ranh Bay had been used largely by Russian forces since then.
Sudan condemns U.S. Sept. 11 law

KHARTOUM, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Sudan condemned on Tuesday a U.S. law that would allow families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to sue governments for damages, saying it undermined state sovereignty and could provoke reciprocal legislation.

Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the attacks, from 1991-1996, although it has denied allegations that it funded him. Its government was among dozens of defendants named in a 2002 lawsuit filed by families of Sept. 11 victims.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly last Wednesday to approve the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism (JASTA) legislation, which grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil.

"This act clearly violates the sovereignty and immunity of states and could lead the world into legislative chaos," a statement from Sudan's presidency said.

"Sudan would not rule out several other countries drafting laws to lift sovereign immunity against countries that have laws which do not respect sovereign immunity, based on the principal of reciprocal treatment."

The legislation will allow the families of those killed in the 2001 attacks on the United States to seek damages from the Saudi government. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi. Riyadh has denied longstanding suspicions that it backed the attackers.
Nespresso temporarily halts coffee operations in South Sudan

ZURICH, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Nestle's Nespresso brand said it had halted coffee operations for now in South Sudan, where opposition leader Riek Machar has called for a return to war against the government.

"We had to temporarily suspend our operations in the country. It is the third time this happened since we started working there," Nespresso spokeswoman Jacquelyn Campo said on Tuesday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

"The situation has deteriorated and is very difficult at the moment," she said, adding it was impossible to say at this stage when the company would be able to resume business there.

The premium coffee brand started working with local farmers in South Sudan in 2011, in partnership with non-profit organisation TechnoServe, to revive coffee production which had been destroyed by years of armed conflict in the region.

It launched a first limited-edition Robusta coffee from South Sudan one year ago.

South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war fuelled by ethnic divides and disputes over oil, but internal conflicts and political power struggles have persisted, with fresh clashes flaring in July.

Campo said Nespresso had invested over $2.5 million in the project and had so far trained 731 South Sudanese coffee farmers. Its partner, TechnoServe, will launch a radio programme to remotely train coffee farmers at the end of this month, she said.
Philippine leader tells Obama 'go to hell', says can buy arms from Russia, China

MANILA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the United States had failed the Philippines and added that at some point, "I will break up with America". It was not clear what he meant by "break up".

During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Duterte said the United States did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

"Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Duterte said.

"If you don't want to sell arms, I'll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said 'do not worry, we have everything you need, we'll give it to you'.

"And as for China, they said 'just come over and sign and everything will be delivered'."

China "did not understand the situation", its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, however, in a statement sent to Reuters.

Duterte's comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the United States, during which Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

In Washington, U.S. officials downplayed Duterte's comments, saying they were "at odds" with the two countries' warm relationship and decades-long alliance. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there has been no communication from the Philippines about making changes in that relationship.

Earnest did not, however, back down from criticism of Duterte's tactics in his deadly war on drugs.

"Even as we protect the strong alliance, the administration and the United States of America will not hesitate to raise our concerns about extrajudicial killings," he said at a briefing.

'HELL IS FULL'

On Sunday, Duterte said he had received support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also said he would review a U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement.

The deal, signed in 2014, grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

Duterte said the United States should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but that instead it had criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union.

"Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," he said.

"EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?"

At a later speech he said he was emotional because the United States had not been a friend of the Philippines since his election in May.

"They just ... reprimand another president in front of the international community," he told the Jewish community at a synagogue.

"This is what happens now, I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America."

It was not clear if by his "time", he was referring to his six-year term in office.

According to some U.S. officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte's rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China's influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two U.S. officials said on Monday.

Several of Duterte's allies on Monday suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs.

"When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult," he said.
MIDEAST STOCKS-Telecoms help Saudi rebound, rest of region quiet

By Andrew Torchia

DUBAI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Strong telecommunications shares helped Saudi Arabia's stock market rebound on Tuesday after steep losses due to the kingdom's austerity policies, while most other Gulf markets moved little.

The Saudi stock index, which had dropped 3.7 percent in the previous two days, climbed 2.0 percent, although trading volume fell, suggesting many investors were not eager to buy into the rally.

The main boost came from unusually heavy trade in the telecommunications sector, after the government said at the weekend that it would provide operators with "unified licences" allowing them to offer full range of services.

It did not give details, but analysts think this will open the industry to more competition, potentially reducing the dominance of market leader Saudi Telecom.

Zain Saudi Arabia surged to its 10 percent daily limit, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) climbed 5.4 percent and Atheeb Telecommunication was up 6.9 percent, as all three stocks resumed trading after being suspended for two days. The regulator had asked them to make statements on the expected impact on the new telecoms licensing regime.

Saudi Telecom, which had tumbled 4.9 percent on Monday, rebounded 1.9 percent.

Some other stocks beaten down by worries about the weakening domestic economy in recent days saw cautious buying-back, with Al Rajhi Bank up 4.0 percent after falling 1.5 percent on Monday.

The petrochemical sector, which is exposed mainly to foreign rather than domestic demand and outperformed earlier this week, was mostly sluggish.

But Advanced Petrochemical climbed 1.8 percent to 38.80 riyals after estimating third-quarter net profit shrank 20 percent, a slower rate of decline than in the second quarter, and announcing a 0.65 riyal quarterly dividend. NCB Capital stayed overweight on the stock with a target of 45.10 riyals, citing its operating efficiency and dividend yield.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Dubai's index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,406 points. It turned technically bearish on Monday when it closed 1.9 percent down at 3,408 points, breaking technical support on the August and September lows of 3,430-3,442 points, which became immediate resistance.

Abu Dhabi's index rose 0.3 percent as Dana Gas , the most heavily traded stock, surged 3.7 percent. Qatar gained 0.8 percent in a broad rally, with nine of the 10 most heavily traded stocks rising and Industries Qatar adding 1.1 percent.

The Egyptian stock index, which had climbed 3.2 percent on Monday on hopes that an international financing package would be finalised soon after this week's annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, rose a further 0.8 percent.

Investment bank EFG Hermes continued to lead the market up, gaining 3.6 percent.

TUESDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index rose 2.0 percent to 5,526 points.

DUBAI

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,406 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index rose 0.3 percent to 4,409 points.

EGYPT

* The index climbed 0.8 percent to 8,199 points.

QATAR

* The index gained 0.8 percent to 10,388 points.

KUWAIT

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 5,352 points.

OMAN

* The index fell 1.1 percent to 5,613 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 1,144 points.
WIDER IMAGE-New famine fears loom in Yemen

By Jonathan Saul, Noah Browning and Mohammed Ghobari

LONDON/DUBAI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Intensive care wards in Yemen's hospitals are filled with emaciated children hooked up to monitors and drips - victims of food shortages that could get even worse due to a reorganisation of the central bank that is worrying importers.

With food ships finding it hard to get into Yemen's ports due to a virtual blockade by the Saudi-led coalition that has backed the government during an 18-month civil war, over half the country's 28 million people already do not have enough to eat, according to the United Nations.

Yemen's exiled president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, last month ordered the central bank's headquarters to be moved from the capital Sanaa, controlled by Houthi rebels in the north, to the southern port of Aden, which is held by the government. He also appointed a new governor, a member of his government who has said the bank has no money.

Trade sources involved in importing food to the Arab peninsula's poorest country say this decision will leave them financially exposed and make it harder to bring in supplies.

Diplomats and aid officials believe the crisis surrounding the central bank could adversely affect ordinary Yemenis.

"The politicisation of the central bank and attempts by the parties in the conflict to use it as a tool to hurt one another ... threaten to push the poorest over the edge," said Richard Stanforth, humanitarian policy adviser with Oxfam.

"Everything is stacked against the people on the brink of starvation in Yemen."

The effects of food shortages can already be seen. At the children's emergency unit at the Thawra hospital in the port of Hodaida, tiny patients with skin sagging over their bones writhe in beds. Hallways and waiting rooms are crowded with parents seeking help for their hungry and dying children.

Salem Issa, 6, rests his stick-thin limbs on a hospital bed as his mother watches over him. "I have a sick child, I used to feed him biscuits, but he's sick, he won't eat," she said.

A nurse said the ward began taking in around 10 to 20 cases in April, but now struggles with 120 patients per month.

The World Food Programme says half Yemen's children under five are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age because of chronic malnutrition.

IMPORTERS STRUGGLING

In July, Reuters reported that importers were already struggling to buy food from abroad because $260 million worth of their funds were frozen in Yemeni banks, while Western banks had cut credit lines.

Since then, importers have guaranteed much of the risk of financing shipments themselves.

The decision to move the central bank, seen as the last impartial bastion of the country's financial system which has helped keep the economy afloat in wartime, is viewed as a major blow for suppliers who are mistrustful of the decision and expect even more chaos ahead. Foreign exchange is already scarce and the sources do not have confidence in the new governor.

All of this will lead to further food disruptions and more hardship for Yemenis already facing impending famine, according to the trade sources.

"We have begun to cancel our forward contracts - it's just impossible to trade when there is no financial system in place. There is no coverage from the central bank where we can trust them or know them," said one source.

"This leaves anyone bringing in cargoes completely exposed," added the source, who declined to be identified due to the worsening security situation and fear of reprisals.

Shipping data showed at least nine vessels carrying supplies such as wheat and sugar were on the way to the Yemeni ports of Hodaida and Salif, but the source said there were worries for forward shipments for late October and November.

A second trade source also active in Yemen confirmed the growing difficulties.

"Western banks are not willing to process payments and the whole system is freezing up. It is an ever growing struggle to do anything commercial," the second source said.

"Obtaining foreign exchange has to be done through currency smuggling. Yemen is like a country of smugglers now - this is unacceptable."

DWINDLING RESERVES

The old central bank in the capital Sanaa used Yemen's dwindling foreign exchange reserves to guarantee shipments into a country which imports 90 percent of its food.

But Hadi disliked the bank paying salaries to his foes in the army and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement opposed to his internationally recognised government.

Struggling to advance on the battlefield and keen to undermine the Houthis, Hadi dismissed the bank's governor, Mohamed Bin Humam, named Finance Minister Monasser Al Quaiti in his place and decreed the bank be moved to Aden.

It was a sudden decision that aroused suspicion among traders.

"The governor Humam enjoyed the confidence of all parties since he was clearly independent and working in the best interests of Yemen. To now appoint a minister of finance of the government is a retrograde step and none of the traders have any confidence in him or in the bank in Aden," the first trade source said.

The new governor of the central bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Quaiti told the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Thursday he had inherited a bank with no money, but he pledged to keep it independent.

Ibrahim Mahmoud, of Yemen's Social Development Fund, said only an improvement in the country's financial system and an emergency aid effort could stop the spread of hunger.

"If there is no direct and immediate intervention on behalf of the international community and state organizations, we could be threatened by famine and a humanitarian catastrophe."

Even though moving the central bank seemed to be aimed at hurting the Houthis, Yemeni economic officials and diplomats say the group has its own financial resources.

Losing out on $100 million in salaries to its fighters as suggested by the new bank governor may hurt the Houthis, but the bank's closure in Sanaa is likely to hurt ordinary people already suffering from a collapse in the economy due to the war.

"It risks leaving the salaries of more than a million Yemenis unpaid. There may be a long-term effect on the Houthis, but the immediate effect will be on normal people trying to put food on the table," Yemeni economic analyst Amal Nasser said.
Court rules Nigeria should release former security adviser

LAGOS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria's former national security adviser, held since December 2015 on fraud charges, should be released, a judge at the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled on Tuesday, saying his detention was unlawful and arbitrary.

Sambo Dasuki has been accused of fraud involving $68 million of defence spending, part of a wider $2.1 billion in arms deals under investigation. He has pleaded not guilty.

He served under Nigeria's former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was defeated in last year's election by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has promised to crackdown on corruption.

The judge at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, sitting in Nigeria's capital Abuja, ruled that Dasuki should be released immediately and the government should pay him 15 million naira ($46,606) in compensation for his arrest and detention.

The ruling by Justice Friday Chijioike Nwoke said Dasuki's "arrest, detention and continued detention" after having been granted bail by three different domestic courts was "unlawful" and "arbitrary".
Hungary could impose ban on EU migrant quotas in November -Fidesz

BUDAPEST, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Hungary's parliament could amend the constitution to ban mandatory EU migrant resettlement on Nov. 8, with the ban taking force by mid-November, the head of the ruling Fidesz party said on Tuesday, after a weekend referendum vote against the quotas.

Lajos Kosa also told a news conference that Hungary was committed to its European Union membership.

Speaking at the same news conference, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said: "We have to state clearly that without the approval of Hungarian parliament Brussels .... cannot settle any migrants in Hungary. And we have to state clearly that we ban the forced resettlement of migrants."
France says time to act on Congo, EU sanctions possible

PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday it was time to prevent the political situation worsening in Democratic Republic of Congo and consider imposing European Union sanctions.

The United States imposed sanctions on a general and a former senior police official on Sept. 28 in an apparent ratcheting up of pressure on President Joseph Kabila to hold an election for his successor in November.

Dozens of people have died in clashes between security forces and protesters angered by what opposition groups say is Kabila's plan to postpone the vote and retain power beyond his two-term limit.

"It is necessary to act to stop the situation from worsening in DRC," Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told reporters.

"France wants the European Union to use all means at its disposal, including if necessary and in function of the evolution of the situation, resorting to sanctions' measures against those guilty of serious human rights violations or those who block an exit to the crisis."

Kabila denies planning to retain power. His government has said the November election must be postponed because of logistical problems.

The vast, mineral-rich central African state has never experienced a peaceful transition of power. Donors fear growing political instability could turn into armed conflict in a country plagued by militias, especially in the lawless east.

Millions of people died in regional wars in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries.

Speaking on TV5 Monde on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Kabila should step aside and allow the election to take place immediately.
Libyan forces reduce Islamic State's grip in Sirte to final few blocks

By Hani Amara

SIRTE, Libya, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Islamic State controls a residential strip less than 1 Km long in their former stronghold in Libya's Sirte, where pro-government forces backed by U.S. air strikes are advancing building by building to finish a five-month-old campaign.

Over the past two days, forces led by brigades from Misrata have pressed further into Sirte's neighbourhood Number Three as an intensified aerial bombardment and a barrage of tank fire slowly dislodged militant sniper positions.

Militants were clinging to an area called Manara, a sub- district that if ceded, Misrata commanders said, would leave them exposed to defeat in what was once the group's main base outside territory controlled in Iraq and Syria.

"This is the end for them," said Mohamed al-Ghasri, a spokesman for Misrata forces. "They have no other solutions, so that's why they are fighting fiercely to stay in Manara."

Losing control of Sirte is a major blow for Islamic State, depriving it of the only city it held in North Africa. The jihadist group is also on the defensive against U.S.-backed campaigns in Iraq and Syria.

Victory for the Misrata-led forces would also provide a boost for a U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) that nominally commands them from Tripoli.

The GNA has so far struggled to exert its authority and recently saw a rival eastern commander, Kahlifa Haftar, seize some of Libya's major oil ports, one of which is less than 200 km from Sirte.

The campaign in Sirte has been costly and longer than many in Misrata expected. But with Islamic State militants pinned back to a few residential blocks, their capacity to use heavy weapons and suicide bombings has been reduced.

On Monday, Misrata-led forces found a vehicle packed with explosives that Islamic State had been unable to use.

AIR STRIKES

That was a day after the U.S. intensified its air attacks on Sirte, carrying out 20 strikes against multiple fighting positions, according to U.S. Africa Command. The U.S. has launched just over 200 strikes since the start of its air campaign on Aug. 1.

Many of the buildings in areas where recent fighting has taken place are ruined or reduced to rubble.

Misrata-led forces are still vulnerable to snipers, who they say are highly skilled and have adapted to air strikes by seeking better cover. On Sunday, a sniper claimed the life of a Dutch photographer - the second journalist to be killed in the campaign.

Forces have also had to deal with attacks from behind the front lines, including car bombings, which have fuelled fears of a continuing insurgent threat in the area after Sirte's capture.

On Sunday, the forces fended off a major ambush on their eastern flank. Rida Issa, a second spokesman for the Misrata-led operation, said as many as 55 bodies of slain Islamic State fighters had been counted after the attack, with another 25 counted around Manara.

"It is highest number of Daesh (Islamic State) bodies spotted since the beginning of battle against them in Sirte," Issa said.

"According to the observations of our front line commanders, the bodies found were those of Libyans, Tunisians and sub-Saharan Africans."

A further six had been killed as fleeing militants were pursued into the desert, Issa said. At least 11 of the government-backed fighters were killed in the past two days of fighting, with dozens more wounded.

That brought the total number killed since the start of the campaign to 560, said Akram Gliwan, a spokesman at Misrata's central hospital.
Army of black statues stands guard at African art show in London

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - An "army" of 2-metre-high (6.5-foot) statues has been assembled in the courtyard of a former royal palace in London to welcome visitors to an African art fair.

Something of a cross between China's terracotta warriors and the Easter Island monoliths, the 40 stern-faced black figures dominate the neoclassical entrance to Somerset House which is hosting the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

The work of London-born artist Zak Ove, the installation "Black and Blue: The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness" is meant to recall a play performed at Somerset House when it was the home of the wife of King James I in the 17th century that featured players in blackface makeup.

"The installation comments on the relationship between power, beauty, identity and skin colour," according the organisers of the show, which includes paintings, sculptures and photography by a range of artists.
Offensive on Iraq's Mosul may produce a million migrants -Turkey

ISTANBUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The United States and its allies must think carefully before launching an offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State, Turkey's defence minister said on Tuesday, saying it could trigger an exodus of one million more refugees.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described plans for the expected assault on Iraq's second largest city as "not transparent", underscoring what appears to be growing concern from a NATO ally about the operation.

Defence Minister Fikri Isik said any refugee flows out of Mosul, a city of more than two million people that has been in the hands of Islamic State since 2014, needed to be contained within Iraq's borders.

"Our allies should weigh up very carefully the migration wave of about one million set to be caused by a possible Mosul operation," he said in a statement.

"The migration should be absorbed in Iraq's territory. Otherwise it will impose a large burden on Turkey and that will affect Europe."

Turkey is already home to more than 2.5 million refugees from the conflict in Syria, where Turkish forces are now engaged in an expanding operation in the north, backing rebel groups in their fight against Islamic State.

Turkey is also using the operation to push back the Kurdish YPG militia, which it regards as a terrorist group and does not want encroaching on its territory. The YPG are supported by the United States.

Speaking in the Turkish parliament, Yildirim said the YPG were now filling a vacuum left by the expulsion of Islamic State from the area, and said Turkish forces were prepared to "cleanse" the YPG.

"Terrorist organisations need to leave the area... We, as Turkey, are determined," he said. "We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus," he said, referring to Islamic State's presence in the Syrian town.

Yildirim also said that an assault on Mosul might lead to another round of sectarian conflict, saying the demographic make-up of both Syria and Iraq was being dangerously shaken up.

"The Mosul plans of our allies are unfortunately not transparent, they include the risk of sectarian clashes.

"The disturbance of the demographic structure in Syria and Iraq and the alteration of ethnic areas will not bring stability to the region. Handing over Mosul, where Sunni tribes are effective, to Shi'ite militants would be lighting a fire."

It is not clear when any U.S.-coordinated offensive on Mosul might begin, but expectations have been building.
Hungary could ban mandatory EU migrant quotas in November

By Sandor Peto and Krisztina Than

BUDAPEST, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Hungary's parliament could change the constitution to reject the EU's mandatory migrant resettlement on Nov. 8, with the ban taking force by mid-November, the ruling Fidesz party said on Tuesday, after a weekend referendum vote against the quotas.

Lajos Kosa also told a news conference that Hungary's ruling party was committed to the country's European Union membership.

Speaking at the same news conference, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said: "We have to state clearly that without the approval of Hungarian parliament, Brussels .... cannot settle any migrants in Hungary. And we have to state clearly that we ban the forced resettlement of migrants."

An overwhelming majority of Hungarians rejected the EU quotas at a referendum on Sunday even though turnout was too low to make the vote valid.

That deprived Orban of a clear-cut victory and the radical nationalist Jobbik party on Monday called on him to quit.

But Orban said even though the referendum was not legally binding, it gave him a strong political mandate to challenge Brussels as more than 3 million voters rejected the quotas.

Orban has been one of the most vocal opponents to immigration within the EU. Last year Hungary was the main entry point into the EU's border-free Schengen zone for migrants travelling by land until Orban shut the Croatian and Serbian frontier by puttin up a razor-wire fence.

Hungary is already fighting an EU relocation scheme established during the height of the crisis last year, which set quotas for each EU country to host a share of the migrants for two years. Along with Slovakia, Budapest has launched a court challenge against that plan.

Orban said on Tuesday that the referendum and the planned new law would not be able to prevent the relocation of about 1,300 migrants under last year's EU scheme if Hungary loses that court case.

But he said the new law would prevent any further EU migrant quotas being enforced in Hungary.
Poland's Kaczynski says EU's Tusk should not get second term in Brussels

By Marcin Goclowski

WARSAW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The head of Poland's ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, launched an attack on Tuesday on European Council President Donald Tusk, an old political foe at home, saying he should not be allowed to serve a second term.

Tusk, a former head of the centre-right, pro-European Civic Platform party, served as Poland's prime minister for almost two terms before resigning in 2014 to take the top European Union job.

His mandate as council president, in which he chairs summits of EU leaders, expires at the end of May 2017, although he is expected to seek to stay on in the post.

Kaczynski, head of Poland's nationalist-minded Law and Justice (PiS) party, said in a newspaper interview that the current PiS government would not support Tusk staying on.

That was because Tusk might find himself facing charges, Kaczynski said - apparently referring to his failure as prime minister to stop the Ponzi scheme Amber Gold which shook the country in 2012. PiS dominates a parliamentary panel set up to investigate the case.

Despite Kaczynski's words, a PiS government cannot stop Tusk renewing his mandate as long as a majority of EU leaders back him, which seems likely.

Most appear satisfied with Tusk's performance and are keen to avoid more instability as the EU starts negotiations over Britain's decision to leave the bloc.

But the comments highlight the conflict between the Polish rivals that could complicate Tusk's candidacy.

"The Polish government will not support Donald Tusk for the second term in the European Council," Kaczynski told the Polska The Times newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday. "Tusk is a major problem."

"There are investigations going on in Poland in the parliament and in the prosecutors' office that may lead to pressing some charges against him. Should such a person be the head of the European Council? I have serious doubts."

"His further stay in Brussels is highly risky, mainly for the European Union," Kaczynski told the paper.

Tusk responded on Twitter by challenging Kaczynski to a public debate "on Europe, Poland and your insinuations".
Barclays sells Egyptian business to Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays has completed the sale of its Egyptian business to Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank as part of its shift towards focusing on the United States and Britain.

The sale will mean a cut of about 2 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) in Barclays' risk-weighted assets, it said on Tuesday, boosting the bank's core capital ratio by about 0.1 percent.

Barclays did not give a price for the transaction, although sources previously told Reuters they valued the business at around $400 million.

The London-based lender is seeking to sell its African operations as part of a plan by Chief Executive Jes Staley to simplify its structure and improve shareholder returns.

However, attempts to sell the African businesses as one have come up against difficulties, including the disparate nature of the local units, the biggest of which is Barclays Africa Group , mainly made up of former South African bank ABSA.

Barclays successfully sold a 12 percent chunk of its holding in the South African bank in May, but talks to sell a bigger holding in the business have so far not yielded a deal.

Former Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond's bid to buy Barclays Africa Group as part of a consortium was dealt a blow by the withdrawal of Carlyle Group earlier this year.

Reuters reported Attijariwafa's interest in March, as the Moroccan lender's general manager told Reuters he planned to expand in Egypt.

Barclays shares were up 1.4 percent at 1500GMT, in line with an increase in the broader STOXX European banks index.
Russia says has deployed S-300 missile system to Syria

MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had deployed an S-300 missile system to its Tartus naval base in Syria.

"The missile battery is intended to ensure the safety of the naval base ... It is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such alarm among our Western partners," the ministry said in a statement.
Yemen's Houthis voice conditions for possible peace talks

By Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis toughened demands for the resumption of talks to end the 19-month-old civil war, saying President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi must go and an agreement must be reached on the presidency.

The comments from the Iran-aligned forces are likely to complicate United Nations efforts to bring the parties back to talks based on proposals made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in August.

Hadi's internationally-recognized government, which is supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, is battling the Houthis who took over the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

"Any talks or negotiations by Yemeni delegates must be on the condition that the United Nations offers a written and comprehensive peace plan," delegates from the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a statement on Saba news agency.

"If the proposal does not include an agreement on the new presidential institution, then it [the UN peace plan] becomes merely a partial and incomplete vision, which cannot be a foundation for discussion," the statement said.

A shaky ceasefire between the government and the Houthis, who practice a variant of Shi'ite Islam, took effect in April and brought some respite from the war, which started when the rebels pushed the government into exile in March 2015.

Peace talks broke down in August, though, and Saudi-led air strikes on the Houthis have resumed.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on August 25 he had agreed in talks with Gulf Arab states and the United Nations on a plan to restart peace talks with a goal of forming a unity government.

The final agreement would also include the withdrawal of forces from Sanaa and other areas and the transfer of heavy weapons the Houthis and forces allied to them to a third party, Kerry said at the time.

In another development, the United Nations' aid chief said the organisation needed the rapid cooperation of Yemen's various authorities to fight malnutrition that is afflicting millions.

UN emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien, in a Reuters interview on a visit to Yemen, also said that damage to infrastructure, including cranes at the main Hodeidah port, had affected shipments of food, fuel and medicine to Yemen.

"Of course we need to do so much more, what we are doing we know to be insufficient," he said. "The authorities, whoever they are, need to able to give us great and quick facilitation, not put administrative burdens in our way, not to distrust us."

Yemen relies almost solely on imports, but the war has slowed shipments to a trickle. Out of 28 million Yemenis 21 million need some form of humanitarian aid and at least half the population suffer from malnutrition, the U.N. has said.

Speaking after visiting aid efforts, O'Brien said it was "absolutely terrifying" to see thin, malnourished babies in the paediatric and feeding wards of a hospital.

"These things are avoidable. And that's why we need to get not only food but medical items in, because the other thing that is almost obliterated is the health service.

O'Brien urged Yemeni authorities to facilitate U.N. work by issuing visas to staff and removing administrative obstacles.

He said that a verification and inspection mechanism set up by the United Nations had helped ease transport of vital food and medical supplies to Yemen but damage to Hodeidah port and its facilities was slowing down the process.
Citi investing another $1 bln in renamed Mexico unit Citibanamex

By David Henry

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc is investing another $1 billion in its Mexican bank and renaming it Citibanamex in the strongest signal from management that the business is worth keeping for the long run.

New York-based Citigroup said on Tuesday that the investments will be completed by 2020 and will improve digital tools, ATMs and branches.

The new funds come in addition to Citi's 2014 commitment to invest $1.5 billion in the business, formerly known as Banco Nacional De Mexico, or Banamex.

"These investments in Citibanamex reaffirm our commitment to Mexico and our confidence in its prospects," Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat said in the announcement.

Corbat's decision is a rebuttal to calls by some investors and stock analysts for Citigroup to consider selling Banamex. Some large Citigroup investors have privately questioned the wisdom of keeping Banamex after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has roused sentiment for restrictions on trade and travel with Mexico that could hurt the economy there.

Banamex contributes about 15 percent of Citigroup's global consumer revenue, which makes Mexico second only to the United States in importance. It also earns about 15 percent return on shareholder equity, significantly better than Corbat's goal of at least 10 percent for the whole bank.

Citigroup said the investments will be directed to five areas: digital banking, information technology, branches and ATMs. It will add 2,500 new ATMs to the 7,500 it has now.

The bank has more branch offices in Mexico than in any other country, with 1,500, compared with 700 locations in the U.S.

Citigroup shares were up 2.4 percent at $48.17 in early afternoon trading.

Corbat has made allegiance to Banamex a hallmark of this four-year tenure as chief executive.

In 2014 he went to Mexico City to pledge support for the unit to the president of the country. He also oversaw executive changes and new controls following the discovery of more than $500 million of fraudulent loans to an oilfield services company.

Mike Mayo, an analyst at CLSA who has long urged Citigroup to sell Mexico, said a sale is now off the table, at least for the short-term.
World powers seek more dollars to keep Afghanistan running

By Robin Emmott and James Mackenzie

BRUSSELS/KABUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - World powers convened in Brussels on Tuesday to raise billions more dollars for Afghanistan to keep the country running until 2020, but hopes for a new start to peace talks were overshadowed by a surge in Taliban insurgent violence.

Fifteen years after the U.S. invasion that ousted Taliban rulers who harboured jihadists behind the attacks on New York and Washington, Afghanistan remains reliant on international aid and faces resurgent militants that threaten its progress.

The two-day, European Union-led donor conference is seeking fresh funds, despite Western public fatigue with their governments' involvement in Afghanistan. Around 70 governments, including the United States, Russia, Iran, China and India, are attending, with pledges to be made on Wednesday.

"We're buying four more years for Afghanistan," said EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Mellbin.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini may try to bring together China, Iran, Russia, the United States, Pakistan and India on the sidelines of the conference in what would be the first concerted peace push since 2013.

"If we don't achieve peace, it's going to be extremely costly for the foreseeable future," Mellbin told Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met separately with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah in Brussels on Tuesday, a day after Taliban insurgents briefly entered the centre of the northern city of Kunduz, raising questions about Afghan defences.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry and Afghan leaders discussed ways to strengthen the government and efforts by the United States and its allies to improve the capabilities of the country's security forces.

They also spoke about the need for continued reform to fight corruption and promote security, Kirby said.

A senior U.S. State Department official said the United States was prepared to restart a peace process "without any pre-conditions", and noted that after forty years of conflict, Afghans were tired of war. U.S. and EU officials have been encouraged by a smaller peace agreement last month between the Afghan government and a local warlord.

But a senior Indian diplomat questioned whether the Taliban was ready to make peace. The West wants Pakistan to do more to strike remaining militants. "The fact remains that at least the Afghan Taliban continue to enjoy safe havens in Pakistani territory," the U.S. official said.

Afghanistan remains one of the world's most dangerous countries, with 1.2 million Afghans forced to live as refugees in their own country and another 3 million living in Iran, Pakistan or seeking asylum in Europe.

KIDNAPPING, EXTORTION

A prosperous Afghanistan could mean fewer refugees into Europe, an end to its status as a haven for militant groups hostile to the West and more effective police action against its billion-dollar narcotics trade.

For Moscow, which invaded in 1979 and spent a decade trying to control the country, the stability of the central Asian region is paramount. It has its largest foreign military base on the Afghan border, in Tajikistan, and an interest in keeping out the drugs that are trafficked and consumed in Russia.

But even with billions of dollars spent by the United States and NATO for Afghan security forces, some 30 percent of the Afghan population lives in territory that the government does not fully control, according to Western officials.

At the Brussels conference, officials will pursue total pledges of $3 billion a year for the 2017-2020 period.

That is lower than the $4 billion a year pledged at the last conference in Tokyo in 2012, partly because Afghanistan is raising its own revenues and because of donor fatigue.

Eighty percent of Afghanistan's budget is financed by aid.
Rebels fend off Aleppo assault as nations seek to rebuild peace process

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and David Brunnstrom

AMMAN/BRUSSELS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Tuesday they had repelled an army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded residential areas, while nations spoke of rebuilding a peace process the United States broke off this week.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced on Monday that Washington was suspending talks with Moscow due to Russia's role in the offensive, said peace efforts must carry on.

Turkey, long one of the main foes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but which has lately repaired its damaged ties with his ally Russia, said it planned to make a proposal to Washington and Moscow to resurrect a ceasefire that collapsed last month.

But on the ground there was no sign of peace with potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the five-and-a-half year war unfolding as pro-government forces sought to drive anti-Assad rebels from their last major urban stronghold.

Assad's government, with Russian air support and Iranian ground forces, launched the assault on Aleppo last month, a week into a ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow.

The United States and other Western countries say Moscow and Damascus are guilty of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals and aid deliveries to crush the will of more than 250,000 people trapped under siege in Aleppo. The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only militants.

Rebels said they inflicted losses on pro-government fighters after hours of clashes on the fringe of Sheikh Saed district, at the southern edge of the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo city.

"We repelled their attempt to advance in Sheikh Saed and killed 10 regime fighters and destroyed several vehicles," said a fighter from the Failaq al-Sham rebel group who gave his name as Abdullah al-Halabi.

Pro-government media said the Syrian army was pressing ahead in a major campaign supported by Iranian-backed militias and Russian air power to take full control of Syria's largest city, divided between rebel and government zones since 2012.

In the 15 days since the collapse of the ceasefire, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 293 civilians in besieged east Aleppo as a result of air strikes and shelling, including 20 on Tuesday. It has documented 25 deaths in government-held west Aleppo from rebel shelling during the 15 days.

Opposition sources give higher death tolls in the besieged rebel-held sector, under attack from bombing described as unprecedented in its ferocity. Many hundreds of wounded people have been brought to a handful of functioning hospitals, which are short of supplies and have themselves come under attack.

Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said four of the last eight functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo had been damaged by air strikes in the past four days. "Doctors are performing brain and abdominal surgeries ... on the floors of the emergency rooms, for lack of available operating theatres," said Pablo Marco, MSF's Middle East operations manager.

'MAKE A DESERT, CALL IT PEACE'

The collapse of the ceasefire last month left U.S. policy on Syria in tatters and was a personal blow for Kerry, who negotiated the truce over months of intense diplomacy with Moscow despite scepticism in Washington, including from other senior figures in the Barack Obama administration.

Last month Republican Senator John McCain called Kerry "intrepid but deluded" for relying on Moscow.

Kerry suspended talks with Russia on Monday, accusing Moscow of failing to live up to its commitments to halt fighting and assure aid reached besieged communities.

"We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said on Tuesday in a speech in Brussels.

He accused Moscow of turning a blind eye to Syria's use of poison gas and "barrel bombs" - oil drums packed with explosives - to kill civilians.

"Where they make a desert, they call it peace," Kerry said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies saying Moscow would make efforts to resolve the crisis despite the U.S. suspension of talks.

Moscow said it had deployed the advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria for the first time to protect its base at Tartous, Russia's only sea base on the Mediterranean.

A spokesman for the Turkish president said Tayyip Erdogan could speak by telephone to Obama and President Vladimir Putin about a proposal to revive the Syrian ceasefire. The spokesman did not give details of the proposal. A German official said U.S., British, French, German and Italian officials would meet in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss next steps.

The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said attacks on civilians in Aleppo could amount to crimes against humanity. He suggested countries with a veto at the U.N. Security Council, such as Russia, should be stripped of the power to prevent such serious cases being reported to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Syria's civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made half the country homeless in the world's worst refugee crisis. Most regional states and many global powers have been drawn into the conflict to support the opposing sides, and amid the fighting the hardline Sunni Muslim group Islamic State seized much of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Washington is bombing Islamic State but has mostly avoided direct involvement in war elsewhere in Syria, leaving the field open to Russia which joined the conflict a year ago on the side of its longtime ally Assad.

Russia says the only way to fight Islamic State is to support Assad. Washington says the Syrian leader has too much blood on his hands and must leave power.

LEVELLED GROUND

A successful assault on Aleppo would deliver the biggest victory of the war for Assad, and leave his government in control of all the major cities of western Syria where the overwhelming majority of the population lives.

The rebels, armed and funded by foreign powers including Western countries, Arab States and Turkey, are putting up a bitter fight for districts of Aleppo where they have had years to fortify their positions. They also control other territory and have launched advances of their own.

A rebel commander from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki group said the army had opened several fronts simultaneously since the launch of a ground assault in order to stretch rebel forces, and had dropped leaflets from helicopters calling for surrender.

Government forces have pressed southwards since securing Handarat, a camp for Palestinians on the northern edge of Aleppo last Thursday following what rebels called carpet bombing. "They levelled the ground and our people had no choice but to retreat under the bombing of the Russians," the Zinki commander said.

Rebels still expect the army thrust will slow in residential areas that offer them more cover from air raids.

In the heart of the city, warplanes flying at high altitude hit Bustan al Qasr, Hay al Huluk and Fardous neighbourhoods with reports of casualties, several rebel contacts said. Rebels believe those planes are Russian.
Burundi opposition leader released after days in police custody

NAIROBI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The head of one of Burundi's opposition parties has been released, days after he was arrested for what police said was collaborating with "armed gangs", a spokesman for an opposition coalition said on Tuesday.

The central African state has been in a political crisis and sporadic violence for more than a year, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015.

At least 450 people have been killed in violence that first erupted during protests against Nkurunziza's re-election bid in April last year.

Gervais Niyongabo, chairman of the opposition FEDES-SANGIRA party and one of the few opposition leaders still able to work inside Burundi, was detained in the southern Makamba region on Sept. 28, police said.

FEDES-SANGIRA party was among the opposition groups to boycott last year's elections.

"It was but a police fabrication to arrest him, given that his native village is known as an opposition stronghold," Pancrace Cimpaye, spokesman for the opposition grouping CNARED, said.

Police and government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Opponents accuse Nkurunziza of violating the constitution and a peace pact that ended a civil war in 2005. The government accuses opponents of stirring unrest, and accuses them of backing rebel groups, which officials call "armed gangs".
Prosecutors drop probe of German comedian over satirical Erdogan poem

BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Tuesday they had dropped an investigation into a German comedian who was accused of offending a foreign leader after reciting an obscene poem about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on national television.

Comedian Jan Boehmermann read out a poem on a satirical show in March suggesting Erdogan engaged in bestiality and watched child pornography, prompting the Turkish leader to file a complaint with prosecutors that he had been insulted.

That further strained ties between Ankara and Berlin after Turkey was outraged by a resolution passed by Germany's parliament that declared the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces to be a genocide.

Tensions have risen at a time when Germany is relying on Turkey's help to stem the flow of illegal migrants to Europe.

The German government had given prosecutors the green light to pursue the case against Boehmermann - a move for which Chancellor Angela Merkel was strongly criticised.

But prosecutors in the western city of Mainz said on Tuesday they had not found sufficient evidence to suggest that any criminal offences had been committed by Boehmermann or anyone else involved in making or broadcasting the piece.

Under Germany's criminal code, insults against foreign leaders are not permitted but the government can decide whether to authorise prosecutors to go ahead.

Prosecutors said the right to freedom of opinion could not be guaranteed without any reservations, but pointed out that Boehmermann's recital was intended to be an example of what would constitute overstepping the boundaries of freedom of opinion rather than Boehmermann expressing his own views.

"Exaggerations, distortion and alienation are characteristics of the genre of satire and caricature," prosecutors said in a statement.

They said the recital was part of a programme that is widely known for being satirical and the well-informed audience would have understood that what was expressed in it was often exaggerated and not serious.

Daniel Krause, Boehmermann's lawyer in the Mainz case, welcomed the prosecutors' decision, saying it was "in accordance with the rule of law and had withstood any political pressure".

In a separate case, Erdogan's lawyer has filed a complaint with a court in Hamburg in a bid to get the poem banned in its entirety after a court issued a preliminary ruling in May banning re-publication of parts.

Christian Schertz, Boehmermann's lawyer in that case, said Merkel had overstepped her boundaries by calling Boehmermann's poem "deliberately insulting" and said that comment could have encouraged the Turkish government to take steps against Boehmermann. He said Boehmermann would give a statement at 1630 local time (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

Erdogan's office did not immediately respond to a request by reporters for comment.
Non-OPEC participation in deal would cut 1.2 mln bpd - Venezuela

CARACAS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Participation by non-OPEC countries in a deal to stabilize oil prices would mean a reduction of 1.2 million barrels per day from an oversupplied market, Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said on Tuesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed last week to shave output. Non-OPEC oil-producing countries have been called on to participate.

"With the deal between OPEC countries, some 700,000 bpd are taken out of the market, and by adding non-OPEC it's 1.2 million bpd," Del Pino said in a televised broadcast.
Zimbabwe court keeps police ban on protests

HARARE, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday upheld a month-long police ban on protests in the capital on the grounds that this was necessary to preserve peace, a lawyer representing opposition activists said.

Political tension is rising in the southern African nation after protests in the last three months against the rule of 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Police in the southern African nation banned public demonstrations until Oct. 15 following anti-government protests that led to violent clashes with police.

Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and prominent lawyer, said Judge President George Chiweshe had in his ruling dismissed the application to overturn the police ban.

Biti said the judge, while accepting that the law used by the police violated individual rights allowing peaceful demonstrations, it was nonetheless justified in order to protect property and ensure public peace.

"The court's rationale is that while the section of the law that allows police to ban protests was in breach of fundamental rights, it was justifiable in a democratic society," Biti said.

On Sept. 7, another High Court judge struck down a previous ban on public protests, saying police did not follow procedure and had violated the constitution.

Biti said he would meet other human rights lawyers on Wednesday to decide whether to appeal Chiweshe's ruling at the Supreme Court or launch a challenge at the Constitutional Court.
Presidential hopeful Macron says state spending no cure for sickly France

By Michel Rose

STRASBOURG, France, Oct 4 (Reuters) - France is sick because politicians throw taxpayers money at problems instead of addressing them properly, young presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron will say on Tuesday as he sets out a first batch of ideas to reform the country's political system.

On the day the Socialist government ordered 21 high-speed trains in a pre-election bid to preserve jobs at a struggling locomotive plant, the former economy minister who quit this summer slammed the whole political class for failing to reform the country.

"The only way governments or would-be governments respond to ills these days is by seeking to lower the temperature... and that tends to mean public spending," Macron told reporters ahead of a rally in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

"With this approach you just constantly increase the public deficit. It has been like that for years, for decades we have built things with knee jerk action."

"We can't fix the real problems if we only cauterise and don't treat the roots of evil," he added.

The one-time investment banker who rose to prominence as an adviser to President Francois Hollande and then a minister in his government was addressing the first of three rallies outside Paris.

Although he has yet to say whether he will run for president in next year's elections, the rallies are his platform for unveiling his so-called "diagnosis" for the country.

Macron's aides said it was too early to announce a full manifesto, but that he wanted to use the results of a door-to-door campaign in which hundreds of volunteers collected voters' grievances this summer to first explain what he thinks is wrong in France.

In Tuesday's first instalment focused on the political system, the 38-year old will say he is in favour of introducing more proportional representation in electing France's lawmakers, even if that means letting in more far-right or far-left MPs.

He said he also wanted to speed up France's lawmaking process, make ministers more accountable to parliament, and possibly create a committee filled with randomly-chosen citizens who could grill the president regularly.

Since Macron resigned last August, government and opposition politicians have branded him a "traitor" and called his policies "populist light".

Hardly known to the public two years ago, he has risen to become one of France's most popular politicians.
Nigerian lawmakers to probe use of funds for people fleeing Boko Haram

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The use of Nigerian government funds earmarked for assisting displaced people who are living in desperate conditions in the former stronghold of Boko Haram, is to be investigated because of suspicions of corruption, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

More than two million have been displaced, and some 15,000 people have been killed, during the jihadist group's seven-year insurgency in which it has sought to create a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Last week UNICEF said 75,000 children could die in the next year in northeastern areas previously controlled by the group before it was pushed back by Nigerian troops and others from neighbouring countries in early 2015.

Bashir Gabai -- a senator from Borno, the state where the insurgency began -- tabled a motion, passed by the upper house of parliament, to investigate the use of government funds.

"The rather incoherent and largely fragmented state of the procurement process so far points to a vague and corrupt scheme that is not in tune with helping our people in the north east," stated the motion.

The motion stated that 63 trucks carrying grains intended for displaced people in camps in Borno state had been diverted.

It also said 80.7 million naira ($260,323) was paid to a company to refurbish a police station and 203 million naira ($654,839) was paid to another company for the removal of invasive plant species along river channels.

And it said another company received 117 million naira($377,419) for supplying temporary shelters but there was "no record of these shelters anywhere".

The Senate set up a committee, which would report its findings in two weeks and be followed up by a public hearing, to establish how much of the government's funds had been used and how the money was spent.

Boko Haram's move to its stronghold in the northeast's vast Sambisa forest in the last few months has enabled government and aid agencies access to areas that were previously hard to reach.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office last year, has vowed to crack down on corruption and crush the Boko Haram insurgency.
White House says no communications from Philippines on changes

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The rhetoric from Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte is at odds with the two countries' warm relationship and the United States has not received any communications from his government about changing that relationship, the White House said on Tuesday.

"The diplomatic lines of communication between the United States and the Philippines remain open," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, noting joint military exercises that began on Tuesday. "We have not yet received any sort of formal communication using those channels from the Filipino government about making substantial changes to our bilateral relationship."

Duterte on Tuesday told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.
U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan -U.S. military

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. service member was killed in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province on Tuesday while carrying out operations against Islamic State, the U.S. military said in a statement.

"The service member was killed conducting operations with Afghan forces when the patrol triggered an Improvised Explosive Device," the statement said.

Islamic State has attracted hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan to join its ranks, and holds some territory in Nangarhar. But it has not been able to expand its influence in Afghanistan beyond a few districts and the Taliban remain the dominant militant force.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters in Washington that an investigation was under way and he was not aware of any other casualties in the incident.

Thousands of U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, with many recent air strikes and special operations missions aimed at Islamic State in Nangarhar, but they have also been helping Afghan forces fight Taliban elsewhere in the country.
Saudi Arabia says starts naval exercises in Gulf

DUBAI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia began naval war games including live fire exercises on Tuesday in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil route, official media reported, a move that coincides with heightened tensions with regional rival Iran.

Warships, speedboats, air navy aircraft, Marine Corps and special security naval units took part, state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Live ammunition was fired during activities.

The manoeuvres are aimed at testing combat readiness "in preparation for the protection of the marine interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against any possible aggression," reported SPA quoting commander of the exercises, Rear Admiral Majed bin Hazza'a Al-Qahtani.

The drill is also being conducted in the Sea of Oman, SPA reported.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia is concerned by the growing clout in the region of Shi'ite Iran, which has emerged from years of international economic sanctions following a deal over its nuclear programme signed by Tehran and world powers in 2015.

Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Muslim countries, backed by the United States, Britain and France, in a war in neighboring Yemen. The campaign, aimed at restoring a government ousted by an Iran-allied militia, is part of a more assertive effort by Riyadh since last year to counter Iran's influence.

Some 17 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 30 percent of all seaborne-traded oil, passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Egyptian parliament approves civil service law after rare defiance of Sisi

CAIRO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Egypt's parliament approved a civil service law on Tuesday aimed at combating corruption and bureaucracy after making amendments to the bill, the only one it had previously rejected out of hundreds put forward by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Lawmakers voted 401 to 26 in favour of the law, which regulates about 6.5 million state employees. Sisi has said Egypt could manage with just 1 million, an indication of his intention to prune back drastically.

Thousands of government workers protested against the law when it was first issued, saying it reduced their benefits and allowed officials to promote whoever they liked to high-ranking posts, as opposed to the current system based on seniority.

Members of parliament made changes to restore some of the benefits and to make it harder to sack staff, though not as hard as before the bill was put forward.
Colombia government, rebels in crisis talks after 'No' to peace deal

By Marc Frank and Helen Murphy

HAVANA/BOGOTA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board in Havana on Tuesday after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result.

In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Sunday as too lenient on the rebels.

Lead negotiators Humberto de la Calle and Sergio Jaramillo were back at a Havana convention center on Tuesday meeting counterparts from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to see what the rebels are willing to do, the government said.

The Cuban capital was the venue for talks between the two sides since 2012 that reached an accord to end Colombia's 52-year war that has killed around a quarter of a million people.

All sides, including "No" voters, who carried the day on Sunday by less than half a percentage point, say they want an end to war, and the two parties have kept their ceasefire.

But there is vehement opposition - led by hardline former President Alvaro Uribe - to major planks of the previous deal, including guaranteed congressional seats for the FARC and immunity from traditional jail sentences for leaders.

A renegotiation seems to depend on whether the FARC would accept tougher conditions, maybe combined with a softening of Uribe's demands. After years of refusing to meet negotiators, Uribe has now said he is willing to seek a joint solution.

Santos and Uribe will meet on Wednesday morning, the president's office said.

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said the decision whether to officially renegotiate the accord lies with the FARC.

On Monday the rebels said they would remain "faithful" to the negotiated accord and Twitter messages from FARC leadership appeared to suggest reluctance to change the terms at this stage.

"The thing is, just as the government has its deal breakers, so does the FARC, so we have to see if it is willing to reopen the accord," Holguin told reporters.

"There was no Plan B, we believed the nation wanted peace."

Three representatives from Uribe's right-wing Democratic Center party are to pore over details with three from the government. In what may turn into a dual negotiation process, those meetings are to commence once de la Calle returns from Cuba.

Colombian financial markets fell on Monday as investors worried that the limbo over the peace deal would hold up fiscal reforms such as tax changes.
Poland says ended talks with Airbus on helicopter deal

WARSAW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Poland has scrapped a 13.5 billion zlotys ($3.5 billion) deal for 50 Airbus utility helicopters that were to be delivered to the Polish army, the economy ministry said late on Tuesday.

"Poland considers the negotiations regarding the offset agreement with Airbus Helicopters related to the contract for the purchase of Caracal multi-role helicopters for the Polish army as finished," the ministry said.

Poland's previous centrist government, beaten by the eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party in elections last October, agreed a provisional deal with Airbus for 50 EC-725 Caracal multi-purpose helicopters.

That meant turning down offers from Sikorsky in the United States and AgustaWestland in Italy.

Earlier this year local media reported that Poland scrapped the deal, but Airbus said talks were continuing.
Guinea Bissau's ex-navy chief sentenced in prison in U.S. drug case

By Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond

NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - A former navy chief of Guinea-Bissau who was arrested three years ago in a U.S. drug sting off the West African coast was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison, most of which he has already served, for conspiring to facilitate the shipment of cocaine to the United States.

Former Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, 70, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan after pleading guilty in May 2014 to conspiring to import narcotics into the United States.

Na Tchuto has been cooperating with authorities in the time since, Berman said, a factor the judge considered in sentencing Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief of staff, who was a fighter in the country's 1956-1973 independence war.

He has been incarcerated since April 2013 and is expected to receive credit for good behavior, meaning he could be released immediately, his attorney, Patrick Joyce, said at the hearing.

"I don't have a lot to say besides saying that I'm sorry for my act," Na Tchuto said, through an interpreter, before Berman handed down his sentence.

Poverty-stricken Guinea-Bissau, on the west coast of Africa, is viewed by U.S. authorities as a major way point for South American-produced narcotics that are then shipped on to locations in Europe and elsewhere.

In 2010, U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Na Tchuto a drug kingpin after what it said were long-held suspicions that he was a major drug trafficking facilitator.

In 2012, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began a probe targeting drug trafficking in West Africa, using informants posing as representatives of South American drug traffickers.

Prosecutors said Na Tchuto and two of his aides, Tchamy Yala and Papis Djeme, met with the informants from 2012 to 2013 to discuss the shipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from South America to Guinea Bissau that would be sent onward.

In meetings, Na Tchuto said it was a good time for the drug transaction given the Guinea Bissau government's weakness following a recent coup, and he sought a $1 million fee per 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, prosecutors said.

Na Tchuto, Yala and Djeme were arrested on a luxury yacht off the country's coast in April 2013, after being asked to meet with purported members of the organization the informants claimed to represent, prosecutors said.
Putin's Middle East gamble is paying dividends

By Amir Handjani

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin has made an art of turning weakness into strength. As Russian and Syrian forces pound Aleppo in the biggest assault of Syria's five-year civil war, the Russian president clearly has emerged as a dominant force in the Middle East. Two years ago Russia had virtually no presence in the region, aside from a naval base in Syria. Today Moscow's fighter jets and missiles fly over Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi airspace.

Over the last year, Putin has inserted Russia into the Syrian conflict and shored up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad as it was on the verge of collapse. The Russian leader has forged a quasi-military alliance with Iran that has allowed him to project power in the Persian Gulf - something that has evaded Moscow since the end of World War Two.

If that wasn't enough, Putin's relationship with Turkey, which seemed to be on a collision course after Ankara downed a Russian fighter jet last year, has now warmed to the point where Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are about to restore full diplomatic relations. All the while Putin has maintained a close and productive relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.

How is Putin able to maneuver the shifting sands of the Middle East so effectively and forge ties with countries that are seemingly at odds with each other? Why has Russia been more effective than the United States in furthering Moscow's own agenda in the region?

Putin is able to quickly identify Russia's foreign policy interest in a given conflict and commit resources to it - and then abruptly change course once Moscow's core interest has either been met or has changed.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the United States has aligned its interest in the Persian Gulf with Sunni monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. In turn, these countries have invested heavily in the United States - from buying U.S. debt, to investing in real estate and buying billions of dollars in American military hardware.

Arab states have also invested heavily in Washington, buying influence in the corridors of power, funding think tanks and hiring public relations firms to help spread a narrative about why their countries are essential to America's interest in the Middle East. The relationship between Riyadh and Washington remains particularly strong even as the American public questions the logic behind an alliance with a country whose actions often run counter to Washington's interests.

These countries feel that Washington is obligated to share their view of the Middle East, which means backing them regardless of whether any conflict they engage in is against the interest of the United States. They have no such influence in Moscow. Even as Moscow backs Shi'ite powerhouse Iran and the Assad regime in Syria, Sunni Arab leaders continue to court Putin and look for ways to collaborate with him. Saudi Arabia, for example is currently trying to coordinate with Moscow on how best to stabilize oil markets and want Putin to pressure Iran to do the same.

Russia's partnerships are based on cold, hard realism. Putin's sole aim is to further Moscow's interest. He's unburdened by a legacy of alliances that do not serve Russia's strategic aims. He supports Damascus, Tehran and the Shi'ite government of Iraq because he views Sunni extremism as a long-term threat that has destabilized countries in the Middle East, and which he fears could wreak havoc in countries close to Russia's borders. Yet this coordination and collaboration with Shi'ite Iran doesn't preclude him from working with Sunni Arab states to promote trade for Russian industry and its atomic energy program.

Putin is doing all of this while remaining close to Netanyahu. Even though Putin is working with Syria and Iran - Israel's mortal enemies - he has convinced Netanyahu that these alliances are not meant to threaten Israel's existence, but rather serve a larger purpose of defeating Sunni extremism. Russia continues to cooperate with Israel in diverse fields such as energy, agriculture and arms. Russia and Israel also maintain close military contacts and Putin is careful not to transfer offensive weapons to Israel's foes.

Juxtapose this with how Netanyahu treated Obama and interferes in U.S. domestic politics. In the run-up to the Iran deal, Netanyahu used the influence of AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbying organizations to try and undermine a sitting president and scuttle his signature foreign policy achievement.

If Israel or another U.S. ally tried to interfere or challenge Putin in such a manner, it's difficult to imagine that he would reward them with $38 billion in aid for ten years, as Obama has done with Israel, or continue to support them militarily with advanced weapons and intelligence - as Washington has done with Saudi Arabia.

Even though the United States is a far greater power and should have more influence on the policies of junior partners such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, the inverse happens: they often work to limit Washington's strategic options for fear of abandonment or for their own self-interest.
Despite Brexit turmoil, British politics is healthy

By Peter Apps

Oct 4 (Reuters) - "Brexit means Brexit," Theresa May has said repeatedly since becoming British Prime Minister more than two months ago. Now we know what that almost nonsensical phrase actually means - a tougher and much more complete extraction from the European Union than even many "leave" campaigners wanted.

In her speech to the Conservative Party annual conference this week, May outlined a very "hard" Brexit, prioritizing barriers on migration over retaining access to the single market. At the same time - and perhaps in expectation of the judders of alarm passing through some financial markets - her administration has also junked much of its predecessor's drive to relentless austerity in the hope of retaining economic growth.

It's a unique moment in British politics. The May government already bears little resemblance to that led by David Cameron and George Osborne, elected by British voters barely 16 months ago. Its mandate, if it has one, is a bizarre mix of the legacy of that election victory and the June 23 referendum, now tied together to justify a range of almost entirely new policies.

In most countries, that would usher in a new election. What's happening instead in the UK, however, is a very British compromise. Having found itself in such a messy place, the electorate has little appetite to return to the polls - even if May's mandate for pushing through such a harsh EU exit remains limited at best.

Not having another election until the scheduled date of 2020 may well suit both the Conservatives and main opposition Labour Party. Both have some heavy lifting to do in the four years to come, the former to deliver on the referendum outcome and the latter to shape a genuine alternative. However the relationship develops with the EU, the UK faces real and growing challenges - and it needs both major political parties to have credible, but perhaps also radical, strategies to manage it.

It's too soon to say if that will happen for sure. But while May's conservatives are attempting to redefine relations with Europe, the Labour Party too is thinking new thoughts and trying new directions. The era of bland technocrat rule seems to be over - at least for now.

The Conservatives' longstanding divisions over Europe are likely to be exacerbated by the current exit process. Their best case scenario is that May and her team make Brexit work and that the British people reward them with another term in office.

That won't be easy. Negotiations with Europe will be difficult; achieving all the promises of the "leave" campaign all but impossible. Indeed, May's negotiators have made such uninspiring progress that some pundits are speculating the prime minister secretly intended the negotiations to fail so she could avoid Brexit altogether.

The opposition Labour Party is even more divided. Earlier this month, embattled leader Jeremy Corbyn beat off an attempt to oust him by centrist parliamentarians and their supporters. The party must now resolve its own potentially catastrophic internal divisions to have any chance of winning the next election.

Many of the party's most senior members are still considering whether to rejoin its front bench - some have explicitly ruled it out, saying they lack confidence in Corbyn's ability to win an election. That may yet prove a self-fulfilling prophecy - but the spike in new membership has also brought with it much-needed new blood and ideas.

Britain is a relatively conservative country, and the opinion polls suggest it will be an uphill struggle for Labour. The platform it unveiled at the end of its own conference last week needs further definition and is arguably well to the left of what the electorate might want. The party looks unlikely to win without regaining its reputation for economic competence, and a proposed 500 billion pound national investment strategy still looks ill-defined.

Immigration is now perhaps the defining issue in British politics. Corbyn has made it clear he will not be following May down the path of pushing for tighter controls. Still, the Labour Party will need to refine where it stands - its welfare state program has benefited from migrant workers, but new arrivals have also seriously stretched its resources.

In reality, the Labour Party may be at the beginning rather than the end of the next stage of its change. Corbyn might have done more than any other recent opposition leader to shift the center ground of British politics, but he is also 67. Even if he does contest the next election, ambitious politicians are already jostling to be his replacement.

Many are more centrist. Even one of the most prominent potential challengers from the party's left-wing, shadow Defense Secretary Clive Lewis, is a different and much more potentially electable prospect - a mixed-race former Army Reserve officer. A rebuilt Labour Party could pose a real challenge - particularly if the Conservatives make a hash of Brexit.

Even without Brexit, Britain has a lot that needs fixing. Economic inequality has risen dramatically, particularly since David Cameron took power in 2010. North of the border, enthusiasm for Scottish independence remains significant - although probably still too limited to win another referendum. In England, the third-party Liberal Democrats are hoping to attract diehard EU supporters to their cause while the Green Party is doing what it can to differentiate itself from the now more left-wing Labour.

Then there is the UK Independence Party, a powerful force in the referendum campaign which must redefine whether it serves any purpose at all. If Brexit is a disaster, it may well take the blame.
Qatar Airways, Boeing to hold news conference in Washington DC

DOHA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Gulf carrier Qatar Airways and Boeing will hold a news conference on Friday, a spokeswoman for Qatar Airways told Reuters on Wednesday, as a big sale of Boeing widebody jetliners looked close to being clinched.

Qatar Airways is in the process of firming up the order, which was delayed by the Qatari government in an effort to speed up U.S. approval of its purchase of Boeing fighter jets, sources told Reuters.

If the deal is finalised, it would give the Chicago-based planemaker a substantial sales boost in a year when orders for widebody planes has slumped.
The last two months have been nightmarish for Pakistan Army General Raheel Sharif. Instead of retiring on a high at the end of November this year (as per his own assertion), he has been confronted with a series of reverses that have dented his knight-in-shining-armour image, built up so assiduously by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

There is no doubt about his popularity or that he struck a chord with the population. Examples abound, such as the hashtag #ThankYouRaheelSharif commonly used on social media; the poster campaign urging him to take over; the plethora of T-shirts, badges and stickers with visuals of him in military uniform, selling like hot cakes.

General Sharifs popularity is due to the early successes of operation Zarb-e-Azb (launched in North Waziristan on June 15, 2014, against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan-TTP), success in restoring some semblance of order and peace in Karachi, and showing resolve to keep the democratic system in tact during the phase of "dharna" politics in 2014. He has comforted the nation with reassuring words that were missing from the civilian leadership - words that the population wanted to hear.

One striking example of this was his address on Defence Day, September 6, this year. The address was presidential, evidenced by his body language, as well as the range of subjects that he covered. The one notable feature was his underlining that Zarb-e-Azb had achieved its laid-down military objectives.

However, even before this speech, General Sharifs reputation had already started unravelling.

On August 8, 2016, a suicide bomber struck at the Quetta Civil Hospital killing at least 70 and wounding 100, with the bulk of casualties being lawyers. The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the TTP as well as the ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack.

On August 11, 2016, 14 persons were injured in a roadside blast targeting a vehicle belonging to the Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF), again in Quetta.

Several excuses were found and touted. For example, General Sharif said the Quetta attack was an attempt to undermine the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), even though Quetta is a long way off from Gwadar.

The most damaging, however, was his claim that having been defeated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), terrorists are shifting their focus to Balochistan".

However, less than a month after the two August attacks in Quetta, there were twin blasts in Peshawar and Mardan in KPK, on September 2, 2016. While one civilian and four suicide bombers were killed in Peshawar, at least 14 civilians, including eight lawyers, were killed and 60 others injured in Mardan.

On September 13, a suicide bomber injured a dozen people, four of whom were policemen, in Shikarpur in Sindh, while two were killed and 10 injured in an IED blast targeting a police vehicle in Quetta on the same day.

On September 16, at least 30 people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide attack on the Mohmand Agency.

Not surprisingly, questions have begun to be raised about how terrorists were operating with relative ease if Zarb-e-Azb was such a success. After all, these were not "lone wolf" attacks but complex ones that would have required facilitators.

The inevitable conclusion has been that despite Zarb-e-Azb, the country remains vulnerable to terrorism.

Security officials gather at the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta. (Photo credit: Reuters)

While all these attacks have embarrassed General Sharif and thrown doubts on his efforts to eliminate terrorism, worse has followed.

In the wake of the Pakistan-based terrorist strike on the brigade headquarters in Uri, J&K, on September 18, and the resultant anger in India, General Sharif made two significant statements.

On September 19, following a corps commanders' meeting, he announced: Taking notice of a 'hostile narrative being propagated by India', the Pakistan Army is fully prepared to respond to the entire spectrum of direct and indirect threats.

On September 23, he followed this up by telling officers at the National Counter Terrorism Centre near Kharian that the army would defend each and every inch of Pakistan no matter what the cost, and that Pakistans armed forces have the capability to counter the complete threat spectrum.

Against this backdrop, the Indian Armys September 29 bold and daring surgical strike was clearly a huge loss of face for General Sharif. His reputation as a tough, hands-on Army chief has undoubtedly taken a big hit.

Hence, instead of retiring in a blaze of glory at the end of November, he will have to rethink his options. He has at least four.

The first is to absorb the reverses, both internal and external and retire with a severely damaged and dented image. The damage this would do to the public reputation of the Army and to its mystique of "defenders of Pakistans territorial and ideological frontiers" may make him think twice before going down this route.

The second is to carry out a spectacular retaliatory strike against India before he retires to retrieve his prestige and go out in a blaze of glory, leaving the resultant escalatory mess to be handled by his successor.

The third is to climb down from his pedestal and accept an extension as Chief of Army Staff despite his assertions to the contrary, or to get elevated as Field Marshal and try and salvage his reputation over a longer time period. Neither of these is likely to enhance his stature.

The fourth is to send Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif packing, citing tensions with India and internal instability in the wake of Imran Khans successful "jalsa" at Raiwind on September 30, and threats to close down Islamabad after Moharram if the PM doesnt act on corruption charges against himself.

The second and fourth options seem more in the realm of possibilities than the first and third.

However, Nawaz Sharif has an ace up his sleeve. He could pre-empt any move by General Sharif by announcing his successor in the next few days or weeks.

This would make the General a lame duck, narrow his options and force him to go home, albeit battered and bruised.
During my weekend visit to the green grocer in my Delhi neighbourhood, a routine query on his well-being was responded to with a broad smile and a shower of praise for "Modiji" for having had the guts to "teach Pakistan a lesson". He was, of course, alluding to the cross-border strike or the "surgical strike" carried out by the Indian Para Special Forces and "Ghatak" platoons of the local units in the wee hours of Thursday, September 29.

While going through the papers of the last couple of days, and also the coverage on news channels, one couldn't help but wonder if journalists of all hues had ended up parroting the line of the establishment without caring to question the narrative at any point.

Isn't it clear to the government that Pakistan doesn't really have the elbow room to retaliate in kind?

Though there are limitations on how far you can go in matters of national security, the collective chanting of the official version of the events left one wondering if journalists and anchors have stopped caring about the pursuit of truth at the altar of national interest.

While scepticism is a great quality to have as a journalist, one must also take precautions to not fall into the trap of cynicism. As a sceptic, one would want to know why the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant-General Ranbir Singh did not choose to take questions at the joint press conference he held with the spokesman of the external affairs ministry on the afternoon of September 29, despite revealing the surgical strike undertaken by the Army the preceding night. While he promised to divulge the details later, no official briefing happened after that.

The government decision to take the opposition parties into confidence by briefing them about the matter soon after ensured that no probe would emerge on their part. While the media was left to speculate till late evening on the operations, some outlets claimed their "sources" had informed them more about it. The panellists on TV praised the political parties for speaking in one voice and the anchors in the TV studios contributed in their own ways. Some of them even turned up to host their shows in military attire - it made one wonder if what was going on was indeed real.

With nationalism becoming a controversial subject in recent times, and with people getting branded "anti-national" at the drop of a hat, it is understandable why many people would choose to go along with the official version of events without really bothering to pause and reflect.

This is further compounded by the activity on social media where things can really get out of hand and become ugly.On Saturday, the United Nations (UN) Spokesperson had stated, "The UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has not directly observed any firing across the Line of Control (LoC) related to the latest incidents."

There is also considerable scepticism in the western media of the Indian version of events. A CNN report on Sunday also claimed that there were no visible signs of Indian raids across the border in one of the sites where India claimed to have struck.

They also went on to say that no funeral or mourning was sighted and life went on as normal.

The Pakistan administration has been getting scores of foreign journalists into the sites where the Indian military is supposed to have gone across and struck. The Washington Post had reported of the lack of evidence of such activity on the ground. The BBC also chose to weigh in with scepticism about the Indian claims. The New York Times too reported along those lines.

It becomes a tough question for the journalists to ask of the Indian government when the integrity of the Army is also woven into it.

Though Indian home minister Rajnath Singh reacted with a "Wait and Watch" to a query on the question of releasing the footage of the Indian strikes on Sunday, even politicians like Arvind Kejriwal have joined the debate and demanded the footage be released. The predictable riposte as always is to "trust the army", but isn't it necessary for the government to do something about clearing the doubts of the international audience who wouldn't be swayed by nationalistic cries and jingoism?

But then, the surgical strikes seemed to be targeted more towards addressing the disillusionment of the domestic audience rather than the international media. The general public is not only jubilant about the surgical strikes, but also holds the Indian Army in high regard.

But still, wouldn't the government need to react at some point when the international media is raising questions about the claims made by the Army, thereby questioning its credibility?

There is also another strand of thought that the government need not go beyond this as releasing footage would mean provoking Pakistan into retaliation and escalation. But in less than a week since the "surgical strike", another attack has taken place on the 46 Rashtriya Rifles camp in Baramulla - with further attempts at infiltration near Gurdaspur today. Isn't it clear to the government that Pakistan doesn't really have the elbow room to retaliate in kind, and will only respond through an escalation of covert methods as it always does?
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China Green Agriculture, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various fertilizers and agricultural products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through four segments: Jinong, Gufeng, Yuxing, and Sales VIEs. Its fertilizer products comprise humic acid-based compound fertilizers, blended fertilizers, organic compound fertilizers, slow-release fertilizers, highly concentrated water-soluble fertilizers, and mixed organic-inorganic compound fertilizers, as well as develops, produces, and distributes agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and colored seedlings. The company markets its fertilizer products to private wholesalers and retailers of agricultural farm products. It sells its decorative flowers to end-users, such as flower shops, luxury hotels, and government agencies; fruits and vegetables to supermarkets and upscale restaurants; and seedlings to city planning departments. As of June 30, 2021, the company operated a network of 1,756 distributors covering 22 provinces, 4 autonomous regions, and 4 central government-controlled municipalities in China. It also exports its products through contracted distributors to various countries, including India and Africa. China Green Agriculture, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Xi'an, the People's Republic of China.
EnerSys provides various stored energy solutions for industrial applications worldwide. It operates in three segments: Energy Systems, Motive Power, and Specialty. The company offers uninterruptible power systems applications for computer and computer-controlled systems, as well as telecommunications systems; switchgear and electrical control systems used in industrial facilities and electric utilities, large-scale energy storage, and energy pipelines; integrated power solutions and services to broadband, telecom, renewable, and industrial customers; and thermally managed cabinets and enclosures for electronic equipment and batteries. It also provides motive power products that are used to provide power for electric industrial forklifts used in manufacturing, warehousing, and other material handling applications. In addition, the company offers mining equipment, diesel locomotive starting, and other rail equipment. Further, it provides specialty batteries for starting, lighting, and ignition applications in transportation; and energy solutions for satellites, military aircraft, submarines, ships, and other tactical vehicles, as well as medical and security systems. Additionally, the company offers battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories, and outdoor cabinet enclosures, as well as related after-market and customer-support services for industrial batteries. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, independent representatives, and internal sales forces. The company was formerly known as Yuasa, Inc. and changed its name to EnerSys in January 2001. EnerSys was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania.
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The following companies are subsidiares of LyondellBasell Industries: A. Schulman, A. Schulman 's-Gravendeel B.V., A. Schulman AG, A. Schulman Asia Limited, A. Schulman Belgium BVBA, A. Schulman Canada Ltd., A. Schulman Castellon S.L., A. Schulman Europe GmbH & Co. KG, A. Schulman Europe International B.V., A. Schulman Europe Verwaltungs GmbH, A. Schulman Gainsborough Ltd, A. Schulman GmbH, A. Schulman GmbH (Austrian Branch), A. Schulman Holding Company France S.A.S., A. Schulman Holdings (France) S.A.S., A. Schulman Holdings S.a.r.l., A. Schulman Inc., A. Schulman Inc. Limited, A. Schulman International Inc., A. Schulman International Services BVBA, A. Schulman Ireland Limited, A. Schulman Magyarorszag Kereskedelmi Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, A. Schulman Nordic AB, A. Schulman Plastics (Branch), A. Schulman Plastics (Dongguan) Ltd., A. Schulman Plastics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., A. Schulman Plastics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., A. Schulman Plastics BVBA, A. Schulman Plastics India Private Limited, A. Schulman Plastics PTY. LTD., A. Schulman Plastics S.r.l., A. Schulman Plastics SAS, A. Schulman Plastics bvba Bornem Sucursala Cluj-Napoca, A. Schulman Plastics organizacni slozka, A. Schulman Plastk Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, A. Schulman Plasticos do Brasil Ltda., A. Schulman Polska Sp. z o.o., A. Schulman Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, A. Schulman S.A.S., A. Schulman S.a.r.l., A. Schulman Thermoplastic Compounds Limited, A. Schulman Thermoplastic Compounds Sdn Bhd, A. Schulman de Mexico S.A. de C.V., A. Schulman del Peru S.A.C., A.Schulman Poznan Sp. Z o.o., ARCO Chemical, AS Global Holdings Inc., AS Mex Hold S.A. de C.V., AS Worldwide LLC, AS Worldwide LLC & Cie S.C.S., ASI Akron Land Co., ASI Employment S.A. de C.V., ASI Investments Holding Co., Al Waha Petrochemical Company, BKV Beteiligungs- und Kunststoffverwertungs-gesellschaft mbH, BMC Deutschland GmbH, BMC Dongguan Limited, BMC Far East Limited, BMC TetraDURTurkey Plastik Hammadde Kompozit Uretim Sanayi ve Ticaret Limted Sirketi, Basell (Thailand) Holdings B.V., Basell Advanced Polyolefins (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Basell Advanced Polyolefins (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Basell Advanced Polyolefins (Thailand) Company Ltd., Basell Arabie Investissements SAS, Basell Asia Pacific Limited, Basell Bayreuth Chemie GmbH, Basell Benelux B.V., Basell Chemie Koln GmbH, Basell Europe Holdings B.V., Basell Germany Holdings GmbH, Basell Holdings Middle East GmbH, Basell Iberica Poliolefinas Holdings S.L., Basell International Holdings B.V., Basell International Trading FZE, Basell Italia S.r.l, Basell Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Basell Moyen Orient Investissements SAS, Basell North America Inc., Basell Orlen Polyolefins Sp. Z.o.o., Basell Orlen Polyolefins Sprzedaz Sp. Z.o.o., Basell Poliolefinas Comercial Espagnola S.L., Basell Poliolefinas Iberica S.L., Basell Poliolefinas Ltda., Basell Poliolefinas S. de R.L. de C.V., Basell Poliolefine Italia S.r.l., Basell Polyolefin Istanbul Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Basell Polyolefine GmbH, Basell Polyolefines France S.A.S., Basell Polyolefins Company BVBA, Basell Polyolefins India Private Limited, Basell Polyolefins Korea Ltd., Basell Polyolefins UK Limited, Basell Sales & Marketing Company B.V., Basell Service Company B.V., Basell Slovakia s.r.o., Basell Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Basell UK Holdings Limited, Basell UK Ltd., Brindisi Servizi Generali S.c.a.r.l., Bulk Molding Compounds Inc., Bulk Molding Compounds Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bulk Molding Compounds do Brasil Industria de Plasticos Reforcados Ltda., Citadel Brazil Holdings LLC, Citadel Intermediate Holdings LLC, Citadel Plastics Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Citadel Plastics Holdings Inc., Citadel Plastics Mexico Holdings LLC, Citadel Plastics Netherlands Holdings LLC, Compagnie Petrochimique de Berre SAS, Compagnie de Distribution des Hydrocarbures SAS, EMS Holding Ltd., EPS Ethylen-Pipeline-Sud Geschaftsfuhrungs GmbH, EPS Ethylen-Pipeline-Sud GmbH & Co. KG, Elian S.A.S., Equistar Bayport LLC, Equistar Chemicals LP, Equistar GP LLC, Equistar LP LLC, Equistar Mont Belvieu Corporation, GuangZhou Basell Advanced Polyolefins Co. Ltd., HGGC Citadel Plastics Holdings Inc., HGGC Citadel Plastics Intermediate Holdings Inc., HMC Polymers Company Limited, HPC Holdings LLC, Hadlock Plastics LLC, Houston Refining LP, I.F.M. S.c.a.r.l., ICO Europe C.V., ICO Holdings LLC, ICO Holdings New Zealand Limited, ICO Petrochemical Cayman Islands, ICO Polymers Cayman Islands, Indelpro S.A. de C.V., Infraserv GmbH & Co. Hochst KG, Inmobiliaria Satchmo S. de R.L. de C.V., Innovacion Y Desarrollo en Materiales Avanzados A.C., J.R. Courtenay (N.Z.) Limited, LPI Holding Company, LYB (Barbados) SRL, LYB Advanced Polymer Solutions Ireland Limited, LYB Americas Finance Company LLC, LYB Equistar Holdings LLC, LYB Export Holdings Limited, LYB Exports Inc., LYB Finance Company B.V., LYB International Finance B.V., LYB International Finance II B.V., LYB International Finance III LLC, LYB Ireland 2 Limited, LYB Ireland Limited, LYB La Porte Hyperzone LLC, LYB Luxembourg S.a r.l., LYB Matrixx Holdings Inc., LYB Receivables LLC, LYB Trading Company B.V., LYB Treasury Services Ltd., Limited Liability Company "LyondellBasell Polyolefins", Limited Liability Company A. Schulman, Lucent Polymers Inc., Lyondell Asia Holdings Limited, Lyondell Centennial Corp., Lyondell Chemical Company, Lyondell Chemical Europe Inc., Lyondell Chemical Overseas Services Inc., Lyondell Chemical Products Europe LLC, Lyondell Chemical Properties L.P., Lyondell Chemical Technology 1 Inc., Lyondell Chemical Technology L.P., Lyondell Chemical Technology Management Inc., Lyondell Chemie (PO-11) B.V., Lyondell Chemie (POSM) B.V., Lyondell Chemie Nederland B.V., Lyondell Chimie France SAS, Lyondell China Holdings Limited, Lyondell Greater China Holdings Limited, Lyondell Greater China Ltd., Lyondell Greater China Trading Limited, Lyondell Japan Inc., Lyondell PO-11 C.V., Lyondell POJVGP LLC, Lyondell POJVLP LLC, Lyondell POTechGP Inc., Lyondell POTechLP Inc., Lyondell Refining Company LLC, Lyondell Refining I LLC, Lyondell South Asia Pte Ltd, LyondellBasell Acetyls Holdco LLC, LyondellBasell Acetyls LLC, LyondellBasell Advanced Polyolefins Mexico S.A. de C.V., LyondellBasell Australia (Holdings) Pty Ltd, LyondellBasell Australia Pty Ltd, LyondellBasell Brasil Ltda., LyondellBasell Canada Inc., LyondellBasell Central Europe Kft., LyondellBasell China Holdings B.V., LyondellBasell Circular Economy B.V., LyondellBasell Covestro Manufacturing Maasvlakte V.O.F., LyondellBasell Egypt LLC, LyondellBasell F&F Holdco LLC, LyondellBasell Finance Company, LyondellBasell Holdings France SAS, LyondellBasell Hungary Kft, LyondellBasell Industries Holdings B.V., LyondellBasell Industries N.V., LyondellBasell Investment LLC, LyondellBasell Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., LyondellBasell Polyolefin (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., LyondellBasell Services France S.A.S., LyondellBasell Subholdings B.V., LyondellBasell Taiwan Co. Ltd., LyondellBasell Transportation Company LLC, Millennium Chemicals, Natpet Schulman Specialty Plastic Compounds, Ningbo ZRCC Lyondell Chemical Co. Ltd., Ningbo ZRCC Lyondell Chemical Marketing Co. Ltd., OE Insurance Ltd, Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd., Oil Insurance Limited, PD Glycol LP, PO JV LP, PO Offtake LP, POSM II Limited Partnership L.P., POSM II Properties Partnership LLC, PT A.Schulman Plastics, PT ASchulman Plastics Commercial, PTT Chemical PCL, Poly Pacific Polymers Sdn. Bhd., Poly Pacific Pty. Ltd., PolyMirae Co. Ltd., Premix Holding Company, Premix Inc., Prime Colorants Inc., QCP B.V., QCP Holding B.V., QCP IP B.V., Quantum Composites Inc., RIGK GmbH Gesellschaft zur Ruckfuhrung industrieller and gewerblicher Kunstoffverpackungen mbH, Rayong Olefins Co. Ltd., Rexene - LDPE and PP Businesses, SCG ICO Polymers Company Limited, SJS Plastiblends, San Jacinto Rail Limited, Saudi Ethylene & Polyethylene Company, Saudi Polyolefins Company, Sociedad Espanola De Materiales Plasticos Semap S.A., Societe des Stockages Petroliers du Rhone SA, Solvay Engineered Polymers, Surplast S.A., TRV Thermische Ruckstandsverwertung GmbH & Co. KG, TRV Thermische Ruckstandsverwertung Verwaltungs-GmbH, Technology JV LP, The Matrixx Group Incorporated, ULSAN PP Co. Ltd., YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG, Zylog Plastalloys, and tetra-DUR Kunststoff-Produktion GmbH.

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The Mosaic Company, through its subsidiaries, produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It owns and operates mines, which produce concentrated phosphate crop nutrients, such as diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and ammoniated phosphate products; and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients primarily under the Biofos and Nexfos brand names, as well as produces a double sulfate of potash magnesia product under K-Mag brand name. The company also produces and sells potash for use in the manufacturing of mixed crop nutrients and animal feed ingredients, and for industrial use; and for use in the de-icing and as a water softener regenerant. In addition, it provides nitrogen-based crop nutrients, animal feed ingredients, and other ancillary services; and purchases and sells phosphates, potash, and nitrogen products. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors, retail chains, farmers, cooperatives, independent retailers, and national accounts. The Mosaic Company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., PepsiCo Management Services SAS, PepsiCo Manufacturing A.I.E., PepsiCo Max B.V., PepsiCo Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo Nederland B.V., PepsiCo Nordic Denmark ApS, PepsiCo Nordic Finland Oy, PepsiCo Nordic Norway AS, PepsiCo Nutrition Trading DMCC, PepsiCo One B.V., PepsiCo Overseas Corporation, PepsiCo Overseas Financing Partnership, PepsiCo Panimex Inc, PepsiCo Products B.V., PepsiCo Products FLLC, PepsiCo Puerto Rico Inc., PepsiCo Sales Inc., PepsiCo Sales LLC, PepsiCo Services Asia Ltd., PepsiCo Services CZ s.r.o., PepsiCo Services LLC, PepsiCo Twist B.V., PepsiCo UK Pension Plan Trustee Limited, PepsiCo Ventures B.V., PepsiCo Wave Holdings LLC, PepsiCo World Trading Company Inc., PepsiCo Y LLC, PepsiCo de Argentina S.R.L., PepsiCo de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda., PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCola Interamericana de Guatemala S.A., Pet Iberia S.L., Pete & Johnny Limited, Pine International LLC, Pine International Limited, Pinstripe Leasing LLC, Pioneer Food Group Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Groceries Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Group Ltd., Pioneer Foods Holdings Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods UK Ltd, Pioneer Foods Wellingtons Pty Ltd, Pipers Crisps Limited, PlayCo Inc., Pop corners, PopCorners Holdings Inc., Portfolio Concentrate Solutions Unlimited Company, Premier Nutrition Trading L.L.C., Prestwick LLC, Prev PepsiCo Sociedade Previdenciaria, Productos Alimenticios Rene LLC, Productos S.A.S. C.V., Productos SAS Management B.V., Punch N.V., Punica Getranke GmbH, Q O Puerto Rico Inc., QFL OHQ Sdn. Bhd., QTG Development Inc., QTG Services Inc., Quadrant - Amroq Beverages S.R.L., Quaker Development B.V., Quaker European Beverages LLC, Quaker European Investments B.V., Quaker Foods, Quaker Global Investments B.V., Quaker Holdings UK Limited, Quaker Manufacturing LLC, Quaker Oats Asia Inc., Quaker Oats Australia Pty Ltd, Quaker Oats B.V., Quaker Oats Capital Corporation, Quaker Oats Europe Inc., Quaker Oats Europe LLC, Quaker Oats Limited, Quaker Sales & Distribution Inc, Raptas Finance S.a r.l., Rare Fare Foods LLC, Rare Fare Holdings Inc., Reading Industries Ltd, Real Estate Holdings LLC, Rockstar Energy Drink, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP, S & T of Mississippi Inc., SIH International LLC, SVC Logistics Inc., SVC Manufacturing Inc., SVE Russia Holdings GmbH, Sabritas LLC, Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Sabritas Snacks America Latina de Nicaragua y Cia Ltda, Sabritas de Costa Rica S. de R.L., Sabritas y Cia. S en C de C.V., Sakata Rice Snacks Australia Pty Ltd, Sandora Holdings B.V., Saudi Snack Foods Company Limited, Sea Eagle International SRL, Seepoint Holdings Ltd., Senselet Food Processing PLC, Senselet Holding B.V., Servicios GBF Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Servicios GFLG y Compania Limitada, Servicios Gamesa Puerto Rico L.L.C., Servicios SYC S. de R.L. de C.V., Seven-Up Asia Inc., Seven-Up Light B.V., Seven-Up Nederland B.V., Shanghai PepsiCo Snack Company Limited, Shanghai YuHo Agricultural Development Co. Ltd, Shoebill LLC, Simba (Proprietary) Limited, Simba Proprietary Limited, Sitka Spruce, Smartfoods Inc., Smiles and Bites Holdings S.de R.L. de C.V., Smiths Crisps Limited, Snack Food Investments GmbH, Snack Food Investments II GmbH, Snack Food Investments Limited, Snack Food-Beverage Asia Products Limited, Snacks America Latina S.R.L., Snacks Guatemala Ltd., So Spark Ltd., Soda-Club CO2 Atlantic GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 Ltd., Soda-Club Switzerland GmbH, Soda-Club Worldwide B.V., SodaStream, SodaStream Australia Pty Ltd, SodaStream CO2 SA, SodaStream Canada Ltd., SodaStream Enterprises N.V., SodaStream France SAS, SodaStream GmbH, SodaStream Iberia S.L., SodaStream Industries Ltd., SodaStream International B.V., SodaStream International Ltd., SodaStream Israel Ltd., SodaStream K.K., SodaStream New Zealand Ltd., SodaStream Nordics AB, SodaStream Poland Sp. z o.o., SodaStream SA Pty Ltd., SodaStream Switzerland GmbH, SodaStream USA Inc., SodaStream Osterreich GmbH, South Beach Beverage Company Inc., South Properties Inc., Spitz International Inc., Sportmex Internacional S.A. de C.V., Springboig Industries Ltd, Spruce Limited, Stacy's Pita Chip Company Incorporated, Star Foods E.M. S.R.L., Stokely-Van Camp Inc., Stratosphere Communications Pty Ltd, Stratosphere Holdings 2018 Limited, Streamfoods Ltd, TFL Holdings LLC, Tasman Finance S.a r.l, The Gatorade Company, The Good Carb Food Company Ltd., The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada ULC, The Quaker Oats Company, The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited, Thomond Group Holdings Limited, Tobago Snack Holdings LLC, Tropicana Alvalle S.L., Tropicana Beverages Limited, Tropicana Europe N.V., Tropicana United Kingdom Limited, Troya-Ultra LLC, United Foods Companies Restaurantes S.A., V-Water, VentureCo Israel Ltd, Veurne Snack Foods BV, Vitamin Brands Ltd., Walkers Crisps Limited, Walkers Group Limited, Walkers Snack Foods Limited, Walkers Snacks Distribution Limited, Walkers Snacks Limited, Whitman Corporation, Whitman Insurance Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Beverages JSC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Brands Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Central Asia-Almaty LLP, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods LLC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann JSC, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Ukraine PJSC.

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Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 900 bank branches and 3,300 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Global Partners LP engages in the purchasing, selling, gathering, blending, storing, and logistics of transporting gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, distillates, residual oil, renewable fuels, crude oil, and propane to wholesalers, retailers, and commercial customers in the New England states, Mid-Atlantic region, and New York. The company is also involved in the transportation of petroleum products and renewable fuels through rail from the mid-continent region of the United States and Canada. Its Wholesale segment sells home heating oil, branded and unbranded gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, diesel, kerosene, residual oil, and propane to home heating oil retailers and wholesale distributors. It also aggregates crude oil through truck or pipeline in the mid-continent region of the United States and Canada, as well as transports it through rail and ships it through barge to refiners. The company's Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations segment sells branded and unbranded gasoline to gasoline station operators and sub-jobbers; operates gasoline stations and convenience stores; and provides car wash, lottery, and ATM services, as well as leases gasoline stations. Its Commercial segment sells and delivers unbranded gasoline, home heating oil, diesel, kerosene, residual oil, and bunker fuel to customers in the public sector, as well as to commercial and industrial end-users; and sells custom blended fuels. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a portfolio of 1,595 owned, leased, and supplied gasoline stations, which included 295 directly operated convenience stores; and owned, leased, or maintained storage facilities at 26 bulk terminals with a collective storage capacity of 11.9 million barrels. Global GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.
China Mobile Limited provides mobile telecommunications and related services in Mainland China and Hong Kong. The company offers local calls; domestic and international long distance calls and roaming services; and value-added services, such as caller identity display, call waiting, conference calls, and others. It also provides wireless Internet service, as well as digital applications comprising music, video, reading, gaming, and animation; wireline broadband services; and wireline voice services. In addition, it offers dedicated line and IDC services to corporate customers in a range of industry sectors; and basic corporate communication products comprising corporate VPMN and SMS, and tailor made solutions. Further, the company provides international telecommunications services, which includes IDD, roaming, Internet, MNC, and value added business services. Additionally, it offers telecommunications network planning, design, and consulting services; roaming clearance, IT system operation, and technology support services; value-added platform development and maintenance services; mobile data, and system integration and development services; network construction and maintenance, network planning and optimizing, and training services; electronic communication products design and sale of related products; and non-banking financial services. It also provides mobile cloud research and development services; call center services; e-payment, e-commerce, and Internet finance services; and mobile Internet digital content services, as well as operates a network and business coordination center. The company serves 950 million mobile customers and 187 million wireline broadband customers. The company was formerly known as China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited and changed its name to China Mobile Limited in May 2006. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Central, Hong Kong. China Mobile Limited is a subsidiary of China Mobile Hong Kong (BVI) Limited.
Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. The company operates through two segments, Sally Beauty Supply and Beauty Systems Group. The Sally Beauty Supply segment offers beauty products, including hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty products for retail customers, salons, and salon professionals. This segment also provides products under third-party brands, such as Wella, Clairol, OPI, Conair, and L'Oreal, as well as exclusive-label brand merchandise. The Beauty Systems Group segment offers professional beauty products, such as hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty items directly to salons and salon professionals through its professional-only stores, e-commerce platforms, and sales force, as well as through franchised stores under the Armstrong McCall store name. This segment also sells products under third-party brands, such as Paul Mitchell, Wella, Matrix, Schwarzkopf, Kenra, Goldwell, Joico, and Olaplex. As of September 30, 2021, the company operated 4,777 stores, including 134 franchised units in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. It also distributes its products through full-service/exclusive distributors, open-line distributors, direct sales, and mega-salon stores. Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Denton, Texas.
PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it controlled 228,296 lots, of which 109,078 were owned and 119,218 were under land option agreements. In addition, the company arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; sells the servicing rights for the originated loans; and provides title insurance policies, and examination and closing services to homebuyers. PulteGroup, Inc. was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. and changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York.
When Thomas Jefferson put his trust in Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore their way to the Pacific Northwest, he probably didnt expect the items intended as gifts for Native American tribes to end up back in Charlottesville. But thats exactly what happened, thanks to a local education center.

The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center at Darden Towe Park recently acquired several artifacts both used during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as items celebrating the explorers accomplishments. This weekend, the center will unveil the items as part of its third annual Boats and Butterflies Festival.

In a glass case on top of an archival shelf sits a string of bright beads in different shades of blue. Beads were new to the Native American tribes before the colonists arrived, but were often used to trade. One bead could be traded for a salmon and helped the explorers survive the hard journey, according to Alexandria Searls, executive director of the center.

They are really luminous and beautiful, and not so easy to get this many at one time, Searls said. A couple people have donated single beads to us before, but not a whole strand.

The center acquired the beads and other items from Jane Henley, a descendent of Jane Lewis, the sister of Meriwether Lewis. Lewis and Clark took many such beads with them to make trades with Native Americans and broker friendships with the tribes they encountered along the way  as was part of their mission from Jefferson.

Also on display will be a tin cup made for the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase  the land deal Jefferson made with France to obtain 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. The cup is not explicitly about Lewis and Clark, but thats kind of the point, Searls said.

Were not only interested in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but in how Lewis and Clark have been remembered at different times in our history, said Searls. The Louisiana Purchase happened at the same time Lewis and Clark went on the expedition, so were interested in how those were memorialized in the early 1900s.

The collection also will feature a map of Locust Hill from the 18th century that shows the birthplace of Lewis near Ivy in Albemarle County. The map, or plat, is also on loan from Henley, and shows Lewis home, as well as the cemetery where his mother is buried.

A collection of currency celebrating Lewis and Clark, as well as the American buffalo, will be on display, as well. The items include a rare $10 bill printed around the same time as the tin cup, in the early 1900s, that features the faces of Lewis and Clark.

The center also is busy putting together a collection of both U.S. and international stamps that tell the story of Lewis and Clarks adventures, Searls said. As the duo traveled west, speaking to different Native tribes and mapping the area, they also worked as naturalists for Jefferson, and Searls wants the collection to reflect those efforts.

Its not only stamps about them, its stamps about the animals they encountered and what was going on in the United States  stamps of the statehood and places they visited, Searls said. It shows how the story unfolded.

In addition to beads, the explorers took along peace pipes, which they used to strike up friendships with local tribes. One on display at the center is shaped like a tomahawk axe, which has a curious etymological connection, according to Becky Gildersleeve, the centers director of public engagement.

When youre smoking the peace pipe, the blade is actually put in the ground or a piece of wood, so that would be the expression burying the hatchet, Gildersleeve said, smiling. So when youre smoking it, you cant have the blade exposed.

At Saturdays event, the center also will debut another recent acquisition  a working replica Pennsylvania long rifle. The gun is modeled after one that would have been on the expedition with Lewis and Clark, used for hunting and warfare from the 1700s until the 1900s, according to Gildersleeve.

The unique aspect of this is the long barrel  that was really an American invention, compared to European rifles  and it gave greater accuracy in hunting smaller animals, Gildersleeve said. Thats how they ate. They basically didnt have anything else and they used these guns for their survival.

Until May, the center had only been available to school groups, but it is now open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays, which Searls said she hopes will get more people thinking about Lewis and Clark and their impact on the country today. At the center, she and Gildersleeve teach visitors how to explore the outside world and the local history ties to the famous expedition.

In some ways, I want people to go away from here with questions  examining all sorts of different angles, beginning to ask questions about the past and how it still influences us, Searls said. The North Dakota Indians are still dealing with a lot of issues from losing their autonomy and North Dakota is now part of the vanguard of energy. Its really changing rapidly with all of the fracking and everything thats going on there.

Its important to know the entire history for whats going on today  learning the history of our country and how the land has been used, and how that affects us today, she said.

Admission to the center is free for members and $7 otherwise.

The Boats and Butterflies Festival takes place from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday at the center. Participants can learn about butterflies and other pollinators, take a boat ride on the Rivanna River and make butterfly art.

For more information, visit lewisandclarkvirginia.org.
FARMVILLE  When Democratic Sen. Timothy M. Kaine and Republican Gov. Mike Pence face off at Longwood University on Tuesday for the first and only vice presidential debate university President Taylor Reveley will not be in the audience.

With limited seating in Willett Hall for the debate  about 500 seats, with 100 of those designated for students, Reveley gifted his ticket so one more Longwood student could attend the historic event.

President Reveley is going to do his opening remarks tomorrow and then he is going to leave the debate hall so a student can have his seat, Longwood senior Alex Jolly said. I just think thats something you wouldnt find somewhere else. When he said that last night, it made me truly proud to be a Lancer.

As more than 2,000 members of the local, national and international media converge on Farmville  a town of about 8,000 people  for the debate, the town and university have been thrust into the political spotlight with a little more than a month left until Election Day.

Students milled about campus Monday as crews from national news stations set up sound equipment, lighting and stages from which network anchors will analyze the 90-minute debate moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News. Students on Stubbs Mall stood in line for free Longwood T-shirts, and plastic, party sunglasses as they waited for comedy troupe Second City to kick-off a performance on-stage.

The shirts read: History is made at Longwood University.

While Longwood students are out of class as part of a weeklong fall break, many returned to campus before debate activities kicked off Sunday. That evening included a pop-rock concert and the lottery for coveted student tickets into the debate hall Tuesday.

About 800 students registered for tickets and more than that are volunteering in some capacity to help with various debate events. Longwood, a public university, has about 5,000 students.

I got really excited watching the first presidential debate and hearing Longwood University on national television, graduate student Michelle Kassel said. It was like a one-sentence shoutout, but it was like this is real and its happening here.

As Kassel and her friends waited in line for a caricature picture of their group, they cautioned reporters against stepping on blue drawings of the Longwood Rotunda painted on campus sidewalks.

Dont step on the spirit of Longwood, one of them hooted.

The debate in Kaines home state will be the third presidential or vice presidential debate to take place in Virginia. President George H.W. Bush debated Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton in 1992 at the University of Richmond and Jimmy Carter took on President Gerald Ford at the College of William & Mary in 1976.

The Commission on Presidential Debates selected Longwood for the vice presidential debate more than six months before Hillary Clinton selected Kaine as her running mate.

Since then, Longwood has invested more than $4 million into campus improvements and covered the university with red, white and blue banners commemorating the momentous occasion.

Away from all the media fanfare Monday, several people strolled through the Robert Russa Moton Museum devoted to the civil rights movement that helped bring the vice presidential debate to Farmville.

The debate commission chose Farmville and Longwood for the debate, in part, because of the towns Civil War and civil rights history.

The Civil War wound down on the north side of Longwoods campus just before Robert E. Lee surrendered down the road in Appomattox.

On the south end of campus, 16-year-old Barbara Johns and her fellow students walked out of their all-black high school because of the conditions of their school compared with white schools. The school was turned into a museum about 20 years ago.

Joan Johns Cobbs was 13 years old in 1951 when her sister incited 455 students to walk-out of the high school, an incident that eventually became one of five cases across the country incorporated into the landmark Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education.

I didnt dare not follow because she was bossy, Cobbs said Monday. Cobbs, the shy sister in the family, worried about how her parents would react when they heard about the walk-out. They were shocked, but Cobbs said the behavior was not unusual for her free-spirited sister.

After the Supreme Court handed down a decree that separate was not equal in public education, Prince Edward County closed its public schools for five years in an attempt to fight desegregation.

Johns story isnt well-known beyond Farmville town limits, said Cainan Townsend, the museums director of education and public programs. The spotlight of the vice presidential debate can shed more light on the towns complicated and compelling history, he said.

The museum is launching a civil rights walking tour Tuesday to coincide with the debate. The tour will visit historic locations across town that correspond to Johns 13-year legal fight for equality.

Im glad Farmville will start to be known for more than the Facebook game, Townsend said.

The vice presidential debate will air from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on all major television networks and some cable channels. The debate will be split into nine 10-minute segments on various topics.
No matter what your political persuasion, if youre a Virginian you ought to try to catch tonights vice presidential debate.

Virginia has an elevated stake in this race, and an honored position as the site of the only debate scheduled between the two VP candidates.

Whats more, this debate could occur minus much of the vitriol and emotionalism that marks the presidential race. We just might get some solid substance out of this encounter. National attention is on Virginia because of the debates location  Longwood University in Farmville  and because one of the candidates is Sen. Tim Kaine, former governor of the commonwealth and former mayor of Richmond.

Mr. Kaines selection as Hillary Clintons running mate was approved by many Democrats as a deliberate effort to balance the controversies and intensities of the presidential campaign with a candidate known for moderacy and for the type of bipartisanship that, however battered, still exists in the Old Dominion.

Meanwhile, selection of the university in Farmville as host of the debate carries its own message.

Mr. Kaine himself has said that the Old Dominion has a brand new identity, citing Virginias election of the first black governor since Reconstruction with Douglas L. Wilder in 1989 and its support for Barack Obama as the nations first black president in 2008.

Farmville and Prince Edward County have a poignant link to an older era, and to the fight that helped wipe educational discrimination from the books.

Back in 1951  long before the protests of the 60s  a black student led a walkout in opposition the separate-but-unequal facilities at her segregated school. That event helped launch the modern civil-rights movement in Virginia and, indeed, nationwide, as the legal case that resulted was folded in to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision that officially ended school the separate-but-equal policy.

The episode exemplifies some of the best, and the worst, of the commonwealth historically  both the unfairness of official state policy and the courage and strength of individual Virginians in standing up for what was right.

It will be interesting to see how, or whether, Mr. Kaine references this history during the debate, as he has in the run-up to the debate  and how his opponent, Republican Mike Pence, will respond. As the governor of Indiana, Mr. Pence will have had a very different experience with the aftermath of desegregation and the impact of current racial issues. The topic could be wielded as a double-edged sword.

Racial justice, and Virginias role therein, is only one of many possible issues that might  or might not  flavor the debate.

Whether or not this issue comes front and center, the debate is likely to be both interesting and informative to voters, in the commonwealth and across the country.

At least, we are optimistic that such will be the case.
Grazing lands in Culpeper County continue to be eligible for conservation assistance funds for establishing rotational grazing fields, developing water resources (wells, springs and stream access points), re-establishing critical pollinator and songbird habitat, reforestation of critical areas and re-establishing buffer areas along waterways.

Several different funding sources are available to landowners and livestock grazers to assist with the transition to improved forage management and natural resource management. In addition, several new grants recently received by the district expand the districts septic system cost share program to all areas of the county.

The Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have employees that assist owners in developing farm resource conservation plans and with navigating program opportunities. The opportunities are many and no-one is expected to be a program expert; that is one of the roles and responsibilities of the agency staff.

Agency staff sit down with owners or producers and lay out the options, both pro and con. According to District Manager, Greg Wichelns, a frank assessment of the options is one of the things his staff can bring to the table; not all programs are created equal and staff will assist applicants in understanding those options.

Although significant program signup occurred in Culpeper County the past two years under Virginias 100 percent reimbursement initiative for stream fencing, additional funds continue to be available. The CSWCD has just received several grants in the District to address grazing land management.

The grants offer higher than normal cost share rates for fencing and water development; 85 percent cost share and a tax credit on any out of pocket expenses. The grants also provide assistance to maintain, repair and replace septic systems that need help or updating.

According to Wichelns, The grants together have funding available for both agriculture projects and septic systems. Now is a very good time to seriously consider that fencing project under consideration or fixing that ailing drain field that occasionally surfaces above ground. Especially for the latter, it is only a matter of time before it fails so why not sign up for the assistance while it is available.

According the CSWCD records, they have been financing septic tank pump outs and septic system upgrades and replacements in the various areas of the five member counties for nearly ten years.

I believe these grants have done a tremendous amount of good for the water environment in our counties, particularly groundwater quality but also surface waters. It is not too late to get in on the good thing, Wichelns said.

The CSWCD also has regular cost share program funding available.

The Commonwealth continues to make huge commitments to get producers into voluntary conservation programs before any federal deadlines on Chesapeake Bay restoration arrive, Wichelns said.

The districts funding for projects has quadrupled this year and next as Virginia approaches significant milestone years for Chesapeake Bay cleanup. He acknowledged that 2017 is one such milestone year for healthy bay planning.

A lot is likely to change in 2017, at least for those of us in the conservation business. Workload has and is significantly increasing and we are currently seeking increased operational funding to help us keep pace with the workload. No-one really knows if any regulatory change is in the future; we at the conservation district office are more focused on resource conservation management farm by farm and assisting producers and landowners with understanding what that entails and the assistance available to implement plans. said Wichelns.

Farmland productivity and conservation management go hand in hand.

During the past two years the CSWCD has also been busy with the review and approval of many official resource management plans (RMPs), many of which occurred in Culpeper County.

According to Wichelns, A large emphasis has been placed on RMPs the past two years by the Commonwealth, and once approved and implemented, an RMP guarantees the producer 'immunity' from regulatory change for a period of nine years.

"The RMP process which came forth from the 2011 Virginia General Assembly was designed to help producers achieve that level of implementation which meets reasonable expectations for minimizing impacts on the bay and other local water bodies. We expect to be reviewing even more of these plans in the future, Wichelns said.

Anyone interested in exploring the many benefits of conservation planning with either the CSWCD or NRCS should contact the District at 540-825-8591 or NRCS at 540-825-4200.

According to Wichelns,  In the world of natural resource conservation management, the old saying still applies, an ounce of planning is certainly worth a pound of cure. Natural resources, once diminished, dont just get restored. It takes a lot of time.
A farmer a few miles up the road told me last week that he had a calf that was born about a month prematurely.

At first he wondered if the baby would live, but in a day or two, it appeared healthy and was nursing well.

He was so enamored with the cute little calf that about three or four days after it was born, he took his wife with him to check the herd so she could take a photo of the tiny creature.

When they got to the field, they found the mother but no calf so they began searching. Finally, they came upon the baby, which had been killed by coyotes.

In some areas, the coyote population seems to have leveled off during the past four or five years, but in other parts of Central and Northern Virginia, it continues to explode.

The farmer in question reports that at least two females had raised within a mile of his house, and during late summer he could hear the half-grown pups running, almost like dogs.

Typically, there are two females that raise pups within a mile of my house, but this summer, I only heard one family howling at night. Maybe the other female got killed.

If there are coyotes in your area, this is the time of year when youll find out. If you live near any fields or woods, just go out between sunset and 8 or 9 p.m. and listen. Thats when these animals like to howl back and forth to one another.

But just because there are no howls, dont assume there are no coyotes. These are wary animals that seldom show themselves. Still, they are around almost everywhere, although in varying numbers.

Remember, too, that coyotes will kill and eat small dogs up to the size of a beagle. A month ago, a woman just east of Richmond reported going to the back door to see a young coyote going after her dog. She managed to chase the predator off, but the dog had been so badly hurt that it had to be put down.

And while coyotes will occasionally kill and eat dogs, they love cats like humans love candy.

This is the time of year when the young coyotes begin going out hunting without mama, so if you live in a suburban or rural area, you might want to keep a close eye on your pets.

And, as my farmer friend discovered, small and weak livestock can also be at risk. There have even been reports of coyotes going after calves as they are being born. Remember, Virginia coyotes have wolf genes in their DNA, so they occasionally hunt in packs, especially maturing pups.

In other seasonal news, there seems to be a tremendous black walnut crop this year. Does this fact have any implications for the coming winter? Inquiring minds want to know, so I looked up an old Indian relative.

I have a walnut tree in my yard that is absolutely loaded with nuts this year, I reported. Then I asked, What does that mean?

The old Indian thought for a moment and then replied, That mean that soon there will be many walnuts on ground. You pick up. Not good for lawnmower. Make dull.

Being part Indian, I should have known that.

Now is the time to start harvesting walnuts because, as the old Indian said, they will be falling everywhere in the days ahead.

If you have never harvested walnuts, there is not much to the job. Just pick them up and, using rubber gloves, remove the hulls (I use a claw hammer, but some people just drive over them if they have a gravel driveway).

Then, scatter them out and let them dry for at least two or three weeks before you start cracking. I use a hammer and crack them on the top of a round of wood about 40 inches high.

You cant use gloves for this, because the nut fragments will be small and hard to pick up. So, expect some stain on hour hands (it will come off).

I generally crack between 5 and 10 quarts each fall, which I freeze. I made so many brownies last year, however, that I ran out, so Im going to crack even more this year.

Cracking walnuts takes patience because youll probably only get about one cup every 90 minutes. But it is also therapeutic, especially if you leave your cellphone in the house. It is a good time to think. I write a lot of columns while cracking walnuts.

Just dont try to crack walnuts in the house. Those brittle shells fly everywhere. Out behind the meat house is where I set up shop.

Walnuts last a long time. You can collect them this fall and crack them next October if you like. I have kept some for two years and they were fine, except for tasting a little stronger.

Cracked nuts will also keep for two or three years in the freezer. I put them in quart bags and take out only a cup or two at a time (they dont stick together).

They are great in brownies or apple cakes.

This is also the time to dry apples. Just peel, core and lay them on a metal roof (or something similar) in the sun for about 10 days, turning them over occasionally.

Then put them in thin cloth bags and hang them in a dry, airy spot.

Dried apple pie is delicious when the snow blows.

But dont set those apple pies or apple-walnut cakes on the window sill to cool. If you do the coyotes might get them.
October 4th is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the little beggar, who is perhaps the most popular saint in history.Francis Bernardone was born in 1182 in Assisi, Italy. His baptismal name was John, but his father renamed him Franceso, in honor of his love for France. The son of a wealthy merchant, Francis had time and money to host lavish banquets for young nobles who proclaimed him "King of Feasts." Parties and selling cloth left Francis little time for God.A handsome, charming and educated young man, he spent his early life leading young nobles to parties. He dreamed of knighthood and longed for the adventurous life of chivalry. In pursuit of that dream, he joined in the war between Assisi and Perugia at the age of 20.In that war, Francis fought with youthful enthusiasm, but was wounded and taken prisoner. Spending the next year in a dungeon, he contracted malaria. Ransomed by his father, a more reflective Francis returned to Assisi. Sickness overtook him and in that languishing experience he heard the first stirrings of a vocation to peace and justice.The military victories of Count Walter of Brienne revived Francis' desire for knighthood. Under Brienne's command, he hoped to win his favor and become a knight. On his way to join Brienne, Francis stopped in Spoleto and heard the shocking news of his death. Overcome by depression, his malaria returned.One night a mysterious voice asked him, "Who do you think can best reward you, the Master or the servant?" Francis Answered, "The Master." The voice continued, "Why do you leave the Master for the servant?" Francis realized the servant was Count Walter. He left Spoleto convinced God had spoken to him.From that moment on, Francis began to care for the sick and the poor -- especially the lepers -- convinced that this was what God had called him to do.A further call came in 1205, when, in a dramatic moment of prayer in the abandoned Church of San Damiano, Francis heard a voice coming from the crucifix which challenged him to rebuild the church. At first he thought it meant that he should rebuild San Damiano, so he sold some of his father's cloth to raise money to build the Church at San Damiano. His father, who was already upset about the life he was leading, took him to court, where was ordered him to pay back the money. Francis complied with a dramatic gesture, renouncing his inheritance and handing his expensive clothing to him as well. Dressed only in a workman's smock, he left town and spent the next two years as a hermit, taking a vow of poverty and dedicating his life his life to God.Francis begged for his food, wore old clothes, and preached peace. He began to attract followers, and in 1209 with the papal blessing he founded the Friars Minor (Franciscans). Then in 1212 with St. Clare of Assisi he founded the foundation of the Order of "Poor Ladies," now known as the "Poor Clares." He also founded the "Third Order of Penance" (the Third Order) which included lay people. He was the first person (recorded) to receive the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ) in 1224. Out of humility Francis never accepted the priesthood but remained a deacon all his life. He had a great love for animals. His ardent love of God merited him the name Seraphic.Francis died at the age of 44 on October 4, 1226 at Portiuncula, Italy. He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX less than two years later.against fire; animals; Catholic Action; dying alone; ecology; environment; families; fire; lacemakers; merchants; peace; zoos; Italy; Assisi, Italy; Colorado; Sante Fe, New Mexico; archdiocese of San Francisco, California; archdiocese of Denver, Colorado; archdiocese of Sante Fe, New Mexico; diocese of Salina, Kansas."Start by doing whats necessary; then do whats possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." Source "But as for me, I desire this privilege from the Lord, that never may I have any privilege from man, except to do reverence to all, and to convert the world by obedience to the Holy Rule rather by example than by word."~T: Chapter 50"If we endure things patiently and with gladness thinking on the sufferings of our blessed Lord, and bearing all for the love of Him: herein is perfect joy.", Tan Books, 1965, page 127"We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh, but, instead, we must be simple, humble and pure.""Pure holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh."
In the UK, the range-topping six-speed EDC version is priced at 15,795 (nearly Rs 13.52 lakh) on road, while the top-end Indian AMT version costs Rs 12.97 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).

French automaker Renault has launched the European Duster, which is sold under company's affordable brand Dacia, with an option of six-speed Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) automatic transmission. This is the first time that the Duster is getting Renault-Nissan alliance's six-speed EDC. It was revealed at the ongoing 2016 Paris Motor Show and is on sale in the UK

In India, the updated version that was launched earlier this year is coupled to an automated manual transmission (AMT) based on the Dusters six-speed manual gearbox. And, surprisingly, the top-end version of the Dacia Duster in the UK, equipped with the six-speed EDC, is cheaper than the AMT-equipped version sold in India. In the UK, the range-topping six-speed EDC version is priced at 15,795 (nearly Rs 13.52 lakh) on road, while the top-end Indian AMT version costs Rs 12.97 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi) and the on-road price will certainly surpass that of the UK version. Dual-clutch automatics are any day superior to AMTs, with the former having smoother and faster shifts.

Like the Indian AMT version, the six-speed EDC is coupled to the 110PS version of the 1.5-litre dCi diesel in the Dacia Duster and also comes with hill-hold assist.

Source: CarDekho.com
The company has to import every motorcycle from the US and it attracts heavy import duties.

American brand Indian Motorcycle has a bullish outlook for the Indian market and has been quick to bring its latest models to the country. However, the company has to import every motorcycle from the US and it attracts heavy import duties. That said, the manufacturer couldn't peg its products at a competitive price. Also, the absence of local production extends the waiting period to as long as four months for some of its models. Hence, in an attempt to offer its customers a competitive price and quicker deliveries of its products, Indian Motorcycle is planning for the completely knocked-down unit (CKD) assembly in India.

Speaking to reporters during Indians national ride flag-off in Mumbai, Pankaj Dubey, Polaris India MD, confirmed the brands intention to start assembling its products locally, though the location for a plant hasnt been chosen yet. Despite Indian Motorcycles niche pricing, the brand has recorded sales of around 200 units in India, with the number expected to rise by the end of 2016. Year-on-year sales have also risen in 2016, motivating the brand to ramp up operations in India.

Currently, Indian Motorcycle has dealerships in Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. Two more showrooms will be inaugurated in Jaipur and Kolkata by the end of this year, with Polaris reconstructing the Cochin dealership to retail Indian and Polaris ATV products.

The brands range currently includes the Scout Sixty, Scout, Chief Classic, Chief Vintage, Chieftain, Chief Dark Horse, Springfield and Roadmaster. Deliveries of the Springfield will begin around the festive season, while the Chieftain Dark Horse is expected to hit the Indian market in the first half of 2017.

Source: ZigWheels.com
The diesel ban in Delhi/NCR restricted the sale of diesel-powered vehicles with an engine size of 2000cc or higher. As most Mahindra & Mahindra utility vehicles were restricted in the region, it came up with a 1.99-litre engine. During the ban, Mahindra launched the 2.2-litre mHAWK diesel engine-featuring Scorpio with Intelli-Hybrid technology in other parts of the country. Now, Mahindra has launched the Scorpio with Intelli-Hybrid technology for the Delhi/NCR market.

Mated to a 1.99-litre mHAWK diesel motor, Mahindra claims that the hybrid technology helps reduce fuel consumption by up to 7 per cent. Another incentive of carrying hybrid technology comes in the form of a concessional VAT (value added tax) of 5 per cent for customers in Delhi/NCR. This concession translates to savings of Rs 60,000 to Rs 90,000, depending on the variant purchased.

Speaking about the introduction of the Scorpio with Intelli-Hybrid in Delhi and NCR, Pravin Shah, President & Chief Executive, (Automotive), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, Intelli-Hybrid demonstrates our commitment to making modern technology more accessible to a wider audience. As an organisation that puts keen emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly practices, across every process and product, we are delighted to introduce mild-hybrid technology on the Scorpio. By reducing fuel consumption, Intelli-Hybrid helps Scorpio owners contribute towards a cleaner and greener Delhi and NCR.

The reduction in fuel consumption is achieved by a combination of electric power during acceleration, automatically switching the engine off within 3 seconds of the vehicle being stationary (start-stop feature) and regenerative braking - harnessing energy while braking to charge up the batteries, which in turn help in accelerating the car.

The S4 variant of the Scorpio, sporting a 1.99-litre mHAWK diesel motor and Intelli-Hybrid technology, will have a price tag of Rs 9.35 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Other variants that customers can opt for with the same technology on-board are S4+, S4+ 4WD, S6+, S8, S10 2WD MT and S10 4WD MT.

Source: Zigwheels.com
Toronto: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian special forces will be "extremely marginal".

Addressing a gathering at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Jaitley said that any impact that had been felt on the markets and the rupee had been"temporary", and that foreign direct investment into India "continues to increase".

"Even recently, when the news came that India had made certain surgical strikes at the launch pads where the terrorists used to cross into Indian boundaries, there was obviously a certain amount of speculation as far as the markets were concerned.

The impact was not what it would have been years ago," he said. Economic impact arising from recent tensions will be "extremely marginal", he said.

Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan last week after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India.

The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists stormed an Army camp in Kashmir's Uri, killing 19 soldiers. Pakistan has denied India's claim of surgical strikes and termed it as "cross-border" firing.
A family from Hyderabad declared a large amount of undisclosed income in two applications at the last instance. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The amount of undisclosed money declared in the Telugu states was Rs 16,500 crore. Telangana in fact tops South India in black money that was declared under the Income Declaration Scheme that ended on September 30.

The income-tax department will receive Rs 7,425 crore towards tax from the Telugu states over the next 12 months under the scheme.

As per the scheme, those who have declared undisclosed money can pay the 45 per cent tax in three instalments  25 per cent by the end of November, 25 per cent by the end of March, 2017 and the remaining by September 30, 2017.

An official source from the Central Board of Direct Taxes said that the IDS counters had been kept open till midnight of September 30 and there was a little delay in the compilation of manual records.

Those who were in the queue by 12 midnight on that day were provided tokens for submitting the applications. It was delayed a bit because of poor awareness of a few workers and drivers who came on behalf of their bosses, businessmen and industrialists, the source said.

There was a Rs 1,000-crore difference between Andhra Pradesh and TS till Monday and AP was on top in South India. When the final figures were compiled, TS topped the list as a family from Hyderabad declared a large amount of undisclosed income. About 7,000 persons declared their income in the two states, the official said.
Mumbai: Actor Alok Nath's son has been booked for alleged drunken driving in suburban Mumbai, police said today.

The actor's son, Shivang Nath, accompanied by three friends, including two women, was returning from a birthday party in his car late last night.

He was on the wheels when traffic police asked him to stop the car while checking for drunk driving. However, instead of stopping the vehicle, Shivang increased the speed and tried to flee.

The police then chased him and intercepted his car on the SV Road in suburban Bandra and brought him to Santacruz police station.

Since Shivang was allegedly in an inebriated state and not having the driving license, his female friends tried to argue with the police that they were driving the vehicle, police said.

Later the Bandra Traffic Police booked him for drunken driving, not possessing the driving license and disobeying police order, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said. The vehicle has been impounded by the Bandra Traffic Division.

The actor's son was asked to pay a fine of Rs 2,600 and was let off on the condition that he would remain present in court for further proceedings, Dudhe said. Alok Nath is known for his works in Hindi films and television.
Mumbai: Another Bollywood actor to get vocal on the raging controversy over the ban on Pakistani artists, is Nana Patekar, who expressed his stringent on the issue by showing full support to the Indian Army.

In the wake of Uri attack, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirmann Sena (MNS) had threatened to kick out Pakistani actors if they didnt leave the country. Soon, there have been many demands to ban Pakistani artists in Indian cinema. Bollywood celebrities such as Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Anupam Kher and others voiced their opinions on the issues. While Salman showed support to Pakistani actors, veteran actor Anupam condemned them.

However, on Sunday, Nana Patekar expressed his views on the issue, the actor said, "Pakistani actors and others dont come first. First comes my country, I don't know anyone other than my country and neither would I like to know. An artist is like a bed bug, very small in front of the country. We do not have any worth.

Moving ahead, the actor also said that the soldiers are the real heroes and actors are fake people, so one should not take what they say seriously. "I was in army and I have spent two and half years there. So I know who our biggest heroes are. No one can be a bigger hero than our army men. Our original heroes are our jawans fighting at the border."

The actor also slammed Bollywood celebrities for their comments on the issue by saying, We actors are very common and fake people. So dont give importance to what we say. You know who I am talking about, right? They keep blabbering, so dont give them any attention as they arent worthy of it, he said.

When probed further, Nana Patekar indirectly hit out at Salman Khan's stand on the issue and said, "Salman has said that government gives visa and that they are not terrorists. His points are accurate but what I want to say is when there's war between two countries, we should stay away from each other. When there won't be war, then we will adhere by the political decisions."
Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut has not had a release this year after her film Katti Batti released in 2015. She has, however, wrapped up the shooting of Vishal Bhardwajs Rangoon opposite Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan and the film will release early next year. 2017 will be a busy year for her as another of her release, Hansal Mehtas Simran is also slated to release.

The actress had gone to USA to attend workshops for the film few weeks ago and pictures from her trip along with Mehta had made its way to the internet. Kangana has now set off for a full-fledged schedule for the film in USA and was snapped at the airport as she departed for the trip. The schedule is set to be for two months.

'Simran' will be shot in California and other parts of the USA. Reportedly, the film sees Kangana as a Gujarati housekeeper. Her character is of an ambitious girl who gets into the world of crime and the film is reportedly a story about a bank robber.
Mumbai: In Melbourne, yesteryear actress Simi Garewal shot for the first episode of her popular show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal with the witty Rishi Kapoor and his vivacious spouse Neetu Kapoor. The couple talked at length about their ever-glorious lives together, Rishi Kapoors innate ability to bully and his not-so-close relationship with his superstar son Ranbir Kapoor.

While talking about his two humble children, senior Kapoor made a startling revelation about his equation with his younger child, actor Ranbir Kapoor. Mr. Kapoor said, Theres a wall between us. Theres a glass between us. We can see each other but not feel anything. I had a fear of my father. I was in awe of him. I had great respect for him. It took him a long time to say have a drink in front of me. I used to call him sahab. Now that we dont live under one roof, theres more communication. He talks to his mother more than me. But I dont think Ranbir will be a father like me."

The seasoned actor expressed his grief over missing out on quality time with his son owing to his busy film schedules. When asked about his role in Ranbirs career, the loving father said, I dont watch his films. I have stopped watching his filmsI become very analytical of him ki isne aiesa kyun kiya udhar kyun dekh rahaan hain, I am not following the filmthats why I stopped watching his fimsjo hoga so hoga.

Ranbirs mother further revealed that he never looks into his fathers eyes while talking, out of respect.

Neetu said, I was away for a few days and Ranbir was home. I kept calling him to ask howre you doing. He said Im fine, Im having dinner with papa and all that. So when I got back, I was like how was it? He said we had a few quiet moments. He said koi baat hi nahin huyi. Hum dinners pe jaate thhe aur khana khate thhe. I have to be there in the house for a conversation to happen between them.

When Garewal asked Rishi Kapoor to define his role as a father, the actor was at his wits end. Simi, who was his first co-star in Mera Naam Joker, gave him a friendly advice to go home and think about his role as a father.

While the couple openly joked about Mr. Kapoor's weight and his love for alcohol. Neetu Kapoor, who has been married to him for more than 36 years now, also admitted that it is difficult to live with him and called him a brat and a bully.

Watch the full video here:
Salman was graciously humble enough to pose for the monks.

Mumbai: Salman Khan is inarguably the biggest the star in the country today, and his upcoming Kabir Khan helmed ' Tubelight' is amongst the most eagerly awaited films in recent memory.

The actor who's been shooting for the film, which also stars brother Sohail Khan, in Manali, posed for local monks, gleefully.

The film, scheduled for a 2017 release, also stars Chinese actress Zhu Zhu.

The film is set against the backfrop of the 1962 Sino-Indian war.

The first schedule of the film was completed in Ladakh.

Salman also posed for his fans while he was not busy with his schedule.

Kabir Khan had also helmed 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan,' Salman's biggest hit till date.

We can't wait to watch him on the big-screen again, especially after the monster hit that was 'Sultan'.
Mumbai: An FIR has been registered against the actor at the Andheri Police Station in Mumbai by a person named Prithvi Maske, who has requested for a sedition charge to be filed against Puri under Section 124[A].

Recently, Puri was part of a television debate about the IMPPA's (Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association) indefinite ban on Pakistani artistes from working in Indian projects. The ban was in response to the killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a terror attack in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on September 18.

During the debate, Puri said, "Who had asked the soldiers to join the army? Who told them to pick the weapons? Do you want India-Pakistan enmity to turn like Israel and Palestine, and fight for ages? India is home to crores of Muslims, there is no point in proving them for war.

Several Indians have their relatives staying across the border and vice-versa, how can they fight a war with their cross-border families?"

"I don't give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan... Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors') visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan," he added.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit and veteran actor Anupam Kher came out against Puri after his controversial remarks. The 'Dirty Politics' actor is also being slammed by the social media users for the same.
Mumbai: Approximately a fortnight after news of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolies impending divorce broke out, news has come out that Brad Pitt is shattered.

Post his ordeal with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department Of Children And Family Services, is reportedly in bad shape and can't believe what his life has become as per the US Weekly. He is also 'still totally crushed' by it all and has been consistently breaking down.

'He cant believe this is what his life has become and hes in bad shape but the kids are the only thing hes hanging onto. Hes been leaning heavily on his family and speaks to his parents and close friends and his manager constantly. His mom has been talking to him constantly,' a source is reported to have told the site.

Jolie has physical custody rights of the couples children, with Pitt receiving monitored visitation rights, under the supervision of a therapist, following his alleged outburst in a private jet against the children, particularly 15-year old Maddox.

The entire family is to undergo therapy, but Pitts is to be specially monitored for further scrutiny.

Angelina has been living with the kids in her Malibu rental while Pitt has been dealing with the timing and his own emotional outburst at his Hollywood Hills compound.
Mumbai: Actress Jennifer Garner, who is estranged with husband Ben Affleck, joked that she is dating Brad Pitt when asked by a pesky videographer.

The 44-year-old star joked she and the Allied actor, who also recently split from his actress-wife Angelina Jolie, are dating during an outing in the Brentwood area, reported AceShowbiz.

When asked about her love life, Garner said, "Brad Pitt and I are dating."

On again being asked if she is really dating Pitt, she replied, "Yeah!" Garner and her female friend continued to giggle their way to the car with coffees in hands.
Amritsar: Rising tensions between India and Pakistan have been followed by heated arguments on the social media and charged debates on the news as another terrorist attack in Baramulla comes at a time many are praying for peace.

As border skirmishes are being reported, those living near the volatile Indo-Pak border are facing a threat as they have been facing every time relations between the two countries run into trouble.

As warmongering is on the rise in the region, thousands near the border in Punjab have been forced to uproot their lives and move away from their homes in a high risk area, but some people are making sure that they keep serving the people no matter what the situation is like.

40-year-old Sarabjit Kaur from Naushera Dhalla village near Amritsar travels 17 kms on her scooter every day to open a dispensary located hardly 200 metres from the India-Pakistan border, to treat patients in the troubled area.

A widow, Sarabjit is a mother of three and lives with her 60-year-old mother. She treats around 30 patients a day without fail, although she has been helping around 10 patients a day after tensions forced most residents to flee.

She hasnt received any victims of bullet injuries or shelling yet, but says she will call an ambulance is needed. Sarabjit is working tirelessly even as the district administration extended her working hours from 6 to 10, cancelled weekly offs and asked her to be prepared for night duty.

While a lot of people in the area have fled, the family is also looking after their belongings and houses since the area is prone to thefts. The family had also faced similar times during the Kargil war and had refused to vacate despite a war raging on.

In a time when the region is gripped by a war like situation with war cries being raised with little thought for consequences villages near the frontline may face, this doctor is silently doing her duty in the line of fire.
Even though same-sex marriages have now been deemed legal in Italy, the Catholic Church remains firms opposed to the idea of homosexual unions. (Photo: Pixabay)

A lesbian couple have tied the knot in Italy after relinquishing their vow of celibacy to the Roman Catholic Church. Federica from Italy, and Isabel, from South America developed romantic feelings for each other during a mission at a drug rehabilitation centre three years ago.

An ex-priest, Franco Barbero, who "also was excommunicated from the church due to his support of gay marriage" recently chose to share the couples love story with Italian newspaper La Stampa. "They got to know each other slowly, and discovered they had deep feelings. They are two marvellous people, with very deep faith. They reflected for a long time and took the decision courageously, knowing it wouldn't be accepted," Franco told La Stampa.

Even though same-sex marriages have now been deemed legal in Italy, the Catholic Church remains firmly opposed to the idea of homosexual unions.
There is plenty of scientific evidence indicating that writing by hand is an important skill. Compared to typing, writing by hand seems to activate the brain in ways that help you process and remember information.

There is plenty of scientific evidence indicating that writing by hand is an important skill. Compared to typing, writing by hand seems to activate the brain in ways that help you process and remember information. Whether you need to learn cursive to access the full benefits of writing by hand, however, is another story.

KQED recently highlighted science writer Philip Balls dive into whether cursive is more beneficial for kids learning than printing at Nautilis. Theres no conclusive research to show that learning cursive is uniquely beneficial, Ball writes, quoting neuroscientist Karin Harman James, who studies early brain development. Ball continues, James cautions that the issue is difficult to study because its hard to find children whose educational situation differs only in the style of handwriting. Whats more, a lot of the evidence that does get quoted is rather old and is of questionable quality, and some of the findings are contradictory. Simply put, our real understanding of how children respond to different writing styles is surprisingly patchy and woefully inadequate.

There is some research that has found that cursive aids dyslexic students, in part because it doesnt require taking the pencil off the paper as often, but other research shows that because cursive adds yet another layer of complexity to writing, kids can learn to write more quickly, and write more legibly and accurately, using manuscript.

With the lack of scientific consensus about whether one type of writing is superior for learning, its clear that school policies that require cursive are more about culture than research. Cursive is required as early as kindergarten in France, and in some U.S. states, students are required to proficiently write in cursive by a certain point in their elementary school career (fifth grade in Alabama, third grade in California). Given how deeply parents and people who write education policy feel about cursive  Anne Trubek, author of The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting, recently wrote in The New York Times  its not likely to disappear from schools anytime soon.

Source: www.mentalfloss.com
Ghaziabad: A 30-year-old man was killed by his brother and wife who were in an illicit relationship, police said on Tuesday.

Satyendra was killed by his wife Asha and brother Neeraj on Saturday, they said.

"Few months ago, Satyendra had caught Asha and Neeraj in a compromising position. Since then he started beating Asha over petty issues. After having a heated argument on Friday, Asha connived with Neeraj and the duo bettered him to death with a blunt object," said Superintendent of Police (rural area) Rakesh Pandey.

"They buried Satyendra's body in the jungle of Kadrabad and sprayed salt on it, so that the stink may not emanate from the body," he added.

Acting upon a missing complaint filed by Satyendra's father, Asha was interrogated during which she confessed to her crime, Pandey said.

"Police disintered the body from grave and sent it for the postmortem," he said.
The minor girl, who was 15 years old then, was on her way to tuitions early in the morning when Anand kidnapped her and took her to his friends house. (Representational image)

BENGALURU: A 31-year-old man, who kidnapped and raped a minor girl, has been sentenced to 10 years simple imprisonment by the 51st City Civil and Sessions Court.

The convict, Anand, was a 25-year-old vagabond when he committed the offence in Byatarayanapura police limits in December 2010.

The minor girl, who was 15 years old then, was on her way to tuitions early in the morning when Anand kidnapped her and took her to his friends house. There, he illegally detained her and raped her for two days. A friend, who was accompanying the girl to the tuitions, had told the survivors mother that the girl was kidnapped by Anand.

Based on a kidnap complaint by the mother, the Byatarayanapura police traced Anand and rescued the victim. Investigations revealed that Anand was pestering the girl to marry him, and as she had refused, he kidnapped and raped her, forcing her to marry him.

The Byatarayanapura police had investigated the case and had filed a chargesheet. Public Prosecutor M.N. Varad argued on behalf of the government. 51st City Civil and Sessions Judge B.S. Rekha found the accused guilty of the charges and sentenced him to 10 years simple imprisonment and levied a penalty of Rs 5,000 for rape, and one-year imprisonment for kidnapping.
Chennai: In what appears to be the fallout of a spurned relationship, two students hacked their 23-year-old peer, who is also pursuing post-graduation in social work, on Platform 1 of the Kotturpuram MRTS Station, on Monday morning.

Sources said the victim was Syran, (23), an M.S.W student in a private arts and sciences college on South Canal Road in Adyar, was seated on a bench with his girlfriend on Platform 1 when the two assailants appeared at around 8.15 am.

The two picked up a fight which scared the girl who took to her heels. Sensing trouble, Syran attempted to wriggle out of the situation, but was pinned down by the duo who gave him a sound thrashing. They also inflicted knife injuries on his face and thigh.

Two constables, one from the Government Railway Police (GRP) and another from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), who were on duty at the station were busy attending to crowd regulation at the ticket counter downstairs and were alerted to get to platform 1 by commuters, who also alerted 108 Ambulance service. The injured was admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital where he is being treated.

The assailants were identified as his peers from the same college and the injured had reportedly ditched a girl in the recently concluded college tour programme.

The boy who attacked the student did it on the orders of another girl, who had a grudge against him after a tour which they went together on, said a senior railway police official.

This was a one-off incident. We had one RPF personnel at the station but due to the huge size of the station, he was not present at the site of the incident. We will be expediting the installation of CCTV cameras at the stations across the city as that will help prevent such incidents, said a senior RPF official.
Hyderabad: A three-year-old boy who failed to give way to his 16-year-old neighbours bike was set ablaze by him in Kalapathar. Ali Shair is critical at Osmania General Hospital (OGH). Health Minister C. Laxma Reddy said they will ensure the best possible treatment for Ali.

Meanwhile, AP Balala Hakkula Sangham said that crimes committed by minors against minors were increasing due to the influence of movies and TV serials, and strict measures should be taken to prevent such incidents.

Mohammed Ali Shair is the youngest of the four children of Md Rahim, an auto rickshaw driver and Yasmin, a housewife.

On Monday, Ali was playing in front of his house along with some other kids when his neighbour came there on his bike. Rahim said the minor boy came to the kids and shouted at them to move away. The child could not understand what the boy meant and did not move. He threatened my son once again. But when he did not move he took petrol from his bike, poured it on the child and set him ablaze, Rahim said.

Other kids raised an alarm and Ali was rushed to OGH. He has burns on his neck, head, back and shoulders. Doctors said his condition is critical and that he needs better treatment. Only God can save my child now, Rahim said.

Based on Rahims complaint police registered a case under Section 285. We found the minor boy was playing with a petrol bottle and accidentally petrol spilled and fell on Ali who was standing nearby, Kalapathar SI G. Sravan Kumar said.
"We used pellet guns only when the situation was out of control," CRPF director K Durga Prasad said.

Jamshedpur: The number of security personnel injured in the stone-pelting and hand grenade hurling incidents during the recent unrest in Kashmir is ten times more than the figure of civilians injured, CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said on Tuesday.

Besides the injured security men of BSF, Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu and Kashmir police, 3,000 CRPF jawans were wounded in the incidents, Prasad told reporters in Jamshedpur.

Prasad, who laid the foundation of a barrack and residential quarter for the Rapid Action Force personnel here, said out of the 3,000 injured CRPF jawans, 125 were seriously wounded and many of them were still undergoing treatment in hospitals.

A combined figure of injured security men was ten times more than the number civilians injured in the stone pelting, grenade hurling and mob firing during the unrest in the Valley, he said.

Stating that the security men maintained maximum restraint, he said the forces did not fire even when groups of people hurled grenades and fired at them.

"We had lost one of our Commanding Officers in Srinagar on the Independence day in the incidents," Prasad said.

Asked about the weapons being used by the paramilitary forces, Prasad, flanked by ADG CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakia and IG CRPF, Jharkhand Sanjay Lathkar, said less lethal weapons such as PAVA shells and plastic pellets were used to control mob.

"We used pellet guns only when the situation was out of control," he said.

Referring to barracks and quarters, Prasad said, "We are constructing 10,330 units of quarter and 55 barracks in different locations across the country, which would help reduce the quarter problem from the existing 25 per cent to 16-17 per cent in the next two years.
Chandigarh: Nineteen girls from Pakistan who were in the city to take part in a youth festival left for home on Monday after conclusion of the event, "overwhelmed" by the Indian hospitality.

The girls had reached the city Tuesday night on a seven-day visit to take part in the 11th Global Youth Peace Festival, which concluded here last evening.

After Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC, parents of the girls had expressed concern about their welfare here and the event's organisers had indicated that they may head back home earlier than scheduled.

Pramod Sharma, the event's organiser, said after the Indian authorities including the Ministry of External Affairs assured them that they should not worry about the girls while they are here, their trip carried on as per schedule.

"Today, the Pakistani girls and one male member of the delegation left for home. They were sent back home in a bus from here and the crossed over to Pakistan from the Wagah border," Sharma said.

On October 1, head of the delegation Aliya Harir who runs a cross-border peace initiative Aghaz-e-Dosti had spoken to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who assured them all help.

"Extremely overwhelmed. Spoke to @SushmaSwaraj ji who assured that Pakistani delegation of #GYPF2016 will reach Pakistan back safe," Aliya said in a tweet.

In her reply, Swaraj tweeted, "Aliya - I was concerned about your well being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain (... because one's daughter is everyone's)."

According to Sharma, the girls also visited Shimla during their trip. "The Pakistani guests said they felt at home here and were overwhelmed by the Indian hospitality," he said.

After the surgical strikes, Chandigarh police had further strengthened the security of the Pakistani girls. For most of the girls, who had come under the banner of Pakistan's Girls for Peace Group, this was their first visit to India.
Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar had told this correspondent on September 29 that work was apace on the constitution of CMB.

New Delhi: In a sudden U-turn, the Centre on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking recall of the order passed on September 30 directing the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board on or before October 4 to assess the ground realities in the Cauvery river basin.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi made an urgent mention before a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Uday Lalit that the order was passed because of his mistake as there is an embargo on the Supreme Court from passing orders to form a Cauvery management board under Article 262 of the Constitution, read with Section 11 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.

Quoting Article 262 he said the Supreme Court cannot entertain any matter pertaining to an inter-State river dispute once a tribunal set up under parliamentary legislation has passed its final order.

He also contended that the constitution of a CMB by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was only a recommendation, which the Centre could choose to either accept or reject. Justice Misra told the AG But you complied with our orders to form a Cauvery Supervisory Committee, you consented then. You also consented on Friday to our order.

Intense speculation has been doing the rounds that Union ministers Sadananda Gowda and Ananth Kumar, who hail from Karnataka, played a major role in the Centres decision and they also pushed Mr Gowda and other leaders to impress upon the government that the constitution of CMB would be a wrong decision.

The U-turn of the Union government goes completely against the opinion being voiced by officials of the Union Water Resources Ministry and Central Water Commission who have been batting for such a mechanism to sort out the century-plus old inter-state water issue.

In fact, CWC chairman G.S. Jha had on September 21 openly batted for constitution of the CMB to resolve water issues between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The AG had told the Supreme Court that the Government would comply with the orders and even before that, the Ministry of Water Resources had begun work on setting up of the board. But everything changed overnight and now the Centre has officially opposed the CMB. We have no clue of how it happened, sources in the Ministry and Commission told Deccan Chronicle.

Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar had told this correspondent on September 29 that work was apace on the constitution of CMB. We are in the process (of setting up the CMB). Any decision-making has a procedure and the procedure will have to be followed. We have begun the process. I can only say this much at this juncture, he had said.

Karnataka, which is currently being ruled by the Congress, goes to the polls in April-May 2018 and the BJP has been under tremendous pressure from the state unit and its leaders to speak up against CMB.
New Delhi: A day before he committed suicide, former Corporate Affair DG B K Bansal had visited the CBI headquarters to submit Income Tax certificate showing that his son Yogesh had disclosed over Rs 2.38 crore of unaccounted income to tax authorities.

In the disclosure, which was accepted on September 25, Bansal's son had declared Rs 2.38 crore against which he had to pay as tax more than Rs 1.07 crore.

The next day, Bansal and Yogesh visited the CBI headquarter to meet the Investigation Officer (IO) where he presented the document, sources said.

Bansal, who was facing a CBI probe over an alleged scam, and his son had committed suicide on September 27, two months after his wife and daughter had hanged themselves.

The meeting with the IO, whom Bansal praised in his purported suicide note for comforting him, lasted between 30 minutes to one hour, they said.

The sources claimed Bansal was not called by anyone in the agency and he had come on his own to submit the document wherein his son had disclosed 47 bank accounts in which about Rs 65 lakhs were declared before the tax authorities.

The sources said Yogesh Bansal did not have a regular job and claimed to be a property dealer.

They said Bansal was arrested after being caught "red-handed" by CBI on July 16 (Saturday).

Two days later, on Monday (July 18), his son and wife went to different banks operating 19 lockers in their names, they said.

They collected 1.22 kg gold jewelley worth Rs 40.18 lakh, 10 pieces of raw gold bars weighing 1.54 kg worth Rs 45.89 lakh, silver utensils worth Rs 4.23 lakh, besides 40 cheque books of various accounts, they added.

After coming to know that they had operated 19 bank lockers a day before, the agency sources said, CBI carried out searches at their residence it till wee hours of July 19, 2016 - the day Bansal's wife Satyabala and daughter Neha - committed suicide.

The sources said book value of Bansal and family was Rs 4.47 crore while present market value, as per agency estimates, was around Rs 10 crore.

They said agency has also collected CCTV footage of banks in which Bansal's wife and son could be seen operating lockers.

On getting the information that lockers had been opened, the CBI teams searched Bansals's residence from where these recoveries were made by the agency, the sources said.

These searches continued till 1 AM on July 19 (Tuesday) after which the teams left. Bansal's wife and daughter committed suicide on July 19 and in the note they had not mentioned that they were tortured by the CBI teams, they said.

Bansal was arrested by CBI on July 16 for allegedly accepting bribe from a prominent pharmaceutical company. He hanged himself along with his son at their residence with a purported suicide note claiming "harassment" by CBI.
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leader Kapil Mishra on Tuesday refused to share dais with Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti during an event in New Delhi.

Mishra said that Mufti had called Hizbul Mujahideen commander Wanis killing a mistake that shouldnt have happened.

After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Sharma taunted Mehbooba Mufti for not accepting Burhan Wani as a terrorist; the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister retorted that women are the safest in Kashmir.

Speaking at the launch function of the Bharat International Travel Bazaar (BITB), Mehbooba said, "Any place in the world, including Delhi, women are safest in my Kashmir. They move around in shikaras and houseboats. That's the biggest thing my state can offer. As compared to any place in the world, including Delhi, women and girls are safest; there is no fear of getting raped in a car."

She also said that the biggest confidence building measure would be if a visit is paid to Jammu and Kashmir.

"The biggest confidence building measure is if you visit our state, it shows that you trust us. We need you, I don't know if you need Kashmir or not, but Kashmir needs you," Mehbooba said.

"People of our nation are so nice and so are the people of Jammu and Kashmir," she added.

Earlier, the Delhi Minister asked Mehbooba "if she considered Burhan Wani a terrorist."

"Do you consider Burhan Wani a terrorist or not?" the AAP leader asked.

"It can't be that you don't accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase. Terrorism and tourism can't go together. Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there," said Mishra.

"We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

The AAP minister underlined that it is "painful" to see that "terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir."

Mufti in the month of July had said that she would have given Burhan Wani "a chance had she known he was trapped in the encounter."

Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces on July 8 following which there was a huge unrest in the state.
Kargil: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday assured the people that no compromise would be made with regard to country's prestige and added India's head will always remain high.

"Every child of the nation believes in our army, whatever the army has done until now has been well respected. I want to assure the people that the country's honour and prestige will not be compromised with and its head will always remain high," said Singh while interacting with the media here.

The Union Home Minister also praised the armed forces and said they have the backing of the entire nation. While concluding, he said that the crux of all the meetings is that the government won't allow anyone or anything to malign the name of the country.

Singh is on a two-day visit to the Ladakh region as part of the Centre's outreach to Jammu and Kashmir.

He interacted with a cross-section of people in Kargil and also held meetings with delegations of political parties, civil society groups and individuals and took their views on development related issues.

In the wake of the terror attack in Baramulla, the Home Minister on Monday said the security forces are giving a befitting reply to the terrorists from the other side of the border.
New Delhi: Army welfare fund battle casualties is the slogan going viral on social media, indicating that each Indian, by contributing Re 1 per day to the fund, can assist the welfare of the families of martyred soldiers.

Misleading statements on social media following the recent Uri attack that left 18 soldiers dead have left netizens confused about the accounts credibility. Defence minister Manohar Parrikars office on Monday told this newspaper that the account was genuine.

There is no limit for donations. The messages urged people to pay at least Rs 1, which led to confusion and suspicion among netizens. It is a genuine account and is managed by Brigadier Anil Hooda of the accounts wing of the Indian Army. The Indian Army and Syndicate Bank websites have also given clarifications on the matter, an official from the defence ministry said.

Sainik welfare officer for Telangana state and AP N. Srinesh Kumar said the Syndicate Bank account was with South Block branch of the defence headquarters. No cheat dares to create fake accounts at a bank in the defence premises. Many controversial messages are doing the rounds of social media. I urge people not to spread false information without confirming it, he said.

The controversy arose because of misunderstanding of circulars issued by the defence minister over creating the account with Syndicate bank against its regular banker, SBI.

Defence ministers OSD Upendra Joshi had said that the account number which was being circulated in social media was genuine.
Most of the affected villages are in West Bengal, while a few are in other Indian states sharing the border with Bangladesh. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: India and Bangladesh have taken a "major decision" to erect a new fence to secure over 250 villages ahead of the present barbed-wire fence along the International Border (IB) to curb cross-border crimes and instill a sense of security among the people living in the area.

The decision was taken at the bi-annual Director General-level talks between the BSF and its counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) which concluded in Delhi on Tuesday.

"We have taken a major decision to erect a single-row fence for villages that are ahead of the present fencing but behind the IB. This well help in curbing cross-border crimes, smuggling instances and will instill a sense of security in the border population. The Bangladesh government and the BGB have given us the permission to do so," BSF chief KK Sharma said after signing the joint record of discussions with BGB DG Major General Aziz Ahmed.

He said the decision will affect 148 villages "fully" ahead of the IB fence and 137 "partially" ahead of it.

"Most of these villages are in West Bengal, while a few are in other Indian states sharing the border with Bangladesh.

As the population lives and works here, the fence will have gates for people to cross over to the other side and come back," Sharma said.

The BGB DG said the situation in these villages is "very challenging" and the forces do not want them get divided by a fence which will affect the lives of the residents.

"We will ensure that there are no objections from our side when the fence is erected. We need a humanitarian approach and it (the new fence) could be done as the present positive relation between India and Bangladesh is an example that is nowhere to be seen in the world," he said.

Both the DGs said regular issues between the two forces such as cattle-smuggling and circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) were discussed by the two sides.

"The FICN menace has seen some reduction but much more needs to be done to bring this criminal activity further down," Sharma said.

Maj. Gen. Ahmed said both the sides were sharing "a lot of information", adding that his country had been cooperating with the BSF in curbing cattle-smuggling from India to

Bangladesh.

"We also want it to be stopped...We do not want Indian cattle in Bangladesh. Our government has launched a project of domestic cattle-farming to meet our requirements," he said.

He claimed that most of the instances of killing of Bangladeshi citizens by the BSF personnel on the border were due to cattle-smuggling, adding that they would want to bring down the number to zero.

Both the DGs said the talks were "cordial" and a number of issues were sorted out during the conference that began yesterday.

India shares a 4,096-km border with Bangladesh and this was the 43rd DG-level talks between the two sides. Since 1975, they used to be held annually but from 1993, they were made bi-annual.
There is disagreement between the ATS and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) over who should handle the case. (Photo: AFP/ Representational Image)

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) between July and August busted a Parbhani-based Islamic State module and arrested four youths from Parbhani and Hingoli  Mohd Raisuddin Mohd Siddique, Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmed, Nasir Chaus and Shaheed Khan.

According to reports, ATS claims the module was planning to carry out an attack on the Aurangabad ATS unit and target former SP Navinchandra Reddy.

Further, the agency has said that alleged Islamic State (IS) handler Farooque alias Shafi Armar used the promise of sex slaves in Iraq and 72 virgins in paradise after martyrdom as a bait to lure Parbhani youth Nasir Chaus into ISIS.

In turn, Chaus formed a module tasked with eliminating former SP Navinchandra Reddy. The Maharashtra ATS will file a chargesheet in the Parbhani case within a fortnight, which will mention these details.

Reports said that Shafi Armar befriended Chaus through social networking sites, and messenger apps like Telegram and Snapchat. Armar indoctrinated Chaus, claiming he would get virgins in paradise after he had martyred himself for the cause.

Armar also made Chaus the Emir of Parbhani in order to motivate him, said reports.

Chaus was taken in and immediately formed a three-person module. He then sought to travel to Iraq, but Farooque alias Shafi Armar told him to stay back in India and carry out an attack here first.

Following these revelations however, there is disagreement between the ATS and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) over who should handle the case. The ATS contends that it should be allowed to proceed with the case, and claims it has asked to file a charge sheet.

On the other hand, the NIA believes that the reason to transfer the case from the Maharashtra ATS is the presence of a common handler.

Farooque alias Shafi Armar is an erstwhile member of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) who defected along with his brother Sultan to form Ansar ul Tawhid (AuT) that has pledged its allegiance to the IS. We have been probing a pan-India module that was busted in January this year, whose handler is also Farooque. We want to probe if the two cases are connected and, therefore, have taken the case, an NIA official was quoted as saying.
BSF personnel pay respect to Constable Nitin Kumar, who was martyred in a militant attack in Baramulla district of North Kashmir, during a wreath laying ceremony at BSF headquarters in Humhama, Srinagar. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: The BSF on Monday said the militants, who attacked a joint camp of the force and the Army on Sunday in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, had plans to carry out Uri-type terror strike on the installation and complimented the personnel for foiling their plans.

"Certainly, they had such plans. There is a fence in front of the bunker in the camp. The equipment, like wire-cutter, GPS and compass, have been recovered there, (so), they (militants) wanted to cut through the fence and certainly had similar plans like the other (Uri) camp," Additional Director General of BSF Arun Kumar told reporters here when asked if the militants wanted to carry out a similar strike like the one in Uri on September 18 that left 19 army men dead.

He was speaking to reporters after offering floral tributes to a BSF jawan who lost his life in the attack in Baramulla last night.

The BSF officer said the forces did an excellent job by preventing the militants from entering the security installation.

"Our jawans sacrificed their supreme life to prevent the militants from entering the camp. They have done an excellent job," Kumar said.

Giving details of the attack, he said the BSF personnel suspected movement of militants at around 10:30 pm and the jawans challenged them.

"The militants opened fire, which was retaliated by the BSF personnel. Then, it seems, they attacked the bunker with UBGL grenades. Our constable said there were two militants but they fled in the night," he said.

Kumar said though there were no specific reports about the movement of militants, "there is a possibility of the presence of militants at some places, but our forces are alert".
Mumbai: Police in Mumbai on Tuesday arrested city-based creative director Barun Kashyap for false complaint about intimidation by some cow vigilantes over suspicion that he was carrying a bag made of cow-hide.

Police had taken cognisance of the case when Kashyap's Facebook post, claiming that some persons suspected that he was carrying a bag made of cow-hide and grilled him menacingly, went viral in August.

"Since the complaint was of serious nature, a special team had been deputed. We questioned the auto-driver and all other people related to the incident," Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP Ashok Dudhe said.

"Based on the description given by Kashyap, we made a sketch (of the suspect). Following a thorough investigation and collection of all evidence....it came to light that no such incident had taken place," he said.

Kashyap will be produced before a court tomorrow.

On Saturday, police registered a case against 24-year-old Kashyap under the IPC sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 182 (giving false information to a public servant).

In the Facebook post, Kashyap had claimed that on August 20, when he was on his way to the office in Andheri in an auto-rickshaw, the driver inquired about his leather bag, wondering whether it was made of cow-hide.

Kashyap told him that it was of camel-skin, but the driver stopped at a temple and summoned two men. They too grilled him, and finally let him go only because his name sounded Brahmin-like, he had claimed.

The suburban Amboli police who probed the case however found that Kashyap was at his house when the purported incident took place, and he had reached his office within only eight-nine minutes after leaving home that day.

Meanwhile, AAP leader Preeti Menon today alleged that police sub-inspector Daya Nayak had filed a false case against Kashyap.

She alleged that Nayak and other police officers forced Kashyap to change his statement. Kashyap retracted his original statement because he feared for his life.

DCP Dudhe however refuted the allegation, saying "the probe has been done following legal procedure".
New Delhi: The government has asked former Lok Sabha speaker P. A. Sangma's family to vacate the 34, APJ Abdul Kalam Road bungalow, which may become the new address of President Pranab Mukherjee after his tenure gets over in July next year, indicating that he may not get a second term in office.

Currently, Sangma's son Conrad, who is Lok Sabha MP from Tura in Meghalaya, is occupying the type-VIII Bungalow.

The Urban Development Ministry has requested him to vacate the house since the first time MPs are not entitled to a type-VIII bungalow, the highest category of government accommodation, a source in the department said. These accomodations in the Lutyens Bungalow Zone are the most sought after.

At the same time, the source said President's Secretariat had also requested the Urban Development Ministry to look for a suitable accomodation for Mukherjee, whose term expires in July next year.

The officials of the President's Secretariat were shown the bungalow on APJ Abdul Kalam Road and they have agreeable to it becoming Mukherjee's new home after he demits office, the source said.

Mukherjee had defeated Sangma, who passed away in March this year aged 68, to become the 13th President of India.

A retired President is entitled to rent-free accommodation anywhere in India with free water and electricity for the remainder of his/her life as per the Presidents Pension Rules, 1962.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the trial of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with a 1999 rape case to October 6.

The Supreme Court said former investigating officer KL Raina would be examined as a court witness within four weeks.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed proceedings in the rape trial against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh till October 4.

The CBI special court in Delhi was informed about the apex court order, after which the court fixed the next hearing on September 30, where the defence side would produce the apex court order's copy before it.

A Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and U.U. Lalit passed the order on a plea by the dera chief's senior counsel V Giri that his client was unable to defend himself as the CBI had refused to provide copies of the statements of the two alleged rape victims.

Giri pleaded that the CBI had also dropped its investigation officer KL Raina, who had recorded the victims' statements, as a witness in the case despite his client's objection.

Without issuing formal notice, the Bench directed that a copy of the dera chief's petition be served on CBI counsel PK Dey so that the agency could come up with its response at the next hearing on October 4.

The trial court had dismissed two applications of Ram Rahim wherein he sought to examine former CBI officer K.L. Raina as a defence witness and demanded handing over of statements of the alleged two victims recorded in 2003 in the rape case against him.

The case was registered in 2002.
New Delhi: Hours after launching an attack at Mehbooba Mufti by saying tourism would not thrive in Kashmir as long as terrorism existed in the state, Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday said sharing stage with the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister would be an insult for him.

"This is the first time I met Mehbooba Mufti. I have asked her four questions. She once said that had they knew that Burhan Wani was hiding, he could have been saved. They consider Afzal Guru as a freedom fighter. If she does not answer, the BJP must answer as to why such people are coming to power who don't love the nation and aren't ready to recognise terrorists as terrorists," Mishra told the reporters.

"We are electing such people who are not even ready to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai.'I do not want to share any stage with her. Sharing stage with her is an insult. I am not questioning Mehbooba Mufti's election; I am questioning her stand on this sensitive issue," he added.

Speaking at the launch function of the Bharat International Travel Bazaar (BITB), Mishra earlier had said, "It does not work this way that we will not call Burhan Wani a terrorist but tourism will have to flourish in India. How will that happen? You will say Afzal Guru is not a terrorist and that he should not be hanged. How will tourism develop? It is not going to happen."

Earlier, the Delhi Minister asked Mehbooba "if she considered Burhan Wani a terrorist." "It can't be that you don't accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase. Terrorism and tourism can't go together. Mahesh Sharma said Kashmir is our pride, but terrorists are treated as tourists there," said Mishra.

"We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

The AAP leader underlined that it is "painful" to see that "terrorists are being treated as tourists in Kashmir."
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong waves from bus upon arrival at New Delhi's International airport. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in New Delhi on Monday night and instead of a VIP motorcade, he chose to travel in a chartered bus to reach his hotel.

Prime Minister Loong, who is accompanied by wife Ho Ching and a delegation comprising key ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials, was received by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Statistics and Programme Implementation, Planning and Defence Rao Inderjit Singh upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a luncheon in the honour of Prime Minister Loong and the two leaders will hold bilateral talks, which will be followed by signing and exchange of three memorandums of understanding (MOU), including on cooperation in industrial property between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Singapore's Intellectual Property Office and on cooperation on establishment of a North East Skills Centre in Assam.

The Singaporean Prime Minister will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on the visiting dignitary.

Later, Prime Minister Loong will also attend a reception hosted by the Singaporean diaspora in India.

The visiting premier will also tour Udaipur in Rajasthan on October 5 and 6, where Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will call on him and also host a luncheon for him.

An agreement on a capacity building programme in tourism and hospitality will be signed between the Rajasthan government and Singapore's Cooperation Enterprise.

Prime Minister Loong last visited India in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.
BBMP has lost the Rs 15 lakh it spent on preparing the report, point out those in the know.

The irony of it all... The Silicon Valley of the country, Bengaluru, again fails to get the Smart City tag! The funding from the Union government under the project may be negligible, but the failures still leaves a bitter taste. The inevitable question is: If many small towns and cities can make a better presentation, why has Bengaluru failed to make the cut? Lackadaisical officers and lethargic civic agencies to blame.

Bengaluru may have earned the tag of IT City globally, but it turns out it is not that smart afterall. For the second year in succession it has lost out on the Smart City tag, and the funds that go along with it from the Union government to help with its development. Although the money may not be much, the fact that the BBMP failed to stand up to scrutiny and qualify for the required Central aid is clearly a black mark against it.

It appears its report sent to the Union government applying for the Smart City tag did not measure upto standards and failed to meet certain mandatory pre-requisites set by the Centre for a city to qualify for the nomenclature that would have brought it additional funds..

The fact that the city does not have an effective Solid Waste Management (SWM) system in place to dispose of its garbage has cost it, say BBMP sources. Also, the BBMP report did not explain well enough where it would get the matching funds from to execute certain projects slated for Smart City grants, they reveal.

The civic agency was reportedly not convincing enough either when explaining how the city intended to have round-the-clock water supply, and go about improving the maintenance of its roads and drains.

Bengalurus inability to rise to the occasion has surprised many as even small towns and cities have made successful presentations that have earned them the Smart City tag. Besides losing out on the Smart City funds, the BBMP has lost the Rs 15 lakh it spent on preparing the report, point out those in the know.

But ask the BBMP officials responsible and they claim they did not have enough time to prepare the report submitted in the first week of September to the Centre. We were given just 15 days to make the presentation, which is far too little, they protest.

The projects mentioned in the report included the mono rail, smart streetlights to illuminate roads and cable cars in some tourist hotspots. The BBMP, which had a blueprint ready for some of the projects, invited suggestions from the people on what its priorities should be, and even developed special mobile applications to help them respond.

As a result as many as 10,37,962 people gave their take on what projects the city needed to treat on priority. While around 24 per cent felt the Smart City funds should go to Mahadevapura zone, a major IT hub, others suggested the city needed to focus on providing quality roads, better drains and smooth flow of traffic. But as it turned out it was all a wasted effort as the city received a big thumbs down from the powers that be in Delhi.

Focus on quality infrastructure

The BBMP has failed to collect 100 per cent property tax and utterly failed in Solid Waste Management (SWM). When it has done so poorly on both these fronts how can it expect a Smart City tag for Bengaluru? asks urban expert, Ashwin Mahesh pertinently.

Although he believes that the Smart City funds are insignificant for a city like Bengaluru, he says the BBMP must be more organised in planning and presenting its projects if it expect to get them in future.

But having said that, Bengaluru is not losing out on anything by not being called a Smart City. Even if it got the funds, it would be for some insignificant project in some corner of the city. So it is not a loss at all for Bengaluru and the people shouldnt really care all that much, he advises, adding that the city should instead be looking at building quality infrastructure like 1,500 kms of TenderSure roads, increasing the BMTC fleet and improving walkability.

This is upto the BBMP and the tate government. So this is what we need to focus on, Mr. Mahesh emphasises, echoing the views of other experts too, who feel Bengaluru can do without the Smart City tag and needs to focus on developing in ways that improve the peoples quality of life, which has taken a beating over the last decade or so.

Maybe a good thing we didnt make the cut: Kathyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee, Civic

That Bengaluru has not made it to the Smart Cities Project points to its pathetic governance, its poor revenue generation, failure to conduct audits, innumerable scams and total lawlessness.

But in a way we should be really heaving a sigh of relief that it has not qualified for the project as it does not address the real needs of a city. Just one small area, and not the entire city, will get infrastructure of world class standards, where foreign and local business interests will thrive, creating show-piece islands of smartness in a sea of squalor.

We should be thankful that our elected city council will continue to function with full decision-making powers and not be bypassed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which would be a company headed by a CEO as required under the Smart City project. The SPV would even have powers to collect taxes, in a way privatising governance and making consumers of citizens.

It is also good that six other cities of Karnataka will get Rs 500 crore each, which can bring a great deal of development to them, if used wisely for their environmental sustainability and equity. This will halt the migration to Bengaluru from all over the state and may make the Bengaluru-centric development , where spending Rs 1,800 crore for a 7km stretch of flyover and Rs 20,000 crore for elevated corridors are considered a priority , hopefully unnecessary.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka government had acceded to the Supreme Court demand to release water to Tamil Nadu. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold the setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) after the Centre filed a plea on Monday stating that the apex court had no jurisdiction to set up such a body.

The apex court bench also directed Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18.

The court has set up a technical panel headed by Chairman Central water commission to visit both states and submit a report by October 17. The CWMB issue will be taken up again on October 18, said reports.

In Tamil Nadu, several major political parties including the DMK and AIADMK had opposed the Centres U-turn on the CWMB. DMK chief M Karunanidhi had accused the Modi government playing politics with an eye on the 2018 Karnataka polls.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had on Monday contended before the Supreme Court that only Parliament had the right to constitute the CWMB. Citing Article 262, he had said that the Modi governments earlier acceptance of the direction was his "mistake", and said there was an embargo on the Supreme Court from passing orders to form a Cauvery management board.

Rohatgi contended that Article 262 mandated that the Supreme Court cannot entertain any matter pertaining to an inter-State river dispute once a tribunal set up under parliamentary legislation has passed its final order.

In effect, this means that the Supreme Court has no right to entertain any petitions or applications post the 2007 Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal final order.

However, the top court rejected this interpretation of Article 262 by the AG, saying that the Centre's understanding of it was wrong as the embargo related to only original disputes.

Rohatgi had then called for an urgent hearing on this point on October 4, which was granted.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka government had acceded to the Supreme Court demand to release water to Tamil Nadu, stating it would give state 6,000 cusecs per day for six days from October 1 to 6.
New Delhi: Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks "seeking proof" of the anti-terror surgical strike in PoK, BJP on Tuesday asked him not to belittle the armed forces by getting influenced by Pakistani "propaganda".

At a press conference, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the AAP leader should answer whether he believed in the Indian Army or not.

Kejriwal should not "belittle the great leadership, courage and sacrifice of armed forced under the garb of seeking proof," Prasad said, and alleged that he has give the neighbouring country a chance to question the Army's assertion.

"It was most painful and unfortunate that the AAP leader was in Pakistani media headlines today as his remarks yesterday gave it a chance to question India Army's claim," the BJP leader said, wondering why he was being swayed by Pakistani propaganda.

"The question being asked in a way raises question over the action of Indian Army. I must say that. If Pakistani media is saying something, then why an India chief minister is being influenced and seeking proof.

"Arvind Kejriwal, you are in the headlines of Pakistani newspapers. Do you know it? At a time when the whole nation is speaking in one voice, a chief minister has said something that has given Pakistani media and people a chance to question India Army action. There cannot be a more painful and unfortunate thing," he said.

"Politics is different but nothing should be said that demoralises our army and makes it feel humiliated," he said.

However, Kejriwal hit back, saying the BJP was twisting the matter. "If I say we are with government in combating terrorism and government must give befitting reply to Pakistan's false propaganda, why is BJP frustrated?" he asked.

Earlier, also attacking senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, Ravi Shankar Prasad asked whether the former union minister is also joining the bandwagon in doubting capacity of the Indian Army in conducting the surgical strike.

"Is Chidambaram also joining bandwagon wittingly/unwittingly of creating doubts about capacity of our forces? Under garb of seeking proof, don't belittle great leadership, courage and sacrifice of armed forces," he added.

Asserting that today Pakistan stands completely isolated, diplomatically, strategically and in terms of international relations, Prasad asked both Kejriwal and Chidambaram not to say or do anything which brings down the morale of the Indian armed forces.

India has been successful in isolating Pakistan politically and diplomatically but Kejriwal is being guided by Pakistani media reports, Prasad said.

In a televised speech on Monday, Kejriwal had "saluted" Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ordering the surgical strike but also referred to some international media reports and an UN group observations, both of which appear to question its authenticity, as he asked the Prime Minister to "unmask the Pakistani propaganda".

Prasad said the government does not take seriously reports of "sponsored-media", apparently referring to Pakistan army's decision to ferry reporters to the LoC to bolster its claim that no surgical strike by the India army occurred there.

India, he said, had briefed ambassadors of many countries and they have taken note of the Indian Army's operation.
Army conducted surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads along the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday dissociated itself from its leader Sanjay Nirupam's remarks on surgical strikes, saying it has full faith in the armed forces even as it asked the government to use "all information and evidence" at its disposal to call "Pakistan's bluff" and expose its false propaganda.

The party said it has taken serious note of Nirupam's remarks calling the surgical strike "fake", signalling trouble for the Mumbai Congress chief. It also claimed that similar surgical strikes had been undertaken in the past too but the information had not been made public in interest of national security.

Party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala, however, steered clear of questions whether Nirupam and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh who had also raised some doubts over the action of the armed forces, would be served show cause notices.

"Indian National Congress disagrees completely from the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. It has taken a serious note", Surjewala said insisting that the party has "full faith" in the bravehearts of Indian armed forces.

Nirupam had tweeted that "every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. politics over national interest(sic)."

Nirupam had later told reporters in Mumbai that it is up to the government to prove the surgical strikes did take place.

Surjewala noted that party chief Sonia Gandhi has unequivocally supported Indian armed forces and the government on the issue of surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan as also in taking all steps for demolishing terror infrastructure against India.

"We reaffirm the same," he said. Insisting that there never has been a reason to raise a question or doubt on the statements by the DGMO on surgical strikes, he, however, said that government needs to "call the Pakistani bluff and false propaganda" on the issue.

This, he said, should be done by the government using "all information, evidence and instruments at the disposal of Indian state".

"We are proud that even in the past our forces have successfully conducted such surgical strikes on numerous occasions," the Congress spokesperson said.

He said that forces had taken such action on September 1, 2011, July 28, 2013 and January 14, 2014 while "giving befitting reply to the enemy".

"In its maturity, wisdom and in the interest of national security, Congress government avoided making loud claim for the effective response and action of Indian Army, which had the full support of political leadership", he said in the backdrop of BJP projecting the strikes as symbol of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "strong" leadership.

A political slugfest on Tuesday erupted over India's surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC with Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam calling it "fake", provoking stinging criticism from BJP even as his own party said it "totally dissociates" from his remarks.

"Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. politics over national interest(sic)," Nirupam tweeted, kicking up a row over the emotive issue.

The Congress leader went on to demand "some evidence" to prove the surgical strikes did take place and accused the Centre's ruling BJP of indulging in politics over the issue.

With patriotic sentiments running high amid soaring tensions with Pakistan, Union Minister Uma Bharti said leaders who cast "doubt over the army's surgical strike should take Pakistani citizenship".

"Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about surgical strike, they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan," Bharti told reporters in Pune.

The Congress had yesterday asked the government to put forth "credible" evidence of last week's surgical strikes, carried out by the Army across the LoC, to "expose" Pakistan which has denied any such action.

Congress senior spokesman Anand Sharma had also sought to dismiss the claim that the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads was the first such retaliation by the Indian Army, insisting that it had responded earlier too "as per the need or provocation".

"Around a week ago when the DGMO on behalf of the government announced that a surgical strike has been carried out against the Pak terror camps in PoK, we all supported. Honourable Sonia Gandhi supported, Rahul Gandhi supported, even I personally supported it.

But the way BJP has put banners all over the country, the way surgical strike is being politicised, used for political benefit and simultaneously from all over the world questions are being raised on the reality of the surgical strike, we have the questions to ask the government," he said. Nirupam said the government will "have to come with some evidence" without compromising national security to give reply to the whole world.

On Monday, Congress leader P Chidambaram had said that it is up to the government to furnish evidence of the strikes.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the other hand demanded on Monday that the government should 'unmask the propaganda by Pakistan at international level' by providing proof of the strikes to the international polity.

Training guns at Sanjay Nirupam for dubbing the surgical strikes by the Indian Army as fake, BJP said that the grand old party members should not speak the voice of Pakistan but stand united as one nation.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that such immature statements give Islamabad more ammunition to attack New Delhi.

"It is quite childish behaviour on part of Mr Sanjay Nirupam, who claims to be a tall leader of the Congress Party when he questions the credibility of the Indian Army by questioning the surgical strike which was conducted by the Indian Army on the launch pads of Pakistan," said Patra.

"This gives more ammunition to Pakistan to attack India. The Congress Party should not speak the voice of Pakistan, they should speak the voice and sentiments of India," he added.

Meanwhile, another BJP leader GVL Narsimha Rao echoing similar sentiments said it is strange that few opposition leaders want to believe the false agenda of Pakistan which has no credibility.

"At such time we should all stand untied like one nation. But few opposition leaders are wanting to stand by the false propaganda of the Pakistani leadership which has no credibility," said Rao.

Army conducted surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads along the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK.

The next morning, the DGMO had given this information to the media in a press conference.

Pakistan, however, has been dismissing the claim as "fabrication of truth" and said India was creating "media hype" by re-branding cross-border fire as surgical strikes.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao plans to take a leaf from the successful land pooling formula employed by the previous Maharashtra government in Pune and Baramati that helped accelerate IT and other industries besides big townships in that state.

The CM has decided to send a team of party leaders, including K. Kesava Rao and others, to Pune and Baramati, represented by Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar to study land pooling success story there.

KCR said that Pune and Baramati have made rapid strides in IT and other industries due to land pooling. Farmers there voluntarily gave up their lands for development and were made stakeholders in the project. He also referred to the key role played by Sharad Pawar in it. It was win-win situation for both investors and local farmers, TRS MLC B. Venkatesarulu, told this newspaper.

The visit may take place after Dasara, he added.

The CM made the proposal during an interaction with party leaders from various districts. The TRS had earned the wrath of farmers, Opposition and social activists over forcible land acquisition for Mallannasagar project. Congress took the issue to the President and demanded compensation as per Land Acquisition act of 2013.

Pawar played a key role in the development of Baramati, Magarpatta City in Pune, Lavasa city and other projects. Magarpatta Township Development and Construction Company constructed a new city in Hadapsar village on 600 acres in 1990s with 430 acres of infrastructure, 9,000 apartments, 60 lakh square feet of IT space, commercial zone, residential neighbourhoods, hospitals, shopping mall, food court, schools, parks etc.

Satish Magar, the brain behind the project got support from Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena Chief Balasaheb Thackeray and others. In all 800 beneficiary farmers owning over 400 acres became shareholders in the company.

Sharad Pawar turned his remote agriculture based village into a vibrant city with several industries including steel processing, Piaggio two-wheeler plant, industrial area, educational hub, sugar factories etc.
Chennai: Accusing the BJP government at the Centre of becoming a mouthpiece of Karnataka by refusing to accept the Supreme Court verdict to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, political leaders in Tamil Nadu said the Centre had belittled the judicial system of the country by betraying Tamil Nadu.

The leaders also said it is now clear that the Union government is behind Karnatakas refusal to give water to TN and supporting all its illegal actions and flouting of the SC order. They also asked the Union government to reconsider its stand and withdraw its affidavit in support of Karnataka.

The ruling AIADMK and Opposition DMK alleged that the Centre had refused to accept the SC verdict with an eye on Karnataka Assembly polls scheduled in 2018. DMK chief M. Karunanidhi said unable to find a foothold in Tamil Nadu, BJP has resorted to such a move with the hope of at least winning the Karnataka polls. The Union government had echoed the views of Union Ministers belonging to Karnataka, he added. The DMK leader also demanded a special session of the Assembly or an all party meeting to oppose the decision of the centre unitedly.

AIADMK spokesperson C.R. Saraswathi said usually Karnataka betrayed Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue, but why is the Centre doing it now? This is the peoples issue. What is the need for politics? Congress and BJP are keen on capturing power in Karnataka and are not bothered about the farmers of TN, she told reporters.

Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin demanded the resignation Union Minister Pon. Radhakrishnan and all the 37 MPs of AIADMK if they were not able to put pressure on Centre to form the CMB.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss said there is no law curbing the two-member bench from pronouncing a verdict on an pending before a three-member bench. Disputing the Centres affidavit that CMB could be formed only after an Act of Parliament, he said all the river water boards formed earlier had been done so without an Act in Parliament.

MDMK leader Vaiko said the affidavit of the BJP government is a clear proof that it is behind all the illegal activities of Karnataka.

CPI(M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan too echoed Vaikos views. CPI state secretary R. Muthrarasan said the Centres partisan act would endanger the nations unity and integrity.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Tamil Nadu unit of BJP spoke differently on two Union cabinet ministers from Karnataka attending the all party meeting called by the Karnataka government on Cauvery issue with state president Dr Tamilisai Soundarajan criticising their participation while her colleague and national secretary H. Raja finding nothing wrong in it.
Chennai: A teenager without a driving licence was killed after the 12-wheel heavy-duty tipper truck he was driving veered off into the Buckingham Canal from the Basin Bridge during the small hours of Monday.

P. Prakash (18), resident of Gandhipuram, Vyasarpadi, who is the cleaner of the vehicle, was at the wheels when the mishap occurred. The role of the truck driver, Partiban (38), is being examined by the Tondiarpet Traffic investigation wing. Partiban, (a neighbour of the deceased), claims that he pulled the tipper over to stop for a cup of tea ahead of Kalyanapuram from where Prakash drove it away. The lorry was heading from the Madhavaram lorry shed to take its load from near Chennai Central, said a senior police official. The boy's grandfather claimed that the boy was tagging along with Partiban and was poor in handling automobiles and was not even allowed to use bikes, he added.

Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Washermenpet and Sembium fished out the boy's body after a 5-hour search. They were at their rescue mission even as Partiban belatedly turned up at the spot looking for the lorry.

The boy's body, first moved to the Government Stanley Hospital, was handed over to the family after an autopsy. Recalling the scenes at the accident spot, mechanic Saktithaasan, said, Our co-worker heard a loud noise from the canal bund at 1.55 am. He ran out to find the tipper had crashed into the railing of the bridge and was dangling over the canal. The lorry then slowly nose-dived into water.

The boy may have been scared when the vehicle veered off the road and may have believed in his skills to stop the vehicle from falling over from the bridge. He should have climbed out of the cabin since he had time instead of clinging on to the wheels, said Prabhu, who witnessed the accident.

The lorry belonged to Saleem of Ponneri, an AIADMK functionary, who was busy filing his nomination for the local body election. Two 12-tonne cranes were employed to lift the wrecked lorry from the canal from 7 am onwards.

The lifting capacity of the two cranes could not help the lorry clear the bridge and another huge crane with higher lift and higher boom clearance was deployed. The tipper was then fished out of the canal.

Wreckage removal chokes traffic

The removal of the lorry wreckage by the city police and civic authorities choked traffic on the lane over the Basin Bridge on Buckingham Canal.

Traffic was restricted to one lane of the bridge's arm, which connects Wall Tax Road with Basin Bridge, from which the tipper plummeted into the canal. Five hours after the accident, two cranes were deployed from the bridge and the bund and attempted to lift the vehicle from the canal in vain. Traffic was restored on that lane between 9 am and 11 am.

The two cranes were put on hold and another high capacity crane was pressed into service at around 11.30 pm.

The traffic was subsequently blocked from the Basin Bridge Power House Road junction, Wall Tax Road junction, and on the arm on which the accident took place.

The tipper, which was pulled out in the overturned position was placed on the bridge in the same position. It was subsequently moved to the junction of Basin Bridge and Wall Tax Road junction facilitating the cranes to roll the tipper over on its wheels so it could be towed away at around 4.30 pm and vehicular traffic resumed only after-wards.
THOOTHUKUDI: The expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP, L. Sasikala Pushpa appeared before the Pudukottai All women police station in Thoothukudi district for police interrogation in an alleged illegal detention and sexual harassment case registered against her based on the complaint of her former domestic worker.

On reaching the police station around 10 am on Monday along with her

husband, Lingeswara Thilagan and son L Pradeep Raja, who have also been included in the case, Sasikala Pushpa and the two others were grilled by the police officer for about three hours.

Later, coming out of the station in the afternoon, Sasikala Pushpa said that she and her family members cooperated well with the police interrogation.
Since Subhani married Ayesha four months ago, he landed in a job at a jewellery shop in Kadayanallur, which is owned by one of his wifes distant relatives.

TIRUNELVELI: The NIA on Monday picked up a 31-year-old man from Kadayanallur in Tirunelveli district for his alleged links to the terror outfit Islamic State (IS), a day after sleuths held six men, including one person who was living in Chennai for the past three months, from Kerala.

Subhani, who was working in a jewellery shop, was picked up from his father-in-laws house at Kadayanallur at 4.30 am on Monday, sources said, adding that he was close to the six persons who were arrested on Sunday from Kerala.

Subhani was arrested based on a tip-off from the six persons who were taken into custody by a NIA team in Kerala on Sunday. He came into contact with the six persons when he was in Thodupuzha in Keralas Idukki district in search of employment, sources told Deccan Chronicle.

Since Subhani married Ayesha four months ago, he landed in a job at a jewellery shop in Kadayanallur, which is owned by one of his wifes distant relatives. He and his allies are suspected to have been deployed to collect explosives for targeting places of public importance in various parts of the country.

He might have shifted to Kadayanallur so that he may not identified easily, said a local police officer, according to whom even his employer was aware of Subhani's terror link. After the arrest, Subhani was taken to Kozhikode by the NIA team for further interrogation.

The six arrested on Sunday were identified as Manseed alias Omar (30), a resident of Kannur; Abu Basheer alias Rashid (29) from Coimbatore; Swalih Mohammed alias Yousuf (26) from Thrissur; Safwan (30) from Malappuram; Jasim (25) and Ramshad Nageelan Kandiyil alias Aaamu (24), both from Kozhikode.

During the searches on Sunday, incriminating material including electronic devices have been seized from their possession.

Follow-up searches are being conducted by NIA in Chennai, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram in Kerala with support of Tamil Nadu and Kerala police.
Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa is responding adequately to the comprehensive treatment plan including appropriate antibiotics, respiratory support and other allied clinical measures, the Apollo Hospitals said here on Monday.

In a health bulletin, the Apollo Hospitals, where Ms Jayalalithaa was admitted on September 22, said the Chief Minister continues to improve and a team of doctors is monitoring her.

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital, Greams Road, continues to improve. The treatment plan including appropriate antibiotics, respiratory support and other allied clinical measures are presently being continued to treat the infection, the statement issued by Apollo Hospitals COO Subbiah Viswanathan said.

The statement comes four days after British medical expert Dr Richard Beale joined the team of doctors treating the Chief Minister. Dr Beale is a top-notch expert on acute lung injury, multiple organ failure and general intensive care.

Mondays statement further said the CM is responding adequately to the comprehensive treatment being given to her. A team of doctors is collectively monitoring her treatment. The Chief Minister has been advised further stay in the Hospital for treatment, it added.

The hospital had on Sunday said Dr Beale examined Ms Jayalalithaa, evaluated her various clinical reports had detailed discussions with the expert group of doctors treating her and concurred with the present line of management.
KOCHI: The final medical panel report on alleged medical negligence in the death of medico Shamna Tasnim of Ernakulam Government Medical College is set to be submitted to the City Police Commissioner on Wednesday. One specialist invited on the panel has to sign on the annexure prepared by him which he said he will do on Wednesday. If that happens, I am planning to submit to the police commissioner tomorrow itself, Dr Kuttappan told DC on Tuesday.

He said that the panel held a second sitting on Monday too apart from the one held on September 26 and the two specialists  a cardiologist and an anesthetist  invited on the panel has prepared two annexure apart from the main report which compiled the opinion of the three main members on the panel and the specialists. The final report is ready and the three members on the panel, the DMO, the forensic surgeon and the government pleader and one specialist have signed on the papers, Dr Kuttappan said.

It is interesting to note that the DMO who had once said that the only sitting of the panel was over on September 26, conceded on Tuesday that another meeting had taken place on Monday. The proceedings of the medical panel is already shrouded in mystery amid reports that tremendous pressure is on to state that medical negligence has not happened in the case while one member of the panel is dead against concluding that way. When asked whether the committee has come out with a unanimous recommendation, the DMO said that could not be divulged. He also said that there was no plan to go for another expert opinion on the subject.
ALAPPUZHA: The Kuttanad paddy farmers are relieved by the decision of 52 private mill owners to call off their strike and the government's announcement to procure harvested crops from Tuesday. Some 6.5 lakh tonnes of paddy from 11,000 hectares of paddyfield, produced as part of the second crop, is expected to be procured by the government. The mill owners were supposed to start procurement by September 22.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the government would procure the harvested paddy at a price of Rs 21.5 per kg. The mill owners' demand to get Rs 190 as processing charge had been accepted. The government has appointed an expert committee consisting of the representatives of mill owners to look into their grievances. Kuttanad had a record harvesting season producing 42,647 tonnes from 10,500 hectares.

James Joseph, a farmer in R bock Padasekara Samithi, said they had put off the harvesting after getting intimation from the civil supplies department that their crops should be taken to the government mill in Kottayam as the strike was going on. The government decision was a great relief to the farmers, he said. Earlier, the previous government had declared that the mills' processing charge would be increased from Rs 148 to Rs 190. But it was not implemented due to the objection from the finance department. This had forced the mill owners to go on strike.

Fr Thomas Peelianickal, executive director, Kuttanad Development Authority, says the farmers who have produced double crops since 2014 are jittery due to the uncertainties of government decisions. They had produced at least 140 tonnes more of paddy in Kuttanad compared to last year. As many as 22, 000 farmers hope for timely procurement this season.

Joji Arupara , president, Irupathinaalaayiram Padasekhara Samithy, alleged that there was no coordination in procuring crops. In the past, the civil supplies department was handling the procurement properly. But in the last couple of years the system in the department was not up to the mark. In the past, the farmers had taken loans from banks at four percent interest. But now they are unwilling to provide loans due to the delay in payment, he added.
Hyderabad: The T- Congress on Tuesday announced it would launch a massive application campaign against the TRS government. Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan here, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the party would collect applications from farmers and students seeking clearance of dues of crop loan waiver and fee reimbursement.

The applications, to be directly addressed to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, will be filled by farmers and students with specific details of their crop loan waiver dues or fee reimbursement. The entire rank and file of the Congress, including MPs, MLAs, MLCs and frontal organisations, will participate in the campaign. These forms will then be submitted to the Chief Minister, Governor and also the President, Mr Reddy said.

The TPCC chief slammed the state government for not fulfilling its promise of waiving crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh despite being in power for the 2.5 years. He said Congress workers, including NSUI and Youth Congress members, would approach about 14 lakh students hit badly due to pending fee reimbursement dues.

Mr Reddy said that the state government did not clear even 25 per cent of fee reimbursement dues of 2015-16 while not a single paise was released for the academic year 2016-17.

He noted that the Chief Minister had given an assurance in Assembly during March this year that the entire dues would be cleared and fee reimbursement payments would be done on monthly basis.
India is now the site of a battle royalty, in the struggle between localisation and globalisation of power, between freedom for India and its citizens, through swadeshi and swaraj, and freedom of a cartel of three MNCs  selling poisons as pesticides and pesticide producing GMOs. India finds itself (once again) torn between its unforgiven history and uncertain future state. Back in 1857, the sepoys of the East India Companys private military rose against their indignant monopolistic masters in the mutiny. The Industrial Revolution brought with it colonialism. Colonies of cotton, indigo, opium (and other) plantations were installed, to feed the machines of the Industrial Revolution  patented machines, built by patented machines. The company was (is) a monopoly based on patented machines and patent letters. The Monsanto-Bayer (MOBAY) merger is a mere show.

Before the heroin cartel of MOBAY (joint operation of Monsanto and Bayer), there was the opium cartel of America  the Astor, Forbes, Russell, Delano, and Perkins families. Before the gins, spinning mules, jennys, and flying shuttles of the Industrial Revolutions machines, there was the machine that built the machines. Patented plow, patented gin and patented spinning wheels all based on piracy of Indian intellectual property. The building blocks of this patent letter authorised monopoly were made by Mather and Platt, a Lancashire-based general engineering outfit. William and Colin Mather partnered with John Platt (of Salford Iron Works) as Mather and Platt. Ralph Dowsons Dowson, Taylor and Co merged with Mather and Platt (1913) to form Indian company Mather & Platt Ltd (India) with sales and order offices in Calcutta in the east and in Bombay to the west, two expanding cities some 1,200 km apart. The Calcutta operations were run under the guise of Maidan Works, and the Bombay operations under Mather Greaves Ltd, a subsidiary of M&P Ltd.

The patents for the chemical processes required by the industrial production of fabric were also the intellectual property of the Mathers and Platts, making the entire process of gin to fabric proprietary. Mathers and Platt Ltd was acquired by Wormald International (Australia) in 1978, and later sold to the Jumbo Group  headquartered in Dubai, and headed, until 2002, by M.R. (Manu) Chhabria. The Jumbo Group deals in white goods. India did not merely cultivate for the companys monopoly, it was enslaved by it, in reality and intellectually. As I wrote in my book The Violence of the Green Revolution: While the technological innovations in the British textiles industry were made possible only through the prior control over the resources and the market, the stagnation and decay of this industry in India was a result of the loss of political control, first over the market, and later over the raw material.

The destruction of Indias textile industry necessitated the destruction of the skills and autonomy of Indias weavers. Often this destruction was extremely violent. For instance, the thumbs of the best Bengal weavers were cut off, to cut off market competition when Indian handwoven textiles continued to do better than the British mill products. The impact of the violence, manipulation and control of the English merchants on the Indian weavers started when the East India Company became a territorial power, by defeating Nawab Sirajuddaula, in the battle of Palassi in 1757. The company was coronated after the mutiny, and nationalised post-Independence. With neo-liberalism, the company was privatised. Through the ages, it has remained steadfast in its self-identity, a monopoly to a group of 216 nobles and an assortment of traders in regards to any and all trade with the Indies, essentially the modern-day states of China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and Indonesia. Vannevar Bush, scion of the Bush family  champions of neo-liberal colonisation, ran the operations for the Dutch East India Co. from the Philippines.

The forced cultivation of Indigo has been replaced by 300,000 farmers who have been pushed to suicide through debts, but the enslavement is worse. Machines replaced weavers, machines replaced farmers, now MOBAY  one face of the many-faced Cottonopolis  would like to machine life-itself. The attempted legitimisation of slavery on a global scale, has to be resisted through localisation of and for local communities  through local resources owned locally. Localisation meant swadeshi during the freedom struggle. Localisation is swadeshi in the contemporary struggle for seed freedom and food freedom. We must unchain the spinning wheel (charkha) of our nations mind (chakra), from the ball of new-age colonialism. We must reupholster our nation with Indi-an fabric, and put a boycott on videshi toxicity and their Green Revolution chemicals.

Indigo slaves organised the indigo satyagraha (satya  truth, agraha force), refusing to produce indigo for the industrial system of England. We have been fighting the patented-recolonisation, of our fields, in our fields, for decades, and will continue to do so until India is free of the poison cartel  this is the seed satyagraha. If we have the freedom to save, and seed our own freedom, we share our freedoms. If we have to subscribe to a genetically engineered freedom, we are renting an enclosure, sharing on our walls. Whatever Monsanto and Bayers lawyers and accountants say, in the realm where ideas are properties, the two companies are only a two-face mask of one multi-headed demon. They share a lengthy history and a fused parasitic future, one in which there is no room for farmers, health or real food.

The toxic cartel has been allowed a letters-patent monopoly to poison India, for far too long  from the Bhopal disaster to the current failure of Bt cotton in Punjab, from the cancer epidemic to the diabetes epidemic. MOBAY (and the rest of the toxic cartel) cannot be allowed to poison Indias maati any further. We must return to our organic way of production and consumption, devoid of the poisons in the middle. It is clear that every step leading to the current buzz around Deepak Pentals (illegal) Bayer-patented mustard has been a clandestine operation. Data that is mandated to be made public, by the Supreme Court, is being covered up. The text of the Patent Act is impossible to find on the Internet, and is likely being modified behind closed doors.

In response, we will continue the seed satyagraha that we started in 1987, and the sarson satyagraha we started in 1998  when global agribusiness manipulated a ban on our indigenous mustard to flood our markets with subsidised hexane-extracted GMO soya oil. Now the same foreign interests are giving a spin of GMO mustard as a solution to the crisis they engineered in 1998.

We will be trying these giant corporations, for their crimes against nature and humanity, at the Monsanto-Bayer Tribunal in The Hague this month. And in 2017, to celebrate a hundred years of the Champaran satyagraha, we will be organising a satyagraha yatra, for freedom from the slavery being imposed by MNCs, through poisons in our food and farms, and toxic and patented GMO seeds. Swadeshi won freedom from corporate imperialism a century ago. Our localised earth family will win the epic battle against globalised corporate imperialism. We will shape a future of our food and of our planet, with our hands, without the toxic products and toxic corruption being spread by the poison cartel.
Kaspersky Lab has released a new version of its Kaspersky Small Office Security software to help very small businesses (VSBs) stay on top of the growing number of cyberthreats. With anti-ransomware functionality, safeguarding of online financial transactions and security status monitoring, Kaspersky Small Office Security aims to help VSBs flourish.

In line with recent research from Kaspersky Lab, finding that 42 per cent of VSBs are concerned about the threat of crypto malware, the latest version of Kaspersky Small Office Security offers protection against the growing threat of cryptors. Anti-cryptor capabilities in System Watcher component block malicious encryption attempts, and also triggers an automatic backup and restore.

The Safe Money feature within Kaspersky Small Office Security provides improved safeguarding of financial transactions from fraudsters, by protecting against the taking of screen grabs or use of the clipboard functionality, which cybercriminals typically rely on to steal business data and financial assets.

The new version of Kaspersky Small Office Security also provides small businesses a way to monitor their security status. Through a dedicated, cloud-based monitoring console, businesses have a single view of the protection status of all devices on their network  from PCs and laptops, through to file servers and mobile devices. The online portal means this information can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, and protection settings activated or changed as required.

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Apple has given any statements on this issue as of yet, however they did confirm that they are investigating the case.

Previously, reports of a Reddit user receiving a damaged iPhone 7 surfaced online. The device apparently exploded before it got delivered to the customer. This incident seems to have occurred again.

According to reports by the local media, an iPhone 6 Plus burst during class while it was in the back pocket of Darin Hlavaty, a student at Rowan College in Burlington County, New Jersey.

I felt this crazy, hot burning in my leg. Right as class was starting, my phone started smoking in my pocket. It was a fire, said Hlavaty. It was super hot so I flinched, grabbed it, threw it on the ground. Had to kick it because it was on fire, he added.

The fire emergency team arrived at the college but by that time, the fire was already out.

Apple has given any statements on this issue as of yet, however they did confirm that they are investigating the case.

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Pakistan army troops patrol near the Torkham border post between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Photo: AP)

Washington: The politically unstable Afghanistan-Pakistan border region is at the risk of a potential high magnitude earthquake, much higher than previously thought, a new study has warned.

Scientists at University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in US have unveiled alarming conclusions about the earthquake hazard in the region.

The study focused on two of the major faults in the region - the Chaman and Ghazaband faults.

"Typically earthquake hazard research is a result of extensive ground-based measurements," said the study's lead author Heresh Fattahi, from UM Rosenstiel School.

"These faults, however, are in a region where the political situation makes these ground-based measurements dangerous and virtually impossible," said Fattahi.

Using satellite data from 2004-2011 acquired by the European Space Agency satellite Envisat, and interferometry, the researchers were able to measure the relative motion of the ground and then model the movement of the underlying faults with an accuracy of just a few millimetres.

Data for a seven-year time-frame using time-series analysis techniques increases the confidence in their results. The study shows that the Ghazaband fault is accommodating more than half of the relative motion between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which indicates that the fault accumulates stress and the potential for a high magnitude earthquake is much higher than previously thought.

Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province and located close to the Ghazaband Fault, lost nearly half of its population following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in 1935, researchers said.

"Quetta's population of more than one million is in serious danger if an earthquake were to strike," said Falk Amelung, a UM Rosenstiel School professor of geophysics.

"Earthquake-proof construction is vital in avoiding earthquake disasters. Quetta, as well as other cities in the region, is completely unprepared," said Amelung.

The research team also studied the Chaman Fault, the largest fault in the region, running from southern Pakistan to north of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.

This fault was thought to accommodate the lion's share of the relative plate motion, but the satellite data show that it may account for only about one third of it.

The researchers also found a creeping segment, where the rock masses slide against each other without accumulating any stress that would lead to earthquakes. The creeping fault extends for 340 kilometres.

"This is the longest creeping fault ever reported," said Fattahi.

The slower than expected fault rate and the presence of the long creeping segment explains why the region has not, for over 500 years, experienced major earthquakes with fault ruptures from several tens to several hundreds of kilometres, researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
New York: Hours after masked men broke into a luxurious Paris apartment of Kim Kardashian and robbed her of jewellery worth $10 million, the American TV star revealed that she was dragged out of the bedroom, tied up with zip ties and was thrown on the floor by five masked men, as she feared of being raped by the attackers.

The robbers made off with a ring worth around four million euros ($4.5 million) and a case of jewelry with a value of five million euros ($5.6 million), a police source said. Two mobile phones were also taken.

The robbers zip-tied Kardashian's hands with plastic handcuffs, duct-taped her mouth and ankles, dumping her in the bathtub, it was reported. In her statement to the police, she said that she feared of being raped.

The robbers allegedly kept saying "ring, ring" and Kardashian told them where to find a new ring given by her husband. Kardashian had posted a photograph of the huge diamond sparkler -- reportedly a 20-carat ring by Lorraine Schwartz -- on her finger, while resting her chin on her hand, mouth opened to show off gold dental grillz, as well as a black and gold choker and, of course, serious cleavage.

The reality TV star's spokeswoman said "two armed masked men dressed as police officers" burst into her room.

Another member of the gang restrained the building's security guard during the robbery, police said, adding that the guard was unhurt. The assailants may have fled on bicycles, investigators say.

The star's bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, was absent at the time, providing security for Kardashian's sister Kourtney at a Paris nightclub, an investigation source said.

It is not known whether Kardashian's two young children were with their mother at the time of the robbery.

Soon after the incident, Kardashian left France on a private jet after being questioned by police about the robbery. She had been in the French capital attending Paris Fashion Week, including catwalk shows by Balenciaga and Givenchy.
A Sikh man in Clifornia, US, said he faced racial slurs from a man who threatened to kill him. (Photo: AFP/Representational image)

San Francisco: A Sikh man in the US state of California has claimed that he faced racial slurs from a man who threatened to kill him, prompting police to launch a probe into a possible hate incident.

Balmeet Singh and his friends were out for dinner on California Avenue. The incident happened when Singh went out of the restaurant to make a phone call.

Singh said in the middle of his conversation a man walked out of a cafe and headed straight toward him.

"The man said you're trying to blow up this country, I should kill you. I'm going to kill you right now. And he used a lot of curse words and he seemed very angry," Singh was quoted as saying by the local media Turnto23.com.

He yelled that he was a racist and was the problem. He continued to yell and then threw a drink at Singh, it said.

"The drink got all over my destar, my turban, got all over my beard, you know my shirt, my jeans, got all over my phone," Singh added.

Singh said after that the man started to walk off toward the parking lot. Singh followed the man and was able to get his description, his vehicle's description and a license plate number, which he gave to police. Singh said he never expected anything like that to happen in Bakersfield city.

"Everything I do is here in Kern County and to have someone tell me that I'm trying to blow up the country that I'm going to cause some harm is just very shocking to me."

He said the worst part of about the incident was that several people saw what happened and no one stepped in to help.

"Everyone either looked down or looked away. They all pretended like I didn't exist," said Singh.

A report was filed at the Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) and they are investigating it as a hate incident, police said.

"They need to be able to step up and say hey if we see hatred in out midst, if we see ignorance, we are going to stand up with love and we are going to stand up and support each other," said Singh.

Singh said he hopes police are able to catch the man responsible so that it does not happen again.

"We do have a potential suspect, but the incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police," BPD said.
Washington: Already testy, relations between the United States and Russia plummeted Monday as Washington suspended diplomatic contacts with Moscow over failed efforts to end the war in Syria and President Vladimir Putin put on hold a deal with the US on disposing weapons-grade plutonium.

On the surface, the suspensions were unrelated. But both underscored deep mistrust and rising tensions between the former Cold War foes, who are increasingly at odds on a number of issues, particularly Syria and Ukraine. In the short term, the end of discussions on Syria deals a potential death blow to efforts to slow the civil war and begin negotiations on possible elections in the country that could mean the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

Underscoring the deterioration between the US and Russia, Putin suspended a deal on plutonium disposal hours before the US announcement. The two powers will still continue discussions on the Iran nuclear deal, Ukraine and other non-Syria issues.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the US has "done all it could to destroy the atmosphere encouraging cooperation." It cited US sanctions on Moscow over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and NATO's deployment of forces near Russian borders.

U.S. officials said that despite the suspension of talks with Russia, they would continue to work for a truce and aid deliveries to Syria in other gatherings, including the International Syria Support Group, a collection of nations, including Russia.

The Obama administration said it decided to cut off discussions on Syria because Russia had not lived up to the terms of last month's agreement to restore a tattered cease-fire and ensure sustained deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged cities, such as Aleppo, which has been under bombardment from Russian and Syrian forces.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "What's clear is that there is nothing more for the United States and Russia to talk about with regard to trying to reach an agreement that would reduce the violence inside of Syria and that's tragic."

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments ... and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed."

Kirby's statement said that Russia and Syria are pursuing military action in violation of the cease-fire agreement, and pointed to their targeting of hospitals as well as the Sept. 19 airstrike on a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy. The US accused Russia of bombing that convoy, a charge both Russia and Syria have denied.

Russia intervened on behalf of its close ally Syria on Sept. 30 last year, joining Assad's bombardment of both anti-Assad rebel groups and militant groups such as the Islamic State and Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaida spinoff formerly known as the Nusra Front. Russia is interested in propping up Assad in part because Russia's only naval facility outside the former Soviet Union is on the Syrian coast.

If it had been implemented, the cease-fire deal would have created a joint US-Russian center to coordinate military and intelligence operations. President Barack Obama had overruled Pentagon objections to such cooperation and Secretary of State John Kerry made the offer.

According to a senior US official, the Pentagon has ordered troops who had been deployed to set up the joint implementation center - fewer than 20 - to return to their bases. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

The suspension will not affect communications between the two countries aimed at keeping their planes from bumping into each other over Syria.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced regret about the US move and blamed Washington for the failure to persuade the moderate Syrian rebels it backs to cut ties with extremist groups.

"And now, after failing to fulfill the agreements they worked out themselves, they are trying to shift the blame," she said.

The US had agreed to separate the rebel groups but noted it was an extremely slow process. The US has relatively few personnel on the ground in Syria and even the moderate rebels have said they are frustrated with the pace of U.S. help.

Putin's decree on plutonium cited the "emerging threat to strategic stability as a result of US unfriendly actions," as well as Washington's failure to meet its end of the cease-fire deal. It said, however, that Russia will keep the weapons-grade plutonium covered under the agreement away from weapons programs.

Under the agreement, which was expanded in 2006 and 2010, Russia and the US each were to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium, enough material for about 17,000 nuclear warheads. When it was signed in 2000, the deal was touted as an example of successful cooperation between Washington and Moscow.
High on methamphetamine, he stabbed her 29 times and dumped the body in roadside bushes south of Auckland. (Representational image)

Wellington: An Indian student who killed his pregnant girlfriend in a frenzied knife attack in New Zealand after she told him the baby was not his was sentenced to life imprisonment Tuesday.

The man, who goes by the single name Akash, displayed cruelty, brutality and callousness in murdering 22-year-old Gurpreet Kaur, Auckland high court judge Matthew Palmer said.

The judge said the pair were secretly dating for 12 months but Akash, 24, snapped on April 7 this year when Kaur told him the baby was not his and she wanted to end the relationship.

High on methamphetamine, he stabbed her 29 times and dumped the body in roadside bushes south of Auckland.

He initially pleaded not guilty, arguing the stab wounds were self inflicted, but admitted his guilt in August, four months after being arrested.

Palmer said the fact that Kaur was 7 to 10 weeks pregnant exacerbated the crime and made her death even more painful for her family.

Not only did you murder Gurpreet Kaur and deprive her family of her existence, but you deprived her and her family of the potential of another life, the judge said.

Akash was sentenced to life with a minimum of 17 years behind bars.
The abuse lasted for three-and-a-half years until she confronted the accused and asked him to stop visited her home. (Representational Image)

Whanganui: A paedophile has been sentenced to more than six years in jail after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenager while they prayed together at the victim's home in Whanganui, a city in New Zealand.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the accused used to tell the victim's mother that he is going upstairs in her bedroom to pray with her and would end up abusing her.

The abuse lasted for three-and-a-half years until she confronted the accused and asked him to stop visiting her home. In her diary, the victim has also mentioned that she once considered sewing up her pyjamas so that the accused could not undress and abuse her. She also wrote, "My purity no longer exists".

The accused is also being tried for sexually abusing several young girls -- including the victim's younger sister. The victim's younger sister said that she once woke up to the accused rubbing her breasts and did not stop until someone called for him. She also said that he had even touched her genitals.

During the trial, the accused tried to escape punishment quoting Bible's Old Testament verses which stated that if a woman does not cry out for help during sex, then the intercourse would be considered as consensual.

Sentencing him for his crimes at the Whanganui District Court, the judge told the accused that his crimes were 'deplorable'. He has been sent to prison for six years and four months and will be registered on the sex offenders list for life.
He is one of the happiest little boys you can meet, the victims mother was quoted as saying. (Representational Image)

Clackmannanshire, Scotland: In yet another case involving racial abuse, a six-year-old boy was abused by older boys at his school in Scotland before being beaten up by them, his mother has claimed.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, police officials were called in by the school authorities after two boys admitted to racial abuse.

The victim, Kaiden Jack, told his mother that he was first teased by his peers and was later beaten up by older boys from his school.

The victim's mother said, "It breaks my heart to have my beautiful boy coming home asking what's wrong with him and what's wrong with the colour of his skin."

"He is one of the happiest little boys you can meet, but this has led to instances of him misbehaving at school and at home before I knew what was going on," she said.

"It is totally disgusting. No one should have to suffer like that," she added.

She also said that the parents of one of the abusers called her up to apologise for their son's mistake. However, the parents of the other abuser were not interested.

She further said that it was a difficult task to explain to her son what the abusive words meant since he was too young to understand.

Police authorities said that they gave appropriate warnings to all those who were responsible.
An 11-year-old student in Bradford, United Kingdom, allegedly committed suicide hours after he was bullied by seniors at school. (Representational image)

Bradford: An 11-year-old student in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, was found hanging in his bedroom hours after he was allegedly bullied by seniors at school. Before allegedly committing suicide, the boy had told his mother that he wanted to change school.

According to a report in Daily Mail, police are investigating the claims that Asad Khan, student of Beckfoot Upper Heaton school in Bradford, was assaulted by sixth form students  aged between 16 and 18  on the day he allegedly committed suicide.

Asama Javed, a governor of a primary school where Khan studied until July, said her nephew at Beckfoot Upper Heaton witnessed the assault.

My nephew said he saw some sixth formers hitting Asad in the playground at lunchtime. He told a teacher, who said they would be dealt with on Friday, she said. She also claimed to have seen a video in which some boys tells Khan to lie down while he encourages others to jump on him.

Detective Inspector Alan Flynn, leading the probe for Bradford District CID, said investigation to find out what was going on in Khans life before his death.

Meanwhile, police have also approached the public for any evidence that could help in the probe, he added.

Clearly we are receiving reports that there may have been a bullying issue. I cannot corroborate that. If we receive information that he was being bullied, we will look into that. Bullying is not a criminal offence. But if there is criminal behaviour, like assault, we will look at it, he said.

Flynn said the boy's body was sent for post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Berlin: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday the organisation would publish around one million documents related to three governments and the United States election before the end of the year.

He also promised "significant" disclosures on Google in the coming weeks as the organisation marks its 10th anniversary.

Assange, speaking by video link to an anniversary news conference in Berlin, said that WikiLeaks plans to start a series of publications this week, but wouldn't specify the timing and subject. He says the group hopes "to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks" and the leaks include "significant material" on war, arms, oil, Google and the US election.

Assange denied that the release of documents related to the US election was specifically geared to damage Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and said he had been misquoted in that regard.

Assange also signaled changes in the way Wikileaks is organised and funded, saying the group would soon open itself to membership. He said the group was looking to expand its work beyond the 100 media outlets it already works with.

Sweden is seeking Assange's extradition in a rape investigation. He hasn't left the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012. Assange denies the rape allegation and says he fears being extradited to the US to face espionage charges if he leaves.
In this file photo, provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, shows a Civil Defense worker carrying the body of a child after airstrikes hit al-Shaar neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria. (Photo: AP)

Beirut: Even entombing the hospital under solid rock tunnelled beneath a mountain was not enough to protect it from bombs dropped by Syria's government or its Russian allies, medical staff say.

Opposition groups built the "central cave hospital" north of Hama to withstand bombardment, tunnelling into a mountain in northwestern Syria for more than a year to bury it below 17 metres of rock.

To some degree it worked: when Russian or Syrian government warplanes bombed it in two waves of air strikes on Sunday, nobody inside the cave was seriously hurt.

But massive bombs wrecked the emergency ward near the entrance, caved in interior ceilings, crumbled cement walls and destroyed generators, water tanks and medical equipment, knocking the underground hospital out of service.

"The mountainous rock, praise God, did not collapse at all," hospital head Abdallah Darwish told Reuters from the area.

Western countries including the United States say Syria's government and its Russian allies are guilty of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians, aid deliveries and hospitals during a three week escalation of the civil war.

Moscow and Damascus say they target only militants and deny that they have hit hospitals, although several have been hit during the latest bombing campaign, which began after a ceasefire collapsed in September.

According to Darwish, two waves of strikes hit the hospital. The first attack caused a huge blast at the front entrance of the hospital before another big bomb fell nearby, causing staff to panic, Darwish said.

Since launching their latest intensified air campaign, the Russian and Syrian forces have been using much more powerful "bunker-buster" bombs, which residents of opposition-held areas say have the force to bring down entire buildings.

At least one of the bombs dropped on the cave hospital appeared to be a bunker buster because of the force of the blast, said Ahmad al-Dbis, of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), a coalition of international aid agencies which funds hospitals in Syria including this one. Staff reported the blast caused "something like an earthquake", he said.

Photos showed long cracks around the rocky, dome-shaped ceiling, and hospital rooms covered in the rubble of collapsing walls.

"Nothing is safe anymore when these kinds of weapons are used," al-Dbis said.

On the Ground and Underground

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Monday that accusations that Moscow had struck hospitals were "groundless". He said militants were using civilians and "so-called hospitals" as human shields, setting up medical facilities in cities without correctly marking them.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment about the specific incident.

A Syrian military source reiterated government denials that hospitals have been targeted. However, the source said militants were being targeted wherever they were, "on the ground and underground".

Since the ceasefire collapsed, fierce battles have been waged in the northern city of Aleppo, where pro-government forces are trying to capture the last major urban area under rebel control, and near Hama, where rebels have launched an advance of their own that threatens to approach the important government-held city.

The cave hospital opened north of Hama in late 2015 after aid groups and other donors paid about half a million dollars to build and equip it. It is close to a frontline where clashes and heavy bombardment have occurred in recent days.

"It was hit at the height of our work, at a time when there was the largest number of patients and wounded," al-Dbis said.

All medical staff and patients were evacuated while equipment was put into storage for fear of another attack on the hospital, he said, describing it as the best fortified in all of rebel-held Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring body based in Britain, reported heavy bombardment by government forces in the area, including the town of Kafr Zita and other towns on Sunday.

Intensive Care

The Observatory said helicopters had dropped "barrel bombs" made from oil drums near the hospital the day before, and cited sources as saying they caused several people to choke - a sign of a gas attack. Rebels also said there had been a chlorine attack in the area.

The government vehemently denies using chemical weapons, but a United Nations inquiry last month said the Syrian military had been responsible for poison gas attacks in the past.

"The chlorine attack the night before had 30 victims, most of whom were treated at the cave," said Adham Sahloul, an advocacy officer at the Syrian American Medical Society, which funds most of the hospital's operating costs. "But they were out of the hospital by then."

Doctors at the hospital perform more than 150 surgeries and treat at least 40 intensive care cases from rural areas near Hama every month, according to UOSSM.

The hospital provides all medical treatment without charge, and mainly serves people living in nearby towns who had already fled their homes in other parts of Syria. Some wounded rebels are also treated there, al-Dbis said.

"I will not hide it, there's great fear among the hospital staff," Darwish, the hospital director, said. "But God willing, we will get back to work after the repairs. And when they stay deep inside the hospital, nothing will happen to them."
During a security check, the metal detector beeped twice and the authorities proceeded to check her. (Photo: Pinterest)

Abu Dhabi: An Indian-origin LGTB rights activist faced an awkward situation at Abu Dhabi airport when asked whether she was male or a female. She said that she felt 'helpless, humiliated and harassed'.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the transgender Abhina Aher, said that when she arrived at the security check desk of the airport, the female officials refused to frisk her.

Aher said that she was traveling back to India from Kenya via Abu Dhabi. During a security check, the metal detector beeped twice and the authorities proceeded to check her. However, she was not comfortable with male officials checking her.

As the matter escalated, she was asked 'uncomfortable' questions relating to her transgender status. She said that the officials asked her if she was a male or a female as they were unable to decide who will frisk her.

"The metal detector beeped twice because of the jewellery, I was wearing. I was asked to step forward for screening. They took my passport and the first thing they asked me what did T in the gender column meant. I told them it meant transgender," Aher said.

Things got worse when she was left humiliated by the officials in front of other travelers.

"I was embarrassed. I tried to tell them in their own language, but instead of being sensitive they started laughing. I told them I would cooperate with them in frisking provided they let a female officer carry out the procedure. To my dismay, the female officials refused after a man said I was a half man and a half woman," she added.

Aher also said that she was very scared after the officials confiscated her passport as she had no contacts in the foreign country. "The passengers were watching and the official was not ready to return my passport. Later, two male officers forcefully tried to enter the box and frisk me after the female officers refused. They were getting suspicious why I was not letting them touch my body because I insisted a woman should do that," Aher said.

Aher said that her ordeal came to an end only when a senior official intervened and asked her to take off her jewellery and then pass through the metal detector. When she did that, she passed without the beep sound. Later, her passport was handed over to her and she boarded the plane with all her baggage.

The spokesperson for the UAE embassy in India termed the incident as 'unfortunate'.
Islamabad: More than 200,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated from Pakistan this year, nearly half of them in September alone, United Nations' Refugee Agency UNHCR said on Tuesday, the highest number since 2002, after the fall of the Taliban regime.

The tsunami of refugees returning to the war-torn country comes after Pakistan tightened its border controls in June and began cracking down on undocumented Afghans.

The vast majority  more than 185,000  returned after July, with nearly 98,000 crossing the border in September alone, UNHCR or United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Qaisar Khan Afridi told AFP.

"From January until today, the number of refugees voluntarily repatriating to Afghanistan has crossed the figure of 200,000," Afridi said.

More and more appear to be going every day, with officials saying that the first four days of October saw up to 5,000 returnees daily.

An Amnesty International report on Tuesday said Pakistan hosted 1.6 million refugees, making it the third largest refugee hosting nation in the world.

But UNHCR said the figure, based on its own data, was already out of date and should be revised to 1.4 million after the movement since July. A further one million undocumented refugees are estimated to be in Pakistan.

Since 2009, Islamabad has repeatedly pushed back a deadline for them to return, but fears are growing that the latest cutoff date in March 2017 will be final.

Pakistani officials said the increase came after they vowed to tighten border controls, particularly at the porous Torkham Gate crossing.

However UNHCR cited an array of other reasons that could be helping drive the rush back into Afghanistan, including increasing anxiety and insecurity for refugees about life in Pakistan.

Other factors include the UNHCR decision to double its cash grant for voluntary returnees from $200 to $400 per individual in June, and a campaign by the Afghan government to lure its citizens back with the slogan "My country, my beautiful country". In Afghanistan, however, torn apart by more than three decades of conflict, authorities warn the number of displaced people has outpaced the capacity of the government and aid agencies to cope.

Meanwhile the EU said Monday it has struck a tentative deal with Afghanistan to take back migrants ahead of a conference in Brussels aimed at securing international financial aid for the war-ravaged nation.

However, European Union officials have denied that aid pledges would depend on the Kabul government accepting the return of tens of thousands of Afghans from an overstretched Europe.
Kabul: For Samihullah, a tailor from a family of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, the first indication that it might be time to leave the country was the insults levelled at him in the bazaar.

Born to refugee parents in the northern Pakistani town of Mansehra, he never gained citizenship but was always considered an Afghan, something which began to count against him as local resentment grew over Afghanistans deepening ties with India.

Many Pakistanis view India as their enemy at the best of times, and that attitude has hardened in recent months as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have risen.

Afghans used to be called Kabuli in Pakistan, but now Pakistanis call them Hindus because we signed economic agreements with India, said Samihullah, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name.

Married with two wives, one Afghan and one Pakistani, the 32-year-old is among thousands of people who have gone to Afghanistan and are housed temporarily in a refugee centre near Kabul.

Even before the latest clashes between Indian and Pakistani soldiers in the disputed Kashmir region, the climate was more hostile.

They were telling us, we chose Indias friendship so we should go to India. We were hiding in our shops and homes to avoid being arrested, Samihullah said.

After almost 40 years of war in Afghanistan, Pakistan has some 1.5 million registered refugees, one of the largest such populations in the world, according to the United Nations refugee agency. More than a million others are estimated to live there unregistered.

Islamabad, which announced new repatriation plans last year, has stepped up pressure to send people back and numbers have risen sharply in recent months as Afghan-Indian relations strengthened and those between India and Pakistan soured.

These people were our guests, we kept them in our house. Afghanistan should be grateful to us, said a Pakistani army official based in the southern city of Quetta.

Instead it ... has become buddies with India, its like stabbing us in the back.

The treatment Samihullah and others at the reception centre complain of reflects how quickly diplomatic tensions can affect refugees, many of whom must start again from scratch.

These returnees are coming back after more than three decades in exile, said Maya Ameratunga, director of UNHCRs country office in Kabul. It will take a big adjustment.

The United Nations provides $400 a person in emergency help as well as medical and other assistance, but international funds are drying up in the face of a series of global crises.

Longer term reintegration into a country many never knew as home may be difficult.

Some people are able to go to live with relatives, but others may not have that possibility. So unfortunately what we are seeing is people becoming displaced, Ameratunga said.

Honour and dignity

Ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been clouded by mutual accusations that militant extremists find shelter on the other side of the border.

But Pakistani officials deny there has been systematic harassment of Afghans living in Pakistan and say their country has demonstrated great generosity to the refugee population, despite severe economic problems of its own.

We want them to return home in peace with honour and dignity, said Akhtar Munir, spokesman at the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, adding that there was no connection between the repatriation of Afghan refugees and India.

He said Pakistani police had clear instructions not to harass registered refugees, but added that some Afghans living illegally in Pakistan were involved in crime, and action against criminals should not be seen as mistreatment of refugees.

The spike in the number of returnees has, however, moved in step with escalating friction between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which flared into brief clashes at the Torkham border crossing in June.

A series of economic and political accords with India in recent months and the fanfare around the completion of the Indian-financed Salma dam in western Afghanistan in June has also weighed on relations.

According to UNHCR figures, the number of assisted returns jumped from 1,433 in June to 11,416 in July and 60,743 in August. More than 90,000 have been returned to Afghanistan so far this year, almost all from Pakistan, and the number is expected to pass 220,000 for the year.

Although repatriation is not compulsory, many Afghans say life in Pakistan has become so uncomfortable they feel they have little choice.

Even in areas like Baluchistan in the south, where authorities have long taken a more lenient view of refugees than in the northwest frontier areas, attitudes have changed, particularly in the wake of recent attacks.

My son was stopped at a checkpoint and an officer tore up his Afghan citizenship card, said Bibi Shireen, who moved to Quetta from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar 30 years ago.

Now he has no identification and were scared he could get picked up any day now and sent away because he isnt registered, she said.

Previously, Afghan refugees did not need visas or passports to cross the porous frontier. This has now changed, a step Pakistan says is needed to ensure control of militant extremists on both sides of the border.

Despite the problems, many returnees say they are not unhappy to be back, though they need help with food and shelter as harsh winter months approach.

We did our best over the past 20 years but could not make a living, said Sheer Banu Ahmadzai, a burqa-veiled mother who left her home in the northern province of Baghlan as a child. I hope we have the chance to make a living in our own country.
Pakistan has handed over a dossier to the United States on 'grave human rights violations' by India in Kashmir. (Photo: AFP/Representational)

Islamabad: Pakistan has handed over a dossier to the United States on 'grave human rights violations' by India in Kashmir and sought the country's intervention in the matter.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson at the State Department and handed over a dossier containing information on the "gross human rights violations" by the Indian security forces in Kashmir, Foreign Affairs Ministry said in Islamabad.

Jilani said that the international community, especially the US, should take note of the "inhuman and degrading treatment" being meted out to the innocent civilians in Kashmir.

The US, being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, should impress upon India to immediately end the "state-sponsored terrorism", the Ambassador was quoted as saying by the Ministry in a statement.

It was also emphasised during their meeting that the right to self-determination was granted to the people of Kashmir by the United Nations which "could not be unilaterally denied by India", according to the statement.

Jilani further underscored that the international community must ensure that India as a member of the United Nations, should allow access to international human rights and humanitarian organisations to assess the factual situation in Kashmir.
"We make war that we may live in peace."

--Aristotle

"I exhort you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the

standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim that

governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no cause to escape

the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong."

--Lord Acton

"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the

highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all

alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a

particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern...

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

--Lord Acton

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,

Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from

the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the

field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life

so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,

Almighty God! I know not what course others may take;

but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

--Patrick Henry

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine

patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now,

deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we

have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

--Thomas Paine

"The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is,

to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and

in the courts of justice"

--John Adams

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will

within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I

do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often

but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights

of the individual."

--Thomas Jefferson

"No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of

another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain hima?the idea

is quite unfounded that on entering into society we give up any natural rights."

--Thomas Jefferson

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his

fellow citizens."

--Thomas Jefferson

"The protection of our citizens, the spirit and honor of our country, require

that force should be interposed to a certain degree."

--Thomas Jefferson

"To draw around the whole nation the strength of the General Government

as a barrier against foreign foes... is [one of the] functions of the General Government on which [our citizens] have a right to call."

--Thomas Jefferson

"It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually

take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without

inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it."

--Thomas Jefferson

"I am ever unwilling that [peace] should be disturbed as long as

the rights and interests of the nations can be preserved. But whensoever hostile aggressions on these

require a resort to war, we must meet our duty and convince the world that we are

just friends and brave enemies."

--Thomas Jefferson

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression is

committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another as

his enemy."

--Thomas Jefferson

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against

every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

--Thomas Jefferson

"Our duty to ourselves, to posterity, and to mankind, call on us

by every motive which is sacred or honorable, to watch over the safety of our beloved country

during the troubles which agitate and convulse the residue of the world, and to sacrifice to

that all personal and local considerations."

--Thomas Jefferson

"It is an essential attribute of the jurisdiction of every country

to preserve peace, to punish acts in breach of it, and to restore property taken by force within

its limits."

--Thomas Jefferson

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression

is committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another

as his enemy."

--Thomas Jefferson

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy,

and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may

not leave this in our choice."

--Thomas Jefferson

"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly,

we shall all hang separately."

--Benjamin Franklin

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people

by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent

and sudden usurpations."

--James Madison

"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without

it nothing can succeed."

--Abraham Lincoln

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we

fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a

blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted)

in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a

track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected?

I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot,

we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time,

or die by suicide."

--Abraham Lincoln

"The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the

support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me."

--Abraham Lincoln

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive

good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement

to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor

diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall

be safe from violence when built."

--Abraham Lincoln

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean

the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and

the product of his labor; while with others, the same word many mean for some men to do as they please

with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible

things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective

parties, called by two different and incompatible names -

liberty and tyranny."

--Abraham Lincoln

"If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage

nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage."

--Abraham Lincoln

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points

out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust

and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again;

who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;

who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst,

if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with

those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,

even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy

much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that

knows not victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth

of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic

state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by

an individual, by a group."

--Franklin D. Roosevelt

"War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder.

This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the

timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour,

of our choosing."

--George W. Bush

"When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies

than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him

that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say

what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really

a good one."

--Abraham Lincoln

"To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge

it by the standards of his time, not ours."

--Mark Twain

"It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best

reveals his character."

--Arthur Schopenhauer

"When men speak ill of thee, live

so as nobody may believe them."

--Plato

"He that has light within his own clear breast may sit in the center,

and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the

mid-day sun."

--John Milton

"Character consists of what you do on the third

and fourth tries."

--James A. Michener

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to

give it."

--Abraham Lincoln

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the

content of their character."

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"A man's character is his guardian divinity."

--Heraclitus

"Character develops itself in the stream of life."

--Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"Do what you know and perception is converted into character."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so

highly prized as that of character."

--Henry Clay
Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday called Pakistan and Kashmir as "inseparable," and said the United Nations and other countries should fulfil their long standing commitment to the Kashmiris. Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people at every forum, he said.

Sharif's statement came after a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held in Islamabad on Tuesday and attended by top defence officials including army chief General Raheel Sharif. At the meeting, they discussed the issue of Kashmir and also the surgical strikes carried out by India on terrorists' launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) along the Line of Control (LoC).

"Pakistan cannot be cowed down with hollow rhetoric and aggressive posturing," said the leaders after the meeting. The country's armed forces are fully capable of thwarting any threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, amid escalating tensions with India after the Uri terror attack, they added.

Pakistans Prime Minister's Office released a statement after the meeting, stating, "Internal and external security situation of the country with particular reference to the situation on the LoC and operational preparedness of the armed forces were reviewed in detail during the meeting.

The leaders expressed "complete satisfaction over operational preparedness" of the armed forces. They resolved that the entire nation stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its armed forces and will ensure defence of the country at any cost.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan "does not cherish aggressive designs against any country" and believes in "peace and collective betterment".

"However, our quest for peace must not be mistaken as a sign of weakness; our armed forces are fully capable of thwarting any kind of threat to our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Sharif added.

His remarks came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has never attacked any country, nor has it been "hungry for any territory" but made supreme sacrifice fighting for others, referring to the two World Wars.

The developments come amid strained ties between New Delhi and Islamabad after the Uri terror attack and India's retaliatory surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC.

The NSC meeting referred to India's surgical strikes as "recent propaganda and false claims" of attacking terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir across the LoC and said India "should resolve the long-standing issue of Kashmir for enduring peace in the region, instead of such futile efforts of diverting attention of the world."

The leaders said that India must stop "atrocities" in Kashmir and recognise the struggle of Kashmiris for their right of self determination guaranteed by the UNSC resolutions. Pakistan had earlier on Tuesday handed over a dossier to the United States on 'grave human rights violations' by India in Kashmir and sought the country's intervention in the matter.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson at the State Department and handed over a dossier containing information on the "gross human rights violations" by the Indian security forces in Kashmir, Foreign Affairs Ministry said in Islamabad.

Jilani said that the international community, especially the US, should take note of the "inhuman and degrading treatment" being meted out to the innocent civilians in Kashmir.

The US, being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, should impress upon India to immediately end the "state-sponsored terrorism", the Ambassador was quoted as saying by the Ministry in a statement.

The leaders also noted that escalation on LoC and eastern borders will "shift Pakistan's focus away from its efforts to eliminate terrorism from our soil at a critical stage, and is detrimental" to the successes made by the country in war against terror.
PEMRA on Tuesday announced that TV channels showing Indian programmes without permission would be suspended from October 16. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Islamabad: Amidst strained Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan's electronic media watchdog on Tuesday announced that TV channels showing Indian programmes without permission would be suspended from October 16, a day after it sought reciprocity from India to allow airtime to Indian content in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has granted Chairman Absar Alam the authority to revoke or suspend licenses of companies illegally airing Indian content without prior notice.

A meeting of PEMRA was held on Monday to mull over the issue of illegal showing of foreign contents and look at the October 15 deadline which was given on August 31 to stop all illegal showing of foreign programs without permission.

PEMRA said in a statement that it has authorised Alam to revoke or suspend the licenses of companies airing Indian content without prior notice after end of the deadline.

The statement declared that the licenses of companies will be revoked or suspended without show cause notice or a hearing if Indian content is aired in violation of the order.

PEMRA also referred to the current tension with India and claimed that people were demanding that Indian programmes should not be shown in Pakistan.

It said all illegal channels will be shut down from October 16.

The decision came after PEMRA issued an order on Monday asking TV channels to observe a five percent limit for airing foreign contents including from India.

The amount of airtime for Indian content in Pakistan will mimic the format India has adopted for the airing of Pakistani content, PEMRA said.

PEMRA will only allow airtime to Indian content if India allows airtime to Pakistani content.

The announcement comes amidst the strain in India- Pakistan ties after the Uri terror attack and India's surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

According to PEMRA rules, local channels can only show five per cent foreign contents but several Pakistani channels mostly rely on foreign content, mostly Indian, Turkish, American and European.

PEMRA has also sent a request to the government to make airing of the Indian content conditional with that of Pakistan's content being aired in India.

PEMRA said in the light of the recommendations it has sent to the government, policies made during the General (retd) Pervez Musharraf regime will have no legal standing, which will "benefit the Pakistan industry grow".

The policies made during the Musharraf regime were put into effect by the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Thus, only the federal government had the powers to revoke them, PEMRA said.

"Around three million Indian DTH decoders are being sold in the country. We not only want this sale stopped but will also ask the relevant agencies to trace the money trail to determine the mode of payments made to Indian dealers selling these decoders to Pakistanis," PEMRA chairman Alam had said.
The Aam Aadmi Party government is planning to set up mohalla clinics for the city's homeless to enable them to combat diseases and avoid fatalities in the winter season.





A Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) official said such clinics will be set up in the areas with a higher concentration of homeless people  like Yamuna Bazar near ISBT Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan, Jama Masjid, Rohini and Parliament Street near Bangla Sahib Gurdwara.



As a part of its winter action plan, the DUSIB is mulling a tie-up with government hospitals to reserve beds for homeless people.



The DUSIB, which looks after shelter homes, is also planning to launch a dedicated CAT ambulance service to rescue the destitute in winter and shift them to nearby hospitals.

On Monday, officials with Delhis Urban Development Department, DUSIB and Health Department jointly floated these proposals at a meeting chaired by Health Minister Satyendar Jain.



Tent shelters

We are planning to tie up with the hospitals close to the areas which have higher concentration of homeless population so that critical patients can be treated there, the official told Deccan Herald.



Some temporary tent shelters will also be set up on the premises of the hospitals where patients can be given first aid, he added.



The government is also planning to run mobile dispensary vans which will visit shelter homes on alternate days, the official said. These vans will also have a doctor on board, who can conduct health check-up of the destitute at the night shelters, he added.

The mohalla clinics for the homeless people will be built on DUSIB land to avoid confrontation with the municipal corporations.



The municipal corporations have been alleging that the AAP government has set up mohalla clinics by encroaching on public land. But the Delhi government has blamed the BJP-run MCDs for doing politics over the neighbourhood clinics project.



There are around 200 shelter homes across the city with a capacity to accommodate over 16,000 homeless people. According to NGOs, there are over one lakh destitute living on the streets of Delhi.



In June, the DUSIB had waived the user charges of Rs 10 per person for 24 hours in general porta cabin shelters for the summer season.


The NDMC is planning to introduce its own prepaid smart card for paying electricity bills, licence fees and parking charges at shopping malls under its jurisdiction.





An official said the civic agency is also in talks with market associations to explore the possibility of accepting the card for giving customers discounts on each transaction.



The smart cards, also known as payment cards, could also be used at water ATMs set up by the New Delhi Municipal Council. The project is still in a nascent stage.



The agency is in talks with various banks and traders associations to make the rechargeable card multipurpose.



A person would not want to have a single card just for making payments to the NDMC. So in order to make it a multipurpose card, we are having discussions with various banks, mercantile associations, market traders associations and brands to provide discounts to the customers, an NDMC official said.



The civic body gives discount to the customers paying bills online and additional rebates to people who do not take the hard copies of their bills. Thus, discounts on these cards would further help people residing in the NDMC jurisdiction, the official added.

The civic body is also going to issue smart cards to its employees with information such as their medical and pension records.



It has already issued smart cards to licensed hawkers in its jurisdiction. These have security features like a bar code and RFID tag which help differentiate between authorised and unauthorised vendors.



Meanwhile, NDMC is also planning to set up kiosks at hospitals on a trial basis. The patients would be given a slip with their registration number. They can fix up appointments, including for yellow fever vaccination, through them.



We are planning to install four-five kiosks at NDMC hospitals and, depending on the response, further steps would be taken, the official said.



A similar kiosk, which is set up at the NDMC headquarters, is being used to pay electricity and water bills by residents who do not have internet at home.



The users can also avail a rebate of Rs 25 through this mode of payment. More such kiosk might come up for people without the internet facility.


The UN Security Council has not been discussing the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Russia's envoy to the UN and Council president for October said, in a clear snub to Pakistan which had raised the Kashmir issue and surgical strike by India in the world body.





"I don't want to go there, don't want to go there. No no please, I don't want to go there," Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said as he quickly interrupted a question on India and Pakistan tensions during a press briefing here yesterday.

Churkin was addressing the media as Russia assumed the Presidency of the 15-nation Council for the month of October.



When asked why he would not comment on the issue, Churkin said "because I am President of the Security Council. The Security Council has not been discussing it (the India-Pakistan situation).



"Sorry sir, I don't want to go there. No comment, no comment, sorry please," Churkin said.



When asked again why he and Russia were "so reluctant" to discuss the India-Pakistan situation, Churkin said, "I'm sure you know. There are so many other things."



Churkin's remarks come as a clear snub to Pakistan, which had approached the Security Council just last week on the surgical strikes conducted by India to target terror launch pads across the Line of Control as well as on the Kashmir issue.



Earlier in the day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq was asked what the UN position is on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs remarks in her address to the UN General Assembly that Pakistan should "abandon" its Kashmir dream since Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.



"We have issued a statement on the situation between India and Pakistan. I would refer you back to that," Haq said.



When asked again why the UN did not "say anything" to Swaraj's remarks that Pakistan should stop dreaming about Kashmir, Haq said, "We don't comment on every speech made in the General Assembly, but we have been commenting on the situation on Kashmir, and like I said, we issued a statement on that just last Friday."



Pakistans envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had met New Zealand's UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, president of the Council for the month of September, and had raised the issue of the surgical strikes in "informal consultations" of the Council.

She had also met UN Secretary General Ban on the issue but the UN Chief had called on the governments of India and Pakistan to address their outstanding issues, including Kashmir, peacefully through "diplomacy and dialogue".



Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had last week said that Pakistan approaching the UN Chief and the Security Council over the surgical strikes in PoK has not found any resonance at the world body.



Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too had tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, raising it with almost every world leader he held bilateral talks with on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly last month.


The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu today accused the Centre of politicising the Cauvery water sharing issue and asked it to withdraw the petition submitted yesterday seeking modification in the Supreme Court order.



The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MPs, led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai, took out a protest march from Parliament House to the Prime Minister's Office in South Block after the 49-member contingent was allegedly denied permission to meet the PM.



"The central government is engaged a political game. They want to politicise the issue," Thambidurai told reporters after the march was stopped by the security personnel in front of the PMO.

"We want them to withdraw the modification petition submitted in the apex court yesterday and constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). The Centre is duty bound to uphold the majesty of law, decision of Supreme Court and final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal," the Dy Speaker said.



A seven-member team of MPs, later, met the PMO officials and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in constituting the CMB.



The AIADMK MPs, in their memorandum, accused the Centre taking a stand against Tamil Nadu and its farming community.



"We were shocked to hear that the Government of India has filed an Interlocutory Application on October 3, 2016, inter alia praying that the directions of the Supreme Court to set up a Cauvery Management Board be reviewed and recalled.



"This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Government of India has been taking thus far.... The stand taken by the Government of India is against the State of Tamil Nadu and its farming community," it said.

The memorandum to the Prime Minister also accused certain Union Ministers of taking pro-Karnataka stand in the Cauvery issue.

"The central Ministers belonging to Karnataka have been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka Government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.



"This is against the constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two states, as they are Union Ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union Ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu," it said.



The submission also urged the Prime Minister to direct the Water Resource ministry to withdraw the modification petition.



All 49 MPs of AIADMK including 37 from Lok Sabha and 12 from Rajya Sabha participated in the protest march.



The Supreme Court had yesterday asked the Karnataka government to apprise it by today whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as directed by it on September 30.



The Centre had yesterday moved the apex court seeking modification of its earlier order asking it to constitute the Board by Tuesday.



On September 30, SC had directed Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs water from October 1-6, warning it that no one would know when the "wrath of the law" would fall on it.



The apex court had also directed the Centre to establish the Board, saying once it was constituted, its team would visit the sites to take a prima facie view of the ground reality and submit a report.



On October 1, Karnataka had moved a review petition in the apex court against its three orders on Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu and direction to the Centre to create the Board.



In its review petition, Karnataka said "grave miscarriage of justice" has been caused to it pursuant to the three apex court orders of September 20, 27 and 30, by which it was directed to release 6000 cusecs of water till October 6 and the Centre was to constitute the Board by October 4.
On the very front page of my Sunday newspaper there was the pressing news the Chattanooga Times Free Press will host a forum on the impact of effective teachers, the importance of recruiting effective teachers, and the earnest efforts to retain effective teachers in Hamilton County on Oct. 18. By my informal count it will be about the 30th forum on education we have had since a Chattanooga 2.0 initiative affirmed our public schools are lousy last December.

To add insult to injury, the four participants who will lead Study Hall: a Conversation Teacher Prep and Quality at this very time last year were obviously part of the problem yet now are being presented as experts. My heavens, at what point in this senseless circus are we going to reach the tipping point and actually do something rather than only talk about it?

Consider this fact: Human beings can actually create and birth another miraculous human being faster than our so-called educational leaders can initiate badly-needed and grossly overdue changes in the basic goal of educating our children. I think Pablo Picasso had it right: When art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine.

As the heightened microscopic view of all that is wrong in our system comes into focus, we find our Read 20 Program claims on its website that since 2006 the county-financed effort had distributed of over 960,980 books worth $11,531,760.00, interacting with 528,158 children, 46,387 parents, and to have participated in 211 community events. Thats insane  right now we are assured 60 percent of our third graders cannot read at grade level.

County Commissioner Tim Boyd, among many others, finds such figures are mathematically impossible and it appears he is right; thats over 500 books a day and where did the money come from to buy $11 million in merchandise? Who has counted 528,158 children when the entire pre-K through 12 enrollment has never been above 43,000 a year since 2006?

Yet Hamilton County has paid out over $2 million since 2006 in what is believed to be little more than salaries. (In 2015 Shawn Kurrelmeier-Lee, the countys chief reading officer who  albeit strangely -- is not a member of the Dept. of Education, was paid $104,476 by the tax payers just last year.)

We know Chattanoogas Public Education Foundation has a payroll that now exceeds $2 million a year. In a school district where rats are reportedly a problem in several schools, and roofs are leaking, it appears there needs to be much stronger oversight of what one school board member describes as a bunch of snake-oil salesmen who are forming foundations to exploit our educational failures.

We know the Unifi-ED Foundation is part of the puzzle but what is more puzzling is what is exactly its purpose, especially after a strange appearance before the Hamilton County School Board recently left everyone scratching their heads at that exact question. Never mind just exactly who invited these people to help, but in honesty it appears an increasing number of camels are trying to get their proverbial heads in the already over-crowded tent.

On the Public Education Foundation website, it reads, We do more than provide funds; were innovators, working with partners in education to transform public education. Our mission is simple: we want to increase student achievement so all students succeed in learning and in life.

Connect the dots: if the PEF is increasing student achievement, and if the Hamilton County Dept. of Education is indeed regarded as the worst metro school district in the state, something is out of kilter with the goal of all students succeeding in learning and in life; 65 percent of our graduating seniors must take remedial courses at Chattanooga State. That is most definitely not innovating.

The Chattanooga 2.0 education initiative also appears to be floundering. A list of urgent concerns that was just released said nothing the original report did not include nine urgent months ago. But that is nothing compared to the storm clouds any fool can see brewing at the Hamilton County School Board over Chattanooga 2.0. By lobbying hard against any school board member seeking re-election, the Chattanooga 2.0 leaders have quite obviously cooked their own goose.

For the first time many can recall, the 2.0 activists launched a determined effort to replace four school board members in the August election. They even made a public announcement that they were contributing cash to each of the challengers campaigns and, to their glee, they backed three winners over incumbents.

But to their short-sighted discredit, they failed to unseat the popular Rhonda Thurman so when I pull out my little crystal ball, it is hardly a stretch to see any Chattanooga 2.0 proposals that come before the new school board as being markedly unsuccessful. I cant imagine Thurman or the five members who watched the 2.0 crowds open chicanery now welcoming the meddlers who seek to usurp the schools board duties. And guess what? It hardly takes a degree in logic for five school board members who didnt run this cycle to recognize who will become the targets in the next 2.0 volley.

Make no mistake. The school board controls public education in Hamilton County and there are no other seats at the table. In recent years a well-identified lack of board oversight has been costly to the 42,000 students in the system and when the last school board installed Kirk Kelly as the Interim Superintendent it virtually assured the same central office would remain intact.

That is precisely why, when the Times Free Press holds its 90-minute Study Hall on Oct. 18, the panel of four experts  as sad as it appears  have each had a direct role in where we find our public education system is today. While it is hoped to be a wonderful experience, with scintillating ideas and exciting conversation, my honest belief is that it will be all talk  no action for about the 30th straight time.

Thats because a woman could have conceived and birthed a baby in less the amount of time weve talked about our education system instead of taking the bold and mighty steps to fix it.

At what point does the continuing disappointment stop? And where, oh where, does the buck stop? Where is the doer of deeds who can send the snake-oil dreamers packing so the efforts to actually teach our children can commence? I have an idea . perhaps we should have a forum.

* * *

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. ? Theodore Roosevelt

royexum@aol.com
Amidst the ongoing hostilities with Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said the Modi government will not allow anyone to dent India's honour and every citizen has faith in the country's armed forces.



Singh, who is on a two-day trip to Ladakh, dismissed queries about doubts being raised by some quarters on the surgical strike carried out by the Army on the terror launch pads in PoK.



"I have not read any such statement. Desh ke bache, bache ko sena par bharosa hain aur garv hain, aur rahega (The entire nation has faith in our armed forces and are proud of them and it will remain so)," he told reporters here.



"Our government will not allow anyone to dent the country's honour and prestige at any cost. We will ensure that the country's head is always held high," he said.



Asked about the demand for Union Territory status for Ladakh, the Home Minister said he has listened to the people of Kashmir, Jammu as well as Ladakh but a decision will be taken only on the basis of consensus.



"We always try that any decision is taken only on the basis of consensus," he said.

BJP's ally PDP today expelled its Leh district chief Tashi Gyalson from its basic membership for signing a memorandum submitted to Singh demanding Union Territory status for Ladakh, saying under no circumstances will it endorse any move aimed at dividing the state.

The head of PDP's Disciplinary Committee Abdul Rehman Veeri expelled Gyalson for violating the party's whip, a party spokesman said in a statement.



The Union Minister said during his trip to Ladakh since yesterday, 21 delegations of political parties, religious groups and civil society members have met him and placed before him various demands.



"We will try to resolve their problems as much as possible. If there are issues concerning other Ministries (of central government), we will write to them or tell the concerned Ministers," he said.

The Home Minister said he paid homage to the martyrs at the war memorial at Drass.

This is Singh's fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir ever since the unrest began in the state following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8.

Singh had led an all-party delegation to Srinagar and Jammu on September 4-5.

The leaders of various political parties met over 400 people who came in 50 different delegations representing various sections of society in Srinagar and Jammu.

Earlier, the Home Minister had visited Srinagar on August 24-25 and July 23-24. Singh was accompanied by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officials.


Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told his US ally Barack Obama "you can go to hell" in a speech today that was his latest tirade against the US over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign.





He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the 28-nation bloc, which has also criticised his brutal crackdown, "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."



Duterte, who took office in June, has been hypersensitive to criticism over his crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the US and human rights watchdogs.



The tough-talking former city mayor, who describes himself as a left-leaning leader, has had an uneasy relationship with the US and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps the country's foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.



In a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the US, which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings under his anti-drug campaign and has questioned whether human rights are being violated.

He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with US troops.



"Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: "Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."



Angered by US criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting US troops in the country.



He said he wanted them out of the volatile south, saying their presence has inflamed restiveness among minority Muslims, which could complicate efforts to forge a peace accord with Muslim insurgents.



Duterte has announced he will not allow the Philippine navy to conduct joint patrols with the US military in the disputed South China Sea because it could spark an armed conflict in Philippine territory.



Still, Duterte has said he will not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country's largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defense equipment.



Last week, Duterte said the joint US-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centering on amphibious landing drills, started today under some uncertainty because of those remarks.



Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.
Mayor K Harinath on Tuesday warned of taking to streets, if Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) failed to repair the road leading to its main unit near Surathkal.





Harinath set a deadline of 20 days for MRPL authorities to fix the damaged road and said it is their responsibility to set right the civic problem. The 4.5-km stretch from Surathkal to Kana towards MRPL is dilapidated due to the heavy motor vehicles that use the stretch. It will cost not less than Rs three crore, and it would be better the authorities concerned take up the works themselves, he insisted.



The mayor, who claimed to have written to the chief ministers office in Bengaluru, besides the office of the deputy commissioner and the MRPL, said, The under secretary to the chief minister has already written to the deputy commissioners office on September 26, to act on the same and intimate them about the action taken. There is no word yet from MRPL authorities.



Harinath said, Some organisations are planning to stage a protest over the issue on October 6. I, along with all the corporators, will join the protest, if the MRPL authorities continue to remain nonchalant.



The whip of the Mangaluru City Corporation council Shashidhar Hegde suggested the MRPL to take up the work utilising its corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund.



Various works

Barring four works, which are under tender process, all other works launched in the first stage of the nagarothana chief ministers special grant of Rs 100 crore have been completed. In the second stage, as many as 89 works have been completed against 124 works approved by the council. Of the total 169 works planned in the third stage, 66 have been completed, while the remaining works are under different stages of progress. The works on building footpaths beside prominent and select roads have been taken up. In the later stages, works on stormwater drains will also be launched in phases.



Tenders have been already invited to take up works at the cost of Rs 13.69 crore under 14th finance commission grant. Under state finance commission (SFC) grant of Rs 10 crore too, various works will be implemented, added the mayor.



Flex boards

Reacting to queries, the mayor said, Flex boards will be removed starting October 12, soon after the conclusion of the Dasara festival, as they affect the visual beauty of the city. Action will be taken in the matter irrespective of political party, as most of the flex boards are erected by various leaders to convey Dasara wish to people.



Chairman of Public Works Standing Committee Lancelot Pinto said, While it will take some time to take up works on a large scale, patch works will be taken up within one week.

DH News Service


Trade between India and Myanmar remained suspended since Monday in the busiest border trading point of Namphalong in Manipur.





According to official sources from state capital Imphal, the halt in trade through the international gate connecting Moreh in Manipur and Namphalong (Myanmar) at Moreh town could be the result of an attack on a suspected Indian insurgent on the Myanmar side of the border last Sunday.



Myanmar has unilaterally closed the border haat gate and has not given any reason to the Indian authorities, sources said. They added that on Sunday afternoon, five armed people attacked a man, believed to be an Indian insurgent, at Namphalong. The man, who was seriously injured, was shifted to an undisclosed location.



On Sunday night, a powerful bomb was detonated near boundary pillar No 79, barely 40 metres from the international border.
Hasaan Imam, a prime accused in the 2002 Kolkata American Center attack arrested from Bihar on Sunday, has been brought to Kolkata for further interrogation in the 14-year-old case.





A close aide of terror mastermind Aftab Ansari, Imam was apprehended by the Special Task Force of Gujarat Police from Bihars Aurangabad. He was produced at a city court in Kolkata and has been remanded in police custody till October 15. After Gujarat STF arrested him, a special team from Kolkata Police visited Aurangabad on Monday and took him to custody.



He was brought to Kolkata on transit remand, Joint Commissioner (STF) of Kolkata Police Vishal Garg told reporters.



Imam, who has been closely associated with a number of terror outfits, including Indian Mujahideen (IM), had spent time in Gujarats Rajkot, where he came in touch with Asif Reza Khan and Aamir Reza Khan, the two brothers who founded IM. Now in his mid-40s, Imam was among the earliest recruits of the Asif Reza Commando Force, which was formed to avenge the police encounter of Asif at Gujarats Bharuch in December 2001.



Senior police officers believe Imam and Aftab were the masterminds behind the 2002 attack on the American Center in Kolkata. While Aftab was apprehended months after the attack, Imam has been on the run for the last 14 years and has been working with various outfits to orchestrate subversive actions across India.



He is likely to have played important roles in a number of blasts across the country, where the IM involvement was apparent to investigators.



Officers believe Imam also maintained close links with Harkat-ul-Jihadi-e-Islam or HuJI and acted as a conduit between different terror groups.



On January 22, 2002, two men on a speeding motorbike indiscriminately opened fire outside the American Center building in central Kolkata, killing six policemen and injuring 14 others. Garg told reporters that they have evidence pointing to Imam as the man who provided the motorbikes used in the attack.



According to officials, the plan was masterminded by Aftab and Imam, who wanted to avenge Asifs death. Hailing from Gaya in Bihar, Imam has taken a number of identities over the last 14 years to evade arrest. While Aftab is currently lodged in a jail in Kolkata, Imams maternal uncle, Jamaluddin Naser, is also serving a life sentence for his role in the American Center attack, after the Supreme Court commuted his death penalty.

DH News Service
The Indian Air Force has the power to punish and is ready for any contingency, said IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.





However, it is up to the government to decide on the use of the IAF in an offensive role, the IAF chief said here on Tuesday. Our capability is good enough to take care of any contingency, he said.



Raha, who is also the chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee, said he was in half a mind to call off his annual media interaction as he anticipated most of the media queries would relate to the cross-border surgical strike and he could not answer them. The operation conducted was of sensitive nature and I would not answer any question on the operation. Things are still live and I cannot give you any perspective on these issues, he said.



Being Indias senior-most military officer, Raha was part of the top-level team that planned the counter-attack for the Uri terror attack. The IAF chief said he was not worried about Pakistans High Mark air exercise that kicked off on September 22 as it was part of Pakistans normal deployment practice.



Asked about IAFs ability to neutralise a two-front attack by China and Pakistan, he said, Our capability is not country specific, but for our strategic reach. It would have been better if we could have the full complement of our wishlist, but the country could afford only a few. Our capability is good enough to take care of any emergency and we are ready for any eventuality.



Raha is the first Service Chief to talk to media following the September 29 surgical strike. Indian Armys Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh is the only service officer to have spoken to the media so far.



On augmenting the IAF's fire power, he said the IAF would begin firing the Brahmos cruise missile from Su-30 MKI platform within the next three months.



Three in-service combat aircraft Mirage-2000, MiG-29 and Jaguars are being upgraded, while the Air Headquarters has finalised plans to upgrade some of the Su-30, which completed half of their design lives. In addition, the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft would be inducted in large numbers.
The high-level technical team, headed by Central Water Commission (CWC) Chairman G S Jha, will visit the Cauvery basin area from October 7 to 15 to assess ground realities as directed by the Supreme Court.





As per the notification issued by the Ministry of Water Resources on Tuesday evening, the team, comprising CWC Member Syed Masood Hussain, its chief engineer R K Gupta and chief engineer-rank representatives of the states, would visit the basin areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. chief secretaries of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu or their nominees could also accompany the team.



The team is expected to visit Hemavathi, Harangi, Krishnarajasagar and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, it would inspect Mettur, Lower Bhavani Dam and Amaravati reservoirs in the basin, which covers approximately 81,000 square km area.



The team will assess water availability in the basin area and crop situation in the wake of drought. The report will help the apex court arrive at a decision on quantum of water to be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu post October 18 when the matter will be heard next, Union Water Resources Ministry Secretary Shashi Shekhar told reporters here. The expert team will submit its report to the apex court on October 17.
A police complaint has been filed against veteran actor Om Puri, who during a TV channel debate lent his voice of support to Pakistani artistes and appeared to insult soldiers of the Indian Army.





We have received a complaint, enquiry is on, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said.

You want India and Pakistan to be turned into Israel and Palestine and indulge in a fight for centuries, he said when he was asked about Salman Khans statement that they are artistes, not terrorists.



Besides, on the death of soldiers, Puri said: Who asked the soldiers to join the army? Who told them to pick up arms ? He also said that he himself is the son of an army soldier.



Dear #OmPuri ji. Mai aapki bahut izzat karta hoon. Lekin kal tv per desh ke sainik ke baare mein aapki baat sunkar bahut DUKH hua. #VerySad, actor Anupam Kher tweeted.
With the Union government doing a U-turn in the Supreme Court on the formation of Cauvery Management Board (CMB), the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday urged the Centre to withdraw its application in the apex court seeking modification of the order.





We are unable to understand what caused this sudden reversal in the Government of Indias stand, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Dr P Rama Mohana Rao said.



In a letter to Shashi Shekhar, secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Rao said the Centres IA is against the assurance given by the Attorney General to the Supreme Court.



Pointing out that the apex court, in its order on September 30, recorded the submission of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the CMB can be constituted on or before October 4, Rao said the Water Resources Ministry went ahead requesting Tamil Nadu to nominate its representative to the CMB.



He said the Tamil Nadu government has nominated R Subramanian, chairman, Cauvery Technical Cell, as the representative of the state in CMB in terms of the final order of the tribunal following the request by the Union government.



Meanwhile in Delhi, several AIADMK MPs marched to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Ministry of Water Resources to withdraw its IA in the Supreme Court on the Cauvery water issue.



They also urged the prime minister to constitute the CMB immediately. Led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, the MPs marched from Parliament House to the PMO and submitted a memorandum.



Claiming that Union ministers from Karnataka had been supporting the stand of the Karnataka government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, the memorandum said, This is against their Constitutional obligation to be neutral in any dispute between two states, as they are Union ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu.



TN farmers protest

Farmers from the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu were detained when they tried to stage a protest on Tuesday against the Central governments U-turn on forming the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) as directed by the Supreme Court, DHNS reports from Chennai.
The Congress on Tuesday cracked the whip on party leaders who spoke in different voices demanding evidence of the Armys cross-LoC surgical strikes.



As Digvijaya Singh and Sanjay Nirupam demanded evidence of the surgical strikes, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala reaffirmed party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhis statement of unequivocal support to the armed forces and the Modi government on the issue.



We do not agree with the statement made by Sanjay Nirupam or statements made by any other leader, Surjewala said. He said the Congress had taken serious note of Nirupams remarks indicating that some action may be taken against him. Nirupam, the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president, had termed the surgical strikes as fake.



Referring to a Pakistan media report questioning the strikes, Singh said, Our credibility is at stake Modiji/Dovalji. Release video footage immediately. There has never been a reason to raise a question or doubt the statements by the DGMO on surgical strikes.



At the same time, the Congress wanted the government to call the Pakistani bluff and false propaganda by using all information, evidence and instruments at the disposal of the Indian state.



We recognise that this is neither the first nor will be the last surgical strike conducted by our armed forces to defend the country and our people, Surjewala said.



The Congress also wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rein in Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who had made immature and casual statements on the surgical strikes. Parrikar had described Pakistan as an anaesthetised patient after a surgery.



We urge upon the government to stop politicising the sacrifices and bravery of Indian soldiers for myopic political gain, the Congress said.

Is India at war with Pak, Amarinder asks

Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spell out whether India was at war with Pakistan, DHNS reports from Chandigarh.



Are we really at war with Pakistan, Capt Amarinder questioned Modi, referring to the eviction and displacement of villagers from the border areas.



Addressing a series of meetings in Punjab border villages on Tuesday, Capt Amarinder said, On the one hand, the PM was emphasising the need for de-escalation, on the other, poor villagers were being evicted.



He said he and his party had supported the surgical strikes and would continue to do so if the need arose. But, we will certainly not support any move that attempts to reap political dividends at the cost of peoples lives and well being. Moreover, surgical strikes were carried out even under Congress regime but nobody tried to take political mileage out of it, he noted.
The Chattanooga Womens Leadership Institutes board of directors and members announce Holly Ashley as the new executive director of the nonprofit organization.

Beginning Oct. 17, Ms. Ashley will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Mical Traynor, the former executive director.



CWLIs Board President Patti Frierson said, Hollys talents and experiences are a perfect match for a leader who will continue to push for growth, influence and opportunity for the women in our community. We are extremely excited about her vision for the future of CWLI.



As executive director of CWLI, Ms. Ashley will lead the board of directors and more than 635 members, and she will oversee the leadership training programs, mentoring and networking opportunities.



I love this city and am truly inspired by the women who are pushing it forward, many of which are CWLI members, said Ms. Ashley. It is an absolute honor to serve as the next executive director of this vital organization and I look forward to working with our members, volunteer leadership and corporate partners to continue paving the way for women leaders in Chattanooga.

Prior to joining CWLI, Ms. Ashley worked with the economic development team at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce from 2014 to 2016, supporting domestic and international business recruitment, expansion and entrepreneurship projects.



Ms. Ashley, a first generation college graduate, completed her undergraduate degree in human services management in 2004 and earned a masters in business management in 2013 from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Beginning in 2004, Ms. Ashley served in the social service nonprofit sector where she previously led fundraising and communications projects and managed programs at United Way of Greater Chattanooga, Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.



In addition to her nonprofit service, Ms. Ashley holds various volunteer leadership positions. At the Chattanooga School for Liberal Arts, she serves as the president of the CSLA strings committee and is vice president of the Friends of CSLA. She is a member of YMCAs Youth Leadership Chattanooga committee, a 2011 graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, and a member of the Leadership Chattanooga's Alumni Association.

Ms. Ashley and her husband, Shane, live in Chattanooga with 12-year-old daughter, Isabella, and their two cats and two dogs. She is originally from Cleburne, Tx. and has been a resident of Chattanooga since she was four years old.
Thousands of people, including women and children, bid a tearful adieu to the Border Security Force (BSF) trooper Nitin Yadav, who was martyred in the terrorist attack on the army camp at Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday night.





Yadav, who was a resident of Nanglabari village in Uttar Pradeshs Etawah district, was cremated with full military honours in the presence of a large number of people, who included senior officials and ministers.



Twenty-four-year-old Yadav, who was a bachelor, leaves behind his elder brother, sister and parents. Amid the grief, his father Balbir Yadav said that he was proud of his son. Nitin made all of us proud by laying down his life for the country, he said fighting his tears.



He said that his son had spoken to him and his mother two days before being martyred and had promised to come home during Diwali festival.

DH News Service


Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modis fiat to Union ministers and BJP leaders not to go gung-ho about the Armys surgical strikes across the Line of Control, Goa unit of BJP had announced a programme to felicitate Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.





As the proposed event snowballed into a major political issue in Goa, which goes to the polls next year, BJP chief Amit Shah had to step in to direct Goa unit to cancel it.



The decision to felicitate Parrikar with a public function had been announced after the BJPs state executive committee meeting on Saturday. Opposition Congress charged that the BJP had planned to get supporters from across the state to Panaji on 9,000 two-wheelers to attend the programme.



Similarly, Parrikars remarks at a rally in Uttarakhand also added to the perception that the prime ministers directives were not being followed. In his first remarks after the anti-terror strikes, Parrikar likened Pakistans condition to that of an anaesthetised patient after a surgery. He also said that like Hanuman, the Indian Army has now recognised its prowess.



Even as some BJP leaders are seen as unable to resist the temptation to invoke the strikes in view of the polls early next year, theres been disquiet in the Congress tooover its stand to be with Modi at this juncture. Senior Congress leaders like P Chidambaram have sought to puncture the BJPs claim by asserting that such actions had been taken during the UPAs rule between 2004 and 2014 too. Mumbai leader Sanjay Nirupams assertion that the strikes were fake were disowned by the party.



The signs that domestic politics could overshadow the strategic fallout from the military strikes were more evident on Tuesday.



Posters came up in Uttar Pradesh towns like Muzzaffarnagar, praising Modi for the bold decision to strike at terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-held areas. In Bihar, some Janata Dal(United) leaders did not mince words in explaining their demand as to why the Centre should come out with proof of the strike. They said, Otherwise, BJP will use it in UP polls.



Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals call to Modi to release proof of the Armys strikes was retorted by the BJP by fielding Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who questioned the AAP leaders motive. Kejriwal, who is in the thick of his partys campaign in Punjab, said he wanted the prime minister to counter Pakistans propaganda.



But, on Tuesday, Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra created a flutter at a tourism event by asking Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti if she considered slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani a terrorist and said that tourism and terrorism cannot go together.



Can tourism and terrorism go together? How will tourism grow in India? Before leaving, she has to tell us if she considers Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru terrorists, Mishra said.



As some people protested against Mishra, Mehbooba chose to be calm. She said, Of all the places in the country, girls and women are the safest in Kashmir. They cannot be raped in a moving car.



They move around in shikaras and houseboats. Kashmir needs you, I dont know whether you need us.

DH News Service
The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to inform it about the health condition of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by Wednesday.





Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy, a division bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and R Mahadevan said people were anxious to learn about the chief ministers health. An official release in this regard will reduce their anxiety, the court observed.



In his plea, Ramaswamy had sought to know the real status of Jayalalithaas health and the treatment given to her, as the hospital bulletins were not giving the exact picture. He also asked if Jayalalithaa was in a condition to take decisions and hold meetings with the officials.



Apprehensions of the people could be cleared if photographs or videos of the chief minister discharging her official duties with the government authorities are released, he said.



Tamil Nadus Additional Advocate General Manishankar said there was no urgency in the case since the hospital authorities were releasing periodical bulletins on the chief ministers health. Though the hospital has issued some statements, the government is duty-bound to provide a status report of her (Jayalalithaas) condition, the court said, directing the Additional Advocate General to get the information sought by the petitioner.



The 68-year-old AIADMK supremo has been undergoing treatment for fever and dehydration at Apollo Hospital since September 22.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called upon the international community to join hands to combat the menace of terrorism.





It is my firm belief that those who believe in peace and humanity need to stand and act together against this menace (terrorism), Modi said. He was making a statement in front of mediapersons after a meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.



Lee was the first foreign dignitary to visit New Delhi and meet Modi after the September 18 terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp at Uri in north Kashmir.



The attackers, who sneaked into India from areas under the control of Pakistan, went on killing Indian Army personnel before being neutralised. Altogether 19 Indian soldiers were killed in the suicide attack. Singapore strongly condemns terrorist attacks of all forms, said Lee, offering condolences to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack.



Modi said the rising tide of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation posed grave challenges to the security of India, Singapore and all nations. They threaten the very fabric of our societies, he added.



The prime minister of Singapore is also the first foreign dignitary that New Delhi is hosting after the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes in the pre-dawn hours of September 29, targeting the launch-pads used by the terrorists to infiltrate into India from territories under the control of Pakistan across the Line of Control. Modi said that the meeting between him and Lee resulted in India and Singapore agreeing to step up cooperation to counter the security threats, including in the domain of cyber security.



Modi noted that defence and security cooperation was a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and Pakistan. The prime minister also sent out a subtle message to China on the South China Sea dispute.



BSF seizes Pakistani boat

A deserted Pakistani boat was seized by the BSF from the Ravi river in the Pathankot sector of Punjab on Tuesday. Security agencies are investigating the mysterious presence of the boat to rule out foul play, DHNS reports from Chandigarh.



This is the third suspicious development in Indian waters in the last three days that has led to heightened alert. Officials said nothing was found in the boat. The BSF is ascertaining whether the boat was used for recce purposes in the area. There is also a possibility that a fishermans boat may have got washed away in the raging waters of the Ravi and reached this side of the border.



Security agencies are also investigating the possibility of a terror plot. About 543-km stretch along the Punjab-Pakistan border is manned by the BSF, which forms the first line of defence in peace time.
Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday sent back a controversial bill, which seeks to reduce spaces to be earmarked for parks, playgrounds and civic amenities, to the government.





A source in the government said the governor has suggested to the government that the bill  Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill, 2016  needs to be debated in the legislature. The bill was passed in both Houses of the legislature in July this year without any debate. Opposition parties, the BJP and the JD(S), were staging a protest on police officer M K Ganapathy suicide issue when the bill was passed.



The bill proposes to reduce spaces to be reserved for parks and playgrounds from 15% to 10% and civic amenities sites from 10% to 5% of the total area at the time of formation of new layouts. The amendment is applicable to all urban development authorities and local planning authorities in the state, excluding those located in Bengaluru Metropolitan Region.



Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar had subsequently written a letter to the governor, requesting him not to give ascent to the bill. The bill, if comes into effect, will shrink open spaces and areas for civic amenities. The move will only help builders and contractors, he stated in the letter and accused the government of misusing its majority to pass such anti-people and anti-development bill.


A Bengaluru court on Tuesday convicted a Kashmiri man for being an operative of militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and hatching a criminal conspiracy to attack information technology companies and other installations in the city.





Bilal Ahmed Kota alias Imran Jalal, a native of Jammu and Kashmir, was convicted by Additional City Civil Court judge (CCH-56) Kotrayya M Hiremath under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Wednesday. Kota, the prime accused in the case, was arrested by the anti-terrorism cell of the Bengaluru police on January 5, 2007.



Five other accused remain at large. They are Alqama alias Lala Khan, a Pakistani national and operational commander of LeT India, Khalid, also a Pakistani national, Basharat, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, Azam Cheema, a native of Sialkot in Pakistan and said to be a former ISI agent, and Rajesh, a resident of Pune.



Kota was arrested by a team headed by K N Jitendranath, the then Assistant Commissioner of Police, following an Intelligence Bureau (IB) tip-off. The police recovered an AK-47 assault rifle, 200 rounds of ammunition and a satellite phone from him. They seized another AK-47, 200 rounds of ammunition and five hand grenades from his house in Hosapete.



Kota, who studied at Acharya Polytechnic in Bengaluru and lived in Peenya till 1994, opened a handicrafts store in Hampi later. The prosecutions case was that he underwent arms training in Pakistan in 1995-96, joined the LeT in 1999 and came into contact with many of its active operatives.



In 2002, he obtained a passport on fake identity and address of Hongasandra, Bengaluru. In June 2005, he received a satellite phone in Srinagar, and in September of that year, he went to Islamabad through the Attari checkpost by train using the fake passport. Kota received directions to carry out a recce of IT companies, the Vidhana Saudha and the airport in Bengaluru. After his return from Pakistan, he purchased several SIM cards under a pseudonym and created e-mail IDs to communicate with his handlers in Pakistan. Another accused, Lala Khan, got an identity card from Hosapete though he operated from Islamabad, Pakistan. According to the prosecution, Kota went to Pakistan again in April 2006 and attended the LeTs Jihadi training camp at Muzzafarabad.



The e-mail records retrieved showed that Kota was constantly in touch with several LeT operatives. In some of the e-mail exchanges, he requested them to help one of the accused who was arrested in the Delhi Red Fort attack case, Special Public Prosecutor C A Ravindra said.




With militant strikes becoming more regular in Kashmir, the capital city Srinagar has been put on high alert as police fear major attacks, DHNS reports from Srinagar.





Sources said the police and Army have inputs that five to fix heavily armed militants have sneaked into the city a fortnight ago.



They said the militants could be highly trained, having undergone specialised training, including Daur-e-Aam and Daur-e-Khaas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. These two are known to be the highest level of commando training, which militants are equipped with, sources added.



A senior police official told DH they have inputs that militants were seen in civil line areas, mainly in the vicinity of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, which has been most vulnerable to such attacks.



They (militants) could be on some special mission, which fetches them media spotlight...government or security installations could be their possible targets, he said on condition of anonymity.


The Centre on Tuesday informed the High Court that there already exist guidelines and a state level committee to monitor programmes aired on television. Additional Solicitor General Prabhulinga Navadgi made these submissions to the court in response to a petition seeking directions to lay down proper guidelines for television censorship.





The petitioner, Megha Movies, challenged the CBFCs decision to delete some scenes in the Kannada movie, Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu, on the grounds that there were lewd comments. These comments were otherwise cleared by the Censor Board for the trailer. The petitioner questioned the double standards in the way censorship is applied to movies and television programmes. The petitioner has sought directions to have proper guidelines in the Cinematography Act,1952 for Television Serials and Advertisements and Promotions of Sales Products. Justice A N Venugopala Gowda adjourned the next hearing to October 21, 2016.
Cop-turned-criminal B A Umesh, also known as Umesh Reddy, could walk to the gallows after the trial court in Bengaluru fixes the date for his execution, with the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence awarded to him.





Reddy has been housed in the Central Prison, Hindalga here, the only prison in the state which has the facility for carrying out death sentences by hanging.



Dismissing his review petition on Monday, the apex court had said that the petitioner had become a menace and threat to the society. Going through his criminal antecedents, including seven convictions for rape and robbery among others, the court said that there was little hope of rehabilitation and reformation of the petitioner.



Reddy was sentenced to death by the Karnataka High Court on February 18, 2009. The death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2011. The President had rejected his mercy petition on May 12, 2013. He had filed a review petition before the Constitution bench of the Apex Court, but it upheld the death sentence.



Prison Superintendent Shesh told DH that he got to know about the review petition of Reddy getting rejected through this paper. The convict too would be aware of it, as he has access to newspapers in the cell. There has been no official communication regarding the death sentence being upheld.



The date of execution or carrying out the death sentence has to be fixed by the trial court. We would know after being communicated about it through official channels, he said.



The last hanging was carried out in the prison in November 1983. The prison does not have a hangman.



When the apex court had rejected the clemency petition of the associates of forest brigand Veerappan in 2013, the prison staff had been trained for carrying out the sentences. As the convicts filed a review petition before the apex court, the sentences could not be carried out.




The AEGIS Law Enforcement Foundation of Greater Chattanooga will be hosting its sixth annual luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 18 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The luncheon will feature keynote speaker Ray Nash, retired sheriff of Dorchester, SC and president of Police Dynamics Institute, Inc.



Since last years luncheon, the AEGIS Law Enforcement Foundation has made several influential and crucial developments, including the purchase of the Training Lab Fire Arms Simulator, featured at last years event, with funds provided by businesses and individuals across the community. AEGIS was also able to ensure that every dog in K-9 units across Hamilton County has its own bulletproof vest.



The AEGIS Law Enforcement Foundation strives to provide resources to continuously secure and support a safer Hamilton County, said Tom Edd Wilson, executive director of the AEGIS Law Enforcement Foundation. Ray Nash has personally trained more than 10,000 police officers, government officials and business leaders through his Police Dynamics program, and we hope his experiences will impact our local law enforcement and business community as they have influenced several countries and agencies across the world.



With more than 37 years of law enforcement experience, Ray Nash retired in 2009 from his three terms as the elected sheriff in Dorchester County, SC to pursue an overseas mission. For more than three years, Mr. Nash supported the international police reform effort in Afghanistan as the Criminal Justice Advisor for the US Embassy in Kabul and the professional development director for the International Police Coordination board. Mr. Nash founded Focal Point Investigations and serves as its CEO and chief investigator.



For more information on the AEGIS Law Enforcement Foundation luncheon or to become an event sponsor, call 423-886-1850.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the proposed higher educational institution of international standard - Bengaluru School of Economics - coming up on the lines of London School of Economics will start functioning in the next academic year.





In his speech, which was read in absentia by Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi at the inauguration of an international seminar on Creating Better World: Dr B R Ambedkars vision and perspectives at the Department of Dr B R Ambedkar Studies of Karnatak University here on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah said Rs 107 crore has been released to set up the institution that would be named after Dr B R Ambedkar who was also an eminent economist.



Earlier, the government had proposed to set up the institution in collaboration with the private players. However, no private organisations showed interest to join hands with the government in this venture. Therefore, the government decided to go ahead on its own to set up this institution in Bengaluru.



Nearly 50 acres of land has been identified at the Bangalore University campus to set up this institution. A committee, comprising former Chief Secretary S V Ranganath and eminent economist N R Deshpande, would submit a report on the faculty, design of the buildings and other related matter with in seven days, he added.



On the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, the state government has decided to open 100 pre-matric girl's hostels and 125 residential schools this year, and they would be named after Ambedkar, Siddaramaiah said.


Pakistan is flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) close to the international border (IB) amid increasing tension between the two countries in the wake of surgical strikes, a top BSF official said.





BSF Director General K K Sharma said there has been no ceasefire violation till now along the IB that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.



We have noticed UAVs coming 100 metres up to the border. May be Pakistani forces want to check our preparedness. I can assure you that we are fully capable of giving a befitting reply. We are not going to allow any nefarious design of terrorists to succeed, Sharma said.



He said the overall vigil has been increased along the western borders and all the defence and security forces establishments are on their highest alert.



We are having an active engagement with Pakistan at the Line of Control (LoC) and we are receiving shelling from the other side. However, we are in supportive role at the LoC (to army), he told a press conference here after the conclusion of the bi-annual BSF-Border Guard Bangladesh talks.



The issue of surgical strikes was touched upon during the meeting. Sharma said there is no new input about Bangladeshi territory being used by terrorists, but vigil has been increased along the India-Bangladesh border too.


The large-scale violence and arson that gripped Bengaluru on September 12 were orchestrated mainly by pro-Kannada organisations, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and Jaya Karnataka (JK), to control the citys extortion racket, police investigation has found.





The KRV (T A Narayan Gowda faction) and the JK used the Cauvery issue to instil fear in businessmen in western and northern Bengaluru where they are running extortion rackets. Besides, leaders of the BJPs SC/ST Yuva Morcha and other fringe groups were also involved in the violence, a senior police officer told DH.



We have arrested 60 people associated with these organisations and are hunting for at least 100 more, he added.



The arrested include office bearers of the organisations, such as presidents, vice presidents, general secretaries and heads of womens wings. The same outfits were involved in riots and arson in Ramanagaram and Mandya districts, according to the officer.



KRV and JK cadres had planned to extort money from businessmen for Karnataka Rajyotsava, the state formation day on November 1, by instilling fear of large-scale violence.



Most of the suspects live within two-km radius of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) connecting Tumakuru and Mysuru Roads. Nearly 70% of the violence happened in these areas, Additional Commissioner (West) K S R Charan Reddy told this reporter.



Around 30 KRV workers, including women, indulged in violence in Mandya and then dashed to Kengeri. Without any provocation, they targeted an automobile showroom in Kengeri and stoned it at the behest of KRV general secretary Kannada Prakash.

The troublemakers also barged into a depot of the SRS Travels on the ORR.



They intended to set the buses there afire but refrained from doing so on seeing the workers inside speaking Kannada. They then barged into the KPN Travels depot at Azad Nagar, off Mysuru Road, and burnt 42 buses. They took offence that the KPN Travels staff were conversing in Tamil, Reddy said. He dismissed reports that the fire was staged by the travel operator to claim insurance.



When police confronted Narayan Gowda, he insisted that his cadre were not involved. But he had no answer when police showed him CCTV footage and photos of his cadre indulging in violence. Police, though, are yet to find evidence against JK founder N Muthappa Rai.


Renowned painter, sculptor and veteran of the contemporary art, Yusuf Arakkal passed away at his residence here on Tuesday.





The 71-year-old artist, a winner of multiple state, national and international awards, is survived by wife Sara Arakkal and son, Sibu Arakkal.



An alumnus of the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Arakkal was known for his unique creative expression that has been acknowledged worldwide. The most recent recognition was the prestigious Lorenzo De Medici Gold Medal at the Florence Internazionale Biennale. The Italian honour came for his work Bacons Man with the Child and Priest.



Arakkals huge collection of paintings, sculptures, murals, prints and sketches, created with a deep sense of social consciousness, had also won him a national award in 1983, the Karnataka Lalithakala Academy award in 1979 and 1981.



The artist had returned to the basic pen and ink format for his last show, Faces of Creativity, a series of 135 portraits of the big names of contemporary art. The sketches stood out for the delicate renderings on a surface hitherto unexplored: Reversed canvas.



Having lost his parents at the age of six, Yusuf ran away from his native Kerala to Bengaluru at the age of 17. He landed a job at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) but art was his calling. Years of struggle chiselled his art, eventually winning him Keralas highest honour in the art world, the Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram in 2013. This was the recognition he cherished the most.



In Arakkals death, the art community has lost an inspiring figure, said noted artist S G Vasudev. Arakkal had established himself as a figurative artist of repute with fine technique and expression. He had a sharp mind and inspired a lot of young artists, he said.



That generosity to share his experiences and time with youngsters impressed art critic Giridhar Khasnis. The Sara Arakkal Gallery that he set up in his wifes name was part of Arakkals efforts to help upcoming artists. Arakkal had his phase of inspired creativity, coming out with memorable works during his prime years. He was consistent in his works, said Khasnis.



Condoling his death, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bengaluru, referred to the social relevance of his art. Arakkal, through his art, depicted the everyday life of the dispossessed in urban areas  their poverty, helplessness, dismal living conditions and their stoicism in the face of tragedy, a Bhavan statement said.



Arakkals mural, The Flight at the arrival terminal of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and an art installation near Anil Kumble Circle, M G Road, are indicative of the heterogeneity of his works.

DH News Service
A major fire broke out in a controversial waste-processing unit at Kannahalli off Magadi Road, west Bengaluru, in the early hours of Tuesday, destroying at least Rs 8 crore worth of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF).





Firefighters involved in the operation said that it would take at least two days to fully douse the fire.



The fire started between 2.30 am and 3 am. In no time, it engulfed the entire stock of 4,000 tonnes of the RDF, said the manager of the plant. Security guards noticed the fire only at 4 am.



They called up the fire brigade and the plants manager. By the time fire tenders dashed to the spot, the inferno had taken the entire stock of RDF in its grip.



Risking their lives, firefighters swung into action immediately after reaching the spot around 5.30 am.



They first disconnected the power supply and then broke the mangled shutter of the plant. Initially, four fire tenders were brought but we had to call two more later. It may take three to four days to completely control the fire, a senior fire officer said. Around 40 firefighters with six fire tenders remain hard at work to contain the inferno.



The blazing fire ripped the plants side walls which are made of tin sheets. Thick smoke clouded the whole area and made breathing difficult. Children headed to school struggled to walk in the dense smoke.



Accident triggered protest

As the news of the fire spread, a posse of policemen reached the spot to contain possible unrest. The incident triggered a protest by local residents who have been opposing the unit since Day One. The police dispersed the crowd gathered near the facility.



The plant is run by IL&FS Environment and Infrastructure Services Limited. A senior executive of the firm, who requested anonymity, said the loss could be to the tune of Rs 8 crore.



We have two plants at Kannahalli. Plant A is a waste-processing unit where the segregation happens and wet waste is converted into compost.



The dry waste is then sent to Plant B for belling the RDF. The bundled RDF is used in various factories, especially cement plants. The fire occurred at the RDF plant, the executive added.



The plants manager has lodged a complaint at the jurisdictional Tavarekere police station.



The police have taken possession of CCTV footage to check whether the fire was an act of arson.



On September 22, 2015, a similar incident had happened when local residents set the RDF stock on fire.



Accidental fire or arson?

*Fire breaks out at Kannahalli waste-processing plant early on Tuesday.

*4,000 tonnes of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) destroyed. Loss estimated at Rs 8 cr.

*Six fire tenders and 40 firefighters are hard at work to contain the blaze. The task may take up to 4 days.

*Thick smoke engulfs Seegehalli and Kannahalli villages.

*A similar fire was reported last year.


A wild tiger has reportedly killed two head of cattle in and around the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), south Bengaluru, in the last one month. The deaths were reported in Ragihalli and Anekal.





Forest officials confirmed the deaths but denied that the cattle were killed by the tiger. They instead suspect a leopard. A forest official says that villagers take their cattle into the forest for grazing in violation of both the Forest Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. In many cases, they leave the cattle to graze in forest patches and then go in search of them late in the evening.



The official accused local residents and NGOs  fighting for Hakki Pikki tribespeople living near the BNP  of spreading rumours that the tiger in the park was a threat to villagers. The tiger has been living in the forest spread across 270 sq km for more than one-and-a-half years now. There are no reports of anyone being attacked.



These are just two stray cases, he insisted. Forest officials and veterinarians say the tiger and leopards have been living for years in the BNP. There is sufficient prey density, like deer and other small herbivores, in the forest though cattle is an easy prey for carnivores. Knowing that there are carnivores in the forest, including elephants, villagers still take their cattle into the forests, he said. This is dangerous.



Interestingly, villagers who have lost their cattle have not demanded compensation from the Forest Department.



Sunil Panwar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, BNP, conceded that there had been cattle deaths. He said the BNP staff were investigating the reason. Cattle-grazing is not permitted in the forest and those violating the rules will be dealt with sternly, he added.
Having grown up in Carlsbad, Megan L. Nelson spent most of her childhood days playing outside in the California sun. When it did rain, however, she still played outdoors.

I used to play outside in the sun or the rain with my brother all the time, said Nelson, who attended Santa Fe Christian Schools in Solana Beach.

Inspired by her childhood memories of playing in the rain, Nelson wrote Mae and Jane in the Rain, a childrens book about a little girl named Mae who prefers to play in the sunshine.

Whenever it gets cloudy, Mae goes inside. Its not until she meets Jane, who enjoys playing on days of sunshine and days of gray, that Mae discovers even rainy days can be special.

Its simple and sweet, Nelson said. I just wanted to encourage kids to get outside and play.

Published by Tate Publishing, Mae and Jane in the Rain is Nelsons first book.

The rhyming picture book is geared for 3- to 5-year-olds. It promotes playtime and the value of friendship.

I always liked writing, Nelson said. I wanted to write a rhyming story and this came back to my childhood, playing in the rain. Rain was always really special growing up in Carlsbad because it didnt happen all that much.

Nelson has wanted to write a book since she was an elementary school student.

After graduating from Santa Fe Christian Schools, Nelson went on to study journalism at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She currently works in real estate.

I went for it, Nelson said about publishing her first book. I never wanted to be that person that looked back and didnt go after my dreams.

Written while Nelson was in college, Mae and Jane in the Rain was released at the end of August. The book is available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Nelson has already written her second book, The Perfect Petal Set. Expected to be released early 2017, the childrens book is currently in illustration.

Its still kind of surreal, Nelson said. Its something Ive wanted to do for a very long time. Now its all happening.
Judgments Kassandra George, 23 Violate Condition of Release 3 Days Edward Berlin, 54 Driving Under the Influence Refusal To Submit to Chemical Test $3000, 20 Days, 3 Yrs. Prob. Olaf Hopstad, 24 Violate Condition of Release 5 Days Jaymon Ayagalria, 25 Resist/Interfere Arrest 10 Days, 1 Yr. Prob. Michael W. Smith, 25 Driving Under the Influence $1500, 3 Days, 1 Yr. Prob. Gorgeous Pearl Shangin, 22 Disorderly Conduct $100 Carl Williams, 28 Disorderly Conduct $100 Frederica Freida Andrew, 39 Disorderly Conduct $100 Valerie Link, 33 Disorderly Conduct $100 Thomas C. K. Kashatok, 20 Resist/Interfere Arrest 30 Days Sam Liskey, 38 2nd Degree Criminal Trespassing 10 Days

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Harmonica Virtuoso Mike Stevens, recent recipient of Canadas Medal of Honor for his healing work in Canadian villages (20 years), will share healing music and dance events in Alaskas western, interior and North Slope communities April 28 through May 10, 2019.

Part of the Healing Music and Dance program of the Bethel Community Services Foundation, the purpose is to share and enable the creation of music and dance in remote Alaskan villages, clearing a path for artistic expression of feelings, giving voice to the otherwise inexpressible, starting recovery from trauma. The program promotes mental wellness by building lasting relationships, listening and returning regularly. Stevens teaches new skills, promotes self-esteem and creative self-expression.

Stevens has been visiting the Y-K Delta region and villages in Interior Alaska since 2013  performing, teaching and inspiring young people to express their feelings in healthy ways. Through music, drumming, song, dance, beat-boxing and composing, indigenous youth find suppressed voices and express themselves in a safe and nurturing environment, starting to heal from trauma.

He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry more than 300 times, continues to win international awards for his innovative work and recordings. He is the founder of ArtsCanCircle. https://artscancircle.ca/about/our-story/

Stevens and Panuk Agimuk, drummer/singer, (a young Yupik man from Chevak who builds drums) will tour Western AK schools and community centers, including Bethel, Akiak, Newtok and Chevak, April 27- May 2, performing, and encouraging local singers and dancers to join in.

Mike will visit Barrow schools on May 3. May 6-10, 2019, Mike Stevens will tour Interior Alaskan communities including Huslia, Tanana, Nenana, Anderson, Arctic Village and Venetie. Minto Elder and drummer Luke Titus will join Mike in the workshops with Nenana and Anderson students.

With guidance from school personnel and community leaders, Stevens shows how his harmonica is a tool for self-expression, even without being able to read music. He demonstrates how to use a looper to create compositions, incorporating traditional and beat-boxing techniques. After telling his own story of struggles in school, Stevens shares how he/they can express feelings thru the harmonica. Each participant receives a harmonica to keep. They learn basic techniques but quickly Stevens turns the leading over to the youth to create their own compositions, as sound engineer, using the mic, recording vocals, harmonica, guitar and soundscapes.

Research shows that involvement in simultaneous movement and acoustic music accesses and develops both hemispheres of the brain. The programs empirical experience indicates that entraining with music and movement, where individuals gradually fall into synchrony with another or others, creates a sense of safety and connects individuals into a community while expressing individuality. The repetition of this practice builds a safe community and supports healing from trauma, which ultimately prevents suicide.

Collaboration with community leaders and youth drives the effectiveness of this program. Many continue to play music and compose with the looper long after Stevens leaves. Teachers often continue to gather youth to create.

Generous businesses, foundations and individuals make this work possible. A special thank you goes out to Tanana Chiefs Conference, Alaska Community Foundation/GCI, Bilista Corporation, Arctic Slope Community Foundation, Saltchuk, City of Bethel Community Action Grant program, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, GVEAs GoodCents, Goldstream Engineering, Bethel Lions Club, Alaska Airlines, Grant Air, Yute Air, Wright Air, Sophies Station, and countless individuals who donate their dollars, use of their homes, goods, and services.

*Mike Stevens website shows samples of his latest and ongoing work. https://www.mikestevensmusic.com/

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About 30 employers will be recruiting to fill a number of jobs during the North Georgia Open Job Fair in Dalton on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the American Legion Post 112 located at 1118 North Glenwood Ave.

Staff from the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL), the event sponsor, will be on site to assist the job seekers. Also, the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission will provide a mobile unit equipped with 13 computers to help job seekers develop their resumes.

The job fair is open to all job seekers. It will feature a number of employers, educational institutions and resource agencies that provide assistance to job seekers. Those who have already registered include Beaulieu, Brown Industries, Dalton Box, Dalton City Police, Dalton State College, Doc-up, Family Connections, Garland Sales, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Hamilton Medical Center, Hays Prison, Highland Rivers, Legal Shield, Mohawk Industries, Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy, Oriental Weavers, Quality Staffing, Shaw Industries, Southeast Lineman Training Center, Sustained Corrugated, Snap Food Bank, Tandus, Textile Rubber, Whitfield County Sheriffs Office, Whitfield County Department of Family and Childrens Services (DFACS) and Woodmen of the World.

Job seekers interested in attending the job fair may visit www.employgeorgia.com to create an account and upload, or prepare, a resume. Having an Employ Georgia account expedites the interview process.

Applicants are encouraged to bring a resume and dress appropriately to improve their opportunities for jobs.

For more information about the event, contact the Dalton Career Center at (706) 272-2301. The career center, located at 1406 Chattanooga Ave., is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

To learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers, and to connect with us on social media, visit www.dol.georgia.gov
The City of Bethel Police Department will be hosting a free ATV/side by side safety inspection/information gathering on August 6th, 2022 outside of the Cultural Center. Please come and join Lt. Poole from 10A.M to 2P.M.

The Bethel City Council unanimously passed Ordinance 22-02 on May 24, 2022 that amends the Bethel Municipal code governing the operation of all terrain vehicle (ATVs) on public roadways within the City of Bethel.

According to the ordinance, ATVs are permitted to operate on public roadways within city limits, under the following conditions:

Except as otherwise provided in section, ATVs must comply within City of Bethel and the State of Alaska traffic laws and ordinances.

ATVs must be registered through the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

Must have proof of registration, and registration must be displayed in the designated location on the vehicle.

Vehicles must have liability insurance, and proof of the insurance must be presented upon demand.

While driving on a public roadway within city limits, ATVs:

Must stay on the correct side of the lane and traffic except when crossing the road;

May not pass other moving vehicles;

May not operate in any other manner that may be considered carless, reckless, or negligent;

Must be under one thousand five hundred (1,500) pounds (including cargo).

Obey posted speed limit.

The speed limit is a parking lot or an area congested with pedestrians is five (5) miles per hour.

The operator must have a valid drivers license.

Per BMC 10.03.040  Operation of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs)  Section 4(f) Must wear a helmet when operating an ATV.

Per BMC 10.03.06o Penalties-

A fine of twenty-five ($25) for the first (1st) vi-olation;

A fine of fifty dollars ($50) for the second (2nd) violation; or

A fine of one hundred dollars ($100) for a third (3rd) or subsequent violation.

Visit https://doa.alaska.gov/dmv/reg/snow.htm for information on how to register new/used vehicles, the registration requirements, registration fees, decals, etc.

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I always look for your articles for advice. I dont always have that type of advice. Im grateful you share.

Brittany Laraux

Bethel, AK

Vaccine Eligibility Expanded in AK!

Yesterday (March 3rd, 2021), the State of Alaska Vaccine Task Force significantly expanded the criteria for who is eligible for the state-allocated COVID-19 vaccine! The new eligibility group, Phase 1C, includes people 55-64 years old, people 16 and older who are essential workers under the CISA definition, high-risk or might be high-risk according to CDC guidelines, those living in a household that includes three or more generations, or skipped generations (e.g., a grandchild living with an elder), and people living in unserved communities as specifically defined by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

I would encourage everyone to take some time to look through this information and find out if your family or friends are eligible and desire to receive a vaccination. This is a big step forward in the COVID-19 mitigation effort and is very encouraging news!

If you do qualify, visit CovidVax.Alaska.Gov to check the availability of appointments in your area.

Senator Scott Kawasaki

Juneau, AK

I will support the first Native American who would hold this position with the expectation that Representative Haaland will be true to her word

During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today (March 4th, 2021) announced that she will support the nomination of Representative Deb Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

The Department of the Interior  and thus the Secretary who leads it  both play an outsized role in our state. Alaska has more federal lands, more mineral resources, and more natural hazards than any other state. We are set apart by unique laws and frameworks that Congress enacted and that Presidents signed, whether our Statehood Act or ANCSA or ANILCA. We are an Arctic nation because of Alaska. And we are a diverse state, with many indigenous peoples and cultures who have lived there since, as they say, time immemorial. We are a state that is just different.

I seek to ensure every nominee who comes before us understands that. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to educate others about Alaska and our unique needs and our unique peoples. And I spent a considerable amount of time with Representative Haaland reiterating what is at stake for us.

Alaskas prosperity is directly linked to decisions made by Interior  whether through their trust responsibilities, their authority over responsible resource development, or their monitoring of hazards and other threats.

Ive had two separate meetings with Representative Haaland that lasted for more than an hour each. I participated in both days of her nomination hearing, asking many questions, and have reviewed the answers she provided to all of our members. Ive also spent considerable time listening to Alaskans views on her nomination. They are paying attention to this nomination.

Ive heard two sentiments over and over again. The first is that many Alaskans  Alaska Natives in particular  are enormously proud to have a Native American nominated to this position. It is truly a historic nomination and they believe Alaska Native issues can be elevated to one of the highest levels of government.

The second concern that Im hearing is that many Alaskans are concerned about the agendas Representative Haaland will seek to implement on her own and on behalf of the White House. They are concerned by her opposition to resource development on public lands, including her opposition to key projects in Alaska and her questioning of the vital role that Alaska Native Corporations serve in our communities.

Weighing on top of that is my experience from the Obama administration, when I voted for a Secretary who promised to be a good partner for Alaska, but proved to be anything but that after confirmation.

So I struggled with this vote. How to reconcile a historic nomination with my concerns about an individuals  and an administrations  conception of what Alaskas future should be.

I believe Representative Haalands heart is there for Native peoples and all who treasure our public lands. I dont believe that is the extent of Interiors mission, but she has also told us that she recognizes that if confirmed, she will be serving in a different capacity. She told me that she knows she will need to represent every Alaskan, including those who know how to responsibly develop our lands. And she committed to me that she will make sure that we are doing all we can to ensure that your constituents have the opportunities that they need.

Given the early days of this administration, I have my doubts about whether that will be the case. But I have decided to support this nomination today, to support the first Native American who would hold this position, and with the expectation that Representative Haaland will be true to her wordnot just on matters relating to Native peoples, but also responsible resource development and every other issue.

I also fully anticipate that she will have a strong management team in place with people who understand the value of resource development from public lands. She needs thiswe need thiswithin the Department of Interior.

I am going to place my trust in Representative Haaland and her team, despite some very real misgivings. And Representative Haaland, if you are listening, know that I intend to work with you because I want you to be successful and need you to be successful, but I am also going to hold you to your commitments to ensure that Alaska is allowed to prosper.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski

Washington, D.C.

Clean Water Act protections needed for Bristol Bay

This is a letter to Michael Regan, Administrator- designate and Jane Nishida, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dated March 1, 2021.

Dear EPA Administrator-designate Regan and Acting Administrator Nishida,

We write to you today requesting immediate action to ensure the Bristol Bay salmon fishery and the 14,000 men and women whose livelihoods depend on it are not destroyed by development of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaskas headwaters. Bristol Bays commercial fishermen have been fighting the threat of the proposed Pebble Mine for over a decade now, still with no protections in place which would give our industry the assurances we need and deserve.

Bristol Bays commercial salmon fishery is unlike any other in both its volume of fish and number of renewable jobs. Its a thriving economic engine that supplies over half the worlds wild sockeye salmon and provides over 15,000 renewable jobs. Bristol Bay is a torch-bearer for sustainable fisheries management, boasting record returns over the past decade, following a record 135 years of commercial fishing of this incredible resource.

Its sustained a fishing tradition for generations of families throughout Alaska and the U.S. with Bristol Bay commercial fishing permit holders and crew hailing from nearly every US state. Unmatched in both size and sustainability, action under the Clean Water Act is needed and justified to ensure this $2.2 billion a year commercial fishing industry continues to thrive.

In spite of consistent findings by both the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers that the Pebble Mine would pose unacceptable adverse impacts to the Bristol Bay watershed and fisheries, the Bristol Bay region remains vulnerable to large-scale mining and the door remains open for the Pebble Mine to be developed. Without Clean Water Act 404(c) protections in place, Bristol Bay is not safe and Bristol Bays fishermen cannot rest.

We now have an opportunity to stop the Pebble Mine for good and put an end to the uncertainty that has been hanging over Alaskas fishing industry and the thousands of American fishing families who depend on Bristol Bay. We hope that you listen to the call from Bristol Bay tribes, fishermen, and others to establish Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay without delay. Please help us ensure that we can continue to provide our fellow Americans and the world with nutritious wild seafood and support our families for generations to come.

Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay Advisors; Katherine Carscallen, Hattie Albecker, Erica Madison, Heidi Dunlap, John Fairbanks, Michael Jackson, Michael Friccero, Holly Wysocki, Mark Niver

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by Tad Lindley

My wife has never kicked me out of the house, and yet I know it happens to other husbands. Recently I saw in the Bible that a guy had gotten kicked out of the house. It was a scripture I have read a hundred times, but I never noticed what was really happening.

Mystery scripture

Here is the Bible verse that proves that a husband got kicked out of the house: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20) Read it again and create a picture in your mind to go with the verse. Hopefully you see a person standing outside of a door knocking. They also must be calling out, because their voice is being used. Finally there must be someone inside the door.

Who are the people?

We know Jesus is the person outside, because he is the one that says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock The person or people inside the building are the church in Laodicea. This single verse is part of a longer message to the church in the city of Laodicea. Just to be clear, Jesus is outside the building, and the church is inside the building.

Who is the husband?

Jesus is the husband. Ephesians 5:23 tells us, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church In Revelation 19:7-10 we read about the wedding supper of the Lamb, in which the Lord is united in marriage to the church. If the Lord is the husband, then the church is the wife.

What is Jesus doing outside?

Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20) Why is Jesus outside? Jesus is supposed to be inside the church, but somehow he is outside. This is wrong. The husband is supposed to be with his bride, but apparently he has been kicked out of the house and is knocking on the door hoping that someone will recognize his voice and let him in.

How did he get kicked out?

If you go back and read the entire letter to the church in Laodicea you will see how Jesus got kicked out of the church. In short, they began to fall out of love with him. They got lukewarm in their relationship. No longer were they excited to go to church. They got more excited about other things to be honest. Revelation 3:17 tells us that they got more interested in wealth and things. And although they started out with Jesus in the church, by the time we get to verse 20, there he is, outside, alone, wanting and waiting, hoping that someone will hear the knock and recognize the voice.

Have you kicked him out?

Sometimes we choose a path in our lives in which Jesus is not really a compatible travel partner. His voice is quite clear about using alcohol and other drugs. We cannot engage in intoxication and be saved (see I Corinthians 6:9-11). And so before we smoke a bowl we have to turn to Jesus and say, Lord, why dont you go get a fresh air? And come back when Im done smoking. Or maybe we go all in on an immoral lifestyle and although we once believed in God, we now deny that Jesus even exists.

He wants you back

Notice in Revelation 3:20, that even though Jesus was kicked out, he still wants back in. If he was like you or me, he might have just walked away and told the church in Laodicea, Forget you, Ill go find myself another church. But that is not how Jesus is. He loves us. Until the day we die, should we die lost, he will be there knocking on the door, calling out to us to unlock it and let him in. How about you? Is Jesus inside your life or outside your life?

Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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Byron L. Demantle, 36 Driving Under the Influence, Violate Condition of Release, Unlawful Contact Per Court Order, 4th Degree Assault $5000, 210 Days, 3 Yrs. Prob.

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DILLINGHAM, Alaska  Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation (BBAHC) is opposing the opening of the 2020 commercial fishing season in order to protect the 28 villages it serves within the region. To date, there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in Bristol Bay, and BBAHC fears the arrival of several thousands of people from around the world will put its communities and resources at risk.

As a tribal health organization and a critical access hospital, BBAHCs priority is its tribal members and year-round residents. However, as the sole provider of medical care in the region, BBAHC is ultimately responsible for taking care of any individual who is sick and requires professional medical attention, whether they are a resident or not. BBAHC has a surge plan in place for year-round residents, should the need arise, but it does not have the resources to plan for additional influx beyond that surge.

BBAHC has not received a commitment from the State of Alaska or the City of Dillingham regarding what additional resources would be provided in the case of an onset of COVID-19. Without a plan of action, BBAHC resources will most likely will be strained and overwhelmed.

Historically, weve been able to accommodate and care for the influx of visitors and their related fractures and other injuries typical of the fishing season, said BBAHC President and CEO Robert J. Clark. However, if COVID-19 comes to our region, even the handling of our summer injuries may be next to impossible. We are genuinely concerned about our capabilities to absorb several hundred potential COVID-19 cases.

Currently, there are no commercial flights available between Dillingham and the outside world. BBAHC must charter flights at a very high cost in order to service its population. The current Medivac contract has been suitable for past needs, however its availability amid a pandemic cannot be predicted.

We are living in a rural area, supplies are dependent on availability and weather for shipments. Miscalculation of needed supplies may leave us several days without necessary protective equipment. We are working daily to keep supplies in stock for our current population and still have not maintained adequate numbers. Our ability to perform COVID-19 testing is limited. We are under-resourced and our own tribal members do not have easy access to testing, said Clark. Furthermore, if our providers get sick, who will care for our region?

While BBAHC has historically supported the fishing industry and values its importance to the area, the organization is respectfully requesting this years fishing season remain closed to protect its ability to care for current residents.

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In D.K. Brantleys first book, Im 12 Years Old And I Saved The World (Sir Brody Books, $5.99), Adam Shannon Dakota Carr had to save his parents marriage by helping them fall in love again. In the follow-up book, Im 13 Years Old And I Changed The World, Adam faces a deadly foe: cancer. And its attacking his best friend, Big Mike.

In the real world, rising seventh grade student Dylan Duncan is battling cancer. A student at Tennessee Christian Preparatory School in Cleveland, Dylan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in May. His mother, Becky Duncan, has since taken leave from work to care for Dylan, which has meant an immediate and drastic drop in family income.

Weve known the Duncan family for years, Mr. Brantley said. Theyre very sweet people who are in a situation I cant imagine. As soon as I heard about Dylan, I felt I had to do something to help.

The way Mr. Brantley decided to help is by giving the Duncan family the first few months profit of his book sales. Until the end of 2016, all profit from every book Mr. Brantley sellsincluding his older workswill go to the Duncan family.

Vernon Duncan, Dylans father, told Mr. Brantley he hopes others will heed the lesson of the Duncans story. Initially, physicians diagnosed Dylan with severe growing pains. However, the Duncans felt something bigger was going on in Dylans body. So they sought additional testing, which led to Dylans diagnosis.

Parents need to follow their God-given instincts and not rely solely on medical professionals, because sometimes they get it wrong, Mr. Duncan said. The surgeon at Vanderbilt said she had never seen this type of cancer caught this early before, and the oncologist told us that if wed relied on the first specialist, Dylan's cancer would have spread within six months and we may have gotten a much different outcome!

Pre-orders of Mr. Brantleys new book, Im 13 Years Old And I Saved The World (Sir Brody Books, $6.99), are now available at Amazon.com and will ship on Oct. 10. Prefer to help the Duncans without purchasing a book? Visit https://www.gofundme.com/23m4tf8 to make a gift of any amount.
By James MacPherson

2 October 2016 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  The sprawling encampment thats a living protest against the four-state Dakota Access pipeline has most everything it needs to be self-sustaining  food, firewood, fresh water and shelter. Everything, that is, except permission to be on the federal land in North Dakota. Federal officials say they wont evict the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires camp, due to free speech reasons, even though its on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers that many Native Americans believe is still rightfully owned by the Standing Rock Sioux under a nearly 150-year-old treaty. Were not leaving until we defeat this big black snake, camp spokesman Cody Hall said of the pipeline. But residents in the area have expressed feeling unsafe and frustrated with how the protest has swelled to scores of self-described water protectors who have joined the tribes fight, and Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer  North Dakotas lone voice in the House  says the camp is illegal. He blames the agency for looking the other way. If that camp was full of people advocating for fossil fuels, they would have been removed by now, Cramer said. There is some discretionary enforcement going on. The camp is the overflow from smaller private and permitted protest sites nearby and began growing in August. The gathering has been called the largest gathering of Native American tribes in a century, all there to protest Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which tribal officials believe threatens sacred sites and a river thats a source of water for millions. Corps spokeswoman Eileen Williamson said the agency is encouraging people to relocate to areas where there is a permit, such as a nearby smaller camp where demonstrators have been allowed to legally protest on federal lands managed by the agency. We dont have the physical ability to go out and evict people  it gives the appearance of not protecting free speech, she said. Our hands are really tied. Cramer believes the bigger problem of the camp is the illegal activity that may be orchestrated from there  meaning a base to launch interference with pipeline construction miles away. About 95 people have been arrested in several pipeline protests  some as far as 70 miles away from the camp  since early August, but none at the camp itself. Protesters deny state officials charge, with Hall saying the camp promotes peaceful protest. People dont leave from the camp with malicious intent to do harm, Hall said. There are always going to be a few bad eggs in any group you cant get the message to. Ranchers and farmers in the area are wary of the growing number of protesters and are fearful of damage to their fields and pastures, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said. Weve had several reports of people down there getting stopped on the road and being intimidated to hay that has been stolen to grazing animals without permission, he said. Matthew Rebenitsch, who has a ranch just a few miles from the encampment, said he and his neighbors worry about talking publicly about the situation. To be honest, no one around here wants to say anything because were afraid they will come and threaten us, he said. Ill say this, every rancher around here is packing and people are locking their doors  and no one has ever locked a door in their entire life. Republican state Rep. James Schmidt, who also farms and ranches nearby, said he and his neighbors are more cautious. Im starting to see a lot more guns in the back of pickup trucks. All it is going to take is one incident and emotions are going to overtake the situation, he said. [more]
HONOLULU, 30 September 2016 (AP)  Federal authorities added seven yellow-faced bee species, Hawaiis only native bees, for protection under the Endangered Species Act Friday, a first for any bees in the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the listing after years of study by the conservation group Xerces Society. The group says their goal is to protect natures pollinators and invertebrates, which play a vital role in the health of the overall ecosystem. The Xerces Society was involved in the initial petitions to protect the bee species, said Sarina Jepson, director of endangered species and aquatic programs for the Portland, Oregon-based group. Jepson said yellow-faced bees can be found elsewhere in the world, but these species are native only to Hawaii and pollinate only plant species indigenous to the islands. The bees can be found in a wide variety of habitats in Hawaii, from coastal environments to high-elevation shrub lands, she said. The bees are critical for maintaining the health of plants and other animals across the islands, said Fish and Wildlife spokesman Brent Lawrence. Pollinators play such an important role, he said. Listing these species as endangered will certainly help draw attention to the threats that have brought them close to extinction and it also allows us to begin the process of bringing about recovery. Lawrence said there are a number of threats including non-native species that are having a devastating effect on the ecosystem. [ more ]

Hawaiis only native bees placed on Endangered Species list

By Matthew Shepherd

30 September 2016 (Xerces Society)  Hard on the heels of last weeks announcement about the proposed listing of the rusty patched bumble bee, today we got more great news for bees: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule that makes a group of yellow-faced bees in Hawaii the first bees in the country to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The USFWS declaration that seven species of yellow-faced bees (genus Hylaeus) are endangered comes after a multi-year effort by the Xerces Society to gain recognition and protection for these bees. The Society submitted petitions to the USFWS in March 2009. This final rule comes a year to the day since the proposed rule was published, about which I also wrote on our blog. The USFWS decision is excellent news for these bees, but there is much work that needs to be done to ensure that Hawaiis bees thrive. There is only one genus of bees that is native to the Hawaiian Islands, Hylaeus, commonly called yellow-faced bees because of colored markings on their faces. These bees are often found in small patches of habitat hemmed in by agricultural land or developments. Unfortunately, the USFWS has not designated any critical habitat, areas of land of particular importance for the endangered bees. We want to recognize the work of researcher Karl Magnacca, who has spent years studying Hawaiis bees and whose work provided the evidence for these listings. We also thank photographer John Kaia, whose images have done much to lift these bees out of obscurity. An excellent offshoot of the work to protect these bees is the Hylaeus Project of Lisa Schonberg, drummer, entomologist, and previous Xerces employee, who helped write the petitions in 2009. Lisa combined her two passions and spent time observing the bees environment, in particular the soundscapes they live within, and published a book about it and created a series of compositions for the Secret Drum Band. For more information about these bees, check out the following links:
By Makini Brice, with additional reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva, Sarah Marsh, Gabriel Stargardter, Frank Jack Daniel and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Tom Brown and Bill Rigby 3 October 2016 LES CAYES, Haiti (Reuters)  Hurricane Matthew bore down on Haiti on Monday, where towns and villages braced for catastrophic floods and mudslides that forecasters fear will be triggered by 140 mile-per-hour (220 kph) winds and up to 3 feet of rain over its denuded hills. Winds and rain began picking up in the southwest of the Caribbean country, but the center of Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm, is not due until late on Monday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It is now forecast to reach the Bahamas on Tuesday and possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Before that, it will hit Cuba. It has the potential of being catastrophic, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the Miami-based hurricane center, when asked about Matthews expected impact on Haiti. [] About 150 people huddled without electricity or food in Les Cayes largest shelter, a school meant to house 600. After the hurricane, we will be miserable. Well be hungry The houses will be destroyed, said Rosette Joseph, 44, at the shelter with her four children. [ more ]

Potentially catastrophic Hurricane Matthew nears Haiti, may hit U.S

By Pam Wright and Sean Breslin

3 October 2016

(The Weather Channel)  As authorities and residents in Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba braced for Hurricane Matthews arrival, the storms death toll rose again. Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the Haitis Civil Protection Agency, told the Associated Press Monday that two fishermen were killed in rough water churned up by the approaching Hurricane Matthew, but later clarified that was wrong. Only one man has been confirmed dead, while the other is believed to still be missing off the southern Haiti town of Aquin, the AP also said. The fatality occurred when the mans boat capsized early Monday off the tiny fishing town of Saint-Jean du Sud, the report added. The death brings the total toll from Hurricane Matthew to three. The massive storm was already responsible for two deaths last week  one in Colombia and another in St. Vincent. The government had banned boating along the Haitis coastlines starting Saturday. According to the head of an 80-member fishermens association in the south coast town of Gressier, Johnny Souffrant, some fishermen were taking to the seas early Monday despite the ban. They feel they have to take risks to support their families, Souffrant said. More than 70 percent of the Haitian people are living in poverty. Some 60 percent live on just $1 per day, according to the Borgen Project, a poverty awareness program. [] Jean-Baptiste said Monday that 500 people were evacuated to Jeremie. She noted that residents were resistant to being evacuated, according to the Haiti Libre. The Haiti Gazette reports another 89 people were evacuated from rising storm surge Sunday from the Abreu islet near Ile-a-Vaches. Deforestation has greatly increased the potential for devastating floods and landslides in Haiti. Couple that with the state of the countrys dilapidated homes and buildings and the possibility of heavy casualties from the storm seems likely, reports the AP. Haiti Libre reports that more than 55,000 people are living in tents and makeshift shelters on the island and are in danger from the storm. Some of us will die, but I pray it wont be a lot, said Serge Barionette in the southern town of Gressier, where a river recurrently bursts its banks during serious storms, according to the AP. [more]
By Craig Welch

10 August 2016 (National Geographic)  The first fin whale appeared in Marmot Bay, where the sea curls a crooked finger around Alaskas Kodiak Island. A biologist spied the calf drifting on its side, as if at play. Seawater flushed in and out of its open jaws. Spray washed over its slack pink tongue. Death, even the gruesome kind, is usually too familiar to spark alarm in the wild north. But late the next morning, the start of Memorial Day weekend, passengers aboard the ferry Kennicott spotted another whale bobbing nearby. Her blubber was thick. She looked healthy. But she was dead too. Kathi Lefebvre is talking about the whales as we crunch across a windy, rocky beach, 200 miles north of Kodiak. In a typical year eight whales are found dead in the western Gulf of Alaska. But in 2015 at least a dozen popped up in June alone, their bodies so buoyant that gulls used them as fishing platforms. All summer the Pacific Ocean heaved rotting remains into rocky coves along the more than 1,000-mile stretch from Anchorage to the Aleutian Islands. Whole families of brown bears feasted on their carcasses. Lefebvre, a research scientist at NOAAs Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington, had examined eye fluid from one of the carcasses in a failed attempt to winnow the cause of death. Now the two of us are on Kachemak Bay in Homer, Alaska, inching toward a wheezing, dying sea otter sprawled out on the shore. Otter deaths are skyrocketing on the shoreline beneath the snowcapped Kenai Mountains, so Lefebvre is here to see whether the fates of these otters and whales are somehow intertwined. In the past few years death had become a bigger part of life in the ocean off North Americas West Coast. Millions of sea stars melted away in tide pools from Santa Barbara, California, to Sitka, Alaska, their bodies dissolving, their arms breaking free and wandering off. Hundreds of thousands of ocean-feeding seabirds tumbled dead onto beaches. Twenty times more sea lions than average starved in California. I watched scientists lift sea otter carcasses onto orange sleds as they perished in Homer79 turned up dead there in one month. By years end, whale deaths in the western Gulf of Alaska would hit a staggering 45. Mass fatalities can be as elemental in nature as wildfire in a lodgepole pine forest, whipping through quickly, killing off the weak and clearing the way for rebirth. But these mysterious casualties all shared one thing: They overlapped with a period when West Coast ocean waters were blowing past modern temperature records. As hotter oceans destroy coral reefs in the tropics and melting ice alters life in the Arctic, its been easy to overlook how much warm water can reshape temperate seas. No more. Between 2013 and earlier this year, some West Coast waters grew so astonishingly hot that the marine world experienced unprecedented upheaval. Animals showed up in places theyd never been. A toxic bloom of algae, the biggest of its kind on record, shut down Californias crab industry for months. Key portions of the food web crashed. Its not clear if greenhouse gas emissions exacerbated this ocean heat wave or if the event simply represented an outer edge of natural weather and climate patterns. But the phenomenon left daunting questions: Was this a quirk, an unlikely confluence of extremes that conspired to make life harsh for some sea creatures? Or was it, as one scientist says, a dress rehearsala preview, perhaps, of what hotter seas may one day bring as climate change unleashes its fever in the Pacific? While Lefebvre and I are pondering our next move, a radio call comes in. Another dead otter has surfaced on Homer Spit, five miles away. We retrace our steps to a dusty parking lot, pile into a pickup, and head off. [more]
The Signal Mountain High School Theatre Department's 2016-2017 productions will include The Laramie Project, Senior Scenes, and Bye Bye Birdie!

The Laramie Project will be presented in the Signal Mountain Middle High School Theatre Oct. 27-29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Signal Mountain Theatre.

The Laramie Project is by Moises Kaufman. The play is based on interviews of the citizens of Laramie, Wy. after the infamous death of Matthew Shepard. Based on a true story, the play gives insight into the aftermath of Shepards murder, and how it affected the people of Laramie and the rest of the world.

As the play discusses some sensitive content, a PG rating has been established.

In February, the seniors of the Signal Mountain High School Theatre Department will direct scenes from a production of their choosing. These will be performed and adjudicated by a group of regional theatre professionals.

For the spring production, the group will present the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Travel with Conrad Birdie to the state of Ohio, as he takes on the journey of a lifetime to kiss his biggest fan before his draft. This is a family friendly comedy.
Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has unveiled new TNReady score reports, which provide more information than before for parents, educators and students on individual student achievement and growth. The reports were redesigned over the course of a year with input from parents and educators from across the state and will be provided to high school parents and teachers this fall to share their students End of Course results in Math, English and U.S. History.

The new design of the parent reports offers the ability to see how a student performed when compared to grade-level expectations set by educators in Tennessee. This level of individual student performance is clearly displayed in comparison to the students school, district and state averages, and new descriptors for student performancemastered, on track, approaching, or belowindicate the students level of understanding based on the concepts and skills expected of students in that grade or course. Parents and families will also be able to better understand their students strengths, areas of improvement and next steps to consider.

The reports will share initial results from TNReady, the states better, more rigorous assessment that is fully aligned to Tennessees academic standards, which are based on what students need to know and be able to do each year to ultimately be prepared for college and their careers. These standards set higher expectations, so students, families and teachers may see different results on TNReady than they have on past TCAP assessments not because students have learned less, but because all students are being held to a higher bar. The goal of the new reports is to support families as they help their student to grow and develop their full potential, said officials.

It is important for families and educators, as well as school and district leaders, to have an accurate understanding of how their students are growing and learning each year, Commissioner McQueen said. The information in the new family reports provides parents with another perspective to help them engage in meaningful conversations about their students education. These reports empower parents to be active partners with educators and to advocate for increased support and opportunities.

The updates to the family reports came as a result of a year-long feedback effort led by the department and a recommendation from the states Assessment Task Force in August 2015. The department convened dozens of parents in focus groups across all regions of the state, and more than 600 parents and members of the public weighed in online. In addition, the department shared evolving versions of the report with various groups throughout the year, including the departments Parent Advisory Council, Teacher Advisory Council, Assessment Task Forces and the Governors Teacher Cabinet. This insight was used to design the reports in every aspect. From the graphics to layout, language, color scheme, and naming of performance levels, feedback from stakeholders drove the development of the reports.

Later this fall, a new online resource will be available through TNReady.gov to help parents and families further understand the reports and make informed next steps to support their students. This website is being designed in consultation with parents and educators from across the state to provide the most relevant and impactful information to families, said officials.

In addition to the new family reports, revised educator and standard analysis reports will be shared with high school teachers in November to share results from the End of Course math, English, and U.S. History exams. These reports will allow educators to identify areas where their students exceeded, met or were below expectations when compared to other students in Tennessee, and the standard analysis report outlines how their students performed on each tested standard, allowing teachers to continually refine their practice and grow as educators. New comprehensive school score reports will also be provided to school leaders.

Individual family reports will be available in November for families whose students took End of Course exams in the spring. The scoring process is more extensive for the first year of a new assessment, which is why high school results are delayed this year, but starting next spring, results will be available for high school families in early summer. Due to the suspension of state testing for students in grades 3-8, families of those students will not be able to receive full reports. However, in November schools will receive some information represented by raw scores on student performance, and families are advised to contact their schools later this year if they want to know how their student performed.

Families of students in grades 3-8 will receive the revised family reports next fall for their students scores in math and English language arts. Because social studies will be a field test this year in grades 3-8, there will not score reports next fall. Science reports, both for students in grades 3-8 and End of Course assessments, will not be updated until the 2018-19 year, when new science standards and the new science assessment are implemented.

To view a copy of the new score reports, please visit TNReady.gov.
Southern Adventist University invites alumni, current students, family and friends of the institution, and community members to join it in inaugurating the 26th president of the schools history, David C. Smith, PhD, on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 11 a.m. in the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists.



Dr. Smith, who holds a doctorate degree in English from the University of Tennessee, took the position June 1, after the retirement of Gordon Bietz, Southerns president of 19 years. Dr. Smith has also received his bachelors and masters degrees of English from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mi.



Dr. Smith has held many administrative positions in the past. Most recently he served as senior pastor of the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists and formerly as president of Union College in Lincoln, Ne.



Events pertaining to the Inauguration include the Inaugural Gala to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Dining Hall of Wright Hall. Tickets are required for entry.

Honored guests expected to be in attendance include: Dan Jackson, president of the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; Larry Blackmer, vice president for education for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; Ron Smith, president of the Southern Union of Seventh-day Adventists; and Ed Wright, president of the Georgia Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.



The inauguration coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the school being located in Collegedale, Tn.

More information about any of the activities for the Inauguration can be found at southern.edu/inauguration.
Messenger Lite is a stripped down version of the standalone Messenger app with only the basic features of Facebooks messaging service

While racing towards their goal of bringing more people online, Facebook has introduced a basic version of their messaging service for Android users. Messenger Lite features the core features of messaging such as texting, sending links and photos.

Announced yesterday, its directed towards users with old or basic smartphones and slow internet speeds. Such users will now be able to send messages to Messenger and other Messenger Lite users with ease. Back in 2015, the company had also released the basic Facebook app in a slimmed down version called Facebook Lite, and now Messenger Lite will act as its companion app. The release is part of Facebooks bigger motto of bringing the internet and social network to more people in developing countries including Free Basics, Internet.org and now the slowly developing Lite app ecosystem.

Although the experience is a super basic one on Facebook Lite considering the activities one does on a social network, Messenger Lite might just be more useful. There are many features on the Messenger app that you probably havent or wont use ever, which makes it quite bulky. The Lite app is said to be around a 10MB download and apart from the core features, youll also be able to receive stickers (and hopefully send them as well). Gimmicky features such as stickers and doodling dont really matter, but one feature we would love to see in the next update would be voice calling. Supported by almost all the messaging services in the market, in todays era, voice calling has become an essential medium of communication along with texting.

Theres no mention of whether the service is coming to iOS, which is unlikely to happen since the idea behind Messenger Lite is catering to the market with older and cheaper Android devices.

Messenger Lite will be making its way first to users in Kenya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Venezuela. We are sure that the app will soon be available in India too.
Mercedes-Benz says cars will be BS-VI compatible by 2018 with Govt. help

Mercedes Benz is on the way to introducing models which will use alternative fuels  including plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles  by 2018, a full two years before the Indian Governments plan to enforce stricter emission norms.

Earlier in March this year, the government advanced the implementation of BS-VI (Bharat Stage Emission Standards) by four years, skipping BS-V. It was initially planned under the Auto Fuel Policy that BS-V norms would roll out from 2022 and BS-VI from April 2024.

Mercedes-Benz India MD and Chief Executive Roland Folger said, "We can easily meet the BS-VI requirements. All we need is a year to make the changes. And we can bring in models with alternative drive trains including plug-in hybrids and full-electric vehicles from our global portfolio."

He added that the BS-VI introduction helps his company due the early bird advantage as Mercedes already has a wide range of such models globally. However, Folger did add that the company would need the support of the government in speeding up the certificate process and also with getting higher quality fuel on time.

Mercedes-Benz has the largest range of plug-in hybrids in the world and investing heavily in this tech. Its parent, Daimler, also picked up a 10 per cent stake in Elon Musks Tesla Motors Inc. in April 2010.

Mercedes-Benz electric models include the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive which is now in its third generation. The Smart Fortwo Coupe, Cabrio, and Electric Drive have all made their debuts at the Paris Motor Show. Its other model includes the B 250 e, which has been in the States since 2014, and Europe since 2015.

Mercedes is currently working on a multi-model electric vehicle architecture for battery powered vehicles. Its expected to launch soon according to the company. The company also added that they expect its electric mobility arm to by in six-digit figures by 2020.
The Pixel phones are expected to be listed with their pricing and availability, tomorrow.

As Google prepares to unveil the Pixel phones later tonight, we have caught some information on when and how Google intends to sell the Pixel phones in India. Our sources have stated that the Pixel phones will sell online exclusively on Flipkart in India, along with select offline stores. Preorders for both the Pixel and Pixel XL expected to begin on October 13, and official confirmation regarding preorder dates and pricing are expected to be declared tomorrow, by Flipkart.

Since launching the Nexus One back in 2010, Google has partnered with multiple OEMs to make its Nexus devices every year, showcasing Android the way Google meant it to be. This year, though, Google seems to have made strategic shifts in its business, moving on from Nexus smartphones co-branded with manufacturers, to Pixel phones that will reportedly be only Google-branded.

We have also heard of Huawei being initially offered the contract to make the Pixel phones, but HTC has eventually bagged the rights. The smartphones will reportedly be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoCs, and while the Pixel will reportedly have a 5-inch Full HD display, the Pixel XL may bring a 5.5-inch, 2K display. Each of the two Pixel phones may also house 12MP and 8MP cameras, and offer a minimum of 32GB storage.

We have also heard of Googles Andromeda OS providing a common platform for mobiles and tablets by fusing Android and Chrome OS, and with last years launch of the Pixel C tablet, we cannot help but wonder if the Pixel moniker will be a bridge between Googles hardware of varying forms. All eyes will be on Google, later tonight.

Buy Google Pixel from Amazon at Rs 57000.
The phones might sport a curved display with thin-to-non-existent bezels

After the recent launch of LeEco Le Pro 3, rumor has it that the Chinese company, LeEco will be unveiling new smartphones soon  and by soon we mean as early as November. According to reports that have surfaced online, LeEco might be planning to launch two new smartphones this November. These leaks are based on nothing else, but an image that has been leaked online on weibo.com, presumably of one of the two rumored devices.



Img: weibo.com

The image renders of this smartphone fail to reveal a lot of details, however the phone might sport a curved display along with thin-to-non-existent bezels. The smartphone could feature a design that do not have visible antenna bands, just like the iPhone 7. Along with that, reports also claim to have spotted a non-traditional dual rear camera setup on a LeEco device which had also appeared on TENAA some time back. Apart from these, nothing else is known about the specifications of the rumored models.

LeEco Le Pro 3, the company's latest release is powered by Snapdragon 821 SoC along with featuring a 5.5-inch full HD display with 2.5D curved glass on top that is set at maximum brightness of 500 nits and 80% NTSC colour gamut. Available in two variants, the 4GB RAM comes with 32 or 64GB storage and 6GB RAM variant with 64GB or 128GB storage.



The recently launched LeEco Le Pro 3

In terms of camera, LeEco has added 16MP rear camera featuring a 6P lens, f/2.0 aperture and support for 4K video recording. On the front, you have an 8MP front camera. It also comes with a fingerprint scanner placed below the camera assembly. The Le Pro 3 also ditches the 3.5mm audio jack to include a USB-C based CDLA technology.

The leak comes in after the company was rumored to be coming to America with Silicon Valley offices in place, new staff and a confirmed launch event for later this month, according to reports. Could these be the image renders of the smartphones that could be launched at this event? Stay tuned for further updates and news.
AIM-listed gold explorer Caledonia Mining reported another quarterly dividend as it said it was confident of achieving the full year production target.

Caledonia declared a quarterly dividend of $0.01375 per share, the equivalent to $0.05 per share on an annualised basis, the equivalent to 3.2% yield, which was an increase from $0.01125 per share in July.

The share price was lower at the time and the current dividends would have represented a 5.5% yield, which was expected by analysts.

Yuen Low, an analyst at Shore Capital, said it was no surprise then, in our view, that the shares have continued their upward trend since, particularly in light of the companys good operating performance and production profile.

The company said it was confident of achieving its full year production target of 50,000 ounces of gold and Shore Capital expects production to rise to 65,000 ounces in 2017 and 80,000 ounces by 2021 while unit costs should fall as volume increases.

Chief executive Steve Curtis, said the companys flagship Blanket mine in Zimbabwe continued to improve with investment, which resulted in robust cash generation for Caledonia Mining and Blanket's indigenous partners.

He added: "The investment that all stakeholders have made in the Blanket mine over the past 20 months continues to bear fruit with increased operational flexibility and production volumes. I am now confident that our production guidance of 50,000 ounces in 2016 will be achieved.

The dividend is to be paid on the 28 October to shareholders registered in Canada and the UK.

At the end of June the company, which is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the OTC market in the US, had net cash of $10.6m.

Shares in Caledonia Mining were up 2.62% to 137p at 0813 BST.
Strategic natural resources investing company Metal Tiger updated the market on Tuesday, over the exploration programme at its joint venture project with MOD Resources in the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana.

The AIM-traded firm said preliminary metallurgical testwork results had been received for composite samples of diamond drill core taken as part of the Phase 1 Resource Drilling Programme at T3.

Testwork has been undertaken by Independent Metallurgical Operations based in Perth, Australia, with the results to be used as a key input into the Scoping Study being completed on the T3 deposit.

The results showed that high copper concentrate grades of between 33% - 60.6% Cu can be achieved at high copper recoveries ranging from 93.8% to 98.7% for all three copper sulphide domains in near-resource-grade and high-grade mineralisation within the T3 JORC Resource.

High-grade samples of more than 4% Cu gave copper recoveries up to 98.7% Cu and silver recoveries up to 97.5% Ag, to produce a high grade copper/silver concentrate up to 60.6% Cu & 1,304ppm Ag.

Near-resource-grade samples gave copper recoveries up to 96.5% Cu and silver recoveries up to 90.2% Ag for a copper/silver concentrate of up to 47.3% Cu & 1,101ppm Ag.

The tests also provided an early indication of relatively low power requirements for grinding the T3 ore types, with a coarse primary grind size and low Bond Ball Mill Work Indices.

Metal Tiger said the remainder of the preliminary metallurgical testwork programme, including optimisation tests on representative composite samples, was on schedule to deliver results to be incorporated into the T3 Scoping Study due for completion in December.

On the T3 drilling programme, five infill drill holes had been completed along a E-W traverse across the high-grade core of the T3 resource, with assay results on their way.

Two holes had been completed to test for possible depth extensions to the resource envelope, 100m NE of the current resource boundary, with assay results also being awaited.

We are pleased to report very positive preliminary metallurgical testwork results for the copper and silver ore types constituting our T3 Mineral Resource, said chief executive Paul Johnson.

These results bode well for the potential economics of the T3 Deposit, which is currently being assessed as part of our on-going scoping study; as well as showing very respectable copper and silver recoveries and concentrate grades the tests show the potential for relatively low power requirements to grind the ores.

Additional exploration work continues and we will be updating the market in the near term with a further update in this regard.

At 1110 BST, shares in Metal Tiger were down 0.81% at 3.05p.
San Francisco startup Krux has agreed to be taken over by Salesforce.com Inc in a deal thought to be worth in the region of $700m, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Krux is a marketing data firm that offers consultations on how to develop advertising for its clients. The two companies were already partners, but have now solidified the relationship into a merger, according to the report.

Cloud software provider Salesforce is hoping to develop the marketing and analytics side of its business, with the announcement of the acquisition.

The deal is expected to close by the end of January 2017, and will see Krux become a wholly owned subsidiary of Salesforce.

Krux's clients currently include the likes of the BBC, Ticketmaster and L'Oreal.

CEO Tom Chavez said in a blog post that he hopes that the ctwo companies will continue to benefit each other in the future.

"Beyond the strategic and technology fit, we believe our companies' core values, which include innovation, trust, transparency, and most importantly customer success, are in perfect alignment," Chavez wrote.
Shares in healthcare manufacturer Trinity Biotech plunged after it withdrew the application for its heart attack diagnosis device with the US Food and Drug Administration on the regulators guidance.

The FDA raised concerns over the Meritas point-of-care analyzer and the Meritas Troponin-I detector's temperature range and consistency of its performance in comparison to the recently cleared laboratory based Troponin device.

The company said: Over the coming weeks we will engage with the FDA to gain a better understanding of the nature of their concern.

Our decision to withdraw is based on the fact that, notwithstanding its excellent performance characteristics, we believe that there is no certainty that this level of performance can be achieved by the Meritas product even with the benefit of further development efforts.

Meanwhile, Trinity Biotech said they will move the technology from its Swedish facility in Uppsala to its base in Bray, Ireland where it will be incorporated into the companys existing research and development programme, which will result in the closure of the facility and 40 redundancies.

This will also reduce the companys expenditure to about $1.5m from $9m, excluding closure costs and severance to Swedish employees, and more than $50m of costs incurred on the project will be written off.

Shares in Trinity Biotech were down 48.28% to $6.77 at 0956 ET.
Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have obtained indictments for a McMinn County attorney accused of taking money from a client trust fund.

At the request of former 10th District Attorney General Steve Bebb, TBI agents began investigating Larry D. Cantrell on May 13, 2014. During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that, while serving as a trustee for a fund designated for the Jones Chapel United Methodist Church and Cemetery, Cantrell took a large sum of the money, which he has not accounted for to date.



On Sept. 20, the McMinn County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging the 65-year-old Athens man with one count of theft over $60,000 and one count of tampering with evidence.

On Monday, he turned himself in to TBI agents at the McMinn County Jail, where he was subsequently booked on $10,000 bond.


US bank Wells Fargo received more bad news on Monday, as it is set to lose a big business partner in the state of Illinois.

The US state's $30bn annual investment in the California-based bank is set to be withdrawn by state treasurer Michael Frerichs after it was fined $185m for creating unauthorised accounts for unknowing customers.

Frerichs announced the news in a press conference on Monday, in which he explained that a hardline needed to be taken with the bank.

"Wells Fargo is a big financial player in Illinois, and I hope to send the message that their unscrupulous practices are not welcomed and will not be tolerated," Frerichs said during the news conference.

The bank fired over 5,000 employees last month as a result of the scandal, but no senior executives lost their jobs.

Committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives grilled CEO John Stumpf about the impact on Wells Fargo customers and staff in the wake of the incident.

The company's government and institutional banking division is unconnected with its retail banking division, and has been operating in the state since 1970.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said that it understands the concerns from the Illinois Treasury.

"We certainly understand the concerns that have been raised," Wells Fargo said in a statement. "We are very sorry and take full responsibility for the incidents in our retail bank. We have already taken important steps, and will continue to do so, to address these issues and rebuild the states and city's trust."
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said that his organisation will be publishing secret information connected to the US presidential election, which is just over a month away.

The political leaks website celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, and Assange was speaking to a conference in Berlin via a video link in London, where he remains under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy.

Assange said that Wikileaks would be publishing new information every week in the lead up to the election on November 8.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is up against Republican candidate Donald Trump, and reports suggest that potentially damaging information surrounding her campaign could be released.

"We are going to need an army to defend us from the pressure that is already starting to arise," Assange, 45, during the conference.

He has been staying in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, as he faced extradition to Sweden for a sexual assault charge, and feared further extradition to the United States.
Policy-makers at the European Central Bank had reached an informal consensus that their bond purchase programme would need to be tapered, according to Bloomberg.

The report, which cited officials who asked not to be cited because their internal talks were confidential, sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note sharply higher, up by six basis points to 1.69%, and weighed on stocks on Wall Street.
Stocks in London were set for a slightly weaker open on Tuesday following a positive close in the previous session, as the pound continues to struggle.

The FTSE 100 was called to open eight points lower than Mondays close at 6,975.

On the data front, US construction PMI is at 0930 BST.

CMC Markets Michael Hewson said that if the September construction PMI numbers and Wednesdays services data show robustness similar to Mondays manufacturing PMI, the outlook for third quarter GDP could well see a significant uptick in estimates.

The construction sector has been a significant underperformer in the last three to four months, posting sub 50 readings every month since June. Expectations are for a reading of 49.1, slightly down from 49.2 in August.

In corporate news, it was two out of three for Astrazeneca on Tuesday as a disappointing drug trial was counterbalanced by a win with the NHS drug regulator for one of its big cancer drugs and a licence deal for a beta-blocker medicine.

On the latter deal, Aralez will pay AstraZeneca $175m for the US rights to Toprol-XL tablets and will also pay up to $48m in milestone and sales-related payments, as well as mid-teen percentage royalties on sales, with AstraZeneca continuing to manufacture and supply Toprol-XL and the authorised generic medicine.

Electra Partners announced on Tuesday morning that, following the successful initial public offering of its portfolio company Premier Asset Management Group, it expects to partially realise FTSE 250 firm Electra Private Equitys investment in the business.

Based on the offer price, Electra's investment in Premier has a value of 46m - an uplift of 13m or 39% on the valuation at 31 March, implying an increase in net asset value per share of 26p.

FTSE 250 infrastructure company Carillion renewed its contract with Nationwide Building Society for a further seven years for 350m, to provide facility management services at its branches and corporate offices.

The contract, which started on 1 October, built on an existing nine year partnership, and will provide facilities management services for the building societies Swindon headquarters, 15 corporate offices, data centres and 700 branches across the UK.
With rising house prices making home ownership increasingly out of reach, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predict that there will be 1.8m more households looking to rent by 2025.

The professional body is calling on the Prime Minister Theresa May to abandon David Camerons policy focus on home ownership and reverse Aprils stamp duty measures in order to address short-term rental supply issues.

Its time for Theresa May to get out her hard hat. We are facing a critical rental shortage and need to get Britain building in a way that benefits a cross section of society, not just the fortunate few, said RICS Head of UK policy Jeremy Blackburn.

Changes implemented in April this year have increased the stamp duty paid on houses that are not used as ones' main residence by 3%, deterring landlords from expanding their portfolios. Tax breaks such as the right to deduct mortgage interest from their income tax bill have also been removed.

Despite this, the conservative government is continuing to focus on home ownership. Communities secretary Sajid Javid recently said the government would take unprecedented steps to encourage construction of homes for people to buy.

"Far too many young people cannot get a foot on the housing ladder. Many are being forced to live back with mum and dad as rents soar faster than wages," said Javid. The number of households in the UK renting property rose from 2.3m in 2001 to 5.4m in 2014 according to RICS.

At 58%, over half of RICS estate agents reported a drop in buy-to-let sales since May. Its survey found that 86% of landlords did not plan to increase their portfolio of rental properties in 2016 and expected this trend to continue for the next five years.

With increasingly unaffordable house prices, the majority of British households will be relying on the rental sector in the future. Any restrictions on supply will push up rents, marginalising those members of society who are already struggling, said Balckburn.

The reversal of stamp duty would however be against the interests of potential first time buyers, who are regularly outbid by buy-to-let investors.

Nonetheless, RICS argue that there was a 15% decline in house sales to first time buyers over recent months, which shows David Cameron and George Osbornes starter homes strategy failed to get off the ground.

The body felt the previous government used the private rental market as a scapegoat for the housing crisis which only made the situation worse.

Other recommendations put forward by the body include encouraging the private sector to build properties specifically for residential letting, pension funds to give tax breaks to fund large scale rental properties and councils to release brownfield sites for building new homes.

Ministers have unveiled a 5bn package of funding for housebuilding at the conservative party conference in Birmingham this week. Among the plans announced was an Accelerated Construction scheme which entails using 2bn of public sector borrowing to make public land, with planning permission, available to builders.

A further 3bn of previously announced funding would be directed into a Home Builders Fund, of which 1bn will be short term finance made available to smaller builders for 25,500 new homes by 2020. 2bn from the governments infrastructure spending will be used to deliver 200,000 more homes over a longer period of time.
The pace of UK construction unexpectedly improved in September as the sector returned to growth.

The Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers index rose to 52.3 from 49.2 in August, above the 50 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the first time in four months.

Economists had been expecting a drop to 49.0.

The main driver behind the push higher was a solid rebound in residential activity, which boosted overall construction output in September. New orders rebounded, ending a four-month period of sustained decline.

Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, said: UK construction companies moved back into expansion mode during September, led by a swift recovery in residential building from the three-anda-half year low recorded in June. Resilient housing market conditions and a renewed upturn in civil engineering activity helped to drive an overall improvement in construction output volumes for the first time since the EU referendum.

A number of survey respondents noted that Brexit-related anxiety has receded among clients, although it remained a factor behind the ongoing decline in commercial building work.

The data helped to lift the pound off a 31-year low of $1.2766, as the currency continued to be weighed down by Prime Minister Theresa May's vow to trigger Article 50 by March.

"The next support level is at 1.25 and the resistance is at 1.31," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said it was a relatively decent survey that offers reassurance on the sector, albeit not matching the impressive corresponding survey on manufacturing.

While the construction sector is still hardly racing ahead, a pick-up in orders in September supports hopes that activity will keep growing.

The government will be particularly pleased to see housebuilding returning to growth in September and at an 8-month high given the housing market shortage, although much needs to be done on this front. Indeed, the Chancellor is prioritising housebuilding initiatives as he looks to support the economy as the Brexit process gets underway.

On Monday Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that he will prioritise spending on new homes.

Hammond said the government will set aside around 2bn to create a new Accelerated Construction scheme to fund the building of up to 15,00 new homes by the end of the current parliament in 2020.
It was two out of three for Astrazeneca on Tuesday as disappointment over the unsuccessful conclusion of a huge drug trial was offset by a win with the NHS drug regulator for one of its big cancer drugs and a licence deal for a beta-blocker medicine.

Dealing with the bad news first, Brilinta, which is already approved as a post-heartattack medicine, failed to meet the targeted results in a massive trial among patients suffering from symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD).

The trial was the largest cardiovascular trial ever, although the group of 13,885 patients in 28 countries did not find any benefit in Brilinta over widely-used antiplatelet medicine clopidogrel, and therefore did not meet the primary endpoint of the trial.

It was also announced on Tuesday that Astrazeneca and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) had agreed a price at which osimertinib, which is felt to be one of the company's most important cancer drugs, would be made available to UK patients with a certain type of lung cancer through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

Osimertinib, which is branded Tagrisso and won European regulatory approval in February, is the first medicine to be made available through the CDF since it was reformed over the summer.

Under the revamped CDF, which says it will fund the use of drugs for a limited period to test if they meet Nice's NHS cost-effectiveness threshold, successful drugs will be added to Nice's list for NHS reimbursement while drugs that fail will be rejected.

This is a really important announcement for us, said Lisa Anson, president for AstraZeneca in the UK and Ireland. Tagrisso is a critical medicine in the AstrZeneca portfolio and a breakthrough precision medicine. It is also important for lung cancer patients in the NHS as there is a significant unmet need in that population.

And also on Tuesday, Astra agreed to licence out the US rights for branded and authorised generic Toprol-XL, a beta-blocker medicine for the control of hypertension, angina and heart failure to Aralez Pharmaceuticals.

Aralez will pay AstraZeneca $175m for the US rights to Toprol-XL tablets and will also pay up to $48m in milestone and sales-related payments, as well as mid-teen percentage royalties on sales, with AstraZeneca continuing to manufacture and supply Toprol-XL and the authorised generic medicine.
The high court in Belfast has been told that Northern Ireland may be able to veto its exit from the European Union, after the region voted in favour of remaining in the bloc earlier this year.

A lawyer for anti-Brexit campaigners made the case on Tuesday, citing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement as giving the region control over certain constitutional issues.

Political leaders from the main nationalist parties in Northern Ireland have combined with human rights campaigners to bring the challenge to the courts.

"The people of Northern Ireland have control over constitutional change, it cannot be imposed upon the people of Northern Ireland," Ronan Lavery QC told the court.

"If that means that Northern Ireland could exercise a veto over withdrawal then I am [asserting] that is what Britain signed up to when it signed the Good Friday agreement," he added.

A majority of 56% of voters in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU in June's referendum, and political leaders have suggested being forced to leave the bloc would be harmful to the peace process.

The Irish government has been making preparations to request a special legal status for the country.

This has been escalated after musings from Theresa May's government suggested the favouring of a so-called "hard" Brexit, which would open the possibility of a physical border between the northern and southern segments of the island - even though 'Brexit secretary' David Davis insisted last month that there will not be a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.
EasyHotel has been granted planning permission for a 204-room hotel on the Gran Via in Barcelona.The group said acquisition of the land for the new-build hotel is expected to complete in the coming weeks and the hotel is due to open in early 2018.

AIM-listed gold explorer Caledonia Mining reported another quarterly dividend and said it was confident of achieving its full-year production target. Caledonia declared a quarterly dividend of $0.01375 per share, the equivalent to $0.05 per share on an annualised basis and a 3.2% yield, which marked an increase from $0.01125 per share in July.

Strategic natural resources investing company Metal Tiger updated the market on Tuesday over the exploration programme at its joint venture-project with MOD Resources in the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana. The AIM-traded firm said preliminary metallurgical testwork results had been received for composite samples of diamond drill core taken as part of the Phase 1 Resource Drilling Programme at T3.

AIM-listed property developer Watkin Jones announced it had forward-sold its Glasgow development to a new institutional investor for an undisclosed fee, to be used for student accommodation. The company sold its St. Mungo Avenue property, a 1.07 acre site in the Glasgow city centre, which is near universities Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian and City of Glasgow college.

Rolling out new sites and expanding margins allowed Revolution Bars Group to serve up strong annual profits and double its dividend, though trading has slowed since the year-end amid a tough market. The group, which floated in March 2015 and operates through the Revolution and Revolucion de Cuba 'premium bar-restaurants' bar chains, grew sales 7% to 119.5m in the year to 30 June, of which two thirds was from new openings.

Milestone, a provider of digital media and technology solutions, announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) on Tuesday. The agreement is aimed at generating revenues, building membership and raising the profile of both organisations. It will involve introducing new members to each organisation, joint promotion, developing strategic partnerships and establishing and investment fund.
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Bike Chattanooga is hosting its first Womens Bike Month - #womenwhobike - to celebrate the women in bike share and encourage more women to give this rapidly growing and popular transportation option a try. Currently, women only account for 34 percent of all bike share members and Bike Chattanooga wants to see that change.



From New York City to San Francisco and many cities in between, Womens Bike Month will provide women with the resources and support to get biking. Throughout October, Bike Chattanooga will profile female cyclists and organize fun-filled Womens Group Ride events, such as Bikes, Babes, and Bluegrass and Heels on Wheels Wearing Teal.

A complete list of events can be found here: http://try.bikechattanooga.com/womenwhobike/resources/



Notice that you never see someone biking around the city with a frown on, and that's because biking is not only convenient, economical, and green - but it's also fun! With stations throughout the city, Bike Chattanooga makes it easy to commute around our beautiful downtown. Plus you always have free parking, said Meagan Shinn of River City Company.



Biking is a great way to enjoy fresh air and exercise while getting around the city. Between the cooling weather and beautiful scenery, October is a wonderful time to start riding. Bike Chattanooga recently expanded its system by doubling the Walnut St Bridge Station and adding 4 new stations bringing the total number of stations to 37. Three new stations are located on the Riverwalk at the Curtain Pole Rd Trailhead, Blue Goose Hollow, and South Broad Street Riverwalk Trailhead while the 4th station was placed at ML King Blvd and University Street. You can find a complete list of stations here.


Bullying Can Result in Aggressive Response by Children with Disability

Published: 2016-10-04 - Updated: 2020-11-16

Author: University of Missouri-Columbia | Contact: missouri.edu

Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A

Jump to: Main Digest | Publications

Synopsis: Study finds children with disabilities more likely to respond aggressively when they are bullied, not only to their bullies but to other children as well. For his study, Rose and his research team surveyed nearly 1,200 middle and high-school-aged students with disabilities to determine the mental health outcomes of bullying. Rose defines bullying as the repeated imbalance of physical or emotional power with the intent to cause either physical or emotional harm.

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Main Digest

Researchers say children should be taught better communication skills to prevent aggressive behavior...

Children with disabilities - particularly those with learning disabilities, emotional disabilities and autism spectrum disorders - often are victims of bullying. However, very little research exists about how children with disabilities respond when they are bullied.

A new study from the University of Missouri has found that children with disabilities are more likely to respond aggressively when they are bullied, not only to their bullies but to other children as well. Chad Rose, a bullying expert and an assistant professor of special education in the MU College of Education, says this aggressive response often results in these children being labelled as bullies themselves, when that is not an accurate assessment of their behavior.

"Because students with disabilities often lack age-appropriate social and communication skills, they may act out aggressively as a response to being bullied," Rose said. "If a child reaches into their 'bully response tool box' and the only tools they have are physical or verbal aggression, they likely will respond aggressively. Unfortunately, many of these children are identified as bullies themselves, which means they will receive bully interventions from teachers, rather than what they really need, which is social and communication skill instruction."

For his study, Rose and his research team surveyed nearly 1,200 middle and high-school-aged students with disabilities to determine the mental health outcomes of bullying. They found that students with disabilities, when victimized by bullying, are more likely to respond aggressively either through bullying or fighting. Also, they found that students with higher levels of depression and hostility and lower levels of self-esteem were more likely to be negatively affected by bullying and more likely to react aggressively.

Rose defines bullying as the repeated imbalance of physical or emotional power with the intent to cause either physical or emotional harm. Rose says that when people are bullied, they can respond in one of two ways: proactively or reactively. Proactive bullying includes behaviors that traditionally are viewed as bullying based on an imbalance of power and intent to cause harm. On the other hand, reactive aggression includes direct and immediate behaviors often that are related to inappropriate regulation of emotion. Rose says teachers and parents need to do a better job of teaching children proper bully-response skills to prevent proactive and reactive aggression.

"Children with disabilities often lash out physically as a defense mechanism against bullying," Rose said. "They may not be classified as bullies because they don't intend harm and often they do not hold an imbalance of power over their peers. It is possible that they don't possess the appropriate response skills. By intervening with these children and giving them the proper skills and tools, we can not only help prevent future bullying of these children but improve their psychosocial outcomes as well."

The study, "Exploring Psychosocial Predictors of Bullying Involvement for Students with Disabilities," was published in Remedial and Special Education. It was coauthored by June Preast, a doctoral student at the University of Missouri, and Cynthia Simpson, a professor and provost at Houston Baptist University.

Reference Source(s):

Bullying Can Result in Aggressive Response by Children with Disability | University of Missouri-Columbia (missouri.edu). Disabled World makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith. Content may have been edited for style, clarity or length.

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 Cite This Page (APA): University of Missouri-Columbia. (2016, October 4). Bullying Can Result in Aggressive Response by Children with Disability. Disabled World. Retrieved October 31, 2022 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/children/bully-response.php



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Blue Jackets goalie Merzlikins, family threatened verbally

Aleksandra Merzlikins, the wife of the Blue Jackets goalie, has posted online about verbal abuse and threats directed at her family by fans.
Cecil Andrew Ponders, formerly of 119 Fieldview Court, Chatsworth, was sentenced Tuesday to serve 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole on charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer, fleeing to elude a police officer, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a drug related object.

Ponders, 36, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge William T.Boyett following a jury verdict of guilty which was returned on Aug. 24. Judge Boyett had ordered a pre-sentence investigation and Ponders was held in custody pending sentencing.

The aggravated assault occurred during a high-speed chase in which Ponders used his vehicle as a weapon to assault Sgt. Sean O'Mahoney of the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office.

District Attorney Bert Poston said, "One patrol car was seriously damaged but fortunately and due to the intervention of Deputy Kenneth Henderson, also of the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office, Sgt. O'Mahoney escaped without serious injury."

The state's case at trial and sentencing was presented by Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer, who tendered five prior felony convictions of Ponders, including convictions for burglary, theft and drug offenses. Ponders was represented by local attorney Mike Corbin.

Under Georgia law, a fourth or subsequent felony conviction of any kind requires that prison time ordered by the sentencing judge be served without the possibility of parole.
Groups Blast Rahm's Police Department Reforms

By aaroncynic in News on Oct 4, 2016 4:55PM



Chicago Police torture survivor Mark Clements speaks at a press conference supporting the proposed Civilian Police Accountability Council. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist.

As a joint Budget and Public Safety meeting of the City Council began the process of rubber-stamping Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed police accountability reforms this week, community groups and aldermen spoke out against the proposal, demanding that their own be heard.

Here's a man who sat on incriminating evidence of one of the most horrendous murders in this city for 400 days and he gets a chance to parade in front of us as a social reformer, as someone who's going to bring police accountability to this city? We don't think so, said Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which has proposed its own civilian accountability board. He has no moral authority to do that.

The Civilian Police Accountability Council would not only replace the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), but also the Police Board. In addition, CPAC would be in charge of hiring a police superintendent and investigating and prosecuting misconduct and shootings. Proponents argue Emanuel's appointed entity isn't that different from the much-maligned IPRA, and amounts to little more than window dressing.

It creates a whole new system of police oversight, said alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa. What we're asking for is a democratically elected body that would be able to not just discipline the police, but also set policies and determine how are communities are policed. This is true change and what the community wants.

On Monday, Emanuel announced some minor changes to his Civilian Office of Police Accountability. According to the Sun-Times, COPA would get a guaranteed 1 percent of the Chicago Police Department's budget, and the new deputy inspector general for public safety, charged with auditing police practices and proposing changes, would also receive one.

Advocates for CPAC though, say the mayor has been ignoring their proposal.

When the mayor doesn't want to see something brought up in committee, 9 times out of 10 it won't be brought up, said Rosa. The case here is one in which there's broad based community support for CPAC. However, when we go behind closed doors and talk about police oversight, many people don't want to talk about the community option, which is CPAC.





Ald @CDRosa on why #CPAC has not been heard by City Council (in favor of Rahm's COPA) proposal pic.twitter.com/oCAOwz523n  Aaron Cynic (@aaroncynic) October 4, 2016





CPAC proponents weren't alone in accusing the mayor of not paying attention to their calls, either. Speaking at a press conference just minutes after CPAC activists finished theirs, Alderman Leslie Hairston demanded a hearing for a proposal she has introduced to City Council twice.

I'm asking for the Independent Citizen Police Monitor Ordinance I introduced in April and introduced last month to have a public hearing, said Hairston. Hairston's proposal, co-sponsored by Alderman Jason Irving, establishes three police oversight entitiesan eleven member Community Oversight Board, an Independent Citizen Investigator of the Police and Public Safety Office in the Inspector General's Office. Each branch would be separate from the Mayor's office and the Chicago Police Department, and collectively the three would investigate misconduct and provide community oversight.

This ordinance provides the teeth that are necessary to enforce and do the things that are possible to create a culture of accountability and to let our police department know that there is someone looking over their shoulder, Irving said.

The joint committee is expected to pass the measure this afternoon, which will then more than likely be passed by the full City Council on Wednesday.
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Hilary Franz, an environmental attorney, and Steve McLaughlin, a retired Navy commander, are competing to lead the state's firefighting effort and manage state-owned lands.



By PHUONG LE

Associated Press

Washington's next public lands commissioner will be expected to preserve forests, water and habitat in the face of more intense wildfires and a changing climate, while also ensuring revenues from logging, land leases and other operations for school construction and other projects.

Democrat Hilary Franz, an environmental attorney, and Republican Steve McLaughlin, a retired Navy commander, are competing this November to lead the state's largest firefighting force and manage 5.6 million acres of state-owned lands.





. . .
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SEATTLE  An 56-unit apartment building near Northgate sold for $10.48 million, according to King County Records.

The sellers were two LLCs, Half-Time IV and Perfection Properties, associated with local investors.





. . .
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PENDLETON, Ore. (AP)  An American Indian tribe in Oregon will receive $20 million as part of a $429 million settlement between the U.S. government and 17 tribes.

The East Oregonian says the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and others alleged that the federal government had mismanaged money and natural resources held in trust for the tribes.





. . .
94th AW to participate in AvDet 17-1 in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve

The 94th Airlift Wing, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, and the 86th Airlift Wing, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are participating in bilateral training with the Polish Air Force during Aviation Detachment 17-1 (AvDet 17-1) in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve at Powidz, Poland, from approximately Oct. 3-28, 2016. The 86th AW and 94th AW will each send two C-130 aircraft for a total of four aircraft and approximately 130 Airmen to participate in this training.



During AvDet 17-1, one C-130H from the 94th AW will support Latvian civil-military training during Sky Fist 16 at Lielvarde Air Base, Latvia, for an aircraft mishap exercise from approximately Oct. 5-7, 2016. These multilateral trainings will focus on maintaining joint readiness while building interoperability. Through strengthened relationships and engagements with our Allies, the United States and NATO demonstrate their shared commitment to a peaceful, stable and secure Europe.
The former president of St. Eunans College in Letterkenny said he believes there has been a lack of political will to grant the secondary school the building that school management say their students need.

Speaking at a ceremony on Thursday to mark the reopening of the refurbished school pitch, Father Michael Carney, former St. Eunans president, said school management has sought a new building for nearly 20 years.

It's high time the Department of Education and Skills backed up its promises and seriously addressed the needs of this school and indeed the community, Father Carney said, adding, Very few schools of this size have been as studiously ignored for so long by so many in government.

Speaking later, Father Carney said the first attempt to persuade the department of the need for a new building came in 1997, during his tenure as college president. In the years since, there have been so many false starts, he said.

Nobody seems to have taken the needs of the school with the seriousness with which they are warranted, he said.

Father Carney said St. Eunans College campus today is largely the same as when he was a student there.

So thats 40 years ago, and its catering for twice the amount of students, he said.

Okay there are a few prefabs, but essentially its the same campus, Father Carney said. So we are crying out for new facilities here and I just wonder about whos listening - whether politicians are listening or certainly the Department of Education and Skills.

He said, Its a long time and a very frustrating journey for everybody in the college.

Father Carney he believed the delay stemmed from a lack of political will and a failure to acknowledge the real needs of a community.

Something must give for the welfare of the kids here, he said, adding, They are very fine young people and they deserve the best and theyre not being given the best.

When you consider that there's well over 800 kids here  and in my tenure it was exactly the same  and they're being educated in less than perfect facilities. I don't think it's fair to them, Father Carney said.

The main building at St. Eunans dates back to 1904.
A Letterkenny woman and her son, who has autism, were awarded 22,000 in damages and legal costs after a London shopkeeper refused to allow the young man to bring his assistance dog into the shop.

Katy Tyrrell McCafferty said the case has set a precedent for adults and children with disabilities who need service or assistance dogs.

Service dogs are not just for people with a visual impairment, she said.

Jimmy will make a difference to the lives of service dog users in the UK, and hopefully in Ireland, because hes an Irish child, Mrs McCafferty said.

In March of 2015, Mrs McCafferty and James could not top up their Oyster card in a convenience shop in the Limehouse area of London because they had James assistance dog with them.

They won damages of 6,775 last Thursday at Bow County Court in London. Shopkeeper Dudu Miah was also ordered to pay legal costs of 15,225.49.

Mrs McCafferty had claimed disability discrimination because Mr. Miah, the owner of DM News in east London, had refused to serve them and put them out of the shop.

Kizzy, the assistance dog, is a labradoodle. The dog is trained by the specialist charity My Canine Companion to assist James, who was 11 when he received Kizzy, and to maintain his safety while he is outdoors.

Jimmy, as he is known, has autism and part of his condition means that he is sensitive to noise and can suddenly take off running, which means he could easily run into traffic or other dangers.

Jimmy, now 14, is connected to Kizzy via a special harness and belt that goes around his midsection. If Jimmy were to run, Kizzy would sit down hard and stop him from running away. But their bond goes deeper.

He is attached to the dog emotionally and not just physically, Mrs McCafferty said, adding, that since Jimmy has had Kizzy, it has changed our lives.

I have two children and could not take them out together on my own before. I had to chose one child or the other, she said. Being attached to Kizzy, interacting with her and twirling her fur has calmed him down so much when we are out and about that Jimmy has not wanted to bolt at all.

Mrs McCafferty said Kizzy was like an extra pair of hands for her.

She said she and her son were treated disgracefully that day in the shop last year. Jimmy needed to have Kizzy with him, she recalled.

She said she brought the case to make sure that disabled children and adults who need assistance dogs can go about ordinary daily tasks, without fear of discrimination and harassment.

I now understand why people dont bring these cases as it has been very stressful and has taken me a year and a half to get to court, Mrs McCafferty said. But she said she was glad she had brought the case.

The solicitor acting for Jimmy, social justice lawyer, Rheian Davies of DH Law Ltd said, The Equality Act provides for disabled children and adults who need the services of an assistance dog. Shop owners such as Mr Miah who have a No dogs policy have to relax that policy in cases such as this, in order to meet the legal requirement of making a reasonable adjustment.

She said these provisions were well known in the cases of guide dogs for people who are blind, but less so for the many dogs that help people with other disabilities.

Nonetheless, Jimmy is a disabled child and to refuse to serve him because he has an assistance dog is unlawful discrimination, Ms Davies said.

This case was never about monetary gain, Mrs. McCafferty said. She said she had asked the judge whether the money could go to autism-related charities but was told the funds must go to Jimmy, and will be held in trust for him.
It Finally Happened: The Creepy Clown Wave Has Arrived In The Chicago Area

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 4, 2016 4:26PM

Well, it was probably only a matter of time. With Halloween costume shops opening up around town and coverage spreading as far as The Gray Lady herself, the Great Clown Scare of 2016 appears to have officially arrived in the Chicagoland area.

Creepy (read: irritating) clown sightings arent exactly new in Chicago. You might remember last years cell-phone footage of a clown that broke into the Rosehill Cemetery and waved slowly at passers-by. And earlier this year, GagsThe Green Bay Clown terrorized (and effectively marketed to) our neighbors to the north. But Chicago seemed to have been mercifully spared from this years model until now.

Facebook user Sewar Rahman Albawl posted the following bait to accrue Snapchat followers viral warning of a clown sighting at Montrose and Kedzie, in East Albany Park.







And WGN reports that all 170 schools in the Chicago Heights district have added security after a Facebook threat from a clown gang; and the Hammond Indiana Police Department posted on their Facebook on Monday that the nearby town has joined the ranks of cities across the country receiving Crazy Clown complaints. Welcome to the big time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, HIPD on Tuesday noted so far there have been no reports of confirmed clown sightings, although they appear to have their eyes out for the Hammon Clowny (seriously).







It all sounds pretty much of a piece with the national trend. According to a New York Times story last week, much of the straight clownin' behavior is just that: false reports and false threats.

Other cases seem attributable to children with overactive imaginations, teenagers pulling pranks and others with their own reasons for adding to the hysteria," the article says.

Jason D. Seacat, psychology professor at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass., seemed to think it might just be a case of low-risk FOMO feeding the frenzy. He told the Times: Low risk of being called out for lying and the benefit of positive attention for reporting such a claim may motivate some people to lie.

Be sure to track all that positive attention with up-to-the-minute updates at Clown Sightings USA, and hope that this means we can at least all move on from Harambe, because there's only so much room in our lives for low-level meme-able wackiness.
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He might be known better for his exploits as a local politician, but Tomas Sharkey has recently taken up the reigns as principal at Inver College in Carrickmacross, where he hopes to usher in a new era at the school.

Originally from Blackrock, Principal Sharkey studied at Queens University of Belfast and the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, before taking a position at Bush Post Primary in 2003, where he spent the bulk of his teaching career.

Principal Sharkey went on secondment for some eight years after being drafted by the Department of Education as a teacher's trainer, tasked with tutoring fellow teachers in how best to deliver the department's education policies.

Tomas also sits on the Louth/Meath Education and Training Board and he spearheaded the opening of Colaiste Lu, the new all Irish second level school which opened its doors in September 2013.

It's been a busy month for Principal Sharkey.

He was first appointed as deputy principal at Beechhill in Monaghan on the 1st of September, before taking the role of principal just 11 days later at Inver College, both Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board Schools.

I wanted to be a principal in an ETB school. I believe passionately in the new Junior Cycle, Mr Sharkey told the Dundalk Democrat at his new office in Carrickmacross.

I believe the new cycle is primed for a modern economy and will bring the Irish education system into the 21st century.

We cater to students from all over South Monaghan and the border with Louth - be they from Tallanstown, Stonetown, Killanny, Inniskeen and Dromiskin.

We have the perfect mix of academic and practical subjects, and faciliate both Transition Year and the Leaving Certificate Vocational.

We have an excellent canteen serving hot dinners everyday.

After my eight years visiting schools and giving courses, I believe we are the best school for professional and committed teachers.

While the first few weeks have been a whirlwind of intensity for Mr Sharkey, he has been massively enthused by the process.

This year's Junior Cert and Leaving Certificate were exceptional.

70 per cent of our Junior Cert class got As in higher level metal work.

Two of our Leaving Certificate won academic scholarships to DCU.

There's a great atmosphere here that we are building on. We have a very happy group of young people here.

Our doors are open for visitors, be they parents of potential pupils, community groups or local business people.
St Gerard's Novena will have its first female preacher this year. Traditionally, four Redemptorists from home and abroad, give the inspiring sermons at the annual religious festival.

But this year, three Redemptorists will be joined by Anne Walsh from Newfoundland who has received international acclaim for her retreat work.

Shes a fantastic preacher, said Novena Director Fr Michael Cusack, C.Ss.R.

The other preachers are Fr Brian Nolan from Cork, Fr Peter Hill from Dominica, and Fr Brendan Callanan, Dundalk.

Fr Michael Cusack, C.Ss.R., expects that there may even be bigger crowds attending the novena this year since despite the talk of being over the recession so many people are truly struggling and needing support.

The most important message that the novena should bring is a message of hope and consolation.

Pope Francis in announcing the extraordinary jubilee year of Mercy for our church has invited us all to focus on the need for mercy in our personal lives and in our world and invited us to embrace the mercy of God wholeheartedly, Fr Cusack said. In line with this invitation the theme for the St. Gerard Novena this year is Mercy- the Face of God.

The daily preaching themes are all calling us to a deeper understanding of the Mercy of God and encouraging us to be people of mercy in our daily lives and in turn agents of mercy in our world.

The novena starts at St Josephs Redemptorist Church next Saturday 8 October and continues to Sunday 16 October. This year's theme is: Mercy - The Face of God.

The guest speakers will Garda John Brady and Garda Noel Loughran, juvenile liaison officers with An Garda Siochana.

There theme will be Social Media - The Opportunities and Challenges.

They are expected to cover the positive aspects of social media but also the negative, such as cyberbullying and revenge pornography.

The Law Reform Commission has just issued a major report in which it proposes that a digital safety commissioner be appointed to police a code of conduct and a recommendation that the digital industry here should be legally obliged to comply with a statutory code of conduct which would involve taking down offensive images and written material from the internet.

There are 10 sessions each day of the novena: 7am, 9.30, 11.30, 1.10pm, 2.30, 4.30, 6.00, 7.30, 9.00, 10.30.

The times on Sunday are: 7am, 8.00, 9.30, 11.00, 12.30, 4.30, 6.00, 7.30, 9.00.

A celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation without Mass will held on Thursday 13 October at 9.30am, 11.30am, 6pm and 7.30pm. Mass will be celebrated at all other sessions on this day.

The Healing Mass with the anointing of the sick and elderly will be on Saturday 15 . On Sunday 16 the Blessing of Babies and Children, without Mass, will be at 2.30pm.
Photos: Uptown Protesters March For Affordable Housing, Rights Of The Homeless

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Oct 4, 2016 5:55PM

About a hundred people rallied in Uptown Monday evening to protest how the police are dealing with a local tent city and to bring their call for more affordable housing to the alderman.

The march, organized by Uptown Ten City, North Side Action for Justice and the Gay Liberation Network, went to Alderman James Cappleman's Uptown office, where three protesters were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after they occupied his office for two hours and refused to leave.

Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing is an enduring issue in Chicago, but will become even more pressing as the weather turns colder. Activists said the city needs to address this issue by putting more money into housing affordability and not allowing Tax Increment Financing dollars to go toward luxury housing development.

In a statement, organizers said police have been illegally harassing homeless Chicagoans living in tents beneath Uptown underpasses and City Hall has approved TIF funding to luxury rental developments while the shelter at Preston Bradley Center is slated to close this winter. The statement, written on Facebook, says:


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The Irish Blood Transfusion Service would like to thank all 80 donors who attended the recently held clinic in Scoil Ui Mhuiri, Dunleer. A breakdown of the total figures show that 12 first time donors and 16 former donors attended the clinic. It is essential that we maintain and increase the level of support on our next visit to Dunleer.

Also a special thank you to Julia Gauza, our Local Voluntary Organiser for her assistance this visit and Maura and George Connolly for distributing information leaflets and posters in the Castlebellingham area.

Approximately 1000 people in Ireland will receive a blood transfusion every week. To do this we must collect approximately 3,000 donations of blood each and every week from voluntary donors like you. A total of 2030 units alone were required in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda during 2015.

Finally on behalf of all the patients in hospital who benefit from your generosity a heartfelt thank you to all who attended or helped with our Dunleer Clinic in any way.

For further details, please contact Catherine Hughes, Area Manager at our Ardee Regional Office, 041  685 9994.
Louth's Irish Rugby International stars Rob and Dave Kearney will launch an art exhibition at the DkIT Carroll Building Dundalk at 6pm next Wednesday, October 12th.

This is part of the Dundalk Positive Mental Health week.

Dundalk Positive Mental Health (DPMH) is holding a series of events as part of its annual campaign to highlight mental health issues.

"This is our fourth Positive mental health week, said Mary Moran chairperson of Dundalk Positive Mental Health.

Each year we have added more events to highlight the importance of positive mental health.

The week began with a fun walk along the Navvy Bank.

On Monday, Derek Pepper, vice chairperson of DPMH and Shine, hosted a radio programme on Dundalk FM with contributions from service providers - fellow members of the forum, from Dundalk Outcomers, an Garda Siochana, Grow, HSE, Dundalk Counselling Centre and Turas Counselling.

On Tuesday there was a coffee morning at the Oriel Centre Old Gaol.

The highlight of the week is the launch of the popular annual art exhibition in the Carroll Building DkIT at 6 pm by our Irish Rugby International stars Rob and Dave Kearney. The art exhibition continued throughout the week with exhibits from local people.

On Thursday Alan McCabe from DkIT hosts a cookery demonstration in the college with lots of healthy eating ideas for positive mental health.

This event was highly popular last year and proved another great success this year. There will be an information stand in the Marshes shopping centre throughout the week featuring information on local mental health services.
A talk by Constance Short entitled "A brewers daughter from Roden Place" was held at the County Library Dundalk last week.

The title referred to Dorothy Macardle, the Dundalk woman who was a writer, a feminist, a republican, a European, a person of great talent who was ahead of her time.

I am no historian or lecturer, said Constance, but I felt strongly enough to put this forgotten woman's story together as best I can.

And she succeeded in doing just that judging by the reaction of the audience.

Constance gave a very informative talk outlining the background to Dorothy Macardles life and work.

Dorothy was born in 1889 and grew up at Seatown Place Dundalk.

One of the most interesting republicans to emerge from the Easter Rising and the Her father was owner of the Macardle Moore brewery in the town.

The brewery supplied beer to the British army regiments stationed in Dundalk and the Curragh and Macardle Moore was known as The Irish Army Brewers.

When she was 16 she went to Alexandra College in Dublin. She was one of the few Catholics to attend this Church of Ireland school.

She won a scholarship to the Alexandra College Training Department in 1912 and took a Dublin University teachers Diploma two years later.

When she completed her education she lived and worked at Stratford-upon-Avon and developed a lifelong interest in Shakespeare and the theatre.

When she returned to Ireland she began writing plays and after the First World War became a republican activist joining Cumann na mBan.

She met Eamon de Valera, who would have such a strong influence on her life, and after the War of Independence, took the anti-Treaty side.

In 1922 she was arrested by Free State soldiers at the Sinn Fein headquarters in Dublin and sent to Mountjoy prison. She was then moved to Kilmainham where she joined a hunger strike. Her father intervened and she was released.

When she came out, the Civil War was over and she found herself on the losing de Valera republican side.

She then became a full-time writer and political activist. During her imprisonment she was sacked from her teaching job at Alexander College.

As a journalist she accompanied de Valera on his tours of Munster. She wrote a book called Tragedies of Kerry, which covered what amounted to war crimes during the Civil War. She also published a collection of short stories.

Then, in 1926 when de Valera founded the Fianna Fail party, she was one of six women elected to the new partys executive.

Five years later in 1931, de Valera set up The Irish Press.

Dorothy became the drama critic for The Irish Press. She wrote plays for The Abbey but as Constance said people like Sean OCasey dismissed her work.

In the 1930s de Valera became President of the League of Nations in Geneva, the forerunner of the United Nations, and Dorothy covered League sessions. And in the 1930s she also wrote her most renowned work, The Irish Republic.

This book was published in 1937 and was considered by many to be a hagiography of de Valera.

But the new 1937 Constitution, drawn up by de Valera, angered Dorothy. She and other feminists were annoyed by Article 41 which declared that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.

As the constitution stands, she wrote in a letter to de Valera, I do not see how anyone holding advanced views on the rights of women can support it, and that is a tragic dilemma for those who have been loyal and ardent workers in the national cause.

In the spring of 1939, she began a lecture tour of the United States, and was in London in September when war broke out.

She spent the whole of World War Two in England, where all of her siblings lived. She did relief work for refugees from central and eastern Europe who had fled to Britain from the Nazis.

She wrote scripts for the BBC and her novel Uneasy Freehold (1941) was classed in the same female gothic genre as Daphne du Mauriers Rebecca. Paramount films bought the film rights to her ghost story The Uninvited which was released in 1944.

She came back to Ireland in June 1944. Then in 1948 she published Children of Europe, her greatest journalistic work. It was a detailed study of the experiences of children in war-devastated Europe and was based on research done in France, Belgium Holland, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland.

In the 1950s she was critical of the political influence of the Catholic Church here and of the censorship of books and plays. She was a revolutionary, a journalist, a writer, a European, a feminist, and someone who despised war, fascism, and narrow-mindedness of all kinds.

She wanted to investigate the Magdalen laundry asylums as far back as 1952.

She was ahead of her time.

Dorothy Macardle died in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda in December 1958.

Dev prayed at her bedside hoping would return to the Catholic faith. She never did.
The head of a multi-million dollar national solar panel business took top honours at the 2016 Telstra South Australian Business Womens Awards on Friday night.

Jenny Paradiso, the co-founder and managing director of Suntrix, was named South Australian Business Woman of the Year. She also took home the South Australian Business Womens Entrepreneur Award. In 2013, Telstra named Suntrix the South Australian Business of the Year.

According to Joe Pollard, Telstra Business Womens Awards Ambassador, Group Executive Media, and Chief Marketing Officer, Paradiso possesses strong CEO characteristics and values and has transformed her business through the clever diversification of products and markets, while giving back to her industry, community and family in a meaningful way.

The other business women recognised at the awards included Sarah Powell from Champions Academy (For Purpose and Social Enterprise Award), Dr Joanne Bowen from the University of Adelaide (Public Sector and Academia Award), Darlene Mattiske-Wood from Peoples Choice Credit Union (Corporate and Private Award), and Young Business Woman of the Year Grace Lever, who recently spoke to Dynamic Business about positioning herself as a brand to help other female entrepreneurs succeed. Lever was nominated in the same category last year.

Pollard described the winners of the 2016 Telstra South Australian Business Womens Awards as brilliant, passionate and courageous women.

Not only do they have the courage to challenge the status quo in their chosen fields but they also demonstrate exceptional business acumen and strong leadership skills, she said.

Now in their 22nd year, the Telstra Business Womens Awards are Australias longest running womens awards program in Australia. They recognise and reward the courage, leadership and creativity of brilliant business women.

State and Territory category winners will be flown to Melbourne for the National Awards judging, culminating in a glittering Gala Dinner on the night of Wednesday 16 November 2016.

For information about the Awards and to purchase tickets to the Awards Dinners, please call 1800 817 536 between 9am and 7pm AEST Monday to Friday.

Nominations for the Telstra Business Womens Awards are open year-round.
The 8th BRICS Academic Forum and the 5th Think Tank Council were held respectively in Goa and Delhi, India, on Sept. 19-23.

The 8th BRICS Academic Forum and the 5th Think Tank Council were held respectively in Goa and Delhi, India, on Sept. 19-23. As a member of the Chinese delegation participating in the meeting, I think the BRICS countries could learn from the fruits of the recent G20 Hangzhou Summit by promoting cooperation among BRICS small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in five areas.

Currently, trade and cooperation among BRICS SMEs are often blocked due to high transactional costs, needing more injection of public products. The G20 Summit showed that, first, the fruits achieved by the G20 and B20 meetings could promote cooperation and innovation among BRICS SMEs both in direct and indirect ways.

Second, BRICS countries could establish a new dialogue system in industrial and commercial circles like the B20 forum so that SMEs could gain a bigger voice in decision-making.

Thanks to their highly complementary nature, BRICS countries have large space for cooperation. At present, cooperation among big enterprises features good development, while that among SMEs still faces a series of difficulties.

To help SMEs minimize their costs and facilitate trade expansion, public products are badly needed. This could come both from capital and government, but to rely on only either of them could bring many problems.

Since it's hard for SMEs to move up the value chain, reliance on capital to provide public products will produce a climate of unfairness. However, due to lack of production and demand data, reliance on government will end in low efficiency.

Therefore, government should coordinate with market, so as to build a better communication environment for the market.

During the G20 Hangzhou Summit, helping SMEs to gain more benefits from the new industrial revolution formed the key content of the "G20 New Industrial Revolution Action Plan."

On industrial policy, the B20 meeting proposed the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) to provide more convenience for SME trade. On financial governance, the "G20 Leaders' Communique" vowed to support better financing of SMEs, and encouraged countries to set up an inclusive financial system.

In addition, the close connection between G20 and B20 has established a good example for the BRICS countries. They have their own business council (BBC), and, last year, the first forum of BRICS small and medium enterprises was held in Ufa, Russia. However, the impact of industrial and commercial participants - meeting just once a year - is still limited in regard to decision-making.

To promote SMEs cooperation among BRICS countries, we should focus on five "I's" - infrastructure, information sharing, institutionalization, intellectual support and integration.

Firstly, infrastructure is the foundation of building a good trade system and reducing transactional costs. Infrastructure includes both hardware and software (such as finance). The "G20 Hangzhou Communique" proposed an inclusive financial system to help SMEs solve their financing problems.

Secondly, information sharing, especially building a big data platform, is an effective way for SEMs to reduce transaction costs and connecting with each other. The "G20 Hangzhou Communique" encouraged SMEs to participate in the global value chain, and also proposed the eWTP project. The latter is a successful example of G20 and B20 interaction, which BRICS countries may copy.

Thirdly, institutionalization could gain SMEs a bigger voice in decision-making. There should be more channels for industrial and commercial participants, especially SMEs, to express their demands to the BRICS leaders' summit. The aforementioned BBC should include more delegates from SMEs, which is an important part for BRICS institutionalization.

Fourthly, intellectual support will provide macro-level guide for SME development, help them with innovation and creating blueprints. The G20 Summit emphasized innovation and technology transfer among different countries to help SMEs. BRICS countries could learn from this, and think tanks should play a more important role.

Last but not least, integration is the basic approach to boost cooperation among BRICS SMEs. In order to promote integrated development, SMEs should communicate and cooperate with local governments to jointly build infrastructure, set up a trade platform, participate in decision-making, as well as gather technological and intellectual resources.

Chen Xiaochen is the deputy director of the International Research Department at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.

The article was first published in Chinese and translated by Lin Liyao.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Donald Trump personifies everything that conservatives say is wrong with America

Sorry, we have to deal with something the makes me a little nauseous.

Youve probably heard that Conservatives have been circulating an article calling 2016 The Flight 93 election. You get the basic idea of the argument from the title, but heres the crux:

2016 is the Flight 93 election: charge the cockpit or you die. You may die anyway. Youor the leader of your partymay make it into the cockpit and not know how to fly or land the plane. There are no guarantees. Except one: if you dont try, death is certain. To compound the metaphor: a Hillary Clinton presidency is Russian Roulette with a semi-auto. With Trump, at least you can spin the cylinder and take your chances.

Beyond being the second worst exploitation of 9/11  right behind Chris Christies team reported plans to hand out 9/11 artifacts to potential endorsers  it reveals a mindset so in love with Trumps nativism that its willing to ignore the obvious flaws with the argument, and the candidate.

Most of the article is concerned with making the case that this election calls for extraordinary measures and faults conservatives for not recognizing the moral imperative of backing Trumps extraordinary candidacy.

And what is the crisis the anonymous author Publius Decius Mus deems demanding of a solution as irrational as Trump?

Mostly Immigration or as he calls it the ceaseless importation of Third World foreigners with no tradition of, taste for, or experience in liberty.

This should give you the sense of the kid of white supremacism Trump appeals to  not just the kind that calls people illegal but also insists that immigrants themselves are Third World.

Of course, these representatives of intellectual Trumpism arent worth arguing with  but fisking their words does help you get a sense that the GOP nominees approach to politics may be new but it has deep roots on the American right, as Timothy Shenk fleshed out in The Guardian.

Publius sees the results of this crisis revealed in the litany of ills plaguing the body politic that conservatives generally fixate upon:

Illegitimacy. Crime. Massive, expensive, intrusive, out-of-control government. Politically correct McCarthyism. Ever-higher taxes and ever-deteriorating services and infrastructure. Inability to win wars against tribal, sub-Third-World foes. A disastrously awful educational system that churns out kids who dont know anything and, at the primary and secondary levels, cant (or wont) discipline disruptive punks, and at the higher levels saddles students with six figure debts for the privilege.

Hmm, to conservatives that may sum up America. To me, it sounds suspiciously like a list of problems with Donald Trump himself.

Lets tale these one by one:

 Illegitimacy.

Trump has five kids from three women, at least one of them is looking forward to get to know her dad.

 Crime

If you exclude Trumps vague mafia connections, he still seems to have pretty serious issues following the law.

 Massive, expensive, intrusive, out-of-control government.

So the solution to this is a giant, largely useless wall and a deportation task force? Given their obvious disdain from non-European immigrants, the far right is fine with this kind of explosion of big government. But a show me your papers nation is the furthest thing from liberty.

 Politically correct McCarthyism.

If I become president, were gonna be saying Merry Christmas at every store, Trump said last year. You can leave happy holidays at the corner.

Apparently attacking PC culture rhetorically is enough for Publius. Old Publy doesnt take Trumps constant whining, harassment and lawsuits targeted at the press and threats to limit press freedom seriously.

 Ever-higher taxes and ever-deteriorating services and infrastructure.

Heres the rights central myth that enables all its other fantasies  were overtaxed.

We arent. And our rich people and big corporations especially arent. My proof of this? The second and third items on this list. The services we have are underfunded by design, by a movement so determined to destroy government, it sabotages everything government does from regulating Wall Street to refusing to negotiate drug process.

 Inability to win wars against tribal, sub-Third-World foes.

Trump was for every intervention in the Middle East before he was against them. But this illuminates the general problem with the argument: Theyre so in love with a candidate willing to traffic in Whites are in peril conspiracy theories that they take him at his word  even though, as I explain below, Trump is basically promising to re-invade Iraq. At the very least, hes not excluding it.

 A disastrously awful educational system that churns out kids who dont know anything and, at the primary and secondary levels, cant (or wont) discipline disruptive punks, and at the higher levels saddles students with six figure debts for the privilege.

Their solution for our education woes is also building a wall and enforcing immigration law since ending leftist design isnt feasible yet.

They dont want smaller class sizes, better teacher pay, equalization of educational funding, the end of a system that criminalizes poor students who largely grow up with in single-parent homes or debt-free college. So nothing that would actually address the problems that afflict poor white students in similar ways that it affects non-white students. Just clear out the foreigners and let everything suss itself out.

Thats the main idea here  European chauvinism is the solution to everything.

With a white male unembarrassed to embrace white maleness all things are possible. Allowing a woman to win will mean the end of the borders and penetration from all sorts of phallic objects.

These conservatives dont believe natural conservatism can survive whites becoming a minority in an America  and they dont see it as a failure of conservative ideals but of non-whiteness, which is always eager to commit another rape, shooting, bombing, or machete attack.

The perception of others as violent predators is a constant refrain of bigotry and the Trump campaign. And thats the true appeal of Trumpism.

Trump, alone among candidates for high office in this or in the last seven (at least) cycles, has stood up to say: I want to live. I want my party to live. I want my country to live. I want my people to live. I want to end the insanity.

And while Trump does have a long history of discrimination and trafficking in racist conspiracy theory, theres no evidence he actually has any love for anything other than himself.

Hes married immigrants. He hires them over citizens. He outsources anything he can put his name on.

But this is the real scam of strategic racism  the genuine prejudices both active and latent in our society get toyed with in order to serve an agenda that generally seeks to preserve corporate power. Investing it with the glory of the race or the country gives it a meaning that those playing the con mock with its puppeteering.

Paleo-conservatives like Publius oppose the mentality of Invade the World, Invite the World, much like Isolationists of old. But their bad choice of an analogy betrays the problem with their argument.

This election isnt Flight 93, when a group of brave and desperate Americans charged the cockpit.

Those brave patriots may have stopped the plane from hitting the Capitol but it didnt stop the ensuing and possibly never ending War on Terror that the Bush Administration launched in response to 9/11, when it had license from the nation to do almost anything. They saved a lot of lives at the cost of their own but history marched around this singular act of heroism.

If were going to be crude enough to use a 9/11 analogy, call this Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US Election.

Its a bit more apt and its always a public service to remind ourselves of the memo that warned President Bush of a likely attack on the homeland just 36 days before four planes were hijacked.

We were warned, pretty accurately. And were being warned again.

Trump has told us that he wants to summon extraordinary powers for the government. Weve seen how he has engaged a white nationalist populism that sees extreme measures as the only way to avoid the end of their country as they know it. We know that this is a man at war with all his perceived enemies who are, truly, just manifestations of his massive insecurities.

Technology means engagement with the world is inevitable. Terror means that it will always be fraught with risk.

Yes, we should prioritize American workers when it comes to trade, secure the border while we integrate the people already here and pull back as much as possible from wars around the world. But the the choice has been made for us: Isolation isnt feasible.

And it wouldnt be feasible under a President Trump. If we were hit the way we were during 9/11, do you think hed be able to keep himself from lashing out. And weve learned that any new war would likely lead to a new vacuum for more war.

Trumps insistence that we must state the enemy is radical Muslim terror, or whatever formulation theyre using this week, isnt a step back from the Invade the World mentality, nor is his constant Take the oil refrain.

But these conservatives can ignore that because Trump always frames his plans in terms of domination by the guys who should be doing the dominating. The allure of that has proven blinding to millions of Americans, many of whom would be the biggest victims of Trumps plans. And thats if things go well.

In 2001, after President Bush received the memo that warned of Al Qaedas plan, he reportedly told his briefer, Youve covered your ass, now.

Because thats the thing about warnings. Wed rather be oblivious.

[Image by Gage Skidmore | Flickr]
My colleagues, @LOLGOP and our founder and editor of @Eclectablog, Chris Savage, have done a tremendous job and public service in keeping us all up to date and providing both reasonable, rational truth and yes, even well reasoned opinion, as to why @realDonaldTrump would be a disaster as our president and Commander in Chief. And, to some degree, we do find ourselves preaching to the choir. That is not a bad thing in any way, and it is their hope, and mine as well, that you are both consuming this information AND sharing it. It matters.

As a matter of background, I have been involved in politics at every level of government for the past 30 years, 25 of those years as a radio talk show host focusing almost exclusively on politics, with a very Liberal bent. It is something I am proud of.

I have also been a candidate for office twice. In 2006 I ran against the now notorious and disgraced former Congressman Thaddeus McCotter and came very close to beating him. I had no institutional support and managed a respectable campaign in spite of that.

In 2012 I ran for the state House and was soundly defeated by a local guy who had a much stronger base than I anticipated. I had about every endorsement you can get, including all of the unions you can most likely name. Yet still I lost and had my ass handed to me. There is a good reason I mention this as it is part of my urgent message to you today. Ill get to that in a minute.

I have also, again by way of background, volunteered on so many campaigns that I have even forgot the names of some of the candidates I have helped. From presidential campaigns to local initiatives, I have been there for 30 years. Of course I have had some wins, lots of losses, and made amazing friends and critical connections throughout the years.

With that written, I have watched this presidential race from day one, even before Donald Trump, and watched with a bit of comic relief as Sen. Ted Cruz announced. Sen. Rand Paul. Sen. Marco Rubio, and yes, Jeb Bush, who waited forever so he could raise a disgusting amount of money that was wasted on his feeble effort to win the Republican nomination.

And then there was Trump. His announcement, coming down an escalator, hiring actors to be his cheering section, saying such outrageous and racist words that, like so many others in the media, thought his candidacy would last maybe a week.

We were more than just wrong, we were embarrassed, both by his words and our obvious collective misunderstanding of what would become his trademark appeal: saying whatever he wanted followed by the words BELIEVE ME!!!

Yes, many did, incredulously. They still do.

Some easy examples:

Im going to build a wall  believe me!

Muslims should be profiled  believe me

Hillary wants to eliminate the Second Amendment  believe me

Stop and frisk will reduce crime  believe me

Im worth in excess of $10 billion  believe me

The media is biased again me and hate me  believe me

No one knows tax laws better than I do  believe me

Hillary has no stamina  believe me

Alicia Machado was the worst Miss Universe ever and ate like a pig believe me

Are these hands small? Trust me there is nothing wrong you know where  believe me

I have given millions of dollars to Veterans groups  believe me

I have never done business with Cuba  believe me

I will renegotiate our national debt  believe me

I won the debate  believe me

And my favorite

I will bring Autoworker and Steelworker jobs back to this country  believe me

Well, not only do and should we NOT believe him, everything in the list about is factually wrong. Every single bullet point has been fact checked and proven to be false  believe me!

Of course as you are reading this you know of hundreds, if not thousands of examples, that I didnt mention, as do I. So, the question is not whether or not we should believe Donald Trump, as any reasonable and educated person already knows, we should and do not. The real question is why DO people believe him?

I dont have that answer, but I do have the solution. Hang tight just one more minute.

The mission, if you accept it, is to TEACH the casual voter, the person that votes party line because it is the way they have been programmed. You know, the voter who doesnt pay attention until a few weeks before an election and then cherry picks the information that makes their decision easier. You know, the voter who NEVER votes down ballot because they are in a hurry and dont realize that non-partisan races matter, or that local and state initiatives matter a great deal. They dont have time or simply dont give a damn.

That is true for both Republicans and Democrats.

Will you accept this assignment or meld into the background and hope that voters do the right thing? Our collective mission is clear, right?

OK, so back to my message earlier about having my ass handed to me in my House race in 2012 and the foundational reason I am writing this.

I lost for one simple reason. Yes, I didnt get enough votes, and I can trace why because voting data exists. But mainly I lost because the union families who lived in my district voted at a clip of a whopping 4%. Had 20% voted, not an unreasonable number, I would be State Representative Trupiano right now. But I am not.

A few weeks back I was honored to be the host of the Canton Democratic Club annual fundraiser for their endorsed candidates. I was given the opportunity to give a ten-minute speech at the end and this is the message I shared.

The reason that Republicans win isnt because they have more money, or even because of the heinous gerrymandering that they were the architects of. Its not because they have better candidates or that they run better campaigns. In fact the opposite is true.

The answer is that it is because of a simplest of things. Ready?

More Republican voters vote than Democratic voters. Yes, that really is the reason.

Even in districts where it seems impossible for a Democrat to win, the self-fulfilling prophecy is so ingrained in the dialogue that we dont even go vote, and that hurts us all.

Do you really get that? Do you?

We have scant little time to engage, inform, and motivate registered voters to actually vote and even less time to register those who are not registered immediately.

This is not an overly simplistic solution to what ails us politically. This is not about Crooked Hillary and the memes that have become true by extension of the words I have learned to hate  and I do now hate them with every cell in my brain  but I also know, with those same cells, that if we vote, we win.

Believe me!

[Trump with Constitution image courtesy of the Michigan Democratic Party]
Google Fiber this week began reaching its tentacles into North Carolinas Research Triangle, a move that seems to contradict the gloom-and-doom rumors of layoffs and low consumer interest.

Coming soon to the Triangle and starting to connect homes and businesses in Morrisville: https://t.co/M2rdOATtuJ pic.twitter.com/18bbt4nqgB

 Google Fiber (@googlefiber) September 13, 2016

The Triangle is Google Fibers eighth incursion. Its already available in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; Provo, Utah; and Salt Lake City.

The North Carolina activity may alleviate some of the doubts over Google Fibers direction, which mushroomed several months ago, when the company acquired Webpass.

Experimenting With Wireless

Google executives last month filed an Experimental Radio Service License that would allow the company to offer wireless high-speed service in up to 24 U.S. cities, including a number of California cities and towns: Atwater, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Bruno, San Francisco and San Jose. In addition, they are seeking permission to test wireless in Boulder, Colorado; Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Raleigh, North Carolina; Provo, Utah; and Reston, Virginia.

The few portions of the application that have not been redacted include detailed explanations of Googles plans to conduct radio experiments in support of Citizens Broadband Radio Service technologies, using experimental transmitters. The authorization would last up to 24 months, according to the filing.

The overarching concern regarding the granting of an experimental license is whether it will interfere with the operation of authorized devices and services, explained FCC spokesperson Mark Wigfield.

Therefore, an experimental license will be coordinated with those responsible for all potentially affected stakeholders, he told the E-Commerce Times, such as other bureaus within the FCC.

In this coordination process, an experimental license can be accepted as is, be modified to prevent interference, or be rejected, Wigfield noted. If approved, an experimental licensee must accept any interference from other parties, and must immediately stop operations if a complaint of interference is made.

Shifting Focus

Google Fiber acquired Webpass in a bid to accelerate its buildout of ultra-high speed broadband access, after struggling for years to gain access to local markets dominated by rival broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and others.

Webpass provides high-speed service to thousands of customers in the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Miami and some surrounding areas, with speeds up to 1000 Mbps. The announcement of the acquisition came after months of controversy surrounding Goodles attempts to access telephone poles in the Bay area, beyond its existing service at Stanford University.

The shift toward wireless broadband makes sense, given the inherent difficulty of breaking through incumbent dominance to gain access to the infrastructure required for competitive broadband service in metropolitan areas, observed broadband analyst Craig Settles.

Googles decision to put chips in the wireless game seems to have taken some folks in the industry by surprise  but why? Those of us involved in municipal broadband since the Philadelphia wireless days know that wireless is cheaper and faster to deploy, especially in urban areas, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Google has long said that ease of deployment  essentially the ability to access telephone poles  was a key driver in the deployment of Google Fiber, Settles noted. What the industry has been waiting for is the innovation necessary to allow gigabyte-level speeds for fixed wireless service.

Despite the promise of wireless broadband, its unlikely to make a major dent in solving the rural access problem, according to Christopher Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

Google acquired Webpass, which uses both wireless and fiber, to connect buildings, he told the E-Commerce Times. I dont know that this is a good solution for single-family homes.
Facebook on Monday announced Marketplace, a new mobile app that facilitates buying and selling between peers.

Marketplace allows members of a community to discover, buy and sell items, noted Facebook Product Management Director Mary Ku.

The service is scheduled for rollout this week in the United States, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Users can access Marketplace by tapping a shopping icon at the bottom of the Facebook mobile app.

The opening screen displays photos of items for sale by people who live in a user-defined geographic area. Tapping an image will reveal more details about the item: product description, name and profile picture of seller, and location. Items can be saved for later reference.

If youre interested in an item, you can let a seller know by sending a direct message via Marketplace. After that, youre on your own. Facebook does not facilitate payment or delivery of Marketplace purchases.

Slick UI for Selling

A slick user interface makes it easy to post items for sale on Marketplace.

You take a photo of what youre selling or import an image of it from your camera roll. Add a product name, description and price. Confirm your location, pick a category for the item, and post to Marketplace.

As you post to Marketplace, you can choose to have your item posted simultaneously to a buy and sell group on Facebook.

Marketplace includes a Your Items section so you can keep tabs on items youve saved, those youve posted for sale, and communications with others on Marketplace.

Only Facebook users who are over 18 years old will be able to use Marketplace, which will be available for both iOS and Android phones. A desktop version of Marketplace will be offered in the coming months, according to Ku.

Improved Advertising Platform

The addition of Marketplace is part of Facebooks larger marketing strategy.

Facebook is trying to cover as much of the digital ecosystem with marketing as they can, said Michael Inouye, a principal analyst at ABI Research.

The more people that use their service, the greater the opportunity to get eyes, which gives them ad revenues, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Increased ad revenues is just one of the benefits Marketplace can provide Facebook, noted Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

Marketplace users will be adding extremely specific information to Facebooks database on them  the types of items theyre pondering and purchasing, the prices and offers that move them to act and more, he told the E-Commerce Times.

While businesses cant target individual shoppers with offers based on their Marketplace behavior, Facebook can still likely find ways to use that information to enhance its services, both to users and to its advertisers, Caporaso said.

Creepy Craigslist

Just as importantly, the app gives Facebook immediate access into mobile commerce, which is growing more quickly than e-commerce as a whole Caporaso added. Beyond that, while its not making a penny off of sales now, Facebook can still monetize Marketplace sales in the future.

With the launch of Marketplace, Facebook is heating up competition in the consumer-to-consumer sales market where Craigslist and eBay hold dominant positions.

I think Marketplace primarily threatens Craigslist, as the service seems creepy at times with stories of people selling sex and losing their lives after showing up for an exchange, said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

None of that may be true, but its the perception, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Better Digital Citizens

While buyers and sellers on Craigslist know little about each other, Marketplace participants can gain knowledge about who theyre doing business with through their Facebook pages.

Whats more, sellers are likely to be more careful about their behavior in Marketplace than in other online bazaars.

Sellers are going to feel compelled to be more honest and forthright because their activity is attached to their account, ABIs Inouye said. You dont want your friends to see that youve been doing bad, shady things.

Theres more incentive to be an outstanding digital citizen, he added.

Battling Mobile Apps

Craigslists approach to mobile could both hurt and help it in competition with Marketplace, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

The fact that Marketplace is integrated into the Facebook mobile app is significantly different from Craigslist, which prefers to employ third-party app developers for mobile solutions, he told the E-Commerce Times.

That should allow Facebook to create a more seamless, visually rich experience, but mobile users will also be subjected to Facebook ads and other intrusions. Thats a significant negative, given Craigslists long resistance to cluttering its service with ads, King noted.

Many longtime Craigslist users also prefer the sites elegant, easy to navigate UI, he added. In comparison, Facebook Market is likely to be as elegant as a visit to Times Square.

Poaching eBay

With its emphasis on community buying and selling, it might appear that Marketplace is more of a threat to Craigslist than to eBay, but King doesnt think so.

I believe its more of a threat to eBay than Craigslist  at least in the short term, he said.

Thats because of Craigslists ability to seamlessly support local, ephemeral or one-time sales of goods, King explained. If you have a used car, computer or baby carriage to unload, Craigslist is a terrific option, but if youre using online sales as a second job or to create additional income, eBay  and now Marketplace  are probably better options.

eBay is in a better position to defend itself from Marketplace than Craigslist, suggested Clarus Caporaso.

eBay is an established leader in this field, with a mobile app of its own, he said, and its unlikely to sit idly by while Facebook poaches its audience.

Craigslist did not respond to our request to comment for this story.
Federal authorities last week launched a probe of a suspected cyberattack that targeted the private Gmail account of a White House staffer.

The employees correspondence turned up on the DCleaks hacktivist site, which earlier this month posted the private emails of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The latest dump involves the private account of White House staffer Ian Mellul, whose personal emails were published on the DCleaks Twitter account and website, along with the claim that they represented just part of a trove of correspondence from February 2015 through June of this year.

Melluls job entails coordination with the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement regarding the official travel of First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, according to DCleaks.

He reportedly also does work for the presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose operations repeatedly have been targeted in recent months.

First Ladys Passport

The posted emails include a range of mundane correspondence involving White House tours, various official trips, invoices and other discussions with the Clinton campaign and government officials.

More troubling is the sites posting of what it claims is the first ladys open passport. It is not clear why that image would be in the staffers Gmail account.

The Secret Service is aware of the alleged email hacking of a White House staffer, spokesperson Cathy Milhoan told TechNewsWorld. The Secret Service is concerned any time unauthorized information that might pertain to one of the individuals we protect, or our operation, is allegedly disclosed.

However, the agency does not disclose information on investigations as a matter of policy, she added.

Powell Leak

DCleaks earlier this month published a highly publicized trove of email correspondence from Powell, including some colorful commentary about Hillary Clinton and her presidential rival Donald Trump. It also includes some of Powells remarks about his advice to Clinton concerning email practices after she became secretary of state in 2009.

In the latest breach, the targeting of a low-level staffer is not by happenstance. Its likely a targeted move to access proprietary government information through a back door.

This shouldnt be considered a breach, but rather an attack, said Christopher Budd, global threat communications manager at Trend Micro.

The information around this indicates that this is a single, personal email account that has been compromised, he told TechNewsWorld.

The fact that the hackers targeted the personal account of the White House staffer may be an indication that they were unable to penetrate the official government email accounts at the White House, Budd argued.

Targeting private accounts is a classic tactic used by cyberespionage groups in island-hopping attacks, he pointed out. The tactic involves going after private emails in order to breach government accounts and systems through well-crafted spear phishing campaigns.

Influence Peddling?

DCleaks is a Russian-based influence outlet, according to ThreatConnect.

Guccifer 2.0 used DCleaks as a vehicle to dump emails obtained from the hacked Hillary Clinton campaign staffer, according to the firm.

Further, DCLeaks hosted a group of compromised emails from the account of Billy Rinehart Jr., a former United Nations Foundation official and regional director of the DNC, whose email was compromised in a similar fashion using tactics associated with Fancy Bear, ThreatConnect said.

Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike previously linked Fancy bear and Cozy Bear to the hacker networks that targeted the Democratic National Committee earlier this year. Russian officials repeatedly hav edenied any connection to cyberattacks on the DNC, Clinton campaign or other agencies related to the election.
HAMBURG  By 2020 half of all textiles purchased by the German Government will be from sustainable production sources  that was the welcome message of Helmut Fischer, head of division for sustainable standards with Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Mr Fischer made the announcement at this year's annual Textile Exchange sustainability conference which, after a raft of late sign-ups, confirmed that an impressive 375 delegates were in attendance at this year's event. Ecotextile News reports from Hamburg.
Mexicos unique and treasured native corn varieties could be under threat as Monsanto, the worlds largest seed producer, vies to plant genetically modified (GMO) corn in the country.

In August 2015, a Mexican judged overturned a September 2013 ban on GMO corn, thus opening more business opportunities for Monsanto and other agribusinesses pending favorable later court decisions. Monsanto even announced in October 2015 that it was seeking to double its sales in the country over the next five years.

Chef Pancho Ibanez of Mexico City-based restaurant Pujol. He joins roughly 80 other Mexican chefs who are speaking out against GMO corn. Photo credit: Financial Times

The GMO corn ban remains pending a ruling on the appeal, but a final decision could end up in Mexicos supreme court.

Monsanto, which is seeking five permits to grow GMO corn in five areas in northern Mexico, touts that the bioengineered crop is a ticket out of poverty for small farmers since the crops purportedly result in higher yields and profits, the Financial Times reported.

Its incredible that we are not giving [small farmers] the option to cross the poverty line, Monsantos chief executive for northern Latin America, Manuel Bravo told the publication.

He added that the controversial multinational company has trouble communicating its message.

Were the company that employs the most PhDs in the world after NASA. Were good at talking to Petri dishes, but we were no good at communicating, Bravo said.

However, community advocates and chefs warn that Mexicos 59 indigenous corn varieties could be under threat by GMOs. As you can see in this video from the Financial Times, the countrys most noted chefs are speaking out against a possible takeover. Roughly 80 other Mexican chefs have also joined the fight against GMO corn.

If we allow all these varieties of corn to be lost, well lose part of our identity, said Chef Pancho Ibanez of the world-renowned Pujol in Mexico City. Its as if we were cutting of our feet, cutting off the roots of a tree. Its something that could seem so simple, so basic but its our past, present and future.

According to Rabobank, the prominent Netherlands-based food and agribusiness banking company, Mexico is second largest importer of corn in the world, as well as the sixth largest producer and the sixth largest consumer of corn in the world.

Additionally, the bank said, Mexico has two different corn markets: one for white corn (mainly for human consumption) and the other for yellow corn (mainly for animal feed).

Mexico imports its yellow corn from the U.S., and since 90 percent of U.S. corn is grown from Monsantos genetically modified seeds, this mean Monsanto is inadvertently dominating Mexicos yellow corn market.

EcoWatch reported in November that a staunch anti-GMO movement has swelled in the country in order to preserve the unique biodiversity of Mexicos staple crop. As the World Watch Institute wrote:

For years, scientists and environmental activists have been warning the Mexican government that GMOs in imported corn could harm Mexicos exceptionally rich biological and cultural diversity. The known risks of GMOs include the creation of hard-to-control weedy relatives of crops through crop-to-wild hybridization, the development of insect pests or weeds that are resistant to the chemicals used with GMO crops, and the unintentional poisoning of beneficial insects and non-target species.

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By Carey Gillam

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is quietly starting to test U.S. foods for traces of glyphosate, has found residues of the cancer-linked pesticide in a variety of oat products, including plain and flavored oat cereals for babies.

Data compiled by an FDA chemist and presented to other chemists at a meeting in July in Florida showed residues of glyphosate in several types of infant oat cereal, including banana strawberry- and banana-flavored varieties. Glyphosate was also detected in cinnamon spice instant oatmeal, maple brown sugar instant oatmeal and peach and cream instant oatmeal products. In the sample results shared in the presentation, levels ranged from nothing detected in several organic oat products to 1.67 parts per million in non-organic varieties.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsantos Roundup, the most heavily used weed killer in the world. Concerns about glyphosate residues in food spiked after the World Health Organization in 2015 said a team of international cancer experts determined glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen . Other scientists have raised concerns about how heavy use of glyphosate is impacting human health and the environment.

The EPA maintains that the chemical is not likely to cause cancer, and has established tolerance levels for glyphosate residues in oats and many other foods. The levels found by the FDA in oats fall within those allowed tolerances, which for oats is set by the EPA at 30 ppm. In the European Union, the tolerance for glyphosate in oats is 20 ppm.

Monsanto, which derives close to a third of its $15 billion in annual revenues from glyphosate-based products, has helped guide the EPA in setting tolerance levels for glyphosate in food, and in 2013 requested and received higher tolerances for many foods. The company has developed genetically engineered crops designed to be sprayed directly with glyphosate. Corn, soybeans, canola and sugar beets are genetically engineered to withstand being sprayed with glyphosate.

Oats are not genetically engineered. But Monsanto has encouraged farmers to spray oats and other non-genetically modified crops directly with its glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide shortly before harvest. The practice can help dry down and even out the maturity of the crop.

A preharvest weed control application is an excellent management strategy to not only control perennial weeds, but to facilitate harvest management and get a head start on next years crop, Monsantos pre-harvest staging guide says.

In Canada, which is among the worlds largest oat producers and is a major supplier of oats to the U.S., Monsanto marketing materials tout the benefits of glyphosate on oat fields: Pre-harvest application of Roundup WeatherMAX and Roundup Transorb HC are registered for application on all oat varietiesincluding milling oats destined for human consumption.

Glyphosate is also used by U.S. oat farmers. The EPA estimates that about 100,000 pounds of glyphosate are used annually in production of U.S. oats.

Glyphosate is also used on wheat shortly before harvest. A division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as the Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has been testing wheat for glyphosate residues for years for export purposes and have detected the residues in more than 40 percent of hundreds of wheat samples examined in fiscal 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Even though the FDA annually examines foods for residues of many other types of pesticides, it has skipped testing for glyphosate residues for decades. It was only in February of this year that the agency said it would start some glyphosate residue analysis. That came after many independent researchers started conducting their own testing and found glyphosate in an array of food products, including flour, cereal and oatmeal.

Monsanto and U.S. regulators have said glyphosate levels in food are too low to translate to any health problems in humans. But critics say such assurances are meaningless unless the government actually routinely measures those levels as it does with other pesticides.

And some do not believe any level of glyphosate is safe in food. Earlier this year, Taiwan recalled more than 130,000 pounds of oat supplies after detecting glyphosate residues.

And, San Francisco resident Danielle Cooper filed a lawsuit in May 2016 seeking class action status against the Quaker Oats Co. after glyphosate residues were found in that companys oat products, which are used by millions of consumers. Cooper said she expected the oat products, which have been labeled as 100% Natural, to be pesticide free. Glyphosate is a dangerous substance, the presence and dangers of which should be disclosed, the lawsuit states.

Quaker Oats has said any trace amounts of glyphosate found in its products are safe, and it stands by the quality of its products.

Quaker Oats Accused of Being 'Deceptive and Misleading' After Glyphosate Detected in Oatmeal https://t.co/CtZ7HW7ifb @pesticideaction  EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) May 3, 2016

EPA, FDA Drop the Ball on Honey

In addition to oats, the FDA tested earlier this year samples of U.S. honey for glyphosate residues and found all of the samples contained glyphosate, and some of the honey showed residue levels double the limit allowed in the European Union, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. There is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the U.S., so any amount is problematic legally.

Despite internal discussions about a need to pursue action after the honey findings in January, the FDA did not notify the honey companies involved that their products were found to be contaminated with glyphosate residues, nor did it notify the public.

The FDA has also tested corn, soy, eggs and milk in recent months, and has not found any levels that exceed legal tolerance.

These preliminary results showed no pesticide residue violations for glyphosate in all four commodities tested, FDA spokeswoman Megan McSeveney said. However, the special assignment is ongoing and all results must go through the FDAs quality control process to be verified. The tests on honey were not considered part of the official special assignment.

Dr. Narong Chamkasem, an FDA research chemist based in Atlanta, tested 19 samples of honey as part of a research project that he individually conducted.

The glyphosate residue testing by the FDA may be headed for a slowdown. Sources say there is talk of closing the FDAs Atlanta laboratory that has conducted the pesticide residue tests and shifting the work to other facilities around the country. The FDA would not comment on this.

Both European and U.S. regulators are evaluating glyphosate impacts for risks to humans and the environment. The EPA is holding four days of meetings in mid-October with an advisory panel to discuss cancer research pertaining to glyphosate, and debate is ongoing over whether or not the team of international scientists who last year declared it a probable human carcinogen were right nor not.

Aaron Blair, the chairman of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group that classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans, said that the science on glyphosate is still evolving. He said that it is common for it to take years, sometimes decades, for industry and regulators to accept certain research findings and for scientists to reach consensus. He likened glyphosate to formaldehyde, which many years ago was also classified by IARC as probably carcinogenic to humans before it was later accepted to be carcinogenic.

There is not a single example of IARC being wrong, showing something is a probable carcinogen and then later it is proven not to be, Blair said.

Carey Gillam is the research director for U.S. Right to Know.
 Flash

An Asian woman walking her dogs with her partner on Sydney's lower north shore has been abused and bashed in an unprovoked and possibly racially-motivated attack.

New South Wales police said in a statement on Tuesday that a 26-year-old woman and her 29-year-old partner left their Mosman home on Monday night to walk their dogs.

Just after 23:00 local time (AEST), while they were walking their dogs in Sydney's Glover Street the couple noticed a man on the other side of the road calling out to them.

"There is a possibility it's racial abuse but we haven't had a chance to talk to the victim yet as she is in hospital," Detective Chief Inspector Craig Thorpe told Fairfax Media.

The man, who was not known to the couple, then crossed the road and allegedly pushed the 29-year-old woman before head-butting her.

She fell to the ground while the man began walking away and crossed the street.

The woman managed to get to her feet and followed her alleged attacker.

Another confrontation occurred, with the man allegedly punching the woman in the face a number of times before leaving again.

Local police and the dog squad were called in to help find the man, who was arrested after leaving his Mosman home not long after.

The victim was taken to hospital suffering a fractured eye socket and remained there until Tuesday.

Thorpe said the alleged attack was "totally unprovoked."

"There is no relationship between them whatsoever," Thorpe said. "He is a local man and for whatever reason an assault has occurred."

"She has some severe face injuries. I don't know if she is going to have surgery or not but it is definitely a consideration," he said.

While police are yet to get a formal statement from the victim in hospital, initial versions suggest the abuse was racial.

The 34-year-old man, who hasn't come to the attention of police before, spent the night at North Sydney Police Station.

He has been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm and common assault and is due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.
During an hour-long sit down about climate change at the inaugural South by South Lawn (SXSL) with President Obama and leading climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe on Monday, Leonardo DiCaprio made a clear dig at climate change deniers.

The scientific consensus is in, and the argument is now over, the Revenant actor and environmental activist said in his opening remarks. If you do not believe in climate change you do not believe in facts or science or empirical truths, and therefore in my opinion, you should not be allowed to hold public office.

"Lift up the power and the values that are embodied in conservation." @POTUS on combating climate change #SXSL https://t.co/o7auDc5h8i  White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) October 4, 2016

Even though DiCaprio did not name names, the comment has been interpreted as an attack on Donald Trump, who believes climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese (even though the Republican presidential candidate denied what he actually said at last weeks presidential debate).

The Oscar winner was at the White House to promote his new Fisher Stevens-directed documentary Before the Flood, which highlights the perils of a warming planet.

As The Guardian observed, Stevens said he plans to screen the film at college campuses and swing states such as Florida, where Marco Rubio is running for his Senate seat again.

Rubio is a climate change denier, and we want to get these deniers out of Congress, to make them understand the Paris [climate] accords are important and that we need to do more, Stevens said.

Leonardo DiCaprio: 'Vote For Leaders Who Understand the Science and Urgency of Climate Change' https://t.co/zKjFBTkP9x @wattsupwiththat  EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) July 30, 2016

Back at the SXSL stage, DiCaprio pressed the president to grade the global response on climate change thus far. While Obama said he was hopeful about some progress such as the Paris Agreement, more fuel-efficient cars and investment in clean energy, Obama warned that obstructionist politics are an obstacle in combating rising emissions.

Climate change is happening even faster than five years ago or 10 years ago, Obama said. What were seeing is the pessimistic end of what was possible, the ranges that had been discerned or anticipated by scientists, which means were really in a race against time. We cant put up with climate denial or obstructionist politics for very long, if we want to leave for the next generation beautiful days like today.

Obama also said that the likelihood of an immediate carbon tax to force businesses to curb emissions is a ways away.

Its frustrating because the science tells us we dont have time to compromise, but if we want to get anything done we have to take peoples current views into account, he said.

President Barack Obama, scientist Katharine Hayhoe and Leonardo DiCaprio on the South Lawn of the White House White House screen grab

DiCaprio asked Hayhoe to name the most urgent threats facing modern-day civilization.

We think of poverty, hunger and disease and people dying today from preventable causes that nobody should be dying from in 2016, Hayhoe said. We think to ourselves climate change, we can deal with that later. We can no longer afford to deal with climate change later.

On average every year 200,000 people die from air pollution from burning fossil fuels, in the U.S. alone, Hayhoe said. Air pollution alone gives us all the reason we need to shift toward clean energy, let alone climate change.

Hayhoe suggested that a way of reaching climate skeptics is to connect this issue to whats already in our hearts.

While climate change is a highly politicized issue, Obama said that people across the political spectrum must agree that tackling global warming is important for our future.

There are many entry points into this issue, and we have to use all of them to get people to care about this, Obama said. But at the end of the day, everyone cares about their kids and grandkids and the kind of world we pass on to them.

Before the Flood will air on the National Geographic Channel globally in 171 countries and 45 languages on Oct. 30.

Looking forward to screening #BeforeTheFlood today at #SXSL. Watch the trailer here. pic.twitter.com/myPqJRBggR  Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) October 3, 2016

DiCaprio said at SXSL that he was purposely releasing the documentary before the November election to highlight the political importance of the issue.

Watch the entire SXSL here (starts at 38:20):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbgM8Ksq4kc
By Willy Blackmore

Much of what remains of the once vast American prairie can be found in the rolling Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma. There, the rocky soils managed to halt the plows of pioneering farmers who were pushed West by manifest destiny, on the hunt for new land to turn over and farm.

Prairie in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, is in the mixed grasslands region. Wing-Chi Poon

There was once more than 170 million acres of tallgrass prairie in North America, a grassland ecosystem that blanketed the Midwestfrom Texas all the way up into Canada and extending from Kansas to Indiana. Today, just 4 percent of the landscape that defined the middle of the country persists. Even the deep topsoilcreated by roots that reached farther down into the dirt than the head-high blades of big bluestem, indiangrass, and switchgrassthat made prairie states into agricultural powerhouses is dwindling.

Not far from a stretch of land where a swath of native prairie still grows, and about an hour-and-a-halfs drive from the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, sits the Land Institute of Salina, Kansas. The sustainable agriculture nonprofit and research center has for decades been working on a project that could revert the more than 200 million acres of U.S. land on which corn, soy, and wheat are grown into something resembling the prairie those crops helped displace.

Wes Jackson, who founded the institute in 1976, had a simple enough idea: Instead of growing staples as annuals, planted and harvested every year, why not develop perennials like the wild grasses found in the prairie into food crops? Not only would such a crop only need to be planted once, but its roots would hold down topsoil, capture carbon, and require fewer chemical inputs and water. If multiple perennial crops were planted together, they could sustain each other much like a wild ecosystem does, requiring little in the way of farming as we think of it.

NOAA: Carbon Dioxide Levels Exploded in 2015, Highest Seen Since End of Ice Age https://t.co/KSL5LzHHos (via @EcoWatch)  Sierra Club (@SierraClub) March 11, 2016

Its a notion that has inspired generations of food-loving environmentalistsfrom Wendell Berry, a friend of Jacksons, to contemporaries like Mark Bittman and the founders of San Franciscos climate-focused restaurant The Perennial. While that speaks partly to the appeal of the idea, it also highlights the slow nature of the work: The institute has spent decades domesticating and improving plants like intermediate wheatgrass, a distant cousin of modern wheat that grows wild in Europe and Asia, and slowly bulking up the kernels from just a few milligrams into the double-digit range, creeping closer to modern wheat.

When the Land Institute was opened, Jackson said that it would take between 50 and 100 years to develop a perennial polyculture, in which many long-lived food crops could be grown in symbiosis. In 2012, Jackson told The New York Times that kernza, as the grain the Land Institute developed from intermediate wheatgrass is known, might be released to farmers working with ecologists and agronomists in eight or nine years.

But two years ago, the Land Institute quietly passed a significant milestone: A small co-op in northwestern Minnesota planted 50 acres of kernza for commercial production, followed by another 75 acres that will be harvested for the first time next summer. On Monday, Patagonia Provisions released the first-ever retail product made with the grain the company calls a superwheat: a beer called Long Root Ale.

https://vimeo.com/184391007



Launched in 2014, the outdoor gear companys food division is an extension of its long-standing conservation work, as Birgit Cameron, Patagonia Provisions director, explained.

Since agriculture, as it relates to food, is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, we couldnt stay away from this issue, she said.

A Solution Under Our Feet: How Regenerative Organic Agriculture Can Save the Planet http://t.co/GfgSnL7pcd @ecowatch pic.twitter.com/86u59sGZmX  FoodTank (@foodtank) January 9, 2015

For the company to make a food product, it has to have a really deep reason for being, according to Cameron, and one that often goes beyond a designation like organic or other familiar sustainability measures. The precooked, shelf-stable sockeye salmon Patagonia Provisions sells, for example, is caught in reef nets off Washington States Lummis Islanda sustainable practice used for centuries by Native American tribes and supported by the company so we can have salmon for the future. Patagonias bison jerky is about saving the prairie, Cameron said, and is made from the meat of buffalo that graze on 50,000 acres of restored grasslands.

https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/778632854230228992 in one year. Hopefully this grows into tens of thousands of acres at some point.



Grasses define tallgrass prairie both in name and in biodiversity: The landscape is composed of as many as 60 grass species that account for 80 percent of the foliage. But theres a reason why vast sprays of wildflowers blaze across the Flint Hills every summer. The prairie is considered one of the most diverse and complicated ecosystems in the worldright up there with the Amazonian rainforest. Any farming system that aspires to replicate it cannot start and end with one plant species.

A perennial monoculture, say, of kernza would be an improvement over commercial, annual wheat production, Allegrucci said. But its not near where we need to get or where we want to get. Its the polyculture bit that delivers the huge long-term ecological benefits in terms of climate and water quality and soil erosion too.

Thanks to the progress thats been made on kernza, the grain has become nearly synonymous with the Land Instituteand that could become evermore the case with Long Root available in stores and other kernza products from Patagonia and others to follow. But as Allegrucci said, the Land Institute is more than kernza.

Kernza Patagonia Provisions

Were not tweaking a system of agriculture; were displacing it, he explained. Not the Land Institute on its own, but the growing network of farmers, students, researchers, chefs, and plant breeders engaged with the work.

Its like cribbing the Green Revolution for natural systems agriculture. Its doing the Green Revolution green. And thats not just going to be a set of plants or a set of gene tweakshowever fascinating or productive as they are. Were talking about re-envisioning what agriculture means to us as a people. And we cant do that on our ownbut were kind of trying to provide the hardware for it.

That hardware will take the form of other crops developed by the Land Institute: grains, pulses, and oilseed, generally speaking, which account for fully three-quarters of the worlds caloric intake, as Allegrucci noted. Not only do those cropswhether wild prairie sunflowers domesticated for oilseed production or perennialized sorghum and riceneed to be bred and improved, but work needs to be done to determine how they can successfully be grown in concert.

How do we develop systems where this plant can grow with other plants, Allegrucci asked, where they can provide services to one and another? Pulses can fertilize grains by fixing nitrogen in the soil; the deep roots of grains can help hold soil moisture for more shallow-rooted crops. When that kind of agriculture ecosystem is viable for commercial production like kernza is just beginning to be, thats where the real perennial benefits come in.

How the World's Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change https://t.co/jKNuiVMEnW @ClimateDesk @worldresources  EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) July 6, 2016

But getting kernza out to farmers like Richard Magnusson, and products like Long Root into stores, is a significant step in that direction, even if a truly prairie-like farm is still decades away.

We cant just stay in Salina and continue breeding obscure crop plants that people havent yet heard of and all of a sudden bust out a commodity economy, Allegrucci said.

But, like Magnusson, he and others at the Land Institute hope that those 175 acres of kernza grow exponentiallyand that countless acres of prairie-like farms someday follow.

Reposted with permission from our media associate TakePart.
(Photo: REUTERS / Sergio Moraes)People from the Baha'i religious community pose for a picture next to a giant painting created by Brazilian artist Siron Franco, as part of the "Five Years Too Many" protest campaign marking the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of seven Iranian Baha'i leaders, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro May 5, 2013. The image represents that "Human beings should be free as birds," according to the artist. The Baha'i community in Brazil is protesting against the 2008 arrest of seven leaders of their religion in Iran for espionage, propaganda against the Islamic republic and the establishment of an illegal administration among other things, according to the organizers.

Five members of the European Parliament have joined in a call for the immediate release of seven imprisoned former Iranian Baha'i leaders saying that it "unjust" and "unacceptable" religious persecution.

The five MEP represent a wide range of political parties in the European parliament and joined a call made by Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian human rights lawyer.

The MEPs are: Cornelia Ernst who represents Germany's Die Linke party, Ana Gomes from Portugal's Socialist Party, Tunne Kelam a Christian Democrat from Estonia, Andrew Lewer, of the UK Conservative Party and Julie Ward of the UK Labour Party.

They made video statements as part of a global campaign to call attention in May to the seventh anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of the seven Baha'is, collectively known as the Yaran - the friends.

"We join this appeal for their immediate, unconditional release," said . Kelam, "because no country can claim that it has normal conditions for its citizens when a part of their citizens - some minority - is being persecuted systemically and so cruelly."

Gomes said: "It is really quite unacceptable that these Iranian citizens, who do not want more than to actually serve their country, their people, in service to the very peaceful teachings of the Baha'I faith, be in prison and be charged with accusations that are totally baseless."

Briton Ward said that it is "very difficult to understand why the Iranian regime would be so aggressive and so cruel" towards its Baha'i citizens, who represent a faith of "peace, humanity, gender equality and fairness".

Lewer also from the UK said Iran should be held accountable for its human rights violations generally, and particularly for its persecution of Baha'is.

"With so much attention on Iran at the moment because of the nuclear talks," he said, "I think it is important that these issues are not overlooked.

"Human rights and religious freedom should remain something that we stay concerned about even as we make progress, possibly, with Iran in other areas," said Lewer.

Ernst said: "We are strictly against the fact that individuals such as the Baha'is are being imprisoned because they speak in favour of the right for education or because they support the right to practice their religion.

"This is something that is absolutely unacceptable," she said.

Rachel Bayani, representative of the Baha'i International Community's Regional Office to the European Union, said the videos reflect the sincere concerns of European Parliament over Iran's treatment of Baha'is.

"These statements are a powerful expression of solidarity of the representatives of the people of Europe towards the people of Iran," said Bayani.

Reported as one of the fastest growing religions across the globe, the Baha'i faith is a monotheistic religion underscoring the spiritual unity of mankind. It teaches that there is only one God and one human race.

It has a religious background in Shi'a Islam.

One of the youngest of the world's independent religions, the faith was founded by Baha'u'llah, a Persian nobleman from Tehran, in 19th century Persia. It claims more than five million followers across the world.

In 2010, the seven, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm, were tried and convicted on charges of "espionage" and "spreading propaganda against the regime."

They are wrong and false accusations said the Baha'i statement. They were sentenced to 20 years in prison, the longest term of any current prisoners of conscience in Iran.
(UN Photo / Yubi Hoffmann)Heiner Bielefeldt, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, briefs the press at the United Nations in New York on 24 October 2014.

GENEVA  It is not only Christians who face persecution in some countries in the Middle East, as human rights organizations have said recently at the United Nations.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, has called on the authorities in Yemen to put an end to the systematic harassment of the Baha'i population in the country.

Bielefeldt said Oct. 4 the harassment includes arbitrary arrests and detentions and he called for the release of three leaders of the Baha'i Yemeni community detained over two months ago.

"No one should be persecuted based on their religion or belief and neither should they be targeted when belonging to religious minorities," the human rights expert said.

"Random arrests, detentions, raids of their homes and offices as well as confiscation of electronic devices and significant sum of money are simply unacceptable."

Of Yemen's population of some 27 million just over 99 percent are Muslims of whom it is estimated that 65 percent are Sunni and 35 percent are Shia.

"The Yemeni authorities should also immediately release all detained Baha'is who seem to be targeted based on their religion," said Bielefeldt.

He recalled the cases of Nadim Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf, Nader Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf and Kaiwan Mohamed Ali Qadri, imprisoned since Aug. 10.

The three Baha'i leaders were detained following a mass arrest of 60 Baha'is and non-Baha'is across the country at a nine-day event of moral and educational youth programmes in Jud Organization building in Sana'a.

Most of the arrested people were subsequently released but them.

"Any arrest or detention based on the exercise of the freedom of religion is arbitrary," the Special Rapporteur underscored. "It is worrying to learn that these arrests were allegedly instructed by the prosecutor in the country."

'UNLOCK THE BAHA'I CENTER'

"The authorities must also unlock the Baha'i center and allow the Baha'is to access it," he said. "Persons belonging to religious minorities, including members of the Baha'is, must be ensured their rights to freedom of religion and belief."

The human rights expert also drew attention to the case of Hamid Kamali Bin Haydara arrested in 2013, who remains incarcerated in the National Security Prison for "compromising the independence of the Republic of Yemen."

That offense includes spreading the Baha'i faith in the Republic of Yemen. His trial has been postponed on numerous occasions up till September 2016.

"I remain concerned that the due process for Mr. Kamali's case has fallen below the fair trial standards as guaranteed by international human rights law," said Bielefeldt while stressing that Kamali is suffering from serious health conditions that require proper medical attention

The Special Rapporteur reminded the Yemeni authorities that they must uphold their international obligations and do all they can to protect all citizens in the country under any circumstances.

Bielefeldt's call has been endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsak-Ndiaye and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The Baha'i Faith is a monotheistic religion which emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humanity and it began in 19th century Persia.
A lawsuit focused on academic-content licensing, royalties, and photocopying has potentially big implications for the use of open educational resources in schools.

The curriculum provider Great Minds is suing FedEx in federal court in New York City, arguing that the delivery and printing company needs to compensate the education organization for the money FedEx makes from requests from schools to copy materials that Great Minds created and makes available on an open license.

Open educational resources are typically defined as free materials licensed through agreements that allow them to be reproduced, shared, and modifiedor resources that are in the public domain, meaning not subject to copyright.

Great Minds, a nonprofit, offers academic content across a variety of subjects. It has offered a math curriculum, Eureka Math, on an open license created by Creative Commons, an author of those agreements.

While some teachers and schools using the Great Minds Eureka Math product are copying resources on their own, others have taken those resources to FedEx stores. As a result, FedEx is profiting through a commercial use of the open resources without proper permission, argues Great Minds, which demands that FedEx stop doing that workor pay a royalty.

Word of the lawsuit is spreading among K-12 officials, even if the implications are likely to vary greatly by district, said Barbara Soots, the open educational resources program manager for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington state.

Soots, whose agency has supported the use of open resources, informally surveyed some Washington school officials for their views of the legal dispute, and said there was some anxiety, and much confusion.

New Burdens for K-12?

One of the biggest worries is that districts would become tangled in a web of legal questions about their rightsor the rights of a company they hireto produce the classroom materials teachers and students need right away, she said.

It could end up placing the responsibility on the educator, or the district, and thats not really a good use of their time, Soots said. And it could impede one of the stated benefits of open educational resources, she added, which is their easy accessibility and versatility.

In its lawsuit, Great Minds says it would not make its materials available for free for noncommercial use if in doing so it gave up its right to charge a royalty for commercial reproduction.

The money Great Minds collects from agreements with other companies that copy its open materials supports the organizations continual improvement of its existing curriculum and development of new curriculum, it says.

Recouping Costs

Creative Commons has itself weighed in on the court fight in opposition to Great Minds argument, asking the judge overseeing the case for permission to file a brief backing FedExs position.

If the court were to accept Great Minds reasoning in the case, it would be profoundly damaging to the use of open educational resources in schools, and by the public at large, Creative Commons has told the judge.

Creative Commons licenses have been used for more than 1.1 billion works, the organization says, and 14 percent of those works are governed by the specific type of license at the heart of this case. The Creative Commons license used by Great Minds is known as a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, allowing for noncommercial use of the materials, as long as they are attributed to the source and redistributed or modified under the same licensing terms as the original works.

While the lawsuit has implications for K-12, the dispute focuses on an issue that is becoming less of a concern because of overall trends in open licensing, said David Wiley, a longtime proponent of open resources and the chief academic officer at Lumen Learning, a company that provides support for open resources users. Many providers of open resources today are choosing a different type of open license entirely, he said, one that allows for more flexibility and greater commercial use, without restrictiondecreasing the likelihood of a battle over who can profit from it. (Wiley said he is an unpaid education fellow at Creative Commons.)

The use of older, legacy open content will be affected by the lawsuit, Wiley said, but the trend is to move toward an even more open license.

Great Minds has been one of the organizations contributing academic resources to EngageNY, a popular online site launched by the state of New York that offers open materials and has become a go-to resource for millions of educators around the country.

While Great Minds created those resources and offers them for free on the site, it also publishes and sells book versions of the materials and uses the money to support its operations. That money allows the organization to recoup some of its costs and improve and build on its materials, Great Minds officials said.

Some backers of open education materials say the strategy of allowing vendors to make some money off their production of open resources is essential to creating a sustainable market for those resources as opposed to forcing them to rely on outside sources for support, such as philanthropies.

Great Minds officials argue in court documents that they have established royalty agreements with other third partiespresumably including other copying companiesfor commercial reproduction of their open materials. FedEx should be held to the same standard, the lawsuit says.

FedEx officials would not comment on the case, citing the ongoing litigation. But in a legal document submitted to the court, the company says that nothing in the open license used by Great Minds prevents schools from delegating copying services to businesses like FedEx and paying for their services.

The open license simply says that the use of the materials must be noncommercial and the ultimate users are school districts, not FedEx, the printing and office supplier contends.

Creative Commons officials make a similar case, saying that an open license would have little value to schools if they couldnt hire a third-party companysuch as a printing and copying service, or an internet service provider hosting online worksto help them bring open materials to teachers and students. The results would be absurd, Creative Commons told the court.

Specific Language in Contract

Rhett Millsaps II, a lawyer representing Great Minds, rejected the claim that the organizations legal argument would prevent K-12 districts from hiring third-party companies to help them make use of open educational resources.

But language in the Creative Commons agreement in question clearly restricts FedEx or other entities from reproducing Great Minds work without compensation, he said.

That license has very specific language, Millsaps said, one that makes a clear demarcation between commercial and noncommercial uses.

Great Minds reading of the terms of the license, he said, is a common-sense interpretation.
Large-scale standardized tests have become a staple of school accountability, but they dont give teachers much information to improve students learning strategies in the classroom.

Thats changing, as researchers on some of the leading national and international assessments work to pull more data about students learning strategies and skills from summative tests.

Its one thing to know the answer to a question, but its another to get together information about the process a student goes through to get to that answer, said Peggy G. Carr, the acting commissioner for the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, the congressionally mandated tests meant to take a national pulse on student achievement.

The upcoming NAEP in mathematics, reading, and writing for grades 4 and 8, for example, will get a better picture of how teachers can support learning in the classroom. NAEP joins the Program for International Student Assessment, international adult literacy tests, and other testing programs that are using new technology to squeeze more useful information out of standardized tests.

When we rely solely on summative assessments of student performance, were failing to capture the full picture of the learning process, said Erin Higgins, an education research analyst at the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Educations primary research arm.

We miss out on measuring the struggle a student has when she tries to overcome a misconception in learning science concepts, or the anxiety a student feels when hes trying to solve a math problemor the kind of gesturing and language that a teacher uses to draw attention to a particular thing on the board as she is teaching, Higgins said at a research conference on the future of assessments last month at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, held here at the University of California, Los Angeles. These are all really useful sources of information, and information that up until now we really havent been able to measure accurately.

What Is Process Data?

Process dataalso called interaction, telemetry, clickstream or logfile data, among other namesare the traces a student leaves as he or she progresses through an assessment. In general, they fall into three categories: What a student does, in what order, and how long it takes to do it.

Within a few years, Carr and other researchers believe computer-based assessments will be designed to include eye-tracking (to show where a student is looking for information), clickstream trackers (to follow students use of interactive tools and multiple web pages), or keystroke programs, among other tools.

Keystroke programs capture not only what students type, but the patterns and pauses in their typing. One early keystroke analysis in the NAEP writing test showed students who used the delete key more oftena measure of their attempts to edithad higher scores than students who did not delete as much.

Digging Into Students' Thinking Students test-taking behaviorshow often they use the backspace key, for instance, or how many keystrokes they useare already being linked in studies to their performance on the NAEP 4th grade writing assessment. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

A separate, forthcoming study of writing led by Mo Zhang of the Cognitively Based Assessment of, for, and as Learning research project at the Educational Testing Service, found differences in how boys and girls approached essay questions. Female students edited more than male students, both in individual word choice and cutting and pasting. Girls took fewer pauses to plan the next sentence during writing. We suspect they plan less because they have given more thought to what they were going to say before they started, said Randy E. Bennett, the chairman in assessment innovation at ETS.

In a separate study, also forthcoming, John Sabatini of the ETS also found that students with a history of performing poorly on reading tests did better when they had to write a summary of a reading passage before answering multiple-choice questions on the content. Eye-tracking data showed that those students spent more time reading the initial text, and the time spent looking back at the passage [while answering multiple-choice problems] went down, Sabatini said. They had built a mental memory model of the text; they were much more efficient.

Eventually, Bennett said, teachers will be able to play back the timeline of a student writing an essay question, for example, identifying whether a low-scoring student had structural problems, misunderstood the question, or was distracted by irrelevant sources of information.

Within a particular domain, like science, the process data can show whether students are engaging in complex critical thinking about different sources of information, using surface keywords, or simply guessing to solve problems. PISA is using this process data to design questions to assess students problem-solving skills in science.

We want to know that during a test, students are performing the kind of cognitive actions representative of what they are studying, Sabatini said. If you design the assessment so theres a pathway through the screens in a problem-solving task, it becomes a very rich source of information for teachers.

Collection Challenges

Tests associated with the two Common Core State Standards assessment consortia are designed to be able to collect some process datasuch as time spent on different items and which test tools students usebut other tests are not collecting much process data yet.

For one thing, Carr noted that complex scenario-based test items, which provide the most information about how students think, cost 2 times as much to develop as a traditional multiple-choice problem.

It is very difficult, very challenging to capture these student actions and interface with the system, Carr said.

Test developers must work with information-technology experts and content theorists to put together each question. And many computer-based tests are still designed like paper-and-pencil tests, which limits the ways students can use them.

Traditional tests blocked everything they could onto one page, for efficiency of paper, Sabatini said. Now we can let people navigate across pages to see what they are seeing, what they are doing across multiple pages.

Moreover, when it comes to measuring the higher-order skills called for in states next-generation reading, math, and science standards, Sabatini cautioned that the same data may mean different things in different domains. When you are looking for reading fluency, more-rapid speeds are indicative of fluency. But there are other casesin science, in other domainswhere very smart, very careful problem solvers will have very slow reading speeds.

Educators will also need more training on how to use data culled from students test-taking.

John Lee, a research scientist for CRESST who works with the U.S. Navy on simulation-based assessments, cautioned at the conference that it will be easy to flood educators with too much information. We can grab all kinds of data from these simulators, but we really want to look at meaningful indicators that matter to what people do, he said.
High-stakes testing has roiled Indianas political scene for years, pitting business leaders, parents, educators, and politicians against one another and playing out in Shakespearean-like power grabs, scandals, and high-profile resignations.

In the wake of botched test scores last school year, Hoosiers revolted, and soon the state legislature placed a moratorium on the entire statewide testing operation.

Now, the anxieties, confusion, and anger over the future of ISTEP, as the exam is known, have spilled over into this years election cycle.

Candidates for governor and state superintendent are debating whether to reel back the weight test scores have on student grades, teacher evaluations, and district score cards, or junk the exam and replace it with a new onewhich would be Indianas third standardized test in as many years.

And in an election year in which education is a lower-tier topic on the national stage, testing is at the top of the mind for many in the Hoosier State.

Witness the scene last week at Lawrence North High School in one of Indianapolis leafy suburbs, where John Gregg, the Democratic nominee for governor and his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, faced off in a debate in front of high school students bused in from across the state.

Given a chance to ask the candidates anything they wanted, there was widespread consensus among the hundreds of chatty high school students gathered in the schools auditorium: Do you have a plan to replace the ISTEP?

That same day, just 18 miles south, the states local superintendents and school board members gathered for lunch in the state convention centers ballroom and fired questions on the subject at the two candidates for state schools chief, incumbent Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Jennifer McCormick.

Im not a firm believer that the test should determine everything, McCormick, the current district superintendent of Yorktown schools, said during a sit-down interview with Education Week. But theres a purpose to testing and how it should be used in the classroom to improve students and teachers skills.

Ritz seemed to take a harder line in a separate candidates forum with local superintendents last week.

Testing has interfered in the classroom at the expense of teaching and learning, she said.

Political Heartburn

Indiana isnt the only state facing political heartburn over the issue of assessments. Across the nation last spring, more than 600 bills were proposed in statehouses to shape the amount and type of standardized testing conducted in school houses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Lawmakers in Colorado and New York did an about-face after thousands of parents opted their children out of exams in spring 2015 and then again this year. And in Arizona, legislators are considering just letting districts figure out what exam they want to take, a potential violation of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

While in prior years, it was easy for state politicians to point their fingers at the federal government and hide behind the mantle of local control, they will soon have to answer for any potential fallout from new accountability systems, a sensitive and potentially volatile arena. The reason: ESSA gives state legislatures more power to decide how to grade students, teachers, and schools.

And in few places have assessments been as politicized as in Indiana.

The deeply conservative state bolted out the gate in the early 2000s, making test scores part of teachers evaluations, and, like many states, basing its entire accountability model on exam results. Students trapped at failing schools were given vouchers to transfer to private schools or one of the growing number of charter schools in the state.

But the ambitious accountability system ran into trouble.

In 2013, Indianas legislature tossed its recently adopted Common Core State Standards and pulled out of a federally funded consortium for developing aligned tests. Education leaders in just a handful of months picked new standards and hired CTB McGraw-Hill to write and administer a new test, a process observers called messy and chaotic.

System Under Seige

That summer, Florida education Commissioner Tony Bennett resigned after it was reported that while the superintendent of Indiana from 2008 through 2012, he increased the scores of a flailing charter school that was being led by a major GOP donor.

Earlier this year, The Indianapolis Star discovered that because of a technical glitch, CTB McGraw-Hill may have botched the states test scores. (McGraw-Hill said the error was quickly corrected and didnt have a dramatic impact on test results.)

Then Gov. Mike Pencenow the GOP nominee for vice presidentplaced a moratorium on the exams impact and signed legislation in March that would do away with the exam next summer. He appointed a task force made up of legislators, business leaders, and educators to pick either a new exam or make changes to the existing one.

Gregg, the Democratic nominee for governor, thinks the legislature should give power back to local superintendents and teachers to pick how to evaluate the quality of their schools.

A war has been declared on public education, said Gregg during the presentation last week to the states school board members and superintendents. Gregg touted that he was against the creation of ISTEP early on in his political career. Why in the world has the governors administration decided they should be the local school board is beyond me.

His Republican opponent, Holcomb, thinks the state should charge ahead and keep the current A-F accountability system in place and continue to evaluate teachers based on test scores, though he said hes willing to make tweaks.

I believe that we should have a shorter test with quicker results so its meaningful for students, parents and to the schools, Holcomb said at the presentation. Teachers need to understand how to continue to raise the bar and strive to be better.

Libertarian candidate Rex Bell said the state government should get out of testing entirely. What we have always been in support of is returning local control to the parents, teachers, and the school board, he said.

Both superintendent candidates want to get rid of the A-F system and adopt a dashboard approach that incorporates several indicators.

One letter grade shouldnt tell you everything about a school, McCormick told local superintendents and board members at last weeks presentation.

Ritz, who has been criticized for both her communication with superintendents and her departments handling of the exam, told those local officials she will soon present a plan of her own to the committee working on the testing issue.

Educators can tell how well a child will perform on a test before the state goes and spends millions of dollars on it, Ritz said.

Local superintendents involved with the appointed assessment committee have said not much progress has been made during the three times theyve convened and the handful of educators at the table arent being heard. They fear the state will revert to the old exam if the committee doesnt come up with something before next years legislative session.

Stalled Process

During a recent session in Indianapolis on the states assessments and accountability program, a group of superintendents complained about the stalled progress on picking a new exam and how it was affecting their ability to figure out where students are academically and make decisions such as whether to promote them to the next grade.

As the session wrapped up, superintendents, visibly flustered, went through their options.

In the back of the room, one superintendent asked, What if we just chose not to take the exam?
 Flash

Egypt's Interior Ministry said in a statement early Tuesday that police killed two Muslim Brotherhood leaders in a shootout in Cairo.

"Sixty-one-year-old Mohamed Kamal, a physician, one of the group's top leaders, and another leader Yasser Shehata, both were killed," a ministry statement said.

It said the forces raided an apartment in Cairo's Bassateen neighbourhood after learning it was used by the leaders as headquarters.

Kamal was wanted for more than a dozen of armed attacks and was twice sentenced to life in prison in absentia for establishing an armed group, the statement added.

Shehata was also sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for assaulting a citizen and forcibly detaining him in the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice party, the group's political wing, according to the statement.

The Muslim Brotherhood was labeled as an outlawed group by the government after it launched anti-security attacks in revenge for the killings and detention of its members after the ouster of its leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and the arrest of the group leaders.
Slightly more than a year after Nevada lawmakers enacted a groundbreaking new private school choice program, the states Supreme Court has ruled that the way it is funded is unconstitutional.

The program allows parents to pull their children out of public schools and take most of the state funding allocated to individual children with them. They can then spend the money on private school tuitionincluding religious schools, home-schooling materials, or a variety of other education-related expenses or programs.

The program is unique compared with those in other states in its scope: All public school students are eligible.

Despite the courts ruling on the funding mechanism, school choice advocates are declaring it a victory, nonetheless, because the high court did not strike down the program on the grounds that it funnels money toward religious schools.

The court is basically saying, Guys, this is constitutional, you just have to fund it a separate way,  said Robert Enlow, the president and CEO of EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation. The group champions private school choice policies nationally.

For some advocates, what Nevada was practicing represents the truest form of the school choice idea: a customizable education that parents can control down to the last detail. For that reason, many school choice advocacy groups have been watching the Nevada case closely. But whether the program really has a path forward in the state after the court ruling depends on whom you ask.

Unique Program

Only a handful of states have education savings accounts, or ESAs, called that because the money is deposited in accounts from which parents draw to pay for approved education-related expenses.

Of the states that do have an ESAArizona, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennesseetheir programs are limited to a small number of students, such as those with disabilities or from low-income families. Nevadas program is open to all public school students, so long as they have been enrolled in a public school for at least 100 days.

Nearly 8,000 students have applied so far, and the state has continued accepting applications, even though the programs implementation has been on hold under a judges order since January.

Two separate lawsuits were filed challenging the constitutionality of the program last year, and the state Supreme Court ruled on both in the same opinion.

The first lawsuit, Duncan v. State, Office of the State Treasurer, was brought by a group of taxpayers challenging the program on the grounds that it unconstitutionally funds religious groups because families can use their education savings accounts to pay for tuition at a religious school.

The other lawsuit, Schwartz v. Lopez, brought by a group of parents, claimed the program was unconstitutional because it uses money expressly set aside for public schools.

In the end, the court took issue with the way the program was funded, ruling it was illegal to take money allocated for public schools.

It was unlimited, and it was diverting public school dollars toward private expenditures without budgeting for it, said Tamerlin Godley, a partner with the Los Angeles law firm Munger, Tolles, and Olson. The firm represented the group of parents on a pro bono basis. It had real potential to do harm to the public schools, Godley said.

However, the court didnt see a problem with the other constitutional question put before it: whether the state was unlawfully directing public money to religious institutions.

Several school choice advocates who have been following the case, as well as Nevadas state treasurer, who manages the program, say that finding a new source of funding is a relatively easy fix for state lawmakers. The state treasurer, Dan Schwartz, is confident enough the program will get funded that he said his office is going to continue accepting applications. But others are skeptical that changing the funding source will be such an easily cleared hurdle.

The only way they can fund this program would be to reduce public school funding or raise taxes, and I dont think legislators will do that, said Tod Story, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which brought the first lawsuit. I dont think that voters would be supportive of thatraising taxes to send kids to private schools. Thats what we have public schools for.
Helping schools figure out how to better teach social and emotional skills to students alongside traditional academic subjects will be the focus of a new, multiyear endeavor recently announced by the Aspen Institute.

The aim of the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, which has members from all three sectors, is to advance a new vision for what constitutes success in schools, the Aspen Institute said in a statement announcing the groups formation.

That work, which will culminate in a list of recommendations in late 2018, builds on steps already taken by research and advocacy groups that seek to advance the mission of public schools beyond traditional academics to include a focus on such issues as students abilities to recognize and respond to their own emotions, to form effective peer relationships, and to persevere through difficulty.

A National Team Members of the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development include school district leaders, teachers, researchers, corporate executives, state leaders, philanthropists, and military officers. Among them: Laszlo Bock, senior adviser at Google;

Meria Carstarphen, Atlanta superintendent;

Antwan Wilson, Oakland, Calif., superintendent;

James Comer, child psychiatry professor at Yale University;

Camille Farrington, managing director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research;

Craig McKinley, retired U.S. Air Force general and president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association;

Ellen Moir, CEO of the New Teacher Center;

Pedro Noguera, education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles;

James Shelton, president of education for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; and

Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York



There is much disagreement about what to call the field, which includes overlapping approaches, each of which comes with its own name, including social-emotional learning, character education, noncognitive skills, and soft skills.

Advocates and researchers say nurturing students social and emotional skills will boost their achievement in the classroom and help prepare them to meet the needs of a changing economy as they enter the workforce.

I do think we are at a unique moment where parents are asking for this, educators are asking for this, employers are asking for this, and science is telling us we need to do this, Ross Wiener, the executive director of the education and society program at the Aspen Institute, said in an interview. Lots of forces are converging to suggest that its an important time to go from whether we should do this to how we should do this.

Heavy Hitters

The commission will be co-chaired by three familiar names to those active in the social-emotional learning field: Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor and the president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute; John Engler, the president of the Business Roundtable and a former three-term governor of Michigan; and Timothy Shriver, the co-founder and chairman of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, and chairman of the Special Olympics.

The commissions members, recruited in part by the three chairpersons, include two sitting governorsVirginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican.

The group convenes as a new federal education law turns schools focus to a broader set of whole child issues. The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to include an additional indicator in school accountability systems, along with traditional factors like student test scores. Some have suggested that states use the new law as an impetus to encourage or require schools to emphasize students social-emotional skills.

But if advocates cant even agree on what to call these skills and traits, how will they come up with a uniform set of recommendations?

Commission organizers intentionally sought to bring together diverse voices from different organizations, streams of research, and interest groups to build natural allies and to break down some of those silos, said Shirley Brandman, the executive director of the commission.

Our expectation is that this group is going to take a really deliberate look at what we know and take a look at the gap between what we know and what we do, she said.

Recommendations could include a road map of how skills could be strengthened among children of different ages, new directions for research, and practical steps for policymakers.

The commission will also take advice from a group of youth advisers, a council of educators, and a council of scientists formed to support its work.
Just 41 percent of the 15,000 students at Ohios largest online charter school do enough work to be considered full-time students, a state education department audit finds.

As a result, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow could be ordered to repay $60 million in public funds.

At issue are records demonstrating how often cyber students log in to their schools online learning platforms, as well as how much time they spend using their schools learning software. State guidelines indicate that students in full-time online schools should spend about five hours per day on schoolwork. A preliminary audit, however, found that most students logged in for only an hour or so per day.

A spokesman for the school described the audit as a sham.
Students in the high school graduating class of 2016 scored slightly lower on the SAT than their counterparts did a year earlier, according to new results from the College Board.

But those performance data are only for the old SAT, which was retired after its final administration in January. Eagerly awaited results from the new SAT, which began in March, were not released.

The average score on the math section of the old SAT declined by 4 points. The average score on the writing section was 5 points lower, and on critical reading it was 3 points lower than for the class of 2015, according to the report released last week. Each section is scored on a 200- to 800-point scale.

The 2016 SAT at a Glance SAT results for the class of 2016 are limited because some students took the new SAT and most took the old one. The College Board released performance data only for the old SAT, which was discontinued after its final administration in January. Participation data reflect both the old and new SAT, taken by members of the 2016 graduating class through June. Source: College Board; ACT Inc.

Reporting SAT results for the class of 2016 was challenging, since most students took the old SAT, while only a minority took the new exam. College Board officials chose not to release scores for the new SAT, explaining that scores from three administrations onlyMarch, May, and Junewould not accurately represent the characteristics and performance of a complete, typical cohort of students. A full picture of performance on the new SAT will be released in fall 2017.

The College Board released participation data for the class of 2016 in unusual chunks, too, making it impossible to compare participation for the entire 2016 graduating class with previous classes.

For the new SAT, the organization reported that 1.36 million students took the exam in its first three administrations. Thats 180,000 more than the 1.18 million who took the old SAT during the same time span in 2015. (Those numbers include students from any graduating class, not just the class of 2016.)

A look at the old SAT alone for the class of 2016, through January, shows more students took that test than did during the same period in 2015: 1.64 million, compared with 1.63 million. The looming changeover to the new SAT might have encouraged a last-minute rush.

Numbers Unclear

For the new and old SAT combined, through June, 1.68 million students in the class of 2016 took that test, compared with 1.66 million in the same period in the class of 2015. Thats an increase of 25,600, but the College Board got that increase by revising the 2015 figure downward by about 43,000 students. Thats because, in building a new, integrated data system for all its exams, it found inconsistencies in how students had recorded their grade levels at different points in time, said Jack Buckley, the College Boards senior vice president for research.

Without that revision, SAT participation from the class of 2015 to the class of 2016 would have shown a drop of nearly 17,400 students.

That wasnt the first time the College Board has revised the way it calculates participation data. In 2010, it included a group of students in the count that hadnt been included before. That revision allowed the organization to report a bigger participation figure than its rival ACT Inc. and preserve its spot as the most popular college-entrance exam, a distinction the College Board has since lost.

Cynics and close watchers of the competitive battle between the College Board and ACT noted the timing of this years data revision, since the College Board is under pressure to ensure that its new SAT is a success in the public eye. It also comes as the College Board is pushing hard to grab market share from ACT by winning statewide testing contracts. Whats more, the College Board has been shadowed lately by allegations that it shortcut aspects of the SATs design in ways that could undermine its validity, a charge it has vehemently denied.

Its a little fishy, because that revision is completely in their favor, said James S. Murphy, who keeps close tabs on changes in the SAT or ACT as the director of tutoring for the Princeton Reviews New England region. Even so, Murphy allowed that he might be willing to buy their explanation for the 2015 revision.

Drops Across the Board

Revision or no revision, the College Board is still trailing the ACT in popularity: In the class of 2016, 2.1 million students took the ACT, though the ACT, too, saw a drop in students scores. (See Education Week, Aug. 31, 2016.)

Both ACT and the College Board attributed the decrease to a wider range of students taking the tests, including those with weaker academic or test-prep backgrounds.

In its battle for market share against ACT Inc., the College Board has been pushing hard to win statewide contracts, and last week, it released numbers showing the payoff: In 2015-16, 458,000 students took the SAT in statewide programs that require all students to take the test or offer it free of charge. In 2014-15, 219,500 students took the SAT in those school day programs. ACT has a similar program, with many more statewide contracts than the College Board.

In 2016-17, 13 states will participate in the College Boards school day program, either requiring or offering the SAT, the PSAT, or both, for all students, according to a map released by the company last week.

In a conference call with reporters, College Board officials cast the growth in statewide SAT and PSAT administrations as an expansion of opportunity for students, because the suite of tests provides academic feedback starting in middle school and links students to more support than ever before: Theyre used to provide free test-prep help, encourage promising students to try Advanced Placement study, and identify students for scholarships and college-application fee waivers.

The statewide contracts represent opportunity for the College Board, as well. Michigans three-year contract is worth $17.1 million, Illinois two-year deal is for $12.9 million, and Colorados five-year contract could fetch up to $12.4 million. Idahos contract will bring in about $1.2 million this year, and New Hampshires $613,000.

Expanding Tests Reach

In the 2015-16 school year, the College Board debuted a new PSAT 8/9, for 8th and 9th graders, and a redesigned PSAT, which is typically taken by 10th graders. It unveiled the PSAT 10 last year, too, another version of the test that 10th graders can take.

The company reported that 885,000 students took the PSAT 8/9 last year, and 247,000 students took the PSAT 10. Four million students took the PSAT, up from 3.8 million in 2014-15.

Seven percent to 8 percent more middle school students were identified last year by their PSAT scores as having AP potential, and 435,842 low-income students in the class of 2016 received college-application-fee waivers from the College Board, up from 428,013 in the class of 2015.
6-8 schools. The fewer the grade levels below the top dog grade in a school, the bigger the gap between students in the top grade and those in the bottom grade on the school pecking order when it came to bullying, fights, gang activity, and whether students felt safe, welcome, and known at school.

Amy Ellen Schwartzs quip sounds like a joke, but its not.

The Syracuse University economics professor and her colleagues have found theres truth to the old top dog, bottom dog theory of the campus pecking order: A schools grade structure significantly affects its student hierarchy. As students move through grades, they gain social power, becoming more likely to take on leadership positions and less likely to be bullied.

Now, theres evidence that separating students into a shorter 6-8 grade span in middle school intensifies bullying of lower-grade students and makes them feel less connected to school.

Educators have known middle school is a problem area for a long time; prior studies have found that the transition from elementary to middle school can be harder on students than the transition to high school. When students move into middle school, they report higher rates of bullying, math and reading achievement declines, absenteeism rises, and students feel less connection to school.

But why? Is it just the perfect storm of raging hormones meeting rising standards?

If its just miserable to be 12 and better to be 15, thats not about the school, Schwartz said. But thats not it. It matters where you stand in the grade span. And part of the reason grade span matters is you are grouping kids together in ways that create a top and a bottom."In their new study in the September online-first issue of the American Educational Research Journal, Schwartz and colleagues at Syracuse and New York universities studied 500 New York City schools, which in the mid-2000s created hundreds of small schools in K-8, K-6, 6-8, 5-8, and 6-12 configurations.

Pecking Order

The researchers analyzed reports of bullying, feelings of belonging, and engagement in schools among more than 90,000 students in schools of different grade spans. They tracked students who transferred between schools as well as those who progressed through grades at a single school or feeder pattern, to compare the differences between being a new student at school generally to being a member of an entry grade. They also looked at students relative height, weight, and age to determine whether a schools social hierarchy was influenced by a students experience in school or level of physical development.

Young adolescents are going through tremendous identity shifts, said Dru Tomlin, the director of middle-level services for the Association for Middle Level Education, who was not involved in the study. Not only are they changing developmentally and physically faster than at any time in their lives besides 0-to-3, but they are changing socially and emotionally. They are prone to misreading not just verbal cues in language but also nonverbal cues. Middle grades are the landscape on which we need to focus on [social-emotional] learning.

Even after controlling for students background characteristics, class sizes, and school types, the researchers found that 6th graders at K-8 and 6-12 schools were less likely to report bullying, fighting, and gang activity, and more likely to report feeling safe and welcome at school and participating in school activities than did 6th graders at 6-8 schools. The fewer the grade levels below the top dog grade in a school, the bigger the gap between students in the top grade and those in the bottom grade on the school pecking order when it came to bullying, fights, gang activity, and whether students felt safe, welcome, and known at school.

I can say, Im not surprised at all that 6-8 schools have higher rate of bullying, said David L. Hough, an education professor at Missouri State University, who has studied middle grade academics but was not involved in the new study. When you have a lot of kids at close to the same age together, its not as healthy an environment [as a broader age range].

Relationships Key

The researchers also separately compared students who were new in any grade and students who were relatively taller than other students. While being the new kid did seem to lower students sense of belonging at any grade, a students relative position in the grade-level pecking order had a stronger effect than whether he was new or smaller than other students.

It could just be that you are bullied by other kids when you start, and over time, you develop stronger social relationships in your school, Schwartz said. By the time you get to the top, you have developed bonds that protect you.

That could also help explain why, in schools with a wider grade span, 6th and 7th graders felt better about the school environment, but the youngest students did not report much of being bullied or feeling unwelcome in school. Students might be kinder to students far below them than those who are just beneath them on the pecking order.

Eighth graders are not going to pick on a bunch of 1st graders; 12th graders are not going to pick on 6th graders, because they are just so much younger, Schwartz said.

Tomlin of the middle-level association agreed, but cautioned, Grade-level configurations alone dont necessarily mean you are going to have less bullying and better transition through the grade levels, he said.

Schools that do a lot of mentor-mentee relationships, where older students go in and tutor or mentor younger onesschools that do those types of programs are doing it right. Students feel more comfortable, and parents feel more comfortable about younger students being in a building with older students.

The findings build on a 2010 study, also in New York City schools, which found that students who attended K-8 schools were higher-achieving academically by the end of 8th grade than those who attended K-5 and then 6-8 schools.
The empathy gap is a deficit that most of us suffer from unconsciously. And in education, it is paralyzing the progress of many students.

The empathy gap is an inability to recognize and respond to the feelings of others, especially others we perceive as different from us and, most perniciously, those whose race is different from our own. This gap appears in multiple contexts, from physicians perception of their patients suffering to the way in which juries perceive criminal defendants. It mutes our reactions to atrocities in Aleppo and Baghdad, even as we show fellow feeling to the victims of terror in Brussels and Nice.

The recent tragedies across our own countrythe bombings in New York and New Jersey; the mass murders in Orlando and Dallas; the police shootings of Keith Lamont Scott, Terence Crutcher, Tyre King, Philando Castile, and Alton Sterling, among otherswiden this gap. The bias, prejudice, misunderstanding, and hate that mark this presidential campaign widen it more.

The empathy gap is particularly acute for white people, when they try to imagine the feelings of black people. In education, it stops administrators, teachers, staff, and students from fully understanding, acknowledging, and addressing issues that are critical to learning. As a result, the disparities in achievement and preparation within our system are insidious and pervasive. And they are anathema to the American vision of equality and justice.

We dont start out with an empathy gap.

A researcher at the University of Virginia in a 2014 study examined a group of mostly white childrens perceptions of the pain experienced by other children.

At the age of 5, children exhibited no differences in their empathic understanding of others pain. By age 7, however, the children in the study rated the pain of black children as less severe than the pain felt by their white counterparts. And the differences were even greater in the 10-year-old group.

Theres been a subtle and dangerous idea undergirding much of our work: that black and brown children have deficits we need to fix."

Early-childhood education is critical to youth development. In the earliest years, children are assembling the portfolio of skills and tools that will support them throughout their lives. These include cognitive skills, such as early literacy and numeracy, and social-emotional skills, such as following directions, working in a group, taking turns, making and carrying out plans, and bouncing back after setbacks.

At this stage, children are also forming the foundational understanding of the world around them, and, most important, of other people. Who has value? Who can be trusted? Who is worthy of love?

It is up to us, as educatorsteachers, parents, leaders, citizensto create the conditions that will foster and support childrens empathy. This requires us, first, to take a hard look at ourselves.

When boys of color are expelled from preschool at a far higher rate than their white counterparts, its time for us to question our own perceptions as teachers and how we treat the children in our classrooms. Its time for us to reflect on our own failures of empathy.

And its time for us to put together a new toolbox for ourselves and for the children in our classrooms, one that can help us begin to close the empathy gap.

Many of the tools we need already exist. Resources for creating an anti-bias curriculum have been around for more than 20 years. For us to begin using these resources, however, we have to think differently about the purpose of education.

Theres been a subtle and dangerous idea undergirding much of our work: that black and brown children have deficits we need to fix. Perhaps its time to think about the deficits in empathy that we need to fix in white children, in particular.

Or, better yet, we can put aside the language of deficit and of less than. Instead, we can recognize that each child comes to us brimming with possibilities and empathy and that we need to support them across the range of their abilities, which must include the ability to see each other as full and complete human beings.

I despair for my own generation. But for the next generation, its not too late.
Police investigate Tesco altercation

Police are appealing for witnesses following a disagreement between two motorists in Tesco car park.

Officers received reports of a verbal altercation between the drivers of a blue Ford Focus and a black BMW at around 5.30pm yesterday.

The pair were parked in the parent and child parking bays at the time.

Those who saw what happened are asked to contact Police Headquarters on 631212.
Tynwald to vote for Chief Minister

Tynwald will meet this morning in a bid to elect the Island's next Chief Minister.

Kate Beecroft, Alf Cannan and Howard Quayle have all been nominated for the position.

The successful candidate will need the support of the majority of the Manx Parliament to take up the post, which could result in numerous rounds of voting.

Allan Bell held the position for the last five years, but stepped down from the House of Keys at last month's election.
Flybe plan Heathrow route



A flight takes off at Heathrow

Flybe could add a route between the Isle of Man and Heathrow if a third runway is built at the London airport.

The airline has revealed it would potentially add 12 routes between Heathrow and other British airports if the expansion plans go ahead - a decision is expected later this month.

Flybe already operates a number of routes out of Ronaldsway, including flights to Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

If plans for a third runway go ahead, it will allow an additional 25,000 flights movements at the busiest airport in the UK by 2021, which would be ringfenced for domestic flights until 2037.

Passengers flying from Ronaldsway haven't been able to get a direct flight to Heathrow since 2001.
"Fifty Shades Darker" stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are favorite subjects of rumors these days. The two, who are currently filming the sequel to the successful novel turned to film, are said to be dating.

Dornan and Johnson had just wrapped up shooting "Fifty Shades Darker" in Canada and France. However, speculations about their rumored romance on and off the screen have been growing by the minute.

According to the Morning Ledger, the Irish actor has filed for divorce from his wife, Amelia Warner. Add to this, the report says that the 34-year-old actor and Johnson will officially confirm their romance at the red carpet premiere of their much-anticipated movie.

The two co-stars are just keeping mum about the alleged romance since Dornan has yet to formally address his fans about his separation with Warner. It is unclear where the sources of this gossips have originated but so much are claiming that Jamie and the "How to be Single" actress will be moving in at his newly bought home in LA.

All these rumors are music to fans' ears but based on an interview with Dornan by Marie Clare, the married actor has no plans of divorcing his spouse any time soon.

When interviewed, the "Fall" actor confessed that the thought of being single makes him sweat. Part of this, said Dornan, is because of the fact that being popular and single could create endless speculations about someone's relationship status.

Right now, the actor is spending some much-needed quality time with his family after months of filming took him away from them. "I want to be a very hands-on father and I have been so far with both of my children," the actor revealed. He also confessed that while shooting, he would feel frustrated because he couldn't spend more time with his wife and kids.

The Irish actor is hoping to spend more bonding days with his family before his schedule gets hectic once it's time to promote "Fifty Shades Darker" which is set to hit the cinemas in February 2017.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 specifications are being leaked as early as now. Could the company release the rumored flagship earlier than intended?

After the controversy the company has gone through from the controversial Note 7, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is being packed with new features that may make the flagship too good to resist. The University Herald reported that the S8 will be sporting the Exynos 8895, the newest 10nm chipset.

In addition, this upcoming Samsung model will allegedly have Mali-G71 GPU of ARM. This feature is said to be almost two times more powerful than Mali T880. The Korean brand is also working on a 4k screen resolution for this particular flagship. This means that there will be 806 pixels per inch of the screen.

While these important aspects in a smartphone will be upgraded to its finest in the S8, the rumor that the upcoming model is being tapped to contain some virtual reality features may just be what the brand needs to attract all the valued Samsung customers it has lost from the unfortunate Note 7 mishap.

Besides the powerful features mentioned to be found in this yet to be released flagship, there are other specs that will add up to the phone's appeal, as noted by Mobile & Apps. The report suggested that people should expect an octa-core Snapdragon as the phone's possible SoC.

To complement the 4k screen resolution, it is also probable that the smartphone's screen will be at 5.2 inches. It is also being speculated that the Samsung Galaxy S8 will not contain flat screen, but a curved screen design, instead.

To top these features off, consumers should also expect a Coring Gorilla 5.0 glass and a battery capacity higher than previous Galaxy flagships. This specific model might also come equipped with finger print and iris scanners as well as wireless charging.

With all these rumored specifications for the upcoming flagship, the S8 is poised to be the most advanced smartphone when it hits the market. There are no official words yet as to when the product will be made available but fans of Samsung can expect it will be sometime in early 2017.
EU leaders have paid tribute to Shimon Peres who passed away last week (28 September) aged 93, two weeks after he had suffered a massive stroke. Shimon Peres, who was born in Poland and emigrated to Tel Aviv at the age of 10, began his political career as a military attache and eventually served as Israels president, prime minister, defense minister, foreign minister and finance minister. He spent decades in public service since the founding of Israel in 1948.

EUs chief of diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, tweeted that she was heartbroken at the death of Shimon Peres, whom she called a man of peace and an immense source of inspiration. She said that the only way to honor his memory is to head towards two states. EU Parliament President commented that We lose exceptional statesman, a true advocate for peace, security & dignity in Middle East &the world. Condolences to family of Shimon Peres. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier added that the world has lost a great statesman.

Shimon Peres funeral, which was held on Friday (30 September), was attended by the worlds leaders such as US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, US ex-President Bill Clinton and Prince Charles and others. President Peres was buried at Jerusalems Mount Herzl national cemetery after lying in state at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Thursday (29 September).

Shimon Peres won a Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin, then Israeli Prime Minister, and Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, for 1993 Oslo Accords that envisioned autonomy for the local, and only for the local, (Palestinian) inhabitants of West Bank and Gaza.
The European Commission has announced a new initiative on Africa  the EU External Investment Plan (EIP)  with the aim to support investment in partner countries throughout Africa and the European Neighborhood region. This scheme is designed to boost these partnerships, support a new model of participation of the private sector and contribute to sustainable development. The initiative seeks to meet the UN Sustainable Goals of 2015, as the EU believes that traditional development assistance cannot achieve them on its own.

The objective of the EIP is to boost the local economies to help them recover from the financial crisis of 2008 as economic growth in developing countries has now reached its lowest level since 2003. The EUs as well as the worlds foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing countries has been declining since the crisis of 2008. In 2012, the worlds combined FDI to the so-called fragile states was  34.6 billion, which is about 6 percent of the total. From all the target countries, almost three-fourths of the investment is absorbed by 10 resource-rich countries. This goes hand in hand with the fact that the cost of doing business in fragile African countries is about three times the cost in non-fragile states.

The EIP consists of a European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD), which will combine contributions from the EU, Member States, and the private sector. The EUs contribution will be 3.35 billion and further 44 billion should be mobilized through guarantees. The main goals of the EIP is to contribute to achieving sustainable development, mobilize investment and leverage funds, target socio-economic sectors, assist in attracting viable projects, help to improve the business environment and contribute to addressing the root causes of migration.
Geethanjali Nataraj (Barcelona Centre for International Affaires)

There are growing fears that Britains decision to leave the EU could jeopardize the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is because following the Brexit, the Union could become a less attractive partner for the US. However, it seems that the upcoming elections in Germany and France as well as the new US administration emerging from the presidential race could be a greater threat to the negotiations.

Although the EU is aware of the possibilities that the TTIP could bring, together with accelerated economic growth, it is also committed to protecting the existing values and standards of the European market. In 2017, however, there will be elections in Germany and France. Those could jeopardize the TTIP negotiations, since nearly 70 percent of Germans are against TTIP and French President also announced that his country had a problem with the basic principles of the agreement. They especially do not like its provisions regarding agriculture and reciprocity in access to the public procurement markets. The Germans are moreover concerned about the non-public way of negotiating the deal and they also fear that TTIP could reduce consumer protection.

The deadline for finalizing the TTIP agreement is the end of this year, but with the upcoming presidential elections in the US, meeting this objective seems rather unlikely as neither candidate is too supportive of the TTIP. Moreover, plenty of thorny issues between the EU and the US must yet to be resolved, such as the concerns of EU citizens about lower consumer protection or general concerns about the role of commercial arbitration courts, which would be independent of national courts and where firms could have their trade disputes with governments settled.

These are the major obstacles to the negotiations. Britains omission from the agreement, protests across Europe against the TTIP and the US election thus cast a shadow of uncertainty on the negotiations. All despite the fact that the mutual benefits of the agreement would be significant for both sides and would help revive the economy on both sides of the Atlantic. More detailed discussions are thus likely to be held next year, this time with the participation of the new US administration. We can only hope that the TTIP will see the light at the end of the tunnel at the right time.

(The study can be downloaded here:http://bruegel.org/2016/07/will-ttip-survive-brexit/)
As Ive noted here before, Texas is in the process of streamlining its science standards, which means that Darwinists are ringing alarm bells and warning of terrible consequences if public schools fail to teach evolutionary theory as sacred, unquestionable doctrine. Jonathan Witt, a Center for Science & Culture Senior Fellow, addresses the issue in a letter to the members of the Texas State Board of Education.

As a native Texan living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, writes Dr. Witt, who represents Discovery Institutes Dallas office, I am confident that (1) most Texas parents get that our students ought to understand the theory of evolution, and (2) most Texas parents would be appalled to learn that there is a plan afoot to teach their kids neo-Darwinism as airbrushed dogma. Find the full letter here.

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) science streamlining process began in January. Committees, organized by grade level and subject, were to start revising the standards during the summer.

In July, the biology committee voted to remove four standards promoting objective evolution education. For more on the four standards, see here. Biology committee member Dr. Ray Bohlin, a Center for Science & Culture Fellow, spoke to the State Board of Education on September 14, noting that there was a quick and concerted effort by the majority of the committee to remove TEKS 7(B). He highlighted the effort to remove several other standards allowing critical analysis of scientific evidence regarding evolution.

The Texas Freedom Network (TFN), a longtime opponent of critical analysis in evolution, and Ronald Wetherington, an evolutionary anthropologist whose expert reviewer suggestions to the Board in a previous year were filled with errors, immediately wrote letters to the Board. TFN president Kathy Miller, whose letter was also published in the Houston Chronicle, complained that Bohlin had voiced concerns to the Board before the Board had been presented with a draft of the revisions. She falsely described Bohlin and his fellow biology committee member Charles Garner as evolution denier[s], and labeled standards allowing critical analysis of evolution unnecessary, misleading and based on junk science. Wetherington similarly questioned Bohlins decision to testify in front of the Board as ill-advised and counter-productive.

In his letter, Jonathan Witt defends Bohlin and Garner against TFNs attacks on their credibility. Garner and Bohlin are both highly qualified. Garner is a professor of chemistry at Baylor and one of six expert reviewers appointed to comment on the science TEKS in 2008-09, while Bohlin holds a PhD in molecular and cell biology.

Witt points out the effort to keep the review process secretive:

It is ridiculous to claim that the work of this government-appointed committee should be done in secret, and that a duly appointed committee member is obligated to hide what the committee is doing from the Board of Education. The claim is especially rich since TFN was allowed to have an observer at the biology committee meeting. So TFN is allowed to know what is happening on the committee, but the State Board isnt? And not even science committee members should be able to inform the Board?

Furthermore, he gave examples of scientific debate over evolutionary theory in paleontology, genetics, taxonomy, and chemistry printed in mainstream science publications.

We hope that the board will realize the importance of transparency and refuse to purge quality science from the TEKS. When the current TEKS were passed in 2009, John G. West, Associate Director of the Center for Science & Culture, noted, Texas now has the most progressive science standards on evolution in the entire nation. That should not change.

Photo credit: JonRidinger (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
The UK has some of the best universities in the world which attract students from many different countries, but concerns are being voiced about falling numbers.It is now more expensive than ever to study at a British university with fees from 9,000 a year, higher for some of the top institutions, but the number of international students have fallen and are at their lowest since 2007.  Data from the Office of National Statistics shows that in 1977 there were 29,000 international students, rising to a peak of over eight times this amount in 2010. However, recent years have seen a decline in students arriving to study, with numbers falling to 164,000 in the year ending March 2016.There are warnings that the decision to leave the European Union could pose a threat to higher education in the UK. Not only could it make it more difficult for students from EU countries, but academic staff fear it could affect work and relationships with other universities in the EU.Some research has already indicated that students from EU countries are increasingly looking at other options, with as many as 40% ruling out applying to a British university due to uncertainty about their immigration status after Brexit.The British Prime Minister has confirmed that she will trigger Article 50 to start the leaving the EU process by the end of March 2017 and that Britain will have left by 2019. But there have been no details available on what will happen to foreign students who have started studying before then and will continue to do so after 2019.According to Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education world university rankings, the UK must ensure that it limits the damage to academics, students, universities and science during its Brexit negotiations to ensure that the UK remains one of the world leaders in higher education.As well as some top academics reporting they have been frozen out of collaborative research projects with EU colleagues, many are admitting that they might look to relocate to a university outside the country, said Baty.He pointed out that a Times Higher Education survey conducted before the referendum found that 40% of university staff said they would be more likely to leave the country in the event of a Brexit.It is also having an impact on the UKs potential to attract international talent in the future. More than two fifths of prospective overseas students said they were less likely to go to a UK university due to the referendum result, according to a survey by Hobsons.
RBMSDR said: Thank you much EverHopeful. I ended up getting some employees to help call to various Insurances for me to find those that do, and then the best quote. Hopefully things will go smoothly. Thanks again. Click to expand...

Hi there ... perhaps you already have this issue solved, but I was able to get car insurance while getting financing at Credit Agricole w/ a California license. I'm only 24, so because French people can't get their licenses until they are 18, in the eyes of the insurance company, I've only had my license for 6 years and not 8 (i.e. since I was 18 in California).My insurance is actually quite cheap considering my age and lack of driving record in France ... only 44 euros a month. Perhaps I got a deal bc I also did my loan w/ them, but it was a very tiny loan (only 4,000 euro), so honestly maybe I just lucked out...
Hi All,



I've moved back to the US from a long visit in France.



I neglected to go to the post office to discuss forwarding our mail from our old French address to our US address, and I don't even know whether this can be done.



Any experience with this?



thank you!!

Claire :yo:
THE MATURING ONLINE EDUCATION REVOLUTION

The field of online higher education is growing exponentially. The reason is the ease of putting curriculum and programs totally online and being able to mirror a ground-based classroom as never before - live classes - interaction between students and faculty in real time and talking to the student and seeing them thousands of miles away. The revolution in higher ed is rolling on.





Many Leaner Management Systems aka Course Management Systems offer services of various degrees and dependability. All however are not equal or up to the standard noted.

In 2008, Global Academy Online research under the Direction of Dr. Fred DiUlus conducted an exhaustive study of online platforms the students believed were the easiest to navigate and the best in their opinion to provide the educational challenge and results they demanded that mirrored a regular classroom..

The study took place over six months in an area of the world not inhibited by faculty and administration prejudice, hype or preconceived notions about what a Learner Management System or Course Management System ought to or could not do. The task - find the best.



Today, such systems have proliferated and there are dozens of Learning Management Systems worldwide to choose among - most are paid for subscription type service providers. Yet, the very best, remain basically free. Meanwhile many overlook these services under the belief that if it costs a lot, it must be good. In this arena nothing could be further from the truth.

However,schools faced with the decision today to spend upwards of $200,000 to migrate and engage a learner management system for an entire student body of several thousand will find the cost usually covers training for faculty to set up courses, staff training to administer the financial and adminstrative system and promptly be forgotten after the traininng sessions; locking the school into long training modalities in essentially what is a Wonk-style complicated system.

The result in the long term is the adopted systems are nothing more than an attempt by providers to achieve and lock-up control of the student body and the school's records to ensure their arrangement continues making it too difficult to unravel without great expense. the cost of operation training and introduction skyrockets to three times the cost of implementation. Hundreds if not thousands of schools share this dilemma today in their rush to catch up and find themselves being held up literally by providers.

What they can do is freeze the system and start over with a paralllel system side by side controlled and operated within with a FREE baseline provided by online pioneers like MOODLE, the grandaddy of FREE systems.

Colleges need to slow down, step back and use their internal expertise to thoroughly investigate and not leap at a system that Dope U down the street implemented. They will find they can put in a far superior system with existing in-house IT abilities literally for free - A fact proven by undergraduate students in an obscure country in South America almost a decade ago.

Then, how does a school make an informed decision for the right online course management system?

The answer is simple. Let the students decide.They have far more experience than aged faculty and administrators who did not grow up with a computer starting at age 4.

____________________________________________________
The 163 students who sued San Antonio real estate investor and one-time reality TV star Armando Montelongo for providing worthless advice through his real estate seminars have dropped their lawsuit in California so they can refile it here.

A federal judge in San Francisco signed an order dismissing the case Monday. The students, who paid thousands of dollars for Montelongos training, indicated in a court filing Friday that they plan to pursue the lawsuit in Texas, where Montelongo operates his businesses.
Framed from the midsection to just below the knees, the slightly bent figure of a woman dressed in a nubby pink robe clutches at her stomach with one hand while a cup and saucer fall from the other.

The womans thumb grazes the lip of the dish, arrested in its descent by the click of a camera shutter.

Who is she? What is happening? Her dress and the clinical, cafeterialike background setting provide hints, but otherwise viewers are left to fill in the blanks.

The image from the series Falling Down by the Austin-based American-Swiss art duo of Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler is one of more than 50 images in Telling Tales: Contemporary Narrative Photography, a survey show of contemporary photography beginning in the 1970s. It is currently on view at the McNay Art Museum.

Curated by Rene Paul Barilleaux, the show features images by 17 artists who interpret stories  or offer intriguing fragments of them  through documentary-style and staged pictures.

More Information "Telling Tales" When: Through Jan. 15 Where: McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Cost: $10 in addition to admission Contact: 210-805-1754, mcnayart.org See More Collapse

This is the first time weve done a significant show of contemporary photography, said Barilleaux, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at the museum. Our collection is not rich in photography unlike some museum collections. We are starting to collect photographs, but as part of the contemporary collection.

It also is the first to open under director Rich Aste, who became the head of the museum last month after Bill Chiego retired.

The exhibition is a testament to the McNays commitment to artistic excellence in all forms, Aste said via email. We are grateful to the 17 artists represented in this show, who allow us to slow down and engage with spellbinding beauty of their work.

The show was inspired partly by Normal Rockwell: Behind the Camera, a traveling exhibition at the McNay in 2013 that featured meticulously staged photographs used as the basis for narrative drawings and paintings by the artist, widely considered Americas greatest visual storyteller.

I started thinking about the idea of staged photographs, Barilleaux said. I saw a couple of photographers who were actually riffing on Rockwell, and we have one of those images here in the show.

That image, by photographer Julie Blackmon, is a take on Rockwells New Kids in the Neighborhood (Negro in the Suburbs) from 1967. Rockwells painting depicts two African-American children standing by a moving van as it is unloaded. A trio of white children stand at a cautious distance, inspecting the newcomers. In Blackmons image, the moving van has been replaced by a Federal Express truck. A new ultra modern red chair is being delivered to replace a worn armchair that sits on the driveway with a for sale sign.

The image is about Out with the old, in the with new in sort of the way that Rockwell is saying, Integration is happening and the world is changing, Barilleaux said.

The exhibit traces the history of contemporary narrative photography, which emerged in the wake of classic modernists such as Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson, who worked primarily in black and white.

In the 70s and 80s, things start to change in photography and you have the advent of the constructed photograph, Barilleaux said. Color gets introduced into photography, scale changes. Photography is coming into the world of painting and sculpture. So our collection picks up there,

By turns gritty, fanciful, unsettling and mysterious, the images in the exhibit are primarily in color. and many are presented in a large-scale format.

Among the works on display is New York and Paris-based photographer Nan Goldins series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. Created during the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s, it is look at the struggle for intimacy among the artists self-described tribe of friends and lovers. It also documents the effects of drug addiction, domestic violence and AIDS. The exhibition includes two prints and a video of the series originally presented as a slide show with music.

This is a landmark piece, Barilleaux said. (Goldin) was very honest about photographing her world, so theyre not flattering images. Theyre brutal, very honest, but shes photographing communities that are marginalized. We dont want to see photographs of drug addicts and prostitutes and hustlers and drag queens  right?  especially as an artwork. Those are tough things to have to look at, but shes being very honest with the way she photographs.

Like Goldin, New York-based photographer Tina Barney photographs her tribe  in this case, well-to-do friends and relatives photographed in luxe environments. In Beverly, Jill and Polly from 1982, three women  one an African- American housekeeper in uniform  occupy the same physical space, but seem to be separated by social barriers.

Counter to the unblinking reality of Goldins and Barneys photographs, Gregory Crewdson, a Brooklyn-based artist, offers viewers dreamlike surrealism. An untitled piece from 2006 depicts a young boy, standing in what looks like the ruins of a structure surrounded by a forest. He is gazing upward at something the viewer cant see. In the distance a cluster of figures is barely perceptible behind a veil of mist. Crewdson often shoots his works with large crews and Hollywood-style production.

A number of these photographers actually hire actors, build sets, professional lighting, Barilleaux said. Its about constructing this world of photographs.

With Lori Nix, the construction is literal. The Brooklyn-based artist creates exquisitely detailed dioramas of derelict building interiors, natural disaster sites and scenes that portend unknown dangers, which she then photographs.

Photography has its limitations as a storytelling medium. As Gregory J. Harris writes in an essay for the exhibition catalog: Photographs, as they are commonly theorized, capture discrete fragments of the visible world and finite slices of time, which some argue precludes them from articulating a story. Even when they are grouped together in a series or sequence, gaps can emerge and a clear narrative thread may not be immediately apparent.

Those same limitations, however, are also its strengths, Barilleaux said.

Youve left so much more for invention in the viewer, right? he said. Theres so much more we can assume, we can interpret. Theres so much more we can bring to it on our own. Youre not limiting the response in the viewer. Especially when youre staging things, it even enhances the idea of a fiction, because youre only giving one image, one moment, one clue.
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As if the homes setting perched on a ridge at the end of a long, leafy drive wasnt enough, you cant help but be awed by the 26-foot foyer and its wide gold chandelier. But its Barbara Tauzin Wheelers black and gold lacquered harp in the marbled entrance that sets the tone for the elegant North Side home she shares with her husband, Wade.

After friends offered to sell the Wheelers the lot, Wade cleared the land himself, and the search began for the perfect home plan.

That wasnt an easy task. After a failed attempt designing with an architect, they found a model home they liked on a trip to Phoenix, Arizona. Shortly after, they saw the home featured on the cover of a home building magazine and purchased the architectural plans.

I didnt want square rooms. I wanted it to be beautiful even without furnishings. I wasnt interested in anything traditional. We wanted it open, said Barbara, a retired counselor. Wade, a retired psychologist and distinguished professor emeritus for Texas State University, said fitting the house on the lot required some modifications to the plan. They moved into the home on New Years Eve of 1988.

The home is enveloped in soft shades of ivory. Off-white never gets tired and goes with anything, said Barbara. High windows in the formal living room are swathed in sheer white panels that echo the deep-seated ivory couch with huge matching pillows. The stark contrast of a black lacquered baby grand piano and a striking archer sculpture, collected on a trip to Thailand, heighten the drama of the room.

More Information House Rules Simplicity is often at the heart of elegant interiors. Here are some ways to glam up your home. Inject metallics Chrome, gold, bronze and copper work well with neutral palettes and many other hues. Use one of the metallics in accessories, sculpture or accents. Look to undertones for pairing cues. In general, gold goes with everything and looks good with contrasting gray. Cool metals, such as chrome, look right with blues. Bronze is ideal for warmer colors such as orange. Dressed well Furnishings such as soft curved arms and skirts on sofas add to sophistication. Pick one Keep the color palette to a single shade for understated glamour. Add texture and interest with glass and other shiny accents. Cheryl Van Tuyl Jividen See More Collapse

I thought it had beauty and grace, Barbara said of the sculpture. We just chose things we liked and thought would fit the house.

The Wheelers interest in Oriental and Asian art started on their first trip to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore. We both admire and like it, said Barbara.

The nearly circular morning room has bleached wood beams on an octagonal ceiling and a white balloon valance over the floor to ceiling windows.

Its the couples favorite room. We live in here and enjoy the sunrises, said Wade.

Theres also the occasional fireworks from Sonterra and Fiesta Texas that light up the view. A half-circle white couch faces one of the four fireplaces in the home.

The adjacent kitchen and breakfast room afford views of the beautiful pool and the lush landscaping Wade installed.

We dont like to be closed in. We like to bring the outside in, said Barbara.
MADISON  UW-Madison senior Jackie Spaight estimates she spent more than 50 hours per week volunteering for Bernie Sanders primary campaign as the lead organizer of Badgers for Bernie.

But Spaight wont follow the Vermont senators plea for his supporters to back Hillary Clinton in November. Instead, Spaight says she will vote for the Green Partys Jill Stein.

I cant get behind her, Spaight said of Clinton. If Bernie flew in from D.C. to have a sit-down conversation and asked me to vote for her, Im not convinced I could do it.

Spaight is among a significant group of young voters  some of them former Sanders supporters unpersuaded by Clinton, others Republicans opposed to Donald Trump  who say they plan to vote for third-party candidates this year.

In Wisconsin, where neither Clinton nor Trump won their partys primary in April, polling shows nearly 30 percent of voters between 18 and 29 say they support Stein or Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, matching a national trend of growing interest in those candidates.

Plenty of the college students and people under 30 who helped propel Sanders campaign now support Clinton. As the race between Clinton and Trump has tightened in recent weeks, though, the popularity of third-party candidates among young voters has loomed larger over the Democratic campaign.

They are really essential for the Democratic coalition, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said, noting the importance of young voters to President Barack Obamas victories in 2008 and 2012.

This year, though, Theyre flirting with a lot of options, Burden said.

Clintons campaign has noticed. In recent weeks she has sought to bolster her support among young people by touting issues such as college affordability and climate change that are popular among those voters.

Last week, Sanders joined Clinton on the stump, and First Lady Michelle Obama campaigned on her behalf at colleges in key swing states, warning young voters against sitting out of the election or casting protest votes for third-party candidates. On Tuesday, Sanders will campaign for Clinton at University of Minnesota campuses in Minneapolis and Duluth.

Young voters looking elsewhere

Although young people generally tend to vote for Democrats, Clinton trails Trump among 18- to 29-year-old registered voters in Wisconsin, according to the September Marquette Law School Poll, drawing only 26 percent of those voters compared to 31 percent for Trump. Johnson had support from 20 percent of voters under 30, and 9 percent supported Stein.

Poll director Charles Franklin noted Johnsons supporters tend not to be as likely to vote  his support drops to 14 percent among 18- to 29-year-old likely voters. Still, faced with a choice between two unpopular major-party nominees, Franklin said voters are open to third-party candidates.

Nationally, an Associated Press-GfK poll this month found 14 percent of likely voters under 30 supported Johnson while 3 percent backed Stein.

Young voters tend to be more interested in third-party candidates than older voters, experts say, and Johnson and Steins popularity in Wisconsin is highest among 18- to 29-year-olds compared to other age groups.

Clinton led Trump 39 percent to 35 percent among all registered Wisconsin voters in the Marquette poll when third-party candidates are included, with 12 percent for Johnson and 3 percent for Stein.

UW-Madison professor Connie Flanagan, who studies youth political engagement, said young people tend to be less willing to compromise with their votes, making them more likely to support candidates whose values align with theirs even if they stand no chance of actually being elected.

A vote often is the principle that you stand for, so the practicalities dont always sink in, Flanagan said.

Allan Samaniego, a first-year student at Madison Area Technical College, supported Sanders primary campaign but said he doesnt trust Clinton, citing her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Samaniego, who is Latino, also wont vote for Trump, who he considers really racist.

He took a quiz online to match his political beliefs to a candidate, and Johnson was the top result.

Hes a person I can trust, instead of Hillary or Donald Trump, Samaniego said.

Will voters come home to major parties?

What remains to be seen is how many of the voters who support third-party candidates now will still feel that way when they go to the polls in November, or if they will be drawn back to major parties, said UW-Madison professor Michael Wagner.

People tend to vote with their party when it comes down to it on Election Day, Wagner said.

Despite the age groups traditionally Democratic bent, Franklin cautioned that many of the young voters expressing support for third-party candidates may not be Clintons to win over because Marquettes poll shows most of Johnsons supporters are Republicans or those who lean right.

He and other experts acknowledged, though, that Trump faces an uphill battle in winning over many young voters, who are members of a generation that is generally more diverse and tolerant, and has been turned off by Trumps comments about women, immigrants and Muslims.

I disagree with Trumps policies on pretty much everything, MATC student Declan Fair said.

He just seems to run on hatred, said another MATC student, Julie Heida.

Almost three-quarters of Wisconsinites under 30, 73 percent, had an unfavorable view of Trump, according to the Marquette poll, compared to 63 percent overall. Unfavorability ratings for Clinton among young voters, at 57 percent, were a point below those for all age groups.

Even though I might not agree with ... all of her policies completely, theres definitely, I feel like, a pressing need to keep Trump out of office, said Anna Ofstead, a UW-Madison senior.

Gillian Drummond, Clintons Wisconsin communications director, said the campaign is confident that we will garner a significant proportion of the youth vote because Hillary Clintons vision is the one that is best for them.

Narrow race could pull voters back

The narrowing gap between Clinton and Trump in recent weeks has done some of the campaigns work for them in bringing young voters back to mainstream candidates.

UW-Madison junior Nick Haugstad was reluctant to support Clinton after voting for Sanders in the primary, but said the tight race ended his thoughts about voting for a third party.

If it was like the lead she had on Trump a month ago  I would definitely give Johnson more of a look, Haugstad said. But its getting pretty close.

Freshman Andy Holzmann, a John Kasich supporter in the Republican primary, is also considering a vote for Johnson, saying he is uncomfortable with Trumps foreign policy and would prefer Johnson, who he considers more moderate. Realistically, though, Holzmann said he will probably wind up voting for Trump come November.

I would want to vote in a way that would give the Republican party the best chance, he said.

Trumps campaign declined an interview request, but issued a statement from Wisconsin state director Pete Meachum criticizing both Johnson and Clinton.

Wisconsin Republicans know that there is only one candidate for them, Donald Trump, Meachum said.

Others third-party voters, such as Spaight, will be more difficult to convince.

Spaight said Clintons Hawkish foreign policy, as well as her prior opposition to same-sex marriage and support for tough-on-crime policies now derided by Democrats seeking to reform the criminal justice system, were among the issues that decided her vote.

The point is that were looking for something else, she said of third-party voters. We need more than just, Im a little better than the other guy.

In the campaigns final weeks, Wagner said Clinton must emphasize to young voters that the difference between her and Trump is far more than a matter of degrees, while employing Sanders and Barack and Michelle Obama to unite voters behind the Democratic ticket.

They really need to focus on where they agree, Wagner said of Clintons surrogates, and how where they agree is fundamentally different from what Donald Trump thinks, what Gary Johnson thinks and what Jill Stein thinks.
Mission Police Department and the city of Edinburg each received a $1 million community policing grant that will allow them to hire eight police officers for three years, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

Im excited to get this grant and to further our community-policing initiatives, Mission Police Chief Robert Dominguez said. Its important that our officers understand the complexities that we deal with, that the people we patrol are people just like us.

Mission Police Department and the the city of Edinburg were among 10 Texas law enforcement agencies and four are agencies that received grants through the DOJs Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS.

In total, the Department of Justice awarded $119 million to 184 agencies nationwide. The grants will create or, in some cases, rehire for more than 900 law enforcement positions nationwide, according to the DOJ.

The grants require the cities to employ the police officers for a fourth year at the departments expense. Dominguez said he intends to keep the positions open permanently after the grants expiration.

Weslaco Police Department also received a $500,000 community engagement grant that will be used to hire four additional officers. Converse Police Department received a $237,000 grant to hire officers focused on drug abuse and drug-crime issue.

The call load has increased significantly here, said Converse Police Chief Fidel Villegas. These officers will allow us to bolster our patrolling so we can do some proactive police work.

The department has 33 police officers currently. The two additional officers  plus four other officers the department plans to hire  will increase the focus on drug prevention and education among youth. The department, like Mission Police Department, intends to keep the positions permanently after the grants expiration.

Some kids are using drugs at such an early age, and we feel like prevention is key, Villegas said. It sounds like a corny thing, but the young people need to hear this from the police.

Community policing emphasis

Dominguez, chief of Mission Police Department, said community policing is an important philosophy, one that the department tries to further in many different ways.

The department also promotes neighborhood watch programs and takes part in various community events, most recently a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Were constantly reaching out to the community in an effort to bridge that gap, Dominguez said. In this modern policing world, the community expects that and expects the police department to reach out in many different fashions.

Mission Police Department applied for the grant in May. All applicants were asked to identify a specific crime, problem area and how funding would be used to enhance community policing, according to the DOJ.

This year, the COPS Office gave additional consideration to applicants that said they intended to use the grant to build trust, based on the emphasis placed on trust building in the final report of President Barack Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

Additional consideration was also given to agencies that focused on school-based policing, homicides or violent crime, and homeland security.

This is the fourth grant the Mission Police Department has received from the COPS office since it was established in 1995, allowing the agency to hire 29 additional officers over the years. In all of those situations, the department hired the officers full-time after the grants expiration, Dominguez said.

Once they become members of the organization, were in it for the long haul, Dominguez said.

Mission Police Department has also been awarded three additional federal grants that are run in partnership with state agencies.

eeaton@express-news.net
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WASHINGTON  Latino leaders say Donald Trumps personal insults of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado could further propel turnout in November, and a new poll suggests that Trumps attacks may be having an effect on Latinos already negative view of the GOP nominee.

But despite Trumps missteps and a surge in voter registration, some Latino advocates worry that Democrats and deep-pocketed donors are failing to support mobilization efforts needed to get irregular voters to the polls.

A poll of Latinos released Sunday showed further erosion in the GOP nominees ratings  77 percent unfavorable now  5 percentage points worse than a week ago. Democrats are looking at key battleground states, among them Florida, Nevada and Colorado, as places where Latinos still-diminishing view of Trump could prove decisive.

The tracking poll, sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund and Noticias Telemundo, captured fallout from Trumps ongoing jabs last week at Machado for gaining weight when she was Miss Universe. Latinos found the attacks in the debate and afterward as offensive to them, and Trump compounded the damage in his Twitter tirade when he referred to Machados sex tape past, widely seen as a false allegation.

Trump apparently was referring to a 2005 night-vision clip from La Granja, a Spanish reality program, that shows Machado and a man moving rhythmically under a blanket or sheet absent nudity or anything explicit, similar to some scenes in U.S. reality shows.

The nonpartisan tracking poll showed why Trump is a refrain in Democratic ads focused on Latinos: Hillary Clinton is viewed favorably by two-thirds of Latinos  far better than by people generally  and led Trump 73-16 percent when Latinos were asked which candidate they prefer.

Houston pollster Sylvia Manzano of Latino Decisions, which conducts the tracking surveys, points to still another possible reason for Trumps ongoing decline among Latinos: Cuba  and Trumps efforts to drum up business opportunities in the1990s during the embargo, an issue followed especially closely in Florida.

Manzano said that despite some reports of Latinos becoming tuned out, her polling shows that the level of interest already has eclipsed what surveys showed four years ago.

Ive heard media chatter about Latinos not enthused, but we dont have evidence to support that, she said.

In Bexar County, which surpassed the 1 million mark in registered voters in late June, had 1,028,657 registered voters Monday  100,000 more than in 2012, said Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen. Other cities with large Hispanic populations also say registration has surged.

Nonetheless, advocates worry that Democrats and philanthropies arent devoting more to corralling that enthusiasm in the campaigns last weeks.

More Information Latino tracking poll An eight-week tracking poll asks registered Latino voters who they would vote for if the election were today. Sept. 25. - Oct. 1 Clinton: 73 percent Trump: 16 percent Sept. 18-24 Clinton: 72 percent Trump: 18 percent Sept. 12-17 Clinton: 71 percent Trump: 18 percent Source: Tracking polls of registered Latino voters done by Latino Decisions. The first poll interviewed 511 people. Subsequent polls interviewed 250 new registered voters every week, along with the most recent 250 from the previous week. The margin of error is 4.4 percentage points. See More Collapse

The San Antonio-based Southwest Voter Registration Education Project operated in as many as 14 states in the past decade but limited funding this election has reduced efforts to just three states beyond Texas.

I think campaigns and corresponding groups are supporting efforts to turn out the voters that the campaigns think they need. In Hillarys case, its white men, said Lydia Camarillo, Southwest Voter vice president.

Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, a Los Angeles-based national advocacy group, said he, too, worries about missed opportunity. He said Machado represents pride in the Latino community. He (Trump) insulted one of our heroes.

Monterroso added: It looks to me that its politics as usual in not building for the future. I dont see the coordination. I dont see it in the streets. I dont see it in the barrios.

Democrats in Texas and Washington say efforts aimed at Latinos are building. Democratic National Committee spokesman Walter Garcia said additional party efforts will unfold in coming days.

Were constantly working to make sure that we highlight how dangerous and divisive Trumps candidacy is, he said.

Red-state Texas typically settles for drips from the national party funding spigot in presidential election years. But Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa pointed to the DNC opening offices in Houston and Austin this season and heavy national funding of Alpine Democrat Pete Gallego in his challenge of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, in the San Antonio-area quintessential swing district.

In a conference call Friday, Hinojosa said: We all know that the biggest problem weve had in getting the state to turn blue is the turnout in the Latino community. We leave 4 million votes on the table every election from that community. Texas is not really a red state, its a nonvoting state.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, pointed to the nearly 940,000 increase in the number of legal immigrants who have applied to become citizens as further indication of an energized Latino electorate.

Castro is doing his part for Democrats nationally: He campaigned in Louisiana over the weekend and has trips planned for Florida and Iowa.

Castro also is party-building in Texas, helping to finance a strategy in which people reach out to friends and relatives who in turn reach out to others with encouragement to vote. He likened the method to people asking others to help them move on a weekend.

They help you not because they like moving on a Saturday but because you asked them to, he said.

In the Latino Victory Projects late efforts, a rock n roll soundtrack accompanies the sound of money. Latino Victory was formed two years ago by actress and activist Eva Longoria and Henry Munoz, the San Antonio entrepreneur and Democratic Party finance chairman.

Latino Victory is partners with the rock band Mana, of Guadalajara, Mexico, in an online campaign, #CuentaConmigo (count on me), with concerts so far in El Paso and Las Vegas and another planned in Miami.

The Longoria-Munoz PAC also has spent $1.3 million this election, most of it supporting Latino candidates.

You cant take our community for granted, said state Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso. Just because Trump is out there doesnt mean these funding organizations have to make less investment. They cant be short-sighted.

Nevada, where more than 1 in 5 voters are Latino, is the battleground state with the biggest Latino percentage and potentially a place where Latinos could make a big difference Nov. 8.

Latinos see their best chance yet to send the first Latina to the U.S. Senate in the battle to replace Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat and former two-term state attorney general, trails U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, a physician and three-term congressman, in recent polls.

Heck led by just two points in a Las Vegas Review-Journal survey published Sunday, suggesting that a robust turnout could put Cortez Masto over the top.

Last week, Cortez Masto answered charges by two of Hecks former advisers that she is hispandering for votes, with one of her critics remarking that she doesnt speak fluent Spanish.

Cortez Masto, whose grandfather emigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico, called the barbs a slap at Mexican-Americans who have come to this country  have worked hard, and have made a life for them and their families.

In the battleground state of Florida, an influx of Democratic-leaning voters arriving from Puerto Rico is rapidly changing the Hispanic electorate and may be a key factor in November, analysts say.

In the past, Republicans could bank on strong support from Cuban-Americans in Florida. That GOP support has eroded in recent years, particularly among young Cuban-Americans. In 2012, Barack Obama captured the Cuban-American vote.

Since then, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have moved to Florida after fleeing the islands debt crisis and economic woes, many of them settling in the Orlando area.

Susan MacManus, a commentator and University of South Florida professor, noted intense organizing in the Orlando area and successes in state legislative contests of candidates of Puerto Rican heritage.

Were really starting to see the exertion of Puerto Rican political power. That has to be helpful to Hillary Clinton, she said.

bill.lambrecht@hearstnews.com
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Despite the fact that breast cancer is the most common and deadly cancer among Hispanic women, little is known about the types of breast cancer Hispanics are likely to get or how they react to treatments.

Thats because few Hispanic patients agree to participate in research and clinical trials, which prevents doctors from determining if treatments are effective for Hispanics, or if theyre more or less likely to experience abnormal side effects.

Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, who heads the breast cancer program at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center, said sometimes a patients race or ethnicity can have a big impact on how they react to medication.

Without higher participation rates among Hispanic women, Kaklamani said, we cant improve our treatments for breast cancer, and we cant improve our cure rates for Hispanic women.

In 2011, Hispanics made up only 1 percent of all clinical trial participants nationwide, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Amelie Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UTHSC, said Hispanic patients tend to be hesitant to join clinical trials because they lack information about what it means to participate in one.

More Information More about clinical trials For detailed information about enrolling in clinical trials, including multiple links about how to find them, go to Susan G. Komen San Antonio: http://ww5.komen.org/ breastcancer/clinicaltrials.html To view the open clinical trials at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, visit uthscsa.edu Breast cancer rates in Texas Incidence and mortality from 2008-2012 (per 100,000 people) Incidence Hispanic: 88.5 White: 124.2 Black: 120.3 Mortality Hispanic: 16.1 White: 21.1 Black: 33.7 See More Collapse

If they participate in a trial, theyre not going to get anything thats lesser, Ramirez said. Actually, they get the current standard treatment, or they get the new type of treatment that is being tested.

Katherine Belmonte works for a nonprofit wellness center in San Antonio for women with cancer called S.L.E.W., Support Lending for Emotional Well-Being. She said Hispanic women worry about being treated like guinea pigs, and are less inclined to trust medication.

Ramirez and her team have been able to combat that by increasing education about the benefits, risks, requirements and reason for clinical trials.

Maria Lopez, 65, was diagnosed with breast and kidney cancer in 2006. Since then shes undergone 12 rounds of chemotherapy. In 2009, they found cancer in her adrenal gland as well. She continues to undergo treatments.

Lopez said she decided to participate in a clinical trial after her doctor explained that the research could help future generations.

People that get cancer shouldnt be afraid to participate in the trials because thats the only way to find a cure one day, Lopez said through a Spanish-to-English interpreter.

While the trial Lopez participated in studied genetic mutations, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center is currently conducting trials with three new medications used to shrink or kill breast cancer cells.

San Antonio doctors and researchers are in a unique position to reach out to Hispanic women due to the high Hispanic population in Bexar County. Hispanics account for about 60 percent of the total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

If were not including Hispanics in those clinical trials we dont know that those medications actually work for them, Kaklamani said.

Ibrance, a recent drug approved to treat a specific form of breast cancer, received FDA approval based on the results of a clinical trial that included 165 patients. Of those, 148  or nearly 90 percent  were white women, two were black, 10 were Asian and five were labeled as other.

On its website, the FDA said it couldnt determine if there were any differences in how well the drug worked among different races because the number of non-white subjects was limited.

Lisa Kerkez, 50, a Hispanic woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and had a double mastectomy, is currently taking an estrogen-blocker medication because her cancer fed on estrogen. Shes been cancer-free for two years, but said the side effects of the medication now are brutal.

Kerkez said shes glad her oncologist has made it clear that clinical trials are available to her if she feels the side effects are becoming too hard to handle.

More education would benefit a lot of women, Kerkez said.

bmartin@express-news.net

Twitter: @beedotmartin
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Before the Rosetta spacecraft ended its two-year orbit of the distant comet 67P last week by triumphantly crashing into it face-first, its prized payload  a shoebox-sized spectrometer born in San Antonio  had sent back some 70,000 images that may help unlock the Earths origins.

Launched March 2, 2004, the Rosetta space probe flew past Mars and several asteroids before reaching the dense and dark 67P in August 2014. Rosetta was the first to ever orbit and escort a comet. On board was an 8-pound ultraviolet imaging spectrometer named Alice that was created at the Southwest Research Institute.

While in the comets orbit, Alice delighted comet scientists with a bonanza of data.

Alice was amazing, said Joel Parker, director of the institutes space science and engineering division and Alices deputy principal investigator. Alice was taking exposures until the very last moment, just seconds before Rosetta hit the comet.

Parker said Alice stayed in good condition for its 10-year cruise through space, then a two-year escort of a messy comet notorious for spewing gas and debris.

Alice is an incredibly sensitive instrument that was built in a clean room lab, Parker said. It was sent to fly around one of the dirtiest objects in the solar system, and yet Alice stayed healthy and functional.

Alice  not an acronym, but more of an inside joke among scientists  was the most celebrated of 11 complex research instruments carried by Rosetta, which is a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency. Experts say the unassuming Alice generated about 1,000 times the data of instruments flown just a generation ago yet used only 4 watts of power.

A spectrometer separates light into its constituent wavelengths, like a greatly enhanced prism. Alice explored 67Ps atmosphere and unexpectedly porous, fluffy dark surface, which explains why some scientists think of comets as just big dirty snowballs.

Alice also documented what scientists thought to be a surprising lack of exposed water ice on 67Ps surface and identified an extremely volatile gas in its atmosphere: molecular oxygen.

Why study comets?

Most scientists believe that they were created about 4.6 billion years ago at roughly the same time as our giant planets  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune  and thus contain the same ingredients with which the Earth was formed.

They may have even formed our oceans.

Comets have hit the Earth many times in the distant past, Parker said, but did they hit it enough to be the source of most of the water? Comets certainly brought some water to the Earth. The question is, how much?

Comets also contain organic elements, such as hydrogen and carbon; inorganic elements, such as sulfur and oxygen; and heavy metals, such as iron, nickel and manganese. This leads some scientists to believe that they may have brought the key materials to forming life much later.

About a billion particles of comet dust, as tiny as a particle of cigarette smoke, fall to Earth every second, say scientists at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. You could be inhaling comet dust as you read this.

The meteor showers that often enthrall us on Earth are actually caused by our planet crashing into and igniting the cosmic comet dust that wafts through our atmosphere.

Alan Stern, Alice principal investigator and an associate vice president of the institutes space science and engineering division, noted that the San Antonio-created spectrometer gathered one-of-a-kind data not available through ground-based or Earth-orbital observations.

Alice did its job perfectly, Stern said, providing a gold mine of data for comet scientists to study for years to come.

The Southwest Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit applied research and development organization founded in 1947, with nearly 2,800 employees and an annual research volume of $592 million. The institute has numerous contracts with NASA on a wide variety of missions.

bselcraig@express-news.net
A drug ring moved millions of dollars of heroin into this area using barber shops in San Antonio, Seguin and Floresville, delivering the drugs to customers at the shops and laundering the proceeds with other cash generated by haircuts, federal authorities said.

The group moved at least $8 million worth of heroin between 2014 and 2015 alone, federal agents said.

Two members of the ring, Salvador Gonzalez, 52, and one of his sons, Adrian Gonzalez, 30, owned the Acapulco Barber Shop chain and were among eight people charged a year ago in the scheme. The pair pleaded guilty Monday to heroin-trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to launder money.

RELATED: Map shows cartel drug smuggling routes into Texas

The shops were not necessarily fronts  they actually did cut customers hair, said John Convery, a lawyer for Adrian Gonzalez.

These are legitimate, hardworking enterprises that serve a community purpose when run in a legitimate way, he said.

Prosecutors contend proceeds from both the drug sales and haircuts were intermingled and used to buy numerous properties and business locations.

RELATED: Trio arrested in horrific child abuse case face up to life in prison

Agents said Salvador Gonzalez led the ring, while Adrian Gonzalez handled day-to-day operations. Sentencing was set for Jan. 19 before Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia.

We settled the case, perhaps not for the amounts or figures that were considered by the investigators, but certainly for some significant charges and amount that we could all agree on, Convery said. Were just trying to accept responsbility and move toward a situation where we can  get back to legitimate activity of being barbers.

During the investigation, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Services Criminal Investigation division tapped the phones of family members and listened to Salvador Gonzalez and his relatives discuss sales and movement of heroin, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joey Contreras said.

RELATED: United Airlines pilot gets prison for revenge porn against Texas girlfriend

Agents also seized 15 pounds of heroin, guns and ammunition, and $543,940 in cash and targeted 19 properties for forfeiture. Informants told agents that from 2014 to 2015, the ring moved 250 kilos of heroin and sold each kilo for $32,000 or more, Contreras said.

The ring moved so much heroin that it came to the attention of the Texas Mexican Mafia, which imposed a 10 percent street tax called the dime, which the group had to pay to continue to operate, Contreras said. Members of the gang also began getting their supply from the ring, he said.

As part of the Gonzalezes plea deals, they agreed to forfeit the guns and cash and 10 of the 19 properties, including four barber shops and one barber college in San Antonio, one barber shop in Seguin and one in Floresville.

Three other defendants, Raul Boom Boom Sanchez, Jose Lopez Grimaldo and Carlos Charlie De La Cruz Perez, have pleaded guilty to heroin-trafficking conspiracy or have signed plea deals to do so. Three await trial, court records show: Jose Jay Hernandez Jimenez, Eneveida Margarita Ruvalcaba and Hector Mario Ginez.

All could face up to life in prison.

The DEA said heroin addiction is the fastest growing drug abuse problem in the United States today. Those addicted to prescription painkillers often turn to heroin when they are cut off by doctors or cant afford the prescriptions. Heroin is cheaper, but often mixed with substances that are lethal, leading to overdoses.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland
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A jury on Monday found Joshua Joyner, a 17-year-old Converse man, guilty of capital murder for killing an acquaintance in a drug-related robbery in 2015.

The state did not seek the death penalty, so the charge carried an automatic sentence of life in prison. Because of his age, he will be eligible for parole after 40 years.

Joyner had been certified to stand trial as an adult. He was 15 on July 24, 2015, the day witnesses said they saw him holding a gun seconds after Albert Nelson III, 19, was shot in the parking lot of Elolf Elementary School in Northeast Bexar County.

The bullet went through Nelson's elbow and chest. He managed to drive to his house nearby, where he died in the driveway with his mother's white Lexus still running, his foot on the brake. Joyner was shot in the arm and was arrested at a hospital.

Juvenile District Judge Laura Parker passed the sentence with a subdued tone. Joyner showed no emotion as he was handcuffed and led from the courtroom. His parents had waited in a witness room most for the verdict for most of the day but had left before the jury returned after deliberating about seven hours.

Prosecutors said Joyner was angry at Nelson and plotted to rob him of a $75 bag of marijuana after the two exchanged looks that morning. Four friends who accompanied Joyner to the school testified they were aware of the pending drug deal but some said they didnt know of any plan to rob Nelson.

Only one said he saw shooting between Nelson and Joyner just after the witness struggled with Nelson over the marijuana. All four admitted they lied to investigators when their trial testimony didnt match their previous statements.

A stolen handgun was found in a culvert at the edge of the school property, its 30-round clip holding 28 bullets, wrapped in a shirt one of the teens said he lent Joyner after the shooting.

Albert Nelson's young life was taken because Joshua Joyner said, Looks like that will get you shot, prosecutor Jacqueline Valdes said in her closing statement, quoting testimony of one of the teens and the victim's brother.

In his closing statement, defense attorney Mario A. Trevino said the unreliability of the witnesses made it impossible to know who shot Nelson.

After the testimony of all four, you can't add them together. They can't corroborate each other. he said. If there was an offense, there was no capital murder.

Prosecutor Khristina Fielder pointed out that Joyners own statements to police contained lies and changes but he never put the gun in any of his friends' hands.

If he did know one of his friends shot Nelson, why didn't he tell the other detectives? Why doesn't he put it on anyone else if he didn't do it? None of the other kids put the gun with anyone else.

The jury was allowed to consider a lesser charge of murder, aggravated robbery or robbery.

ezavala@express-news.net
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With major investments needed to fix leaking sewer pipes and connect a future pipeline to the San Antonio Water System, SAWS officials are proposing a 6.8 percent rate hike starting next year.

The utility unveiled its rate proposal at a board meeting Tuesday along with its proposed 2017 budget of more than $720 million.

Residential and commercial customers would see their rates increase the same percentage under the proposal, said Mary Bailey, SAWS vice president of business planning and controller.

Two-thirds of that rate increases would go toward $367.5 million in capital improvements, Bailey said.

That is definitely whats driving the rate increase in total because it is a fairly large program, she said.

The rate increases would drive average monthly water and sewer bills to $62.39, according to SAWS. Thats $1.60 more than what average customers pay in Dallas but below average bills in Fort Worth and Houston and around half of monthly bills in Austin.

The budget also includes $3.9 million to provide discounts to low-income customers.

More Information SAWS rate increase meetings 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13, Julia Yates Semmes Library, 15060 Judson Road. 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17, Phil Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center, 8400 NW Military Hwy. 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18, Mission Library, 3134 Roosevelt Ave. 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, Forest Hills Library, 5245 Ingram Road. 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25, SAWS headquarters, 2800 U.S. Hwy 281 North. This meeting will be webcast at saws.org. See More Collapse

SAWS would spend $141.5 million upgrading its 5,160-mile sewer system as required by an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Leaks, breaks, debris and rainwater infiltration often cause raw sewage to spill from the system. The system had 165 spills in the first half of this year, according to SAWS. The utility must meet a 2023 deadline for the required sewer work.

Annalisa Peace, executive director of the local environmental advocacy group the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, said her group supports the rate increase for sewer work.

Since our research revealed major problems with SAWS sewage infrastructure, including over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, we think this is money well spent, Peace said in an email.

Starting next year, SAWS will also spend $111.8 million preparing its water system to accept water from the Vista Ridge pipeline. That 142-mile line would ship up to 50,000 acre-feet per year from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer below Burleson and Milam counties. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.

That project has generated controversy because of the high price of the water, concerns about aquifer drawdown and the financial implosion of the Spanish conglomerate, Abengoa, the parent of the company SAWS chose in 2014 to provide water from the line. A company originally tapped to build the line, Garney Construction, took control of the project in June.

Even though that water wont come in until 2020, were going to have to get started on making our improvements to our system in order to accommodate another 50,000 acre-feet from the north, Bailey said.

Peace said her group has opposed (Vista Ridge) from the start due to concerns that this new water supply will be used almost exclusively to support high-density development of the environmentally fragile lands of the Edwards and Trinity aquifer watersheds.

SAWS also expects to spent $5.6 million per year operating a plant under construction in South Bexar County to treat nearly 13,500 acre-feet of salty groundwater and $2.5 million to buy 2,500 acre-feet of water from the Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corp., which shares a pipeline with SAWS to Gonzales County.

The rate increases will also go to $75 million in water main replacements and production upgrades, as well as help SAWS finish absorbing former Bexar Metropolitan Water District customers into its system.

Those roughly 100,000 accounts will begin paying SAWS rates on Jan. 1. For residential former Bexar Met customers who have not seen a rate increase since 2010, bills will go up 7.7 percent, according to SAWS.

The overall proposed rate increase would come in 1.1 percentage points lower than the 7.9 percent increase San Antonio City Council approved last fall.

Bailey said SAWS is asking its board for a lower rate increase because it was able to find more cash than expected to fund its capital improvements program and therefore issue less debt.

It also refinanced older debt at a better interest rate and is now projecting lower-than-expected operating costs for the desalination plant, Bailey said.

Still, SAWS last year estimated that increases in bills will continue at least through 2020, perhaps by as much as 50 percent for residential customers from $54.34 to $81.73, based on an average of 7,092 gallons of water used monthly.

SAWS records show rates have risen nearly every year since 2006.

The board is expected to vote on the rate increase in December, SAWS officials said. Customers can learn more and share their thoughts at five public meetings through October.

bgibbons@express-news.net

Twitter: @bgibbs
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SEGUIN  Water is percolating from the ground in the Oak Village North subdivision, creating unwanted swampland, harboring mosquitoes and threatening structures and trees, and the city of Seguin plans to hire a hydrologist to find out why.

Some affected residents blame the citys installation of sewers in the neighborhood in 2013 for creating the problem, contending trenches excavated for that project disrupted the normal migration of groundwater toward Geronimo Creek.

Theres literally a stream coming out from under my house, Blake Brock, 28, said Monday from his property on Spanish Oak Street where indoor mold is now a concern.

Hes among four residents in the low-lying eastern end of the subdivision off Texas 123 who began complaining to the city more than a year ago.

Theyre destroying my house and killing all my trees, said Brock, pointing to water seeping from seams in the concrete into his workshop and onto the driveway.They need to fix it.

His neighbor, Ray Reininger, said he sold the city an easement nearly a year ago but no work has occurred on an anticipated pipe or ditch to carry the water away.

How would you like to walk through this crap every day? said Reininger, 69, as he jumped across puddles and streams on his driveway.

The city hasnt officially pinpointed the cause but is working to resolve it because it involves water flowing from a public right-of-way onto private property, city spokeswoman Morgan Ash said.

She noted heavier-than-normal rainfall has resulted in many construction projects around the city encountering high groundwater levels.

A surveyor is due to begin work Thursday on a topographic map of the affected area that will help determine where a trench should go to temporarily divert the water to Geronimo Creek. The hydrologist will study the subsurface movement of water and recommend a long-term solution, Ash said.

Michael Sharp, an engineer associate with the city, said any fix will require easements and cant adversely affect other residents.

Id like to see the construction of a permanent solution completed by the end of the year, he said.

During years of feuding with the city over the project, some residents had predicted problems when they saw sewer pipes installed in trenches that were up to 28 feet deep.

The city was obligated to provide wastewater services to the subdivision within 42 months after it annexed it  against residents objections  in 2009. The city started work a year before the deadline, but a contractor encountered problems that stretched the project into a two-year ordeal of dust, noise and torn up streets. Litigation followed when the city dismissed the contractor.

Parts of the new sewer system had to be rebuilt. The city waived an impact fee but homeowners still had to pay a $470 hook-up fee and thousands of dollars to divert pipes connecting their homes to back yard septic systems to the sewer line out front.

Forrest Mims, one of several residents who had tangled with the city, said Monday he grew tired of city inaction on the swamp that formed behind his home and complained to local health officials Friday about mosquitoes breeding there.

The water never emerged on my property before the sewer project, said Mims, who had cautioned municipal leaders years ago that subterranean spring flow would complicate the sewer project.

Will the contract specify liability for the diversion or blockage of underground streams that results in property damage or loss of water access? he had asked City Manager Doug Faseler in a 2011 email.

zeke@express-news.net
Tenet Healthcare has severed ties with Humana, forcing all health facilities owned by the company, including Baptist hospitals in San Antonio, out of network for Humana insurance policyholders.

Failed contract negotiations led to the split, according to a statement Monday from Graham Reeve, president and CEO of Baptist Health System.

Effective Oct. 1, all patients with Humana insurance, including those covered through commercial plans, Medicare Advantage, Healthcare Marketplace Exchange, Medicaid and TRICARE, no longer have in-network access to our doctors, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care centers, imaging centers, laboratories and home health centers, Baptist Health said in the emailed statement. All six of the Baptist Health System hospitals are affected.

Tenet Healthcare, based in Dallas, is a publicly traded company that owns health care facilities throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

Despite our repeated efforts to find common ground, Humana made it clear they would rather compromise their members access to our doctors and hospitals rather than work together to complete a contract, Reeve said.

A Humana spokesman said the company is still in negotiations with Tenet to draw up a new contract.

So far, weve been unable to come to terms on a new arrangement thats fair and reasonable for our health plan members and customers, Humana spokesman Ross McLerran said.

Humana has been in communication with its members to share information regarding alternative hospitals, primary care doctors and specialists in our health care provider network, he said.

Humana policyholders can still visit area Baptist hospitals for emergency care but would have to pay out-of-network rates, which are usually higher.

Loretta Camp, co-owner of an independent insurance brokerage and spokeswoman for the San Antonio Association of Health Underwriters, said several of her clients are working to find alternative care options for procedures scheduled to take place at Baptist facilities in the coming days and weeks.

One client is scheduled for surgery today at a Baptist hospital, and pregnant women in their last trimesters are also looking for new delivery sites.

Although Humana has more than adequate accessible alternate providers in our area, no one likes losing their current provider, particularly if they have a long treatment history with them, Camp said.

Humana covered 1.7 million customers in Texas as of March 31.

bmartin@express-news.net

Twitter: @beedotmartin
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A spike in local ozone levels Sunday pushed San Antonios running average two units above a federal standard meant to protect public health.

Ground-level ozone  three oxygen atoms bound together  is the main ingredient in smog. It forms when chemicals like nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel combustion and volatile organic compounds from a variety of sources react in the presence of sunlight.

Officials with the Alamo Area Council of Governments say Sundays ozone spike was related to an abrupt shift in wind direction.

Ozone is heavily influenced by wind patterns, AACOG environmental manager Steven Smeltzer said in an email. Winds in the morning blew out of the northwest, then shifted direction to coming from the southeast by the afternoon, he said.

When the wind shifts, it recirculates ozone precursors  nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds  over the same area, which adds to ozone already present in the area, he said.

Stagnant conditions allow ozone to linger in the same area as precursors react with sunlight to compound the ozone already present, Smeltzer said.

Mark Langford, a San Antonio photographer with a longtime interest in meteorology who serves on AACOGs Air Advisory Committee, said Sunday was a great example of how difficult it is to control high ozone events.

This high ozone event was on  one of the lowest emitting days of the week and a day where the high temperature was only 85 degrees, he said.

The highest eight-hour average levels Sunday were at 76 parts per billion at an air-monitoring station on the Northwest Side and 74 parts per billion at one at Camp Bullis.

Those readings sent an important three-year average to 72 parts per billion at the two stations.

Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set the standard at 70 parts per billion, citing the negative public health effects of higher ozone levels.

Thanks in part to cooler, wetter summer, AACOG officials have said this ozone season  March 1 to Oct. 31  has been better than usual.

Before Sunday, the highest levels this season were recorded at 73 and 71 parts per billion at the Northwest Side monitor on May 5 and 6, respectively.

The city has seen its long-term average ozone levels drop from a recent high of 91 parts per billion in 2004. Meanwhile, the EPA has steadily cranked down the ozone standard in response to new health studies.

The San Antonio metro areas ozone levels cause an estimated 52 preventable deaths per year, according to an August study by New York University and the American Thoracic Society.

San Antonio is now poised to have its three-year ozone average violate the EPAs ozone standard for the first time in the citys history. That status  called nonattainment by regulators  could come with consequences ranging from a more strict review of new sources of pollution to required vehicle emissions testing.

Bexar County and San Antonio recently passed anti-idling ordinances in an effort to limit air pollution.

In August, AACOG approved an agreement with St. Marys University economics professor Steven Nivin to study the economic costs of nonattainment. A draft of that study should be ready by Dec. 1, according to AACOG.

Public health advocates have said that health impacts of high ozone levels also need to be studied.

bgibbons@express-news.net, Twitter: @bgibbs
JCEP's Terry Mcintosh Secures Palestinian Commitment Not to Endorse the Black Lives Matter Movement

Contact: Jennifer Thomasson, Jesus Christ Embassy Palestine, 270-534-0792

MEDIA ADVISORY, Oct. 3, 2016 -/Christian Newswire/ -- A recent meeting between Palestinian Senior Parliament Leader Dr. Ahmed Majdalini and Jesus Christ Embassy Palestine representative Terry McIntosh was very productive for the purpose of understanding obstacles to peace and potential resolutions.



McIntosh secured a commitment that the Palestinian Authority will not endorse the Black Lives Matter movement here in the USA. The organization has adopted the Palestinian cause as a way to identify the Black community with people living under occupation. They do not represent the vast majority of law-abiding citizens from within the Black community who believe in racial harmony.



Dr. Majdalini is Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front political party and answers directly to the President as a senior member of the PLO Parliament. McIntosh has labored for freedom of religion, human rights, and Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation since the Oslo Accord agreement. In addition to his role as a Christian peacemaker, McIntosh is a congressional write-in candidate from the state of Kentucky.



McIntosh brought the matter up during a visit with the Palestinian leader on September 28 as they discussed other issues. He pointed out that the Black Lives organization was riding on the coat tails of the Palestinian people in order to gain attention for their own political cause. He also pointed out that organizers originally called for incitement against civil authority and the murder of American police officers. Although they have modified the platform while trying to clean it up, some activists are still inciting violence among Americans according to sources.

McIntosh stressed that the movement's hijacking of the Palestinian cause harms Palestinians and the process of peace simply because many Americans will automatically think that the two separate causes are linked. The imagined link furthers the false narrative that all Palestinians are terrorists who want to kill Jews and Americans.

Majdalini confirmed that the Palestinian Authority is happy to have anyone's support, but agreed not to endorse or support the Black Lives Matter organization. He assured McIntosh that the PA opposes any organization that promotes racial division and violent action against other citizens in the USA and Israel. He added that the PA does not want Black Lives or other groups to use the Palestinian cause to promote their own personal agenda.

The PA has quelled organized terrorist activity within the West Bank against Jews in search for a non-violent solution to the Jewish-Palestinian problems. While individual attacks occur occasionally, the PA cannot be held responsible any more than any other country who can not halt all crimes.

McIntosh says, "Most conservative Christians, and Americans in general, confuse the Palestinian Authority with the radical religious group Hamas in Gaza which promotes violence against Jews. We must take care not to confuse the two ideologies and seek peace while peace is possible." Propaganda normally frames Palestinians when Hamas commits acts of terror.

Mr. Majdalini confirmed that Palestinians have recognized Israel's right to exist, but stops short of recognizing the racist all-Jewish state Mr. Netanyahu demands. He says that if Netanyahu put it to a vote in Israel, his idea would fail. "Jews do not want to be known as racists and will not accept a racist state if they have a chance to vote on it. Neither would the Palestinian people accept the idea of an "Islamic State of Palestine. People here and there want to be free to make their own choices about race and religion. We support that right."

He goes on to say that the two Presidential candidates for US President are the worse possible choices for Palestinians. "The Democratic party talks about human rights, but never does anything about it," Majdalini says. On the other hand, the Republican party supports Israel unconditionally.

Majdalani stressed that the Palestinian leadership is committed to peace and the self-determination of the Palestinian people, to put an end to the occupation and the establishment of the Palestinian state.

The meeting in Ramallah was attended by the secretary general of the circle of political relations, National Front Rasheed Shaheen, and Dr. Facilitate Fattouh from the governorate of Nablus.

website: www.jcembassypalestine.com
This papier-mache Halloween lantern is actually horrifying

Most jack-o'-lanterns are made from pumpkins, but this particular papier-mache pear is a unique, antique find.
The National Sheep Association (NSA) has opened its Lambing List service for 2016/17, with the aim to connect sheep farming members across the country who need assistance.

The intention is simple, the NSA says, to connect sheep farming members who need assistance at lambing time with agricultural and veterinary students looking for a lambing placement as part of their educational studies.

NSA provides this service annually to assist members who are looking for help during the lambing season.

The sheep organisation is also on the continued hunt for the next generation of sheep farmers and large animal vets.

Growth in popularity

Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive, says: "The Lambing List is hugely valuable by both the sheep farmers and students who use it, and Im delighted that has continued to grow in popularity year on year.

"Its a very simple but effective process  we collate a list of NSA members looking for help at lambing time and provide contact details so students can approach them directly to ask for a placement.

"Its a great service for our members, but also provides a boost for young people keen to get ahead.

"The list will be hosted on NSAs Next Generation website, which is dedicated to young people  www.nsanextgeneration.org.uk  students seeking the list will also find the online resource is packed with useful information about how to get on the sheep farming ladder as they look pursue a career in the sheep sector."

As the 2016/17 lambing list is now live, adverts from NSA members will be listed as they are received.
Food valued at 1.8bn wasted on UK farms each year, report says
FOR the Michael family it was the 28th time they have gone through the lead up to an annual ram sale, but despite the rain, none of those previous experiences could dampen their enthusiasm and excitement for this one, and even more so with the result that followed.
Prayer Event Unites the Nations for Jerusalem as World Attention Turns to the Holy City

Contact: Stephen Jenks, Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (DPPJ), 716-759-1058

JERUSALEM, Oct. 3, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- As dignitaries from around the world flew into Jerusalem to pay their respects to Israeli leader Shimon Peres who passed away last week, a hundred representatives from several continents gathered in Jerusalem to call the nations to prayer through a global television broadcast for The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (DPPJ) (www.daytopray.com).

Started in 2002, and co-chaired by Evangelical Christian leaders Rev. Robert Stearns, Dr. Jack W. Hayford, and Dr. Paul Cedar, the DPPJ is a movement calling believers to intercede for the city God calls His own and to invoke God's blessing, purposes, and provision upon all of Jerusalem's people. On Sunday October 2, believers on six continents gathered in remote villages and sprawling metropolises, in grass huts and ornate cathedrals to lift their voice in obedience to Psalm 122:6.

Broadcast by GOD TV to 300 million viewers in 192 nations, people were also able to participate in the special Jerusalem DPPJ Celebration - hosted by Eagles' Wings Founder / Executive Director Rev. Robert Stearns at the Tayelet Haas Promenade overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem.

Some of the speakers included: Minister of Knesset, Rabbi Yehuda Glick; Joshua Reinstein, Executive Vice President, Israel Allies Foundation and Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus; David Nekrutman, Executive Director of the Center for Jewish Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC); Dr. Faydra Shapiro, Director of the Galilee Center for Studies in Jewish-Christian Relations at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College; Pastor Matt Benson, Pastor, Grace Creek Church; Daniel and Amber Pierce; Rev. Peter Tsukahira, Director of Or HaCarmel Ministry Center; Steve Carpenter, Highway 19 Ministries, and Dr. Jurgen Buhler of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

Rev. Stearns welcomed the nations saying, "Year after year, we continue to see Christians rising up and standing with God's covenant with Israel, and agreeing with God's promises for the seed of Abraham, both Isaac and Ishmael. Pastors all over the nations are leading their congregations to support and pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all her inhabitants."

Josh Reinstein encouraged the audience, "When we pray for Jerusalem we are praying what G-d wants...He wants us to keep Jerusalem close to our hearts."

Minister of Knesset, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, challenged those gathered, "We are seeing the word coming out of the book as we sit here...what was, is now happening. Each of us needs to be a flame in a menorah and burn bright for Jerusalem."

David Nekrutman, the Executive Director of the CJCUC said, "I am amazed at the anointing on Robert Stearns life to unite Jews and Christians. I'm honored and privileged to call him my friend and continue to share his vision to partner together to pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

Adding practical action to their commitment to bless Israel, during the event Rev. Stearns presented a check for $10,000 to an Israeli charity dedicated to feed those in need in Israel.

The Jerusalem DPPJ celebration was saturated in prayer for God's city and people. Sharon Sanders of Christian Friends of Israel - Jerusalem prayed, "Our Father, we stand here today because of your unfolding word to this nation. We see your promises coming to pass." Referencing the sadness of the passing of Israeli leader Shimon Peres, Rev. Dr. Petra Heldt, of The Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity prayed, "Our Lord, in the midst of turmoil we jointly witness your glory and see Jerusalem shine like a diamond."

Throughout the 24 hours of October 2nd, over 600 believers from around the world also prayed together through the 24-Hour DPPJ Prayer Conference Call hosted by www.greatercalling.org. Callers representing many states in the U.S. were joined by believers from the nations, praying a total of 39,816 combined minutes of prayer, which is the equivalent to one person praying for the peace of Jerusalem non-stop for more than 27 days.

Social media was also a key part of October 2nd with global believers in over 40 nations taking to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the world's leading prayer app PrayWithMe (www.praywithme.com), pledging to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, including a single-day record of an estimated 705,912 people reached simultaneously with the message of prayer for Jerusalem.

The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem  on the first Sunday of every October - is the largest Jerusalem-focused prayer initiative in the world, involving tens of millions of believers participating each year from over 175 nations. It is endorsed by prominent Christian leaders worldwide, including T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Samuel Rodriguez, Michael W. Smith, Kenneth Copeland, Kay Arthur, Jane Hansen Hoyt, Ravi Zacharias, Lance Wallnau, Larry Stockstill, The Newsboys, Dennis Balcombe, Sunday Adelaja, and many more.
By the ram B306, which sold for $53,000 at the Adelaide ram sale in 2014, the 16-month-old sire weighed in at a hefty 120kg with 43.5mm EMD and 6.1mm fat and boasted fleece measurements of 19.2 micron, 2.9 SD, 15.1 CV and 99.7 per cent comfort factor.
Did Cumberland County Commissioners break the NC Open Meetings Law?

The commissioners met behind closed doors to discuss a pay raise for the vice chair position.
home US Man convicted of kidnapping for helping ex-lesbian flee United States with her daughter

A man from Waynesboro, Virginia was convicted of international parental kidnapping and conspiracy for helping an ex-lesbian flee the country with her daughter last Thursday.

In 2009, Philip Zodhiates assisted Lisa Miller and her daughter to get away from her former lover who was awarded with visitation rights with the child. According to the indictment, Zodhiates made the arrangements with another man in Buffalo, New York to transport Miller and her daughter to Canada.

According to Christian News, the two-week trial was focused on proving whether Zodhiates helped Miller out of his generosity or just to keep the child, now aged 14, away from Miller's former lover.

"We had a lot of evidence about intent," says U.S. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Van de Graaf, who served as one of the prosecutors, adding, "We also had strong evidence about the secrecy and deception used by the defendant."

Robert Hemley, one of Zodhiates' attorneys, argued that Miller's secrecy should not be blamed on Zodhiates. "There is no such thing as guilt by association," he said.

Zodiates, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, could face up to eight years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Miller's ex-partner Janet Jenkins testified at the trial stating that she is willing to do "anything and everything" to get the child back. The former lovers were joined in a civil union in Vermont in 2000. Miller gave birth to a daughter named Isabella through artificial insemination in 2002.

The couple split in 2003 and Miller reportedly renounced her homosexuality and became a Christian. The court gave custody of Isabella to Miller while granting visitation rights to Jenkins.

Miller reportedly became concerned about what Isabella was learning from Jenkins during the visitation. She claimed that the girl at age six was forced to take baths with Jenkins and was touching herself inappropriately. She added that Isabella became withdrawn and talked about suicide.

Miller filed for exclusive custody of Isabella which had been granted to her by the court. Jenkins fought against the ruling until the Virginia Supreme Court awarded visitation rights to her in 2008. A family court judge granted full custody to Jenkins in 2009 after Miller continued to refuse her former partner from visiting the child.

By that time, Miller had already fled the country with the aid of Mennonite Christians. She is believed to be living with her daughter in Nicaragua.

Kenneth Miller, the pastor who transported Miller from Buffalo New York to Canada, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. The pastor was held in contempt for refusing to testify against Zodhiates. Timothy Miller, a Mennonite pastor in Nicaragua, was arrested and deported to the United States in connection with the case. He will be tried in Buffalo next month.
home World ISIS ideology of Wahhabism is 'more evil' than Israel, says Hezbollah leader

Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has condemned the radical Islamic movement known as Wahhabism, saying that it is worse than Israel. He also considers the sect responsible for damaging the image of Islam.

Wahhabism is an extreme form of Sunni Islam that has been considered as a strong influence on the ideology of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda.

"Wahhabism is more evil than Israel, especially [in] that it seeks to destroy others and eliminate whatever thing that has to do with Islam and its history," Nasrallah said at a meeting last Tuesday, according to Lebanon's Al Akhbar newspaper, as reported by Press TV.

Nasrallah pointed out that the conflict is not between Shia and Sunnis but against Wahhabism, Press TV reports.

"This project was launched in 2011, and it is not a Shia and Sunni matter. The role played by spy services is completely evident here. We should use this opportunity to pin Wahhabism down and deal a blow to it," he added.

Nasrallah also stated that "British Shiism" promoted by pseudo-religious figures pose an even bigger threat than Wahhabism and Zionism.

The Hezbollah chief blamed Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States for the escalation of the conflicts and for portraying it as sectarian. He stated he does not see a political solution to the Syrian conflict. He noted that there are no moderate armed groups in Syria and those who are currently fighting in Damascus are either ISIS or al-Nusra.

Hezbollah has been a strong supporter of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. It has aided the Syrian regime in regaining control of areas previously held by rebel groups.

Last month the Hezbollah leader made some scathing remarks against Israel. During the 10th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, Nasrallah thanked Syria and Iran for the help in the war against Israel 10 years ago.

"Israel knows that there is no location in the country that is not in Hezbollah's cross-hairs," Nasrallah said in a speech Saturday evening. He added that there is no region in Israel that cannot be reached by Hezbollah's missiles, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Brazil petrochemical giant Braskem SA said Monday it has started discussions with the DOJ and SEC that could lead to formal settlement negotiations and the resolution of allegations that it paid bribes in exchange for supply contracts from state oil company Petrobras.

Braskem said it also intends to start simultaneous discussions in Brazil with the same purpose.

Petrobras and Brazil construction firm Odebrecht SA together control about 97 percent of Braskems voting stock and about 74 percent of its share capital.

A long-running probe by Brazil prosecutors into corruption at Petrobras has implicated scores of big companies and dozens of executives and politicians.

Last month, former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was charged with spearheading a bribery and kickback scheme tied to Petrobras contracts.

Earlier this yaar, in another case linked to Petrobras, the CEO of Odebrecht SA  Marcelo Odebrecht  was sentenced to 19 years in prison for money laundering, corruption, and taking part in a criminal association.

In April 2015, Sao Paulo-based Braskem said it and two former executives were accused of making improper payments for Petrobras raw material supply contracts from 2006 to 2012.

The allegations appeared in lawsuits filed by third parties, the company said.

Braskem is Latin Americas biggest petrochemical producer. Annual revenue last year was about $22.5 billion. It has about 8,000 employees worldwide at 36 production facilities, including five in the United States.

Braskem SA trades on the NYSE under the symbol BAK.

* * *

Heres Braskems October 3, 2016 statement:

Braskem S.A. (Company), in compliance with the provision of CVM Ruling 358/02, informs its shareholders and the market that, within the process of the independent internal investigation that began in March 2015, it has started discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice  DoJ and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission  SEC, that the Company hopes will lead to formal settlement negotiations and the resolution of the allegations of misconduct. In addition to the conversations with DoJ and SEC, the Company intends to start simultaneous discussions in Brazil with the same purpose.

The discussions are being conducted by the Executive Officers of the Company, and the rules of the bylaws must be observed regarding the resolution on any proposal of settlement which may be negotiated. Moreover, the independent investigators, in cooperation with the competent authorities, shall continue to investigate with the purpose of verifying the accusations of misconduct object of the potential settlement.

The Company believes that any possible settlement with the authorities may result in relevant monetary obligations, in addition to other possible sanctions and/or non-monetary obligations. Due to the nature of this kind of negotiation, it is not possible to estimate its duration or its final result.

Braskem reaffirms its commitment with the clarification of the facts and will keep the market informed on the relevant developments.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
The old Chinese saying money and power always come together acknowledges the prevalence of using political power to gain business advantage in China. In ancient China, governmental officials opened their own businesses, which earned them the title Red Hat Businessmen alluding to the official hat under the Qing Dynasty of China.

Today, Red Hat generally refers to those Chinese businesses that are connected in some way with the government.

Red Hats may be state-owned enterprises (SOE Red Hat) or purely private businesses (private Red Hat) so closely connected to the government to affect governmental decision-making, such as senior officials family members who act as middlemen or co-investors in projects that need government approval or backing. As a consequence of their close governmental connections, employees of Red Hats may be foreign officials under the FCPA.

Red Hats are playing a vital role in Chinese economy, and U.S. companies doing business in China are likely to encounter them on a regular basis, which could increase their risks under the FCPA. For example, large SOEs are a primary pillar of the Chinese economy, managing transactions in most important industries like oil and gas, steel, telecom, banking and transportation. In addition, there are another 80,000 small SOEs scattered around the country.

As for private Red Hats, family members of politicians are themselves successful entrepreneurs, who are known to do particularly well in business due to their political connections. Even if they are not, companies still consider their political connections very valuable.

When encountering Red Hats, companies should conduct due diligence to determine whether a Red Hat qualifies as a foreign official and assess their risks under the FCPA:

1. Industry. FCPA risk is highest when SOE Red Hats are involved in industries where SOEs enjoy state-sanctioned monopolies, such as oil and gas, steel, telecom, banking and transportation. In these industries, most SOE Red Hats are wholly owned by the state, and the state has the power to appoint the directors and principals, as well as to approve material decisions such as mergers, divisions and dissolutions, recapitalization, and the issuance of corporate bonds.

In practice, most of the SOE Red Hats involved in FCPA actions are in these exclusive industries, such as the industries of oil and electricity in United States v. Carson, the telecommunications industry in the SECs enforcement action against Lucent Technologies, Inc., and the banking industry in the investigation against JP Morgan.

In industries where SOE Red Hats must compete with private companies, FCPA risk is minimized because most of these SOE Red Hats are partially state-owned and the state nominates candidates for leadership positions rather than directly appointing them. Companies must conduct thorough due diligence to determine whether the state exerts its decision-making power through its representatives.

2. Local Policies. Local policies may shed light on the legality of payments to certain Red Hats. One example is a special Red Hat known as the Red Hat Intermediary, which is mostly run by private persons who are connected to the government officials, and to which the government outsources its administrative examination and approval authority. As a result, companies frequently pay Red Hat Intermediaries in exchange for licenses, permits or certifications.

However, the State Council of the Republic of China (more well-known as the Central Peoples Government) issued a Notice in 2015 denouncing Red Hat Intermediaries as a breeding ground of corruption, and announced specific measures designed to combat corruption, including narrowing the administrative examination and approval that could be outsourced, prohibiting government-related persons providing relevant services, and regulating fees and charges. This puts companies on notice of the corruption risks associated with Red Hat Intermediaries.

Special attention should also be paid to recent China capital market reforms, which introduced private and foreign investment to the SOE Red Hats, even in industries with state monopolies. These reforms reduce the likelihood that employees of SOE Red Hats may be deemed foreign officials under the FCPA because they decrease the political and policy-driven oversight of the government.

The State Council still stresses that these reforms do not qualify as privatization and not all of the governmental management will be delegated. Therefore, in order to accurately assess the risks under the FCPA in this situation, companies need to wait for China to issue more specific guidelines.

3. Party Member. FCPA risks are heightened if the employee of Red Hat is a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The CPC is the only ruling political party in China, and almost all important government posts in China are CPC members.

Whether working in government or private sector, all CPC members are required to comply with CPCs party discipline, implement the party policy and work on the partys goals. Therefore, CPC and the government, to some extent, are fused together.

CPC members in the private sector are still closely associated with the governmental authority and have access to privileges rarely available to non-members, such as customs and tax preferences.

Taken together, a CPC member is nearly indistinguishable from the government official.

4. Local Business Culture. Local business culture can also influence how to interpret the dealings between the companies and Red Hats. Chinese culture places an emphasis on the importance of strong personal relationships  even in professional settings. Therefore, in China, it is common for people who want to proceed with a business transaction to provide small favors or gifts to each other. These small favors, such as providing an internship or referring business to an officials family members, can create great risks under the FCPA because they are likely to be interpreted as intending to corruptly influence the officials to obtain or retain business.

* * *

While China will continue to attract significant foreign investment, companies must be aware that they are likely to encounter Red Hats who bring risks under FCPA.

To reduce such risks, companies should determine through due diligence whether employees of particular Red Hats qualify as foreign officials for FCPA purposes. They can then begin to safeguard themselves and their employees from enforcement risks.

___

Yihong Zhang received her Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School in 2016 and an LL.B. from the Renmin University of China in 2013. During law school, she interned with the Financial Integrity Unit of the World Bank, focusing on international compliance practices in anti-corruption and anti-money laundering. She can be contacted here.
Frances Bean Cobain's house was "virtually unlivable", friends of her estranged husband have claimed.

Frances Bean Cobain

The 24-year-old artist - who is the daughter of Courtney Love and the late Kurt Cobain - split from Isaiah Silva in March after less than two years of marriage, and though the musician was recently ordered to leave their home, pals insist he wasn't upset by the court ruling as Frances' "online shopping habit and hoarding" had already forced him out.

A source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "The weird truth is that Frances Cobain's house is virtually unlivable because of Frances' hoarding.

"Frances spends her days doing lots and lots of online shopping.

"Virtually every room is filled with boxes of stuff Frances has ordered from online retailers and never even bothered to open - shoes, clothing, art supplies, music equipment, and even several large-screen TVs."

The insider claims Isaiah was already splitting his time between Frances' house and his parents' home before the court made their recent ruling.

The court also ruled Frances must pay her estranged husband $12,000 a month in spousal support for four months until they reach a final divorce settlement.

And Frances must also pay $15,000 to cover the 31-year-old musician's attorney's fees.

The former couple were also ordered to undergo mediation to help resolve their divorce.

The temporary ruling comes after Isaiah previously requested $25,000 a month in spousal support.

The couple had no pre-nuptial agreement and he wants half of the money she made during their marriage.

He also claims he left a steady job when they tied the knot because Frances, who is worth more than $100 million, offered to look after his bills.

Frances gained access to a trust fund in August 2010 when she turned 18, which is said to have included 37 per cent of her late father's estate, following his suicide in 1994 aged 27.
Prince Harry was left "profoundly moved" by the children at the WellChild Awards.

Prince Harry

The 32-year-old royal made an emotional speech at the ceremony at London's Dorchester hotel on Monday night (03.10.16) which celebrated seriously ill kids and youngsters in the UK as well as those who help make a huge difference to their lives.

He told the attendees: "This is now my ninth WellChild awards and each year at this remarkable event, I am profoundly moved by the people I have met and the stories they have shared with me.

"It is one of those moments in life when you are left in awe at the strength of human character, particularly amongst those so young. Watching these children and young people face challenges with such determination, positivity and good humour, never fails to take my breath away.

"We are also here this evening to celebrate the selfless dedication of those around them, who work tirelessly to make their lives better - from remarkable young carers such as Brodie, Armaan and Jessica, to the devoted professionals and volunteers you will hear about later this evening - never underestimate the impact you have had on the many lives you've touched."

Harry also heaped praise on the nurses who work tirelessly alongside the "fantastic charity" to look after the children.

He added: "Thankfully WellChild now has more nurses working across the UK than ever before - many of whom are with us tonight. But at a time of ever-increasing demand, their role in enabling children to be cared for safely at home with their families is more important than ever.

"Please continue to support these amazing nurses in getting more children home, where they belong.

"I would like to congratulate all of tonight's winners again, well done and thank you for inspiring all of us with your strength, positivity and selflessness. I am so fortunate to have had the chance of meeting you all and so proud to be associated with this fantastic charity.

"I hope you have a wonderful evening. Thank you."
A beautiful, autumn Sunday morning in Fethiye. Perfect conditions for the second Race for Life  Turkey, an event to raise money for cancer research and equipment in the local area.

The entrants gathered at Beskaza, the town square, to take part in the event which was due to start at 10am. People were still registering to take part right up to the starting time.

Around 400 people, including 70 people from Dalyan, turned up to Run IT, Walk IT, Beat IT; men, women, children, Turkish people, British people and wheelchair entrants all united in the fight against cancer.

Some of the entrants had either just completed or are currently undergoing treatment for cancer. The support shown for them was absolutely fantastic.

10am arrived and it was time to get started.

First the entrants held hands and formed a huge circle around the town square.

Then it was time for the warm up led by Karen Stockman

Theyre off!

Once everyone was nicely warmed up it was time for the off

Runners went first

Then came the walkers and children

Then it was the turn of the wheelchair entrants

Whilst the entrants completed the 5km circular route along the harbour or the shorter route mapped out for the wheelchair entrants, the organisers and onlookers waited to cheer them back.

First, second and third places go to

Wheelchair category

Male category

Female category

12 to 18 category

Under 11 category.

Where will the money go?

This year the money raised will be used to buy a Bronchoscope for the Devlet Hospital.

Well done and thank you to everyone who took part.

See you next year!
Kornit Digital, a market leader in textile printing technology, has announced that its digital roll-to-roll printing system, the Kornit Allegro, will be a part of the Lifetime's Emmy-nominated American reality competition show for fashion designers, Project Runway, that provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion.In this show, fashion designers compete to create the best fashion pieces with a limited amount of time and resources. The episode, called Sink or Swim, will air on October 6, 2016.

Kornit Digital, a market leader in textile printing technology, has announced that its digital roll-to-roll printing system, the Kornit Allegro, will be a part of the Lifetime's Emmy-nominated American reality competition show for fashion designers, Project Runway, that provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion.#

In the Sink or Swim episode, the challenge is to create a swimsuit and cover-up design. The candidates will create a custom design which would be printed and returned to them. The winning design would be shown as part of Heidi Klum, the host's, swimwear line. The technology partners enabling the super-fast turnaround are Kornit Digital and Kornit user Papilio Prints in New Jersey.The production technology used is called Kornit Allegro. With its print width of 1.8m, it is the world's only single-step digital textile printing system designed for high-speed end-to-end production, using Kornit's patented NeoPigment printing process. The system features an integrated pretreatment technology and works on a variety of fabrics, both natural and man-made fibres and blends. It is the only industrial textile printer available today that integrates all production steps in a single, integrated production line, removing the need for complicated pre- and post-treatments such as steaming and washing. In fact, it is the fastest way from digital designs to the finished fabric.Relying on Kornit's proprietary process, textile companies and brands can shorten their turnaround times, cut intermediators, and eliminate inventory cost. Because of its resource-efficient technology, saving energy and water, the Allegro is also a top choice for environmental protection, can be located practically anywhere, and is especially suitable for local production requirements, a growing trend fuelled by the internet.With its print width of 1.8 metres, the Kornit Allegro is the world's only single-step digital textile printing system. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
SPGPrints, a leading company in the textile and graphics printing market, is set to present digital inkjet and rotary screen printing systems for textile printers, at the ITMA Asia 2016, Asia's leading-edge business platform, to be held from October 21 to 25, 2016, at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre, Shanghai, in booth H5D01.Highlights on the stand will include the first demonstration of the JAVELIN digital inkjet printer for medium and large capacity requirements in China, plus the complete new range of NEBULA inkjet inks that offer superior runnability, sustainability and an increased colour gamut. SPGPrints will also present its high performance rotary screens and laser exposing systems for high quality digital screens.

SPGPrints, a leading company in the textile and graphics printing market, is set to present digital inkjet and rotary screen printing systems for textile printers, at the ITMA Asia 2016, Asia's leading-edge business platform, to be held from October 21 to 25, 2016, at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre, Shanghai, in booth H5D01.#

SPGPrints' JAVELIN scanning digital inkjet printer is designed for companies printing up to two million metres of textiles annually. The printer will be operational throughout the show, giving visitors a real-time experience of its quality, flexibility and ease of use. Print samples will be available for evaluation.The JAVELIN printer features SPGPrints' unique Archer technology. With nozzles 4millimetres from the substrate, compared to the more usual 1.5millimetres nozzle-fabric distance, a wider range of substrates can be run, and the chance of print head damage is reduced. Using only six colours, Archer technology enables a gamut wider than the HD-gamut of other digital textile printing solutions. In addition, SPGPrints' 'Archer Print Head Program', provides a two-and-a-half-year guarantee on the print heads in combination with the use of accredited inks.SPGPrints' portfolio of NEBULA inkjet inks for textile applications offer a broad colour gamut optimised drying and excellent runnability with all digital printers using Kyocera print heads.The company will also exhibit its RandomScreen that suppresses moire effects in halftones, with smartLEX 7430 laser exposing system that contains the company's unique multi-beam diode technology and combines long life, high productivity and resolutions of up to 2540dpi. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Ranbir Taking Potshots

An actress revealed to DNA, "Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor claim to be very close to each other, but the senior actor has been taking potshots at Arjun for some time now, especially on his fashion sense."

Ranbir Makes Fun Of Arjuns Weight Too

"When someone told Ranbir about the red heels that Arjun wore during the promotions of Ki And Ka, RK replied sarcastically that it was surprising that the heels did not break! Weight joke! Ouch," added the same actress.

Ranbir Might Have Said This In A Jig?

However, it might be possible that Ranbir must have said all this in this jig and his statements were blown out of proportion! Tracing down Ranbir's equation with his friends, he has always maintained his dignity and has been loyal to his buddies!

Ranbirs Alleged Affair

Post his break-up with Katrina Kaif, Ranbir is yet again in the headlines owing to his affair rumours. Initially, his name was linked with Shruti Haasan and now with Jacqueline Fernandez.

Arjun Affair With Athiya Shetty

On the other side, rumours are rife that Arjun is dating Athiya Shetty, who will be also the co-star of Arjun in his upcoming film, Mubarakan.

Arjuns Next: Half Girlfriend

Currently, Arjun is busy with the shooting of his next film, Half Girlfriend, which also casts Shraddha Kapoor in the lead role. The film is the adaption of Chetan Bhagat's novel of the same title.

Ranbirs Next: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

On the work front, Ranbir kapoor is gearing up for his upcoming film, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which also casts Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and Fawad Khan.
Kangana Unleashes Fury

"I want to know why Indian men can't stand for themselves. He (Hrithik) is 43 years old. Why his father always has to come to his rescue?"

Kangana On Fire!

"For how long will he keep hiding behind their big influential father's name? He (Hrithik) is an adult and pretty much can handle his own controversies in show business."

Handle It Yourself

"It is just a simple controversy. Why daddies have to save their son? I don't understand this."

Rakesh Roshan Quoted

"Hrithik is different, as when someone (Kangana Ranaut) was spreading lies about him, he chose to stay calm and dignified."

War Of Words!

"If he (Hrithik) does choose to come out with the truth, it will shock everyone," said Rakesh Roshan

Shocking Truth

Well, the fight between Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan would not come to an end anytime lately and the 'shocking truth' has been hidden.

Kangana

Kangana Ranaut has stood her ground and has been ferocious in her attacks against Hrithik Roshan.

Ending Well

We hope the Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan feud comes to an end soon and the duo mend their differences and stay as good friends.
New Still

Here's the brand new still of Shahrukh Khan & Anushka Sharma from the sets of their upcoming film, The Ring. Apparently, SRK's character name is Harry, while Anushka's character name in the movie is Sejal.

SRK & Anushka With Their Choreographer

The lead pair of the film poses with their choreographer Rudi Ageu on the sets of the film in Lisbon. Their fun-filled and intense pictures from the sets are surely making us excited for the film.

Yet Another Still

Here's the yet another still of Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma from the sets of The Ring', in which the duo can be seen shooting an intense sequence in the balcony.

SRK With A Fan

The Superstar Shahrukh Khan clicked on the sets of The Ring with a fan and see how hot is he looking in his stubble look!

Anushka With Fans

Anushka Sharma clicked with her fans in her super cool avatar! Anushka's cool attitude and her casual look always steals our heart.

Its All About White

A fun-filled picture of Shahrukh Khan & Anushka Sharma from the sets of The Ring. It seems the duo is shooting a song sequence for the film.

Its Their Third Film

Anushka's debut movie was with Shahrukh Khan! The duo was last seen in Yash Raj's Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Imtiaz Ali's The Ring will be their third collaboration for a film.

SRK Looks So Young

Shahrukh's leaked pictures from the sets have really made us curious and there's no denying that SRK is so young in all the stills from The Ring.
Iconic American film-maker, actor, and activist, George Clooney, feels extremely proud of his wife Amal, a human rights attorney, for the way she is tackling the aspect of global terrorism.

George Clooney insisted that his wife's work is "very important".

Amal is trying to bring the leaders of the ISIS terror group to trial in lieu of Nadia Murad, whose brothers and mother were slaughtered by ISIS fighters in Iraq.

George Clooney has praised his wife for taking the initiative to end global terrorism for one and all.

"What she's doing is something that's very important to what she does for a living, and what she does in this case is protect a young girl and a group of people, the Yazidis, who actual genocide has been committed against." Clooney said in a statement.

"If you don't take them (ISIS terrorists) to court if you don't hold them accountable, then what are you doing? You can't kill them all. It's gotta be where you stand at the end of all this." He added.

Amal however, has acknowledged that there is a huge risk involved in this kind of work but she is also confident enough to bring down the terrorist organizations under the justice.

"We are aware of some of the risks involved, of course," she said. But she also said that "this is my work."
Buoyed by good responses, team Doddmane Hudga, has planned for a success tour in North Karnataka region to thank Abhimani Devrugalu for giving blockbuster openings for the film. Here is the schedule of THE success tour.

08/10/16

Belagavi -10:00 AM

Dharawad - 2:00 PM

Hubbali - 04:00 PM

09/10/16

Davanagere - 10:00 AM

Chitradurga - 01:00 PM

Tumkur - 06:00 PM

12/10/16

Raichur and Kalburgi (Timings are yet to be confirmed).

13/10/16

Bidar (Timings are yet to be confirmed).

As of now, Power Star Puneeth and Director Suri have been confirmed for this tour. Makers are in the process of roping in the other cast and crew for this tour as well. More details will be revealed very soon.

Appu visited Narthaki and Prasanna theaters in Bangalore yesterday, also watched the movie along with the fans. We hear that Appu and Suri may visit a couple of theaters in Bangalore today, as well.

Generally the film teams restrict themselves to Bangalore and Mysore region; they visit only theaters in this region but it's heartening to see Doddmane Hudga starting the tour from North Karnataka, where the film is creating new records.

As it is evident by now, the film continues to do extraordinary business in Karnataka. What is more exciting is that the film has managed to do extremely well in the limited screens allocated in the other metropolitan cities.

Also, the film has managed to collect $43,275 in the opening weekend at USA from 28 locations. This is indeed an excellent figure for a Kannada movie. The movie is expected to cross U Turn's full run of $60000 plus, by the second weekend.
Yash and Radhika Pandit's Santhu Straight Forward, is nearing completion. The shoot has been completed except for two songs, which is being planned to be shot in various locales of Bangalore.

The talkie portion of the film was majorly shot in Karnataka and a couple of songs featuring Yash and Radhika Pandit were canned in Norway. The team is now busy with the post-production work.

Now the work for two songs has started, and team has roped in a star choreographer for shooting the remaining two songs, which are said to be romantic songs shot on lead pair. The team intends to complete the shoot in 7-10 days.

The latest news is that, Lahari Music has bought the music rights for a record price. It is surprising that album with Harikrishna music has been not picked by his label D Beats, but this is not the first time though.

There are reports that 1.08 Crores was shelled for the music rights by Lahari but an industry insider rubbishes the news as a publicity stunt. Also adds that after paying such a premium amount, it is not easy to recover such a huge investment in current market situation.

The album consists of five songs which has been sung by big names like Sonu Nigam, Kailash Kher and new talents like Shashank Sheshagiri & Santhosh Venky. Songs have been penned by Ghouse Peer and Yogaraj Bhat.

The makers are planning to launch the music once they are done with the shoot. Also, the theatrical trailer may be launched on the same occasion kick-starting the publicity campaign for the film.

Producer are looking forward to release the movie for Deepavali, which is already crowded with couple of big ticket announcements like Mukunda Murari and Chowka. We will have to wait and watch as to which films will remain in the fray for Deepavali.
Indian shows are doing good in Pakistan, and vice-versa. The ban on Pakistani shows as well as actors in India has received mixed reactions. While a few Indian actors support the ban, a few others have supported the Pakistani actors.

Yeh Hai Mohabbatein actor Karan Patel too, got involved in the debate in the social media. The actor is known for his straight forward nature. This man doesn't shy away from voicing his opinion. Recently, he even had apologised for the rant against Pakistan. But, going by his latest tweets on veteran actor Om Puri, it looks like no one can stop this actor from raising his voice against this issue.



During a debate on a national news channel, when veteran actor Om Puri was asked about the Indian army soldiers who lost their lives in the recent Baramulla and Uri attacks, he said, "Did we force them to join the army? Who had asked them to lift the weapons (sic)?" This definitely did not go well with the YHM actor.

Karan took to Twitter, "Mr. Om puri (actor) this isnt #ChinaGate #Film ... so kindly shut the fu*k up and keep the bizarre suggestions to yourself. Kuch kaam karlo."

He further tweeted, "5 hindustani tayaar karke unpe bomb laga ke pakistaniyo ko uda do" is what Mr Om Puri (actor) suggested on #IBN7 .. hence my earlier tweet."

The actor did not stop there and tweeted, "Now you please judge for yourself ... #ItsBetterToShutUp that open your mouth and talk out of your ass ...!! Mr Om Puri please find sme work."

His recent tweet said, "Jis din sarhad par jaana padega na sir, uss din #ChinaGate kya, apne khud ke ghar ke Gate se bahar nikal ne mein phat jayegi ... #SalaamArmy."

Karan's bold rather rude tweets received mixed response on Twitter.

So, what do you think of Karan's recent tweets? Hit the comment box to share your views.
Japans Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) announced on Monday that it would pay A$3.25 per share to buy a 100% stake in Bradken. That gave investors a 34% premium to the last close and a 90% premium to the 90 days volume weighted average price.

The deal values the Australian company at $688.5 million on a market capitalisation basis, or at an enterprise value of A$976.1 million. It also brings to an end a roller-coaster ride for investors.

Bradkens share price hit rock bottom at the start of the year after falling more than 90% since January 2012. But following a rapid rise in July, when chief executive officer Paul Zuckerman announced that the company would refocus on core markets, the stock is now up more than 550% this year.

This is an incredible turnaround, said a shareholder in the company. Sometimes we just have to be patient.

Some analysts said it was a shame for shareholders that the company was being acquired just as the going was getting good. Investors in the company enjoyed a 31% jump on Tuesday, after the stock reopened following the takeover announcement. But there could be more in store.

It is somewhat regrettable that the company is likely to be acquired at a time when earnings appear to have bottomed and investors will not get to participate in the cyclical recovery or restructure, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note on Tuesday.

Still, Bradken always looked likely to be sold at one point or another. It has received offers from a mix of private equity firms, strategic investors and overseas corporations since 2014.

Pacific Equity Partners, Bain Capital, Koch Industries, Champ Private Equity and Sigdo Koppers have all been linked with acquisitions of Bradken. But they were all rejected after disagreements over how much the company was worth.

Approvals abound

HCMs acquisition is not fully complete. The company needs to buy more than 50% of Bradken before the end of the offer period, but also needs clearance from various antitrust regulators including Australias Foreign Investment Review Board and two US bodies, the Directorate of Defence Trade Controls and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

Antitrust agencies in Australia, Canada and South Africa also need to approve the deal.

Bradken's three biggest shareholders are US hedge funds Litespeed Master Fund and Delta Partners, which own 13% and 5.4%, respectively, and Australian boutique firm Paradice Investment, which owns 7.8%.

Bradken's board believes the proposal is attractive and recommends shareholders accept the deal. Investors have certainly done well from the offer so far.

The stock immediately shot up to A$3.19 after it started trading on Tuesday. Turnover surged to 4.2 million shares, some four times its normal trading volume. Tuesdays closing price offers a 1.88% gross return to merger arbitrage investors.

HCM has agreed to provide an A$450 million 180-day unsecured credit facility to help Bradken manage any refinancing risk triggered by the change of control. The interest rate will be 6% if denominated in Australian dollars and 4% if US dollars.

The offer period will start on 24 October and will end on 12 December. The deal is expected to complete by May next year. A break fee of A$6.885 million will be paid to HCM by Bradken in certain circumstances.

Bradken makes a variety of products for miners, freight train operators, and other heavy industries. It employs around 3,500 people.

HCM, established in 1970 after Hitachi spun off its construction machinery business, is a leading global producer and supplier of construction and mining machinery. The company has more than 20,000 employees.

Bradken has picked Highbury Partnership as a financial adviser and Allen & Overy as legal adviser.

HCM has appointed SMBC Nikko Securities and Moelis & Co as financial advisers and Minter Ellison as legal adviser.
COPPELL, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 10/03/16 -- VARIDESK, a leading developer of height-adjustable desks, has announced that it will auction live on eBay five hand-signed VARIDESK models used in the HBO television show "Silicon Valley." The auction will run Oct. 3 - 13, and all proceeds will support the Silicon Valley Regional Fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which works to strengthen the common good in the Bay Area and around the world.

The Silicon Valley Regional Fund was established to expand and improve affordable housing and transportation in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. With the proceeds of the auction, Silicon Valley Community Foundation will continue to provide grants to nonprofit partners advocating for more efficient public bus service in our region, for example, and improving communications about housing and development issues. Read more about recent grants.

"Silicon Valley Community Foundation is honored to be chosen as the nonprofit recipient of this charity auction sponsored by VARIDESK. We are fans of HBO's 'Silicon Valley' and are eager to see how other fans respond to these hand-signed desks," said Mari Ellen Loijens, chief business, development and brand officer at Silicon Valley Community Foundation. "The proceeds of the VARIDESK auction will go to our Silicon Valley Regional Fund, which supports some of the most important issues affecting work and life in Silicon Valley."

Each of the five VARIDESK models up for auction are hand-signed by the five principle cast members, the producer and the creator of "Silicon Valley," including Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, Alec Berg, and Mike Judge. These desks, used throughout season three, were featured in Pied Piper's office as they parodied the triumphs and challenges of entrepreneurship in this region.

"Working with the 'Silicon Valley' production team was amazing, and it was exciting to produce desks for our favorite startup, Pied Piper. Having the opportunity to support the Silicon Valley Community Foundation -- one of the best charitable organizations in the country -- has taken the experience to a whole new level. When you combine the support of eBay, the production team and the cast of 'Silicon Valley,' the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and VARIDESK, you have a unique opportunity to support a great charity and spread the word about the importance of building active office environments," said Jason McCann, chief executive officer at VARIDESK.

"With eBay's global headquarters in Silicon Valley, we love to see the popularity of HBO's 'Silicon Valley' show leveraged to address real challenges in our region. While we support many causes globally through the eBay for Charity platform and eBay Foundation, the auction of these VARIDESK height-adjustable desks signed by the cast of HBO's 'Silicon Valley' hits close to home, and we were excited to support it," said eBay's Vice President of Corporate Communications and Global Impact, Claire Dixon.

Members of the media can view one of the desks on display at Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Innovation Conference from Oct. 9-11. Email Sue McAllister, SVCF marketing director, at sjmcallister@siliconvalleycf.org to arrange a visit. Bidding will take place through Oct. 13 here.

About VARIDESK

Based in Coppell, TX, VARIDESK designs, develops and manufactures height-adjustable standing desk solutions and accessories that transform the way people work and interact on a daily basis. Since its inception in 2013, VARIDESK has continued to expand its line of products and increased availability across the globe. VARIDESK is designed to be simple to purchase, set up and use, and most products are in-stock and ready-to-ship within 24 hours, making it one of the easiest ways to incorporate standing into the work day. VARIDESK, Work Elevated. Learn more at varidesk.com.

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Silicon Valley Community Foundation advances innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. As the largest community foundation in the world, we engage donors and corporations from Silicon Valley, across the country and around the globe to make our region and world better for all. Our passion for helping people and organizations achieve their philanthropic dreams has created a global philanthropic enterprise committed to the belief that possibilities start here. Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.

About eBay for Charity

eBay for Charity is a platform that enables members of the eBay community to donate to causes in the U.S. and abroad. Sellers can donate anywhere between 10-100 percent of the proceeds and buyers can add a donation to their purchase during checkout. To date, more than $650 million dollars have been raised on eBay for Charity.

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/03/16 -- Irving Resources Inc. (CSE: IRV) ("Irving" or the "Company") announces that pursuant to the Company's stock option plan, it has granted incentive stock options to its directors, officers, employees and consultants to purchase an aggregate of 1,130,000 common shares at an exercise price of $0.40 per share. The stock options have a term of three (3) years, subject to one-third of the grant vesting every six (6) months from grant day with full vesting in the first 18 months of the term.

About Irving Resources Inc.:

Irving is a junior exploration company searching for opportunities in certain countries, including Japan. Irving also holds, through a subsidiary, three Project Venture Agreements with JOGMEC for joint regional exploration programs in the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Malawi and the Republic of Madagascar. JOGMEC is a government organization established under the law of Japan, administrated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and is responsible for stable supply of various resources to Japan through the discovery of sizable economic deposits of base, precious and rare metals.

Additional information can be found on the Company's website: www.IRVresources.com.

Akiko Levinson, President & Director

THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Contacts:

Irving Resources Inc.

(604) 682-3234

Toll free: 1 (888) 242-3234

(604) 682-0537 (FAX)

info@IRVresources.com




Regulatory News:

United Company RUSAL Plc (Paris:RUSAL) (Paris:RUAL):

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

UNITED COMPANY RUSAL PLC

(Incorporated under the laws of Jersey with limited liability)

(Stock Code: 486)

CONTINUING CONNECTED TRANSACTIONS

PURCHASE OF RAW MATERIALS FOR REPAIRING

Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated 22 December 2015, 27 April 2016, 18 May 2016, 13 July 2016 and 1 September 2016 in relation to continuing connected transactions regarding purchase of raw materials for repairing.



The Company announces that on 1 October 2016 a member of the Group, as buyer, and an associate of Mr. Blavatnik, as supplier, entered into the addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract.

THE ADDENDUM TO THE PURCHASE OF RAW MATERIALS FOR REPAIRING CONTRACT

The Company announces that on 1 October 2016 a member of the Group, as buyer, and an associate of Mr. Blavatnik, as supplier, entered into the addendum pursuant to which the buyer agreed to buy and the supplier agreed to supply raw materials for repairing (the "Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract

The key terms of the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract are set out below:

No. Date of

addendum Buyer

(member of

the Group) Supplier (an

associate of

Mr. Blavatnik) Raw

materials

to be

purchased Estimated

purchase

volume Unit price

(Net of

VAT) Estimated

consideration

payable

excluding VAT

(USD) Scheduled

termination

date Payment

terms 1 Addendum

dated 1

October 2016,

which is an

addendum to

the contract

dated 30

December

2015 OJSC SUAL

branch

"KAZ-SUAL" JSC

ENERGOPROM-

Novosibirsk

Electrode Plant Cathode

blocks and

carbon

mass Cathode

blocks: up to

94.7 tonnes

Carbon mass:

up to 51.9

tonnes Cathode

blocks: up

to

USD1030

per tonne

Carbon

mass: up to

USD575

per tonne 140,100 (Note 1) 31

December

2016 Within 45

calendar

days after

delivery Total

estimated

consideration

payable for

the year 140,100

Note 1: During the sale and invoicing the price of the raw materials is to be converted to RUB in accordance with the following rules:

For 2016, USD basic exchange rate is RUB62.24 and:

If the exchange rate of USD is at the level of RUB62.24 per USD according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation within the range of +/-20% (i.e. RUB49.792 to RUB74.688), the price in RUB is to be determined using the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at the date of shipment.

If the exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation exceeds RUB74.688 per USD at the date of shipment, the price in RUB is to be determined as: 32.5% of the price in USD at the fixed rate of RUB74.688 per USD plus 67.5% of the price in USD at the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at the date of shipment.

If the exchange rate is less than RUB49.792 per USD at the date of shipment, the price of in RUB should be determined as: 32.5% of the price in USD at the fixed rate of RUB49.792 per USD plus 67.5% of the price in USD at the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at the date of shipment.

The consideration is to be satisfied in cash via wire transfer.

THE ANNUAL AGGREGATE TRANSACTION AMOUNT

Pursuant to Rule 14A.81 of the Listing Rules, the continuing connected transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract and the Previously Disclosed Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contracts should be aggregated, as they were entered into by members of the Group with the associates of Mr. Blavatnik, and the subject matter of each contract relates to the purchase of raw materials from the associates of Mr. Blavatnik by the Group.

The annual aggregate transaction amount that is payable by the Group to the associates of Mr. Blavatnik under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract and the Previously Disclosed Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contracts for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is estimated to be approximately USD28.62 million.

The contract price payable under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract has been determined with reference to the market price and on terms no less favourable than those prevailing in the Russian market for raw materials of the same type and quality and those offered by the associates of Mr. Blavatnik to independent third parties.

The Company invited several organizations to take part in the tender in relation to the relevant required purchase of raw materials and chose the contractor offering the best terms and conditions (taking into account the price offered and payment terms) and then entered into contracts with the chosen party. Accordingly, the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract was entered into.

The annual aggregate transaction amount is estimated by the Directors based on the amount of raw materials to be purchased and their contract price.

REASONS FOR AND BENEFITS OF THE TRANSACTIONS

The Directors consider that the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract is for the benefit of the Company, as the supplier can supply raw materials to the Group at a price more favourable than the prevailing market rate based on tender. The Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract is entered into for the purposes of purchasing raw materials for repair work.

The Directors (including the independent non-executive Directors) consider that the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract has been negotiated on an arm's length basis and on normal commercial terms which are fair and reasonable and the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract are in the ordinary and usual course of business of the Group and in the interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole.

None of the Directors has a material interest in the transactions contemplated by the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract save for Mr. Blavatnik who is indirectly interested in more than 30% of JSC ENERGOPROM-Novosibirsk Electrode Plant. Accordingly, Mr. Blavatnik did not vote on the Board resolutions to approve the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract.

LISTING RULES IMPLICATIONS

Mr. Blavatnik, a non-executive Director, indirectly holds more than 30% of the issued share capital of JSC ENERGOPROM-Novosibirsk Electrode Plant. JSC ENERGOPROM-Novosibirsk Electrode Plant is therefore an associate of Mr. Blavatnik and a connected person of the Company under the Listing Rules.

Accordingly, the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract constitute continuing connected transactions of the Company.

The estimated annual aggregate transaction amount of the continuing connected transactions under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is more than 0.1% but less than 5% under the applicable percentage ratios. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 14A.76 of the Listing Rules, the transactions contemplated under these contracts are only subject to the announcement requirements set out in Rules 14A.35 and 14A.68, the annual review requirements set out in Rules 14A.49, 14A.55 to 14A.59, 14A.71 and 14A.72 and the requirements set out in Rules 14A.34 and 14A.50 to 14A.54 of the Listing Rules. These transactions are exempt from the circular and shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules.

Details of the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract will be included in the relevant annual report and accounts of the Company in accordance with Rule 14A.71 of the Listing Rules where appropriate.

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

The Company is principally engaged in the production and sale of aluminium, including alloys and value-added products, and alumina.

JSC ENERGOPROM-Novosibirsk Electrode Plant is principally engaged in the production of graphite electrodes, carbon electrodes, cathode blocks, calcined petroleum coke and electrode paste.

DEFINITIONS

In this announcement, the following expressions have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:

"associate(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Board" the board of Directors. "Company" United Company RUSAL Plc, a limited liability company incorporated in Jersey, the shares of which are listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange. "connected person(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "continuing connected transactions" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Director(s)" the director(s) of the Company. "Group" the Company and its subsidiaries. "Listing Rules" the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange. "Mr. Blavatnik" Mr. Len Blavatnik, a non-executive Director. "percentage ratios" the percentage ratios under Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules. "Previously Disclosed Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contracts" the agreements between members of the Group and associates of Mr. Blavatnik, pursuant to which the associates of Mr. Blavatnik agreed to supply raw materials to members of the Group in 2016, as disclosed in the announcements of the Company dated 22 December 2015, 27 April 2016, 18 May 2016, 13 July 2016 and 1 September 2016. "Stock Exchange" The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. "USD" United States dollars, the lawful currency of the United States of America. "VAT" value added tax.

By Order of the Board of Directors of

United Company RUSAL Plc

Aby Wong Po Ying

Company Secretary

4 October 2016

As at the date of this announcement, the executive Directors are Mr. Oleg Deripaska, Mr. Vladislav Soloviev and Mr. Siegfried Wolf, the non-executive Directors are Mr. Maxim Sokov, Mr. Dmitry Afanasiev, Mr. Len Blavatnik, Mr. Ivan Glasenberg, Mr. Maksim Goldman, Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Mr. Daniel Lesin Wolfe, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya, and Ms. Ekaterina Nikitina, and the independent non-executive Directors are Mr. Matthias Warnig (Chairman), Mr. Philip Lader, Dr. Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Mr. Mark Garber, Mr. Dmitry Vasiliev and Mr. Bernard Zonneveld.

All announcements and press releases published by the Company are available on its website under the links http://www.rusal.ru/en/investors/info.aspxhttp://rusal.ru/investors/info/moex/ and http://www.rusal.ru/en/press-center/press-releases.aspx, respectively.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003006315/en/

Contacts:

United Company RUSAL Plc
(2) Reflects the number of positions in issuers in which the Company has previously publicly disclosed an investment, which occurs after the Company has completed its accumulation. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. Multiple financial instruments (for example, common stock and derivatives on common stock) associated with one (1) issuer count as one (1) position. A position that is included in the number of positions will be removed from the table only if the investment or if the investment becomes 0.0% of the portfolio.

(3) For the purpose of determining the equity and debt exposures, investments are valued as follows: (a) equity or debt is valued at market value, (b) options referencing equity or debt are valued at market value, and (c) swaps or forwards referencing equity or debt are valued at the market value of the notional equity or debt underlying the swaps or forwards. Whether a position is deemed to be long or short is determined by whether an investment has positive or negative exposure to price increases or decreases. For example, long puts are deemed to be short exposure.

(4) Includes all issuer equity, debt, and derivatives related to issuer equity and debt, and associated currency hedges. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. The market values of associated currency hedges are included as part of the associated investment. In the event that there is a change in market cap category with respect to any non-publicly disclosed position, this information is not updated until such position is publicly disclosed.

(5) Portfolio composition is reflective of the publicly disclosed portfolio positions as of the date of this report. A position in an issuer is only assigned to a sector once it has been publicly disclosed.

(6) "Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. AUM" equals the assets under management of Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.. Any performance fees crystallized as of the end of the year will be reflected in the following period's AUM.

(7) "Total Strategy AUM" equals the aggregate assets under management of Pershing Square, L.P., Pershing Square International, Ltd., Pershing Square II, L.P. and Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.. Redemptions effective as of the end of any period (including redemptions attributable to crystallized performance fees/allocations, if any) will be reflected in the following period's AUM
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

- After a competitive evaluation process, Backbase has been selected to deliver HDFC Bank's new digital omni-channel banking platform and mobile apps in India

- HDFC Bank has over 37 million customers with a distribution network of 4,541 branches and 12,013 ATMs across India

- The new omni-channel banking architecture - including mobile apps, empowered by Backbase, will enable a seamless customer experience across all digital touch points

HDFC Bank Ltd., one of India's premier banks, providing innovative products and smart banking solutions to over 37 million customers across India, has selected Backbase, the omni-channel digital banking market leader, to deliver its new digital omni-channel banking platform, running both its online and mobile banking apps.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121002/567102 )



Backbase will play a key role in delivering HDFC Bank's next generation of banking architecture. Thus platforms like the mobile banking app, digital banking portal, and web site will run on the Backbase platform.

The first phase will be re-architecturing HDFC Bank's technology stack with a true omni-channel platform approach. Backbase will combine HFDC Bank's existing core banking and back-end applications with its modern digital banking platform that orchestrates the digital banking journey of the customer across multiple touchpoints. At the same time - by utilising Backbase's experience manager capabilities - the non-technical digital business teams within the bank will be able to create new products and efficiently run cross - and upsell sales campaigns - all without any IT support.

"We see a strong momentum for digital transformation projects in emerging markets - and with HDFC Bank, Backbase has built its reputation and marked its footprint in the Indian banking landscape when it comes to next generation banking," said Jouk Pleiter, CEO and Co-Founder of Backbase, "HDFC Bank has a very strong track record in leveraging technology to make their business highly competitive. In that context we're very excited to partner with HDFC Bank to bring their retail digital banking operations to the next level, and strengthen their digital presence in India by supporting their customers with a true omni-channel banking platform and a seamless customer experience".

Nitin Chugh, Country Head, Digital Banking at HDFC Bank comments, "Our digital banking objective is to provide our customers enhanced experience across all technology and digital touch points. Our efforts have been to introduce innovative products and services catering to different customer segment, keeping in mind security and convenience. We believe this new omni-channel banking platform, and mobile app developed by Backbase, will contribute to reinforce the Bank's position as the leader in retail banking in India."

About Backbase:

Backbase is on a mission to empower financial institutions to accelerate their digital transformation and effectively compete in a digital-first world.

We are proud to be the creators of the Backbase Omni-Channel Banking Platform, a state-of-the-art digital banking software solution that unifies data and functionality from traditional core systems and new fintech players into a seamless digital customer experience. We give financials the speed and flexibility to create and manage seamless customer experiences across any device, and deliver measurable business results. We believe that superior digital experiences are essential to stay relevant, and our software enables financials to rapidly grow their digital business.

More than 70 large financials around the world have standardized on the Backbase platform to streamline their digital self-service and online sales operations across all digital touchpoints. Our customer base includes Al Rajhi Bank, ABN AMRO, Barclays, CheBanca!, Credit Suisse, Fidelity, Hapoalim, Hiscox, ING, KeyBank, Legal & General, NBAD, OTP, PZU, PostFinance, Societe Generale de Banque au Liban and Westpac.

Industry analysts Gartner, Forrester and Ovum recognize Backbase as an industry leader in terms of omni-channel banking platform capabilities, and award the company high marks for its deep focus on customer experience management and unparalleled speed of implementation. Forrester named us a leader in the Forrester Wave for Omni-Channel Banking.

Backbase was founded in 2003, is privately funded, with headquarters in Amsterdam (HQ Global) and Atlanta (HQ Americas) and regional operations in London, Mumbai and Singapore.

For further information please contact :

Cristina Danila

Global Marketing Manager

cristina@backbase.com

+31 (20) 465 8888


SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- As part of a strategic direction for its operations in Singapore, PR Communications has appointed Nadia Chan as General Manager.

In her new role, Nadia will not only continue to spearhead the agency's new business division but will also lead a growing team, as well as a portfolio of clients, with the aim of developing award-winning communication programmes for them.

With her vast amount of sales experience, Nadia hopes to continue her streak of business wins in her new role. Most recently, she was New Business Manager at PR Communications, where she was involved in several new client acquisitions, which included Aurora Media Holdings, Deliveroo, Oakwood Studios Singapore and Sky Premium. Prior to that, Nadia was a client manager at a local technology firm where her key responsibility was to grow the commercial portfolio.

"With Nadia's proven track record in securing new clients, coupled with her business knowledge and leadership skills, I truly believe that her take in injecting fresh perspectives and ideas will help take the agency to the next level," said Eric Chan, Managing Director and co-founder of PR Communications.

Nadia added, "I am excited to be given this incredible opportunity, and I am eager to work with the team to achieve even greater results. I believe that we have the perfect synergy with our clients, and I look forward to developing many more outstanding campaigns."

Nadia has effectively started in her new role.

Image

Nadia Chan, General Manager, PR Communications

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/5704

Company Logo

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/2730

About PR Communications

PR Communications is an award-winning Singapore-based public relations consultancy established in 1990, specialising in Lifestyle and Brand Marketing, Corporate Reputation, as well as Eco-PR. Oakwood Studios Singapore is the latest addition to the agency's extensive portfolio of lifestyle brands including Aston Martin, Caffe B, Deliveroo, Oakwood Studios Singapore and Sky Premium.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3063394



For more press information, please contact:

Cheryl Lee

PR Communications Pte Ltd

Telephone: +65 6227 2135

Email: Email Contact








Seiichiro Toda s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511

TOKYO, Oct 4, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) and NEC de Colombia S.A. today announced that they will provide digital TV transmitters for Radio Television Nacional de Colombia (RTVC), Colombia's public broadcasting service, in support of expanding the country's terrestrial digital broadcasting.In order to provide viewers with even higher-quality video and make the most effective use of radio waves, Colombia is promoting the transition from analog broadcasting to digital terrestrial broadcasting by the end of 2019.NEC's project is slated to be fully operational by August 2017, featuring 37 units of DVB-T2 equipment under the European digital broadcasting standard, deployed in 16 locations throughout the country. In combination with existing equipment, approximately 88% of Colombia will have access to the superior quality of terrestrial digital broadcasting when this project is complete.RTVC is utilizing NEC's cutting edge DTU-H10/M10/L-10 digital TV broadcasting transmitters, featuring some of the world's highest levels of power efficiency, and highly evaluated for exceptional performance in the broadcasting field.NEC began providing digital TV broadcasting transmitters for international markets in 1998, when it provided equipment for the world's first commercial terrestrial digital broadcasting service in the United Kingdom. Since then, NEC has shipped more than 4,000 transmitters to over 50 countries throughout the world."This project is very important for NEC and we are proud to see the Colombian government providing our state of the art DVB-T2 Digital Terrestrial Television System (DTT), resulting in the expansion of broadcast network coverage countrywide and promoting the social inclusion of all Colombian residents," said Javier Ortiz Ardila, President of NEC de Colombia S.A.About NEC CorporationNEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.Source: NEC CorporationContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Flight Control System Assessment and System Verification Technology Slashed Safety Test Schedule While Ensuring Flight Readiness

LDRA, the leader in standards compliance, automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, and Konatus, LDRA's engineering partner in Brazil, today unveiled the details of the flight system control safety testing methodology that contributed to the launch of Embraer's next-generation E2 jet aircraft months ahead of schedule.

Experts in aviation control system safety requirements and certification methodologies, the Konatus engineering team deployed LDRA's comprehensive safety verification tool suite to optimize testing, mitigate certification risks and dramatically reduce Embraer's safety verification schedule for the E2 aircraft maiden flight in May 2016. The E2 family of aircraft represents a major upgrade to Embraer's commercial aviation jet series first introduced more than a decade ago.

"Being able to roll out our new family of E2 jets ahead of schedule is an important milestone in Embraer's commercial aviation strategy," said Marcos Gritti, Manager of Flight Control Systems at Embraer. "The LDRA and Konatus teams and technology were instrumental in helping us with the large volume of test cases needed to ensure the aircraft's safety prior to the E2's first flight."

LDRA and Konatus began working with Embraer in early 2013 to establish a safety standards and compliance methodology for the E2 aircraft family using the LDRA tool suite for software requirements, team task management, flight control system safety assessment, verification, and validation. The E2 is Embraer's first civilian aircraft project that implements "Fly-By-Wire" software fully developed internally and tested with the LDRA tool suite for certification for DO-178C the primary standard for commercial avionics software development.

Results and technical details of the LDRA and Konatus involvement with Embraer's E2 project include:

93% reduction of test case execution time from hours to minutes

Tens of thousands of test cases imported

Generated source code and test case from SCADE Suite (often used for safety-critical embedded control applications) imported for automated regression testing on target hardware

Highly automated and optimized target integration for scalability and performance

Compatibility with integrated development environments (IDEs) including Green Hills Multi

Deployment of tools and automation for verification of auto-generated code and hand-generated code

Qualification packages included a customized coding standard based on MISRA, structural coverage, and unit/low-level test

"The LDRA and Konatus teams congratulate Embraer for the successful launch of the E2 jet," said Ian Hennell, Operations Director at LDRA. "We are very proud to be involved in such a meaningful way with this important aerospace industry milestone, and we look forward to continuing to contribute to Embraer's success."

Video of the first E2 flight can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-3m__yRBkg.

About LDRA

For more than forty years, LDRA has developed and driven the market for software that automates code analysis and software testing for safety-, mission-, security-, and business-critical markets. Working with clients to achieve early error identification and full compliance with industry standards, LDRA traces requirements through static and dynamic analysis to unit testing and verification for a wide variety of hardware and software platforms. Boasting a worldwide presence, LDRA is headquartered in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in the United States and India coupled with an extensive distributor network. For more information on the LDRA tool suite, please visit www.ldra.com.

Please send reader inquiries to:

Mark James

Email: mark.james@ldra.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003006489/en/

Contacts:

Media contacts:

Hughes Communications, Inc.

Janice Hughes,+1 705-774-8686

Media Relations

janice@hughescom.net

or

LDRA

Mark James, +44 (0)151 649 9300

Marketing Manager

mark.james@ldra.com

This press release can be downloaded from www.hughescom.net
-New features include compatibility with SureSigns VS4 spot check monitors and connectivity with the Wearable Biosensor

-The IntelliVue Guardian Solution directing caregiver attention to early signs of potential deteriorations can help reduce costly resuscitation efforts or possible transfers to the ICU

AMSTERDAM, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG AEX: PHIA) today announced the latest version of the IntelliVue Guardian software, designed to aid clinicians in the early recognition of subtle signs of patient deterioration in the general care ward. This software can notify caregivers to early signs of potential degradation, which can help reduce costly complications, unplanned transfers back to the intensive care unit and longer lengths of stay in the hospital.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO

This new iteration of the IntelliVue Guardian software (510(k) pending - not for sale in USA) is configurable to most institutions' Early Warning Scoring protocols, and includes new features, such as compatibility with the SureSigns VS4 spot check monitors, and the IntelliVue MP5SC monitor. The IntelliVue Guardian software provides caregivers in general care wards with direct access to an automated scoring system that can be based on individual hospital policy.

The IGS Software is designed to help improve patient care, financial outcomes and clinician workflow by facilitating early intervention with Early Warning Score calculations. Having automated tools that provide a comprehensive view into a patient's condition helps enhance workflow efficiencies, simplify the medical documentation process and better utilize limited staff resources.

The new IntelliVue Guardian software can also be used with the Philips Wearable Biosensor, (510(k) pending - not for sale in USA), a medical-grade, self-adhesive, single patient-use wireless device worn discreetly on the chest. The biosensor automatically and continuously measures heart rate, respiratory rate, posture, and detects falls, and this data will can be transmitted to the IntelliVue Guardian software, which analyzes the combined trends of the measurements over a configurable period of time and notifies the appropriate caregiver or clinician when preset limits are exceeded. It provides caregivers with peace of mind that their patients are being monitored frequently for signs of deterioration between spot checks while they are attending to other tasks. The wireless Biosensor provides patients with freedom of mobility.

"Studies have shown that signs of clinical instability typically occur six to eight hours prior to a potential deterioration and that the most common predictors of this deterioration are changes in respiratory and heart ratei," said Dr. Carla Kriwet, CEO Patient Care & Monitoring Solutions. "The IntelliVue Guardian software-in tandem with the Wearable Biosensor-allows for the continuous and automatic collection and transmission of information to help caregivers recognize these signs of instability earlier, before a deterioration can occur."

The latest release of IGS software supporting the Wearable Biosensor will be available from 05 October 2016 to countries requiring the CE Mark. This release is pending FDA 510(k) clearance and is not for sale in the U.S. It will expand on Philips' continuing commitment and leadership in patient monitoring across the care continuum. The IntelliVue Guardian software will be demonstrated at Philips booth #408 at the 29th European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) Annual Congress in Milan from October 1-5, 2016.

For further information, please contact:

Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Group Communications

Tel: +1 978-659-2638

Mobile: +1 978-221-8919

Email: kathy.oreilly@philips.com

Twitter: @kathyoreilly

About Royal Philips:

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2015 sales of EUR 16.8 billion and employs approximately 69,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

iDevita MA, Bellomo R, Hillman K, et al. Findings of the first consensus conference on medical emergency teams. Crit Care Med 2006;34:2463-78
The summit will bring together patients, caregivers, top industry leaders, researchers and clinicians

Regulatory News:

Pharnext (Paris:ALPHA) (ISIN FR00111911287), a French biopharmaceutical company developing an advanced portfolio of products in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, today announced its support of the first annual Patient-Centered Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Summit organized by the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation (HNF) on Thursday Oct. 6, 2016 in New York City.

The landmark event will focus on innovative content involving patients, caregivers, industry representatives, researchers and clinicians presenting the latest research data, sharing personal stories, learning about novel products as well as engaging in interactive discussions and Q&A sessions. Pharnext supports this HNF initiative as a part of a partnership initiated with the foundation in 2014 aimed to increase awareness around the disease and support the development of a stronger CMT patient and research community. Pharnext executives will attend the summit, meet with the various stakeholders of the CMT and rare diseases communities, and share the latest translational research findings.

For more information on the event, visit http://www.hnf-cure.org/cmtsummit/

"This summit is a major milestone in our CMT awareness program and gives us an opportunity to draw attention to the disease and educate the public about life with this rare genetic condition," said Allison Moore, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation (HNF). "The event is unique in that it directly involves patients in discussions, and connects them with clinicians and scientists. We hope that bringing physicians, researchers, industry, patients, as well as family and friends of people who live with CMT together will lead to more patient-oriented clinical care, make research more centered around patient needs and help find new solutions for people affected by CMT."

Daniel Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pharnext, added "Pharnext is honored to be a part of the summit and supports the efforts of this inspiring initiative. PXT3003, our lead candidate for the treatment of patients with CMT1A, is currently in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial, making it important for us to meet with patients and their families to keep our research as patient-focused as possible and to understand the quality of life issues they face daily. We are also proud to be part of this effort to start the dialogue across all groups and give a voice to these patients."

About CMT1A

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease encompasses a heterogeneous group of inherited, progressive, chronic peripheral neuropathies. CMT type 1A (CMT1A), the most common type of CMT, is an orphan disease affecting at least 125,000 people in Europe and the U.S. The genetic mutation responsible for CMT1A is a duplication of the PMP 22 gene coding for a peripheral myelin protein. Overexpression of this gene causes degradation of the neuronal sheath (myelin) responsible for nerve dysfunction, followed by loss of nerve conduction. As a result of peripheral nerve degradation, patients suffer from progressive muscle atrophy of legs and arms causing walking, running, balance problems and abnormal hand functioning. CMT1A patients end up in wheelchairs in at least 5% of cases. They might also suffer from mild to moderate sensory disorders. First symptoms usually appear during adolescence and will progressively evolve through patients' life.

To date, no curative or symptomatic medications have been approved and treatment consists of supportive care such as orthotics, leg braces, physical and occupational therapy or surgery.

About Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation

Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation (HNF) is a US non-profit 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to increase awareness and accurate diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) and related inherited neuropathies, support patients and families with critical information to improve quality of life, and support research. HNF has notably developed the Therapeutic Research in Accelerated Discovery (TRIAD) program, a collaborative effort with academia, government, and industry to support and develop treatments for CMT.

For further information, visit www.hnf-cure.org

About Pharnext

Pharnext is an advanced clinical stage biopharmaceutical company founded by renowned scientists and entrepreneurs including Professor Daniel Cohen, a pioneer in modern genomics. Pharnext focuses on neurodegenerative diseases and has two lead products in clinical development: PXT3003 is currently in an international Phase 3 trial for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A and benefits from orphan drug status in Europe and the United States. PXT864 has generated positive Phase 2 results in Alzheimer's disease. Pharnext is the pioneer of a new drug discovery paradigm: pleotherapy. The Company identifies and develops synergic combinations of repositioned drugs at low dose. These "pleodrugs" offer several key advantages: efficacy, safety, and intellectual property including several composition of matter patents already granted. The Company is supported by a world-class scientific team.

The company Pharnext is listed on Euronext Alternext Stock Exchange in Paris (ISIN code: FR00111911287).

For more information, visit www.pharnext.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003005619/en/

Contacts:

Pharnext

Pierre Schwich, +33 (0)1 41 09 22 30

Chief Financial Officer

investors@pharnext.com

or

NewCap

Investors Relations

Julie Coulot, +33 (0)1 44 71 20 40

pharnext@newcap.eu

or

Media Relations (Europe)

Alize RP

Caroline Carmagnol Margaux Pronost, +33 (0)1 44 54 36 64

pharnext@alizerp.com

or

Media Relations (US)

Russo Partners

Tony Russo, +1 212-845-4251

Ph.D.

tony.russo@russopartnersllc.com

or

Matt Middleman, +1 212-845-4272

M.D.

matt.middleman@russopartnersllc.com
Q1 Highlights"The start to the year with moderate growth was anticipated due to delayed product launches, and the decline in the Bang & Olufsen segment was in line with our expectations. B&O PLAY continued the double-digit growth and delivered a good start to the year. Overall, we see solid progress ahead, supported by strong and relevant products in our pipeline," says CEO, Henrik Clausen.-- The group realised a moderate revenue growth of 2 per cent. The Bang & Olufsen segment revenue declined by 16 per cent due to delayed product launches, whereas the B&O PLAY revenue increased by 41 per cent. -- The Group gross margin increased to 33.4 per cent from 32.5 margin last year, primarily due to improved gross margins in B&O PLAY. -- EBITDAC was negative DKK 67 million in the quarter compared to negative DKK 50 million last year. The decline in profitability was primarily a result of the decline in revenue in the Bang & Olufsen segment. The anticipated growth in the Bang & Olufsen segment, along with the continued growth in B&O PLAY, is expected to contribute to an improved EBITDAC for the full year. -- Free cash flow was negative DKK 32 million compared to negative DKK 168 million last year. The change was mainly related to an improved net working capital. -- The outlook for 2016/17 remains unchanged. Revenue for the Group is expected to grow compared to 2015/16, driven by double-digit growth in B&O PLAY and moderate growth in the Bang & Olufsen segment. EBITDAC for the underlying business is expected to improve compared to the EBITDAC of DKK 14 million in the underlying business in the 2015/16 financial year. -- On 12 September 2016, HARMAN and Ford Motor Company announced a collaboration that entails Ford offering B&O PLAY audio solutions for Ford's vehicle lineup worldwide. This is expected to generate license fee income for the Group in the coming years. -- Launch of exciting new products including two new Bang & Olufsen TV models is expected to drive revenue growth in the segment in the coming quarters.Any enquiries about this announcement can be addressed to:Investor contact, Claus Hjmark Jensen, tel.: +45 2325 1067Press contact, Morten Juhl Madsen, tel.: +45 4030 8986A webcast will be hosted on 4 October 2016 at 10:00 CET. Access to the webcast is obtained through our website www.bang-olufsen.comAttachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=588537


OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, as data showed that the U.S. manufacturing grew more than expected in September and hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official spurred bets that a potential Fed rate increase this year is likely.



The manufacturing sector in the U.S. returned to growth in September, according to data released on Monday. The Institute For Supply Management said that its index of national manufacturing performance rose to 51.5 for September. This was up from a level of 49.4 in the previous month. Economists had expected a reading of 50.2.



Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said Monday she expects the case for a hike in borrowing costs to remain 'compelling' at the next review in November. The Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting is due to be held in Washington on November 1-2, a week ahead of U.S. presidential election.



Monday, the U.S. dollar showed mixed trading against the other major rivals. While the U.S. dollar rose against the pound, it held steady against the euro, the Swiss franc and the yen.



In the Asian trading, the U.S. dollar rose to nearly a 3-month high of 1.2816 against the pound and nearly a 2-week high of 102.39 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.2839 and 101.64, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.25 against the pound and 104.00 against the yen.



Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the greenback advanced to 4-day highs of 1.1198 and 0.9747 from yesterday's closing of 1.1209 and 0.9733, respectively. The greenback is likely to find resistance around 1.10 against the euro and 0.98 against the franc.



The greenback edged up to 1.3134 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3119. On the upside, 1.33 is seen as the next resistance level for the greenback.



Looking ahead, U.K. CIPS/Markit construction PMI for September and Eurozone PPI for July are due to be released later in the day.



New Zealand Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction is due to be held at 8:00 am ET.



At 8:05 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker is expected to speak on 'Economic Outlook, October 2016' before the West Virginia Economic Outlook Conference in Charleston, South Carolina.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
Evotec contributes 6 m to Carrick's 95 m funding round through a top-class global investor consortium

Carrick Therapeutics ("Carrick") and Evotec build discovery alliance for novel oncology targets

Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) announced today that in line with its strategy to participate in promising corporate formations it will deepen its already existing relationship with Carrick. Evotec will invest up to 6 m towards Carrick's latest funding round. The total 95 m round was led by ARCH Venture Partners and Woodford Investment Management with participation from Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Google Ventures (GV), Lightstone Ventures, and Evotec AG.

Carrick, headquartered in Dublin with R&D located in Oxford and Dublin has a clear vision for cancer patients: Its mission is to target the molecular pathways that drive the most aggressive and resistant forms of cancer in order to have a major impact on the lives of patients. Instead of banking on a single compound or biological mechanism, Carrick is building an innovative portfolio of first-in-class treatments that target multiple mechanisms of the most aggressive forms of cancer, and which will be tailored to an individual patient's tumour. To support this mission Evotec will provide its full range of discovery and oncology services, through its discovery and pre-clinical platform. Carrick will progress multiple programmes through hit-to-lead and lead optimisation with the goal of delivering multiple development candidates.

Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec commented: "We are very excited to be part of creating and co-owning a next generation leading oncology company. Putting all Evotec's tools that support innovation and capital efficiency at work will allow Carrick to very rapidly progress a first-in-class oncology pipeline."

Chief Executive of Carrick Therapeutics, Dr Elaine Sullivan, said: "This is a unique new venture in cancer treatment, backed by some of the highest quality investors in the field. There is a significant unmet need in cancer treatment, and targeting aggressive and resistant disease is an area where we can make a real difference to patients' lives. Working with Evotec has allowed us to build a pipeline with optimal speed and highest quality."

No further financial details are disclosed.

Evotec's financial guidance for 2016, also with regard to liquidity, remains unchanged, despite the recent investment in Topas Therapeutics and now Carrick Therapeutics.

ABOUT CARRICK THERAPEUTICS

Carrick Therapeutics is pioneering a portfolio of unique, first in class, cancer treatments that target driver mechanisms of the most aggressive forms of cancer, and which will be tailored to an individual patient's tumour. The name Carrick means 'rock' in Irish to emphasise the strong foundation of like-minded scientists, collaborators and investors, and the vision to build a durable world-class company. Carrick has an ambitious patient focussed vision to serve cancer patients around the world by the introduction of ground breaking cancer therapies that will transform the way cancer is treated.

ABOUT EVOTEC AG

Evotec is a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company focused on rapidly progressing innovative product approaches with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics, patient advocacy groups and venture capitalists. We operate worldwide providing the highest quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery solutions, covering all activities from target-to-clinic to meet the industry's need for innovation and efficiency in drug discovery (EVT Execute). The Company has established a unique position by assembling top-class scientific experts and integrating state-of-the-art technologies as well as substantial experience and expertise in key therapeutic areas including neuroscience, diabetes and complications of diabetes, pain and inflammation, oncology and infectious diseases. On this basis, Evotec has built a broad and deep pipeline of more than 70 partnered product opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and discovery stages (EVT Innovate). Evotec has established multiple long-term discovery alliances with partners including Bayer, CHDI, Sanofi or UCB and development partnerships with e.g. Janssen Pharmaceuticals in the field of Alzheimer's disease, with Sanofi in the field of diabetes and with Pfizer in the field of tissue fibrosis. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of Evotec as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Language: English Company: Evotec AG Manfred Eigen Campus Essener Bogen 7 22419 Hamburg Germany Phone: +49 (0)40 560 81-0 Fax: +49 (0)40 560 81-222 E-mail: info@evotec.com Internet: www.evotec.com ISIN: DE0005664809 WKN: 566480 Indices: TecDAX Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161003006684/en/

Contacts:

Evotec AG

Gabriele Hansen

VP Corporate Communications Investor Relations

Phone: +49.(0)40.56081-255

gabriele.hansen@evotec.com
LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

From Athens to Abuja, Stockholm to Sao Paulo, cities around the world are self-disclosing through non-profit CDP that the emergence of the low-carbon economy presents significant economic opportunity to collaborate with business, develop new industry sectors and build resilience.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151103/283429LOGO )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160930/414000 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160930/414001 )

This year 533 cities disclosed climate-related data through CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, including 126 cities from across 32 countries in Europe. The vast majority of cities identified over 1,000 economic opportunities linked to climate change, including 299 cities who are developing new business industries, such as clean tech.

London, UK, reports that the low-carbon market is worth at least US$33 billion to the city's economy, and is among the cities seeking to grow new industries. Similarly, Cardiff, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Nice, Paris, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Venice all said they are looking to drive green growth by developing new industries linked to climate change.

The findings feature in It takes a city: The case for collaborative climate action, a new report published by CDP and AECOM, and sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The report examines the business case for cities to collaborate with the private sector on addressing climate change.

The Mayor of Stockholm, Karin Wanngard, whose city plans to be entirely fossil fuel-free by 2040, says: "Stockholm will not be able to meet these objectives on our own - and collaboration is at the center of our climate change strategy."

This year's disclosures also show European cities are leading the way when it comes to climate mitigation: 57% of European cities reported an emissions reduction target, the highest proportion globally, and far above the overall global proportion of 35%. In addition, many European cities have made commitments through the Global Covenant of Mayors for Energy & Climate, the largest global coalition of cities on climate.

However the report also shows that cities in other regions, in particular in North America, were more likely to be collaborating with business, developing new industries and seeking private sector partnerships than European cities.

Maia Kutner, head of cities at CDP, says: "Our report shows that cities do not need to go it alone when it comes to responding to climate change. They are recognizing there is power in numbers, which is why so many came together to form the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy this June.

By partnering with the private sector, cities can not only spur the growth of new markets, they can deliver even greater emissions reductions. Tackling climate change is an enormous business opportunity. The time has come for cities to seize it."

About CDP

CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the global system for companies, cities, states and regions to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information.

Since 2008, CDP has worked with cities to enable the annual reporting of investment-grade climate change data. Hundreds of cities now use CDP's platform every year to report on their mitigation and adaptation climate actions and better manage their climate change strategies. CDP serves as the official reporting partner of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and an official reporting platform for the UN-backed Compact of Mayors, which was relaunched as the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy on 22 June 2016. CDP's work on city disclosure is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Please visithttp://www.cdp.net or follow us@CDPto find out more.

For media information:kharunya.paramaguru@cdp.net, +44(0)7983613577
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Glance Technologies Inc. (CSE: GET)(FRANKFURT: GJT) is pleased to announce that since commencing trading on September 7, 2016, the company has launched its mobile payment application, Glance Pay, at nine more restaurants. Additionally, Glance is thrilled to provide its shareholders with an update on recent developments and future initiatives for 2016.

Glance Pay is now available at many award-winning and well-recognized restaurants to provide an effortless and quick restaurant payment experience. Many of Glance Pay's launched restaurants are located in Vancouver's downtown core and offer a variety of different dining experiences.

In the past 3 weeks, Glance Pay has successfully launched at the following restaurants: Tuc Craft Kitchen; Pink Elephant Thai Alberni; Pink Elephant Thai Marine Gateway; Urban Thai Bistro; Bogart's Bar & Restaurant; the Emerald; Dunn's Famous BC; the Oakwood Canadian Bistro; and Zen Japanese Restaurant. Some of these restaurants are part of restaurant chains and others are independently operated.

"I am very pleased with the speed and efficacy of Glance Pay's restaurant roll-out. We are very happy with the adoption rates of Glance Pay at our participating restaurants, particularly now as the app is available to both iOS and Android users, which together constitute 96.7% of the smartphone market," states Desmond Griffin, CEO of Glance Technologies, "We intend to continue launching new restaurants at a similar pace to continue to maintain the exponential growth in transactions that our mobile payment system is experiencing."

In conjunction with the initial public offering in August, Glance also successfully launched several social media properties on various platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Glance's CEO and COO also attended the Toronto Capital Conference to introduce Glance to Toronto's financial community.

Glance is thrilled with the media coverage that the company and Glance Pay has received in Vancouver. Glance Pay was featured on six television programs including Global News Hour and CityTV in total estimated circulation of millions of viewers. Glance also received news coverage on radio stations and online.

Glance continues to update and innovate its technology, with a focus on routinely advancing Glance Pay's functionality. The launch of Glance Pay's Android version, as available in Google Play's Android Store, has been well received, as Glance Pay has experienced an increase in its user base. Additionally, Glance Pay is in the final stages of launching its Restaurant Discovery feature, which will allow users to use Glance Pay's app and website to research all of its participating restaurants in order to effortlessly choose a dining experience.

About Glance Technologies Inc.

Glance Technologies owns and operates Glance Pay, a streamlined mobile payment system that allows customers to pay their restaurant bill instantly with their mobile device and collect rewards. Glance Pay aims to revolutionize how smartphone users choose where to dine, settle their restaurant bills, access their payment records and interact with their favourite restaurants. Glance Pay intends to become the industry standard as one of the four pillars in restaurant payments, beside credit cards, debit cards and cash. Glance trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol GET.

To read more about Glance, please go to www.glance.tech or www.glancepay.com and follow Glance Technologies and Glance Pay on Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Specifically, the statement that Glance anticipates launching its Restaurant Discovery feature is a forward-looking statement and there can be no certainty that this statement will prove to be correct.

Although Glance believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements.

Contacts:

Glance Technologies Inc.

Christina Rao

Vice President, Investor Relations

(604) 723-7480

christina@glancepay.com




Exclusive world-wide license expands therapeutic pipeline in key immunological areas

Tiziana Life Sciences plc (AIM: TILS, the "Company"), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing targeted drugs for cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, announced the acquisition of an exclusive world-wide license for NI-1201, a fully human anti-interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) monoclonal antibody (mAb), from Novimmune SA. In exchange for the exclusive license from Novimmune the Company agreed to an upfront cash payment, milestone payments, and a royalty on future sales.

Monoclonal antibodies against IL-6R have been explored as potential drugs to treat inflammation in the past. NI-1201's unique mechanism, however, has the potential to considerably increase anti-inflammatory activity as well as complementing the Company's program on foralumab (NI-0401), a fully human oral anti-CD3 mAb.

"We view NI-1201 as a potential game-changer for addressing the high unmet need of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases" commented Gabriele Cerrone, Chairman of Tiziana Life Sciences. "The acquisition of NI-1201 not only strengthens our business strategy of developing novel fully human mAbs to treat life-threatening inflammatory diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and rheumatoid arthritis, but expands our potential to leverage the pioneering work we are doing with foralumab, the oral anti-CD3 mAb to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases."

"The acquisition of NI-1201 is both strategic and very exciting for Tiziana Life Sciences because a fully human anti-IL-6R mAb perfectly complements foralumab, the Company's fully human oral anti-CD3 mAb which is being explored for treatment of NASH and type 2 diabetes," said Professor Howard Weiner, a member of Tiziana Life Sciences' Scientific Advisory Board. "It is known that dampening inflammatory signals driven by IL-6 enhances the induction of the regulatory mechanism induced by anti-CD3 mAb's (Faria AM and Weiner HL. Oral tolerance. Immunol Rev. 2005; 206:232-59)."

About anti-IL6R (NI-1201)

A key driver of chronic inflammation is excessive production of IL-6 and its receptor IL-6R, both of which are responsible for inducing inflammatory responses. NI-1201, a fully human anti-IL-6R mAb, differs from other anti-IL-6R mAb's such as tocilizumab (Actemra, Hoffmann-La Roche), which exerts its pro-inflammatory effects predominantly through binding to membrane-bound IL-6R, in that NI-1201 acts not only on membrane-bound IL-6R, but also on soluble IL-6R, and is also able to deplete circulating levels of IL-6 in blood.

About Professor Weiner

Howard L. Weiner M.D. is the Robert L. Kroc Professor of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School and Director and Founder of the Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center and Co-Director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston. He has pioneered immunotherapy in multiple sclerosis, and has investigated immune mechanisms in nervous system diseases including Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke and brain tumours. He has also pioneered investigation of the mucosal immune system for the treatment of autoimmune and other diseases.

About Tiziana Life Sciences

Tiziana Life Sciences plc is a UK biotechnology company that focuses on the discovery and development of novel molecules that treat human disease in oncology and immunology.

The Company is focused on its lead compound, milciclib, a molecule which blocks the action of specific enzymes called cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) involved in cell division as well as a number of other protein kinases. Milciclib is currently completing phase II clinical trials for epithelial thymic carcinoma and/or thymoma in patients previously treated with chemotherapy and has filed an IND to enroll patients in an exploratory trial in Hepatic Cellular Carcinoma (HCC).

The Company is also in clinical development of foralumab. Foralumab is the only fully human engineered anti-human CD3 antibody in clinical development. This phase II compound has potential application in a wide range of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, type-1 diabetes (T1D), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, where modulation of a T-cell response is desirable.

Tiziana Life Sciences' clinical development teams are working on its Bcl-3 candidate; which has a prominent role in the metastasis of mammary cancers, and has elucidated the mechanism of Bcl-3 action to be a regulator of cancer cell motility and has also determined that Bcl-3 inhibition suppresses cell motility in triple-negative, HER-2-positive PR- and ER-positive breast cancer sub-types, suggesting that Bcl-3 may be a master regulator of this metastatic property not only in aggressive breast cancers, but across the clinical spectrum of breast disease. The Company is preparing the IND package with the intention of progressing to clinical trials early 2017.

For more information go to http://www.tizianalifesciences.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170103005513/en/

Contacts:

Tiziana Life Sciences plc

Gabriele Cerrone, Chairman and founder

+44 (0)20 7493 2853

or

Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated adviser)

Liam Murray

+44 (0)20 7148 7900

or

Beaufort Securities Limited (Broker)

Saif Janjua

+44 (0)20 7382 8300

or

FTI Consulting

Simon Conway Natalie Garland-Collins

+44 (0)20 3727 1000


CANONSBURG (dpa-AFX) - The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has asked EpiPen maker, Mylan, for an explanation for misleading Congress about the life-saving allergy auto-injector EpiPen's profits, reports said, citing a letter sent to the company.



Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on September 21, is said to have omitted key information used to calculate the profit figure. Bresch told the panel that the company made just $50 in profit for EpiPens sold for more than $300 apiece. But, according to lawmakers, those figures were calculated after factoring in the 37.5% U.S. tax rate. Before taxes, the EpiPen profit reportedly is $160 for a two-pack.



Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the panel's senior Democrat, said, 'Failing to disclose tax assumptions that formed the basis for the profit per pack claim, despite opportunities to do so before and during the hearing, raises questions.'



Chaffetz and Cummings, in their letter, asked the CEO to provide information and documents relating to Mylan's taxes, the actual rate paid to the IRS for each year since 2007, as well as a list of the company's profits and expenses during that time.



Mylan's EpiPen is the predominant epinephrine auto injector, a device and drug used for the emergency treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions, in the US market. It is used in emergencies to stop anaphylaxis, the potentially fatal allergic reaction to insect bites and foods.



Mylan is facing a widespread outrage from lawmakers and the public after the company implemented sharp price increases for a pair of EpiPen auto-injectors to $608 from about $100 in 2008. Mylan had acquired the product in 2007.



In response to the letter, Mylan spokesman Nina Devlin reportedly said the company remains committed to productive and continued cooperation with the committee, and that it intends to respond to the request for additional information.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- PropertyGuru Group -

Batdongsan.com.vn is used by over 2 million property seekers and has over 50 million pageviews every month

With this investment, PropertyGuru extends its presence to Vietnam, adding a fifth core market to its property portals portfolio

PropertyGuru Group ("PropertyGuru," or the "Group"), Asia's leading online property group, today announced that it has made a strategic investment in Batdongsan.com.vn ("Batdongsan"), Vietnam's No.1 property site. While no financial terms have been disclosed by either party, this investment gives PropertyGuru two seats on the Board of Directors (or the "Board") and makes PropertyGuru one of the key shareholders of the Vietnamese property portal. Batdongsan Founder and Managing General Director, Le Xuan Truong, will continue to operate the business and keep a significant stake in the company.

Batdongsan is used by over 2 million people in Vietnam every month -- with four times more monthly visits than its nearest competitor. The company features the most property listings for consumers -- over 1.9 million choices as of 2015, the highest number of agent clients in the market -- over 80,000 as of 2016, and employs approximately 500 staff at seven offices across Vietnam.

The investment also advances PropertyGuru's delivery on its Southeast Asia growth agenda and adds another core market to its existing portfolio of leading property sites in the region.

Jani Rautiainen, Executive Director and Co-Founder of PropertyGuru Group, said, "Our property portals have become the No.1 choice in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia and so we've been looking to add the fifth market to our portals portfolio for the past couple of months. Given our existing relationship with Batdongsan and Vietnam's list of positives, choosing to deepen our current partnership with Batdongsan and add Vietnam as our fifth core market was an obvious choice. We're excited about this investment in Batdongsan as it increases our foothold in one of the largest and fastest growing countries in Southeast Asia."

In the first half of 2016, Vietnam's GDP grew by 5.5% and is expected to continue growing at 6.0-6.5% in 2016-2020. In Ho Chi Minh City, GDP grew even faster at 7.5% in the first half of 2016. The strong economic growth is a result of favourable demographics (approximately 70% of its ~94 million population is under the age of 35), continued urbanisation, industrialisation and higher employment in the services sector and a rising middle class.

From a digital landscape point of view, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing internet markets in the world; the latter's internet users are expected to grow from ~50 million in 2016 to ~82 million in 2020. While active internet users' penetration is ~50%, active social media users' and active mobile social users' penetrations are ~37% and 31% respectively (as of Jan 2016). Vietnam is also one of the most populated smartphone markets in Southeast Asia, with smartphone users in the market estimated to reach 24.6 million in end 2016 and mobile connections at ~152% (vs. population, as of Jan 2016).

Rautiainen continued, "PropertyGuru and Batdongsan have been close partners for the past three years, and we've worked together on many fronts, including website linking, holding joint seminars, reselling each other's services and collaborating on PropertyGuru's annual Vietnam Property Congress and Awards. With this latest strategic investment in the business, we will continue to build on our established partnership, and accelerate Batdongsan's growth over the coming years."

With this investment, the two companies will collaborate more deeply to share market knowledge and industry best practices and increase collaboration across sales, marketing, and product innovation. Consumers in PropertyGuru's current markets will benefit from greater visibility into Vietnam property and potential investment opportunities, while consumers in Vietnam will benefit from additional property content, listings, and new services to ease their property searches. Agents and developers in Vietnam will gain access to PropertyGuru's products and services.

Le Xuan Truong, Batdongsan Founder and Managing Director, said, "After serving the Vietnamese market for the past 10 years, we felt that it was now time to take the company to the next level. We've had a great relationship and partnership with PropertyGuru all these years, and we're very excited about deepening our ties to further support our mutual long-term growth and ambitions."

concluded by stating, "PropertyGuru's support and capitalization, including access to new technologies and industry innovation, will allow us to grow into a major player in the region. With this partnership, we're now closer to realising our mission of meeting all real estate demands in Vietnam, with higher efficiency. I'm also especially thrilled that property seekers in Vietnam will now benefit from additional property content and news services, making the search for their dream home even easier."

Company logo

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/4082

About PropertyGuru Group

PropertyGuru is Asia's foremost online property group. With a presence in nine markets, it helps over 16 million people find their dream home -- every month.

Starting out as a property search portal, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by two entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and to help buyers, sellers and investors make more informed property decisions -- faster. Today, the Group manages a suite of No.1 property search portals in the region, and also covers property-related publications, events, awards, project marketing solutions and more. PropertyGuru operates 14 award-winning mobile apps, in multiple languages, across all major platforms; these have recorded over 3 million app downloads till date.

Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru brings insightful content on new homes, as well as essential market news and information, to people's fingertips, helping them make confident property decisions. With innovative technologies, PropertyGuru raises the bar on how property-seekers find their dream home, offering highly interactive and immersive experiences. These include 3D virtual walk-throughs of home units and drone videos of local neighbourhoods. At any time, property-seekers can find more than 1 million homes across Southeast Asia, be it brand new developments or well-loved resale units, for buying or renting.

PropertyGuru also provides data and technology-backed solutions to real estate developers and agents, helping them sell property faster and enabling more effective sales forces. Currently, the Group generates over 600,000 enquiries for them -- every month -- across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. These enquiries, in turn, help to drive transactions valued at over US$15 billion annually.

PropertyGuru received Southeast Asia's second largest tech investment in 2015, and is backed by a world-class investor base that includes TPG, a global investment firm with over US$67 billion of assets under management and a shareholder in leading-edge companies such as Uber and Airbnb; Emtek, a media conglomerate in Indonesia; and Square Peg Capital, an Australia-founded investor of Internet companies.

For more information, please visit propertyguru.com.

About Batdongsan.com.vn

Batdongsan.com.vn is Vietnam's No.1 real estate portal. With a presence across seven cities in Vietnam -- Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Nha Trang and Hai Phong -- the company helps over 2 million people in their property search journey, every month.

Founded by Le Xuan Truong in August 2006 and led by a highly-experienced management team with extensive experience and expertise in the real estate sector, Batdongsan aims to make the Vietnamese property market more accessible and efficient for both property consumers and advertisers alike.

The company prides itself on providing comprehensive content on and around real estate in Vietnam and equipping users with the resources they need to make well-informed property decisions, so as to facilitate easier and faster property buying/selling/rentals in Vietnam. It helps consumers both find their next home and research the market by combining hundreds of thousands of property listings with market data, local information and community tools.

With top rankings on leading search engines such as Google, the company has grown rapidly to become a clear market leader. Today, it has become Vietnam's leading online destination for property consumers to search for homes and do their market research, and the favoured online marketing partner for Vietnam's real estate agents and property developers.

Batdongsan is used by over 2 million people who generate over 50 million pageviews every month -- with four times more monthly visits than its nearest competitor. The company features over 1.9 million property listings for its consumers (as of 2015), has the highest number of agent clients in the market -- over 80,000 (as of 2016), and employs approximately 500 staff.

For more information, please visit www.batdongsan.com.vn.

For further queries, please contact:

Yu Poh Leng

Ruder Finn Asia

+65-9751 7037

Email Contact



Loh Hui Yin

Ruder Finn Asia

+65-9828 5137

Email Contact



Cathy Leung

Ruder Finn Asia

+65-9822 2943

Email Contact




BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 5:00 am ET Tuesday, Eurostat releases euro area producer prices for July. Producer prices are forecast to decrease 2.1 percent annually after easing 2.8 percent in June. Ahead of the data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the Swiss franc, it held steady against the U.S. dollar, the yen and the pound. As of 4:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.8746 against the pound, 1.0935 against the Swiss franc, 1.1172 against the U.S. dollar and 114.31 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Convercent, the leading provider of compliance management software, today announced the release of Convercent 4.0, the company's biggest release to date. This product release pushes the compliance industry to new innovations with an integrated way of managing compliance, including enhancements to conflicts of interest management, case escalation routing and in-app multi-lingual support.

"Convercent 4.0 is the latest milestone not only in Convercent's mission to bring cutting-edge technology to this underserved market, but is one for the industry and companies around the globe in combatting bribery, modern slavery, corruption and many more crimes we see taking over the headlines each day," says Philip Winterburn, Chief Product Officer at Convercent. "Compliance programs can now expand their effectiveness, reach and breadth. This single release will transform how organizations track and mitigate risk using a targeted approach integrated with real-time visibility and analysis."

"This release is a game-changer for all of us living in the everyday realities of compliance," says Karyn Boston, Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer, at Florida International University. "What Convercent 4.0 will provide to the industry is a truly streamlined approach that will position the company's we represent and the employees we protect to operate as safe as possible, with high standards of accountability and one that keeps up the ever-changing demands of a global workforce."

The days of paper pushing solutions and manual processes are over. Convercent 4.0 includes the following new features and functionalities:

Conflicts of Interest 2.0

The industry's best conflicts of interest solution just got better with new enhancements that push the limits of innovation. Users can create customizable disclosure forms or leverage a pre-built best-in-class form -- either option integrates with an existing COI process.





The industry's best conflicts of interest solution just got better with new enhancements that push the limits of innovation. Users can create customizable disclosure forms or leverage a pre-built best-in-class form -- either option integrates with an existing COI process. Smart Escalation

A ground-breaking new way to escalate issues, users can set up pre-configured routing rules to catch keywords like job titles for special escalation rules.





A ground-breaking new way to escalate issues, users can set up pre-configured routing rules to catch keywords like job titles for special escalation rules. Translations Across All Solutions

Users can set the tone and create a positive and respectful experience by giving employees a main compliance portal that is in their preferred language. Convercent supports 12 languages.





Convercent is now Privacy Shield Certified which helps keep our global customer's data safe. This certification signifies that the product has met all requirements of the EU-US Privacy Shield, which imposes stronger obligations on U.S. companies to protect EU personal data. Read our Privacy Policy for more details.

For more information about Convercent, visit us at www.convercent.com.

ABOUT CONVERCENT

Convercent's risk-based global compliance solution enables the design, implementation and measurement of an effective compliance program. Delivering an intuitive user experience with actionable executive reporting, Convercent integrates the management of corporate compliance risks, cases, disclosures, training and policies. With hundreds of customers in more than 130 countries -- including Philip Morris International, CH2M Hill and Under Armour -- Convercent's award-winning GRC solution safeguards the financial and reputational health of your company. Convercent is backed by Sapphire Ventures, Tola Capital, Azure Capital, Mantucket Capital, and Rho Capital Partners. Convercent is based in Denver, Colorado.

PRESS CONTACT

Melissa French

Convercent

melissa.french@convercent.com




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.
RENO, NEVADA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- NuLegacy Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: NUG)(OTCQX: NULGF) is undertaking a non-brokered private placement financing of 20 million units at a price of C$0.45 per unit for gross proceeds of C$9.0 million. Each Unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share for a period, subject to acceleration, of 18 months at an exercise price of C$0.65 per share.

"With a second Carlin-style deposit to explore (the newly discovered Avocado deposit) while we accelerate the delineation of the first (the Iceberg deposit) we greatly appreciate the continued support from existing and new shareholders", said NuLegacy Chairman, Albert Matter.

"This extra funding will permit us to properly plan our much expanded 2017 drilling program; already it has allowed us to significantly develop our exploration team, and with this funding we can commit to extra drilling rigs/drillers for next year. The deeper exploration drilling of the Avocado deposit, and the need for more core holes to better delineate the Iceberg deposit in preparation for a resource valuation, increases the budgetary needs. As well as strengthening the balance sheet against the vicissitudes of the market, it will fund continued wildcat exploration on the rest of our highly prospective 38 sq. mile land package in the famed Cortez gold trend of Nevada."

The financing is expected to close on or about October 11, 2016, prior to which Barrick Gold Corporation, OceanaGold Corporation and/or Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, LP have the right to elect to participate to maintain their current equity ownership interests in NuLegacy Gold (as announced February 23, 2016; April 13, 2016; and August 18, 2014 respectively).

Closing is subject to conditional acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange and finder's fees may be paid in accordance with Exchange policies. Inquires as to participation should be directed to our Chairman Albert Matter (albert@nuggold.com / 604-639-3640).

About NuLegacy: NuLegacy Gold Corporation is a Nevada-based exploration company focused on expanding its Carlin-style near-surface Iceberg oxide gold deposit with an established exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonne(i), and exploring for additional gold deposits on its 38 sq. mile (98 sq. km) Red Hill property located in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada.

The Iceberg gold deposit has similar geology to that of Barrick Gold's multi-million-ounce Pipeline deposit, the discovery of which is credited to NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer, Dr. Roger Steininger. The Iceberg is located on trend and adjacent(ii) to three of Barrick Gold's multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) that are amongst Barrick's lowest cost and politically safest gold assets(iii).

(i) These figures are conceptual in nature and derived from a compilation of 149 historic and 34 NuLegacy drill holes in and around the Iceberg deposit. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. (ii) The similarity and close proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in the Iceberg deposit. (iii) As extracted from Barrick's Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports.

On Behalf Of NuLegacy Gold Corporation

James E Anderson, Chief Executive Officer

For further information please visit www.nulegacygold.com.

Dr. Roger Steininger, NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for approving the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. There are no known resources or reserves in the Iceberg and Avocado deposits and the proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore. In addition, the presence of gold deposits on properties adjacent or in close proximity to the Iceberg and Avocado deposits is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Iceberg and Avocado deposits. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our annual management's discussion and analysis dated July 28, 2016 for the year ended March 31, 2016. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

NuLegacy Gold Corporation

604-639-3640

www.nulegacygold.com



NuLegacy Gold Corporation

Albert Matter, Chairman: albert@nuggold.com

James Anderson, CEO: james@nuggold.com

Roger Steininger, CGO: roger@nuggold.com

Frank Lagiglia , ICM: frank@nuggold.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Red Pine Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RPX) ("Red Pine" or the "Company") has received results for 24 holes sampled as part of its sampling program of historic core at its Wawa Gold Project.

Highlights from the sampling program include so far:

-- An increase of the gold metal factor (gold grade times intersection length) for 16 of the 24 sampled holes; an average increase of the intersection length for 11 of the 24 holes; -- Discovery of a new gold zone in the hanging wall of the Jubilee Shear Zone -- Identification of a network of high-grade quartz veins in the footwall of the inferred resources with up to 20.9 g/t gold detected in a representative grab sample.

Quentin Yarie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Pine states "These assays results and generalized increase of the metal factor in the historic drill holes sampled to date demonstrate the potential upside this sampling program may have on the inferred resource. The identification of a network of high-grade quartz veins at surface, within 90 metres of the inferred resource and next to the main access road of the property, also shows the potential for new discoveries with additional exploration work, even into the most explored areas of the Wawa Gold Project."

Sampling of historic core

Following its 2015 exploration programs, the Company speculated that some of the gold zones in the footwall and hanging wall of the Surluga Deposit were not entirely sampled in the past and that sampling gaps remained in some gold mineralized zones of the Surluga Deposit. Earlier this year, the Company undertook an aggressive selective sampling program of approximately 42,000 metres of historic drilling (from 318 underground and 119 surface drill holes) in the Wawa Gold Corridor to help fill these gaps. The work aimed to extend and define additional gold zones in the footwall and hanging wall of the Surluga Deposit, and extend some gold zones of the Surluga Deposit that were not entirely sampled in the past.

Of the 24 holes sampled, 16 show an increase of their overall metal factor, 11 show an increase of the mineralised length and 6 show an increase of their total gold grade (Table 1). The sampled holes mostly cover the Jubilee Shear Zone, which already contain a NI 43-101 inferred resource of 1,088,000 ounces of gold1. However, some of the holes also cover the Minto B Shear Zone, located in the hanging wall of the Jubilee Shear Zone and not included in the inferred resource.

To view the table accompanying this press release please click the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/RedPineTable104.pdf

Other Activities at the Wawa Gold Project

Red Pine is currently trenching and mapping many key structures located in the hanging wall and footwall of the inferred resources and in the Jubilee Shear Zone. This has lead to the discovery of a quartz vein stockwork in the immediate footwall of the inferred resource. One representative grab samples of the quartz stockwork returned 20.9 g/t gold (Figure 1). The company is now conducting additional work to define the size and continuity of this network of quartz veins, located within 90 metres of the inferred resource of the Surluga Deposit.

Next Steps

As the Company looks to increase the property's gold inventory, the current program of sampling historical core as well as trenching and mapping is uncovering new exploration targets for Red Pine's future drill programs.

Forages Rouiller has been retained for the Company's 2016 Fall Drill Program and mobilization is expected to begin within the next three weeks. The Company plans to drill more than 3,000 metres of NQ core to confirm the continuity of both the footwall and hanging wall mineralization to further increase the resource. Further details on the 2016 Fall Drill Program will be issued within the next two weeks.

Merger Update

Red Pine continues to advance merger discussions with both of its JV partners; Augustine Ventures Inc. and Citabar LLP. The Company acknowledges that the simplification of the ownership structure has taken longer than anticipated, but it feels confident that there are no outstanding issues that could derail the process. Red Pine thanks both its shareholders and Augustine shareholders for their continued support and patience as the negotiations continue to move forward.

On-site Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") Measures

Drill core samples are transported in security-sealed bags for analyses at Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Timmins, Ontario. Individual samples are labeled, placed in plastic sample bags and sealed. Groups of samples are then placed into durable rice bags that are then shipped. The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage at the Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Timmins, Ontario as required in the event that further work or verification is needed.

Red Pine has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the sampling and analysis of drill core. As part of its QA/QC program, Red Pine inserts external gold standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to random standards, blanks, and duplicates.

Qualified Person

Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About Red Pine Exploration Inc.

Red Pine Exploration Inc. is a gold and base-metals exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RPX".

Red Pine has a 30% interest in the Wawa Gold Project through an Assignment and Assumption Agreement with Citabar LLP and Augustine Ventures Inc. Red Pine is the Operating Manager of the JVA and is focused on expanding the existing gold resource on the property. The JVA is owned 40% by Citabar, 30% by Red Pine and 30% by Augustine.

Red Pine has signed a Letter of Intent to consolidate ownership of the Wawa Gold Project.

For more information about the Company visit www.redpineexp.com.

1NI 43-101 inferred resource of 1,088,000 ounces of gold at a 1.71 grams per tonne (g/t) using a 0.40 g/t gold cut-off grade for pit-constrained and 2.50 g/t gold cut-off grade for underground-constrained resources, contained in 19.82 million tonnes open along strike and at depth. The Cut-off grades are based on a gold price of US$1,250 per once and a gold recovery of 95 percent (Mineral Resource Statement(i), Surluga-Jubilee Gold Deposit, Wawa Gold Project, Ontario, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc (effective May 26, 2015)). The report is available on www.SEDAR.com under Red Pine's profile.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

To see the map accompanying this press release please click the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/RedPineMap104.pdf

Contacts:

Red Pine Exploration Inc.

Quentin Yarie

President & CEO

(416) 364-7024

qyarie@redpineexp.com



Red Pine Exploration Inc.

Mia Boiridy

Investor Relations

(416) 364-7024

mboiridy@redpineexp.com

www.redpineexp.com






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp., and two of its Atlanta-area subsidiaries will pay over $513 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. The charges are related to a scheme to defraud the United States and to pay kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals.



In its statement, Tenet said it will make settlement payments of approximately $514 million and pay approximately $3 million of related fees and expenses to resolve the Clinica de la Mama criminal investigation and civil litigation, which involved referral source arrangements at three of Tenet's former hospitals and one current hospital.



In addition, two Tenet units, Atlanta Medical Center Inc. and North Fulton Medical Center Inc. in Georgia, have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and defraud the United States. The plea agreements remain subject to acceptance by the court. Tenet completed the divestiture of both facilities on March 31, 2016, and the subsidiaries currently have no operating assets.



According to U.S. Attorney John Horn, 'Tenet cheated the Medicaid system by paying bribes and kickbacks to a pre-natal clinic to unlawfully refer over 20,000 Medicaid patients to the hospitals.'



In August, Tenet had disclosed that it had reached an agreement in principle on the matter.



The settlement was reached with the DOJ, the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia, and the State Attorneys General for Georgia and South Carolina.



In the civil settlement, Tenet agreed to pay $368 million to the federal government, the state of Georgia and the state of South Carolina to resolve claims.



The federal share of the civil settlement is $244.23 million, the state of Georgia will recover $122.88 million and the state of South Carolina will recover $892,125. Ralph Williams, a Georgia resident who filed a whistle blower suit against the company, will receive $84.43 million of the civil settlement.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
DUBAI, UAE, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The prestigious World Travel Awards has voted The Oberoi, Dubai as the 'Middle East's Leading Luxury City Hotel' for the third year in a row at a ceremony held in Dubai, UAE on 29th September, 2016.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414892 )



Hailed as the 'Oscars of the travel industry', World Travel Awards celebrates its 23rd anniversary this year and is acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade. The brand aims to celebrate those organisations that are pushing the boundaries of industry excellence.

The coveted awards are chosen by travellers and hospitality industry professionals across a variety of categories. The Oberoi, Dubai competed against several luxury city hotels across the Middle East and Dubai, winning the award as a result of its all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service.

The Oberoi, Dubai is part of the internationally famed Oberoi Group and represents its first property in the UAE, having successfully opened in June 2013. The World Travel Awards are the latest addition to the hotel's increasingly expanding collection of awards including Best Business Hotel by the readers of Business Traveller Middle East 2015.

Talking about the recent accolade for The Oberoi, Dubai, Mr. Karim Bizid, General Manager, The Oberoi, Dubai, said, "We are proud yet humbled at having been voted Middle East's Leading Luxury City Hotel for the third consecutive year. The Oberoi, Dubai brings an ethos of service without compromise to the UAE. This international recognition from World Travel Awards, Middle East shows that we have consistently upheld the promise of unparalleled levels of service for which the Oberoi brand is renowned worldwide. This award is a testament of the entire team's hard work to ensure that every guest's experience is truly memorable."

Further notes to the Editor:

About The Oberoi, Dubai

Located at The Oberoi Centre, The Oberoi, Dubai is a contemporary luxury hotel that embodies height, light and space. The hotel overlooks the iconic Burj Khalifa and each of the 252 rooms and suites have floor to ceiling windows which afford spectacular views of the city's skyline. The hotel enjoys a central location in Business Bay and is a few minutes' drive from Downtown Dubai and The Dubai Mall. http://www.oberoidubai.com

About Oberoi Hotels & Resorts

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts are synonymous across the world for providing the right blend of service, luxury and quiet efficiency. Internationally acclaimed for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts have received innumerable awards and accolades.

A distinctive feature of the Group's hotels is their highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides exceptionally attentive, personalized and warm service. The Group's luxury hotels have established a reputation for redefining the paradigm of luxury and excellence in service amongst hotels around the world.

For further information, please contact: Alisha Arora, Director of Marketing and Communications, alisha.arora@oberoihotels.com, +97(1)559664131
Acacia Mining plc

Registration number 7123187

("the Company")

TOTAL VOTING RIGHTS

In accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the Company advises that its issued share capital comprises 410,085,499 ordinary shares of 10 pence each. The voting rights of all these shares are identical with each share carrying the right to one vote. The Company holds no ordinary shares in Treasury.

The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interests in, or a change to their interest in Acacia Mining plc under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

4 October 2016
DUBLIN, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Smart Connected Air Conditioner Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The global smart connected air conditioner market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 60.42% during the period 2016-2020.

According to the report, remote prognostics and easy fault detection features of smart connected air conditioners will be a key driver for market growth. Smart air conditioners facilitate remote prognostics and alert both the manufacturers and consumers even if there is a small chance of a fault developing in them.

When a fault develops in a machine, the manufacturer can contact the consumer; advise how it can be fixed or even arrange a site visit to replace a part. The operating system of the machine can notify service engineers of the concerned brand about which part needs replacing, so that they can bring it with them. Thus, consumers do not need to be concerned about the servicing and functioning of smart connected air conditioners. Manufacturers are leveraging on the remote prognostics feature of these air conditioners to entice consumers.

Further, the report states that problems in standardization of communication protocol will be a major challenge for the market. Manufacturers of different smart appliances have their own data standards and wireless protocols, which often make it difficult for these high-tech devices to communicate with each other. For instance, some manufacturers of smart meters have established proprietary protocols for connecting and communicating with devices used in residences.

These protocols create hindrances for smart appliance manufacturers. Customization of product offerings as per the protocol set by meter manufacturers is infeasible and impractical. Thus, a standardized communication protocol for inter-operability between controllers, gateways, appliances, devices and the internet is essential.

Questions Answered:

What are the key market trends?

What is driving this market?

What are the challenges to market growth?

Who are the key vendors in this market space?

What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?

Companies Mentioned:

Daikin Industries

Haier

LG Electronics

Mitsubishi Electric

Samsung Electronics

Videocon

Voltas

FUJITSU GENERAL

Blue Star

Friedrich

Electrolux

Report Structure:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Segmentation by product type

PART 06: Market segmentation by distribution channel

PART 07: Geographical segmentation

PART 08: Key leading countries

PART 09: Market drivers

PART 10: Impact of drivers

PART 11: Market challenges

PART 12: Impact of drivers and challenges

PART 13: Market trends

PART 14: Vendor landscape

PART 15: Key vendor analysis

PART 16: Appendix

PART 17: About the Author

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/42l2xh/global_smart

For more information on this topic, please visit the Computing and Technology section of the Research and Markets Blog.

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
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Cannabix Technologies Inc. (CSE: BLO) (CSE: BLO.CN) (OTC PINK: BLOZF) (the "Company") Later this fall, voters in California, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts will decide whether marijuana should be legalized for recreational use. The Canadian Liberal government also recently announced plans to introduce legislation legalizing marijuana in the spring of 2017. The Canadian government has set up a Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, chaired by the Honourable Anne McLellan and spearheaded by Mr. Bill Blair, MP, current Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, to consult with experts across the country to learn how to best legalize and regulate marijuana.

More recently in Canada, the Liberal government has just wrapped up a several month feedback program asking Canadians about their opinions on marijuana legalization and how the government should enforce laws against those who operate outside the legal limits, such as marijuana impaired driving.

With the pending legalization of marijuana, law enforcement agencies across North America and the world are grappling with the issue of marijuana impaired driving. Law enforcement has done a commendable job in enforcing alcohol impaired driving in North America and society has also come to frown on alcohol impaired driving. Alcohol impaired driving is enforced with sophisticated breathalyzers that collect evidence of impairment and criminal charges have a high likelihood of resulting in conviction.

Unlike alcohol impaired driving, society is still unsure of how to address marijuana impaired driving and many jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies are trying to determine how best to administer the issue of "drugged driving".

In addition to marijuana impaired driving, employers are also concerned with employees that may be impaired by marijuana. These workplace issues could be particularly concerning when heavy machinery is involved and safety is paramount.

Cannabix Technologies Inc. is developing a point of care device that would be similar to alcohol breathalyzers and would be used at the roadside to collect evidence of marijuana impairment. This tool would also be useful in testing employees for on the job sobriety.

Cannabix Technologies' Marijuana Breathalyzer

Cannabix Technologies has been a first mover and leader in the development of a marijuana breathalyzer. The company debuted its most recent beta prototype in July. With a Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS) mass spec setup, the company is developing a tool that would be capable of accurately detecting THC concentrations at levels found in breath samples.

Cannabix Technologies' breathalyzer would determine whether someone has consumed THC within the two hours preceding the test. This test would be unlike saliva or urine testing which can result in positive tests days after consumption of THC. The Cannabix Breathalyzer would consequently provide a critical measure of "recency" to avoid implicating drivers that are no longer high.

Cannabix is in the final stages of completing its "Beta 2.0" device and expects to have a pilot test ready device for scientific trials for later this fall. The trial testing would be conducted to prove the accuracy and sensitivity of the Cannabix Breathalyzer, and the results would be used to apply for a court accepted device certification by the Minister of Justice in Canada and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Authority in the U.S.

Mr. Kal Malhi, President of Cannabix, stated, "Our generation is in the midst of a monumental shift in the legislation and societal views on marijuana use. Like the economic opportunity that alcohol legalization provided in the last century, impending marijuana legalization is providing an immense economic opportunity for investors in the marijuana sector."

We seek Safe Harbor.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

- Kal Malhi, President, Cannabix Technologies Inc.

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, such as final development of a commercial or prototype product(s), successful trial or pilot of company technologies, no assurance that commercial sales of any kind actually materialize; no assurance the Company will have sufficient funds to complete product development. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) risks regarding protection of proprietary technology; (iii) the ability of the Company to complete financings; (v) the ability of the Company to develop and market its future product; and (vi) risks regarding government regulation, managing and maintaining growth, the effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the Company's public announcements and filings. There is no assurance that the marijuana breathalyzer business will provide any benefit to the Company, and no assurance that any proposed new products will be built or proceed. There is no assurance that existing "patent pending" technologies licensed by the Company will receive patent status by regulatory authorities. The Company is not currently selling commercial breathalyzers. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Cannabix Technologies Inc.

(604) 551-7831

604-676-2767 (FAX)

info@cannabixtechnologies.com

www.cannabixtechnologies.com




Regulatory News:

In reference to point 4 of current report no. 20/2016 "Conclusion by the company Arctic Paper S.A. of material agreements related to the refinancing process", published on 9 September 2016, and in reference to current report no. 24/2016 "Issue of series A bonds by the company Arctic Paper S.A.", published on 30 September 2016, the Management Board of Arctic Paper S.A. (the "Company") informs you that on 3 October 2016 the Company signed the following agreements and statements (the "Security Documents"), pursuant to which the relevant security interests (specified below) shall be established in favour of Bank BGZ BNP Paribas S.A. ("BGZ BNP Paribas") in order to secure the claims of BGZ BNP Paribas under the Intercreditor Agreement (relating to, among other things, the lenders' claims under the Facilities Agreement and the claims of the bondholders who acceded to the Intercreditor Agreement) and other claims referred to in the Security Documents (the "Security Interests"), in connection with, among other things, the term and revolving facilities agreement (the "Facilities Agreement") and the intercreditor agreement (the "Intercreditor Agreement"), both signed on 9 September 2016, both referred to in current report no. 20/2016:

1. governed by Polish law Security Documents establishing the following Security Interests:

(i) financial and registered pledges over all of the shares, registered in Poland, held by the Company and the Guarantors, belonging to companies from the Company's group (except for Rottneros AB, Arctic Paper Mochenwangen GmbH and Arctic Paper Investment GmbH), save for the Company's shares;

(ii) mortgages on all of the real properties located in Poland and belonging to the Company or the Guarantors;

(iii) registered pledges on all Company's and Guarantors' property rights and movable assets constituting organised part of the enterprise located in Poland (excluding assets mentioned in the Facilities Agreement);

(iv) assignment of (existing and future) insurance policies relating to Company's and Guarantors' assets (excluding insurance policies mentioned in the Facilities Agreement);

(v) a statement by the Company and Guarantors on voluntary submission to enforcement in the form of a notarial deed;

(vi) financial and registered pledges over the banks accounts, registered in Poland, of the Company and the Guarantors;

(vii) powers of attorney for the Polish bank accounts of the Company and Guarantors registered in Poland;

(viii) subordination of claims of the intercompany lenders (contained in the Intercreditor Agreement).

2. governed by Swedish law Security Documents establishing the following Security Interests:

(i) pledges over all of the shares, registered in Poland, held by the Company and the Guarantors, belonging to the group companies, save for the Company's shares, as well as pledges over Rottneros' shares (excluding Rottneros' shares free stake);

(ii) property mortgages on all real properties, belonging to the Company and the Guarantors, located in Sweden, on condition that only the existing mortgage deeds will be the subject of such security;

(iii) corporate mortgages granted by Guarantors incorporated in Sweden, provided that such security shall only be granted over existing corporate mortgage certificates;

(iv) assignment of (existing and future) insurance policies relating to Company's and Guarantors' assets (excluding insurance policies mentioned in the Facilities Agreement);

(v) pledges over the Swedish bank accounts of the Company and the Guarantors registered in Sweden, on condition that such security does not restrict the right to freely dispose of the funds deposited in said bank accounts up to the occurrence of an event of default described in the Facilities Agreement.

At the same time, the Company wishes to inform you that in connection with the relevant Security Documents (in particular the pledge agreements and the statements on the establishment of a mortgage), the relevant applications will be filed for the purpose of entering the given Security Interests in the relevant registers (the "Applications"). The other Security Interests (those without additional formal or registration requirements) were established together with the signing of the Security Documents. The conclusion of the Security Documents and the provision of proof of filing the Applications is a condition precedent under the Facilities Agreement.

This information is disclosed pursuant to Art. 17 sec. 1 of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse (market abuse regulation) and repealing Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/ECand was submitted for publication on 4 October 2016 at 2:00 pm CET, in reference to Arctic Paper's current report no. 25/2016 filed with the Warsaw Stock Exchange

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005864/en/

Contacts:

For additional information, please contact:

Per Skoglund, acting President of the Management Board of Arctic Paper,

tel. +46 733 21 70 09


DUBLIN, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Comprehensive Practical Review of the EU Pharmacovigilance Modules" conference to their offering.

The 15 new EU modules concerning Pharmacovigilance are a major departure in terms of the way Pharmacovigilance is conducted in Europe. The intention of the course is to look at these modules and their requirements, examine how they overlap and fit together and what Companies need to do in terms of their legal requirements; training; changes and introduction of SOPs; and the links to other Departments - not just Pharmacovigilance but also including Clinical; Medical Information; Marketing; IT; Quality; Regulatory; Training and GMP.



This course will also examine how the new modules have been revised since 2012



Gain an Invaluable Overview of the New European PV Legislation and How the 15 Modules Link Together

Discover what Key Areas of Pharmacovigilance Activities have been Affected

Understand the Impact of the Legislation and what you will need to do to Implement in your Company

Discuss the Enforcement of the Legislation and what the Regulators will expect to see at Inspection Time

See what NEW Company Departments are Affected Under the New Legislation

Follow the changes that have happened in the modules since 2012

Agenda



Day One



09.30 Quality management - the requirements



10.30 The PSMF



11.30 Refreshments



11.50 Internal audits



13.00 Lunch



14.00 Regulatory Inspections



15.15 Refreshments



15.30 Safety reporting in the EU



16.45 Final discussion and close



Day Two



09.00 Safety reviews & signal detection



10.30 Risk Management Plans



11.00 Refreshments



11.20 Risk benefit analyses



12.30 Lunch



13.30 PSURS/PBRERs in the EU



14.30 Additional monitoring



15.45 Refreshments



16.00 The roles and responsibilities of the MAH



16.30 Close of meeting





For more information about this conference visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/tsjr9n/comprehensive

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
MONACO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Costamare Inc. ("Costamare" or the "Company") (NYSE: CMRE) announced today the following:

(A) New Financing Arrangements

1. In August 2016, we entered into a loan agreement with a leading European financial institution for the financing of the third and fourth 11,000 TEU vessels on order, acquired under our JV with York Capital. The facility is for an amount of up to US $ 87 million which will be repayable over 3 years. The proceeds are expected to finance the remaining yard installments for the two vessels.

2. In August 2016, we finalized the refinancing of two credit facilities secured with the 2006-built vessel Cosco Beijing (9,469 TEUs) and the 2000-built ships Sealand New York and Sealand Washington (6,648 TEUs each). Under the new financing arrangements, balloon installments of US $ 90 million, due in the second and third quarter of 2018, have been extended to be amortized over three years.

3. In September 2016, we finalized the refinancing of our US $ 1 billion facility. Under the new agreement, the balloon payment of approx. US $ 270 million, due in the second quarter of 2018, has been extended to be amortized over three years.

(B) Dividend Adjustment

At its special meeting yesterday, the Company's Board of Directors approved management's recommendation to declare $0.10 cash dividend per each common share, decreased from $0.29 per share distributed in the previous quarter.

The dividend on the common stock of $0.10 per common share will be payable on November 4, 2016 to stockholders of record at the close of trading of the Company's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on October 21, 2016. The Company has 77,457,448 shares of common stock outstanding as of today.

Management Commentary

Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of the Company said:

"Our goal is to strengthen the Company and enhance long term shareholder value. Managing our debt repayment schedule, minimizing our capital commitments and adjusting the dividend are necessary steps in today's market environment.

Since the beginning of the year, we have completed debt financing transactions of over US $ 760 million. Out of that amount, (a) approx. US $ 400 million involve the extension for 3 years of debt maturing in 2017 and 2018, (b) approx. US $ 175 million relate to the financing of our newbuild program, (c) approx. US $ 150 million relate to the refinancing of existing facilities, and (d) approx. US $ 40 million relate to new financings.

We have no debt maturities in 2017, we have reduced our 2018 balloons from approx. US $440 million to approx. US $80 million and we have minimized our capital expenditure requirements.

As long term committed shareholders, members of the founding family, currently controlling an interest of above 65% in the aggregate, have each decided for the second consecutive quarter to reinvest in full, the third quarter cash dividend under our dividend reinvestment plan available to all common stockholders."

About Costamare Inc.

Costamare Inc. is one of the world's leading owners and providers of containerships for charter. The Company has 42 years of history in the international shipping industry and a fleet of 72 containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 467,000 TEU, including 10 newbuild containerships on order. Eighteen of our containerships, including 10 newbuilds on order, have been acquired pursuant to the Framework Agreement with York Capital Management by vessel-owning joint venture entities in which we hold a minority equity interest. The Company's common stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols "CMRE", "CMRE PR B", "CMRE PR C" and "CMRE PR D", respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements". In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "believe", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "project", "forecast", "plan", "potential", "may", "should", "could" and "expect" and similar expressions. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's belief regarding future results, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. It is possible that actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect future results, see the discussion in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F (File No. 001-34934) under the caption "Risk Factors".

Company Contacts:

Gregory Zikos - Chief Financial Officer

Konstantinos Tsakalidis - Business Development



Costamare Inc., Monaco

Tel: +377 93 25 09 40

Email: ir@costamare.com




PORTLAND, Oregon, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Conveyor Systems Market by Type and Industry Vertical - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022,", projects that the global conveyor systems market would reach $7,573 million by 2022. Europe is expected to dominate throughout the forecast period due to boost in the e-commerce retail industry. Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the fastest rate owing to extensive demand from china and India.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )

Summary of the Conveyor Systems Market Report can be accessed on the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/conveyor-systems-market

Material handling equipment such as conveyor systems have experienced an upsurge in demand in recent past. Manufacturing industry players have not only focused on improving quality and production efficiency, but have also made significant investments towards reducing waste and production costs through automation. However, high initial installation costs of such systems could hamper their market growth. The demand for eco-friendly, cost-effective and safe conveyors systems are expected to generate the additional demand for the market growth.

Automation has become an integral part in several industrial operations with the players' focus on high degree of efficient and safe transportation of materials. Moreover, ever rising competition among the industry players to meet the customer demands in time with reduction in operational expenditure has triggered the demand for conveyor systems across the world. For instance, recent boom in e-commerce industry has increased their deployment in warehouse automation, states Deepankar Bose, Manager, Construction & Manufacturing at AMR.

Major types of conveyors systems sought by the customer industries include belt, roller, pallet, overhead, and others including crescent, tri-planer, and floor conveyors. Conveyor system industry has witnessed several transitions from belt and roller conveyors to overhead conveyors with regular innovations in their design. The players have made efforts to make the conveyor more flexible in order to meet the demand of food and beverages and automotive industries. Overhead and pallet conveyors prove to be ideal where space is major restraint in deploying the conveyor systems.

Belt and roller conveyors constituted the majority of the market in 2015 with 3/5th share and are expected to continue to maintain their dominance throughout the forecast period. These conveyors are more economical than others and find usage in a variety of fields. Belt conveyors find application in almost in every field such as food & beverage, retail, automotive, and airport.

Among the major industry verticals, the conveyor systems find widespread usage in airport, retail, food & beverage, and automotive sectors. Retail and food & beverage sectors constituted the significant portion with four-fifths market share in 2015. Growth in shopping through online mode in Asia-Pacific and LAMEA regions has created a conducive market environment. The installation of conveyor systems in airport sector has demonstrated a rapid growth as the airport authorities focus on improving baggage handling experience at international and domestic airports. Thus, airport sector is anticipated to grow at faster CAGR during the forecast period. Government initiatives for hygiene and cleanliness in food and beverage industry are expected to fuel the demand from this sector.

Geographically, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Europe dominates the global conveyor systems market owing to heavy investment by automotive and food & beverage industry players in automation, followed by North America. LAMEA region has exhibited significant growth due to rapid industrialization. Especially, emerging countries such as Brazil has been facilitating the market growth.

Key findings of the study:

Conveyor systems market has witnessed a steady growth globally, due to growing automation trends in manufacturing processes and material handling

Belt conveyor systems find multiple applications as they are easy to install and their capability to convey variety of materials

Retail sector would continue to lead the market on account of growth in warehouse space across the world

Asia-Pacific and LAMEA regions exhibit the fastest growth globally due to growth in food & beverage and retail industries

and LAMEA regions exhibit the fastest growth globally due to growth in food & beverage and retail industries Market players are entering into contract and forming agreements with various customer industry players to improve the market share

Emerging countries such as China , India , Brazil and Mexico have been exhibiting the conducive market environment owing to increased manufacturing activities

Market players profiled in the report include Daifuku Co., Ltd., Dematic Group S.A r.l., Emerson Electric Co., Interroll Holding Ltd., Siemens AG, Swisslog Holding AG, SSI Schafer AG, Taikisha Ltd., Vanderlande Industries, TGW Logistics Group GmbH. Players such as Daifuku Co., Ltd., Dematic Group S.A r.l., Interroll Holding Ltd. and Taikisha Ltd. share the majority of the market. The market players invest heavily on research and development to design and manufacture the systems as per emerging needs of the customers. The players have designed modular conveyors to meet the demand for flexibility of the customers.

Summary of Similar Reports can be viewed athttps://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/construction-&-manufacturing/

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

Dhananjay Potle

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Direct: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)

Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975

E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com



Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com
Keyfile Support for Linux to Encrypt Files in Jetico's TrueCrypt Alternative

Jetico, leading developer of data protection software, has announced the immediate availability of BestCrypt Container Encryption for Linux 3.0. Jetico's TrueCrypt alternative boasts user-friendly Linux file encryption options, flexible compatibility with Windows, Mac OS and Android (Beta), keyfile support and a slick new look.

Security expert Bruce Schneier claims "If using a proprietary operating system does not fit your threat model, surely Linux is a safer choice. And so I applaud BestCrypt for continually developing Linux file encryption."

For improved usability, version 3.0 offers one-click installation and access to binary packages for popular Linux distributions. "Linux users looking for the ultimate privacy in data protection, will now be happy to install BestCrypt and create new containers in a few simple steps," says Jetico CEO, Michael Waksman. "We've also given the graphics a makeover and made it more intuitive."

While every current BestCrypt user on Linux will appreciate the improved security, plus the simplified installation and creation processes, former TrueCrypt users will find even more features to celebrate in this 3.0 release. BestCrypt Container Encryption for Linux to encrypt file and folder selections adds another layer of authentication on top of standard password protection by supporting keyfiles a much beloved and missed feature of now-defunct freeware.

"While some users prefer freeware offering encryption on Linux, it is not as reliable or accountable as a commercially supported tool, like Jetico's BestCrypt," explains Jetico CEO, Michael Waksman.

As a commercially maintained solution for encrypting files and folders on Linux, BestCrypt offers regular updates and professional technical support. To address any doubts about the trustworthiness of their solutions, Jetico publicly guarantees no backdoors or related vulnerabilities. Back in 2013 Jetico published source codes to support their claim. Review the source code.

To summarize the value of BestCrypt Container Encryption, Mr. Waksman concludes, "Unlike competitors that might neglect Linux users, we proudly care for their security needs with file encryption protecting from virtual threats. While drive or disk encryption safeguards from physical threats, like lost or stolen devices, it fails to protect online storage or computers connected to the Internet. Jetico's BestCrypt ensures that encrypted files stored in the cloud can be accessed on Linux."

About Jetico

Jetico provides pure and simple data protection software for National Security, Compliance and Personal Privacy. Trusted for over 10 years by the U.S. Department of Defense, Jetico's BCWipe can wipe selected files beyond forensic recovery such as in response to classified data spills, while BCWipe Total WipeOut can erase hard drive data entirely such as for disposal or decommission. To protect stored data, Jetico's BestCrypt delivers compliant data encryption software for whole disks, virtual drives and selected files or folders. Jetico Enterprise Editions include central management for client software control.

Jetico products are trusted by government and military agencies, all of the top 10 U.S. defense contractors, many national laboratories, as well as various other enterprises and a wide global base of home and small business users in over 100 countries. Founded in 1995, Jetico is privately held and headquartered in the Otaniemi Science Park in Helsinki, Finland. For more information, please visit jetico.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005823/en/

Contacts:

Jetico

Valeria Corti

Marketing Manager

valeria.corti@jetico.com

Phone (U.S.): 1 202 742 2901

Phone: +358 92 517 3030
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. ("Tetra" or the "Company") (CSE: TBP)(CSE: TBP.CN), through its subsidiary, PhytoPain Pharma Inc. ("PPP"), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic cannabis-based products for the treatment of pain and other medical conditions announces that it received a PRE-IND Acknowledgement and Meeting Request Granted letter from the US FDA.

According to Dr. G. Chamberland, Chief Scientific Officer, PPP submitted a request for a Type B pre-IND meeting with the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its PPP001 dried cannabis drug product. The meeting will be held in late January 2017 with the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products (DAAAP), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

Dr. Chamberland further commented that the Company intends on submitting a Clinical Trial Application later this year and, if authorized by Health Canada, would initiate its Phase I trial in humans later this year. He added, "The timing of the meeting with the FDA is perfect as it will allow the corporation time to adjust its clinical development program if the Orphan Drug Indications are granted. The first clinical trial of PPP001 will be performed in healthy volunteers and provide the Company with a good understanding of the pharmacokinetics and safety of the drug product. This will then allow the Company to subsequently proceed to perform clinical studies in patient populations based on an acceptable benefit-to-risk ratio for human subjects".

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed this news release and does not accept responsibility for its adequacy or accuracy.

Forward-looking statements

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, GrowPros MMP Inc., to obtain a licence for the production of medical marijuana; failure to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

Dr. Guy Chamberland

Chief Scientific Officer

514-220-9225



Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

Andre Audet

Executive Chairman

613-421-8402



Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

Ryan Brown

President, Grow Pros MMP

613-421-8402




EMMEN, SWITZERLAND -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- ALSO expands its cloud services portfolio with The Connected Cloud, a cloud delivery platform built by Ormuco in collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) technology, which allows managed cloud deployments on and off premise. The new offering will enable customers to consume local IaaS, PaaS and SaaS services while addressing security and data sovereignty requirements. The solution is managed through a state-of-the-art portal to ensure optimal customer experience. ALSO is the first B2B marketplace to offer HPE and Ormuco OpenStack services in Europe. The offering has been tailored for ALSO by Ormuco.

"The Private and Hybrid Cloud ecosystems are growing fast, bringing great opportunities to our customers. Our goal is to ensure our services portfolio empowers our customers to address their verticals with easy to use, scalable services and an accelerated time to market. With the Ormuco offering we continue our commitment to support our customers by bringing great value-add to their customers. At the same time, we are delighted to join and contribute to the development of Cloud28+ to accelerate the digitization roadmap of our customers through a wide catalogue of Cloud services," said Prof. Dr. Gustavo Moller-Hergt, CEO of ALSO Holding AG (SIX: ALSN).

With the HPE and Ormuco OpenStack services, ALSO customers can configure Private or Hybrid Cloud platforms for their clients with a pay-per-use or a term commitment model. The solution will be delivered from Tier 3 TUV Certified datacenters operated in Europe and will enable customers to seamlessly migrate and transition between cloud environments with the flexibility required for streamlined IT operations.

The service enables the creation and delivery of a wide variety of different vertical solutions. The platform is fully managed and updated by Ormuco, engineered around APIs and end-to-end automation, ensuring scalability, efficiency and cost optimization. All the services proposed by ALSO will be included in the Cloud28+ Service Hub.

"We see a great opportunity in our partnership with ALSO to expand our offering through their reach. With our multi-Cloud technology, customers across Europe can consume services with the same SLA, security and performance, using a feature-rich and intuitive web-based interface. The solution will allow businesses to regain control of their IT resources, transition to an IT-as-a-service model and focus on their core competencies. With ALSO joining the Cloud28+ community with us, we will have another strong partner to accelerate the adoption of cloud services in Europe," said Orlando Bayter, CEO, Ormuco.

Through Cloud28+, customers and partners can easily find trusted, enterprise-grade services and then connect directly with a local Service Provider for deployment or install the apps on-premises. Cloud28+ enables customers to choose the right mix of private cloud, public cloud, and professional services for their business to help them transition to a hybrid IT environment, while complying with local regulations.

The HPE and Ormuco solution will be available in the ALSO Cloud Marketplace by the end of 2016. For further information and access to the ALSO Cloud Marketplace, please visit: www.also.cloud.

ALSO Holding AG (Emmen/Switzerland) brings providers and buyers of the ICT industry together. The company offers services at all levels of the ICT value chain from a single source. In the European B2B marketplace, ALSO bundles logistics services, financial services, supply services, solution services, digital services, and IT services together into individual service packages. ALSO's portfolio contains more than 160 000 articles from some 350 vendors. The Group has around

3 750 employees throughout Europe. In fiscal year 2015 (closing on December 31), the company generated net sales of

7.8 billion euros. The majority shareholder of ALSO Holding AG is the Droege Group, Dusseldorf, Germany. Further information is available at www.also.com.

Droege Group (Major shareholder)

Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent consultancy and investment company under full family ownership. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made restructuring programs with the aim of enhancing corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity model. The group carries out direct investments in corporate subsidiaries and medium-sized companies in "special situations" with the use of equity. The motto of "The Art of Implementation" has made the group into a pioneer among hands-on implementation-oriented consultancies. Droege Group demonstrates its implementation excellence daily within its own portfolio. The seven corporate platforms which exist at present are aligned to the current megatrends (mobility, prevention, digitalization, demography, etc.). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines our actions. In this way Droege Group has successfully gained a position in the domestic and international markets and operates with over 120 companies in 30 countries. In 2015 the sales volume of Droege Group was 9.2 billion euros.

More information: http://www.droege-group.com.

Ormuco

Founded in 2008 and with ongoing projects in 5 continents, Ormuco is a leading cloud technology provider with a focus on innovative solutions. Its main offering, The Connected Cloud, is a hybrid, public and private cloud services platform based on open source technology with a robust catalogue of services for organizations, service providers and ISVs. Built with the end-user in mind, Ormuco's platform is available through a global partner ecosystem to facilitate both local data requirements as well as global, multinational companies.

More information: www.ormuco.com.

Cloud28+

Cloud28+ is a federated community of service providers, resellers, ISVs, developers, government entities and end users dedicated to accelerating enterprise cloud adoption across Europe. It offers an online, aggregated catalogue of cloud services, matching detailed workload requirements with trusted cloud services at different prices. Cloud28+ currently features over 1,000 Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service offerings.

The Cloud28+ service catalogue is available at http://www.cloud28plus.eu/.

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the ALSO management. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements made here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation, and performance of our Group. The Group accepts no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments.

Contacts:

Brunswick Group GmbH

Simon Hertwig

+49 89 80 99 02 525

shertwig@brunswickgroup.com




SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- CFN Media Group, the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, recently published an article focused on Cannabix Technologies' (OTC PINK: BLOZF) development of a cannabis breathalyzer as both Canada and the United States look to advance the legalization of marijuana.

Later this fall, voters in California, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts will decide whether marijuana should be legalized for recreational use. The Canadian Liberal government also recently announced plans to introduce legislation legalizing marijuana in the spring of 2017. The Canadian government has set up a Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, chaired by the Honourable Anne McLellan and spearheaded by Mr. Bill Blair, MP, current Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, to consult with experts across the country to learn how to best legalize and regulate marijuana.

With the pending legalization of marijuana, law enforcement agencies across North America and the world are grappling with the issue of marijuana impaired driving. Law enforcement has done a commendable job in enforcing alcohol impaired driving in North America and society has also come to frown on alcohol impaired driving. Alcohol impaired driving is enforced with sophisticated breathalyzers that collect evidence of impairment and criminal charges have a high likelihood of resulting in conviction.

Unlike alcohol impaired driving, society is still unsure of how to address marijuana impaired driving and many jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies are trying to determine how best to administer the issue of "drugged driving."

In addition to marijuana impaired driving, employers are also concerned with employees that may be impaired by marijuana. These workplace issues could be particularly concerning when heavy machinery is involved and safety is paramount.

Cannabix Technologies Inc. is developing a point of care device that would be similar to alcohol breathalyzers and would be used at the roadside to collect evidence of marijuana impairment. This tool would also be useful in testing employees for on the job sobriety.

Cannabix Technologies' breathalyzer would determine whether someone has consumed THC within the two hours preceding the test. This test would be unlike saliva or urine testing which can result in positive tests days after consumption of THC. The Cannabix Breathalyzer would consequently provide a critical measure of "recency" to avoid implicating drivers that are no longer high.

Click here to read the full article on CannabisFN.com: http://www.cannabisfn.com/cannabix-technologies-is-well-positioned-to-capitalize-on-anticipated-marijuana-legalization-in-canada-and-united-states-as-cannabis-stocks-move-higher/

Learn how to become a CFN Media featured company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/

Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from your smart phone:

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Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

About CFN Media

CFN Media (CannabisFN) is the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis. We help marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the U.S. and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed.

CFN Media

Frank Lane

206-369-7050

flane@cannabisfn.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Revelo Resources Corp. ("Revelo" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: RVL) is pleased to announce that its joint venture partner, Minera Newmont Chile Ltda. ("Newmont"), a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM), has initiated a drilling campaign at the Montezuma copper-gold project in northern Chile (the "Project"). Newmont plans to drill test between four to five targets over the remainder of 2016 with approximately 10,000 metres of combined diamond core and reverse circulation drilling.

Tim Beale, President and CEO of Revelo, commented; "This is an exciting time as we finally get to see a significant drilling programme underway on a number of very interesting targets at Montezuma, all of which have characteristics of porphyry copper type deposits. This Project area is situated in such a prospective part of one of the world's most productive porphyry copper belts, with the giant Chuquicamata copper district located a short distance to the north. Apart from the targets to be tested with this drill programme, a number of other potential targets have been delineated, some of which require further surface exploration, and consequently provide a significant pipeline of targets that could potentially be tested in the future. We look forward with anticipation to the results provided by this drilling campaign."

ABOUT MONTEZUMA

The Project comprises approximately 45,000 Ha of 100% owned tenements, together with an option over an additional 285 Ha. It is located along the main porphyry copper belt in northern Chile, commonly known as the Domeyko Cordillera, directly along the main West Fissure Fault System that controls several world-class copper deposits in the area, midway between the giant Chuquicamata (Codelco) and Centinela (Antofagasta Minerals) copper mining districts. The Project is centred approximately 20 km south of the important mining town of Calama. Access to the Project is excellent via a good quality dirt road leading off from paved roads around Calama, and altitudes vary from approximately 2,600 m to around 3,100 m.

The Project is currently owned 51% by Newmont and 49% by Revelo. Newmont has elected to pursue a further 14% (to 65%), and has an option to earn up to 75% of the Project, according to the Venture Agreement ("Agreement") (see news releases dated January 20, 2014, February 23, 2015, and May 17, 2016). To date Newmont has spent a total of approximately US$ 6.1 million at Montezuma since the Venture Agreement was signed in January 2014.

The joint venture partners are exploring the Montezuma Project for porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposits and related mineralization utilizing historical datasets together with programs of detailed geological mapping and proprietary geophysical and geochemical technologies. Geological mapping has been integrated with downhole data from an extensive re-logging program of over 30,000 m of historic drilling and over 5,000 surface geochemical samples, which have generated three-dimensional geological models of the drill hole geology, hydrothermal alteration and assay data. This work has defined a significant number of potential targets of interest for copper, gold and molybdenum, all of which have been ranked with the highest priority targets selected for the current drilling campaign.

For further details, including maps, of the Montezuma Project and the Agreement please refer to the Montezuma Project page on Revelo's website (http://www.reveloresources.com/projects/montezuma).

ABOUT REVELO

Revelo is a Prospect Generator that has consolidated an outstanding portfolio of 22 projects prospective for copper, gold and silver located along proven mineral belts in one of the world's top mining jurisdictions - Chile. Several targets are ready for drill testing within the portfolio, and two projects are subject to option and joint venture agreements with subsidiaries of Newmont (Montezuma Project) and Austral Gold (San Guillermo Project). As part of its portfolio, Revelo retains a 2% royalty interest (currently non-producing) in the Victoria Project, an important copper-gold-silver exploration project, and it is developing a nascent royalty portfolio. Revelo's total exposure to mineral tenements in northern Chile is around 300,000 hectares, of which about 100,000 hectares (3 projects) are subject to 3rd party exploration expenditures.

Revelo has a goal of building a sustainable exploration business focused on securing prospective land along the prolific mineral belts of northern Chile, and by implementing effective exploration and capital management strategies to grow, advance and de-risk its portfolio to provide shareholders with multiple opportunities for exploration success. Revelo is actively looking for partners to advance the projects within its portfolio.

Revelo is a Canadian company and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: RVL). For more information, please visit Revelo's website at www.reveloresources.com.

Dr. Demetrius Pohl, PhD., Certified Professional Geoscientist (CPG), an independent consultant, is the Company's Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosures for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators, and has approved the written disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Timothy J. Beale, President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Revelo expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Revelo believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

INVESTOR CONTACT

Chiara Orrigoni

Investor Relations Manager

+1 604 687-5544

info@reveloresources.com

www.reveloresources.com




CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - October 04, 2016) - Encana Corporation ("Encana") (TSX: ECA) (NYSE: ECA) announced today that, in connection with its completed public offering of 107,000,000 common shares ("Shares") of Encana at a price of US$9.35 per Share (the "Offering Price"), the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters to purchase up to an additional 16,050,000 additional Shares (the "Over-Allotment Option") at the Offering Price was exercised in full for additional gross proceeds to Encana of approximately US$150 million. The sale of the additional Shares today pursuant to the Over-Allotment Option brings the aggregate gross proceeds to Encana from the offering, including the Over-Allotment Option (collectively, the "Offering"), to approximately US$1.15 billion.

The Offering was made through a syndicate of underwriters, led by Credit Suisse Securities (Canada), Inc. and J.P. Morgan.

Encana Corporation

Encana is a leading North American energy producer that is focused on developing its strong portfolio of resource plays, held directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries, producing natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs). By partnering with employees, community organizations and other businesses, Encana contributes to the strength and sustainability of the communities where it operates. Encana common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ECA.

SOURCE: Encana Corporation

Further information on Encana Corporation is available by contacting:



Investor contact:

Brendan McCracken

Vice-President, Investor Relations

(403) 645-2978



Media contact:

Simon Scott

Vice-President, Communications

(403) 645-2526
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- DIOS EXPLORATION (TSX VENTURE: DOS) is pleased to report gold was discovered for the first time on CLARKIE project and this, in outcropping sedimentary rocks, of same type and age hosting Eleonore gold mine, also both in La Grande slightly metamorphosed rocks, James Bay, Quebec, along Opinaca contact. Three (3) rock samples returned anomalous gold over 1 gram per tonne gold (including 1.66; 1.28 & 1.22 g/t gold). They all consist of silicified wackes with 1-2% disseminated pyrite and are clustered within 80 meters from each other. One is a 15 m x 5 m outcrop and two others are several meter large sub-outcropping/angular boulders within a 25 x 25 m boulder field. A gold-in-till train (13 samples over 0.10 g/t gold, up to 1.16 g/t gold) points towards the northern extent of this new gold occurrence.

Results of first ever seven-days reconnaissance program on CLARKIE following up proprietary data from a gold glacial dispersal train are significantly positive.

Main objective was to investigate Natel volcanic contact with Clarkie sediments (stratigraphic equivalent of those hosting world-class Goldcorp Eleonore gold mine), and adjacent diorite intrusions and porous conglomerates and tuffs.

On DIOS wholly-owned CLARKIE (no royalties), the Clarkie sedimentary Basin is dominated by folded wacke/ conglomerates with minor mafic volcanics and silicate iron formations. Dominant lithic wackes are locally silicified with traces to 3% disseminated pyrite/pyrrhotite particularly near contacts with mafic units and iron formations. Silicate iron formations (rusty orange gossans over a 2 km strike length) vary from one to forty meters thick. A (100-300 m thick) lapilli (block) felsic/intermediate volcaniclastic unit topped that mixed sequence. From 160 visited outcrops up to now on CLARKIE (114 claims for 70 sq. km), 88 samples were collected and assayed at ALS Global laboratory, Val d'Or, for gold (Au-AA23), incl. six blanks for quality control, supervised by Harold Desbiens, VP, M.Sc. Geo 43-101 QP.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

DIOS Exploration Inc.

Marie-Jose Girard

President & CEO

(514) 923-9123

mjgirard@diosexplo.com

www.diosexplo.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - St. Jude Medical, Inc. (STJ), announced the U.S. approval of BurstDR stimulation, a physician-designed form of spinal cord stimulation or SCS clinically proven to provide superior outcomes for patients with chronic pain over traditional SCS therapy. With the FDA approval of BurstDR stimulation, which is exclusive to St. Jude Medical, the company aims to help patients find relief from their pain and suffering while also providing patients a better experience with their chronic pain therapy. Chronic pain, which affects about 1.5 billion people worldwide, is a complex and challenging condition for physicians to manage and a heavy burden for patients who find their lives profoundly limited by their pain. Many patients often move from treatment option to treatment option seeking pain relief, only to find a partial or incomplete response to therapy. According to St. Jude Medical, its proprietary BurstDR stimulation works differently from other stimulation designs by utilizing intermittent 'burst' pulses designed to mimic the body's natural nerve impulse patterns. The stimulation was introduced after nearly a decade of research and study in collaboration with Prof. Dirk De Ridder, who filed the therapy's initial patents in 2004. St. Jude noted that with FDA approval of BurstDR stimulation, patients who receive new implants of the St. Jude Medical Proclaim Elite and Prodigy MRI spinal cord stimulation systems will have immediate access to the new therapy. Combined, the Proclaim Elite SCS System and BurstDR stimulation offers patients the advantages of the St. Jude Medical Invisible Therapy portfolio and an entirely recharge free option, allowing patients to focus on their lives instead of their pain. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- International Frontier Resources Corporation ("IFR" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: IFR) announces that its Board of Directors has approved a new management structure, which takes effect immediately. President Steve Hanson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Pat Boswell, previously CEO and Chairman of the Board, has transitioned to Chairman Emeritus. In his new role, Mr. Boswell will continue to advise the Company on its strategic plans and work towards their successful implementation. Andy Fisher, formerly Manager Mexico, is the Company's new Chief Operating Officer (COO).

"I am pleased that Steve Hanson has agreed to become our new Chief Executive Officer," stated Pat Boswell. "When he joined IFR as President, Steve was tasked with getting the Company involved in a new project area. As a result of his efforts and our group's incredible teamwork, IFR is now positioned to become a major player in Mexico's unprecedented energy reform. I look forward to my advisory focus and continued role as a Director in what will be a transformational year for IFR."

"As the founder of IFR, Pat has been instrumental in setting up the Company for its current success. The Board and management team would like to thank Pat for his leadership, his past contributions and commitment to IFR," said Gary Lyons, Director of IFR. "Our Board is committed to continuing its mission to be a leader in the Mexican oil and gas industry. These management changes are a critical part of our succession plan and we believe they both broaden and strengthen our team."

Andy Fisher, IFR's new COO, has over 25 years of successful and varied experience in the oil and gas industry. His background includes extensive experience in acquisition and divestitures, corporate finance, strategic and operational planning, due diligence, supervision of day-to-day activities, office management, leading teams, joint venture management, contracts and negotiations.

As founder and Executive VP of Arcan Resources Ltd, Mr. Fisher grew the company from zero barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day and no assets to approximately 4,000 BOE/day with a large future drilling inventory. In a June 2015 transaction valued at approximately CAD$300-million, Arcan was sold to Aspenleaf Energy Ltd. The transaction was backed by ARC Financial Corp, a Canadian energy-focused private equity manager, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Mr. Fisher was also VP of International Contracts and Negotiation for Pacalta Resources Ltd. As the company's third employee, he helped grow Pacalta from a junior exploration and production company producing approximately 100 BOE/day to a company with approximately 45,000 BOE/day of production in Equador. Pacalta was sold to Alberta Energy Company (predecessor to EnCana) in 1999 in a transaction valued at approximately CAD$1-billion.

About International Frontier Resources

International Frontier Resources Corporation (IFR) is a Canadian publicly traded company with a demonstrated track record of advancing oil and gas projects. Through its Mexican subsidiary, Petro Frontera S.A.P.I de CV (Frontera) and strategic joint venture Tonalli Energia, it is advancing the development of petroleum and natural gas assets in Mexico. The Company also has projects in Canada and the United States, including the Northwest Territories, Alberta and Montana.

The Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture, trading under the symbol IFR. For additional information please visit www.internationalfrontier.com.

"Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility or accuracy of this release". The Company seeks Safe Harbor.

Contacts:

Steve Hanson

President

(403) 618-7346

shanson@internationalfrontier.com



Tony Kinnon

VP Corporate Development

(403) 607-6591

tkinnon@internationalfrontier.com




EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Editor's Note: There are two images associated with this release.

Today, and effective immediately, WAM Development Group (WAM) has unveiled a new company name, logo and website. The new name, ONE Properties (ONE), better reflects the unity and alignment between the organization, its tenants, partners, suppliers and employees. This new brand identity represents ONE's North American expertise and multi-faceted areas of commercial and residential real estate experience.

ONE Properties is a North American real estate company headquartered in Edmonton with additional offices in Calgary and Toronto. Its portfolio consists of projects located in progressive markets and spans five major asset classes: retail, industrial, office, residential and mixed-use. ONE's properties are located across Canada and in the United States, with each of these assets now being managed under the new company name.

"The name ONE came from the desire to better reflect our unified approach to projects and how we work together with our clients and partners," said Darren Durstling, President & CEO, ONE Properties. "We believe that what we do matters, and we are driven by our core principles of integrity, collaboration and alignment. Our clients and partners expect only the very best from us and we work day after day to exceed those expectations and ensure we are all working together as a cohesive group."

ONE's previous name, WAM Development Group, stood for Western Asset Management. As the company's focus has shifted beyond western Canada and into greater North America, the company needed to shift its brand to reflect this expansion. Reflective of the new brand, the company has one set of objectives and one set of goals both internally and with external stakeholders.

ONE prides itself as being more than just a real estate development and management company. A core value of ONE is to enrich the communities they work in and ensure that all their developments are built in a sustainable and responsible manner. It has an established reputation for developing quality buildings that are built to the highest standards while integrating the latest innovative features, construction techniques and materials that businesses and residents demand in today's market.

"ONE is privileged to play a central role in developing, owning and managing properties that enable businesses, empower individuals and define communities," added Durstling. "We want to ensure that through our work, we are an essential part of developing great places for everyone to work, live and play."

To learn more about ONE, please visit its new website at www.oneproperties.com

About ONE Properties

ONE Properties (ONE) is a dynamic real estate company inspired to make life better through the values of integrity, collaboration and alignment with all our stakeholders including tenants, investors, partners and the communities we serve. ONE is focused on creating value through the strategic acquisition, development and management of retail, office, industrial, residential and mixed-use properties in progressive markets. For more information about ONE, please visit www.oneproperties.com

To view the images associated with this release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20161003-1071415a_800.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20161003-1071415b_800.jpg

Contacts:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Shauna MacDonald

(403) 585-4570

smacdonald@brooklinepr.com




SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- CFN Media Group ("CannabisFN"), the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis, today published an article and exclusive executive interview focused on the developments of Medicine Man Technologies (OTCQB: MDCL).

The cannabis industry in the United States is expected to reach $50 billion by 2020, according to a new report from Cowen & Co., which represents more than eight times its current size. Given the high level of legal uncertainty and relative newness, the industry remains highly fragmented with a large number of small companies and few large companies. These dynamics have left the door open for innovators to build future billion dollar companies.

CFN Media takes a look at Medicine Man Technologies, a company that has already built a name for itself in cannabis consulting and plans to become the leading brand warehouse.

Andy Williams and his brother Pete Williams started Medicine Man in December of 2009 to become the Costco Wholesale Corp. of marijuana. Six years later, the iconic Colorado dispensary became a $17 million per year juggernaut and the founders decided to branch out by partnering with Brett Roper (co-founder and COO of MDCL) to provide cannabis consulting and branding services to cultivators, dispensaries, and other cannabis companies throughout the U.S.

Medicine Man Technologies Inc. began in April 2014 as a consulting practice designed to help aspiring cannabis companies build their businesses. By leveraging their experience running a Tier III cultivator and dispensary in Colorado, the company has already helped clients across many states (Medicine Man Technologies currently has 19 active clients in 11 states including Puerto Rico) develop similar operations, as well as other companies obtain licenses in states where the drug has been legalized.

These consulting agreements not only provided the company with early revenue, but also positioned them as a market leader and created a valuable database of contacts for the next phase of its business -- to become a 'brand warehouse' for the cannabis industry. With all of the pieces in place, the company is now looking to expand into this new vertical and diversify away from purely consulting to deliver significant value to shareholders.

Click here to read the full article and watch the interview with co-founder Brett Roper: http://www.cannabisfn.com/medicine-man-mdcl-building-a-leading-cannabis-brand-warehouse/

Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/

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Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

About CFN Media

CFN Media (CannabisFN), the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis, helps marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed.

CFN launched in June of 2013 to initially serve the growing universe of publicly traded marijuana companies across North America. Today, CFN Media is also the digital media choice for the emerging brands in the space.

About Medicine Man Technologies Inc.

Medicine Man Technologies is an innovative provider of consulting services related to cultivation, production, and dispensary operations nationally. Currently serving 19 clients in 11 states, including Puerto Rico, as well as having successfully supported license applications (cultivation and dispensary) in Illinois, Colorado, and Nevada, we are now working with clients in California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania to support applications in their respective states. Further information about MMT can be found in our S1 and 10Q/K filings.

For more information, visit the company's website at www.medicinemantechnologies.com

CFN Media

Frank Lane

206-369-7050

flane@cannabisfn.com




MONACO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Dynagas LNG Partners LP (the "Partnership") (NYSE: DLNG), an owner and operator of LNG carriers, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash distribution with respect to the quarter ended September 30, 2016 of $0.4225 per unit. The cash distribution is payable on or about October 18, 2016 to all unit holders of record as of October 11, 2016.

About Dynagas LNG Partners LP

Dynagas LNG Partners LP. (NYSE: DLNG) is a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by Dynagas Holding Ltd., its sponsor, to own and operate liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers employed on multi-year charters. The current fleet of Dynagas Partners consists of six LNG carriers, with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 913,980 cubic meters.

Visit the Partnership's website at www.dynagaspartners.com

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions. Although the Partnership believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Partnership's control, the Partnership cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. In addition, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these risks, uncertainties, and other important factors. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and the Partnership disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Contact Information:

Dynagas LNG Partners LP

23, Rue Basse, 98000 Monaco

Attention: Michael Gregos

Tel. +37799996445

Email: management@dynagaspartners.com



Investor Relations/ Financial Media:

Nicolas Bornozis

President Capital Link, Inc.

230 Park Avenue, Suite 1536

New York, NY 10169

Tel. (212) 661-7566

E-mail: dynagas@capitallink.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein said she will host a rally and press conference outside Trump Tower on Monday, at 10:00AM ET, vowing to fight tooth and nail to verify the accuracy, security, and fairness of the vote in three swing states that Donald Trump won. Green Party's presidential candidate has demanded a recount in three battleground states where Donald Trump won - Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The Jill Stein Campaign said Donald's Trump's margin in Pennsylvania has dropped significantly, and alleged that his team is desperately rushing to block recounts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Campaign said that on Monday, it will file for emergency relief in federal court demanding a statewide recount in Pennsylvania on constitutional grounds. The campaign is seeking federal court intervention as 'unconscionable barriers mount to verifying the vote in Pennsylvania.' Dr. Stein said that outside Trump Tower, she will be joined by grassroots supporters who have fueled her unprecedented multi-state recount campaign, which raised $7 million from nearly 150,000 individual donors. Stein and supporters will call on Trump and his allies to stop putting party politics above country, and verify the vote through common-sense procedures demanded by voters. 'We won't stand down as Donald Trump and his allies seek to frivolously obstruct the legal processes set up to ensure we have a voting system we can trust and that all votes have been counted,' said Stein. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Republican party has lodged a complaint in the court seeking a formal review of Hillary Clinton's attorney Cheryl Mills in connection with her representation of the former Secretary of State in the recent F.B.I. investigation into possible criminal mishandling of classified information.



In an official attorney complaint submitted to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals' Office of Disciplinary Counsel Monday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) requested that the office take disciplinary measures against Mills.



Mills, who has been serving as Clinton's attorney in connection to the email investigation, was present during the latter's interview by F.B.I. agents in July 2016.



In the complaint, Raj Shah, RNC Research Director & Deputy Communications Director, points out that the District of Columbia's Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit a lawyer from accepting employment in connection with a matter the lawyer 'participated personally and substantially as a public officer or employee.'



During the time Clinton allegedly mishandled classified information, Mills was serving as Secretary Clinton's chief of staff and counselor at the State Department.



Mills was granted partial immunity for cooperation with federal agents in the investigation.



Shah also said that F.B.I.'s grant of immunity to Mills highlights the apparent conflict of interest in her representation of Secretary Clinton.



He says in the complaint that Mills apparently used her role as Clinton's attorney to shield herself from prosecution in the event any classified information was discovered on her laptop. According to FBI Director James Comey, classified material was discovered on Mills' laptop.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 --Global Equity International, Inc. (OTCQB: GEQU) and its fully owned subsidiaries, Global Equity Partners Plc. and GEP Equity Holdings Limited, (GEP - www.gepartnersplc.com) a global business consultancy firm with offices in Dubai and the United Kingdom that consults to a diverse number of companies around the world, are extremely pleased to announce that GEP Equity Holdings Limited and Billbarter Hungaria Zrt. (the Billbarter Group - www.billbartergroup.com) have formally entered into a Joint Venture agreement with a Lebanon based company called CMP SARL (CPM - www.cpmsarl.com/).

Enzo Taddei, CFO of Global Equity International Inc., said: "On September 13, 2016, we entered into a joint venture agreement with the Billbarter Group. At the time we knew that this was a step in the right direction for our Company and, lo and behold, today we have the pleasure of announcing yet another massive step forward. Our newly formed joint venture with CPM will allow us, the Billbarter Group and GEP, to streamline capital funding projects that require a minimum of 200 million dollars and that are primarily asset and cash backed. This may not be a 'Giant step for mankind!' but it is definitely a giant step in the right direction for all parties involved. Onwards and upwards!"

Thomas Stonewell, International Relations Director of Billbarter Hungaria Zrt. said: "I am very glad that the Billbarter Group and GEP have entered into this new joint venture with CPM SARL. The Billbarter Group has been successfully sourcing capital funding for its international clientele for some years now but with our new partner, CPM, we now have exponentially expanded our ability to fund much larger projects in a much shorter timeframe. Currently, the GEP, Billbarter & CPM joint venture is processing US$1.25 billion worth of funding deals including the US$301.5 million property development project for Majestic Wealth Ltd. that GEQU publically announced on September 8th of this year. In our joint collaboration, CPM will be the lender and source of capital funding, and the Billbarter Group and GEP will assist their common clients with all facets of the agreed mandate, including carrying out extensive due diligence at the highest professional standards, to ensure that all funding transactions run as smoothly as possible. We at Billbarter firmly believe the GEP, Billbarter & CPM unity is a huge opportunity for our respective companies and also our clients. We have diligently managed to surround ourselves with very strong and experienced partners not just on the field of project financing but also in the field of project management."

Bill Alhussayni, CEO of CPM SARL said: "Our Company has been a project funder, service provider and facilitator for more than 15 years. Our team has an extensive track record and experience in business and property finance. CPM provides a wide range of traditional and "just-in-time" business finance solutions, offered after carefully evaluating potential clients' needs and requirements. Our Company's forte is funding commercial property and real estate projects, in particular, in the UK and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We are extremely happy to have negotiated and signed a joint venture agreement with GEP and the Billbarter Group as there is a lot of synergy between our companies, hence we firmly believe that we can complete many multi-million dollar deals together in the very near future."

About Global Equity International Inc. and subsidiaries

Global Equity International Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Global Equity Partners Plc. and GEP Equity Holdings Ltd., advises worldwide business leaders with their most critical decisions and opportunities pertaining to growth, capital needs, structure and the development of a global presence. With offices in Dubai and London, Global Equity has developed significant relationships in the US, UK, Central Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia to assist clients in realizing their full value and potential by bringing them to external capital and resources that place an emphasis on collaborative thinking. Furthermore, because Global Equity has offices in key financial centers of the world, they are able to introduce their clients to a unique opportunity of listing their shares on any one of the many Public Stock Exchanges worldwide.

About Billbarter Hungaria Zrt. (Billbarter Group)

The Billbarter Group currently consults with over 25,000 companies around the globe and has circa Eight Billion Euros of projects under management and in their portfolio. The Billbarter Group offers a wide range of services, such as commercial mortgages, factoring, asset finance, corporate finance, property development finance, management buy-outs, refinancing and business acquisition funding but specializes in assisting with funding property related and assets backed transactions offering clients more than a decade of experience in international property intermediation. The Company has a seasoned management team and has a presence in 13 countries in Europe, 2 in the Americas and a further 7 in Asia and Australia.

About CPM SARL

CPM SARL is a Company that has over 15 years of history. The Company provides services that consist of seven distinct divisions varying from General Contracting, Project Management, Design and Supervision, Project Funding and Finance, Procurement, Waste to Energy and Real Estate Development. CPM has recently closed and completed financing projects such as $780 million for a gold mine in South America, $165 million for a water distribution and collection development business in Lebanon, $5 Billion of funding for an oil refinery in Asia and $415 million for a water and sewer redevelopment in the USA.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to anticipated revenues, expenses, earnings, operating cash flows, the outlook for markets and the demand for products. Forward-looking statements are no guarantees of future performance and are inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon, among other things, assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management, including management's own knowledge and assessment of the Company's industry and competition. The Company refers interested persons to its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other SEC filings for a description of additional uncertainties and factors, which may affect forward-looking statements. The company assumes no duty to update its forward-looking statements.

Mr. Enzo Taddei

CFO

Global Equity International Inc.

Tel. (USA): + (1) 321 200 0142

Email: enzo@gepartnersplc.com

Web: www.gepartnersplc.com



Mr. Thomas Stonewell

International Relations Director

Billbarter Hungaria Zrt.

Tel. (Hungary): + (36) 96 550 240

Tel. (UK): + (44) 207 193 8128

E-mail: thomas.stonewell@billbarter.com

Web: www.billbartergroup.com/



Mr. Bill Alhussayni

CEO

CPM SARL

Tel. (Lebanon) + (961) 3 334 976

E-mail: bill@cpmsarl.com

Web: www.cpmsarl.com




Release no. 24/2016According to Art. 8.4 of the Articles of Association, notice is hereby given of Extraordinary General Meeting in Columbus A/S to be held on:Wednesday 26 October 2016 at 11.00at Columbus, Lautrupvang 6, 2750 Ballerup, with the following agenda:1. Proposal from the Board of Directors about new guidelines for incentive programs, cf. section 139b of the Danish Companies Act.Full wording of proposalsRe. Item 1:The Board of Director's proposal for new guidelines for incentive programs, cf. Section 139b of the Danish Companies Act is attached. The Board of Directors recommends that the guidelines for incentive programs be approved.Registration dateThe date of registration is 19 October 2016, at 23.59 CET.Only shareholders who possess shares in the Company at the expiration of the registration date are entitled to participate and vote at the General Meeting. On expiry of the date of registration, the shares held by each of the Company's shareholders on the date of registration date is determined on the basis of the shares registered in the register of shareholders and dulyevidenced notifications to the Company of share acquisitions not yet entered in the register of shareholders, but received by the Company before expiry of the date of registration.Participation is furthermore conditional on the shareholder's punctual requisitioning of an admission card as described below.Procedure for participating in and voting at the Companys General MeetingRequisition of admission cards:Admission cards can be ordered electronically at the Company's website www.columbusglobal.com > Investor, by submission of registration form to Computershare A/S, Kongevejen 418, 2840 Holte (or by fax 4546 0998), by written request to the Company's office at Lautrupvang 6, 2750 Ballerup or by e-mail to cgr@columbusglobal.com. Registration must reach Computershare A/S or the Company no later than 21 October 2016 at 23:59 CET.Proxies:A proxy form can be downloaded and printed from www.columbusit.com > Investor, and sent completed and signed to Computershare A/S, Kongevejen 418, 2840 Holte (or by fax 4546 0998). The proxy must reach Computershare A/S no later than 21 October 2016 at 23:59 CET.Postal voting:Shareholders can also vote in writing. A postal voting form can be downloaded and printed from www.columbusit.com > Investor, and sent completed and signed to Computershare A/S, Kongevejen 418, 2840 Holte (or by fax 4546 0998). The proxy must reach Computershare A/S no later than 25 October at 12.00pm CET. Received postal votes cannot be withdrawn.Further informationQuestions from shareholder regarding the agenda may be submitted in written form to the Company.The share issuing bank is Nordea A/S, through which shareholders may exercise their financial rights.Information from the companyNo later than 4 October 2016 the following information will be available to the shareholders at the Company's website www.columbusit.com > Investor:-- This agenda including the full wording of proposals for the General Meeting -- The total number of shares and entitled voters at the time of notice to convene the General Meeting -- The forms which must be used when voting by proxy or postal votesBy the notice to convene the general meeting Columbus A/S has registered a share capital of nominal DKK 145,247,215, corresponding to 116,197,772 shares of nominal DKK 1.25. Each share of nominal DKK 1.25 provides 1 vote.Ballerup, 4 October 2016 The Board of Directors of Columbus A/STranslation: In the event of any inconsistency between this document and the Danish language version, the Danish language version shall be the governing version.Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=588702
TAC Security Solutions will soon deploy dedicated Cyber Emergency Response Team (TAC-CERT) in London.

TAC Security, the cyber-security solutions provider with a mission to anticipate, resolve and mitigate customers' cyber security risks and challenges so as to make their data and information world safe, secure and seamless, today announced that it has designed a special service to fight UK Cyber War.

TAC Security Solutions helps corporate giants recognize their weaknesses and vulnerabilities before the fraudulent hackers can use them adversely and cause harm. TAC provides network, application web security solutions to corporate giants, Governments and Law enforcement agencies.

Speaking on the international move, Trishneet Arora, a renowned cyber-security expert ethical hacker and the Founder CEO, TAC Security Solutions, commented, "Britain is setting up a new HQ in London to fight against the burgeoning number of cyber-attacks coming from countries including Russia, China, as well as terrorist and criminal organisations and we want to play our part in helping them to fight against cyber terrorism that is plaguing our world. We are already providing our state-of-the-art cyber security services to various clients here in Europe and UK and we are committed to tirelessly protect people and businesses against such deeply damaging cyber attacks."

Some of Britain's best technological minds are working closely with the Government to build up defenses to stop malware and phishing emails automatically. TAC's new service, TAC-CERT (Cyber Emergency Response Team) was launched this January by Industry and Commerce Minister of Punjab, India and now we are launching the same service in UK.

About TAC Security

TAC Security is a friendly hacker that helps corporate giants recognize its weaknesses before the fraudulent hackers can use them adversely.

TAC focuses on providing specialized services called Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing. The former helps to discover the security loopholes present in organization's systems but does not exploit the vulnerabilities. The latter is employed to demonstrate how damaging security vulnerabilities could be in a real cyber-attack. We provide a comprehensive picture of the security deficiencies that exist within the IT infrastructure and applications, and the potential impact. TAC informs the corporations about their glitches before any damageable cyber-attack.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004006085/en/

Contacts:

Popkorn Communications

Ishank Garg

Lead Account Consultant

Mobile: +91-9711035025

Email ishank@popkorncommunications.in
Continental further expands the fleet management service business

Extended portfolio of services and increased scale

Innovative cloud-based SaaS telematics platform for public and private commercial vehicle fleets in North America

Continental is intensifying its ongoing activities in the fleet management service business and is acquiring a majority stake in the smart fleet management technology provider Zonar. This venture has the potential to chart the course of the future of smart fleet management globally. The contract was signed on September 23rd and has obtained the required vote of the shareholders, but remains subject to final approval of the US Federal Trade Commission and US Department of Justice. Daimler Trucks North America LLC confirms its continuous commitment to the company and is retaining its minority stake. Zonar, headquartered in Seattle, USA, employs a staff of over 300. Zonar is a technology solution provider that offers a range of fleet management offerings to public and private commercial vehicle fleets in North America. With the investment in Zonar by Continental, the two enterprises will combine their complementary strengths to become a major supplier in the sector and further expand both companies' portfolios to offer additional smart fleet solutions to the market.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005364/en/

"With this move, we are further expanding our portfolio and expertise in the arena of mobility services, and fostering our regional balance by investing into a fleet management provider in the US that gives us access to a broad customer base and existing sales channels," said Helmut Matschi, President of the Interior Division and Member of the Executive Board of Continental.

"It is exciting to move into a new chapter in Zonar history with the backing of a respected global brand that recognizes our need to serve our markets as a nimble, innovative, customer-focused company as we have for the past 15 years," said Ian McKerlich, President of Zonar. "Customers will receive the same productive partnership and innovation they have come to expect with Zonar, as well as expanded technological resources and capabilities from Continental.

Established in 2001, Zonar pioneered smart fleet telematics with patented and award-winning operations technology across all commercial transportation markets: commercial trucking, vocational and passenger fleets. The complete suite of solutions drives safety, efficiency and fuel savings-from drivers to dispatch to administrative operations. Notable patents include the only Electronic Verified Inspection Reporting system available today, which ensures pre- and post-trip inspection compliance. The company's tablet technology is AOBRD self-certified and ELD-ready. Zonar is also the exclusive OEM partner for Daimler Trucks North America's Virtual Technician solution installed on more than 200,000 Daimler trucks.

"Through the integration of new smart technology solutions, we can enhance our existing fleet management services. In addition, with regard to remote diagnostics for commercial vehicles, we can broaden our existing Continental diagnostics capabilities through new backend services," added Dr. Michael Ruf, Head of the Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket Business Unit at Continental, where the acquisition will be integrated.

"Continental's investment in Zonar presents a great opportunity to bring the best in both hardware and software solutions to the industry. Daimler Trucks North America will continue its partnership with Zonar building upon the success we have enjoyed over the last 5 years and Zonar will continue to be an integral part of our connectivity solutions," said Martin Daum, President and CEO, Daimler Trucks North America.

When the process is complete, Continental will further expand its already existing product, solution and service portfolio in the area of mobility services for fleet management of commercial vehicles and aftermarket.

About Continental

Continental develops intelligent technologies for transporting people and their goods. As a reliable partner, the international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer, and industrial partner provides sustainable, safe, comfortable, individual, and affordable solutions. In 2015, the corporation generated sales of 39.2 billion with its five divisions, Chassis Safety, Interior, Powertrain, Tires, and ContiTech. Continental currently employs approximately 215,000 people in 55 countries.

Information management in and beyond the vehicle is at the very heart of the Interior division. The product portfolio for different types of vehicles includes: instrument clusters, multifunctional and head-up displays, control units, access control and tire-information systems, radios, infotainment systems, input devices, control panels, climate control units, software, cockpits as well as services and solutions for telematics and Intelligent Transportation Systems. The Interior division employs more than 40,000 people worldwide and generated sales of 8.2 billion in 2015.

Within the Interior Division the Commercial Vehicles Aftermarket Business Unit accommodates the specific requirements of the commercial vehicle, special vehicle and aftermarket sector. A global network of sales and service companies ensures proximity to local customers. Covering the product brands Continental, VDO, ATE, Galfer and Barum the Business Unit offers web based managed services, fleet management and tachograph solutions electronic products, systems and services for commercial and special vehicles, a broad selection of products for specialized workshops and spare parts for the Independent Aftermarket and the Original Equipment Services after end of series production of the vehicle manufacturer.

About Zonar

Founded in 2001, Zonar has pioneered smart fleet management technology by providing innovative technology that has changed fleet operations in the vocational, pupil and commercial trucking industries. With a unique focus on this field, the Company offers a complete suite of solutions and specialized platforms for our customers in multiple markets. Our patented, award-winning technology keeps fleet owners and managers connected to their fleets and drivers to dispatchers. Headquartered in Seattle, Zonar also has a Technology Development Center in downtown Seattle, a regional office in Cincinnati, and a distribution center outside of Atlanta. For more information about Zonar Systems, go to www.zonarsystems.com

This press release is available in English and German language

Links

Press portal in internet: www.continental-presse.dewww.continental-presse.de

Media data base: www.continental-mediacenter.com

Video portal: videoportal.continental-corporation.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161004005364/en/

Contacts:

Continental

Head of Division Interior Communications

Susanne Einzinger, +49 941 790 5669

susanne.einzinger@continental-corporation.com

or

Continental

Head of Communications

Commercial Vehicles Aftermarket

Henryk Boerngen, +49 69 7603 3416

henryk.boerngen@continental-corporation.com

or

Zonar

Sr Public Relations Specialist

Ben Hohmann, 206-384-1410


MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Canadian Metals Inc. (The "Corporation") (CSE: CME) announces filing of an amended Technical Report for the revised Langis Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). The revision was required based on comments from the Autorite Des Marches Financiers (AMF) regarding the resource model and metallurgical plant final products.

On June 22, 2016 a PEA report was filed to support the April 28(th) 2016 PEA disclosure. At the request of the AMF the corporation prepared an amended technical report including the required principal modifications: a Qualified persons to sign-off mineral resources with appropriate CIM 2014 guidelines disclosure, adjust the project so the PEA reflects the mineral resources available on the Langis property without 3(rd) party feed purchase of feed and a revised achievable plan of the mineral resources processing for the targeted product and the associated cash flow.

The revised divulgation and the revised PEA technical report supersede the disclosure of April 28, 2016 and the technical report of June 22, 2016 should not be relied upon.

The strategy for the work plan was developed around existing resource model for Hybrid Flex with Base Case 100% Ferro Silicon (FeSi). This, as well as other changes to the project assumptions during the revision stage had an impact on the values attributed to the project as announced in the press release of April 28, 2016, a reduction in the NPV, Capex and IRR with light increase in payback time, the project is still positive;

The results of April 28, 2016, versus those of the current PEA Amended dated October 3(rd) 2016:

Table 1. Summary of the Amended Project Economics Compared to the June 22(nd) Report ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description Units US$ US$ (note i) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct. 3, 2016 April. 28, 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Tax ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Payback Period Years 4.8 4.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 8 % M US$ 207.9 (i) 380.0(i) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internal Rate of Return (IRR) % 18.0 20.7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Capex M US$ 232.6 302.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: - Discount Rate of 7.3% used - A US$/CAN$exchange rate of 0.7616 was assumed. The numbers in this column are for comparison purposes only and i. should not be relied upon.

Cautionary Note: the preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, that it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.

The Corporation is pleased to announce the successful completion of the Langis Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) revision, conducted by CIMA+ With Pre-Tax NPV (at 8% Discount) of CAN$437.9 Million and IRR of 21.8 % and After-Tax NPV (at 8% Discount) of CAN$273.1 Million and IRR of 18% with positive project economics and lots of opportunities to consider during the next stage of the project development.

The general scope of work involved:

-- Geology and Resource Model review -- Beneficiation Plant design review and optimizations -- Metallurgical Plant review and optimizations -- Capital and Operating costs structure optimization and adhering to the local standards and specifics -- Revised project economics including a new Financial Model, based on the optimized Capital and Operating costs completed in Canadian Dollars (CAN$) -- The Conclusions and Recommendations area revised -- Complete National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Report -- Introduction of new Qualified Persons (QP) under the National Instrument 43-101, qualified to perform the respective mandates with deep understanding and vast experience in their respective fields.

The resources statement was reviewed and revised by the new Qualified Person (QP) Claude Duplessis to the inferred category. In order increase the quality of the mineral resources to the respective Indicated and Measured resources categories, additional drilling and analysis are required. Canadian Metals Inc. as per latest results of the revised PEA should initiate the recommendation of the PEA to increase resource quality and extent. This is the first step the company will initiate in the forthcoming pre-feasibility study. There are no guaranty the drilling will convert all the inferred into measured and indicated, the company expect to carry sufficient works to achieve this goal.

Mine plan and schedule were revise accordingly to reflect the new resources as well. Other major changes to the report include:

-- Revise the beneficiation plant assumptions and costs to a more mobile plant, that can require less civil work and no structural and steelwork, as well as become more environmentally friendly and easy to dismantle at closure with no impact on the surrounding environment. -- Revise the Metallurgy (Smelter) option to produce Ferrosilicon (FeSi) as final product instead of the previously assumed silicon metal (mgSi) to reflect the resources model. Capital and operating costs were revise accordingly based on the new mine production plan and to reflect the local labour environment and the new smelter production of FeSi -- All costs were revise to Canadian Dollar (CAN$) values -- A complete new Financial Model was developed based on the new production and costs data. In addition the Taxation system was revise to reflect the federal and provincial guidelines and specifics.

During the next stage of development - the pre-feasibility study, the mgSi production option will be evaluated in detail to be able to firmly select the best production option for the project.

The following lists the highlights provided by the PEA:

Mineral Resources Statement

Cautionary Note: Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert inferred mineral resources to indicated or measured mineral resources. There is no certainty that the resources development, production, and economic forecasts on which this PEA is based will be realized.

All classified as Inferred mineral resources (due to the additional drilling work required) 9.95 million tonnes of in-pit resources, with average, SiO2 98.71%, Al2O3 0.38%, TiO2 0.05%, Fe2O3 0.12%

-- Waste in pit: 3.76 Million tonnes for a stripping ratio of 0.38 to 1 -- Mining cost Mineralized Material CAN$5/t -- Mining Cost waste CAN$4/t -- Processing Cost of Quarry including G & A CAN$10/t -- Recovery 95% -- Slope angle of 45 degrees -- Product value fixed at CAN$44/t purchase price at the Quarry (these new current mineral resources are free of constrains and surface right limits).

With the above verification, the Author is confident that numbers used in the original mine plan for the in-pit resource for the PEA is reliable and conservative in the context.

Notes:

-- Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have no demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by mining, processing, metallurgical, infrastructure, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. -- CIM definitions of May 10(th) 2014 were followed with reasonable prospect of economic extraction. -- The resources are pit constrained by the Lerchs-Grossman pit optimizer with MineSight software. -- Density of rock used 2.5 t/m(3). Parameters used for the definition of mineral resources a. Mining cost of CAN$5/tonne; b. Processing cost (crushing, screening, hauling to plant plus Quarry G&A) CAN$10/tonne; c. Plant purchase price to Quarry CAN$44/tonne with mine recovery of 95% with no dilution.

Mining and Pit optimization

The final conceptual pit design, summary of the results for it is presented in Table 2 with difference between the optimization (mathematical) and the pit design (operational)

Table 2. Optimization results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Silica (kt) Total SiO2(%) Total Waste (kt) Strip Ratio ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operational pit 5.038 98.47 2.094 0.42 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mathematics pit 4.834 98.51 1.848 0.38 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Difference 4.04% -0.03% 11.77% 8.05% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processing and Smelting

The Langis silica deposit will be quarried and recovered for use as a feedstock into a downstream ferrosilicon smelter in nearby Matane, the Hybrid Flex Plant to produce metallurgical products such as FeSi75 (Ferrosilicon 75 standard).

Process steps at the quarry site will consist of blasting, crushing, sieving and washing the silica before transportation to the smelter by truck. Silica that is too fine for use in the smelter can be marketed to local industries, while large chunks will be used directly in the smelter.

The smelter in Matane will produce ferrosilicon by a pyrometallurgical process that combines silica from the Langis quarry with a carbon source, iron ore and wood chips in a SAF (submerged arc furnace or simply "furnace") in which these raw materials are smelted into ferrosilicon. Molten ferrosilicon is tapped from the furnace into ladles, refined as necessary, and then poured into molds to cool and solidify into large ingots. The ingots are removed from the mold after they have cooled sufficiently, then crushed and classified into chunks or powder for sale.

Capital and Operating Costs Summary

The capital cost of the project is the cost for the initial development of the project. Summary of the Project Capital Costs is shown below. The improvement in Capital costs is due to optimized mine development, assuming mobile vs static beneficiation plant, actual quotes for camp, offices and infrastructure buildings from local vendors, revised HF Plant cost structure and indirect costs reflecting the local specifics.

Table 3. Summary of the Project Capital Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAPEX Item Cost, CAN$ Oct.3, 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Direct Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mine Development/Pre-stripping $ 295,201 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mine Equipment $ 3,462,107 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mine Infrastructure $ 435,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beneficiation Plant $ 1,338,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HF Plant $ 206,759,839 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HF Plant Infrastructure $ 20,565,835 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL DIRECT $ 232,855,982 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indirect Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Owner's Costs $ 8,544,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EPCM $ 24,139,998 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contingency $ 39,830,997 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL INDIRECT $ 72,514,995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL DIRECT & INDIRECT $ 305,370,977 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The operating costs for the project were estimated annually. A summary of these operating costs are shown in the following Table 4. The improved operating costs are mostly due to actual labor wages in the region, the preferred electricity rate for industrial projects from hydro Quebec, and changes from mgSi to FeSi production at the HF Plant operations.

Table 4. Summary of the Project Operating Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Area Annual Cost Unit Cost ---------------- ($/t FeSi) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining 1,877,238 16.70 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beneficiation 1,273,532 16.19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- G&A mining site 395,000 5.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transportation to HF Plant 443,451 5.64 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HF Plant (after Hydro Quebec Discount) 63,885,248 812.10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 67,874,469 855.64 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project Economics Summary

Cautionary Note: The preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, that it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by mining, processing, metallurgical, infrastructure, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and government factors. The project cost estimates are deemed to be correct within +/-30%.

In the analysis, FOB-HF Plant selling prices of US$1,600 per tonne for Ferrosilicon and US$250 per tonne for Silica Fume were used. A US$/CAN$ exchange rate of 0.7407 was assumed. Additional sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the effect of potential changes in selling price, exchange rate, capital and operating cost values.

Table 5. Summary of the Life of Project Production, Revenues and Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description Units ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Production - Mineralization k tonnes 3,900.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Production - Silica Product Feed to HF Plant k tonnes 2,924.70 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenue M CAN$ 4,668.90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Initial Capital Costs (excludes Working Capital) M CAN$ 305.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sustaining Capital Costs M CAN$ 5.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Costs (excludes royalty payments) M CAN$ 2,479.10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Closure Costs M CAN$ 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Pre-Tax Cash Flow M CAN$ 1,735.60 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total After-Tax Cash Flow M CAN$ 1,187.30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The financial indicators associated with the economic analysis are summarized in Table 6.

Table 6: Summary of Financial Indicators ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description Units CAN$ ---------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pre-Tax ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Payback Period Years 4.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 6 % M CAN$ 611.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 8 % M CAN$ 437.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 10 % M CAN$ 312.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internal Rate of Return (IRR) % 21.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- After-Tax ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Payback Period Years 4.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 6 % M CAN$ 396.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 8 % M CAN$ 273.1(i) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPV @ 10 % M CAN$ 183.7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internal Rate of Return (IRR) % 18.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: -(i) Base Case

Qualified Persons (QP)

Michel L. Bilodeau, Eng. Independent Consultant, Claude Duplessis, Eng. Goldminds Geoservices Inc., Valdiney Domingos de Oliveira, Eng., MBA, CEng. VIRIDIS-IQ, Caroline Lachance, Eng., M.Env. Biofilia, Jean-Sebastien Tremblay, Eng. Independent Consultant and Georgi Doundarov, P.Eng., PMP, CCP. CIMA+ are the independent qualified persons which have reviewed and prepared the information in the technical report and have approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Quality Control and Assurance

Claude Duplessis, Eng. of Goldminds Geoservices Inc. has reviewed the procedures, the results and quality control on the analytical results with had inclusions of blanks and standards. The results were in line with expected values, certificates of analysis were reviewed against the drill hole database. The site visit has allowed to verify and validate geology and review the core at the core shack where witness core is kept. The QA/QC, the verifications and the site visit enable the disclosure of reliable mineral resources of the Langis Silica project for the PEA in conformity with CIM standards and National Instrument 43-101.

Mr. Leblanc, president and CEO of Canadian Metals, stated: " We are very proud of the continued support of our shareholders and financial partners and we look forward to further expanding our relationship through the development of a project that the Company considers financially and technically viable. The results speak volumes to the quality of the project and the Company. We will continue to have discussions with more than 15 identified institutional potential shareholders, many of whom are local and some of them government sponsored, to advance the project towards financing and execution. At the appropriate time, other financing alternatives, such as royalties and strategic partnerships, will be evaluated to provide the Company with the most efficient and optimal financing package.

We are very excited to have at the helm of the Company a team with true silica experience cumulating over six decades in the sector. The team has a proven track record of successfully producing, developing and marketing ferrosilicon into all applications, including the value-added markets. We believe that the Langis deposit possesses one of the world's highest silica specifications and, when combined with our access to low cost hydroelectric power available in Quebec, should allow Canadian Metals to become one of the lowest cost ferrosilicon producers in the world."

Canadian Metals looks forward to a continuous partnership with CIMA+ going to the next stages of the Project Development.

About Canadian Metals

Canadian Metals Inc. is focused exclusively on the development of its Langis Project, a high-purity silica deposit located in the province of Quebec. The Company is rapidly positioning itself to eventually become a North American ferrosilicon producer.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All information other than historical fact is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and is based on CME current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "expect", "project", "proposed", "intend", "seek", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "forecast", "may", "will", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. Although management considers the assumptions and estimates, reflected in forward-looking information, to be reasonable, based on information currently available, there can be no assurance that such information will prove to be correct. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information which is inherently uncertain, and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties (both general and specific) and other factors that contribute to the possibility that the future events or circumstances contemplated by the forward looking information will not occur or that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks include, but are not limited to risks associated with general economic conditions, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, financial risks and substantial capital requirements. Further information regarding certain of these risks (as well as risks relating generally to the Company's business) may be found under the headings "Risks and Uncertainties", "Forward-Looking Information" and "Financial risk factors" in the latest Company's Management's Discussion & Analysis on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and CME does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Canadian Metals Inc.

Stephane Leblanc

President and CEO

sleblanc@canadianmetalsinc.com

www.canadianmetalsinc.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - An Iraqi teenager who escaped Mosul because of the rising threat of ISIL, and moved to the United States with her family, has become a US Marine private first class. Amanda H. Issa and her family stayed in a refugee camp in Turkey for almost a year before moving to Michigan in 2011. On September 30, at the age of 21, she graduated with Platoon 4034, Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion. An additional 600 U.S. troops are headed to help retake Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Glenn Elliott, Founder & CEO of Reward Gateway, was announced as the overall UK winner of the 'Business Products and Services' category at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year' Awards 2016.

Glenn Elliott, the Founder and CEO of Reward Gateway, the leading employee engagement platform, was shortlisted alongside a host of big names including the Founders and CEOs of Tastecard, graze.com and PROPERCORN. Judges selected Glenn for his innovation within the employee engagement industry, and said he had 'disrupted the world of employee benefits'.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415024 )



A judging panel chaired by Rosemary Squire OBE, Founder Director and Deputy Chairman, Ambassador Theatre Group and EY Entrepreneur Of The Year' UK 2014 overall winner, selected the winners from 40 UK finalists, who have combined revenue of 2.4bn and employ a workforce of over 16,000. The winners were judged on their entrepreneurial spirit, financial performance, innovation, national and global impact, strategic direction, personal integrity and influence.

Stuart Watson, UK Entrepreneur Of The Year' Programme Leader said: "Entrepreneurs see the world differently. They see opportunity where others see obstacles and in a world that is constantly throwing up new challenges and disruptions, their entrepreneurial spirit is vital to driving economic growth. Operating in 60 countries around the world, Entrepreneur Of The Year is a real celebration of their achievements and public recognition of their contribution."

This is the third time this decade that Glenn has won in the EY programme, having scooped the EY Entrepreneur of the Year' Award for the London & South region back in June 2010, and again, earlier this year. Glenn founded Reward Gateway, which offers an employee engagement platform with employee benefits, reward and recognition, communications, and wellbeing solutions, in 2006 and in 10 years has grown it into an international business operating 24/7/365 across seven countries with 330 people servicing the company's 1,200 clients.

Glenn said, "This award is really for the 330 people that make Reward Gateway possible. I'm genuinely honoured to have the privilege to lead them and work with them every day. Innovation is at the heart of everything we do here, and I'm lucky to work with an incredible team who innovate every day because they are highly engaged and want our business to be successful. That's what we want for our clients, and that's what gets us up every day, too - building products that our clients can use to attract, engage and retain their people."

Glenn is available to interview on request.

About Reward Gateway

Reward Gateway provides employee engagement technology to the world's leading companies. Over 1,200 clients including American Express, Groupon, Yahoo!, IBM and McDonald's use the company's products to attract, engage and retain the best employees. The company's products power employee communications, employee recognition, and employee benefits through a single employer-branded hub called SmartHub.

PR Contact:

Charlie Lofthouse, PR Manager

charlie.lofthouse@rewardgateway.com
EQS Group-News: Research Dynamics / Key word(s): Research Update Report on Wisekey by Research Dynamics: 1H 2016 results' update 2016-10-04 / 17:30 *This report is published by Research Dynamics, an independent research boutique* *Solid outlook post H1 results; INSIDE Secure's semiconductor unit acquisition complete* WISeKey International Holding AG (Company) provided a solid outlook for 2016 following a largely un-encouraging set of H1 2016 results. The completion of the deal for INSIDE Secure's semiconductor business would enable WISeKey to offer a trusted end-to-end cybersecurity platform, thereby generating strong cross-selling opportunities for the company. *H1 2016 operating loss widens* The company posted stand-alone revenue of USD1.3mn for H1 2016, a decline compared to USD1.5mn in H1 2015. The pro-forma revenue (including acquisitions and partnerships) amounted to USD17.5mn. The operating loss for the period significantly widened to CHF37.0mn compared to an operating loss of CHF5.0mn in H1 2015, primarily driven by strictly applying US GAAP rules to the corporate reorganization executed in March 2016 prior to the listing and the increased costs of listing on the Swiss stock exchange in Q1 2016. We believe the closure of the deal for INSIDE Secure's Semiconductor/ IoT assets and the ability to cross-sell its offerings could catapult WISeKey towards profitable growth in the future. *Strong guidance* Post its H1 2016 results, WISeKey offered a solid outlook for 2016 and beyond. The company's pro forma sales guidance for 2016 was CHF29.0mn, which was higher than our estimate of CHF28.0mn. The company expects strong partnerships / agreements with major clients such as MasterCard, Hublot, Microsoft, CenturyLink, Bulgari, SAP and Samsung along with the acquisition of Vault IC from INSIDE Secure to drive the revenue growth. In the luxury sector, Hublot has renewed the contract with WISeKey for 2017 and the cooperation with Bulgari has started to bring revenues to WISeKey. The deployment of 1.5 million identities for Bulgari clients and the launch of the Bulgari Vault is allowing Bulgari clients to secure their assets with WISeKey Technology. A strong revenue outlook is also estimated for the Bulgari Intelligent watch to be launched in Q2 2017 with MasterCard payment using WISeKey chip and technology. The company noted that it continues to expand globally by entering new markets such as India through strategic partnerships and a Joint Venture. WISeKey expects its cybersecurity and IoT technologies solutions to be embedded in the national infrastructure of the markets which it targets. As part of its global expansion program, the company cited potential collaborations with security service companies in Asia (India and China in particular). In Q4 2016/Q1 2017, WISeKey will focus on increasing its presence in North America through collaborations and expansion of its supply chain for the Internet of Things (IoT) market and executing the agreements signed with Microsoft, MasterCard, CenturyLink and SAP. WISeKey also stated that it plans to continue to make strategic acquisitions in the EU and the US and adding verticals to its platform in a bid to generate cross-selling opportunities for its offerings. The cooperation with CenturyLink has already delivered an IoT managed service that CenturyLink will be offering to all its clients using WISeKey technology and chips. *Other key developments* On September 29, 2016 WISeKey announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a group of entrepreneurs to establish a joint venture for deploying its IoT and cybersecurity platform in India. Under the agreement, WISeKey will create a WISeKey cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) in India for IoT manufacturers and chipmakers. The first project will be connect over 120 million Indian users via a platform that will be launched during the World Economic Forum in India during October. On September 21, 2016 WISeKey announced the completion of acquisition of INSIDE Secure's semiconductor business and integration of Vault IC into its vertical cybersecurity platform. We expect that the deal can create synergistic cross-selling opportunities as many of INSIDE Secure's semiconductor clients such as Cisco are now WISeKey clients and also potential customers for other WISeKey technologies beyond chips. *Valuation * Although the company's sales expectation for 2016 is higher than our estimates, we prefer to remain conservative and reiterate our estimates on the company. We have updated the financial model for the latest balance sheet figures to arrive at the current valuation of CHF14.8 per share. Additional features: Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=UKJFRBLEWH [1] Document title: Wisekey_H1_2016_results update_4 October 2016 End of Corporate News 508629 2016-10-04 1: http://public-cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=ca5bc7a2c25cfeb7b711f234a324ab01&application_id=508629&site_id=vwd&application_name=news

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2016 11:30 ET (15:30 GMT)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Sage, a market leader in cloud accounting software and global champion of small & medium sized businesses, has announced today at Dreamforce two new solutions for Sage X3 and Sage Live on the Salesforce AppExchange, empowering businesses to connect with their customers, partners and employees in entirely new ways. The solutions will provide businesses with real-time, fully cloud-based accounting solutions.

Businesses are focused on boosting revenues, bringing in new customers and maximizing their resources. However, they risk losing opportunities and customers without the tools to manage data effectively. Having a single, real-time view of their business, from the front office to the back office, is crucial to capitalise on opportunity and mitigate risk, but more importantly, position themselves for future growth by being able to anticipate what is ahead.

Connecting the dots for businesses with Sage X3 CRM connector

Sage has announced that Sage X3 cloud business management solution now links directly to Salesforce. This allows the companies' joint customers to access their customer data in the Salesforce Sales Cloud -- connecting ERP and CRM business processes in real time.

The connector integrates CRM and financial transaction data, ensuring the integrity of valuable data such as accounting, customer and order information across the organization, whilst connecting the front and back end of the business. This gives users end-to-end visibility across the entire sales process, saving them valuable time, improving efficiency and boosting business productivity.

The Sage X3 CRM connector follows the recent launch of Sage X3 E-Commerce, a cloud-based e-commerce and m-commerce platform that delivers personalised shopping and services experiences anywhere customers shop.

"Businesses are always running at the speed of light and processes can slip by the wayside," said Libby Koehn, VP product management at Sage. "Our Sage X3 CRM connector will help these organisations achieve a higher standard of financial performance and reporting, giving them the tools they need to properly manage their funds and track expenditure in the moment."

Empowering charities to make a difference with Sage Live

Sage has also announced the launch of the Sage Live Not-for-Profit solution, providing non-profit organisations (NPOs) with financial reporting and fund management features specific to the sector. The solution helps them improve their organisational efficiency and boost productivity, freeing them up to focus on growing their charity.

Built on the Salesforce App Cloud, Sage Live Not-for-Profit represents the first industry specific packaging for Sage Live. It is designed specifically for NPO's to give them access to cutting edge cloud accounting technology which includes financials and reporting specific to the segment.

"The NPO sector is the unsung hero of our communities," said Jennifer Warawa, executive VP of product marketing at Sage. "Often working with limited resources, those operating in the sector face the same pressures to efficiently and accurately manage finances and deliver value on investment as equivalent private sector businesses. We're committed to giving NPOs all the tools and support they need to succeed."

As part of Sage Foundation, a high proportion of NPOs will be eligible for discounted licenses. Once live, the Sage Live NPO's solution can integrate as standard with the Salesforce.org Nonprofit Success Pack, to bring together financials and donor relationships.

The announcements are the latest milestone in Sage's partnership with Salesforce. The Salesforce App Cloud powers Sage's award-winning, real-time cloud accounting solution Sage Live, which now leverages Salesforce new Lightning components. Sage Live's use of Salesforce's newest innovations in Lightning delivers a powerful and modern approach to accounting that is intuitive, helping create efficiency and time savings for scale-up businesses.

The X3 CRM connector is now available in key X3 markets and the Sage Live Not-for-Profit Solution is available in the UK & US. For further information, and to see how Sage is improving business payments for the small business heroes of the economy, visit www.sage.com

The Sage X3 CRM connector and Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack are currently available on the AppExchange at www.appexchange.com.

At Dreamforce 2016, Sage Live was awarded the Salesforce Partner Innovation Award in the App Cloud category. This win underlines Sage's commitment to driving innovation and delivering outstanding results, and highlights the strength of its offering for customers and partners alike.

Sage customer Medtexter, said: "With Sage Live, we have easy access to all our financial and performance data. Sage Live has saved us time on manual admin tasks and connects all our business-critical apps on one platform. We needed an accounting solution that integrated with the other systems we use: Salesforce and Stripe Payments. Sage Live was that solution."

About Salesforce AppExchange

Salesforce AppExchange is the world's leading enterprise apps marketplace that empowers companies to sell, service, market and engage in entirely new ways. With 3,000 partner apps and more than 3.8 million customer installs, it is the most comprehensive source of cloud, mobile, social, IoT and data science technologies for businesses.

Additional Resources

Like Salesforce on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/salesforce

Follow Salesforce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/salesforce

Salesforce, App Cloud, AppExchange, Sales Cloud and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.

About Sage:

Sage is a market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs. Sage began as a small business in the UK 30 years ago and over 13000 colleagues now support millions of entrepreneurs across 23 countries as they power the global economy.

We reinvent and simplify business accounting through brilliant technology, working with a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners, tradespeople, accountants, partners and developers. And as a FTSE 100 business, we are active in supporting our local communities and invest in making a real difference through the philanthropy of the Sage Foundation.

Sage - a market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs. www.sage.com

Global Contact:

Rebecca Potgieter

Sage, Corporate PR Manager

02038107200

Rebecca.Potgieter@sage.com



North America Contact:

Gina Glickman

Sage, Internal Communications Manager, NA

470-447-4088

Gina.Glickman@sage.com




SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Sage, a market leader in cloud accounting software and global champion of small and medium sized businesses, today announced it has launched the Sage Live Nonprofit solution on the Salesforce AppExchange, empowering partners to connect with their customers, donors and employees in entirely new ways. The new solution will help thousands of nonprofits benefit from cutting edge technology and donated software through Sage Foundation.

Built on the Salesforce App Cloud, Sage Live Nonprofit solution is currently available on the AppExchange at www.appexchange.salesforce.com/listingDetail?listingId=a0N3000000DXznREAT

Building on market and customer experience, Sage wanted to do more to support nonprofits. With tightening budgets and a need to diversify funding streams, charities big and small need to make their money work harder to go beyond just the financial compliance of tracking, budget reduction and auditing.

The Sage Live Nonprofit solution, built on the Salesforce App Cloud, has been designed specifically for nonprofits to give them access to cloud accounting technology and tools tailored to their needs, including; balance sheet, Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) reporting, general processing and fund management capabilities.

The voluntary sector will be first to benefit from industry specific packaging for Sage Live, built on the Salesforce App Cloud. The Sage Live Nonprofit solution will integrate with the Salesforce Nonprofit Starter Pack, combining essential financial and donor relationships.

The innovations have been designed to speed up financial reporting and bolster transparency; helping nonprofits improve their organisational efficiency, increase collaboration and boost productivity from limited resources.

Sandra Campopiano, Chief People Officer at Sage, said: "We understand the tremendous pressures that nonprofits deal with in managing operations, often with limited resources and personnel. At Sage we are focused on innovations that will make their lives easier by being able to better manage funds and finances, so they can concentrate efforts where they're needed most.

"We have been working with our partners to develop the solution and to ensure it's tailored to their specific needs. We believe that this will make a positive difference to the voluntary sector in their day-to-day business and amplify the valuable contribution they make to communities around the world."

Through Sage Foundation eligible nonprofits will be able to sign up for two donated Sage Live user licenses, and then any further licenses will receive a 50 percent discount. The first organisation to receive a donation of Sage Live is charity partner Literacy Action, based in Atlanta, Georgia: "Sage already helps us get a complete view of our business processes at every step of our journey," said Austin Dickson, Executive Director at Literacy Action. "It's important for us to have a single view of what's happening across the organisation at any given moment. Sage Live makes this incredibly easy, it's intuitive and, because it's real time in the cloud, we know it's always accurate. It takes the pain out of processes, freeing us up to focus on our mission."

Today's announcement and donation pledge, is just the start of Sage's commitment to building solutions which can better support finance leaders and trustees in planning for the future. From geographic expansion, to systems upgrades or fundraising for infrastructure investments, Sage's vision is to help charities make informed decisions so they can deliver what they do best, for those who need it the most.

The solution is being showcased at the Salesforce.org Lodge, part of Salesforce's Dreamforce event, reinforcing Sage's and Salesforce's goals to help nonprofits. Customers from Salesforce.org will be able to benefit directly from the Sage Live add on solution.

The Sage Live Nonprofit solution is available in the US & UK from October, with further markets to follow. To find out more about the new solution, Sage Foundation and to see how Sage is revolutionising business payments for the small business heroes of the economy, visit https://www.sage.com

Sage Foundation is powered by the '2+2+2' model. Through this, Sage Foundation donates 2 percent of employee time each year (5 volunteer days), 2 percent of free cash flow in grants and 2 donated user licenses to eligible partners. Sage Foundation aims to transform lives by creating sustainable, social, economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for local communities -- helping more people reach their fullest potential.

Check your eligibility for donated and discounted Sage solutions at HERE

About Salesforce AppExchange:

Salesforce AppExchange is the world's leading enterprise apps marketplace that empowers companies to sell, service, market and engage in entirely new ways. With 3,000 partner apps and more than 4 million customer installs, it is the most comprehensive source of cloud, mobile, social, IoT and data science technologies for businesses.

Additional Resources

Like Salesforce on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/salesforce

Follow Salesforce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/salesforce

Salesforce, App Cloud, AppExchange, Salesforce.org Sales Cloud and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.

About Sage:

Sage is a market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs. Sage began as a small business in the UK 30 years ago and over 13000 colleagues now support millions of entrepreneurs across 23 countries as they power the global economy.

We reinvent and simplify business accounting through brilliant technology, working with a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners, tradespeople, accountants, partners and developers. And as a FTSE 100 business, we are active in supporting our local communities and invest in making a real difference through the philanthropy of the Sage Foundation.

Sage -- a market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs. www.sage.com

Global Contact:

Rebecca Potgieter

Sage, Corporate PR Manager

02038107200

Rebecca.Potgieter@sage.com



North America Contact:

Gina Glickman

Sage, Internal Communications Manager, NA

470-447-4088

Gina.Glickman@sage.com




DUBLIN, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Biometric Sensors Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The global biometric sensors market to grow at a CAGR of 10.14% during the period 2016-2020.

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global biometric sensors market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the total sales of biometric sensors (used in fingerprint recognition, iris recognition, facial recognition, hand geometry, voice recognition, and vein recognition) for end-user sectors such as government, transportation, healthcare, BFSI, and retail. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

Emergence of touchless sensing technology will be a key trend for market growth. A fingerprint scan requires the end-user to place his finger on a plain glass surface, which can lead to smudged or deformed images. This leads to discrepancies in the authentication process, which can result in unauthorized access. With advances in technology, touchless sensing technology has evolved. This technology generates 3D fingerprint scans. 3D fingerprint scanners help solve the problems of traditional systems, as they do not cause slippage, deformation, or smearing of the fingerprint. In addition, 3D touchless fingerprint technology is interoperable with legacy devices to provide high-quality images. To develop a 3D fingerprint image interoperable with the existing AFIS, a simulated rolling procedure was introduced, which unwraps 3D fingerprint image into 2D fingerprint images that are comparable with legacy rolled fingerprints. Furthermore, a 3D fingerprint image provides a high-quality, large, nail-to-nail representation of the finger.

According to the report, a major driver contributing to the growth of this market is the increasing number of identity thefts. Lately, there has been an increase in the number of identity and data theft cases, primarily because of the increase in the use of websites and web applications by end-users. The growing popularity of online consulting and sharing of health-related results online is also leading to identity theft cases. The increasing complexity of these attacks is driving end-users to implement secure authentication solutions. Hence, there is increased adoption of biometric security solutions as they are one of the most secure authentication solutions. These solutions are very reliable as they efficiently assess individuals on the basis of their physical or behavioral traits, which are very difficult to forge, making them one of the strongest authentication solutions available in the market.

Further, the report states that as alternative solutions are comparatively inexpensive and are much easier to operate, they find greater acceptance among enterprises. Small and medium-scale businesses, in particular, prefer cost-effective solutions over biometric solutions. Moreover, vendors with much larger customer bases generally provide inexpensive authentication solutions. As these vendors have been present in the authentication market for many years and have a diversified geographic presence, their solutions have a wider acceptance. Therefore, strong competition from inexpensive non-biometric technologies is a major challenge hindering the growth of the market.

Key questions answered in this report

What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?

What are the key market trends?

What is driving this market?

What are the challenges to market growth?

Who are the key vendors in this market space?

What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?

Key vendors

3M Cogent

Crossmatch

NEC

Safran

Other prominent vendors

Fulcrum Biometrics

IDEX ASA

ZKTeco

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vm97nr/global_biometric

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Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

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CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/04/16 -- Apache Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty on September 30, 2016, to two counts of failing to operate its pipelines in accordance with provincial rules and requirements. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) laid charges against Apache after completing comprehensive investigations into two separate pipeline releases.

On October 25, 2013, Apache reported a pipeline release of 1813 cubic metres of produced water affecting about 3.8 hectares of public land near Zama City. On January 21, 2014, an additional pipeline failure resulted in the release of 1978 cubic metres of produced water, a portion of which entered an unnamed creek 40 kilometres northwest of Whitecourt.

"Industry performance is critical to ensure these kinds of incidents do not occur," said Alberta Energy Regulator president and CEO Jim Ellis. "Albertans expect industry to respond quickly and contain spills of any size. When our investigations indicate that any company has not met regulatory requirements, we use our enforcement tools to assure compliance and, in some cases, we pursue enforcement action through the courts."

The court ordered Apache to pay a total of $350 000 in penalties; $160 000 for the Zama City release and $190 000 for the release northwest of Whitecourt. A portion of the penalties ($305 077.50) will be used for a creative sentencing project in which Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures will look to enhance the science of remediating salt-affected soil. Creative sentencing provides the court with a range of options to address the harm caused by an offence and to prevent future offences. The remaining $44 922.50 is a court-ordered fine.

The AER is committed to working with energy companies to apply lessons learned from this incident and the subsequent investigation to improve regulatory performance across the industry. Information about the incidents, AER's investigations, and the enforcement issued is available on the AER's Compliance Dashboard.

The Alberta Energy Regulator ensures the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible development of hydrocarbon resources over their entire life cycle. This includes allocating and conserving water resources, managing public lands, and protecting the environment while providing economic benefits for all Albertans.

Agreed Statement of Facts - Zama City release

Sentencing Order - Zama City release

Agreed Statement of Facts - Whitecourt release

Sentencing Order - Whitecourt release

(NR-2016-05)

Contacts:

AER Public Affairs

Cara Tobin

403-297-2252

Media line: 1-855-474-6356

cara.tobin@aer.ca




ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - October 04, 2016) - Foundry Commercial, the multi-city commercial real estate firm headquartered in Orlando, announces today that it has completed a full-floor, long-term lease for respected Florida law firm Bogin Munns & Munns at downtown Orlando's Gateway Center. Foundry Commercial both leases and manages Gateway Center on behalf of the building's landlord, FCA Partners.

As one of the most well-known law firms in the state, Bogin Munns & Munns maintains offices in 11 Florida cities, including Orlando. The firm's decision to move all 80 of its Orlando-based associates to the downtown region was made in order to provide employees with ease of access to amenities, better parking perks, great views, and an exciting urban environment.

"We are very pleased to be moving into such quality space with such quality ownership and management," said Rulon D. Munns, partner at Bogin, Munns & Munns. "The space and location are perfect for us, and we are confident that our efforts to provide reasonable, full service, effective legal services to the Orlando community will be enhanced by this move. Our thanks go to Alex Rosario and his team at Foundry for working cooperatively and creatively with us to make this happen."

As building manager, Foundry Commercial will oversee the construction of new offices to accommodate the influx of Bogin Munns & Munns employees as Gateway Center continues to fill with notable Orlando-based companies.

"We firmly believe that Gateway Center is a perfect fit for the Orlando Bogin Munns & Munns team," said Alex Rosario, principal of brokerage services at Foundry Commercial. "When we learned that Rulon Munns and his partners were looking to move downtown, we knew that Gateway Center's prime location, paired with FCA Partners' reputation for excellent landlord services, would make the building an outstanding choice for the firm's first venture into the downtown region."

Alex Rosario, J. Paul Reynolds, Jon Pietkiewicz and Gabe De Jesus completed the transaction on behalf of Foundry Commercial.

Other recent deals at Gateway Center include Northwestern Mutual, GEICO and Caryn Green Law Firm, which, with the addition of Bogin Munns & Munns, brings the total percentage of space leased at the building to 85 percent.

About Foundry Commercial

Foundry Commercial is a full-service real estate services and investment company with 270 employees and more than 40 million square feet of management and leasing across the Southeast and Texas. Foundry provides corporate services, brokerage, leasing, building management and project management services, and is the largest real estate service provider to religious and not-for-profit organizations in the Country. Foundry also includes a development and investment platform that is fully integrated into its services business, leveraging its local market expertise to control more than $500 million in advantaged investment opportunities in partnership with its clients. Foundry Commercial was founded as CNL Commercial Real Estate in 2007 and launched as Foundry in 2015 through a management led buyout. For more information, visit www.foundrycommercial.com.

Media Contact:

Lauren Bowes

lbowes@findsomewinmore.com

(407) 722-7843
DARTMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/29/16 -- RTDNA Canada, The Association of Electronic Journalists, is pleased to recognize excellence in electronic journalism in the Atlantic Region.

RTDNA Canada Awards honour the best journalists, programs, stations and newsgathering organizations in radio, television and digital. "At a time of unprecedented challenges to our industry, it is now more important than ever to recognize the very best in Canadian electronic and digital journalism," says RTDNA Canada President Ian Koenigsfest. "These prestigious awards allow us to put aside our competitive energies for an evening and celebrate the very best in Canadian journalism."

Atlantic Region Lifetime Achievement Award Winners:

The Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2002 to recognize individuals who have distinguished themselves through outstanding service and continued excellence during the course of their career in broadcast journalism.

Gary MacDonald - Acadia Broadcasting - Retired

Allan Rowe - Global TV - Awarded posthumously

Here are the Nominees for RTDNA 2015 Awards:

Digital

Adrienne Clarkson Award - Diversity

-- CBC Nova Scotia: The Colour of Justice

Charlie Edwards Award - Spot News

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Premier's security involved in fatal N.L. shooting -- CBC Prince Edward Island: Prince St. Apartment fire

Data Storytelling Award

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Developing Halifax: A Database

Digital Media Award - Small/Medium Market

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Coldest. July. Ever. -- CBC Nova Scotia: Crash of AC624 -- CTV Atlantic: If It Happens in the Sky - Cindy Day's Digital Footprint

Ron Laidlaw Award - Continuing Coverage

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Winter Wallop -- CBC Prince Edward Island: Snowmageddon 2015

Sam Ross Award - Editorial/Commentary

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Witness Intimidation: When court doesn't feel safe -- CBC Prince Edward Island: Remembrance Day: A journey to Flanders

Multiplatform

Dan McArthur Award - In-depth/Investigative

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Daycare Debt -- CBC Nova Scotia: Crisis in Rape Funding -- CBC Prince Edward Island: Passing the school bus

Radio

Adrienne Clarkson Award - Diversity

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Information Morning - The Two North Ends -- CBC Prince Edward Island: Jemma's Cookies -- VOCM NEWS: Being Muslim In NL

Byron MacGregor Award (Small Market) - Best Newscast

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Crash at Stanfield International -- CBC Prince Edward Island: CBC Radio News PEI -- 989XFM: 8 a.m. News-November 5th, 2015

Byron MacGregor Award (Medium Market) - Best Newscast

-- NEWS957: The Morning News -- VOCM NEWS: VOCM Morning Show News

Charlie Edwards Award - Spot News

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Captain's Quarters Shooting -- CBC Nova Scotia: Sentencing of James Landry -- VOCM NEWS: TCH Fatal Crash

Dave Rogers Award (Small/Medium Market) - Short Feature

-- NEWS957 - Infertility in N.S.

Dave Rogers Award (Small/Medium Market) - Long Feature

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Serenade from the Past -- CBC Prince Edward Island: Seniors, kids and iPads

Dick Smyth Award - Creative Use of Sound

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Labrador West 911 Call

Gord Sinclair Award - Live Special Events

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Hungry Heart Cafe -- NEWS957: Hockey day in Canada

Peter Gzowski Award - Radio News Information Program

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Mainstreet - Tech & Consequences -- CBC Nova Scotia: Maritime Noon -- NEWS957: The Sheldon MacLeod Show - Shake the disgrace around the word 'suicide'

Ron Laidlaw Award - Continuing Coverage

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Sinking of The Atlantic Charger -- CBC Nova Scotia: The Andrew Younger Affair

Television

(iii)Bert Cannings Award - Best Newscast

Nominees in this category will be announced soon.

Adrienne Clarkson Award - Diversity

-- CBC Nova Scotia: A Brother's Last Hope -- CBC St. John's, NL: Dane Woodland's Transition -- CTV Atlantic: Out of Africa - Stories from South Sudan

Charlie Edwards Award - Spot News

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Valentine's Day Plot Thwarted -- CTV Atlantic: Hard Landing - The Night the Airbus Came Down -- Global Halifax: Air Canada Flight 624 Crash Landing

Dave Rogers Award (Small/Medium Market) - Short Feature

-- CTV Atlantic: James Gamble's Parents - The Other Side of the Valentines Day Mall Plot -- Global News Brunswick: Bud the Guardian Angel Dog -- Global News Brunswick: Harmonica Helps Dementia Patient -- NTV NEWS: Ron Hynes

Dave Rogers Award (Small/Medium Market) - Long Feature

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: Jake's Ears -- CTV Atlantic: Son Pham - Everyone's Son

Gord Sinclair Award - Live Special Events

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: CBC NL Votes -- CBC Nova Scotia: Remembrance Day 2015 -- CBC Prince Edward Island: PEI Election 2015

Hugh Haugland Award - Creative Use of Video

-- CBC Nova Scotia: Hope for Wildlife Bobcats -- CTV Atlantic: Nerves of Steel - Brushing up our Power Towers -- Global New Brunswick: Fredericton Underwater

Ron Laidlaw Award - Continuing Coverage

-- CBC Nova Scotia: ReChem Investigation -- CTV Atlantic: Murder Trial Sensation - Dennis Oland's Days in Court -- Global Halifax: Christopher Phillips Chemical Scare Case

Sam Ross Award - Editorial / Commentary

-- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador: CBC News - Here & Now - SHED Party Election Campaign -- CTV Atlantic: Lest We Forget - What our Parents Knew

Sports Award (Small/Medium Market)

-- CTV Atlantic: Hanging out with Sid - A Close Encounter with a Hockey Legend -- NTV NEWS: Power Couple - On The Mark

Trina McQueen Award - Television News Information Program

-- CBC Nova Scotia: At the Table - Amy Smith with Savannah Simon -- CTV Atlantic - Unforgettable - Remembrance Day 2015

RTDNA Canada is the voice of electronic and digital journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTDNA Canada recognize the responsibility of broadcast journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions and ideas. The RTDNA Canada Code of Ethics, adopted by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, is used to measure fairness and accuracy in our profession.

Contacts:

Monica Sayers

(604) 566.8311

RTDNA@icsevents.com



Ian Koenigsfest

President, RTDNA Canada

(604) 240.7326

president@rtdnacanada.com




Kazakhstan Potash Corporation Ltd, has entered further agreements in relation to its proposed acquisition of Satimola Ltd.Satimola is the holder of a potash deposit in the Republic of Kazakhstan.Under this deal, the purchase price is US$70 million, if the acquisition is completed in the next 9 months.If KPC needs an additional 9 months to finalise the transaction, then the purchase price will be increased to US$75 million.KPC has also agreed to pay Satimola US$150,000 per month as working capital.The Kazakhstan Potash Corporation reported a net loss of $12.9 million at 30 June 2016.
Eccrine Systems, Inc., a Cincinnati, OH-based developer of non-invasive, wearable, sweat sensors, raised $5.5m in Series A funding.

Backers included CincyTech Fund IV and other sources within the CincyTech local, regional and national investor community.

The company, which has recently been awarded a $3.96m contract by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory, intends to use the funds to continue to develop its swet sensors.

Led by Robert Beech, CEO and co-founder, Eccrine Systems is developing advanced, wearable, sweat sensing systems based on innovative research and intellectual property that originated from the University of Cincinnati and the Air Force Research Labs at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

The companys technology platform addresses a spectrum of monitoring applications including industrial toxicity, fitness-for-duty, stress management, treatment effectiveness and various medical conditions.

Since raising a $1.5M seed round in early 2015, Eccrine Systems, which is based in the HCDC Business Center, has grown its staff to over twenty team members.

FinSMEs

04/10/2016
iwoca, a London, UK-based small business lender, raised 46m in debt and equity funding.

The company closed a 21m Series C funding round and raised a 25m secured debt facility.

The equity round was led by Prime Ventures with participation from CommerzVentures, Global Founders Capital, Acton Capital Partners and Redline Capital.

The debt was raised via a syndicate led by Shawbrook Bank.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to develop its technology & data platform as well as to expand operations across the UK and Europe.

Launched in 2012 and led by Christoph Rieche, Chief Executive Office, iwoca offers up to 100k flexible credit to small businesses across Europe on demand. providing instant decisions, no upfront fees and no long-term commitments. Since launch in 2012, the company has lent over 100M to 4000+ businesses.

iwoca also has operations in Poland, Spain and Germany.

FinSMEs

04/10/2016
Startupbootcamp announced the 10 startups that will join its Berlin based Digital Health program.

A diverse range of teams covering various business topics  from Behavior Change programs to womens health and artificial intelligence  were chosen to join the accelerator program which starts on November 7th 2016.

After reviewing 197 applications, the startups were chosen during a two-day selection process. In total, 21 finalists were invited to attend the Startupbootcamp Digital Health Selection Days in Berlin from 29th to 30th September and pitch their startups in interviews to 70 program mentors and corporate partners such as arvato CRM Healthcare, Deutsche Apotheker -und Artzebank (apoBank), Munich Health, Philips and Sanofi in Germany.

The ten winners selected for the 2016 cohort include:

FetView, from Czech Republic, has developed a system supporting female and fetal healthcare physicians to analyze medical images with Big Data and machine learning.

YuScale, from Germany, determines the carbohydrates and other nutritions of ready to eat meals which is the daily pain point for diabetics.

iRewardHealth, from USA, provides an evidence-based incentive program motivating healthy behavior change through an adaptive reward system adjusting to users level of engagement.

Memoria, from Israel, has developed a location-based platform aimed at guiding, assisting and monitoring Alzheimers patients throughout their daily routines.

MediLad, from Germany, has developed a virtual health assistant (AI) that provides curated content in womens health and Sexual Transmitted Diseased (STIs) through instant messaging platforms.

Paralign, from USA, has developed a thought and mood tracker with combined AIs that help users identify recurring thought patterns, creating support communities, building an on-demand marketplace for mental health.

Innovitas Vitae, from Italy, has provided a diagnostic biomarker screening (IMMUNOX) to detect temporary infertility in women and a food supplement (NOFLAMOX) as an effective approach for female infertility care.

Coronect, from Germany, provides a medical device which sends cardiovascular vital signs directly to the cloud for physicians to analyze anywhere, anytime.

FindAir, from Poland, provides a smart inhaler for people suffering from asthma that tracks all valuable geo-location based data that can help to prevent an asthma episode, reduce the needed medication dosage and teach users about the triggers.

Dermtest, from Estonia, has developed a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for people to get fast access to skin-cancer early detection services at the nearest GPs practice.

Led by Juliane Zielonka, Managing Director, Startupbootcamp Digital Health Berlin provides startups with mentorship from 100+ entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate partners, six months of free coworking space in Berlin, 15,000 seed funding, and perks and special offers worth over 400k. At the end of

the three-month program, startups pitch at Demo Day to more than 150 investors.

FinSMEs

04/10/2016
Spanish venture capital firm Kibo Ventures Partners (fka Kibo Ventures) held the first close of its second fund, at 71m.

Backers included the European Investment Fund, Telefonica Open Future SLU, Innvierte Economia Sostenible, Fond-ICO, Criteria Venture Capital, pension funds and family offices and other private investors. Kibo Ventures Fund II has a final target of 100m.

The fund will invest in early stage tech startups (from 500k to 1M) and  if needed  in their successive rounds (up to 5M per company).

The Madrid based firm, which is led by founding partners Aquilino Pena, Javier Torremocha, and Jose Maria Amusategui, and investment managers Joaquin Rebuelta and Juan Lopez Santamaria, has also appointed Sonia Fernandez as an investment partner and Valeria Loewe as Director of Operations and Business.

The portfolio includes PeerTransfer, JobandTalent, Captio, Omnidrone, Qustodio, Minube, etc.

Among others, exits include Trip4Real (recently sold to AirBNnB), Ducksboard (sold to New Relic) Blink (sold to Groupon).

FinSMEs

04/10/2016
TV fanatics have been waiting for Westworld to debut on TV ever since Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy announced the remake of the 1973 film of the same name that was directed by sci-fi novelist Michael Crichton.

The new HBO series combines two hot-selling genres of westerns and science fiction to create a winning formula: The series centers on the titular Wild West-themed amusement park, in which paying guests interact with increasingly lifelike hosts that are artificially intelligent androids.

Westworld is produced by Bad Robot Productions, Jerry Weintraub Productions and Kilter Films in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced, written and directed by Jonathan Nolan, executive produced and written by Lisa Joy, and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, Bryan Burk.

Here's what we know so far about HBO's next big series:

The park was created by Dr. Anthony Ford (HBO) and is run by a corporation which seems to have an agenda of its own.

The hosts are programmed by a team of engineers headed by Dr. Bernie Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) and managed by Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babbett Knudsen), Westworld's Quality Assurance head. The storylines within the park stem from the Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman), the park's programmer. Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) is the oldest host in Westworld. The hosts are programmed against hurting the guests.

The Hollywood Reporter has reported that the overall budget for the 10 episode project is in the $100 million range. Sources peg the budget for the 90-minute Westworld pilot alone in the $25 million range, including re-shoots, with some costs rolled to episode two as parts of the series debut were moved out of the premiere. The production value of this thing is preposterous, Westworlds executive producer J.J. Abrams told The Hollywood Reporter. But it's HBO. That's what they do."

It is widely speculated that one of the reasons HBO is investing so much in Westworld is that the Game of Thrones is going to come out with its last season in 2017, after which HBO is scared it will loose out viewership to Netflix and Amazon.

The Independent reported that the premiere of the pilot episode attracted 3.3 million viewers; compared to the Game of Thrones debut which attracted 2.2 million.

StarWorld Premiere HD is screening WestWorld at 10pm everyday.
Salman Khan will soon be foraying into the theatre business with the launch of Salman Talkies, a single screen theatre chain with cheaper movie tickets and great movie-watching experience.

Salman's core fan base is known to watch films in single screen theatres and this may be the reason for his choosing this market section.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the actor-producer will be starting with six theatres from all over Maharashtra and later expand to Uttar Pradesh. The tickets will be sold at subsidised rates for adults, and free for children.

The theatres will be launched during Diwali with two of the biggest releases for this year Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay.

Speaking at a recent event, the actor discussed rising ticket prices, If a film has to flop, the effect of the loss should be as little as possible. Jai Ho did a business of Rs 138 crore with tickets priced at Rs 200. On weekdays, the prices were down to Rs 100 but since we didnt publicise this fact, people said, 'Arey is that the only business?'"

The actor also plans to build a private theatre for himself and has zeroed in on two properties in Juhu and Bandra. He will be finalising one of them once he's back from Manali where he is currently shooting for his upcoming film Tubelight.

Recently Salman's brand Being Human that consists of a clothing line also forayed into the jewelery segment.
With India attracting several foreign airlines in recent years following the relaxation in FDI (foreign direct investment) rules, Singapore-based low-cost airline, Scoot Airways has been steadily testing waters in the country's growing domestic aviation space.

Scoot Airways, the long-haul budget arm of Singapore Airlines, started its third service in India by launching its inaugural flight to Jaipur yesterday (Monday) night.

Scoot has been operating in India for some time now. In May this year, it began operating flights to Chennai and Amritsar.

As per the schedule, the company's Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights will operate from Singapore to Jaipur on Monday, Friday and Sunday, while flights from Jaipur to Singapore are scheduled on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.

Scoot will fly to Jaipur three times a week, which will be increased to four from the month-end, acording to a press release.

Scoot is the fourth airline from the island city-state to have established its presence in the world's fastest growing aviation market, which has been logging over 20 percent growth for around two years now.

"The response from Chennai and Amritsar has been phenomenal so far and with the Jaipur launch, our spirits are soaring. We see India as a promising market. We are hopeful of a strong foothold in India with our exceptional offers and features like in-flight connectivity and in-seat power," Scoot's India head Bharath Mahadevan said.

Besides parent Singapore Airlines (SIA), two of its subsidiaries -- Tiger Air and Silk Air -- also operate to India at present.

SIA also holds 49 percent stake in Indian full-service carrier Vistara, in which Tata Sons is the majority stake holder with 51 percent.

On extending services to other cities in India, Scoot is also considering connecting to smaller cities like Kochi, The Indian Express reported in May.

Besides competitive pricing, Scoot also expects to achieve 80 percent occupancy on its flights from Amritsar and Jaipur, while it expects to do better with the more mature Chennai route, The Indian Express report said.

With agency inputs
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Tuesday staged a protest outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence accusing him of a pro-Pakistan stance on the recently conducted surgical strikes by the Indian army. They demanded his resignation.

Hundreds of BJP supporters, led by Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, gathered outside the Civil Lines residence of the Chief Minister and raised slogans against him.

They shouted: "Jo Hafeez Saeed ka yaar hai, desh ka gaddar hai (Those who are friends with Hafeez Saeed are traitors)."

Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Youth and minority morcha also joined them.

The Delhi Police had to resort to mild force to disperse the protesters.

This came a day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Kejriwal on Monday urged Modi to "expose the false propaganda" being spread by Islamabad.

Despite differences, Kejriwal had hailed Modi for taking strict measures against Pakistan.

In a short video message, Kejriwal had focused on Pakistan's claims that no surgical strikes were ever conducted on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control. He had urged Modi to fight Pakistan's propaganda "just like we have been fighting Pakistan on ground".

The special forces of the Indian army on 28 September night carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK) and destroyed seven terror launch pads.
Amritsar: An empty Pakistani boat, which drifted into Indian territory, was seized on Tuesday by BSF troops from Ravi River in Punjab's Amritsar district, a seizure which comes two days after Coast Guard apprehended a Pakistani boat off Gujarat coast.

The boat was seized from Tota post area in the district.

BSF Director General K K Sharma said in Delhi that "no suspicious" item was found on the boat and prima facie the boat drifted to the Indian side.

The seizure comes at a time when there is heightened vigil in border areas due to increasing tension between India and Pakistan.

BSF's Punjab Frontier DIG, R S Kataria said, "The Pakistani boat had got washed away to this side in Ravi river along the International Border (IB)".

He said it was an empty boat and had got washed away along with its anchor.

"Yesterday, there was strong flow in the river. The boat could have probably got washed away due to rising water level in the river," he said.

Kataria said such occurrences were not rare and in the past too even animals have got washed away due to strong flow and rising water level in the river.

On 2 October, a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Ship 'Samudra Pavak' had apprehended the Pakistani boat with nine crew members on board off Gujarat

coast during patrolling.
With reports confirming that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is recovering and is out of danger, it's time to ask a critical question that most of us forgot: Was it right to ask for her health information?

Nothing could have been more illustrative of the ignorance about privacy and confidentiality in India than the clamour for Jayalalithaas medical information ever since she was admitted to Apollo hospital in Chennai on 22 September. It also exposed the double standards of our political leaders.

Probably, journalists were professionally justified in being nosy, but the Opposition leaders demands for information on her medical condition and the details of her treatment were patently vulgar. No law in India or any part of the world could have justified releasing such information. DMK president Karunanidhi was insistent and even went a step further by asking for her photo from the hospital. The opportunistic politician in him didnt care that modesty and bodily integrity were also essential features of medical privacy.

If nobody gets to know what happened to Jayalalithaa when she finally gets discharged from the hospital, unless she herself volunteers to disclose, it will be a victory for medical ethics in India. It was high time that we had a high profile case in which the trust between a patient and his/her doctor/hospital wasnt breached even under extraordinary pressure. It would also show that an Indian hospital can indeed protect medical information if its determined

Confidentiality, the cornerstone of patient-doctor relationship, is a frequent casualty in the Indian healthcare setting that even the Supreme Court once failed to uphold when a prominent hospital informed the family of the fiance of a blood donor that he was HIV positive. Although our laws and codes of professional conduct are not as robust as those in the UK and the US, the Indian Medical Council (Professional conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 (Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002), do provide a decent framework for doctors and institutions to deist from sharing patient information with a third party.

According to this Code of Ethics, Physicians are obliged to protect the confidentiality of patients during all stages of the procedure and with regard to all aspects of the information provided by the patient to the doctor, including information relating to their personal and domestic lives except in a situation when there is a serious risk to a specific person or community.

This is not majorly different from the UKs General Medical Council (GMC) guideline that you must respect the wishes of any patient who objects to particular information being shared with others providing care, except where this would put others at risk of death or serious harm". The idea is more or less the same with the AMA (American Medical Association) Principles of Medical Ethics as well when they state that a physician shall safeguard patient confidences and privacy within the constraints of the law.

In simple words, a clinician should not disclose information about a patient without authorisation. In Jayalalithaas case, the only person authorised to do that, unless there is a court order that cites an extraordinary threat to others, is she herself. In fact, to make a strong case for deterrence, every single rumour about her medical condition should be traced and the culprits should be brought to book.

Historically people have been curious and speculative about the health conditions of political leaders and public figures. The health conditions of autocratic cult leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong were state secrets. Documentary films and books posthumously sought to establish that both suffered from Parkinson's in addition to a host of other illnesses, including, in Hitlers case, syphilis. In India, nobody knows what ails Sonia Gandhi although the party had made it public that she had sought treatment abroad. The situation is similar in the US, where the media is inquisitive, but Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and her party know whats public and whats private.

In Sonias case, the rationale of the Opposition and the media was that the country needed to know because she was the president of the party that led the then national government. Against Jayalalithaa too, the argument was the same.

Since Jayalalithaa is a public figure holding the highest public office in the state, could accountability override the right to privacy because they seem to be in conflict? In other words, does Jayalalithaas role as the executive head of the state mandate a disclosure? No. Not by the IMC code or by law. Even the PIL filed in the high court by serial pubic interest litigant Traffic Ramaswamy seeking to know her status is both ethically and legally unsound.

Although in the case of Jayalalithaa and Sonia Gandhi, the right to privacy seemed to have been protected, the overall situation in India is really bad. The Right to Information (RTI) Act has made the situation even worse. For instance, the Maharashtra High Court ruled that the MCI code, which incidentally is only a subordinate law, cannot override the RTI. In the Surupsingh Hrya Naik vs. State of Maharashtra case, the court said that the health records of a person in police or judicial custody, if admitted to a State or government hospital during custody, should be made available under the RTI Act, and should be denied only in exceptional cases for good and valid reasons.

The continuous assault on the right to privacy and confidentiality that Chennai witnessed over the last two weeks highlights the need for robust legal reform on the issue and stronger ethical standards. Powerful leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Sonia Gandhi and Jayalalithaa have the wherewithal to defend their rights, not the ordinary citizens of India. They need protection by the State because sometimes even courts let them down.
Mumbai: Even as tension is quietly brewing in Maharashtra over the Maratha silent morchas, a show cause notice to the movement's leader Sanjiv Bhor from the Ahmednagar police might push the state into a complicated law and order situation.

After around two months since the Maratha Kranti silent morchas were successfully carried out across 24 districts in the state, the government is now gearing up to prevent a similar march in the future.

What could worry the state government is that the Marathas are not willing to give up the agitation anytime soon unless their demands are fulfilled.

An engineer by training, Bhor (42) left his job in 2009 and embarked on a social mission to educate his community on the alleged misuse of the Atrocity Act against them. A former member of the Sambhaji Brigade, he later went on to found the Shivprahar Sanghtan as became its founder president.

Bhor is already in the headlines by naming all the four alleged rape accused suspected to be behind the heinous crime that happened on 13 July at Kopardi in Ahmednagar. The incident was so barbaric that a Firstpost piece quoting The Asian Age said the victim was a ninth standard girl and her body was badly mutilated.

In the show cause sent to Bhor, the police sought to know why the Shivprahar Sanghtan president should not be banned from the six districts of Ahmednagar, Pune, Solapur, Beed, Aurangabad and Nashik. The notice has put a huge question mark on the silent morchas.

The notice stated that his presence in these districts could create a serious "law-and-order problem", "threaten communal harmony and national integration". Bhor, who is a strong advocate seeking reservation for Marathas has sought capital punishment for the accused in the Kopardi gangrape and murder case.

Talking to Firstpost, Bhor confirmed that he received the show cause notice signed by Ahmednagar, assistant police superintendent, Chinmay Pandit.

Bhor Notice by Firstpost on Scribd

"Despite such notice, the state government cannot end the Maratha silent March. I am ready to face anything for my community. I already replied to the notice and I will challenge it," Bhor said. "The next hearing before the magistrate is on 17 October. Police fear that if I stayed in any of these six districts then there might be law and order problem," he said.

The Shivprahar Sanghtan president said that all the offences which the police labelled against him are two years old and two offences were registered in last three months. All these offences are related to agitation and damage to public property.

The notice pointed out that Bhor had organised meetings without the consent of the authority and blamed him for causing social disharmony by creating a rift between the SC/ST and upper caste community.

Bhor also criticised the role of the mainstream media while covering the Maratha agitation.

Well known lawyer Satish Maneshinde has even threatened to challenge the government in the courts and is ready to fight for Bhor and other activists who find themselves in similar circumstances without charging any fee.

Talking to Firstpost, Maneshinde said that there was neither violence and nor any issue related to public hygiene as mentioned in the show cause.

"There was no traffic problem as well. But I heard that Ahmednagar police sent a show cause notice to Bhor. This is illegal. How can the police send a notice?" Maneshinde questioned. "Is he a criminal or doing any criminal activity? So I decided that whenever the cases on such brave activists will come I will fight against the government free of cost across the state. Even I am from the same community. Does the Devendra Fadnavis government want to rule the state like Gujarat?" he asked.

To calm down tempers, Chief Minister Fadnavis has decided to call a one-day special session to discuss reservation for the Maratha community and review the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Meanwhile, the next morcha is scheduled on 15 October in Kolhapur while the Mumbai one is planned after Diwali and before the commencement of the Winter Session of the Assembly.

"The government is under immense pressure to handle the demands of Maratha community," said a senior IAS official unwilling to be named.
Around two million supporters of Maharastra's former deputy chief minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal took to the streets of Nashik on Monday seeking his release from jail.

Bhujbal, who is also the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad  an all-India Other Backward Caste (OBC) organisation  was arrested on 14 March in connection with several cases pertaining to alleged corruption, money-laundering and land deals and has remained in custody since.

The protesters, sporting masks and T-shirts with Bhujbal's pictures, carried banners and placards demanding his release from custody and an end to political conspiracies and what they called a witchunt by state and central investigating agencies against him.

The organisers claimed the support of several senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including former state minister Eknath Khadse, Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde and Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde, in their capacity as OBC leaders, besides the supporters of late Gopinath Munde.

The pictures of these leaders  without indicating party affiliation  were prominently put up at various spots along the route of the procession, but both Khadse and Munde did not personally join the marchers, said Bhujbal's spokesperson Deepak Gangurde.

After Bhujbal's arrest in March, OBC politics had almost been pushed to the back-burner and he was virtually forgotten by his followers. But the success of ongoing agitation by the Maratha community over the past one month  and his upcoming birthday on 15 October  prompted his supporters to announce a massive procession.

Last month, several top BJP, NCP and OBC leaders started calling on the ailing Bhujbal, who is convalescing in Sir JJ Hospital, and the route map for Monday's mammoth event was reportedly chalked out as a "birthday present".

The seven-km-long procession in torrential rain, saw participation of representatives and supporters from various OBC groups and organisations across India and later full clean-up operations were conducted.

A delegation went to the collector and submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, raising several demands of the OBCs as a show of strength and support for the jailed two-time deputy chief minister who enjoyed a close personal rapport with Gopinath Munde.

Maratha agitation: Village renames itself Marathanagar

On Monday, the Maratha community took out a huge silent march  'Maratha Kranti Muk Morcha' in Satara in western Maharashtra.

Lakhs of members of the community, which is predominant in the state politics, from Satara district and adjoining cities such as Pune, Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur flocked to the city.

Gundewadi village in Khatav taluka of the district renamed itself to 'Marathanagar' after the gram panchayat of the village passed a resolution. The resolution was passed unanimously by the villagers, which will now go to the Zilla Parishad and the state government for approval.

Maratha community has been taking out silent marches across the state.

Demands of the community include reservations, scrapping of SC/ST Atrocities Act and speedy trial in Kopardi case where a Maratha girl was raped and murdered.

With inputs from agencies
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quite committed to his peace initiatives with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He had carefully and personally choreographed the same over 30 months and had good reasons to believe he was making contact. So what snapped? How and why did the relationship of trust between the two prime ministers deteriorate to an extent that exactly five months after allowing a Joint Investigation Team from Pakistan unprecedented access to an Indian Airforce base (27 March), the Indian Army launched covert surgical strikes across the Line of Control on 29 September?

Was it a steady ebbing of the bonhomie or did the trust break suddenly? Was the deadly attack on the Uri Army Base the breaking point or was that just the straw that broke the camels back?

Since the surgical strikes came immediately after the Uri attack, it might seem like Uri was the deal-breaker. But top government sources told Firstpost that something happened in August that broke the trust Modi had placed in Sharif. But before we discuss what exactly was that breaking point, it is necessary to roll back to early January to provide a bit of context.

The first serious setback to Modis peace initiatives came on 2 January when armed terrorists from Pakistan launched a deadly attack on the Pathankot Airbase. Although it caused major embarrassment for Modi  as much from NDA partners as from the Opposition  the government refrained from any knee-jerk reaction, choosing instead to give the benefit of the doubt to the Pakistani political establishments sincerity.

This mood continued well into April, too. By then, Pakistans five-member Joint Investigation Team, including one senior officer of the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had been given access to the attack site at the airbase. This entailed extreme political risks for the NDA government in general and Modi in particular. No sooner than the Pakistani team went back after being presented with  as this Indian Express article points out  hard evidence of the involvement of Pakistani agencies and terrorist organisations based there, Pakistan reneged on its promise for a reciprocal visit of Indian investigators.

This was decidedly embarrassing for the Modi government. But it still preferred to stay invested in the peace initiative rather than turn up the volume about betrayal etc. Tenuous though it was this peace would have held but for the encounter death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8 July and the subsequent developments in Kashmir.

Within a week of Wanis death, Pakistan not just upped the ante against India but did something that was, in the governments mind, a deal-breaker. Apart from fuelling the anger in the Valley, Sharif called a special cabinet meeting to empathise with Wani. This was followed up on 1 August with a joint session of the Pakistani Parliament, which passed a resolution eulogising Wani.

In December 2014 when the Tehreek-e-Taliban terrorists massacred more than 130 children in an Army school, schools across India  at the urging of the prime minister  observed a minutes silence in honour of the slain innocents. And the Indian Parliament too observed silence before passing a resolution condemning the massacre and commiserating with the Parliament, government and the people of Pakistan. In return, we had the Pakistan Cabinet and its Parliament, led by its Prime Minister, eulogising a known terrorist of a known global terror organisation.

That hit the government like a bolt of lightning, revealed a top government source. Sharif, it seemed, had surrendered meekly to the deep state (the Pakistani Army) and the most critical factor for the thaw in relations  the trust and bonhomie between the two prime ministers  was completely broken. Modi realised his peace moves had hit a dead end. That is when he started hardening his stand, around two months before the Uri attack.

So did Modi make a mistake in reposing his trust in Sharif? Was Sharif always going to play the army game ultimately? Sources close to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) maintain that Sharif appeared to be sincerely in favour of peace. Through back-channel diplomacy and in direct talks with Modi, Sharif had often remarked, Chaliye mil kar kuchch karte hain (let us do something together).

The attack on Pathankot was the Pakistani deep states response to the trust developing between the two governments

That and the fact that he had shown sincerity on certain occasions, built a degree of trust. For instance, Sharif called up Modi to convey his deep regrets and sympathies after the fidayeen (suicide) attack on Pathankot airbase on 2 January. His voice clearly showed his sense of unease and anguish over the attack. I will handle them, was his assurance to Modi. Sure enough, an FIR was filed in Pakistan on the Pathankot attack.

It was taken a gesture of good intent taken at great political risk. The trust was cemented. That is why the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs were quite restrained in their reactions to Pathankot and the role of Pakistan. Sources in the MEA admitted that there was a clear message to give manoeuvring space to Pakistan and not drive the Sharif government into a corner. Much against the wishes of the Indian intelligence agencies, a team of Pakistani investigators was allowed to inspect the scene of crime.

Highly-placed sources in the government admit that on 10 July, 2015 when Modi and Sharif met on sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Ufa (Russia) for an hour, the confidence both the leaders exuded was indicative of growing bonhomie and trust between them. Sharif gave the impression of a leader who is conscious of dangers of nursing sanctuaries of terrorism in his backyard. Every time he parroted the line let us do something. In the same vein, both the leaders talked about the Mumbai attack and resolved to bring perpetrators of the crime to book.

It was in this context that Modi while returning home from Afghanistan had decided to touch down in Lahore to wish Sharif on his birthday and attend his grand daughters wedding at the Raiwind palace on December 25 last year. It was at the closed confines of the Raiwind Palace in company of the Sharif brothers that Modi spoke about Jung bahut karli, jung karke kya paya, na jameen mili na jannat paaya (What has war yielded? Neither land nor haven)".

The attack on Pathankot was the Pakistani deep states response to the trust developing between the two governments. Aware of this, the Modi government gave enough wiggle room for Sharif, But the moment Sharif himself led the eulogy of a terrorist in his countrys Parliament, Modi saw red. Then came his speech at the UN General Assembly which showed that he was either reading somebody elses speech or that he had put up a facade for Modi.

That set the stage for the new terms of engagement with Pakistan as revealed in the wee hours of 29 September.
Dear Comrade Sitaram Yechury,

It was nice hearing you on television, talking about having a dialogue with Pakistan. Unsuspecting and ill-informed viewers, no doubt, would have been overwhelmed with joy by your homily. To them, yours might have sounded like one of the few sane voices that are being drowned by the war cries of jaw-for-tooth jingoists. Then you explained later that what you meant was diplomatic and political moves to defuse tension.

But the tone of your clarification was as conciliatory as that of your original sermon. Forgive me, Comrade Yechury, for getting a sneaking suspicion that the Left and the Left-leaning journalists of this country are somehow getting left out of the campaign against terror, which is a pretty serious business. And worse, your call for peace seemed suspiciously similar to the empty noises that the Chinese made following the Uri horror. The Chinese too advised India and Pakistan to talk and de-escalate tension.

And I cant help remembering the India-China war of 1962 either.

Hurry up, comrade. Tension is building, and time is running out

At that time, the leaders of your glorious, undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) supported China, saying it wanted to keep its ideology above nation. This forced Jawaharlal Nehru to throw many CPI leaders into jail. One of them was a man called VS Achuthanandan, a central committee member, who was lodged in the Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail. But Achuthanandan was furious with the partys stand. In jail, he suggested to his other comrades that they should collect blood and donate it to injured Indian jawans. The word reached the ears of a CPI leader called Jyoti Basu, who ordered an inquiry into Achuthanandans anti-party activity.

As a result, the Kerala leader was demoted in the party hierarchy after he was released from jail.

This is not to question the personal loyalty of either you or other comrades in the CPM and the dozen or so parties into which Indias glorious communist movement has divided itself. I am also, in no way, questioning the motives behind your undying clamour for peace, your sincerity of purpose, your magnificent vision for the future and your kind-hearted altruism, despite the fact that Indias communists are great admirers of the likes of Joseph Stalin, who executed at least three million people in the erstwhile Soviet Union, and Mao Zedong, who killed five million people or more.

It would be irresponsible of me if I failed to mention your unshakable belief that the Great Indian Revolution is just around the corner to wipe out all the evils confronting this nation, in spite of the fact that CPMs performance crashed from 5.6 percent of the votes and 43 Lok Sabha seats in 2004, to 5.3 percent of the votes and 16 seats in 2009, to 3.2 percent of the votes and nine seats in 2014.

Accept my apologies for having digressed, and let me return to the subject of talking to Pakistan.

Its indeed a good thing, Comrade Yechury, to have a limitless passion for peace with neighbouring countries. But in the present case, there is a hitch. Pakistan is not a country. Its a terror factory. It exports terror with as much ease as it does cotton and leather goods. The made-in-Pakistan terror is seen not just in India.

This is what India told the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September, three days after the horror of Uri: The land of Taxila, one of the greatest learning centres of ancient times, is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism. It attracts aspirants and apprentices from all over the world. The effect of its toxic curriculum is felt across the globe.

Grieving over the Uri killings, India poured its heart out when its diplomat Eenam Gambhir told the UN: Pakistan channelises billions of dollars, much of it diverted from international aid, to training, financing and supporting terrorist groups as militant proxies against its neighbours.

Suppose, Comrade Yechury, thief after thief breaks into your house and walks off with one valuable after another fairly regularly. Would you go in search of the chief of thieves, give him a flying kiss, offer him a cigarette and a cup of coffee and request him not to steal my things? You wouldnt, would you? You would do something else: You would either thrash him black and blue, or call the cops or talk to all your neighbours and come up with something to stop thieves from visiting the neighbourhood.

You and other peaceniks, who include several Left-leaning journalists, not only make the mistake of treating Pakistan as any other country, but also commit the blunder of believing that this rogue state is a threat to only India on account of Kashmir. Get this right: Pakistan isnt Indias headache alone.

Most major terror attacks in the world have some Pakistani link. Read this telling Firstpost article by Prakash Nanda, which says: Pakistan has produced the CIA shooter Mir Aimal Kasi; the 1993 World Trade Centre bomber Ramzi Yousef (born in Kuwait to Pakistani parents); 11 September attacks (9/11) mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed; The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearls kidnapper, Omar Saeed Sheikh; and three of the four men behind the July 2005 train and bus bombings in London.

And dont brush aside the fears of US democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. She is terrified of the possibility of Pakistans nuclear weapons falling into the hands of jihadists. She said: ... we live in fear that theyre going to have a coup, that jihadists are going to take over the government, theyre going to get access to nuclear weapons, and youll have suicide nuclear bombers. So, this could not be a more threatening scenario.

Hillary is no ordinary politician, comrade. She is a former US secretary of state and she should have some idea of what she is talking about. And doesnt that bring out sweat on you?

And doesnt it worry you that China, a country that you admire so much, is the only major nation that backs Pakistan?

You must also be aware that Pakistan was also known to have peddled not only nuclear weapons know-how, but even related components and materials to such countries as Iran, Libya and North Korea in the past.

Despite all this, Comrade Yechury, you and other Left peaceniks, who are blessed with superior wisdom and intellect and who live in an exalted stratosphere where your ideology has no borders, find Pakistan to be like any other country.

Pakistan is not a country. Its a terror factory.

Havent you noticed that, besides being a terror exporter, Pakistan has no recognisable structure, either that of a classic democracy or typical authoritarianism? It has a prime minister in Nawaz Sharif, yes. But he dances to the terror tunes of his army generals. Besides, both he and the generals are among Pakistans richest men, and they are as passionate about exporting jihadists as accumulating wealth. There is something not very right there, comrade. And you want to have a dialogue with them? With whom there?

What you must endeavour to understand is that the threat that Pakistan poses to world peace is a colossal one. India cant make Pakistan mend its ways by carrying out surgical strikes, which have limited utility. Nor can it go to a full-scale war, unless it is forced into it, because that has unlimited consequences of a ghastly kind. So that wont help. What can help is an international coalition against the rogue state to ensure its complete isolation and surrender. Thats what all peace-lovers must strive to bring about in the interests of world harmony.

May I take the liberty of suggesting you take the first available flight to Beijing, meet Chinese premier Li Keqiang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and your innumerable friends there and use your good offices and persuade that country to join a global coalition against Pakistans terror?

Hurry up, comrade. Tension is building, and time is running out.

The author tweets @sprasadindia
New Delhi: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in India on Tuesday on a three-day official visit.

"Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives in New Delhi; he will hold talks with top leaders including PM Narendra Modi," state broadcaster Doordarshan tweeted.

Wickremensinghe will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi here on Wednesday, according to the External Affairs Ministry.

His visit assumes significance as India, citing Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism in the region, last week pulled out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.

The Indian move came after the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 19 soldiers.

Following India's move, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan also followed suit, citing the same reason, virtually isolating Pakistan in the region.

Sri Lanka has not pulled out but has said that a Saarc Summit would not be possible without the presence of India.

On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe will also hold meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

Later in the evening, he will call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister will attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday along with Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman.

Wickremesinghe will leave for Colombo on Thursday evening.
Pakistan wants peace with its neighbours.

It never had anything to do with terrorist groups operating under its nose.

It never used non-state actors to bleed India by a thousand cuts.

It is a wonderful country that would focus on the well-being of its citizens if not repeatedly provoked by India.

It is a functioning democracy with no deep state dictating terms to it.

Its Islamabad, not Rawalpindi, that calls the shots in all matters.

There are no limits to being in denial, or being delusional. Pakistan cannot stop being both. You dont expect a deeply-flawed, genetically-defective country to be any better. But when it seeks to make both deliberate tools in games of deception played by the State, it becomes a matter of consternation. That perhaps is the case with Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basits latest statement  the first after the Indias surgical strike  calling for talks between the countries to break the ice.

In an interview with The Indian Express, he made his country look totally reasonable, even pious. ...Both our countries need to give diplomacy centre-stage and rather than talking at each other, it is important to talk to each other...We need to have serious and sustained diplomacy and result-oriented engagement..., he said. If it was meant to shift Pakistan to moral high ground after the retaliation by the Indian defence forces to the Uri attacks, then it fell flat. Only a few days ago, his countrys foreign minister was talking of nuclear war; others in the military and political establishments were speaking the language of war and devastation.

Basits statement is a good old game of deception.

Pakistan had become uncharacteristically subdued and sober after the terrorist attack on the Uri army camp that claimed the lives of 18 soldiers. Its reaction made it obvious that it anticipated a strong retaliation from India and condemnation from the global community. After causing the damage it had, to then play innocent is an old ploy. The country has proved adept at shifting position according to its convenience. The only difference this time was that nobody was prepared to buy it. The rebuke from powerful countries was sharp.

Its clear that Pakistan is under pressure from even countries close to it to bring the war heat down and stop the escalation of conflict. That it would feign ignorance of any surgical strikes by India, dismiss them as a rebranding of routine cross-border firing and pretend to be unruffled is far from normal. In a conspiracy of silence, there was no mention of the strike in the Pakistani media and the military and political establishments behaved as if nothing took place. Now, we have talk of resumption of peace talks. So what gives?

When countries make deception an instrument of diplomacy and statecraft, they become unreliable

No country wants a war in the volatile region of great geopolitical significance. China, the closest friend of Pakistan, has massive economic interests in the country. Its plan to invest heavily in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor linking Xinjiang and Gwadar port in Balochistan through a network of railways and roads is driven by the motive to gain direct access to lucrative sea routes and oil deposits. A war-torn, unstable Pakistan puts its investments and long-term interests at risk. It may not be friends with India but would not want escalation of conflict for its own interest.

Similar is the case with the US. It might adopt a tough posture against Pakistan for its acts but it can hardly part company with it citing its enmity with India. Pakistans geographic location makes it indispensable for the US for geostrategic reasons. It is not in Washington's interest if India and Pakistan remain in a state of war for long, and terrorist groups go out of control in the region. Since India looks in no mood to back out of confrontation post-Uri, both China and the US have exerted pressure on Pakistan to cool matters. Islamabad is being reasonable under pressure. It also suits the country to look good at this point.

But, it does not mean it wont be back to its devious ways soon. When countries make deception an instrument of diplomacy and statecraft, they become unreliable.
New Delhi: The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday accused the Centre of politicising the Cauvery water sharing issue and asked it to withdraw the petition submitted seeking modification in the Supreme Court order.

The AIADMK MPs, led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai, took out a protest march from Parliament House to the Prime Minister's Office in South Block after the 49-member contingent was allegedly denied permission to meet the PM.

"The central government is engaged a political game. They want to politicise the issue," Thambidurai told reporters after the march was stopped by the security personnel in front of the PMO.

"We want them to withdraw the modification petition submitted in the apex court and constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). The Centre is duty bound to uphold the majesty of law, decision of Supreme Court and final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal," Thambidurai said.

A seven-member team of MPs, later, met the PMO officials and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in constituting the CMB. The AIADMK MPs, in their memorandum, accused the Centre taking a stand against Tamil Nadu and its farming community.

"We were shocked to hear that the Government of India has filed an Interlocutory Application on 3 October, 2016, inter alia praying that the directions of the Supreme Court to set up a Cauvery Management Board be reviewed and recalled. This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Government of India has been taking thus far.... The stand taken by the Government of India is against the state of Tamil Nadu and its farming community," it said.

The memorandum to the Prime Minister also accused certain Union ministers of taking pro-Karnataka stand in the Cauvery issue. "The central ministers belonging to Karnataka have been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. This is against the constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two states, as they are Union ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu," it said.

The submission also urged the Prime Minister to direct the Water Resource Ministry to withdraw the modification petition.

All 49 MPs of AIADMK including 37 from Lok Sabha and 12 from Rajya Sabha participated in the protest march.

The Supreme Court had asked the Karnataka government to apprise it by Tuesday whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as directed by it on 30 September.

The Centre had on Monday moved the apex court seeking modification of its earlier order asking it to constitute the Board by Tuesday.

On 30 September, SC had directed Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs water from 1-6 October, warning it that no one would know when the "wrath of the law" would fall on it.

The apex court had also directed the Centre to establish the board, saying once it was constituted, its team would visit the sites to take a prima facie view of the ground reality and submit a report.

On 1 October, Karnataka had moved a review petition in the apex court against its three orders on Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu and direction to the Centre to create the Board.

In its review petition, Karnataka said "grave miscarriage of justice" has been caused to it pursuant to the three apex court orders of 20, 27 and 30 September, by which it was directed to release 6000 cusecs of water till 6 October and the Centre was to constitute the Board by 4 October.
The Maharashtra government's special cabinet meeting in Aurangabad on Tuesday  a meeting of this nature is taking place after a gap of seven years  is the first meeting in two years of the BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis government. In this special meeting, several measures could be taken by the government in the backdrop of floods across the Marathwada region for the past four days. It may be recalled that the silent morcha by the Maratha community started in Aurangabad.

And so, the location takes on an added importance, from the point of view of farmers and the Maratha community.

Sources from the government told Firstpost that special packages had been planned for drought-affected farmers. But after the past month's heavy rainfall across the region, the main problem is the deluge, he added. In the past two years, the Fadnavis government declared Rs 17,000 crore worth of packages to drought-hit farmers.

The last special meeting of the state cabinet was held in 2009 under the leadership of then chief minister Ashok Chavan. At that time, the Congress government announced Rs 5,000 crore for Marathwada, Rs 5,232 crore for the Konkan region and Rs 6,500 crore for north Maharashtra. It's shocking that a large part of these packages was never actually disbursed, said a senior official from the finance department.

The timing of the meeting is as important as the location, because the entire region is facing a major deluge. In the past three days, 17 people were washed away in heavy rain and the kharif crop was destroyed due to heavy rainfall. The affected districts are Latur, Nanded, Beed and Usmanabad, where more that 50 percent of crops have been destroyed by the heavy rain.

Apart from packages for deluge-hit farmers (with immediate effect), the state government is likely to announce packages to promote agro-based products, said a senior minister from the Shiv Sena. There are 30 proposals to be discussed at today's meeting relating to such areas as agriculture, education, social issues, women's self employment and employment benefits for the region. With regards to the water shortages that were feared a few months ago, official sources from the irrigation department told Firstpost that most dams are almost full.

Earlier, Opposition leader from the NCP, Dhananjay Munde had appealed to the chief minister to hold a special meeting with MLAs and MLCs from all parties in the Marathwada region and declare a drought. During the Budget Session in March, Fadnavis had provided assurances that he will hold a special cabinet meeting in Aurangabad to focus on the issues affecting the region. And now that the meeting is set to take place, it is important that the chief minister also touches upon more the recent issues affecting the region: The Maratha community issue and whether or not to amend the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act .
New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday appeared before the Income Tax Department which questioned him for over three hours at the Central Revenue Building here in connection with a tax evasion probe against certain Kolkata-based firms.

Afterwards, Jain slammed the I-T department's move to summon him as "a witness" and said he was the Centre's "latest victim of vendetta politics".

He said the allegations against him do not hold water as he had made all the necessary disclosures in his I-T returns and election affidavits.

"It is a conspiracy to malign my political career," Jain told reporters in a press conference at the Aam Aadmi Party office after his appearance, that lasted from around 12 noon to a little over 3 pm.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh termed Jain's summoning as "harassment" and emphasised the party and the government "stand by him".

The I-T department had last month asked Jain, a key member of the AAP Cabinet, to appear before the Investigating Officer of the case on 4 October and furnish personal financial details and ITRs for the last four years.

Jain, who worked as an architect before joining politics, arrived at the I P Estate office accompanied by party leaders Singh and Ashutosh around 12 noon.

The I-T department had reportedly recovered documents relating to some transactions being made by at least three Kolkata-based firms and had a link to Jain.

He said the investments in the three firms were done when he was still in architecture.

He said at present, he is neither a director nor a shareholder in these companies and has no connection with them since July 2013.

"They failed to answer as to why I was summoned. They are projecting me as a hawala trader. I wonder whether the media prepared the questions I was asked by the I-T department or vice-versa. I was surprised when they asked me about persons whom I never met and spoke to in my entire life," he said.

However, the day had its share of drama in the form of a slipper attack against Jain, Singh and Ashutosh just as they were leaving the I-T office.

Bhavana Arora, who had staged an ink attack on Arvind Kejriwal in January, hurled a slipper at the AAP leaders which hit their car. She was upset over Kejriwal's remarks on cross-LoC anti-terror surgical strikes by the army.

The I-T department officials had claimed they have received records of certain financial transactions connected to Jain after their counterparts in Kolkata recently searched a firm in connection with a tax evasion and alleged illegal financial remittances case.
Mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which will go to the polls early next year, announced on Monday the reservations of seats by draw of lottery, unveiling a new electoral map that will force political parties to redraw their strategy to win votes.

Though the total number of seats across the metropolis remained the same at 227, lottery rejigged positioning of wards by following the rotation policy for reservation.

Of the 227 seats, 149 were kept open for general category candidates (74 for women and 75 for men), 61 for OBCs (31 for women and 30 for men), 15 for SCs (8 for women and 7 for men) while 2 seats were reserved for ST nominees (1 each for woman and 1 for man).

Members of general public, aspirants and political leaders were present to witness the lottery proceedings that was personally monitored by Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

In 2012, BMC became the first civic body in India to reserve 50 per cent of its seats for women candidates.

State Election Commission (SEC) officials conducted the lottery in the presence of Mehta and redrew the electoral ward boundaries. Each ward will have a population of over 54,000.

The wards that were put under the open category in the last elections (in 2012) were this time reserved for various categories as per the rotation rule for quotas.

Election Commission will now publish the draft information of all wards on 5 October to which citizens can put forward their objections and suggestions till 20 October, said a senior official from SEC.

Currently, the country's richest municipal body is jointly ruled by Shiv Sena and BJP, who are in power since last 20 years.

Shiv Sena won 76 seats and BJP 32 in the last elections. They were later supported by over a dozen Independent Corporators. Congress secured 50 seats, MNS 28, NCP 14 and Samajwadi Party bagged 8, among others.

Some Corporators, however, termed this exercise of redrawing electoral boundaries as "unfair" and said it will adversely affect their calculations and preparations for the upcoming polls.

"Now I won't be contesting from the ward where I was elected last time and worked hard to serve the people. I will have to contest from a different ward," said Sandeep Deshpande, Group leader of MNS in the House, who lost his seat in the reshuffle.
Even as the BJP lashed out at the Opposition for questioning the veracity of the surgical strikes along the Line of Control last week, senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Tuesday accused the ruling BJP of using the strikes for political gains. He added that he would consider the strike false until the government provided some kind of proof.

"We are worried about the politicisation of the issue, surgical strike happened in our time too but we never used it for political gains. BJP is politicising it," Nirupam said at a press conference.

Pointing that government might have used the strike to relieve itself from the intense post-Uri attack pressure, Nirupam asked the Centre to explain why the DGMO convened a press conference to declare the strike.

"There were three surgical strikes during Congress regime, but we never politicised it. The DGMO never held a press conference to declare it. So, who told the DGMO to convene a press conference in the post-Uri scenario?" Nirupam asked.

"The government has to provide some sort of evidence without compromising national security," Nirupam added.

However, when asked whether his remarks were the official line of the Congress, Nuirupam said that his views were personal.

On Monday, the Congress had asked the government to put forth credible evidence of last week's surgical strikes to expose Pakistan's false propaganda.

Senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma had said Pakistan was misleading its people by claiming that no such attack had taken place.

In that backdrop, it would be necessary for the prime minister to "expose" Pakistan by putting forth credible evidence about the surgical strikes on the intervening night of 28 and 29 September, Sharma said.

"The government must expose Pakistan's denial. It has all the tools and instruments to do so," he had said.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal too had asked the prime minister to present evidence of the strike to give a befitting reply to Pakistan.

"Since the last two days, Pakistan is taking international journalists to the border and trying to show that surgical strikes never took place. Two days back, the United Nations gave a statement that there was no such activity on the border," he had said.

"My blood boiled over these news reports (of the international media). Pakistan is indulging in smearing India's image at the international level. I appeal to the Prime Minister that the way he and the Army taught Pakistan a lesson on ground, he should also unmask the propaganda by Pakistan at international level. The whole country is with you. I also appeal to the countrymen not to believe in the false campaign by Pakistan," Kejriwal had said.

Cornering the Centre, former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday had also said that a major surgical strikes was carried out in 2013 but the then Congress government chose not to publicise it, reported India Today. However, Chidambaram did not ask for any evidence from the government.

Seven terror launch pads across the LoC were targeted by the Army on the night of 28 September in a nearly five-hour-long operation during which heli-borne and ground forces were deployed.

The announcement of the strikes came 11 days after the attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad on an Indian army camp in Uri in Kashmir, after which Modi had said the attackers will not go "unpunished" and that they will not be forgiven.

With inputs from PTI


It was a little amusing to find media by and large interpret Arvind Kejriwal's video message to Narendra Modi on surgical strikes as congratulatory and adulatory. In truth, a more ingeniously disguised attack on the integrity of the Indian army, the Indian Prime Minister and a more ringing endorsement of Pakistan's denial would be hard to find.

It wasn't the least bit surprising that chief minister of Delhi would tacitly raise doubts over India's stated position on an issue of national interest. He has done so before. But remarkably, a section of the Indian media  unlike their counterparts in Pakistan  bought into his coarsely sugar-coated needling that was done with all the finesse of a bull trying to find its way in a china shop.

This possibly marks a new low in Kejriwal's CV, though that cannot be said for certain since his political career is replete with instances of below-the-belt savagery on rivals. This is one politician who has single-handedly and precariously lowered the bar of political discourse with his intemperate language, guttersnipe tactics and failure to extend the very basic courtesy to his opponents.

As columnist Ajay Singh wrote recently in Firstpost on the Delhi CM, "Perhaps nobody in Indian politics has contributed to the lumpenisation of politics more than Kejriwal. He called the Prime Minister a psychopath and got away with it. He called Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley corrupt and was not held accountable for his indiscretions. He is constantly at war with institutions that come in the way of his own anarchic politics."

It is a misnomer to think that foreign policy is devoid from and stands independent of domestic pulls and pressures. As India's operation across LoC has amply proven, a state's response to external threats and its decisions on strategic interest are largely shaped by public opinion. And this works both ways.

It is arguable just how effective the retaliatory strike on terror infrastructure in PoK would be in discouraging Pakistan from continuing its asymmetric warfare against India but there is no denying that post-Uri attacks and New Delhi's response, Modi's stock has soared. Despite being two years in office, his personal approval ratings  as PEW Research found out recently  was already higher than his potential competitors. The booster shot of nationalism after the surgical strike would have made Modi almost invincible on domestic turf and the momentum may even carry BJP through in tough Assembly elections ahead.

As Yashwant Sinha, the former external affairs minister who has been a vitriolic critic of Modi in the past, wrote recently in his NDTV column: "The Prime Minister has shown the will power he possesses. Those who were trying to measure his chest must be looking for a new and much bigger tape."

Given this scenario, it is understandable that BJP's political rivals would be worried. They are aware that PM's actions have led to his party riding a crest of nationalism and they would be apprehensive of that repercussion affecting their electoral prospects in Punjab or Uttar Pradesh.

But when it comes to national crises  and killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a terrorist raid certainly counts as one  most mature political parties, even if fleetingly, rise above partisan politics to send a collective message of solidarity against forces inimical to India's interest. To Congress's credit, they initially rallied rock solid behind the Union government and our armed forces. The early statements from the party's high command were unequivocal in condemning Pakistan and it extending support for the government's actions on diplomatic, strategic and military fronts.

It cannot be that Congress was unaware of Modi's popularity curve and the political danger this poses. Yet that show of unity is a testament to decades of experience in statecraft which would have taught the Gandhis that there is a time for politics. And that time isn't now when 20 of our soldiers (including Uri and Baramulla) have been killed in two weeks by non-state actors unleashed by Pakistan.

That maturity didn't last for too long, however. In a subsequent revision of strategy, former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram asserted to News18 that "such cross-border preemptive actions" have been done by the UPA government post-Mumbai 26/11 attacks but the government chose not to speak about it. He tacitly raised the demand for "proof of strikes".

On Tuesday, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam went one step ahead, openly suggesting that Armys surgical strikes across the LoC were 'fake'. Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP, Nirupam tweeted, according to The Financial Express report.

Congress's sudden change in tack and an open challenge to the Army's credibility seems to be a reactionary move in response to the gauntlet thrown by Kejriwal. As always, the AAP chief became the first politician to lower the discourse and pave the way for a free fall. The Delhi CM adorns a Constitutional post and enjoys a position of power, yet owes no responsibility for his actions. This could have been a worrisome enough trait in an MP or an MLA but a staggering callousness for a chief minister.

It cannot be that Kejriwal was unaware of the repercussions of his video message where he, in the guise of condemning Pakistan, seemed to be doubting the DGMO's statement on surgical strikes and in the guise of "saluting Modi", appeared to be raising question marks on the Prime Minister and army's credibility. Though equally incredibly, Indian media failed to crack the limp satire in his speech, Pakistan media made no such mistakes. It won't be an exaggeration to say that the Delhi CM was the toast of entire Pakistan with its mainstream and social media anointing him a "hero" for questioning his own Prime Minister.

New Delhi CM questions authenticity of Indias surgical strikes in Pakistan, screamed The Express Tribune.

New Delhi CM questions authenticity of Indias surgical strikes in Pakistan: Arvind Kejri... https://t.co/u6civ73Hof - Express Tribune  Pakistan News (@Pakistannews) October 3, 2016

ABPLive reported on Kejriwal's tall stature in Pakistan, and how its publications and news channels were flooded with Kejriwals praises and were quoting his theory of no surgical strike in PoK.

Geo News lauded Kejriwal for urging "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prove that surgical strikes took place across the Line of Control". And in barely disguised glee, wrote: "Kejriwal gave Pakistans example saying that the Pakistani Army took foreign media to the Line of Control to show that such strikes did not take place He demanded that Modi government should also take foreign media to the LoC."

In his satirical praise of Modi and Indian army, Kejriwal seemed to have changed tack after getting his fingers badly burnt last week when he shared on Twitter an article that claimed that India, not Pakistan, was getting isolated globally in the wake of Uri.

Excellent article. On Uri, rather than Pak, India seems to be getting isolated internationally https://t.co/u6wKBE20fP  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 27, 2016

After watching his tweet kick up a furore, this time, he resorted to satire. But the shallowness of his spoof accurately reflects the contempt he reserves towards the intellect of his followers. Going by the way Congress has reacted to the mud-slinging, a new shameful chapter in Indian politics has begun. And by dragging the Army into the controversy, the only venerable institution left in India has now been sullied.

Thank you, Mr Kejriwal.
Pune: Taking on the politicians who cast "doubt" on the Army's surgical strike across LoC, Union

Minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday said such leaders should take "citizenship" of Pakistan.

"Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidences about surgical strike, they should be given the

evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan," Bharti said, replying to a media query in Pune.

She was in Pune to attend the centenary celebration of Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS).

The Congress had on Monday asked the government to put forth "credible" evidence of last week's surgical strikes,

carried out by the Army across the LoC, to "expose" Pakistan which has denied any such action.

Congress senior spokesman Anand Sharma had also sought to dismiss the claim that the surgical strikes on terrorist

launch pads were the first such retaliation by the Indian Army, insisting that it had responded earlier as well "as per the need or provocation".

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam on Tuesday raised doubt over the veracity of the Army's surgical strikes suggesting it was "fake", even as he accused BJP of indulging in politics over national interest.

"Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP.

politics over national interest(sic)," Nirupam tweeted.

He also said it is up to the government to prove that the surgical strikes did take place.
On 9 September, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu shifted his official residence from Hyderabad to a spacious bungalow on the banks of river Krishna in Undavalli village. This Lingamaneni guest house encroaches the river and is in violation of the River Conservation Act, according to activists who have filed petitions against it in front of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Though the Krishna district had issued a notice in February 2015 to the owners of the Lingamaneni estates  an industrial group said to be close to the Naidu family  a high level team of the district administration along with Naidus personal vastu consultant spruced it up for the chief minister.

Barely two kilometres from the Prakasam Barrage, the guest house has four bedrooms, an amphitheatre, two big halls and is spread over one and a half acres.

The estate, in fact, is just the tip of a much larger iceberg. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo wants to build his dream citadel  the new capital city of Amaravati  spanning over 217.23 sq kilometres and 25 villages.

This city would include 33,000 acres of private land and another 20,000 acres of government (including forest) land, dwarfing the original Amaravati  a historic hub of Buddhist culture said to have stood just a few kilometres away from the site of the new capital.

Naidu is now saddled with protests of environmentalists who approached the NGT, which directed in October 2015 that no construction activity should be taken up in the capital area without a proper Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).

But the Naidu regime ignored this directive and has already built temporary Secretariat blocks on the site of the Capital Region Development Area (CRDA). The EIA prepared by the Mumbai based Tata Consulting Engineers is also being questioned by the NGT.

Terming this move of the AP government as contempt of the NGT order, petitioners argued that the Tribunal had stayed all activity, including levelling of land and the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) clearance, since it is not the competent authority to issue clearances for such a large project.

But the state is defiant. Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana, who is overseeing Amaravati project, said, We got all clearances. On the stay issued by NGT, he added, I need to study the matter. I cannot make off-the-cuff remarks.

In the second week of September, the NGT again expressed doubts over the state's plans to elevate the 10,000-acre capital city to protect it from flooding. Will it be viable to elevate the capital city over such a large extent? asked NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. The case is posted for government response and the next hearing is scheduled for 6 November.

On 11 October 2015, the Tribunal directed the AP government not to take up any construction work in the earmarked place for the new capital, including levelling off the ground. It also sought the details of wetlands in the proposed new capital that would be exposed to floods in the Kondaveeti Vaagu (a tributary of the river Krishna) and also the Krishna river, which is known for regular flooding.

But Naidu went ahead with the laying of the foundation stone for Amaravati on 22 October 2015  an event that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the time, Naidu told media persons that the government would respond to the NGT notice and that he was confident of getting all clearances for the new capital soon. The issue though is still pending before the NGT with no resolution in sight.

Early in 2016, the AP government faced another hurdle with the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), who reportedly turned down the state's proposal to use about 13,000 hectares of forest land for construction of the capital project. Adding to these is the AP governments bidding process of Swiss Challenge, which is also facing legal hurdles and has been set aside for now.

Early in September, the NGT asked the AP government to immediately submit a report on the likely submergence of the areas in the proposed capital region. The PIL petitioners had submitted a detailed report to the Tribunal along with videos and photographs as evidence on the cutting of trees in the region and the likely submergence of land in the CRDA.

Concurring with the petitioners argument that the capital region was already reeling with around 50 degrees centigrade heat waves during the summer and that temperatures would further go up if greenery is reduced, the Tribunal asked the government to immediately put a halt to the ongoing work and submit a detailed report on the dry lands, areas that will face submergence and the existing greenery levels in the capital region and posted the case to November for further hearing.

An expert committee set up by the Centre had earlier questioned the state government on issues like acquisition of fertile agricultural land, high water table, vulnerable soil type and the flood-prone nature of the region and had also indicated that the region was not suitable for high rise development and capital building.

Still seething over loss of Hyderabad as per the terms of the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014, Naidu wants to build a capital city transforming the rich riverine farmland with streets like in Singapore, canals like in Venice and with the ambience of the ancient Telugu heritage of Amaravati.

His dreams hinge on attaining environmental clearances for the new capital city, which, if he does not get, would scare away international investors from the state. Even if the Union government is supportive of the Amaravati project, it would likely be a huge embarrassment to the TDP, with elections barely two years away.

Environmentalist and former Union Secretary EAS Sarma says that it was shocking that no survey was conducted in the capital city region for its bio-resources, water bodies and the socio-economic barometers.

In his petition filed under Section 16 and Section 18 of the NGT Act 2010, he says that the project will cause irreversible damage to the ecology and environment of the area.

Sarma says that there were several lapses  the SEIAA had not considered the environmental impact on a 10 km radius of the project site. If it had done so, it would have noted the air pollution in Vijayawada just 3 km away. Secondly there is no proper forest clearance as per MoEF notification of 2011, he adds.

The AP chief minister does not appear to be thinking too much about the environmental costs of his dream capital. For him more practical issues abound  getting the Swiss Challenge through, delivering Special Status to AP, induction of his son Nara Lokesh into the state cabinet and sorting out the turbulent issue of Krishna water sharing with Telangana.
Kunduz: Explosions echoed across Kunduz as Afghan commandos drove back a Taliban assault, forcing residents to shelter in their homes, a year after militants briefly seized the strategic provincial capital.

Government helicopters were targeting gunmen from the air in a bid to repel the attack, which came a day before President Ashraf Ghani was due to meet world powers at a major donors' conference in Brussels.

The militants were driven out of the city centre late on Monday, Nato and local police said.

"Government controls Kunduz City & Afghan security forces are in control of the main square with additional troops coming," the Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan said on Twitter.

"US forces have multiple assets & enablers in area to provide support."

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the United States had conducted air strikes in support of Afghan troops, and special operations forces were also on hand.

"The situation there remains fluid, we are continuing to watch it closely and to work with our Afghan partners," he said.

Kunduz police chief Kassim Jangal Bagh confirmed that Afghan forces were in control.

"The city centre is now in our hands and not in their hands. We are launching an attack to clean up the area," he told AFP.

Earlier in the day the provincial governor's office said Afghan commandos flown in from Kabul to boost local forces had begun pushing the insurgents back to the city's outskirts.

Special forces could be seen in the streets and some shops and businesses briefly reopened even as the sounds of fighting continued, an AFP correspondent said.

"Their attack has been repelled and the security forces are retaking the areas they had lost," governor Assadullah Omerkhil told reporters, adding that "tens" of Taliban had been killed.

Doctor Naeem Mangal, head of the Kunduz central hospital, said 43 civilians wounded by bullets and shrapnel had been brought in, with one dead body.

The Afghan interior ministry said one policeman had been killed and four wounded. It was not clear if they were included in the hospital's toll.

The insurgents, who are known to exaggerate their claims, said they had killed multiple soldiers.

Fighting was also reported along the Kunduz-Baghlan highway.
Sittwe: With fearful residents cowering indoors, security forces patrolling a tense town in western Myanmar collected bodies Monday from the debris of homes burned down over the weekend in some of the country's deadliest sectarian bloodshed in years.

The violence, which has left at least seven people dead and hundreds of homes torched since Friday, poses one the biggest tests yet for Myanmar's new government as it struggles to reform the nation after generations of military rule. The handling of the unrest will draw close scrutiny from Western powers, which have praised President Thein Sein's administration in recent months and rewarded it by easing years of harsh economic sanctions.

Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the region late Sunday and pleaded for an end to the "endless anarchic vengeance," warning that if the situation spun out of control, it could jeopardize the democratic reforms he has launched since taking office last year.

"We have not had any sleep for the last five days," said Ma Ohn May, a 42-year old textile shop owner in Sittwe, adding that residents were holed up and bracing for further ethnic clashes.

Violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and members of a Muslim minority who call themselves Rohingyas erupted Friday in Rakhine state and spread Saturday to Sittwe. The area was mostly calm Monday.

The unrest  apparently trigged by the alleged rape and murder last month of a Buddhist girl by three Muslims and the June 3 lynching of 10 Muslims in retaliation  stems from long-standing tensions in the region.

The region's Rohingya Muslims are seen by the government as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and are not officially recognized as one of the country's national ethnic minorities. Although some are recent settlers, many have lived in Myanmar for centuries. The government position has rendered the Rohingyas effectively stateless, and rights groups say they have long suffered discrimination.

Although the basic problem is a local one, there is fear that the trouble could spread elsewhere because the split also runs along religious lines.

In Sittwe on Monday, shops, schools and banks were closed, including the city's main market and some ethnic Rakhines wielding homemade swords could be seen guarding their homes or riding motorcycles. An Associated Press photographer in the town saw many homes burned or ransacked in the city's Mi Zan district.

Police in Sittwe retrieved four bodies, including one found in a river that was believed to be that of an ethnic Rakhine woman. The other three bodies were wrapped in blankets, but it was not clear who they were.

Police evacuated two Muslim families from the same area for their security because their Muslim homes were located among houses of ethnic Rakhines, who are predominantly Buddhist.

Ma Ohn May, the shop owner in Sittwe, said she and her colleagues had heard rumors that Muslims were approaching the coastal market by boat to launch an attack. She said her Buddhist cousin, living in the Muslim-dominated town of Maungdaw, had taken refuge in the local police headquarters.

"Her house has been damaged and she is living in fear," Ma Ohn May said, adding that food and water were in short supply.

Thein Sein's state of emergency was his first since becoming president. The measure allows the military to take over administrative functions for Rakhine State, a coastal region that borders Bangladesh.

In a nine-minute speech televised nationally Sunday night, Thein Sein said that the violence was fanned by dissatisfaction harbored by different religious and ethnic groups, hatred and the desire for vengeance.

"If this endless anarchic vengeance and deadly acts continue, there is the danger of them spreading to other parts and being overwhelmed by subversive influences," he said. "If that happens, it can severely affect peace and tranquility and our nascent democratic reforms and the development of the country."

In contrast to the previous military regime, Thein Sein's government has been relatively open in releasing timely information about the recent trouble. Under the former ruling junta, such incidents usually went unreported or were referred to only in brief, cryptic fashion.

Thein Sein was elected with the backing of the military, but discarded many of its repressive policies to seek accommodation with the pro-democracy movement of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The accounts in state media blamed Friday's rioting in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on 1,000 "terrorists," but residents' accounts made clear they were members of the local Muslim community.

The unrest seemed to be a reaction to the June 3 lynching of 10 Muslims by a crowd of 300 Buddhists. The lynch mob was apparently provoked by leaflets discussing the rape and murder last month of a Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslim men.

"I would like to call upon the people, political parties, religious leaders and the media to join hands with the government with a sense of duty, to help restore peace and stability and to prevent further escalation of violence," Thein Sein said.

Army troops had been deployed Friday in Maungdaw and Buthidaung to help police keep order, and security officials were reported to have fired shots to quell the violence. Curfews were also imposed.

AP
By Emily Stephenson

| PUEBLO, Colo.

PUEBLO, Colo. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Monday he brilliantly used" U.S. tax rules to his advantage in trying to limit the amount he paid in taxes, arguing it helped him survive a difficult period in the real estate market."I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess ... when few others were able to do what I did," Trump told a crowd in Pueblo, Colorado.It was Trump's first extended comments since a New York Times report said he had claimed a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns, which experts said might have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 8 election, has seized on the report, arguing the tax records undercut Trump's business acumen. What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? This is Trump to a T, hes taken corporate excess and made a business out of it, Clinton told a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday.

Clinton has repeatedly called on Trump to release his full returns, as presidential candidates have done in the past. Trump was dismissive of the Times' story in his Pueblo remarks, saying the media was "obsessed with an alleged tax filing from the 1990s."

The Trump campaign has not said, however, that the Times story was inaccurate. Instead, his supporters, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have contended that Trumps aggressive use of provisions under U.S. law to minimize his tax liability was evidence of his genius as a businessman and real estate investor.Trump picked up on that theme on Monday. I have brilliantly used those laws," he told the crowd in Pueblo.The flap over Trump's taxes comes during what has been a difficult stretch for the candidate, who faced criticism for his performance in the Sept. 26 debate against Clinton and his subsequent public spat with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll last week showed a majority of Americans felt Clinton won the debate, the first of three scheduled between the candidates..On Monday, the state of New York ordered Trump's charity, the Trump Foundation, to suspend raising money amid a probe into its activities. (Additional reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Joe Mangiamelli is the top choice for the Bellevue city administrator position.

Bellevue Mayor Rita Sanders announced Monday that she will nominate Mangiamelli for the job, and she expects the city council to approve her choice at its Oct. 10 meeting.

Im counting on their vote, and I feel pretty good about it, Sanders said Monday afternoon.

Mangiamelli, who has served as Columbus city administrator since October 2005, was one of four finalists for the job that opened in August when the Bellevue City Council removed former City Administrator Dan Berlowitz from the position following his involvement in an altercation at a dental office.

Berlowitz and Mangiamelli were among three finalists for the position in 2011, but Mangiamelli withdrew his name from consideration when it became clear that some Bellevue City Council members would oppose his nomination. Although Mangiamelli was the mayors top choice then, Berlowitz ultimately took the job and served Bellevue for about five years before his recent firing.

Sanders said theres been some turnover on the Bellevue City Council, with four new members since 2011, and shes done some relationship and trust building since that time. The Bellevue mayor said the city council knows she wants what is best for the city.

I feel pretty good about it, she said when asked about Mangiamellis nomination. It looks favorable.

Sanders said Mangiamelli has the professional qualifications to move Bellevue forward.

He served on the Bellevue Planning Commission and Solid Waste Task Force before becoming Columbus city administrator and also worked in Omahas Public Works Department for more than 20 years and served as an assistant to the citys mayor from 1997-2001.

Mr. Mangiamelli has a wealth of experience of policy making, interaction with elected officials, labor negotiations and administrative oversight of city government operations, a press release from Sanders office states.

Sanders said the fact that Mangiamelli still owns a home in Bellevue and is familiar with the community also played a large role in her selection.

That is icing on the cake, she said.

Mangiamelli, a U.S. Army veteran, is active with the International City Management Association and League of Nebraska Municipalities and previously served as president of the Nebraska City Management Association.

He is scheduled to earn $121,380 this fiscal year in Columbus. The previous Bellevue city administrator had a salary of $151,176.
If you're thinking about investing in JPMorgan Chase (JPM 1.19%), then you'll want to know a few things about the New York City-based bank. The three points below are a good place to start.

1. JPMorgan Chase is massive

The first thing investors should know about JPMorgan Chase is that it's huge. The $2.5 trillion worth of assets on its balance sheet ranks it first among banks in the United States in terms of size.

And the assets on JPMorgan's balance sheet tell only half the story. It also exercises control over $24 trillion worth of its clients' assets. Most of these are assets under custody, held for corporate and institutional investor clients. The remainder, $2.5 trillion, are assets under management or held by wealthy people in various types of accounts, such as brokerage accounts.

The reason it's important to know about JPMorgan Chase's size is because it weighs directly on the bank's performance. Thanks to new laws and regulations passed since the financial crisis, the nation's biggest banks must hold more capital than their smaller, simpler peers. This reduces a bank's leverage, which weighs on profitability.

In JPMorgan Chase's case, it has to hold 3.5% more capital relative to its assets than your standard regional bank. This, combined with other regulations that apply specifically to the biggest banks, puts JPMorgan Chase and other multitrillion lenders at a competitive disadvantage relative to competitors in the regional banking space.

2. It's a universal bank

Another central point that investors should know about JPMorgan Chase is that it's a universal bank. This means that it operates both an investment and commercial bank. Holding all else equal, this makes JPMorgan Chase riskier than a bank that focuses on collecting deposits and making loans, as a traditional commercial bank does.

The risk comes from an investment bank's trading operations. This was on display four years ago, when JPMorgan Chase lost $6 billion from a wrong way bet on the value of derivatives tied to the health of American corporations. The incident, known as the London Whale, cost chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon his 2012 bonus and nearly his job as well.

Investment banks with trading businesses must allocate a larger share of their asset portfolios to safe and highly liquid assets, such as government bonds, as opposed to higher-yielding consumer and commercial loans. Regulators require this to offset the risk that incidents like the London Whale scandal present. The downside is that it drives down the yield on a bank's asset portfolio, as government bonds are less profitable than loans.

3. It's run by a very good banker

The last thing that investors in JPMorgan Chase should know is that it's run by one of the best bankers of the current generation. Dimon cut his teeth working for the mastermind behind Citigroup, formed in 1998 when financier Sanford Weill initiated a merger between Citicorp and Travelers Group, which has since spun off on its own once again.

Soon after the merger, Dimon was fired by Weill for refusing to promote Weill's daughter. Dimon was then hired to turnaround Ohio-based Bank One, the sixth biggest bank in the country at the time, which later merged with JPMorgan Chase. That's how Dimon found his way to the $2.5 trillion bank.

Things could always change, but for the time being JPMorgan Chase investors can rest easy knowing that the 60-year-old executive is at the helm and doesn't seem intent on going anywhere anytime soon.
COLUMBUS  Local officials wont get another chance to redesign a portion of the 23rd Street corridor for decades.

So theyre taking an upcoming reconstruction of the main thoroughfare quite seriously.

We recognize that this is an opportunity to improve the appearance of the entrance to the city. We know that this opportunity wont occur again for probably another 50 years, said Dennis Hirschbrunner, a member of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerces Streetscaping Committee.

For months that committee has been brainstorming ways to make U.S. Highway 30 a more attractive, inviting entrance to the citys east side.

On Monday night, Columbus City Council gave its support to the next step in the process.

The council approved a $158,151 contract with Wilson and Company Inc. of Omaha for engineering services that arent part of the Nebraska Department of Roads planned reconstruction of 23rd Street. This includes water and sanitary sewer improvements along the stretch from 33rd Avenue to East 11th Avenue as well as a streetscaping master plan that outlines possible aesthetic upgrades in the area.

The streetscaping portion of the contract, which will result in a conceptual design to be presented to city and state officials, comes with a price tag of $44,500  a cost Hirschbrunner believes is well worth the potential long-term impact.

We want to put our best foot forward in inviting people to come and live here, he said.

Under the agreement, city officials and members of the chamber committee will work with Confluence, a Des Moines, Iowa-based urban design firm, to identify possible aesthetic improvements for the 23rd Street corridor ranging from landscaping and median upgrades to better lighting and street signs.

Improvements to abutting properties could also be part of the plan.

Hirschbrunner said the streetscaping committee already has some ideas, but the local group will be looking to the design firm for additional options based on what the company has done in other cities.

I think we can make the entrance to the city more appealing to people that are traveling to the city that may be looking at Columbus for the first time to live and work and raise a family, said Hirschbrunner, who referenced improvements along U.S. Highway 81 in Norfolk and Yankton, South Dakota, as examples of whats possible.

The design process, which will include a number of opportunities for public input, according to Hirschbrunner, should be completed by May 2017. Any changes must be OKd by the Nebraska Department of Roads and Columbus City Council before theyre implemented.

Hirschbrunner said he expects the streetscaping committee to begin working with the design consultant in the next couple of months.

Because the streetscaping and utility work arent part of the NDOR project, the city is responsible for footing those bills.

Hirschbrunner also noted that the 23rd Street reconstruction, which is expected to begin in late 2020 and be completed by 2022, will have a major impact on traffic and businesses located along the highway.

He said the goal is to keep local residents informed about the project and provide opportunities for public input as things move forward.

This is our one shot at really improving Highway 30 through Columbus, Hirschbrunner said. Its going to be painful, but in the end, if we do it right, it will stand the test of time and it will really benefit the city.

In other business, the city council:

 approved an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad and the Nebraska Department of Roads for construction of the Third Avenue viaduct and 18th Avenue pedestrian overpass. Those projects, which will be constructed concurrently, are scheduled for a Nov. 10 bid letting.

 approved a four-year contract with the local police union and three-year agreement with the firefighters union. Wages for both groups are set each fall based on the pay in comparable cities. For fiscal year 2016-17, fire lieutenants will receive a 3.7 percent pay increase, full-time firefighters will get a 2.3 percent raise, police sergeants will see a 4.9 percent pay bump and police officers will get a 4.6 percent pay increase.

 appointed Rachel Pensick as a city police officer, pending her completion of the required testing and training. Pensick has been a dispatcher with the local police department for more than a decade and twice received the departments employee of the year honor and citys exemplary service award. She is a Columbus High School graduate.

 appointed Kimberly Hoefer to a three-year term on the Columbus Planning Commission, Chuck Fleeman to a three-year term on the Columbus Board of Parks Commissioners, Erin Trotter to a three-year term on the Columbus Tree Board and Russ Freeman to fill Darin Bloomquists unexpired term on the Columbus Public Library Board.

 agreed to seek design services for a building to store snow-removal equipment at Columbus Municipal Airport. The building, which will be approximately 60-by-120-feet, is eligible for up to 90 percent federal funding.

 awarded a $1.24 million contract to Obrist and Company of Columbus to improve and relocate sanitary sewer lift stations at Third Avenue and South Fifth Street, 26th Avenue and 30th Street and along Highway 30 between East 14th and East 29th avenues.
Donald Trump can make good on his pledge to make America great again by embracing policies that put coal industry workers back on the job and lower the cost of electricity, an energy executive told Fox Business Networks Maria Bartiromo Tuesday.

A policy that will get the lowest cost electricity, which is a staple of life, for those folks on fixed incomes, for the manufacturer of a product for the global marketplace. All types of fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear  all of the above. Thats what gets people endorsed. That will get a strong America and make America great again, said Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy.

According to Murray, the Obama administrations policies are hurting the lowest income families, saying there were about 35,000 jobs lost in the coal industry this year and 60,000 in all.

Its a tragedy whats happening in the coal fields, with the destruction of lives, by Barack Obama, who is the greatest destroyer Americas had. And Mrs. Clinton says I will expand on those policies, he said.

Coals Collapse - Bankruptcies

2016:

Peabody Energy

Arch Coal

2015:

Patriot Coal

Alpha Natural Resources

Murray, who has been outspoken about Hillary Clintons energy policy, also reiterated why her clean energy push is all about money.

More From FOXBusiness.com Coal Industry Burned by Crippling Regulations

Shes getting millions of dollars from the manufacturers of solar panels and windmillsShe said these people need this government help. These are the richest billionaires of the country that are kicking in to the Clinton Foundation, to the Clinton campaign, to build windmills and solar panels because it requires a subsidy. Coal stands in the way of that, he argued.
Alternative investments can both reduce risk and boost returns in a well-constructed portfolio, particularly at a time when traditional investments like stocks and bonds are expensive and priced to deliver disappointing returns.

But the key word here is can. Alternative investments can deliver that holy grail of higher risk-adjusted returns if chosen carefully and in prudent allocations.

But if done poorly, alternative investments can just as easily take a wrecking ball to a portfolio and destroy years worth of gains.

Pension Risk

As a case in point, consider the story of the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System (DPFP).

Dallas cops are in a dangerous line of work, a point that was made clear by the sniper attack this summer that tragically claimed the lives of five officers.

But in exchange for the risks they take in keeping the rest of us safe, cops get certain perks, such as retirement at age 55 with a traditional pension plan. Well, today, those benefits are under serious threat.

Taxpayer Hit

After making a series of questionable investments during the go-go years of the real estate bubble, the DPFP took massive losses that effectively bankrupted the plan that over 9,000 current and former police officers, firefighters and their families depend on.

Before the dust settles, Dallas taxpayers will probably have to shell out $600 million or more to keep the plan afloat, and the police and firefighters may be forced to work longer or accept benefit cuts.

No matter what the final deal looks like, it will likely be a raw one for the police and firefighters. And all of this is due to the incompetence of an investment manager.

What Happened?

Following the 1990s tech bubble and bust, the plans managers wanted to diversify outside of the risky stock market. But in order to make the targeted 8.5% return, bonds werent going to cut it. So the fund diversified into the wild, wild west of alternatives.

What was true in the early 2000s is even more true today. Stocks are expensive and looking wobbly, and bonds yield so little as to be unworthy of consideration for many investors. But what the funds managers did next is remarkable for its lack of basic prudence and common sense.

At one point, the fund had over half of its investments in alternatives. Now, in a vacuum, in my opinion, thats not necessarily a bad thing.

The Harvard University endowment fund has famously kept about half of its portfolio in alternatives for years. Its the particular choices of assets that the DPFP held that should have been a major red flag.

Among other questionable assets, the fund owned interests in the American Idol production company, luxury homes in Hawaii, a Napa vineyard and Uruguayan timberland.

Liquidity Woes

Apart from sheer strangeness (Uruguayan timber?), the alternative investments owned by the Dallas police pension had some other aspects in common.

To start, all were extremely illiquid. Now, illiquidity is not necessarily a deal breaker. Im comfortable with an asset being somewhat hard to sell so long as it is relatively safe and throws off consistent income.

For example, the Dallas police would have probably been perfectly fine owning a diversified portfolio of rent-producing apartments or warehouses. Instead, instead their managers bought them glitzy luxury properties and raw land held for speculation.

Transparency

Along the same lines, the assets they owned, in general, did not have observable prices. Now, again, in my view, that is not necessarily a deal breaker by itself.

Its silly and cost-prohibitive to get real estate appraised every month, and appraisals might not be accurate in the absence of reliable comps.

And investments in private equity or private individual businesses also lack observable prices.

But this is why you keep investments like these as a small piece of your portfolio and, again, make sure that they throw off a reliable stream of current income.

Portfolio Traps

So, how can we avoid falling into the same traps that ensnared the Dallas police and firefighters? After all, with stock and bond prices still very elevated, the case for alternatives is stronger than ever. So how can we avoid investing in alternatives that blow up?

To start, use the same common sense you would use in a traditional stock portfolio and keep your position sizes reasonable. What is reasonable may be subjective, of course, but common sense applies.

In my opinion, putting 10%-20% of your portfolio in a single alternative fund may be completely reasonable if that fund is itself very well diversified and liquid.

Putting 10%-20% of your portfolio into a single property or into an operating business in which you are a passive investor with no operational control is probably not reasonable, in my view.

Four Principles

When I put together an alternative portfolio, I generally like to see four conditions in place:

The alternative investments should be uncorrelated to both the stock market and to the other alternative investments in the portfolio. The returns should be consistent and, ideally, have a current yield component. The assets should be relatively liquid. I dont have to have 24-hour instant liquidity, but I need to know that my clients can get their money out in a month or two if they need it. The investment should have observable prices or, at the very least, accurate financial statements that give me an indication of financial health.

Charles Sizemore is the principal of Sizemore Capital Management, a registered investment advisor based in Dallas.Photo Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr Creative CommonsThis piece first appeared on Forbes.

The post Anatomy of a pension explosion appeared first on Smarter InvestingCovestor Ltd. is a registered investment advisor. Covestor licenses investment strategies from its Model Managers to establish investment models. The commentary here is provided as general and impersonal information and should not be construed as recommendations or advice. Information from Model Managers and third-party sources deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Transaction histories for Covestor models available upon request. Additional important disclosures available at http://site.covestor.com/help/disclosures.
Image source: Brown-Forman.

The profession of making alcoholic beverages spans millennia, and countless entrepreneurs over the centuries have sought ways to make money by producing and distributing beer, wine, and spirits. Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF-A) (NYSE: BF-B) has a somewhat shorter history, dating back to co-founder George Garvin Brown's formation of his Kentucky-based spirits business in 1870. Now, the maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey, Finlandia vodka, and Sonoma-Cutrer wines is a major player in the global market for alcoholic beverages, and along the way, it has shared its success with shareholders by splitting its shares on a frequent basis. Below, we'll look more closely at Brown-Forman's latest stock split to put it into context with its past split history.

Brown-Forman stock splits

Here are the dates and split ratios for the stock splits that Brown-Forman has done in the past:

Data source: Brown-Forman investor relations.

As you can see, Brown-Forman has regularly split its shares. That's consistent with its strong share-price performance, which has given investors average annual total returns of more than 16% over the past 30 years.

When Brown-Forman historically did stock splits

Brown-Forman's history of stock splits has been more varied than most companies, using a variety of different split ratios and trigger points. In 1987, for instance, the company's stock quickly climbed by almost 50%, and Brown-Forman's decision to do a 3-for-2 stock split effectively left the share price where it had been before the rise. The 1994 split was apparently motivated by the then-common goal of avoiding triple-digit share prices, and Brown-Forman aggressively chose a 3-for-1 split to send its share price from above $90 back toward $30. That move was sufficient for the next decade.

By 2004, the stock was once again approaching the $100 level, and a 2-for-1 split pushed it back into the mid-$40s briefly. Brown-Forman even held its own during the 2008 recession, but nervousness about the state of the financial markets might have been a factor in the spirits-maker's decision to do a 5-for-4 split. Nevertheless, Brown-Forman shares again came close to cracking the triple-digit mark by 2012, spurring another split.

Brown-Forman's latest stock split

Most recently, Brown-Forman just completed a 2-for-1 split during the summer. The company waited somewhat longer than it would have in the past before moving forward with the stock split, letting the shares trade in for near triple-digit levels for more than a year before taking action.

Nevertheless, Brown-Forman had a fairly casual attitude toward the move. "The recommended 2-for-1 stock split reflects the company's confidence in our ability to sustainably grow our sales, earnings, and cash flow over the long term," said CEO Paul Varga, "and marks the seventh split in 35 years."

When will Brown-Forman split again?

With the split having just taken effect, Brown-Forman stock is now safely back down into two-digit territory, recently trading near $50 per share. It's likely that the company will hold off on future splits until the share price once again climbs up toward $100, requiring another doubling for the stock.

Also potentially holding Brown-Forman back is its dividend. With a current yield of 1.6%, Brown-Forman certainly isn't among the highest-paying stocks in the market broadly or in the spirits industry more specifically. Yet the current dividend of $1.40 per share every year essentially reflects a drain of cash that holds down the share price by that amount. Therefore, Brown-Forman has to produce total returns that are high enough to pay that dividend and get the share price to move higher.

Given its past history, Brown-Forman investors shouldn't expect another stock split for several years. Nevertheless, given the dedication the spirits-maker has to sharing its success with its shareholders, Brown-Forman is likely to split again at some point when its stock price warrants another move.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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The metals and mining sector is notoriously volatile, thanks to the fickle nature of commodity prices. Because of that, investors who are in the market to buy miners should seek out the top producers since theirlarger scale helps them weather industry cyclicality because of their ability to drive costs lower. Leading the way are the five miners listed on the chart below:

Data source: Barrick Gold, Coeur Mining, Freeport-McMoRan, Vale, and Alcoa.

Digging into the top mining stocks

Brazilian miner and leading iron ore producer Vale (NYSE: VALE)produced more than 350 million metric tons of iron ore last year, accounting for more than 10% of global output. That scale gives the company more flexibility than its rivals. For example, the company has been adjusting its production to maximize its margins amid the currently weak iron ore environment. As a result, Vale had the highest EBITDA generation of any iron ore business through the first half of this year. That scale is only expected to grow as the company completes its $19.5 billion S11D expansion project, making it a top choice for iron ore investors.

While Freeport-McMoRan(NYSE: FCX) is not the world's largest copper producer, it is the largest publicly traded producer. Furthermore, given its portfolio of world-class mines, Freeport-McMoRan has ample capacity to expand production in the future to capture a growing share of the copper market. In fact, the company has five mines that have the potential to produce1 billion pounds of low-cost copper per year. It is that leading position and unmatched upside that makes Freeport-McMoRan such a compelling mining stock in the copper sector.

Barrick Gold(NYSE: ABX) is the world's largest gold mining company, producing an average of 5.5 million ounces a year and boasting the world's largest reserve base at 91.9 million ounces of gold. While the company is actively working to boost its outputvia several exploration projects, one of its top aims is to get its costs down so that it can cash in on its scale advantages. While it is already the lowest-cost senior gold producer at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,010 an ounce, Barrick Gold wants to get that number below $700 an ounce by 2019, as it grows production from its lowest-cost mines. That low-cost production growth, when combined with the company's unmatched reserve base, makes Barrick Gold the first mining stock gold investors should consider.

Demand for aluminum is projected to double between 2010 and 2020 because of the metal's growing importance in the automotive and aerospace industries. That plays right into the hands of Alcoa (NYSE: AA), which is the largest global bauxite producer and the world's leading producer of alumina, the key ingredients in aluminum production. More importantly, that scale provides the company significant cost advantages. That has enabled Alcoa to improve its margins and profitability even though aluminum prices are down substantially from the peak.

Silver Wheaton(NYSE: SLW) does not actually own or operate any silver mines. Instead, the silver streaming company became the largest producer by investing in silver mines owned by others, which gives it the rights to a portion of the future production of those mines. As a result, Silver Wheaton controls about 5% of the silver market. That share has the potential to grow in the future as its streaming partners bring new mines online and it acquires additional streams. Furthermore, Silver Wheaton's streaming agreements lock in its costs, making it one of the highest margin precious metal producers in the world. Needless to say, investors who have taken a shine to silver should take a close look at Silver Wheaton.

Investor takeaway

The mining sector is pretty fragmented, which gives investors lots of options. That said, because commodity prices are so volatile, investors are better off considering the top producers. Their larger scale tends to lead to lower costs, which puts them in a better position to handle the ups and downs of the mining industry's cyclicality.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Companhia Vale, Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, and Silver Wheaton. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), the embattled American banking giant, has seen its stock price slump as the company has come under fire for a customer-accounts scandal in which employees created fake accounts unbeknown to its clients.

But Adam Johnson, founder of Bullseye Brief, said he recommends bargain hunters buy the stock at its discounted price.

What Wells Fargo did may be deplorableits not debilitating, he told the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney on Tuesday. You had fewer than 1% of the employees create false accounts for fewer than 1% of the customers.

Johnson went on to explain that while Wells Fargo netted $5 million from the scandal, it has already paid $185 million in fines, which included a $100 million penalty from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP).

This is a company, a bank, that earns $20 billion a year. It underwrites one quarter of the mortgages in this country, Johnson explained. If every single state did what California did and said, Were not going to do our municipal underwritings with you, it would cost them $100 million in loss fees.

Johnson said at $43.97 a share, a 16% drop from where it traded a year ago, Wells Fargo stock is cheap and retail investors should take the opportunity to get in now.
Photo by: Getty Images.

What's happening?

Shares of Endurance Specialty Holdings (NYSE: ENH) are up about 34% as of 3:00 p.m. EDT after news broke that Sompo JapanNipponkoa Insuranceplans to acquire the company.

So what

The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Sompo Holdings intends to acquire Endurance Specialty through its Sompo Japan subsidiary in a deal worth $6.5 billion. The publication noted that the deal will be finalized and announced as soon as Wednesday.

Assuming that the reported value is for the equity only, it would imply that Sompo Japan could pay as much as $96.18 per Endurance share, based on the company's outstanding share count of approximately 67.6 million shares as of August 4, 2016. Endurance shares were trading for $87 each just before 3:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

Now what

Neither Endurance Specialty Holdings nor Sompo Holdings have put out a press release confirming the acquisition, leaving the details up to speculation. But a Japanese insurer buying an American-listed company wouldn't be out of the ordinary, as cross-border insurance M&A has been red hot.

Last year, Sumitomo Life Insurance Company purchased Symetra Financial Corporation, Meiji Yasuda Life acquired StanCorp Financial Group, and more recently this summer, Tokio Marine Holdings announced its acquisition of HCC Insurance Holdings. As Japan's population ages and declines, the country's domestic insurers are looking overseas to find growth by acquisition.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Jordan Wathen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Endurance Specialty. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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September was a month to forget for Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). After it was revealed on Sept. 8 that the bank had opened as many as 2 million fake accounts for customers, shares of Wells Fargo began a descent that's still under way, culminating in a 13% drop last month.

WFC data by YCharts.

Tempest in a tea pot?

It initially seemed as if the issue would be more of a tempest in a teapot as opposed to a substantive problem for the nation's third-biggest bank by assets. I say that because the fine that Wells Fargo had to pay regulators for its misdeeds amounted to only $185 million.

That's a lot of money, but for Wells Fargo, it equates to less than 4% of its quarterly earnings. In the three months ended June 30, for instance, the bank earned $5.6 billion. A couple hundred million dollars is just a drop in the bucket compared to this.

However, the size of the fine belies the magnitude of damage done to Wells Fargo's reputation. Every day over the past three weeks, the media has been filled with reports that make Wells Fargo look even worse. The most damning information that's come to light concerns allegations that whistle-blowers at the bank were fired for reporting the fraud sooner. All told, 5,300 people lost their jobs, though presumably only a small fraction of them were whistle-blowers.

Going from bad to worse

The appearance on Capital Hill of Wells Fargo chairman and CEO John Stumpf only made things worse. Called to testify before the Senate and House banking committees, Stumpf was pilloried by lawmakers.

Senators and representatives were furious not only over the fraud itself, but also over the way Stumpf blamed the bank's low-level employees for it and defended the executive in charge of the unit where it occurred over a five-year period -- and perhaps longer -- from 2011 to 2015.

Senator Elizabeth Warren was particularly hostile:

Does this change the investing thesis?

Despite all this, one could argue, as I have, that the thesis underlying Wells Fargo's stock hasn't materially changed. It's still one of the most efficient and profitable banks in the country. And it's still one of the best when it comes to managing credit risk, the most important responsibility of a bank.

Additionally, while the headlines have been horrible for Wells Fargo, there was no reason to believe that its retail customers -- those impacted by the scam -- would leave the bank. Betrayal of trust aside, previous studies have shown that changing banks is such a hassle that most people will avoid doing so.

But this argument doesn't apply with equal force to larger, commercial customers. Both the States of California and Illinois have, at least temporarily, severed certain ties with Wells Fargo. For its part, Illinois has suspended investments in Wells Fargo debt securities and stopped using the bank as a broker/dealer for investment purchases for one year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This is an issue that investors should watch closely. They should also watch to see what happens with the litany of public and private lawsuits that have already been initiated in response to the fraud. These should be easily absorbed by Wells Fargo's massive earnings, but taken together with further customer defections, the situation could continue to deteriorate for the bank.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

John Maxfield owns shares of Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has the following options: short October 2016 $50 calls on Wells Fargo. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
American police almost came to the rescue of the Australian auto industry.

Ford is set to end automobile production in Australia on October 7th, but things may have been different if the local arm of the automaker had its way. Twice during the past decade, Ford Australia pitched the idea of sending its Falcon sedan to the United States to replace the Crown Victoria as its police car, News Corp Australia reports.

Like the Crown Vic, the Falcon is a rear-wheel-drive sedan, but one issue complicating things was that the Falcon is right-hand-drive, so the company wouldve needed to make a major investment to move the steering wheel to the left for U.S. use.

Discussions where had in 2005 and again in 2009, just before Ford retired the Crown Vic in 2011. The Australian executives projected exports of over 70,000 cars annually, plus local sales, which wouldve secured its factorys future for the next 20 years, at least. Instead, Ford HQ decided to replace the Crown Vic with police versions of the American-made Taurus sedan and Explorer SUV.

It may have been the right call.

Following the model of Fords plan to a T, General Motors stared exporting its Australian-made Caprice sedan to the United States in 2012 as a Chevrolet police car. Last year it sold 3,727, while Ford sold 34,707 Taurus and Explorer-based Interceptors combined.

General Motors will also stop manufacturing cars in Australia in 2017.

Ironically, Ford shipped its American-made Mustang to the New South Wales Police earlier this year to be evaluated as a replacement for the Falcon. The unmodified muscle car failed miserably, with its transmission overheating after just three minutes of simulated hot pursuit. As a result, the force will likely be switching to sedans and wagons made by Volvo, a company once owned by Ford.
Talk about a killer bee.

An automotive journalist crashed a Honda NSX supercar into a highway divider in Taiwan on Monday after a bee flew into the window and stung him, according to local reports.

No one was injured in the accident, but images of the $190,000 high performance hybrid, which is sold as the Acura NSX in the United States, show that it suffered damage to its left front corner and had its airbags deployed.

Theres no video of the incident as it occurred, but Apple Daily created a quickie animated reenactment of the incident, as tabloids in Taiwan often do.

According to the report, the car is one of just nine that will be imported into Taiwan this year. When contacted by Apple Daily, the journalist, identified as Hu, refused to comment on the crash.

----------

2017 Acura NSX Test Drive:
The harrowing details of the armed robbery of $10 million in jewels from Kim Kardashian in Paris has created a media firestorm, and some are saying that's exactly what the reality star wanted.

Adding some fuel to doubters' fires: According to a report from TMZ on Tuesday, there was no surveillance video inside or outside the ultra-expensive, ultra-private hotel.

How did Kardashian free herself from being tied up in the bathroom? Or who found Kardashian in the hotel room or bathroom? Where was her security and hotel security personnel or hotel security cameras, wonders pivate investigator Patricia DOrsa-Dijamco. If this was a publicity stunt, she could be in big trouble for making a false police report. Does 'Ryan Lochte' sound familiar?

Lochte is the U.S. swimmer who got in hot water at the Rio Olympics for claiming he was robbed at gunpoint, which later turned out not to be the case.

Police trial expert and former undercover DEA agent Michael Levine said when he first heard of the reality stars traumatic ordeal he initially thought the Kardashian robbery could be an elaborate hoax.

It was one of the first possibilities that occurred to me. By now the French police might have a good idea of this," he said. "However, I'm certain they will say nothing. They have enough problems.

Levine said Paris has more pressing law enforcement issues. The amount of terrorism problems, threats and investigations ongoing in France right now likely has every man and woman with a badge working double-time, so if you wanted to run a hoax or publicity stunt, and I am not saying that is what they did, but France would be the place to do it, Levine said.

An NYPD detective told FOX411 that while the robbery sounds legit to him, there may have been some embellishing around the edges.

Most likely they knew she was staying there, and cased the spot, but its more likely they are blowing the story up for publicity because she has a huge security detail," the detective said. "She most likely has something new thats going to happen.

The new season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians debuts on October 23.

However, pop culture expert Lex Jurgen at gossip site WWTDD.com doubts the events were made up, rightly noting that Kardashian is not hurting for attention.

She has so many ways to get publicity that dont involve her getting arrested for lying to the police," Jurgen said. "She could lose her top at Fashion Week and get 10 million SEO hits."

FOX411 reached out to the local Paris police department but did not receive comment.

Kardashians rep told FOX411 in a statement: "Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening, by two armed masked men dressed as police officers. She is badly shaken but physically unharmed."


A source close to Kim Kardashian told Page Six she pleaded for her life when held at gunpoint  then was bound and gagged  but she managed to free herself from the shackles and raise the alarm after the robbers left with her $4 million ring.

The source said of her ordeal, This was a life and death situation. They broke in when she was in bed, and put a gun to her head. She had to plead and beg for her life, telling them she was a mother, telling them about her kids.

They held her at gunpoint and searched her room. They didnt physically assault her. They bound and shackled her and put tape on her mouth to gag her, but she was not locked in the bathroom.

They took jewelry  at least one ring  and at least one phone. But what they took isnt important, this was a terrifying incident and they could have killed her. She thought she was going to die.

When they left, Kim was able to break out of the shackles from her hands and then pull off the tape on her mouth. She then raised the alarm and other people in the hotel came to her aid.

She is very, very, shaken, but is physically okay, and has returned home to the US. Thankfully her children were in New York at the time.

She has given a statement to Paris police and they are investigating. They are looking at security footage. The place she was staying in is a boutique hotel where she and Kanye have previously stayed. A lot of celebrities stay there. She was in bed for the night and thought she was safe.

Now everything has to change as far as her security goes. Her security has and will continue to be dramatically stepped up.

Of some suggestions on social media that this is all a publicity stunt for the show, the source said, That is absurd and offensive. There were no cameras for the Kardashian show shooting in Paris. This was a terrifying incident, Paris just isnt a safe place at the moment.

A rep for Kardashian declined to comment on the record and referred to the previous statement made on Sunday night.

A friend told Page Six more about the incident, saying the thieves targeted her and her jewelry  in particular the $4 million ring Kanye recently gave her. They got into her room by holding a gun to the concierges head and demanding he walk them up to her room.

The friend said, The concierge had a gun to his head. She was aware the second they came in [that it was a robbery]. As soon as they came in, there were five guys, they were surveying the area looking for her. She could tell that they were looking for her.

She was confused because it was the middle of the night, but she knew it wasnt an accident. They put a gun to her head. At that point they started taking jewelry. I dont know exactly what they took first, but they started collecting all of the things from the room that were of value, which would be all the jewelry.

They looked for anything of value that was small that they could take; so jewelry and watches. But jewelry really was their main thing. But it was clear that they were looking really for that big ring [the $4 million one that Kanye just gave her].

The friend added that her jewelry was not in a safe. She had a person with a gun to her head the whole time. They didnt bind her hands until the very end until theyd cased everything, they said. But they didnt bind and gag her until the end, just in case they possibly needed her. She was not put into the bathtub until the very end.

While its unclear whether or not it was an inside job, the friend said they were confident police would find whomever is responsible for the crime.

We really dont know, but I will say the French authorities have been doing everything they can, they said. Theyve been very thorough during the initial investigation; they were very professional. They did their due diligence and all the proper protocols and Kim felt like they were very invested in figuring out who did this.

Theyre going to reserve comment [on who did it], certainly to Kim, until they start running out who it could be and pulling the footage. But the one thing that is clear is that it was the concierge who walked these assailants up to her suite.

They did not speak English. They were French speaking.

Understandably, the reality star feels shaken following the incident, having felt like there was a serious chance that she could die.

Shes traumatized. She assumed she was going to die. From the minute they walked in, she assumed they were going to take her life. She had a gun on her head they entire time. And another person had a gun on the other guy. She pleaded for her life. She begged. She kept talking about her kids.

On Sunday, as had been the case previously, Kim had felt that there was no need for extra security while staying in the apartment. Something that will obviously now have to change.

The friend said, She did not. It sounds crazy, but understand shes in her own home, in an apartment with only one entry point which is coded with two keys and key pad. If a guard was there, what would have happened differently. Her guard doesnt carry a gun. They had five guns; most likely more.

Despite the scary incident, the reality star has not lost faith her in bodyguard, Pascal Duvier.

No. Kim 100% does not blame Pascal, the friend said. Kim put Pascal with Kourtneythat night. When shes home, she doesnt feel the need to have a security guard outside her door at all times. In Bel Air they have a 24-hour, four person security detail. Plus state of the art motion sensors and security cameras. So when shes in her primary residence shes got everything; when shes in New York, shes got more. But when shes in Paris theres five family members. Theres Kendall, Kourney, Kris; theyre all doing different things. Theres more people for security to be covering. Kim was in for the night; she was not doing anything.

Today Kim spent the day in her apartment with her close friends Jonathon Cheban, Simon Huck and La La Anthony.

This story first appeared on NYPost.com.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler kept her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis secret for nearly 15 years, but now The Sopranos actress is speaking publicly about her journey with the condition to raise awareness and inspire other people like herself to find support.

Sigler, 35, was diagnosed with MS around age 20 after going to the emergency room reporting odd sensations in her legs that began spreading and rising. After undergoing a spinal tap and an MRI, she was diagnosed with relapsing, or symptomatic, MS, the most common form of this autoimmune disease.

When youre 20 years old, you have your life ahead of you, Sigler told FoxNews.com. I already had a big career. It was difficult to accept.

According to the National Institutes of Health, scientists arent sure what causes MS, but they know its marked by disrupted communication between the brain and other parts of the body. Women with the disease are typically diagnosed when they become symptomatic between ages 20 and 40.

As if rebelling against the diagnosis, Sigler, whose symptoms subsided shortly thereafter, did not adhere to treatment. The diagnosis felt random, Sigler said, as the actress didnt have a family history of MS.

It was difficult for me to accept and live my life that way, she said.

But when Sigler was around age 24, her symptoms began resurfacing, likely due to stress triggered by a divorce at the time, Sigler said. She began building a support team and only recently felt she was ready to speak out about her diagnosis. Her son, Beau Kyle Dykstra, 3, and her doctor played an important role in her decision.

Sigler is now partnering with pharmaceutical company Biogen for its Reimagine Myself campaign to educate other people that treatment can help manage MS and that their diagnosis doesnt have to define them.

Coming out about this disease was really empowering, and allowed me a new platform and a great sense of responsibility I feel now to the MS community, she said.

On ReimagineMyself.com, theres video that details a day-in-the-life of how Sigler handles MS. The footage aims to elucidate how Sigler manages parenting, career, marriage with new husband Cutter Dykstra, as well as how she deals with her symptoms, such as weakness in her right side and an inability to run. She also has written a series of honest blog posts for the site to help connect with other MS patients.

I think a lot of the time when people are dealing with any chronic illness you can feel very isolated, you can feel alone, you feel like people dont understand, Sigler said. I wanted to be somebody that says, I get it, I feel you, I hear you, I go through what you go through, and I understand.

Sigler, who stars in the recently released film Loserville, which is playing in select theaters across the United States, said she hopes people with MS will consider the website when building their support teams.

Were just another place of support to go to, she said.

For more information, visit ReimagineMyself.com.
On Tuesday vice presidential nominees, Governor Mike Pence and Senator Tim Kaine will take the debate stage. Those who tune in are likely to see a more traditional debate: one that is heavy on policy prescriptions, and light on biting quips and interruptions. Perhaps more boring than the top-of-the-ticket debate, its still worth watching. While Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton are preparing for the second debate on Sunday, the vice presidential debate should fill in some of the holes left over from the first presidential debate.

While the first debate was close to a draw, Trump did miss some wide openings to slam Clinton on matters related to her record. At this stage in the election, it is not enough to say she has experience and its bad. To convincingly get this point across, the Trump-Pence ticket needs to remind everyone watching exactly what that bad experience entails.

Here are just a few examples where Trump missed wide open opportunities, where Pence should be sure to flesh out, and where Trump should be ready to nail next time.

When moderator Lester Holt inquired, Our institutions are under cyber-attack, and our secrets are being stolen. So my question is, whos behind it? And how do we fight it?

Secretary Clinton responded:

Well, I think cyber security, cyber warfare will be one of the biggest challenges facing the next president, because clearly were facing at this point two different kinds of adversaries. There are the independent hacking groups that do it mostly for commercial reasons to try to steal information that they can use to make money.

She prattled on about how Donald Trump has praised Vladimir Putin and encouraged the Russian authoritarian to hack Americans.

Mr. Trump responded, in part:

As far as the cyber, I agree to parts of what Secretary Clinton said. We should be better than anybody else, and perhaps were not. I dont think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. Shes saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I dont  maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people

Inexplicably, Mr. Trumps full response included not a single mention that Secretary Clinton, as Secretary of State, traveled to countries hostile to the United States (Russia, maybe?) with devices that were easily hacked. His response included no mention of the flippant, careless, negligent manner in which she handled highly classified intelligence. All Trump has to do is point to Obamas own Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who stated:

With respect to potential computer intrusion by hostile actors, we did not find direct evidence that Secretary Clintons personal e-mail domain, in its various configurations since 2009, was successfully hacked. But, given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we assess that we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence. We do assess that hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account. We also assess that Secretary Clintons use of a personal e-mail domain was both known by a large number of people and readily apparent. She also used her personal e-mail extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related e-mails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries. Given that combination of factors, we assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clintons personal e-mail account.

Whatever she might say on cyber-security, the Trump-Pence ticket has the high ground. She has no credibility on cyber-security. She either knows nothing about the cyber-war in which the United States is currently engaged, or she does know, which makes her negligence treasonous. Which is it? Either way, Secretary Clinton should not be permitted to lecture anyone on what must be done to protect against cyber-attacks (or on the importance of lawfulness, for that matter).

Second, any time Secretary Clinton or Senator Kaine even mentions nuclear war or nuclear weapons, Mr. Trump or Governor Pence should easily turn the tables.

During the presidential debate Secretary Clinton said, And, in fact, his cavalier attitude about nuclear weapons is so deeply troubling. That is the number-one threat we face in the world. And it becomes particularly threatening if terrorists ever get their hands on any nuclear material. So a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes, as far as I think anyone with any sense about this should be concerned.

After admonishing her for the tired talking point, Mr. Trump said, It's not an accurate one at all. It's not an accurate one. So I just want to give a lot of things -- and just to respond. I agree with her on one thing. The single greatest problem the world has is nuclear armament, nuclear weapons, not global warming, like you think and your -- your president thinks.

It was a decent beginning. He shouldnt be defensive about the absurd and hyperbolic accusation that as President he would be itching for nuclear war. And, to his credit, he rightly said of the Iran deal, So you say to yourself, why didn't they make the right deal? This is one of the worst deals ever made by any country in history. The deal with Iran will lead to nuclear problems. All they have to do is sit back 10 years, and they don't have to do much.

Its a fine start, but he has got to explain why it is a terrible deal in a way every American can understand. Mr. Trump is claiming to be a much better negotiator than the current President and Secretary Clinton who has supported the Presidents disastrous arms control agreements. He could have mentioned even two or three of the following facts about the deal: Those negotiating the Iran deal did not require Iran to abandon its missile program, which it continues to expand. The deal did not require the Iranians to stop supporting terrorism. It did not require Iran to come clean on its past weaponization activities in order to establish a baseline on which to determine if weaponization activities continue. The verification system is weak and allows Iran plenty of wiggle room to evade the U.N. watchdog, the IAEA. Iran is supporting Syrias brutal Assad government at the same time the U.S. government is doing all it can to support the Iranian economy, because it desperately wants Iran to abide by the Iran deal.

Plain and simple, the Iran deal is a perfect example of how weak policies motivated by ideology rather than a firm commitment to protect Americans and our closest allies, result in deals that only help the enemy and rip off the American people.

Governor Pence and Mr. Trump should make it crystal clear that it is her polices that are weak and provocative. The Obama-Clinton policies have led to instability, chaos, the flow of migrants, and the civil wars that have allowed Islamist groups like ISIS to fester.

Last, Secretary Clinton boasted about the number of countries she has travelled to, the cease-fires she negotiated, or, audaciouslythe 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee. Governor Pence and Mr. Trump should suggest that she reimburse the Americna people for her wasted travel expenses. Its clear that her travel did nothing to dissuade Russia from heavily investing in its nuclear arsenal and directly and implicitly threatening to employ nuclear weapons against the United States and our allies, despite her much vaunted New START Treaty. (This would have the added benefit of alleviating concerns that Trump is indifferent to a revanchist Russia.) Her travel did nothing to assist what can barely be called the nation of Syria, a war-torn and humanitarian catastrophe. Her travel did nothing to protect Americans from North Koreas nuclear missile program. And her travel certainly didnt contribute to the stabilization of Libya. Speaking of Libya, if she hadnt lied about Libya, she never would have had to testify for all those hours in front of a Congressional Committee.

From Russia, to China, to North Korea, to Iran, to Syria and Libya: the threats to American security are worse now than when Secretary Clinton was leading the State Department, and she has yet to point out where President Obama has gone wrong. Governor Pence has the opportunity to truly remind America that it is her pitiful record and the policies she supports that has left the United States weaker, more vulnerable, and our enemies emboldened. Then Mr. Trump should build on it, and hammer away, for the second presidential debate on Sunday.
As the Obama administration runs out the clock on its second term, it seeks to hide ever more of its policies from public scrutiny. One of the most extreme examples is the White Houses attempt to invoke presidential privilege, which is reserved for the most important national security, military, and diplomatic affairs, to conceal documents about housing. Yes, housing.

However, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Margaret Sweeney, once again, has affirmed that our Constitution presumes people should have access to the information needed to secure justice and only in the most narrow circumstances can the government deny access to that information.

In an opinion made public this week, she rejected in its entirety the governments argument for not allowing access by Fairholme Funds lawyers to nearly 60 documents relating to the Net Worth Sweep of Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs profits.

In the 80-page opinion, she took apart every claim of privilege the government asserts. With her decision, investors lawyers will have a chance to look at the emails, briefing documents, forecasts and other communication they believe go the heart of their claim that the Sweep was an unconstitutional taking of property. In addition, Judge Sweeney was so unconvinced of the need for secrecy that she also ordered the government to explain why it should not have to pay Fairholmes legal fees incurred when filing this motion.

Litigation between shareholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the U.S. government has called for the revelation of documents that the White House tried to keep secret under the doctrine of executive privilege. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored corporations that buy housing mortgages from banks, which effectively subsidizes the market for home purchases by making loans more secure. But when the housing market tanked during the 2008 financial crisis, both companies suffered financially and prompted a federal takeover of their operations.

Shareholders contend that the federal takeover, and the later diversion of profits from the companies to the federal treasury in 2012, carried out an unconstitutional taking of property.

The Obama administration has refused to make public communications  thousands of documents -- between the Treasury Department, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the White House, on various forms of executive privilege. But Sweeney was clear in her April opinion when she said, the court will not condone the misuse of a protective order as a shield to insulate public officials from criticism in the way they execute their public duties.

In June, the Obama White House defied the judges order and refused to turn over four documents. In a June 10 declaration, Deputy White House Counsel Nicholas McQuaid claimed that executive privilege could conceal emails between Gene Sperling, who served as director of the Presidents National Economic Council, his top aides, and the Treasury Department. McQuaid describes one document, for example, as portions of an electronic mail conversation between James Parrott, a senior advisor to the National Economic Council, and Treasury staff discussing advice regarding White House housing policy reform.

Sweeney makes clear that the White Houses claims abuse the presidents authority and prevent taxpayers from observing the workings of their government. There is no doubt, of course, that the president has a right to keep certain discussions within the White House confidential.

In the landmark Watergate tapes case, the Supreme Court acknowledged, Without this privilege, the President will not enjoy the candor necessary to make the best decisions possible. However, Nixon v. U.S. rejected the claim that presidential power could keep everything in the White House secret, certainly not communications between economic advisers and the Treasury Department.

As the Nixon Court recognized, a generalized right to confidentiality does not apply throughout the entire executive branch. Instead, the Justices found that the Constitution provided the president with the right to keep secret military or diplomatic communications because of his responsibilities as chief executive and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. Confidentiality covers the presidents discussions with those who assist him.

In Nixon, the Court also found that communications outside these areas would have to seek privilege based on the Presidents generalized interest in confidentiality. But in such cases, the Court said the interest in confidentiality must be balanced against the competing need of other branches for disclosure of the information.

In the case of Nixon itself, the claim of confidentiality gave way before the right of criminal defendants to produce the information necessary for a fair criminal trial. The Bill of Rights, which required the production of relevant evidence to the defense, outweighed a diffuse claim of confidentiality.

Nixon shows in high relief the weaknesses of the Obama White Houses efforts to protect its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac schemes.

The communications at stake here have absolutely nothing to do with weighty matters of national security and foreign policy and do not deserve the broadest protections for executive discussions. These discussions did not involve the president. Again, they were emails about housing policy between relatively unimportant White House aides and the Treasury Department. That the Obama administration would invoke such important constitutional powers in such a case shows how far it is willing to abuse the traditions and customs of the presidency to protect itself.

If the Obama administration were to prevail, then presumably every time the most minor employee of the White House became involved in an email communication  presto! executive privilege would apply.

Every employee in the executive branch, every agency, every government-owned corporation (including Amtrak and the Post Office), need only include some White House secretary on the cc: line of an email, and a constitutional cone of secrecy would descend to vest it with the same protected status as conversations between the president and the White House chief of staff.

This would create a level of secrecy that flies in the face of transparency in a democracy and has no basis in the constitutional text.

Ultimately, the Constitution requires that any claim of presidential confidentiality must give way before the Bill of Rights.

In Nixon itself, the Supreme Court found that the Fifth Amendment right to due process and the Sixth Amendment right to compulsory process (held by the Watergate burglars who were on trial and needed the tapes for their defense) outweighed any presidential claim to confidentiality.

In the case involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the plaintiffs are suing directly under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause.

The federal courts have a specific constitutional duty to vindicate those rights, which should take precedence in any balancing test over the presidents generalized claim to confidentiality.
Like millions of Americans, Im profoundly disturbed that, according to the FBI, the Russians have used cyber tools to hack into the Democratic National Committee and are continuing to use them to attack other organizations and individuals.

Vladimir Putins goal seems inescapable: He wants to destabilize our democracy in the long term and to damage Hillary Clinton and get Donald Trump elected in the short term. Trumps chilling embrace of Putin only bolsters this conviction.

Among the worst-case scenarios: Russia hacks into digital voting machines and manipulates next months election results. At this point it doesnt seem far-fetched.

Covert attempts by a nation to influence anothers elections and politics are hardly new. The CIAs forays into South America, Central America and Eastern Bloc nations during the Cold War are obvious examples. But cyber tools have taken the practice to a whole new level of sophistication, and cyber conflict is a relatively lawless frontier of foreign relations.

Action needs to be taken  and soon. The FBI is redoubling its efforts to gather evidence that would allow the Justice Department to indict the hackers. But building a case is tough, in large part because the evidence is often classified.

Lets consider some other options. International courts come to mind, but covert cybercriminals will ignore any edicts or threats of action from them. To think a toothless international tribunal can bring them to heel is wishful thinking. I can just picture Putins bitter dismissal of their authority. After all, last year he signed a law allowing Russias Constitutional Court to decide whether to implement rulings of international human rights courts.

But there is a new  and to date, unused  tool to combat these foreign cyberattacks. In April 2015, the Obama administration issued Executive Order (EO) 13694  Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities. Its a powerful and innovative order that outlines how we can respond to cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure, including our major political parties.

The order authorizes the secretary of the treasury, in consultation with the attorney general and the secretary of state, to impose sanctions on individuals and entities deemed responsible for or complicit in malicious cyber-enabled activities that are reasonably likely to result in a significant threat to the national security of the United States. Activities can include misappropriating trade secrets, personal identifiers or financial information for a competitive advantage. Election security surely qualifies.

Putin and his ilk will only increase their cybercrimes in the coming years, and they will ignore the international courts. If the FBI determines that Russia is behind these cyberattacks, then no time should be wasted. Sanctions should be imposed.

Mr. President, its time to use EO 13694.
The Republican National Committee on Monday released an ad against Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine for his record on the death penalty, just a day before the vice presidential debate.

The video cited decades-old criminal cases to suggest that Kaine is soft on crime, that he "consistently protected the worst kind of people" from capital punishment, and worked to avoid executions of criminals while he was governor of Virginia.

The ad included two early examples from his early career as a young defense attorney, when he represented two men who brutally sexually assaulted and murdered women. Richard Lee Whitley was convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting an elderly neighbor and Lem Tuggle was found guilty of raping, sodomizing, and murdering a woman. Both were later executed in their respective Virginia prisons.

It also cited the widely publicized case of convicted double murderer Jens Soering. Kaine attempted to send the son of a German diplomat back to his home country, where instead of spending a lifetime in prison he would have been eligible for parole in two years.

Kaine's successors Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and current Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe both prevented the transfer from taking place.

Click for more from The Washington Examiner.
Californias health care exchange is requesting that it be allowed a waiver from ObamaCare regulations in order to allow illegal immigrants to buy insurance on the exchange  which would make California the first state to extend ObamaCare to illegal immigrants.



In a Sept. 30 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Covered Californias Executive Director Peter Lee said that the Affordable Care Act has been tremendously successful in the state and has cut the rate of uninsured in half.

While millions of Californians have benefitted from coverage purchased through the Covered California marketplace, certain individuals are prohibited from buying insurance through our state marketplace due to their immigration status, Lee wrote, before requesting the waiver.

The Affordable Care Act technically bars illegal immigrants from insurance exchanges, but in June Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that allowed the state to apply for a federal waiver to open Covered California to illegal immigrants living in California. The bills sponsor said such a waiver would allow 390,000 illegal immigrants to receive health insurance.

However, even if the Obama administration green-lights the waiver, the insurance plans that would be offered  California Qualified Health Plans  would not be subsidized.

The Department for Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment from FoxNews.com.

Critics have objected to the plan, saying it is the latest sign the federal government misrepresented the purpose of the law.

This is the first step in another misrepresentation of the Affordable Care Act, Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform told US News & World Report in June. It was sold to the American people on the fact that you wouldnt have to subsidize health care for illegal immigrants.

The issue of whether ObamaCare would be available to illegal immigrants was highly contentious in the debate building up to the laws passage in 2010. In an address to a joint session of Congress in 2009, the president said ObamaCare would not apply to illegal immigrants, to which Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. shouted You lie! Obama immediately responded, Thats not true. That's not true"

Wilson was heavily criticized for his outburst and later apologized.

FoxNews.coms Adam Shaw and Fox News Lee Ross contributed to this report.
Hillary Clinton had glowing words for the General Motors plant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, when she traveled there in 2011 as secretary of state to announce the joint venture -- of GM and an Uzbekistan state-owned firm -- as a finalist for a State Department award.

It is a collaboration between Uzbek and American companies, and it will serve as a symbol of our friendship and cooperation, Clinton said, touting the plants newest, most advanced technology.

The visit came a year after the General Motors Foundation had contributed $684,455 in vehicles to the Clinton Foundation.

Fast-forward several years, and GM-Uzbekistan is now embroiled in a massive scandal, reportedly facing charges of fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement, a legal case that has reached high-ranking government officials in the country.

Clinton isnt tied to any of the allegations. But its another example of how Clinton Foundation donations and subsequent State Department actions have put the Democratic presidential nominee in an awkward position. The 2011 praise wasnt a one-off, either. Clintons State Department again made GM Uzbekistan a finalist for the Award for Corporate Excellence in 2012.

Peter Flaherty, president of the watchdog National Legal and Policy Center, said the GM branchs recent turmoil casts doubt on Clintons judgment.

This episode is another example for the Clintons of how, if you do business with them, they will do something for you, Flaherty told FoxNews.com. Any enterprise in Uzbekistan is going to be suspect. It is notoriously corrupt, and the government dominates everything. A company there seems like an unlikely nominee for a corporate excellence award.

Earlier this year, authorities detained GM Uzbekistan General Director Tohirjon Jalilov. Uzbek prosecutors also have reportedly been investigating the GM ventures business partners and officials with Uzbekistans National Security Service. Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Ulughbek Rozikulov was reportedly questioned in the matter.

Asked for comment, Clinton campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin noted the U.S. government had honored GM well before Clinton served as secretary of state -- referencing that in 2006, GMs joint venture in Colombia actually won the award. It was merely a finalist under Clinton.

While GM did receive the Secretary of States 2006 Award for Corporate Excellence from the Bush administration, it did not receive the award while Secretary Clinton was in office, Schwerin told FoxNews.com. Further, it appears that the legal issues you refer to began several years after Clinton left office. The fact remains that Hillary Clinton never took action as secretary of state because of donations to the Clinton Foundation.

GM owns 25 percent of the company established in 2008, while UzAvtosanoat, an Uzbek firm, controls 75 percent.

We are aware that one of the suspects arrested was an Uzbek national who worked at the joint venture company and also UzAvto, and he has been dismissed by the joint venture, GM spokesman Patrick Morrissey told FoxNews.com. We cant comment on any other law enforcement actions.

Morrissey also said that U.S. auto bailout money GM received was not directed toward its international operation. He said no U.S. government financial support of any kind was provided to GM Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov -- whose 27-reign earned him the reputation of a ruthless tyrant -- reportedly uncovered the alleged misconduct this spring regarding an elaborate export-import scheme for vehicles that were supposed to be sold in Russia but were instead allegedly shipped back to Uzbekistan and sold at higher prices to maximize profits for executives. Karimov, who died in September, is most remembered for having his troops kill 700 unarmed protestors in 2005, and running a centralized economy.

The global watchdog group Transparency International ranked Uzbekistan 153 on its corruption index, with a transparency score of just 19.

So, there are reasons to doubt the legitimacy of the prosecution, said Flaherty.

Everything in Uzbekistan is political, so I wouldnt put a lot of faith in the criminal justice system, Flaherty said. But it seems like the Clintons still are not very discerning about who they associate with.

General Motors Corporation has contributed between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Also, in February 2010, the General Motors Foundation announced a donation of 30 pickup trucks to the Clinton Foundation, which GMs Morrissey said were valued at $684,455, to be used in relief efforts in Haiti. Hillary Clinton delivered the remarks at the GM Uzbekistan plant the following year, and the company was a finalist for the State Department honor in back-to-back years.

In a statement to FoxNews.com, the Clinton Foundation noted most of the other GM donations to the foundation went for the Clinton Global Initiative.

GM was a member of the Clinton Global Initiative for several years, and their financial contributions to the Foundation are totally comprised of CGI membership fees, the statement said. In this time, they partnered on a wide range of commitments, from initiatives to expand clean energy in their automobile lines, to a training program for NGO leaders, to an effort to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in China.
The Obama administration secretly used taxpayer money to fund an official inspection of several U.S. cities as possible locations to move terror detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in violation of federal law, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

The Obama administration ordered the Pentagon to spend U.S. taxpayer funds for a domestic search of possible Guantanamo detainee relocation sites, according to documents obtained by the Free Beacon. United States law bars the administration from spending taxpayer money on its effort to move Gitmo suspects onto American soil.

The disclosure has prompted a congressional inquiry to determine who in the Obama administration ordered the relocation search and how taxpayer funds were authorized for that purpose, according to a formal letter sent by lawmakers to the Defense Department on Monday and obtained by the Free Beacon.

The disclosure of this activity by the Obama administration has renewed concerns on Capitol Hill that the White House will make a last-minute effort to shutter the Gitmo prison and ship the remaining detainees to the United States, despite laws prohibiting the transfers.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt informed lawmakers in a letter late last month that he had discovered documentation showing the Obama administration spent more than $25,000 to scout potential relocation sites in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Charleston, S.C.; and Florence, Colo.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.
After a week of roiling presidential race controversies -- including the release of Donald Trump's tax returns and Hillary Clinton's unflattering portrayal of millennial voters -- their running mates meet Tuesday for a debate where they hope to steady their respective campaigns and launch their own offensives.

Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence so far have served in a traditional yeoman role, as Trump and Clinton occupy the limelight. Yet the two are seasoned politicians, ready and able to attack and parry on their nominees' behalf, at their only debate of the election season.

Pence, Indianas governor, on Monday hinted at his strategy -- attacking Clintons long political career and critiquing Kaines record as Virginia governor which Pence argues was marked by high unemployment and a tax-and-spend agenda.

I cant wait, the 57-year-old Pence said while campaigning in central Virginia. Clinton's record on foreign affairs alone could take up the whole 90 minutes.  I kind of hope we get to talk about our records as well because theyre just a little bit different. When Tim Kaine was governor, he actually tried to raise taxes by $4 billion in four years.

By Tuesday morning, their prime-time debate at Longwood University, in nearby Farmville, Va., had its own controversy.

A new Republican National Committee video ad that hit Kaine for his legal representation of defendants convicted of violent crimes drew comparisons in some outlets to the infamous Willie Horton ad. That 1988 ad had hit Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, the Massachusetts governor, over convicted murderer Horton committing violent crimes while on furlough from his life sentence -- but was criticized for being racially charged.

RNC strategist Sean Spicer initially tweeted a Roll Call article making the Willie Horton ad comparison, but then deleted the tweet. Spicer told Fox News on Tuesday that the RNC disagreed with the comparison to the 1988 ad.

It's unclear whether Kaine's criminal justice record will in fact emerge at Tuesday's debate.

The 58-year-old Kaine, a devout Catholic and Harvard Law School graduate, has said little about his debate strategy.

It's intense, but I'm calm. Things work out the way they are supposed to, he said after attending Mass on Sunday in Richmond.

Clinton said Tuesday she thought Kaine would have a great debate performance, before flashing the thumbs-up sign.

If Kaines debate rhetoric is anything like that on the campaign trail, he will likely focus his attacks on Trump and what he considers the Republican presidential nominee's acceptance of bigotry, racism, xenophobia, anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant behavior from supporters.

The focus of the debate is likely to stay trained on the presidential nominees themselves.

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Hannity on Monday to expect a prepared and feisty Mike Pence, ready to challenge Clintons record and hold her accountable for the failures of her policies as secretary of state.

Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker has stood in as Kaine in Pences debate prep sessions, while Washington lawyer Robert Barnett has been playing the role of Pence in Kaine's preparations.

Kaine spent several days preparing in Raleigh, N.C., and in his hometown of Richmond, about an hour west of the debate site.

Close aides say Kaine has been studying big binders of details and also knows the debate is about the top of the ticket.

One aide also told Fox News on Tuesday that the prep sessions have included a steady stream of black coffee, M&Ms and downtime with staff and friends to close each day.

The Clinton-Kaine campaign has announced that Kaine has invited family and friends including the Rev. Jesse Jackson to the debate.

Trump, meanwhile, is taking heat over the details in newly published tax documents that allegedly show the nominee took more than $900 million in losses in 1995 that could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years.

The Clinton campaign over the weekend was forced to defend the candidates remarks in a leaked audiotape from this winter in which she seemed to characterize young supporters of then-primary rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as children of the recession living in their parents basement.

The vice presidential debate is always a more low-key affair than the trio of presidential showdowns.

That's particularly true in an election where the candidates at the top of the ticket are such outsized figures who have been in the public eye for decades.

While last week's first debate between Trump and Clinton drew a record-setting television audience of about 84 million people, the Pence-Kaine contest is expected to be watched by far fewer viewers.

Fox News Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mike Pence plans to show his feisty side as he squares off Tuesday night against Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine at their first and only debate, according to Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.

Unlike the Republican presidential nominee, Trumps running mate is not known for his showmanship or political flair. But the face-off comes at a critical time for both Kaine and Pence, amid turmoil at the top of their respective tickets -- and could call for a change-up in style.

Conway told Fox News Hannity that Pence has been preparing rigorously and plans to use the debate Tuesday night at Virginia's Longwood University to go after Hillary Clintons record.

I think youre going to see  a feisty Mike Pence take on the record of Hillary Clinton and hold her accountable for the failures of her policies as secretary of state, she said Monday night.

For his part, Kaine has been studying big binders of details, according to a close aide. The aide said Kaine, too, knows the debate is about the top of the ticket.

While Pence is gearing up to go after Clinton, one aide involved in Kaines preparations said of the Indiana governor: "Let's see if he is willing to defend Trump."

The debate is a chance for each campaign to calm the waters.

Trump is taking heat over the details in newly published tax documents that allegedly show the nominee suffered more than $900 million in losses in 1995 that could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years. He also had a rocky first debate. Clinton, meanwhile, was reeling over the weekend release of audio appearing to show Clinton telling donors that some Bernie Sanders supporters were children of the recession living in their parents basement.

The single debate for the running mates is always a more low-key affair than the trio of presidential showdowns. That's particularly true in an election where the candidates at the top of the ticket are such outsized figures who have been in the public eye for decades.

While last week's first debate between Trump and Clinton drew a record-setting television audience of about 84 million people, the Pence-Kaine contest is expected to be watched by far fewer viewers.

For many of those who do tune in, the debate is likely to be one of their first opportunities to thoroughly assess the men who could be next in line for the presidency.

Kaine is a friendly and earnest political veteran whose easygoing demeanor is similar to Pence. He's tried to serve as a validator of Clinton's character, eager to offset the questions many Americans have about her honesty and trustworthiness.

Kaine spent several days preparing for the debate in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, which is about an hour west of the debate site. Washington lawyer Robert Barnett has been playing the role of Pence in Kaine's debate preparations.

Pence, too, has been meticulously preparing for the showdown, a contrast with Trump, who eschewed traditional study sessions and practice debates. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has stood in as Kaine in the prep sessions.

Fox News Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Donald Trump is a genius.

Thats the line that such top surrogates as Rudy Guiliani and Chris Christie have been peddling in the wake of the New York Times publishing a 20-year-old tax return showing that Trump wrote off a loss of $916 million.

Whats ingenious is the brazen spin, and I say that as someone who thinks the tax story is not the bombshell that most in the mediaand the Clinton campaignthink it is.

As the two VP candidates get ready to square off today, the white-hot media spotlight remains firmly on Trump. There are negative stories pushed by the press and negative stories he creates with his own remarks and tweets.

The tax story has two potential downsides. One is the appearance that Trump, running against a rigged system, took advantage of that rigged system while ordinary folks had to fork over part of their paychecks to Uncle Sam. (The Times story didnt purport to prove that Trump paid no income taxes for up to 18 years, but his campaign, while ripping the paper as an extension of the Clinton campaign, hasnt denied it.)

But since the Trump deduction was perfectly legaland not unlike what middle-class people can deduct for losses on a home or stockI believe most people will say that he was just doing what businessmen do. In fact, to pass up a large legal tax break would be corporate malpractice.

As if to underscore the point, Forbes has reported that the Times paid no income tax for 2014 and got a $3.5 million refund, despite a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million. So there.

The storys other potential downside is that if Trump built such a great company, why he did he lose nearly a billion dollars in one year? He was dealing with a tailspin in the Atlantic City casino market, as well as problems with other properties such as the airline he bought. But on balance, I think most people view Trump as having overcome a rough patch in building a successful global brand.

Its illegal to publish someones tax returns without permission, but Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said early last month he would do so because Trump is a presidential candidate whose whole campaign is built on his success as a businessman, and his wealth. The paper probably faces no liability since it did nothing questionable to obtain the 1995 return, which was anonymous sent to a Times reporter. And, of course, this would be an old story if Trump had released his tax returns, like every major-party candidate since the 1970s.

The tax flap came at the end of a rough week for Trump, from the debate to his repeated attacks on a former Miss Universe after Clinton raised that issue at Hofstra.

In a Saturday night speech, Trump questioned whether Hillary had remained loyal to Billan intimation of cheating for which there is no evidence.

Alec Baldwina big Dem who once hosted a show on MSNBCpretty effectively mocked Trump the debater on SNL.

The AP hit Trump yesterday with a big piece on his past as a television entertainer:

In his years as a reality TV boss on The Apprentice, Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with.

The sources, to APs credit, are on the record. But anyone whos listened to the past Howard Stern interviews knows that Trump engaged in all kinds of locker-room talk would be utterly inappropriate for a politicianbefore he decided to become one.

New Yorks Democratic attorney general yesterday issued a cease-and-desist order yesterday to stop the Trump Foundation from fundraising.

Oh, and to top it off, LeBron James endorsed Hillary.

So with six days till the next debate, Trump has to figure out how to shift his campaign back to the issues that voters care abouthe did a cybersecurity speech yesterdayreverse Clintons bump in the polls, and improve his performance at the St. Louis faceoff. If he does that, his surrogates will have an easier time calling him a genius.
Anyone who stayed up late or got up early anticipating an "October Surprise" from WikiLeaks heard no bombshells from the organization's founder in an overnight appearance via video.

#Assange: Regarding upcoming publications... We hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks. #wikileaks10  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 4, 2016

Julian Assange, who was originally planning to make an announcement from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London where he has lived for five years, instead appeared via videolink at a Berlin conference commemorating the leaked email clearinghouse's 10-year anniversary.

Despite widespread speculation he would reveal game-changing information on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Assange's 3 a.m. ET appearance featured no new revelations, although he did promise to publish information regarding the presidential election every week for the next 10 weeks.

Assange said he will publish documents regarding at least three governments before the end of the year.

The documents themselves are revealing, but also the government/state reactions to the releases are revealing also, he said.

Assange denied that he was specifically targeting Clinton with his document dumps, insisting that some of his statements have been misconstrued. He added that WikiLeaks will publish leaked documents on war, oil, Google and mass surveillance in addition to the U.S. election.

Assange also announced changes in its funding and organization. He called upon readers to donate to WikiLeaks and urged his followers to join the WikiLeaks Task Force to help defend the whistle-blowing website.

The 45-year-old Assange opted not to appear from the embassy after WikiLeaks developed "specific information" regarding Assange's safety.

Its a variety of documents, from different types of institutions that are associated with the election campaign, some quite unexpected angles, some quite interesting, some even entertaining, Assange told Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly in August.

In a subsequent interview with Fox News Channels Sean Hannity last month, Assange said his next round of revelations was coming reasonably soon.

The first batch is reasonably soon, he told Hannity. We are quite confident about it now.

Assange has already played a key role in the presidential race, with the release of 20,000 internal emails that indicated the Democratic National Committee appeared to conspire to prevent Bernie Sanders from winning the nomination. Those revelations surfaced in August, just before the partys convention, proving embarrassing to Clintons campaign. They also led to the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Though no recent public revelations directly tie to Assange's security fears, various U.S. officials and pundits have made threatening statements directed at him in the past. WikiLeaks on Monday tweeted an alleged quote from a 2010 State Department meeting at which then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked if Assange could be killed in a drone strike. That same year, former Democrat strategist Bob Beckel said on Fox News Channel that "a dead man can't leak stuff."

Assange also has hinted that deceased DNC staffer Seth Rich may have been a source for WikiLeaks. Rich, 27, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the back at a Washington, D.C., intersection in July. He died soon thereafter. Authorities believe Rich was the target of a botched robbery, but his death has inspired conspiracy theories.

WikiLeaks has published more than 10 million leaked emails, including sensitive information about prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and a cache of diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies around the world.
An ancient Mayan document long thought to be a forgery was recently found to be genuine. The text, known as the Grolier Codex, was analyzed by researchers from Yale, Brown, and the University of California, Riverside, and, according to their results, is the real thing.

The codexa ten page document consisting of Mayan deity/ritual paintings and a calendar that charts the movement of Venusdates back to the first half of the 13th century, making it the oldest surviving document from the Americas.

Consisting of amate paper made from fig tree bark, the codex was widely believed to be a forgery partially due to the circumstances in which it turned up back in the late 60s. The story goes that collector Josue Saenz was flown to a remote airstrip somewhere in the Mexican state of Chiapa, where a crew of looters met him. They showed him the ancient Mayan text, claiming to have found it in a dry cave along with several other artifacts including a wooden mask and sacrificial knife (all which later proved genuine).

In 1971, Saenz allowed archaeologist (and one of the new studys authors) Dr. Michael Coe to display it in New York Citys Grolier Club. Thereafter, the newly-dubbed Grolier Codex was taken to the basement of the Mexican National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, where it sits to this day.

After the unveiling, there were a lot of dismissals of the codex as a forgery, which eventually became a dogma that followed the artifact for decades. Dr. Stephen Houston, a professor at Brown University and one of the researchers who analyzed the text, chalked these up partly to the documents origins.

By definition, an object without clear provenance or place of origin opens room for doubt, Houston told FoxNews.com. But there are many other criteria too, and many of these doubts were themselves doubtful.

The codex was first unveiled at a time when ancient Mayan documents were being faked, so people had reason to be wary. However, Houston said that forged codices are relatively obvious.

There are a number of faked Maya codices from the 1960s and before, he explained. All are obvious, copying from preexisting codices, daubed with garish color.

Dr. Michael Coe, study coauthor and Yale professor, agreed.

In my career (I'm 87), I've seen over 50 fakes, and they're all sorry, totally naive productions by fakers who know nothing of Maya writing or astronomy, Coe told FoxNews.com. So when I published [a copy of] this manuscript back in 1973, quite a few Mayanists automatically condemned it as a fake.

In Coes opinion, the forgery accusations by so-called experts involved a lot of academic and international politics.

All of them have failed to realize that the Grolier Codex is a kind of hybrid, made by a priestly scribe living on the frontier between the Maya and other non-Maya peoples in Mexico, [which] shows that when it was painted, it combined Maya and non-Maya ways of writing numbers, etc., he said.

In two previous studies reviewed by Coe and Houstons team, the codex had been radiocarbon-dated to prove that the amate paper used was indeed from the first half of the 13th century. The team then spent two and a half years studying highly detailed photographsfull-size Ektachromes of all ten pages, front and backtaken of the codex in 1988 while it was still out of sight in a Mexico City storeroom.

The study that emerged should put all objections over the documents authenticity to rest. For one, the Grolier Codex depicts deities that had yet to be discovered in the 60s, which would make it almost impossible for someone at the time to forge.

There are details of the gods shown and the system of writing numbers that have only been revealed to archaeologists long after the time that the Grolier Codex first came to light in a Mexican private collection, Coe explained. If this was a fake, the faker would have to have been able to look into the future.

Also, technology that could accurately duplicate the blue pigment used in the codexs artwork wouldnt be perfected until the 80s. These are just a few examples of how it would be virtually impossible for con artists in the 60s to forge the document, examples detailed in an article published in the latest issue of Maya Archaeology.

Now that the Grolier Codex has been authenticated, Houston believes it should be removed from the National Museums basement and given the reverence it deserves. Coe shares the sentiment.

I do hope that the Mexican authorities will realize that they have a national treasure, namely the oldest written book in the New World, he said.
A swarm of small quakes near the San Andreas fault spurred officials in California to issue an earthquake alert for residents of Southern California.

Based on the swarm activity, the risk of an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater in Southern California shot up to between 1 in 300 and 1 in 100 over the weekend, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Office of Emergency Services in California issued an alert that is in effect until tomorrow (Oct. 4).

"I wouldn't say it's over until it's really over. We sort of just gradually get back to background, and it could tick back up later after we think it's settled down," said Kenneth Hudnut, a USGS research geophysicist in Pasadena, California.

On an average day, there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of a magnitude 7 or greater quake, meaning the risk is temporarily elevated 100 times above baseline, said Morgan Page, a research geophysicist with the USGS in Pasadena, California. [Photos: The Gorgeous San Andreas Fault]

But how exactly do seismologists estimate earthquake risk, and how do swarms like those seen over the past several days affectd the baseline risk?

It turns out, tiny earthquakes increase earthquake risk because they increase the overall earthquake frequency on a given fault, and because smaller temblors on cross-faults situated perpendicular to the main San Andreas fault can set off a larger one on the main fault, USGS scientists said.

Swarm of quakes

A series of 142 or 143 tiny earthquake swarms were detected near the Salton Sea, a saltwater lake that sits atop the 800-mile-long (1,287 kilometers) San Andreas Fault. The swarm occurred on cross-faults that connect the southern end of the San Andreas fault with the so-called Imperial fault.

This event is just the third time such a swarm has shaken this region on the southern tip of the San Andreas since 1932 when quake sensors were placed there. "We had a swarm in 2009 and a swarm that occurred in 2001," Page told Live Science.

The recent swarm triggered the earthquake alert for Southern California. However, the last quake recorded in the region occurred a day ago.

"Official advisory extends to Tuesday, but seismically the extra risk is all but over. But remember, everyday risk is high," Lucy Jones, a seismologist who formerly worked for the USGS, tweeted yesterday.

Risk calculation

But just how do seismologists account for earthquake swarmsin their seismic models?

The San Andreas Fault sits at the region where the North American Plate is sliding past the Pacific Plate, a boundary known as a strike-slip fault. It is actually a network of fault systems that snakes from the Salton Sea in the Mojave Desert to the Mendocino Coast in the north.

The region that experienced the swarms, near the Salton Sea, is a portion of the fault that has built up a lot of stress, and hasn't ruptured in 326 years, the Orange County Register reported.

"The amount of energy that's released by tiny earthquakes is just minuscule in terms of the total energy budget for earthquakes," Page said. "Even adding up all the little ones, they don't really count for much." [Image Gallery: This Millennium's Destructive Earthquakes]

For instance, a magnitude-7 earthquake releases 1 million times as much energy as a magnitude-3 temblor, according to the USGS.

"You really need those big earthquakes to make any difference," Page said.

But another phenomenon proposed by Hudnut in 1987 did create concern among geologists that the swarm could trigger "a big one." Hudnut proposed the hypothesis that activity on a cross-fault running perpendicular to a major fault can put enough stress on a major fault to cause an earthquake; that's what happened in 1987, leading to a quake along California's Superstition Hills fault.

During the swarm, Hudnut drove out and checked for possible "triggered slip" in the area of the cross-faults. Though there was some "cracking," he said, there was no evidence of movement that would have required actual tectonic slip behavior.

Smaller earthquakes can also trigger aftershocks, and aftershocks can sometimes be bigger than the quake that set them off.

Beyond that, earthquake models predict risk based on the frequency of earthquakes, and swarms of earthquakes temporarily increase that frequency, Page said.

Region at risk

The area around the Salton Sea is not near any major population centers, but some models show that a quake set off near the Salton Sea could trigger a rupture farther north, past cities such as Palm Springs and San Bernardino.

And while Los Angeles County wouldn't be directly affected by such a rupture, "You can have seismic waves basically funneled into the basins," Page said. "Because the LA basin is surrounded by mountains on all sides, the waves basically get trapped there."

Add to that the soft sediment in the Los Angeles region, and a quake set off near the Salton Sea could trigger fairly intense shaking in Los Angeles even if the epicenter of the quake was relatively far away, Page said.

The latest swarm may have died down, but Angelenos shouldn't breathe too big a sigh of relief, Page said.

"We live in earthquake country and we should be prepared for an earthquake at any time," Page said. "Events like this can change the probabilities from week to week but it never goes to zero."

Original article on Live Science.

Live Science's Jeanna Bryner contributed to this article.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to state that Hudnut "proposed the hypothesis" rather than "discovered" the cross-fault phenomenon.
Google has unveiled its hotly-anticipated new Pixel smartphones, which are branded with the Google logo on the back.

The new glass and aluminum phones come with Google Assistant included, a made-by-Google artificially-intelligent assistant that can do things like make dinner reservations through OpenTable. The devices come in two sizes, 5 and 5.5 inches, and are available immediately for pre-order, Google said.

While Pixels beautiful, what really makes it come to life is how the hardware and software work together, Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of Googles hardware division, said at the San Francisco event, during which they heavily emphasized the importance of the Google Assistant.

The Pixel phones will come in three colors, which Google calls quite black, very silver and really blue. Pricing begins at $649, or $27 a month.

The phones both feature a 12.3 megapixel camera and free unlimited photo and video storage through Google Photos. Also, the device has no unsightly camera bump, Osterloh said a dig at Apples latest smartphones, which have cameras that protrude from the device.

Google also touted Pixels other features, like customer service built into the phone, and a quick-charging feature that they said could give it seven hours of power in 15 minutes.

Also unlike Apples newest iPhones, the new Pixel phones have a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Google also revealed more details about its Google Home device, a Wi-Fi enabled speaker that channels the Google Assistant to do things like play music through services such as YouTube or Spotify, answer questions, and even translate phrases.

We think youre going to love the combination of a great sounding Wi-Fi speaker with voice control from the Google Assistant, Google vice president Rishi Chandra said, while demonstrating the device.

Chandra added that Google Home will be able to communicate with your television through a Google Chromecast device.

Google Home is available for pre-order immediately, and will be available on November 4 through the Google Store and retailers like Best Buy. It will cost $129.

Because the device is meant to blend into the aesthetics of a home, Google has designed it so that the color and material of the base can be switched. Options include colors called mango and marine.

Follow Rob Verger on Twitter: @robverger
Kid-free airplane cabins have caused a lot of controversy over the years, and now it seems the idea is gaining traction once again.

This week, Indian budget carrier IndiGo adopted a quiet zone policy for premium seats.

Its a euphemistic way of saying kids below 12 years of age arent welcome in certain parts of the plane, which usually includes seats in the front and over the wings with extra leg room.

The controversial idea is popular with frequent flyers  and anyone who has been locked in a cabin beside a screaming infant or naughty youngster  but its sparked ire among families.

The policy is discriminatory, a disgruntled customer told the Hindustan Times.

The issue stirred up a hornets nest of parental indignation in 2013, when Malaysian Airlines, Thai Airways, AirAsia and Singapore-based Scoot all introduced reserved seating.

No offence to our young guests or those travelling with them  you still have the rest of the aircraft, Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson said at the time.

According to Jeff Edwards of Flyer Talk, the idea of adult-only cabins seemed ready to take the industry by storm, but it caused a logistic nightmare for airlines faced with policing seats in cases of delay, cancellation and changed bookings.

He described the idea as more of a passing fad than a revolution in air travel.

Its no secret most people hate travelling next to children.

In a study commissioned by British booking company LateDeals.co.uk in 2014, almost 70 per cent of respondents said theyd like to see child-free areas on planes.

About a quarter said kid-free zones should be compulsory on long-haul flights, and nearly a third said quiet rows were necessary to ensure stress-free travels for non-parenting passengers.

Thirty-five per cent said theyd pay more to travel on an entirely child-free flight.

Parents were incensed.

How would people feel if an airline touted special sections excluding people for similarly arbitrary reasons? parent Matt Villano wrote for Parenting.com in 2012.

I can almost envision the day JetBlue reserves four rows for people with less than two per cent body-fat ... suck it up! We family travelers have every right to fly with our kids, and well be damned if we let [you] take that away from us.

The other side fired back.

Its not that they dont like kids. They just dont like bad parents, Keli Goff wrote on the topic for the Huffington Post in 2013.

If someone is willing to pay for extra legroom for a more comfortable seat, and that same someone is also willing to pay for a child-free cabin to increase the likelihood of enjoying a quieter seat, but your superior opinion is that your kids are adorable and every person should be forced to see them as adorable too, and therefore should have to sit near your kids whether a person wants to or not, that would make you ... whats the word? Could it be intolerant?

Debate continues to rage on social media.

#childfreeflights has to happen, I'd be 100% willing to pay more just to not have to sit 6 hours straight next to a crying kid.  RandomNickname (@HapFreeman) June 19, 2016

I took my 1yr old on hol in June and I wont be going on a plane with him again for a while! Parents know their children! #childfreeflights  Busy Working Mummy (@busyworkingmum1) August 27, 2015

Surely, theres a happy medium.

Is it really necessary to take a tiny baby on a long flight? journalist and parent Kelly Rose Bradford asked on ITVs This Morning in August last year.

I think theres an element of selfishness from parents who insist on not changing their lifestyle once they have their children because there are some things that just arent practical.

She said since theres already business and first class, it makes sense to have a family section.

Surely that would be better for everybody? Youve got miserable, many people like me who do not want your delightful children wailing in my ear for my flight.

Budget airlines charge for all optional extras, including exit row seats, baggage and meals. Maybe more carriers will start rolling out other types of quiet zones.
Several U.S. carriers announced travel waivers and partial refunds for travelers with existing itineraries to or out of areas affected by Hurricane Matthew.

The Category 4 storm, which is currently in the Caribbean and heading towards the East Coast, has already forced hundreds of residents in Haiti and Jamaica into temporary shelters.

The U.S. State Department has been issuing travel warnings and is now advising Americans in parts of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Bahamas to leave as soon as possible, pending safe travel plans in place. recommending folks leave before the storm hits, when possible.

Several cruise lines including Carnival and Disney announced several Caribbean-bound ships would be changing routes. A few affected cruisers may be entitled to a full or partial refund.

On Tuesday afternoon, several airlines announced policy updates in the wake of the storm.

American Airlines--Travelers who booked travel to and from several Florida airports, and affected Caribbean locations, will be able to change their trip with no change fee.

Airports included for Florida travel originally scheduled between Oct. 6-7: Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Key West, Melbourne, Miami, Orlando, Key West, and West Palm Beach.(rebooked travel must begin by Oct. 12).

Caribbean airports affected include: Cienfuegos, Cuba; Holguin, Cuba; Santa Clara, Cuba; Cap-Haitien, Haiti; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Kingston, Jamaica; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (rebooked travel must begin by Oct. 9).

Delta Air Lines -- The airline will allow affected travelers to cancel their trip or if you experience a flight delay of more than 90 minutes, the airline is offering a full refund for the unused portion of the ticket. Flight still scheduled?Ttravelers flying into or out of certain destinations can make a one-time change to their ticket without a fee.



Frontier Airlines -- Frontier didnt have any flight changes to announce yet either. As of Tuesday, the airlines site said, We are monitoring the storm and its possible impact. As the week progresses, and forecasts become more reliable, well be posting further updates.

JetBlue --JetBlue will waive change or cancellation fees and fare differences for customers traveling to and from certain cities in both the U.S. and the Caribbean. Customers with cancelled flights may opt for a refund.

U.S. Airports included for travel originally scheduled between Oct. 6-9: Charleston, SC; Daytona Beach, FL; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Jacksonville, FL; Orlando; Raleigh/Durham, NC; Savannah/Hilton Head, GA; and West Palm Beach, FL (Customers may rebook their flights for travel through Oct. 16, prior to the departure of their originally scheduled flight).



Southwest Airlines -- The airline says scheduled service for Montego Bay, Jamaica between Sept. 30 and Oct. 5 might be disrupted, as well as its scheduled service to Nassau, Bahamas between Oct. 2 and Oct. 7. Customers holding reservations on those dates to and from affected cities may rebook their itinerary in within 14 days of their original date of travel without a fee.

Spirit Airlines -- Customers can have their ticket charge or fare difference waived through Oct. 14 if theyre traveling to, from or through Fort Lauderdale and Orlando between Oct. 6-7. After Oct. 14, ticket changes can still be made but a fare difference may apply.

United Airlines -- For flights originally booked for travel between Oct. 5-7, United will waive the change fee and any difference in fare for new flights departing on or before Oct. 12. Travel must be rebooked in the same fare class and between the same cities.

Affected airports included: Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and West Palm Beach.
It takes a significant amount of planning and research to move, so its no surprise that only 11.6 percent of Americans chose to do so between 2014 and 2015.

Settling on a new location gets especially complicated when you factor in local government. The decisions that city officials are responsible for, such as services, taxes and budget cuts, can greatly influence the quality of life in a given place.

Related: Entrepreneur Magazine's Best Cities for Entrepreneurs

Dont worry, though. Financial advising site WalletHub has done the heavy-lifting for you. (Well, the research, that is. Youre on your own with those boxes.) To determine Americas best-run cities, WalletHub examined 150 of the country's largest metropolises, comparing factors including financial stability, education, health, safety, economy and infrastructure and pollution against total per-capita budgets.

10. Nashua, N.H.

DenisTangneyJr | Getty Images

Nashua is 10th on the list for best-run cities, thanks to its economy, safety and financial stability.

Nashua ranks 11th (out of 150 cities studied) in overall city services, though it struggles with infrastructure and pollution, ranking 114th in that subcategory. But the city makes up for it with its robust economy, which ranks eighth.

9. Sioux Falls, S.D.

Danita Delimont | Getty Images

The largest city in South Dakota, Sioux Falls, comes in ninth on the list of best-run cities thanks to its exceptional city services.

Related: The 10 Best Cities to Flip Houses

8. Bismarck, N.D.

Dennis Macdonald | Getty Images

Bismarck is the eighth-best-run city in America, but it takes the top spot for services provided. Most notable are the health and economy services subcategories, in both of which the city falls third. Its also 11th for infrastructure and pollution services and eighth for safety.

7. Billings, Mont.

Ron Reiring | Getty Images

Billings, on the Yellowstone River, is the seventh-best-run city in the U.S. It falls 23rd (out of 150 cities) in overall services and is financially strong. The city ranks 18th for financial stability and 13th in the economy subcategory.

Billings also sits in seventh place for total budget per capita.

6. Lexington-Fayette, Ky.

Henryk Sadura | Getty Images

Lexington, known as the Horse Capital of the World, comes in 27th for overall city services with particular strengths in health and education, ranking 11th and 12th respectively.

5. Fort Wayne, Ind.

Deb Perry | Getty Images

Fort Wayne falls fifth on the list. It leads because of its education services, ranking 14th in that subcategory, but it falls short in health services, which are ranked 133rd among 150 cities. Overall, Fort Wayne comes in 32nd for its city services.

4. Missoula, Mont.

Panoramic Images | Getty Images

Missoula comes in at number four in the best-run ranking. It falls 28th in overall city services with particular strengths in infrastructure and pollution, economy and education. Its education services, especially, are thriving -- the city ranks sixth (out of 150) in that subcategory.

Related: 6 Global Alternative Cities to Silicon Valley to Start Your Company

Missoula also shines because it has the fourth-highest total budget per capita.

3. Provo, Utah

Witold Skrypczak | Getty Images

Provo comes in as the third-best-run city, and it is also listed by Livability as a top-100 place to live.

2. Nampa, Idaho

Witold Skrypczak | Getty Images

Idaho takes the top two spots for city operations. Its second-largest city, Nampa, comes in right behind its capital, Boise.

1. Boise, Idaho

Anna Gorin | Getty Images

Boise ranks second in both overall city services and total budget per capita. The combined excellence in both categories makes Boise the best-run American city, according to WalletHub.

Livability
The heart and soul of your direct mail campaign is the sales piece copy. Unfortunately, writing brilliant, interesting, and persuasive copy is not an easy task. And its often not fully appreciated by the people who pay for it. New mailers especially tend to focus on the campaign details of cost, scheduling, and locating mailing lists. Getting the copy written can often be almost an afterthought.

I think part of the reason for this attitude is that most people think that anyone can write sales copy, and it shouldnt take long for someone to throw together some ideas. They dont realize that good writing takes real skill, and the better the writing, the more effortless it appears. Dont make this mistake with your direct mail campaign!

Related: The Good, the Intentionally Bad, and the Ugly Grammar

Great copywriting doesnt call attention to itself (Arent I clever!). Great copywriting gets readers focused on the message, and then deftly carries them along on an emotional journey  cleverly disguised as the presentation of facts  until it delivers them at the choice point (to buy, or not to buy), ready to make a commitment.

Your copywriter must select words and images that represent you, your values, and the excellence of your product. You and your copywriter have a creative relationship with a common goal, and selecting someone who can help you bring your vision to life is critical to the success of your campaigns.

So lets look at some of the qualities you should look for in a copywriter.

1. They should be well-versed in your industry.

As in any field, in copywriting there are people who are specialists. Some writers spend a career writing pieces directed toward opportunity seekers. Others specialize in health supplements or technical products. If your product is a software program that auto repair shops can use to help diagnose electronic issues in engines, you want someone who knows something about the language in that area and what will appeal to owners of auto repair shops. Youll probably have less success with someone who is mostly experienced writing copy about tools for knitting and crocheting  for an audience of craft enthusiasts.

This isnt to say that some copywriters cant adapt to a variety of audiences. But do get samples of the writers work and see if anything sounds right to you. If youre not sure the writer can fit your needs, but youd like to find out, ask him or her to write a short sample to your specifications and see if you like the results. You may have to pay for the writers time, but it will be worth it in the long run.

2. They can easily adopt your voice.

Every sales piece has a voice. It can be informative, caring, professional, alarming  and it often sounds like it comes from a specific person. Sometimes a business owner will write his own sales piece that takes off and makes a fortune. After that he may no longer want to write his own pieces so hell hire a copywriter who can capture the voice of the original successful piece, and write new pieces that sound just like they were written by the same person as the original piece. You may not even be able to tell the difference.

Give the copywriter youre considering samples of the pieces you like. Or if you are a personality, or your company has a particularly strong brand itself, just talk to the writer so she gets a feel for your sentence structure, your vocabulary, the images you use, and so on. Then maybe start the writer on a small piece  maybe a 4-page letter, and see if it sounds like something you could have written. If it does, you can try the writer on a longer piece.

3. They listen and ask the right questions.

You dont want a copywriter who comes in with the attitude that you dont know anything and hes the expert. A good copywriter needs to adapt to your needs. You know your product and your prospects. You know what kind of sales pieces interest you. Your copywriter should want to learn your perspective and then work to please you.

One way to tell that copywriters are going to listen to you is that they ask you questions. If youre new at this, you may not know what to tell the writer. But the writer can get the direction needed by asking you who your audience is, what the feel of the piece should be, is it a postcard or a magalog, what is your offer, do you want it more technical or more informal, and so on. Does it look like the writer is trying to give you what you want?

On the other hand, the copywriter is a professional, so do be willing to listen to him. For example, if you want to put salty language in the piece, but the copywriter thinks this may offend some people and its better to use interesting, powerful language but avoid anything obscene, you should heed that advice.

4. They are accomodating to your business and marketing needs.

Unfortunately, it seems that direct mail campaigns always come up against deadlines and a last-minute scramble. The last thing you want is a copywriter who never meets a deadline or is unreliable. Just like any professional, a copywriter should understand the practical needs of your business and come through on time with a great product.

Related: 10 Direct Mail Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Also, the copywriter should be willing to make reasonable changes. A first draft may require revisions, and the copywriter should do them. But again, the key word here is reasonable. If you asked the copywriter to write a piece with a free offer, and then after seeing the completed piece you decided to sell a different product with a different kind of payment plan  which means that major rewriting will be required  then be prepared to pay more than the originally agreed upon fee.

So, how do you find a copywriter with all these stellar qualities?

Getting a recommendation from someone you trust is a great place to start. The professional who is helping you design and run your campaign can probably point you to an excellent copywriter.

You can also look for copywriters online. But do be careful. Read the reviews and testimonials on the writers work. Especially in this kind of situation, interview several candidates, ask them about their experience, and get samples of their work.

Also, be willing to pay what the job is worth. It may seem ridiculous to you to pay hundreds of dollars for one page of copy  but thats what great copy costs. Your niece may be willing to write something for you at a bargain price, but you get what you pay for. Dont be a miser when it comes to paying for copy.

Thinking of becoming your own copywriter?

Finally, in spite of what I said in my opening, it could be that you do have a flair for writing copy and youd like to give it a try. You know and love your product, you know your audience, and it could be that you will write excellent copy.

Learn a little bit about copywriting rules, and go for it. Then have people you can trust to be honest with you read what you write. And listen to their suggestions for improvement. It takes time to craft a good piece.

You still may decide to hire a professional, but your work to create your own piece will not go to waste. Give your piece to the copywriter, who can polish and perfect it and turn it into a true winner.

Craig Simpson is the owner of Simpson Direct Inc., a Grants Pass, Oregon-based direct marketing firm, and a respected speaker/presenter on the topic of direct mail. He is the co-author with Dan S. Kennedy of The Direct Mail Solution and author of The Advertising Solution.
No business is 100 percent productive all day, every day. On-site employees will stand by the coffeepot in the morning, discussing last nights game at length. Remote workers will take a few minutes to let the dog out or have a conversation with a neighbor, who stopped by. Both types of employees will occasionally take long lunch breaks, and check their personal social media accounts throughout the day.

Related: 9 Things Ridiculously Productive People Do Every Day

While these small interruptions cut into a business' bottom line, they arent the only productivity thieves companies have. In fact, some of the biggest time-wasters are things leaders themselves ask employees to do. Here are seven tasks employees engage in every day that hurt a business bottom line.

1. Unnecessary meetings

In numerous surveys, employees list meetings as one of the top time-wasters in their workplaces. This includes unnecessary meetings as well as those that take longer than they should. If youre in a position to tame meetings in your organization, consider implementing a system where meetings happen only when necessary. When meetings do take place, an agenda can keep everyone on track to avoid side conversations, which waste everyones time.

2. Unnecessary reports

That report youre compiling on the number of applications you process or the number of products manufactured may be important only to you. If management has requested a particular report, theres little you can do, of course. But, if youre voluntarily putting these reports together and sending them to everyone, determine which ones have value. You may be able to convince your boss that your time is better spent on more important tasks.

3. Outdated processes

Businesses still waste time doing things the way they did them 10 years ago. Paper-based, manual processes take extra time, and over the course of the year, those minutes add up to hours, days and weeks. Do a thorough audit of your job, and question why you do things a certain way, then look for a replacement method that might save time.

Related: 5 Ways to Build Your Business Instead of Being Trapped By All Those Freakin' Distractions

4. Too much communication

Back in the time when when employees needed to discuss something, theyd either pick up the phone or walk to each others offices. Today, this communication is increasingly happening over email or chat, which are seen as easier ways to share ideas, and get answers to questions. However, in the time it takes to have an email or chat conversation, an employee could have cleared the issue up with a quick phone call. Employees should reconsider using email and chat only for certain discussions because those methods tend to involve numerous delays or back-and-forth messages.

5. Unimportant data

With so many analytics tools available, businesses can easily access real-time data on almost every area of operations. However, not all of this information is useful. As more companies realize the value of extracting data, there will be growing pains, forcing companies to determine which data is important and which doesnt matter.

6. Responding to distractions

In todays open-plan offices, it's easy to get distracted. A meeting on speakerphone, a chatty conversation in the hallway or a chronic cougher can pull you away from the task at hand. This only becomes more complicated when coworkers drop by to talk about various things. If possible, find a quiet place to work when youre trying to get things done. If not, invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones that will help you focus when distractions are all around.

7. Complaining and gossiping

Team-building is important in any organization, but employee interactions should always be productive. While everyone enjoys venting occasionally, complaining and gossiping with coworkers can hurt your career. Management will see you as negative and those coworkers who are the topic of your conversations, will take it personally. Strive to be seen as a positive force in the workplace rather than an instigator or a chronic complainer.

Related: Become a Productivity Monster by Eliminating These 5 Time-Wasting Habits

As hard as you strive to be productive during the workweek, there are inevitable distractions and time-wasters. By identifying the tasks which are affecting your productivity, and taking measures to minimize them, youll be able to boost your career prospects and help your employer reach a higher level.
Police say a man fatally shot a woman inside a Burger King in Cleveland before killing himself inside the bathroom.

Authorities say the suspected murder-suicide occurred at around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

WJW-TV is reporting that the woman might have been a restaurant employee.

Neither the man nor the woman has been identified. Both died at the scene.

Cleveland police declined to provide additional details about the shootings.

Click for more from Fox 8.
I realize it may be unrealistic to purchase a rental property in just a couple months before year-end. However, I want to get you thinking about this strategy and encourage you to start shopping now and make it a priority next year.

As entrepreneurs find success with their primary business ventures, many search for the proper investments for their profits. With that said, after reviewing thousands of clients' situations and tax returns each year, I am convinced that more entrepreneurs should consider rental real estate as an important part of their portfolio.

Now, you may shrug off the concept of owning a rental property and having tenants, due to the time and skills it may take to manage a rental portfolio. But let me list a few reasons that may change your mind:

1. The use of leverage.

Real estate is one of the few investment vehicles where using the bank's money couldn't be easier. The ability to make a down payment, leverage your capital and thus increase your overall return on investment is incredible.

Related: What to Do About a Rental Property Problem

2. Tax deferred growth.

Buying rental property based on speculation of its value is a dangerous tactic since cash flow is the key. However, appreciation over the long run is certainly realistic and at the least, you should be considering a tax-deferred strategy. In the future, you may even consider a 1031 exchange, charitable trust or installment sale to lessen your tax liability further.

3. Tax-free cash flow.

It's no secret that because of depreciation and mortgage interest deductions (if you leverage your capital), your cash flow should be tax-free. That's right! The far majority of the time, an investor will never pay taxes on their cash flow and can wait for capital gains on the sale of the property in the future.

4. The tax write-offs against your other income.

Having a rental property affords investors with another incredible opportunity to convert personal expenses to potentially valid business deductions. Also, depending on your classification as an Active Investor or Real Estate Professional and your income level, there is a good chance that your rental property will give you an overage of tax deductions that you can use against your other income. With that said, this is something you will want to discuss with your tax professional before investing so that your expectations are realistic.

5. Rental real estate is a forced retirement plan.

Americans are terrible savers. We lack the self-discipline to put a monthly deposit into our IRA, SEP or 401k as small-business owners. However, buying a rental property is a significant commitment that you are required to commit to and maintain. You will always be grateful in the long run when you don't give up on it and build future cash flow and wealth.

Based on this fact and the list above, I have consistently urged my clients to buy one rental property a year and already have clients with rental properties earning them money they never imagined they'd have.

Now, finding the right rental property for you in your situation can be a challenge. Over the years, I have purchased rentals myself and also work with clients each week, if not daily, to structure their rental real estate with tax and asset protection benefits. Here are six strategies I have learned and applied over the years that can help you find the best rental property for you in your situation.

1. Buy local if you can.

Let me repeat the words if you can. Thats the key. Dont get hyper-focused on buying local so you can check on the property. Its okay if you dont buy local. Its far more important to buy quality rental properties, rather than local. But, if you are lucky, and you truly live in an area where there are good returns and rental markets, where the return on investment is legitimate without having to own it outright or put down a fortune then consider yourself lucky. Gain some experience, put in some sweat equity and shop 'til you drop!

Related: The Top 10 Ways to Avoid an IRS or State Audit

2. Learn to manage your property manager.

Unless you are a full-time real estate investor and one tough cookie, get a property manager! If you dont have the temperament to be tough and start eviction proceedings three days after a tenant is late, have a personal intervention with yourself. You may not have the time, skills or system to be your own property manager, even if the property is local. Be a realist. Your time could be better spent looking for other rentals, doing the books and earning income with your day job or operational business. So with that said, always, and I mean always, put a budget in your rental property analysis for a property manager (approximately 10 percent of gross rents). Even if you have visions of grandeur and start managing, you will want the budget to add a property manager if that need arises.

3. Dont use a shotgun approach.

I recently met with a client that had five properties in four states. They were great properties, but seriously? Look at the inefficiency of registering an LLC in four states, four state tax returns, four different property managers, four different trips to at least occasionally check on your rentals and four different markets to understand and follow. Now when you have 25-plus rentals and you can afford to make your full-time job managing your rentals and property managers, then tackle four or five markets. But if not, consider the alternative: Bundle your properties in one or two markets, maybe three. Get to know your property managers, get to know the areas and try to be efficient with your tax and legal planning. Save time and money with bundling.

4. Have a master rental property analysis spreadsheet.

Create an Excel spreadsheet to analyze any and all possible deals. That's right -- youre not going to buy the first rental you see this year! Run every property through the gauntlet of your spreadsheet. Own your spreadsheet. Know every column. Start with fair market value, money down, improvements and mortgage/carrying cost, then move it through rental income and expenses, and wrap it up with a cash-on-cash return-on-investment figure. Base your decision on this key factor generated by your spreadsheet. This is why you took fifth-grade math -- embrace it!

5. Remember, you are buying numbers.

Too many investors get emotional about their purchase and can even envision themselves living in the rental property they are analyzing. This is a terrible mistake. In these situations, the investor often over improves the property, investing far too much time or capital and blows their return on investment out of the water. You arent buying a property -- you are buying numbers. Consider: What do your dollars get you in dollars and cents? Not, what cute neighborhood or yard do they get you?

6. Do your research.

Let me say that again: Do your research and then do it again. Dont look at a property as to Why shouldnt I get this? Look at it as, Why should I get this property? Make the numbers prove it to you. Dont assume youre going to buy it unless you find something wrong with it. I love a positive attitude and glass-half-full approach, and thus, this has been one of my greatest learning experiences. I have trained myself over the years to be a lot more skeptical -- at least when it comes to analyzing rentals.

Related: Which Address Should You Use for Your Business?

The far majority of us will never get rich overnight. It takes long-term investing and a diverse portfolio to build true wealth. Bottom line, these are the key themes, strategies and approaches to real estate that my successful clients use. Dont underestimate the power of real estate on your tax return in your portfolio of wealth.

Mark J. Kohler is a CPA, attorney, radio show host and author of

The Tax and Legal Playbook: Game Changing Solutions For Your Small Business Questions

and

What Your CPA Isnt Telling You: Life Changing Tax Strategies

from Entrepreneur Press. He is also a partner at the law firm Kyler Kohler Ostermiller & Sorensen, LLP and the accounting firm K&E CPAs, LLP.
A Georgia man charged with killing his toddler son wept in court Tuesday as his attorney told a jury the child's death two years ago inside a hot SUV is certainly the father's fault, but he committed no crime.

Justin Ross Harris was charged with malice murder and other crimes after his 22-year-old son, Cooper, perished in June 2014. Authorities say the boy was left for seven hours in his father's vehicle parked outside the Home Depot office where Harris worked in the Atlanta suburbs.

Maddox Kilgore, Harris' lead defense attorney, told jurors during the second day of the trial that Harris forgot his son was in the back seat because of a simple change in routine -- he took the boy with him to breakfast that morning, though he usually dropped Cooper off at daycare before eating.

"Ross Harris is responsible for his child's death. It's his fault, no doubt about it," Kilgore told the jury in his opening statement. "What you're going to see here at this trial is that being responsible is not the same thing as being a criminal."

Prosecutors say Harris actually plotted to kill his son, hoping to escape his family responsibilities to focus on sexual liaisons he was having with prostitutes and women he met online. Harris is also charged with sending sexually explicit text messages and photos to an underage teenage girl.

"This case is about death, deception and a double life," prosecutor Chuck Boring said in his opening remarks to the jury Monday.

Kilgore told jurors they will indeed hear about "immoral sexual behavior" and "graphic, filthy sexual talk" by his client. He said Harris "has earned every bit of shame that's coming his way."

But Harris was also planning a future with his wife and son -- from planning a family cruise at the time of Cooper's death to talking with a real estate agent about finding a larger house in a good school district, Kilgore said.

He showed the jury video clips of Harris wailing and crying in the parking lot as police arrived to find the dead child, and of Harris burying his face into his hands and sobbing as he awaited questioning by investigators hours later.

Meanwhile, in the courtroom, Harris dabbed his eyes with a tissue and wiped a finger beneath his nose as he quietly cried at the defense table.

"His sexual behavior isn't some kind of motive to murder the person he loved more than anyone in the world," Kilgore said.

After moving to Georgia from Alabama in 2012, Harris settled in suburban Cobb County where he worked as a web developer for Home Depot. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark moved the trial 275 miles to the coastal city of Brunswick, citing intense pretrial publicity the case received in metro Atlanta.

Harris faces life in prison if he's convicted of murder. Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty.

Harris told police he watched cartoons with his son that morning, took him to breakfast at a Chick-fil-A restaurant and kissed Cooper while strapping him into his car seat. But Harris said he forgot to drop his son off at day care and drove to work, forgetting the boy was in the back seat.

Prosecutor Boring told the jury Harris' account doesn't make sense considering he drove less than a mile from the restaurant to his office and parked his SUV by backing up between two vehicles -- which would have required looking over his shoulder toward the backseat where his son sat.

Kilgore said the jury will hear expert testimony that a distraction could have caused Harris in a split second to forget his son was sitting behind him.

"Human memory is an amazing and miraculous thing," Kilgore said. "But it's not perfect and sometimes it fails us."
Fears of creepy clowns that have been spotted in several states across the U.S. have led one Connecticut school district to ban kids from dressing in the costume as Halloween looms.

Fox 61 reported Monday that New Haven Public Schools will prohibit clown costumes and any symbols of terror as Halloween approaches. The move comes after authorities were investigating an Instagram account that posted clown photos along with threatening messages.

One message read, if you go to Career watch out. Another read, u really think its fake, wait and see.

The station reported that police were trying to determine the authenticity of the account. One of the photos appeared to show the character Pennywise from the scary clown film It, which is based off a Stephen King novel.

At this time there is no indication this incident poses any real or substantial threat to New Haven Public Schools or Students, the school district said in a statement. We do however take these incidents very seriously; In light of this incident, we will continue to monitor the situation throughout the week and take all necessary precautions to ensure student and staff safety in all our schools.

Naugatuck police were investigating a similar account that appeared to mention Naugatuck Schools specifically, according to Fox 61. Police said they didnt believe the threats were credible, but were still conducting a thorough investigation.

Quinnipiac University also received a scare Monday night amid rumors that an armed man in a clown costume was seen on campus. The university squashed the rumors in a message on Twitter.

Click for more from Fox 61.
The Denver Police Department is asking the city for help because it's running out of space to store all the marijuana its officers are confiscating.

Lt. Cliff Carney, who manages the department's evidence section,told The Denver Post that instead of officers finding 15 to 20 plants in someone's basement, they're now finding 1,000 to 1,500 plants in a warehouse and all the equipment that goes with it, now that Colorado has legalized the drug for recreational use.

We have a pretty good turnover so we dont have to keep it forever, but we have to have a place to store it and process it to get rid of it, Carney told KCNC.

In 2013, the year before Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, police seized a little more than 500 pounds of pot. Next year, the department expects to seize 11,265 pounds.

Police officials asked the city for $125,116 which would pay for two additional staff members at the property bureau. In addition, Weve asked for more storage devices to hold (the marijuana), Carney said.

Denver police were among the first to compost seized marijuana plants -- although a court has to approve it each time, Carney told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A grizzly bear attack has seriously injured an elk hunter west of Dubois.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department says the attack happened Sunday morning as the hunter went to get an elk he'd shot the day before in Shoshone National Forest.

Lander Region Wildlife Supervisor Jason Hunter said Monday the man noticed his elk had been moved from where he'd left it. He then saw an adult female grizzly with two older cubs and was attacked by at least one of them.

Other hunters heard the man yell for help. They told Game and Fish employees, who found the man and called for medical help.

Hunter says the man was hospitalized with serious injuries to his face and leg.
Young, buzzy brands get a lot of attention for their social tactics, but its far more remarkable when a century-old company gets it right.

For example, an older organization may have needed to navigate an archaic approvals process in order to push out a campaign in a timely manner. It may have gotten burned trying too hard to seem youthful and hip. It may have needed to adapt to a new audience.

Related: The 4 Elements of a Legacy Brand

Some of today's oldest companies have managed to overcome these obstacles, but more impressively, theyve helped to define how brands present themselves on new platforms. At the third annual Transition conference, hosted by marketing software provider Percolate, executives from Levis, GE, UPS and IBM shared lessons about navigating unfamiliar territory and forging meaningful connections with customers. Scroll through to learn how theyre leading the charge in an exponentially changing society.

Levis (founded 1853): Listen to your customers stories, but dont dwell on the past.

Christian Vierig / Contributor | Getty Images

Levi Strauss & Co. made the worlds first blue jean in the mid-19th century, and since then, Levis denim garments have been embraced by people across decades and cultures.

Everyone has a Levis story, Levis Brand CMO Jennifer Sey told Entrepreneur. So how do I create the conditions where people, unsolicited, will tell their own stories? Because theyre doing it in the world anyway.

Sey admitted that she has it easier than marketers at some other brands, because people want to share their Levis memories. The next step is to find a way to use those stories to spin the brand and put its products forward. For example, the Levis 505 style of jeans became an icon of early 1970s counterculture. The company was then inspired to replicate the distressed, tapered, tight fit with a line of 505C (customized) jeans after hearing personal accounts from the era, including from musicians.



Levis builds its continued success on the foundation of its heritage, Sey explained. Customers who have a what have you done for me lately?" mentality wont necessarily be lured by a history lesson, but they may be enticed by a contemporary product. So Levis markets whats new, careful not to seem desperate or inauthentic.

Related: How Levi's Became a Brand With Staying Power

The challenge is, I think, for us, as a brand that has been around so long, to be both timeless and timely at the same time, Sey said. All of those things that make you feel good about the purchase and create loyalty over time arent necessarily the things that get you in the door.

GE (founded 1892): Go somewhere new, and dont wait.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

GE was on Vine just one day after the video networks public launch. The industrial giant was also early to Snapchat and Facebook Live.

Despite GEs age and size, it has adapted to these new platforms and helped to define how brands can behave on them. On Snapchat and Instagram, for example, GE has taken followers to unexpected places, from the first U.S. offshore wind farm to the inside of a volcano in Nicaragua.



When we see platforms starting to emerge and adopting users, we like to jump on them to learn, to adapt and eventually hopefully to build up a presence there before it gets too crowded, said Sydney Williams, GEs global digital and social media marketing manager, during a talk at the Transition conference.

Related: How 122-Year-Old General Electric Is Killing It on Social Media

The companys primary challenge with new channels, Williams explained, is getting discovered. Thats why being early -- not only to a social network, but also to a particular tool within it -- pays off. For example, Snapchat has a filters tool that allows users to superimpose images or animations over their faces. GE knew that users spend a lot of time playing with filters, so it partnered with Snapchat to create the first national geofilter, available across the U.S., to celebrate Summer Solstice 2015.

In 24 hours, 6 million people put our brand on their face, Williams said. If you experiment, youre early, you try to do the unexpected and break through, then all of a sudden youre able to shout in an empty room and most likely be heard.

UPS (founded 1907): Capture the passion of your audience.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Like Levis, UPS understands the power of its customers stories. While the company largely considers other businesses its audience, it recognized the value of marketing to its end consumers a couple of years ago.

Contrary to the fact that there is often a brown truck in your driveway, we dont spend a lot of time on B2C communications, said Brian Pember, director of customer communications at UPS, during a panel discussion at the Transition conference.

After receiving a letter from the mom of a young boy named Carson, who was obsessed with UPS and the driver that would regularly make deliveries to his home, UPS decided to create a new campaign. Its called Wishes Delivered, and its first installment was this video of Carson.

I think the reason that it works is its a really honest story, Pember said. We dont script any of our content.

In the segment, all of Carsons reactions are candid -- they just asked him to play and go about his day. They even told the film crew that it was Carsons aunts birthday and she wanted some videos of him.

You have to go in with a little bit of risk. You have to go in with a little bit of unknown and you have to go in from a place of honesty and authenticity, Pember said. Your audience is sophisticated enough to know when it is and when it isnt. And when it is, theyll give you credit for it and theyll appreciate it.

IBM (founded 1911): Detect the internets moods.

Carolyn Cole / Contributor | Getty Images

IBM Watson may have won Jeopardy!, but it plays a minimal role when it comes to IBMs social media marketing.

Im not yet really using Watson deeply for helping me to understand when to get up on the surfboard and go, said George Faulkner, global social brand marketing lead at IBM, during a panel discussion at the Transition conference. Our content schedule is 100 percent manual.

Related: Watch: IBM's Watson Created a Super Creepy Movie Trailer All By Itself

Faulkner explained that he strives for IBMs Twitter and Facebook followers to be surprised every day, rather than follow a predictable cadence with its social marketing or inundate followers with information that doesnt teach them anything new.

The internet has moods, Faulkner said. You cant do social if youre not listening to the entire internet.

 IBM Watson (@IBMWatson) September 30, 2016

His team at IBM abides by four guiding principles: Listen first; curate from trusted sources; engage and talk to people; and finally, create content. They might save a piece of content until they sense it is the right moment, then deploy it on, say, a slow Wednesday afternoon.

Im not one to buy into the whole, Tuesdays at 11 a.m., best time to publish, Faulkner said. But I will say that in real time, you can get a pretty good sense of when your audience is ready for something.
State officials have charged Morgan Stanley with dishonest and unethical conduct, saying it ran high-pressure sales contests.

The contests in Massachusetts and Rhode Island focused on the sales of securities-based loans, or SBLs, which let customers borrow against the value of the securities in their investment accounts with their securities as collateral, authorities said.

Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin said 30 financial advisers in the Springfield, Wellesley, Worcester and Waltham offices, in Massachusetts, and the Providence office, in Rhode Island, participated.

Galvin said the contests offered advisers incentives of $1,000 for 10 loans, $3,000 for 20 loans and $5,000 for 30 loans. He said that created a conflict of interest.

New York-based Morgan Stanley disputed the allegations.

Galvin said contests involved a high degree of pressure since a manager closely tracked the performance of the advisers and the private bankers taking part.

The initial sales contest succeeded in nearly tripling the number of SBL accounts opened the year before the contest and generated nearly $24 million in new loan balances, according to a complaint filed by Galvin.

The complaint said the sales contest ran in violation of Morgan Stanley's internal prohibition against them. The complaint said it took the company's compliance and risk office nearly a year to detect the contest, which began in January 2014.

Even after the contest was detected, no immediate steps were taken to stop it, and a new sales contest was begun for 2015 and ran until April of that year, according to the complaint.

"By failing to terminate the sales contest immediately," the complaint said, "Morgan Stanley knowingly allowed the sales contest to continue for months after it was detected."

Morgan Stanley said it strongly objects to the allegations and will defend itself vigorously.

"The securities-based loan accounts were opened only after discussing the product with each client and obtaining their affirmative consent," company spokesman James Wiggins said in a statement.

He said the accounts are "valuable to clients," providing access to low-cost liquidity whenever they choose to access it.

"Importantly, clients pay no fee to open a securities-based loan account," he said. "They are charged only if they choose to borrow money."

The complaint filed by Galvin seeks to stop the company from conducting the sales contests and requires relief for customers who entered into SBLs through them. It also seeks an administrative fine.
Authorities say a man faces charges of molesting two teens at a SeaWorld's Aquatica water park.

Local news outlets report 32-year-old Roy McCormick of Havelock, North Carolina, was arrested Sunday after two teens who were visiting the area with a police explorers group say he groped them as they floated down a river at the park.

Deputies tried to talk to McCormick but he asked for a lawyer.

Park officials told investigators McCormick is an annual pass holder who has visited the water park multiple times this year.

He remains in the Orange County Jail where he's charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. A lawyer wasn't listed on jail records.
North Dakota authorities have issued an arrest warrant accusing a pipeline protester on horseback of charging at a police officer.

Mason Redwing, of Fort Thompson, South Dakota, is wanted on felony charges of terrorizing and reckless endangerment in the Sept. 28 incident near St. Anthony. He's also wanted on a previous warrant for criminal trespass.

The Morton County Sheriff's Office says the officer shouted a warning and pointed a shotgun loaded with non-lethal beanbag rounds to defuse the situation.

Court documents don't list an attorney who can speak on Redwing's behalf. His home telephone is not listed.

Thousands of people have protested the four-state Dakota Access pipeline in southern North Dakota in recent months. Several protesters disrupted a governor candidate debate in Bismarck on Monday. No one was arrested.
Two adults have been found dead of suspected drug overdoses after their 7-year-old daughter told school officials in western Pennsylvania that she couldn't wake them up.

Allegheny County police says the bodies were discovered Monday evening in the living room of their McKeesport apartment.

Authorities say a 9-month-old girl, 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old boy who were inside the home have been taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

Lt. Andrew Schurman says early indications are that the adults may have been dead for a day or two. He says they suspect the adults died from a drug overdose and that foul play is not suspected.

The bodies haven't been publicly identified.

Police say another fatal overdose happened on the same street earlier that day.
Protesters in California were outraged after a new statue in honor of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at a park Sunday.

The Sacramento Bee reported that the Gandhi State of Peace was unveiled in Davis Central Park. It was a gift from the Indian government. However, what was supposed to be a day of celebration turned into repeated interruptions of the ceremonys speakers, including the Consul General of India.

About 75 protesters gathered at the park and accused Gandhi of racism, genocide and rape and even made claims that Gandhi was linked to the Islamic State terror group, according to the Bee.

Davis Mayor Robb Davis defended the unveiling and continued on with the ceremony despite the interruptions. The city of Davis decided to embrace Gandhi as a peaceful protest advocate, KCRA-TV reported.

We have to practice nonviolent conflict resolution every day, and I think we're trying to do that, Davis said.

Though most of the crowd showed support for Gandhi and painted him as a great leader and humanitarian, there were plenty of people who expressed their displeasure in the statue.

Many in the crowd called Gandhi a pedophile for sleeping with his teenage grandnieces to test his chastity. Others used megaphones to chant, Gandhi, Gandhi you cant hide, you committed genocide and racist Gandhi.

Amar Shergill, a Sacramento Sikh activist, told the Bee that the statue shouldnt have been placed in a childrens park, rather the Davis Art Center.

If the statue can go up, it can come down, he added.

The city of Davis debated on Aug. 30 on whether to erect the statue in the park. The protesters  who the Bee reported were Sikhs who were outraged at the Indian government  passionately debated with the city council and other residents over the statue.

Mayor Davis and Vice Mayor Brett Lee were outvoted by the rest of the council, despite the heated debate. Lee later admitted that the statue was mistakenly viewed as a noncontroversial item.

Click for more from the Sacramento Bee.
A doctor is in serious condition after being stabbed multiple times by a patient inside of a Virginia health clinic, authorities said Tuesday.

Police were called to the Prince William Community Health Center in Woodbridge, Va., early Tuesday over reports of a fight inside the clinic, Fox affiliate WTTG reported.

When officers arrived, they found a male doctor suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to the station. The doctor -- whose name has not been released -- was taken to a local hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

A suspect was quickly identified and is in police custody, according to officials.

The suspect was being treated at the center, but not directly by the doctor who was stabbed, police said. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Click for more from FoxDC.com
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A senior Greek official is urging the international community to do more to manage the flow of refugees to Europe  and criticizing some EU countries for refusing to welcome migrants.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas says the international community "must face the refugee crisis together."

Vitsas also urges several Eastern European countries not to shut their doors on migrants. He says that "a fortress with smaller fortresses within the European Union" does not work.

Vitsas is criticizing recent remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who questioned a historic treaty that defined Turkey's current-day borders with Greece.
A roadside bomb killed a U.S. service member on foot patrol Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan as part of a mission to fight a growing Islamic State affiliate, the U.S.-led coalition announced.

The blast unfolded in Nangarhar Province, where American and Afghan forces have been fighting ISIS-linked militants in recent months. The offshoot group, which has as many as 1,300 members, has been recruiting former Pakistani Taliban members with the allure of higher pay, U.S. officials told Stars and Stripes.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the service member died in a "combat situation," but refused to call it combat when asked by Fox News.

Cook later said the service member was receiving combat pay and would likely receive combat decorations for his actions, but that determination had not yet been made. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

"On behalf of all of U.S. Forces - Afghanistan, we are heartbroken by this loss and we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the service member," General John W. Nicholson, commander of USFOR-A, said in a statement. "Despite this tragic event, we remain committed to defeating the terrorists of the Islamic State, Khorasan Province and helping our Afghan partners defend their nation."

The U.S. is withholding the identity of the service member pending next-of-kin notification. Cook said no other U.S. service members or Afghans were hurt.

The U.S.-led coalition has killed an estimated 300 ISIS fighters in eastern Afghanistan this summer, including the groups leader, Hafiz Saeed Khan, and several other top-ranking commanders, Stars and Stripes reports.

But the counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan that began in January 2015 has claimed the lives of 12 American service members, while another 12 have been killed in non-combat incidents, according to Pentagon data.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
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In their only debate faceoff, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will try Tuesday night to carry forward a fresh burst of Democratic momentum in the presidential campaign while Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seeks to steady Donald Trump's White House bid after one of the Republican's worst stretches of the race.

Pence and Kaine, Hillary Clinton's running mate, seem unlikely to dramatically change the way voters view the top two, who are among the most well-known figures in the country. Still, the nationally televised debate will be a spotlight opportunity for the longtime politicians to introduce themselves to Americans, energize party loyalists and potentially sway the shrinking pool of undecided voters.

For the earnest and easygoing Kaine, that means defending Clinton's character and reputation, her Achilles' heel throughout the campaign. And it means blocking any attempts by Pence  an equally genial politician  to make Trump's controversial statements and policy proposals seem more palatable.

"When it comes to the issues, it's hard to tell them apart," Hillary Clinton's campaign said of Trump and Pence in a video released ahead of the debate. "From the alt-right racists supporting their ticket to women's health to immigration to LGBT equality to global warming to the minimum wage, it's no wonder that Donald Trump picked Mike Pence."

The 90-minute showdown at Virginia's Longwood University will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News. While last week's first presidential debate was watched by a record-setting television audience of 84 million people, Tuesday's contest is expected to have smaller viewership given Pence and Kaine's lower profiles in the campaign.

In a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, more than half of registered voters said they didn't know enough about Kaine to venture an opinion about him and about 44 percent said the same for Pence.

Clinton was widely viewed as the winner of her opening debate with Trump, rattling the real estate mogul with jabs about his business record and demeaning statements about women, and responding to his attacks with calm rejoinders. New public opinion polls have showed her improving her standing in nearly all battleground states.

At least some of Clinton's bounce is likely attributable to Trump's conduct coming out of the debate. He redoubled his criticism of a beauty queen and her weight, one of the topics Clinton raised in the debate, and went on a pre-dawn Twitter tirade trying to disparage the former Miss Universe.

That firestorm was deflected only by revelations that Trump suffered more than $900 million in losses in 1995 that could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times.

In Tuesday's debate, Pence will likely find himself trying to clean up Trump's controversies, as has often been the case since he joined the GOP ticket this summer. The governor signaled that he would frame the matters as attempts by Clinton to obscure her own record.

"The media is so busy parsing every word that Donald Trump said in the past 30 minutes, they've been ignoring what the Clintons (have) been up to the last 30 years," Pence said during a campaign stop Monday night. "Hillary Clinton's record on foreign affairs alone could take up the whole 90 minutes, and it wouldn't be a pretty picture."

Pence was picked as Trump's running mate in part because he has the conservative credentials the businessman lacks. His addition to the ticket was cheered by conservative leaders in Washington, and Trump's supporters are hoping his debate performance will be similarly appealing for Republican voters who may still be skeptical of Trump's ideology.

"There's Pence speak and there's Trump speak  Mike Pence using the language of conservative orthodoxy and Donald Trump using the language of a brash businessman," said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union.

Kaine, who served as Virginia's governor before becoming senator, is largely in step with Clinton on key issues. While he voted to give President Barack Obama fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership, he's since joined Clinton in opposing the final version of the trade pact.

Both Pence and Kaine are deeply religious, which could bring faith to the forefront of the debate, a rarity in this campaign.

Pence was raised Catholic, but is now a Protestant evangelical. His signature line is: "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican  in that order."

Kaine speaks frequently about how his Jesuit mission work in Honduras shaped his life. At times, his Catholicism has run up against his governing choices. After opposing gay marriage in his 2005 gubernatorial run, he later broke with the church to support it. He says he's personally against abortion but has consistently voted in favor of abortion rights.

___

Pace reported from Washington. Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Thomas Beaumont at http://twitter.com/TomBeaumont
A Party City customer claimed that an employee refused to fill her balloon order after discovering that it was for a Pennsylvania police officers memorial ceremony.

Karly Lane told WPXI-TV that she went to the Party City in Pleasant Hills on Saturday to buy black and blue balloons for her friend, Duquesne police officer Robert GoGo Jr., who died in an off-duty motorcycle crash nearly a month ago.

Lane said she told the employee that the balloons were for GoGos ceremony and the employee allegedly told Lane that she refused to support a police officer and made a co-worker help Lane out instead.

"How can you not support a police officer? It doesn't matter. They don't know my brother. They don't know what kind of man he was. They don't know what he did in his job. It just hurts," GoGos siter Jennifer Martino told the station.

On Tuesday, Lane posted an update on her Facebook page, writing that Party City's Chief Operating Officer promised the company would make donations to the Duquesne Police Dept. in Party City's name and in the fallen officer's name.

The manager of the Party City told WPXI that the store supported all police officers and the corporation released a statement on the matter.

"Party City is committed to our customers and the community. Corporate management is looking into the matter to uncover what transpired and will take action accordingly."

Click for more from WPXI-TV.
Despite the surge in mobile phone usage, and the innovative payment technologies that have come of age in mainstream usage, some consumers remain reluctant to completely embrace the latest payment technologies. In fact, its been found that only 52 percent of North Americans have used mobile payments; and just 18 percent use them regularly.

Related: Why Mobile Payments Aren't Gaining Traction With Small Businesses

The reason? Mobile and the latest payment technologies are broken when it comes to security and innovation. Theres evidence to support these concerns.

ISACA is a nonprofit that works toward the development, adoption and use of globally accepted knowledge and practices for information systems. Last year, ISACA conducted a global survey that included 900 member cybersecurity experts to examine the biggest security risks for its 2015 Mobile Payment Security Experts. ISACA found;

Just 23 percent of the experts surveyed said they believed that mobile devices are secure enough to keep personal information safe.

47 percent claimed that mobile payments are not secure.

An overwhelming majority 87 percent anticipated an increase in mobile payment data breaches over the next year.

Despite these concerns, theres no slowing down the growth of mobile usage. Its projected that by 2017 there will be 4.77 billion mobile phone users worldwide, so its imperative we resolve security concerns involving new payment technologies. Hackers are persistent and can adapt their techniques to breach payment technologies. If youre up to speed on the common security concerns, at least you can have a head start on these cybercriminals.

Vulnerable payment technologies

Whether its your mobile device, wearable gadget or home automation, hackers will exploit any security vulnerabilities. Don't assume the latest payment technology has figured out all of its security flaws. Keep your personal information safe by following basic security measures like having a strong password and changing it frequently, using two-factor authentication, encrypting data, promptly installing software updates and only shopping on sites you know are safe.

Phishing attacks

Phishing scams, which are scams where an email or website attempts to steal information from you, have been around for years. And, theyre probably not going away anytime soon. As previously written, phishing is still an effective attack because of human error. Even if you were were using software that blocked phishing emails, a legitimate email could still pass through. Because you believe that youre protected, youll willingly open the email. In most cases using common sense can prevent phishing attacks in the first place.

Human error

There are a number of security concerns that can be traced back to the people that you know. Such concerns could come down to a disgruntled employee, an uninformed family member or an employee who has had his or her personal device hacked.

Basic measures like encrypting data, training employees/family members, monitoring devices and terminating access to employees who are no longer with you are places to start to prevent any human error.

Using public wi-fi

Tapping into public wi-fi is a nice perk when you are out and about. The problem is that public wi-fi risks hackers have access to your unsecured data. To keep yourself protected, consider using a VPN and SSL connections. Dont forget to turn off sharing and wi-fi when these services are not in use. Having a security solution wouldnt hurt either.

Future threats

While some attacks like phishing have, and will continue to be, a concern, you should also keep up with the latest security threats. For example, its predicted that in 2016 "extortion hacks" or "ransomware" will become more commonplace. As Wired explains, these are hacks where attackers threaten to release sensitive company or customer data if the victim doesnt pay up or meet some other demand.

Other potential threats include hackers changing or manipulating data, hackers figuring out chip and pin frauds, a rise in IoT botnets and attacks going through more back doors. Staying on top of these trends and educating yourself about these trends and joining a webinar such as "Trends in Information Security and Their Impact on You" can help thwart potential security breaches.

Even though you may be able to address any security concerns for either your business or personal accounts, companies involved with payments are also attempting to put any former security concerns to rest.

Related: The Future of Mobile Payments Awaits Your Fingerprint

Apple Pay

Apple Pay gained a lot of traction when it was released in 2014. And, one of the highlights, besides your being able to easily make a purchase on your Apple device, is that Apple Pay is secure. In fact, Apple claims that payment transactions are only between you, the merchant and your bank. Users must have a passcode set on your device and, optionally, Touch ID. Furthermore, when you use payment information, its encrypted to form a tokenization.

Apple put a lot of effort into making Apple Pay secure, but there have been several instances of people taking advantage of its security flaws. For example, hackers have been able to simply enter a stolen credit card number and place it into a Apple Pay Wallet. Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO and cofounder of Pindrop, tells PYMENTS that this is because of a bad security design. One way the company could address this is by using blockchain technology that would require all transactions to not only be recorded in a public ledger, but prevent double spending -- because once a coin is spent, its gone.

Samsung Pay

If youre not an Apple user, then you probably have a Samsung device. Samsung Pay is similar to Apple Pay in that its a mobile wallet for specific mobile users that works in almost every POS system. As CNET reports, Samsung Pay does not store the account or credit card numbers of cards on the device, instead using tokenization for transactions. The article adds, Each time a purchase is made, the Samsung Pay handset sends two pieces of data to the payment terminal. The first is a 16-digit token that represents the credit or debit card number, while the second piece of data is a one-time code or cryptogram that's generated by the phone's encryption key. If you lose your device, you can remotely erase all information on the device.

Hackers have attempted to hack Samsung. LoopPay was attacked in 2015, but Samsung Pay was not affected thanks to security features like digital tokenization, its KNOX security framework and fingerprint authentication. Just as happens with Apple Pay, the inclusion of third parties, such as banks, still presents security issue. Again, Samsung could welcome blockchain technology where transactions are directly between the two parties.

Due

Due is my personal company, and security is it's something we've been working tirelessly on. Due is an innovative payment service that comes with features like setting-up recurring invoices. The company also offers a mobile wallet for users. We comply with the requirements established by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which ensure that customer information is secure. The company also provides additional security features like 256-bit SSL encryption, as well as certification from security leaders like VeriSign and Norton.

The first hurdle we've encountered is validation. The validation isn't for more users but for regulators to enable companies like ours to function globally. Additionally, as with most ecash payment companies, the company could begin to incorporate the latest mobile wallet security advancements, such as accepting tokens like bitcoin or using biometrics to authenticate transactions.

Google Wallet

Google Wallet has been around since 2011 and allows people to store payment information, like credit cards and bank accounts. With Googles mobile wallet you can quickly send and request money from anyone in the world and then cash it out at your bank. Google encrypts data using a Secure Socket Layer so that your full information is never shown. Users are also required to create a PIN in order to access their wallet. Furthermore, Google Wallet provides 100 percent fraud protection.

Google Wallet seems incredibly secure. But, as mentioned several times already, dealing with banks and credit card companies always leaves the door open for potential security breaches. Besides embracing cryptocurrencies, Google Wallet might want to start to use biometrics as an added layer of security.

Venmo

Finally, theres the popular Venmo app. Unlike the already discussed mobile wallets, Venmo gives you the power to send and receive money directly to friends or family members. Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, is a bit vague on its security features by simply stating that it uses advanced security systems and data encryption to keep users safe. However, the company has made efforts to update its security. For example, in early 2015 Venmo began using multifactor authentication (MFA).

Venmo has had its fair share of security breaches but has evolved with its growing user base.. Obviously, thats an area where the company could start improving if it wants to improve security. Because Venmo is used between two parties, its a prime candidate for digital coins like bitcoin which would allow users to send and receive payments without banking or credit card information.

Payment technologies may offer a wide range of security features, but ultimately its up to you, the user, to ensure that your data is protected and remains secure. This can be accomplished by following these security tips:

Only use proper and unique passwords. Stay away from common passwords like "123456."

Use multi-factor authentication.

Encrypt sensitive data.

Back up your data often both online and offline.

Update security software like anti-virus software and firewalls.

Provide employees with their login credentials.

Make sure that all mobile devices have wipe capabilities.

Educate employees by hiring an expert or having them attend webinars like "Why do people fail the CISSP exam  and what you should do to prevent yourself from failing."

Use common sense through moves like shopping from reputable merchants and never falling for any its too good to be true scams.

Stay vigilant.

Finally, be sure to follow all these tips as part of your normal routine and learn to keep an eye out for the aforementioned vulnerabilities. This is not a one-time deal. With hackers and fraudsters continually developing new ways to break into payment technologies, it's important to make sure that you look at the above tips as an ongoing process.

Related: How Apple Pay Is Poised to Transform the Trillion-Dollar Service Industry

While many of the above technologies have stopped criminals in their tracks, the companies behind those technologies also know to keep a vigilant eye out because fraudsters do not give up. In the meantime, don't be afraid to use these payment technologies because they offer significant benefits and are using the most advanced security layers available.
The head of the UK Independence Party, Diane James, has resigned  after a mere 18 days of being in charge.

The surprise move revealed in a statement Tuesday came as James said she had not yet formalized her nomination. The language suggests she never formally took over from predecessor Nigel Farage.

James won the post Sept. 16, but says she didn't have "sufficient authority" to make the changes she envisioned.

James had promised to turn the fractious party into a political force capable of ensuring Britain's EU exit is not watered down into "Brexit lite."

But she had a tough task in stepping in for Farage, a populist who helped propel UKIP from the political fringe to influential power broker. The party appealed to voters concerned about large-scale immigration.
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A French-Tunisian woman working for the Red Cross has been released after nearly a year in captivity in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross said late Monday.

An ICRC statement said that Nourane Houas had arrived in Oman's capital, Muscat, after being freed by her Yemeni captors.

Houas was kidnapped by a group of armed men on her way to work in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Dec. 1, 2015. A colleague with her was released unharmed a few hours later but she was held.

She appeared in a video in May asking French President Francois Hollande to save her life.

Hollande "expressed his gratitude to all those who allowed for a happy ending to this ordeal," notably the Sultan of Oman, according to a statement from Hollande's office. He also cited the efforts of ICRC President Peter Maurer and members of his organization. In a tweet, Maurer thanked everyone who worked to secure her release, saying: "Respect for humanitarian workers and their neutrality is vital."

Houas landed in Muscat on an Omani air force flight, stepping off the jet in a simple black robe, according to images released by state media.

Hollande praised "Nourane Houas' courage during her long detention," adding that he "shares in her family's joy" over her release.

"We are relieved and thankful that Nourane is now back with us, safe and sound," said Alexandre Faite, head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen. "Her abduction was a terrible ordeal for her, as well as for her family, friends and colleagues. And it has obviously dealt a real blow to our humanitarian work in Yemen."

Faite said her release "has taken a lot of effort, inside and outside Yemen and over many months, but finally we have a positive result."

"Our priority now is Nourane's well-being and getting her home to her family," Faite said. "We would ask everyone to respect her and her family's privacy at this time."

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction and the ICRC said it will not comment on the identity of the abductors, their motives or the details of her release. Hollande also gave no details about the circumstances of Houas' release.

Oman's Foreign Ministry said it used "Yemeni contacts" to free Houas on the orders of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, without elaborating. While ongoing peace talks to end Yemen's civil war have been held in Kuwait, Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis repeatedly have traveled to Muscat to engage in talks.

Oman, a country on the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has proven itself as a valuable Western ally to negotiate the release of captives in the region.

The quiet sultanate, long a go-to negotiator in the Mideast, stands apart from its Gulf Arab neighbors in not joining the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis. It instead has positioned itself as a quiet mediator by hosting talks involving the rebels and other parties. It also was crucial in facilitating negotiations between the United States and Iran over the Islamic Republic's contested nuclear program.

Previously, Yemen negotiated the releases of several groups of foreign captives held amid Yemen's war.

The abduction of foreigners is common in Yemen, where militant groups such as al-Qaida and tribesmen use hostages to raise funds through ransom payments or bargain for the release of prisoners. The Houthis also have held Westerners captives during the war.

Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation, has been embroiled in fighting that pits the Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to a former president against the Saudi-backed and internationally recognized government. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the rebels and their allies since March 2015, fearful of Iranian influence spreading across the Arabian Peninsula.

The United Nations and rights groups estimated at least 9,000 people overall have died in the war, with the U.N. estimating 3,800 civilians have been killed since the airstrike campaign began. Saudi-led coalition airstrikes were responsible for 60 percent of the civilian deaths over a yearlong span starting in July last year, according to a U.N. report.

____

Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is at deaths door after being poisoned by a mystery assassin in Iraq, it has been reported.

Three other senior jihadis were also afflicted by the toxin in Al-Baaj, southwest of Mosul  Islamic States biggest city in Iraq. The four have reportedly been rushed for treatment at a secret location.

FARS, an Iranian news agency, say that ISIS is now arresting several suspects to find out who has struck a blow at the terror groups self-proclaimed Caliph.

The evil Iraqi cleric is known to have been personally responsible for the rape and torture of US aid worker Kayla Mueller.

He forced the 26-year-old to marry him, before repeatedly raping her.

Mueller was killed during a Jordanian airstrike on ISIS in February last year.

Baghdadi was previously held by US forces in the city of Fallujah in 2004 during their invasion of the country.

Baghdadi was released within six months and would go on to be declared the leader of ISIS  then known as al-Qaeda in Iraq  in 2010.

If the reports are true, it would not the first time al-Baghdadi has been injured. In 2015 he was severely hurt in a US airstrike in Syria.

In June of this year, rumours surfaced that he was killed by a US airstrike in ISIS 'capital' Raqqa, but they were later found to be false.

This story first appeared in The Sun.
Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte told President Barack Obama "you can go to hell" in a speech Tuesday that was his strongest tirade so far against the U.S. over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign, adding that he may eventually decide to "break up with America."

He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the bloc, which has also criticized his brutal crackdown, "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

Since becoming president in June, Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S. and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps Philippine foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

The brash-speaking leader also has been hypersensitive to criticism over his anti-drug crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the U.S. and human rights watchdogs.

In a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the U.S., which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings and has questioned whether human rights are being violated. He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with U.S. troops.

"Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell," Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: "Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."

In a later speech at a synagogue in Makati city in the Manila metropolis, Duterte warned he may decide to "break up with America" in his most serious threat so far to push relations back with Washington.

"Eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America," he said without elaborating. "I would rather go to Russia and to China."

Duterte has given assurances that he would not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country's largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defense equipment.

The U.S. has expressed concern over the extrajudicial killings and urged Duterte's government to ensure law enforcement efforts comply with human rights obligations. Last month, Obama canceled a planned first meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Laos after the Filipino leader blurted "son of a bitch" in warning the U.S. leader not to lecture him on human rights ahead of their meeting. Duterte later expressed regrets over his remarks.

Angered by U.S. criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting U.S. troops in the country.

Last week, Duterte said the joint U.S.-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centering on amphibious landing drills, started Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.

Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.

U.S. Embassy officials said Washington has not been formally notified by the Philippine government of any move to scrap other planned drills. Such a move by the Philippines would impede Washington's plans to expand the footprint of U.S. forces in Southeast Asia to counter China.

A Philippine military spokesman for the ongoing exercises, Capt. Ryan Lacuesta, sidestepped the question of whether Duterte's remarks have affected the troops and the atmosphere of the drills.

U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. John Jansen said that aside from promoting regional security, the exercises have helped save lives in terms of fostering more rapid and organized responses to disasters like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

"Our alliance remains a key source of stability in the Asia-Pacific region," Jansen said, expressing confidence "that we will continue to build our partnership and capabilities together."

While the Obama administration maintains that its alliance with the Philippines remains "ironclad," a senior U.S. diplomat cautioned Duterte last week against more anti-U.S. posturing. Many of Duterte's stunning pronouncements have typically been walked back by other Philippines officials.

"I think it would be a serious mistake in a democratic country like the Philippines to underestimate the power of the public's affinity for the U.S. That's people power," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told The Associated Press.

Russel did not draw a direct comparison, but past Philippine presidents have been toppled by popular protests dubbed "people power," including former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in 1986.
Hurricane Matthew made its second landfall at Category 4 strength near the Eastern tip of Cuba Tuesday evening as residents along the east coast of the US brace for impact later in the week.

At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the powerful storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean. Forecasters said it could hit Florida toward the end of the week and push its way up the East Coast over the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a hurricane watch for a 230-mile stretch from Deerfield Beach near Fort Lauderdale to the Daytona Beach area, meaning hurricane force winds of 74 mph or higher could occur within two days.

Only change to the watches/warnings at 5 pm was to include Broward County FL in the #Hurricane Watch https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb #Matthew pic.twitter.com/Wd9Eb0aR7O  NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) October 4, 2016

The Category 4 storm -- at one point the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade  brought 20-foot waves along the seafront promenade of Baracoa, Cuba as powerful winds tore ceramic tiles off the corners of some roofs.

Hurricane Matthew reached wind speeds of 145 mph Tuesday as it barreled through western Haiti where floodwaters and mud inundated small towns and villages.

Hours after Matthew made landfall on Haiti's now-marooned southwestern peninsula, government leaders said they couldn't fully gauge the impact.

"What we know is that many, many houses have been damaged. Some lost rooftops and they'll have to be replaced while others were totally destroyed," Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph said.

At least five deaths were blamed on the storm in Haiti, including a 26-year-old man who drowned trying to rescue a child who fell into a rushing river, authorities said. The child was saved. The mayor in flooded Petit Goave reported two people died there, including a woman who was killed by a falling electrical pole.

Four deaths were recorded in the neighboring Dominican Republic and one each in Colombia and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Mourad Wahba, U.N. secretary-general's deputy special representative for Haiti, said at least 10,000 people were in shelters and hospitals were overflowing and running short of water. Wahba's statement called the hurricane's destruction the "largest humanitarian event" in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of January 2010.

Meanwhile, in Florida a tropical storm watch was issued from the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys to Deerfield.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday she plans to issue an evacuation order Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Matthew so that 1 million people can safely and comfortably leave the coast.

Haley said at a news conference that she will finalize the order Wednesday morning, unless there is a major shift in the storm's track. Haley says she expects the evacuation to begin at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

State officials say lanes on major evacuation routes will be reversed. It would be the first major evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when the governor at the time didn't reverse the lanes and Interstate 26 became backed up for hours and traffic was at a standstill.

The White House said federal officials were deployed to state emergency operations centers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, where a state of emergency was declared a day earlier.

In South Florida, lines at grocery stores were heavier than usual and some essentials were in short supply on Tuesday. Simone Corrado told the Associated Press when she tried to buy water at their Publix in Davie near Fort Lauderdale with her husband, they mostly found empty shelves. There were a few bottles of high-end water brands, but there was so much empty shelf space that Corrado lay down and fully stretched out on the bottom shelf.

"I got scared because all that was left at Publix was just the pricey water," said Corrado, who lived through 1992's catastrophic Hurricane Andrew, which practically leveled the nearby city of Homestead. "They really put the fear into you here. On the television screen every few minutes is the 'beep, beep, beep' storm alert."

Gov. Rick Scott, speaking in the Daytona area, warned residents they must be prepared to take a direct hit and evacuation orders could be issued as early as Tuesday. Scott said his biggest worry is that residents won't take seriously the threat from Matthew, especially since so many newer residents have never lived through a hurricane.

"Don't take a chance. Leave before it's too late," he said. "We have to be prepared to be hit by a catastrophic hurricane."

A U.S. official told Fox News on Tuesday that Haiti has requested assistance through the U.S. State Department.

The Navy is making preparations to get three Norfolk-based ships underway to help with Hurricane Matthew relief in the Caribbean, officials said.

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington, amphibious transport ship USS Mesa Verde and USNS Comfort, a hospital ship, are the three ships the Navy has told to be on standby in case the order is given to head south, one Navy official told Fox News. Roughly 2,000 Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, NC have also been given warning orders and have been told to prepare to ship out.

At one point a Category 5 storm, Matthew was expected to make landfall in Cuba about 50 miles east of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities flew out about 700 spouses and children of service members.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republic of Congo's government says that more than 4,000 people have been driven from their homes in the southern Pool region since April, when members of a former militia group started launching attacks.

Government spokesman Thierry Moungalla said Tuesday that 2,200 people have moved to Kinkala, Pool's capital, and another 1,500 left for other areas. The government blames members of the ex-militia group Ninjas Nsiloulou for killing at least 18 people in the past week.

The army deployed to Pool in April after militiamen killed 17 people. The attack came weeks after longtime President Denis Sassou N'Guesso's re-election.

Frederic Bitsangou, who led the militia until it disbanded in 2003, and who then became high commissioner for peace, has been missing since April.

Military airstrikes in April reportedly killed 30 people.
A court in Kyrgyzstan has begun a retrial for an ethnic Uzbek journalist jailed for life for stirring up ethnic hatred in a case which has drawn international criticism.

Azimzhan Askarov's case was sent for review earlier this year after the U.N. Human Rights Committee in April urged Kyrgyzstan to release him, finding that he had been arbitrarily detained, tortured and denied his right to a fair trial. International rights groups consider Askarov a prisoner of conscience.

Askarov pleaded not guilty to the charges as hearings opened at the regional court in the capital Bishkek on Tuesday.

The charges relate to ethnic unrest in the south of Kyrgyzstan in 2010 when more than 450 people, mostly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed.
The Russian foreign ministry says its embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus has come under shelling from rebel groups.

The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the embassy was shelled on Monday, with one mortar landing and exploding near the residential compound and two more by the embassy building.

The ministry said no one was harmed and blamed the attack on two rebel groups, including al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria which was formerly known as the Nusra Front.

The situation in Syria has deteriorated considerably since the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-brokered cease-fire two weeks ago.

The ministry said the attack is the result of a U.S. policy and its allies which "provokes further bloodshed in Syria."
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The Russian military said Tuesday it had beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles, an announcement that follows Washington's move to suspend contacts with Russia over Syria.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems had been deployed to Syria to protect a Russian facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships off the Mediterranean coast. Tartus is the only naval supply facility Russia has outside the former Soviet Union.

The deployment adds more punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which already includes long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

Russia has conducted an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad since Sept. 30 2015, saving his army from imminent defeat and helping it win key ground.

The S-300 deployment was announced a day after the U.S. announced it was suspending direct diplomatic contacts with Russia on ending the war in Syria. Washington's decision followed the collapse of the Russia-U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Syria and the Syrian army's onslaught on Aleppo backed by Russian warplanes.

While Washington put diplomatic contacts on hold, it has maintained a military-to-military dialogue intended to prevent incidents in the air between Russian and the U.S-led coalition aircraft over Syria.

Amid the rising U.S.-Russian tensions, the new Russian missile deployment seems intended to send a warning signal to the U.S.

Russia reacted nervously last month when aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition struck Syrian army troops near Deir el-Zour. Damascus said 60 Syrian soldiers died in the air raid. Washington said the strike was launched by mistake, but Moscow has questioned the U.S. explanation.

The S-300, a sophisticated long-range system capable of striking enemy aircraft and cruise missiles up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, could cover other areas in Syria along with Tartus.

Konashenkov sought to down play the deployment, saying "the S-300 is exclusively a defensive system that doesn't threaten anyone."

"It's not quite clear why the deployment of the S-300 in Syria has so worried our Western colleagues," he said.

In a sharp attack on Washington, Konashenkov also charged that the U.S.-led action against the Islamic State group was merely an "imitation" that has failed to prevent the IS expansion.

Like other Russian officials, he blamed Washington for the collapse of the U.S.-Russian truce in Syria. He attributed the cease-fire's downfall to the U.S.'s failure to force moderate rebels to break ties with the al-Qaida branch in Syria, which has recently changed its name from Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

"It's time for our American partners to publicly recognize that practically all Syrian 'opposition' nurtured and controlled by them is an inalienable part of the al-Qaida," Konashenkov said.
Forces backing Syrian President Bashar Assad pressed their offensive Tuesday on Aleppo's rebel-held zone from the south, after capturing areas on other fronts in recent days. As reinforcements arrived, including Shiite fighters from Iraq, the strategy appeared to be to retake rebel-held areas bit by bit, backed by massive Russian airpower, rather than risk a potentially costly all-out ground battle.

Tuesday's offensive on the city's besieged rebel-held eastern neighborhoods came a day after Washington suspended direct U.S.-Russian talks on a Syria cease-fire  a move U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blamed on Russia's rejection of diplomacy in favor of helping Assad's government achieve a military victory over the rebels.

The latest tactic of whittling away at rebel-held areas of Aleppo rather than launching an all-out offensive has proved successful in the past: The government reasserted control of the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and most of the central city of Homs using the strategy.

"The Syrian army and its allies are in a sustained offensive to recapture rebel-held eastern Aleppo," wrote Robert Ford, a veteran diplomat and former ambassador to Syria.

"Unless the balance on the ground drastically shifts, the Assad regime will eventually retake from opposition fighters all of Aleppo and the outlying districts of Damascus," wrote Ford, a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "This may take months, but the balance is certainly in the Syrian government's favor."

"Aleppo is ... the Syrian crisis and its liberation will end plans to divide Syria," agreed Amin Hoteit, a former Lebanese army general and expert on military and strategic affairs.

Syrian troops and their allies have laid siege to rebel-held parts of Aleppo since July 17, except for a few weeks when the militants were able to break it in August, until it was re-imposed in early September. Soon after the government opened a corridor for civilians and fighters to move to government-held parts of the city, and dozens of people and gunmen crossed after a general amnesty was offered by authorities.

Since a cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia ended on Sept. 19, rebel-held neighborhoods where 275,000 people live have been subjected to some of the worst bombardment by Russian and Syrian warplanes since fighting began in 2011. Hospitals have been among the hardest-hit targets.

At least 420 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in and around Aleppo since the cease-fire collapsed, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Most of the deaths were in eastern Aleppo, where scores of buildings were demolished by Russian and Syrian airstrikes.

"The regime is bombing civilians because of its inability to storm Aleppo for years," said opposition activist Abu Firas al-Halaby, adding that talk of the imminent arrival of reinforcements was part of a "psychological war" against the rebels.

The Syrian government is backed in the Aleppo battle by Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Palestinian Quds Brigade and Iraq's Shiite al-Nujaba militia, among others.

An official with the al-Nujaba militia said the group had sent some 4,000 fighters in recent weeks in preparation for a battle to storm Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military strategy, refused to say when such an attack might take place.

Captain Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razek of the Nour el-Din el-Zinki rebel group said a wide ground offensive was unlikely because the government can't match the rebels' advanced street fighting.

"I don't expect that. I expect attrition and attempts on more than one front. But I don't see that it has the capacity to carry out a wide offensive on all fronts," Abdel-Razek said. "As a force on the ground, it is mobilizing and it can possibly later, but not now."

Government forces have made some progress on the ground recently, including last week's capture of the Handarat Palestinian refugee camp north of Aleppo and the nearby Kindi Hospital, which overlooks a key intersection of vital roads. Syrian troops also captured the central neighborhood of Farafra after pushing forward from the Old City.

On Tuesday, government forces and their allies attacked the southern rebel-held neighborhood of Sheik Saeed, opening a third front against the rebels.

An Aleppo-based activist, Baraa al-Halaby, said residents now avoid underground shelters, for fear of bunker-busting bombs that penetrate several floors before exploding. Still, he said government forces will not be able to storm rebel-held neighborhoods of the city.

"Tanks will not be able to advance easily in the streets," said al-Halaby, adding that the Handarat camp was only taken because it is an open area.

Demonstrating Moscow's commitment to backing Assad, the Russian military said it has beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles.

The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems has been deployed to Syria to protect a Russian navy facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships in the area.

The deployment will add punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which has long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

Still, Jennifer Cafarella of the Study of War, a Washington-based institute, said the fight for Aleppo will not end quickly.

"It has taken much of the regime combat power and much of the combat power that Russia has brought to theater in the form airstrikes, and the Iranian ground reinforcement," she said.

"Those military forces are going to be occupied in Aleppo for some time. But after that I do expect that Damascus can become the focus."
Turkey is warning that the planned offensive in Iraq to retake that country's second-largest city of Mosul from the Islamic State group could spark Shiite-Sunni sectarian tensions.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told ruling party legislators in parliament on Tuesday that the U.S.-led coalition plans to retake Mosul are "not transparent."

He warned of the risk of "enflaming" sectarian tensions if the Sunni Arab-majority region around Mosul were to be placed under Shiite militia control after the offensive.

Yildirim also warned Turkey is capable of routing Syrian Kurdish fighters from northern Syria if they continue to ignore Ankara's demands for a full withdrawal east of the Euphrates River.

Turkey says the Kurdish militia, which it claims is affiliated with Turkey's outlawed Kurdish rebels, has not pulled back despite promises.
Authorities on Tuesday suspended some 12,800 police officers from duty over their suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen as Turkey pressed ahead with its vast crackdown on a network it says is behind the country's July 15 failed military coup.

Meanwhile, a pro-Kurdish television station said police raided its headquarters in Istanbul and forced it off the air following an order last week for it to be shut down.

Both moves came a day after Turkey announced it was extending by three more months a state of emergency it declared in the aftermath of the failed coup. The existing declaration has aroused fears that the government is using its emergency powers to clamp down on critics.

In a brief statement posted on its website Tuesday, the Turkish police headquarters said the suspended officers were allegedly "in cohesion with or connected to" Gulen's movement. It said 2,523 of them were police chiefs.

The state of emergency, declared on July 20, allows the government to rule through decrees. Tens of thousands of people have been dismissed or suspended from government jobs in the military, police, judiciary and the education ministry since it was imposed.

Around 32,000 people allegedly connected to the failed takeover attempt have been arrested, including dozens of journalists employed by Gulen-linked news outlets.

Authorities have closed schools, charities, foundations and medical establishments associated with the movement and also appointed trustees to manage Gulen-linked businesses.

IMC-TV was one of 12 mostly-Kurdish television stations ordered closed last week over alleged security threats. They included a station that broadcast children's cartoons in the Kurdish language.

The station said on its website that police raided its headquarters in Istanbul during a live broadcast on Tuesday and sealed off the control room.

Station employees protested the raid, chanting, "Free press is a right" and "Free press cannot be silenced."

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup attempt that led to at least 270 deaths.

Turkey, however, wants him returned to stand trial for conspiring to bring down the government and has also requested that he be held in custody until U.S. courts decide on his extradition to Turkey.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters Tuesday that Turkey had received intelligence that Gulen was seeking a third country to which to escape in the event the United States agrees to extradite him.

"We have intelligence that (Gulen supporters) are looking for a suitable country or place," Bozdag said.

A report in Hurriyet newspaper on Tuesday said the countries under consideration include Brazil, Belgium and Canada.
Two U.S. officials reportedly were given a date-rape-type drug last year inside an upscale hotel bar in St. Petersburg, Russia in what unfolded like a scene out of a spy thriller.

The two low-level diplomatsidentified only as a man and a womanapparently were slipped the drugs at separate times during a United Nations event in November 2015, but were not robbed. When one was treated at a Western medical clinic and medical staff reportedly tried to test sensitive tissue samples, the electricity inside the building suddenly cut out.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broke the story, cited an unnamed U.S. government official with knowledge of the incident. The report went on to say the drugged individual was flown out of the country in an attempt to collect tissue evidence, but too much time had passed.

Moscow asked for evidence about the drugging, but the U.S. reportedly had none due in part to the outage. The unnamed hoteladding to the mysteryreportedly did not have a timesheet of personnel working at the time.

Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, a press officer at the State Department, said during a press conference Monday that she would not comment on the specifics of the reported incident but said we are troubled; we remain troubled by the way our diplomatic and consular staff have been treated over the past two years.

In particular, the harassment and surveillance of our diplomatic personnel in Moscow by security personnel and traffic policehas increased significantly, she said.

The officials were in St. Petersburg during the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which occurred on November 2 to 6 of 2015. The two reportedly were not top-level officials.

They were believed to have been drugged separately and there is no indication that they were robbed, the report said.

It's not the first recent episode highlighting a tense diplomatic relationship between Washington and Moscow.

In June, the U.S. expelled two Russian officials in response to an attack on an American diplomat by a Russian policeman in Moscow, in a development that further strained already tense bilateral relations.

A video of the scuffle shows a man exiting a taxi in an area resembling an embassy entrance and striding toward the doors. The guard bursts out of a sentry box and tackles the man, who is able to crawl through the entrance doors.

The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed the American was a CIA agent who refused to provide his identification documents and hit the guard in the face. Moscow says the policeman was fulfilling his duties defending the embassy.

John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said at the time that the attack was "unprovoked and it endangered the safety of our employee."

FoxNews.com's Edmund DeMarche and The Associated Press contributed to this report
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israeli plans to build a new settlement and establish an industrial zone in the West Bank.

Spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday that Ban was particularly concerned that "the establishment of a new settlement near Shiloh will make the prospect of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state more remote."

Settlement monitoring group Peace Now said Saturday that the Israeli government approved plans to build 98 housing units as well as the creation of a new industrial zone west of Ramallah.

"The Secretary-General urges Israel to halt and reverse such counterproductive decisions in the interests of peace and a just final status agreement," Haq said.

Palestinians want their new state in the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Women cover their heads with pans as they walk in the rain in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Connecticut is a remarkable place to live and raise a family. We sit between New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts and are surrounded with extraordinary cultural opportunities, world-class educational institutions, decent roads, railways, and great airports. We should be the perfect place to attract new business and should be leading the nation in job creation.

Connecticut is as blue a state as there can be. We are over taxed, over regulated, and have been legislatively micromanaged into a ditch. GE and the insurance industry are relocating, and the only manufacturers left are defense contractors. We are near the bottom in the nation in private sector job creation and economic investment. Connecticut attempted to fix its budget this past year by taxing employers $1 per employee hour if they did not pay a super-premium minimum wage of $15 - despite the fact that the state's current minimum wage is $9.60.

Legislation was also proposed to mandate a minimum work week in some industries. Both failed to pass. The new tax on job creators was to offset the increased social services budget stemming from unemployment and underemployment. The state was exempted from paying the higher wage under the theory that it would hire some of the private sector workers who lost their jobs in order to better provide social services to the folks who lost their jobs because of the new tax. Even in California that logic would make Nancy Pelosi blush. Connecticut has become the most creative anti-business state in the nation.

Governor Malloy has begun to lay off 2,500 state workers and the SEIU is outraged. It's a 1.3 percent decrease in the state's 187,000 FTE employees, and we will be left with only 53.3 public sector employees instead of 54 for every 1,000 state residents. Imagine SEIU's outrage if he had gone to 52, or even 35.

Since 2014, the U.S. has added approximately 400,000 retail jobs while Connecticut lost 1,400 retail jobs since raising its minimum wage from $8.25 in 2013 to $9.60 in 2015; and it goes to $10.10 in January. Massachusetts has also lost 2,200 retail jobs since its minimum wage went from $8 in 2014 to $9 in 2015 to $10 this year; and it goes to $11 in 2017. The State of Washington added 5,800 new restaurant jobs while Seattle lost 700 jobs since its minimum wage increase (which discriminated against franchisees). Businesses simply adapted to the increase by creating fewer opportunities to work.

Many-faceted problem

In 2015 I was appointed to the Connecticut Low Wage Employer Advisory Board. We were legislatively created to look at increasing the minimum wage following the failed attempt to increase the minimum wage from $9.60 to $15. The board is composed of very talented professionals, mainly drawn from unions, government workers, affiliated lawyers, and two academics. Until very recently I was the sole person representing the interests of business but we have since added two more. That is considered a balanced committee in a blue state. We have had public hearings, and it is impossible not to feel empathy for those who testified. As elsewhere, the need for an increase in earnings for a sizeable portion of our workers, many who are minorities, is serious and must be addressed. It's really past time to find a sustainable solution, but raising the minimum wage is not one of them.

It's fashionable today to tell hard-working low-wage employees that they should be content with having a minimum wage job as a career designed to support a family. The minimum wage was never intended as a "living wage," nor was it meant to support a family. While the discussion is not intended to have any racial component, the impact of what we do will likely have a disproportionate impact on minority workers. Compounding the problem is that the companies that actually hire unskilled and minimum wage workers are least able to afford a wage increase today.

Consider the average "profit per worker" for the top 25 members of the Fortune 500. Excluding Walmart it is $124,588 profit per worker. These are companies primarily in the banking, telecommunications, oil and gas, and technology industries and don't generally recruit a lot of unskilled, entry-level minimum wage workers. The average profit per worker for the 14 franchisors included in the Fortune 500 is only $5,625. These companies are primarily in the restaurant and hotel industries and are the major employers of minimum wage workers. Even if you transferred 100 percent of their profit per worker directly to the low-wage employee, it still would not be sufficient to achieve a solution, nor would it be sustainable.

Without a doubt many low-wage workers are part of the problem that is causing their lack of marketability at higher pay scales because of their lack of education, training, skills, job history, and other factors. An increase in the minimum wage is not going to fix these foundational problems. Raising the minimum wage is not economically viable unless you offset the increased labor cost with a dramatic increase in prices, and that does not work unless you discount the losses in consumer transactions. What will be achieved is fewer new jobs created, fewer existing jobs and hours available, and acceleration of technology to further reduce the need for labor. At best we will be left with higher wages for some and a higher level of permanent unemployment and underemployment for others, resulting in generational poverty.

Personal service type labor will not be immune. The TSA will soon be using biometrics to shorten lines at airports, improving security and reducing staff. We already have fewer airline staff checking us in for flights, and biometrics will soon be used to speed onboarding with fewer staff required. Quick service and fast casual restaurants are already adopting tablets for ordering and payment to reduce counter and wait staff. Nurses and home health care workers are being replaced by telemedicine practices. Hotels are offering discounts if you do not need your rooms serviced daily, and since I received an app it's been a long time since I checked in at a hotel's front desk. Technology is replacing workers at a rapid pace.

Andy Stern, past president of SEIU, recently said, "I believe that this is not our father's or our grandfather's economy, that the 21st century will not be employer-managed. It's going to be self-managed, because the growth in alternative work relationships - contingent, freelance, gig, whatever you want to call it - is clearly going to increase. Although the economy can grow in terms of GDP and productivity, it no longer means there will be wage growth or job growth, as opposed to the 20th century."

No easy solutions

Reasonable discussions can be had regarding regional differences or possibly including a different minimum wage for trainees or students. But these are not solutions, only attempts to make a bad situation slightly more politically palatable. Despite what the SEIU may claim, franchisors and franchisees are not joint employers. And even if you brought system profit per worker down to zero it would not be sufficient to solve the problem, nor is it sustainable. It's merely a back door to union organizing.

The lack of an acceptable annual income affects too great a percentage of the families in our country, many of them minority workers, and it serves no purpose to reach for short-term, politically attractive solutions that negatively affect long-term objectives. Our significantly constrained governmental and private sector resources further compound the problem. There are no easy solutions but there are a few possible paths to consider.

1) Social services are essential for low-wage workers to survive, and we can't continue to penalize low-wage workers when they begin to earn more (as we do now). Government should partner with private enterprise, better skilled at operating efficiently, to look at ways to improve the costs and methods for delivering social services.

2) Barriers to job creation need to be removed, including rejecting the fissured economic philosophy advanced by David Weil of the DOL and by the NLRB. We live in a technologically driven economy; forcing 19th and 20th century labor practices onto a 21st century economy is illogical and destructive.

3) We need to begin helping low-wage workers by investing in training needed for them to gain entry-level jobs and then continue our assistance by helping them advance into careers that pay more. The private sector in franchising is playing its part. It's now time for the public sector and the unions to help.

4) We need to ensure a quality level of education and measure the performance of schools and teachers as the private sector does with its own workers. We need to increase opportunities for tradespeople through improved training and job counseling in affected communities. This was the historic role played by labor unions until they began to focus their resources into political donations to prop up their failing membership numbers.

5) Unions are a major part of the problem and need to be transformed. They are a protected class as workers are forced to join and pay dues if they want to work for many companies or government agencies. Private sector customers on the other hand can choose where to shop and can even decide to not buy at all. Most union members have never been given the chance to ratify their unions since ratification took place 60 years ago by workers who long ago retired or passed on. Union members should be allowed to annually recertify their unions to restore a balance in the labor industry and force unions to adapt to the needs of their members. The continuation of public sector unions also needs to be examined as public labor costs are crowding out our ability to fund improvements in the economy.

Conclusion

Continuing to attack the private sector for our economic problems must stop. Business is adaptive and will control its labor costs by reducing its need for workers if the minimum wage is increased. We need to instead begin to focus on real, sustainable solutions or we will cause generational poverty. The problem is real and needs to be addressed with priority.

Michael Seid is managing director at MSA Worldwide and a member of the Connecticut Low Wage Employer Board. Contact him at 860-523-4257 or mseid@msaworldwide.com.
CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc. Elected Secretary of the International Franchise Association

WASHINGTON - Oct. 3, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Catherine Monson, CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc., a leading sign, graphics and visual communications franchisor with more than 630 centers worldwide, has been elected secretary of the International Franchise Association (IFA).

"Catherine Monson brings more than 30 years of experience and leadership in all aspects of franchising to this position, which benefits the IFA and its members," said IFA Chairman Aziz Hashim, managing partner for NRD Capital. "Catherine's dedication to the franchise business model will be invaluable as we continue to promote the positive contributions franchising brings to economies and communities around the world."

The IFA is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.

Monson's franchising background began in 1980 with Sir Speedy, Inc., serving as western region operations manager. She received numerous promotions over the years including serving as assistant vice president of franchise development, vice president of franchise development, and group vice president of marketing and communications. In 1996 she became vice president of business development of Franchise Services, Inc. (FSI), the parent company of Sir Speedy. From January 1997 untilApril 1999, she was responsible for the turnaround of MultiCopy Europe, FSI's European subsidiary, and in 1999, Monson was named President of another Franchise Services company, PIP Printing and Marketing Services (PIP).

She joined FASTSIGNS International, Inc. as CEO and President in 2009, during an economic downturn. Despite this, under her leadership, the franchisor has seen record growth in every metric  number of countries, number of locations, system-wide sales, franchisee unit level economics and franchisee satisfaction.

Catherine has served on the IFA board, IFA Executive Committee and is chair of the IFA's Franchisor Forum. In 2009, she received the IFA's Bonny LeVine award, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments by women in franchising. In February of this year, she keynoted the IFA's annual convention. In October, she will keynote both the Franchise Council of Australia's convention and Associacao Brasileira de Franchising (Brazil Franchising Association) convention. In April of 2017, she will keynote the Canadian Franchise Association Convention.

She has been instrumental in helping to grow IFA's grassroots program, the Franchise Action Network (FAN), and was awarded IFA's first FAN of the Year award at the 2015 Annual Convention in Las Vegas.

Monson has received numerous other leadership awards and most recently was an inaugural winner of the Women in Print award from Big Picture magazine, and an inductee into the printing industry's prestigious Soderstrom Society. Under Monson's leadership, FASTSIGNS International, Inc. received the 2016 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the highest recognition presented by the Department of Defense to employers for their exemplary support of National Guard and Reserve members.

Monson also serves on the board of directors of two franchise companies in the education industry (The Learning Experience and Brain Balance) as well as on the Board of Trustees for Pi Sigma Epsilon, a sales and marketing fraternity for college and university students.

"I am truly honored to have been elected Secretary of the IFA, and I am ready to begin working with the IFA leadership team and its members to ensure franchising continues to create opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs, marketers and business leaders, just like it did for me," Monson said.

Monson was elected to his IFA leadership position by the IFA Board of Directors, along with the full slate of 2017 officers, including: Shelly Sun, CEO & co-founder of BrightStar Care, who will serve as IFA Chairwoman; Liam Brown, president of North America Select & Extended Stay Lodging & Owner Franchise Services at Marriott International who will become First Vice Chair; and David Barr, chairman of PMTD Restaurants and its affiliates will become IFA's Second Vice Chair. Bill Hall, CEO, Treats Investments, LLC and CEO, Align Capital, LLC will continue to serve as IFA's Treasurer. The 2017 slate of officers will assume their new positions Feb. 1, 2017, at the conclusion of IFA's 57th Annual Convention in Las Vegas.

About FASTSIGNS

FASTSIGNS International, Inc. is the largest sign and visual communications franchisor in North America, and is the worldwide franchisor of more than 630 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers in nine countries including the US,Canada, England, Wales, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Grand Cayman, Mexico and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE).

FASTSIGNS locations provide comprehensive sign and visual graphic solutions to help companies of all sizes and across all industries attract more attention, communicate their message, sell more products, help visitors find their way and extend their branding across all of their customer touch points including decor, events, wearables and marketing materials. Learn more about sign and visual graphic solutions or find a location at fastsigns.com. Follow the brand on Twitter @FASTSIGNS or Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS. For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson(mark.jameson@fastsigns.com or call 214.346.5679).

SOURCE FASTSIGNS International, Inc.

Contact:

Vanessa Davidson

Corporate Communications

FASTSIGNS

214-346-5744

Vanessa.Davidson@fastsigns.com

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Precision Promise will dramatically accelerate the clinical trial process to bring promising therapies to patients faster, said Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in a prepared statement.

The trial works like this: When a participant enrolls in Precision Promise, the study team will capture the unique genetic information and details of the proteins present in that patients tumor. Based on that molecular profile, the patient will be enrolled into the substudy of the particular experimental therapeutic approach that holds the most promise to combat their cancer. Later, if that option doesnt seem to be working, the patient can shift to another substudys experimental treatment, without having to seek out and enroll in a new trial. Data from all study sites will be shared centrally so that collaborating researchers throughout the entire network can learn from each participant.

Seattle is home to two of Precision Promises initial two sites: one led by Fred Hutchs Hingorani and another a couple of miles away at Virginia Mason Medical Center, led by pancreatic cancer specialist Dr. Vincent Picozzi.

The launch of Precision Promise is a huge moment, said Picozzi. If it works out the way we hope, it will completely change how pancreatic cancer research as a whole is pursued nationwide.

Breaking away from tradition

University of Michigan pancreatic cancer expert Dr. Diane Simeone has seen a great deal of progress made in this disease in the decades she has been studying it. Despite these advances, however, she and others in the field were frustrated by the roadblocks that prevented the best science from transitioning quickly from lab bench to clinical trials, she said.

The scientist saw this problem as an opportunity to change the clinical trial infrastructure in the U.S., much for the benefit of patients, she said. Simeone became one of the leaders of the effort and now co-chairs Precision Promises executive leadership committee.

A classic tenet in medicine is that the gold standard of clinical research is the randomized controlled trial  a trial in which each participant is randomly assigned to receive either the experimental treatment or a comparison treatment. For studies enrolling cancer patients, the comparison treatment is nearly always the standard of care. With randomization and control groups, researchers can glean clear cause-and-effect relationships between a particular treatment and patient outcomes.

Precision Promises design is a radical departure from this classic model: There is no randomization and no traditional control. While this might raise eyebrows in the scientific community, it is a good thing, Hingorani argued, to subordinate the pure scientific rigor of an intellectual experiment done in a vacuum to the immediate needs of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The primary critique is Youre not randomizing. And thats exactly right. Because random is the same as flipping a coin, which is a powerful way to do science but harder to justify when considering an individual patients life, he said.

Because each participant will undergo extensive testing as their tumors react to the various therapies they might receive through the trial, the patient becomes their own control, in a sense, Hingorani said, offering researchers insights into the effects of the treatments despite the lack of a traditional control arm.

This is a type of adaptive trial design, in which investigators are free to modify the trial parameters in a prescribed way as new knowledge emerges from an ongoing trial.

Adaptive trials are underway for other tumor types, including breast cancer, and at least one ongoing adaptive trial, which enrolls patients with a variety of advanced cancers, also allows participants to switch from one experimental arm to another. Precision Promise is the first such trial focused solely on pancreatic cancer.

We believe that you can both learn, in a deep way, about the strategy youre applying and actually maximally benefit that patient at the same time. We dont want to wait three to five years to find out if Drug XYZ is going to work for Patient ABC, because they wont be here three to five years later, Hingorani said.

As pancreatic cancer research progresses, the team will add new substudies to the trial based on the strength of preclinical evidence pointing to the potential of each new approach. This collaborative, evidence-based decision-making process for advancing new therapies to the clinic sets this study apart, Simeone said.

She pointed to the extensive inter-organizational collaboration as another unique feature of the trial. Industry is providing the experimental drugs being tested in the substudies. An initial group of four biomedical companies is partnering in the effort, sharing expertise and participating in trial design. The study team also expects that the number of research sites will be expanded in the coming years, possibly even to include international collaborators, Simeone said.

With the increasing incidence of pancreatic cancer and survival still in the single digits, we felt we needed to provide leadership and be brave enough to change the strategy in which we do clinical trials, Simeone said.

Despite everything thats new about this research model, its also quite obvious, Hingorani said.

On one hand, its incredibly ambitious, and on the other hand its exactly where we need to be to treat this cancer, said Hingorani, who lost his father to the disease.

His fathers death was the impetus for his single-minded focus on overcoming this cancer, he said.

Clarity comes from being forced to encounter this disease at a level you never thought you would  basically, having a loved one taken away from you. Everything else pales in comparison, he said.

All that matters to me is what were doing now to change this.

Do you have a comment about this story? Tell us on Facebook.

Editor's note: This story was revised after publication to reflect the fact that Precision Promise is not the first adaptive trial to allow participants to switch mid-trial to a different experimental treatment.
Online Class Help Announces Referral Reward Program

Refer friends to Online Class Help and get discounts when they sign up.

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Online Class Help offers online academic assistance to students struggling to complete their online classes. Recently the company has announced a Referral Reward Program, which offers discounts to students who successfully get their friends to sign up as well. They offer $50 worth of services for every successful referral.

"Our prices are affordable when compared to other take my online class service providers. Students referring friends to our services will get a further discount on sign-up. Online Class Help was built on word-of-mouth publicity. This helps us save money on advertising and focus it on building the best experience possible for our clients," says a spokesperson at Online Class Help.

The take my online class service also promises professional-grade work. "Almost all our students earn an A or B. We promise 100% authentic, plagiarism-free class work. A majority of our clients are repeat customers," says the spokesperson. They keep their clients' personal information private, as well. Email, phone numbers, and other details are not stored.

About Online Class Help:

Online Class Help offers academic assistance to students wondering if they can 'pay someone to take my online class'. They offer to take tests, homework, quizzes, essays, and more. Hire them to complete one assignment or your full class.

For more information, please visit https://www.onlineclasshelp.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Jim Delaney

Organization: Online Class Help

Address: 567 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone: 1-855-438-4936

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzxTaq9ZhnIbzOMHeYCvL_g

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/online-class-help-announces-referral-reward-program/135747

Release ID: 135747

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ICMediaDirect.com Reputation Management Experts In Attendance At Affiliate Summit East 2016

Experts at ICMediaDirect.com reinforce confidence in SEO techniques and emphasize the need for every brand to regularly put out content and use technological advancements to develop and maintain captivating online presence.

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One of the world's most renowned leaders in online reputation management, ICMediaDirect.com professionals were in attendance at this year's Affiliate Summit East (ASE) 2016 conference. Taking place on July 31 through August 2 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York, the annual tradeshow brought together over 5,000 marketers, vendors, networks and media outlets. Reputation management experts at ICMD spoke on the importance of building an unparalleled online brand for businesses as well as individuals, and tackled some of the forward-thinking strategies they utilize for successful content marketing. To access your personal or your company's Online Reputation Report, visit ICMediaDirect.com at http://www.icmediadirect.com

Founded in 2003, Affiliate Summit Inc. has a proven track record in managing highly successful marketing projects and delivering numerous insightful events, educational sessions, and tradeshows. With combined experience of more than 30 years in affiliate marketing, founders of the company Shawn Collins and Missy Ward believe in the power of interpersonal networking and information exchange in today's fast-paced digital world. Their landmark events create an invaluable learning and sharing environment for thought leaders, start-ups, merchants, and vendors to discuss new opportunities for effective business development and digital innovations. With an established expertise in providing state-of-the art solutions to customers who aim to showcase online their brand in the best light, ICMediaDirect.com was delighted to bring first-class advice and tips on effective reputation management to affiliates and merchants at the conference. Experts at ICMediaDirect.com reinforced confidence in search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and emphasized the need for every brand to regularly put out content and use technological advancement to develop and maintain captivating online presence.

This year's edition of Affiliate Summit featured a collection of keynotes from most influential and thought-provoking public figures in the field of digital platforms and marketing. Speaker Scott Stratten, a social media and relationship marketing expert, President of Un-Marketing and the author of four best-selling business books, is one of "America's 10 Marketing Gurus", according to Business Review USA. The final and concluding day of Affiliate Summit East 2016 saw an SEO keynote panel, featuring Bruce Clay (President of Bruce Clay, Inc.), Duane Forrester (VP at Bruce Clay, Inc.), and Stephan Spencer (Co-Author of The Art of SEO).

Established in 1996, ICMediaDirect.com is an award-winning PR and online reputation management company, dedicated to brand repair for high profile individuals and companies across the globe. Its cutting-edge technological solutions and highly competitive and unmatched online reputation packages have vastly improved the Internet presence of numerous businesses, professional athletes, politicians, fortune top 500 CEOs, celebrities, among many others. Major marketing conferences and events frequently benefit from ICMediaDirect's participation and sponsorships, including Affiliate Summit, Leadscon, SES, and ad:tech conferences. To see your Online Reputation Report, visit http://www.icmediadirect.com

IC Media Direct - PR and Marketing News: http://icmediadirectnews.com

IC Media Direct -- Reputation Management -- ICMediaDirect Named Leaders of Online Reputation: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ic-media-direct-reputation-management-030431145.html

ICMediaDirect -- Reputation Management -- IC Media Direct Experts to Attend Affiliate Summit East 2016: https://www.canadianinsider.com/icmediadirect----reputation-management----ic-media-direct-experts-to-attend-affiliate-summit-east-2016

For more information, please visit http://www.ICMediaDirect.com

Contact Info:

Name: ICMD

Email: pr@icmediadirect.com

Organization: ICMediaDirect.com

Phone: 1.800.595.0821

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3QHOeY8qAM

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/icmediadirect-com-reputation-management-experts-in-attendance-at-affiliate-summit-east-2016/135712

Release ID: 135712

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Milan Skincare Coupon For The Face And Body Spa Conference Expo

Milan Skincare is excited to be apart of The Face and Body Expo Southeast inaugural show at the Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta.

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In preparation for the Face and Body Spa Conference Expo happening in Atlanta on October 15-17 2016, Milan recently interviewed a seasoned waxing expert who has over 20 years experience in the industry. She also trains her students with Milan products and was recently asked to give an account of her experience with utilizing the Milan products, as well as training with them.

Quoting Jocelyn Ash: "The Milan Hard Wax is Amazing because it is always consistent and you do not need a lot of it. One of the things that I really like about it is that it have beeswax in it which means Estheticians can work with it at a lower temperature so it's even great for people with sensitive skin, and who are temperature sensitive. It is very soft and pliable so when you apply it has great flexibility which is also more gentle for the skin. There is an Amazing pre-base oil that you put on the skin that is made with Grape Seed Oil and essential oils. This pre-treats the skin so the wax works more effectively it also helps with post waxing, and healing the skin. Making sure that the skin feels nice and it's not irritated afterwards."

Visit the link below to watch the Jocylen Ash interview in it's entirety.

Jocylen Ash Interview

After the interview, Milan has poised themselves to be seen among some of the most well known aesthetics companies at the Face and Body Expo.

The Face and Body Expo's website was sourced with the following information:

"The perfect blend of advanced education, cutting-edge products and networking opportunities, the newly launched Expo held exclusively for skin care, spa and wellness professionals. Discover the latest products, ingredients, treatments and skin science over three days dedicated to your professional skin care, spa and wellness career!"

The Face and Body Expo is for anyone in the Professional Skin Care Industry. Store owners, managers, Estheticians, Massage therapists, and other medically related fields.

If interested in attending the Expo, Milan is offering a Coupon Code that gains entry for as little as $25 for both days

For more information, please visit http://www.milanskincare.com

Contact Info:

Name: Ashley Dixon-Smith

Organization: Milan Skincare

Address: Peachtree Industrial



Release ID: 135742

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Honest Option Paycheck: Review Examining Don Fishbank's Advisory Service Released

Honest Option Paycheck reviews have been popping up all over the Internet and ForexVestor.com reveals the truth about this advisory service that claims to show people how to finally start making a real profit from their trading efforts.

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Honest Option Paycheck promises to help regular folks become great traders without the hard work and research others require plus the peace of mind that goes with it. This has caught the attention of ForexVestor.com's Stan Stevenson, prompting an investigative review.

"Our Honest Option Paycheck review shows that it is both an e-Book and a 6 or 18 month training/advisory program that teaches one Don Fishbank's unique approach to beating the market," reports Stevenson. "His ODDS system is proven. One only needs to check out such esteemed publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Insider, and The Financial Times to realize that this guy is a true player."

Honest Option Paycheck includes video training, the ODDS Secret e-Book, detailed trade instructions and technical Support from the ODDS expert team of staff, including Don Fishbank himself, via telephone or email - whichever a user chooses. The intense, yet very easy to follow and digest training course is where one can learn exactly what options are and how to trade them. The ODDS Secret e-Book shows users how they can discover 90% winners immediately and swiftly, right from their cellphone. The advisory service includes both The ODDS Weekly Income System plus The ODDS Windmill Profit System.

"We love the simplicity of the system, plus the fact that this is a program that's intended to help one for the rest of their life. The idea is to minimize that risk to the lowest degree possible, and this program does exactly that," says Stevenson. "With the subscription options, users can dip in and out for as short or a long a time as they choose. The unique system allows them to gain, no matter whether the market goes up, down, or sideways."

"We have to admit that the creator of the Honest Opinions Pay Check System, Don Fishbank, certainly does know his stuff. The great thing about the program is that it really is suitable for everyone. Not only is it a training course for the rookie, but also the ongoing advisory service is what allows beginners or experts to make real, sustained, genuine lifetime income. It is a truly viable system that could well be exactly what they need to take their trading up to the next level."

Those wishing to purchase Honest Option Paycheck, or for more information, click here: http://forexvestor.com/go/HonestOptionPaycheck/

To access a comprehensive Honest Option Paycheck review, visit http://forexvestor.com/honest-option-paycheck-review

For more information, please visit http://forexvestor.com/go/HonestOptionPaycheck/

Contact Info:

Name: Mark Lewis

Organization: ForexVestor.com



Source: http://marketersmedia.com/honest-option-paycheck-review-examining-don-fishbanks-advisory-service-released/135714

Release ID: 135714

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Ohio Children's Picture Book The Missing Baker Launched By Author Laura Ceville

A new children's book has launched on Amazon, called The Missing Baker (and His Sugary Sugar Cookies). Written by Laura Ceville and illustrated by Onin Balita, it tells the story of two squirrels' quest to track down a missing giant.

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Laura Ceville, the children's author of BUZZ! BUZZ! The Fly and the Spider and My Dog, Jack, has launched a new picture book for young readers called The Missing Baker (and His Sugary Sugar Cookies). It is available on Kindle, where it is collecting glowing reviews for its readability, with children wanting to hear the story again and again.

More information can be found at: https://goo.gl/7vNrBL.

Laura Ceville was born in Panama City, Panama and arrived in the United States at a very young age. Although Spanish was her first language, she fell in love with the English language. In Colorado Springs, Colorado she attended the United States Air Force Academy, graduating as a Second Lieutenant with a Bachelor of Science Degree in English, after which she went on to be stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

After separating from the Air Force as a Captain in 2006, she turned her attention to writing, following her dream of wanting to be a children's author. Her first publication, in 2013, when My Dog, Jack hit the market, showed that she could write and illustrate well, and she has since gone on to write many more stories for young readers.

The Missing Baker is the story of a giant who lived in a faraway land, where he baked delicious cookies which delighted all the people in the kingdom, and especially the king. Then, one day, the king's royal purchasing agent returned to the castle with the news that the giant had disappeared.

It follows that this means that there would be no cookies for the king or anyone else in the faraway land. Growing desperate, the king ordered that the giant be found, promising vast rewards for anyone who found the giant and brought him home, so that he could make his cookies once more.

Deep in the faraway land's forest, two young brother and sister squirrels hear the news, and decide to take matters into their own hands, to rescue the giant, save the cookies, and bring peace back to the land.

The story is described as a delight to read, with illustrations by artist Onin Balita complementing the writing throughout.

For more information, please visit https://goo.gl/7vNrBL

Contact Info:

Name: Laura Y. Ceville

Organization: Ceville Designs

Address: 412 Grange Hall Road, Beavercreek OH 45430

Phone: 9374274521

Release ID: 135815

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AnyBusiness Australia Introduces New Stratifications Of Businesses Available For Sale

AnyBusiness can now help people find Australian businesses by location, type, popularity and more, to make buying a business with huge potential easier and more exciting than ever.

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Starting a business from scratch is an incredibly arduous and perilous path to tread. It requires a huge amount of investment, not just of money but of time and effort, and getting it up and running successfully can means months or even years out of pocket until the model takes effect and pays off the initial investment. Rather than so, investors can spend their money on a pre-established business where all that work has been done, through AnyBusiness Australia. The website aims to make it as easy as possible for people to buy established businesses, and has restructured its offerings to be more easily searchable than ever before.

The new model breaks down the businesses available according to multiple different criteria. As well as breaking them down into types including restaurant, industrial, automotive and more, the new structure also allows people to search by location, based on proximity to Australia's main business centers. The site constantly monitors and gauges the click-throughs and enquiries of each listing, allowing people to search according to popularity and put the hottest properties first. Individuals can even search by valuation, to find only businesses they can afford.

What's more, individuals can combine these criteria to create the quickest, most powerful and most accurate search function available in the country for purchasing businesses. The website has been designed by business broking experts to offer the most powerful search tool online.

A spokesperson for AnyBusiness explained, "We are thrilled to be able to revolutionize our platform in such a way that will make identifying the hottest businesses easier than ever before. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to parse through business listings with ease, and target their searches with pin point precision. This means a better service than ever for buyers, which means more sellers will be connected with the right person to take on their businesses."

About AnyBusiness: AnyBusiness is a dedicated business broking site, run by specialists from the business broking field. Established in early 2014, the site continues to grow in listings across a multitude of business categories and locations. The site aims to make it as easy as possible for people to identify great business investment opportunities, and find SME's with huge growth potential to take to the next level.

For more information, please visit https://www.anybusiness.com.au/

Contact Info:

Name: Paul Cos

Email: admin@anybusiness.com.au

Organization: Any Business



Source: http://marketersmedia.com/anybusiness-australia-introduces-new-stratifications-of-businesses-available-for-sale/135861

Release ID: 135861

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Tampa-Based Photographer Announces Search For Local Breast Cancer Survivors

Estelle Brock photography looks to capture the courage, beauty and strength of Survivors through a group, boudoir-style photo series reports www.estellebrockphotography.com.

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The photographer behind Estelle Brock Photography has announced her search for breast cancer survivors to participate in a group boudoir-inspired photo shoot. The Tampa-based photographer is seeking local survivors that are willing to strip their insecurities and bare their imperfections to raise awareness and encourage self-acceptance during Breast Cancer Awareness month. Up to 45 women, roughly one for every thousand women who die each year of breast cancer, will have the opportunity to share their courageous journey through an intimate photo shoot that will expose the raw, and strikingly beautiful reality of the disease's aftermath on the female body. The final product will be used to honor and celebrate victims, survivors and all those affected by breast cancer.

"As someone who has personally been impacted by breast cancer, I understand the devastating toll it can take on a woman's self-confidence and ability to see herself as beautiful," said Estelle Brock, founder of Estelle Brock Photography. "I hope to empower all women to reclaim pieces of themselves that the disease may have stole, including their femininity and sexuality. This photo shoot will celebrate self-acceptance, vitality, strength, and the beauty of their bodies, battle scars and all."

Brock continued, "I have a sincere desire to see women stop negative feelings and destructive self-talk about their body's flaws. I also know that this can be an especially difficult goal to achieve after a woman's body has undergone so many changes in the breast cancer treatment process. I look forward to giving each and every one of them the chance to see themselves through the lens of a camera and witness their own beauty reflected back to them."

Those who are interested in participating in the project, or would like more information, should visit the Estelle Brock Photography website at www.estellebrockphotography.com/contact, or contact Estelle by phone.

Click Here to learn more about Estelle Brock Photography and to find out how to contact the photographer about the upcoming breast cancer awareness photo shoot.

About Estelle Brock Photography:

As a wife and mother of two, Estelle Brock understands the need for women to feel beautiful, empowered and confident in their own skin. Her ability to encourage women to harness their inner seductress has made her a highly regarded boudoir photographer in the Tampa-Bay area. Combined, Brock's artistic talent and passion help women release themselves from their insecurities to find self-confidence, acceptance and true beauty through the art of boudoir photography.

For more information, please visit http://www.estellebrockphotography.com

Contact Info:

Name: Estelle Brock

Organization: Estelle Brock Photography

Phone: (727) 593-4108

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/tampa-based-photographer-announces-search-for-local-breast-cancer-survivors/135851

Release ID: 135851

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Mommys Tap Launches a Breastfeeding Blog to Help Breastfeeding Moms

Breastfeeding remains best for baby and moms find any guidance in this area to be of great help, reports MommysTap.com

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Mommys Tap proudly announces the launch of a breastfeeding blog designed to help breastfeeding moms. Women often have questions when it comes to this natural task, yet the experience is different for each female. For this reason, Mommys Tap (http://mommystap.com) examines a number of breast pumps and provides information about each, allowing women to make their own decision as to which is right for their needs. In addition, the site provides helpful articles that any woman planning to breastfeed or currently breastfeeding will find are of great benefit.

"Health care costs continue to rise in America and this concerns many, yet simple steps can be taken to ensure parents raise healthy children. Mothers who breastfeed their children help to improve public health, and the CDC now recommends that children be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their life. Once this period has passed, solid food may be introduced, but should be used in conjunction with breastfeeding. Many women don't follow these recommendations, however, and this is often due to a lack of knowledge and/or support when it comes to this task," Joy Harrison, spokesperson for Mommys Tap, announces.

Breastfeeding rates in the United States continue to rise. The CDC found that more than 80 percent of children born in 2013 were breastfed, with more than half continuing to be fed in this manner at six months old. This figure drops to just over 30 percent, however, by the time children reach 12 months, and experts feel this figure needs to change. They believe it is due in part to a lack of support for moms who choose to continue to nurse their child for this length of time.

"Mommys Tap looks to change this, by providing women with the information and support they need to breastfeed as long as possible. Certain states are taking steps to ensure breastfeeding is encouraged at all times. For example, Minnesota has expanded breastfeeding in work sites and Hawaii is working to improve their maternity care practices. Every mother should have the support she needs throughout the process, and this is why we have decided to start this blog," Harrison continues.

The CDC found that 90 percent of children in California were breastfed at some point and 34.3 percent of moms continued to breastfeed their child at 12 months. Only 14 percent of children receive formula before they are two days old in the state and the state has 2.12 Certified Lactation Counselors for every 1,000 live births. In addition, the state has 4.59 International Board Certified Lactation Consultants for every 1,000 live births, and these are of benefit to moms who wish to nurse their infants.

"The Mommys Tap blog is another way for women to obtain information if they wish to nurse or to continue nursing past the time when many moms quit. Parents want the best for their children, and breastfeeding consistently has been shown to boost a child's immunity and more. Visit the site today to check out the blog and see the wealth of information it continues. It won't be a wasted trip," Harrison promises.

About Mommys Tap:

Mommys Tap serves as an online publication centered around helping educate and inform moms who choose to breastfeed their children. From tips to product reviews, the site provides information designed to help moms navigate the challenging learning curve, making it a little easier in the process.

For more information, please visit http://www.mommystap.com

Contact Info:

Name: Joy Harrison

Organization: Mommys Tap

Address: PO Box 319, Stockton, CA, 95201

Phone: +1(273)882-4904

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/mommys-tap-launches-a-breastfeeding-blog-to-help-breastfeeding-moms/135849

Release ID: 135849

For more information visit r



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Cardiff Roofing Launches New EPDM Flat Roof Service For Domestic Customers

Cardiff Roofing Company is celebrating the launch of their new EPDM flat roof service for domestic and commercial customers in the Cardiff,South Wales area by giving a 15% discount to all new customers in October. Further information can be found at http://cardiffroofingcompany.co.uk.

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In a slightly different approach to launching a new service a local Cardiff business is launching an EPDM rubber roof service for domestic and commercial customers by holding a fete, this forward thinking Roofing Company, a local family Roofing business based in Cardiff,South Wales has decided it will celebrate the launch by also giving a 15% discount to all new customers during October, and this is expected to take place starting Monday 10 October.

Where most businesses tend to just offer a new service or as most of the competition usually does, just get and add in the local news paper, Cardiff Roofing Company has decided to be a little more creative with it's new service launch showing the EPDM flat roof service whilst enjoying a family day out.

Danny Mackay, Owner at Cardiff Roofing Company, says: "We wanted to be creative with our launching of a EPDM flat roof service for domestic and commercial customers and we decided to celebrate the launch this way because we wanted to put our name on the map in a family friendly way.

It should be really worthwhile and we're hoping the weather will be kind. The celebration will be great,ha ha , unless of course we underestimate how much wine to order for everyone!"

Cardiff Roofing Company has always made a point of standing out when compared to other Roofing Company's in the Cardiff,South Wales area. This launch celebration is just one of the many ways it does so.

This is a great chance for Cardiff,South Wales residents to join in the celebration's as well as a great way for local Cardiff residents to meet new people and support a hard working and honest local business.

Cardiff Roofing Company has been serving the Cardiff,South Wales area since 2001. To date it has served over over 1,000 customers and has become recognized as one of Cardiff's best one stop roofing companies. It can be found on Lansdowne Road near Cardiff Castle.

Danny Mackay also said: "While Cardiff Roofing Company may not be the only business with this kind of offering, local residents are choosing Cardiff Roofing Company because People buy from nice people and because we have over 30 years experience in the roofing trade."

When asked about the EPDM flat roof service for domestic and commercial customers, Danny Mackay said: "We think it's going to be a hit because it will put an end to Cardiff's flat roofing problems".

Further information about Cardiff Roofing Company can be discovered at http://cardiffroofingcompany.co.uk.

For more information, please visit http://cardiffroofingcompany.co.uk/

Contact Info:

Name: Danny

Organization: Cardiff Roofing Company

Address: 182A Lansdowne Road Canton



Release ID: 135768

For more information visit r



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Hassle Free Swimming Pool Maintenance Service Launched Across the UK 5th October

Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys announced the availability of their new swimming pool maintenance service beginning 5th October 2016. More information can be found at http://www.swimmingpoolmaintenanceguys.co.uk/.

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Customers looking for the latest swimming pool maintenance services will soon be able to get involved with a brand new website catered for their needs. Today John Hutson, Founder at Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys releases details of the new swimming pool maintenance Service's development.

The swimming pool maintenance service is designed to appeal specifically to those that enjoy the finer things in life and includes:

Cleaning - This feature was included because to be a great time saver. This is great news for the consumer as saving customers time to enjoy their pool.

Chemical checks and top ups - This was made part of the service, to help owners get the right chemical balance. Customers who invest in the service should enjoy this feature because it means a stress free, clean pool.

Repair - Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys made sure to make this part of their service's development as to ensure the pool is repaired to the highest standards. Customers of the service will likely appreciate this because to take away the worry of incurring bigger repair bills in the future.

John Hutson, when asked about the swimming pool maintenance Service said:

"People in this day and age are busy with everything. They need to be comfortable that they are getting the experts in their area to provide them with a hassle free service, no matter what they need for their swimming pool"

This is the latest offering from Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys and John Hutson is particularly excited about this launch because There seems to be a lot of mystery out there as to who would be most qualified for the job. The service at Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys helps take away that mystery.

Those interested in learning more about Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys and their swimming pool maintenance Service scan do so on the website at http://www.swimmingpoolmaintenanceguys.co.uk/

For more information, please visit http://www.swimmingpoolmaintenanceguys.co.uk/

Contact Info:

Name: John Hutson

Organization: Swimming Pool Maintenance Guys

Address: 105a London Road



Release ID: 135556

For more information visit r



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Local Cardiff Fete Launches New Product Release

Bumper repair Swansea releases three previously unpublished facts about its upcoming Plastic Bumper crack repair launch. Further information can be found at http://carbumperrepairswansea.co.uk.

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Ahead of the launch of its new product is the new and efficient plastic welding system, Bumper repair Swansea is making public three as yet unreleased facts about Plastic Bumper crack repair set to go live Monday 10 October, which fans and consumers within the Auto and plastic bumper repair space will find interesting...

The Three items include nuggets such as how:

The idea for creating Plastic Bumper crack repair came about after Customers kept saying their was a need for this service...

Plastic Bumper crack repair has been in development for 6 months and had a team of just two working on it, which is considered small by any industry standards. This goes to show that great things can be achieved by small numbers.

The product is a new and efficient mobile plastic welding system that almost didn't see the light of day, and the product almost didn't make it due to lack of time. The problem was overcome by working long day's and nights to get the system right allowing for technicians to carry out mobile bumper repairs.

Bumper repair Swansea has done something different compared to other businesses in the Auto repair space, by carrying out the bumper service mobile helping to save customers both time and money as well as being convenient.

Plastic Bumper crack repair will be released as part of Bumper repair Swansea's greater plans to save customers both time and money compared to traditional Body shop costs. It's hoped this goal will be achieved by by the end of 2016

Bumper repair Swansea got it's start when Founder John Rhees'e noticed a growing need for a mobile service saving time and money on repairs as well as making it easier for customers to get work completed at a convenient location. With over 20 years prior experience in the Car repair world, John Rhees'e decided to go ahead and start in 2001 offering a fully mobile Smart car repair service in and around the local area of Swansea and South Wales.

John Rhees'e is quoted saying: "We like to do things to connect with our consumers. Things like e mail and text, and releasing these little factoids ahead of the Plastic Bumper crack repair launch are what make a difference."

Plastic Bumper crack repair is set to launch Monday 10 October. To find out more, it's possible to visit http://carbumperrepairswansea.co.uk

For more facts and further information about Bumper repair Swansea, this can be discovered at http://carbumperrepairswansea.co.uk/car-bumper-rep...

For more information, please visit http://carbumperrepairswansea.co.uk/

Contact Info:

Name: Steve

Organization: Car Bumper Repair Swansea

Address: 40 Myrtle Road Gorseinon Swansea SA4 4ES

Phone: 07792320692

Release ID: 135781

For more information visit r



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List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours.
Indianapolis is a sports town, but we were there for the music

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Samsung Gear VR Latest News & Update: Xbox Wireless Controller Provides Compatibility Support; Alliance to Debut with Minecraft

Virtual reality "Minecraft" is finally in town after Xbox Wireless Controller affirms support to Samsung Gear VR. It appears that Samsung is getting the best of both worlds because this support is powered by another VR player Oculus.

Xbox confirmed that their priced wireless controllers is compatible with Samsung Gear VR. The console manufacturer said they are committed to expanded ecosystem. Gamers can still play anywhere even if Samsung Gear VR is their preference. The same Xbox announcement confirmed that first flagship to benefit from this alliance is "Minecraft: Gear VR Edition."

At any rate, "Minecraft" in select Android devices will receive an update this October. Meaning, Xbox wireless controllers will communicate with Samsung Gear VR to work with Android "Minecraft," specifically Samsung Android devices.

Since "select Android devices" was mentioned, note that listed as supported devices are limited to Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Galaxy Note 5, Game Spot enumerated.

Xbox also provides instructions on how to play "Minecraft" VR version. First, an update for controller itself is needed. Then Oculus App will provide the update this month for Samsung Gear VR. After these steps, gamers are ready to play via Bluetooth connectivity.

To recall, there was an alliance in August similar to that of Samsung Gear VR and "Minecraft." Oculus Rift provided free copy through their Oculus Store for gamers who want to experience virtual reality. The requirement for this setup is that gamers should be running "Minecraft: Windows 10" already before they can use Oculus Rift.

Meanwhile Xbox teases the gaming world with possibility of future games for Samsung Gear VR. Apart from "Minecraft" other titles like "End Space," "Herobound," "Omega Agent" and "Spirit Champion" are going to be compatible soon. Xbox also advised to "keep an eye out" and expect releases schedule sooner that anyone expects.
'Game Of Thrones' Season 7 Predictions, SPOILERS, News & Update: Jason Momoa Confirming Khal Drogo's Return? Will He Reunite With Daenerys Targaryen?

The sixth season of "Game of Thrones" has proven that anyone, especially a charismatic character, could be resurrected in the show. So is it possible that another memorable warrior will be brought back to life in "Game of Thrones" Season 7? It looks like Jason Momoa has just revealed that he will begin shooting for the HBO series. Does this mean Khal Drogo will finally be reunited with his beloved Daenerys Targaryen?

Jason Momoa Officially Wrapped On 'Justice League'! Is He Returning As Khal Drogo In 'Game Of Thrones' Season 7?

The "Justice League" star's recent Instagram post revealed that he will not be able to attend the film's wrap party because he has other plans. "Unfortunately I prepare for the north," Jason Momoa wrote. Although it is possible that the actor was simply implying that he is leaving England, some fans speculated that Momoa is getting ready to go to Northern Ireland to shoot some scenes for "Game of Thrones" Season 7. Will he return as Khal Drogo and help Daenerys Targaryen conquer Westeros?

A photo posted by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Oct 1, 2016 at 9:01am PDT

GamenGuide has speculated about Jason Momoa's possible return in "Game of Thrones" Season 7 after the actor posted an Instagram photo with the show's executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff. Although there has been no confirmation whether the "Justice League" star will be a part of the new series, there are speculations that Khal Drogo will be resurrected soon. Will Khal Drogo be revealed as Azor Ahai and become Daenerys Targaryen's true savior?

Jason Momoa's Khal Drogo Is Azor Ahai? Is Daenerys Targaryen Nissa Nissa In 'Game Of Thrones' Season 7?

A "Game of Thrones" theory suggests that Khal Drogo is the true Azor Ahai and that Daenerys Targaryen may be his Nissa Nissa (via GamenGuide). If Jason Momoa is going to film some scenes for the series, it is possible that his character's fate will finally be revealed when "Game of Thrones" Season 7 airs on HBO next summer.
KickassTorrents (KAT) Update: Torrent Site Ganged Up On; Google Should Let It Slide, Torrent Site Not Operating Illegally Says Val Gurvits?

Recent news and updates regarding the torrent sites continue to baffle those that have an affinity for using torrent sites. For one, the fight to uplift torrent sites such as the KickassTorrents (KAT) have spawned much uncertainty.

There are insinuations that Google should let it slide because these torrent sites such as KickassTorrents (KAT) are not operating with such illegal outlook. According to Val Gurvits, the torrent website is not implicating itself with a criminal offense and even with the KickassTorrents, their operation is not a criminal one as well.

If the operation of KickassTorrents is indeed a criminal operation, Google, being one of one the largest search engine site should start worrying, reports Yibada. Valin further explained that KickassTorrents is not a crime in the US as well and that it is not a criminal offense in contrast to the complaints.

Valin also retaliated by explaining that if KickassTorrents is indeed doing illegal elements, then it would affect Google Inc. as well, but secondary infringement is not criminalized under the US law, as noted by the same post. It stands to reason that this is not the first time that particular torrent sites dealt a mighty blow. To prove the latter, an obsolete isoHunt.com also faced the similar complaints that KickassTorrents is presently dealing with.

More report from Torrent Freak relayed further explanation regarding the dispute. Based on the report, "The primary basis for challenging extradition is that the acts of which Artem is accused do not constitute a crime in Poland where he is detained, nor in the Ukraine where he lives and works," says Val Gurvits.

For the past several weeks, the U.S. KickassTorrents defense team initiated strong emphasis into setting up a meeting with Artem, the alleged ownre of the torrent site, but were not successful in attaining their goal. Also, the "alleged KickassTorrents owner is only allowed to work with his Polish lawyers for now," reports the same post.
Narcos Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Cali Cartel Goes Deeper Into Colombia After Pablo Escobar, Los Pepes To Return?

Fans just can't get enough of "Narcos" season 3 even with the death of the powerful Pablo Escobar. Since the show has established itself to be about cocaine, the story will move deeper into Colombia and unveil the webs of deceit inside the system. More so, spoilers indicate that fans may see the return of Los Pepes too.

'Narcos' Season 3 Dives Deeper Into Colombia

The death of Medellin Cartel's drug patriarch last season teased a Cali Cartel story arc come "Narcos" season 3. Series creator Chris Brancato revealed juicy details about the upcoming season to The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. While the death of Pablo Escobar was inevitable, many fear that without Wagner Moura's mesmerizing portrayal of Escobar, "Narcos" Season 3 will flop. However, Brancato promised to deliver a different aspect of the cocaine business in Cali Cartel.

It should be noted that the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers operate far differently from Pablo Escobar. The men from the Cali Cartel were more subtle compared to their Medellin counterparts. The cocaine industry was operated sophisticatedly, employing internationally renowned lawyers as their spies inside the government. The Cali also adapted techniques from the terrorist groups by creating independent units, with each unit knowing little about the others. However, Cali Cartel's story arc may probably last the entire "Narcos" season 3 to give way to the vast Mexican Cartels.

Los Pepes To Return?

With the Cali Cartel story arc in "Narcos" season 3, the idea that the vigilante group Los Pepes may also return sprung up. To recall, the Cali used the group to execute their plans against Pablo Escobar and his cartel. A report from Small Wars Journal suggests that the shadow vigilante group may return after a short hiatus following Escobar's death. With Cali Cartel's sophisticated movements, the Colombian government was forced to reinstate the group to serve as their intelligence. Los Pepes reportedly penetrated the Mexican Cartel as well.

After the Cali Cartel story arc in "Narcos" season 3, fans are looking into season 4 as early as now. In fact, they are expecting to see Mexico's El Chapo on season 4, which the series creator is excited to explore. "Narcos" season 3 will air early in 2017. Check out the teaser clip below.
LG V20 Release Date, News & Update: Smartphone Equally as Powerful as iPhone 7; Impressive Specs, Features, Price; Preorder, Launch Details Revealed

U.S. tech fans are pretty excited for the upcoming release of LG's latest flagship smartphone, the LG V20. According to reports, the South Korean tech giant will start taking preorders of the highly anticipated handset on Oct. 21. It was previously listed on B&H Photo Video, a New York City-based retailer, that LG will start its preorder promotion on Oct 2; however, the company has already changed the date later on.

Although it is pretty clear that LG V20 will be coming to the North American market, the B&H Photo Video online listing has yet to provide the smartphone's pricing details. However, there are speculations suggesting that the device will arrive with a cheaper price tag compared to Apple's newest release, the iPhone 7. Aside from being the first smartphone to be shipped with Google's latest operating system, the Android 7.0 Nougat, the LG V20 will carry impressive specs under the hood.

As of the moment, no report has surfaced whether the U.S. LG V20 device is the same variant recently released in North Korea. However, it was clearly stated online that the North American model of the smartphone will support all three major network connections - GSM, CDMA and 4G LTE. An unlocked version of LG V20 will also be available for people who do not want to be connected to a specific mobile network carrier.

Meanwhile, its specs and features definitely have the capabilities to challenge the mighty iPhone 7 and Samsung's Galaxy Note 7. The LG V20 smartphone is running on a Snapdragon 820 processor from Qualcomm paired with 4 GB of RAM and a 64 GB internal storage capacity. It will also carry a 3,200 mAh battery, which is enough for users to enjoy its amazing features.

As of the moment, LG has yet to provide the specific release date of the new LG V20. Stay tuned for more news and updates about LG's latest smartphone entry.
Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 Air Date, News & Update: Ken Kaneki To Have A New Identity? Gory Uncensored Details Await S3!

"Tokyo Ghoul" season 3 has been anticipated since last year and fans feared for their favorite manga's fate. However, latest reports reveal that "Tokyo Ghoul" season 3 has been officially confirmed and details about the upcoming season started to filter online. The most talked about perhaps is Ken Kaneki's new identity next season.

'Tokyo Ghoul' Season 3 Confirmed?

Official sources from Otakukart claim that "Tokyo Ghoul" season 3 will finally return this winter. The report also added that Madhouse will be taking over as the producer of the top grossing anime series. With this great news comes the question about Ken Kaneki. It has long been speculated that Kaneki will have a completely new identity after he lost all memory of the past. Spoilers from the online publication suggest that Kaneki will become a complete Kakuja and will face a new villain in the series.

More so, "Tokyo Ghoul" season 3 will also see Haise Sasaki, Kaneki Ken's version as a Ghoul Investigator. While Kaneki lost his memory, his mentor Ari appointed him the task even while he has the body of a ghoul. Fans will also a possible rematch between Kaneki Ken and Arima, which could prove to be one of the highlights of the upcoming season. Also, expect to see some uncensored gory details according to Yibada.

'Tokyo Ghoul' Season 3, Bloodiest Installment?

"Tokyo Ghoul' season 3 may become the bloodiest installment ever from Sui Ishida. The writer revealed that the third installment is the darkest and psychologically disillusioning season. More so, gory details won't be censored according to reports. Since there was a backlash in the previous season's gap from the original plot in the manga, creators have decided not to deviate from the original story. It should be noted that the story line of "Tokyo Ghoul" season 3 is quite bloody.

While "Tokyo Ghoul" season 3 has been confirmed, no official premiere date has been announced as of date. A live-action movie adaptation is slated to hit the theaters on 2017. Do you think "Tokyo Ghoul"season 3 will air earlier than expected? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below!
Rotary got started in Long Beach in 1917 when seven local businessmen met with a New York Rotarian who talked about his club there.
Law enforcement officials in the mid-valley have a message for the public at large: Quit clowning around.

Rumors about people dressing up as creepy clowns and trying to scare people have been sweeping college campuses in recent days, resulting in waves of alleged sightings on Facebook and Twitter and prompting calls to law enforcement departments across the nation.

As of Tuesday morning, however, no credible reports of clown activity  creepy or otherwise  have been received in Albany, Lebanon or Corvallis. Officers are asking would-be clown posses to stand down.

In Albany, a social media post about a clown that specifically named South Albany High School prompted a report to Albany police late Monday. The department added a little extra officer presence there for reassurance Tuesday, but Lt. Brad Liles said the department has received no credible clown-related threats from schools or anywhere else.

Best course of action if you do see someone wearing a clown outfit, Liles added: "Smile and wave. Drive on."

Albany police have received the same reports other departments are getting, Liles said, prompting the department to post a tongue-in-cheek reminder on its Facebook page reminding residents it's not illegal to dress as a clown, even a scary one.

"To be clear, there is NO evidence to suggest credible threats to the safety of our citizens," the post stated. "If a person is simply standing on the sidewalk dressed in clown attire, they are not committing a crime. We will still respond if called (That's what we do!), but know there will likely be no enforcement action taken."

The department also had reminders for people who aspire to be the type of clown bent on more than visual mischief: "We suggest familiarizing yourself with Oregon Revised Statutes 166.025 (Disorderly Conduct) and 163.190 (Menacing). Chasing and scaring people while dressed as a clown will likely be construed as a crime, and you will be dealt with accordingly."

Lebanon police echoed that warning in a statement released Tuesday morning.

"Lebanon Police Department is aware of the 'Scary Clown' posts and rumors," the statement read. "As of today, Lebanon Police have received no reports involving people dressed like clowns."

Clown dress-up is legal, the statement went on. However: "Chasing and scaring people in a clown costume could be construed as a crime and will be investigated as such."

In Corvallis, a bogus warning allegedly issued by the Corvallis Police Department has appearing on social media sites stating clowns have been seen on the Oregon State University campus and warning people to stay indoors.

Didn't happen, Lt. Dan Duncan said. The department does send out official releases through Twitter, its Facebook page or the Flash Alert system, but none have been issued regarding clowns.

The fake warning did prompt several calls Monday, but Duncan said Corvallis has not had any verified, credible clown activity, at least not of the costumed variety.

Mike Bamberger, emergency preparedness manager at OSU, said his department received 15 phone calls Monday night after the fake alert appeared. Residents were assured it wasn't real, and that OSU would have issued its own alert had there been cause for worry.

There were some student gatherings with the intent to search for clowns, Bamberger said. His department sent people to the various groups to disburse them, reminding them that, especially with Halloween drawing closer, there's potential for actual harm if a group were to encounter an individual who made an unfortunate costume choice.

Were getting word out through our student programs, saying, this is a hoax, dont perpetuate it," he said. "OSU will be monitoring this over a couple of days to see what is happening in the community and intervene as appropriate."

At Spirit Halloween in Corvallis, Skyler Schroeder, the store manager, said the creepy clown phenomenon hasn't led to a surge in demand for clown costumes. (Nor does Spirit Halloween encourage the clown-sighting phenomenon, he added later.)

Killer clown outfits are still a Halloween standard, but the real demand so far this year is for Harley Quinn, the Joker's jesterlike sidekick from the "Batman" franchise, Schroeder said. And the costume actually receiving the most attention is a 7-foot-tall inflated Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Apparently its an internet sensation," he said.
The Corvallis City Council has chosen to invest more city funds in the battle to fight homelessness.

Councilors unanimously approved awarding $19,250 to help pay for a lead administrator to work with the Housing Opportunities Action Council on coordinating the community-wide effort against homelessness.

Benton County tentatively has agreed to pay a similar amount, but no formal action has yet been taken. Corvallis City Manager Mark Shepard said that he has been told by Benton County Chief Operating Officer Dennis Aloia that such action is likely sometime this month.

The new position will serve as an employee of the United Way and report to Jennifer Moore, the executive director of the United Way of Benton & Lincoln Counties.

We will move as quickly as we can, Moore said of her timeline for hiring the administrator.

In an unusual procedural approach, Mayor Biff Traber led the debate on the issue.

Currently the HOAC is hobbling along and it is not viable for the long term, said Traber, a long-time member of the council, formerly known as the Homeless Oversight Committee. It will not succeed and we will not succeed in this undertaking. Thats why I strongly urge you to fund this position.

The motion to approve the funding passed on a 7-0 vote of Penny York (Ward 1), Roen Hogg (Ward 2), Zach Baker (Ward 3), Barbara Bull (Ward 4), Mike Beilstein (Ward 5), Bill Glassmire (Ward 7) and Frank Hann (Ward 8). Joel Hirsch (Ward 6) and Hal Brauner (Ward 9) were absent.

The council action follows approval Sept. 19 of $49,000 in funding to help Corvallis Housing First operate its controversial cold weather mens shelter on Southwest Fourth Street. The 7-1 vote on that motion came after two contentious meetings at which dozens of community members testified.

Many of those speaking expressed concerns about the behavior of the shelters clientele and the track record of Corvallis Housing First. Others spoke in support of a competing proposal from Community Outreach Inc.

COI, however, did not have a site for its shelter and that fact ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the Fourth Street location being used for the fifth successive winter.

Councilors went on record at the Sept. 19 meeting that this winter will be the last one for the Fourth Street shelter, and one of the responsibilities of the new lead administrator will be to assist in finding a different location for the 2017-18 winter season.

In other action, councilors also voted 7-0 to approve a resolution put forward by Beilstein in opposition to the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. The project aims to transport oil through the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois.

This is important to me because of our climate action plan, Beilstein said. This puts us on record in being opposed to these infrastructure investments that affect climate change.

Seven individuals and one vocal group testified in support of the resolution, with backing from a standing-room-only crowd. Protests in the Midwest have featured a blend of opposition from Native American tribes and environmental groups. The same mixture was present Monday as members of local environmental groups and the Native American Longhouse Eena Naws at Oregon State University participated in 33 minutes of community comments.

Also participating were the Raging Grannies of Corvallis, seven colorfully garbed women who sang a song about the issue in a performance that stayed within the three-minute limit for testimony at council meetings.
This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, Oregon State Police and Benton County Sheriff's Office. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Corvallis Police Department

SUNDAY, OCT. 2

METH: 12:32 p.m., 201 S.W. Waldo Place. An officer reportedly tried to stop a bicyclist who ran a stop sign, but the cyclist kept going. The officer reportedly chased him on foot and another officer was able to stop the rider, Dalton James Davis Williamson, 26, no address. The officers reportedly found a pipe with methamphetamine residue on Williamsons person, and they arrested him for an outstanding warrant and charges of interfering with a peace officer and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

SATURDAY, OCT. 1

DUII: 8:44 p.m., Northwest Kings Boulevard and Northwest Grant Avenue. An officer responding to a report of a vehicle that crashed into a curb arrested the vehicles driver, Victoria Elizabeth Norton, 25, of Eugene, for charges of DUII, reckless driving and reckless endangering. She reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.17 percent.

Benton County Sheriff's Office

SATURDAY, OCT. 1

DUII: 1:54 a.m., Highway 20 milepost 1. A deputy arrested Francis Brown Clark, 27, of Corvallis, for charges of DUII and reckless driving. The deputy reportedly obtained a warrant and collected a sample of Clarks blood for testing.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 29

DUII: 6:50 a.m., Highway 223 near milepost 28, Philomath. A deputy responding to a single vehicle crash arrested Randy Lee Chatfield, 60, of Philomath, for charges of DUII and reckless driving.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26

WELL, THAT PLAN HAD SOME FLAWS: 10:24 p.m., 4455 N.E. Highway 20. A minor at the Childrens Farm Home was arrested after he allegedly started a fire in the building to create a diversion to get into the staff rooms. The fire reportedly did around $1,000 in damages, and the minor was charged with first degree arson, first degree criminal mischief, third degree theft and riot.
The Corvallis Police Departments new second-in-command should be a familiar face to many on the streets of Corvallis and in the halls of Oregon State University.

Nick Hurley, the department's new captain of professional standards and support services, has returned to Corvallis following a two-year absence training officers at the state police academy. The 43-year-old graduated from OSU with a masters degree in education before spending 14 years as a Corvallis police officer.

Hurley admits the transition from education to law enforcement might sound unusual, but hes always seen himself as a bridge between both worlds.

I grew up in a family of educators and teachers, so I always tell them that I am still in the education world. Its just that my classroom is a little bit bigger, he said. But I always wanted to have a positive impact on my community. And whether youre in education or law enforcement, its ultimately about creating that positive impact.

While Hurleys first foray into the law enforcement world officially started as a cadet at the police academy in 2000, his unofficial start came a few years earlier  on OSUs campus.

Hurley was in graduate school at OSU, on his way to his masters degree in education and set to follow in the family business of being a lifelong educator. And like many educators before him, Hurley became a resident assistant and later a hall director. He didnt know it at the time, but that experience created a spark that would lead him down a lifelong path of law enforcement.

I was getting my masters and thinking, this is what Im going to do  Im going to be in higher education, he said. But while I was an RA, I really got that experience of living among your community and holding people and myself to standards that we all want to live by. And as a director, Id have to work with Corvallis officers on student conduct.

Thats when Hurley decided to take a ride-along with a Corvallis police officer, who just so happened to be Jim Zessin, the man Hurley would be replacing as captain 16 years later. Zessin retired from the Corvallis Police Department earlier this year.

Ironically enough it was on that ride-along ... I thought, 'huh, maybe this is where Im supposed to be,'  Hurley said. I wasnt ready to say it yet, but that was the first time I saw what it meant for police to really be serving a community and being connected to that community.

Within a year, Hurley became a cadet at the Oregon Public Safety Academy.

I thought, if I dont do this now, Ill never do it and Ill always wonder, he said. Leaving higher education was difficult because those people really became like my family. But I had to give policing a shot, because that pull was so strong. I knew if didnt try it, I wouldnt be happy in 10 years. And I knew it wouldn't be any easier to try to leave 10 years later.

After graduation, Hurley went to work in Corvallis  the same place that inspired him to become a police officer.

The first time I put on that badge I felt a pride like I had never felt before, Hurley said.

And while spending 14 years working his way up through the ranks of the Police Department, Hurley started to feel a pull from his education side once again. Instead of abandoning one love for another, though, Hurley combined them both and in 2014, he went to work for the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. This time, Hurley was going to be an educator of police officers.

It was a cool, cool job, he said. I got to use the realm of policing and combined it with the realm of adult learning and adult education.

It was at the academy that Hurley was able to pinpoint exactly what it was that drew him to being a police officer in the first place.

Its that mindset of warrior vs. guardian, he said. We were really trying to shift the image of law enforcement officers from the idea that were here to fight and make arrests and put people in handcuffs to this guardian idea of the Constitution and peoples rights. And were here to protect people.

During his tenure with the academy, Hurley was quickly promoted to captain. And with his new position and new outlook on policing, Hurley became excited at the thought of combining his love of education and law enforcement with his love for Corvallis. After a hiring process that included dozens of members of the local community, Hurley took over as second-in-command for the Corvallis Police Department in August.

We talk about that shift toward using emotional intelligence and being a guardian and I couldnt help but think, Corvallis is already doing this, he said. Were here because the people are employing us to be police. We are doing what the people have employed us to do.
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.
On the Rhine in Bonn : MS Moby Dick turns 40

Moby Dick turns 40 Foto: Stefan Knopp

Bonn A trademark of Bonn, the big blue whale ship celebrated 40 years on Monday. The Moby Dick remains as popular as ever.

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In 1966, Moby Dick strayed into the Rhine and ten years later left the shipyard in Oberkassel. Its anniversary is actually May 6 but is celebrated on October 3, the day of German Reunification. Celebrations this year included a clown for the kids and coffee and cake for the adults. It wasnt just any cake - it was a Moby Dick replica cake - and the passengers were gummy bears. Passengers could climb aboard the MS Moby Dick for free on Monday.

Visitors agreed that the Rhine would be missing something without the Moby Dick. It is a part of Bonn. For 40 years, the blue whale ship could be spotted on the river and according to press speaker Christian Weber, the ship has seen some famous people in its day. For example, Rita Sumuth (former German president) made a special trip with the former German Parliament.

The ship made headlines once when a group from the right-wing party Pro Koln chartered the boat under the name of a law firm. No one noticed until they got on board and hoisted their party flags. Opponents threw stones and paint bombs from the shore. It took a few years to get rid of the reputation as a Nazi ship,  said the spokesperson.

During the festivities Monday, a raffle was held with tickets for the Moby Dick during Rhein im Flammen (Rhine in Flames) 2017. All proceeds were for a good cause, to help children with cancer. In the next season, there will be more special trips and the captains wheelhouse and the toilets will be redone.
Miss Jessie Kwan Long-ching, a year-4 undergraduate student in the Department of Earth Sciences, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), has just published a paper entitled Metamorphic P-T path of mafic granulites from Eastern Hebei: Implications for the Neoarchean tectonics of the Eastern Block, North China Craton in Gondwana Research, a leading peer-reviewed international journal (2015 SCI impact factor = 8.743). Jessies paper was produced from the result of her Final Year Project in which she carried out a detailed pressure-temperature evolution study on the ~2.5 billion year old high-grade metamorphic rocks (called granulites) from Eastern Hebei Province (China). The result shows that the ~2.5 billion year old mafic granulites from the Taipingzhai area experienced metamorphism that is characterized by an anticlockwise P-T path involving isobaric cooling, reflecting an origin related to the underplating of mantle-derived magmas, not consistent with subduction and collision processes under a plate tectonics regime. Jessies achievement will further inspire HKU undergraduate students interest in doing scientific research and having their research outputs published in international journals.

Jessies research was supervised by Professor Zhao Guochun, who is an outstanding researcher in the supercontinent and metamorphic petrology fields, and has published more than 260 papers cited 18000 times. Professor Zhao won the State Natural Science Award (Second Prize) in 2014 and was selected as the Laureate of the 29th Khwarizmi International Award in 2016. (For details, please see the following links.)

As one of three major types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks), metamorphic rocks are formed from the transformation of existing rock types, in a process called metamorphism that happens in the deep earth due to the change of pressure, temperature and other physical and chemical conditions. Jessie has become very interested in the tectonic setting and process of metamorphic rocks since she took the course Metamorphic Petrogenesis taught by Professor Zhao, leading her to take metamorphic study as her research topic. She invited Professor Zhao to be her supervisor of her final year project entitled Metamorphic P-T path of mafic granulites from Eastern Hebei: Implications for the Neoarchean tectonics of the Eastern Block, North China Craton.

Situated about 200 km east of Beijing and covering an area of more than 10,000 square meters, Eastern Hebei is considered as one of the most ideal high-grade terranes to study the formation and evolution of Precambrian (>542 million years ago) crust as it consists of voluminous Archean (?2.5 billion years ago) rocks. Previously, geologists carried out extensive investigations on metamorphic terranes in North China, including Eastern Hebei. However, former studies were mainly based on inconsistent and conventional methods (geothermobarometric calculations) to determine the pressure-temperature conditions of metamorphic terranes, which may result in large errors. It therefore remains highly controversial whether these findings reflect the true metamorphic history of the area instead of artifacts of traditional calculations.

This forms the justification for Jessies research in which she applied the THMOCALC phase-equilibrium modeling technique to pressure-temperature calculations of different mineral assemblages and metamorphic stages recognized in the Eastern Hebei mafic granulites, which yielded accurate results of metamorphic pressure-temperature conditions.

Under Professor Zhaos supervision, Jessie designed detailed research plans which include thin-section examination under the microscope, mineral composition analysis using new EPMA machine in the department, data processing, thermodynamic modelling and finally geological map drawing.

Reflecting on her recent research experience, Jessie said: Besides the supervision of Professor Zhao, the Earth Sciences Department and the Faculty of Science have fully supported my research by providing research funds as well as advanced equipment such as petrological microscopes and Electron Probe Micro-Analyzer (EPMA) which was newly introduced to the Department and is the only one of its kind in Hong Kong. The data used in this particular research was the first batch of dataset successfully released by this machine. HKU has always encouraged research not only at the postgraduate level but also for undergraduates. As a beginner to the world of academic research who knows little about mineralogy, research and equipment, I am grateful to the tutors, postgraduate students and lab technicians in the department for their generous help and support.

As her supervisor, Professor Guochun Zhao is very satisfied with Jessies achievement and hopes more and more HKU undergraduate students can publish their research outcomes in international journals in future.

Note: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by The University of Hong Kong.
Article

Protecting the worlds oceans  an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy

The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
'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.
Counter-ISIL Strikes Hit Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 3, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed seven ISIL oil storage tanks and two oil wellheads.

-- Near Shadaddi, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqah, five strikes destroyed two ISIL oil pump jacks, two oil wellheads, a crane and an oil tanker truck. Four supply routes were damaged.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed an ISIL oil tanker truck and damaged four supply routes.

-- Near Manbij, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Mara, seven strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, two vehicle bombs, a heavy machine gun and a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft, as well as rocket artillery, conducted 14 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Beiji, a strike destroyed an ISIL weapons cache and damaged a vehicle.

-- Near Hit, a strike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed two tunnel entrances and suppressed a mortar firing position.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL headquarters buildings and a front-end loader.

-- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and a staging area, and destroyed four vehicles, a fuel truck, three ISIL-held buildings, a weapons cache, a supply cache and a mortar system.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle storage area.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, destroying five ISIL-held buildings and four repeater tower generators. A light machine gun was suppressed.

-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units, destroying two tunnel entrances, two ISIL-held buildings and a vehicle. A sniper firing position was suppressed.

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 it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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NATO Deputy Secretary General discusses risk reduction and military transparency at OSCE conference

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

03 Oct. 2016

NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow outlined key steps needed to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic security system in a speech at the OSCE Security Days conference in Vienna on Monday (3 October 2015). Participating in a panel discussion on 'Preventing and Managing Close Military Encounters in Times of Crisis', Ambassador Vershbow stressed the importance of modernising the Vienna Document on military transparency.

The Deputy Secretary General noted that the security situation across the Euro-Atlantic area has deteriorated markedly since Russia illegally annexed Crimea and launched its ongoing aggression against eastern Ukraine two years ago. He highlighted that the OSCE is the most appropriate, most inclusive forum available for discussing and resolving issues of military transparency, risk reduction and confidence-building. "Making more extensive use of the OSCE as a venue for negotiations would also help to restore trust and rebuild confidence among all 57 OSCE members," he added.

Ambassador Vershbow encouraged Russia to engage with NATO Allies in strengthening the Vienna Document, including lowering the thresholds for notification and observation of military exercises. In Ukraine, he noted that a critical confidence building measure would be to give the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission unimpeded access to disengagement areas, and unconditional access to the Ukraine-Russia border. The Deputy Secretary General underlined that NATO will continue to seek meaningful dialogue with Russia and press for a return to the core principles at the heart of the Euro-Atlantic security system.

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USS Ross supports OIR with French Strike Group

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS161003-21

Release Date: 10/3/2016 11:31:00 AM

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Schumacher

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) is providing multi-warfare defense support to Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea Sep. 30, conducting operations against identified ISIL positions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Quick Facts

The high level of interoperability and trust between France and the U.S. has allowed for seamless operations to be conducted with FS Charles de Gaulle and USS Ross.

Providing Operation Inherent Resolve support from this region allows the U.S., along with our NATO allies and regional partners to demonstrate our shared commitment to the region by providing multi-mission capable platforms with strike; ballistic missile defense; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The U.S. and its allies continue to improve interoperability by working together to conduct the full spectrum of military operations.

Strike group operations from the Mediterranean support the fight against ISIL and demonstrate the multi-mission capability of the aircraft carrier strike group, which includes guided-missile destroyers that are simultaneously operating in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation.

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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Wildcard Detachment Completes Deployment in 7th , 5th , 3rd Fleet AORs

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS161003-02

Release Date: 10/3/2016 8:42:00 AM

By Lt. j.g. Elizabeth Hegarty

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- The "Wildcards" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, Detachment 1, returned home to Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, Sept. 11, after a seven-month deployment in the Persian Gulf and Western Pacific on board Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4).

The Wildcard detachment departed in February as a part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which included San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD 18), Harpers Ferry-class amphibious landing dock USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 166 (Reinforced).

The ARG conducted operations in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Persian Gulf. Detachment 1 performed daily surface, surveillance and coordination (SSC) operations; Medical Evacuation/Casualty Evacuation support; sniper support for visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS); logistics support; and search and rescue (SAR) duties throughout the course of the deployment.

Beginning in March, the Wildcards and the Boxer ARG participated in the Sang Yong 2016 (SY16) exercise, a biennial amphibious exercise off the coast of South Korea. The two-week multinational exercise included participants from the Australian, New Zealand, and South Korean militaries, and demonstrated the full-spectrum amphibious capabilities of the ARG team. It included a full-scale simulated amphibious assault mission, where nearly 17,000 service members carried out an amphibious landing on the beaches of Pohang, South Korea. SY16 served to foster and sustain cooperative relationships among participating nations, which directly contributes to the security and stability of the region.

From April through July, the Wildcard detachment operated in the 5th Fleet area of operations (AOR). While operating in the Arabian Gulf, Boxer ARG collaborated in strike-aircraft launch operations with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), operating in the Mediterranean Sea. This event marked the first time naval aviation combat-strike missions, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, were launched from Navy warships in two different operational theaters. The Boxer ARG/13th MEU team conducted 48 VBSS operations, logged 2,288 flight hours, and flew 1,756 sorties in the 5th Fleet AOR. HSC-23 Det 1 logged more than 750 flight hours in direct support of 5th Fleet operations, supporting counter-ISIL and maritime security operations, and serving as the primary strike coordination air reconnaissance/armed reconnaissance (SCAR/ARs) platform during two Strait of Hormuz transits and two Strait of Malacca transits.

In late July, Boxer ARG entered the 7th Fleet AOR and began conducting Pacific Presence Operations (PPO) and Freedom of Seas Navigation transits throughout the South China Sea. While operating in the 7th Fleet AOR, Boxer ARG conducted approximately 285 hours of flight operations, encompassing 214 sorties, and traveled approximately 9,511 nautical miles.

All three ships in the ARG were able to conduct mid-deployment voyage repairs, affording Sailors and Marines the opportunity to attend Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sponsored tours, volunteer for community-relations projects, and experience the local culture during multiple port visits.

In late August, Boxer ARG departed the 7th Fleet AOR and returned to the 3rd Fleet AOR. In total, HSC-23 Det 1 logged 1,200 total flight hours over the course of the seven-month deployment before returning home to NAS North Island.

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New Bahrain Barracks to Save Millions Spent On Off-Base Housing

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS161003-26

Release Date: 10/3/2016 12:23:00 PM

By By CHRIS CHURCH, STARS AND STRIPES

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Naval Support Activity Bahrain officially opened new barracks on Thursday that could save up to a million dollars a month currently being spent on off-base housing.

The Navy decided to build Warrior Hall, which will house mainly junior enlisted personnel, after increased operational demand in recent years led to significantly more U.S. personnel being stationed in Bahrain. Most personnel in Bahrain live off base and receive an overseas housing allowance.

The base's old barracks, currently at full capacity, house 800 junior enlisted personnel.

Warrior Hall can accommodate about 450 personnel and is designed chiefly for E-4s, but may house some E-3s, if there is sufficient space.

Based on the overseas housing and utilities allowances for sailors in the E4 or lower pay grades, housing 450 enlisted in the new barracks could amount to savings of about $940,000 per month.

Junior personnel arriving in Bahrain are expected to move directly into on-base housing if space is available. This will cut down on temporary lodging allowance and per diem costs. Officials estimate the cost of new barracks will be recouped in about four to six years.

NSA Bahrain commander Capt. Cory Howes played up the security offered by the new facility rather than the cost savings.

"I'll talk about cost in one breath," Howes said. "The big benefit I mostly talk about is it improves the safety and security of our junior sailors."

Though Bahrain is a great host nation with excellent off-base accommodations, Howes said, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John M. Richardson wants his E-4 and below on base for several reasons, including access to facilities they require. It also reduces destructive behavior, Howes said.

The new barracks meets the CNO's standards for E-4 housing, NSA Bahrain public affairs said. Each servicemember will have a private room in a 153-square-foot suite and share a connected bathroom and kitchenette with one other person. Amenities include internet, storage space, individual refrigerators, hot plates and other appliances. The building also has 42 washing machines, 84 dryers, an indoor community space and an outdoor grilling facility.

The barracks will also have resident advisers to help ensure the sailors' standard of living and appropriate behavior, Howes said. The advisers, who will primarily be E-6s, will have their own suite with the second room serving as a living room/office space.

To meet the Navy's energy initiatives, the barracks have solar water heaters and motion-sensor lighting.

The first group of residents moved in Thursday and the base hopes to reach capacity by January.

"I'm excited, these rooms are nice," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Preston McDowell, one of more than 100 E4s who are moving from the old barracks to Warrior Hall. "These are definitely an upgrade from the old barracks."

The opening of the barracks, originally slated for January 2015, was delayed because of required redesign of the irrigation and climate-control systems, NSA Bahrain public affairs said. Still, the building was about $500,000 under budget, costing an estimated $44.6 million, base public affairs officials said.

Warrior Hall is one of several construction projects aimed at bringing more support, accommodations and services closer to the NSA Bahrain II waterfront, which has seen a lot of the base's mission growth in recent years, Howes said.

Other construction projects along the waterfront include new transient quarters and a galley. A brand new 5,600-square-foot Navy Exchange is also being planned for NSA II.

"A sailor comes off a ship, now its a five-minute walk to his room," Howes said of the new barracks.

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Sri Lanka Navy Assists USS Hopper with MEDEVAC

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS161003-09

Release Date: 10/3/2016 10:41:00 AM

From Commander, Task Force 70 Public Affairs

WATERS OFF THE COAST OF SRI LANKA (NNS) -- Guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) was assisted by the Sri Lanka navy in an emergency medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) Sept. 30 to help a Sailor in need of medical attention.

At approximately 9 p.m., Sept. 29, Hopper notified Commander, Destroyer Squadron (CDS) 15 that a Sailor aboard required MEDEVAC.

Hopper, over 165 miles from shore, didn't have an embarked helicopter aboard nor were they in close range to available U.S. air assets. Officials then called the Sri Lankan Navy to assist.

Within hours of the initial report, Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa approved Hopper to enter Sri Lankan territorial waters to conduct the medical evacuation via small boat. The medical team provided continuous care for the patient while Hopper made best speed to get closer to Sri Lanka.

At approximately 7:30 a.m., two Sri Lanka navy dvoras, fast patrol boats, met Hopper three miles off the Sri Lankan coast to receive the patient in need of assistance. The Sailor was transferred to the dvoras and taken to the mainland, where the patient is currently being treated by medical personnel at Asiri Central Hospital in Colombo.

"A heroic effort occurred across many commands and governments, and it happened within 10 hours to save a Sailor's life," said Cmdr. J.D. Gainey, commanding officer of Hopper. "This controlled urgency with precise execution was possible based on trust and interoperability, which has been established through previous exercises and exchanges with our partner. My thoughts and prayers are with our Sailor, and I want to extend a sincere 'thank you' to the Sri Lankans for the quick and professional response to aide a fellow mariner upon the seas."

Hopper is a multi-mission ship with anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare surface combatants capabilities; designed to operate independently or with a surface action group or strike group. Homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hopper is currently underway in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region on a independent deployment, headed toward the 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR).

The U.S. Navy maintains a presence in the 7th and 5th fleet AORs to help preserve peace and security and to further partnerships with friends and allies. This forward presence contributes to freedom of navigation and lawful use of the sea, as well as furthers operational training and enables an exchange of culture, skills, and tactical knowledge.

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US military targets senior al-Qaeda leader in Syria

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 6:32PM

The US military has targeted a "prominent" al-Qaeda leader in an airstrike in Syria, the Pentagon says, amid reports that one of the terror group's senior commanders was killed near the Idlib province.

"We can confirm that we targeted a prominent al-Qaeda member in Syria, and we are assessing the results of the operation at this time," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said Monday.

"This is a prominent al-Qaeda leader," he said, refusing to reveal further details until the Pentagon could confirm the mission's success.

Shortly after the announcement, the al-Nusra Front terrorist group, recently renamed as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, confirmed that Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian leader of the group also known as Abu Faraj, was killed in a US-led airstrike near Idlib.

Born in 1956 in Egypt's Giza province, Mabrouk was a veteran al-Qaeda leader and served as a commander of the al-Nusra Front, which recently parted ways with al-Qaeda.

"Each time we remove a significant al-Qaeda leader, we disrupt and degrade their command and control and halt their expansion," Davis said.

Washington is under fire for its double policies with regards to terrorist groups wreaking havoc in Syria.

US officials claim they are fighting terrorist groups like Daesh (ISIL), while they openly fund and equip militant groups who are waging war against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Last week, one of the al-Nusra Front commanders told the German-language daily Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger that the US is among several countries that actively support the group.

Besides American TOW anti-tank missiles, al-Nusra has been receiving funding from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, and has obtained tanks and artillery from Libya via Turkey, said the commander who was identified only as Abu al-Ezz.

Syrian Parliament Speaker Hadiya Khalaf Abbas said last week that Washington was siding with Daesh and other militant outfits operating inside the country.

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Taliban militants enter northern Afghan city of Kunduz

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 3:57PM

Taliban militants have reached the center of the Afghan city of Kunduz following fierce clashes with government forces, which broke out earlier in the day.

Militants, who had entered the city of Kunduz in the early hours of Monday morning, have seized parts of the city including its main square, the police headquarters and the governor's office compound.

The militants, who attacked the city from four directions, appear to have slipped through a defensive security line set up around Kunduz.

Local police and residents said that Taliban militants also took control of a central intersection in the volatile city.

Ghulam Rabbani Rabbani, a member of the provincial council, has warned that the entire city could fall into the hands of Taliban militants, adding, "Kunduz is about to fall. Government forces are resisting but the Taliban are too many."

Witnesses saw Taliban militants armed with AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns walking around deserted streets, entering homes and taking positions on rooftops.

According to authorities in Kunduz, Afghan security forces are preparing to carry out an operation to push back terrorists from the city.

Mahfozullah Akbari, the Kunduz police spokesman, had earlier said that security forces were preparing to drive out the militants, who had infiltrated Khak Kani area in the city's southwest, noting, "The Taliban are inside some civilian houses and we have to carry out operations very carefully."

The sound of gun battles could reportedly be heard across the city as military helicopters flew overhead.

The Taliban have also stepped up attacks in the southern province of Helmand, where they have been threatening the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. Also on Sunday, officials said the Taliban captured Nawa district close to Lashkar Gah.

Heavy fighting has also continued along the main road to Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of the central Uruzgan province.

The possible fall of Lashkar Gah and Tarin Kot will ring a new alarm for the central government in Kabul to boost its security forces against the growing threat of the militant group.

Over the past few months, Afghan security forces have focused on foiling Taliban attacks in Helmand and the northern city of Kunduz.

The militant group lost its grip over the country in 2001 in a US-led military invasion and has since retreated to rural areas, resorting to hit-and-run attacks on cities.

Its major achievement came last year when it managed to briefly capture Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz province.

The US-led combat mission in Afghanistan ended on December 31, 2014. However, at least 13,500 foreign forces, mainly from the United States, have remained in Afghanistan in what the US is calling a support mission.

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Bahrain court refuses to grant Sheikh Salman freedom

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 10:53AM

A court in Bahrain has turned down a request to grant freedom to distinguished Shia cleric Sheikh Ali Salman.

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Appeal rejected the request to release the 50-year-old clergyman, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence on charges of inciting violence and calling for anti-regime demonstrations.

The court set October 17 as a new date to examine Sheikh Salman's case.

Bahrain's Supreme Court of Appeal had previously increased Salman's jail term to nine years from an original four-year sentence.

Sheikh Salman was arrested in December 2014. He denies the charges brought against him, saying he has been seeking reforms in the country through peaceful means.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has repeatedly called on the Manama regime to release the al-Wefaq leader.

Crackdown in Muharram

Meanwhile, Bahraini regime forces have attacked a group of Shia Muslims hanging banners and black cloths as part of religious processions marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam and the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Bahraini soldiers stormed the northern village of Abu Saiba on Sunday, taking down banners and flags as part of the rituals of Ashura, the 10th day of the lunar month of Muharram, Bahrain Mirror news website reported.

Clashes broke out between local residents and regime forces shortly afterwards as people took to the streets in condemnation of the move.

Bahraini soldiers fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd, leaving several people with breathing complications.

Additionally, regime forces destroyed and removed banners, flags and black cloths hoisted to mark Ashura in the northern villages of Bani Jamra, Qurayya and Tubli.

Authorities also summoned a number of Shia Muslim families who had installed banners and set up flags over their homes in commemoration of Ashura.

The Manama regime has spared no effort in cracking down on the Shia Muslim community in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Bahraini authorities stripped the country's most prominent Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim of his citizenship on June 20.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011. They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.

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Pentagon paid UK firm $540mn to make fake Iraq terrorist videos

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 10:17AM

The US military paid a UK PR firm over half a billion dollars in the wake of the 2003 Iraq invasion to create fake terrorist videos in a covert operation probably launched to prolong its occupation, an investigation has revealed.

PR firm Bell Pottinger worked with the Pentagon to make terrorist videos in the psychological operation, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported on Sunday. The Sunday Times also worked with the Bureau on the investigative story.

According to the report, both the White House and General David Petraeus, who was then commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, signed off on the content produced by the controversial firm.

Bell Pottinger's former chairman Lord Tim Bell confirmed to The Sunday Times that his firm had worked on the operation "covered by various secrecy agreements."

The firm used to report to the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council on the project in Iraq, he stated.

The covert operation was launched soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the report stated. The firm produced fake videos of al-Qaeda terrorists to look as though they had come from Arabic news networks.

Crews would film bomb attacks and produce low-quality footage, and the firm would then edit it to make it look like news videos, the report noted.

Former employee Martin Wells told the Bureau how he landed in Baghdad to edit content for secret "psychological operations". He said his time in Iraq was "shocking, eye-opening, life-changing."

"We need to make this style of video and we've got to use al-Qaeda's footage," Wells was told. "We need it to be 10 minutes long, and it needs to be in this file format, and we need to encode it in this manner."

In 2003, then US President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq under the pretext that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. In October 2004, however, a CIA report revealed that Saddam did not have any active WMD program at the time of the invasion.

The decision to invade Iraq was one of the most controversial decisions by Bush. Coalition troops overthrew the Saddam regime, but the war resulted in a more catastrophic situation and the country became the target of extremist groups including al-Qaeda and later Daesh.

About one million people were killed in Iraq during the course of the US-led invasion and occupation from 2003 until 2011. The US military has returned to Iraq, this time using the pretext of a fight against Daesh terrorists.

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Powerful blast kills 6 in northern Afghanistan

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 8:56AM

At least six people have been killed in a powerful explosion that rocked a mountainous region in Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan Province.

According to Jawzjan provincial officials, the bomb blast, which took place in the Darzab district of the province, also left 80 people wounded.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came amid a surge in Taliban assaults in Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in the southern province of Helmand, Afghan officials say the Taliban militants attacked a police headquarters, killing the local police chief, Ahmad Shah Khan.

Afzel Khan, a policeman who survived the Helmand attack, said an explosive-laden car bomber struck the police compound in Naway District, making way for gunmen to enter the place.

Provincial spokesman Omar Zwak said another Taliban attack is underway in Helmand's Nad Ali district.

In the early hours of Monday, the Taliban militant group also launched a major offensive on the northeastern city of Kunduz a year after briefly taking control of the area.

Reports say heavy fighting is underway between army forces in and around the city.

US-led forces overpowered the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of the so-called global war on terror.

The militant group lost its grip over Afghanistan in the US-led military invasion, but security has not been delivered to the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil.

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Yemeni missile 'targets Saudi military base'

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 8:50AM

Yemeni forces have targeted a military camp in Saudi Arabia's extreme southwest in a missile attack.

The missile successfully struck the al-Montazah military base in the Zahran district of Saudi Arabia's Asir region, which borders Yemen, on Monday, Yemen's al-Masirah TV reported.

There were no reports of possible casualties or damage.

The Yemeni forces have been staging recurrent retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a war on the country since March 2015. The war, which has killed more than 10,000 in Yemen, was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to restore power to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a Saudi ally who has resigned as Yemen's president but seeks to forcefully return to power.

Back in August, Yemen's Khabar news agency reported that Saudi Arabia had launched a forced evacuation of locals in its southwestern Jizan region as Yemeni forces advanced into the Saudi territory in other retaliatory raids.

Later in the month, Yemeni forces fired ballistic missiles at facilities belonging to the Saudi state oil giant Aramco in Jizan, causing considerable damage to the company's properties. Also in August, it was reported that Yemeni army snipers had killed three Saudi troops inside Saudi Arabia as part of retaliatory operations.

Al-Masirah reported last Saturday that Yemeni forces had targeted and destroyed an Emirati military vessel in a rocket attack near the Red Sea port city of Mokha. Abu Dhabi has been assisting Riyadh in the war against Yemen.

In a separate development, Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been defending the country against the Saudi invasion, has said that Saudi Arabia and the United States have an eye on the country's eastern parts.

He added that some "to whom the deaths of Yemeni women and children is unimportant" were, meanwhile, "encouraging Saudi Arabia to destroy Yemen by eulogizing the kingdom."

Yemenis, Houthi concluded, had to be patient in the face of the Saudis and the Americans "and preserve their unity so they can bring about a bright future for themselves."

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Taliban militants launch major attack on Afghanistan's Kunduz

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 5:38AM

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have launched a major attack on Kunduz one year after briefly seizing control of the strategic northeastern city.

According to local officials, the Taliban militants began the "coordinated" assault from different directions in the early hours of Monday.

Government forces are engaged in fierce fighting against the militants in and around Kunduz, the capital of a province with the same name.

"We are putting all our efforts together to push them back," said Sheer Ali Kamal, commander of the 808 Tandar police zone in the Afghan city.

Media reports said military helicopters were flying overhead and gunfire could be heard in the city.

A provincial official said militants have managed to reach the Se Saraka area of the city, Afghanistan's Khaama Press reported.

The source added that the Taliban have blocked some key routes to other districts of Kunduz.

Kunduz resident Abdullah, 28, said, "We are very hungry and we do not have access to food at the moment. The city is deserted, the shops are closed... The whole city is surrounded by the Taliban. Since early morning we've been trapped inside our houses."

There has been no official report of casualties, but Taliban militants claimed they had killed multiple soldiers and were making "rapid" progress in the embattled city.

On September 28 last year, the Taliban militant group overran Kunduz in a lightning advance. The city was the only provincial capital to have fallen into their hands since the 2001 US-led invasion.

They remained in full control of the city for two days and eventually announced they were withdrawing from its outskirts on October 15.

Nearly 290 people were killed and hundreds more wounded during the violence, according to UN sources.

Government control of the city has been shaky ever since and many of its residents have fled to other places.

Last October, a US airstrike during the battle to push the Taliban out of Kunduz hit a hospital operated by aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres, killing 42 people including patients and medical staff.

US-led forces overpowered the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of the so-called global war on terror.

The militant group lost its grip over Afghanistan in the US-led military invasion, but security has not been delivered to the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil.

In July, UN monitors tallied 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injuries in Afghanistan in the first half of 2016. The records, it said, showed an unprecedented rise in civilian casualties.

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FARC peace deal crushed by Colombian voters

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 1:4AM

Voters in Colombia have blasted all hopes for a peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group.

In contradictory results to opinion polls, Colombians on Sunday voted 50.21 percent to 49.78 percent, with over 99.9 percent of the votes counted, against the peace deal, which was aimed at halting 52 years of bloody conflict with the FARC.

Supporters of the deal had expected it to end to what has been described as the Western hemisphere's last major conflict.

The results point to the defeat of the deal, which was officially signed by President Juan Manuel Santos and rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, known as Timochenko, on September 26.

Santos acknowledged that voters had discarded his peace accord with the rebels but promised to keep up efforts to end the conflict.

"The majority has said 'No,'" he said during a televised speech. "I will not give in and I will continue to seek peace to the last day of my mandate."

After the vote's results were announced, Timochenko said that the group maintained its desire for peace despite the referendum's outcome.

"The FARC reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future," he said. "To the Colombian people who dream of peace, count on us, peace will triumph," he added.

Earlier, Colombian government officials announced that there is no plan B if the accord is rejected, stressing that it must be ratified by the nation to be enforced.

Before the referendum, Santos asked the nation to vote for the deal as "peace is the way for our children and grandchildren to have a better country. We Colombians must all play a role in this historic change."

According to the deal, the Colombian government is obligated to engage in an aggressive land reform, overhaul its anti-narcotics policies, and undertake development programs in neglected rural regions. It also, offers small political movements to participate in politics. In turn, FARC will help dismantle drug plantation and trafficking, and will withdraw its troops from their jungle and mountain hideouts and relocate them into UN disarmament camps.

FARC is the largest rebel group in Colombia and has an estimated 7,000 fighters. It has been at war with the government in Bogota since the guerrilla movement rose to prominence in 1964. So far, more than 220,000 people have been killed in clashes between the two sides and 6.6 million others have been displaced. Moreover, a further 45,000 people are said to be missing.

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Bosnian Elections A Triumph For Nationalist Parties

Gordana Knezevic October 03, 2016

It was not about "the economy, stupid." It was not about jobs. It was not about general impoverishment. It was about identity. The three nationalist parties -- Bosnian Muslim, Serb, and Croat -- are the clear winners of the Bosnian local elections.

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik's (Serbian) Alliance of Independent Social Democrats posted its best results in a decade. At a press conference after preliminary results were announced on October 3, Dodik told journalists that his policy of defending the existence of Republika Srpska (an entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina) had been his winning card, and that people recognized who would betray them and who would protect them.

Just before the press conference, a journalist spotted Dodik on the phone and asked whom he was speaking with. Dodik thought for a moment and then, through a half-smile, said, "I was talking to Moscow!" It appeared to have been intended as a reminder of his preelection meeting with the Russian president, which made some people nervous.

Only a week before the elections, Dodik went through with a controversial referendum on marking a "statehood day" holiday on January 9. The Bosnian Constitutional Court had requested that the date of any such celebration be changed because that date, apart from being an Orthodox holiday, harks back to events that led up to the outbreak of war in 1992 and heralded the policy of ethnic cleansing -- giving rise to a perception that the current Statehood Day excludes non-ethnic Serbian residents of Republika Srpska. But Dodik presented the dispute as a threat to Republika Srpska's very existence, energizing his nationalist base and propelling him to a resounding victory. (The head of the leading opposition party in Republika Srpska has already announced that he is thinking of resigning.)

Dodik's referendum meant that wartime rhetoric dominated the media during the campaign ahead of Bosnia's local elections, entrenching nationalist feeling in Bosnia's other entity, the Muslim-Croat Federation. Nationalists won convincingly, even though more than 100 political parties contested the elections.

Velika Kladusa, in Bosnia's northwest, elected a convicted war criminal, Fikret Abdic, as mayor.

Meanwhile, although defeated in two important regional centers (Zenica and Bihac) -- a change from the 2012 elections -- the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) managed for the first time to win in every district of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. Yet the SDA's leader and the current Bosniak member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, was reluctant to claim a major victory. Instead, he drew attention to the uncertainty in Srebrenica, where late on election night it was still unclear whether Bosniak incumbent Camil Durakovic had been reelected mayor or -- for the first time since the war -- the post was won by an ethnic Serb, Mladen Grujicic. Preliminary results suggested Grujicic had narrowly won, 51 percent to Durakovic's 48 percent.

Wartime Wounds Still Raw

Election night in Srebrenica was tense. One side of the main street was occupied by forlorn supporters of Durakovic; on the other side, a cafe was packed with revelers celebrating Grujicic's victory in anticipation of an official announcement. Some unfurled Serbian flags, and shouts of "Victory! Victory!" could be heard. The two groups were separated by a Republika Srpska police cordon.

The SDA's seemingly untenable stance during the election campaign was that no Serb could be elected mayor of Srebrenica. That is a position that was reiterated by Husein Kavazovic, the president of the Islamic Community of Bosnia, among others.

The facts that Srebrenica is mired in poverty, unemployment is high among both Serbs and Muslims, and the city's prewar infrastructure has not been rebuilt did not feature prominently in the election campaign. Srebrenica arguably needs a mayor whose priority will be to bring jobs and investment to the city, not merely someone to guard the memory of the terrible tragedy of July 1995, when the Bosnian Serb army executed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. But the election seemingly boiled down to the question of whether the mayor would be a Muslim or a Serb.

Banja Luka analyst Svjetlana Cenic told N1 TV that both Dodik and Izetbegovic should have spent election night in Srebrenica in order to calm local passions. "Dodik should have been there to ensure that the celebrations following the Serbian candidate's victory were more muted," Cenic said, adding, "Izetbegovic's job should have been to reassure Durakovic's supporters, that the election of a Serbian mayor was not the end of the world and that he should be given chance to govern."

The problem, of course, is not that the new mayor might be a Serb but that the new mayor of Srebrenica might be someone who cannot bring himself to use the word "genocide" when describing the crime committed there in 1995. Just as the problem with Abdic's election in Velika Kladusa is not his identity as a Muslim or Bosniak, but the fact that he is a convicted war criminal whose return to the political stage reopens wartime wounds.

Speaking from Banja Luka as the results were coming in from Srebrenica, Dodik conceded that a great crime took place there and the memory of that crime will be preserved -- but also that it was time to raise awareness of the sufferings of the Serbian people and to seek sympathy for crimes committed against Serbs.

In other words, nothing new on the Balkan front.

To borrow from 19th-century French historian Ernest Renan's phrase that "Getting history wrong is an essential part of being a nation," getting history right is also seemingly an essential part of building peace in the Balkans.

But the Bosnian local elections suggest that each ethnic group remains concerned primarily with its own sense of victimhood, despite the benefits that would accrue if Bosnians voted as citizens, rather than merely members of this or that ethnic group.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of RFE/RL

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/bosnia- elections-nationalist-parties- triumph/28029427.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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US, S Korea Stage Military Exercise to Train Strike on North's Nuclear Assets

Sputnik News

09:15 03.10.2016

A US-South Korean military drill to train a preemptive attack on North Korea is set to begin in Alaska on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The planned rehearsal of combined attacks on the North's leadership and military assets comes after Pyongyang confirmed having tested a nuclear technology for the second time this year.

The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier will reportedly be forward-deployed to the region on October 10-15 in time for a joint maritime exercise. The drills will last until October 21.

North Korea warned the United States and the South last month that their reckless behavior was pushing the region to the brink of a war and said Pyongyang had means to counter any attack from Washington.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula intensified in September after the North claimed to have successfully exploded a nuclear warhead, having previously detonated a hydrogen bomb in January.

The September 9 test is believed to be the fifth and largest blast since Pyongyang began pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The UN Security Council condemned it as a repeated violation of its resolutions.

 Sputnik

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Kersti Kaljulaid Elected First Female President of Estonia  Election Results

Sputnik News

14:55 03.10.2016(updated 16:41 03.10.2016)

Kersti Kaljulaid was elected Estonia's first female president on Monday in voting that saw the Baltic country's representative in the European Court of Auditors as the only candidate.

TALLINN (Sputnik)  Out of 101 lawmakers, 81 cast their ballot in favor of Kaljulaid, with 17 blank ballots and three absences.

The latest elections were held after two failed attempts in which neither the parliament, nor the electoral college later, succeeded in electing the head of state in Estonia's indirect presidential election system.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the incumbent president, is due to step down in November. He is serving his second consecutive term and the country's constitution forbids running for a third time.

"I pass my position to Kersti Kaljulaid with a calm heart and in a good mood. I call upon all compatriots to support her as the new head of the republic," the ex-president said in a statement on Monday.

Ilves congratulated Kaljulaid and is expected to meet her in the residence later in the day.

 Sputnik

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Colombia: "No" Vote on FARC Government Peace Deal

Press Statement

John Kirby

Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs

Washington, DC

October 3, 2016



The United States commends the Government and people of Colombia for the democratic process held yesterday and recognizes that difficult decisions are going to have to be taken in the days ahead.

President Santos, FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, and opposition leader Alvaro Uribe have all indicated their commitment to achieve peace, and to work together in an inclusive manner to do so. Colombians have expressed their commitment to settle their differences through institutions and dialogue rather than violence.

Colombia can count on the continued support of the United States as it continues to seek democratic peace and prosperity for all Colombians. We support President Santos' proposal for unity of effort in support of a broad dialogue as the next step towards achieving a just and lasting peace.

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"One of the important things for the success of our effort is real commitment from the international community"  UN envoy for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto

3 October 2016  From a decades-long conflict which has seen an ever-growing number of civilians killed to rooting out corruption among government bodies, Afghanistan has been facing a range of challenges with the international community's assistance  and many of these topics will be discussed at a gathering in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Wednesday, 4 October.

Hosted by Afghanistan and the European Union, the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan will have some 70 countries and 20 international organizations and agencies represented, and provide a platform for the Government of Afghanistan to set out its vision and track record on reform.

For the international community, the two-day gathering is expected to provide an opportunity to signal sustained political and financial support to Afghanistan's peace, state-building and development.

Attendees will focus on three areas: joint international and Afghan efforts to increase the effectiveness of sustained international support and funding, on the basis of a new Afghan national development framework; Afghan reform efforts, including on economic reform, rule of law, improved public finance management and anti-corruption, so as to ensure the provision of the most important services and public goods; and, regional efforts to support a political process towards peace and cross-border economic cooperation.

The United Nations has a long history in Afghanistan, with various agencies at work there, some extending back until 1949. Spearheading the world body's current efforts there is the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which leads and coordinates international civilian efforts in assisting the country. UNAMA also provides political good offices in Afghanistan, works with and supports the government, supports the process of peace and reconciliation, monitors and promotes human rights and the protection of civilians in armed conflict, promotes good governance and encourages regional cooperation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the Brussels meeting, as will his Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, who spoke with the UN News Centre in the lead-up to the conference.

UN News Centre: What are the biggest challenges facing Afghanistan today?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: I think challenges have to be thought of in terms of those within the government and those which are challenging the government itself.

I would say that the most fundamental challenge is security. Security actually affects all activities of life in Afghanistan. After the drawdown of the international forces in 2014, the Taliban had tested the ability of Afghan national forces to defend the country. This had created a rather difficult situation in 2015, when the Taliban insurgency was able to make headway in terms of expanding their areas of control, and also the Afghan national security and defence forces seemed to be on the defensive.

This year, a similar kind of intensified attack continued but, for the time being, the Afghan national forces are able to hold the ground, having learned lessons from last year. But still, they are posing a rather huge challenge to security in terms of, for instance, surrounding the provincial capitals in the south.

I would say that, in addition, there is a challenge for the government itself. The government is a national unity government, which has brought differing political sides together to work as a unified political force. But because they come from different political grounds, it has not been so easy to maintain the smooth management and implementation of policies in the government.

This issue of the differences within the government has surfaced recently, and I believe that to try to ensure that the government is internally stable and to be able to cope with all the necessary issues [before it] is really critical.

UN News Centre: What is UNAMA's role in respect to those challenges you just mentioned?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: We have a particularly larger role in terms of meeting the political challenge. UNAMA has the mandate to provide good offices, to enable these people to work together better. So this is actually the core issue for our role: to try to enable the political leaders to work together better.

In terms of the security, UNAMA really doesn't have  we are not really a big mission  a direct responsibility. But the strength of UNAMA is that we have offices in the provinces  so-called field offices  in twelve places across the whole country, and we are able to actually monitor and assess the situation, including the security situation of the country, better perhaps than any other international presence. And we will be able to provide our assessment to the international community, and sometimes even to the government itself, and this will help them to manage the situation better. But also, I think, our role is to try to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the situation, to try to provide the outlook for the country, as to where we should be going  I think that is something that we can provide.

UN News Centre: It has been almost two years since the National Unity Government was agreed upon and it has not always been smooth sailing  what more can be done to instill a great sense of unity there?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: The important thing is for the leaders to try to really think about the country and its future, and how to better serve the people. Of course, since it is a political system, each of the political leaders has their own constituency, where they have to be able to deliver upon the expectations of their supporters  but Afghanistan is facing severe challenges; not only security, but also in terms of the economic situation, the human rights situation and corruption. These are all things which will affect future stability, and also the prospects for the growth of the country. And if they really thought about how they should go about doing this, they have to think of how to exercise their statesmanship, and also try to look at the larger objectives together. It is a difficult thing to do, but they will have to try to understand the responsibility which they are charged with.

UN News Centre: There were challenges to the conduct of the last presidential election, in 2014, which led to calls for electoral reform. Has there been progress in this area?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: There are many challenges and this is one of them. Because the presidential election of 2014 had been regarded as an election which had suffered from many irregularities, people do not actually sort of feel that they would trust the electoral system as such. And so they are looking for reforms to take place in the electoral system.

However, the reform of the electoral system actually impacts upon the outcome of the election, which is a very political undertaking, and so the compromise between political leaders regarding what sort of electoral system should be instituted has in itself become a subject of discussion. Naturally, the implementation and reform should be conducted by the independent electoral commission with impartiality  but in terms of what sort of system, for instance, is to be adopted, in any country, it is the political decision of the people concerned.

UN News Centre: Corruption has been a huge issue for the country. Has there been progress on combating it?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: Yes, President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah  the President and the Chief Executive Abdullah  have a rather strong vision as to how the country should cope with corruption, and recently in particular, the government, under the strong leadership of President Ghani, has been able to come out with strong reforms in terms of creating what they call an Anti-Corruption Justice Centre. And this is a new system which will be insulated, to the greatest extent possible, from outside influence. The choice of the commissioners and the secretariat members will be very carefully conducted. They are tasked with the prosecution of higher-level officials, and I think they are determined to do this.

But they also understand that corruption is an issue which actually seeps throughout society, and they are not simply implicating people  changing the whole system of how bureaucracy and society operate is necessary. So they are going for a more long-term approach of trying to reform the ministries and how the government functions. So, in terms of both having egregious cases of corruption held to account, and trying to change the system from the foundation [upwards], both are ongoing. This is a very difficult undertaking, which requires strong determination, and the international community needs to help the efforts of the leaders in this regard.

UN News Centre: Civilian casualties from the government-militant violence has been an ongoing issue for Afghanistan. Has there been progress in reducing these casualty figures?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: You raise a rather important area for the United Nations and to the international community as a whole: the United Nations, as you may know, has been conducting what we call 'civilian casualty reports,' with very detailed and objective investigations into cases where civilians suffer casualties. We have been doing this for a few years.

Unfortunately, civilian casualties have been increasing year by year. We have dialogues with the government forces, also with the insurgents and the international forces, and explain to them the circumstances under which civilian casualties are caused, and make recommendations trying to minimize this, with concrete steps to be taken. All actors  insurgents, government and international forces  they all understand the importance of minimizing civilian casualties. There has been progress in terms of the way in which they look at this issue, with instructions, directives on conduct in all areas, amongst all parties, to try to reduce the numbers of civilian casualties.

But, in reality, the number has been increasing because of the change in the nature of the conduct and because the conflict has intensified over the past couple of years. It is very unfortunate but recently we've seen an increase in the number of casualties of women and children, and this is due to the increase in the fighting. Street fighting and cross-fires actually account for the deaths of many of these women and children. This is a serious issue. All parties are trying to make efforts, but it is something that is very hard to change at the time.

UN News Centre: Why is the violence getting worse?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: There're several reasons, I presume. But one of the largest causes for the Taliban to test the capacity of the Afghan forces after the drawdown of international forces is that they consider this to be an opportunity, and have been increased their attacks  so the number of incidents has increased over the past three years. The presence of international forces has decreased enormously; at their peak the international forces numbered more than 100,000 troops, now there are 10,000.

The total number of Afghan national forces, including the police is around 300,000. So you can see if 100,000 or over 100,000 of the international forces decreased, it has a huge impact. As we predicted, this has provided opportunities for the insurgents to go on the offensive. Also, problems exist among Afghan forces: with the conduct of its operations, the coordination amongst different forces of the army and police has not been well-managed. And, sometimes, the command structure has not been very effective. This has resulted in rather severe losses. For instance, last year, the city of Kunduz, the capital city of a province, was over-taken. If we look at how the actual fighting took place, there was not much resistance from government forces  in a way, they collapsed. This is partly due to the ability of the Afghan forces to coordinate and hold ground.

Now one thing that has improved this year is that the Afghan forces have been able to coordinate better and, also, for international forces to support the actual fighting done Afghan forces. So the response has been more effective. They have been more mobile and their response has been quicker. This has even been the case in the south where the insurgents have strong influence  a city called Lashkar Gah which is also the capital city of a province, had been under heavy attack. But with reinforcements and with the strategic help from international forces, they [government forces] were able to hold their ground quite well. I am sure the insurgents will try to test the Afghan national forces during the rest of this year  but they also suffer. The casualties are heavy on both sides.

But I am afraid that even if the Afghan national force keep holding ground, the losses are very heavy  in fact, the death tolls are larger than last year's. This is not a situation which can be turned around by either side for years to come. We hope that the realization of the situation and also the heavy toll that is imposed upon civilians would make both sides realize they have to need a negotiated settlement and try to seek peace for their country.

UN News Centre: With so many other competing interests for the international community, are you noticing any sort of fatigue or lack of interest from the international community in terms of Afghanistan's political and security situation?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: I think we have to look at this from many aspects  certainly, the international community has been assisting Afghanistan for a long time, so even if there's fatigue, it is no wonder, it is not strange.

But I have to say that fatigue has not really surfaced. When you look at the Warsaw Summit, the NATO Summit in Warsaw this July, NATO countries were able to re-confirm their assistance in the security field at the current level until 2020. In the meeting there, the leaders were saying that they would not withdraw from the country as long as it is necessary, as long as they're needed. Many of the leaders were saying that the withdrawal [of their remaining troops] will be conditional on the situation on the ground, and they were saying that this is not a message to the Afghan people but a message to the insurgents.

And I interpret it as them trying to convey the insurgents that time is not on their side. That they cannot wait out until the international community tires and departs. That they will defend the Afghanistan, by first of all, fostering and nurturing the ability and capability of the Afghan forces, including the police and the army, and that the international forces will engage as needed to the extent possible. Of course, things are calming down in all countries and there is very strong pressure to keep engagement at a minimum  but you can see this political will.

UN News Centre: And any sign of fatigue from donor countries in relation to longer-term development?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: In terms of development, there perhaps one might talk more about fatigue. But again we are preparing for the Brussels Conference in October, where it is expected that the donor community will provide Afghanistan with development assistance until 2020, so for the next four years, at near the current level which is more than $2 billion. This commitment by the international community is actually something that I was very impressed with and very pleased about.

Some countries are actually increasing their commitment and even those countries which may reduce their amounts would still be of effective assistance to Afghanistan. If you look at the assistance to Afghanistan in the past, you can see that there was also an issue of absorption?? (22:36) capacity in Afghanistan. So, even with a slightly decreased amount of international assistance in the economic field, the effectiveness of the assistance can be maintained, in fact, with better focus to where the money is needed. This is particularly the case when trying to help Afghan people sustain their livelihoods. For instance, in agriculture, where most of the people depend upon for their living, we will be able to actually provide a very sound basis for future growth and development.

So although we talk about donor fatigue, I think that, at least until 2020, the international community has thought through this and is taking very responsible action. This is particularly remarkable when you look at the increased demand in the money needed for Europe and elsewhere around the globe.

UN News Centre: It seems that the international community will have a major role to play with Afghanistan's progress for some time to come?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: Well, I would say that the one of the important things for the success of our effort is real commitment from the international community. The international community has to understand that, and I think they do understand, that the country  although they are trying to be more self-reliant  requires a lot of assistance for years to come.

It is one of the poorest countries in the world and it is probably one of the more dependent upon international assistance in terms of their budget and in terms of their ability to deliver services to people. They, of course, will become more independent and self-reliant but, for still some time to come, this support of the international community will be critical in ensuring that the path that they have started to take for bringing back normalcy and putting them on the right growth path will require the continuation of the commitment from the international community, not just in terms of the development assistance but at the political level.

UN News Centre: You mentioned 2020 being an important year for Afghanistan in terms of the international community's engagement. Where do you see the country in four years' time?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: I believe that the development over the past 50 years, from when the international community first started working in Afghanistan, there has been much progress in many areas, including education, health, technology and education and many other areas, and I should imagine that this will continue.

My sense is that the economic development will take a much more pragmatic route, meaning that they will go to things that are much more down-to-earth, closer to the people, including agriculture and perhaps even small house industry. So there has been some progress and I also feel that with effort and cooperation with countries in the region it will be possible to try to really start the process of dialogue with insurgents.

We have the opportunity of talking to the insurgents sometimes and we find that they also think of the future of Afghanistan and the Afghan people  so there is something common between the Afghan Government and the so-called insurgents regarding the future of Afghanistan. They both care about their country so there are potential grounds for them to come together. It may not be so easy, it may not be in four years' time, but I believe people will start exploring how, as Afghans, they can better bring the country together and build something for the future.

So I am cautiously optimistic but I have to stress that there are challenges and hurdles and we of course, first of all, have to overcome these challenges, which are centred on security and the political stability of the government, as well as the creation of a more fair and trustworthy society through tackling things like corruption.

UN News Centre: On a more personal note now, the posting of Afghanistan is not one of the easiest ones in the UN system. Actually, it is one of the tougher assignments. What motivated you to take up this post leading UNAMA?

Tadamichi Yamamoto: I think that as a diplomat, or a person working in an international field, to be able to work for a country in its nation-building is something that is really worthwhile. It is something that is extremely exciting in terms of being able to contribute to something which would be lasting.

And when you look at Afghanistan, it is a country which has suffered conflict throughout 30 years, close to 40 years, and it is a country which used to have a glorious history and also enjoyed a high quality of life in the 1960s and 1970s. So the potential for creating or bringing the country back to something really rich in terms of livelihoods is certainly there, and you can see that the Afghan people are very conscious of their nation's integrity. There is a real opportunity for this country to be brought back to becoming a very attractive, prosperous country.

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Taliban Overruns Territory in New Afghan Offensives

By Ayaz Gul October 03, 2016

Taliban insurgents are said to have overrun sizable territory in the key northern Afghan city of Kunduz, after staging a predawn multipronged offensive.

Residents told VOA late Monday that fighting is raging in central parts of the provincial capital where Afghan security forces are trying to defend the regional police headquarters and office of the governor.

Provincial authorities insist government forces are still in control of all state institutions in Kunduz, which briefly fell to the Taliban a year ago, and are determined to defend the city.

A Taliban spokesman claimed its fighters raised the Islamist insurgency's white flag on the city's main square after Afghan forces retreated.

However, NATO's Resolute Support mission said in a statement late Monday that the government controls Kunduz city, and Afghan security forces are in control of the main square with additional reinforcements on the way.

"U.S. forces have multiple assets and enablers in the area to provide support," it added.

It was not immediately possible to independently ascertain claims made by warring sides.

Meanwhile, a local media watchdog has called on all the sides to the conflict to ensure safety of dozens of reporters in Kunduz.

"As violence is ongoing, all sides should take special measures to ensure journalists are physically protected and given access to information," said the Afghanistan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC).

The Taliban released a video to journalists showing its fighters purportedly advancing toward the center of the city and taking control of the central intersection. Insurgents are also shown marching on empty streets in central Kunduz while a commentator describes circumstances that led to the fall of the city to the Taliban, though it is not possible to ascertain the authenticity of the video.

Residents told VOA that when they woke up Monday they saw Taliban fighters in the streets of Khakani, a western neighborhood of the provincial capital, where insurgents had taken up positions in civilian houses and were firing at Afghan security forces.

Earlier, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri dismissed concerns Kunduz was again on the verge of collapse to the Taliban. He told VOA that national security forces backed by air power have pushed back the insurgents, though he acknowledged heavy clashes were raging in the area.

"Their [Taliban] attacks have been repulsed and they have suffered heavy casualties and there is no serious threat to the Kunduz city," Waziri asserted.

The United States military backed the government claims, saying it is closely monitoring the situation in Kunduz and coordinating with Afghan partners to assist, but it also played down reports of any immediate threat to the city.

"At this point, we are not observing evidence via our internal means to support the reports that Kunduz is under significant attack," U.S. military spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland told VOA.

He said that both the NATO-led Resolute Support mission and the U.S. military continue to train, advise and assist Afghan forces and "will continue to do so and position our capabilities, to include air support, throughout the area as needed."

Concerns over civilian lives

Responding to the news that Taliban fighters have launched a coordinated attack on Kunduz, Amnesty International's South Asia director, Champa Patel, has expressed concerns over risks to civilian lives.

"It is extremely worrying that Taliban fighters are exposing residents to attacks and sweeping them into a raging war, which has already cost them so much," said Patel, urging warring sides to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians, including media and humanitarian workers.

Separately, the Taliban also launched attacks on the Nawa district of the largest Afghan province of Helmand, where insurgents are in control of several districts. Local media and insurgent sources say the Taliban has overrun the district, but officials contested those claims.

The provincial government in a statement confirmed the killing of the district police chief in the fighting, but denied reports of significant territorial advances by the Taliban. It also claimed Afghan forces killed at least 45 insurgents, including their district commander, in the fighting.

Defense ministry spokesman Waziri acknowledged intense fighting in Nawa and other parts of Helmand, but dismissed reports of threats to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

The Taliban captured Kunduz in late September 2015, dealing a blow to internationally-trained Afghan forces. This was the first time the Islamist group had overrun a provincial capital after it was ousted from power by a U.S.-led military coalition in 2001.

The latest fighting comes as President Ashraf Ghani and his governing partner, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, left for Brussels to participate in Tuesday's conference on Afghanistan to secure financial aid from the international community for the next four years to support reconstruction efforts in their war-torn nation.

The European Union and Afghanistan are co-hosting the conference amid concerns that conflicts in Syria and Iraq, as well as the worst migration crisis in decades, are driving international attention from the Afghan problem.

Afghan leaders plan to brief the gathering on progress they have achieved in addressing challenges of security, corruption, economic and human development.

While efforts to engage the Taliban in peace talks have not yet produced results, Ghani is expected to present last week's peace deal he signed with the second-largest Afghan insurgent group, Hizb-e-Islami, as a major step toward ending the conflict.

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Colombian Leaders Try to Revive Peace Deal After Stunning Referendum Defeat

By Celia Mendoza October 03, 2016

Political leaders in Colombia are looking for a way forward after voters unexpectedly rejected a peace deal with leftist FARC rebels that would have ended a 52-year-old war.

President Juan Manuel Santos plans to meet Monday with all political parties and has ordered his negotiators to return to Havana, Cuba, where four years of peace talks had taken place.

Voters narrowly rejected the deal 50.2 percent to 49.7, or by a margin of just 54,000 votes. Public opinion polls going into Sunday's voting forecast the referendum would pass by a two-to-one margin.

Santos and rebel leaders are vowing to push ahead with the peace process, though it is unclear how they can save the deal since there appears to be no plan B.

"I will not give in and I will continue to seek peace to the last day of my term," Santos said in a televised address late Sunday.

The leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Rodrigo Londono, who is also known as Timochenko, is also refusing to give up.

"To the Colombian people who dream of peace, count on us. Peace will triumph," said Londono, who is also expected to return to Havana.

U.S. praises planned dialogue

In a statement, the U.S. State Department commended the government and people of Colombia "for the democratic process held yesterday and recognizes that difficult decisions are going to have to be taken in the days ahead."

"Colombians have expressed their commitment to settle their differences through institutions and dialogue rather than violence," said spokesman John Kirby. "Colombia can count on the continued support of the United States as it continues to seek democratic peace."

The United Nations also remains fully committed to the peace process and will continue to help the government reach a deal with the rebels, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

"We would have hoped for a different result, but I am encouraged by the commitment expressed by President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC-EP commander Timoleon Jimenez," Ban told reporters in Switzerland.

Ban also said he has "urgently" dispatched special representative Jean Arnault to the Cuban capital for consultations. "In Carthagena, I witnessed a profound desire of the Colombian people to end the violence. I count on them to press ahead until they achieve, secure a lasting peace," he added.

Protests

Supporters of both sides took to the streets of Bogota after the results of the referendum were announced. The "no" celebrated while a group of "yes" voters, dressed in white from head to toe, gathered outside Santos' home.

The peace agreement signed last week was aimed at formally ending the 52-year-old uprising by the leftist rebels. The guerrilla war in Colombia has killed more than 220,000 people and driven millions from their homes.

The Santos government had waged a fierce campaign in favor of the peace deal, appealing to the millions of Colombians who say they are sick of war and violence and terrorism.

But the "no" side, led by Santos' chief political rival, former President Alvaro Uribe, campaigned just as vigorously against the deal.

Turnout low

Turnout for the referendum was low, at just 37 percent. That is in part because of Hurricane Matthew, which dumped heavy rains in coastal areas, including many parts where there is more support for the government.

"Clearly the peace deal won in most of the larger cities and many of the coastal areas. It was in the mountainous central part of Colombia where it lost," said Peter Hakim, president emeritus and senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.

Many "no" voters were genuinely offended that nearly all FARC rebels will avoid prison time for crimes allegedly committed during the uprising and get various financial support from the government.

They are also upset that FARC would be guaranteed seats in the Colombian congress without an election in exchange for transforming FARC into a political party.

Timochenko had publicly asked for forgiveness for whatever harm was committed by the rebels during the long uprising.

The FARC rebellion began as a simple peasant uprising in 1964 and soon grew into a major threat to various Colombian obtainments over the next five decades.

It used drug trafficking as a major source of funding. Kidnapping politicians and foreigners and holding them hostage in remote jungle hideouts was a FARC trademark.

The United States spent billions of dollars in military aid to help the Colombian government combat FARC and bring it to the negotiating table.

VOA's Steve Herman and Victor Beattie contributed to this report.

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Philippines Eyeing Aid Windfall From Diplomacy Shift

By Ralph Jennings October 03, 2016

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is rebalancing his foreign policy away from old ally the United States to former U.S. Cold War foes China and Russia, in a move that may generate a windfall of aid for the developing Southeast Asian country.

Duterte said last month his country would reject U.S. military aid in patrolling the contested South China Sea and fighting a violent Muslim rebel group in his archipelago's south. The Philippines will cross to "the other side of the ideological barrier," and work on alliances with China and Russia, the 71-year-old president was quoted telling reporters last week.

China has said it wants talks with Duterte's government, which took office June 30, to settle a knotty maritime sovereignty issue. Duterte sent an envoy to Hong Kong in August to start making amends. China is likely to provide infrastructure financing for projects the Philippines "so sorely needs," said Carl Baker, director of programs with the think tank CSIS Pacific Forum.

Beijing has already helped build infrastructure in other poor regions of Southeast Asia, from a pledged $6 billion railway in Laos to Cambodia's first oil refinery, leading to speculation the Philippines may be next.

"In terms of an economy such as the Philippines, after so many years developing it's still a question mark over the extent of infrastructure improvement," said Song Seng Wun, an economist in the private banking unit of CIMB in Singapore. "The Philippine president obviously has seen what Chinese money has done for the Indochinese economy -- Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia in particular."

Although the president and former mayor of the second-largest Philippine city is known for rash comments, some of which his government has tried to temper, at least some citizens are taking him at face value.

China's value

"China does really good infrastructure and I remember that China was saying it would help the Philippines make infrastructure," said Valenice Balace, 27, a software technology entrepreneur in metro Manila. "The U.S. has those promises, but I don't really see it. And in terms of location-wise, we're a lot closer to China and Russia," she said. "It's just kind of scary for me that we're shifting from the U.S. to ties with China and Russia. In history they were kind of the bad guys."

Those projects mesh with the mission of the Beijing-spearheaded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Chinese "One Belt, One Road" strategy of developing other Asian countries, in turn giving contracts to Chinese firms that face slowing economic growth at home. Investments in 49 "One Belt, One Road" countries reached $14.8 billion in 2015.

Duterte said he envisions trade alliances and long-term land leases for China and Russia. Before taking office, the president indicated he might tap China for railway systems in the Philippines during his six-year term.

The Philippines has struggled to win foreign investment partly because of a lack of infrastructure. The seaport in Manila gets congested, brownouts occur in rural areas and internet service is spotty. Last year, the government raised its infrastructure budget to five percent of GDP to build projects that would encourage an inflow of foreign-invested factories.

Russia's value

Russian support for the Philippines could bring defense aid or a stronger position if Duterte negotiates with the United States, analysts believe. Database globalfirepower.com ranks Russia's military as the world's second most powerful after the United States.

Duterte said at an East Asian leadership summit in Laos last month he had asked Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Mevedev for "help in everything, (such as) trade, commerce."

The president is seeking a more "independent" foreign policy by fanning out diplomacy to China and Russia, Baker said.

US concerns

Duterte has also said the Philippines would stop working with the U.S. Navy in patrolling the disputed South China Sea after two years of joint exercises. He also asked U.S. military advisers last month to leave Mindanao, the southern island where Philippine forces have stepped up a battle against Muslim insurgents since July.

U.S. military advisers have been in Mindanao 14 years, but some Filipinos fear their presence only makes the Muslims angrier and complicates the Philippine government's campaign. The United States has also irked Duterte by raising questions about his use of extrajudicial killings to fight the drug trade.

Officials in Washington say relations with the Philippines have not effectively changed, but senior lawmakers and a U.S. diplomat raised red flags last week about what follows.

Filipinos largely still support U.S. military help, especially on the South China Sea patrols, said Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at University of the Philippines.

Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, took China to a world arbitration court, which ruled in July that Beijing lacks legal rights to claim 95 percent of the South China Sea, including waters just west of the Philippines.

"[U.S. forces] play a very crucial role right now, especially since the armed forces modernization plans basically have just started," Batongbacal said. "When it comes to external security operations, I think most Filipinos will want the U.S. to be a co-equal partner."

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Hungarian PM Declares 'Victory' Despite Low Referendum Turnout

By Heather Murdock October 03, 2016

Headlines in Hungary's newspapers on Monday read "The Referendum has Failed" and "The Country has said No."

While about 98 percent who voted said "no," from newspaper stands to parliament there was a distinct disconnect.

Speaking to the members, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban called rejection of the migrant quota referendum an "outstanding and overwhelming" victory, even though voter turnout was not high enough to validate the ballot.

He asked the parliament to consider changing the constitution "in the spirit of the referendum."

"With modesty and moderation I say: Hungarians yesterday made history," he said. "With an overwhelming victory of 'no' votes, Hungary has won.

Despite the proclamation, the referendum, in which more than three million of Hungary's 10 million people voted "no" to the European Union's power to mandate refugee quotas over the wishes of their elected officials, technically failed. The law here required a 50 percent turnout for a valid result and only about 40 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

The vote has no legal weight within the EU or in Hungary, but the prime minister said he will use the voice of the people to push reform.

"The result of this referendum will be a strong weapon in Brussels," he explained.

Yet in the papers and on the streets, the ballot appears to have failed. Ferencz Tiborne is a retired banker who voted 'no.'

"I was sad that we didn't reach the turnout needed for the ballot to pass," she said. "If people knew how important this was, more would have come."

Controversy

The referendum, while controversial in much of the world, was near certain to be rejected in parts of Hungary. Outside her polling station in Morahalm, a town where thousands of refugees and other migrants passed through in 2015, Gubicz Antalne, 85, voted "no" like the vast majority of the Hungarians who voted.

"It would be better if migrants do not come to Hungary," she said outside her polling place.

But the majority of voters chose not to cast ballots, with many saying the referendum was nonsensical and expensive, costing tens of millions of dollars in government advertising.

"I won't vote because the decision has been made," explained Havanscak Karoly, a 37-year-old construction worker with three children in his home town of Nyergesujfalu, a northern town that has seen almost no migrants in recent years. If the government wants to reject EU mandates, he said, it would do so with or without the peoples' votes.

"Migrants don't want to stay here anyway," he added.

Critics say the referendum played on the fears of the population and government advertising intensified those fears, implying migrants would bring crime and scoop up jobs.

"It was a very dirty campaign," said Csaba Dudas, an organizer for the Two-Tailed Dog Party, which countered the government campaign with humorous billboards and signs urging people to cast invalid votes.

"Give a stupid answer to a stupid question," read one sign seen across the country.

Migrant Crisis

A year ago, the influx of hundreds of thousands of people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia to Europe was known as the 'refugee crisis.' Today, it is more commonly called the 'migrant crisis.'

The new vocabulary of choice is telling of the international mood, as the waves of sympathy in 2015 have, in many places, been replaced by waves of fear and anger after terror attacks were blamed on the crisis.

This fear has also led to a sharp rise in support for the far right in Europe, which often uses xenophobia as a cornerstone of policy-making, leading to Brexit and other cracks in the strength of the European Union.

From the beginning of the crisis, the Hungarian government says it has tried to follow established European refugee regulations, which call for asylum seekers to register in the first country they land in. In 2015, masses on their way to wealthy countries like Germany, Sweden and Finland made it through Hungary, however, under pressure from the international community, humanitarian activists within Hungary, and the large crowds of people clamoring to get through.

With stronger boarder controls and strict policies, Hungary is now able to limit the amount of people allowed to pass through to 30 per day and is deporting asylum seekers who have already registered in other countries.

And while humanitarian groups across the globe complain Hungary is not doing enough to help those fleeing war and crushing poverty, the government holds firm, saying it is following EU agreements, while other countries ignore the rules.

"What we see on the borders of Hungary and ... of the European Union is completely unacceptable and should be stopped," said Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs. "Nobody is keeping the rules, apart from Hungary."

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3 Days of Mourning in Ethiopia Following Deadly Stampede at Festival

By Jill Craig October 03, 2016

Ethiopians began observing three days of mourning Monday, one day after a celebration known as Irreecha, marking the end of the rainy season, left at least 52 people dead in the restive Oromiya region. The trouble happened during a police confrontation with anti-government protesters.

The festivities in the town of Bishoftu took an ominous tone when police used force to disperse protesters, thousands of whom were chanting against the government. According to witnesses, some demonstrators were trying to remove an Ethiopian flag from a stage when police began beating demonstrators and fired tear gas and warning shots. Panic led to a deadly stampede.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn denied that government forces used live rounds and said some people in the crowd intended to cause chaos.

"Three days of mourning have been announced but there's beenno dialogue; it's really just like sending the army or sending the police, putting people in jail, and then deciding three days of mourning and then we move on," said Elise Dufief is the research and monitoring manager for aid transparency group Publish What You Fund.

Human rights concerns

Human Rights Watch notes that tens of thousands of people have been arrested since November 2015, when protests in Oromiya began over a government plan to annex parts of it to Addis Ababa, the capital city. Felix Horne, senior researcher on the Horn of Africa for Human Rights Watch, says these arrests are a problem.

"Whenever there's a major event in Oromiya, whenever there's abuses by security forces, everyone focuses on the killings and the beatings, and rightfully so; but, one thing that doesn't get a lot of attention is that in the days after these protests or events like Irreecha, there are large-scale arrests... so yes, this continues to be a problem across Oromiya," said Horne.

Allowing people the right to express their concerns is key, according to Horne.

"Well, I think it's clear that the security force response to all of the protests in Oromiya has been one of just using brutal force. Not only does it not work, but it just makes the situation worse. You can guarantee future protests and it emboldens the protests that are out there, so the government needs to change course and it needs to begin looking at the very valid grievances of the protests," said Horne.

In August, protests in Oromiya and the Amhara region left dozens dead and hundreds injured. Opposition parties accused government security forces of opening fire on unarmed, peaceful demonstrators, while the government said some of them were carrying lethal weapons like explosives and organizing "unauthorized protests by forces of violence."

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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 4, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 16 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed three oil well heads and two oil tanker trucks.

-- Near Shadaddi, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions and a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqah, two strikes destroyed three ISIL oil-well heads, an oil storage tank and an oil drum cache.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed 11 ISIL petroleum, oil and lubricants equipment assets, nine oil tanker trucks and two oil-well heads.

-- Near Idlib, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Manbij, a strike destroyed an ISIL machine gun.

-- Near Mara, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions and a command-and-control node.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft, as well as rocket artillery, conducted 10 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Hit, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed 11 vehicles, five ISIL-held buildings, four weapons caches, two vehicle bombs and a heavy machine gun.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units, two staging areas, a vehicle bomb-making factory, a weapons factory and a weapons logistics facility, destroying four vehicles, two weapons caches, two supply caches, a command-and-control node and two ISIL-held buildings.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed two ISIL vehicles.

-- Near Ramadi, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a heavy machine gun.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed an ISIL repeater tower power supply system.

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 it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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US, Philippines begin war games amid doubts over alliance

Iran Press TV

Tue Oct 4, 2016 2:46PM

The US and the Philippines have launched their annual military drills, even as the Philippine president has called for an end to such maneuvers.

The annual amphibious landing exercises between US Marines and the Philippines military were to take place as planned in the northern island of Luzon on Tuesday.

Three US Navy warships and a landing craft from the Philippines will take part in the 33rd amphibious drills dubbed PHIBLEX 33.

This year's war games come after Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to end the joint military exercises.

Angered by US criticism of his bloody war against drugs since coming to office in June, Duterte said last week that the maneuvers will be the last under his presidency.

He also said he would review a defense pact signed two years ago known as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Last month, he called for the withdrawal of US Special Forces from southern Philippines.

Duterte has engaged in several inflammatory outbursts against the US during the past month, even calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a b***" in September.

Washington has sent Manila hundreds of millions of dollars in economic and military assistance in recent years, making it the third-largest recipient of US military aid in Asia after Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As a counter to China in the disputed South China Sea, the US and Philippines enacted the EDCA in 2014, giving the US military rotational access to five bases in the Philippines.

China has repeatedly criticized US military presence in the region and suspects the military drills are part of efforts to contain Beijing.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counterclaims by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. China is also locked in disputes with Japan and South Korea over the East China Sea.

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US warships make first visit to Vietnam in decades

Iran Press TV

Tue Oct 4, 2016 10:53AM

Two US Navy warships have docked at a Vietnamese naval base, the first such port call since the normalization of relations 21 years ago.

Submarine tender USS Frank Cable and guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain entered a deep water base in Cam Ranh Bay in Khanh Hoa province on Sunday, the US Navy said in a statement on Tuesday.

Before entering the Cam Ranh Bay, USS John S. McCain also made a port call in nearby Da Nang City, according to the statement.

The coastal city, perched strategically on the South China Sea, is where US combat forces first arrived in Vietnam in 1965. The US carried out an eight-year military intervention in the country from 1965 to 1973, killing thousands of Vietnamese people.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were restored in 1995.

The US and Vietnam started to improve their naval ties after US President Barack Obama declared the complete removal of America's arms embargo against the "extremely important" ally in a three-day visit back in May.

Before the arrival of American warships, Cam Ranh Bay had been used by Russian and French navies.

The visit by American vessels came shortly after the Hanoi government decided to make the base available to visiting foreign navy vessels in a bid to maintain a stronger presence in the South China Sea, amid maritime disputes with China.

The US has reached out to Vietnam and other countries surrounding the South China Sea such as Taiwan, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines in order to counter China's sovereignty claims over the waters.

Washington has also sent several of its warships to the region to protect what it calls "freedom of navigation" in the sea, which serves as a gateway for trillions of dollars in maritime trade every year.

China, in response, has condemned America's meddling in regional issues, accusing Washington of deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.

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Uzbekistan: The Suddenly Good Neighbor

Bruce Pannier October 04, 2016

Uzbekistan's new leader, Shavkat Mirziyaev, is already making a difference in regional politics in Central Asia. In less than one month, Mirziyaev has moved to improve ties with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and in so doing has sparked hopes for a new era of regional cooperation.

Under former President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan was an obstacle to regional integration. Uzbekistan lies at the center of Central Asia, bordered by all the other Central Asian states and also sharing an approximately 160-kilometer border with Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has proven to be a knot at the heart of the region.

Tashkent's relations with its immediate neighbors have ranged from bad to horrible. Ties with Turkmenistan warmed after the country's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, died in late 2006, and in the last decade Karimov seemed to finally find some common ground with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, which eased Uzbek-Kazakh relations.

But the Uzbek government has always been hard on eastern neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

When Mirziyaev took over as Uzbekistan's leader on September 8, Uzbek police had been occupying a hill in Kyrgyzstan, Ungar-Too, for more than two weeks. The Uzbek forces detained four Kyrgyz nationals who were working at the television relay station on Ungar-Too and refused to free them, angering Kyrgyz villagers in the area and the government in Bishkek.

Problems between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan include land, border demarcation, and, most importantly, water -- and the three things are often intertwined.

On September 9, Uzbek troops released the four Kyrgyz nationals.

Mirziyaev did not attend a CIS summit in Bishkek on September 16. Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov went instead and arrived one day early to meet with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev.

On September 20, the Uzbek police withdrew from Ungar-Too. The same day, the pro-government website Uzdaily.uz reported that from September 14 to 20 a working group of officials from both countries had been reviewing questions of border demarcation in 23 disputed areas along the common frontier.

And then, on October 1, a government delegation from Kyrgyzstan made up largely of officials from Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abat, Osh, and Batken provinces, which border Uzbekistan, visited the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon to take part in events dedicated to Uzbek-Kyrgyz friendship.

Tajik Tensions Ease

Uzbek-Tajik ties have probably been the worst bilateral ties across Central Asia. All railway traffic bound for or leaving Tajikistan must transit Uzbek territory and Uzbek authorities have on occasion held up, and in cases turned back, shipments to Tajikistan -- particularly shipments of construction materials for Tajikistan's hydropower plants. Both countries have tried and convicted their own nationals on charges of spying for the other country.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended Karimov's funeral in Samarkand on September 3 and met with Mirziyaev. At the end of September, Tajik media enthusiastically reported on Uzbek Foreign Minister Komilov's September 23 speech at the UN General Assembly, which, for once, did not include any mention of Tajikistan's plans to build the Roghun hydropower plant. Roghun has been a major sticking point in relations between the two countries.

Komilov traveled to Tajikistan on September 29 and met with President Rahmon to discuss renewing the railway and air links, and economic ties in general, between the two countries. Flights between Tashkent and Dushanbe were suspended in 1992 and trade between the two countries was only some $10 million in 2015, which was actually an increase of more than 50 percent compared to 2014.

Komilov did mention he hoped the two countries could find a fair and mutually advantageous solution to water and energy problems. He also gave an interview to Tajik television, saying it was time to renew "long-interrupted" ties.

On September 30, the pro-government website Podrobno.uz reported a meeting of the Uzbek-Kazakh border demarcation took place from September 26 to 30 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Prodobno.uz noted that a similar meeting took place in Almaty on February 18 to 27 this year, and that the process of demarcating the Uzbek-Kazakh border has been under way since 2003.

These are all hopeful signs that Uzbekistan under Mirziyaev, who seems certain to be elected president in the December 4 election, might come out of its regional isolation and become a productive regional partner.

Turkmenistan went a similar route when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov took over after Niyazov's death. Turkmenistan succeeded in improving relations with all its Central Asian neighbors, including Uzbekistan -- not an easy feat considering Niyazov had all but said publicly that Uzbek authorities were behind an assassination plot against him.

More 'Carrot,' Less 'Stick'

That said, there are possible reasons for this new Uzbek diplomacy.

In the case of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, water has always been one of Uzbekistan's key interests in relations. In the past, Uzbekistan cut off supplies to natural gas to its two eastern neighbors when Tashkent was displeased with moves in Bishkek or Dushanbe, as almost always happened when either country spoke about building large hydropower plants on the rivers that flowed into Uzbekistan. Tashkent has maintained that construction of those huge hydropower plants threatens the water supply to Uzbekistan's agricultural fields.

That form of pressure no longer works, since both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have turned to their abundant domestic supplies of coal to wean themselves off Uzbek gas. In Kyrgyzstan's case, Bishkek sold the state natural-gas company to Russia's Gazprom which uses gas from sites it has helped develop in Uzbekistan to serve the energy needs of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is still far from constructing the Kambar-Ata hydropower plant, the project that angered Karimov's government. Tajikistan might be closer to realizing the Roghun hydropower plant after the Italian firm Salinin Impregilo expressed interest in the project earlier this year.

So, Uzbekistan's new softer line toward its fellow Central Asian states might be a signal that Tashkent is willing to try the "carrot" rather resorting to the "stick," as it has for many years now.

Uzbekistan might also be considering the benefits of looser border controls, which could open the way for it to take advantage of its geographic position and become the main trade hub in Central Asia.

Based on material from RFE/RL's Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek services. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan- suddenly-good-neighbor/28031740.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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Bulgarian Defense Minister Denies Plans to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan

Sputnik News

14:29 04.10.2016

Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Nenchev said Tuesday that Bulgaria would not withdraw its military contingent from Afghanistan, rejecting an earlier statement by the Balkan state's prime minister.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In September, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced that deployment of country's troops in Afghanistan could be canceled due to high costs.

According to Bulgaria's Trud newspaper, Nenchev said that Bulgaria would not withdraw its 110 servicemen from Afghanistan, despite Borissov's claims.

Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, with government forces fighting the continuing Taliban insurgency. The instability has persisted in the country since the 2001 US-led invasion to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The US-led NATO combat force withdrew from Afghanistan in December 2014. However, many military personnel, including the Bulgarian servicemen remain in the country, within the framework of the Resolute Support mission.

 Sputnik

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Ban condemns attacks against UN mission in Mali

4 October 2016  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned yesterday's series of attacks against the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

According to preliminary information, four different attacks targeting MINUSMA personnel and installations occurred in Aguelhok, Kidal region, during which one peacekeeper from Chad was killed and eight others injured, according to a statement attributable to the Secretary-General's spokesperson.

"The Secretary-General presents his sincere condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and to the Government and people of Chad, and wishes a prompt recovery to those injured," the statement said.

The UN chief also called for "swift action" to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice, recalling that attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute war crimes under international law.

The statement also said that the Secretary-General is concerned by the recent violations of the ceasefire arrangements by the signatory armed groups in the area of Kidal. In that regard, Mr. Ban urged signatory parties to fulfil their obligations under the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, which he said would contribute to restoring stability and security in the region.

In late September, the Secretary-General, speaking at ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, emphasized that the promotion of peace and stability in Mali is crucial to its people, for the region and for the world.

The Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali was signed in June 2015 by the Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad armed group, following its signature in May 2015 by the Government and a third party, the Plateforme coalition of armed groups.

The Malian Government has been seeking to restore stability and rebuild following a series of setbacks since early 2012, including a military coup d'etat, renewed fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by radical extremists. The country has also been wracked by a series of humanitarian crises.

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'The best humanitarian relief is to end the conflict,' UN aid chief says in war-torn Yemen

4 October 2016  Concluding a three-day mission to Yemen, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator today called on all warring parties to grant humanitarian access and uphold their responsibilities to protect civilians in a conflict that has injured and killed thousands of innocent civilians, and displaced some three million people.

"The best humanitarian relief that can be provided is an end to the conflict. I urged the authorities, as I urge other parties to the conflict, to return to political negotiations without delay to reach a negotiated solution," Stephen O'Brien, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital.

The conflict shattered the civilian infrastructure, and destroyed livelihoods in a country which was already suffering from endemic poverty.

Violence against aid workers and civilians continues to characterize the conflict in Yemen. On 3 October, 10 civilians including six children were killed while 17 others were injured, reportedly due to shrapnel of a shell. Since March 2015, 13 health workers have died and 31 have been injured. More than 70 health centres have been damaged or destroyed by conflict.

In this situation, four out of five Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance. "In the 21st century, that is outrageous by any measure," he said, expressing a concern particularly about the healthcare system as most of the facilities in 16 out of 22 governorates are either not functioning or only partially functioning. This denies thousands of Yemenis access to much needed essential health services, he added.

Mr. O'Brien travelled to the field to meet with people affected by the crisis. "My visit to Al Hudaydah hospital was heart-breaking," he said. "Mothers bring their malnourished children for treatment but there is simply not enough medicines to treat them. The quantities of food, medicine and fuel entering the country are way below the needs and must be increased as a matter of urgency."

The Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 is only 46 per cent funded, leaving a gap of $880 million.

"We deliver emergency food assistance to 4 million people every month, but we need to do more [] The UN and our humanitarian partners are ready to do so, but donors need to support resources mobilisation efforts," Mr. O'Brien said.

Yemen has been engulfed in violence for several years now  a confrontation between the country's Houthis (Ansar Allah) and the Government of Yemen in early 2014 led to a Houthi advance on the capital, and an ensuing conflict which has involved support from outside parties. The UN has been heavily involved in efforts to resolve the crisis.

While peace talks between a Yemeni Government delegation and a delegation of the General People's Congress and Ansar Allah continued, serious violations have occurred in Marib, al Jawf, Taiz and in the border areas with Saudi Arabia. Those UN-facilitated talks ended on 6 August.

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UNHCR: More Than 100,000 Afghan Refugees Repatriated in 5 Weeks

By Ayaz Gul October 04, 2016

The United Nations says more than 200,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their war-torn country from Pakistan this year, more than half of them within the past five weeks, despite intensification in Taliban-led hostilities in Afghanistan.

The overall figures represent the highest number since 2007 when more than 360,000 refugees went back to Afghanistan under the UNHCR-sponsored voluntary repatriation program, officials noted.

Several factors are contributing to the unusual rise in the number of Afghan families choosing repatriation, but the exodus is "largely voluntary," says Dunya Khan, a UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan.

In addition she says Pakistan introduced a new border management system in early June to regulate movement and discourage illegal crossers on its nearly 2,600-kilometer porous frontier with Afghanistan.

Khan says the new border controls require Afghans to carry valid travel documents and visas to enter Pakistan, prompting around 6,000 Afghans to go back every day.

"There were many (refugee) families who were split in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many heads of the families were working in Afghanistan and coming to Pakistan to visit their families. Since the travel has been regularized, therefore, the majority of the Afghans think that for every trip it is not really possible to get a visa, and they have decided to go back to Afghanistan," Khan explained.

Pakistan still hosts about 1.5-million registered Afghan refugees, while another estimated one million are living illegally.

For decades, Afghans were moving across the border on special permits, without any restrictions or Pakistani visas.

But rising tensions between the two countries over mutual terror allegations have prompted Islamabad to tighten the cross-border movement, saying it will help deter terrorist infiltration and ease bilateral tensions.

The undocumented Afghans are currently subjected to a Pakistani police crackdown, apparently to push them to go back to their country.

Authorities say the illegal Afghan community, and in some cases even registered refugee populations, are being used by anti-state elements to plot terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Khan says the UNHCR decision to double the cash grant for voluntary returnees from $200 to $400 per person in mid-June, and a newly-launched campaign by the Afghan government to encourage its displaced citizens to return to their country are also contributing factors for speeding up the voluntary repatriation process.

"The government of Afghanistan, for the first time, has proactively started advocating for Afghan refugees to come back to their country and take part in the nation-building process, and many Afghan people now feel that connection and the warm welcome which is being extended to them," Khan noted.

The Pakistan government has been pushing Kabul to arrange for the return of nearly all Afghans because it insists their presence has put pressure on infrastructure and the local economy, which has increasingly upset host communities.

Under the policy, Islamabad has declined to agree to an Afghan request for extending the legal stay of refugees for two years. The government has only recently given the registered Afghans until next March to go back to Afghanistan, a long delayed deadline.

Khan says the delayed announcement increased anxiety and insecurity among Afghan refugees, prompting many families to rush back to their country.

She added while UNHCR has not documented any significant instances in which registered refugees have faced police harassment and coercion, but such actions against undocumented Afghans have generally scared the displaced community.

U.N. officials estimate more than one million people will be on the move in Afghanistan by the end of this year because of displacements the Afghan conflict is causing and because of the large number of refugee families returning to Pakistan and Iran.

The Afghan government is also under pressure from the European Union to take back tens of thousands Afghan migrants seeking asylum there.

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Scandal-hit Brazilian parties suffer major defeat in local elections

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 7:12AM

Brazil's leftist Workers' Party (PT), whose officials have been caught in the massive Petrobras scandal, has suffered a major blow in municipal elections in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo.

Joao Doria from the centrist Brazilian Social Democrat Party (PSDB) won Sao Paulo's mayor seat with 53 percent of the votes, defeating Fernando Haddad from the PT of sacked president Dilma Rousseff.

On Sunday, local elections were held for choosing mayors and city governments across 5,568 municipalities in Brazil, in the first polls since the ouster of Rousseff.

Rousseff was ousted from presidency in late August by the Senate for what is said to be violating federal budget regulations.

It was the first landslide victory since 1992 in Sao Paulo, where mayoral elections used to go to run-off.

"It was a clear sign of dissatisfaction of the voters, mainly in Sao Paulo and southeastern Brazil," said political analyst Luciano Dias, a partner in the Brasilia-based consultancy firm CAC.

Several officials who served in the last two governments have been arrested as part of a massive probe into the corruption scandal engulfing Petrobras, the state-owned oil company.

Moreover, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) of Rousseff's successor Michel Temer lost its control of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Temer has also been drawn in Petrobras scandal.

There will be a run-off in the city between Senator Marcelo Crivella, a conservative evangelical bishop, and the leftist Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL)'s Marcelo Freixo.

The polls come as former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the 70-year-old co-founder of the powerful Workers Party, is set to stand trial for accepting bribes in connection with the same scandal.

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Germany to Suspend Production of Eurofighter Jets

Sputnik News

19:16 04.10.2016(updated 22:40 04.10.2016)

After twenty years in service, the Eurofighter aircraft may be temporarily or permanently withdrawn from the German market, German newspaper Die Welt wrote.

The final assembly of Eurofighter jets that once were considered a prestige project is likely to be suspended in Germany at least until 2018. The main problem is the lack of contracts and the complexity of the production process.

The components of the aircraft are manufactured at four plants in Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, which makes the production very complicated and expensive.

"It resembles a huge puzzle: all right wings are produced in Spain, the left ones in Italy and parts of the fuselage in Germany, to name just a few examples," the newspaper wrote. "The components are then assembled in four final plants [located in the four countries] to manufacture models ready for the flights."

According to Die Welt, the final assembly of the fighter jets might also be suspended in Spain. However, Italy and the UK are likely to continue the production of the jets in the near future. The Italian authorities have signed an agreement with Kuwait to export 28 Eurofighter jets in 2018. The UK, for its turn, hopes to sign a contract for the supply of the aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

The Eurofighter managers had once hoped for a great order from India, but French Rafale jets were chosen instead.

Last year, a total of 41 Eurofighter jets were delivered to various customers. By comparison, Airbus builds more commercial aircraft in one month than the Eurofighter consortium in four locations throughout the year, the newspaper noted.

 Sputnik

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French Firm Dassault Chooses India's Reliance Group in Rafale Aircraft Deal

Sputnik News

16:06 03.10.2016

Following the signing of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with India, Dassault Aviation was required to choose an Indian partner for investing a half the amount of $8.7 bln Rafale deal under Offset Clause.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  Dassault Aviation has teamed up with India's Reliance group to invest $4.51 billion in India. Dassault Aviation has agreed to invest 50% under an offset clause of the $8.7 billion Rafale deal it signed with India.

The offset policy is a mandatory provision of India's Defense Procurement Policy which requires foreign vendors to invest a portion of the deal amount in India. The rationale behind such provision is to encourage foreign companies to invest in research and development, which would eventually make Indiam, the world's biggest arms importer, self-dependent in defense equipment manufacturing.

"The 'Dassault Reliance Aerospace' Joint Venture will be a key player in the execution of offset obligations, as a part of the 36 Rafale fighter jets purchase agreement at a value of 7.87 billion, or about Rs. 59,000 crore signed between France and India on September 23, 2016. The agreement includes a 50% offset obligation which is the largest ever offset contract in the history of India," a statement released by Reliance group read.

"The formation of this joint venture with Reliance Aerospace led by Anil Ambani's Reliance Group illustrates our strong commitment to establish ourselves in India and to develop strategic industrial partnerships under the "Make in India" policy promoted by the Indian Government," declared Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation Chairman & CEO.

Reliance group had entered the Indian Defense manufacturing sector in January 2015. The net worth of the Group is $16 billion and the total asset base is $43 billion.

India is expecting a delivery of the first Rafale jets within 36 months of signing the deal in September 2019.

 Sputnik

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India Adopts More Assertive Posture With Pakistan

By Anjana Pasricha October 03, 2016

The latest dispute between archrivals India and Pakistan centers on whether the Indian army took out several suspected terror camps just across the volatile border in Kashmir. While India claims its special forces carried out preemptive "surgical strikes" last week, Islamabad is adamant that they did not cross the line of control into Pakistan.

The truth may be hard to ascertain in the remote, Himalayan region where the two armies have long faced off and where bouts of heavy cross-border firing is not unusual.

What is certain is that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signaled a more assertive posture in dealing with Pakistan following an attack on an Indian army post in Kashmir that killed 20 soldiers on September 18. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants.

Tougher policy

Officials say in the coming days and weeks, India will explore more diplomatic and economic measures to put pressure on its neighbor and rival, who it has long accused of supporting cross-border attacks by Islamic militant groups.

Analysts warn the tougher line carries the risk of an escalation of hostilities as it takes the South Asian rivals into "uncharted waters."

The head of the strategic studies program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, Harsh Pant, said the fundamental shift in India's approach follows the failure of past policies after multiple terror attacks.

"This time there was a real focus on making sure that Pakistan pays, not simply in terms of rhetoric, but real costs," he said. "This is one of the few times when a more comprehensive strategy was adopted."

Analysts say the army's "surgical strikes" were a signal that India can retaliate. That is a reversal from its restraint in the past when fear of hostilities turning nuclear held India back. "The issue was India was losing its credibility in its conventional deterrent," according to Pant.

Pakistan denies the Indian allegations of supporting militant groups mounting attacks in India and says the real problem is alleged human rights violations by Indian security forces in Indian Kashmir that have triggered unrest in the region.

But blaming Pakistan-based groups for fomenting unrest, India has said it will isolate Pakistan diplomatically.

Summit canceled

The first casualty has been a South Asian summit that was canceled by Islamabad after five out of eight nations in the group, led by India, pulled out citing concerns about cross-border terror.

There have been several calls for India, South Asia's largest country, to explore the possibility of forging a regional forum that could exclude Pakistan.

However, security analyst Bharat Karnad at New Delhi's Center for Policy Research underlines the risk of such a strategy.

"You are in essence undermining the idea of reconciliation in the long term," he cautioned. Pointing out that distancing Pakistan from South Asia is "physically, culturally" not possible, he said, "So you are going to create a real problem in trying to attempt something that is not practical."

Economic measures considered

India is also looking at economic measures aimed at Pakistan. The prime minister is due to review the Most Favored Nation status that New Delhi granted Pakistan in 1996. That is unlikely to hurt Islamabad as direct trade between the two countries is small and most of the trade is in India's favor.

The bigger pressure point is a 1960 Indus Water treaty that awarded most of the waters from three Himalayan rivers to Pakistan. India says it will explore all options including building hydroelectric dams along these rivers so that it can utilize its share, something that could potentially reduce the flow into Pakistan.

That may not happen anytime soon as it would take years to build dams. But it has raised alarm in Islamabad, which says scrapping the treaty would be an act of war.

While India says it has no intention of ending the treaty, which has survived two wars and decades of bitter relations, analysts say the message New Delhi wants to send out is that it might now be willing to use tools never contemplated in the past.

The closer strategic ties that Prime Minister Modi has cultivated with the United States since taking office two years ago have also given India the confidence to contemplate tougher measures, according to analysts.

"He [Modi] recognized the fact that having good relations with America allows India greater strategic space to pursue certain policies vis-a-vis Pakistan," says Pant.

Tensions have spiraled along the Kashmir border in recent days. Indian officials reported another attack on an Indian army camp Sunday night by six militants in north Kashmir. One border guard died and another was wounded. India has evacuated hundreds of border villages on its side and cross-border firing continues.

But in a signal that both sides want to reduce tensions, the National Security Advisers of the two countries spoke to each other Monday for the first time since tensions spiked in the last two weeks.

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Iran Agrees On New Model Energy Contract, Hopes To Boost Foreign Investment

October 04, 2016

Iran's state oil producer, National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), has signed a new model investment contract with an Iranian firm.

The contract with the Persia Oil and Gas Industry Development Company is seen as a template for contracts that Tehran hopes will attract foreign investors back to Iran's oil and natural gas sectors and boost production after years of economic sanctions.

NIOC agreed to the framework of a $2.2 billion deal to boost output at three fields along the country's border with Iraq, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on October 4.

Zanganeh said the contract is part of a deal that would set the framework for a final agreement to be signed in the coming months.

The sanctions against Iran were lifted in January following a nuclear deal with world powers that curbed the country's controversial nuclear program.

Iran, which is a member of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),is seeking to raise its crude output to pre-sanction levels of 4 million barrels per day.

Based on reporting by Shana, Reuters, and Bloomberg

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-model-energy- contract/28031291.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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Multiple bomb blasts claim lives of at least 15 civilians in Baghdad

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 1:8PM

A string of bomb explosions has struck the Shia-majority areas of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40 others, security sources say.

Iraqi officials said on Monday that an attacker detonated his explosives in the southwestern Shia neighborhood of Amil, killing at least seven people and wounding over two dozen others.

Separately, at least five people were killed and 15 others wounded after another bomber detonated his explosives in the eastern neighborhood of Mashtal.

At least three more civilians were killed and 10 others wounded in a bomb explosion in a commercial area in the northern Sabi al-Bor area.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet, but they bear the hallmarks of the Daesh Takfiri group.

The attacks come as Iraqi forces are preparing for an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from terrorists.

The Daesh terrorist group took over large swathes of territory in Iraq in the summer of 2014.

Iraqi army troops, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have been engaged in military operations to win back regions held by Daesh and have managed to liberate most of these areas.

The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in the northern and western parts of Iraq.

The United Nations (UN) says more than 1,000 people lost their lives and over 1,500 others suffered injuries as a result of acts of terrorism and violence across Iraq in September 2016 alone.

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No Turkish forces allowed in Mosul operation: Iraqi Foreign Ministry

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 9:49AM

Iraq says Turkish forces will not be allowed to participate in military operations aimed at liberating Mosul, an Iraqi city that Daesh has declared as its so-called headquarters.

A spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Monday that recent remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding the need for the participation of Turkish forces in the Mosul operation amounted to flagrant interference in Iraq's internal affairs and were a breach of principles of good neighborliness.

"Such a statement strains the bilateral ties," the spokesman said referring to Erdogan's comments.

The Iraqi government has pledged to retake Mosul, which is Iraq's second-largest city, this year but has not yet announced a precise date for the launch of the campaign.

The ministry spokesman also highlighted that Turkey has ignored Baghdad's calls for the withdrawal of Turkish forces already deployed on Iraqi soil.

Ankara, in December 2015, first deployed about 150 soldiers equipped with heavy weapons and backed by two dozen tanks to Bashiqa, located on the outskirts of Mosul. It claimed the deployment was part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the fight against Daesh. Baghdad rejected the claim, saying it did not need the Turkish military assistance in the fight.

On Saturday, Turkish lawmakers almost overwhelmingly approved the extension by another year of Ankara's cross-border military incursions into Syria and Iraq. During the parliamentary session, Erdogan urged allowing his country's troops to participate in the upcoming battle for Mosul, warning Baghdad and Turkey's Western allies that Turkey must be involved in any operation and included in the decision-making process.

"Turkey cannot be left off the table. The others don't have such a border [with Iraq]. They may want us to stay as spectators but that decision is also going to be made here," the Turkish president said.

Iraqi advancements

In a separate development, Iraqi security forces have managed to retake a district in the strategic city of Ramadi from the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

"The security forces managed today to liberate the district of Albu Ali al-Jassim in northern Ramadi city," Staff Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi, the head of the Anbar Operations Command, told al-Sumaria news website on Sunday.

He said at least 16 Daesh terrorists were killed in the operation.

The development comes as army troops, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have been engaged in military operations to win back regions held by Daesh.

The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in the northern and western parts of Iraq since 2014.

The United Nations (UN) said more than 1,000 people lost their lives and over 1,500 others suffered injuries as a result of acts of terrorism and violence across Iraq in September alone.

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Libyan Military Kill 80 Daesh Militants in City of Sirte

Sputnik News

16:33 03.10.2016

Libya's military eliminated 80 Daesh militants in the city of Sirte.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Libya's military killed some 80 militants from the Daesh jihadist group in the coastal city of Sirte, Libyan forces' press service said in a statement on Monday.

"A large group of IS [Daesh] militants attacked our rear areas trying to reach the port. Our forces had soon regained the initiative and counterattacked," the statement published on the military operation's Facebook page said.

The statement added that 55 militants were killed in the area of the first attack, while 25 more were killed in one of the city's quarters.

Daesh, a terrorist organization outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other nations, gained a foothold in Libya in the turmoil following the 2011 ousting of the country's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In September, the Libyan forces participating in a military operation in order to liberate the city, seized by the terrorist group in 2014, announced that they had surrounded Daesh fighters in a 0.4-square-mile area in Sirte.

 Sputnik

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New Fighting, Displacement Show Limits of Myanmar Peace Process

By Paul Vrieze October 03, 2016

Ethnic activists and community leaders from northern and southeastern Myanmar have condemned recent outbreaks of fighting, large-scale civilian displacement and alleged rights abuses in their areas.

Speaking at separate press conferences in Yangon last week, ethnic Ta'ang activists from Shan State and Karen activists from Karen State said the fresh violence showed the limits of the success of the peace process so far.

Some also claimed that military operations to secure areas for contentious hydropower dams are worsening the conflict.

Fighting between the Ta'ang National Liberation (TNLA) and the Myanmar military has affected northern Shan State since 2011, but Mai Cyruk, of the Ta'ang Student and Youth Organization said, "The conflict has worsened after the NCA was signed between the government army and the RCSS."

In October 2015, the previous government signed the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) with eight rebel groups, including the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).

A month later, RCSS troops moved north into TNLA areas, such as Namkham, Namsan, Mong Kung and Kutkhai townships, and clashed with Ta'ang fighters, whom claimed the RCSS operated with the support of the army.

Alleged abuses by army, rebels

Mai Cyruk said this year alone activists had documented dozens of cases of indiscriminate shelling, torture, rape, killings, forced recruitment and portering of Ta'ang civilians by both the army and RCSS fighters.

According to the UN, some 12,000 civilians were displaced by fighting in northern Shan State in the first half of 2016.

Mai Aung Kham, the Mong Kung Township chairman of the Ta'ang National Party (TNP), which holds several seats in parliament, said in July the RCSS had detained him, his father, uncle and two students, who are all party members.

"The RCSS threatened me, saying if I do not remove my TNP slogans, I will be forced to join the RCSS for 5 years. My father and uncle are still detained," he told the press conference.

The Ta'ang and Shan rebel clashes have surprised many ethnic leaders and its exact reasons remain unclear. The RCSS could not be reached for comment, but has denied the abuses to local media.

The TNLA did not sign the NCA and, together with Kokang and Rakhine rebel groups, have been barred from the peace process by the still powerful army. This position appears to be a major obstacle to Aung San Suu Kyi's plans for an inclusive nationwide ceasefire.

Mai Cyruk said for smaller, excluded ethnic groups such as the Ta'ang, the success of the peace process so far rings hollow. "I want to suggest that Aung San Suu Kyi should express and talk more about these ethnic groups Without equal rights for the small ethnic groups, we cannot achieve true democracy."

Thousands of Karen flee

The success of last year's ceasefire deal also came into further question this month after the Myanmar army and a supporting militia began operations against a small rebel splinter group in Karen State's Hlaingbwe Township.

The Karen National Union (KNU), a major rebel group that signed the NCA and has bases close to the fighting, warned the army on September 13 to end the operations as it was causing the "destruction of stability and peace in the region." The operations have continued, nonetheless.

Naw Dah Dah, of the Karen Women's Organization, told a press conference some 5,000 villagers had now fled to safer towns, while some 1,000 crossed into Thailand.

"Most are women and children. They had to run away through the jungle because they are afraid to use the road," she said, adding that landmines were reportedly placed along roads, injuring two civilians and killing one on September 12.

Several Karen NGOs, including the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network, said government forces had moved closer to the planned, $2.6-billion Hatgyi Dam on the Salween River during operations against the rebel splinter group. They believed the operations could be a pretext for the army to secure the site.

Activists said a government militia requested access to the KNU-controlled western river bank near the dam site, but was rejected. KNU army chief General Saw Johnny was quoted by the NGOs as saying, "If they plan to build the dam, we will oppose it."

Army shelling kills Kachin infant

In Kachin State, fighting between the army and the Kachin Independence Army has also increased in recent weeks, reducing humanitarian support for displaced civilians in rebel-held areas.

On Saturday, the army shelled a Kachin village in northern Shan State, killing a two-year-old infant and injuring two children, 5 and 6 years old, who were taken to a hospital in nearby China, according to Kachin activist Khon Ja. The incident prompted large protests in the Kachin capital Myitkyina on Monday.

The United States Embassy in Yangon said last week it was "deeply concerned" by the fighting in Kachin and warned it could "undermine the progress and goodwill generated by the recent Union Peace Conference."

Several National League for Democracy (NLD) members were reluctant to discuss the increased fighting and referred to government officials involved with the peace process, who could not be reached.

Susanna Hla Hla Soe, a NLD lawmaker and Karen activist, only said, "When fighting happens, women and children always suffer Our leaders would really like to build peace, but fighting still happens."

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Russian FM says suspension of plutonium disposal deal, warning to US

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 6:44PM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country's suspension of a pact with the US on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium is a signal to Washington that it should not use the language of force with Moscow.

In a Monday statement published on Russia's Foreign Ministry website, Lavrov emphasized that the postponement of the agreement was intended as a gesture to the US that speaking to the Kremlin in the language of sanctions and ultimatums would not work.

Russia's top diplomat described the suspension as a "forced measure" and added that the way the United States disposes of weapons-grade plutonium did not ensure the irreversibility of its military use.

Lavrov, however, insisted that Russia was not giving up its responsibilities for nuclear disarmament.

Earlier in the day, President Vladimir Putin issued a decree, suspending a treaty with the US on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium.

Moscow says the decision to suspend the post-Cold War deal with Washington was due to "the hostile actions of the US" against Russia, noting that it could be reversed if such measures are stopped.

Although the suspension decree has already come into force, it still needs to be approved by the Russian parliament, which could overrule Putin's decision, according to Russian media reports.

Washington and Moscow signed a series of accords to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenals in the last years of the Cold War.

In 2000, the US and Russia concluded an agreement, under which each side is supposed to get rid of 34 tonnes of plutonium by burning it in reactors.

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Two U.S. Diplomats Drugged In St. Petersburg Last Year, Deepening Washington's Concern

Mike Eckel October 03, 2016

WASHINGTON -- Two U.S. officials traveling with diplomatic passports were drugged while attending a conference in Russia last year, and one of them was hospitalized, in what officials have concluded was part of a wider, escalating pattern of harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russia.

The incident at a hotel bar during a UN anticorruption conference in St. Petersburg in November 2015 caused concern in the U.S. State Department, which quietly protested to Moscow, according to a U.S. government official with direct knowledge of what occurred.

But it wasn't until a dramatic event in June, when an accredited U.S. diplomat was tackled outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, that officials in Washington reexamined the November drugging and concluded they were part of a definite pattern.

The State Department suggested the harassment has become a particular concern in the past two years.

According to the U.S. government official, and another former official also knowledgeable about the case, the drugged diplomats were part of a delegation of Americans attending the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, held on November 2-6 in St. Petersburg.

It was the first official conference in Russia that U.S. government representatives were allowed to travel to since the United States, the European Union, and their allies imposed sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

A conference list shows scores of attendees from around the world, including 21 people from various bureaus within the U.S. State and Justice departments. Other Americans were also in attendance, including academics and representatives of nongovernmental organizations.

'Date Rape Drug'

RFE/RL contacted several of the people attending from nongovernmental organizations; all said they were unaware of the drugging.

The U.S. government official told RFE/RL that U.S. investigators concluded that the two Americans -- a man and a woman -- were slipped a so-called date rape drug, most likely at a bar in the St. Petersburg hotel where they were staying.

One of the Americans was incapacitated and brought to a Western medical clinic in the city for treatment, and to have blood and tissue samples taken in order to determine precisely what caused the sudden illness. However, while the person was at the clinic, the electricity suddenly went out and the staff was unable to obtain the necessary tissue samples, the official said.

The individual was then flown out of the country for further medical treatment, but by then it was too late to gather proper samples, the official said.

Because the U.S. officials in attendance at the conference were not top-level State or Justice officials, the State Department decided to take a quiet approach to the incident.A formal note of protest was lodged, the official said, but Russian authorities asked for evidence that the person had been drugged, and the Americans lacked samples.

When investigators sought timesheet records for personnel working at the hotel where the U.S. officials had been staying, the hotel managers said there were none for that particular period, the official added -- a claim that also raised suspicions.

In the end, the U.S. government official said, the response given by Russian officials to the investigators looking into the drugging was: Without more evidence, there's nothing more we can do.

Unnerving Incidents

The Russian Embassy did not respond to requests for comment from RFE/RL.

Incidents of foreigners being drugged in Russian bars are not uncommon and are often linked to robbery attempts. The State Department has a specific advisory regarding the danger of unattended drinks at Russian bars.

But the account of the drugging given by the U.S. official indicates that they did not resemble the typical scenario in such incidents, which often unfold in crowded bars and nightclubs. The two individuals were drugged separately, and are believed to have been targeted in the bar of the upscale St. Petersburg hotel where they were staying, the official said. There were no indications that they were victims of attempted robbery.

The issue of U.S. diplomats and journalists being harassed by Russian and Soviet intelligence agencies dates back decades, though with varying degrees of seriousness. U.S. officials have reported minor, if unnerving, incidents involving residences in Moscow and elsewhere being broken into and household items moved around, a gas stove left on, or a cigarette left burning.

In recent years, however, there has been a noticeable uptick in reports of harassment, even before U.S.-Russian relations spiraled downward over Moscow's interference in Ukraine.

A 2013 report by the State Department's Inspector General said "employees face intensified pressure by the Russian security services at a level not seen since the days of the Cold War."

Michael McFaul, the U.S. ambassador from 2012 until February 2014, was on several occasions accosted by crews from state-controlled television channels who showed up outside his private meetings without prior notification, prompting Washington to complain to Moscow about security concerns. McFaul suggested his communications were being tapped and leaked to the journalists.

Problem 'Escalating'

The spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said earlier this year that water faucets had been discovered mysteriously left running in apartments in the past. And on at least two occasions over the years, U.S. officials have said diplomats have found human excrement on the floor of apartments.

But almost all of the known complaints involving diplomats have been about harassment rather than physical harm.

Asked for official comment about the drugging, the State Department suggested that the problem has escalated since 2014.

"Without speaking to specific incidents, we are troubled by the way our employees have been treated over the past two years," a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RFE/RL. "We have raised, and will continue to raise, at the highest levels any incidents inconsistent with protections guaranteed by international law."

In June, the issue gained new attention when an American entering the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was tackled by a Russian guard. The American was identified by the State Department as an accredited diplomat, and said he had shown his identification to the guard under normal procedure.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials, however, said the guard, who was employed by the country's main security agency, the FSB, was only doing his duty: protecting the embassy from what he deemed to be a suspicious person who, they said, was also wearing a disguise.

Tit-For-Tat Expulsions

Later, Moscow claimed the American was a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover, a common technique used by many countries, including both Russia and the United States.

The incident was captured on video, and the footage was later aired on Russian television.

In the aftermath, Moscow and Washington each kicked out two of the other side's accredited diplomats in tit-for-tat expulsions that were reminiscent of the Cold War.

U.S. officials have also said that in the weeks before the embassy incident, American diplomats were pulled over by Moscow traffic police dozens of times, which is unusual in a city where diplomats are usually afforded leeway for minor traffic violations.

In June, amid the U.S. outcry over the treatment of its diplomats in Russia, Moscow complained that pressure tactics were being used against its diplomats in the United States. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested that Russia was simply retaliating -- and warned that it could get worse.

"Our diplomats are constantly coming up against provocations from the FBI and the CIA, who conduct unacceptable measures against them, including psychological pressure in the presence of their families," Zakharova told a briefing in Moscow on June 28.

She added that "diplomacy is based on reciprocity. The more the U.S. damages relations, the harder it will be for U.S. diplomats to work in Russia."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-u-s- diplomats-drugged-st-petersburg/ 28028782.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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Putin Suspends U.S.-Russia Plutonium Deal, Blaming NATO, Sanctions, Magnitsky Act

Mike Eckel October 03, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suspended a 16-year-old deal that called for reducing some of Russia's and the United States' stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium, citing "Washington's unfriendly actions toward Russia."

The demise of the agreement, which harkened back to days of better cooperation between the two nuclear powers, came after months of signals from the Kremlin that Russia was ready to back out of the deal.

In a statement by the Kremlin on October 3, Putin blamed the demise of the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement on "the emergence of a threat to strategic stability and as a result of unfriendly actions by the United States of America towards the Russian Federation."

The announcement listed a litany of grievances against Washington, including NATO actions in Europe, and alleged U.S. support for right-wing groups in Ukraine. It demanded Washington compensate Moscow for the sanctions imposed after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

It also called for repeal of a 2012 U.S. law known informally as the Magnitsky Act that sanctioned 18 Russians, most of whom were allegedly involved in a massive tax-fraud scheme and the death of the whistle-blowing Russian lawyer who uncovered it.

The law enraged the Kremlin, and prompted it impose a ban on Americans adopting Russian children.

The announcement issued by the Kremlin said draft legislation had been submitted to Russia's lower house of parliament as part of the suspension of the agreement.

There was no immediate reaction to the announcement from the U.S. State Department.

Negotiated during the administration of Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin and signed in 2000, the plutonium agreement involved a token amount of plutonium, just 34 tons. That's a small percentage of the two countries' inventories, who together hold the world's largest stockpiles.

According to the most recent U.S. Energy Department data, the United States has around 95 tons, most of which was weapons-grade.

Russia, for its part, is estimated to have around 128 tons of weapons-grade plutonium.

But the deal had been viewed by many arms-control experts as an example of the kind of bilateral cooperation the two countries were capable of. As recently as 2010, Moscow and Washington recommitted themselves to it.

The deal, which was negotiated in the 1990s, called for turning a chunk, though not all, of the countries' weapons-grade plutonium stockpiles into other forms, such as fuel for nuclear power plants.

Plutonium has been produced in the United States and Russia for decades. In its enriched form, it is valued as fuel for nuclear weapons; in a less-pure state, it can be used to fuel power plants.

In the United States, the disposal process has long involved blending the plutonium with uranium and turning it into mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) for use in power plants.

A government facility being built in South Carolina for that purpose, however, has gone billions of dollars over-budget and fallen far behind schedule. The fact that uranium prices have fallen amid a global glut means there's even less demand among nuclear-plant operators for MOX.

In February, following years of mounting criticism, President Barack Obama's administration pulled funding for the MOX facility, a decision that was praised by some experts and former U.S. administration officials as "principled."

In place of the MOX plant, the U.S. government has leaned toward a "dilute and dispose" approach, or "immobilization."

That involves adding the plutonium to a nonradioactive substance, encasing it in glass or metal-can type containers or oil drums, and burying it at a federal waste site in New Mexico. Unlike with MOX, experts say this method could still allow for plutonium to be extracted some day and put back into weapons, though with difficulty.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on October 3 cited that possibility as one of the reasons why Russia was pulling out of the agreement.

The acrimony in relations between Washington and Moscow has reached levels unseen since the Cold War. Russia's annexation of Crimea, and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 9,600 people fueled the acrimony, as has Russia's intervention in Syria and NATO's increasingly assertive military presence in Eastern Europe.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia- us-putin-cancels-plutonium- agreement/28029368.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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Putin Orders Suspension of Plutonium Cleanup Program with US

By VOA News October 03, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Monday suspending an agreement with the United States on disposing of weapons-grade plutonium.

The decree states the move was taken due to what Moscow calls "a drastic change in circumstances, the emergence of a threat to strategic stability as a result of unfriendly actions by the United States of America with respect to the Russian Federation." It also cites what it says is Washington's failure to fulfill the obligations for the disposal of surplus weapon-grade plutonium.

The deal, initially signed in 2000 and renewed in 2010, called for both nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium from their defense programs.

Conditions for reversal

In a bill submitted Monday to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, the Russian president asked the country's legislators to support the suspension of the plutonium deal.

The bill enumerates steps Washington could take to reverse the agreement's suspension. These include "a reduction of the military infrastructure and the size of the contingent" of U.S. troops stationed in NATO member-states in Eastern Europe, and rescinding the Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions on Russian officials deemed responsible for the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009.

It also calls for the lifting of all sanctions against Moscow, which would include those imposed for its actions against Ukraine, and compensation for losses caused by those sanctions.

Commenting Monday on the decision to suspend the plutonium agreement, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the United States took "hostile steps" aimed at undermining Russia's economy and social stability following the 2014 annexation of Crimea. It also said the build-up of NATO infrastructure and U.S. troops strength near the Russian border "fundamentally changes the strategic balance in Europe and is fraught with increasing military confrontation and tension."

The Obama administration has done everything possible to "destroy an atmosphere of trust that could stimulate cooperation," the ministry added.

The 2010 plutonium agreement, signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, requires each side to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium by burning it in nuclear reactors.

Clinton said that was a quantity large enough to make almost 17,000 nuclear weapons.

Russia and the United States viewed that deal as a sign of increased cooperation between them toward nuclear non-proliferation.

Strained relations

But ties between Moscow and Washington plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has supported pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Vladimir Batuk, a senior research fellow with the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies in Moscow, told VOA that Putin's decree suspending the plutonium agreement was a very significant step.

"It is, in fact, undermining the process of nuclear disarmament and thus it hinders the Russian -American efforts in the sphere of non-proliferation," he said. "It seems that every time when we are facing problems in arms control, we see the problems in non-proliferation as well. So,I believe it is very important and will have negative consequences for both arms control and non-proliferation."

Moscow correspondent Daniel Schearf contributed to this report

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Russia airstrikes on Syria terrorists 'highly effective', Moscow says

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 7:8PM

Russia has underlined that its aerial campaign in Syria against positions of foreign-backed terrorists has been "highly effective," dismissing allegations that its bombings over the militant-held city of Aleppo amounted to war crimes.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov insisted on Monday that the airstrikes across Syria by Russian aircraft in support of government troops had prevented heavily armed terrorists from taking over the Arab country.

"From this perspective our participation has been highly effective, especially now when the situation around Aleppo has worsened," Gatilov said.

The senior official further rejected accusations by Syria's opposition that Russian jets were indiscriminately bombing Aleppo's militant-controlled eastern section to support an ongoing offensive by Syrian troops aimed at fully recapturing the country's second largest city.

The largest hospital in eastern Aleppo was bombed over the weekend for the second time in days. Moscow was accused of bombing the medical facility.

Russia has persistently denied allegations that its airstrikes have targeted hospitals and other civilian centers.

"Accusations that Russia is allegedly bombing medical facilities, hospitals, schools are all baseless," Gatilov emphasized.

Russian air force fighters have been striking armed terrorists across Syria, including Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terror groups, at the official request of the government of President Bashar al-Assad since September 30, 2015.

The Russian official also stated that Russia was working to agree with Washington on "what needs to be done to renew the cessation of hostilities."

On September 9, Russia and the United States agreed on a truce deal aimed at allowing humanitarian access to conflict-ridden areas and joint attacks against militant groups that are not included in the agreement, mainly the Daesh Takfiri terrorists and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.

Ten days later on September 19, the Syrian army announced an end to the ceasefire, blaming militants for the failure of the truce.

Syria's foreign-sponsored crisis began in March 2011 and has so far claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to an estimate by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

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2 killed as bomb attacks hit Syrian city of Hama

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 12:57PM

At least two bombers have detonated their explosives in the city of Hama in northwest Syria, killing two people and injuring a dozen more.

Syria's state TV initially said that an explosion took place when a bomber detonated his explosives in Assi Square in Hader district of Hama earlier in the day, without elaborating on the number of casualties.

Other sources said two explosions were heard in the city with the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying that both bombings took place in Hader neighborhood and near Assi Square, leaving two killed and 14 others wounded.

The Syrian TV later confirmed that there were two terrorist attacks, with Hama's governor, Ghassan Khalaf, saying that the attacks killed two people and wounded 12 others.

The official Syrian news agency, SANA, said the explosions inflicted losses on private property.

Hama, Syria's fourth largest city which is under the full control of government, has been mostly quiet since militancy erupted in the Arab country five years ago. However, militants have attempted to launch attacks from areas they control in the northern parts of the province which goes by the same name.

Militants also tried to capture Hama in 2013. The offensive was repelled after the government sent reinforcements from Damascus and Latakia.

Backed by Russian fighter jets, Syrian forces and allies carried out an offensive against militants in the Hama countryside on Sunday.

Reports suggest that the airstrikes destroyed numerous armored vehicles and tanks used by terrorists in the villages and towns of Karah, Ma'an, Lawkab and Zilaqiat.

Syria has managed to make gains against militants across the country over the past months. Pro-government forces are currently concentrated on a fierce battle in the north to retake Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.

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Syrian army soldiers, allies recapture more districts in Aleppo

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 6:51AM

Syrian government forces have managed to gain more ground against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the strategic northwestern city of Aleppo.

Army troops established full control over the Kindi Hospital, the al-Shaqif area, al-Hamra Hill as well as 16 farmlands near the deserted Handarat refugee camp in the northern flank of Aleppo, which is some 355 kilometers north of the capital, Damascus, Syria's official SANA reported on Monday.

Scores of terrorists were killed during the offensives, and dozens of others fled the battle zones to save their lives. The Syrian army and pro-government popular defense groups have launched operations to hunt them down.

Elsewhere in the town of al-Darkhabiya on the western outskirts of Damascus, army units retook a number of farms and buildings from foreign-backed militants in a joint operation with pro-government fighters.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said an army unit destroyed vehicles belonging to terrorists in the Dara'a al-Mahatta neighborhood in the southwestern city of Dara'a, located about 13 kilometers north of the border with Jordan.

Additionally, several members of the Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group, formerly known as Nusra Front, were also killed in a Syrian army operation in the town of al-Yadouda.

'Russia serious in anti-terror fight'

In a separate development, an unnamed official at the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Russia's airstrikes against militant positions across Syria have helped tighten the grip on terrorist groups and prevented the spread of terrorism to other countries.

The source underlined that the attacks proved Russia's credibility and seriousness in the fight against terrorism, which is posing threats to regional and international security, peace and stability.

Russia has been bombing militants, including Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist groups, in Syria at the official request of President Bashar al-Assad since September 30, 2015.

Syria's foreign-sponsored conflict started in March 2011 and has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to an estimate by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

EU humanitarian plan

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has proposed a new humanitarian initiative aimed at delivering aid to the people trapped in Aleppo and to allow civilians out of the militant-held parts of the city.

The initiative, taken in cooperation with the UN, seeks the immediate evacuation of wounded and sick civilians plus all those in urgent need of medical care, especially women, children and the elderly, from conflict zones in the eastern part of Aleppo.

"The EU calls on all parties to urgently provide the necessary authorizations for aid delivery and for medical evacuations to proceed. It intends to work intensively in the next hours and days with the parties concerned to make this happen," read a statement by EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, and Christos Stylianides, who is the EU's Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.

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State Dept: Washington Halts Bilateral Contact With Moscow Over Syria

Sputnik News

20:33 03.10.2016(updated 00:28 04.10.2016)

According to the US State Department, the US has officially stopped all bilateral contact with Russia on Syria.

"The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities," US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.

The US will withdraw personnel who were preparing to establish the Joint Implementation Center (JIC). Kirby added that channels will remain open to address air operations over Syria.

Kirby also blamed the Russian and Syrian governments for the collapse of the ceasefire, though it was a US strike on Syrian government positions that started renewed fighting.

"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments  including its obligations under international humanitarian law and UNSCR 2254  and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherrence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," Kirby's statement said.

The White House also weighed in, with spokesman Josh Earnest saying Russia is right to be concerned with the country's extremist elements.

"I think Russia is rightly and justifiably concerned about the growing extremist threat that they face inside of Syria," he told reporters. He added that the Obama administration is looking into alternatives for addressing the Syrian conflict.

"The President and his national security team are always pursuing a range of contingency plans," Earnest said, though he had no additional announcement "about the patch that we will pursue."

On September 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the conflict in Syria. The ceasefire deal was later shattered by numerous violations, which resulted in intensified fighting between the Syrian government and militants in Aleppo. The Syrian government later announced an end to the ceasefire regime.

Earlier on Monday, Lavrov stressed the importance of upholding the Syrian agreements.

"We are convinced that the strict implementation [of these agreements] could help establish efficient coordination in the fight against terrorism, strengthen the ceasefire regime and expand access to civilian population in need of humanitarian aid."

 Sputnik

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Suspension of Participation in Bilateral Channels With Russia Established to Sustain the Cessation of Hostilities in Syria

Press Statement

John Kirby

Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs

Washington, DC

October 3, 2016



The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities. This is not a decision that was taken lightly. The United States spared no effort in negotiating and attempting to implement an arrangement with Russia aimed at reducing violence, providing unhindered humanitarian access, and degrading terrorist organizations operating in Syria, including Daesh and al Qaeda in Syria.

Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments - including its obligations under international humanitarian law and UNSCR 2254 - and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed. Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the Cessation of Hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas, targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need, including through the September 19 attack on a humanitarian aid convoy.

The U.S. will also withdraw personnel that had been dispatched in anticipation of the possible establishment of the Joint Implementation Center. To ensure the safety of our respective military personnel and enable the fight against Daesh, the United States will continue to utilize the channel of communications established with Russia to de-conflict counterterrorism operations in Syria.

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'Bunker-buster' bombs in eastern Aleppo mean children not even safe underground, UN experts warn

3 October 2016  The killing and maiming of children in eastern Aleppo by the Syrian Government and its allies is not only a brutal abdication of international human rights obligations, it will have a long-lasting impact on the young victims for generations to come, United Nations child rights experts warned today.

"Even if the war were to end today, it will take decades to recover from the destruction wrought on Aleppo and across Syria and the psychological wounds to heal from the trauma inflicted on these children," said Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

"We are probably not talking of a lost generation, but quite possibly of lost generations," he added in a news release.

Mr. Mezmur recalled that Syria and Russia had both ratified the Child Rights Convention along with its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

"This doesn't solely mean not recruiting and/or using child soldiers," he underscored. "It means not targeting children in situations of armed conflict; it means not attacking places such as schools and hospitals, which might amount to war crimes under international humanitarian law."

Yet in eastern Aleppo, "this is what we are seeing," he pointed out.

"Children are being killed and maimed. Airstrikes are hitting the few remaining hospitals. The use of bunker-busting bombs means children cannot even safely attend schools that are underground," the child rights expert added.

The Geneva-based Committee recently heard detailed accounts of visiting Syrian doctors on the scale and extent of casualties among civilians as they struggled to treat the abhorrent injuries of the children.

"Children are not only being seriously injured but are trapped amid the continuing bombardment, unable to escape and receive life-saving medical care," stressed Mr. Mezmur, adding: "The stunned, bloodied face of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh sitting in an ambulance after being pulled from the rubble horrified the world, not least because it showed that war is all this child has known in his short life."

Mr. Mezmur noted that the Convention has been ratified by 196 States and the Optional Protocol (OPAC) by 165.

"We call on Syria and Russia, as well the international community, to show they abide by their human rights obligations set out in those treaties and find a way to end this raging conflict now. Omran must not be an adolescent or even a young adult before he knows what peace is," concluded the chairman.

The CRC is composed of 18 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the State parties to the Child Rights Convention along with that of two Optional Protocols, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Independent experts and Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

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US Suspends Talks With Russia Over Syria

By VOA News October 03, 2016

Declaring its patience with Russia has run out, the United States on Monday suspended Syria cease-fire talks with Moscow, citing continued military attacks against civilian targets in the war-torn Middle Eastern country.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. Though Washington "spared no effort" in trying to implement the cessation of hostilities, Russia "failed to live up to its own commitments," Kirby said.

"[Russia] was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to which Moscow had agreed," the statement said. "Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course."

Though the talks are suspended, the U.S. will continue to use a channel of communications established with Russia to reduce the possibility of conflicting counterterrorism operations in Syria, the statement said.

Moscow has provided military support to and conducted air strikes in support of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Washington has supported some of the rebel groups fighting to oust the Syrian president.

Failed cease-fire

The two sides agreed to a cease-fire last month to reduce violence, provide humanitarian access and degrade terrorist groups. But the deal quickly broke down, with each side blaming the other. Subsequent talks failed to resolve the impasse.

"What's clear is that there is nothing more for the U.S. and Russia to talk about with regard to trying to reach an agreement that would reduce the violence inside of Syria," said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. "And that is tragic."

Moscow says it regrets the U.S. move to suspend the talks. A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman quoted by local news agencies said Washington is trying to shift blame for not living up to its end of the deal.

But Earnest disagreed: "Everybody's patience with Russia has run out."

Mark Katz, professor at George Mason University, told VOA, "I think the only surprise is that it took so long. It's been clear form mid September that the cease-fire wasn't going anywhere."

He blamed the outcome on the "tremendous mistrust between Moscow and Washington." He said while the two sides managed to agree on the basics of the cease-fire, "there's no overall agreement on the fate of Assad. Obviously Washington calls for him to leave but even though they [Russia] are not doing much to bring this about, that's obviously too much for Moscow."

Too much mistrust

Katz said the mistrust between the two sides was so great they failed to work with each other. "They're essentially following the lead of the Assad regime, [and] the Assad regime just worked to scuttle the whole thing."

Katz agreed that the Obama administration was right in its decision. He said Washington had little choice after Moscow's silence over the continued airstrikes.

U.S. officials had repeatedly threatened to call off the talks unless Russia ended its bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Tensions especially spiked after the September 19 bombing of a United Nations aid convoy, which the U.S. blamed on Russia and Syria.

The U.S. move to pull out of the talks came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Monday to suspend an agreement with the U.S. on disposing of weapons-grade plutonium, citing Washington's "unfriendly actions."

It also claimed the United States was unable "to ensure the implementation of its obligations to utilize surplus weapons-grade plutonium."

Earnest, the White House spokesman, said the U.S. was disappointed by Russia's decision to unilaterally pull out of the treaty.

The deal, initially signed in 2000 and renewed in 2010, called for both nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium from their defense programs.

Based on the 2010 agreement, signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, each side would dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium by burning it in nuclear reactors.

Clinton said that quantity was large enough to make almost 17,000 nuclear weapons.

US-Russia ties plunging

Russia and the United States viewed that deal as a sign of increased cooperation between them toward nuclear nonproliferation.

But ties between Moscow and Washington plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has supported pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Washington has been instrumental in imposing Western economic sanctions on Russia for its role in the Ukraine crisis.

Nike Ching, Mary Alice Salinas and Lana Cunningham contributed to this report.

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Russia has own UN resolution amid Syria debate

Iran Press TV

Tue Oct 4, 2016 5:49AM

Moscow has urged the United Nations (UN) to adopt a Russian-drafted resolution targeting propaganda used by extremist groups to radicalize people around the world.

In 2005, the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a member, had passed a resolution calling for measures to "prohibit by law incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts" and to "prevent such conduct."

On Monday, however, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin announced Moscow's proposal, saying, "The nature of the threat has changed dramatically" and that an updated resolution was needed.

He added that the Russian proposal was "aimed at countering terrorist ideology and violent extremist ideology" and was floating a UN role in implementation and international cooperation, the exchange of information, and assistance in tackling the issue.

At the same time, the envoy said, the world had to form a united front, especially across the cyber world, against such vicious groups as al-Qaeda, al-Nusra Front, and Daesh.

Daesh unleashed a campaign of terror in Syria and Iraq in 2014. Syria had already found itself in the grips of a foreign-backed militancy three years before, while, in Iraq, the rise of the group was largely attributed to the chaos that followed the US's 2003 invasion in the name of "war on terror."

Dismissing France draft resolution

Churkin, the Russian UN envoy, also dismissed a proposal forwarded by France to the Council a day earlier for a renewed ceasefire in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo and a ban on overflights.

"I'm not even sure many other Council members would like to see a resolution on cessation of hostilities that has no chance of working," he said. "If the only effect of that resolution is that the secretary general will start thinking of some monitoring mechanism, which is not going to work in the first place, then there is not much sense in having that resolution."

The official, meanwhile, said what had to be prioritized was the fight against extremists.

Russia and the United States had mediated a truce in Syria, which ended last month. It did manage to bring about relative calm, but violence began to creep back later when a US-led airstrike killed more than 80 Syrian soldiers, who had been fighting the Takfiri terrorists in the eastern parts of the country.

Damascus says Washington deliberately targeted the Syrian soldiers. The US says it happened by mistake.

The US and dozens of its allies have been conducting an aerial bombardment campaign targeting alleged Daesh positions in Syria and Iraq since 2014, without achieving much.

Trading diplomatic barbs

Also on Monday, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reacted to an earlier move by the US to suspend participation in bilateral channels with Moscow over Syria, calling the decision regrettable.

"We regret this decision by Washington to curtail the work of the specialist groups in Geneva to withdraw their experts and to limit contacts only to the area of avoiding any conflicts," Zakharova said.

The US had accused Russia of not living up to its commitments under the ceasefire agreement by stepping up airstrikes in Aleppo.

Zakharova said Washington was trying to shift responsibility for the failure of the ceasefire to Russia.

"Washington simply did not fulfill the key condition of the agreement to improve the humanitarian condition around Aleppo," she said.

The conflict in Syria has killed over 400,000 people, according to an earlier estimate by UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.

'S-300 deployed to Tartus'

Meanwhile, US broadcaster Fox News cited "three US officials" as saying exclusively to the channel that Russia had deployed advanced S-300 anti-missile systems to its naval base in Syria's Tartus "for the first time."

There has been no official confirmation of the claim from Moscow.

On the ground in Syria

In a separate development, anti-Damascus militants carried out mortar attacks against the northwestern province of Aleppo and the southwestern city of Dara'a in Syria, killing 10 people.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said the first attack mostly killed and injured women and children, while the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the second one killed a pregnant woman and three children among others.

SANA also reported that 20 Takfiri terrorists had been killed in Dara'a in government operations on the ground.

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Kerry Says Russia 'Knows What It Needs To Do' To Reach Truce In Syria

RFE/RL October 04, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Russia "knows what it has to do" to get a cessation of hostilities in Syria, but that it refuses to take the necessary steps.

Speaking in Brussels a day after Washington suspended talks with Moscow aimed at crafting a lasting cease-fire, Kerry said on October 4 that Moscow must ground Russian and Syrian aircraft that are bombing rebel groups and making it impossible to build a lasting truce.

Kerry was addressing a meeting jointly hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the U.S. Mission to the EU to discuss the future of transatlantic relations.

Kerry said that "Russia has turned a blind eye to [Syrian President Bashar al- Assad's] deplorable use of the weapons of war that he has chosen -- chlorine gas and barrel bombs -- against his people. And, together, the Syrian regime and Russia seemed to have rejected diplomacy in furtherance of trying to pursue a military victory."

He added that "people who are serious about making peace behave differently than the way Russia has chosen to behave."

Kerry also said that, despite Washington's suspension of talks on Syria with Moscow, the United States will continue to work within the United Nations and other groups to press for a cease-fire in the war-torn country.

"We are not giving up on the Syrian people, we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, we are not going to leave the multi-lateral field," he said. "We are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war."

Separately, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on October 4 that he would "strongly urge" the United States and Russia to resume their negotiations over Syria. Ban said in Strasbourg that he hopes to meet with Kerry and officials from Russia in Brussels during the ongoing October 4-5 donors conference on Afghanistan.

Russian and Syrian warplanes have waged a relentless bombing campaign against rebel positions in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, since a tentative cease-fire brokered by Moscow and Washington collapsed last week. The breakdown of the cease-fire has made it impossible for humanitarian aid to reach the city where more than 250,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting.

'Blatant Aggression' In Ukraine

Addressing Western tensions with Moscow more broadly, Kerry also said October 4 that the United States and Europe will not accept Moscow's "blatant aggression" in Ukraine.

"The willingness of NATO and EU countries to search for common ground with Russia doesn't relieve us of the obligation to stand our ground on behalf of freedom and international law, which is why we remain steadfast in our support for a stable, united, and democratic Ukraine," he told the forum in Brussels.

He said the United States and the EU insist on a diplomatic solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists are waging an armed conflict against Kyiv, and to Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

He added that sanctions on Russia are "designed solely to encourage a return to peace, stability, and the recognition of legitimate sovereignty." The United States and EU have imposed trade sanctions against Russia since 2014 in protest against Moscow's interference in Ukraine.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/syria-kerry-not- abandoning-peace-efforts/28031581.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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Russia Confirms Deployment Of S-300 Air Defense Missiles To Syria

RFE/RL October 04, 2016

Russia's Defense Ministry has confirmed that it has deployed an S-300 antiaircraft missile system to its Mediterranean naval base at Tartus, Syria.

In a statement issued on October 4, the Russian ministry said the missile battery was "intended to ensure the safety of the naval base" and the Russian Navy's task force off the Syrian coast.

The long range surface-to-air missile system was designed to strike aircraft and cruise missiles, as well as to intercept ballistic missiles, as part of the air defense of military bases and large industrial facilities.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the S-300 system would bolster a similar air defense missile system that is mounted on The Moskva, a guided missile cruiser in the area.

In Washington, spokesmen for both the White House and the U.S. Defense Department subtly criticized the deployment -- noting that Russia's stated military goals in Syria are to target terrorist groups, yet none of the terror groups operating there have any air capabilities.

"It should be clear to the Russians how seriously we take the safety of our air crews, and all the coalition's air crews," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters on October 4.

In 2015, Russia deployed S-400 air defense missiles and the short-range Pantsir system to Syria.

Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-syria- s-300-deployment/28031744.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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Kerry Criticizes Russia for Supporting Syria's Assad

By Chris Hannas October 04, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Russia for its "irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised decision" to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said efforts to end the Syrian war must continue, despite the suspension of U.S.-Russian talks on a cease-fire.

"I want to be clear that we are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace," Kerry said Tuesday in Brussels.

Cease-fire implementation talks suspended

Monday, the United States and Russia suspended talks to implement a cease-fire in Syria, after the United States accused Moscow of not honoring its commitment to stop fighting and ensure relief aid reached besieged neighborhoods.

Kerry said the United States and Russia will still discuss Syria during larger multilateral negotiations.

Kerry said he is outraged Russia has not protested the Syrian government's use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs.

Human rights chief on Aleppo situation

Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights chief said bold action is needed in response to what is happening in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo where an offensive targeting rebel-held eastern neighborhoods is having a "devastating impact" on civilians.

"Faced with such a ghastly avalanche of violence and destruction, extraordinary steps must be taken," said Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein.

He called for the U.N. Security Council to adopt rules to prevent members from using their veto power to block resolutions when there are serious concerns that war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide may have taken place.

The five permanent Security Council members have that veto power. They include Syrian ally Russia, which along with China has blocked several resolutions aimed at the Syrian government since the conflict began in March 2011. One would have referred the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

The United States also has a veto. Its support of rebels opposed to Assad put it on the opposite side of the conflict as Russia, which has led to the two powers calling on each other to pressure the warring parties toward various attempts at peace talks and cease-fires.

Last month they agreed to a deal aimed at reducing violence and speeding humanitarian aid into Aleppo, but the pact quickly broke down.

Russia said it regretted the U.S. decision to withdraw from the cease-fire talks, and has expressed frustration at what it says it the failure of the United States to separate moderate rebels from jihadists.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," a U.S. State Department statement said. Though Washington "spared no effort" in trying to implement the cessation of hostilities, Russia "failed to live up to its own commitments," Kirby said.

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Turkey extends state of emergency for 3 more months

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 4:22PM

Turkey has extended for another three months a state of emergency imposed across the country after an abortive coup in mid-July.

"The state of emergency will be extended for another 90 days starting October 19," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Monday during a briefing with journalists about the results of a cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

Turkey introduced the state of emergency on July 20, after it declared the end of a coup attempt by a group of military officers. More than 270 people were killed in incidents surrounding the July 15 coup attempt.

The state of emergency has allowed the government to launch a harsh crackdown on those believed to have played a role in the botched coup.

Ankara has arrested more than 32,000 people as part of the crackdown, accusing most of the suspects of having ties to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric whom Ankara accuses of masterminding the coup. Tens of thousands have also been dismissed or suspended from their positions in the military and public institutions.

The opposition has fiercely criticized the widening crackdown, with top figures in the Republican People's Party (CHP) accusing the government of capitalizing on the failed coup to stifle dissent.

The CHP leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said Sunday that Turkey had been turned into a "semi-open" prison following the start of the coup-related crackdown.

"We have imprisoned writers, journalists and artists. We are actually living in a semi-open prison, but we'll continue to resist," Kilicdaroglu said in a speech highlighting the rising number of jailed journalists and writers in the country.

Western governments and major rights campaigners have also censured the crackdown, saying Ankara has acted beyond the law in its hunt for coup plotters.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected criticisms about the need for a prolonged state of emergency, saying the measure could be kept for at least a year.

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20 PKK militants killed in clashes with Turkish forces in southeast

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 11:6AM

Twenty militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in fresh clashes with Turkish forces in the country's mainly Kurdish-populated southeast.

Turkish soldiers killed a total of 20 PKK militants in two days of operations in the Beytussebap region of Sirnak Province, according to a Monday statement from the governor's office and information provided by security sources.

Separately, Turkish security sources said on Monday that PKK militants in the mountainous Daglica area of Hakkari Province, which borders Iraq, detonated explosives on a road as a military vehicle passed, killing two soldiers and wounding a third.

Last week, six more PKK militants were killed in clashes with Turkish security forces in the country's northern province of Ordu.

Provincial Governor Irfan Balkanlioglu said the terrorists were spotted and shot dead during an operation in the Mesudiye district of the province.

A ceasefire between Ankara and PKK militants collapsed last year after more than 30 civilians lost their lives in a July 2015 bomb attack in the southern Turkish town of Suruc.

Turkish authorities held the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group accountable for the act of terror.

PKK militants, who accuse the Ankara government of sponsoring Daesh, mounted a series of supposed reprisal attacks against Turkish security forces after the bombing, prompting the Turkish military operations against its positions inside the country and northern Iraq.

In the ensuing violence thousand of militants, security forces and civilians have died.

The PKK has been calling for an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984.

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Turkey slams EU for not keeping promise on refugee aid

Iran Press TV

Mon Oct 3, 2016 10:46AM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed the European Union for failing to pay the promised three billion euros in aid to Ankara as part of the deal they signed in March to contain the refugee influx in Europe.

"What's delivered to us so far is 179 million euros. What's promised is three billion euros," Erdogan said in televised remarks on Monday.

"They promise but do not deliver," added the Turkish president. "The year is coming to its end."

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has dismissed Erdogan's claim, arguing that the EU-Turkey deal includes stipulations requiring disbursements to Turkey to be based on projects, and not payments as a lump sum.

On Saturday, in another strong message to the EU, Erdogan said, "They should know that that game is over  It's up to EU to decide whether to continue on its path with or without Turkey...They should not try to throw this responsibility on our shoulders through their cunning tactics."

Turkey and the EU have been engaged in longstanding negotiations over Turkish membership in the EU in return for implementing political reforms.

The EU membership issue was sidetracked in March into the deal with Ankara.

Under the accord, Ankara and the EU agreed on billions of euros in financial aid to Turkey and the lifting of short-term visa requirements for Turks in exchange for cutting the flow of refugees into Europe.

The visa waiver deal for 77 million Turks was agreed to go into force in June, but the date was later postponed to October.

"October is important in terms of our relations with the EU. As you all know, the visa-free regime that the European Union promised to Turkey is supposed to enter into force this month," Erdogan said.

"There is no need to beat around the bush or engage in diplomatic acrobaticsThis attitude is an explicit manifestation of the fact that the European Union does not want to keep its promise to Turkey," he added.

Meanwhile, incoming data on the routes taken by refugees into Europe indicate that the deal has almost completely stopped refugees arriving in EU states from Turkey.

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Turkey Extending State of Emergency Another 3 Months: Government

By Dorian Jones October 03, 2016

The Turkish government says the state of emergency that went into effect following the failed coup on July 15 will be extended another three months, beginning October 19. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus spoke to reporters Monday following a Cabinet meeting.

The main opposition CHP has condemned the move.

The dispute threatens rare political consensus between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK party and the CHP, forged out of opposition to the attempted military takeover that left more than 270 people dead. The declaration of emergency rule and ensuing crackdown against those allegedly involved in the failed military takeover have led to the CHP saying Turkey is in the grip of a counter coup.

In the Yenikapi district of Istanbul in August, well over a million people attended a rally to oppose the coup attempt. The rally overcame the country's deep political polarization, bringing together the CHP and AKP.

The rare consensus was dubbed the "Yenikapi Spirit." On the night of the coup attempt, the leaders of Turkey's main political parties united in condemning the attempted takeover; however, the government declaration of the initial state of emergency in the aftermath of the failed coup, with 30,0000 arrests and 100,000 people losing or being suspended from their jobs, dealt a near fatal blow to hopes of a new era of political consensus.

"If what is happening is the 'Yenikapi Spirit,' I want no part in it," declared CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, in a briefing to foreign journalists Friday. "We are in a process where the government is using the coup to expand its power and silence the opposition."

During the briefing, Kilicdaroglu cited the arrest of more than 100 journalists, closure of media institutions and seizure of more than 200 companies as examples of abuses of emergency powers, which allow the government to rule by decree. Last week, 20 more TV and radio stations were closed by decree, including a Kurdish children's cartoon channel.

Court fight looms

Kilicdaroglu has pledged to fight emergency rule in parliament and the constitutional court.

"Erdogan will continue to rule, even if this is quite strident opposition from CHP, given that he can continue to rule by decree, by sidelining parliament," said Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels. "But there is as well a critical milestone and benchmark, which will be the decision of the constitutional court. The opposition party case is strong as there is legal precedent."

The CHP has filed a case challenging government decrees issued under emergency rule; but, Kilicdaroglu has questioned whether the constitutional court will be able to challenge Erdogan's AKP government.

Thousands of judges have been detained under emergency rule, including two members of the Constitutional Court.

The reopening of Turkey's deep political divide could have far-reaching consequences. "There was an opportunity (of unity), but Erdogan did not take the opportunity to use it properly. And that can only empower the evil dynamics of polarization in the country, at a very, very unsuitable moment in the wake of the coup," Kilicdaroglu said.

Erdogan argues the CHP leader is out of touch with his supporters, and that there remains a strong political unity and wide support for the crackdown. The government alleges it faces an unprecedented challenge of trying to remove a vast network run by followers of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from the state and society. The government in Ankara accuses Gulen of orchestrating the coup attempt, an allegation he denies.

Opposition worried it is next

There still remains consensus between Turkey's two main parties over the threat posed by Gulen's followers, but CHP leader Kilicdaroglu argues the corruption of power now poses a greater threat to Turkey.

"They (government) can now close every institution they want, any newspaper they want; imprison whomever they want. It can make every businessman go bankrupt and seize their properties," Kilicdarolgu said. "They are becoming addicted to this kind of power. This is the greatest danger against our democracy process."

Erdogan has promised his government will not let up on the crackdown, suggesting the state of emergency could extend beyond a year, saying the country is facing unprecedented dangers and that parliament is incapable of dealing with them.

Kilicdaroglu says they are preparing for the worst, warning his party too should expect to be targeted in the crackdown. "This threat will come and find us, but we will not be silent against this threat. We will fight against it until the end."

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Alan Burkitt-Gray speaks to Don MacNeil, chief operating officer of GTT, about its company restructuring after coming out of Chapter 11 and its strategic roadmap for the next 12 months.
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Oct. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, has been recognized by Juniper Research, the respected industry analyst, as a key player in the global M2M sector. This leadership position is based on Gemaltos advanced capabilities and product offering for the industrial and consumer IoT markets, where Juniper predicts strong growth for eSIMs and remote subscription management platforms. Rising demand offers OEMs a major opportunity to take advantage of the eSIMs space-saving design and support for seamless connectivity, and mobile network operators an additional source of revenue, using their experience of remote management of traditional SIMs as well as the MIMTM Machine-Identification-Module that is developing as the preferred solution for enabling secure cellular M2M connections.



In contrast to a traditional SIM, an eSIM is built into a device at the manufacturing stage, ready for immediate connection when it is deployed or activated. Gemalto already offers a range of eSIMs that are fully compliant with the latest GSMA specifications, and a Remote Subscription Management solution that delivers automatic, on-demand connectivity for devices.

To date the use of traditional SIMs has been dominant in the M2M and consumer electronic domains. However, Juniper predicts that the adoption and promotion of the new GSMA eSIM standard will stimulate strong growth in both sectors. As a result, there will be significant commercial opportunities for mobile network operators to offer new connectivity services across a wide array of vertical markets. This trend will impact M2M devices as well as smartphones, tablets and wearables.

In the report, we wish to highlight Gemaltos advanced eSIM offer and remote provisioning capability, said Sam Barker, Research Analyst at Juniper Research. Gemaltos end-to-end IoT security is also recognized as addressing widespread concerns over the vulnerability of the IoT to hacking attacks.

Around the world, Gemalto is already working with mobile operators, OEMs and service providers to capitalize on the opportunities brought by mobile connectivity, which the GSMA values at an estimated $3 trillion, said Benoit Jouffrey, Vice President for On-Demand Connectivity at Gemalto. Gemalto offers mobile operators and OEMs the ability to launch IoT devices and applications that are instantly connected, reliable over an extended working life, and protected by proven data encryption and authentication techniques.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2015 annual revenues of 3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world.

Our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between.

Gemaltos solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software  enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things.

Our 14,000+ employees operate out of 118 offices, 45 personalization and data centers, and 27 research and software development centers located in 49 countries.

For more information visit www.gemalto.com or follow @gemalto on Twitter.
NASSAU, Bahamas ., Oct. 4, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bahamas is preparing for Hurricane Matthew, which is expected to approach the southern Bahamas later today.



The Islands Of The Bahamas are now under hurricane watch, which means that hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (BMOT) is making final preparations and coordinating its efforts ahead of the storm.



The BMOT has fully activated its Emergency Coordinating Committee at the British Colonial Hilton in Nassau in preparation for Hurricane Matthew. The committee represents a cross-section of the Ministry of Tourism's staff that includes senior management and other officers who will monitor the storm's movements.



BMOT's crisis management team is liaising with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), the Port Authority and other relevant authorities.



"The Bahamas is a place where the world comes to vacation. As we prepare to face the impending hurricane, what is of critical importance to us is the safety of our residents and visitors," Ministry of Tourism Director General, Joy Jibrilu said.



"We are praying for the best outcome, and once the all clear is given, we will turn our attention to assisting with recovery efforts, if necessary, and also to sending the message to the world that The Bahamas is once again open for business."



It is important to note that The Bahamas is an archipelago with more than 700 islands and cays, spread over 100,000 square miles. Given the expanse of our archipelago, there could be a tropical storm or hurricane warning for the southern islands and the central and northern islands remain unaffected. However, weather forecasts project that Hurricane Matthew is likely to affect most of our islands.



Regarding airlift, the Lynden Pindling International Airport will close on Wednesday, October 5 at 11 a.m.



Here in New Providence, and on Paradise Island, there are over 3000 visitors. Those numbers are expected to diminish  as visitors are evacuated from our islands in advance of the storm.



There are 593 visitors throughout the Family Islands: seven visitors on Abaco; two on Eleuthera; two on North Andros; 21 on San Salvador; eight on the Berry Islands; 153 on Bimini, and 400 in the Exumas. Shelters have been opened on each of the islands and officials are moving to ensure that guests either evacuate or take shelter.



Airports in the Family Islands will close today and include the airports in Inagua, Ragged Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Mayaguana and Long Island.



Grand Bahama

Approximately 1600 guests are being evacuated from Grand Bahama Island today. The Grand Bahama Airport Company said it will close on Wednesday, October 5 at noon and will resume operations on Saturday, October 8 at 6 a.m.



Cruise Update

All cruise ships have now re-routed away from ports in The Bahamas to other destinations. The Port Department has advised that the Port of Nassau closed at noon today. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force will take charge of the facility and will be responsible for its reopening.



Storm Update

At 5:00 p.m. today Hurricane Matthew, was a category four storm with winds up to 140 miles per hour and is expected to move over Eastern Cuba in the next few hours.



Hurricane Matthew is expected to turn toward the north-northwest on Wednesday. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175 miles.



The BMOT is maintaining contact with all of its offices, representatives and visitors in the Family Islands as Hurricane Matthew approaches.



The Islands Of The Bahamas will be releasing updates on the tracking of Hurricane Matthew on Bahamas.com/storms but we encourage everyone to access the National Hurricane Center and the Weather Channel for latest updates.



For more information on Hurricane Matthew, and The Islands Of The Bahamas, travel professionals and consumers are advised to access the following: The National Hurricane Center at nhc.ncoaa.gov and the Weather Channel at www.weather.com.
Danville Utilities wont charge customers a fee when they use a credit card to pay their bills online.

The Danville Utility Commission voted Monday afternoon to waive transaction fees for credit/debit card payments for a one-year trial beginning July 1, 2017. The city will absorb the costs of the fees, said Jason Grey, director of Danville Utilities.

The goal of the change is to increase use of online payment among customers, Grey said. It would also reduce foot traffic in collections and may reduce bad debt, he told commissioners during their Aug. 22 meeting.

It would be better customer service in paying their bill, Grey said.

Customers using credit cards to pay their utility bills online currently pay a $3.75 fee for transactions up to $500, and a $2 echeck fee. Under the change, the latter fee will drop to $1 per transaction.

Danvilles credit card transaction fee was $4.75 before it was lowered, Grey said.

There were 23,361 online transactions between April 2015 and March 2016, with the average amount $241 per transaction, Grey said. Most online users are residential customers, he said. Those online transactions represent 10 percent of total residential transactions, Grey said.

Representatives with Paymentus, Danville Utilities credit card processing company, told city officials they could expect a 25 percent increase in the number of transactions with the fee waiver, Grey said.

But not all commissioners were enthusiastic about the idea.

Chairman Phillip Smith said the commission should consider being in line with surrounding competition (neighboring localities) that charge their customers for the convenience.

Commissioner Michael Nicholas disagreed that the service was a convenience, especially in this age with the push toward online banking.

This is an expectation of customers, Nicholas said.

Danville Utilities should make such transactions more convenient for customers, he said.

Commissioner James Turpin said the change would have more customers  by factoring the waived fees into future rate increases  paying for others convenience of using their credit cards. Its good to be progressive, but the city must keep in mind that not everyone is using online credit card payment options, Turpin said.

We need to consider what were doing, Turpin said. I dont know if its worth the convenience or not. Danville Utilities users include about 42,000 electric customers.

The original proposal included a two-year trial to be implemented this budget year. But commissioners preferred to wait until the next fiscal year, instead of starting it in the midst of the current year.

Commission members voted 4-1 in favor of the idea with a one-year trial period beginning on July 1, 2017. Smith voted against it.

According to a 2013 survey, 60 percent of public utilities that accept credit card payments waive the fee, Grey cited in a presentation to the commission Monday afternoon.

Other utilities in surrounding localities that have transaction fees include:

 Appalachian Power ($2.95 per $500  residential only);

 Central Virginia Electric Cooperative ($1.20 per transaction  covered by the cooperative);

 Martinsville ($3 minimum);

 Dominion Power ($1.65 per residential, $14.95 commercial);

 Duke Power ($1.50 residential, $12.95 commercial);

 Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (1 percent of transaction  covered by the cooperative); and

 Bedford ($4.95 per transaction).

Crane reports for the Danville Register & Bee.
To the editor:

One thing is for sureif World War III breaks out on President Barack Obamas watch, he wont know about it until he reads it in the newspaper or sees it on the evening news. For a man with access to more information than anyone else on the planet, it seems that he is clueless about important events.

The latest example is Hillary Clintons illegal e-mail server, which would have landed just about anyone else in prison.

Obama, of course, was completely ignorant of it until a couple of years after the fact, when it was in the news. Doubtless he would have done something about, had he only known.

But the thing is, thats all a lie, another lie in a long string of lies weve been fed by this man since he came on the scene. As the FBI recently revealed, he was communicating with Hillary on that illegal server a couple of years before he supposedly found out about it. Not only was he communicating with her, he was using a false name to do so.

And so the mystery is solved.We were all puzzled after FBI Director James Comey laid out the laundry list of crimes committed by Hillary Clinton, only to reveal that she would not be prosecuted. To prosecute her would have meant to prosecute Obama.

We have known for years that Obama corrupted the IRS, using it as a weapon against his political foes; same with the EPA and the Justice Department. Now we discover that the FBI, long one of the most respected institutions in the country, has been corrupted as well.

We are in banana republic territory here. And people cant figure out how Donald Trump is doing so well.

ROBERT HUDSON

Pelham, North Carolina
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New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone.
Four minutes.

Thats how long the 25-year-old owners of FluxTeq were given to pitch their startup business to judges during the Virginia Velocity Tour last month.

FluxTeq produces heat flux sensors, something thats hard to describe in just a sentence or two. Four minutes is not much time for anyone to learn the real value of a growing business, but in a pitch competition a few minutes is usually all you get.

After the hit show Shark Tank premiered on ABC in 2009, business pitch competitions have cropped up all over the U.S. Many took the model of the show: Business leaders and potential investors hear quick-hit pitches from a startup or small business seeking investment. Participants get feedback, advice and, if the pitch goes well, money for their business.

The competitions are all different. Some scour the nation. Some are hyperlocal. Some offer a cash prize, others venture capital.

The Roanoke and New River valleys have seen a multitude of these competitions come through in the past few years. Last week, the Virginia Velocity Tour stopped in Roanoke and Blacksburg to hear from competitors in the energy field. That is where Blacksburg-based FluxTeq emerged victorious and accepted a $25,000 prize.

This week, Cox Business hosts a pitch competition for $5,000 and additional Cox services. Next month, Star Tank, a locally formed event, will host a day of pitches from small businesses and startups.

How effective are these competitions? That has yet to be determined, according to multiple people involved with them.

The first boost

Most concede they certainly dont hurt, especially FluxTeq owners Chris Cirenza and Rande Cherry, who are using the money they won to keep their small operation up and running.

Most of the participants in pitch competitions do not get any money, but that doesnt mean they walk away empty-handed.

In 2011, Monica Rokicki-Guajardo had just started Better Building Works, a construction and development company focused on energy and cost efficiency. It was just a bootstrapped organization at the time, working out of the Roanoke Regional Entrepreneur Center, but it was a perfect fit to compete in the Expand contest, which had entrepreneurs pitch their business plans for a chance to win $35,000 in cash and business services.

As one of the finalists, Better Building Works didnt win any prize money. But that was OK.

It was one of the first big boosts we got as a business, Rokicki-Guajardo said.

Between the networking with well-known regional business leaders and the free publicity, she landed several new clients. It also gave the business a boost in internet searches.

Now Better Building Works has its own office and a small staff in downtown Roanoke. Rokicki-Guajardo also recently served as a panelist in a pitch competition and got to see the process from an entirely different perspective.

[The competition] forces you to put it down in a precise manner, she said. It takes some of the wide-eyed innocence off you.

Mentoring services and networking are typically a big part of each competition and serve as one of their most effective aspects.

Developing relationships with successful local business leaders is one of the best things Drew Arney got out of pitching his small business to Star Tank last year. Arney and Austin Bousman co-own Wingman Outfitter, which produces a cooler outrigger used to stabilize a canoe. They went to Star Tank to find an investor. While that was unsuccessful, Arney said they built relationships and received helpful exposure.

He said Star Tank was like an entrepreneur festival, allowing him to meet others like himself and show off his companys work. Chris Desimone, a local attorney and the founder of Star Tank, said all the competitions are beneficial in this way, creating and nurturing relationships among area entrepreneurs.

Samantha Steidle, an innovation officer at Virginia Western Community College and a co-founder of Roanokes CoLab, said pitching contests also highlight whats out there.

People dont raise their hand and say, I want to be an entrepreneur, she said. This is one of the ways to find these people. They start pitching and you start to see a demand in the region.

The large number of entrepreneurs interested in these contests helped prompt the creation of the CoLab, the HIVE Business Incubation Center and the new Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program.

Steidle was involved with the Expand contest in 2011, when pitch competitions were far less common. The contest was organized by Lynda McNutt Foster, now the CEO of Cortex Leadership Consulting. Foster said she thought Shark Tank was brilliant and believed the concept could work on a regional level.

Within a month of creating the event, about 220 entrepreneurs applied to participate, she said.

I wasnt shocked there were so many out there; I was shocked there werent more events like this, she said.

Gauging effectiveness

Many competitors are ill-prepared to give their pitch, Steidle said. Thats why mentors and prep sessions are frequently offered  and come in handy.

Arney said sitting in front of investors and getting feedback was one of the most helpful parts of competing in Star Tank.

In all reality we were really too early in the process, he said. The amount of money wouldve been less than we needed and someone would have wanted a lot of our equity, and we werent in a position to do that.

He said he realized that Wingman Outfitter needed some work before bringing in an investor.

Everybodys hearts in a good place when they bring up these competitions, said Bart Smith, the director of the Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center.

I would say about 95 percent of them [participants] are not prepared, he said.

Those who are prepared really shine, he said, but the majority of participants dont understand what the judges are looking for.

Smith said participants also need to understand that the funding offered by most of the competitions is just a drop in the bucket compared to the money they need to get a business off the ground.

The thing that can be a little frustrating about these competitions is the amount of time and resources are needed to create and host them, he said.

Really, usually only a couple of businesses in each competition have that potential to create a true economic impact, he said.

Smith said the most effective competitions have a lot of different pieces, including efforts to consult and mentor the businesses. One competition he observed required participants to talk about how they would use their winnings.

Smith also said money given to an existing business is often more effective than the same amount given to a startup that just has an idea and needs so much more funding.

Desimone said he found Star Tank to be more effective when its more selective. After three years, the number of entrepreneurs selected to participate in the competition has dropped from about 30 to 10 this year. The competition also will be divided between startups and existing businesses, since hes found that they have very different needs.

Jonathan Whitt, director of the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, said tech startups often need a lot more than $5,000 or $10,000 to get off the ground, which is what many of the competitions offer.

He said the contests can still be productive because some small companies want more than money  they need feedback or exposure.

The competitions can be truly valuable to the participants, Whitt said. Does this create a lot of value in the community? The case is still out on that, he said.

Most of the competitions are based around the idea that the true benefits will not be seen until years later.

Desimone said Star Tank in particular is playing the long game.

Unlike many business pitch competitions, Star Tank doesnt give out prize money but instead offers a chance for investors to take an equity stake in a startup or small business they value. There are no winners or finalists. Desimone wants to keep it that way.

Prize money is nice, he said, but its not even in the same category as when their [investors] money is at stake. Niceties dont pay the bills.

If someone invests in the company, that person is going to work hard to get results, he said.

Desimone acknowledges there arent a lot of deals being made on the day of the competition. Sometimes, the investors will even kill a business, but he said there is still value in that.

He cant point to any new tall buildings in Roanoke and say, Star Tank did that. But he or another one of the pitch competitions might be able to do that in 10 years.
VANCOUVER, Oct. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - Inca One Gold Corp. (TSX.V: IO) ("Inca One" or the "Company") is pleased to report it has closed the second and final tranche of its previously announced (July 8, 2016) non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") for gross proceeds of CAD$3.1 million by the issuance of 12.4 million units (the "Units") at a subscription price of CAD$0.25 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one full, transferable common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable to purchase an additional common share of the Issuer at an exercise price of CAD$0.40 for a period of 36 months from the closing date and will feature an acceleration clause triggering the exercise of the warrant upon select share price metrics being achieved. Together with the first tranche closing previously announced on August 26, 2016, the Company has raised in aggregate gross proceeds of $6.3 million with the issuance 25.4 million units, an oversubscription of $2.3 million dollars.

Insiders of the Company have subscribed for 3.7 million Units under the Private Placement. The issuance of Units to insiders pursuant to the Private Placement (the "Insider Participation") will be considered to be a related party transaction within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The Company intends to rely on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of any Insider Participation.

Cash finder's fees of 8% of the gross proceeds were paid on a portion of the Private Placement. The Company will also issue 8% finders warrants to eligible finders in connection with this placement. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for purchases of mineral, inventory supplies and materials, select debt repayments, and for general working capital purposes, as applicable. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

The securities described herein have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and will not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Act or unless an exemption from registration is available.

Edward Kelly, President and CEO of Inca One stated, "I am extremely pleased to close the oversubscribed private placement. Our ability to secure funding to recapitalize our mineral purchasing is essential to continue our ramp up of operations at Chala One SAC and drive revenues on a sustained basis. Together with the restructuring of our debt and shares, completing this financing was the final piece culminating months of effort from our management team."

About Inca One

Inca One is a Canadian-based mineral processing company with a gold milling facility in Peru, servicing government-permitted, small-scale miners. As part of the terms of the original purchase agreement for the Chala, Peru processing facility, Inca One has an agreement between its wholly owned subsidiary, Chala One SAC, and the seller and initial permit applicant, to operate under the umbrella of formalization until the successful completion of all the environmental and operating permits. Peru, a highly mineral-rich country, is one of the world's top producers of gold, silver, copper and zinc, with substantial production coming from small scale miners who need government permitted milling facilities to process their mineral (such as the Company's Chala Plant).

On behalf of the Board,

Edward Kelly,

President and CEO

INCA ONE GOLD CORP.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

Statements regarding the Company which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements due to factors such as: (i) fluctuation of mineral prices; (ii) a change in market conditions; and (iii) the fact that the Company has limited operating experience with its Chala plant and future operational results may not be accurately predicted based on this limited information to date. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update any changes to such statements. Inca One believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

SOURCE Inca One Gold Corp.
Sydney, Australia, Oct. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Heron Resources Ltd. (ASX:HRR TSX:HER, Heron or the Company) is pleased to announce two appointments into senior management roles at its wholly-owned Woodlawn Project, located 250km southwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The newly created positions of Woodlawn General Manager and Woodlawn Process Manager are both key roles and further strengthen the owners team as the project financing process is completed and preparations are made for project construction.

Commenting on these appointments, Heron Resources Managing Director and CEO, Mr Wayne Taylor, said:

We have taken the opportunity to make these early appointments to augment in-house capacity as we progress into finalisation of process-plant and site design. These additions to the owners team ensures we are sufficiently staffed to establish on-site ownership at a critical time in the development of Woodlawn. We are pleased to have attracted two very experienced individuals into these roles, and look forward to their input as we gear-up for construction. Both Brian and Des bring extensive base metals experience. In particular, Brians personal knowledge of Woodlawn, and of the metallurgically challenging McArthur River mine, will be invaluable.

Woodlawn General Manager  Brian Hearne



Mr Brian Hearne has accepted the role of Woodlawn General Manager. A qualified mining professional, with specialisation in process metallurgy, he has extensive base-metals experience in roles ranging from plant operator through to senior executive roles within a top tier mining house.

Mr Hearne previously had a 16-year tenure at Woodlawn, starting in 1978, with a further 2 years at the metallurgically comparable Benambra Mine in Victoria. He then joined MIM at McArthur River (MRM) as the Metallurgical Manager, and following a number of General Manager roles within MIM / Xstrata was appointed COO of Xstrata Zinc Australia.

The extensive knowledge Mr. Hearne gained at Woodlawn, along with his experience at MRM, one of the most challenging base metal operations in Australia, brings to Heron a unique skill-set ideally matched to the Companys requirements as Woodlawn is brought into production.

Woodlawn Process Manager  Des OSullivan



Mr Des OSullivan has accepted the role of Woodlawn Process Manager. He is a qualified process metallurgist with over 30-years experience across base-metals operations, plant construction and project commissioning. Mr OSullivans experience includes working at CSA Mine, Woodcutters, Golden Grove, Olympic Dam, Cawse and Gove Alumina Refinery. More recent experience in construction and commissioning has been with Origin Energy on the Eurombah Creek Gas Processing facilities. Significant additional construction and commissioning experience was gained at the Cawse Nickel Mine, where he was instrumental in bringing on-line the full SX/EW capacity of the plant. During his tenure at Rios Gove Alumina Refinery he held a number of supervisory and management roles across the facility, giving him detailed exposure into effective process control.

These two new members to the Heron Team are suitably skilled to assist the Company to move through the next milestones at Woodlawn in the pathway to first production. We are fortunate they have joined the team, and we look forward to their contribution.



About Heron Resources Limited:



Herons primary focus is the development of its 100% owned, high grade Woodlawn Zinc-Copper Project located 250km southwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In addition, the Company holds a significant high quality, gold and base metal tenement holding in New South Wales and Western Australia.





CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This report contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this report. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, without limitation, estimates, forecasts and statements as to managements expectations with respect to, among other things, the timing and amount of funding required to execute the Companys exploration, development and business plans, capital and exploration expenditures, the effect on the Company of any changes to existing legislation or policy, government regulation of mining operations, the length of time required to obtain permits, certifications and approvals, the success of exploration, development and mining activities, the geology of the Companys properties, environmental risks, the availability of labour, the focus of the Company in the future, demand and market outlook for precious metals and the prices thereof, progress in development of mineral properties, the Companys ability to raise funding privately or on a public market in the future, the Companys future growth, results of operations, performance, and business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as anticipate, believe, expect, intend, may and similar expressions have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and on information available to management at such time. Forward-looking information involves significant risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking information. These factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in currency markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, the ability of the Company to access sufficient capital on favourable terms or at all, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations, political or economic developments in Canada, Australia or other countries in which the Company does business or may carry on business in the future, operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities and grades of mineral reserves, contests over title to properties, especially title to undeveloped properties, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other geological data, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding, limitations of insurance coverage and the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, and should be considered carefully. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Companys actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although the forward-looking information contained in this report is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure prospective purchasers that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.



For further information, please visit www.heronresources.com.au or contact:



Australia:

Mr Wayne Taylor

Managing Director and Chief Executive Office

Tel: +61 2 9119 8111 or +61 8 6500 920

Email: heron@heronresources.com.au



Jon Snowball, FTI Consulting

Tel: +61 2 8298 6100

jon.snowball@fticonsulting.com



Canada: Tel: +1 647-862-1157 (Toronto)


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA / TheNewswire / October 4, 2016 - MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE: XMG / FKT: 1MG / OTC: MGXMF) reports the Company has filed on SEDAR a National Instrument (N.I.) 43-101 technical report (the "Report") for its Sturgeon Lake lithium property ("Sturgeon Lake") located in west-central Alberta.

Sturgeon Lake consists of 15 contiguous Industrial and Metallic Mineral Permits encompassing 132,773.74 hectares. Excerpts from the Report include:

-The Sturgeon Lake oilfield represents a mature petroleum field. That is, in the early history of this oilfield (mid-1950's), most wells started out pumping hundreds to thousands of barrels of petroleum products per day, which required little active pumping to extract. However, at present most of the wells produce excessive amounts of formation water in comparison to petroleum products due to increased pumping to generate crude oil. Based on compiled fluid data, a total of 73,178,693 m? of liquid was pumped from Leduc Formation target wells in the Sturgeon Lake oilfield from 1961 to the end of 2010, of which 72% was classified as Devonian formation water (brine). -A Qualified Personal site inspection on MGX's Sturgeon Lake sub-property was completed by the senior author of this Report on July 27th 2016. Because the Li-brine occurs at a depth of approximately 2,500 m below surface, it was not possible to view 'mineralization' during the site inspection. Rather, several actively producing oil and gas wells and plants within the boundaries of the Property were observed, including: Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Sturgeon Lake South Plant; Well CNRL Sturlks 07-11-069-22W5; Well CNRL Sturlks 08-11-069-22W5; and Well CNRL Sturlks 11-11-069-22W5. Annual production from these wells is 55-1,056 m3 oil, 32-134 e3m3 gas and 2,690-7,958 m3 water (to April 29th, 2016) illustrating the sheer volume of brine produced from these Devonian production wells. -Government of Alberta studies documented that at least 25 wells with the Sturgeon Lake oilfield area have yielded anomalous concentrations of lithium in formation water samples from the Beaverhill Lake and/or Woodbend (Leduc) aquifers (i.e., greater than 50 mg/L Li; note: 1 mg/L is equal to 1 ppm). Five of these wells have reported concentrations of over 75 mg/L Li in the Beaverhill Lake aquifer and ten wells have reported concentrations of over 75 mg/L Li in the Woodbend (Leduc) aquifer. The Devonian aquifers are situated at prospective depths of between 2,300 and 4,000 m, and the formation water is accessible via producing petroleum wells that pump the brine to the earth's surface- essentially as waste water associated with hydrocarbon production. -Currently, the extracted water is treated to separate and remove petroleum products and then is re-injected back into subsurface formations. It is conceivable that existing water processing procedures could be modified to extract lithium and other elements from the Leduc Formation aquifer system formation water; however at this stage of exploration there is no guarantee that Li and associated elements (K, B, Br, Ca, Mg and Na) described above will be economically extractable from the formation waters with current technology.

The Report is available for viewing on the Company's SEDAR profile or its website at www.mgxminerals.com.

Qualified Person

The technical portions of this press release have been reviewed by Roy Eccles (M.Sc., P. Geo.) of APEX Geoscience Ltd. and Andris Kikauka (P. Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals.

About MGX Minerals

MGX Minerals (CSE: XMG) is a diversified Canadian mining company engaged in the development of large-scale industrial mineral portfolios in western Canada. The Company operates lithium, magnesium and silicon projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta. MGX recently released a maiden N.I. 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for its Driftwood Creek magnesium project, which outlined 8 million tonnes grading 43.31% magnesium oxide. In January the Company received a 20-year Mining Lease for Driftwood Creek. Additionally, the Company recently acquired the Sturgeon Lake lithium brine project in west-central Alberta, increasing the Company's lithium brine land position to over 376,000 hectares throughout the Province. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.mgxminerals.com.

Contact Information

Jared Lazerson

Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 1.604.681.7735

Email: jared@mgxminerals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements including the completion of the rights offering (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
The Amtrak Empire Builder makes a stop in Pasco, Wash. (SHNS photo by Rob Owen / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

SHARE Julie Nociolo and boyfriend Greg Mumby play Farkle in the Empire Builder observation car. (SHNS photo by Rob Owen / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Inside the Empire Builder observation car. (SHNS photo by Rob Owen / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ABOARD AMTRAK'S EMPIRE BUILDER - Though not the longest Amtrak route -- that title belongs to the Texas Eagle, which travels from Chicago to Los Angeles -- the Empire Builder from the Pacific Northwest to Chicago offers a leisurely, 2,250-mile trek that takes about 48 hours to complete.

Coming from the West Coast, the Empire Builder actually begins as two separate, shorter trains -- one from Portland, Ore., with an observation car, one from Seattle with a dining car. They meet in Spokane, Wash., and join to form one long train.

The trains leave Portland and Seattle in the late afternoon, and travelers from Portland who book a room receive a box dinner because the dining car won't be available until the trains reach Spokane around midnight. (Coming from Chicago, the trains divide the same way at Spokane at 1:40 a.m. on the third and final day of the trip.)

But the boxed dinner on the train from Portland is a fair trade for the opportunity to view the Columbia River Gorge from the observation/lounge car with its curved wall-into-ceiling windows. Tracks run along the Washington side of the Columbia, offering spectacular views of Oregon's northern edge, including Multnomah Falls, the ornate art-deco design of the Bonneville Dam and abundant wildlife. On our trip in the spring, two bald eagles could be seen soaring within 50 feet of the train.

The Empire Builder slinks along the edges of Glacier National Park during daylight hours in the summer, arriving at the East Glacier Park station from Chicago at 6:45 p.m. and from the West Coast at 9:54 a.m.

During our Memorial Day weekend trip, clouds hung low over Glacier's mountains, obscuring views of their peaks; wind-blown snow whipped past the train's windows at the highest elevations.

East of Glacier, the scenery flattens out into the Northern Great Plains, a beautifully desolate if repetitive landscape. Ridership also begins to pick up as the train gets closer to Williston, N.D., which saw more people get on and off our train than perhaps anywhere else on the line, even larger cities like Minneapolis.

"There's as many millionaires as mosquitoes," said a dining-car attendant familiar with the Williston oil boom.

Gina Caciolo rode the Empire Builder en route to a new job on the East Coast. She started in Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight, then transferred to the Empire Builder.

"I'm taking the train because I have anxiety issues over flying," she said. But she also prefers train travel since taking Amtrak from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, Pa., during college. "It made an impression. I never took Greyhound again."

Brooklynites Julie Nociolo and boyfriend Greg Mumby, both 25, took Amtrak across the country and back this summer after accumulating enough points on an Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard to cover roomette tickets for most of their trip. They stopped along the way and stayed in assorted cities with friends, but they also enjoyed meeting characters on the train. Among their favorites: a gold prospector who pulled out a gold nugget worth $2,000 over breakfast one morning and a hunter who killed a boar and kept it in a cooler in his roomette.

They noted that most people they encountered -- including at meals in the dining car, where passengers are seated with strangers -- were older. Some of their friends questioned the prospect of two weeks on a train.

"There were raised eyebrows," Mumby said. "'Take the train? What? Why?' "

But they enjoyed the trip and would recommend just one change: spend more time in cities between legs of their journey.

"I would love to do it again," Nociolo said, "and really break it up."

Contact Rob Owen at rowen(at)post-gazette.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.
"It is work that takes time," Lynch said in launching Community Policing Week.

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By Eric Tucker And Jamie Stengle, Associated Press

DALLAS  Attorney General Loretta Lynch launched National Community Policing Week by announcing Justice Department grants on Monday that will help police departments across the country hire new officers.

The $119 million in funding was announced in Dallas, site of a sniper ambush in July that left five law enforcement officers dead. Other events planned for the week include a town hall discussion on diversity in law enforcement and an awards ceremony, both in Washington.

Speaking at a forum at a Dallas high school, Lynch said community policing is a partnership between law enforcement and the community. Dallas, which Lynch said already has a strong community policing model, is scheduled to receive $3.1 million to hire 25 new officers.

"It is work that takes time," she told those gathered at the forum, including students and officer cadets. "It is work that begins before there is a tragedy or before there is a difficult situation, and it continues after that and requires the kind of commitment that you all have shown here in Dallas."

The grants, provided by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, are being awarded to 184 law enforcement agencies and are intended to create or preserve more than 900 positions. Almost all of the jobs will be new hires, though the grants will allow some officers to either be rehired or protected from being laid off.

The goal is to highlight the need for strong relationships between communities and law enforcement, an especially urgent Justice Department priority in light of a monthslong stretch of high-profile slayings of both police officers and residents in not only Dallas but in communities including Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Charlotte, North Carolina; and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.

"The recent events we've seen, particularly this summer, have raised the visibility of this issue beyond just the communities that have traditionally felt impacted by it," Lynch said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Lynch, who will join Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings for an evening in the community on Tuesday, said, "It's been tremendously heartening that Dallas has stuck together through all of that."
SHARE A Texas Department of Public Safety officer is shown outside the south entrance to the Texas Capitol Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, in Austin, Texas. Earlier a man fired several shots into the air while standing on the steps before throwing down his handgun as state troopers closed in and tackled him. Nobody was wounded in the shooting, and the 24-year-old suspect from the Houston area was taken to the Travis County Jail and faces felony charges of deadly conduct. His name wasn't immediately released.(AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

By John C. Moritz, USA TODAY Network Austin Bureau

AUSTIN  In light of several high-profile incidents where confrontations between police and members of the public escalate to the point of violence, a key lawmaker plans to offer legislation requiring high school students to pass a course on how to interact with law enforcement officers.

"We must all come together to develop the best strategies to improve relations and trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve," said state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

Whitmire's committee will hold hearing on the proposal in the Capitol on Tuesday and will take testimony from members of law enforcement and from community activists. His bill is still in the drafting stages but is expected to be introduced near the time lawmakers return to Austin in January.

Police confrontations have taken on an added dimension in recent years because many are captured on cellphone video and posted online. Some, like the June 2015 incident involving an officer in a Dallas suburb pushing an African-American teenage girl to the ground during a pool party, have taken on racial connotations.

Whitmire's bill would apply to all students in public high schools regardless of race. Scott Leeton, a Corpus Christi police officer and head of the local police association, said any such course should emphasize the need for compliance on the part of someone stopped by an officer.

"Keep in mind that when an officer stops someone, he has a reason," Leeton said. "It might not always be apparent to the person who's stopped, but it's best to listen to the officer and to follow his directions. That makes everything much more safe."

But Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney who is president of the Texas NAACP, said there is a high level of police mistrust by many members of the African-American community, regardless of their age. He cited as an example the 2014 incident in Ferguson, Mo., that sparked national outrage when a police officer shot and killed a teenage shoplifting suspect.

For many African-Americans, there's an assumption that the same thing could happen to them, he said.

"I have had a gun pulled on me (by a police officer) when I was 10 years old," said Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney, recalling an incident where he was wrongly suspected of stealing a car. "I think this would be a good start."

Bledsoe said the NAACP for several years has worked to train parents and others about how to respond to interactions with police. Like Leeton, Bledsoe said the goal should be compliance rather than confrontation.

He referred to a two-page guide called "The 411 on the Five-O" for dealing with police that includes a list of do's and don'ts. For instance:

Do stay calm and keep your emotions from getting the best of you. Be courteous even if the police officer is not. You will only give the officer more ammunition against you if you begin yelling, arguing or refusing reasonable directives.

Do carry identification at all times and be prepared to produce it. Do keep your hands where the police officer can see them.

Don't run.

Don't touch the police officer.

Don't make any statements about the incident without first having spoken to an attorney.

But Bledsoe also expressed concern that Whitmire's proposal would leave it to the Texas Education Agency to draft the curriculum for the training course. He said that the process for developing a course would need to include contributions from the diverse segments of the state.

He also said any legislation should also include enhanced training for law enforcement.

Twitter: @JohnnieMo
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By Rashda Khan, Rashda.Khan@gosanangelo.com/@rashda_SAST

Short-term rentals are back on City Council agenda Tuesday.

Council will consider a draft ordinance and possible moratorium regarding Chapter 12, Exhibit "A," Zoning Ordinance, for Bed and Breakfast Establishments and Short Term Rentals.

The city defines STRs as an entire house or dwelling unit available for rent forless than 30 consecutive days.

Earlier in August, the council considered an ordinance amendment to clearly define STRs and allow them in residential neighborhoods with regulation and restrictions. Several San Angelo residents spoke for and against short term rentals at that meeting.

Dawn Ferguson, a resident of the Lake Nasworthy area, said that living next to a STR has caused her several problems: trespassing, unauthorized use of her belongings, and unleashed dogs.

"There is lots of alcohol use," she said. "The more they drink  and the later in the day it gets  the louder they get."

San Angeloan Kara Martinez, whose family owns a short-term rental, shared the other side of the story.

"It just provides that home feeling that hotels lack, and I feel like this is the future," said Martinez, adding that renters have included parents of students at Angelo State University, military families and tourists.

"My mom and dad both absolutely love making people feel welcome to San Angelo by providing them hospitality."

Local businessman John Bass said that the real issue with STRs is that there is no one on site to manage it, like there would be at a hotel.

"There needs to be someone there, other than the next-door neighbor," he said.

The discussion at the meeting lasted about three hours and resulted in two failed motions. Since no one on the council made a third motion, the existing ordinance stayed in place.

According to the current regulations, short-term rentals are considered hotel/motel use, and aren't allowed in residential areas.

However, after a closed executive session on August 16, the council voted to revisit the issue.

"This affects a lot of properties in San Angelo," Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer explained in an interview on why she wants a moratorium. She added that she felt that the first-time around the votes were rushed.

"You can't just be shooting from the hip," she said. "I want to research the issue and do it right. I want it workable for everyone, including full-time residents."

Councilman Lane Carter also felt that the last council consideration left open a lot of questions. He thinks more time to consider all matters pertaining to STRs is a good step and the council needs to make its decision whichever way that goes  clear and unambiguous.

"I want the citizens to be happy," he said.

Carter also said he's received more calls and emails from people supporting STRs this time. "Last time about 95 percent were against them."

Both Farmer and Carter had previously asked for more time to consider the issue and are the ones who requested short term rentals be revisited.

In other business, council will consider:

A resolution amending the 2016-2021 Capital Improvement Plan to include a stormwater office building and the reconstruction of South Jackson Street.

The use of $322,946 in unallocated funds for calendar year 2017 health-insurance premiums.

Approving the City of San Angelo Development Corporation (COSADC) to provide funding of up to $63,000 for marketing and recruiting for air service for the San Angelo Regional Airport/Mathis Field.

The city council meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the McNease Convention Center, 501 Rio Concho Drive.
Malcolm Guy McBurnett was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the March 2013 death of Donald Di Pietro, a Marine sergeant who was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

McBurnett, 68, made a plea agreement with prosecutors Monday and appeared before 391st District Judge Tom Gossett on Tuesday afternoon to plead guilty to intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle.

The charge is typically a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, but McBurnetts charge was enhanced to a first-degree felony, punishable by five to 99 years in prison, because he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1998.

Prosecutor Richard Villarreal said that the 35-year sentence is a significant punishment, adding that a plea hearing can occur immediately after an agreement.

McBurnett was indicted in May 2013 on a charge of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle as well as manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Prosecutors agreed to drop the latter two charges as part of the plea agreement.

Villarreal said the case stretched for more than three years because McBurnett was admitted to several Texas hospitals for competency testing. McBurnet had four competency hearings before Mondays plea agreement.

McBurnett will receive about three years credit for time served since his arrest.

Fred Brigman, hired as McBurnetts defense attorney, said McBurnett must be considered for parole by the time he has served 16 years, but the parole board could set a hearing earlier.

No matter how many years McBurnett is sentenced, it will never be enough, said Teresa Di Pietro, the mother of Donald Di Pietro, after finding out the sentencing news Tuesday. The pain is with us constantly. We can never get away from it and we never will. We are satisfied that some justice was found with McBurnett going to prison, but we will be forever bitter that Allen Schmidt walked away from killing my son without being punished.

Donald Di Pietro died March 9, 2013, on a dark stretch of road in front of the Party Ranch, 5233 Christoval Road. McBurnett was drinking at the bar,that night just before putting his stalled 1991 Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup in neutral and pushing it into the road with the help of Allen Lee Schmidt, 50, according to court documents.

Donald Di Pietro, an intelligence instructor who was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base, was riding his motorcycle south on Christoval Road when he crashed into the back of the pickup and died at the scene. Police determined McBurnett was intoxicated and that the lights on his truck were not turned on.

In August 2014 a Tom Green County jury found Schmidt guilty of manslaughter in Di Pietros death. Because Schmidt did not have prior felony convictions, he was sentenced to 10 years probation and fined the maximum $10,000.

Donald Ray Di Pietro Sr. filed a wrongful death lawsuit April 2013 naming three parties: Party Ranch owner Tracy Lawson, McBurnett and Schmidt.

In October 2013, 340th District Judge Jay Weatherby ordered McBurnett to pay $2 million to Donald Ray Di Pietro in a default judgment.

McBurnett did not have liability insurance on his pickup, which had been registered to a former employer. McBurnett was fired several weeks before the crash and had bought the pickup from the employer for salvage. The pickup wasnt running when it was sold.

McBurnett, son of M.C. and Corrine McBurnett, is connected to the estate of the late C.C. McBurnett, a wealthy local rancher and financier who developed some of San Angelos tallest buildings, including the McBurnett Building, or Beauregard Tower, on the southwest corner of Irving Street and West Beauregard Avenue.

Teresa Di Pietro filed a lawsuit in March 2015 against Malcolm Guy McBurnett, Schmidt, Lawson and PartyRanch LLC, which has shut down. The case is pending.
Citing Wells Fargo's "predatory and illegal" practices, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs said the bank would no longer be broker-dealer for about $30 billion of state investment funds annually, a suspension he said will cost the institution "millions" of dollars in fees -- a figure the company disputed.His announcement comes days after at least one Chicago alderman proposed banning the city from doing business with Wells Fargo for two years.As treasurer, Frerichs oversees $1 trillion in annual investment activity. His office works with about two dozen companies, including Wells Fargo, that buy commercial paper and other short-term investments for the state."Wells Fargo took advantage of consumers by secretly opening 2 million unauthorized deposit, credit card, debit card and online banking accounts," Frerichs said Monday. Those abuses, which went on for years and were motivated by sales goals, resulted in dinged credit scores and millions of dollars in unwarranted fees for customers and therefore demand a "strong response," he said.Wells Fargo says that in Illinois, it can't rule out the possibility that 4,890 accounts were unauthorized. "Although it was not confirmed that these accounts were unauthorized, 233 incurred fees, and we decided to err on the side of the customer and issued these potentially impacted customers a refund, which on average was $25 per account," Wells Fargo spokeswoman Bridget Braxton said.Another company spokeswoman, LaTrina Shepherd, disputed that Frerich's move would cost Wells Fargo millions, saying the lost revenue would amount to about $50,000 per year.Frerichs' investment activity moratorium on Wells Fargo will last for at least a year. He was unable to quantify how many millions in fees that Wells Fargo would forgo but said "tens of millions" would be too high of a figure.He also said his office would suspend investments in Wells Fargo debt securities for a year.Wells Fargo has worked with the state of Illinois and city of Chicago since 1970. "We manage their business in our government and institutional banking division, which is separate from our retail bank," Shepherd said. "We're very sorry and take full responsibility for the incidents in our retail bank," which has taken steps to address the problems.Illinois won't use Wells Fargo for any new bond sales until further notice. The Rauner administration has not done any bond business with Wells Fargo to date.Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers told Bloomberg News that he plans to divest $25 million the city has invested with Wells Fargo.
As the rate of adult smokers continues to fall across the country, several states were hoping to entice more people to quit this year.Voters in California, Colorado, Missouri and North Dakota were all asked to increase their state's cigarette tax on Tuesday. But only Californians obliged.Missouri -- the state with the lowest taxes on cigarettes at just 17 cents -- had two competing cigarette tax measures, and both were rejected.To people in public health, the point of such measures is clear: to eliminate the unhealthy habit. While it's unlikely to have a state with zero smokers, some say California could come close.Californians who do smoke are more casual smokers, typically not pack-a-day type people. I believe Prop. 56 could end up nearly eliminating tobacco use in the state, said Stan Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a vocal anti-tobacco activist.Behind Utah, California already has the second-lowest smoking rate in the United Statesof 13.7 percent. It also hasone of the lowest tobacco taxes at just 87 cents.Studies show that sin taxes do reduce the number of smokers -- but only if the tax is high enough. A 2014 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that a 10 percent price increase in tobacco products generally results in a 3 to 7 percent decrease in adult smokers.Proposition 56 increases California taxes on cigarettes by $2 a pack and tax e-cigarettes for the first time.But not everyone is convinced that cigarette taxes are worthwhile.Bill Dombrowski, president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, argues that taxes like this don't work as intended.For us, its simple. When you tax cigarettes, it drives the sales to the black market. So youre not getting tax revenue and youre not helping public health."In New York, which has the highest cigarette taxes, Dombrowski's assertion proved partially true. After the last tax increase in 2010, the portion of cigarettes that were illegally smuggled in the state rose slightly. Still, the rate of smoking has declined 19 percent since then.But supporters say the black-market argument doesnt hold up -- at least not in California -- because "the issue of smuggling has less to do with what the tax rates are and more to do with a states anti-smuggling laws, said Glantz. In California, he points out, cigarettes have a unique stamp-like branding thats hard to counterfeit and easy for inspectors to identify in stores.For others against Prop. 56, their opposition stemmed from how the additional tax revenue will be spent.Money from the existing tobacco tax is dispersed among anti-smoking programs, breast cancer research and child development programs. The additional $2 tax, which is estimated to rake in $1 billion a year, will go to the state's Medicaid program -- but the proposition doesnt specify how it has to be used."Past tobacco tax increases created an explicit formula, and this was intentionally more flexible," said Lisa Eisenberg, policy director at the California School-Based Health Alliance, which supported the measure. "It recognizes that the conversation should be ongoing, that public health needs are constantly shifting."But big tobacco companies like Phillip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, who led the opposition, argued that the revenue should instead go into the General Fund.Advocates, however, believe that big tobacco companies would have been in opposition even if the money was going into the General Fund. Plus, they point out that it's not uncommon for tax propositions to establish special funds instead of contributing to the General Fund.Furthermore, if tobacco companies and their supporters really cared about issues like smuggling, Glantz said they would stop lobbying against ways to track cigarettes the minute they leave the factory until they get sold.With big tobacco companies leading the opposition, its hardly surprising that they massively outraised the supporters in every state voting on the issue. But after two failed ballot measures in the past decade to raise taxes on tobacco in California, it appears residents in the state had simply warmed up to the idea.
For years, policymakers have tried to find the best ways to support ex-offenders as they re-enter society. One idea thats gained momentum in recent years: ban-the-box laws, which bar employers from asking applicants about their criminal history when they first apply for a job. Backed by a broad coalition of interest groups ranging from the liberal-leaning National Employment Law Project (NELP) to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a flurry of jurisdictions have enacted these measures. The thought is that when questions concerning criminal records are delayed until later in the hiring process, ex-offenders have a better shot at being hired based on their qualifications.Nearly half of states and more than 100 localities now have some form of a ban-the-box law on the books. Most of them cover only public employers or government contractors. But nine states have taken it a step further, barring private employers from asking about criminal records on applications.Until this year, there was little research into the effect these laws actually had. But a pair of recent studies suggests they carry an alarming unintended consequence: Young African-American men without criminal histories, an already disadvantaged demographic, may find it even harder to receive job callbacks.In one study, University of Michigan researchers submitted 15,000 fictitious job applications before and after ban-the-box policies went into effect in New Jersey and New York City. Using distinctive applicant names to imply race, they measured whether employers either requested an interview or asked applicants to call them back.Employers contacted all black applicants at a rate of 11 percent following enactment of the policy. Thats an improvement for blacks with convictions, but a decline for those with clean records, who had previously received callbacks at a rate of 12.7 percent. The study was limited to applicants ages 21-22 during a few months immediately after ban-the-box became effective.If theres good news, its that the study found strong compliance with the laws, essentially eliminating the initial hurdle ex-felons face. Weighing that advantage versus the increase in racial discrimination that we find is a difficult policy dilemma, says report author Sonja Starr.Another study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in July, suggests that young black men without college degrees were on average 3.4 percentage points less likely to be employed under ban-the-box, and young Hispanics were 2.3 percentage points less likely to be working. For those without a high school diploma or GED, the discrepancies were even greater.The study, which controlled for region-specific employment shocks and individual characteristics, also found larger unintended effects when unemployment was high. The negative effects further worsen over time: Five or more years after enactment of ban-the-box, the likelihood of employment for young black men without college degrees had declined an average of 7.7 percentage points. By contrast, the effect on young Hispanics diminished over time. Jennifer Doleac of the University of Virginia, who co-authored the study, suspects this is because Hispanics work around the law by relying more on networks of friends and relatives to find jobs.The two studies reached similar conclusions despite using different methodologies and outcome measures. But ban-the-box supporters dispute the findings, contending that the laws are effective.Both NELP and ALEC question an assumption in Doleacs study that considered individuals to be affected by the policy if their state or any jurisdiction within their metro area had any type of ban-the-box law. This meant that private-sector employees were counted as affected even if the law applied only to the public sector. In the District of Columbia, where a ban-the-box law covers all local government and private employers, a recent audit reported that a majority of private employers surveyed said they had not been adequately informed of the law. Both ban-the-box studies should be scrutinized more closely before their findings are considered indisputable, says Ronnie Lampard, who heads a criminal justice reform task force for ALEC, which supports public-sector ban-the-box policies.Ban-the-box supporters also point to positive benefits for other demographic groups. In Doleacs study, older black men without college degrees and college-educated black women were more likely to be employed under ban-the-box, regardless of whether they had criminal records. Overall, the net benefits seem to outweigh the negative impacts these studies are purporting to document, says Beth Avery, a NELP attorney. Were not ready to give up on these policies that are really making a difference in the lives of those with criminal records.Whats not subject to debate is that the laws clearly help many offenders overcome steep barriers to employment. A review of ban-the-box policies in Durham, N.C., found that the share of city government hires with criminal records increased sevenfold after the laws took effect from 2011 to 2014. A recent D.C. audit report on ban-the-box similarly found year-over-year increases in hiring of applicants with criminal backgrounds for most agencies reviewed.One early adopter, Seattle, is tracking violations of its ban-the-box law, but hasnt yet studied its effects since its implementation in November 2013. We havent come up with any policy changes based on what emerged from the studies, but we are taking a close look at them to see if we need to adjust any policies or protocols, says Elliott Bronstein, spokesman for the citys Office of Labor Standards.Authors of the two new studies say theyve yet to hear of any states or localities considering overhauling their laws as a result of their findings. Its more likely that this kind of research will be taken into account in jurisdictions that havent done this yet or gone the full distance, Starr says. Doleac, however, has called on jurisdictions to repeal their laws and seek better alternatives, such as ensuring that employers consider the full context of an applicants conviction.Its already illegal for employers to reject applicants on the basis of race or issue blanket hiring bans on ex-offenders. But pushing some employers to change longstanding behaviors is easier said than done. These studies just highlight existing racial bias, NELPs Avery says, and that is the real problem.
A federal judge has dismissed a civil rights lawsuit that alleged police used excessive force against Ferguson protesters and violated their civil rights.U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey on Friday ruled in favor of summary judgment motions filed by police, police officials, St. Louis County and the city of Ferguson. The order appeared publicly in electronic court files Monday, the same day that lawyers for protesters filed a notice that they would appeal.In his order, Autrey said that the protesters who filed the suit "have completely failed to present any credible evidence that any of the actions taken by these individuals were taken with malice or were committed in bad faith."Autrey wrote that protesters were told to disperse, and when they did not and officers were ordered to begin making arrests, those officers gave repeated warnings before they started arresting protesters.Autrey ruled that individual police officers were "entitled to official and qualified immunity" from the lawsuit, and therefore their supervisors and St. Louis County were also entitled to immunity.In ruling for police on the summary judgment motion, Autrey had to view the evidence "in the light most favorable" to the plaintiffs and find that "no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."Autrey ruled that many of the plaintiffs' claims were not backed up by video evidence or other testimony.Tracey White, one of the plaintiffs, had alleged that she and her 17-year-old son were arrested inside of the Ferguson McDonald's. She claimed officers with rifles rushed in "like something out of a movie." She claimed that she was thrown to the ground and arrested when she protested the treatment of her son, who she claimed was arrested when she tried to give him the iPad she was carrying.But videos showed that she was actually arrested a block away. "She agreed that video showed an officer placing hand ties on her, and that she was not on the ground, and that there was no knee in her back," Autrey wrote. "No racial epithets or slurs were used against Tracey White."Another plaintiff, Dwayne A. Matthews Jr., had claimed that he was walking to his mother's house on Aug. 13 when he was shot with rubber-coated bullets, pepper-sprayed and nearly drowned in a drainage ditch before being beaten before and after he was restrained.But Autrey wrote that Matthews' "own statements (to paramedics and hospital staff) belie his position."Plaintiffs Damon Coleman and Theophilus Green claimed that they were hit by less-than-lethal projectiles fired by three officers, Autrey found, but were unable to contradict statements by those officers that they were not carrying such equipment that night.Other plaintiffs were unable to identify the officers that they claimed committed violations, Autrey found, or were not hurt during the encounters.Gregory Lattimer, one of the lawyers representing protesters, said in a telephone interview Monday: "It's unfortunate that the Constitution has such a rough time in Missouri, but I think that the court of appeals will look at this and make a determination that ... the judge's refusal to allow these cases to go forward was not consistent with applicable law."This is summary judgment and a jury should have been able to decide whether or not these actions were OK," he said.Lattimer characterized White's claims about McDonald's as a "mix up" and said people were "taken out of the McDonald's" and then "moved up and down the street illegally." He said, "Well, you took them out of the restaurant, put them on the street, and then tell them they failed to disperse."He called issues created by his clients' inability to identify police officers one of the "most disturbing aspects," noting that officers wore masks and took off their badges. "They obscure their identity and then because you can't identify them, then the officer goes free. That is not the way it is supposed to work."St. Louis County Counselor Peter Krane called it a "well-considered opinion" but declined to comment in detail.The original $41.5 million lawsuit was filed Aug. 28, 2014, by protesters who variously alleged that they were pepper-sprayed, shot with rubber bullets, beaten and arrested. It was amended to add more plaintiffs that October.This year, lawyers for the police filed motions to dismiss, claiming that much of what had been alleged was incorrect.The arrests were among hundreds during protests that followed the Aug. 9, 2014, fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.
On Sunday, in the morning, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey attended the 150th Celebration Service of St Thomas Anglican Church of Toowong.

In the afternoon, the Honourable Justice Margaret McMurdo AC ceased duty, and the Honourable Chief Justice Catherine Holmes resumed duty, as Acting Governor of Queensland.
On Friday, in the morning, at Government House, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, with Mrs Kaye de Jersey, hosted an Investiture Ceremony and presentation of awards for the Order of St John and addressed guests.

In the evening, at Parliament House, Brisbane, His Excellency attended the annual Queensland Police Remembrance Dinner and addressed guests.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Honourable Chief Justice Catherine Holmes ceased duty, and the Honourable Justice Margaret McMurdo AC assumed duty, as Acting Governor of Queensland.
(TNS) -- Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday a $1.5 million grant for the West Wing expansion of Ben Franklin TechVentures, a business incubator program that supports young technology companies.Construction on the $7.5 million expansion is scheduled to begin Tuesday and be open as early as September on Lehigh University's Mountaintop Campus. The four-floor, 19,685-square-foot facility could host about eight to 10 new companies.The expansion, which also received a $1.7 million federal grant, will include business incubation, office and meeting space for early-stage technology companies."We are really interested in growing good companies that provide good family-sustaining jobs, and that is what this place does," Wolf said at a public appearance at TechVentures.His announcement came before Ben Franklin officials and elected officials including state Sen. Lisa Boscola, state Rep. Steve Samuelson and Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez.Wolf's news of the $1.5 million grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Assistance Program was the second he announced Monday. Earlier in the day, Wolf visited Scranton to announce a $3 million grant to help redevelop vacant buildings in downtown Scranton into classroom and laboratory space for Lackawanna College.In Bethlehem, the expansion of TechVentures, owned by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, marks the second in five years.The original TechVentures, which was converted from a 62,000-square-foot building at the former Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Homer Research Labs complex, opened in September 2007. Officials dedicated a 47,000-square-foot expansion, including wet labs, meeting space and a parking deck, in October 2011. Since then, the organization has been near 100 percent capacity.TechVentures, which made Wolf's Jobs That Pay tour in January, is at 97 percent capacity.Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which was established in 1983, connects incubator companies with an experienced staff and gives them access to Lehigh's resources, including equipment, faculty and facilities. Its territory includes Lehigh, Northampton and 19 other Pennsylvania counties.R. Chadwick Paul Jr., president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, said the expansion is crucial to growing Pennsylvania's economy."We invest public funds to support early-stage and technology-based firms and we also help manufacturers creatively apply technology to make their products better, cheaper, faster and more competitive," he said. "The result is the creation and retention of high paying, sustainable jobs in Pennsylvania and the development of technologies that impact and improve the human condition around the globe."Since it began in 1983, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania has created 16,986 new jobs and retained 23,761 in its 21-county region of Pennsylvania.
DENVER  Colorado is planning to hire a digital transformation officer, which CTO David McCurdy said will be the first such role in a state government. The new position will work to understand how Colorado can transform the digital experience for state workers and citizens.At the Colorado Digital Government Summit on Oct. 4, McCurdy discussed the goals of this position and why its needed in state government. Not only do we want to transform and upgrade these applications from mainframe and other legacy systems, but we want to talk about, is this the right way of doing business in 2016, are the workflows right for 2016, are they meeting the citizens needs? McCurdy told
What can we expect from tonight's debate between vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine?

Civility. Knowledge. A focus on the issues. Coherence.

Yes, Pence probably will be asked to defend  possibly explain  some of Donald Trump's positions.

Likewise, Kaine will be called on to go to bat for Hillary Clinton.

I hope, however, that both will be able to stake out their own positions.

After all, the vice president isn't just an apologist for the president.

Nor is he an understudy who would pick up and follow the leading man's script should the star suddenly exit from the stage.

When the vice president assumes the top job  Gerald Ford most recently, way back in 1974  he inherits no obligation to carry out his predecessor's policies.

He will be the president and can chart his own course.

So we ought to get some sense now of what that course might be.

I believe Pence and Kaine are both decent men with the right temperament and experience to serve in high office. Some people, in fact, might wish they were leading their respective tickets. Pence, in particular, by virtue of being a decent man with a good temperament and appropriate experience, would clearly be a better Republican presidential candidate. Too bad he's not the candidate this year.

Nevertheless, we should look at both Pence and Kaine as possible presidents and determine which man voices a better vision for our country's future.
A teacher's aide at a Georgia elementary school has been fired after posts she wrote on Facebook surfaced last week, enraging community members and people across the country who saw her words shared widely online.

In them, the aide, Jane Wood Allen, called First Lady Michelle Obama a "gorilla" repeatedly and said she is a "disgrace to America!" according to screenshots of the now-deleted posts obtained by local media.

Many Facebook users immediately called for her termination and used the hashtag #FireJaneWoodAllen. "I am disgusted that this woman is an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EMPLOYEE," one woman wrote on Facebook. "Please if you're sickened by this like I am email the superintendent and file a complaint!"

On Monday, the district announced the aide had been "relieved from duty and is no longer an employee of Forsyth County Schools."

Allen worked as a paraprofessional, or teacher's aide, at Chestatee Elementary School in Gainesville, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The school is part of a majority white district, data shows, with black students making up just 3.15 percent of the student body.

"Racism and discrimination are not tolerated in our school district," Forsyth County Schools wrote in a post on Facebook. "We are committed to ongoing staff training on the acceptance of all individuals. As this is a personnel matter, the district will provide no further comment."

Attempts to reach Allen by the Journal-Constitution were unsuccessful, according to the newspaper.

The Internet effort to get Allen fired began Friday morning, reported the Journal-Constitution, after University of Houston Ph.D. candidate Roni Dean-Burren posted screenshots of the aide's comments to Facebook, asking "Is that who you want teaching your kids? #askingforafriend"

"I think that this concept of referring to black people as monkeys or apes or gorillas is an age-old sort of racist comment that we've seen in this country for way too long," Dean-Burren told the Journal-Constitution.

On Saturday, according to the newspaper, her most recent post had been shared more than 3,700 times and garnered 620 reactions and more than 400 comments.

"This poor Gorilla," the post began, accompanied by a link to a conservative news site about Michelle Obama. "How is she going to function in the real world, by not having all of her luxurious vacations paid for anymore? She needs to focus on getting a total make-over (especially the hair), instead of planning vacations! She is a disgrace to America!"

In another post, Allen shared a story from Opposing Views which pointed out that Michelle Obama had topped several lists of the world's most admired women. "Do you admire her?" it asked.

Allen responded: "I admire a gorilla more than I admire her. (Wait, I forgot, she is a gorilla)!"

The aide criticized the First Lady again for taking alleged exorbitant trips on the tax payers' dime.

"She is the worst example of a First Lady ever!" Allen wrote. "(Oh sorry, I meant gorilla not First Lady)!"

Other posts were considered anti-Muslim and anti-Hispanic, reported Forsyth News.

"Bye! Don't come back!" Allen wrote beside an article about Muslim-Americans and Donald Trump. "You have no business in the USA anyway!"

The idea that black people are apelike "began with the first European contact with Africans," Phillip Atiba Goff, a UCLA psychologist, told The Root, but using it as an insult in the United States seems to have risen since the country's first black president was elected. Racist memes depicting President Barack Obama and his wife have infested the Internet for nearly a decade now.

People continue to share them on social media, and some continue to lose their jobs because of it.

Just this week, a Pennsylvania mayor refused to resign his post after publishing racist Obama memes to his Facebook page. One depicted the first family as orangutans. Last week, an East Tennessee State University student was arrested after he wandered through a Black Lives Matter protest barefoot, wearing overalls and a gorilla mask and passing out bananas.

georgia-school

Washington Post News Service (DC)

10/4/2016 6:35:23 AM Central Daylight Time
WASHINGTON  CT Against Gun Violence, the states largest gun-violence-prevention advocacy group, has issued endorsements in General Assembly races that it hopes will help maintain Connecticut as a bastion of what it views as reasonable restrictions on firearms.

The CAGVs list includes A-to-F grades for all candidates and endorsements in 113 races  92 state House candidates and 21 Senate candidates. Of those, eight are Republican and the rest Democratic.

Polls in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in 2012 show significant majorities in Connecticut support the states post-Newtown gun laws, as well as national-level calls for expanded background checks and a no fly, no buy ban on gun purchases by anyone on the governments terrorism watch list.

There is no question that support for commonsense gun laws is very strong in Connecticut, said Ron Pinciaro, executive director of CAGV, which is based in Fairfield. Thats why we have the second-strongest gun laws in nation, behind only California.

Opposing views

The CAGV list is a stark contrast to that of the NRA, which vowed in releasing its round of Connecticut endorsements two weeks ago that it is not giving up on the state.

More Information Endorsements CT Against Gun Violence endorsed 113 candidates - 105 of them Democrats - in Connecticut General Assembly races. The NRA endorsed 43 candidates - 11 in the state Senate and 32 in the House - with just one Democrat among them. The Connecticut Citizens Defense League endorsed Republicans Angel Cadena - challenging U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro - and Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope - running against Rep. Elizabeth Esty. The CCDL also endorsed Republican challenger Dan Carter over Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. See More Collapse

The NRA endorsed just 43 General Assembly candidates, 11 in the state Senate and 32 in the state House. The nations largest gun-rights organization backed just one Democrat  state Sen. Cathy Osten, whose district includes Norwich, Montville, Sprague and other eastern Connecticut towns.

Neither the CAGV nor the NRA endorsed congressional candidates.

But in CAGVs case, the group may indeed endorse in the five congressional races, in which all incumbents are Democrats, and the Senate race pitting Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., against GOP challenger Dan Carter.

We would endorse the entire delegation because theyre all good, and Senator Blumenthal as well, Pinciaro said.

The Connecticut Citizens Defense League, the major in-state gun-rights group, endorsed two Republican congressional candidates: Angel Cadena, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro; and Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope, who is running against Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty. The group also endorsed Carter over Blumenthal.

Questioning candidates

In addition, CCDL is endorsing candidates in 17 of 36 state Senate races, and 47 of 151 state House races.

CAGV based its endorsements and grades on responses to its questionnaire in addition to analysis of legislative voting records and statements pro or con on the gun issue.

The key legislative vote in the past year was on extending the gun ban to individuals with domestic violence temporary restraining orders against them. It won approval in both chambers by wide margins and was signed into law by earlier this year by Gov. Dannel Malloy. The new law took effect on Oct. 1.

The NRA endorsements and grades were based on questionnaire responses  or non-responses.

Unlike more Red-leaning states, where Republicans are united behind expansion of gun rights, Connecticut has numerous Republicans who agree with the CAGV position  particularly in Fairfield County.

Among them are Rep. Tom ODea, from New Canaan, and Sen. Toni Boucher, whose district covers Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport, and Wilton. The CAGV endorsed both and gave them grades of A-minus and A, respectively.

The group gave Greenwich-based state Sen. Scott Frantz a grade of A and his Democratic opponent, John Blankley, an A-minus. But it declined to endorse either one.

Downstate Connecticut is very, very strong on this issue, Pinciaro said. It would be difficult for Fairfield County Republicans to vote against us.

CAGV was a major player in the state prior to the Sandy Hook shooting, but the school tragedy in which 20 children and six staff members died was a galvanizing event for the gun-violence-prevention movement, Pinciaro said.

Prior to the mass-shooting, CAGVs network was about 8,000. It grew by 30,000 in the wake of Newtown and today stands at about 60,000, he said.

dan@hearstdc.com
HARTFORD  The poverty rates in the states four major cities are twice as high as the rest of Connecticut, according to a new election-cycle report from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

And the CCM says the fate of surrounding suburbs depends on urban resilience.

More than half the states homeless reside in the big cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford and Waterbury, which also report crime rates equal or more than twice the state average.

In the state with the nations highest per capita income, they are among the poorest cities in the United States, said Joe DeLong, executive director of the CCM.

Their combined population of about 500,000 is one- seventh of the entire state.

Bridgeport and Hartford are hosts for nearly half the hospitals beds in Fairfield and Hartford counties, respectively. The cities face big obstacles in providing services and collecting taxes, while also acting as regional economic, social and cultural hubs.

Ron Thomas, deputy director of the CCM, which lobbies the General Assembly on municipal issues, said that the cities are also engines of economic development, health care and culture.

If these hubs fail, the suburbs around them will also plummet, Thomas said. People wont move their families or businesses to regions without a strong cultural and work base. If the central city isnt viable, the only alternative for economic growth will be areas that havent yet been developed, devouring Connecticuts green space and agricultural communities.

More Information A snapshot of Connecticut's major cities Unemployment rate Hartford11% Waterbury8.9% Bridgeport8.4% New Haven7.7% Statewide5.6% Cities crime rates higher than the statewide levels Incidents per 100,000 population Statewide2,167 Bridgeport3,821 Hartford5,194 New Haven5,026 Waterbury4,418 Connecticut infant mortality Statewide 4.7 per 1,000 births Bridgeport 5.3 per 1,000 births Waterbury 8.1 per 1,000 births New Haven 7.3 per 1,000 births Hartford 5.8 per 1,000 births Source: Connecticut Conference of Municipalites See More Collapse

Hartford has the highest unemployment rate of 11 percent, compared to Bridgeports 8.4 percent, New Havens 7.7 percent and Waterburys 8.9 percent.

Statewide, about 8.8 percent of the populace is uninsured, compared to 19.8 percent in Bridgeport, 16.9 percent in Hartford, 14.4 percent in New Haven and 12.3 percent in Waterbury.

Statewide, less than 6 percent of public school students learn English as a second language.

In Bridgeport and New Haven, nearly 13 percent of students are English learners, while in Danbury more than 20 percent of students learn English as a second languages.

The report was issued as part of the CCMs election year effort to instruct voters and prompt public policy discussions, including ways to help the cities face the problems of providing services with lower-income tax bases and under-funded schools.

The study is the second in a range of bulletins for candidates and the public to ponder.

kdixon@ctpost.com;
NORWALK  The Norwalk High School community is mourning the loss of a recent graduate who was found dead early Monday in his dorm room at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

Sean L. Sullivan, a freshman economics major from Norwalk, was found unresponsive in his Grange Hall dorm room, the university said in a statement. Medics responded to the scene and attempted to revive Sullivan but were unsuccessful.

Sullivan, a 2016 Norwalk High School graduate, was a highly regarded member of the Marching Bears, and was active in the schools Ultimate Frisbee Club.

Sean was well-respected and well-liked by his peers, Chris Rivera, director of bands at Norwalk High School, said. He had a great way of motivating the other students to get pumped up. The band is really like a family and they become brothers and sisters. Everyone is grieving.

Sullivan played trumpet and was a member of the Marching Band, the Wind Symphony, the Jazz Orchestra and the Pit Orchesta, Rivera said.

His sister Lucy is one of my Color Guard captains, Rivera said. We are going to see what we can do as a family for Seans family.

Dr. Dan Sullivan, head of the Norwalk High School Guidance Department, remembered Sullivan as a person who cared for others.

Sean was a thoughtful and brilliant young man who radiated a love for learning, Sullivan said. Sean intended to major in economics and was equally active in his local church. Sean was an innately good human being who cared for his fellow man.

Sullivans former guidance counselor, Tasha Sherrill, spoke about his brilliance and humility.

A brilliant AP scholar with a vast knowledge base, polite and humble, Sherrill said. One learned from him by simply talking to him.

In addition to being active in after-school activities, Sullivan also held down part-time jobs at two local grocery stores. Former co-workers at Stew Leonards and Cranbury Market remembered Sullivan fondly.

I spoke to his supervisors and team members, and they were shocked and saddened to hear this, Meghan Bell, a spokesperson for Stew Leonards, said.

Sullivan worked in the Christmas Shop in 2013 and 2015, Bell said.

He worked in the Christmas Shop to raise money for the Norwalk High School band, Bell said. For every hour the students worked, Stews would make a donation to the program. He was described as reliable, kind and funny. He certainly will be missed.

Sullivan was also a highly regarded employee at Cranbury Market, where he worked as a part-time cashier while in high school.

A manager at Cranbury Market said Sullivan worked at the grocery store for a little over two years. Sullivan had great manners, the manager said, and was always polite to customers. We all thought highly of him and his family.

Stephanie Reitz, a spokesperson for UConn, said a police investigation into Sullivans death is ongoing. A spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Tuesday that an autopsy is pending.

Sean was a new freshman and, as such, hadnt yet become deeply involved in some of the UConn clubs and organizations, but clearly had a circle of friends who cared very much about him and are grieving his death, Reitz said. Were reaching out to those students to offer them support, and encouraging all students to talk with our professionals in UConn Counseling & Mental Health Services if they feel it would help them come to terms with the difficult emotions that this may evoke in them.

There were no indications of criminal involvement and there are no safety dangers to others, Reitz said. A cause and manner of death will be determined following an autopsy.

llake@hearstmediact.com
Introduction

Android is by far the most popular smartphone OS - 7 out every 8 phones run some version of it. And yet its purest form, a Nexus device, is anything but dominant in the marketplace. A rebranding effort sees the "Google phones" change the name to Pixel in the hope to change the popularity as well.

The Pixel and Pixel XL maintain the 0.5" difference in screen size, but drop to 5" and 5.5" respectively. Aside from screen size and the battery, the two metal body phones have virtually the same hardware.



Google Pixel keynote

Both now use AMOLED screens - this is a requirement for Daydream VR, they can change pixels faster with minimal ghosting. The screen has to have at least 1080p resolution, further the phone needs 4GB (or more) of RAM and run Android Nougat. This is essentially the 5" Google Pixel.

Google Pixel at a glance:

Body: Metal unibody

Metal unibody Screen: 5" 1080p AMOLED screen (441ppi); Gorilla Glass 4

5" 1080p AMOLED screen (441ppi); Gorilla Glass 4 OS: Android 7.1 Nougat; Android Assistant

Android 7.1 Nougat; Android Assistant Chipset: Snapdragon 821

Snapdragon 821 Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32GB or 128GB storage

4GB of RAM; 32GB or 128GB storage Camera: 12MP (f/2.0, 1.55m); EIS, 8MP selfie camera

12MP (f/2.0, 1.55m); EIS, 8MP selfie camera Video: 2160p

2160p Connectivity: LTE (Cat. 9-12); Wi-Fi calling; USB Type-C

LTE (Cat. 9-12); Wi-Fi calling; USB Type-C Battery: 2,770mAh (32h talk time, 552h standby); Fast charging (7h talk time in 15min)

2,770mAh (32h talk time, 552h standby); Fast charging (7h talk time in 15min) Misc: Fingerprint reader

The larger Pixel XL goes up to QHD resolution and a higher pixel density. It has the same amount of RAM and storage options, though - 32GB or 128GB. Before you ask, there's no microSD slot, but Google Photos can free up storage by moving photos and videos to the cloud.

The LG V20 may have been the first phone with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, but the Pixels one up it - literally, they come with 7.1 Nougat. Google Assistant is Google Now's more talkative, more pro-active sibling. It promises to learn the more you use it and become more helpful in time.

Google Pixel XL at a glance:

Body: Metal unibody

Metal unibody Screen: 5.5" QHD AMOLED screen (534ppi); Gorilla Glass 4

5.5" QHD AMOLED screen (534ppi); Gorilla Glass 4 OS: Android 7.1 Nougat; Android Assistant

Android 7.1 Nougat; Android Assistant Chipset: Snapdragon 821

Snapdragon 821 Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32GB or 128GB storage

4GB of RAM; 32GB or 128GB storage Camera: 12MP (f/2.0, 1.55m); EIS, 8MP selfie camera

12MP (f/2.0, 1.55m); EIS, 8MP selfie camera Video: 2160p

2160p Connectivity: LTE (Cat. 9-12); Wi-Fi calling; USB Type-C

LTE (Cat. 9-12); Wi-Fi calling; USB Type-C Battery: 3,450mAh (26h talk time, 456h standby); Fast charging (7h talk time in 15min)

3,450mAh (26h talk time, 456h standby); Fast charging (7h talk time in 15min) Misc: Fingerprint reader

The cameras use 12MP sensors with 1.55m pixels behind an f/2.0 aperture - it sounds just like the Nexus 5X/6P camera, which was excellent. It's not a verbatim copy, new Electronic Image Stabilization is present.

The talk around town is that Android and Chrome OS will merge in the near future, but product branding is already merging - Pixel was used for the premium Chromebooks and later for a first-class Android tablet. However, this is the first time it embodies a phone.

HTC is the company manufacturing the Pixel and Pixel XL - a 5" and a 5.5" version of mostly the same hardware. The Taiwanese company is going back to its roots of an ODM - a Pixel is a "Phone by Google", there's no endorsement of HTC's involvement. Google is about hardware now and it's only braning we'll see from now on on these devices.

This stands in stark contrast to the Nexus line - they were branded "Nexus" and with their manufacturer's logo. But the Pixel phones are not the new Nexus phones - Google is rebooting the entire lineup. The search engine company is no longer a software company - it's now in the consumer electronics business as well.

The Pixel and Pixel XL are the children of Google's new hardware division and this is a key selling point.

And they can connect to a Google Wi-Fi router, interact with the Google Chromecast Plus and other devices in the fast-growing eco-system of G-branded products. But as phone buffs, we jumped on the Pixels first.
Android turned 8 just a few days ago and the Hiroshi Lockheimer (SVP of Android, Chrome OS and Play) teased that "from now we'll be talking about Oct 4, 2016." What's the big deal? Here's the rumor roundup, much of which has been confirmed by several solid leaks.

Pixel phones

It seems that the Nexus line is rebranding to Pixel and which company better-suited to build the new devices than HTC - the company that built the first Nexus One (also the first Android).

Two phones - the 5" Pixel and 5.5" Pixel XL - will bring Google Magic (this isn't a metaphor, the advertised feature likely relates to the Google Assistant). Both will share most of their features - from the new version of Nougat (Android 7.1), through chipset (Snapdragon 821) and storage options (32GB or 128GB, don't believe the microSD rumors). The cameras will be updated versions of the excellent 12MP shooters on the current Nexus phones and there will be 8MP front snappers.

The Pixel XL will have a QHD screen and pack a 3,450mAh battery while the smaller Pixel will use a 1080p screen and 2,770mAh battery. Some water resistance is possible, but prices will be salty - the XL could start as high as $650.

A tablet?

Huawei built the Nexus 6P and this collaboration was supposed to carry on with the Pixel but plans changed.

The tech giant may not be out of the pure-Google game completely and is said to be working on a 7" tablet - a long-awaited replacement for the Nexus 7 (perhaps a Pixel 7 now).

Daydream VR

Google did a lot to popularize phone-based VR with the affordable Cardboard, but that was far too simple to offer more than a taste. The full meal is the Daydream VR, which will likely debut alongside the Pixel phones.

Not every phone is "Daydream ready," the requirements are unclear but will likely impose minimums on the screen pixel density and the quality of motion-tracking sensors (a beefy Vulkan-enabled GPU is a given).

Google may try to one up Samsung by undercutting the price of the Gear VR - rumor has it that the Daydream VR headset will go for $80. And it will come with a Wii-like motion controller.

Andromeda OS

This one is more of a look towards the future - perhaps what Mr. Lockheimer was referring to. Andromeda is said to be the union between Android and Chrome OS.

It makes a ton of sense - some Chromebooks can already run Android apps and the Chrome browser is more tightly integrated into Android than ever. Since Nougat, the WebView component has been replaced by Chrome (this is a component that allows apps to be built on web technologies, sometimes as simple as packaging a mobile website).

Chromecast Plus

4K video is big and Google's media player is the only one not to support it - companies like Roku and Amazon brought down the price of entry for 4K streaming to the $80 range.

The Chromecast Plus is rumored to cost about the same - $70 - but it supports screen mirroring from Android devices and will perhaps feature Google Home.

Google Home

Following in the footsteps of Alexa, Google's talkative digital assistant for the home was announced at I/O but now we may see it in hardware form. That will allegedly cost $130 (Amazon is charging $180 for an Echo, Alexa's top physical body).

This is the assistant behind Google Allo, by the way, so you may soon be able to talk to it, not just write to it.

Google Wi-Fi

Another Wi-Fi router from Google, this one will support mesh networking to so you can easily connect several units to improve coverage around your house.

It will be cheaper than the OnHub - $130 vs. $200. That's the same price as the Home, perhaps there will be some interplay between the two (the OnHub router didn't have microphones, so voice commands are not supported).
Android Police says that Google already had Huawei in mind to manufacture the Google Pixel phones that are now being made by HTC. The smartphone blog says it had a conversation with people familiar with Huaweis operations which gave them, and now us, an inside look at what went down behind the scenes between Google and the Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei.

When Google brought Huawei onto the Nexus project to make the Nexus 6P, initially, Google told Huawei that the phone would be sold in all four major carriers. This immediately caught Huaweis attention, as the company had been looking for the best way to enter the US market. Now, while the Nexus 6P was compatible with all four major US carriers' networks, not one of them actually sold the Nexus 6P.

In addition to the promise of being sold in all four carrier stores across the country, Google also agreed to collaborate with Huawei and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to advertise the Nexus 6P. Google made the first promise with Huawei a bit too early, as its talks with the carriers didnt make it all the way through. Perhaps carriers didnt want to bother with another Nexus phone as the Motorola-made Nexus 6 (which did sell through all major US carriers) perhaps didnt meet carriers sales expectations.

Shortly after the launch of the Nexus 5X and 6P, Huawei was approached again by Google about its plans for the years portfolio. Google wanted Huawei to build the Pixel phones, but Googles condition was that the phones would be Google-branded. At this moment, Huawei was like: um, no and immediately ended negotiations with Google. This is where HTC came in and won the bid instead.

Huawei still hasnt found that entry-point for the US market that its looking for, the Honor 8 smartphone unfortunately didnt meet expectations and there are even reports of Huawei laying off most of the Huawei US team just a few weeks after the initial sales for the Honor 8. Ironically, the Pixel phones would have been a great entry-point for Huawei at this point in time. Although the Pixel phones would be Google-branded, it would have given Huawei a better chance of selling phones to US carriers in the near-future as the manufacturer of those smartphones.

The source reports that Huaweis relationship with Google remains strong, with ongoing collaborations that include a previously rumored tablet to be manufactured by Huawei. There are also reports of Google soliciting companies (including Huawei) to build a mid-range device for mid-2017 sadly theres no other information about the latter.

Source | Via
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Haiti - FLASH : Matthew, Haiti is preparing for the impact





The departments of the Great South, Southeast, South, Grand Anse and Nippes are beginning to feel more strongly the effects of the Category 4 hurricane Matthew, rough sea, strong waves, gust of wind, of the rest of country showers, moderate rainfall and winds are recorded. Knowing that the center of Matthew is located 215 km south of the coast of Haiti (Port-Salut) and that the storm winds extend up to 295 km from the center the caution is required in the southern coastal areas.



However, according to the latest information and the current trajectory, the center of Matthew will approach the South East of Haiti tonight, bringing wind and rain in large quantities.



Currently (7pm) the center of the Category 4 hurricane Matthew, is located 325 km South-West of Port-au-Prince, 215km south of Port-Salut , 315km South-West of Jacmel.



Matthew moves towards the North-North East at 13km/h (therefore closer to Haiti) at turn back toward the north at a faster forward speed is expected later tonight through Tuesday night. A turn toward the north-northwest is forecast on Wednesday.



On the forecast track, the center of Matthew will approach southwestern Haiti tonight, move near eastern Cuba late Tuesday (The Northwest region of Haiti may be affected), and move near or over portions of the southeastern and central Bahamas Tuesday night and Wednesday.



Maximum sustained winds remain near 140 mph (220 km/h) with higher gusts. Some fluctuations in intensity are possible during the next couple of days, but Matthew is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through Wednesday.



Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 km).



The National Meteorological Centre (CNM) of Haiti recalls that Matthew could bring an Accumulation from 300 to 600 mm of rain in the South of the country, therefore, the risk of severe flooding accompanied by mudslides and cases of coastal flooding are still evident throughout the country with a higher intensity for the South coast.



NOAA for its part states that the South of Haiti could receive from 15 (380 mm) to 25 inches (635mm) of rain, and up to 40 inches (1016 mm / 1 meter) in isolated locations.



Maritime conditions are and remain extremely dangerous with waves that can reach 10 feet or 3 meters.



Evacuation

Balance of COUN until 4h30 p.m.



2049 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.



Grand'Anse: 642 evacuated

Nippes: 613 evacuated

South: 475 evacuated

Southeast: 319 evacuated



In West evacuation is initiated in Cite Soleil, Cite leternel and Warf de Jeremie



Material resources

The Ministry of Defence is ready to mobilize 100 soldiers from the Engineering Corps, 3 civil engineers as Supervisor, and also equipments, excavator, backhoe loader and one truck mobilized right away for 2 departments.



The National Centre of equipment, can mobilize 20 trucks, 2 loaders, 2 excavators.



The components of engineers of the Minustah is ready to support the Haitian authorities on request and in the mission capability.



Damages

The cities of Dame Marie and Bariadelle are flooded according to COUN. The cemetery of the town of Anse d'Hainault is already under the sea water. The commune of Roche a Bateau is flooded according to the mayor Fritznel Chery. In Les Cayes sea began to rise and invaded several steets of the city. 30 houses are flooded in Tiburon. One hundred houses have been damaged in Boucan Carre.



Health

The 10 departmental hospitals are open and emergency services will operate round the clock.



National Police mobilized

The National Police of Haiti is mobilized at the 10 departments to help out as part of the management activities of the Hurricane Matthew. It implements in a concerted manner with other relevant bodies, including the Directorate of Civil Protection, its contingency plan. The mobilization has intensified in all departments particularly at the southern peninsula, that is to say, in the departments of South, South-east of Grande-Anse, Nippes, more a good portion of the West. PNH awaiting instructions of COUN to carry out evacuations in areas at risk. 100 police officers in the West are available to secure the convoy.



PNH encourage everyone to call 114, 38381111, 38371111, 38361111 in case of need of police assistance.



Water

In the Southeast have been mobilized 20 technicians in water and sanitation of the DINEPA, through the 10 COUC.



SMS

Over 25 million SMS messages were sent, 6 million people were able to receive advice concerning the measures for the passage of Matthew.



Message of the First Lady

Nou tout we oubyen konnen ki dega siklon konn fe e ka fe, pandan nap priye pou dega yo pa twop ann pran tout prekosyon otorite yo mande nou pran yo; paske leta se nou, nou se leta.



Wol pa nou se ede ou, akonpanye ou



ol pa ou kom sitwayen se pemet nou ede ou, kolabore ak nou pou nou bay rezilta



- Si ou rete bo lanme, bo ravin fok ou deplase vit pa fe tet di

- Byen materyel se pa sa pou jere nan moman sa, vi ou pi enpotan, men pandan wap deplase siw gen tan pase men pran pyes enpotan ou nou vle pale de batiste ou, paspo ou e latriye.

- Wap bezwen manje, dlo, flash, pil, kit ijans menm e pa bliye.. telefon ou se paw men fok ou itilize li lew bezwen selman, sere ti chaj ou, siw angaje li ka itil ou pou rele mande ed.



Emergency number

PNH 114/122 ou 3838-1111

Ambulance 116

Red Cross 118

BPM 188

EDH 2212-2212

Firefighter 2945-1111 ou 115

OAVCT 2942-1309



For any emergency during Hurricane Matthew, only in case of emergency if you have information about people who are in urgent need of rapid assistance, please contact quickly the resources of the Centre for Departmental Emergency Operation, which are responsible for the Civil Protection cells in the country :



Moise Jean-Pierre Central Coordinator Civil Protection Emergency 48980453 (Port-au-Prince)

Nadia Lochard 48980305 (West)

Jean Henri-Petit 48980306 (North)

Faustin Joseph 48980319 / 33734496 (Upper Artibonite)

Luckecy Mathieu 48980318 (Lower Artibonite)

Ronald Delice 48960565 / 48409696 (South East)

Rethone Jose 48960564 (North West)

Raymonde Jourdain 48980310 (Centre)

Fidele Nicolas 48980309 (Nippes)

Sylvera Guillaume 48980308 (Grand-Anse)

Tony Denis 48980307 (North East)



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18807-haiti-flash-hurricane-matthew-first-victims.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Humanitarian : Thank you Food For The Poor





In response to passage on Haiti, of Category 4 hurricane Matthew, the NGO Food For The Poor Haiti working in Haiti for 30 years https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3192-haiti-humanitarian-food-for-the-poor-celebrates-its-25-years.html is preparing to respond to the emergency.



NGO officials explain the actions taken as part of their response plan "Our truck-trailers are ready to deliver dry food rations to the different municipalities of the metropolitan area; including the municipalities of: Petionville, Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Cite Soleil, Carrefour, Tabarre



We are working with the Diocese of Grand-Anse, to help the people in this locality that faces great danger.



We also assist the sourcing of our regional distribution centers in the provinces (Anse a Veau / Nippes, Port-de-Paix / Northwest Balan / Ganthier, Les Cayes / South, Jacmel / South East, Gonaives / Artibonite) to provide aid directly to beneficiaries.



We confirm that stocks of food and equipment including: rice, peas, vienna sausage, candles, rubber boots, candles, shovels, picks, blankets were sent and received in regional distribution centers.



Les Cayes: 2 40-foot containers

Jeremiah 1 truck 18 feet

Pestel: 1 truck 18 feet

Anse a Veau: 2 40-foot containers

Jacmel: 2 40-foot containers

Ganthier: 1 40-foot containers

Gonaives: 1 40-foot containers and one truck 18 feet

Cap Haitien: 4 40-foot containers



Meanwhile 4 trucks of 10 feet, one 20 feet and 5 40-foot containers are being loaded and ready to be dispatched on Tuesday morning according to the most affected areas.



All employees are mobilized to respond to the urgency of the situation.



Keep Haiti in your prayers!"



In a note Michel Ange Gedeon, Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) shared with the Department Directors (DD) the informations relating to the distribution plan for Food for the Poor a plan that requires the intervention of all DD. Moreover, in the context of securing these containers, he asked the Divisional Commissioner Carl Henry Boucher to coordinate security arrangements between the DOS and/or CIMO and other departments.



HL/ S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Error in mandates

Errors in the printing of mandates of representatives were found without that we know exactly what they are, but serious enough that the Provisional Electoral Council asks political parties to return them urgently... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18806-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html



Embassy of France closed

The Embassy of France in Haiti is closed to the public on Tuesday, October 4th. If you had an appointment today to the visa section, it is your responsibility to contact this service by writing to visas.port-au-prince-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr or calling to : (+509) 29 99 90 18 / 29 99 90 31) to arrange a new appointment.



CEP Emergency Meeting

Monday, an emergency meeting of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) would have been held to discuss the measures to be adopted with respect to maintenance or not of the presidential and legislative elections of October 9, in the conditions created by the passage of Hurricane Matthew in the country



Fanmi Lavalas ready to help the people

The Fanmi Lavalas party is ready to help people during and after the passage of Matthew. Maryse Narcisse, the presidential candidate of the party reported that a team of doctors of the permanent team of mobile clinic will be deployed across several regions of the country to bring relief and assistance to victims.



"Pitit Dessalin" in solidarity in the trial

Instructions have been passed to all the coordinators of the Party "Pitit Dessalin" across the country to provide assistance to the population in their zones.



Message of Edmonde Supplice Beauzile

"I send a big hats off to the Haitian people that is always in solidarity to each other whatever the weather. I ask you to remain vigilant and to follow the instructions of civil protection within the passage of Matthew hurricane on the country. We will protect ourselves and Sunday, October 9 we will go vote en masse," declared Edmonde Supplice Beauzile presidential candidate under the banner of "Fusion of Social Democrats" (FUSION).



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : The bridge Ladigue collapses - Situation West - PAP





Matthew to 1 p.m.

Currently the center of the hurricane Matthew is located at 168km West of Gonaives, 65km south of Cuba, and moving North at 17 km/h, it still represent a danger to Haiti, especially for the departments of West, Artibonite, North West and the North. Winds are 230km/h. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 95 km from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 295 km.



The National Meteorological Centre (CNM) of Haiti indicates that this disturbance is still carrier of strong to extreme torrential rain (375-625 mm). Therefore, the risk of severe flooding accompanied by mudslides and case of coastal flooding remain evident across the country with a higher intensity for coastal regions.



The hurricane Matthew begins to seriously affected the departments of Artibonite, North, Northwest and Central Plateau.



Situation in the metropolitan area - West :



At Port-au-Prince, after a certain lull winds resumed and the rain intensifies



The population of the municipality of Ganthier lauchs an appeals because of the water coming.



At Carrefour there are heavy rains accompanied by gales.



Laboule road was closed because of falling trees causing a traffic jam.



In Gressier, a local official says 80% of agricultural plots of a communal section are totally destroyed.



Huge wind gusts were felt in Petionville that throw trees damaging houses.



The river Grise is in flood and threatens to leave its banks and flood the Cul de Sac Plain, including vulnerable communes of Damien, Tabarre, Cite Soleil and every neighborhood from Cazeau to Marin.



The bridge of Croix-des-Missions was closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic following the flooding of the river Grise.



Strong winds and torrential rains hit Petit-Goave. Trees have fallen to downtown. The damage could be substantial... It is impossible to move in Petit-Goave. The Ladigue bridge in Petit-Goave, connecting Grand'Anse, Nippes and South at the rest of the country collapsed https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-17222-icihaiti-petit-goave-critical-situation-at-the-bridge-ladigue.html



Situation in Port-au-Prince :



Here is the overall situation for a total of 9 functional temporary shelters in the commune:



Between 1500 to 2000 displaced people so far.



Lycee Fritz Pierre Louis about 200 people received. Orphanage located in the area of wharf Jeremie: a total of 123 displaced children including 17 with disabilities.



In the coastal area, Cite de Dieu, cite Plus, Village Michel, Martissant etc. Approximately 500 displaced families so far. No loss of lives recorded to date.



No flood warning recorded so far.



Alert for a Digicel antenna located in the area of Rue Norgez impasse Germain # 4. Gangerous antenna.



Rue Fleury Bathier: a high voltage cable out in the street, EDH is requested to take steps if it is not done yet.



Zone Alerte Street, Street Champ de Mars problem of flooded street caused by cars parked on sidewalks obstructing the flow of water.



Fontamara 27, Bourjolly street: Emergency Assistance Request.



Rue Saint Martin: Potable water supply problem reported.



Any organization or individual wishing to support the Mayor of Port-au-Prince is asked to contact 2210 1010 or 3882 1979.



We still need equipment, mattresses, sleeping bags, basic necessities, emergency health kits etc...



Listen the 3rd address to the nation of President de facto Jocelerme Privert :











See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18816-haiti-flash-blackout-on-port-au-prince-les-cayes-flooded.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18812-haiti-flash-matthew-the-situation-across-the-country.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18809-haiti-flash-hurricane-matthew-the-current-situation.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Debbie Paul, the matriarch of Southern Gospel group the Paul Family, was killed this morning in a car accident in the passed weekend. At the time of press, we do not have other information on the nature and details of the accident.

Debbie has sung all of her life, accepting the Lord at an early age. The Lord has blessed her with a wonderful talent for singing and songwriting. Her captivating powerful vocals and sincerity are clear as she puts her "all" into every song that she sings. She writes most of the group's material and can play piano. She has been writing gospel music for 25 years, with songs recorded by The Perrys, Gold City Qt,. The Gambills, as well as many others.

The Paul Family is a unique gospel singing family with deep roots in gospel music. Their first and foremost goal is to live for Christ and let others see Christ in the lives they live. Their mission is to share the good news with others so that they too may be blessed. They sing and play Southern Gospel and Bluegrass Gospel Music. The group started in 2005 and members include Brian and Debbie Paul, their daughter, Lauren, and twin sons, Josh & Jesse.

They have been nominated for numerous awards. They were voted 2012 SESGMC Bluegrass Artist (Southeastern Southern Gospel Conference). In 2011, they were awarded the SGM Fan Fair Award for 2011 Southern Gospel New Excelling Artist. To God Be all the Glory!

Their latest recording is an acoustical project featuring many of the classic hymns of the church, entitled 'Hymns & More'. The project is rounded out by an original song and a bluegrass instrumental.

Their previous project, "In God's Hands", included 13 original compositions, along with an instrumental hymn. This project is mostly Southern Gospel, however, the three children each contributed an original composition to this CD, with a bluegrass flavor. Radio release, "The Good Outweighs the Bad", is a favorite, along with "Leaving it in God's Hands", and "No Reason to Fear". The project, "On the Horizon", featured radio releases, "Jesus is the Reason", Angels Have Been Sent", and "See Ya Later". This CD included mostly all original material.

The group has performed all over the southeast in many churches, concerts, festivals, and area events. They have performed at the SGM Fan Fair, Branson Gospel Music Convention, Gulf Coast Convention, Southeastern Southern Gospel Music Conference, and Mississippi Quartet Convention. Their musicians have participated in the house band at several of these events. They were also invited to sing last year in Mt Airy, NC at Mayberry Days honoring The Andy Griffith Show. They have appeared in showcases at the National Quartet Convention (NQC) . Last year, they were chosen as a favorite group to participate in a showcase of the Best 20 Regional Artists of the week. Josh & Jesse have also been given the honor of playing in the past at the NQC Jam Session with several other renowned gospel musicians. They have made appearances on various television programs, including "Glory to God Television" and the "John Lanier Show".

The Pauls are active members of the Mount Holly Church in Bremen, GA where they have been attending since 1990. Brian and Debbie are both active members of the church music program there, when their schedules permit. They both traveled extensively with Debbie's full-time family singing group, The Gambills, since their marriage in 1986. Before that, Brian was with other groups including The Southland Boys. Debbie started singing with her family, The Gambills, when she was five years old.

Tags : debbie paul debbie paul death debbie paul accident paul family Southern Gospel paul family group
Published on 2016/10/04 | Source

Actress Han Ji-min has been appointed as a promotional ambassador for this year's Persons with Disabilities Film Festival.

Advertisement

The festival in its 17th year will hold the opening ceremony at a theater in Hapjeong-dong in Seoul on Nov. 4.

The festival's organizing committee said Han was selected to promote the festival as she is a multi-talented actress who appeals to people of all ages.

"I will do my best to promote the festival and draw interest from more people", Han said.

The festival was first started in 2000 to raise awareness for the disabled and has become an event all people can enjoy together. The festival will run from Nov. 4 to 7.
Nigerian Navy says it stopped refinery attack by militants

THE Nigerian Navy said a loud blast on September 29 near the jetty of the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC) resulted from a foiled attempt by militants to attack both facilities in Ekpan, Uvwie council area, Delta state.

Stock image

According to a report in The Vanguard, Commodore Joseph Dzunve of the Nigerian Navy said the loud blast heard in Warri creek that morning followed naval forces firing on a boat suspected of carrying explosive materials, causing the explosion. He said the occupants of the boat were attempting to sabotage the PPMC.

Militant groups, including the Niger Delta Avengers, have launched a number of attacks on oil industry infrastructure in Delta state so far this year. They claim the Nigerian state siphons off almost all of the revenue from the industry, leaving very little for the local population.



The Nigerian Army also said it had destroyed 143 illegal refineries during its Operation Crocodile Smile in the Niger Delta region. At the same time, the Nigerian Navy said that it had arrested four crude oil thieves who specialised in illegally refining crude oil into automotive gas oil with 85 large drums of AGO destroyed by the Navy and Operation Delta Safe.


The Coalition has announced a new Migrant Workers Taskforce which will crack down on firms which are taking advantage of foreign workers.



This move will strengthen efforts by the government to stem this kind of exploitative corporate behaviour, said Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash.



A number of recent high-profile cases where vulnerable migrant workers have been underpaid and exploited at work have exposed unacceptable gaps in the system. While the government acknowledges that the majority of employers do the right thing by their employees, we will not tolerate exploitation in Australian workplaces.



The taskforce was established after several 7-Eleven franchises were found to be exploiting foreign workers. The need for harsher penalties and greater worker protection has prompted the government to take action.



In addition to monitoring progress of 7-Eleven, the taskforce will act on a more general scale, identifying regulatory and compliance weaknesses that lead to exploitative practices while developing strategies to eliminate these types of policies in the workplace.



The taskforce will support effective ongoing collaboration between agencies to ensure that efforts to stamp out exploitation take a whole-of-government approach, Minister Cash said.



While focusing on policy and legislation, the taskforce will look at regulatory frameworks and ways in which government agencies can better collaborate on these issues, a government spokesperson said.



This will include examination of current labour hire practices in industries where visa worker exploitation is more prevalent.



The taskforce will receive advice from several regulatory agencies including the ACCC, ASIC and the FWO, the spokesperson told HC. It will also receive advice from Taskforce Cadena  a joint agency taskforce consisting of the DIBP, the Australian Border Force and the FWO.



Professor Allan Fels AO will chair the Migrant Workers Taskforce while Dr David Cousins AM will sit as deputy chair for an 18-month term.



Fels is currently a professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne. He was the inaugural chair for the ACCC from 1989 until 2003 and co-chaired the OECD Trade and Competition Committee from 1996 until 2003.



Professor Fels experience in this area will be a valuable asset to the taskforce, which is tasked with developing strategies across government to stamp out exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers, Minister Cash said.




With school holidays upon us, Insurance Australia Group is going the extra mile for its staff by offering a range of childcare programs across its offices during this time.



Our ambition is for a diverse and inclusive culture, said Gillian Folkes, group general manager, people and culture. To achieve this, we know we need to engage with our people holistically, embracing peoples lives in and outside of work, and remove barriers to workforce participation for all our employees.



Hence, the [email protected] program was set up. As well as helping staff juggle the logistics of locating and organising affordable childcare during the school holidays, it also normalises the caring responsibilities of staff in the workplace  an important goal as IAG seeks to promote equity and inclusion across the organisation, Folkes said.



The program itself is available to children of all IAG employees, she told HC, including blended families and children from both formal and informal guardianship scenarios.



To bring this initiative to life, Folkes said IAG had engaged Guardian ELC to run onsite subsidised school holiday programs at the firms larger Australian offices.



Kids come into work with their parents, are cared for onsite together by Guardian staff, and enjoy a range of fun activities including excursions to the movies, zoo and museums, and onsite activities such as science experiments, dance, and video making.



Parents can visit their children during the day when they are free and have lunch together, Folkes said. The program is flexible enough that children can attend on every day it is held or on just a few to fit in with the parents needs.



The program itself started with a pilot in the Melbourne office in April 2014.



Feedback from the pilot was overwhelmingly positive, and we are thrilled that weve been able to expand this nationally, with programs now running in six locations.



The programs regularly book out as soon as spaces are limited by the physical space we have available to ensure the enjoyment and safety of the children.



Parents, children and the wider employee population have also offered regular feedback, Folkes said. For employees with kids, the program reduces stress and financial pressure around organising school holiday care.



Staff can also relax knowing their children are enjoying themselves nearby while also being taken care of by experts, she added.



With four weeks of annual leave a year per working parent, and 12 weeks of school holidays, parents have told us that the program gives them options to manage that shortfall instead of having to choose to take unpaid leave, pay for external programs, or rely on friends and family.



Through regular feedback, IAG hopes to continually improve this program in the future, Folkes said.



Our employees tell us that the program is working well for them for the school holidays, and that theyd also love to have options to support them with childcare for younger children, which is something we will look to explore further in the future.




By Emily Willis and Cramer Lewis

The High Countrys own Joseph Bathanti, a resident of Vilas and professor of creative writing at Appalachian State University, was one of seven to recently receive the North Carolina Award, the states highest honor for civilians.

Gov. Pat McCrory presented the awards during a ceremony held at the Raleigh Marriott City Center on Sept. 22.

Recipients were honored for work in their respective fields:

Joseph Bathanti of Vilas for Literature

Dr. Linda S. Birnbaum of Chapel Hill for Science

Robert J. Brown of High Point for Public Service

James C. Gardner of Rocky Mount for Public Service

Dr. Assad Meymandi of Raleigh for Fine Arts

Dr. Paul L. Modrich and Dr. Aziz Sancar, both of Chapel Hill, for Science

Bathanti has served as North Carolinas poet laureate (2012-2014) and has written 10 volumes of poetry, three novels and a short story collection. He is the recipient of some of the states most prestigious literary awards and continues to inspire creative minds at Appalachian State.

A lot of North Carolina writers, who are pretty legendary, whom Ive looked up to, have gotten it, so what an honor, said Bathanti. What a humbling honor: pretty dreamy, pretty amazing.

Bathanti has recieved many awards for his writing:

The Sam Ragan Fine Arts Award (1995)

Oscar Arnold Young Award  The North Carolina Poetry Council (1997)

Carolina Novel Award  Banks Channel Books (2001)

Sherwood Anderson Award (2002)

Linda Flowers Literary Award  NC Humanities Council (2002)

Novello Literary Award (2006)

The Spokane Prize  Eastern Washington University

North Carolina Poet Laureate (20122014)

Ragan-Rubin Award  North Carolina English Teachers Association (2012)

He came to North Carolina in 1976 to work for Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), where he met is wife, Joan. His assignment was teaching at the state correctional facility in Huntersville. Teaching the incarcerated taught him the importance of allowing others to tell their personal stories.

Bathantis interest in persuing humanitarian goals through writing is reflected further in the initiative he undertook to work with military veterans as poet laureate.

I would work with returning combat veterans, all veterans really, and their families to harvest their stories, their wartime stories, through poems, fiction, essays, you name it. So, I just threw myself into it. I had no experience four years ago, but now over the last four years Ive done a lot of work with vets, he said. In fact, today we have something on campus called the Appalachian Veterans Arts and Humanities Collective. I was also the writer in residence at the Asheville Veterans Hospital this past year. I was working with Vietnam vets with PTSD in a writing workshop. The theraputic fallout is kind of indesputable. Its one of those happy pieces of fallout.

In addition to producing award-winning works and dedicating his talent to serve the community, Bathanti loves teaching at Appalachian State. He believes his position as a professor informs his work as a writer and vise versa.

Teaching at Appalachian has been life-changing, and the novelty of being here will never wear off, Bathanti said. I work with terrific students every day, as well as with such gifted, generous colleagues. Teaching also has really made me focus on craft issues germane to all writers, regardless of their levels of experience.

What ultimately led me toward writing was reading, and, really, after all these years of writing, reading remains the biggest influence in my writing. Id like to say that teaching here at Appalachian has also been a profound influence in my writing. The kinds of things my students grapple with in their writing  things I comment on and offer suggestions about  tend to be precisely the same kinds of things Im trying to get right in my own work.

In 2015, Bathanti read an original poem entitled Brooks Brothers Shirts, which was written for and dedicated to the guest of honor, at the installation of Chancellor Sheri N. Everts at Appalachian State.

The Old North State, especially the High Country, holds a special place in the heart of this Pennsylvania native, who has built his life and developed his profession here.

North Carolina for me is kind of like dreams come true, said Bathanti. I met my wife because of coming here. I wanted to be a writer and that dream, little by little, in fits and starts, became a reality here. I found a profession that I really like. I love the country. Watauga County especially feels like home. My kids went to school here, and this is where they come back to when they return home.

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Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson announced a new initiative today championed by Governor Pat McCrory to eliminate deaths on North Carolinas roadways. NC Vision Zero seeks to bring together multiple agencies and stakeholders to engineer safer roads, educate all road users, and enforce life-saving traffic laws.

My top priority as governor is to ensure the safety of everyone traveling throughout North Carolina, said Governor McCrory. One life lost to a traffic accident is one too many. I believe we can work together to make our roads safer for everyone.

The immediate goal of NC Vision Zero is to cut roadway fatalities and serious injuries in half in the next 15 years, with a long term target of zero deaths on North Carolina roadways.

This is an ambitious goal, but it is not beyond our reach, said Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson. Over the past ten years, we have achieved 148 zero fatality days, including several consecutive days.

In 2015, 1,387 people were killed on North Carolina roads. If the current trend of yearly fatalities continues for the next five years, more than 6,300 lives are at stake.

The NC Vision Zero initiative utilizes data analytics to guide traffic safety efforts and educate the public. Safety stakeholders, such as the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, are able to use the data to directly link agency enforcement and countermeasure activities with crash reduction goals set forth in Governor McCrorys Highway Safety Plan.

North Carolinians can make a difference by following the speed limit, wearing a seat belt, and not driving while impaired or distracted, said Don Nail, director of the Governors Highway Safety Program. We have to hold not only ourselves, but others, accountable for risky driving habits. This will help prevent crashes and save lives.

To watch Governor McCrorys video on NC Vision Zero, click here.

More information about NC Vision Zero can be found at http://ncvisionzero.org.

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People who have been denied asylum and removed from reception centres will start looking for a livelihood and a place to stay somewhere. They will apparently look for each other and think about what to do together. Their options are limited. One option to earn money is to resort to criminal activity either by forming a gang or joining an existing criminal group, he writes in a blog post on Puheenvuoro .

Finland has yet to see the worst of the security issues caused by unsuccessful asylum applicants who refuse to leave the country, warns Mikko Paatero, a former National Police Commissioner.

He acknowledges that the majority of unsuccessful asylum seekers leave the country willingly but estimates that hundreds, if not thousands, could be tempted by such an option.

It is clear that those who end up as undocumented immigrants are also taken advantage of in a number of ways, he adds.

Paatero consequently believes the country should do its utmost to ensure unsuccessful asylum applicants are removed from the country, thus echoing the demands of Paivi Nerg, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of the Interior. Nerg has recently come under criticism for urging citizens to refrain from offering temporary shelter to people staying in the country without a residence permit.

I agree with the permanent secretary, who also has the support of the Ministry of the Interior, partly from a security perspective, writes Paatero. [Finland] must do whatever it can to implement the decisions it has made. It is not justified for private citizens to deviate from [the decisions] as it would be a case of shielding illegal residents from detection.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, he adds, would similarly be at fault if it harboured illegal immigrants to protect them from detection and refused the hand them over to the authorities.

How can the church tell if these people are genuinely in need of help? asks Paatero.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Mikko Stig  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The authors of the report argue that the ability to rapidly adapt to external shocks and mitigate their adverse side-effects is the greatest advantage of having a flexible exchange rate instead of a fixed one  especially for small open economies such as Finland.

The advantages of leaving the euro could outweigh the disadvantages, concludes an interim report published yesterday by Euro Think Tank , a working group of economists from Finland.

A recent study, they highlight, found that non-members of the monetary union were able to close their current account imbalances faster than members of the monetary union in 19942011.

They point out that under a fixed exchange regime economies have to respond to major economic shocks with explicit domestic policy action and adjustments  namely, with adjustments in internal production costs and revisions in internal tax rates. Such corrective adjustments, however, are typically slow in comparison to the measures offered by a flexible exchange rate mechanism.

One of the authors of the report, Tuomas Malinen, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, discusses the report in a blog published on Puheenvuoro.

A functional exchange rate system should be abandoned practically without exception regardless of the short-term costs, if the priority is the long-term well-being of the public, he writes, referring to an argument made by Joseph Stiglitz, a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, that while a functional exchange rate system cannot guarantee the prosperity of an economy, a dysfunctional one will inevitably lead to economic downturns.

Malinen and his co-authors acknowledge that any economy leaving the monetary union would be faced with a variety of economic challenges, such as how to guarantee the functionality of the payment system, how to re-establish an independent central bank, how to sufficiently capitalise domestic financial institutions and how to foster relations with the remaining members of the union.

We will argue that with careful planning all these and other challenges can be controlled and their risks minimised, they write in the report.

The authors also recognise that any economy intent on leaving the euro would have to keep the preparatory process a secret due to the inevitable and possibly volatile impact of the exit on the value of the new currency.

Secrecy throughout the planning process is therefore necessary in order to contain market uncertainty, they state.

Malinen reminds in his blog post that the market reaction would be difficult to predict also in the event that the new currency is expected to appreciate after the exit.

The exit must have the requisite parliamentary support and preferably also public support in order to ensure the necessary difficult decisions can be carried out without any undue delay, which would raise the costs of the exit. The legislative changes necessitated by the exit should also be examined carefully as soon as the preparations for the exit are launched, he adds.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Justin Tallis  Lehtikuva/AFP

Source: Uusi Suomi
There's no proposal that could be approved or rejectd, he summarises.

Sture Fjader, the chairperson of the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava), reveals that the tripartite task force appointed to mull over measures to improve the employment situation has failed to produce any relevant results.

The Finnish Government, he says, must now weigh up its options without the help of labour market organisations.

It's good if [a tripartite task force] gets anything done. The Government is the one with the political power and responsibility  there's nothing we can do if it decides to move forward on certain issues, says Fjader.

The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) has similarly reminded that any agreement reached by the tripartite task force would not tie the hands of the Government. The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), in turn, has demanded that the Government stand by its promise to cancel certain spending cuts, such as those in unemployment security, even if a consensus is not reached.

The Government is expected to discuss the report drafted by the task force on Tuesday.

Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of Finance, expressed his disappointment with the inability of the task force to reach a consensus on Monday. I want to thank [the task force] for its thorough efforts. It's very regrettable that a consensus wasn't reached, he tweeted.

The Government, he assured, remains committed to growing the ranks of the employed by an additional 10,000.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Vesa Moilanen  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Deputies charge 22-year-old with statutory rape

Kenneth Dylan Whitehead

MILLS RIVER  Henderson County sheriff's deputies charged a 22-year-old East Tennessee man with statutory rape after they found him at a Mills River campground with a 13-year-old girl.

Deputies responding on Monday to a report of a possible missing person at North Mills River campground in Pisgah National Forest arrested Kenneth Dylan Whitehead, of Bristol, Tenn. Through a criminal records check, the officers discovered that Whitehead was wanted in Dent County, Mo., for kidnapping the girl. Whitehead and the 13-year-old were transported to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office for follow-up interviews by detectives. Detectives subsequently charged Whitehead with two felony counts of first-degree statutory rape of a child under 15. The juvenile was placed in protective custody of the Henderson County Department of Social Services.

Whitehead also faces the kidnapping charges from Missouri on the fugitive warrant. "He will have to answer to the charges here before being extradited back to Missouri to face that charge," Maj. Frank Stout said. On Tuesday Whitehead remained in the Henderson County Detention Facility under a $1,020,000 secured bond. The girl has been reunited with her parental guardian, the sheriff's office said.
Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has warned Fianna Fail to stop "throwing shapes" and come up with a workable Budget proposal.

The minister believes too much focus on pensioners could result in the disabled, carers and other sections of society missing out in Budget 2017.

He is under pressure from Fianna Fail to increase the Old Age Pension by 5 a week at a cost of around 150m.

The increase is widely expected to form part of the Budget next Tuesday, but Mr Varadkar has said that Fianna Fail needs to be held to account for a growing list of demands that also includes an 100m for third level education.

Kites

"We've seen lots of individual Fianna Fail spokespeople flying kites and throwing shapes.

"It's incumbent now on them to produce a spending package that actually adds up to something resembling 600m," he said.

"Are Fianna Fail in their proposal going to provide any extra 200m for the continued suspension of water charges? Are they going to provide for extra gardai? I can't see how these promises can possibly add up," he said.

The minister said that he is conscious of the spending needed for health, childcare and first-time buyers, as well as social welfare recipients.

His key target in the Budget talks with Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe is the self-employed.

"There will always be competing demands. My personal priority in this Budget is to have new social protections extended to 350,000 self-employed people across the State.

"There's also a Fine Gael manifesto commitment to increase the State pension by 5 and there are other things I'd like to do as well for other groups, that maybe haven't been mentioned enough in the Budget debate so far," he said.

Asked about the suggestion from Fianna Fail's Willie O'Dea that the pension hike is non-negotiable, Mr Varadkar said: "I wouldn't like to say that we are going to give all the resources to one group in society and have nothing for the self-employed, nothing for the disabled, nothing for the carers and nothing around assisting lone parents getting into education and into work."

A poll conducted on behalf of RTE's Claire Byrne Live programme last night found that 77pc of voters support the increase in the pension.

Resources

It also found that 48pc of people would rather receive a tax cut in the Budget than see extra resources pumped into public services.

Some 44pc favoured improved services.

Mr Varadkar also indicated yesterday that he is unlikely to reinstate the Bereavement Grant as demanded by Sinn Fein in their pre-Budget submission. He said the grant would cost 20m.

On housing, Mr Varadkar denied that by introducing a tax rebate for first-time buyers the Government was "encouraging" young people to take on mortgages and get on the property ladder.

"Young people, and some of them aren't all that young, want to get on the property ladder.

"That's why we want to help them ... The Government isn't there to solve everyone's problems but it is there to help," the Dublin TD said.
A young man who stole a 7,000 gold-plated monstrance containing the Holy Sacrament from a Dublin church has been sentenced to seven years in jail.

Mark Mosley (24), who has 71 previous convictions, was also jailed for stealing a mobile phone at knifepoint, threatening a garda and burglary. He had been abusing alcohol, tablets and heroin at the time.

The monstrance, which was presented to St Brigid's Church in Killester in 1927, has not been recovered.

Mosley, of Cromcastle Park and Gracefield Avenue, Artane, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at the church on June 13 last year.

He also pleaded guilty to the theft of a mobile phone at Harmonstown Dart Station two weeks later.

Mosley further pleaded guilty to burglary at a house on Glenwood Road, Edenmore, last January 13 and to making a threat to Sgt Basil Grimes in the Criminal Courts of Justice.

Gda Joan O'Connor told prosecuting counsel John Quirke that Mosley broke into the church sacristy and ransacked the room.

He stole the monstrance and left fingerprints at the scene that were traced back to him.

Gda O'Connor said that on June 27 last year, two men were at Harmonstown Dart Station at midnight when Mosley came along, intoxicated, wearing sunglasses and carrying a pizza box and a bag of chips.

Recognised

He produced a large kitchen knife and ordered the men to "give me your stuff" while pointing the knife at them. One of the men handed over his mobile phone and Mosley ran off. He was later recognised from CCTV and arrested.

He told gardai he "didn't remember" much about the night as he had been abusing alcohol and drugs.

Gda Eoin Kennedy said Mosley went to a house in Edenmore where he claimed to know the brother of a teenager living there. The teenager let him in to the porch, but Mosley went upstairs looking for the bro- ther's bedroom.

He grabbed an ornamental sword that was in the bedroom and when the teenager told him it was blunt, Mosley said: "I'll still be able to stab you with it."

Mosley picked up an iPad but left it back as he could not unlock it. He fled on a stolen bike.

While in court on January 15 for a bail hearing in relation to the house burglary, Mosley made threatening gestures to Sgt Basil Grimes by making the shape of a gun with his hand and pointing it to his head.

"He mouthed the word 'boom'," said Gda Kennedy. "He then said 'Bang, bang, bang, I'm going to put a bullet in your brain and I am going to take you away from your kids."

Defence counsel Pieter Le Vert said Mosley, who has two children, wished to apologise to the garda and his victims.

Judge Elma Sheahan sentenced Mosley to seven years but suspended the final 18 months.
A junior doctor has been found guilty of poor professional performance for failing to show he knew how to perform basic tasks such as CPR or medical examinations.

A Fitness to Practice Committee of the Irish Medical Council declared it was satisfied that Dr Muthulingam Kasiraj, also known as Dr Sripathy, failed to show he could interpret simple blood tests or that he understood the effects of some medications on the liver.

Neither did he show he had an adequate understanding of the common skin cancer, malignant melanoma.

He faced around 20 allegations about his ability.

Depth

Dr Sripathy, from India, was a senior house officer at St Lom-an's Psychiatric Hospital in Mullingar between July 2013 and January 2014, the period when he was working under the supervision of consultant psychiatrists.

"He was out of his depth," said Dr Paul Scully, who gave his opinion in evidence submitted to the hearing yesterday.

Dr Sripathy told the committee that, as far as he was concerned, he did not have to deal with medical issues and should be focused only on psychiatry.

He made a number of admissions, but said the errors found in letters he wrote to GPs about patients represented only a very small percentage of the 2,000 he wrote to doctors.

The hearing was previously told that he included the wrong dosage of medications on letters to patients' GPs.

He said his medical qualifications from Bulgaria had been accepted by the Medical Council.

Many of his shortcomings were outlined by his supervising psychiatrist at St Loman's, Dr Ciaran Corcoran, who said he had given him textbooks and spent hours seeking to get him to upgrade his medical knowledge, but he had consistently failed to upskill.

Dr Sripathy, who defended himself, criticised Dr Corcoran, saying: "He thinks I'm a quack."

Dr Scully, a consultant psychiatrist at St James's Hospital, was called as an expert witness. He said yesterday that he had heard the evidence of two consultant psychiatrists, including Dr Corcoran, who were supervising his work, and he was satisfied that Dr Sripathy had demonstrated serious failings.

His inability to perform a neurological examination on a patient was a serious failing as this was a basic task for a doctor, he said.

The inquiry heard allegations that Dr Sripathy did not show an understanding of how to manage a basic emergency, or show he had a basic knowledge of CPR or that he knew the difference between some branded and generic medications.

It was also stated that he showed a pattern of errors when writing doses of medications, though no patients were harmed.

Dr Corcoran told the committee earlier: "I've never seen that volume of errors from one doctor in all my years."

Dr Sripathy was later diagnosed with Anankastic Personality Disorder, which he claims affected his performance.

Dr Scully said, however, that he did not appear to have the disorder on the evidence he had heard.

Voices

Dr Sripathy's lack of understanding of what to do in a medical emergency when he was asked a question about responding to someone who had collapsed in a supermarket was "a serious failing" as this was basic medical knowledge, said Dr Scully.

Dr Sripathy also failed to demonstrate adequate concern about a patient reporting hearing voices when he sent a letter to the patient's GP.

Dr Scully said he was surprised that Dr Sripathy did not understand the effects drugs can have on the liver.

This raised serious questions about his medical education in Bulgaria, he added.

Dr Sripathy was found not guilty of professional misconduct.

A decision on sanction will be made at a later date. The committee heard yesterday that their duties included "protecting the public from the genially incompetent".
A nurse has been reunited with her 1,200 rent money, which she thought she had lost forever, after a kind-hearted local called a radio show.

Nurse Grace Sampang told RTE's Ray D'Arcy that she felt as if "a pile of cold ice" had been thrown on her when she discovered that the rent money for her, and her two housemates, had gone missing on her way to the bank in Tallaght last week.

"I was walking in Tallaght on my way to the bank. I had this envelope with the money in it on my way to the bank. When I was about to pay to the assistant I just realised that it is not in my pocket any more. I am 100pc sure that I placed it in my pocket. Then I went back to the places that I had been that time and I couldn't find it."

She explained that it was the rent money for three people.

"I really cannot describe the feeling. It was like a pile of cold ice was thrown on me. I went to every place that I had been. I asked the security guards in the mall."

Envelope

The show then heard from a caller named Mary, who had previously called the show to say she had found a sum of cash in an envelope.

The caller, dubbed 'Honest Mary' by host D'Arcy, said: "I felt a duty to get it back to the person that owned it. That's why I contacted your show."

Mary then asked Grace what was written on the envelope and the amount inside. Grace, from the Philippines, gave correct answers to both.

This satisfied Mary that she had found the correct person. Grace never imagined she would see the cash again.

"I'm very grateful and thankful because I didn't expect for the money to be returned to me.

"I just hoped that whoever found it is just in real need of it," she said.
Jonny Cooper of Dublin celebrates with the Sam Maguire cup and his father Brendan after the final. Photo: Sportsfile

Dublin hero Jonny Cooper's dad admitted the emotions of celebrating an All-Ireland win with his son got the better of him at the weekend.

A very teary Brendan Cooper was captured embracing the star defender and the Sam Maguire after the Dubs beat Mayo in what was the iconic photograph of the day at Croke Park.

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Despite saying he would not usually get too emotional in these situations, Brendan explained that Saturday night was an exception.

Speaking to Joe Duffy on RTE Radio One's Liveline, he said: "It was a very surreal moment in the sense that I was personally fine, I was happy, I was thrilled for him and within a millisecond, things just changed and I lost it altogether," he said.

"It was such a touching moment. All I wanted to say to him was 'well done, are you okay?' and it just kind of took wings from there at that stage.

"Emotions came over me and I wouldn't be the most demonstrative person but at that moment I just lost it.

"I just kind of broke down, for want of a better word," he added.

Much was made of the embrace being extra-special because of the turnaround in Cooper's life since he was injured in a stabbing attack on Dorset Street in September 2014. The defender has gone on to win two All-Ireland titles in a row since the incident.

However, Brendan explained that the attack has never been talked about in the family home since.

"That was one incident in his life that he wanted to put behind him almost from the word go," he said.

"He didn't want it to let it affect his playing career.

Exception

"With the exception of the day, and the day after that, we've never actually spoken about the incident."

However, Brendan made sure to commend a taxi driver who came to the rescue of his son and called an ambulance at the scene.

"We couldn't have asked for more and he did what any common, decent person would do."

Meanwhile, the Herald has ramped up its support for the Boys in Blue in Dublin city centre with a banner on Gardiner Street bridge echoing the thoughts of all true blue fans - that Sam Maguire can stay in the capital for as long as it likes.

"Make Yourself at Home Sam," the banner reads.
Transport chiefs are considering using self-drive technology on the long-awaited Metro North, the Herald has learned.

The high-speed rail link, which will run between Swords and the city centre, was first proposed in 2000 and was shelved in 2011. A scaled-back version was unveiled last year, with a budget of 10bn.

Construction is not due to begin on the network until 2021 and is not expected to be finished until 2026/2027.

Documents seen by the Herald show that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the National Transport Authority (NTA) are considering technology which would remove the need for drivers.

Peter Walsh, director of TII's capital programme management, said: "TII is currently working in partnership with the NTA in the development of the planning and design of the new Metro North project. As part of that work, the possibilities of using a driverless system are being considered."

His comments were included in a letter to councillors who sit on Dublin City Council's transport Strategic Policy Committee (SPC). The letter also addressed a query raised by councillors previously about ensuring that new Luas stock was fitted with automated driving technology.

TII have ruled out making the Luas automatic. Fine Gael councillor Paddy Smyth tabled the suggestion at the height of the Luas strikes during the summer months.

"The recent Luas and Dublin Bus strikes highlight how vulnerable the city is to industrial action," he said. "A relatively small number of people were able to put the city's businesses and countless jobs at risk by grinding its transport infrastructure to a halt.

"The irresponsible action of the transport unions in recent months has only served to hasten the inevitable automation of transport in Dublin."

Technology

However, TII have ruled out automating Luas services as the technology does not exist to allow trams to self-drive through the city centre.

Examples of automated systems, such as ones that can be seen in Hong Kong and other major cities, are used on systems where the tram does not mix with general traffic, the letter says.
The days are shorter, but not the list of things you can do.
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One of the most popular faces of contemporary figurative art, Yusuf Arakkal died in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness. He was 71.

Born in Kerala in 1945, hed lost both his parents early in life and came to Bengaluru to study at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.

Known for his poignant portrayal of social issues and existential crisis, Arakkal initially experimented with abstracts before he moved to figuration. There is an anguished being, disturbed and in distress somewhere deep inside me, who yearns for a meaningful existence. The human presence arouses my attention and stirs my creativity, his official website quotes him as saying.

One of Arakkals still life paintings. (Facebook/Yusuf Arakkal)

Arakkals work took him around the world. Hes had solo shows at several international platforms in cities including London, New York, Singapore and Dubai. For his contribution to the arts, he was given the Karnataka Lalitkala Academy Award in 1979 and the National Award in 1983.

Along with painting, he also wrote poems and made sculptures. Among his published works include In Search of My Roots (a book of paintings narrating his travelling experiences in Kerala), and his recently released book Faces of Creativity, a one-of-its-kind collection of portraits of artists made and documented by another artist.

Yusuf Arakkal is survived by his wife Sara Arakkal, son Shibu Arakkal and a legacy that has and will continue to inspire scores of artists to chase their dreams, whatever the odds and tribulations.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday lauded chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his dedication to fulfil the Prime Ministers ambitious target of Housing for All by 2022.

The state government has articulated its intent to execute the central schemes, especially in the housing sector. The Government of India has set a target to construct 3.5 crore houses by 2022 and the state government is moving in right direction to fulfil the commitment, he said.

Mukherjee handed over keys and ownership certificates of houses to six people from economically weaker sections at a function in Jiwaji University. The houses were built under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Project. The Gwalior Municipal Corporation will construct a total of 1,088 houses under the IHSDP scheme both in rural and urban area.

The government will now have to think beyond the paradigm of Roti, Kapada Aur Makan (food, cloth and house) and need to focus equally on education and health sector, he said. Education and health are two important sectors which need attention to empower the young generation.

Mukherjee hailed the Indian democracy which was manifestly demonstrated by 80 crore Indians who exercise their franchises during election held recently. As far population is concerned, India is the second most populated country in the world after China but our democracy is unparalleled, he said.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, state urban development minister Maya Singh, education minister Jai Bhan Singh Pavaiyya, chief secretary Anthony DeSa, Jiwaji University vice chancellor Prof Sangeeta Shukla were present at the function.

Earlier on his arrival, Mukherjee was accorded a ceremonial and warm welcome at Maharajpura by a select group of citizens and politicians from BJP and the Congress. Chief whip of Congress and MP Jyotiraditya Scindia introduced guest and visitors to Mukherjee.

CM misses programme in Gwalior

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan could not attend the 60th Foundation Day Celebration of Scindia Kanya Vidhyalaya in Gwalior, after a two-km padayatra with Jain saint Acharya Vidhyasagar on Sunday left him with blisters on his feet.

Doctors advised him rest, following which he could not attend the foundation day celebration of Scindia Kanya Vidhyalaya, where President Pranab Mukherjee was the chief guest.

An official source said the chief minister would be joining work soon.

The chief minister called up the President and Governor OP Kohli to apologise for not attending the Presidents programme. Chouhan welcomed the president on his visit to MP.

SK Mishra, principal secretary to the chief minister, said the cabinet meetings scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday were postponed.
Uzbek national Djuraeva Barno, who was jailed for staying in India without valid documents, walked out free on Monday after serving 10 months of rigorous imprisonment. She plans to leave for Uzbekistan in the next few days with help from her embassy.

Djuraeva, 37, was arrested by the Misrod police on December 9 last year under section 14 of Foreigners Act. She was sentenced to jail by the court of judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Ajay Singh Thakur, on September 2 this year. A fine of Rs 100 was also slapped on her. The police had claimed that she entered the country illegally from Nepal and was living here since July 26, 2014.

Denying police charges, Djuraeva had pleaded she was sedated by some anti-social elements in Nepal and does not remember how she arrived in Delhi. There, she met Vikas Sarkar, a resident of Bhopal, who promised to help her and brought her to Bhopal.

After realizing that Sarkar was not keen on helping her, she then approached the police on December 7, 2014, but was unable to explain her plight as she did not know Hindi or English. She was asked to visit the district special branch of police, which in turn sent her to the police station in Misrod, where she was booked for not having valid documents, Barno had claimed earlier.

Djuraeva was 6-months pregnant when she was sent to jail on December 10, 2015. On March 6 this year, she delivered a girl in Sultania hospital. The jail officials raised her for the last few months and named her Titli.

For me, one day passed like one month for me inside the jail. I couldnt meet my family and friends there and used to remain very upset and tense thinking about my release. Now that I am released from the jail, I am very happy, said Barno while talking to HT in broken Hindi.

I just want to go home and meet my family as soon as possible, said teary eyed Barno.

Speaking to HT, Djuraeva also said that cleanliness and food shortage were the two major issues she faced inside Bhopal Central Jail.

I was provided only dalia and milk for seven months which I didnt like. I also suffered skin infections inside the jail and was worried for my baby. Fortunately, she was provided proper food and clothes inside the jail, said Djuraeva.

Talking to HT, she further added that IAS Tinoo Joshi, who was also in Bhopal Central Jail on corruption charges, helped her a lot inside the jail in providing proper food and clothing for her baby.

She helped me a lot inside the jail and really took care of my baby. Before being released on bail, she provided nappy pads for my daughter. Many jail officials misbehaved with me and refused my pleas for proper food and clothing, added Djuraeva.

As her daughter was born in India, questions were raised as to whether the child gets to accompany Djuraeva to Uzbekistan. Minister of external affairs, Sushma Swaraj, had assured every help to her in a tweet on September 2.

However, Barno, while speaking to HT said that she had no idea about the arrangements made by her embassy or the government.

Till now I have no idea about the tickets and passport arrangements for my daughter. Once I reach Delhi and meet the embassy officials, I will get to know about the formalities, she said.

28 foreign nationals in jails

Bangladeshis comprise a whopping 18 of the total 28 foreigners languishing in jails across the state.

There are four inmates from Nepal, two each from Pakistan and Nigeria and one each from South Africa and Myanmar. The Bhopal Central Jail has 15 foreign prisoners including 11 Bangladeshis. Of the 11 Bangladeshis, 10 are convicted for dacoity. The undertrial is accused in a rape case, Bhopal Central Jail deputy superintendent AS Sengar said. There are two Nepalese inmates of which one is serving a life term for murder, while the other is convicted for 10 years. A Pakistani inmate is convicted for 10 years for forgery of records of court and criminal conspiracy. A Nigerian is facing trial for fraud and forgery.

Indore Central Jail has six foreigners. Hoshangabad Central Jail, Baidhan District Jail and District Jail Balaghat have one foreign inmate each.
Irrfan Khan has a chock-a-block schedule. A few days back, he finished shooting for the film, Hindi Medium, and is now set to fly to Florence, Italy, for the promotional activities of his soon-to-release Hollywood movie, Inferno.

read more Tom Hanks is a bigger man than he is an actor: Irrfan Khani

However, despite his packed itinerary, he will hold an exclusive screening of his movie for his close family, once he is back in India.

Watch: Trailer of Inferno

A source says, Irrfan has organised a screening of his Hollywood film for his family and friends in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The actor hails from the small town of Tonk. Holding his films screening at a place where he started from makes him believe that life has come a full circle. Rajasthan is a special place for him, and he loves spending time there.

Watch: Teaser trailer of Inferno

Irrfan remained unavailable for a comment, but his spokesperson confirmed the news, and said, Irrfan is looking forward to hosting the screening in Jaipur. It means a lot to him that his loved ones are part of his journey.

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Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre has backed the demand to ban Pakistani artistes from working or performing in India, saying it was need of the hour given the current strained ties between the two countries.

Asked about the ban imposed on Pakistani artistes by a movie industry body, she told reporters here, We are very proud of our Army and our government for the surgical strikes (on terror camps in PoK). It was a different initiative.

Sonali Bendre with expert nutritionists during launch of Revital H Woman's Healthy Conversations initiative in Mumbai on Monday. (PTi)

The producers body has already banned them. If theyre not your friends and if youre cutting the relations in business, every business should stop. Of course, considering the times it should be the norm of the day and should be applicable to everybody.

The 41-year-old was speaking at a special event of Revital in Mumbai on Monday.

In the wake of Uri terror attack, MNS had asked Pakistani artistes like actors Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan to leave India, failing which it had threatened to stall their film shoots.

They also demanded a ban on Pakistani artists working in the Indian film industry.

Subsequently, Indian Motion Pictures Artists Association (IMPAA) came out with a resolution to ban all Pakistani artists and technicians till the relations between the two neighbours normalises.

Earlier, filmmakers Karan Johar, Hansal Mehta and Anurag Kashyap, among others, had expressed their displeasure over the ban call.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Kareena Kapoor Khans name often makes it to media reports owing to the films she does and even rejects. Kal Ho Na Ho (2003), Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela (2013) are just some of the movies the actor turned down. However, Kareena says she is not afraid to reject offers.

Watch: Trailer of Ram-Leela

I am here to sell my talent. I am not here to make friends or pacify people. I have never done that. I have been doing movies with certain directors repeatedly. People who know me and have confidence in me, will always work with me, she says.

read more Why Kareena Kapoor Khan rejected six endorsement deals for baby products Kareena Kapoor talks about the time Saif proposed to her and she rejected!

The Bollywood actor also says there is always a strong reason when she rejects a project. If I have said no to a film, it was because it did not suit me at that point in time. The last thing I would do is to say no to someone without any reason, says Kareena.

She adds that a lot of people told her that if she gets married, the Khans (Shah Rukh, Amir and Salman) wont work with her. I was told that the Khans are looking to work with 16-year-old actors, which is not true. I believe there is a role for everybody, she says.

Family Ties  #birthdaywishes#bua#bro#family#love#throwback A photo posted by KK (@therealkarismakapoor) on Sep 28, 2016 at 5:35am PDT

Kareena, who belongs to the industrys most celebrated family, says she always feels the pressure to do good work to live up to her family name. People have always respected my family. The least I can do is to perform well. I hope I have done that, and continue to do so, she says.
Scriptwriter Salim Khan has taken a jibe at those who have criticised his actor son Salman Khan and director Karan Johar for opposing the demand for a ban on Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood.

While Salman had recently said that Pakistani actors who come to India are artistes and not terrorists, Karan had said banning these artistes was not a solution to terrorism.

Both have received backlash from various sections, particularly Raj Thackerays MNS.

Taking to Twitter, Salim wrote, Breaking news Saeed, Lakhvi & Masood replaced by Salman Khan, Mahesh Bhatt, Karan Johar & (Sitaram) Yechury on the most wanted list of Times Now as these people are a big threat to the unity of our country.

Breaking news Saeed, Lakhvi & Masood replaced by Salman Khan Mahesh Bhatt Karan Johar & Yechury on the most wanted list of Times Now  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

as these people are a big threat to the unity of our country. Take heart gentlemen at least you are in the job of entertaining people  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

as these people are a big threat to the unity of our country. Take heart gentlemen at least you are in the job of entertaining people  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

rather than in a job of shouting screaming hurting & humiliating people. Mr Yechury careful, talking of peace will make you a traitor.  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

Mr Bhatt our country has no dearth of intense and dramatic actors on TV then why look across the border.  Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) October 3, 2016

Take heart gentlemen at least you are in the job of entertaining people rather than in a job of shouting screaming hurting & humiliating people.

Mr Yechury careful, talking of peace will make you a traitor. Mr Bhatt our country has no dearth of intense and dramatic actors on TV then why look across the border, the veteran writer said in a series of tweets.

Meanwhile, Bhatt, who had earlier posted a letter on his Twitter handle, saying kill terrorists, not talks, today said that he would urge the Pakistani actors to condemn the terror strike in Uri.

I appeal to Pak stars to join India and condemn terror attacks where our people have bled and lost lives. With folded hands and bent knees, I urge Fawad and all actors to condemn terror when it happens on our soil.

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Haldia Petrochemical Ltd (HPL), once on the verge of being declared sick, has seen a turnaround like none other in the past one year. And now the countrys second largest petrochemical facility is gearing up for opening fuel retails stores across West Bengal.

Top sources in the government say that the oil ministry has cleared HPLs proposal to set up 50 retail outlets in four districts of West Bengal.

As per current policy, the government grants retailing license to companies that promise to invest at least Rs 2000 crore in exploration, production, refining or in terminals. HPL qualifies in this rule.

In the second phase of its expansion of retail fuel outlets, HPL will open 50 more shops in West Bengal, said a source in the know of the matter. The source did not wish to be named. He added that entry of more private companies in the fuel retailing space would increase competition and in tuen benefit customers.

Formed as a joint venture between the West Bengal government, The Chatterjee Group (TCG), Tata Group and Indian Oil Corporation in 1994, HPL went down the spiral of bad debt, battle for control, eroded net worth and cash crunch till it stopped production a few years back. But help from the central government, a loan from SBI and a change of control in December 2015, wherein TCG came to control the majority stake in HPL has seen fortunes of the company change.

Ever since the de-regulation of petrol and diesel prices, speculation has been high about private companies entering the market, but a global crude price slide has put brakes on the plan. From $115 a barrel in mid-2014, crude relentlessly fell to below $30 in January 2016.

Reliance and Essar Oil Limited, the only other private refiners in India, had together a share of 17% of the domestic retail market for diesel and 10% for petrol by 2006, before, competition from public sector companies halted their progress. After the de-regulation Shell has also shown keenness in expanding its retail network.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut a key lending rate to a six-year low in a surprise move on Tuesday, raising hopes of cheaper home loans and EMIs that could help fire demand ahead of the festive season.

The decision to slash the repo rate  the rate at which banks borrow from the central bank -- to 6.25% from 6.50% was the first by the newly-formed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI governor Urjit Patel, who took over from Raghuram Rajan on September 6.

The RBI  which said all six members voted in favour of the cut -- cited falling inflation as the reason for the move, surprising markets that were widely expecting a status quo.

On the whole, this is a decision which will go down well with all sections of the economy, Union finance secretary Ashok Lavasa said in Delhi.

Banks are expected to pass on the rate cut benefits to their customers by offering home and vehicle loans at cheaper rates. The EMIs -- equated monthly installments  of existing customers are also likely to come down.

The central bank has reduced the key interest rate by 175 basis points since January 2015, but banks  saddled with bad loans totaling billions of dollars -- have been reluctant to pass on the entire benefits to consumers.

On Tuesday, the RBI nudged banks to take a cue from cut in small saving schemes  announced by the government last week -- and pass on benefit of the interest rate cut to consumers.

We shall continue to watch out for economic data and accordingly address transmission of interest rates, said Shanti Ekambaram, president of Kotak Mahindra Banks consumer banking division.

Along with the unexpected rate cut, analysts feel, a massive pay out for government employees will leave extra cash in peoples pocket at the beginning of the festive season.

The markets reacted positively to the RBI announcement with the BSE Sensex rising 0.33% while the broader NSE Nifty was up 0.34%. The rupee extended gains to 66.40 per dollar from 66.47 in afternoon trading.

Retail inflation eased to a five-month low of 5.05% in August, within the committees 2-6% objective, and is expected to ease further in the months ahead after a good monsoon has sent food prices sharply lower, the bank said.

The decision of the MPC is consistent with an accommodative stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving consumer price index inflation at 5% by Q4 of 2016-17 and the medium-term target of 4%, while supporting growth, the RBI explained.

The RBI and the government have set a new retail inflation target of 4% for the next five years with an upper tolerance level of 6% and lower limit of 2%.

High inflation hurts peoples buying power, while low levels can indicate poor demand and weak economic activity. The government has also been pushing for cut in the repo rate to spur economic growth.

Patel credited the government for actions that had helped reduce structural constraints on supply that typically drive up inflation in India, including through investments in railways and roads.

The proactive food management has played a crucial role in the past two years and will continue to play a crucial role in time to come.

The central bank, however, warned of risks to growth next year due to muted private investments and weak global demand coupled with geopolitical risks.

The inflation outlook for 2016-17 has improved, but close vigilance is required to achieve the prospects of reaching 4 per cent. Robust consumption brightens the outlook for real gross value added growth in 2016-17, but muted private investment and weak global demand may restrain the pace of growth in 2017-18, the bank said in its monetary policy report.

(With inputs from agencies)

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In a clear departure from precedents, the fourth bi-monthly RBI monetary policy event was less action-packed, with the duration of the new governors first interaction with the media getting abruptly curtailed halfway into the meeting.

Policy announcements customarily started at 11 am, but governor Urjit Patel changed this to 2.30 in the afternoon, bringing it in line with central banks worldwide.

We did a scan of central banks (globally) and what we have introduced this mid-afternoon policy decision today, in terms of timing, is broadly the norm elsewhere the change in time has been necessitated not to make things harder but due to the process and time logistics which is entailed in the committee decisions making mode that we are now in, Patel explained.

His predecessor Raghuram Rajan had stuck to the morning schedule while interactions with the media and subsequently with analysts and researchers was done over an extended period.

On Tuesday, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced its first monetary policy with a unanimous vote in favour of a repo rate cut of 0.25% to 6.25%. Repo rate is a rate at which banks borrow from RBI to fund their short-term requirements to lend money to borrowers.

Patel, who chaired the MPC, said, We have been meeting over the last day and-a-half going through presentations, discussions, drafting and coming to conclusions over policy repo rate Our discussions were frank, often intense but always friendly. We allowed each other to speak and ensured there is no rancour and at the end of the day we agreed on an MPC decision for the country.

Less flamboyant and not throwing away one-liner quotes like Rajan, Patel was however clear in his assessment of the core issues  bank NPAs and global trade.

Patel said larger investment in roads and railways will improve infrastructure, ease of doing business, proactive food management will play crucial role, improvement in pulses supply has been the main contributor and there is sharp improvement in competitiveness ranking.

Read: RBI cuts interest rate, raises hopes of cheaper home loans, EMIs

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Artificial intelligence (AI), once a boon for science fiction movies, is set to insinuate itself into every nook and cranny of our lives, according to internet giant Alphabet, nee Google.

Googles artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea, who calls computers dumb, sees more companies adopting the AI technology in India, especially in the financial services, healthcare and manufacturing sectors.

In its pursuit to become an AI-first company, Google will give $20 million to Indian startups to encourage wider adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.

It is uploading these technologies in the cloud so that businesses and individuals can use these after making a payment, he said.

Giannandrea is optimistic that these technologies will turn popular. Society adapts to latest technology. People nowadays are performing more intellectual roles than 50 years ago.

At Nasscom 10,000 Startups Change Makers Summit, after e-commerce, the largest number of applications was filed in financial-tech, AI and IoT sectors. Nasscom is evaluating these companies for funding and government grants.

Other large companies are also investing in artificial intelligence. Microsoft plans to build AI capabilities across applications, services and infrastructure, and transform what people and organisations do.

Microsoft has an approach  that seeks to democratise AI, to take it from the ivory towers and make it accessible for all, said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, at Microsoft Ignite 2016 technology conference held last month.

IBMs AI analytics Watson has been deployed at Manipal Hospitals to treat cancer better.

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Troubles seem to be never-ending for Samsung. The Galaxy Note 7, which caught fire recently forcing the company to recall around 2.5 million devices worldwide, is cooking up another controversy.

Handset makers and analysts have questioned the method adopted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the agency responsible for certifying mobile phones in the country, for granting approval to the product.

In 2012, the BIS launched the Compulsory Registration Scheme, after the Department of Electronics and Information Technology wanted to stop unsafe electronics, including cellphones, from being dumped in India. But the scheme didnt address the safety concerns.

The certifications done under the scheme are just a formality. These dont help handset makers or consumers, said an executive of a domestic handset maker.

Read more: Aviation regulator lifts ban on Galaxy Note 7 sold post September 15: Samsung

The regulator doesnt check the products on its own. It directs handset makers to send the products, including batteries, to laboratories registered with the BIS across the country. According to new certification norms issued by the regulator in June, batteries and adapters have to be separately certified. The reports are then submitted to the regulator, after which the BIS issues a unique registration number.

BIS officials and Samsung executives did not respond to mails from HT till the time of going to press.

A large Chinese handset maker said Samsung had already received approvals from the regulator to sell the Note 7 in India. It usually takes a company at least four to eight weeks to get the certification. Samsung would have got it at least a week before September 2, the day it announced the global recall of Note 7 units, the executive. said

It was on this day that Samsung was to start selling the phone for 59,990 in the country. This means all phones would have gone on sale if the company hadnt issued the recall.

Read more: Apple iPhone 7 at an advantage as Samsung decides to recall Note 7

Another executive of a Chinese handset maker said: There are touts involved in the BIS registration and a nexus between them and officials cannot be ruled out.

The tests are self-regulatory, but no legal action can be taken against the regulator. However, if a consumer complains to the regulator, it collects random samples from the market for testing. And if found at fault, action can be taken against the manufacturer, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO and chief analyst of Greyhound Research.

If the BIS wants safer handsets, it will have to alter the approval process and set up well equipped laboratories, experts said.

Read more: Samsung launches Note 7 with Iris scanner, Gorilla Glass 5 at Rs 59,990

Recently, a Samsung spokesperson said, It is important to note that Samsung has not sold a single unit of Galaxy Note7 in India so far. The green battery icon will appear on all Galaxy Note7 units that will be sold in India after it is launched.

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When Narendra Modi visited Abu Dhabi and Dubai last summer, the Pakistani daily Dawn wondered if the Indian prime minister had stepped into the recent breach between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates over Islamabads refusal to actively join the Yemen war? The need for the question-mark was removed this week, with the announcement that Abu Dhabis crown prince, Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, will be the guest of honour at Indias next Republic Day celebrations

There are plenty of reasons for Modi to make Sheikh Mohamed his chief guest, not least the $60 billion in Indo-UAE trade, and the 2.3 million Indians who live and work in the Emirates. But the timing of the announcement made it especially piquant for Pakistan, for it came in the middle of New Delhis campaign to isolate Islamabad diplomatically in the aftermath of the Uri attacks.

Read | Why India chose the Abu Dhabi crown prince as its Republic Day chief guest

Islamabad should have seen this coming. On his August, 2015 trip to the UAE, Modi made pointed barbs at Islamabad during his public speeches, eliciting no reproach from his hosts. Earlier that year, Pakistan had earned the wrath of several Arab states, including the UAE, when it refused to join a coalition led by Saudi Arabia in an assault on Yemen, where Iran-backed Shia militias known as the Houthis had toppled a Saudi-friendly government. The UAE was especially blunt in its expression of displeasure. Minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash rounded on Islamabad for its vague and contradictory stand, and warned Pakistan would pay a heavy price.

In the language of diplomatic politesse, such words are the equivalent of schoolyard curses, but Gargash had even harsher invective to deliver. He suggested Islamabad cared more for Iran than for the Arab states: This, in the context of the Sunni-Shia conflagration across West Asia, came within a whisker of accusing Pakistan of apostasy, a heinous and contemptible crime in Islam.

Read | Modi needs to be extremely careful while developing a new West Asian outlook

Pakistan was right to stay out of the war on Yemen, which continues to this day, bringing ever more destruction to the Arab worlds poorest nation and still more dishonour to its richest. Although Islamabad does little to discourage the persecution of the Shia (and other minorities) within Pakistan, it cannot, for many reasons, afford to participate in the wider sectarian conflict. Having long been assured that their military was busy protecting them from the designs of India, and the depredations of internal enemies, like Baloch separatists and Pashtun terrorists, ordinary Pakistanis showed no interest in sending their troops to fight for a dubious Arab cause.

Even so, saying No cant have been easy for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, or for army chief Raheel Sharif. The Arab states are Pakistans principal economic benefactors, as well as a diplomatic bulwark against India. The UAE is one of Pakistans largest donors of aid, both humanitarian and economic, and its largest trade partner. Around 1.8 million Pakistanis live in the Emirates. The Arab states also bankroll Raheels troops, and helped underwrite Islamabads nuclear programme. In return, they have long regarded the Pakistani military as theirs to summon.

Read | Yemens Shia rebels name a prime minister

It is hard to know if the Pakistani military would have swung the conflict in Yemen decisively in favour of the Saudi coalition, which has proved singularly incompetent, despite overwhelming superiority in arms. Earlier this summer, Gargash announced the UAE was pulling most of its forces out of Yemen, citing the death of 80 of its soldiers  a large number for such a small country. (The war continues to exact a toll, however: Over the weekend, a UAE vessel was sunk by Yemeni rebels. They claim it was a warship, the UAE says it was delivering aid, and the US says it belonged to a dredging company.) For a nation that takes pride in its ability to buy the worlds best war weaponry to be forced into a withdrawal by a rag-tag band of rebels was an utter humiliation, and many Emiratis must wonder if they may have been spared the ignominy if Pakistan had joined the fight.

Since Gargashs outburst last year, Islamabad has tried desperately to make nice with the Arab states, and especially with the UAE. But its efforts have mostly been in the shape of words, including a speech from Nawaz Sharif to the effect that Pakistan does not abandon friends and strategic partners. This has gone down like a lead balloon in the Emirates. On a trip to Dubai earlier this year, practically everyone I met were still asking why Pakistan was sitting out on the war.

Read | The Sarabjits that the country forgot: Five Indians in UAE jail for spying

Unable to do anything substantive to mend relations, the Pakistani leadership will have squirmed at Modis announcement of a strategic partnership between India and the UAE during his visit. Their discomfiture will have been the more acute for hearing that the India-UAE joint statement called on all states to reject and abandon the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructures where they exist, and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice.

Subtle, it was not.

With Sheikh Mohameds participation in Indias Republic Day now confirmed, theres additional pressure on Pakistans leaders  political and military alike  to get back into the UAEs good books. Theres little prospect that the Pakistani military will be deployed in Yemen, and even if that were to happen it would earn Islamabad few brownie points with the Emiratis, since theyve themselves all but abandoned the battlefield. Nor are there any meaningful economic inducements that Pakistan can offer in recompense: The UAE already enjoys unrestricted access to the Pakistani market.

Read | Gulf labour crisis: Is India prepared for the returning NRIs?

Its a good thing that Pakistans leadership has had much recent practice in squirming uncomfortably. They will be doing a lot of it on January 26.

Bobby Ghosh is editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times

Twitter: @ghoshworld

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BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Karnataka decided on Monday to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, after twice deferring Supreme Court orders to share the rivers water with its neighbour.

The state assembly passed are solution to discharge water to farmers in the Cauvery basin, including Tamil Nadu, to meet irrigation and drinking water requirements. But the amount of water to be released was not mentioned.

The top court asked Karnataka on September 30 to discharge 6,000 cusecs from October 1 to 6. Again on Monday, the court asked Karnataka to stop defying its order.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said the state has no intention to disrespect the Supreme Courts orders now that rainfall in the past 10 days has eased the water shortage.

Karnataka had cited poor monsoon and depleted reservoirs to deny Tamil Nadu the water that it sought to save its paddy crop.

As the century-old row simmered, the Centre did a volte face on Monday and opposed a top court order to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board, an authority to instruct or suggest measures and settle disputes. Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi requested the bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra to reconsider its order, saying only Parliament has the power to constitute such a board.
KARNAL: Cow urine is the latest subject for scientists at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in this Haryana town, credited for cloning the worlds first buffalo calf and for its research on increasing milk production of cattle.

Many Hindus consider cow urine to have medicinal properties; that the liquid waste of their sacred animal can cure incurable diseases, including diabetes and cancer, when drunk raw or as a concoction.

But this is the first time benefits of cow urine, which diehard bovine buffs keep asserting, will go through intensive scientific scrutiny. Results of previous independent research lie scattered, seldom collated or substantiated.

Yes, we have ordered a review and the scientists are collecting details related to cow urine. The papers will be submitted in 10 days, NDRI director AK Srivastava said. Several researches had been conducted  Some even claim there is gold in cow urine, but we will conduct our own research.

If results turn out positive, the research will help solve a pressing problem of stray cattle in Haryana and other BJP-ruled states, where the animal has overrun public spaces and roads.

St rays have flourished because of a strict ban on beef and cow slaughter. These animals are abandoned after they stop producing milk or become too old and feeble to pull ploughs and carts.

The move comes after Union minister of state for agriculture and farmer welfare, Sudarshan Bhagat, asked scientists at the institute last week to conduct research on cow urine, sources said.

People will not abandon cows if the urine can be used profitably, the minister had reasoned.

Scientists will find out if cow urine is useful, especially for human health, as claimed by some Ayurveda experts, including Ramdevs Patanjali.

So, is the urine of an indigenous cow superior to that of foreign and mixed breeds?

If we get positive results in the review, we will go ahead with the research, which will only be on the urine of indigenous cows, Srivastava said.

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NEW DELHI: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal praised Modi but asked him to expose Pakistan for denying the Indian Armys operation across the LoC. In rare praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal hailed the surgical strikes by the Indian Army on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC).

Kejriwal, who has made a number of acrimonious statements against Modi, urged the PM to counter propaganda by Pakistan, which has denied army operation.

In a video message on Monday, the A am A ad mi Party( A AP) chief said Pakistan has gone berserk after the strike and was resorting to smear campaign against India at the international level.

It has resorted to playing dirty politics. Since the last two days, Pakistan is taking international journalists to the border and trying to show that surgical strikes never took place, Kejriwal said.

The AAP leader said his blood boiled over reports that the UN mission monitoring the ceasefire did not observe firing on the LoC.

I appeal to the Prime Minister that the way he and the Army has taught Pakistan a lesson on ground, he should also unmask the false propaganda by Pakistan at the international level. The whole country is with you, Kejriwal said.
NEW DELHI: Two alleged members of a fake international currency racket were arrested on Monday by the Delhi Police special cell.

Police said that a woman named Neetu, 34, and her associate Salim Sheikh, 23, were allegedly getting the currency from Pakistan through Bangladesh. Currency notes worth Rs 3 lakh and three mobile handsets were recovered by the police.

Police said that the duo was active in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

Police seized fake notes in the denomination of Rs1,000.

The police were working on certain leads and trying to track the gang circulating the money in parts of north India. Police said they learnt that fake currency notes were brought to Malda in West Bengal through the porous India-Bangladesh border. FromMalda, it was being handed over to couriers who brought the money to Delhi for a commission on each trip.

Police said Salim Sheikh, a Malda resident and Neetu, a Delhi resident were arrested from a DTC depot in Seelampur. Neetu had allegedly come to receive the fake notes from Salim.

Neetu confessed she had come to Delhi 18 years ago. Her husband, Ravinder, who works with an NGO had met a man named Munna, also from Malda who supplied fake notes in Delhi. Neetu told police Munna lured her into the business.

Neetu told police that she circulated the fake notes at weekly markets taking advantage of the crowd outside the markets.

Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police, said, Salim Sheikh told us that fake currency notes are being pushed into India by Pakistan through the porous Indo-Bangladesh Border.
NEW DELHI: Amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbours, Pakistan born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah says endeavours by ordinary citizens or efforts by the government from the Indian side cannot end hostility from the Pakistani side.

Fatah, who has endeared himself to the current dispensation for his criticism of radical Islam and Pakistan and is a coveted guest on Indian news channels, says the average Pakistani does not want peace with India.

On one side, you have a completely fascist order based on lies and deception and on the other side is the Hindu guilt-ridden liberal class that says we have a model where we can practice outreach and brotherhood, but is it the Hindu right-wing that is not allowing that. The real ultra right is the Muslim liberal class, it is not the other way round, Fatah told HT in an exclusive interview.

Fatah was dismissive of peace initiatives with people at their core. He said the focus on increasing people-to-people contact would have no significant outcome and scoffed at the notion that ordinary people in both countries wanted peace.

There is no people-to-people relationship, Fatah said, adding that there is an overwhelming anti-India sentiment prevalent in Pakistan.

Fatah, who has not visited Pakistan since 2006, was in India to attend a seminar on Balochistan and its bid for independence organised by an RSS-backed think tank, the Indian Policy Foundation. He said that India raising the Balochistan issue helped focus international attention to the Baloch struggle for freedom.

Dubbing himself an Indian, Fatah did not demur in accepting that he was keen on getting Indian citizenship. He frequently refers to his familys ancestry as Mumbai Punjabis and blames radical Islam for the unrest in Kashmir. Replying to a question on why terror attacks at ar my bases in Uri and Baramulla have not impacted trade and travel ties, Fatah said it was purely driven by commercial interests.

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LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party state president Shivpal Yadav on Monday named a murder accused as a party candidate for next years assembly in Uttar Pradesh, a move that could potentially increase friction with his nephew Akhilesh.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, locked in a turf war with Shivpal, said he was not consulted on the candidature to Aman Mani Tripathi, accused of murdering his wife Sara last year.

Tripathis father, four-time legislator Amar Mani Tripathi, is serving a life term for murdering a poetess, Madhumita Shukla, in 2003. I have given up all my rights, the chief minister said on the sidelines of a public event shortly after the names of eight candidates were announced. Akhilesh was apparently referring to his demand for having a say in candidate selection.

Shivpal and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav were also present at the function. This is the third time Akhilesh have disagreed with Shivpals choices.

The first confrontation was in the run-up to the 2012 assembly polls when Shivpal was in favour of giving candidature to strongman DP Yadav, whose son Vika sand nephew Vishal Yadav are in jail in the Nitish Kataria murder. Akhilesh had then put his foot down saying DP Yadav will not find a place in SP.

Earlier this year, Akhileshs opposition forced the SP to call off a merger with the Quami Ekta Dal, floated by jailed don Mukhtar Ansari. Shivpal had finalised the merger deal. The fiasco intensified the Yadav familys infighting which finally broke out in public last month when Mulayam Singh Yadav replaced his chief minister-son as the state SP president with Shivpal.

An angry Akhilesh retaliated by divesting Shivpal of key portfolios.

Though Mulayam managed to broker an uneasy truce in the states ruling family, Aman Manis candidature could lead to more rumblings within the party just ahead of the polls.

Aman Mani will be the party candidate from Nautanwa in Maharajganj, an earlier stronghold of his father.

Aman Mani is an accused in the murder of his wife, who allegedly died in a road accident near Firozabad. Aman Mani was driving the vehicle. Seema Singh, the mother of Sara had filed a murder case against Aman Mani and campaigned for a probe by the CBI, which later took up the case.

Saras mother questioned the ticket to Aman Mani.

If Mulayam Singh Yadav has courage, then he should give a reply to the educated and wise public of Uttar Pradesh. Why, against the public sentiments, he (Aman Mani) was given the ticket, Seema Singh said.

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) defended chief Arvind Kejriwal after his statement saluting the prime minister and asking him to counter Pakistans propaganda over surgical strikes across Line of Control (LOC) drew criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

BJP leader and union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said that Kejriwals remarks amounted to seeking proof of the army action.

He said Kejriwal should not belittle the great leadership, courage and sacrifice of armed forces under the garb of seeking proof, and alleged that he had given Pakistan a chance to question the armys assertion.

But AAP leader Sanjay Singh said nowhere in the video had Kejriwal sought proof of the strikes and instead he had saluted the PM and the army for conducting the strikes.

In the video, he saluted the Prime Minister and asked him to unmask Pakistan. BJP is saying we are doing politics over it but how is it wrong to salute the PM and the army?, Singh said.

Read more: Amid protests, Kejriwal defends demand for proof of surgical strikes

Kejriwal had on Monday released a video message saying said Pakistan had gone berserk after the strike and was resorting to smear campaign against India at international level.

Singh said that Pakistan was spreading false information in the media and there was a need to counter that. As Indians we will not tolerate Pakistans fake propaganda. We appeal to the PM to unmask the false propaganda being spread by Pakistan, he said.

On being asked if the party wanted videos of the strike to be released as a way to counter Pakistans propaganda, Singh said that it was up to the Centre on how it wanted to expose Pakistans lies.

How will India expose Pakistans lies is up to the PM and the Centre to decide, he said.

Meanwhile, AAP staged a protest at the Pakistan High Commission after many party members, including seven party MLAs were detained. They were released later.
Air pollution in Delhi was off the charts on Tuesday, a Hindustan Times air-quality monitoring system showed, indicating that the peak pollution season in the city has begun.

The worst air quality was reported from west Delhis Punjabi Bagh  where the air quality index (AQI) was 500, the maximum possible rating of severe  followed by Anand Vihar in east Delhi that displayed an AQI of 467 and an identical rating.

Air quality is rated by AQI within a range of 0 (good) to 500 (severe). Only one of 10 spots in Delhi where HTs monitoring system is installed reported satisfactory air quality  east Arjun Nagar with 91.

Delhis air is considered the worst in the world that gets worse in the winter months because of a combination of no rainfall, lower wind speeds and crop burning in the national capital region and neighbouring states.

Take a look at our real-time air quality map to see the latest pollution levels in different parts of the country.
The death of four people at Delhis Hindu Rao Hospital, which is run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), was caused due to chikungunya, officials of the municipal corporation of Delhi said. The deaths will be confirmed as having been caused by the vector-borne disease soon.

The Delhi government, which had reviewed 13 deaths related to chikungunya, had so far maintained that none of the people succumbed to the disease. The governments review committee had, however, reserved its judgement on three cases  including one from Hindu Rao Hospital  for want of more documents.

Two of the four deaths at Hindu Rao were directly caused by the chikungunya virus.

One of them, 4-year-old Pika, was admitted to the hospital on September 17 and passed away five days later. The cause of death was viral meningoencephalitis, swelling and inflammation of the brain and its membrane.

Since she was brought in with high fever, she was tested for dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis and malaria at National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). Except for chikungunya, she tested negative for all the other diseases. So, clearly it is a death caused by chikungunya, said Dr DK Seth, director of hospital administration at North corporation, which runs Hindu Rao Hospital.

The second patient, 22-year-old Isha, died of cardiac arrest at the hospital on September 1. The chikungunya virus can affect the brain and the heart. In this case, the girl did not have any pre-existing conditions, but developed myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and died of a cardiac arrest, said Dr Seth.

In the other two cases, the virus aggravated the co-morbid conditions causing the patients to die from complications.

The death summary of 75-year-old VK Gupta says that he died on September 11 of multi-organ failure with sepsis (blood infection) with underlying conditions like diabetes and chikungunya.

Fifty eight-years-old Ram Bhajan died of kidney failure and deficiency of platelets causing internal bleeding; diabetes and chikungunya were the co-morbid conditions.

Three of the four deaths reported by Hindu Rao Hospital are from within Delhi, with one patient coming from Ghaziabad.

Although these deaths happened one month to two weeks ago, they have not been included in the weekly report released by the MCD on Monday, which had recorded the number of cases up to October 1 at 5,293.

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The capital on Tuesday woke up to hazy weather conditions which, experts said, was the first sight of smog. Air quality dropped to poor levels before it rained across the city .

In view of the situation, Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain has written to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan urging them to take steps to curb burning of crop stubble.

Stubble burning in this season is a major contributor to air pollution apart from road dust, industrial sources, and vehicular emissions.

With the onset of winter season, Delhi faces a critical phase of pollution due to meteorological conditions like wind pattern and low temperature, which aggravates pollution level especially concentration of particulate matters. The detail analysis of ambient data shows pollutants increasing trend in the month of October-November, which coincides with agricultural burning in neighbouring states, the letter says.

The minister also wrote to the Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave requesting him to issue directions to the authorities of Delhis neighbouring states to prevent burning of agricultural residue.

The absence of wind and a heavy shower coupled with slight drop in the temperature has resulted in more dust getting trapped in the air, said an expert.

Read: Sharp rise in air pollution, Punjabi Bagh worst affected shows HT data

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A spell of mild showers in and around the Capital on Tuesday raised concerns about the dengue and chikungunya outbreak in the city intensifying.

The disease carrying mosquitoes, aedes aegypti, breed in open containers of clean water in and around houses and dwellings.

Rains mean mosquitoes and Delhi this year saw good rains that gave the mosquitoes conducive environment to grow and multiply. Aedes aegypti can even breed in 10ml of water, said Dr AC Dhariwal, director, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.

However, Dr DK Seth, director of hospitals at the north Delhi corporation, reassured that as long as breeding is controlled there is nothing to worry about. People should empty any sources of open standing water, like tanks, barrels, and even plant saucers, to curb the breeding of the dangerous flies.

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After holding out repeatedly against Supreme Court orders on releasing the Cauvery waters to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka has finally given in and agreed to open the tap. Earlier the assembly had said water would be released just for drinking purposes. Such disputes between the two states have occurred in the past whenever rainfall has been deficient. And on each occasion the problem cropped up in September, when the kuruvai and the samba crops in Tamil Nadu are cultivated. In 2002, Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu chief minister then and now, and her Karnataka counterpart SM Krishna had to request the intervention of then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee to settle the dispute.

Read: After 2 weeks, Karnataka finally agrees to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu

The Cauvery river system comprises the river Cauvery and its tributaries such as the Hemavati, Bhavani, Kabini and Amravati. The root of the problem is that Tamil Nadu has a long history of irrigated agriculture and Karnataka, the upper riparian state, started late in that field. The history of this goes back to the 19th century, and the Madras Presidency and the State of Mysore had made an agreement in 1892 and another one 1924. Karnataka has from time to time raked this up, saying those had been unfair to them.

Read: Crises like Cauvery will grow common without improved water management

The late S Guhan, an IAS officer, had written a book titled The Cauvery Dispute: Towards Reconciliation, which had suggestions for Tamil Nadu such as improving the irrigation system, better farm management practices, conserving groundwater and preventing the runoff of rainwater. He also regretted that the two states could not evolve a formula on the basis of trust and goodwill in accordance with the Helsinki Rules, 1966, drawn up by the International Law Association. Institutions such as the Cauvery River Authority and Cauvery Monitoring Committee have been set up and yet, almost 10 years after the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal gave its final award, no solution is in sight. And it should be remembered that the problem is not just of Cauvery. Odisha and Chhattisgarh are locked in battle over the waters of the Mahanadi. The same is the case with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with regard to the Krishna and Godavari. The countrys water crisis has been caused partly by a distorted irrigation policy. There are rain-shadow areas such as Vidarbha where irrigation projects exist only on paper. Another problem is that water resources are being given by several states to bidding parties. In the early 2000s, Andhra Pradesh (then undivided) did away with its irrigation development corporation. This means an increasing number of borewells, dug chiefly by rich farmers, and as a result, the groundwater level went down, adding to the farmers difficulties. Clearly the Central Water Commission has not been equal to the task. It should be surmounted by a National Water Commission.
The changing face of management education set the tone of the 20th foundation day of Indian Institute of Management, Indore on Monday. Established in 1996, IIM Indore was the sixth in the family of state-supported management schools.

Author-cum-corporate advisor R Gopalakrishnan, the chief guest on the occasion, said 20 years ago management education was flaky and parents preferred to send their children to IITs for proper education and good jobs.

After a few years, management education developed and grew into a matured flower, and the journey of management education since then has been quite pleasant.

Talking about the growing stress in the life of modern-day managers, he said: Education today focuses on producing competent managers who are skilled, learned and talented but can they be considered as happy managers?

Work-life balance is getting disturbed massively these days. If our right eye is like our family then our left eye is work. We cant just dilate one eye and try to get a clear vision. We need both the eyes. He urged the future managers to work on six things -- purpose, maturity, courage, trust, defining success and luck.

Institute director professor Rishikesha T Krishnan also addressed the students.

Certificate for academic excellence was presented to top five percentile students of post graduate programmes (batch 2015-17) and integrated programme in management (batch 2012-17) for the performance in 2015-16.
If youve been living under a fashion rock for the past few days then you might have missed the spat between style bible Vogue.com and a whole generation of fashion bloggers.

The site has incurred the wrath of the blogging community by referring to bloggers who are paid to wear brands to fashion shows as pathetic and heralding the death of style.

But just who are these online influencers getting under the skin of the most powerful editors in the industry? Vogue didnt mention any names, but we take a look at the top five bloggers in the business.

Chiara Ferragni

My #Maserati for Paris Fashionweek is so cool It comes with flowers  #Quattroporte @maserati_italia #TheBlondeSaladGoesToParis A photo posted by Chiara Ferragni (@chiaraferragni) on Oct 2, 2016 at 4:57am PDT

No fashion blog list would be complete without mentioning Chiara Ferragni, aka The Blonde Salad. This Italian star was one of the first on the style blogging scene, but remains as relevant as ever, seven years after first launching her site in 2009.

By 2012 she had launched her namesake brand and designed her own shoe collection, followed by collaborations with Steve Madden and Supergra. She was named the European Ambassador of Amazon Fashion in February this year and has almost 7 million followers on Instagram.

Susanna Lau

Bonjour! I will be taking over the @soniarykiel Instagram so check out my posts and stories, from what will be a really special show! #SoniaRykielSS17 A photo posted by Susie Lau (@susiebubble) on Oct 3, 2016 at 7:58am PDT

Better known as Susie Bubble, Susanna Lau is a UK fashion blogger and writer who set up her Style Bubble blog in 2006 and now has over 300,000 followers on Instagram.

Her career as a professional blogger has seen her collaborate with brands from Gap to Google. She was one of the first to hit back at the comments from Vogue, taking to Twitter to defend the blogging community.

Shea Marie

I'd rather be in bed still #mondaymorning A photo posted by Shea Marie (@peaceloveshea) on Oct 3, 2016 at 7:06am PDT

Peace Love Shea is the brainchild of Hollywood-based fashion influencer and blogger Shea Marie, who has become a regular fixture on the fashion circuit and has collaborated with brands including Dior, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana. Last year she made the leap to designer with her own swimwear collection Same Swim.

Bryanboy

So lovely meeting @JessicaAlba at @MaisonValentino! A photo posted by Bryanboy (@bryanboycom) on Oct 2, 2016 at 9:35am PDT

Another blogger who has spoken out against Vogues criticism was Bryanboy, a Filipino who has been proving that fashion blogging can be a mans game too since starting out more than 10 years ago. He is known for his signature pose, which sees him holding a handbag on an outstretched arm, and has had a Marc Jacobs bag, the BB Ostrich, named after him.

Aimee Song

Wearing the sickest #DiorUmbrage shades for the @Dior #pfw show. More of this look and my makeup on the blog today. Link in bio Photo by @cholpak A photo posted by Aimee Song (@songofstyle) on Oct 3, 2016 at 9:02am PDT

With 3.9 million Instagram followers, Aimee Song is a fashion blog veteran of the best kind. Since setting up Song of Style in 2008, she has developed her own jewelry and clothing brands and collaborated with names including Levis, True Religion and 7 For All Mankind.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
Actor Blake Lively, who just welcomed her second child with husband Ryan Reynolds, attended her friends wedding in New York mere days after giving birth.

The 29-year-old star shared a picture of herself on Instagram along with her friend, Jessica Snyder, and congratulated the newlywed couple.

Most beautiful bride on the planet. And the best friend I could ask for. @jessicarose617 thank you for being EVERYTHING. I love you, she wrote.

Snyder, who also happens to be Livelys assistant, tied the knot with her fiance, Selwyn Cummings.

Most beautiful bride on the planet. And the best friend I could ask for. @jessicarose617 thank you for being EVERYTHING. I love you.  A photo posted by Blake Lively (@blakelively) on Oct 2, 2016 at 3:40pm PDT

@jessicarose617 's KILLER details... A photo posted by Blake Lively (@blakelively) on Oct 2, 2016 at 4:25pm PDT

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Nine Pakistani nationals have been booked after they were apprehended by Indian Coast Guard on Sunday for allegedly entering the Indian waters off Gujarat coast, an official said on Tuesday.

Coast Guard Ship Samudra Pavak had apprehended the Pakistani boat with nine crew members on board at around 10.15am on Sunday during patrolling.

District superintendent of police (SP) Tarun Duggal said the case was lodged against them on Monday at Navi Bandar coastal police station in Porbandar district of Gujarat under various sections of the Maritime Zones Act.

An FIR was registered yesterday against the nine Pak crew members for violating the Maritime Zones Act. We will produce them in court in due course to seek their remand for joint interrogation. All of them and their boat are now in the custody of Porbandar police, Duggal said.

The authorities found fishing equipment in the boat, he said adding, however, nothing suspicious was found during the preliminary investigation.

Navi Bandar police station is one of the ten police stations located along Indias coastline, which has been recently empowered by the Centre to register and investigate crimes committed within the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which lies between 12 and 200 nautical miles from the Indian coast.

This is the first ever FIR related to offshore offence registered at the station after it became operational.

Earlier, Yellow Gate police station in Mumbai was the only police station empowered to handle offences committed in the entire western coast.

In June this year, the Centre issued a notification for setting up several other coastal police stations, including Navi Bandar for Gujarat, to handle cases of offshore offences in the EEZ. Now there is no need to approach Yellow Gate police station in Mumbai, as we have our own police station for EEZ, he said.

This FIR against Pak crew members is the first one after the police station came into existence following the notification by the Centre, he added.

In June, Union home ministry had issued a gazette notification, invoking the Territorial waters, Continental Shelf, exclusive economic zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, and said the 10 police stations, located on both east and west coasts, can investigate any offence committed by any person within the EEZ.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday declared her state as the safest place for women in the country, a clear retort to Delhi tourism minister Kapil Mishra who mocked her by saying terrorist are being treated as tourists in Kashmir.

The slugfest took place at the launch of Bharat International Travel Bazaar (BITB) after Mishra attacked Mufti, asking her to clarify whether she considers slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani and Parliament attack accused AfzaL Guru as terrorists.

As many in the audience rose to protest against Mishras remarks, he questioned the PDP chiefs stance on terrorists, pointing out that a few months ago a Pakistani flag was raised at her house. He sought to know who sheltered terrorists who carried out the attack at an army base in Baramulla.

What do you consider Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru asks @KapilMishraAAP to Mehbooba Mufti sharing the stage with him @htTweets  Smriti Kak (@smritikak) October 4, 2016

@KapilMishraAAP says we can fight Pak, but how will we fight people who give shelter to terrorists in J&K? Mehbooba looks on @htTweets  Smriti Kak (@smritikak) October 4, 2016

Someone must have given them shelterWe can fight with terrorists, Pakistan, but how can we fight with people who shelter terrorists, he said referring to Muftis statement that she would have given Wani a chance had she known he was trapped in an encounter.

A teary-eyed Mufti took to the stage and declared that women were welcome to any part of her state, where there was no fear of being raped in a moving car, a clear reference to Delhis crime record. Any place in the world, including Delhi, women are safest in my Kashmir, said Mufti.

In a veiled response to Mishras aspersions on her stance on terrorism, she recalled how when regional leaders in Kashmir, including National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah, were talking of plebiscite, her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed opted for Indian form of democracy.

He (Sayeed) said Indian democracy is the best thing that Kashmir can have and he stood by it till the last, she said.

Earlier, declaring terrorism and tourism cannot go together, Mishra walked off, refusing to share the stage with her.

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Rejecting the BJPs criticism, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused the party of playing politics over the anti-terror surgical strikes across the Line of Control, Indias de-facto border with Pakistan.

In a rare gesture, Kejriwal had on Monday saluted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the strikes on terror launchpads. But he had also urged the Centre to counter the smear campaign by Pakistan, which has flatly denied that any Indian Army operation took place across the LoC.

However, the BJP alleged that Kejriwal had, in the garb of his statement, questioned the armys assertion on surgical strike and insulted the armed forces.

I have supported the Prime Minister, applauded the army. I only said that Pakistan is spreading false propaganda in the world that surgical strikes did not happen. We all believe that surgical strikes took place, Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

Read: Kejriwal salutes Modi for strikes across LoC, asks PM to expose Paks lies

I had only appealed to the PM that a befitting reply should be given to Pakistan. If I said that we have to counter Pakistans false propaganda then why is the BJP so rattled and scared? We all have to counter Pakistans propaganda and we should all, irrespective of the party, strengthen PMs hands in this, Kejriwal said.

Claiming that Kejriwal sought proof on the anti-terror operation, the BJP asked him not to belittle the armed forces by getting influenced by Pakistani propaganda.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the AAP leaders faith in the Indian Army.

Read: Dont belittle army: BJP slams Kejriwals demand for proof of surgical strikes

On the same day, BJP workers staged protests outside Kejriwals residence, accusing him of a pro-Pakistan stance and demanding his resignation.

Hundreds of BJP supporters, led by Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, raised slogans: Jo Hafeez Saeed ka yaar hai, desh ka gaddar hai (Those who are friends with Hafeez Saeed are traitors).

Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Youth and minority morcha also joined them.

The Delhi Police had to resort to mild force to disperse the protesters.
It isnt Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa alone who is the centre of attention at the citys Apollo Hospital. Somewhere on the second floor where the ailing chief minister is being treated by a team of top doctors, another lady holds court these days with top officials queuing up for instructions.

Retired IAS officer, Sheela Balakrishnan, 62, is credited with running the state administration while the chief minister is battling her illness. Even ministers are taking instructions from her, pointed out a top official who did not wish to be named.

Jayalalithaa has implicit trust in Sheela Balakrishnan, both for her abilities and attitude, which is why she has become the most important person in the state today. Nothing moves without her consent, he added.

Read | Even from hospital bed, CM Jayalalithaa keeps reins firmly in hand

Few in Tamil Nadu are willing to come on record on how the administration is being run in absence of Jayalalithaa who has been hospitalised for more than 10 days. There has always been an element of secrecy shrouding both the chief minister and the top-rung of her AIADMK party and no one is willing to invite her wrath by sharing details.

Even her illness and the current state of her health have been the subject of speculation. On Tuesday, the Madras high court ordered the state government to inform the court about her health within two days after an activist filed a petition seeking clarity.

Top officials visiting the Apollo hospital say their visits are for twin purposes: To check on the chief ministers health and to also seek guidance from the bespectacled Balakrishnan.

The 1976-batch IAS officer hailing from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala is said to be operating from a room close to that of Jayalalithaa. Another room on the same floor is occupied by Sasikala, a long time aide of the chief minister.

But Balakrishnan is the person whom top officials such as chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao and director general of police TK Rajendran actively seek out. Balakrishnan retired in 2014, but was appointed as the CMs official adviser soon after.

Read | Jayalalithaa is recovering, there is no need for photographs: AIADMK

It is in her capacity as Jayalalithaas most-trusted advisor that Balakrishnan is calling all the shots, insiders say. Influential ministers including O Panneerselvam, who became the chief minister twice when Jayalalithaa had to step down because of legal troubles, play marginal roles.

Though no major policy decisions are being taken in Jayalalithaas absence, officials say Balakrishnan is ensuring the administration runs smoothly, giving an impression of being on auto pilot.

Orders dictated from the hospital are being implemented and overseen by another retired IAS officer, Santha Sheela Nair, who sits in the chief ministers office in the state secretariat. She has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the CMs office.

It is good that Tamil Nadu has a strong and efficient bureaucracy to keep the momentum going without guidance from the political leadership, insisted Ganapati Ramachandran, vice-president of the South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

MG Devasahayam, a former top bureaucrat, pointed out that Balakrishnan, with more than three decades of administrative experience, has the required acumen to run the state. She first got into Jayalalithaas good books while serving in the chief ministers secretariat in 2002.

When the DMK came to power, she was sidelined. But she staged a comeback when Jayalalithaa stormed back to power in 2011. Her bond with the chief minister grew further, and in 2012 when the chief secretarys post fell vacant, she even superseded her IAS-husband R Balakrishnan to occupy the top administrative position.

Also read | Speculation rife over Jayalalithaas health, cops crack down on rumour mongers

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Areas near Indias de-facto border with Pakistan, the Line of Control, have been on the boil since Indian special forces carried out surgical strikes against temporary military bases -- or launchpads -- in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last week.

The army operation was widely seen as retribution for an attack on an army base in northern Kashmirs Uri that left 19 soldiers dead. India blames Pakistan for the attack, a charge Islamabad has rebuffed.

Relations between India and Pakistan nosedived after armys surgical strikes across the LoC with rising tensions, shelling and ceasefire violations  amid diplomatic wrangling at major international fora. Islamabad has denied that the strikes ever took place.

But barely had the dust settled,militants again hit a paramilitary base in Baramulla, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. The targeted operations across the LoC seem to have failed to deter the six militants, who used civilians as human shields to escape after killing one soldier and wounding another.

So what does India do now?

More surgical strikes: Destroy more launchpads without making noise. The September 29 cross-border raids were announced for two reasons: Exposing Pakistan globally as a terror factory and telling the country that such acts would be dealt with an iron fist.

Flipside: Things can spin out of control. Pakistan will not take things lying down. The possibility of a full-blown war cannot be ruled out. Also, if the Indian Army suffers casualties, it will cause some serious embarrassment and India will be seen as the aggressor. What if a mission backfires and they succeed in capturing Indian soldiers? Imagine those images being beamed on TV channels.

Covert ops: Identify military targets across the LoC and move in special forces for the mission. Bridges, ammunition dumps, communication networks and Pakistan army bases could be attacked. Its important to keep up the pressure on Pakistan. Advantage: Deniability factor. Excuse us, we never did it.

Isolating Pakistan: The fate of the Saarc summit in Pakistan serves to illustrate how diplomacy has helped corner Islamabad. Military means coupled with diplomatic outreach can have favourable results.

Positive: Pakistan loses face globally, comes under tremendous pressure to crack down on terror networks.

Muscular stance: India should turn up the heat on Pakistan at the LoC. Local commanders should be given a free hand to use artillery fire and inflict casualties on the neighbouring army. A muscular stance will send a strong message -acts of terror will not go unpunished. At the same time, the army should be prepared for a counter-offensive from Pakistan at all times.

Flipside: If the LoC gets hot, India should be prepared for civilian casualties too. Pakistan has a tendency to target villages along the de-facto border.

Plugging gaps: The army should make sure that there are no holes in its counter-infiltration and counter-terrorism grid that allow militants to sneak and carry out such attacks. Highest level of surveillance required at the LoC to ensure militants are kept away.

For full coverage on Indias Pakistan offensive, click here
Congress on Tuesday dissociated itself from its leader Sanjay Nirupams remarks on surgical strikes, saying it has full faith in the armed forces even as it asked the government to use all information and evidence at its disposal to call Pakistans bluff and expose its false propaganda.

The party said it has taken serious note of Nirupams remarks calling the surgical strike fake, signalling trouble for the Mumbai Congress chief. It also claimed that similar surgical strikes had been undertaken in the past too but the information had not been made public in interest of national security.

Partys chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala, however, steered clear of questions whether Nirupam and Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh who had also raised some doubts over the action of the armed forces, would be served show cause notices.

Indian National Congress disagrees completely from the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. It has taken a serious note, Surjewala said insisting that the party has full faith in the bravehearts of Indian armed forces.

Nirupam had tweeted that every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. politics over national interest(sic).

Nirupam had later told reporters in Mumbai that it is up to the government to prove the surgical strikes did take place.

Surjewala noted that party chief Sonia Gandhi has unequivocally supported Indian armed forces and the government on the issue of surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan as also in taking all steps for demolishing terror infrastructure against India.

We reaffirm the same, he said.

Insisting that there never has been a reason to raise a question or doubt on the statements by the DGMO on surgical strikes, he, however, said that government needs to call the Pakistani bluff and false propaganda on the issue.

This, he said, should be done by the government using all information, evidence and instruments at the disposal of Indian state.

We are proud that even in the past our forces have successfully conducted such surgical strikes on numerous occasions, the Congress spokesperson said.

He said that forces had taken such action on September 1, 2011, July 28, 2013 and January 14, 2014 while giving befitting reply to the enemy.

In its maturity, wisdom and in the interest of national security, Congress government avoided making loud claim for the effective response and action of Indian Army, which had the full support of political leadership, he said in the backdrop of BJP projecting the strikes as symbol of Prime Minister Narendra Modis strong leadership.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has responded to a tweet of a Pakistani girl, who was in India to attend a peace festival, that she was concerned about her well-being amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.

Aliya - I was concerned about your well being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain. https://t.co/9QyeMQfRwy  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 3, 2016

The minister addressed Aliya Harir, a young peace activist from Pakistan, who had tweeted on Saturday she was extremely overwhelmed after speaking to Swaraj who assured that they will reach home safely.

Extremely overwhelmed. Spoke to @SushmaSwaraj ji who assured that Pakistani delegation of #GYPF2016 will reach Pakistan back safe.     Aliya Harir (@AliyaHarir) October 1, 2016

Swaraj tweeted on Monday, a day after the Pakistani delegation left India.

Harir, who runs a cross-border peace initiative Aghaz-e-Dosti, led a group of 18 girls from Pakistan to take part in the Global Youth Peace Festivals that was organised by a Chandigarh-based NGO Yuvsatta.

The girls, who came to Chandigarh last Wednesday for the five-day event, decided to stay back in India despite their parents concern after the September 29 surgical strikes by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC).

Security of the Pakistani contingent was strengthened after the strike and sources said intelligence sleuths kept a close watch over the guests.

Indian soldiers had struck militants who were planning to infiltrate into India from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The lightning strikes were in response to an attack on an army base in Uri in northern Kashmir that left 19 soldiers dead.

Islamabad has repeatedly called Indias claim of destroying seven terror launchpads a fabricated lie. The two countries are locked in a war of words over the matter.

Read | Pak students at peace meet: War narrative limited to media
The BJP attacked the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress on Tuesday, accusing the opposition parties of lowering the armys morale by raising doubts about strikes against militant bases across the Line of Control last week.

In a press conference, senior minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day ago to expose Pakistan by releasing proof of the surgical strikes.

Under the garb of demanding proof, please dont belittle the courage and sacrifice of the armed forces, Prasad told reporters.

Kejriwal had stirred controversy on Monday when he praised Modi for the strikes but asked the PM to release proof of the operation and expose Islamabad, which has flatly denied that any Indian Army operation took place across the LoC.

A number of Pakistani newspapers reported the AAP chiefs comments.

Prasad critcised the AAP chief for this, saying Kejriwals demands were wrong at a time when the government had isolated Pakistan in all international fora, including the upcoming Saarc summit in Islamabad, which was forced to defer the event after India and several other countries pulled out.

I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal whether he believes in the extraordinary valour of our Army or not in conducting surgical strikes. If yes, then why are you getting influenced by the false propaganda of Pakistan? the minister was quoted as saying by ANI.

Prasad also hit out at former home minister P Chidambaram, who had demanded proof of the army strikes and said the previous UPA government also hit militant bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir three years ago but didnt publicise it.

Is Chidambaram joining the bandwagon of people of creating a doubt about the strike and belittling the armed forces, Prasad asked. He urged Congress president Sonia Gandhi to clarify whether Chidambarams comments reflected the official line of the party.

Prasads offensive irked the AAP, which responded by alleging that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre was using the strike to play politics and attack Kejriwal.

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The strains in India-Pakistan ties over militant attacks along the border have cast a shadow over weddings involving people of the two neighbouring nations, with some from the other side, including a bride, yet to get visas.

Naresh Tekwani (27), from Shankar Nagar of Jodhpur, is set to marry Priya Bachani of Sindh province in Pakistan, in Jodhpur on November 8. But his family and relatives are worried as Priya is yet to get a visa.

Priyas cousin Shristi Jhamnani (32), who also hails from Karachi and is married to Bharat Jhamnani, a businessman in Kota since 2005, told Hindustan Times that around 15 family members, including Priya, had applied for visa around three months back, but are yet to get a response.

We here and Priyas family in Karachi have slowed down wedding preparations after the tensions between India and Pakistan started growing off late, she said.

Shrishti said she was quite excited about the wedding as she would have gotten the opportunity to meet her parents, siblings, and other relatives from Karachi.

Tekwani, the groom, is concerned about the situation. We have made almost 80% of preparations for the wedding.

If his fiancee and to-be in-laws do not get visa in time, they will be forced to postpone the wedding, he said.

Read | States evacuate villages along Pakistan border, BSF calls up reserves

The tension between the two nations has also affected wedding preparations in Jehangir Baigs house in Bundi.

Baigs son Zuber Akhtar is set to marry a young woman from Bundi itself on November 28. But Baigs sister-in-law and relatives  about 7-8 people  from Karachi, planning to attend the wedding, are facing the same visa problem as Priya and her family.

Our relatives in Karachi have not got visas yet. They would feel bad if they are not able to make it to the wedding, he said.

Baigs relative, Abdul Haneef Zaidi, a resident of Kota, had married Raziya of Karachi 38 years ago.

He said there have been eight cross-border weddings in his family in the last four decades and it is normal for relatives to want to meet each other, despite being in different countries.

Zaidi, who was planning to visit his relatives in Pakistan in December this year, has now postponed his plans due to the hostilities between the neighbours.

This is not the first time when weddings have come under the shadow of cross-border tension. A wedding in 1999 was postponed for two years, he said.

Read | Pakistan violates ceasefire, targets LoC in Poonch district with 120 mm mortar

Tension escalated between India and Pakistan over the last month following an attack by militants on Uri army base which killed 19 soldiers. India blamed Pakistan militant groups for the attack.

Following this, the Indian Army last week conducted surgical strikes at militant camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, destroying seven terror launch pads and killing an unknown number of militants.

Since then the militaries of the two countries have been shelling each other in violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement on a daily basis, creating fears of a sub-continental war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

For more stories on the cross border tensions, click here.
A top European Parliament official has said Indias cross-border action against terrorists should be commended and supported because if the terror emanating from Pakistan was not checked, it would target the West soon.

European Parliament vice-president Ryszard Czarnecki praised the Modi government and the Indian Army for their professional approach to a situation that was becoming graver by the day.

The message that came out was loud and clear that India would no longer allow Pakistan to fuel cross-border terrorism, the British-born Polish politician said in a signed article in EP Today, the monthly news magazine for the European Parliament.

He wrote the proactive operation carried out on Pakistan-controlled territory was probably a first by India and was in response to the two attacks on Indian defence establishments -- the Pathankot airbase in January and the Uri army camp in September.

Both these establishments are located near the Indian border with Pakistan and the attacks were carried out by Pakistan-based terror groups who had sneaked across the border into India, he said.

Czarnecki remarks are similar to those of Russian ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin, who too blamed Pakistan for Uri attack, supporting the September 29 attack on militants preparing to infiltrate into India from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The lightning strikes were Indias first military response to the Uri attack that left 19 soldiers dead.

India clearly indicated the raid was not against the Pakistani state but focussed on terror groups threatening the region, he said.

India deserves global support in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan, for, if left unchecked, these individuals and groups would be attacking Europe and the West soon, Czarnecki wrote.

It was important for the European Union to maintain pressure on Pakistan to eliminate the terror networks that operated within its borders.

The time has come for the world to act decisively against terrorism and ensure that no terror group is assured of a secure haven in any part of the world, he added.

The close relationship between the Pakistan defence establishment, the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network was well known, he said.

We have witnessed the alarming growth of Pak-linked terror modules in Europe and other parts of the world. The close proximity between the Pak security establishment and extremist / terror groups has also given rise to a situation where organisations propagating Islamic militancy in Pakistan enjoy de facto state patronage, Czarnecki said.
The US called for calm and restraint from India and Pakistan amid increasingly strained relations between the two neighbours and urged both militaries to keep their lines of communication open to help defuse tensions in the region.

We urge calm and restraint on both sides. We understand, as we said last week, that the militaries are in touch. We believe that continued communication is vital to reduce these tensions, state department spokesperson, Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters on Monday.

Trudeau, however, refused to respond to questions on Indias surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last week. Im not going to speak to any reports of these incidents.

Read | US national security adviser calls Doval, offers help on counter-terrorism

Trudeau said the US is emphasising on regional stability and security in its dialogues with Indian and Pakistani leaders.

I think what you would take a look at being discussed is regional stability and regional security. One of the things I think we all need to focus on is conflicts or issues or rising tension are not contained to any specific region, she said.

Read | US tells Pak to shut down its nuclear talk amid regional tensions with India

We are in favour of any reduction of tensions that both sides agree to in this particular instance. We have strong ties with both Pakistan and India, and well engage on that basis, Trudeau added.

She said the US position on Kashmir has not changed. I would say that our position on Kashmir has not changed, and I would remind you that we are having conversations with both countries on the importance of reducing the tensions in the region, she said.

For more stories on the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, click here
Describing South Asia as a global growth hotspot, the World Bank has said Indias GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017.

In India, GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017, supported by expectations of a rebound in agriculture, civil service pay reforms supporting consumption, increasingly positive contributions from exports and a recovery of private investment in the medium term, the World Bank said in its latest report on South Asia Economic Focus released on Monday.

However, India faces the challenge of further accelerating the responsiveness of poverty reduction to growth, promoting inclusion, and extending gains to a broader range of human development outcomes related to health, nutrition, education and gender, said the biannual report.

According to the report, South Asia remains a global growth hotspot and has proven resilient to external headwinds such as Chinas slowdown, uncertainty around stimulus policy in advanced economies, and slowing remittances.

The main challenges remain domestic, and include policy uncertainty as well as fiscal and financial vulnerabilities.

In Pakistan, economic activity is projected to gradually accelerate over the medium term reaching 5.0 percent in 2017 and 5.4 percent in 2018, building upon 4.7 percent GDP growth at factor cost in 2016 (5.7 percent at market prices).

Growth in Bangladesh has remained robust despite internal and external headwinds, it said. Growth will be sustained at 6.8 percent in 2017, coming slightly down from 7.1 percent in 2016, the report added.

On India, the report said economic growth remained robust, which, as in the past, is expected to support continued poverty reduction.

This year is expected to see some convergence in rural and urban economies, supported by stimulating policies, such as passage of GST and civil pay revisions, along with good monsoons, the report said.

Re-balancing of growth drivers will in turn support the sustainability and inclusiveness of GDP and household income growth going forward, it said.

Optimism on the growth front needs to be balanced with caution when translating to broad-based poverty reduction. Despite the recent success in poverty reduction, gains have been uneven, with greater progress in states and social groups that were already better-off, the report said.

India faces the challenge of further accelerating the responsiveness of poverty reduction to growth, enforcing inclusion of presently excluded groups (such as women and scheduled tribes), and extending gains to a broader range of human development outcomes related to health, nutrition, education and gender, where the country continues to rank poorly, said the report.
India and Singapore signed three agreements on Tuesday, including two in the area of skill development, following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong, now on visit to Delhi.

Strengthening a Strategic Partnership. The two leaders witness the signing of 3 agreements in skill development and industrial property, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

One memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Singapores Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Education Services (ITEES) and Indias National Skill Development Corporation on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

Another MoU was signed between the Assam government and ITEES Singapore also on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

A third MoU was signed in the field of industrial property cooperation.

The Singapore Prime Minister, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in Delhi on Monday on a five-day bilateral visit to India.
A group of Islamic radicals had allegedly planned to drive an explosive-laden vehicle into a gathering of religious leaders in Kerala after they were inspired by a similar attack in the French city of Nice, investigators said on Tuesday.

The seven people, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) two days ago from the state, had also drawn up a hit-list that included two high court judges, a well-known rationalist and RSS leaders of Kerala besides Jewish visitors to Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu.

We have taken note of the revelations made by the suspects, and have taken appropriate action, Kerala director general of police Loknath Behera told HT.

The seven people, aged between 24 and 35, were allegedly radicalised by the ideology of the terror outfit Islamic State (IS), which has asked its followers across the world to carry out attacks on people they consider infidels.

The IS has overran vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq and has been blamed for several terror attacks in Europe.

An Islamic State-inspired extremist drove a truck through a crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations at Nice on July 14 this year, killing at least 86 people.

Inspired by the carnage, the group had planned a similar attack on the all-religion Jamaat-e-Islami conference at Kochi last month. Several Hindu and Christian leaders were invited to the Kochi event.

Kerala police asked the organisers to move to a closed-door building at the last minute, potentially preventing a carnage. Investigators said a detailed interrogation of the suspects will reveal how close they were to implementing their plans.

The group had picked Justice KT Sankaran as a target because of his tough stand on terror and justice Pasha due to his progressive views. EA Jabbars credentials as a rationalist found him a place on the hit-list, investigators added.

The group is being questioned. Four other suspects from Coimbatore and one from Tirunelveli have also been placed under detention, a central counter-terror official said.
Jammu and Kashmir police are in the process of booking more than 130 state government employees under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on charges of directly and indirectly instigating the present unrest in the Valley.

Most of these employees participated in stone pelting security forces following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. More than 90 people have died in clashes with security forces and over 10,000 security personnel injured in the stone-pelting incidents after Wanis killing.

Read | Kashmir curfew enters day 50, death toll rises to 70

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, allows the state to detain a person without trial for at least six months and provides for imprisonment up to two years of those who jeopardise the security of the state. Police sources say over 300 people have been booked under the PSA in the current unrest.

The state polices intelligence department and central agencies have compiled a list of J-K government employees who participated in pelting stone on security forces or instigated such incidents.

Slowly but steadily, the Jammu and Kashmir government is acting against all those who were leaders of the stone pelting mob and they included some of the government employees as well, said the official.

These government employees will automatically stand suspended once they spend more than 24 hours in custody as per the rules, a senior government official in the national capital said.

Read | Fear of war, violence grips Kashmir after armys surgical strikes across LoC

The services of these employees can be terminated later.

The situation in the valley, where markets, schools and colleges still remain closed, is far from normal.

J-K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who will be in the national capital on Tuesday, may discuss steps to bring back normalcy in the valley with the central leadership.

For more stories on the unrest in Kashmir, click here

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Finance minister Arun Jaitley is confident that investment flows from Canada will increase in the near future as India offers investors an attractive regime.

Jaitley met his Canadian counterpart Bill Morneau and the countrys minister of international trade Chrystia Freeland on Monday, and also held a series of meetings with major investors, including the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board.

New Delhi needs immediate investments of at least $1 trillion to build roads, ports, airports and power stations as it seeks to expand its economy and raise living standards. The government hopes private companies will contribute half the amount.

But so far it has struggled to raise enough private money, with at least $10 billion worth of road projects stuck because of difficulty in obtaining land. Many power projects remain unfinished owing to regulatory delays.

Canada is only the latest stop on Jaitleys campaign to raise investments from global cash cows.

After the meetings in Toronto, Jaitley was upbeat about the prospects of Canadian investors upping their stake in India: They all look at policy, they look at prospects, they look at the risks involved, and then collectively they weigh that and then they see comparable economies, as to what are the other options they have. And from all counts, India rates fairly high on their priorities.

The CPP Fund, for instance, controls nearly US $225 billion and it hosted a meeting for the finance minister. He pointed out that in the past 24 months or so, Canadian investors, including pension funds, have invested nearly $12 billion in India.

These funds have a lot of investible surplus and therefore, they have to look at a wider canvas of targets where they want to invest, particularly because of the kind of returns they get in our part of the world, are much higher than what they will get here, Jaitley said during an interaction.

Such wooing may have worked: CPP Investment Board already has an exposure of $2 billion in India while Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) announced on Monday it will target investments in the range of $600 million to $700 million over four years, in partnership with Edelweiss Group, to invest in stressed assets and private debt opportunities in India.

After the two finance ministers met, Morneau said, I am pleased to build on Canadas longstanding relationship with India by exploring ways to deepen our economic and financial ties. It is important that Canada continues to engage with the world to create more opportunities and prosperity for the middle class.

Following the meetings with the ministers, Jaitley said that though trade had picked up significantly between the two countries, both sides were very keen to finalise the investment arrangement, referring to the pending Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

Over the years, big banks in India have become increasingly unwilling to lend money to finance infrastructure projects. This has led governments to turn to pension and sovereign wealth funds, an it has pitched the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund as a perfect asset match for the long-term liabilities of a pension fund. The NIIF is an investment vehicle to fund green-field, brown-field and stalled projects.

Also read | Jaitley confident economic impact of India-Pak tensions will be marginal

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Hindustan Times series, Lets Talk About Rape, aims at igniting a spirited, unvarnished, no-holds barred conversation around the reality of sexual assault in India. We have roped in eight eminent Indians to write open letters about the reality of sexual assault in India. We asked you, our readers, to join in the conversation.

In part 1 of the series, actor Farhan Akhtar wrote a letter to his daughter, discussing how important it is for them to realise that they own their bodies, no one else.

Here are edited excerpts from letters our readers sent in as a response to Akhtars letter.

Sripriya Mozumdar:

Artist Sripriya Mozumdar sent us her painting and verses from her poem, Its a girl, which depict her anguish at the treatment of women in society.

Dear Farhan, HT and my fellow citizens of India,

Rape - a four-letter word that has made tremendous progress in Independent India - going from whispered cringing utterances to loud screaming headlines.

Rape - that is so casually bandied about in cinematic depictions as to seem part of normal Hindi film masala.

Rape - also just a more formal word for the numerous other informal ways of mistreating the woman

Rape - the extreme symptom of a deep festering sore in the mental psyche of a society ...

Sripriya writes about the treatment of women in society.

At times a deity, at times a doormat.

A goddess or a prostitute.

Society - you suit yourself.

Deification or masked subjugation.

I condemn both.

An image of Bloodline, an oil-on-canvas painting, sent by HT reader Sripriya Mozumdar in response to our series, Lets Talk About Rape. (PAINTING: Sripriya Mozumdar)

Another poem addresses oppressors:

You stare at my body; but you cannot see my soul.

You tear my clothes; but cannot shred my spirit.

You claw at my skin; but cannot mutilate my resolve.

You search for a virgin; but never seek the female within.

You touch my body; but cannot reach the Inviolate Me!

Subbiah Sridhar criticises film industry, calls for censorship.

Recently, megastar Mr. Amitabh Bachchan had said that he feels embarrassed when he goes abroad and people there call our nation a land of rapes. He further said at the press conference of the film Pink that we all must work to make India a first-world nation. While what he opined is absolutely true and his feelings are fully justified but at the same time will he not accept that many of the latest Bollywood movies are themselves featuring abhorrent scenes and dialogues which definitely, to some ratio, add to the negative impulse perpetrated by the anti-social elements culminating in dastardly acts like committing rapes, broad daylight killings.

Is it not high time that censorship is strictly implemented? Is it not time when Bollywood movies are released and all kinds of dirty scenes, acts and dialogues are completely removed from the movies? Acting is an art and to attain popularity there should be no need for showcasing ones body in the films or acting or dancing in a provocative or indecent manner, thereby spoiling the minds of vulnerable audience.

Kirti Asija writes about gender and identity:

I abhor the concept of gender biasing and what it results in is judgement of ones sexuality...Yes, we do like men in moustaches, beards, tees, etc. But many women also have facial hair. Who the hell has created the necessity of women having all the time waxed legs and arms and we all know what more?! And yes. We do like women in kurtis, sarees, and other girly stuff. But just let us not turn our heads all the way round in a street when we see a man wearing such clothes or wearing anything, which in our opinion is not masculine. World has already so many issues to deal with; nuclear wars, water wars, political wars etc. So let us not make a great big deal out of what a particular gender must wear. Let us not be subjugated by the blind ideas of the society. Om! Amen!

Palak Singh writes about global brutalisation of women:

Women around the world routinely suffer from beatings,rape,torture,murder--millions of women live in a constant state of isolation,terror,fear. Escape is nearly impossible. The many types of global brutalisation against women include female genital mutilation,sexual slavery, honour killing, acid attack,trafficking, dowry death, rape and intimate partner violence. Moreover these practices are often supported by patriarchal ideologies or policies that maintain the social conditions and cultural framework that accept womens brutalisation.Thousands of women are brutalised and sold into sex slavery by Islamic State militants.

A man coming home late, drinking and partying late night, is considered cool by our society but if a woman does such things then she is considered characterless, cheap, or a prostitute. Is this justified?

Women should be respected. Let them live their life fully, with a sense of self worth, respect and dignity.

Read part 2 of the series, where boxer Mary Kom writes a letter to her sons. Join the conversation about rape, tweet to @httweets with #LetsTalkAboutRape

Want to have your voice featured in the Hindustan Times? Send us your entries at htwebresponse@hindustantimes.com and we will feature the best responses.
Suspected militants opened fire on a police station in south Kashmirs Kulgam district on Tuesday evening. No one has been hurt, police said.

Officials said that the policemen guarding the police station Yaripora retaliated forcing the militants to retreat.

Some gunmen opened fire on the Yaripora police station. Our men were also alert and they retaliated effectively. The exchange of fire continued for a minute or so, said SP Kulgam Shridhar Patel.

He said no policeman was hurt in the incident.

Senior police officials have rushed to the spot as a manhunt has been launched to track the attackers. We dont know whether the attackers have fled or are somewhere in the area. We are conducting searches, he said.

The attack comes two days after police said that militants armed with grenades and rifles attacked an army camp in north Kashmir Baramulla district. One BSF personnel had been killed in the incident.

Militants had also attacked a major army base in Baramullas Uri sector near Line of Control on September 18 killing 19 soldiers and ratcheting up tensions between India and Pakistan.
The BSF has said that it has witnessed movement of UAVs very close to the Indo-Pak border recently even as Pakistan violated the ceasefire in Jammu region yet again.

We have noticed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) coming 100 meters up to the border...may be they (Pakistani forces) want to check our preparedness but I can assure you that we are fully capable of giving a befitting reply, BSF Director General K K Sharma said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Sharma added there is tension at the international border that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Meanwhile at the border outpost of Rear Kakkar in Punjab, a Pakistani boat that strayed into Indian waters of the river Ravi was seized by Indian troops.

The boat only had a Pakistan flag in it and there was nothing suspicious in it. But taking no chances the BSF and the Punjab Police started a search operation along the river banks to determine whether the boat was part of an infiltration bid.

Read | As top leaders join hands, Pak media says united we stand on Kashmir issue

We cannot say right now was this boat part of an infiltration bid or not as the search is still on, DIG BSF J.S. Oberoi said.

A view of river Ravi across the fence near BOP Rear Kakkar post in Amritsar, through which the Pakistani boat entered Indian territory on Tuesday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT Photo)

Meanwhile, Pakistani troops targeted Pallanwala sector, violating the ceasefire for the sixth time in the past 36 hours by shelling and firing on Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Rajouri districts in Jhangar, Kalsian and Makri sub-sectors of Noushera belt, PRO Defence, Col Manish Mehta said in Jammu.

Indian troops returned the fire, he said.

In New Delhi, IAFs Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha described the situation as live.

Read | Russia backs Indias surgical strikes, says Uri terrorists from Pakistan

At the annual press conference ahead of the Air Force Day on October 8, Raha sidestepped questions about the surgical strikes.

I think I should not say anything because it is very sensitive and things are still live, he said.

He said the IAF has the power to punish its enemy, but a decision for an offensive role has to be taken by the government.

(With Rahul Singh and agency inputs)
The Kashmir issue and heightened tensions with India helped bring together Pakistans usually divided political leadership to offer support to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs efforts to tackle the situation, the Pakistani media reported on Tuesday.

A meeting of all parties, convened on Monday by Sharif, warned that any unilateral revocation of the Indus Waters Treaty would amount to an act of aggression even as it played down the Indian Armys surgical strikes across the Line of Control as a ludicrous claim.

United we stand for Kashmir cause was the headline on the front page of The Express Tribune while the Dawn headlined its report Opposition, govt in unison over Indian excesses in Valley.

The countrys political leadership unanimously condemned Indian aggression on the Line of Control (LoC) and called for giving the people of Kashmir the right to self-determination, the Dawn reported. The Tribune described the coming together of all but three of Pakistans political parties as a show of national unity.

In this photo released by the Pakistan Press Information Department, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, right, receives Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. (AP)

Also read: What if India attacks: Pakistan medias coverage after surgical strikes

The Karachi edition of the Urdu Daily Jang, the largest circulated edition of any newspaper in Pakistan, reported on the restoration of the parliamentary committee on national security as an outcome of the meeting of political leaders. The Lahore edition of the Jang instead led with a report attack on an Indian Army camp at Baramulla.

Media reports quoted Pakistan Peoples Party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as saying that there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue and this position, first enunciated by his mother Benazir Bhutto, had been accepted by all political parties.

Bilawal pledged support to Sharif on the Kashmir issue and tensions with India but was critical of the premier for his failure to probe revelations in the Panama Papers leaks that Sharifs three children owned offshore assets worth millions of dollars. The Dawn reported that Bilawal asked Sharif to accept the oppositions demand to form a Panama Papers Inquiry Commission to rid the country of corruption.

The Tribune reported that Mondays meeting of the political parties was a success because the government mustered support even from its foes for dealing with India but Sharif had to answer some bitter questions from the opposition. Though Sharif personally received the opposition leaders, Bilawal questioned the governments disastrous foreign policy, it said.

Bilawal reportedly said his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto retrieved Pakistans land from Indian occupation and secured the release of thousands of prisoners of warsin 1971 through assertive diplomacy and aggressive foreign policy. He added, This is how we can achieve our diplomatic goals.

Read: Pak media slams Indias stage-managed terror acts, focuses on LoC firing

An editorial titled A time for solidarity in the Tribune said: It is time for the diplomatic cohort to raise their game, for Pakistan to deploy its considerable resources and to begin to turn threat into opportunity.

The Tribune and The News also reported on contacts between Pakistans National Security Advisor Nasser Janjua and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval to reduce tensions. The Tribune quoted its sources as saying that the NSAs had spoken twice since the weekend. The contactwas aimed at defusing the current standoff that virtually brought the two hostile neighbours to the brink of war, it reported.

Janjua reportedly told Doval that Pakistan sought de-escalation of tensions but would hit back hard if the neighbouring country attempted any military misadventure, the Tribune quoted an official as saying. Foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz confirmed the contacts and said the two officials had agreed on the need to defuse tensions.

Pakistan wants to reduce tensions at the LoC and focus on Kashmir, Aziz told The News.

The most shared story on the website of the Dawn, however, was one that said Pakistans largest stock exchange had soared 41,000 points in Mondays trading. The report said traders shrugged off the war clouds hanging over the region as the KSE-100 index crossed the historic threshold of 41,000 points, staying above this level for at least two hours before closing just below at 40,986 points.

Bilawal Butto Zardari, centre, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, talks to media after attending an all parties conference in Prime Minister secretariat in Islamabad. (AP)

Read: Drama exposed: Pakistan media questions Indias surgical strikes across LoC

Market participants said investors fell over one another in accumulating shares in several sectors, including cement, banking and fertilisers. There was also news of buying by foreign investors, particularly from China.

On most TV news channels, apart from reports on the meeting of political leaders, there was a lot of discussion and reporting on Imran Khans absence at Mondays conclave. Local media reported Khan had preferred to spend leisure time in the popular holiday resort of Nathia Gali while the rest of the political leadership showed national unity on the Kashmir issue. This caused many to attack and criticise Khan.

The media also reported that Prime Minister Sharif would chair two key meetings on Tuesday to review national security and the tensions with India. The chief ministers of the four provinces have been invited to the first meet, which will discuss the National Action Plan, which was framed to counter terrorism after the Taliban massacred dozens of children at a school in Peshawar in 2014.

This will be followed by a meeting of the National Security Committee that will be attended by army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, the chiefs of the navy and air force, the heads of the ISI and Intelligence Bureau, the NSA and defence minister Khawaja Asif.

Ahead of the meetings, the army chief reviewed the operational preparedness during a visit to the headquarters of the 1 Corps or the strike corps at Mangla. Lt Gen (retired) Ghulam Mustafa, who once commanded the strike corps, described the army chiefs visit as highly significant.

Normally, such meetings take place at the General Headquarters and are not announced. This was a clear message to India, and the presence of other corps commanders during the preparedness-level review is also noteworthy, he told the Dawn.

Read: Surgical farce, drama: How Pak media reacted to Indias strikes across LoC
Pakistan-born Canadian journalist and author Tarek Fatah, whose acerbic dismissal of radical Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood have won him fans and followers in India, says hes an Indian at heart.

Fatah, a regular in Indian television studios, says he sees no future for Pakistan with provinces such as Balochistan and Sindh struggling to break free. The founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress hails Indias shift in its Balochistan policy claiming it has turned the international focus on an issue which was kept under wraps.

Read: Peace not possible between India-Pakistan: Pak-born Canadian writer

In an interview with Hindustan Times, he talks about Balochistan, India-Pakistan relations and the unrest in Kashmir.

What do you think is the endgame for the Balochistan struggle?

Until a few years ago, it could have been resolved in a way whereby it could have been part of the federation based on what some of the nationalist politicians had presented - a six-point plan remarkably similar to what Sheikh Mujib Ur Rehman had done and won the election on in 1970.

It said, since it is a federating unit, the Centre should remove military positions in civilian areas and the army should go back to the barracks. That centre would have to respect the electoral decision made through free and fair elections.

Another point was that the indigenous people would not have their rights diluted by getting millions of settlers to alter the ethnic balance. Similar to what Hawaii has or Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. This was presented by the former chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal. He said it was the last offer.

The government completely rejected it and this is what sent the signal that the only option Islamabad suggested is subjugation and eradication of the Balochi language.

Baloch representatives are talking about a government in exile. What is your view?

In the past there used to be a central command, this time, there are four to five different military structures, depending on geographical areas. The day their command structures come under some sort of a unified (command), the Pakistani army will have no way of resolving this.

A government in exile will have to happen. After Indias intervention, there is hope that the Baloch leadership will come together in some sort of a confederacy.

How has Indias shift in Baloch policy been received internationally?

Pakistan is absolutely shocked. They never imagined Indians would even know what is Balochistan. They keep claiming Indian agents are working there and if they are there is no evidence of this massive Indian aid reaching there. Our friends there still sleep on the rocks, they dont even have blankets to sleep in the hills.

Pakistan faces a new situation but the rest of the world is learning for the first time. Since most journalists and NGOs have become subservient to public relations companies and rely on press releases and lobbyists; neither the Baloch have the capacity nor the understanding of how international media works. So their voice has never been heard.

Do you then see more countries emulating Indias intervention to stop human rights violations in Balochistan?

The vice-president of European parliament Rashad Suleymanov said it very explicitly in Geneva that European parliament will move to impose sanctions on Pakistan if the atrocities in occupied Balochistan do not stop. There are people who are aware of it. A few Congressmen in the United States are aware of it and they too are finding validation of their positions in how India has raised the issue. Up till now, it was a cry in the wild.

What is the situation in Sindh like?

The character of Sindh has been diluted by the Urdu-speaking immigrants who came from India. First, Jinnah took away their main city Karachi and turned it into an Urdu-speaking city where no other language was permitted. This meant 90% of the population was disenfranchised, because they spoke Gujarati, Sindhi and Balochi.

Even Konkani used to be spoken there. The Goan Catholics, the Zoroastrians are all gone. No Gujarati-speaking person could get a job because the requirement was the ability to converse and write in Urdu.

The Sindhi were shoved away from their urban centres.

There is a Sindhu-desh independence struggle but because of the Bhutto family, Pakistan has a regional political party system. The Muslim Leagues base is in Punjab, the Peoples Party is in Sindh. They are more anti-India and more belligerent against the Baloch than anybody else. They havent found the leadership that could lead them in the right direction.

Why are you so bitter when you speak of Pakistan, particularly the Punjabi community there.

It is the colonial power, which has blood on its hands. It bullied itself into its own humiliation when Pakistan was made. 60% of Pakistan spoke Bengali but it is the Punjabis who insisted that Urdu be imposed on Bengalis. The cultural crimes of the Punjabi elite are going to haunt them and if it was one incidence, one could understand. Their attempt to appear as the descendants of Babur and Taimur will launch the retake of Delhi as the Mughal empire evokes bitterness in me. It is an insult to human intelligence and my Punjabi ancestry.

When was the last time you visited Pakistan and do you have family there?

I visited Pakistan last in 2006. My brother had to change his last name. I do have extended family and unfortunately, sometimes they face questions. They have to disown me. That is what restricts most sincere people to speak out because the Punjabi Pakistani state has a very feudal, medieval way of torturing relatives or running away with daughters.

How do you see the current turmoil in Kashmir? Do you agree that the BJP-PDP alliance has not been accepted by the people?

It is an unnatural alliance but that is the nature of parliamentary politics. You had the Lib-Lab alliance (arrangement between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party in the UK) and an alliance between the Soviet Union and the United States during the second World War.

Politics and human endeavour require a delicate balance between common objectives and if it is a legitimately elected member of the assembly. My concern more is that nobody took their oath of office in Kashmiri.

This is the Arabisation of the people that is happening and you can notice it in (Hizbul Mujahideen commander) Burhan Wanis message. This is not Sheikh Abdullahs language, this message is coming from ISIS.

This is not about occupation or territorial integrity or freedom; this is about Islamisation and domination of the world by a fanatic Islamic-Fascist order. What is really funny is that the Left gets dragged into it and the liberals come up with the defence of the very people who would hang them. How will the Kashmiris defend the waters of Indus being given to Pakistan at their expense?

There is no national interest. They (Kashmiris), a segment of Indian Muslims, and the Indian left want some exotic fantasy of Pakistan to remain there. So they can live the drama of peace, progress, why cant we live together. It is a complete fraud.

Why?

On one side, you have a completely fascist order based on lies and deception and on the other side is the Hindu guilt-ridden liberal class that says we have a model where we can practice outreach and brotherhood but is it the Hindu right-wing that is not allowing that.

The real ultra-right is the Muslim liberal class, it is not the other way round.

You are very critical of the Left.

I think the CPM is the ultra-right wing party in India. How could the left, who are the Marxists, defend the rights of those who are fascists - the Muslim brotherhood, the Jamat-e-Islami.

How could Sitaram Yechuri go to the house of a proclaimed fascist? To the house of a Muslim brotherhood fascist whose aspiration is the world where every non-Muslim will either convert or will have to pay tax. Do you think SA Dange or EMS Namboodiripad would have gone there? I dont think even Jyoti Basu would have gone there.

He could have gone to a Muslim dancer or architects house ... He goes to the worst face of Islam for talks. The ugliest face of Islam is represented by ISIS and they are the ones driving the Kashmir agenda. Why cant people listen to what Burhan Wani said with two rifles - we dont want a Caliphate in just Kashmir or India, but all over the world.

Do you want an Indian citizenship?

I would love to but there is not a system in India wherein I could apply for it. Imagine, Portugals prime minister is the first European head ever to be of Indian origin, he would Im sure love to visit Goa. I dont blame anyone, but it is just how things are.

I have asked but there is no application for citizenship. Our entire family is Mumbai Punjabis, but we cant be Indians. I am as Indian as anybody else.

As an India watcher, what do you think has changed in India in the past decade?

What is changing in India is the status of young girls. There is something remarkably different between girls on this side of the border and that. Young girls (in schools) are in skirts and ties, on bikes, sitting confidently. You cannot see this in Pakistan. In the 1950s in Lahore, you could see these things. Most women went to work on a bicycle.

There is no one Pakistan - the Balochis and Sindhis want independence, Karachi mayor is in jail, they are in a delusional state; the Pashtuns have been Arabised through the Afghan wars and the Punjabis want to be Urdu speaking. There is a dysfunctional identity crisis but the majority of the ruling class, those who matter are fundamentally hostile and think it is their god-given duty to destroy anything that is un-Islamic.

Thats what they have been taught - Hindus are weak and our job is to civilise them.

You cannot deal rationally with a group of people who are brainwashed. You start abusing on TV. We are dealing with a considerably more rational reasonable people (in India) because of womens empowerment in India.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will celebrate Dussehra in poll-bound Uttar Pradeshs capital Lucknow on October 11, sources said on Tuesday.

They added that PM Modi has accepted an invitation sent by the Aishbagh Ram Leela Committee organisers, who are now gearing up for a massive buildup to the Ram Leela festivities.

The PMs itinerary is yet not official but we are expecting that he will be in Lucknow to witness the slaying of demon king Ravana at the hands of Rama, the annual ritual that marks the end of the Ram Leela signifying the end of 14 years of exile of the lord, a BJP leader said.

The organisers want the Prime Minister to play Rama and fire the first arrow at Ravanas effigy at Aishbagh Ram Leela grounds to symbolise the victory of good over evil  a narrative that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to deftly play up in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

On May 26, Union home minister Rajnath Singh had called upon the people to end the BJPs exile in UP during a BJP rally in Saharanpur in the presence of the PM. Earlier in January, PM Modi visited the Ambedkar Memorial in Lucknow to connect with the 23% Dalits in the state.

The BJP has been out of power in the state since 2002.

Before the PM, Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar is expected to be in the state capital for the first time since the armys surgical strikes on terror camps operating across the Line of Control - an act BJP hopes would shape the political discourse in all the poll-bound states.

Prime Ministers usually celebrate Dussehra in Delhi.

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Under pressure from the Congress and other opposition parties to release proof of the September 29 surgical strikes against militant camps in PoK, the government on Tuesday hit back at the rivals for questioning the courage of the armed forces.

Five days after the two sides were on the same page over the raid, the much-publicised army operation has turned into a political slugfest, with the opposition asking the government to furnish evidence to call Pakistans bluff.

Pakistan has dismissed Indias claims, saying the raid was nothing but cross-border firing.

In the garb of demanding proof, please dont belittle the courage and sacrifice of the armed forces, minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday.

The Congress said it had not questioned the armys claims and supported the governments action. There has never been a reason to raise a question or doubt the statements by DGMO on surgical strike, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi had supported armed forces and the government on surgical strikes and we reaffirm the same, he said.

Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu said the proof would be presented at an appropriate time.

No one has any question about the strikes except the Congress and the chief minister of Delhi. I want to tell them they should not worry about the evidence. It will be presented, Naidu said in Kanpur.

Union minister Uma Bharti slammed politicians seeking evidence of the strikes and said, Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about surgical strike, they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan.

In an early morning raid on September 29, Indian soldiers struck militants planning to infiltrate into India from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The strikes came 10 days after an attack on an army camp in Uri left 19 soldiers dead.

Upcoming elections in the five states could be the reason why the opposition is asking for proof but couching it as a must to quash Pakistan propaganda.

No one would like to be seen questioning the armed forces who enjoy mass appeal in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which are among the five poll-bound states.

Praising the Prime Minister, Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal had in a video message on Monday asked Narendra Modi to release proof to unmask Pakistan propaganda.

Several Pakistani newspapers and international media outlets reported his comments, doubting Indias version of events.

Prasad asked Kejriwal if he believed in the valour of Indian forces. If so, then why is he swayed by alleged false propaganda asking proof to be given.

The CM said Tuesday he had no doubts that the strikes were conducted but Modi should give a befitting reply to Islamabad.

Read | Dont belittle army: BJP slams Kejriwals demand for proof of surgical strikes

Prasad also criticised former home minister P Chidambaram who said the demand for a proof was expected after the government went public with the strikes. The UPA government, too, had hit militant bases in PoK but didnt publicise the strikes.

Is Chidambaram joining the bandwagon of people of creating a doubt about the strike and belittling the armed forces? Prasad said, urging Sonia Gandhi to clarify if the comments reflected the party line.

Digvijaya Singh echoed Chidambarams views. Our credibility is at stake Modiji/(national security adviser Ajit) Dovalji. Release video footage immediately, he tweeted.

Indian lies exposed all over the world https://t.co/5j2MwrpWrH

Our credibility is at stake Modiji/Dovalji. Release video footage immediately  digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) October 4, 2016

The Congress, however, disassociated from Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupams tweet. Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP. Politics over national interest, Nirupam had tweeted.

Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP.

Politics over national interest pic.twitter.com/4KN6iDqDo5  Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) October 4, 2016

Read: Mumbai Cong chief calls surgical strikes fake, asks govt for proof

(With inputs from HT bureaus)

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The Supreme Court asked Karnataka on Tuesday to release 2,000 cusecs of water every day to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18.

The court also asked Karnataka how much Cauvery river water it can share with the downstream state in this period.

Tamil Nadu has pressed for Cauvery water to save its paddy crop, but Karnataka refused, citing monsoon failure and depleted reservoirs.

When the apex court ordered Karnataka to release water last month, it triggered riots in Bengaluru, with Kannadigas attacking Tamils and their property.

The court had on September 30 asked Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs from October 1 to 6 . The directive came with a warning that no one would know when the wrath of the law would fall on it.

Again on Monday, it asked Karnataka to stop defying its order to release water to Tamil Nadu, asking the state to let it know by 2pm on Tuesday if it has followed the directive.

As the century old dispute over sharing the rivers water simmered, the Centre did a volte face and opposed an SC order to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board, which would be an all-encompassing authority to instruct or suggest measures and settle disputes.

The court will take up the Centres plea against its order to set up the board on October 18.

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Sit down, talk and fight together the Capitals worst chikungunya outbreak. Thats the message from the Supreme Court on Tuesday to lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung and the Aam Aadmi Party government, locked in a running feud over who controls Delhis administration.

The remarks came as Delhi recorded its highest ever  1,598  chikungunya cases in the week ending October 1, though hospital data show new infections are down.

There is no question of playing any blame game. You have the responsibility to look after the people of Delhi. You may be great, but you have to do something to maintain that stature. No digging of the past should happen, the court said.

Read | Delhi health minister blames secretary for spread of dengue and chikungunya

It was hearing a petition that complained of little preventive measures being taken to control the mosquito-borne disease.

The court asked Jung to convene a meeting with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain at 2pm on Wednesday. Top officials of four municipal bodies, Delhi Metro, northern railway, Delhi Development Authority, and the Union health secretary should be present too, the bench said.

Advocate CU Singh, representing health minister Jain, said the government has no control over the civic bodies responsible for keeping the city clean. The three municipal corporations in Delhi are ruled by the BJP.

Read | Delhi sees its most chikungunya cases ever, but new infections down

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the defence and security cooperation between India and Singapore is a key pillar of our strategic partnership.

The Prime Minister made the comments after meeting his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, who is on a five-day visit to India, during which the two leaders discussed ways to step up their ties in various fields, including maritime and cyber security.

Read | India, Singapore sign three agreements

India is making diplomatic efforts to isolate Pakistan as part of retaliation to a militant attack on an Indian Army base in Kashmirs Uri that killed 19 soldiers.

Singapore is a strong partner of India in southeast Asia and Modi has been making efforts to forge closer ties with the country, inspired by its impressive economic development.

The rising tide of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation are grave challenges to our security, Modi said.

Modi said Singapore is one of Indias strongest well-wishers and that Lee a strong advocate of bilateral relationship.

Singapore is already our partner in developing Amaravati, the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Rajasthan is also partnering with Singapore in the fields of urban development and waste management, Modi said.

Modi also welcomed the establishment of the centre of excellence for tourism training in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Lee and I welcome the issuance of corporate rupee bond in Singapore, Modi said.

The two countries signed three pacts, including two in the area of skill development, following the delegation-level talks headed by Modi and Lee.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Singapores Institute of Technical Education Education Services (ITEES) and Indias National Skill Development Corporation on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

Another pact was signed between the Assam government and ITEES Singapore also on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training. A third MoU was signed in the field of industrial property cooperation.

Lee, accompanied by a high-level delegation of ministers and members of parliament, arrived in Delhi on Monday.

Read | Singapore PM breaks tradition, takes bus to Delhi hotel

The delegates included the minister of trade and industry S Iswaran, acting minister of education (higher education and skills) and senior minister of state for defence Ong Ye Kung, senior minister of state, ministry of defence and ministry of foreign affairs Mohamed Maliki bin Osman and MPs Denise Phua and Vikram Nair.

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Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya has no intention to return to India and his passport was revoked due to his own conduct, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a Delhi court on Tuesday.

The submission was made before chief metropolitan magistrate Sumit Dass in the backdrop of Mallyas claim that he wanted to return to India but was incapacitated to travel as his passport had been revoked by Indian authorities.

The court had earlier asked the liquor baron to appear before it in a case of allegedly evading summons in a FERA violation matter.

Advocate N K Matta, appearing for the ED, also told the court that under the provisions of law, Mallya can be given travel documents, even if he has no passport.

The ED counsel also opposed Mallyas plea seeking exemption from personal appearance on the ground of lack of passport.

Read: GoAir, Indigo made parties in Mallya case over debt recovery in Airbus deal

The conduct of the accused shows that he has no intention to come to India. His passport was impounded because of his own conduct. There are provisions in law and he can approach the authorities for travel document in case of emergency, if he has no passport.

He has no intention to come, Matta said.

After the submission, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Mallya, sought time from the court. Give me (Mallya) some time so that I can approach the authorities for such a document, he said.

The court has now put up the matter for further hearing on November 4.

Mallya, who is currently in London, made the submission through his counsel on September 9, saying he wanted to come back to India but was incapacitated to travel despite best intentions as his passport had been revoked.

Read: Auction of Vijay Mallyas airbus to be recalled

On July 9, the court had cancelled the exemption from personal appearance granted to Mallya and directed him to appear before it on September 9.

On September 9, Mallyas counsel moved an application seeking exemption for Mallya from personal appearance for the day after which the court had sought EDs reply on his plea while posting the matter for Tuesday.
Though income tax department has yet to disclose the total amount of black money surrendered in Indore region under Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), it has been revealed that more than 28% of total declarations have come from rural and semi-urban areas.

This signals narrowing gap between rural and urban divide as far as stashing of unaccounted wealth is concerned. Since figures are still under computation, this figure may go up. Department officials said people and business establishments from small cities and rural areas have declared large sums of unaccounted income under IDS which ended on September 30. Indore region comprises 15 districts of Indore and Ujjain divisions.

Declarations (of unaccounted income) have been made from every district of Indore region, including tribal predominant Jhabua. And they are in considerable amount, chief commissioner of income tax department Vinod Kumar Mathur said.

Most people, who surrendered unaccounted income, include people associated with stock trading, healthcare services and real estate.

A week before IDS ended, the department contacted 500 businessmen, 200 doctors and top 10 beauty parlours in city to declare unaccounted cash and stocks. They were warned that their unaccounted wealth would be unearthed through surveys and searches if they dont avail the IDS.

On September 28, the I-T department sent teams to the beauty parlours with a direction to clean up their account books. In addition, it conveyed the same message to some doctors, who were called at I-T office. Two medical practitioners surrendered Rs 80 lakh each after surveys were carried out at the clinics of four doctors two days before the IDS ended.

I-T raids on two firms yield Rs 25.5 crore unaccounted cash

Income-tax raids on the showrooms and offices of Punjab Jewellers and Advin Tyres last week have yielded unaccounted income of Rs 25.5 crore, income tax department officials said on Monday. Sixteen of these premises are located in Indore, four in Bhopal.

According to department officials, Punjab Jewellers have surrendered unaccounted income of Rs14 crore while Advin Tyres surrendered Rs 7 crore. In addition, K K Soni, who has business links with Punjab Jewellers, surrendered Rs 4.5 crore of unaccounted income. The searches began on Wednesday and continued till late Friday night.

The teams, comprising 40 officials and policemen, carried out raids in the showrooms, shops at Bada Sarafa, MG Road, Sapna Sangeeta Road in Indore, in addition to the residences of the owners, promoters and associates. The teams have confiscated documents, laptops and computers for evidence. The search in jewellery showrooms came a week after similar raids were conducted in Maharashtra on September 15.
Though chief ministers such as Prafulla Ghosh, Prafulla Sen, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Ajay Mukherjee and Siddhartha Shankar Roy administered Bengal in far more trying circumstances and had far more reasons to seek divine blessings, none of them ever promoted Durga Puja with as much gusto as Mamata Banerjee continues to do. Every year, she inaugurates dozens of community pujas and even lends her hand in decking up the idols. But this year is special -- she is riding the crest of her career and has herself emerged as the undisputed political devi of Bengal. Every evening she is tweeting pictures of herself inaugurating pujas all over the city.

Yet, going forward Didi may need divine blessings to tide over current problems and create opportunities. A look at the 10 items on the wish list of the chief minister.

1. Singur-style agitation for reclamation of land taken for industrial/infrastructure purpose but left unused. There are early sings of green shoots of such an agitation spreading in some parts of the state as was evident recently in E M Bypass and Birbhum. There are many tracts of land that were acquired for industry and industrial projects but that are yet to fructify, and they may be emboldened by the supreme court verdict to return the land since the project was never completed. While that gave the chief minter the victory of her life, she is likely to see nightmares if the demand spreads in the state, despite the severely injure opposition not in a position to utilise it to fan discontent against her. Mamata Banerjee is likely to ask for divine intervention so that the virus doesnt spread.

2. The Centre goes out of its way to grant fiscal relief to debt-stressed Bengal. This, without doubt, is Didis worst administrative nightmare. She inherited a debt close to Rs 2 lakh crore and her own government has pumped it up to Rs 3.34 lakh crore in merely six years. The net result -- she has to fork out about Rs 30,000 crore every year as interest on loans leaving almost nothing for development work. To make matters worse, principal payments of a few tranches will begin from next year that can throw her from the frying pan to the fire. Didi is certain to beg the goddess earnestly to make the Centre more sympathetic to her pleas for an interest moratorium and rescheduling of debts.

3. Trinamool can extend its footprint outside Bengal. In the first week of September, Trinamool Congress was granted the recognition as a national party -- the seventh in the country. While this added another feather to the cap of Mamata Banerjee, it also unveiled a new chapter of challenge for her, and that is to extend her party to different parts of the country. Insiders say she has the hindi heartland as on her priority list, and that may be an uphill task where she needs to focus right now to register even a token presence in the UP elections next year.

4. Her image as the messiah for the farmers spreads fast across the land after the supreme court verdict on Singur. With BJPs image of a party that is more pro-investor than pro-farmer and Congress showing no sings of revival, Mamata Banerjee is really hoping hard that the political ground is fertile for her image as a friend of the farmers to strike roots. The supreme court verdict on the Singur land to be returned to the farmers is one of the most significant judgements of recent times and the Bengal chief minister can ride it to emerge as a champion of farmer rights all over the country -- a political plank that will help her to take a quantum leap on the national stage. And this is a position that gels well with her populist brand of politics in general.

5. That IS/JMB or other terror elements dont sneak in through the Bengal-Bangladesh border. The Bengal chief minister had one of her biggest moments of embarrassments when in its chargesheet in the Burdwan blast incident, NIA wrote JMB terror elements from Bangladesh almost enjoyed a free run in districts such as Burdwan, Birbhum and Nadia and set up an elaborate network of recruitment of jihadis, their indoctrination and even arms training. They spread right under the noses of the state government that had no idea of the run of the virus. With a porous border and complete similarity with the food, language, clothes and custom of people on either side of the Bengal-Bangladesh border, the chief minister actually needs an overdrive of divine intervention to stop infiltration. Ironically, the Burdwan blast took place on Astami of 2014 Durga Puja.

6. Investors come rushing to Bengal with pots of money. Going by the records, even the gods may find this assignment challenging. While Singur has ushered in immense political blessings for the chief minister, it has created an anti-investor image that she is finding extremely tough to break. While this image coupled with the absence of large tracts of land has made it difficult for big ticket investments, the SMEs that the chief minister is trying to promote aggressively, is not easy to come by. But she knows it only too well that he brand of populist politics will carry her only till an extent that is needed for the electorate to forget the bitterness of the Left rule, and beyond that people will start asking where are the jobs for the youth, not to speak of the revenue that will accrue to the near-empty coffers.

7. The Third Front takes shape next year. On May 26, the day she took oath for the second time, Mamata Banerjee made it clear that she wants a non-BJP non-Congress front to take a shot at the power in the Centre in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. She said it on a day when Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, Kanimozhi were present. She said she will like to help the formation of a new front. Though Mamata Banerjee said she will prefer to remain in Bengal, her party seniors maintain that she wants to be a front ranking face of such a front that can hope to replace the BJP government at the Centre. Given the diverse nature of the faces in such a front, Didi will need lots of divine luck to catalyse such an alliance.

8. Abhisekh matures fast and finds acceptance in the party as a leader so that she can focus on matters beyond Bengal. Though Bengal has helped the woman from a humble lower middle class family to fight her way to the top, Didi knows that preoccupation with the state can become a constraint if future when the calling may be to grow beyond the state. But the second phase in her political career substantially rests on whether she can groom her next generation of leader on whom she can hand over the matters of Bengal. Her nephew Abhisekh Banerjee is the obvious choice as a number two, but then his age -- only 29 -- is an impediment to him being accepted by senior leaders of the party. But unless Abhisekh can take over some of her responsibilities, Mamata Banerjee will remain shackled to Bengal, a frightening possibility who is sniffing an active and growing role beyond her state.

9. Her party leaders dont get caught in another Saradha/Narada and another flyover doesnt come crashing. Saradha is dead, Narada has lost its sting and the flyover is almost a forgotten issue. Though none of these moments of shame had their electoral impact, the chief minister knows that they will be recorded in inglorious terms when the history of the state and that of her party will be written. After the landslide electoral victory in May 2016, the chief minister has rediscovered the virtues of probity for her party leaders and has emphasised it time and again publicly that she wants a clean party and even punished a few of its local leaders for corruption. This will be one fond wish on Didis lips before the goddess that she gives good sense to Trinamool leaders to stay clean in their dealings.

10. Her minority votebank remains intact. Every political pundit of Bengal thinks in 2011 the minorities helped her to uproot the Left. In 2016, they stood by her in larger numbers. The Bengal chief minister has weathered many criticisms to go out of her way to woo the minorities. After the Congress-Left alliance, many felt that both the camps will wean away their traditional minority loyalists, but the results proved otherwise. If the minorities stay with her -- officially they constitute about 27% of the states population -- Didi can be certain of her continuation in power.

Postscript: The Bengal chief minister needs no divine help in tackling political opposition. Mahisashur is enough to finish off whatever is left of it.

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Will R S Shukla, principal secretary in charge of the health department, be removed from his post after Durga Puja? There is a great deal of speculation at the state secretariat, Nabanna, and the health department headquarters, Swasthya Bhawan, that chief minister Mamata Banerjee is not happy with Shuklas performance in several areas, mainly his failure to combat the dengue outbreak that is ravaging the state, claiming more than 40 lives and affecting 7,000 people since July.

Shukla was brought to the health department in January replacing Malay Kumar De, former additional chief secretary in the department. De was put in charge of the home department.

Read: Factory workers join hands with health body to open its third hospital in Bengal

Sources in the health department said that some moves to transfer Shukla have already been initiated at the state secretariat.

Following the directive of the chief minister, a senior bureaucrat of a different department has already held several meetings to discuss different health issues such as a dengue outbreak and the touts menace in different government medical colleges and hospitals, particularly in the city, a senior official at Swasthya Bhawan pointed out.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has always kept the health department with her and has always been sensitive about this portfolio. (Ashok Nath Dey)

The meetings headed by the senior bureaucrat were held at Nabanna even though Shukla was in the city.

These developments indicate that the chief minister is not satisfied with Shuklas performance. She wants to overhaul the health department. Also, there are other developments. For instance, the government has appointed Manmeet Nanda, an IAS officer, to look after the 13 state-run medical colleges in Bengal. The move itself indicates that the Mamata Banerjee administration wants to clip Shuklas wings, the official said requesting anonymity.

Read: Two more dengue deaths reported in West Bengal, toll rises to 22

For the first time since 1992, when the erstwhile Left Front government had appointed one person in charge of medical education and another in charge of healthcare, the Trinamool Congress government has appointed Nanda to look after the teaching hospitals. A health secretary along with the director of medical education (DME) usually monitored medical education in the state before this development, the official said.

An official of SSKM Hospital said that the recent drive against touts at the medical colleges and hospitals in the city was launched with directives from Nabanna instead of Swasthya Bhawan.

The chief minister got some idea of the plight of patients waiting at different outdoor departments at SSKM during her 15 minute-long on-the-spot surprise visit to the hospital recently. She had reportedly called up Shukla from the spot expressing serious concern over the state of affairs. After that episode, she directed a senior bureaucrat at Nabanna to look after the affairs of government hospitals, the official said.

Shukla did not respond to HTs phone calls.

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Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav accused the Central government of putting hurdles in the way of UP governments development plans.

Laying the foundation stone of the Rs 13,065-crore Kanpur Metro project here on Tuesday, Yadav said the Centre did not give enough funds to the state. UP did not get the funds it deserved even when the BJP has highest number of parliamentarians from the state, he said.

Akhilesh also inaugurated 78 projects and laid the foundation of 115 others, which will come up at a cost of Rs 32,000 crore, during a grand ceremony at Brijendra Swaroop Park.

Referring to the hurdles that the UP government had to face in getting clearance from the Centre for Lucknow and Kanpur Metro projects, he said: On its part, the UP government has helped the Centre in all the projects. It gave the costliest land for AIIMS in Gorakhpur. Work on AIIMS in Rae Bareli has begun. We have helped the Centre in development works and will continue to do so in future.

Expressing his commitment to development, Yadav said Metro was not a part of the party manifesto but the government went ahead with it. He added speedy work on Kanpur Metro project would be ensured.

Referring to the inclusion of Kanpur in the list of smart cities, Yadav said the city and its people were already smart.

The city has been a hub of industrial activity. Leather and tobacco products of Kanpur are famous throughout the world. Our government will ensure Kanpur continues to lead, he said.

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu and Kanpur MP Dr Murli Manohar Joshi also attended the programme.

Read more: State-of-the-art CMs secretariat inaugurated
Do not be surprised to receive an e-challan via SMS from Mumbai traffic police within minutes of violating any of the traffic norms, such as jumping a signal or riding a motorcycle without wearing a helmet. The traffic police department on Tuesday launched the CCTV challan system, wherein 4,717 cameras will keep a hawks eye on the city streets to detect violations and generate e-challans. The newly launched project added Mumbai to the list of Indian cities already using CCTV cameras to generate e-challans.

While launching the system at the traffic police headquarters, Worli, Mumbai police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar said, There is no need for you to look for a traffic constable at a junction before breaking traffic rules. Our cameras will click you in the act.

The cameras will stream live footage to the traffic police control room, where a team of police personnel will ascertain the type of violations. The superior cameras provide a clear footage, allowing the police to zoom in and capture pictures of the registration number of an offenders vehicle. Later, registration details will be used to detect a violators cellphone number on which the e-challan will be forwarded via SMS. Also mentioned in the SMS will be a link, clicking on which will direct the motorist to the traffic police website where the fine can be paid using debit and credit cards.

Officials said the system would maintain a record of the vehicles numbers and issue notification in case of unpaid fines. Moreover, stringent action will be initiated against repeat offenders.

If a motorist commits more than four offences, we will request the RTO to suspend the licence. For repeat offenders and those who fail to pay fines, the police personnel will trace and initiate appropriate action against such offenders, said Milind Bharambe, joint commissioner of police, Traffic.

Other addition

Besides launching the new challan system, the traffic police also introduced new towing vans called Ultra-Modern hydraulic TVS to its existing fleet . The new vans are fitted with GPS system, cameras, and are equipped to tow high end cars without causing damage. The vans will record the towing in real time, the details of which would be kept for record, said traffic officials. Also, the vans will create a geo-tag and a time stamp. Moreover, the towing van personnel will be accompanied by Mumbai traffic policemen, who will bee provided with a device to digitally update the details of the towing, including the vehicles make, colour and registration number.

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A Mumbai resident, who had in August lodged a police complaint about being bullied by an auto rickshaw driver who accused him of using a bag made of cow hide, has been arrested.

Barun Kashyap, a creative producer, had posted about the alleged incident on his Facebook account.

But Aam Aadmi Party member and activist Preeti Sharma Menon has alleged that Kashyap was arrested on trumped up charges and accused controversial encounter specialist and assistant police inspector Daya Nayak of having a hand in the arrest.

Kashyap was arrested after an FIR was registered against him for allegedly lodging a false complaint and creating enmity between two groups.

Read: Mumbai police book man who lodged FIR in cowhide bag case

DCP Ashok Dudhe, Mumbai police spokesperson, confirmed the arrest and said that Kashyap would soon be produced in a magistrates court. Soon after his arrest, Menon alleged in a statement that Nayak had threatened Kashyap to change his statement and the FIR against him was false.

Daya Nayak has filed a false case against Barun Kashyap and arrested him. The 24-year-old was threatened by Daya Nayak, assistant commissioner of police and senior police inspector of Amboli police station on September 30 to change is original statement made on 20 August 2016. He was threatened, he feared for his life and so he signed on anything that Daya Nayak said, Menon claimed in a statement to the media.

Menon said that Kashyap had gone to the police station on October 1 after hearing from the media that there was a case filed against him, but Nayak had assured him that there was no case. According to Menon, Kashyap then approached her for help. On Monday, she took him to advocates Mihir Desai and Vijay Hiremath who, she claimed, agreed to take up his case.

She said Kashyap had come to see her again on Tuesday morning and she had sent him in her car to the lawyers when the police intercepted them.

The police swept down on them in Chembur, and arrested both Barun and my driver, she alleged in the statement.

She said she feared for Kashyaps life.

Daya Nayak has framed him just to get into the good book of his superiors and I demand strong action against him and the court should take cognizance of this, Menon said.

Nayak did not respond to HTs calls or messages for his version of the developments.

Arun Chavan, assistant commissioner of police of DN Nagar division under whom the probe was initiated said, We were trying to locate Barun Kashyap, and found his location at Chembur. He was sitting in a car. So we inquired with the driver who told us that Preeti Sharma Menon had asked him to drop Barun. We took both to the police station. Barun was arrested, while the driver was allowed to go after we recorded his statement.

On the allegations against Daya Nayak, Chavan said, He (Kashyap) is the accused, and he can make any kind of allegations.

Kashyap had registered a non cognizable complaint with Amboli police alleging that the driver stopped the auto rickshaw mid way and got two more men who threatened him for using a cow hide bag. After the post went viral senior police officers took cognizance of it and after taking permission from a magistrates court started probing the case.

Nayak has been a controversial police officer who earned his spurs by eliminating many of Mumbais underworld members in encounters.

He was arrested in 2006 after a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court ordered the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to probe his unaccounted wealth.

In 2012, after being out of the force for nearly six-and-a-half years, Nayak was reinstated and was posted with the West control room.

Nayak was suspended in July 2015, after he failed to report to Nagpur where he had been transferred in 2014

In January 2016, he was reinstated again
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal, convicted of killing business executive Nitish Katara who was in a relationship with their sister, to 25 years in jail, reducing the sentence by five years.

A bench headed by justice Dipak Misra modified the punishment given by the Delhi high court that had in 2014 ordered the cousins to serve a 25-year life term without remission and another five years for destruction of evidence. We do not accept the argument of the petitioners that the high court has no power to grant such a sentence without remission but accept the argument that punishment for murder and destruction of evidence need not run consecutively, the court ruled.

The 39-year-old Vikas, the son of powerful Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav, and Vishal, 37, will remain in jail till 2027 as they have already spent 14 years behind bars. Yadavs aide, contract killer Sukhdev Pehelwan, too, will serve a reduced 20-year jail term.

A lower court had in May 2008 found Vikas, Vishal and Sukhdev guilty of kidnapping and burning to death 25-year-old Katara in 2002. The cousins didnt approve of their sister Bhartis relationship with Katara, who came from a different caste.

The SC upheld the high courts view that the murder was an honour killing driven by caste bias. The apex court said the murder was planned in a cold blooded manner with the motive that has emanated due to feeling of some kind uncalled for and unwarranted superiority based on caste feeling that has blinded the thought of choice available to a sister -- a representative of women as a class.

In murdering Nitish, who was their sisters choice, Vikas and Vishal had displayed a medieval mindset, said the court, which had last year upheld the trios conviction but agreed to hear their plea for a reduced sentence.

Neither the family members nor the members of the collective has any right to assault the boy chosen by the girl. Her individual choice is her self-respect and creating dent in it is destroying her honour, it said.

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Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities are mulling a proposal to come up with a new scheme to give relief to thousands of homebuyers and builders as the builders are not able to deliver flats on time citing financial crisis.

Earlier, the three authorities had in May proposed an exit policy to make way for builders to return undeveloped land to the government. But the Uttar Pradesh government has not approved of the plan so far, delaying its implementation on the ground.

Now, we are working out a comprehensive policy and the exit policy will be a part of it. The objective of the comprehensive policy will be to revive sick realty projects and also benefit property buyers, who have bought flats and are unable to get possession. But we need to carry out discussions before finalising the policy, said Sanjay Aggarwal, chairman of the three authorities.

Aggarwal discussed the modalities of the proposed comprehensive policy with top officials of the three authorities in Noidas Sector 6 office on Monday. Deepak Agarwal, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Greater Noida and Pramod Kumar Aggarwal, CEO, Noida authority, and other senior officials, discussed the policy framework at the meeting.

The three authorities will finalise a draft of the comprehensive policy after detailed discussions on legal issues in the next 15 days.

The comprehensive policy draft was one of the important agenda items for the board meeting of the three authorities, that was scheduled to be held on October 3. As the draft policy could not be finalised, the joint board meeting was also deferred.

The exit policy for builders in Noida and Greater Noida was expected to address the issue of delayed completion of housing projects that has been affecting homebuyers. If approved, the policy would help revive stalled housing projects, thereby benefitting buyers.

The authorities and the Uttar Pradesh government is facing challenges in implementing exit policy because property buyers have invested money in group housing societies or commercial land.

The builders who have got a certain piece of housing or commercial land, have sold the plots or the homebuyers have booked flats on the land meant for housing projects. But the builders have not started construction on the ground. If the builder returns the land to the government under the proposed exit policy, buyers, who are waiting for flats, plots or commercial space will suffer. Therefore, the authorities need to look into all aspects, said another official, requesting anonymity.

Read more: Greater Noida authority notice to six builders over land dues

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Union minister and Punjab BJP president Vijay Sampla on Monday said his party wont use the surgical strikes by Indian Army across the Line of Control in Kashmir for political gains in any election-bound state. He criticised the opposition parties for raising doubts about the operation.

It was an operation conducted by the army for which people across the globe have congratulated the prime minister. All the credit goes to the soldiers who have defended the country in the line of duty. Our government has just brought this to the notice of the people, he said in Mansa, where he attended a party workers meeting. While the leaders from abroad have backed the operation, leaders from a headless party has raised doubts over the operation.

Also read | Surgical strikes: Congress questions govts motive, AAP wants proof

Responding to the comments of state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh who had questioned the evacuation of villages near the border, Sampla said that the orders were sent by the Union home ministry that governs the Border Security Force, and it was the same for Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab. There were movements of Pakistani army near the Sriganganagar border in Rajasthan and to avert any unavoidable situation, the ministry had tasked the BSF to evacuate villagers near the border in Punjab.

Amarinder had said the evacuation of villages in Punjab was not ordered even during the war in 1965.
The infighting between groups of former minister Amarjit Singh Samra and former MLA Gurwinder Atwal in Nakodar assembly seats reached its peak on Monday when the Punjab Congress Express bus yatra had to be cancelled in Nakodar due to both the groups opposing each others presence.

Everything was going well at village Uggi till the bus yatra led by Congress MP from Jalandhar Santokh Chaudhary reached the venue.

Chaudhary was accompanied by both Samra and Atwal in the bus. However, as soon as the leaders settled on the stage, supporters of Samra took the mike from the stage secretary and started raising slogans against Atwal.

Calling Atwal a traitor of the Congress, Samras supporters led by state truck union president Happy Sandhu, also showed black flags to Atwal and asserted that they wont allow the function to begin until Atwal was ousted from the programme.

Atwal has openly worked against Samra during the 2012 assembly elections and has openly taken money from different parties to defeat Samra. How can such a traitor be allowed to sit on the Congress stage? questioned Sandhu to the leadership present on stage.

Samras supporters also raised slogans such as Gurwinder Atwal-Murdaabaad and Gurwinder Atwal-Go Back.

Though majority of the workers present were seen supporting the slogans, chaos prevailed at the venue when supporters of Atwal also started raising slogans against the Samra group.

The senior leadership including Jalandhar MP, party observer for this yatra Tej Parkash Singh and yatra co-ordinator for the segment Tejinder Bittu tried to calm down the agitating workers, but they did not relent. Eventually, the senior leadership decided to suspend the yatra in the segment.

The senior leadership has blamed Samra group for creating embarrassing position for the party as on Saturday only, the senior leadership of the Congress asked both groups to ensure smooth run of the Yatra.

Both Atwal and Samra were sitting in the bus with the senior leaders. I dont know what propelled Samra supporters to create such an ugly situation for the party when everything is going perfectly well in the state, said a senior leader present on the stage.

The Indian- Political Affairs Committee (I-PAC) team present in the programme has also sent its independent report to the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh.

Notably, the deep enmity between Samra-Atwal had started when Samra was preferred for ticket from Nakodar by the Congress high command in 2012 rejecting the equally strong claims of Atwal. On several occasions, Samra had blamed Atwal of taking `2 crore from Sukhbir Badal for ensuring his defeat.

Atwal, when contacted, blamed Samra group for creating the scene. It was a pre-planned act of the Samra group and he has hired few professional goons to keep me out of the function. Few people are thinking that the Congress is their personal property, he said.

Samra, on the other hand said, I think the workers got agitated after seeing Atwal on stage as they think that he was the only reason behind Congress defeat. he said.

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Muslims protested against the WAKF board that allegedly leased their graveyard land to a private coloniser at Haibowal Kalan.

The protesters alleged that a land mafia was trying to grab the land for private use. Asrar Tareen, president of Kafan Dafan Muslim Welfare Society said, The WAKF board members in collusion with administration have leased out around 4.418 acres on Balloke Road. There is a nexus in place to please a few officials in the government department and members of land mafia.

WAKF act states that graveyard land cannot be leased out for any other purpose, but violating the act guidelines, authorities are leasing the land. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued stay orders on September 27, against construction on said land. But we want that the land be freed completely, Tareen added.
Punjab chief minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal visited border village to meet evacuated border residents particularly farmers, in Tendiwala, 12 km away from Ferozepur, on Monday.

CMs visit comes in the wake of escalation in tension along the Indo-Pak border, following surgical attack across line of control by India. The Punjab chief minister directed food and civil supply department to depute special officers for ensuring quick procurement and lifting of grains from the border region. A large number of old, women and kids had evacuated from around 365 border villages in Ferozepur district while majority of men and youth preferred to stay back at their respective areas to guard the livestock and ripe paddy crop. Defending the move of evacuating people, Badal claimed he was following orders of Central government.

Its wrong to compare Punjab with other border states as its far more densely populated than other states along with Indo-Pak border, said Badal. All the political parties should desist from issuing provocative statements in wake of impending crisis on Indo-Pak border in larger national interest, stated Badal. Its unfortunate that several leaders are engaging in politics at this critical juncture, when clouds of war, are hovering over the country, he charged.

Meanwhile Badal justifying his visits claimed that they were solely aimed at sharing grief of border residents and instilling confidence among them.

I am visiting border villages to be among the brave people of this region who are ready to make any sacrifice for their country but unfortunately my fellow friends do not see anything beyond politics, he claimed. While addressing gatherings in border villages of Tendiwala, Hazara Singh Wala and Ghazniwala, Badal, Badal exhorted people to be beware of rumour mongers.

I will raise the issue with Union government to start a special recruitment drive enabling youth of border areas to join army.

IT WAS NECESSARY TO TEACH PAK A LESSON

FAZILKA: Supporting the surgical strikes in Pak occupied Kashmir (PoK), Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said that, It was necessary to teach Pakistan a lesson for its anti-India moves,

Badal was on his visit to a relief camp at Fazilka. India has always been a votary of peace but Pakistan has considered this as our weakness, said Badal.

Be it Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Narendra Modi, both Indian Prime Minister, have always worked for promoting ethos of peace but Pakistan has backstabbed India, charged Badal. Pakistan has been testing patience of India by sponsoring attacks in Mumbai, Parliament House and other places but it crossed all the limits by Uri attack, charged Badal.

We will release pending compensation of farmers whose lands are across the fence, assured Badal.
There was no welcome party when she reached. Then she had to wait for 20 minutes in the waiting room of the Chandigarh railway station for the railway officials. This was enough a trigger for MP Kirron Kher to lose her cool and lash out at the northern railways senior officials after finding shortcomings in works she was asked to inaugurate.

She inaugurated a child-care cabin, LED lights, executive lounge and an air-conditioned retiring room at the station on Monday.

Kher said she was told to reach at 11am, but the railway officials turned up at 11:20am. Among the railway officials present were general manager of (northern railways, Delhi) AK Puthia, divisional railways manager (DRM), Ambala division, Dinesh Kumar and senior divisional commercial manager Praveen Diwedi.

We have other events as well and cannot afford to wait so much. I rushed to the station to reach on time only to find here no one, except for a photographer. We reached 20 minutes before the railway officials walked in, said the visibly upset MP.

Kirron reprimanded the officials over absence of AC in the child-care cabin that she inaugurated. Speaking to the DRM, she said, Try sitting with your kid under this fan, it will be uncomfortable. The direct air will be on the childs head. Make this room air-conditioned rather.

She was not impressed with the facilities at the air-conditioned retiring room, comprising a double bed, an almirah, an attached bathroom, a dressing room and a toilet. Who has constructed this room? Why is there a corridor between the bathroom and the dressing room? The toilet is in the corner. If somebody is taking the bath, will he or she run in the towel to change his clothes in the dressing room? Put a curtain in the middle or make the required changes, she said.

Later, in the executive lounge, she reportedly became furious finding no AC there. She became more upset when the officials differed on whether the lounge was air-conditioned or not.

She refused to comment on the proposed Tejas Express train between Chandigarh and Delhi, saying, Ask the government to deal with the traffic in Delhi; even-odd policy will not help. I am not talking about the union government but the Delhis AAP government.

Puthia said, There are some suggestions from the MP with regard to the fan and the alignment of the wall. We will get them examined and make changes accordingly. Suggestions are very important.
A day after one Punjabi Rawail Singh was abducted and gunned down by suspected militants in Afghanistan, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committeee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar on Monday strongly condemned the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

In a statement, Makkar appealed to the Indian government to ensure the safety of Sikhs living in Afghanistan, who are becoming victims of hate crime.

He stated that hate crime incidents have become very frequent and needed to be curbed by taking up the matter on priority.

The situation has lead to a decline in the population of the Sikhs in Afghanistan and, presently, there are just 5,000 left and even they are living in fear. bMakkar added that communal elements are responsible for this decline in the population of the Sikh community in this country.
A day after the Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire after noticing suspicious movement across the fence near the Chakri border outpost in the Gurdaspur sector, it seized an empty boat belonging to the Pakistan Rangers after it drifted from across the border into the Tota post area in the Amritsar sector.

The boat, painted in green and carrying a Pakistani flag, was spotted in the Ravi river on the Indian side.

Later at the flag meeting with the BSF, the Pakistan Rangers admitted that the boat belonged to them and it accidentally strayed from the Balam post into Indian waters due to sudden rise in the level of Ravi.

Also read | Woman reports armed man in black clothes, search held in Dera Baba Nanak

The BSF will hand over the boat to their counterparts on Wednesday.

Alert was sounded after BSF troops deployed in forward area observed a boat coming from the Pakistan side in the Ravi around 5am. The troops stationed at the ferry point of border out post Rear Kakkar seized the boat, BSF deputy inspector general (Amritsar sector) JS Oberoi said.

The boat was searched and nothing suspicious was found except a Pakistani flag, he said.

The DIG said such occurrences were not rare as in the past, even animals from across the border have flowed into the Indian territory due to rise in water level of the Ravi.

The boat seizure comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan following surgical strikes across the Line of Control.
The banned practice of crop-residue burning continues in the district, as farmers are in a hurry to clear their fields for the next crop.

On Monday, police booked an offending farmer, Bahadur Singh of Fathepur village on Sangrur road, under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (defying the order promulgated by a public servant).

There were more farmers on the spot but Bahadur Singh owned the field on fire, said Passiana station house officer (SHO) Harwinder Singh.

The accused was arrested and produced in court, which granted him bail.

The smoke blinded the commuters and could have caused an accident, the SHO said. If convicted, the farmers will get a months jail and have to pay Rs 200 fine.

Agriculture experts say the first-information reports (FIRs) in stubble-burning cases are only indicative, and neither the administration nor the government wants to punish the crisisridden farmers, least of all in the election season.

The technologies available for the management of the stubble are not affordable.

Farmers dont get enough price for their product. How do they employ any other means to clear their fields unless the government comes to their aid? Bharti Kisan Union (EktaDakaunda) general secretary Jagmohan Singh said.

The district administration says subsidised mechanized alternatives to prevent the burning of straw are available.

These machines include balers, Happy seeders, reversible plough, and straw chopper.

The biomass plant at Ghanaur lets out bailers to help farmers collect paddy stubble for the unit, and pays them handsomely, said deputy commissioner Ramvir.

He advised the farmers to plough field along with residue, as it will be fertiliser for the next crop.
With no end to the simmering tension between India and Pakistan, Samjhauta Express, the common mans train shuttling between the two nations, reached India with passengers carrying a mixed bag of feelings.

As some said that they have cut short their tour out of fear, a few others said that there was calm among public. However, the major message that came through from the passengers was that people in Pakistan want peace.

Coming from Karachi and heading to Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, Pakistani national Benish said, The tension looks more big on the social media. There is not much tension among the people of Pakistan. I would just say that people of Pakistan do not want any kind of war. Peace is the only way ahead for both nations and we must restrain from war. There is no fear. Had their been any sort of fear, how would have I come at this time, she added.

However, septuagenarian Indian national Iqbal Ahmad, who had gone to meet his relatives, said, I have many relatives in Pakistan and I would have liked to stay there for long. But, I cut short my journey out of fear. I have rushed that the ongoing problem doesnt escalate. The train came after Thursday, the day when the Indian Army announced to have done a surgical strike across the LOC.

HINDU FAMILY WANTS TO STAY IN INDIA

Reaching India to celebrate Navratras, Dyal Dass, a Pakistani Hindu, said, I have come here to celebrate Navratras. Yes, fear is there in Pakistan and especially for those in minority. I would say that if Indian government allows, I would like to stay back in India permanently. Talking on the current situation, Dass, however mentioned that things are not good and there is fear after the tension between India and Pakistan. But, we want peace so that the region stays progressive, he added.

CROSS-BORDER COUPLE KEEPS FINGERS CROSSED

The Samjhauta Express that brought various passengers to India also brought in a cross-border couple Nadeem and Naadia.

Coming to India, Nadeem, who belongs to Pakistan, said, My wife is Indian and I have many relatives here. Such a situation between the two countries brings a lot of tension to our family. If relations go worse, it will even be tough to visit each other, he added.

Naadia said, I will be very tough situation if relations go worse. I cannot leave my relatives who are on both sides.

Mohammad Khalid, another Pakistani national said, There is lot being said by politicians and media but reality is that people want peace. Such a fearful situation is not good for the common man, who has roots across the fence.

PASSENGER MOVEMENT DOESNT DROP

Even though there is tension, but this is yet no effect on the movement of passengers.

The Samjhauta Express came from Pakistan with 156 passengers and left for Pakistan with about 135 passengers. An official said, There is no major change in passenger number. In routine also such a number comes and goes. There is no considerable increase or decrease.

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Apples and oranges are good for health, a smile goes a long way, exercise has numerous advantages, an occasional glass of red wine is encouraged, but what about the benefits of a straightforward, all encompassing, tight hug?

It is natural, easy, doesnt cost a thing and its rewards are miraculous  it releases oxytocin, the love hormone that lowers anxiety and blood pressure quickly, generating a sense of wellbeing and happiness. A simple hug has the power to reduce anger, restore confidence, and reconcile differences.

Frowned upon by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud as a slippery slope, a hug or touch between patient and psychologist was discouraged for obvious reasons of sexual connotation and misinterpretation, because it could lay the ground for unforeseen complications among weak and susceptible patients. Today, though we still may be standoffish about something as intimate as an open embrace, psychoanalysts promote it as a means of healing and nurturing.

A firm touch on the shoulders, clasping of hands, a bear hug between friends, lovers, siblings, parents or even acquaintances is gaining widespread recognition as a simple yet powerful way of bolstering confidence, increasing longevity, and giving both the hugger and the hugged a rush of happiness.

Kangaroo Care, a new method for the care of preterm babies is gaining popularity worldwide. It The mother is required to sit for a length of time daily with the infant on her chest, with skin to skin contact, akin to marsupials, giving the baby a feel of the womb. This has lowered mortality and induced quicker, healthier growth in weak babies.

My brother in Delhi has a young maid from Jharkhand, whom her family sold for being sickly. After numerous heartless and mean employers, she reached my brothers house, a motherless waif, emaciated and forlorn. Over the years, given love and affection, she is today all grown up, a sober and quiet worker. Whenever I am in Delhi, I always greet her with a tight, long hug, and can feel her beaming. The rest of the day she hums and goes about her work so cheerfully that I like to believe that my simple gesture has boosted her self-esteem and given her something to smile about.

Even inanimate touch helps. My niece, as a toddler, trailed the same dog-eared and wornout blanket for years, refusing to let it out of her sight; and much to our surprise and horror would insist on hugging it while asleep, even in summer. I understand today the reassurance and sense of security that a familiar piece of cloth gave her probably, in a huge household swarming with children of various age.

Cradling a cup of tea and inhaling the aroma, letting the comforting steam of tomato soup waft over our faces, caressing the thick petals of a rose, or burying our noses in its silken, scented whorls  all simple gestures but have the power to heal and comfort us, provide us with succour in times of stress and despair.

I wonder if there is a World Hug Day? Even if not, how about giving it a try and surprise yourself with the heady flow of goodwill and sense of complete well-being that will accompany it surely!

pallavi66in@yahoo.co.in

The writer is a Jalandhar-based freelance contributor
As Pakistan tried to demolish Indias surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) through escorted tour of the foreign media, murmurs on proof of the covert operation are being heard among political parties even in poll-bound Punjab.

Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh had questioned evacuation of nearly 1,000 villages near the international border on the day Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had briefed media on India attacking terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

Read | Capt accuses Modi govt of creating war hysteria

In his statement on Sunday, he alleged the war hysteria was being created by the BJP with an eye on Uttar Pradesh polls. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal tried to outwit Amarinder by doing the unusual. For a change, Kejriwal did not question Modi but asked him to expose Pakistani propaganda that the strikes never took place.

#AKBacksModiOnPak became the top trend on Monday on Twitter as the Delhi CM invited barbs and praise for crediting Modi or his motive to discredit him.

Back in Punjab, senior AAP leaders said no one in the country can risk questioning the cross-LoC strikes openly for fear of being dubbed unpatriotic but there was something fishy about the Narendra Modi governments claims.

Since no political party will question the army, the NDA government made a military commander brief the media. Why has Modi or a Union minister not given explicit details on cross-LoC strikes so far, a senior AAP leader said.

Unlike the AAP, the attacks of Congress leaders were more open. Congress MLA Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, whose assembly constituency Fatehgarh Churian falls in the border district of Gurdaspur, said in a WhatsApp message, Sarhardon pe tanav hai kya? Arre pata karo kahi chunav hai kya (is there tension on the borders? Please find out if elections are approaching), using a line by poet Rahat Indori.

Read | Politics behind border panic in Punjab after cross-LoC strikes

He even asked people of border areas to defy government orders on evacuation. There is no movement of tanks, ammunition or army, then why are they moving people out of their homes, he said.

Six Congress MLAs, including Bajwa, also questioned the motive of the Parkash Singh Badal governments hasty evacuation in a statement. Badal is trying to piggyback on the BJP in the misplaced hope that the hype and hysteria may lead to some electoral benefits for him in Punjab also. He also desperately needs an excuse to wriggle out of the problem of paddy procurement that begins this month and for which they have no money to pay to farmers, Congress MLAs said in a statement.

But Badal and his emissaries issued statements warning opposition parties to desist from petty politicking on the issue.

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The police launched a massive search operation here on Monday night following the movement of a suspicious man wearing black clothes near the Shikar Massian village near the headquarters of the BSF.

According to information, a woman, living outside the village, noticed a man holding firing arms crossing the paddy fields near the headquarters of the BSF around 10.30 pm on Monday night. She informed the police.

After getting information, Batala SSP Daljinder Singh, along with a police team, started a search operation in the fields.

Also read | Abandoned Pakistani boat seized by BSF in Amritsar sector

The SSP said after getting information, they sounded a red alert in the entire area and all the roads leading to Batala and Dera Baba Nanal were sealed.

The police searched the entire fields with the help of hand-held thermal imagers. Even in the morning, a team, led by SP (investigation) Jagjeet Singh Sarova minutely searched the entire area, but found nothing. As the tension was escalating at the border, we cant take any chance, he added.

On Monday, BSF personnel in Gurdaspur sector had opened fire after spotting a suspicious movement along the international border (IB).

Last week, an extensive two-day search operation was carried out at Pathankot following inputs about suspicious movement of armed men in army fatigues.
The escalation of tension between India and Pakistan has compelled the residents of Husainiwala to send the children and women to safer places. The residents fear that if a war breaks out, the army might stop movement on the bridge on Satluj that connects it to the mainland.

Mangal Singh, former sarpanch of Basti Chuggewala village said that farmers cant leave their homes as they have to harvest paddy crop. The procurement season has begun and they cant let the standing crop get destroyed.

The residents of these villages are using wooden boats to transport combines, tractors and agriculture implements as their land is surrounded by Sutlej.

Harpal Singh, sarpanch of Kamelwala village, said that the administration has sent policemen to safeguard the homes and asked them to vacate their houses.

But it is difficult to leave everything behind. We are being asked by the police to arrange food. How can we provide them anything when we are eating langar provided by NGOs? said Harpal.

Police have been appointed by the administration in the villages bordering Pakistan.

ASI Devender Singh said that they have been sent from Patiala, they have no arrangement for food as two teams of four each were sent and kitchen has not been set up.

Residents of Kaluwalla have started harvesting unripe paddy that they can keep at mandis as it will ripe in a few days.

Residents of these villages are complaining that the administration asked them to evacuate on a short notice.

Ferozepur MLA Parminder Singh Pinki said that the administration went overboard and created panic. He said that there are no facilities at the camps. This is harvesting season and the administration should have made arrangements to assist the farmers.

Ferozepur DC DPS Kharbanda said that the administration has not asked the villagers to vacate houses but made arrangements if anybody wants to leave. He added that 35 camps and six shelters were made at gurudwaras and 617 people have taken shelter at these camps.

He added that there is no need to panic and situation is under control.
Debutant director Bakkiyaraj Kannan, whose film Remo featuring Sivakarthikeyan releases this week, said nobody outside the team of the upcoming Tamil romantic comedy could recognize the actor in the disguise of a nurse.

Nobody outside our team could recognize Siva in the disguise of a nurse. When we told them it was Siva, they didnt believe us. When we were shooting in Vishakhapatnam, an onlooker asked who the actor playing the nurse was, and when we told him it was Anushkas sister, he believed it, said Kannan.

For nearly 60 per cent of the film, Sivakarthikeyan will be seen playing a nurse.

Kannan is all praise for the Maan Karate actor.

No actor in his shoes could have pulled off this role. It takes a lot of patience to even sit through the make-up session for this role and Siva never complained. He lost about 9 to 10 kg to play the nurses part, he said.

Given a chance to work with Sivakarthikeyan again, Kannan says he would be obliged.

Hes a terrific actor and is very friendly. I would love to work with him again, he added.

Produced by RD Raja, the film is slated for worldwide release on Friday. It also stars Keerthy Suresh and Sathish.

Watch the trailer of Remo here:

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Children of Jogi Dera, an ancient hamlet on the outskirts of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, indulge in an activity that their peers cant even imagine  the art of playing with snakes. It is perhaps the most common sight in Jogi Dera, where a majority of the population belongs to a semi-nomadic tribe, Baiga or Sapera, whose main occupation is snake charming.

No snake can harm us as they know we care for them, says Aina Nath, 13, who was born in Jogi Dera, as he lets a snake slither through his hands. The son of a snake charmer, Aina had his first encounter with snakes at the age of 2, when his father accidently left his basket open. My father was asleep when I noticed a King Cobra sneaking out. I caught hold of the snake and put it back into the basket, he says.

Aina was perhaps the youngest in the village to handle the deadly King Cobra. The incident made him popular among other children and handling snakes became a routine affair for him. Snakes interest Aina far more than his studies do. I like this profession and want to master this art like my father. So, I have quit studying, he adds.

Twelve-year-old Indu Nath, who is also a snake charmer like Aina, rues that he is yet to master the skills. I am lucky that I havent experienced any snake bite so far. I keep anti-venom roots of medicinal plants (known as jadi booti in local lingo), he says. Chakarmukhi, Nagjadi, Jahar mohra, Sarp gandha Indu Nath recites a list of his trusted jadi booti. My father got these especially for me from the forest. Some of these have magical powers and suck away the venom, he says.

Some children from the village assist their fathers in snake charming shows that they put up at streetside corners or local fairs. We help out our parents in staging the acts to increase the income, says Pukar Nath, a contemporary of Aina and Indu Nath. In Jogi Dera, there are many who have broken with tradition and given up their ancestral trade. Shamsher Nath, a snake charmer, says his son Virendra has moved to Rajasthan to work in a thread factory.

I never wanted my children to get into this business, says Shamsher. I am fortunate that my son is settled. Chumbak Nath, head of the Bagi tribe, whom the locals call Baba, says he has never discouraged people from moving out. Many young men are now working in metro cities in other trades. There is hardly any money left in our profession. On an average, we earn Rs 200-300 a day which is too little to meet our family expenses, he says.

Nath says that if the situation does not improve, he will rally the 42 villages inhabited by snake charmers in Kanpur Dehat to boycott the upcoming elections. According to Nath, the small community of snake charmers does not figure on the agenda of any political party. The village is grappling with several civic issues. It has no brick road, no electricity. There are hardly any brick houses or drinking water facilities except for a few old wells, he says.
Popular British crime drama series, Sherlock might come to an end after its fourth season, says actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch, who plays detective Sherlock Holmes in the series, said it may have run its course, reports Variety.

Benedict Cumberbatch is saying all the ominous things about Sherlock. (BBC)

It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately, Cumberbatch said in an interview with GQ magazine.

We never say never on the show. Id love to revisit it, Id love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that. But in the immediate future, we all have things that we want to crack on with and weve made something very complete as it is, so I think well just wait and see, he added.

However, Cumberbatch added that the idea of never playing the character again would be galling.

The fourth season of Sherlock is set to premiere early next year.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trumps running mates carried the race for the White House on Tuesday, preparing to face off in their only debate of the campaign with the US elections five weeks away.

Polls show Clinton, the Democratic candidate, gaining in the wake of a punishing week for her Republican rival Trump, who was hammered by controversies over his taxes, his charitable foundation and treatment of women.

The candidates number twos -- Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence -- will take their place in the spotlight on Tuesday evening when they battle before a national television audience.

For many Americans, it will be their first prolonged exposure to the little-known men who would be next in line for the presidency if their side wins on November 8.

Kaine, 58, is an affable senator from Virginia whose liberalism stems in part from his Catholic faith and experiences as a volunteer working in poor communities in Central America.

Pence, 57, is the Christian conservative governor of Indiana, as modest and polite in style as Trump is brash and insulting.

Pences job will be to reassure prospective Republican voters at a time when Trump is mired in difficulties, many of his own making.

Weighing heavily against the New York billionaire are a mediocre performance in his first debate with Clinton, followed by revelations of a near billion dollar loss in 1995 that may have meant he paid no taxes for 18 years, and criticism of his demeaning treatment of a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado.

His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway promises the Kaine-Pence debate will be fiery.

I think youll see in Mike Pence somebody who is able to defend Donald Trump the running mate, but at the same time, take the case right to Hillary Clinton, she said on CBS.

Pence, who spent a dozen years as a member of Congress, is known for his discipline. He has prepared intensively for the debate, unlike Trump, who did little to practice for his September 26 encounter with Clinton.

We expect them to throw a lot of mud, said Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook, ahead of the debate in Farmville, Virginia.

Its going to be very interesting to see how Mike Pence responds to questions about Trumps behavior in the last week, he added, also speaking on CBS This Morning.

Defending Trump has become second nature for Pence: hes had to put out fires on multiple occasions over the past months.

When Trump became embroiled in a bitter feud with the family of a Muslim-American army captain killed in Iraq, it was Pence who put out a statement hailing Humayun Khan as an American hero.

(AFP)

Reassurance

Besides reassuring voters turned off by Trumps volcanic temper, Pence must attack Clinton while pushing a larger theme of change -- something many Americans say they want -- and laying out the Republican agenda.

Kaine, who served as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, appears to have the easier task of the two. Since the first presidential debate, support for Clinton has risen to 44.3% from 40.6% for Trump, according to an average of recent national polls compiled by Real Clear Politics.

Clinton is also leading in several key swing states.

Kaines role so far has been to attack Trump. But he must also use Tuesdays debate to defend Clinton against attacks on her for using a private email server as secretary of state, as well as in other controversies that have undercut voters confidence in her honesty and trustworthiness.

After the vice presidential debates, Americans will have a second round of presidential debates on Sunday to look forward to. The format will be a bit different, with candidates fielding questions put to them by people in the audience.
In the slums of Wakalinga, on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital of Kampala, there is usually no electricity for four days a week. But that has never stopped Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey, the man who has quietly amassed a cult following online for his no-budget, VFX-heavy action movies and the industry he created, known around the world as Wakaliwood.

This is a story that just has to be shared. His videos frequently pop up online, much to the joy of those already familiar with his work, and garnering new fans along the way. This time is no different. At 44, Isaac is still going strong.

A few years ago, a trailer for one of his films, Who Killed Captain Alex, made the rounds online, accumulating millions of hits.

Isaac made this film on a budget of $200, teaching himself how to edit by trial and error, using his house and his slum as the set for his ambitious action. In the years that followed, he became a one-man-industry.

You need determination and work. It takes action to make action, he told The Washington Post recently.

We made them to make (the villagers) happy and so they can hear their own language and locations they recognize, he continued. Even their friends could be in the movies.

Isaacs films are cheap, the budgets never exceed the standard $200. Sometimes, theyre even as low as $60. But he has the ambition of any Hollywood blockbuster director handling a budget a million times more than his.

He is inspired by the action movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Woo. Take a look at the trailer for Operation Kakongoliro! The Ugandan Expendables:

For us, these movies might look like one of those sweded trailers that are so popular on YouTube, or maybe something Jack Black wouldve made in the movie Be Kind Rewind, but for Isaac, there is zero irony in his films.

Western and Nigerian movies are popular but here but we have to teach our people to watch Ugandan films. People dont believe our films can be good, until we show them. Now even universities are sending their students to do internships here, he told CNN.

Isaac, a former brick maker, has made more than 40 low-resolution films featuring epic action, kung-fu and gunfights in his career. Theyre calling him the Ugandan Tarantino now.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Ten countries accounting for 2.5 per cent of world GDP are hosting more than half the worlds refugees, Amnesty International said today as it slammed what it called the selfishness of wealthy nations.

In a report on the plight faced by the worlds 21 million refugees, the London-based human rights body lamented that countries immediately neighbouring crisis zones bear the brunt of the global refugee problem.

Fifty-six per cent of refugees are being sheltered in 10 countries, according to the report, in which Amnesty proposed a solution whereby the worlds countries find a home for 10 per cent of the planets refugees every year.

A small number of countries have been left to do far too much just because they are neighbours to a crisis, said Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty, presenting the report entitled Tackling the global refugee crisis: from shirking to sharing responsibility.

That situation is inherently unsustainable, exposing the millions fleeing war and persecution in countries like Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq to intolerable misery and suffering.

It is time for leaders to enter into a serious, constructive debate about how our societies are going to help people forced to leave their homes by war and persecution.

Amnesty said the top refugee hosting country was Jordan, which has taken in more than 27 lakh people, followed by Turkey (more than 25 lakh); Pakistan (16 lakh) and Lebanon (more than 15 lakh).

The remaining six nations listed in the top 10 each hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees: Iran (9,79,400); Ethiopia (7,36,100); Kenya (5,53,900); Uganda (4,77,200); Democratic Republic of Congo (3,83,100), and Chad (3,69,500).

The statistics are based on figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Amnesty said many of the worlds wealthiest nations host the fewest and do the least.

It is not simply a matter of sending aid money. Rich countries cannot pay to keep people over there, it said.

The self-interest of such countries meant the international refugee crisis was set to get worse, not better, Amnesty claimed.

If every one of the wealthiest countries in the world were to take in refugees in proportion to their size, wealth and unemployment rate, finding a home for more of the worlds refugees would be an eminently solvable challenge, said Shetty.
Little is known about Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is credited with transforming a breakaway al Qaeda faction into the dreaded terror group that has seized large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Several Arabic-language and Iranian news sites reported on Monday that the lunch prepared for Baghdadi and three other IS leaders were allegedly poisoned in Ninevehs Beaaj district in Iraq. Citing a source, Iraqi news agency WAA said the four are suffering from severe poisoning and have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures.

Read | Islamic State chief Baghdadi poisoned during feast, say reports

There are only a handful of passport-style photos and video appearances through which the bearded cleric has led one of the most bloody and visible insurgencies in recent years.

There have been several such reports in the past that Baghdadi, whose real name is Ibrahim al-Samarrai, was killed or wounded after proclaiming himself caliph of all Muslims two years ago. In March last year, Baghdadi was said to be seriously wounded and on the verge of death after a coalition airstrike.

Born in 1971 in Samarra, Iraq, to a lower-middle class Sunni family, Baghdadis movements are known only by his inner circle. The Caliph, as he is known to his followers, is constantly on the move, changing locations in Iraq and Syria to avoid airstrikes.

However, Baghdadis former wife has claimed he was a family man and an ideal father to his children before he became the chief of the dreaded terror group.

I married a normal person, a university lecturer. He was a family man, Saja al-Dulaimi told CNN Swedish affiliate Expressen TV in her first interview since her release from a Lebanese prison last year.

He went to work and came home to his family. He was great. He was the childrens ideal father. The way he was with children...he was a teacher -- you know how teachers are. He knew how to deal with children, better than how to deal with the mother, she was quoted as saying.

According to Dulaimi, Baghdadi was had a mysterious personality and the two did not talk much like others couples.

Dulaimi, who was born in Iraq to an upper-middle-class conservative family, said she ran away from Baghdadi after she became pregnant and he tried to get her back several times. They last spoke in 2009, Dulaimi said, when Baghdadi again tried to get her back.

Reports say Baghdadi has a reputation as a highly organised and ruthless battlefield tactician and rose through the ranks to establish himself as the leader of a global militant organisation. The ongoing wars in Syria and Iraq have now left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, according to UN figures.

The US has issued a $10 million bounty on Baghdadis head.

(With inputs PTI and Reuters)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told his US ally Barack Obama you can go to hell in a speech on Tuesday that was his latest tirade against the US over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign.

He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the 28-nation bloc, which has also criticised his brutal crackdown, better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.

Duterte, who took office in June, has been hypersensitive to criticism over his crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the US and human rights watchdogs.

The tough-talking former city mayor, who describes himself as a left-leaning leader, has had an uneasy relationship with the US and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps the countrys foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

In a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the US, which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings under his anti-drug campaign and questioned whether human rights are being violated.

He described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with US troops.

Instead of helping us, the first to criticise is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell, Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.

Angered by US criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting US troops in the country.

He said he wanted them out of the volatile south, adding their presence has inflamed restiveness among minority Muslims, which could complicate efforts to forge a peace accord with Muslim insurgents.

Duterte has announced he will not allow the Philippine Navy to conduct joint patrols with the US military in the disputed South China Sea because it could spark an armed conflict in Philippine territory.

Still, Duterte has said he will not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his countrys largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defence equipment.

Last week, Duterte said the joint US-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centering on amphibious landing drills, started on Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.

Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.
The elimination of the Talibans safe havens inside Pakistan would be helpful in bringing the Afghan terror group to peace talks, a top US envoy has said.

Richard Olson, the special US representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Pakistan has been a good partner in reconciliation efforts, but despite that terrorist safe havens still continue to exist in the country.

With regard to reconciliation, they have been a good partner. Pakistan was one of the initiators of the quadrilateral coordinating group. They made serious and sustained efforts to bring the Taliban to the table. The Taliban at the end of the day did not come to the table, and I think the onus is on them for that decision, he told a Washington audience last week.

Olson said the US has been having a dialogue with Pakistan for many years about the existence of such havens.

We continue to believe that one of the conditions that would be most helpful for getting the Taliban to come to the table would be if they felt greater insecurity about their safe havens in Pakistan. We have very candid and direct discussions with them about that, Olson said.

The US, he said, continues to believe that Pakistan is key to a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan.

We certainly encourage the Pakistanis to do anything possible to address the question of safe havens and to address as I said to create a sense of insecurity in the minds of the Taliban about the safe haven that they enjoy in Pakistan, he said.

Olson also praised Indias efforts in assisting Afghanistan with its development projects.

India has been a useful partner for Afghanistan. When Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi visited Afghanistan, he pledged a billion dollars of assistance. And of course, India has been actively engaged in development of Afghanistan reconstructing the Salma Dam outside of Herat, and a number of other development projects, he said.

He also appreciated the important and welcome security assistance provided by India to Afghanistan in terms of helping the strife-torn country build up their air force.

Asked if Indias developmental activities in Afghanistan are upsetting Pakistan, he said We dont see India in partnership, especially in the areas that Ive described, as being something that comes at the expense of Pakistan.

There is also an enhanced US-India partnership happening these days. And we dont see that in zero sum game terms. We dont see that as being at the expense of our relationship with Pakistan. We continue to be a partner with Pakistan and encourage them to play a constructive and helpful role with regard to Afghanistan, he said.
Margaret Thatcher was called the Iron Lady and now Theresa May, the second woman prime minister in Britains history, is fast acquiring the sobriquet of a bloody difficult woman - but she is happy being called that.

Known to be a tough home secretary before she took over as the second Conservative woman prime minister in the aftermath of Britains June 23 vote to exit the European Union, May toured radio and television studios on Tuesday morning to expound on her views on Brexit and other issues.

Asked to comment on Tory veteran Ken Clarkes description of her as a bloody woman, May corrected the questioner: Actually what he said, and I dont normally swear, was I was a bloody difficult woman.

Former justice secretary Clarke and May often clashed in Parliament.

May went on: Well, you know, Ken and I had our interesting debates in the past, and I stand by doing what I believe to be the right thing. And if standing up for what you believe to be right is being bloody difficult, then so be it.

After announcing an initial timetable to begin Brexit negotiations at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham on Monday, May said: It (Brexit) is not going to be plain sailing. There will be some bumps in the road as we go through this process.

The economic data that we have seen so far over the past few weeks has been more positive than people were expecting. It is early data, of course. But it has been more positive than people were expecting.

And I recognise the concern that business has to want to see a smooth process as we go through these negotiations and transition to coming out of the European Union and I want to ensure that we are listening to business, which we are doing, she added.

In less than three months at 10, Downing Street, May is seen as moving well away from the David Cameron regime, overturning some of his policies, most notably the austerity focussed economic outlook of former chancellor George Osborne.

May, who has been tasked with the challenge of taking Britain out of the EU, said: What relationship do we want with the EU? Now, I want that relationship to be the best possible, the right deal for the UK, and the best possible deal in terms of trade with the EU.

I want British businesses to be able to trade with the EU and operate within the EU, and EU businesses to be able to operate here in the UK. I think that makes sense for both sides of the argument. I think its not about the UK in some sense being a supplicant to the EU. Its about the reciprocity here, (a) good trade deal is going to be of benefit to us and the EU.

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Islamic States secretive chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is fast becoming like the proverbial cat with nine lives. Every few months, there are reports of him being seriously injured or even killed in an airstrike or attack by forces opposed to his dreaded terror group.

The latest is a report from Iraqi news agency WAA, which said that a lunch prepared for Baghdadi and three IS leaders in Nineveh governorate of Iraq was poisoned. This left four men suffering from severe poisoning and they were transferred to an unknown location under strict measures.

As expected, this report was repeated round the world, triggering speculation once again about the fate of Baghdadi, the target of a manhunt by the US and its allies.

The re-emergence of Baghdadi after reports of his death has only added to his mystique, given that most people didnt even know what he looked like till he appeared in a video of a sermon at a mosque in Mosul in July 2014. Before then, there were only two known photos of Baghdadi.

Read | Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the mysterious head behind Islamic States machinery

Here are the past occasions when Baghdadi was reported dead or injured:

November 2014

Baghdadi was named the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, the predecessor of the IS, in May 2010. One of the first reports that he had died emerged months after he was made the caliph of the IS in June 2014. In November of that year, it was reported that Baghdadi had been killed in a US air strike.

A week later, Baghdadi surfaced with an audio tape that called for volcanoes of jihad around the world.

March 2015

Baghdadi was seriously injured in an air strike by the US-led coalition at al-Baaj in Nineveh on March 18, 2015, leading to urgent meetings of IS leaders who believed he would not survive and even made plans to name a new leader. Reports later said he had made a slow recovery.

A subsequent report even said Baghdadi remained incapacitated because of suspected spinal injuries some two months after the attack and that he had been secretly treated at a hideout by two doctors from Mosul.

October 2015

After an air strike on a convoy of senior IS commanders near Iraqs border with Syria in October 2015, the Iraqi military had said in a statement that the attack had targeted Baghdadis motorcade as he travelled to Karbala. As with several other claims by the Iraqi military about targeting Baghdadi, this too turned out to be incorrect. Though other IS leaders were killed, Baghdadi was not among them.

June 2016

In June, there were reports in the media in several countries, including Turkeys Yeni Safak daily and Iraqs Al Sumariya TV network, that Baghdadi had been killed or injured when an air strike hit an IS convoy near Raqqa. This was later found to be incorrect and reports even suggested that someone had circulated a fake claim about Baghdadis death that was digitally altered to suggest it was issued by one of the media outlets of the IS.

Also read | Baghdadi was normal family man, ideal father, says IS chiefs ex-wife
Hurricane Matthew bore down on Haiti on Monday, where towns and villages braced for catastrophic floods and mudslides forecasters fear will be triggered by 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and up to three feet of rain over its denuded hills.

Winds and rain started pounding the southwest of the Caribbean country, but the center of Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm, was not due until the early hours of Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

It is then forecast to hit Cuba and the Bahamas and possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present, the US National Hurricane Center said.

A general view as Hurricane Matthew approaches Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (REUTERS)

It has the potential of being catastrophic, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the Miami-based center, when asked about Matthews expected impact on Haiti.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, and a combination of weak government and precarious living conditions for most of its people makes it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 200,000 people were killed when a 7-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2010 and many survivors are still living in flimsy, temporary accommodation.

Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph said 30,000 people were in areas of risk and should be moved before the storm hits. He later said many of those had been moved.

However, in Haitis largest slum, the seaside Cite Soleil in capital Port-au-Prince, mayor Frederic Hislain said 150,000 people whose homes he said were threatened needed to be bused to safer places.

Vendors sell their goods on the street while Hurricane Matthew approaches in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (REUTERS)

Those people are living all along the seashore in a bunch of huts which usually cant even really protect them from ordinary rain. Now we are talking about a strong hurricane. Imagine the disaster we may have to face here, Hislain said.

Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of the Haitis Department of Civil Protection, said one man was killed by large waves at sea over the weekend, and another went missing when his boat capsized, despite warnings to stay on dry land.

Many people are reluctant to leave their homes due to fears their belongings will be stolen and by Monday evening only about 2,000 from the south were in shelters, officials said. However, more have moved from precarious homes into relatives houses.

POTENTIAL FOR GREAT DAMAGE

Matthew, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history, was about 100 miles (155 km) south of westernmost Haiti at 11 pm (3pm GMT) on Monday, the US hurricane center said.

It was expected to bring between 15 and 40 inches (38 to 101 cm) of rain to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Crawling north at about 7 mph (11 kph), the storm threatens to linger enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage. Haiti is prone to flash floods and mudslides because most of its hillsides have been stripped bare by people cutting down trees to make charcoal to sell for fuel.

A boy walks along a pier ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti. (REUTERS)

Heavy rain fell over Haitis southwestern coastal city of Les Cayes, which lies near Matthews predicted path. Some residents of homes made of scrap metal and zinc sheets, perched just feet away from the ocean, refused to move into government shelters ahead of dangerous predicted storm surges.

A few miles to the west, wind buffeted the town of Tiburon, said Nicole Francois, of Haitis National Center of Meteorology.

About 150 people huddled without electricity or food in Les Cayes largest shelter, a school meant to house 600.

After the hurricane, we will be miserable. Well be hungry... The houses will be destroyed, said Rosette Joseph, 44, at the shelter with her four children.

A man cooks a meal for his family at a camp for displaced people while Hurricane Matthew approaches Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (REUTERS)

The storm comes at a bad time for Haiti, which is set to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Sunday.

In both Jamaica and Haiti, authorities shut the main airports to wait for the storm to pass.

In Cuba, evacuation operations were well under way with most tourists in the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba moved inland and given instructions on where to shelter in hotels during the hurricane. (Additional reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva in Port-au-Prince, Sarah Marsh in Cuba, Gabriel Stargardter in Jamaica and Brendan OBrien in Milwaukee, Writing by Frank Jack Daniel and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Tom Brown, Bill Rigby and Nick Macfie)
Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and three of his top aides were seriously ill after being poisoned during a feast, media reports said on Monday.

They have been shifted to an unknown location, the reports said.

The lunch prepared for Baghdadi and three other IS leaders were allegedly poisoned in Ninevehs Beaaj district in Iraq, several Arabic-language and Iranian news sites reported.

Citing a source, Iraqi news agency WAA said the four are suffering from severe poisoning and have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures.

After the incident, IS militants were conducting arrests in order to determine who was behind it.

News of Baghdadi being poisoned came as Iraqi media claimed some top IS commanders were among 16 militants killed when one of the leaders explosive belt exploded during a meeting.

Also read: Baghdadi was normal family man, ideal father, says IS chiefs ex-wife

A number of the ISIS (another acronym for IS) members were wearing explosive belts during the meeting, and the explosion took place due to a defect in one of them, Al-Sumaria Iraqi media outlet said.

Baghdadi, who has reportedly been wounded multiple times, carries a $10 million bounty on his head.

Baghdadi is credited with transforming a breakaway al Qaeda faction into the dreaded IS group, which has seized large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Baghdadis movements are known only by his inner circle, and the Caliph, as he is known to his followers, is constantly on the move, changing locations in Iraq and Syria to avoid airstrikes.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held two back-to-back meetings on Tuesday to review the preparedness of Pakistans armed forces and to assess the situation along the Line of Control against the backdrop of increased tensions with India.

Sharif first met with senior federal ministers and four provincial chief ministers to discuss the implementation of the National Action Plan, a counter-terrorism programme that was framed after the Taliban massacred more than 140 people at a school in Peshawar in December 2014.

The premier later chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee that reviewed the status of the armed forces and discussed the tensions with India, which peaked after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri and Indias surgical strikes across the LoC against terrorists last week.

Read: As tension with India escalates, Sharif holds meeting with Pak parties

Both meetings were also attended by National Security Advisor Nasser Janjua, army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, the heads of the ISI and Intelligence Bureau.

Sharif said evolving a national policy is an imperative for the war on terrorism and violent extremism, according to state-run Radio Pakistan. He added that the country expects the government to rid society of these evils.

The National Security Committee expressed its resolve to ensure the defence of the country at any cost, Radio Pakistan reported. The panel reviewed internal and external security, especially the situation on the LoC and operational preparedness of the military.

The committee referred to Indias surgical strikes as propaganda and false claims and said India should resolve the Kashmir issue for peace in the region instead of such futile efforts of diverting the attention of the world community.

The civil and military leadership said escalation on the LoC and the border with India will shift Pakistans focus away from its efforts to eliminate terrorism from our soil at a critical stage.

Read: As top leaders join hands, Pak media says united we stand on Kashmir issue

Sharif repeated his contention that the Kashmiri people are fighting for the right to self-determination. Pakistan and Kashmir are inseparable, and we will continue to extend our moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people at every forum, he said.

Sharif also said Pakistan does not have aggressive designs against any country and its quest for peace must not be mistaken as a sign of weakness.
A suicide bomber has struck a wedding in northeast Syria as the bride and groom were exchanging vows, killing 32 people and wounding dozens, a medical source and witnesses said.

The bomber blew himself up late Monday in the village of Tall Tawil in Hasakeh province where a Kurdish party official was getting married.

Rows of seats in the wedding hall were still covered in blood on Tuesday morning, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

As the bride and groom were exchanging their vows I saw a man wearing a thick black jacket pass beside me, a witness named Ahmad said.

I thought he looked strange and a few seconds later there was an enormous explosion.

People had fallen on the ground and I saw bodies torn to bits.

About 100 people were wounded, according to the medical source in Hasakeh city who gave the updated toll.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, gave a slightly lower toll of 31 people killed.

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group said in a statement that one of its fighters had fired on a large gathering of Kurdish fighters near Hasakeh city before blowing himself up.

The claim, which did not mention a wedding, said 40 people had been killed.

Both the groom and bride were safe, but the grooms father and brother were killed in the attack, a relative told AFP.

The grooms wounds are light, and he and his new wife are staying at a relatives home. He doesnt want to see anyone, he said.

They are really shaken up by this.

The groom, Zaradesht Mustafa Fatimi, hails from a prominent family deeply involved in the autonomous administration run by Kurdish factions in Syrias north.

According to an official from the autonomous administration, Fatimi works for a local Kurdish party.

The Observatory said he is also a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish coalition battling IS in northern Syria.

Hasakeh city is almost entirely held by Kurdish forces but Syrias regime still holds some districts. The city has often been targeted by IS jihadists.
Authorities on Tuesday suspended some 12,800 police officers from duty over their suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen as Turkey pressed ahead with its vast crackdown on a network it says is behind the countrys July 15 failed military coup.

Meanwhile, a pro-Kurdish television station said police raided its headquarters in Istanbul and forced it off the air following an order last week for it to be shut down.

Both moves came a day after Turkey announced it was extending by three more months a state of emergency it declared in the aftermath of the failed coup. The existing declaration has aroused fears that the government is using its emergency powers to clamp down on critics.

In a brief statement posted on its website Tuesday, the Turkish police headquarters said the suspended officers were allegedly in cohesion with or connected to Gulens movement. It said 2,523 of them were police chiefs.

The state of emergency, declared on July 20, allows the government to rule through decrees. Tens of thousands of people have been dismissed or suspended from government jobs in the military, police, judiciary and the education ministry since it was imposed.

Around 32,000 people allegedly connected to the failed takeover attempt have been arrested, including dozens of journalists employed by Gulen-linked news outlets.

Authorities have closed schools, charities, foundations and medical establishments associated with the movement and also appointed trustees to manage Gulen-linked businesses.

IMC-TV was one of 12 mostly-Kurdish television stations ordered closed last week over alleged security threats. They included a station that broadcast childrens cartoons in the Kurdish language.

The station said on its website that police raided its headquarters in Istanbul during a live broadcast on Tuesday and sealed off the control room.

Station employees protested the raid, chanting, Free press is a right and Free press cannot be silenced.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup attempt that led to at least 270 deaths.

Turkey, however, wants him returned to stand trial for conspiring to bring down the government and has also requested that he be held in custody until U.S. courts decide on his extradition to Turkey.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters Tuesday that Turkey had received intelligence that Gulen was seeking a third country to which to escape in the event the United States agrees to extradite him.

We have intelligence that (Gulen supporters) are looking for a suitable country or place, Bozdag said.

A report in Hurriyet newspaper on Tuesday said the countries under consideration include Brazil, Belgium and Canada.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said victory is near as he pledged to recapture Mosul from jihadists, in a radio address to residents of the city on Tuesday.

It was the first such address by Abadi, though it was unclear how many residents of Mosul, which was seized by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014, heard his remarks, as the jihadists have sought to limit communication with the outside world.

Today we are close to you, and you are close to us, and victory is near, with Gods help, Abadi said, according to a copy of his remarks distributed by his office.

Today we are advancing and tomorrow we will be victorious together, and then we will work together to bring back life and services and stability to every city and village, he said.

Abadi also called for Mosul residents to cooperate with Iraqi security forces, and said that: You are today closer than any previous time to being rescued from the injustice and tyranny and cruelty (of IS).

Iraq has not announced a specific time for the start of the operation to retake the city, but various Western officials have indicated it could begin this month.

But even after the operation is launched, a coalition of heterogenous and sometimes rival forces will have to fight their way to the city -- in some cases over distances of dozens of kilometres -- and then surround it before launching an assault.

The operation may also precipitate a major humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning up to one million people could be displaced.

Before fleeing the city, the hundreds of thousands of residents of Mosul will also be at extreme risk of being caught in the crossfire as IS and Iraqi forces clash, and could be held as human shields by the jihadists.
The White House has abruptly shut down on suspicion of fraud an ongoing online petition that asked it to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, citing a law introduced in the House of Representatives last week.

In a blurb headlined, Closed Petition, the White Houses We the People web page, which hosts the initiative inviting petitions to the administration, said on Monday, This petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements. It can no longer be signed.

The petition had, until October 21, to gather 100,000 signatures to merit a response from the White House under the rules of the programme, which it had already collected, and several times more. At closure, the petition had 625,723 signatures.

The website said no more, but a White House official told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity that there were some technical issues with some of the signatures that needed to be looked into. Some of the signatures could potentially be removed if there is evidence of fraud consistent with the terms of participation, the official added.

Supporters of the petition, which had generated considerable excitement among Indian Americans and in India, will be disappointed, especially as a counter-petition demanding a similar designation for India  as a terrorist state  was still up on the We the People page; although way behind, with nearly 66,000 signatures.

The first petition seeking the Pakistan designation was started by an individual known by initials RG on September 21, the day after Republican congressmen Ted Poe and Dana Rohrabacher introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives demanding Pakistan be designated a state sponsor of terrorism.

Citing the legislation in the petition, the sponsor wrote, it (designating Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism) was important to the people of United State of America, India and many other countries which are continuously affected by Pakistan sponsored terrorism.

The White House official did not explain the kind of suspected fraud that shut down the petition. It was also not clear if it had been suspended and will return after the bad signatures were weeded out or whether the process will have to start afresh.

Anyone can start a petition after opening an account  just a name and email would do. (This reporter opened an account on Monday, and it took barely a few minutes.) But you dont need one to merely sign an ongoing petition.

Under the terms of participations, every individual is allowed only one email account, whether the intention is merely to sign or start a petition. The individual must be over 13 (as the general age-bar for starting an email account)and cannot sign the same petition more than once.

An official, though, when asked if signatories must be based in the US or be US citizens, said they can be anyone provided they follow terms of service.

The We the People page said The White House may disable user accounts, remove associated signatures and remove petitions created or signed by users that it has reasonable belief do not satisfy the above rules.

That seems to be what happened to the petition, which had generated considerable amount of excitement in the Indian American community. It was no different back in India, with signatures coming at a phenomenal speed, raising talk of a record turnout.

The petition seeking a terrorist state designation for India was slow in comparison, collecting 66,000 signatures till late Monday evening. Starting on September 27, it needed roughly 34,000 more to get a response from the White house.

It accused India of waging a proxy war against Pakistan especially in the province of Balochistan, Federally Administrated Tribal Areas and Metropolitan City of Karachi, and urged the White House to declare India a terrorist state.
World powers convened in Brussels on Tuesday to raise billions more dollars for Afghanistan to keep the country running until 2020, but hopes for a new start to peace talks were overshadowed by a surge in violence by Taliban fighters.

Fifteen years after the US invasion that ousted Taliban rulers harbouring militants behind the attacks on New York and Washington, Afghanistan remains reliant on international aid and faces resurgent militants that threaten its progress.

The two-day, European Union-led donor conference is seeking fresh funds, despite Western public fatigue with their governments involvement in Afghanistan. Around 70 governments, including the United States, Russia, Iran, China and India, are attending, with pledges to be made on Wednesday.

Were buying four more years for Afghanistan, said EU special representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Mellbin.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini may seek to bring together China, Iran, Russia, the United States, Pakistan and India on the sidelines of the conference in what would be the first concerted peace push since 2013.

If we dont achieve peace, its going to be extremely costly for the foreseeable future, Mellbin told Reuters.

US secretary of state John Kerry met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Brussels on Tuesday, a day after Taliban insurgents briefly entered the centre of the northern city of Kunduz, raising questions about Afghan defences.

A senior US state department official said the United States was prepared to restart a peace process without any pre-conditions, and noted that after forty years of conflict, Afghans were tired of war. US and EU officials have been encouraged by a smaller peace agreement last month between the Afghan government and a local warlord.

But a senior Indian diplomat questioned whether the Taliban was ready to make peace. The West wants Pakistan to do more to strike remaining militants. The fact remains that at least the Afghan Taliban continue to enjoy safe havens in Pakistani territory, the US official said.

Afghanistan remains one of the worlds most dangerous countries, with 1.2 million Afghans forced to live as refugees in their own country and another 3 million living in Iran, Pakistan or seeking asylum in Europe.

Kidnapping, extortion

A prosperous Afghanistan could mean fewer refugees into Europe, an end to its status as a haven for militant groups hostile to the West and more effective police action against its billion-dollar narcotics trade.

For Moscow, which invaded in 1979 and spent a decade trying to control the country, the stability of the central Asian region is paramount. It has its largest foreign military base on the Afghan border, in Tajikistan, and an interest in keeping out the drugs that are trafficked and consumed in Russia.

But even with billions of dollars spent by the United States and NATO for Afghan security forces, some 30 percent of the Afghan population lives in territory that the government does not fully control, according to Western officials.

At the Brussels conference, officials will seek total pledges of $3 billion a year for the 2017-2020 period.

That is lower than the $4 billion a year pledged at the last conference in Tokyo in 2012, partly because Afghanistan is raising its own revenues and because of donor fatigue.

Eighty percent of Afghanistans budget is financed by aid.

That wont change until security improves and Afghan businesses can help the economy without fear of extortion or kidnapping, said Horia Mosadiq, an Afghanistan expert at Amnesty International.
DHAKA: Bangladesh has released on bail a student of the University of Toronto who was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a terror attack on a Dhaka restaurant in July in which 20 hostages were killed.

Tahmid Hasib Khan, 22, was released late on Sunday night from Dhaka central jail at Keraniganj after a metropolitan magistrate accepted his bail petition, senior jail superintendent Jahangir Kabir said on Monday.

Khan was arrested on August 3 over his alleged involvement in the gruesome attack, in which 17 foreigners including an Indian student were killed.

He was seen on the rooftop with a firearm with an attacker and another top suspect.

At least five Islamist militants attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant on July 1 when many foreigners and local diners were inside at the Gulshan diplomatic zone of Dhaka.

The attackers also killed two police officials.

NARRATOR OF IS VIDEO IS SON OF EX-BANGLA HOME SECY: POLICE

Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Monday identified the narrator of a video released recently by the Islamic State featuring the five Dhaka attackers.

Police say the man is Tahmid Rahman Safi, the 30-year-old son of former election commissioner and home secretary Safiur Rahman.

We confirmed the voice of the narrator through voice recognition software, Counter Terrorism Unit chief Monirul Islam was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
TRIPOLI: A Dutch journalist was killed by sniper fire on Sunday while covering clashes in Libyas coastal city of Sirte, as government forces battled Islamic State holdouts in the militants bastion. Dr Akram Gliwan, spokesman for a hospital in Misrata where government fighters are treated, said Jeroen Oerlemans was shot in the chest by an IS sniper.

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KABUL: The Taliban launched two large-scale, coordinated assaults on opposite ends of Afghanistan on Monday, attacking a northern city and killing a police chief in the south where they threatened to overrun a district in the insurgents heartland of Helmand.

Officials in the provinces of Kunduz and Helmand described fierce, well-planned operations, involving a large number of militants who attacked under cover of darkness.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, attacks on civilians and soldiers claimed at least seven more lives on Monday. There was no immediate word on who was responsible.

The attacks came as President Ashraf Ghani prepared to head to Brussels for a key international aid conference this week, where he expects donors to pledge $3 billion a year in assistance for his impoverished, war-torn nation.

The Kunduz attack came a year after the insurgents took control of the city and held off Afghan security forces, backed by US troops and air power, for several days there.

Residents and officials said the fighters attacked from all directions in Mondays assault.

Mahmood Danish, spokesman for the Kunduz provincial governor, said security forces managed to keep them at bay.

The interior ministry said a policeman was killed and four were wounded in the fighting.

A ministry statement said that the situation was being monitored in case reinforcements are needed.

Kunduz is the capital of the strategically important Kunduz province, a breadbasket region that borders Tajikistan to the north and sits on a major crossroad in the country.

The city was overrun by the Taliban in September 2015, the first time the militant group had taken a major urban centre since launching the insurgency 15 years ago.

In Mondays attack, the Taliban used residential areas in Kunduz and Afghan security forces are being very careful to avoid civilian casualties while shooting back at the enemy, said Danish.

The Afghan air force was also supporting the ground forces in the fight, he added.

Taliban fighters, positioned just across the Helmand river from the centre of Lashkar Gah, a city in the south of the country, also took control of Nawa district, killing a district police chief, officials said.

Heavy fighting has also continued along the main highway to Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan, also in the south of Afghanistan.
AMMAN: A leading Egyptian al Qaeda figure who joined its Syrian offshoot the Nusra Front and became a prominent figure in the militant group was killed in a drone attack in rebel-held Idlib province, two jihadist sources said on Monday. They said Abu al Faraj al Masri, who had fought in Afghanistan, was killed when a drone hit the vehicle he was travelling in a location near Jisr al Shuqour in Idlib, in Syrias northwest.

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In his opus, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, English historian Edward Gibbon refers to the Emperor Augustus as the subtle tyrant. The phrase may seem like a contradiction in terms, but it actually contains a profound insight about the true nature of tyranny. Dictators from the ancient world to modern times have rarely, if ever, simply wielded omnipotent power. Instead, they have had to manipulate their counselors and followers, often pitting them against one other, all while keeping a wary eye on broader public sentiment, ready to make tactical compromises whenever necessary in order to achieve their long-term aspirations.

In Hitlers Compromises, Nathan Stoltzfus, a professor of history at Florida State University, argues that the Nazi dictator fits firmly into this mold. Stoltzfuss ambitious study seeks to correct the perception of the Nazi state as a seamless totalitarian organization that easily cowed Germans into unthinking obedience. The author suggests there was more to it than that: rather than seek to rely automatically on outright terror, Hitler was surprisingly prepared to compromise politically in order to avoid jeopardizing his popularity with the German people. Throughout, his highest goal was to exploit his hold on Germans to weld them into a true National Socialist Volksgemeinschaft, or peoples community.

As Stoltzfus reminds us, Hitlers path to the German chancellorship was itself based on the shrewd calculation that he needed to achieve power democratically, especially after the failure of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, when Hitler was imprisoned in Landsberg. Once he became chancellor, Hitler immediately jailed and tortured communists, socialists, and Jews. But Stoltzfus observes that many Germans saw the Nazi terror against Jews and leaders on the Left as rightly targeting the nations troublemakers, and the dictatorship also sought and received popular acceptance in ostracizing those it identified as social outsiders. Unlike in Joseph Stalins Soviet Union, terror was not indiscriminate.

At the same time, Stoltzfus emphasizes that Hitler regularly restrained his subordinates from escalating their persecution of the churches during wartime. Hitler also interceded to prevent civilians from being punished for flouting evacuation orders. By 1943 propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels complained, The people know exactly where to find the leaderships soft spot and will always exploit it.

Stoltzfus might have emphasized, however, that as it became clear that the war was lost, the regime became increasingly radicalized in its pursuit of genocide. But the surprising thing isnt that Hitler failed. Its that he came as far as he did. Stoltzfus demonstrates that by pretending to be moderate at key points, Hitler worked to enlist Germans to fulfill his mission of building a New Order, a sobering reminder about the threat posed to any democratic society by a crafty demagogue.Jacob Heilbrunn is editor of the foreign policy magazine, the National Interest, and author of They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons (2008).

This review was originally published in the November/December 2016 issue of World War II magazine. Subscribe here.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton remained the heavy favorite to win the election leaving behind Republican candidate Donald Trump in a series of post-debate polls.

The United States will decide whether it wants Clinton or Trump on Nov. 8, 2016, when polls open across the country.

Fox News poll released on Friday had Clinton leading in four-way race 43 percent to 40 percent, with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson at 8 percent and Green Party nominee Jill Stein at 4 percent.

Clinton also is leading over Trump in a two-way race, 49 percent to 44 percent. Clinton currently has an edge in highly coveted Florida.

In a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Clinton leads Trump in a four-way race, 46 percent to 42 percent, with Johnson receiving 7 percent and Stein receiving 1 percent.

Nevada voters also lean towards Clinton.

In a poll conducted by Bendixen & Amandi International for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Clinton received 45 percent compared to 44 percent for Trump. While in Colorado, Clinton leads Trump in a two-way race, according to CNN/ORC survey.

Meanwhile, a new NBC poll suggests that since the TV debate Donald Trump has lost support with women voters.

Trump spent much of the week defending himself against charges of sexism, mostly by attacking a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado. Last week, Trump stoked controversy by urging his Twitter followers to 'check out' former Miss Universe Machado's sex tape who is campaigning for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton.

Machado has been working with the Clinton campaign this year and did recently become a citizen and will vote against Trump.

Recently, Michelle Obama had also criticized Trump for being insensitive towards women.

Trump on Friday said that he would not accept the results of the presidential election if Hillary Clinton wins.

The race for the White House is about to enter its final stretch as Election Day 2016 approaches.

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Scientists and researchers have come across evidence that leads back to the significant period of Jurassic Park, as footsteps of one of the bulkiest dinosaurs have been excavated after a serious expedition that took place in the vicinity of the Gobi desert.

A joint scientific odyssey led by Mongolian and Japanese researchers discovered a large footprint of a dinosaur measuring from 106cm (42in) long and 77cm (30in) wide, based on the results accumulated by AFP. As per the details gathered by the team of investigators, the footprint is said to have been belonged to Titanosaur, considered as a colossal, long-necked herbivore. Based on further research, it was established that the creature may have been 30 meters (98ft) long and 20 meters (66ft) tall.

The footprint was uncovered back in August in a geologic layer formed between 70m and 90m years ago by examiners from Okayama University of Science and the Mongolian Academy of Science, maintained AFP.

"This is a very rare discovery as it's a well-preserved fossil footprint that is more than a metre long with imprints of its claws," a statement from Okayama University of Science read, according to AFP.

Shinobu Ishigaki, a paleontology professor at Okayama University, told the Japan Times that further studies are being efficiently conducted in order to dig a little deeper into the existence of a mysterious creature.

Scientists also explained the discovery of the footprint- they maintained that it came up naturally by sand after the creature stepped ahead during the muddy ground in the Mongolian Gobi desert, established IB Times.

Back in 2014, a Titanosaur skeleton was discovered in Argentina, hence making it the largest dinosaur ever discovered. A replica of its bones is currently on display in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The team of scientists is striving to exhume much vivid and clear explanation of the beast that once ruled the earth million years ago. They maintained that these discoveries will assist the paleontologists to understand how dinosaurs walked.

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The presence and existence of alien life have lately been a hot topic for all. More so because of the frequent UFO sightings that took place in the recent days. Contrary to earlier beliefs, recent NASA discoveries indicate that finding alien life in our solar system is more than possible.

For a better picture on the subject, Daily Caller News Foundation had a discussion with the director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, Dr. Penelope Boston and Dr. Seth Shostak, who is a senior astronomer at Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence. They revealed the top five places in the solar system that can harbor alien life.

1. Mars

Mars is extremely big when it comes to finding alien life on the "Red Planet." NASA's research suggests that Mars has the potential to support life as NASA-sponsored geologists have found hydrogen on Mars, which is an essential component for supporting life. Possibly, like the earthquake, mars can also produce more hydrogen with 'Marsquake' thereby making it more habitable in times to come.

2. Europa

Scientists feel that Europa is another place, which is most likely to support alien life.

The reason stated by the researchers is that the icy Jupiter's moon has a liquid interior, which is more favorable for life, even more than Mars.

With the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA found evidence for water ice plumes which scientists feel is due to the salty and watery oceans, like that of Earth's.

Moreover, with 'The Europa Clipper' NASA wants to investigate the potential that Europa has for human life as well as for human colonization.

3. Enceladus

Another excellent place that NASA suggests favorable for alien life is Enceladus, Saturn's moon.

Boston states that unlike the vast Europa, Enceladus is much smaller in size, but it is likely that it also has a subsurface ocean, which reaches near-boiling temperature, thereby providing more energy for life. However, this is yet to be confirmed and Boston suggests that even if there is no life, a lot about pre-biotic chemistry can be learned.

4. Proxima b

In August, the 'second Earth' was discovered by astronauts and it is the second closest star to Earth, after the sun, Proxima Centauri.

The region, in which Proxima b is, makes it favorable to find water on the surface of the planet. Also, it is tidally locked, which means that one side of the planet is constantly facing the sun and the other is constantly dark, which further makes it favorable for life.

However, scientists are not yet sure whether Proxima b has a magnetosphere or an atmosphere, but speculations are high about the likelihood of life on the planet.

5. KIC 8462852

Last October, scientists of Yale University, using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope found evidence of extraterrestrial civilization. Much to the delight of astronomers, the star KIC 8462852 had light patterns that were consistent with large masses that blocked the star's light.

It is speculated by the scientists that the dense formations near KIC 8462852 are identical to "Dyson Spheres," which is a hypothetical, energy-harvesting mega structure, that aliens possibly build by repositioning their solar system.

Notably, scientists feel that in the history of the universe, there are about 10 billion alien civilizations. The existence of alien life will require more and more men being sent to the space to look for more civilization and also larger telescopes to find oxygen or methane around the atmospheres of planets around other stars.

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OnePlus 4 is all set to compete with some of the biggest smartphones available in the market and those that are yet to come. It is rumored that the feature of the upcoming OnePlus 4 mobile will directly compete with Apple iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S8.

The Chinese smartphone maker has not officially announced anything about OnePlus 4 yet. However, speculations about its pricing, release date and specs have been flooding the internet since wuite some time now.

A recent report published by Know Your Mobile speculated that OnePlus 4 will come with the best features and hardware configuration that may land some of the smartphone giants such as Apple and Samsung in trouble. Apple iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy 8 users should look forwards to this device, as it is rumored to feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 processor, which has not yet been released.

Another exciting feature about OnPlus 4 is its 5.5-inch display with 4K resolution OLED screen. It will have an option for a microSD card with 256GB worth of storage, a 8GB RAM and a 4,000 mAh battery.

OnePlus 4 would function on Google's latest and one of the most anticipated operating systems, Android 7.0 Nougat. In addition, it would also feature a fingerprint scanner, similar to theone in iPhone series.

OnePlus 4 8GB RAM is one of the biggest advantages over the other smartphones available in the market. While iPhone 7 has just 2GB of RAM and Galaxy Note 7 has 4GB RAM, smartphone freaks are sure to get lured by what OnePlus 4 has in store for them.

The wireless headphone feature made iphone 7 receive mixed reviews from the users. However, wireless charging feature in OnePlus 4 is speculated to receive a huge positive response from people who desperately wait for this phone to release.

Nothing about the phone has been officially confirmed as yet, however, it is rumored that OnePlus 4 may cost a little over $400 when it is released. On the other hand, people may have to wait until 2017 to purchase this phone as OnePlus 3 was released in 2016 and the company may take a little time before it released the next version, according to Christian Daily.

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Passion for small cars currently serves as the main highlight in the US. In August this year, the Honda Civic has been regarded as the top-selling compact sedan across the continent.

The trend is continuing as the highly-regarded Japanese company introduces the turbo-charged Civic with a six-speed manual transmission. The unit will be available on the mid-level EX-T coupe and sedan.

It has been a long time since the last Honda hatchback landed in the American auto market. The two door-Civic Si is perhaps the last compact car to hit the road back in 2003. The new 2017 Civic comes in both four and two-door models. Its engine will feature a 174-hp 1.5-liter turbocharged system. There will be five trim levels, namely, the base LX, the Sport, the EX, the EX-L and the Sport Touring. It must be noted that the Sport and the Sport Touring variants are unique to the hatchback and present an exhaust setup that propels the horsepower to 180.

The Civic's look is quite alluring given the bumpers' great faux intakes and vents. It also unveils a sharp roofline to go with its neat C-shaped tail lights. According to Honda, the hatchback offers the largest cargo-carrying capacity in the competitive set. Based on estimates, the vehicle can go 31mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway in the CVT variant with a lower figure for the manual transmission.

In terms of safety gear, the Honda Sensing system features the lane-keeping assist, the adaptive cruise control, the forward-collision warning and the automated emergency braking. Thrown in the mix is the availability of the Apple CarPlay and the Android Auto.

The 2017 Honda hatchback is 16 kilograms lighter than the previous models. Its torsional stiffness has been improved by 52 percent. Meanwhile, management states that the Type R of the new Civic, which provides a mature design look, is predicted to come out in September next year.

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An elementary school employee was terminated from her job after deliberately dubbing Michelle Obama as "gorilla" on her post on Facebook.

Jane Wood Allen, a teacher-aide of Chestatee Elementary School in Gainesville, Georgia posted discriminating messages against the First Lady in August.

Media outlets reported the incident during the fall break, causing public outrage.

Following calls of Allen's sanction, officials of Chestatee Elementary School terminated her from service effective Oct. 3, 2016.

Jennifer Caracciolo, district communications director, emphasized that the matter would serve as an example for all schools staff that racial discrimination is not allowed in the district.

The school official also pointed out that the school condemned racism and discrimination.

Allen posted in her Facebook page a face with almost bald hair of First Lady Michelle Obama with these following messages: "This poor gorilla. How is she going to function in a real world, by not having all of her luxurious vacations paid for anymore? She needs to focus on getting a total makeover (especially the hair), instead of planning vacations! She is a disgrace to America!"

These posts were removed and Jane's Facebook account can no longer be found. The phone number listed for her has no one answering. It was not in a set up to allow voice messages. But some social media users have preserved them for any purpose.

It can be recalled that the U.S. experienced civil war due to the issue of black slavery and racial discrimination during the 19th century. Yet until today some white Americans still cannot avoid practicing the actions. It is just surprising to know that the First lady was among the victims.

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Ten intelligent robots were deployed as Custom Officers at three different ports in Guangdong Province, China.

The robots are the first batch to be assigned in the cities of Gongbei, Zhongshan and Hengqin.

Named as Xiao Hai, these robots are capable of seeing, walking , speaking, listening and learning.

China Daily reported that based on specialized customs data, the robots are able to answer questions in 28 different languages and dialects, including Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese.

As they were installed with recognition technology, the Director of Gongbei customs, Zhao Min, said these robots have also the capacity to spot people who are acting suspiciously.

In the event that the robots will not be able to solve certain problem, "customs officials said they will link the robots to their customer service hotline in the future," according to Hindus Times .

The deployment of these robots for security purposes is not the first time for China as another robot was deployed last month at the Shenzhen, the busiest airport in Guangdong province.

Named Anbot, the robot can be seen making "round-the-clock patrols "along the airport's departure hall in Terminal 3, according to the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, People's Daily.

The use of robots for security have been on the rise since 2014, especially among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors. One of the companies which has made use of it is Microsoft.

As a result of the economic slowdown brought by its declining exports, China is diverting its investments on high technology so it can veer away from the manufacture of cheap items.

The deployment of these 10 intelligent robots as Custom Officers of its three ports in Guangdong is a clear indication of this.

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iMac 2016 is on sale ahead than the actual launch by Apple's event. How? The suspicious thing is the Apple's device may have just leaked out in the Best Buy with clear details of the processor housing in it. A Richfield, Minnesota consumer Electronics Corporation recently published a page featuring a new 27-inch iMac and appearing to be the best buy device.

Various reports bring up the Best Buy's published page which shows clear mentioning of Apple's product 27-inch iMac with a model code of K0SC0LL/A. The biggest leak in that page is the iMac 2016 is featuring Intel's new development Kaby Lake Core i7 chip.

Also, other specifications mentioned for Apple's new device include a Retina 5K display, 32GB memory and 2TB Fusion drive, built-in wireless networking, a webcam and wireless keyboard and mouse housed in the iMac pack with a price tag of 3199.99 USD.

Apple, the Cupertino-based tech giant, is rumored to be preparing itself for the new Mac line as reported earlier through various sources. The new iMac 2016 is expected to boom the tech market with well-versed features in the October event.

The leak from the Best Buy website also give hints of various features which Apple might be planning-in to come up as the October event is rumored to be launching the highly anticipated MacBook Pro 2016.

According to AppleInsider, the Intel's new development Kaby Lake quad-core processors are indeed not available for shipping at this time. In addition to that, the other rival companies to Apple are reported to be delaying their devices which are planned to take the new Intel Kaby Lake Core i7 chip.

The reports further suggest that that the 27-inch Retina 5K iMac 2016 could be housing this type of processor as the fact is well-known in the tech market. It is also reported that the model nomenclature of iMac is not the same as Apple does for its iMac devices.

The iMac enthusiasts were expecting the iMac 2016 along with iPhone 7 and Watch series 2 launch event in September. But the latest rumors show that the iMac 2016 will hit the tech market along with MacBook Pro 2016 in October.

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George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin kept the fire of their marriage burning and celebrated their second wedding anniversary on Sep. 27.

Juicy details of the couple's anniversary were revealed this week including Amal's distaste towards George's cooking.

The revelation was made in an interview at the Motion Picture Television Fund's "Night Under the Stars" benefit in L.A. on Saturday, Oct. 1, when the actor was asked how they celebrated the occasion.

"I made dinner. I don't think she's ever quite impressed with my cooking...If I slap something together-spaghetti and meatballs-she doesn't know that it comes in a jar, so I can just fool her with that one," he candidly shared.

Despite his flawed cooking, Clooney assured that the low-key celebration was a success.

"We had a very romantic second anniversary. Very civilized," he said.

The second anniversary is also significant to Clooney in a way that he and his wife proved others wrong when they speculated that their relationship can't last long.

The actor proposed to the human rights lawyer in April 2014 after six months of dating. The proposal was said to be well-thought and well-plotted.

"I plotted the whole thing out. I had the ring hidden behind her. Everything was planned out and I had cooked dinner," he previously said in a previous interview.

Since their marriage, the Money Monster star has been vocal in praising his wife with regards to her intellectual stature, career and sense of fashion.

"She's an amazing human being. And she's caring. And she also happens to be one of the smartest people I've ever met. And she's got a great sense of humor. There's a number of reasons why," he once said.

George, being known as one of the most notorious bachelors in Hollywood, also pronounced in an interview in May that he is happy with his marriage.

"I've never been happier in a relationship by any stretch of the imagination. At 52 I found the love of my life and I'm really happy," he said.

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"Scarlet Heart Ryeo" finally begins to escalate its political plot in the palace. The 4th prince Wang So will begin to engage in a bloody plot against other princes to ascend the throne, similar to Hae Soo's premonition. Meanwhile the drama still struggles to win viewers' attention in Korea, as its rating remains in a slump.

In "Scarlet Heart Ryeo" Episode 12, prince Wang So was assigned by his father King Taejo to become an ambassador to China's ruler the Jin dynasty. Wang So conducted the assignment on condition the king would allow Hae Soo to be back in the palace. King Taejo agreed, but silently told the astronomer Choi Ji Mong to put Hae Soo in the places where prince Wang So could not visit.

Before he went off for an official duty to China, prince Wang So visited Hae Soo and consoled her. But Hae Soo told Wang So to forget her, which he rejected and asked her instead to wait for him in the palace. Prince Wang So, who had no idea of his father's plan to expel her, gave Hae Soo a quick smooch.

Time passed by one year after and the celebration for the king's 26th year in power draws near. Crown prince Wang Mu began to suspect his father would select another prince to replace him. Other princes also put their focus on the throne.

Meanwhile prince Wang So came back from mission to kingdom of Jin and reporting to the king about the political condition and conflict between Jin and Khitan. When the king ordered him to return to China, Wang So refused because he knew his father has not kept the promise.

In the palace, as the king's health was deteriorating and the king ordered astronomor Choi to summon Hae Soo to the palace. After the meeting with the king, Hae Soo heard the battle sound in the palace which may be another premonition of the power struggle between the princes.

Although the story began to be more appealing, the Moon Lover drama remains unable to regain the heart of viewers in Korea. Its rating on Oct.3 is still at a slump, with 7.9 percent in Nielsen Korea and stuck at the bottom of the list.

While in the TnMS rating, the Moon Lover drama was toppled from the Top 20 position with only 6.8 percent. The 20th position in the TnMs rating on Monday, Oct. 3 is taken by SBS educational program Master of Living with 7.9 percent.

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The Syrian government resumed its attack at Aleppo on Tuesday, after the U.S. stopped its negotiations with Russia in an attempt to restore the ceasefire in the region.

The United Nation has already called on to stop the dreadful violence that occurred in the Aleppo, which was being reeled from some of the most brutal fights in the last five years.

The Syrian army said Russian-backed military advances forward to gain control of the eastern half of Aleppo, a rebel-occupied area two weeks ago.

Some high-rise buildings in the center of Aleppo were captured by loyalist fighters thrusting towards other enemy districts.

Government forces is slowly advancing after street fights on the front line broke, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro- opposition monitor.

Rami Abdel- Rahman, head of the Observatory told the AFP that the government forces are focusing on the tall buildings where they can observe entire streets and neighborhood from there.

Bombardment noise could be heard all night from the southern end of the city, which only turned quieter during dawn, an AFP correspondent reported.

Syrian State News Agency reported that six people died on Tuesday after the bombardment of the rebels to the government- controlled west, including Aleppo University campus.

On Monday also Russian embassy was hit by a mortar leaving damage but without casualties, Russian Ministry said.

Since the battle began in March 2011, over 300,000 deaths were recorded as the attempt to establish a diplomatic solution occasionally failed.

U.S. and Russia are backing up both sides, blaming each other for the failure.

Washington announced on Monday that agreement between the two opposing sides on ceasefire is suspended. America accused Russia on encouraging Syrian government to advance the attack.

Russia on the other hand blamed America for failure in convincing the rebels to distance themselves from extremist fighters.

Russia and America mutually agreed for an open communication channel to ensure that their separate campaigns on bombing would not get in each other's way.

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told US President Barack Obama to "go to hell" as he accused the U.S. of refusing to sell military weapons to his country.

Duterte said that he had lost respect for the U.S. as it did not want to sell missiles and other weapons to the Philippines. He added that it does not make any difference because Russia and China are ready to supply arms to Philippine.

But he claimed that Russia and China assured him that they could provide him easily.

"If you don't want to sell arms, I'll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said 'do not worry we have everything you need, we'll give it to you," Duterte said in his speech.

Washington has been doing its best to ignore Philippine President rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

Last week, Duterte wanted to cancel the ongoing joint military exercise with American troops. He earlier showed interest in establishing new trade and commercial alliances with China and Russia.

Duterte had said the drill between the US and the Philippines starting from October 4 and 12 in Luzon and Palawan regions, with the participation of around 2,000 soldiers, will be the last one.

Earlier this month, a defiant Duterte had stoked controversy by cursing U.S. President Barack Obama, and said he would not allow joint patrols of disputed waters near the South China Sea with foreign powers, apparently scrapping a deal his predecessor reached with the US military.

Bilateral relations between U.S and Philippine have deteriorated since Rodrigo Duterte assumed presidency in July and began a violent campaign against drug trafficking, which has left more than 3,500 dead.

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An accused in India's infamous mob lynching case has died at a hospital in capital New Delhi.

The 20-year-old accused Ravi Sisodia died on Tuesday due to kidney and respiratory failure after he was taken to the hospital two days ago after he complained of some pain.

However, his family alleges foul play and said that their son died due to atrocities of police officials inside the prison. He was one of the 18 accused in the Dadri lynching case.

On Sep. 28 last year, just after the Muslim festival Eid-al-Adha, attackers killed 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi and seriously injured his son Danish.

Hindu fringe attacked them over suspicion that the two have eaten beef in country's Northern Province of Uttar Pradesh's Dadri.

The incident created an uproar and led to the mass protest across the country triggering the debate rising intolerance towards minority Muslim community in India.

The right-wing mob had broken into victim's family home and beat him to death by dragging his body out into the street of Bisara village in Dadri.

Eating beef is considered a taboo in Hindu majority India, who comprise more than 80 percent of the country's 1.25 billion people.

India's majority Hindu community see cows as holy. But beef is widely eaten by Hindus in some parts of the country as well as by members of lower castes and minority Muslims and Christians.

The anti-beef movement, which is going on from last year in India, promulgates an ideology of right wind Hindu organisations that sees India as Hindu nation.

India is the world's largest exporter of beef and its fifth biggest consumer but its ruling right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants a nationwide ban on cow slaughter and the beef trade, which is run mostly by Muslims.

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John Cotton Richmond, who is a founding director of the Human Trafficking Institute, will speak during the Gathering and Chapel worship services at Hope College on Sunday and Monday, Oct. 16 and 17, in Dimnent Memorial Chapel through the Hageman Faith Series.

He will present Getting to the Root of the Problem: Human Trafficking and Beyond during The Gathering on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. and Faith and Freedom during Chapel on Monday, Oct. 17, at 10:30 a.m. The public is invited to both events and admission is free.

John Cotton Richmond is known for his role as a founding director of the Human Trafficking Institute, which uses proven strategies to stop traffickers, rescue victims, and decimate the prevalence of modern-day slavery. For more than a decade, Richmond was also a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and a founding member of the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. Richmonds work to combat human trafficking has earned numerous honors, including: being named one of the Prosecutors of the Year by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, receiving the David Allred Award for Exceptional Contributions to Civil Rights and twice earning the Department of Homeland Securitys Outstanding Investigative Accomplishments in Human Trafficking Award.

In addition, Richmond frequently serves as an expert on human trafficking for the United Nations Working Group on Trafficking in Persons and at the European Unions multilateral meetings on human trafficking. He has trained judges, prosecutors, federal agents, and many others on human trafficking investigative and prosecutorial strategies. Richmond has also taught Human Trafficking Law, Policy, and Litigation at Vanderbilt School of Law and has previously worked on human trafficking crimes as the director of the International Justice Missions slavery work in India.

The annual Hageman Faith Series was established to encourage a vibrant Christian faith among the students, faculty and staff of Hope College. The lecture series is endowed to invite recognized Christian speakers to Hopes campus who will inspire and encourage a living and personal faith in Jesus Christ. Selected by the colleges Campus Ministries team, which is overseen by the dean of the chapel, speakers are chosen on the basis of having an articulate, winsome and challenging message that is relevant to college-aged students seeking to grow in their life with Christ.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., at the corner of College Avenue and 12th Street.
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Since blowing up with XXX in 2011, Danny Browns enjoyed an odd sort of fame. Hes become a huge mainstay in the summer music festival circuit thanks to turnt anthems like Blunt After Blunt, I Will, and the second half of Old, which was entirely composed of EDM-adjacent bangers. For Brown, who had been hustling for years prior (famously missing out on a G-Unit deal thanks to his skinny jeans), attracting hoards of party-ready college-age kids was a huge, unexpected career boost. It was, however, a little frustrating to see an artist with so much depth get recognized as a one-trick pony.

Addiction, paranoia, and depression have always been equal, if not greater, focuses of Browns music in comparison to turning up. Those themes may lurk under the surface of nihilistic bangers like Smokin & Drinkin, but on half of his last two albums, theyve been thrust front-and-center and just havent received as much recognition as the tracks that paint Brown as the Willy Wonka of a drug-and-sex-fueled wonderland. Its totally understandable why Brown devoted so much space on Old to those cuts thats where the bulk of his checks ended up coming from but its always seemed like he was most invested in evolving his sound to match the damaged, fucked-up lyrics that tell his true story. Three years later, with several summers of festivals and a new deal with UK electronic label Warp under his belt, Brown hes finally able to drop the commercial pretenses, blow $70,00 on samples, and make Atrocity Exhibition, an album almost entirely devoted to the bad trip side of his sound.

On the darker halves of his last two albums (XXXs back end and Olds front end), Brown worked with British producer Paul White, an underground vet whose biggest skill is flipping forgotten psych-rock cuts from the 60s and 70s into damaged-sounding slappers. White handled three and five tracks, respectively, on Browns last two full-lengths; now hes responsible for two-thirds of Atrocity Exhibition. Its the perfect pairing for Browns zooted-but-locked-in bars like White, hes able to engage with past eras of music without ever sounding retro and working more closely together this time, theyre able to sculpt their usual creative spark into a fuller vision. Jagged guitar riffs, cacophonous horns, and haunting vocal samples tumble around atop some of the most avant-garde beats youll hear this year, creating an auditory reflection of the troubled mental states Brown describes throughout. The closest producer-rapper analog is probably Action Bronson and Party Supplies, who turned their Blue Chips series and parts of last years Mr. Wonderful into similar bizarro worlds of obscure YouTube rips. Brown and Bronson both have the ability to be cartoonish, but for this unhinged style of music, Id have to say that Browns harrowing tales of Detroit are a better fit than Bronsons lurid fantasies of smashing hookers in back alleys.

The stories Browns telling havent changed at all since XXXs DNA, but hes gotten better as a lyrical stylist. Its the small details that count, like the way he describes the unexpectedness of his friends murder on Tell Me What I Dont Know (Breaking down the weed when the call got received) or the fact that he cant smoke weed after getting sentenced (Gave us all probation now we smokin Newports). Its a great example of a common rule in writing, Show, dont tell, which takes confidence and clarity to pull off. All over this album, Brown manages to tell larger stories about urban decay, poverty, addiction, and fame without making sweeping generalizations, or getting preachy or nonspecific. He stays serious for the most part while still giving us some of that classic Danny Brown wit and wordplay at key moments When It Rains double entendre of getting pissed on in Detroits No Fly Zone and the constant jazz references on Get Hi being two of my favorites. Brown always had the ability to come up with crazy bars, but now hes using them more purposefully than he did back in his Sorta like Squidward and his clarinet days.

With its inner turmoil, tales from Browns past, and nuclear fallout psychedelia, Atrocity Exhibition makes a nice companion to another one of 2016s best hip hop albums, Schoolboy Qs Blank Face. Q, who provides ad-libs on Pneumonia, seems to be in a similar position in his career, and both of these guys have made paranoid rap classics on par with Scarfaces The Diary or Clipses Hell Hath No Fury. The two songs that Brown quotes on Atrocity Exhibition are telling signposts of where the album falls in rap music history  UGKs fatalistic One Day gets a nod on Downward Spiral and Brown cops multiple bars from the oil war hysteria of OutKasts B.O.B. on Today. Ever the music scholar, Brown somehow manages to weld the weirdness of pysch and post-punk to an existing tradition of paranoid hip hop.

There are only a few moments when the album doesnt live up to its ambitiously fucked-up aspirations. One is Really Doe, which sees Brown jump back into battle mode for one verse, but listening to the Four Horseman of the Rapocalypse attempt to one-up each other is far too much of a treat to hold anything against the uncharacteristic banger. Pneumonia contains the only other callback to Browns past, with producer Evian Christ cooking up something similar to many of Skywlkrs beats on XXX, but again, its one of the best tracks Dannys done. No complaints there. The one actual weak track, in my opinion, is Dance In The Water, which has an interesting enough beat, but suffers from a lazy flow from Danny and some subpar lyrics. As a follow-up to the stylistically segregated Old, though, you couldnt really ask for more cohesion.

Danny Brown was calling himself the greatest rapper ever back on 2010s The Hybrid, and Atrocity Exhibition closer Hell For It adds a postscript to that, with Brown renewing his promise to never stop going in until the day he dies to show his onetime doubters wrong. Hes had to make some concessions to get here, but Brown seems to be making music by no ones rules but his own, which was his goal since day one. Downward Spiral contains another nod to Browns past, namely XXXs legendary title track, with Brown adding that hes got to figure it out. In terms of his artistry, he definitely has.
Netflix can barely do wrong when it comes to their original programming, as they proved time and time again. The most recent TV series to debut on the service is Marvels Luke Cage, which for the first time in recent memory (/history?), actually crashed Netflix, forcing millions of Netflix user to abandon the series for the better part of a Saturday afternoon.

On the heels of the release of Luke Cage, Netflix is back at it with the debut date for another new Marvel series, Iron Fist. Today a short clip dropped revealing the TV series will hit Netflix on March 17, 2017.

Iron Fist aka Daniel Danny Rand will be played by actor Finn Jones (Game of Thrones). Rand is a billionaire Buddhist monk who inherited the powers of the Iron Fist after discovering the mythical city Kun Lun. The series will reportedly begin with Rand returning to New York City after having been missing for years, where hell (unsurprisingly) end up fighting corruption.

Check out the short clip below.

Iron Fist
The "the" is there to help differentiate it from the 1989 Batman.

Those that have been following movie news, particularly superhero movie news, may know that Ben Affleck will co-write a new Batman script, with plans to direct. Ben Affleck has a good track record, so we think this makes sense. Affleck recently portrayed the Caped Crusader in the divisive Batman V Superman, where he was shown to be moodier than usual, which says a lot.

As far as Hollywood naming conventions go, The Batman isnt the worst offender (see The Fast and the Furious for some egregious examples), but Affleck would like to stress that it is a working title at the moment. So it could change as the script comes together, with a new name that would reflect the thematic sensibilities.

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So far, theres not too much information about the new project. Affleck is working on the movie with Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics and total historian of all things DC. Joe Manganiello, best known for his ab-tastic performance in True Blood, will be Deathstroke, with Zack Snyder hinting the character may appear in his Justice League movie.
The intimate Blackrock restaurant was one of the Best Newcomers in our Best Of Dublin special

There was much celebrating out in Blackrock yesterday as one of Dublins smallest restaurants  just 18 seats - Heron and Grey picked up a coveted Michelin star.

Only in operation since December when they took over The Eatery Formerly Known As The Canteen, chef Damien Grey and front of house partner Andrew Heron offer a five-course tasting menu for what by Michelin Guide standards is a bargain 48.

Heron and Grey is big on seasonality with Damien often deciding what to cook on the day after hes been to the market. They also get 10 out of 10 for a wonderfully imaginative wine-list that starts at 28 for a very cheeky Famille Labelle Sauvignon Blanc.

They were among the Best Newcomers in this years Hot Press Best of Dublin special with Stuart Clark noting that: Thankfully, theres no sider of pretension with the food there to be enjoyed rather than fawned over. When we last popped in the imaginative combinations included Girolles, Chedder & Truffle and Almond, Honey, Duck & Peach.

Only open Thursday through Saturday, we suspect getting a table could be a trifle difficult right now!

Elsewhere, its as you are with Patrick Guilbauld still unique here in having two stars. Chapter One, LEcrivain and The Greenhouse are the capitals other Michelin establishments.

Out west, Aniar and Loam are still doing the starry business with Belfast represented by Hot Press favourites Eipic and OX and The Cliff House flying the flag in Ardmore.

If our number crunching is correct, Kilkenny has the highest per capita number of stars in the country with Campagnes modern French cooking, and the contemporary Irish fare offered by Lady Helen at Mount Juliet as nibblesome as ever.
The supergroup's March run is now extended to seven nights

Trad supergroup The Gloaming have added another three dates to their March stand at the National Concert Hall.

With the initial run of March 11 - 14 sold out within hours, the collective have now tacked three extra shows onto the itinerary; they'll now be taking the stage at Earlsfort Terrace on March 6, 7 & 8.

Tickets for the newly-announced show are priced at 35.00 and on sale from tomorrow  and we'd recommend you don't hang around!
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One phone call really stood out to Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., after Hillary Clinton selected him as her running mate.

"Hey, welcome aboard," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence told Kaine in late July.

The Republican vice-presidential nominee's greeting to the Democratic vice-presidential nominee is the only conversation the two men have ever had, according to Kaine. On Tuesday, the Indiana governor and Virginia senator meet for the first time face to face, sharing a stage in Farmville, Va., during a 90-minute debate that will be watched by millions and could help define their respective careers.

Their mutually friendly style could make for a less cutthroat environment than last week's presidential debate. Their lack of common knowledge of each other adds to the expectation they will spend more time attacking the presidential nominees, Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, than each other.

"We talked by phone once, but I never met him," Kaine explained in a brief interview last week during a quick trip to the Capitol.

Kaine said that he had been preparing for Tuesday's debate under the assumption that Clinton would have a superior performance in the initial presidential debate, last week, which public polling has since confirmed. "I was already kind of preparing in that mind-set, and she did. So I don't need to change," Kaine said.

He said that his main focus would be contrasting the two competing visions laid out in books that Clinton and Trump have published as campaign platforms.

"Continue to lay out the vision, so the 'Stronger Together' versus 'Crippled America'. . . . We're going to continue to lay that out," Kaine said, referencing Clinton and Trump's respective manifestos. He believes the Republican's dark view of the nation's future does not sit well with the broader electorate.

Pence's optimistic style, honed as a radio show host in Indiana and 12 years as a congressman on Capitol Hill, has often aped Ronald Reagan and stands in stark contrast to Trump.

"My fellow Americans, I believe we have come to another rendezvous with destiny and I have faith, faith in the boundless capacities of the American people, and faith that God can still heal our land," Pence said toward the end of his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

But Pence is capable of going after the other side, particularly the Clintons. In July, Politico unearthed a clip from Pence's radio show in 1997 in which he excoriated then-President Bill Clinton for his handling of a controversial affair of a military officer, suggesting Bill Clinton's own infidelities caused him to keep quiet on the matter.

"We haven't heard a whisper out of the White House on this case. I mean not a whisper. And the president comments on everything. Doesn't he? I mean you could, you could have him announce corn prices are down, the president would have a press conference," Pence said.

Kaine said he expects Pence to focus on Clinton and the controversies that have dogged her campaign, saying that he has been preparing himself to counterpunch. "Pence will be doing an awful lot of attacking, so I'm going to be taking him on on all the attacks," Kaine said.

Whoever becomes vice president, Kaine and Pence seem destined to play a similar role: envoy to Capitol Hill, where a younger generation of lawmakers has little experience with Clinton or Trump.

Pence, 57, finally broke through politically in 2000, claiming an open House seat representing eastern Indiana. His focus in the Capitol tended toward social issues, aligning himself with Christian conservatives who would become his strongest supporters.

After Republicans were expelled from the majority in 2006, Pence argued that the voters abandoned them because of a lack of conservative conviction. He ran a foolhardy race against John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, for House minority leader. The result, 168 votes for Boehner and 27 for Pence, was considered so embarrassing that Republicans have never since released the vote tally for any leadership race.

Boehner brought Pence into a midlevel leadership post in 2009, where his highest-profile moment came in January 2010 when he moderated a combative question-and-answer session with House Republicans and President Barack Obama. The president was considered to have held the upper hand throughout.

Pence bowed out of leadership in 2011 to focus on his run for governor, winning by 3 percentage points in a competitive race four years ago.

That same year Kaine won his U.S. Senate seat. He had spent his previous years in state and local politics, winning a seat on the Richmond City Council in 1994, getting elevated to mayor in 1998 and in 2001 joining Mark Warner, then the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, as his running mate.

He won the 2005 governor's race and served two years as chairman of the Democratic National Committee at Obama's request. He had to be coaxed into running for the Senate because he so preferred being an executive.

Kaine's issue focus was much different from Pence's on Capitol Hill. His key assignments were the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations committees. Kaine played the role of bipartisan bridge builder on those committees, often failing to forge compromises that could suit both sides, particularly on a new war resolution to battle the Islamic State.

In Pence, Trump found someone who counts House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., as a close friend. Ryan introduced Pence at the convention.

Despite serving eight years in the Senate, Clinton never served with more than half the current members of the chamber. Kaine is a text-messaging buddy with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also elected in 2012 and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Flake, who has refused to endorse Trump, remains very close friends with Pence from their days in the House together, and whoever serves a heartbeat away from the presidency, he stands ready to work with him.

"He's a good guy," Flake of Kaine after a town hall outside Phoenix in August. "We've been close in the Senate. Both he and Pence. I think a lot of us wish we could flip the tickets."



Paul Kane covers Congress and politics for the Washington Post.
TORONTO - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that Canada will impose a tax on carbon emissions starting in 2018 as part of its efforts to meet targets set by the Paris climate change accord.

Trudeau made the announcement in Parliament on Monday as debate started over whether Canada should ratify the Paris accord on climate change. The House of Commons is expected to approve the Paris accord in a vote on Wednesday.

Trudeau said provinces and territories can either put a direct tax on carbon emissions of at least $10 Canadian, or U.S. $7.60, a ton or adopt a cap-and-trade system. If a province fails to do either by 2018, the federal government will implement a basic carbon tax of $10 a ton, rising by $10 a ton per year until it reaches $50 Canadian, or U.S. $38.11, a ton by 2022.

"There is no hiding from climate change," Trudeau told the Commons. "It is real and it is everywhere. We cannot undo the last 10 years of inaction. What we can do is make a real and honest effort - today and every day - to protect the health of our environment, and with it, the health of all Canadians."

Trudeau argued that pricing carbon pollution will give Canada a "significant advantage" in building a cleaner economy, compel businesses to develop innovative ways to reduce emissions, and create hundreds of thousands of clean technology jobs.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall blasted Trudeau for not working with the provinces on a collaborative proposal. Provincial environment ministers were meeting with their federal counterpart when Trudeau surprised many with his announcement.

"The level of disrespect shown by the Prime Minister and his government his stunning," Wall said in a statement. "This new tax will damage our economy."

"The bottom line is that the Saskatchewan economy already hurting from a downturn in commodity prices - will be one of the hardest hit by a new federal carbon tax because of our trade-exposed resource industries."

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said her oil-rich province won't support Ottawa's climate change plan unless the federal government makes progress on new oil pipelines to Canada's coasts. Trudeau's government is expected to decide the fate of at least one major pipeline to the Pacific Coast by the end of the year. Alberta already plans to implement a carbon tax but objects to the higher costs of Trudeau's plans in later years.

Canada's most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, are joining in a cap-and-trade program. British Columbia already has a carbon tax.

"Eighty five percent of the Canadian economy is located in provinces where there is pricing on carbon pollution in one shape or another. We are going to bring that up to 100 percent," Trudeau said.
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TOKYO - The new robot from Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. can't do much but chatter in a high-pitched voice.

The $390, 4-inch-tall, doll-like Kirobo Mini - whose name comes from "kibo," or "hope," and "robot" - supposedly has the smarts of a 5-year-old.

Fuminori Kataoka, general manager in charge of the project, says its value is emotional, going from home to car to the outdoors as a faithful companion, although the owner must do all the walking and driving.

Preorders start later this year. Shipments are set for next year. No overseas sales are planned so far. The company said it planned a gradual rollout, initially limited to Tokyo and Aichi prefecture in central Japan, near company headquarters, to get feedback from consumers.

It comes with a camera, microphone and Bluetooth, and connects to a smartphone, which needs to be installed with a special software application.

It turns its head toward a voice, although sometimes that function fails as its voice recognition is far from perfect.

"Toyota has been making cars that have a lot of valuable uses. But this time we're just pushing emotional value," Kataoka said.

During an interview, the robot turned its head to the reporter and then to Kataoka when he replied.

But the first time Kataoka asked the robot for its name, it replied by asking what kind of car he had. It got it right the second time. Kataoka just laughed.

The robot is not equipped with face recognition technology, and so it cannot recognize different people. The idea is one Kiribo Mini per person, according to Toyota.

More people in Japan are living alone, including the elderly and young singles. And they need someone, or in this case something, to talk to, Kataoka said.

But he was amazingly frank about how useless his robot is.

"This is not smart enough to be called artificial intelligence," he said. "This is about the existence of something you can talk to. A stuffed animal might not answer back, but people do talk to it, like my daughter once did this. But if it talked back, wouldn't that be better? And isn't this better than talking to a box?"

Those who like gadgets - and there are quite a few in Japan - may want one. Toyota declined to say how many it planned to ready for preorder.

Toyota remains skeptical about how a partner robot would fare abroad, although it remained open to assessing such interest.

The idea of companion robots is already widely accepted in Japan.

Japanese technology and telecom company Softbank Corp. began selling its $1,960 Pepper humanoid last year.

The first batch of 1,000 sold out immediately, and it has sold 10,000 in Japan so far.

Robo Garage, headed by robot designer Tomotaka Takahashi, has brought an array of Kirobo lookalikes, many with more sophisticated functions at higher prices, including Robi, which must be assembled.

Kataoka is hopeful Kirobo will be able to avoid the fate of the Aibo dog-shaped robot from Sony Corp., which was discontinued in 2006, despite outcries from fans.

Robotics is widely used in auto-assembly plants. Toyota has shown other human-shaped robots before, although this is the first being offered to consumers.

Honda Motor Co., another Japanese automaker, makes Asimo, a humanoid, which can run, pick up objects and talk.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly a part of the auto industry in another critical way - self-driving vehicles. Vehicles are also increasingly connected online.

Toyota, which manufactures the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, remained vague about how Kiribo Mini might work with its autos.

The only examples it gave were that it might say, "Oh, oh, oh, oh. Be careful" when it detects sudden braking, or chirp, "Let's take a break" when the drive gets long.
LONDON - A survey of company CEOs in Britain suggests that a majority is considering moving some business away from the U.K. amid concerns about the country's future outside the European Union.

Research by KPMG shows that three-fourths of the 100 executives questioned would consider moving their headquarters or some operations outside Britain in order to keep a link to the EU's common tariff-less market.

The British government is likely to take months to trigger the official negotiations to leave the EU, leaving the details of any exit uncertain for years.

Some companies, however, may start shifting operations abroad with little fanfare.

British voters defied the leaders of both major political parties by deciding in June to leave the EU.

"We hear it time and time again that business needs certainty," Simon Collins, KPMG's UK chairman, said in a statement. "Policymakers should be really concerned about a leaching of British business abroad, and should engage with business early to understand what assurances they can offer and closely monitor any shifts overseas."

Meanwhile, another survey shows that optimism in the financial services sector has fallen for a third consecutive quarter, the longest drop since the global financial crisis in 2009.

The CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey of 115 firms shows finance houses, building societies and investment firms reported the sharpest drops in optimism as uncertainty after the vote to leave the EU took hold.

The results are important because so much of Britain's economy hinges on financial services - some 2 million people across the U.K. are directly or indirectly employed by the sector.

Andrew Kail, U.K. financial services leader at consultancy PwC, says the worry is about "the domino effect on people, productivity and position as a financial hub that must be guarded against."

Though economic indicators have been relatively stable since the vote, many experts say it's still too early to tell how companies are reacting.

In another development, the president of the European Central Bank said both markets and the economy have been "resilient" in the wake of Britain's Brexit vote.

But Mario Draghi cautioned members of the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday that the long-term effects of the breakup "will be much more difficult to foresee."
Houstonian and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg will receive an award Tuesday for his role in keeping the internet open to the masses, including small-business owners and individuals.

"WordPress is really helping to ensure that anyone can start their own website, easily," said Kim O'Dell, director of the Heinz Awards program for the Heinz Family Foundation.

Mullenweg, 32, co-founded WordPress in 2003 as free open-source software for blogging. The software remains free and available for anyone to use, but it has grown dramatically since 2005 when he created Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Simplenote, Polldaddy and other products.

Automattic helps less-than-tech-savvy individuals create blogs and websites through WordPress.com. It provides basic websites for free and then charges for plans with additional features, such as custom domain names and more storage.

"He wants to change the world for the better," O'Dell said.

On Tuesday, Mullenweg will receive the 21st Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment at an event in Pittsburgh. The Heinz Awards, created in honor of the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz in 1993, has given more than $25 million to 128 individuals. It will give $1.25 million to five recipients on Tuesday.

Mullenweg said the recognition is an opportunity to reflect on his company's past and to look toward the future.

"It definitely gets me fired up to do much more," he said.

Automattic has grown to more than 500 employees this year working from 57 countries from 18 employees in 2008. Advances in technology, he said, make it easy to work from anywhere.

That's why Mullenweg moved back to Houston, where he was born and raised, about five years ago.

"I think where a company starts is going to be less and less important," Mullenweg said.

Moving forward, Automattic is emphasizing e-commerce. It acquired WooCommerce, an e-commerce platform built on WordPress, in 2015 to help people sell products online.

Mullenweg ultimately seeks to close the gap between what people imagine and what they can actually do.

He became Automattic's CEO in 2014 and wants to continue steering its growth.

"I don't think I'm ready for the encore yet," he said.
A 33-year-old man who was an inmate at the Rosenberg jail died Monday in what police described as a suspected suicide, authorities said Tuesday.

Joseph Gunter was pronounced dead at about 8:20 p.m. at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, according to the Rosenberg Police Department.

Police said Gunter was in custody on narcotic-related charges. He had been arrested at around 2 p.m. Monday, Assistant Police Chief Tracie Dunn said. Texas Rangers and the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office were investigating the case, she said.

No other information was released, including on how Gunter died. Dunn said she could not comment further on the circumstances of the inmate's death because the investigation was preliminary. A spokesman for the district attorney's office said he could only confirm they were assisting with the investigation.

The jail facility where Gunter was being held has six to eight cells and serves in part as a holding area before inmates are transferred to the nearby county jail, Dunn said. Anyone arrested by Rosenberg police is first booked in the city facility, according to procedures.

Those brought in on suspicion of a class B misdemeanor or above are typically transferred to the county jail within the shift, Dunn said. Gunter, who had an extensive criminal record, would have qualified for a transfer.

Gunter was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, tampering with evidence, resisting arrest and walking on a roadway not opposing traffic, police said in a news release.

"They transport them as soon as they get time to do it," Dunn said.

City jails operate independently of the county, Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy David Marcaurele wrote in an email. The county does not have input into city jail operations, he added.

Similarly, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards does not inspect or regulate city jails, Executive Director Brandon Wood said. The organization also does not have authority to investigate possible suicides in a municipal facility.

A revised mental-health screening form developed last year for required use in county jails would not be mandated at the city level, Wood said.

Dunn did not elaborate on the city's jail intake system but said that Rosenberg police officers receive training regarding mental health and look for any issues beginning at first contact through arrest.

"We have the training that supports us," she said.

Online court records show Gunter, a Rosenberg resident, had previously been jailed and served in prison for past offenses. He served three days in the county jail in 2003 for interfering with an emergency call. In January 2005, he received a 90-day jail sentence for an assault conviction. Later that year, in October, a judge imposed a 45-day sentence for possession of a controlled substance.

The drug-related charges continued. In July 2008, Gunter was convicted on two felony counts of manufacture/delivery of between 1 and 4 grams of a controlled substance.

Three years later, in 2011, Gunter plead guilty to manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance of less than one gram. He pleaded guilty to the charge again in 2015.

Gunter had been interested in making a life change, said Allen Loya, a friend. The pair had talked for a while on the phone Monday, Loya said. They made plans to get together Tuesday morning. Loya, who runs a plumbing business, intended to talk to Gunter about his idea of starting a construction company.

Instead, when Gunter didn't arrive to meet Loya as planned, Loya called Gunter's wife and learned his friend was dead.

"I'm just at a loss right now," he said.

Loya, 34, said he was still trying to process the news but didn't believe that Gunter, who he said was also a father, could have committed suicide.

"That guy is always happy regardless," Loya said. "He could be in handcuffs and he'll still be happy."

The friend said he hoped to learn more information from police.

Continued Loya: "There's something missing here."

Dale Lezon contributed to this report.
One of three suspects has been arrested in the shooting death of a 56-year-old man last month at his home in north Houston.

Kenneth Seastrunk, 30, is charged with capital murder in the slaying of Robert Kent Hill, Sr., who was found dead about 1:40 p.m. Sept. 24 in the 14800 block of Estrellita Drive, according to the Houston Police Department.
A 14-year-old student was arrested early Tuesday for making an unspecified threat on a social media website against a school in Livingston.

The teen was taken into custody about 1 a.m and charged with making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, officials with the Livingston Independent School District stated on the district Facebook page. The student's name has not been released because the person is a juvenile.

Officials said the threat was reported to police about 8:30 p.m. Monday. It was made by a person who identified himself as "Larry Brown" on his Facebook page. After the threat was reported, Livingston Police Department worked with the social media website and district officials to identify the suspect.

The person was later taken into custody.

No other information about the case was released.

The arrest comes after a 14-year-old student in the Houston Independent School District student was taken into custody Monday for making a threat against an HISD school, according to school officials. The student is accused of threatening the unidentified school on social media using an image of a clown.

The non-specific threats, HISD officials said, were posted anonymously using accounts with a clown image and are believed to be part of a national hoax.

Meanwhile, some schools in Spring Independent School District beefed up security Monday after an unidentified bogus threat against them involving clowns recently spread on social media, officials said.

"We have been made aware of a social media hoax made toward school districts and campuses across the state, including several Spring ISD campuses," district officials announced Sunday evening in a statement on the Spring ISD Facebook page. "Although this was determined to be a hoax and we will have school tomorrow, please know that we have taken precaution with extra security at our campuses."

The hoax, officials said, concerned clowns threatening the schools and people on campuses. No activities have been reported.

Other school districts have received similar bogus threats.

Officials with Klein Independent School District said Klein Forest High School was mentioned as a campus where a clown would appear. The district increased security at the school and alerted parents as well as local law enforcement agencies.

"Klein ISD is aware of posts made on social media sites regarding perceived threats toward several state and local schools, the officials posted on the district Facebook page. "Although law enforcement has indicated that these clown posts are a social media hoax, the Klein police continue to actively investigate in conjunction with local law enforcement.

"The Klein police, local law enforcement, and Klein administrators will remain diligent throughout the week at our schools as the safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority."
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is betting to win the elections by attempting to reproduce nationwide the same model that has kept this party in power for decades in the state of Texas.

That model, however, is unique to Texas among the states with the largest populations of Latinos and other minorities and is gambling against the electorate trends, according to political science professor Luis Fraga, co-director of the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies.

Can such model be successful to win the election? How are the trends changing the political game? Fraga, who recently visited Houston as this year's speaker for the Rice University President's Lecture Series, explains in a Q&A with Chronicle reporter Olivia P. Tallet.

Q: Please explain the similarity you see between Trump campaign and the Texas model.



A: What he is trying to do is to see if he can replicate the Texas model in the rest of the country. In Texas, you have the solid support you see from a very substantial percentage of white voters who vote consistently Republican. Even though [Texas' population is] close to 40 percent Latinos, the percentage of Latino voters is about half of what they are in the population. While Latinos represent 20 percent of the state's electorate, that percent isn't still enough to overcome the white Republican vote.

Q: What is the difference between Texas and the rest of the country?



A: Texas' case is not what we see in key states.

In 1984, Ronald Reagan received 56 percent of the white vote and won the election by a very substantial margin. In 2012 Mitt Romney won 59 percent of the white vote and lost to Barack Obama.

What explains that? The electorate has shifted. Its demographic composition is becoming more non-white. And while the white vote begins to be a smaller percentage of the overall vote, especially in key states, who is becoming more and more part of the electoral vote? It's not whites. It's not blacks. To some degree it's Asians, but it's mainly Latinos. Not everywhere, but in more places than ever before.

On the other hand, we have a white vote that is splitting itself roughly evenly between Democrats in the centers and Republicans from the margins. But the margins are not as significant in other states as they are in Texas, where the white vote is so overwhelmingly Republican that you can have all Latinos who are eligible voters going to vote and wouldn't matter (to flip the political dynamic) at the moment.

That's not most of the country, therefore the growing transformations that we see demographically are beginning to have a consistent electorate.

Q: How does that relate to the 2016 election?



A: One candidate (Hillary Clinton) has clearly tried a strategy to receive consistently high support from minorities like Latinos and African-Americans.

The other candidate (Trump) started his campaign with an expression of great concern regarding immigration and has made very derogatory comments regarding immigrants. This strategy has a serious impact on the growing Latino electorate.

His strategy of attacking undocumented immigrants to feed the support of his white base misunderstands that the problem isn't that he is against undocumented immigrants. The misunderstanding is that undocumented immigration is at the heart of what is means to be Latino in the United States for more Latinos than ever before. A majority of Latino (citizens) has close relations with undocumented immigrants, with mixed families where the mother has papers and the father doesn't or where one child is undocumented, but the siblings are citizens. They have these relationships with family members, friends, at work or the church.

Those attacks (from Trump) to immigrants affect a lot of Latino families in ways that they don't understand.

But Donald Trump went even further when he accused the federal judge (Gonzalo P. Curiel) of not being able to do his job (in a lawsuit against the candidate) because of his "Mexican heritage." That was an attack on U.S. citizen Latinos, saying you cannot be an American and do your job as an honorable American because your abuela came from another country.

Q: But those attacks have excited his support base...



A: It's a shortsighted strategy. In doing so, he has positioned himself very clearly to counter the demographic trends that exist, and it's unclear at this point as to whether he would be successful.

For example, Florida is a very interesting state, always very complicated with a complicated Latino community where you have younger Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and South Americans with less traditionally Republican views.

At present, Donald Trump is polling in the neighborhood of 19 percent Latinos in Florida. He should be polling at around 39 to 44 percent, which are the historical precedents. He is pulling much lower. If this trend holds, Florida is going to swing Democrat, maybe permanently, given the distribution of the voters.

The Republican candidate has to win North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Maine, and all of the other traditional states. He has a very high bar.

There is an argument to be made that Latinos have already played important roles in presidential elections. California is as blue and as Democrat as it is because of the growth of the Latino vote.

Why? Because most of the growth in the California electorate, at least for about 20 years, was Latino voters who, because of (Republican Governor) Pete Wilson's anti-immigrant campaign with Proposition 187, turned the state blue when he went for reelection in 1994. There hasn't been another Republican governor in California, with the exception of (Arnold) Schwarzenegger.

Q: Can Donald Trump still win the election?

A: Yes, that's a possibility. Can you replicate Texas in other parts of the country? Yes, you can, in some regions; but you have to maximize your white voters turn out at unprecedented levels.

Another challenge of his campaign is that right now it doesn't seem to have the voter mobilization grass roots to get out the vote.

What is he relying upon? He is relying on a position that is clearly inconsistent with the demographic shift.

There are clear indications that he will win in some states. But we will have to see how it plays in key states with high percentages of minority vote. He is taking a very high risk. The question is if this is going to be the last attempt for a candidate to try to use traditional sources of division based on race and ethnicity to obtain power that ultimately will change in the future.

Q: What is the lesson of Trump's campaign?

A: Even if he is successful, this pattern will hurt the Republican Party for generations to come.

We need to understand how the country is changing and what strategic options are there for both parties if they are trying to win in the short and long run within this changing environment.

Think about this: 94 percent of all Latinos under 18 living in the U.S. were born here. They are American citizens, future voters. And about 800,000 Latinos in the country turn 18 every year.

This is a fast increase of new potential voters, many of them coming from mixed families.

Approximately half, between 40 to 50 percent of those Latinos under the age of 18, were born to parents who are immigrants.

Trump is running as the Republican candidate against and attacking Latinos and other minorities. In doing so, he is shaping negative sentiments against his own party among the very people that constitute the main base for growing the electorate.

He could win as a candidate. His party is not winning.

Olivia.Tallet@chron.com

Twitter: @oliviaptallet
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In a hail of gunfire, Conroe jewelry store owner Jeffery Turner Jr. made the decision to shoot back  with his AK-47 rifle  at four men who opened fire on his customers and staff during an attempted robbery on Monday afternoon.

In the aftermath of the bullet spray, one robber lay dead in the doorway among shattered glass; while Turner, his employees and customers were left shaken but unharmed.

The three other robbers fled the scene in the Conroe West strip center in the 4800 block of Texas 105 West.

"You always have a right to defend yourself, especially when the robber shoots at you," Turner's attorney E. Tay Bond said.

Bond said all the witnesses and Turner reported the four men started shooting first. "Jeff does keep an AK-47 for defense purposes."

Bond said Turner called him to the scene after the shooting.

The identity of the dead man has not been released.

According to Conroe Police Lt. Dorcy McGinnis, four males dressed in all black entered Jeff's Jewelry around lunchtime and demanded jewelry, purses and other items. They opened fire on the store employees and customers, with at least three store workers firing back.

"There was a lot of gunfire," McGinnis said.

Windows were broken out of the store, and police set up barriers around the crime scene.

About a dozen people stood in shock after learning what had happened inside the store as police officers strung crime scene tape around the parking lot.

A manhunt ensued for the three other men. Conroe police found the abandoned getaway vehicle near Tink Calfee Road between West Fork Boulevard and Longmire.

Roads were blocked off Monday afternoon as the search continued. The DEA brought in a helicopter to help with search efforts, according to the CPD.

Alice Long, who was working at The Cabinet Company in the same Conroe West strip center, said she heard the commotion.

"I heard what I thought was a car backfiring," she said. "Then I heard sirens real close."

Long said she then saw police cars pull into the jewelry shop next door.

Long remembers the last time the jewelry store was robbed.

READ MORE: Man leads police on chase from Houston to Conroe

"I had not been here six months when they got hit," she said.

That was in November 2014, when a plumber's van backed in front of Jeff's Jewelry and five men jumped out, smashing the door with a sledgehammer.

"We weren't even open yet," Turner stated in a previous Conroe Courier report on the robbery. "We were still putting the jewelry out ... (An employee) grabbed our shotgun. The robbers saw he had it, and ran out, saying, 'They've got guns. Let's get out of here.'"

Turner was not available for comment after Monday's attempted robbery, Bond said.
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images

A national non-religious advocacy group sent a letter to Humble ISD officials demanding they no longer allow teachers to lead prayers at schools.

The American Humanist Association sent the letter after an Eagle Springs Elementary parent reached out to complain that teachers were participating and leading prayer's at the school's "See You at the Pole" event on Sept. 28. The event, held nationwide and founded in Fort Worth, sees students and faculty gather at a school's flagpole to pray before classes begin.
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Cars are to American suburbs what smartphones are to social media.

The widespread use of the automobile after World War II made it easier for people to live many miles from their workplaces. Newly liberated families fanned out across the countryside in their quest for bigger houses with bigger yards - a refuge from the stress of the city.

So it was, if not historic, certainly noteworthy on Sunday when thousands of suburban Houston residents spent hours walking or riding their bikes along a busy thoroughfare that had been closed to cars. People stopped to chat, check out booths and dance in a patch of green space in front of a sandwich shop. It was quite a sight: a suburban street, denuded of cars, full of people doing stuff.

This was the 16th "Sunday Streets" event, and the first held outside Loop 610. In fact, it was outside Beltway 8, which in a sense has replaced the Loop as the unofficial dividing line between urban and suburban parts of Houston. From noon until 4 p.m., barricades and police officers turned vehicles away from a mile-long stretch of Eldridge Parkway on the far-west side of Houston, near Terry Hershey Park and the Katy ISD line.

The event, now known as Cigna Sunday Streets, began on April 6, 2014, along a stretch of White Oak Drive in the Heights.

City officials and their partners saw the event as a way to promote healthy lifestyles and facilitate a sense of community. "This is about getting to know one another," Mayor Sylvester Turner said at the event this past weekend.

On another level, though, Sunday Streets is about rethinking the way we live our lives, and the role that streets, as part of what planners call the "public realm," should play in them.

Let's face it: Most of the time we spend on public streets, from the small ones we live on to the behemoths we use for our commutes, is in our cars. But surely streets can serve other functions as well.

This idea gave rise to the "Complete Streets" concept, recently embraced by the city of Houston, which calls for designing streets to accommodate all users - motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users. It also inspired PARKing day, a playful exercise that involves turning parking spaces into tiny "parks."

This movement is not universally popular. "Seattle can no longer deny it's engaged in a war on cars," Seattle Times columnist Brier Dudley wrote last May, responding to a plan to convert street right-of-way to non-vehicular use.

Houston is not Seattle, of course, and the initiatives here are comparatively modest. Yet they do have consequences. The stretch of Eldridge Parkway where Sunday's event took place is a busier commercial corridor than the sites of previous Sunday Streets events. Restaurants and retailers surely lost some business; feet and bikes can't convey as many customers as cars can. And I'm sure many drivers forced to detour at the barricades were annoyed.

I asked Clark Martinson, the executive director of the Energy Corridor District, if he had faced resistance from businesses on the route. He said only one had objected. Perhaps fittingly, it was a gas station.

The suburban residents who turned out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. I spoke to Blake and Nicole Virgilio, who live nearby, as they strolled down the middle of the street with their two young children. They told me they would love to see more such events in their neighborhood.

"We're excited," Blake Virgilio said. "We told all our friends about it."

Martinson said many residents of Energy Corridor neighborhoods "want to experience the kind of urban lifestyle you have in Montrose or the Heights."

Of course, closing a street for a few hours doesn't fundamentally change anyone's life. The commutes didn't get any shorter on Monday morning, and suburban neighborhoods didn't suddenly become more walkable. "We don't have good sidewalk connections to the businesses," Martinson told me, although the district is working on plans to improve those connections.

Still, the embrace of this event by suburban residents and civic leaders suggests that it's not just a few urban hipsters who want to reduce, if only slightly, the dominance of cars in Houston's lifestyle. City Councilman Greg Travis, whose district includes the Energy Corridor, said his constituents would love to see the event return next year.

"We are just so glad that the powers that be have recognized that there is, indeed, life outside Loop 610," Travis said.
About 3.8 million people in Texas are age 60 and over, a number that's expected to more than triple to 12 million by 2050. It's regarded as one of the state's fastest growing populations.

That rapidly booming population is also highly vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation, potentially setting the stage for a spike in such crimes. State lawmakers have made financial exploitation and abuse one of their top priorities.

Locally, Harris County is adopting a model used in California and New York to bring together health care representatives, city and county government officials under one roof to better understand and fight cases of exploitation, abuse and neglect.

The Houston Chronicle published a report about the county's effort to combat abuse and neglect of the fast-growing senior population in June. In September, the federal government granted Harris County more than $350,000 to start the Senior Justice Assessment Center.

County commissioners are expected to accept the grant at their next meeting on Oct. 11.

The assessment center, experts say, is part of a greater trend toward collaborative approaches to find and stop such cases.

The National Institute of Justice described in a December 2015 article that a similar approach in Los Angeles County reduced recurrence of abuse, among other findings.

Harris County's program is a three-year pilot. The building would house representatives from the state Adult Protective Services agency, the Houston Police Department, the district attorney's office, the county attorney's office, and health care providers, among others.

The center, officials hope, can help untangle complicated cases that might involve family members, mental health issues, financial records and possibly even substance abuse. It's often difficult to establish that a crime occurred if a victim gives consent against his or her best interests.

Hopefully, clients can get better treatment and social services, too.

Cases range from financial exploitation, like a family member tapping into an elderly person's bank account and misusing the money, to the more severe examples, like a 2013 case in north Houston that made national headlines. Three malnourished elderly men were found inside a dungeon-like garage. They slept on the floor, ate scraps and had no access to a bathroom for at least a year.

Claudia Gonzalez, adult services administrator at the Harris County Guardianship Program for Harris County Protective Services, said she hoped the center would have its first "client through the door" within four or five months of the commissioners' vote.

Then, she said, ideally the center could see three to four clients per week.
AUSTIN - The federal government on Monday ordered Texas state officials to eliminate an 8.5 percent benchmark on special education enrollment enforced in the state's 1,200 school districts unless they can show that it had not kept children with disabilities from receiving appropriate educational services.

The U.S. Department of Education directed the state to report back in 30 days on the benchmark's impact and on which school districts across the state may have relied on it to deny special education services to children. Its findings on those districts should include "the specific steps the State will take to remedy the effect of such past practices," the department said.

"It appears that the State's approach to monitoring local educational agency compliance  may be resulting in districts' failure to identify and evaluate all students suspected of having a disability and who need special education," Sue Swenson, the department's acting assistant secretary for special education, wrote in a three-page letter to Mike Morath, head of the Texas Education Agency.

"Depending on TEA's response," Swenson wrote, the federal government "will determine whether additional monitoring activities or other administrative enforcement or corrective actions are necessary."

The TEA, which has denied that children with disabilities have been kept out of special education but has promised to review the issue, said in a statement that it "welcomes the opportunity" to discuss its policies.

The Houston Chronicle revealed the existence of the arbitrary enrollment target last month, reporting that the TEA quietly implemented the 8.5 percent benchmark without consulting the Texas Legislature, State Board of Education, federal government or any research.

The agency has required some school districts that serve more than 8.5 percent of children to create "Corrective Action Plans," and schools have responded to the policy by making special education much harder to access, the Chronicle found.

When the policy began in 2004, about 12 percent of Texas students received some form of special education services such as tutoring, therapies and counseling. That was close to the longtime national average of roughly 13 percent.

In the years since, the Texas percentage has plummeted to the lowest in the United States - by far. In 2015, for the first time, it reached exactly 8.5 percent. The special education enrollment in the Houston Independent School District was even lower, at 7.4 percent.

Swenson, in her letter, noted that the state's identification rate for students in need of special educations "has declined by more than three percentage points" since the 8.5 percent benchmark went into effect.

INVESTIGATION: How Texas keeps tens of thousands of kids out of special ed

The decline has saved the Texas Education Agency billions of dollars but denied services to children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, epilepsy, mental illnesses, speech impediments, and blindness and deafness, the Chronicle found.

If Texas provided services at the same rate as the rest of the country, more than 250,000 more children here would be receiving services.

Target was discussed in 2014

Since 1975, federal law has mandated that public schools provide specialized education services to all eligible children with any type of disability.

TEA officials have said state-by-state comparisons are inappropriate and have attributed the dramatic declines to new teaching techniques that they say have lowered the number of children with "learning disabilities," such as dyslexia.

In response to criticism from lawmakers, school board members, superintendents, advocates and parents, the TEA also has said the policy was adopted in response to a federal effort to reduce over-representation in special education.

Swenson's letter disclosed that Texas and the U.S. Department of Education have previously discussed the target, in 2014. In that exchange, according to the letter, TEA special education director Eugene Lenz said the districts that exceeded 8.5 percent were not penalized but merely monitored to ensure compliance with the law. He also assured the federal government that the state ensures that all children with disabilities get services.

"However, the information presented in the Chronicle's investigative article raises serious questions about Texas's compliance" with federal law and about "the implementation of the approaches Texas described to (the U.S. Department of Education) in 2014," Swenson wrote. "According to information in the article, some districts view the 8.5 percent (benchmark) as a cap on the number of children with disabilities that may be identified in a district, and in some instances if a district exceeds the cap, the district will be required to develop a corrective action plan demonstrating how it will reduce its special education identification rate."

The six-month Chronicle investigation, which included a survey of all 50 states, an examination of thousands of pages of records and over 300 interviews with parents, educators and officials, determined that no other state has ever set a target for what percentage of students should get special education.

'Texas must do better'

Swenson's letter also ordered the TEA to require all school districts "to inform their staff and the parents of students enrolled in the district's schools of the steps TEA is taking to ensure that all children suspected of having a disability and who need special education and related services are identified, located and evaluated."

Swenson noted that she was notifying the Department of Education's top official for elementary and secondary education and its assistant secretary for civil rights, which has purview over issues of discrimination, saying that other benchmarks put forth by the state for evaluating districts' special education programs "may lead to denial of identification of children with disabilities from specific racial/ethnic or language groups."

"We will be following up with you on these indicators as well," Swenson wrote.

Special education advocates applauded the federal government's stand.

Disability Rights Texas, which was the only advocacy group to discover the target, said in a statement that it "welcomes the U.S. Department of Education's proactive investigation of this misguided and harmful state monitoring standard."

"The Department's demand for a response from the Texas Education Agency is a first step toward resolving this issue," the group said. "However, there remains much more work to ensure that children with disabilities are not wrongfully excluded from a free and appropriate public education. Oversight of TEA's monitoring system is necessary not only by the federal government but also by the Texas Legislature."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also cheered.

"Special needs kids need this help," state Rep. Armando Walle of Houston wrote on Twitter.

"Every day, parents across Texas entrust us with providing their children the education and services they need to succeed," said state Rep. Rick Galindo, R-San Antonio, a member of the House Public Education Committee, in a statement. "Texas must do better."
A federal prosecutor apologized in advance to the judge Monday before reading the coarse invective and terroristic threats a middle-aged father of four hurled via email at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state employees.

But after a portion of just one of Syed Kaleem Razvi's many emails had been read into the court record, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore stopped the prosecutor and said she had heard enough.

Razvi, 55, then pleaded guilty to making threats through interstate communication. In exchange for the plea, the prosecution agreed to a reduced sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said.

Emails quoted

Razvi admitted he addressed a June 8, 2015, email to "the satanic agents of the great Satan, America" and called state employees baboons and infidels.

He further threatened to "get up in arms against you all" and said, "I wish God burn your houses and burn the bodies of your own children and yourself."

He accused the attorney general's office of robbing him of money for child support and added a threat: "Return my money or face terrorism."

Razvi's lawyer, Zaheer Zaidi, said his client, a computer engineer who got his degree in Pakistan, suffers from mental illness, including bipolar disorder, and was not taking the necessary dosage of his medications at the time of the outbursts.

Poor emotional state

He said his client was remorseful and ashamed of actions he believed stemmed from a chemical imbalance. Part of the conflict involved funds he believed his ex-wife had squandered that were intended to support their schizophrenic son, Zaidi said.

"It is not that he belongs to some extremist group or that he is a fundamentalist," Zaidi said. "He is exposed to this venom, this poison."

Zaidi said Razvi's work requires him to be on the Internet all day and that he is drawn to the anti-government spirit of those kinds of hate-filled statements.

Razvi also faced criminal allegations in state court related to similar emails sent during the same time period to a staff member in Paxton's accounting division. Those charges have been dismissed.

Razvi also has been accused of making threats against a former employer, Litton Loan Servicing, after he was fired.

A state judge granted a permanent injunction in 2004 ordering Razvi to refrain from contacting Litton employees or their families or from coming within 1,000 feet of the premises.

The judge set sentencing in the federal case for Jan. 17.
Publication over the weekend of some of Donald Trump's tax records has fueled the latest twist in the presidential contest and Houstonians are divided over the Republican hopeful's actions.

Trump, a self-described multibillionaire, for months has broken decades of political tradition and declined to release his tax records. Documents published Saturday by the New York Times show he claimed a $916 million loss in 1995, which would have enabled him to claim full exemptions from federal income taxes for the next nearly 20 years.

Debate raged on cable TV news shows. Political pundits battled over whether the records showed Trump's business prowess and his mastery of the tax law, or revealed his inclination to cheat the system and forgo his duty as a wealthy American.

In Houston, folks interviewed by the Chronicle were split down party lines on whether the revelations were impressive or unfair.

On a shopping trip at the Galleria mall, computer programmer Ken Stevens, 63, of Huffman said the records reflected Trump's acumen.

"How many people in the U.S. can lose $900 million and not go broke?" he said. "If he can avoid paying taxes and it's legal, shouldn't be a problem."

A mile and a half down Highway 59 at a Chevron station, trucker Alexander Jackson, 38, said he saw the news of Trump's tax exemptions as evidence wealthy people play by different rules than blue-collar workers.

"If the guys at the top don't have to pay, that means the rich are going to get richer and the poor are going to get poorer," he said as he pumped gas into his sedan.

Asked if he paid federal income taxes, Jackson answered, "duh," which he clarified meant yes.

"What are we going to do?" said Pascual Chuc, 35, a waiter in southwest Houston. "These people are rich people, they're going to do what they want. Yeah, it bothers me, but we can't do nothing."

In Bellaire's Asia Town, Katy jeweler Angel Perez, 48, sat outside the Hong Kong City Market and said, "If we want to move the nation forward, everyone has to pay their taxes."

Inside the market, pharmacist Kevin Tran, 26, said the exemptions seemed "unfair," but acknowledged that he did not understand the reasons behind them.

"I don't really know much about our tax laws," said Tran, who lives near the Medical Center but had traveled to shop in Bellaire. "So I can't just hate on Donald Trump."

By phone, Houston developer Steve Alvis, co-founder and managing partner of NewQuest Properties, said that without the exemption rules leveraged by Trump, "nobody would ever step out to invest in anything if it failed and they didn't get to deduct the loss."

Trump is able to take the full benefit of losses because he is classified as a real estate professional.

In real estate, "if you take certain steps, you can throw off some pretty significant tax deductions," said Houston tax attorney John Ransom of Jackson Walker.

Back at the Galleria, Robinetta Matthews, 35, was on break from retail work and said she saw Trump's tax exemptions as "his way of showing people he doesn't care" about investing in the country.

According to Avelino Aguirr, 50, a safety officer visiting the mall, all the talk of the tax returns amounted to "bickering" that detracted from serious talk about policy issues in the campaign.

"I couldn't care less about him paying taxes or not. All the politicians don't pay taxes," said Aguirr, who dislikes both candidates but leans toward Trump.

Nancy Sarnoff contributed to this report.
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MANILA - Francisco Santiago is a rare and dangerous thing in a state-led killing rampage: a witness.

In the early hours of Sept. 13, on a dark street in the heart of the city, Santiago was shot through the chest and arms in what Philippine police called a drug bust gone wrong, but that he insists was a setup.

When the bullets hit, he played dead, lying still until he felt the bright lights of the media upon him. With cameras rolling, he raised his blood-slick arms in surrender - alive, for now.

President Rodrigo Duterte swept to power in July promising war; he has delivered.

Just overthree months into his tenure, at least 3,300 people are dead, with 1,239 gunned down in police raids and 2,150 shot by unknown assailants, according to the Philippine national police.

The victims include suspected drug dealers and users, as well as people misidentified as such. They also include at least two children, 4 and 5, felled by bullets meant for somebody else.

Bodies are hastily pulled from crime scenes or dumped in ditches, often alongside cardboard signs that say "pusher" - as if a word, and a word alone, were proof enough.

The European Union, the United Nations and the United States have called for an end to the violence - to no avail. When President Barack Obama raised the issue, Duterte lectured him on colonialism and used a slang term that translates, approximately, as "son of a whore."

Local critics fare worse. Leila de Lima, the Philippine senator who this summer launched an investigation into extrajudicial killings, was ousted as chair of the senate's human rights committee in what Human Rights Watch called a "craven attempt to derail accountability."

She has since been publicly accused of sleeping with her driver and taking bribes from drug lords, and her phone number and address were leaked.

Eyewitnesses to killings stay silent, terrified they could be targeted next.

Duterte denies these are state-backed crimes, saying Philippine police act in self-defense and for the good of society.

But the testimony of survivors like Santiago and a body of evidence that stretches back two decades point to a pattern of violence that starts with a call to kill and ends with the promise that there will be no consequences.

Santiago relayed his story from his hospital bed, where he was being guarded by police, because he thought he would be "eliminated" and saw safety, not danger, in daring to speak out.

"The police will just cover up," said his mother, Ligaya Santigao. "We can only rely on the media to expose this."

---

When the president tells law enforcement officers to kill suspects, and they do, facts get hard to check. With few living witnesses, the only account is the police report.

With thousands dead, these reports reveal patterns. Every night, Philippine police set out to conduct drug raids. Every morning, they report gun battles in which "drug suspects" are shot dead.

Often, they say, they find .38-caliber weapons and sachets of methamphetamine, known locally as "shabu." Usually, despite the ferocious shootouts they describe, police emerge untouched.

And so it was with Santiago - except he survived.

The police report tells the plausible if familiar tale of a "buy-bust" turned deadly. After selling a packet of shabu to an undercover cop, Santiago and a second suspect - identified as George Huggins y Javellana, a member of the "dreaded Sputnik gang"- got suspicious and fired at police, the report said.

The police shot back, killing Javellana and injuring Santiago. They later reported finding .38- and .22-caliber weapons and three packets of shabu at the scene. Santiago was "rushed" to the hospital.

Santiago offered a different account. About noon on Sept. 12, a plainclothes officer posing as a customer led him to the second floor of the local precinct, where he was forced to confess to drug crimes, he said. That night, in 86-degree heat, he was told to don a black jacket.

After midnight, he said, he and Javellana were driven to a dark street and shot. As he played dead, police placed a gun beside him. They did not check his pulse, he said.

Security footage reviewed by The Washington Post shows Santiago heading in the direction of the police station just after noon, dressed in a white tank top. Photographs from the scene of the shooting show him in an unseasonable black jacket

Manila District Police Chief Joel Coronel told the Philippine Inquirer that Santiago was a "main target on the drug watch list," but the police report does not mention that. An official tasked with identifying suspects in Santiago's neighborhood, Celia Nepomuceno, said he was never on a list.

These discrepancies were not enough to keep him from being transferred from the hospital to the custody of the police force whose officer shot him, he said.

Carolyn Mercado, a senior legal adviser at the Asia Foundation's Manila office, said the odds of police reviewing cases like his are negligible. "Duterte says to police, 'If you kill, I'm going to protect you,' " she said.

"Once the president endorsed this, it was an open invitation for everyone to just kill."

---

In one recent case, Manila police said they killed 21-year-old Eric Sison in a shootout that followed a dramatic chase.

"He chose to fight it out," the police report said. But cellphone footage shot by a neighbor suggests that the injured Sison was cornered in a room and trying to surrender when he was shot more than a dozen times.

The report suggests the officer fired because he was under threat. Yet in the video, as he points his weapon at the off-camera suspect, he does not take cover, recoil or flinch.

In a another case, a handwritten police report said officers in Quezon City were sent by a tipster to the site of a "pot session" in progress when four men saw them, opened fire and were killed.

Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar told local reporters that four suspects "high on drugs" and full of "bravado" fired on officers who were merely "about to introduce themselves."

What's happening in the Philippines is exactly what the president promised - and echoes closely what he has said and done before.

Duterte was known as the "Death Squad Mayor" when he ran the southern city of Davao, because of a band of hit men who killed criminals and critics alike.

When he ran for president, Duterte boasted about it. Asked on the campaign trail about a report that he had killed 700 people, he replied, "No, it is not 700, but 1,700."

This may play well with a populace tired of crime and exhausted by corruption, but, said Arpee Santiago, executive director of Ateneo de Manila University's Human Rights Center, lawless killing in the name of law and order is not the answer.

For people to feel safe in the long run, the police must respect due process, he said. He is calling for an "honest-to-goodness" investigation into the killing.

That's a call the president seems unlikely to heed. As Duterte said in August: "There is no due process in my mouth."

---

Kimberly dela Cruz and Michael Joe Delizo contributed to this story.
LONDON - Since Britain's vote in June to quit the European Union, its government has promised repeatedly to make a success of withdrawal, known as Brexit.

More than two months later, it still cannot say how.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May called Cabinet ministers to a brainstorming session about the withdrawal, pledging to examine "the next steps" for Britain and to identify "opportunities that are now open to us as we forge a new role" in the world.

However, in ministerial offices, where turf wars have broken out, advocates of the withdrawal have discovered that four decades of European integration have left Britain so deeply embedded in the 28-nation bloc that there is no easy escape route.

British officials currently have neither the expertise nor the staff for the tortuous exit negotiations, which are likely to last at least three years and possibly much longer. Some analysts have even said they might take a decade.

But perhaps what they lack most of all is a game plan.

"At the moment, they haven't got a clue," said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, a London-based research institute. "It is such a difficult challenge with such disparate leaders at the top of government, with such different views, that they are trying to work out how to respond."

Beneath the fog lie fundamental questions about how much economic pain Britain should risk to restore powers to its national Parliament and to curb immigration from the European mainland.

For example, ministers must decide whether, to gain the restrictions they want on immigration, they are willing to endanger the health of London's financial center, which contributes billions in tax revenues, by sacrificing its unfettered access to European markets.

Presiding over this is May, who argued against the withdrawal before the referendum, and who succeeded David Cameron in the political meltdown after the June 23 vote.

Perhaps to compensate for her support of EU membership, May installed supporters of leaving the bloc in critical, rival positions: the flamboyant Boris Johnson as foreign secretary; the more hard-nosed David Davis at a ministry created to oversee the withdrawal; and a right-wing former defense secretary, Liam Fox, at international trade.

The three men do not like one another much and, perhaps mischievously, May has instructed them to share the use of Chevening, a country mansion in Kent, that is normally assigned to the foreign secretary but that is now nicknamed Brexit Towers.

Tensions stemming from the turf wars surfaced in a leaked letter in which Fox asked Johnson's Foreign Office to surrender economic diplomacy functions to the Trade Department.

Because Britain's trade deals are currently negotiated by EU officials, the British government is chronically short on expertise and has had to call in expensive external consultants while starting to recruit its own specialists.

May says she will not start formal negotiations on the exit before the end of the year. Once she does so - by invoking Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty - a two-year deadline will loom.

Some wonder how useful access to the single market would prove in the long run, even if it could be negotiated. That is because Europe's market is not written in stone but is the sum of various European laws, many of which are updated regularly.

Overall, Grant said that for Britain, "the trade-offs will be painful, and that's why the government has said very little: It doesn't want to admit that it is in a pickle."
Vince Ryan calls himself the Doberman pinscher of Harris County.

The Democrat county attorney campaigned in 2012 as a government watchdog. He cannot point to any "dramatic" instances he has played the part, but said that is the point: deterrence through Doberman-like intimidation.

"A good watchdog, hopefully, doesn't have to bite anybody," Ryan said.

As Election Day nears, his Republican opponent, Jim Leitner, has another explanation: a reluctance to investigate government officials. Leitner said he would bring aggressiveness.

"If you're the watchdog, you're doing something," Leitner said.

On Nov. 8, voters will have a chance to re-elect Ryan, 69, for a third term as county attorney, an office political scientists called immensely powerful but poorly understood by the public.

Ryan's challenger is Leitner, 66, a criminal defense lawyer who studied with Ryan at the University of Houston law school some 40 years ago. Leitner has served in the Harris County District Attorney's office, but it will be his first time running for county attorney.

The winner will oversee an office of more than 200 employees and represent the county when it is sued, such as the current civil rights lawsuit accusing the county's bail bond system of discriminating against the poor.

The county attorney also advises government officials on legal matters and whether certain actions would violate ethics law, and represents caseworkers in Child Protective Services court hearings.

"It is one of the most impactful but invisible offices in Houston," said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus.

Both candidates say they respect each other's credentials.

After graduating from law school, Leitner worked as a Harris County assistant district attorney. He worked as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney before taking the No. 2 position in the district attorney's office in 2008, under former district attorney Pat Lykos.

In 2013, Leitner became general counsel for the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Leitner said his experience, combined with a stint as a U.S. Coast Guard commander, developed his administrative leadership skills.

"I really got to know what the county attorney's office could be doing," he said.

If elected, Leitner promises to work better with other county government agencies, such as the sheriff's department and other county law enforcement agencies to standardize use-of-force policies, which he called a patchwork.

Leitner said he will increase the visibility of the office, starting with personally attending Harris County Commissioner's Court meetings.

Leitner said he also would lessen the office's use of outside lawyers to conduct litigation.

Texas Southern University political scientist Michael Adams said that with the county trending Democratic in national elections, Leitner will have a hard time securing the office.

"The advantage is heavily toward the incumbent - Vince Ryan," he said.

Ryan also has a commanding financial advantage: at the end of June, according to the most recent campaign finance reports available, Leitner reported having $8,765 on hand, a fraction of the $171,677 reported by Ryan.

Ryan is a former city council member who represented District C from 1988 to 1994 and worked under former Harris County Attorney Mike Driscoll, mostly as first assistant, for seven years beginning in 1981.

Ryan's incumbency and understanding of the office is the main edge he gives himself over Leitner.

As county attorney, Ryan touts his achievements on environmental enforcement, including high-profile lawsuits against Volkswagen over fraudulent emissions data and the companies allegedly responsible for creating the San Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund site.

The county settled with two of the companies for millions of dollars, which are, in part, funding environmental projects.

The Volkswagen suit is pending.

Ryan also pointed to his focus on community enforcement - such as the $1 million settlement between the county and state and a Houston-area smoke shop and adult novelty business after a sting operation showed the chain was selling Kush, a synthetic cannabinoid.

"The more proactive you can be, the better things will usually work," he said.
NEW YORK - The way Donald Trump tells it, his first solo project as a real estate developer, the conversion of a faded railroad hotel on 42nd Street into the sleek, 30-story Grand Hyatt, was a triumph from the very beginning.

The hotel, Trump bragged in "Trump: The Art of the Deal," his 1987 best-seller, "was a hit from the first day. Gross operating profits now exceed $30 million a year."

But that book, and numerous interviews over the years, make little mention of a crucial factor in getting the hotel built: an extraordinary 40-year tax break that has cost New York City $360 million to date in forgiven, or uncollected, taxes, with four years still to run, on a property that cost only $120 million to build in 1980.

The project set the pattern for Trump's New York career: He used his father's, and, later, his own, extensive political connections, and relied on a huge amount of assistance from the government and taxpayers in the form of tax breaks, grants and incentives to benefit the 15 buildings at the core of his Manhattan real estate empire.

Since then, Trump has reaped at least $885 million in tax breaks, grants and other subsidies for luxury apartments, hotels and office buildings in New York, according to city tax, housing and finance records. The subsidies helped him lower his own costs and sell apartments at higher prices because of their reduced taxes.

Sued for breaks

Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has made clear over the course of his campaign how proud he is that "as a businessman I want to pay as little tax as possible."

While it is impossible to assess how much Trump pays in personal or corporate income taxes, because he won't release his tax returns, an examination of his record as a New York developer shows how aggressively he has fought to lower the taxes on his projects.

Trump successfully sued the administrations of Mayors Edward Koch, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg after they denied him tax breaks for Trump Tower, his signature building on Fifth Avenue, and, two decades later, for Trump World Tower for what were some of the highest-priced condominiums in the city in 2001.

The tax breaks for those two projects alone totaled $157 million.

The tax break at the 44-story Trump International Hotel and Tower at Columbus Circle came to $15.9 million.

No possible subsidy was left untapped. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Trump lined up a $150,000 grant for one of his buildings near ground zero, taking advantage of a program to help small businesses in the area recover, even though he had acknowledged on the day of the attacks that his building was undamaged.

"Donald Trump is probably worse than any other developer in his relentless pursuit of every single dime of taxpayer subsidies he can get his paws on," said Alicia Glen, Mayor Bill de Blasio's deputy mayor for housing and economic development, who first battled Trump when she worked in Giuliani's administration.

In seeking those subsidies, Trump is not that different from many other developers. But the level of subsidies he has received along with his doggedness in claiming them seem at odds with his rhetoric as an outsider candidate who boasts of his single-handed success and who has denounced what he calls the pay-to-play culture of politics and a "rigged" system of government.

"His whole MO is to exploit the government for everything he could get," said Jerilyn Perine, the city housing commissioner during the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations. "In the end, the letter of the law gave it to him."

Without addressing specific questions about his pursuit of tax breaks and other subsidies, Trump in a telephone interview defended going after them. "In many cases, they made the difference between building and not being able to build," he said. "I've gotten incentives in other parts of the world as well."

Politically connected

In the mid-1970s, eager to make his mark in Manhattan, the 30-year-old Trump focused his attention on the failing Commodore Hotel on East 42nd Street, next to Grand Central Terminal. The owner, the bankrupt Penn Central Railroad, was keen to sell.

It did not seem like an auspicious plan. The city was in the midst of both its own fiscal crisis and a broader economic one; the neighborhood near the terminal had gotten seedy; and Trump did not have the capital for the project. He needed his father, Fred Trump, to guarantee a portion of the construction loan. Hyatt, which was going to run the hotel, took a 50 percent stake in exchange for guaranteeing the rest of the project.

But Trump insisted that the project was not viable without a city tax break.

In pressing for government approval, Trump proved to be the quintessential insider, at least through his father: The elder Trump was a major donor and friend of Mayor Abraham Beame and Gov. Hugh Carey, both Democrats.

After phone calls from Beame and other Democratic politicians, the project was approved, though the partners in the hotel had to pay a modest rent for the land based on a percentage of their profits.

Trump said the decision was made on the merits. "We were a contributor like many people were contributors," he said. "But there never was a quid pro quo."

City officials initially estimated the tax break on the Hyatt was worth $4 million a year to Trump. But according to a recent analysis conducted by the city's Finance Department at the request of the New York Times, the actual annual giveaway was far higher: $6.3 million in 1983, rising to $17.8 million in 2016. The combined value of the forgiven taxes is $359.3 million, with four years left on the abatement.

Trump said the tax break did what it was supposed to do. "The hotel was a great success for the city," he said. "It regenerated interest in that area."
Over the past decades, Texas schools have dropped economics, mechanics and woodshop classes common in the 1950s and 1960s as the educational focus has shifted to courses needed to prepare students for higher education.

This policy of high expectations for all students produced unintended consequences: Students who weren't inclined to traverse the traditional academic route have ended up dropping out, and local workforces have gone wanting for graduates prepared for certain careers, especially skilled trades.

Fortunately, things are changing. There's a burgeoning understanding that schools must better prepare local students to fill job openings, and that Houston's employers, many of which already offer their employees as literacy volunteers, need to think ahead about their workforce needs and forge a deeper connection with local schools.

To accelerate workforce-preparation progress, the state has stepped in with "innovative academies" - a grant initiative unveiled last month by Gov. Greg Abbott for select schools working with students at risk of dropping out. Under the program, they have a chance to simultaneously get job training, earn a high school diploma and either 60 hours of college credit or an associate's degree from a community college.

Demand for skilled laborers in Houston is forecast to grow by 7,000 new openings a year, according to industry estimates noted by Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson.

Through its department of career readiness, HISD is already working with area employers. One example: Walgreen Co. is partnering with Jane Long Academy to provide students in the pharmacy technology academy with field experiences, facility tours, job shadowing, internships, mentoring and training from corporate team members. Other committed industry partners include MD Anderson Cancer Center at Westside High School and Baylor College of Medicine at Ryan Middle School.

More need to follow the example set by employers in the city of Dallas recently. For eight new early college high schools, Dallas secured nearly 20 corporate partners including Dallas Police Department, Wells Fargo, Univision, AT&T, Accenture and Microsoft, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Businesses shouldn't be shy about reaching out to HISD and other area districts and offering to help.

The state's innovative academies program is a way to secure scarce resources to pursue workforce training. But school districts can't win these grants by themselves. Houston companies need to do their part. It's in everyone's best interest to beef up these workforce programs.
Jailed teens

Regarding "County may relocate jailed teens" (Page A3, Friday), the plan under consideration by the Harris County Sheriff's Office to relocate jailed teens to Limestone County offers little help to the welfare of the incarcerated teens. The county is seeking to remove young offenders from the Harris County Jail and move them 170 miles away into a separate facility.

Most teens are from the Houston area, so they would be miles away from their families, lawyers and courts. All contacts with the outside likely would be greatly reduced, further isolating these teens who already struggle with issues of societal acceptance. Their families that struggle just to get to the jail would likely be unable to afford a visitation trip that far away or the additional time away from work.

I weekly visit with teens who are housed with adult inmates and, without question, something does need to be done about that breach of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, known as PREA. But, there is nothing good about this proposed plan by the sheriff's office. There must be a way to move inmates at the jail and create a separated area for teens. I trust that better wisdom will prevail to stop this potentially hurtful transfer situation.

I work with many of these teens (boys) who ultimately go from the Harris County Jail to the Young Offenders Program (YOP) at the Clemens Prison Unit, and we all should have an interest in their overall well-being. Sending them farther away from their families and other limited sources of help certainly does not foster a goal of returning them to useful life following incarceration.

Doug W. Cheves, Houston

Emissions

Regarding "Groups tout tax to fight warming" (Page A1, Friday) I enjoy reading the views of younger people like Peter Bryn, who at age 32 has more to be concerned about than I do at 74. A former Exxon engineer, he probably has a better-than-average understanding of the future that climate scientists are predicting. Even at my advanced age, the carbon-fee-and-dividend policy which he supports has three clear advantages:

Better physical health from reducing the fossil-fuel pollution I breathe.

Better mental health by increasing the chance that I will leave a livable world after me.

Better financial health because the dividend I receive (with my less-than-upper-one-third income) will be larger than the added costs of the fee.

Tim Mock, Houston

Oil prices

Regarding "Shale drillers outlast OPEC" (Page B1, Saturday), it seems everyone forgot that until OPEC got involved the price of gas at the pump was more than $4. This was great for Wall Street profiteers and oil barons but not so good for the rest of the country. The profits they made did not trickle down on the oil workers giving them higher wages and better benefits, and it did not trickle down on the rest of us.

We paid high price at the pump, at the supermarket, for travel and small trucking firms were driven out of business. Sales of Texas favorite vehicles, large trucks, suffered and so did U.S. automobile manufacturers.

Oil is a commodity that we all depend on and as such it should be affordable and not drive up prices of consumer goods. It should be priced at a sustainable level that keeps the oil business profitable and oil affordable by the rest of us.

George E. Turski, League City
As all Texans and many Americans know, thanks to innovative technologies, we are the No. 1 producer of oil and gas in the world. It wasn't too long ago that the world view saw negative, powerless words like "peak oil" or an "energy crisis." However, simply having vast resources does not immediately translate into benefits at home and abroad. To achieve that, policy changes must be made.

Our focus, as always, is here at home. Our newly accessed reserves of oil and gas tend to be in the middle of the country. Texans are blessed to have little federal land, and we're graced with common-sense bureaucrats in Austin. So we have no problem getting oil to refineries or gas to local communities. However, parts of the country face unnecessarily high gas costs that threaten reliability and drain money from local economies.

Permitting a pipeline, much like developing electricity power lines for some markets in the country, has become remarkably and illogically difficult. Federal regulators make the process lengthy and expensive. It is a system only a bureaucrat could love. The process also forces working families across America to pay more, as well as making it harder for engineers, welders and construction workers to find jobs.

In the House, we are developing solutions that put one federal agency in charge to streamline the permitting nightmare when projects cross federal lands or international boundaries, and generally try to make the process faster and fairer. We will never steamroll local communities. But no one is well-served when bickering and bureaucratic backlogs halt progress.

If we get this process right, all Americans can benefit from U.S. energy abundance. The market should dictate prices. But if the prices are artificially high simply because some Americans live where permitting problem areas exist, that is patently unfair. Thanks to our energy abundance, America is well-positioned to export some of this energy on the global scale. Late last year, my colleagues and I ended an outdated law; as a result, widespread exports of American crude oil are now allowed. Tankers full of our oil are reaching markets across the globe. This makes it harder for thugs like Vladimir Putin to hold American allies hostage by restricting access to Russian crude.

We must also expedite the process for exporting American natural gas. Having recently traveled to India, Japan and South Korea, I've heard first-hand how these American allies need our oil and natural gas to grow their economies. Much of Europe is also in desperate need of natural gas, thanks to politics that hurt their economies. This makes them weaker on the international stage and stuck relying on countries that may not share U.S. foreign policy goals. By slashing the federal red tape on selling natural gas abroad, we can help our allies while creating more jobs right here at home. In Texas and other energy-rich states, this means more energy and construction jobs.

America lacks a comprehensive energy policy. I have long felt that the moment a policy is set in stone, the sooner the reality on the ground begins to change. That is why our best bet is to respond to changing market conditions by developing sensible rules that allow the market to work and benefit American interests at the same time.

Olson, a Republican representing Houston-area District 22 in the U.S. House of Representatives, is vice chairman of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee. He is leading the subcommittee following the resignation from Congress last month of Chairman Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.
The Houston City Council heard an update Monday from representatives of the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce related to a recent downtown event and plans for the next few months.

Angie Quinlan, chamber executive director; and Gayla Bratton, board president, visited with the council and mayor concerning the recent fall festival that drew crowds downtown.

Several activities are planned:

Nov. 12  Holiday bazaar

Nov. 26  Taste of Christmas

Dec. 9  Tree lighting

Dec. 10  Christmas parade

Jan. 15  Annual banquet

For those needing additional information, Quinlans office hours at the Houston Visitors Center is 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

In other matters, members:

Heard from a delegation of pilots related to a proposed city ordinance on hangar rentals at the Houston Memorial Airport. A first reading was held, but the council will discuss it further before a second reading is held, said City Admininstrator Larry Sutton.

Continue to target property needing repairs or demolition following a recent hearing. Property on Broadway (Fiquet) and Chestnut (Scheets) streets must be repaired before Feb. 1. A Forrest Street property (Duncan) is under a 30-day notice that the city intends to destroy it and the costs will be assessed to the owner.

Donated $100 for candy for a downtown Halloween event.

Will pay $1,500 for youth to attend the Missouri Community Betterment Contest.

Heard that the mayors annual prayer breakfast is Saturday at the tornado shelter on First Street.
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4 steps to get them off the fence and support your initiative When you announce a change, your team will split into three groups  change champions (angels), fence sitters (agnostics) and change deniers (atheists). Roughly 20% of your team will be angels, 20% will be atheists and the remaining 60% will be agnostics. That 60% is a moveable middle that you can convert to angels through the following four steps. Step One First, you as a leader must show unwavering support for your change and communicate a crystal-clear vision for the reasons you selected it and the benefits to your people once it has been fully implemented. Agnostics look for hesitation in their leader to reinforce their belief that this change isnt better than any other change. Planting your feet and staying true to your vision for the end result, adjusting as necessary along the way, will convert some of your agnostics to angels because they will buy into your belief that it is the right one for your organization. A leaders number one priority, especially during the change, is to create clarity for the team. Any ambiguity about where you are, where youre going, and how you are going to get there gives your agnostics a reason to hold back their commitment. Step Two Second, show agnostics that the change has already been successful in a beta setting (e.g., a small group of salespeople who are using the new custom...
Talk about a love story!

A couple is getting a lot of attention thanks to their epic engagement and wedding, which spawned the viral hashtag #ForeverDuncan.

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Alfred Duncan proposed to his girlfriend, Sherrell, on Saturday, Oct. 1. Just six hours later, he threw her a surprise wedding, and videos of the party and the bride's reaction have gone viral.

How did Duncan pull off not only a surprise engagement but a surprise wedding? With a bit of sneakiness and the help of family.

On Saturday, Duncan got his soon-to-be fiancee to do everything he asked of her, including giving up her phone. With that phone, Duncan was able to document the day's events without Sherrell's knowledge on both of their social media accounts.

And so it begins. #foreverduncan. For those that know whats going on please feel free to post whatever you like. Please use hashtag #foreverduncan. Don't worry. I have her phone. She won't be able to see anything until its over. A video posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 6:35am PDT

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Eventually, Duncan took his girlfriend to a restaurant, where he left her to meet up with family members and friends who were waiting in the back.

Right before I pop the question. She has no idea the kinda of day she is about to endure #foreverduncan A video posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 7:32am PDT

Sherrell's daughter brought her to the room where they were all gathered and Duncan asked for her hand in marriage, to Sherrell's surprise and delight.

She said YES. #foreverduncan. Stay tuned A video posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 8:56am PDT

After the proposal, Sherrell was taken to a hotel where she was met by an army of stylists, given a black dress (which she wouldn't find out until later was her wedding dress), blindfolded and taken to the National Harbor in Maryland.

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Wife #foreverduncan A photo posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 2, 2016 at 10:13am PDT

When they got there, the song "I'll Be Loving You Always" started to play and Sherrell's blindfold was removed to reveal her wedding.

Im so happy that you chose to do this with me, Sherrell told Duncan. I love you with my whole heart, baby. I cant imagine what life would be without you. I love you so much.

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Parliament Hill has been taken over.

A group of girls are challenging Canadian politicians and business leaders to "give up their seats" to be part of the #GirlsBelongHere campaign.

The girls are in Ottawa for a week to mark International Day of the Girl, which is officially on Oct. 11.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, welcomed the group on Tuesday.

Big welcome to the girls shadowing ministers in Parliament this week! #GirlsBelongHere and anywhere else they dream of success. -SGT pic.twitter.com/IvG4WLxTns  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 4, 2016

Women and girls belong in the seats of classrooms, boardrooms, senate chambers, courtrooms, press rooms, and corner offices," Gregoire Trudeau said in a Twitter video. "They belong on the playing field, behind the camera, and in science and research. Girls belong here and everywhere else where decisions are made."

Participating MPs also extended a welcome on Twitter, posting selfies, photos, and videos with their guests.

Meet my new friend Raisa, who is joining me on the Hill today for the @biaagcanada#GirlsBelongHere initiative. Thrilled to have you here! pic.twitter.com/m7gaPtCtGG  Catherine McKenna (@cathmckenna) October 4, 2016

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Georgia also got to meet @GengTanMP, her local MP, along with some more of my great colleagues! Thx all for welcoming her #GirlsBelongHerepic.twitter.com/RLUo1jBHxU  Bardish Chagger (@BardishKW) October 3, 2016

Excited to be within the Parliament with @Carolyn_Bennett. As a youth chief from Treaty #3, it has been one of my childhood dreams. pic.twitter.com/kryLVuOFck  Reina Foster (@reina_foster) October 4, 2016

The campaign is being promoted by Plan International Canada, a development agency that aims to end global poverty.

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Gregoire Trudeau is one of the organization's ambassadors, and part of its "Because I am a Girl" initiative that targets gender inequality and girls' rights around the world.

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The fashion crowd is speaking out about Kim Kardashian's robbery in Paris, and they seem to be blaming the 35-year-old reality TV star for the crime.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, attendees at Paris Fashion Week were less than sympathetic after Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room early Monday morning.

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"Well, she should stop Instagramming pictures of herself in her hotel bathroom," an American magazine contributor told The Hollywood Reporter.

Another American fashion editor joked, "She was probably drunk after the LOreal party and let them in accidentally. Or she tagged herself there. Criminals can have Instagram too." (Note: Kardashian famously does not drink.)

And some just questioned the entire ordeal, with a British journalist asking, "Where did they get a gun? Sounds fake."

 A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Sep 29, 2016 at 12:40pm PDT

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Yahoo Style also overheard one editor at a show expressing little surprise at the incident.

Thats what happens when you invite cameras around every time you go shopping for more designer stuff.

Kim Kardashian attends the Givenchy show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 on Oct. 2, 2016 in Paris.

According to E! News, Kim was "gagged and bound at her hands and feet, then handcuffed at gunpoint" Monday morning. Five men left her tied up in a bathroom before stealing over US$10 million worth of jewelry.

"She begged for them to let her live and [said] she had babies at home. Then they wrapped her mouth in tape and put her in the bathtub," the source told E! News. "She thought they were for sure going to kill her."

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French police officers stand in front of Kim Kardashian's luxury apartment Hotel de Pourtales on Rue Tronchet in the 8th arrondissement, where she was robbed at gunpoint by masked men during a visit to the French capital to attend Paris Fashion Week, on Oct. 3, 2016.

TMZ reports the mother of North and Saint West was "lying in bed with only her robe on when she heard boots pounding up the stairs of her two-storey apartment." She reportedly saw a masked man and another wearing a police hat through the glass sliding door, and tried calling her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, on her cell phone, but the phone was ripped out of her hands by one of the men before she could finish dialing.

Kim told cops she believed she was going to be raped when one of the men grabbed her by her ankles. She also said the men were after the new ring she got from husband Kanye West.

GIVENCHY COUTURE A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Oct 1, 2016 at 9:40am PDT

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TMZ also reports Kim's friend, Simone Harouche, was in the downstairs bedroom of the apartment, and locked herself in the bathroom, calling Duvier and Kim's sister, Kourtney Kardashian, telling them to hurry back.

The entire incident supposedly took six minutes, with Duvier arriving two minutes after the robbers left. Kim fled Paris after talking to the police.

Kanye was performing at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York during the incident. He ended his set abruptly, in the middle of performing "Heartless," telling concert-goers he had a family emergency. He has since rescheduled his two upcoming shows for his Saint Pablo tour that were originally scheduled for Oct. 4 and Oct. 6.

this is a video of Kanye West starting Heartless then leaving @themeadowsnyc abruptly pic.twitter.com/2sPgj6LczW  Jenna (@chickenCARM_) October 3, 2016

North and Saint were in New York at the time of the robbery, according to ET.

So far, no one from the Kardashian family has publicly spoken about the incident, though Kim's spokesperson, Ina Treciokas, said the reality star was "badly shaken but physically unharmed."

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Residents in B.C. have found flyers claiming to be for the Ku Klux Klan tossed in front of their doorsteps.

Global News reports police began investigating after the papers were reported in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission, B.C. The flyers were placed in plastic bags with white rice.

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KKK flyers littered doorsteps of 32 Abbotsford homes yesterday, the same showed up in Mission https://t.co/SEZQDcaxtypic.twitter.com/xQn2OVxPDl  CKNW (@CKNW) October 4, 2016

Id like to think in Canada this stuff doesnt go on, but here it is right in front of us, Ken Rothe told the network. Its really tough to swallow.

They are purportedly from a group called the Loyal White Knights of the KKK. One line from the flyer reads "YES! WHITE LIVES DO MATTER!"

The slogan is an incendiary riff often utilized by hate groups to diminish the Black Lives Matter movement's advocacy campaign against systemic racism in police and judicial systems.

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Flyers seen previously in Chilliwack

Abbotsford police told CKNW hateful graffiti has popped up in the city in the past, but the flyers were a first.

"It is concerning, I mean at the end of the day youre talking about an individual or a group of individuals who are demonstrating their ignorance and spreading intolerance," Const. Ian MacDonald told the radio station.

These flyers have previously shown up in Chilliwack. According to the Chilliwack Progress, residents spotted the papers in July, when they were also found in bags bundled with white rice.

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For one day only, "Gilmore Girls" fans in Toronto and Vancouver will be treated to a special Luke's Diner pop-up shop.

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Canadian locations:

The Rolling Pin  3429 Yonge St., Toronto

Infuse Cafe  354 Yonge St., Toronto

Infuse Cafe  Gerrard Sq Mall, 1000 Gerrard St. E., Toronto

Milano Espresso Bar  266 Adelaide Street W., Unit 2, Toronto

Trafiq Cafe & Bakery  4216 Main St. Vancouver

Full shot of Luke's diner sign and sidewalk in Stars Hollow. (Photo by Patrick Ecclesine/Warner Bros./Getty Images)

The first 250 fans who arrive between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. at each location will receive a free cup of coffee with a hidden surprise under their coffee sleeve, courtesy of Netflix.

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The online streaming service confirmed reports that they were reviving the WB original series earlier this year. The reboot will include four 90-minute episodes taking place in winter, spring, summer and fall. The episodes are set to be released on Nov. 25.

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NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair invited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to deny Tuesday that he's using the same greenhouse gas emission targets as his Conservative predecessor.

Trudeau didn't take the bait.

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Thomas Mulcair speaks in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill on Oct. 4. (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

But the exchange in question period marked a shift from Conservative criticisms one day after Trudeau announced that his government will enforce  if necessary  a carbon price on provinces.

Mulcair said the Liberals pledged in their platform last year  "on page 40"  that they would establish new national emission reduction targets after forming government.

Instead, the party has adopted the previous Tory government's target of a 30 per cent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna's office has long said that goal remains a "floor" for future action.

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"Not even 12 months since the election and the prime minister broke (his) promise by endorsing Stephen Harper's old and woefully inadequate climate change targets," Mulcair said.

The NDP leader also accused Trudeau of "unilaterally" announcing a plan that won't even achieve Harper's benchmarks.

'Does he deny anything that I just said?'

"Here's a simple question for the prime minister," Mulcair said, taking a beat. "Does he deny anything that I just said?"

Trudeau responded that his government has brought in a level of carbon pricing that will make a real difference. Canadians, he said, know the economy and environment need to go hand-in-hand.

"Yesterday, we showed the leadership that had been sorely lacking in doing just that, in creating both jobs and protecting the environment," he said.

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"So, the answer was no," Mulcair shot back.

Tories say taxpayers will pay big

The Conservatives claim the Liberal plan to set a minimum price for carbon production will eventually lead to increases in hydro rates  particularly to those in rural Canada.

"A carbon tax is a bad idea and Canadian taxpayers will be the ones paying the tab," deputy Tory leader Denis Lebel said.

"Will this prime minister leave provincial politics aside and let the provinces make their own decisions in their own jurisdictions?"

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in the House of Commons on Oct. 4. (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

Trudeau said the last government was unable to work with the provinces for almost 10 years.

"This is the responsibility of all levels of government and, indeed, environment is a shared jurisdiction," the prime minister said.

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A little later, Trudeau commented that while some in the House of Commons think his government is going too far, others say they aren't going far enough.

The prime minister suggested Liberals had found a comfortable balance.

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A new study has confirmed the reality many women live with while being on the pill.

According to a recent report from the University of Copenhagen, women taking the combined oral contraceptive were 23 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with depression, the Guardian reports, adding that women using the "mini-pill" (one with just progestin), were 34 per cent more likely to have depression.

The study adds teens in particular were at a higher risk, with 80 per cent more likely to have depression while taking a combined pill. These risks are even higher for women who take other hormone-based contraceptives like the patch, the ring and the hormonal IUS/coil, the Guardian reports.

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Danish researchers looked at data from more than one million women between the ages of 15 to 34 (the largest study of its kind), and tracked their contraceptive and antidepressant uses from 2000 to 2013, the New York Times reports.

The Times says, overall, compared to non-pill users, women who used hormonal contraception increased their risk of depression by 40 per cent after six months.

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However, researchers believe these results will not affect a majority of women.

Even though the risk of depression increases substantially with these drugs  a 40 percent increase is not trivial  most women who use them will not get depressed, senior author, Dr. Oejvind Lidegaard at the University of Copenhagen, told the New York Times.

And as Guardian writer Holly Grigg-Spall adds, although this Danish study may not apply to every woman on birth control, it is still something to be aware of.

"Depression and anxiety from hormonal contraceptives may not be the experience of every woman, but that doesnt mean its not the experience of your friend, your daughter or your partner, and of many women out there, who, in reading about this could have their lives changed for the better."

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The bill seeks to create new offences for charging those who injure or cause the death of a preborn child  at any stage of development  while committing a criminal act against a woman they know is pregnant.

It would also codify pregnancy as an aggravating factor in sentencing, something one imagines any good judge would already consider.

Yet, it does not seek to change the Criminal Codes definition of personhood.

Criminal intent

Not being considered a human being under the Criminal Code does not mean that a preborn child does not deserve protection under the law, the bill states.

The punishments for killing or injuring a fetus in an attack would hinge on criminal intent. If the fetus dies and the intent is equivalent to that of murder, the maximum sentence would be life in prison with a minimum term of 10 years.

In a case in which both the woman and fetus die, a judge would be allowed to impose two life sentences that could be served consecutively instead of concurrently.

Wagantall believes the law would deter violence against pregnant women. While aggravated assault carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, a person who attacks a pregnant woman and deliberately kills the fetus could, if her bill became law, face life behind bars.

"Its a womans choice to have an abortion in Canada, and its a legal right."  MP Cathay Wagantall

Opponents, however, have said such steps are not about protecting women at all. They argue that the long game is really about restricting abortion rights by first assigning legal recognition to fetuses.

Its a womans choice to have an abortion in Canada, and its a legal right, Wagantall says.

Since the new offences would apply only when a criminal act is being committed against a pregnant woman, the MP argues that abortion is, by definition, excluded.

I wanted to do something of significance that would really make a difference in the lives of Canadians and, in this case, specifically, Canadian women, she says.

But its an uphill climb, not just because private members bills dont often become laws.

Wagantall will have to make her case before a mostly pro-choice Parliament, where the Liberal MPs who form a majority in the House of Commons have all pledged to uphold abortion rights at every turn.

Shell have to convince them this isnt a clandestine attempt to open another debate entirely.

And some just plain dont believe her.
That's not how you should treat your teachers.

A 13-year-old Virginia girl has been arrested after cops say she contacted a person posing as a clown on social media and asked them to murder one of her teachers.

Police in Hampton say they were called Sunday evening about a threat made over social media, according to WAVY.

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They say the girl reached out to a person using a clown photo as their profile picture and using a clown alias.

Detectives got in touch with the teacher to make sure she was safe, according to WTKR.

Davis Middle School in Hampton, Va., where the teen attended. (Photo: WTKR/Screenshot)

The teen has been charged with one count of threatening to kill by electronic message and was still in custody as of Monday.

An increased police presence was planned on Monday for Davis Middle School, where the teacher works, according to a statement the school sent to parents.

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Girl wanted teacher murdered at specific time: cops

Police told the Daily Press that the girl had asked the clown to kill her teacher at a set time on Monday, but that time passed and nothing suspicious had happened at the school.

This specific threat follows more vague ones last week from people posing as clowns on social media, according to the Daily Press.

Those threats caused cops to bump up security at schools in the area.

Hampton police Lt. Jason Price told the outlet that investigators are still working to find the people behind last week's threats.

You can see more on the story in the video above.

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shironosov via Getty Images Young people posing in Halloween hats and with pumpkins

Leaves are falling, pumpkins are donning doorsteps, and costumes are starting to take the place of beach gear in stores. Halloween is just around the corner, and Toronto is one of the best places in the country to celebrate the spooky holiday. Consider one (or more) of these five must-visit Halloween festivities to get spooked and embrace fall this October.

Screemers Scream Park

Bring your favorite family members and friends, because you'll be holding them tight when wandering through the seven haunted houses at Screemers. This annual scream park at the Queen Elizabeth Building at 180 Princes' Blvd., also features thrilling carnival rides and more than 100 ghosts, ghouls and creepy characters roaming the grounds. The park is open on weekends throughout October from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m., and it's recommended for anyone over the age of 10.

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Cost: $22.54 to $47.40, with multiple options available

Toronto Ghost Walk

Photo credit: Corey Balazowich

The University of Toronto's St. George campus is known around the city and the country for the ghosts that are said to haunt the buildings' halls. Adventurous Toronto locals and visitors can take the Toronto Ghost Walk walking tour through some of the campus' oldest buildings and most haunted areas while hearing the legends that have been passed down through generations. Ghost walks will take place on numerous dates throughout the month of October, and they begin in front of the Ontario Power Building at 700 University Ave.

Cost: $15 for adults, $10 for kids (8 to 15), kids 7 and under admitted free

Halloween Haunt

Canada's Wonderland is one of the best places for family fun in the Greater Toronto Area, but you'll want to leave the little ones behind when the park turns into the creepy Halloween Haunt this September and October. Not recommended for kids under the age of 13, the park is jammed with thrilling rides, terrifying "scare zones," and mazes packed with scream-worthy creatures. The Halloween Haunt will be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 30 through Oct. 31, this year, and it's expected to be bigger, better and scarier than ever.

Cost: $31.99 per person, with multiple options available

Ghost Ship

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The Ghost Ship Toronto will head onto Lake Ontario this Halloween for the spookiest boat party in the city. The Ghost Ship features three levels of partying (all are covered and heated) with club music, appetizers, drinks and costume contests. The boat will cruise along the coast of downtown Toronto until 2 a.m., on Saturday, Oct. 29, and Sunday, Oct. 30, encouraging visitors to dance, party and embrace the spooky spirit of Halloween.

Cost: $50 per ticket

Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Celebrate Halloween a little early this year at the anticipated Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Taking place from Oct. 13 to 21, the festival will include nine evenings of horror, action, cult and sci-fi films. The 11th annual edition of the event will take place at Scotiabank Theatre on Richmond Street West and is open to viewers ages 18 and up.

Cost: All-access passes to all 20 screenings can be purchased online now for $149, or tickets to each screening can be purchased separately for $13.
Thomas Barwick via Getty Images Sous chef preparing ingredients at workstation in restaurant kitchen before dinner service

The hike to Alberta's minimum wage over the weekend to $12.20, part of an incremental increase to $15 in 2018, has certainly unleashed plenty of unfounded furor.

The knee-jerk response of employers of low-paid workers is to say that this phased-in increase will come at the cost of jobs. Indeed, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business claims that this move by the Alberta government has the potential to cost 50,000 jobs.

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Such economic scare-mongering is at odds with the evidence that has led most mainstream economic experts to support higher minimum wages as one strand of a poverty and inequality reduction strategy.

The Paris-based think tank for advanced industrial countries, the OECD, argues in its 2014 Employment Outlook that minimum wages "can help underpin the wages of low-paid workers" and thus lower poverty. They also report that "evidence suggests that, when set at an appropriate level, minimum wages tend to have only a small adverse effect on employment."

The conservative view is that increases in minimum wages raise the price of labour and thus result in less employment. As Republican House Leader John Boehner put it in immediate response to President Obama's proposal to hike the US. federal minimum wage: "When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it."

Many commentators seem to think that even a small negative impact on total employment is sufficient reason to rule out a minimum wage increase. But impacts on hours of work arising from a minimum wage increases can leave the great majority of minimum wage workers much better off. For example, someone working 30 hours per week for $15 per hour earns $65 more per week better off than if she was working 35 hours per week for $11 per hour.

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An obvious response of employers to a higher minimum wage may indeed be to raise productivity by doing more with less by modestly cutting hours, or by raising productivity in a more positive way through investments in labour-saving equipment or training. This is not a bad thing since output per hour will rise and support higher wages.

But an exhaustive, summary of the economic literature by John Schmitt of the Center for Economic Policy Research, finds that the great majority of literally dozens of recent studies in the United States conclude that the negative effects on employment of modest minimum wage increases are very small. Some of the highly respected studies actually show a positive impact on jobs due to the increased purchasing-power of low wage workers.

Higher minimum wages can actually be good for business. They correct for a significant tendency by low wage employers to pay less than the hourly wage which actually serves their own best interests.

Many low wage employers have job vacancies at any given time due to high worker turnover. But they are reluctant to raise wages to fill these vacancies since they would then have to pay more to all of their current work force. An equilibrium point is to pay very low wages even if operations are not properly staffed at all times.

A higher minimum wage can help by reducing turnover. This reduces employer costs in three ways. Employers will not lose business due to not having enough workers on a shift; they will have more experienced and more committed employees; and they will save on recruitment and training costs which can be quite significant even for low skill jobs.

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Schmitt concludes that lower worker turnover and the resulting benefits to employers are the most important explanation why modest increases in the minimum wage have much smaller impacts on employment than the critics claim.

Alberta businesses should support the decent minimum wage policy of the NDP government in the interests of both fairness and economic efficiency.

Economist Andrew Jackson is Senior Policy Advisor to the Broadbent Institute.

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There are three things I regret to this day.

There's that time I neglected to thank my homeroom teacher during a valedictorian speech addressed to the entire school. I thanked just about every other teacher inside that gym but glossed over his name, despite all the encouragement and support he gave me to stand at that podium.

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Then there's that time I was too afraid to ask my high-school crush out to prom.

And finally, I regret giving up on learning Vietnamese.

Why am I telling you this? Well, aside from trying to make peace with regret number one (Mr. Page, if you're reading this, I am so very sorry), I want Canadians, new and old, to remember they have a choice.

I made a choice to turn my back on part of my identity. In return, I got to fit in.

I made a choice to abandon learning Vietnamese as a kid. Part of it was me being lazy. I didn't want to spend Saturdays inside another school. Three hours learning about the Vietnamese alphabet can seem like prison when you're six or if you're 12.

But another part of it was me wanting to fit in. To stay at home. To watch weekend morning cartoons. To have stuff to talk about during recess come Monday.

I made a choice to turn my back on part of my identity. In return, I got to fit in within a multi-ethnic schoolyard in a suburban Ontario neighbourhood circa 1995.

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Today, that decision would make a majority of Canadians pretty happy.

A joint poll between the Angus Reid Institute and CBC News found 68 per cent of Canadian respondents agreed minorities should do more to fit in with mainstream society instead of keeping their own customs and languages.

I, on the other hand, made the wrong trade. I discarded what I thought was the burdensome "Vietnamese card" to feel comfortable in a messy and changing mainstream society. Short sighted, I know.

But if we're talking about being short sighted, then remember the last time Canadian institutions forced minorities to fit within mainstream society -- they were called residential schools.

It's an ugly chapter in history Canada is trying to come to terms with. However, that's not who Canadians are now.

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To be Canadian is to have choice. But it's also accepting the choices of others.

To be Canadian is to realize there is a very fragile, but mutual, understanding that despite religion or culture or language, we can find common ground.

To be Canadian is to recognize the potential to live a duality where you aren't one or the other, you can succeed as both.

Just ask my parents. They'll tell you about it in English or Vietnamese.

Born And Raised is an ongoing series by The Huffington Post Canada that shares the experiences of second-generation Canadians. Part reflection, part storytelling, this series on the children of immigrants explores what it means to be born and raised in Canada. We want to hear your stories -- join the conversation on Twitter at #BornandRaised or send us an email at bornandraised@huffingtonpost.com.

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shahfarshid via Getty Images Young working/studying online on a computer at Library.

What is open access (OA) publishing?

OA refers to free immediate access to, and unrestricted reuse of, original works of all types. In the OA model, authors own the copyright to their work, and agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Authors have to usually pay a fee to publish their work in OA journals. This is different from the traditional model, where publishers own the copyright, and access is limited to those who buy subscriptions that can be extraordinarily expensive.

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This rise in OA has many benefits, including acceleration of discovery, greater access to science in low-income countries, higher rates of citation of published work, greater scope to publish negative results, improved education, and public enrichment. Indeed, many funding agencies now mandate that research funded by them (or by tax payers) must be made open access.

Emergence of predatory OA publishers

Sadly, the apparent success of the OA model has attracted a growing number of entrepreneurs who are trying to cash in. These entrepreneurs have little or no scientific credibility, but have launched their own 'journals' which essentially publish everything that is submitted to them, without any peer review or scrutiny, so long as they get paid.

Predatory journals publish anything and pay little to no attention to serious ethical violations, such as fabrication of data and plagiarism.

Jeffrey Beall at the University of Colorado maintains an online 'black list' of publishers and journals that may be predatory or questionable. His list had 18 such predatory publishers in 2011, increasing to 882 by early 2016.

A recent study found that predatory journals have rapidly increased their publication volumes from 53,000 in 2010 to an estimated 420,000 articles in 2014, published by around 8,000 active predatory journals. Authors paid an average fee of $178 per article to publish in these journals, with Asia and Africa contributing three quarters of authors.

How to spot a predatory OA journal?

The simplest approach would be look up Beall's black list and see if a journal is included in his list. Based on the spam emails we get, we suspect any journal that send us invitations full of grammatical errors, and invitations that have nothing to do with our field or expertise (e.g. yoga, management, and nursing).

Predatory journals tend to use very lofty titles ("International or World Journal of...") to mimic established journals. The adulatory spam emails (e.g. "We Adore Your Research" in the subject line) we get are typically sent using Gmail, Yahoo or such free email, and rarely provide the names of editors. The publisher's address is usually not provided or is fictitious. Emails from predatory journals rarely provide an opt-out option.

The email solicitations we get from predatory journals nearly always promise rapid publication (sometimes as early as within three days!), and tend of offer discounted fees or special offers (e.g. 50 per cent off, or $99 for a limited time). Typically, they will include some address based in the US, but careful scrutiny would suggest they are based out of India or Africa. In fact, there are data that India is probably the world's largest base for open-access publishing. OMICS is merely one of many predatory journals based out of India, a fact that has been highlighted in Indian media.

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Why we should worry

Predatory journals publish anything and pay little to no attention to serious ethical violations, such as fabrication of data and plagiarism. The science-free process used by predatory OA publishers does not allow anyone to verify or challenge research studies that may have serious design flaws or biases.

This fact was demonstrated by a sting operation conducted by Science magazine in 2013. John Bohannon, a scientist who writes for Science, sent, using fictitious author names, completely flawed, fake manuscripts to 304 open-access publishers, including 121 from Beall's list. The flaws in the manuscripts were glaring and should have led to their rejection. In reality, 157 of the journals accepted the paper! For the publishers on Beall's list, a stunning 82 per cent accepted the paper.

Predatory publishing can have disastrous consequences. Already, researchers and patients are struggling to separate good from the junk that is online, and the explosion of predatory OA has made this even more challenging. Over time, junk science published in predatory OA journals will overwhelm the volume of good quality, peer-reviewed science. So, it is possible that medical practice will be influenced by seriously flawed work, including those published by folks with agendas (e.g. anti-vaxxers). This can harm patients.

Universities will now need to carefully scrutinize publications of faculty members when they are recruited, and when researchers go up for promotion. We predict there will be more and more examples of papers being retracted.

How should we respond?

In principle, OA publishing is a good idea, as it democratizes access to scientific information. Also, the OA model is forcing traditional publishers to get out of their greed mindset and come up with better solutions. The challenge is operationalizing and regulating OA, to ensure that the model stays credible and sustainable. Also, good peer-review and editorial oversight by credible agencies is key to ensure quality.

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The acquisition of Canadian journals by OMICS has rattled the medical research community, and scientific societies that host the journals, putting their reputations at risk. Some of these journals have already migrated to other publishers, while others are doing so.

We call on our Canadian research fraternity as well as professional societies to distance themselves from any journal that is owned by OMICS. We also call on Canadian research agencies and regulators to investigate the sale of Canadian publishing groups to OMICS, and develop regulations to protect the integrity and independence of Canadian journals.

Madhukar Pai is a Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology & Global Health at McGill University, Montreal. He is the Director of McGill Global Health Programs, and the Associate Director of McGill International Tuberculosis Centre. (@paimadhu)

Eduardo L. Franco, is a James McGill Professor and Chairman, Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, McGill University. He is also the Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology at McGill University.

Disclosure: Professors Pai and Franco are members of the editorial boards of OA journals such as PLoS Medicine and eLife, as well as of several other traditional academic medical journals. Their interviews on predatory OA publishing can be found on CTV News and its website.

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PeopleImages.com via Getty Images A cute little girl playing chess while her mom looks confused

We have all heard of "baby brain" -- that seemingly temporary dullness of intellect that goes hand in hand with sleepless nights and leaky boobs. But can it last longer than your baby's first year?

Like, way longer?

Perhaps it is the continued fractured sleep, well into my son's toddler years, or the constant interruptions when I am trying desperately to form a cohesive sentence, but I am sure I used to be smarter.

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A study in "Psychology Today" found that contrary to popular opinion, multi-taskers actually underperform and lose about 40 per cent of their productivity.

In trying to be all things to all people, are us parents actually achieving nothing at all?

I long for the leisurely pre-baby space to think and complete tasks, the satisfaction of checking boxes on my to-do list and finding time to reflect and evaluate choices.

Now? I'm just in survival mode.

"I can't seem to keep up with the news, fall asleep during movies and have an internet browsing history that includes search terms such as 'hand, foot and mouth disease' and 'easy potty training tips.'"

In the course of any ten minutes my child will interrupt me to:

Help him get a stuck toy out of a small space

Scratch his itchy foot

Give him a snack

Get him a "yummier" snack

Clean up his mess

And (of course) to punish me with the eternal guilt-inducing whine of "Play with meeeee."

Is it any wonder I misplace things hourly, write incomprehensible e-mails and notes to myself that even I can't decipher, and overall have become a very boring friend, especially amongst my childless crew, who look at me like I have had my brain removed?

I can't seem to keep up with the news, fall asleep during movies and have an internet browsing history that includes search terms such as "hand, foot and mouth disease" and "easy potty training tips."

I cling to the distant hope that this is a fleeting loss of intellect.

That once I am finished adding to my family and the chicks have become more independent and allow me some space to think and sleep and other essential reflexes, I will again exercise my cerebral muscles, read some books that don't have "baby" in the title, comment on forums on subjects other than bodily fluids, and (maybe) finally begin that PhD.

But I am starting to fear that along with the grey hairs, wobbly tummy, and crow's feet, my pudding brain might be here to stay.

"Why are we so quick to seek answers for our parenting questions in ways we wouldn't for other areas of our life? Why are we so insecure about our decisions when it comes to parenting?"

Parental intellectual decline into Neanderthal grunts can be seen in the way we relate to other parents. Once we have children, otherwise-intelligent people seem to consult the masses for every little parenting query as though we are incapable of independent thought or research.

By day we may manage hedge funds, but once back in our Mommy role, we need the permission of countless online strangers to decide whether we should give our baby a pacifier or not.

One awesome mama on one of my online groups began leaving the same reply to every medical question: "Ask your Doctor." it got to the point that she would use all caps and multiple exclamation marks, but always the same advice: "ASK YOUR DOCTOR!!!"

Because after all, the other women in those groups are just like you: Pretty clueless. Sure, they have their own anecdotes, maybe a little more experience, and they can certainly support and inform you.

But they can also cause undue anxiety, make you question your own parenting decisions and sometimes offer some pretty shady, unproven advice.

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Why are we so quick to seek answers for our parenting questions in ways we wouldn't for other areas of our life? Parents aren't posting their marriage problems or asking for investment advice, or polling people they have never met before to recommend a new car or home improvement purchase. Why are we so insecure about our decisions when it comes to parenting?

Maybe it's because we care so much, the stakes are so very high, and we're desperate not to make a mistake.

Maybe it's because typing our queries into our baby groups is much easier than asking an expert, reading a book, conducting research and formulating an opinion of our own.

Maybe it's because we are too damn tried to do any of that.

I remember as a pre-teen, inwardly rolling my eyes at my mother and thinking she was so stupid when she couldn't remember a word or a joke or a telephone number, now I feel camaraderie and sympathy. The poor woman had become like that because of me!

If you are also suffering from some form of child related stupidity, take solace in knowing that although you may not know the capital of Moldova, you do know your child better than anyone else in the world; you know that little tickle spot that can reverse any tantrum and that special song they need to fall asleep, and that's worth any Mensa membership.

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Fiona Tapp is writer, educator and Mom to one, you can read her musings at www.lullabiesanddeadlines.com.

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Canadians have high expectations for the new Liberal government, especially when it comes to human rights and foreign policy. After a decade of regressive policies from the Conservatives, many expected the Liberals to take a new, ethical approach to foreign affairs.

The reality, however, is more than disappointing. The Liberals have shown that when it comes to human rights and the arms trade, they prefer to look the other way.

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Canadian weapons exports nearly doubled over the last ten years, with Saudi Arabia becoming the world's second-largest buyer of Canadian-made military equipment, after the United States. And Canada is now the second-largest arms dealer in the Middle East .

Over the past months we have learned a number of alarming details about Canada's arms exports to Saudi Arabia -- exports given the green light by Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Dion -- and other countries with bad human rights records.

Canadians deserve to know who Canada does business with and under what conditions.

Canadian-made military equipment initially sold to Saudi Arabia has been used in Yemen, where thousands of civilians -- many of them children -- have died. Canadian-made arms have also been used to violate the human rights of Saudi dissidents. Canada may even be at risk of complicity in Saudi violations of international law.

Saudi Arabia is not the only questionable recipient of Canadian military goods. China and Algeria, both countries with bad human rights records, are also within the top ten recipients of Canadian arms exports . The Liberals are refusing to answer questions about whether or not they have approved an arms export licence to Thailand, ruled by a military junta. And Canadian-owned Streit Group has sold arms to Sudan and Libya in violation of economic sanctions and arms embargos have earned criticism from the UN.

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For months the Liberal government has justified the scandalous $15 billion deal with Saudi Arabia by saying "Canada has some of the strongest export controls in the world." At the same time, the Canadian government has quietly rewritten its arms export policy to make it easier to export military hardware to states that abuse human rights. The new export guidelines significantly reduce transparency under the guise of protecting commercial interests. This means Canadians will have even less access to information on arms exports than before -- and it means exports to human rights-abusing countries will continue to flow.

This is unacceptable.

Canadians deserve to know who Canada does business with and under what conditions. We deserve to know what companies are manufacturing weapons, who is buying them, and what they are used for. And Canadians deserve a say in whether Canada exports arms to human rights violators.

That's why the NDP has brought the issue of oversight of Canadian arms exports to a vote in Parliament as an opposition day motion. We want to create a permanent, multi-partisan committee, empowered to examine all aspects of Canada's arms exports regime, now and in the future.

My proposal for better oversight of arms exports isn't new; the UK has a cross-party Parliamentary committee that is currently undertaking a full-scale inquiry into British arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen. Importantly, they are also examining arms sales to other Gulf countries -- something that we should be doing too, given concerns about Canadian military equipment used in human rights violations in other parts of the region, including in Bahrain.

So what should the Liberals do?

The Liberals should suspend existing export permits for the Light Armoured Vehicle deal to Saudi Arabia until allegations of misuse are investigated, as the Arms Trade Treaty would require. They should refuse to sign any further export permits for arms to Saudi Arabia. They should release all applicable human rights assessments. They should investigate the Streit Group. But more than this, the Liberals should agree to my proposal to create a committee that would provide Parliamentary oversight for arms exports -- a committee that would have full access to the details of these deals.

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Human rights are not optional. Canadians have a right to know what our government is doing in our name. Until the government understands that this matter is of utmost importance and deserves to be debated in public, we can no longer support the status quo. Canada should not sell arms where they can be used to abuse human rights.

It's time for Canada to be a real global leader in human rights. It's time to toughen up our arms export policy.

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By Dr. Julio Montaner, OC, OBC, MD, FRCPC, FCCP, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Picture this scenario: An individual living with HIV in British Columbia, "Doug" (whose name has been changed for privacy), was being "shuffled around" through care. As a result, he had grown tired and had mostly given up on treating his HIV. Sadly, he had begun telling family and friends that he wouldn't be around much longer. Can you see a solution to a situation like this?

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There was an answer for Doug. An outreach worker, with the province of B.C.'s STOP Program (Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS), knocked on his door and started to connect him to services to help support his medical adherence.

Doug needed to have a regular health care provider, and the outreach worker set him up with one. Beyond that, he needed the supports to help him stay consistent with care. He was placed in supportive housing, as well as in an integrative care program where he could develop his interests in music. Eventually, Doug (an electrician by trade who plays and builds musical instruments) became healthy, fully adherent to HIV medications and achieved an undetectable viral load.

In Canada, it's time to be a national leader on ending AIDS globally.

Stories like Doug's are very personal and individual victories; however, they show the changes that can take place when addressing systemic social and economic barriers. B.C.'s STOP Program, based on principles of the Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy developed at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), acknowledges the importance of addressing social and economic inequities -- termed social determinants of health. The STOP Program aims to expand and offer access to HIV testing, care and treatment for medically eligible B.C. residents, particularly for populations experiencing difficulties in accessing traditional services.

The concept behind STOP is to immediately offer universal HIV treatment to those diagnosed with the disease. This TasP approach has led to improved health outcomes and to a consistent drop in new HIV cases in B.C.. Once on sustained and consistent treatment, an individual's viral load declines making it highly unlikely they will transmit the virus. B.C. is the only province to implement TasP and the only one to see a consistent drop in new HIV cases. Globally, the United Nations has adopted a plan to end AIDS by 2030 that is based on principles of TasP. Organizations like the Global Fund are on board with this plan to #EndItForGood and make the next generation AIDS-free.

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In B.C., through TasP and STOP we have seen successes like Doug's. We have seen people living with HIV who use injection drugs, a population some doubted could maintain consistent treatment, achieve improved health and see significant reductions in HIV transmission. (In B.C., through consistent access to HIV treatment, the number of people who inject drugs who achieved an undetectable viral load increased from 30 per cent in 2006 to 71 per cent in 2012.)

How does the STOP program work? It all starts with using resources to build more pathways to care and treatment. Even in a largely resource-rich nation like Canada, mental health, addiction, homelessness and poverty can present obstacles to this goal.

Across the province, members of multi-disciplinary, collaborative outreach teams under the STOP program -- which can include nurses, outreach workers, social workers and others -- serve the most vulnerable populations. Clients may have suffered trauma and lack trust in traditional health care systems. For example, people who inject drugs and sex workers may feel stigmatized or discriminated against within the health care setting.

Many clients are confronting an intersection of challenges: They may simultaneously be facing addiction and homelessness problems, while dealing with access to HIV treatment and care. Individuals living with HIV may also have mental health disorders, like depression or anxiety, leaving them unable to take the steps towards self-care. According to previous research, individuals living with HIV are two to ten times more likely to have at least one mental health condition, in comparison to the general population.

Despite such challenges, the STOP program, conducted through B.C.'s health authorities has made headway in the fight against HIV/AIDS: After initial success as a pilot program in Vancouver and Prince George, STOP was expanded provincially along with a $19.9 million investment from the provincial government. In September, Northern Health, a B.C. health authority providing health services to 300,000 people over an area of 600,000 square kilometers, awarded $1.59 million to eight agencies and 23 First Nations communities as part of the provincial STOP initiative.

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Success stories from STOP show how effectively addressing underlying social, economic or other needs can lead to improved HIV treatment outcomes. Sometimes it takes a caring visit, a knock on the door. Sometimes it takes repeated visits, food vouchers, or access to housing.

Globally, the Canadian government has endorsed the UN's plan to end AIDS by 2030. This year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau boosted Canada's pledge to the Global Fund by 20 per cent, in a commitment to globally end AIDS, TB and Malaria for good. The BC-CfE is proud the Canadian federal government has made such commitments. It is important to invest in change so that barriers to care can be even across resource-limited settings.

In Canada, it's time to be a national leader on ending AIDS globally. We have the tools and strategies to provide treatment to all those living with HIV -- the province of B.C. has the successes to prove it. A nationwide Treatment as Prevention is a way forward, and we must continue to open doors to care and treatment for society's most vulnerable. Together, we can stop HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Julio Montaner is the Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), the Chair in AIDS Research and Head of Division of AIDS in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC, and the Past-President of the International AIDS Society (IAS).

This blog is part of the blog series: AIDS, TB and Malaria: It's High Time for Us to End It. For Good by the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD) in recognition of The Global Fund's Fifth Replenishment. The blog series features a selection of blogs written by our member and partner organizations. Contributors share their broad range of perspectives and insight on the work of The Global Fund and the opportunity that this moment presents us one year following the inauguration of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog series are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ICAD.

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By Nabenah Johnson

A fashion council is a governing body that helps keep some of the world's major major fashion cities relevant from year to year. Canada is indeed lacking this major missing link that would unify all fashion cities in the country from coast to coast. In last week's blog post by Megan Sibley, the article went in depth about what will make the Canadian fashion industry stand up on its very own two feet!.

In the wake of all the current fashion weeks, we have just seen some of the major spring summer 2017 collections from New York and London, to Milan and Paris. All different locations have showcased collections with different markets, all still flourishing. In my previous blog post, I briefly touched on New York and the CFDA.

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In Britain, they have the BFC, also known as the British Fashion Council. It was founded in 1983. The BFC is a not-for-profit organization in place to further the British fashion industry and its designers. The council is funded by commercial sponsors, industry attendees and the British government.

Countries with fashion councils have prosperity within the fashion industry and they will only continue to grow within each year.

Let's not forget that the BFC also furthered the careers of many designers through the college council, which continues to offer many scholarships, grants and countless initiatives for womenswear, menswear, jewellery, millinery, businesses and fashion showcases (including fashion weeks). Also, the BFC has operated many charities, including world-renowned BFC-Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, the BFC Fashion Trust, The Fashion Arts Foundation and the BFC Princess of Wales Charitable Trust. With 33 years of success, London fashion weeks that are produced twice a year would not be possible without the BFC as it is their sole proprietor.

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In Paris, the council is named the French Federation of Fashion and of Ready-to-Wear and Couturiers and Fashion Designers. It was founded in France in 1973. In France there are three chambers that are a part of the council, each governing different parts of the industry. There is the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture (trade association of high fashion), the Chambre de la Mode (trade association of men's ready-to-wear fashion) and the Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode (trade association of women's ready-to-wear couturiers and fashion designers).

Within all these trade associations there are over 100 members that continue to work at the fashion industry in France. One of the chambers, the Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode, allows other countries to join its membership even if they aren't French-speaking. Those countries include China, Japan, Italy, Belgium and South Korea. This only shows France is a huge partner for the growing globalization of the fashion industry. This has only furthered the industry in France.

Countries with fashion councils have prosperity within the fashion industry and they will only continue to grow within each year. If we had this in Canada, we would see immense benefits. We would be able to support our up-and-coming designers and designers looking to advance. They would stay in Canada and further their businesses here, rather than leave for New York or London, as many Canadian designers have done in the past.

If Canadian designers had the grants and scholarships to further their careers, I believe they would stay in Canada. If we had consistent fashion weeks in all major cities that were funded by a governing fashion council, many more designers would continue to pursue their careers and develop in Canada. Once a council is developed and government funded, charities will eventually be a part of the mix as well. The more creatives we have investing on our country, the better our economy will be and this will inherently create more jobs in the apparel industry!

If we adopted what France is doing and let other countries join our council as global partners, it will increase the economy in Canada as a whole.

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So, what if a fashion council was introduced in Canada? The RevampCanFashion campaign is the fight for the construction of a future fashion council in Canada. Join the movement and watch our fashion industry in this country evolve before your eyes. We need a fashion council to unify the whole country, and promote our beloved Canada in the global market!

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This week, there were two competing narratives on free trade. While (astonishingly!) both the IMF and The Economist said there are problems with free trade, others asserted that free trade is under attack by "populists." Some have determined that the electorate is under the influence of scaremongers and must be re-educated to rid them of their fearful, misinformed views.

If you are reading this blog, you may be a "populist." The economic press and world leaders have caught on to the obvious fact that there is resistance to free trade agreements. In response to 320,000 Germans rallying against against CETA (the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) and strong sentiment in Austria and Slovakia, Canada's International Trade Minister, Chrystia Freeland, said there is a very tough mood in Europe on trade deals, "the rise of sometimes quite ugly, protectionist anti-globalization sentiment in Europe - we're seeing a lot of those feelings being expressed in the U.S. election campaign."

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The Economistthis week said the TPP is "faltering," CETA is "fragile" and the TTIP is "flailing." It continued: "A nasty brew of opportunistic politicking and sceptical (and often misinformed) electorates is largely to blame for this halting progress."

Many have linked openness to immigration with openness to trade deals, arguing that those who oppose trade are closed-minded and obviously on the side of bigots. I admit that having a potential U.S. President Donald Trump as the loudest voice against free trade hasn't helped: his collection of misogynist, racist and incoherent views is not something that progressive populists should strive towards.

But there is another word for populism: democracy. The Oxford Canadian dictionary defines a populist as "a person who holds, or who is concerned with, the views of the populace."

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Freeland herself, before she was trade minister, knew this well. In a New York Times article, she pitted populists against plutocrats, arguing, "People might not mind that if the political economy were delivering for society as a whole. But it is not: wages for 70 per cent of the work force have stagnated, unemployment is high and many people with jobs feel insecure about them and about their retirement. Meanwhile, the plutocrats continue to prosper. And for more and more people, the plutocrats' technocratic paternalism seems at best weak broth and at worst an effort to preserve the rules of a game that is rigged in their favour."

So, what are the "populists" so "unreasonably" afraid of?

Our jobs, for one thing. A new study from Tufts University on the effects of CETA shows a loss of 23,000 jobs in Canada and 230,000 jobs in the EU. Similar studies of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have shown losses of 58,000 jobs.

Rising inequality, for another thing. The CETA study also shows a rise in inequality, which is already growing. While productivity gains create higher profits, job creation and workers' incomes will stagnate. One out of every two additional dollars that would normally have gone to workers will now go instead to owners and investors. This amounts to losses of $2,656 per person over seven years, a far cry from government projections of a $1,000 cheque per person every year.

We are afraid of the sorts of rules contained within trade agreements that establish more rights for corporations.

Our public services, on top of that. Tax income will decrease by 0.12 per cent of GDP. Public spending will fall by 0.20 per cent of GDP. This is due to the increased competition for investors under CETA, with countries competing for investment by reducing corporate taxes.

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Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, speculated on what, if anything, Canadians would be getting out of the deal.

"Here's an independent study that suggests that there aren't economic gains -- only job losses, inequality and the erosion of the public sector," she said. "But that's only the economic part. We haven't begun to quantify the damage to our laws, policies, and democracies through regulatory harmonization and corporate lawsuits challenging our environmental and social standards. Not to mention attacks on farmers and municipalities."

Trade is not something we are afraid of. It is not something we oppose. But we are afraid of the sorts of rules contained within trade agreements that establish more rights for corporations.

This week, the "populists" got an unusual champion, the International Monetary Fund. A report issued by the IMF regards free trade as benefiting only the wealthy few and says more needs to be done for workers displaced by globalization. Their solutions are different from ours, but, when the IMF says there are problems, perhaps it is because things have come to an extreme point.

Agreements like CETA and the TPP are pushing the world in the wrong direction.

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DEGAS Jean-Pierre / hemis.fr via Getty Images Antigua and Barbuda, Antigua Island, the national flag in red, white, blue and black, with the symbol of the rising sun in the middle

One would think that after making a claim that LGBT members are protected in Antigua and Barbuda, the government would ensure that it puts its money where its mouth is. So then why are we allowing Christian groups and evangelicals to spread hatred and encourage marginalization of any group in this country?

During an event hosted by Concerned Christians for a Healthy Society (I guess queer people are poisonous), a pastor who claims to be a "former lesbian and activist" argued that Christian-based businesses should have the right to deny jobs to LGBT applicants.

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This bigot and their homophobic group are essentially trying to effect policy change that would give businesses the right to deprive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women of one of the most fundamental rights -- employment -- simply on the basis of their sexual orientation. Shouldn't this be a crime in itself?

That is why many like me run from our homes and families to seek a life where we can be our authentic selves and still be employed without persecution.

Has the Government of Antigua and Barbuda not seen what this type of "business" -- the evangelical business -- is doing to our motherland countries like Uganda? Is there not some understanding of the negative impact that this type of bigotry has on citizens of a country?

Let me show you! Just look at this comment from one of your most influential journalists at Antigua Observer -- Martina McDonald-Johnson -- under my Facebook post about this development.

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"You have a right to choose your church, culture etc but nobody should be forced to accept what they don't want. I have two sons and I believe I should have the discretion to turn down a baby sitter or whatever job application of a cross dresser or any other lifestyle I don't want in my home because I don't want that individual around my children or my children around them." [SIC]

The last time I checked, Martina, a gay babysitter simply wants to do a job of babysitting so that he or she can have some money in their pocket. That babysitter does not want your baby or you, nor does that babysitter have the power to turn you or your child into a homosexual. That babysitter just wants to survive.

This esteemed journalist -- or as I like to call them, "educator" -- is also of the view that a gay man or woman who is denied employment should simply "go somewhere else." I went into my memory bank and found that Antigua is a "Christian nation" where many use the Bible to discriminate and abuse LGBTQ members. I think I would know this from experience.

That is why many like me run from our homes and families to seek a life where we can be our authentic selves and still be employed without persecution or without having to change our walk, talk and the way we dress just to keep that job.

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This is the type of ignorant and divisive mindset you are creating as a government when you allow such events to take place in your country. More frightening is the fact that many within the LGBTQ community in Antigua continue to be denied jobs as we speak because of these kinds of messages.

It is no secret that state policies in this country continue to be influenced by the church. The very constitution is built on the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. So how can a government say it protects members of the LGBT community when this type of blatant discrimination is being encouraged and spread through the media?

Well until the church and other religious groups begin to pay taxes like every other citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, they should have no say in state affairs or labour laws and unless we are finally admitting that only some citizens have access to basic rights, then every Antiguan and Barbudan regardless of their sexual orientation and religious belief, should be granted employment at any public business profiting off of taxpayers' money which includes the hardworking dollars of many LGBTQ members.

At the end of the day, this is not about a "gay agenda." This is about freedoms and rights which were promised to us the moment we became citizens of Antigua and Barbuda. So, what message are you sending to the world? Is this how you'd want your young and ambitious Black sons and daughters to be treated in a world that continues to mistreat them?

I think you should just stick to qualification over sexual orientation, and while you're at, rid yourselves of this hatred you spew which is rooted in pure evil homophobia. It does nothing for the advancement of Antigua and Barbuda.

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Signed,

A Forever Proud Antiguan Lesbian and Activist

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The five things you need to know on Tuesday, October 4, 2016

1) SOFT PEDDLING, HARD GOING

[If it's] too soft, then its going to be a bit claggy When Theresa May appeared on ITVs GMB this morning it looked like she really was a hard Brexiter. Sadly, she was talking about how soft or hard your butter should be when making the perfect scones, not how rigid or fudgey our exit from the EU should be.

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One thing that was clear from Philip Hammonds speech yesterday is that he is still pushing for a soft landing for businesses the other side of B-day. Yes, the Chancellors delivery had all the charm of the speaking clock (with as many good gags), but companies felt it was a fascinating example of nuanced politics.

His line about the turbulence ahead was a sharp reminder that this is one minister who is not blase about the next few years. Turbulence is one thing, but some in No.10 raised eyebrows at Hammond going further on Today by talking of a rollercoaster ride. The PM herself preferred to talk about bumps in the road on the Today programme.

At least two Brexiteers in the Cabinet have told me that they were irritated by Hammonds line that people didnt vote on June 23 to become poorer, with its Remainer implication that thats what hard Brexit necessarily entails. They were also curious that Hammonds speech also had a hint of compensation (ready to provide support) for firms like Nissan to keep them here, a line Hammonds spokeswoman said afterwards business would find reassuring.

One minister also talks privately about the paradox of uncertainty caused by Brexit, namely that it forces businesses to seek certainty with Plan Bs. They want to make Brexit work because they have to. And many are telling ministers that while they understand the complexity, they want as simple a plan as possible. Bloomberg reports that three senior figures in Mays government have told it there will be no favours for the City of London and no interim deal that banks have sought to ease the transition.

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Yet while some can cope with individual policy changes (like passporting), big City firms really still worry that the wider economy will really suffer with upto 8 years of uncertainty. David Gauke on Newsnight last night couldnt deny the Treasurys own forecast this year was a permanent loss of 4% of GDP after Brexit  even if we had a Norway-style EEA deal.

2) JEREMY BEGINS AT HOME

In theory, doing Brexit at the beginning of this party conference was meant to get it out of the way so the PM and her Cabinet could then focus on domestic social policy reform. In practice, Brexit is so dominant that nearly every policy is shot through with its implications. From troops being protected from European courts to the deportation of EU crims, all the talk is of life post-Europe.

And so even though today is meant to be domestic policy day on health and education, we cant escape things like migration. Jeremy Hunts big announcement is that he will train 1,500 more doctors a year to get to a stage by 2025 where we are self-sufficient in home-grown medics. And those overseas doctors can basically go back home.

Though there is lots of sense in cutting huge agency bills by having more permanent staff coming through the ranks, the way it has been pitched sounds a bit like British docs for British workers.

The BMA, Diane Abbott and others are already outraged at the idea of telling foreign staff in the NHS they are no longer welcome. And theres the bigger issue of Hunt undermining his own claim for years that all his new doctor numbers were enough.

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However, Theresa May seemed to go even further this morning on BBC Breakfast. Asked what would happen to those overseas-trained staff currently in the NHS, she said foreign doctors will be allowed to stay until further numbers [of home-grown doctors] are trained. That sounded very much like they wouldnt be allowed to stay after 2025. Will we really be deporting medics? Or just not letting them in? There was a bit of a Twitter avalanche after I tweeted her remarks this morning.

3) GRAMMAR TEST

On the Today programme (it was a dizzying whirl trying to keep up with the PMs breakfast media round), May also sounded a lot less gung-ho about new grammars, as if they are now just a very small part of education reform rather than some totemic big bang.

Nicky Morgan was still fighting the fight yesterday, and its notable that many conference activists kinda seem to agree with her that this is a distraction. Morgan was feisty enough to call out the two whips sent to spy on her fringe speech. She even pre-leaked Justine Greenings announcement today that she would set up social mobility areas to tackle the worst performing schools. It seems the six areas will be in Blackpool, Derby, Norwich, Oldham, Scarborough and West Somerset.

At our Commons People Pubcast last night, Heidi Allen (always a good weathervane for the backbenches) warned that the new grammars plan was toxic and had dented Mays honeymoon in No10. Ruth Davidson told the Scottish lobby yesterday she would never allow new grammars in Scotland. Its no wonder the plan is dropping down the priority list.

May is markedly more relaxed on the media these days. I also get the feeling that she really likes her voluntary party in a way that Cameron never did (and in a way that Corbyn does his party).

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As for that 'A country that works for everyone' slogan in the hall, No.10 staffers have finally clocked the real downside. From certain camera angles you can replace a politician's head in the 'o', cut off 'country' at 'count' and...well that's what happened with this cheeky shot of Liam Fox yesterday. Only Robert Peston was brave enough to tweet a censored version.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR..

Watch Andrea Leadsom win this years Liz Truss cheese award, courtesy of this vine from my eagle-eyed colleague Ned Simons.

4) HEEL, BORIS!

On ITVs GMB, Theresa May was tackled on the vexed issue of her shoes. Susannah Reid wondered if it was sexist to always ask about her footwear. May replied: It is interesting that people focus on my shoes. I dont think they focus on Philip Hammonds or Boris Johnsons in quite the same way.

But she added that at least it gave her an excuse to buy more shoes. There then followed a bit of a spat between Reid and Piers Morgan over why May wore such striking designs  and whether women dressed for themselves or for men. By that point, May had gone.

As Foreign Secretary, Boris has responsibility overall for MI6. And he may be pleased at the Sun story today that the UK could use our intelligence expertise as a bargaining chip in Brexit. The deal the PM wants will be all encompassing, so that means everything we do with the EU should be on the table  what they need, and what we need," a Government source says. Why shouldnt we include intelligence in that, explicitly or implicitly? It is one of our strongest suits.

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The Sun also reveals Boris and David Cameron had a bit of a rapprochement in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, after Shimon Peres's funeral. "Its not fair at all to say Dave was a bad leader of the party because of how it all ended," Boris told pals. Last night I was told Boris still hasn't given up hope of the top job one day. 'Maybe in five years' time...?' one MP said.

5) JACKIE...OH

Meanwhile, Labours anti-semitism row rumbles on. The left-wing pressure group Momentum has voted to remove Jackie Walker as vice-chair of its most senior committee after complaints against her.

The Labour activist was unseated from her position on Momentums Steering Committee by a vote of seven to three. It pointed to comments she made on film at a Labour conference fringe event obtained by The Huffington Post UK.

But its not quite the tough action many wanted. She remains a member of the committee itself and Momentum. And Labour of course.

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The UK loves an underdog. There is something irresistible about the story of the little guy standing up to the established players and leaving them with a bloody nose, whether it is Henry Cooper putting Muhammad Ali on the mat or the Wallabies trouncing the Kiwis in rugby.

As LendInvest heads to the Conservative Party conference, we will be championing the cause of the housing market underdog that deserves - and frankly needs - our support.

In recent decades, the housebuilding market has been taken over by the largest housebuilders. As a result, today more than half of the nation's new homes are built by just eight firms.

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As these housing giants have grown in stature and dominance, the small housebuilder has been pushed aside.

Back in 1988, there were 12,200 small property builders - defined as those building 100 units or fewer in a year - according to the Federation of Master Builders. By 2014 that figure had plummeted to just 2,400.

This would be a shame, but not necessarily be a problem if those housing giants were delivering the homes that we need. But they demonstrably aren't. Housebuilding in the UK is meandering along, and shows little sign of improvement. The House of Lords thinks we need 300,000 new homes every year to satisfy demand, but last year we built roughly half that many (170,000). Right now, the idea that we will reach the Government's target of one million new homes by 2020 looks like total fantasy.

The latest Department for Communities and Local Government figures reveal that work was started on 75,680 homes in the first half of 2016. That's down from 77,480 homes in the same period of 2015. It's just not good enough, but the large housebuilders don't see the need to speed up. According to the Local Government Association, there are a record 475,647 homes in England that have been given planning permission but have not been built. By releasing new homes at the current slow pace, the big housebuilders ensure that they get the biggest possible price. Great for their balance sheet, not so good for the housing crisis at large.

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Looking to the biggest housebuilders to do more is clearly not the answer. We've put the onus on them once too often. It's time to look elsewhere.

If we are to have a healthy housing market, we need a more diverse market, with a variety of building firms of different sizes delivering different types of home.

That means getting behind SME builders, as well as community-led builders and self-builders.

It also means not focusing all of our efforts on building homes aimed at owners, but also devoting more energy towards properties designed for the rental market. Innovation comes from opening up a market to smaller firms with new ideas, who can do things differently and still deliver, and who can be nimble and flex to changing market demands.

We desperately need this innovative approach in the housebuilding market.

What is clear too is that if smaller builders are to once again play a more meaningful role in the UK housing system, they need help. Accessing finance is evidently a problem. The IPF's Development Finance Review 2015 looked at a sample of UK banks, non-UK banks and alternative lenders to identify the lending options borrowers would have at different loan sizes. Of the 30 lenders it sampled, 29 would lend to developers looking to borrow between 20m-100m. In contrast those looking to borrow up to 1 million had just two lenders to choose from.

It's welcome that the Government has clearly targeted tackling the funding gap with its 5 billion Home Building Fund, which will be aimed primarily at small- and medium-sized developers.

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But focusing solely on finance would be a mistake. It is not just money that is holding back small developers. Access to land at the right price is far too difficult for small developers, and while the Government has promised action here by opening up public land for development, little progress has been seen thus far. According to the National Audit Office in July, just 8% of the Government's target for public land release for homes this Parliament has been achieved.

And then there's the skills void. If we are to have more small builders delivering more homes, then we need to do more to equip those developers with the skillsets and knowledge they need. We have launched the LendInvest Property Development Academy to do just that. Consisting of a two-day course in London in November and an online knowledge centre, the Academy will guide would-be developers through the planning minefield, helping them understand the different types of construction contract, and educating them on how to market those properties once they are finished.

The staggering number of applications we have already received to attend the Academy course is a clear sign that the appetite is there among prospective builders.

Last week LendInvest attended the Labour Party conference, and this week we will be at the Conservative Party conference. Our mission is to educate the great and the good of the political world on what a difference small-scale developers can make to the housing market. That both the Communities & Local Government Committee and the National Housing Taskforce have held inquiries into the housing market over the summer, including looking specifically at the role of small builders demonstrates that politicians are waking up to the fact that only by diversifying our sources of new housing beyond those building giants can we deliver the homes that the nation needs.
Newly-ennobled Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti chooses to send her son to a selective fee-paying school and the air is immediately scented with confected media outrage at this alleged 'hypocrisy.'

It isn't. She has never voiced any public criticism of private education to be hypocritical about, and the fact that fee-paying exists is a distraction to far bigger questions about how we ensure a decent education for most children.

The new prime minister, Theresa May, has made allowing new grammar schools a signature policy. It may even dissuade more parents from paying the fees demanded by private schools. But the difficulty with grammars is that it won't be parents doing the choosing.

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This is a problem. Selection generally works well for anyone selected, less satisfactorily for those left behind, which was one of the reasons grammar schools began to be phased out in 1965.

Mrs May hopes to combat this by obliging any new ones to build a 'high quality, non-selective free school' as well. There will also be obligations on private schools keen to keep their much-cherished, if curiously earned, charitable status to mentor state schools. But it is hard not to be apprehensive.

It can also be hard to get a grip of what is at stake. The debate about selective state schools is always one shot through with instinctive prejudices. Although Margaret Thatcher once described them as "a unique and irreplaceable educational ladder for the bright children of poor parents," grammars declined most on her watch as Education Secretary.

The discussion about their value will be fraught as it ever was: Between those who see grammars as bastions of good behaviour and high education standards, and those who see them as divisive and another way for the middle classes to manipulate their way into an excellent, free state service denied to others.

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The truth may be somewhere between these two positions. It is certainly reasonable to start with the assumption that what they were and what they have become is different, as Mrs May has noticed.

They do provide, generally, all that they ever did in terms of experiences and high academic standards. But they do so to an ever shrinking pool; and are lifted and enabled by those lucky enough to live nearby, often in areas where the poor have been edited out by rising house prices that may themselves be a consequence of the school.

It is certainly quite striking that only 2.6 per cent of grammar school pupils are eligible for free school meals, compared with 14.9 per cent across secondary education as a whole.

But there is also no denying that grammar schools are widely supported, and this cannot be ignored. Politicians need to listen to their electorate, especially to people outside of London who may not feel included in evidence of rising education standards.

For example, Hampshire has a population of 1.32 million and 13 secondary schools classified as 'outstanding' by the schools' regulator. The central London borough of Westminster, by contrast, has a population of just 226,000, but eight 'outstanding' secondaries. It is just no good telling the rest of the country that standards in the state system are rising if they aren't much where they live.

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But we must hold the Prime Minister to her promise of no return to that past when grammars creamed off the best pupils and staff, leaving an underperforming rump for everyone else.

There is also a less politically-charged alternative staring Government in the face. We now have free schools and academies managing to raise standards without resorting to academic selection.
The myth that unpaid labour looks good on the CVs of workers in creative industries has become an increasingly persuasive means of guilt-tripping young people into working for free. The Telegraph reported on the thousands of unpaid internships in 2014 being pursued and rising each year. It seems we have been forced to face the slow death of our ability to achieve with high self-esteem and confidence in what is rightfully ours- recognition.

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Remember the United Nations intern New Zealander, David Hyde, 22 who had to withdraw from his internship which he flew over 11,000 miles to get to? Due to media spectacle over living in a tent by Lake Geneva during his time spent working there, the international relations graduate drew world attention to the harsh living costs of the Swiss city and the little help he received from his employer. For a new graduate, he called it unbearably unaffordable to carry on. The competitive nature of the internship would make him feel lucky to have even been chosen. These internships ultimately become a luxury only for those who can afford to work for free for up to 6 months, creating a disadvantage for anyone falling below this bracket, starkly shedding light on the problem therein.

Some companies are complicit in primarily chipping at the self-confidence and self-assurance of young, ambitious, and hungry applicants before they have even applied for the high in demand position. By using language in the application process that creates a space, in which young people are made to feel fearful of the rarity in being selected. For these gold dust positions, getting the job dangerously becomes one of the few priorities and considerations made by eager graduates/students in the application process.

The candidate then becomes blind to his/her own accomplishments and achievements in being more than deserving and thus further blindsided to the financial strain and burden of the coming experience. Not to mention acceptance of potential ill-treatment from employers by abuse of time, brain power, and finance. By giving condescending menial tasks to carry out, such as coffee making, or research for time killing purposes only. Interns are then made to feel guilty for asking for something more challenging.

With all this, it is not even certain if graduates will even benefit from interning, it may even hinder their chances. As the National Association of Colleges conducted a study proving

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"graduates who took an unpaid internship ended up in a job with a lower starting salary than those who hadn't interned at all".

Somewhere along the line, we have been wrongly convinced to accept being part of a,

"paradigm whereby you, in turn, become replaceable. The rolling exploitation of unpaid workers and perpetual interns is based on a false notion of deferred reward,"

Editorial director of Rocks Backpages Barney Hoskyns voiced on social media.

The more we are accepting of these conditions the more we lose value and respect in our own intellect, integrity, and creativity. In turn, this largely impacts our view of self in the workplace, setting the tone in crippling our abilities to achieve and overall creating a very demotivating work ethic. As well as gaining a certified condescension we will not be considered as serious future contenders in the workplace. Nor will we be able to challenge ourselves beyond our own expectations or theirs in these environments.

It reminded me of the experiences of a friend who worked with a British company abroad, for a 2-month internship. She recalled feeling both bedazzled and intimidated by the experience. From the first day, It became clear she was under the responsibility of a mentor who was demotivated due to her redundancy news earlier that month, providing her intern with half-hearted knowledge and a lazy work ethic, to which my friend was still majorly appreciative of regardless. She had been working there for two weeks before she was formally introduced to the team, it took her until the day before her internship ended to speak to the company manager, even though their desks were positioned a metre away from one another.

The team she had grown accustomed to in the office were unwelcoming, unhelpful and intimidating. At times she had been drawn into office politics without consent. Further highlighting the lack of workplace rights available to interns, particularly when it came to religious or racial micro-aggressions. We feel strangled of speech when it comes to the behaviour of employers or colleagues in fears of losing the position we believed would be the keys to opening a flurry of doors for us. Or even due to inexperience these behaviours become normalised for a naive newbie.

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With many stories similar to this, the dead weight of an intern becomes more and more apparent. Not all companies in creative industries are guilty of this, there have been internships I have partaken in, which have been incredibly fruitful. Nor do all employers intentionally take advantage of young avid applicants. However, there is the lack of organisation, care, legal accountability and structure in place for interns, in places where we spend a lot of our time, energy and money.
Tensions in the Balkans have reached a height not seen in the region since the end of the war in Kosovo in 1999. At the same time, we are building a museum in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to promote peace. Are we as naive as our parents' generation had been to believe that war would not divide our country once more, or is this belief held rightfully so?

It was July 28, 1991, and the biggest stars in the Yugoslav music scene gathered one last time to play together in the name of peace before their country crumbled. The concert was held in Sarajevo, in the Zetra Olympic Hall that would, with the start of the city's siege just ten months later, be destroyed completely. The Siege of Sarajevo lasted 1,425 days and was the longest siege in modern history. The "Yutel for Peace" concert was not the only cry against war heard in Sarajevo; some 100,000 city dwellers took to the streets on April 5, 1992, but their calls for peace were silenced by the killing of six protesters. There was no turning back.

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Though the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended more than twenty years ago, the same parties that rose to power during its build-up had the strongest electoral outcomes in the recent October 2 elections. Nationalist party politicians have heightened tensions and retraumatized the masses in hopes of instilling a fear of other ethnic groups ahead of every election in the past two decades. People develop resistance to this method of manipulation; each subsequent cycle requires a larger dosage. That is why this time nationalist parties have amplified their hate speech and heightened tensions more than ever before.

The most significant outcome of this election cycle was in Srebrenica, where, for the first time since the return process began in 2000 for people who had been forced to leave during the war, a non-Bosniak mayor was elected. This will without a doubt negatively impact the lives of returnees who survived genocide in 1995. It won't help economic development either, taking into account that many investors backed Srebrenica for symbolic reasons. In the capital city of Sarajevo, the highest growth was recorded in the budding political alternative "Nasa Stranka" (Our Party), a social liberal party offering refuge to citizens who are tired of tension and crave accountability in politics.

Political brinksmanship has also yielded the September 25 referendum on the Republika Srpska entity's "statehood day", even though Bosnia and Herzegovina's Constitutional Court - the country's highest ruling court whose decisions are final and binding - had already ruled against it. Bosnian Serb politicians' lack of regard for the state judiciary denies the national sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Just three days before the referendum, Bosnian Serb leader and President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik met with Vladimir Putin, who voiced support for it. Russia, however, isn't the only world power staking its claim to the Balkans; Bosniak leader Bakir Izetbegovic has had the consistent backing of Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

While tensions simmer, the world's most anti-war museum is coming to life in Sarajevo. The War Childhood Museum, whose mission is to highlight the absurdity of war and to educate the public on children's lived experiences of war, is set to open in December 2016. In addition to documenting and presenting the multi-faceted experience of childhood during wartime through personal artifacts like ballet pointe shoes, rubber ducks, or fabric for a prom dress that was never sewn, the War Childhood Museum celebrates children's creativity and resilience.

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Operating throughout the country, the War Childhood Museum has grown into a platform of over 3,000 personal artifacts and stories where people can share their own memories and face the experiences of others. Instead of calling attention to differences, the Museum, which will be presented at the annual conference of the UK Museum Association in Glasgow in November 2016, strives to build a shared narrative based on understanding. You can support its further development through a crowd-funding campaign.

Still, one question is on the minds of the Museum's team: Can our calls for peace overcome the tensions that surround us? And are we as naive as our parents had been in the early 1990s when they believed in peace despite bearing witness to militarization?
What's the story?

With another years' worth of A-Level results gone, students across the country can look forwards to taking their next steps in life. Regardless if they are bound for university or heading straight into the workforce, the latest batch of secondary school leavers should be confident they have been equipped with the skillset they need to succeed in whatever they want to do.

However, 'should' is the key word here. As technology has seeped into seemingly every aspect of the work environment, for students to be employable today, companies require them to possess at least a basic understanding of how to use software for all sorts of tasks.

To keep up with this demand, the curriculum has been adjusted accordingly to incorporate a greater emphasis on IT systems. Using this infographic, we can see that students have recognised the importance of possessing IT skills, with the level of students completing some form of computing A-Level having risen by 16% compared to 2015. Yet according to the same source (information taken from JCQ - the singular voice of UK exam boards) , 90.2% of those who took Computing as a subject throughout their secondary education were male, whereas, in comparison, females dominated more artistic subjects, to the tune of 89.8%.

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What are the repercussions?

So the key question is not necessarily what has caused this split, but rather what does it mean? Whilst hard fact based subjects such as Computing, Economics and Law have all seen a rise in popularity across the board, less 'definitive' subjects such as Performing/Expressive Arts, Music and Drama have gone the other way. Perhaps, this is indicative of what skills employers are increasingly looking for, which would imply that female students on average will face a harder time finding employment as the subjects they dominate are becoming less relevant.

Furthermore, again looking at the infographic, mention is made of A/A* grades in Critical Thinking falling by 3.9%. As additional emphasis has been placed upon following rules and routines amongst those studying Computing, Maths etc., a scenario has arisen where they don't question the purpose or methodology behind what they are doing. Asking why, what, who, how and where are all elements that go into making up the Arts, so one could argue the case that as interest in them has waned, these questions are no longer being asked as frequently by pupils who would rather take up less 'artsy' subjects.

Therefore, it comes as little surprise that it was numeracy and language based subjects that posted the highest percentage of A/A* grades. Whilst it would be wrong to suggest that those students in this category are not incredibly hard and skilled workers, much of their understanding of these disciplines comes from repetition and regimentation.

What can teachers do to deal with this issue?

Should this trend continue, we could end up in a scenario where we have a workforce who excels in executing commands but struggles more so when formulating them for others to follow. With more females having a background in using cerebral skills to independently conceive of ideas, will a greater proportion of them end up in authoritative roles which require decision making? Whilst, of course, technical ability is a key component of any senior position, an effective manager will understand how it is not the be all and end all. Here, critical thinking is key for understanding how said knowledge fits into the bigger picture and both schools and employers need to realise that knowledge on its own is limited.

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True wisdom comes from knowing how to apply it and it is only by striking a balance between educational elements that our schools will produce the most well-rounded pupils with the most diverse set of skills.

Yet there are some simple yet effective moves that teachers and prospective teachers can make in order to do away with such a bleak portrayal of their student's futures. Rather than simply repeating the curriculum ad verbatim, teachers have a responsibility to their students to encourage them as to the purpose of their work.

Even before taking up a teaching position, prospective educators need to do their research and think to themselves 'is this an environment in which I can coax the maximum of potential from my class?' Predating the latest findings but forewarning today's issues, Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College has previously called for reforms to a system in which 'creative teaching is sacrificed to instruction and transmitting the right or approved answers'.
It's hot and dusty. But Vankar Shamji Vishram looks unfazed. His traditional handwoven outfit remains crisp and white through the day, as he confidently strides through his village of Bhujodi in Kutch like a master, encouraging the children to be part of the creative process. Here, nobody is an outsider when it comes to making textiles.

During a visit to Kutch earlier this year, we discovered master craftsman Shamji -- a born weaver, who creates not to survive but to be an expert at what he does. Shamji and his brothers have complementary skills and a talent that is so ingrained that anything they make by hand is a masterpiece. A skill passed on to him by his award winning ancestors, weaving is Shamji's heritage. It's what he knows best and it's what he will pass on to his future generations.

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Every single day, designers, students and treasure seekers from around the world visit Shamji to know more about what he does and eventually, to work with him and learn. Shamji graciously accompanies us all on the guided tour through his home and village, stopping to break for a warm home-cooked meal.

But Shamji is one of the many immensely talented craftspeople who contribute to the growing industry of sustainable fashion through their work. Craftsmanship is integral to the Indian landscape, and still largely an unorganised sector. According to Indian NGO Dasra, an estimated 7 million people work in the craft industry (with unofficial sources saying that number is 200 million). These skilled individuals are mostly creating for local markets, but few are also serving a larger base of international consumers.

World over, there is a return to craftsmanship and the creative process. At the recent Milan Fashion Week, Miuccia Prada's collection paid homage to craftsmanship and vintage fabrics. "I want to play my part in keeping craftsmanship alive," she said. Embroidery and embellishments were central to many collections on showcase there at Milan, hinting at artisanal skills and a return to craftsmanship.

But while this focus on handmade and artisans may only be a fad in the current fast-fashion industry, we at Karigar have made this our way of life. Having chosen to work with handmade textiles, our brand looks at helping heritage find its way to new markets by giving it a new look, feel and identity. Shapeshifting Heritage, is how we prefer to call it.

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We team up with rural artisans who have the technical skills and know how and through our understanding of the market, we use design to co-create a product that appeals to global consumers. It's a marriage of design and craft that is at the forefront of all our products. And in finding the right artisans to work with among this sea of 200 million craftspeople lies our challenge. Will it work? How do we create a product that will sell? How do we design so that the technique doesn't loose any of its intrinsic traditional qualities? And how do we find artisans with the right capability to translate our design vision?

This renewed global focus on craftsmanship will make an impact if it attracts more international or even local designers and brands to co-create with these skilled artisans and help expand the market for their craft.

While most artisans have the ability to create, they lack the design and marketing skills to make their crafts appeal to a wider global audience. These are the ones who need all the help they can get in the form of training, new designs or even that leap of faith to take a chance and work with them. And that's when the Indian craft industry will move from fringes to the forefront.

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Visits like the one to Kutch open up possibilities for young brands like ours. While it may not always end in an actual product being created, a day with individuals like Shamji give insights into the industry.

As we stop to watch Shamji's brother dyeing indigo, he smells and tastes the indigo to check if it's in the right phase of fermentation.

For some they craft to survive, others strive for perfection. And some, like Shamji, live it.
Getty

Theresa May has announced that Britain will ratify the Paris Agreement before the end of this year. A welcome and necessary step in averting a local, national, and global climate crisis. However, with no indication the government intends to reject airport expansion proposals at Gatwick and Heathrow, ratification begins to look like empty symbolism. Either that or the Prime Minister simply doesn't understand the agreement on which she is about to put pen to paper.

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The agreement, which is due to enter into force later this week when the EU joins the USA, India, China, and Brazil in ratifying the accord, was reached in December and pledges to limit average global temperature increases to well below 2C. The text also retains an 'ambition' to keep increases below 1.5C. In practical terms, to have any hope of meeting our commitments under the agreement, every sector of the UK will have to be re-focused to take a stake in the fight against climate catastrophe.

The signals across the board, are, unfortunately, troublesome; fast-tracking fracking and stripping away support for renewables is hindering the transition to a low-carbon energy industry. Despite this, it is the energy sector that is still showing the most promising signs of moving towards a cleaner future. The real failure of government climate policy is manifest in the transport sector. In fact, the most recent report on UK emissions demonstrated that far from decarbonising transport, the Conservatives are presiding over increasing emissions.

One of the largest contributors to transport emissions is the aviation industry. An industry exempt from binding CO2 limits and subject to no legally-binding fuel efficiency requirements. Aviation inhabits a regulatory world of its own, exempt from playing its part in mitigating climate change. As a top-ten global polluter, the industry emits more CO2 every year than the 129 countries with the lowest annual emissions. And, worryingly, emissions are expected to balloon by 300% - if no concerted action is taken sooner rather than later.

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Countries committing to the Paris Agreement, therefore, require a credible plan for curbing aviation emissions, if they are to demonstrate any real intention of honouring the deal.

While the British Prime Minister is making the right noises on the Paris deal, the ratification announcement is due within weeks of an expected Commons free vote determining whether the government should support runway building at either Heathrow or Gatwick. Theresa May can encourage airport expansion or make a genuine commitment to meeting the climate objectives set out in Paris. She cannot do both.

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The case for airport expansion in the UK has a long and not particularly glorious history stretching back to the last Labour administration. Successive governments have kicked the politically sensitive issue into touch; Gordon Brown passed the buck to David Cameron; Cameron, as a parting gift, handed it off to Theresa May. The government and industry line is that expansion is the 'only solution to the UK's airport crisis'. But this is a myth. It has always been a myth. It is the multi-million-pound budgets of the airports and the pro-expansion lobby that are trying to convince us otherwise.

Britain is already amongst the most frequent flyers in the world, in fact, more passengers fly in and out of London than any other city in the world. Apart from Heathrow, however, every airport in the country is operating under capacity. The so-called 'crisis' is not one of capacity, but one of planning and management.

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The vast majority of the UK's airport capacity, 70% of flights, is used by a minority of frequent flyers, 15% of passengers. Many of these passengers are professionals travelling for work, but, owing to developments in flexible, remote, and digital working solutions, businesses should be able to cut the number of flights they ask their employees to take by 20%. The World Wild Fund for Nature is currently running a scheme to help organisations achieve this target within in just five years.

Moreover, the cases put by Gatwick and Heathrow, alongside relying on vastly inflated job creation predictions, hinge on a dubious assumption; demand for air travel will continue increasing. Industry experts, however, have been pessimistic in their forecastsfollowing the EU referendum.

With a free vote looming, I'm asking MPs to consider not the false choice between Gatwick and Heathrow, but the kind of future we want to build for Britain.

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Prioritising the needs of a small number of businesses over the needs of ordinary holidaymakers and listening to corporate lobbyists while ignoring the local communities set to suffer the immediate air and noise pollution impacts of expansion is hardly a step towards delivering a country that 'works for the many, not the privileged few'. Moreover, ratifying the Paris Agreement without any intention of honouring its commitments and, subsequently, failing to deliver a secure future for our children and our children's children is hardly working in the long-term interests of the British people.
John. F. Kennedy said with reference to the Soviet Union "We cannot negotiate with people who say what's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable," and that's a good description of the EU's reaction to Britain's current negotiating stance on Brexit. Brexit has united European leaders like nothing else in recent years. They have privately, and in some cases publicly, responded with a firm 'no' to the British Government's so-called red lines of wishing to continue to enjoy tariff free access to the EU Single Market, while restricting the free movement of EU nationals.

What is baffling is that the British Government seems to be surprised by this negative reaction. The working assumption, in Whitehall and Westminster, is that the Europeans will not object to the Britain's Brexit policy of, as the British Foreign Secretary delicately put it last week, 'having our cake and eating it', because they will not do anything to risk their commercial, business or economic interests, or harm their relationship with us.

These are the same false assumptions that have blighted Britain's relationship with the EU and its predecessor organisations for over half a century. Britain has never understood that the EU is above all a political project. Some in Britain even reminisce how they were misled into joining the Common Market because the real political aims, such as ever closer union, were carefully hidden. The fact that the political aims, including an ever closer union, were fully spelt out in the original 1957 Treaty of Rome is an inconvenient truth.

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It's true there is still a lot of respect and admiration for Britain on the Continent but the reservoir of good-will has been running on empty for years, as Britain pursued a half-hearted approach to many of the EU's policies. So European politicians argue there really isn't much of a relationship left to harm, and in any case who's walking away from whom?

And whilst of course the remaining EU Member States will seek to protect their interests, their political considerations, both domestic and European, will be uppermost in their minds when they weigh any possible business, commercial or economic risks in rejecting Britain's so-called red lines. They also believe that if Britain's demands are rejected the British Government doesn't really have much room for manoeuvre. Does the Government threaten to stay, or threaten to leave the EU, in the event of their demands not being met?

It's true the Germans, the French, and others will not want to willingly put at risk their exports. But there are so many other considerations, including their view that Britain's departure from the Single Market actually represents a huge potential business opportunity in terms of penetrating other EU markets, or the 52 markets internationally where the EU enjoys preferential trade access but Britain, at least for several years, will not. But above all, given the EU is a political construct, European Governments fundamentally believe that whatever the short run risks in the long run business will be better off in a strong and united Union.

The British Government needs to rapidly come to terms with this realpolitik if it is to avoid being out manoeuvred and develop a negotiating strategy that is as much about give as it is about take. Developing an accurate understanding of the other side is one of the most important things a negotiator can do.

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The term Scandi style is bandied around by millennials and hipsters, but have they got it right? I recently read a feature in a well known UK glossy magazine about Scandi style based on the recent Copenhagen fashion week. Now I know how fashionistas dress is not how the regular person does but it made me chuckle a little as I had never seen anyone dressed like that on the streets here and here was a magazine urging women to embrace Danish style.

I asked about it amongst Facebook groups I am in and one 22 year old woman in London said this to me, "Certainly in my group of friends we say 'scandi' for clothes that are more contemporary and interesting shapes, like cut off culottes or tops that are not traditional shapes. Forward thinking in design, maybe using interesting illustrations, practical work and casual clothing with an edge essentially. But now you mention it I have no idea if that actually reflects what's going on in Scandinavia."

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Photo credit: Ty Stange/Visit Copenhagen

In a way it does reflect Danish style but Danish fashion is like their homes -- sleek, simple and pared down with the odd bit of crazy thrown in.

Monochrome and simple lines are always in fashion here. Take one of the super stylish mums I see at the school gate everyday -- she has a pair of loose silky black trousers on most days (not the same pair I am sure!), a simple T shirt (sometimes with an image on, sometimes stripy and sometimes plain, never in a bright colour) and a pair of white sneakers. What, on paper, could sound sloppy looks anything but. When I mentioned how stylish she looks, she was genuinely surprised.

So here are the key things you need in your wardrobe to embrace Scandi style this winter...

skinny jeans in black or grey (rarely blue) or loose black trousers tapered at the ankles

shorter black skirt with thick tights

simple but well cut T shirts

tailored shirts or jackets

soft leather jacket

soft woollen jumper or long cardigan (again monochrome). Chunkier on top with skinny jeans

a scarf (it's how Danish women keep their heads on) -- this can be colourful but don't go mad

sneakers especially from New Balance or Nike

or ankle boots that look just the right side of worn

big stylish bag or statement handbag by a Scandinavian designer (black leather bum bags as shoulder bags are still a thing here)

But like I say there is always a bit of crazy thrown in. An enduring fashion in the nine years I have lived here is bright patterned trousers -- first they were MC Hammer style and now more skinny legged but crazy nevertheless.

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This year's crazy is sparkly or novelty socks (avocado is not just for your toast) with sneakers and culottes. Sparkly skirts and animal print (but not together) or vintage band t-shirts. The crazy is always paired with the simple style above so works. Vintage is also a great way to show a bit of individuality and there are some great vintage shops in the city. I recently popped into a little one in my neighbourhood (which I am keeping in my secret address book) and came out with two amazing silk tops for less than 15.

So if you want to really dress like a Dane then check out these five Instagrammers for some real style inspiration.

Laura Lawaetz @lauralawaetz

Laura is the digital director at Elle Denmark and is about to go on maternity leave. Her feed at the moment is great inspiration as to how to dress stylishly whilst pregnant.

Trine Kjr @trineswardrobe

Blogger at Trine's Wardrobe, one of the biggest Danish fashion blogs and the owner and creator of her own beauty line.

Simone Moelle @simonemoelle

Lifestyle blogger and chief marketing officer at startup Woomio.

Marie Hindkr Wolters @blamefashion

Fashion blogger and beauty director at Costume magazine

Emily Salomon @emilysalomon

Fashion blogger and writer

And for some vintage inspiration @cirkusvintage and @pragcopenhagen
During a recent visit to Abu Dhabi, I went to the first public viewing of the film Abdullah. This was the first time I had seen an Emirati film. You can watch a trailer here. Abdullah was financed by the Abu Dhabi government, stars Abu Dhabi actors and was produced and directed by Abu Dhabi citizens. The viewing took place in the rarefied atmosphere of the New York University Abu Dhabi campus and attendees had to pre-register. I was not sure what to expect about the film's content, its quality or the audience reaction. There was a sense of nervous anticipation as the lights dimmed and the film started. This was a rare cinematic moment and had the sense of being a touch risky. In a tightly controlled and often segregated society, here were men and women of different cultures sitting together watching a potentially subversive medium dealing with a controversial topic.

The film makes a suitably tense start enhanced by tight camera angles and sparse dialogue, particularly from the film's hero. Abdullah, a native of Abu Dhabi (played by Abu Dhabi actor Mohammed Ahmed) is growing up in a traditional household where his father's word is law and his older brother Hamad (Humaid Alawadi) delights in getting him into trouble. Abdullah feels the shock from the electric fence of tradition from an early age. His father confiscates a video tape of a cartoon after his brother gleefully informs that it ends with the boy and girl kissing on the lips. In the next scene, there is no kissing of any kind when he is handed a toy keyboard by a girl and tentatively presses the keys. Something much more important happens; Abdullah starts a love affair with music. His playmate allows him to keep the toy. His father does not; snatching it away from him as he, Abdullah, crouches in a corner. In his youth, Abdullah turns to the traditional Arab instrument the lute-like oud but his efforts to master it lead to confrontation. After giving up on a dead end job, he flees the family home and moves into a flat accompanied by a piano and portraits of European composers.

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While ostensibly a personal journey, there is no hiding the political message of the film. As Abdullah struggles to earn a living as a film score composer in a society which remains wary of such foreign cultural imports as Western classical music and film, he discovers that the national anthem tune was written by a foreigner. He battles to persuade "The Ministry" to adopt his composition or even to allow it to be played in public. In his efforts to achieve a public performance of his piece, he is helped by a British family who are his neighbours and the American conductor of the national symphony orchestra (also largely made up of non-Emirati musicians). As the film moves towards its climax (or rather crescendo), Abdullah's personal relationships suffer and he becomes increasingly desperate.

Abdullah is a cautious exploration of tensions in Abu Dhabi society: young Emiratis fretting at the need to conform to tradition, the perceived threat to those traditions from foreign culture and the reliance of Abu Dhabi on foreign expertise. In the end, it is perhaps too cautious but represents an important step in the development of a homegrown debate. When the lights came up, the audience applauded enthusiastically. There is hope for a debate about the direction of Abu Dhabi society. In the meantime, Emirati film needs to find a distinctive voice and avoid well worn tropes such as the struggling artist in his garret and music as a metaphor for Western liberal culture.

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Further Information

Abdullah

Arabic and English dialogue (with English subtitles), 97 minutes

Rating: PG

Director: Humaid Al-Suwaidi

Producers: Humaid Al-Suwaidi, Ahmed Lotfy
wildpixel via Getty Images

Mental health is a topic which is extremely important to be aware of. Anyone can suffer from a mental health issue at any point in their lifetime. The taboos and stigma associated with it are slowly decreasing every day, due to campaigning, social media and people working together to help others. However, there is still yet to be compulsory teaching about it, which would allow student to receive detailed information and advice about mental health issues.

I am currently an 18 year old Sixth Form student, meaning that I only left high school education 2 years ago. Whilst at school, I remember barely receiving any information about mental health and advice on what to do if I or someone I knew was struggling. I suffer from anxiety disorders to a large severity. I did not find information and advice through the education system, but from my own research and that only occurred because I became stuck in such a dark place in my mind. One of the reasons for this is that there really were not any lessons about this topic and if they mentioned it, it was only spoken about very briefly.

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Additionally, I also know a large number of people who are around my age that struggle to a large extent with their mind and issues; being unable to receive much help or advice in schools.

From what I am aware of, teachers do not really receive training in how to help students who are struggling with mental health issues; which is half the problem. There has been a large increase of young people suffering from mental health issues over the past few years, and many of them have to deal with these illnesses in adulthood too. As a mental health blogger, as well as someone with mental health issues herself, I find it terrifying that there is not that much access to support in schools. It is all well and good going to your GP, but again, many young people just get pushed away and it will make the individuals' feel even worse and hopeless.

I understand funding may be an issue, but surely there is a way around it? These are the future generations we are talking about here. We want them to live happy and fulfilled lives, but that cannot be done unless they are listened to, given support and do not feel isolated. Having specific and detailed lessons about mental health helps to open that door of support for young people, so they do not feel isolated or alone with their minds. I still suffer largely with my mind, as do many of my friends, this may have been made a bit less likely if we had felt that we had support from the education system; especially as school can be extremely stressful at times for adolescents. There are so many experience that young people have to go through to get to that doorway of adulthood and this period is so important, as the experiences that we go through have a life changing effect on how we see ourselves and the world around us. There is still so much to achieve in making the taboos and stigma attached to mental health non-existent. A goal which can only be achieved from steps like making it a large importance in the education system and so forth. Knowledge, empathy and support are all things that are needed to stop stigma and create awareness.

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I hope this has been an interesting post to read.

Much love,

Rhi. X
Here's a shocking figure. In the last seventy years, the population of British hedgehogs has declined by 96.6 percent. Think about that for a minute. That's an almost extinction level reduction in numbers.

Just last month the State of Nature report reinforced what those of us who work at the sharp end of conservation in the UK have long known. British wildlife is in a parlous state and while not yet in terminal decline, is reaching a tipping point beyond which it will be impossible to reverse the damage already done.

The report concluded that more than one in 10 of the 4,000 British species surveyed face extinction in the wild in the UK. Embarrassingly for a 'green and pleasant land' the UK was revealed to be among the most "nature-depleted countries in the world". We lag behind most of our European neighbours when it comes to looking after our natural environment. 56 percent of the species monitored over the last 46 years have declines. This is where we are as a nation of animal lovers. We are standing on the cusp of a national disaster. The finger is pointing at several culprits. Modern farming practices which rely on damaging pesticides and insecticides and favour monoculture over diversity have created bio deserts. Climate change is sending the natural patterns which govern wildlife haywire. There's no denying that weather patterns are changing. This year particularly I've noticed some of the impacts of our longer, warmer summer. Animals are having more young which means rescue centres such as mine stay busier for longer. While this might sound like good news for wildlife numbers, it means that the late born young have much more of a struggle to survive and resources are fewer. Many end up in centres like mine. This year's orphan season was one of our most demanding yet and we almost reached a point where all our pens and cages were full. Wildlife is held in a delicate balance and if the balance is upset, things start to go awry. They already are.

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One of the most important aspects of the State of Nature report and the headlines it generated was that for a time, it diverted headlines away for conservation messages around the bigger, more high profile endangered species and reminded people that smaller, lesser known species such as the large blue butterfly and the short haired bumble bee are also in peril. This is important because the natural world exists in a complex, holistic web of interlocking systems and when the ones at the bottom get knocked out of kilter, everything above suffers. I still remember my first science lesson in secondary school. It was an explanation of how the food chain works and how everything at the top relies on everything at the bottom. The subtext was clear; ignore the small stuff at your peril.

It's long been my concern that if the chain breaks then everything will topple, including mankind. It is so easy to get excited about the big iconic species such as elephants and lions and forget that they all rely on an intact food chain so all species, right down to the invertebrates, are equally as important.

Over the past decade we have seen a gradual erosion of polices and measures designed to protect the planet and reverse some of the damage man has done to the environment. The climate change agreement made in Paris in December 2015 was commendable but there is still far to go. Sadly, the clock is now ticking ever louder and time is running out. The planet is saying enough is enough and you can find the evidence at all levels; local as well as global. Which is why people who care about the planet, wildlife, the robustness of the food chain and climate change need to make their voices heard and need to take action, no matter how small. The organisation I run, The Wildlife Aid Foundation, has launched an awareness campaign and action plan. iDot is a call to arms for everyone who cares about the world. It is a very simple message. If we all do one thing a day to help wildlife and the natural world around us, our combined efforts will add up to something huge.

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Matt Cardy via Getty Images

I shouldn't be writing this blog. As you read this there is a crisis in Syria, climate change threatens global irreversible change and the USA might be about to elect their own, permatanned, US equivalent of Nigel Farage.

But our foreign policy focus is elsewhere. The angry, mainly white men of British politics, Davis, Fox, Johnson, Farage, Cameron and Corbyn have forced the whole of the government's diplomatic and economic machine down a Brexit cul-de- sac.

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But at least it gives me the opportunity to proclaim, I am English, British and European and proud of it.

When I was a teenager, I went to school near Paris. Some of the teachers were 'mutile de guerre', wounded in the Second World War and in the case of one teacher at least, he had a metal plate in his skull to prove it. They had lived in Europe pre-Common Market and European Union. They had experienced war, they understood the point of the EU. It was and still is, about building and preserving peace. That is what the vainglorious Brexiteers have put in jeopardy.

To those who say war in Europe will never happen again, remember Bosnia. I have friends, who live in Croatia, who remember all too well, hiding in cellars when the air raid sirens went off. When, the 1940s? No, the 1990s. Zeljko, my friend, served in the Croat army during that war.

How has our new PM responded to the destructive instability Brexit has created for a whole continent? She has appointed the three leading Brexiteers Johnson, Fox, and Davis to lead the Brexit negotiations.

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Is she serious? They got us into this fine mess in the first place.

They are already making their suitability for their roles plain. Fox is leading the charge for British business by blasting them for being fat and lazy and telling them to invest outside the UK. Davis has broken his first major deadline - a pledge that the Prime Minister would have initiated a round of trade negotiations with our major trading partners by 9th Sept. 2016. As for Johnson, he's had more flip flops on his stance on the EU, than he has had flip flops in his Daily Telegraph column on his stance on the EU.

The Prime Minister, since she was anointed by that exclusive electorate, Tory MPs, hasn't had many masterstrokes, but allocating Chevening to be shared between the three Brexiteers was a genius ploy.

I can imagine them sitting around an open fire, swords and lances fanned out on the wall above the stone mantelpiece, bourbon or whisky in hand, each boasting 'mine's bigger than yours.' It is too sickening to contemplate. I doubt even Chevening is capacious enough to accommodate those three massive egos.

And as they down glass after glass, they scoff at how easy it was to hoodwink people into believing post-Brexit, 350 million a week would be pumped into the NHS. At Prime Minister's questions a few weeks ago, I put in a bid that the first two weeks, 700 million's worth, should be reserved for the reconstruction of my hospital, St Helier Hospital. The Prime Minister didn't even offer one of those new plastic 5s for St Helier.

Corbyn cannot escape criticism either. While Tim Farron, the Lib Dems and even Cameron were on the 'Stronger In' barricades, where was Corbyn? Deliberately sabotaging Labour's Remain campaign according to leaked emails.

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We must of course be critical of Cameron too. This is a man so sure of his powers of persuasion, that he was deluded enough to think that in 4 months he could overturn the previous 30 years of vitriol that he, and senior Tories, had dripped on the EU. Always blaming, never commending.

But people did vote for Brexit and I respect that.

And I respect Parliamentary Sovereignty, the battle cry of many a Brexiteer, and Parliament's right to debate and vote on the Government's proposed negotiating stance before it seeks to invoke Article 50.

And I respect the people's right to vote on our destination at the end of the Article 50 deliberations - a destination which could be the Brexit deal or the status quo. We will fight to ensure people's voices are heard.

Since the EU referendum, the Lib Dems have not been idle in Parliament. We have introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill, 'EU citizens in the UK (Right to Stay)' Bill. This tries to force the Government into providing certainty for the millions of hard working EU citizens here, whose lives have been upturned more quickly than you can say "take back control", and lance the racist boil the Leave Campaign has given permission to grow and fester.

We've also helped establish an All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Movement. Both these initiatives will help support the 1.5-2million UK citizens in EU countries who face being used as bargaining chips by other EU countries, in the same way the UK Government is using EU citizens here.

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The country is yearning for a party that is open, tolerant and united and equipped to deal with the ructions caused by Brexit. The Tory Party, the nasty party, can never satisfy that need and Labour are too focused on internal purges.
For those of us living with electricity, it is easy to forget the social and economic impact of going without. Power shortages cut economic growth by 2 to 4% annually. Households without electricity pay 60 to 80 times more for energy-related products -- charcoal, candles and kerosene -- than people in New York or London. Health clinics without electricity struggle to refrigerate medicine and exposure to smoke from wood-fired cook stoves cause more than 4 million premature deaths each year.

Great strides have been made in recent decades to increase global access to electricity, but there is still too large a gap between the haves and the have-nots. More than one billion people -- roughly 15% of the global population -- still lack access, and to achieve access for all by 2030, the pace of expansion must double.

It was with this goal in mind that nearly 600 off-grid renewable energy practitioners and leaders from the public and private sector gathered in Nairobi, Kenya last week for the third International Off-Grid Renewable Energy Conference (IOREC). The event was entirely focused on boosting electricity access through the development of off-grid renewables, as estimates suggest these solutions will provide the majority of additional generation needed to achieve 100% access. After two days of discussions, panels and debates, it became clear that achieving universal access through off-grid renewables has never been more possible than it is today.

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We are already seeing early examples of off-grid success. In Bangladesh, a solar home system programme deployed 280,000 systems in six years between 2002 and 2008. Today, it deploys the same number in fewer than five months. The programme now benefits over 18 million beneficiaries - 11% of the total population. In Africa, M-KOPA Solar has connected more than 375,000 homes in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to solar power with 550 more added daily. For a deposit of USD 35, buyers get the system then make 365 daily payments of $0.43 through mobile money system M-Pesa. When it is all paid off, the system belongs to the buyer.

So why are these solutions booming? The promise of off-grid renewables is broadly captured by three main cases:

The economic case

Thanks to dramatic cost reductions in recent years, renewable technologies are now the default cost-competitive choice for off-grid installations, both stand-alone and mini-grids, in most rural and peri-urban areas. They can be significantly cheaper than diesel-fired generation or kerosene-based conventional lighting.

In Bangladesh for example, the solar home programme replaces 242,000 tons of kerosene, saving $300 million annually. Likewise, if Nigeria used modern off-grid lighting solutions, it would save more than $1.4 billion annually. What's more, costs are expected to decline even further in the coming years.

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The social case

The deployment of off-grid renewables directly creates jobs, and not just for the installers and those working within the renewable industry, but also for those who gain meaningful employment through industries created from newly gained access to reliable electricity supply. IRENA estimates that at least 4.5 million jobs can be created in the off-grid electricity sector by 2030, in positions ranging from entrepreneurs and technicians, to installers and distributors.

Efforts made to increase energy access also benefit other sectors critical to human development. Access to electricity can improve the accessibility and reliability of the water supply for drinking and irrigation. Solar irrigation solutions can help increase farmer yields by 300%. It can also facilitate extension of basic rural healthcare services and enable the outreach of telecommunication services in rural or island contexts.

The environmental case

Another compelling case for off-grid renewables is the impact, or rather lack of impact, it has on the environment. The energy sector accounts for two-thirds of global emissions. As such, any effort to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change must focus heavily on decarbonising the global energy system. IRENA research has found that doubling the global share of renewables by 2030 to 36% - combined with energy efficiency measures - would cut emissions to the level required to stay on the two degree pathway as enshrined in the Paris Agreement.

Development with off-grid renewables offers a path to leapfrog the polluting route historically taken by developed economies -- one that is not even a feasible option for countries of certain sizes and regions of the world. Small island states are particularly affected by climate change, and for many of the 750 million people living in the inhabited 10,000 islands around the world, the means or resources for large-scale energy production and a national grid connection are limited. In these cases mini-grids powered with diesel generators offer a route to energy access. Incorporating renewables into these mini-grids through the addition of solar PV, wind turbines, and particularly biodiesel, is an attainable goal.

The way forward

Thankfully, the strong business case for deploying off-grid renewables in rural areas is driving innovative business models, which is encouraging growth in the sector.

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Key market development initiatives, including the Green Mini-Grids Market Development Programme, Beyond the Grid Initiative, and the ECOWAS Programme on Access to Sustainable Energy Services, are steps in the right direction. But to achieve scale, off-grid grid renewable energy development must transform from a project-by-project endeavour to one that is market driven, a message that resonated strongly at IOREC last week.

This will require collective efforts to create an enabling environment that supports the scale-up of energy access efforts through private sector participation. This includes adopting an effective policy and regulatory framework, along with tailored business and financing models and adapting technologies to the rural context. If the enabling environment is appropriate, off-grid solutions can be deployed rapidly to extend electricity access for meeting basic needs but also for promoting productive uses.

These enabling policies can also create a more secure environment to encourage investment. We currently invest $9 billion a year on energy access, but five times that is needed to achieve universal access. This investment is beginning to trickle in. In the last three years, investments in the off-grid solar sector increased 15-fold, and private sector players are raising substantial financing from impact investors, private equity funds, corporates, government development finance, donors and crowd funding.
Marketing as a B2B company requires a much different approach than an approach used by a B2C. Whether you are trying to convert your management style to a Moneyball technique or otherwise, there are certain marketing strategies you'll need to implement to help with creating a more successful business. Most of these strategies involve reaching the over 2 billion people that access the internet daily. Here are some of the hottest areas of B2B marketing right now.

1. Email Marketing Services

Email marketing has been a success for businesses since the early days of the internet. It is surprising for many business owners to know that this is still one of the most effective ways of marketing still to this day.

With technology constantly evolving and more devices becoming available for consumers to use their email on, most people have their email attached to every device. This means that, as a business, you have access to reach millions of people every day through emailing and knowing that your customers are going to get the email.

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Creating an email with relevant and useful content can lead to existing customers purchasing from you again. This can also help with getting new customers to join you.

Many different companies such as Kohl's and Marshalls have found email marketing to be very useful for them. Any company willing to deliver quality content in an email has the chance to convert more leads.

2. Quality Marketing of Your Content

While content marketing has exploded itself as being one of the most beneficial marketing strategies, it's important to take a close look at the quality of your content and how you intend to market that content.

While content production needs to be relatively high, it also needs to be quality and marketed correctly to make an impact on the search engines. Having information that is either too short and doesn't contain great quality content overall or has no "take-off" because it wasn't marketed correctly can actually be a detrimental thing to your business.

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The search engines will find that your content is irrelevant and it just won't show up on search engines. Even if you have a quality post, if you haven't found a way to target that content, it can lead to a failure.

2. Social Selling Helps a Lot

With the rise of social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, businesses are now expected to sell on these social media websites. Social media has opened up a door for a salesperson to directly communicate with the prospect. This allows you to answer any questions your customers may have and help them find solutions to their problems.

Being interactive on social media will help with selling products online. This is especially true for B2B through LinkedIn. This will be a huge selling point because you can directly contact businesses to get them interested in your product. With an entire social media of businesses and business professionals, targeting this website for your B2B marketing could be an ideal way to increase sales.

3. Look at Augmented Data

Data is important, especially online. When you're marketing, you need to analyze "Big Data" as they call it. This means you have to look at the different trends in the market and how you can use it to better your marketing strategy.

While this isn't a direct marketing strategy, looking and analyzing through tons of data can help you understand your customers better, what's trending right now and what you can do to incorporate this into your product or service. Even in B2B, this is important because you need to know what problems' businesses are facing and how your product can better align with their marketing strategy.

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Know your market and the businesses in it through using big data points.

4. Automation Software

If you want to close the gap between your marketing strategy and your sales, an automation software can be the solution you're looking for in your business marketing. Most often, this automation software can help with predicting your B2B Lead Score for each prospect.

Using a scoring system to rank each lead by who is sales-ready and most in need of your software can help with spending less time marketing toward the wrong people. This conversion system should help with finding the best leads, providing nurturing through relevant information, and helping them through each cycle of the sales conversion.

5. Measured Marketing Systems

Calculating your ROI and measuring the activities on it can help with understanding what's going on in your business and where you are going wrong in your marketing strategies.

You need to make sure that you are making the right conversions and spending the least amount of money to do it. Looking into your ROI and making tweaks can be one of the best ways to improve your B2B marketing strategy. Take all of your information from the automation system and augmented data to help with finding the best trends in your industry and apply changes to your business to reflect those trends.

The more you measure the effects of your marketing skills, the more successful the B2B marketing strategy. Take time to see where you can improve on your strategy and measure those marketing systems as well in comparison to the milestones you want to reach.

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Use These to Help Build Your B2B Marketing Strategy
In 1960 the Eisenhower Administration imposed the first partial embargo (limited to exports) to communist Cuba, and Cuban-Americans and the GOP have been making beautiful music together ever since. Now, thanks to Donald Trump's political infidelities, the Miami-GOP marriage may be headed for the rocks.

The recent discovery of Donald Trump's apparent violation of the U.S. trade embargo is about much more than one candidate's prospects for election. It represents the clearest and newest evidence of a slow but undeniable shift in the relationship between Cuban-Americans and the Republican Party.

Since 1962, when Pres. Kennedy did Eisenhower one better by enacting a full embargo on Cuba, every single Republican nominee for the White House has enthusiastically supported its continuation. And every Republican Presidential aspirant since then has made a point of promising the Cuban diaspora that he would maintain the US's hardline stance against the Castro dictatorship.

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For over 50 years, it's been a beautiful relationship: Republicans pledged their undying devotion to the Cuban-American cause, and the exile community delivered the diasporic version of the siempre fiel isla [ever-faithful island] of Cuba's colonial days. Of course, beyond the quadrennial dance of hearts and chocolates and flowers they enjoyed a relationship of mutual convenience. Republicans could count on a reliable -- and sizeable -- voting bloc in an increasingly important state for national elections. And Cuban-American leadership reaped the benefits of exile-friendly policies, not to mention a level of political clout in Washington arguably disproportionate to their actual population.

The Miami-GOP bond remained strong through the 1980s, with the Reagan-Bush years arguably its apogee of mutual passion. By the mid-1990s, however, its dissolution had begun. Although Bill Clinton never carried Miami-Dade's Cuban vote, his 42% showing in 1996 kept Bob Dole's share under 50%, and was instrumental in Clinton's winning Florida. No Republican presidential candidate has carried Miami-Dade since then.

Cuban-Americans of a certain generation have remained loyal to the GOP, but their relevance has declined as their numbers dwindle. Most of those still living from the original 1959-1960 exiles are about as old as Fidel Castro (90) and his "younger" brother Raul (85). The anti-Castro fervor that united the community has faded over subsequent generations, with fewer and fewer younger Cuban-Americans willing to pick up the baton. And the influx of so many other Hispanic immigrant groups -- and even Cubans more recently arrived -- with their own political agendas (or none at all) dilute the hardliners' political leverage even further.

It's not as if Miami Cubans didn't already know that Trump is not to be trusted. In September 2015 Trump told The Daily Caller that opening U.S.-Cuba relations was "fine," while complaining that Pres. Obama "should have made a better deal." That was before the Florida primaries, which Trump perhaps figured he would lose to Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush anyway. Now, with Florida's 29 electoral votes poised to boost either he or Hillary Clinton to a November victory, the prodigal suitor has returned to woo the Cuban-American votes he now desperately needs. On September 16 -- almost exactly a year after his pro-Cuba remarks, Trump returned to the longstanding Republican script, promising to reverse Obama's executive orders on U.S.-Cuba relations unless the island nation agrees to "religious and political freedom for the Cuban people" and "the freeing of political prisoners."

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And despite the flip-flop, and its obvious insincerity -- he even asked his audience "Is that right?," the political equivalent of the nervous husband wondering whether he's said exactly what the Mrs. wanted to hear -- it might have worked, too. Except Newsweek's bombshell exposing Trump's 2004 secret business dealings with Cuba exploded into the headlines two weeks later. What it blew up, at least for this election cycle, was the remaining semblance of the once-cozy relationship between Cuban-Americans and the GOP.

Many couples endure not out of love, but because of habit or inertia, or codependence and fear. They muddle along, unhappy together but afraid of the alternative. Sometimes one partner is willing to tolerate neglect, any number of slights and indiscretions, to avoid facing the sad truth. Until one day, they suffer a betrayal so brazen, so humiliating -- and so public -- that the only way to preserve their self-respect is to leave. Cuban-American Republicans in Washington -- most notably Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who is giving Trump "the benefit of the doubt" -- may continue to support their nominee despite his now-public betrayal. For many of their constituents, however, all bets are off.

Perhaps in 2020 the GOP's Presidential nominee will begin to heal the damage that Trump has undeniably done to the party's Cuban-American coalition. Many marriages recover from infidelities. Trust can always be regained, though it will never again be what it was. But for now, that bridge is well and truly burned. And the timing of Newsweek's expose leaves Trump no time to repair the bridge that he so desperately needed to cross en route to a Florida -- and perhaps national -- victory.

The long love affair between Cuban-Americans and the GOP has been on the wane for at least a decade now, and was probably headed toward a slow, sad end anyway. But as U.S. politicians have learned the hard way -- with Pres. Clinton's Elian debacle as Exhibit A -- one double-crosses Cuban-American voters at their own peril.

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Do you know anyone who has been impacted by Breast Cancer?

Chances are, you do. Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women. In fact, 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in their lifetime.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This month is all about raising funds, spreading the word about mammograms and supporting those with the disease. While many people know someone affected by breast cancer, many forget to take the correct steps to detect the disease in its early stages, and encourage others to do the same.

So, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here's three things you can do:

1. First and most importantly, remind the women in your life to head in for their annual mammogram if they have not already done so.

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2. Send a message of support and love to breast cancer survivors (or fighters) that you might know. These simple messages make a difference and strong social ties have been shown to have a positive impact on a woman's ability to fight diseases like cancer.

3. If you're so inclined, CancerCare is a fully accredited 501 c-3 non-profit that you can donate to.



What about Caregivers?

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 250,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. Now think about the communities of each and every one of those women; the millions of friends, family members, nurses and doctors who will be called to step up during these difficult medical journeys.

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, take some time to thank those people that played a major role in your personal breast cancer story.

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Here's a pro-tip, don't stop at thank you. Tell caregivers WHY you're thankful for them.

As Robert Cialdini mentions in his seminal book Influence...

When we say thank you, it is an important and meaningful statement, but it is actually when we take time to qualify our thanks with an explanation that the true authenticity and thought comes through:

Thanks for driving my mom to her appointment, it's great knowing we can count on you.

Thanks for taking such good care of my mom, It's amazing to see someone who cares so much.

Thank you for everything you've done for my family, your support has meant everything to us.

You won't believe the difference a little explanation will make.



An innovative campaign to thank caregivers.

Inspired by their original Roastmaster, Amy Erickson who passed away from breast cancer, and her own support system throughout her cancer journey, Caribou Coffee is launching Project Amy - a community video recognition effort designed to pay tribute and thank caregivers everywhere.

Throughout October, users can visit Tribute.co/CaribouTribute and in less than 60 seconds record their own video to recognize and thank a caregiver close to their heart.

For every #CaribouTribute video submitted, Caribou will donate $5 to CancerCare, a national nonprofit organization committed to helping people cope with cancer through counseling, support groups, education and financial assistance.

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Image Credit: A health worker is checking a young boy in Mozambique for signs of blinding trachoma, one of seven Neglected Tropical Diseases targeted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Image is courtesy of RTI International.

One of the lesser known success stories in global health is about the progress we have made over the past decade in controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases or NTDs. And yes, the term "neglected" is there for a reason: because these diseases affect the poorest of the poor and have endured largely due to indifference and neglect.

Yet for one in seven people around the world--a total of 1 billion--a group of parasitic and bacterial infections causes profound pain, suffering, malnutrition and often lifelong disability. People who are afflicted by NTDs are frequently stigmatized and isolated, unable to go to school or work and trapped in a perpetual cycle of poverty. The World Health Organization has identified 17 such diseases and in 2012 set a Roadmap with a target date of 2020 for accelerating progress toward their control and elimination.

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This year marks 10 years of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) addressing NTDs and contributing to the WHO Roadmap. USAID's NTD Program primarily focuses on seven of these diseases: lymphatic filariasis (also known as LF), blinding trachoma, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and three other diseases that are transmitted through parasitic worms that live in the soil. These seven diseases alone cause 80 percent of the global NTD burden.

The good news is that all of these diseases can be controlled through community-wide administration of safe and effective medicines.

Over the past decade, USAID has supported the delivery of more than 1.6 billion treatments to more than 740 million people across 31 countries to prevent and treat seven of the most prevalent NTDs, in partnership with pharmaceutical companies, ministries of health, and local communities. This is indeed an impressive story of partnership, collaboration and commitment.

Since its inception in 2006, USAID's NTD program has focused on expanding community-wide mass treatment, which successfully reduced the occurrence, extent, and severity of the diseases targeted and led to control and elimination in certain parts of the world. For individuals who need surgery because mass treatment cannot reverse the damaging effects of NTDs, the program also focuses on strengthening the national capacity of African countries to scale-up quality services to manage these conditions. New and innovative tools are being employed, such as the ability to develop and deploy surgical mannequins that enable eye surgeons to train and practice their skills.

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The NTD Program is one of the agency's largest public-private partnerships. Every $1 invested by USAID in NTDs leverages $26 in pharmaceutical donations for mass treatment campaigns, which has reduced treatment costs to 63 cents per person. This is a best buy in public health, no doubt. Think about it, more than $11.1 billion in donated drugs were leveraged through the private sector alone.

Thanks to our partnership with other donors like the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer Inc., families and communities now have the potential to thrive in a future free from diseases associated to extreme poverty.

The numbers are impressive: 140 million people now live in areas where they no longer require treatment for LF, a disfiguring infection transmitted by mosquitoes; and the same goes for 65 million people who live in areas where trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness.

Most importantly, USAID's Program seeks to work across sectors especially when it comes to education, nutrition and water and sanitation because being aware of how these diseases are transmitted and are linked to certain behaviors is critical for controlling, managing and eventually eliminating them. Our basic approach is to empower local institutions, private sector partners, and civil society organizations to play key roles in a variety of interventions. School teachers, village heads, and local volunteers are engaged in community-based preventive action.

This is exemplified by Mme Lappe Dorantine an agent of change in the village of Dissat, in Cameroon. For the past 12 years, Dorantine has served as a volunteer, distributing drugs that prevent blindness and disfigurement from NTDs. Despite the difficulty of traveling door-to-door taking a census, documenting information, distributing drugs and submitting treatment reports, Dorantine works with a smile on her face because she knows that she is saving lives and improving the health of her own community.

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This week in Washington D.C. we have the honor to host dozens of program managers who work on the fight against NTDs every day, alongside thousands of dedicated community health workers like Doratine. They are here attending a global meeting supported by USAID and organized by our implementing partners to discuss how their work on NTDs contributes to global development, share their expertise with each other and get the latest on control and treatment of their specialty NTD. Looking ahead, the next four years will be critical in our push to eliminate NTDs by 2020.
The Black Lives Matter movement, which seeks to prevent the untimely deaths of people of color, has an indisputably noble goal, but do police officers really pose the most serious threat to the lives of African Americans, as we have been led to believe?

While statistics on police shootings do reveal that young black men are disproportionately the victims of police shootings, crimes simply do not breakdown on proportionate demographic lines. Blacks constitute only 13 percent of the population, but they represent a majority of the homicide and robbery arrests. Over the past decade, 40 percent of those arrested for killing police officers have also been black.

Some argue that a disproportionate number of black arrests does not mean that African Americans commit more crime, but is merely a result of living in heavily policed neighborhoods. While this argument has some merit, studies based on anonymously self-reported crime data also find that blacks are disproportionately involved in violent crimes.

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Given these disturbing disparities, it is unfortunate, but not entirely unreasonable, that African Americans experience a higher likelihood of being killed in a police shooting than a white person.

If the mere disproportionate representation of blacks as victims of police shootings is indicative of organized racism, why aren't we accusing the police of sexism since the overwhelming majority of those arrested and killed by police are men?

Undoubtedly there are individual racist officers, like the San Francisco police officer who sent text messages referencing African Americans as "wild animals".

Discrimination against blacks, such as being pulled over more often for traffic stops, does exist, but it is usually a result of unconscious bias by well meaning officers. As FBI director James Comey pointed out, "The two young black men on one side of the street look like so many others the officer has locked-up. Two white men on the other side of the street--even in the same clothes--do not. And that drives different behavior. The officer turns toward one side of the street and not the other."

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Police shootings are undoubtedly a serious problem in the US. According to The Guardian, "In the first 24 days of 2015, police in the US fatally shot more people than police did in England and Wales, combined, over the past 24 years." Although, The Guardian "forgot" to take the population difference into consideration, even adjusted for population, the US police kill more people than other democracies.

What is almost just as troubling as the shootings themselves is that the officers involved even in the most questionable shootings almost always go unpunished.

In 2014, a SWAT team that maimed an infant by throwing a flash grenade into an infant's crib in a drug raid gone wrong did not face any criminal charges. In 2011, Officers Jay Cicinelli and Joseph Wolfe of the Fullerton police department beat a white homeless man to death under the pretext of arresting him. A jury acquitted both of them. Based on what we know so far, the shooting of Philando Castile is beyond senseless.

Striving to hold these rogue officers accountable is laudable. But to suggest that every police shooting of a man of color is racist is a great disservice to white victims of police shootings, African Americans and law enforcement officers.

Heather MacDonald, a conservative scholar, points out that 12 percent of white and Hispanic homicide deaths are due to police officers, while only four percent of black homicide deaths are the result of police officers. The lower proportion of black deaths due to police shootings is because most blacks are killed by fellow citizens, overwhelmingly black, and not police officers.

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Blacks are six times more likely to be victims of homicides. To make a serious dent in the mortality rate of young African Americans, we have to answer some very tough questions: Why are blacks so over represented in violent crime, both as offenders and victims? What can we do to address the some of the most serious issues facing the black community, such as poverty, low school graduation rate and single parent homes.

The Baltimore Sun reported, "Blood was shed in Baltimore at an unprecedented pace in 2015, with mostly young, black men shot to death in a near-daily crush of violence." How many of these lives could have been saved had we looked beyond the idea of homicidal racist cops out to kill young African Americans?


Wrought Iron Winged Hourglass, St. Louis Cemetery 2, New Orleans TAKOMABIBELOT/CC BY 2.0



By Darmon Richter, originally published in Atlas Obscura



Hades. Naraka. Guinee. Xibalba. Though names may differ from one set of teachings to another, almost every religion on the planet features the concept of an underworld -- a place to which the souls of the dead are banished, for penance or punishment.

So in honor of 31 Days of Halloween, we mined the Atlas for the various purported entrances to the netherworld, scattered across the globe, ranging from Mayan caves to Japanese swamps.

But remember: If you should decide to visit any of these sites, it should be noted by way of a disclaimer that we take no responsibility whatsoever for the consequences of your attempts to open an infernal portal.

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You have been warned...

1. Cape Matapan Caves

CAPE MATAPAN, THE MANI, GREECE



The Village of Vathia on Cape Matapan. (Photo: Charles Nadeau/CC BY 2.0)



Our first gateway is an entrance to the Classical hell: the Cape Matapan Caves which are located on the southernmost tip of the Greek mainland. Cape Matapan -- also known as Cape Tainaron, or Tenaro -- is situated on the end of the peninsula known as the Mani. The caves open at sea-level into a cliff face beneath the headland, the exact point marked by the ruins of a Spartan temple above.

This was one of several entrances that the Ancient Greeks ascribed to Hades, the Kingdom of the Shades. Others were to be found at the Necromanteion of Ephyra on the River Acheron, as well as at Alepotrypa: another, smaller cave network on the Mani.

When Orpheus travelled down to Hades to rescue Eurydice, it was said to be through the cave on Cape Matapan; Hercules likewise used these caverns when he made his own descent to the underworld. The geographer Pausanias identified Cape Matapan as the point where, supposedly, "Cerberus was brought up from Hades by Herakles" (Description of Greece, 2nd century AD).

Another story related by Pausanias linked to the picturesque cape relates to the poet Arion, who escaped from pirates to be carried ashore by a pod of dolphins. A bronze statue of the poet riding a dolphin stands on the crest of the cape, not far from the ruins of a temple raised in honor of the sea god, Poseidon.

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The caves at Matapan can still be entered by visitors, although a boat is required to pass through the watery mouth of this particular hellgate.

2. Hekla

ICELAND



Detail of Abraham Ortelius' 1585 map of Iceland showing Hekla in eruption. (Photo: Abraham Ortelius/Public Domain)



Our next location, the imposing stratovolcano known as Hekla, can be found in the southern mountains of Iceland... a fiery pit of lava that has long been associated with the fiery pit of Christian tradition. In the Middle Ages, Cistercian monks travelled far and wide across Europe carrying tales of "Hekla Fell."

In 1180, the monk Herbert de Clairvaux named the volcano in his book, Liber De Miraculis. He wrote: "The renowned fiery cauldron of Sicily, which men call Hell's chimney [...] that cauldron is affirmed to be like a small furnace compared to this enormous inferno."

The monk Benedict named Hekla as the "eternal prison of Judas" in his poem about the voyages of Saint Brendan from 1120. Later, in 1341, the medieval Icelandic manuscript Flatey Book Annal described large birds that were reportedly seen flying inside the fiery crater; these were believed to be the souls of the damned.

There have been more than 20 serious eruptions recorded since 874 AD, although in recent years Hekla has been somewhat more peaceful. Most superstitions regarding the volcano died out by the 19th century; nevertheless, local folklore still tells of witches who gather around the volcano's peak each Easter.

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3. Fengdu City of Ghosts

CHONGQING, CHINA



The Ghost King. (Photo: Britrob/CC BY 2.0)



An altogether quite different hellgate can be found in the heart of China--a city of ghosts with close ties to Naraka, the underworld of Chinese mythology. Visitors to Fengdu are treated to a rare glimpse into the workings of hell.

This 2,000-year-old settlement is located on Ming Hill, at the northern end of the Yangtze River. Founded during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), the Fengdu "City of Ghosts" bases its heritage on the story of two renegade officials who fled here to escape the Emperor. Their names, Yin and Wang, were later adapted to form a title for one of the rulers of hell: "Qinguang Wang Jiang."

Fengdu is famous for its striking, traditional architecture and elaborate craftsmanship. Its streets and squares are filled with statues of ghosts and demons, as well as poignant reminders of the punishments that await the wicked in the next life. Most of the city's landmarks are linked to hellish themes: "Ghost Torturing Pass," "Nothing-to-be-Done Bridge," and "Last Glance at Home Tower."

Perhaps most striking of all though, is "The Ghost King" -- a giant, carved face looking down on the city from a rock face. Measuring 138 meters (about 452 feet) tall and 217 meters (about 712 feet) across, Fengdu's "Ghost King" is the largest rock sculpture in the world.

4. Lacus Curtius

ROME, ITALY



Lacus Curtius in the Roman Forum. (Photo: MM/CC BY-SA 3.0)



To locate our next gate, we travel from ancient China to ancient Rome.

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Each year thousands of tourists flock to the Roman Forum, and this well-preserved landmark is one of Rome's most popular attractions. Relatively few of Rome's visitors are aware, however, of the story behind the small stone well that stands at the Forum's heart; once believed to serve as an entrance to the underworld.

Lacus Curtius, or the "Lake of Curtius," takes its name from an ancient Roman legend. The historian Livy wrote of a time when an oracle foretold the fall of Rome. The message, "quo plurimum populus Romanus posset," warned that the city would crumble unless it was prepared to sacrifice that which it held most dear. Meanwhile, a chasm opened in the center of the forum to accept that offering.

Interpreting this riddle to mean Rome's soldiers, centurion Marcus Curtius sacrificed his own life -- donning full armor before riding his horse into the pit. The chasm closed over his head, and Rome was saved.

While other myths link the Lacus Curtius to the Sabine horseman known as Mettius Curtius (or alternatively to the Roman consul, Gaius Curtius Philon), the true origins of the pit have been long since lost to the mists of time. Livy holds that the story of Marcus Curtius is the most plausible of the myths -- despite its blatant disregard for the laws of physics.

The stone relief visible in the image above is a modern replica of an ancient plaque, depicting Curtius mounted upon his horse and prepared for sacrifice.

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5. Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave

TAPIR MOUNTAIN NATURE RESERVE, BELIZE



Remains of the "Crystal Maiden" Mayan sacrifice in Actun Tunichil Muknal cave. (Photo: Peter Andersen/CC BY-SA 3.0)

There is a cave network located in modern-day Belize, which the Mayans believed was an entrance to their underworld: Xibalba.

The name Actun Tunichil Muknal translates as "Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre." Extensive research has linked the site, located in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, to ancient Mayan legends. These stories described rivers of blood and scorpions, and a vast subterranean labyrinth ruled over by the Mayan death gods, the demonic "Lords of Xibalba."

Since their rediscovery in 1989, the caves of Actun Tunichil Muknal have become a popular destination for explorers. There are numerous landmarks that make this network particularly interesting, including a vast chamber of stalactites known as the "Cathedral."

Amongst scattered fragments of pottery and bone, one of the more notable discoveries is the skeleton of an 18-year-old girl. Believed to have been ritualistically murdered in the cave as a sacrifice to the Death Gods, she has been nicknamed the "Crystal Maiden"; over the 1,000 years since her death, her bones have calcified to create a shimmering, crystal effect.

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Other human remains found in the caves were believed to have been sacrifices given to the rain god Chac, and many of these show similar signs of calcification (although none are quite so perfectly preserved as the Crystal Maiden). Another theory suggests that the various dead may have been suspected of witchcraft -- possibly suffering from physical or mental ailments, their unburied corpses were sealed within the hell gate in hopes that their spirits might be forever trapped.

6. The Gates of Guinee

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

According to Voodoo mythology, the newly dead are sent to a kind of purgatory before travelling to meet their ancestors in the "deep waters." Known as Guinee, this twilight realm is presided over by the notorious loa who goes by the name of Baron Samedi.

There are tales of Voodoo practitioners opening the Gates of Guinee to reclaim the souls of the dead; souls in this lost land are also considered to be at high risk from Hoodoo magicians, who have the power to reanimate them as zombies.

While some followers of Voodoo interpret the seven gates as a spiritual metaphor, others believe them to exist in the physical realm. One of these stories locates the gates in New Orleans. To enter Guinee, it is said that one must open the seven gates in the correct order. Each successive gate is presided over by one of the loa of death, the "Guede," who must be appeased with the appropriate offerings.

Although the exact locations of the gates have never been disclosed, there have been oblique suggestions over the years that a clue may lie in the "veve," or summoning sigil of Baron Samedi himself. Appearing as a crucifix surmounted by seven stars, the symbol might indeed serve as a map of sorts; once aligned over the crossroads of Canal Street and Basin Street in the city's French Quarter, the stars of the veve seem to fall on notable surrounding cemeteries.

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7. Pluto's Gate

DENIZLI PROVINCE, TURKEY

The next hellgate on our list was discounted for thousands of years as a work of fiction; however, the Ancient Greek site known as Pluto's Gate, or the "Ploutonion," has only recently been rediscovered in Turkey.

An archaeological dig revealed the remains of an ancient temple situated on a thermal spring, long believed to have been a gateway to hell. This well-documented Temple of Pluto disappeared from records sometime around the 6th century.

Amongst the distinguishing features of this particular gate are the toxic fumes which waft out from tunnels beneath. In times of antiquity these were often inhaled by the priests of Pluto, promptly sending them into hallucinogenic trance states. Writing at some time around the year 0 AD, the Greek philosopher Strabo claimed that, "any animal that passes inside meets instant death." Even now, the poisonous vapors claim the lives of birds that fly or nest too close to the ruins.



St. Patrick's statue, the purgatory on Station Island in the background. (Photo: Kenneth Allen/CC BY-SA 2.0)



Along with Iceland's Hekla, this next site serves as an entrance to the Hell of Christian scripture. Founded in the 15th century, St Patrick's Purgatory is a small monastery located on Ireland's Station Island. According to the story, St. Patrick himself once visited the island -- whereupon Jesus sent him visions of the torments of hell. The cave where the saint received these diabolical hallucinations was later confirmed to be an entrance to Satan's pit, and a monastery was duly built to plug the hole.

The cave itself has been sealed ever since October 25, 1632. According to the accounts of pilgrims prior to that date, it takes the form of an enclosed pit, reached at the end of a long, narrow, and slowly descending cave. Experts have suggested that even before the believed arrival of St. Patrick, the cave may have been used as a site for prayer and spiritual healing.

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Many believers travel to Station Island annually, to undertake a three-day contemplation on the nature of Hell. With pilgrims expected to make the entire trip barefoot, a local website describes the pilgrimage as, "the toughest in all of Europe, perhaps even in the whole Christian world."

9. Chinoike, Jigoku

BEPPU CITY, JAPAN



Chinoike Jigoku of Beppu Jigokumeguri. (Photo: 663highland/CC BY 2.5)



In Far East Asia, our next gateway takes the primordial form of a bubbling pool of hellish red slime... now featuring a visitor's center, a health spa, and gift shop.

Beppu City in Japan is home to a series of nine hot springs, each one flowing in a different colour and composition. The springs have been mentioned in Buddhist texts dating back as early as 700 AD, and nowadays the mud from these pools can be bought as a soothing skin cream.

However, at the heart of this idyllic spa there lies a dark legend with the pool known as Chinoike Jigoku, or the "Bloody Hell Pond," the rich color coming from natural iron oxide deposits on the pond bed. Chinoike Jigoku is presided over by a collection of sculpted demons, some carved into the rocks themselves. The Buddhists likened the appearance of the pool to the bubbling pits of hell, and in times gone by the Bloody Hell Pond - reckoned at around 78 degrees Celsius--was sometimes used to torture prisoners before boiling them alive.

10. The Seven Gates of Hell

HELLAM TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA



The Susquehanna River just east of Hellam Township. (Photo: Nicholas/CC BY 2.0)



Meanwhile, in a quiet little backwater of York, Pennsylvania, one finds Hellam Township--by all accounts a pleasant, friendly town, and unremarkable, were it not for the rumored existence of a gateway to Hell in a nearby forest.

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There are a number of contradictory stories explaining the "Seven Gates" of Hellam Township. One of the better-known myths ties them to an insane asylum on the town's outskirts, which supposedly burnt to the ground in the 19th century. According to this particular legend, the inmates--most of them criminally insane, of course -- escaped, only to be recaptured using a series of tall fences and secure gates. Many were beaten to death by guards in the process.

An alternate story tells of a doctor who once lived in the town. This man (by some accounts a Satanist, by others merely eccentric) was said to have designed a series of strange gates on his land, which followed a winding path running deeper and deeper into the forest. Where stories agree, is that those who pass through the gates in order will find themselves transported straight to the underworld. Only the first gate is visible by daylight, situated in woodland just off Hellam's Trout Run Road.

11. Cave of the Sibyl

NAPLES, ITALY



Entrance to the Cave of the Sibyl. (Photo: AlexanderVanLoon/CC BY-SA 3.0)



Our final gateway to Hell is also perhaps the oldest on this list; a diabolical portal well-known to the ancient Romans, and first described in writing over 2,000 years ago. In his classic work The Aeneid, Virgil describes a cave with a hundred entrances that led deep beneath the earth--and as far as the underworld itself.

"The gates of hell are open night and day;

Smooth the descent, and easy is the way..."

Virgil wrote his masterpiece in the 1st century BC, and it tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas. It was in this cave -- located in Cumae, a Greek settlement close to modern-day Naples--that Aeneas encountered the Sibyl. The Cumaean Sibyl was an oracle, a fortune-teller, and priestess, whose sung prophecies echoed endlessly around the hollow caverns. At the age of 700 she served as a guide to Aeneas, as he descended through the caves to the Hell below.

Explorers in the Middle Ages searched in vain for Virgil's "Antro della Sibilla." It wasn't until 1932 however, that archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri (fresh from his excavations at Pompeii) finally discovered this well-documented entrance to the netherworld. Now incorporated into the Cumae Archaeological Site, it is possible for tourists to visit the Cave of the Sibyl for themselves; and to experience those haunting echoes described so many years ago by the poet Virgil:

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens to a question as he appears at the "Retired American Warriors" conference during a campaign stop in Herndon, Virginia, U.S., October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

The New York Times received what they identify as relevant pages from Donald Trump's 1995 income tax returns. These reportedly show the "businessman" had a loss in excess of $915 million, resulting in his paying no federal income taxes that year and enough to possibly allow him to avoid taxes for nearly two decades.

Trump previously encouraged Russian hackers to go after Hillary Clinton, yet Trump was not amused by the New York Times tax disclosure, which he called illegal. As usual, he threatened to sue. Yawn.

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Trump's errand boys, Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, both said this demonstrated that Trump was a "genius." The guy loses nearly $1 billion and they call him a "genius." I suppose he would have been twice as smart had he lost $2 billion.

The Trump camp went so far as to peddle the bunk that he had a "fiduciary duty" to do what he did. I would think that perhaps had he any fiduciary duty at all it would be NOT to lose nearly $1 billion. For that matter, how does a genius like Trump lose money in the casino business-- an enterprise that is truly a money making machine!

And, of course, there is nothing particularly smart about any of this. Any entrepreneur who has a business loss can amortize it in a similar manner. And any store-front tax preparer would do the same thing for a client who had a net operating loss, regardless of its size.

Following the New York Times story, Trump tweeted "I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them." Aye yi yi.

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By comparison, in 1995, the Clintons earned $202,423 in ordinary income and $88,441 in capital gains, paying $75,437 in federal income taxes. These dummies actually made money and paid taxes.

Pity the poor person who worked in some fast food joint who paid more income taxes than did Trump.

There is another puzzling issue here. If the tax returns show that Trump is a "genius," why is he threatening to sue the New York Times? He should be thanking them for demonstrating his great intellect. In fact, he should release all of his tax returns so we can all further bask in his brilliance.
Recent technological advances have changed the way we live. Across the world, millions of people are harnessing the power of technology to better not only their lives but those in their surrounding communities. Increased connectivity has resulted in greater access to information, and the ability of individuals and communities to use the power of technology to bring about greater economic empowerment.

In the United States, young and old alike, have embraced the power of new technologies to create new concepts and businesses with life changing implications. From social media to the sharing economy, and across all industries including finance, health, and education, individuals are innovating in previously unthinkable ways. We are in an era in which long-held business and societal norms can effectively be tested, disrupted and improved upon by anyone with a vision and ability to execute. It is a very exciting time.

Yet, despite the growing influence of the tech sector as a key driver of U.S. innovation, many Americans, particularly minorities and women remain on the outside looking in. Disappointingly, in 2015, less than five percent of the total tech workforce was African-American or Latino. While overall, minorities own 15% of small businesses in the U.S. less than 10 percent of tech pitches are presented by minority or women entrepreneurs. Of those making investment decisions, only 22 percent of senior investment professionals are minorities, with women representing just 8 percent of such professionals.

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Fortunately, the lack of minority participation in the tech sector has not gone unnoticed. From Chicago based incubator Blue 1647, to NYC based Cofound Harlem, efforts are underway to train, educate, and propel a new generation of minorities and women to the forefront of the continuing tech revolution. By providing coding workshops and boot camps, professional development courses, and the ability to interact with tech leaders within and outside their communities, such programs are expanding opportunities for countless individuals. It is only a matter of time until such efforts begin to manifest themselves in the hallways of tech companies all over the country.

Beyond helping minority communities acquire the necessary skills to succeed in tech, the other side of the equation must include a proactive and concerted effort to create networks and organizations focused on financing and funding minority startups. Institutional initiatives such as Intel Capitals $125 million Diversity Fund, focused on funding minority and other underrepresented tech entrepreneurship will not only spur greater innovation but also drive other major institutions to follow suit. On the individual level, networks of minority and angel investors focused on funding early-stage ventures led by minorities can go a long way in bridging the access to capital gap. Currently, less than one percent of Minority Business Enterprises report having received angel capital.

Undoubtedly, an increase in the number of minority students pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) will serve to increase the participation of minorities in tech. Educators and parents alike must prepare young students for a future in which technological skills will not only be desired, but a requisite; and means must be marshalled to ensure school districts serving underrepresented minorities possess the adequate resources to train students for 21st century jobs.

While the current state of minority and women participation in tech leaves much to be desired, current efforts signal positive changes. Greater minority tech participation will not only improve the socio-economic standing of individuals and communities, but will also bring about an infinite amount of bright, fresh ideas to the forefront.

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Minority talent represents a largely untapped resource, one that can prove to be an effective driver of not only tech sector growth, but of positive social and community change. It is a very exciting time, indeed!
Over a remarkable ten-day stretch, the issue of employment for Americans with disabilities suddenly found itself in the front pages of national papers and a topic of discussion among our nation's most influential philanthropies and those who seek their funding. For those of us who spend our lives trying to find solutions to why millions of Americans with disabilities can't find jobs, these two events have rattled our walls in a very positive way.

It started in mid-September with a remarkable mea culpa; a surprising admission from the highly respected leader of the Ford Foundation. President Darren Walker used the occasion of his annual letter to his constituents to admit that a new effort by his foundation, the nation's second-largest philanthropy, to disrupt inequality had neglected people with disabilities. Walker didn't just own the mistake, rather he pledged to raise the issue on a national stage so that disability is a consideration in all future grant-making decisions by his organization - and hopefully many others. It was a game-changing pledge.

Then just days later, as reverberations from Walker's letter were subsiding, Hillary Clinton thrust the issue right back onto center stage by announcing her new vision of more job opportunities for people with disabilities. Up to this point, the issue had largely been absent from the presidential campaign since the conventions. That ended suddenly with Secretary Clinton's more policy-oriented discussion of an "inclusive economy" with expanded job opportunities for what she called "a group of Americans who are, too often, invisible, overlooked and undervalued - who have so much to offer, but are given far too few chances to prove it."

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While Walker's admission and Clinton's policy proposal unexpectedly ignited much-needed focus on this vexing national problem, the reality is we as a nation have a pretty good handle on how to get more people with disabilities into the workforce. Now we need more action to go along with the talk.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that more than 50 million jobs will need to be filled between 2012 and 2022, accounting for both new job creation and replacing retiring workers. The majority of these new job openings will be long-term, career-track positions that require at least some postsecondary education.

The race for highly educated professional talent is on, and American businesses are increasingly looking to the untapped potential of people with disabilities to stay competitive and get ahead. The number of people with disabilities attending college has climbed from 29 percent to 44 percent in the last decade, and two million people with disabilities are enrolled today.

However, there is a disconnect between employers looking for talent on the one hand, and college-educated people with disabilities who could supply it on the other. Only 40 percent of people with disabilities with college educations are currently employed.

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That is why the National Organization on Disability is partnering with Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) and Work Without Limits on an exciting new project in Boston set to launch this fall. COSD is a widely respected organization that has worked for 17 years to connect college students with disabilities and employers. Work Without Limits is a consortium of more than 30 leading Boston employers, committed to disability workforce inclusion. The rich ecosystem of higher education institutions in Boston and employers who are motived to hire talented young people with disabilities as they transition from college to careers provides the ideal setting.

Starting with employer's talent needs, NOD together with COSD will develop, test and refine a campus employment pipeline for college students with disabilities in the Boston area. Results will be tracked - including employment outcomes for students, as well as for participating campuses and employers - and we will report out for broader adoption nationally.

Years of research by our organization and others reveals how companies can attract, recruit and develop professional talent with disabilities. According to recent polling data, the most important criterion jobseekers with disabilities consider when selecting a place to work is the disability/diversity friendliness of the employer. A welcoming and responsive attitude toward disability outranked compensation - most important to jobseekers without disabilities - by ten percentage points, and also exceeded flexibility, benefits, advancement for career opportunities, and other selection factors.

My organization works closely with large employers to teach their leadership ways to enhance a company's organizational culture and hiring practices to improve the work environment for people with disabilities - and the company's bottom line.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Akron, Ohio, U.S., October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

It's time to take a look at the presidential race once again, and I have to begin with a program note. Up until now, I've been writing these columns every two weeks, but from now until the election, they'll appear each Monday like clockwork, since the race is about to head into the homestretch.

In the past two weeks, the presidential race has certainly had some ups and downs. Hillary Clinton saw the end of her slide in the polls, and the beginning of the bounce she earned by her first debate performance. Donald Trump has seen his numbers fall, which is likely only going to get worse as the impact of his unusual debate performance (and everything that happened in the week thereafter) begins to be reflected in more and more state polls.

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The overall chart of the race for Electoral Votes (EV) looks better for Clinton than last time around, but I would caution that this chart doesn't show the underlying strengths (which we'll get to in a moment). As always, Clinton (blue) starts from the bottom, Trump (red) starts from the top, and whichever line crosses the middle (the 270 EV needed to win) would win the election if it were held today and all the polling was accurate.

[Click on any of theses images to see larger-scale versions.]

This is a significantly better-looking chart than last time around, for Clinton. Last time the percentage split of EV was 51 percent Clinton, 48 percent Trump (with one percent tied). This time around it's a clear 60/40 split in Clinton's favor. Not only has she halted her slide in the polls, but she's begun a rather impressive bounce -- one that started before the debate happened, it's worth mentioning.

Clinton flipped four states from Trump in the past two weeks: Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico. Florida and Nevada still seem balanced between the two candidates pretty closely, but Clinton is looking a lot better in Colorado. Trump didn't flip a single state from Clinton's column this time around -- the momentum was all on her side.

There is one caveat to all this good news for Clinton, however. Partly, the shifts this period happened because the site I use for polling data (Electoral-Vote.com) decided to drop using Ipsos internet polls, which it determined were wildly off from more-scientific polling results. This meant Trump lost a lot of states previously considered very strong for him -- based only on Ipsos polling. One in particular was pretty laughable, as Ipsos showed Trump with a double-digit lead in New Mexico, when the state is quite likely to be comfortably in Clinton's column. This change happened on the first day of the two-week period this column covers, and can be more plainly seen in the next chart, which looks deeper at Donald Trump's relative strength. Here is Trump's chart, broken down into the Strong, Weak, and Barely categories used at Electoral-Vote.com.

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[Definition of terms: "Strong" means 10 percent or better in the polls,

"Weak" means five percent or better, and "Barely" is under five percent.]

As noted, the past two weeks started with a realignment of the polling data, which moved three states (one of them big) out of the Strong Trump category -- Indiana, Mississippi, and Texas. But even after this realignment, Trump continued to lose states from his Strong category, as Missouri and South Carolina weakened (South Carolina fell all the way to Barely Trump). Iowa also slid from Weak Trump to Barely Trump, meaning Trump saw bad news in six states this period. He only got good news in one state, as Alabama moved up to from Weak Trump to Strong Trump. Georgia wavered from Weak Trump to Barely Trump, but returned to Weak Trump in the end.

By the numbers, Trump began the period with 157 EV in the Strong category. He then hit his personal best here -- 161 EV -- on the first day, but then the realignment sent him all the way back down to 106 EV. His Strong numbers continued to slide for the rest of the period, winding up at only 87 EV -- down a whopping 70 EV for the period.

Trump's Weak numbers took up some of this slack, but not all of it. Trump began with 34 EV in the Weak column, which eventually rose to 78 EV. Trump's Barely numbers contracted, however, from 67 EV to only 50 EV.

All told, Trump started the period with the highest overall EV total he's seen yet -- an impressive 258 EV. That, as I noted last time, was a higher total than Mitt Romney ever saw in 2012. This time around, however, Trump has seen that number erode significantly, falling to 215 EV now, a loss of 43 EV.

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As always, the number that most interests me is the "Strong Plus Weak" line, because this is the real measurement of which states a candidate can truly count on (and not worry about) on Election Day. Trump also started this period at a high point in Strong Plus Weak, at 191 EV. But by the end, Trump saw this important metric fall back to only 165 EV -- which is over 100 EV away from the goal line.

Now let's take a look at Hillary Clinton's chart.

As you can see, although the overall news for Clinton is almost universally good this time around, it's not nearly as good as it could be. Just looking at the top line on the chart is the best news, but the breakdowns are less positive (although now headed in the right direction, at least). Overall, Clinton rose from 274 EV -- only four above the winning number -- to a much-more-comfortable 323 EV. Clinton managed this by picking up four states, including Florida's haul of 29 EV.

Clinton's Strong number, though, was much more subdued. Clinton started the period with 152 EV in the Strong category, rose to 171 EV right away, but then fell back to an all-time low (for her) of only 132 EV in the Strong category. This only started rising today, as the state-level polling which shows the results of the debate started to come in. But she ended the period in the Strong category right where she began it, at 152 EV.

The news was a little better for Clinton in the Weak category, as it mostly picked up the slack from states that slipped out of Strong, and added a few states as well. Clinton started at 73 EV in the Weak column, which rose to 110 EV, before falling back to 79 EV. Clinton's real growth was in the Barely category, which went up from 49 EV to a peak of 111 EV, and now stands at 92 EV. Of course, what Clinton really needs to do is start shifting Barely states to Weak, and Weak states to Strong. If the reactions to the debate (and all of the other unhinged behavior from Trump) start to show up in more and more state polls, this is quite likely what is about to happen in the next week or so.

Clinton's Strong Plus Weak number also bottomed out during this period, starting at 225 EV and then falling to its all-time low of only 206 EV, before recovering up to 242 EV. This slid a bit in the past few days, and now stands at 231 EV. This is 39 EV away from victory. Compared to Trump, though, Clinton's in a much more solid spot (Trump has only 165 EV in Strong Plus Weak, and needs 105 EV to hit the magic 270 EV needed to win).

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My Picks

As regular readers of this column know, I don't strictly stick to just raw poll numbers when making my own predictions. Gut feeling has to be taken into account, which allows me to ignore polls I think are wildly off the mark (like that New Mexico poll, last time around).

I've detailed my picks below, and then at the end of the column is a full list complete with all states and their Electoral College totals. But it's much easier to see graphically, so let's take a look at this week's map (with, as always, a hat tip to the folks at 270toWin, where you can make a map of your own picks to share).

Likely States -- Clinton

Safe Clinton (14 states, 188 EV)

No change from last time around. All of Clinton's 14 Safe states stayed put.

Probable Clinton (7 states, 55 EV)

There was a lot of activity in this category, as three states moved in and one (plus a fraction) moved out. First, let's deal with that fraction. There are two states which do not award Electoral College votes unanimously: Maine and Nebraska. In these states, the overall state winner wins two EV (the senators), but whomever wins in each congressional (House) district wins that district's EV. This can lead to split voting, which now appears probable in Maine. Donald Trump is doing well in the more rural district in the state (there are only two), so it's looking like three of Maine's EV are Probable Clinton, but one of them has to be at least considered Leans Trump at this point. Other than the backwoods of Maine, the news was mostly good for Clinton. Pennsylvania now has to be considered only Leans Clinton, but Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin all moved up from Leans Clinton to Probable Clinton this time around. All of this movement (Maine included) meant a net gain of 9 EV for the Probable Clinton category.

Likely States -- Trump

Safe Trump (17 states, 104 EV)

Trump added one state to his Safe list this time around, as Alabama showed some stronger polling. With Alabama, Trump now has 17 states in the Safe category, and adds 9 EV to his total here.

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Probable Trump (4 states, 67 EV)

Like Clinton, Trump saw several states move in and out of his Probable category this week, with mixed results. Alabama moved up to Safe, as previously mentioned. South Carolina moved down to Leans Trump, but Georgia moved up from Leans Trump to replace it. Georgia seems firmer for Trump at this point, but I could easily see it slipping back later. Alaska, Missouri, and Texas remained Probable this time around. So Trump lost one Probable state overall, but only lost 2 EV in the Probable category.

Tossup States

Leans Clinton (2 states, 29 EV)

This entire category shifted in a big way this time, and almost all of the news was good for Clinton. All three previous Leans Clinton states (Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin) moved up to Probable Clinton, and Colorado moved up to Leans Clinton from Too Close To Call. The only bad news was Pennsylvania slipping to Leans Clinton from Probable Clinton, at least for now. The Leans Clinton overall totals didn't change much, down one state but only down a single EV from last time.

Leans Trump (3 states plus one district, 27 EV)

Trump saw less movement in the Leans category, losing one state (Georgia) up to Probable Trump, which was replaced by South Carolina moving down from Probable Trump. Also added in was the Maine district with its single EV. Arizona and Iowa remained unchanged, here. Overall, Trump lost 6 EV in this category.

Too Close To Call (4 states, 68 EV)

The Too Close To Call category stayed remarkably stable this time around, with only Colorado moving up to Leans Clinton. The other four tossup states (Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio) remain unchanged. Now, an argument could be made that Ohio really belongs in the Leans Trump category, and a similar argument could be made for Florida and North Carolina being Leans Clinton, but for now I'm keeping them here, as the polls have been so volatile in all of them.

Final Tally

Hillary Clinton improved a bit this time around, as she now has 21 states that she will likely win (her Safe and Probable states combined). She added 9 EV to her total, which now stands at 243 EV she can count on. This leaves her 27 EV shy of victory.

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Donald Trump also improved a bit in his likely states, adding one state to his list of 21, for a total of 171 EV -- up 7 EV from last time. Of course, this still leaves him 99 EV away from victory, so he's still got a long hill to climb. The gap between the states Trump can count on and those Clinton can count on grew by 2 EV, to stand at 72 EV difference between the two.

There are nine states that are tossups this time around, down two from last time. The good news for Clinton is that once again, she can win if she just wins all her likely states plus the ones in the Leans Clinton category. Right now there are two states leaning towards Clinton, with 29 EV between them. This adds up to 272 EV for Clinton without even worrying about the Too Close To Call states. This is notable because last time around, she had slipped below the 270 EV winning threshold here.

Trump has three states leaning his direction, for a total of 27 EV. Add this to Trump's likely states and you only get 198 EV. This doesn't bode well for him, because to win he'd have to sweep all the tossup states and manage to wrest either Colorado or Pennsylvania from Clinton. That's a pretty tall order, to put it mildly.

Four states remain too close to make any sort of confident predictions, totaling a whopping 68 EV between them. Things are looking good for Trump in Ohio, but things are looking better for Clinton in Nevada, North Carolina, and in the biggest battleground prize, Florida.

Overall, things are looking up for Clinton in individual polls, but the underlying dynamic hasn't shifted all that much. Clinton has many paths to victory, and can afford to lose battleground states. Trump has only one real path to victory, and that is to absolutely run the table of all states where the polling is even close. Clinton hasn't put this race away yet, but if the reactions to the debate (and Trump's tweeting, and Trump's taxes, etc.) continue to tilt in her direction, she could get a lot closer in the next week.

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[Electoral Vote Data:]

(State electoral votes are in parenthesis following each state's name. Washington D.C. is counted as a state, for a total of 51.)

Hillary Clinton Likely Easy Wins -- 21 States -- 243 Electoral Votes:

Safe States -- 14 States -- 188 Electoral Votes

California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), Minnesota (10), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Vermont (3), Washington (12), Washington D.C. (3)

Probable States -- 7 States -- 55 Electoral Votes

Maine (3), Michigan (16), New Hampshire (4), New Mexico (5), Rhode Island (4), Virginia (13), Wisconsin (10)

Donald Trump Likely Easy Wins -- 21 States -- 171 Electoral Votes:

Safe States -- 17 States -- 104 Electoral Votes

Alabama (9), Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Indiana (11), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (6), Montana (3), Nebraska (5), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Utah (6), West Virginia (5), Wyoming (3)

Probable States -- 4 States -- 67 Electoral Votes

Alaska (3), Georgia (16), Missouri (10), Texas (38)

Tossup States -- 9 States -- 124 Electoral Votes:

Tossup States Leaning Clinton -- 2 States -- 29 Electoral Votes

Colorado (9), Pennsylvania (20)

Tossup States Leaning Trump -- 3 States (plus one district) -- 27 Electoral Votes

Arizona (11), Iowa (6), Maine (1), South Carolina (9)

Too Close To Call -- 4 States -- 68 Electoral Votes

Florida (29), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15), Ohio (18)

Polling data weaknesses:

Unlike in 2008 and 2012, polling data does now exist for all 51 states (adding in Washington D.C.). The following list is of states where the polling data is rather suspect, since the only polls which have been conducted were all conducted only on the internet. This list shrank by nine states this time, leaving only 11 states without more accurate polling.

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Internet-only polling, with dates last polled -- 11 States

Alabama (9/1), Alaska (9/1), Delaware (9/1), Hawaii (9/1), Kentucky (9/1), Mississippi (9/1), Montana (9/1), South Dakota (9/1), Tennessee (9/1), Washington D.C. (5/31), West Virginia (9/1)

Chris Weigant blogs at:
Five years ago, at 23 years old and barely a year out of the Marine Corps, I launched my first company in my hometown. It's a source of pride to me that today, that company -- which offers supplemental tactical training to the military and law enforcement agencies -- is a thriving, successful business.

If that's all you knew about my transition from the military to the civilian world, you would assume that my personal transition story was a charmed one, an easy road to success. But as any business owner can tell you, no small business succeeds without a tremendous amount of blood, sweat, and hard work. And as many military service members and veterans will tell you, the transition from serving your country to finding the right civilian opportunity can be a challenge in the best of circumstances.

As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, and it's easy to look back now and see how the choices I made in the months leading up to my transition (and in the months that followed) led me to where I am today. But the truth is that there are some things I wish I'd known (or listened to) that would have made the process a lot smoother.

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Have a plan. If you're coming up on the end of a 20-year military career, you're likely considering what you'll do next. As I approached both the end of my enlistment term and my 22nd birthday though, I wasn't thinking about what I'd do after the Corps. Transition seemed far off -- until it wasn't. What I didn't realize was that everyone in the military should be planning for transition, because ultimately, we all transition.

It can help to think of your transition as your personal mission, one that you'll need to prepare for, just like any other mission. Step one is figuring out your objective. What career field or specific job do you want to pursue? Once you know that, you can work backwards to find what certifications, schooling, or additional training you'll need to get there, and how and when you'll be able to accomplish those. The GI Bill can be helpful, but keep this in mind: the GI Bill can either be your jet engine or your parachute. It can propel you forward into a whole new opportunity, or it can slow your descent as you settle back into your current position. Use it wisely.

Self-assess. A big part of formulating a plan for your transition and post-military career is defining your personal brand -- your value to a potential employer. Some of that value is rooted in the hard skills you learned as part of your military occupational specialty (MOS), but don't limit yourself to just the obvious. In the Marine Corps, I was designated a 0317, the USMC code for sniper, however, not too many civilian employers were looking for a sniper. But once I learned to focus on the full range of skills that my USMC training had allowed me to develop -- things like detail-oriented mission planning, or leading and motivating a team -- I was better prepared to talk to employers about how I would be an asset to their team.

Realizing how important it is for transitioning service members and veterans to define and be able to communicate that personal brand led me to partner with Toyota and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring Our Heroes on ResumeEngine.org. It's a free tool that helps you talk about your military service in language that's familiar to recruiters and hiring managers. I wish it had been available when I was transitioning, but I'm proud to help make this tool available now.

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Don't be afraid to try new things. About a year after my transition out of the military, and a few months before I started my first company, I was still working to find my place in the civilian employment world and took a job pouring concrete. It was different than the work I'd done in the Marines, but I quickly realized my project management and leadership experience were assets. And although it seemed like a career detour at the time, I found that being part of team again, improving the landscape near my hometown, was fulfilling work. So two years later, I partnered with a friend to launch a second company -- this one in construction. Today, that company is a large part of my professional success, but it likely wouldn't have come to fruition if I hadn't been willing to try something outside of my comfort zone.
Steele Luxury Travel has no financial ties to any of the entities mentioned within the post.



You may think that Misterbandb, a short-term rental site for gays, while an encouraging flap of the rainbow flag, may not be necessary with such hip services like Airbnb cornering the market, but but read on.

"I was traveling with my partner to Barcelona and at that time we really enjoyed booking a shared apartment with locals," recalls Misterbandb founder Matthieu Jost. "So we booked an apartment and upon arrival it was very clear the owner was not comfortable with two men sleeping in the same bed in the room next to her. She even asked if we were going to sleep together."

They left the next day.

"It was a very bad experience," says Frenchman Jost. "The whole thing made us very sad."

A Millennial hallmark of the new age, Airbnb and similar home-stay emporiums revolutionized travel. They continue to do so, and the reason is clear. Just look at the economics: Renting a private room is 49.5% cheaper than booking a hotel room; renting a whole apartment is 21.2% cheaper. That opens up the world to a huge segment of the population that previously had not the budget to travel, to say nothing of the inveterate travelers who, for all their love of the road, will not turn down a good deal when they see one however well-monied they may be.

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But even Millennial idealism must give way to worldly reality. As "in" and modern as Airbnb is, it does not mean the service is any more or any less friendly to gay travelers. As policy, Airbnb does not tolerate discrimination, but with over one million listings to date, sheer numbers make it is nearly impossible to winnow the 'phobes from the friends until after the true colors come out.

As Jost's experience clearly proclaims, it is not just the conservative wilds that we can run into trouble. If homophobia can happen in Spain, it can happen anywhere. And if it happened to Jost, it can happen to any of us. Still. Come what may, the same rules apply to Airbnb as they do to all aspects of LGBT travel: Things get mighty thorny for gays and lesbians who want to be gays and lesbians openly depending on where they go. Even behind the closed doors of wherever it is that they stay.

"Our goal is for our community to travel safely without having to disclose our sexual orientation and to make sure that it isn't a problem for the host to welcome a gay couple," says Jost. "We have a lot of welcoming hosts that are willing to share also good tips and advice about the best gay bar, best clubs, best places to go shopping. So this is also a way, when you travel, to 'travel gay.'"

More importantly, Misterbandb takes out the guesswork that we as LGBT travelers still must wade through when it comes to homestays. It also takes into account gay sensibilities. While gays-with-kids travel is admirably on the rise, on average and at most, gay travel usually comes in adult-aged pairs. Pairs that really happen to be into bars, clubs, dungeons, and other general merrymaking attractions that straight couples do not necessarily place at the top of the to-do list. Misterbandb properties are often smack-dab in the middle of gayborhoods where gays want to be: Hell's Kitchen in New York, the Marais in Paris, Shinjuku Ni-chome in Tokyo...

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"That's the primary thing," Jost continues, "to connect the global gay community together, because for us, when we are traveling, it is always harder to meet with locals, gay ones, and this is a great way to do it, do it safely."

Most users are gay men, aged in that footloose 24 - 60 age bracket, and while they are targeted demographic, Misterbandb is by no means restricted to them. Jost figures that 10% of users are lesbians, and the service is growing in leaps and bounds with the PFLAG set since the service debuted three years ago. Today, gay-owned and operated Misterbandb has 80,000 listings in 175 countries (out of 195), with hosts gay and straight, male and female, and with properties spanning the flatlands of the Great Plains to the heights of Nepal (Beams Jost, "We are definitely global!") The average cost is around $70. Anyone familiar with Airbnb will instantly recognise the Misterbandb format.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry (L) speaks near Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir during a joint press conference after the ministerial meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders on April 7, 2016 in the Bahraini capital Manama.US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran to help end the wars raging in Yemen and Syria, criticising the Islamic republic's 'destabilising actions' in the Middle East. / AFP / POOL / JONATHAN ERNST (Photo credit should read JONATHAN ERNST/AFP/Getty Images)

Congress overrode President Obama's veto on Wednesday for only the first time during his eight years in office. The bill, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), allows victims of terrorism or their families to sue foreign governments they blame for acts of terrorism in America starting with the 9/11 attacks, even if those defendants are not designated by the U.S. as State Sponsors of Terrorism.

The way the vote transpired is surprising in five main ways:

1. Opponents Put Up Meek Resistance:

Both the White House and Congressional leaders could have worked harder to fight the bill's passage in its current form. In April, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest came out swinging, warning, "the whole notion of sovereign immunity is at stake" - meaning governments' traditional freedom from prosecution abroad.

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Obama vetoed the bill last month, and waited as long as possible to do so in the hope that Congress would then be on recess (it was not). But the White House's ground game fighting the bill was unusually lackluster.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), a JASTA supporter, suggested that the administration was "missing in action" during the legislative process. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), agreed that the White House was "late to this game."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) sought to narrow the bill, but said there was "zero involvement from the White House." He claims to have made repeated requests for a bipartisan meeting with White House officials to coordinate opposition but never got a response.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) accused the administration of not acting soon enough to explain the bill's potential harm to members of Congress. In response, Earnest fired back that "ignorance is not an excuse" when national security is at stake and cited several letters to Congress from cabinet officials, business leaders, and foreign governments listing their concerns.

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Twenty-eight senators signed a letter urging JASTA to be scaled back, but only released it after the bill had passed. This led a Politico reporter to wryly observe: "if you're a member of Congress and you're just now releasing your JASTA statement... you're doing it wrong."

2. The Saudi Lobby Got Clobbered:

Saudi Arabia was already spending $9.4 million on U.S. lobbying and public relations as of 2015, but this past month it signed additional contracts with five more U.S. firms as foreign agents, bringing its estimated monthly bill to about $1.3 million. Corporations invested in the kingdom - including Dow Chemical, Chevron, and General Electric - also lobbied against the bill, likely with Saudi encouragement.

Yet Wednesday's overwhelming vote tallies reflected poorly on Saudi Arabia's cast of supporters. The vote to override Obama's veto passed by 348 to 77 in the House and an even more lopsided 97 to 1 in the Senate.

3. It's Not Over:

Much of the debate before Wednesday focused on whether JASTA would or should be adopted, but now that the bill is law, the struggle it engendered persists.

Congress may pass additional legislation after November to narrow JASTA's scope, a move which over a quarter of senators have already apparently endorsed. JASTA's main backers in the Senate have said they are willing to revisit the law, but rejected suggestions to narrow its scope to exclude all past or future terrorist attacks other than 9/11. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) insisted that doing so would tell terror sponsors, "go ahead and do it again, and we won't punish you."

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[The World Trade Center burning behind the Statue of Liberty on 9/11; source: Wikipedia]

There are other ways to keep JASTA intact while narrowing its side effects. One would be to limit its scope only to attacks by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. This could for example constrain Turkey from accusing Washington of violating JASTA's principles if it fails to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom Ankara labels a terrorist.

Another idea could be to soften JASTA's impact on the safety of U.S. diplomats and servicemembers overseas by clarifying that revising the immunity of states has no impact on America's strict views as to the necessity of respecting the personal immunity of military or diplomatic officials acting in an official capacity. Congress could also task the administration with crafting a strategy to deter or punish foreign states that might overstep such bounds at the expense of U.S. citizens.

The executive branch will also likely take its own actions in response to the law's passage. The U.S. attorney general is allowed to ask a judge to stay legal proceedings under JASTA, but only after the secretary of state certifies "good faith discussions" with the foreign government accused of supporting terror. This provision will probably be tested soon, as the first JASTA case was filed Friday against Saudi Arabia by a woman whose husband was killed at the Pentagon on 9/11.

[Secretary of State John Kerry talking with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, May 2016; source: Wikipedia]

4. Where's the Gulf Reaction?

The dispute over JASTA went public this spring when the New York Times reported the Saudi foreign minister telling members of Congress that Riyadh would withdraw up to $750 billion in assets from U.S. markets for fear they could be frozen in court. Now that JASTA has passed, experts have warned that Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors could also penalize America by withholding crucial support from current efforts against terrorism.

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Yet so far no tangible reaction from the Gulf has materialized. Riyadh's official reaction to the override was a tame statement urging Congress to "correct" JASTA to avoid "serious unintended consequences." On the contrary, just days after the bill first passed the House last month, the kingdom moved ahead with bidding on a $1.5 billion oil refinery in Texas.

5. What about American Foreign Policy?

The big remaining question is how the battle over Saudi Arabia's sovereign immunity could affect American foreign policy.

It could make Washington more inclined to grant the Arab Gulf monarchies major concessions to shore up alliance ties. For instance, the White House approved the sale of advanced fighter jets to the Gulf nations of Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain that had been stalled for years, within just hours of the Congressional override.

In addition, the Huffington Post's Akbar Shahid Ahmed reports that JASTA's passage could shortchange "fact-based conversations" about Riyadh's dismal record on human rights, religious incitement, and combating terror finance by instead spending U.S. cachet on the near-unwinnable case that Saudi Arabia directly caused the 9/11 attacks.

While 9/11 victims and their families may finally have their day in court, their government's priorities seem set to shift in the opposite direction: downplaying key U.S. differences with Riyadh and trying to build up the immunity of sovereign states and home and abroad.

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The first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump laid bare the competing visions the two candidates have for the future of our country, on everything from our economy to national security. But one issue that wasn't asked about--something that undergirds all these issues--is the state of our democracy.

At a time in which so many voters have lost faith in our democratic institutions believing, rightly so, that our government too often works for the wealthy and well-connected--not ordinary people like you and me--it's crucial that we hear from the candidates about how they plan to address this discontent with the status quo and how they plan to restore faith in our democratic institutions.

And on this issue, like with so many policy debates this election, one candidate has a plan to address these problems and the other has offered no more than a sniffle.

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Both Clinton and Trump have admitted that our current system of big-money politics demands endless courtship of a relatively small group of extraordinarily wealthy Americans. It's a system Secretary Clinton and Donald Trump have long participated in, but Clinton is the only one who'll say how she'll change it.

Voters may not have had a chance to hear this from the candidates last night, but here's what we know already. Clinton and Trump offer starkly different visions for the future of our democracy.

Trump has talked up the fact that he thinks our campaign finance system is broken--that big donors, like he was as a businessman, can buy politicians and turn them into "puppets"--but he has no plan to fix the system he criticizes.

Trump has repeatedly forwarded the dangerous and irresponsible claim that our elections are "rigged" which risks further undermining faith in our democratic institutions while encouraging unlawful voter intimidation at the polls. He has also voiced support for restrictive voting measures that courts found intentionally discriminated against African-American communities.

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What's more Trump has shown a penchant for demonization and demagoguery, preying on our worst fears as a nation. By singling out and marginalizing groups of people on the basis of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or religion, Trump has shown a willingness to contract, not expand, our democracy.

On the other hand when Hillary Clinton stated, "I support our democracy" in her final comments of the debate, she has the plan to back that up--the boldest, most comprehensive plan to strengthen our democracy of any major party nominee in recent history.

Clinton's plan recognizes that the wealthy and powerful have too much influence in our elections and the rest of us too little. She has called for a small-donor matching system for congressional and presidential elections to amplify the voices of everyday American. She has pledged to introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC decision in her first 30 days, while Trump has hired the head of Citizens United to help run his campaign. She wants to bring more people into the political process and ensure access to the ballot box.

Clinton's campaign promises reflect a belief that America's democracy is strongest when it welcomes people of all backgrounds and views, and recognizes the self-worth of every individual and every voice, irrespective of one's wealth or political connections.

That's why, with so much at stake, Every Voice endorsed Hillary Clinton for president last week, our first endorsement ever in the race for the White House.

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For the millions of voters fed up with a broken political system that works great for the wealthy few while leaving the rest behind, Hillary Clinton is the only presidential nominee offering real plans to bring balance back to our political system.
When he's not being admitted to White House press conferences to ask the President of the United States to intervene with his Twitter account, proclaiming feminism to be cancer, swaying votes for Donald Trump, or palling around with Ann Coulter, Milo Yiannopoulos baits the gays on Instagram with photos like this -- and gets the star treatment in glossy LGBT magazines.

Two days ago, Out magazine caused a firestorm when it published a sprawling, nearly 5,500-word personality profile of alt-right media personality Milo Yiannopoulos. Long-form journalism isn't common these days; the Huffington Post, as a typical example, prefers bloggers to limit articles to between 500 and 1,000 words.

So this Milo story must be important, like this new Scientific American story that reveals how the FDA has manipulated and controlled (with their consent) all mainstream media, including the venerable NPR. Longer stories tend to be longer for a reason, often diving deep into a topic and revealing groundbreaking information. Here's Scientific American:

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The deal was this: NPR, along with a select group of media outlets, would get a briefing about an upcoming announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a day before anyone else. But in exchange for the scoop, NPR would have to abandon its reportorial independence. The FDA would dictate whom NPR's reporter could and couldn't interview. "My editors are uncomfortable with the condition that we cannot seek reaction," NPR reporter Rob Stein wrote back to the government officials offering the deal. Stein asked for a little bit of leeway to do some independent reporting but was turned down flat. Take the deal or leave it. NPR took the deal. "I'll be at the briefing," Stein wrote.

Here's Out:

Yiannopoulos is among Trump's most prominent and gleeful supporters. "Donald Trump is such an obvious gay icon," Yiannopoulos says in the salon. "He's brassy, he's outrageous, his taste in interiors is gaudy and exhibitionist. He's a heavy-handed caricature of a billionaire. Everything about him is at once fantastic and camp. He's the drag queen you can vote for."



And:

"Milo is a lot of fun to be around during a bomb threat," Sommers says. "During that time he was getting death threats constantly. He got an impaled mouse sent to him in the mail."



And:

"On the one hand, you have the trans lobby that's all about control and oppression and misery and victimhood and grievance culture. And then drag queens, which is about taking the same kind of pain and expressing it through gender-defying comedy and transgression and subversion. I'm very much in the second camp."



And:

"If I were an artist creating fetishized images of black bodies, like trying to compare them to animals in some way, yeah, that could be racist," he says. "Let's have that conversation. But the fact is, I just like fucking blacks and, ergo, [am] unlikely to be a racist."



This is to say that my opinions aren't always aligned with everyone else's and, to be honest, I do think that Milo Yiannopoulos is a queer figure worth discussing. Unfortunately, I can't argue with anyone who has criticized the story because what could have been a fascinating and informative profile of a confused blend of Ann Coulter and Oscar Wilde really amounts to little more than fawning over Yiannopoulos with too many words and a collection of adorable photos that involve clown drag and drag drag.

Since I haven't been blessed with a 5,500-word allotment here, I'll just cut to the chase and list a few of Out's missed opportunities.

Out Didn't Consider Its Readers - Or Totally Misread Them



With the exception of Milo Yiannopoulos's own words about himself, Chadwick Moore's profile of Milo Yiannopoulos is almost giddily reverent. Despite the circus images that accompany the story, nothing about Moore's story suggests the true extremity of what he says. Moore calls Yiannopoulos "a professional mischief maker and provocateur" and says he "swoops in with rapid-fire talking points delivered in a playfulness so foreign -- and intoxicating -- to most journalists and Americans that they are left standing in the rubble, dumbfounded." Sprinkled among Moore's epic strand of hyperbolic genuflecting toward Yiannopoulos are tales of Yiannopoulos's tough childhood in Kent, England and how, like a swoonworthy phoenix, It Got Better for Yiannopoulos and he rose up into a queer renegade, a cultural hero with boundless emotional fortitude!

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Unfortunately for Moore and Out, a lot of people already knew enough about Milo Yiannopoulos to find this sort of saccharine pandering offensive. Yiannopoulos is among Donald Trump's most vocal supporters, and he must be a YOOGE boon to the Trump campaign's efforts to snare young voters. It's no coincidence that Yiannopoulos secured a spot hosting a "Gays for Trump" rally at the Republican National Convention and that Yiannopoulos's bread and butter (now that Twitter is no longer an option for him) is college campus speaking tours. Yiannopoulos has amassed a YOOGE following among rebellious college students, and he is directing their rebellion to the voting booths, telling them to vote for Donald Trump. If we equate Yiannopoulos with Trump, as we must, then that alone should have suggested to Out's editors that a fawning Seventeen magazine-style puff piece on Yiannopoulos wouldn't go down easily for most LGBT readers, and so many spoons full of sugar certainly doesn't mask the bitter truth.



During the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Yiannopoulos and (to his right) fellow Breitbart staffer Mike Ma bragged about crashing a White House press conference. Called on by the White House press officer, Yiannopoulos asked what the White House can do to restore the "verified" checkmark that Twitter revoked.

The Story Ignores Its Own Strange Irony



"The whole Trump project, the alt-right project, Breitbart, we recognize the media as public enemy number one," he says. "Is the media then going to report nicely about us? Of course not. At Trump rallies, the press pen is raised and at the back of the room and he's pointing at them, saying 'Look at this garbage, these slimeballs.' And the whole crowd is cheering. You think those people are going to report accurately on what happened? Of course they won't....Journalists haven't yet worked out that everyone hates them."

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So here is Milo Yiannopoulos, celebrity spokesperson for "the alt-right project, Breitbart," diminishing the media to the feature writer of a glossy LGBT magazine. One would imagine that a writer who has been commissioned to author a cover story might have done some background research, and might have taken into consideration not only his apparent affinity for his interview subject, but also his readership. Out magazine is written for an LGBT audience.

Yiannopoulos told Joe Rogan on Rogan's podcast: "Yes - I would agree it would be better if I didn't behave like this, and if I could choose to be heterosexual I would do so." When pressed, he doubled down, "'If I could choose, I wouldn't be a homosexual. That doesn't make me self-loathing.'"

Obviously, people who know such things about Yiannopoulos are going to expect an Out magazine feature of him to seriously confront these sorts of proclamations, among others. But no, this and far more provocative statements, often described as homophobic, get passing references in the story, but no serious attention. It's ironic, then, that Yiannopoulos did confront his interviewer -- perhaps a journalist -- telling him that everyone hates him and that journalists are dishonest, "garbage and slimeballs"...and the end result is a dishonest-by-occlusion story that suggests its subject is nothing more than a playful imp. Which brings us to...



(Left) Typical posts from Yiannopoulos's Snapchat: with Mike Ma; captioning a photo of Ma "He'll come on your face but he won't kiss you"; (Right) Ma's verified Twitter profile, on which he calls himself an "Alt right propagandist" and "Nationalist cult leader." Ma is an employee of Yiannopoulos with equally high journalistic standards.

The Story Leaves Out Vitally Important Context -- Especially for Out Readers



This is how Moore characterizes the alt-right movement:

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The alt-right is far from alone in a backlash against political correctness. In July, a Pew Research poll found that 59% of Americans agree that "too many people are easily offended these days over the language that others use," although less than a majority of Clinton supporters agreed with the statement. The alt-right did not spring out of thin air. A decade ago, it was called the Tea Party. And while many would characterize the movement's values as racist, xenophobic, and nationalistic, Yiannopoulos sees himself as standing up for the nation's most oppressed. If one is to accept his view on the movement, the core philosophies are those that have always defined the right: small government, personal accountability, and a deep distrust of sweeping social movements and political correctness. Only now, thanks largely to Internet trolling culture and a swelling backlash against a culture predicated on "trigger warnings," has the extreme right seemed to grab hold of its own identity and run with it.

This is how Wikipedia characterizes the alt-right movement:

The alt-right has no official ideology, although various sources have said that it is associated with white nationalism,[1][2][6] white supremacism,[3][7][8] antisemitism,[1][2][9] right-wing populism,[6] nativism,[10] and the neoreactionary movement.[7][11]



Of course Wikipedia isn't an ideal reference, but it's worth citing because it is among the most-read of all websites. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a widely referenced organization that characterizes and monitors hate groups, describes the alt-right this way:

The Alternative Right, commonly known as the Alt-Right, is a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that "white identity" is under attack by multicultural forces using "political correctness" and "social justice" to undermine white people and "their" civilization. Characterized by heavy use of social media and online memes, Alt-Righters eschew "establishment" conservatism, skew young, and embrace white ethno-nationalism as a fundamental value.



It is difficult to separate the alt-right, and indeed Breitbart -- Yiannopoulos's employer and starmaker -- from white supremacist ideology. In fact, the alt-right movement is the very vehicle through which white supremacy has been rocketed into the mainstream -- with help from Donald Trump. Even Yiannopoulos's former colleague (And friend? Frenemy? Antagonist?) Ben Shapiro has written since his departure from Breitbart that "Now Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers."

This reality is given no serious discussion in the Out profile of Yiannopoulos. The story suggests, through Yiannopoulos's quotes, that the alt-right movement is only criticized for racism and other dangerous prejudices because people object to political incorrectness. That's bullshit. And then the story relays, through Yiannopoulos's quotes, that he just likes "fucking blacks and, ergo, [am] unlikely to be a racist." And the writer makes a feeble obligatory effort to level out this stunning (and intentionally provocative) comment by quoting Shaun King, who says "but there are real victims in this." Ah, OK, the story is going to go somewhere! And then: "He hasn't experienced the pain or seen it to understand it." Oh, OK. Well, Milo, you're excused then, you naive young man, you.

This is inexcusable for an LGBT magazine. I don't feel like I really should have to articulate why this is. But it is because the acceptance of LGBT people has followed upon the heels of the Civil Rights movement and the women's movement before it. It's all the same: It's all about treating all people with the same levels of dignity, humanity and respect. Moore may feel he did that in his profile of Milo Yiannopoulos, but unfortunately, when Moore gushes over his crush ("When he speaks, he lowers his chin and leans in intently, fixing a gaze with dark eyes that are at once doelike and cutting."), he is disrespecting and diminishing his readers -- people who know what Moore does not seem to understand: If an LGBT magazine is going to dedicate 5,500 words to a character like Milo Yiannopoulos, it had better have some reason beyond making him look pretty.



A tank top sold by Yiannopoulos on his website, Swag by Milo.



The Story Is Far Less Interesting Than Its Subject



I've been aware of Milo Yiannopoulos for the better part of a year, and I don't feel like the person whose words I've read and listened to are really represented in the Out article. Yiannopoulos himself does far more honest work of characterizing himself than the article's author does. Yiannopoulos says that he'd rather his (nonexistant) daughter had cancer than feminism; writer Chadwick Moore essentially tells us that Yiannopoulos is a playfully provocative imp, a survivor, and, to borrow words Moore quotes from Yiannopoulos, "complex and interesting." But Moore doesn't show us why Yiannopoulos is complex and interesting.

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In fact, he is. Not because he says antagonistic things. If Yiannopoulos believes, as he says, that Amy Schumer and Lena Dunham are "boring," then he should have to admit that his new BFF Ann Coulter is likewise boring, just on the other side of the aisle. Yiannopoulos is interesting for a number of reasons, but given Out's special interests, I would expect a story in out to dedicate a bit more discussion and (dare I say) investigation into Yiannopoulos's complicated sexuality. He claims to be gay. In fact, he flaunts it -- believably so, as, at the risk of offending readers with stereotyping, Yiannopoulos's facial expressions, bodily movements and words are saturated in gayness; unless he's an incredible actor, he is gay through and through. And yet he has said countless times that he wishes he weren't -- and that he believes he's not self-loathing just because he wishes he were straight. Joe Rogan challenged Yiannopoulos on this and encouraged conversation about it. Out magazine did not. Rogan probed; the LGBT magazine coasted along the surface. I almost wonder whether the author and editors may admire Yiannopoulos more because of his lamentations of being gay. Gay men, I ask you, is this the kind of "straight acting" you ask for on your social apps?

Yiannopoulos has said what should be undeniably classifiable as racist comments, and yet he proclaims that he is only attracted to black men and therefore cannot be racist. That's fascinating -- for discussion's sake, given the obvious and undeniable marginalization of black men in the visible gay world, from glossy magazine photos to Davey Wavey videos to (especially) Grindr and the like. Personally, claiming to have sex with a lot of black men does nothing to convince me to ignore anyone's overtly racist sentiments and support of an overtly racist presidential candidate...but what a catalyst for some serious introspection among gay men to see someone who spews racist rhetoric actually claiming to embrace black men's sexuality when so few supposedly nonracist white men even consider doing so. Not even a passing reference to such dichotomies.

And Yiannopoulos is perhaps best known, at least among his college followers, for denouncing so many women who have alleged that they've been sexually assaulted on campus. He lives in the same world as Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who got a slap on the wrist after he was found having sex with an unconscious woman by a dumpster, and yet one of Yiannopoulos's standard talking points is that "there is no rape culture in the West," claiming that all actual rapists here go to jail. To too many frat boys to count, and to the horror and revulsion of many college women, Yiannopoulos is inextricably connected to denial and decriminalization of sexual assault, particularly on college campuses. And yet a young, pre-famous Yiannopoulos once self-published a poetry chapbook that liberally sampled or plagiarized lyrics from Tori Amos, who is likewise inextricably connected to rape, having co-founded the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) decades ago. The idea of it is such a contradiction, it's as if...well, just imagine, for example, Donald Trump's wife giving a speech using exactly the same words as the wife of Barack Obama, the man he suggests is the antichrist.

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Speaking of this, this commentary on Out's commentary-free propaganization of Milo Yiannopoulos while somehow erasing every legitimately compelling aspect of his persona from the story has reached its conclusion.

And using the paradoxical logic of Out's presentation of Milo Yiannopoulos, I'll use my commentary of Milo Yiannopoulos to remind you of why when he says "you're being politically incorrect and need to shut up," you may want to think twice. Here's Tori Amos from 1992 singing about her rape experience. Unlike the Out magazine story, there's nothing hyperbolic about it, nothing overblown and ornate: just a harrowing, honest report. Following that is a video of Amos from this week discussing a new single, Flicker, which she released to raise money for RAINN and as part of the soundtrack of a new Netflix documentary called Audrie and Daily, released today, that chronicles the story of two young women whose lives were ruined by sexual assault.

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We know about Amos in part because of her profound and honest writing and performance, and because she fought to bring attention to the psychological devastation of sexual assault and helping people who suffer it. We know about Yiannopoulos mostly because he says that feminists are worse than cancer and because he draws record crowds at university campuses, where he decries political correctness and says that rape is a myth.
I've moved back to LA and while I was lying on my perfectly named Casper mattress I began to think of all the friendly and for the most part instructive ghosts that I travel with. That we all travel with, I think.

They are not the ones who we over pack in our matching set of emotional baggage which is our most portable neuroses overhead carrier.

No these are memory ghosts which are the free radicals of the soul.

The agency of the medium that is required to have direct contact them is the simple ritual of closing your eyes or daydreaming to places far, far away.

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And suddenly there they are, like an old movie unspooling on the expansive movie screen of your open eyes.

I lived here for over 25 years before I returned to the creche of my childhood, New York, where I did a ten-year inventory of my LA life and came to the eventual conclusion that the Atlantic wins over the Pacific simply because it is in New York which is the open round the clock for business, Disneyland for grown-ups, Lion King or not.

I've been flown back to launch a new TV series that I co-created with Mr. Adorable Famous Person Face so against my better judgement: Welcome to Tour of Improbable Tour of Duty Tour 2016-17.

I'm living where I lived for most of those years: Studio City, or as Phil Collins would have called it, "Stu-Stu-Studio City" and it's beyond strange being here.

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Most major cities transform themselves over a ten year period, usually for the better, although NYC, especially with all those garish steel and glass apartment buildings that are sprouting up around the High Line is starting to make the city look like downtown Dubai.

LA is perennially incubator hot and the baby, as of this writing, is still not cooked yet. Since age is the cancer of LA anything that has even a whiff of history or nostalgia is eliminated like the books in Fahrenheit 451.

The Chateau Marmont, the single most haunted structure in town, remains the one true exception to the rule. And yet it continues to draw in the hip crowd perhaps because they unconsciously sense the presence of all those deeply emotional and mostly lost ghosts who are desperately looking under every bed and in ever closet for Cecil B. DeMille. They simply cannot rest until they have their close-up.

The ghosts that I see as I drive through the intestinally serpentine streets of LA are the ghosts of my children when they were young and beamed so bright that their brilliant toddler lighthouses of joy could blind any passing over LA cosmonauts.

I see me at different ages too. More chick than chicken (with a rooster's swagger) fueled with tinsel hung glamorous dreams and impossible success.

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I can also hear the madrigal choir of tumbling ocean voices who whisper, fervently, in tones that even Siri could not hear, that were said to me either with benevolence or like carefully aimed, about to burst hand grenades that did in fact go off and partially cripple me.

I can still feel their impact to this day.

You do not grow up in here, in Neverland. It is literally against the law. They don't even say the word "pregnancy. They say, "Oh, my new baby is getting some work done."

That virulent resistance to the substance that we all have the inalienable right to inherit is so absolute, it forces all the inhabitants of Planet Hollywood to live a life of lies and self-image distortions with the, same loving touch as once upon a time convicted serial killer Richard Speck.

Any available woman over 50 here, advertises herself on Match.com as someone who rides horses like Wonder Woman, sells real estate (almost always with pumped up lips that looks like little pontoons), does lunatic quality cartwheels on public beaches and prefers to date men between the ages of 12 and 13.

They also post the deadly three pictures, whose code "Infernos" Professor Langford could figure out in between eye blinks. Picture one is the one that makes them look how they wish they looked. (It is often their professional 8X10). Picture two is the slow dissolve towards a soon to shock reality and Picture three is the one that looks like a woman that would make Donald Trump throw up all over his made in Guam suit. Often the Caucasian woman in Picture One becomes an overweight, I'm sorry, curvy, Asian woman with some challenging on going dental issues.

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So: if you are dating out here, my heartfelt advice is to head right for the truth of number three. Number four by the way is usually a sonogram photo or a picture from kindergarten graduation which is where all the sadness plays in. I mean it has been at least 50 years since they were in the playground, but I don't dare tell any of them because they are so looking forward to their snacks and naps.

So, ghosts.

In order to get through this spirit bound life, I think we have to become the equivalent of sheepherders in order to figure out a way to round up all the many sheep that we need to count before we can finally....finally go peacefully to sleep.

Disclaimer: Do not run from them. Do not antagonize them and do not give them water after midnight, because I promise you they will wet the bed.

Love your ghosts. Respect your ghosts. Learn from the dead and I promise you, you will have a very happy and peaceful life.

And by the way, ghosts have access to "Hamilton" tickets so be nice them

P.S. If you really miss your parents, they are amongst the flock, forever standing in the brilliant sunshine with flung-open arms and still want to touch your hair, tell you tuck in your shirt and sing lullabies to you.

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Nowadays, our young people have to give a second thought to attending a house party. Thanks to social media, you are guaranteed to have unwelcome guests who are not only there to crash a party but are also there with malicious intent. It saddens me that young people today can't enjoy the days of a real house party.

The house parties in the 70s and 80s were outta sight -- they served not only as a safe place to mingle with old friends but also as a place to meet and mingle with new friends from surrounding towns. Where one could go to "fast-dance" to the groovy sounds of David Essex; Earth, Wind, and Fire; Rare Earth; The Jackson Five; James Brown; B.T. Express; Three Dog Night; the Average White Band; ZZ Top; The mighty Temptations; Joe Tex ... and the list goes on...

We lived in the era of Flower Power, the Age of Aquarius, Power to the People, and, of course, "What's Your Sign?" (Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, or Capricorn.)

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There was no dress code for house parties; however, men wore bell-bottoms, apple caps, flowery shirts, dashikis, and big gold medallions peeking through unbuttoned shirts. And many of the women wore blouses with bell-shaped sleeves, (fake) suede and leather vests with fringes, along with maxi dresses, bell-bottoms, hot pants, miniskirts, and high-heel boots.

In most states, the 70s was a time when the legal drinking age was 18; although hard liquor was never served at house parties, various types of wines flowed, from Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill, Mad Dog 20/20, Cold Duck, Ripple (a favorite of Fred and Lamont Sanford), to Zapple and Annie Green Springs wine. Two punch bowls (spiked and un-spiked) were both sipped from an infamous red plastic cup that got the "P" in the party started.

There was a designated person who took charge of the record player, playing 45s and LPs. The 45s would be stacked and would automatically fall one by one. Sometimes, right in the middle of your favorite song, the record would skip--so someone would reach into their pocket, pull out a nickel or a penny to lie on the top of the handle to steady the needle, and the dancing commenced with "There is a party over here, woo-woo! There is a party over there, woo-woo!"

Oh, but when "Fire" came on by The Ohio Players, everyone in unison would yell, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire! We don't need no water -- Let the ******** burn! Burn, ********, burn!" The expletives were mumbled or sometimes absent ... all to be mindful of the parent in the house. Yes, respectable house parties were once in existence.

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Many of the house parties back east were in the basement--where a lot of people would slow-dance in the corner, in the back, in the dark, especially to the soothing sounds of the Dells, Al Green or Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and when Marvin Gaye sang, "Let's Get it On."

The musical arrangements from the "Theme from Shaft" (written and recorded by Isaac Hayes) was a bad mother (shut your mouth), can-you-dig-it song that had everyone on the floor doing all types of popular dances, from "The Funky Chicken" to "The Bump," "The Bus Stop," and "The Hustle." (Musical tidbit: "Theme from Shaft" won the Academy Award in 1972 for "Best Original Song." Hayes was the first African-American to win that honor in a non-acting category. Right on!)

The kitchen was a favorite hangout where everyone went to cool off and to grab something to eat. There was always a full spread of fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and ribs on the kitchen counter.

And, it was not unusual to see a parent or both parents at the kitchen table having a party of their own, laughing with their friends, circles of smoke permeating the air from cigarettes, while they played and fussed over a game of Dominoes, Spades, or Tonk.

Another favorite song that everyone danced to and formed the infamous Soul Train line was The Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight":

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"...I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie

To the hip hip-hop and you don't stop

The rock it to the bang-bang boogie

Say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

...hotel, motel, Holiday Inn...

...Well it's on and on and on, on and on

The beats don't stop until the break of dawn..."

Our house parties never lasted 'til the break of dawn. When one of the parents opened the basement door and the lights that almost blinded you flooded in from the hallway, you knew it was time to get your last dance on.

When the light came on inside the basement, the house party was over!

Some folks have said that the person they met in the corner, in the back, in the dark looked quite different when the lights came on; it went both ways -- I am just sayin'.

It was all copacetic until the next house party. Right on and right on!

Earlier on Huff/Post50:
This past week I had the opportunity to facilitate a Sustainable Tourism and Marine Science Symposium in Havana Cuba.

While many U.S. Citizens would not consider being a tourist in Cuba, as it is still not legal for U.S. Citizens to do so, it wasn't always that way.

The Hotel Nacionale

One such celebrity of visited this hotel as a tourist years ago was Walt Disney who stayed at the Hotel Nacional when he was suffering from stress, and his doctor advised a vacation.

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We thought it fitting that we were holding our meeting on sustainable tourism at the very hotel resort that the founder of the Walt Disney Company, which is one of the most sustainable tourism companies in the world, stayed when he needed to renew his spirit and soul.

The hotel overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. I felt renewed every day just looking out the my 8th floor window at the water. My friend and colleague Wallace J. Nichols has documented in his book Blue Mind the healing power that water can bring to us all. It is no wonder that Walt Disney found such healing at this hotel with its fountain, views of the water, and tropical atmosphere.

Our meeting began with a wonderful cuban meal where we then gathered at the Cuba circle in the courtyard overlooking the sea for a group photo. The symbolism was perfect for Cuban and U.S. professors and scientists coming together to discuss the connection between sustainable tourism and coastal habitat and marine environments.

It was also symbolic that our four day program began on the U.N. World Tourism Day where we opened our meeting with a greeting from Cordula Wohlmuther, from the UNTWO in Madrid, Spain.

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Our U.S. participants included 6 professors from the University of South Florida, a University of Florida county extension agent from the Florida Keys, the director of Cubamar from Miami, and two doctoral students.

Our Cuban counterparts included the Vice President of the International University Network, and professor University of Havana, a professor of geography and tourism from University of Havana, the Commodore of the Hemingway International Yacht Club, the Director of a climate change initiative, the vice Dean of the Environmental Faculty of InSTec and Scientific coordinator of Pro-Tortugas, director of the Cuban national aquarium.

Early on in our discussions for those from the States, it was easy to identify some of the key challenges that Cuba faced for sustainable tourism. Some of these challenges include the need for more infrastructure for accommodations, improved internet, customer service training, and management training to move increased numbers of people so as to have the least negative impacts.

Our cuban counterparts also reminded us of the need to increase food supply, protect the wonderful natural and cultural assets of the country, and perhaps most important to find ways to include the Cuban people in the benefits that tourism may bring the country.

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As we listened to our Cuban counterparts we became aware that despite the many challenges that the Cuban tourism industry faces, they have much more to contribute as a model for sustainable tourism to the world than they may have need for improvement.

Some of the key models or lessons we learned from the Cubans re: sustainable tourism include but are not limited to the following.

Since Castro came into power the forests in Cuba have actually increased 14%. One of the examples was the reforestation of the coffee plantation in Laz Terrazas which is a favorite for bird watching. The reforestation created a new ecotourism resort in what was a dying economy and given new life and hope to the people of the area. No one in our group could think of one country in the world that has actually increased its percentage of forests in the world in the past few decades.

Cuba grows its food without chemical fertilizers. This organic approach has not only provided better tasting local cuisine, it has also avoided dumping large quantities of fertilizers into the sea. The result has been that their coral reefs are some of the best preserved in the world.

There are no fast food chain restaurants in Cuba. Local people are now creating their own private restaurants to help meet the demand for tourism. As a result local tourists get a more authentic cuban experience, and trash in the streets of the cities, towns, and villages is greatly reduced.

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Cuba has implemented strong national protection for his precious coastal habitat and marine resources that is a treasure for tourists from around the world. Having strong leadership in this area is clearly a model for other nations to consider for tourism development.

The preservation of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is truly a cultural treasure for the Cuban people and the world. On our tour through the five plazas participants in our group were in awe of the massive work being done to protect, restore, and preserve this global treasure.

As our meetings concluded with the ceremonial observance of the Cuban cannon for that goes off every night at 9:00 p.m. at the fort. it was as if the warning shot had been fired for all of us to take action in the battle to protect the planet.

Our group began to form partnerships and plans for next steps, perhaps the most important lesson for sustainable tourism for development was that each of our respective cultures have much to give and much to learn from each other. This will be a key to any plans for sustainable tourism development or redevelopment for the future.

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Today I want to tell you a story that should make all of us Angelenos proud. I'm talking about two major Los Angeles artists whose works were recently unveiled in Europe on a grand scale: Bill Viola in London and Betye Saar in Milan.

I have to confess that until seeing Bill Viola's retrospective here at LACMA in 1998, I was not particularly interested or impressed by video as a form of art. Bill Viola's exhibition made me stare at the screens and forget for a moment where I was. His videos transported me to another time and another place.

Since then, his art has been shown all around the world. Two years ago, his four screen video Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) was unveiled at St. Paul's Cathedral in London -- "the first permanent video installation [ever] commissioned for a cathedral or church in Britain". There are four human figures on four parallel plasma screens, and each of the individuals is undergoing an ordeal through the raging elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

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A few weeks ago, another video by Bill Viola, Mary, was installed at St. Paul's Cathedral. Looking at the profound and timeless image of Mary holding her son, it's difficult not to think of Michelangelo's Pieta. But Bill Viola's Mary is mysteriously connected to our time and to our place -- the City of Angels. Behind Mary shimmers the cityscape of Los Angeles with its skyscrapers and lights of passing cars. I wonder if Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels might consider commissioning Bill Viola and his wife and long-time collaborator Kira Perov to create a special video for us Angelenos (and thus add to the Cathedral's already impressive collection of works by various L.A. artists.)

Here's another story for you, my fellow art friends. If in the next few months you're lucky enough to travel to Italy, you must go to Milan, to the Prada Foundation (Fondazione Prada) to see Betye Saar's exhibition Uneasy Dancer. It's her first exhibition in Italy and it "brings together 80 works including installations, assemblages, collages, and sculptures produced between 1966 and 2016".

It's amazing to see that Betye Saar at her young age of 90 continues to tell powerful and poetic stories reflecting on African American identity, spirituality, and the connectedness between different cultures. When one looks at Saar's work, mostly composed from everyday objects, one starts not only to see, but almost hear personal stories about death and rebirth, race and gender. To quote Saar, her work "was really about evolution rather than revolution, about evolving the consciousness in another way and seeing black people as human beings instead of the caricatures or the derogatory images."

For those of us who cannot make it to Milan, here's some good news: a small and delightful exhibition of Betye Saar's work is currently on display at Roberts & Tilton in Culver City. Go see it, and let me know your thoughts.

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To learn about Edward's Fine Art of Art Collecting Classes, please visit his website. You can also read The New York Times article about his classes here, or an Artillery Magazine article about Edward and his classes here.

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The world has lost a one-of-a-kind leader with the death of Shimon Peres.

As one of the founders of Israel, Peres helped secure the nation. He built its defense capability, as well as its technological and cultural sectors.

But his most important legacy is as a defender of peace. More than 20 years ago he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Oslo Accords. It was the first time Israel worked directly with the Palestine Liberation Organization toward a shared peace. Though the peace did not last, Peres' commitment to it did, even when it wasn't a popular position.

I am honored to have known such a great man, and even more honored to remember the reason why I know him.

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In 1937, when I was a four-year-old kid in the Bronx with not much idea what was happening in the world, my Uncle Joseph was fleeing Europe for Palestine. My parents and most of their siblings had left Europe much earlier, but Joseph stayed as long as he could to finish his studies. He turned down offers from his professors to find him a position at an American university. He wasn't interested in a fancy title. He wanted to teach children.

That year, along with other German Jewish emigrants, Uncle Joseph helped bring fleeing European Jews to Palestine. There, he helped establish a school, the Ben Shemen Youth Village, which counted as one of its students a young Shimon Peres.

Peres and his peers learned the same things I learned from my Uncle Joseph on his one and only visit to our family in the Bronx: responsibility, civic duty, pride in faith and country. I still remember Uncle Joseph telling me about the dream of Israel, about a safe place for Jewish families and children who had struggled for centuries.

Knowing Peres had been a student of my uncle's, I watched Peres' career over the decades with great interest. His commitment to public service was unparalleled, and he deservedly ranked as one of Israel's most respected leaders.

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But Peres was also a kind, generous man. When I visited Israel with my wife Edye and two sons in the 1970s, we were in a terrible plane accident. We crash landed in the desert and our engine exploded. My wife suffered a severe back injury and heavy burns. All we wanted to do was go home. Despite his undoubtedly hectic role as transportation minister at the time, Peres visited us in the hospital and helped us find a way to bring Edye back to the U.S. without further damaging her back.

To this day, I remain grateful for his kindness during a difficult time for my family, and I am proud to have been able to support him as well. Two years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Peres founded the Peres Center for Peace. Edye and I were founding donors, and we had the pleasure of attending its opening. The non-profit organization works to promote lasting peace in the region, and we are honored to be supporters of such important work.
WASHINGTON,DC-NOV20: Ivania Castillo and immigrant advocacy groups rallied Friday, November 20, 2015, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, calling on the justices to rule in favor of President Obamas stalled deportation-relief proposal and threatening to hold accountable the Republican governors who so far have blocked it.(Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Some legal observers predict the new Supreme Court Term will be a snooze because the docket lacks hot button social issue cases -- the fate of marriage equity, for example, or a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature legislative accomplishment. From my perspective, that's a narrow view that ignores the social, political and economic import of many cases confronting the justices this term.

Every case the high court hears is significant because, as the final arbiter of the law, its decisions have an impact on entire classes of people, businesses or government. This term, the court will grapple with a number of issues that couldn't be more relevant to the American experience in the second decade of the 21st Century. Racial bias in the criminal justice system, the growing political power of minority voters, and the accountability of predatory banks are at the center of this term's most interesting cases.

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The court may also be hamstrung in some instances by the absence of its ninth justice. The Senate's unprecedented refusal to consider any nominee of President Obama to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia may well result in some tie votes that will delay justice for all affected by the issue in question. The court was unable to resolve four cases after Scalia died in the middle of the last term, and just yesterday, deepened its dysfunction by refusing to re-hear one of those cases, an appeal regarding the president's immigration actions, leaving millions of people in legal limbo.



Racial bias in the criminal justice system, the ... political power of minority voters, and the accountability of predatory banks are at the center of this term's most interesting cases.



Looming over all of this is a tumultuous presidential election, the results of which may well determine the ideological direction of the court for generations to come.

How could anyone think this melange portends a boring term?

Two cases scheduled for oral argument in the first two weeks of the term revolve around racial bias in the criminal justice system, even as Americans struggle to reconcile recent police shootings of unarmed African Americans. These cases will give the Supreme Court not one but two opportunities to keep the specter of racism from haunting the jury box and poisoning decisions that, under the Constitution, must be free from racial bias.



One of those cases, Buck v. Davis, will be argued Wednesday. The circumstances involve an "expert" witness called by Duane Buck's own attorney who testified during the sentencing phase of Buck's criminal trial that Buck was more likely to be dangerous because he was African American. That testimony fed into long-standing and persistent stereotypes of African American men as dangerous and violent, and Buck was sentenced to death rather than life in prison. Buck is asking the Justices for the opportunity to make the argument in the courts below that he was deprived of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel.

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The case of Pena-Rodriquez v. Colorado turns on racist comments allegedly made by a juror during deliberations. The juror allegedly said he did not trust Miguel Angel Pena-Rodriguez or his alibi witness because they were Mexican. The jury reached a guilty verdict. The high court's ruling will determine for the first time whether evidence of racial bias against a criminal defendant is so compelling that it justifies piercing the veil of secrecy that usually surrounds jury deliberations.



The court's decisions will have lasting impact on how legislative districts are drawn, who gets elected, and thus who makes the laws that affect us all.



The growing political power of minorities is at issue in two cases involving redistricting of state and federal legislative districts in the electoral battlegrounds of North Carolina and Virginia. In these cases, challengers are asking the Court to hold that use of a fixed racial quota to over-pack minorities into certain districts -- diluting their influence in other districts -- violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

The court's decisions will have lasting impact on how legislative districts are drawn, who gets elected, and thus who makes the laws that affect us all.

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Oral arguments in the case of Bank of America v. Miami will bring renewed attention to some of the same predatory lending practices that led to the 2008 financial catastrophe and the Great Recession that followed. The question is whether the city of Miami under the Fair Housing Act can sue banks that allegedly engaged in a decade-long practice of predatory mortgage lending that targeted vulnerable minorities for costly, high-risk loans.
It was a simple question about being distant kin to the monkeys. The kind of question, like "Why is the sky blue?" "Where do stars go in the morning?" that any curious third grader might ask. His teacher, however, was irate. "Ridiculous," she said. "Don't bother me with impertinent questions."

This kind of a rebuke did not sit well with the grandson of Peter Klopfer.

Klopfer is a distinguished Duke University biology professor, author of more than 20 books and an expert in animal behavior and evoluntionary biology. His daughter Erika Honore, the questioner's mother, is a retired veterinary scientist with multiple degrees and the author of A Concise Survey of Animal Behavior. She and her doctor husband know a thing or two about kinship with monkeys, and had - along with his grandfather - passed along enough anthropological truth to the third grader that his teacher's rebuke had the opposite effect: now he wanted to know the story of evolution.

"Erika and I started looking for an age-appropriate book on evolution," Klopfer says, "and it was nowhere to be found. That's not to say that it doesn't exist, but we couldn't find a good book for six-to-ten-year-olds anywhere. So we decided to write our own.



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Thus evolved Darwin and the First Grandfather, a small, colorfully illustrated (by Gretchen Morrissey) book of how humankind began.

Darwin's narrator, asked the where-did-we-come-from question by her own 8-year-old replies that she'll tell him two stories. She tells first the biblical creation story - which would presumably please the creators of Texas textbooks (and which many if not most Christians see for what it is: a story.) Then she launches into another story, a tale of a boy names Charles and the discoveries he makes as he follows his own curiosity. It is a delightfully readable account of creation from one perspective and evolution from the perspective of scientific truth.

Scientific publishers who had brought out Klopfer's scholarly books were less than enthusiastic about undertaking a children's book. The firm that had published his earlier children's book had subsequently gone out of business, and he lacked a good connection to children's book publishers. One atheist publisher was delighted with the idea, but eventually said he could find no way to market such a thing. "So we just put it aside," Klopfer says now, "and it sat in a file cabinet for years."

Happily for children everywhere, the father-daughter duo recently dug the manuscript out again and decided to self-publish. Klopfer's neighbor, a textile design artist, agreed to do the illustrations, and Darwin and the First Grandfather was born.

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I'm Fred Raillard, Creative CEO, Co-founder and Creative Chief Officer with Farid Mokart of FRED & FARID, a social, content, tech solutions for brands company based in New York, Paris and Shanghai. #FredinChina is an essential social media podcast to know and understand the world's largest economy.

I fell in love with China, and live in Shanghai with my wife and three sons since September 2012. With my teams at the FRED & FARID Shanghai agency we monitor, analyze and decrypt this ultra-connected China with nearly 800 million netizens by sharing what we see, hear and read on Weibo, WeChat, Huaban, Youku. I prepare this column with Zhuomin Qin from FRED & FARID Shanghai.

Thanks to Zhuomin Qin, Feng Huang, Jalila Levesque, Jules Chaffiotte, Radouane Guissi, Yi Zhang, Ying Zhang, Aliou Maro, Tina Liu, Louis Caudevilla, Dushan Karageorgevitch, Jing Qian, Jonathan Roy, Maxime Aubanel and Antoine Robin for their participation to this chronic.

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Click here to listen to all the podcasts.

Chinese netizens surprisingly support Donald Trump

Welcome to this new season of #FredinChina. The HotTopic this week is the U.S. election. A lot of people talked about the first debate, which made 640 million media impressions on Weibo, and thousands of discussions on the Internet.

Chinese people are extremely conscious that the outcome will have a direct impact on China. It's very interesting to see that the majority of Chinese netizens support Donald Trump, and not Hillary Clinton! This is for down to a few different reasons. Firstly, because they are not totally happy with the way Democrats are right now handling the relationship between China and the U.S. Secondly, Hillary is suffering from a credibility standpoint simply because she is a woman. People are not used to seeing women at the top levels of politics. And thirdly, because Donald Trump is a champion of Trending and HotTopics. Every sentence he makes ends up as a HotTopic in China, with everyone talking about it! Even though he is really controversial, he is a maverick for Chinese people. They just cannot believe that you can be a politician and behave like he does. They kind of love it, because he is an entertaining character who is so enjoyable to watch. They also like the fact that he does not seem to come from a classical and conventional Washington political establishment. He just seems like a real guy to the Chinese, who talks the truth and is just emotional.

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Chinese people also made a lot of jokes about the fact that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump pronounced the word 'China' so many times. It almost seemed that China was sponsoring the debate! There were also a lot of jokes about the possibility of Donald Trump making the White House gold if he wins the Presidency as he is so rich and flamboyant. Also, that his jet is already bigger than Air Force 1, so he might actually keep it and call it 'Air Force 1 Plus!

Elon Musk and his inter-planetary dreams compared to Iron Man in China

The HotBrand of the week is 'SpaceX'. Chinese people are totally in love with this brand, and everything related to 'SpaceX' as well as the CEO, Elon Musk who is a real superstar. Millions of people were watching the rocket launch from the platform. Elon Musk is also a trending topic in his own right, making Chinese people dream and is even called 'Iron Man' in China.

'SpaceX' is the HotBrand because it was the 67th IAC (International Astronautical Congress) from September 26-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico, where innovation and space tech were presented. Musk announced this a programme to bring humans to other planets, and developed his plan to colonize Mars. He said he would do this in 6 years, so if you are still around by 2022, you might see this actually happen on TV and the internet! He managed to dramatically lower the cost of sending humans in space. Today it costs about 1 billion to send a human to space, and he wants to bring this down to $20,000.

A lot of Chinese people tweeted his quotes on Weibo and WeChat, and cc'ed their own Chinese stars like Jack Ma (boss of Alibaba), Ma Huateng (boss of Tencent), and Jia Yueting (boss of Letv) as a way of pushing them to be inspired by what Musk is doing. One of these quotes was a killer quote: " I really have no other purpose than to make life inter-planetary".

Pen, Pineapple, Apple, Pen: the latest viral video among Chinese millennials

The HotPost of the week is totally stupid and also the kind of HotPost we love to talk about! It's a silly brainwashing music video that just stays in your mind after hearing it once. Even though it's just the worst song ever! It's called 'PPAP' (Pen, Pineapple, Apple, Pen).

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It goes something like this: "Pen apple equals pineapple, pineapple and pen equal pineapple...". It's just pure nonsense, but stays in your brain. If you go to fredinchina.com, we will put the link to the video so you can take a look.

It made 5 million views in one day, with lots of memes and imitations popping up on the Internet. The following day, there were 10 million views only on imitations of the music video, with 7000 people imitating 'PPAP'!
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), owned by the Texas company Energy Transfer Inc., is a $3.7 billion oil pipeline that runs southeastward from the Bakken region of northwestern North Dakota down to southern Illinois. The planned route through south central North Dakota traverses particularly sacred areas of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. One such area, known originally as Sacred Stone Camp and located along a tributary of the Missouri River known as the Cannonball River, has become the epicenter of a bitter standoff between interests of the oil industry and those of Native Americans. The proposed pipeline threatens water supplies for the reservation and also requires significant disturbance to sacred sites that are specifically protected by the National Historic Preservation Act (Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.) These sites are considered sacred to the descendants of all bands of Sioux Indians, who cite them as being essential to their identity as a People.

Thousands of protesters have tried to bring attention to the nature of this destructive activity on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and to stop DAPL from causing further damage to water supplies and sacred sites. With an estimated population of 5,000 to 7,000 here, this area qualifies as among the fifteen most populated cities in North Dakota.

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For the past several months, protesters have been harassed and frightened by frequent low-altitude helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft flying surveillance over them. Two such surveillance helicopters are Bell Ranger 206B helicopters. These are not lightweight aircraft. In the 1960s, the U.S. Navy used the 206A as its primary training helicopter. The 206B Jet Ranger was introduced in 1971. In 1993, the U.S. Army approved the Bell 206B-3 as its primary training helicopter. A local company known as Double M Helicopters, Inc. out of Mandan, ND owns one of the surveillance helicopters. Another of the helicopters, flying on behalf of local law enforcement and flying at low altitudes over the heavily populated main Oceti Sakowin encampment, has been found to have been flying with registration numbers that have been altered in order to disguise the identity of its registered owners.

In particular, on September 8 and 9, a yellow Bell Ranger 206B helicopter was making low passes over this area; low enough that people on the ground could easily identify he helicopter's registration "N-numbers," which the FAA requires to be clearly visible and legible. In fact, it was also easy to see that those N numbers had been altered from their original digits. What appeared to be "N10767" was in fact an altered version of "N16757." See the photo below, taken with a 200 mm lens on a Nikon D7000 camera.





Flying Under False Flag

Flying with false registration is a serious violation of FAA regulations. Section 49 of the U.S. Code states that anyone " who knowingly and willfully displays or causes to be displayed on an aircraft a mark that is false or misleading about the nationality or registration of the aircraft" shall be "fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both." Given the arguable over reach of power and the use of military tactics by the Morton County Sheriff's Office since the protests began in August, this situation requires a serious discussion.

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The registration number N10767 actually belongs to a fixed-wing single-engine pressurized Piper Malibu Mirage (PA46-350P), built in 2007 and owned by Kansas Development Corporation, Inc. in Junction City, Kansas. One wonders if Kansas Development Corporation, Inc. was notified of this intentional ruse.

The actual N-number for this Bell Ranger 206B helicopter, N16757, identifies it as being registered to Arnold Johnson, Jr. of 37190 US Highway12 in Mina, SD. This helicopter, with its altered N-numbers, has been seen to re-fuel at Mandan Municipal Airport (Y19), south of Mandan on Hwy 6 near Sheriff and Highway Patrol offices.

We filed an inquiry and complaint with the FAA Fargo Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). Within ten days the officer in charge replied that they had conducted an investigation "and determined that further action was warranted" and "that a compliance action had been completed."

Several important questions remain unanswered: who ordered the alteration of the N number on the Bell Ranger 206, the exact name of the person who hired the helicopter, what compliance action was taken, and the reason behind the N number falsification by Arnold Johnson Jr., or the person/entity that hired his helicopter.

Freedom of Information Act Response

A response to FOIA request 2016-009518F6 provided some, but not all of the missing information. The FOIA response indicated that there is no official record of the person or entity that hired the Bell Ranger, but that Mr. Johnson "admitted that the registration number was altered from N16757 to become N10767." Johnson told investigators "this was due to threats made against registered owners of aircraft being flown supporting law enforcement during the oil pipeline protests near Bismarck, North Dakota."

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If the Morton County Sheriff's Office ("law enforcement") or DAPL hired Mr. Johnson, the Sheriff's office and/or DAPL has broken the law by knowingly or willingly hiring an aircraft with a false N Number.

The alleged threats by opponents of the DAPL pipeline against the registered owners of other craft "being flown supporting law enforcement" are unproven, but there is a clue in Facebook posts from September 5 which have camp residents expressing alarm about another Bell Ranger 206 that was flying with proper the registration. N38HH is registered to Double M Helicopters in Mandan, ND.

According to the company website, "The owner/operator of Double M Helicopters is Monte R. Myers. He is a 30 Year veteran of the US Army with overseas deployments to Central America and Afghanistan." Double M offers power line and pipeline patrols, high definition photography, animal herding, and aerial surveys, among others services. There is a photo of Mr. Myers taken in Kandahar Afghanistan in 2004 prominently displayed on the webpage. Camp residents searched the N number, which led them to Double M Helicopters.

Psyops and Generational Trauma

It is critical that all of this information be placed in context of the current protests as well as the historical "Militarization of Indian Country," a phrase taken from a book written by Ojibwe activist Winona LaDuke.

LaDukes's work examines in dreadful detail how the military has poisoned and exterminated indigenous populations. For those interested in more background, the book is carefully organized into sections examining the deep ties between the military and indigenous people, how the economy drives the military and vice-versa, and the military's appropriation of Indian lands.

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Combine this historical reality with the generational trauma experienced by the Native American community, and it is obvious that the constant presence of aircraft over the camps filled with woman and children would naturally raise anxiety levels. Whether activists actually threatened owners of helicopters working for law enforcement is unknown.

Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun

Consider also, that there have been to date 95 arrested for protest activities since the start of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The most recent was on September 28 when law enforcement officers assigned to the DAPL protest arrested 21 protesters at two construction sites along the pipeline route south and west of St. Anthony, ND.

Every picture tells a story. The Morton County Sheriff, Kyle L. Kirchmeier, issued a press release on the office's Facebook page.

"Officers arrested the protesters for various crimes including resisting arrest, criminal trespass on private property and possession of stolen property. Tow trucks were called to transport 5 impounded vehicles. When officers responded they witnessed numerous people and horses on private property. A protester on horseback charged at an officer in what was viewed as an act of aggression," according to the Sheriff.

Responding to An Act of Aggression By a Horse

In response to the "act of aggression" by a horse, law enforcement responded with specialized equipment and weapons that include armored vehicles and less lethal ammunition using bean-bag rounds. The Valley News reported that an officer raised his gun at the horse and rider. Morton County Sheriff, Kyle Kirchmeier, claimed that he was protecting the safety of his citizens.

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What is appropriate use of force, and who are the citizens of Morton County that need protection? Census data for 2015 indicates there are 30,310 people living there. 92.4 percent are white and 4.1 percent Native American. Should the minority be provided less protection?

The Red Warrior Camp, part of the larger Oceti Sacowin camp, countered that the water protectors (they do not consider themselves protestors) were unarmed, yet met with "armored vehicles, shotguns, assault rifles, snipers, helicopters, and tear gas."

A smartphone video of a Lakota grandmother tells a chilling story. She had never had a gun pointed at her in her life, and describes being in a "state of shock" in the aftermath of the police action.

Adding to the mystery of who is flying what aircraft in the area, a crop duster was photographed on September 28 spewing thick yellow smoke at low altitude and in close proximity to the protector's prayer service. Many were convinced that they were being exposed to a toxic substance from the crop duster. Was this an innocent coincidence, or was this an example of extreme psychological manipulation employed to frighten and discourage future prayer and protest?

The reaction of the protestors/protectors was understandably one of fear, considering 500 years of genocide, Wounded Knee, and smallpox laced blankets that wiped out entire populations. The numbers vary from study to study, but looking at the most conservative estimates there were over 10 million Native Americans living in land that is now the United States when European explorers first arrived in the 15th century. Less than 300,000 were living in the United States around 1900, and 5.2 million were identified as American Indian or Alaska Native in the 2010 census.

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Generational and historical trauma is real. LeManuel "Lee" Bitsoi, Navajo, PhD Research Associate in Genetics at Harvard University, says that "Historical trauma, therefore, can be seen as a contributing cause in the development of illnesses such as PTSD, depression and type 2 diabetes. According to Bitsoi, epigenetics is beginning to uncover scientific proof that intergenerational trauma is real, as reported in Indian Country Today.

Morton County law enforcement offered what seems, on the surface, to be a reasonable explanation of the yellow contrail in a press release.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the bi-plane was flying at an altitude of 400 to 500 feet and was approximately  mile from the protestors. But there is no FAA verification of this data, and surely the pilot would have been able to visually notice the presence of the protestors/protectors.

"It is very important that our residents are aware that the aircraft in question was an

agricultural spray plane (bi-plane) flying to a field to apply a product. The pilot noticed a DAPL helicopter in the area, and because its engine was too loud to use radio communication to identify its location, the pilot deployed a common tactic to alert the helicopter to the biplane's location. The protocol is to use vegetable oil (the same used in air shows) as a method to identify an aircraft in the area," according to the Sheriff's statement.

It is true, that as the oil was being burned off, it turned yellow. This technique is used at air shows and depending upon the composition of the oil, it can present as any spectrum of color.

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Can You Hear Me Now?

What is in question, is the assertion by the Sheriff, not the pilot, that the engine was "too loud" to notify the DAPL helicopter. According to a knowledgeable pilot, "That ag plane has a comm (communications) radio and so does the helicopter; they have crossed paths before and there is probably a nearby airport or private strip with a CTAF they would have been on."

CTAF is Common Traffic Advisory Frequencies; the radio frequency used for all communications at and around airports that do not have FAA Air Traffic Control (ATC) towers, or "uncontrolled" aircrafts in FAA jargon. Pilots of all radio-equipped aircraft at or in the vicinity of uncontrolled airports are required to announce their positions and intended movements in these areas.

An attempt to contact the registered owners of the crop duster pictured in the press release, Sprayers, Inc., yielded a Post Office Box in Mandan and a disconnected phone number.



Equal Justice?

The litany is long of offenses leveled against The Standing Rock protestors/protectors. Misdemeanor and felony charges have resulted in arrests, incarcerations and bail for 95 people. There are no weapons charges, other than the "aggressive" horse.

On September 14th officers arrested three individuals for "felony reckless endangerment" for chaining themselves to DAPL equipment. This carries a penalty of up to five years and/or a $10,000 fine.

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The use of attack dogs against unarmed women and children was extensively documented by Democracy Now and resulted in an arrest warrant for journalist Amy Goodman. It also resulted in a national shaming for the Sheriff's Department. Still there has been no action taken so far against Morton County for an obvious and serious FAA violation.

On October 3, Morton County Sheriff Kyle L. Kirchmeier issued a felony arrest warrant for 19 year old Mason Redwing. According to the affidavit filed in Morton County, "Redwing's actions caused the officer to be in fear for his safety as well as the safety of officers manning the line in front of the protesters. The officer said Redwing clearly had a reckless disregard of the risk of causing terror and disruption when he escalated an already tense situation with the charge of his horse causing officers to fear serious bodily injury."

Above the Law?

There have been no charges filed against the Sheriff or DAPL for a possible felony offense for hiring a 4,450 pound Bell 206B helicopter with falsified registration. The FAA is a civil agency and does not have the authority to file criminal charges. The FAA has the authority to assess civil monetary penalties and/or suspend or revoke a pilot's license. Any criminal charges would be filed by the Justice Department, totally at their discretion. Nor has the Sheriff or anyone from Energy Transfer Inc. been charged with assault by the Justice Department for using attack dogs on women and children.

The cliche question presents itself. Is Sheriff Kyle L. Kirchmeier and/or DAPL above the law? What are the real reasons behind the unusual incidents behind crop dusters and fraudulent aircraft identification numbers?

We are waiting for the results of a second FOIA request. We have no timeframe on the answers, but a Public Affairs Manager of the FAA said in an email that the FAA "takes this type of violation very seriously," and urged us to continue asking the necessary questions.

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UPDATE and Correction:

Arnold Johnson Jr. is the registered owner of aircraft flying under false N number. Monte R. Myers owns Double M Helicopters. A Mr. MEYERS is referenced in FOIA response (s) and according to FOIA response admitted to falsifying N number, but we do not know for sure because of spelling inconsistencies in FAA responses. We do NOT KNOW the name of the pilot, or who HIRED the helicopter. FOIA number (s) are 2017-000029F6 and 2016-009518F6 "Mr. Meyers" is identified as the "operator" of the aircraft.
As Jews, when our children intermarry, there are two questions we are repeatedly asked. Subtly or not so subtly. To our face or behind our backs.

Will they be raising their future children Jewish?

How does the non-Jewish partner feel about Israel?

How many of us hope the answer to the first question is a resounding "YES"? And the answer to the second question is a resounding "GOOD"?

Hoping, as we all know, isn't a plan. But alas, some very bright people came up with an initiative that may prove to be an effective way to instill in interfaith couples a love and appreciation for Judaism and Israel: Honeymoon Israel.

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As a parent, I shuttered when my son told me that this Rosh Hashanah he and his bride were going alone to try a new synagogue for the high holidays -- a synagogue close to where they are now living. Would they be welcomed as an interfaith couple? Would she feel out of place? Would there be others to bond with? Or would she be turned off by the whole experience and bulk at returning?

So, with a heavy heart, I recently attended a Jewish Federation Lion of Judah conference. And I literally sprinted to a break-out session whose description promised to provide an easier way into Jewish life for interfaith couples. The title: Honeymoon Israel.

The session was packed with eager and curious mothers. Just like me.

In a nutshell, and quoted from a Honeymoon Israel hand-out, this is the basic information:

Why was Honeymoon Israel created? It is an innovative solution to address indications of a steady 100-year decline of Jewish Americans' commitment to Jewish faith and culture. Today in the U.S., more than half of all Jews will not marry other Jews and only 20 percent say they will raise their children as exclusively Jewish.

The initiators asked themselves, as we all do, how to better engage interfaith couples in the critical years when they are in permanent relationships and deciding how they want to shape their lives and raise their children?

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My husband and I bought our son and daughter-in-law a challah knife, kiddush cups, Shabbat candles and Jewish cookbooks galore. The grandmothers supplied them with oodles of passed-down recipes for chicken soup, chopped liver and brisket. We flipped through the boys' Bar Mitzvah albums. We talked repeatedly about the boys' Jewish summer camp experiences. We spoke glowingly about the beauty of Shabbat, lighting the candles, hosting Shabbat dinners. We discussed the terrifying reality of the Holocaust. What more can we do without being labeled intrusive and cloying? And how healthy is it anyway that my daughter-in-law's only intimate and ongoing exposure to Judaism is through the eyes of our family?



Honeymoon Israel recognizes there is no "easy way in" to Jewish life. So Honeymoon Israel offers 20 young couples at a time an immersive group travel experience to Israel that lets each couple encounter and explore history, tradition and identity, together, on a nine-day trip. They hit the best tourist spots -- the Western Wall, Jerusalem's Old City, Tel Aviv beaches, meals with local families, meetings with high level public officials and business leaders. They visit sites important to Jewish, Christian and Muslim history and meet Israeli peers to hear about life in Israel. And sample wine and food galore.

Cost: $1,800 per couple -- the rest is subsidized. This includes flight, hotels, planned activities and most meals.

Eligibility: generally speaking, couples should be within their first five years of marriage or a committed relationship and be between the ages of 25-40. At least one partner must be Jewish and at least one partner must have no organized Israel trip experience as a teen or adult.

At present, ten cities are offering trips: San Francisco/Bay Area, San Diego, New York City, Phoenix, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Denver/Boulder, Atlanta, Chicago and Boston. Participants travel with fellow residents of their city and there are ample opportunities to continue their relationships with fellow participants after the trip.

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In 2016-17, Honeymoon Israel will send more than 650 couples from 10 cities on 34 trips to Israel. I hope my son and his wife are one of those couples.

For further information, contact info@honeymoonisrael.org, www.honeymoonisrael.org or 347-292-8809.
This week's U.S. presidential debate was a teachable moment for Canadians and a chilling reminder that we should never underestimate the staying power of political demagoguery.

American pundits and pollsters agree that Donald Trump lost the first debate to Hilary Clinton on Monday night. But he is still standing, though wounded, and he shouldn't be when you consider he is a sexist, misogynistic, ill-informed bigot who attacks Muslims, Mexicans, women, and more.

This is the man who tweets rants and spouts so many lies that websites and fact-checker groups have sprung up just to keep track of them. None of this matters to the self-styled demagogue because he simply piles one offensive slur upon another until people become desensitized and immune to the shock value.

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As the campaign grinds along, Trump is normalizing a style of dialogue that ignores facts and preys on fear, hate and intolerance -- all to gain popularity, and of course votes.

The word demagogue could have been invented for him because it refers to a rabble-rouser who leads a mob, a politician who seeks support by appealing to popular prejudice by whipping up passions and making false claims, rather than rational arguments.

His assault-rifle rhetoric and aggressive ad hominem attacks are as foreign to Canadian values as loaded revolvers in the glove compartments of cars or semi automatic pistols in night table drawers. But the escalating nastiness and appeals to what's base in human nature is being adopted by a growing number of politicians and society in general.

We polite Canadians like to think we are kinder and gentler than all this, and most of us see this form of anti-democratic demagoguery for what it is: destructive, polarizing and corrosive to the core. Yet in Europe we are witnessing a growing anti-establishment, anti-immigration, nationalistic wave of fear-fuelled resentment, and a powerful lurch to the extreme right.

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It is seen in the Freedom Party of Austria where a debate in May became a political embarrassment; in France's National Front Party where the leader has compared Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of WW2; and the ugly Brexit debate in Britain which led to the murder of a Labour MP, slain by a man screaming "Britain First."

Just as we can pollute the natural environment, we can pollute the public square. It's done through toxic rhetoric, by attacking people's character and values, by spreading fear and lies. Trump is a poster child for this, saying climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, claiming Obama was not born in America or that Mexicans are rapists. All this is described by the New York Times as a, "blizzard of falsehoods, exaggerations and outright lies."

Trump is leading us into a fact-free world and many are falling for it. In the primaries he won more votes than any other republican candidate in history and he is currently running in a dead heat with Clinton.

Despite the lies, the blaming and cheating he is still standing because common sense flies out the window when the a strong wind of demagoguery blows in the door. Trump understands that people would rather appear angry than fearful or uncertain, and he gives them permission to take out that fury on those they consider "inferior."

History shows us that anxiety makes the crowd turn to a powerful commander, but the more this happens the weaker and less capable people become. This is alarming because during uncertain times we need open-minded thinkers, informed citizens who can listen to evidence-based, reasoned debate and then weigh facts and make thoughtful judgments.

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The US election should be a strong warning that we need to understand what demagoguery is and how it works, because this kind of tactic doesn't lead to common ground or help us resolve tough issues. When politicians flirt with the dark side of human nature they divide the public into tribes willing to oppress others rather than cooperate. We are seeing what happens when charity and pluralism are replaced by the unyielding one-sidedness of an angry tribe.

When I interviewed American philosopher and cognitive scientist Noam Chomsky recently, he described what is happening this way: "When you can't answer an argument shriek. Just rant, call people names, slander them. Anything to undermine an argument you can't respond to."
Very few Americans today are familiar with August Vollmer, the "father of American law enforcement" who served as chief of the Berkeley police department from 1905-1931.

In an era where police killings have become epidemic, we need to reacquaint ourselves with Vollmer's ideal of a democratic police forces which he advanced throughout his career.

In February 1951, Collier's Magazine titled a profile of Vollmer "America's Top Cop." Writer Albert Deutsch noted that Vollmer's home in Berkeley included as a prominent feature both a well-stocked library of books devoted to the exploits of the nation's toughest criminals, and a jar of large tin candy balls which was for neighborhood kids who came to his house with their problems.

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For nearly three decades as police chief of Berkeley, Vollmer used to tell all rookies: "your main job as a cop on the beat is not to make a lot of arrests, but to help prevent crime. The best way to do this is to start with the children. Make friends with them. Guide them towards law abiding citizenship. Show them that the law is their friend not their enemy."

During the 19th century, American police forces were notorious for their corruption and promotion of the "third degree," or torture methods in interrogation. Alexander S. "Clubber" Williams, a corrupt cop in New York's Vice District symbolized the era when he told a reporter that "there is more law in the end of a nightstick than in the decision of the Supreme Court."

Vollmer pioneered a more professional approach to policing in Berkeley that influenced police reform efforts nationwide. A strong proponent of scientific policing, he opposed capital punishment and embraced a social work approach to policing, visiting local jails himself each morning to talk to inmates and urging his officers to interact with members of the community while walking their beat.

Vollmer believed in the importance of proper training and education for police and helped found the Berkeley School of Criminology, which evolved as an institution dedicated to studying police problems and developing solutions. A veteran of the Spanish-American war who cut his teeth training police in Manila in the early 1900s, Vollmer was more liberal than many of his contemporaries in defending communists' right to free assembly and speech and in criticizing drug prohibition laws.

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Presciently, he observed that: "stringent laws, spectacular police drives, vigorous prosecution and imprisonment of addicts and peddlers have proved not only useless and enormously expensive but they are also unjustifiably and unbelievably cruel in their application."

If Vollmer were around today, he would recoil in horror at the epidemic of police shootings gripping our nation. He would be against stop and frisk and the broken windows policing model promoted by Donald Trump and ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York, opposed to the Pentagon's 1033 program providing military equipment to police forces and against the school-to-prison pipeline and the War on Drugs.

August Vollmer was not able to solve all the problems with police forces in his time as he failed to effectively reform the Los Angeles Police Department when he took it over in 1926. However, Vollmer possessed a sound conception of how a genuinely liberal and democratic police force should function, and his is the model we need to turn to today as we embark on a program of reforming our police.
Educators around the world are slowly rethinking the role of the arts and arts integration in their curricula in the wake of basic changes in the world's economy ... revolutionized by the Internet and its progeny, the World Wide Web.

Arts integration not only enhances memory and retention. It engages students and dramatically fosters empathy, a must have skill in the new knowledge economy. Combined with project based learning or real world experiences, teachers can open doors for students, allow connections to be made and help give them the skills they need to compete in an economy that values not just knowledge but creativity, creativity that leads to innovation.

One organization helping reinvent the university using the arts, is a2ru. It's a funny name for an organization doing serious work: It's the "Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities" but those in the know actually prefer a2ru.

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a2ru is one of the best places to understand the power of the arts and arts integration and to see how over 50 universities are integrating the arts into higher education. I emphasize that this is not art for arts sake. It is integrating the arts, or teaching all the disciplines through the arts, thus making any subject--whether it's math or science or whatever--engaging and memorable.

Why now? Why so urgent?

Higher education is at a crossroads. Colleges and universities are facing a litany of problems - severe budget deficits, fluctuating enrollment demands, spiraling educational costs, reductions in financial aid, declining student and faculty morale and an erosion of public trust and confidence in the academic enterprise. Maybe college isn't even worth it?

Sadly, the teachers' role has also been challenged as never before. No longer can the teacher lecture and expect information or knowledge to be regurgitated at exam time. The information explosion has resulted in massive additions to the global knowledge base and increasing categories of complexity are now available at the click of a mouse.

Thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2012, a2ru mapped "the landscape of arts integration at 30 partner institutions in the Alliance (a2ru) and at 16 other institutions.... (and produced) "Best Practices and Challenges For Arts Integration in Higher Education" ... a must read for anyone in the business of education that knows it has to reinvent the curriculum for the new economy.

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This was followed three years later with an $800,000 grant to fund the SPARC Project: Supporting Practice in Arts, Research and Curricula, a three-year initiative "allowing a2ru to disseminate those best practices at various research universities."

Obviously, a2ru is an advocate for basic changes in learning and teaching and sees how the arts, and arts integration are vital new ingredients to that effort. But it is also aware that change--any change--isn't easily accepted in the academy. Faculty members who have invested years in research and are rightly proud of the sophistication and depth of their specialties are more reluctant to acknowledge the relevance of competing disciplines and, therefore, hesitant to engage in collaboration, as is usually required when doing art integration, essentially course redesign. But they too are making the change in redesigning their courses.

At their upcoming conference in Denver (Thursday, November 3 - Saturday, November 5, 2016) hosted by the University of Colorado Denver, the Alliance will focus on entrepreneurship, the humanities and heath and wellness ... noting of course that every discipline, every activity, every course can use the arts to talk about underlying issues or trends.

Colleges and Universities seeking to change its direction and its destiny have a choice and must seize it if higher education is to remain the foundation of the American dream. This will take a commitment to funding higher education and repositioning for a new and different age and teaching and learning using arts integration and real world techniques that prepare students for the new economy.
NPR Ed reached out to education leaders from across the country and found that "some education leaders are rushing to embrace the newly frank conversation about the racial impact of education reforms. Others are caught awkwardly in the middle. And some -- especially conservative -- reformers feel alienated." NPR's Anya Kamenetz cited one of those conservative reformers, Rick Hess, who observes, "'We're watching the old NCLB/Race to the Top coalition come apart, and we'll see what will come out the other side.'"

But it isn't just racial divisions that are tearing apart the contemporary school improvement efforts of the last generation. Educators of all races, from various ideologies, and committed to very different school policies are also split over fundamental differences as to how we in a democracy work with each other. The unraveling of the corporate reform coalition is due, in large part, because of the ways they treat people who disagree with them.

A National Press Club panel discussion clarified the positions of today's three dominant schools of education policy. Shavar Jeffries of the Democrats for Education Reform embodies the neoliberal wing of the corporate reform movement. Andrew Smarick, from Bellwhether Education Partners, displays the new face of their former partners, conservative reformers. The panel also included an open and welcoming face of teacher-led school improvement, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, the president of the National Education Association.

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The Education Writers Association's Caroline Hendrie started the discussion with a mention of the breakup of the reform coalition. As Smarick explains, liberal reformers pushed top-down technocratic approaches that are now being rejected, while conservatives pledge fidelity to "the Market." Of course, liberals wouldn't trust this sort of unfettered competition in any other public sector and, I would think, even neoliberals would reject the granting of such unchecked power to corporate interests. It certainly isn't a viable path to racial justice.

Corporate reformers, however, have enthusiastically supported unfair competition where test-driven micromanaging is imposed on traditional public schools as they empowered charters to "cream" the easier-to-teach students and to promote segregation, behaviorist pedagogies and discipline, in order to defeat neighborhood schools. (The pedagogies also help charters to push out students who make it more difficult to raise test scores.) Their goal was defeating teachers unions and others who disagreed with their agenda. To do so, corporate reformers dismissed a generation of the poorest children of color as collateral damage in the fight against their adult opponents.

The NEA's Eskelsen Garcia best explains how the test-driven, competition-driven reform alliance held together for nearly a generation. In the 1980s, conservatives would demand "Results!" Liberals fought for "Equality." The contemporary reform movement took the shortcut of demanding "Equal Results!"

In other words, reformers chose to pretend that equal results could be produced on the cheap, without tackling the inequality which defeats so many of the highest-poverty schools. The stress of high stakes testing would somehow overcome the stress of poverty which undermines educational success. The segregation resulting from choice would supposedly undo the damage done by the history of segregation.

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It never made sense to expect equal results to come from testing and competition unless educational dysfunction was due to identifiable villains, such as teachers who offered "Excuses!" and failed to demand "High Expectations!" Presumably, reformers believed that complex systems across the entire, diverse nation were being derailed by "bad teachers," protected by bad unions. Output-driven accountability would force educators to do what the Great Society failed to accomplish and scale up the ladder out of poverty and of racism.

Or should I say that neoliberals chose to believe such a fantasy? Conservatives merely needed to claim to believe that they were committed to the "civil rights revolution" of the 21st century. Since data-driven accountability would "deputize" teachers as the agents for ending poverty, conservatives would be able to commit to their true love, cutting the social safety net and shrinking "Big Government."

Top-down reformers ignored the predictable consequences of their unflinching focus on equal "outcomes." High stakes testing would inevitably do more than create the metrics necessary for holding teachers accountable. Test scores would become the ammunition used in the fight for survival between charters and neighborhood schools. The curriculum would be narrowed as systems demanded a complete focus on testable skills and content. And, sure enough, the worst case scenario occurred.

As should have been obvious, high-poverty neighborhood schools - that served every child who walked in their doors - were stuck in a competition that they were bound to lose. High stakes testing forced teachers to rush, skin deep, through the tested content, and parents fought back. Conservatives (rightly) blamed the Obama administration and neoliberal reformers for micromanaging. Arne Duncan (wrongly) blamed "suburban moms" for undercutting a testing regime that would, someday, supposedly produce equality and justice for poor children of color.

We shouldn't be asking why the corporate reform coalition is falling apart. The question is how did it hold together for so long. For years, the failure of test-driven, competition-driven reform has been obvious - at least to people who spend time in actual schools. The other question is whether conservatives and neoliberal reformers will dump as much vitriol on each other as they have on teachers.

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Jeffries and Smarick were on their best behavior at the Press Club; they did not throw any of the temper tantrums that have characterized the mean-spirited nature of the corporate reformers' public divorce. However, several activists interviewed by NPR Ed were unable to hide their anger. On the other hand, Eskelsen Garcia exuded warmth and openness, personifying the characteristics that people want in our classrooms. At the EWA, she praised Ted Kennedy as she explained how teachers oppose NCLB, the law he sponsored. Teachers made our case to President Obama, who we twice helped to elect. Our appeals were reject, but we remained loyal to him. We and our leaders kept up the "Big Tent" battle for our students against clueless corporate reformers.

Similarly, Hillary Clinton has a record of supporting civil rights and many policies that teachers love, such as early education, but she's also been more supportive of charters than traditional public school educators would like. But, Eskelsen Garcia had a noteworthy response to the big question that all three panelists addressed. She said that Senator Clinton responded with the best possible answer to the question of why the NEA should endorse her. Clinton answered the NEA's question with more questions: she asked what teachers think; she solicited our judgments.
One of the seven life keys from my eBook "Do What You Love" is Service. It is described as follows. "The myth of capitalism is that the person with the most toys wins. Yet when we focus on the richest people who truly have it all, the only thing left once they've climbed to the mountain top is to help others up the mountain, too. To be of service."

The Dali Lama is quoted as saying, "The happiest person is he who brings the most happiness to others." It's human nature to want something more: a better job, a career, a family, and more money. But just like the new Christmas toy whose luster soon fades after a short time, one of the ways to find true lasting happiness is to be of service to others. It's something in human makeup that brings a deeper, more lasting fulfillment than what's in it for me?

Being of service means more than just writing a check. Assets are multidimensional. For some it's money, for others it's ideas, time, volunteer work, social currency or simply being there for a friend. The ways to be of service are varied, and we can each do something great or small each day to make a difference.

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Here is a personal example how it happened in my own life through the power of intention. Intention can be thought of as a message in a bottle, a signal that is broadcast out into time and space. In my case it returned long after I had forgotten about it, and better than I could have ever possibly imagined.

In 1985 whilst living in London I turned on the television to witness the biggest music stars of the day arriving at Abbey Road studios just a few miles from where I was living. It was to record "Do They Know It's Christmas," the UK charity version of Live Aid which led to "We Are The World." Sitting alone in my tiny one room flat I witnessed Bono, Sting, Bono, George Michael, Paul Weller, Simon Le Bon, Boy George step in front of the microphone. Like Cinderella I felt so close yet a million miles away from the ball. It wasn't the party or the attention that I craved, it was something deeper. My soul longed to reach a point in life where I too could use doing what I love which is music, to make a difference in the lives of others.

Fast forward to 2014. The famed DJ David Guetta and his business partner Caroline Prothero wanted to do something philanthropic which was different than the usual all star project. They teamed up with Unicef around the peace anthem "IMAGINE," and created an app that anyone could download. It enabled ordinary people around the world to sing and upload their own video. The result is that people in 140 countries have participated in a vast library of videos listed by continent. It also includes a select handful of marquee names like Katy Perry, Shakira, Guetta, Adam Lambert, along with John & Yoko from the original video.

In the fall of 2015 I met film director Michael Jurkovac who told me about the project which was already years in the making. I was granted the privilege of being allowed to participate by producing a version of my friend and co-writing partner Al Jardine, a co-founding member of The Beach Boys. We went into Shelter Island Sound studios in New York to record Al's lead vocal. It was haunting to pull up John Lennon's piano part all by itself. I heard things on his original tracks I had never focused on before. We recorded Al's vocals on Oct. 8th, 2015. That night Mr. Jardine was kind enough to give a salon style talk at Pond5, a video and creative media technology company that film makers, music makers, special effects creative folks use as a marketplace to share their work. Since I have been a participant in the Burningman festival since 2001, I have the mindset to engage people not as spectators, but active participants. At the end of the event I invited the entire audience up onstage to sing IMAGINE with us, and Pond5 captured the moment on film.

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The following day, Oct 9th 2015 would have been John Lennon's 75th birthday. We took several film makers from the prior evening C. Ryan McVinney, Robert Pascale, James Wright along with Relix Magazine's Brian Stollery and Mike Greenhaus and went to Central Park's IMAGINE plaque. I had no idea that even at that early hour many hundreds of people would be gathered, so you couldn't even see the IMAGINE plaque. Gathering all the muster and bluster I could, I cut through the crowd to the center and shouted for everyone to listen up. I explained that with Yoko's blessing, we were about to pay tribute to John by joining together and singing IMAGINE. I explained that it was for Unicef and they were invited to all be participants in this amazing moment. I introduced Al and the crowd was delightfully blown away. Howie Edelson, a radio DJ superstar and rock music journalist whom I met through Al was the person who came up with the idea of going to Central Park to sing IMAGINE and I was surprised no-one had done it with the UN being based in New York City.

I was a HUGE Beatles fan growing up. I can play almost every song they ever recorded. When asked whom my influences are as a songwriter, I always say John Lennon. The fact that he used his personal journey in life as the bases for revealing himself through his music, as well as the currency of his enormous fame to spread the message of peace & love continues to inspire me daily.

It was only after the event was over that I made the connection to all those years ago in my head. The message in a bottle intention I had to be of service, contribute to making a difference in the lives of others went out into time and space. It circled the globe year after year and manifest in events great and small in my life. As if by some miracle it landed in my hands that day Oct 9th. Does it get any better than bringing a Beach Boy to pay tribute to a Beatle, on an amazing song to benefit children? I don't think so.

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We filmed the song being led by Al, his lovely wife Mary Ann, and myself. As we were getting up to leave, several of the guitar bearing buskers who were in the park leading the crowd in Beatles songs before we had arrived started playing Beach Boys songs; "409," "God Only Knows," and of course- "Help me Rhonda." Al grabbed a guitar and suddenly we were part of an impromptu Beach Boys unplugged set. It felt like a musical explosion of sheer joy.

SERVICE. Being willing to lend a hand. It doesn't have to reach the stratospheric heights of this story, it could be as easy as being a friend to someone who needs a shoulder to lean on, or a ride to a service station after a flat tire, or a couch for the night, or a few bucks till pay day. The consciousness of being of service has for me led to extraordinary feelings of fulfillment.

If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. Do What You Love- Service.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE- Songwriting

IMAGINE- Main Version
by Rachel VanSickle-Ward and Adrian D. Pantoja

Donald Trump's ongoing derogatory remarks toward women have generated widespread criticism. Not only did he recently say that Hillary Clinton did not have "a presidential look," but in the first presidential debate Clinton reminded viewers that Trump demeaned Alicia Machado, the Venezuelan Miss Universe, as "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping." These and other degrading remarks have persisted throughout the campaign, tanking Trump's support among female voters. We may be on the precipice of witnessing one of the largest gender gaps in presidential electoral history.

While political observers have long been interested in differences between men and women in political attitudes and behaviors--the so-called "gender gap"--too often this discussion focuses primarily on differences between white men and white women. Less attention has been paid to analyzing the gender gap among minorities despite the fact that these voters are becoming influential in local and national elections. Latinos are the nation's largest minority group, and it is paramount that we investigate their political beliefs and behaviors. Latinas (women) may be particularly decisive in upcoming elections since their registration and voter turnout rates are surpassing those of Latinos (men).

This is the third week of the tracking poll of the Latino electorate undertaken by Latino Decisions, National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund and Noticias Telemundo. This week we take a closer look at the data by analyzing the gender gap between Latinas and Latinos. Several key points emerge from these results:

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In general, Donald Trump is doing poorly, and Hillary Clinton is faring well among Latinos; Clinton does especially well, and Trump especially poorly with Latinas (in other words there is a Latina/Latino gender gap); and Similar differences exist in congressional races.

Let's examine each of these findings in some details.

One of the most important questions in the tracking poll captures Latinos' intended vote choice for the presidential race. Respondents are asked if the election were held today would they vote for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or someone else?



The table above reports the intended vote choice of persons who are certain and leaning toward Clinton. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of all respondents say they are supporting her. However, when we divided the responses by gender, we find that Clinton is more strongly favored by Latinas (78 percent) than Latinos (68 percent) by a gap of 10 points. We have clear evidence of a Latina/Latino gender gap in presidential vote choice for the 2016 election. The tracking poll will allow us to document whether this gap expands or narrows over the course of the election.

While the outcome of the presidential race is capturing much of the media's attention, there is fear among some Republican members of Congress that Trump's sexist statements could damage the brand of the GOP among women voters. In the tracking poll, we asked respondents to think about the upcoming congressional elections for the U.S. House of Representatives and whether they intended to vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate.

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From the table above, we can observe that 69 percent of Latinos say they will be voting for the Democrat. However, we see that 74 percent of Latinas saying they will vote for the Democrat compared to 64 percent of Latinos who say they will do the same, a gender gap of 10 points. We thus have some evidence that the gender gap is extending to congressional races.

Latina support for Clinton could be driven by a number of factors unrelated to Donald Trump's campaign. It may be that the presence of Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential candidate that is boosting Latina support for her and the Democratic Party. Further analysis is needed to fully grapple with the "Trump effect." However, our analysis of Latina/Latino evaluations of Trump reveals some rather stark differences in their appraisal of him. We asked respondents whether they agreed/disagreed with the following statement: "Donald Trump will bring the kind of change we need in Washington."



What is most obvious from the third table, above, is the 14-point gap between men and women who disagreed with that statement. Clearly, Latinas are reacting more negatively to Donald Trump's campaign and this is undoubtedly influencing their vote choice in 2016.

This is a historic election for women in a number of ways: A woman is at the top of a major-party ticket, and there is a possibility of one of the largest gender gaps in presidential electoral history. The women's vote will be decisive. Should Hillary Clinton win, she will owe that victory in large part to Latinas and other women of color.

Rachel VanSickle-Ward, Ph.D., is associate professor of Politics at Pitzer College, and Adrian D. Pantoja, Ph.D., is senior analyst with Latino Decisions and professor of Politics at Pitzer College.
Photo credit: AP

In outer facade of the Turkish Parliament building, a symbol of Turkeys democracy and national unity, there lies a hall scarred by air strikes on July 15, the night of the failed coup attempt.

The government is yet to renovate that place, preserving the area for foreign delegations as a showcase for the savagery of putschist soldiers. Ankara makes sure that every visiting foreign official is making their pilgrimage to the site, through dust and scattered rocks, so that they see firsthand how the mutineering soldiers attacked the Turkish democracy.

Experts are still scratching their head to understand why on earth coup plotters would attack the Parliament, or occupy a bridge, for that matter. How was the military saving the nation from despotism when its first act was to bomb the very institution that symbolized Turkeys democracy since the Ottoman era? Bombing the Parliament after the coup attempt started to crumble on that night raises another set of questions, too.

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No one knows why the Parliament was bombed, except arguing that the soldiers on that night were so barbaric that they swore to destroy the country. How did coup plotters expect to rule the country and promise a freer society after bombing the national assembly? There are still many questions that need to be addressed.

For one, anyone who was following what had been going on in Turkey before the coup knows that Turkish leaders buried democracy a long time ago. On July 15, we did not confront the military to save democracy, but to save civilian politics.As I repeatedly made clear in the past, there was no prospect that the military could have restored freedoms and civil liberties once it took over. We need to battle authoritarian practices on civilian plateau. History shows that democracies are stable, enduring and well-functioning if theyre earned through civilian struggle, not through a foreign intervention or military takeover. Tunisia and Libya are two striking examples.

Since Turkey has become a multi-party democracy in 1950, the single most important factor that undermined Turkish democracy was the military. Besides its several interventions in almost every ten years, the army was also crucial in re-writing Turkeys laws, designing the judiciary in line with its wishes and engineering a civil society and the media that was sympathetic to its goals. The military was an untouchable institution. It was above and beyond politics. And no matter what it did, Turks held it dearly.

Because the last military intervention in 1997 targeted the conservative government of Necmettin Erbakan, Islamists had this idea that their struggle for power was also a struggle for democracy. For them, democracy came to represent the rule of conservative people and their empowerment. And because they were in majority, they were free to re-fashion the country, the argument was made.

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Since the armys intervention in 1997, the fight for democracy was largely focused on curbing the role of military in politics. For this reason, the AKP government started an accession process with the EU. The military was then purged with a series of sham coup trials. And the 2010 constitutional referendum effectively ended the militarys influence in judiciary.

But as the militarys power waned from politics, Erdogans desire to become a more powerful leader eclipsed the prospect to become a full-fledged, consolidated democracy. Erdogan, long champion of the underdog, has now become a celebrated autocrat.

On July 15, Turkey was no longer a democracy to be saved. True, it would even be worse if the military successfully took over the government. The failure of the military on July 15 was a welcoming development for Turkish civilian politics, a historic one. But it was far from saving the Turkish democracy, which did not exist on July 15 anyway.

When the Western media focused on the post-coup crackdown rather than the success to thwart the military, Turkish officials were furious. Even adversaries of Erdogan, who loathe Gulenists even more, did not focus on the post-coup purge. It was a rare chance to get rid of Gulenists, alleged mastermind of the July 15 coup.

For the Turkish opposition, highlighting gross human rights abuses in the aftermath of the coup meant to undermine the governments relentless drive to root out the Gulenists. This is the story of how the entire Turkish society turned a blind eye to the purge and arrest of tens of thousands of people, most of whom are ordinary teachers, without any due process.

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STEM Week Begins at the Perry K-8 School in South Boston



The majority of children born today will work for companies that have not yet been started, in fields which have not yet been invented. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is changing our world so rapidly that the facts we teach our children in middle school are often no longer true or relevant by the time those children graduate high school.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show occupations related to STEM are projected to grow to more than nine million in the next six years. With that in mind, we need to instill in our youth, especially in underrepresented groups such as women and minorities, an interest and dexterity in science, technology, engineering and math.

That's why we're excited to host Boston STEM Week. From October 3-7, 36 middle schools across the city will replace all their regularly scheduled classes with a project-based STEM curriculum developed by MIT, i2 Learning and a number of other leading STEM organizations. During this week, classrooms will be transformed into STEM learning labs. Teachers and students will use the engineering design process and work in teams to solve real-world problems using hands-on experimentation, critical thinking and collaboration. All courses address real world challenges where students can see how STEM and STEM-related fields impact their everyday lives. Boston STEM Week was inspired by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) STEM for All initiative.

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Through the generous support and funding from a number of our corporations and foundations including i2 Learning, MathWorks, MIT, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and the Lynch and Boston Foundations, all students will take part in this program. The week will end with a student showcase where students will present their work and learning to their family, friends and the community at large.

We want to ensure that this learning continues beyond Boston STEM Week. This past summer, more than 300 of our Boston school teachers from all subject areas attended professional development in project-based learning and interdisciplinary STEM curriculum. The teachers' comprehensive training sessions will not only positively impact students during this special week but will influence teaching throughout the school year.

As the birthplace of American public education it is fitting that Boston will be the first public school district in the nation to change our entire middle school curriculum during Boston STEM Week. We're excited to reach this educational milestone. We're also thrilled that educators from across the country are set to join us in early October to see the program in action and follow this innovative model in the coming school year. Our country's future engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs are sitting right here in our Boston Public Schools' classrooms. Boston STEM Week showcases the best of our city's education, business and nonprofit communities - coming together to make sure Boston students, of all ages and abilities, have access to every possible opportunity.
Dear Ms. Quijano,

I wrote to you last week at your office, essentially saying what I now say in public below.

I am a feature director, author, screenwriter, activist and great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, but most importantly an American citizen and president of ScienceDebate.org, a non-profit I started with some friends to try and get presidential candidates to debate science.

Recently, I wrote An Open Letter To Presidential Debate Moderators here in The Huffington Post encouraging all moderators to ask questions on the issues that will more than anything else determine our future and our children's future.

Without doubt, these are science and technology.

From our many environmental problems (oceans, air, fresh water, climate change, biodiversity), to medical issues (research, mental health, emerging diseases, women's health) to the vast impact science and technology have on our economy -- no group of issues is more important nor more neglected.

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Before you finalize your debate questions, why not just glance at this. We asked Clinton, Trump, Johnson, and Stein to answer our 20 Science Questions - and they did, all of them.

If you devoted a single segment to science it would be an absolute first and make your debate the most original and impactful of them all, a game-changer. That candidates don't debate science is bizarre given its importance and in a recent poll we found that more than 85% of both Democrats and Republicans agree, and would like to see their candidates talk more about it. And who is going to make that happen?

It could be you.

If you helped fill this vacuum, you'd alter the nature of what a candidate needs to know and talk about when seeking high office in modern America. You'd open the door to a critical discussion of critical issues and you might, by doing this, avert tragedy and save millions of lives. You'd become a reference point for all future debates. You could turn this debate into the most important of them all.

As president of ScienceDebate.org, I offers its full support to you and to all moderators who want to talk about science and democracy. We have the best resources in America and no organization has ever had more success in getting presidential candidates to talk about science - and we've learned a lot. We have the support of scientists and science-interested voters not just here in America, but across the world. The last time we published our Science Questions And Answers, we reached over 850 million people.

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My email address is Matthew@ScienceDebate.org

Respectfully,

Matthew Chapman

Further Details:
(Original Caption) New York, New York: Mayor La Guardia, who played a very important part in quelling the riot in Harlem, is shown at microphone making his fourth radio address to the people of Harlem. The Mayor said the situation was 'under complete control.'

One of the most awkward interviews I ever conducted in my life was with Marie La Guardia, widow of the late three-term mayor of New York City, the legendary Fiorello H. La Guardia.

She was 86 at the time. I was researching a project about her husband and arrived at her home in Bronxville, New York, with several pages of questions about Fiorello and their life together.

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Despite all those pages, our conversation was over in about 15 minutes because to each one of my many queries her answer was "Yes," No," or "I don't remember," even when I tried to follow up.

One exception: I asked her if she remembered when she and her husband entertained Britain's King George VI and his wife in 1939. "Yes," she replied. "Can you tell me more?" I asked. "It was nice," she said. And that was that.

I left the house, dripping in flop sweat as I walked back to the car.

The New York Times spoke with her a year or so after my failed chat and seemed to have had much the same experience. But the reporter did elicit this comparatively voluble response from her about Fiorello: "I was always kind of crazy about him," she said. "Oh, I don't have to tell you what kind of guy he was. Everyone knows what kind of guy he was."

The kind of guy he was and how she felt about him come through loud and clear in a current revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Fiorello! Produced by the Berkshire Theatre Group from Massachusetts, it's being staged here in Manhattan at the Classic Stage Company, but only through Oct. 7. The cast is young and energetic and the songs, by the gifted Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick of Fiddler on the Roof fame (among other great shows) are tuneful and nostalgic for a time when a Republican -- for that's what La Guardia was -- could be a progressive, powerful streetfighter for the people. He's on the side of the angels, as one of the songs goes, and a supporting character says in exasperation, "He'll help anybody!"

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La Guardia's father was a bandmaster in the U.S. Army who died from eating tainted meat sold to the military by crooked suppliers during the Spanish-American War, a tragedy that taught his son early on how business can corrupt government, getting officials to look the other way in exchange for bribes or favors. He became a crusading lawyer, defending immigrants, striking garment workers and tenants fighting greedy landlords. Marie was his devoted secretary and assistant, becoming La Guardia's second wife in 1929. In Fiorello!, his character shouts that "it's time to get the garbage off the doorstep," and rails against "heartless, misbegotten misters" and "the termites eating up our city."

He was elected to Congress and in 1934 was sworn in as the 99th mayor of New York City. Despite his Republican Party affiliation, La Guardia was an ardent New Dealer who during years of desperate poverty and unemployment helped make possible public works projects across the city, generating jobs that (in most cases) genuinely improved the urban landscape with housing and highways, parks and playgrounds. "You cannot preach self-government and liberty to people in a starving land," he said. "Only a well-fed, well-housed, well-schooled people can enjoy the blessings of liberty." He was pro-labor and urged crackdowns on Wall Street plutocrats and their abuses of power.

Like our present Republican presidential candidate, La Guardia was supremely self-confident and brash, a real publicity hound who chased fire engines and conducted city orchestras. He loved strutting his stuff on the airwaves. But the similarities end there.

Unlike our current tangerine nightmare, he backed up his big talk with action and genuine concern for his constituents. And La Guardia admitted when he was wrong. He didn't try to put the blame on anyone or anything else (as in faulty microphones, biased moderators, rigged search engine algorithms, etc.). Fiorello readily confessed, "When I make a mistake, it's a beaut!" and the voters loved him for the candid mea culpa.

Thinking of this lack of deceit or pretense, I particularly was amused last week when a member of Donald Trump's team tried to explain away the possibly illegal purchase of a large portrait of the businessman by the Trump Foundation, a painting that hangs in a bar at the Trump National Doral resort near Miami. The team member said that in reality, Donald was doing the foundation a favor by storing it for them. Yeah, that's the ticket, a favor.

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David A. Farenthold's account of this in The Washington Post bears repeating. He begins with a quote:

"There are IRS rules which specifically state that when a foundation has an item, an individual can store those items -- on behalf of the foundation -- in order to help it with storage costs," Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn said on MSNBC. "And that's absolutely proper." MSNBC's Hallie Jackson pressed Epshteyn. Was he really talking about the $10,000 portrait that was recently discovered -- by an Univision journalist -- at the Champions Bar and Grill? "You're telling me that that is storage, for Mr. Trump?" Jackson [asked]. "Right, of course, he's doing a good thing for his foundation,' Epshteyn said."

Farenthold adds:

Tax experts were not impressed by this reasoning. "It's hard to make an IRS auditor laugh,'Brett Kappel, a lawyer who advises nonprofit groups at the Akerman firm, said in an email. "But this would do it."



Wow. Epshteyn's rationale actually reminded me of a song from Fiorello! It's called "Little Tin Box," and musically recreates testimony before the Seabury hearings investigating municipal corruption and Tammany Hall, a probe that ultimately overthrew La Guardia's predecessor as mayor, Gentleman Jimmy Walker.

When bought-and-paid-for city officials are grilled as to how, on their meager salaries, they've been able to afford lives of luxury, they have a raft of explanations.

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Here's an example of one of the questions, asked and answered:



"Mr. Z, you're a junior official

And your income's rather low,

Yet you've kept a dozen women

in the very best hotels,

Would you kindly explain how so?"



"I can see your Honor doesn't pull his punches,

And it looks a trifle fishy, I'll admit.

But for one whole week I went without my lunches,

And it mounted up, your Honor, bit by bit."

Similarly, with each preposterous lie and excuse, the falsehoods mount up and Trump and his people dig a bigger, deeper hole. And while his supporters may buy anything they're told, we all have to hope that a sufficient number of them, on top of the percentage of the country who already know better, will get a grip and realize they're being sold a bill of goods as ludicrous as those proverbial suckers buying the Brooklyn Bridge.
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 13:Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence, conducts a news conference with GOP leaders at the RNC after a meeting of the House Republican Conference, September 13, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The conservative U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Chicago just hammered Trump's "savior," VP candidate, Mike Pence. The decision is Exodus Refugee Immigration, Inc. v. Michael R. Pence, in his official capacity as Governor of Indiana, et al., Dkt. No. 16-1509 (October 3, 2016). Noted federal appeals judge, Richard Posner, wrote for a unanimous panel, joined by Frank Easterbrook and Diane Sykes. The latter happens to be on one of Trump's lists of judges he would consider for the Supreme Court.

The case involved the grant of a preliminary injunction by a lower federal court to a private agency named Exodus that assists refugees in Indiana, some of whom are Syrian refugees. The appeals court upheld the issuance of the injunction.

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For fiscal year 2016, Obama fixed the number of refugees at 85,000 of whom only 10,000 were to be persons coming to the U.S. from Syria. Trump touts that the present administration is allowing hundreds of thousands of immigrants, if one recalls.

The opinion also makes clear that all persons seeking to enter the United States as refugees must first undergo multiple layers of screening by the federal government, following screening by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Only after this process -- taking up to two years -- can such individuals be admitted into the United States. Trump asserts that screening of refugees is totally loose and inadequate.

Let's get back to Pence as the defendant in this case. Per Posner's writing, Pence asserts -- without evidence -- that some persons coming from Syria were sent there by ISIS to engage in terrorism and infiltrate the U.S. in order to commit terrorist acts here. Pence, though, presented no evidence of this; Posner characterized it as "nightmare speculation."

Federal law provides money to states to assist refugees to become integrated into American society. To receive this federal money, a state must submit a plan to assist refugees, "to achieve economic self sufficiency." Indiana submitted such a plan and it was approved. Exodus is one of the agencies to implement Indiana's plan. Another section of the federal law provides that any such funding be done, "without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, or political opinion." Pence, though, has refused to pay, including to Exodus, for providing services for refugees whose "country of origin" is Syria. According to the opinion, a refugee's country of origin is deemed his nationality unless he's stateless, in which event it's the nation in which he last resided.

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Pence feared that Syrian immigrants could be potential terrorists and thus wanted to minimize their population within the Hoosier state. Rather than closing his state's borders, he focused in on Exodus. In fiscal year 2015, it received $1.0M from the state for the provision of social services for refugees. The money assisted 892 refugees, none of them Syrian. During the last fiscal year, there were 174 Syrian refugees. The number for this year is unknown. Nonetheless, unless the 7th Circuit failed to affirm the lower court's decision to grant the lower court's injunction [again it did not], Exodus would receive no monies from Pence's government this year. These refugees will thus have to resettle in other states. Pence wanted this to happen, despite a state that receives federal funding not to discriminate on the (above) listed grounds, particularly on the basis of nationality.

Pence and his lawyers stated to the appeals court, "the State's compelling interest in protecting its residents from the well-documented threat of terrorists posing as refugees to gain entry into Western countries." Pence failed to provide any evidence of this asserted position. Public resources also fail to reveal that Syrian refugees have been arrested or prosecuted for terrorist acts or attempts in the United States. As Judge Posner adroitly observed, if Syrian refugees did, in fact, pose a terrorist threat, Pence would thus increase the risk to other states where he would like to shunt them away from Indiana. Federal law prevents any state governor from deporting to other states immigrants a governor deems dangerous

In what may be the most cogent part of the opinion, Judge Posner repeats Pence's assertion in legal filings: that what Pence is doing in denying payments to Exodus is not discriminatory, but

"is based solely on the threat he thinks they pose to the safety of residents of Indiana. But that's the equivalent of his saying (not that he does say) that he wants to forbid black people to settle in Indiana not because they're black but because he's afraid of them, and since race is therefore not his motive he isn't discriminating. But that of course would be racial discrimination, just as his targeting Syrian refugees is discrimination on the basis of nationality." Emphasis added.

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There is one final point to the 7th Circuit opinion. States do not have to participate in the federal refugee assistance program, but the federal government is authorized to establish an alternative program, called Wilson/Fish, that distributes federal aid to refugees in a state without the involvement of the state government.
In the last two years, Afghanistan has been facing unprecedented challenges. However, several major development projects have initiated, launched or completed. But the government has failed to deliver its promises. Thousands of Afghans died in violence. The government lost control of several districts across the country and hundreds of thousands of Afghans forced to flee their home. Unemployment and corruption is at its peak. Disunity among the Afghans have increased and the country is more fragile than ever. If the world community does not engage immediately, Afghanistan will turn into a second Iraq.

After a major election crisis and controversy, the coalition government of national unity inaugurated in September of 2014. Without release of the election results, in a mediation of the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani introduced as a president and his political rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah as his chief

executive.



Secretary of State John Kerry between Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani, after he succeeded to convince both candidates to establish a coalition government (August 8, 2014. Photo by U.S. State Department)

Since its establishment, the legitimacy of the National Unity Government (NUG) has challenged and called unconstitutional. Following the deal for the new government, Afghanistan and the US signed the Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement, allowing the US and its NATO allies to stay in Afghanistan, beyond 2015.

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U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham signs the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar Sept. 30, 2014. (Photo by/U.S. State Department)

Paying $ 4 billion a year to the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANSDF) and $1 billion for development projects, the US is the largest donor of Afghanistan. In 2011, during the second Bonn Conference on Afghanistan, the world community has agreed to support Afghanistan for ten years, the Decade of Transformation (2015-2024).

Overall Afghanistan is more prosperous than ever. Beyond the repetitive stories of Afghanistan's new constitution, three times presidential elections, ten million students enrolled in schools, 352000 ANSDF, international partnerships and global recognition of the government, women's rights, use of cell phone, internet and much more, there are some other great stories as well.

In July 2016, Afghanistan became a member of World Trade Organization (WTO). In continuing efforts for reviving the modern Silk Roads and Afghanistan as the main gateway, several transit agreements inked or completed.

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The recent significant and tangible development projects are: finalizing the $ 997.00 million Central Asia, South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) agreement. The launch of Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) electricity power line, which would connect South and Central Asia via Afghanistan. Signing the trilateral trade agreement to use the southern Iranian port of Chabahar, which will give India trade access to Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. On September 7 through a 4600 miles trade route, for the first time Afghanistan connected to China and Central Asian countries by rail.

Good governance is at the top of its to-do list of the NUG. Appointment of prominent reformists, Nader Nadery as the chief of the independent administrative reform and civil service commission and Mohammad Farid Hamidi, Attorney General of Afghanistan, in two key positions, is widely welcomed by the Afghans. Establishment of the anti-corruption justice center, the high council on governance, the rule of law and anti-corruption, national procurement committee along with substantial reform by the Attorney General are significant moves towards good governance. But the problems are chronic and a lot needs to be done.

Afghanistan is still at the bottom of transparency index. Brussels conference on Afghanistan is just around the corner and it will be held 4-5 October. This is another great opportunity for the NUG to pledge to fight against corruption and appeal for further aid to the major donors.

Through Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework, Afghanistan has agreed to fight corruption, reform the government and respect human rights. However, the government has failed to do so, but the international community has not closely monitored the commitments. As a result, Afghans have experienced the electoral, political, economic and security crisis.

An expired parliament, fragile civil society organizations and weakened political parties are not in a position to hold the government accountable. Therefore, the Brussels conference should be a tribunal to set the Afghan leadership accountable.

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Unconditionally backed by the world community, Afghan leaderships think of themselves above every law and privileged. The nation is suppressed, starving, divided and living in fear. They do not have the power to set their politicians and civil servants accountable. Therefore, it gives a chance to the insurgents to recruit

angry and hopeless Afghans into their lines.

The government should be responsible for securing and building on the gains made possible by the blood and treasure of Afghans and their allies. However, in the absence of accountability mechanism, a regime which is politically, financially and even militarily backed by the world community, might not be accountable to its ordinary citizens.

Of course, Afghanistan is a partner of several donor countries, but this should not be an excuse to ignore the crisis and risk billions of dollars and thousands of innocent lives. Report of the Afghan casualties for the last two years, is shocking. The UN estimates 10,000 civilian casualties a year, which is a record high in this century. Operating from Pakistan, the Taliban are responsible for the majority of these casualties.

The Taliban has not welcomed any peace deal yet. However, a major peace deal between the government and the armed opposition group of the Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan led by Gulbadin Hekmatyar inked on September 29, 2016.



The doves are part of a campaign launched by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in observance of the International Day of Peace in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan in 2007. UN Photo/Helena Mulkerns



As a part of the NUG deal, the leaderships of the NUG have agreed to reform the election commissions immediately and amend the constitution. Two-year letter, still the commissions are not reformed. Therefore, the parliamentary and district elections have been on hold and the Loya Jirga (grand council) to amend the constitution and change the presidential system to a parliamentary system, is suspended.

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It might look awkward, but as the biggest supporters of Afghan leadership, this is a responsibility of the world community, led by the US to hold and set them accountable.

Every month, thousands of Afghans leave the country because of poverty, unemployment, and insecurity. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than a quarter of the one million refugees and migrants who arrived in Europe in 2015 were Afghans, coming second after Syrians.

The country is rich in natural resources, gas, minerals and oil worth estimate around 3 trillion US dollars. But still poverty is one of the major cause of the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. Therefore, promoting a healthy investment in extractive industries and trade will support Afghanistan's Self-Reliance strategy, agreed by the world community in Tokyo in July 2012.



A map of U.S. Geological Survey project of 2004-2014 to assess Afghanistan's natural resources and strengthen its earth science capabilities.

Helping Afghanistan establishes peace, encourage investment in infrastructure could help decrease the flow of refugees to Europe, which represents a brain drain for Afghanistan and an addition to the refugee crisis in the European countries.

Afghanistan is in a serious economic, political and security crisis. The upcoming Brussels conference is an opportunity for the world community to review and renew their long-term commitments and to set clear benchmarks and mechanism for accountability of the NUG. In order to ensure Afghanistan can never again be a safe haven for terrorists, there has to be a two-way street. Not a dirt one, but a two-way paved street. It is in the interest of the world community and the Afghan people.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends a press conference on the last weekand's referendum in Hungary in Budapest on October 4, 2016. Hungary's prime minister on Monday vowed that Budapest would still reject the EU's controversial migrant quota plan, despite low turnout in a referendum on the issue invalidating the vote. / AFP / ATTILA KISBENEDEK (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)

Following the referendum on Brexit, which was marked by a violent campaign (resulting in the assassination of the politician Jo Cox), and by violent developments, including aggression against Polish citizens -- more than 800,000 Poles live in the U.K. -- and one murder, we see a new referendum stamped with the mark of shame. Hungary's referendum on the admission of refugees is an utter disgrace -- even if it ultimately wasn't valid, since only 40 percent of voters participated, which was below the 50 percent required.

In any case, the results -- nearly 100 percent of participants voted against refugees -- mean that Viktor Orban has won his political gamble. He is calling for a rebellion against refugees, Muslims, and the European Union.

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This referendum obviously comes in the context of the refugee and migrant crisis that has completely destabilized the European Union over the past two years. This crisis also created a considerable split between the European states and jeopardized the cohesion of political leaders.

Angela Merkel was the first political leader to open the country's borders to migrants. Initially accepted, this policy was subsequently and very rapidly criticized by other European leaders, as well as by German citizens.

In the month of March, the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party made a clamoring entrance into parliament in three regions. The most significant victory came in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, where the AfD beat the Chancellor's party and gained almost 22 percent of the vote last month. The same party also made it into Berlin's parliament -- a city that today stands as a symbol of tolerance for all citizens of Europe and for all communities.

The so-called Visegrad group has harshly criticized Merkel's refugee policy. Among this group of Central European states, Hungary's Viktor Orban has been the most vocal.

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While Hungary was indeed at the frontlines of the migrant crisis and at the center of the Balkans route, and even though Europe was slow to react to this humanitarian crisis, Viktor Orban did not react as a head of state but as an irresponsible firebrand, deepening the woes of a Europe already weakened by this tragedy.

Playing on people's fear is not the way to go. Orban has committed a major political error.

Although the Hungarian justice ministry recently tried to justify this referendum, in an attempt to calm the fears of the European Union, the campaign has been marked, in a similar way to Brexit's campaign, by an avalanche of foul and racist discourse.

For example, Orban continued to conflate refugees and migrants with terrorists. He expressed his refusal to welcome Muslims into Hungary, a Christian country.

Hungary's Muslim community in its entirety understandably feels stigmatized, including those who have been here for a long time or those who have been born in Hungary.

Such a campaign is certainly irresponsible -- even more so because it has been orchestrated by an acting Prime Minister. It represents a serious break with such principles of the European Union as tolerance, democracy, and lack of discrimination.

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In organizing this horrendous referendum, the Hungarian Prime Minister was trying to send the following message to Europe: Hungary will no longer accept the diktats of the European Commission, nor the decisions taken collectively by the heads of state and the government leaders in the European Council.

The referendum sought to send a clear message to the "Brussels elites" and to call upon European citizens to mobilize around hate.

This referendum represents a new form of unscrupulous leadership: The manipulation of people to anti-European ends. Indisputably, this referendum is a popular vote against the European Union.

What will Hungary do next? Through knowingly violating the values of the European Union, through carrying out this referendum, Viktor Orban places himself in a new category of political leaders practicing what we can call neo-nationalism.

Hungary isn't the only country to engage in this practice. Poland decided to silence the Constitutional Court, leading the European Commission and the European Council to raise their concerns to the Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo.

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If that's where Europe is today, it is also because racist voices have been liberated. Just think of the advertisements that Nigel Farage distributed in Great Britain to call for votes in favor of Brexit. These methods were characterized as "nazi propaganda" by the former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, during the June 28 meeting of the European Parliament, several days before the British referendum.

The Hungarian referendum is reminiscent of these inexcusable methods. On the eve of the referendum on Saturday, October 1, extreme-right activists were authorized to demonstrate in front of the Hungarian Parliament, and were not dissuaded from making the Nazi salute. This represents the last straw for a country that experienced Nazi collaboration during World War II, then the torments of Soviet occupation.

It cannot be denied that there is a crisis. Europe was late to react, but it eventually came up with an agreement with Turkey. We must go further and enforce all the obligations in the Schengen Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty.

We cannot deny that this is a difficult situation. But playing on people's fear is not the way to go. Orban has committed a major political error.

The referendum will have no legal implications, but unfortunately, it will have political significance -- in the sense that it may encourage other irresponsible governments to take similar action.

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It is high time to rebuild Europe, excluding these countries who, under unethical leaders, are deliberately deciding to forsake and destroy the founding values of the European Union.
By: Lou Paradise

It is now considered the 21st century epidemic drug problem of our time. Opioid Rx pain killers are killing more than pain; they are killing the people we love. It's an epidemic that is destroying families and eroding communities.

How big is this problem? Well, the U.S. only accounts for 5% of the world's population, yet Americans consume 99% of the world's Vicodin and 84% of its Oxycontin.* The problem is truly epidemic.

Even worse, the fact that Rx opioids are expensive has led to an unforeseen insidious problem... many are turning to heroin, a cheaper option to satisfy their addiction.

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As president of Topical BioMedics, a US Marine Corps combat veteran, and skilled researcher with over 4-decades of experience in natural medicine, I have made it my company's purpose and mission to unravel this deadly web of pain killers and addiction to help people get their life back. This is a battle and a war we must win.

My journey's mission started following two tours of duty in Vietnam as a US Marine Corps, helicopter combat/rescue crew chief. I sustained cumulative trauma injuries from the physical demands of combat and performing hundreds of rescue missions of fellow Marines, Air Force, and Navy personnel, as well as humanitarian missions of Vietnamese civilians.

I returned to America, afflicted with severe nerve pain from hyperextension injuries to my hands, wrists and elbows. The nerve pain was so intense it felt like I was intentionally sticking my fingers into an electrical socket... I could only sleep for an hour or so at a time and only if I was sitting up in a chair, with my hands dangling at my sides.



I am grateful to God to have a strong intuition, serving humankind, intense curiosity and thirst for knowledge that drove me to dig deeply into the body's physiology specific to how the body actually heals itself - after all, healing is the ultimate form of pain relief. Because of this knowledge base, I understood the cellular cause of the pain I was suffering from, eliminating surgery and pain pills as options for me. I needed to help my body heal the damage that was causing my pain, not mask the symptoms.

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And even in my 20's, I recognized that my fellow brothers returning from combat weren't receiving the care they needed. If we had pain and went to a VA hospital, we were immediately given a script for Rx pain killers. Not made aware of other options, like counselling and integrative therapies, many of my fellow veterans found themselves quickly abusing their pain meds. Along with my suffering and the suffering of my brother veterans, I needed to find an answer.

My theories and experiments led to using select combination of natural biomedicines known for stimulating healing, that eventually became the formula for Topricin pain relief and healing cream technology - a viable 21st century option for doctors and patients, to maximize healing versus traditional pain pills. Along with my colleagues, I am humbled to be a part of a unique and growing community of dedicated caring people to answer our nation's call for ending the perils of pain pill addiction, and restoring hope and quality of life in its place for all people.

This is a complex subject and winning the battle and ultimate war against addiction and preventable death is a must. I ask you to join our army of pain relief warriors determined to help those in need by ending suffering and the deadly side effects caused by painkillers. Then we can see the day where no longer are 15,000 infants born addicted to their moms pain medication; veterans and other vulnerable populations believing that they have no options so opting to choose suicide instead; nor innocent lives lost due to driving under the influence of Rx opioid pain killers causing more car crashes then all illegal drugs combined, and lastly the extended tragedy, for people addicted to Legal drugs who can't afford them, spiralling down to the deadly addiction of heroin.

Each one of us deserves to live a joyful and fulfilling life, doing the things we love with the people we love most.

Pioneers for Change is a seed-bed for innovative thought. An activator of personal potential. A catalyst for collective energy. A community to drive social change.

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Our annual, international Fellowship is open to anyone aged 28 - 108 years old. We gather change-makers -- a business person, a community person, an investor, a thinker or doer -- who are willing to harness their talents, energy and resources as a force for good. Pioneers for Change is an initiative of Adessy Associates.

Adessy Associates believes a better world is possible, and equips and enables organisations and individuals to make positive change happen, and contribute to a sustainable future. We focus on benefit for people, planet and profit. Our bespoke services harness sustainability, innovation, consciousness and purpose. We are proudly B Corp certified.

About Lou Paradise

Lou founded Topical BioMedics, following 25 years dedicated interest in the application of herbal and homeopathic medicines and therapies, and nutritional supplements to stimulate health and healing. Mr. Paradise's enthusiasm, insight, and perseverance during a ten-year research and development phase led to the company's breakthrough product, Topricin.
This year the New York Film Festival opened with a documentary! Capturing a distinct Zeitgeist moment, in The 13th, Ava DuVernay limns a history of racism in America from the time of the 13th Amendment to the present through the filter of prisons and policies of mass incarceration, seen as the equivalent or updated version of slavery. Her narrative is compelling, a clear-eyed history crafted from archival footage and interviews. Many are talking Oscar for Best Picture.

But DuVernay seems unfazed. At a press conference, she peered out at the audience looking for a "sister" to tell her whether her skirt was okay. After her success with Selma last year, she remains free of airs, as she explained how this film came about. After the Oscar's last year, in the flare up over the disproportionate ethnicity represented at the Academy Awards, the documentary division at Netflix asked Ava DuVernay what she would like to do next. Realizing that prison was so much a part of the life of her community, DuVernay set out to examine the aftermath of the 13th: Jim Crow, the effect of punishment for profit, Black Lives Matter, from segregated lunch counters to Ferguson to "I can't breathe."

Looking at the language of the 13th Amendment that ended slavery--except for criminals, DuVernay digs deep into laws and practices that restrict our democracy. What ensued from the 13th Amendment was a chain of ways to declare criminality, from minor offences on, most often against people of color. The historic sweep extends to the current presidential campaign: Hillary Clinton declaring her priority to reform our prison system, Donald Trump exhorting followers at rallies toward violence against protesters, most often white against black.

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This is an important film, noteworthy for what is in it: Obama, the first ever president to visit a prison. And for what is not: O. J. Simpson, a story many people saw for its implicit discourse on race in America, is omitted from this narrative. DuVernay keeps her focus; there are more than enough instances to fill a feature length film on this subject, as everyone will see this Friday when it airs on Netflix. Let the conversation begin.
Like any great nation, America has a number of myths about itself. There are myths about the possibility of achievement where "anyone can grow up to be president." And there are myths about opportunity that were epitomized in author and newspaper editor Horace Greeley's famous line: "Go West, young man, go West," stated in 1871, as America expanded westward holding tight to a belief of Manifest Destiny. Another great American myth portrays America as "the great melting pot," a gumbo of sorts, in which people come from all over the world, from different nations, ethnicities, and cultures, to become one.

Any enduring myth is anchored in an element of truth. But there is usually more to the story. The current debates about immigration in the United States are not new to American life. Historically, the United States has often found itself conflicted on the issue of immigration. On the one hand, part of American's self-understanding lies in being a nation of immigrants. But, at the same time, we often have been deeply hostile and fearful of immigrants to this country. And the underlying causes of those fears and hostilities are not new and generally are born of ignorance.

The 19th century and early 20th century were times of an influx of immigrants both from Asia (mostly Chinese) and from southern Europe (Italians and Greeks). Many of these new immigrants looked different from the Anglo-Saxon immigrants who had come before. And they worshipped differently than most Americans. In the 19th century, more than 4 million Irish - among them, my ancestors -- immigrated to America to pursue the "American Dream." Yet they were greeted with hostility and suspicion.

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The Irish were widely seen as alcoholics, and they were, by and large, Catholic, which caused fears about allegiance to a foreign pope. This prejudice remained vibrant through the 1960 presidential election! The new immigrants' culture of drinking and their use of pubs and bars as gathering places collided with some Yankees' Puritan strain. They arrived at a time of economic unrest. Artisans were losing their jobs to mass production while immigrants were willing to work hard, for little money, in factories.

Scholars often use the term "nativism" as a general term for "opposition to immigration." Nativism is often based on fears that the immigrants will distort or spoil existing cultural values. However, it has been observed that nativists usually do not consider themselves nativists. Rather they see themselves as "patriots" or "law-abiding citizens."

Contemporary Americans are often surprised when they learn that before World War I there were no green cards, no visas, and no quotas for immigrants. Immigrants just arrived. The American government did use, to some extent, health criteria for admitting people. Mae Ngai, a legal and political historian at Columbia University who studies American immigration, said that "... if you could walk without a limp, and you had $30 in your pocket, you walked right in." And so they came -- with no paperwork issues or quotas or restrictions or immigration courts. Political backlash followed, in the form of secret societies that coalesced into the Know Nothing movement. The Know Nothings grew so popular that, in 1854, they overwhelmingly took over the Massachusetts Legislature -- where they pushed for Prohibition laws, aimed squarely at Irish and German cultures. The Know Nothings also supported an effort to extend the naturalization period to 21 years. At the time, the debate centered not on sending immigrants back but on denying them the right to vote.

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As we head toward the presidential elections in November, immigration remains a central, and often divisive, issue. Presidential debates and campaign speeches stir up controversies that are repeated and expounded upon at modern-day kitchen tables - social media.
Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during the first debate with Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, U.S., September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

One of this campaign's most unnerving aspects is that Donald Trump's perpetual biliousness has numbed us to the mania fueling his vulgarity. But last week those not yet insensate could absorb an appalling reality: the presidential candidate of a major party was focused on accusing Miss Universe 1996 -- falsely -- of making a porn film. This singular digression marked the moment when Trump retroactively turned a bad debate into a calamity, warning us yet again of his pervasive instability.

In itself, the reason for his poor performance exposed his mental and emotional unfitness to lead. Faced with the most important moment in his political life -- the chance to persuade his fellow Americans to entrust him with the presidency -- Trump prepared by doing almost nothing. Aides charged with prepping him privately revealed that he was unwilling, perhaps unable, to pay attention.

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This is a stunning incapacity: a failure to summon, or even to appreciate, the seriousness of mind and spirit required of a leader at such a public crossroads -- suggesting that there is nothing, ever, which can penetrate Trump's surreal self-absorption. But as revealing of his psychological deficiencies was his aides' apparent inability, even in the wake of his miserable showing, to suggest ways in which he could improve.

Trump, it emerged, insisted that he had beaten Hillary Clinton and would not hear otherwise. Unable to advise him, his minions were reduced to communicating with their leader through leaks to the press, stressing his need for preparation before the next debate. A man who cannot absorb the reality which surrounds him, and renders his advisors fearful of addressing it, is frightening to contemplate as president.

For Trump, the reality of the first debate was devastating. His defeat on Monday night did not stem from a gaffe, or one bad answer. Rather, so comprehensive was his failure in both substance and style that presidential historians could not find its equal.

Ninety minutes of exposure revealed that he has little grasp of -- or interest in -- the subject matter of the presidency itself. Instead the subject which absorbed him was... himself. And Trump as he conceives himself is superior to those those other humans for whom, individually, he shows no more regard than he does for society at large.

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He was, as ever, self-referential, whiny and defensive, blaming others for his problems, whether with individuals or the IRS. Baited by Clinton, the hereditarily wealthy Trump recast himself as a self-made billionaire, and offered such practices as profiting from the 2008 housing collapse, employing multiple bankruptcies, and paying no income tax as evidence of his savvy. As for habitually stiffing contractors, by Trump's solipsistic account their work was habitually sub-standard.

Widely perceived as a chronic liar, he lied still more -- often and detectably. This was particularly damaging with respect to accusations of misogyny: instead of expressing regret about past slurs against women, he denied uttering them at all. And, in the end, it was his sexism which greased the skids of his self-destruction.

Here, too, he should have been prepared -- surely by now someone, perhaps Kellyanne Conway, has revealed to Trump that millions of Americans deem him hostile to women. Indeed, before the debate Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post tweeted, "Finally, the whole country will watch as a woman stands politely listening to a loud man's bad ideas about the field she spent her life in."

A lesser man would have taken the hint. Instead, Trump interrupted Clinton constantly and, with his own endurance and concentration clearly flagging, chose to deride her stamina. While Trump may not have been prepared, Clinton was.

After reprising Trump's insults to women, Clinton went for the jugular: "And one of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty pageant... [H]e called this woman 'Miss Piggy.' Then he called her 'Miss Housekeeping,' because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado." As Trump interrupted yet again, Clinton finished, "She has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she's going to vote this November."

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A grim moment, made worse when Trump defended himself by gratuitously offering that Rosie O'Donnell, previously unmentioned, "deserves" his prior insults. But no one -- except, perhaps, the Clinton campaign -- could imagine what Trump would do next. Liberated from his handlers, he turned his "Machado moment" into an attenuated display of his profound emotional disturbance, kicking off the most disastrous and disturbing week a modern presidential candidate has ever inflicted on himself.

The subject dated back to 1996, when Trump ran the Miss Universe contest -- and was potentially incendiary. In an earlier interview, Machado asserted that Trump's psychological abuse about her weight contributed to her anorexia and bulimia, a claim she repeated on camera after the debate. A normal man would grasp the number of women who, repelled by body shaming, would find this assertion sympathetic.

Worse for Trump, the abuse itself was captured by a scarifying video -- for once, he could not lie about his conduct. In a series of excruciating filmic moments, Trump shepherded the teenaged Machado to a gym, where she exercised in front of dozens reporters and cameramen. Trump himself provided the color commentary."This is someone who likes to eat," he informed his audience, adding that, "the way she's going, she'd eat a whole gymnasium."

Quite obviously, a sane candidate would leave this toxic incident behind or, better, find a way to apologize. Not Trump. The Tuesday morning after the debate, he took to Fox News to belittle Machado and defend his disparagement of her appearance. "She was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight,and it was a real problem. Not only that -- her attitude. And we had a real problem with her."

No doubt to his surprise, commentators and much of the public reacted with revulsion and even shock: Trump was echoing his prior attack on individuals like Judge Curiel and the Khans, this time in a way which, perhaps, was even more unseemly. But with the deranged grievance of a man who forever imagines himself the victim, Trump relentlessly made things worse.

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For three more days he persisted in demeaning a former beauty contestant. And in the early hours of Friday morning, he issued a series of manic tweets further disparaging Machado -- after suggesting that Clinton helped her become a citizen, he urged his followers to "check out" a sex tape featuring Machado which seems not to exist. So, once more, Trump had reduced the campaign to a reality show in which he played a slanderous bully with no grasp of his own poisonous psyche.

Obviously, Machado did not materialize from the ether. She was Clinton's weapon of choice, ready for deployment, and her past included unsettling, if unproven, accusations -- driving a getaway car for a boyfriend who had just attempted murder, then supposedly threatening a judge. But the proof of Trump's abusive conduct toward her was there for all to see, and his senseless attacks on yet another woman proved his inability to govern even himself.

Thus when Clinton remarked that "his latest Twitter meltdown is unhinged, even for him," she spoke for many more people than herself. After all, Clinton noted, "Really, who gets up at 3 o'clock in the morning to engage in a Twitter attack against a former Miss Universe?"

No one but Donald Trump. By doing so, he demolished the scripted persona his latest brain trust had scripted for him, buttressing Clinton's assertion that he is "temperamentally unfit to be president of the United States." Even Republican professionals felt the kind of muted horror expressed by Ohio State Chairman Matt Borges, "Can this thing just end - please?" The sharp GOP strategist Ana Navarro was more emphatic: "Forget being president. This guy isn't fit to take care of a puppy."

One doubts that Trump can take in what he's doing to himself. Increasingly, he is enabled by a soulless palace guard led by Rudy Giuliani, who now resembles a vicious and demented elder, screeching and flailing as his keepers administer sedatives. "Republicans", Giuliani opined with his now-habitual sneer, "are a bunch of frightened rabbits." Giuliani's better idea is to use Bill Clinton's sexual history to tear down his wife.

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Never mind that, based on their own scurvy behavior toward women, Giuliani and Trump should avoid the subject like, well, scurvy. Giuliani's advice appeals to Trump's worst instincts -- the only instincts he has. And so he has segued from Machado to a personal attack against Hillary Clinton almost as ill-advised: that she was her husband's enabler. To which he adds this stunning assertion: ""I don't even think she's loyal to Bill..."

And so, as America watched, his descent into madness accelerated. The public crack - up came Saturday night.

Its predictable predicate was the kind of humiliations to which Trump, predictably, responds by losing control. His poll numbers -- as ever his chief measure of success -- were flagging. The media was dwelling on his floundering debate, accentuated by his irrational actions in its wake. And a leaked page from his tax returns in 1996 strongly suggested that, due to staggering business losses, he has paid no income tax for the last 20 years.

The result was a frightening foretaste of what a Trump presidency might portend. At a nighttime rally in Pennsylvania he went completely off the rails, the very portrait of a man cracking under pressure. Best simply to report, without elaboration, the events described by Jenna Johnson in the Washington Post.

Ignoring the script his handlers had prepared for him, he veered from one tangent to the next. He implied that Hillary Clinton was adulterous. Evoking his prior mockery of a disabled reporter, he imitated her loss of equilibrium at the 9/11 memorial service. He suggested that Clinton is "crazy." He opined that she should be in prison.

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He wondered if he should have done another season of "The Apprentice" instead of running for president. He blamed his debate performance on a defective microphone, intimating that it was sabotaged. He invited the crowd to jeer the moderator, Lester Holt. He attacked "the dopes at CNN."

He again raised the specter of election fraud which would cheat him of the presidency. He invited his mostly white crowd to visit polling places in "certain areas" on election day, suggesting that they "watch" to see who was voting. "I hear too many bad stories," he informed them, "and we can't lose the election because of you know what I'm talking about."

Finally, this. After warning that Clinton was giving away the jobs of hard-working Pennsylvanians to please her wealthy donors, he said, "You're unsuspecting. Right now, you say to your wife: 'Let's go to a movie after Trump.' But you won't do that because you'll be so high and so excited that no movie is going to satisfy you. Okay? No movie. You know why? Honestly? Because they don't make movies like they used to - is that right?"

This is not a joke -- it actually happened. One quails at the thought of Chief Of Staff Rudy Giuliani saying, "Right, Mr. President."

No doubt one engine of this meltdown was the mortifying revelation about his taxes, fusing his seamy self-aggrandizement with his incompetence in business. To say the least, this ran counter to Trump's narrative. Tax avoidance, he asserted at the debate, "makes me smart." And after the New York Times revealed just how "smart" he had been, the craven Giuliani suggested that Trump had been unduly modest: "He's a genius - absolute genius."

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Not so much. In the early 1990s, it turns out, Trump reported business losses so massive that they could shelter him from income taxes on nearly $1 billion. As a former head of the Congressional Budget Office remarked, "It's either a unique combination of bad luck or he's a terrible businessman or both. I don't understand how you can lose $1 billion and stay in business."

Here's how. Trump used the tax and bankruptcy laws to turn an epic series of business disasters into a tool of personal survival -- perhaps at the edge of legality -- while his contractors went unpaid and his investors lost their money. His avoidance of taxation is not evidence of acumen, but an undeserved reward for selfishness and ineptitude.

With this, a core truth about Donald Trump was confirmed at last. He is not a master builder who would make America great again -- he is a child of our corrupt tax code, stacked to insulate wealthy real estate developers from the consequences of failure. Genius did not save him -- loopholes and bankruptcies did, and at a cost to everyone but Trump. Little wonder that his tax proposals for America are designed to treat developers like Trump even better. In the words of another venal developer, Leona Helmsley, "Only the little people pay taxes."

They also vote.

Including the little people of Florida who happen to be Cuban. In mid-September, Trump courted anti-Castro Cubans by attacking President Obama's "one-sided deal" to normalize relations with Cuba. Last Thursday, a mere two weeks later, a well-documented report in Newsweek asserted that, in 1998, a Trump business enterprise had spent money in Cuba exploring business opportunities -- a violation of the legal embargo lifted by Obama.

The Trump campaign's evasive response was merely one more piece in a week-long mosaic depicting Trump's inner landscape. The last piece fell into place just yesterday -- an action by New York's Attorney General against the Trump Foundation.

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The foundation has already been exposed for the sham it is -- a source of illegal campaign donations whose charitable impact is minimal and which, for the past eight years, has not been funded by Trump himself. Now, it transpires, the foundation is violating state law by soliciting donations without proper registration, enabling it to avoid the rigorous audits otherwise required by New York law. Wherever Trump goes, pathology follows

But some venues are far more dangerous than others. That is the larger point dramatized by the events of last week -- Trump's deeply disturbed behaviors most of all. The man who would be our president is a liar and a charlatan, devoid of conscience or empathy for others, alive to nothing but his own ungovernable desires, and beset by multiple pathologies which metastasize under pressure. The chapters of history are filled with such men, and they do not end well.

And so conservative newspapers have started shouting across the divide which separates Trump's supporters from reason. The Cincinnati Enquirer has supported Republicans for nearly a century; The Dallas Morning News since before World War II; The Houston Chronicle traditionally leans Republican. Citing Trump's temperament, all have endorsed Hillary Clinton.

In its 34 years, USA Today never endorsed the presidential candidate. After the events of last week, its editorial board wrote that Trump is "unfit for the presidency." They offered a bold-faced litany of disqualifications:

"He is erratic. He is ill-equipped to be commander-in-chief. He traffics in prejudice. His business career is checkered. He isn't leveling with the American people. He speaks recklessly. He has coarsened the national dialogue. He's a serial liar."

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Seems like enough. But the morning after Trump's debate debacle, when The Arizona Republic endorsed a Democrat for the first time in its 126 year history, its editorial director cut to the quick of why: "There is something extraordinary about this Republican candidate that was making us all break from our history."

Whatever their reservations about Clinton, he explained, she "treats the office with respect. And Trump has no respect for the office that he seeks. If the leaders of our country don't respect our important institutions, no one is going to respect them. That's why he scares us."

Trump's conduct last week, frightening in itself, indelibly captured this difference. Hillary Clinton is not only competent, but eminently sane. Trump is neither.
AKRON, OH - OCTOBER 03: Democratic presidential nominee former Secreatry of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally at Goodyear Hall and Theatre on October 3, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. Clinton is campaigning in Ohio ahead of the November 8th election. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Hillary Clinton gave a speech on the economy in Toledo, Ohio on Monday. Her primary topics, corporate predation and a broken economy, leaned left. Some of the speech's most important ideas were hidden in plain sight, but could have long-lasting significance.

The speech wasn't perfect, and some will undoubtedly question her sincerity. But it showed just how far the candidate, and her party's leadership, have come in a very short time.

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Characteristically, Clinton's speech blunted its message with hedging phrases like, "There are lots of principled law-abiding business leaders out there who are horrified by all this."

And Clinton couldn't resist boasting that, "I've been endorsed by very successful people," while "not a single CEO of a Fortune 100 company supports the Trump campaign."

To millions of American voters, that will look less like validation and more like guilt by association. Those CEOs aren't avoiding Trump because they're patriots. They're probably more concerned that his unpredictability would be bad for business. And many would lose out if Trump ever followed through on his anti-trade-deal rhetoric.

She spent a good portion of the speech attacking Donald Trump, of course. It would be political malpractice for a candidate in her position not to dwell on her opponent's venality, vulgarity and greed.

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But the outsized and cartoonish nature of Trump's villainy can also be an impediment, a distraction from the deeper debate that is needed. Every moment spent discussing Trump's personal failings is a moment spent not addressing the fundamental injustices built into our economy.

At least Clinton put her Donald-baiting to good use, by linking his faults to broader concerns. "Trump represents the same rigged system that he claims he's going to change," she said. "He's taken corporate excess and makes a business model out of it."

Trade is the one subject where Trump has a populist edge. While Clinton could not bring herself to condemn past trade deals, she said that she would "ramp up enforcement of trade rules by appointing a new chief trade prosecutor and tripling the number of enforcement officers." And she repeated her recent, more forceful language on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying "I oppose TPP now, I will oppose it after the election, I will oppose it as president - because it is one-sided and unfair to American workers."

That language would be more convincing if Clinton were to personally lobby Democrats in Congress, asking them to vote against TPP in the lame-duck session. And if Clinton opposes the TPP because "it sets up a dispute resolution system that favors large corporations over everyone else," she should fight to renegotiate or remove the same provision from NAFTA. A recent study confirmed that it has benefited extremely wealthy individuals and very large corporations.

Still, her words of opposition are a step in the right direction, reflecting the deep unpopularity and poor outcomes of past trade deals.

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Rhetorically, Clinton got the Wells Fargo scandal exactly right. "One of the nation's biggest banks, bullying thousands of employees into committing fraud against unsuspecting customers" -- that's a good summary of the scandal. Then there was this:

It is outrageous that eight years after a cowboy culture on Wall Street wrecked our economy, we are still seeing powerful bankers playing fast and loose with the law.

At this point, some left-leaning readers will undoubtedly be doubting the sincerity of Clinton's outrage, given her history with Wall Street. That's a legitimate concern. Clinton even boasted in Monday's speech about Warren Buffett's endorsement, and Buffett is a major investor in Wells Fargo, reportedly losing $1 billion in a single day as the latest scandal broke.

But, by reflecting and channeling the public's anger, Clinton is acknowledging that the political reality about Wall Street fraud has changed. Bernie Sanders and his millions of supporters, along with Elizabeth Warren and other key players, have moved her to the left on this subject, at least rhetorically. Activists can use these fierce words to press for additional bank reform, should she become president.

"Often we find unjustified spikes in the prices of longstanding, life-saving drugs," Clinton said of Big Pharma. "We should slap penalties on companies trying to cheat people who need those drugs."

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Clinton also expressed support for importing drugs from Canada, speeding up the approval process for generic alternatives, and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

(Her other major drug proposal, to cap the out-of-pocket cost working families pay for medicine, is not unreasonable. Unfortunately, it would shift the cost burden from individual families to the public at large without ending the drug company exploitation that is the root cause of the problem.)

While more can be done to rein in Big Pharma -- the Bayh-Dole Act, for example, provides a president with additional tools -- this is a much stronger agenda against pharmaceutical predation than any presidential candidate has offered in the recent past.



Most of the speech's media coverage missed its most potentially transformative proposals - understandably, because they sounded technical. But, if properly executed, they could change the way the nation does business.

The first was a call to end mandatory arbitration in corporate agreements. As Clinton noted, "there was a provision in the very fine print of (Wells Fargo customer) contracts that kept them from going to court to sue the bank for being cheated. Instead, they are forced into a closed-door arbitration process without the important protections that you get in a court of law."

Most major corporations -- including banks, credit card companies, and telecommunications providers -- use arbitration to rig the system in their own favor. They have considerable influence over the arbitrators, while customers are robbed of the class-action suits that are often their only path to justice.

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"We are not going to let corporations like Wells Fargo use these fine print 'gotchas' to escape accountability," said Clinton. If that policy was enforced strictly, and broadly, it would change the way large corporations treat their exploited customers.

Clinton also said this:

In most of the country, the three largest health insurance companies in each state control 80 percent of the market. No wonder premiums are going up. As president, I will appoint tough, independent authorities to strengthen anti-trust enforcement and really scrutinize mergers and acquisitions, so the big don't keep getting bigger and bigger.

If Clinton were to honor that pledge as president, the effects could be far-reaching. In recent decades the federal government has done little to address monopoly and near-monopoly conditions in a number of markets. It stood idle as mergers and acquisitions created one dominant player after another. An aggressive antitrust policy could lower prices, give consumers more choices, and reduce the political power of today's mega-corporations. It might even slow premium growth for health insurance.

The question will inevitably asked, "Does she mean it?"

A shadow fell across the Clinton campaign's left flank this week when leaked audio of Clinton from a February fundraiser contained dismissive comments about Bernie Sanders and his millennial supporters. Clinton has long described herself as a "centrist," telling the February crowd that she occupies a political space "from the center-left to the center-right."

So, does she mean the progressive things she says now?

Clinton undoubtedly has "centrist" tendencies. But she has also been willing to embrace the rhetoric and policies of the left in recent months. Whatever is in her heart, this much is clear: Hillary Clinton has shown that she can be moved. That suggests a way forward for progressive activists.

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In what is almost certainly an apocryphal story, Franklin D. Roosevelt was said to have told a activist (sometimes in the story it's Sidney Hillman, sometimes it's A. Philip Randolph), "I agree with you, now go out and make me do it."
When it comes to employee volunteering and giving programs, perhaps no industry sector is better suited to make an impact than professional services firms.

While professional services is a broad and diverse category of occupations ranging from accountants and management consultants to lawyers and IT consultants, they're linked by a high knowledge density and specialized training in the arts or sciences. Successful professional services firms must demonstrate leadership, accountability and complete integrity, as well as an ability to use interconnected disciplines to effect change.

As it happens, all of these qualities are essential not only to business success but also to social progress. How professional service firms conceptualize and execute on their ability to make a difference offers a window into the boldness of their global vision overall. Corporate social responsibility is one of the most visible opportunities for these firms to express how they can lead change. When seen through this lens, CSR is not an add-on option to professional services firms but a vital extension of their values and, ironically, self regard.

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Self regard? Isn't giving back supposed to be selfless? Perhaps, but giving back in a way that actually makes an impact requires strategy, creativity, leadership, smart decision making, teamwork from within, partnership with outside experts, and a strong moral compass. It takes true belief in the capabilities and potential of your organization to aim high with social impact. And taking your corporate philanthropy seriously and treating it like an important part of your business can lead to significant shared value creation, where companies experience pronounced competitive advantages through corporate social responsibility.

A strong CSR program has many facets and opportunities, and professional services firms in particular should consider multiple paths forward to assert their power to make a difference. But there's one strong asset that should be at the center of every initiative: a firm's employees.

Pro Bono: Double down on your strengths

Pro bono or skills-based volunteering is a natural fit for professional services firms, and employees can easily step into this valuable form of giving back. The estimated value of traditional volunteering, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is $23.07 per hour, but pro bono volunteering dwarfs that value at an average of $150 per hour.

Pro bono advocate firm Taproot arrived at that weighted average by evaluating the average hourly rate of different professional services firms based on career level. For example, the value of an average hour of time of an early level financial services employee is $90 while that of an executive level financial services employee is $255. Early level IT services professionals can bill an average of $115 per hour, going up to $235 at the executive level. And so on. Across the myriad areas of professional services, pro bono contributions add up to a very substantial benefit for nonprofits that would normally have to pay market rate for those same services.

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Further, for millennial and other employees who are sharpening their skills, pro bono service is a helpful and rewarding way to give back, perhaps becoming a deciding factor in joining a firm by top candidates who are weighing different options. But it's not just millennials who appreciate the opportunity to give back through their skills. Over the past several years, the popularity of pro bono service has risen to the point where it's become the fastest-growing employee-volunteering program, especially within the professional services sector. According to Daryl Brewster, CEO of CECP, a coalition of 150 CEOs of the world's largest companies focused on societal engagement, the percentage of companies offering pro bono service increased from 40 percent in 2012 to more than half in the past couple of years.

Over the past four years, Deloitte professionals delivered more than 1,000 pro bono projects, providing capacity-building business solutions across the breadth of Deloitte's Consulting, Tax, and Advisory services. Deloitte positions its pro bono and skills-based volunteering programs as key components to its commitment to youth education, inspiring future leaders, and to its approach to creating opportunities for veterans. The company is so committed to pro bono that it is a sponsor of the forthcoming Pro Bono Week at the end of October, a global campaign that celebrates and activates pro bono service across all professions that use their talents to make a difference.

Boston Consulting Group is another excellent example of a professional services firm that leverages its talents to address global challenges. To maximize the potential of the firm's social impact, BCG works with social sector clients across topics such as development, health, education, employment, and the environment, and the company makes opportunities available to all consultants. About 10% of BCG's worldwide staff participate in approximately 300 social impact projects per year. Consultants can also apply to participate in the firm's social impact immersion and secondment programs or take leaves of absence to work at social sector organizations of their choice.

Company-wide volunteer experiences enrich culture

Beyond pro bono opportunities for employees to fulfill alone or in small groups, professional services firms need to be thinking about how to engage their entire office in fun, low barrier to entry volunteering experiences. Company-wide events serve a number of purposes, but one of them is to get employees talking about your organization.

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Professional services firms face different branding challenges than consumer brands and it can be difficult to stand out. That's where employee advocacy comes into play, according to marketing expert John Tyreman. "Employee advocacy is a culture of believing and buying in to the content your firm produces, and seeking out opportunities to spark discussions on social networks with other individuals who share the same passion or interest," Tyreman wrote for Business 2 Community. There's a science and an art to true employee advocacy programs, but well-orchestrated employee volunteer and giving events serve as an ideal platform to get employees engaged in internal and external conversation about your company.

For volunteer experiences that reach out to everyone at the company, well-run campaigns are essential to high employee participation. But that can be easier said than done. So many volunteer and giving campaigns never manage to grab the attention, interest or engagement of employees. And so they sometimes come and go with little fanfare, amounting to more of a halfhearted exercise by the marketing department than anything generated by actual volunteers.

To better understand the secrets of campaign success for a professional services firm, we took a close look in our own backyard. Causecast client Dixon Hughes Goodman offers a prime example for how to run a memorable volunteer and giving campaign from start to finish, so we put their latest campaign under a microscope to examine their winning formula and came up with six steps that every firm should take to wage an impactful volunteer and giving campaign.
This election cycle has struck many of us as particularly intense--from public interactions between the candidates and their party officials, to the mutual attacks by voters on each other that can be found all over social media.

Voter-behavior seems to also be topic that the media has been covering with more focus these days. And while much of it's noise, the stories that have resonated most with me have been those about people who aren't planning on voting. This is a cause I care a lot about, in a very deep way.

I try my best to make a distinction between the feelings of anger and anxiety that can easily come up during election season, and the act of self-affirmation that is voting itself. As a meditation teacher, I not only feel compelled to vote, but to emphasize the imperative to vote.

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It may seem strange to relate spirituality and voting, especially in a country where religion becomes the source of policy-related conflict during political debates. But the faith that I think about in the context of voting is completely non-partisan. It's about recognizing voting as an immense form of freedom we're given; we have the choice to participate in the outcome of our lives, the lives of others, and the country as a whole. Each of our influences on any outcome may be incremental, but it exists, and is a critical component of change. In that way, each one of our choices to step up and take action has immense impact--on each other, and on our world's future.

Many years ago during an election cycle, an acquaintance said to me, "The differences between candidates tend to feel so marginal." I can't even quite remember who she was talking about. But regardless of specifics, I think it's critical to recognize even the smallest margins of difference in the choices we make--in an election, or any time. In this case, one candidate's views on education may not be a high-stakes issue for you, but they may greatly affect another person (likely millions of people). All of us, millions of us, are greatly affecting each other each day. By voting, we honor that connection.

I'm told that in Australia, all citizens are registered to vote and actually pay a fine if they don't vote. I like this model, though given the choice we have here, we actually have an invitation to pay attention to voting as a privilege, rather than a chore.

Voting is a privilege. It's how we can show commitment to ourselves, to each other, to this country and to this world.
With America unique among developed and most developing countries in its rising maternal mortality, it's especially encouraging to see significant progress in mothers' and newborn survival in sites across the developing world.

The massive global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals made enormous strides in reducing maternal and newborn mortality worldwide. Together with other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), WomenStrong International has focused on maternal and neonatal survival as a vital first step toward furthering the health and economic empowerment of women, families and whole communities. Our projects in Haiti, Ghana, India and elsewhere illustrate the very real progress being made across the developing world, even as our own country falls far behind.

In northern Haiti, in the commune of Borgne, a new operating room and surgical team at the Alyans Sante Borgne Hospital is enabling women to receive emergency Cesarean sections for the first time, in this remote, mountainous region of 80,000 people. Pregnant women in distress have to walk as many as 8-12 hours down treacherous mountain paths to reach the hospital, where, previously, they would then be put in the back of a truck and carted another two hours over rutted dirt roads to the nearest facility capable of delivering by C-section.

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For Lousena Thales, that additional two hours on a rough road might have been fatal. The 23-year-old mother-to-be arrived in great pain, facing a possible uterine rupture, fatal hemorrhaging and the loss of her child. Instead, thanks the sterile facility, a team of two obstetricians/gynecologists, an anesthesiologist and a blood-banking expert, Lousena gave birth to a healthy son.

In the southern Indian city of Madurai, over a scant 18 months the extraordinary Dhan Foundation has screened and treated thousands of pregnant women and girls for anemia, a leading cause of maternal mortality and low-birthweight babies. The 80+ percent of the women and girls found to be anemic were quickly treated and given lifesaving guidance on health, nutrition and infant care. The screenings also afforded the girls and young women the opportunity to form or join Self-Help Groups through which they are able to save enough to purchase health and life insurance, open bank accounts and train in financial literacy and an array of job skills, setting them on a path toward improving not only their own wellbeing, but also that of their families and communities.

Meanwhile in Africa, low-cost, low-tech Neonatal Units in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city, have been selected for nationwide scale-up by the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service. This innovative model was designed and implemented by Israeli neonatologists from Ben Gurion University to treat premature babies and other newborns for mild-to-moderate conditions, help mothers nurse and bond, and decongest the neonatal intensive care unit (I.C.U.) at the national teaching hospital, freeing it to focus on the desperately sick infants the unit was set up to treat. Kumasi's first two new Neonatal Units, designed expressly for low-resource settings, eased congestion by 33% in the neonatal I.C.U., where overcrowding formerly contributed to exorbitantly high mortality rates.

This innovation, led by our partner organization Women's Health to Wealth, has been joined with training for hundreds of midwives in using ultrasound and in two brilliant American Academy of Pediatrics protocols focused on saving mothers and newborns. These midwife trainings have resulted in the safe births of more than 27,400 infants in a region where neonatal and maternal mortality rates had been sky-high.

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Strategic investment in such projects has allowed these tiny non-profits to leverage additional partnerships that can create truly momentous interventions. The Government of Israel, Columbia University, Johnson & Johnson and AmeriCares, as examples, all contributed to these remarkable outcomes in Ghana; WomenStrong's own investment in the new Haiti operating theatre, at the cost of just $1 per person across the entire northern commune, triggered the engagement of the Haitian Ministry of Health and other partners, illustrating as well the potential for targeted, cost-effective financing.

But here in America, it appears we don't believe that public investment in the lives of women and babies is worth the trouble. The Institutes of Health Metrics and Evaluation has just reported the rates of maternal mortality to be particularly high in New Jersey, Georgia, Arkansas, and Washington, DC. And what can we even begin to say about the state of Texas, where women's pregnancy-related deaths more than doubled between 2010-2014, to an astonishing 35.8%? This shocking maternal death rate is unmatched anywhere in the developed world.

The United States as a whole was recently certified as second only to Mexico in having the highest maternal mortality rate among the 31 OECD-member countries, considered the world's most developed. With such dubious recognition, one really has to ask, 'What does it mean to be a "developed nation," if we won't prioritize the survival of our mothers and babies?'
My dad and mom met at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. They had both escaped Mississippi, Jim Crow, and what Billie Holiday called strange fruit hanging from the trees. They had walked past the "school" to attend the "Colored School." They had crossed the street at the request of white people to get out of the way; they had sipped from "colored only" water fountains. They knew about anti-lynching campaigns and lunch counter sit-ins. Mom sang in the choir with Fannie Lou Hamer.

They met, they fell in love, they got married, and they had me. Dad was in Morocco when I was born, so my Uncle Gus greeted me and my cousin who was born six days before me.

My first field trip was to Ruleville, Mississippi, where Mom lived with her mother for the first six months of my life. Her Uncle George, a tall thin man with wiry hair and skin the color of the delta clay, loved taking care of me! He rocked me to sleep, played with me in the basinet, and bounced me on his knee. Mom, deeply impacted by Dr. Spock about all things children, would send Uncle George to the grocery store to get more baby food--I was force fed peas, carrots, pears, and rice cereal every meal!

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Uncle George, like his 12 brothers, was a sharecropper who eventually prospered and bought his own land. I loved his beautiful ranch house painted red with white trim. He was a gregarious man who was active in the Civil Rights Movement. He went from farm to farm, registering people to vote. The KKK threatened him often, even shooting through the big glass picture window of his house.

He was one of my heroes and died three years ago. As a young person, when I had the chance to vote, I felt like his spirit was hovering. I get to vote, I thought, unlike Uncle George's parents, unlike him and his siblings when they were my age, because of the work he did. Because of the work that John Lewis and all of those people did in Selma, because of people who gave up their lives so I could. I get to vote because women and men worked so hard to make sure I could.

Uncle George understood the value of the vote, the way voting gave voice to the voiceless, and took huge risks to make it be so. I take voting very personally. It is my right and, not only that, I think of it as following the command to love. When the Rabbi Jesus was teaching, he was asked which commandment from God was the most important one. He said, "Love your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." By quoting Hebrew scripture, he reminded those gathered that scripture says to love the stranger 36 times. Love the stranger because you were once strangers. One of my favorite rabbis, Donniel Hartman, says loving the stranger means when the neighbor's cow wanders into your yard, you feed the cow until you can return the cow. Love of neighbor means stewarding the neighbor's stuff. Their cow, their property, their family, their lives.

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Voting is a way to use our voices to steward our neighbor's self-interest. Neither the candidate nor the office matter. What is on the ballot is clean air and water, food enough, clothing enough and shelter enough for folk to be safe. Schools in which to learn and grow and play--they are on the ballot. City streets described by the prophet Zechariah--clean and hospitable so that old folk and young folk can hang out in them--they are on the ballot. Health care is on the ballot; humanity is on the ballot.

What does your neighbor need? What do you need? That is all on the ballot. So, it is our turn to love God with all we have and love our neighbor as ourselves. It is our turn to think of voting as a holy act, as a mitzvoth, as a right and as a calling.

Friends, we need to vote like our lives depend on it, like our love depends on it.

Because, it does.
By Ann Friedman

Elena Ferrante and Kim Kardashian West live on the extreme ends of the privacy spectrum in the digital age. Ferrante, the Italian author of a series of novels about a lifelong friendship between women, has remained steadfastly pseudonymous even as her work has become globally popular. And Kardashian went from Paris Hilton's sidekick to a multi-platform celebrity thanks, in part, to her assiduous use of social media.

On Sunday, Ferrante's probably-true identity was revealed by the New York Review of Books, which obtained her publisher's financial records from an anonymous source. Then, hours later, masked gunmen broke into the Paris apartment where Kardashian was staying, bound and gagged her, and made off with her jewelry. The transgressions against the two women were two sides of the same coin -- and so were the snarky reactions on social media, many of which tacitly blamed each woman for what had happened to her. The writer Laura Snapes summarized the worst reactions: "Elena: so private she 'deserves' to get doxed. Kim: so public she 'deserves' to get robbed at gun point."

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In America, "a woman's right to privacy" is typically used as a shorthand for abortion rights because it's the legal underpinning of Roe v. Wade. It's the notion that the state cannot interfere with a woman's decisions about her own body. While I'd never argue that women's right to choose which aspects of our lives to reveal on Instagram is on par with our right to choose whether or not to be pregnant, it's worth exploring the bigger picture of privacy -- and how women are punished when they are perceived as revealing either too much or too little about themselves.

Even before the incidents this weekend, both Ferrante's aversion to the public eye and Kardashian's extreme openness were routinely dismissed as marketing gimmicks -- not authentic choices that each woman made according to her desires and goals. And we're all familiar with assaults against celebrities' privacy in the form of overly aggressive paparazzi and photo hacks.

But this isn't exclusively an issue for the rich and famous. In theory, women have more agency than ever when it comes to deciding how public we want to be. We can choose to post rarely and selectively on pseudonymous, locked accounts. We can choose to broadcast everything we do under our full name. We can try to have it both ways. (I have a public Twitter account I use during the work day and a private account I use if I've had more than two drinks.)

These are choices that we tend to muddle through on our own, depending on our professional field and personal values. But the outing of Ferrante and the reaction to Kardashian's attack only underscore how difficult these choices are for average women. Even if we'd truly like to document every moment of our day and every corner of our body, we fear that to do so would be to put ourselves at risk of threats and physical harm. Even if we'd like to never say a word publicly, we fear that we'd harm our professional prospects and social ties only for someone else to put us on blast, anyway. In theory, each woman decides how exposed she'd like to be on social media. In reality, it's not so simple.

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I hope that, even after this attack, Kardashian continues to use social media in a way that makes her happy. I hope the rest of us quit bothering Ferrante -- and everyone who, like her, doesn't want their private life made public. Ferrante has said she chose pseudonymity to guarantee her writing would remain "far from the demands of the media and the marketplace." She wanted to be known only for her books, and the New York Review of Books editors (and their hypocritically anonymous source) refused to let her make that choice. They said her outing was "inevitable." It wasn't.
St. Francis depicted in Giotto's 13th-Century painting Predica agli uccelli. Credits: christusrex.org.

Even the most optimistic among us would not dispute that our world is currently in a desperate state. From climate change to armed conflict, from pollution to widespread inequality, humanity suffers from innumerable afflictions. While some afflictions are more recent phenomena than others, how we cope with this suffering, and how we go about reducing the pain we inflict on ourselves and others, are dilemmas as old as humankind itself.



Today, on 4th October, the world's 1.2 billion Catholics are celebrating the life and legacy of a man who has inspired whole movements, lifestyles, films and countless books since his death: St. Francis of Assisi. Indeed, St. Francis is the "the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation" who provided the inspiration for the chosen name of the current pope.



Despite living 800 years ago, St. Francis - famed for his humble devotion to poverty, his harmony with nature and as a writer of prayers of sublime beauty - still has much to teach us, Catholics and non-Catholics, as we confront the complex challenges that currently face our society.



We face no greater challenge today than that posed by climate change. The vast majority of climate scientists tell us that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are trapping infrared heat before it escapes into space, leading to a dangerous increase in average temperatures on the Earth's surface and accompanying changes in the climate.



In concrete terms, this means sweltering record-high temperatures approaching those the likes of which we have not experienced in the last 11,700 years during which humankind has flourished. It means more frequent and intense heatwaves in regions from South Asia to the Middle East. It means deadly floods in Louisiana in the US in September and floods in France in June that caused one billion euros worth of damage. It means melting glaciers and heavy rains in Italy. It means an increased risk of forest fires in Brazil. No demographic group is spared from climate change, though of course it is the poor that suffer most.

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Paris floods in June after downpours linked to climate change. Credits: The Telegraph/Yannis Vlamos.



Humans are far from blameless in this, and we know it. The combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas is the main driver of this problem, as it emits greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Furthermore, widespread and unsustainable deforestation can cause immense damage not only to biodiversity and displaced indigenous communities but also to the forest's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide in vast quantities.



Contemplating this situation, it is no wonder that Pope Francis turned back to St. Francis of Assisi for inspiration when he wrote his June 2015 eco-Encyclical Laudato Si', the title of which, translated as "Praised be", is taken from the saint's hymn Canticle of the Creatures.



Like St. Francis's song of praise to Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Laudato Si' has since emboldened many others to take action: the Global Catholic Climate Movement, a coalition of 400 Catholic organizations, has led a Laudato Si' Week campaign as part of which thousands of people learnt more about the Encyclical's message and pledged to care for Our Common Home in concrete ways. Just today, religious institutions from different continents have pledged to take their investments out of the fossil fuel companies that continue to contribute to climate change.



The ecological crisis we face is so severe, however, that groups of individuals and organizations cannot resolve it alone. Through their policies and pledges, governments must create the conditions for effective climate and environmental action to flourish.



Progress is being made: at the end of September, several major emitters of greenhouse gases reaffirmed their will to be bound by the terms of last December's historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change by officially ratifying it. Despite worrying statements from countries like Poland who seem to have misunderstood the core messages of Laudato Si' and continue to invest heavily in coal, globally investment in renewables is rising and the outlook for coal is bleak. The complex nature of the challenge and the limitations of the Paris Agreement mean that much still remains to be done in other fora, however.

Celebrations last December in Paris as the gavel comes down on the Paris Agreement. Credits: Reuters/Stephane Mahe.



Before the end of the year, countries have several opportunities to prove they appreciate the full gravity of the situation. As I write, 191 governments are gathered at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly in Montreal in an attempt to curb greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. Given that the ICAO General Assembly only meets every three years, it is vital that countries reach an ambitious deal to ensure that, by 2020, carbon-neutral growth is achieved.



When they meet for COP22 in Morocco in November to discuss the finer details of the Paris Agreement, countries must similarly ensure they show the same spirit of ambition that was crucial to the success of Paris itself. Pope Francis was unequivocal about the importance of this next step in a recent seminar entitled "Laudato Si' and the Path to COP22" at which I and over 40 distinguished scholars and leaders from various sectors discussed these matters with His Holiness. As I have outlined in a paper submitted at that conference, all of us - from countries to individuals to the Catholic Church itself - have a role to play in contributing to a positive outcome at COP22.

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Pope Francis wears a GCCM #LiveLaudatoSi wristband at a recent seminar.
Before things get crazy, or not, with the melodramatically delayed Wikileaks dump on Hillary Clinton (Julian Assange supposedly feared for his safety in a London balcony speech at the Ecuadorean embassy, so now he addresses followers at the Wikileaks 10th anniversary party in Berlin by video link), one thing in this messy, largely substance-free excuse for a presidential race is crystalline in its clarity. Donald Trump continues to struggle with basic politics, thus giving a free ride to Hillary Clinton's struggle with geopolitics.

One of the cornerstones of the former secretary of state's geopolitical strategy, the Syrian civil war, is collapsing right now, even faster than the idea that Trump can get out of his way long enough to drive some points home.

The Assad regime is calling on the rebels holding their last urban territory to surrender before the onslaught truly begins.

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Iranian television highlights the progress of Syrian regime forces in retaking Aleppo, last urban stronghold of rebel forces.

While Trump struggles to fight the illegal pilfering of his tax information, showing he somehow managed to lose nearly a billion bucks one year and probably skipped paying taxes for many years, he hopes that an equally illegal pilfering, probably by Russian intelligence, of information about Hillary gives him a leg up in the race. That would be the race in which he still only trails by a handful of percentage points despite his week of mostly self-inflicted wounds.

But if Trump at all had his act together -- and hadn't already looked like a jock-sniffingly slavish fanboy of Russian President Vladimir Putin -- he could be making some real hay now out of one of Hillary's biggest mistakes, i.e., her attempts to push the US into the Syrian civil war.

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For, despite expensive efforts by the US and some Gulf Arab allies who have pressured Washington, the Assad regime is on the verge of taking Aleppo, which until its recent smashing by Russian air power had been the last urban stronghold for Syrian rebels.

Trump's preposterous social media offensive against a former Miss Universe went on for days after his losing but not entirely disastrous debate with Hillary Clinton.

If Syrian regime forces, which are joined on the battlefield by Iranian special forces as well as Shiite fighters from Iraq and Lebanon, take Aleppo, the civil war essentially shrinks into a rural insurgency. And Aleppo is about to fall, almost certainly before US-backed forces get very far along in their long awaited offensive to take Mosul back from Isis.

Of course, Hillary did foresee that Assad regime forces might effectively push back the rebels, especially with the active backing of Iran, Russia, and transnational Shiite forces. Which is why she has repeatedly called for the US to impose a no-fly zone over Syria.

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There is just one problem with Hillary's no-fly zone. It would probably trigger what could very quickly become a world war.

Since the governance of Syria, unlike, say, the maintenance of an open South China Sea, is hardly a core strategic interest of the United States, Hillary's Syria no-fly zone is, let's say, not a good idea. But it is of a piece with, as I discussed in July, the actions which explain why the Kremlin so dislikes the Clintons. Their moves to press Russia date back to NATO expansionism in the post-Cold War 1990s when the once-proud superpower was on its collective ass. Russians have long memories.

Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that the Syria no-fly zone advocated by Hillary Clinton would require war with Russia and Syria. "That's a pretty fundamental decision that certainly I'm not gonna make," the JCS chief noted sardonically.

As you can see above, the chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff, a tough Marine four-star, stated just the other day that Hillary's no-fly zone would mean war with Russia and Syria. Something he seemed notably unenthusiastic about.

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Ah, but what about humanitarianism? True, the Russians did urge civilians to leave Aleppo a month ago and guaranteed their safe passage through Syrian lines. But few took up the offer. Since then they have hit hospitals and seemed less than discriminating about making sure that other civilians aren't killed. But no one who watched Vladimir Putin pound Grozny can be surprised by this. And we did make the mistake of killing more than 60 Syrian troops after the now-dead ceasefire went into effect, giving ruthless folks the sort of hazy equivalence they like to cite in passing as they pursue their obvious strategic imperatives.

Yet the humanitarian issue persists, albeit in a slightly different way. The Syrian civil war has created a terrible refugee crisis that is politically destabilizing the actually kindly government of Germany -- whose Chancellor Angela Merkel's party has recently been smoked in elections in both her home base in East Germany and Berlin -- and much of Western Europe.

Russian TV plays up Angela Merkel's woes as the German chancellor's celebration of German Unity Day is disrupted by large numbers of anti-refugee protesters.

So the good news here is seemingly perverse. Because Barack Obama is not so foolhardy as to try to impose a no-fly zone against the Russian Air Force, and its state-of-the-art anti-aircraft system, already in place in Syria, we are likely going to lose our proxy war in Syria. Which should lessen the refugee crisis in Europe and confine its next stages to the theater in which it emerged.

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Which is another way of saying that the best solution to the Syrian refugee crisis has always been an end to the Syrian civil war. This is just a more embarrassing, to some, end than the always elusive victory which the regime change-pushing Clinton always sought.

Should we ever have gotten involved in the first place? Well, like most, I thrilled to the Arab Spring. But more than a year of watching daily on Al Jazeera (for which I was a part-time analyst) led to the conclusion that the situation with Assad was profoundly problematic.

He would not leave and I knew that Russia, for many reasons, and Iran, due to its struggle with the Sunni powers of Gulf Arab states, would go all out to prevent a victory for what was at best an amorphous, and infrequently jihadist, crew arrayed against him. The protest leaders in the great city squares that we fall in love with turn out not to be well suited to win elections (see Egypt) or fight civil wars (see Libya and Syria).

So there we are. Had Trump not fan-boyishly extolled Putin -- whom I encountered when I was trying to help Russian liberal reformers back when he was Boris Yeltsin's new intelligence chief and still ostensibly part of the big pro-democracy family -- as anything more than a ruthless, sophisticated professional with whom we can occasionally find common cause, he could make some big hay here at Hillary's expense.

But of course he is caught up in his own endless psychodrama, which has tragically gripped us all.

Now back to weaponized trivia ... Or not.
This year's 'Best of' goes to local
While insurance carriers continue to deliver satisfactory performance in underwriting and claims management, they are disappointing their independent agent partners in an increasingly important area: technology.The insights were gleaned from the Professional Insurance Agents 2016 Company Performance Survey, which asked more than 700 agents in in the Northeast to rate a total of 74 companies across 20 performance metrics. The survey is among the largest in the industry, and has been conducted since 2002.While technology is typically a poorly performing category for insurers, it hit new lows this year as the lowest-rated category in three of the four states surveyed. Out of a possible 10 points, agents gave carriers an average 7.1 in New Hampshire and Connecticut, 7.0 in New York and 6.7 in New Jersey.This compares with scores of 8.1 in underwriter knowledge and expertise, and 7.8 in consistent underwriting.From the findings of the survey, it appears that carriers are not embracing the newest technology, PIANY President John Parsons II said.These findings reflect the results of other agent surveys, in which producers continually give less than positive reviews to carriers on their technological offerings. An August report from Channel Harvest is particularly representative of industry feeling, in which nine out of 10 respondents said an insurance carriers technology is important, but only 70% rate their top carriers technological offerings as above average.Thats less enthusiastic sentiment than was expressed for a wide range of other carrier performance metrics, with agents expressing especial disappointment with real-time quoting and renewals, endorsement processing and claims download.Still, the 70% figure marks a degree of satisfaction among agents.That disconnect speaks to agents relaxed expectations of carriers and even a sub-par array of market options, said Channel Harvest Principal Peter van Aartrijk.Agents will have their favorite carriers  and love them, warts and all. In some ways, you can still be ranked as an overall so-so carrier in a number of areas, but in a basket of so-so or lousy carriers, you might not actually look that bad, van Aartrijk told Insurance Business America at the time. It sounds harsh, but I think agents will put up with a lot in exchange for a consistent market, decent prices and products, and okay service.Parsons noted the same feelings expressed in the PIA survey.Even as agents lament their carriers technology, national carriers score at the top in the technology categories, he said.Elsewhere in the survey, agents expressed satisfaction with underwriter knowledge and experience (8.1), consistent underwriting (7.8), prompt claims payment (7.8), honest and clear communication (7.4), and prompt claims payment (7.4).PIACT President Loretta Lesko said the results were somewhat intuitive, particularly relating to high underwriter rankings, as underwriters have the most interaction with agents.PIA also analyzed some 2,500 comments made from agents, with PIANH President John Obrey noting that agents continue to speak positively about their carriers.Of all comments provided by agents who took the survey, 54% focused on a companys strength.
It's critical to help clients make the most of the plans they have
The official who described detecting the hacker activity was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. It was unclear, the official said, whether the hackers were foreign or domestic, or what their motives might be. ABC News earlier reported that more than 20 states were targeted.

The FBI last month warned state officials of the need to improve their election security after hackers targeted systems in Illinois and Arizona. FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers this week that the agency is looking ``very, very hard'' at Russian hackers who may try to disrupt the U.S. election.

Last month, Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for president, suggested that he feared the general election ``is going to be rigged.''

The Homeland Security Department has stepped up its outreach to states and localities, but it is up to them to ask for help. So far, 19 states have expressed interest in a general ``cyber hygiene'' scan of key websites _ akin to ensuring that windows in a home are properly closed, according to another Homeland Security official directly involved in securing local elections who also was not authorized to speak publicly about ongoing efforts.

The FBI has detected a variety of ``scanning activities'' that are early indications of hacking, Comey told the House Judiciary Committee this week.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson spoke to state election officials by phone last month, encouraging them to implement existing technical recommendations to secure their election systems and ensure that electronic voting machines are not connected to the internet.

DHS is offering more comprehensive, on-site risk and vulnerability checks. Only four states have expressed interest in the assessment, and because the election is only weeks away, the department will likely only be able to conduct an assessment of one state before Election Day on Nov. 8, the official said.

Rep. Henry Johnson, D-Ga., introduced two bills earlier this month that would require voting systems be designated as critical infrastructure and limit purchases of new voting systems that don't provide paper ballots, among other measures. It's unlikely the bills will be passed before the election.

The Homeland Security Department is already considering designating voting systems as critical infrastructure in the future, though it is unlikely to happen before the election, the second official said.

A presidential directive released in 2013 details 16 sectors that are considered critical infrastructure, including energy, financial services, healthcare, transportation, food and agriculture, and communications. The designation places responsibilities on the Homeland Security secretary to identify and prioritize those sectors, considering physical and cyber threats. The secretary is also required to conduct security checks and provide information about emerging and imminent threats.



Canadian Press
Last Friday evening, 20-year-old Arcan Cetin grabbed his rifle, drove from his hometown of Oak Harbor, Washington to the nearby town of Burlington, entered the Macys store in the Cascade Mall and opened fire. By Saturday morning, five people were dead.This latest mass shooting is part of a disturbing trend in mass violence inflicted in the United States. From 2000 to 2013, the FBI measured 160 active-shooter incidents, defined as an individual or individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area. During the first seven years of the data set, 45 such events were recorded; that ballooned to 115 events during the last seven years.Around the outbreak of violence, an emerging insurance market has sprung up. With new active shooter products from mainstays in Europe to homegrown programs in the US, insurance agents already have a variety of options in an area some underwriters believe will become just as vital to the average commercial account as cyber or employer professional liability coverage.These policies are so new  most introduced just this year  that there is no industry standard coverage. However, most provide cover for active shooter incident services both before and after the loss. This can include liability, business interruption and coverage for counseling and crisis management services, among other features.Interest in the products is widespread, with inquiries pouring in from across the country and among all classes of business, says Paul Marshall, program manager for McGowan Program Administrators new Active Shooter Division. It especially surges after incidents of mass violence hit the headlines, such as Fridays Cascade Mall shooting.The Monday afterward we got a spike of agent submissions from that area and from malls in general. After an event like that, its just a guarantee, Marshall told Insurance Business America. The response has been overwhelming; were writing everything from $500 in premium on daycares to very large school systems. This isnt just one class or one area.Marshall believes the market response will only increase as mainline carriers begin specifically excluding active shooter and mass violence-related events from general liability policies. Some carriers have already begun to do so on specific policies, he says, instead offering nominal amounts of coverage through specialty brokers.Its very like cyber or EPLI in that way, he said. Unfortunately, theres no way we can stop this increase in attacks and I think well see this coverage evolve to become necessary for every one of an agents commercial accounts.It could even evolve to absorb standalone terrorism coverage, as policies in both areas cover many of the same risks.The market still needs about six months to reach full maturity, however, Marshall said. A bevy of exclusions, pricing concerns and a moving target in terms of risk now plague many in the space.Some marketplace exclusions include a threshhold or limit on the number of victims. Others exclude employees from coverage, while still more pay out only for defense expenses, not monetary damage.Even more are narrow in scope. McGowans program was originally written to cover firearm-based crimes only  a definition Marshall says is now six months old.The extreme variability should send a strong buyer beware signal to retail agencies, who would do well to double-check exclusions, clearly explain coverage to their clients and get their agreement in writing.It would also behoove agencies to appoint an active shooter specialist in the office, as several have done with cyber insurance, Marshall advised.
The advisory issued Thursday targets travel to Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Zika has been in some areas of Southeast Asia for years, and some residents may be immune. But a number of U.S. travellers have become infected there in the last year, so there is a danger to visitors.

Most infected people suffer a mild and temporary illness, at worst. But infection during pregnancy can causes severe brain-related birth defects. The virus is spread primarily by bites from infected mosquitoes.

The overseas travel warning comes as news of a locally-acquired Dengue fever infection has been reported in Miami. This is the second reported case in the state this year  the virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito  the same culprit that spreads Zika.

In extreme cases Dengue fever can kill although most cases result in a high fever, aches and rashes.

Miami-Dade authorities are now carrying out aggressive mosquito control operations to try to limit the spread of both diseases.



The Canadian Press
of 750 experts worldwide who have the somewhat dubious honor of contributing to the World Economic Forums annual Global Risk Report, you might expect John Scott, chief risk officer for Zurich Global Corporate, to be full of doom and gloom.If he is, it doesnt come across in his upbeat, affable demeanor. But Scott does spend a lot of time thinking about incidents that might spell the end of humanity.We are only several minutes into conversation when he says, Clearly a major pandemic of some sort could be the thing that wipes out the human race at some point. While that seems a distant possibility  indeed, the spread of infectious disease didnt make it into the Global Risks Reports top 10 in terms of likelihood this year  Scott follows up with a reminder not to be complacent.It is a fact that weve had pandemics  the last major one being swine flu. But fortunately, and this is difficult to say, it wasnt as virulent as it could have been, he says. Many, many people died, but it wasnt as virulent or as fatal as Ebola, and Ebola really caught peoples attention because the chance of dying is quite high. However, you do have to be very close to someone to catch it, which raises issues around urbanization. If outbreaks occur in the countryside, when they get to cities it will be very, very easy for them to spread. So global disease outbreak has been at the forefront of peoples minds because of Ebola.The interesting thing about the Global Risks Report is that the survey is based on perception. So while the global risks and trends dont change all that much from year to year, peoples perceptions are very much influenced by recent events.As a result, the top risk in terms of likelihood, and also the fourth in terms of impact, was large-scale involuntary migration. Significantly, societal risks (of which the spread of infectious diseases is also one) were four of the top risks in terms of impact and two in terms of likelihood in the 2016 report.In recent years, there has been more focus on geopolitical and societal risks and their links with social instability, leading to the concept of the disempowered citizen, Scott says. Think about the migration happening in Europe, and look around globally at the rise of nationalist and more extremist politicians who appeal to people who are disenfranchised, or disconnected with political and other elites.In the case of migration, he continues, some people look around and say, No, I dont want that in my street, calling into question the broader values of human rights, free trade and globalization. The trust between electorates and politicians is under severe strain.Scott references the annual Trust Barometer published by marketing and branding agency Edelman, concluding: Its pretty clear that people dont trust even the companies they work for, let alone politicians or governments. The disempowered citizen and social instability, driven by issues like geopolitical instability and leading to mass migration, is a big challenge.By their very nature, the truly global challenges that Scott considers are unwieldy and tested by a lack of effective global governance, with many elements regulated on a national level.But one thing the Global Risks Report does is create a framework in which all stakeholders can build a dialogue, and which brings companies, politicians and decision-makers together in discussion.How can you think about this in a strategic sense? How do the big issues about climate, cyber risk and geopolitics impact the business model? It might impact it many different ways, Scott says. Your customers needs may be changing, or your global footprint might change, or your product, if its created in different parts of the world, might be affected in terms of supply chain interruption, so we use tools like scenario planning to see how things play out. With supply chain resilience, we look at how you might be impacted. Or what do you do if all your assets in a country are expropriated due to political change? Companies need to think through all of these risks when looking at managing business models.And for Scott, this is where the insurance industry has great value to bring to society, because it knows how to price risk and also holds a lot of data about risks. So that means we can not only offer people the ability to transfer risks from their balance sheets to someone elses, sharing the risks of the few among the many, but also support and influence better management of risks. This is a very valuable social construct.Risk management expertise might extend to disaster mitigation, or building community resilience, or helping people in emerging economies who dont buy insurance protect themselves by building flood protection or having an evacuation plan, he points out.But it might also involve thinking about space weather or space debris, which is typically something brokers and their clients dont consider. If something crashes into a GPS satellite, Scott explains, it makes a difference to our world, because we rely on GPS not only for geolocation, but for the accurate time synchronization of computers.In that sense, having the knowledge that someone, somewhere is thinking through the most obvious and obscure doomsday scenarios that threaten mankind makes the world somehow feel like a more comfortable place.
Nationwide Creepy Clown Hoax Comes To The Berkshires

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The nationwide spree of reported sightings of menacing clowns has reached the Berkshires.

For months police departments across the country have been fielding calls reporting clowns making threats, chasing people, or luring children - most of which have been hoaxes. The reports have caused disruptions in schools, even prompting school closures and lockdowns on college campuses.

On Monday, Pittsfield Police received two calls reporting such instances. According to scanner reports, the first call claimed a clown was chasing a person on Tyler Street. Later, a second call reported clowns on Wahconah Street, possibly with weapons.

On Tuesday, Police said one of those calls was determined to be unfounded while officers were unable to locate the alleged clown in the other.

"We're monitoring the situation locally and nationally, but dont have anything further to provide at this time," Chief Michael Wynn wrote in an e-mail.

There were also rumors of sightings in other Berkshire towns Monday night as well, including North Adams and Adams. A dispatcher in Adams said there were no clown sightings, and that whatever alleged sightings have been circulating are just rumors.

An outbreak of such reports are nothing new and seemingly arise in various parts of the country every few years - the most recent rash of such reports in 2014.

In August of this year, a growing number of reports were being made, which fueled hysteria in many cities and towns and leading to many copycat callers. That trend has picked up steam and in September, found its way to Massachusetts.
North Adams Planners Approve Ramuntos



The Planning Board approved the permit for Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza Monday night. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  A Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza is planned to open in the former Appalachian Bean on Main Street.

The Planning Board granted Kenneth Buchanan a special permit Monday to operate a pizzeria at 67 Main St.

"We are looking to put a pizzeria in that space with a small, 14-seat bar," Buchanan said. "Beer, wine and delivery."

Buchanan said his hours will be 11 to 11 seven days a week and they are completely renovating the interior of the building.

"The inside is completely being renovated and we are talking right now about the store front just because everything needs to be updated," he said.

Ramuntos has locations throughout Vermont and New Hampshire and the North Adams location will mark their first business venture in Massachusetts.

Administrative Officer Michael Canales also addressed the Planning Board and answered questions about a solar ordinance discussed at a prior meeting.

The Planning Board recommended that the ordinance contained farmland protection, a restricted height of 12 feet, zoning restrictions, and a method of enforcement for sight lines.

Chairman Michael Leary said he had no issue with asking for three sight lines in a plan, however, noted that the recent Reservoir Road solar project did not follow the sight lines as presented.

"It is one thing to present to the board that this is what it is going to look like from the Mohawk Trail, which is what we specifically asked for," Leary said. "It showed very minimal impact and then I am hearing from people all over the place that it is obvious that it is up there."

The Planning Board asked that the Reservoir Road solar project affiliates come before the board to explain why they did not follow the plan.

Canales said he would create notes outlining these requests for the upcoming joint City Council and Planning Board public hearing scheduled for Oct. 25.

The Planning Board also granted a special permit to Kenneth and Kristi Cooper for a change of use of 33 Main St.

The Coopers plan to operate a photography/digital arts studio and retail sales space in the former Common Folk artists collective gallery and gathering space.

"We are looking to open up a photography and retail space. We also do digital arts," Kristi said. "The retail will be related items to photography. We also do put photos on slate and t-shirts."

The Planning Board also approved the application of Lindsay Cermak who requested a special permit to change of business owner to operate the veterinary hospital on the Curran Highway.

The former owner of the North County Veterinary Hospital John Reynolds stepped down and sold the business to employee Cermak.

The Planning Board approved new signage for UNIQ VAPE at 420 Curran Highway and limited the store to one outside flag to be taken down in the winter.

"I think four flags is excessive I understand you want visibility but you are asking for signage in every window," Leary said. "I dont know how people would be unable able to not see you."

Also, the Planning Board reviewed and approved sign proposals for Greylock Works and Bella Roma Pizza.
A photo from the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition of a 'Walking School Bus.' The three elementary schools will be holding a walk-to-school event on Wednesday

North Adams Elementary Pupils Set for Walk to School



Mass in Motion coordinator Amanda Chilson, right, poses with Safe Routes Statewide Coordinator Erin Reed and MassDOT Chief Strategy Officer Scott Bosworth at a State House event in June recognizing the efforts of Chilson and others.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The city's elementary school pupils are being encouraged to walk to school on Wednesday for International Walk to School Day.



Routes have been laid out for the three schools and parents are encouraged to join the "Walking School Bus" that will feature school and city officials, teachers, local "celebrities," and police officers.



"North Adams is a Safe Routes to School city, which is a federally funded initiative of MassDOT," Amanda Chilson, local coordinator for the state's Mass in Motion program, told the City Council recently, adding, "It's to increase biking and walking ... and it fosters mutual partnerships for elementary and middle school students."



The event's been successful in the past in encouraging children and parents to skip the bus and learn safe ways to get to school, Chilson said.



"We had over 100 including students, volunteers, local celebrities, if you will, and the food staff was kind enough to provide coffee for all the volunteers so we were able to sit with students in the cafeteria," she said of last year's walk at one of the schools. "These partners are what help to really to build this program and support within our school system."



The city was one of 12 communities in the state recognized for its Safe Routes to School program on June 29, when Chilson went to Boston to accept the award as Regional Safe Routes to School Superhero of the Year.



She has also been instrumental in moving forward the city's Complete Streets program, an initiative for developing pedestrian and bike ways in conjunction with motorways whenever possible.



"Amanda has been a champion of both initiatives and without her drive and passion, neither of these things would be happening in the city," Mayor Richard Alcombright wrote in his letter to the council.

"Amanda has been at the forefront of the 'Complete Streets' initiative working with city administration to be certain we have been trained, policy is written, a committee assigned and finally that things relevant to the initiative begin."

MassDOT instituted Safe Routes in 2000, one of only two in the nation at the time. Since then, more than 500 schools have partnered in the initiative. Nearly half of all children walked to school in 1969, according to the state, but only about 13 percent by 2009. At the same time, childhood obesity has increased.



Chilson said the state Department of Transportation provides technical assistance, such as different ways to promote walking, and education, and collaborate with local law enforcement.



"They really encourage the use of local law enforcement or safety officers to really partake in this Safe Routes to School," she said. "They also help with audits on how students are getting back and forth to school and in applying for partnerships."


Page Content



Montreal, 4 October 2016  ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu and European Union Director-General for Mobility and Transport Mr. Henrik Hololei signed a new Decision yesterday formalizing ICAO/EU enhanced cooperation in the fields of Air Traffic Management and Air Navigation Services (ATM/ANS).



The agreements objectives include greater regional cooperation, in particular within the ICAO European (EUR) region. Increased ICAO/EU collaboration will also be pursued to more effectively monitor and analyze State compliance with ICAO provisions, develop new ATM/ANS standards, co-develop targeted assistance projects, and aid the ongoing implementation of ICAOs Global Air Navigation Plan.



The Decision to adopt a new ATM/ANS Annex entered into force upon its signing and serves as a third Annex within the framework of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) originally signed by the EU and ICAO in Montreal on 28 April 2011, and in Brussels on 4 May 2011.
Edward Price Non-Resident Senior Fellow NYU Center for Global Affairs Contact email

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Edward Price, a former British economic official, teaches international political economy, financial systems and international relations at NYUas Center for Global Affairs. He is also an economic advisor for BritishAmerican Business (BAB). Educated at the London School of Economics (LSE), Edward holds an MSc in Finance and Economic Policy and an MA in German History. He has worked in both the British and European parliaments, was Americas editor at IFLR and has worked in the City of London. He speaks German, gets by in Italian and is a member of the Economic Club of New York (ECNY).
Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI), Hondas automobile business unit in the Philippines, proudly announces its sales performance for the month of August 2016. HCPIs Year-To-Date (YTD) sales grew by 19% from January to August with a total of 14,496 vehicle sales, compared to the same period in 2015 with 12,167 vehicles sold. The reported sales increase is attributed to the brands main contributors, particularly the New City and the New Mobilio.

The New City remains as the best-selling model among HCPIs fourteen (14) vehicle line-up with a remarkable 41 percent share in HCPIs year-to-date sales. It also advances its segment for leading the 1.5-liter sedan category. HCPI strives to increase its City sales by introducing a new Limited Edition Variant for its only locally produced vehicle. The New City 1.5 E Limited Edition Variant is equipped with exclusive Daytime Running Lights (DRL), Door Visors, speed-sensing Auto Door Lock, key fob with Panic Button, and a Limited Edition emblem.

Furthermore, HCPI takes pride in the New Mobilio for contributing a significant 24 percent in HCPIs year-to-date sales, and is now HCPIs second best-selling model. Since its introduction in the Philippine market last year, the New Mobilio already leads the 1.5-liter Multipurpose Utility Vehicle (MUV) segment with 127% sales ahead of its main competitor.

HCPI continues to serve the market by constantly developing and providing more high-quality vehicles. During the 6th Philippine International Motor Show, HCPI launched its newest 7-seater SUV, the All-New BR-V. The All-New BR-Vs spacious 7-seating capacity, masculine exterior design, conveniently-sized body, advanced features, and top-notch safety technology will surely delight the Filipino family looking for a fully-packed but affordable SUV.

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Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District Takes Health and Wellness Screenings to Local Students

Imperial, California - In an effort to improve the quality of life for Imperial Valley College students, Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District, an affiliate of the Scripps Health Network will be offering a range of complimentary-free health screenings during their FALL 2016 Student Health and Wellness Fair on Tuesday, October 4. Scheduled activities include free flu vaccines, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings; blood-glucose tests to test for diabetes; and nutritional consultations. All consultations and screenings will be conducted under the oversight of a Pioneers professional health care provider.

Pioneers Memorial Healthcare Districts participation in the FALL 2016 Student Health and Wellness Fair is a coordinated effort with Imperial Valley College and other local County Health Agencies and providers to help improve the quality of life of Imperial Valley students. Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District is committed to helping improve the health of the community college and currently operates the Imperial Valley College Student Health Center and provides basic health service such as first aid and care for minor illnesses to students. The services also include health education and nutritional programs.
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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Friday saw the release of a Netflix documentary charting the story of Amanda Knox, the woman wrongly convicted alongside then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

Kercher was found murdered in her apartment in Perugia, Italy and what followed was a media frenzy surrounding Knox.

Directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn use plenty of archive footage in their documentary, and one such moment shows Donald Trump call for Barack Obama to boycott Italy over the Italian police force's wrongful imprisonment of US citizen Knox.

The Republican presidential nominee spoke these words in 2010 when asked by former KOMO-TV host Kathi Goertzen: "You really believe that Americans should intervene at the top levels of our government?"

What's interesting to note is that Secretary of State at that time was none other than his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

You can watch the filmmakers discuss the documentary below.



Amanda Knox is available to watch on Netflix now.
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A controversial documentary about Anne Frank and the Holocaust has been given a clandestine screening in Gaza.

Holocaust denial is rife among the Hamas leaders who rule the self-governing Palestinian territory and much of the films footage was shot there during its war with Israel two years ago.

Tight security was called in for the scheduled showing of Anne Frank: Then and Now last Thursday, which was moved to a new location last minute due to safety reasons and out of fear that those organising it would face accusations and judgement. Just 42 people knew the time and place.

Hamas officials have branded the Holocaust the big lie despite the equally powerful President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority describing it as the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era. As such, it was deemed too dangerous for Croatian director Jakov Sedler to attend the screening, Deadline reports.



The documentary, also shown in secret in Iran a month ago, follows the lives of eight Palestinian girls and two Israelis as they audition to play the role of young Jewish World War II diarist Anne Frank.

Many people living in the Arab world are Holocaust deniers, but Sedlar hoped to change their opinions by bringing Franks story to them in Arabic with English subtitles. The 2014 war broke out during shooting, making the resulting film all the more hard-hitting and powerfully ironic.
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For the last month, Gorillaz social media threads have been filled with nostalgic images from throughout their career, celebrating the virtual bands four albums.

However, seemingly out of the blue, phase four of the bands career kicked off with the release of The Book of Noodle, detailing what happened to Noddle after the release of 2010s Plastic Beach.

According to the book, days after the attack on Plastic Beach, Noodle awoke in a strange Japanese fishing village where she was nursed back to health by a pearl diver, soon becoming an apprentice diver.

Unfortunately, on one dive, Noodle managed to wake up an ancient hell demon who was ready to party like its 1499.

Noodle then embarked on a mission to destroy the shapeshifting demon named Maazu, but finding a shapeshifter is like looking for a beard at an Arcade Fire concert. Finally, she tracks it down to Tokyos criminal underworld.

While there, Noodle disguised herself as a Geisha in order to get close to Maazu, getting close enough to lop off its head, his earthly existence over. And the carpet was ruined.

To escape the demons bodyguards, Noodle then FedExs herself to West London to fellow band member Murdocs house.

Earlier this year, the first footage of Damon Albarn back in the studio emerged online via Jamie Hewletts Instagram account, with snippets of new info hitting the internet ever since.

Speaking about album number five previously, Albarn said the new record would be really fast, adding it's got quite a lot of energy.

In his last update on the upcoming record, Hewlett described how he was 'shutting himself away' to work on the band's next steps. Im working on it at the moment, and its going very well. Im very excited. I dont want to say too much about it, but Im at that phase of experimentation.

According to Hewlett, the record will be out in 2017, with the collaborators not wanting to rush the recording process because its sound really f*cking special.

Music festivals guide 2016 Show all 20 1 /20 Music festivals guide 2016 Music festivals guide 2016 Horizon Where: Bansko Ski Resort, Bulgaria When: 12-17 March Price: From 175 Line Up: Ame, Goldie, Nina Kraviz, John Talabot, Lady Leshurr, Craig Charles Music festivals guide 2016 Live At Leeds Where: Leeds, UK When: 30 April Price: 32.50 Line Up: Jess Glynne, Circa Waves, Mystery Jets, Band of Skulls, We Are Scientists Music festivals guide 2016 Primavera Sound Where: Barcelona, Spain When: 1-5 June Price: 175 Line Up: Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Sigur Ros, PJ Harvey, Tame Impala, Beach House, Suede, The Last Shadow Puppets Primavera Music festivals guide 2016 Best Kept Secret Where: Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands When: 17-19 June Price: 147.50 Line Up: Beck, Editors, Two Door Cinema Club, Beach House, Bloc Party, Caribou, Half Moon Run Best Kept Secret Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Glastonbury Where: Worthy Farm, Somerset When: 22-26 June Price: 220 Line Up: Coldplay, Muse, Jeff Lynnes ELO, PJ Harvey, Jess Glynne (TBC) Music festivals guide 2016 Roskilde Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 25 June-2 July Price: 2,020 DKK Line Up: LCD Soundsystem, New Order, PJ Harvey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foals, Tame Impala, Savages, Skepta, Tenacious D Simon Frsig Christensen / Roskilde Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Hideout Festival Where: Zrce Beach, Croatia When: 26-30 June Price: From 152.90 Line Up: The Martinez Brothers, Joris Voorn, Waze & Odyssey Hideout Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Bilbao BBK Where: Bilbao, Spain When: 7-9 July Price: From 69 Line Up: Arcade Fire, Pixies, Tame Impala, Foals, New Order, Hot Chip, Father John Misty, Years & Years, Wolf Alice Music festivals guide 2016 Open'er Where: Gdynia, Poland When: 29 July-2 August Price: From 130 Line Up: Bastille, Florence + the Machine, Foals, LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The 1975, The Last Shadow Puppets, Wiz Khalifa Open'er Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Electric Love Where: Plainfeld, Austria When: 7-9 July Price: 119 Line Up: Alesso, Zedd, Tiesto, Chase & Status, Steve Aoki, Knife Party Music festivals guide 2016 Melt! Where: Ferropolis, Germany When: 15-17 July Price: From 136 Line Up: Two Door Cinema Club, Disclosure, Jamie xx, Sleaford Mods, Skepta, Jamie Woon Music festivals guide 2016 Sziget Where: Budapest, Hungary When: 10-17 August Price: From 215 Line Up: Bastille, Bloc Party, M83, Sigur Ros, Bring Me the Horizon Music festivals guide 2016 Flow Where: Helsinki, Finland When: 12-14 August Price: 165 Line Up: Sia, New Order, The Last Shadow Puppets, Jamie xx, M83, Chvrches, Four Tet, Stormzy, Daughter, The Kills Flow Festival / Jussi Hellsten Music festivals guide 2016 Rock En Seine Where: Paris, France When: 26-28 August Price: From 119 Line Up: TBC Music festivals guide 2016 Oasis Where: Marrakech, Morocco When: 16-18 September Price: From 110 Line Up: Bicep, Derrick May, Tale of Us, Dixon, Dusky, Hunee Music festivals guide 2016 Latitude Where: Henham Park, Suffolk When: 14-17 July Price: 205.50 Line Up: The Maccabees, The National, New Order, John Grant, Beirut, Father John Misty, Chvrches, Grimes Music festivals guide 2016 Bestival Where: Robin Hill, Isle of Wight When: 8-11 September Price: 190 Line Up: The Cure, Major Lazer, Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim, Craig David, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Tourist, Katy B Music festivals guide 2016 Isle of Wight Where: Newport, Isle of Wight When: 9-12 June Price: From 186 Line Up: Queen + Adam Lambert, Stereophonics, Faithless, Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, Buzzcocks, Sigma, Jess Glynne Music festivals guide 2016 Citadel Where: Victoria Park, London When: 17 July Price: From 54 Line Up: Sigur Ros, Caribou, Lianne La Havas, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Music festivals guide 2016 End of the Road Where: Larmer Tree Gardens When: 2-4 September Price: 195 Line Up: Joanna Newsom, The Shins, Animal Collective, Bat for Lashes, Teenage Fanclub, Devendra Banhart, Savages, Cat's Eyes Sonny Malhotra

Gorillaz last release was "Do Ya Thing" in collaboration with James Murphy and Andre 3000.
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Google has unveiled its Pixel, a new phone that's meant to be a robot assistant for your whole life.

The first phone designed by Google on the inside and outside looks almost exactly the same as most other recent handsets  a silver and white rounded square, made of metal and glass. But the company hopes that it can stand apart by baking in its Assistant to the heart of the phone.

Google's Assistant works akin to Siri  it is opened by pressing a button and then talking to it. But it calls on all of the information that Google stores, and the compny claims that it is fast to understand what people are looking for and even faster to show them what they need.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The Assistant can show any information that people need. For instance, it can look at what's on screen when someone asks "How far to this restaurant?", and then call on Google's voice and picture recognition technology, as well as information from places like Google Maps, to show the answer to a user's question.

The company said that the phone calls on five different parts of Google's technology. That includes the Assistant, but also photography tools, storage options, communication apps and its entire suite of virtual reality technologies.

Google built the phone specifically for VR, it said, including adding sensors and other features. And it also released a new headset called Daydream View, the first headset ready for its Daydream platform that is meant to be more comfortable and customisable than other headsets.

The hardware does have some innovations, however. The new phone includes features like quick battery charging, which allows the phone to be charged up a substantial amount in just 15 minutes.

Not all of the features are new: the company has included the headphone jack, rather than dropping it like Apple. The company mocked its rival in ad during the event, joking that the 3.5mm headphone jack was the only thing not new in the phone.

The phone's camera is the best ever made, according to an industry watchdog consulted by Google.

The camera overlaps with the kind of internet services that Google offers. For instance, the phone comes with unlimited full-size storage on Google Photos.

Google's phone also automatically updates itself to the new operating system, as soon as it is released. That is significant for Android, since it can often be a long time until updates arrive on any specific phone  leaving them open to security issues and without new features.

If people do want to upgrade to the new phone, Google has built a new switching tool. That includes a special plug that attaches both phones, and software that allows it to pull everything like texts and settings across from the old phone to the new one.

In the US, the phone will be sold exclusively on Verizon, though it will be available unlocked too. It will be partnering with other providers around the world.

It is available for pre-order in the US, Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK today.
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Yahoo has been accused of secretly building a customised software programme to search all of its customers incoming emails for specific information provided by US intelligence officials.

A report on Tuesday said that according to people familiar with the with the matter, the company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI.

Reuters said that a number of surveillance experts said this represented the first case to surface of a US Internet company agreeing to a spy agencys demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

The news agency said it was not clear what information the US intelligence officials were searching for. But they wanted Yahoo to look for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment.

The agency also said it was unable to determine what data the company had handed over, and if the intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo.

According to two former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's decision to obey the directive angered some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook.

Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States, the company said in a brief statement. Mr Stamos declined to comment, as did the NSA.

The demand to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified directive sent to the companys legal team.

US phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies. But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad directive for real-time Web collection or one that required the creation of a new computer program.

Ive never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a selector, said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and Internet companies on surveillance. A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information.

He added: It would be really difficult for a provider to do that.


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Women taking the pill have an increased risk of developing depression, a study has found, with teenagers facing an increased risk of 80 per cent.

The research by Danish academics found that the most popular type of pill, the combined oral contraceptive, increased the risks of a woman aged between 20 and 34 also being prescribed antidepressants by 23 per cent. Users prescribed the progestin-only pill  or mini-pill  had an increased risk of 34 per cent.

But among girls aged 15 to 19 the risk of depression while on the combined pill rose by 80 per cent  and by 120 per cent for those on the progestin-only pill.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen analysed the medical records of one million Danish women between the ages of 15 and 34 over six years and found that over 133,000 of them were prescribed anti-depressants and 23,000 more were diagnosed with depression.

All of the women and girls involved in the study had no previous history of depression before being prescribed the pill.

Dr Ojvind Lidegaard, the lead researcher for the study published in the JAMA Psychiatry journal, said: "Further studies are warranted to examine depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use."

The scientists said they believe progesterone, the key ingredient in most pills which occurs naturally in the body, may be linked to the development of depression but the study did not aim to prove that the Pill caused depression.

But researchers concluded that the link required further study as the results suggested depression was a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use".

Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Show all 10 1 /10 Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 30 per cent of people deal with anxiety by talking to a friend or relative, or by going for a walk. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Almost one in five people feel anxious all or a lot of the time. PA Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 22 per cent of women feel anxious a lot or all of the time, compared to 15 per cent of men. Roman Levin/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 45 per cent of people who feel anxious in everyday life cite financial issues as their biggest cause of worry. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report And 26 per cent of people who feel anxious say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with worry. And 26 per cent of people say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with anxiety. Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 27 per cent of people who suffer from anxiety say work issues, such as long hours, are the source of the problem. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report But 16 per cent use alcohol to cope, while 10 per cent turn to cigarettes in the face of anxiety. Unemployed people are more likely to resort to these harmful strategies: 27 per cent use alcohol and 23 per cent use cigarettes. AFP/Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Only seven per cent of people who say they suffer from anxiety seek help from their GP. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report People are thought to be more anxious than they were five years ago. Alessandra/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report The stresses of modern life are thought to have created "The Age of Anxiety". Getty

Leading womens health and family planning charity Marie Stopes welcomed the research, saying it would give women more of an informed choice about contraception and help them weigh up all their reproductive choices.

Policy director, Genevieve Edwards, told The Independent that more work should be done to identify the risks associated with hormonal contraceptives so a woman does not come off them without her doctor's knowledge and fall pregnant.

This study does not show that the pill or other hormonal contraceptives play any role in causing depression, however we know that hormones can influence mood and behaviour and we will be closely monitoring any further research into a potential link.

Its important to say that we know many women use the contraceptive pill without any problems and the last thing we would want is for anyone to put themselves at risk of an unplanned pregnancy by suddenly coming off the pill without talking to their doctor about alternative birth control.

Recommended Read more Childhood unhappiness levels among British girls soaring

There are more methods of preventing pregnancy than ever before and if one method does not suit a womans lifestyle or stage of life its important that they have the chance to talk through the alternatives with a health professional.

Minds Head of Information, Stephen Buckley, said that depression can be a side effect of many different medicines and said it was important to speak to your doctor as soon as possible to discuss what alternative medication might be available.

He said: Before starting any kind of hormonal contraception, including the contraceptive pill, its important to have an open and honest conversation about your mental health with your GP, to discuss the impact hormonal contraceptives might have, what other forms of contraceptives are available, and the pros and cons of the different types.

If you do decide that the contraceptive pill or other hormonal contraceptive is the best method for you, we would also suggest that you keep a mood diary, and to let your GP know should your mood change unexpectedly.
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A student nurses post exposing the brutal realities of the nursing profession has gone viral, after they described being soul destroyed by exhausting work on low pay.

The nurse, who lives in Ireland and is a single parent, submitted their experience to the Facebook page Support for Nurses, Midwives and Frontline Staff in Ireland. They describe how they feel on the brink of giving up in the brutally honest insight to life for nurses.

The post has since gone viral, garnering more than 7,000 likes and prompting expressions of sympathy and support from around the world.

(

In a particularly poignant moment, they describe their struggle to hide their tears from their daughter after a difficult day at work: I am crying now even writing this. So many times she has to see me in this state. I have just had enough.

The nurse explains: Words cannot express how miserable I was today and have been on so many occasions in the past. If anyone asked me advice on pursuing a career in nursing I would strongly advise against it. It is by far the worst decision I have ever madeI can barely feed my daughter and I cannot pay my car tax/ insurance, my electricity, I often stay freezing cold in the winter because I cant afford to put the heating on.

The full post says: Today, yet again like so many other times, I have broken down crying wondering why the hell I bothered pursuing a degree in nursing. I am a fourth year Mental Health nurse student on my last supernumerary placement.

This morning I woke up ill, with a sore throat, blocked sinuses, a headache and to top it off I have vertigo. I contemplated phoning in sick but thought the day hospital are already short of staff and over worked. They need me.

 NHS is a 'system in crisis'

Off I drove, rushing to try get my daughter to school (I am a lone parent) in a car I cant afford, wondering how I am going to pay for petrol as I am already nearly out, AGAIN. Also worrying about how I am going to pay for food for the rest of the week as I only have 25 and need to buy petrol.

When I got into work I received a phone call from the only other nurse due in that day to tell me she was sick with a fever. I had only been placed in the day hospital 3 days previous and was told that day I would be left with full responsibility of approximately 20+ patients suffering from various mental health issues.

Some are acutely ill. I had very minimal knowledge and how to manage the place, in fact nearly no knowledge and I feel that amount of responsibility should not be left with a student who has never been in a day hospital.

I was to call all the clients to let them know their groups had been cancelled due to staff shortage. I find this to be so unfair to the clients as the care given to them in the day hospital is extremely important in aiding their recovery. The great work the nurses do here is so important to these people.

 Jeremy Hunt on NHS mortality rates

I never got to breakfast, have a proper lunch or wee as much as I needed to. I managed to stuff a few crackers (theyre all I can ever afford) in my mouth between phone calls which consisted mainly of trying to support people who wanted to self-harm, people who were in distress, people who needed adequate support and care from more than one student nurse who couldnt cope with running a day hospital on her own sick, tired, hungry and needing the loo. I felt faint at one stage.

Words cannot express how miserable I was today and have been on so many occasions in the past. If anyone asked me advice on pursuing a career in nursing I would strongly advise against it. It is by far the worst decision I ever made. The HSE is shockingly understaffed and over worked.

It really hurts to know that bus drivers spend 4-6 weeks training and get paid more than a nurse after doing a gruelling 4 year degree. We are so unbelievably undervalued and we find it difficult to strike in numbers because people may actually die if we do strike as we are so short of staff. Who the hell else is going to look after the dying patients if we strike????

I did not get paid a penny for the work I did today as I am not even in my internship. Zilch. Even when I finally qualify I get paid buttons for the work I do, just like all the other nurses when they qualify.

I can barely feed my daughter and I cannot pay my car tax/insurance, my electricity, I often stay freezing cold in the winter because I cant afford to put the heating on. I dont buy myself any clothes, my socks are full of holes (no joke), I have a non-existent social life because I simply cant afford to go anywhere (no exaggeration).

I am due to pay 270 for my daughters school books and I dont bloody have it! I dont get proper sleep every night because I am so anxious about money and work and so pissed off about my not so promising career choice.

I am depressed, run down and so bloody angry right now. I cried the whole way home in the car today that I could barely see the road. My daughter shouldnt have had to comfort me when I walked in the door from work crying my eyes out, it should be me comforting her in times of need. She made me tea and wrote on the cup with chalk It will be okay, I love you. I am crying now even writing this. So many times she has had to see me in this state. I have just had enough.

And whats worse?

When I qualify I will still be struggling and getting paid f*** all! Its not fair that the only option that will see me and my daughter have the quality of life we are entitled to and deserve, is to leave my own bloody country. It makes no sense whatsoever. It makes my blood boil.

If I stay here my own mental health will be effected and I wont be available to look after anyone elses mental health. If I go I must leave my family, my friends and my home, my culture and take my daughter away from her school, her friends, her life and the things she loves. I am at the end of my tether. I am broken, defeated, deflated and soul destroyed. I am a former shadow of my happy, bright eyed, social self. I am lost.

How are we as nurses expected to look after others if we cannot look after ourselves? Why does the government not care about us? Why are we so undervalued?"

The open letter is then signed: "From a really wore out student nurse on the brink of giving up.
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A woman who lost 12 embryos after a major power failure at a fertility clinic says she feels a huge amount of loss.

A state-wide blackout which hit Adelaide, Australia, in late September cut the power to Flinders Fertility clinic. The embryos of twelve families were lost after the facilitys back-up generators failed.

Jo Posgate, 45, from Murray Bridge, South Australia, was among the patients affected. Ms Posgate, who has polycystic ovaries which can impact fertility, thought she had a good chance at becoming pregnant after 12 of her eggs were retrieved.

'Then we got a call on Thursday morning to say they had died due to the power outage, she told Daily Mail Australia of the blackout which lasted a few minutes.

My first feeling was disbelief that it could happen in a hospital," she told 7 News.

There's a big part of us that's in grief, she said. We feel such a huge amount of loss. We've cried so much over the past few days.

But Ms Posgate was able to make another bid at having a child as she had two embryos frozen separately which were not affected by the power cut.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

Doctors implanted the pair of embryos on 3 October, and Ms Postgate and her partner Michelle, 47, soon hope to have two little babies on board.

Ms Posgate will discover whether the implantation has been successful on 19 October.

Waves crash into the Brighton Jetty on September 29 in Adelaide, Australia. South Australia was plunged into darkness overnight, as the state suffered a complete blackout, following a severe storm. (Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

She had previously spent $90,000 AUS to have her son Joel.

Stefan Moro, the chief executive of the Flinders Fertility centre said following the outage: This is a devastating situation for our patients, and very distressing for our staff.

Ms Pogate spent $90,000 AUS to become pregnant with her son Joel (7 News)

Despite every effort by our scientists, the embryos are no longer viable, he said.

He added that patients were contacted directly, and have been offered individual support and counselling.

Families who want to undergo the procedure once again will not be charged.
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At 13-years-old, Sean Saifa Wall was admitted to hospital with pain in his groin. He says that he was given very little information about what might be causing it, and doctors didnt discuss different options for treatment with him. He was told that his testes had to be removed immediately.

I remember before surgery I asked the nurse what was going on, and [she] was saying that I have these gonads that need to be removed. Im 13  I dont know what gonads are. The nurse told Saifa that it was because theyre not good. To Saifa it sounded logical: If its not good and its in my body, it probably should be taken out.

But today he still doesnt know what, if anything, was dangerous about keeping his testes or what was causing the pain. Not too long after the surgery, he remembers one conversation in particular: The surgeon was talking about how he wanted to create a vagina. The way he described it it sounded barbaric. Saifa says, recalling that he was sat in the surgeons room in horror. My mum was to my right and I was probably turning green, and [she] looked at me and said, Do you want to go through with this? 

Saifa immediately said no. I remember the surgeon was saying, Were going to shave down the clitoris. And I was like, this all sounds painful and horrible. I think, in that second, that one moment, that was what spared me from genital surgery.

As a child growing up between New York and North Carolina in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Saifa was at the cusp of a change in thinking about the medical management of intersex conditions in the US. He is one of seven living relatives with the same intersex condition. Three of these relatives identify as female, having undergone surgeries in childhood to remove their testes.

That was the protocol of the time,  Saifa says. As it became an option to leave the testes in the body, Saifas mother decided that he should not have them removed before puberty. I guess sometimes the more information people have, theyre inclined to make different decisions,  Saifa says.

He has androgen-insensitivity syndrome (AIS), thought to affect between one and five in every 100, 000 people. He has XY (typically male) chromosomes, but the receptors in his body that respond to male sex hormones dont work fully. Saifas body developed with some male characteristics, such as testes in his abdomen. He also developed some female characteristics, including breasts, when he was eight years old.

Even though there are a number of people with AIS in Saifas family, he says that they are not able to talk about their shared experiences together: the shame and stigma even reaches into family circles. You would think that there would be support [in the family], that we would be able to talk about it. But I think it shows that a lot of the thinking at the time prior to my generation was that this was something not to be shared. So there was this vow of silence with anyone else outside of you and your doctor.

Saifa is the only member of his family to be open and talk about his condition. Now he works as part of a global network of intersex activists to promote a healthy image of the intersex body and campaign against surgeries that arent medically necessary. Intersex bodies are beautiful, he says. People should have the right to choose, to bodily autonomy, to reproductive integrity. But the immediate work to be done is to educate people on what it means to be intersex. Thats where were starting.

Saifa chooses to use the term intersex, rather than differences in sex development (DSDs), to own the traits he was born with. Others prefer to say DSD rather than intersex. Estimates for the number of people affected vary. The Intersex Society of North America says between 1 in 1, 500 and 1 in 2, 000 babies are born with such atypical genitalia that a specialist is called in, but adds that many more people are born with less obvious variations that might not appear until later life.

DSDs encompass a wide range of conditions that can involve a persons genes, combinations of chromosomes, hormones, genitals and reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics such as body hair distribution, muscle mass and breast tissue. DSD was previously known as hermaphroditism, a term now considered outmoded and offensive.

Some DSDs are extremely rare, others much less so. Some are life-threatening and others cause no medical problems. Some conditions give a person sex traits that are typically male as well as some that are female. Sometimes these traits cant be easily classified and might appear ambiguous or in between. Some people with a DSD may have no ambiguity but just a slight difference in appearance or bodily function. For many people born with a DSD, the binary system of male and female just doesnt cover it.

The second half of the 20th Century is littered with stories of children having surgery done to them just so their bodies conform with expectations of what female and male genitals ought to look like. Surgeries done without full consent, either because someone is too young to understand or because doctors dont disclose enough information, are sometimes acknowledged decades later in the painful process of dragging a case through the courts.

Last year in Germany, Michaela Raab sued doctors for removing what they called an oversized clitoris and initiating female hormone therapy without mentioning to her that she had XY chromosomes. Raab said this information would have affected her decision of whether to go ahead with surgery and hormone therapies, and the court found in her favour. But things are changing, slowly.

It all started in the 1990s when intersex activists, who were former patients, started to come out to say, Whats been done to us is really not OK. I feel ashamed and I shouldnt feel ashamed, says Nina Callens, a clinical psychologist specialising in DSD at Ghent University. The medical community responded by publishing a statement in 2006, known as the Chicago consensus. Some medical practitioners used this to set a standard of care for people with these conditions.

Callens says that good practice includes avoiding medically unnecessary surgery, working in multidisciplinary teams, and providing psychological support for and encouraging more discussions about these conditions with patients and families.

If a child is thought to have a DSD, the first step is that the family is referred to a centre with expertise in that area. What typically happens is they run tests, but the test results dont usually come back in a few weeks,  Callens says. The period of limbo can last for a long time. The sad part, she says, is that for more than half the children with a DSD who have XY chromosomes, a genetic cause  often required for a firm diagnosis  will never be found.

A lack of knowledge around DSDs as well as the associated taboo and secrecy makes talking openly about the conditions a hugely important part of treatment. There are a number of concerns that we have to help [families and people with DSDs] deal with. That takes an awful lot of listening,  Callens says.

The Chicago consensus, while perhaps a list of good intentions, does not seem to have percolated down to frontline care in many cases. The lack of psychological support for parents of children with DSDs is particularly stark when considered alongside the recommendations outlined in the 10-year-old consensus document.

I think the medical side of things is phenomenal, but the emotional, psychological side of things is rubbish,  says Natalie*, a mother of a child with a DSD in England. Even at the larger, specialist hospital Natalie went to, she felt that she and her husband did not receive anywhere near the level of support they needed to copy with a baby with a DSD.

It was a textbook pregnancy to start with, Natalie explains. Seven months into their third pregnancy, she and her husband decided to find out the sex of the baby. We went for the scan, very excited, and I could see  having had lots of previous scans  that the sonographer could see the babys genital area. What I couldnt work out was what she was looking at. 

After several consultations, a geneticist explained to Natalie all the reasons that they were aware of for the ambiguity that the sonographer had found and some of the possible conditions the baby could have. We were left a bit bewildered about that because obviously they were all of the things that could happen to our baby, not what would actually happen to our baby. 

Doctors ability to diagnose DSDs and perform genetic testing is advancing rapidly, but the emotional management of the conditions hasnt received the same focus or investment. Natalie faced avoidable problems. Despite all the information on Natalies childs condition in her medical notes, which she reminded various health professionals to read, they struggled to find ways to talk about her baby. Even the hospitals birth database wouldnt accept an entry unless the child was assigned female or male  which hadnt yet been done for Natalies baby.

With an overload of scientific information but a lack of helpful psychological support, Natalies main concern was whether she would bond with her baby. Sex and gender isnt important until there isnt one, she says. But when her child was born blue and floppy, Natalie knew straight away that it didnt matter at all. I just wanted him to breathe  and he breathed, and it was fine.

Natalies son was born with XY chromosomes, an underdeveloped uterus, a half-formed streak ovary (with a fallopian tube) on one side and an ovotestis (made up of both ovarian and testicular tissue) on the other. He also had hypospadias, where the opening that is usually at the tip of the penis is found on the underside. Its a common DSD affecting between 1 in 200 and 1 in 300 boys.

At eight days old, Oscar was assigned male. Natalie was told that his reproductive tissues would never be capable of producing an egg or carrying a fetus, and at nine months they were removed as they were said to pose a high risk of causing cancer. Oscar*, now two years old, is partway down a long road of surgeries. The operations hes had so far havent all been straightforward. He suffered sepsis after one and also has bladder problems unconnected to his DSD, which will mean further surgery in the future.

But the operations Oscar has had, and will have in the near future, are all medically necessary, Natalie says. Shes not interested in cosmetic procedures to make him appear more typically masculine. Debbie* and Jacks* child was just a few hours old when a doctor walked around the curtain of the bay and asked for the unofficial birth certificate back. Debbie had been given the token soon after giving birth. She said, We dont know if the baby is a boy or a girl, Debbie remembers. It was pretty blunt, to say the least.

Like Natalie, Debbie found the way medical professionals spoke to her about her child, let alone the lack of active support, very hard to deal with. Constantly in the early days we were met with the terms abnormality and birth defect, and its very hard to have someone repeatedly telling you that theres something wrong with your child, that theyre somehow not normal, not perfect.

Over the next few days, doctors examined Freddie* for various DSDs, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a genetic condition that affects boys and girls in equal numbers. CAH is a condition in which the body cant produce certain steroid hormones, such as cortisol, which can cause a build up of androgens  sex hormones that give rise to typically male physical characteristics.

Children with CAH who have XX (typically female) sex chromosomes can develop ambiguous genitalia, such as an enlarged clitoris that resembles a penis. Children affected can also have abnormal salt levels in the blood, which can be life-threatening. Debbie and Jack left the hospital when Freddie was four days old. Although they had the birth certificate back, they were advised not to register Freddies birth until they had some more concrete answers.

Initially a team of specialists at a childrens hospital seemed much more able to talk to Debbie and Jack openly. After a very brief look at Freddie the surgeon said that nothing needed to be done immediately as the child wasnt at any immediate risk. Then the endocrinologist shared some initial test results. Freddie had XY  typically male  chromosomes, but they needed to wait for the full tests to come back to know more.

It was very difficult obviously, at that point, for him to tell us anything. He just told us what we needed to do for various tests, Debbie says. We didnt know whether he could produce testosterone, we didnt know whether he would react to testosterone. There was a lot of uncertainty.

The tentative results edged Debbie and Jack closer to the information they wanted, but they still had to live with big gaps in their knowledge. They still dont have a firm diagnosis. Debbie asked whether any counselling or support groups were available, with no luck. Nothing was ever offered, and when I asked, they couldnt point me in the right direction.

Medical professionals have a responsibility to talk to patients about both sides of the story, Callens says, to provide all the medical information available while being open about things that just arent yet known or understood. This is especially important in the long term. Having  or not having  this kind of information can shape how a parent forms a relationship with their child. It may play a part in making decisions about how to bring up the child. I think the medical community sometimes does a little too little listening, she says.

Last year, Malta passed legislation that made it illegal to perform normalising surgeries on children with DSDs. The law was greeted by campaigning organisations across the world as a landmark in the recognition of rights of people with DSDs, and a huge step forward for the country. This came as part of a bill to ensure that everyone, including transgender people and those with DSDs, is adequately protected by law.

People with intersex characteristics might not be at either extreme of the malefemale spectrum biologically, but the idea that they are trans  where ones identity and bodily sex characteristics do not fully correspond  does not necessarily follow. Most of the medically unnecessary interventions happened for social reasons, rather than from immediate medical need, says Silvan Agius, who has worked in intersex and LGBT rights for many years, and is now director of human rights and integration at Maltas Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties.

The doctors themselves often speak about the social dimension: how will this child grow in the world where there are males and females and they will be unable to go to the public toilet and pee like all the other men, for example. Is that a valid reason to intervene on a childs body?

Earlier this year, Ed Clere, a Republican member of the Indiana House of Representatives, proposed a similar  if narrower  bill at US state government level. Clere was struck by a court case in South Carolina, in which the adopted parents of a child with a DSD are suing the hospitals where sex assignment surgery was performed on their child while he was in foster care.

The child, known as MC, identifies as a boy, but during the surgery his penis and an undescended testicle were removed. MCs adopted parents argue that the surgery was not medically necessary and will have a huge impact on MCs ability to reproduce and express himself sexually when he grows up.

In his bill, Clere focused on children in state custody, so as to avoid opening up broader debates over tensions between parental rights and childrens rights, although he thinks that will be an inevitable discussion at some point. What I was trying to do was distinguish between medically necessary surgery and surgery thats performed to make a childs appearance conform to a social or cultural norm, Clere says.

The bill, put forward in January 2016, did not receive a hearing. I dont think this issue of intersex conditions is something thats familiar to most legislators, he says. Its dead for this session. Clere has continued to talk about intersex human rights in Indiana to try to push the issue up the political agenda. This is an issue that hasnt received much attention at state level, although I expect well start to see more, he says. The issue of intersex conditions has a medical and a scientific dimension to it, but it also has a political dimension. 

In the UK there is also interest in proposing legislation to protect children with DSDs from medically unnecessary surgeries. The precedent that Malta set is very encouraging, says Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, a Labour frontbench peer born with hypospadias and a founder and trustee of the charity Hypospadias UK. Maltas law is a ray of light in an otherwise pretty bleak world, he says. Now that weve got a better understanding of whats happening in the small but very important number of people that this affects, then we need accommodation there. I think theres room to amend existing legislation to try to do something about that.

The clause passed in Malta to prevent unnecessary surgeries on children with DSDs was incorporated into a bill focusing on transgender rights. What do these kinds of links to transgenderism mean for those living with DSDs?

Transgenderism and intersex are very different, Silvan Agius says, but they are related. The basis for the discrimination is the same,  he says. The gender binary notion of society  that creates the difficulties. 

Artificially simple binary systems of malefemale simply cannot account for the ordinary, natural variation of human bodies, let alone the complexities of human gender identity. If in society we only had two races you could identify with  lets say people could only identify as white or black  that would eliminate the visibility of people who identify in other ways. This is the same thing thats happening here, Agius says.

Transgender and intersex people face different prejudices. Interestingly enough, the body is not accepted in the case of intersex people, he says. Here the underlying social assumption is that nature has made a mistake with them and science knows better. Agius says that although intersex and transgender people face different challenges and have different needs, in the case of Maltas law it was very much a pragmatic solution to include intersex and transgender rights in the same legislation.

Its a difficult issue for a lot of legislators,  Ed Clere says. Its a balancing act between being heard as part of a louder voice, and being understood as a clear and distinct one. Given the scant attention that intersex issues receive, I think we should take advantage of any opportunity to raise those issues and discuss them. The LGBT discussion provides that sort of opportunity.

Sean Saifa Wall says that medical practitioners growing awareness of transgender people and their needs has opened their minds to listen a little more to intersex patients. Increasingly I come across [medical] providers who respect my decisions as far as wanting hormones and certain surgeries and Ive only had chest reconstruction surgery. Thats increasing, Saifa says. Improved awareness of transgender-specific care among medical providers, however, is a mixed blessing for intersex people.

Transgender-specific care and medicine reinforces the idea that gender identity is confirmed through surgery, Saifa says, and quotes a saying hes fond of: Intersex people have to fight not to have surgeries that they dont want, and trans people have to fight for surgeries that they do want. That dichotomy, he says, is really devastating. A lack of specific protocols and creativity around working with intersex patients is a real problem, too. Theories, practices and protocols that arent made by intersex people for intersex people means that there is a risk of being sidelined. I think theres a lot of work to do,  Saifa says. The protocol has been surgeries and subsequently hormone replacement therapy that reinforces the gender, along with socialisation. I feel like theres not a lot of thinking outside the box with regard to treating intersex patients.

Human bodies dont all fit the binary system of male and female: the fact is straightforward, but breaking the silence, dismantling the taboo and casting off the shame is not. The silence can seem overwhelming, from maternity wards where awkwardness gets in the way of basic care, to legislatures where protection of human rights slips down the agenda because the idea is simply too unfamiliar.

At the moment, legislation and medical standards fit to care for and protect people with DSDs are a long way off in most parts of the world. But the pieces to make the shift happen  the activists, families, well-informed doctors, lawyers and legislators  are beginning to come together. Its just as well, as breaking through the stigma will take a great deal of momentum. But the discussion is being pushed forward in wards, ministries and living rooms.

Both Natalie and Debbie are trying to keep the conversation going in their immediate families, and are finding ways to try to make sure that their children understand their bodies as they grow up. I want [Oscar] to be comfortable and confident in his body, regardless of whats going on, Natalie says. That is my primary concern.

Differences concerning sex and gender are becoming gradually more widely understood and debated. The more open and tolerant social attitudes to sex and gender differences become, the better Freddie and Oscars chances of finding acceptance. The hope is they wont face the silence and shame that Saifa and others had to.

Its not freaky, its just something that happens. Its nature, Natalie says. Its not weird  Oscar is a two-year-old who is a two-year-old. Hes not a freak, hes not weird, hes not odd, hes not strange, hes just two  hes a child. But its not spoken about, so people dont get that. Children are born like this. Thats what people need to understand. 

* Names have been changed

This article was first published by Mosaic (www.mosaicscience.com) and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons licence. Martha Henriques is a freelance science and health journalist
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For women who live and breath fitness, keeping active in the nine-months of their pregnancy is a no-brainer.

And in a world where the bodies of women are constantly scrutinised  whether its speculating over Jennifer Anistons non-existant baby bump or Kim Kardashians post-pregnancy weight loss - women are celebrating their strong bodies online by sharing images of themselves alongside hashtags including #fitpregnancy.

Such women have been criticised over fears that they are endangering their unborn babies, however, evidence suggests that exercise can help with pregnancy if done correctly and safely.

"Here's to 31 weeks today! I celebrated with a huge plate of homemade shrimp fettuccine alfredooo!" wrote Sia Cooper, who runs the Diary of a Fit Mommy website, under a snap of her bump on Instagram.

"Yes, it had carbs. Yes, it had fats. Yes, it was amazing. No, I didn't feel guilty! Sometimes, you just gotta treat yo'self."

She added "By the way-this is me flexing. No, I don't just go walking around with abs!"

Earlier this year, former Miss Universe finalist and fitness model Chontel Duncan shared a photo of herself posing beside her friend Natalie Smith when they were both 21 and 24-weeks pregnant, respectively, to show how no two women look the same when they're expecting.

Meanwhile in March, a Stephanie Rothstein, a professional runner from Phoenix, Arizona, was praised for sharing a photo of the loose skin on her stomach to highlight how women's bodies change after giving birth.

While starting a new weight-lifting regime during pregnancy is not recommended if a woman is sedentary, it is safe for women to continue with exercise plans with the approval of a doctor.

The NHS website advises that the more active and fit you are during pregnancy, the easier it will be for you to adapt to your changing shape and weight gain.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

Exercise is not dangerous for your baby  there is some evidence that active women are less likely to experience problems in later pregnancy and labour," the website reads.

However, the Baby Centre website warns that weight training that involves forcefully pushing or lifting heavy weights while holding breath is not advisable as it can increase blood pressure.
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Ryanair is to create more than 3,500 new jobs next year as it adds a further 50 planes to its fleet.

The budget Irish airline said it planned to take on 2,000 cabin crew, 1,000 pilots and 250 engineers as it continues its expansion.

However, the carrier did not say how many of the new positions would be based in the UK, commenting only that they would be spread throughout Ryanairs 84-base European network.

In a July trading statement, the company said it would pivot growth away from UK airports and focus more on growing at our EU airports over the next two years, adding that this would mean cutting capacity on many routes out of London Stansted.

Ryanair boss, Michael OLeary, a vocal supporter of remaining within the EU, said last week that airlines were delaying investment because of uncertainty around Brexit. Last month that the UK would be screwed in Brexit trade deals.

He said then: We're being very cautious about the amount of capacity we're allocating to the UK over the next two or three years until we get some kind of indication of what Brexit will look like.

It's not because we're annoyed or anything with the UK, but we have much more political certainty in continental Europe than we have in the UK while they're all running around trying to work out what Brexit looks like.

The current recruitment drive is part of a broader plan that includes boosting plane numbers from 355 to over 500 in five years, with total staff numbers increasing by 5,000 over that period.

The world's 10 worst airlines Show all 10 1 /10 The world's 10 worst airlines The world's 10 worst airlines 10. Jet AirHelp, has assessed more than 30 airlines using scores for quality of service, on-time performance and responses to claims for compensation. Here follows the lowest ranked airlines, starting with Jet Airways, 35% of whose flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 9. Aerolineas Argentinas 15% of Aerolineas Argentinas flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 8. Iberia 16% of Iberia flights were delayed in 2018 Getty Images The world's 10 worst airlines 7. Korean Air 36% of Korean Air flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 6. Ryanair 14% of Ryanair flights were delayed in 2018 EPA The world's 10 worst airlines 5. Air Mauritius 31% of Air Mauritius flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 4. easyJet 21% of easyJet flights were delayed in 2018 AFP/Getty Images The world's 10 worst airlines 3. Pakistan International Airlines 39% of Pakistan International Airlines were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 2. Royal Jordanian Airlines 13% of Royal Jordanian Airlines flights were delayed in 2018 Getty The world's 10 worst airlines 1. WOW Air 25% of WOW Air flights were delayed in 2018 Getty

Eddie Wilson, chief people officer at Ryanair, said: 2017 is set to be our busiest recruitment year to date, and we are continuing to invest heavily in talent for the future.

Meanwhile, traffic figures showed Ryanair increased passenger numbers by 13 per cent year-on-year in September, tp 10.8 million. The group's load factor - how full its planes are - also improved, moving to 95 per cent last month from 94 per cent a year earlier.

Ryanair also said it expects average fares to drop by between 10 and 12 per cent in the next six months.
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The 2016 US presidential election is rapidly approaching, in what looks set to be one of the most polarising votes in recent history.

On 8 November, American citizens will head to polling booths to choose the forty-fifth president and successor to Barack Obama.

Unlike in the UK, where displays of political support are often more restrained, the high-profile, the rich, the famous and the Hollywood power couples of America tend to be vocal about who they believe should be elected to the highest office. They often play key parts in campaigns, promoting their candidate, holding fundraisers and performing at their events.

Hillary Clinton backers come from a cross-section of the most high-profile and influential A-listers. Even the seemingly politically apathetic Kim Kardashian, the proponent of gender equality who refuses to identify as a feminist, has endorsed Ms Clinton in - what else - a selfie with the woman herself. Nowhere was her high-profile support more evident than at the Democratic National Convention, where the star-studded turn out saw Meryl Streep, Lena Dunham, Elizabeth Banks and Alicia Keys out in force to declare their support for Ms Clinton and lampoon her Republican rival, Donald Trump.

Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Show all 15 1 /15 Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Who are famous people voting for in the US election? George Clooney HILLARY CLINTON Getty Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Leonardo DiCaprio HILLARY CLINTON Getty Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Mike Tyson DONALD TRUMP Getty Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Beyonce HILLARY CLINTON Rex Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Chloe Grace Moretz HILLARY CLINTON Vivien Killilea/Getty Images Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Sarah Jessica Parker HILLARY CLINTON Getty Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Jon Voight DONALD TRUMP Getty Images Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Katy Perry HILLARY CLINTON Getty Images Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Jennifer Lopez HILLARY CLINTON Angela Weiss/Getty Images Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Denis Rodman DONALD TRUMP TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP/Getty Images Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Salma Hayek HILLARY CLINTON Getty Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Le Bron James HILLARY CLINTON Justin Carissimo Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Hulk Hogan DONALD TRUMP Reuters Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Kid Rock DONALD TRUMP Theo Wargo/Getty Images Who are famous people voting for in the US election? Stacey Dash DONALD TRUMP Kevin Winter/Getty Images

But Mr Trump has been dismissive of her backing and claims her support base is largely comprised of celebrities that arent very hot anymore.

Meanwhile, he appears pleased with his own celebrity supporters. After being endorsed by former heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, Mr Trump declared in April: All the tough guys endorse me. I like that.

Former Calvin Klein model Antonio Sabato Jr. praised Mr Trump as the unity candidate when he took to the stage at the Republican National Convention, while former Clueless actress Stacey Dash claimed a Trump administration would ensure atrocities such as the Orlando nightclub shooting would not go unanswered.

The actor Jon Voight, father of Angelina Jolie, is one of his most ardent supporters and this week claimed the mainstream media is in the tank for the Democrat Party. Dennis Rodman, ex-NBA player and famous friend of Kim Jong Un, is similarly unequivocal about his support for the 70-year-old.

Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan, another supporter, has voiced political ambitions involving his chosen candidate, telling TMZ in September he wants to be his running mate.
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Kanye West has reportedly postponed tour dates after his wife Kim Kardashian-West was tied up by masked men and robbed at gunpoint.

The reality TV star and businesswoman was staying at a luxury residence in Paris for Fashion Week when at least two men broke into her apartment disguised as policemen and stole jewellery worth close to 9 million, her publicist said. A spokesperson for Kardashian-West informed The Independent she was badly shaken up but physically unharmed.

Her husband West has now reportedly put two of his tour dates for this week on hold. Live Nation have said the shows will now take place on 13 December and 22 December instead. They also said the tour would resume as planned on 7 October.

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

In a statement sent to US Weekly, a representative for Live Nation said: Due to family concerns, this weeks Philadelphia and Detroit dates on the Saint Pablo tour have been rescheduled.

West cut his set at the Meadows Festival in Queens, New York short upon hearing the news about his wife.

Kanye had just delivered the chorus of Heartless when he suddenly told the audience: Im sorry, family emergency, I have to stop the show.

It is not clear where Kardashian Wests two children North, three, and Saint, nine months, were at the time of the incident.

A representative for West did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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French police have suggested the thieves who robbed Kim Kardashian West at gunpoint targeted her after she posted pictures of diamond jewellery on social media.

Authorities in Paris say the reality TV mogul was the victim of an armed robbery at her luxury accommodation in the French capital in the early hours of Monday morning. Her publicist told The Independent she was targeted by at least two men dressed as police officers and escaped the ordeal physically unharmed but badly shaken up. It is alleged the men took off with jewellery worth several million euros.

Paris prosecutors have since described the high-profile incident as extremely rare and said the robbers were focused on possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media.

The 35-year-old is one of the most prolific celebrities on social media with a combined Instagram and Twitter following of more than 132 million. Since launching her career starring in Keeping up with the Kardashians, she has become known as the woman capable of breaking the internet.

Kim Kardashian Robbery Show all 10 1 /10 Kim Kardashian Robbery Kim Kardashian Robbery Kim Kardashian West and her husband Kanye arrive back at their town house in New York City last night Rex Kim Kardashian Robbery Kris Jenner is surrounded by security as she leaves the New York residence where her daughter Kim Kardashian West is staying in New York, after her robbery ordeal in Paris, France. AP Kim Kardashian Robbery Security cars and media surround Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. Rex Kim Kardashian Robbery Media and security personnel are gathered in front of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. She flew out of France on a private jet on Monday after being questioned by police about the robbery. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery Security cars and media surround Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery A close-up on the 'Rue Tronchet' street sign where Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery A french police car is seen outside Kim Kardashian's Luxury Apartment after being robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 in Paris, France. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery Journalists stand in front of the entrance of a luxury residence on the Rue Tronchet in central Paris, France, where masked men robbed U.S. reality TV star Kim Kardashian at gunpoint early on Monday, stealing jewellery worth millions of dollars, police and her publicist said. Reuters Kim Kardashian Robbery Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery French police officers exit the residence of Kim Kardashian in Paris Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Kim Kardashian was unharmed after being robbed at gunpoint of more than $10 million worth of jewelry inside a private Paris residence Sunday night, police officials said. AP

Just four days ago, she shared a picture of herself with an eye-watering diamond ring on her left hand.

The chief spokesperson for the Paris police apartment told the Associated Press: This kind of incident is extremely rare in Paris. This is a star who is famous worldwide. Do not confuse what happened to Ms Kardashian and probably was the result of an organised team who had planned their action with the assault of a tourist in front of Notre Dame or another tourist spot in Paris.

Clearly when you have a star like Kim Kardashian who has more than 48 million followers on Twitter [] I think this could have happened abroad just as easily as Paris.

It was really the celebrity who was targeted, with possessions that have been seen and noticed via social media, and it was these good that the attackers targeted.

New details surrounding the robbery have also been reported by gossip site TMZ who claim she was tied up, duct-taped, locked in a bathroom and feared she would be raped by the thieves.

Kardashian West was reportedly lying in bed in her dressing gown when she heard boots coming up the stairs. She then tried to grab her phone to alert her bodyguard but before she could the thieves stormed in and one of them took the phone.

She was then tied up with plastic handcuffs and duct tape and later told police she feared she was going to be raped when one of the men grabbed her by the ankles, according to TMZ's report.

The men then reportedly duct-taped her ankles, picked her up and put in the bathroom where she started screaming and pleading with them not to kill her because she has two children.

The thieves allegedly did not speak English, just French, and were reportedly demanding for a ring.

Kardashian Wests friend and stylist Simone Harouche was staying in the property at the time and after hearing the commotion rang the reality stars bodyguard Pascal Duvier who was out chaperoning Kardashian-Wests sister Kourtney at the time. According to reports, Mr Duvier arrived at the property a couple of minutes after the robbers had fled.

Mr Duvier was seen escorting Kardashian West, West and her mother Kris Jenner on Monday as they made their way into Wests New York City apartment after flying in from the French capital on a private jet. The group was escorted by a heavy security detail including numerous bodyguards and a convoy of blacked-out vehicles. Members of the New York Police Department police force were also on the scene amid large crowds of paparazzi and media.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.
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Kim Kardashian Wests bodyguard is understood to have been minding Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner when the reality TV star was allegedly bound and held at gunpoint.

Pascal Duvier is often spotted in pictures with Kardashian West and last week jumped in to prevent a celebrity prankster from grabbing the 35-year-old as she walked outside of L'Avenue restaurant in Paris.

On Monday, French police said his most high-profile client was robbed by a group of armed men who allegedly made off with jewellery worth close to 9 million. Duvier faced accusations of not protecting Kardashian West online, when he was with her two sisters at events in Paris at the time, according to reports.

Kardashian Wests friend and stylist Simone Harouche was staying in the property at the time of the break-in and rang Duvier, who reportedly arrived a couple of minutes after the robbers had fled.

Kim Kardashian Robbery Show all 10 1 /10 Kim Kardashian Robbery Kim Kardashian Robbery Kim Kardashian West and her husband Kanye arrive back at their town house in New York City last night Rex Kim Kardashian Robbery Kris Jenner is surrounded by security as she leaves the New York residence where her daughter Kim Kardashian West is staying in New York, after her robbery ordeal in Paris, France. AP Kim Kardashian Robbery Security cars and media surround Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. Rex Kim Kardashian Robbery Media and security personnel are gathered in front of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. She flew out of France on a private jet on Monday after being questioned by police about the robbery. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery Security cars and media surround Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery A close-up on the 'Rue Tronchet' street sign where Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery A french police car is seen outside Kim Kardashian's Luxury Apartment after being robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 in Paris, France. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery Journalists stand in front of the entrance of a luxury residence on the Rue Tronchet in central Paris, France, where masked men robbed U.S. reality TV star Kim Kardashian at gunpoint early on Monday, stealing jewellery worth millions of dollars, police and her publicist said. Reuters Kim Kardashian Robbery Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery French police officers exit the residence of Kim Kardashian in Paris Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Kim Kardashian was unharmed after being robbed at gunpoint of more than $10 million worth of jewelry inside a private Paris residence Sunday night, police officials said. AP

Duvier has relayed his passion for his job on his Twitter account, beginning with a warning from followers not to ask him to pass on messages to his clients. His service has been praised by Kardashian West, who gave him a shout out on Twitter last week.

When asked by one follower how he maintains his fitness despite having such a busy schedule with the Kardashians, his answer was unequivocal: If you find time to eat and sleep, you find time to train.

He gave a similarly businesslike response to one who asked if he became friends with his clients or if relationships were strictly professional.

French authorities are still searching for the assailants who fled after the break-in. They declined to say whether they are accepting help from her entourage, including her security detail.

Details of the alleged attack continue to emerge, with police in Paris claiming Kardashian West was targeted after posting pictures of diamond jewellery on social media.

Kardashian West was reportedly tied up with duct tape, gagged and feared she would be raped by the masked men. Her publicist told The Independent she was badly shaken but physically unhurt.
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Despite the fact Theresa May is currently steering Britains withdrawal from the European Union while simultaneously healing deep divisions in the Tory party, conversation somehow managed to find its way towards scones and shoes in her interview on Good Morning Britain.

In classic Piers Morgan fashion, the presenter appeared to fail to see the irony in proceeding to ask the Prime Minister about scones straight after his co-host Susanna Reid asked her whether she found the public's insatiable obsession with her shoes sexist.

It has only been two days since Ms May announced she would be triggering Article 50 by March of next year, yet the US editor-at-large for MailOnline.com somehow found time to ask her about whether she preferred hard or soft butter for scones.

Viewers quickly honed in on Morgan, accusing him of being patronising, sexist and criticising GMB for failing to prioritise more pressing questions. To put this into context, almost a quarter of the interview was dedicated to the highly topical hard-hitting issues of shoes and scones.

Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Show all 20 1 /20 Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases I want to interview the most important people in the world and have everyone in America the next day going, 'Did you see that?' On Piers Morgan Live, which just got axed. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Most of the men that sue in Hollywood are all about 5' 2. They wake up every day, know they're tiny and feel very angry about it, so they go out and sue people. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases It was pretty compelling to watch, pretty weird, and it made me gag a few times.  in his role as Britains Got Talent judge Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases I'm guilt-ridden about introducing her to Paul McCartney. It was a moment of Cupid madness which cost Sir Paul $50 million, so the least I can do is ban her from the show. - On banning Heather Mills from Piers Morgan Tonight Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Bill O'Reilly is like a comfortable pair of shimmeringly angry slippers, but you know every night what you're going to get.  On Bill OReilly Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Why do we want someone like Ruth Kelly controlling our children? She's the scariest woman I've ever seen in politics. - On the British Education Secretary in 2005 Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases You're an unbeleivably stupid man, aren't you? Interviewing gun-rights activist Larry Pratt Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases There is a type of snobbish, pompous journalist who thinks that the only news that has any validity is war, famine, pestilence or politics. I don't come from that school. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases To all the ignorant, bigoted transgender community members continuing to abuse me re @janetmock - I'm bored of you now, go away. Thanks. - On interviewing transgender activist Janet Mock Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases I have kind of an edge in me, which will be a little bit different for that time slot but probably necessary to combat the O'Reillys and so on who are making all the noise. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "Everyone's worst ever Christmas sweater > Team USA uniforms. #RalphLauren #Sochi #OpeningCeremony" - Tweeting ahead of Sochi Olympics... And wondering why he's not that popular in the US. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "To reiterate, I have never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, nor to my knowledge published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone." - Defending himself against fresh phone-hacking allegations. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "Anything to do with my kids really is the only thing that gets to me. It's the most difficult thing about the job, unquestionably. It's been the most difficult thing to sacrifice." - On not realising he was the editor of The Mirror once and how hypocritical this therefore sounds. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "I wonder if poor old Jeremy Clarkson's little hissy fit today is connected to Top Gear's disintegrating ratings & rumours it may be axed?" - Embarrassing in hindsight, during a Twitter spat with Jeremy Clarkson. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "I never realised how endlessly entertaining Twitter would turn out to be. Oh, the joy when I realised you could tweet Manchester United stars personally, ridiculing them for everything from their dodgy haircuts to offensive swimwear. And even more delicious when they began firing back like enraged Rambos on acid." - On his social media addiction. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "I do blame people. Where were all the people making money out of her when it mattered? Really, where were they? You know, it's just not good enough and they're all going to make millions out of it now she's dead. You know, the album Back to Black is number one but people let her down." - On passing the blame on from the pressures of the tabloid press for Amy Winehouse's death. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Absolutely nobody in the entire United States of America has even a modicum of interest in who I am, but Im determined to change that." - On what he tried - and failed - to do in the US. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "I fear I am now a victim of 'cisphobia'." - Piers Morgan combats being called 'transphobic' after sensationalised Janet Mock interview... By being massively transphobic. Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "@GaryLinekar_ Did you ever actually tackle anyone?" - To which Linekar replied, "Nope never hacked anyone". Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases Piers Morgan's Most Pretentious Phrases "If I wanted a lesson on physical appearance I'd go to @evalongoria not Shrek's ugly brother" - Arguing with Rio Ferdinand on Twitter. Again.

Finally do you regret Prime Minister, the constant, insatiable obsession with your shoes and would you consider that it is sexist to always be asking about them? asked Reid, apparently aware that she too might be falling into the same trap.

Well, It's interesting that people focus on shoes, I don't think they focus on Philip Hammond's or Boris Johnson's in quite the same way, Ms May snapped back.

Recommended Read more Piers Morgan and Lord Prescott engage in TV slanging match

But look, hey do I regret the fact that people look at my shoes. 'Hey it gives me an excuse to go and buy new shoes, she tactfully added. Reid then asked her if she was wearing a good pair of shoes today.

Morgan then chipped in with a reference to baking. Final question and its an important one, he began. You exploded a huge argument at the weekend about scone-gate, you revealed the recipe that your mother had given you to make scones and the debate was raging because you didnt seem to discriminate between the use of butter or margarine.

I need to know from you because I know youre a big fan of Bake Off, is it better to have butter and if it is better to have butter are we talking hard butter or soft butter?

Ms May then cordially gave him the lowdown of her recipe, explaining that it was easier to use hard butter but also explaining that she tended to no longer make scones because of her diabetes. To be clear, the reference to scones wasn't completely random - May revealed her grandmother's scone recipe in an interview at the weekend.

Viewers rebuked the line of questioning. GMB asks T May if it's sexist to focus on her shoes as she's a woman and then they ask her a question about baking and scones, said one Twitter user.

@piersmorgan @GMB with all the problems of this country, you spend more time on PM shoes & scones....BBC breakfast for me. Bye, added another.

Are you joking me @GMB asking @theresa_may about butter and scones?! 'Av a day off - would you have asked Cameron about that? #everdaysexism

"Biased and sexist much @GMB," added another.

Morgan also asked Ms May who she would be supporting in the forthcoming US presidential elections but she declined to answer. Well Piers actually there's a tradition here in the UK that we dont support a particular candidate in the presidential election, she said. Who wins the American presidential election is entirely a matter for the American people.

Morgan told The Independent: "Theresa May publicly revealed her scones recipe two days ago to the Sunday Times.

"I therefore asked her about her scones recipe as it was drawing some amusing debate about whether to use butter or margarine. This apparently now makes me a sexist. Or, it makes those accusing me of being a sexistutter morons."

A GMB spokesperson told The Independent: Piers and Susanna's lengthy interview with the Prime Minister this morning covered a range of serious topics which included Brexit, migration, trade and the USA Presidential Elections.

As it was the first opportunity for GMB viewers to see the new PM on the programme, she was also asked a few light hearted questions towards the very end of the interview to reveal a bit of her personality.
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Scientists have found a reason why some people love a fat-rich chicken korma but are not so fond of a sickly sweet Eton mess in a discovery that could help treat obesity.

Most people find food that is rich in fat and sugar particularly appealing.

For centuries of human evolution, famine was a real danger so being able to stock up on calories could be the difference between life and death.

But the researchers found one group of people, who have a particular gene variant, like fat more, but sugar less than average, they reported in the journal Nature Communications.

It is one of only a handful of instances where a direct association between taste and the nutrient content of food has been demonstrated.

There also could be other genetic reasons why some people are more likely put on weight and it is hoped understanding the mechanisms involved could help lead to better treatments.

The researchers believe the preference for fat over sugar may be an evolutionary strategy that developed in some people.

Professor Sadaf Farooqi, of Cambridge University, who led the study, said: When there is not much food around, we need energy that can be stored and accessed when needed.

Fat delivers twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates or protein and can be readily stored in our bodies.

As such, having a pathway that tells you to eat more fat at the expense of sugar, which we can only store to a limited extent in the body, would be a very useful way of defending against starvation.

Recommended Read more Sugar lobby paid scientists to play down hazards of sweet food

The researchers tested three groups: people who were lean, obese or had the genetic variant, which affects a receptor in the brain known as MC4R.

The subjects were then given a taste of two different types of dishes  chicken korma and Eton mess  cooked in different ways but made to look the same.

The chicken korma had three levels of fat content, the Eton mess, which is made from strawberries, whipped cream and broken meringue, had three different levels of sugar.

Volunteers were then told they could eat as much of the food as they liked.

Although all three groups said they liked the three different kinds of korma about the same, the MC4R gene variant group ate 95 per cent more of the high-fat version than lean people and 65 per cent more than obese people.

While the lean and obese groups liked the high-sugar version of Eton mess significantly more than low-sugar versions, the opposite was true for the gene variant group.

The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Show all 10 1 /10 The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Sugary soft drink - 330ml - 138 calories Walk off: 26 minutes. Run off: 13 minutes. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Standard chocolate bar - 229 calories Walk off: 42 minutes. Run off: 22 minutes. Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Chicken and bacon sandwich - 445 calories Walk off: 1 hour 22 minutes. Run off: 42 minutes. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods One quarter of a large pizza (449kcal) Walk off: 1 hour 23 minutes. Run off: 43 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Medium mocha coffee - 290kcal calories Walk off: 53 minutes. Run off: 28 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Packet of crisps - 171 calories Walk off: 31 minutes. Run off: 16 minutes. Evan-Amos/Creative Commons The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Dry roasted peanuts - 50g - 296kcal Walk off: 54 minutes. Run off: 28 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Iced cinnamon roll - 420 calories Walk off: 31 minutes. Run off: 16 minutes. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods One bowl of cereal - 172 calories Walk off: 31 minutes. Run off: 16 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Blueberry muffin - 265 calories Walk off: 48 minutes. Run off: 25 minutes. Isabelle Hurbain-Palatin/Creative Commons

The MC4R group liked the sweetest Eton mess about half as much as people without the gene and also ate about half the amount eaten by the others.

Professor Farooqi said: Our work shows that even if you tightly control the appearance and taste of food, our brains can detect the nutrient content.

Most of the time we eat foods that are both high in fat and high in sugar.

By carefully testing these nutrients separately in this study, and by testing a relatively rare group of people with the defective MC4R gene, we were able to show that specific brain pathways can modulate food preference."

About one per cent of obese people have the MC4R gene variant, which may be part of the reason why they are putting on weight.
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A convicted drug dealer who turned his life around to become a "diligent student" will not be deported to Sierra Leone after two law lords ruled he would be incapable of settling in his home country.

The appeal court judges said Alusine Kamara, 29, could remain in the UK because he had no links with his place of birth, that he did not speak any of the languages of Sierra Leone  and these would amount to very significant obstacles to his integration there. They agreed with an earlier court hearing that this would interfere with his right to respect for his private life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The decision marks a fresh embarrassment for Prime Minister Theresa May, who as Home Secretary told the Tory Party conference three years ago: Where there is no risk of serious and irreversible harm, we should deport foreign criminals first and hear their appeals later."

The Home Office had argued that Kamara was a foreign criminal whose deportation was in the public interest.

He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2011, aged 24, for possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and the Home Office has been trying to deport him ever since.

The appeal court was told Kamara came to England aged six and was granted indefinite leave to remain. He lived with family members in the UK and has for the most part, been a diligent student here and is seeking to complete his studies and find employment, the court heard. It was also told he had demonstrated remorse for his offending and his conduct while in prison had been exemplary.

A previous court found he has no ties with Sierra Leone, having lost all contact with the country a long time ago.

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In the appeal court judgment, published in August, Lord Justice Sales said that although Kamara was fit and healthy, he would not be able to integrate into Sierra Leones society.

He said: The idea of integration calls for a broad evaluative judgement to be made as to whether the individual will be enough of an insider in terms of understanding how life in the society in that other country is carried on and a capacity to participate in it, so as to have a reasonable opportunity to be accepted there, to be able to operate on a day-to-day basis in that society and to build up within a reasonable time a variety of human relationships to give substance to the individual's private or family life.

The Independent has contacted the Home Office for comment and to ask how much it has spent on legal fees fighting the case.
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A couple who sent money to their nephew as he fought for Isis in Syria have pleaded guilty to funding terrorism.

Mohammed Golamaully and his wife Nazimabee Golamaully admitted sending 219 to the jihadist, who celebrated the Charlie Hebdo massacre on Twitter and recruited for the so-called Islamic State.

Nazimabee, 45, and Mohammed, 48, were released on conditional bail by a judge at the Old Bailey and will be sentenced on 10 November.

Nazimabee Golamaully admitting funding terrorism by sending money to an Isis fighter (Metropolitan Police)

The couple, from Streatham in London, sent Zafirr Golamaully the funds in August 2014, as Isis continued its bloody advance through Iraq and Syria.

Zafirr had left his home in Mauritius earlier in the year to join the jihadist group, after asking his aunt and uncle to help him hide his intentions from his parents.

In a WhatsApp message sent to Mohammed in March 2014, he said: Told them I'm going to get 'nursing' training and that I won't be available for next two weeks.

In messages seen by the BBC, Mohammed replied: The story of two weeks training sounds plausible prior to undertaking humanitarian aid.

Weeks later, Zafirr was fighting for Isis in Syria, updating his uncle about his military training and discussing the transfer of money via Western Union.

Mohammed Golamaully admitting funding terrorism by sending money to an Isis fighter (Metropolitan Police)

The militants parents appeared to be unaware of the scheme, telling their relatives they were in shock and voicing confusion and guilt over their childrens extremism.

After travelling to Isis territory, Zafirr became known for social media accounts and website under the pseudonym Abu Hud and using the Twitter handle @PaladinOfJihad.

He gained international attention for celebrating the Charlie Hebdo massacre in 2015, tweeting: You heard it here first. Snail eaters [French victims] ate lead.

Zafirr actively recruited Isis fighters online, offering tips on how to evade security services while travelling to Syria and praising his new life, as well as calling on supporters to assassinate the Dalai Lama and other targets.

His aunt and uncles part in his crime is thought to have been discovered by accident as detectives investigated a network that funnelled payments of more than 100,000 in total over three months to Isis via a middle man in Turkey.

The 219 from Nazimabees bank account was among them, the BBC reported, with the woman initially claiming it was to fund Zafirrs studies in Turkey.

Timeline: The emergence of Isis Show all 40 1 /40 Timeline: The emergence of Isis Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2000 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (pictured here) forms an al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq. Its brutality from the beginning alienates Iraqis and many al-Qaeda leaders. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2006 Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Al-Zarqawis successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, announces the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2009 Still al-Qaeda-linked ISI claims responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 155 in Baghdad, as well as attacks in August and October killing 240, as President Obama announces troop withdrawal from Iraq in March. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2010 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes head of ISI, at lowest ebb of Islamist militancy in Iraq, which sees last U.S. combat brigade depart. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2012 In Syria, protests (pictured here starting in Daree) have morphed into what president Assad labelled a real war with emergence of a coalition of forces opposed to Assads regime. Syria group Jabhat al-Nusra are among rebel groups who refuse to join, denouncing it as a conspiracy. Bombings targeting Shia areas, killing more than 500 people, spark fears of new sectarian conflict. Sunni Muslims stage protests across country against what they see as increasingly marginalisation by Shia-led government. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2013 Al-Baghdadi renames ISI as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Isis, as the group absorbs Syrian al-Nusra, gaining a foothold in Syria. In response, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Ladens successor) concerned about Isis expansion orders that Isis be dissolved and ISI operations should be confined to Iraq. This order is rejected by al-Baghdadi. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - January Isis fighters capture the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, giving them base to launch slew of attacks further south. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis declares itself the Caliphate, calling itself Islamic State (IS). The group captures Mosul, Iraqs second largest city; Tal Afar, just 93 miles from Syrian border; and the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. These advances sent shockwaves around the world. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Around the same time Isis releases a video calling for western Muslims to join the Caliphate and fight, prompting new evaluations of extremists groups social media understanding. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis take Baiji oil fields in Iraq - giving them access to huge amounts of possible revenue. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August James Foley is executed by the group as concerns grow for second American prisoner, fellow reporter Steven Sotloff. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August Obama authorises U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, helping to stall Isis along with action by Kurdish forces following the deaths of hundreds of Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release video showing Steven Sotloffs murder prompting Western speculation his executioner is same man who killed Mr Foley. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Obama tells us that America will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release a video appearing to show David Haines, who was captured by militants in Syria in 2013, wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in the desert while he reads a pre-prepared script. It later shows what appears to be the aid worker's body. Rex Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Peshmerga fighters scrabble to hold positions in the Diyala province (a gateway to Baghdad) as Isis fighters continue to advance on Iraqi capital. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Aid worker Alan Henning is killed. Self-imposed media blackout refuses to show images of him in final moments, instead focuses upon humanitarian care. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Isis raise their flag in Kobani, which had been strongly defended by Kurdish troops. The victory goes against hopeful western analysis Isis had overextended itself, while alienating much of the Muslim population through the murder of Henning. Victory causes fresh waves of Kurdish refugees arriving in Turkey. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - November American hostage, who embarced values of Islam, Peter Kassig and 14 Syrian soldiers are shown meeting the same fate as other captives. But intelligence agencies will be poring over the apparently significant discrepancies between this and previous films. Seramedig.org.uk Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis has released a video revealing the murder by burning to death of a Jordanian pilot held by the group since the end of December 2014. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have released videos which appear to show the beheading of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February American aid worker, Kayla Mueller was the last American hostage known to be held by Isis. She died, according to her captors, in an airstrike by the Jordanian air force on the city of Raqqa in Syria, though US authorities disputed this. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have posted a gruesome video online in which they force 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian hostages to kneel on a beach in Libya before beheading them. Egypt vowed to avenge the beheading and launched air strikes on Isis positions. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February The British Isis militant suspected of appearing in videos showing the beheading of Western hostages has been named in reports as Mohammed Emwazi from London. Rex Features Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - March Isis triple suicide attack has killed more than 100 worshippers and hundreds of others were injured after the group members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Iraqi forces have claimed victory over Isis in battle for Tikrit and raised the flag in the city. EPA/STR Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 35 people queuing to collect their wages and injured 100 more. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis media arm released a 29-minute video purporting to show militants executing Ethiopian Christians captives. The footage bore the extremist groups al-Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols. A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis has been "incapacitated" by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strike in Iraq. He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis stronghold of Mosul who are said to be "strong ideological supporters of the group". Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives, including women, children and elderly people in Iraq AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis attack on Prophet Mohamed cartoon contest in Texas was its first action on US soil. Two gunmen were shot and killed after launching the attack at the exhibition. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi have been named as the attackers at the Curtis Culwell Centre arena in Garland. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isiss deputy leader, Abu Alaa Afri, a former physics teacher who was thought to have taken charge of the deadly terrorist group, has been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May US special forces have killed a senior Isis leader named as Abu Sayyaf in an operation aiming to capture him and his wife in Syria. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Iran-backed militias are sent to Ramadi by the Iraqi government to fight Isis militants who completed their capture of the city. Government soldiers and civilians were reportedly massacred by extremists as they took control and the army fled. Charred bodies were left littering the city streets as troops clung on to trucks speeding away from the city. Ramadi is the latest government stronghold to fall to the so-called Islamic State, despite air strikes by a US-led international coalition aiming to stop its advance in Iraq and Syria. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis rounded up civilians trapped in Palmyra and forced them to watch 20 people being executed in the historic citys ancient amphitheatre. The Unesco World Heritage site was overrun by militants, threatening the future of 2,000 year-old monuments and ruins. Thousands of Palmyras residents fled but many are still living within the city walls, while the UN human rights office in Geneva said it had received reports of Syrian government forces preventing people from leaving until they retreated from the city. Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May A group of Isis-affiliated fighters have captured a key airport in central Libya. The militants took control of the al-Qardabiya airbase in Sirte after a local militia tasked with defending the facility withdrew from their positions. Affiliates of Isis, already control large parts of Sirte, the birthplace of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a former stronghold of his supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June The US Air Force has destroyed an Isis stronghold after an extremist let slip their location on social media. According the Air Force Times, General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said that Airmen at Hulburt Field, Florida, used images shared by jihadists to track the location of their headquarters before destroying it in an airstrike. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Kurdish forces captured a key military base in a significant victory in Raqqa as well as town of Tell Abyad. YPG fighters, backed by US-led airstrikes and other rebels, consolidated their gains, when they seized the key town on the Syria-Turkey border. They are now just 30 miles to the north of Raqqa and have cut off a major supply route deep inside Isis-held territory. Ahmet Silk/Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has released gruesome footage claiming to show the murder of more than a dozen men by drowning, decapitation and using a rocket-propelled grenade as it seeks to boost morale among its fanatical supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has begun carrying out its threat to destroy structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, blowing up at least two monuments at the Unesco-protected site as Syrian government troops made advances on the Islamists positions. AFP

On Monday, Judge Anuja Dhir QC warned she could face jail for violating section 15 of the Terrorism Act, adding: You have pleaded guilty to a serious offence and one that you I am sure appreciate ordinarily attracts an immediate custodial sentence and the question for me will be how long that sentence should be.

"But your advocate has asked me to order a pre-sentence report which will give me more information about you and will also give recommendations as to sentence.

"You must not assume because I am ordering a report of that kind that it means that the sentence will be either suspended or not involve a period of custody."

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said that the amount of money sent to Zafirr was irrelevant.

Any amount of cash sent to terrorists is money which is enabling them to further their hatred and carry out attacks on innocent people, he added.

So regardless of the amount in question, the Counter Terrorism Command will identify those who support terrorism and prosecute them where appropriate.



Additional reporting by PA
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David Cameron and Nigel Farage are among the British politicians and institutions accused of fuelling rising xenophobia in the UK as debate continues to rage over Brexit, the refugee crisis and terrorism.

A report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) found a number of areas of concern over political discourse and hate speech, as well as violent racial and religious attacks.

Police statistics have shown a sharp rise in Islamophobic, antisemitic and xenophobic assaults over the past year, amid growing tensions in Britain and across Europe.

As well as attacks on religious buildings, migrants from Eastern Europe have been targeted since the vote for Brexit, including a student stabbed in the neck for speaking Polish in Telford and killing of a Polish man in Harlow.

 Polish ambassador calls on government to condemn Brexit-related hate crimes

It is no coincidence that racist violence is on the rise in the UK at the same time as we see worrying examples of intolerance and hate speech in the newspapers, online and even among politicians, said ECRI chair Christian Ahlund.

The Brexit referendum seems to have led to a further rise in anti-foreigner sentiment, making it even more important that the British authorities take the steps outlined in our report as a matter of priority.

Government figures have recorded a sharp increase in hate crime but the true scale of the problem may be far higher than recorded, with the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimating that of 106,000 hate-motivated crimes every year, only a quarter are recorded as such by police.

In a report spanning the period from 2009 and March this year, the ECRI noted positive steps with the enforcement of the Equality Act 2010 and legislation against racism and racial discrimination in the UK, as well as the governments new hate crime action plan.

But the commission noted considerable intolerant political discourse in the UK particularly focusing on immigration, discrimination against Roma, gypsies and travellers, and a spike in online abuse and violent racist incidents.

It singled out statements made by Mr Cameron during his tenure as Prime Minister as examples of degrading terms towards refugees that contribute needlessly to an increase in xenophobic sentiment.

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

The report joined human rights groups in condemning his description of asylum seekers risking their lives to reach the UK as a swarm in 2015.

The term was criticised by Mr Farage at the time but the former Ukip leader and his party were also cited by the ECRI for comments claiming there was public concern about immigration partly because people believe there are some Muslims who want to form a fifth column and kill us.

A representative for Mr Cameron could not be reached for comment but a spokesperson for Ukip defended the partys record on immigration, particularly regarding Bulgarian and Romanian nationals.

Ukip is not anti-immigrant as this report states, far from it, we would not pull up a drawbridge, but we do believe that a country should have the right to decide who comes over that bridge, he added.

It is demonstratively true that some people are concerned about immigration due to the fact that some in the Islamic community wish us and our liberal society ill.

The ECRI also took aim at some British media outlets, particularly tabloid newspapers, for offensive, discriminatory and provocative terminology.

It cited Katie Hopkins infamous column in The Sun, where she likened refugees to cockroaches and sparked a blistering response from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the same newspapers debunked claim over 1 in 5 Brit Muslims sympathy for jihadis.

The report called for the establishment of a press regulator according to the recommendations set out in the Leveson Report, saying the two competing bodies currently in place were insufficient, and that current reporting on immigration, terrorism and the refugee crisis was contributing to creating an atmosphere of hostility and rejection.

The independent press watchdog has upheld a complaint over this headline (The Sun)

The ECRI, which is the Council of Europes premiere human rights body, examines all EU member states periodically and released its UK report on Tuesday, offering 23 recommendations for change.

It contended that the shift in public attitudes was contributing to a rise in hate crimes against minority groups including Muslims, Jews, refugees and immigrants.

Tell Mama, an anti-Islamophobia group, has recorded hundreds of incidents that are increasingly targeting Muslim women online.

Fiyaz Mughal, the director of Faith Matters and Tell Mama welcomed the ECRIs report and joined its criticism of language that has inflamed community tensions and also scapegoated other sections of society.

For example, talking about refugees as cockroaches or putting out headlines that 1 in 5 Muslims support Jihadis is not only irresponsible, it is organised to punch the worst buttons of fear in communities and society, he told The Independent.

The first six months of this year saw an 11 per cent increase in antisemitic hate incidents recorded in the UK compared to the same period in 2015, according to the Community Security Trust.

The ECRIs report also raised concern about the lack of a government programme on refugee integration in England.

Protesters demonstrate against the EU referendum result outside Parliament in June (Getty)

Dr Lisa Doyle, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said hate crime has no place in the UK or anywhere else.

She added: Politicians and the press must condemn and seek to eradicate this behaviour, while ensuring that their own rhetoric and reporting on immigration is responsible.

In a response included with the report, the Government defended its record and noted progress with a new Cohesive Communities Programme, Hate Crime Action Plan and the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, but said it would not acquiesce to calls to ratify an anti-discrimination protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights.

We are particularly concerned to see that the Commission repeats controversial and eye-catching press headlines and some alleged statements by politicians, which wrongly implies that these are the prevailing narratives in the United Kingdom and/or are government policy, when there are numerous cases of leading politicians celebrating and speaking out positively about the enormous contributions that minorities have made to this countrys success, a spokesperson added.

Sarah Newton, the minister for vulnerability, safeguarding and countering extremism, said: We are clear that there is no excuse for hate crime against anyone of any nationality, ethnicity or religious background - it has no place whatsoever in our diverse society.

This commitment is underpinned by some of the strongest legislation in the world.
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The EU referendum seems to have led to a rise in "anti-foreigner" sentiment in the UK, a European human rights watchdog has claimed.

Levels of hate speech and racist violence were highlighted in an assessment by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance.

Its report said there continues to be"considerable intolerant political discourse focusing on immigration and contributing to an increase in xenophobic sentiment".

The commission said a particularly high number of violent racist incidents occurred in 2013, with a sharp rise in anti-Muslim violence.

Antisemitic incidents reached the highest level ever recorded in 2014, according to the body - which is part of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.

The report, which takes account of developments from 2009 to March this year, said online hate speech targeting Muslims in particular has soared since 2013.

Christian Ahlund, the chair of the watchdog, said: "It is no coincidence that racist violence is on the rise in the UK at the same time as we see worrying examples of intolerance and hate speech in the newspapers, online and even among politicians.

"The Brexit referendum seems to have led to a further rise in 'anti-foreigner' sentiment, making it even more important that the British authorities take the steps outlined in our report as a matter of priority."

Police figures showed a spike in hate crime reports in the weeks after the referendum in June. The number later dipped, but remained higher than 2015.

The report also said there are "significant gaps" between equality law in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland and pointed to the absence of a national strategy for the integration of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers in the UK.

A number of positive developments were cited in the study, however. The commission welcomed the entry into force of the Equality Act 2010, and said the UK has generally strong legislation against racism and racial discrimination.

The Government launched a new action plan to tackle hate crime in July.

Minister for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism Sarah Newton said: "We are clear that there is no excuse for hate crime against anyone of any nationality, ethnicity or religious background - it has no place whatsoever in our diverse society.

"This commitment is underpinned by some of the strongest legislation in the world.

"We welcome that the Commission has recognised the strength of our new hate crime action plan which will help reduce hate crime, increase reporting and improve support for victims."

PA
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Thousands of ex-Muslims in Britain are living in fear of violent revenge for abandoning the Islamic faith while others are afraid to admit they no longer believe, a support group for ex-Muslims has said.

Maryam Namazie, founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, described a tsunami of atheism in Muslim communities and urged that more needs to be done to recognise the dangers often faced by those who choose to renounce their faith.

Speaking ahead of the release of Exposure, an ITV documentary that explores the lives of ex-Muslims faced with abuse and discrimination, Ms Namazie told The Independent: There is a large group of people who are not seen and heard. Many young people living in Britain have left Islam and are facing huge ostracisation and isolation from their communities as a result.

Theyre very often silenced or theyre living closeted lives. Theyre still acting as Muslims, still wearing the veil and still going to the mosque, but theyre really atheist.

Ms Namazie, an Iranian-born activist and ex-Muslim herself, described the silent challenges faced by people born into Muslim families who decide they do not believe, and warned that the number of Muslims converting to atheism is growing.

Its a hidden challenge for people here in Britain. Its framed in this context of identity politics, racism and any criticism means youre racist. But we are minorities within minorities and we have a right to speak and live our lives the way we want the same as anybody else, she said.

Theres a tsunami of atheism in Muslim communities across the globe and in Britain. Its a time bomb that cant be seen but is exploding. There needs to be more recognition so people get the support they need.

Exposure, which will be be aired on 13 October, reveals the dangers ex-Muslims face after they renounce their faith, with many at risk of suicide or self-harm as well as physical and psychological abuse from family members.

The film features the work done by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, both in the UK and abroad. One ex-Muslim, Sadia, whose brother killed himself, tells the documentary-makers his death was partly due to the fact that he felt sidelined and misunderstood by his community all his life - one reason being his atheism.

She says: I feel like when you leave Islam, your intelligence gets attacked. They make you feel like youre stupid for making such a decision, which he felt like his entire life. Leaving Islam, becoming an ex-Muslim, all of a sudden you feel like youre dirty, and you become unimportant within the community.

Ms Namazie told The Independent the problem is exacerbated by the transnational Islamist movement, which has heightened tensions within Muslim communities, and warned distinctions must be made between leading Muslims and leaders of the Islamic movement operating within the UK.

She said: "There are international links with whats happening here. Ex-Muslims are being killed in Bangladesh, then youve got Islamists here threatening Bangladeshi bloggers who have fled to Britain.

We also need to recognise that many religious leaders in this country are not representative of the Muslim community but really representative of the Islamist movement that is encouraging this discrimination against ex-Muslims."

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, established in 2007, has grown in recent years. Last year it launched a Twitter campaign ahead of Human Rights Day under the hashtag #ExMuslimBecause, which went viral in 24 hours, with 120,000 people from 65 countries using it to express their experiences.

The organisation works with around 30 cases a week and has supported tens and thousands of people needing help and support in the nine years since it began.

Ms Namazie added: There are many cases where ex-Muslims have gone to the police and not received any support at all because the problems arent taken seriously. Were hoping this film will help people begin to see the complexity of the issue and the need for ex-Muslims to be treated like everyone else.
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A large Asian hornets' nest has been found in a tree in Gloucestershire, prompting concern from Government experts about the species' threat to bee populations.

The hive, which was located at the top of a 17-metre tree and is the size of a large pumpkin, has now been destroyed.

The Asian hornet is smaller than bees native to the UK and they pose a risk to honey bees.

Steps are being taken to locate, destroy and remove any nests that are found and experts have been deployed across the area.

Nicola Spence, Defra Deputy Director for Plant and Bee Health, said the new arrivals pose no greater risk to human health than bees already present in the UK.

We have been anticipating the arrival of the Asian hornet for some years and are implementing our well-established protocol to eradicate them and control their spread, Ms Spence said.

It is important to remember they pose no greater risk to human health than a bee, though we recognise the damage they can cause to honey bee colonies. Thats why we are taking swift and robust action to identify and destroy any nests.

A female Asian Hornet (Vespa Velutina) with its sting on (Getty)

We remain vigilant across the country, working closely with the National Bee Unit and their nationwide network of bee inspectors.

It comes after sightings of the Asian hornet in Somerset.

Tim Lovett, of the British Beekeepers Association, said the evidence suggests the invasion started a while ago.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters

"The finding of the Asian Hornet in a second location is cause for further concern. Whilst it is wrong to speculate, the substantial nature of the nest found in Gloucestershire and this new discovery suggests that the invasion started some time ago, Mr Lovett said.

All involved, bee inspectors, beekeepers and the public, should sharpen their alertness."

Inspectors from the National Bee Unit are monitoring the area and say no live hornets have been sighted since the nest was removed.
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With calendar-like predictability, 4 October marks the 434th anniversary of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.

The happy occasion has been celebrated with the release of a date-themed Google doodle.

The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar, and has been providing us with a dependable means of determining the date since its introduction back in 1582.

But why was it needed, and how does it differ from its predecessor  the Julian calendar?

We examine three facts about the Gregorian calendar that help explain its introduction.

Its only 11 minutes different from the Julian calendar

The Gregorian calendars predecessor, the Julian calendar, was a solar-based calendar introduced in 46BC during the reign of Julius Caesar. It featured 365 days and a leap year that added one day to February every four years  a system we are all familiar with today. So why did it need changing?

Under the Julian calendar the length of a year was 465 days and six hours. But over a thousand years after its introduction, the calendar had drifted, and was out of sync with equinoxes and solstices, meaning Easter, which is set by the Vernal equinox, was occurring later and later in the year.

The Gregorian calendar was introduced to fix this small error in date computation.

The existing Julian calendar was therefore refined, the result of which was to shorten the length of a year to 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds.

The change under the introduction of the Gregorian calendar meant that leap years continued occurring every four years, however, over a four hundred-year period, the number of leap years fell to 97 from 100.

This is managed by making some centurial years non-leap years, even though they fall four years after the last leap year.

The next non-leap year will be in 2100.

Google doodle in honour of the 434th anniversary of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar (Google)

It was named after Pope Gregory XIII

Pope Gregory XIII introduced the calendar, which was announced five years after calling for a solution to the drifting equinoxes.

Ten days were erased from history in 1582

With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, ten days were erased from time. The days between October 5 and October 14, 1582 have never existed.

In order to make the transition to the Gregorian alendar, the day after October 4, 1582 was declared October 15th, thereby resetting the drift that had built up since the Julian calendars introduction.

Early adopters

The system was first implemented in Italy, along with Spain and Portugal. The rest of Western Europe quickly followed suit, although Britain remained using the Julian calendar until 1752.

Turkey hung on until 1917 before moving the Gregorian system from the Islamic Hijri calendar.

Saudi Arabia switched to the Gregorian calendar this week

Saudi Arabia switched to the Gregorian calendar this week, just in time for the 434th anniversary celebrations.

The country had used the lunar-based Hijri Calendar since the Kingdom was founded in 1932, but has switched to the Gregorian calendar to pay civil servants.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA

The Islamic lunar calendar usually has a year of 354 days  11 days shorter than either the old Julian, or newer Gregorian calendars.

The move will mean Saudi civil servants will lo se 11 days of payment as salary days are cut. It is one of many belt-tightening measure announced as the country seeks to reduce its high budget deficit.
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A British Isis suspect has been charged with terrorist offences including concealing plans for a terror attack in a USB stick disguised as a cufflink.

Samata Ullah, 33, from Cardiff, was charged with six terrorism offences on Tuesday, which also included membership of Isis, carrying out terrorism training, and preparation for terrorism.

According to police, Mr Ullah had developed an encryption programme, which he had used to develop an encrypted blogging platform to enable and assist terrorist activity online.

He also had in his possession a USB cufflink that had a computer operating system loaded onto it which police said was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism.

Other charges include directing terrorist activities from 1 December 2015 up until his arrest on 22 September 2016.

When police arrested him, he also was found to own books about guided missile control.

The Metropolitan Police said Mr Ullahs arrest in the street in Cardiff was pre-planned and as a result of a pro-active investigation by the MPS Counter Terrorism Command which worked with the Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit.

Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Show all 9 1 /9 Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Policemen outside Rouen's cathedral during the funeral of Jacques Hamel, the priest who was killed in a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy on 26 July during a hostage-taking claimed by Islamic State group Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Two jihadists, both 19, slit Hamel's throat while he was celebrating mass in an attack that shocked France as well as the Catholic Church Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Muslims place flowers and hold a minute of silence in front of the church if Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, western France, where French priest Jacques Hamel was killed on 26 July Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Two people hold each other by the new makeshift memorial in Nice, in tribute to the victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack at the Promenade des Anglais Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the truck attack that killed 84 people in Nice on France's national holiday. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into a packed crowd of people in the Riviera city celebrating Bastille Day Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Police work at a site where a Syrian migrant set off an explosive device in Ansbach, southern Germany, on 25 July, killing himself and wounding a dozen others Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis A Syrian migrant set off an explosion at a bar in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded a dozen others in the third attack to hit Bavaria in a week. The 27-year-old, who had spent a stint in a psychiatric facility, had intended to target a music festival in the city of Ansbach but was turned away because he did not have a ticket Friebe/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Police officers walk along train tracks in Wuerzburg southern Germany on 19 July, a day after a man attacked train passengers with an axe. German authorities said they had found a hand-painted IS flag among the belongings of the man, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, who seriously injured four members of a family of tourists from Hong Kong in his rampage Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis German police killed a teenage assailant after he attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg, southerg Germany with an axe and a knife on 18 July, seriously wounding three people Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images

Mr Ullah will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning.
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More than three quarters of British workers have suffered in silence with mental health issues, a new report has claimed.

Seventy-seven per cent of employees have at experienced a mental health issue, research by charity Business in the Community said. And for 62 per cent of employees, their work has been a contributing factor to mental ill health.

While the majority of managers in the workplace acknowledge they have a responsibility for ensuring the wellbeing of staff, their organisations interests can prevent an effective response, according to the report.

It also found most middle managers were not resourced to properly respond to employees with mental health issues.

The analysis of 20,000 people found 49 per cent of people would not talk to their manager about a mental health issue. Of employees who did, 56 per cent reported that their employer did nothing significant to help.

It is not OK to discuss these things. It is regarded as the employees problem and their problem alone, said one respondent who worked as a line manager.

Another said: There is still a huge social stigma when it comes to mental health in a competitive environment, that is life. Why would you want to show any weakness?

In stark contrast to the number of workers prepared to talk to their bosses about mental health issues, 97 per cent of senior managers believed they were accessible if employees wanted to talk about mental health.

The worst jobs for your health Show all 10 1 /10 The worst jobs for your health The worst jobs for your health 10. Surgical and medical assistants, technologists, and technicians Overall unhealthiness score: 57.3 What they do: Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel and perform medical laboratory tests. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to disease and infections: 88 2. Exposure to contaminants: 80 3. Exposure to hazardous conditions: 69 The worst jobs for your health 9. Stationary engineers and boiler operators Overall unhealthiness score: 57.7 What they do: Operate or maintain stationary engines, boilers, or other mechanical equipment to provide utilities for buildings or industrial processes. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to contaminants: 99 2. Exposure to hazardous conditions: 89 3. Exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings: 84 The worst jobs for your health 8. Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators Overall unhealthiness score: 58.2 What they do: Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to contaminants: 97 2. Exposure to hazardous conditions: 80 3. Exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings: 74 The worst jobs for your health 7. Histotechnologists and histologic technicians Overall unhealthiness score: 59.0 What they do: Prepare histologic slides from tissue sections for microscopic examination and diagnosis by pathologists. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to hazardous conditions: 88 2. Exposure to contaminants: 76 3. Exposure to disease and infections: 75 The worst jobs for your health 6. Immigration and customs inspectors Overall unhealthiness score: 59.3 What they do: Investigate and inspect people, common carriers, goods, and merchandise, arriving in or departing from the US or between states to detect violations of immigration and customs laws and regulations. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to contaminants: 78 2. Exposure to disease and infections: 63 3. Exposure to radiation: 62 The worst jobs for your health 5. Podiatrists Overall unhealthiness score: 60.2 What they do: Diagnose and treat diseases and deformities of the human foot. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to disease and infections: 87 2. Exposure to radiation: 69 3. Exposure to contaminants: 67 The worst jobs for your health 4. Veterinarians, veterinary assistants, and laboratory animal caretakers and veterinary technologists and technicians What they do: Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals and perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to disease and infections: 81 2. Exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings: 75 3. Exposure to contaminants: 74 The worst jobs for your health 3. Anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, and anesthesiologist assistants Overall unhealthiness score: 62.3 What they do: Administer anesthetics or sedatives during medical procedures, and help patients in recovering from anesthesia. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to disease and infections: 94 2. Exposure to contaminants: 80 3. Exposure to radiation: 74 The worst jobs for your health 2. Flight attendants What they do: Provide personal services to ensure the safety, security, and comfort of airline passengers during flight. Greet passengers, verify tickets, explain use of safety equipment, and serve food or beverages. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to contaminants: 88 2. Exposure to disease and infections: 77 3. Exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings: 69 The worst jobs for your health 1. Dentists, dental surgeons, and dental assistants Overall unhealthiness score: 65.4 What they do: Examine, diagnose, and treat diseases, injuries, and malformations of teeth and gums. May treat diseases of nerve, pulp, and other dental tissues affecting oral hygiene and retention of teeth. May fit dental appliances or provide preventive care. Top three health risks: 1. Exposure to contaminants: 84 2. Exposure to disease and infections: 75 3. Time spent sitting: 67

However, 80 per cent of managers said organisational barriers prevented them from acting properly in regards to staff wellbeing and 63 per cent believed they were obliged to put the interests of their organisation above the wellbeing of team members.

Millions of employees are suffering in silence and feel unable to share their experiences at work. When they do reach out, many are met with an inadequate response, said Louise Aston, Wellbeing Director at Business in the Community.

Our findings show that we need more openness, more training and information, and more support for employees and managers.

 Royal mental health drive

Ms Aston expressed concern that the default response to employees with mental health complaints was offering time off or a job change, but said it this reaction was not best practice for the organisation or the worker.

She continued: It is good that mental wellbeing is on the radar for leaders and managers, but this is still not translating into the right workplace cultures or adequate support for employees experiencing poor mental health.

Employers must accept the scale of mental ill health in the workplace and start taking a preventative approach now. This means getting the work culture right in the first place so that they promote good work and work life-balance.

Progress will only happen when employers approach mental ill health as they would physical ill health  doing what they can to prevent ill health occurring or escalating, and ensuring proper support for employees when it happens. Employees must feel that the workplace is supportive of, rather than, detrimental to their mental health.

Business in the Community is advocating employers do more to talk about mental health in the workplace; train workers in identifying and treating mental health issues and to ask all staff about their experiences to identify weak points in the organisation.
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Amnesty International has accused the UK of shirking its responsibilities towards refugees and has called on the Home Secretary to rethink Britains response to the migrant crisis.

Ten countries, accounting for just 2.5 per cent of global GDP, are sheltering 56 per cent of the worlds 21 million refugees, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The rights group criticised the wealthiest countries for showing a near absence of leadership and responsibility while the refugee crisis escalates.

It said the UK hosts less than one per cent of the worlds refugees and called on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to rethink aspects of the UKs response, which it said were having a disastrous impact on refugees in the UK and abroad.

 More than 6,000 refugees saved and nine dead in single day of Mediterranean rescue missions

The report highlights the contrast in the number of refugees from Syria taken by its neighbours and by other countries with similar populations.

The UK has taken fewer than 8,000 Syrian refugees since the countrys civil war began in 2011, while Jordan, which has a population almost 10 times smaller than the UK and just 1.2 per cent of its GDP, hosts more than 655,000 Syrian refugees.

(Statista)

Jordan has taken more than 2.7 million refugees in total, followed by Turkey with 2.5 million, Pakistan 1.6 million, and Lebanon more than 1.5 million, as the chart by Statista shows.

The remaining six nations were Iran, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad.

Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The Solidarity With Refugees group said Saturdays protest aimed to show our Government and the world that Britain is ready to welcome more refugees. Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis People march through central London as they take part in a protest rally organised by Solidarity with Refugees in a bid to urge the Government to take more action on the migrant crisis Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The protest comes days before world leaders meet to discuss crisis at UN General Assembly Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Demonstrators made their way from Park Lane to Parliament Square in London on Saturday afternoon Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Marchers chanted refugees are welcome here and waved banners reading no-one is illegal and lets help people Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The march was supported by charities and groups including the Red Cross, Asylum Aid, Save the Children, Hope Not Hate, Oxfam and the UN Refugee Agency Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis In the wake of Alans death, David Cameron pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the coming five years but there have been additional calls to re-home those who have already reached Europe, as well as asylum seekers coming from other conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan Rex Features

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty UK, said: The new Home Secretary must reassess the disastrous impact the UKs refusal to share responsibility for refugees is having both domestically and internationally. The whole system needs a compassion overhaul.

Its disgraceful that the UK hosts less than one per cent of the worlds refugees when our size and prosperity mean we should do so much more. Desperate families are forced into the hands of traffickers precisely because countries like ours have pulled up the drawbridge. Smaller, poorer neighbouring countries are left to try and cope, and when they cant, more people are forced to try to move on, seeking a basic level of safety.

Amber Rudd should start by allowing refugees with relatives already in the UK to be reunited with each other here. Women, men and children are sleeping in tents in the mud across the world, desperate for any opportunity to join parents, siblings and other family in the UK.

Amnesty has called on all countries to take a fair proportion of the worlds refugees based on criteria such as wealth, population and unemployment.

The rights group singled out Canada, which has taken in nearly 30,000 Syrian refugees since November 2015, as an example of how countries can resettle large numbers of refugees.

A Government spokesperson said: We are committed to resettling vulnerable refugees directly from the region to ensure we target our help at those most in need, deterring people from attempting perilous journeys and preventing criminal gangs from profiting from human trafficking.

"We have committed to resettling 20,000 Syrian refugees through our Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme over the course of this parliament and we are on track to achieve this.

"We will also bring 3,000 individuals to the UK from the Middle East and North Africa over the same period under the Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme.

"This Government remains at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region, having pledged more than 2.3 billion in aid and providing nearly 70 million in response to the Mediterranean migration crisis.
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Amber Rudd has unveiled a wide-ranging clamp-down on migrants coming to the UK, with strict rules on foreign students as a key part.

Pledging to bring down the overall number of migrants, the Home Secretary said there had to be tougher regulation for students on lower quality courses and raised the prospect of English language tests for people coming to study here.

Under her plans, taxi drivers will have mandatory immigration checks, landlords could face jail if they let a flat to someone in the country illegally and more EU criminals would be deported.

She also announced 140m to help ease pressure on public services in areas experiencing high levels of immigration.

Addressing Conservative conference she said: I come here today with a warning to those that simply oppose any steps to reduce net migration.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

This government will not waver in its commitment to put the interests of the British people first.

Reducing net migration back down to sustainable levels will not be easy. But I am committed to delivering it on behalf of the British people."

She added that ministers will consider new tests to "ensure people coming here are filling gaps in the labour market, not taking jobs British people could do"

 Theresa May on immigration in conference speech

She assured universities she was committed to helping them attract the best students, but said the current system too often "treated every student and university as equal" and that the government would look at tougher rules for students on low quality courses.

Ms Rudd said: "Foreign students, even those studying English Language degrees, don't even have to be proficient in speaking English.

We need to look at whether this one-size-fits-all approach really is right for the hundreds of different universities, providing thousands of different courses across the country.

"And we need to look at whether this generous offer for all universities is really adding value to our economy. This isn't about pulling up the drawbridge. It's about making sure students that come here, come to study."

 Who is Amber Rudd

She said that from December landlords knowingly renting to illegal immigrants could go to prison, people wanting to get a licence to drive a taxi will have a mandatory immigration check and banks will have to make regular checks to ensure customers are here legally.

Addressing crime, she said: We will make it easier to deport EU criminals, aligning their fortunes more closely with those from outside the EU.

And going one step further, for the first time, we will deport EU nationals that repeatedly commit so called minor crimes in this country.

So-called minor crime, is still crime, Its pain is still felt deeply by victims.
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Soldiers could be shielded from legal action brought under the European Court of Human Rights in future conflicts, in a bid to protect troops from vexatious court claims.

Ministers argue the step is needed because ECHR judgments in recent years have over-extended the courts jurisdiction, making action against troops fighting in conflict zones too easy.

Under the proposals, while British soldiers would be protected from action using ECHR law, they would still be subject to International Humanitarian Law, including the Geneva conventions and UK criminal law.

The announcement follows the closure of Public Interest Lawyers, the firm responsible for filing thousands of claims against the armed forces.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the move is necessary to ensure those who serve on the frontline will have our support when they come home.

She said: We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts.

Defence officials said that over the past decade a series of court judgments had extended the jurisdiction of the European Convention on Human Rights to the battlefield.

Claims that ECHR rights have been breached drive much of the litigation that the Ministry of Defence faces. Since 2004 the MOD has spent over 100 million on Iraq-related investigations, inquiries and compensation.

Under the new plan the UK would derogate from the ECHR for the duration of a conflict, something the court allows, having assessed the circumstances that exist at that time.

 Iraq: First families return to Fallujah after fleeing ISIL

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon claimed the countrys legal system had been abused to level false charges against troops on an industrial scale.

He added: It has caused significant distress to people who risked their lives to protect us, it has cost the taxpayer millions and there is a real risk it will stop our armed forces doing their job.

This change is an important step towards putting that right.

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team was set up by the government to review and investigate allegations of abuse by Iraqi civilians relating to UK armed forces personnel in Iraq during the period of 2003 to July 2009.

It was investigating almost 1,500 cases of mistreatment and unlawful killings brought by Iraqis during the eight-year conflict.

But the number was set to drop to around 250 due to the collapse of law firm Public Interest Lawyers, which closed last month amid allegations of misconduct and claims many of the cases lacked evidence.
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Private housing developers should build homes with smaller rooms that do not meet existing minimum space standards so that young people can afford to buy them, the housing minister has said.

Gavin Barwell told the Conservative conference in Birmingham that he wanted the private sector to innovate to solve the housing crisis and that relaxing the rules on how cramped a flat can be might stop young people from being priced out.

The minister said that although most people given the choice would like to live in a reasonably sized home, this might not be possible for young people.

Recommended Read more Tory homes minister says building social housing increases inequality

We also want people to innovate  there are things the private sector is doing, Mr Barwell told a fringe event.

I dont know if anyones seen any of the schemes that Pocket housing [Pocket Living] have done where theyve basically done a deal with the GLA [Greater London Authority] to get some flexibility on space standards. As a result they can offer a product well below market price.

Now look: most people, given the choice, would like to live in a nice big home. But I think for many young people  if I was 22 today, I would rather have the chance to own that than be priced out.

Britain already builds the smallest homes in Europe with an average 500sq ft per one-bedroom flat  around the same size as a London Underground carriage. Flats built by Pocket, the developer cited by Mr Barwell, are 400sq ft and sell for just under a quarter of a million pounds.

Housing minister Gavin Barwell

The average new home built in Denmark is nearly twice as big as the average new home in the UK; those in Germany are around 50 per cent as big, according to one 2014 study by academics at the University of Cambridge.

The Royal Institute of British Architects says more than half of new homes being built are too small for families to live in and has called for stricter minimum space standards to be embedded in nationwide building regulations.

In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties A "cosy" flat in an upmarket area of west London is available to rent for a reasonable 520 a month, provided the tenant doesnt mind showering under the bed In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties Located on Castletown Road, the advertisement on Zoopla boasts: "A cosy, single studio located in the heart of Londons fashionable and up-market area of West Kensington, this compact mezzanine includes not only a fully furnished living area including table, chair, wardrobe and chest of draws [sic] but also a personal shower and kitchenette complete with storage" In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties The property is recommended for "students, working professionals and those looking for a thriving London life at an affordable rate" Rightmove In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties A studio flat for rent in Kember Street, north London was advertised for 737-a-month Rightmove In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties The 'well-used' kitchen of a flat in Hoxton, which was on the market for 997 per month Zoopla In pictures: Tiny London flats to rent London properties For only 125 per week you could be the lucky owner of this single studio flat, complete with shower and kitchenette, located between Barons Court and West Kensington Zoopla

Tiny rabbit-hutch new-builds should be a thing of the past. But sadly our research shows that for many people, a new home means living somewhere thats been built well below the minimum space standard needed for a comfortable home, Jane Duncan, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said late last year.

We urgently need new homes, but building small homes or cutting corners when converting office buildings to flats is short-sighted and fails the people these new homes are meant to serve. The Government must take action to ensure a fairer minimum space standard is applied to all new homes across the country.

At the fringe event on Tuesday the Conservative minister Mr Barwell also rubbished Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns policy of building a million homes, half of which are planned to be council homes. He said that building more council housing amounted to the denial of peoples ambitions and dreams.

Earlier at the conference Mr Barwell claimed that Mr Corbyns plan to build the homes would increase inequality because it would lead to some people owning homes and others not.
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Junior doctors could be fined if they move abroad soon after finishing their training, under controversial plans to tackle the NHS recruitment crisis to be unveiled today.

Jeremy Hunt will risk a fresh clash with the medical profession by vowing to punish new recruits who flee the UK for countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The Health Secretary  who will announce a 100m plan to train an extra 1,500 doctors a year  will demand greater loyalty to the health service in return.

Those recruits will be required to work for the NHS for at least four years after graduation, or be forced to repay some of the 220,000 bill for their training.

Recommended Read more Junior doctors lose high court challenge

A source told The Independent: We are announcing a commitment to fund many more home-grown doctors. What we want is for them to guarantee us a period of service in the NHS in return.

Its people who are trained at the taxpayers expense and then very quickly move abroad  thats what we are trying to disincentivise.

It costs 200,000 to train every doctor, so we think its reasonable to expect that the NHS will benefit from that investment.

But the move was immediately criticised by the British Medical Association (BMA), which said Mr Hunt should tackle the underlying reasons for doctors opting to move abroad, or to quit.

 Theresa May accuses junior doctors of 'playing politics'

They were longstanding chronic staff shortages, particularly in emergency medicine and general practice, fuelled by the anger provoked by the imposition of the new junior doctors contract.

Dr Mark Porter, the BMAs council chair, said: The Government must tackle the root causes of this workforce crisis and the reasons why so many UK-trained doctors are considering leaving the NHS, rather than forcing doctors to stay in the health service.

Demotivated, burnt-out doctors who dont want to be in their jobs will not be good for patients.

And the Nuffield Trust, an independent health charity, also suggested Mr Hunt should be addressing the morale problem in the NHS.

Nigel Edwards, its chief executive, said: We need to be looking closely at why we are losing skilled doctors to other countries, rather than compelling them to stay.

Up to 5,000 doctors are believed to leave the UK every year, attracted by much-higher pay, a lower cost of living  and no out-of-hours work, in some cases.

The Department of Health will consult on exactly how to punish newly graduated doctors who emigrate in future, but the model will be the existing return of service commitment in the armed forces.

Fighter pilots, who each cost around 4m to train, must serve for 12 years before they can buy themselves out and take up lucrative private-sector posts.

It is unlikely that new doctors will be forced to work four consecutive years in the NHS, to avoid trapping part-time staff  or those who opt for charitable work overseas.

In his conference speech, Mr Hunt will announce his intention to scrap the current 6,000-a-year cap on students at medical schools, with extra places available from the 2018-19 academic year.

That cap currently forces universities to turn away half of applicants, he will say  at a time when hospitals expect to have to look after one million more over-75s within the next five years.

The idea is to end the UKs reliance on doctors from overseas. One in four of the medical workforce has moved to this country  often taken from developing countries who need them.

Mr Hunt is also determined to reduce the NHSs use of expensive agency staff, after hospitals ran up a 3.3bn annual bill, including 1.2bn on medical locums.

He will tell the Conservative Party conference: We need to prepare the NHS for the future, which means doing something we have never done properly before: training enough doctors.

Currently a quarter of our doctors come from overseas. They do a fantastic job and we have been clear that we want EU nationals who are already here to be able to stay post-Brexit.

But is it right to import doctors from poorer countries that need them, whilst turning away bright home graduates desperate to study medicine?

Mr Hunt will acknowledge it will take several years to fully train the new doctors, but will set a target to make the NHS self-sufficient by 2025.

But Diane Abbott, shadow Health Secretary, said that target was nonsense, with the NHS in a perilous state and facing demands for huge efficiency savings.

She said: The reality is that Hunt has lost the trust of the medical profession and is the least popular health minister in recent history.

Morale amongst NHS staff is at rock bottom and Hunt has shown once again just how little regard he has for the hard-working people that keep our health service running.
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Immigrants who come to Britain and consume its wealth are not welcome, the International Trade Secretary has said.

Liam Fox said Britains exit from the EU did not mean immigration would be reduced to zero, but that people who arrived without ever having created anything would be penalised.

Its utterly untrue to suggest that that makes us more inward looking. What weve said is we want control of our own immigration, he told a fringe event at Tory conference in Birmingham.

 Amber Rudd launches immigration crackdown

Recommended Read more Amber Rudd launches immigration crackdown targeting students

If you ask the British people what they think in general about immigration they would say people who come to our country, who contribute wealth to our country are welcome.

People who come to the country and consume the wealth of the country without ever having created anything are a different kettle of fish. I think its about getting control of migration.

Mr Foxs comments were in marked contrast to those of his Tory MP colleague Anna Soubry, who was speaking at another fringe event at the same time. She said it was politicians responsibility to counter, rather than fuel anti-immigrant feeling when it arose.

While Mr Fox spoke, Ms Soubry told the other event that politicians had so far failed to make a positive case on the issue.

The comments come just hours after Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced a huge crackdown on overseas students coming to Britain to study. Im passionately committed to making sure our world-leading institutions can attract the brightest and the best, she said in a speech to conference.

But a student immigration system that treats every student and university as equal, only punishes those we should want to help.

Other announced measures include a controlling migration fund to ease pressures on public services and new restrictions on recruiting employees from abroad.

A study by the London School of Economics published earlier this year found that EU immigration had no negative impact on British wages, jobs or public services. That research echoed the findings of countless other studies on the issue.

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

The Government has yet to set out any particular vision for what immigration policy might look like after Brexit, though it has said it wants to end the status quo of freedom of movement.

Cabinet ministers suggested that financial sector and construction sector workers will be unaffected by any new changes to the rules.

The Government has ruled out introducing a points-based immigration system similar to the one used in Australia, as proposed by Vote Leave during the EU referendum campaign.
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Day three. Brexit still means Brexit and were not going to get a running commentary on it, so youve just got to get on with things. First up was Welsh Secretary Andrew RT Davies, who told the conference hall with all his sonorous Welsh might that he was going to make a success of breakfast and they quite rightly broke into applause. These are testing times.

Anyway, its three days since Theresa May baptised this new sovereign and independent nation, liberated from the undemocratic yolk of Brussels, which was as good a time as any to hear a whole range of brand new policies from a whole range of brand new ministers in our brand new Government that nobodys voted for.

Political journalists have been struggling for months with the difficulties of life under a Prime Minister that shares her name with the modal verb of choice for not actually knowing what youre talking about. The May Government may need a new name. I suggest, for ease of purpose, this new Government, made up of people youve never heard of who wont tell you what theyre doing, simply be called the EU government.

Its easy once you get going. The EUs bringing back grammar schools. The EUs repatriating NHS doctors. The EUs telling students to go home. Its almost comforting, isnt it? You only run into trouble when you have to say the EUs leaving the EU, but dont worry, because they will make a success of it.

In any event, it's always soothing to hear from Beijing-pork-market-opener-in-chief Liz Truss, who was on just before everyone went off to make a success of their lunch. Shes Justice Secretary these days, the third consecutive Conservative to hold the highest legal office in the land without holding any legal qualifications. Ungenerous judges might suggest such a state of affairs is a disgrace. In fact, ungenerous judges have done.

Newly liberated from cheese-induced rage, Ms Truss talked big on breaking the cycle of reoffending in the criminal justice system. The evidence presented was stark.

Every year she comes to conference and delivers a frankly unsettling speech, switching in to a curious staccato growl at the end of every third paragraph.

If you can recall that moment in the first Lord of the Rings film, when kindly old Bilbo Baggins sees the ring and his face suddenly flashes like a half starved lion thats caught sight of a T-bone steak, then youll also be able to detect the moment at which Liz Truss is getting. to. the. bit. you. are. meant. to. clap. at. Trouble is, not everyones seen that film.

Still, even with a track record as serious as this, she returns to reoffend year on year, each time somehow in possession of an even more serious job, an even grander department to manage. This, she knows, has to end.

In her defence, she does have clear ideas on how to do it.

Now, apparently, as if there werent enough going on already, is a great opportunity to reform our country too, and use all of the talents we have.

Only one in seven QCs is a woman, we were told. Only one in 10 judges is from an ethnic minority.

And one in one Lord Chancellors hasnt even got a law degree, but on this evidence, that looks certain to change. (That. is. a...)

We will ensure merit wins out, she continued. Open up the justice system. A justice system of all the talents. A justice. system. that. works. for. EVERYONE.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd was next, and for those determined to do us harm, there were mixed messages. She is going to make it far harder for foreign criminals to enter the UK.

But if only these foreign criminals could just make it over here, not 10 minutes ago theyd been promised successful rehalibitation, meaningful jobs, living with dignity in brand new modern prisons.

Here is British justice, Ms Truss had said. The best in the world. Five minutes earlier, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon had told us we had the best armed forces in the world, so good in fact, he was derogating them out of the European Convention on Human Rights for offences committed on the battlefield. The Best Armed Forces In The World and The Best Justice System In The World, just so long as the two never meet.

This went on, in total, for six hours, before Education Secretary Justine Greening built to her closing crescendo: The Conservatives are going to level Britain!

Weve known that for months. They just wont give us a running commentary on it.
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The father of an army recruit who died at Deepcut Barracks has slammed a plan to give soldiers protection from human rights legal action.

Des James claimed it will make it far harder for military families to hold the government to account and easier for the Ministry of Defence to cover up future failings.

He said the European Court of Human Rights had proved critical in his battle to secure an inquest for his daughter, years after she was found dead at Deepcut.

Recommended Read more British troops to be made exempt from European human rights laws

The government announced today it would detach itself from the ECHR during future operations, giving soldiers in conflict zones protection from vexatious claims pursued by lawyers.

But Mr James said: Politicians have vilified lawyers and now call for the armed forces to be exempt from human rights laws when overseas.

The government has a short memory. It is ignoring the many servicemen and women and their families, like mine, who have used the ECHR to hold the Ministry of Defence to account when it has failed to meet the standards we rightly expect and deserve, often with shattering consequences.

He said the ECHR is an essential protection for military families seeking the truth when the government is trying to cover up its failings at any cost.

His daughter Cheryl was 18 and undergoing initial training when she was found dead at Deepcut with a bullet wound in November 1995. Surrey Police allowed the Army to take over the investigation, with the original inquest into her death lasting just an hour.

 Deepcut death declared suicide

After fighting with the campaign group Liberty for many years they used ECHR law to force Surrey Police to release evidence concerning their daughters death, something that allowed for a new inquest.

Mr James added: [The ECHR] was the tool that let me force authorities to release evidence that secured the wide-ranging inquest into the death of my daughter Cheryl at Deepcut Barracks.

Our troops need human rights protections just as much as everyone else. We must not let politicians scrap legislation that has proved so crucial for so many people.

Under the proposals announced Tuesday, the British government would disconnect itself from the ECHR during future conflicts, something the court allows.

While soldiers would be protected from action using ECHR law, they would still be subject to International Humanitarian Law, including the Geneva conventions and UK criminal law.

The announcement follows the closure of Public Interest Lawyers, the firm responsible for filing thousands of cases against the armed forces. It shut down amid allegations of misconduct and claims that many cases, some based on ECHR law, lacked evidence.

 Ex-Deepcut soldier interview

The MoD says ECHR based claims drive much of the litigation it faces, costing the department more than 100m on Iraq-related investigations, inquiries and compensation.

But Liberty director Martha Spurrier said: The government cannot be allowed to leave its human rights commitments at our borders. Doing so will leave abuse victims unprotected and our troops powerless when the state fails to keep them safe from harm.

The Convention on Human Rights isnt just a document whose origins lie in the brutal lessons of 20th century wars. It is directly relevant today. Our government has a duty not only to implement it during its own military operations, but to uphold its standards as an example to others, both friends and foes.

She claimed the MoD was robbing soldiers of protection against abuses by their employer, in order to save it from the shame of having to admit that civilians suffered abuse on its watch.

Speaking to LBC radio, Theresa May said: It is absolutely right that if there are credible allegations of criminal behaviour, those should be investigated.

But whats happened in recent years is weve seen this whole industry grow up, of human rights lawyers who seem to be sort of chasing after cases in order to bring these vexatious claims against our troops. Thats worrying for our troops. I think we should do something about it, and thats what were talking about today.
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Theresa May is facing growing criticism after refusing to confirm that foreign-born doctors will be allowed to stay in the country when they are no longer needed.

The Prime Minister came under fire after suggesting on television that doctors from overseas would be in the UK until the NHS has trained enough home-grown recruits.

In a later interview, Ms May failed  despite being asked three times  to clear up the confusion, pointing instead to her desire to see more British doctors being trained saying it would be up to hospitals who they employed.

Recommended Read more Hunt plans to fine doctors who move abroad after training

It came after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had already announced plans to train up to 1,500 more doctors a year to end the NHSs reliance on foreign staff by 2025.

Ms May was first asked on BBC Breakfast: Can you reassure those doctors, nurses, other staff working in the NHS from overseas they are welcome to stay here in that interim period?

She replied: Yes. There will be staff here from overseas in that interim period until the further number of British doctors are able to be trained and come on board in terms of being able to work in our hospitals.

Then in the later interview after being repeatedly asked if foreign doctors could be told to go home, she said: This is about ensuring that we have more British doctors trained so that they can take places in the NHS.

It will be for hospitals to decide who they employ in terms of the openings they have.

Currently for people from outside the EU, the right to remain in the UK is normally dependent on having a work permit, Government sources confirmed.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, accused the Prime Minister of leaving foreign doctors in limbo with an approach that threatens their job.

He said: This is an insult to the hard threatens their job working medical professionals who have worked tirelessly in our NHS for years.

At a time when the NHS is already suffering staff shortages and low morale, it is beyond belief that people who claim to care about our health service would contemplate saying these stupid things.

Scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: The arrogance of this from UKG is breathtaking...like they're somehow doing these doctors a favour by 'allowing' them to save lives here.

Mr Hunt had already been criticised after proposing to fine junior doctors if they move abroad soon after finishing their training, to reimburse the taxpayers investment in them.

Under the plans, medics would be required to work for the NHS for at least four years after graduation, or be forced to repay some of the 220,000 bill for their training.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said Mr Hunt should tackle the underlying reasons for doctors opting to move abroad, rather than forcing doctors to stay in the health service.

In his conference speech, Mr Hunt said the current 6,000-a-year cap on students at medical schools would be scrapped, with extra places available from the 2018-19 academic year.

One in four of the medical workforce has moved to this country  often taken from developing countries who need them, he said.

Mr Hunt heaped praise on fantastic job performed by foreign-born doctors, but set a target to make the NHS self-sufficient by 2025.
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A senior Muslim Brotherhood leader has been killed by Egyptian security forces in a gun battle.

Egyptian state media reported that 61-year-old Mohammed Kamal, a doctor by profession, died in a shootout at an apartment in Cairo overnight on Monday along with Yasser Shahata Ali Ragab, another prominent member of the group.

The Egyptian authorities said they raided the apartment in Bassateen after a tip off it was used as a Muslim Brotherhood headquarters. Police said weapons and munitions were confiscated at the scene.

Kamal was a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the transnational Sunni Islamic political movement, which has been outlawed in Egypt since Egyptian President and former head of the armed forces Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew democratically-elected Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members and other government opponents have been sentenced to death without fair trials since, rights groups claim.

A statement from the Egyptian interior ministry said that Mr Kamal was wanted in connection with a dozen armed attacks, including an explosion at a police station, and the June 2015 murder of Egypt's chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat  the first assassination of a top Egyptian official in 25 years. The government had earlier implicated the Palestinian militant Hamas group, accusing it of training in the Gaza Strip individuals who carried out the assassination. Hamas has denied the accusation.

The statement additionally said Kamal was behind the failed assassination of Egypts former mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, in Cairo in August. A lesser-known militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

Egypt's leaders struggle to regain control Show all 2 1 /2 Egypt's leaders struggle to regain control Egypt's leaders struggle to regain control 548021.bin Reuters Egypt's leaders struggle to regain control 547641.bin

Mr Kamal led several armed wings of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian authorities said, although the organisation maintains it only uses peaceful means of protest. He had already been sentenced to life in prison in absentia.

A Brotherhood statement posted on its official website shortly after reports of the shootout emerged contradicted the authorities, saying that Kamal had been arrested and taken into custody alive and police were responsible for his wellbeing.

Earlier, Ragab, the second Brotherhood member reportedly killed on Monday night, had been sentenced in absentia to 10 years imprisonment for assault and kidnapping.

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest Islamist political party in the region and has long formed the largest opposition bloc to the Egyptian government. Brotherhood politician Mohamed Morsi was elected as president in 2012 following the Egypts Arab Spring revolution in 2011 which swept autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Sisis consolidation of power has included a crackdown on opposition to the government, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
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A Kenyan man has been arrested after he allegedly admitted on Facebook to having had sex with a schoolgirl under the age of 10.

Kelvin Alfayo wrote a status on the social network boasting of having had sex in the bush with a standard four girl, referring to her year group at school, and posting pictures of the victim.

One of the pictures reportedly showed the child being forced to lift up her shirt for Alfayo, and officers announced they plan to investigate his comments.

The 26-year-old quickly deleted the post but was detained by police after going into hiding in western Bomet County in the south of the country, according to BBC News.

A police spokesman said officers were still attempting to identify the victim involved in the allegations.

Reports of the alleged crime quickly trended on Twitter in Kenya, with users demanding Alfayo be locked away for life if the alleged assault was found to have been committed.

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

Alfayo is due to appear in court on Wednesday, and the case is the latest in a series of high-profile paedophilia crimes committed in Kenya.

Last month, a member of staff from the Kenya Airports Authority was suspended after he allegedly posted offensive messages on Facebook glorifying sex with underage girls.

Ken Wa Mwangi claimed to be joking when he posted the incriminating status, and later apologised for his actions. But he has now been placed under investigation by local police.
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South African police have fired rubber bullets and set off stun grenades and teargas to disperse student protesters amid nationwide demonstrations over high tuition fees.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Johannesburgs Wits University before officers moved in to enforce a ban on public gatherings.

Many students performed the toyi-toyi protest dance, made popular during the struggle against oppressive white rule in South Africa and some retaliated against officers by throwing rocks at police cars.

Police fire rubber bullets on student protesters at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand (Reuters)

At least two were arrested when police moved in to enforce a court order on public gathering at Wits, whose full name is the University of the Witwatersrand.

The square in front of the main hall on campus was strewn with spent shotgun shells and rocks after several skirmishes between police and protesters.

Wits is Ours, read a banner held up by protesters who accused police of confronting them first. They pulled up paving stones and broke them into pieces, hurling the debris at officers.

A police woman in riot gear hobbling from the scene with assistance from her colleagues told Reuters she had been hit in the leg with a stone thrown by protesters.

Adam Habib, the university's vice-chancellor, had said police and private security guards would be present to help take back our campus on behalf of staff and students who wanted to return to class. Spokeswoman Shirona Patel said the university had reopened on Monday but claimed that some lecturers had been forced out of their offices by students. On Tuesday, the main campus was disrupted, but classes proceeded on other Wits campuses.

Following yesterday's harassment of our staff, we have no choice but to deploy police around campus, Ms Patel added.

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

Demonstrations over the cost of university education, which is prohibitive for many black students, have highlighted frustration at enduring inequalities in Africas most industrialised country more than two decades after the end of Apartheid, there is also the belief among demonstrators that universities and other institutions were not adequately transformed to benefit the black majority after the end of white minority rule in 1994.

We're all angry, said Nkululeko Tselane, a law student. He described university warnings that the protests might force the cancellation of the academic year as a scare tactic and vowed that demonstrations would continue.

I am not sure free education is feasible. And I am worried about attacks on other students. It's inflicting fear in other students. It's not right, one final year law student told Reuters. who was not taking part in the protest but did not want to give his name.

Protests also continued at the University of Cape Town and two students were also arrested after protesters tried to block entrances and disrupt lectures. However, Max Price, the vice-chancellor said most operations proceeded at the university.

The protests first erupted last year, then subsided as the government froze fee increases and set up a commission to look into the education funding system.

The unrest boiled over again, closing some classes and universities, when the commission said on 19 September that fees would continue to rise, albeit with an 8 per cent cap in 2017.

University administrators across South Africa have warned that any further fee freezes could damage their academic programmes.

President Jacob Zuma said the protests have caused about 605m rand (35m) in property damage and threaten to sabotage the countrys higher education system.

Additional reporting by agencies
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With parts of the country gripped by sightings - real or imagined - of so-called creepy clowns, a teenager in Virginia allegedly reached out to such a clown and asked it to kill her school teacher.

A 13-year-old-girl in Hampton, near the city of Newport, contacted an individual on social media who was using a clown image as their profile picture, as well as their alias. Police said the teenager then asked the person to kill a teacher at Davis Middle School.

CBS said police received an emergency call on Sunday evening about a threat being made on social media. They subsequently arrested the girl and charged her with threatening to kill by an electronic message.

Officials at the school have issued a statement to say they are aware of the threat

She is still being held in police custody. Police said they contacted the teacher who was the subject of the threat and ensured she had not been harmed. Police said there was no evidence at this time indicating threats had been made against anyone else and have said they will increase security at the school.

In a statement, the school said: "In an effort to share accurate information, I would like to provide you with the following facts. Last night, a Davis Middle School student was arrested for making a threat on social media against one of our teachers. No one has been harmed, and the student is in a secured detention facility. At this time, there is no evidence to indicate a threat against others."

With Halloween just weeks ago, cities across the country have reported sightings of people dressed up as clowns, scaring people and resulting in officers being dispatched.

In one of the most recent incidents, hundreds of students at Pennsylvania State University ran against the campus late on Monday night after reports that clowns had been spotted on the campus grounds.

There were reports that police shut down some streets because of clown sightings and people said part of the campus was on lock down.
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When the British freighter Lutzen ran aground off the coast of Cape Cod in 1939, it was bound for New York with a cargo of blueberries. One member of the ships crew was killed, but the fruit it was carrying was frozen, and much of it found its way into dishes cooked by locals hired to unload the vessel.

Now, 77 years later, marine surveyors say the lost lost 339-ton ship has emerged again and is sitting in shallow water about 400 feet offshore from the town of Orleans.

It is slowly emerging, marine surveyor John Perry Fish told the Cape Cod Times.

Mr Fish conducted the sonar mapping on September 26 in conjunction with the state Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources.

Shipwreck historian William Quinn wrote in 1973 that the 339-ton Lutzen grounded in a fog en route to New York City from Saint John, New Brunswick. Much of the blueberry cargo was unloaded, but because it was frozen it ended up in Cape Cod pies.

The Orleans Historical Society has researched the history of the wreck (Wikipedia)

The 155-foot freighter sat on the beach for a few days while some attempts were made to pull her off, but a northeast storm tossed her high and dry on the sands, so some local laborers were hired at 75 cents an hour to unload the cargo of blueberries from the ship, the late Mr Quinn wrote in his 1973 book Shipwrecks Around Cape Cod.

The next day, the tide tipped the Lutzen over, and any thoughts of salvage were abandoned, he wrote. Local people had to move quick to salvage he cargo.

The ship was carrying a cargo of blueberries (Orleans Historical Society)

The well-being of frozen goods depends a great deal upon the temperature. A warm spell set in and half the cargo was lost to thawing. Many of the berries ended up in Outer Cape blueberry pies.

One contemporary account recalls a glut of the fruit. In an oral history interview conducted by the Orleans Historical Society in 1977, Lewis Eldredge, who was aged 23 in 1939, had visited Nauset Beach to see what all the fuzz was about.

A fellow asked me if I wanted a box of blueberries, Mr Eldredge recalled. Well, I thought I was getting a little quart of blueberries. Lord, he brought it must have had 20 quarts or more.

The newspaper said the British ship is one of 3,500 wrecks recorded along the Massachusetts coast.

The Lutzen was reportedly built as part of a fleet of six trawlers by the Canadian Car and Foundry Company for the French navy to act as minesweepers in the English Channel during World War I. After the war, it was converted to private shipping use.
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Canada is to introduce a tax on carbon emissions from 2018 to help it meet a commitment to the targets set by the Paris climate agreement, Justin Trudeau has said.

Canada is on the cusp of ratifying the accord to limit climate change. The House of Commons is expected vote the accord through on Wednesday  the same time as the European Union formally endorses the deal.

There is no hiding from climate change, the Prime Minister said, It is real and it is everywhere. We cannot undo the last 10 years of inaction.

What we can do is make a real and honest effort  today and every day  to protect the health of our environment, and with it, the health of all Canadians.

Mr Trudeau called for an initial levy of $10 (6) per tonne of emissions by 2018 that would rise annually until it reached $50 (30) a tonne by 2022.

A province will be able to opt out of a carbon tax and assume a cap-and-trade system instead  but only if could show the plan would reduce emissions even more than the levy would.

Carbon tax has long been a contentious issue between Canadian provinces. Resource-rich regions argue for greater flexibility while others demand more recognition from the government for enforcing stricter rules.

Whether the province opts for a carbon cap scheme or for the suggested levies, all Canadian provinces will be required to contribute towards Canada's commitment to greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. This is measured as a reduction from from 2005 levels.

Although some analysts have lauded the target, others have dismissed the aim as inadequate. Many expected Mr Trudeaus government to tighten the Paris commitment put forward by the previous Conservative government - led by Stephen Harper - last year.

If we persist with Harper-era greenhouse gas targets that are among the weakest in the industrialised world, we will fail to ensure Canada does its part in holding the global average temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, Canadian Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said in a statement. This is not a theory  its basic math.

Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 1 /25 Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Climate change protests around the world A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters Climate change protests around the world People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP Climate change protests around the world Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland Climate change protests around the world Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaia, Yemen Climate change protests around the world Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece Climate change protests around the world A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA

Environmentalists have also long-criticised the Canada for advocating for its oil sands industry.

Yet Mr Trudeau has made improving Canadas climate track record a hallmark of his first year in office  and the carbon tax could help him to fulfill that expectation.

It is not without opposition. The environment ministers of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan staged a walkout from a meeting with their federal counterparts in Montreal on Monday to protest the announcement.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said in a statement that the level of disrespect shown by the prime minister and his government today is stunning. He said the plan was one of the largest national tax increases in Canadian history.
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A town in Pennsylvania is calling for their mayor to step down as he continues to post racist memes on Facebook.

Charles Wasko, the Republican mayor of West York, has received waves of criticism after sharing incendiary memes, including one that suggests President Barack Obama should be lynched. He also shared an image depicting the First Family as a group of orangutans.

We will send a message to the mayor that his legislative body rebukes him in every way, council president Shawn Mauck told reporters. He has embarrassed all of us. Not just this table but everyone in this room. Everyone in West York. Everyone in York County, everyone in this Commonwealth.

Councilwoman Shelley Metzler recently said that Mr Wasko should step down from his position. I would punch him in the mouth if I could get away with it, she told The York Daily Record. This man needs to resign.

Council President Shawn Mauck also seemed to be appalled by Mr Waskos social media presence. I almost dont know what to say, he told The York Dispatch. I kind of want to throw up.

Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Show all 8 1 /8 Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook Pennsylvania mayor posts racists memes on Facebook Charles Wasko/Facebook

Residents in the community called for Mr Wasko be kicked out of office at several meetings and council voted to censure him on Monday night.

We also voted to approve expending any legal means to get him out of office, Mr Mauck told The Washington Post. If were able to draft articles of impeachment, well be ready and well-situated to participate in that.

The mayor currently has oversight into the communitys police department, and councilman Brian Wilson says an elected official cannot be trusted to hold his position.

With those types of thoughts in your mind, how can you oversee the police department? he asked the local paper. We cant have anybody being racist or bigoted especially an elected official.

Despite the outcry from the community, Mr Wasko has remained unapologetic.

I will not be politically correct, I say what is on my mind and what I believe in, I say what people think but are afraid to upset the liberal media and crooked politicians, he wrote on Facebook last week.

There will be more to come from me. when I ran for this position I told the residents that I will work with council but I won't put up with and wrong doings I will let residents know what they really do, and the bomb is ready to drop on Mauck and Wilson
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After a damning document leak suggesting Donald Trump may not have paid any federal tax for almost two decades, examples have surfaced of the tycoon criticising others for not paying their fair share.

The publication of the Republican nominee's 1995 tax return has shaken his campaign for President to the core  just weeks before the US election on 8 November.

While Mr Trump's allies have called his apparent ability to exploit a tax loophole "genius", others have been less than impressed - and the polls have reflected this.

And now many of the billionaire's past pronouncement's about tax have resurfaced. Among the many people to incur his wrath is Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co-founder of Facebook:

Mr Trump is keen for everyone to know he has paid a lot of tax:

A lot more of it than you do:

In fact, he has criticised half the population:

And has accused Mitt Romney of embarrassing himself:

Barack Obama apparently set a bad example by not paying enough of it:

He also thinks he wasted a lot of it:

Amazon is only succeeding because it does not pay its fair share of it:

Very rich people should pay more of it:

Ms Clinton's campaign seized on the report that showed losses Mr Trump made the "colossal" loss of $916 million in 1995, calling it a "bombshell".

According to tax experts, Mr Trumps $916 million loss would have allowed him to cancel out an equivalent amount to taxable income until 2013.

Mr Trump did not deny that he had not paid the taxes for 18 years, but instead claimed it was his "fiduciary responsibility" to pay as little tax as possible.
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A powerful hurricane with winds of up to 145mph is battering Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere where many residents are unprotected under shacks of corrugated iron.

Hurricane Matthew is being described as a possible humanitarian disaster, including 10 to 15 foot high waves, pounding rain and an onslaught of about one trillion gallons of water. The extreme weather could devastate a country with a population of more than 10 million, the majority of which live in poverty.

The National Hurricane Center predicts Matthew will move past Florida on Friday and make landfall on Saturday morning near the border of South and North Carolina, by which time it will likely weaken to a category two or three storm.

Millions of coastal residents have been warned to evacuate.

"During the middle of a storm, they [rescue workers] can't show up to save," Florida governor Rick Scott said. "Leave before it's too late."

President Barack Obama has cancelled a campaign stop for Hillary Clinton in Tampa, Florida, and is instead visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to track the storm and get an update on the federal emergency response.

Hurricane Matthews eye came ashore early on Tuesday morning in the western Tiburon Peninsula - the first time a category 4 hurricane made landfall in Haiti since storm Cleo in 1964. Before dawn, the storm had dumped rain that threatened to turn into flooding.

Hurricane Matthew has already made history as one of the most persistent and intense storms in the Caribbean Sea, first becoming a category four hurricane around 5pm EDT on 30 September. Seven deaths have already been reported.

Colorado State University tropical scientist Phil Klotzbach said the storm could end up as one of the longest-lasting Atlantic major hurricanes in the past 50 years of satellite records.

Between 15 and 25 inches of rain are expected, and as much as 40 inches in more isolated places.

The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew Show all 14 1 /14 The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 A woman illuminates her family with a candle as they sleep on the floor in a partially destroyed school used as a shelter after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Mist rises off the water as a flooded building is pictured after Hurricane Matthew passes in Lumberton, North Carolina, US Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Children sleep over metal sheets in a partially destroyed school used as a shelter after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 People carry the coffin of a woman who died during Hurricane Matthew in Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Destroyed houses are seen after Hurricane Matthew passes Grande Cayemite, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Clothes hang in an area destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Anglais, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 A woman with cholera symptoms receives medical atention at the health center of Les Anglais, in Les Cayes in the southwest of Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Residents line up for food after Hurricane Matthew in Anse D'Hainault, Haiti. Nearly a week after the storm smashed into southwestern Haiti, some communities have yet to receive any assistance, leaving residents who have lost their homes and virtually all of their belongings struggling to find shelter and water AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 People sick with cholera receive medical assistance at Saint Antoine hospital in Jeremi, Haiti. According to the UN after hurricane Matthew the disease has spread EPA The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A woman and a child sit on a buckets amid the ruins of their home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, Haiti AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 UN blue helmets load aid which arrived in US helicopters onto a truck for people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A UN helicopter lands next to aid sent by the United States for the people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A boat passes a church in Nichols, South Carolina. Nearly 1 million homes and businesses still did not have power Monday morning in the Carolinas after Hurricane Matthew AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 9 October 2016 Boats sit washed up on shore amongst the twisted docks at Palmetto Bay Marina damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Hilton Head, South Carolina AP

Waves measuring 10 to 15 feet high are also anticipated in a storm surge, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

"They are getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them," he told the Associated Press.

The storm was moving along the Windward Passage between Haiti and Jamaica, where it was also dumping heavy rain that caused flooding in parts of the country. It was headed for southeastern Cuba and then into the Bahamas.

Mr Feltgen said it was too early to tell the likelihood and impact of Matthew hitting the East Coast later this week.

Haitian officials spent Monday trying to persuade shantytown residents to take advantage of shelters being set up. Some people took up the offers, but many refused, saying they feared their meager possessions might be stolen.

"If we lose our things we are not going to get them back," said Toussaint Laine, an unemployed man who lives with his family in a shack in Tabarre, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, the capital.

Authorities also went door to door in the south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm's threats. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

"We are continuing to mobilise teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas," said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of Haiti's civil protection agency.

In an unregulated sprawl of shacks built near the northern edge of the capital, some poor families did what they could to reinforce their tin-and-tarp home and hoped for the best.

"I know my house could easily blow away. All I can do is pray and then pray some more," Ronlande Francois said by the tarp-walled shack where she lives with her unemployed husband and three children.

Cuba's government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces and workers removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to keep them from falling when the storm hit.

The last such storm to hit was in 2007, when Felix reached category five status, with winds of 160mph and killed more than 130 people, mostly in Nicaragua.
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The US government announced that it will provide $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica before Hurricane Matthew hits.

Two fishermen have been killed by rough water conditions ahead of Hurricane Matthew's arrival in Haiti. The Caribbean is currently embracing for the potentially disastrous Category 4 hurricane, which is now responsible for four deaths in the last week. One death was also reported in Colombia and another in St Vincent.

The government previously banned boating in Haiti on Saturday but that didnt stop some fisherman from hitting the coast to provide for their loved ones.

 Space Station Cameras Capture Views of Hurricane Matthew

"They feel they have to take risks to support their families," Johnny Souffrant told the media on Monday.

Matthew is packing 140 mph winds and, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, is expected to bring life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

The storm is also projected to pass through Jamaica and Haiti on Tuesday before heading to Cuba.

The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew Show all 13 1 /13 The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew A man sleeps on a cot inside the National Arena, the main disaster shelter in Kingston, Jamaica before the passage of Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016. Hurricane Matthew claimed its first victims, officials said Monday, leaving one dead and one person missing in Haiti as it churns through the Caribbean as the most menacing storm in nearly a decade. Strong winds buffeted the southern coast of the Americas' most destitute country which is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, in part because so many homes and buildings are flimsy. Flooding now is being reported in some areas of Jamaica as the Category 4 storm creeps closer from the south, news reports said. / AFP / Ricardo Makyn (Photo credit should read RICARDO MAKYN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew Evacuees remain at a shelter in Guantanamo, Cuba on October 3, 2016, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. As the Category 4 hurricane creeps closer, Cuba, in the likely path of destruction, ordered the evacuation of more than 250,000 people from the east of the island. / AFP / YAMIL LAGE (Photo credit should read YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew The road surface on Industrial Terrace is seen washed away due to the rain in Kingston, Jamaica before the passage of Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016. Hurricane Matthew claimed its first victims, officials said Monday, leaving one dead and one person missing in Haiti as it churns through the Caribbean as the most menacing storm in nearly a decade. Strong winds buffeted the southern coast of the Americas' most destitute country which is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, in part because so many homes and buildings are flimsy. Flooding now is being reported in some areas of Jamaica as the Category 4 storm creeps closer from the south, news reports said. / AFP / Ricardo Makyn (Photo credit should read RICARDO MAKYN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew Evacuees get their lunch at a shelter in Guantanamo, Cuba on October 3, 2016, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. As the Category 4 hurricane creeps closer, Cuba, in the likely path of destruction, ordered the evacuation of more than 250,000 people from the east of the island. / AFP / YAMIL LAGE (Photo credit should read YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew A woman watches TV at a shelter in Guantanamo, Cuba on October 3, 2016, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. As the Category 4 hurricane creeps closer, Cuba, in the likely path of destruction, ordered the evacuation of more than 250,000 people from the east of the island. / AFP / YAMIL LAGE (Photo credit should read YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew CARIBBEAN SEA - OCTOBER 3: In this NOAA handout image, taken by the GOES satellite at 1620 UTC shows Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean Sea heading towards Jamacia, Haiti and Cuba on October 3, 2016. Matthew is a strong Category 4 hurricane, in the central Caribbean Sea and is poised to deliver a potentially catastrophic strike on Haiti. (Photo by NOAA via Getty Images) Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew Workers of the Emergency Operation Centre (COE) in Santo Domingo, monitor Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016 as it lumbers through the Caribbean Sea. Hurricane Matthew claimed its first victims, officials said Monday, leaving one dead and one person missing in Haiti as it churns through the Caribbean as the most menacing storm in nearly a decade. The now Categor 4 hurricane is expected to hit southwestern Haiti Monday night, packing powerful winds and torrential rain, the US National Hurricane Center said in Miami. Cuba and the Bahamas are also in the likely path of destruction. / AFP / afp / Erika SANTELICES (Photo credit should read ERIKA SANTELICES/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew Residents of Granma Island are evacuated due to the proximity of Hurricane Matthew in Santiago de Cuba on October 2, 2016. / AFP / YAMIL LAGE (Photo credit should read YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew An elderly man sits at the entrance to the National Arena,the main disaster shelter in Kingston, Jamaica before the passage of Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016. Hurricane Matthew claimed its first victims, officials said Monday, leaving one dead and one person missing in Haiti as it churns through the Caribbean as the most menacing storm in nearly a decade. Strong winds buffeted the southern coast of the Americas' most destitute country which is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, in part because so many homes and buildings are flimsy. Flooding now is being reported in some areas of Jamaica as the Category 4 storm creeps closer from the south, news reports said. / AFP / Ricardo Makyn (Photo credit should read RICARDO MAKYN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew 84 year-old Lloyd Elwood a retired fisherman lays on a mattress inside the Paradise Street Basic School, used as a shelter for residents of the Rae Town Fishing Village in East Kingston, Jamaica before the passage of Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016. Hurricane Matthew claimed its first victims, officials said Monday, leaving one dead and one person missing in Haiti as it churns through the Caribbean as the most menacing storm in nearly a decade. Strong winds buffeted the southern coast of the Americas' most destitute country which is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, in part because so many homes and buildings are flimsy. Flooding now is being reported in some areas of Jamaica as the Category 4 storm creeps closer from the south, news reports said. / AFP / Ricardo Makyn (Photo credit should read RICARDO MAKYN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew A man works on his boat in the Cite Soleil area of Port au Prince, Haiti on October 2, 2016. Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful Caribbean storm in a decade, churned towards Jamaica and Haiti on a path that forecasters said could eventually take it to the eastern United States. Briefly a top threat overnight as a furious Category 5 storm on the 1-5 Saffir-Simpson scale, Matthew has now weakened into a still dangerous Category 4 hurricane, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. / AFP / HECTOR RETAMAL (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Caribbean embraces for Hurricane Matthew A motorist drives by a section of the road on Deanery Road in Vineyard Town that was damaged from rain in Kingston, Jamaica before the passage of Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016. Hurricane Matthew claimed its first victims, officials said Monday, leaving one dead and one person missing in Haiti as it churns through the Caribbean as the most menacing storm in nearly a decade. Strong winds buffeted the southern coast of the Americas' most destitute country which is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, in part because so many homes and buildings are flimsy. Flooding now is being reported in some areas of Jamaica as the Category 4 storm creeps closer from the south, news reports said. / AFP / Ricardo Makyn (Photo credit should read RICARDO MAKYN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

Officials said the hurricane may be the first category 3 storm or above to hit the states in nearly a decade.

More than 700 people packed into shelters in Jamaica and nearly 200 packed into shelters in Kingston. Authorities also evacuated nearly 700 family members of the military at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay.

"We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba," Richard Pasch, a hurricane specialist at the center, told The Associated Press.

"People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen the loss of life in the past."
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A woman who went on the run from her same-sex partner with her sperm donor and two children has condemned political correctness surrounding the case.

Lauren Etchells, a teacher originally from the north of England, disappeared from her home in Canada in May with her daughter and baby son, after a custody dispute with her former partner, Tasha Brown.

Canadian police have accused her of abduction and ordered an international hunt for her and her two-year-old daughter, Kaydance.

But Ms Etchells, 31, sent a 18,000-word email defending herself to The Times from a secret location in the UK where she described her turbulent marriage to Ms Brown and a subsequent brief relationship with a man she referred to as her sperm donor, Marco van der Merwe, which resulted in the birth of her son.

She wrote: This whole case has been about gay rights and not about what is good for my child.

At some point the system needs to look at the straight facts and see that Kaydance is better off with me instead of getting blinded and caught up in political correctness and bureaucracy.

Breaking up her family, separating her from her mother and brother and the man she knows as her father is going to do far more psychological damage to her than growing up not knowing... Ms Brown.

Ms Etchells said she had wanted Kaydance to grow up knowing her biological family and accused the authorities of hunting her like an animal.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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The former couple met on an online dating website when Ms Etchells was studying for a degree in Canada in 2007. They moved to the United Arab Emirates, where Ms Etchells was teaching, before returning to Canada to get married in 2012.

Ms Etchells said both women were listed as the mother on Kaydances birth certificate but that she had given birth to her.

She said when they had separated, a court granted 43-year-old Ms Brown access to their daughter every week, plus all week over the summer.

Ms Etchells believed this was a huge amount of time for her to be separated from her new little brother and me, and I could not think of a case where a biological, responsible father would be given that level of access when a child so young was concerned.

During this time, Ms Etchells said Mr Van der Merwe, a former boyfriend, had agreed to become a sperm donor for her second child and they had subsequently rekindled their relationship but had since split up.

Ms Etchells said she did not begin her relationship with Mr Van der Merwe until after she broke up with Ms Brown.

She said shortly after the birth of her son, Mr Van der Merwe, also 31, had returned to the Middle East for work and she had agreed to accompany him as far as Britain, with a promise to join him after two weeks.

But, she said, after fleeing Canada things quickly escalated and I cut off contact with him and havent heard from him in months.

Mr Van der Merwe does not know where she is, she said.

He denied agreeing to become Ms Etchells sperm donor when contacted by The Times and said she had told him she was free to leave Canada, but did confirm she had cut off contact with him.

Ms Brown said: I am Kaydances mom too, who loves and misses her dearly. I am worried about her safety and concerned for her health. A life on the run is the worst possible way to raise our daughter.
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When an American presidential election is close, there are only a handful of states that matter to the campaigns. They are the so-called battleground states, where the outcomes on Election Day are uncertain. This year both sides are lavishing their advertising dollars on about 11 states in all and they are where the candidates are spending the majority of their time.

Those that matter the most are not just the ones where polling shows the candidates neck and neck. It is also about the math of the Electoral College. Whoever reaches the 270-vote mark in the College wins the presidency. So its the swing states with the most votes in the College  it depends on population  that will always be the most critical to each of the campaigns.

Recommended Read more Hillary Clinton has soared to a six point lead over Donald Trump

Florida (29 EC votes)

Both campaigns desperately need Florida. With its burgeoning Hispanic population, you might think it would be slipping from Mr Trumps grasp because of his incendiary rhetoric on immigration. Yet his message on trade and change is resonating well even among some Hispanics in central Florida and the outcome  as so often is the case  is entirely in the balance.

Ohio (18 EC votes)

History has a warning here for Mr Trump. No Republican has won the presidency without winning Ohio on Election Night. This is the battleground state in the heartland of America. Its also the rustbelt and if polls have given an edge to the Republican its because here again his message on bringing jobs home and toughening the US stance on trade is working.

North Carolina (15 EC votes)

This may be the most tumultuous swing state of them all. The bases of both parties are energised. Democrats are chafing under Governor Pat McCrorys attempts to erode LGTB rights  the transgender bathroom fight  and Republicans are reacting to the shootings and unrest in Charlotte. Once clearly in the Republican column, it went to Mr Obama in 2008, but Mr Romney in 2012.

Pennsylvania (20 EC votes)

This is a state that has Democrat all over it. Philadelphia is the city of Brotherly Love with a significant black population. Scranton is the hometown of Vice President Joe Biden. Yet many of those voters the Democrats would like to take for granted are precisely those white and male voters with low education who have swarmed towards Mr Trump. His focus: the Philadelphia suburbs.

Virginia (13 EC votes)

Mr Trump has been a regular visitor, notably trying to rally support from military families and veterans. But Ms Clinton has the edge. She chose Tim Kaine, US Senator from Virginia as her running mate to shore up support in the state and the strategy is probably working. Mr Trump is hoping also for a rural vote boost, but Ms Clinton is strong in the suburbs near Washington DC.

Michigan (16 EC votes)

Michigan, with Detroit as its largest metropolis, has been reliably Democrat in presidential terms for decades, but this time could be different if Mr Trump can use his messaging on unemployment  including the loss of car plants to Mexico  and urban decay to his advantage. He has repeatedly visited the state since winning the nomination in hopes of an upset victory.

Wisconsin (10 EC votes)

The home state of Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House, and another rustbelt state with a sad history of diminished manufacturing, Wisconsin is also in play. If Ms Clinton has not made Wisconsin a priority, she has been sending others there, including her daughter Chelsea and Senator Bernie Sanders, in an effort to energise younger voters in big university cities like Madison.

New Hampshire (4 EC votes)

Who cares about little New Hampshire? Both candidates do, because they know that if this turns out to be a nail-biter, its four votes in the Electoral College could actually be all thats needed to push one of them past the 270-vote mark and to victory. So, as in the primary season, the tiny Granite State in New England is once again buzzing with election activity.

Iowa (6 EC votes)

Iowa, like New Hampshire, surely gets enough attention during the primary season  its caucus voting sets off the race for each partys nomination  but this year its getting plenty of General Election attention too. While Ms Clinton is focusing her efforts in the more liberal areas of Des Moines and Ames, Mr Trump has the edge in the state with big support from male, white farmers.

Colorado (9 EC votes)

Polling in Colorado has been highly volatile. For a brief moment in September, it looked as if Mr Trump was leading Ms Clinton in the Centennial State, then the pollsters returned it to the lean-Democrat column. If Mr Trump loses in Colorado on Election Day it will be a good sign that he is losing the country. And partly it will be because of a big turnout for Ms Clinton among Hispanics.

Nevada (6 EC votes)

Another bellwether state  where Nevada goes so goes the nation, they say  where predicting a winner remains tricky. Part of the difficulty is the relative strength of Libertarian Gary Johnson who is close to double digits in the state. Nevada was especially damaged by the housing crisis after 2008 and Mr Trumps economic promises hold some allure.
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After what many reckoned was one of Donald Trumps worst weeks as a presidential wannabee, a new poll suggests that Hillary Clinton has now secured a nationwide lead of six points over her rival.

The latest poll by NBC puts Ms Clinton on 46 points, with Mr Trump on 40. Libertarian Gary Johnson is a little down from his position last week and is on nine points, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein remains on three points.

The conclusions of the NBC poll are largely in line with findings of two other surveys. A polls by CNN/ORC put the Democratic candidate on 47 points with her Republican rival on 42, while another by CBS scored it 45-41 in favour of Ms Clinton.

Donald Trump speaks at a rally held the Pueblo Convention Centre in Pueblo, Colorado, on 3 October (Getty Images) (Getty)

The surveys appear to underscore a general sense among political insiders and members of the public that Mr Trump performed less than convincingly in the first presidential debate, and that he compounded problems by spending much of the remaining week involved in a strange, unnecessary controversy over his treatment of a former Miss Universe winner two decades ago.

With just a month to go before election day, many political observers felt the New York reality television star wasted time and energy in a spat over Alicia Machado, a former beauty queen whom he shamed 20 years ago after she allegedly put on weight.

Ms Clinton brought up Mr Trumps treatment of her during the debate at Hofstra University in New York. Later, she said that a flurry of 3am tweets Mr Trump posted about the controversy was unhinged.

Experts said Ms Clintons edging ahead of Mr Trump was the result of cutting his lead among men and whites without a college degree, while also opening up a lead over Mr Trump among independent voters.

 Donald Trump does impression of Hillary Clinton faint

Professor Jeanne Zaino of Iona College said she was not surprised by the bump Ms Clinton received, rather by how modest it had been. She said Mr Trump had suffered his work week on the campaign, indeed, it was perhaps the worst week on the campaign trail in any modern race.

Everyone expects a bump after they win a debate and every acknowledges she won the debate, she told The Independent. The fact that the bump is so small will be of concern to her.

Ms Zaino said Ms Clintons modest lead was an indication of the polarised nature of the electorate. She said most politicians would be have be destroyed by the sort of seven days experienced by Mr Trump.

He has had bad weeks before and then recovered, she said. If I was her, Id not be measuring the drapes [for the Oval Office] just yet.

The Huffington Post has calculated that based on the way the US electoral college voting system works, Ms Clinton has an 82.6 per cent liklihood of winning the election, compared to 17.2 per cent. The calculations, based on various simulations, suggest Ms Clinton is in a more comfortable position than the national polls may suggest. "The national polls are a good indication, but they may not pick up the how big or small the margin might be," said Natalie Jackson, the senior polling editor.
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While Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a campaign event for Hillary Clinton on Monday, he addressed Donald Trumps recent comments regarding veterans with mental health disorders.

Earlier in the day, Mr Trump said veterans who suffer from mental issues after serving in the military arent strong and cant handle it. Mr Biden, whose son Beau served in the Iraq war, slammed Mr Trump for his comments.

Where in the hell is he from? Mr Biden told supporters in Florida, who initially laughed at his question. No, no, no, no. This is deadly earnest.

He said that hes received daily updates on the troops serving in Iraq, and told the story of a soldier whom he tried to give a Silver Star for bravery.

When I went to pin it on him in front of the entire brigade he stood and looked at me and said, Sir I dont want the medal. I dont want the medal. You know why? He said he died. He died Mr vice president I dont want the medal,' Mr Biden said angrily. How many nights does that kid go to sleep seeing that image in his head, dealing with it?

Mr Biden also called Mr Trump thoroughly and completely uninformed."
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Police in Utah have warned residents that it is not legal to shoot random clowns following an increased number of clown sightings across the country.

The Orem Police Department wrote in a post on Facebook that their officers had answered more than 40 questions on social media and a few dozen calls about clowns in one day.

Police said they were concerned about the content, not the number, of the messages.

"'Can I shoot or take action against someone that is dressed up like a clown?' That's not a simple yes or no question. It has a lot of variables to it," the post read.

"We understand that clowns to some people are already creepy' and some people have a phobia of them, we see that," they added.

"However, if someone is standing on the sidewalk, dressed like a clown and they don't have any weapons and they are just standing there not chasing anyone around and you call us, when we respond and that person decides to look at us and walk the other way without saying a word, we can't do anything."

So-called clowns with colourful clothes and painted faces have been spotted from Connecticut to Texas.

In Utah, some people who identified themselves as clowns have posted a series of online threats.

The police advised residents to not believe every story they read.

Orem police added in their post that they will continue to take calls about clowns seriously, and will send out an officer.

They also warned that people who don clown suits to frighten children should "plan on facing some criminal charges".

States including South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama have also reported sightings.

Police in Georgia also warned locals against dressing up to scare people, adding they could face criminal charges.

"This behaviour is not cute or funny," they wrote.
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Afghan forces claim to have regained control of most of the northern city of Kunduz  although fighting is still continuing as Taliban fighters barricaded themselves in houses.

The US military in Kabul said that a robust group of special forces, as well as aircraft, were positioned near Kunduz to provide support to Afghan soldiers should the need arise.

Insurgents slipped past government forces early on Monday and occupied or attacked central areas of Kunduz, almost exactly a year after they briefly captured the city in one of their biggest successes of the 15-year war.

Social media accounts linked to the Taliban, which taunted Afghan forces and their Western backers throughout Mondays attack, said insurgents were still inside Kunduz on Tuesday, with clashes ongoing and government troops on the run.

The attack in Kunduz, along with Taliban gains in areas of Helmand and Uruzgan where they also threaten provincial capitals, has underlined the groups growing strength and exposed weaknesses in Afghan defences.

Government representatives are meeting international donors in Brussels this week to try to secure billions of dollars in additional aid.

Questions dogged Afghan security forces on Tuesday, with the US military reporting that it saw little evidence of significant fighting as the Taliban moved in.

Some witnesses said many police had abandoned checkpoints without firing a shot, a month after a similar scene played out during a Taliban raid on the provincial capital of Uruzgan province, Tarin Kot.

The police did not fight yesterday, said Commander Ali, a local militia chief who, like many Afghans, only goes by one name. Some fought in a few places, but a majority of them escaped without any resistance.

He estimated that about 200 Taliban attackers quickly sent thousands of security personnel, mostly police, fleeing to the army base near the citys airport.

That account was supported by another local police commander, who said senior leadership had failed to back up those police officers who did fight, while the army arrived after the fact.

At some checkpoints police fought well, but they did not get reinforcement, said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.

In Washington on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters the Taliban attack was more of a Western-movie style shoot-them-up raid than a concerted military offensive.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said no checkpoints held by army troops had been abandoned.

Afghan officials are investigating how the Taliban managed to thrust into the citys centre despite months of military operations aimed at preventing a repeat of last years debacle, Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters in Kabul. Right now we are focusing on clearing the city.

Residents blamed ethnic and political divisions within the citys leadership for the failure of local security forces to prevent the Taliban raid.

Much of the effort to push the Taliban out of the city was led by elite Afghan military and police special forces, many of whom arrived from other cities.

Backed by US special forces and air support as well as warplanes of their own, Afghan soldiers sought to clear the city overnight, said Kunduz police chief Qasim Jangalbagh.

Taliban fighters remained in several areas of Kunduz, but Afghan forces had made progress, he added.

We have received reinforcements and have air support. We are committed to clear the city.

By nightfall on Tuesday pockets of Taliban resistance remained, many barricaded in civilian houses, said Sheer Aziz Kamawal, commander for the 808th Police Zone.

As the Taliban were pushed out, they set fire to various buildings in the city, including a power station and several markets and shops, he said.

The attack was likely timed by the Taliban to make noise before the donor conference in Brussels, said Timor Sharan, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group.

The Taliban wanted to manoeuvre, raise their flag and then quickly leave. The Taliban know that they are not capable of holding on the city centre.

Five members of government security forces had been killed, with another 13 wounded, the defence ministry said.

US attack helicopters conducted at least three air strikes to defend friendly forces fighting in Kunduz, the US military command in Kabul said.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, officials said at least a dozen members of the Afghan security forces were killed in fighting with the Taliban in Helmand province, while one American soldier died in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Nangarhar province.

Reuters
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North Korea has called the South Korean president a barefaced and impudent bitch and denounced her insane baloney following her call for North Koreans to move to the South.

President Park Guen-hye has previously encouraged North Koreans to desert their homeland and build a better life in South Korea, saying there was "a road open" for them to "live a new life".

In response, North Koreas Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, wrote: Its ridiculous and foolish that Park Geun Hye flutters her feet to smear our dignified leaders reputation with infamy by persisting hallucinations in her head as an established fact.

Park Geun Hye has the gall to ignore the reality within her grasp and to doggishly and overtly utter ravings . . . encouraging defection. There is no such a barefaced and impudent bitch elsewhere.

President Park made the direct invitation to North Koreans in a speech on South Koreas Armed Forces Day. She said: We are well aware of the gruesome realities you face. The universal values of freedom, democracy, human rights and welfare are the precious rights you should also enjoy.

We will keep the road open for you to find hope and live a new life. Please come to the bosom of freedom in the South whenever you want... I look forward to your participation in ushering in a new era of a unified Korean Peninsula, free from the terror of nuclear weapons and war, and where human dignity is respected.

President Park also warned of trouble to come along the borders between North and South, a site that has seen many clashes in the past, adding: Chances are high that to fend off internal instability and social confusion, North Korea will stage various acts of terrorism and provocations.

Her appeal came amid growing concern among North Koreans over President Kim Jong-un's increasingly iron-fisted rule.

North Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast in August, two days after South Korea and the United States began annual military exercises in the South. The missile travelled more than 300 miles, indicating that North Korea had overcome some of its previous technological challenges.

Weeks later North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast, in a show of power coinciding with the G20 economic summit in China.

A North Korean soldier recently fled across the border between the two states and the second most senior official at Pyongyangs embassy in London has recently abandoned the country.

More than 29,000 North Koreans are said to have fled to South Korea in search of freedom. In the first eight months of this year, a total of 894 North Koreans arrived in the South, up 15 per cent from a year earlier, according to Seoul government data.

Inside the daily life in North Korea Show all 19 1 /19 Inside the daily life in North Korea Inside the daily life in North Korea People reading a newspaper at the metro station Inside the daily life in North Korea Thoughts of the leaders on the tram. They have about a dozen of these on every tram, all with different thoughts Inside the daily life in North Korea Young people training for a big upcoming festival Inside the daily life in North Korea People at the Pyongyang's annual marathon Inside the daily life in North Korea Many stars on one of the trolleys in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea An intimidating poster in a primary school in North Korea. Inside the daily life in North Korea Solar panels installed on a street lamp. Inside the daily life in North Korea A poster on the window next to one of the venues we visited in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea Kids playing football next to the Arch of Triumph. After a while tourists were allowed to join, so some of us did Inside the daily life in North Korea Class in an educational center in Pyongyang (where people over 17 years old can attend any classes they choose after school, for free) Inside the daily life in North Korea People waving at me during the Pyongyang marathon Inside the daily life in North Korea People having a great time dancing at a public park Inside the daily life in North Korea A metro driver in a metro station in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea Fireworks to mark the birthday of the Eternal President Kim Il Sung on our last night in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea My wonderful tour guide at a public park Inside the daily life in North Korea One of the parks in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea A person rowing some boats for the day at a river in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea The National War Museum Inside the daily life in North Korea Public park in Pyongyang

In response to the insults against President Park, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said: North Korea should focus on the lives of its ordinary people who are in serious distress without trying to avoid its situation with its sophistry, according to Yonhap News,

In September it was reported that South Korea was planning to assemble a military force aimed at removing Kim Jong-un from power, according to the countrys defence minister.

The minister said South Korea should maintain an army of 500,000 soldiers on active duty to counter the threat of the Norths estimated 1.2 million troops, should Kim Jong Un choose to invade.
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Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte has told American President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country, but added he did not care because Russia and China were willing alternative suppliers.

In his latest salvo, Mr Duterte said he was realigning his foreign policy because the US had failed the Philippines and added that at some point "I will break up with America". It was not clear what he meant by "break up".

During three tangential and fiercely worded speeches in Manila, Mr Duterte said the US did not want to sell missiles and other weapons, but Russia and China had told him they could provide them easily.

"Although it may sound s*** to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy," Mr Duterte said.

"If you don't want to sell arms, I'll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said 'do not worry we have everything you need, we'll give it to you'.

"And as for China, they said 'just come over and sign and everything will be delivered'."

His comments were the latest in a near-daily barrage of hostility towards the US, during which Mr Duterte has started to contrast the former colonial power with its geopolitical rivals Russia and China.

On Sunday, he said he had got support from Russia and China when he complained to them about the United States. He also said he would review a US-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement.

The deal, signed in 2014, grants US troops some access to Philippine bases, and allows them to set up storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

He said the US should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but instead criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union.

"Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," he said.

"EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is full already. Why should I be afraid of you?"

At a later speech he said he was emotional because the US had not been a friend of the Philippines since his election in May. "They just ... reprimand another president in front of the international community," he told the Jewish community at a synagogue.

"This is what happens now, I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America." It was not clear if by his "time", he was referring to his six-year term in office.

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

According to some US officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Mr Duterte's rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

While an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China's influence has grown, there were no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines, two US officials said on Monday.

Several of Mr Duterte's allies suggested he act more like a statesman because his comments had created a stir. On Tuesday, he said his outbursts were because he was provoked by criticism of his crackdown on drugs.

"When you are already at the receiving end of an uncontrollable rush, the only way out is to insult," he said. "That is my retaliation."

Reuters
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An Asian woman was headbutted and kicked repeatedly in the stomach during an unprovoked racially-motivated attack while out walking her dog, a court heard.

Steven Burke stands accused of attacking 29-year-old Jing Song as she walked in Sydney suburb of Mosman with her partner, leaving her with a fractured eye-socket.

Ms Song was allegedly punched in the face five times and knocked to the ground by Burke after he crossed a road while shouting abuse at her.

She was taken to a local hospital following the attack, and the prosecutor said she may require extensive surgery to repair her eye socket.

Ms Song said she did not know her attacker prior to the incident and confirmed the alleged assault was entirely unprovoked.

There seems to be some sort of racial motivation given what he said to the victim, the prosecutor added, according to Mail Online.

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

Burke was quickly arrested and taken to a police station in North Sydney, where officers charged him with reckless grievous bodily harm and common assault.

He was denied bail due to the serious nature of the allegations, and is to have his mental health assessed before a further court date later this week.

Burkes lawyer said he used to work as a security guard in Iraq and now lives in the Mosman area.
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Angela Merkel has been booed and jeered by protesters while attending celebrations for German Unity Day in Dresden.

Demonstrators held placards which said "Merkel must go", while shouting the slogan at the German Chancellor and President Joachim Gauck as they greeted attendees.

German media estimated the number of protesters at the celebrations, which mark 26 years since Germany's reunification, at "several hundred".

Ms Merkel has faced criticism for her open-door refugee policy as last year's arrivals of around one million migrants, mainly Muslims fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, has increased social tensions in the country.

Ms Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, used a short statement to call for "mutual respect" in the political debate and said she wished all sides could work together to tackle the new problems, regardless of their different political views.

Recommended Read more Germany is no longer the promised land for migrants

Dresden is the birthplace of the anti-Islam Pegida grassroots movement, whose rallies attracted as many as 20,000 supporters at the group's height of popularity at the start of 2015.

Security was tightened for the event, with 2,600 police officers on duty, after two improvised bombs exploded in Dresden last week - one at a mosque and one at an international conference centre.

Three police cars were also set alight by unknown perpetrators in the city on Saturday.

Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990.
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A protest party that campaigns against copyright laws and hangs a skull-and-crossbones flag at its headquarters is on course to form Icelands next government.

The Pirate Party, which was formed four years ago by activists, poets and hackers, is currently ahead in the polls in advance of the general election on 29 October.

It has the support of 21.6 per cent of voters, slightly ahead of the Independence Party, which is part of the current coalition government, on 20.6 per cent.

It is a rapid rise to prominence for the Pirate Party, which gained just 5 per cent of votes and three of 63 seats in Icelands 2013 general election and whose election campaign is partly crowd-funded.

The party has promised to grant asylum to US whistleblower Edward Snowden and accept the bitcoin currency.

Looser copyright rules; giving voters a direct say over policy; and the decriminalisation of drugs are among other policy pledges.

The Pirate Party has also tried to secure the youth vote by asking the developers of Pokemon Go to turn polling stations into Pokestops  locations where players can collect the items needed to catch Pokemon.

But it is the partys anti-corruption campaign that has propelled it to unexpected popularity

It follows widespread anger in Iceland at perceived corruption amongst the countrys political and financial elite.

Iceland was badly hit by the 2008 financial crisis, which led to a huge banking collapse that cost saw many Icelanders lose money, and prominent politicians were caught up in the offshore tax scandal following the release of the Panama Papers earlier this year.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign in April when it was revealed that he and his family had sheltered money in offshore accounts.

The scandal saw support for the Pirate Party rocket to 43 per cent, while Mr Gunnlaugssons Progressive Party slumped to single digits.

Ahead of its forecast electoral success, Pirate Party leaders have moved to reassure the public and business leaders that the party will help foster economic stability.

Pirate Party leader Birgitta Jonsdottir, a published poet and former Wikileaks spokesperson, said: "Across Europe ... increasingly many people think that the system that is supposed to look after them is not doing it anymore.

"We know that we are new to this and it is important that we are extra careful and extra critical on ourselves to not take too much on. I really don't think that we are going to make a lot of ripples in the economy in the first term.

We are not going to make any dramatic changes in the financial sector.

Ms Jonsdottir has previously said her partys success was strange and very exciting, adding it was driven not by fear but by courage and hope.

Icelands political system means the Pirate Party would have to form a coalition in order to govern. Ms Jonsdottir has suggested that rather than becoming prime minister she would prefer to take the position of speaker of the Icelandic parliament.

There are now over 40 pirate parties around the world, after the first was founded in Sweden ten years ago to fight against international copyright laws.

The UK Pirate Party received 1,130 votes at the 2015 general election, while branches in other countries have  until now - been equally unsuccessful at the polls.
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Poland's prime minister has distanced herself from a proposal to tighten abortion legislation after thousands of women boycotted work and took to the streets to protest against the ban.

Beata Szydlo said she does not approve of her foreign minister's strong criticism of the many Poles who dressed up in black to take part in large protests on Monday.

Ms Szydlo's comments distance herself and her ruling Law and Justice party from the controversial measure and weaken its chances of becoming law.

Polish women protest against a legislative proposal for a total ban on abortion in Poland, during a demonstration near EU headquarters in Brussels (AP)

"I want to say it very loudly and clearly: the government of Law and Justice was not working and is not working on any law that would change the currently binding regulations," Ms Szydlo said during a news conference.

She said she wants to see calmer emotions surrounding the divisive proposal to impose a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape or if the mother's life is at risk.

All views on the matter must be respected, she added.

Protesters during the nationwide women strike in Zamkowy square in Warsaw, Poland (AP)

Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, with abortion allowed only in cases of rape or incest, if the foetus is badly damaged or if the woman's life in at risk. Many of the protesters slammed the idea of a total ban as "medieval" and "barbaric".

It is unclear if the proposal will fall at the parliamentary commission stage, where it is now, or whether it will still move forward in parliament - where some politicians support it.

The proposal was sent to parliament by an anti-abortion citizens' initiative that gathered 450,000 and is supported by the church.

Opposition to the bill has been massive. Thousands of women donned dark-coloured clothes as a symbol of mourning for the loss of reproductive rights they fear for the day of action, dubbed "Black Monday".

There were also rallies in Brussels and other European cities.

The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws

Earlier on Tuesday, foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski called the protests "marginal" and denounced them as "a mockery of important issues".

Ms Szydlo said she did not approve of Ms Waszczykowski's words.

"I summoned him and told him that there will be no approval for that kind of commentary of these events," Ms Szydlo said.
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German prosecutors have dropped a controversial case against a comedian accused of criminally insulting the Turkish President with a satirical poem.

Jan Bohmermanns expletive-filled work, aired on German television earlier this year, sparked a diplomatic row between Ankara and Berlin with allusions to bestiality, child sex abuse and ethnic discrimination.

It described Recep Tayyip Erdogan as stupid, cowardly and uptight before descending into sexual references and language later described by judges in Hamburg as abusive and libellous content.

 German comedian faces criminal inquiry over Erdogan

Introducing it on television, Mr Bohmermann said he was conducting an experiment to illustrate the boundary between legitimate criticism and illegal abusive criticism (Schmahkritik) under German law.

But Angela Merkel controversially granted a request from the Turkish government to open an investigation into whether the satirist had broken a little-used section of Germanys criminal code, which bans insulting the representatives of international governments.

On Tuesday, the public prosecutor in Mainz said that an investigation had found no sufficient evidence of offences committed either by Mr Bohmermann or others involved in the poems creation or broadcast.

A statement said the context in which it was delivered made clear the claims were exaggerated and absurd, and not meant to be taken as serious allegations against Mr Erdogan.

Prosecutors said it was therefore was questionable whether the poem constituted slander, given its satirical nature, and that the from the lack of earnestness or any seriously intended connection to the personal dignity of (Mr Erdogan), it was meant to be immediately clear to every listener that it was a joke.

It originally aired on the Neo Magazin Royale programme on 31 March as a response to another satirical German song (Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan) that provoked outrage from Turkey earlier in the month.

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

The ensuing political furore became known as the Bohmermann Affair, seeing the Chancellor heavily criticised for allowing the criminal case to be opened as human rights groups voiced their indignation.

Broadcasters at ZDF television withdrew the passage with the poem from its archives but argued that it did not break the law, while a Hamburg court granted a temporary injunction banning abusive parts of the work being repeated.

But the poem was read out in full by a German MP during a parliamentary debate and politicians around the world rallied to Mr Bohmermanns cause.

Among them was Boris Johnson, now the Foreign Secretary, who won a competition for an offensive poem about Mr Erdogan by penning a limerick calling the Turkish President a wankerer.

It is an offence to insult the Turkish nation or the national flag but the case was believed to be the only in recent times where such offences had been formally investigated abroad.

Mr Erdogan is known for his sensitivity to criticism, with prosecutors opening more than 1,800 cases against people for alleged insults since he took office in 2014.


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A legal bid to stop the construction of a huge wall aiming to prevent asylum seekers boarding lorries to the UK has failed.

Dubbed the Great Wall of Calais, the project provoked outrage from human rights organisations when it was announced last month and a vow from local authorities to fight the British Governments scheme.

The mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, pledged to use all legal weapons at her disposal to prevent the UK-funded barrier being built.

She filed an injunction to stop construction work on the 1.9m barrier, which will stretch half a mile and stand at 13ft high on the outskirts of the Calais Jungle migrant camp.

 France's Hollande says Calais 'Jungle' to be dismantled

But the local administration overruled the attempt on Monday, allowing building that began on 20 September to continue.

Ms Bouchart, a member of Nicolas Sarkozys right-wing Republicans party, initially backed a barrier separating the sprawling camp from a main road leading to the port but says there is now no need for such measures.

Francois Hollande, the French President, has vowed to dismantle the camp and relocate its estimated 7,000 to 10,000 residents before the onset of winter.

Calais residents are fed up with seeing barriers and barbed wire everywhere, Ms Bouchart told the AFP news agency. They feel completely hemmed in.

The British Government announced the planned wall last month as part of a 17m package of joint Anglo-French security measures.

Workers dig foundations of a wall near the camp along the road leading to the harbour of Calais (Getty) (Getty Images)

The immigration minister, Robert Goodwill, told a committee of MPs: People are still getting through. We have done the fences, now we are doing the wall.

We are going to start building this big, new wall as part of the 17m package we are doing with the French. There is still more to do. We have also invested in space for 200 lorries at Calais so that they have somewhere safe to wait.

It comes after more than a year of the refugee crisis, seeing thousands of asylum seekers journey through Europe to the northern French port and attempt to board ferries and lorries to the UK.

Several migrants, including a 14-year-old boy, have died in the desperate attempts and refugee agencies have long warned of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in the Jungle.

Attempts to reach Britain peaked last year, when thousands of asylum seekers climbed fences on to the main road to Calaiss port, blocking traffic and using rocks, shopping trolleys and tree trunks to try to stop vehicles.

The chaotic scenes and fears among British tourists and lorry drivers have driven support for the wall but humanitarian organisations said the plans were another example of Europes failure to form permanent solutions to the refugee crisis.

In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Show all 20 1 /20 In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis French gendarmes try to stop migrants on the Eurotunnel site in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis French gendarmes try to stop migrants on the Eurotunnel site in Coquelles near Calais Getty Images In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis A migrant climbs a security fence of a Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis A migrant climbs a security fence of a Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis French gendarmes block migrants along a road to prevent them access to train tracks which lead to the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Policemen try to prevent migrants from reaching the Channel Tunnel operated by Eurotunnel in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis A policeman faces migrants trying to reach the Channel Tunnel operated by Eurotunnel in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis A policeman tries to stop migrants on the Eurotunnel site in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants who managed to pass the police block on the Eurotunnel site climb over a fence to make their way towards the boarding docks in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants are seen near a Channel Tunnel train in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants trying to reach the Channel Tunnel run past policemen in Coquelles near Calaisa In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants step over the fence as they try to catch a train to reach England, in Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis A migrant climbs a security fence of a Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants warm themselves with a fire as they attempt to access the Channel Tunnel, in Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis An Afghan flag flies above makeshift shelters at a site dubbed the "new jungle", where migrants trying to cross the Channel to reach Britain have camped out around the northern French port of Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants build a makeshift shelter around the northern French port of Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants build a makeshift shelter In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants walk in a makeshift camp in Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis A driver climbs on his truck as he waits to cross the English channel, in Calais In pictures: Calais crisis intensifies Calais crisis Migrants walk along the roadside while a French policeman secures the area as lorries queue in Calais

Steve Symonds, Amnesty International UKs refugee expert, said: This plan is yet another example of European governments failure of leadership on the refugee crisis and their shocking inability to come up with a humane response.

A wall will simply further empower smugglers by forcing people to take even greater risks to get across the Channel.

In an article for The Independent, Green MP Caroline Lucas drew comparisons to Donald Trumps call for a wall to stop immigrants crossing into the US from Mexico.

Most of us recoiled, she wrote. How had politics in the land of the free descended so low, so fast? Trumpism has now landed in Britain.

A group of Tory MPs is demanding unaccompanied children with family in the UK should be resettled from the Jungle before it is closed, but Theresa Mays government has made no move to acquiesce to repeated calls for the most vulnerable asylum seekers to be transported.

Meanwhile, residents of the camp have been protesting about its scheduled demolition, with a demonstration ending with clashes between migrants and police firing tear gas and water cannons on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said the construction of the wall continues, with completion expected by the end of the year.
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Protesters in Zurich have turned 13 fountains blood red in protest at the so-called tampon tax and taboos around menstruation.

Women campaigning for the abolition of the levy on sanitary products poured red food dye into fountains around the city, including several outside major railway stations, between 6:30am and 7:30am.

Aktivistin.ch, the feminist group behind the stunt dubbed #happytobleed, said it was designed to prompt discussion on attitudes towards the female body.

In Switzerland, women have to pay an eight per cent tax on tampons and sanitary towels as they are deemed a luxury product  as opposed to the reduced 2.5 per cent tax imposed on most everyday items such as groceries.

The groups spokeswoman, Carmen Schoder, told The Independent: It is important to us to stress that the goal of todays action was not only to point out the differently taxed products in the stores but on a much more general level to make menstruation as a natural part of the female biology more visible."



She said they wanted to "fight for the right of self-determined sexuality for all genders."

In a statement on the group's website they said people still dont openly talk about it and a woman would never ask for a tampon in an open-plan office.

The dye was poured in 13 fountains around the city in protest at the tax on sanitary products (Aktivistin.CH/Facebook)

But the Zurich authorities condemned the stunt saying the water was there for the public and not to make political statements.

City spokesman Hans Gonella told 20 Minuten it looked like it would be easy to restore the colour of the fountains but if the pumps had been damaged they will press charges against the group.

The tampon tax has caused controversy across Europe and in March this year, David Cameron announced that the European Commission had agreed to put tampons on the list of zero-rated items.

The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws

Campaigners had called for the sexist tax to be abolished noting that mens razors were not subjected to VAT.

In 2015, then Chancellor George Osborne attempted to soften the blow of the tax by announcing all the proceedings from the tax would go exclusively towards funding womens charities, rape crisis centres and domestic violence refugees.

But critics then accused Mr Osborne of making it a womens duty to fund key services for women rather than the responsibility of society at large.
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Families of victims of the US-led invasion of Iraq should be allowed to seek compensation for damages suffered during the conflict, a group of activists has told their countrys parliament.

The Arab Project in Iraq lobby group has asked the Iraqi government to prepare a lawsuit seeking full compensation from the United States over "violations by the US forces following the US invasion that saw the toppling of late President Saddam Hussein in 2003.

It follows the recent passing of a law by US Congress allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, overruling the traditional principle of sovereign immunity.

President Obama made attempts to block the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), as it is believed the law will leave the United States vulnerable to lawsuits over its past foreign policy activities.

The lobby group will seek compensation based on reports of alleged war crimes committed by US military forces during the eight-year occupation of Iraq, state network Al-Arabiya reported.

The law of sovereign immunity was introduced by the US Congress in 1976, but will be overridden by the new act by creating exceptions to the rule.

The Saudi foreign ministry reportedly said JASTA will contribute to the erosion of the principle of sovereign immunity, considered to be one of the cornerstones of conduct in international relations.

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 Saudi government has repeatedly denied supporting or harbouring the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks of 2001, 15 of whom came from Saudi Arabia.

The first complaint under JASTA was filed by Stephanie Ross DeSimone who was widowed when her husband, a Navy Commander, was killed during the attack on the Pentagon.

The 9/11 Commission found no evidence that Riyadh or senior Saudi officials were involved in the planning or execution of the attacks.
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As many as 22 people are dead after an Isis suicide bomber targeted a Kurdish wedding party in northeast Syria, a monitor has said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of contacts across the country, revised the death toll from Mondays attack in Hasekeh province up from 12 to 22. Dozens of people were wounded, Rami Abdulrahman of SOHR said. Kurdish media put the number of wounded at 47.

A picture taken shows the damage at a wedding hall, a day after a suicide attack targeted a Kurdish wedding party in the village of Tall Tawil in the Syrian Hasakeh province. Reuters (Getty)

The ceremony in the Kurdish-controlled village of al-Tall was for a member of the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group which has been fighting Isis in the north of the country. The groom was reported as among the dead.

A woman, who was wounded in a bombing at a Kurdish wedding in the northeast Syrian city of Hasaka, lies in a hospital in Dohuk province, Iraq (Reuters)

Isis claimed responsibility for the incident online across several social media accounts with a statement which said a militant ambushed the Kurdish party inside a hall with a machine gun, and after running out of ammunition used a suicide vest on the PKK [Kurdish Workers Party] apostates.

Graphic video from Kurdish news sites purportedly showing the aftermath of the attack show broken glass and concrete everywhere. The floor of the hall is covered in blood.

In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women and children celebrating after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man cuts the beard of a civilian who was freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women carry newborn babies while running after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman freed from Isis hugs an SDF fighter in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman adding her veil to a pile of niqabs burning in Manbij, Syria, after being freed from Isis on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Children celebrating on top of a lorry after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man and child freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman carrying her children walks towards SDF fighters after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman and child freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij An SDF fighter kisses a crying man who was freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Hundreds of civilians freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters

Isis previously attacked a wedding party in Gaziantep in the Kurdish region of Turkey in August, with 54 people dying in the blast. President Recep Erdogan said it was carried out by a child aged between 12-14, although Isis did not claim responsibility.

The terror group has lost swathes of its territory on the Turkish/Syrian border to advances by Kurdish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels since Turkey launched Operation Euphrates on 24 August.

Free Syrian Army groups are currently advancing on Dabiq, a village in northwest Syria of extreme ideological importance to Isis. Losing control of Dabiq would be a significant morale blow to the group.
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A leading figure in al Qaeda who became a prominent member of its Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra offshoot was killed in a drone attack on Monday, the group and jihadist sources said.

They said Sheikh Abu al Faraj al Masri, who spent years in prison in his native Egypt on charges of plotting with fundamentalist Islamist groups and later left for Afghanistan, died when the vehicle in which he was travelling was hit in rebel-held Idlib in Syria's northwest.

"May God accept him as a martyr who was killed in a Crusader raid," said a jihadist named Abu Mohammad al Shami.

The US Defense Department said in a statement that Masri was the target of a US air strike near Idlib on Monday. "We are still assessing the results of the strike," it said.

 Fighting continues in Syria as al-Nusra breaks from al-Qaeda

Since the US-led coalition launched operations in Syria, primarily against Isis militants, air strikes have also targeted al-Nusra figures, killing scores.

Syria's militant Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the Jabhat al-Nusra, confirmed the death of the Egyptian cleric in an air strike.

In one of Masri's last public appearances, he was alongside former Nusra leader Abu Mohamad al-Jolani when the group announced in July it was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham to deny Washington and other powers a pretext to attack it.

Washington dismissed that move as cosmetic and said it would continue to target it as a terrorist group.

Last month, Abu Hajer al Homsi, the group's top commander, was killed in an air strike in rural Aleppo province.

Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them Show all 13 1 /13 Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office

Masri, 60, whose real name was Sheikh Ahmad Salamah Mabrouk, had been one of the leading companions of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, according to a jihadist source.

Masri was one of the early leaders of the radical militant Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement. He was arrested after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 and spent seven years in prison.

Masri was also held secretly under a CIA rendition scheme after his arrest in Azerbaijan in 1998.

The source said that like some other jihadists, he came to Syria to join Nusra Front after being freed from an Egyptian prison during the rule of President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist toppled by the military in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Reuters
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Turkey will make a proposal to revive the Syrian ceasefire deal and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spokesman has said.

Ibrahim Kalin also told broadcaster Haberturk in an interview that Mr Erdogan may speak by telephone on the issue with US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The statement came as US Secretary of State John Kerry said that efforts to end Syria's war must continue despite Washington's decision to break off talks with Moscow over its irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised support for President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States suspended talks with Russia on implementing a ceasefire deal in Syria on Monday, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments to halt fighting and ensure aid reached besieged communities.

We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, Mr Kerry said in a speech in Brussels.

We will continue to pursue a meaningful, sustainable, enforceable cessation of hostilities throughout the country - and that includes the grounding of Syrian and Russian combat aircraft in designated areas.

Mr Kerry charged that Russia had turned a blind eye to Assad's deplorable use of barrel bombs and suggested they were pursing a scorched earth policy in place of diplomacy.

Where they make a desert, they call it peace, he said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus. He said if Russia was serious about peace, it would have to behave differently than it was now in Syria.

Russia knows exactly what it needs to do in order to get that cessation implemented and in a fair and reasonable way, he said.

 US suspends bilateral relations with Russia over Syria

Mr Kerry said all parties had a duty to enable delivery of humanitarian assistance, adding that opposition groups had told the United States they agreed with that.

It still remains for Russia and the regime to permit that and guarantee it, he said.

Russian news agencies, citing Mr Kerry's counterpart Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would continue to make efforts to resolve the Syria crisis despite the US suspension of the talks.

A spokeswoman for UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he was in intensive consultations on the way forward.

Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Show all 11 1 /11 Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey's two million Syrian refugees There are already over 2.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, but their current camps can only hold 200,000 people ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish citizens protest a new deal, also criticised by human rights activists, which will see refugees who arrived in Greece after March 20 be sent back to Turkey AP Photo/Emre Tazegu Turkey's two million Syrian refugees An estimated 80% of Syrian refugee children already in Turkey are unable to attend school BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Refugee children beg for water near the Turkey-Syria border. Turkey has been accused of illegally deporting asylum-seekers back to Syria BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees In Turkey, no-one from outside Europe is legally recognised as a refugee, meaning the 2016 deportations may not meet international legal standards for protecting vulnerable people BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A refugee child cries as she is searched by police at the Syria-Turkey border, where 16 refugees (including three children) have been shot dead in the last four months BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Many refugees are living rough on the streets of cities such as Istanbul or Ankara (pictured) ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish soldiers use water cannon on Syrian refugees BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Syrian refugees shelter from rain in the streets of Istanbul BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A derelict building housing Syrian refugees in Istanbul Carl Court/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey houses around half of all the refugees who have currently fled Syria Carl Court/Getty Images

The speed with which the ceasefire collapsed - after a U.N. aid convoy was bombed in Syria - appeared to surprise some US officials, leaving them without a clear plan on the immediate way forward.

US President Barack Obama has been loath to get more deeply involved and he appears unlikely to do so with less than four months left in office.

Also on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein warned Russia over the use of incendiary weapons in Syria's besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, and said any apparent crimes by one side did not justify illegal acts by the other.

Reuters
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Syrian rebels claim to have repelled an army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes pound residential areas  while other nations fret over rebuilding a peace process the United States broke off this week.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had previously announced that Washington was suspending talks with Moscow due to Russias role in the offensive, said on Tuesday that peace efforts must carry on.

Turkey, long one of the main foes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but which has lately repaired its damaged ties with his ally Russia, said it planned to make a proposal to Washington and Moscow to resurrect a ceasefire that collapsed last month.

However, Moscow said it had deployed the advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria for the first time to protect its base at Tartus, Russias only sea base on the Mediterranean.

Elsewhere, there was no sign of peace with potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the five-and-a-half year war unfolding as pro-government forces sought to drive anti-Assad rebels from their last major urban stronghold.

Mr Assads government, with Russian air support and Iranian ground forces, launched the assault on Aleppo last month, a week into a ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow.

The United States and other Western countries say Moscow and Damascus are guilty of potential war crimes for deliberately targetting civilians, hospitals and aid deliveries to crush the will of more than 250,000 people trapped under siege in Aleppo. The Syrian and Russian governments say they target only militants.

Rebels said they inflicted losses on pro-government fighters after hours of clashes on the fringe of Sheikh Saed district, at the southern edge of the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo city.

We repelled their attempt to advance in Sheikh Saed and killed 10 regime fighters and destroyed several vehicles, said a fighter from the Failaq al-Sham rebel group who gave his name as Abdullah al-Halabi.

Pro-government media said the Syrian army was pressing ahead in a major campaign supported by Iranian-backed militias and Russian air power to take full control of Syrias largest city, divided between rebel and government zones since 2012.

 US suspends bilateral relations with Russia over Syria

In the 15 days since the collapse of the ceasefire, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 293 civilians in besieged east Aleppo as a result of air strikes and shelling, including 20 on Tuesday. It has documented 25 deaths in government-held west Aleppo from rebel shelling during the 15 days.

Opposition sources give higher death tolls in the besieged rebel-held sector, under attack from bombing described as unprecedented in its ferocity. Many hundreds of wounded people have been brought to a handful of functioning hospitals, which are short of supplies and have themselves come under attack.

The collapse of the ceasefire last month left US policy on Syria in tatters and was a personal blow for Mr Kerry, who negotiated the truce over months of intense diplomacy with Moscow despite scepticism in Washington, including from other senior figures in the Barack Obama administration.

Last month Republican Senator John McCain called Mr Kerry intrepid but deluded for relying on Moscow.

Mr Kerry suspended talks with Russia on Monday, accusing Moscow of failing to live up to its commitments to halt fighting and assure aid reached besieged communities.

We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, Mr Kerry said on Tuesday in a speech in Brussels.

He accused Moscow of turning a blind eye to Syria's use of barrel bombs  oil drums packed with explosives  which can kill civilians.

Where they make a desert, they call it peace, Mr Kerry said, quoting the Roman historian Tacitus.

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies saying Moscow would make efforts to resolve the crisis despite the US suspension of talks.

A spokesman for the Turkish president said Recep Tayyip Erdogan could speak by telephone to Mr Obama and President Vladimir Putin about a proposal to revive the Syrian ceasefire. The spokesman did not give details of the proposal. A German official said US, British, French, German and Italian officials would meet in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss next steps.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, said attacks on civilians in Aleppo could amount to crimes against humanity. He suggested countries with a veto at the UN Security Council, such as Russia, should be stripped of the power to prevent such serious cases being reported to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Syrias civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made half the country homeless in the worlds worst refugee crisis. Most regional states and many global powers have been drawn into the conflict to support the opposing sides, and amid the fighting the hardline Sunni Muslim group Islamic State seized much of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Washington is bombing Isis but has mostly avoided direct involvement in war elsewhere in Syria, leaving the field open to Russia which joined the conflict a year ago on the side of its longtime ally Mr Assad.

Russia says the only way to fight Isis is to support President Assad. Washington says the Syrian leader has too much blood on his hands and must leave power.

 UN: Syria's healthcare system nearly destroyed

A successful assault on Aleppo would deliver the biggest victory of the war for Mr Assad, and leave his government in control of all the major cities of western Syria where the overwhelming majority of the population lives.

The rebels, armed and funded by foreign powers including Western countries, Arab States and Turkey, are putting up a bitter fight for districts of Aleppo where they have had years to fortify their positions. They also control other territory and have launched advances of their own.

A rebel commander from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki group said the army had opened several fronts simultaneously since the launch of a ground assault in order to stretch rebel forces, and had dropped leaflets from helicopters calling for surrender.

Government forces have pressed southwards since securing Handarat, a camp for Palestinians on the northern edge of Aleppo last Thursday following what rebels called carpet bombing. They levelled the ground and our people had no choice but to retreat under the bombing of the Russians, the Zinki commander said.

Rebels still expect the army thrust will slow in residential areas that offer them more cover from air raids.

In the heart of the city, warplanes flying at high altitude hit Bustan al Qasr, Hay al Huluk and Fardous neighbourhoods with reports of casualties, several rebel contacts said. Rebels believe those planes are Russian.

The Russian embassy in Damascus was hit by mortar fire on Monday. Moscow said the shells had been fired from the rebel-held Jobar neighbourhood east of Damascus.

Reuters
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Tombili, a rotund cat beloved by Istanbuls Ziverbey neighbourhood, has been commemorated by the city authorities after local demand for a tribute to his memory.

Tombili - a Turkish word often used for chubby pets - was known by residents of Ziverbey, part of the district of Kadkoy, for his nonchalant demeanour towards people who wanted to play with him. The cat became world famous earlier this year after a photo of him reclining in one of his favourite spots on the pavement was shared thousands of times on social media.

Many users edited the image with jokey captions or Photoshopped glasses of alcohol or other vices in front of him.

The cat found fame late in life, dying in August after a mystery month-long illness, Hurriyet News reported his owners as saying.

Flyers around the neighbourhood mourning his loss reading, You will live on in our hearts, mascot of our street appeared before the idea for a more permanent tribute took hold.

A change.org petition which gathered 17,000 signatures asked for Kadkoy Municipality to officially commemorate Tombilis contribution to public life, and local sculptor Seval Sahin agreed to make a bronze sculpture recreating the cats famous pose.

The statue was inaugurated on October 4, World Animal Day. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects, leaving candles, cat food and flowers. The event was covered by Turkish TV.

At the ceremony, Kadkoy deputy mayor Basar Necipoglu thanked the animal lovers of the area for making the memorial possible.

 Cats art project on the London Underground

Istanbuls love affair with cats is well documented: the city is home to hundreds of thousands of strays which are well looked after by locals.

If you kill a cat, you need to build a mosque to gain Gods forgiveness, is how one Turkish saying goes. It is thought to originate from a folktale about the Prophet Mohammeds favourite pet, a cat called Muezza.

Rather that disturb the cat sleeping on the sleeve of his prayer robe, Mohammed used scissors to cut the sleeve off and leave her undisturbed.

In another version of the story, Muezza saved the prophet from a deadly snake. When he stroked her back in thanks, cats earned their ability to always land on their feet.
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Since late September there has been concern about the viability and future of Monarch Airlines. Over the weekend of 24-25 September the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was evidently so worried about Monarchs prospects that it set up a shadow airline to mimic the Monarch schedule, with chartered planes deployed across Europe in case the carrier shut down and British holidaymakers needed to be repatriated.

Autumn is an unhappy time to be a short-haul airline, with ferocious competition and weak demand. Monarchs Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) was due for renewal at one minute to midnight on 30 September. To renew the licence, the CAA must be satisfied with a firms assets, its profitability and its prospects. Less than four hours before the existing licence was due to expire, the airline was given until 12 October to satisfy the authority that it is financially sound. The airline says we have just secured further investments from shareholders and look forward to many more years of flying, and furthermore that it is close to announcing the largest investment in its 48-year history.

But the deadline means another spell of uncertainty for Monarchs 2,800 staff and hundreds of thousands of passengers with advance bookings.

Many people have contacted the travel desk of The Independent, and these are the key questions:

Q My husband and I are about to fly from Birmingham to Cyprus by Monarch, but we are booked to fly back on 16 October  after the CAAs deadline. So where does that leave us?

Maureen Pritchard

Monarch says it is confident of getting more investment and that the CAA will renew its ATOL. But even if that doesnt happen, and the airline is grounded, your holiday should continue as normal because the ATOL protection survives even if the airline doesn't. Your hotelier is assured that he or she will be paid. And for the homebound flight: judging from the shadow airline set up by the CAA last weekend, in the event that Monarch fails there will be planes in place to get you home. So enjoy your holiday and dont fret. When an airline fails, the people who are abroad are normally in a happier position than those yet to travel.

Q If I book a flight for January and Monarch go out of business, what then?

Bog Triathlon

Almost all flights from the UK sold by Monarch are covered by ATOL, which means that if the flight does not go ahead, you get your money back. By definition, ATOL survives an airline going bust  indeed the only benefit of an ATOL is when a carrier fails. It mostly covers package holidays, but most Monarch flight-only sales for journeys beginning in the UK are also covered.

Q I have a flight with Monarch to Fuerteventura returning on 18 Oct but did not get ATOL cover as they said I was covered by PayPal. Will I get home?

Janice Walter

If you bought your flights with PayPal, paying the airline direct, then the PayPay Buyer Protection scheme should cover you  so long as the booking is less than 180 days ahead; PayPals terms insist that you "Open a Dispute for non-receipt of the purchase within this time.

Q One month ago I booked and paid for two flights to Tenerife in May next year with Monarch. Will I receive any money back if Monarch go bust? I have yet to pay for the hotel which was booked at the same time but its pay on arrival. However I did contact the hotel through email and said I would be going to Playa las Americas in October this year and could I come round and pay? They said yes. I really don't know what to do with the rumours surrounding Monarch. What would you suggest?

Neil Chadwick

Lets all hope that Monarch is justified in its optimism. But if anything were to happen to the airline, there would be a scramble for seats on other carriers, which would push up prices. Anyone without a paid-for accommodation booking is able to decide whether or not to pay those higher fares, or opt for a different holiday, or stay at home. So you are in a strong position with a pay-on-arrival hotel booking, and I urge you to stay like that. Don't go round and pay, just in case anything changes. While I have some flight-only bookings with Monarch to Barcelona, I will not pay for accommodation until near the time. Just in case.

Q Are you suggesting people dont book with Monarch?

Name withheld

No, Im suggesting they do  so long as they are prepared to accept the risk of a trip not going ahead. In order to get bookings back on track, Monarch is cutting prices. Anyone who buys either a package holiday or a flight-only ticket starting in Britain, paid with a credit or debit card, can be certain that they wont lose out financially because of ATOL protection. Even if the airline fails to make it beyond 12 October, your money is protected.

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Just like 48 per cent of the British people on the morning of 24 June, many Colombians felt a profound shock on Sunday at their countrys decision to narrowly reject a peace deal with the FARC communist paramilitary group. Although fundamentally different to the EU Referendum  Colombia was voting on a deal that would have brought a war spanning 52 years, with more than 260,000 victims, to an end  there are some surprising parallels can be drawn between this vote and Brexit.

Like David Camerons bid to keep Britain in the EU, the Colombian referendum was championed by Colombias centre-right president Juan Manuel Santos. It was hailed as a defining moment in the countrys history, and just like the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, had the backing of world leaders, politicians, celebrities and the mainstream media. Even Pope Francis expressed his support in an attempt to win over Colombias Catholic population. But it wasnt enough.

Many Colombians felt a visceral resentment towards a negotiation progress that they felt was indulgent towards the FARC. Details of the negotiation included FARC reforming as a political party and being granted a handful of seats in the national congress. Furthermore, it also ensured amnesty for the majority of the groups fighters, whilst the groups most prolific criminals would face lenient jail sentences. Just like Cameron, Santos was seen as a weak negotiator, being held hostage by those who seek to harm him.

 Colombia government scrambles to rescue peace deal with FARC

Whilst the peace deal was supported by the political mainstream, figures similar to that of Nigel Farage and former Tory grandees emerged to campaign for a No vote. The most obvious example of this was Santoss predecessor Manuel Uribe, supposedly an ally of the current president, who harnessed his loyal support to rally the countrys rural masses into rejecting the deal. He achieved this by echoing the burning sense of injustice felt by many of the conflicts victims, whilst expressing fears of a communist insurgency was given political credibility.

Just last week, Santos addressed the United Nations hailing the peace deal as a reason for hope, ensuring that there would now be one less war on the planet. Few expressed concern at his rather premature celebrations. Like the Brexit vote, the rejection of the FARC peace deal defied pollsters expectations, and stunned the countrys political class. Many had predicted the deal would pass in a landslide.

Like Camerons decision to hold a referendum on Britains membership of the EU, Santoss decision to put the deal to the Colombian people was a risk, and one they have both paid for. Following the result, Santos addressed the nation on Sunday evening to guarantee the stability of the nation, and, unlike Cameron, has since vowed to fight on in an attempt to save the peace deal. Although FARC have pledged to maintain the ceasefire, the vote now thrusts Colombia into a period of political uncertainty.

For both David Cameron and Juan Manuel Santos, they believed the only way to gain legitimacy with the wider public was by receiving a mandate for their reforms. Yet as Colombians took to the streets of Cartagena today in protest of the vote, which holds a 0.48 per cent majority, and as many Britains still refuse to accept the outcome of the EU referendum, it is clear their quest for unity have only left their peoples more divided.

Ben Kew is an English journalist who currently works for El Tiempo (Colombia)
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What do you think about when you hear the words investigative journalism? The team from the Boston Globe, immortalised in last year's film Spotlight, sifting through cabinets full of documents in a heroic effort to bring down the bad guys? Louis Theroux, peering quizzically into the wardrobe of Jimmy Savile's late mother? Fake sheikhs? Honey traps? A long, noble and vital tradition?

Recommended Read more Mysterious author Elena Ferrante nominated for Man Booker prize

Ears pricked up yesterday when an Italian investigative journalist announced that he had a top story, and he was about to reveal it in the New York Review of Books. Had he got the boss of the Camorra? No: he had apparently discovered the identity of a quite popular author of fiction. One who has repeatedly explained why her anonymity was essential to her work as a writer. Hardly Pulitzer-winning stuff.

The authors nom de plume is Elena Ferrante, and she is probably best known for her Neapolitan quartet of novels, about the gradual unfolding of a friendship and the lives of two women. She has achieved the unusual distinction, for a translated author, of becoming a bestseller in the English-speaking world; been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize; and been named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world. And this is in spite of (or perhaps because of) her commitment to her personal anonymity.

Even before her first novel, Troubling Love, was published in 1992, Ferrante wrote to her publisher that she would not be taking part in anything that might involve the public engagement of me personally. No discussions or conferences, she wrote. No literary festivals or TV documentaries. If the book is worth anything, she told them, that should be sufficient.

For her adoring readers, her publisher, and prize committees, her work has been more than sufficient. For those not familiar with the principle of Occams razor, meanwhile, more outlandish hypotheses have been expounded about her preference for anonymity over the public life. Why would a thinking woman of the Twitter generation not want the world to know who she is and where she lives?, they demanded. How could an author prefer writing at home to the endless book festival circuit of soggy sandwiches and cheap hotels?

Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Show all 13 1 /13 Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Serious Sweet, AL Kennedy (UK) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist The Schooldays of Jesus, JM Coetzee (South African-Australian) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist The Sellout, Paul Beatty (US) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Work Like Any Other, Virginia Reeves (US) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist His Bloody Project, Graeme Macrae Burnet (UK) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist The North Water, Ian McGuire (UK) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Hystopia, David Means (US) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Hot Milk, Deborah Levy (UK) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Madeleine Thien (Canada) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist The Many, Wyl Menmuir (UK) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh (US) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout (US) Man Booker Prize 2016 longlist All That Man Is, David Szalay (Canada-UK)

According to some critics, there could be only one answer: Ferrante is secretly a man. We have seen this before, of course, when a shy author called Harper Lee wrote one of the most brilliant and best-loved novels of all time, and then decided that she had done enough. Of course, armchair critics argued, to write this thrillingly about the interior lives of women and girls, she must have been Truman Capote. And so, according to the brave journalist behind Ferrantes unmasking, he has done her a favour by showing that she is female, after all.

Reactions to this literary non-event have spanned a predictable range. Fans of Ferrantes work are unsurprised about her gender, and furious about the imposition on her writing life. The vast majority of the newspaper-reading public has shrugged its collective shoulders and said, Elena who? In the same news cycle, we learned that Kim Kardashian-West was tied up and robbed at gunpoint while alone in a residence in Paris, and that the first reaction on social media was to point and laugh. Now, why on earth would a woman want to keep her head below the parapet?

There are many injustices in the world worth the attention of good investigative journalists. In America, for instance, a male politician has been subjecting his female rival to vicious personal attacks while refusing to reveal his own tax returns. All over the world, companies are paying women less than men for doing the same work. I expect there are even some political scandals to be uncovered in Italy. But this reporter's scoop of the century essentially boils down to the shocking headline: "Woman writes books". Don't hold the front page.
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Its a grey Thursday morning, Ive just finished a meeting about reviewing NUS out-dated harassment guidance when I receive word about an alleged walk out of a consent talk at York University.

Understandably, I begin to panic. I pick up my phone, and instantly message one the two elected Womens Officers at York University Students Union to find how this situation could possibly have arisen. Mia Chaudhuri-Julyan, responds almost immediately, Hey! So basically there was no walk out  its a mistake! Oh thank god. I respond. So why on earth is there a headline in the Daily Mail stating otherwise. She assures me that there was no co-ordinated protest by the student body. Rather, a technical delay between the end of the fire safety section and the start of the consent section meant that students, naturally, grew impatient and left  after all, the talks werent mandatory.

Incidentally, a third-year student happened to be leafleting outside Central Hall at that very moment in time  urging freshers to boycott the workshops as he deemed them patronising. According to the media, however, a purely innocent decision by students was deemed a walk out co-ordinated by a third-year mastermind and his impeccable leaflets.

To clarify, there were four consent workshops in total. The second, third and fourth talk ran smoothly. No technical issues this time. Fewer than five people left in total  this, in spite of the third-year student leafleting all day.

Its a strange thing that individuals exist who genuinely believe consent workshops to be patronising and reduce consent classes into lessons on how to say yes or no. The reality is far from this. Instead, consent sessions work to debunk myths surrounding rape, deconstruct the impact of hyper-masculinity on all genders, and push students not to shame peers for their sexual preferences or sexual activity.

Recommended Read more This is the hidden truth about university sexual consent classes

It doesnt take much research to realise that the quality Sex and Relationship Education in the UK is seriously lacking. Consent and mutual respect is rarely addressed in schools, the unrealistic depiction of sex in pornography is barely touched upon, and in many cases, LGBTQ+ issues are never discussed. More than four in five young people (85 per cent), for example, are never even taught about same-sex relationships.

Consequently, students unions are frequently brought into bridge this gap  often, under the heading of consent workshops. Universities and students union have a duty of care towards their students, do they not? Thus, it only makes sense for them to run workshops that will educate their students about matters of consent and the support services available to them  especially when most students lack basic understanding of university protocol in instances of rape and sexual violence.

Furthermore, the idea that consent workshops propagate the belief that all women are potential victims and all men rapists is deeply troubling and seriously lacking in any nuance. For one, it fails to take into account that anyone can be a survivor or a perpetrator of sexual violence (though, women do make up a disproportionate number of survivors).

Indeed, if consent were a simple case of men versus women, male survivors would not exist; Oxford University Students Union would not have elected a male and female co-chair to lead an anti-harassment campaign entitled It Happens Here; and I wouldnt have spent my time at university campaigning for all freshers to receive consent training at my university  just men.

Since being elected into my position three months ago, I have been present at student events where male on male rape has occurred. I have had to develop strategies to prevent individual universities from naming entire buildings and rooms after lecturers who have resigned in the midst of numerous rape allegations. I have had to share spaces with abusers who have unapologetically boasted about not being held to account after assaulting a peer. I have had to reach out to FemSocs around the country to alert them of returning guest lecturers who have been accused of rape by former students. And I have been brought in last minute to provide comments when universities have failed to suspend senior lecturers convicted of beating former students.

It is time that we confronted the prevalence of sexual abuse and violence within university campuses, and the UK as a whole. We cannot continue to be blind to this truth and argue that consent talks are not needed because they are patronising and challenge our knowledge of how to navigate sex and relationships.

The reality is that a rape will be recorded every day in a UK school. One in seven women will experience serious sexual assault during their time at university. One in seven men and more than a half of women students (54 per cent) will experience unwanted touching, groping or sexual comments about their bodies.

No one is saying that consent workshops are the solution to combatting sexual assault and rape on and off campus. Indeed, if that were the case, I would not have spent the last months working with Universities UK to update the outdated Zellick guidelines. Additionally, I would not be in the process of developing bystander intervention workshops for students and staff. And I most certainly would not be spending the entirety of this month touring universities to develop strategies specific to their local context. Instead, what I am insisting is that consent workshops are a first step to addressing the issue at hand.

Hareem Ghani is a Women's Officer at the NUS
First-time buyers now have to save for up to four years to buy a house, regulators have revealed.

Research on the difficulty of getting a foot on the property ladder found a couple with no children in a rented two-bedroom property in Dublin have to put money away for at least two and half years to afford a three-bedroomed home of their own.

The Central Bank study warned that couples in similar situations in other cities have to save for between a year and 18 months in order to buy, while in other parts of the country it is about one year. Within Dublin, time-to-save estimates are between two and a half to four years.

One of the most startling findings was that the average deposit for a first-time buyer in s outh county Dublin is now 76,000 euro (66,579) - about double what they would have needed two years ago.

On the southside of the city and in the city centre, deposits are about 50,000 euro (43,800), again about double what was needed in the middle of 2014.

The experts said deposit demands have increased by 10,000-22,000 euro (8,760-19,273) in other parts of the city and county in the same period but by less than 5,000 euro (4,380) outside the capital.

The study found that the length of time a house hunter in Dublin has to save has doubled since the middle of 2014 because of rapid rent hikes, the recovery in house prices following the crash and new rules on lending.

In Cork, Galway and the commuter towns around Dublin, first-time buyers have to pull together about 20,000 euro (17,520) for a deposit.

Fergal McCann, Central Bank senior economist, said there were effectively three property markets now in Ireland - Dublin, urban areas outside the capital and the rest of the country.

"What the analysis suggests is that the housing market can be divided broadly into three areas," he said.

"Within Dublin time-to-save estimates are between two and a half to four years, depending on area. In other urban areas we see time-to-save of between one and one-and-a-half years.

"The situation appears more favourable in non-Dublin, non-urban areas."

The research was undertaken amid continued debate over the watchdog's strict mortgage lending rules requiring first-time buyers to have a 10% deposit for the first 220,000 euro (192,727) of a house price and 20% for the balance. Other buyers must have a 20% deposit and lending is limited to 3.5 times incomes.

The Government has said an initiative for first-time buyers is being considered for next week's budget, including a tax rebate system.

The Central Bank also noted that rents have been increasing by double figure rates since 2013, while house prices have increased rapidly in Dublin in 2013 and 2014 and outside the capital by around 10% last year and this year.
Budget airline Ryanair is to create more than 3,500 new jobs next year including pilots and cabin crew as it plans to add 50 new aircraft

Budget airline Ryanair is to create more than 3,500 new jobs next year, including pilots and cabin crew, as it plans to add 50 new aircraft to its fleet.

The Irish carrier said the major recruitment drive would see it take on 2,000 new cabin crew, 1,000 pilots and 250 aircraft engineers.

Ryanair remained tight-lipped on how many of the roles would be based in the UK, having warned in July that it would "pivot" growth away from UK airports after the Brexit vote and house its 50 new aircraft outside Britain.

The group said only that recruitment would be "spread throughout Ryanair's 84-base European network".

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has been an outspoken critic of Brexit and warned earlier this month that airlines were delaying investment decisions in the UK until there was more clarity on negotiations over the UK's exit from the EU.

The airline's initial recruitment plans come as part of a wider aim to boost its aircraft numbers from 355 to more than 500 in the next five years, which will see it hire more than 5,000 extra staff.

Next year's hiring spree will also see new posts created in IT, sales and marketing, finance and commercial divisions at Ryanair's Dublin office - and also at its Travel Labs Poland subsidiary in Wroclaw.

Eddie Wilson, chief people officer at Ryanair, said: " 2017 is set to be our busiest recruitment year to date, and we are continuing to invest heavily in talent for the future."

Its announcement also came as traffic figures showed Ryanair flew 13% more passengers year-on-year in September, at 10.8 million.

The group's load factor - a key measure of how well it filled its planes - edged up to 95% last month from 94% a year earlier.

It expects average fares to drop by between 10% to 12% over the next six months.

Ryanair later confirmed a number of engineering jobs would be created in Glasgow Prestwick Airport and some cabin crew posts at its 13 UK airport bases.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny wants all-island discussions about the effects of Brexit

All of Northern Ireland's main unionist parties are to snub Taoiseach Enda Kenny's a ll-island Brexit talks.

As the Irish Government set out plans for the November 2 meeting in Dublin, the Democratic Unionists, Ulster Unionists and Traditional Unionist Voice reiterated that they would not be taking up the invite.

The day long conference is being billed by the Taoiseach as an All-Island Civic Dialogue.

It will focus on the fallout from Brexit and the potential impact on economy and trade, the peace process, the UK-Ireland common travel area, the border and the future of the EU.

Among those invited on both sides of the border are business and employer groups, trade unions, farmers, NGOs, councils in the border region, government agencies - particularly ones with a north-south dimension, academics, universities and colleges and all the main political parties.

Mr Kenny said: "Now that we have clarity from Prime Minister (Theresa) May regarding the timetable, we will intensify our engagement and preparation for the negotiations.

"Ireland faces unique challenges from Brexit, not least given the all-island issues that arise."

Despite a majority of voters in Northern Ireland wishing to remain in the European Union, unionists politicians have refused to support all-island Brexit discussions.

A spokesman for the Democratic Unionists said: "We would value the importance of discussions on a cross border basis on issues that would effect Northern Ireland and the Republic, but ministers can easily do that through any of the existing structures.

"We are not waiting until November. We are trying to get involved in securing the best deal."

The DUP said that included First Minister Arlene Foster meeting British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

The Ulster Unionists said the party would not be represented at the Dublin meeting.

And a spokesman for Jim Allister's Traditional Unionist Voice said: "It is an internal UK matter. We want friendly relations with our nearest neighbour. We want an open border, but we don't think that a conference in Dublin is the place."

The SDLP supports the initiative as does the centrist Alliance Party - while Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams proposed the idea of an all-Ireland forum on the issue of Brexit in July.

The meeting in Dublin will be hosted by the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan.

The Government said it would be "highly interactive" with key challenges set out before discussions take place.

It said its aim was to hear from those affected by the vote and to map the challenges that Brexit poses and their potential impact on different parts of society and the economy on an all-island basis.

The Taoiseach rejected criticism from Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald that the Government was ill-prepared for Brexit, and that the only response was a one-day conference.

Mr Kenny was also briefing main opposition leaders on the Government's approach.

As part of the Government's response to Brexit, it said there would be a series of round-table discussions with interested groups about sectoral issues - and next week's budget would have measures to which will support the overall economic response.

Mr Kenny said he would continue engaging with other EU leaders, governments and EU institutions.

He said the next North South Ministerial Council in Armagh on November 18 will be "hugely significant" with a focus on protecting the peace process in Brexit talks.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond during a visit to a construction site in Birmingham yesterday, where new HSBC offices are being built. REUTERS/Stefan Rousseau/Pool

Banks, insurers and other financial firms will only be allowed to relocate to Ireland in the wake of the Brexit vote if they're going to have a real and substantive presence here, the Central Bank has warned.

Ireland is regarded as a potential contender for London-based firms looking to shift business to a location that will continue to allow them to sell into the EU.

Expand Close Central Bank Director of Policy and Risk, Gerry Cross. Picture Jason Clarke Photography. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Central Bank Director of Policy and Risk, Gerry Cross. Picture Jason Clarke Photography.

The Central Bank said it is ready to engage with new business, but signalled that operations bringing little activity or staff here will not be tolerated.

Gerry Cross, Central Bank's director of policy and risk, stressed that when asked to authorise a firm in Ireland, the Central Bank will only give the green light to a business, or a line of a business, that will be run from Ireland. "We will expect there to be substantive presence," Mr Cross said.

Read more: Brexit poser: Find a UK firm not relying on UK

Read more: Ireland braced for serious fallout from Brexit - here are six things you need to know now

Mr Cross said the regulator will want to ensure that the board and management of the business are located here. He said officials in Dame Street will want to be satisfied that the "mind and will" of the entity are based in Ireland, and that decisions are being made from here.

"It would not make much business sense to place a disconnected head in Ireland while the operations are run and the business is conducted elsewhere," Mr Cross told a Brexit briefing organised by Deloitte last night.

Competition has been growing among certain EU capitals looking to lure firms from London as a result of the referendum result, with Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Dublin among the contenders.

The French government pledged within days of the result to make its tax regime for expatriates among the most favourable in Europe. And last week the 'Financial Times' reported that French authorities will simplify the process of registering financial companies, with officials accepting legal applications which are written in English.

Central Bank deputy governor Sharon Donnery has defended the regulator's authorisation process, saying it is not slower at processing authorisations for new financial firms than EU rivals.

Mr Cross said the length of time differs depending on the firm.

For funds licensing, the turnaround is a matter of days. Other areas could take months, he said. And he said just because a firm is already licensed in the UK doesn't mean it can simply be fast tracked in Ireland.

"This is not a process that can be short circuited simply because the entity may previously have been authorised elsewhere," Mr Cross added.

It came as UK Chancellor Philip Hammond attempted to reassure businesses and investors in the UK by pledging the British government would do whatever is necessary to protect the country's economy from "turbulence" during the Brexit negotiations.

Mr Hammond sought to reassure businesses and consumers - whose continued investment and spending fuels economic growth - that he would act to if needed. The pound hit a three-year low against the euro yesterday in the wake of the prime minister's comments that Article 50 would be triggered by March.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan intends to raise the value of property that parents can leave to their children without paying tax  but will not offer any relief to other relatives. Photo: Tom Burke

Childless families will lose out as a result of changes to the inheritance tax regime planned for Budget 2017.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan intends to raise the value of property that parents can leave to their children without paying tax - but will not offer any relief to other relatives.

The plan is causing considerable disquiet within Fianna Fail, with rural TDs in particular telling their finance spokesperson Michael McGrath to make "a big push" to have the rights of siblings recognised.

The Irish Independent understands that Mr Noonan intends to increase the current inheritance tax threshold from 280,000 to at least 320,000.

However, this will only apply in 'Category A' cases, where the assets are passing directly from parents to their children.

A person left assets by a sibling, an aunt or uncle or a grandparent (Category B) will face Capital Acquisitions Tax at a rate of 33pc once the value of the assets bequeathed exceeds just 30,150.

And a non-blood relative (Category C) who is the beneficiary of a will is hit with inheritance tax once the assets are valued at more than 15,075.

Read more: Comment: High earners pay more than their fair share in tax, while others get a free ride

Fianna Fail is arguing that the second two categories should see a pro-rata increase in their thresholds.

"One concern is for siblings in rural areas who live together but the one who passes away owns the house and land. The surviving brother or sister can find themselves left with no capacity to pay such a bill," said a source.

Another TD argued that the current plans being tabled "do not recognise the diversity of modern families".

Thresholds

It is understood that Mr McGrath is to argue the case for a much broader adjustment of the thresholds when he meets with Mr Noonan this week for a briefing ahead of next Tuesday's Budget. "He was told to go back to Michael Noonan and make our position clear on this," a source said. However, Fine Gael sources reiterated that limited resources mean that widespread reform of the inheritance system won't happen.

The Programme for Government, agreed between Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance, commits to raising the Category A threshold to 500,000 over the lifetime of the Government.

However, it makes no mention of the other categories. The amount of Capital Acquisitions Tax collected by the State has increased by 65pc since 2011.

Read more: Revealed: Cigarettes, diesel to rise in Budget but squeezed middle to gain as little as 2 a week

Revenue took in 156m in tax from sons and daughters last year, compared with 183m from people who fall into Category B and 59m from Category C.

Meanwhile, the Dail's Budget Oversight Committee published its report last night which notes the intention of the minister to change the thresholds "in respect of family homes".

"The Tax Strategy Group Papers outlined that the cost of increasing the threshold to 500,000 for a parent to child inheritance would amount to 75m per annum.

"The Minister indicated that he proposed to increase the thresholds over a number of budgets, due to the cost thereof," it says.

The report adds that "some members" of the cross-party committee support the approach taken by Mr Noonan.
Minister Katherine Zappone has insisted that Budget childcare measures must benefit low-income families first.

She said there are other measures to support higher-earning families amid ongoing negotiations over the threshold for parents to benefit from the proposed childcare subsidy.

And she seized on the publication of a report into early years services in disadvantaged areas to reinforce her position.

Fine Gael TDs want to increase the threshold at which families become eligible to claim the subsidy that will be paid to creches to bring in middle-income workers.

However, Ms Zappone is insistent that if funding for the scheme is limited, the low paid should be the first recipients.

Read more: Zappone: I make no apology for focusing on low-income families

Read more: Zappone: 'Childcare subsidy will benefit the squeezed middle if FG gives me more money'

She spoke at the launch of the 'Breaking Point' report, which examined services to support families most at risk of poverty in parts of south Dublin and Cork city.

Ms Zappone said that a finding that 98pc of community providers of such services are experiencing financial risk is "alarming". The report also cites average hourly pay in the sector of 11.12 and highlights a difficulty in retaining highly qualified staff.

Ms Zappone said: "These figures are why we have to change childcare forever. As minister with responsibility, I am determined to bring about that change." She said services for children need an investment of 600m but this won't happen in a single Budget.

An income threshold for a couple earning 47,000 to avail of the planned childcare subsidy is one model being looked at for the new subsidy scheme, but Fine Gael TDs would like to see that increased to around 55,000.

Ms Zappone said the threshold will be a net income figure and the proposed scheme will be streamlined to help families find out if they're covered.

"I am absolutely in favour of ensuring a higher form of subsidisation for low-income families but I'm also saying at the same time there is State support for children of families of any income," she said.

She said there are other "significant forms of investment" benefiting families of all incomes. These include the introduction of paternity leave and the second year of free pre-school care.

Ms Zappone said that once the subsidy system is in place, it can be extended to higher-income families as more funding becomes available.

She will have further talks with Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe to discuss the issue this week.

Ms Zappone said she is seeking to maximise the funds for the scheme so that more families will be covered.
The establishment of a universal scheme is being championed by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, although he has not said when it will be set up. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

Union leaders have warned that workers without pensions may not pay into a new state-run scheme due to fears their savings will be "squandered".

An internal Irish Congress of Trade Unions document also criticises the Pensions Authority for taking 25m from workers in fees while the value of their pensions collapsed.

It accuses the regulatory body, now chaired by Congress's former general secretary David Begg, of taking 10 from each pension scheme member per year "for no added value" and says it does nothing to protect defined contribution pensions.

The unions' umbrella body document supports the setting up of a universal pension scheme during this government's tenure so that the next generation of workers will enjoy some form of decent pensions.

The establishment of a universal scheme is being championed by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, although he has not said when it will be set up.

But the union leaders warn that it must be protected from ineffective regulation and government levies and must not be used to replace the state pension.

The document says the pension crisis and refusal of those in authority to admit the scale of the problem meant workers have a "major lack of confidence" in funded pensions.

"Unless workers can be convinced that the industry and the regulatory system have learnt from past mistakes, there will be little worker enthusiasm for paying contributions into a fund that could be ineffectively regulated, subject to confiscation by government levies and squandered in ill-advised investment decisions," it says.

It says the Pensions Authority, the Department of Social Protection and the Government "have not formally recognised the scale of the pension catastrophe and carry on as if nothing of significance has occurred". The document by the Sub-Committee on Pensions, says the system of regulating pensions in Ireland is expensive, inefficient and ineffective.

ICTU pensions expert Fergus Whelan said there are only 430 vulnerable defined benefit schemes left from 1,500 healthy ones a few years ago.
Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has warned that too much focus on pensioners could result in the disabled, carers and other sections of society being left behind in the Budget.

The minister is under pressure from Fianna Fail to increase the old-age pension by 5 a week, at a cost of around 150m to his department.

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The increase is widely expected to form part of the Budget next Tuesday but Mr Varadkar has said that Fianna Fail needs to be held to account for a growing list of demands that also includes an extra 100m for third-level education.

"We've seen lots of individual Fianna Fail spokespeople flying kites and throwing shapes.

"It's incumbent now on Fianna Fail to produce a spending package that actually adds up to something resembling 600m," he said.

The minister said he is conscious of the spending needed for health, childcare and first-time buyers as well as social welfare receipts.

His key target in the budget talks with Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is the self-employed.

Read more: Pressure mounts on Varadkar for 5 a week hike in pensions

Listen: The awkward moment Leo Varadkar said Micheal Martin will announce Budget 2017

"There's always going to be competing demands. My personal priority in this Budget is to have new social protections extended to 350,000 self-employed people across the State.

"There's also a Fine Gael manifesto commitment to increase the State pension by 5 and there are other things I'd like to do as well for other groups," he said.

Asked about the suggestion from Fianna Fail's Willie O'Dea that the pension hike is non-negotiable, Mr Varadkar said: "I wouldn't like to say that we are going to give all the resources to one group in society and have nothing for the self-employed, nothing for the disabled, nothing for the carers and nothing around assisting lone parents getting into education and into work."

A poll conducted by Amarach Research for RTE's 'Claire Byrne Live' programme last night found that 77pc of voters support the increase in the pension. It also found that 48pc of people would rather receive a tax cut in the Budget than see extra resources pumped into public services. Some 44pc favoured improved services.

Mr Varadkar also indicated yesterday he is unlikely to reinstate the Bereavement Grant, as demanded by Sinn Fein. On housing, he denied introducing a tax rebate for first-time buyers was "encouraging" people to take on mortgages.

"Young people want to get on the property ladder. And they want to move from rented accommodation to their own home.

"The Government isn't there to solve everyone's problems but it is there to help. Helping people buy their first home, I think, is a positive thing," he said.

Meanwhile, Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor admitted her tax proposal for returning emigrants won't be in the Budget, but would not comment on the Taoiseach's denouncement of the proposal. She claimed Mr Kenny's response "is not really the issue. The issue now is that we create jobs."
The Government's ambition to deliver 25,000 new homes a year by 2020 has received a potential boost with the ceo of US real estate giant Kennedy Wilson, Bill McMorrow, revealing that his company is in the "very early stages" of considering whether to expand its existing business from renting homes to building homes to sell.

"We're looking at how we might get involved in housebuilding here. So we are in the very early stages of looking at whether we should start building houses," Mr McMorrow told the 'Financial Times'.

"We want to figure out how we can be part of the solution [to Ireland's housing crisis] but you have to do your homework on these things first," he added.

While Mr McMorrow said the Irish housing market was similar to that of the US, he said Kennedy Wilson would only look to replicate its American model if the plan made financial sense.

The Irish Independent understands Mr McMorrow made his remarks on Kennedy Wilson's possible entry into the Irish house sales market in the course of a recent visit to Dublin for a meeting of the company's board.

Asked if Mr McMorrow had met with Finance Minister Michael Noonan while in Dublin, a spokesman for the Department of Finance said no meeting had taken place, while noting that Kennedy Wilson had been a "positive investor in Ireland in recent years".

The president and ceo of Kennedy Wilson Europe, Mary Ricks, recently confirmed the company's interest in expanding its Irish property portfolio through the acquisition of assets from international private equity looking to cash-in on investments they made in Ireland during the financial crisis.

While the KWE chief acknowledged her company was an "opportunistic investor" which had timed the Irish market well when it began acquiring assets here in 2011, she stressed that Kennedy Wilson were "long-term real estate operators". This, she noted, made the company "quite different" to the private equity firms which typically hold assets for a limited period before selling them on again.

"There are always opportunities from people selling whether it's private equity or a bank or whoever," Ms Ricks told the 'Sunday Independent' following the publication of KWE's half-year results, which showed a 5pc rise in net asset value as the valuation of its assets exceeded 3bn (3.54bn).
THE ruling against Ireland from Europe on the taxes paid here by Apple is being blamed for a drop in consumer confidence.

The findings over the corporate giant's taxes are causing uncertainty and unease for the average consumer in this country, according to the latest consumer confidence survey.

EU Competition Commission officials claim Apple underpaid its taxes by 13bn.

The looming Budget and limited income gains expected may also be affecting confidence, according to KBC Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute, the bodies behind the survey

The KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI consumer sentiment index edged lower to 102.0 in September from 102.7.

The small scale of the monthly decline implies no statistically significant change from the August reading, KBC said.

The index is effectively unchanged from the September 2015 reading.

Meanwhile, households have more money, but the amount they're spending is falling, official figures suggest.

Gross household disposable income increased by 194m to 24.82bn in the three months to the end of June.

But spending by households dropped over the same period, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Household expenditure fell by 288m to 22.31bn.

Because household disposable income has risen, and spending is less, the spending-income ratio has increased.

Overall, however, the amount being saved in the economy has fallen slightly.
Here are the main business stories from this morning's papers:

Irish Independent

* RTE is to put an emphasis on creating more original Irish drama and increasing its international footprint, new director general Dee Forbes has said.

She also opened the door to working with the station's rivals as the Irish media landscape becomes more "busy".

* The president and chief legal counsel of Microsoft says that the company won't become "concerned" about a post-Brexit UK until the country's immigration policy becomes clearer.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Brad Smith said that "the single most important factor will be the ability to bring some of the world's most important talent to work in the United Kingdom".

* Drinks group C&C has warned that a change in the trading relationship between Ireland and the UK would lead to increased costs and bureaucracy for its all-island business, in a detailed submission to the House of Lords.

The manufacturer of Bulmers and Finches said that while its Irish and UK businesses have separate sales teams, the supply chain is entirely integrated across both jurisdictions.

The Irish Times

* The Government is to look for a special status for Northern Ireland after Brexit to reduce the threat posed by a hard border between the two countries.

Foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan said the coalition will today decide to set up an "All Island Civic Dialogue" to be held on November 2.

* The RDS has been given the green light by Dublin City Council to move ahead with the 26m redevelopment of the Anglesea stand in the main arena.

However, the council's clearance is to be appealed by the Anglesea Road Residents' Association, who say have experienced daily disruption from the venue.

* Bank of Ireland is set to splash out around half a billion euros on its IT infrastructure in a bid to improve efficiencies and customer service.

The investment will be carried out over the space of five years and has been dubbed as Project Omega.

Irish Examiner

* The UK's stance on Brexit could put the future of the Common Travel Area at risk, a leading expert has said.

ESRI research professor Edgar Morgenroth said the prime minister looking for a "hard Brexit" realised his worst fears for Ireland and Britain.

* The freezing of Aryzta boss Owen Killian's bonus did little to stimulate the company's share price yesterday as investor confidence in the firm remains low.

Mr Killian had his near-1m bonus withheld pending the improvement of the company's earnings.
Dee Forbes, director general of RTE, at the Women Mean Business Conference and Awards 2016 in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. Photo: Jenny Barker Photography

RTE is to put an emphasis on creating more original Irish drama and increasing its international footprint, new director general Dee Forbes has said.

She also opened the door to working with the station's rivals as the Irish media landscape becomes more "busy".

"RTE has a duty to develop and encourage more great Irish talent. For me Irish drama is something we're looking at to see how can we do more of it." She added: "There was a time when every broadcaster had to go it alone, I don't think that's the case any more nor is it the prudent thing to do because there are times where partnering with your rival is the right thing to do."

Ms Forbes was speaking at the tenth annual Women Mean Business (WMB) Awards, where she spoke of her plans for her new role.

"I hope I'll bring a more international and external facing aspect to the role because I do think we're a small nation, we're a small media landscape, and really it's getting very busy here in terms of the media landscape."

She also touted the idea of a centralised Irish media hub, but said it was merely a thought. The Cork native will also look to capitalise on the Irish diaspora, of which she said only five million out of 40 are engaged with Irish media.

Ms Forbes has enjoyed a hectic start to life at the Montrose station with potential losses set to reach 20m this year. Last month the former Discovery executive was also told by Communications Minister Denis Naughten that she must deal with the station's weakening finances without the help of an increase in the licence fee.

RTE has had to deal with the departure of four senior staff members over the last number of months, including former head of news and deputy director general Kevin Bakhurst.

Six awards were presented at the WMB conference in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin yesterday.

Complete Laboratory Solutions founder Evelyn O'Toole scooped the overall businesswoman of the year award, while Polar Ice's managing director Alison Ritchie received the WMB entrepreneur of the year award.

Other winners included FoodCloud co-founders Iseult Ward and Aoibheann O'Brien, who received the Newstalk social entrepreneur award.

Space Technology Ireland founder Professor Susan McKenna-Lawlor picked up the FEXCO woman in technology award while Silicon republic co-founder Ann O'Dea received the Boots empowering women accolade.

Dublin Cookie Company founders Elaine Cohalan and Jenny Synnott scooped the Sodexo newcomer award.
Half of the property bought in the first half of this year was for cash.

New figures show that some 10,665 transactions were obtained without a mortgage in the first six months of this year.

The value of the purchases for cash was more than 3bn, thought to involve buying by investors and corporates.

This represents just short of 60pc of the value of transactions in the January to June period, according to figures compiled by estate agents DNG Residential.

Less than 2bn in mortgages was issued in the first part of the year.

Chronic supply shortages mean transaction levels are below those in Northern Ireland and in Britain, Keith Lowe of DNG said.

Sales of properties here are just one fifth of those in the North, he said.

And a separate survey from Sherry FitzGerald shows that property prices rose by 4pc this year, after rising by 1.2pc in the July to September period.

Price growth outside of Dublin is stronger than in the capital, the estate agency said.

Economist with Sherry FitzGerald Marian Finnegan said the crisis in terms of supply had worsened.

There were around 27,800 properties for sale nationwide in July, a fall of 14pc from the same month last year. This represents only 1.5pc of the private stock.

In Dublin, there were 4,600 units advertised for sale in July, down 18pc on the same month last year.

The commuting counties around Dublin and regional centres recorded a sharp decrease in supply during the year.

Prices outside Dublin rose by 1.6pc in the July to September period, and are up 5.6pc in the year so far.
NAMA has defended offering vandalised homes to local authorities, saying it has always been prepared to spend millions of euro doing them up. Stock Photo: PA

Nama has defended offering vandalised homes to local authorities, saying it has always been prepared to spend millions of euro doing them up.

Hundreds of emails seen by the Irish Independent revealed how local authorities rejected many offers of properties for social housing because they were deemed unsuitable. These included some which were "extensively vandalised".

But a spokesman for Nama said: "If a property is made available for social housing and is subsequently vandalised, Nama provides the required funding to repair the property."

He also said that the Housing Agency, local authorities and approved housing bodies were aware Nama would invest in properties to bring them up "to the highest building standards".

"Nama, to date, has invested over 100m bringing properties up to standard for sale or lease for social housing," he said.

Nama has offered 6,765 residential properties to local authorities for use as social housing since 2012. But just 2,200 of these have been taken up so far.

Reasons given by councils for not accepting properties included unsuitability due to vandalism, lack of required facilities or because they were unfinished.

Holiday homes were rejected in several counties, as were homes with storage heaters.

Some properties were rejected because they would push social housing levels in certain areas above those allowed by Government guidelines.

Suitability tests were not applied before properties were offered.

"Nama has no role in deciding on the suitability of properties for social housing or the allocation of properties where suitability has been confirmed," said the Nama spokesman.

"It is a matter for local authorities and housing bodies to confirm whether they wish to take up the properties that have been made available."

The spokesman added: "Decisions on the appropriate mix of housing tenures are a matter for the relevant statutory housing bodies."
SURGING rents and the Central Bank lending rules mean it now takes up to four years to save for a deposit to get a mortgage for a Dublin property.

And Dublin buyers now need up to 40,000 more in a deposit than they did two years ago to satisfy lending rules.

It now takes between one and two years longer to accumulate the down payment than it took before the Central Bank introduced its strict rules requiring buyers to have large deposits.

It takes between two-and-a-half and four years to build up a deposit for a Dublin home.

There is an extra year involved in saving enough for a deposit outside the Dublin area.

In urban areas outside Dublin it can take a year and a half to accumulate a deposit lump sum

The timeframe is under one year for rural areas, according to research by economists in the Central Bank.

Researchers found that someone buying in South Dublin now needs a down payment of 76,000. This is 41,000 more than the couple needed for this area two years ago.

In other parts of Dublin the size of the deposit has risen by between 10,000 and 22,000.

Outside Dublin, buyers need an extra 5,000 for the down payment.

Controversial lending rules mean first-time buyers have to have a deposit of more than 20pc of the value of the property for amounts borrowed over 220,000. They have to have a deposit of 10pc for borrowings up to 220,000.

There are also restrictions what they can borrow based on their income.

The new research comes ahead of the Budget which is expected to see a new tax rebate announced for buyers of new homes, something economists said would only push property prices up again.

Rising house prices are also making it more difficult for new buyers to put the funds together a sufficient deposit to satisfy lending rules.

Central Bank economists Conor Kelly and Fergal McCann wrote in the study: We show that, relative to mid-2014, the time to save has increased in Dublin by between one and two years, and under one year in other areas.

The study looked at how first-time buyers get a deposit together for a three-bed property, while renting a two-bed property. It considered a couple with no children.

The Central Bank is reviewing the mortgages caps it introduced in February last year.

Property industry and estate agent group have claimed the rules are too restrictive.

The Central Bank is due to announce the outcome of the review of the rules next month.

Deputy Governor Sharon Donnery said she had concerns about changing the rules. Any move must be backed up by evidence, she said.

The mortgage restrictions are aimed at preventing another property bubble, but Ms Donnery said they would be undermined by being routinely tweaked.

Strong rises in rents are sucking money from those trying to get mortgage ready.

Rents rose by 10pc in the year up to June, with strong rises outside the capital as well as in Dublin.

This is despite efforts by the last Government to put a two-year freeze on rises.

The monthly cost of renting is now close to 1,000 nationally, according to the Residential Tenancies Board.

In Dublin, rents are at a new higher and are now almost 4pc above the previous peak in 2007.
Google has unveiled two new smartphones to compete directly with the iPhone 7.

The 5-inch Pixel and 5.5-inch Pixel will be priced at over 700 and come with specifications to match top handsets from Samsung, Apple, Sony and Huawei.

Both phones have 12-megapixel cameras with optical stabilisation and an f2.0 lens. Google claims that the camera has the best industry technical score (DxoMark Mobile) of any smartphone.

Both phones have a free tech support function directly from the device. Both phones have a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone.

Heres a summary of the phones features.

1. The Pixel comes in two sizes, 5 or 5.5

Its also available in two colours, called Quite Black and Very Silver. It has curved edges and an aluminium unibody.

2. Google claims it has the highest rated smartphone camera

Google says that the Pixel has a DxoMark Mobile score of 89, besting the iPhone 7 and Samsung S7. It says the camera is excellent in low light and has features such as lens blur, which generate shallow depth of field effects.

3. You get Google support (a real person) on tap through the phone

Google says that tapping the Support tab in Settings now gets you to a Google expert who will help you with queries. The company says you can share your screen with the expert for step-by-step help.

4. It has a long-life battery

The battery in the Pixel is larger than most rivals. Google also says that a quick 15-minute charge gives you up to seven hours of use.

5. It unlocks immediately with the fingerprint reader

Theres a fingerprint reader on the back of the Pixel phone that gives you quick access to all of your apps and features.

6. It has a one-tap video calling feature called Google Duo built in

With the iPhones Facetime clearly in mind, the Pixel phone uses Google Duo with both Android phones and iPhones. (The Google Duo app can be downloaded in the iPhone App Store and the Google Play Store.)

7. It has Google Assistant built in

You can ask this phone to do things by starting with the phrase "Ok Google" or by touching and holding the Home button to start.
German lender will try to reach a deal with the US in Washington

Deutsche Bank shares resumed falling yesterday after recovering from a record low at the end of last week, as hopes faded of a swift deal with US authorities over a multi-billion dollar penalty.

The German lender is throwing its energies into reaching a settlement before next month's US presidential election, with the Department of Justice demanding a fine of up to $14bn (12.4bn) for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities.

Its shares didn't trade in Germany yesterday because of a public holiday, but were down 2.8pc in the US by midmarket.

The threat of such a large fine has pushed Deutsche shares to record lows, and a cut-price settlement is urgently needed to help restore confidence in Germany's largest lender.

Domestically, Deutsche Bank is seeking to shore up confidence among the public, politicians and regulators who say the bank brought many of its problems upon itself by overreaching itself and then reacting too slowly to the 2008 financial crisis.

So far its had mixed results. German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel accused Deutsche Bank on Sunday of blaming speculators for last week's plunge in its share price when the bank had itself made speculation its business. "I did not know if I should laugh or cry that the bank that made speculation a business model is now saying it is a victim of speculators," Gabriel told reporters on a plane to Iran, which he is visiting with a business delegation.

German business leaders from companies including BASF, Daimler, E.ON, RWE and Siemens lined up to defend the bank in a front-page article in the 'Frankfurter Allgemeine' Sonntagszeitung.

"German industry needs a Deutsche Bank to accompany us out into the world," BASF chairman Juergen Hambrecht said.

Deutsche is much smaller than Wall Street rivals such as JPMorgan and Citigroup. But it has significant trading relationships with all of the world's largest finance houses and the IMF identified it as a bigger potential risk to the wider financial system than any other global bank.

Deutsche chief executive John Cryan will be in Washington this week for the annual meeting of the IMF, and it was the reported that other executives would join him to try to negotiate a settlement with the US authorities.

Like fellow large European banks also under investigation for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities - Credit Suisse and Barclays -Deutsche will want to get a deal done with the current administration still in power.

A new administration to be installed after the November 8 election will bring unknown risks and likely delays.

If the fine is left to stand, the bank, with a market capitalisation of 15.9bn would almost certainly have to raise capital. (Reuters)
Henderson Group agreed to buy Janus Capital Group in a deal that will create a $320bn (285bn) money manager as both companies seek to boost profit and assets. Henderson's shares surged the most in more than seven years.

The combined firm, Janus Henderson Global Investors, will have a market value of at least $6bn, the Denver and London-based companies said in a statement yesterday. Japanese insurer Dai-ichi Life is Janus's biggest shareholder and will hold a 9pc stake in the combined company that it intends to increase to at least 15pc, according to the statement.

"The groups complement each other," said Mark Dampier, head of investment research at Hargreaves Lansdown, in a note to clients. "Scale can help keep costs down for fund groups, allowing them to offer more competitive fund pricing while still delivering good active performance."

Henderson's shares rose as much as 20.2pc, the most since January 2009. Janus investors will receive 4.719 new Henderson shares for each share they hold. Henderson investors will own 57pc of the new company, with 43pc going to Janus shareholders. Active managers that specialise in stock and bond picking have been losing market share to lower-fee indexers in recent years. Under chief executive officer Richard Weil, who came to Janus in 2010, the firm has diversified through acquisitions, new fund offerings and overseas expansion, especially in Asia. In 2014, Weil hired Bill Gross from rival Pimco to manage its Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, which now has $1.5bn. The deal is expected to close next year. The combined company will be UK tax resident with a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange. (Bloomberg)
Tech giant Intel will find out this month whether its last-ditch effort to overturn a record 1.1bn fine imposed by the European Commission has any hope of success.

The world's biggest chip-maker was slapped with the fine in 2009 after the European Commission accused it of squeezing out competition from a smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices.

An advocate general at the European Union's Court of Justice will deliver an opinion on the chip-maker's appeal on October 20.

The opinion isn't binding on judges who heard the case, but such opinions are typically followed by the court. It will also be crucially important for the Commission that it succeeds in thwarting Intel's appeal.

If Intel wins, the Commission will be undermined at a time when it's also forcing Apple to pay Ireland 13bn in taxes it claims the tech firm should have paid here.

The Commission found that Intel gave hidden rebates to computer-makers including Dell and Hewlett-Packard on condition that they bought all, or almost all, of their main processors from Intel.

Intel also made direct payments to Europe's largest PC retailer - Media Saturn Holdings - on condition that it stocked only computers with Intel processors, the Commission said.

The chip-maker also made payments to some computer makers to stop or delay the launch of products containing a rival's processors.

The Commission said the anticompetitive behaviour diminished the competitors' ability to compete on the merits of their own processors.

In 2014, Intel's first appeal in the case was rejected by the European General.

The Commission said that decision was significant because it justified its pursuit of Intel's anticompetitive conduct in a major worldwide market.

In its latest appeal, Intel argued that the Commission had failed to analyse "all relevant circumstances" to determine if the rebates did in fact result in rivals being squeezed out.

Intel has claimed that the General Court erred in finding an infringement for the final two years of the alleged infringement period, given that, at most, the market coverage of the conduct during those years "would have affected a mere 3.5pc of the relevant market".

It has argued that the General Court "disregarded a number of relevant factors that should have been considered", such as the duration of the alleged practices.
Once again, farmers from around the country have stripped down for the 2017 Irish Farmer Calendar, in aid of charity Bothar.

The boys are back for the eighth year in a row as, once again, farmers from around the country beef up and strip down for the popular Irish Farmer Calendar.

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2017's issue sees them lose their shirts but not their sense of humour as they get down and dirty in various suggestive poses.

Our homegrown hunks pose with goats, rabbits, a highland cow, sheep, a pig, a dog and even snails in aid of charity Bothar, which aims to tackle worldwide hunger and poverty by sending livestock to developing nations.

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Ciara Ryan, the brains behind the venture, joked: "This year we tried to make snails sexy. I believe we succeeded."

This year's calendar was shot by photographer Ian Shipley on location in Newbridge House, Swords, County Dublin.

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The calendar has proved a success all over the world, with fans in Australia, UK, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Canada and South Africa. It's also set to grace coffee tables in the US as a top publisher has committed to a book deal.

St Martin's Press, one of the biggest literary conglomerates stateside, is to collate the best pictures from the last seven years into a coffee table book which it will launch on St Patrick's Day 2017.

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If you can't wait that long, the 2017 calendar is on sale now from www.farmercalendar.com for 10.
Kim Kardashian, Kanye West with North West and Saint West are spotted in the Upper East Side on August 29, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Alo Ceballos/GC Images)

(L to R) Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian attend the Balmain aftershow party as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 on September 29, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images)

Kanye West has rescheduled two dates on his Saint Pablo tour to support wife Kim Kardashian after she was the victim of an armed robbery.

Reality star Kim was bound and gagged by a gang of five masked men carrying guns as they stormed her apartment in Paris, France, in the early hours of Monday morning, before making off with an estimated $10 million (7.8 million) in jewellery.

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Whatsapp (From L) Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the Off-white 2017 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show, on September 29, 2016 in Paris. / AFP / ALAIN JOCARD / GETTY

After giving a statement to police, Kim travelled back to America on a private jet, and was seen reuniting with husband Kanye at their apartment in Manhattan.

Now Kanye has delayed two dates on his current tour so that he can be with his wife following the horrific ordeal.

Kanye left for a family emergency during "Heartless" and we all had no idea if he was joking or not pic.twitter.com/gQUQlZn3Os  Jose Haley (@J_Haleyyy) October 3, 2016

His concerts at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday and The Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday will now take place on 13 and 22 December respectively.

Tour promoter Live Nation cited "family concerns" for the date change, and reassured fans they will be able to use their original tickets for the new dates.

Kanye was told about the terrifying attack on his wife as he performed at Meadows Festival in New York on Sunday night. He told the audience he had to cut his show short due to a "family emergency".

Now sources close to the family have revealed the robbery has left the usually calm and collected Kanye feeling "helpless".

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Whatsapp Kim Kardashian, Kanye West with North West and Saint West are spotted in the Upper East Side on August 29, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Alo Ceballos/GC Images)

"Kanye says that it has been one of the hardest days of his life, that he feels helpless," a source told People.com. "This is a guy who isn't used to feeling helpless at all. He's usually in control. And now he realises that he could have lost her, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it."



The insider added that Kim is traumatised following the robbery and "bursts into tears every few minutes". And while Kanye is desperate to bring the men who attacked his wife to justice, he is well aware that he needs to be with Kim as she battles her fear following the robbery.

"Kanye is ready to fly over there and take care of it himself," the source added. "He wants to find the men who did this to his wife. But he knows that the best place for him to be right now is with Kim. She needs him now. He won't leave her... She needs to be with someone all the time; she doesn't want to be alone."
Stephen Hawking will deliver a lecture at the Starmus IV festival in Trondheim

Stephen Hawking will address his largest ever audience when he headlines a science and music festival in Norway.

The theoretical physicist will deliver a lecture at Starmus IV in Trondheim when it moves from the Canary Islands next year to examine origin and evolution, the human brain, society and global issues.

He will be joined at the festival by retired cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and musician Brian Eno, as well as Nobel Prize winners including George Smoot, Adam Riess and Robert Wilson.

The festival will expand from an audience of 1,000 to more than 10,000 with the change in venue.

Garik Israelian, the founder of the festival, said: " After three successful festivals in the Canary Islands, it is an honour to be invited to the scientific capital of Norway, Trondheim, to expand Starmus and reach even greater heights."

The fourth Starmus festival, entitled Life and the Universe, will be held from June 18 to 23.

Tickets go on sale on October 24 at www.starmus.com.
Friday saw the release of a Netflix documentary charting the story of Amanda Knox, the woman wrongly convicted alongside then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

Kercher was found murdered in her apartment in Perugia, Italy and what followed was a media frenzy surrounding Knox.

Directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn use plenty of archive footage in their documentary, and one such moment shows Donald Trump call for Barack Obama to boycott Italy over the Italian police force's wrongful imprisonment of US citizen Knox.

The Republican presidential nominee spoke these words in 2010 when asked by former KOMO-TV host Kathi Goertzen: "You really believe that Americans should intervene at the top levels of our government?"

What's interesting to note is that Secretary of State at that time was none other than his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

He just pops up everywhere, doesn't he?
Dr Muthulingam Kasiraj, who is known also as Dr Sripathy, at the Medical Council in Dublin. Photo: Damien Eagers

A junior doctor who failed to show he knew what to do in a medical emergency was found guilty of poor professional performance yesterday.

A Fitness to Practise Committee of the Irish Medical Council declared it was satisfied that Dr Muthulingam Kasiraj, also known as Dr Sripathy, was unable to interpret simple blood tests or that he understood the effects of some medications on the liver.

Nor did he show he understood the common skin cancer malignant melanoma.

He faced 24 allegations over his abilities and was found to be guilty of poor professional performance, but not guilty of medical misconduct, at the hearing in Dublin. The council will decide what sanctions to impose at a later date.

The Indian national worked as a senior house officer at St Loman's Psychiatric Hospital in Mullingar between July 2013 and January 2014.

"He was out of his depth," said medical expert Dr Paul Scully, who gave his opinion yesterday of evidence submitted to the hearing.

Dr Sripathy told the committee that as far as he was concerned, he did not have to deal with medical issues and should be focused only on psychiatry.

He made a number of admissions regarding mistakes, but said the errors found in letters he wrote to GPs about patients represented only a very small percentage of the 2,000 documents he wrote to doctors.

He said his medical qualifications gained in Bulgaria had been accepted by the Medical Council.

Many of his shortcomings were outlined by his supervising psychiatrist at St Loman's, Dr Ciaran Corcoran. He stated that he had given him textbooks and spent hours trying to get him to upgrade his medical knowledge but Dr Sripathy had consistently failed to upskill.

Dr Sripathy, who defended himself, criticised Dr Corcoran and stated: "He thinks I'm a quack."

Dr Scully, consultant psychiatrist at St James's Hospital, called as an expert witness, said yesterday Dr Sripathy had demonstrated serious failings in a number of areas.

His inability to perform a neurological examination on a patient was a serious failing as this was a basic task, he said.

The inquiry heard allegations that Dr Sirpathy did not display a basic knowledge of CPR, or that he knew the difference between some branded and generic medications.

It is also stated he showed a pattern of errors when writing up doses of medications, although no patients were actually harmed.

Dr Corcoran told the hearing last week: "I've never seen that volume of errors from one doctor in all my years."

Dr Sripathy's lack of understanding of what to do in a medical emergency when he was asked what to do if someone collapsed in a supermarket was "a serious failing", he said.

Dr Sripathy also did not demonstrate adequate concern about a patient reporting hearing voices when he sent a letter to the patient's GP.

Dr Scully said he was surprised that Dr Sripathy did not understand the effects drugs can have on the liver and it raised serious questions about his medical education in Bulgaria.

Lawyer JP McDowell, appearing for the chief executive of the Medical Council, told the committee their duties included "protecting the public from the genially incompetent".
A deaf Donegal man who harassed a local doctor and his family has been ordered to go on a victim empathy course.

John McGrotty (65), of St Peter's Terrace, Dungloe, stood naked on his front lawn beside the McEniff family, threw nails onto their driveway and made rude gestures to their children during a five-year reign of terror.

Yesterday, victims Dr Dara McEniff and his wife Eimear were in Letterkenny District Court to hear how McGrotty had stopped the harassment and had been abiding by strict bail conditions.

However, Judge Paul Kelly adjourned sentencing on a series of stalking and harassment charges to which McGrotty has already pleaded guilty. He told McGrotty via a sign-language interpreter that he must complete a victim-empathy course run by the probation service.

Solicitor Patsy Gallagher asked that bail conditions be varied to allow McGrotty to visit two graveyards in Dungloe which are close to two schools attended by the McEniff children.

Ms McEniff told the judge that all four children attended schools on Chapel Road in the town and were now aged 15, 14, 11 and six.

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Judge Kelly agreed to allow McGrotty access to the cemeteries but warned him: "You are not to loiter at any time on Chapel Road and you are not to be on the footpath on the same side of the road as the schools. This is not a licence to wander up and down that road."

The judge, who described the victims' ordeal as "horrendous", warned the defendant that there would be serious consequences for any breach of the bail conditions.

McGrotty was banned from Donegal earlier this year for breaching bail.
Fine Gael TD Noel Rock has been fined more than 3,000 for breaking litter laws with his keep the recovery going posters.

The 28-year-old Dublin North West TD and Public Accounts Committee member with an address at Hardiman Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 was summonsed to appear in court on nine counts under the 1997 Litter Pollution Act in relation to his posters.

The case was heard at Dublin District Court on Tuesday however he did not attend the hearing which proceeded in his absence.

The charges were brought by Dublin City Council.

Evidence was given by three litter wardens and the court was given photos of the posters put up around his constituency, including ones with the TD's picture and a slogan saying keep the recovery going and other information about his availability at his clinic on January 14 last.

The court heard that two posters were unlawfully still on display at Prospect Road on February 3 last. Litter wardens spotted four more of the posters on January 28 at Iona Road, Griffith Avenue and Drumcondra Road. They found another one of his posters at Collins Avenue on January 26 last.

The general election was not called until February 3. Council litter wardens also found one of his election posters that was left up too long after the February 26 vote.

Judge John O'Neill noted that Mr Rock had no prior convictions.

The offence can result in a fine of up to 4,000 per offence. Judge O'Neill imposed nine fines each worth 350, totalling 3,150. He also acceded to prosecution counsel Karen Denning's application to order Rock to pay 221 in legal costs.

Mr Rock, who was elected to the Dail in the 2016 general election, is the youngest Fine Gael Dublin TD, representing the Ballymun electoral area, which includes Drumcondra, Glasnevin, Whitehall, Beaumont, Santry, Finglas and Ballymun.

In 2006, the DCU graduate was selected to take part in an internship with US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile Independent councillor Cieran Perry pleaded guilty on Tuesday to Litter Pollution Act charges in relation to posters with his picture and which mentioned a water protest in Dublin on Jan 23 last.

Litter wardens spotted them on Feb. 3 and the council argued that they should have been taken down within seven days of the event. He claimed they were exempt as they were part of his general election campaign and he reused posters because he has limited resources.

Judge O'Neill said Cllr Perry, who represents the Cabra Finglas ward in Dublin, was a decent man but the law was against him. However, he gave him a chance to avoid a conviction and told him the case would be struck out if he paid 221 in prosecution costs and donated 500 to the St Vincent de Paul before Jan. 17 next.
A five-year-old girl, who dropped 11 feet out of a faulty apartment window during what was described as a frightening incident four years ago, has been awarded 46,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court for personal injuries.

Barrister Martin Fitzgerald told the court that in August 2012, Roisin Byrne was 15 months old and was living with her parents, Ronan Byrne and Chloe Murphy, in a temporary one-bedroom flat at Newton Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

The court heard that little Roisin had been playing in the room when she fell out of the large Georgian sash window and dropped on an emergency fire casing , fracturing a rib and puncturing a lung.

Roisin had been taken to Our Ladys Children Hospital, Crumlin in Dublin where she had remained for several nights under care management. She had also suffered cuts and bruises to her body.

Through her mother Chloe Murphy, Roisin, now of Balbriggan, Co Dublin, sued their former landlord Enda Woods for negligence.

Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, heard that Roisins parents had complained to the caretaker about the window, which was four feet wide and almost seven feet high, and was only 21 inches off the floor.

Mr Fitzgerald said the complaint had been that the window was too low to the floor and its bottom part had no security mechanism. The court heard Roisins parents had tried to block it temporarily with furniture but had opened it on the day to ventilate the apartment.

Roisin was thought to have fallen out of the window when she was chasing a ball.

Counsel told Judge Groarke that liability was an issue in the case and following a Personal Injuries Board assessment, the defendant had made a 46,000 damages settlement offer.

Judge Groarke heard that Roisin had made a full recovery but her wounds had left a scar on her forehead. Approving the offer, he said Roisins accident had been very frightening.

One has to be very grateful that she has made a full recovery, the judge said.
Forced marriages are to be outlawed in Ireland under legislative proposals being brought before the Cabinet today.

The new law will criminalise a practice prevalent in certain cultures and is one of a raft of measures being proposed by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald as part of an overhaul of domestic-violence legislation.

It will make it an offence to force a person to marry where they do not consent to it or where consent is given under duress, either though emotional, physical, sexual or financial pressure.

The proposed offence will also cover situations where an adult or a child is removed or lured from Ireland to another territory for the purpose of forcing them to enter into a marriage.

The move comes two years after a similar law was introduced in the UK, which brought in a sentence of up to seven years for the offence.

Penalties there can be even higher where there are aggravating factors. A Cardiff man ended up being jailed for 16 years for forcing a Muslim woman to marry him. The case involved considerable harassment and rape.

Consultations are ongoing between the Department of Justice and the Attorney General on the penalties which will apply here.

Officials said there was limited information on the scale of the problem in Ireland as, by its very nature, forced marriage is a very hidden practice.

Subject to Cabinet approval, the new domestic violence bill is expected to be published in the next two months.

If passed, the bill would bring Ireland in line with the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe anti-domestic violence convention agreed in 2011, but which Ireland only signed up to last year.

As well as the forced marriage provisions, the bill is also set to include the introduction of civil protection orders.

In other jurisdictions where such orders are used, they can go further than traditional restraining orders and impose certain additional obligations on the alleged abuser.

The proposed legislation will include provisions which mean a victim will not have to have a greater or equal interest in a property to get a barring order against their partner or spouse.

It will also become possible for a victim to give evidence by video link to avoid the risk of intimidation by the perpetrator or an associate in a courtroom.

Courts will be able to appoint an expert to ascertain the views of a child where an order is sought on behalf of, or will partly relate to, the child.

There will also be restrictions on the categories of person allowed to be in court during criminal proceedings relating to domestic violence, so that the victim will not have to give evidence, potentially of a distressing nature, before a large number of strangers.

Courts handling domestic violence cases will also be able to refer a perpetrator to counselling services to address the roots of their behaviour.
The Dail Public Accounts Committee has argued the courts have no power to evaluate statements by some of its members for the purpose of detecting alleged ruthless hostility towards former Rehab CEO Angela Kerins so as to ground her claim for damages.

If Ms Kerins wins her case, the consequences for free speech for members of the Oireachtas are "far-reaching", it was also argued.

Ms Kerins is back in the High Court today for the resumption of her challenge over hearings of the PAC concerning payments to the charity.

The three judge court is hearing legal arguments from Paul Gallagher SC, for PAC, on the issue whether PAC had jurisdiction to conduct two hearings on February 27th and April 10th 2014 in the manner it had.

Mr Gallagher argued today the court was being asked to examine transcripts of the hearings to detect alleged ruthless hostility towards Ms Kerins from some members of PAC.

There is a significant difference between statements made in the type of proceedings before PAC and the sort of adjudicative process which the courts ruled could not be carried out by an Oireachtas tribunal of inquiry into the fatal shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara, he said.

In this case, the court was being asked to evaluate individual utterances by PAC members and to make them amenable so as to found a claim for damages, he said. This was in circumstances where PAC did not intend to issue any report or to make findings concerning Ms Kerins.

The members of PAC are being sued as TDs who, in serving on the PAC, were carrying out an important constitutional function regarding the Dail's role in monitoring financial matters, he said.

Another factor was Ms Kerins was not compelled to attend the hearings, counsel said. While agreeing with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy Ms Kerins was not told any by PAC she could leave at any stage, she had legal advice when deciding to attend and had not alleged she believed she had to remain, he said.

Members of Rehab, Ms Kerins employer, also turned up voluntarily before the Committee and discussed various matters, counsel said.

PAC is not amenable to the courts over its conduct and had jurisdiction to act as it did, he argued. It was protected from being sued by virtue of the constitutional protection and absolute privilege accorded to utterances by members of the Oireachtas.

That protection was intended to protect free speech and encourage open debate and accords with the constitutional separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary, counsel argued.

The court has been asked to decide the jurisdictional issues before any other issues are addressed The hearing was scheduled to conclude last July after six days but, because it ran beyond the allotted time, was adjourned to resume today.

Ms Kerins claims the conduct of the hearings was outside PACs jurisdiction and unlawful. She is claiming damages on grounds including alleged personal injury, loss of reputation and loss of career.

She was so overwhelmed after the February 27th hearing she attempted to take her life on March 14th and was unable to attend the April 10th hearing, it is claimed.

In opposing her case, PAC argues it has an important democratic function to rigorously scrutinise expenditure of public funds and was entitled to know if the public was getting value for huge sums of public money paid to Rehab.

The hearing continues.
A man who started a pub fight and struck a French teacher with a pint glass causing serious facial injuries has been given a three and a half year sentence.

The victim, Thomas Gohin, described how his nose had been cut in two by the assault and that it took him a long time to come to accept his new face. He said he suffered psychological effects but could not afford counselling or surgery. He has since left his teaching job and returned to France.

Graham Quigley (45), of Avonmore Grove, Tallaght, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mr Gohin causing him harm at the Foggy Dew Public House, Temple Bar on May 7, 2015.

Quigley told gardai he had started the fight after his sister was insulted by another person in the pub. The fight then spread across the dance floor to where Mr Gohin was assaulted.

Judge Melanie Greally noted that Mr Gohin had made a decision to try to end the fight and become engaged with Quigley who struck him in the face as he held him in a head lock.

She said he suffered a scar to a prominent location on his face, as well as to his arm, but that plastic surgery was beyond his means. She said the effects of the assault had permeated every area of his life.

Judge Greally noted Quigley has since stayed out of trouble, expressed remorse and was addressing his issues around alcohol and drug use and homelessness. She imposed a three and a half year sentence suspending the final year.

Quigley has two minor convictions in Ireland as well as a number of convictions from the UK including one for grievous bodily harm and the remainder for offences such as shoplifting.

Defence counsel, Padraig Dwyer SC, said he was instructed to apologise to the victim and say that there was absolutely no justification for the assault with the glass. His client accepted he overreacted.

Quigley was on medication on the night and had drank alcohol despite being advised against it.

He asked the court to take into account Quigley's remorse, his co-operation with the prosecution, the fact he had not come to further attention, has stayed away from pubs and lived a stable lifestyle.

He said Quigley had gone to the UK when he was 18 years old and was initially in employment but became involved with the law there and began living a largely homeless and shambolic lifestyle.

Mr Dwyer said Quigley was now living back in his mother's home and working in a bakery.

Sergeant Paul Cooke told Martina Baxter BL, prosecuting, that Mr Gohin had been socialising with friends in the pub and was on the dance floor when a fight broke out and spread towards him.

Mr Gohin was not involved in the initial fight but as it spread he decided to try and stop it. He said he pushed a man away and this man, Quigley, turned and tried to fight with him.

Mr Gohin said he threw a punch but was not sure if it connected and the next thing he remembered was receiving a number of blows.

A bar man described how, as staff tried to break up the fight, he saw Quigley holding Mr Gohin in a head lock and striking him in the face with a pint glass. Quigley was held until gardai arrived.

Mr Gohin said the scene was chaotic and looking at himself in a bathroom mirror afterwards he saw his face and arm were injured. He said he screamed as he saw a bone in his arm exposed.

He was brought to hospital where he got ten deep sutures and 21 skin sutures to the laceration along his arm. He received paper stitches on a wound across his nose and also suffered a cut to his forehead. Mr Gohin has since left Ireland and returned to his native France.

Quigley was arrested and interviewed. He said the fight had broken out when a person unknown to the victim had insulted his sister.

Sgt Cooke agreed with Mr Dwyer that Quigley had initially been released without charge and gardai later discovered he was living in the UK.

His fingerprints were released to Interpol and a match came up when he was arrested in Manchester. Quigley consented to being extradited back to Ireland.
A liquidator has been appointed by the High Court to two companies operating the well-known Dublin restaurant, Dobbins, after efforts to finalise an investment agreement failed.

However, it is expected a survival scheme prepared for two other companies operating the ten bedroom Becketts Hotel on Leixlip, Co Kildare, will be put before the court for approval later this week.

An investment agreement has been negotiated for them and will be put before creditors on Wednesday. If supported by creditors, it will then be put before the High Court later this week. The Revenue Commissioners has indicated it will oppose the survival scheme proposed, the High Court heard today.

All four companies, which employ some 60 people, had secured court protection last June due to cash flow difficulties caused by loss of business contracts and historic bank debt.

The High Court was told today efforts by examiner Kieran Wallace to secure an investor for the Dobbins companies had failed.

Rossa Fanning BL, for Mr Wallace, said there had been talks with KBC Bank, Dobbins largest creditor on funding after a preferred investor for the Dobbins companies had been selected. However, no investment agreement had been reached, he said.

In the circumstances, counsel said Mr Wallace wished to be discharged as examiner to those companies  Dobbins Holding Company Ltd and Dobbins Wine Bistro Ltd. There was also agreement a liquidator could be appointed to those entities whose directors  Gary Flynn, Fonthill Court, Rathfarnham, Dublin, and Patrick Walsh, Templeroan, Rathfarnham  were previously the restaurant manager and head chef at Dobbins.

On the application of Gavin Simons, solicitor for the Dobbins companies, Mr Justice Brian McGovern agreed to discharge Mr Wallace as examiner of the Dobbins companies and to appoint Andrew OLeary of KPMG as liquidator of those.

Andrew Fitzpatrick BL, for KBC Bank, said it has appointed a receiver over the Dobbins companies and is anxious the leasehold property occupied by the restaurant at Stephens Lane, Dublin 2, be surrendered to the bank as soon as possible.

The court previously heard the Dobbins and Becketts Hotel companies  Camrue Holding Company Ltd and Camrue Castering Ltd - had good reputations and a loyal customer base but the fact their assets were acquired during the Celtic Tiger years had left them with a high level of debt.
A teenager caught on CCTV kicking a Brazilian national in the head 15 times has lost an appeal against the severity of her prison sentence.

The pregnant 18-year-old, whose identity cannot be published because she was a minor at the time, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to violent disorder in the Temple Bar area of Dublin on July 23, 2014.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment with the final 15 months suspended by Judge Martin Nolan on June 29, 2016.

Her barrister, Luigi Rea BL, asked the Court of Appeal to suspend the balance of her sentence on Tuesday. However, the three-judge court dismissed her appeal

Giving background, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the exceptionally serious incident involved a confrontation at approximately 5am between a group of seven youths and a Brazillian national who had recently arrived in Ireland as a student.

The court heard that the group were shouting at him in a language he didn't understand. A male from the group punched him to the face, he tried to fight back but the next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.

Mr Rea said Temple Bar is like a studio set with hidden cameras all over the area and although they were of no help to the student on the night, they helped the gardai in their investigation.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the footage left no room for doubt about the seriousness of the offence,

The then 16-year-old girl was seen delivering 15 kicks or stamps to the student's head. The first garda on the scene said his head had been 'completely dented in'.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the level of aggression was such that it wouldn't have been surprising if the injured party sustained very serious long term injuries. Fortunately that did not occur, the judge said.

The woman was arrested some weeks later and although she didn't remember the incident, when she was shown the footage, she identified herself and said she was sorry, Mr Justice Birmingham said.

She had 26 previous convictions including four for assault, five for violent behaviour in garda stations, seven for threatening and abusive behaviour in public and four for obstructing a garda. At the time of the sentence hearing she was four months pregnant.

Her age was a central aspect of the sentence hearing due to the provisions of the children's act.

The Circuit Court judge said the paramount concern in sentencing a minor was reform. However, by reason of what she had done as well as her record, she could not be reformed without a prison sentence, the Circuit Court judge had said.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the Court of Appeal could not conclude that the sentencing judge erred in taking the view that custody was inevitable.

There were a number of serious aggravating factors involved in the offence such as the involvement of a group, the fact the injured party as struck on the ground, that the woman struck him in the head, including kicks and stamps, that she appeared to strike him 15 times and that it had physical as well as psychological affects on the victim though thankfully not involving long term damage.

If one had regard to these factors alone, Mr Justice Birmingham said the sentence could be regarded as lenient.

He noted that the sentencing judge certainly took full account of all the factors that were in her favour including her age and difficult upbringing indicated by the involvement of Tusla - the Child and Family Agency.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice Alan Mahon, said the court was unable to identify any error in principle and must dismiss the appeal.
The first second-level school in Dublin city under the Educate Together banner is seeking approval to increase enrolments next year, after parents queued overnight to get a place for their child.

Clonturk Community College, Whitehall, opened last month with 47 students and was planning an intake of 96 first years next September.

But when the co-educational school opened for formal applications for 2017/18 yesterday, more than 100 names were quickly on the list.

The school's first-come, first-served enrolment policy drove highly motivated parents to camp out from Sunday to ensure they got a place for their son or daughter.

Clonturk Community College is a partnership between City of Dublin Education and Training Board and Educate Together, which is gradually moving into the second-level sector after almost 40 years in primary.

The school had an open evening last week, when it got an inkling of interest among parents, but principal Susan Campbell said she was "unbelievably shocked" by the queue that had formed by 10am yesterday.

Clonturk Community College was only formally announced last January and, while it was geared for an initial intake of 75 students, a lack of awareness about it may explain why it took in a little more than half that number.

It is well-situated on the northside of Dublin city, on the campus of Plunket College, Whitehall, at the junction of Swords Road and Griffith Avenue, within easy access of communities to its north, south, east and west.

While an obvious choice for parents sending children to Educate Together primary schools, Ms Campbell said the interest came from a "strong mix" of parents seeking a particular ethos, which, she said, was about more than religion.

Like all Educate Together schools, there is no religion on the curriculum and it has been sanctioned to teach an "ethical education".

Parents are heavily involved in policy-making at schools under the Educate Together banner, and at Clonturk, there is no uniform, teachers and pupils operate on first name terms and iPads take the place of books.

Despite being more than oversubscribed on their first day for applications for 2017, Ms Campbell said they would continue taking names until October 17, as originally planned.

The school is operating in temporary accommodation, and Ms Campbell said she would now be talking to the Department of Education "to ensure we have enough places for anybody who needs them".
Orla Hilliard with her children Niamh (11), Katie (8) and Ella (4) at their home in Clonsilla. Photo: Frank McGrath

Students at a Dublin school and their parents will march on the Dail over a 10-year delay in getting a new building.

St Mochta's School Build Action Group say a new school building was promised in 2006. However, the school in Porterstown, Co Dublin, is still waiting for the Department of Education to improve conditions there.

Orla Hilliard, whose two daughters attend the school, claims students and teachers have to do battle with damp, leaks and electricity faults.

She added that pupils often have to use buckets to control leaks in the ceiling.

"There are around 200 children who have to go to class in prefabs," she said.

She said she sent her children there in the hope they would have modern facilities.

"Myself and my husband went to the meeting before we sent our girls there, and we were told there would be a new building soon," she added.

"Our youngest daughter will be starting in September, and there's still no new building."

Fault

Orla (39) also said students were forced from a prefab into the school hall after rain caused an electricity fault.

"They had to crowd into one side of the hall, as there were other kids playing and doing PE," she said.

"Academically, the school is fantastic, and the teachers are doing the best they can," she added. "But the building is just too old."

The group of parents say the Department of Education promised a new build in 2006 if St Mochta's took on more pupils.

According to the group, the current building can cater for only half the current number enrolled.

Parents will protest outside Government Buildings on Wednesday.

They say St Mochta's is aware of the protest, but the school made no comment to the Irish Independent.

The Department of Education, meanwhile, did not respond to a request for comment.
Ibrahim Halawas sisters Fatima and Omaima at a protest at the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney

The sisters of imprisoned Ibrahim Halawa joined demonstrators at the Egyptian Embassy protesting at his continued incarceration.

The 20-year-old from Firhouse has now been jailed for 1,142 days without trial in Egypt. He was arrested three years ago during protests in Cairo.

His sisters Fatima and Omaima Halawa joined a protest organised by Amnesty International yesterday at the Egyptian Embassy in Ballsbridge against what they claim is their brother's unlawful imprisonment.

Ibrahim's trial was postponed for the 15th time yesterday afternoon, with a new date scheduled for November 12. His lawyer, Darragh Mackin of Belfast-based KRW Law, said the latest delay was not a surprise, but he added that the family remained concerned.

He called on the Government and other European nations to demand Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi act on an application for a decree to secure his release.
The South Middleton School Board could put proposed renovations to the W.G. Rice Elementary School out for bid in late November and award contracts as early as February.

District architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates is working with an engineering firm to prepare cost estimates and a scope of work that could go before the board for review at its Nov. 7 meeting, Tom Merlie, facilities committee chairman, said Monday.

Board members could vote as early as the Nov. 21 meeting to put the project out for bid, Merlie said. The work will involve multiple prime contracts.

The board in March borrowed $9.5 million for ongoing and future building projects. About $3.65 million of the 2016 bonds is being proposed for renovations to Rice Elementary School including a complete overhaul of its HVAC system.

We are going to make it a lot younger building from the inside out, said Merlie, adding that the scope of work will include a new roof, a brighter paint job and new drain spouts and gutters.

The age range of Rice school students will drop once the third grade is moved to the Iron Forge Elementary School for the start of the 2017-2018 year, Merlie said. Its going to become a building that has four-year-olds through six-year-olds in grades Pre-K through second.

As a result, renovations need to take into account this change in grade configuration. For example, playground equipment that is age appropriate for third-graders would not be suitable for younger students, Merlie said. He was not sure safety-wise if such equipment could be moved to Iron Forge and reused.

Meanwhile, Merlie has asked building principal David Boley to work with teachers and staff on a wish list of design features they would like to see incorporated into the Rice project if there is any money left over from the major renovations.

Sometimes the people who count the most never get asked their opinion, Merlie said. I believe the teachers and the staff that are there every day should be asked.

For now, the goal is to provide a wish list of ideas without cost projections. If we have some money, we should assess what on that list would provide the biggest benefit for the students.
A fine Irish antique table and set of chairs at which Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela once dined with former billionaire Sir Tony O'Reilly has sold at auction for over 74,000 including fees.

The William IV period Irish mahogany dining table, thought to be by Williams & Gibton cabinet makers was sold to a telephone bidder for 37,000 including auction fees while a set of 12 Hepplewhite style mahogany wheel back dining chairs realised 37,380 at auction, including fees.

However the big ticket item amongst the Castlemartin contents which went under the hammer today was a pair of "extremely rare" 18th century gilt console tables which sold for 145,000 over the phone - earning a round of applause from the room.

The marble topped tables are understood to have been purchased by a dealer who operates both in the UK and Ireland.

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Meanwhile a 19th century gilt wall mirror also from Castlemartin was sold for 2,800 including fees.

The only star piece from Castlemartin not to sell today was an antique Irish sideboard, withdrawn at 12,000 because it did not meet the reserve and which had been estimated at 20,000 to 30,000.

The room was full to standing point - but much of the real action was happening on the phone lines and on the web to buyers, split between 30pc to 40pc Irish bidders and 60pc from overseas.

Amongst other pieces going under the hammer included more modest pieces, including a dumb waiter mahogany unit which fetched 300, an Edwardian architects' desk which went for 800 and a burgundy leather library chair which rose rapidly in price, and was eventually sold over the phone for 2,100 much to the disappointment of several buyers in the room.

There was also some taxidermy amongst the collection - including a snarling tiger's head which fetched 1,000.

The items are from the private collection of Sir Anthony O'Reilly following his high profile bankruptcy, as declared by the supreme court in the Bahamas last year. The estate of Castlemartin was sold to US billionaire John Malone in December 2014 following a Commercial Court judgement for 22.6 million in favour of AIB the previous June. The contents were offered for sale "on the instructions of the trustee in bankruptcy appointed by the Bahamian Court."

The items were sold today by Mealy's auctioneers at the Longman of Kilfane pub in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny in a sale titled "Kilfane House: The Autumn Sale" since it consisted mainly of antiques, art and collectables assembled US businessman Hal Clarke of Kilfane House near Thomastown.

Only 40pc of the lots came from Castlemartin, with other items from the estate going on sale in the Mealy's winter sale next month. It is not known what happened to the rests of the O'Reilly collection - which included some very famous art works.

Auctioneer George Gerard Mealy said that as a patron of the Irish arts scene, Sir Anthony O'Reilly's interest had also extended to a very fine taste in Irish antique furniture, saying the items from Castlemartin were "exquisite."

During the auction, the items from Castlemartin were clearly flagged - with Mr Mealy describing the name as having "the Midas touch" when it came to interest.
A man (40s) has been arrested over stolen timber as part of an investigation in Co Wicklow.

Gardai at Baltinglass have arrested a man following a joint operation with Coillte into the theft of timber in the county.

Mick Power, National Estate Risk Manager for Coillte said, "For some time now Coillte in Co-operation with the Gardai in Wicklow and Wexford have been monitoring a number of a timber thefts in the area.

"Camera systems and other surveillance systems have been placed in areas of high activity where valuable sawlog timber has been known to be stolen. Most of the stolen material has been removed from Coillte standing sales but some may have come from Private (Farmer) sources as well.

"Timber as a commodity is in big demand whither it be from the Sawmilling sector for sawn wood or from Firewood merchants as firewood."

The man who in his 40s was arrested in the Baltinglass area on October 3 and is currently detained at Baltinglass Garda station under Sect 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Gardai at Baltinglass Garda station, on 059 6482610, or Garda Confidential Line 1800-666-111
Industrial action will proceed on Wednesday at one of Ireland's busiest hospitals in a row over staffing levels in oncology and radiotherapy departments.

Cork University Hospital (CUH) will see a work to rule by Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) members after last ditch talks aimed at avoiding the dispute failed to achieve an agreement.

The row revolves around staffing levels with the INMO demanding a specific time frame for a staffing level of 27 to be reached in the sections as recommended by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

The work to rule will involve CUH's 22 nursing staff in the two departments focusing entirely on patient care duties.

Staff will withdraw from all other clerical and support duties until the dispute is resolved.

A total of seven positions including ward nurses and care assistants are currently to be filled in the CUH sections.

The South-South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) and CUH management said they were "extremely disappointed" at the INMO decision.

"We consider this action to be entirely disproportionate and unwarranted given the comprehensive recruitment campaign undertaken by hospital management which has resulted in excess of 100 appointments to the grade of staff nurse at CUH in the last twelve months," a spokesperson said.

"Consistent with the agreements reached, the measures implemented to-date include a focused recruitment campaign for nursing grades to include a clinical skills facilitator and health care assistants, retention of graduate nurses, conversion of agency to directly employed staff and Management support to existing nursing staff to participate in a specialised Higher Diploma programme."
A member of the Gardai at the scene where 2 bodies where found in a house Milrose estate Bluebell Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

A garda probe has been launched after the bodies of two elderly brothers were discovered in a Dublin home this afternoon.

The discovery was made on Tuesday in the Millrose Estate in Bluebell after locals became concerned that they had not seen one of the men for a number of days.

When gardai arrived at the scene they discovered the bodies of the men, both believed to be in their 70s, in the house.

One man is believed to have been dead for some time.

A post-mortem examination will now be carried out on the bodies of both men and but sources say that this was most likely a "tragic incident".

Gardai in Kilmainham are investigating the incident.

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A source said: "Locals had not seen one of these men for a number of days so a call was made to gardai. There is nothing at this stage to suggest that a crime has taken place. It looks to be a tragic incident."
An Irish naval ship has rescued almost 350 refugees from the Mediterranean in the last two days.

The LE Samuel Beckett, an Irish navy vessel, rescued 220 refugees from the Mediterranean on Tuesday across two search and rescue operations.

Beginning at 6.15am, the vessel came to the aid of refugees on two rubber boats at the request of the Italian Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre.

They brought 125 refugees on board from the first rescue and 95 from the second, both in the waters northeast of Tripoli in Libya.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close LE Samuel Beckett Rescues 220* Migrants During Two Search and Rescue Operations 04 October 2016 LE Samuel Beckett. Picture: Irish Defence Forces / Facebook

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The refugees received food, water and medical attention on board and the LE Samuel Beckett is now awaiting more tasks.

The ship left Naval Service Headquarters in Cork on the 23rd of September to assist the Italian authorities with rescue missions. On Monday the crew rescued 128 people in the area.

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More than 300,000 refugees have arrived on European shores in 2016 but over 3,500 have died at sea on the crossing, according to the Missing Migrants Project. The Italian Coastguards resources are stretched thin across rescue missions and even thinner once refugees reach the shore to be processed.

Rescue figures are provisional until confirmed by Italian authorities.
Colette and her other daughter Lisa during the funeral at St Patrick's Church last month

The mum of a child who died of cancer has revealed that her life is so empty without her fun-loving daughter that she has to force herself to get up and face every day.

Colette and her other daughter Lisa (21) have been left bereft by the loss of 18-year-old Rebecca, who until her tragic death on September 8 had been full of plans for her future.

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When she learned in late July that there was no more treatment available, Rebecca refused to accept she was going to die, and, sharing the latest prognosis from doctors on her Facebook page, told everyone she would beat it.

Her mum says: "She never thought of dying. It never crossed her mind. She was going to beat it, no matter what the doctors said. She wanted to live so much and she had so much to live for.

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"She had always wanted a career in drama, but her illness made her change her mind and she decided she wanted to become a psychologist and help people.

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"Shortly before she died she was walking past the mental health unit in the hospital and told her friend: 'I might be working there in 10 years' time'. She didn't know her life was coming to an end so soon and neither did I. It shocked everyone. She was so positive right until the end."

Colette (53), who lost her husband Owen three years ago at the age of 51, has found some solace since her loss in raising funds in her memory for charity CLIC Sargent.

The charity's new Home From Home Amy House - which Belfast Telegraph readers helped raise more than 50,000 to build - provided a sanctuary for her while her daughter spent months in hospital earlier this year.

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Knowing that her mum was staying in Amy House just a couple of minutes from Belfast City Hospital also gave Rebecca peace of mind and took a lot of pressure from both of them during a traumatic period.

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Colette was the first person to use the new facility, and her gratitude is obvious: "CLIC Sargent was fantastic. Our social worker Simon Darby was there for us and still is there for me, every step of the way.

"Amy House really was a home from home. It has a kitchen and laundry facilities and I had my own bed. Rebecca was so long in hospital that even though the food there is fine, you can only take it for so long. I was able to cook for her in Amy House and bring her hot meals.

"She knew she only had to text me and I would be with her in minutes if she needed me.

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"Having to drive up and down every day, morning and night from Lurgan seven days a week, and then having to do washing late at night and get it dried would have made things so much harder.

"It was also good to talk to other families and share our experiences, and I was able to help some of the other parents and put their minds at ease about treatments Rebecca had already been through."

Rebecca fought cancer twice in her short life.

She was first diagnosed at 16 with a tumour - known as a Ewing sarcoma - which developed on her face.

She missed a year of school as she came through 10 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but made a full recovery.

Her life had returned to normal and she went on to sit her GCSEs, passing eight of them, and had been enthusiastic about doing her A-levels when tragedy struck again in February this year with a shocking leukaemia diagnosis.

Colette says: "When she was 16 she developed this lump on the side of her face at her temple from the tip of her ear to her eye and it would come up like an egg and then go away. Usually it came up at weekends, and by the time we got to the doctor on Monday it had gone again.

"She was eventually sent for a biopsy and we were told she it was a Ewing sarcoma, which is a rare cancer of the bone. She had 10 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"She sailed through it. She was fatigued and at one point got an infection that meant she had to be hospitalised for 10 days, which set her back a bit, but she was determined to get back to normal, and she did.

"She had to resit a year of her GCSEs and she was doing great, and we thought it was all behind us."

It was at the beginning of February of this year that Rebecca started to suffer from nausea and bouts of vomiting.

Her mum says she was so committed to her school work that she insisted on going into class despite being sick one morning. Teachers had to persuade her to go home when they saw how ill she was.

Colette says: "There was a bug going round school and we thought it might be that, but then I noticed funny marks like a rash on her feet and took her to the doctor who, because of her history of cancer, sent her straight to A&E at Craigavon Hospital.

"She had tests and we were told she had leukaemia. It was horrendous. The consultant told us it was the second worse case he had ever seen, which really put the frighteners on us."

Rebecca was admitted to the cancer unit at Belfast City Hospital and immediately started chemotherapy, which at first appeared to be working.

However, her white blood cells started to multiply again.

Doctors then resorted to a new treatment that had not been used before in Northern Ireland.

Initially it appeared to be working and everything seemed positive, but by the end of July it became obvious that her body could no longer fight the multiplying white blood cells.

Her mum recalls: "Everything was looking really positive, but within just two weeks it all went pear-shaped. Her body just couldn't fight it any more and there were no more options as the treatment was starting to poison her system.

"When she realised there was nothing that could be done she was so positive about it. She said that it wasn't going to take her and she was so determined and so strong. But she then developed E. coli, which seeped into her blood system."

When she was given the devastating news that nothing could be done to save her Rebecca showed the strength of her spirit in a moving Facebook post to her friends.

She wrote: "Hi everyone, I guess there's no time like the present to give you guys an update on everything. I got some bad news on Friday: my consultant told me that my white blood cell count was back up and it looked like the cancer was working too fast for my treatment to catch up with it.

"She doubted there was much she could do for me. Understandably, I was in a state of shock. I was basically just told that I was going to die.

"All I could say was, no. This can't be happening. No. There has to be something you could do. No. No. No. You need to do something. I need to do something. We can't let this happen. I'm not going to die. I need to do something.

"That news gave me the kick up the backside I needed to make me more determined than ever to succeed... to beat this ruddy cancer that had taken over my life.

"I was determined to see the end of this. I told the doctor to put me back on to the steroids and other medications to keep my white cell counts under control.

"It's going to be a long, difficult journey ahead, but through Hell or high water, I'm going to get through it all and prove to my consultant that this will not beat me."

Rebecca put up a brave fight, but in the end nothing could stop the progression of the disease, which cut her life short just weeks after her 18th birthday.

Her schoolfriends and teachers were among the first to lead tributes to the popular and fun-loving teen.

Noeleen Tiffney, principal of St Catherine's College in Armagh, said she would be remembered as "a delightful girl, multi-talented, gifted and full of laughter".

She added: "She had kindness and compassion at her core and was a true friend to everyone. The loss of this precious member of our school community has left those of us who knew her deeply saddened. She gave so much of herself to St Catherine's College and we were all enriched by having known her."

Rebecca's school had sprung a surprise for her to mark her 18th birthday on March 22. Allowed home from hospital to celebrate, she had no idea that teachers in St Catherine's had organised for all her school friends to visit her at home with a cake and presents.

Colette says: "Rebecca didn't want her friends to see her in hospital, so she didn't see a lot of them, and she was so delighted when they all arrived at the house to surprise her on her birthday.

"We also had a party for her and her friends came back for that without their school uniforms on."

Rebecca was a talented and intelligent teenager who loved singing and drama. She played the piano and had hoped for a career in the theatre, but changed her mind during her illness and decided instead to go into nursing to help others. She loved make-up and her mum says she would have skipped breakfast in the morning to ensure she got her "eye flick" perfect before she went into school.

Colette recalls fondly: "She wasn't into heavy make-up, but she would have spent an hour getting her flick right and then put on her mascara in the mornings."

Contemplating life without her lovely daughter is unbearable now for Colette and Lisa.

She says: "Lisa is at university in Newcastle, although she is home at the minute. She is devastated and misses Rebecca so much. She is coping the best she can, but it is just so hard.

"I'm taking it one day at a time. I need to find something to do to get me out of bed in the morning to face the day.

"The house is just so quiet. Rebecca used to watch funny programmes on her computer and you could hear her laughter right through the house, and now there is only silence and that silence in deafening. It doesn't feel like our house any more.

"Lisa will be going back to uni in January and I will be here on my own and I don't know how I am going to cope with that."

Colette has been delighted that so many people have supported her Just Giving appeal for CLIC Sargent in memory of Rebecca.

More than 2,000 has been raised so far towards the costs of running Amy House, which provides a lifeline to families from all over Northern Ireland who have a loved one going through cancer treatment.

She adds: "I am so grateful to everyone who has supported the appeal.

"We couldn't have coped without Amy House and it is wonderful to know people are donating in Rebecca's memory."

To support Colette's appeal you can go to justgiving.com/fundraising/inmemoryofrebecca
The biggest Euromillions jackpot this year is up for grabs and there is every chance that an Irish person could be popping the champagne on Tuesday night.

Nine lucky Irish players have won the Euromillions jackpot since its launch in 2004. But who were they - and have they spent the dough yet?

Expand Close The Euromillions winner Dolores McNamara who collected her cheque for over 115 million at the National Lottery Headquarters in Dublin. / Facebook

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Whatsapp The Euromillions winner Dolores McNamara who collected her cheque for over 115 million at the National Lottery Headquarters in Dublin.

The first and biggest winner was Dolores McNamara from Limerick in 2005. Her whopping 115 million prize instantly put her on the list of the top 100 richest people in Ireland. Since the win, Dolores spent 3.5 million on Lough Derg Hall in Clare along with houses for her six children.

A lucky couple won a 15 million jackpot in July 2008, followed by a family syndicate who took home 29.4 million in June 2009. Both groups remained anonymous.

A ticket sold in Beaumont split the prize with a winner from Belgium in June 2013, with each ticket winning almost 94 million. The winner stayed anonymous but said in a statement that they were excited about the new opportunities open to them. They instantly became one of Irelands 100 richest people.

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An Irish man from the Southeast split a 25.6 million jackpot in September 2013  by accident. The anonymous winner admitted after his win that he had marked the number 32 by mistake and said I wouldnt mind making a few more of those mistakes.

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A family who wished to stay anonymous picked up 15 million in April 2014 in Castlebar. They had been playing for a number of years and said the result was overwhelming. Taoiseach Enda Kenny called into Stauntons Costcutter on Main Street to say congratulations to the shop that sold the ticket.

A syndicate from Dublin took home 86.7 million with a ticket sold in Ballybrack in September 2014. The shop owner told media at the time that he knew the winners, but he never gave up their identities.

A group of friends split the jackpot and picked up 66 million in January of this year from a ticket sold in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow.

And finally, a syndicate of 22 Dublin Bus drivers won a 23.8 million jackpot this July. They arrived in a double decker to collect their cheques and said they would all be back in work the next day despite picking up a cool million each. Craig Shearer, one of the lucky winners, said winning the lotto after beating leukemia was like winning twice.

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"This is like a second win for me. I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia two years ago. And I want to thank Dr Michael Fay in the Mater Hospital in the haematology ward and his team, without whom I would not be here today doing this.
Contingency plans for a garda strike are not the priority ahead of fresh talks over pay restoration, Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald has said.

The Justice Minister has insisted the State "will always look after its citizens" but backed away from giving any insight into what will happen if gardai withdraw their services.

With the first strike due to take place early next month, Ms Fitzgerald said her focus was on finding "a pathway forward to pay restoration" that satisfied both the Garda Representative Authority and the Government.

She issued an invitation to the GRA to enter fresh negotiations yesterday and is scheduled to meet the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) today.

Read more: Garda strikes could leave just 210 to police entire country

However, AGSI said its meeting with the minister was planned before it announced it may embark on a campaign of industrial action last week.

AGSI also told the Irish Independent that there may be room for negotiation if the Government sets out a "road map" for pay increases to reflect what was taken from pay during the recession.

When asked about her contingency plans for the strikes planned by rank and file gardai, the minister said: "I'm not going down the road and talking about alternatives. The goal is negotiation and the progress we can make at this point."

She declined to say whether the Army could be tasked with policing, insisting: "The guards are the civil authority in this country. I want to ensure that continues to be the case, so my focus right now is to discuss how we can make that happen."

She added: "Of course the State will always deal with whatever situation arises."

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that the Lansdowne Road deal that restores about 2,000 to each public servant is the only option. AGSI and the GRA want all of the pay cuts made during the recession to be immediately restored. However, if this were to happen for all public servants, it would cost more than the Budget allocation.

Between this year and 2018, 934m will be restored to employees and pensioners under emergency legislation. A further 1.4bn in financial emergency measures remains to be restored after the Lansdowne Road deal ends.

The bold stance by gardai on pay restoration is already threatening the Lansdowne Road pact. There are signs of unrest among unions who signed up to it, including the militant Civil, Public and Services Union, about the rate at which pay rises are being awarded.

"If the Government has proposals on a pathway to restoration, it beholds it to bring those proposals to us," said AGSI president Antoinette Cunningham.

"The people within the organisation have become extremely restless. They are not prepared to wait another three or four years for this."

She said recent pay awards at the Luas and Dublin Bus had affected the mood.

"We do want to act in the best interests of all the people concerned and the best interest of the citizens and don't want to cause unnecessary disruption to the public, but if the Government does not step up to the plate those planned dates for industrial action will go ahead."

Gardai are due to strike on November 4, 11, 18 and 25.
Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald said the British Conservative Party had no interest in Ireland. Pic Tom Burke

The Dublin Government must work to ensure Northern Ireland can remain in the EU after the rest of Britain leaves, the Dail has been told.

Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald said the British Conservative Party had no interest in Ireland - North or South - when it came to "their shenanigans" over quitting the European Union.

"Taoiseach, you have been very flat-footed in your reaction to this," she said.

The Sinn Fein deputy leader said the British Prime Minister Theresa May's speech made it clear that she was not concerned about the return of a "hard border" - despite her earlier assurances.

Ms McDonald said the majority of people in the North voted for Remain. The North was a special case, not least because of the EU role supporting the peace process, and citizens in the North faced huge disruption from Britain exiting the EU.

The Taoiseach said he and other government members had engaged in a big series of meetings since the result of the Brexit referendum on June 23.

He said that the Belfast and Dublin Governments had agreed 10 separate actions in response to the referendum outcome.

Mr Kenny said that on November 2 next, all political parties and business and other organisations from North and South, were invited to a meeting in Dublin to discuss the implications of Britain leaving the EU. He described this as an "all-island conversation" - avoiding terminology which drew a negative reaction from the Democratic Unionist Party in July.

"You are wrong when you say it's a one-day conference. It's the first of a series of meetings which will deal with all these issues," he told Ms McDonald.

The Taoiseach said he had already briefed the opposition party leaders on Ireland's Brexit response and there would be further meetings. He said Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams had been complimentary about the prospect of his November 2 meeting in Dublin.
A stretch of State Route 74 in Carlisle was designated Monday morning as the Marine Lance Cpl. Gary Lee Ream Memorial Highway, in honor of a fallen Marine born and raised in the borough.

Back in June, Rep. Stephen Bloom (R-Cumberland) introduced House Bill 835 after Reams family approached him with the idea on April 15, 2014. That bill made its way to the House floor at the Capitol where it was passed unanimously with a 190-0 vote.

The stretch of highway, from the eastern corporate limits of Carlisle Borough to the intersection of Route 74 with Ashland Avenue, was officially named in Reams honor under Blooms House Bill 835, which became Act 90 of 2016 when it was approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Tom Wolf earlier this year.

I think its just wonderful, Reams sister Jo-Ann Layne said of Monday mornings unveiling. He was a wonderful boy who turned into a wonderful man.

Ream, a Carlisle High School graduate, was stationed in the Quang Nam Province of Vietnam as part of the 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. On Nov. 3, 1966, at age 20, Ream served as point man of a combat patrol when he and his squad were ambushed and he was hit by enemy rifle and machine gun fire. He along with one other Marine were mortally wounded.

Now, Reams body rests beside the road now named in his honor at Ashland Cemetery in Carlisle. His sister, Jody Sollenberger, said that their mother was provided the opportunity to have her sons remains buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, but decided against that, instead choosing to keep her son close.

Bloom called the renaming of the road a solemn and reverent commemoration.

Decades have passed since Cpl. Ream gave his life for our country, but his sacrifice is no less significant today than it was on the day he died, Bloom said. Naming this highway in his honor ensures that his service will be remembered by both current and future generations.

Carlisle Borough Councilwoman Connie Bires, Jim Washington, executive director of Hope Station, and Jason Illari, director of the Cumberland County Historical Society, showed up at the cemetery, and stood in the wet grass in support of the unveiling.

It is right and fitting we should mourn this fine young patriot. Let us also take courage and find hope and purpose in our remembrance in such selflessness, said Marine Lt. Col. John Jarrad, a student at the U.S. Army War College who offered remarks during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, Bloom led the throng of people down the road to where the tall green sign stands, marking that portion of the road, and hugged those of Reams family in attendance.
Emer Halpenny revealed she hopes to one day meet her son Andrew, who she gave up for adoption 28 years ago.

An Irish woman who placed her newborn son up for adoption almost 30 years ago has said that there is not a day that goes by she doesnt think of him and said her decision was motivated by love.

Emer Halpenny (47) became pregnant unexpectedly when she was 19 and placed her son Andrew up for adoption four days after his birth.

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The Dublin teacher said that she felt a family unit would be able to give baby Andrew the life he deserved but shared her fears that he might think it was because she did not want him.

I think its important to know that if somebody has given you up for a different life its not because they did not love you, said Emer, speaking on TV3s Adoption Stories.

Theres not a day goes by when I dont think about him.

Emer gave birth to her baby in February 1988 and spent four days with him in hospital, memories of which she said are extremely precious.

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I experienced that unconditional love that you have for a child. It was no longer all about me. Of course he was the most beautiful baby in the ward. He was healthy. He just didnt look like anybody else on earth, he was my baby. I had him for four days and I knew I had him for four days.

I kept him with me as much as I possibly could. He slept in the room with me. I didnt nurse him myself, I didnt want to have that bond broken. I thought it would be too much, she said.

"Every moment was a second thought. In those moments, theyre kind of, for me, wrapped up in snapshots. You know, the matron wrapping the baby up, my mother standing as a tower of strength for me, the social worker and the pain in her eyes, that was one of the very few times that the baby cried.

Its a very difficult memory but very precious, Emer said.

Expand Close Emer and her husband Geoff on their wedding day. The pair have two children, Aisling and Ciara / Facebook

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Whatsapp Emer and her husband Geoff on their wedding day. The pair have two children, Aisling and Ciara

Emer is now married and a mum to two teenage girls, Aisling and Ciara, but said she will never forget the day she left the Coombe without Andrew.

 I remember my mother saying Well put on your lipstick and hold your head high as we walk out.

And thats what we did. When we were walking out the door, there was a couple leaving the hospital at the same time with their baby and I thought that was really cruel of God to do that.

Years later when I left the Coombe with my husband and my baby, I felt like I passed the ghost of that girl. I felt it very strongly, she said.

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In the documentary, Emer recalled a meeting with Andrews adoptive parents and said she felt a bond with the woman who was to raise her child.

When I walked into the room, what I saw was that the mother had been crying and I loved her for that. I loved that she was that sensitive, that she got it. I dont know if she would have seen it the same way but I feel as if I bonded with this woman, the two of us crying, she said.

When Andrew turned 18 in 2006, Emer hoped he would get in contact, but when he didnt she asked the adoption agency if they could send her an update of how he was. A photo was sent to her, and Emer said she couldnt help but laugh.

I got a photo at that time which made me laugh out loud because I went, Yeah, theres the jaw, theres those different features. It was funny to see those features in a male face, she said.

Emer, who lives in Dublin with her family, said she would love the opportunity to meet Andrew in the future, but also fears his rejection.

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Whatsapp Emer has two children, Aisling and Ciara (now teenagers), with her husband Geoff

What I would find difficult would be if I did initiate and he rejected, I think that would be something I probably wouldnt get over.

I think it would be a lovely completion of that happy story to have him a part of it, she said.

The brand new series of Adoption Stories airs on Wednesday 5th October at 8.30pm on TV3.
Last night was an important one for some of Ireland's finest restaurants, as they found out who had held on to their Michelin stars - and who had just joined the exclusive club.

Four of Dublin's finest dining experiences got the nod from the prestigious guide to cuisine.

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Patrick Guilbaud's restaurant reasserted its dominance by keeping its two Michelin stars, while Chapter One, L'Ecrivain and The Greenhouse retained their one-star ratings from the bible of haute cuisine.

But newcomers Heron & Grey in Blackrock were cooking up a storm as locals celebrated their first Michelin star.

The team behind the restaurant, Damien Grey and Andrew Heron, were in London to celebrate their win.

But Blackrock was also buzzing as news spread of their addition to the iconic little red book.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Greenhouse Restaurant kept its star. Photo: Frank McGrath Ross Lewis at Chapter One. Photo: Tony Gavin Derry Clarke of LEcrivain in Dublin. Pic: Arthur Caron Cliff House, Ardmore, kept its star Cormac Rowe of Lady Helen restaurant / Facebook

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Whatsapp The Greenhouse Restaurant kept its star. Photo: Frank McGrath

Hidden in between stalls in Blackrock Market, the understated restaurant could be easily passed by.

Dorothee Yvon, assistant manager at Blackrock Cellar off licence, passed on her congratulations to the team.

"I'm delighted that it's been rewarded," she said.

"They work very hard and it's really good to see that they've succeeded."

Paddy Murphy, the manager at Jack O'Rourke's pub, was also delighted at the local success.

"The market has been there for years, but they've only been open since December," he said.

Read more: 'Our biggest thanks go out to the real team behind us': Ireland's newest Michelin Star restaurant celebrates prestigious award

Meanwhile, Aniar restaurant in Galway and Enda McEvoy's Loam also kept their one-star ratings with Michelin.

Kilkenny's Campagne and Lady Helen restaurant in Mount Juliet were delighted to retain their prized star.

John Kelly, head chef at Lady Helen, said the key to success was simplicity and seasonality.

"We keep it very simple here," he said.

"We cook for the customers, not for the chef."

Mr Kelly added that it's not about one chef ruling the kitchen with an iron first either.

"We all work together well and do what needs to be done. It's not about one chef coming in and barking orders at everyone. It's a team effort. It's not down to one dish, everything has to be consistently good.

"Everything has to be done well, whether we're serving a sandwich or a great dish of turbot," he added.

Separately, five other restaurants in Dublin were awarded the Bib Gourmand, which recognises exceptional food at more affordable prices.

Camden Street eatery Delahunt, The Pigeon House in Clontarf, Baggot Street's Etto, and the Pig's Ear on Nassau Street were all rewarded in that category.

French/Mediterranean bistro Pichet also made the cut with a Bib Gourmand.

The aforementioned restaurants were joined by 1826 in Adare, Co Limerick, Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna and Fishy Fishy in Kinsale, among others.

No Irish establishments were struck off the list this year.
Advice from our GP on how to prevent bronchiolitis and what to do when pink lesions appear on the skin.

Q. My niece has an infection called bronchiolitis. What is it, and how do I prevent my daughter from getting it this winter?

Dr Nina replies: Bronchiolitis is a respiratory condition that causes inflammation in the small airways of the lung. Mucus is also created, causing a cough and difficulty breathing in those affected.

It occurs most commonly in children aged three to six months. It is estimated that one in three children under the age of one in the UK develop the condition at some point.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the cause in 50 to 90pc of cases. Other viruses may also be found. The majority of cases of bronchiolitis occur between November and March, the peak season for RSV virus.

Household smoke exposure is a well-known risk for bronchiolitis infections. Do not allow your baby to be exposed to smoke at all. Maternal smoking especially increases the risk.

Breastfeeding reduces the risk as the mother's immunity may pass across. Living in a crowded environment, having older siblings or attending childcare facilities also increases the risk.

Symptoms initially resemble the common cold. There may be a runny nose, cough and fever. Fever is usually below 39C. Symptoms don't develop straight away on contact. Bronchiolitis may initially incubate for several days to a week. Symptoms peak on the second or third day and are gone in most after seven to 10 days.

In more severe cases, coughing may persist for weeks. For about 60pc of children, symptoms will remain mild but in 40pc of cases, increased coughing and difficulty breathing may occur. Vomiting, difficulty feeding, irritability and wheeze may also follow.

Wheezing and coughing can be quite pronounced, causing grave concern. Parents often arrive at the doctors very stressed and traumatised. Thankfully, reassurance is all that is required as most cases can be treated at home.

Only about 3pc of those infected will require hospital admission. Those who have underlying heart or lung problems, or reduced immunity, are particularly at risk of serious infection. Signs of severity include increasing sleepiness, a breathing rate above 70 breaths per minute, frequent vomiting or poor feeding.

Treatment is not usually required. It is important to reduce fever, and give plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. Those admitted to hospital are sometimes given oxygen, IV fluids and nebulisers.

The majority of children with bronchiolitis recover fully but they may be more at risk of wheezing in the first few years of life. There is a vaccine available for RSV, but this is normally reserved for those considered at risk of serious infection. Another medication called immunoglobulin can pass on some immunity to RSV and may also be used in children at risk of severe infection.

The best way to help avoid bronchiolitis is to avoid cigarette smoke exposure.

Breastfeed your baby. Keep young babies away from sick children.

Finally, wash your hands regularly, especially after coughing or sneezing. This will reduce the spread of the virus, keeping you and your baby healthy and well throughout the peak winter season.

Q. My daughter has developed raised itchy spots over different parts of her body. They are smooth and a little shiny. She has them on her arms, legs and body. What are they? Do they need treatment?

Dr Nina replies: Molluscum Contagiosum are small raised pink pimple-like lesions that appear on the skin. They occur most commonly in those aged one to five years.

They can vary in size from pinpoint to the size of a small pea. This infection is caused by a virus and is contagious.

Infection can occur from close skin-to-skin contact or by touching items infected with the virus such as towels, clothes and toys. The lesions may appear anywhere on the body, but in children they tend to concentrate on the limbs, chest and stomach. Lumps are normally painless but may be itchy. Scratching them may release the contagious centre fluid and spread infection elsewhere on the body.

Parents are concerned about the appearance of the spots, which can be quite dramatic, and so many present to their GP. It is possible to treat them but this is not normally advised. Treatment may be painful and lead to scarring. It is important to know that Molluscum dont interfere with activities, are not dangerous and usually clear up not their own.

Most infections last between two and four months but some may last up to 18 months or longer.

Cryotherapy, which freezes the spots, may also work. Other options include laser treatment or scraping them off (curettage). All of these treatments may be uncomfortable and cause scarring. The best thing to do is to avoid further spread of the condition.

Covering spots with a waterproof plaster may limit transmission when swimming or in situations where skin-to-skin contact is likely. Avoid rubbing or scratching the bumps. There is no need to keep children out of activities, creche or school.
Isabel ODonovan, 40, was 34 with two young children when she was diagnosed with breast cancer Photo: Emma Jervis Photography

Irish women have a one in nine chance of developing breast cancer, but as the Irish Cancer Society highlights Breast Cancer Awareness Month with its 'Paint it Pink' campaign, it is also keen to make people aware of the fact that survival rates are on the rise and currently 85pc of those diagnosed with the disease are living over and beyond five years.

Isabel O'Donovan from Cork is one of these statistics.

"I was 34 when I noticed the lump," says Isabel (now 40). "I found it myself, while lying down in bed one night. It was like a frozen pea at the base of my breast, at the edge and was really tiny - so small, in fact, that I could only feel it lying down - when I stood up, it was gone.

"But even though it was so small and seemed insignificant, I went to the doctor the next morning because I was really worried."

At first the doctor thought it might be a cyst.

"But a few weeks later I insisted on being referred for a mammogram as I still had the lump. This was followed very swiftly by an ultrasound and biopsy and I was diagnosed with breast cancer on July 19 2011 - one month after visiting my doctor."

Isabel, who is married to David and has two sons Tom (12) and Josh (9), was devastated at the diagnosis.

"I suppose I was in shock. My boys were just six and three at the time and no one knew how serious things were as doctors needed to operate before they could get an accurate diagnosis."

"I had a six-hour operation in September followed by six months of chemotherapy," she says.

"Then I went on to have six weeks of radiotherapy and after that a full year of hormone therapy.

"Treatment was very hard and seemed to go on forever, particularly as I live a two-hour drive from the hospital so that made it even more difficult.

"And of course, I had all of the usual side effects; I lost my hair, I was tired, weak and nauseous but I never actually got sick.

"I felt sorry for myself at times and cried a lot when I was alone. My mom helped me the most, driving me for treatment and making sure I had food during the daytime. I had to keep going for the children, which was good in a way as it made me get up every day.

"Other women who had gone through it before me helped me too which was great, as they understood.

"I also worked one day a week which gave me something to focus on.

"It just seemed to go on forever at the time and it was long and tough. But there was light at the end of the tunnel."

Although her treatment was arduous, the Cork woman, who owns and runs Issie's Handmade Chocolate in Castletownbere, feels that it changed her for the better and would encourage anyone who is facing up to a cancer diagnosis not to lose hope.

"Once treatment completely finished, life went back to normal, if there is a normal after cancer," she says. "I just got on with life and tried not to dwell on it - although in reality my body had been through an awful lot and it was a year or two before I felt myself again.

"I believe that going through a cancer diagnosis changes both your body and mind - your outlook on life changes, for the better. I feel fantastic today. I am more humble, understanding and have far deeper empathy for people.

"I have no time for trivia. I am more aware of other people's suffering and the little things in life don't bother me anymore. I believe I am a better person after what I have been through.

"I am extremely grateful to be alive and every day is a blessing.

"So my advice to anyone who has just been diagnosed is to realise that although it will be difficult, you will get through it. It won't go on forever and you will be a better person at the end of your journey.

"There will be good days and bad days and you will laugh and cry. So do what is best for you and nobody else - we all have different experiences, so just listen to your heart and you will be fine."
Sarah Caden returns to Cork as a visitor, and is surprised at how well it works as a city break.

I'd been to Cork before.

Most of us have been to Cork before. I've been there a lot, though. As a child, as a teenager en route to West Cork. In my mid-20s, it was where the relationship began with my now husband. What with him being a Corkonian and all, it's where we go now to spend time in the summer and take the kids to see grandparents and cousins.

Cork is a home from home, to an extent, though a weekend break there in the summer felt like a re- introduction to the second city.

What made it unusual was that we stayed in the city. In a hotel. The two daughters found this wildly exciting, but it was good for the adults too. It felt like a city break somewhere far flung, and if we'd taken a few hours of a flight there we'd have come home raving about the place. Even the man who grew up in Cork's suburbs felt the same.

On this close-to-home city break, we stayed at the Imperial Hotel on the wide and old-school shabby- grand South Mall. The older daughter had always been looking to get across the threshold as it's her grandmother's favourite location for a tasty bite, and her nine-year-old cousin, older by a year and therefore her trailblazer, loves nothing more than a scone in the Imperial.

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The hotel has that gilt-and- burgundy velvet interior that speaks of classic comfort and everyone felt at home straight away.

It also happens to be around the corner from Penneys, which meant that father and elder daughter could take a twosome excursion with a tenner and come back to me and the younger one, watching telly in bed, laden with treats. You just don't get that on a city break in Istanbul, and I know which is more relaxing.

The Imperial, being bang in the middle of town, is also a stone's throw from the famous English Market, where we explained - to the kids' horror - buttered eggs and tripe and drisheen before mid-morning coffee and cake in Kay Harte's award-winning Farmgate.

A trip to Fitzgerald Park, opposite UCC, gave the girls the opportunity to catch up with their cousins. The playground has been overhauled in recent years and has - all parents breathe a sigh of relief - toilets nearby.

There are nice log benches for the adults, the park itself has had a botanical overhaul that is modern and peaceful and the coffee shop is a most welcome addition. As we left, there was a string quartet tuning up for an evening performance on the lawn and the two girls pirouetted across the grass to their fits and starts of summery melodies.

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Back in town, we spent a happy hour in the Huguenot Quarter, a little warren of side streets off Patrick Street, full of charming little shops and cafes.

Pinocchio's is a relatively small toy shop but is full to bursting with slightly offbeat treasures from big dolls' houses and vehicles to little fairy gliders for a euro and pocket money finds. It's like a shop you'd find in Germany or, compliment of compliments, Scandinavia. Directly opposite is the bonus of a "ye olde sweet shoppe", where edible paper money was bought for eating later with the babysitter.

Before we headed out for the night, we wanted the children well fed, so we gave The Meatball Place on Carey's Lane a whirl. The couple who own it brought the meatballs-in-all-forms idea back from Australia and our girls nearly ate the plates, so thrilled were they with their spaghetti and meatballs.

Thanks to the lovely hotel- supplied babysitter, we headed out with barely a backward glance to enjoy a barbecue at Holy Smoke, run by Jamie Oliver's protege John Relihan. We were out with old friends, and we're far from the first flush ourselves, but you wouldn't be going there on a first date, deliciously messy as it is.

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You can find far more proper pubs in Cork than you can in Dublin. We had a pre-dinner drink in the Oval and two post-dinner pints in Callanan's on George's Quay. This is no newly gussied-up place pretending to be old, and in the small back snug you sit on kegs that have been fitted with cushions for a degree of comfort.

Cork brewery Franciscan Well's Rebel Red and the German-style wheat beer Friar Weisse are easily found in most Cork pubs, but a true Corkonian will tell you that the only craft beer you need is Beamish.

A hangover-day Lunch was had at O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausages on Winthrop Street. The O'Flynns have a sausage stall in the English Market where they fry sausages on a hotplate with onions to put in bread rolls and feed to the queues of people. They also have this small cafe-restaurant where they serve up every sausage variation you can think of, from the breakfast sausages in a bap with ketchup for our two girls through the slightly Mexican affair I ate to the mix-up of chorizo, potato and onions my husband devoured.

That night, dinner in the hotel with the in-laws was delightful, with all generations served.

On the morning of our check-out from the Imperial we stood in the lobby, the children lamenting our departure, when the older one dropped her new water bottle from Penneys on the marble floor. It cracked and water pooled everywhere. Chris, the manager, rushed over. Water was mopped, tears were mopped, the excursion with Dad to Penneys was related as if they'd gone to Antarctica together.

Chris asked if we'd had breakfast. We hadn't - we'd been too lazy in our adjoining rooms to stir. He sent us into Lafayette's coffee dock, with its Byzantine-inspired glamour, for coffee and, of course, those fresh scones.

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Then, midway through our continental treat, he appeared again with a replacement water bottle for the elder girl and, better, one for her little sister too.

Sure it was only up the road to Penneys, he said.

Only up the road, maybe, but it felt like they'd gone so much farther - as could be said of our city break in Cork. It was only a weekend in that city at the other end of the motorway, but it felt like we'd really been away.

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After years of pent-up demand for greater choice in education, at both primary and post-primary level, the overnight queue that formed outside Clonturk Community College should come as no surprise.

The first second-level school in Dublin city to open under the banner of Educate Together - in partnership with City of Dublin Education and Training Board - was guaranteed to attract big interest.
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Colette Browne Opinion Every effort must be made to retrieve oral histories of mother and baby home survivors

With three days to go until the Mother and Baby Homes Commission ceases to exist as a legal entity, we are being told that audio recordings of hundreds of witnesses which were deleted may not actually be gone forever. It is another usual twist in a most emotional saga. For decades, survivors of mother and baby homes have been denied a voice and denied autonomy. When they fell pregnant, many through rape and abuse, they were marched to the doors of religious institutions.
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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.
Many Irish firms, and firms from other EU states, have extensive investments and trading interests in the UK. Indeed, this must one of the most intense investment relationships in the world.

For the past 40 years, these investments have been protected by UK membership of the EU, which allowed firms, who might feel they were being discriminated against in favour of British-owned competitors, to appeal not only to the UK Courts, but also to the European Court of Justice(ECJ)

On Sunday the UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced that once the UK leaves the EU, the jurisdiction of the ECJ in the UK will be ended. Thus, there will no longer be any, non-UK-controlled, arbiter to protect Irish or other EU investors in the UK against discriminatory laws by a future UK government. The UK has no written constitution.

Therefore, it will be important that there be a robust independent investor-protection disputes mechanism, capable of overturning discriminatory decisions that might be taken by the UK courts against the interests of EU-owned firms.

This must take immediate effect the day the UK leaves the EU. It cannot wait for the longer-term trade agreement the EU negotiates with the UK, which may take years to finalise. Investor-protection clauses can be controversial, as we have seen with the TTIP negotiation, and are a reduction of "sovereignty" in the abstract sense.

But given three factors:

the highly nationalistic tenor of UK politics at the moment;

the dramatic ideological trends in the Labour Party;

the likelihood of trade tensions between the UK and the EU

Irish and other EU firms doing, or intending to do, business in the UK will need a very robust independent investor-protection regime. These three phenomena must be confronted realistically. We must not assume that everything will work out in the end. It may not.

Unless Irish and other European firms have concrete assurances that they will not face discrimination of any kind in their activities in the UK after Brexit, they may have to commence disinvestment to protect their shareholders' legitimate interests. The proposed 'Great Repeal Bill', reversing EU law in the UK, will need to be scrutinised with immense care by Irish and other European investors in Britain. Political assurances will not be good enough.

In the present atmosphere of UK politics, it is all too easy to envisage calls for discrimination in favour of UK firms in contracts with UK local authorities, in access to certain public services and in standards for goods and services. All would be done, of course, in the name of "protecting British jobs" or "defending British standards".

If the ECJ is not available to protect Irish and EU firms from discriminatory practices on the UK market, alternatives will have to be agreed with the UK.

These alternative mechanisms - investor courts, in other words - will have to have the power, like the ECJ, of striking down UK decisions, including UK court decisions, that they deem to be discriminatory against the interests of an EU investor.

These mechanisms are known as an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) or an investment court system (ICS). They are an instrument of public international law and grant an investor the right to use dispute-settlement proceedings against a country's government.

Provisions for ISDS are contained in a number of bilateral investment treaties, in certain international trade treaties, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (chapter 11), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (chapters 9 and 28) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (sections 3 and 4). ISDS is also found in international investment agreements, such as the Energy Charter Treaty.

If an investor from one country (the 'home state') invests in another country (the 'host state'), both of which have agreed to ISDS, and the host state violates the rights granted to the investor under public international law, then that investor may bring the matter before an arbitral tribunal. The prospect of having to use such cumbersome procedures will undoubtedly be daunting and difficult for small firms.

This will be particularly difficult for Irish firms who have been used to treating the UK as part of their "home market" since 1966 and the Anglo Irish Free Trade Agreement.

In the aftermath of the original referendum decision, soothing statements were made by British ministers about the position of Ireland and about there being no 'hard Border'.

But the speech by Theresa May to her party conference represents a major shift. She is going for a 'hard Brexit', which inevitably means a 'hard Border'.

She offered no assurances to Ireland. Indeed, it is hard to see how the UK could offer special protection to Irish firms investing in the UK that it was not also offering to French or Romanian firms. The Irish food industry is heavily invested in the UK market. Before it joined the EU, the UK discriminated heavily in favour of UK farmers and against Irish exports.

The food industry is far more complex now than it was 40 years ago and the opportunities for discrimination more subtle and more numerous.

The EU will need to adopt a tough line on investor protection in the negotiations and make sure these protections apply in full from the moment the UK leaves.
Law enforcement used flash bangs while executing a search warrant in Carlisle Tuesday morning.

Carlisle Police said it, the Cumberland County Drug Task Force and Cumberland County Special Response Team executed a search warrant Tuesday morning with the assistance of a State Police helicopter in the 500 block of North Hanover Street.

Around 9 a.m. Sadeek A. Anderson, 20, was taken into custody. He was wanted for the sale of heroin and was the target of the search warrant.

Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said the SRT team used flash bang grenades, which produce a blinding flash of light and a concussive blast. Freed said they were used based on information we had that he had possessed a firearm in the past, as well as our experiential knowledge that drug dealers use firearms as protection and tools of their trade.

Carlisle Police Interim Police Chief Stephen Latshaw said all but one of the flash bang grenades were set off outside the home as a diversion.

Anderson came out of the home with his son in his arms, Latshaw said. Police were aware the child was likely in the home prior to serving the warrant, prompting them to not use the flash bang grenades inside the home, according to Latshaw.

One flash bang grenade was set off inside the home after Anderson and his son were out of the house to allow officers to clear the second floor of any other potential occupants, Latshaw said.

Latshaw said Anderson and the child were checked out and cleared by medics, and Anderson was allowed to remain with his son until a family member arrived.

Both Latshaw and Freed were unaware if any firearms were found in the home during the execution of the warrant.

The search warrant was the result of an ongoing investigation by the local police, drug task force, state police and FBI safe streets task force.

The Cumberland County Task Force is made up of full-time and part-time officers from municipalities throughout the county who do drug enforcement under the direction of the District Attorneys Office.

Police said the probe has led to multiple arrests in the sale of heroin and cocaine in Carlisle, including seven men who were arrested in one day in July.

I am pleased that we could take this drug dealer off the street, Freed said. As long as dealers continue to sell in the county, we will continue to take them down.

Anderson was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in front of Magisterial District Judge Jonathan Birbeck and was taken to Cumberland County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.
Retreating into a cave which has only one opening is always a dangerous manoeuvre, and this is especially true in industrial relations.

Competing demands from public service unions have taken on a distinctly menacing tone: 'Give us what we want, or else'.

We saw this with the Luas and bus workers. Sadly, the gardai are now lining up to withdraw their essential services, reflecting the same indifference to the consequences for the people who rely on them. Such action could seriously undermine confidence and trust that characterises a unique relationship with the public. No one wants to believe the gardai are nonchalant regarding the grave consequences such action would have, but that is the perception in the hardening of positions.

Yesterday, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald insisted everything was being done to prevent a gardai strike. She has pledged to invite the Garda Representative Association (GRA) to meet her this week. As things stand , the GRA plans "a unilateral withdrawal of services" on November 4, 11, 18 and 25. This would be disastrous.

Ms Fitzgerald said the Government was conscious of the difficulties facing gardai but must also think of the wider public sector. There is no one in this country unaware of the extraordinary service provided by the gardai. But the minister faces constraints; room for manoeuvre has to be bounded by reality. Sitting down to find common ground must be done by the two sides sooner rather than later.

Far better that this be done in an atmosphere of trust as opposed to one of threats. The rank of minister comes, like all ranks, with responsibilities. But members of the public service, paid out of the tax take, also have responsibilities. Ms Fitzgerald says she has no contingency plans for a strike - even if she had, she would hardly be inclined to reveal them. Such dangerous games of brinkmanship between unions and Government, with the public held as a hostage to fortune, will only end badly for all.

Why Ireland must set its own agenda on Brexit

It would seem as if the paralysis of procrastination and hyper-analysis over Brexit is finally over. The realities are now all too apparent, and Taoiseach Enda Kenny has tipped travel and trade as the main issues of concern for us. After a relationship with Brussels of 46 years, few expected the divorce from Britain to be anything other than difficult.

Mr Kenny says Ireland must be focused on the impact of any negotiations. It must be more than focused  it must be decisive and vocal at the table. Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan spoke frankly about the prospect of what would be the ruinous reintroduction of a hard Border  which entails the return of checks, car stops and heightened security risks.

Mr Kenny pointed to our vital priorities, amongst which the peace process must be pivotal. Yet it was scarcely mentioned in the debate over Brexit. Ignoring it once more would be a catastrophic error of judgment.

The Taoiseach is quite correct in describing the UKs withdrawal from the EU as one of the greatest challenges to face Europe and Ireland for many years.

Maintaining good relationships with Britain while also keeping in step with the European agenda in the future will be a delicate and immensely difficult task. That is why Mr Kenny should heed the call made by this paper, and by others, for the appointment of a minister with responsibility for managing Brexit. Theresa May has laid out her stall. We must be equally clear on where our red lines lie and not stand by as the agenda is set by others.
Hollywood star Ben Stiller has revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer but is now cancer-free.

The Zoolander star was diagnosed with a growing tumour in 2014 and now wants to share his story in support of the controversial test that saved his life.

In an essay on the website Medium, Stiller described the moment of his diagnosis as "a classic Walter White moment, except I was me, and no one was filming anything at all".

He wrote: " I got diagnosed with prostate cancer Friday, June 13 2014. On September 17 of that year I got a test back telling me I was cancer free. The three months in between were a crazy roller coaster ride with which about 180,000 men a year in America can identify."

He said straight after he was diagnosed he immediately researched high-profile men who had survived and died of the disease.

He added: " As I learned more about my disease (one of the key learnings is not to Google "people who died of prostate cancer" immediately after being diagnosed with prostate cancer), I was able to wrap my head around the fact that I was incredibly fortunate. Fortunate because my cancer was detected early enough to treat. And also because my internist gave me a test he didn't have to.

"Taking the PSA test (prostate-specific antigen test) saved my life. Literally. That's why I am writing this now."

Stiller said he was not offering a scientific point of view on the test but said without it he would not have been diagnosed as quickly as he was.

He wrote: " The bottom line for me: I was lucky enough to have a doctor who gave me what they call a "baseline" PSA test when I was about 46. I have no history of prostate cancer in my family and I am not in the high-risk group, being neither - to the best of my knowledge - of African or Scandinavian ancestry. I had no symptoms.

"What I had - and I'm healthy today because of it - was a thoughtful internist who felt like I was around the age to start checking my PSA level, and discussed it with me.

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"If he had waited, as the American Cancer Society recommends, until I was 50, I would not have known I had a growing tumour until two years after I got treated. If he had followed the US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, I would have never gotten tested at all, and not have known I had cancer until it was way too late to treat successfully."

The actor said the test is criticised because it can lead to unnecessary "over-treatment" but argued men should at least be given the option so they stand a chance of early detection.

Angela Culhane, chief executive at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "There are over 300,000 men in the UK who, like Ben Stiller, are living with or after prostate cancer. However, despite the numbers, it's a disease that, due to its nature, is often swept under the carpet. We applaud Ben for his courage in talking openly about his personal experience.

"The disease kills one man every hour in the UK but if it is caught early, it can more often than not be treated successfully, which is why awareness like this is so important. It is crucial for every man to acknowledge the threat that prostate cancer can pose to his life.

"Some men in particular face a higher than average risk and so if you are over 50, black, or have a family history of prostate cancer, it's important that you to speak to your GP about the disease."
Kim Kardashian West begged for her life as robbers wearing ski masks and police uniforms burst into her luxury Paris flat in the early hours of yesterday and put a gun to her head as they stole more than 10m worth of jewellery.

The reality television star thought she was going to be killed as the barrel of a handgun was placed to her temple and she pleaded with the men not to shoot her for the sake of her two children.

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"She begged them to let her live and said she had babies at home," a source close to Mrs West said. "She thought they were for sure going to kill her. Then they wrapped her mouth in tape and put her in the bathtub."

The thieves also bound her hands and feet before taking a jewel box containing valuables worth 7m, and a ring worth nearly 3m.

As they did so, three other members of the gang waited outside the door to the flat. They had gained entry by forcing the night porter at gunpoint to open the door at 2.30am.

They also took two of Mrs West's mobile phones containing a treasure trove of private information relating to her and other celebrities.

Read more: Kim Kardashian had gun pointed at her temple by men dressed as police officers during multi-million euro robbery in Paris

The gang may have escaped via a tunnel network in the apartment complex usually used by visiting celebrities to avoid photographers. They were believed to have fled on bicycles and Mrs West was later able to free herself and raise the alarm. A spokesman said she was "badly shaken but physically unharmed".

During the city's fashion week, she was staying at Hotel de Pourtales, a 19th-century neo-Renaissance mansion used as a discreet bolt hole by stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince, Madonna, and Brad Pitt, which has several secret entrances and a small number of apartments that can cost 15,000 a night.

It is close to high-end shopping streets and known locally as the "No Address Hotel" because it is not listed anywhere and reservations are made by word of mouth.

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Questions were raised over Mrs West's security and whether the gang could have received information that Mrs West was on her own. Her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, who is never far from her side, had gone out with her sisters Kourtney and Kendall to protect them at a nightclub. The sisters were staying at the nearby Peninsula Hotel.

Mrs West gave a statement to police then left Paris immediately on a private jet. She was said to have been "hysterical" immediately after the incident. A family friend said: "She's very upset and couldn't wait to leave Paris.

"She got robbed of her jewellery but doesn't care. She is just happy to be alive. She has never been in a more frightening situation. She still can't believe it happened. It will take her a very long time to feel safe again."

Mrs West later arrived in New York with more than a dozen bodyguards. She was met by her husband Kanye West. The musician had been in the middle of a concert in New York when news of the robbery reached him and he left the stage quickly, saying he had a "family emergency".

According to 'Forbes' magazine, Mrs West (35) is worth more than 40m, having risen to fame through her reality television series 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians', and amassing wealth through public appearances and endorsements.

There was speculation that the notorious Pink Panther jewel gang could be behind the robbery. Its members are mostly from Serbia and Montenegro and have been blamed for a string of high-profile heists since 1984 worth more than $400m.

Read more: James Corden slams people for trolling Kim Kardashian after being robbed at gunpoint in Paris

They earned their nickname after a 2003 London robbery when a thief hid a diamond in a pot of beauty cream, similar to the plot of one of the 'Pink Panther' films.

The group pulled off one of their most spectacular heists in December 2013, when they walked away with up to 85m worth of goods after entering the Harry Winston jewellers in central Paris disguised as women. Pointing guns at terrified staff, the men emptied the shop's safes and display cases in less than 20 minutes, unobserved by passers-by on the exclusive Avenue Montaigne.

Unlike major organised crime groups, such as the Sicilian Mafia, police say the Pink Panthers have no clear organisational structure and are instead broken down into small, mobile units.

They will usually make a dramatic entrance, trashing stores and brandishing weapons, before vanishing with gems in satchels lined with toilet paper to prevent scratching.

Prison

When one member is arrested, another takes his place. They have a penchant for luxury watches, which are easier to sell than unique pieces of jewellery, but investigators admit they do not know the full scope of their crime network.

Police from countries as far apart as Japan, the United States and Switzerland met to share photos, fingerprints and insights, hoping for breakthroughs in their cases.

A number of Pink Panther suspects have been arrested over the years, and 40 are in prison in various countries, but police say they are not close to dismantling the whole group.

"They go into prison, then they come out. It never ends," said Andre Muhlberger, head of public safety in Monaco.
If letters "cast powerful spells", then actress Noma Dumezweni enchanted an audience with her reading of a deaf-blind author's letter describing the Empire State Building.

The Dirty Pretty Things actress read Helen Keller's 1932 missive to a doctor, describing being "whizzed" up the tower and how constant darkness makes you realise "how divine a thing vision is".

It was one of a series of historic letters read by a string of famous actors, musicians and writers at Freemasons' Hall in London on Tuesday night.

Veteran actor Michael Palin drew a roar of laughter when reading a producer's letter on making cuts from Monty Python And The Holy Grail to secure an appropriate age rating, recounting: "I would like to retain 'fart in your general direction'."

Not to be outdone, Jude Law put on his best American accent to read Frank Sinatra's attack on a "pimp" Chicago newspaper columnist whose "source of information stinks".

Inspired by Shaun Usher's best-selling Letters Of Note series and Simon Garfield's book To The Letter, Letters Live sees actors and performers reading out literary correspondence to a live audience.

The event was first held in December 2013 and is now established as a sell-out fixture.

It has since travelled to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Los Angeles and even the Calais Jungle.

It was started by the publishing house Canongate to raise money for literacy charities and to celebrate the "pain, joy, wisdom and humour" of the written word.

Charities supported by the event - which runs for five nights from October 4 to 8 - include the Ministry of Stories, Help Refugees and First Story.

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Canongate chief executive Jamie Byng said: "Letters cast powerful spells. When you sort thoughts into the written word, you suspend thoughts in time."

Other speakers included comedian Omid Djalili, actor Charlie Heaton and satirist Julian Clary.

Other highlights from the night included Mariella Frostrup reading Sinead O'Connor's letter urging Miley Cyrus to stop "prostituting" herself for the music industry.

Frostrup read: "When you're in rehab they will be sunning themselves on their yachts ..."

Julian Clary read a moving message from a soldier in the Second World War to his deceased lover - a fellow soldier - holding the audience in complete silence throughout.

Television presenter Nicholas Parsons read correspondence from Roald Dahl to a little girl called Elizabeth who hated her new school, encouraging her to never grow up.

The night finished with Law reading a long message from the poet Ted Hughes to his son Nicholas on the importance of embracing his childhood self.

Law read: "The only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough - nothing else really counts."

Letters from figures such as Groucho Marx, Maya Angelou, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Wilder and James Baldwin were brought to life by the speakers.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who appears regularly at Letters Live, has said of the event: "It's a privilege to read this most ancient of communications live to an audience. A truly inspiring event."
Fiona from Ballyclare, Co Antrim, and Rob from Dublin, met while they were studying at the National College of Art and Design, and although they meandered as friends for a long time, they both realised on the last day of college that it was "now or never!".

After nearly 10 years together, Rob proposed to his love on London's Battersea Bridge, overlooking the Thames, with a ring he had commissioned from friend and jeweller Clare Grennan - asking Fiona if she wanted "to have a big party". The pair wanted a fun and colourful Humanist ceremony and decided to have their Big Day at Cork's Blackwater Castle, where they could have their own castle for a day and get creative to have everything to their tastes.

"All the decorations were made by friends and relatives. We had a big pom pom- and kimchi-making party a few weeks before the wedding. Then everyone helped fluff up pom poms when we got to the castle. We asked family to bring blankets to cover the straw bales for the ceremony," says Fiona. Even the flowers were all grown on an allotment by a friends of Fiona's mother and brought down the day before the wedding.

The bride had her unique gown designed and made by two very good friends of hers, Jill De Burca and Emma Sheridan, meaning she could choose the fabrics.

Expand Close Photography by Aoife O'Sullivan Photography, visit aosphoto.com / Facebook

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Whatsapp Photography by Aoife O'Sullivan Photography, visit aosphoto.com

After their beautiful day, Fiona and Rob spent some nights in the Garryvoe Hotel before travelling straight to Glastonbury festival where friends had pitched their tent in the mud - "Best wedding gift ever," says Fiona.

* Words by Dee Finnerty. Photography by Aoife O'Sullivan Photography, visit aosphoto.com

If you would like your wedding featured here, email weddings@independent.ie
In August, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to get under Donald Trump's skin by tweeting that the Republican presidential nominee "can't handle the fact that he's losing to a girl".

Trump's behaviour since the first presidential debate, judged a win for Hillary Clinton by pundits and national poll respondents, suggests Warren may have had a point.

For most of September, Trump campaigned in a more disciplined fashion. He did not get sidetracked by petty grudge matches. He stayed on message, even when addressing his supporters at televised rallies. He almost sounded presidential.

Much of that has gone out the window since his debate with Clinton.

Immediately afterwards, he loudly congratulated himself for not bringing up Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions during the 90-minute encounter with his general election opponent.

This, along with his surrogates' post-debate talking points, was widely interpreted as a threat to bring them up during subsequent debates.

Trump has also gone on late-night Twitter rants about the media and Clinton's comments during the debate.

In recent weeks, this was an impulse he had mostly kept under control.

One of the lines of attack that seems to have rattled Trump the most is Clinton invoking former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, a Hispanic woman the GOP candidate allegedly mocked when he ran the beauty pageant, calling her "Miss Piggy" and suggesting she had a weight problem.

The day after the debate, Trump said of Machado: "She was the worst we ever had. The worst. The absolute worst. She was impossible. She was the winner, and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem."

Machado's own past is not without controversy, but not only does the incident reinforce Trump's negatives as someone who is insensitive toward women and Hispanics. It also caused him to reignite his vendetta against Machado - similar to his criticisms of Rosie O'Donnell - in ways few Americans are likely to find presidential.

Provocation

Josh Barro of 'Business Insider' made the case that Clinton's provocation was deliberate, calling it the "perfect psy op to derange Donald Trump."

Either way, both Trump's baiting of Bill Clinton and continued discussion of Machado threaten to shine a spotlight on the thrice-married businessman's own less-than-pristine sexual history.

The latest revelation has been his cameo appearance in a softcore Playboy film in 2000. Maybe Trump can succeed where other Republicans have failed in making an issue of Bill Clinton's sex life - including allegations of rape, assault and other non-consensual behaviour in addition to well documented adultery - and Hillary's role in marginalising accusers. But there's evidence dating back to the 1990s that would suggest it's risky.

In the past, voters who aren't already guaranteed to vote against the Clintons have tuned out talk about Bill's sex life and viewed Hillary more sympathetically. Unless it's a feint, Trump is playing with fire.

There is also a risk that Trump's slide in the polls since the debate will make him tune out the advisers who have finally professionalised his campaign: "I tried it your way, he might be thinking to himself. Now I'm going back to doing things my way." ( Daily Telegraph London)
Theresa May said the nation's obsession with her shoes gave her an excuse to buy more pairs.

The Prime Minister said it was "interesting" that people focused on her footwear, claiming male counterparts were not subjected to the same scrutiny.

Mrs May admitted she was prepared to be "bloody difficult" in standing up for her beliefs and said that since being in Number 10 one of the biggest changes she had noticed were the amount of selfies she gets asked for.

Asked if the interest in her shoes was sexist, Mrs May told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "It is interesting people focus on my shoes.

"I don't think they focus on Philip Hammond's or Boris Johnson's in quite the same way.

"Do I regret the fact that people look at my shoes? Hey, it gives me an excuse to go and buy new shoes."

Mrs May, who is more used to facing questions about "hard" or "soft" Brexit was also grilled about the consistency of the fat used to make scones.

At the weekend she shared her recipe for scones but did not discriminate between using butter and margarine.

She said she had used both successfully, but hard fat was easier to work into the flour.

She said: "You have to rub it in with the flour. It's often easier if it's hard, you can get a good rub in. If it's too soft it starts to become a bit claggy.

"I have made it in the past with both. Of course, I tend not to make the recipe now because of my diabetes, I don't make too many scones. But I hope whoever makes the recipe enjoys them."

Mrs May said her husband Philip was a fan of her cooking.

"I've always unwound by cooking and walking. These are the things I do," she told BBC Breakfast.

"I don't get quite so much time to do them these days as I did in the past, but whenever I can, my husband and I enjoy walking and I enjoy cooking. And he enjoys eating what I cook."

Asked what was the biggest difference was about being Prime Minister, she told the programme: "I seem to be asked to do a lot more selfies these days.

"I do do quite a few of them, but I can't manage to do all of them. I'm afraid time doesn't allow me. There have been quite a few selfies here at the party conference, as you can imagine."

Former cabinet colleague Ken Clarke described Mrs May as a "bloody difficult woman" - a label she seemed prepared to accept.

"Ken and I had our interesting debates in the past and I stand by doing what I believe to be the right thing," she told LBC Radio.

"If standing up for what you believe to be right is being 'bloody difficult', then so be it."

Asked whether she felt that she was treated differently in politics because she is a woman, Mrs May told Five News: "I've never really felt that. I just get on with the job and I believe that's absolutely right.

"In my political career I've always believed, whatever job I'm in, in getting on and doing the best job possible for the British people, and that's what I'm going to do as Prime Minister."
Congress overwhelming rebuke of President Barack Obama on a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia  and the bitter finger-pointing that followed  was a fitting coda to the dysfunctional relationship between the Obama White House and Capitol Hill.

Thus began a Politico article by Seung Min Kim posted yesterday.

But it was the headline  which she probably did not write  that really completed the picture: Congress disses Obama one last time.

That word, disses, is just too perfect. For eight years the press has treated Obama like the protagonist in some stage play, personalizing his policy struggles as a heroic effort of one noble man fighting an army of partisans, racists and plutocrats. Even the word dis  with its hip, slightly edgy connotation  taps into the Cult of Obama, which sees any setback for the president as a personal, often illegitimate affront to his dignity.

For the record, the vote against Obamas veto was 97-1 in the Senate and 348-77 in the House. Were all of those Democrats trying to dis the president? Is dissing one of the congressional powers listed in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution? Or do we need an amendment to the Bill of Rights stating that Congress shall make no law dissing the first African-American president?

As Ive noted before, the best explanation for what Im talking about was written by the influential anonymous blogger Ace of Spades, in a 2013 post titled The MacGuffinization of American Politics. In film lingo, a MacGuffin is anything the hero desires. It doesnt matter what it is. It can be the blueprints to a secret Nazi weapon, the formula for a cure to male pattern baldness or virtually anything else. In Pulp Fiction, for example, we never learn whats inside the briefcase. In any story, all the audience needs to care about is that the hero cares about getting something.

Throughout Obamas presidency he has been the hero, and his agenda has been the MacGuffin.

This is a movie, Ace wrote. And Barack Obama is the Hero. And the Republicans are the Villains. And policy questions  and Obamas myriad failures as an executive  are simply incidental. They are MacGuffins only, of no importance whatsoever, except to the extent they provide opportunities for Drama as the Hero fights in favor of them.

Ace adds: It doesnt matter why the Hero Barack Obama wants the Lost Ark of Sensible Gun Control, or the Shankara Stones of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, or the Democratic Holy Grail of Affordable Health Care. These are very minor details and only matter to the extent the Hero exerts himself to achieve them.

I should add that on the actual policy question, I agree with Obama about the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). I think its a bad idea, pushed by trial lawyers. But in Politics: The Movie, lame duck Obama is outranked by the hero-victims of 9/11 in pursuit of their MacGuffin.

Alas, Obama didnt get script revisions.

Its a dangerous precedent, and its an example of why sometimes you have to do whats hard, Obama said this week. And, frankly, I wish Congress here had done whats hard.

This Olympian disdain for the motives of his political opponents has played well for Obama in the past. Which is why his scolding about hard work is so ironic.

Obama has always seen working with Congress as beneath him. I know that the opening chapter of Obamas historic presidency was all about how he was bitterly opposed by wild-eyed partisans from Day One. But, oh, this dramatic license. Obama sought no input from Republicans on the stimulus and then was shocked when they opposed it. Obamacare, too, was rammed down the throats of Republicans, though by that point they had locked into their opposition thanks in part from learning that opposing him on the stimulus was to their political advantage.

As the Politico story makes clear, the White House was MIA on JASTA.

Theres been zero involvement from the White House. Zero, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told Politico, forming a zero with his fingers to emphasize his point. When you have a veto like this, it takes involvement, constructive involvement. I mean, theres nothing.

Asked why the White House stayed on the sidelines, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) responded: I have no idea. I dont know enough about the way the White House works.

Why would even a Democratic senator know such a thing? Thats never been part of the movie.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can email him at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com.
Four of the world's rarest magpies have hatched at a British zoo in a boost to conservationists' efforts to save the species from extinction.

The Javan green magpie chicks were bred at Chester Zoo in what its experts said was a UK first, taking the total number of the birds at the centre to 11.

The species is native to the forests of western Java, in Indonesia, and is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature - which says the population in the wild is decreasing.

Experts at Chester Zoo warned the birds are facing extinction in the wild as a result of a loss of their natural habitat and also the illegal bird trade.

Six pairs of the magpies were flown from the Cikananga Wildlife Centre in Java to the UK in late 2015 to establish a breeding programme, before they can be returned to the Indonesian forests.

Andrew Owen, the zoo's curator of birds, said: " In that time we've seen Javan green magpies disappear almost completely from the wild as they are captured for the illegal bird trade.

"Huge areas of forests that were once filled with beautiful songbirds, are falling silent.

"Knowing that our first pair had nested was a momentous occasion for us - seeing the first chick was even more special.

"All four chicks have now fledged and are currently sporting blue feathers, which will eventually turn apple green as they mature.

"So far we have successfully bred from two adult pairs and these four chicks are a vital addition to the worldwide population.

"Every individual we breed here could help save the species as the clock is ticking and time is running out."
Much of the fighting in Syria is centred on the city of Aleppo (AP)

Syrian government forces have been targeting their assault on the eastern, rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo, while rebel shelling of government-controlled parts of the city has left at least two people dead.

Rebels said pro-government forces are attacking the city from the south in a bid to penetrate its opposition-controlled areas, where the UN estimates 275,000 people are trapped in a government siege. The Islamic Front rebel coalition said on Twitter that its factions repelled an advance on the Sheikh Saeed neighbourhood.

The rebel shelling on the city university's School of Sciences killed two students, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, but state media put the toll at six dead and 47 wounded.

Also on Tuesday, activists raised the death toll from a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in the north-eastern city of Hasakah the previous night to at least 34.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, which said its fighter had targeted a gathering of a Kurdish political party, without mentioning a wedding celebration.

Issam Amin, a local media activist, said a teenager detonated an explosive vest when he was stopped by men at the entrance of the wedding's reception. The Observatory, which tracks the civil war through a network of activists on the ground, said 11 of the fatalities were children.

The attacks underscore the chaos of the Syrian conflict. The civil war has lately focused around Aleppo, where the situation has deteriorated considerably since the collapse of a US-Russia-brokered ceasefire two weeks ago.

There are several other fronts open between rebels and the government across the country, while Islamic State militants continue to stage large-scale attacks against all sides of the conflict.

The Observatory said the government offensive is accompanied by air strikes on the contested neighbourhoods. The monitoring group says 420 civilians have been killed in and around Aleppo since the collapse of the ceasefire, mainly in the rebel-held east of the embattled city.

Health facilities and hospitals have come under repeated attack in the offensive, prompting global outcry.

In Geneva, the UN human rights chief decried an unfolding "calamity" in Aleppo and condemned the Security Council for scuttling resolutions that would prohibit war crimes.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said the Security Council should adopt rules to limit veto use by its five permanent members in cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. The US, France, Britain, as well as several UN officials have warned that Russia and the Syrian government's actions in the war could amount to war crimes.

International efforts to end the fighting were dealt another serious blow on Monday, after the United States suspended direct contact with Russia on halting the war in Syria, underscoring the deep mistrust between the two powers.

The move is likely to scuttle any chances of delivering desperately needed humanitarian aid to besieged communities and of breathing new life into Syria peace talks.

AP
File photo dated 16/09/2016 of Diane James celebrating with Nigel Farage after being named as the new leader of Ukip at the party's annual conference in Bournemouth, as she has now quit after just 18 days in charge, a senior party source has said. Photo: PA

Diane James has quit as leader of Ukip after just 18 days in charge, a senior party source has said.

Ms James was elected successor to Nigel Farage in a landslide victory on September 16.

Reports suggested that she had decided to step down because of her husband's ill health.

There was no immediate response from the party to reports of Ms James's resignation.

Expand Close Ukip leader Diane James at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, as she has now quit after just 18 days in charge. Photo: PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ukip leader Diane James at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, as she has now quit after just 18 days in charge. Photo: PA

An MEP for South East England since 2014, 56-year-old Ms James was the Eurosceptic party's first female leader and won the post by a wide margin after winning the backing of senior Ukip figures including Mr Farage.

But questions were raised about her commitment to the post after she declined to take part in hustings debates around the country with rival candidates.

Reports of Ms James's abrupt departure sparked immediate speculation that Mr Farage might return to lead Ukip for a third time, after stints from 2006-09 and 2010-16.

But asked if he would consider returning as leader, Mr Farage told the Press Association: "Not for ten million dollars."

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Asked if he would take 20 million dollars, he said: "No I'm not coming back, I'm retired."

The battle to replace Mr Farage after he quit as leader following the successful campaign for a Leave vote in June's EU referendum exposed bitter divisions within the party.

Frontrunner Steven Woolfe was barred from standing after submitting his nomination papers late, while Suzanne Evans was unable to take part as she was suspended.

The pair were immediately named by bookmakers as favourites in what looks set to be a second leadership election within a matter of weeks, with Ladbrokes putting Mr Farage as a 10-1 shot to return.

In September's election, Ms James took 8,451 out of the 17,970 votes cast, romping home ahead of Lisa Duffy - backed by many in the anti-Farage wing of the party - Bill Etheridge, Phillip Broughton and Elizabeth Jones.

In her acceptance speech, she promised to bring a new professionalism to the party, saying: "We are going to confound our critics, we are going to outwit our opponents, we are going to build on our election success that we have achieved to date and do more."

Rumours were circulating within Ukip that Ms James may also be planning to quit as an MEP.

Reports suggested that she had cancelled a scheduled speech in the European Parliament as well as a meeting with fellow MEPs due to take place on Wednesday.

Ms Evans confirmed that her suspension from Ukip had been lifted, clearing the way for her to enter any leadership race.

But she declined to say whether she was considering throwing her hat into the ring, telling PA: "I think we all need to see what happens over the next few hours."
An MP accused of rape dating back 10 years said he is "relieved" that the case against him has been dropped.

Simon Danzcuk, who was suspended by the Labour Party, described the investigation by Lancashire Police as an "immensely stressful period for me and my family".

The Crown Prosecution Service said no further action should be taken against the Rochdale MP because of "insufficient evidence".

Mr Danzcuk said he now hopes to have the Labour whip restored "as soon as possible".

In a statement, he said: "I am grateful for the decision made by the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) and I am relieved that the investigation has now come to an end.

"Even though I maintained my innocence throughout, this has been an immensely stressful period for me and my family. I thank them for their continuing support."

He added: "I now expect the Labour Party to conclude their investigation into these matters and lift my suspension as soon as possible."

A CPS spokesman said the woman who made the allegation, dating back to 2006, has been informed.

He added: "Following receipt of a file from Lancashire Police in relation to Operation Lotus, the evidence was considered by a specialist prosecutor in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

"It has been decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction."

The father-of-five's personal life has repeatedly made the headlines over the past few years following the collapse of his marriage to wife Karen.

The 49-year-old was also forced to apologise over a separate incident involving lewd texts sent to a 17-year-old, which he blamed on a "drink problem".
A woman takes part in a protest against a proposed near-total abortion ban in Poland in front of European institutions in Brussels

Polish women donned black, waved black flags and took to Poland's streets boycotting jobs and classes as part of a nationwide strike to protest a legislative proposal for a total ban on abortion.

Many men - public figures among them - also joined the thousands of women on the streets of Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and elsewhere across the largely Catholic nation, on what has been dubbed 'Black Monday'.

The country already has one of Europe's most restrictive abortion laws and opinion surveys show very little support for an even stricter law, despite the nation's deep Catholicism and conservative political direction.

In Brussels, about 200 black-clad protesters joined the campaign, picketing in front of the European Union offices on behalf of Polish women, with banners reading 'No to the abortion ban'.

"Women must not be forced to deliver children from rape or that are unable to survive," said Brussels-based Polish writer Grazyna Plebanek.

The strike and street demonstrations follow a street protest by thousands on Saturday in front of the parliament in Warsaw. Under the existing law, a hard-won compromise in force since 1993, abortion is banned except in cases where the woman's life is in danger, the foetus is irreparably damaged or the pregnancy results from rape or incest.

The new proposal, now being examined by a parliamentary commission, would make all abortions illegal, even in cases of rape or when the woman's life is at risk, with prison terms of up to five years for women seeking abortion and doctors who perform them.
Pope Francis has said homosexuals and transsexuals should be treated with respect but that teaching gender theory is unacceptable "indoctrination" of young people.

"When a person (who is gay) arrives before Jesus, Jesus certainly will not say, 'Go away because you are homosexual,'" Francis said.

The pope made his comments in the latest wide-ranging and freewheeling conversation with reporters aboard the plane returning from a foreign trip.

The pope, who made headlines on his first trip in 2013 when he uttered his now-famous phrase "Who am I to judge?" about homosexuals, spoke in answer to a question about a comment he made in Georgia about various threats to marriage.

He said that as a priest, bishop and even now pope, he had ministered to people with homosexual tendencies as well as some who were not able to remain chaste, as the Church asks them to be.

"I accompanied them, I brought them closer to the Lord," he said. "Some were not able (to obey Church teachings), but I accompanied them and I never abandoned one of them. That is a fact. People must be accompanied just like Jesus accompanies them."

During his trip to Georgia and Azerbaijan, he told priests and nuns that teaching gender theory in schools was part of a "global war" against marriage.

Gender theory is broadly the concept that while people may be biologically male or female, they have the right to identify themselves as male, female, both or neither.

"What I was talking about was the nastiness that is present today in indoctrinating people in gender theory," he said when asked to elaborate on his earlier comments in Georgia.

"IDEOLOGICAL COLONISATION"

He said gender theory being taught in schools "is against natural things."

"It is one thing for a person to have this tendency, this option, and even change sex," he said. "But it is another thing to teach it, gender theory, in schools along these lines in order to change mentality. I call this ideological colonisation."

The pope has used the phrase "ideological colonisation" in the past to denounce what he says are attempts by rich countries to link development aid to the acceptance of social policies such as allowing gay marriage and contraception.

Francis told the story of a Spanish person he met who told him of how much he had suffered because he felt like a boy in a girl's body. The person later had a sex change operation and married a woman.

The person told Francis in a letter how much the couple suffered when a local priest shouted to them: "You will go to hell." Francis invited them to the Vatican to talk, and the ouple were pleased that they were treated with dignity.

"Life is life, and things should be taken as they come," the pope said. "Sin is sin, but tendencies or hormonal imbalances ... can cause many problems and we have to be careful.

"But each case must be welcomed, accompanied, studied, discerned and integrated. This is what Jesus would do today."

He then joked: "Please don't write that the pope will sanctify transsexuals. I can see the front pages of papers now. But no, it is a moral question. It is a human question, and it must be resolved as best as possible, always with the mercy of God, the truth ... always with an open heart."
Vladimir Putin accused the US earlier this year of failing to live up to its commitments under the plutonium management deal

Vladimir Putin has scrapped a key nuclear control agreement over "unfriendly" actions of the United States towards Russia, in the latest rupture in the troubled relationship between the two countries.

In a decree published yesterday, Russia froze an agreement to dispose of surplus plutonium because of "a drastic change in circumstances, the appearance of a threat to strategic stability due to unfriendly actions of the United States toward Russia".

The document claimed Washington was "unable" to meet its obligations under the terms of the agreement and that Moscow "must take urgent measures to defend Russian security".

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) was an arrangement for reprocessing weapons-grade material into fuel for nuclear reactors.The deal, first negotiated by Mr Putin and Bill Clinton in 2000 and updated in 2010, committed both countries to disposing of at least 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, enough to produce around 17,000 nuclear weapons.

The US State Department praised the deal at the time as an "essential step in the nuclear disarmament process". The original plan was to irradiate plutonium to produce so-called mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for nuclear power plants, but the US scrapped its plans for a MOX production facility because of soaring costs and safety fears after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Instead, the US has argued for alternative methods of disposal, such as diluting it and burying it underground.

Russia has raised concerns about that route, however, arguing that procedures to dilute plutonium are reversible.

In April, Mr Putin accused the US of failing to live up to its commitments, when he told journalists Russia had already built its own MOX-producing facilities to comply with the agreement and complained that alternative methods would allow the US to retrieve weapons-grade material if it wanted.

The harsh language of the decree reflects a collapse in trust between Moscow and Washington since the breakdown of a jointly brokered ceasefire in Syria last month. However, it is unclear whether the move will have a significant impact on arms control or Russia's nuclear weapons program.

The decree signed by Mr Putin yesterday states that plutonium left unprocessed as a result will not be used for bomb-making or other military purposes.

And it seems likely that Russia will continue to process its own plutonium into nuclear fuel outside the treaty, said Pavel Podvig, a researcher at the UN Institute on disarmament research and an expert on Russian nuclear weapons.

"There was already little chance the agreement would be implemented as envisaged, and the only difference is that Russia now doesn't have to submit this process to monitoring by the US or IEA [International Energy Agency]," said Mr Podvig. "The choice of language is the most significant bit here." ( Daily Telegraph, London)
People watch the surf produced by Hurricane Matthew on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica (AP)

Anxious Florida residents have cleared supermarket shelves while North Carolina called for the evacuation of three barrier islands as Hurricane Matthew threatens a large swathe of the US east coast.

The most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade roared across the Caribbean on Tuesday, slamming into the south-western tip of Haiti.

Winds reaching 145mph tore off roofs in the poor and largely rural area of the island, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris.

At least seven deaths have been blamed on the storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean.

The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hitting a corner of Haiti where many people live in shacks of wood or concrete blocks.

Damage appeared to be widespread, but because of poor communications, blocked roads and washed-out bridges, the full extent of the damage or the number of casualties is not immediately clear.

The country's Civil Protection Agency said many homes were damaged or destroyed, and people had to wade through flooded streets to rescue their belongings and find higher ground.

The centre of the storm is projected to pass about 50 miles north-east of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

While it is too soon to know if it will make a direct hit on Florida or somewhere else along the US coast, Matthew is expected to create dangerous conditions.

A hurricane watch is in place for parts of Florida, which is already experiencing bands of rain from the storm.

Florida governor Rick Scott met emergency officials along the coast, starting out in the Keys and travelling north. At a news conference in Daytona Beach, he noted that the storm's predicted path can change quickly.

"We can rebuild your home, we can rebuild your business. We can't rebuild your life," Mr Scott warned.

A tropical storm watch was issued from Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys to Deerfield Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. A hurricane watch is in place further north.

"We are preparing for the worst, hoping for the best and not taking any chances," Mr Scott said, as he visited emergency management officials in the Florida Keys.

The governor urged residents along the Interstate 95 motorway corridor to start making preparations, which include having at least a three-day supply of water, food and medicine.

He also asked residents to comply with any evacuation orders from local officials as the week progresses.

"Make sure you have a fully charged cellphone," Mr Scott said. "If we lose power, you cannot charge your cellphones."

Mr Scott also noted that many people have moved to South Florida since Hurricane Wilma hit as a Category 3 storm in 2005.

Matthew briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

US president Barack Obama was updated on the path of Hurricane Matthew and its potential impact in the Caribbean and the United States, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Federal officials have been deployed to state emergency operations centres in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina and relief supplies have been sought in the region.

North Carolina governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency, in part to immediately help farmers clear their fields of crops already affected by heavy rain over the last two weeks.

He said he does not want other crops ruined, so restrictions on truck weights and hours of service would be lifted under the emergency declaration to allow farmers to take their harvest to market.

At Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina, superintendent Patrick Kenney said more than 100 trucks were being taken off the island and about 45 cabins were being cleared.

Ferry operators told Mr Kenney it will take two days to evacuate everyone, meaning the islands should be empty sometime on Wednesday.

AP
Hurricane Matthew has left one person dead and another missing in Haiti, officials said Monday, as it churns through the Caribbean as the worst storm in nearly a decade.

The road surface on Industrial Terrace is seen washed away due to the rain in Kingston, Jamaica before the passage of Hurricane Matthew on October 3, 2016

Hurricane Matthew has roared into the south-western coast of Haiti, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished nation with devastating storm conditions.

The dangerous category four storm made landfall around dawn local time on Haiti's southern peninsula, where many people live along the coast in shacks of wood and corrugated steel that stand little chance of withstanding the force of the system's maximum sustained winds of 145mph.

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Matthew is also expected to bring 15-25in of rain, and up to 40in in isolated places, along with a 10ft storm surge and battering waves.

Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, said: "They are getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them."

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close People stand on the coast watching the surf produced by Hurricane Matthew, on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) Residents stand in a Church after been evacuate prior the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, in Tabarre, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) People stand on the coast watching the surf produced by Hurricane Matthew, on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) People buy goods on the street while Hurricane Matthew approaches Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins A couple enjoy the view while Hurricane Matthew approaches Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 3, 2016. The text reads, "House for sale". REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins A general view of Kingston is seen while Hurricane Matthew approaches, in Jamaica October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Henry Romero A general view while Hurricane Matthew approaches Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins Jailene Albian, 18 (L), takes care of her six month old son together with her cousin Malbel Negrada, 41, in a shelter at the University of Guantanamo ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Guantanamo, Cuba, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini A woman protects herself from rain with an umbrella ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A man poses for a picture on a wall next to the sea ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A boy walks along a pier ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A man films the sea with his cell phone next to an old pier ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares Three people protect themselves from rain with an umbrella as they ride a motorbike ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A man takes pictures on an old pier ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares Two women protect themselves from rain with an umbrella ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares A man takes pictures on an old pier ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares Residents are seen along a pier ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares / Facebook

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Whatsapp People stand on the coast watching the surf produced by Hurricane Matthew, on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The storm is moving along the Windward Passage between Haiti and Jamaica, where it is also dumping heavy rain that has caused flooding in parts of the country. It is heading for south-eastern Cuba and then into the Bahamas.

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The hurricane centre said it is likely to issue a tropical storm watch or hurricane watch for the Florida Keys or the Florida peninsula, as Matthew could create dangerous beach conditions along the US east coast later in the week.

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Whatsapp Hurricane Matthew has left one person dead and another missing in Haiti, officials said Monday, as it churns through the Caribbean as the worst storm in nearly a decade.

As dawn broke in Haiti, people in the south coast tourist town of Port Salut described howling winds and big waves slamming on to the beaches and washing over the coastal road.

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"The winds are making so many bad noises. We're just doing our best to stay calm," said resident Jenniflore Desrosiers as she huddled with her family in her fragile home, which has sprung numerous leaks from pelting rain.

Haiti's civil protection office said a number of south coast towns partially flooded overnight. Landslides and downed trees on roads are preventing movement in numerous areas. The few places that are on the electrical grid have apparently lost power and mobile phone service is patchy.

Haitian officials had spent Monday trying to persuade shanty town residents to take advantage of shelters being set up. But many had refused to leave their homes, saying they feared their meagre possessions might be stolen.

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Cuba's government has declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces and workers have removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to stop them falling as the winds hit.

At one point a category five storm, and the region's strongest hurricane since Felix in 2007, Matthew is expected to make landfall in Cuba about 50 miles east of the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities have evacuated about 700 spouses and children of service members.
US-backed Syrian rebels say they are within 48 hours of reaching the Isil-held town of Dabiq, which is regarded by the jihadists as the preordained site of the final apocalyptic battle between Muslims and Christians.

American, Turkish and opposition forces are approaching Isil's northern stronghold, which the militants believe will be the battle that sparks the end of the world.

The prophet Muhammad foretold 1,400 years ago "the last hour will not come" until an Islamic army defeated "the Romans" there.

The extremist group's modern reading posits the Crusaders - the invading Americans and their allies - as the Romans.

Although Dabiq, a town in relatively flat countryside northeast of Aleppo and close to the Turkish border, holds little strategic value, Isil is expected to defend it fiercely because of its ideological importance.

Isil has in recent weeks sent several hundred of its more experienced fighters to defend the town, which it has held since August 2014. One rebel commander said their advance had been slowed because the militants had heavily mined the area.

More than 21 fighters were killed and 35 wounded in the booby traps and mortar fire in the village of Turkman Barih, some three miles from Dabiq.

The deaths toll among the Syrian rebels was the highest since Turkey sent troops and tanks into Syria in August.

The Free Syrian Army fighters, which is supported by 300 US special forces on the ground, has been pushing southwards in an attempt to clear Isil from the Turkish border and cut off its supply routes.

The rebels have captured other villages near Dabiq in recent days and were expecting to reach the town's outskirts within 48 hours, Ahmed Osman, a commander of the Sultan Murad rebel group, said yesterday.

Washington believes taking Dabiq could strike at Isil's morale as it prepares to fend off expected offensives against Iraq's Mosul and Syria's Raqqa, the largest cities held by the jihadists.

The group has used Dabiq as a theological raison d'etre for fighting in Syria.

Isil named its main English-language propaganda magazine after the town, regularly writing about the significance of the battle for Dabiq in Islamic history.

"The spark has been lit in Iraq, and its heat will continue to intensify, by Allah's permission,until it burns the Crusader armies in Dabiq," Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of Isil's founders, said in a 2015 issue of the magazine.

But analysts believe a loss in Dabiq will not dent the group's resolve. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
Iron roofing and rubble litter a corridor in the MSF Kunduz Trauma Centre after the October 3 aerial attack which killed 22 staff and patients

A young patient, whose leg was severly damaged when struck by shrapnel from a mortar, plays with a balloon at Medecins Sans Frontieres

A year ago this week a relentless, hour-long aerial bombardment destroyed the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

More than 200 shells and countless machine-gun rounds from a US Air Force AC130 gunship killed 42 patients and medical staff, and destroyed the hospital. I was the hospitals medical director for the six months prior to the attack.

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I left the post two weeks before the strike. Fourteen of my colleagues died that night, and in the year that has followed grief has taken many forms.

This is war, many say, and people die. Thats true. But even war has rules.

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Whatsapp Iron roofing and rubble litter a corridor in the MSF Kunduz Trauma Centre after the October 3 aerial attack which killed 22 staff and patients

Today, MSFs trauma hospital in Kunduz remains closed. The aid agency is still seeking assurances that its hospitals will never again be an explicit target of war. Hundreds of lives that this hospital would have saved over the past 12 months have been lost, uncounted in the death toll of this attack.

Shrapnel

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The fighting season started in April, shortly after I arrived. It was the busiest the hospital had been since opening four years earlier. War casualties escalated. There was constant pressure on beds. We treated anyone who needed medical attention, from both sides of the conflict. The vast majority were civilians.

One day, the mother of one of our nurses was brought in. A bomb had landed on their home and a piece of shrapnel had buried itself in her brain. It was inoperable, so we admitted her for palliative care. After weeks in a coma, one day she woke up, surprising us all. Later, she was able to return home.

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Another day we admitted a boy with a head injury, an open pelvic fracture and a serious back injury sustained in a road traffic accident. He spent weeks in the intensive care unit, but with intensive support and multiple surgeries, he slowly began to improve. When he woke, we met a determined young man with a wicked smile. It was this smile that I recognised months later in the outpatient clinic. Not yet fully mobile, he was back on his feet using aids.

I was so proud to be part of this hospital, but thats all gone now. Its hard to think of those broad corridors that once heaved with energy and determination against the daily chaos of war. Now the building is a burnt-out shell, emptied of life and heaped in dust.

Killed in the attack was Dr Satar, our hugely respected and witty deputy medical director; Tasheel, our energetic pharmacist; Dr Osmani, a joyful young doctor who was always volunteering for extra shifts; and Najeebullah, the cleaner, whose smile transcended any language barrier.

When the fighting swamped the city that week, these men took their families to safety, then made the perilous journey back across frontlines to the hospital to care for all those injured in the fighting.

Hundreds and hundreds came in that week. The hospital swelled to 150 beds. These men were killed as they provided medical care. Survivors of the attack listened to their agonising cries as they bled from blown-off limbs or were burned alive; no one was able to help them or reduce their suffering.

Our patients were sitting ducks, immobilised in their intensive care beds, in the place to which they had come for care and cover from the conflict. This attack was with weapons designed to kill en masse. The injustice of this keeps my grief open, like an infected wound.

In the year that has passed, it has become painfully clear that the attack was just the tip of an iceberg.

By June this year, Physicians for Human Rights had counted 382 attacks on 269 separate health facilities in Syria since the violence there began.

Protected

More than 100 hospital bombings have been reported in Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition commenced its airstrike campaign, with its opponents also employing negligent and loose rules of engagement. There have been recent hospital bombings, too, in Iraq, Palestine and Ukraine.

The UN has adopted multiple resolutions calling for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and healthcare to be protected. Yet in both Yemen and Syria, four of the five permanent members of the Security Council remain implicated in some way in these ongoing hospital attacks.

The Russian-backed, Syrian-led coalition is bombing Syria at a horrendous rate. France, Britain and the US are supporting the Saudi-led coalition as they repeatedly bomb hospitals in Yemen.

Governments have it within their power to take meaningful action to stop these attacks. Yet they offer lip-service to the UN resolutions, while ignoring their own role in these

attacks. If health facilities cannot function or are unsafe to attend, the number and severity of victims escalates way beyond the already intolerable levels of these terrible conflicts.

This is why, despite everything, those of us who worked in Kunduz hospital, including those who lived through the bombing, all wish to return to work there.

Working in that hospital, the immense needs of the people were undeniable. A bombed hospital saves no lives.

Dr Declan Barry has been on numerous assignments with Medecins Sans Frontieres  including Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

MSF is an independent medical humanitarian organisation  see msf.ie and stopbombinghospitals.org
Hundreds of migrants stranded in Serbia have set off on foot from Belgrade towards the border with Hungary to protest against its closure for most people trying to reach the European Union.

Earlier in the Serbian capital, police intervened after the protesters clashed with other groups of migrants who were against the march. There were no reported injuries during the scuffles.

More than 6,000 migrants remain stuck in Serbia following Hungary's introduction this summer of strict limits on the number of asylum seekers allowed to cross into the EU-member country, and it has reinforced a razor-wire border fence with heavy patrols.

The so-called Balkan migrant route, used by nearly one million people fleeing wars and poverty last year, formally closed in March, forcing migrants to use alternative routes and pay smugglers to get them across.

On Tuesday, some 400 migrants chanted "Open Hungary borders" and held banners saying "We don't need food, water or nothing, we want you to open the borders" as they marched north in a long column from Belgrade along a road leading towards the Hungarian border some 120 miles away.

Most migrants appeared to be young men and boys who stand little chance of getting into Hungary or other EU nations.

Serbia said on Tuesday it would not erect a wire border fence but would deploy its army to seal off the borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria to stop migrants from coming in from those countries.

Hungary has refused to accept any of the migrants that the EU is trying to relocate from Italy and Greece and on Sunday voters there overwhelmingly approved any future mandatory quotas for accepting asylum seekers. The referendum was rendered invalid, however, because of a low turnout.

Meanwhile, Romanian police are investigating 16 Iraqi citizens, including six children, they found in two boats on the River Danube early on Tuesday for illegally crossing the border. The Danube forms the border between southern Romania and Bulgaria.

The migrants told police they had travelled through Turkey and then into Bulgaria and wanted to reach Germany. They said each family had paid 35,000 euro (30,600).

The eight men, two women and six children will be handed over to Bulgarian authorities under the terms of a Romanian-Bulgarian agreement.

AP
A teenager and his girlfriend have been arrested for leaving a baby in a hot car for four hours, which resulted in his death, Arizona police said.

Teenager Jose Garcia Jr (18), the babys uncle and Monique Avila were arrested on a count of child abuse after leaving five-month-old Israel Avila in the backseat of a car parked outside an apartment complex in Peoria on Sunday morning.

Ms Avila said found the infant when she went to collect Garcias mother from work.

She told police she rushed the child inside an apartment complex and called emergency services.

However, the baby was pronounced dead at the scene.

Avila and Garcia Jr. said they were going to babysit the boy, but had forgotten him in the car after dropping his mother off at work.

This serves as a tragic reminder to take that extra second to double check your vehicle to ensure that you are not leaving any children or pets behind," a spokesperson for the Peoria Police Department said.
Tom Moran of Fenton wears a large Donald Trump head at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan, where former President Bill Clinton will campaign for his wife, Hillary. Photo: AP

A supporter of US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump looks on as he speaks at a campaign rally in Pueblo, Colorado

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Monday he "brilliantly used" US tax rules to his advantage in trying to limit the amount he paid in taxes, arguing it helped him survive a difficult period in the real estate market.

"I was able to use the tax laws of this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess ... when few others were able to do what I did," Trump told a crowd in Pueblo, Colorado.

It was Trump's first extended comments since a New York Times report said he had claimed a $916m loss on his 1995 tax returns, which experts said might have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for the November 8 election, has seized on the report, arguing the tax records undercut Trump's business acumen.

"What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? This is Trump to a T, he's taken corporate excess and made a business out of it," Clinton told a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday.

Clinton has repeatedly called on Trump to release his full returns, as presidential candidates have done in the past.

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Trump was dismissive of the Times' story in his Pueblo remarks, saying the media was "obsessed with an alleged tax filing from the 1990s."

The Trump campaign has not said, however, that the Times' story was inaccurate. Instead, his supporters, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have contended that Trump's aggressive use of provisions under US law to minimize his tax liability was evidence of his "genius" as a businessman and real estate investor.

Trump picked up on that theme on Monday. "I have brilliantly used those laws," he told the crowd in Pueblo.

The flap over Trump's taxes comes during what has been a difficult stretch for the candidate, who faced criticism for his performance in the September 26 debate against Clinton and his subsequent public spat with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll last week showed a majority of Americans felt Clinton won the debate, the first of three scheduled between the candidates..

On Monday, the state of New York ordered Trump's charity, the Trump Foundation, to suspend raising money amid a probe into its activities.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Loveland, Colorado, U.S., October 3, 2016

Donald Trump has sparked a social media firestorm by telling a group of military veterans that some members of the military develop mental health issues because they are not "strong," and "can't handle it."

The Republican presidential contender was in northern Virginia on Monday morning, where he held a question and answer session with a group of pro-Trump military members. He criticised the Obama administration for failing the countrys veterans  an oft-repeated refrain  and was asked about mental health problems among the military.

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"When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat, they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, he said.

And you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it.

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"And they see horror stories, they see events that you couldnt see in a movie  nobody would believe it."

Mr Trumps words were seized upon by his opponents.

Mental health advocates have been trying for decades to destigmatise depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues in hopes of empowering people to not be afraid to seek medical help. Many service members think that they should handle these issues on their own and that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

Suicide has become an epidemic among veterans, and more than 20 end their lives each day.

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Where the hell is he from? said an incredulous Joe Biden, the vice president, shortly after hearing of Mr Trumps comments. This is deadly earnest."

He told the crowd in Florida, gathered for a rally to support Hillary Clinton, how his late son Beau came back after a year in Iraq as a highly-decorated veteran. He told how he has been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan 29 times.

And then he recalled an incident in Iraq, when General Ray Odiano, a four star general, asked Mr Biden to pin a silver medal on a young captain who had pulled someone out of a burning Humvee.

And he stood in front of the whole brigade and said: No, Mr Vice President. I dont want it. He died, said Mr Biden, his voice trembling in fury.

How many nights does that kid not go to sleep? Seeing that vision?

He told how he carried in his pocket every day a list of his engagements, and on it a list of the total number of American soldiers dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every one of those warriors left behind a family. A community, he said. Over 200,000 coming home with unseen wounds.

I dont think he was trying to be mean. He is just so thoroughly, completely uninformed.

Mr Trump's campaign defended the candidate's comments, and accused the media of taking his words out of context.

The media continues to operate as the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton as they took Mr Trumps words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans  an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice," said retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, one of Mr Trump's top advisers, in a statement.

"Mr Trump was highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country."

Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, whose question Mr Trump was answering in his remarks, issued a statement after the event calling it "sickening that anyone would twist Mr Trumps comments."

He added: "I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have."

Clinton v Trump | Key quotes

Hillary Clinton

"Donald just criticised me for preparing for this debate. And, yes, I did. You know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president."

"I call it 'Trumped Up, Trickle Down' because that's exactly what it would be." - Clinton on Trump's economic plan

"Donald, I know you live in your own reality, but those are not the facts."

"He tried to put the whole racist birther lie to bed. But it can't be dismissed that easily. He has really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen."

"As soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a ceasefire, a release of dissidents... or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina." - On Trump's claims that she doesn't have stamina

Donald Trump

"In inner cities, African-Americans, Hispanics, are living in hell because it's so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot."

"All talk, no action, sounds good, never going to work. Our country is suffering because of people like Secretary Clinton."

"Let me tell you, Hillary has experience. But it's bad, bad experience."

"I will release my tax returns against my lawyer's wishes when she releases her 33 000 e-mails that have been deleted."

"Typical politician. All talk, no action. Sounds good, doesn't work. Never going to happen."
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said the organisation would publish around one million documents related to three governments and the U.S. election before the end of the year.

Assange denied that the release of documents related to the U.S. election was specifically geared to damage Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and said he had been misquoted in that regard.

Expand Close Julian Assange, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks via video link and Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks journalist attend a press conference on the occasion of the 10 year anniversary celebration of WikiLeaks in Berlin, Germany, October 4, 2016 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Julian Assange, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks via video link and Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks journalist attend a press conference on the occasion of the 10 year anniversary celebration of WikiLeaks in Berlin, Germany, October 4, 2016

Assange also signalled changes in the way Wikileaks is organised and funded, saying the group would soon open itself to membership. He said the group was looking to expand its work beyond the 100 media outlets it already works with.
Reliance, Dassault Aviation ink deal to set up joint venture

Published: October 4, 2016

Anil Ambani led Reliance Group and French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation have signed deal to set up a joint venture called Dassault Reliance Aerospace.

The Dassault Reliance Aerospace will execute offsets for the recently concluded India-France deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets.

It will be the largest offset contract to be executed by any defence company in India. The contract value is estimated up to Rs. 30,000 crore.

Key Facts

The proposed strategic partnership between Dassault and Reliance will also focus on promoting research and development (R&D) projects under the IDDM program.

IDDM stands for Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured. It is programme on the lines with the new provision introduced in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016.

The JV will focus on aero structures, engines and electronics and intends to infrastructure and supply chain in India for the aerospace sector.

Background

In September 2016, India and France had signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 36 Rafale multi-role jets in fly-away condition worth 7.87 billion (about Rs. 59,000 crore). The deal has a 50% offset clause to be executed by Dassault Aviation and its partners in India. Through the offsets, government seeks to bring in much needed expertise to build the domestic defence and aerospace industry.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2016

Topics: Anil Ambani  Business  Defence  Economy  India-France  National  Rafale Fighter Jets  Reliance Defence

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The Yahoo campus is shown in an aerial photo in Sunnyvale, California, U.S. April 6, 2016. REUTERS/Noah Berger/File Photo

A Yahoo logo is pictured in front of a building in Rolle, 30 km (19 miles) east of Geneva, Switzerland on December 12, 2012. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Yahoo Inc last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information provided by US intelligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI, said two former employees and a third person apprised of the events.

Some surveillance experts said this represents the first case to surface of a U.S. Internet company agreeing to a spy agency's demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

It is not known what information intelligence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources, who did not want to be identified.

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Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request.

According to the two former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's decision to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc.

"Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," the company said in a brief statement in response to Reuters questions about the demand. Yahoo declined any further comment.

Through a Facebook spokesman, Stamos declined a request for an interview.

The NSA referred questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment.

The demand to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified directive sent to the company's legal team, according to the three people familiar with the matter.

U.S. phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies. But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad directive for real-time Web collection or one that required the creation of a new computer program.

"I've never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a 'selector,'" said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and Internet companies on surveillance issues for 20 years before moving to Stanford University this year. A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information.

"It would be really difficult for a provider to do that," he added.

Experts said it was likely that the NSA or FBI had approached other Internet companies with the same demand, since they evidently did not know what email accounts were being used by the target. The NSA usually makes requests for domestic surveillance through the FBI, so it is hard to know which agency is seeking the information.

Reuters was unable to confirm whether the 2015 demand went to other companies, or if any complied.

Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft Corp, two major U.S. email service providers, did not respond to requests for comment.

CHALLENGING THE NSA

Under laws including the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, intelligence agencies can ask U.S. phone and Internet companies to provide customer data to aid foreign intelligence-gathering efforts for a variety of reasons, including prevention of terrorist attacks.

Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and others have exposed the extent of electronic surveillance and led U.S. authorities to modestly scale back some of the programs, in part to protect privacy rights.

Companies including Yahoo have challenged some classified surveillance before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret tribunal.

Some FISA experts said Yahoo could have tried to fight last year's directive on at least two grounds: the breadth of the demand and the necessity of writing a special program to search all customers' emails in transit.

Apple Inc made a similar argument earlier this year when it refused to create a special program to break into an encrypted iPhone used in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. The FBI dropped the case after it unlocked the phone with the help of a third party, so no precedent was set.

Other FISA experts defended Yahoo's decision to comply, saying nothing prohibited the surveillance court from ordering a search for a specific term instead of a specific account. So-called "upstream" bulk collection from phone carriers based on content was found to be legal, they said, and the same logic could apply to Web companies' mail.

As tech companies become better at encrypting data, they are likely to face more such requests from spy agencies.

Former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker said email providers "have the power to encrypt it all, and with that comes added responsibility to do some of the work that had been done by the intelligence agencies."

SECRET SIPHONING PROGRAM

Mayer and other executives ultimately decided to comply with the directive last year rather than fight it, in part because they thought they would lose, said the people familiar with the matter.

Yahoo in 2007 had fought a FISA demand that it conduct searches on specific email accounts without a court-approved warrant. Details of the case remain sealed, but a partially redacted published opinion showed Yahoo's challenge was unsuccessful.

Some Yahoo employees were upset about the decision not to contest the more recent directive and thought the company could have prevailed, the sources said.

They were also upset that Mayer and Yahoo General Counsel Ron Bell did not involve the company's security team in the process, instead asking Yahoo's email engineers to write a program to siphon off messages containing the character string the spies sought and store them for remote retrieval, according to the sources.

The sources said the program was discovered by Yahoo's security team in May 2015, within weeks of its installation. The security team initially thought hackers had broken in.

When Stamos found out that Mayer had authorized the program, he resigned as chief information security officer and told his subordinates that he had been left out of a decision that hurt users' security, the sources said. Due to a programming flaw, he told them hackers could have accessed the stored emails.

Stamos's announcement in June 2015 that he had joined Facebook did not mention any problems with Yahoo.

In a separate incident, Yahoo last month said "state-sponsored" hackers had gained access to 500 million customer accounts in 2014. The revelations have brought new scrutiny to Yahoo's security practices as the company tries to complete a deal to sell its core business to Verizon Communications Inc for $4.8 billion.
Barack Obama, right, arrives with Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr Katharine Hayhoe to talk about climate change at the White House event (AP)

US president Barack Obama and actor Leonardo DiCaprio have teamed up in a call for urgent action to combat climate change.

Mr Obama told a crowd gathered for the South by South Lawn festival of technology and music at the White House that the world was in "a race against time" to combat climate change.

The president said the world had an "incomplete" grade on its response to global warming so far, but added that "the good news is we can still pass the test".

"I tend to be a cautious optimist about our ability to make change," he said.

White House hopefuls Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were not mentioned in the discussion, but their presence was nonetheless felt.

DiCaprio, who recently completed a documentary film about climate change, told the White House crowd that he had timed the film to come out before the November 8 presidential election.

The actor, who supports Mrs Clinton's campaign, said the scientific consensus about the dangers of climate change was in, and "the argument is now over".

He added: "If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts or in science. And therefore, in my humble opinion, you should not be allowed to hold public office."

Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to climate change as a hoax.

DiCaprio's film Before The Flood got its domestic premiere on the White House lawn after his discussion with the president and climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe.

The South by South Lawn event was designed to replicate the vibe of the South by Southwest festival held annually in Austin, Texas.

It included panel discussions on topics such as "feeding the future" and "fixing real problems" as well as booths and vendors promoting everything from virtual reality technology to fake tattoos.

Tech blogger and entrepreneur Anil Dash said the South Lawn festival was a way to connect the dots between Austin's SXSW, with its ideas for changing the world, and the people "doing the actual work" to use technology to improve workers' rights, civil rights and more.

The White House tech fest also featured a student film festival, a wall of art made of Post-Its, Lego statues, demonstrations on the science of food and using technology to help the disabled and lots of music. Among those performing were the Lumineers, Gallant, Black Alley and DJ Bev Bond.

AP
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the US since taking office (AP)

The president of the Philippines has hit out at ally Barack Obama in his latest tirade against the US over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign.

During a speech, Rodrigo Duterte told the US president "you can go to hell", while also lashing out at the European Union - another critic of the campaign - as he said the 28-nation bloc "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up".

The president, who took office in June, has been sensitive to criticisms over his anti-drug fight, which has left an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the US and human rights watchdogs.

The tough-talking former city mayor, who describes himself as a left-leaning leader, has had an uneasy relationship with the US and Mr Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps the country's foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.

In his speech, Mr Duterte outlined his disappointments with the US, which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings under his anti-drug campaign and has questioned whether human rights are being violated.

He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with US troops.

"Instead of helping us, the first to criticise is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," Mr Duterte said.

Angered by US criticism, Mr Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting US troops in the country. He said he wants them out of the volatile south, saying their presence has inflamed restiveness among minority Muslims, which could complicate efforts to forge a peace accord with Muslim insurgents.

Mr Duterte has announced he will not allow the Philippine navy to conduct joint patrols with the US military in the disputed South China Sea because it could spark an armed conflict in Philippine territory.

Still, Mr Duterte has said he will not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty with the US and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country's largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defence equipment.

Last week, Mr Duterte said the joint US-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centring on amphibious landing drills, started on Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.

Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.

US Embassy officials said Washington has not been formally notified by the Philippine government of any move to scrap other planned drills. Such a move by the Philippines would impede Washington's plans to expand the footprint of US forces in south-east Asia to counter China.

AP
Thousands of people took part in the protest against stricter abortion laws in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday (AP)

Poland's government has struggled to deal with the fallout from massive street protests by women furious at a proposal to impose a total ban on abortion - and signalled that it would withhold its support from such a measure.

Foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski denounced the protests, which involved tens of thousands of women across the nation, as "marginal" and "a mockery of important issues".

When that triggered further outrage among female opposition parliamentarians, prime minister Beata Szydlo attempted to calm the waters, saying she did not approve of Mr Waszczykowski's comments and that her government is not actively engaged in an attempt to further restrict the current law, which is already one of the most restrictive in Europe.

She said: "I want to say it very loudly and clearly: the government of Law and Justice (party) was not working and is not working on any law that would change the currently binding regulations."

An anti-abortion initiative recently gathered 450,000 signatures in support of the total abortion ban, triggering a vote in parliament in which MPs decided to consider it as the basis of new legislation. A parliamentary commission is now analysing it.

The move was never the proposal of the ruling Law and Justice party, though some of the party's members support it. It is also supported by the powerful Catholic church, which played a crucial role in the party's rise to power last year.

On Monday, large numbers of women across Poland wore black and turned out in the streets for rallies to protest against the proposal on what they called "Black Monday".

Many also went on strike, not showing up to work or to high school or university classes. The huge level of participation surprised many in a country where the feminist movement has traditionally been weak.

The EU's parliament also plans to hold a debate on the situation of women in Poland in light of the efforts to totally ban abortion, which includes calls for prison terms of up to five years for a woman who seeks an abortion, and similar punishments for their doctor.

It was not immediately clear if the proposal will now just die in the parliamentary commission stage, or whether it might still move forward in parliament, where some MPs support it.

Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, passed in 1993, with abortion allowed only in cases of rape or incest, if the foetus is badly damaged or if the woman's life is at risk.

As it stands now, there are only a few hundred legal abortions in Poland each year, though many more women travel to terminate pregnancies abroad or order abortion pills online.

Some doctors, citing their consciences, already refuse to perform abortions in cases that would now be legal, for instance when the foetus has Down's Syndrome.

Agnieszka Graff, a prominent Polish feminist commentator and professor at Warsaw University, said that anti-abortion groups have over the years repeatedly made efforts to get abortion completely banned through petitions or other initiatives.

"This difference this time is that there is a government that owes them. But this is not a popular measure," she said.

"The Christian fundamentalists are part of the electorate of Law and Justice, so they cannot completely ignore them."

Ms Graff argued that attempts to impose a total ban will not only backfire, but will have the opposite effect of building greater support for abortion rights in Poland.

She said the massive gathering by young Polish women on Monday, following similar streets protests on Saturday, was unprecedented.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in Poland," Ms Graff said.

"This is what we - the feminist movement - have been dreaming of for 20 years."

AP
Pope Francis prays in front of rubble in the quake-struck town of Amatrice, Italy (AP)

Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to the site of the devastating earthquake in central Italy, praying silently alone amid the rubble in the hardest-hit part of the ruined town of Amatrice.

The Vatican only announced the Pope's visit to the quake zone shortly after his arrival on Tuesday morning, in keeping with Francis's previously stated wishes to keep the visit private.

"I didn't come earlier so as not to cause problems, given your condition," the Pope told survivors, according to Vatican Radio. "I didn't want to be a bother."

Photographs released by the Vatican show the Pope praying amid the rubble with Amatrice's medieval bell tower, still standing in what has become a symbol of hope, visible in the background.

The Pope started his tour at the makeshift school set up in containers, meeting with more than 100 students, some of whom gave him drawings. He also met with a man who lost his wife and children in the quake, the Vatican said.

Francis had previously made clear his intention to visit the quake-hit zone but without announcing a date. He indicated he wanted to go alone "to be close to the people".

From Amatrice, the Pope is expected to also visit the hard-hit towns of Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto.

The August 24 quake killed nearly 300 people and left another 4,000 people homeless.
Jacob Hall died three days after a teenage boy opened fire on his primary school playground

The family of a six-year-old boy who died after being shot at a South Carolina primary school by a 14-year-old who opened fire on the playground is planning a superhero funeral for the tragic youngster.

Jacob Hall lost his fight for life three days after after a bullet struck him in a main artery in his leg, causing a major brain injury due to a "catastrophic" loss of blood, his doctor said.

Another pupil and a teacher were also shot but were released from hospital after treatment

Pallbearers will dress as the comic-strip characters and people attending are being encouraged to wear superhero costumes at Jacob's funeral at Oakdale Baptist Church in Townville on Wednesday.

An uncle, Johnny Bridges, told WSPA-TV that Jacob would be dressed as Batman, his favourite superhero. Mr Bridges said the family wanted to celebrate what Jacob enjoyed instead of focusing on negative memories.

"I don't want suits and ties and all that," Renae Hall, Jacob's mother, told WHNS-TV. "There will be a lot of children there and I don't want it to be scary for them."

The shooting happened at Townville Elementary School last Wednesday as Jacob's first-grade class left for break. The other pupil and teacher were treated and released from an Anderson hospital.

The 14-year-old suspect is also charged with killing his father shortly before the shooting at the nearby school.

Solicitor Chrissy Adams said because of Jacob's death, an attempted murder charge had been upgraded to murder.

The teenager is also facing five counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and a third attempted murder charge for a recently identified child victim.

A GoFundMe effort has raised more than 126,500 dollars (99,000) for Jacob's family and their expenses.

A drive organised by the town's volunteer fire brigade had collected more than 200 units of blood late on Sunday afternoon. Firefighters decided to go ahead with the blood drive even though Jacob died on Saturday at a Greenville hospital.

"You think about that happening in other towns - not here," Phyllis Grant said as she waited to donate.

"It's so sad. It's really about the only thing we can think about right now."

Classes at the school will resume on Thursday.

AP
An Afghan soldier raises his hands as a victory sign, in Kunduz city, where fierce gun battles with the Taliban are under way for a second day (AP)

Fierce gun battles are raging for a second day in Afghanistan's embattled northern city of Kunduz, while in the country's south insurgents killed 12 policemen at checkpoints around Helmand's provincial capital.

The timing of the co-ordinated assaults was particularly poignant, coming a year after the Taliban captured and held parts of Kunduz before the city was fully liberated weeks later with the help of US air strikes.

In the latest attack in Helmand, Taliban fighters besieged police checkpoints around Lashkar Gah late on Monday night, killing 12 policemen and wounding another 11.

Lashkar Gah has been under threat of Taliban takeover for months as insurgents have been slowly taking control of Helmand since the beginning of the year, with some officials saying 85% of the province is now under Taliban control - or 12 of its 14 districts.

That includes Khanashin district in the south of the province, which provincial spokesman Omar Zwak said had fallen to the Taliban after coming under attack on Monday. In recent days, he said, around 45 members of Afghan security forces have been killed in fighting there and more than 15 have been taken captive.

In Kunduz, the Taliban began their attack from all directions early on Monday. They briefly raised a flag over a main intersection before being repelled from the city centre.

Fierce fighting continued on Tuesday, with Taliban gunmen using residential homes as hideouts in a number of areas, slowing down the efforts of Afghan security forces to repel them from the city, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

The Afghan forces are "trying to secure the city", but progress is slow and difficult. At least 30 insurgents have been killed in the two days of fighting, he said. It is unclear how many Taliban fighters are involved in the attack.

Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, the head of the Kunduz provincial council, said the city has become a battlefield, with fighting going on in many areas.

"We can't go to our (council) office because the area is under the control of the Taliban," he said, adding that council members are instead gathering at a location about a mile from the city.

The militants have planted mines around the city, making movement extremely difficult, he said. "Local people are trapped in their homes."

Gen Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said five Afghan security personnel have been killed in the fighting and 13 others wounded so far.

"We are very careful in using air strikes and artillery in this fight, to avoid civilian casualties," he added.

Kunduz is the capital of a province with the same name, a region that borders Tajikistan to the north and sits on a major crossroad in the country.

Its fall last year sent shockwaves across the country and among Afghanistan's backers in the international community as it marked the Taliban's first capture of an urban centre since the group was driven from power in 2001. Since then, Afghan officials and US military leaders have said it will never fall again.

The city came under threat again in April, when US-backed Afghan forces pushed the Taliban back into surrounding districts.

Mr Sediqqi said Monday's attack could be a Taliban show of force to coincide with a Brussels aid conference where Afghanistan's international partners are expected to pledge billions of pounds in aid through to 2020.

US military spokesman in Afghanistan Brig Gen Charles Cleveland said the Afghan military has moved reinforcements into Kunduz overnight but he insisted the fighting is sporadic and that the government still controls Kunduz.

There were no US air strikes overnight but "there was one US air-to ground engagement by helicopter on the outskirts of Kunduz city to defend friendly forces", Brig Gen Cleveland said.

He added: "US forces... will provide support as needed."

AP
The Royal Academy of Sciences members announce the winners of the Nobel Prize for physics (AP)

An overhead projector displays the photos of the winners of the Nobel Prize in physics, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Sweden (Anders Wiklund/TT via AP)

British-born scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in physics, for work that "revealed the secrets of exotic matter".

The three "opened the door" to an unknown world where matter takes unusual states or phases, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

They were awarded for their "theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter".

Thouless, 82, is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington, Haldane, 65, is a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, and Kosterlitz, 73, is a physics professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Their research was conducted in the 1970s and 80s. Nobel judges often award discoveries made decades ago, to make sure they withstand the test of time.

This year's Nobel Prize announcements started on Monday with the medicine award going to Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi for discoveries on autophagy, the process by which a cell breaks down and recycles content.

The chemistry prize will be announced on Wednesday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics and literature awards will be announced next week.

Each prize has a purse 730,000. The winners also collect a medal and a diploma at the award ceremonies on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.

AP
Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics
Parts of Haiti and Jamaica have already been deluged by heavy rain as Hurricane Matthew approaches (AP)

Heavy rain from the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew have drenched Jamaica and Haiti, flooding streets and forcing thousands of residents to emergency shelters as the category four storm approaches.

Two deaths have been reported in Haiti, bringing the total number caused by the giant storm so far to at least four.

Matthew had sustained winds of 140mph as it moved north. The centre of the storm is expected to pass just east of Jamaica and near or over the south-western tip of Haiti early on Tuesday before heading to eastern Cuba.

Meanwhile in the US, the governor of North Carolina declared a state of emergency for 66 counties in central and eastern parts of the state because Matthew is on a course that could take it along the East Coast.

US National Hurricane Centre expert Richard Pasch said: "We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba.

"People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past."

In Jamaica, more than 700 people packed into shelters in the eastern parish of St Thomas and the Salvation Army said there were about 200 people at its shelters in Kingston, as it put out a call for mattresses and beds. Many streets are already flooded throughout the country's south east.

But many people still plan to stick it out at home. Local government minister Desmond McKenzie said all but four residents of the Port Royal area near Kingston airport refused to board buses and clear out.

In Haiti, authorities have been going door-to-door in the south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people are aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people have been taken to shelters in churches and schools.

In Port-au-Prince, schools were shuttered and residents lined up at petrol stations and cleared out the shelves at supermarkets as a light rain fell in the capital.

At least two fishermen died in rough water churned up by the storm. A boat carrying one of the men capsized early on Monday off the tiny south-western fishing town of Saint Jean du Sud as he was trying to bring his wooden skiff to shore. The body of the other was recovered a short time later off the nearby town of Aquin after he apparently drowned.

There have been two other storm-related deaths: one man died on Friday in Colombia and a 16-year-old in St Vincent and the Grenadines on September 28 when the system passed through the eastern Caribbean.

Forecasters said the storm is expected to dump as much as 40in of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country where many families live in flimsy houses with corrugated metal roofs.

Matthew is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history and briefly reached the top classification, category five, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

The US hurricane centre said the storm appears to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it is too soon to predict with certainty whether it will threaten any spot on the US east coast.

"Although our track is to the east of Florida, interests there should remain vigilant and we can't rule out the possibility of impacts," Mr Pasch said.

North Carolina governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency, telling a news conference the declaration will immediately help farmers clear their fields of crops already affected by heavy rain over the last two weeks.

He said he did not want other crops ruined, so restrictions on truck weights and hours of service were lifted under the emergency declaration to allow farmers to take their harvest to market.

The governor said he did not want farmers to wait until Thursday to begin work if the storm was close to North Carolina.

AP
The Humane Society of the United States began moving almost 130 dogs and cats from a temporary shelter in Cabarrus County this week.

Cabarrus County Sheriff deputies helped the Humane Society rescue 105 dogs, 20 cats and three goats from a suspected puppy mill at 4048 Hilton Lake Road in Kannapolis on Monday, Sept. 26. After removing the animals from an unhygienic environment lacking in adequate water, food and medical attention, the teams brought dogs and cats to a temporary shelter in Cabarrus County. Sheriff's deputies took the goats to a facility for larger animals.

Property owner Patricia Yates was charged with one count of animal cruelty, and more charges are pending the continuing investigation. Yates surrendered the animals to authorities, allowing the Humane Society to go ahead with giving them veterinary care and move ahead with the adoption process without waiting for the legal process.

After cleaning the animals and making sure they were healthy, the Humane Society moved the dogs and cats to several different partner shelters across the state:

Humane Society of Charlotte

Moore Humane Society

Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control

SPCA of Wake County

Pawfect Match Rescue

Rescue Animals Community Effort (RACE) Brunswick County

Cashiers Highlands Humane Society

Watauga Humane Society

Safe Haven for Cats

Chances Angel Rescue and Education (CARE)

Chihuahua Rescue and Transport

Though the animals are being moved, it may still be some time before they are available for adoption, a spokesperson with the Humane Society said. Those interested in adopting should contact the individual shelters.
India Top Performing Market for Technology Companies

India is now one of the worlds fastest growing markets for IT/ITeS companies because of its positive GDP growth and the early adoption of new technologies by Indian businesses and the government alike. A rapid pace of consistent growth over several quarters makes India a critical market for innovation-driven tech companies. In fact, the development is most visible in the recent earnings calls of Dell, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Accenture, and VMware.

Moreover, India is often singularly lauded as the best performing market for some of these companies as they observe falling profits in markets elsewhere. For instance, Cisco reported that the companys India revenue grew by 20 percent in the quarter ending in July while it declined by 12 percent in China and by 6 percent in other emerging markets. For IBM, India was the sole positive performer this year as revenue declined in all major markets  by 2 percent in the Americas, 4 percent in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and 2 percent in Asia-Pacific.

Underlining this star performance is the investment of Indian firms in new digital technologies to self-disrupt the traditional format of their businesses and move ahead of the curve. This includes the adoption of the cloud, mobility solutions and desktop virtualization, data analytics, and machine learning. While Dinesh Malkani, president of Cisco, points to Mahindra & Mahindra (manufacturing) and SBI and IDFC (banking) as lighthouse companies in their respective sectors, Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik states that 52 of the top 100 Indian companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) use Microsofts cloud services. Microsoft launched data centers in India late last year, and its growing list of clients include HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Fortis Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, and Narayana Health. Further, e-commerce firms Paytm, JustDial, and Snapdeal use Microsofts machine learning technologies and digital assistant Cortana.

World Bank Report Forecasts Indias GDP to Stay Strong

South Asia is a global growth hotspot according to a biannual report by the World Bank. In the report, a positive forecast is attached to India showing a steady GDP growth rate of 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017. The outlook is supported by various factors, including a healthy monsoon benefiting the agricultural sector and causing an uptake in rural spending, the civil service pay revision (Seventh Pay Commission) boosting consumption, growth in exports, indirect tax reforms, and a medium term recovery of private investment.

Moreover, the World Banks report notes the resilience of the South Asian region to external headwinds such as the slowdown of Western economies, Chinas ongoing economic change, and slowing remittances. Yet, challenges to future growth in the region remain, particularly with regards to domestic policy and development outcomes. Among the said challenges, the report highlights the need for a stronger showing by governments on poverty reduction, inclusive growth, and human development goals related to health, nutrition, education, and gender. This holds true for India as well.

With specific regard to India, the World Bank identifies significant downside risks in the near term at three levels  global economic undercurrents, domestic policy ambitions, and the countrys investment climate. Some of the challenges at the global level come from continuing uncertainties in the international economy, impact of Brexit on world trade, and the slowdown in China affecting the recovery of external demand. On the domestic front, the report cautions against the fallout from setting ambitious targets for raising revenue from divestments and spectrums, which if not met could cut into capital available for growth-promoting social spending. This is in turn would undermine the credibility of the governments fiscal policy. Finally, with respect to private investment, the World Bank report lists out domestic impediments such as addressing the corporate debt in the country, stress in the financial sector, and other regulatory and policy challenges.

India to Sign Social Security Pacts with BRICS Countries

India is to sign social security agreements with Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa (BRICS), which will be a landmark move for labor relations between these countries. The decision emerged after a consensus was reached at the BRICS labor ministers conference on September 28 to promote labor mobility within the BRICS grouping. India previously failed to persuade the US to sign a similar bilateral social security arrangement to facilitate the remittance of the billions of dollars worth of contributions by Indian workers made in the country despite not being eligible for its social security benefits.

This is why India is of the opinion that despite the lesser labor flows among the BRICS nations at present, continued strengthening of relations between these countries will encourage movement of job seekers across their borders. Consequently, an enabling social security framework will foster strong labor ties to match growing economic ones. (To put their status into perspective, the BRICS countries account for 43 percent of the worlds population, 37 percent of world GDP, and 17 percent of world trade.)

Under the social security agreement under consideration, an Indian labor migrant would not be required to pay for social security in both countries. The agreement would facilitate a system whereby the worker will pay in the country of their work and, in turn, receive benefits such as pension, provident fund, and healthcare. Upon return migration, the social security deposits will be transferred.



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An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2016

Doing Business in India 2016 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to stay up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

Pre-Investment Due Diligence in India

In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we examine issues related to pre-investment due diligence in India. We highlight the different regulatory, tax, and socio-economic issues that a company should be aware of before entering the Indian market. We also detail some of the topics related to entry structures while investing in the Indian market, as well as cultural and HR due diligence, which may differ from state to state.

Strategies for Repatriating Funds from India

In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we look at issues related to repatriating funds from India. We highlight the unique regulations for sending funds back from India, examine the various strategies companies can make use of while repatriating, and look at remittance procedures for different types of Indian entities. Finally, we give some tips on how expats can remit their Indian money to their home countries.
A police complaint has been filed against actor Om Puri for his cruel remarks towards the Indian army who lost their lives in a clash with Pakistan.

During a debate on a TV channel, Om Puri had said on Monday: "Did we force them to join the army? My father was also in the army... We are proud of them (soldiers)... I am asking you: Do you want India and Pakistan to become Israel and Palestine?

"I don't give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan... Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors') visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan."

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit and veteran actor Anupam Kher came out against Om Puri after he told a TV channel that nobody forced soldiers to join the army and people should ask whether India and Pakistan should become Israel and Palestine.

Reacting to his comment, Pandit tweeted:

Featured Video

Anupam also wrote that:

Actress Meerra Chopra wrote:

Folk singer Malini Awasthi tweeted:

Om Puri visited Pakistan in August to promote the Pakistani film "Actor in Law", in which he plays a key role.




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The U.S. Supreme Court is back in session but remains short-handed as one Indian law case looms on the docket.

With just eight justices at work, the new term likely won't be as explosive as last year's, when the court heard a record four Indian law cases. Tribal interests secured clear victories in three of those cases and even the fourth wasn't a complete loss.

But Indian Country will still be still paying attention to Lewis v. Clarke , a sovereign immunity case. The last time the issue came before the justices resulted in a 5-4 split, underscoring the dangers facing tribal interests in the nation's highest court.

"It appears that, again, in the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court term, tribal sovereignty will be front and center," observed Tim Purdon, a former U.S. Attorney from North Dakota who is now in private practice

The outcome in the case will determine whether the sovereign immunity of the Mohegan Tribe extends to an employee of its gaming enterprise. Connecticut's top court agreed that it did in a unanimous decision issued in March.

A non-Indian couple hopes to convince the Supreme Court to go in another direction. Brian and Michelle Lewis suffered injuries during an October 2011 accident they say was caused by William Clarke, who was a limousine driver for the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority at the time.

In addition to suing Clarke in state court, the Lewises named the authority as a defendant. But they took the tribe off the case out of fear of losing on the grounds of sovereign immunity.

They ended up losing anyway. In its unanimous decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court said Clarke "was acting within the scope of his employment when the accident that injured the plaintiffs occurred."

"It is well established that '[t]he doctrine of tribal immunity extends to individual tribal officials acting in their representative capacity and within the scope of their authority,'" Justice Dennis G. Eveleigh wrote for the majority, citing a slew of cases in the state and federal courts.

Despite the long string of cases, it looks like the Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the issue presented in Lewis v. Clarke. And while the Mohegans are not involved in the dispute, the outcome will likely affect one of their close partners -- the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana.

The Tunica-Biloxi Gaming Authority has asked the Supreme Court to hear a similar case in which a state court held that employees of the Paragon Casino Resort could be held liable in connection with a fatal accident in July 2013. That's essentially the opposite conclusion that was reached in the Connecticut case.

"We find that sovereign immunity in this case does not bar the suit against the Paragon Casino employees in their individual capacities," Judge Billy Howard Ezell of the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, wrote in a December 2015 decision

The petition in Tunica-Biloxi Gaming Authority v. Zaunbrecher was ready for consideration last week but the justices instead accepted the Connecticut case . The petition is likely to remain on hold until Lewis v. Clarke is decided.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority is providing consulting and other services to the Paragon Casino as part of an agreement with the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

The Supreme Court last took up tribal immunity Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community , a closely-watched case. By a narrow 5 to 4 vote in May 2014 , the justices held that the state of Michigan could not sue the Bay Mills Indian Community because neither the tribe, nor Congress, waived its sovereignty.

Oral arguments in Lewis v. Clarke have not been scheduled but could take place later this year or in early 2017. Regardless of the date, the court is still likely to be down to eight justices following the death of Antonin Scalia in February.

Scalia was among the four justices who went against Bay Mills in the 2014 case. The three other justices who were in the minority -- Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel Alito -- remain on the court.

Connecticut Supreme Court Decision: Lewis v. Clarke (March 15, 2016)

U.S. Supreme Court Decision: Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community (May 27, 2014)

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Bollywood hasn't come to a unanimous decision on whether banning Pakistani actors and artists in India is a sensible step. While people like Salman Khan and KJo have made sensible points on why banning artists is not a step that we are taking towards curbing terrorism in India, Nana Patekar condemned the people from the industry who felt so.

Salman Khan, who gave a statement in favor of Pakistani artists, made a strong comment that Pakistani film stars working in India were "artists and not terrorists" but Khan ended up receiving a lot of flak for his comment. The latest actor to comment on the ban of Pakistani artists is Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

News18

According to Nawaz, Pak actors and artists should leave India for now. He was quizzed by the media on whether, just like his role in the film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, he would act as a bridge between India and Pakistan and support the likes of Salman Khan in favour of Pakistani actors working in Bollywood.

Answering the same, Siddiqui said,

BCCL

"The situation between India and Pakistan is very sensitive and they (Pakistani actors) should leave India."

When Siddiqui was further asked whether he doesn't belong to the group of Salman Khan and other actors favouring Pakistani actors, he had the best reply to give. He said.

"It is not about with which group of actors I belong to. It is a matter of our country. Aur desh se badhkar kuch nahi hai. (There is nothing superior than our country)."
Every year Bollywood's Bhai AKA Salman Khan's films make crores of money at the box-office. While people hoot and cheer for Bollywood's Khan, there is something very thoughtful that Salman Khan has planned now.

According to recent reports, Salman Khan is now all set to launch his own private single screen theatre chain called 'Salman Talkies'.

A Mumbai Mirror report claims that Salman has already started working on the business plan and he has chosen six single screens from all over Maharashtra have been selected. A source close to Salman told media,

BCCL

"He will be lending his name to a theatre chain to promote tax-free viewing. Tickets for films at his theatres will be available at heavily subsidised rates and free for children. Salman will be launching each screen himself."

Recently, the actor expressed displeasure over rising prices of movie tickets to as much as Rs 400-500 in tier-one cities.

Explaining the economics of hits and flops, Salman said at an event recently, "If a film has to flop, the effect of the loss should be as little as possible. Jai Ho did a business of Rs 138 crore with tickets priced at Rs 200. On weekdays, the prices were down to Rs 100 but since we didn't publicise this fact, people said, 'Arey is that the only business?' Rs 138 crore is a huge, how many films touch that kind of a figure? Prem Ratan Dhan Payo made Rs 238 crore but since it didn't make as much money as Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the perception is that it flopped."

The major motive behind Salman Talkies would be:

1. To make movie-viewing accessible to everyone by cutting the cost of film tickets. Also, the chain will focus on tax-free viewing.

Dailymoss

Dailymoss

He was earlier quoted by the Mumbai Mirror as saying, "It's because of the economics that Marathi films like Natsamrat and Sairat are getting more footfalls. With Hindi films the numbers are higher but we need the footfalls too."

Diwali's two big releases - Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgn's Shivaay might be the first two films to be screened at the Salman Talkies in Maharashtra. Salman might then extend the theatre chain to Uttar Pradesh by early 2017.
Southeast Missouri is home to one of the worlds largest lead mining districts where mining dates back hundreds of years, leaving mining companies like The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) continually looking to improve the process for remediation of former mine sites. New award-winning research conducted at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) holds promise for a new way to help mining companies return former mine sites in the centuries-old Missouri district and other locations to productive use.

Mariam Al-Lami, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering at Missouri S&T, earned the top student paper recognition from the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (ASMR) for her research on soil-enhancing additives to encourage plant growth at mine tailings sites. The research, conducted by Al-Lami and Joel Burken, Curators Distinguished Professor and chair of the civil, architectural and environmental engineering department, could be the answer to revegetating tailings impoundments as a part of the remediation of mine sites. Doe Run supported the research with $50,000 in funding over a three-year period.

Al-Lami studied the effectiveness of applying biosolids, and other soil-enhancing additives, to mine tailings in order to encourage vegetative growth. Mine tailings are the ground-up rock byproducts created when separating mineral from waste rock as part of the milling process. At historic mine sites, these tailings often were collected and stored in tailings impoundments.

In her research, Al-Lami treated tailings with sewage sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant to add needed nutrients to the soil. These biosolids, along with other additives, were tested on vegetation, including willow and poplar trees, to assess their utility in promoting growth atop the tailings impoundments.

Conventional reclamation of mine tailings sites involved placing soil over the tailings and then revegetating the sites, said Chris Neavile, Doe Run asset development director. In arid locations or places with poor or thin soil, trucking in large volumes of good soil is impractical. These findings indicate we might minimize the need for soil by adding biosolids and planting specialty vegetation, such as Miscanthus grass, which has an extensive root system that adds nutrients and biomass to the tailings. Once the site can support vegetation and nature takes its course in conditioning the soil, we can introduce native grass species to create a more natural habitat.

Miscanthus is proven to be one of few plants that can thrive in challenging conditions, such as tailings, says Dr. Eva Gonzales, a Saint Louis University plant biologist and a member of Al-Lamis dissertation committee.

The study also evaluated willows and poplars, and determined they are also well suited for mine sites, particularly in shallow water conditions. These trees and Miscanthus are ideal pioneer species, which means they can grow quickly and provide nutrients to improve soil conditions.

Through the research, Al-Lami concluded that the tailings amended with biosolids dramatically improved plant growth by promoting microbial activity essential to plant health.

This work has been very rewarding on many levels, says Burken. Working collaboratively with Doe Run, we are looking at long-term solutions. Balancing development and societal gains with ecological restoration is really the core of our field.

Doe Run looks forward to the next phase of this study, which will include field trials based on Al-Lamis research, adds Neaville, an S&T graduate with a bachelors degree in geological engineering. Thanks to this research, we better understand another way to reclaim historic mine sites and return them to a more natural state.

The ASMR presentation by Burken and Al-Lami is titled, The potential of biosolids and other amendments for revegetation of lead/zinc mine tailings with three biomass crops: greenhouse study. Al-Lami, an Iraq native, also received an ASMR scholarship to attend the conference, including a $2,000 award, to present her research findings at the recent Ecological Society of America conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Irrfan Khan's most renowned works include The Namesake, A Mighty Heart and Life of Pi, the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and the commercially successful The Amazing Spider-Man and Jurassic World. And now, his Hollywood co-star has the nicest things to say about him.

Hollywood actor Tom Hanks admitted in his recent interview that he rejoiced being the coolest guy on the sets of Inferno but then, there was a twist here.

He confessed that this lasted only until Indian actor Irrfan Khan walked in. In a recent interview, he said,

Indian Express

Inferno, that is slated for a release on October 14 is based on his 2013 novel. While Irrfan will be seen playing the Harry The Provost Sims, head of The Consortium, Hanks will be seen reprising the role of Robert Langdon, a professor of symbology at Harvard University.

He added,

And as soon as I walked up to him I said, Irrfan Khan, Im going to steal from you everything I possibly can. Im going to start speaking very quietly in films. Im going to wear very nice suits. And I will draw out the last sound of every sentence that I say. And by doing that, I will be doing a very pale imitation of the coolest guy in the room.
Durga Puja is a major Indian festival and thanks to the amazing art on display, it has also been billed as the worlds largest street carnival. Every year for about seven days, the city of Kolkata, that hosts over 4,500 pujas, comes to a standstill to celebrate Durga Puja or Pujo. The ensuing week promises a lot in the form of aartis, dhaki drumbeats, cultural shows, food and feasting.

The five-day Durga puja carnival, beginning on 6 October, 2016, celebrates the annual descent of Goddess Durga on earth to visit her parents, according to Hindu mythology. This year, Durga Puja will be celebrated from 7 October to 11 October

Anuradha Sengupta

Millions of people are already planning their puja schedule  over the next few days they will walk or drive around the city, going pandal-hopping with friends and family. Kitchens will be shut down for the length of the fest as people sample the fare at pop-up food stalls that have sprung up everywhere. According to reports, the footfall is expected to be near ten million. In fact, the Kolkata police deploys about 90 per cent of their task force during the Pujas. Thats how large scale the event is.

The city is already looking like a new bride, adorned with lights and colours. Durga Puja isn't just a religious event for Bengalis, it is a carnival with all-night live music sessions, open-air plays, literary fairs, poetry readings and great food.

Each year, puja organisers go all out to impress visitors with unique ideas and themes. Artisans start work much earlier to complete the pandals in time. Heres a map to getting the best out of Durga Puja.

travel.india

Dance to the beat of dhaakis

Kolkata wakes up to the sound of the dhaak during the pujas. The rhythm of the dhaak ushers in the festivities. The dhaakis (drummers) come from rural areas and work up different beats for different phases of the puja days, like aarti, sandhi puja, and bisarjan.

You have to try the dhonuchi naach

The dhaak sound accompanies the evening aarti and the famous dhanuchi dance. Dhanuchis (earthen pots) are filled with coconut fibre, lit as incense for the goddess, and used by devotees in a dance that is a form of worship. Men wear the white kurtas with beautiful minimal embroidery at the neck while women go with a traditional red-and-white tangail saree with a big red bindi.

Eat, pray, walk

Dig into scrumptious bhog at the pandals. Every morning pandals serve pujor bhog, an offering to the goddess. The centrepiece is labda, a spicy mashup of assorted vegetables. Bhog is served to the residents of that area. So if you know a Kolkata resident, tag along to get a taste. All through the pujas, this long stretch becomes an all-night food festival. You can get a smorgasbord of food at a medley of stalls - from kathi rolls to kebabs, phuchkas, cutlets and curries, noodles, momos, biryani, parathas and dosas.

Enjoy the lights

Illuminated panels adorn all the streets during Durga Puja. These come from the nearby town, Chandannagar, which was once occupied by the French. It is the hub of illuminations and the people working in the lights industry work nine months of the year creating extravagant shows for major festivals. Multi-coloured bulbs fitted on woven wires create a semblance of motion through lights generating images of moving people, vehicles, animals and fire-spitting dragons.

Their creations have become famous enough to warrant exhibits around the world, including a light barge shaped like a peacock that was the centerpiece for the Thames Festival in London. For the pujas, lights artists have created animated waterfalls, monkey gods, dragons spewing fire, the triumph of good over evil, portraits of Nobel prizewinners, political statements, environmental messages, and HIV/AIDS awareness messages.

Go pandal-hopping

Anuradha Sengupta

Pandals, elaborate structures made of cloth on bamboo frames, are the centre of the festivities throughout the pujas They are built around themes ranging from craft forms and temples to the White House, Jurassic Park, the RMS Titanic, and the Paris Opera House! Then there are those that address contemporary social issues or international events such as the death of Princess Diana, 9/11 bombings, HIV/AIDS etc.

Over the years, pandals have become elaborate works of art recognised worldwide  some have even been exhibited abroad. If you visit Kolkata a few weeks before the puja begins, you witness beautiful Durga idols taking shape under the expert hands of artisans at Potuapara and Kumartuli  both ancient potters areas.

There are about 400 workshops run by artisan families that have been doing this for generations. They create close to 4,000 Durga idols every year. Some are shipped abroad as Durga Puja is held in places with Bengali population all over the world.

Anuradha Sengupta

Here's a list of must-visit pandals around the city

Deshapriya Park Puja

This place had apparently built the tallest Durga idol (at 88 feet) ever last year which turned out to be not such a great idea as the huge crowds led to a stampede and an eventual shutdown. This year, they have come up with a Hajaar Haat (Thousand Hands) idol, and the demon it will slay  Mahishasur  is 40-feet tall. The idol is made of fibreglass and took over six months to finish. This makes it something to watch out for.

Bhawanipore 75 Palli

You can look for your true self at Arshinagar, the city of mirrors, also the theme at this pandal. Enter through the gate which is a 45-foot elephant and go on to the area where glass-panelled walls will mirror you.

Golaghata Puja

This pandal is a eulogy to the days when people communicated via letters and not emails and FB messages. Artist Sourav Nag has executed the theme with postcards, stamps and letter boxes. About 50,000 post cards have been used as part of the decor  these were assembled with the help of a Kolkata BPO. The pandal has been made to look like a giant mail box.

expresstory

Beliaghata 33 Pally

This pandal has deconstructed the iconic yellow cab as a theme, after Hindustan Motors suspended the production of the iconic yellow cab from May 2014 at its Uttarpara factory in Bengal. About 15 taxis, and 300 car doors and other parts have been used by artist Shiv Sankar Das to make the pandal.

Hindustan Park Puja

Nostalgia seems to be a recurring theme this year. This south Kolkata puja is highlighting the days when grandmothers had an important role to play in the lives of children. It has displayed everyday items like stitched kantha and needle.

Shovabazar Burtola

This one is covering north Kolkata's dwindling cafes. This area once had a thriving cafe culture where intellectuals would gather and discuss life, the universe and everything in between, over cups of chai-coffee. They have recreated rows of old-world cafes and the main pandal is called Sri Durga Cabin.

Also

At Kabiraj Bagan, the theme here is friendship and it is showcased in a unique manner in the guise of a train  the Maitrayee Express which travels between India and Bangladesh.

Baghajatin Rabindrapally Sarbojanin Durgapuja Committee is touting this puja as the best place to click selfies. The theme - British Wax Museum Madame Tussauds.

What else is there to do?

goibibo

The Bard and The Goddess

For a dash of Shakespeare with dhaaki beats head to Ahiritola Sarbojanin Durgotsab and Ballygunge Cultural Durgotsab Samity. On the occasion of the bards 400th death anniversary, the British Council has tied up with these two community pujas to add a dash of Shakespeare to what is probably the biggest festival in Asia.

What you get is an immersive experience with The Globe Theatres Complete Walk or Shakespeares 37 plays playing out on several screens. The ten-minute films  each exploring a play by the bard  have been screened in London along the stretch between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge.

China Calls

The Chinese consulate in Kolkata is taking part in the celebrations this year. They will even hand out awards to the best pandals. Consulate members plan to tour city pandals and decide on the 10 best Pujas. Some pandals in the city will sport Chinese symbols like dragons and umbrellas. China will also bring in tourists to Kolkata during the festive season.

Bonedi Bari

The rich zamindars of undivided Bengal may have gone but their palatial houses remain in North Kolkata. Some of the families have opened up their houses to visitors during Durga puja. These are a good idea if you are interested in architecture and good food as they serve sumptuous meals as part of the puja bhog.

There are over 20 traditional pujas that take place across Kolkata, each nearly 150 years old. The most famous is the Sovabazar Rajbari and Rani Rashmoni. You can sign up with a few tour operators who offer special Bonedi Bari package tours.

So where are you heading to this Pujo?
Scientists at Nasa are revelling at their latest discovery, which could be their most important one recently. The American space agency yesterday announced its finding of what it called a holy grail of a solar system that has seven Earth-like planets.

These 7 Earth-sized planets were seen by @NASASpitzer around a nearby, ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1: https://t.co/G9tW3cJMnV pic.twitter.com/Z6gvaH96Tz  NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2017

What gives this discovering high value is that never before have scientists found so many possibly-life-containing planets in one go. Nasa said, Around a nearby, cold, small star we found 7 rocky Earth-size planets, all of which could have liquid water - key to life as we know it.

Also read: NASAs Stunning Discovery: Seven Earth-Like Planets Orbiting A Star Just 40 Light Years Away

In light of this exceptional achievement, let's recap on the headway made in space in 2016.

World Space Week, a celebratory event which was launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 to commemorate achievements in science and technology, begins today. On October 4 1957, Sputnik 1, the first human-made Earth satellite was launched, paving the way for space exploration. And on October 10 1967, the Treaty on Principles Governing Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies was signed.

On the occasion, we've listed some of the biggest space achievements of 2016:

1. Indias first global navigation satellite system, NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) became fully operational in August. It consists of a constellation of three geostationary, four geosynchronous and two on-standby satellites, and facilitates accurate real-time positions and timing services over India and its surrounding regions. With this stellar achievement, India - even with NAVICs regional contact  enters the club of superpowers who have their own navigation satellite systems such as the US, China, EU and Russia.

ag.agap

2. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its first Indian-made space shuttle in May, making it the countrys first test flight for the home-made Reusable Launch Vehicle  Technology Demonstrator.

ALSO READ: ISRO's Made-In India Space Shuttle Launches Today

3. NASAs International Space Station completed 100,000 orbits around the earth in May, travelling 4 billion kms since its launch in 1998.

Reuters

ALSO READ: International Space Station Completes 100,000th Orbit Of Earth In Space

4. In June, ISRO broke its own 2008 record by launching 20 satellites from one rocket. Earlier, it launched 10 satellites from one rocket. Russia currently holds the record  in 2014 it launched 33 satellites in one go.

5. In June, the United Launch Alliance launched a secret spy satellite into space. The entire mission was covered in a blanket of mystery and the ULA said that it was in support of national defense. The mystery NROL-37 mission took its flight aboard the worlds largest Delta IV rocket with a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Flickr

ALSO READ: The World's Largest Rocket Just Launched A Secret Spy Satellite Into Space

6. In July, NASAs Jupiter mission, Juno, finally entered Jupiters orbit after a five-year-long trip from Earth. It was launched in August 2011. Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system and Juno is trying to study its atmosphere, which can lead to new discoveries about our solar system.

Nasa.gov

7. In September, NASA launched Osiri-Rex into space, its first asteroid sampling mission. Its main task is to gather dirt and debris from the surface of an asteroid and it will return to Earth by 2023 so scientists can study the asteroid sample further.

ALSO READ: NASA Sends A Spacecraft To Intercept An Asteroid Heading Towards The Earth

8. For the first time in July, NASA released hundreds of never-seen-before images of deeper space in celebration of Star Treks 50th anniversary.

nasa.gov

ALSO READ: NASA Reveals Never-Seen-Before Images Of Space

9. Space X, in what was a first, landed a rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States.

ALSO READ: Space X Creates History, Lands Rocket On A Floating Drone At Sea

10.NASA released a video in September of what happens when a star goes too close to a black hole. Shall we take a hint from nature?

John Fletzkowitz

ALSO READ: NASA Just Released An Image Of What Happens When A Star Goes Too Close To A Black Hole

Nations, including India, spend billions on space exploration and we often wonder why, when that money could be put into, lets say, eradicating poverty. The reason is that its very important to understand space because it can lead to more discoveries about the Earth and the solar system. And maybe, someday, well find life somewhere else in the solar system.
Clearing up speculation over his country's recent military exercise with Pakistan, Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin categorically welcomed Indian raids on terrorist launchpads across the LoC.

BCCL

In a strong endorsement of the Indian action that goes beyond the American statements and extends Pakistan's isolation beyond south Asia, Kadakin said every country had the right to act in self defence and called on Islamabad to act against cross-border terrorism.

Also Read: American Lawmakers Speaks Up Against Pakistan, Support India's Surgical Strike Across LoC

Kadakin said the exercise with Pakistan was in fact intended to encourage that country not to target its neighbour.

BCCL/representational image

"India should not be concerned about military exercises between Russia and Pakistan because the theme of the exercise is anti-terror fighting. That's in India's interests that we teach Pakistani army not to use itself for terror attacks against India.

And the exercise was not held in any sensitive or problematic territories like the Pakistan-occupied Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir," said the Russian ambassador.

"The greatest human rights violations take place when terrorists attack military installations and attack peaceful civilians in India. We welcome the surgical strike. Every country has right to defend itself," Kadakin was quoted as having told a news channel.

BCCL/representational image

Russia had earlier issued a statement asking Pakistan to take "effective steps" to check terrorist activities on its soil.

After the Uri attack, it had said: "Regarding the Pathankot Indian air base attack in January 2016, we are very concerned about the terrorist attacks near the Line of Control. We are also concerned about the fact that, according to New Delhi, the Army base near Uri was attacked from Pakistani territory."

Also Read: Crying Foul Over India's Surgical Strikes, Pakistan Fails To Gather Support At UN

Russia had raised some concern in Delhi with its anti-terror exercise in Pakistan coming at a time when India was looking to diplomatically isolate Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.

tvn24/representational image

However, Russia had even then sought to assuage India's apprehensions by saying the exercise would not take place in areas that are subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan.

This was the first such military exercise between the two countries in Pakistan. Kadakin, however, said Russia had only acted in India's interests by conducting the exercise with Pakistan.

livemint/representational image

In its statement last week, Russia had said it was concerned with the aggravation of the situation along the LoC between India and Pakistan. It called for the parties not to allow any escalation of tension and to settle the existing problems by political and diplomatic means through negotiations.

"We stand for decisive struggle against terrorism in all its manifestations. We expect the government of Pakistan to take effective steps in order to stop the activities of terrorists' groups in the territory of the country," it had said.
Two days after an ISIS inspired group was busted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), more details of the alleged operatives are now emerging.

The NIA had on Sunday arrested six people in Kerala's Kannur for allegedly plotting ISIS-style attacks.

BCCL

According to NIA the group was led by Manseed alias Omar al Hindi, who reportedly developed ties with ISIS while working in Qatar.

The group which called themselves 'Ansar-ul-Khilafah' (soldiers of the Caliphate) is reported to have at least twelve active members while the number of people they have influenced is yet unclear.

The group which communicated through a secret telegram channel was busted after the NIA infiltrated the group and monitored them for sometime.

They had reportedly assembled at a popular tourist destination in Kannur and was plotting attacks against key politicians in Kerala and Tamil Nadu when they were caught.

The NIA said the group had planned a Nice-style attack on a Jamaat-e-Islami meeting in Kochi, where they intended to use a truck as a weapon.

However the NIA which was tracking their move, informed the organizers and got the venue changed in the last minute, which forced them to abort the plan.

screengrab

This made them suspicious about someone leaking the chat and decided to meet in person, from where they were eventually caught. NIA said the group's leader Manseed who was working abroad came to Kerala four days ago just for the meeting.

The ISIS module was busted months after reports emerged that some 22 youths who went missing from the state under mysterious circumstances had joined the Islamic State.
A Bengaluru scientist and his wife have been arrested with 231kg of amphetamine worth approximately Rs 231 crore in the international market.

The seizure is one of the biggest made by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

TOI

The use of psycho-stimulant drugs such as amphetamine and ecstasy has increased among Indian youngsters, according to the NCB. These drugs are largely smuggled to southeast Asian and African countries from India. According to the intelligence gathered by NCB officials, a major inter-state drug network is at work in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

BCCL/representational image

Venkat Rama Rao (37), a research scientist working at a reputed firm, was arrested on September 30, while in Hyderabad to collect the drug from an associate identified as Ravi Shankar Rao (22). Nearly 221kg of amphetamine was recovered from their possession. During questioning, Venkat claimed he had more drugs at home.

stiften/representational image

When the NCB reached his home in Bengaluru, his wife Preethi (35) was hiding 30g of amphetamine, which they suspect was used as a sample for buyers, and Rs 1.23 crore in cash. She was questioned and taken into custody.

Later, the NCB recovered 10kg more from a laboratory where the drug is said to have been processed. NCB sources said more persons were involved in the ring.
The Indian-Americans are all set to increase their headcount in the US Congress as more candidates from the community, including women, are expected to win in the November elections.

With the prospect of a woman being elected for the first time as the president of the United States getting brighter, Indian-American women are sailing ahead to create history by entering both the Senate and the US House of Representatives.

AP

If local reports and political pundits are to be believed, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, 51, a close confidant of US President Barack Obama, is all set to be elected to the US Senate; thus making her the first Indian-American to enter the Upper House of the US Congress.

Similarly, Pramila Jayapal, 51, is cruising towards victory for the US House of Representatives Seat from the Washington State. She would be the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House, which so far had three members from this minority ethnic community.

AFP

While Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian-American to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1950s, it was only in the 21st century that the community could see another member elected to the Congress. Bobby Jindal from Louisiana was elected twice before he went on be become two-term Governor of Louisiana.

Ami Bera, the only Indian-American in the current Congress is seeking his third consecutive term from California's hotly contested set.

Embroiled in a controversy with regard to his father's fund raising, Bera, 51, like his previous two contests, is engaged in a tight fight this time too, which is again expected to run into re-count of ballots.

Reuters

His fellow Democrat Ro Khanna, 40, is hoping to be lucky this time and repeat his primary performance to defeat his party's incumbent Congressman Mike Honda. Khanna, who has raised a record amount of money, had gained more votes than Honda in the primary elections this Summer. He received 52,059 votes against Honda's 49,823 votes.

In the 2014 general elections, Khanna lost to Honda with a little over 5,000 votes. This time he hopes to enter the US House of Representatives, but political pundits are yet to bet on a sure shot win for him against a formidable and seasoned Honda.

If all goes well, California itself might see one Indian-American representation in the Senate and two in the House.

AP

Raja Krishnamoorthi, 43, from Illinois is one of the few candidates who have earned the endorsement of Obama. As per political pundits, he may head to the House of Representatives. This is also because he is running from a seat that is considered to be a Democratic stronghold.

Krishnamoorthi is a businessman, who currently serves as the president of Sivananthan Labs, a company based in the Chicago area.
Fishermen in southern India constantly grapple with the fear of being captured for crossing into Sri Lankan waters. Most of the times, crossing the limits is not their fault as they are not sure about the boundary.

Kutty Andy, a small fisherman from Nagore in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu says, Sometimes when the wind is strong, small fishermen get carried away into international borders. We dont know the boundaries.

dailyhunt.in

However, with the help of the fisher friendly mobile application (FFMA) developed by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), the fishermen can fearlessly go to their work and return safely without being lost in the Indian Ocean.

Efforts Began After Tsunami

After the 2004 tsunami, a need to develop sea safety measures emerged, and the app was designed to address these issues for fishermen. S Velvizhi, Senior Scientist, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) says, The entire approach to this app is cyclic; right from the fishermens need for weather information before entering the sea, understanding wind speed, wave height, warning against cyclones, etc.

From Fishing Zone To Tuna Forecast

The app has features like potential fishing zone and tuna forecast, which guides fishermen on finding fish using scientific information. The direction, latitude and longitude positions of these places are given, and the fishermen use GPS to navigate. The Ocean State Forecast gives also gives humidity information, which is useful for women in the fish drying business.

oneindia.com

To prevent collision against rocks or sunk ships, there is a danger marking zone feature. An emergency SOS feature can rescue fishermen at sea. For instance, if there is a medical emergency, the fishermen can message the nearest coastguard for faster rescue.

Similarly, there is a harbour navigation feature which assists the fishermen to find the nearest port for landing during emergency.

The border alerts, in particular, are used by fishermen in Tamil Nadu.

In the 165 kilometre border between Dhanushkodi and Nagapattinam, every two kilometres were marked using navigation chart, and this was done with the support of coastguards. Five kilometres before reaching the border, the alarm will alert the fishermen. The alarm will repeat every 30 seconds until the border is reached, says Velvizhi.

The fishermen requested to add vibrate option to this feature since they could not hear an alarm in the sea, and this was done.

indiatimes

Similar Issues With Pakistan And Bangladesh

There are similar issues with Indian fishermen who are caught by Pakistan and Bangladesh. Velvizhi says, Work is underway to mark the coastal boundaries of both Bangladesh and Pakistan. The coast guards are working on this. We need to mark coordinates every 2 kilometres along the maritime border. Once this is done, we can use the existing architecture to implement this.

TOI

Recently, turtle nesting zone, another feature was added for fishermen in Orissa, preventing them from entering the nesting zone of Olive Ridley turtles.

This app won the m-billionth award for agriculture and ecology (South Asia) in 2014.

Use It Offline

Earlier the app was not available in an offline mode. Today, fishermen can collect the information they need while they are on shore, and can access them at sea, even in absence of network.

The app is now available in 6 languages, including English, and two more languages will be soon included to the list. Once the existing work is done, this app will be available on Google Play for anyone to download.
Subedar (retd), Ramphal Singh Suhag is a proud man. His son Dalbir Singh Suhag, leading the Indian Army, one of the mightiest in the world, has eliminated several terrorists, operating from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

bhaskar

While the political class is leaving no stone unturned to take credit of the strikes, one of main heroes of the operation, the Army Chief, who not only planned this operation, but also kept close eye on it from South Block has been a silent crusader till now and hasn't even spoken a single word till date after the strikes.

However his father, himself has been a part of the three wars - in 1962, 65 and 71 - against Pakistan and China, knows that his son is capable of serving the nation at any given occasion by taking the challenge head on.

Bhaskar

"I am proud of my son for this great achievement. I remember that during my service days, our hands were tied and we couldn't gave befitting reply to Pakistan in this short and surgical manner. I am proud that my son allowed his soldiers to carry out these strikes without getting into a full-fledged conflict. Of course political will of this government indeed backed my son and I congratulate our PM Narendra Modi, " Ramphal Singh told Bhaskar.com in his ancestral village in Jhajjar's Bishaan.

Ramphal recalled one incident of 1971 when he was guarding border in Punjab's Fazilka.

"In 1971, Pakistan was supposed to open the Western Front in response to India's action in then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). But before the full fledged war broke out, Pakistanis used to open fire at their will and they used to mock us saying that you can't fire, your orders will come from Delhi while ours are in our pockets. I am proud that under my son, Indian Army doesn't have to wait for orders anymore," added Ramphal.

Bhaskar

Ramphal isn't the only one going over roof, in fact the entire village is ecstatic about Suhag's feat which left Pakistan establishment and army to explain a lot to their people.

Sunita Devi, sister of the Army Chief told Bhaskar that whole village is going gaga after surgical strikes and people are rushing to our house with sweets.

Suhag's mother, Ishri Devi also revealed that Suhag has been a fitness freak since childhood and had joined Indian Army in 1974. For a middle class family like Ramphal's who was only a Subedar in Army, making his son an officer in the army was indeed an achievement.

Ramphal lastly spoke about his struggle to make his son an officer.

"I was serving at borders. Therefore, I hardly saw him growing. I would see him once a year, but when ever I would come back on leave, I would just tell to remain focus on goal which was to serve Indian Army as an officer. I must say he was very laborious and didn't disappoint me," said Ramphal.
Last month's surgical strike was not the first of its kind - and there is every possibility that it might not be the last. For many, it was a resounding day of revenge for Uri attacks, as well as other regular cross border harassment that Pakistan treats India with. More importantly, India not only took credit for it, but did so with enthusiasm.

India has reportedly undertaken many such strikes against Pakistan in the last 10 years, successfully taking down men and machines on the other side of the border.

1. March 1998: Crossing the LoC

representational purposes only

Indian Special Forces allegedly killed 22, at Bandala village (Chamb sector). Pakistani military recovered a hand-written note, asking: How does your own blood feel? This was believed to be in revenge for the massacre of 29 Hindu villagers in Jammu and Kashmir, by LeT militants.

2. 2000: Crossing the Neelam river to avenge 5 martyrs

alchetron com

7 months after after Pakistani forces kidnapped and tortured Captain Saurabh Kalia, and sepoys Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Arjun Ram, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh, special forces attacked the Nadala enclave, to successfully take on 7 Pakistani soldiers.

3. 24 February, 2000: Crossing the LoC

After Pakistani troops hit a border observation post in Poonch sector, the Pakistan Army claimed to have witnessed a massacre in a PoK village. 16 bodies were just "strewn on the streets", and again the handwritten note how does your own blood feel.

Pakistan blamed Indian Special Forces, and India did not respond. However, LeT's reported genocide against Hindus stopped.

4. June 2008: be-headings

BCCL | Represenational purpose only

Several Gurkhas were martyred in Poonch after a Pakistani attack on the Kranti border observation post. Days later, Pakistani Army officials reported that one of their soldiers had been beheaded in Poonch.

5. 2011: be-headings continue

2 months later, Pakistan again complained that 3 soldiers were beheaded after Indian forces raided a Sharda sector post across the Neelam River valley. This was supposedly retaliation, in turn, after 2 Indian soldiers were beheaded near Karnah. Many dont know about these simply because India follows a policy of strategic restraint" former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram told India Today. That is, until now, assuming that Pakistan would change their ways.

Sources:Assam Tribune, India Today and The Hindu
Mineral Area Colleges Little Theater Guild will once again bring the subtle humor of the Noel Coward to the stage as Private Lives begins a three-night run at the colleges Fine Arts Theater.

Beginning Thursday and running through Saturday, Cowards classic romantic comedy, turns its attention to Elyot and Amanda, who were once married to each other, but are now divorced and on their honeymoon with their new spouses. Unfortunately for the Elyot and Amanda, they are honeymooning at the same hotel.

After a few days and nights in such close proximity, the two ex-spouses find old feelings resurfacing and teetering between passion and rage.

This is a story about relationships, said Chuck Gallaher, the plays director and theater professor for Mineral Area College. We all know a couple like this. We see them at get-togethers and parties and they seem perfect for each other. Then one day, they get divorced, and it all makes perfect sense.

Returning for his seventh play at MAC is theater major Sam Gallaher as Elyot Chase who said he fell in love with the character and the play during his intro to theater class.

I really love this character, Sam said. This character is me at 30. He is a little self-absorbed, a bit of a hot head, but still rather likable.

Besides this, Sam is also a fan of Coward and how he explores his characters.

In all of Cowards plays, his characters are very well rounded, Sam said. Each character is flawed but perfect in their own special way.

Playing Amanda Prynne is St. Louis Kayla Redden who is studying Physical Therapy at the local college.

I have always loved theater, Redden said. I was in my first show when I was in elementary school, and I think that is why I became a thespian.

To Redden, Cowards character, Amanda Prynne, is very bold and she likes to fight with others. Those are qualities Redden sees in herself.

Amanda doesnt like anything dull, Redden said. She loves to disagree and to fight. I think it turns her on. She is a very sexy woman and is not afraid to show off her body.

Playing Elyot and Amandas new spouses are Shelby Collins and Logan Wilmore. Neither are very happy with their new spouses but somehow are still attracted to them.

Collins describes her character Sibyl Chase as being very naive and the girl who wanted to be a princess.

Sibyl doesnt complain, Collins said. She whines a lot, and doesnt have much of a mean streak either.

Wilmores character, Victor Prynne, is Amandas new husband.

Victor is a very prim and proper, Wilmore said. He wants you think he has it all together, but he really doesnt.

Rounding out the cast is Christon Hahn who plays the Louise, Amandas French maid. According to Hahn, her character is not happy with her life and really wants to be Amanda more than herself.

Private Lives was first performed in 1930 and had its most recent revival in 2002 at the Royal National Theater in London before moving to Broadway.

Doors for each performance open at 6:30 p.m. and curtain at 7 p.m. nightly. Tickets are available at the MAC bookstore or at the door on the night of the performance, and are $7 general admission, or $3 for MAC students and senior citizens.
Members of the Armys crack commandos, who carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are likely to fly down to the national capital in the coming days and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants to personally congratulate the team.

BCCL

Sources have told ET that the troops are likely to be invited to New Delhi, in the coming days as per the schedule and availability of Modi, who has closely monitored the entire operation from conceptualisation to the public announcement by the Director General of Military Operations on September 23.

The prime minister has so far maintained silence on the surgical strikes. He had also quietly met soldiers of the 21 Para Special Forces last year, days after they executed cross-border operations in Myanmar to take down militant training camps.

AFP

Close to 50 troops had crossed into Myanmar to target insurgent camps after an Army convoy was targeted in Chandel, killing 18 troops.

Close to 150 troops from three Para Special Forces units took part in the cross Line of Control (LoC) operations last week that inflicted heavy casualties on seven terror launch pads protected by the Pakistani military.

These troops, many of them decorated for continuous operations in J&K, belong to the 1, 4 and 9 Para Special Forces and were specially chosen and trained for the surgical strikes.

AFP

The operation, which was planned at least a week in advance, was carried out with such precision and stealth that none of the team came under direct fire.

The only injury received by the teams that carried out the operation was to one soldier, lightly wounded after he stepped on a mine, while exfiltrating from PoK.

The commandos were congratulated by Army Chief Dalbir Singh who visited the Northern Command on Saturday.
Bollywood actor Alok Nath's son Shivang Nath was booked for drunk driving on Monday midnight during a drive that was carried out near the Khar police station.

According to reports, Shivang was taken to Santa Cruz police station and has been fined Rs 2,600 for drunk driving.

His car has been kept at the police station.

hindustantimes.com

Shivang was driving back home along with his friend when he was signalled to stop.

"The actor's son sped away instead of stopping. But he was stopped near Santa Cruz police station and fined," said a police officer. Shivang was returning after partying with friends when he was caught.

AFP
The face-off between India and Pakistan since the surgical strikes in PoK is now taken to the cyberspace.

The National Green Tribunals website came under cyber attack, with a hackers group posting profanities and claiming it was an act of revenge against Indian armys surgical strikes.

We are Unbeatable. You ... kill innocent people in Kashmir and call your self defenders of your country. You ... violate the ceasefire on border and call it Surgical Strikes. Now kiss the burn of Cyber War, the hackers, claiming to be D4RK 4NG31 said in a message laden with expletives.

Also Read: Indian Hackers Prepared For Cyber War Against Pakistan

BCCL/representational image

The website was also hacked in 2013. In April, 2012, the Delhi high court bar associations website was defaced by Pakistani hackers.
Each year when the monsoon comes around, you can see the fear in people's eyes when there's a mosquito buzzing around them. They flail their hands as soon as one tiny buzzing beast enters their vicinity. This year alone, until August 31 2016, 12,255 cases of chikungunya and 27,879 cases of dengue were reported and these are alarming numbers given that these mosquito-borne diseases can be avoided with a little effort from the government. And maybe the government has finally woken up because it has launched a "Mosquito Terminator".

ag.agap

ALSO READ: Beware: New Viral Infections Are Taking Hold Of The Capital With Cross Symptoms Of Dengue And Chikungunya

It is a special train that was launched on Friday by the Northern Railway to spray insecticides on water bodies along the tracks in the capital to control mosquito breeding that has caused this alarming spread of the two diseases. The train has a power sprayer truck on board given by South Delhi Municipal Corporation and was given the green light from New Delhi railway station today.

inhouse.digital

This is a special public health initiative by the Northern Railway in association with SDMC to curb further spread of this widespread disease, which can only happen if stagnant water bodies are either unclogged or they are sprayed with repellents. Officials said the sprayers on board the train can sanitise large inaccessible areas from the tracks.

inhouse.digital

ALSO READ: Dengue and Chikungunya Can Be Prevented With A Little Help From The Community

The Mosquito Terminator will pass through Sarai Rohilla, Patel Nagar, Delhi Cantonment, Palam, Safdarjung, Kishanganj, Lajpat Nagar, Nizamuddin, Adarsh Nagar, Shahdara and Gurgaon in Delhi-NCR.
Confident after successfully carrying out surgical strikes on the terror camps across the LoC, the Indian army has told the political executive that only a sustained six-month campaign will seriously damage the terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

dailyworld.in

The top brass in the army, speaking off record, told ET that after India went public with its surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) last week, the armed forces had told the government that off and on strikes will not damage terrorists capabilities, and a medium-term plan is needed.

Good opportunity for action

Armed forces strategists also said a determined campaign is needed to target launch pads for such attacks.

BCCL

A top army officer said: We have to look at a sustained campaign. The terror network is on the back foot, but to really achieve something, we have to look at a medium-term plan, a six-month campaign. A one-off event will not deter them.

Therefore, more terrorist launch pads are likely to come up in PoK. These need to be neutralised, Indias military brass feels. Armed forces top officers have also told the government that the declared strike across LoC means India will have to up its game on Kashmir security, both beefing up the manning of the border as well as smarter political approaches in the Valley that include credible healing touches.

BCCL

The brass feels demoralisation among groups in the Valley that help terrorists presents a good opportunity for further action. We have the opportunity right now.

Everyone is geared up and we have a much stronger hold on LoC than the other side.

This is the time to make an actual difference that will deter cross-border terror support, another top army officer said. Indias military and intelligence assessment is that PoK hosts over 40 terror training camps.
From the cold environs of Siachen to the extreme heat of the Thar desert, no climate condition is too extreme for this company in Dabaspet, about 72km north-west of Bengaluru, which has been aiding simulation testing of military equipment.

BCCL

Military equipment is put to service in all kinds of environments, but can't always be tested on the field given the time and logistical constraints. This results in failures of sub-systems, as India learned during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

While countries like the US have spent millions of dollars over several years to test such equipment in simulated conditions and make the final product more adaptive to such places, India has been import-dependent.

In its quiet workspace, CM Environs (CME), which simulates all types of climate for military-grade testing, is slowly changing that with 48 of the 58 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) labs being its clients. The firm provides chambers for testing of equipment in several big-ticket projects like Agni, India's ballistic missiles programme.

And, it all began with Kargil.

Reuters

"We were not into this business in 1999. While India emerged victorious in the conflict with Pakistan, the fact that our communication and other equipment failed gave me an idea and we entered the simulation business so that India has the technology to test its equipment, even those we imported," CME chairman J Crasta said.

With an average annual turnover of $5 million - this year's order books reflect $6.5m - the firm has in the last decade and a half slowly captured a majority of the Indian domestic market valued at $10 million, which includes military and civilian markets. The global industry is valued at $1 billion market, the Chinese market is $200 million.

BCCL

Last week, CME's dust and storm chamber was commissioned at defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which develops communication systems, electronic systems for missiles and battle tanks among other things. "This is the first time that BEL is buying a simulation chamber from a domestic manufacturer. It generally imported from Weiss Technik, a globally renowned brand and leader in India before us," CME chief executive officer Prajwal Crasta said.

Stating that not only does the firm meet military standards of the US, he said: "We are also nearly 50% cheaper."

The chamber at BEL was built and delivered at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. A BEL spokesperson said: "Our Bengaluru complex has established a blowing sand and dust test facility. While take-off and landing, aircraft sub-systems are exposed to sand and dust particles and this facility provides a simulated environment to test if the airborne sub-systems are capable of functioning dependably despite the exposure to these sand and dust particles."

Reuters

Prajwal said the chamber is capable of simulating sand and dust particles in sizes less than 500 and 20 microns, respectively. While the particle simulation is one thing, the other is the wind speed. All these particles are carried by the wind at different speeds causing different types of damage.

"We can simulate a wind speed of up to 29 metre/second, at which speed the product experiences accelerated stress. Also we can simulate -70C to 180C in a controlled manner and also simulate relative humidity," Prajwal said.
Sushma Swaraj has shown that even amid growing hostilities, one should never shy away from extending a warm gesture of friendship.

Reuters

A team of 19 Pakistani girls arrived in India on September 27 to participate in the Global Youth Peace festival in Chandigarh. Their arrival, however, came two days before India carried out its surgical strikes across the LoC.

They were scheduled to return to Pakistan on October 4, but following the strikes, that looked uncertain.

While extra security was ensured for the 'Girls for Peace Group', they were asked by their home nation to return immediately, reports NDTV.

Aliya Harir, the convener of Aghaze Dosti (a peace forum) spoke to Swaraj on October 1 and tweeted her gratitude.

Extremely overwhelmed. Spoke to @SushmaSwaraj ji who assured that Pakistani delegation of #GYPF2016 will reach Pakistan back safe.     Aliya Harir (@AliyaHarir) October 1, 2016

She also expressed her thanks for their Indian hosts who treated the girls like gods.

Sushma reciprocated with a beautiful saying about daughters.

Aliya - I was concerned about your well being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain. https://t.co/9QyeMQfRwy  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 3, 2016

Twitter is abuzz with praises for the MEA who never fails to spin magic.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in New Delhi last night and in a break from tradition opted to take a chartered bus to his hotel rather than an official entourage of official cars.

AFP

Prime Minister Loong, who is accompanied by his wife Ho Ching and a delegation comprising key ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials, was received by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Statistics and Programme Implementation, Planning and Defence Rao Inderjit Singh upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today host a luncheon in the honour of Prime Minister Loong and the two leaders will hold bilateral talks, which will be followed by signing and exchange of three memorandums of understanding (MOU), including on cooperation in industrial property between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Singapore's Intellectual Property Office and on cooperation on establishment of a North East Skills Centre in Assam.

The Singaporean Prime Minister will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on the visiting dignitary.

AFP

Later, Prime Minister Loong will also attend a reception hosted by the Singaporean diaspora living in India.

The visiting premier will also tour Udaipur in Rajasthan on October 5 and 6, where chief minister Vasundhara Raje will call on him and also host a luncheon for Prime Minister Loong.

An agreement on a capacity building programme in tourism and hospitality will be signed between the Rajasthan government and Singapore's Cooperation Enterprise.

Prime Minister Loong last visited India in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.
Though Pakistan isn't admitting to the surgical strikes carried out by Indian Army in PoK, repeated failures of Nawaz Sharif government in dealing with first India's diplomatic clout at UN, then the regional influence, which resulted in calling off SAARC summit and now the surgical strikes have given hawks sitting in Pakistan reasons to advocate another military coup.

AFP

Calling it a failure of democracy in the country, former Pakistan president and military ruler General (retd.) Pervez Musharraf has called for military intervention to address all the issues where the civilian government has reportedly failed.

Democracy is an ineffective system for Pakistan as there are no checks and balances in the system, and to counter such failures, the army has to act because people of Pakistan expected too much good from the military, the Express Tribune quoted Musharraf, as saying which hints towards another possible coup that might be seen in coming months given that Pakistan Army Chief, Genereal Raheel Sharif tenure is ending in November.

AFP

In July this year, posters requesting army chief Raheel Sharif for coup d'etat were seen all over Peshawar.

AFP

Musharraf, called democracy an 'inherent weakness' of Islamabad because it hasn't been modified according to the situation. If the coup happens, this would second in Nawaz Sharif's rule as it was Musharaf who had toppled Nawaz Sharif government via coup back in 1999 post the Kargil war between India and Pakistan. Although some experts believe that this citing the turmoil in the country and growing gap between army and civilian government, Musharaff is trying to end his political exile.

AFP

When asked about the future of democracy in Pakistan, Musharraf called for army's intervention to tailor made new political structure for Pakistan in which democracy can survive.

ALSO READ: Pakistan Army Is Helping Terrorists To Infiltrate To India, Arrested LeT Terrorist Operative Bahadur Ali Claims

So, therefore, we have to maybe tailor the political structure in accordance with the dictates of Pakistan, introduce checks and balances so that misgovernance does not take place and the army does not have to come into politics," Musharaff was quoted in Express Tribune. The former president and military despot hailed army again and again as the saviour of Pakistan. It has played a very prominent role in the governance of Pakistan, mainly because of misgovernance by all the so-called democratically-elected governments, he further said
The White House has archived an online petition that sought to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism.

The petition, which was initiated by the Indian community in the US was archived claiming that it did not meet the "signature requirements".

wjla

Launched last week, the petition had amassed over 1,00,000 signatures in just five days and by Monday it had scored more than 600,000 signatures and is currently the most popular petition on the site.

Even though no explanation was given, it has been reported that many of the signatures were identified as fraud.

However, it is unusual to archive a petition this early as there is a two-months window for the users to sign any petitions on the site.

While it might seem like a setback to India in globally isolating Pakistan following the Uri terror attacks, there was little realistic chance that US would ever enlist the country as state sponsor of terrorism.

This is because US considers Pakistan an ally in its fight against terrorism. In fact Pakistan is the single largest recipient of the Coalition Support Funds (CSF), which Washington pays as reimbursement to its allies for the expenses they incur on fighting terrorism.

AFP

If that wasn't compelling enough for the US to shield Pakistan, consider this- the US and NATO is still very much present in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan being a landlocked country, supplies to the forces there including weapons and even other basic stuff have to be brought there by road from a neighbouring country.

armyrecognition

With its geographical proximity and ties with the US, Pakistan has been for better part of one-and-a-half decade performing the role.

With having extended their troops stay in Afghanistan indefinitely, Washington cannot afford to shoot themselves in the foot by distancing themselves from Pakistan.

It should also be noted that US, which is the world's largest weapons exporter has considerable 'business interests' in the country. By declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism, US will have to let-go billions of dollars from this trade, which is an unlikely scenario to happen considering how strong the weapons lobby is.
A Farmington man led officers on a pursuit after stealing items from two area stores just after midnight Saturday night/early Sunday morning.

Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said at midnight Sunday morning, Walmart notified the Farmington Police Department of an attempted felony theft of a cartload of items.

The suspect was described as a white male wearing a red hoodie and he left the parking lot in a silver four-door passenger vehicle with no license plates, explained Baker. An officer on patrol in the area spotted the suspect on the Walgreens parking lot and he was placing items in the car. The officer was able to get behind the car on Karsch Boulevard and attempted to stop the car.

Baker said the driver of the car pulled onto the parking lot of Rhodes 101, but before the officer could approach the driver, he fled the parking lot travelling east on Karsch Boulevard.

A second officer was able to get behind the car and a pursuit ensued, said Baker. The driver of the suspect car turned left onto Country Marts parking lot, jumped the curb and drove through C-Barns lot. He then continued onto North Washington. When the car jumped the curb it damaged a tire, but the driver continued north on Route D until he lost control of the car. He went off the right side of the roadway and came to rest in the ditch near Butterfly Lane.

Baker added an officer approached the man and gave verbal commands to lie on the ground and show his hands, but he refused. The departments K-9 was then deployed and apprehended the man.

The man was released to the care of the ambulance personnel with non-life threatening injuries and was later taken to Parkland Hospital for treatment, said Baker. Several items were located in the suspects car that were later reported stolen from Walgreens. These items were seized as evidence and the car was towed by Buckleys Towing.

Baker reiterated that during the initial call from Walmart, the suspect had loaded up a shopping cart and was leaving without paying, but they did get all their stuff back at the store.

Charges to be filed are attempted felony stealing from the Walmart incident, misdemeanor stealing for items recovered in his car that he evidently stole from Walgreens, resisting arrest, careless and imprudent driving and other related traffic offenses, said Baker.
Willow, a koala joey in Australia's Symbio Wildlife Park, was playing the star of a video shoot, when she got royally photobombed by a butterfly.

YouTube

The park was shooting a series of videos for its sustainability initiatives when the koala and the butterfly hit it off instantly.

The video happens to have gone viral on the occasion of World Animal Day and it's simply adorable.

Kevin Fallon, the marketing and creative services manager of the park, told ABC, "When we actually put the butterfly on the flower, Willow came running over and starting getting really inquisitive, nuzzling up to it. Before we knew it, it actually flew onto Willow's head and then stayed there for ages."
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The man accused of murdering Washington County Sheriffs Deputy Christopher Parsons in 2012 has, for the second time, been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.

In a judgment filed almost exactly three years after his first incompetency ruling in 2013, Associate Circuit Judge Troy Hyde declared that Gary Sancegrow, now 34, "is not competent to proceed because he does not have sufficient present ability to consult with his attorneys with a reasonable degree or rational understanding and that he does not have a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.

Furthermore, Judge Hydes order said "there is no substantial probability that Sancegrow could be tried "in the foreseeable future, which keeps Sancegrow under the jurisdiction of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, where he has been confined to the maximum-security Biggs unit at Fulton State Hospital since Judge Hydes first ruling in 2013.

The current ruling also ordered the dismissal of charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action against Sancegrow for the Dec. 15, 2012, shooting death of Parsons.

After his arrest in 2012, Sancegrow was subjected to numerous medical and mental evaluations while he was in jail pending trial. Based on the results of the examinations, he was deemed mentally unfit for trial as defined in section 552 of the Missouri statutes regarding criminal proceedings involving mental illnesses.

Records indicate Sancegrow has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, for which he takes anti-psychotic medications.

After being committed to the state hospital in 2013, he underwent further examinations and another competency hearing before Judge Hyde in November of 2014. His confinement at Fulton continued.

Back in July, Sancegrows defense attorneys filed a motion asking the court for a finding of permanent incompetence after he had undergone another mental competency examination in March. Meanwhile, Attorney General Chris Koster's office, which was prosecuting the case, filed a motion asking that Sancegrow be discharged from the state hospital to stand trial for Parsons death.

At the time of his death, Deputy Parsons had only been with the Washington County Sheriffs Department a little more than two months. He had previously served with the Fredericktown Police Department. He was a graduate of the Mineral Area College Law Enforcement Academy, where he graduated in May 2012 as valedictorian of his class. At the time of the shooting the 31-year-old deputy was engaged to be married.

Sancegrow was accused of killing Parsons as the deputy was responding to a call on a rural stretch of road in Washington County. Parsons had been dispatched to a home on Nugget Road in the Mineral Point area to assist an ambulance in response to a 911 call from a belligerent caller.

According to records, Sancegrow shot Parsons, then fled the scene, leading police on a 16-hour manhunt that ended with Sancegrow surrendering without incident.
Happily-ever-after takes more than one date, and you will both be sizing each other up to see if you have chemistry and similar communication. If things progress from certain cues on the first date, and theres a date two, then you will be on your way to a boyfriend.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for these 14 sure-fire signs that your date really likes you:

1. Your date is not a conversation bulldozer.

Your date gives you plenty of room to share yourself with your words and not take over the conversation.

2. You have interstellar communication.

The conversation flows and neither of you have a look of terror on your face.

3. The windows to the soul are very present.

If your date has pupils that are getting bigger, it is a sign of attraction. This doesnt happen consciously, rather subconsciously. Low light also makes pupils dilate, so keep this in mind.

4. Good eye contact is prevalent.

Eyes softening and holding your gaze for longer periods of time is another gauge of attraction.

5. His chest is out.

Men keep good posture with their chest out like a peacock. He may also touch his stomach and chest. If a man shows signs of being shy, his body will still face you even if he turns his face away.

6. Your bodies gravitate toward each other like magnets on a refrigerator.

Opposite polarities influence both of you to lean in, and your similarities and attraction keep you like sticky glue together.

7. Your bodies are like mirrors.

Your physical movements mimic each other. You touch your face and his body follows. If you touch your arm, he may also watch your body like a hawk watches its prey.

8. You feel rapport.

There is a sense of harmony in your connection verbally and with body language. This date just feels easy and flowing.

9. His eyes are smiling.

Smiling reduces stress and when the muscles around his eyes engage, and you can see the smile in his eyes. A real smile is not only when the corners of his mouth turn up. Think the opposite of most of your classmates cheesy third grade pictures.

10. He talks about future plans with you.

He says things like We could really have fun white water rafting together, or I go to a great music festival every summer, maybe we can go together? This shows you that he is thinking about the possibility of spending more time with you.

11. He tells you he is smitten.

This is a dead giveaway.

12. He picks up the check.

A man will let a woman he doesnt care about split the check, no problem. But a lot of men will pick up the tab and leave a fat tip if he really wants to impress a woman. If you are both in college and he is on a shoestring budget, this doesnt always apply.
An authorised biography of President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed how the President chose Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as his running mate for the 2015 presidential election despite the opposition of a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The book, Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, written by Prof. John Paden, was presented at an elaborate event at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Monday.

The general belief was that Tinubu was instrumental to the emergence of Osinbajo, who served as his Attorney General when he (Tinubu) was the governor of Lagos State.

But according to the book, the names of Tinubu; the then Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); and Osinbajo, were forwarded to Buhari for him to pick a running mate shortly after the retired general emerged the partys candidate at its convention in Lagos.

The author claimed that Buhari chose Osinbajo above others despite enormous pressure from Tinubu to do otherwise.

He, however, did not disclose who forwarded the list of the three nominees to Buhari.

Paden wrote, With Buhari coming from the North-West geopolitical zone, the Vice-Presidency had been ceded to the South-West geopolitical zone.

Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and political godfather of the South-West geopolitical zone, felt he should be the vice-presidential candidate.

His protegee and the then popular Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, was also a possible candidate.

Both Tinubu and Fashola were Muslims, which complicated the national balance.

A third candidate, Yemi Osinbajo, had been Attorney General of Lagos State and a senior law professor and a pastor.

When the three names were forwarded to Buhari, he chose Osinbajo despite enormous pressure from Tinubu.

Although Tinubu was one of the four persons who reviewed the book on Monday, he did not raise any objection to the authors claim.

While recalling how Buhari Presidency emerged, however, Tinubu had merely said Osinbajo was named Buharis running mate because of the need for a religiously-balanced ticket given the sensitiveness of the moment.

He stated, There was the sticky issue of selecting a running mate. After careful study and discussion, it was agreed that we should field a religiously-balanced ticket given the sensitiveness of the moment.

Based on this conclusion, the name of Yemi Osinbajo, renowned law professor and former Lagos State Attorney General during my tenure as governor, was proposed as an excellent running mate.

Osinbajo is also a pastor in the largest church in the entire country and this would answer those who wrongfully tried to paint Buhari as intolerant.

At the book presentation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the special guest of honour, described the 320-page book as a mixture of history and current affairs.

Obasanjo added that the authors account was accurate except for a few incorrect insinuations, which he said could be understood.

Source: Punch
Twenty-five persons has been arrested by the Benue State Police Command in connection with the attack on Igumale Police Station in the Ado Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects according to reports were caught on Sunday afternoon during a raid on criminal hideouts in the area.

Recalled that unknown gunmen on motorcycles had earlier on Sunday attacked the station killing some officers and carting away ammunition and weapons.

ASP Moses Yamu, the Police Spokesman, who confirmed the arrests, said the command had been on the trail of the assailants.

He added that the gunmen did not succeed in freeing suspects in detention at the station.

He said, Criminal hideouts in the area were raided on Sunday, after the attack and about 25 persons were arrested.

We are screening them to ascertain their culpability. All mercenaries have been set on ground to fish out those behind the attack and to recover the arms that were carted away.

They made away with only three arms; they did not have access to the armoury. They actually came for the arms because the suspects inside the cell, including some of their accomplices, were intact.

We lost two policemen to the attack. But the inspector that led the team and a corporal are being treated, ASP Yamu stated.
A stalwart of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says while President Muhammadu Buhari was in a hurry as a military ruler, he is now slow but steady in his approach to governance.

Mr. Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos, gave this assessment of the president at the International Conference Centre, Abuja yesterday during the public presentation/book launch of Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, authored by a professor of International Studies, John Paden.

The APC stalwart, while reviewing the book, said the author notes that in terms of style of leadership, Buhari, as a young military Head of State, was in a hurry. However, now that he is older and given his experience, he is slow but steady in his approach to governance.

Tinubu said Buhari surprised many during the presidential election campaign with his agility and the broad canvas on which he operated, adding that In tracing the evolution of Buhari, the national leader, the authors assertion that military rule is based on the power its holders can wield, while civilian rule is based on the legitimacy derived from elections is a point with which I dare not debate.

Buharis career embodies this, hence his transition from being a military ruler to being a civilian leader who subjected himself to the rigours and uncertainty of elections four times. Thrice, he patiently went to court, seeking redress from electoral manipulation.

The author, quite accurately, remarked on the Buharis victory equation as flowing from northern grassroots support and coalition building with the southwest as well as with other tendencies, he pointed out.

Tinubu also explained that the APC fielded Yemi Osinbajo, a Professor of Law as Buharis running mate in the 2015 general elections purposely to ensure a religiously balanced ticket.

Based upon this conclusion, the name of a renowned professor, Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and former Lagos State Attorney-General during my tenure as governor was proposed and accepted as the running mate.

Osinbajo was also a pastor in the largest church in the entire country, and this would answer those who had wrongfully tried to paint and present Muhammadu Buhari as intolerant, religiously. From this event, you can see a portrait of a president as a democrat more adept than many would think.

The book launch was attended by prominent personalities, notable among them Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife Dolapo, Senate President Bukola Saraki and his wife Toyin, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara and his wife, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic, his Chadian, Idriss Deby, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, who was Chairman of the occasion, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was Special Guest of Honour at the event while Cameroons Paul Biya, was represented by the countrys envoy in Nigeria.

Others are former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, former Vice President Namadi Sambo, APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, former Nigerias Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Maitama Sule, Governors, business moguls and members of the Federal Executive Council.
A cemetery worker in Ogun State, Oluwatosin Akorede, has been arrested by the Police with two human skulls.

He was arrested at the Isale Oko area of Sagamu on Sunday at about 7.00pm by vigilant policemen on patrol.

A statement issued yesterday by the Ogun Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said Akorede, who worked in a cemetery along Aiyepe road, was arrested by a team of policemen during a patrol led by the Divisional Police Officer of Shagamu, Moses Aduroja.

During interrogation, the suspect was said to have confessed to planning to use the human skulls for ritual purposes.

The police spokesman said preliminary investigations suggest Akorede exhumed dead bodies in some graves at the cemetery he used to work until his arrest, and retrieved their skulls.

The statement added that the state Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Iliyasu, directed that the suspect be transferred to the Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.

There has been a spike in the arrest of Nigerians with human skulls for ritual purposes in recent times with four teenagers nabbed in Akwa Ibom while trying to sell human skull and yet four others, for being in possession of a human skull along the Enugu-Abakaliki expressway.
Nigerias Code Of Conduct Bureau has found a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe guilty. He was facing a three-count charge (later amended to a one-count charge) of false declaration of assets and involved a property he had secretly acquired while in office.

Mr. Orubebe had claimed he had put up the property in question (located in the Asokoro district of Abuja) for sale just before his tenure as Federal Minister had ended.

The Chairman of the Tribunal, Danladi Usman in his ruling declared Mr. Orubebe guilty of falsely declaring his assets and ordered the seizure of the property.
The Defence Headquarters has promised to abide by efforts of the Federal Government to dialogue with militants but warned that attacks on military formations in the Niger Delta will be met with decisive actions.

A statement by its spokesman, Rabe Abubakar, reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Armed Forces to peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta problem.

Mr. Abubakar, a Brigadier General, said: However, while trying to achieve this feat, the military would not take kindly with any individual or group taking militarys good gesture of adherence to ceasefire and peaceful disposition to the impasse for granted.

Otherwise military will respond proportionately to any armed attacks against its location in a decisive but professional manner in line with its constitutional mandate of defending innocent citizens as well as national critical infrastructure, he added.

The Defence spokesman noted that the Armed Forces has the capacity to defend itself and made reference to the recent attack by militants, who he described as misguided elements, on a military location at Efut Esighi waterfront just in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State, in which a soldier reportedly lost his life.

Brig.-Gen. Abubakar pointed out that the militants  Bakassi Strike Force  who carried out the attack paid dearly for their evil act, as the military trailed and killed seven of them.

The statement warned various belligerent groups in either the Niger Delta or any other part of the nation to desist from any act capable of jeopardizing peace and security of the country or they will regret the consequences of their evil action.

It stressed that the Armed Forces of Nigeria would continue to partner peace-minded groups and stakeholders to bring lasting peace in any security threatened areas or locations.
The arrest and detention of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has been declared unlawful by the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The court which made the declaration on Tuesday also said that Dasukis further arrest after granted bail by a court is a mockery of democracy and rule of law.

Dasuki was arrested on November 4 by the State Security Service (SSS) for alleged diversion of $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms in the immediate past administration. He is also accused of illegal possession of firearms.

Dasuki approached the ECOWAS court after he was rearrested by members of Nigerias State Security Service shortly after meeting his bail conditions in November last year.

He has since remained in SSS custody since his arrest.

The ECOWAS court involving a three-member panel led by Justice Friday Nwoke said Nigerias government was wrong in arresting Dasuki without a search warrant, adding that the pattern of arrest contradicts the provisions of Section 28 of the Nigerian Police Act which says that a superior police officer may authorise the search of a resident belonging to a suspect assumed to be in illegal possession of an item, if the officer so authorised has a search warrant.

The court also noted that Section 143 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), allows that where such a search is proposed by the police or other authorities, an application must first be made to a court of law and granted after due consideration of the said application, in compliance with section 144 of the ACJA.

The Nigerian government had claimed that it came with the search warrant to Dasukis house but could not give it to him because officers at his residence resisted the security operatives. This, the court said, was ineffective in proving its points.

The judge said the search warrant presented before the ECOWAS court was not certified and therefore lacks verifiable authenticity.

The court also said that the Nigerian government failed to prove its reasons for the arrest and detention of Dasuki, saying documents presented before it only emphasized on allegations of fraud and illegal possession of arms.

The ECOWAS court added it was not set to determine whether or not the possession of arms by Dasuki amounted to an offense or not, but it, however, decided that the arrest was unlawful, arbitrary and a violation of local and international rights to liberty.

The court ordered the Federal Government to pay a sum of N15 million as damages to Dasuki, also stating that the cost of litigation will be summed up and charged against the Nigerian government.
A former Governor of Bayelsa State and All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain, Timipre Sylva, has described as wholly speculative and vindictive, reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, returned 48 houses it seized from him.

Sylva, who spoke through his media aide, Doifie Buokoribo, on Monday, said neither he, nor the courts had at any time, confirmed his ownership of such property.

An Abuja Division of the Federal High Court had in June 2015 dismissed a case of alleged N19.2 billion fraud brought against the former governor by the EFCC.

The courts dismissal of the case led to the recent media speculation that the houses, which were under investigation and confiscated by the anti-graft agency, had been returned to him.

RELATED POST: EFCC Returns Seized 48 Houses To Timipre Sylva

But in a statement by Buokoribo, the former Bayelsa governor threatened legal action against publishers of the report.

He threatened legal action against publishers of the report.

Among properties seized and reported to have been returned to Mr. Sylva, who was Bayelsa governor between 2009 and 2012 are: a mansion at 3 River Niger Street, plot 3192 Cadastral zone AO, Maitama District Abuja; nine units (comprising six one bedroom and 3 two bedroom apartments ) at 8 Sefadu Street Wuse zone 2, plot 262 Cadastral zone AO2, Wuse Abuja; and 2 units duplexes at 5 Oguta Street, plot 906 Cadastral zone Wuse 11 Abuja.

Others are: a duplex at Plot 1271 Nike Street Cadastral zone AO5, Maitama District Abuja; a duplex at Phase 1 Unit No. 1 (Villa 1) Palm Springs Gold Estate, Cachez Turkey Projects Limited, Mpape, Abuja; 10 units of one-room apartments at 8 Mistrata Street plot 232 Cadastral zone Wuse 11 Abuja; 5 units duplexes at Plot No 1070 Dakibiyu District Cadastral zone B10, Abuja; 16 units service apartments at Plot 1181 Thaba Tseka Crescent, Off IBB Way, Wuse 11, Abuja and 3 units of three- bedroom flats at No. 1 Mubi Close, Plot 766. Cadastral Zone A01, Garki, Abuja. Sylva was first arraigned on Tuesday June 5, 2012.

The statement reads in part: We have a read report in a national newspaper, which was reproduced by a few online publications and in the social media, claiming that Chief Timipre Sylva had retrieved 48 of his property which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission seized during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

We view this report with disgust, given its unconcealed speculation and vindictiveness regarding such a sensitive matter.

For the avoidance of doubt, Sylva does not own 48 buildings in Abuja or anywhere in the world. So the issue of reclaiming 48 houses does not arise.

The statement, however, affirmed that the APC chieftain had only three houses in Abuja which he built before he won election to become governor of Bayelsa.

It said this point had been made several times before, and neither EFCC nor those who had used EFCC as a tool of persecution against Sylva during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, had contradicted it.

EFCC had taken their allegations of property ownership against Sylva to several courts without establishing anything against the former governor during the Jonathan era, it said.

Beyond the commissions routine media prosecution, no court of law has found Sylva guilty of any crime.

Indeed, in the course of the trials at the Federal High Court, Abuja, owners of some of the properties wrongfully attributed to him joined to claim their houses.

The court ruled on the matter of the said 48 properties since 2013. Why is it now a subject of media attention? Clearly, this is a sponsored publication.

The statement said Mr. Sylva frowned at the malicious audacity of the publishers of such a story, or their sponsors, despite warnings by the courts against media prosecutions and persecutions like this one, and the attempts by the EFCC to burnish its image that was mindlessly battered during the last administration.

It said, After failing to prove any crime against Sylva in a democratic court of law for the past four years, this latest media show is another desperate attempt to rubbish him politically.

To correct the wrong impression that sponsors of the falsehood against him are, obviously, trying to create, Sylva has instructed his lawyers to take legal action against publishers of the fake story.
A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudum Nwuche, has challenged the immediate past Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, to return home and clear his name of fraud allegations, if he believes he is innocent.

Nwuche, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who is subject of investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N2.86billion fraud, had in his defence, claimed that the Presidential Amnesty Office under the watch of Kuku, owed him the said money being a loan he granted the intervention agency.

He subsequently filed a suit, FCT/HC/CV/2609/16 last week Tuesday in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, claiming that he (Nwuche) is being owed the said sum.

But Kuku, in a statement by his lawyer, Mr. G Ezeuko (SAN), said Nwuches claim was false. Neither me nor the Amnesty Office owes Nwuche the aforementioned money, he said, alleging that the APC chieftain attempted a smart move to avoid a proper trial of the matter by not notifying him (Kuku) of the suit to enable him defend himself.

Kuku said the Amnesty Office had no reason to borrow money from anybody, including Nwuche since while he served under President Goodluck Jonathan, the office was properly funded.

In his reaction to the former presidential advisers denial, Nwuche, in a statement issued in Abuja on his behalf by the FYD, expressed surprise that Kuku had denied requesting and collecting the N2.8 billion from his company purportedly for the payment of stipends to ex-militants and stakeholders during his tenure.

In the statement signed by FYDs media adviser, Mr. Ik Anyaduba, the company said that it was in possession of a plethora of evidence to prove that Kuku got the loan.

The statement said: FYD has sued for the full recovery of this money from Kuku as it later learned that he may have indeed diverted the loans to personal use and left the country without proper handover of these and other liabilities he may have incurred while he was Special Adviser.

Prior to these last contracts, FYD had successfully executed several projects for the Amnesty Programme without a hitch.

We have our chairmans full support to prosecute this matter to its logical conclusion as he has nothing to hide to fully support the anti-corruption war of the federal government and expose persons who use their official positions to defraud innocent contractors and service providers, believing there will be no evidence against them.

It is now obvious that we made a grave mistake in trusting and believing that he was as committed as we were to resolving the Niger Delta crisis and assisting in whatever way possible the stability of the region hence our granting the loans.
Several people were injured over the weekend in accidents occurring throughout the area.

Three were hurt in an accident on Sunday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. off U.S. 67 at Hidebrecht Road.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Edward Hampton, 86, of Doe Run, was driving his 2005 Ford F150 eastbound on Hildebrecht Road and Kellie Barlow, 22, of Poplar Bluff, was driving her 2011 Kia Sorento south of U.S. 67. Hampton failed to yield and pulled into the path of Barlow, causing her Sorento to hit the drivers side of Hamptons truck.

Hampton received moderate injuries while his passenger, Nettie Hampton, 84, received minor injuries. Both were taken to Parkland Health Center by St. Francois County Ambulance. Barlow also received minor injuries and was taken to Parkland Health Center by private conveyance.

Earlier that same day at 10:25 a.m. a Caledonia man was injured in a one-vehicle crash off Route C in Washington County.

The report said Elbert Phelps, 89, was driving westbound on Route C in his 2001 GMC 1500 when he failed to negotiate an S curve and went off the left side of the road and overturned.

Phelps was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash. He was later airlifted by Air Evac to Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis with serious injuries.

An early Sunday morning at 12:30 a.m. a Farmington man was moderately injured in a one-vehicle crash after he was involved in a pursuit with the Farmington Police Department.

According to the patrol report, Mathew Thomure, 23, was driving his 2012 Ford Fusion on two flat tires northbound on Route D just north of Butterfly Lane when he lost control and went off the east side of the road and struck a mailbox.

Thomure was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the wreck and was later taken to Parkland Health Center by St. Francois County Ambulance with moderate injuries.
The Kaduna Electric on Tuesday said it would commence the distribution of pre-paid meters to its customers in Sokoto,Kaduna, Kebbi and Zamfara beginning from Oct. 10.

This is contained in a statement by the companys Head, Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Kaduna on Tuesday.

He said that the unveiling of the smart metres would be performed in Sokoto on Monday by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and Gov. Aminu Tambuwal.

Abdullahi said customers to be provided with the free smart meters had been identified in the four franchise states under the company.

According to him, the company had also commenced the distribution of metres to customers who had earlier paid for the facility under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) system.

We are set to provide meters to customers who have since paid for CAPMI meters and also launch the new prepaid smart meters next Monday.

The spokesman said that the development was in compliance with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which ordered winding down of CAPMI by November 1.

We assure all customers that have already paid for the CAPMI meters that arrangement have been concluded between Kaduna Electric and the accredited CAPMI meter providers to provide them with the meters they paid for on or before October 31, 2016.

Our esteemed customers are therefore advised not to make any payment at any Kaduna Electric Office or Cash Centre or any staff for that purpose.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the delay in installing the meters may have caused those who have paid for them.

We have also concluded arrangements for the launch of the first batch of our new prepaid smart meters in furtherance of our commitment.
About one week after the Edo governorship election, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has given a damning verdict of the exercise, saying the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, contested and lost to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not the ruling partys candidate.

The All Progressives Congress, APCs candidate, Godwin Obaseki, was declared winner of the election on Thursday by INEC with 319,483 votes to Ize-Iyamus 253,173 votes.

The PDP, its candidate and some other opposition parties, have since rejected the result of the elections announced by INEC, calling for a cancellation of the entire exercise.

Speaking for the first time since the announcement of a winner of the Edo governorship poll, Gov. Fayose said the APC victory was only made possible by, in his words, the use of federal government agencies to subvert the will of the people.

In a statement issued Monday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, in Ado-Ekiti, the governor decried the win at all cost attitude of the APC, saying it is inimical to the sustenance of democracy in the country.

According to him, rather than the people of Edo State electing their own governor, the APC conspired with INEC to foist its own governor on the people.

He lamented that it was unfortunate that those whose change was made possible because the then PDP-led federal government allowed the people the freedom to make a choice had now eroded the independence of INEC.

The stage for the manipulation of the election was set by the use of security agencies to postpone the election, even when there was no single security threat and what was witnessed in Edo State last Wednesday was the execution of the rigging plans perfected after the postponement, Mr. Fayose said.

He said it should be obvious to all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and the international community that the APC-led federal government would never allow free and fair election in the country, as the PDP and other opposition parties would henceforth be contesting against INEC.

The power of the people to choose their governor was completely robbed at gunpoint in Edo State, he said.

Unfortunately too, these elements have even murdered the rights of Nigerians to protest against the subversion of their will and it is now obvious that only the insistence of Nigerians can save democracy in the country.

Like I have said before, we are already seeing signs of what to come in 2019 and Nigerians should know by now that it will only take their insistence for their votes to count as long as these APC elements remain in power, Fayose asserted.
The Federal Government is demanding $406.75 million from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and its subsidiary, Shell Western Supply & Trading Limited, over alleged crude oil theft.

The amount, according to court documents presented in Lagos on Tuesday, represents the shortfall of the money the multinational oil firm paid into the Federal Government account with Central Bank of Nigeria.

The money was said to be for crude oil lifted in 2013 and 2014.

Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, Government Counsel, had accused the Anglo-Dutch company of not declaring or under-declaring crude oil shipments during the period, following forensic analysis of bills of laden and shipping documents.

Ajogwu, armed with sworn affidavits of three U.S.-based professionals, claimed that Shell cheated Nigeria of the revenue.

The professionals included Prof. David Olowokere, a U.S. citizen and lead Analyst at Loumos Group LLC, a technology and oil and gas auditing firm.

The others are Jerome Stanley, a Counsel at Henchy &Hackenberg law firm and head of the legal team engaged by Loumo Group LLC and Michael Kanko, founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Trade Data services Company.

According to the documents, the consortium of experts tracked the global movements of the countrys hydro-carbons, including crude oil and gas.

They identified the companies engaged in the practices that led to missing revenues from crude oil and gas export sales to different parts of the world.

They also revealed discrepancies in the export records from Nigeria with the import records at U.S. ports.

The undeclared shipments between January 2013 and December 2014 brought the total value of the entire shortfall to $406.75 million dollars, according to the documents.

The defendants were said to have failed to respond to a Federal Government letter through its legal representative, seeking clarification to the discrepancies.

The Federal Government is therefore, seeking a court order to compel the two companies to pay 406.75 million dollars, being the total value of the missing revenue and interest payment at 21% per annum.

In addition, the government is also asking Shell to pay general exemplary damages in the sum of 406.75 million dollars and the cost of instituting the legal action.

However, the Presiding Judge, Mojisola Olatoregun Isola, has adjourned the matter to Oct. 20, for the mention of the case.

Meanwhile, the Federal government has also sued Chevron, Total and Agip, asking for a total of 12.7 billion dollars over alleged non-declaration of 57 million barrels of crude shipped to the U.S. between 2011 and 2014.

They are among 15 oil majors targeted by the government for the recovery of 17 billion dollars in deprived revenue, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt.
Ace comedian Gandoki (Tony Mofe Ereku) On Saturday 1st of October put Nigeria on the world map by becoming the first Comedian to perform non-stop stand-up comedy for 42 hours and 10 mins.

He now holds the new world record for the Longest Stand-up comedy performance by an individual betting the past record of 40 hours and 8 mins. The world breaking challenge started on Thursday 29th of October by 8:00 pm at the Exclusive mansions hotel, Victoria island and climaxed at about 12:34 pm on Independence day, when he beat the previous record.

Many industry mates turned up, the likes of Ali Baba, Seyi law, Ogus baba, Ushbebe, Koffi, Bovi, Shakara, Milli, Mc abbey, Grand commander, Fyne monkey, Baba kay, Paparazzi, Young6 etc. to encourage, show love and support for Gandoki. The audience were awed by Gandokis unique performance as he delivered creative jokes which left the crowd reeling with laughter. Team OneLagos (Min. of Arts Tourism & Culture) was duly represented alongside other Corporate bodies.
The Director of Tender Care Hospital, Dr Charles Oputa, has denied that his hospital admitted Chinansa, the wife of Pastor Chinedu Rockson.

He said the 42-year-old had diabetes during pregnancy which made him to refer her to a general hospital, adding that he was not aware her womb was removed.

Oputa spoke while faulting the claim of a director of the Ilogbo Central Hospital who had said Chinansas labour process was mismanaged at Tender Care where she was first admitted.

PUNCH Metro had reported that Chinansa had developed some complications during childbirth which had led to the removal of her womb and damage to her bladder at the Ilogbo hospital.

Ilogbo Central Hospital, in defence of its action, said Tender Care Hospital, the first hospital where Chinansa was admitted before being rushed down to its facility, had made an attempt to force out the baby which ruptured the womb of the mother of four.

The director of Tender Care Hospital, Oputa, however, said he never touched Chinansa.

He said, When she came in to labour, I immediately advised her to go to the nearest general hospital and I wrote a referral to the Igando General Hospital. I never attempted anything on her.

What happened was that she had diabetes during the pregnancy and we advised her to do certain things, which she didnt do. So, when she came in that Saturday, one of the nurses felt it was something we should operate on. I refused and wrote her a letter to go to the general hospital, where I thought she would have better treatment. I never knew they took her to another private hospital.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the Ilogbo Central Hospital had already discharged Chinansa and her baby from the hospital.

The pastor said the condition of his wife had worsened, blaming Ilogbo hospital for the situation.

He said, They had wanted to force my wife out and take her and her baby to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital last Tuesday night, but I told them I was not prepared and they should wait till Wednesday morning.

Around 4am on Wednesday, I was called that my baby had started stooling. I sent a friend to the hospital to confirm, while I rallied round to raise money. The friend told me my wife and baby had been sent out of the hospital before he could get there.

As I speak with you, they are both at home and her condition had got worse. She soils her body because of her leaking bladder; we now have to wear diapers for her. I have spent a lot of money and the situation keeps getting worse.

The director of Ilogbo General Hospital, Dr Femi Obideyi, maintained that Chinansas womb had been ruptured before arriving at the hospital.

He said the woman and her baby were referred to a general hospital due to their conditions.

He said, The woman that was brought to us was bleeding from the uterus and she was in shock. Her womb had been ruptured and if that didnt happen at their hospital, it is possible she might have been taken to other places. She had obstructed labour before we admitted her.

It is also not true that we pushed the woman out. Last Tuesday night, we discovered that the baby was stooling and we had to refer the baby to a general hospital the following morning for adequate treatment. That morning also completed the four weeks we gave the mother for recuperation.

When we called the man, he ignored the calls. We had to report him to the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, where he had earlier reported us. That was when he sent somebody to pick the wife and the baby.

Source: Punch
For allegedly threatening to bathe a pastor with acid and destroying his church, a 40-year-old Muslim cleric, Saheed Gbadamosi, was on Tuesday hauled up before an Ikeja Magistrates Court.

A resident of Aboru area of Iyana-Ipaja, a Lagos suburb, Gbadamosi, is being tried for breach of peace, assault and threat to life. According to the prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, the accused committed the offences on Sept. 4 at his residence. He said the accused with others still at large conspired and assaulted Pastor Emmanuel Ugbo by beating him, destroying church property and threatening to pour acid on him.

The accused and his accomplices beat up the complainant and damaged four chairs valued at N4,000 and mixer valued at N35,000 being church property. The accused and others also threatened to bathe him with acid if he refused to stop converting his `clients to his church. Nwosu said the accused stormed the complainants church with hoodlums armed with different types of dangerous weapons and attacked the complainant.

The complainant was in the fellowship with his members when the accused stormed the church with hoodlums carrying iron rods, sticks and other dangerous weapons. The accused obstructed the complainant from performing his duty as a pastor by chasing away all his members before descending on him, he told the court.

The offences, Nwosu said, contravened Sections 56, 166, 170 and 348 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The accused may be sentenced to a minimum of three years imprisonment on conviction, according to the Criminal Law. The accused pleaded innocence of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The Magistrate, Mr A.A. Adesanya, adjourned the case to Oct. 10 for mention.

Source: Vanguard
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Monday arrested a 47-year-old man, Odili Onyekwere, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos state. while attempting to export 270g of cocaine to Madagascar.

Onyekwere, a Rivers State indigene was arrested during the outward screening of passengers on a Kenyan Airways flight to Ivato International Airport, Antananarivo, Madagascar.

During interrogation, the suspect who excreted 25 wraps of cocaine said he went into drug trafficking out of frustration and his inability to provide for his family.

I am married with two children and I sell shoes in Lome, Togo. As a result of the economic downturn, my capital kept depreciating until I lost everything.

It was the frustration of not being able to provide for my wife and two children that made me go into smuggling of cocaine.

It is my first time. They promised to pay me $1,000, which is over N400,000, going by the present exchange rate, the suspect said.

Confirming the arrest to newsmen, the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Ahmadu Garba, said: This is the first arrest and seizure in the year of a passenger heading to Madagascar from this airport.

He is cooperating with our team of investigators and the case will soon be charged to court.
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, yesterday, knocked the South-East Governors Forum and Ohanaeze Ndigbo for showing little interest in the growth of the zone.

The monarch, who delivered a lecture with the theme, Think Nigeria, Invest in Anambra (Aku ruo uno) at the Dora Akunyili Womens Development Centre in Awka, as part of activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of Anambra State, expressed dismay that selfishness had put the two bodies in disarray.

The Obi of Onitsha, who doubles as Chairman of the Council of South-East Traditional Rulers, lamented that the Governors Forum, which was meant to be a rallying force for Ndigbo, has failed to play that role because of selfish political interest of Governors, while the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, had been enmeshed in series of controversies.

On the political and economic development of Nigeria, Igwe Achebe reiterated the call for restructuring of the country in a manner that would make for true fiscal federalism.

I truly believe that the long term interest of Ndigbo will best be served in a Nigeria that is just, fair and equitable and provides adequate safeguard as scope for individuals and ethnic nationalities to freely realize their aspiration and contribute their quota to the overall development of the country.

Such a situation will best be achieved by restructuring the country into a true political and fiscal federation based on the existing six geo-political zones at pre 1996 Constitution. Such an arrangement will afford the best platform for Ndigbo to actualise their character.

At the function where the state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, his Deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke and his predecessor, Mr. Peter Obi were absent, Igwe Achebe also said Ndigbo should not neglect investing in their homeland just as he called upon oil magnates in Anambra State, led by Prince Arthur Eze, to come together and ensure that the state-owned Orient Petroleum does not go under.

In the lecture, the first class traditional ruler enjoined people of the South East zone to revive the moral and cultural values that were held high in the region before now, stressing that Ndigbo needed urgent attitudinal change and must learn to respect one another and their host communities anywhere they reside.

Noting that Anambra had what it takes either in human and economic resources to be like Japan, Malaysia, Israel, China, India among other developed climes, the Obi of Onitsha advocated that Nnewi, Onitsha and Aba in Abia State, be transformed to become industrial hubs in Nigeria.

Ndigbo must think home and act home, in the spirit of Aku-ruo-uno to evolve a philosophy, ideology, strategy and action plans for self-sufficiency, self-reliance and contentment under any circumstance, he advocated.

The royal father, however, commended Governor Obiano for flushing out criminals and making Anambra conducive for investment.

The event was attended by prominent citizens from the state including former vice president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme; Constitutional Lawyer, Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN), former President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife; Senator Joy Emodi; the first female governor in Nigeria, Dame Virgy Etiaba; Chief Cosmas Maduka (Coscharis) and Anambra State House of Assembly Speaker, Rita Maduagwu, amongst others.
The Enugu State Police Command on Monday said that it arrested two armed robbery suspects that has been tormenting residents of Achara Layout within Enugu metropolis.

The commands spokesman, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu that the suspects had been disturbing the layout for over two months.

Amaraizu noted that the suspects were nabbed through police operatives response to a distress call.

The criminals and their cohorts now at large were operating at a shop on gun point at Awkunanaw Street in Achara Layout on Thursday at about 4 pm where suspects have allegedly robbed a sales girl of an undisclosed amount of money and valuables.

It was gathered that on arrival, suspects allegedly engaged police in a gun duel and the ensuing gun battle resulted in the arrest of Obumneme Nwafor, who already had been touched by bullet.

His arrest, however, promptly guided police operatives in the arrest of Emeka Oparaugo alias cross-over.

Recovered from the suspects are locally made pistols with double mouth, two cell-phones, he said.

Amaraizu said that the suspects were helping the police in its investigation.

A manhunt on the fleeing members of the gang have been intensified with a view to arresting them, he said.
Proceeds from the Book launch of Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, would be donated to charity efforts in the North East of the country, Information Nigeria has learnt.

The book, which is a biography of President Buhari, was written by an American Professor, John Paden.

The book was launched Monday in Abuja at the International Conference Centre with dignitaries gracing the occasion.

Let me say that the proceeds of the launch of this book will all go to some select charities including humanitarian aid to the Internally Displaced People (from Boko Haram activities) in the North East, said Mr. Paden, a Professor of International Studies.

The author described the book as an attempt to introduce Buhari to the international audience since Nigerians already knew who the president is.

The North East, which is the hotbed of Boko Haram insurgency, is currently grappling with humanitarian crisis.

Although the event was well attended by very wealthy individuals, the organisers, in tune with the presidents disdain for opulence, also announced that no one would be allowed to make huge donations or purchase copies in millions of Naira.

Rather, one of the organisers, Samaila Funtua, announced that the cover price of the book was pegged at N1500 for the soft cover, N2500 for the hard cover and N10,000 for the leather cover.

Following the directive, the two presenters of the Book, Abdulsamad Rabiu and Tunde Folawiyo, simply announced they were purchasing two copies for each of the nations tertiary institutions.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was Special Guest of Honour while former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, was Chairman of the event.
The Senate has passed eight Bills  aimed at ending the current economic recession in the country  it received from the House of Representatives for concurrence.

The Bills, which would be promptly forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, were considered and passed in a single sitting of the Senate.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday, in a statement signed by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said the consideration and passage of the Bills in a single sitting was a demonstration of the commitment of the 8th National Assembly to employ all legislative mechanisms at its disposal to end the current economic recession in the country.

The Bills that will be presented to President Buhari soon include the Telecommunication and Postal Offences Act (Amendment) Bill, National Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds (Registration) Act (Amendment) Bill, Produce (Enforcement of Export Standards) Act (Amendment) Bill, Prevention of Crimes Act (Amendment) Bill, Water Resources Act (Amendment) Bill, National Agricultural Land Development Authority Act (Amendment) Bill, Bee (Import Control and Management) Act (Amendment) Bill and Agricultural and Rural Management Training Act (Amendment) Bill.

According to Saraki, By now it is clear that the Senators take Nigeria economic situation very seriously. If you recall, one of the points from the 21-point resolution passed by the Senate on the economy stated that it would fast-track all economic related bills. What this Senate has done is match its words with its actions.

The 8 Bills, which are all primarily amendments to existing laws, are aimed at strengthening the enforcement mechanisms in sectors of the economy that can help boost Internally Generated Revenue.

Important highlights of the Bills include the amendment to the Telecommunication and Postal Offences Act, which is aimed at increasing some of the prescribed penalties, fines and compensations for non-compliance with the Act. This is intended to help boost investment and participation in the telecommunications sector.

Additionally, the National Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds (Registration) Act (Amendment) Bill, Produce (Enforcement of Export Standards) Act (Amendment) Bill, National Agricultural Land Development Authority Act (Amendment) Bill, Bee (Import Control and Management) Act (Amendment) Bill, and the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Act (Amendment) Bill are all aimed at bolstering the standards in Nigerias Agricultural sector to help the country achieve more economic diversification.

Mr. Saraki further stated that the 8 Bills will be promptly forwarded to the president for assent.

Moving forward, Nigerians can expect that the legislature will adopt a united and efficient approach to getting Nigerias economy back on track, he said. We will quickly forward these 8 Bills, which have been passed by both Houses of the National Assembly to the President. This is only a first step and we will continue to work to ensure that at the end of our tenure, Nigerians will see that this is a people-centred National Assembly.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has initiated fresh moves to quash his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Mr. Saraki is standing trial before the tribunal over alleged false assets declaration when he was governor of Kwara State.

In an enforcement of fundamental human rights suit, which he filed before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court, Abuja, the Senate president declared that the plan to resume his trial at the CCT is a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The suit, which was marked FHC/ABJ/CS/117/2016 and filed by one Timipa Jenkins Okponipere on behalf of Mr. Saraki, is also praying for an order compelling the CCT and Attorney General of the Federation to suspend indefinitely, any plan to resume the trial at the CCT.

Among the grounds relied on by the applicant, include that the trial at CCT was commenced at the wrong time; four years after Saraki allegedly committed the offences.

According to him, Having regard to the aims and objectives of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and its functions in sections 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal (CCBT) Act, Senator Saraki ought to have been prosecuted by the respondents long before he returned to public life again in 2015 as an elected Senator.

Indeed, the CCBT Act never contemplated that an incumbent public office holder was already corrupt before he attained public office, otherwise, people like Senator Saraki, who had a case to answer regarding his activities between 2003 and 2011 would not have been permitted to return to public life.

However, four years later in 2015 Senator Saraki not only returned to public life as a Senator, he went on to become the President of the Senate, Chairman of the National Assembly and Nigerias number three citizen

It is nobodys fault that the 1st and 2nd respondents were not vigilant enough to stop or prevent Senator Sarki from attaining public office. If truly the respondents were proactive institutions of government, they ought to have prosecuted Senator Sarki immediately after he left office as Governor of Kwara State in 2011, but they never did.

The failure, refusal and/or negligence of the respondents to prosecute Senator Saraki for the offences he allegedly committed between 2003 and 2011 before he returned again to public life as a Senator, vitiated all his past alleged misdeeds such that, as of June 8, 2015 when he was inaugurated as a Senator, he was assumed to be a public office holder without blemish in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of the respondents, otherwise they would have long since initiated proceedings against him.

The subsequent attempt to put Senator Saraki on trial over offences allegedly committed between 2003 and 2011 are not only tainted with political mischief and desperation, they constitute a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing.

Responding to the suit, the AGF, in a notice of preliminary objection, faulted Saraki and prayed the court to dismiss his suit for lack of merit.

The AGF noted that the subject matter of the suit did not fall within the provisions of chapter four of the Constitution, containing the guaranteed fundamental human rights.

The case has been adjourned to November 16, 2016.
The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai, has said the Boko Haram insurgency is a great setback to western education in the state.

Garbai stated this when he received members of the senior course of the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information in his palace in Maiduguri on Monday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The Shehu noted that before the advent of the Boko Haram insurgency, some people were hesitant in embracing western education as they concentrated in Quranic education.

Garbai added although various administrations in the state had been able to convince the people on the advantages of western education, massive destruction of schools by the insurgents had caused great setback.

The Boko Haram insurgents have further worsened our condition in terms of western education, NAN quoted the Shehu of Borno as saying at the forum.

Ordinarily some of our people prefer to send their children to Islamic schools but as the people are beginning to accept western education, the massive destruction of schools by the insurgents had taken us back.

Garbai commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his effort in fighting the insurgents.

We are lucky to have survived the insurgents onslaught in the state.

The relocation of the military high command to Maiduguri by Buhari and the subsequent appointment of Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai and other capable hands to head the security agencies brought hope to us, the Shehu of Borno added.
A Shiite group known as Save Zakzakys Life Group in Nigeria, has declared readiness of its members to storm Abuja in millions for a sit-around protest.

The group said the protest became imperative following the expiration of a two-week ultimatum it gave to the Federal Government to release leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who has been in detention since last December.

A statement signed by the groups National Coordinator, Bashir Mafara, said members would find a suitable time to storm Abuja in millions for the protest, adding that they would not end the occupation of the nations capital till the Shiite leader, Sheik El-Zakzaky, is released.

Two weeks back, we had given an ultimatum to the Nigerian government, under the leadership of Muhammad Buhari, to release our leader Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky, who has been in detention since nine months back, and his wife Zeenatu, his children and the over 200 of his followers that are still in detention in Kaduna prison, the statement said.

The group added that while it is inclined to believe that President Muhammadu Buharis advisers might not be inclined to respect justice and have the Shiite leader released, it was hopeful that Buhari in person would release Zakzaky since he is not guilty.

The group said it was disappointed that as the ultimatum expired yesterday, there was no sign of Zakzakys release.
The Nigerian Army yesterday said troops of Operation Lafiya Dole arrested a suspected Boko Haram militant, Adamu Nuhu, at Kwaya Kusar Local Government Area in northern Borno.

The Boko Haram suspect was arrested on Sunday following a tip off, the Army said.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, in a statement, said that Nuhu is currently being interrogated.

Similarly, at about 5.43 p.m. Sunday, three women suspected to be spouses of wanted Boko Haram terrorists and logistics suppliers were arrested at Miringa market by vigilante members in the town, Usman said.

He added the vigilante members had handed the women to troops and were also being investigated.

In a related development, Usman said troops of the 33 Brigade, Nigerian Army, deployed at Forward Operation Base (FOB), Bauchi, killed five suspected kidnappers at Dutsen Makurd in Ningi Local Government Area.

He said the killing followed an exchange of gunfire between the suspects and troops.

According to the army spokesman, three dane guns and other dangerous weapons were recovered from the suspects.
A 19-year-old employee, John Edward , was on Tuesday arraigned in Lagos for beating up his employer over delay in the payment of salary. The accused, whose address was not stated in court, is facing a four-count charge bordering on assault, conspiracy and malicious damage before an Ikeja Magistrates Court. The Prosecutor, Mr Ishola Samuel, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Sept. 1 at Olusoji Idowu St. Ilupeju, Lagos. Samuel said the accused conspired with others still at large and assaulted their employer, Solomon David, over delay in the payment of their salaries.

The accused used dangerous weapons such as iron rod and stick to inflict injuries on the complainant, the prosecutor said. According to him, the accused and his collaborators also destroyed a telephone handset worth N7,000 and tore their employers shirt, valued at N10, 000. Samuel said that the offences contravened Sections 410, 171 and 337 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate, Miss A .R Onilogbo, granted the accused N50,000 bail with two sureties in like sum. The case was adjourned to Nov. 1, for hearing.

Source: Vanguard
Microsoft released KB 3194496 on Sept. 29. That patch brought customers with Windows 10 Anniversary Update, version 1607, up to build 14393.222. It also brought to their knees Surface Pro 4 tablets and Surface Books sold outside China that have the Chinese Input Method Editor installed to allow typing in Chinese.

A week later, Microsoft hasn't come up with a fix. The only solution appears to be to uninstall the buggy KB 3194496 patch and manually block it so that it doesn't come back again automatically.

[ InfoWorld has you covered through all stages of Windows 10. Download the Windows 10 installation superguide and the ultimate Windows 10 survivor kit, both available as PDFs. | Stay up on key Microsoft technologies with the Windows Report newsletter. ]

Poster i-am-andrew on the Microsoft Answers forum described the problem on Sept. 30:

I have a UK-configured Surface Pro 4 and have the Chinese Simplified language pack installed for it's keyboard options. Following the "Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB3194496)" on 2016-09-29 the Microsoft IME process is using a large amount of CPU causing my Surface Pro 4 i5 to get very hot, the fan to come on and burning through my battery etc. I've tried uninstalling the Chinese language pack, rebooting and reinstalling it which has not fixed the problem. The only way to stop the high CPU use is to uninstall the Chinese language pack, end the Microsoft IME task and reboot the machine. I assume this is a bug in this Windows 10 update which is going to need fixing.

There are now four pages of comments from people with both the Traditional and Simplified IME packs installed on Surface Pro 4 and Surface Books. They're showing CPU usage pegged at 30 to 50 percent and batteries draining in record time.

Poster AnthonyTok offers this twist:

Last night I also heard my SP4 fan on high some time after closing my type cover (PC was in sleep mode). Guess who the culprit was? Having this problem occur in sleep mode is ridiculous.

And kenwu27 adds an extreme counterpoint to the "Edge battery life" ads:

Same problem on my Surface Book. I have US language with UK and Chinese language packs installed, which means the CPU usage is higher 90 percent when only Edge is running. This is unacceptable. Microsoft, not sure how it passed your testing.

Uninstalling the Chinese IME doesn't help. Microsoft employee and Surface forum moderator Jasmine Carr offered a suggested workaround on the Answers forum earlier this morning, but it lands you back in the quagmire.

The only way to get rid of the problem, per poster pp09, is to uninstall KB 3194496, and hide the patch using the wushowhide trick.

Bugs as a service.
Code-search service Sourcegraph wants to distinguish itself as more than a glorified plaintext search of code in public and private GitHub repositories. The service applies the same kind of lexical analysis to code that an IDE does, so every function, package, and reference in a given library can be examined contextually.

Earlier this week, Sourcegraph unveiled a revamped front end for its service that the company claims is faster and easier to work with and is presented more like an IDE you might actually be working with on your own system.

[ Also on InfoWorld: Download the quick guide to Google Go today. | Keep up with hot topics in programming with InfoWorld's Application Development newsletter. ]

Sourcegraph maintains an index of code in Google's Go language, harvested from GitHub repositories, that can be searched by simply typing the name of a repository, file, or object definition. When you bring up a given file, all the functions, variable definitions, and variable types in the file can be searched for intelligently.

The search isn't simply conducted in the current file or repository; it can also be performed across all files and repositories that Sourcegraph has indexed. Right-clicking on a function or object type returns a detailed description of that item, along with references to other places where it's used -- in the same manner as a desktop IDE.

InfoWorld When browsing a Go source code repository with Sourcegraph, all references to a given function -- in this casen, NewRouter -- can be located throughout the repository. The search is done by intelligently analyzing the code, not simply by performing a full-text search.

The idea, Sourcegraph says, is to make "figuring out how to use libraries and understanding existing code a breeze," by allowing the developer to see, in context, how existing libraries are used and what other projects are employing them.

Another touted selling point of Sourcegraph is the code browser itself, which was built with Microsoft's Monaco -- the same JavaScript-powered in-browser editor used to power Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Monaco handles large files well, and Sourcegraph makes use of its native features, like syntax highlighting.

The single biggest drawback to Sourcegraph -- one the company claims it's on the verge of changing -- is that it currently can index only code written in Go. The company's CEO hinted on Hacker News that support for other languages is in the works. Currently, if you open code from another language in Sourcegraph, such as Python, the code will feature the correct syntax highlighting, but Sourcegraph's specialized search functions won't work with it.

Like many offerings in this space, Sourcegraph has a free tier and an enterprise-centric for-pay tier. Users pay nothing for searches on public open source repositories and can search "single branch, latest commit" for private projects without paying either. The enterprise edition -- pricing is available only on request -- allows unlimited private branch/commit searches and has the option to run Sourcegraph "in your own network." This does not mean it's a self-hosted version of the product. The company has stated it will not have one "for the foreseeable future."
Corn (ZC) Retesting Weekly Chart Triangle Resistance Tradable Patterns - 33 minutes ago CORN (ZCZ22) gapped up more than 2% to start the week, but is likely to consolidate these next few days as it bumps against the psychologically key 700 whole figure level and triangle resistance (on the... ZCZ22 : 696-4 (+2.31%) CORN : 27.09 (-0.33%)

Grains start off hot! Banghart Properties - Sun Oct 30, 7:29PM CDT How strong will wheat finish the week out

Lean Hogs Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 5:03PM CDT The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 89.075, which will be followed by reaching support level 80.675 and if it keeps on moving down below that level,...

Feeder Cattle Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 5:02PM CDT The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 178.550, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 188.250.

Live Cattle Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 5:01PM CDT The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 151.775, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 156.475.

Soybean Oil Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 5:00PM CDT The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 73.75, which will be followed by reaching support level 68.16 and if it keeps on moving down below that level,...

Soybean Meal Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 4:59PM CDT The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 419.1, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 439.

Soybean Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 4:58PM CDT The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 1380.4, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 1423.2 and if it keeps on moving up above that level, we...

Corn Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Oct 30, 4:57PM CDT The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 689.6, which will be followed by reaching support level 661.4.
DEAR HARRIETTE: My family has a history of breast cancer, and I am nearing an age where my rate of developing cancer is getting higher. I have been considering getting a preventive double mastectomy. Although this is not necessary for me right now, I want the closest thing to 100 percent certainty that I will see my grandchildren get married.

I have spoken to my doctor, and he recommends waiting on the mastectomy, provided I get frequent checkups to see if I develop something. However, he does note that I should do whatever I am most comfortable with. My husband has told the rest of my family about my medical dilemma, and now I am getting opinions from all sides. I want my medical opinions coming from my doctor only. -- Risky Business, Washington, D.C.

DEAR RISKY BUSINESS: It is understandable that you would be nervous about your health, given your family history. But it is also wise for you to consult with your doctor -- and to get a second opinion. Consult another cancer specialist, and have that doctor review your medical history to give you a second recommendation. I have spoken to many women who have a family history of breast cancer who have made a range of choices based upon medical input and their own instincts.

There now are a host of tests that can help to pinpoint the likelihood of you getting cancer. Take advantage of the new technology before taking extreme action. By all means, stay on top of your health.

DEAR HARRIETTE: Upon moving into my house, my landlord said utilities were included in my rent. After a month of living here, I received an electricity bill and called my landlord. He didn't pick up, but texted me that it was my responsibility. His statement about utilities wasn't in the lease, but he made a verbal promise to me. Is there any way I could make him honor his promise now that he's trying to make me foot the bill? -- Lights Off, Jackson, Mississippi

DEAR LIGHTS OFF: This is why you must read the fine print. It is your word against your landlord's, and your rental agreement does not support your word. If at all possible, try again to have a direct conversation with your landlord. Appeal to his humanity. Tell him that you created a tight monthly budget based upon numbers that are now changing because he has changed his terms. Ask him to help you out. Remind him how much you enjoy living in this house, but you really need his help by honoring the verbal agreement he made with you.

If you cannot get to him in person, you can try having this conversation via text. If you get him to admit that he did verbally agree to paying the utilities, you could take him to court. But it is likely that you are going to have to pay this utility bill. You will have to balance out whether the headache, time and possible cost of attempting to get your landlord to honor his word is worth it.

Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
When filmmaker George Lucas endowed the George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) in 1991, his reasons were highly personal. The Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator hadnt always been a success; as teenager, he struggled in school, prisoner to an unimaginative education system that was ineffective at engaging students and stifling for a young creative like Lucas.

After becoming a father in 1981, Lucas started thinking again about the shortcomings of traditional education. The writer, producer, and director set out on a mission to provide schools and educators across the nation with tools to develop systems for learning that would better nurture talent, interests, and creativity. Along with business partner and venture capitalist Steve Arnold, Lucas created Edutopia.com, the foundations primary service. The website and its community function as an outlet for innovative teaching ideas, techniques, tools and syllabi, spreading ideas between educators that are designed to inspire outside-the-box lesson plans and new ways to teach students well-worn subjects.

Lucas's foundation has now been operating for 25 years. And along the way, an interesting thing has happened: A growing number of other philanthropists and educators have gotten on the same wavelength as George Lucas. Emerging billionaire donors in the ed space like Laurene Powell Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as a growing list of mainstream foundations, have embraced the basic idea that schools need to do a much better job of nurturing creativity and critical thinking. And a rising tide of funding is going to support innovative new school models, as well as personalized learning tools and techniquesthe kind of stuff that Lucas has been interested in from the start.

A quarter-century ago, the foundations first public-facing project was a film. Learn & Live, hosted by late actor Robin Williams and distributed by PBS, centered on the stories of five progressive schools using project-based learning, modern technologies, and strong partnerships to enhance students learning experience.

Boy, that all sounds familiar, doesn't it? Just yesterday, we wrote about the funders getting behind Transcend, a group that aims to advance new school models based on some of the same ideas. And last month, we wrote about how Powell Jobs is giving $100 million to alternative high schools that operate along similar lines. But George Lucas was on the case long ago. And unlike so many billionaire ed philanthropists, Lucas never got behind charter schools, a reform idea that's proven hard to hard to scale, and instead stayed focused on a long-term drive to change the way that all students learn, in whatever schools they attend. The Lucas vision, which a growing number of mega-donors are now embracing, is that a truly "disruptive" revolution in education won't come about by changing institutional systems with ideas like choice and accountability; it will come about by fundamentally changing learning strategies.

Related:

Today, Edutopias core function remains the sameemploying storytelling as a method for educating teachers and administrators about cutting-edge techniques within their industry. The website, Edutopia.com, is now the main outlet for the foundations work, offering success stories and information via case studies, articles, community contributions, and videos.

Beyond Edutopias continued work, the foundations most prominent step forward over the last 25 years has been the formation of its first major new division in 2013. Lucas Education Research (LER) was created to fund and conduct research in collaboration with universities, educators, and other research firms, with the goal of identifying and designing new models in education that can be easily replicated by schools across the country. The division takes a three-pronged approach to their research: development, replication, and validation. At the moment Lucas Education Research is working on nine major projects, including the Knowledge in Action Project, the Learning Through Performance Project, and the Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning Project.

While the nonprofit foundation does see some income from private donors and ad placement sales, its biggest funding source has remained consistent over the quarter century since its inception: George Lucas, who has pumped between $4 and $5 million into the foundation every year in order to fulfill his mission of improving K-12 education.

And there's more where that came from. After selling the rights to his Star Wars franchise to Disney for $4 billion in 2012, Lucas indicated that the majority of those earnings will support his work on education; he has also signed the Giving Pledge.

As a K-12 philanthropist, in other words, George Lucas may just be getting started in terms of truly large-scale giving.

Related: In ThisCorner of the Education Fight: Heavyweight George Lucas
Construction has begun on Airport Deluxe Indoor RV Storage in Tipp City, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. The property at 11710 Peters Pike, near the Dayton International Airport, will cater to vehicle-storage tenants, with the first of two buildings expected to be complete by November, according to the source. It will offer 30 large units in each building for boats, camper trailers and RVs.

Demand for vehicle storage in on the rise in the area, said Mike Desch, who owns the business with his wife, Nancee. The camping and RV industry is booming, and the units are getting bigger and more expensive, he said.

While the area has facilities that offer outdoor storage space, it lacks those that cater to high-end clientele seeking interior vehicle-storage units, Mike Desch said. "The store and lock companies around the area can provide RV storage. There is space available, but inside is very limited.

Desch plans to eventually build four buildings on the 3-acre property. Each will comprise about 11,000 square feet, with bays measuring 14 to 20 feet wide and 54 feet deep. Heated bays will also be available. While targeted to customers seeking vehicle storage, the units can also be used by businesses or individuals seeking a large unit, Desch said, adding hes already started a waiting list.

Greenville, Ohio-based Morton Buildings is constructing the facility. The first phase is estimated to cost $900,000 to $1 million, the source reported. Financing was provided by New Carlisle Federal Savings Bank.
Global custodian banks have been rocked by scandals in the past few years: State Street Corp. alone recently paid $382 million to settle allegations of fraudulent foreign exchange practices. Still, new regulations and requirements for asset managers have been a boon to the biggest players in the securities services business.

BNY Mellon, No. 1 in Institutional Investors ranking of the Worlds Largest Global Custodians for the eighth straight year, saw its assets under custody rise to an estimated $25.08 trillion. The New Yorkbased banks new mandates for 2016 include a United Arab Emiratesbased exchange-traded fund and a servicing deal with Nomura Asset Management Deutschland.

Paul Fahey, Northern Trust Corp.s head of insurance asset servicing and its business supporting institutional investors that run in-house asset management, sums up the relationship between regulators and custodians. Regulation continues to be the single largest product development driver, he says. As asset managers, asset owners and insurance companies have gotten additional requirements put on them, they are looking at their options, including outsourcing, adds Fahey, whose Chicago-based firm ranks sixth, with $6.35 trillion in assets under custody.

Regulators are directly and indirectly spurring demand for a number of services. Global custodians agree that insurers  suffering from years of minimal yield on their fixed-income portfolios  are more open to outsourcing back- and middle-office services that arent core to their business. Institutional investors keep pressuring hedge fund and private equity firms to invest in their infrastructure, a trend that has pushed alternative managers to consider external providers like the big custodians.

Investors are hesitant to put money with hedge funds and other smaller firms that havent spent big on recordkeeping and other systems and safeguards, such as defenses against cybercrime. At the same time, technological advancements have fueled growth for custodians by making it easier for managers and others to switch to an outside provider via true plug-and-play systems.

For custodians, providing services to manage, strategize, access and make sense of data is probably the most active area. Asset managers not only need to access the right information in real time for regulators scrutinizing their businesses; most also want to be able to make data-fueled decisions on everything from picking investments to promoting staff. Theyre turning to custodians for help.

Fahey, who spent 15 years at Boston-based State Street (No. 2, with $21.35 trillion under custody) before joining Northern Trust six years ago, says the bank is building tools and helping clients to develop cost-effective strategies around data. Clients expect the data services they utilize at work to resemble the conveniences in their personal life, he explains, citing real-time UPS delivery tracking and his nine-year-old sons class, which uses Google Docs to share writing assignments and offer instantaneous feedback. If thats the environment youre living with daily, youre bringing that expectation to the office, Fahey notes. People wont tolerate that lack of access to data anymore.

Michael Coleman, New Yorkbased head of global custody and fund services product development at J.P. Morgan, says potential and present clients always evaluate custodians data services, which he describes as an area of growing competition among custodian banks. J.P. Morgan, the No. 3 firm in our ranking with $20.47 trillion in assets under custody, focuses on quality because clients rely on data for such critical activities. If youre doing fancy things with data, how do you know its right? Coleman asks.

Earlier this year J.P. Morgan became the first client of BlackRocks Provider Aladdin, a version of the New Yorkbased asset management giants existing risk and portfolio management system designed for custodians. BlackRock is also one of J.P. Morgans largest clients. Coleman says Aladdin is part of the banks effort to offer an integrated data environment that brings together a clients information from J.P. Morgan, outside asset managers and external operations providers. This allows clients and providers to work off the same data sources in real time, he observes.

J.P. Morgan staffers are using Aladdins screens on their desktops. In instances where someone at J.P. Morgan used to have to call BlackRock to analyze a discrepancy, both parties can now see it on the system simultaneously. Coleman, who calls this arrangement extended enterprise, says it changes the nature of the vendorclient relationship: Where are the boundaries between clients and their service providers? J.P. Morgan has also developed data science methods to statistically detect problems with funds net asset values and is creating machine learning tools for custody clients.

Late last year Northern Trust and an outside provider released a survey of 201 asset management and insurance executives in the U.S. and the U.K. on data sourcing, management and strategy. Only 13 percent of respondents said they got full value from their data, while 54 percent listed improving investment decisions as a top-three goal for data strategy. Other reasons to get a better handle on data included managing risks, lowering costs, and improving internal and external reporting. Custodians are eager to fill these gaps.

Get more research and rankings.
Sun Life Financial of Canada is planning to expand into Singapore and Thailand to boost the groups presence in the Asian market, where demand for insurance is growing, said a senior executive from the company.The company, which has made several acquisitions in Asia in the past three years, may buy stakes in other companies, as well as building its market presence organically, Kevin Strain, president of Sun Life Financial Asia told Reuters. However, no timeline has been set for the expansion.Sun Life currently has operations in seven Asian markets, including China, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and Malaysia. Earnings from Asia made up 15% of net income for the second quarter of 2016, compared to just 11% at the same point last year.Expanding into Singapore and Thailand will greatly increase its presence in the Southeast Asian region.These are two markets and potentially we will look at them, Strain said. Its a sizeable opportunity.Southeast Asia is attractive to foreign insurers seeking to take advantage of the regions low insurance penetration and fast growth rates for life insurance premiums, compared to their own home markets.According to Strain, Singapore presents an opportunity to sell insurance to high-net-worth clients, while Thailands population of around 66 million will give Sun Life access to a large amount of potential customers.
Global insurer Chubb has made three senior appointments for its business in Asia PacificMichael Mick Peacock, presently energy & technical lines manager for Australia & New Zealand, has been appointed to the role of head of energy & power, Asia Pacific.In his new capacity, Peacock will relocate from Sydney to Singapore, and will report to Frazer. His responsibilities will include overseeing the inland transit portfolio.Peacock, who joined legacy ACE in 2012 in his current role, is an experienced underwriter who held diverse underwriting and leadership roles in local and multinational insurers as well as the government.Taking on Peacocks role as the new energy & technical lines manager for Australia & New Zealand is Stephen Hanna, who is currently product head power for Australia & New Zealand.In his new role, Hanna will report to Peacock and Peter Kelaher, head of property & casualty, Australia & New Zealand.An engineer by training, Hanna joined legacy ACE in 2005 as senior regional engineer, energy & utilities. He became product head, power in 2011.Michael Frazer, who is currently head of energy & technical lines, Asia Pacific, since 2012 has been promoted to head of property, Asia Pacific.In his new role, Frazer will continue to be based in Singapore, and will report to Jason Keen, who he replaced having been recently promoted to regional head of property & casualty, Asia Pacific.Frazer joined legacy ACE in 1999, and has since then acquired extensive leadership and underwriting experience in property, energy, and engineering. He holds a degree with a diploma in education, a Certificate IV in general insurance, and a diploma in general insurance.Keen commented on the new appointments: This succession plan shows the depth of talent we have at Chubb as we develop our people to meet the evolving business needs across our network.Michael, Mick, and Steve have proven leadership, professionalism and demonstrated success which will serve us well as we continue to seize the many growth opportunities the region offers."
The regional head of FM Global has revealed industries they think could be a target which could help brokers sell the emerging cover.The company recently announced the launch of new dedicated cyber risk engineering and underwriting units and Stefano Tranquillo, Stefano Tranquillo, senior vice president, Asia Pacific division manager for FM Global, said that certain industries have higher levels of risk.I think that industries that typically collect a lot of data, healthcare, education, financial institutions, retail, I think those industries will be particularly prone to these types of attacks but that is not to say that manufacturing, power and utilities arent exposed, Tranquillo told Insurance Business.They are probably exposed to a lesser degree but I think that if they too suffer corruption of data or interruption of data services, the impacts can be devastating.Tranquillo said that the business expects cyber-related exposures and losses to grow steadily over time throughout the Asia Pac market as they are set to have a major impact on clients.We think that the frequency and cyber incidents will continue to grow, primarily because connectivity is increasing all the time, Tranquillo noted.I think that already today we are seeing a lot of media coverage in terms of high cost cyber breaches and I think that is raising awareness particularly within the C-suite but this is a problem that I think will continue to evolve and increase significantly, particularly as we become more interconnected.Cyber hit the headlines again last week with one Perth real estate agent dodging a $500,000 attack thanks to a fast-acting employee.This case stresses the point made by Tranquillo that the majority of loss is preventable, in the cyber market.We already see this as an opportunity to work with clients to reduce their cyber related exposures and mitigate cyber related losses, Tranquillo continued. By creating these teams, we hope to provide our clients with a risk based framework and really the tools to assess and improve risk.
Australian bank ING Direct is expanding its offering for Australian home loan borrowers with the launch of home and contents insurance, developed in partnership with Auto & General.



In a statement, ING Direct said it will initially offer home, contents, and home and contents packages to customers who have come through the banks broker network, with a variety of optional cover available including landlord, flood, accidental damage, and personal valuables. The offering will then be expanded in early 2017 to direct home loan customers and as a stand-alone product for existing and new customers.



John Arnott, executive director, customers, at ING Direct, said the new product offering was for making the home loan process as smooth and simple as possible for customers:



Buying a home is both an exciting and incredibly busy time and we want to make the process as simple and efficient as possible for our customers so they can focus on the excitement of settling into their new home. Its about understanding their broader needs at this time and making sure we can meet them  effectively offering a one stop shop.



ING Directs insurance proposition will be fully digital  automatically generating insurance estimates and emailing it to the customer upon formal approval of their home loan application. The customer will be able to view the details of the estimate, and by providing a few additional information, will be given a full quote. The customer will also have the option to purchase the insurance instantly online.



Ram Kangatharan, MD & CEO at Auto & General, said the company was proud to be selected as ING Directs insurance partner: ING Direct is a market leader in digital innovation and Auto & General has been developing smart data driven solutions tailored to meet their customers needs through their preferred purchase channels.



Related stories:

AOBIS launches 'game-changing' product

Auto & General launches new claims system

Policyholders told to recalculate contents insurance to avoid price pain


The financial cost of South Australias statewide blackout caused by the storm system that hit the state last week could amount to billions of dollars, with insurance unlikely to cover the significant financial losses for thousands of affected businesses, it has been reported.Nigel McBride, Business SA chief executive, said most of the losses incurred from the statewide blackout would not be covered by business insurance, The Australian reported.There will be people who suffered uninsurable loss, McBride said. There could be costs in productivity alone of more than $2 billion and that doesnt even count stock.According to The Australian, three of the largest manufactures in the state had ceased or slowed down their production due to the storm and blackout.Integrated mining and metals business Nyrstar said that costs could reach an estimated $7.31 million in profit. The Whyalla Steelworks had stopped its production, and shut down its plant, which faces three weeks of repairs. Global resources company BHP Billiton, on the other hand, said back-up generators were supporting its critical infrastructure at its Olympic Dam mine in the states mid-north.Smaller businesses were also affected by the storm and blackout, including OZ Minerals which was forced to suspend its Prominent Hill copper and goldmine production.Economist Darryl Gobbet, said the state would also suffer from reputational damage, with the potential loss of future business and investment: My concern is the way the Premier responded to the issue, saying that it was beyond our control and could happen again.In a statement, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said the storm has caused a largely low-level damage to property across a very widespread area. It will take insurers several days, however, before ICA can gain a more complete picture of the storm impact.
Just the other day this urgent message went out to Trump activists, organizers and supporters in New Hampshire:

All indicators show that New Hampshire is absolutely critical to Mr. Trump winning the White House. Without the Granite State's 4 electoral votes, things don't look good.

Then the statewide organization for Donald Trump's presidential campaign listed 51 "meet-ups," mostly at Dunkin' Donuts outlets, small cafes and private homes, to mobilize efforts to draw this state into the Trump column next month. Monday night the campaign held 15 debate-watch parties across the state, including one at Libby's Bar and Grill, which bills itself as a "chill hangout" on Main Street here in Durham, home of the University of New Hampshire. Who says the Trump campaign doesn't have a ground operation?

And yet the Trump effort here, like its efforts elsewhere, is being conducted amid a Republican Party in turmoil.

The result is a campaign year that defies the definition that Robert Frost -- who, as perhaps New Hampshire's signature citizen, studied in Hanover, raised chickens in Derry, taught in Plymouth and celebrated birch "trunks arching in the woods" close by his Franconia farm -- applied to poetry: a work that "begins in delight and ends in wisdom."

But the turmoil here, in a state Republicans carried in every election between 1948 and 1988, with the exception of the Lyndon Johnson landslide, is especially critical. New Hampshire is one of a handful of battleground states where Trump, Hillary Clinton and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, all of whom visited here last week, are battling in an increasingly close contest.

All of that turmoil, moreover, is being conducted in an environment where the state's Republicans, who occupied the governor's chair for all but 15 of the 138 years between from 1859 to 1997, are fighting to retain a critical Senate seat and to regain a governor's office that once seemed almost to be their birthright.

The result is a very awkward moment for New Hampshire Republicans. The two leading statewide Republican candidates -- Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is seeking a second term, and gubernatorial candidate Chris Sununu, the son of a former governor, the brother of a former senator and a member of the state's Executive Council -- represent a return to a Granite State Republicanism personified by former Sens. Judd Gregg and the late Warren B. Rudman: ideological, to be sure, but not doctrinaire.

Trump won the vital primary here in February by a decisive margin but now lags in the polls. Clinton and her husband have won two New Hampshire primaries (but not this year's), with Bill Clinton breaking the GOP's traditional hold on the state in general elections by winning it both times he ran. Barack Obama also won the state in both of his general-election campaigns, but had third-party candidate Ralph Nader not run in 2000, Vice President Al Gore would have taken the state and the election -- and the Florida recount spectacle would have been avoided.

The Trump candidacy has warped the calculus of New Hampshire politics this fall.

Ayotte, who has made a solid reputation on Capitol Hill for her work on national security, is facing a strong challenge from the Democratic governor, Maggie Hassan. Ayotte and Trump are not soul-siblings; in a summertime Washington Post interview, the real-estate-and-casino tycoon singled her out, saying, "We don't need weak people. We have enough of them. We need fighters in this country. But Kelly Ayotte has given me zero support, and I'm doing great in New Hampshire."

Since then, in a contorted political move that might win her advantage in a game of Twister but has only confused things here, the senator said she will vote for Trump but that she has not endorsed him. The state's lone Republican House member, Rep. Frank Guinta, is fully behind Trump and, despite federal charges he accepted illegal contributions -- and a New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper editorial describing him as a "damned liar" -- Guinta prevailed in last month's primary, largely on the strength of Trump supporters.

Party insiders say Ayotte's support in the state exceeds that of Trump and likely will stay that way; she provides a safe harbor for Republicans who want to show their party loyalty by voting for her even as they vote for Clinton, the Libertarians' Johnson or no one at all for president. "The idea of voting against her because of the Trump factor doesn't hold," said former state attorney general Thomas D. Rath. "People here realize they can split their vote."

Ayotte and her rival are playing a game of political guilt-by-association. Hassan has tried to tie Ayotte to Trump. Ayotte has returned the volley by questioning why the governor continues to support a presidential nominee who was soundly defeated by Sen. Bernie Sanders of neighboring Vermont in the state's primary. Meanwhile, the Union Leader, the statewide newspaper and a generations-long sentinel of Granite State conservatism, has endorsed Johnson, the former GOP governor of New Mexico.

"Now I can sleep at night," Joseph W. McQuaid, publisher of the newspaper, said in an interview.

Last winter, McQuaid wrote that Trump's campaign was "an insult to the intelligence of Republican voters." The other day he said he didn't know whom his endorsement helps. "Those two," he said, "are the worst candidates the parties have put up in a long time."

Hardly anyone, here or elsewhere, contests that, with the Trump factor a subtheme in Republicans' races elsewhere this fall. In another vital swing state, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania cited Trump's "vulgarity, particularly toward women" and his "lack of appreciation for constitutional limits on executive powers" as reasons he is keeping his distance from his party's nominee. Former GOP Gov. Tom Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security, has said he wouldn't vote for either Trump or Clinton.

The onetime New Hampshire poet laureate Donald Hall once wrote that "Convention speaks merely of four seasons; here we number at least a thousand." The political season this time around has been dispiriting. No poetry in the politics here this year.
The engineer of the New Jersey commuter train that crashed on Thursday told investigators he was fully rested but has no memory of the incident, and a recovered data recorder was not working, a National Transportation Safety Board official said on Sunday.

The derailed train at a Hoboken station killed a 34-year-old woman on the platform and injured 108 people during the morning rush hour. The terminal has some 60,000 people pass on a typical weekday.

NTSB Vice Chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr told a news conference that the agency was still in the fact-gathering phase of the investigation.

New Jersey Transit said on Sunday that all rail service into and out of the Hoboken terminal remained suspended.

Thomas Gallagher, a 29-year New Jersey Transit veteran who was injured when the train derailed, told investigators the train was running at 10 miles an hour when it was approaching the station, Dinh-Zarr said.

Investigators at this time could not ascertain the speed of the train when it was near the station.

When interviewed by investigators, Gallagher said he conducted various procedures, including checking the trains speedometer, and put his cellphone away during the trip.

He also said he had no memory of the accident.

The trains conductor, meanwhile, told investigators he didnt recall anything unusual before the crash, Dinh-Zarr said.

One of the data recorders recovered was not working, but there is another one which is newer, Dinh-Zarr said.

We are hopeful it would be working, she said.

While waiting for possible information from the second data recorder and a full review of available videos, investigators could not verify what steps Gallagher may have taken to slow or stop the train before the crash, according to Dinh-Zarr.

The NTSB official reiterated the agency found nothing on the track that would have affected the trains performance.

Recovery of evidence has been slowed due to damage to the stations columns, leaving the facility unstable. Environmental and structural problems have delayed the extraction of the second data recorder and forward-facing video recorder that could help investigators understand the causes of the crash.

The Federal Railroad Administration had begun an investigation into New Jersey Transits safety practices prior to Thursdays crash, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing an official who it said had been briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

An initial safety audit was completed in June, the newspaper reported.

The FRA and New Jersey Transit did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the New York Times report.

(Additional reporting by Dion Rabouin; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Nick Zieminski)

Topics New Jersey
An explosion that destroyed a New York City home and killed a firefighter has drawn attention to marijuana-making methods that are legal in many states  but can also be lethal.

A New York fire battalion chief died responding to the blast Tuesday in a Bronx home that authorities say had been converted into an indoor marijuana farm. Theyre investigating whether the alleged growers tampered with gas lines and mishandled other materials in ways that caused the explosion.

Indoor marijuana farmers can create potential fire hazards by using natural gas, propane or butane to power carbon dioxide generators that make the plants grow. In recent years across the country, similar methods used to produce more potent marijuana extracts have resulted in explosions and other catastrophes.

Indoor gas use is a standard way to grow marijuana, says Michael OHare, a professor at the University of California in Berkeley who is an expert in cannabis cultivation. If you raise the CO2 level, itll grow faster.

Some growers rely on propane or butane gas because using large amounts of metered gas from a utility could draw the attention of authorities, who might question why so much fuel is needed for a house of a certain size, OHare said. In those conditions, a gas leak could spell disaster, he said.

An hour before the explosion at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday in the Bronx, dozens of nearby residents said they could smell gas wafting over the neighborhood. The house had already been evacuated and fire personnel were on the scene when the blast sent debris flying, killing Chief Michael Fahy, a 17-year fire department veteran and father of three. His funeral was being held Saturday.

Two suspects, Garivaldi Castillo and Julio Salcedo, were arrested and are being held on drug charges while authorities try to determine whether there is evidence that could result in more serious counts related to Fahys death.

Prosecutors said in court this week that the two-story Bronx property was full of combustible items related to the pot operation, including grow lamps and vats of liquid fertilizer. Windows were sealed and other areas covered with extra insulation to retain heat. Plants the size of small trees were growing in bedrooms on the upper floor.

A lawyer for the 32-year-old Castillo has questioned his connections to the house. Castillo has pleaded not guilty. Salcedo, 34, was arraigned late Friday, pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

Firefighters packed the courthouse where Salcedo was arraigned. Earlier, as he walked into a Bronx precinct, some firefighters told him to burn in hell, The New York Daily News reported.

Given that only about half of U.S. states have legalized marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, its impossible to estimate how many such growth labs exist, OHare said.

In marijuana production-related accidents, more than 30 people were injured last year in Colorado from butane explosions involving hash oil  a concentrated form of marijuana extracted from the plants leaves and flowers.

Last year, a marijuana dispensary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was engulfed in flames after a blast that injured two workers. Fire department investigators said a butane leak met with an ignition source, causing an explosion powerful enough to separate the roof from the wall and melt fluorescent lights.

And in Washington state, federal prosecutors have brought charges in five cases involving explosions during hash oil production. The former mayor of Bellevue, Washington, died while trying to escape a fire linked to such activity.

In the past year or so, an especially strong concentrate is appearing  shatter, a form of cannabis wax derived from butane hash oil that is about five times more potent and faster-acting than unrefined smoked cannabis. Its legal for recreational use in states such as Colorado and Washington, but sold in medical marijuana dispensaries in other states.

Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New York Washington Cannabis
A federal judge says Brown University must hold a new disciplinary hearing for a student who said he was wrongly accused of sexual assault and suspended for two years.

U.S. District Court Judge William Smith this week said the Ivy League university in Rhode Island breached its contract with the student identified as John Doe. Among the issues was that Brown used a different definition of consent than the one in place at the time of the encounter.

Smith says nothing in his decision prevents Brown from retrying Doe. He stressed he wasnt addressing whether Doe was responsible.

A Brown spokesman says Doe is still enrolled at Brown but not taking classes there this semester. If Doe decides to return, he says Brown will decide whether further action is needed.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Education Universities
American International Group Inc.s business in Brazil agreed to transfer about 25,000 auto policies to a unit of Porto Seguro SA as the U.S. company scales back its international businesses.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval, Sao Paulo-based Porto Seguro said Monday in a regulatory filing that didnt disclose terms. AIG will stop offering home, personal accident and group life coverage in Brazil, the company said in a separate statement. The firm said it will cover those clients for the remainder of their policies, while the auto portfolio will be managed until approvals are granted.

AIG Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock is retreating from personal insurance in some regions, telling investors in an annual report that he would exit 47 countries to concentrate on key markets. The New York-based company has sold units in Central America and Taiwan, as well as shares in Chinese insurer PICC Property & Casualty Co.

AIG has been in Brazil for almost 70 years and the country plays a vital role in our overall success, the insurer said in its statement. We remain committed to our local and multinational clients, offering a broad portfolio of innovative solutions, including combined solutions for small and medium sized businesses, which we expect to open new opportunities for our brokers partners and their businesses.

Hancock said in January that he would seek to return $25 billion to shareholders over two years, with as much as $7 billion coming from divestitures. This year, he agreed to sell a mortgage guarantor, a broker-dealer network and an operation in London.

AIG slipped 1.1 percent to $58.70 at 2:40 p.m. in New York. It has dropped 5.3 percent this year, compared with a 5.6 percent climb in the S&P 500 Index.

Editors Note: The headline for this article has been changed. It incorrectly stated AIG was exiting personal lines in Brazil.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Auto
Chinas tech giants  Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent  increasingly have a finger in every part of the economy. So why arent they bigger participants in what should be an easy sell online: insurance?

Some inroads are being made.

Last November, Baidu joined with Allianz and Hillhouse Capital Group to establish a nationwide digital insurance company. Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, along with Tencent and Ping An, have stakes in one of the countrys first online insurers, Zhong An, which sells indemnity at a discount to drivers who accept monitoring devices in their cars. The most popular insurance sold by Ant is shipment-return cover, which for about 5 yuan ($0.75) allows shoppers on Tmall and Taobao to send goods back for free. But by and large, Chinas property and casualty insurance market remains the bailiwick of traditional players.

Its an odd absence, especially considering the sector is overdue for a shake-up. E-commerce spending in China already surpasses that in the U.S. and payment apps are fast catching up to cash. According to a survey conducted by Bain, China has the highest percentage of people who say theyd miss their cell phone more than their wallet.

Insurance can be a challenging business. According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Lam, about 80 percent of Chinas 59 auto-insurance companies posted underwriting losses in the first quarter.

Get it right, however, and there are gains to be made. PICC Property & Casualty, for instance, makes about 70 percent of its underwriting profit from selling car cover. And while PICCs growth in auto premiums may cool as vehicle sales slow, non-auto lines like agriculture, liability, accident and health insurance, could fill the gap given Chinas latest five-year plan aims to promote the use of liability insurance to improve safety and protect the agricultural sector in the event of natural disasters.

Insurers themselves are becoming increasingly tech savvy, which is helping to school customers in the ways of the internet. Ping An launched Chinas first online financial management service back in 2009 and its Good Doctor product, an online-to-offline healthcare servicing platform, has some 77 million registered subscribers. In theory, it should be simple to encourage that user base to buy insurance online as well.

Without a traditional player as a partner, it may be more difficult for Chinas tech giants to make a go of insurance online considering they dont have in-house expertise when it comes to underwriting and managing claims.

Still, Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent do have the tech know-how and online payment nous. Chinas insurance industry is ripe for disruption, if only its B.A.T. internet triumvirate would take the leap.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Trends Auto InsurTech Tech Agribusiness China Market
The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade ripped into Haitis southwestern peninsula early on Tuesday, packing 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and storm surges that killed at least one person and damaged homes.

The eye of the violent Category 4 storm was just 35 miles off the western tip of Haiti at 5 a.m EDT (0900 GMT), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, pounding coastal villages with strong gusts.

One man died when a wave crashed through his home in the beach town of Port Salut, Haitis civil protection service said. He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said.

Overnight, Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks on the Tiburon Peninsula frantically sought shelter as Hurricane Matthew closed in, bringing heavy rain and driving the ocean into seaside towns.

This storm surge will also limit rainfall runoff in some places, aggravating flooding, especially in coastal locations where swollen rivers cannot drain, Weather Underground forecaster Jeff Masters said in a blog.

Up to three feet of rain is forecast to fall over denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince, where heavy rain fell overnight.

Life-threatening rain, wind and storm surges was spreading over parts of the country, the hurricane center said in its advisory.

The outer bands of the cyclone had already reached the area late on Monday, flooding dozens of houses in the town of Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the local mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

Children, Prisoner Moved

We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter, said Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre. In Tiburon, another town nearby, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also ran for cover when the sea rose.

Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult, mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

Poor Haitians are often loath to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

Civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus to a high school in the capital from an orphanage in the shoreside Cite Soleil slum, made up of tin shacks and open sewers and known as Haitis largest shanty town.

On the north coast, about 300 detainees were transferred from their prison near the sea in the town of Jeremie, the interior ministry said.

The cyclone comes at a bad time for Haiti, where tens of thousands of people still live in tents after a 2010 earthquake that killed upwards of 200,000 people.

Cholera introduced by U.N. peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Oct. 9.

The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

Crawling north at about 9 miles-per-hour (15 kph), the strongest storm since Hurricane Felix in 2009 threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage in Haiti, where it will spend much of the day before hitting Cuba and the Bahamas later on Tuesday.

It will possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present, the hurricane Center said. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

Cuba Prepares

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the towns largest shelter, a school.

Since yesterday weve had nothing  We must sleep on the floor  Everyone is hungry, said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haitis neighbor Cuba, where authorities spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, the disputed home to a U.S. Naval base and military prison but also a small Cuban city.

Food is guaranteed and we have a generator that will guarantee that the kitchen keeps on working in case of a power cut, said Alexis Iglesias, head of the evacuation committee at Guantanamo University which was being used as shelter, where some 400 people were staying.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said on Monday it was providing a combined $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica. The agency said in a statement it had pre-positioned relief supplies and was preparing to ship in additional supplies to the central Caribbean.

(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva in Port-au-Prince and Maini Brice in Les Cayes; Additional reporting by Sarah Marsh in Cuba and Brendan OBrien in Milwaukee; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Dominic Evans and Andrew Heavens)

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Hurricane
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer announced that many business owners in the state will pay less for workers compensation insurance in 2017. It will be the second consecutive year for workers comp rate decreases in Kansas.

Many of the approximately 65,000 Kansas businesses that purchase workers compensation insurance will be affected by the decreases, according to the Kansas Insurance Department.

The 2017 rate filing by the National Council on Compensations Insurance Inc. (NCCI) for workers comp shows a decrease of 8.4 percent in the voluntary base rate and a decrease of 7.8 percent for assigned risk workers compensation rates. Adding together the rate decreases Kansas business owners saw in 2016, over a two-year period, the rates will have dropped 20 percent in the voluntary base rate and 18 percent in the assigned risk rate.

Voluntary workers compensation base rates are used by all insurance companies writing workers comp in the competitive market. Assigned risk rates are used for insured businesses in the Kansas Assigned Risk Plan, a state organization for those businesses who are unable to obtain coverage in the competitive market.

In the voluntary market, there was a 7.2 percent drop in experience (the number of claims filed for the three most recent policy years), and a 2 percent drop in medical and indemnity trends. Increases in benefits, and loss adjustment expense made the total an 8.4 percent overall decrease.

In Kansas, 65 percent of workers compensation benefit distribution goes to pay medical claims, and 35 percent goes to indemnity claims, according to statistics from the NCCI.

The new filings were approved for a Jan. 1, 2017, effective date.

NCCI prepares workers compensation rate recommendations and manages the nations largest database of workers comp information.

Topics Workers' Compensation Kansas
Council Bluffs, Iowa, officials are working to strengthen the levees protecting the western Iowa city before homeowners are forced to pay higher premiums for flood insurance.

The Daily Nonpareil reports the city wants to complete the levee projects before the Federal Emergency Management Agency updates its flood maps sometime in the next several years.

Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh says the city is racing to get the levee system upgraded and certified before the flood maps are redrawn, which will likely happen in 2022 or 2023.

Were in a race to get it done before FEMA remaps our community, Walsh said.

Council Bluffs is working to improve its levees because of the massive 2011 flood where water levels along the Missouri River remained high for months.

All of the citys levees must be certified by FEMA. If they arent, then homeowners will have to pay significantly higher flood insurance premiums.

The good news is that the latest step in the project will be significantly cheaper than the $600,000 officials expected. The city council recently approved a $326,558 contract with Valley Corporation to address seepage problems along the river levee. Relief wells will be replaced with new ones by next March.

We got a really good bid on it, Walsh said. It came in almost half of what was budgeted.

Public Works Department Director Greg Reeder said the city is making good progress, but still has a number of levee projects that have to be completed soon.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood Iowa
Legal and regulatory squabbles in New York, California and other states involving Berkshire Hathaway and its Applied Underwriter affiliates over particular workers compensation products should not have any negative effects on brokers who dealt with the products, according to a top Applied Underwriters executive.

Counsel for Berkshires Applied Underwriters is refuting a number of the allegations brought in lawsuits filed over the products and downplaying concerns over broker liability raised by an Insurance Journal article. Applied Underwriters is contending that brokers should not be at risk, the companies involved are properly licensed, loss reserves are adequate, and loss sensitive products like the ones Applied Underwriters offers are not unusual.

Applied Underwriters is seeking to reassure agents and insureds as multi-year loss-sensitive and profit sharing products it sells under the names EquityComp, Premier Exclusive and SolutionOne are coming under scrutiny due to lawsuits and regulatory actions in a number of states.

Under loss-sensitive products, the ultimate cost to insureds can vary depending upon the costs of claims.

Some plaintiffs who are now balking at their costs contend that the products by Applied Underwriters that include a reinsurance agreement have not been properly vetted by insurance regulators. Applied Underwriters says otherwise and is standing behind its products.

In California, Applied Underwriters has agreed to stop selling its EquityComp product after the state insurance commissioner determined it should have been but was never filed for approval and an insured, Shasta Linen, is suing Applied Underwriters.

The products are also the subject of a New York lawsuit filed by Breakaway Courier Corp. This suit calls the program a reverse Ponzi scheme.

Vermont and Wisconsin have halted sales of the products as they are currently structured.

The entities tied to Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway that are involved in both the New York and California cases include: Applied Group Insurance Holdings Inc. of Hawaii; Applied Underwriters Inc. (AU), a non-insurer in Nebraska; Applied Risk Services Inc., a general agency in Nebraska; and Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company Inc. (AUCRA) in Iowa.

Product Design

Loss-sensitive products offer insureds discounted workers compensation insurance along with the potential to share in any underwriting profits but if an insureds losses are higher-than-average, the insured may be charged additional premium. Some loss-sensitive programs are built using self-retention amounts, or large and small deductibles, or dividends; Applied Underwriters structures its program around reinsurance.

According to Applied Underwriters, its product has three parts: a standard workers compensation policy; a separate reinsurance agreement with an Iowa captive acting as a reinsurer; and a separate Reinsurance Participation Agreement (RPA) between the Iowa captive and the insured. The insured thus is a participant in the reinsurance arrangement and receives an allocation of the reinsurance premium and losses. According to Applied Underwriters, the program keeps a separate underwriting account, known as a segregated cell, for each participant. The workers compensation carrier cedes a portion of the insureds workers compensation policy premiums and losses to the captive reinsurer. Under the RPA, the insured agrees to capitalize the cell in exchange for a share of any underwriting profits should it have favorable claims experience.

Thats not how the New York plaintiff describes it. The Breakaway Courier complaint offers this view of the operation:

[V]ictims are led to believe that their capital is being paid into protected cells which will eventually be returned to them. Instead, Berkshire Hathaway illegally siphons off premiums through an unlicensed, unregistered and undercollateralized Hawaiian entity, leaving New York employers and injured workers without the funds that New York State requires to be available to cover losses due to worker injuries.

The crux of the disagreement appears to be whether the RPA itself changes the rates or terms of the insurance contract and, if it does, whether it should be state-approved. Plaintiffs say it does affect the insurance and should be approved; Applied says it does not and thus need not be approved.

Applieds RPA

Applied Underwriters patented Reinsurance Participation Agreement (RPA) is designed to give small and medium-sized businesses access to plans that have been available to large employers. Applied Underwriters has been very successful with its RPA products.

New Yorks Breakaway Courier, however, claims in its suit that the terms of the complex RPA are so obscure as to be unintelligible and that it has been used to shift unlimited liability back onto Breakaway while the captive AUCRA retains the funds. Breakaway says it wound up paying substantially more than its indicated maximum premium and what was allowed by law. It is seeking $18 million in damages.

A recent story in Insurance Journal suggested brokers could face liability because insureds may balk at their premium assessments or the products may be considered investments.

Applied Underwriters refutes the scenario painted by Breakaway and disputes that the products are too risky for agents and brokers to sell.

The Applied entities are the primary defendants in the current pending lawsuits, said Jeffrey Silver, executive vice president at Applied Underwriters Inc., adding that brokers should not be at risk.

Insurance Journals story included a quote from an unnamed source saying the affiliates were trying to throw brokers under the bus.

Applied Underwriters says thats not true.

We do business with brokers, Silver said. We respect brokers and we are not ever going to throw brokers under the bus as somebody claims we do.

Silver also said these products are legal for brokers to sell and are not uncommon, as is implied by the New York lawsuit.

That is a very, very common product sold throughout the United States, Silver said. Loss-sensitive products are very, very common in the workers compensation field.

Programs using cell captives are also common, he added.

The notion that somehow what were selling is a bad product is misleading- its a relatively common product, Silver said.

Licensing Issues

Silver addressed other issues cited in the complaints that AUCRA and Applied Underwriters are not rated by A.M. Best and that Applied Underwriters is not licensed to do business in New York.

Silver says those are not valid complaints.

Applied Underwriters Inc. is not an insurance company, he said, adding that means it wouldnt need to be licensed in New York.

He said Continental Indemnity Co., the insurance company that actually provides the workers compensation coverage to New York employers, is licensed in New York and rated A+ by A.M. Best.

The New York lawsuit also alleges that Applied Underwriters is using an unlicensed insurance company to divert premiums to another unlicensed entity.

That statement is unfounded, Silver said. The fact of the matter is that the insurance company issuing the workers compensation insurance policies in New York is Continental Indemnity Co., which is licensed in New York and retains exclusive responsibility to pay any and all workers compensation claims that occur under its policy.

Silver said there have been claims made under Breakaways workers compensation policy, and all have been adjusted with one open claim currently reserved at $40,000.

Another allegation in the New York suit is that the affiliates are able to keep less in loss reserves than other carriers, giving them a competitive advantage  a statement Silver also said is unfounded.

AUCRA has significant capital and surplus in excess of what is required by the Iowa Division of Insurance, Silver said, referring to an audit of AUCRA by Iowa regulators. The Iowa Insurance Division performed a routine audit of AUCRA U.S. on Dec. 31, 2013 and found that the company was compliant with insurance laws in the state of Iowa.

Silver also said AUCRAs reserves have been reviewed by the private services firm, Milliman, and found to be adequate.

Silver addressed one other issue raised in the New York suit. Citing an Iowa Division of Insurance audit, Breakaway Courier said that AUCRA BVI, the British Virgin Islands domiciled affiliate of AUCRA US, ceased to exist on Dec. 9, 2011 following its merger with AUCRA US.

Breakaway clams this is material because after its Premier Exclusive policies expired on June 30, 2012, it agreed to purchase a renewal option from Applied Underwriters Inc. for a product called SolutionOne. Breakaway subsequently signed a second RPA in July 2012. The second RPA document states that the agreement was made and entered into between Breakaway and AUCRA, a company organized and existing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands.

This led Breakaway to suspect that the second RPA was negotiated with a non-existent entity. However, according to Silver, AUCRA BVI merged with AUCRA US in 2011, meaning that AUCRA US assumed all liabilities and assets from AUCRA BVI following the merge.

[The RPA] may have been issued before the merger actually happened, Silver said in response to concerns about the documents wording. He added that after the merger, AUCRA BVI was no longer considered a foreign entity, in response to another question as to why it isnt listed on NAICs alien insurance company approved list.

The New York Department of Financial Services that regulates insurance told Insurance Journal it had no comment on this matter.

California Case

In the California case, Shasta Linen, which purchased an EquityComp policy from California Insurance Co. and AUCRA, objected to loss assessments it was billed for and questioned the legality of the policies before the state insurance department.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones called out Applied Underwriters for not having filed the RPA for state approval, which he said is required because he determined that the RPA affects the workers compensation premiums rates and terms. Applied Underwriters agreed to stop selling EquityComp in that state but it is appealing Jones decision favoring Shasta Linen, arguing that Jones exceeded his authority and that the RPA should not be subject to rate and form approval because it does not provide any insurance coverage nor does it modify the obligations of either the workers compensation insurer or insured. Applied Underwriters says California regulators have reviewed its loss-sensitive programs with its RPA in the past and never found fault.

California Insurance Co. and AUCRA are also fighting a lawsuit filed by Shasta accusing them of unfair business practices and fraud. Applied Underwriters has said this suit is without merit.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers California USA Agencies Claims Workers' Compensation Profit Loss New York Underwriting Reinsurance Iowa Nebraska
Yahoos disclosure that hackers stole user data from at least 500 million accounts in 2014 has highlighted shortcomings in U.S. rules on when cyber attacks must be revealed and their enforcement.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner last week asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Yahoo and its senior executives properly disclosed the attack, which Yahoo blamed on Sept. 22 on a state-sponsored actor.

The Yahoo hack could become a test case of the SECs guidelines, said Jacob Olcott, former Senate Commerce Committee counsel who helped develop them, due to the size of the breach, intense public scrutiny and uncertainty over the timing of Yahoos discovery.

Yahoo has not specifically addressed when it learned of the 2014 attack. And the vagueness of SECs 2011 rules on disclosure and its failure to enforce them are drawing equal attention, privacy lawyers and cyber security experts said.

The agency has been looking for the right case to bring forward, said Olcott.

The agency in 2011 told publicly traded companies to report hacking incidents that could have a material adverse effect on the business but did not define that.

SEC has never acted against a company for failing to disclose a cybersecurity incident or threat, and it has brought just two enforcement actions against companies for insufficient data protection, an agency spokesman said.

Lawyers said this reflected difficulty in determining if breaches were material and many companies belief that reporting on cyber threats generally satisfies the disclosure requirement.

Yahoo has not offered a precise timeline about when it was made aware of the breach.

On Sept. 9, it said in an SEC filing it did not know of any incidents of, or third party claims alleging  unauthorized access of customers personal data that could have a material adverse effect on Verizon Communication Incs planned $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoos core business.

Since then, Yahoo has not clarified if it knew of the attack before that SEC filing. Our investigation into this matter is ongoing and the issues are complex, a Yahoo spokesman said last week.

In his letter, Warner asked the SEC to evaluate whether the current disclosure regime was adequate. He cited reports that fewer than 100 of 9,000 public companies disclosed a material data breach since 2010.

I dont know that we need new rules. But in certain situations, you may need more aggressive enforcement, said Roberta Karmel, a Brooklyn Law School professor.

The SEC in 2014 examined whether cyber disclosure rules needed to be strengthened and imposed new requirements for broker-dealers and investment advisers but not public companies.

Punish the Victim

Some policymakers worry rules compelling prompt disclosure of cyber attacks could deter companies from cooperating with authorities.

We cannot blame executives for worrying that what starts today as an honest conversation about a cyberattack could end tomorrow in a punish the victim regulatory enforcement action, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said this week.

Congress last year expanded liability protections for companies that share cyber information with the government, and Pritzker urged granting companies temporary immunity during the response to a hack.

Amid SEC inaction, the Federal Trade Commission has brought 60 successful data security cases since 2001 in part, lawyers said, because its authority is clearer than the SECs.

Those cases have dealt with deceptive statements by companies and security lapses. The FTC is hampered by the lack of a national requirement for companies to notify the public about data breaches.

That idea got widespread support after the 2013 hacking of shoppers credit card information from Target Corp. But legislation proposed by President Barack Obama in 2015 fizzled.

(Reporting by Dustin Volz; Additional reporting by Joseph Menn, Jim Finkle and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Cynthia Osterman)

Topics Cyber
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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Bunker, a Hiscox and American Family-backed startup billing itself as the first contract-related insurance marketplace, has officially left startup mode and unveiled its first product. The target audience: independent contractors and small businesses.

The San Francisco-based startup said it has made its platform  dubbed Project Greenbrier  available in the U.S. in a beta launch. After approval comes through in Massachusetts (expected in a matter of days), the product can be used in all 50 states, co-founder and CEO Chad Nitschke told Carrier Management via email.

Bunker began in stealth mode about a year-and-a-half ago, with a goal of building a platform that helps businesses understand how to link insurance requirements for independent contracts, suppliers and partners to the financial exposure. The companys technology is also designed to make it easier for gig workers, contractors and small businesses to be able to provide the required insurance products they need in an affordable way. According to Bunker, the platform is structured to help simplify communication and management of complicated insurance requirements, even for insurance products not purchased through the platform.

Nitschke said that Bunker defies precedent in the insurance world. There really isnt a category for what we do  nobody has ever taken this approach before. Its an entirely new model, he said.

Nitschke describes the company as a modern digital broker/MGA  that is hidden behind an enterprise Saas [Software as a Service] platform which automates the management of the insurance requirement process.

He added that this system lets Bunker change the point-of-sale, deliver the exact insurance policy a small business or 1099 worker needs to meet the myriad of requirements they run into from clients, landlords, and others who require specific insurance.

Bunker sees particular opportunity with the 1099/independent contractor industry, and cites statistics from Ardent Partners that point to the sector growing to as much as 45 percent to 50 percent of the workforce by the end of 2017; the sector is at about 29 percent to 32 percent right now, according to Ardent.

Bunker, which also has an office in Madison, Wisconsin, disclosed a $2 million seed funding round in June, co-led by Comcast Ventures and Route 66 Ventures. Hiscox and American Familys venture arms also participated in the round. About 13 people work for Bunker now but the number is growing, Nitschke said.

Nitschke added that Bunker is trying to be thoughtful about its insurance partner relationships, choosing to focus initially on a handful of carriers that have a strong value proposition and product offering for independent contractors, freelancers and small businesses. Hiscox and Travelers fit this description and are among the carriers Bunker is working with, Nitschke said.

Related:

Topics Carriers Agencies InsurTech Contractors
A petition that would legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma will go before voters in a future election after a 10-day period that allowed for challenges over the validity of the signatures expired this week.

Supporters of State Question 788 gathered more than 67,000 signatures to put the measure on a ballot, likely for the 2018 election, The Oklahoman reported.

The ballot question could be put to voters earlier through a special election, but that option appears unlikely given the $1.2 million cost to the budget-crunched state.

Chip Paul, a spokesman for the group backing the proposal, Oklahomans for Health, said supporters will lobby for a special election next year, arguing that any delay could deprive treatment for hundreds of patients suffering from cancer, seizures or other serious illness.

State officials have said backers of the measure didnt submit their signatures to qualify with enough buffer time for legal challenges and for the states Election Board to print and send ballots to counties, military members and overseas voters.

If approved by voters, the measure would permit doctors to recommend a patient, who is at least 25 years old, for a state-issued medical marijuana license. Patients would be allowed to legally possess up to 3 ounces of the drug.

The more than 67,000 Oklahomans who signed the petition for medical marijuana will have their voices heard, said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma. The historic success of this grassroots effort led by Oklahomans for Health is a testament to the overwhelming support for medical marijuana.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Trends Cannabis Oklahoma
The aging transportation infrastructure in Arkansas needs $750 million to make critical repairs, according to a recent study that identified bridges in danger of collapse and once-paved roads that have been reduced to gravel paths.

County judges, legislators and advocacy groups are determining how to pay for the overhauls in a state with the nations 12th largest highway system.

The study commissioned by the Association of Arkansas Counties identified nearly 1,200 bridges considered to be obsolete or structurally deficient and estimated that it would take about $154 million to make repairs on some 50,000 miles of county roads.

Some state officials have proposed a tax increase to pay for repairs, an option that Gov. Asa Hutchinson was reluctant to support during a special legislative session held earlier this year. Hutchinson instead signed into law a funding plan that uses some state surpluses and treasury investment earnings to raise $50 million a year.

State Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, said voters would likely need to approve any funding proposal.

Whatever ballot initiative we come up with to send to the voters  whether it be a gas tax initiative, or the whole gamut of possibilities  we have to ensure that there is a plan for what exactly it will be spent on, Douglas told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

White County Judge Michael Lincoln, who supports a tax increase to make repairs, said hes had to close several bridges during his 10 years in office. Just to re-gravel the 4,000 miles of county roads would wipe out the road departments $8 million annual budget, Lincoln said.

We are in a crisis in this country, and people ought to be talking about the crisis that our infrastructure is in, and we ought to propose taxation that is dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure, Lincoln said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Arkansas
A machinery rebuilding company in Houston was cited by federal safety regulators on Sept. 28 for exposing employees to workplace hazards.

The U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $155,139 in penalties against Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders Inc. for exposing workers at the machinery repair shop to struck-by and amputation hazards.

The company was previously cited in February 2016 for similar violations. OSHA said an inspection found those violations have not been addressed.

Inspectors also found workers operating dangerous machinery that was without proper safety guards, was not secured properly and lacked required energy-control devices used to disable potentially hazardous machinery. Two citations were issued, one serious and one failure to abate violation.

Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHAs area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Source: OSHA

Topics Workers' Compensation Commercial Lines Business Insurance Manufacturing
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued an order establishing the 2017 commercial property rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.

Rates are going up for all accounts except the Commercial Property Non-Residential Multi-Peril. Some lines will see rate increases by as much as 12 percent.

The overall estimated statewide average rate changes are shown in the chart below. The effective date for both new and renewal rates within the Commercial Lines and Coastal Accounts is February 1, 2017.

Account Original Rate Requested Estimated Rate Established Commercial Property Residential Multi-Peril (Condo Assn.) Commercial Lines Account #16-18917 4.5% increase 4.5% increase Commercial Property Residential Multi-Peril (Ex. Condo Assn.) Commercial Lines Account #16-18920 5.4% increase 5.4% increase Commercial Property Non-Residential Multi-Peril Commercial Lines Account #16-19213 0.0% 0.0% Commercial Property Residential Wind Only (Ex. Condo Assn.) Coastal Account #16-19498 11.2% increase 11.2% increase Commercial Property Residential Wind Only (Condo Assn.) Coastal Account #16-19500 12.0% increase 11.9% increase Commercial Property Non-Residential Wind Only Coastal Account #16-19522 9.8% increase 9.8% increase

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund cash buildup factor changes are included in the rates.

OIR also requested a review by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology on how wind rating models and stricter building standards impact rates in Monroe County. The move was made in response to testimony from multiple Monroe stakeholders at the Citizens rate hearing that expressed concern over the rate increases.

OIR said the review is in addition to a separate initiative underway to evaluate building code standards in Monroe County and their effect on rates. OIR said it will require an additional rate filing by Citizens for its policyholders in Monroe County if the results of either or both of these efforts support such a filing.

Last month, OIR approved a 6.4 percent overall rate increase for 2017 for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. homeowners multiperil policyholders across the state. According to Citizens, the increase is necessary to address what it calls a disturbing increase in non-weather water loss claims and litigation for homeowners.

OIR has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets.

Topics Trends Florida Commercial Lines Business Insurance Pricing Trends Property
The homeowners insurance rate increase disagreement between the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) and the insurance industry is not over.

The North Carolina Rate Bureau (NCRB), which files rates with NCDOI on behalf of insurers writing in the state, is calling foul on a recent court of appeals decision agreeing with the state insurance commissioners rejection of a nearly 25 percent homeowners insurance rate increase. NCRB now wants to take its fight to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The case refers to Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwins rejection of the bureaus 2014 homeowners insurance rate filing that called for 24.9 percent increase. NCRB sought the increase on behalf of nearly 100 companies selling homeowners policies in the state. Insurers said at the time the increase was needed to cover expectations of a sharp rise in projected repair and replacement costs and the growing risk of catastrophic losses.

Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, however, disagreed with NCRBs assessment, saying he found no factors or events justified the excessive costs required by the insurance companies. He instead ordered an average rate change of 0.0 percent on homeowners policies beginning in June 2015.

NCRB appealed his decision to the State Court of Appeals in Jan. 2014, but the court sided with Goodwin in August.

The order reflects a careful, thoughtful, and thorough consideration of the evidence, Judge J. Douglas McCullough wrote for the three-judge panel in its ruling, as reported by The Associated Press.

In its Sept. 6 request for discretionary review, NCRB says the appeals court erred in siding with Goodwin. NCRB says the appeals courts ruling violates the constitutional mandate under the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that a regulated firm is entitled to an opportunity to earn a rate of return commensurate with the level of profit demanded by the investment market on business ventures of comparable risk

NCRB maintains that the rate increase requested back in 2014 on homeowners insurance policies is necessary for insurers to maintain the cost of equity, which is the prospective return that investors can expect to earn in the marketplace on investments of comparable risk.

A regulated industry is entitled to earn a profit equivalent to the returns demanded by industries of comparable risk. In North Carolina, homeowners insurance is a regulated industry. North Carolina homeowners insurers are thus entitled to have rates set that allow them the opportunity to earn such a profit, NCRB said in its review request. Accordingly, insurance ratemaking procedures must ascertain the rate of return demanded by investors in industries of comparable risk, and the Commissioner must set an underwriting profit that will allow homeowners insurers to earn that rate of return.

In reaction to Goodwins rate rejection, a number of homeowners insurers have since issued policies to customers with consent-to-rate provisions in order to set rates to what they say is necessary for them to continue providing coverage. Insurers are authorized to write at rates above the approved NCRB rates if they receive a written consent-to-rate from the policyholder.

According to the NCRB, the number of consent-to-rate policies has proliferated since the rate rejection and now comprises more than a third of homeowners policies in the state. NCRB also contends that the states residual market, or market of last resort that is typically only utilized by those in coastal communities who cannot get coverage from the private market, has also increased exponentially in recent years.

In an otherwise competitive marketplace, where approximately 95 homeowners insurers write homeowners coverage in North Carolina, the fact that 40% percent to 70 percent of policies in beach and coastal counties are written in the residual market of last resort and as many as one-third of homeowners policies are being written pursuant to consent to rate procedures is compelling evidence that homeowners insurers are unable to earn a reasonable profit at the rates approved by the Commissioner, NCRB said.

Insurers said the rate increases were necessary for them to continue offering coverage in the state and make a profit that would satisfy their cost of equity. However, Goodwins rate rejection and subsequent order to set rates with an average of no increase only allowed for a 7.6 percent return of net worth for insurers  significantly below the 9.1 percent to 12.8 percent net worth range that insurers said was necessary for them to meet their obligations.

[The 7.6 percent] profit [is] clearly below the minimum constitutional standard such that the ordered rates are confiscatory, amounting to a regulatory taking under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, NCRB contested in its request for review. The Court of Appeals judgment disapproving the filed underwriting profit provision and affirming the Commissioners ordered profit provision is in violation of the United States Constitution and should be reviewed and reversed by this Court.

Goodwin respnded to NCRBs request for review on Sept. 21, expressing frustration that NCRB is continuing the rate fight, saying I rejected the insurance industrys proposed rate increase because I felt it was unjust and the Court of Appeals upheld my decision.

I am disappointed the insurance industry has decided to not only ignore but actively challenge my attempts to protect consumers regarding homeowners insurance rates, said Goodwin.

Related:

Topics Carriers Profit Loss Pricing Trends Homeowners Market North Carolina
Alliant Insurance Services Inc. has acquired the Hecht Group in Portland, Ore.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Hecht Group will join Alliant employee benefits, the companys national benefits consulting practice.

Hecht-Glad, along with the Hecht Groups management team and staff, will join Alliant and will continue to service clients from its headquarters in Portland.

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant provides property/casualty, workers compensation, employee benefits, surety and financial products and services.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Oregon Alliant
The WCIRB has submitted a pure premium rate filing to the California Department of Insurance proposing Jan. 1, 2017 advisory pure premium rates lower than the corresponding industry average and less than the average approved rates.

In an original filing in August the WCIRB submitted a rate filing that averaged $2.26 per $100 of payroll, but indicated that it would evaluate June 30, 2016 experience once it is received as well as any legislative changes that are adopted prior to the public hearing on this filing and, if appropriate, amend the pure premium rates proposed in the filing.

The legislation the WCIRB was evaluating were Senate Bill 1160 and Assembly Bill 1244.

AB 1244 is designed remove from the workers comp system doctors found to have committed a felony or misdemeanor involving fraud or abuse of the Medi-Cal program, Medicare or the workers comp system itself. The bill would also keep those doctors from filing liens.

According to the Department of Workers Compensation, 10 percent of liens filed between 2011 and 2015 were filed by providers with fraud indictments or convictions.

The other bill, SB 1160, places limitations on the utilization review process, and also would stay any physician or provider lien upon the filing of criminal charges against them for specified offenses involving medical fraud.

Impact projections from the WCIRB shows an estimated reduction in UR costs from SB 1160 but an increase in medical costs.

The WCIRB said it has completed its evaluations of June 30, 2016 experience and of the cost impact of SB 1160 and AB 1244 that were recently enacted by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last month.

As a result of these evaluations the WCIRB submitted an amended filing to CDI. The advisory pure premium rates proposed in this amended filing average $2.22 per $100 of payroll. This is 32 CENTS, or 12.6 percent, less than the corresponding industry average filed pure premium rate of $2.54 as of July 1, 2016 and 10 cents, or 4.3 percent, less than the average approved July 1, 2016 advisory pure premium rate of $2.32.

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has scheduled a public hearing to consider the WCIRB filing on Oct. 10 at 10 a.m. at the California Department of Insurance on 45 Fremont St. in the 22nd floor hearing room in San Francisco.

Related:

Topics California Workers' Compensation
The non-cumulative taxation system of the social contributions on revenues (PIS and Cofins) was established by Laws 10637/04 and 10833/03. It contributions are levied on the gross revenues of companies at the rates of 1.65% and 7.6%, respectively. The system grants the right to book credits arising from some expenses and was established as a mandatory regime for most Brazilian companies.

The former system (a cumulative system) charged the contributions only on the revenues arising from the companys core business at the rates of 0.65% and 3% respectively, but did not grant the right to offset credits.

Under the non-cumulative taxation system, contributions are levied on companies gross revenue, comprising almost all of its revenues, including financial revenues, which since the enactment of Laws 10637/04 and 10833/03, could be subject to a PIS and Cofins levy.

In order to mitigate the impacts of such tax hikes, Law 10865/04 established that the federal government could reduce and re-establish the PIS and Cofins rates on financial revenues. This was done through Decrees 5164/04 and 5442/05, which reduced the rates to zero.

Nevertheless, in 2015, Decree 8426/15, with the wording provided by Decree 8451/15, determined that the PIS and Cofins rates on financial revenues were to be raised to 0.65% and 4%, respectively, and 1.65% and 7.6% for revenues arising from interest on capital, with the exception of the following revenues that remained subject to a zero rate:

Monetary variations resulting from exchange rate in connection with exports of goods and services, as well as with the companies liabilities, including loans and financing; and

Hedge transactions held on stock exchanges, commodities and futures or over-the-counter (OTC) markets, exclusively intended for the protection against risks inherent to price or fees fluctuations, if, cumulatively, the purpose of the agreement negotiated is related to the operational activities of the legal entity and intended to protect its rights or obligations.

Although some financial revenues remain subject to zero PIS and Cofins rates, several taxpayers were irked with the taxation of their financial revenues by the PIS and Cofins and took the discussion to the Brazilian Courts, mainly arguing that:

As the taxation is mandatory, subject to the Principle of Legality, no tax can be established or increased if not by law. Hence, rising the PIS and Cofins rates by a decree would be unlawful; and

If the re-establishment of the mentioned rate by a decree is considered lawful, the taxpayer should be entitled to book PIS and Cofins credits in connection with expenses incurred in order to obtain the financial revenues, respecting the non-cumulative taxation system.

At this moment, the matter is still highly controversial, with rulings with different understandings rendered by the local courts. Further, the Superior Court of Justice has recently begun the analysis of the matter for the first time in Special Appeal 1.586.950.

At the moment the possible outcome of this dispute is not clear, as the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) is analysing the matter for the first time. Nevertheless, taxpayers hope that the ruling of Special Appeal 1.586.950 might shed some light on the matter.

Within such context, on a preliminary basis, we cannot dismiss the possibility of the taxpayers individually challenging such a levy, even if only to ensure their position in case the dispute reaches the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF). Moreover, the effects of a favourable ruling to taxpayers might be modulated in time (that is, the STF might modulate the effects of its ruling but, generally, taxpayers that had already filed a lawsuit would still benefit from the favourable ruling).

This article was written for International Tax Review by Julio M. de Oliveira (joliveira@machadoassociados.com.br), Fernando Telles da Silva (fsilva@machadoassociados.com.br), and Gabriel Caldiron Rezende (grezende@machadoassociados.com.br), members of the Machado Associados indirect tax team.
Mozdzierz is a US qualified tax lawyer with over six years of international tax experience. She has experience in advising multinational clients on global tax issues and provides technical advice on the exchange of information, such as FATCA and CRS. Before joining M/Advocates of Law, Mozdzierz was an associate at DLA Piper, an associate at King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, an associate at Linklaters and, before that, an adviser in financial services at EY in Luxembourg.

After being with the firm for five years, Daguerre has been promoted to partner. He will co-lead the firm's domestic structuring effort. Daguerre was a contract manager at YMS Engineering Group, a structural steelworks provider company in Dubai, before joining M/Advocates of Law where he conducted contract terms negotiations with different construction companies and resolved pre-litigation conflicts.
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Vancouver, British Columbia - October 26, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mining / Metals / Green Energy Stock News - Defense Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DEFN / OTCQB: DFMTF/ FSE:35D) is pleased to announce high-grade Rare Earth Element ("REE") assay results from one additional core hole, totalling 383 metres (m), collared within the northern area of Defense Metals' 100% owned Wicheeda REE Deposit.

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The Central Bank is warning that companies will have to have a "real" presence in Ireland if they want to set up here after Brexit.

Director of Policy and Risk Gerry Cross told a Deloitte briefing last night that the regulator will want to ensure the board and management of a business are located in this country.
Let Me Tell You is a new bespoke podcast series from



Hosts Daniel McConnell and Paul Hosford take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments in recent Irish political history from the unique perspective of one of the key players involved.


Taoiseach Enda Kenny is to bring a memo to Cabinet this morning on Brexit after a clear timeline for Britain's exit from the EU was announced.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said that she wants to trigger Article 50 by March at the latest.

The Taoiseach has said Brexit will be one of the biggest challenges to ever face Ireland.

Issues with the North such as a hard border and the future of the peace process are of particular concern.

On that front, plans for an all-Ireland forum are still underway, with it likely to take place in early November, despite the reticence of Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster.

The potential impact of Britain leaving the EU, and fears of a 'hard Brexit', have been felt on the currency markets, with the value of the pound tumbling.

Chairperson of the Joint Committee on European Affairs, Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae, said that Ireland may find it hard to appear high on the UK Government's list of priorities during its Brexit negotiations.

Many of them themselves, they are shaking in their boots at what theyre actually after doing, because in my own personal opinion I think theyve shot themselves, not in one foot, but in both feet, he said.

But, having said that, their decision has been made and it is their decision.

It is up to us to do our best to minimise any harmful effects. But indeed, like Ive said, if there is anything positive that we can pull out of this, that is what we as politicians have to do.
A top commander in Syria's rebranded al Qaida affiliate who was close to terror network leader Ayman al-Zawahri has been killed in an air strike, the group said.

The Fatah al-Sham Front, previously known as the Nusra Front, announced the death of Ahmed Salama Mabrouk shortly after the Pentagon said the US had targeted a prominent member of the group in Syria.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Mabrouk was targeted in the air strike by US forces, but did not confirm his death, saying that the results of the strike were still being assessed.

"His death, if confirmed, would disrupt and degrade co-ordination among senior AQ leaders and extremists," he said.

But a Twitter account run by the Fatah al-Sham Front said Mabrouk, a veteran Egyptian jihadist also known as Abu Farag al-Masri, was killed in the northern Idlib province, which is controlled by an insurgent alliance that includes the Fatah al-Sham Front.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham @J_F_Sham (fmr. Nusra Front) confirmes death of senior commander Abu al-Faraj al-Masri by US-led drone strike in #Idlib pic.twitter.com/vjgE0LNJV5  Simon Engelkes (@englks) October 3, 2016

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said Mabrouk was killed when his vehicle was struck near the border with Turkey.

Another senior commander from the group, Abu Omar Saraqib, was killed in an air strike last month.

Mabrouk was imprisoned in his native Egypt in 1981 in the sweep following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. He later travelled to Afghanistan, where he became close to al-Zawahri before traveling to Syria earlier this year.

Fatah al-Sham recently announced it was changing its name and severing ties with al Qaida in a video in which Mabrouk sat next to the group's top leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

But in part because of the presence of al Qaida veterans like Mabrouk among its ranks, most experts still view the group as an al Qaida affiliate, and both the United States and Russia have vowed to keep attacking it.
In its latest quarterly outlook, Merrion cut its Irish growth forecast to 3.5% this year from 4.8% in its previous outlook and has pared back 2017 growth to 3.2% from 3.8% previously.

The outcome of the federal election in Germany and the presidential vote in France could well decide the future of the EU and unsettle economies and markets for some time, its chief economist Alan McQuaid warned.

The world economy has been struggling to regain its equilibrium since 2007, and is at a stage where the recovery is old and tired, as well as vulnerable to unexpected shocks, he said.

The international headwinds include the potential for a European recession. Europe has considerable vulnerabilities, of which the banking system is a prime worry. At the same time, structural unemployment remains high, the need for further economic reforms is still unfulfilled and complicated by electoral politics, and debt levels are elevated, he said.

Meantime, robust personal spending was still holding up despite the headwinds the economy faces from the uncertainty about the effects of the Brexit vote on the Irish economy.

The average rate of unemployment will fall to 7.8% in 2017, and to 7.5% in 2018, as domestic demand picks up. Irelands jobless rate was unchanged in the month in August at 8.3%.

On Brexit, Mr McQuaid said Irish agri-food and tourism SMEs would likely be hit worse than their big rivals if tough tariffs were raised when London and the EU conclude their negotiations over Britains exit from the trading bloc.

He predicts the budget deficit will fall to under 1% of GDP and to 0.5% of GDP in 2017. The annual budget will then swing into a surplus of 0.5% of GDP in 2018.

The huge distortions caused by multinationals to Irish GDP had helped lead to gross debt tumbling to just under 79% of GDP last year from 120% of GDP just three years earlier, Mr McQuaid noted.

Gross debt could fall to 66% of GDP in 2018, he projected.
Cork Chamber hopes to better the record number of entries it received for its annual awards last February when Tyco, now merged with Johnson Controls, was named Overall Company of the Year.

Now in its 20th year, the awards are open to businesses across all sectors and sizes, representing the best of what the region has to offer in the categories of Large, SME and Emerging.

This years special award category of Cork Non-Profit of the Year seeks to recognise an outstanding organisation which has demonstrated the greatest impact on Corks community and its residents.

Donal Sullivan, vice president and general manager of Tyco/Johnson Controls, said: Winning the award has helped us in so many ways, helping us to attract talent, increasing awareness of our offering in the smart building space, and was also a helpful factor in our recently completed merger with Johnson Controls.

Winning Cork Company of the Year has opened many doors for us.

Its a great competition, you will meet brilliant people in other companies and broaden your horizons about what its possible to do in Cork.

Tyco wins top Cork Chamber's Company of the Year award, reports @peterodwyer1 https://t.co/pE79EFscD2 (RMC) pic.twitter.com/o4jKPQQ8Ep  Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 6, 2016

Neil ODriscoll of Platform Solutions, which won Emerging Company of the Year in 2016, at the launch of the 2017 awards yesterday it had provided wonderful networking opportunities.

He said: We have travelled abroad but sometimes we neglect what we have on our own doorstep. Cork people are happy to connect. Its about Cork people wanting to connect with other Cork people.

President of Cork Chamber, Barrie OConnell, said: We are proud to work again with Vodafone Ireland whose strong partnership has helped us grow these awards and to also have the Irish Examiner as our media partners.

Last year we had a record-breaking number of entrants and we encourage all businesses to be part of one of the most recognised, reputable business awards in the country.

IOT Solution sales manager, Vodafone Ireland, Debbie Power, said some of the businesses emerging in Cork will be the lifeblood of our future economic prosperity.

The four award categories are Cork Large Company of the Year (more than 100 employees), Cork SME of the Year (fewer than 100), Emerging Cork Company of the Year (less than three years in business) and Cork Non-Profit of the Year.

The closing date for completed applications is November 2.

www.corkchamber.ie
And major surveys of Irish and UK published yesterday also showed the diverging paths of their manufacturing firms following the plunge in the value of sterling since the Brexit vote on June 23.

The Investec Ireland Purchasing Managers Index showed Irish manufacturing growth was almost at a standstill in September.

Its main overall reading at 51.3 was barely above the 50 level that marks the pivot between expansion and contraction, while new hiring fell for the first time in over three years.

All in all, the above does little to change our narrative from the previous month, namely that working capital management  joined in September by a more cautious approach to hiring  points to well-founded caution on the part of Irish manufacturers as we head into the year-end, said Investec Ireland chief economist Philip OSullivan.

In contrast, UK factories had their strongest month in more than two years in September, according to an equivalent survey of British firms, as UK export orders surged.

Sterling yesterday approached the three-decade low set in the days following the Brexit referendum following the comments by Ms May shell begin the process of withdrawal from the EU in the first quarter of 2017.

The UK currency dropped to the weakest level since July 6, the day it reached its 31-year low of $1.2798, and slipped against all but one of its 31 major peers. Hedge-fund data showed speculators raised bets that the currency would fall.

Against the euro, sterling slumped almost 1% to 87.4p.

That marks a huge retreat from the level of 76.5p on the eve of the referendum and from the 70p level of late last year.

The sudden slump in sterling makes it more difficult for Irish firms  and for small Irish companies, in particular  to compete effectively when they sell goods and services into Britain.

In contrast, UK manufacturing companies now find it easier to sell abroad.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital, predicted sterling would not weaken much further from the current levels against the euro.

He said that ahead of next years elections in Germany and France that sterling could rally because the votes may bring into question again the future of the EU.

Consumer sentiment in Ireland was largely unchanged in September, a survey by KBC Bank Ireland and the ESRI found.

However, a separate survey showed confidence among business owners in Dublin contracted for the first time in four years, according to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Ms May told delegates at her Tory Partys annual conference that shell curb immigration, stoking speculation the UK is headed toward a so-called hard Brexit  with limited access to the EUs single market.

Hard Brexit is a sell for the pound, said Neil Jones, head of hedge-fund sales at Mizuho Bank in London.

I know the government line is that they dont see a need to differentiate between hard and soft Brexit, but the market certainly does.

Additional reporting Reuters and Bloomberg
The Facebook page has gone from strength to strength and now the 100 of the best of the bunch are collected into a book of the same name that has just been released.

Peter, who is originally from Hungary, credits his girlfriend Maria, who is from Brazil, as integral to the projects success, so he knew he wanted to do something special for her when the book came out - and whats more special than a proposal?
The representative body of the beef processing sector in Ireland, Meat Industry Ireland has set out its ambitious growth targets for the beef sector in a beef policy document that it has produced in the context of the Food Wise 2025 document.

Director Cormac Healy, said: This growth in output has already started, with an additional 60,000 head forecast to be processed this year and a further increase of 100,000 head in 2017.

This already equates to an increase of approximately 50,000 tonnes in output by 2017 compared with 2015.

Expansion is already happening on the ground and therefore it is critical that we move on key recommendations set out in our proposals.

Meat Industry Irelands proposals include a government-led review of Brexit fallout, continued investment in improving savings at farm level, and a commitment on more resources to drive the international market access for Irish beef.

The meat factory group wants all parties to commit to enhancing the positive credentials for Irish beef, and a continued focus on reducing the cost of doing business to boost Irelands competitiveness.

Meat Industry Ireland said the price being paid to farmers has risen over the past 10 years.

While there is always intense focus on finished cattle price, the reality is over the last decade the industry has delivered higher returns to producers, said Mr Healy.

Finished cattle price has increased by over 40% in that period. While there has been variation from year to year, the overall trend has been positive. Looked at a different way, the average finished cattle price over the last five years was 30% higher than the average price paid in the previous five years, said Mr Healy.

Significant investment has taken place too, in modern, efficient processing facilities that operate to world-class standards and in marketing resources to build a strong customer portfolio for Irish beef across European and international markets.
Picture credit: Irish Water regional operations manager Katherine Walshe holds water treated by the Carrigtwohill Wastewater Treatment Plant while Minister of State David Stanton holds water that was treated by the plant before it underwent its 12.3m upgrade. Picture: Provision

Irish Water made the claim yesterday, as residents representatives welcomed the official opening of the upgraded Carrigtwohill wastewater treatment plant.

The facility is treating waste for a population of 30,000 in the immediate area, and waste from other treatment works, including Castlemartyr, Cloyne, and Killeagh, and discharging treated effluent  which meets strict EPA standards  into Fota Estuary. But it has been designed to be able to double its capacity in stages.

It is the second plant in Ireland to use state-of-the-art, activated granular sludge technology, which requires a smaller plant, and reduces the volume of sludge and chemicals.

Annette Lane and Margaret Long, of Carrigtwohill Community Council, visited the plant yesterday and said they were delighted to see the results of the investment.

Previously, there were problems with smells from the old plant, and there were other issues, including blockages during flooding, Ms Lane said.

But were delighted to see the upgrades. It will allow for more building in the area. We are looking for a new secondary school in Carrigtwohill and we are very happy with the development, here at the plant.

Ms Long said there are several sites zoned for housing in and around Carrigtwohill, and that the upgraded plant would unlock the potential of the sites.

Locally based David Stanton, the Minister of State for Justice, said Carrigtwohill was one of the fastest-growing towns in Ireland.

The increase in wastewater treatment capacity will allow for continued, future growth in population and economic activity, as well as in towns such as Castlemartyr, Cloyne, and Killeagh, he said.

Katherine Walshe, the regional operations manager with Irish Water, said the investment is an example of how the company can support the environment, industry, and local economic development.

Carrigtwohill is a major pharmaceutical and biotechnology hub and this project will enable new schools and housing developments, as well as attract future industry to the area, she said.

Cllr Sinead Sheppard said the new facility would also protect the estuary at Fota Island, one of the most important assets in Cork harbour.

The upgrade was delivered in partnership with Cork County Council, and under a design-build- operate contract, with the construction carried out by EPS Sorensen Ltd and engineering services provided by TJ OConnor and Associates.
Last night a spokesperson for the Port of Cork, which is leading the consortium, confirmed its notification to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) had been withdrawn.

We will be reflecting on it over the next few days, said the spokeswoman. She then declined to comment any further.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency confirmed plans to introduce the Sexually Harmful Behaviour services (SHBS). Currently, support for underage sex offenders has been fragmented with large parts of rural Ireland having no access to a public service.

A national programme for young abusers was first proposed in 2005 following the publication of the Ferns Report. Preparations were finalised by a HSE steering committee in 2013. Gardai, the HSE, the Childrens Hospital Group, the Probation Service and CARI, a therapy service for child victims of sexual abuse, will be involved.

Sexually Harmful Behaviour Services provide a range of services to young people and families, including advice and consultation to families, comprehensive assessments, treatment planning, psychometric testing, individual and group therapy with young people and parents, parental support and aftercare, said Tusla spokeswoman.

The priority of the national service will be the safeguarding of children, Tusla said, indicating the service will be integrated with child protection and criminal justice agencies on a national and local level.

The service will involve bringing existing services in Leinster and Connacht under central control to ensure a consistent national service approach. A new service will be introduced in the southern region. Two people have already being appointed to the national service including a principal psychologist. Tusla, seeking two further staff, estimate the service will cost 350,000 to set up.

Dublins Northside Interagency Project (NIAP) will act as the model for the new service, Tusla said. NIAP was set up in 1992. It has since assisted over 250 young sex offenders and their families.

Its aims are to prevent further sexual offending through early intervention and treatment of young people between the ages of 13 and 18 years, and involves group therapy with the offenders families and carers. Most of the offenders NIAP deal with have not been reported to gardai or have been dealt with outside of the courts through warnings and garda diversion programmes. Around a quarter of sexual abuse cases involve offenders under the age of 18 according to the SAVI report.

The national service will deal with both male and females. Reported sexual abuse by girls remains a small minority but has increased in recent years. In the past two years NIAP has worked with three girls compared to just one in the previous 22 years.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) said the service would be a win-win for victims and offenders. We can stop these children from going on to becoming adult sexual abusers and we can stop others being victimised by them, said a spokeswoman. We know that intervening early with children who have behaved in a harmful way sexually can be very effective.
The boy, then aged 14, denies assault causing harm to the girl, aged 14, on a date in June last year at a playground in north Dublin.

Judge John OConnor ordered a trial would take place in mid-November at the Dublin Childrens Court. The judge had to decide whether the case should stay in the juvenile court or instead be sent forward to the circuit court, which can impose lengthier sentences. The teens solicitor said the schoolboy, who was accompanied to court by his parents, is waiting to be assessed to see if he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The issue of his concentration levels has been raised in school.
The Sinn Fein member said Brexit was driven by the internal politics of the Britains Conservative party.

British prime minister, Theresa May, has said her government will begin exit negotiations next year.

Mr McGuinness said: This British government is embarked on a collision course with the European Union and this is happening at the behest of a very selfish approach.

This is all about the internal machinations of the Conservative party and, of course, it appears that we are going to be the collateral damage, in terms of politics and in terms of our economy, in the time ahead.

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU by a 56% majority, while the UK voted to leave. Ms May has said the UK will leave as one union.

Meanwhile, Stormonts first minister, Arlene Foster, said Northern Ireland could have greater flexibility in attracting foreign direct investment after Brexit.

European Union state aid rules limit the use of government incentives to encourage overseas businesses to establish offices in Northern Ireland.

Stormont ministers will also have the freedom not to charge householders for water, after Brexit, the DUP leader added.

Mrs Foster said she and Mr McGuinness were focused on achieving what was best for Northern Ireland, and would work with the UK and Irish governments.

She said: The deputy first minister and I have been very clear that we want to be directly involved in any negotiations, so that we can put forward what is right for all of the people of Northern Ireland, regardless of whether they voted to remain or voted to leave, because what we are focused on, now, is what is best for the people of Northern Ireland.

She said access to the single market was important, but listed the benefits of leaving the union. If we were still members of the EU continuing, we would have to deal with the issue of domestic water charges, we would have to deal with the inflexibility in relation to attracting foreign direct investment.

And, also, we would have to deal with state aid rules, as well. The negotiations will be long, they will be protracted, and we, as a country, should not be lacking in our ambitions.

Meanwhile, Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, should focus on helping Scotland cope with Brexit, rather than trying to wish away the referendum result, Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has said.

The first minister was attempting to use the issue as a constitutional chisel to break up the UK, instead of listening to the concerns of businesses, she said. Ms Sturgeon campaigned in London ahead of the June 23 vote, so had then accepted it was an issue for all of the UK.
His cabinet colleague, Education Minister Richard Bruton, has also warned there can be no place for bad politics or nationalist policies as debate heats up about the terms of a Brexit.

The Cabinet is today expected to discuss Brexit after a landmark speech by British prime minister Theresa May who on the weekend outlined the timeline for Britains exit and the possible terms.

Britain will control its own immigration, will negotiate its exit as one entity or kingdom, and will end the authority of EU law. She also signalled that Britain will not follow the route of Norway or Switzerland, which have access to the single market but also pay into the EU budget.

The immediate response to Ms Mays speech was that it signalled a hard Brexit lies ahead. This also could have more worrying consequences around Ireland, our border with the north and result in tariffs being applied to trade.

Mr Flanagan said that the days of armed posts along the border could not return.

But, asked whether a more visible border may be put in place by 2019, Mr Flanagan told Newstalks Breakfast: That scenario cannot be ruled out. The border isnt something thats going to be decided by the UK government. Its going to ultimately be decided by the 27 remaining EU states.

Elsewhere, Mr Richard Bruton said there could be no space for nationalist tendencies with Brexit on the horizon.

He said: We can manage the economics of this if people approach it in a proper fashion. The real risk in this is bad politics, the economics is more easy than the politics, we need to manage that. If people get carried away, as weve seen, there are trends across Europe in very nationalist approach to policies, if that took hold it would not be good for either the discussions on Brexit or for Europes longer prospectus.

Sinn Feins Martin McGuinness suggested that the British government hadnt a clue about how Brexit would work. Britains plan to leave the EU by 2019 was disturbing, he said.

Fianna Fails Micheal Martin said that he was extremely concerned about the situation.

I think it is disappointing that Britain seems to be going for a hard Brexit, which basically means great difficulty for Britain ultimately being in a position to access the single market and that has very serious repercussions for Ireland as well.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the priorities here had not changed and still included maintaining the common travel area, making sure north-south peace continues and that trade is protected.

She warned that Dublin did not want to break policing relations with Britain.

The European arrest warrant has been very important. We dont want to go back to the days of extradition. We want to be able to continue to use the European Arrest Warrant, we want to continue to work with Europol and Interpol, she said.
Some commuters were also furious, criticising the delays caused and accusing protesters of punishing the city.

From 5am, vehicles were prevented by the public picket from leaving Bus Eireanns depot in Capwell. The action was said to have impacted on approximately 2,000 commuters.

The protest was over changes to the 202 bus route to Mahon, which residents say leave sections of Skehard Road without service.

City councillor Chris OLeary backed the group protesting at Capwell from 5am. The former lord mayor said the action was required as Bus Eireann failed to take previous correspondences on the issue seriously.

This has been ongoing since June, since they changed the service, and without consultation with the local people, he said. We invited them to a public meeting last week to which nobody showed up.

We had a protest on Friday on Skehard Road and, last Wednesday, we informed Bus Eireann that we would escalate unless Bus Eireann were serious and sit down with the people, meet the people, and negotiate with the people the reinstatement.

The protest was called off at approximately 7.30am after the bus company agreed to a meeting between management and residents.

A Bus Eireann spokesperson said the company does not condone such actions  which caused major inconvenience to our passengers  and for which we apologise. Disagreements can only be resolved through dialogue, and we are currently examining what might be done to possibly address some of the issues involved.

A number of commuters took to social media to seek updates about arrival times. Some also aired frustration .

Daughter misses hospital appointment, other daughter potentially late for JNR cert assessment. Screw the protest, one Twitter user posted.

The action was also criticised on a Facebook page set up for the protest: Because of your actions this morning, you caused delays on the entire city bus network resulting in people being late for work, appointments and college. No need to punish the whole city over a SMALL change to your local bus route, one post read.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will put forward the plan alongside separate moves to strengthen domestic violence laws, further discussion on the Brexit fallout, and ongoing debate on the budget.

While under existing laws forced marriages  which differ from arranged marriages as the latter involves agreement by the individuals involved  are tackled when a complaint is made, they are not specifically outlawed.

However, under new proposed measures, anyone found to have forced a person into marriage will be tried in court in the same way as in the UK, where penalties include jail terms of up to seven years.

Although no penalties will be agreed without further discussion with attorney general Maire Whelan, the potential new offence is expected to focus on incidents where a person becomes married after travelling abroad.

Should the bill be ratified by the Dail and Seanad  which are expected to debate the issue within the next six weeks  it could become law by next summer.

The potential forced marriages law is due to be discussed alongside separate efforts to strengthen domestic violence legislation and concerns over human trafficking.

Under new measures to be brought to cabinet today, Government will seek laws to allow anyone who is the victim of domestic violence access to an interim eight-day emergency barring order.

In addition, victims will also be able to give evidence by tele-visual link to avoid the risk of intimidation by the perpetrator or an associate in civil and criminal proceedings, while any court presiding over the cases will be able to appoint an expert to ascertain the views of a child.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny will provide an update memo on the decision by the UK to leave the EU after British prime minister Theresa May told the Conservative party conference she will begin the formal two-year departure process next March.

Mr Kenny is expected to reiterate the view that a hard border must not be introduced between the Republic and the North and that the common travel area with the UK needs to continue.

Concerns have been raised over the possibility of either issue occurring after Ms May stressed she is seeking a hard Brexit which will involve the UK having sole control of the number of people coming into the country  thereby causing a knock-on effect for any EU border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Government ministers are also expected to raise further issues over the finalisation of next years budget, due to be published next week.

While eight departments are believed to have agreed their budgets with Finance Minister Michael Noonan, significant disagreements persist in other areas.
Cork County Council has appointed consultants to undertake a major traffic survey in Castletownbere.

Members of the West Cork Municipal District were yesterday told that AECOM transportation consultants had already commenced work on the project and were assessing traffic volumes at 13 junctions in the town during peak periods. Details of journeys taken by local people on a daily basis are also being analysed.

Peter ODonoghue, a senior engineer in County Halls transportation department, said significant changes would be needed to Castletownberes traffic management to deal with existing major problems.

Eoin OMahony, representing AECOM, said the commercial fisheries generated a lot of HGV traffic. Problems were compounded by traffic generated by the retail and commercial life of the town, along with increasing tourist visits.

He said the council needed to identify interventions to improve traffic flow and ease pressure on parking in the Beara peninsula town.

Mr OMahony said road safety was also an important aspect and consultants will examine the towns history of accidents to see what improvements can be made.

All the information gained will feed into a baseline report which will aid us putting together a strategy for the town, he said.

The first phase of public consultation will be held at the Beara Coast Hotel next Tuesday from 4pm-8pm.

Mr OMahony said meetings would also take place with gardai, Bus Eireann, schools, representatives from the harbour members forum, and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Marine.

He said a further round of public consultation will take place next April and May and the final report would be published a couple of months later.

We very much need the community to engage with us, he said.

Fianna Fail councillor Pat Murphy said new traffic management arrangements were long overdue.

He claimed Castletownbere was now at a critical juncture as it had doubled fish landings within the last five years and had overtaken Killybegs as the countrys largest fishing port.

We have to delineate port activities from other activities in the town. We also need to look at a relief road around the town, said Mr Murphy.

Fianna Fail councillor Christopher OSullivan said the town generates a serious amount of traffic and the junction at SuperValu was a real bottleneck.

It also has lovely winding streets so we need to be careful to keep its charm, he said.

Independent councillor Danny Collins said he hoped the new plans would not result in the loss of parking spaces, which could hinder the businesses community in Castletownbere.

Independent Declan Hurley, chairman of the municipal district, said Castletownbere had been a victim of its own success and added it was vital the community had an input into the traffic management project.
Michael McCoy was in his mid-60s and a leading member of the Dublin Mountain Conservation and Environmental Group. His body was found by search teams near a forest track at Ballinascorney Hill, Brittas, in the early hours of Friday.

Mr McCoy, 64, had been walking his two dogs, both boxers, in a forest area close to where he lived when he had been attacked and killed. One for the boxers returned home but the other dog, who was on a lead, is still missing and the family have appealed for help in finding her.

The mans niece, Kirsten McCoy, an artist living in France, posted a number of messages on Twitter, including a plea for information on his death.

I hope and pray that the perpetrator of this horrendous crime is caught ASAP. Anyone with info please contact Garda. Dublin Mountains Murder, she wrote.

In an earlier post, she wrote: I am in total shock that my kind and gentle uncle, Michael McCoy, has been murdered while out for a walk at Ballinascorney, Dublin Mountains.

A 41-year-old man arrested by gardai on Saturday was released without charge. A Garda spokesman said a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The deceaseds daughter, Rachel, changed her Twitter page in a bid to find the missing dog, Fia, a tan-coloured boxer with a long tail. The dog is a year-and-a half-old, is microchipped but is not neutered. There is concern that her lead may have got tangled or caught in something in the forest.

The family are anxious to find the dog because she was so close to Mr McCoy, who was passionate about protecting the natural heritage of the Dublin Mountains. A reward has been offered for her return.

The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals posted a notice about the missing dog on Facebook last week after being contacted by Mr McCoys family but did not know the circumstances at the time.

DSPCA spokeswoman Gillian Bird said they were anxious that as many people as possible knew about Fia.

She may have wandered across the Dublin-Wicklow border, and the people who may have found her may not be on social media, said Ms Bird.

Fia is part of the family and they are concerned that something bad may have happened to her too. Someone may have found her and may not have figured out what to do so we want them to drop her into Tallaght Garda Station or get in touch with the DSPCA.
The motorist was approached at Lavitts Quay by Garda Kevin Connolly but drove off over Patricks Bridge through a red light, went through another red light on the other side, and continued through a third one on Bridge St before proceeding up Patricks Hill against a one-way system in the early hours of February 27.

Garda Connolly decided, in the interests of public safety, that it would be safer to discontinue the pursuit. However, the motorist was still detected definitively with the help of his own phone. The car was abandoned at Grosvenors Place off Wellington Rd a short time later. The driver and his two passengers ran away.
The boy faced his second hearing at the Dublin Childrens Court yesterday.

However, Judge John OConnor explained to the teen and his mother that, due to the boys young age, the Director of Public Prosecutions must give a special direction as to whether the case will go ahead.

The court heard that the DPPs office was waiting for a report from the Garda juvenile liaison office in relation to the boy. The boy, who has not yet entered a plea, was accompanied to court by his mother and his barrister.

He was remanded on continuing bail to appear again later this month.

He is accused of two offences arising out of an alleged incident last month at his secondary school.

He is charged with production of a large hammer during an assault and unlawful possession of a knife as a weapon at his school.

It allegedly happened during a meeting with his year head and a decision is awaited on whether or not the boy will be expelled.

The boy did not address the court.

He must obey a number of bail terms including a 9pm to 8am curfew at his home.
Irish Water confirmed yesterday it is awaiting the outcome of crucial tests on water samples taken from the upgraded Whitegate/Dower regional water supply scheme and hopes to be in a position to lift the notice soon, once the HSE gives the all-clear.

The precautionary boil water notice was imposed early this year on the public water supply scheme which supplies around 9m litres of drinking water every day to homes and business in areas of Midleton, Cloyne, Aghada, Whitegate, Ballycotton, Churchtown, and Trabolgan.

It was the third such boil water notice to affect the water treatment plant in recent months and followed weeks of record rainfall  up to four times heavier than the previous winter  which waterlogged land around the plant, and resulted in high turbidity, or cloudiness, in the water supply entering the facility.

If the turbidity of the water entering the plant breaches allowable levels, the plant automatically shuts down as full water treatment cannot be guaranteed.

The decision to enforce a boil water notice was taken in conjunction with the HSE in the interests of public health to eliminate the risk of infection to householders.

However, within days, Irish Water said the boil water notice would have to remain in place for between six and eight months while a short-term upgrade solution was found.

A spokesperson for Irish Water said it has been prioritising the lifting of the boil water notice on the scheme, and has spent in the region of 1m on the installation of new filtration units at the treatment plant.

The units were commissioned in mid-September and dozens of water samples have been taken since to ensure the quality of water being produced maintains a high quality over a protracted period of time.

It is understood initial test results are positive and a decision to lift the boil water notice could be taken in days. Irish Water said it is engaging with the HSE and Environmental Protection Agency with a view to lifting the boil water notice as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, Irish Water is still working on a long-term engineering solution to prevent a re- occurrence at the plant.

The plant sources its water from the Dower river, which is largely underground but rises to ground level through a cave at the treatment plant in Whitegate.

The company has warned that a long-term solution, which could involve the plant being connected to a more reliable and robust water source, is subject to funding approval and could take several years to deliver.

According to the Irish Water website, 18 boil notices were in effect at various water supplies across the country.
Ms OConnell has hit out at Archbishop Martins calls for politicians to remember their faith in their dealings with the 1983 abortion amendment.

Calling for the eighth amendment to be retained, he suggested that to support abortion is not in keeping with the fundamental teaching of the Church, and that the taking of a life, at whatever stage, is gravely, morally wrong.

Ms OConnell rejected his comments. I dont see why the archbishops views are in anyway relevant. I dont see why Archbishop Martin should be getting involved in womens health issues. It is the same as asking my four-year-old, she told the Irish Examiner.

If people genuinely believed that abortion was murder, then no one would have voted to export murderers to England. The fact [is] that people voted on the right to travel.

Ms OConnell said the Church should not have any role in deciding or shaping policy which relates to the health of women.

Eamon Martin

They [the Church] are entitled to their opinion, but I dont put any weight in them. I dont see what involvement the Catholic Church should have in womens health issues, she said.

Anti Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said the archbishops comments show exactly why a separation of Church and State is so badly needed.

We as legislators should not be following the preachings of leaders of faith, in this case the leader of the Catholic Church, he told the Irish Examiner.

Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone, as the only minister who took part in the pro-choice march on September 24, said she had no problem with politicians being influenced by their religious values.

I have no difficulty with politicians being influenced and shaped drawing on their religious beliefs or their traditions and the values that they hold, she said.

Secondly, I think its absolutely clear to everyone that we live in a Republic, so when we make decisions about our Constitution, those are decisions that we need to keep in mind that is true and good for all of our citizens and residents.

Independent senator Ronan Mullen said everyone, no matter their station, has an equal right to express their views on important civic issues. Everybody, religious or otherwise, has the equal right to argue from their heart, he said.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, engaged in a breach of trust in a most distressing way when he abused the child, Judge Elma Sheahan said in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

The man was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault by a jury last July.

The incidents happened between 1987 and 1991 when the victim was aged between 10 and 14. She had reported the incidents to gardai in 2010.

In a victim impact statement previously read out in court, the woman said she spent 6,000 on breast reduction surgery as she felt her granduncle owned my boobs and she felt uneasy with compliments from her husband.

The woman, 39, said she suffered from nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia and depression and a black cloud hangs over me for days at a time as a result of the abuse.

She also said she suffered panic attacks in her sleep and often woke up with tightness in her chest.

The trial heard the victims father was an alcoholic and she was regularly sent to her paternal grandparents house in Dublin, where her granduncle also lived, to collect sleeping tablets for her father.

Garda Robert Madden previously told the court the victim made a statement to him in 2010 in which she detailed five specific incidents of abuse.

He said she recalled two incidents where her granduncle kissed her on the mouth and on the neck in the parlour of her grandparents house and a third incident where he kissed her on the mouth and neck and touched and kissed her breasts.

She also reported two further incidents where her granduncle kissed her on the mouth, kissed and touched her breasts and penetrated her vagina with his fingers.

In her statement, the victim also recalled her 21st birthday party where her granduncle turned up uninvited and destroyed my life and danced as if nothing happened.

The court heard the victim, now a mother herself, had suicidal thoughts in the past and felt forced to tell her older children about the abuse so they would understand she couldnt help it and apologised for letting them down.

She said she was hospitalised for five days as she suffered hearing loss associated with stress after making the statement to gardai.

The victims statement made harrowing reading, Judge Sheahan said.

Colman FitzGerald SC, defending, had previously said that the man was assaulted by the victims sibling after she made the statement to gardai and he was forced to leave the house where the abuse took place and where he had lived since he was a young child.

He also said that the man had no previous convictions and a custodial sentence would make up a significant part of the remainder of his life.

Judge Sheahan noted that the man now lived a lonely and isolated life.

But she said he had taken advantage of his grandniece while committing serious offences and had never expressed any remorse for the abuse.
Mark Mosley, aged 24, who has 71 previous convictions, was also sentenced for robbing a mobile phone from a man at knifepoint at a Dart station, threatening a garda at court, and to a house burglary. He had been abusing alcohol, tablets, and heroin at the time.

The monstrance had been presented to St Bridgets Church in Killester in 1927. It has not been recovered.

Mosley, of Cromcastle Park and Gracefield Avenue, Artane, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at the church on June 13, 2015.

He admitted robbing a mobile phone at Harmonstown Dart Station on June 27, 2015. Mosley also pleaded guilty to burglary at a house at Glenwood Rd, Edenmore, Dublin, on January 13 this year and to making a threat towards Sgt Basil Grimes in the Criminal Courts of Justice two days later.

Garda Joan OConnor told prosecuting counsel John Quirke BL, that Mosley broke into the church sacristy during the afternoon and ransacked the room. He stole the monstrance and left fingerprints at the scene which were traced back to him. He was arrested six months later in the city.

Garda OConnor said that, on June 27, 2015, two men were at Harmonstown Dart Station at midnight when Mosley came along, intoxicated, wearing sunglasses, and carrying a pizza box and a bag of chips.

He produced a large kitchen knife and ordered the men to give me your stuff, while pointing the knife at them. One of the men handed over his mobile phone and Mosley ran off. He was later recognised from CCTV and arrested. He told gardai he didnt really remember much about the night as he had been abusing alcohol and drugs.

Garda Eoin Kennedy told the court that Mosley went to a house in Edenmore where he claimed to know the brother of a teenager living there. The teenager let him into the porch of the house but Mosley, who appeared agitated, went upstairs looking for the teenagers brothers bedroom.

He grabbed an ornamental sword which was in the bedroom and when the teenager told him it was blunt, Mosley said: Ill still be able to stab you with it. Mosley picked up an iPad but put it back as he could not unlock it. He fled on a stolen bicycle but left his phone charging in the bedroom.

Garda Kennedy said the defendant claimed the teenagers brother owed him money, but this was not the case.

Sentencing Mosley, Judge Elma Sheahan noted Mosley had a sad and unfortunate childhood. She said he now appeared to be drug-free but had been the subject of 88 disciplinary issues while in prison, including assaulting a prisoner and possessing contraband.

She sentenced him to seven years imprisonment but suspended the final 18 months.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, which would close a number of loopholes exposing children to online abuses, will be debated in the Dail this week.

Ms Fitzgerald said the proposed legislation would create a number of offences that would carry prison sentences of between 10 and 15 years.

The bill addresses gaps in the law relating to online grooming and child pornography. In particular, the bill criminalises the viewing images of child porn-ography. Currently, images of child pornography must be downloaded to be an offence.

It is bringing our legislation up to date with, unfortunately, what is the ongoing sexual exploitation of children, said Ms Fitzgerald, adding that she wants to see the bill enacted as soon as possible.

I would like to see it in place by the end of the year, she said.

Ms Fitzgerald was speaking in Dublin yesterday before she opened a conference on the bill, hosted by the Childrens Rights Alliance.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald

She said some changes would be made to the bill about protecting counselling notes, a matter that was raised in the Seanad.

She wants to make sure people who attend counselling could have a sense of security around the future of what they disclose.

So I will be clarifying the law around that and making sure that there are proper protections in place and where there is going to be disclosure that it is very clearly understood that the law will apply.

Ms Fitzgerald said it was critical to target those who would seek to make a child familiar or comfortable with sexual acts or activity or imagery to facilitate further, and more direct exploitation of that child.

The detail with which these offences are set out in this bill is to put beyond doubt the type of behaviours and activities which will be targeted, she said.

Special rapporteur on child protection, Geoffrey Shannon, said the bill was one of the most important pieces of legislation since the foundation of the State, in not only protecting children but vulnerable adults as well.

Our children are our most valuable natural resource, and I think it speaks volumes if our police force values that, said Prof Shannon.

ISPCC chief executive Grainia Long said the group was disappointed that the legislative process has taken so long  it has been two years since the general scheme of the Sexual Offences Bill was published.

Childrens Rights Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward said children in Ireland use the internet more than their European counterparts and many young people are using online ways to socialise and meet people for the first time. We are absolutely clear that this legislation has to be prioritised and enacted as soon as possible, said Ms Ward.
Tanaiste Francis Fitzgerald yesterday said that while any deal would have to be within the Lansdowne Road Agreement, she was looking for a pathway towards pay restoration for gardai.

This afternoons meeting with the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) is the first of two crunch talks the justice minister is having this week, with another with the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in the coming days, expected to be Thursday.

Ms Fitzgerald said everything was being done to avert the strikes and said the goal of inviting the GRA and the AGSI to meetings was getting back into detailed discussions about concerns that they have.

She said the Department of Justice had reached an agreement with GRA negotiators last Friday week, but that this was not accepted by the broader executive.

I certainly want to have further discussions, detailed discussions to understand their concerns to see how we can respond. Its all about negotiation and discussion.

But she said any deal cannot be outside the Lansdowne Road Agreement: No, the parameters are very clear. What Im looking for in relation to the Garda Siochana is a pathway forward that would satisfy their membership, towards pay restoration.

We need a pathway that is clear. The Public Service Pay Commission can be part of that for An Garda Siochana.

She said no government wants to see gardai not on the street: Nobody wants to see the gardai not out there being the civil authority, protecting our communities and the bulwark against criminal activity.

AGSI general secretary John Jacob yesterday said: The minister invited us to the meeting and we were happy to take her up and discuss the situation and see what she has to say.

He said positions were poles apart and that the association had gone through three and a half years of talks and broken promises.

Last week, AGSI left a pay process and announced a special delegate conference on October 17 to discuss industrial action after they claimed the Department of Public Expenditure told them there was no connection between the Horgan Garda Review and the Public Service Pay Commission.

Its great the minister is open to talk, but we want to see a clear roadmap, based on our conditions, said Mr Jacob. We will be open and frank, but we want a roadmap and we will be bringing one with us.

Ms Fitzgerald refused to be drawn yesterday on what alternative arrangements were being put in place to deal with the strikes.

As reported last week in the Irish Examiner, this could include closing many Garda stations and utilising probationary gardai, student gardai and Garda Reserves  as well as 2,000 sergeants and inspectors, if they decide not to join frontline gardai.

Im not going down the road of talking about alternatives, Ms Fitzgerald said. The goal is negotiation.

She said the army could not step in for the gardai: Theres no question of the army being the civil authority. The civil authority is the Garda Siochana.
Heron & Grey in Blackrock, was revealed as a recipient of the culinary excellence award at a ceremony in London, bringing the number of Michelin-starred restaurants on both sides of the border in Ireland to 12.

Rebecca Burr, editor of the annual Michelin Guide to Great Britain and Ireland, said this years winners reflected the rich diversity and variety of Irelands restaurant scene.

She said: Every year we actively seek out new candidates whilst reassessing restaurants already in the guide. Consistency is key.

In Dublin, the Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud retained its two Michelin stars, while Chapter One, LEcrivain and The Greenhouse held on to one star each.

Congratulations to Dublins Heron and Grey restaurant on being awarded a Michelin Star!  https://t.co/aq81rqqtuC pic.twitter.com/8g60M8T57G  Discover Ireland (@DiscoverIreland) October 3, 2016

One star was also retained by Aniar and Loam restaurants in Galway, Campagne and Lady Helen at Mount Juliet Hotel in Kilkenny, and House Restaurant at Cliff House Hotel, in Ardmore, Waterford.

In Belfast, two restaurants  Eipic and Ox  retained their Michelin star status.

Also in the North, Wine & Brine, in Moira, Co Armagh, was awarded a Bib Gourmand listing for the first time, joining Belfast-based restaurants Deanes at Queens, Bar+Grill at James Street South, and Home, along with The Old Schoolhouse Inn, in Newtownards, and Fontana, in Holywood.

The Bib is a separate award for restaurants that offer good food at more affordable prices. Five Bibs were dished out in Dublin, to Delahunt, Etto, Pichet, The Pigs Ear, and Pigeon House.

Also awarded a Bib were 1826 in Adare, Co Limerick; The Courthouse in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan; Cafe Hans in Cashel, Co Tipperary; Sha-Roe Bistro in Clonegal, Co Carlow; Chart House in Dingle, Co Kerry; and Aldridge Lodge in Duncannon, Co Wexford. They were joined by The Copper Hen in Tramore, Co Waterford; Giovannelli in Killorglin, Co Kerry; Bastion and Fishy Fishy, both in Kinsale, Co Cork; and Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare.

1826 Adare, Co Limerick: A Bib Gourmand winner, signifying it as a restaurant that offers good food at more affordable prices.

Meanwhile, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthals restaurant The Fat Duck in Britain has regained its three Michelin stars to rejoin the elite club of world eateries. The maverick culinary inventors high-end venue lost the trio of stars in 2015 after he took it 10,000 miles to Melbourne, Australia, for a year.

Charthouse in Dingle, Co Kerry: Awarded a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide for Ireland and the UK.

However, at the unveiling of the 2016 stars and 2017 UK and Ireland Michelin Guide  held live for the first time  it was announced the 50-year-olds 255-per-person restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, had rejoined the exclusive group. Blumenthal told the event at the Institution of Engineering and Technology: I didnt expect to be coming up and standing here. Its taken me by surprise, just fantastic.

Ms Burr said: Our inspectors had many meals here during the course of the year and found the restaurant invigorated, rejuvenated and, unquestionably, worthy of being re-awarded our highest accolade.

Overall, 18 new restaurants achieved a Michelin star, including two pubs.
Property website daft.ie reported rises across all areas of the country in its latest update and claimed house prices will rise by 5% this year.

Speaking at the launch of a 15m Government initiative to help an estimated 80,000 unable to repay their mortgages, Mr Varadkar said the Daft index does carry concerns for house prices and rent as well. However, he reiterated that Fine Gael believes the best way to resolve the situation is to increase supply of homes.
The project has been approved by the Commission for Energy Regulation.

Kerry Ingredients, the Kerry Group flagship dairy plant which is based in Listowel, has been engaged as an anchor load , ensuring it is commercially feasible for gas to be delivered to the greater Listowel area and within the town, according to Denis OSullivan, head of commercial with Gas Networks Ireland.

Jim Lee, operations director with Kerry Dairy Division, said the availability of piped natural gas in Listowel will see Kerry Group going ahead with a planned investment in combined heat and power for its Listowel operation, providing an environmentally friendly energy source for the plant and reducing energy costs.

The exact route from Foynes has to be determined but a 40km feeder main pipeline will be brought from the Irish Gas Networks station near the Co Limerick port town, mainly along public roads. The feeder pipeline work, and the distribution within Listowel town will be in two phases and take up to two years and be subject to planning permission and other statutory approvals.

The pipeline work is due to begin in March/ April 2017 followed a year later by the town distribution works.

Gas Networks Ireland said that it is engaging with landowners, residents, businesses and relevant authorities in the area before starting construction.

Gas pipes are been laid within the town in tandem with council road works and water works in William Street in the town centre.

Mayor of Listowel, Fine Gael councillor Aoife Thornton, said the investment was an enormous boost for Listowel.

The continued sustainability of Kerry Group is hugely important to the town, Ms Thornton said.

About 650,000 Irish homes and 23,000 multinational and Irish businesses depend on natural gas for their energy needs. n Businesses interested in getting more information on connecting to the natural gas network should contact Gas Networks Ireland on 1850 411 511 or visit gasnetworks.ie.
Kieran Cox, aged 32, of Thomond Rd, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to endangerment at Littlepace, Clonee, on February 2, 2012. He had lost control of the Volkswagen Passat he was driving after failing to make a left-hand turn and crashed into a Toyota Yaris that was stopped at a junction.

The driver of the Yaris spotted the Passat coming at speed and braced himself for impact before his car was spun into the junction. He was later treated for whiplash.

Garda Michael Hughes told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting that gardai shouted at Cox to stop the car when they saw the Passat accelerating through a junction in the Cherryfield area of Walkinstown.

He refused to pull over and the resulting pursuit ended when he crashed into the Yaris, spun out of control, and collided with a pole.

A fire started in the engine of the Passat and Cox had to be dragged out of the car. He was arrested but made no admissions during his interview.

Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Cox to four years in prison which she suspended in full because of the significant and positive turnaround he had since made. She heard evidence that although Cox had many previous convictions including road traffic, drug and theft offences, he had not come to Garda attention since 2012.

He also no longer abused alcohol and was considered a responsible father to his two daughters and step-children.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2012 when he failed to appear at a court date but he contacted gardai himself the following year to have it dealt with. The warrant was not executed by the gardai until 2015 and the case was brought back before the courts.

Judge Greally said the details of the case were shocking and noted that Coxs driving included failing to stop at junctions, breaking red lights and mounting a kerb in a housing estate. She said other motorists needed to take evasive action and that the driver of the Yaris was lucky to have emerged without serious injuries.

Garda Hughes agreed with Fionnuala OSullivan BL, defending, that Cox had since entirely turned his life around.

He accepted that he was a totally different person to the one he arrested in 2012.

Ms OSullivan said Coxs sister died tragically in 2008 and his fathers death four months later led to his life spiralling out of control.

Counsel told the court that February 2012 was the catalyst for Cox realising that something had to change. She said he had deep remorse for this offence and offered his sincere apologies to the victim.
Among the defendants are Dublin councillor Kieran Mahon, aged 38, of Bolbrook Grove, Tallaght; AAA councillor Michael Murphy, aged 50, of Whitechurch Way, Ballyboden; and Mr Murphy, aged 33, of Kingswood Heights, Tallaght.

Judge Melanie Greally set three separate trial dates at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after grouping the accused together based on the charges they are facing.
Conor McCarthy, aged 27, of Annakisha South, Doneraile, Co Cork, denied charges of being drunk and a danger, engaging in disorderly conduct, obstructing Garda Tony Gallwey, and failing to leave the scene at Fenns Quay when directed on November 6, 2014.

Mr McCarthy claimed he had been bowling with friends in The Mardyke Bar. He denied being drunk, obstructive or in any way aggressive. He said he did make the comment about gardai being glass collectors but had not meant any offence.
Edgar Morgenroth, associate research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute and an adviser to the Government on Brexit, said prime minister Theresa Mays weekend declaration favouring a so-called hard Brexit has realised his worst fears over the potential hard Irish border in trade and people between the North and the south.

My worst fears have been realised. It is somewhat staggering what they are doing in the UK, he told the Irish Examiner.

This hard Brexit line by London potentially imperils the Common Travel Area. The British can decide to allow Irish people to travel to the UK. They can do what they want. But we cant reciprocate under the EU rules. On the key issues, there are no bilaterals here. It is always the 27 EU countries and the UK. In public opinion, I hear people saying that they will see sense. I am not so sure. They have made up their minds, he said.

The experts comments come as Taoiseach Enda Kenny prepares to present a briefing paper on the implications to Cabinet today.

However, Mr Morgenroth believes a soft border between north and south is a bit out of reach now because he believes it is incompatible with prime minister Mays plans. There is a lot of deviousness happening in their public statements from the British side, saying that we want to maintain a soft border and then doing the opposite. It is not consistent. They are trying to portray the situation in a different way than it really is, he said.

Mr Morgenroth said London is trying to pretend its the EUs fault even though the British side is creating problems. That is what they have been playing at in preparing the field to blame the EU for their actions.

Separately, Chartered Accountants Ireland has called on policy-makers to secure tariff-free trading, free movement of people, and a free agri-food trade agreement between the two countries.

Sterling yesterday fell sharply, sharpening the pain for Irish firms selling across the Irish Sea.

Meanwhile, the erection of a more visible border between the North and South is a strong possibility once Britains divorce from the EU is complete, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has said.

Education Minister Richard Bruton has also warned that there can be no place for bad politics or nationalist policies in debate around Brexit.
"Its not the girls who need educating. To force girls to wear long, shapeless garments so that they will not attract unwanted sexual attention  seriously, isnt that a bit Taliban?"

Its the person inside that matters, not the colour of their socks or the length of their skirt, argues Suzanne Harrington

SO TERM is under way and everyone has settled back in. Or have they? What if you were one of the children sent home for uniform infractions? Like the child in Margate, Kent, who was dismissed for wearing black suede shoes instead of black leather shoes?

She was one of 50 sent home on her first day. How would this affect her sense of confidence and belonging within the school community? Were her parents able to afford a second pair of almost identical shoes?

There is much mythology around how putting on a blazer and the right shoes magically improves attendance, grades, attitude, performance, and learning. If that were the case, nobody would ever bunk off or fail an exam again  theyd simply slip on the magic blazer to get a string of A-pluses.

Suzanne Harrington

According to a study by the University of Houston, school uniforms have no impact whatsoever on grades, but can improve attendance between 0.3% and 0.4%. Which you can see  even if you failed maths  is not very much. And the only reason it improves attendance is that its harder to bunk off in uniform than in ordinary clothes  you are more visible.

There are two glaring points regarding the fetishisation of school uniform. The first one is the most obvious  its not uniforms which get good grades and improve attendance, its good teachers. Its getting students interested, passionate, inspired, fired up. Not niggled at or humiliated because their shirt collar is the wrong shape. Never mind their shirt, what about their character?

Are they kind, decent, helpful to others, socially aware, involved in the school community? Or are they alienated by a bunch of meaningless petty rules about things that really dont matter? A 15-year-old boy in my daughters class fainted last week in the warm weather because he was not allowed to take off his blazer inside the classroom. He was taken away in an ambulance  how would this have helped his grades and attendance?

The second thing is more sinister, because it involves the stifling of individuality. If you cant express yourself as a teenager, then when can you? Id rather a happy, confident kid with blue hair who gets solid maths grades/can speak decent Spanish than a perfectly attired kid too strangulated by rules to ever put their hand up. Forcing kids to all look the same is Maoist. It works brilliantly in Pyongyang  so why do we adopt such tactics in our secondary schools? Its not aspirational, its oppressive  our kids are not going to Eton, nor have they joined the army. Theyre just kids, crammed into exam factories. Theyre already under enough academic pressure on them without someone shouting at them about their trousers.

The sexualisation argument falls flat too. If some girls like wearing short skirts, why shouldnt they? Tight trousers, short skirts  if these are a problem, its not the girls who need educating. To force girls to wear long, shapeless garments so that they will not attract unwanted sexual attention  seriously, isnt that a bit Taliban? Wouldnt it be better if young people were educated and socialised to respect each other as human beings rather than alien creatures of the opposite sex?

Strict school uniform policy appeals to some parents and some teachers. Many teachers find enforcing the correct sock colour tiresome and draining  its not like they already have an easy job.

Focussing on students outward appearance gives entirely the wrong message  one of pettiness, control, and superficiality being more important than character and intellect.

Its the person inside the clothes that counts. That is all that matters.

"If your school requires you to wear a skirt to your knee, then put the damn thing on"

Parents should teach their children that no means no when it comes to school uniforms, writes Arlene Harris

THE kids are well and truly back at school now and, while many parents spent the last few weeks of the summer holidays frantically searching for the correct shoes, trousers, or shirt to complete their school uniform, many others opted for a watered-down version.

At my youngest sons school, we parents regularly get notes reminding us of the fact that branded tracksuit bottoms with logos are not suitable attire for the primary school classroom. This is firstly, I would assume, to reduce competition between those who can afford the ludicrous price tags and those who have better things to spend their money on than trousers with large lettering down one leg. I would also imagine that it is designed for the children to be dressed the same in order for the school to present a uniform look on the clothing front.

There is nothing wrong with any of that in my mind, because not only is it less costly and looks better, but it also makes life a lot easier without the hassle of deciding what to wear each day.

Arlene Harris

However, once the kids get to secondary school, many will try to enforce their will and apply their own brand of fashion into their school attire  and I get that too  we were all teenagers once and know how confining it is to have to stick to knee-length skirts, regulation trousers, and sensible school shoes, but we all learned how to get on with it (albeit, by sticking with the rules until we were past the eagle eye of the principal and then going about the serious business of rolling up skirts, loosening ties, and applying a lick of mascara).

The point is that no teenager likes having to wear a uniform, but nowadays it seems many parents are siding with their rebellious teens and allowing them to choose skinny, low-rise jeans or leggings as school trousers, skirts that hardly contain their modesty, and shoes more suited to the local gym.

There were angry scenes all across the UK earlier this month, as many schools decided to adopt a hard line with returning students with the result that those who werent dressed properly were refused entry.

Parents rang the national newspapers, outraged because their daughters didnt like wearing baggy trousers or had an aversion to leather shoes. While others took things a step further and staged protests outside their childs school, shouting and heckling teachers until the police were called to break up the mob.

Is it just me, or is this just plain ridiculous?

A uniform is a uniform  you know the requirements when you register for the school, so how can you justify complaining about spending a fortune on new trousers and shoes when they are nothing like the clothes stipulated on the uniform list?

Youngsters today have been dubbed Generation Snowflake for their inability to deal with anything which doesnt please them, but from what I can see, it is often the parents fault. They should learn from a young age that no means no and, if your school requires you to wear a skirt to your knee, then put the damn thing on. Roll it up once you are inside the gates if you must, but dont feel you have the right to protest because it doesnt look nice.

When my eldest boy started secondary school, he was required to wear black leather shoes. He wasnt happy and spent the first term moaning about how awful they were, but he soon got used to them and found other things to concentrate his mind.

So, parents who feel its fine to adapt a uniform policy to suit their childs taste, should stop and think about the bigger picture: Its not really about a disciplinarian principle enforcing draconian rules, its about teaching kids to do what is required, whether they like it or not.

As I said before, the uniforms are there for many a reason and, if you dont approve of what your school insists on, then find another school. Dont embarrass yourself and your child by shouting at the school gate  its really not cool.

.
What is the significance of Theresa Mays Brexit speech for Ireland?

The prime ministers speech to Conservatives in Birmingham at the weekend was the first indication of, firstly, when London will trigger an exit from the EU, and, secondly, what position Ms Mays government might take on matters such as immigration, EU laws, and the single market.

Ms May said Article 50 will be triggered by March. This means that, under EU rules, the two-year countdown to an exit then begins. Brexiteers say Ms Mays speech was a watershed moment. Remain campaigners dont go that far. Many observers, though, agreed her speech signals she is preparing for a hard exit.

That would include a great repeal bill to end the EUs law primacy in Britain. Britain would now make its own decisions on labelling food or choosing its own immigration controls, she said. Significantly, Ms May said Britain would no longer be the subject of the European Court of Justice.

What will the Government do now that a timetable is in place for Brexit?

Irish ministers were vague reacting to Ms Mays speech. Several welcomed the Brexit timeline commitment. Others, such as Education Minister Richard Bruton, warned it was not the time for bad politics or nationalist tendencies to take hold, as has been seen elsewhere in Europe. The Department of Foreign Affairs remains silent about fresh proposals for an all-island forum, which was rehashed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny last week. He says this conversation will include businesses, communities, and political groups. Not so, the DUP declared last week, only hours after the idea was flagged in the Dail.

What lies ahead for immigration?

The overwhelming sense from Ms May was that Britain alone would dictate its immigration policy. EU members are adamant there will be no trade-off for closing off the free movement of people. If Britain ramps up its immigration restrictions, it will be denied access to the single market. Such a move pushes against Irelands interests as any future trade with Britain  which amounts to some 1.2bn a week now  could see tariffs slapped onto goods going back and forth. Ms Mays hardline stance on immigration goes against previous suggestions from observers that London might follow Norway, which is allowed stay in the single market in exchange for the free movement of people.

What will Irelands priorities be once informal talks begin over Brexit?

It is all about the North and border impacts, our trade arrangements with Britain, and free travel between the countries. The most discussed issue is a hard or soft border with the North. Naturally, Sinn Fein has voiced huge concern, as has Mr Kenny, who says there will be no return to armed security posts. But if there is no free movement and no single market relations between the countries, the likelihood of a soft border seems more of a hope than a reality.
When a child asked about Gods role vis-a-vis science, the teacher responded: We will have no talk of mythical sky creatures in my class.

If God should have no role in a science classroom, then should there be no role for said mythical sky creatures in political discussion, particularly those relating to issues as serious as abortion?

At the weekend, the Catholic Primate of Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin caused a stir when he called for politicians to remember their faith in their pending discussions on whether to repeal the 8th Amendment.

He said that, from a moral standpoint, there is no such thing as limited abortion.

The bishop added the medical prognosis for the life of a child in the womb, or the extent of that childs disabilities, is no more morally relevant to deciding if the baby should be allowed to live than it is when considering an adult who faces the diagnosis of a life-limiting condition.

Of politicians, he added that they should not park their faith at the door in the upcoming discussions.

Now, thankfully long gone is the day when ministers of government cowered at the feet of religious leaders like Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. Such subservience was deeply damaging to the workings of democracy in Ireland during the first four or five decades of this States history.

The status of the 1983 Constitutional amendment  which guarantees equal status to the right to life of the mother and her unborn child  is now front and centre in light of the pending Citizens Assembly.

Archbishop Martin and many on the pro-life side say the 8th Amendment is a precious protector of life and an important instrument in law.

However, since the tragic case of Savita Halappanavar in a Galway hospital in October 2012, the role of the Church in the abortion debate has been controversial.

Many on the pro-choice side have called for a proper separation in Church and State, saying the argument must be based on medical and legal expertise and not theology or doctrine.

Such concerns are legitimate given how clumsily the 2013 Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was formulated.

Few practitioners have said the act has worked effectively or brought the sort of clarity many have called for when those truly awful decisions have to be made.

Absolutely, people are entitled to their faith and yes their views are going to be shaped by that faith. Politicians are no different.

But over the decades, Ireland has been poorly served when legislation and policy making has been overly influenced by religious doctrine.

All over the world, from Belfast to Baghdad, from Boston to Bangladesh, we have countless examples of how the mix of politics and religion has proven to be poisonous.

Here in Ireland, Fine Gael TD Kate OConnell, who has proven herself to be a welcome voice of independent thinking in this Dail, has said the opinion of the Catholic Church should have no influence in the debate to liberalise the countrys abortion laws.

Given the conservative profile of her party, her views are noteworthy and is a welcome sign that our political system is throwing off its adolescent limitations.
The Morris tribunal was explicit about the whole concept of what is known as whistleblowing. Morris was set up to examine widespread Garda corruption in Donegal during the 1990s.

Judge Frederick Morris concluded in 2006 that much of what had occurred might have been avoided if the concerns of junior officers had been acted on at an early stage. He saw this failure as key to the mayhem that followed in elements of the force in Donegal.

It should be possible for any serving member of An Garda Siochana to speak in confidence  and without fear of adverse consequences  with a designated officer in Garda headquarters should they have concerns about misconduct, he stated.

That observation was made 10 years ago. Time has shown that Morriss confidence in whistleblowers receiving a sympathetic or even neutral hearing was entirely misplaced.

Todays revelations in the Irish Examiner about two protected disclosures alleging the maltreatment of a whistleblower suggests that little has changed.

The disclosures allege there was a concerted campaign among senior management in the force to destroy the character of a whistleblower. There were different strands to the alleged campaign, including the dissemination of text messages containing falsehoods about the officer in question, briefing of elements of the media, and even the creation of an intelligence file on the officer.

If these claims are ultimately substantiated  and one of those making the disclosure has admitted his role in the campaign  then questions arise as to how the force can ever be reformed.

As long as internal complaints of malpractice are dealt with as a threat, and the bearer of such complaints considered to be merely disloyal, there is little prospect of reforming the negative aspects of Garda culture.

Those aspects are writ large in a series of reports from the garda inspectorate and various tribunals and inquiries. Principally, the instinct to cover up malpractice rather than address it ensures it will occur again and again. Such a pattern has been obvious since the 1970s, with the occasional  and sometimes prolonged  explosion of controversy about the forces work.

Yet little appears to have changed. Following the resignations of former commissioner Martin Callinan and former justice minister Alan Shatter, an impression was put out that the slate was to be wiped clean. In June 2014, soon after their departures, then acting commissioner Noirin OSullivan admitted that in the past An Garda Siochana had rejected well-meaning advice too often, adding that listening hasnt always been a priority. She also noted: At times, if wed concentrated more on the message and less on the messenger, wed have walked into fewer walls.

All the evidence is that some within the force continue to concentrate more on the messenger, and despite the positive and courageous work of so many officers, the force continues to walk into walls.

Since Ms OSullivan made that statement, two crucial friends, as she described whistleblowers, have experienced repeated harassment. The plight of Nick Keogh and Keith Harrison has been examined in the media and Dail. In both cases, the officers in question dont appear to place any great store on the commissioners reassurance.

Last May it emerged that the commissioners counsel at the OHiggins tribunal had indicated he had instructions to test the motivation and credibility of Sergeant Maurice McCabe, another whistleblower who had revealed malpractice.

OHiggins was told there would be evidence that McCabe was motivated by malice, but this evidence was not proffered once McCabe produced a tape recording of a meeting where he was supposed to have expressed such malice.

Keogh, Harrison, and McCabe appear not to have benefited from the bright, new shiny era that Ms OSullivan claimed to be ushering in. And these are only the cases that have been placed in the public domain.

Interestingly, the OHiggins inquiry vindicated McCabe and endorsed practically all his claims of malpractice.

On Sunday, it was reported that Keoghs claims of collusion between a garda and a drug dealer in the midlands have been substantiated. Harrisons claims are still under investigation, despite having been made two years ago. GSOC, which is investigating the claims, has blamed lack of co-operation in the force for the delay.

Former Garda Keith Harrison: His plight has been examined in the Dail. Picture: North West Newspix

Processes to deal with whistle-blowers within the force have been put in place since Callinans departure. In theory, the protected disclosure legislation offers more protection than was the case under the previous confidential recipient system brought in after the Morris report in 2006.

Last June, a new manager was appointed in Garda HQ to specifically receive whistleblower complaints. In theory, this was another step in the right direction. Theory, however, is all well and good but without a cultural change it represents nothing more than a redundant box-ticking exercise.

Thats the background against which todays Irish Examiner story must be viewed. If a sustained campaign against a whistleblower was, as alleged, perpetrated by senior management, then the extent of whistleblower reprisal is much worse than ever imagined.

In such an environment, it is legitimate to ask whether there is any prospect of change without the installation of outside personnel at the very top of the force?
Burma Burma Army Clashes with Nationwide Ceasefire Signatory Group in Shan State

Burma Army combat gear seized by the Shan State Army-South. / RCSS

The Burma Army clashed with the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) over two days in central Shan State, after the Burma Army attacked a drug rehabilitation camp set up by the SSA-S in the Warn Lee area of Mong Kung Township on Saturday, according to SSA-S spokesman Lt-Col Sai Mein.

The Shan State Army-South, whose political wing is known as the Restoration Council of Shan State, was among eight ethnic armed groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) with the previous government in October last year. Since then, its relations with the Burma Army have been relatively positive.

Without warning, the Burma Army attacked a drug rehabilitation camp in an area of our control and released criminals from the prison there. We did not deploy troops at the camp; it is managed by local villagers, Lt-Col Sai Mein told The Irrawaddy.

On Saturday evening, they launched attacks on a hill where SSA-S troops were deployed, and clashes continued the following day, he said.

On Monday, SSA-S headquarters ordered their troops to retreat, with Burma Army troops withdrawing at the same time, he said.

The SSA-S claimed no injuries or casualties on their side, and could not comment on losses on the Burma Army side, but claimed to have seized six rucksacks and several landmines, grenades and bullets from the Burma Army.

[The Burma Army] has contacted our liaison offices for talks, but this is just not enough after they launched an offensive against us. It is in breach of the NCA, and I think they are deliberately harming the peace, said Lt-Col Sai Mein.

The Irrawaddy contacted the Burma Armys Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare but was unable to obtain comment.

The clashes have forced over 2,000 localsincluding women, children and the elderlyfrom their homes, with two monasteries providing temporary shelter, according to Sai Hsai Mein, a Lower House lawmaker representing Mong Kung Township who, alongside other lawmakers, is aiding relief efforts and food provision.

At least seven schools have been closed following the clashes, and the locals that remain dare not leave their houses to pursue their livelihoods.

I have grown up amid gunfire in Mong Kung. We have seen relative peace in the past three to four years, and it is not good for the people for clashes to resume. I want the problems to be solved at the [negotiating] table rather than with guns. In every armed clash, it is the locals who suffer, lawmaker Sai Hsai Mein told The Irrawaddy.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma US Gem Traders Eye Bilateral Trade

Members of US delegation of gem traders meet with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Commerce Industry (UMFCCI). / UMFCCI

RANGOON  US gem traders interested in bilateral trade with Burma met with officials from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Commerce Industry (UMFCCI) in Rangoon on Monday.

President of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), Jeffrey Bilgore, led a delegation of five to meet the UMFCCIs vice chairman, Dr. Maung Maung Lay and members of the Myanmar Gems and Jewelry Entrepreneurs Association (MGJEA) to discuss the gem market in Burma.

Bilgore said the main purpose of the delegates visit was to re-establish direct lines of commerce between Burma and the United States, a joint statement said.

Our goal in coming here is to show and to demonstrate to the world that the gem sector in Myanmar is as worthy as any in the world and that commerce can only help all of us improve and make democracy stronger, Bilgore said.

The 35-year-old AGTA promotes transparent supply chains and honest business dealings in the global gem industry. The statement also said that Burmas gem industry is comparable to any other in the world.

Our goal here is to help in the development of the new rules, to show you how we do business and hopefully we can help each other grow, Bilgore said.

This is the first meeting between US gem traders and Burmese gem traders since US president Barak Obama pledged to lift economic sanctions on Burma last month.

Dr. Maung Maung Lay told The Irrawaddy that US traders are particularly interested in Burmas famous rubies.

Theyve asked us about the recent situation of gem exports and government regulations, they really want our rubies for the world market, he said.

He added that recently gem exports have been barred by Burmas government, though some illegal trade persists.

The gem market is big, if the government can make good regulations and collect tax from gem exports, we can earn a lot of foreign currency. Rubies are small but if we can make value added products, it will be a huge market for us, Dr. Maung Maung Lay said.

Dr. Aung Kyaw Win, prominent local jeweler and vice-chair of the MGJEA, said it was important for Burma to conduct socially responsible and sustainable business, according to the statement.

He said the previous government concentrated only on rough gemstones but greater emphasis should be placed on value-added gems for Burma to become more competitive.

The most important thing is the sustainable development, without doing human resource development, we cannot have sustainability, he said in the statement.

He added that the government should make three major changes to its industry policy: introduce precise and realistic import-export procedures, review import-export duties to discourage illegal trade, and to form a regulatory autonomous body for gems and jewelry trade promotion.

Myanmar value-added jewelers export is earning no more than US$20 million every year while Thailand receives more than $1 billion, he said.

Our association [MGJEA] has already submitted a human resource-based master plan to develop value-added industries in our country. It will enhance trade volume.

An attendee of the meeting, Peter Kucik of Inle Advisory Group, said in the statement that US sanctions on Burma businesses, including those on the gem industry, could be lifted as soon as this week.
Burma YCDC Prepares to Tame Rangoons Street Vendors

Food vendors on Sule Pagoda Road in downtown Rangoon. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Rangoons municipal authority is registering individual street vendors in an effort to manage the spread of street stalls downtown and ease pedestrian movement through the commercial capitals increasingly congested streets.

Since late September, the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) has been collecting data on vendors in the citys four most congested townships, located in the downtown gridLanmadaw, Latha, Pabedan and Kyauktada.

The YCDC claims that streets vendors in those townships have been contributing to unmanageable foot-traffic during peak hours.

Street vendors were photographed individually, and the YCDC recorded their names, fingerprints, the locations of their stalls and the goods they were selling.

According to the data collected by YCDC officers, street vendors number at least 5,000 across the four townships, with more than 1,000 in each township.

However, these numbers dont reflect the true population of vendors, since some are prone to change their locations, U Kyaw Aye, YCDC executive officer for Lanmadaw Township, told The Irrawaddy.

Daw Than Myint Aung, a member of the YCDCs executive board, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the registration process would enable a more systematic arrangement of street vendors in Rangoon, who would operate at designated locations during fixed hours.

Further details have yet to be disclosed, since the project is still at an early stage, she explained.

Street vendors who spoke to The Irrawaddy said that YCDC officials told them during the registration process that they would be relocated to somewhere on Strand Road.

Ma Mya Mya Thway, who sells mohingathe traditional Burmese fish-based noodle soupat the corner of 35th Street and Mahabandula Road, told The Irrawaddy that she doesnt want to move, because she has been selling at that location for seven years.

If we were relocated, we would have to attract new customers at the new place, she explained. She expressed greater openness to the idea of fixed hours.

The Yangon Heritage Trusts recently published conservation and development strategy recommends that guidelines and regulations be designed in partnership with vendors, ensuring safety and pedestrian priority while still allowing vendors to function.

They [the vendors] should not impede pedestrian flow or access across a footpath from buildings to car parking, it said.

The Yangon Heritage Trust also recommends that vendors be relicensed, and that umbrellas attached to stalls [providing vendors with shelter form the sun and rain] should be positioned with a minimum clearance of 7 feet to allow free passage of pedestrians.
The rapid changes in today's climate could diminish Arctic sea ice until it's gone in just two years, which experts note would be the first time in 10,000 years. This could create an unfavorable impact to the environment and life on earth.

Artic sea ice moderates the entire global climate. According to the National Show and Data Center's website, 80% of the sunlight that hits the sea ice reflects back to the space. When the sea ice melts during summer, it exposes the dark surface of the ocean, which then absorbs 90% of the sun's heat. This phenomenon pushes the ocean's temperature up.

The current sea index tracking shows that ice in the Arctic region is steadily melting, and has not shown any signs of stopping in the coming months, according to NASA's report. This conclusion was based upon results in August, which also happened to be the hottest month of the year, in tandem with July. The temperatures for these two months was by far warmer than in previous years.

Dr. Peter Wadhams, a Professor of Ocean Physics at Cambridge University since 2001 and Director of the Scott Polar Institute from 1987 to 1992, has predicted the phenomenon, which he has detailed in his book, A Farewell to Ice: A Report from the Arctic. In his book, he describes how the ice in the North Pole region will disappear in the middle of this century.

NASA supports Dr. Wadhams analysis based on their records, which proved that 2016 has, indeed, been a "hot" year for the planet, as evidenced by the rising sea-level in different continents.

"According to climate scientists I've interviewed, nations might moderate the planetary abuse caused by generations of mankind pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, ocean, plants and soil," said Gregg Zoroya of Knoxville News Sentinel.
A number of yellow-faced bee species were reported to be nearing extinction in Hawaii, according to environmental authorities. Seven Hawaii bee species were moved under federal protection, making it a first for the United States to add a group of bees to the federal endangered species list.

Over the past century, the presence of yellow faced-bees in Hawaii have slowly declined. According to the U.S. Fish Wildlife and Service (FSW), yellow-faced bees, together with the 39 plants under its protection, have declined in numbers due to man-made pollution, wildfires or crop dusting.

However, non-native species have caused greater harm to the lives of these yellow faced-bees. These non-native bees from India, which now thrive in Hawaii, have become competition for plants and nesting areas. Foreign ants also posed to be a problem, as they also fed on yellow-faced bees' larvaes in their nesting places.

Bees play a very important role in the eco-system. As part of the food chain, bees act as pollinators. Pollinators aids fertilization by transferring pollen from the male anther of the flower, to the female stigma of another or of the same plant itself. This results to the growth of the seed and fruit.

Pollination has made possible over $19 billion worth of crops in the U.S. in 2010. Without bees, most plants cannot reproduce. The consequence of the extinction of these bees in Hawaii could affect the health and volume of crop yields, which will eventually affect the food chain in which we all are part of.

Jason Graham, an entomologist from the University of Hawaii, told the National Geographic that building artificial nests with traps can protect larvaes from ants. Graham devised the nest after a careful study of the bees' egg laying process.

The seven yellow-faced bee species was added to the federal list on Friday. The listing decision was announced in the Federal Register, ABC reported.
The famous social network from Mark Zuckerberg has introduced a new feature called Marketplace, wherein users can arrange a meet-up or buy and sell products just as Craiglist, except that you know who the other person is. This incredible peer-to-peer selling feature is launching today in places like the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zeland, with a high chance of being rolled out globally.

"Marketplace makes it easy to find new things you'll love, and find a new home for the things you're ready part with. We'll continue to build new options and features to make this the best experience for people," said Mary Ku, Facebook Director of Product Management, in a Facebook announcement.

Capitalizing On Existing Functionalities

Although this is something that has surprised many people, it is well known that this new feature is just the way that Facebook is making the most of something that their users have been doing for years: expanding the site's functionality to accommodate business transactions.

As described by Digital Trends, Marketplace works like this: When you open Facebook on your phone, you will see now a shop icon at the bottom of the page. When you press it, you will find photos of items for sale, and have the option to filter the results by price, category, and even location. If theres something you like, you can just tap on the image for more details such as the product description, sellers profile. Just send a direct message to the seller to do business.

Facebook's 'Biggest Bet'?

As noted by TechCrunch, Facebook's entry into the unpredictable land of digital commerce will turn it into a new competitor for sites that have been in this business for many years, especially Craigslist. However, Marketplace may become the best option if its popularity begins to rise, which seems to be inevitable.
The guys from "NCIS: Los Angeles" just couldn't get a break.

Season 8 started with no shortage of drama and its episode 2 is no different. Tagged as "The Queen's Gambit", the team picked up where they left off. Where's Kensi? Well, Kensi is already transferred back to the states but still in the state of coma. He is receiving medical attention as per the latest episode.

Hetty is already answering the mole investigation in Washington D.C. The team however must go on with a new case. The new case revolves around human trafficking. It involves a muslim man being abducted where a female Marine sergeant runs him over and hides him in her storage shed. However, the NCIS team was able to discover that his cousin was in hollywood pretending as a producer or casting agent. This helps him get hold of young women as ISIS brides.

Hetty who is back in D.C works with the system to at least gather some information Under Secretary of Defense Duggan. She was able to find ample of time to find the mole as she reasons with the actual Secretary of Defense. The episode continues to revolve around Kensi, everyone is worried about her especially Deeks. Deeks proposes a marriage to Kensi but she is still unconscious. He was surprise when he was proposing as Kensi moves her hand. But the doctors say it is part of a large injury and considered as involuntary reflex.

A more intense, heartfelt emotions and a nice build up seems to be the focus of the new season. With Kensi's unknown medical issues, it is hard to be in Deeks shoes right now. It is seen the frustration and distraught in Deeks face. The never ending love and appreciation to his girlfriend is evident as he waits patiently for her to recover.
Salesforce.com, which is rumored to buy Twitter, aims to block Microsoft from closing its $26.2 billion deal with LinkedIn.

Burke Norton, Salesforce Chief Legal Officer, said he will bring the argument to the European Union's anti-trust authorities, stating that Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn threatens the future of innovation and competition.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also urges the Federal Trade Commission to check on Microsoft's plans for the social networking site for professtionals.

He also added that with the acquisition, Microsoft will deny competitors from accessing data on LinkedIn, which has a user base of over 450 million professionals worldwide, and thus, obtain an unfair advantage against rivals.

Microsoft is set to close the deal and will pay $196 per LinkedIn share, which translates to a 50 percent premium to LinkedIn's closing price on June 10. Jeff Wenner, LinkedIn's chief executive, will keep his position, and will report to his Microsoft counterpart, Satya Nadella. LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence in the market.

Venture Beat reporter Chris O'Brien noted in his article that purchasing LinkedIn could be a disaster. He noted that LinkedIn's value and attractiveness has declined; it shares, in fact, dropped by 40 percent in February.

Forbes.com contributor Peter Cohan meanwhile stated that Microsoft wasted $26.2 billion in its acquisition with LinkedIn.

Microsoft, which has been "frenemies" with Salesforce, has been rumored to have offered to buy the latter the past year. The two have not given any comment on the issue.
A mysterious glowing orb was spotted during a live stream by the International Space Station on Friday before the broadcast was cut off. Shaped like a blue tadpole, the gleaming object looked like a UFO making its rounds near the sun and hovering over the earth.

The alien hunter, who uploaded the footage on YouTube, described the orb: "Unidentified Object is brighter on the left side due to the light from the sun, so it is not lens flare." He believed that it was neither a reflection nor lens glare, and that what he saw was indeed a "real" unidentified flying object.

He also added, "NASA cut the camera feed so quickly even though this was very distant, but I still managed to get a couple of frames to enlarge."

UFO Specialist Scott Waring, also wrote of the incident on UFO Sightings Daily: "This blue-glowing UFO was seen near the space station yesterday by Streetcap1 of YouTube. It appears far away but it's not. It's actually very close to the space station, but higher up so it appears distant. Excellent find."

NASA stated the object was a light reflected from the ISS itself, and not what conspiracy theorists and alien hunters claimed it to be. Speculations have since surfaced that NASA intentionally disrupted the camera feed to cover up the mysterious alien sighting.

This was not the first time that UFO sightings were captured at the International Space Station. In April, a horseshoe-shaped UFO was seen during another live feed, Science World Report revealed. Another UFO in the shape of a fireball was also seen in June. Conspiracy theorists released footages of these sightings on YouTube.

NASA announced in July that it would "phase out" its ISS live feed, drawing the ire of UFO enthusiasts, who monitor the stream for "signs of alien life," RT reported.
Auto manufacturer Chevrolet unveiled its latest vehicle, which is part of a series of vehicles using zero-emission fuel cell tech. The Colorado ZH2 fuel cell vehicle is made for the US Army to be used in military missions.

The Colorado ZH2 was announced Monday during a meeting of the Association of the United States Army. The ZH2 is a powered up version of the Colorado originally produced for consumers. The military vehicle has a reinforced frame to handle all kinds of terrain. It measures 6.5 feet tall and more than 7 feet wide with 37-inch tires.

Fuel cell is a technology where the stack converts hydrogen gas, which is stored in the vehicle, into electricity which powers the vehicle's motor.

Chevrolet, which is owned by General Motors, has previously announced its partnership with the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to use consumer-based technology like fuel cell for military purposes.

Fuel cell vehicles are quiet, have low acoustic and thermal signatures, low fuel consumption and only has water as a by-product. This benefits Army missions greatly, as the ZH2 will be harder to detect and can survive uninhabited areas where water may be scarce or not available.

In a statement, TARDEC director Paul Rogers said: "Fuel cells have the potential to expand the capabilities of Army vehicles significantly through quiet operation, exportable power and solid torque performance, all advances that drove us to investigate this technology further."

General Motors is also working with the US Naval Research Laboratory and has earlier shown a fuel cell-powered underwater drone, which can operate for more than 60 days.

The company has been testing fuel cell vehicles since the '90s and has forged a partnership with Honda Motor Co. Ltd. to develop a fuel-cell system that will become available in 2020.
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation has created a tiny robot in honor of "famed" robot Kirobo that will sell next year for $400. In addition to the upfront fee, youll need to subscribe to a monthly service for $3 per month to enjoy the companionship of this amazing creation, GEEK reported.

This little toy was aptly named Kirobo Mini, after the droid that accompanied Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata at the International Space Station. But don't get fooled by its size: The smaller version posseses the intelligence of a 5-year-old. The creators designed it in such a way so that it can make emotional connections.

A Robot With Emotional Values

"Toyota has been making cars that have a lot of valuable uses. But this time we're just pushing emotional value," Fuminori Kataoka, the general manager of the project, told ABC. He also explained the significance of the creation, considering that many people in Japan live alone.

GEEK reported that this tiny friend can also move like a human being, and is also capable of determining emotions, learning things from conversations, and remembering important details just as a normal person.

Certainly, Toyota has a way of tugging at heartstrings with this beautiful innovation.

Major Companies Following Toyota's Footsteps

During an interview with the Associated Press, the little Toyota robot made a spectacular display of technology and wit, such as when it acknowledged the presence of a reporter, and when it asked Kataoka what car he drives, reported ABC.

According to Digital Trends Kirobi Mini represents the peak of robot merchandising, since many other major companies are doing the same as Toyota. Examples include SoftBank, which launched its own robot called Pepper, and Sharp, which came out with the RoBoHon smartphone.
There's no stopping Lucifer' right now.

Due to the Presidential Debate, Season 2 Episode 2 of Lucifer was put on hold. But don't fret, as the fantasy police procedural comedy drama television series is now ready for its comeback.

One of the most controversial series is already on its season 2, and they are not going anywhere. It was May 28,2015 when the American Family Association launched a petition on their website One Million Moms to prevent the show's airing. Petition states that the series is trying to glorify Satan while the actor portray him as a likable character. However, the creator had some insightful comments that ended the petition.

On his tumblr page he wrote "Ah. It seems like only yesterday (but it was 1991) that the "Concerned Mothers of America" announced that they were boycotting The Sandman because it contained lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans characters. It was Wanda that upset them most: the idea of a trans-woman in a comic book... They told us they were organizing a boycott of The Sandman, which they would only stop if we wrote to the American Family Association and promised to reform. I wonder if they noticed it didn't work last time, either..."

Moving on to Season 2 Episode 2. It was stated in one of the iTechPost section that Charlotte showed up in Season 2 Episode 2 right after his sons' Amenadiel and Lucifer searched for her. After the apparent murder, Charlotte showed up, which lead to Lucifer being suspicious of his mother.

Season 2 Episode 2 is titled 'Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire.' The episode revolves around Charlotte and his son Lucifer who believes his mother is not innocent. Lucifer asked Maze to look over her mother because she might do evil things on Earth. Charlotte then knocks Maze with her head as she continues her malicious deeds.
In just three months after Pokemon Go rolled out in Europe, the augmented reality game got insanely popular in The Netherlands. But not everyone is positive with how Niantic has managed the global sensation.

Authorities from the Hague are taking Niantic Labs to court over damage being done by overexcited Pokemon Go trainers to the sands of Kijkduin, where worries about protected dunes have been elevated in regards to recent increase of visitors, as reported by Game Rant.

Initially, officials tried to contact Niantic to tone down the spawn rates on the dunes. Authorities requested that they didn't want any Pokemon spawning between the hours of 11:00PM and 7:00AM by the beach, which seems sensible especially for a protected area. While Niantic had properly responded to other requests removing spawn points from museums and memorials, the studio is said to have failed to issues reported about the beach at Kijkduin. As a result of being ignored since August, officials from the Hague sought help from the court of law, expressing that they "had no other choice" in getting the studio's attention.

Authorities reacting to the destruction of the protected dunes but would just want Pokemon Go to decrease its spawn rate in the area sounds more than reasonable. Kijkduin will still remain a place of attraction for Pokemon hunters, but it would be appreciated if there would be less disorder and damage to protected areas.

A court date is set for Oct. 11, 2016, though as of this writing, we feel Niantic will just give in to the previously ignored requests now that lawyers are involved, nobody wants to go to court unless it's a necessity.

More Pokemon Go lawsuits

The Dutch Government isn't the only entity to challenge Pokemon GO over lawsuits. The mayor of Bressolles has banned the playing of Pokemon GO within town. On top of that, more bans have been laid down in Iran.

Pokemon GO is now available on Android and iOS devices. Do you have local attractions that seem to be overcrowded and often disturbed nowadays because of Pokemon Go? Share us your story via the comments section below.
"The Walking Dead" season 7 premiere is just a few weeks away and creator Robert Kirkman has opened up about how he wants his comic book to have a different ending from the TV series version.

Kirkman recently guested on AMC comedy night talk show "Geeking Out," where he answered the rumor about planning to end his comic series at the same time the TV series concludes.

"I hope the show ends and the comic keeps going," Kirkman jokingly responded. "The comic was the comic before the show and so I try to maintain that. Like I know how I want to end The Walking Dead and so I can't tell...anyone because I don't want it on the show before I get it in my comic. So it's tough, it's tough."

Kirkman refused to reveal how his comic book will end, not until the TV series ends. "The Walking Dead" season 7 is speculated to be the finale of the series, and fans are already scouring the internet for leaks on how the ending would look like. The comic book has been the reference of many "TWD" fans to predict what the future episodes would entail, but this time Kirkman opted to leave them a big question mark by not telling how he will twist the ending for the comic version. He, however, pointed out that the two versions will go on a different route and thus might end quite differently.

Furthermore, Kirkman joked to play dumb when "The Walking Dead" series writer consulted him for the comics ending. Still he said he would help "The Walking Dead" show tailor an ending, in benefit of his comics to get its own path of conclusion.



"The Walking Dead" Strayed From The Comics First

Before Kirkman told "TWD" fans about his intention of ending the comics differently, the TV series has long before taken detours in its storyline. An obvious example will be Michonne, who is characterized as a one-woman-show in the comics and is described to be close to Tyreese and later on to King Ezekiel. However, she ended up being the love interest of Rick Grimmes in the show. Also, the TV series played it differently when Rick was supposed to lose his right hand to the Governor but ended up with an intact pair in the show.

This straying ways of the "The Walking Dead" comics and the series give hope to the character of Glenn Rhee who's slated to get killed in season 7 premiere as Negan's victim. Clues from the previous season and the spoilers of "The Walking Dead" season 7 revealed Glenn being battered to death. But if the show twists the story one more time, Glenn might escape, which means someone else should play the victim. Online polls and theories created by fans point to Abraham to be next in line.

Meanwhile, Kirkman confirmed a greater level of fear of Negan to grow within the group, the kind that is described as deeper fear than that seen in "The Walking Dead" season 6, when the group was just dealing with the walkers. Kirkman also hinted that this growing fear will cause divisiveness, which will mainly affect Rick.

"The Walking Dead" season 7 will premiere on AMC on Oct. 23, Sunday.
Samsung has just experienced one of its darkest days because of the issue from its Galaxy Note 7 phablet. Despite the lack of official statements coming from Samsung regarding the exploding batteries, one thing is for sure and that the batteries that are used on the Galaxy Note 7 are made by Samsung SDI.

Samsung SDI To Blame For Galaxy Note 7 Fiasco

Samsung SDI is a division of Samsung dedicated to manufacturing batteries. It is responsible for the 70% of the Galaxy Note 7 units that are shipped around the world. Samsung was then forced to stop the sales, resulting in a near-worldwide recall.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 Still Number One In South Korea

However, this is not the case with the reputation that Samsung is experiencing on its motherland, South Korea. Stock Brand, a brand research company, stated that the Samsung Galaxy brand still remains to be the most valuable in South Korea despite its previous issues.

The Future Of Samsung Lies In The Balance

Despite the seemingly good news that the company has in store, it still is not a safe bet as to the longevity of its positive reputation in its home country. It is still too early to conclude that Samsung is already in safe waters with its Galaxy Note 7.

Samsung has opted to remain silent about the matter, refraining from further intrigues and issues to rise up as a result of the surprising claims of the research company. Whichever the case is, Samsung needs to take extra precautionary measures to ensure that its products will always be sporting quality features, preventing the occurrence of another devastating recall.
Facebook is in its aggressive and continuous progress for expansion as it plans to build its third data center outside of the US and locate it in the European country of Denmark. The company is said to be looking forward to putting up a facility that will have three server halls.

This will be located near Odense, an industrial place. It is also worth knowing that it is Denmark's third largest city, making it a strategic place to build the data center.

Facebook Conquers The World

According to fyek.dk, this would open up a lot of job opportunities, possibly giving 1,200 new jobs to interested and skilled professionals. It is reported that Mace, a UK-based firm, will be the one responsible for the construction of Facebook's mega project.

It will cover 500,000 square meters or 5.4 million square feet. Cassin Networks Apps, a company owned by Facebook, is reported to be the one who acquired the land for 68 million DKK or equivalent to $10,000,000. The municipality of Odense is also the direct recipient of the sum of money.

What's In It For The New Facebook Data Center In Denmark?

Facebook also has another data center located in Lulea, Sweden which opened in 2013. It cost Facebook $450 million to construct it. However, the new Danish data center is said to be significantly larger than the Swedish base.

"We have not made any final decision to come to Denmark. It takes years to get a site ready for a new data centre, and because of the long lead time, we're always evaluating potential new locations as we expand our global infrastructure. By doing work upfront, we can move fast when we do need more capacity. But, we're not committing to anything right now," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.

Reports also claim that Facebook's expansion is not limited to Denmark, as it is also considering building another data center in the heart of Ireland, possibly costing them another $220 million. The ice-laden country is pursuing giant tech corporations to invest in its country to usher in a new age of unrivalled growth.
A new 3D printing technique called Programmable Viscoelastic Material (VPM) has recently been developed. The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have demonstrated how it customizes the properties of robots, drones and other objects.

The Programmable Viscoelastic Material Technique

One of the study's co-author Jeffrey Lipton mentioned to Digital Trends that it controls an object's mechanical properties. The VPM technique can be programmed to make several parts of any object soft and very stiff. This is without changing the appearance of the said object.

The said technology can be used in different fields. Though the researchers are actually most excited about its application in robotics. Apparently, soft robots are still made our of silicone and other rubbers. The said material is bouncy. It sometimes causes the object to land incorrectly.

Lipton said that they want to build something that could absorb the shock of the landing. The VPM can be used to customize the skin and bodies of the robots. It will prevent the robot from bouncing all over the place. It is able to disperse the energy created during the landing.

The researchers have managed to reduce the amount of energy by 250 percent. This is shown through a 3D printed cube robot that moves by bouncing. Co-author Robert MacCurdy added that roboticists will benefit from this. They will have much control over their designs.

VPM Technique On Smartphones

According to the 3DPrint.com, the VPM technique can avert robots from breaking and drones from crashing and crumpling. The CSAIL team also expressed that their new materials are suitable for smartphones. Among the other items include helmets and shoes.

The CSAIL Director and project leader Daniela Rus explains that it basically protects objects when they hit the floor. The study is published as "Printable Programmable Viscoelastic Materials for Robots". It is authored by MacCurdy, Lipton, Rus and Shuguang Li.

They will present their paper at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. The said event will be held next week in South Korea, according to MIT.
The Internet Of Things is still in its infancy stages, but the general population is excited at the developing technology. But while there are a number of reasons that the same will be beneficial, there is already evidence that it has some major drawbacks as well. Even now, hackers are already using the technology that is available - which is far less than the end goal - to cause discomfort and inconvenience.

What Is The Internet Of Things?

Simply put, the Internet Of Things is a project currently being worked on by various tech giants that will connect all household items via the internet. Theoretically, even the simplest item in a home will be able to provide data and respond the owner's wishes.

Upon mastery of the developing technology, it will apparently help in various sectors of life. From media to environmental monitoring and transportation to manufacturing, there seems to be, at this point, no end to the possible applications.

As reported by USA Today, consumers are likely to experience a slow in internet speeds. This is because hackers have learned how to take advantage of a software, which allows them to use internet-connected devices to attack various websites.

Mirai, a tool that creates botnets, has been released into the hacker world. In essence, the tool can take over online devices and use them to launch distributed denial of service, or DDoS attacks. What makes it more fearful, is that Mirai is simple enough for even the most amateur hackers to use. Furthermore, it spreads via the internet, so hackers do not need to keep attacking various products.

What Is The Big Deal With DDoS?

Simply put, DDoS uses so much of a machine's bandwidth, that the Internet runs slowly or even in extreme cases, fails completely. Moreso, consumers will not be able to quickly pinpoint that it is happening.

As Fortune reports, Mirai, to the hacking world, is seen as a sort of gift. ""The code is a gift to cyber criminals looking to enter the popular market of DDoS as a Service," Thomas Pore told the publication. Pore is the director if IT and Services at Plixer, a network monitoring firm.

How Is It Causing Inconvenience?
"Jurassic World" is set to come back for a sequel and director Colin Trevorrow hinted it would be bigger than the first film. He also revealed the use of animatronics to equip "Jurassic World 2" with scarier and more realistic dinosaurs, making the upcoming film more exciting and suspenseful.

Trevorrow, who will serve as co-writer/executive producer of "Jurassic World 2," shared in a recent interview his insights and dropped teasers for the upcoming sequel, which he described as scarier and more thrilling than the first movie. Trevorrow left the director's seat to J.A. Bayona to give way to his new directing project for "Star Wars Episode IX."

In a recent chat with the Jurassic Outpost, Trevorrow discussed how "Jurassic World 2" is going to be more suspenseful and scarier than the first films produced under the franchise. He added that the whole film is being built around the superb film creation skills of Bayona, the chosen director of "Jurassic World 2."

The fans were delighted and expecting a new level of thrill and horror that the "Jurassic World" sequel will deliver. Trevorrow, backed up with a tweet from The Jurassic World team, also revealed the use of more animatronics than in the previous films.

#JurassicWorld2 will be scarier, feature new Dinosaurs and more animatronics, says Colin Trevorrow and director... https://t.co/uZHpZp8rXs  Jurassic World 2 (@JurassicWorld_) September 30, 2016

Trevorrow along with his team will take advantage of the technology to deliver more new creatures to scare the fans.

"There will be animatronics for sure," he confirmed. "We'll follow the same general rule as all of the films in the franchise, which is the animatronic dinosaurs are best used when standing still or moving at the hips or the neck. They can't run or perform complex physical actions, and anything beyond that you go to animation. The same rules applied in Jurassic Park. I think the lack of animatronics in Jurassic World had more to do with the physicality of the Indominus, the way the animal moved. It was very fast and fluid, it ran a lot, and needed to move its arms and legs and neck and tail all at once. It wasn't a lumbering creature."

The 1993 film "Jurassic Park" was among the first movies to utilize CGI and animatronics in production. The life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that were featured in the "Jurassic Park" movie were created by Stan Winston and his team, according to the American Cinematographer. His T-rex creation stood with a height of 6.1 meters and length of 12 meters, making it more realistic. This first product of animatronics made Steven Spielberg's realistic and terrifying work a legend in live-action film making.

"Jurassic World 2" is slated to open in theaters on June 22, 2018.
It's no secret that the Cali Cartel will take the spotlight when "Narcos" returns for its third season. With all the possible plots circulating online, fans can get a gist of what to expect when Gilberto Orejuela takes over Pablo Escobar.

According to reports, the notorious Cali Cartel will showcase a more complicated reign in "Narcos" Season 3. With the group being too involved in the system, their operations might appear "legitimate" thus making it more complicated particularly to authorities.

"Narcos" showrunner Eric Newman elaborates in an interview how the Cali Carter differs from Pablo Escobar, saying, "Pablo was protected by the people who loved him and Cali was protected by a political and economic system that they had rather ingeniously built," Newman also added the group is "a different kind of villain."

As cited by the PBS, the Cali Cartel patterned their operations similar to terrorists by "separating their workers into cells, with each cell knowing little about other employees." Apparently, the cartel had lawyers, businessmen, engineers and other professionals in their roster. It is expected that "Narcos" Season 3 will depict the same stories that will further explain how the Cali Cartel became a dangerous group.

On the other hand, it is also speculated that the Los Pepes will make a comeback in "Narcos" Season 3. To recall, the Cali Cartel utilized the said vigilante group against Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel. Following the death of Pablo Escobar, the Los Pepes temporarily disbanded as their mission to take down the kingpin was supposedly over.

However, the Los Pepes were allegedly restored by the Colombian government and eventually expanded their group as they continue to provide intelligence reports about the drug trade. The group was also believed to have infiltrated the Mexican drug trade which is a perfect segue to Mexico's El Chapo in "Narcos" Season 4.

As of this writing, there has been no confirmation whether these speculations are true or not. For now, it's best to wait for the show's official confirmation before jumping to any conclusion. Fans of the hit series will get to see more of these guys when "Narcos" Season 3 returns on Netflix.
Stanford University is the top computer science school in the U.S., according to a new salary-centric report from compensation specialist PayScale.

The research company ranked 171 colleges and universities with computer science programs based on the median pay of the schools' compsci alumni. By that measure, Stanford led the pack, with its graduates reporting a median mid-career salary of $168,000. (PayScale also ranked the highest-paying college majors.)

California colleges and universities made a strong showing in the ranking, securing 11 spots among the top 25. Close behind Stanford are three more Golden State schools: University of California, Santa Barbara, which came out on top in last years PayScale ranking; University of California, Berkeley; and San Jose State University.

Rounding out the top five is University of Delaware.

Here's the list of Payscale's top 25 computer science colleges (which includes 26 schools due to ties) based on data from its 2016-2017 College Salary Report.

1. Stanford University

Early career median pay: $99,500

Mid-career median pay: $168,000

2. University of California, Santa Barbara

Early career median pay: $72,800

Mid-career median pay: $144,000

3. University of California, Berkeley

Early career median pay: $93,200

Mid-career median pay: $142,000

4. San Jose State University

Early career median pay: $84,000

Mid-career median pay: $140,000

5. University of Delaware

Early career median pay: $66,000

Mid-career median pay: $139,000

6. Northwestern University

Early career median pay: $78,100

Mid-career median pay: $138,000

7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Early career median pay: $99,800

Mid-career median pay: $135,000

8. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (tie)

Early career median pay: $81,200

Mid-career median pay: $134,000

8. California State University, Chico (tie)

Early career median pay: $57,700

Mid-career median pay: $134,000

8. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (tie)

Early career median pay: $83,500

Mid-career median pay: $134,000

11. Columbia University (tie)

Early career median pay: $87,400

Mid-career median pay: $132,000

11. New York University (tie)

Early career median pay: $78,100

Mid-career median pay: $132,000

11. University of California, Davis (tie)

Early career median pay: $83,200

Mid-career median pay: $132,000

14. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Early career median pay: $67,100

Mid-career median pay: $129,000

15. California State University, East Bay (tie)

Early career median pay: $76,700

Mid-career median pay: $128,000

15. University of California, San Diego (tie)

Early career median pay: $81,300

Mid-career median pay: $128,000

17. Montana State University, Main Campus

Early career median pay: $61,400

Mid-career median pay: $127,000

18. Michigan Technological University

Early career median pay: $63,900

Mid-career median pay: $126,000

19. CUNY, Brooklyn College (tie)

Early career median pay: $61,200

Mid-career median pay: $125,000

19. Carnegie Mellon University (tie)

Early career median pay: $100,000

Mid-career median pay: $125,000

19. San Francisco State University (tie)

Early career median pay: $63,700

Mid-career median pay: $125,000

22. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Early career median pay: $84,300

Mid-career median pay: $124,000

23. University of California, Los Angeles

Early career median pay: $84,300

Mid-career median pay: $123,000

24. Bentley University (tie)

Early career median pay: $66,100

Mid-career median pay: $122,000

24. University of Washington, Main Campus (tie)

Early career median pay: $75,400

Mid-career median pay: $122,000

24. Washington University in St. Louis (tie)

Early career median pay: $68,700

Mid-career median pay: $122,000

The data used in PayScale's College Salary Report is from the companys online compensation survey, which collects user-provided data about jobs, compensation, employer, demographics and educational background.

PayScale defines early-career employees as those with five years of experience or less, and mid-career employees as those with at least 10 years of experience.
One of the potential frustrations of working in a corporate IT department is the constant reminder that "IT is not our business; IT is here to serve the business." There's an alternative, of course: You can get a job in IT services, where information technology is the business.

Work in IT services is closely related to IT consulting (a field we covered previously), with a few key differences. Although some companies offer both IT consulting and IT services, and both types of businesses are looking to hire highly skilled IT professionals, there's a distinct difference between the two, sources say. That difference is essentially the difference between strategy and tactics: An IT consulting firm plans new systems, while an IT services provider maintains systems after they're deployed.

Like consulting, IT services demands that employees be flexible and able to quickly understand not only a client's systems but its entire industry as well. Unlike consulting, the demands for travel may be less in services, though the length of time you spend on a project may be longer (depending on whether you're on the development or maintenance end of the timeline).

"A consulting company will design the structure and the governance, while the execution and maintenance goes to the services firm," says Kanak Rajan, a partner in the talent practice of human resources consulting firm Mercer.

Symbiotic relationship

Both fields offer promising job prospects, with "an incredible future," says Mahnaz Javid, senior vice president for talent acquisition and integration at Seattle-based Avanade, a provider of both IT consulting and IT services. "They are two sides of the same coin," she says. "One requires the other."

The good news? Employment potential is red hot in IT services. According to a May 2016 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, high-tech services jobs account for an ever-increasing slice of the total high-tech employment pie. In 1994, IT services jobs represented 38.8% of high-tech jobs. That figure had grown to 52.6% in 2014, after increasing every year since 2010, according to the BLS. Even a 2013 BLS report, which used projections from 2011, showed growth through 2020.

And compensation looks good as well. According to Computerworld's 2016 IT Salary Survey, compensation in the computer services/consulting field averaged $106,100 for software engineers, $121,000 for project managers and $145,700 for VP-level titles.

Figures like those probably make IT services sound appealing. But as is the case in any field, IT services has its upsides and downsides, and there are probably some aspects of the work that aren't readily apparent to outsiders. Here's a look at the pros and cons of IT services, along with a rundown of the hard and soft skills employers are looking for.

The pros

The primary advantage to a job in IT services, recruiters say, is the breadth and depth of experience that people are exposed to on the job.

"You get a whole new vision of where the world is going that you can't get elsewhere," says Donata Davenport, vice president of global talent acquisition at Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys, which has a large services operation. "You're solving problems for companies doing business in multiple regions, with a variety of maturity models. You're pulling together diverse teams, stretching yourself professionally and personally. It's intellectually challenging and rewarding."

To be sure, the phrase "a variety of maturity models" covers a lot of ground. If you're an IT professional with deep expertise in a technology that's on the down slope of the adoption curve -- mainframes, for example -- IT services can be a way to extend your career.

But it's just as likely that you'll be in demand if you have cutting-edge skills in areas such as mobile, DevOps or software as a service: Companies often find that they can get expertise in new specialties more quickly by contracting with a services provider than they could if they tried to hire people themselves.

As in IT consulting, employees of IT services firms need client-facing skills, the ability to move easily between projects and a willingness to travel. The advantage is the flexibility: Depending on your preference, you may be able to choose to work on a lot of different projects, or just oversee a mature system that needs day-to-day care. The opportunities run the gamut.

IT services jobs are typically less frenzied than consulting gigs. A consultancy's development project may have to be done in three to six months, whereas a maintenance project in services can last a couple of years.

"Consulting firms lend themselves to being pulled in different directions" because of their focus on cutting-edge work with demanding schedules, says Michael Wise, former vice president of talent acquisition for Xerox and currently a talent advocate at Intel. In contrast, services firms "work on road maps, so the work is more stable," he says.

Services employees stay with projects until they're delivered, and may continue on for maintenance responsibilities after the system goes live. "It doesn't do any good to pull people on and off [of projects] because that creates instability," Wise explains.

Variety is often cited as a benefit of working in IT services, but if you prefer to specialize and work in depth in a particular area, that's also an option, says Rajesh Ahuja, global head of recruitment for Infosys, a multinational systems integration, application development and product engineering firm headquartered in Bangalore, India.

"Depending on the business requirements and your level of interest, you can choose to become a deep expert in a specific technology or business domain," Ahuja says. "You could become an e-commerce expert or go really deep into every nut and bolt of a specific application."

Avanade Work in an IT services firm, says Avanade's Mahnaz Javid, and you'll have access to "hundreds of communities of like-minded people who share learning."

Xerox, for instance, has more than 2,000 business units focused on specific industries or subsegments of industries. According to Wise, Xerox employees can, for example, specialize in the transportation industry as a whole or drill down into narrow aspects of transportation, becoming an expert in, say, toll-tag information collection. Options such as those can be multiplied across many industries and subspecialties.

Not yet an expert in an esoteric discipline? Not a problem. There are myriad opportunities to learn in IT services, because you're surrounded by other experts. "Within Avanade, we have hundreds of communities of like-minded people who share learning, exchange ideas and build their collective knowledge," says Javid. Building such communities is crucial both for employees, who can turn to them for career development purposes, and for the companies themselves, which can rely on knowledgeable employees to help train others.

The cons

However, there are some downsides to working in IT services, practitioners caution. One of the biggest is that you may not always get to stay in a particular geographic area as long as you wish because you're at the mercy of client demands.

"We are driven by client requirements," says Infosys's Ahuja, "so it's not always easy to choose what you want to do. We have to match individual needs to client needs, and the timing may not always work out."

Similarly, clients often determine what office you work in. For example, in the government sector or in financial services, Ahuja says, clients may want services personnel on site. So you may find yourself moving back and forth between a client's facilities and the service firm's offices. On the other hand, he says, Infosys sometimes finds it easier to set up development centers in its own offices "so we can coordinate and collaborate better." The bottom line? "Being flexible is important," he says.

Crossing over to IT services Thinking of making a move to IT services? Craft your resume to establish your bona fides in one of three ways: Industry expertise Why hiring managers like it: Experience in a specific industry tied with technology smarts gives you an advantage when it comes to understanding the issues facing that industry, something services firms tackle every day. Technological expertise Why hiring managers like it: No matter what the technology -- mobility, analytics, cloud -- if you've got the background in it, flaunt it. Services firms are looking for people with cutting-edge capabilities so they can bring those talents to their clients. But they're also looking for solid tech pros who understand the intricacies of infrastructure and the nuances of networks. Application expertise Why hiring managers like it: If you're the SAP or Oracle expert in your organization, there's no reason why you can't transfer your skills; services firms help clients with application deployments as a matter of course.  Howard Baldwin

Flexibility also applies to when you work, not just where you work, especially if you're employed by a global IT services firm or working for international clients. "You can't assume everybody is going to be available during your 9-to-5 [U.S.] work slot," says Unisys's Davenport. "You may have to be up early for calls to Europe and India and up late for calls to Australia."

Yet another way in which services providers expect IT staffers to be flexible is in their ability to quickly adapt their technical expertise to the unique challenges of clients in a variety of industries.

For instance, you may know cloud services, but you may also need to know that cloud-based financial applications will require strong security. And while you may know mobile devices, you may also need to understand how they're used by both employees and shoppers in retail businesses.

"If you're coming out of an IT role, you may not have had a lot of exposure to business processes. There could be a high learning curve," says Intel's Wise. That's especially true these days, he notes, because advanced technologies are being put to use at almost every type of company and in all kinds of business processes.

Another downside for techies coming out of traditional corporate IT: You may have to work within strict parameters in IT services.

"A services firm, in order to be profitable, needs to create deliverable solutions within a specific requirements," says Davenport. "There's not a lot of time for 'what if?' scenarios and discussions of multiple, elaborate alternatives."

In IT services, it's important to remember that you're there to meet the client's current targeted need. "Bright minds love to innovate, but they have to do it within the context of what the client needs," Davenport says. For example, you might think that a hybrid cloud is the best long-term option for meeting your client's needs, but a private cloud may have to suffice because it fulfills the agreed-upon scope of the project.

Wanted: Code warriors

Executives of IT services firms agree with Marc Andreesen's 2011 pronouncement that "software is eating the world."

"Software skills and the ability to learn software development are very important to us," says Davenport, noting that demand has heavily shifted to programming over the past couple of years. "We used to look for people with [electrical engineering] degrees, but even then, we wanted them to understand system-level programming. The days of our looking for hardware engineers coming out of college are behind us, because that market has become commoditized."

She acknowledges that IT services providers are looking for infrastructure skills, but of course, a lot of infrastructure is going the software-defined route, whether in networks, storage or data centers. Infosys's Ahuja agrees that there's a need for infrastructure skills, along with the ability to gather business requirements and turn them into technical specifications.

Interestingly, there's sometimes a need for people with a little "snow on the roof" (a.k.a. gray hair) to deal with legacy systems, according to John Reed, senior executive director for IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology.

Robert Half Technology's John Reed says IT services professionals need to be able to "understand what's happening, ask the right questions, document your findings, and provide recommendations back to the business."

"Most companies still have staffers who are familiar with those old systems," Reed says. "But if they lose the legacy experts, they might bring in a services firm to replace Johnny the Cobol guy."

Along with programming expertise, IT services providers also need out-of-the-box thinkers with problem-solving skills. "Not all process improvement is technology improvement," says Wise. "There's quite a bit of creativity that goes into looking at a process and redesigning it." If you've ever done business-process re-engineering, or anything where you converted a manual process to a highly automated process, be sure to highlight that on your resume.

Reed concurs. "You need the ability to understand what's happening, ask the right questions, document your findings, and provide recommendations back to the business," he says.

Not surprisingly, teamwork and collaboration are also sought-after skills. "Success comes from a combination of skills, from people with diverse backgrounds," says Javid.

"Sometimes the best solutions come from a user experience specialist, or someone with experience in how information is consumed. It's important to "listen and hear" the input of both clients and colleagues -- and to be able to do so across global, multicultural teams under deadline.

The ability to collaborate is important in most jobs, but sources stress that in IT services, there are deeper intangibles that must be plumbed. "It helps to have experience working in ambiguous situations, where you have helped identify a problem and worked on the solution," Ahuja says.

And Davenport emphasizes the importance not so much of leadership, but of the ability to influence.

"It's an increasingly flat world," she says. "Informal leadership -- the ability to influence and be a trusted adviser -- is really important to us. Our staff needs to paint a picture of the future for clients. That's not always easy because it requires changing the status quo."

Required: Adaptability

More than anything else, however, IT services executives say they're looking for people who exhibit adaptability and a willingness to educate themselves. Learning C++ and nothing more is a career-stopper, says Davenport, who adds that IT services professionals should "approach their learning as they would approach agile software design" -- that is, by constantly adding new skills. IT services providers offer staff training programs, but training "doesn't have to be through formal channels," says Davenport. "You can learn a lot from YouTube."

At Avanade, "we want people who know how to write code, but we also are looking for self-learners, people who are passionate about technology, who -- if they don't know something -- they go learn it." Javid says. A thirst for learning, a sense of self-aspiration, is important, she says, adding that adaptability defines success in the IT services industry.

The bottom, says Javid, is this: "If you can move from one location to another, one project to another, and have the ability to learn and adapt and still be relevant to the next client, that's what will differentiate you from others."

Editor's note: After 40 years in journalism -- 30 of them covering technology -- longtime Computerworld contributor Howard Baldwin is laying down his reporter's notebook. We thank him for his impressive body of work and wish him well on the next stage of his journey.
Following a Mozilla-led investigation that found multiple problems in the SSL certificate issuance process of WoSign, a China-based certificate authority, Apple will make modifications to the iOS and macOS to block future certificates issued by the company.

Although there is no WoSign root certificate in Apple's trusted certificate store, a WoSign intermediate CA certificate is cross-signed by two other CAs that Apple trusts: StartCom and Comodo. This means that until now Apple products have automatically trusted certificates issued through the WoSign intermediate CA.

Because WoSign experienced multiple control failures in their certificate issuance processes for the WoSign CA Free SSL Certificate G2 intermediate CA, "we are taking action to protect users in an upcoming security update," Apple said in support notes for both iOS and macOS. "Apple products will no longer trust the WoSign CA Free SSL Certificate G2 intermediate CA."

The ban is only for future certificates issued by WoSign and not for those that have already been issued and published to public Certificate Transparency (CT) log servers by Sept. 19. Those existing certificates will continue to be trusted until they expire, are revoked, or Apple decides to ban them at a later date.

This is similar to the decision that Mozilla's CA team is considering after discovering multiple problems at WoSign, including mis-issuing of certificates and a strong suspicion, backed by evidence, that the CA issued SHA-1-signed certificates after Jan. 1 and then back-dated them in violation of industry rules.

"Mozillas CA team has lost confidence in the ability of WoSign/StartCom to faithfully and competently discharge the functions of a CA," the Mozilla team said in a detailed analysis of the incidents. "Therefore we propose that, starting on a date to be determined in the near future, Mozilla products will no longer trust newly-issued certificates issued by either of these two CA brands."

The inclusion of StartCom, an Israel-based CA, in this decision is due to the fact that WoSign silently acquired StartCom in November 2015. Although WoSign said in September that the two companies are operated and managed independently, there is evidence that StartCom has been using WoSign's certificate-issuing infrastructure and processes.

In its own analysis and response, WoSign claims that only 8 SHA-1 certificates have been incorrectly issued after the SHA-1 cutoff date of Jan. 1, 2016, and that those incidents were the result of a bug in its system and API.

"WoSign remains committed to continually evolve our technology, processes, and offerings to help keep our customers and the Internet safe," said in its final report after the investigation. "We believe that the steps we have taken will ensure that this type of incident never happens again, and we believe that full support for CT is our commitment of supervision."
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FOR the first time, every person working in the NHS, including those at Watford General and Mount Vernon hospitals, are being asked to use their day-to-day experiences to improve health services.

It follows the Government's promise of extra money in the Budget for health to improve performance and consistency - an annual average increase of 6.3 per cent over the next four years.

The national consultation aims to create a national plan for the 'new NHS' for the next 50 years, due for publication in July.

All NHS organisations are required to consult their staff on five main themes, including patient care and illness prevention.

In west Herts, the results will be collated by the health authority and reported back to the regional office by June 6.

Ms Lynda Hamlyn, West Herts Health Authority's chief executive said:

'This is a rare opportunity for those people in the front line of health services to have a say in the future of the NHS.

'Responses will be fed back to the Department of Health but we will be using this valuable information to help us in our local plans to improve health services.'

Mr Stephen Eames, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust's chief executive, urged all his staff to respond and added: 'We have long recognised that those people at the sharp edge of patient care are experts on how we could manage things better.

'I am delighted everyone who works in the NHS has a chance to give the benefit of their experience and look forward to some really innovative ideas emerging from this.'

Responses should be sent by the end of May via e-mail, letter or telephone.

The West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust is setting up discussion groups on all of its sites.

The health authority has set up a special mail box on its website at www.wherts-ha.nthames.nhs.uk and has the e-mail address new.nhs@ha.wherts-ha.nthames.nhs.uk for the public to give their ideas.

It will also be holding a brainstorming session for staff and using questionnaires and discussion groups to consult GPs, Primary Care Groups, local authorities, voluntary organisations and Community Health Councils.

A summary of the main ideas will be posted on the health authority's website.

To find out more, call Ms Lynda Dent on 01727 792802.
Whether some people like it or not, an inquest must begin following the Dons' demise after 14 years as the Premier League party pooper.

Somebody, somewhere put paid to one of the most magical fairy tales in the long history of football.

Usual suspects

There are a number of likely suspects who, whether they like it or not, cannot escape suspicion.

The top of the list must feature Sam Hammam, who almost single handedly created the spirit and the image of the Crazy Gang.

It was Sam who bought the unfashionable Dons originally as a property deal.

Over the years Hammam became chairman and cheer leader of an extraordinary phenomenon known as "The Crazy Gang".

The youth scheme which he created was brought forward a stream of young talent to play at the highest levels - stars such as Jason Euell, Chris Perry and Neil Sullivan.

At the same time, and without spending too much money in the terms of today's insanely inflated transfer market, Sam was bringing in bargain buys like club skipper Robbie Earle, while selling others off for a useful profit.

As former manager Joe Kinnear once summed it up so aptly: "We buy at Woolworths and we sell at Harrods".

Sam treated Wimbledon as his family and would defend them to the death. He won praise for this single devotion to the little man. In the 80s the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would declare to small businesses: "If Wimbledon can do it, why can't you?"

Baby love

Hammam said: "Wimbledon is my baby. I've given it a lot of love and attention. It will always be in my blood. They're a unique club."

So what went so hopelessly wrong this season? Why did Sam sell out to the club's current Norwegian owners? How did the Egil Olsen experiment go so hopelessly wrong? And what for the future?

This writer's personal inquest into the demise of the Dons continues next week.

Quite apart from the ignominy of relegation, Wimbledon fans must have been deeply distressed at the lack of spirit showed by their side at the crunch encounter at Southampton on Sunday.

Bridge too far

They quite simply crumbled as first Wayne Bridge and then Marian Pahars shot home to give the Saints one of their easier victories of the season.

There was none of the old swagger about the Dons. This was a side that used to take pride in upsetting the longest of odds. Once it was learned that Bradford City were beating Liverpool 1-0 the heads were down. Maybe Bradford are the Premiership's new Crazy Gang?

Immediately after they were relegated, the doom mongers were out in force, predicting a suicidal descent down the divisions for the Dons - citing the prime examples of Manchester City and Oldham who made it into the Second Division from the Premiership within a season. In Wimbledon's case a lot will depend on the club's ability to keep top names on the payroll.

Terry Burton remains favourite to stay in charge come the start of the new season after being given the near impossible task of keeping the Dons in the Premiership with only two games to go.

Fash back

But there are any number of names looking to take over should he not get the job full time, led by founder member of the old Crazy Gang John Fashanu. He said: "I'm interested and I think any Wimbledon player from Alan Cork to Vinnie Jones and Dennis Wise would be too. I met the owners and they are confident and very aggressive. They also have an awful lot of resources. One man not interested in the job for the meantime at least is Lawrie Sanchez - scorer of that famous 1988 winning cup final goal. He says that he is on a three year contact which he does not intend to break.

On the player front it would appear that Neil Sullivan will be first to leave the Dons. He is now out of contract and free to move where the money is best - or for that matter where he cares - under the European Court's Bosman ruling.

Tottenham Hotspur remain favourites to secure his signature. Neil will depart with the best wishes of many Dons' fans. Throughout this awful season, when he must have been sorely tempted to screw the necks of some under-performing colleagues, he has remained a great clubman - quite apart from performing some minor and often major miracles to prevent the goals against total in the league table statistics look even worse than they were.

Others who could be on the move are John Hartson, who must surely fancy himself for another season or three in the Premiership, plus Carl Cort and Jason Euell. On top of that Robbie Earle's name is being connected with a player-manager's job in one of the lower divisions once he regains full fitness.

He must have been one of those sickened by the relegation saga. A bit more guts and Wimbledon might not find themselves in such a sorry state. The question on everyone's lips is: Can they recover?
A TEENAGER who began burgling properties within seven days of coming out of a young offender's institute has been sentenced to three years custody.

Christopher Gibson's first offence was at Watersmeet Theatre, Rickmansworth, in July last year.

There he stole a worker's Filofax and credit cards.

The following month he broke into a house in Hemel Hempstead while the owner was asleep upstairs. He stole property worth almost 1,000.

A third burglary was committed in Lower Road, Chorleywood, in September, where 750 worth of electrical goods were stolen.

Gibson, 19, and now living in Manchester pleaded guilty at St Albans Crown Court to three burglaries, a charge of handling and two charges of deception.

Judge Ronald Moss told him: 'Domestic burglaries need to be met with severe sentences.'

Gibson's barrister Mr Matthew Taylor said the offending had been drug-related but he had now moved to live with his father in Manchester.

There now appeared to be positive signs that he was improving himself and his outlook.

'He greatly regrets the suffering he has caused others,' he added.
He has been cited by Rush Limbaugh, quoted in the New York Times, featured at Real Clear Politics and Lucianne.com and interviewed on radio, TV and in social media.





Inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame, for many years he served as a Lecturer in Corporate Communication at Penn State University. A former President of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association (PPRA) he has lectured at Rowan University, Temple University, The College of New Jersey and Arcadia University. He has conducted workshops on public relations for thousands of participants throughout the nation and has taught countless others the art of public speaking. He has also advised numerous lawyers, judges, public officials and political candidates.





Cirucci is a prolific writer and his op-ed pieces have appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post and other publications.



A native of Camden NJ, Cirucci is a former President of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Cirucci served as Associate Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association for nearly 30 years. He served as Chair of Penn State University's Professional Advisory Board for the Corporate Communication major at Penn State Abington and on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Judicial Selection Commission.



He received his MA degree from Rowan University and his BA from Villanova University. He has been named a Distinguished Alumnus of Rowan's public relations program and received the E. A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Bar Executives' Communications Section. He has also been honored by numerous other local, state and national groups.









Cirucci's passions include politics, the popular culture, books and authors, art, communication, music, theatre, movies, dining and travel. In his hometown of Camden, Cirucci taught fifth grade at the Ulysses Wiggins Elementary School named for the founder of the Camden NAACP. There he was one of the first teachers in the country to teach African-American history to inner city students. He later served as editor of a local weekly newspaper, as Assistant to the Township Manager of Cherry Hill Township and as Associate Director of Communications at the New Jersey State Bar Association.

He's Dan Cirucci, the founder and editor-in chief of the Dan Cirucci Blog, Matt Rooney's sidekick on Save Jersey's videocasts and one of the most widely honored public relations professionals in his field. He's also been a public relations consultant to numerous organizations and individuals and hosted The Advocates on RVN-TV.
As technology advances, business opportunities in different states and places also grow, the Sioux Falls, the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, is not an exception.

As Sioux Falls gears up for a more advanced technology, CenturyLink and The Bakery promised to help them out. CenturyLink will be sponsoring a pitch competition called Launch Pad for a technology project or business, promising to give away $5,000 in funding.

In a report from the Agus Leader, CenturyLink market development manager Rachel Woodman said that the CenturyLink will be a technology partner for many of the largest global businesses. He said that they are proud to support local businesses with funding through events like this.

"The Bakery and CenturyLink want to support and encourage tech companies by not only laying forth the infrastructure and resources in the Sioux Falls region but to provide crucial growth stage funding assistance," the official website of The Bakery stated.

Launch pad will be held at The Bakery on November 10 (Thursday) at 7:00 p.m.

The competition will be selecting 4 to 6 organizations that will be introducing their projects to a group of local entrepreneurial judges and a live audience where they will be defending their projects or business vying for $5,000 in funding from CenturyLink.

The Bakery website also provides the guidelines for the application. Companies who would want to join the competition must have a strong emphasis on technology. According to The Bakery and CenturyLink, the companies' project or business must focus on development, manufacturing, R&D, software product or services.

The organizers also said that participants must be able to defend how technology works on their organization and how they use technology in the operation of their business.

"Companies targeted are those in growth stages of business. Applicants must be organized and an existing operational entity," the organizers said. However, those which they called mild or moderate stage companies may also join the competition provided that they would be able to prove that they have a new department or division of innovation technology planned for launch and implementation.

Deadline for submission of entries is on October 14, 2016.

For more information, click here.
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Charlotte  For three frustrating, fruitless years, authorities hunted for Erica Parsons  using computers, search warrants, tracking dogs.

Their unexpected break came only this summer, the path to her body materializing from a federal prison in Butner.

It was there that Sandy Parsons  the adoptive father of the girl whose 13 years on Earth were spent in harsh servitude and gruesome exploitation  reached out to authorities through an intermediary.

He had completed a year of his eight-year term for fraud, sentenced for cashing Ericas adoption support checks long after she disappeared. His wife, Casey Parsons, is serving 10 years on the same crime in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla.

It is not known whether Sandy Parsons gave in to heartfelt guilt or hoped to build a bargaining position from prison. Kevin Auten, the Rowan County sheriff, said Monday that no plea deal has been struck, no promises made.

But in July, Auten said, a line of communication was opened with Parsons.

Parsons was assigned to the federal correctional center north of Durham in part, say those familiar with the case, because authorities wanted to keep him close should a break in the case ever develop.

Family members have said that his wife was the dominant partner in the marriage.

But once free of his wifes influence, Sandy Parsons  who has a fifth-grade education  began acting more independently, say those familiar with the case.

Massive search

Erica Parsons was reported missing in July 2013 by James Parsons, her adoptive big brother, after he had a quarrel with his parents. He said late 2011 was the last time he saw Erica, who was developmentally disabled and ever the target of harsh punishment from her adoptive mother.

He testified that the last night he saw her, the girl was standing in the corner, a frequent punishment, and appeared unwell. She looked like a zombie, he said.

Her face went on billboards, posters and national TV after the search for her began. Casey and Sandy Parsons said they had given the girl to her maternal grandmother, a woman called Nan Goodman whom they met through Facebook.

Authorities could find no such woman, and confirmed Ericas real maternal grandmother had died years earlier.

Federal agencies, including the FBI and IRS, became involved in the case. National databases were scoured to see whether Ericas Social Security numbers  she had two, not unusual in adoption cases  ever appeared in Medicaid or any other records.

No school system in the state had any record of her enrolling after her disappearance. Even Department of Motor Vehicle records were checked in all 50 states after she would have turned 16 to see if shed ever gotten a license or a ticket. No trace.

Focus on parents

Armed with search warrants, authorities went through the Parsons home on Miller Chapel Road near Salisbury. An FBI evidence team found a closet where the girl would be imprisoned for long stretches of time and found her DNA  either from saliva or urine  on the floor.

In August 2013, a storage shed the Parsons used on the China Grove property of Sandy Parsons father was searched. Found inside: human teeth and a hammer.

In October 2013, for two days, police dogs searched the grounds of the Miller Chapel Road house and other places in Rowan County known to the Parsons. Nothing of note was found.

Sheriff Auten said an investigative strategy developed where Rowan County deputies would lead the missing persons case, and the FBI would pursue the fraud charges.

Three months after the Parsons were sentenced in March 2015 for fraud, a review of the case was conducted by Rowan Sheriffs Lt. Chad Moose.

By then, authorities were all but certain Erica was dead. They began preparing for a possible homicide case  even without her body.

Break in the case

This summer, Sandy Parsons told a relative that he was trying to work out a deal with prosecutors.

He boasted that Ericas body would never be found without him. She was buried in a place where hikers, hunters and wandering children would be unlikely to find her.

Investigators checked old wells and looked for possible graves around China Grove, near the Parsons old house, and elsewhere in Rowan County. Nothing of note was found but a dialogue with Sandy Parsons continued.

In August, investigators learned Erica was indeed dead  and had been for a long time  and turned their attention to remote land near Pageland, S.C., not far from where Sandy Parsons mother lived, and an area that he knew well.

Several trips were made by teams of FBI and Rowan investigators, but the grave was not pinpointed.

On Sept. 27, Sandy Parsons was taken to the area and led authorities down a remote road to a small mound shaded by pines.

A team went to work that included investigators from Rowan County, the FBI, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division and the Chesterfield County Sheriffs Office.

For nearly 10 hours, they gathered clues and lifted Ericas skeleton from the soil. Many of those present, Auten said, have children of their own.

Their careful, deliberate ministrations appeared to be one of the few traces of dignity directed toward the girl in life  or death.

They found the remains in a shallow grave just yards from a desolate, earthen path. Whoever disposed of Erica hadnt carried her small body very far and hadnt dug very deep.
Two large operators of for-profit career colleges were quick to see the threat in 2009, as the new Obama administration and Senate Democrats examined complaints that the industry had left many ex-students buried in debt with no diplomas to show for it.

In the seven years since, the two companies have led their industry in a determined battle to fend off tighter regulation, spending millions of dollars on lobbyists and doling out more than $2.2 million in political donations, including $59,000 to two veteran North Carolina Republican lawmakers.

The top North Carolina recipients of political money  Sen. Richard Burr and 5th District Rep. Virginia Foxx  were key players.

In early 2015, they pushed companion Senate and House of Representatives bills that would have blocked implementation of an Education Department rule aimed at ensuring that for-profit schools oft-pricey, mostly online classes live up to their promise to train students for well-paying jobs.

Burr and Foxx, both members of education committees, said at the time that they were acting to ease overly burdensome government regulations. Burrs re-election campaign cited the report of an academic task force he had helped create. It pointed to the Education Departments 930-page rule targeting for-profit schools among prime examples of regulatory overkill.

The industry, however, has been plagued by complaints about soaring dropout and student-loan-default rates, as well as allegations that school recruiters used misleading marketing tactics and preyed on military veterans at bases including Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune.

Both school operators  the Phoenix-based Apollo Education Group Inc., which runs the widely advertised University of Phoenix, the industrys biggest school, and San Diego-based Bridgepoint Education Inc.  have been drawn into the controversy.

The University of Phoenix has been on the industrys leading edge, at one point swelling its nationwide enrollment to more than 477,000, mainly through online classes. In 2010, the company reported a staggering $4.9 billion in revenue and recorded $521 million in profits.

But a Brookings Institution study found that by 2014 nearly 1.2 million current and former University of Phoenix students had borrowed $35.5 billion in federal student loans, far more than any school in the nation, and that 45 percent of the students whod enrolled in its classes five years earlier had defaulted on their loans.

For all for-profit, four-year schools, the average six-year graduation rate of 27.8 percent among 2008 enrollees lagged far behind the 55.2 percent of students who earned degrees at public institutions during the same time frame.

At the University of Phoenix, just 17 percent of the more than 107,000 students who enrolled in the schools main online Arizona campus in the fall of 2008 received associates degrees, bachelors degrees or certificates within six years, according to Education Department data derived from the schools reports. The figure fell to 10 percent for those seeking bachelors degrees.

The university, whose student population has shrunk by more than half since scrutiny tightened, contends the department data is flawed because it doesnt count outcomes for students who take more circuitous educational paths. It says 41.1 percent of students seeking bachelors degrees graduated within those six years.

In early September, Bridgepoint agreed to a consent order issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleging that its Ashford University had deceived students into taking private loans costing more than advertised. Bridgepoint, which did not admit or deny any of the agency's findings of fact, agreed to pay more than $23.5 million in loan forgiveness.

For-profit schools, including about 1,300 two- and four-year colleges and universities that offer degrees, serve an estimated 2 million students and are financed almost entirely by taxpayers.

Since 2010, the cumulative award of income-based student Pell Grants and federally backed student loans for those attending for-profit universities has exceeded $100 billion, according to Education Department data. Hundreds of millions of dollars more in annual GI education benefits help military veterans and active duty troops to enroll.

Now, in an election year, after the collapse of a number of large for-profit schools and a 20-percent enrollment drop at the industrys four-year schools, Burr, Foxx and other politicians who fought against the regulations may feel some heat.

Deborah Ross, Burrs Democratic opponent in his bid for a third term in the Senate, has begun to publicly attack him for his role.

Burr and Foxx are standing firm in defending their actions.

From the Obama administrations earliest months, the Education Department bucked resistance from congressional Republicans. The agency has gradually escalated enforcement measures, leading a number of schools big and small to shut their doors. The latest casualty, Indianapolis-based ITT Technical Institute, closed 130 campuses in 38 states after it was barred from accepting new students with federal aid.

To the departments critics, Education Secretary John King has a ready retort: Schools looking to cheat students and taxpayers will be held accountable.

The administrations cause was boosted by revelations of a rash of complaints and lawsuits from former students at Trump University, the unlicensed, now-defunct school owned by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. They have alleged they were misled into squandering $35,000 on tuition for little value.

The controversy around more established for-profits burst into public view in 2011, when Democrats holding a majority on the Senate education panel conducted hearings to unveil results of a two-year investigation of the industry.

The committee detailed how Bridgepoint, whose majority shareholder was a Wall Street hedge fund, grew Ashford Universitys enrollment from 332 students to 78,000 mainly online students in five years with $600 million in federal subsidies. In 2010, the firms top five executives shared $36.7 million in compensation, and Bridgepoint reported $216 million in profits.

Republicans assailed the investigation, led by then-Committee Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa, with Burr deriding it as a witch hunt.

But the Obama Education Department already had begun to craft tighter regulations and formally proposed a rule in 2011 to tighten the noose around for-profit schools that were saddling students with debt without setting them up in careers.

Bridgepoint and Apollo ramped up their political activity. Bridgepoints political action committee, which had given $29,900 to members of Congress in 2009 and 2010, contributed $1.26 million from Jan. 1, 2011, through June 30 of this year. Apollos PAC has donated $929,476 since 2009.

Spokesmen for Apollo and Bridgeport, both of whose schools have made improvements since the federal crackdown, declined to comment on their campaign donations.

Soon after the 2011 rule was issued, Foxx won House passage of a measure to block its implementation, though it went nowhere in the Senate. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida was among a few Democrats who supported Foxxs bill, giving it a bipartisan look. Since that year, Hastings has received $26,000 from Apollos and Bridgepoints PACS.

An industry suit, however, stalled the rule-making process.

In November 2013, Burr, Senate Education Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, along with Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Michael Bennet of Colorado, took a different tack. They announced they were creating a broad task force of college and university presidents and chancellors to evaluate the degree to which regulations were burdening schools.

Bridgepoints and Apollos PACS have donated $21,000 to Bennets political committees. Bennets office did not respond to requests for comment.

A federal judge ultimately upheld a revised version of the Education Departments rule. On Oct. 30, 2014, the agency formally proposed the recrafted gainful employment rule, which would require all career colleges to show that typical graduates spend no more than 20 percent of their discretionary incomes or 8 percent of their total earnings on student loan payments.

Programs failing to meet the guidelines would be at risk of losing eligibility for student financial aid, a virtual death sentence. The department estimated that about 1,400 programs serving 840,000 students, nearly all at for-profit schools, were at risk.

Burr and Foxx fought back yet again. On Feb. 25, 2015, Burr introduced his bill, with no Democrats among the 28 co-sponsors, to prevent implementation of the rule for at least two years. Over the preceding 3 1/2 weeks, his campaign received $9,000 from Bridgepoints PAC, and the task force issued its report assailing the maze of Education Department regulations and modifications piling up at the rate of a page each day. The 16-member panel, including then University of North Carolina system President Thomas Ross, called the pending for-profit rule fundamentally flawed and urged its repeal.

Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for Burrs campaign, said 299 nonprofit schools in North Carolina are burdened by President Obamas 800 pages of bureaucratic red tape  collateral damage under the gainful employment rule.

Burr thought the added regulatory burden could cause tuition to rise on North Carolinas campuses, Hunt said.

Sen. Burr has long understood there are bad actors in higher education, and those actors must be dealt with, Hunt said. But when the federal government increases the cost of a college education for families, everyone loses.

Burrs campaign cited a long list of academic groups, including the American Council on Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, that supported his bill.

But weeks later, a longer list of consumer, veterans, faculty and staff groups signed a letter of opposition, saying that almost all career programs at public and nonprofit schools pass the new regulations test for the simple reason that they are serving students far better.

Ross, who hopes to unseat Burr, said she hears from family after family in North Carolina about the crushing burden of student loan debt  and its clear that the last thing students and families need in Washington is a typical politician like Richard Burr, who makes things worse by standing up for his campaign contributors in the for-profit college industry rather than protecting students and veterans here in North Carolina.

Foxxs spokeswoman, Sheridan Watson, said the congresswoman believes the Department of Education has intentionally targeted and sought to dismantle the for-profit college industry with arbitrary regulations that threaten student choice, innovative schools and an American economy that stands to benefit from responsive higher learning institutions.

Since 2009, Burr has received $34,000 from Phoenixs and Apollos PACs and another $6,000 from a PAC for a trade group representing other for-profit colleges, now known as Career Education Colleges and Universities.

Foxx, a former community college president who is a leading candidate to ascend to the chairmanship of the House Education and the Workforce Committee next year, has received $25,000 from Bridgepoints and Apollos PACs and $16,000 from the trade groups PAC.

The two corporate PACs also rewarded others who sought to protect the industry.

Alexander, chairman of the Senate education panel, received $42,000 from the two company PACs and $3,000 from Apollo executives, according to the PACs filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Minnesota Rep. John Kline, the chairman of the House panel on Education and the Workforce, who is retiring from Congress at years end, received $149,600 from the two PACS, $52,600 from Apollo executives and $42,499 from the trade PAC.

Spokespeople for both men did not respond to requests for comment.

Following ITTs failure in September, Education Secretary King blamed the administration of former President George W. Bush for taking steps that made it possible for schools to take advantage of students.

He lamented that rather than going to school to make progress in the economy, in many cases, students have actually ended up worse off .

Three days after ITTs shutdown, Gaston College, which has its own technical school, held an information session for displaced students at its Belmont, North Carolina, campus.

Darren Stewart, a financial aid specialist at Gaston, said a lot of them are kind of in the fog right now about where theyre going to go.
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

The Arab press reacted to the announcement on Monday by the US government that it was ending its military cooperation with the Russian Federation in Syria. Masr al-Arabiya noted that the US underlined that that the step did not imply that all sorts of joint activity would be ended. For instance, multilateral talks will continue under UN auspices. Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said that the American goal remained to restart the ceasefire and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged populations.

On 9 September the US and Russia had reached an ceasefire agreement to be implemented for 48 hours and capable of being renewed twice. If it extended to 7 days, the US would have implemented full coordination with Russia in fighting Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Levant Conquest Front. But the Syrian regime announced the end of the truce on 19 Sepetmeber and since that time it has launched round after round of heavy aerial bombing of rebel-held East Aleppo. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, including women and children.

The siege and bombardment of rebel-held East Aleppo threatens the lives of its some 250,000 residents.

For their part, the Russians accused the Americans of never following through on their pledge to separate the moderate Free Syrian Army units from Salafi Jihadi groups like the Levant Conquest Front.

But I fear that this Russian statement is propaganda. Nothing the US did required the Syrian regime and its Russian backers abruptly to bomb the bejesus out of East Aleppo, hitting two hospitals and killing hundreds, including women and children.

Rather, it appears that rebel advances north of Hama and of Salafi Jihadis and their allies into part of East Aleppo may have decided the regime and the Russians that Obamas ceasefire was helping the enemy. But note that East Aleppo is not held by an al-Qaeda-linked group but by remnants of the old Free Syrian Army (admittedly fundamentalists). Moreover, the Levant Conquest Front was never part of the agreement, so how could its actions invalidate the agreement? Russia and the Damascus regime have increasingly made it clear that nothing less than conquest of East Aleppo is acceptable to them, and such an expansionist attitude is incompatible with a ceasefire.



Related video:

Euronews: US suspends Syria talks with Russia over Aleppo offensive
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By Lina Abirafeh | (The Conversation) |  

It should now be beyond dispute that gender-based violence is a critical human rights issue  possibly the most important human rights challenge of our time.

There is a great deal of research and action on this issue, and also a great deal of terminology that might be unclear. Terms such as violence against women, gender-based violence, violence against women and girls, sexual and gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence may sound similar, but the distinctions between them are important.

Words have power  and policy implications. For instance, referring to violence against women risks excluding adolescent girls, elderly women, or the female foetus (given that violence can also be inflicted upon females pre-birth via foeticide). Referring to gender-based violence implies that we are also working with male survivors, and addressing the full spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities in our work.

I will refer to gender-based violence in this article. By way of definition, this is a harmful act committed against a persons will based on understandings of their gender. The vast majority of survivors are female. One in every three women worldwide has experienced some form of gender-based violence. The problem exists everywhere, cutting across all barriers and prevalent in many forms  sexual, physical, emotional and economic. Intimate partner violence is the most common form worldwide.

Most challenging is how people define what constitutes violence. In most countries around the world, sexual harassment, marital rape, and being coerced into sex are not viewed as violence.

Violence in the Arab world

Around the Arab world there are many competing and long-running conflicts, from Syria to Yemen, none of which show signs of abating.

Most Arab countries lack adequate gender policies and provisions in their constitutional and legal frameworks. Women are not protected against marital rape, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence.

As insecurity increases and opportunities to make a living decrease, women are increasingly resorting to riskier sources of income such as trafficking and prostitution. In the informal sector, women are exposed to myriad abuses and have zero protection.

Protecting women in Lebanon

In a country like Lebanon, where I live, the landscape is extremely challenging. Many Lebanese women and men feel that women already benefit from their full rights. But this is far from reality.

The health-care system is highly fragmented and deregulated, and women and girls in rural areas are badly affected by limited and poor services. The long-running Syria conflict has placed considerable stress on already fragile health services, including an increase in survivors of gender-based violence.

Child marriage is very high among refugees. While no law exists against this in Lebanon, the National Commission for Lebanese Women drafted a law for parliament to regulate religious marriage among minors by demanding the consent of a civil judge as well as a religious leader. There is no legislation in place for sexual exploitation and harassment in the workplace.

Lebanon is source and destination for human trafficking and forced labour, with female migrant domestic workers at significant risk.

Gender-based violence prevention and response is one of the primary objectives of the National Strategy for Women in Lebanon. But unfortunately, the Lebanese legal system does not monitor violations of gender equality.

The situation for women isnt helped by comments like those of Lebanese MP Elie Marouni, who recently asked whether women could play an active role in pushing men to rape them. He was speaking at a womens rights conference at the time, and he made his comments during a discussion about Article 522 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which authorises marriage between a rape survivor and the perpetrator  thereby allowing prosecution against the rapist to be stopped.

Needless to say, feminist activists responded to the Marounis comments in force. In Lebanon, as in many countries around the world, the concept of consent is one that remains vague. Rape culture is rampant  and normalised. As the Director of the Institute for Womens Studies in the Arab World, I was asked to make a statement. I said:

There is absolutely no situation where one can ever wonder what a survivor of rape did to justify or encourage rape. Rape is an egregious violation of human rights and bodily integrity  never excusable under any circumstances. Any statement that directly or indirectly justifies sexual violence should be condemned. It is extremely dangerous to have officials who espouse these views.

Despite the many challenges, there has been some progress, for instance Lebanons Law on Protection of Women and Family Members from Domestic Violence in 2014  although this fails to recognise marital rape as an offence.

What do we do about gender-based violence?

So given the situation across the Arab world, what can we do about gender-based violence? We have an array of global guidance, goals, declarations and conventions, from the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1979, to 2015s Sustainable Development Goals.

Work in this area is also guided by a range of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on women, peace, and security. There are many worldwide awareness campaigns, including 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence Against Women, and One Billion Rising.

Over recent decades, this field has evolved such that there is now general agreement on what must be done.

First, gender-based violence must be prevented to whatever extent possible. Where it exists, there is clarity on what constitutes an appropriate response. People who work to help survivors should coordinate their work and share information. There is also broad consensus that the approaches we use must be based on human rights and focused on the survivor at all times  her safety and her wishes. The guiding principles that should be used for this work are safety, confidentiality, respect and non-discrimination.

Our work must include education and awareness-raising efforts that promote gender equality and human rights. Communities must be engaged in all activities from the onset  especially men and boys. There are also actions to reduce the risk of exposure to gender-based violence. These include safe access to shelter, water and sanitation, and food. Adequate lighting in unsafe areas, security patrols, and livelihood support are also critical.

Survivors must have access to different types of services based on their needs and wishes. These include health care, psychological support, police and security support, legal aid, access to justice, reintegration and financial support.

Operating ethically  and effectively

In gender-based violence prevention and response work, we also distinguish between programming, mainstreaming and coordination. Programming means direct service delivery, mainstreaming obliges all of us to address the problem, not just those who work in the field. Coordination brings all this work together to ensure that the system is working properly.

Data collection is critical to our work  and in fact we are often asked to demonstrate that gender-based violence is even a problem at all, and to document cases, even if it violates principles of confidentiality. We do not need additional evidence to prove that violence is taking place, especially in emergency settings. We have an obligation to act.

Still, documentation is crucial, provided that the benefits to survivors outweigh the risks and that the methodology ensures safety and full compliance with ethical guidelines.

Standard Operating Procedures help guide our work. These are specific processes and agreements among organisations entailing minimum standards for prevention and response. Creating procedures can be lengthy, but the process itself is an intervention in that building consensus can also build capacity, improve communications, and solidify partnerships.

Protecting women in emergencies

Preventing gender-based violence, and caring for survivors is a challenge across the world. But in emergency situations, such as conflict or natural disasters, the problem gets worse.

Emergencies are undoubtedly more dangerous for women and girls. Existing vulnerabilities and inequalities are exacerbated, and women are deliberately targeted. Gender-based violence increases in such settings because communities are disrupted, populations are moving, and there are no systems of protection or support.

As such, emergency services must be flexible. Gender-based violence prevention and response interventions are not an add-on, they are essential from the onset of all emergencies.

Peacekeeper Major General Patrick Cammaert has famously said: It is now more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in modern conflicts. Rape is used as a weapon of war, and womens bodies are battlegrounds.

In Yemen, the UN reports that women are at even greater risk of gender-based violence than they already were before the current conflict began.

In natural disasters, women are no safer. There are more female fatalities during disasters and greater risks in the immediate aftermath of disasters. Disaster risk response works to take prevention and protection of women and girls into account.

We must assume gender-based violence is taking place in any emergency context and all humanitarian personnel should treat it as a serious and life-threatening protection issue, taking actions to minimise risk regardless of the presence or absence of concrete evidence.

While know what we must do about gender-based violence in emergencies, challenges to prevention and response remain great. Services and support are scarce in contexts of ongoing insecurity, such as the wars in Yemen and Syria). Meanwhile, aid workers risk their own safety and can be survivors of gender-based violence themselves in the context of their work.

Conflicts are increasingly regional, rather than national in nature, and solutions need to move beyond borders. Fundamentalism continues to restrict womens freedom and inflict increasing abuses. Funding is woefully short  and short-term, despite the long-term nature of emergencies.

In Lebanon and many other Arab countries, there is still a great deal of work to do to end the scourge of gender-based violence. We have all the evidence and information required to make this happen. What we need now are resources and action.

Lina Abirafeh, Director, Institute for Womens Studies in the Arab World, Lebanese American University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

This is a Foundation Essay for The Conversation Global. Our series of Foundation Essays provide an in-depth investigation of a particular global challenge. In this piece, Lina Abirafeh takes on the issue of gender-based violence in the Arab world.

Lina Abirafeh is Director of the Institute for Womens Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University in Lebanon.



Photo added by Juan Cole
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Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) |  

In Mosul, the Islamic State is preparing for a siege, building walls, tunnels and trenches and boasting that, like the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century, they will be able to withstand any attacks. Locals doubt it.

In Mosul, members of the extremist group that control the city, known as the Islamic State, know full well that they can expect the city to be attacked by those who oppose them soon. Rumour has it the fight for Mosul, the extremists last large stronghold in Iraq, could begin as soon as October. As a result, they are preparing, night and day, to try and defend the city they have controlled for over two years now. Residents say that for the past two weeks, the noise from large vehicles and construction equipment hasnt stopped.

Trucks owned by the Mosul city council have been moving large concrete barriers to the outskirts of the city, one local, who could not be named for security reasons, told NIQASH. Large cranes are unloading these and they are being arranged in a similar way to how the Iraqi military used to arrange them, when they controlled Mosul.

Eyewitnesses in the city confirm that at the southern end of the city, around the neighbourhoods of Mamoun, Tal al-Rumman and Mansour, members of the extremist group have completed a three-meter-high wall. Further ahead is the town of Qayyarah, out of which the Islamic State, or IS, group was pushed out of recently.

War is coming and the survival of the Caliphate will depend on the steadfastness of Mosul, the preacher said.

Other locals confirmed that there is a similar wall at the eastern end of the city near the neighbourhoods of Somar, Dumez and Falastin as well as in the Kokajli and Shamali areas, where pre-fab buildings are located, in order to prevent the Iraqi Kurdish military from laying siege to that part of the city.

However, because Mosul is so large  its known as Iraqs second city after Baghdad, and was home to over 2 million people  there is no way to construct a complete wall around the city. Thats why theyre only building walls in areas near the main entrances to the city and in parts of the city where they expect their enemies to attack from.

Locals say all this is somewhat ironic. When the IS group first entered the city in mid-2014 they boasted about the fact that they were removing all the concrete barriers that the Iraqi army had placed around Mosul because they were no longer needed. Security would prevail under their rule, they claimed.

At the same time as the barriers are being moved, there has also been a major campaign to convince locals of the IS groups strength and, one imagines, keep citizens on side.

War is coming and the survival of the Caliphate will depend on the steadfastness of Mosul in confronting the infidels, one young man, a preacher in his 30s, told all of those praying in the Umar ibn al-Khattab mosque in Mosuls Nahrawan neighbourhood recently. Did you hear about the battle fought by Muslims, led by the Prophet Mohammed, in 627AD? he asked worshippers. Do you know how they won that battle? The people followed their leader and they did not betray him. That is why the sons of Mosul should be patient and why they should tolerate hunger, thirst and fear. They should support the Caliphate and prevent the infidels from entering the city!

The battle the preacher was talking about was known as the Battle of al-Khandaq, or the Ditch (or Trench) in English. During this fight Mohammed and his supporters dug a ditch around the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia and stayed inside while thousands of enemies laid siege outside. Members of the IS group have been using the same comparison online, on social media.

The walls that the IS group is building in Mosul also include a trench, measuring two meters in depth and width, on one side of the concrete barriers. This trench has already been completed in the eastern and northern parts of the city; extremists used municipal roadworks vehicles to dig the pits.

In the past the IS group had tried to dig trenches around 10 kilometres away from the citys borders but they were stopped after repeated air strikes by planes belonging to the international anti-IS coalition destroyed many of their vehicles.

Just like the walls, the new trenches do not surround the whole city. The main aim appears to be to prevent the entry of military vehicles into the city.

The trenches are also supposedly connected to a network of secret tunnels the IS group is building in the city. This is being done in case the extremist organization is forced to fight a guerrilla war in the city; the citys high population density  there are currently an estimated 1.5 million residents still here  will also be used in this fighting.

In the end though, it is clear to everyone  even those living in Mosul  that in this day and age, whoever controls the airspace, controls the battle. Fences and trenches wont be able to stop armed forces from entering the city if they have air support and the best that the IS groups plan could achieve is to extend their stay in the city by weeks, or possibly months, if they are lucky.

Thats why Mosul locals will be looking toward their southern suburbs when the time comes. IS members are expected to escape in that direction and head to safe houses in Syria, as they did in previous fighting in Fallujah and Tikrit.

Via Niqash.org



Related video added by Juan Cole:

PBS Newshour: To drive ISIS from Mosul, a complicated coalition joins forces
JURIST Guest Columnist Michael Gilbert of the University of Virginia School of Law discusses a decision by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on the Newby case, in reaction to Alabama, Kansas and Georgias requirement on proof of citizenship before voting

For years, states have been sounding the alarm about voter fraud and pushing laws to prevent it. One such law would require voters to prove their citizenship, with a birth certificate, passport, or the like, before casting a ballot. This month a federal court slapped down proof-of-citizenship laws, but not for good. The opinion leaves wiggle room, and state lawmakers are not giving up. They are, however, wasting their effort. Anti-fraud measures can make elections safer in some circumstances, but usually they either have no effect (other than creating red tape) or make matters worse. My research proves it.

Lets get up to speed. In 2004, Arizonans approved an initiative requiring voters to prove their citizenship before they could vote. In 2013, the Supreme Court held [PDF] that federal lawspecifically, the National Voter Registration Actpreempted the initiative. That Act requires states to use a form, developed by the federal Election Assistance Commission, to register voters for federal elections. The form requires would-be voters to swear, under penalty of law, that they are US citizens. States can ask the EAC to add state-specific instructions to the federal form, including additional requirements on citizenship, but they cannot demand it.

Other statesAlabama, Georgia, Kansasadopted laws like Arizonas, and they worked many channels to get them enforced. But their efforts failed. States courts, federal courts [PDF], and the EAC [PDF] put proof of citizenship on ice.

Until January. Thats when Brian Newby, the EACs executive director, granted permission to Alabama, Georgia and Kansas to require proof of citizenship while using the federal form. Newbys decision, which came with little explanation, generated heat. Thomas Hicks, an EAC commissioner, publicly rebuked [PDF] Newby, saying he exceeded his authority and contradicted EAC policy. When civil rights groups sued, the Department of Justice refused to support Newby, siding with the plaintiffs instead and urging a federal judge to block the decision. This left Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, to defend the EAC in court.

On September 9, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against [PDF] Kobach and company, ordering the EAC to remove proof-of-citizenship requirements from the federal form. On September 26, the court issued an opinion [PDF] explaining its order. With respect to Newbys decision, the court wrote, it is difficult to imagine a more clear violation of the APAs requirement that an agency must examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action[.]' The court also rejected the argument that eliminating proof of citizenship would leave states vulnerable to voter fraud.

Fear of voter fraud anchors this entire controversy. According to Kobach, there is a significant problem in Kansas and in the rest of the country of aliens getting on our voting rolls. Fraudulent voting violates law, cancels out lawful votes, and could, in just the right case, swing an election. Proof-of-citizenship requirements should mitigate that risk, or so goes the argument.

But the risk of fraud is infinitesimally small. As the DC Circuit Court wrote, there is precious little record evidence of voter fraud. After much digging, Kobach identified 18 non-citizens who tried or successfully registered to vote in Kansas between 2003 and 2015, only one of whom used the federal form. These numbers are consistent with other studies, and they are trivial. Kobach has secured only a handful of convictions, and none of his targets showed intent to game the system.

If proof-of-citizenship requirements came with no downside, these small numbers wouldnt matter. All fraudulent voting is bad, and less is better than more. But there is a downside: Many citizens cant prove their citizenship. Lost birth certificates, tattered passports, missing drivers licenses, forms, fees and trips to government officesthese obstacles would keep lawful voters from the ballot box if proof-of-citizenship laws took effect. Kobach claims to have found 18 fraudulent voters in 12 years. How many people lost their birth certificates during that stretch?

The tug-of-war between stopping fraud and suppressing turnout has dominated headlines and litigation, but it misses another, deeper problem. Anti-fraud efforts might not work. They might make the problem, such as it is, worse.

Consider this example. Candidates Amy and Bob compete in an election, and each unwittingly receives 1,000 fraudulent votes. Thats a lot of fraud, but it all cancels out, and lawful votes determine the outcome. In the next election, Kobach rides to the rescue, imposing a proof-of-citizenship requirement. It prevents non-citizens from registering and voting, but it does not stop citizens from voting multiple times or other forms of voter fraud. Thanks to Kobach, the number of fraudulent votes shrinks, but not to zero. Now Amy gets 500 fraudulent votes and Bob gets 50. Thats a lot less fraud, but it doesnt cancel out, and it might determine the election. Bob should win, but thanks to her big lead in fraudulent votes, Amy wins instead. The anti-fraud measure caused the problem its supposed to prevent.

Behind this example lies a simple but important idea. The number of fraudulent votes cast for each candidate doesnt matter. What matters is the gap between them. In the example, the gap went from zero to 450, even as the number of fraudsters fell. The election became less safe.

To see this from another angle, suppose Amy and Bob used to get 500 and 50 fraudulent votes, respectively, when they competed in elections. In recent years, fraud surged, and now they get 1,000 illegal votes apiece. No one welcomes fraud, but that doesnt change the logic: The election has gotten safer.

Lets be clear about what this means. Even if proof-of-citizenship laws do not suppress a single lawful vote, they can backfire, causing exactly the problem they are designed to avoid. To prevent this, lawmakers need information not about the total amount of fraud but about the fraud gap.

One might challenge my example. There is no reason to suppose that proof-of-citizenship laws will systematically cut one candidates fraudulent vote totals by more than the others. Rather than going from 1,000 fraudulent votes apiece to 500 and 50, a proof-of-citizenship law might change the fraud totals to, say, 400 apiece. That could happenand if it does the law is pointless. The election is just as safe as before, only now poll workers and voters have to deal with a cumbersome rule.

One can keep tinkering with these examples. One can complicate them by adding the realistic assumption that proof-of-citizenship laws not only affect fraudulent votes but also suppress some lawful votes. One can extend the analysis by thinking about proof-of-citizenships cousin, voter ID laws. In a recent paper, I did this work, and I found that in some circumstances, anti-fraud measures make elections safer. But in a much larger set of circumstances, they either have no effect (but still impose regulatory costs) or they make matters worse.

Which circumstance prevails in Kansas? Does Kobach know whether a proof-of-citizenship law would help rather than hurt? Of course the answer is no. Lawmakers champion these laws without having thought through their basic logic.

The DC Circuits decision stopped proof of citizenship, but only temporarily. The case involved a preliminary injunction, not a decision on the merits, and litigation marches forward. But perhaps courts will catch on. Perhaps they will see that, like many policy issues, making elections safer is tricky, and ham-handed efforts cannot be justified. Perhaps they will see that even if proof of citizenship does not suppress votesa heroic assumption proponents of these laws are still fumbling in the dark. They have neither the theory nor the information necessary to sustain their position.

Michael Gilbert is Sullivan & Cromwell Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Suggested citation:Michael Gilbert, Why Proof of Citizenship Wont Improve Election Integrity, JURIST  Forum, Oct 3, 2016, http://jurist.org/forum/2016/10/michael-gilbert-election-integrity.php

This article was prepared for publication by Yuxin Jiang, a Senior Editor for JURIST Commentary service. Please direct any questions or comments to her at commentary
Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Tuesday called [press release] on wealthy nations to become more active in solving the refugee crisis after discovering that 10 nations making up less than 2.5 percent of the worlds GDP have taken in more than half of all resettled persons. AI released a study [study, PDF] that found that rich nations have refused to take an active part in assisting refugees, which is making the crisis worse. The study found that the current resettlement is unsustainable as many countries are overwhelmed with assisting the 21 million refugees. The study further detailed that the refugee crisis is extending to all parts of the globe due to economic unrest and conflict. AI called on nations to take a greater interest in the crisis to assist in mitigating the burden on neighboring states.

Amnesty International is proposing a fundamental reform to the way in which states share responsibility. Our proposals are simple: introduce a system that uses relevant, objective criteria to show each state what their fair share looks like. Then use these criteria to address critical dimensions of the current global refugee crisis. Our proposal focuses on two key dimensions of the global refugee problem: resettlement of vulnerable refugees and alleviating pressure on host states that receive very large numbers.

AI urged world leaders to enter into a serious, constructive debate.

States response to the refugee crisis has varied. Low voter turnout invalidated [JURIST report] a weekend referendum in which Hungarian citizens voted to oppose any EU mandatory placement of refugees. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein in September urged [JURIST report] the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to end its pattern of expelling and detaining migrants contrary to international standards. A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in August reiterated [JURIST report] previous calls to Australia to end offshore detention on Nauru.
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] on Monday affirmed [opinion, PDF] an Indiana district court ruling that blocked [JURIST report] Indianas effort to prevent resettlement of Syrian refugee families in the state. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] on behalf of Exodus Refugee Immigration [Facebook page]. The complaint [text, PDF] alleged that Indiana Governor Mike Pence [official website] violated the Constitution and federal law, specifically the Refugee Act [text], by attempts to interfere with resettlement of Syrian refugees. In an opinion by Judge Richard Posner, the Seventh Circuit agreed:

The district judge granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Exodus because she believed it likely to prevail in the trial on the merits that is the usual next stage of litigation after the issuance of such an injunction. She was right, and therefore the preliminary injunction is affirmed.

Omar Jadwat, senior staff attorney with the ACLUs Immigrants Rights Project, welcomed the ruling [press release] as a stinging rebuke of Pences actions.

Exodus Refugee Immigration is a non-profit organization that assists refugees after they have been federally approved and screened. The organization said in November that it was expecting to receive 19 Syrians [JURIST report] who had already been approved by the federal government for resettlement in Indiana. In June a district court in Texas rejected Texas attempts to halt Syrian refugee [JURIST report] resettlement in the state. The judge ruled that Texas officials had failed to show a substantial threat of irreparable injury in their request for an injunction to stop further Syrian refugee resettlement. The refugee crisis is a global issue and in September Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said [JURIST report] that the draft of the final outcome document for the upcoming UN summit on refugees falls short of dealing with the issue effectively.
Two Tunisian men have come forward with claims of previously unreported accounts of torture at the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website], according to a report [text] published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Monday. Ridha al-Najjar and Lotfi al-Arabi El Gherissi were reportedly arrested in Pakistan in 2002, detained by the CIA for 13 years without charges or a trial and were released in Tunisia last year. The report states that the men were threatened with an electric chair and coffin, dunked in ice-cold water, placed in diapers for days at a time and not fed properly. HRW believes that these accounts are significant because it proves that the 2014 Senate Summary on the CIA detention program is very limited and that there is a lot more that the public does not know about.

The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a report [JURIST backgrounder] in 2014 on the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques employed during the Bush administration, calling the practices ineffective [JURIST report]. Days later, the UN Special Rapporteur on counter terrorism and human rights Ben Emmerson called for the prosecution [JURIST report] of CIA and other government officials for the interrogation and torture of detainees. HRW also urged [JURIST report] prosecution the following year. In June the CIA declassified [JURIST report] 50 documents related to its detention and Interrogation program following a Freedom of Information Act [text] request by the American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website].
Five men accused of murdering Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov went on trial Monday in a Moscow military court. The five defendants, previously identified as Anzor Gubashev, Shagid Gubashev, Zaur Dadayev, Ramzan Bakhayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, are ethnic Chechens and could face [Al Jazeera report] up to eight years in prison. The men allegedly confessed to the crime but later retracted their confessions and now claim innocence. Nemtsov had previously served as prime minister and was since known as a prominent liberal political activist. In February 2015 he was shot in the back four times [BBC report] in the middle of busy downtown Moscow. Nemtsov was a known critic of Vladimir Putin and openly politically opposed to Russias annexation of Crimea and its role in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict since the annexation of Crimea [JURIST backgrounder] in March 2014. In February h Russia filed suit [JURIST report] against Ukraine over Ukraines default on $3 billion in bonds. A Ukrainian official said in January that the nation plans to sue Russia [JURIST report] in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] on claims of financing terrorism. In December the UN issues a report about serious human rights concerns [JURIST report] that persist in Ukraine. In August of last year a Russian military court sentenced [JURIST report] two Ukrainian activists to substantial jail time for the charge of conspiring to commit terror attacks. In March 2015 the EU committed [JURIST report] to stand by its policy of refusing to recognize Crimeas annexation.
Thailand on Monday opened a specialized corruption court in hopes of finalizing cases more quickly and possibly expanding the reach of the cases that can be tried. Government corruption was one of the rationales provided for the military coup two years ago, and this dedicated court is one route to implementing Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-chas recent promise to eliminate corruption within 20 years [Pattaya Mail report]. The court will hear any case dealing with corruption [Al Jazeera report] in the private or public sector. While there are hopes of success for the court, some believe it is only a symbolic move intended to gain public support for the government.

Thailand has been home to significant human rights concerns for years, some of which stem from the nations court system. In particular, human rights groups worldwide have expressed growing concern over violations in Thailand since the military junta came to power in May 2014. At the end of September Amnesty International [advocacy website] released a report detailing the prevalence of torture employed by Thai authorities and claiming the military government has led to a culture of torture [JURIST report]. Earlier in September Thailands military government announced [JURIST report] that it will prosecute cases concerning national security and royal insult in civilian courts, as opposed to military courts where the cases have been tried since 2014. Also in September the Thailand Supreme Court affirmed [JURIST report] a 20-year prison sentence given to protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul in 2012. In August Thailand passed a new constitution [JURIST report] by referendum vote. The constitution was drafted by a military-appointed counsel and is feared to be another step in entrenching military control of the nation. Thai military officials in July charged [JURIST report] three human rights defenders with criminal defamation and violations of the Computer Crimes Act because of a report they published detailing acts of torture in Thailand. In April Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] Thailand to stop harassing and charging human right lawyers for defending victims of the governments abuses, and to revoke military police powers.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May [official website] announced Tuesday that European human rights laws that have led to vexatious claims against British soldiers will no longer apply on the battlefield. The action taken by the government will free armed forces from two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF]: Article 2, the right to life, and Article 5, the right to liberty. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon [official website] announced [IBT report, speech] the intention to derogate from the Convention at the Conservative Party conference. May stated [Daily Mail report] that the move is meant to give confidence to British soldiers, to do what is necessary to keep us safe and to defend this country. May added that credible allegations will continue to be investigated.

In September a policing unit in Afghanistan set up to investigate alleged war crimes committed by UK soldiers received around 600 complaints [JURIST report] of ill treatment and abuse occurring between 2005 and 2013. May expressed her concern that the allegations may be false claims against soldiers. In July the International Criminal Court announced [JURIST report] the decision not to prosecute Tony Blair for war crimes related to the 2003 Iraq War. In May the UK Supreme Court unanimously rejected claims [JURIST report] made by Iraqi civilians that they were extrajudicially detained and physically abused by British forces. In 2005 a prosecutor argued at the opening of a much-anticipated [JURIST report] British court-martial that seven British paratroopers patrolling in southern Iraq in 2003 killed an Iraqi civilian and abused others after stopping a truck carrying them three weeks after hostilities had officially ended. This was the first trial of British soldiers for the killing of an Iraqi civilian.
On October 31, 1864, Congress admitted Nevada as the 36th state in the Union. With President Lincoln coming up for re-election and looking for support for his proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Nevadans had moved quickly to meet the legal requirements for statehood, ultimately sending the entire text of the proposed state constitution to Washington by telegraph, creating in the longest - and most expensive - telegram on record to that date.


UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al Hussein [official profile] cautioned [press release] Russia Tuesday against the continued use of incendiary weapons in the fight for Aleppo. At issue is the use of incendiary weapons during airstrikes carried out in aide of the Syrian offensive. Zeid said that airstrikes often strike innocent civilians causing irreparable harm to communities. He stated that there is no reason for the use of such devices, including provocation. The commissioner was particularly concerned with facilities such as hospitals and trauma facilities being destroyed.

The use of weapons with indiscriminate effectssuch as incendiary weaponsin heavily populated areas is of particularly grave concern. I remind all State parties to Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, including the Russian Federation, that they are strictly prohibited from using incendiary weapons in airstrikes on heavily populated areas, and that the use of such weapons by ground forces is severely restricted.

The commissioner warned that not only could the use of weapons be a violation of international law, it could possibly cost the country its veto power on the security council.

The use of these weapons have been an ongoing human rights issue. A UN childrens rights expert on Monday stated [JURIST report] that Syrias continued infliction of harm on children is a brutal abdication of human rights obligations they have committed to respect. Attacks in Aleppo, Syrias capital, were called [JURIST report] a breach of international humanitarian law in a joint statement by EU officials in September. UN representatives stated[JURIST report] in September that the organization needs access to Syrian refugees in order to better document war crimes.
SunRice, the Australian rice exporter, has acquired the 35% stake in US rice business SunFoods it did not already own for an undisclosed sum.

Free Report Whats the forecast for the food and grocery industry? Market drivers and inhibitors

Five-year forecasts and the impact of COVID-19

The performance of the online channel versus offline

Major trends in the market including rapid delivery, ambient retailing, supply chain disruption, and inflation Assess developments within this sector to help your business thrive in 2022 and beyond. The food and grocery sector thrived during the pandemic, largely due to the shutdown of the food service industry and the sectors subsequent necessity, panic-induced bulk purchasing, and spending more time at home. The market has grown as a result of inflation. Consumer unwillingness to go out and socialize, and the reopening of several hospitality facilities, helped maintain the demand for groceries, particularly online, in 2021. As consumer behavior changes, we consume more food and drink at home, and inflation increases basket sizes. GlobalData predicts that the sector will continue to hold a higher share than had been predicted prior to the pandemic. This is true despite the fact that the food and grocery sector's share of overall retail will decline from its peak in 2020. This report will discuss market forecasts and key themes in the global food & grocery industry in 2022 and beyond. It covers:Assess developments within this sector to help your business thrive in 2022 and beyond. by GlobalData Enter your details here to receive your free Report. Please enter a work/business email address Country United Kingdom United States Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of The Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D"ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People"s Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People"s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Download free Report By clicking the Download Free Report button, you accept the terms and conditions and acknowledge that your data will be used as described in the GlobalData privacy policy By downloading this Report, you acknowledge that we may share your information with our white paper partners/sponsors who may contact you directly with information on their products and services.



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SunFoods, based in California, is the owner of the Hinode brand (pronounced Hee-no-day), which is sold across 8,000 retail outlets in the US.

In a stock exchange filing, SunRice said SunFoods operates across the US mainland and Hawaiian retail, distributor and foodservice channels, as well as in international tender markets.

The company added: This acquisition satisfies one of SunRices six strategic priorities: to establish secure and sustainable sources of supply to complement the Australian harvest, which is becoming increasingly critical given the demand for SunRice products continues to expand and the size of Australian rice crops continue to vary.

Alongside news of the SunFoods transaction, SunRice also announced it had struck a deal to buy Australian pickled onions and gherkins supplier Fehlbergs Fine Foods.

The deal was made through SunRices Riviana arm, which already supplies a range of pickled vegetables. The acquisition adds pickled onions to the Riviana stable.

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2021 Health Insurance Information

The State of Kansas (through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment) and Kansas State University provide benefits eligible employees with health insurance plans and related programs as part of their total compensation. Enrollment in these programs is optional. The composition and enrollment period changes from time to time.

All insurance coverage begins together and on the 31st day of employment. The State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) has a mandatory 30 day waiting period.

View the 2021 Health Plan Booklet (pdf) on the State Employee Health Plan website

Plan options and carriers: Aetna or Blue Cross Blue Shield

Plan A Plan C Plan Q Plan N* Plan J Deductible $1,000 Employee $2,000 Employee & all dependents $2,750 Employee $5,500 Employee & all dependents $500 Employee $1,000 Employee & all dependents $2,750 Employee $5,500 Employee & all dependents $500 Employee $1,000 Employee & all dependents Coinsurance 20% 10% 50% 35% 25% Primary care physician office visit copayment $40 Subject to deductible Subject to deductible Subject to deductible Subject to deductible Specialist visit copayment $60 Subject to deductible Subject to deductible Subject to deductible Subject to deductible Prescription coinsurance

(% is based on medication type) 20, 40 or 65% After deductible is met: 20, 40 or 65% After deductible is met: 20, 40 or 65% After deductible is met: 20, 40 or 65% After deductible is met: 20, 40 or 65% Combined out-of-pocket maximum $6,250 Employee $12,500 Employee & dependent(s) $5,500 Employee $11,000 Employee & dependent(s) $6,650 Employee $13,300 Employee & dependent(s) $6,650 Employee $13,300 Employee & dependent(s) $7,350 Employee $14,700 Employee & dependent(s) *If you currently have medical coverage, and do not re-enroll during the open enrollment period, you will be defaulted to Plan N.



Health savings account contribution - NueSynergy Plan A Plan C^ Plan Q Plan N^ Plan J Employee HSA contribution Not Available $25 per pay period minimum Not Available No minimum required Not Available FULL TIME

Employer HSA contribution Not Available $1,000 Employee $1,250 Employee & spouse $1,750 Employee & child(ren) $1,250 Employee & family Not Available $500 Employee $625 Employee & spouse $875 Employee & child(ren) $625 Employee & family Not Available PART TIME

Employer HSA contribution Not Available $625.20 Employee $687.60 Employee & spouse $1,187.60 Employee & child(ren) $687.60 Employee & family Not Available $312.75 Employee $343.80 Employee & spouse $593.80 Employee & child(ren) $343.80 Employee & family Not Available Deposit Schedule Not Available Quarterly, with deposits in January, April, July and October Not Available Quarterly, with deposits in January, April, July and October Not Available HealthQuest HSA earning potential Not Available HSA or HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered HSA or HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered ^Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules apply. Carefully review HSA requirements for more information. Health reimbursement account contribution - NueSynergy Plan A Plan C Plan Q Plan N Plan J FULL TIME

Employer HRA Contribution Not Available $1,000 Employee $1,250 Employee & spouse $1,750 Employee & child(ren) $1,250 Employee & family Not Available $500 Employee $625 Employee & spouse $875 Employee & child(ren) $625 Employee & family Not Available PART TIME

Employer HRA Contribution Not Available $625.20 Employee $687.60 Employee & spouse $1,187.60 Employee & child(ren) $687.60 Employee & family Not Available $312.75 Employee $343.80 Employee & spouse $593.80 Employee & child(ren) $343.80 Employee & family Not Available HealthQuest HRA earning potential Not Available HSA or HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered HSA or HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered HRA Employee maximum of $500 Spouse maximum of $500, if covered When enrolling in Plan C or N, members have the choice of an HRA or HSA. When enrolling in Plan J or Q, members will need to elect an HRA during the enrollment process in MAP to hold any HealthQuest dollars earned throughout the plan year. Health Savings Account (HSA): Employer funded and may be employee funded; employee owned funds.

Health Reimbursement Account (HRA): Employer funded; borrowed funds.

Premium rates

Medical, dental and vision premiums are paid two times per month, or 24 times per year. Note: These are standard premium rates and do not reflect any HealthQuest Rewards Program discount you may have earned.

Dental

Delta Dental is the dental provider.

Visit the State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website for more information.

The university and employee contribute toward the cost of coverage.

Medical

Visit the State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website for more information. Enrollment and change forms found on the various medical plan homepages are not applicable for State of Kansas employees. All enrollment and change are done by the employee online in the Membership Application Portal.

State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website NOTE: Employees desiring to enroll dependents are required by the State of Kansas to provide proof of relationship/dependency for each dependent. Appropriate documentation would include such items as marriage license for spouse or birth certificate for children.

Eligibility: (1) After being employed for 30 days, (2) during annual open enrollment, or (3) within 31 days of a qualifying event.

The university and employee contribute toward the cost of coverage.

Prescription drug plan

Caremark is the prescription drug provider.

Visit the State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website for more information.

State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website To be eligible, must be enrolled in group health insurance.

The university and employee contribute toward the cost of coverage.

Vision services plan

Surency is the vision provider.

Visit the State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website for more information.

State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website Employee contribution only.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) allows you set aside funds on a pre-tax basis for any qualified medical, dental, vision, or daycare expense. There are three accounts you can enroll in, the Healthcare FSA, Limited Purpose FSA, and Dependent Care FSA. The Healthcare FSA allows you to be reimbursed for any qualified medical, dental, or vision expense that is not covered by insurance. Common expenses for the Healthcare FSA include copays, prescriptions, eye glasses, and dental services such as orthodontics.

If you participate in the Health Savings Account (HSA), you can enroll in the Limited Purpose FSA which allows you to be reimbursed for any qualified dental or vision expense while you save your HSA dollars for future medical expenses.

If you have a dependent under the age of 13 or adult dependent that is physically or mentally incapable of self-care (must spend at least 8 hours in your household), then a Dependent Care FSA can reimburse you for any daycare costs. Common expenses for the Dependent Care FSA include daycare centers, before/after school care, and adult daycare centers. FSA Healthcare participants can carry over up to to $550 of remaining FSA funds into the next plan year and those funds may be used for qualified medical expenses incurred during that year. If you are enrolling in a Health Savings Account for the first time and previously had a Healthcare FSA, your funds will automatically carry over into a Limited Purpose FSA. Dependent Care FSA funds do not carryover. The deadline to submit dependent care expenses is April 30th the following calendar year.

The Hartford information

Information regarding The Hartford is available on the State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) website. Please note that this is not life insurance. These optional plans are to help with medical expenses incurred while hospitalized, after an accident, or for a critical illness.

2021 health insurance coverage review

To review your health coverage and health savings/health reimbursement account information, you must review directly from the State of Kansas Membership Administrative Portal (MAP). Your enrollment information will no longer be able to be seen on your benefits summary or broken out on your self-service paycheck. If you have questions on your enrollment, please feel free to email the State Employee Health Plan directly at sehpmembership@kdheks.gov. If you have other questions, please direct them to benefits@ksu.edu and we will assist you.

Steps to enroll for coverage

Log in to HRIS.

to HRIS. Navigate to Employee Self Service .

. Select Benefits .

. Select Health Insurance Enrollment .

. You may need to reenter your eID and password .

and . Select Kansas State University from the dropdown box.

from the dropdown box. Once logged in to the MAP portal, Add Family Member , if applicable.

, if applicable. Load supporting documents, if applicable.

supporting documents, if applicable. Select Enrollments & Events , then Launch Enrollment .

, then . Make your health insurance selections for coverage.

Review and select the "I have read and agree..." statement checkbox.

Select Continue .

. You must print a copy of your health insurance coverage selections for your records (Ctrl+P).

Log out of the MAP portal. Dependent documentation must be uploaded when enrolling. For dependents that are non-resident aliens and cannot obtain a social security number (SSN), the employee should use 888111111 when prompted to enter a SSN. For dependent newborns (less than 31 days old) that do not have a SSN, the employee should use 777777777 until the actual SSN is provided. After receiving the actual SSN, the employee should log in to the MAP portal to update to the actual SSN.

Steps to review your coverage

Log into HRIS as you do to review your paycheck

Go to Employee Self Service

Select Benefits

Select Health Insurance Enrollment

You may need to reenter your eID & Password

Select the Benefits tab to review your elections

tab to review your elections After reviewing, be sure to select Logout

Other information
Isolation cells on Nusakambangan island, West Java, Indonesia

Jakarta: A condemned Pakistani man has spoken of his suffering as his life remains in limbo more than two months after he was mysteriously spared from an Indonesian firing squad.





Garment trader Zulfiqar Ali was among 14 convicted drug offenders slated to be executed on April 29 as part of Indonesia's so-called "war on drugs".





But 10 prisoners, including Mr Ali, were given a last-minute stay of execution for reasons never explained by the Indonesian government.





"I am in darkness until now," Mr Ali told Fairfax Media via his lawyer.





"I am suffering for a long time and still this is a time of suffering for me."





Mr Ali was arrested on drug trafficking charges in 2004 after an Indian acquaintance, Gurdip Singh, named him as the owner of 300 grams of heroin.





An internal probe into Mr Ali's case, ordered by the Indonesian government, found he was a victim of conspiracy and likely to be innocent.





The investigation by then director-general of human rights Hafid Abbas, which found evidence of human rights violations and abuse of power at all levels, was ignored by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.





"I have sent a very strong letter to President Jokowi three days ago and strongly advised the president to immediately provide clemency to Zulfiqar Ali," Dr Hafid, who is now a commissioner with the National Commission for Human Rights told Fairfax Media.





However a spokesman for the Attorney-General, Muhammad Rum, said the executions would still be carried out. "The plan is still on, it was only postponed," he told Fairfax Media. "We haven't decided on the time."





Since his death was mysteriously postponed, Mr Ali, who has cirrhosis, has been ferried between hospital and a jail on Nusakambangan, the island where Indonesia carries out its executions.





He and another of the condemned prisoners, Indonesian Merri Utami, have repeatedly asked to be transferred back to the jails where they were incarcerated prior to July's executions.





Ms Utami, whom supporters say was a victim of human trafficking, has been kept in an isolation cell at a jail in Cilacap, the closest town to Nusakambangan.





"She is in isolation 24/7 except for two hours of church time each week," her lawyer, Afif Abdul Oyim told Fairfax Media.





"Her daughter spoke to her and told us her health has been impacted by the isolation. Emotionally, she is still traumatised by the execution day. Sometimes she will hear her cell doors opening, like the one she heard during execution night. She has no activities all day in isolation. It adds to the stress."





But Mr Rum said the nine male prisoners would remain on Nusakambangan and Ms Utami would stay at the women's jail in Cilacap.





"They are already there, so they stay there," he said.

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Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa, October 4, 2016
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FILE - In this March 13, 2015, file photo, a worker inspects a new 2015 aluminum-alloy body Ford F-150 truck at the company's Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo. U.S. safety regulators are investigating whether a recall of Ford F-150 pickup trucks for brake failures should be expanded to more model years. The probe covers about 282,000 pickups with 3.5-liter six-cylinder engines from 2015 and 2016. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
The death sentence handed to Pakistani Christian mother Asia Bibi over a blasphemy charge has sparked a protest in Australia calling on the government to intervene in the case and help save her from being executed.





In a letter to be submitted to the Parliamentarians in New South Wales, the demonstrators are demanding that the Australian government guarantee the continuous enforcement of the principle of "one law for all" in their country. They are also asking the government to consider once again donating $49 million in aid to Pakistan.





BPCA chairman Wilson Chowdhry also released a statement decrying Pakistan's failure to protect Bibi and other Christian minorities. Echoing the demands of the protesters, he said Australia can be a significant player in the case, pointing out that the United Kingdom, the United States, and other major donors have started donating aid to help improve human rights in Pakistan.





"Australia's official policy involves tackling poverty by generating sustainable growth and employment, as well as focusing on education and health, all worthy goals," said Chowdhry. "Some of the poorest Pakistani citizens are Christians, and unfortunately they are typically kept there by a combination of debt-slavery and direct and systematic religious oppression, frequently including systematic sex slavery and targeting of Christian girls and women for kidnap, rape, forced conversion and marriage."





Last month, prominent Christian lawyer Sooba Bhatti appealed to the President of Pakistan to grant Bibi pardon for the capital punishment. He also asked the president to order Christian mother's immediate release and acquittal, Christians in Pakistan reports.





Bibi was arrested in June 2009 over blasphemy charges and was given a death sentence by a local judge the following year. She was also handed down a penalty amounting to around US$1,100.





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Source: Christian Daily, October 3, 2016
Dear KFBers, we have got loads of interesting stories in tonights #MajorHeadlinesYouMissedToday featureenjoy!



APC secretariat in Delta State padlocked, calabash with eggs, white native chalk placed at the gate (photos)

The APC Secretariat at Asaba, Delta State is locked with a padlock painted the red colour. Also, a calabash containing eggs, white native chalk tied with red cloth was found at the front gate. EFCC returns seized 48 houses belonging to former Bayelsa state governor, Timipre Sylva



Among properties seized and have been returned are a mansion at 3 River Niger Street, plot 3192 Cadastral zone AO, Maitama District Abuja; nine units (comprising six one bedroom and 3 two bedroom apartments) at 8 Sefadu Street Wuse zone 2, plot 262 Cadastral zone AO2, Wuse Abuja; and 2 units duplexes at 5 Oguta Street, plot 906 Cadastral zone Wuse 11 Abuja.

Others are: a duplex at Plot 1271 Nike Street Cadastral zone AO5, Maitama District Abuja; a duplex at Phase 1 Unit No. 1 (Villa 1) Palm Springs Gold Estate, Cachez Turkey Projects Limited, Mpape, Abuja; 10 units of one-room apartments at 8 Mistrata Street plot 232 Cadastral zone Wuse 11 Abuja; 5 units duplexes at Plot No 1070 Dakibiyu District Cadastral zone B10, Abuja; 16 units service apartments at Plot 1181 Thaba Tseka Crescent, Off IBB Way, Wuse 11, Abuja and 3 units of three- bedroom flats at No. 1 Mubi Close, Plot 766. Cadastral Zone A01, Garki, Abuja. Sylva was first arraigned on Tuesday June 5, 2012.

The Keep Off inscription by EFCC on the properties have been removed The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has returned 48 houses seized from former Bayelsa state governor, Timipre Sylva. The antigraft agency during the Jonathan administration in 2013, had dragged Sylva before a Federal high court over allegations of misappropriation of N6.46 billion state funds when he was governor of the state between 2009 and 2012. His assets were subsequently seized during his trial.Among properties seized and have been returned are a mansion at 3 River Niger Street, plot 3192 Cadastral zone AO, Maitama District Abuja; nine units (comprising six one bedroom and 3 two bedroom apartments) at 8 Sefadu Street Wuse zone 2, plot 262 Cadastral zone AO2, Wuse Abuja; and 2 units duplexes at 5 Oguta Street, plot 906 Cadastral zone Wuse 11 Abuja.Others are: a duplex at Plot 1271 Nike Street Cadastral zone AO5, Maitama District Abuja; a duplex at Phase 1 Unit No. 1 (Villa 1) Palm Springs Gold Estate, Cachez Turkey Projects Limited, Mpape, Abuja; 10 units of one-room apartments at 8 Mistrata Street plot 232 Cadastral zone Wuse 11 Abuja; 5 units duplexes at Plot No 1070 Dakibiyu District Cadastral zone B10, Abuja; 16 units service apartments at Plot 1181 Thaba Tseka Crescent, Off IBB Way, Wuse 11, Abuja and 3 units of three- bedroom flats at No. 1 Mubi Close, Plot 766. Cadastral Zone A01, Garki, Abuja. Sylva was first arraigned on Tuesday June 5, 2012.The Keep Off inscription by EFCC on the properties have been removed

GEJ and Atiku meet at the airport

The former President and the former vice president met at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Internationl Airport, Abuja over the weekend. Suicide bomber kills 14 at wedding party A suicide bomber killed at least 14 people on Monday in an attack targeting a wedding party in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a hall in Tall Tawil village during the wedding of a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. The SDF is an Arab-Kurdish coalition battling jihadists of the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

Two injured as fire guts shopping mall in Lagos

TWO people, yesterday, sustained varying degrees of injuries when a shopping complex was gutted by fire at Odo-Eran in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State. 11 shops and property worth several millions of naira were destroyed in the inferno, which began at about 2.36 pm from a store stocked with chemical for paint production.

It was learned that efforts of the Lagos State Emergency Response Team, which include Lagos State Fire Service, State Emergency management Agency, LASEMA and officials from Wahum Industries Limited, prevented the spread of the fire to other adjoining buildings. Confirming the number of shops razed, director of the State fire service, Rasak Fadipe and General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Mr Adesina Tiamiyu, lamented that the chemical items were inappropriately stored within the premises. Tiamiyu disclosed that 11 shops were razed by the inferno and two adult male sustained injuries but prompt efforts of the team helped salvage 10 shops. He said: From our preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the fire started from one of the shops within the premises. Further investigation revealed that chemical items used for manufacturing paint were inappropriately stored as this came in contact with other inflammable items leading to the fire outbreak.

He, however, advised shop owners and companies involved in chemical storage and other inflammable materials to often adopt daily precautionary measures. 88-year-old woman nabbed for purchasing 6-year-old girl for N500,000





An 88-year old woman, identified only as Loveth, has been arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP in Edo State for allegedly abducting and selling a 6-year old girl, simply identified as Success.

The spokesman for Edo State, Mr. Nduka Nwanwene, who confirmed the incident to newsmen at the weekend, said the victim was allegedly kidnapped around Upper Sakponba in September, in Oredo Local Government Area of the state and trafficked to Onitsha, Anambra State, where the suspect purchased her for over N500,000.

Nwanwene said, The girl was trafficked to Onitsha into an orphanage home, where an 88-year-old woman from Asaba in Delta State, purchased her for N500, 000.

She was then taken to Asaba. But Success was said to have recalled her fathers telephone number and called him through her abductors mobile phone (unknown to the suspect), to inform him of her ordeal.

Her father, a bricklayer, then called the attention of NAPTIP.

The suspect was arrested on Saturday and would soon be arraigned to face trial after investigations.

We are still trying to track some other persons connected with this, because we understand that the man that actually started the whole thing has relocated from that neighbourhood.

Nwawene decried the prevalence of trafficking in the country.

He, however, called on parents to remain watchful and monitor the movement of their little children and wards, adding that the victim had been rescued and was currently under the shelter of the agency.

An 88-year old woman, identified only as Loveth, has been arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP in Edo State for allegedly abducting and selling a 6-year old girl, simply identified as Success.The spokesman for Edo State, Mr. Nduka Nwanwene, who confirmed the incident to newsmen at the weekend, said the victim was allegedly kidnapped around Upper Sakponba in September, in Oredo Local Government Area of the state and trafficked to Onitsha, Anambra State, where the suspect purchased her for over N500,000.Nwanwene said, The girl was trafficked to Onitsha into an orphanage home, where an 88-year-old woman from Asaba in Delta State, purchased her for N500, 000.She was then taken to Asaba. But Success was said to have recalled her fathers telephone number and called him through her abductors mobile phone (unknown to the suspect), to inform him of her ordeal.Her father, a bricklayer, then called the attention of NAPTIP.The suspect was arrested on Saturday and would soon be arraigned to face trial after investigations.We are still trying to track some other persons connected with this, because we understand that the man that actually started the whole thing has relocated from that neighbourhood.Nwawene decried the prevalence of trafficking in the country.He, however, called on parents to remain watchful and monitor the movement of their little children and wards, adding that the victim had been rescued and was currently under the shelter of the agency. We didnt sack 1,500 workers, says MTN

MTN Nigeria, Monday denied sacking some of its contract staff as reported in some national dailies recently. Some newspaper and online publications alleged that MTN Nigeria had laid off some of its contract staff, particularly those that work at the telecommunications call centres.

The reports claimed that many of the contract staff were given their disengagement letters Wednesday.

The reports also claimed that some of MTN workers in Apapa branch, had their salaries reduced from N120,000 to N40,000 a month and were asked to continue working at their Ibadan office, if they were still interested in the job. However, in a reaction, MTN said the reports were untrue.

Responding to the reports, MTN Executive, Amina Oyagbola, said; The reports are incorrect. The second phase of a change-in-vendor process took place last week, offering interested workers the opportunity to join the new call centres owned and operated by the vendor; ISON BPO. MTN signed an outsourcing contract with ISON BPO Limited in 2015, following a competitive bid process. Indeed, MTNs call centre operations were outsourced to independent third party agencies since 2008, as part of continued efforts to improve the efficiency and quality of customer service delivery in MTN.





Melaye advocates presidential pardon for treasury looters
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review the appeal of Alabama death row inmate Doyle Hamm, who was convicted in the 1987 slaying of a motel clerk during a robbery.





Hamm was sentenced to death for his conviction in the shooting death of Patrick Cunningham during the robbery on Jan. 24, 1987.





After his trial, the jury recommended on September 28, 1987, by a vote of 11 to 1, that Hamm be sentenced to death. The judge followed the recommendation and imposed the death penalty.





The New Yorker magazine recently published a story on Hamm's case and the inmate's lawyer of nearly three decades, Bernard Harcourt, who is now a professor at Columbia Law School in New York.





Efforts to reach Harcourt after Monday's ruling by SCOTUS were unsuccessful.





Harcourt found in the early 1990s that a 1977 robbery from Tennessee - which Hamm denied committing - was used to convince jurors to sentence Hamm to the death penalty, The New Yorker reported. The victim in that Tennessee crime said later there was no robbery, the magazine reported.





In another twist, when a state judge ruled against Hamm in an 89-page opinion, the opinion appeared to have been written by the Alabama Attorney General's Office, the magazine stated. The issue had made the news around that time.





"The judge's opinion was identical to a document submitted to the court 1 business day earlier by the Attorney General's office. They even shared a title: "Proposed Memorandum Opinion" - apparently, the judge had not even removed the word "Proposed" before signing it," The New Yorker story stated.





An earlier federal appellate court opinion laid out the following facts of the crime and case:





"At approximately 10:30 p.m., Kathy Flanagan stopped at the motel (the Anderson Motel in Cullman) to rent a room for the night. While Flanagan was registering, a small-framed white male entered the motel to ask about a room.





Cunningham informed the male that he needed a reservation, and the male left. Moments later, the 1st male returned accompanied by a 2nd male wearing blue jeans and a faded green army jacket. Cunningham told Flanagan that 'it 'looks like there is going to be trouble' and apparently pointed Flanagan in the direction of a room, but Flanagan returned to her car," according to the court opinion. From her car, Flanagan saw the individual in the green jacket point a revolver at the registration desk but could not see behind the desk; she also saw the 1st male standing by the door and noticed a banged-up 1970s model car in the parking lot, with its engine running, and possibly a 3rd individual inside. Flanagan left the scene, drove to a nearby telephone, and called police to report a possible robbery.





Upon arriving at the motel, police discovered Cunningham's body on the floor behind the front desk. Cunningham had been killed by a single shot to the head from a .38-caliber pistol. The evidence further established that he had been shot in the temple from a distance of approximately 18 inches while he was lying on the floor.





Cunningham's wallet, containing approximately $60 was missing, as was approximately $350 from the motel's cash drawer.





A Cullman police officer learned that 2 men matching the descriptions given by Flanagan were also wanted for a robbery-murder that had taken place in Mississippi that same day. A nickel-plated .38-caliber revolver had been taken during that robbery."





On January 25, the same officer spoke with Douglas Roden, who had been stopped while driving a car matching the description given by Flanagan. Roden claimed that he and his sister-in-law, Regina Roden, had been kidnapped by Hamm and 2 others. Roden further stated that he and Regina had been held captive in a trailer home during the time of the motel robbery while Hamm and another individual left with the car. In addition, Roden asserted that he and Regina had escaped the trailer that morning and had taken the car. Roden directed police to the trailer. At some point, the police learned that the trailer was owned by Hamm's nephew.





Later that day, a search warrant was obtained for the trailer and a fugitive-from-justice warrant was obtained for Hamm for a robbery in Mississippi. Id. During the search of the trailer, authorities discovered a nickel-plated .38-caliber pistol, a green army jacket, and several rounds of .38-caliber ammunition, including some in the pocket of the jacket.





Hamm was arrested and booked on the fugitive warrant. He initially denied any involvement in the murder and robbery at the Anderson's Motel, and Flanagan failed to identify Hamm in a lineup. Nevertheless, Hamm was placed under arrest for the motel robbery. Id. The next day, Hamm gave a statement to the police that was recorded, in which he admitted his initial statements were false and he confessed to the robbery and murder of Cunningham.





Subsequently, it was discovered that the Rodens had lied in their initial statements. They had not been kidnapped and, in fact, Douglas and Regina were the 2 individuals present with Hamm at the Anderson's Motel during the robbery and murder; Douglas was the 1st male individual to enter the motel. The Rodens entered into agreements with the state where, in exchange for testimony against Hamm, they would receive lesser charges. Douglas agreed to plead guilty to murder and received a life sentence; Regina pled guilty to robbery and hindering prosecution."





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Source: al.com, October 4, 2016
Larry Swearingen Supreme Court rejects Texas death row inmates plea for DNA testing in murder case





WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court will not allow additional DNA testing of evidence a death row inmate in Texas says could show he didnt kill a suburban Houston college student.





The justices on Monday rejected an appeal from Larry Swearingen, who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing 19-year-old Melissa Trotter in 1998.





Swearingen has sought to test fingernail scrapings from Trotter, items of her clothing and cigarette butts found near her body.





The trial court in his case has twice ordered the testing, but was reversed by the state Court of Criminal Appeals on both occasions.





Swearingen was sentenced to death for the murder July 11, 2000, and the CCA first affirmed the decision March 26, 2003.





His first execution date was set for Jan. 24, 2007, then stayed by the CCA for the trial court to resolve fact issues.





A second execution date was set for Jan. 27, 2009, but the CCA again stayed the execution for further review.





A third execution was stayed July 28, 2011, and the most recent order for Feb. 27, 2013, was struck by Case to allow for more DNA testing.





Appellate attorney James Rytting has argued there could be evidence to support Swearingens claim that he was not the last person with Trotter before she was brutally murdered.





Rytting said biological material on various clothing items have been identified for testing, supported with a signed affidavit from DNA expert Huma Nasir.





Rytting wanted testing on hair evidence to determine whether a full DNA profile can be identified from various items of clothing  Trotters underwear, shirt, sweater and blue jeans.





We have identified some very important facts that are clearly mistaken that change the way this DNA testing must be looked at, Rytting said. The law has changed, the facts have changed, and now we have additional evidence we believe Mr. Swearingen was not the last person with the victim  that she was with someone else. They have the wrong person in jail.



Swearingen has always said he did not kill Trotter. His claim of innocence is supported by the opinion of a number of influential Texas pathologiststogether responsible for thousands of death investigations every yearwho say that scientific evidence proves that Trotter had not been dead very long when her body was found. If thats the case, then Swearingen could not have killed her, since he would have been in jail when she died.



The central question low long Trotter had been deadhinges on histology samples collected during her autopsy and saved in a paraffin block. Veteran pathologists who have reviewed the evidence agree that the samples of Trotters lung, heart and vascular tissues reveal intact structures that would have broken down had her body really been left in the forest for nearly a month.



Even the Houston medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, Dr. Joye Carter, has recanted her trial testimony, admitting in 2007 that the ease with which she was able to weigh and dissect Trotters organs made the states timeline impossible.



Had Melissa Trotter been killed today, it is hard to imagine that Swearingen would be facing execution without the alleged murder weapon or other evidence first being subjected to DNA testing.



The use of science, and DNA in particular, in criminal cases has advanced greatly since 1999. This is evidence that would routinely be tested if the case was investigated today, and any one of these pieces of evidence could produce a DNA profile that could lead to another perpetrator, says Bryce Benjet, who is working with the Innocence Project on Swearingens behalf. Regardless of where you stand on the death penalty, I think we can all agree that we should be absolutely certain of guilt before putting someone to death.

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Source: mrt.com, October 3, 2016, Jan. 4, 2015; The Nation, Feb. 2013
Arizona's death house holding cell

The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear Arizona's appeal of a lower court ruling that overturned a convicted murderer's death sentence has opened the door for about 25 death row inmates to challenge their sentences.





The justices on Monday let stand the ruling that said Arizona unconstitutionally excluded evidence about James McKinney's troubled childhood and post-traumatic stress disorder that might have led to a lesser punishment. McKinney was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1993.





The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last December that Arizona's causal nexus rule violated the Constitution. The rule required any mitigating evidence, such as mental illness or post-traumatic stress disorder, to be directly tied to the crime committed to be relevant in sentencing.





In the case of McKinney, that means a judge could have granted some leniency - and perhaps avoided the death penalty - had he been able to consider McKinney's troubled past and abuse as a child. But McKinney's abuse wasn't directly correlated to the double murders he committed, so it wasn't admissible as a mitigating factor in court. McKinney was sentenced to death in 1993, and the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the sentence 3 years later.





The causal nexus rule was applied in Arizona for about 15 years, but it hasn't been used since 2005.





McKinney's sentencing case will go back to state court within 90 to 120 days, Arizona Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Mia Garcia said. His conviction stands.





Only a jury could re-sentence McKinney to death because Arizona can no longer allow judges to impose death sentences following a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. McKinney was originally sentenced to death by a judge.





Dale Baich, federal public defender in Arizona, says up to 25 death sentences could also be affected. Baich said it will take time for federal courts to sort out those cases and determine which ones will go back for new sentencing hearings.





Ivan Mathew, an attorney for McKinney, declined to comment on the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the state's appeal, but he said he would be conveying the decision to his client. He said during arguments in the appeals court that the causal nexus rule amounted to a filter or screen that would not allow the full information to be meaningfully considered.

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Source: The Journal Times, October 4, 2016
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You are invited to be a part of a month-long celebration of the Rio Grande and it's green spaces!

It all started with a proclamation for Dia Del Rio on Tuesday morning - but if you missed it, there are more events coming up.

On Tuesday, October 11, there will be a Rio Research Roundup, where teams will take measurements in the water along the Texas-Mexico Border.

On the 15th, there will be a work day on the Paso Del Indio Trail, and volunteers are needed.

Here are some other events coming up for the 22nd annual Dia del Rio:

Tuesday, October 4

Proclamation & Official DDR 2016 Launch

9:00 am

Tres Laredos Park, down by the river, underneath Bridge I (1300 Pedregal St.)

Tuesday, October 11

7th annual Rio Research Roundup

All Day

Rio Grande watershed basin (U.S. and Mexico)

Nearly 90 student teams from the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo watershed basin will participate in RGISCs award-winning binational program to measure the vital signs of the river and its tributaries.

Thursday, October 13

"A River Runs Through Them: the transformative story of two life-giving rivers in Laredo and Boston

5:30 pm

Laredo Public Library, 1120 E. Calton Road (1st floor, multipurpose room)

Bob Zimmerman, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association in Boston, will give a talk and case study of the Charles River & Rio Grande.

Translation services and refreshments will be provided.

Saturday, October 15

Paso del Indio Nature Trail workday

Registration: 7:30 am

Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center @ LCC (by the windmills)

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED to help mulch, plant, work in the native tress nursery, restore & beautify Laredos oldest trail. All ages welcome!

Lunch, T-shirts, and community services hours will be provided.

Saturday, October 22

Kayaking with Dr. Tom Vaughan

8:00 am

Meet location: Father McNaboe Park (south end of Rancho Viejo Rd, off Mines Road)

An excellent opportunity to paddle the Rio Grande. Registration required. Limited space! Only ten spots available. Ages 13 and up.

Saturday, October 29

River Painting at Sunset

4:00 pm

Tres Laredos Park, down by the river, underneath Bridge I (1300 Pedregal St.)
As National Hispanic Heritage Month continues, young Laredoans got a chance to learn about one prominent Spanish leader.

Over the past few years, United ISD has partnered up with a local philanthropist in order for students to learn about history outside of the classroom.

On Tuesday, students got to experience a historical reenactment of Spanish military leader Bernardo de Galvez. They learned about his role and contributions during the American Revolution, and his connections to the City of Laredo.

"I think it personalizes it, makes it more of an active learning opportunity than passive learning," says local philanthropist Toni Ruiz. "Here they get to really embrace the opportunity to ask questions and get to know [the] speaker and get to know the character. You can't possibly represent everything in chapter in a book."

Several eighth graders and high school students from the LBJ Early College High School got to attend Tuesday's presentation.
The family of a man killed on Mines Road by an 18-wheeler in 2014 has won in District Court.

Samuel Castillo, 35, was walking on Mines Road and Milo - when an 18-wheeler failed to yield, and crashed into another vehicle - and ultimately, with Castillo.

Castillo died at the scene. He was a father of two.

His family filed a lawsuit against the truck company and driver.

The attorney for the family says they hope this serves as a reminder to drivers about traffic safety and the consequences.

"The jury is conscious of our community, and they sent a message to drivers out there. Particularly drivers, that they need to be safe. That they need to obey the laws. So they can make the roads safer for us all," says attorney Ron Rodriguez.

In court, the family won the claims against the truck driver on negligence and lack of training.

The children of Castillo were also awarded monetary compensation in this case.
locke23 said: And? What's wrong with changing your gender? Your gender identity is up to you, it is your right.



You may be biologically a certain gender, but in terms of sexuality and how you live your life, this can be completely up in the air due to numerous factors both natural and artificial. But in any case, you have the right to own your own identity - as long as you don't hurt anyone, you should have the right to live your life however you want.



Does this not fall under both of the following?



Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.



Peace, order and good government. Click to expand...

if you want to go about "identifying" as this or that it is your choice. now your state issued ID needs to represent the actual human that carries it. if someone goes through the hormone therapy and surgeries then of course they should not only be allowed but required to change it on their ID. just because someone wants extra attention or has a mental disorder does not mean that the state accommodate their crazy by printing a male ID for a female. does this mean that because i identify as an african-american lesbian my ID should represent that? so if the cops are sent to look for me and look up my ID they will be looking for a black woman? how about a traffic stop? that is retarded!
Mount Juliet Estate were named Supreme Winner at the Keelings Farm Fresh Gold Medal Awards last week. They also took home the awards for Irelands Four Star Hotel and Ireland's Fine Dining Experience (sponsored by Classic Drinks).

Over 450 professionals from the hospitality industry were in attendance at the awards which took place at the prestigious Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny and were hosted by TV3's Martin King.

Anocht claimed the award in the Ireland's Casual Dining Experience while Ristorante Rinuccini was named Ireland's top European Restaurant.

Running for 28 years, the Gold Medal Awards are intensely competitive, drawing entries from hundreds of hotel, restaurant, guesthouse, spa and catering businesses every year. Each entrant is rigorously assessed by members of the Gold Medal Awards judging panel who travelled the length and breadth of the island of Ireland over the course of the summer to search for Irelands greatest purveyors of hospitality.

Event Director of the Keelings Gold Medal Awards Tracey Carney said: We had a phenomenal response to the awards this year with entries increasing by 40%. The feedback from the judges was that standards, across the board, were extremely high and in several categories one to two points were all that separated premises.

Speaking at the awards Colm Bury Managing Director of Keelings Farm Fresh commented: We would like to congratulate all of the winners at Keelings Farm Fresh Gold Medal Awards 2016 in association with Hotel & Catering Review magazine. Its a wonderful event which acknowledges the high standard of hotels, country houses, restaurants and caterers throughout Ireland. We are delighted to be the headline sponsors for such a prestigious event and it is an honour to showcase our locally sourced fresh produce at the awards through a wonderfully prepared dinner by the team at the Lyrath Estate Hotel.
The second episode of a new TV documentary series, Building Ireland, will focus on Kilkenny Castle and Kilkenny as a medieval city. The episode will air at 8.30pm on RTE One on Friday, October 7, and is the second in a six-part series.

Building Ireland explores and explains how Irelands greatest building and engineering achievements came to be, and the impact they had on the development of our towns and cities. In part two of the series, presenters Tim Joyce, a civil engineer; geographer, Dr Susan Hegarty; and award-winning architect Orla Murphy, will travel to the Medieval city to show us the hidden layers of the castles history.

The programme will explore the defensive attributes of the castle, with architect Orla Murphy meeting expert conservationist Pat Tallis to discuss the lime render used on the walls, which lends the castle its striking image. She will also be demonstrating what it would be have been like building the castle with the materials used during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Geographer Susan Hegarty will be exploring the layout of Kilkenny as a medieval city, and will investigate the property of one of the most prominent merchant families of old, the Rothe House on Parliament Street.

Engineer Tim Joyce will find out about the great flood of 1763, which caused many bridges in Kilkenny City and county to be swept away.

The episode will air at 8.30pm on RTE One this Friday.
Applying to college is time-consuming and expensive. But a growing number of states and even some individual school districts are picking up the tab for high school students to take either the SAT or ACT college entrance exam during class time, at their school.

Students who attend public high schools in one of nine states that pay for the SAT, including Colorado and Connecticut, or one of 18 that pay for the ACT, including Ohio, usually take one free exam during their junior year. It typically costs $45 to take the SAT ($57 with the writing portion) and $42.50 for the ACT ($58.50 with writing).

In-person test prep may boost a student's SAT scores by 15 to 30 points overall, says Derek Briggs, a University of Colorado professor who studies the effects of test preparation. But you don't have to spend a boatload on private tutors, who can charge $100 an hour or more, or prep classes, which can run in the thousands. The College Board, which oversees the SAT, offers free test prep through KhanAcademy.com (opens in new tab), where students can customize practice based on their PSAT scores, take quizzes to pinpoint weak spots and take six full-length official practice tests. You may also find low-cost SAT or ACT prep options at your child's high school, a nearby community college or the local library.
If you took an all-American road trip this summer, you surely came across more than low gas prices and new electric-vehicle charging ports. You undoubtedly encountered relentless traffic. The total number of miles driven in the U.S. is on pace to reach a record in 2016, up 3.3% compared with last year. This trend follows several years of unchanged or decreased traffic growth.

Depending on your route, you probably also railed at ubiquitous tolls. It can cost $13.85 to traverse the New Jersey Turnpike, $40-plus to cross Pennsylvania on its Turnpike and $9.83 to zip from San Antonio to Austin on the privately operated Texas Route 130. (I took the Texas trip last year, and the thrill of driving at 85 miles per hourthe legal speed limitmade the price worth it.) And if youre crazy enough to drive into Manhattan from New Jersey, youll pay as much as $15 to use one of the tunnels or the George Washington Bridge.

What does this have to do with investing for income? A lot. Drivers wallets support one of the best-performing and most secure municipal bond sectors: toll-road revenue debt. Its a compelling story. Even before this years acceleration in miles driven, public toll authority revenue was already demonstrating steady growth. State and regional highway agencies publish periodic financial reports, to little fanfare. If these agencies were publicly traded companies, Id wager that their stocks would be sizzling alongside those of utilities and real estate investment trusts.

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In truth, tollways arent all that different from REITs and utilities. Highway authorities control the land, constantly borrow for expansion and maintenance, and collect regular and predictable rents (your tolls). They can raise prices with impunity because travelers and commuters rarely have a plausible alternative.

Thus, revenue in 2015 for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority was 18.3% greater than in 2014. In the first half of 2016, the North Texas Tollway Authority, which serves the Dallas region, reported both a 17.4% revenue increase and a 6.7% increase in vehicle transactions (the count of paying cars and trucks) compared with the same period a year earlier. Even though Maryland cut some toll rates in 2015, its Toll Facilities Authority receipts still grew by 5.6%.

All of this thrills bondholders. Standard & Poors toll-bond index, which includes 1,800 bonds with an average maturity of 18 years, returned 9.5% over the past year through August 31 and 9.4% annualized over the past three. By comparison, S&Ps broad revenue bond index returned 8.0% over the past year and 7.7% annualized for three years. And, of course, the interest component of these returns is free of federal income taxes.

Rock solid

Most toll bonds are rated in the double-A tier. A few are triple-A, and a handful occupy the single-A range. But as a rule, the ratings are moot because the bond covenants require the operating agencies to hike tolls if coverage, the buffer between revenues and interest obligations, falls anywhere near a specified minimum. That wont happen unless traffic vanishes. Until and unless drones deliver groceries and we fly to work like George Jetson, these bonds are ironclad.

The sector lends itself to individual issues, and brokerage listings are full of them. There arent any dedicated highway-bond funds. The closest is Deutsche X-trackers Infrastructure Revenue Bond ETF (symbol RVNU (opens in new tab), price $28, yield 2.9%, one-year total return, 13.5%). It has about 20% of its assets in toll-road bonds, including issues from California, Florida, New York and Texas. Dreyfus Municipal Bond Infrastructure (DMB (opens in new tab), $14, 5.4%, 27.9%), a closed-end fund that borrows money to boost returns, also holds some toll-road bonds. As of August 31, the funds share price was 5.3% below its net asset value.
Everyone has a tale of travel gone wrong. The recent computer crash at Delta was just the latest in a long line of airline mishaps that have caused widespread disruptions. A hiccup here and there wont ruin your trip. But if you encounter a full-on snafu on your next flight, knowing your rights and planning ahead can save you from becoming another horror-story victim.

Most airline delays and cancellations are caused by technological failures, such as the Delta outage, or weather-related problems. In either case, virtually all airlines promise to book you a seat on the next available flight at no additional charge. (A handful of airlines, including Delta and United, may book you on another airline at their discretion.) For individual cases, that might be the end of your troubles. But in the case of a massive disruption, delays can derail your trip for days. If you decide not to proceed with your trip, you can apply for a full refund, even if you hold a nonrefundable ticket. But if packing it in and going home isnt an option, youll have to proceed to Plan B.

Youll generally fare better if the delay or cancellation is the fault of the airline. For instance, in a long delay (typically four hours) due to equipment malfunction, Alaska, Hawaiian, United and WestJet provide meal vouchers. And those four as well as American, Delta and Sun Country will provide overnight accommodations in the case of a delay that continues after 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. If the airline cant get you into one of its affiliate hotels, youll get a voucher worth the price of a stay to spend toward a future flight. Other airlines might be willing to provide assistance if you explain your situation, but they are not required to do so.

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If youre delayed by weather or some unforeseen event, such as a workers strike, airlines will offer little assistance, and you may have to foot any delay-related bills yourself. It pays to act quickly. The TripIt Pro (opens in new tab) smartphone app for Apple and Android ($49 a year) will send you alerts about cancellations, delays or gate changes on the fly, sometimes even ahead of an airline announcement. The free FlightAware (opens in new tab) app (Apple, Android and Windows) will also let you keep tabs on your flight. If you wake up the day of your flight and the weather looks dicey, book a refundable hotel room near the airport.

Hedge Your Bets

Travel insurance can compensate you for the costs associated with a trip interruption. You can purchase some policies up until the day of your trip, but err on the side of buying early. If you buy after its apparent that bad weather will ground your flight, for instance, you may forfeit

coverage. George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com (opens in new tab), recommends that you reject the airlines coverage and compare policies at third-party sites such as Squaremouth.com (opens in new tab) and TravelInsurance.com (opens in new tab). The insurance will likely pay expenses such as meals and hotel stays during a delay, and policies will often cover nonrefundable costs for unused hotel rooms or tour packages at your destination. But read the fine print, says Hobica: The insurers definition of a delay may be very different from yours.

Your credit card company may also be able to help. If youre delayed by more than six hours, or if you need to stay overnight, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card will reimburse you for up to $500 per day in necessary expenses, such as hotel rooms and meals. The Chase Sapphire Preferred, American Express Platinum and Citi Prestige cards offer similar coverage.
Saab Company announced yesterday at the AUSA convention it is studying adding enhanced, precision-engagement capability for its shoulder-fired weapons. The Massive Overmatch Assault Round (MOAR) study is part the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPAs) Broad Agency initiative seeking Innovative Systems for Military Missions.

DARPAs MOAR project explores new ways to increase the combat power of small vehicle mounted or dismounted units introducing a compact, multi-function precision engagement weapon that would evolve into a new category combining the lightweight and versatility of current shoulder fired weapons with the efficiency of larger, heavier and more expensive precision guided weapons. Such weapon would use rounds capable of defeating a wide range of threats  from dismounted personnel, hardened structures, moving vehicles, armor, to unmanned aerial systems  with traditional and non-traditional defeat mechanisms.

The US military Army currently use a range of unguided infantry support weapons  from the 66mm diameter M72 LAW that produced by Nammo, that has both anti-tank and anti-structure versions, the 84mm M136 (AT4) from Saab that currently delivers only anti-tank effect and the new XM-29 from ATK, that shoots 25mm airburst munitions. SOCOM also operates the 84mm Carl Gustaf M3 from Saabs while the Marine Corps use the 83mm Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon SMAW, also produced by Nammo.

Elsewhere, shoulder-fired weapons are enhanced with capabilities such as intelligent sights, airburst, and precision effects. Examples for new multi-purpose weapons are the Israeli Spike SR, the Enforcer KFK from MBDA and Pike from Raytheon. The lightest and smallest weapon of its type, Pike is designed to fit standard 40mm grenade launchers.

Saab is likely to be the first to offer such capabilities with available weapon systems. Under DARPAs MOAR contract Saabs Dynamics will analyze possible concepts and propose solutions, and highlight areas where future research is needed. Saab will conduct studies on its own Carl-Gustaf and AT4 shoulder-fired weapons, both of which are current U.S. Army Programs of Record in service with the U.S. Army.

Saab is investigating a possible solution: a precision-guided munition for shoulder-fired weapons that provides a long-range, high-precision, multi-target capability, said Gorgen Johansson, Head of Saabs Dynamics business area. Analyzing already-established platforms allows the research to remain focused on the munition itself, he added. Rather than developing a completely new solution, we are seeking to apply improved capabilities to existing systems  and that would translate to lower costs and faster availability.

This research is crucial to improving the power of small military units. Todays short-range weapons lack active guidance, while long-range weapons are extremely expensive, physically burdensome, and often require teams of operators that smaller units do not have.

Since the 2014 launch of Saabs Carl-Gustaf M4 version, the company has already been investing its R&D money into new smart munitions to leverage the new systems advanced capabilities.
(Repeats story published earlier with no changes to text.)

* Crude, condensate sales to hit 2.8 mln bpd in Sept

* Exceeds 2011 average of 2.5 mln-2.6 mln bpd before sanctions

* Iran exports condensate from storage to meet Asia demand

* Inks new term condensate deal with S.Korean petchem maker

By Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu

SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Iran's total crude oil and condensate sales likely reached around 2.8 million barrels per day in September, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, nearly matching a 2011 peak in shipments before sanctions were imposed on the OPEC producer.

The run-up from shipments of around 2.5 million bpd in August comes mainly from condensate, a light oil excluded from OPEC supply quotas that is often produced with natural gas and can be used to make naphtha for petrochemical production. Iran sold 600,000 bpd of condensate for September, including about 100,000 bpd shipped from storage, to meet robust demand in Asia, the two sources said. September crude exports increased slightly from the previous month to about 2.2 million bpd, they said.

Iran, along with Libya and Nigeria, is allowed to produce "at maximum levels that make sense" as part of any output limits in a surprise deal reached last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Still, the Middle Eastern producer has surprised the market by ramping up its oil output faster than expected, to 3.63 million bpd in August, according to OPEC, up a quarter from end-2015 since sanctions were lifted in January.

"Iran cannot produce much more than the present, so around 3.7 million bpd may be the max," said Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman of consultancy FGE.

Even if Iran's output hit 3.8 million bpd - as an oil official said it had in September - it would not be able to sustain that volume as decline rates at its oilfields are about 400,000 bpd each year, Fesharaki said. National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) officials did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Iran has said it plans to raise its output to 4 million bpd, although other analysts agreed production has probably peaked for now because investments to pump out more oil are lagging.

SOUTH PARS CONDENSATE TO PUSH GROWTH

Condensate instead of crude oil will drive Iran's export growth for the remainder of 2016, thanks to developments at its giant South Pars gas field, the sources said. NIOC drew on condensate stocks from floating storage and onshore tanks in September to help meet growth in demand from China, South Korea, Japan and India.

Iranian ports loaded 2.153 million barrels of crude and 486,000 bpd of condensate in September, according to Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodities Research. That put the month's total at 2.639 million bpd - excluding the condensate loaded out of storage - up from 2.472 million bpd in August, the Reuters data showed.

Condensate sales could reach 800,000 bpd in October, in excess of production at about 550,000 bpd, one of the sources said, suggesting further draws from floating tankers.

"Korea was the main demand driver for the growth. Japanese and Indian plants were also raising imports," said one of the two sources with knowledge of the matter from Beijing, adding that China's Sinopec has also boosted its offtake of condensate since August.

Iran will sell another 2 million barrels, or about 66,000 bpd, of South Pars condensate each month to Hyundai Chemical in Daesan between October and December, the two sources said.

Iranian condensate will meet about 70 percent of the feedstock demand at a new Hyundai Chemical splitter jointly operated by Hyundai Oilbank Co and Lotte Chemical .

A Hyundai Oilbank spokesman declined to comment.

According to trade flow data on the Thomson Reuters Eikon terminal for Iran condensate that discharged in September, about one-third went to South Korea, with the rest going to the United Arab Emirates, India, China and Japan. Iran's South Pars condensate is usually sold at small premiums to Dubai quotes, free-on-board, much lower than Qatari condensate, which sells at premiums of $2-$3 a barrel, trade sources said.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ TABLE-Condensate splitter projects in Asia, Middle East GRAPHIC: Asia's Iranian crude oil imports ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Florence Tan in SINGAPORE and Chen Aizhu in BEIJING; Additional reporting by Jane Chung in SEOUL and Mark Tay in SINGAPORE; Editing by Tom Hogue)
SEOUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - South Korea's seasonally adjusted current account surplus declined for a second month in August to $5.79 billion from a revised $8.29 billion in July, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

Exports in August rose 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted $43.22 billion while imports jumped a far quicker 12.8 percent to $35.34 billion, producing a goods account surplus of $7.9 billion, the Bank of Korea data showed.

The August current account surplus was the smallest in seasonally adjusted terms seen since April this year.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic on South Korea's current account ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer)
HANOI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0051 GMT.

Oct 4 Oct 3 USD/VND mid-point 21,952 21,948

USD/VND interbank 22,304/22,305 22,304/22,305 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.90/36.14 35.90/36.14

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer.

Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources.

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom)
* Evergrande to list most property assets in Shenzhen after deal

* Shenzhen firm to issue shares, cash in lieu of property assets

* Evergrande shares surge more than 10 pct

(Recasts, adds share reaction, background and byline)

By Clare Jim and Elzio Barreto

HONG KONG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - China Evergrande Group plans to inject almost all of its property assets into a Shenzhen-listed company, orchestrating a backdoor listing in mainland China that could potentially fetch it a higher valuation.

Evergrande said on Monday it will become the controlling shareholder of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Real Estate & Properties (Shenzhen Real Estate) after the state-backed Shenzhen developer issues new shares and cash to an Evergrande subsidiary in exchange for China property assets.

Shares of Evergrande, China's second-largest developer by sales and among the country's most indebted property firms, jumped more than 10 percent in early trading on Tuesday.

"The deal should monetise the assets of the company. We believe Evergrande and its property assets should be able to command a higher valuation in the A-share market amid mainland investors' focus on sales and brand name," Credit Suisse said in a note.

Evergrande, Dalian Wanda Group and other Hong Kong-listed Chinese developers are increasingly eyeing onshore listings as domestic funding costs fall. Mainland-listed firms also command higher valuations than those in Hong Kong, helped by a large pool of retail investors. Wanda last month delisted its Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties from the Hong Kong stock exchange, among several Chinese firms that unveiled plans to head back to mainland equity markets irked by a deep discount in valuations in Hong Kong.

Guangzhou-based Evergrande said in a statement the deal would provide "an additional fund-raising platform" for it and "enable the market to assess the intrinsic value of the company positively and reasonably". Shenzhen Real Estate's estimated core profit for the next three years is 88.8 billion yuan ($13.32 billion), it said.

Evergrande may introduce strategic investment of up to 30 billion yuan into Shenzhen Real Estate, according to the statement. It also said the final issue price by Shenzhen Real Estate has not been determined yet.

Evergrande has captured investor attention after amassing some $57 billion in debt, although it has a market value of about $10 billion.

It has also bought shares worth $2.2 billion in rival China Vanke , putting itself in the middle of a high profile corporate battle.

Last week it said it was selling some non-core assets for $405 million. The preliminary deal with Shenzhen Real Estate will be turned into a definitive agreement after negotiations, and the transaction is subject to approvals from shareholders and regulators, it said on Monday.

Shares of Shenzhen Real Estate, which has a market capitalisation of about $1.6 billion, have been on a trading halt since Sept. 14. ($1 = 6.6685 Chinese yuan renminbi) ($1 = 7.7554 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that Britain's economy was strong with more positive growth rates than some had expected and, when asked about the fall in sterling, added that currencies "of course go up and down".

Sterling slid to its lowest in more than three decades on Tuesday on fears of a "hard Brexit" from the European Union and its single market that could hurt the economy. "Currencies of course go up and down," May told the BBC.

"If you stand back and look at the fundamentals of our economy, which are strong, if you look at the other economic data that has been around in recent weeks, if you look indeed at the most recent forecasts now coming out for growth in our economy this year, all of that is more positive than people had expected it to be and predicted it to be."

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Kylie MacLellan)
PRAGUE, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Tuesday.

ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA==========================

Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: ==========================NEWS==================================

BUDGET: The Czech central state seemed on course to finish without a deficit this year for the first time since 1995 after it showed a record surplus in September, boosted by higher tax collection while public investments sagged.

Story: Related stories: DEBT: The Czech Republic's gross central government debt dipped to 1.660 trillion crowns ($69.07 billion) at the end of September, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

Story: Related stories: M&A: Europe's biggest hospital bed maker LINET Group has taken an 80 percent stake in Czech peer BORCAD Medical, specialising in birthing beds and gynaecological chairs, LINET said on Monday.

Story: Related stories: POWER MARKETS: Repairs and upgrades at the 800-megawatt Chvaletice lignite plant operated by Severni Energeticka face delays that will keep the facility completely offline until the end of October, the company said on Monday.

Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS: Central European stocks rose on Monday as concerns over Deutsche Bank eased somewhat and turnout in Hungary's weekend referendum on the European Union's migrant quotas was too low to make the vote valid.

Story: Related stories: ======================PRESS DIGEST=============================

CENBANK: Industry Minister Jan Mladek said a swift change to the central bank's intervention regime keeping the crown weak would be a threat to many firms and that it was necessary to exit the policy without causing shocks to the economy.

Hospodarske Noviny, page 1

LABOUR: Jaroslav Hanak, the head of the Industry Confederation, said firms were missing 140,000 qualified workers and often needed to tell trade partners that they were unable to raise production because of it.

Hospodarske Noviny, page 1

LENDING: The volume of bank loans rose 6.3 percent to 2.92 trillion crowns at the end of August, central bank data showed. Household borrowing was up 7.3 percent to 1.29 trillion in that period.

Hospodarske Noviny, page 13

RETAIL: Sandwich shop Bageterie Boulevard will open its first store outside the country, in Dresden, Germany. It has plans to expand also to Berlin and Leipzig.

Hospodarske Noviny, page 13

(Reuters has not verified the stories, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.)

For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477

E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com

(Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Germany's trade and wholesale association BGA said on Tuesday that it expected German exports to grow by up to 2.5 percent in 2017 after cutting its forecast for this year to a maximum of 2 percent export growth, citing growing global uncertainties.

Global demand for German goods has slowed significantly, with Britain's decision to leave the European Union among several factors increasing uncertainty and complicating investment decisions, the association said.

"At all ends of the world there is crisis, not least at the gates of Europe and also within our most important core market," BGA head Anton Boerner said during a news conference.

Boerner told Reuters back in August that the BGA was slashing its 2016 forecast for export growth due to increasing risks, including Brexit.

The forecast for German export growth of up to 2.0 percent in 2016 marks a sharp correction from its previous forecast of up to 4.5 percent published in April. Exports - which used to be the main growth driver of Germany's economy - had increased by 6.5 percent as recently as 2015.

Germany will next week publish trade figures for August. Exports fell unexpectedly in July, posting their steepest monthly drop in nearly a year, adding to concerns that the economy is set for a slowdown in the second half. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Russia's finance ministry did not spend its Reserve Fund to cover the budget deficit in September, ministry data showed on Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that the fund, one of Russia's two sovereign funds, stood at $32.26 billion as of Oct. 1 versus $32.20 billion a month earlier.

It also said the National Wealth Fund, a fund meant to help balance the pension system, stood at $73.11 billion as of Oct. 1 versus $72.71 billion at the start of September. (Reporting by Alexander Winning and Andrey Ostroukh)
HANOI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0417 GMT.

Oct 4 Oct 3 USD/VND mid-point 21,952 21,948 USD/VND interbank 22,305/22,310 22,304/22,305 USD/VND unofficial 22,300/22,310 22,295/22,305 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.85/36.09 35.90/36.14

Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.6-1.4 0.5-1.4

1 week 0.8-1.5 0.7-1.5

1 month 1.7-2.2 1.7-2.4

3 months 3.3-4.2 3.3-4.2

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom)
ZURICH, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks on Tuesday:

ABB ABB ABBN.S said it was hanging on to its Power Grids business, rejecting calls from shareholders who have campaigned for the $11.6 billion unit to be separated from the Swiss engineering group. For more news, click ROCHE Roche said its lung cancer drug Alecensa (alectinib), developed by its Genentech unit, received a second breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor. For more news, click SYNGENTA Syngenta said it invested a combined total of $240 million in two plants in Brazil and Switzerland.

For more, click on COMPANY STATEMENTS * Swiss Life named Roman Stein as CFO for Swiss Life Schweiz as of Jan. 1. * Santhera announced the appointment of Kristina Timdahl as chief medical officer and head of development as of January 2017. * Clariant said it will open a Global Competence Center Haircare in Sao Paulo, Brazil. * Temenos confirmed Bank of Ireland Group had selected UniversalSuite, after announcing earlier on Monday that a major European bank had selected UniversalSuite. * Novavest said it has extended its property portfolio with the acquisition of two properties in Frauenfeld and in Zurich. * HBM Healthcare Investments said its was launching a new share buy-back programme of up to 730,000 shares (10 percent of total shares issued) for the purpose of cancellation by way of a capital reduction. It also said net asset value per share increased increased by 5.3 percent during the second quarter of the current financial year to 139.42 Swiss francs as at 30 September 2016. * Siegfried Holding announced an increase of 15 million Swiss francs to the subordinated public hybrid bond launched on Sept. 26, bringing the new total outstanding amount to 160 million francs. * SGS said it acquired AXYS Analytical Services Ltd. (AXYS), Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, that is expected to generate 2016 revenues in excess of CAD 12 million.

* Dottikon ES and Bachem announce that they are extending their collaboration in the area of novel amino acids. * DKSH said it has been appointed by The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati/USA to sell and distribute P&G's brands in Hong Kong. ECONOMY (Reporting by Zurich newsroom)

Daily Swiss stock market report in German................ All SMI constituent stocks............................ News on major Swiss stock price moves.................. FTSE Eurotop 300 index................................ DJ STOXX index........................................ Top 10 STOXX sectors............................. Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors........................ Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors....................... Top 25 European pct gainers... , losers... Swiss mid-cap index SMI futures Swiss all-share index Market statistics Swiss market digest Sector overview All Swiss news Swiss research news All equity news INTERNET ADDRESSES: Swiss Exchange / Eurex STOXX Ltd SPEED GUIDES: ))

Keywords: MARKETS SWISS STOCKS/
CRAWFORDSVILLE  On most Saturday nights, theres not much happening in downtown Crawfordsville, almost exactly halfway between Sweet Home and Brownsville on Highway 228.

A few cars and trucks may be parked at the general store with its original wooden floors and a sign near the front door that reads Crawfordsville Convention Center.

There might be something going on at the community church, or someone dropping off a letter in the Post Office drop box, but for the most part, this unincorporated community with a couple hundred or so residents on the banks of the Calapooia River is country quiet.

But 91-year-old Odie (Otis) Banta remembers when his hometown was a hopping place, complete with stores, taverns, a gas station and even a dance hall.

Although he worked in the Portland ship yards during World War II and work took him away from town off and on over the years, Banta has called Crawfordsville home since he was born there on June 10, 1925.

Its where his family settled in about 1885.

His father, Percy Walter Banta, logged and hauled lumber with a team of horses. His mother, Etta was born in Illinois.

My dad was born in a wagon in Nebraska on the way to Oregon, Banta said.

Banta grew up in a family of 10 children  four girls and six boys  including two sets of twin girls.

I remember when there were three markets, a dance hall, three churches, a garage, a blacksmith shop and a skating rink, Banta said.

In 1880, there were 58 residents in Crawfordsville and the U.S. Census indicated there was a planning mill, wool carding plant, tannery, a sash and door factory, a blacksmith shop, two sawmills, a general store, a flour mill and a shoe manufacturer.

By 1915 the communitys population had grown to more than 300.

For a short time in the early 1900s, quite a number of immigrants from Pakistan and India lived in the Crawfordsville and Brownsville areas, working at local sawmills such as the Calapooya Lumber Company.

At one time, the local school had every grade from elementary through high school. In 2011, the local elementary school was merged with nearby Holley Elementary, part of the Sweet Home School District.

I remember when the school had a play shed and you could tie horses up, Banta said. The school was two stories tall. The first four grades were on the first floor and fifth through eighth grades were upstairs.

Banta lost three fingers on his right hand while he and another boy were chopping wood for an old woman.

Banta quit school when he was about 16 years old and went to work in the ship yards in Portland.

I was a burner, a welder, Banta said. I brazed pipes.

In 1944, Banta returned to Crawfordsville and married Rosemarie Noah, whose father Robert was logging superintendent for Powers-Davis, one of the major logging companies of the mid-1900s.

They were married 54 years until she died in 2003. She had worked for the Sweet Home School District for many years. They had five children, 10 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Banta continues to live on land that has been in his family for generations.

He points outside his living room window and notes, There used to be timber out there five-feet through.

He said families that lived on the other side of the Calapooia would walk to school over a swinging suspension bridge.

Everyone walked to school or rode a horse, Banta said.

Like all of the other kids in the area, Banta grew up hunting and fishing and said the Calapooia was filled with red-sided trout  big ones. The biggest I ever caught was 28 inches long. If it wasnt for all of the deer, people would have starved to death. We were all raised on deer meat and sour dough biscuits.

But he also remembers there were numerous rattlesnakes in the area.

There were lots of rattlesnakes in the area back then, Banta said. I remember gramma yelling when there was a rattlesnake in the yard. One guy carried a snake around with him in his shirt.

Banta said the local dance hall, called Moon Dance, was a lively place, where fistfights often broke out.

It wasnt dirty and even though guys got into fights, they never used guns or knives like they do today, Banta said.

Families earned their living logging or working at the grist mill that was at what is now McKercher Park or a local tannery.

From 1918 until 1955, the Calapooia Roundup Rodeo brought contestants, spectators and even Native Americans, who trekked to the site from Central Oregon.

It was held on the other side of the bridge (the Crawfordsville Covered Bridge) and there was a horse racing track, Banta said. Indians from Warm Springs would come over the mountains and some of the young Indian girls got acquainted with my sisters and every year they would exchange presents.

Crawfordsville was founded on the land of Philemon Vawter Crawford in 1870 by Crawford and Robert Glass.

When the post office was established in 1870, it was named for Crawford.

Other early settlers were T.A. Riggs, Richard Finley, William Robinette and George Colbert.

The 105-foot-long Crawfordsville Covered Bridge on the east side of town was constructed in 1932. A community celebration is held every August at the bridge and the spot is a popular place to picnic or get married.

I have always enjoyed living here, Banta said of his hometown. I told my wife when we got married that I would die here. Its home.
DUBAI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Qatar's central bank sold 1 billion riyals ($275 million) of Treasury bills at a monthly auction on Tuesday, with yields rising from the previous month.

The central bank said it sold 550 million riyals of three-month bills at a yield of 1.44 percent, compared to 500 million riyals at 1.14 percent last month.

It sold 300 million riyals of six-month bills at 1.63 percent, versus 250 million riyals at 1.58 percent, and 150 million riyals of nine-month bills at 1.99 percent, against 250 million riyals at 1.74 percent.

Demand in this month's auction totalled 1.85 billion riyals compared to 3.96 billion riyals last month.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
ISTANBUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Turkey's unemployment rate is forecast to be 10.5 percent this year, remaining above 10 percent the next two years before dipping to 9.8 percent in 2019, the country's medium-term economic programme showed on Tuesday.

Next year, exports were seen at $153 billion and imports at $214 billion, according to the programme, announced by ministers at a news conference. Privatisation revenue was seen dipping to 13 billion lira ($4.3 billion) in 2017 from 15 billion lira in 2016, Finance Minister Naci Agbal told reporters.

($1 = 3.03 liras)

(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker, Humeyra Pamuk and Asli Kandemir; Writing by Daren Butler)
(Adds quotes, background)

HELSINKI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Finnish government should step up labour reforms and reconsider planned cuts in research to boost growth, The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

The Finnish economy has been in the doldrums for the past decade, and the centre-right government is cutting spending and pushing for reforms. The government says the reforms are needed to lift employment and rein in public debt, but it faces resistance from trade unions.

The IMF forecast that Finnish gross domestic product was likely to grow 0.9 percent this year and 1.1 percent in 2017, in line with forecasts by banks and the government. In the medium term, annual growth will be around 1.5 percent, the IMF said.

"Reviving growth remains Finland's pre-eminent challenge. This requires deep structural reform to raise productivity and labour participation," David Hofman, the head of IMF delegation, told a news conference.

The Finnish government in June struck a deal with unions to increase working hours, freeze wages and cut holiday bonuses, but follow-up talks on cutting unemployment benefits have stalled in recent weeks .

"The mission encourages social partners to agree soon on additional activation measures," Hofman said.

He added that government, which has recently cut spending on research and education, should reconsider those cuts, with growth so subdued.

Finnish output is still below the level it reached before the 2008/9 financial crisis for a number of reasons, among them high labour costs, an ageing population, the decline of the former phone business of Nokia and a recession in neighbouring Russia.

(Reporting by Tuomas Forsell, editing by Jussi Rosendahl, Larry King)
(Adds market comment and background)

By Laura Benitez

LONDON, Oct 4 (IFR) - The Republic of Italy has attracted over 12.5bn of interest for its debut 50-year bond on Tuesday as it joins the growing club of eurozone countries taking advantage of historically low yields to extend their curves.

The sovereign, which is trailing France, Belgium and Spain at the tenor, has set guidance for the March 2067 benchmark at 54bp area over the March 2047 BTP.

Marketing began earlier on Tuesday in the mid to high 50s over that 30-year benchmark.

The deal is coming in an uncertain political context, and the country is also grappling with a troubled banking sector.

"It's interesting timing considering the political backdrop but Italy always seems to go well, which puts into perspective that everyone is buying the European government market," a banker away from the deal said.

Italy's upcoming constitutional referendum is viewed as one of the most important events on the European calendar this year, but has now been delayed to December 4.

Italy, like the other sovereigns that have tapped the 50-year part of the curve, is making the most of the ECB-fuelled ultra-low yield environment.

The central bank has bought over 1trn of public sector bonds since it started its public sector purchase programme, forcing investors further down the maturity spectrum in a desperate hunt for yield.

Ten-year Bunds have mainly been in negative yield territory since June and were quoted at -0.096% on Tuesday, while Italy's March 2047, the sovereign's longest bond, was quoted at 2.33% according to Thomson Reuters data.

Italian government bond paper sold off on Tuesday in response to the bond sale announcement.

Based on Spain's 30 to 50-year curve, the trade offered around an 8bp new issue premium at the initial marketing level, according to a banker away.

Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and UniCredit will lead manage the Baa2/BBB-/BBB+/AL rated bond.

(Reporting By Laura Benitez, Editing by Helene Durand, Julian Baker)
Netflix via AP Amanda Knox in a scene from her self-titled documentary, which premiered last week on Netflix.

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By Jake Coyle, Associated Press

NEW YORK  Amanda Knox stares into the camera, coolly contemplating how she became a figure of global fascination.

"I think people love monsters. And so when they get the chance, they want to see them. It's people projecting their fears," Knox says. "They want the reassurance that they know who the bad people are, and it's not them. So maybe that's what it is: We're all afraid, and fear makes people crazy."

Such is the provocative opening of "Amanda Knox," a documentary that premiered recently Friday on Netflix that gives the participants of one of the most sensational trials of the century a chance to tell their story, straightforwardly, directly to the camera. For a case that often seemed like a horror movie played out in the nightly news, "Amanda Knox" allows the drama's main characters to step out from their media-crafted roles.

"We thought that a new way of adding a fresh perspective to the story was to look at it from the inside out and to get to the people at the center of the story and have them tell us what it was like to be embroiled in this whole story," says Rod Blackhurst, who directed the film with Brian McGinn.

The British student Meredith Kercher was murdered Nov. 1, 2007, in Peruga, Italy. Knox, Kercher's roommate and an American student studying abroad, and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were arrested and convicted of the murder. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25.

Three years after Rudy Guede was convicted of the murder and sexual assault of Kercher, the convictions of Knox and Sollecito were overturned in 2011, allowing Knox to return home to Seattle after spending four years in jail. But she and Sollecito were tried again in 2014, again found guilty, only to finally be exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.

The case captivated the world with its grisly details (prosecutors claimed Kercher was killed in a bloody sex game), its attractive alleged murderer (dubbed "Foxy Noxy" by the tabloids) and its culture clash, which pitted a young American abroad against a quaint old Italian city.

"Amanda Knox," five years in the making, centers on interviews with Knox, Sollecito, the Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini and Nick Pisa, a freelance journalist for the Daily Mail.

The film soberly follows the case chronologically, eventually leading to the forensic evidence that helped lead to Knox's and Sollecito's exoneration. But in the years in between, prosecutors and tabloid press (with Pisa playing a significant role) formed radically different images of the pair.

"The power of narrative to embed these incredibly strong opinions no matter what side you're on is something we're seeing in every aspect of our daily lives now," says McGinn, pointing to the U.S. presidential election. "It's important to remember that all of these stories are much more tangled and complicated than we like to think of them."

The filmmakers, both in their 30s, first approached Knox in 2011 through a mutual friend shortly after her return to Seattle. It wasn't until two years later that Knox agreed to participate. Their appeal was based on giving Knox, Sollecito and Mignini a more unfiltered avenue in which to tell their stories, without sensational or headline-motivated interest. The film was viewed for each before it premiered earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The filmmakers have watched as their documentary has ironically returned Knox to the media's spotlight. The Daily Mail, for example, published photographs  the kind usually reserved for jet-setting movie stars  of Knox and her current boyfriend, writer Christopher Robinson, with whom she lives in Seattle, arriving in Toronto. (Knox attended the premiere but didn't speak at it.)

"They all would like to move on from this," says Blackhurst. "Not only has it defined their lives for the better part of a decade, but it seems like they'll forever be trapped in this narrative that might have latched on to them for the rest of their lives."

Knox, in the film, considers the implications of her being turned into "a monster," and the implications it has for others.

"If I'm guilty, it means I am the ultimate figure to fear. On the other hand, if I'm innocent, it means everyone's vulnerable. And it's everyone's nightmare," Knox says. "Either I'm a psychopath in sheep's clothing or I am you,"
By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun

PORT ORCHARD  The man recently convicted by a jury of the December killing of 89-year-old Robert Archie Hood has been sentenced to almost 80 years in prison.

Robert Lee Pry, 30, whom Kitsap County prosecutors accused of killing Hood in an effort to access his bank account, received the 958-month term Monday from Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Forbes.

Pry's lengthy criminal history, combined with jurors' finding "aggravating" factors in the case  the victim was vulnerable and endured deliberate cruelty and the suspect showed a lack of remorse  led to a nearly eight decade-long prison term.

Pry declined to speak at his sentencing. Tim Drury, Pry's defense attorney, said his client had a "less than ideal" childhood, including his parents and family members going into and out of prison.

Hood, who was retired from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, lived alone in the Tracyton home where he grew up. Friends reported him missing in December.

Prosecutors said Pry and others had learned Hood had about $1 million saved in the bank. They believe Pry and another man beat Hood and left him tied up while they went to a motel to smoke meth and try and steal from Hood's accounts. Hood's body was ultimately found by authorities in a plastic barrel in a Belfair backyard.

Jurors deliberated five days, following a lengthy trial of three defendants, before finding Pry guilty. They did not convict Robert Lavalle Davis, 47, of being an accomplice to the murder, though they did convict him of identity theft. Davis got about 8  years in prison in the case, according to prosecutors. The third, Arnold Mafnas Cruz, 47, was convicted of rendering criminal assistance and removal or concealment of a body. He received a 12 -year sentence, prosecutors said.

There are two others due to stand trial in Hood's death. Joshua Rodgers Jones, 27, who told investigators he went into Hood's house with Pry, also is accused of first-degree murder. Pry's sister, Shawna Dudley Pry, 31, is charged with being an accomplice to the murder. Both are scheduled for trial Dec. 5.

Pry has convictions for theft, assault, possessing stolen property, malicious mischief, drug possession and unlawful firearm possession. He'll serve his time in a state Department of Corrections prison.
Ferry commuter Jerri Eckmann, of Bremerton, takes a sample of Uli's bacon sausage Monday at Colman Dock in Seattle. New ferry food vendor Centerplate was offering samples of its menu.

LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

SHARE Fruits and vegetables to be served aboard ferries on display Monday at Colman Dock in Seattle. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Kurt Larson, director of marketing for Silver City Brewery in Silverdale, hands out key chains Monday at Colman Dock in Seattle. Silver City is one of the new refreshment suppliers for ferries. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN The ferry Kitsap's galley is closed until Oct. 15, when Centerplate takes over service on that boat. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Ferry commuters line up to sample food Monday at Colman Dock in Seattle. Centerplate, the new company providing food aboard the boats, was offering a taste of its menu. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

By Nathan Pilling, nathan.pilling@kitsapsun.com

SEATTLE  Galleys on all Washington State Ferries routes should soon smell like food and drink again.

Centerplate, the new food service provider, gave commuters and members of the media a preview of its new menu Monday afternoon in advance of all galleys reopening within the month. Galleys on some routes have been closed while the system transitions away from its previous vendors.

Specific offerings will vary slightly by vessel size, but generally the system's menu will be consistent across the fleet.

WSF's Puget Sound Provisions galley will serve a variety of food selections, including Seattle Bagel Bakery sandwiches, hot dogs from Hempler's, sausages from Uli's Famous Sausages, soups from Ivar's Seafood, various bakery and pastry items from Schwartz Brothers and Ellenos Greek yogurt, among other offerings. Snack menu items will include the usual: cookies, candy, ice cream, hummus, popcorn and pretzels.

Beverage options on the system will include beer and wine selections from Silver City Brewery and several other regional brewing companies, Essentia water, Puget Sound Kombucha Co. drinks, Caffe Vita coffee and other drinks.

"We put together a really solid opening menu of some of the best of what the state has to offer," Centerplate general manager Josh Pell said.

Pell said Centerplate plans to expand its offerings over time as its commissaries are brought on line.

Diana Evans, a Centerplate vice president, said the company has a space identified in Bremerton that will serve as a warehouse and house other operations. By 2017, the company also will have a commissary kitchen built in Bremerton, she said.

The company's 10-year contract with WSF began Oct. 1, and the company expects to have full food and drink service on all routes by mid-October.

"We really want folks to enjoy their time onboard and to make it more valuable for them," Evans said. "We're excited about the opportunity, and we can't wait to get started."

New Washington State Ferries menus by sunnews820 on Scribd
SHARE PineCrest Elementary School fifth-grader LaQuinta Curtis, 10, gets her teeth checked by Smile Partners dental hygienist April Scanlin. The partners were giving free screenings at the school. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN PineCrest Elementary School fifth-grader Nyssa Fillmon, 10, gets fluoride applied to her teeth by Smile Partners dental hygienist April Scanlin. The partners were giving free screenings at the school. Behind is Smile Partners site coordinator Brittany McLaughlin. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN PineCrest Elementary School fifth-grader Nyssa Fillmon, 10, gets a sticker after her Smile Partners dental check. The partners were giving free screenings at the school. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN PineCrest Elementary School fifth-grader Nyssa Fillmon, 10, gets her teeth examined by Smile Partners dental hygienist April Scanlin. The partners were giving free screenings at the school. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

By Christian Vosler, christian.vosler@kitsapsun.com

BREMERTON  A few students at PineCrest Elementary in East Bremerton were asked the dreaded question before a dental screening, "Who wants to go first?" To settle the issue, they invoked the tried-and-true elementary school method for deciding turns: rock, paper, scissors.

LaQuinta Curtis, 10, lost the round and crossed the room to sit in a chair before dental hygienist April Scanlin. Scanlin checked LaQuinta's teeth for evidence of decay, applied fluoride and sent her on with a sticker for her time.

If OK'd by their parents, LaQuinta and any other student at PineCrest may get their teeth cleaned and sealants applied by Smile Partners, a nonprofit that provides oral health care for low-income students.

This year, Smile Partners is more than doubling its presence in West Sound, adding 14 schools in Kitsap County for a total of 24. It also is adding two schools in Mason County.

The program works in a preventive fashion, hoping to catch tooth decay  the most common chronic illness in children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  early.

Hygienists travel to schools to perform oral screenings for students in pre- and elementary school and flag any problems they find for parents. During the clinic, students get a basic cleaning, fluoride treatment and sealants if needed. In emergency cases, Smile Partners can refer the student to a dentist.

"Our goal is to be kind of the first responders of oral health," Executive Director Imbert Matthee said.

Smile Partners is chiefly funded by Medicaid reimbursements and foundation grants, according to Matthee. In the event that a parent cannot pay to for the screening or cleaning, the group has "navigators" who can help families sign up for Medicaid. For those without insurance, there is a one-time $60 co-pay. Barring all of that, Matthee said that Smile Partners will foot the bill for students who want to get the work done but cannot afford to pay.

Smile Partners was started in 2004 but fell into a bit of a rut until Matthee joined in 2013. Following an influx of support from grass-roots campaigns like The Great Give and some timely grants, the program was able to get back on its feet. It's expanding thanks to recommendations from nurses and administrators in schools where they've had success, Matthee said.

This year, he anticipates Smile Partners will serve close to 12,000 students in Puget Sound.

Smile Partners targets low-income families, who face several road blocks on their way to finding a permanent "dental home." For families with two parents working full time, it can be a struggle to get off work to take children to the dentist. Others might not be able to afford the trip at all. Because Smile Partners travels to schools and sends home information about children's oral health, the program can help families make more informed decisions, according to Matthee.

The primary indicator for the program of a low-income school is the rate of students who are on free and reduced lunch. As of May, 44 percent of students in Washington are on free and reduced meals, according to data from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. At PineCrest, 45 percent of students are on free and reduced lunch.

The program helps schools track the health of students. Vonnie Saucerman, nursing supervisor for Central Kitsap, said Smile Partners helps pinpoint oral health issues with specific students earlier than the schools can.

"This is a small, very short intervention that can do a lot of good," she said.

Scanlin, who has worked as a hygienist for the nonprofit for seven years, said the program helps parents acknowledge that their kids have problems with their teeth. She called it a "broad sweep," that can help parents who don't have the time or money to see a dentist.

"The goal is to get them to a dental home, to get them started," Scanlin said.

While the program is more than doubling its presence in the county this year, Matthee is confident that it can meet its responsibilities. The program's biggest struggle is finding space for clinics. When hygienists can't get into libraries, gyms or cafeterias, the group uses a mobile dental bus rented from Medical Teams International, which costs $400 a day, according to Matthee.

"(It's) always helpful to have sponsors, but nothing should preclude us from serving all the schools that we've signed up," he said. "We're committed to that."
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In every election cycle since Jimmy Carter introduced "born again" into the political lexicon, a politician's faith has been an object of curiosity and contention.

At an appearance in Iowa in January, Hillary Clinton responded to a question about her faith, saying she is a Christian and a Methodist and that to her "the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself."

She is correct, but the challenge comes in how that commandment and Scripture are applied in the political arena. The same Scripture in which Hillary Clinton says she believes also teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman and that human life begins at conception. Hillary Clinton is pro-choice and favors same-sex marriage and the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funds being used for abortion.

This brings us to Tuesday's debate between the two candidates for vice president. Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) is a pro-life evangelical Christian who believes in traditional marriage. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA.) is a Roman Catholic who takes the opposite view.

Most evangelicals believe "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness ..." (2 Timothy 3:16). Many Roman Catholics accept the authority of Scripture, but also place tradition and the teachings of the Pope on par with it.

Why does this matter? If candidates for high office claim inspiration, even instruction, from an Authority higher than themselves, they should be asked about it. If they deviate from their faith's teachings, they should be required to explain.

Tim Kaine often refers to his Catholic faith and to what he calls "a turning point in my life," which came in 1980 while on a "mission trip" to Honduras. Left out of his narrative is the liberation theology taught by radical Catholic priests in the region at the time, a theology which closely tracked with Marxists committed to the violent overthrow of Latin American governments.

We have been down this road before with Catholic politicians, including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, all of whom have taken political positions diametrically opposed to Catholic teaching.

About his departure from Catholic instruction and statements from the current and previous popes, especially on social issues, Kaine has said: "I think it's going to change. ... Who am I to challenge God for the beautiful diversity of the human family? I think we're supposed to celebrate it, not challenge it." That attitude might legitimize a multitude of sins.

Writing about church teachings on same-sex marriage, Maureen Ferguson of The Catholic Association says, "If Sen. Kaine wants to go beyond politics to opine on the theology of the Catholic Church, he should at least consult Pope Francis' most recent exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, in which Francis states, 'There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.'"

The same can be said of consistent Catholic teaching about human life.

In another statement from the Catholic Association, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie writes: "Senator Kaine's attempt to cloak his political pandering as theological speculation exposes the Clinton campaign's profoundly anti-Catholic ideological agenda. Hillary Clinton has previously stated that pro-life people of faith will simply have to change their religious views. ... Now her running mate suggests the Church needs to do the same on the issue of marriage and family ..."

These issues of faith and public policy should be raised during the one vice presidential debate Tuesday night.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
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The presidential debate on Sept. 26 left me with a nagging question: "Why am I not smarter?"

After all, in mid-April I paid a hefty chunk of tax to the federal government. When Hillary Clinton noted that Donald Trump paid no federal income tax for a couple of years in the late 70s, he said, "That makes me smart."

Which I suppose implies that if we were all as smart as Trump, the federal government wouldn't be funded, at all.

But the story is a little more complicated: A few days after the debate PolitiFact rated Clinton's original assertion as "Mostly False." It turns out that a 1981 analysis of Trump's finances found that during 1975, 1976 and 1977, Trump, indeed, paid a total of $71,932 on income of $219,334.

According to PolitiFact, however, in 1978 and 1979 Trump paid no income tax because he reported a loss of $3.8 million.

A loss of $3.8 million doesn't sound all that smart, but fair enough; if you have no income, why should you have to pay income tax?

Still, Trump's attitude toward taxes is worth noting. It includes the implicit notion that we're unfairly overtaxed, that internal revenue is "squandered," as Trump put it, and that anything more or less legal that we can do to get out of paying taxes is justified and even admirable.

Of course, many of the wealthy embrace this attitude, and they're happy if the not-so-wealthy embrace it, as well.

But this is a self-indulgent, immature perspective for a liberal democracy such as ours.

I'm not sure when taxation as we know it began, but it must have been a great triumph for the progress of civilization when vassals and peasants stopped paying tribute to lords and kings, and free societies began to impose taxes on themselves to provide for defense, infrastructure and the well-being of the citizenry.

Of course, many Americans complain that their taxes are too high, but "over-taxation" is a meaningless concept; what's important is the ratio between what you get out of the system and what you put in.

And we get a lot out of the system. The most belligerent, anti-tax activist can suffer the misfortune of a house fire, and a group of men and women will drive a well-equipped vehicle over to his residence on tax-financed public roads and, no questions asked, put the fire out.

The benefits of this system fall more or less equally on the rich and the poor, but ours is a progressive system that, quite reasonably, expects the rich to pay more in taxes. After all, they have most of the money, and a great deal of their wealth depends on resources, services, infrastructure and labor that belong to the rest of us.

So Trump's inherent contempt for taxes and, presumably, for chumps like us who pay them is naturally reflected in his plans for massive tax cuts for the rich, which are rationalized by the discredited theory that if the rich have more money, they will create more jobs.

But I suspect that Trump's desire to avoid taxes is grounded in a less theoretical, more fundamental instinct, the compulsion to hold on to as much as possible of the essential element of his brand: wealth.

Indeed, a poor Donald Trump is impossible to imagine.

Of course, the wealthy have the right to pay only the legal minimum in taxes. But when they pay little or no taxes, we have the right to know why, which means that we need something from Donald Trump:

We need to see his tax returns. They would tell us if some of his income has been filtered through his charitable foundation in order to avoid taxes. They would tell us whom he does business with and how charitable he is. And they would tell us if, as reported on Sunday by The New York Times, he depended on huge losses in order to pay no taxes, at all, for years.

Without this information, none of us should even consider voting for him for president.

John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, teaches in the English Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. Readers may send him email at jcrisp@delmar.edu.
Aug. 5, 1941  Sept. 25, 2016

Thomas Tom A. Davis, 75, a longtime Lebanon resident, died Sunday, Sept. 25, at the Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.

Tom was born Aug. 5, 1941, in Compton, California, the son of William and Sabina (Marshall) Davis. He moved to Lebanon at the age of 3 where he attended school. He was student body president and graduated from Lebanon Union High School in the class of 1959. After high school, he joined the Navy where he served for six years. While serving in the Navy, he received his x-ray training in Bethesda, Maryland, and was stationed in Bethesda and later Corpus Christi, Texas. While in Corpus Christi he met Sue Currans. The couple was united in marriage in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Dec. 22, 1962.

After his honorable discharge, Tom returned to Lebanon where he began his career at the Lebanon Community Hospital. He worked as the Radiology Department Manager at the hospital for 35 years, retiring in 2001. His work became his second home and his co-workers were his second family.

Tom was a member of the Wigwam Wisemen, served on the first board of directors for the Lebanon Boys and Girls Club, on the Lebanon Union High School Board and was selected as Lebanon Man of the Year in 1985. He was a member of the American Legion Post 51, Lebanon Elks and was a committee member of the Lebanon All Class Reunion. He enjoyed going camping, hunting and spending time with his grandchildren. He also enjoyed World War II history, anything regarding aviation and had been a pilot in years past.

He is survived by his wife, Sue of Lebanon; son Jon and wife Machelle Davis of Lebanon; daughter Jana and husband Sean Neely of Lebanon; and three grandchildren, Hayden Davis and Curran and Liam Neely.

A celebration of life will be from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at Santiam Place Wedding & Event Hall, 139 S. Main St., Lebanon.

Family suggests memorial donations to the Lebanon Boys and Girls Club in care of Huston-Jost Funeral Home, 86 W. Grant St., Lebanon, OR 97355.
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Kevin Kilbridge, Port Orchard

Don't let corporations run America

The huge trade bill before Congress, called Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), has a provision called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

How does ISDS affect you? Read this from The Economist in 2014:

"If you wanted to convince the public that international trade agreements are a way to let multinational companies get rich at the expense of ordinary people, this is what you would do: give foreign firms a special right to apply to a secretive tribunal of highly paid corporate lawyers for compensation whenever a government passes a law to, say, discourage smoking, protect the environment or prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Yet that is precisely what thousands of trade and investment treaties over the past half century have done, through a process known as 'investor-state dispute settlement', or ISDS."

TransCanada Corp. is now asking an ISDS tribunal to order the U.S. government to pay $15 billion for rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. That's about $46 from everybody in the U.S. Do you have something better to do with $46? ... I thought so.

Your senators and congressman shamefully approved fast-track approval for the TPP bill, meaning that they gave up their right to make any improvements to it, and that they didn't want your opinion of it. Now they're stuck with an up-or-down vote, which may come this autumn.

If you dislike turning your government over to multinational corporations, contact your representatives and say "no" to TPP.
Yahoo reports:

The US government on Saturday ended its formal oversight role over the internet, handing over management of the online address system to a global non-profit entity. The US Commerce Department announced that its contract had expired with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which manages the internets so-called root zone. That leaves ICANN as a self-regulating organization that will be operated by the internets stakeholders  engineers, academics, businesses, non-government and government groups. The move is part of a decades-old plan by the US to privatize the internet, and backers have said it would help maintain its integrity around the world. US and ICANN officials have said the contract had given Washington a symbolic role as overseer or the internets root zone where new online domains and addresses are created. But critics, including some US lawmakers, argued that this was a giveaway by Washington that could allow authoritarian regimes to seize control. A last-ditch effort by critics to block the plan  a lawsuit filed by four US states  failed when a Texas federal judge refused to issue an injunction to stop the transition. Lawrence Strickling, who heads the Commerce Department unit which has managed these functions, issued a brief statement early Saturday confirming the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). As of October 1, 2016, the IANA functions contract has expired, he said. Stephen Crocker, ICANNs board chairman and one of the engineers who developed the early internet protocols, welcomed the end of the contract. This transition was envisioned 18 years ago, yet it was the tireless work of the global Internet community, which drafted the final proposal, that made this a reality, he said in a statement.

This is a very welcome step.

Authoritarian Governments around the world have been trying to get more of a say in how the Internet runs. They have tried to have the ITU takeover some functions, which would be a disaster.

ICANN is far from perfect but over 18 years it has managed to expand the number of generic TLDs from seven to over 1,000 and has a multi-stakeholder model that works, albeit slowly. At ICANN Governments do not get to decide anything. At best they can give advice. This is how it should be.

The problem is that having ICANN run the IANA function (the master list of TLDs, IP addresses and protocols) under contract to the US Government meant that other Governments used that to demand if the USG gets a veto (in reality it was an administrative check) over TLDs, they should all have the same power. By freeing ICANN from the US Government, there is no longer a legitimate cause for authoritarian Governments to rally around.

The Internet has been the world changing success it has, because it has not been under Government control. Governments can pass laws that affect ISPs and Internet users in their own countries, but no Government or Governments can pass laws dictating how the Internet as a whole runs. The Internet community does this through technical groups such as the Internet Engineering Taskforce, Internet Architecture Board and more policy focused groups such as the Regional Internet Address Registries, country code managers and ICANN.

Many folks from New Zealand have been engaged in the work required to improve the accountability of ICANN, so that it could transition from US Government stewardship. It is great to see the transition finally occur.

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Just published the monthly newsletter. The summary is:

Curias Polling Newsletter  Issue 101, September 2016

There were two political voting polls in September 2016  a One News Colmar Brunton and a Roy Morgan.

The average of the public polls has National 15% ahead of Labour in September, down 2% from August.

The current seat projection is centre-right 56 seats, centre-left 51 which would see NZ First holding the balance of power.

We show the current New Zealand poll averages for party vote, country direction and preferred PM compared to three months ago, a year ago, three years ago and nine years ago. This allows easy comparisons between terms and Governments.

In the United States the race narrowed between Clinton and Trump with his odds increasing to 44%, but since the first debate he has fallen back to 33% chance to win.

In the UK the Conservatives are currently projected to pick up 34 seats from the last election.

In Australia Labor now has a 4% lead over the Coalition.

In Canada Trudeau has his net approval fall 11% but the Liberals remains 20% ahead of the Conservatives.

We also carry details of polls on immigration, housing, the Auckland and Wellington Mayoral races and republicanism plus the normal business and consumer confidence polls.

This newsletter is normally only available by e-mail. If you would like to receive future issues, please go to http://curia.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=e9168e04adbaaaf75e062779e&id=8507431512 to subscribe yourself.

Correspondence and feedback is also welcome to the same address.
The SST editorial:

The Sunday Star-Times has campaigned for the past two years for all donations to be disclosed on a public register. And not just 55 days after the election, as the law stands.

Voters are entitled to know, when they cast their vote, who is bankrolling the campaign. Parliamentary political parties are required to disclose donations within 10 days; there is no reason why our expectations of mayoral and council candidates should be any different.

Frontrunners weve spoken to, like Dalziel, Goff and Wellingtons Justin Lester, agree in principle to the Star-Timescalls for disclosure before the election  next time round. None is willing or able to break ranks and disclose their donors identities before polls close this week.

Today, we challenge political candidates to go back to their secret funders and advise them they will be publicly naming their donors in the final days before polls close.
Linn County recently won designation as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and although this isn't necessarily the sort of thing you advertise on tourism brochures, it's still a welcome development.

That's because the designation will give law officers added resources to battle the commerce in illegal drugs. In particular, it gives officers access to a portion of a $3.4 million grant that covers 13 counties in Oregon and Idaho, as well as the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon.

And the news got better last week, when officers announced that an interagency team of investigators will have a permanent base in the city's new police headquarters when the structure is completed next year.

The county's designation as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (the acronym is HIDTA, but that doesn't mean you have to use it) should enhance the county's ability to intercept and disrupt drug traffic moving along Interstate 5. That's good.

The fact that the Linn County team (to be named Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement, or LINE, which is a better acronym) will be based out of the new Police Department headquarters is an added bonus. (The centralized location was required for the team to be eligible for the federal funding.)

The fact of the matter is that many of these drug investigations involve a number of different law agencies anyway, and working out of the same office will only increase the opportunities to share information and coordinate efforts. Agents from the Albany, Sweet Home and Lebanon police departments will join Oregon State Police, the Linn County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration in the shared office.

In fact, the only surprising thing about this is how long it took for Linn County to win the high-intensity designation: Until now, the county was the only one in Oregon along Interstate 5 without such a designation. Obviously, drug traffickers do not veer off the interstate just as they get to Linn County, so the designation just serves to confirm what law officers already know: The county has a problem with illegal drugs, and access to federal funds will help the battle.

To win the designation, officials had to show that:

 Linn County is a significant center of drug production.

 Those drug-production activities have a harmful impact on the area.

 Law agencies have committed resources to battle the problem.

We think it's fair to say that Linn County did not have a difficult time checking off any of those boxes.

It helps if you can show that a significant amount of illegal drug traffic is moving through the area. This, also, was not particularly difficult to demonstrate, and not just thanks to Interstate 5; Highway 20 from the Oregon coast also boasts its share of drug trafficking.

While all of this is good news, it should serve as a sobering reminder about the hard work that's still ahead of us in the fight against illegal drugs. Drug cases kept area officers busy last year, with methamphetamine still sadly common and heroin staging an unwelcome comeback. This designation, the funds that go with it and the shared office will be important weapons in the fight. (mm)

Correction

A Friday editorial reported that the Greater Albany Public Schools bond request of May 2016 was rejected by voters. In fact, 57 percent of voters were in favor of the bond. But the election drew only 46 percent turnout, and so the measure failed because it fell short of the "double majority" that was required for passage in that particular election. (mm)
Campbell County General Sessions Court Judge Amanda Sammons (CAMPBELL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)



By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

When deputies showed up at his Kentucky school with orders to take him and his sister, the boy sent a frantic text message to his mother and ran.

He escaped, temporarily. His sister did not. Within two days, both were sent to Jellico, Tenn., to live with a father whom a Kentucky court had barred from being around them. It took three weeks  and two judges later  before they were returned home to their mother.

The family's ordeal is already the subject of an ethics probe by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct into Campbell County General Sessions Judge Amanda Sammons. Now, the case has become the subject of a federal civil-rights lawsuit.

Ashley Keisling of Whitley County, Ky., is suing Sammons in U.S. District Court for ordering the removal of her two children without legal authority, jurisdiction or even a request to do so. The removal is among more than a half-dozen similar incidents documented by the News Sentinel in a months-long probe of Sammons.

Sammons was indicted in August on four counts of official misconduct over her handling of two unrelated cases. The ethics probe, which involves myriad complaints, including that of Keisling, remains open. Board rules allow the probe to be carried out in secret. That case won't become public unless the board votes to take formal disciplinary action. Sammons faces trial in the criminal case Nov. 1.

Attorney Wade Davies, who represents Sammons in the criminal case, said he was not handling the lawsuit and had no comment on her behalf.

Attorney Kathy Parrott, who represents Keisling in the federal lawsuit, also names Campbell County as a defendant. She has been pushing county leaders to stop paying Sammons while Sammons remains under indictment, but the county commission has refused. She seeks in the lawsuit an order forcing commission to do so. The lawsuit also seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Keisling and her children moved to Whitley County, Ky., from Campbell County after she separated from her husband and the children's father, Johnny Ray Elliott. A divorce was filed in Campbell County General Sessions Court in 2008. Sammons was not yet on the bench. Keisling was awarded custody.

In 2011, Keisling obtained from a Kentucky judge an order barring Elliott from contact with his children. The basis for that order is not included in the federal lawsuit, but the complaint alleges at least one of the children had been abused in his home before.

Keisling sent a copy of the order to General Sessions Court in Campbell County, so the visitation agreement could be changed to reflect the Kentucky judge's ruling, the lawsuit stated. For four years, no hearing was held. Sammons was elected to the bench in 2014.

In September 2015, Sammons penned a note, saying the state Department of Children's Services had alleged the children were being harmed in their mother's care, and set a hearing, the lawsuit stated. The note referred to the couple's three children. They have only two. The lawsuit alleges Keisling was never notified of the hearing. The notice lists her name but no address.

According to the lawsuit and documents later filed in Campbell County Circuit Court, DCS officials had filed no such petition. The DCS was not a party to the hearing Sammons held  without Keisling present or aware  in which the judge ordered the children taken from their mother and given to Elliott, the lawsuit stated.

"Sammons stated later from the bench that she acted solely on her impression from an unrelated case where she thought these children were mentioned," the lawsuit stated. "To date, the unrelated case has never been disclosed."

The next day, Kentucky deputies showed up at the children's school with Sammons' order. The text message from her son was the only notice Keisling received, the lawsuit stated. Deputies took the girl and, a day later, she turned over her son, who had run away from the officers, according to the lawsuit.

When Parrott sought an immediate hearing before Sammons, the judge refused, Parrott wrote.

"She shrugged off pleas for an immediate hearing and requests for immediate concerns for the children's welfare," the lawsuit stated.

Parrott appealed to 8th Judicial Circuit Judge John McAfee. Court records show McAfee ruled Sammons had no legal authority to take the children from their mother or to override the ban on visitation with their father.

Three weeks after they were taken, the children were allowed to return home with their mother.

During that three weeks, the children were not enrolled in school, the lawsuit stated, and fell behind in their studies in Kentucky. The lawsuit alleges the father's house was filthy, and the children wound up with bites and sores from bedbugs.

"As a direct and proximate result of the unlawful conduct of (Sammons), one of the minor children sustained severe emotional injuries from being unlawfully forced to return to an unsafe environment in which one had previously been abused," the lawsuit stated.

Also named as defendants are Campbell County Circuit Court Clerk Bobby Vann and the sheriffs in Campbell and Whitley counties, primarily for carrying out Sammons' orders.
photos by George Walker IV/The Tennessean Rep. Jeremy Durham walks back to his seat after attempting to walk out of chambers during proceedings to oust him from the House.

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By Dave Boucher And Joel Ebert, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

NASHVILLE  After the legislative session ended in 2013, Tennessee Director of Legislative Administration Connie Ridley sent a letter to a staff member telling her she would lose her job the same day.

Ridley cited "changes that are being made" in the office of the lawmaker where the staff member worked, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Tennessean.

"Your personnel file will be coded expiration of appointment, in good standing," states the letter.

The staff member, referred to as "Jane Doe 24" in a scathing report on Jeremy Durham's sexual misconduct from the Tennessee attorney general, told The Tennessean earlier this year she has "no doubt" she was let go from her job because of a relationship between the female representative the woman worked for and Durham.

State Democrats believe the female lawmaker, known as "Rep. Jane Doe 33" in the report, may have broken the law when she had the staff member fired.

"If the findings of the AG are true, an anonymous state representative or an anonymous manager of human resources may have possibly violated several Tennessee laws," Sen. Lee Harris told The Tennessean on Tuesday, pointing to a state law that prohibits taking retaliatory action against a victim of sexual harassment. "You cannot fire somebody based on sexual harassment."

Ridley said Tuesday she could not confirm or deny if an investigation was underway, saying policy makes all information of any investigation confidential while it is ongoing.

Harris and Rep. G.A. Hardaway, who are Memphis Democrats, said they have been leading a review of the culture at the Legislature after being encouraged by their constituents.

"Some of these citizens believe the environment (at the capitol) is one of mistreatment, unfairness and that tolerates law breaking," said Harris.

Democrats have blasted Rep. Jane Doe #33 since the report was released in July, saying she fired the staff member as a form of retaliation. During the special session in September where Durham was expelled, state Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, called on Rep. Jane Doe #33 to identify herself on the floor.

She did not.

Earlier this year, when The Tennessean asked Rep. Jane Doe #33 about her relationship with Durham, she said they were "very good friends." She told the attorney general they were "best friends" and that they "laughed about" the allegations against Durham that were reported in The Tennessean.

The Tennessean is not identifying Rep. Jane Doe #33 in order to protect the identity of Jane Doe #24, who is a victim of sexual harassment. The attorney general report says Durham tried to kiss Jane Doe 24, tried to invite himself into her apartment and regularly sent her messages. Jane Doe 24 told the attorney general she wanted to be a lobbyist since high school but no longer wanted to after her interactions with Durham.

Durham has denied sexually harassing anyone.

The report states Rep. Jane Doe #33 found out Jane Doe #24 and Durham spoke regularly and were "hanging out."

"When the session ended, Human Resources immediately notified Jane Doe #24 that Rep. Jane Doe #33 wanted her reassigned ...(Jane Doe #24) heard from legislative staff member John Doe #32 that Rep. Jane Doe #33 did not speak well of her to other members," the report states.

A legislative staff member confirmed to the Tennessean that Rep. Jane Doe #33 was negative about Jane Doe #24 after she was fired.

The staff member was prevented from getting another job due to Rep. Jane Doe #33 speaking ill of her to other colleagues, Harris said, citing his interpretation of the attorney general's report. That's clear evidence she was fired and retaliated against to due to sexual harassment, Harris said, which is against the law.

Although Ridley lists expiration of appointment as the official reason the staff member was let go, the state paid an additional month's worth of salary as a "separation package."

Specifically asked about whether Rep. Jane Doe #33 retaliated against her staff member, Ridley said in late July, "the General Assembly has consistently maintained a policy prohibiting retaliation. Complaints alleging retaliation would be reviewed by my office. Any determination of a violation would result in prompt corrective action being taken."

Asked again about any possible investigation or punishment pertaining to Rep. Jane Doe #33, Ridley said Tuesday that she couldn't reveal any information due to confidentiality clauses in both the old and new legislative workplace discrimination policy.

"Further, both the current and former policies state that no information concerning a complaint or investigation will be released to anyone not directly involved. As a result, the information you request, if it exists, would not be subject to disclosure," Ridley said in an email.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Beth Harwell declined to say whether the Nashville Republican would initiate an investigation into the firing of Jane Doe #24.

If there was an investigation underway, Harris believes it would have already been completed.

"We have to assume that we've either got a group that's inept and doesn't know that they need to go further ... or we have to assume there's some kind of cover up going," said Hardaway. "I have no problem in saying that it's got to be one or the other."
Seems every conversation these days turns to the presidential election and in most cases the gist seems to be, "Is this the best we can do? I don't want to vote for either one of them."

I think the success of Donald Trump is basically a primal scream from the American people that things have gone wrong and no one is doing anything about it. What's most depressing is that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its wholly-owned subsidiary, the U.S. Congress, are ignoring the wave of angst across the country. It's business as usual in Washington, which puts the fatally flawed Trump in striking distance of the presidency.

Have you heard anyone other than Trump talk about renegotiating trade deals? It's why Trump will carry Ohio, often a precursor of a Republican victory. Trump lost the debate by all accounts, but if you watched the first 30 minutes and went to bed, he won. He hung NAFTA around the Clintons' necks.

Despite all the gaffes, the personal foibles, the insulting language that should have doomed his candidacy, Trump is still within striking distance of winning?

At least in Trump's case the voters turned out to use him as a vehicle to express their rage, bypassing a field of experienced candidates. The recklessness of the Democratic Party is breathtaking.

The party apparatus made it clear to potential credible candidates that Hillary Clinton would get all the superdelegates and the money, thus clearing the field for her run  at least in theory. It was a bar to entry by people like Joe Biden. That an unknown 73-year-old socialist  not even a Democrat  would come within a hair's breadth of beating her should tell you how vulnerable she is. And what if she had been indicted? What a risky gamble that was.

Any credible Democrat running against Trump would be ahead by double digits. Any credible Republican running against Clinton would be ahead by double digits. If Trump wins, there is a lot of explaining to be done by the Democratic establishment. This should have been a walk in the park instead of a desperate battle.

WHAT?: I've known House Clerk Joe McCord for over 25 years and I don't recognize the creator of a "hostile work environment" as alleged by a departing House member. It's gossip from a couple of years ago, the staffer didn't initiate the story, she still works in the speaker's office and the idea of the House clerk flipping off a 2-year-old is patently ridiculous.

NOT LIKELY: Don't look for Gov. Bill Haslam to have a role in a Trump administration. The governor has yet to endorse Trump for the job. U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, who chairs the House committee investigating Planned Parenthood, is a frequent Trump surrogate, however.

DOWN-BALLOT FALLOUT?: Political junkies around town say Republican state Rep. Eddie Smith has a tough race against Democratic former state Rep. Gloria Johnson. The Democrats in the district are expected to turn out in good numbers to vote for Clinton, and thus Johnson. I'm told that Trump is unlikely to carry Sequoyah Hills. Smith's success may hinge on turnout from his South Knoxville base, but will it be enough?
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BlueCross BlueShield's decision to withdraw from the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplace in Tennessee's three largest cities is an unsettling development.

The move will force 112,000 people in the state  including 31,000 in Knoxville  to find new coverage when the 2017 enrollment period begins on Nov. 1. The decision, coupled with UnitedHealthcare's complete withdrawal from the state, will reduce options for Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville residents who are not insured through their jobs.

From a business standpoint, BlueCross BlueShield's decision is understandable  the Chattanooga-based insurer anticipates losses on the exchange to total close to $500 million by the end of the year. The blame lies elsewhere: congressional gridlock, individuals who have been gaming the system and flaws in the Affordable Care Act itself.

The reasons for the exchange woes in Tennessee and other states are straightforward. Too few younger, healthier people are signing up for coverage on the exchanges to pay for the older, sicker people who do. Also, some people are signing up for coverage when they are sick and unscrupulously dropping it once they are well. Both throw the exchanges' insurance pool out of balance.

The New York Times reports the Obama administration is tinkering with the law's application by boosting payments to insurers for "high-cost enrollees" and by cracking down on those who buy and drop policies.

It is becoming obvious, however, that more is needed. One easily identifiable source of the insurance pool imbalance is the provision of the ACA that allows parents to keep their adult children under the age of 26 on their family plans.

Nationwide, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, about 3 million young adults are on their parents' plans. A University of Memphis study cited by the USA TODAY Network estimates that 82.5 percent of the state's employees work for companies providing health insurance benefits. Their younger, healthier adult children are being diverted from the exchange pools.

Benedic Ippolito, a research fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, has come up with two simple options. Writing earlier this year at InsideSources.com, Ippolito suggests lowering the cost for young adults or pushing them toward the exchanges by eliminating the under-26 provision of the ACA.

Critics of the health care reform law say the exchanges are collapsing. Republicans generally want to repeal and replace the ACA, while some Democrats are advocating for a single-payer system similar to Medicare. Neither party is likely to attain a veto-proof majority in the Senate, meaning that a repeal of the ACA or its replacement by a single-payer system is unrealistic. Post-election compromise is needed.

One of the most popular elements of the ACA is the requirement that insurers cover those with pre-existing conditions. They cannot afford to do that, however, without insuring a greater number of healthier people. Members of both parties should come to terms with reality and revise the Affordable Care Act to make it work for insurers and individuals.
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After Donald Trump's latest attempt to link immigrants to crime, it's time to take a hard look at the evidence, to see whether they are truly committing violent crimes.

A wide variety of studies over many years have repeatedly and consistently debunked the myth that there is a link between immigrants and increases in crime. A recent article in the New Yorker cited three studies that show that increases in immigrant populations are actually associated with reductions in crime. Last year, the Washington Post cited other studies that showed that immigrants participate in crime at a rate significantly lower than the overall crime rate.

The American Immigration Council extended the data even further: "For more than a century, innumerable studies have confirmed two simple yet powerful truths  immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the unauthorized, regardless of their country of origin or level of education. In other words, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are not 'criminals' by any commonly accepted definition of the term."

As the New Yorker put it: "If you live in a city that has become less dangerous in recent decades, a growing body of evidence suggests that you actually have immigrants to thank."

Cherry-picking isolated criminal cases involving immigrants and refugees is just one of the ways Trump manipulates us, and information, to his advantage. Perhaps that's because the real numbers confound him so. But if we let lies and fear rule from our highest office on Nov. 8, where will that leave us as a nation? Will there still be a place for facts in American society?

Stacey Pastor, Knoxville
Union Pacifics Living Legend No. 844 headed to Tennessee

OCTOBER 4, 2016 at 8:48 a.m.







Union Pacific's 'Living Legend' No. 844 steam locomotive headed to Tennessee. Image courtesy of UP.



OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Pacific's 'Living Legend' No. 844 steam locomotive will travel more than 1,200 miles one-way to celebrate the Oct. 22 opening of Big River Crossing in Memphis, Tennessee. The trek is the first multi-state venture since the locomotive's three-year restoration.



No. 844 will traverse Union Pacific's main line through Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee beginning Oct. 13. Brief stops are scheduled throughout the 19-day roundtrip journey.



Big River Crossing, 1 mile across, will be the longest public pedestrian bridge across the Mississippi.



Thursday, Oct. 13

 9:30-10 a.m. MT, E. 1st St. & S. Walnut St. in Kimball, Neb.

 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. MT, Oberfelter St. & Front St. in Lodgepole, Neb.

 1:30-2 p.m. MT, S. Spruce St. Crossing in Ogallala, Neb.

 4:30 p.m. CT, E. Front St. in North Platte, Neb.



Friday, Oct. 14

 9:15-9:45 a.m. CT, Meridian & Hwy 30 in Cozad, Neb.

 11-11:30 a.m. CT, Pawnee Road Crossing in Gibbon, Neb.

 1:15-1:45 p.m. CT, C Street Crossing in Belvidere, Neb.

 2:20 p.m. CT, Rock Island Depot in Fairbury, Neb.



Saturday, Oct. 15

 9:30-10 a.m. CT, 609 N. 2nd St. in Marysville, Kan.

 10:30-10:45 a.m. CT, West 2nd St. Crossing in Frankfort, Kan.

 12:15-12:45 p.m. CT, 701 N. Kansas Ave. in Topeka, Kan.

 1:30-2 p.m. CT, Old Depot, 402 N. 2nd St. in Lawrence, Kan.

 3:30 p.m. CT, 30 W. Pershing Rd in Kansas City, Mo.



Sunday, Oct. 16

 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CT, 30 W. Pershing Rd in Kansas City, Mo.



Monday, Oct. 17

 9-9:15 a.m. CT, S. Hudson St. in Buckner, Mo.

 9:45-10 a.m. CT, 10th St. Crossing in Lexington, Mo.

 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. CT, Route K Crossing in Blackwater, Mo.

 12:30-12:45 p.m. CT, Near 4th & Water St. in Boonville, Mo.

 2 p.m. CT, North of W. Main St. Jefferson City, Mo.



Tuesday, Oct. 18

 9:15-9:45 a.m. CT, Boat Ramp Road in Hermann, Mo.

 10:30-10:45 a.m. CT, 301 W. Front St. in Washington, Mo.

 11:15-11:45 a.m. CT, First St. in Pacific, Mo.

 12:15-12:45 p.m. CT, 110 W. Argonne Dr. in Kirkwood, Mo.

 1:30 p.m. CT, S. Ewing Ave. & Papin St. in St. Louis, Mo.



Wednesday, Oct. 19

 9 a.m. CT, N. Main St. & Carondelet Ave. Crossing in Dupo, Ill.

 9:45-10 a.m. CT, Henry St. in Prairie du Rocher, Ill.

 10:30-11 a.m. CT, Rock Bridge Road & Water St. in Chester, Ill.

 11:30-11:45 a.m. CT, Lake St. Crossing in Gorham, Ill.

 12:15-12:30 p.m. CT, State Forest Road in Wolf Lake, Ill.

 1 p.m. CT, Thebes Bridge (pass-through) in Thebes, Ill.

 1:15-1:30 p.m. CT, Oak St. Crossing in Scott City, Mo.

 2:30-3:45 p.m. CT, Co. Rd. 517A & Co. Rd. 527 Crossing in Bloomfield, Mo.

 4:30 p.m. CT, Co. Rd. 708 & Co. Rd. 712 in Dexter Junction, Mo.



Thursday, Oct. 20

 9:15-9:30 a.m. CT, Main St. Crossing in Piggott, Ark.

 10:15-10:45 a.m. CT, E. Main St. Crossing in Paragould, Ark.

 11:45 a.m.-12:01 p.m. CT, E. Hamilton Road Crossing in Harrisburg, Ark.



Saturday, Oct. 22

9:45-11:30 a.m. CT, Harahan Bridge in Memphis, Tenn.



Monday, Oct. 24

 10:30-11 a.m. CT, Martin Luther King St. Crossing in Wynne, Ark.

 12:15-12:45 p.m. CT, S. Elm St. Crossing in Bald Knob, Ark.

 2:15 p.m. CT, 1000 W. 4th St. in North Little Rock, Ark.



Tuesday, Oct. 25

 9:30-9:45 a.m. CT, Main St. Crossing in Conway, Ark.

 11-11:30 a.m. CT, Old Depot in Russellville, Ark.

 1:30 p.m. CT, Main St. & 2nd Ave. in Van Buren, Ark.



Wednesday, Oct. 26

 9-9:15 a.m. CT, Elm St. Crossing in Sallisaw, Okla.

 10:45-11:15 a.m. CT, SW 5th St. & Jackson Ave. in Wagoner, Okla.

 12:15-12:30 p.m. CT, N. Cherokee Crossing in Claremore, Okla.

 1:15-1:30 p.m. CT, Near US-60/E. Cherokee Ave. Crossing in Nowata, Okla.

 2:15 p.m. CT, Near Atlantic & Colorado in Coffeyville, Kan.



Thursday, Oct. 27

 9:45-10:15 a.m. CT, US-54 & Otter Road in Durand, Kan.

 12-12:15 p.m. CT, W. Main St. Crossing in Osawatomie, Kan.

 3:15 p.m. CT, 30 W. Pershing Road in Kansas City, Mo.



Friday, Oct. 28

 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CT, 30 W. Pershing Rd in Kansas City, Mo.



Saturday, Oct. 29

 9-9:15 a.m. CT, 402 N. 2nd St. in Lawrence, Kan.

 10-10:30 a.m. CT, 701 N. Kansas Ave. in Topeka, Kan.

 12:15 p.m. CT, 602 N. 2nd in Marysville, Kan.



Sunday, Oct. 30

 9:45-10:15 a.m. CT, C Street Crossing in Belvidere, Neb.

 12-12:30 p.m. CT, Pawnee Road Crossing in Gibbon, Neb.

 1:30-2 p.m. CT, 202 W. Pacific Ave. in Lexington, Neb.

 3:30 p.m. CT, Downtown on E. Front St. in North Platte, Neb.



Monday, Oct. 31

 9:30-10 a.m. MT, S. Spruce St. Crossing in Ogallala, Neb.

 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. MT, 10th & Grant St. in Sidney, Neb.

 1:30-2 p.m. MT, Main St. Crossing in Pine Bluffs, Wyo.

 3:30 p.m. MT, Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyo.



Due to the dynamic nature of these operations, running times and scheduled stops are subject to change. A comprehensive schedule including locations and display times, as well as route map and a GPS monitor of No. 844's location, is available here.



Housed in Union Pacific's Steam Shop in Wyoming, No. 844 underwent a major overhaul and made its return to the rails for Cheyenne Frontier Days in late July.



Details about No. 844's restoration are available in a series of blog posts and videos available via the InsideTrack section of Union Pacific's website at www.up.com.



Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2006-2015, Union Pacific invested approximately $33 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Coal, Industrial Products and Intermodal. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Published October 4, 2016
Sisters of Mercy celebrate 150 years of service in Tennessee

OCTOBER 3, 2016 at 6:56 p.m.





KNOXVILLE  The Sisters of Mercy, who at one time had a presence in seven Catholic schools in the Knoxville area, including the founding of Knoxville Catholic High School, are celebrating the 150th anniversary of their founding in Tennessee.



In recognition of this anniversary, Nashvilles Cathedral of the Incarnation will be the site of a Celebratory Mass at 2 p.m. on Oct. 30, with Bishop David R. Choby presiding. A reception will follow in the Cathedrals Fleming Center.



The seven Catholic schools where Sisters of Mercy have ministered in Knoxville have a long and storied history, with many still in existence today. During the 150 years of Sisters of Mercy, the sisters played a role in Knoxville Catholic High School, St. John Neumann School, St. Joseph School, Sacred Heart School, St. Marys School, the former Holy Ghost Grade School and Mercy Hall School of Nursing.



In 1896, the Sisters of Mercy managed St. Mary Parish School where a formal high curriculum was introduced but no high school existed. However, from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century, the number of students in the Catholic school grew until an expansion was needed in both the curriculum and the school buildings.



By the years of World War I, the need for a formal four-year high school program with its own facilities was apparent. During the early 1920s the planning for such a school was well under way. In 1929, the Great Depression threatened to defeat plans for a new school. However, with courage and a great deal of faith, in 1932 Father Grady purchased the old Ashe home at 1610 East Magnolia Avenue. The Sisters of Mercy opened the Knoxville Catholic High School to its first class of 98 young men and women in the fall of 1932. The faculty was composed of four Sisters of Mercy and two lay teachers.



In addition, the Sisters opened Saint Marys Hospital (now Tennova Healthcare) in 1930. Although the hospital is no longer owned or sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters still serve there, responding to those in need of Gods compassion.



The Sisters of Mercys influence extends statewide. Since coming to Tennessee in 1866, the sisters have ministered in schools in the cities of Alcoa, Columbia, Dayton, Elizabethton, Jackson, Johnson City, Kingsport, Knoxville, Lawrenceburg, Loretto, Memphis, Nashville, Springfield, and Whitehaven. Published October 3, 2016
By Jhoo Dong-chan



The government's decision to salvage Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) by converting its multitrillion-won debt to equity is under fire for spending taxpayers' money to help the recklessly managed state-owned company.



According to finance circles and the shipbuilding industry, Eximbank is set to convert DSME's debt to equity, another decisive measure after recapitalization by its largest shareholder the Korea Development Bank (KDB) by issuing new stocks to salvage the debt-ridden shipbuilder from capital impairment.



In light of Eximbank's total 7 trillion won ($6.3 billion) loans to DSME, including refund guarantee (RG), the Ministry of Strategy and Finance is discussing with bank officials about its plan to convert DSME's 2 trillion won debt into equity. If the plan carries out, Eximbank will be DSME's second-largest shareholder following KDB.



However, the decision aroused concerns that the government may spend more trillions of won of tax money to salvage the lax-managed company.



"It is shoveling sand against the tide," an industry insider said on condition of anonymity.



"DSME's problem is not only its liquidity but also the downturn in the global shipbuilding industry. Even if the government provides room to help with its current financial difficulty, DSME's future is still unclear. There is no guarantee it will suddenly clinch mega deals after its management becomes normalized."



Last month, Angola's state-run oil company Sonangol delayed the takeover of its two drill ships from DSME due to its own financial difficulties. Speculation grows that the Angolan company will take over the ships by November, but if the takeover is delayed once again to next year, the financial burden for DSME is expected to deepen.



The government plans to form a task force with DSME officials to discuss about recapitalization with KDB and the debt-equity swap with Eximbank in mid-October.



The KDB is expected to soon provide 1.6 trillion won by issuing new stocks to rescue the shipyard. If Sonangol pays for the delivery with the $1 billion won in cash and the rest in stocks as planned, the government and DSME officials expect the company to find the financial room.




Jesse Chun / Courtesy of Rehan Miskci



Korean native brings visual rhetoric on meaning of home

By Lee Hyo-won

NEW YORK  In this age of hybrid identities and transcultural mobility, "where are you from?" is an increasingly tricky question to answer.

One Korean-born, Hong Kong-raised artist with a Canadian residency who is mostly based in New York has to provide a slightly longer response to the seemingly simple query. In her latest solo show "On Paper," Jesse Chun explores such themes of displacement, transit and immigration -- and, in the larger scheme of things, the boundless human longing for home and a sense of belonging.

The Korea Times revisited Chun five years after the now-32-year-old artist collaborated with the newspaper's 2011 "Portrait of an Artist" series sponsored by the Korea Press Foundation.

"On Paper" presents 37 conceptual pieces at Soho's Spencer Brownstone Gallery, through which she harnesses bureaucratic documents and symbols to poetic ends. Immigration papers become text-free grids that metaphorically map out new identities in "Blueprints," while a passport watermark illustration of a mountain range transforms into serene natural scenery for "Landscapes," via rephotography and digital manipulation.

"Landscape" Courtesy of the artist



"I was drawn to investigating the found images and iconography related to themes of cultural identity and signifiers of place and home," Chun said. "I experienced globalization in the form of a personal memory. This sense of displacement and question of home have naturally impacted the core of my artistic practice."

She does not want her biography to be what defines her creations, however: "Instead, I want it to be a vessel for my work and its inquiries."

The artist speaks in a unique visual language that is at times devoid of visuals, yet her artwork is always replete with imagery. Her respect for negative space may bring to mind Korean monochromatic Dansaekhwa  which the artist did in fact recently discover and felt "moved" by  but it signals a more boundless and fearless gesture in an art world that has become increasingly reluctant to embrace beauty.

Chun's deliberate use of digital tools combined with the physicality of the resulting paper-based works rouse thoughts to mull on, such as the ultimately transient nature of such important pieces of documentation: These mass-produced forms are usually discarded after information is digitally transcribed, but they have the power to define and change people's lives.

"Form#2" / Courtesy of the artist

While her works incite more intrinsic emotional responses, they also allow room for sociopolitical discourse, such as immigration ahead of the U.S. presidential election and worldwide concerns about refugees. Her show itself has been noted as a rare spotlight on a young, female Asian artist.

"It is definitely a known fact that women artists, specifically women artists of color, are hugely underrepresented here. I'd like to cultivate more ways for artists of color to be seen and heard," she said. "I hope that my work inspires a second look at the things that are used to define, categorize and validate people across borders and places. And at the same time, I hope that it asks questions that go beyond the political vocabulary and rigidity, and digs at the human core."

Chun emphasized that "there are some things that make us uniquely synonymous and humbly human," and focuses on turning "bureaucratic codes into poetry."

"Poetry lends 'yeobaek' (negative space) for the viewer to roam and rest in. It would be great if my work can do just that -- give people room to reflect on both the exterior and interior conditions of our dwelling and locating," she said. Her first book of conceptual poetry, "Valid From Until," also redacted from various immigration documents, will be released on Oct. 21 by the artist-run publisher Booklyn.

The artist hopes to continue exploring "themes of hybrid identities, transit and place." She was recently selected for the Immigrant Artist Program of the New York Foundation for the Arts and also began a residency at the quirky and exclusive Brooklyn-based arts collective the Bruce High Quality Foundation. She will be teaching a class next spring on non-Western narratives in contemporary art at the foundation's learning experiment and free art school, the Bruce High Quality Foundation University.

"On Paper" continues until Oct. 8. Visit spencerbrownstonegallery.com or jessechun.com for more information.

The writer is former Korea bureau chief of the fine arts company Louise Blouin Media and is currently the Seoul correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter and WWD.
Police said Monday they have arrested eight Chinese tourists on charges of beating up a South Korean restaurant owner on Jeju Island last week.

According to Jeju Seobu Police Station, the tourists  six men and two women  are suspected of assaulting the 53-year-old owner of the restaurant, identified only by her surname Ahn, on the southern resort island of Jeju on Saturday, causing her injury.

The incident took place after the 53-year-old Ahn prohibited the tourists from drinking alcohol they brought from outside, according to police.

They allegedly attacked the victim when she asked them to pay for the food they ordered before leaving, police said. The suspects are also accused of assaulting three others who were trying to stop them, including Ahn's son.

The restaurant owner is currently being treated at a local hospital, according to police.












By Jun Ji-hye

The military is considering buying 90 more Taurus cruise missiles that have the capability of destroying North Korea's underground nuclear and missile facilities, sources said Tuesday.

In 2013, Seoul decided to purchase 170 Taurus air-to-ground missiles manufactured by the German-Swedish joint venture Taurus Systems, which cost around 2 billion won ($1.8 million) each.

Among them, 60 missiles are scheduled to be deployed by the end of this year, and others early next year.

The military is planning to buy 90 more as Pyongyang has advanced its nuclear and missile capabilities, the sources said.

"The Air Force has raised the need for the additional purchase," a source said. "After talks at the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the necessity, the Defense Acquisition Program Executive Committee will make a final decision."

The GPS-guided Taurus KEPD 350K has a range of 500 kilometers and can perform deep penetration missions with pinpoint accuracy, making it ideal for taking out hard targets such as underground installations and bridges, according to the missile maker.

If the missiles are launched above Daejeon, where military headquarters are located, they can hit an underground bunker in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, according to the Air Force.

Once operationally deployed, South Korean pilots will be able to hit strategic targets such as nuclear and missile bases with great precision without entering North Korean airspace, the Air Force added.

Along with the Taurus missiles, the military is also reportedly considering a Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II), developed by Raytheon Company, a U.S. defense contractor.

The weapon is an all-weather bomb that enhances fighters' capabilities when visibility is limited, according to the company.
By Choi Sung-jin



As North Korea speeds up its nuclear weapons development program, some U.S. experts have called for direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, stressing sanctions without negotiations will not work.



"Watching North Korea push ahead with nuclear tests, missile launches and the production of nuclear materials recently, it clearly shows, as in the past, the policy of sanctions without negotiations will never work," said Leon V. Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York.



At an international conference in Seoul Monday to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the second inter-Korean summit on Oct. 4, 2007, Sigal also said: "If we force the North Korean government to take part in a dialogue on our terms, no dialogue will be made."



The former official at the U.S. Department of State recalled that North Korea proposed to suspend nuclear tests temporarily if the United States put off joint military drills with South Korea, but Washington rejected the proposal in a few hours. "According to unofficial sources, however, North Korea was ready then to suspend not only nuclear tests but also missile launches and the production of nuclear materials," he said.



"Only reciprocal steps can stop nuclear experiments and launches of missiles and satellites."



Noting that what the U.S. and South Korea should want is not regime change in the North but peace on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. expert said: "In this regard, the allies should not only negotiate and reconcile with Pyongyang but also normalize political and economic ties with it."



Some think Kim Jong-un would take steps because of severe economic difficulties in North Korea but the North's economy has actually grown little by little under Kim's governance over the past several years, Sigal said. "Kim wants peace on this peninsula if for no other purpose than reducing military spending and improving North Koreans' standard of living," he said.



"The only way to reduce the risks of additional military clashes on the Korean Peninsula is the peace process made simultaneously with the denuclearization of North Korea, not steps made before and after it. The allies ought to try new negotiations to repeal the North's nuclear and missile programs and, at the same time, push for three major goals of political normalization, deep economic involvement and regional cooperation on security, as manifested in the Sept. 19, 2005, joint statement."



Meanwhile, two other U.S. experts also said the United States should hold direct talks with North Korea to negotiate a freeze on the communist nation's nuclear and missile programs first before seeking to dismantle them.



Jane Harman, a former congresswoman who now heads the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, made the case in a joint article with the center's Korea expert, James Person, arguing that sanctions cannot force the North to end its nuclear program.



"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," the experts said in a sharp swipe at the U.S. policy of seeking change in the North's behavior through sanctions and Chinese pressure.



The experts said the U.S. should "demonstrate some flexibility" and take security concerns about Pyongyang into consideration. They said the North learned a lesson from the Iraq War and NATO intervention in Libya, which was that no outlier state without nuclear deterrence is safe.



"While the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains the long-term goal, we propose using this U.S. leverage to enter into talks with Pyongyang with the stated goal of negotiating a freeze of all North Korean nuclear and long-range missile tests and a return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors," the experts said.



"Realistically, this can only be achieved through direct talks with North Korea, not a return to a six-party process that evoked too much mistrust among key stakeholders, especially between Pyongyang and Beijing," they added.




One of the signs near City Hall shows a mistake in a country's official name: "El Salvador" is misspelled as "Embassy of El Salbador in Korea." / Korea Times file



By Hong Dam-young, Lee Han-soo, Lee Jin-a

This third article in the "Konglish Buster" series focuses on street sign errors. Those included in this story were collected by Korea Times reporters and students of Gachon University.

Errors ranged from mere spelling mistakes to wrong translations. Information signs were the biggest source of errors.

A sign near City Hall station in central Seoul misspelled "Museum" as "Museuml" and "Gallery" as "Gallerly." There were plenty of errors on other boards along the way.

An English sign for "Seoul Finance Center" was missing the letter "n" from "finance," and an English sign for "Westin Chosun Hotel" was mismatched with "Hoam Art Hall", which was, making it worse, misspelled as "HoaAVm Art Hall."













An English sign for "Westin Chosun Hotel" is mismatched with "Hoam Art Hall", which is, making it worse, misspelled as "HoaAVm Art Hall." / Korea Times file



One of the signs, also near City Hall, even had a mistake in a country's official name: "El Salvador" was misspelled as "Embassy of El Salbador in Korea."

One of the pictures sent by Gachon University students showed an awkward translation for a "nursing room" as "Mom's Lounge" at Jamsil Station. In the same context, a sign indicating "access information for the disabled" was wrongly translated to "Disabled Access Information" at Sangwangsimni Station, conveying a narrower context than its original one.





An English sign for "Seoul Finance Center" is missing the letter "n" from "finance." / Korea Times file



Also in the picture, taken nearby at a ticket machine in Myeongdong Station, the busiest tourist spot in Seoul, the word "Confirm" on the instruction board was misspelled as "Comfirm."



Reports of wrong English naming in public signs in Korea can be made to The Korea Times at pss@ktimes.com and ghdekadud@gmail.com or to Seoul City government at visitseoul@seoul.go.kr, with pictures and detailed information about locations.


Regulation leaves E-7 visa holders vulnerable

E-7 visa holders exploited by employers



By Choi Ha-young

A 37-year-old Bangladeshi chef, who arrived in Seoul in December 2010, never explored the city outside of Itaewon where the Indian restaurant he used to work at was located. He doesn't speak Korean at all, as he had no Korean friends to communicate with there.

The owner of the restaurant, surnamed Kim, seized his passport and alien registration certificate. "It was very bad," he kept saying during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

With his coworker also from Bangladesh, he worked at the restaurant from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. every day, except two holidays each month. Their salary was 70,000 taka ($893) from last year. The first month's salary was only 30,000 taka.

Surprisingly, neither are illegal aliens who often are subject to unfair treatment; they have an E-7 visa status which is issued to "experts" in specific areas including interpreters, chefs and designers. To get this, the two chefs had to prove they had more than 10 years experience of Indian cooking.

However, there is no government department in charge of protecting skilled workers. The Korea Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) issues the visa, but doesn't supervise each workplace afterward. There were 19,420 people holding the visa as of August.





A Bangladeshi chef, second from right, poses with athletes at an international sports competition in Korea where he cooked halal food. / Courtesy of the chef



The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said people with E-7 status were not subject to its jurisdiction.

"We deal with E-9 visa holders, who work in the construction, agriculture and services industries, but E-7 is under the Ministry of Justice," said Jeong Hyung-woo, a spokesman for the labor ministry. "We think we should supervise all kinds of foreign labor, but our request was not accepted."

Hug Korea under the Human Resources Development Service, a state-run agency offering counseling for foreign workers, said it deals with E-9 problems only.





Loopholes

When inviting foreign workers on an E-7 visa, the employer should submit documents such as tax records and written employment contracts. When renewing the visa, the employer should also show the workers' bank accounts with payment records.

This is where irregularities occur.

"The restaurant owner wrote two contracts, one in Korean and one in Bengali," said lawyer Choi Mi-sook, who is representing the Bangladeshi chefs. The Korean contract promises a monthly salary of 1.5 million won ($1,359) which is the minimum wage for E-7 holders. The bank account record shows the owner paid approximate 1.5 million won a month.

However, the owner managed the chefs' accounts with fabricated stamps.

"The surveillance camera at a bank on June 1 showed that the owner withdrew money from the chefs' bank accounts," Choi said. The owner sent only around 980,000 won to the chefs' family in Bangladesh  the amount stated in the Bengali contract.

The two chefs had no chance to meet government officials to reveal this "slavery life," they said.

"Workers' representatives or employers can apply for the visa extension, so the foreign workers don't need to visit the immigration office," a justice ministry official said.

Prevalent exploitation

"Commonly, Indian chefs in Korea receive around 1.1 million to 1.3 million won, with one or two days off a month," Choi said. This year's minimum monthly salary is 1.26 million won, and maximum working time is eight hours a day.

Choi is now dealing with five similar cases, four in Itaewon and one in Busan. Two years ago, another Indian restaurant hired a chef, and paid only 1 million won by charging 500,000 won for dormitory and food. The victims are usually from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Choi said.

The law prevents workers from changing workplaces, which worsens the exploitation.

"When I complained, the owner told me to go back to Bangladesh," the chef said.

According to the immigration regulation, E-7 visa holders can't move to another workplace without their employer's approval. If fired, they should go back home. E-9 holders can change their workplace a maximum of three times.

"If workers' wages are delayed or human rights violations happen, they should be allowed to change their workplace," said lawyer Park Young-ah from Gong Gam, a human rights law foundation. "While people enjoy Indian food, customers should be aware of the circumstances under which their food is cooked," Park said.
Kim Jae-won, senior political affairs secretary for President Park Geun-hye, consoles the ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Lee Jung-hyun who was holding a hunger strike at the National Assembly, Sept. 30, demanding the resignation of Speaker Chung Sye-kyun. Lee vowed to continue the strike until he died if Chung did not step down, but ended the week-long protest soon after the secretary's visit. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo

The ruling Saenuri Party is drawing criticism  even from some of its members  that it is increasingly serving the needs of President Park Geun-hye in handling disputed issues.

After watching Chairman Lee Jung-hyun's hunger strike and his party's boycott of the National Assembly audit, some analysts say the incidents have cemented the party's billing as Park's "political guardian."

Although Lee and his fellow lawmakers failed to achieve their intended goal  the resignation of National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun  their protests helped controversial issues related to the President go under the radar.

The Saenuri Party walked out last Monday claiming Chung broke political neutrality and allowed a vote on an opposition-backed motion to sack the new agriculture minister. At the same time, Lee staged a hunger strike, demanding the speaker's resignation. They ended the protests Sunday.

"The Saenuri Party does not do its share as the governing party and just remains a lower branch of Cheong Wa Dae," said Chung Goon-gi, a professor at Hongik University.

When Lee, a staunch loyalist to President Park, was elected as the party chairman in August, there were some concerns that the relations between the presidential office and the ruling party may be vertical ones.

"Considering the concerns, he had behaved himself enough not to arouse such an argument, but this case clearly showed that he is doing politics for the President," said Yoon Tae-gon, a senior political analyst at Moa Agenda Strategy.

Lee, a three-term lawmaker, served as a senior presidential secretary for political affairs and public relations for the Park administration.

Vowing to risk his life, Lee had rejected calls from party members and senior politicians to end the hunger strike and return to the Assembly to work for the people's livelihood, but the party chairman "abruptly" decided to end it after senior presidential secretary for political affairs Kim Jae-won paid his second visit, Sunday, and delivered a message from President Park.

"During Kim's two visits, President Park's specific messages seemed to be conveyed to the chairman," said a party official.

According to a media report, President Park instructed Kim to use all means to stop Lee's hunger strike.

Earlier, Minjoo Party of Korea Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae sarcastically said that Lee was holding a hunger strike only for President Park, not for his party or the people, so he would stop the strike only if Park asks him to do so.

"Lee should have taken formal procedures with the party such as holding a general meeting to discuss the issue; rather, he just declared the end of the hunger strike to face the dishonorable calls," said Yoon.

Ahead of the audits, opposition parties were set to grill the government over suspicions surrounding the Mir Foundations and the K-Sports Foundation, which received large donations from conglomerates, as well as the scandal-ridden senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, Woo Byung-woo.

However, Lee's hunger strike and the Saenuri Party's boycott diverted public attention from the issues, according to analysts.
A family member of the deceased farmer Baek Nam-ki, center, and the family's legal representative Lee Jung-il, left, enter Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) Tuesday, to request the hospital revise Baek's death certificate. The death certificate said the cause of Baek's death was cardiopulmonary failure following 10 months in a coma after suffering a subdural hemorrhage, not an external factor. Baek was knocked over by a police water cannon in a demonstration last year and was immediately hospitalized. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

A press briefing by Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) over the death certificate of the deceased farmer Baek Nam-ki, who died 10 months after being knocked down by a police water cannon, is fueling a conflict.

A committee at the hospital said Monday that the certificate that categorized Baek's death as cardiopulmonary arrest caused by illness  not extrinsic trauma  was accurate.

But even some committee members disagreed on the cause of death, saying they believe it was from trauma.

Bereaved family members said they will call for the hospital to revise the death certificate.

"All of the members of the committee said there was a problem with the cause of death on the certificate but only Baek's doctor has insisted that illness was the cause and is refusing to revise the certificate," said Son Yeong-joon, head of a civic committee representing Baek's family, at a press conference, Tuesday.

The family members are firmly opposed to an autopsy, which police have been pushing for to clarify the cause of Baek's death.

The hospital is suspected of attributing Baek's death to illness to enable the government to evade responsibility over it. In addition, pronouncing an external factor as the cause of death would require doctors to determine whether the death was suicide, homicide or accidental.

If the death is determined to be homicide, investigations must be opened to find and punish the person responsible.

Baek was knocked unconscious by the police water cannon during a rally last November. Police were found to have set the pressure of the water cannon higher than the guidelines stated, and video footage shows they continued to spray Baek even after he fell.

Opposition and ruling party lawmakers have shown contrasting stances on the issue.

"If a person got into a car accident and died in the hospital months later, could it be considered death from illness?" asked Rep. Park Jie-won of the minor opposition People's Party. "It is a clear error by SNUH to attribute the cause of Baek's death to illness."

Rep. Park Joo-min of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) also referred to a recent court ruling on a similar case.

A man who broke into a home and attempted theft was beaten by the homeowner and fell unconscious in 2014 in Wonju, Gangwon Province. He spent nine months in the hospital and died after developing pneumonia. The court did not recognize the illness as the cause of the man's death.

The three opposition parties are set to submit a bill calling for an independent investigation of the incident conducted by a special counsel.

However, the ruling Saenuri Party maintained its stance that an independent investigation was unnecessary, saying moves to push for it were purely political.

"This issue should not be rashly dealt with by politicians, who are not experts in the field, as an issue of political strife, but should be put entirely in the hands of medical experts and the National Forensic Service," Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk said in a council meeting at the National Assembly.

"A public hearing on the issue was hosted at the National Assembly and the hospital committee said there was no influence from outside when the doctor reached the conclusion."
By Arthur I. Cyr

Bullets wrote our past. Education, our future.'

That is the inscription on the pen used on September 26 to sign the final peace agreement between the government of Colombia and the FARC. The writing instrument was made from a recycled bullet, apt symbolism for sure.

The agreement still must be ratified by the voters in October. That remains a major hurdle, given controversy over the deal and unpopularity of President Juan Manuel Santos. Another major radical group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has indicated willingness to cooperate in the peace process  for now.

During the past half century, almost a quarter of a million people are estimated to have been killed, and five million displaced, as a result of the brutal warfare. Now, after complex and painful negotiations, both sides have reached agreement to end the fighting.

The term FARC is an acronym for the Spanish name of the powerful rebel army, known in English as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The movement has found inspiration and effective recruitment through communist ideology. At the same time, the FARC is rightly notorious for enormous illegal drugs dealing.

Officials from the United Nations were present for the signing, along with representatives of Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Uruguay and the United States. Cuba has played a significant role long-term in brokering these negotiations. That is important not only in symbolic terms, but as a direct reflection of the substantial real strategic changes over the past quarter century.

Soon after the remarkable success in early 1959 of the revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro, Cuba became rightly viewed as a force fomenting and supporting communist subversion throughout the Western Hemisphere. That commitment survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, a close ally and sponsor of Castro's Cuba, and has only faded in recent years. President Barack Obama's March visit to Cuba, the first since President Calvin Coolidge, represented economic opening. However, in political terms Cuba remains a brutal and repressive dictatorship.

Early in this century, the FARC seemed to be gaining momentum. The evolving conflict resembled the first years of the United States' long and costly military involvement in Vietnam. More and more civilian and uniformed advisers were being sent, along with a steadily growing array of helicopters, arms and ammunition, and other materiel.

The administration of President George W. Bush significantly expanded aid which began in the Clinton administration, but also tried to minimize media attention. This effort was eerily reminiscent of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, which endeavored before 1965 to deflect Vietnam from the news even as U.S. involvement increased. Then, violence in Colombia began to decline, in great contrast to the evolution of the war in Southeast Asia.

The long war in Colombia made the nation an inviting place for international criminals. In November 2011, Viktor Bout, the Merchant of Death,' was convicted and imprisoned. A Soviet army veteran, he became enormously rich dealing weapons and drugs on a global scale. Colombia was a major profit center. Drug Enforcement Administration agents posing as Colombia rebels arrested him.

Also in 2011, the U.S. Congress ratified free trade agreements with Colombia along with Panama and South Korea. The Colombia agreement may result in positive regional cooperation. The Summit of the Americas, begun in 1994, is held every three to four years. The Organization of American States, formed in 1948, is one of the world's oldest regional organizations.

Cooperation helps undercut destructive walls.
South Korea plans to buy more Taurus air-to-surface missiles that can strike North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities, military officials said Tuesday.

"The military has recently decided to acquire 90 more Taurus missiles to further beef up its anti-nuclear and anti-missile capabilities. The process to purchase the additional missiles is underway," a defense ministry official told Yonhap News Agency.

Some 170 Taurus missiles are already scheduled to be deployed with the Air Force. The North's fifth nuclear test last month and continued ballistic missile launches resulted in the additional purchase.

When the deployment is complete, the Air Force will be the first Asian country to operate fighter jets armed with the advanced German 500-kilometer-ranged missile system, the official said.

The air-launched cruise missile can automatically detect, trace and hit targets and penetrate a concrete wall as thick as six meters.

Meanwhile, the military is also considering adopting the small diameter bomb II, or SDB II, which can destroy moving targets more than 60 kilometers away in all kinds of weather, the official said.

SDB II can be fired from the F-15K fighter and can strike North Korea's moving missile launchers. (Yonhap)
What appears to be a North Korean flyer was found in the front yard of the National Assembly on Tuesday morning. It contains messages criticizing the South Korean government and its policies on the North. / Yonhap



By Lee Jin-a

A large number of North Korean leaflets were found in southwestern Seoul on Tuesday morning.

Yeongdeungpo police station said police collected more than 1,300 flyers as of 7 a.m. after they were bombarded with reports that North Korean posters were scattered in the streets of Yeouido as early as Monday night.

The flyers contained messages criticizing South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her policies on the North. One flyer said: "Park Geun-hye is the maid of the U.S. and a war maniac.

"(What we want is) Conversation, not battle. (What we want is) Trust, not distrust. (What we want is) Holding talks between the military authorities of North and South Korea."

Police found more flyers in Yangcheon-gu and Dongjak-gu and suspected that North Korea sent them across the border attached to helium balloons.

Police said they will hand the flyers to the South Korean Army for further investigation.
By Tong Kim



WASHINGTON  The United States should enter into direct talks with North Korea to negotiate a freeze of its nuclear and missile tests and a return of IAEA inspectors to achieve the eventual goal of denuclearization, according to experts.



In an op-ed in The Washington, Sept. 30, Jane Harman, president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center of Scholars, and James Person, the center's coordinator for Korean history and public policy, made these remarks.



The authors believe such a nuclear freeze can only be achieved through direct U.S. talks with the North, not a return to the six-party process. The United States should show some flexibility and utilize "an underappreciated ace in its deck," which is North Korea's cognizance that "Only the United States  the supposed existential threat that justifies its nuclear and ballistic missile programs  can fully address Pyongyang's security concerns."



Harmon and Person suggest that the U.S. acknowledge the North's security concerns, even if it considers those concerns are unfounded, in order to make progress in negotiations.



They added, "If there are prospects for significant progress," following a nuclear freeze, the next president "should consider suspension of joint military exercise with South Korea and offer North Korea a non-aggression pact it has long sought."



The article also points to the lesson that North Korea learned from the Iraq War and Libya: "no outlier state without a nuclear deterrent is safe. Displays of military might  sending B-1 bombers along the demilitarized zone or ships and submarines off the North Korean coast  only make an insecure Pyongyang more recalcitrant."



The article begins with a premise that a double-edged U.S. strategy of applying multilateral sanctions and urging "China to use its unique leverage to halt Kim Jong-un's provocations" are not working, even after six months of enforcing the toughest UN resolution 2270.



"Sanctions are ineffective against North Korea," the authors say. The impoverished North, since the Korean War, has been adept at living under "sanction-like conditions restricting its access to the markets, international financial institutions, advanced goods and technologies."



The efficacy of sanctions is also limited because of China's protection of North Korea: China does not want Pyongyang's collapse for fear of a flood of refugees into its northeast region and a unified Korea allied to the U.S. with American troops on the Chinese border. China may think it is better to live with a nuclear North Korea, although it may also pose a threat to Beijing.



In the context of China's role, a former special envoy for North Korean human rights under the George W. Bush administration, Jay Lefkowitz, suggested that the next U.S. president should send a signal to China that Washington "no longer aims to reunite the Korean Peninsula under South Korea's terms."



Lefkowitz's view was published in The Wall Street Journal on Sept. 29.



"U.S. leaders should be satisfied with a Beijing style Communist regime in Pyongyang  as long as it replaces the Kim family regime and it is non-nuclear and frees political prisoners," according to the writer's suggestion.



He also offered a stick: "The U.S. should make clear to China, if it does not move to replace the North Korean leadership; the U.S. will consider placing intermediate missiles in Japan and South Korea, while developing a permanent, comprehensive missile system.



This recommendation seems to be an unrealistic proposition coming out of frustration and fatigue with the prolonged diplomatic stalemate on the North Korean issues of nuclear weapons and human rights.



It would be practically impossible for China to attempt replacing the North Korean regime without risking unpredictable consequences, which could include a violent military clash with a nuclear-armed Pyongyang Korea.



Such a scenario of regime change would be another form of pressure on North Korea. Any sign of Chinese movement in that direction will certainly antagonize Pyongyang, which has defied Beijing's pressure against its continuation of nuclear and missile tests.




By Andrew Hammond



Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday demanded Prime Minister Theresa May give more details of her plans for leaving the EU. The intervention increases pressure on May given growing concerns that the government is moving toward a "hard Brexit" that might see moves toward a swift, minimal free trade agreement with the EU with UK firms potentially having sharply reduced access to the European Single Market.



However, while most UK eyes, and many internationally, are focused on this complex issue, it is potentially non-Brexit issues that could be as determinative of the success of May's premiership. When she entered 10 Downing Street, she inherited many long-standing, contentious, policy decisions ranging from whether to move forward with the Hinckley Point nuclear power station; vexed challenges like pensions reform, and the country's housing crisis; plus the multi-billion pound issue of whether to expand Heathrow, Gatwick and/ or potentially the UK's wider airport infrastructure, despite concerns about flight emissions and global warming.



In spite of national security criticisms flagged by some UK officials about Chinese involvement in Hinckley Point, the prime minister swiftly green-lighted' this month the 18 billion ($23.5 billion) energy project in the face of a looming UK energy crunch. This will enhance Sino-UK relations given the significant Chinese finance and prestige that will be invested in the plant.



Despite this fast decision, a key danger, especially with political room for manoeuvre compressed by the EU referendum aftermath, is that other key non-Brexit decisions could get kicked out into the political long grass' again. Yet, it is important they are prioritised, and sensibly addressed in the best interests of the country, at such a crucial moment.



Failure to do so, and make decisions that build public support and trust, after years of waiting, could further undermine confidence in the democratic process. For especially after the Brexit vote, which underlined widespread disillusionment with UK elites, elected politicians must now show themselves capable of building consensus to overcome more key, long-term policy challenges like pensions and housing, and also building public confidence in major issues flagged in the referendum, including migration. The danger, if not, is that the rise of populist and nationalist politicians and parties, such as the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), will grow with the often half-baked, damaging agendas they champion.



Of course, piling up of such major policy questions is not just a UK problem. In the United States, for instance, failure of Congress during the Obama presidency to deliver reforms in areas like immigration, and long-term federal budget financing, is a notable feature of the political landscape. And this despite serious attempts by the White House and key Democratic and Republican lawmakers to champion changes, including the Senate bill passed in 2013 on immigration reform that the House of Representatives refused to formally consider in another example of Washington gridlock.



As in the United Kingdom, this has been one driver of disenchantment for some people with conventional politics, helping propel Donald Trump to become the Republican presidential nominee. Trump, like UKIP, has numerous bizarre policy prescriptions that will do more harm than good, but nonetheless appeals to publics alienated from the Washington political process.



As former UK Home and Education Secretary Charles Clarke asserts in the 2014 book  The Too Difficult Box'  meeting these tough-to-solve, first order challenges is a significant hurdle that democratic institutions and politicians must do better. For if too many first order policy problems fester without resolution it can give the perception of a broken process and that democracy itself has failed.



As Clarke outlines, a key part of the solution is to promote longer-term political outlooks and sensible, cross-party discussion rather than the increasing tendency toward short-termism. Mechanisms used by both US and UK politicians to promote such thinking and action in both the United Kingdom and United States include National Commissions, Public Enquiries, and Judicial Reviews.



But these have had only limited success, as demonstrated by the bipartisan 2010 US National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (also known as Bowles-Simpson) on budget reform and improving the country's fiscal situation in the medium term and achieving fiscal sustainability over the long run. Despite much groundwork and careful deliberation, the plan did not get traction in Congress, not even getting out of committee.



Clarke is also correct that there is a pressing need for a wider democratic renewal agenda. Here, there are some commonalities but also key differences in the reforms needed across different countries.



The challenge is particularly pressing in the United Kingdom in the wake of the Brexit vote. The referendum revealed a deeply divided nation with many feeling disconnected from the political process with a range of longstanding concerns from immigration to stagnant living standards. Contrary to what some populist and nationalist politicians assert, including Trump and outgoing UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who campaigned together last month on the US presidential election trail in Mississippi, there is no silver bullet' agenda that can address these challenges overnight.



Instead, a long-term, concerted effort is needed to better address these issues through a range of educational, home affairs, economic and other policies. And alongside this, politicians must try to find new ways of engaging with people  both directly, and indirectly including through the possibilities offered by new technologies.



Collectively, such an agenda can move towards demonstrating more effectively how a fair and inclusive democratic politics can help overcome or ameliorate the challenges that many people are experiencing in a world changing fast in the face of globalisation. Failure to do so, and better demonstrate the positive impact that politics can potentially make in key policy areas from immigration, to housing, energy and pensions, may only lead to growing support for candidates such as Farage and Trump with their often ill-considered, ineffective policy platforms.



Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS (the Centre for International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy) at the London School of Economics.mes.co.kr




By Deauwand Myers

Whatever deal struck between the sexes, women got the short end of it. Station and status, race and nationality (if one isn't colored) provide some shielding, but no woman I know or have read about has escaped unscathed from being female.

Politics offer an interesting mirror by which to view said observation.

When President Park, Korea's first woman president, was running for the top post, the media coverage was predictably mendacious and petty. "What are her fashion choices?" "Why isn't she married?" "Why no children?" "She's never served in the military, so how can she understand national defense?" This last one is particularly rich.

Korean women can't serve in the compulsory military service, per Korea's constitution. When President Park was of age, women weren't allowed in the military at all, so even volunteering for a proper military career was an impossibility; yet, this line of attack was presented as a legitimate criticism. This was all the more strange considering her unique biography. Not only did President Park witness the attempted assassination of her father (President Park Chung-hee) and the murder of her mother (Yuk Young-Soo), she stepped in as Korea's First Lady after her mother's death.

It would seem that such an emotionally painful and challenging ordeal, played out on the national and international stage, would give her unique insight into the violent and unpredictable geopolitics between Korea and the North.

America's current presidential campaign provides another example. Hillary Clinton has been subject to a concerted and unprecedented attack by her political foes (Republicans) for decades. Besides her husband's infidelities, no proof of wrongdoing (always and only innuendo) has been unearthed by her enemies, journalists, et al. Whitewater, Benghazi, the e-mails, the Clinton Foundation, and other non-scandals have all been presented as proof of her supposed venal tendencies, double dealing, and corruption.

Clinton's male counterparts have never been scrutinized for the very same behaviors. Bush II's father, the first President Bush, created the Bush Foundation. When Bush II was selected/elected as president, no one ever said his father, or other family members, should exit the charity organization due to conflicts of interests. Yet, we expect that as Secretary of State, Clinton should have had her husband do this, even though Secretary of State Colin Powell (a person I admire), with his own foundation, was never asked to do the same when he assumed office.

Without exception, high-ranking public officials give numerous and lucrative paid speeches after they retire. Not once have any of these men been asked to publish their paid speeches, or provide transcripts thereof, even if running for higher office. Yet, Hillary Clinton is supposed to do this.

Former Vice President Cheney sought, and got, language written in legislation exempting certain natural resource extraction firms (involved in fracking) from the Clean Water Act and National Environment Policy Act regulations. This legislative language was uniquely tailored to benefit Halliburton, a company Cheney used to head and held lucrative investments in (via a blind trust); the media, and his political foes, for that matter, had very little to say about this.

Clinton's opponent, an overweight, non-exercising, fast food-eating 70-year-old man, suggests that Clinton, several years younger than him, and someone who actually exercises, doesn't have the fortitude and stamina and physical prowess to take on such a demanding job as U.S. president. The media seems to second that motion, questioning her medical history, even though she's produced far more medical records than her opponent. But women, with their smaller frames and less muscle mass, can't possibly be as strong as men. Ridiculous.

In general, Hillary Clinton is expected to disclose every bit of minutiae about her life, even as she's released years of tax returns (Donald Trump has released none), and e-mails as Secretary of State (her predecessors were never asked to), and ties to her family's foundation.

She yells too loudly in her speeches. Trump does the same: silence. His suits are two baggy and his ties are two long. But besides his odd hair style and orange, fake tan, fashion isn't discussed when speaking about Trump, at least not by pundits and the media. Yet, the cost, brand, cut, and fit of Clinton's wardrobe are discussed at some length.

Fame, wealth, and power, attributes Hillary Clinton has in great supply, requires the pain of public scrutiny and the glare of media attention, particularly in this age of 24-hour news cycles and social media. I understand that, and I'm not singing sad love songs about Clinton's day-to-day life.

Butall women, even ones in positions of power and prestige, face undue burdens their male counterparts simply do not. Too strong: she's a witch. Too kind and gentle: she's weak.

It will take a year of Sundays, but some day, we'll hopefully grow out of these sexist double standards.

Deauwand Myers holds a master's degree in English literature and literary theory, and is an English professor outside Seoul. He can be reached at deauwand@hotmail.com.
Resolving conflicts through dialogue is long overdue



The National Assembly returned to normal Tuesday after the week-long chaos caused by the opposition's passage of a motion to demand the dismissal of Agriculture Minister Kim Jae-soo and controversy over the speaker's neutrality.



The ruling Saenuri Party withdrew its boycott of the parliamentary audit, and its party leader Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, who had staged a hunger strike, apologized for it. The ruling and opposition parties agreed to extend the audit period by four days to Oct. 19.



National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun visited the governing party head at a Seoul hospital Monday, ahead of an overseas trip. Earlier, he offered an apology to the people for the parliamentary paralysis.



If one gives a cool-headed assessment to our political circles over the past week, all stakeholders deserve criticism.



President Park Geun-hye caused the legislature to be crippled by clarifying her refusal to accept the no-confidence motion in defiance of custom. The ruling party, which is highly responsible for state affairs, disappointed the public by staging an unprecedented boycott of the audit. The opposition parties unilaterally approved the dismissal motion purely out of partisan interests although they knew that the agriculture minister's defects were insignificant. To sum up, the parties have deepened people's distrust of politics through their life-or-death standoff.



The Assembly appears to have been back to normal, but it's still doubtful whether the parties can cooperate to deal with the set of pending bills, including one on next year's budget, considering there are many contentious issues. Among other issues, the parties are expected to clash head-on over such volatile issues as Cheong Wa Dae's alleged involvement in the creation of the Mir and K-Sports Foundations. This means that the legislature might be crippled again at any time.



This pitiable state of politics makes people sigh, especially given that Korea has been in a total mess amid prolonged economic woes and North Korea's looming nuclear threats.



In fact, the public has no idea of what our lawmakers have done over the last four months since the 20th Assembly opened. More than 2,400 bills have been submitted to the legislature so far but not a single bill has been approved. There is no saying why the Assembly should exist as a lawmaking agency.



Lawmakers have promised to honor the will of the people expressed in the April 13 general election _ cooperative governance. But whether they delivered on their promise by showing the politics of dialogue and compromise is in doubt.



It's no exaggeration to say that the opposition, which took a parliamentary majority, has engaged in an unyielding chicken game against the lethargic ruling party. The Assembly speaker, who is supposed to mediate such a partisan wrangling, has come under public scrutiny over his neutrality. What's worse, this confrontational situation might worsen as next year's presidential election is drawing nearer.



Even now, political circles must run the legislature in such a direction as to serve the public and national interest. It's long overdue to resolve conflict through dialogue and compromise.




The U.S. House of Representatives has adopted a resolution urging the government to look into the possibility of North Korea's involvement in the unexplained disappearance of an American citizen from China more than a decade ago.

David Sneddon, a college student from Utah, disappeared in China in 2004. Recent media reports have alleged that he is living in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang after being kidnapped to teach English to current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

But the State Department has rejected the allegations, saying there is no verifiable evidence to believe so.

Last week, a Utah congressman, Republican Rep. Chris Stewart, submitted a resolution urging the State Department and other U.S. government agencies to pursue all plausible explanations for Sneddon's disappearance, "including the possibility of abduction by the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

The resolution was unanimously adopted later that week.

"The House of Representatives encourages the Department of State to work with foreign governments known to have diplomatic influence with the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the resolution said.

It also "encourages the intelligence community to assess the possibility of the involvement of the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in David Sneddon's disappearance and to possibly seek his recovery."

North Korea has a record of kidnapping foreign nationals.

In 2002, then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il admitted that 13 Japanese citizens were kidnapped to the North in the 1970s and 1980s to train communist spies in Japanese language and culture. He then allowed five of them return to Japan, saying that eight others were dead. (Yonhap)
Theresa Rah, co-CEO of the presentation consulting firm Oratio, speaks during a lecture at the Korea

Culture Quotient (CQ) event hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), at the Turkish

Ambassador's residence in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, Sept. 27. / Courtesy of CICI



By Park Jae-hyuk

Theresa Rah, co-CEO of the presentation consulting firm Oratio, said changing the perceptions of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members on Korea was the key to PyeongChang's successful Olympics hosting bid, during a lecture at the Korea Culture Quotient (CQ) event hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), at the Turkish Ambassador's residence in Seongbuk, northeastern Seoul, Sept. 27.

"They thought we are very insular, or shy, introverted. So, hard to communicate," Rah said. "What they see on the news is what they think of Korea, representing which is usually corporate Korea or political Korea, not always in the best news. And of course, North Korea features so prominently. This was not the image that we wanted to present as a city that wants to host the biggest party on Earth _ the Olympics."

The former Arirang TV news anchor, better known as Rah Seung-yun here, served as communications director of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games Bid Committee and rose to stardom for her eloquent English presentation in Durban, South Africa, in 2011.

With the message "New Horizons," the bid committee promoted that PyeongChang can offer new markets, fans, opportunities and growth, which cannot be offered by mature and saturated cities in Europe, Rah said.

The message caught the attention of the IOC members as it targeted the younger generation whom the IOC needed to connect with for the future of the Olympics.

"Having one message, easy message, specific message and sticking to it was the key," she said. "Contrary to us, I think the German and French bids, they had great messages, but unfortunately, those changed quite a few times."

Rah also explained how the PyeongChang Bid Committee conveyed its message, using the phrase "receive, appreciate, summarize and ask" (RASA). The abbreviation is the essence of communication, because it emphasizes careful listening and effective facial expressions to win over audiences, she said.

"Effective communication is 20 percent what you know and 80 percent how you feel about what you know," Rah said.

In terms of communication, she evaluated that Donald Trump was a better debater than Hillary Clinton.

"Mrs. Clinton has consistently to be criticized for not being exciting enough," she said.

The participants of the event, including Grand Hyatt Seoul Director Gloria Lu and Wearfun CEO Kwon Gee-chan, were impressed and satisfied with Rah's lecture.

"She was very good. She's talking about passion. She's talking about connecting to people. I think she has a natural ability about it," Turkish Ambassador Arslan Hakan Okcal told The Korea Times. "She's a good hardworking Korean woman and she is a good representative of her gender."

Organized by the CICI headed by Professor Choi Jung-hwa, the CQ forum is designed to share cultural experiences and promote Korea's image abroad.
By Lee Min-hyung



LG Chem has signed a battery supply contract with California-based electric vehicle (EV) startup Faraday Future, solidifying its position as one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery manufacturers.



The Korean company said Tuesday that it will supply its lithium-ion cells for Faraday's upcoming EVs. LG Chem did not unveil the exact value of the deal.



Under the contract, both companies also agreed to jointly develop EV battery technology to be used for the U.S. firm's variable platform architecture (VPA), Faraday Future's universal and scalable modular battery structure.



Faraday Future explained the VPA platform will play a central role in expanding its future product portfolio. The company, founded in 2014, is popularly considered a potential threat to Tesla, with the former planning to launch its first EV in 2017.



"LG Chem worked closely with Faraday Future to develop a tailored cell chemistry to optimize the range and safety of our mass production battery hardware," Tom Wessner, vice president of the global supply chain at Faraday Future, said in a statement. "At Faraday Future, we are working with world-class suppliers to advance our technological innovations, and we look forward to our relationship with LG Chem as we push towards our vision of future mobility."



The latest partnership helps LG Chem expand its presence in the North American market. The company has so far signed a battery supply deal with the so-called "Big Three" clients in the U.S. car market.



In 2009, LG Chem was named the exclusive EV battery supplier for General Motors' Volt plug-in hybrid. The next year, the company also signed a contract with Ford, providing batteries for the Ford Focus electric sedan.



The latest in a series of deals came in this February when LG Chem clinched a deal with Chrysler, supplying batteries for the latter's plug-in hybrid minivan Pacifica.



"As a leading supplier of automotive cells and batteries, we are proud to work alongside Faraday Future as we work together to create the next-generation EVs," said Lee Ung-beom, president of LG Chem's energy systems division. "Our progress so far represents a major step forward in battery technology, and we look forward to growing our partnership and co-developing hardware in the future."



Last month, LG Chem unveiled its battery business blueprint, pledging to generate 7 trillion won ($6.32 billion) in EV battery sales in 2020. As of the end of September, the company has won 82 projects with 28 global car manufacturers around the world, topping 36 trillion won in accumulated battery sales.



LG Chem currently has three manufacturing facilities for EV batteries in Korea, China and the U.S. The firm also plans to start constructing a factory in Poland this year in a bid to speed up its battery supply for the lucrative European car market where demand for EVs runs higher than other markets.




An SK Telecom employee tells visitors from foreign governments about the company's mobile device management system during a public safety network workshop at its headquarters in Euljiro, central Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom



By Yoon Sung-won



SK Telecom has introduced and shared its know-how on public safety networks with government officials from advanced countries, the company said Tuesday.



The nation's largest telecom company said it organized a global workshop at its headquarters in Seoul and invited 24 public safety-related agencies from 14 overseas countries including First-Net in the United States and the Home Office of the United Kingdom.



SK Telecom is expected to take part in the government's nationwide public safety network establishment plan slated for 2017, and learned of each country's public safety expertise through the workshop.



"We will present the know-how that we have accumulated through the trial project of a public safety network here and the excellence of our differentiated technologies," SK Telecom's Internet of Things business division Executive Vice President Kwon Song said. "By sharing advanced public safety network plans and technological know-how, we will also push to commercialize and standardize public safety network technologies globally."



During Tuesday's workshop, Australia and the United Arab Emirates will share how they are operating public safety networks and their plans on how to upgrade them to the advanced public safety long-term evolution (PS-LTE) network. Nokia and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) will also talk about their strategy to distribute PS-LTE networks around the globe.



SK Telecom showed its achievements through participating in the world's first trial project for a national public safety network, hosted by the Ministry of Public Safety and Security earlier in June. The telecom company was chosen as the No. 2 business participant in the national project in November and established its public safety base stations in Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, and tested its devices and mobile base stations.



SK Telecom introduced technological know-how on base station establishment and wireless network optimization and unveiled backpack-mounted LTE equipment, advanced routers that effectively expand network coverage and one-to-multi telecom technology that it is currently developing with Nokia.



Meanwhile, SK Telecom said it will also seek mutual growth with its smaller partners here by introducing their public safety network equipment and technologies to overseas government agencies.



Among them are Contela's subminiature base station technology called "femtocell," Uangel's emergency text message system, Cybertel Bridge's LTE-based walkie-talkie device technology called "IP Push-To-Talk," Hoimyung ICT's LTE integrated control system and PNL's dangerous objects detection system.
The pandemic has highlighted public-sector cyber leaders resiliencebut has also called attention to long-standing challenges facing state IT and cybersecurity.



During 2020, chief information security officers (CISOs) have risen to the challenges brought on by the pandemic, working closely with state IT departments to balance cybersecurity risks and business continuity. With most employees unexpectedly working from home for an indefinite period, CISOs secured networks for remote work by enabling or expanding multifactor authentication, enhancing system monitoring to receive early detection and alerts, and reviewing readiness plans to address the possibility of unexpected cybersecurity incidents. CISOs actions helped most states maintain essential business functions and service to citizens, even in a time of tightly constrained cyber budgets.

This years study, based on responses from enterprise-level CISOs in 51 US states and territories, made clear state governments need for digital modernization and the essential role of cybersecurity. Survey results suggest that the CISO position has evolved into a mature and respected role, with the pandemic further highlighting its critical nature.

And yet CISOs struggle with the challenges of securing adequate budgets and talent, as well as coordinating a consistent security implementation across agencies. Our survey identified several key takeaways critical to further enhancing the CISO's status:

COVID-19 has challenged continuity and amplified gaps

One of the most notable challenges CISOs faced during the pandemic was the abrupt shift to remote work. According to the study:

Before the pandemic, 52% of respondents said less than 5% of staff worked remotely.

During the pandemic, 35 states have had more than half of employees working remotely; nine states have had more than 90% remote workers.

The pandemic forced state governments to act quickly, not just in terms of public health and safety but also with regard to cybersecurity, says Srini Subramanian, Deloitte & Touche LLP's state and local government advisory leader.

Connecting the cyber dots across state, local, and higher education



The pandemic has amplified state governments longstanding need for digital modernization, along with the essential role that cybersecurity needs to play in the discussion. Only 28% of states reported that they had collaborated extensively with local governments as part of a security program during the past year, with 65% reporting limited collaboration. By extending the CISO's influence through collaboration and partnerships, states can help provide cybersecurity services and guidance to often-overwhelmed local governments and public higher education entities.

Strength, consistency, and enforcement in numbers

The study shows that 40% of the states continue to operate in a federated model, in which CISOs are responsible for enterprise policy with a mix of centralized shared services and agency-led services specific to each, and 10% operate in a decentralized model of cyber governance in which individual state agencies are on their own for cyber services and execution with only policy guidance from the CIO. To further their progression, state CISOs should transition to a centralized form of governance for the cybersecurity function, with the enterprise CISO responsible for cybersecurity for all state agencies while maintaining proximity to business initiatives at the agency/program level.

Progress on the 2018 Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study bold plays

The 2020 study also reviews progress made toward the three bold plays identified in the 2018 DeloitteNASCIO Cybersecurity Study1, covering funding, innovation, and collaboration.

The bold plays are strategic shifts that may take years for results to be visible, and our 2020 survey results show that while progress is being made, now is not a time to declare victory. In fact, it is critical to continue pressing forward on these bold plays.
A federal grand jury recently indicted eight people from Springfield, two people from Willard, and five people from out of the state for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene County. The 37-count indictment replaces a previous indictment against several people in this group, and adds more charges and more defendants.

This case shows how, in recent years, a network of people delivers most of the meth consumed in Springfield from Mexico and the southwestern United States.

The indicted people are Patrick Brigaudin, 54; Timothy Hall, 55; Jennifer Minor, 41; Amber Vantuyl, 35; Gary Driggers, 64; William Eft, 66; Leah Binney, 55; and William Watts, 58, all of Springfield; Gayla Phillips, 41; and Richard Sherwood, 58, both of Willard; Adrian Ortiz-Corrales, 41, and Eduardo Diaz, 52, both of Las Vegas, Nev., and Carlos Luna, 42, Federico Herrera-Preciado, 51, and Maria Zetina-Ortega, 28, all who have no known address.

According to affidavits used as the basis of the charges, law enforcement officers in Texas intercepted a shipment of approximately 15 pounds of meth, of which nine pounds was allegedly being delivered to Brigaudin, in March 2015. Brigaudin was arrested with Hall, Diaz and Ortiz-Corrales last Feb. 29 when law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his home at 1720 E. McDaniel St. in Springfield. The raid and arrests followed a two-and-a-half year investigation.

According to the affidavits, Diaz and Ortiz-Corrales were in the garage and were in the process of accessing a hidden compartment underneath the bed of a 1994 Dodge pickup. Officers arrested Brigaudin as he tried to flee out the back door of his home. Officers found about 12 pounds of meth and 6.5 pounds of heroin inside the trucks hidden compartment. While officers were at Brigaudins home, Hall arrived on a motorcycle, and was arrested.

The federal indictment alleges that all of the defendants participated in conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene County from October 2013 to Feb. 29, 2016. The federal indictment also alleges that Brigaudin, Ortiz-Corrales, Phillips, Luna, Herrera-Preciado and Zetina-Ortega participated in a money-laundering conspiracy during that time by conspiring to conduct financial transactions that involved the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking.

Ortiz-Corrales and Diaz are also charged together in one count of possessing one kilogram or more of heroin with the intent to distribute. Investigators believe Ortiz-Corrales came to Springfield at least three times this year for "drug-related business" with Brigaudin. They say Ortiz-Corrales and Brigaudin went to banks in Springfield and money in quantities just below amounts that would trigger mandatory reporting requirements from the banks.

Investigators believe Diaz crossed the U.S. - Mexico border at border control checkpoints at least nine times between mid-2015 and March of this year.

In addition to the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies, Brigaudin is charged with four counts of distributing methamphetamine and one count of attempting to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Brigaudin, Ortiz-Corrales and Diaz are charged together in one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Brigaudin and Phillips are charged together in one count of money laundering. Ortiz-Corrales and Luna are charged together in two counts of money laundering. Ortiz-Corrales and Herrera-Preciado are charged together in two counts of money laundering. Ortiz-Corrales, Herrera-Preciado and Zetina-Ortega are charged together in two counts of money laundering.

Vantuyl, Hall, Binney, Eft and Sherwood are each also charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Minor is also charged with two counts of distributing methamphetamine. Phillips is charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine.

Driggers is also charged with four counts of using a telephone to facilitate the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Binney is charged with two counts of using a telephone to facilitate the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Minor, Eft, Hall, Phillips, Watts and Sherwood are each charged with one count of using a telephone to facilitate the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Watts is also charged with maintaining a premises that he made available for unlawfully storing, distributing, and using methamphetamine.

The indictment also contains forfeiture allegations that would require Brigaudin to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged drug-trafficking conspiracy, including $5,603, a 2006 Lincoln Mark LT and a 1998 Harley Davidson motorcycle, all of which were seized by law enforcement officers. A forfeiture allegation would require Phillips to forfeit $18,000, which was seized by law enforcement officers. A forfeiture allegation would require Ortiz-Corrales to forfeit $880 that was seized by law enforcement officers.

Documents previously filed in court said Brigaudin liked to spend time at Downstream Casino in Quapaw, Okla. Between January 2009 and April 2015, officers found out, he put more than $10 million into its slot machines and gained $8.4 million in winnings.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Immigration and Custom Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Springfield Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Ozark Police Department, the Greene County Sheriffs Department, the COMET (Combined Ozarks Multijurisdictional Enforcement Team) Task Force and the South Central Drug Task Force all worked together on this case.
Missouri Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge announced last week that the Supreme Court of Missouri adopted minimum standards for all Missouri municipal court divisions. The new standards likely will force small towns to consolidate their Municipal Court operations with those in other towns and cities in their county.

Breckenridge says the move is designed to reduce costs and lessen the incentive to use municipal courts as revenue generators.

The new rules include requirements to have a judge on duty at all times, a clerk on duty for at least 30 hours per week, a space large enough to accommodate the public, and alternative payment plans for defendants without the ability to pay when assessing fees or fines.

These standards, which

took effect immediately.

The standards at this point dont include a penalty for municipal courts that dont comply, but the Supreme Court could adopt a penalty later.

These minimum standards make clear how municipal divisions must operate, Breckenridge said. The standards are extensive and will guide the constitutionally required supervision by the presiding judge of each circuit and the Supreme Court.

As to the consolidation efforts, Breckenridge said, By reducing costs, sharing operations, as well as clerical and judicial personnel, we hope to reduce the incentive to use municipal divisions as revenue generators rather than to ensure public safety. The progress we have made proves we can change. We can affect meaningful improvement. We can lead. The kind of leadership people have shown has been remarkable. For this I am truly thankful.

Two consolidations are underway, in which nine municipalities have consolidated or are in the process of consolidating their operations into the municipal divisions of two other cities:

-- Municipal operations from Charlack, Northwoods and Vinita Park have consolidated into the St. Ann municipal division (now called the St. Ann Consolidated Municipal Courts, or CMC).

-- Municipal operations from Bellerive Acres, Cool Valley, Glen Echo Park, Greendale, Pasadena Park and Uplands Park likely will be consolidated into the Normandy municipal division with support from a State Justice Institute grant. More information about this grant is available at http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=106297.

The city of St. Ann has had ongoing relationships with 17 municipalities over several years, providing various police services such as dispatching and holding facilities and, as of April 2016, consolidated municipal court divisions, St. Ann Mayor Michael Corcoran said. St. Anns municipal court was excited to assist the forward thinking of Mayor James McGhee of Vinita Park, Mayor Everett Thomas of Northwoods and Mayor Frank Mattingly of Charlack to assist them with being innovative in consolidating their

municipal courts. Mayor McGhee of Vinita Park has managed to save his city approximately $80,000 a year, and the other mayors also have produced savings for their cities. The city of St. Ann will continue to support these efforts.

The Normandy consolidation has been spearheaded by the work of Beyond Housing, a nationally recognized community development organization, with the 24:1 Community  the 24 municipalities that make up the Normandy School Collaborative (district) in North St. Louis County. The goal of this pilot program is to bring equity and efficiency to courts in the 24:1 Community.

This partnership with the state of Missouri, Beyond Housing, and municipal partners, gives us another opportunity for the 24:1 communities to lead the region, Normandy Mayor Patrick Green said. The Normandy court has already been collaborating with our neighbors and we even recently hired a judge who is not a prosecutor or attorney in any other city. Were here to dispel the myth that all North St. Louis municipalities want the status quo. We have been leading the change long before now, but this gives us an opportunity to act in new ways to foster trust between people, courts and government.

Beyond Housing began working with the 24:1 Community elected leaders on effectiveness and efficiencies in 2010. Since early 2014, 24:1 municipalities have been working on court reform and consolidation. Since then, 12 of the 24:1 communities have expressed interest in consolidating courts. Two are considering merging all their municipal functions  Vinita Park and Vinita Terrace will vote on this potential merger in November, which is poised to be the first municipal merger in St. Louis County

Boundary Commission history.

Court reform doesnt happen overnight, but it is necessary for some municipalities in the 24:1 area. These new minimum standards bring equity and efficiency to all of Missouris courts, Beyond Housing Chief Executive Officer Chris Krehmeyer said. They also will help pave the way for court consolidation in the 24:1 area, if that is what residents of these municipalities decide is best for their community.

At Beyond Housing, our mission is to Ask-Align-Act, Krehmeyer said. We ask residents what they would like to see and experience in their community, we align the resources and partners, and we work together to make it happen. This pilot project is the product of several years of asking and aligning, and we are now ready to act.
Work at a company producing car and motorcycle parts in Vinh Phuc Province in northern Vietnam. Photo by Reuters/Kham

A solid increase in new orders has led to the fastest rise in employment for five and a half years.

Vietnams manufacturing activity saw a significant improvement in September with new orders, output and purchasing all rising at faster rates than the previous month.

The headline Nikkei Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, or PMI, a single figure indicator of manufacturing performance, rose to 52.9 in September from 52.2 in August, signaling the best performance since May 2015, according to survey data released by Markit Economics on Monday. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

Companies have linked the rise to more new orders and efforts to build inventory reserves.

New business increased for the tenth successive month, encouraging firms to take on more staff and leading to the fastest rate of job creation in five and a half years.

Manufacturing output increased sharply to a three-month high, reflecting further the increase in new orders.

Andrew Harker at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said the solid growth suggests that manufacturers are confident that output will continue to rise, at least in the near term.

The manufacturing sector looks set to help drive GDP growth in 2016, he said. IHS Markit currently forecasts a rise in GDP of 5.9 percent in Vietnam in 2016.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank recently lowered its growth forecast for Vietnam to 6 percent after the countrys economy cooled in the first half following the impacts of drought on agricultural production and falling industrial growth.

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The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja today found the erstwhile Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, guilty of the allegation that he falsely declared his assets in 2007.

The tribunal, in a judgement delivered by its Chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, said it was satisfied that Orubebe shielded his ownership of Plot 2057 Asokoro District. He therefore held that the said property should be forfeited to the government.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
It is not clear if the justice man hurt himself or was attacked.

Chief procurator of Hanoi's Quoc Oai District To Ngoc Chuan was stabbed in his office on Monday.

He was found lying unconscious in his office at around 3:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon with three wounds, two in his chest and one to the neck, possibly caused by a knife, according to Nguyen Van Canh, chief of staff at the Quoc Oai Peoples Committee, Vietnamplus reported.

Chuan, 59, was rushed to a local hospital in Ha Dong District for treatment, and was taken off the critical list that night.

It is not clear if the chief procurator hurt himself or was attacked.

Police are investigating the incident.

In August, in what was an unprecedented fatal shooting that rocked Vietnam, an official allegedly shot dead two leaders of the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai before killing himself.

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Trinh Xuan Thanh, the former chairman of PetroVietnam Construction JSC, in a file photo. The Ministry of Public Security has issued an international wanted notice for him.

The man is at the center of a probe into nearly $150 million of losses at a state firm.

A senior Vietnamese official wanted on an international warrant is believed to have flown to Europe, amid an investigation into losses of nearly $150 million at a state-owned company that he once ran.

Trinh Xuan Thanh, former chairman of PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC), could escape because local authorities did not press charges against him or take measures to watch him closely at the time, said Dinh The Huynh, a senior Communist Party official.

Huynh's statement marked the first time a high-ranking official has spoken more specifically about the whereabouts of Thanh. The Ministry of Public Security only said on September 16 that they had issued an international arrest warrant for Thanh.

Huynh, a member of the decision-making Politburo and the Party's de facto number two, was speaking to his constituents in the central city of Da Nang on Tuesday. (In Vietnam, top leaders, including the Party chief, the president and the prime minister, also serve as elected lawmakers.)

Thanh is accused of mismanagement and causing losses of around VND3.2 trillion ($147 million) at PVC, a unit of the state-owned oil giant PetroVietnam, under his watch between 2011 and 2013. Four other executives from the company have been arrested.

Thanh sought overseas sick leave in mid-August and has never returned since, the police said. He was expelled from the Communist Party on September 8, a move that would pave the way for him to face criminal charges.

The now-infamous official first caught media attention in June for driving a $230,000 Lexus with a government license plate in a country where the annual average income was around $2,100. The scandal caused uproar over the use of public money, prompting the Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong to order a probe into his political career and how he had been promoted.

Government inspectors found that Thanh and his team, starting in 2009, had launched many offshoot units and partnered with a number of companies, but few of the ventures proved effective. Most of their business projects during the period ended up being delayed or even canceled.

After his stint at PVC, Thanh continued to be kicked upstairs with an apparently successful political track record, holding various government positions before taking his latest post as vice chairman of the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

He was not nominated for re-election for the 2016-2020 tenure in June. Then in July, he was also stripped off his legislator-elect status.

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Prosecutors in Oxford, England, say a man stabbed and beat a book dealer to death so he could steal a rare first edition of The Wind in the Willows, the Guardian reports. The first edition of the childrens classic, whose text is available for free at Project Gutenberg, is estimated to be worth $64,000.

Michael Danaher is on trial for murder in connection with the death of antiques dealer Adrian Greenwood, who was found dead in his home in April.

The prosecution says Danaher plotted to kill Greenwood for months as part of a plan to steal the dealers rare books, including his copy of The Wind in the Willows. The book was published in 1908 with text only by British author Kenneth Grahame; later it was published with a variety of illustrations, adapted many times for stage, television and film.

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Attorney Oliver Saxby said Danaher attacked the book dealer with a knife that broke during the assault and beat him severely, then cool as you like, he helped himself to that first edition of The Wind in the Willows, and Adrian Greenwoods phone, and his laptop and his wallet.

Danaher first learned about Greenwood after he had tried to sell his copy of The Wind in the Willows on eBay, prosecutors say.

Officials say he maintained a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet listing what appeared to be robbery targets, including model Kate Moss and novelist Jeffrey Archer; Danaher also had uncovered personal information about television host Simon Cowell. The spreadsheet included modus for the targets, with notes of stun gun and ransom. For Greenwood, Danaher had noted, Modus: any!! Expected take: rare books.

Also on Danahers computer, police found e-books with the titles Opening Locks Without Keys and The Technique of Silent Killing.

Danaher has admitted to killing Greenwood but claims it was an act of self-defense. He has yet to present his side of the story to the jury.

Saxby argued that Danaher killed the book dealer so he could steal his belongings. Cool, calculated, controlled, before, during and after, Saxby said in court. And underpinning it all? Greed. It was money he was after.

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Google has long been the king of search, building its empire by answering questions, giving directions and helping people settle arguments with its vast database of facts.

But as more people search using their voice  verbally asking questions to Apples Siri or Amazon Echos Alexa  instead of typing queries into their phones or laptops, the tech giant risks ceding some of that dominance.

To future-proof itself from competitors, the Mountain View, Calif., tech firm announced Tuesday a new slate of electronic devices that support voice search and come pre-installed with Google Assistant, the companys artificial intelligence bot that can do a wide variety of things, including answering queries and making restaurant reservations.

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[Google Assistant] will be a two-way conversation, a natural dialogue between our users and Google, said Sundar Pichai, Googles chief executive. It will be universal, available when users need it to help them. Our goal is to build a personal Google for each and every user.

To that end, Alphabet Inc., Googles parent company, also rolled out its answer to the Amazon Echo  a cylindrical household gadget called Google Home.

Google is positioning the device as the ultimate virtual home assistant, with the ability to answer spoken queries, play music from YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, and iHeartRadio, use voice controls for connected home devices from the Google-owned Nest, Samsung and Phillips, and even control Netflix.

Just say OK, Google in its presence and its at your service.

Answering questions plays to Googles strengths, but hardware has generally been a weakness for the company. Its Nexus smartphones lagged behind the iPhone and Samsungs Galaxy phones, and its entry into augmented reality via the face-mounted Google Glass was a much-mocked flop.

This latest push into hardware is less about wanting to compete as a hardware maker, according to analysts, and more about being where users are when theyre asking questions.

Google wants to showcase that it will continue to be a relevant platform to access information on whatever connected device consumers use moving forward, said Thomas Husson, vice president and principal analyst at research firm Forrester.

Search is increasingly taking place in many more places, via many more devices and through new interfaces, Husson said, so to stay relevant in the long run, Google is finding ways to embed Google Assistant into peoples lives.

Rick Osterloh, who heads Googles hardware division, said Tuesday at the companys San Francisco product event that his company sees its products sitting at the intersection of hardware and software, with artificial intelligence at the center.

Building hardware and software together  allows Google to be helpful to people wherever they need us, no matter the context or form factor, he said.

The hardware, then, is really an means to an end.

That may explain why Google is undercutting its biggest competitor on price: Google Home is available for pre-order for $129, $50 less than the Amazon Echo.

The Amazon Echo can perform many of the same functions: It plays music, controls other devices and enables users to search with their voice. It alone lets users speak to place orders on Amazon, hail Uber rides by voice and hear Amazon Kindle books read aloud by AI bot Alexa.

That strong e-commerce bent has helped Amazon convince customers of the gadgets utility. But the fact that users regularly ask Echo factual questions suggests Google may have a compelling case for its product as well.

The key thing for Google is getting the data on the questions people are asking and the needs they have, said Matthew Quint, director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School. Googles model is We connect you to everything, were the funnel, so if you want something, ask Google how to get it done. Thats what they want.

At its core, Google is in the advertising business and it has built its wealth studying user activity and selling ads based on the data it collects. The more time people spend interacting inside the Google ecosystem, whether its on their phones, in their homes, or on their laptops, the stronger Googles business becomes.

While Siri and the Amazon Echo may have had a head start, Quint believes the market for voice-controlled devices and voice search is nascent enough that Google can still establish itself as the voice search of choice.

By getting in now, they have a chance to be a leader on the content side, Quint said, which is a much more natural play for Google.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

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Attention former Time Warner customers: Get ready for your cable bill to go up
Meet the new cable company. Same as the old cable company.

That was Culver City resident Jack Cohens feeling the other day when he received his first bill from Spectrum, the newly christened brand from Charter Communications, which has gobbled up Time Warner Cable.

He told me hed been paying Time Warner about $140 a month for TV, phone and Internet service. But now that Spectrum had reared its head, his bill had shot up to $162.

I guess theyre trying to get their $8 billion back as quickly as possible, Cohen, 74, said, referring to the fat bag of cash Time Warner Cable paid to be the exclusive distributor of Dodgers games.

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I looked into it and, as it turns out, Charter isnt suddenly jacking up everyones cable rates. Dennis Johnson, a company spokesman, said Cohens bill increased only because his 12-month promotional price coincidentally had ended just as the first Spectrum bill was issued.

But that doesnt mean customers are in the clear. What happened to Cohen could soon happen to other former Time Warner subscribers throughout Southern California.

As current bundles and promotions expire, the Stamford, Conn., company will transition customers to a new  and newly priced  array of service packages, and that will mean price hikes for many people.

At the same time, Charter boasts that it doesnt lock customers into long-term contracts. That gives people the ability to cancel their service whenever they please. But it also means Charter can raise rates at any time.

In my case, a Spectrum service rep said the monthly $65 promotional price of my Time Warner Internet/phone package will nearly double in December to more than $120. Ouch.

However, she said Id be able to switch to a similar Spectrum Internet/phone package for $85 a month  a more than 30% increase over my current rate.

The prospect of looming price hikes seems to validate what critics warned before Charters merger with Time Warner: With fewer players in the cable market, consumers inevitably will pay more for service.

Spectrum is proving the worst suspicions of consumers, said Jamie Court, president of the Santa Monica advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. Bigger isnt better when theres only one broadband line coming into peoples houses.

The Dodgers channel illustrates that. Time Warner paid $8.3 billion in 2013 for a quarter-century of distribution rights to games. It then discovered that no other major pay-TV company wanted to force customers to pay an extra $5 a month for Time Warners SportsNet LA channel.

Some thought Charters chief executive, Tom Rutledge, might break the impasse by offering the channel at a lower price. But thats not going to happen.

As he told my colleague Meg James last month: We are not giving it away. So if consumers want the Dodger channel, theyll need to subscribe to us to get it.

Rutledge also said Spectrum will be less flexible than Time Warner was in offering price cuts to customers who threatened to take their business elsewhere.

Our goal is to provide superior video service, superior data service and a superior voice service than any of our competitors, he said. And hopefully we will be able to upgrade customers into the new Spectrum service.

Court called this classic monopoly behavior.

Theyre tightening their grip, he said, because they can.

Spectrums cheapest advertised monthly bundle, its Triple Play Select, costs about $30 for each component  125 TV channels, Internet and phone. A high-definition cable box will run you an additional $5 a month. Add DVR capability and youre looking at a total of about $110 a month.

The Triple Play Silver option is pretty much the same except you get 175 channels for about $130 monthly, including HBO and Showtime. DVR service is included but the cable box will still cost $5 a month. Triple Play Gold, with 200-plus channels, boosts the cost to about $150 a month.

A TV/Internet package costs about $95 monthly (and, yes, the box is an additional $5). Internet-only service in SoCal for Charter and former Time Warner customers starts at $60 a month for 100 megabits per second. The price starts at $40 for new customers.

Current customers  that is, Charter and former Time Warner subscribers  can stick with their old packages. But, as my own situation illustrates, hefty price increases are a near-certainty.

After your discounted promotional period ends, prices are subject to change, Charters Johnson said. But it is also important to make clear, Spectrum occasionally reviews prices to ensure they match the value of what the customer receives and reflects the cost of providing those services, but doesnt automatically raise prices every year.

Can you think of a single year in which your cable rates havent gone up? Me neither.

Cohen called Spectrum after receiving his bigger bill. He canceled his TV service, keeping Internet and phone. The new package will cost him $100 a month.

For now.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

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The company responsible for spreading top-of-the-line message encryption across the Internet has had a first legal skirmish with the U.S. government.

Open Whisper Systems  whose Signal app pioneered the end-to-end encryption technique now used by many messaging services  was subpoenaed for information about one of its users earlier this year, according to legal correspondence released Tuesday. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the company, said the small San Francisco firm didnt produce the users name, address, call logs or other details requested by the government.

Thats not because Signal chose not to provide logs of information, ACLU lawyer Brett Kaufman said in a telephone interview. Its just that it couldnt.

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Created by anarchist yachtsman Moxie Marlinspike and a crew of surf-happy developers, Signal has evolved from a niche app used by dissidents and protest leaders into the foundation stone for the encryption of huge tranches of the worlds communications data. When any of WhatsApps billion-plus users sees a discreet lock icon with the words, Messages you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption, they have Signal to thank. Facebooks recently launched private chat feature, Secret Conversations, uses Signals technology; so does the incognito mode on Googles messenger service Allo.

We try to have as little information as possible.  Moxie Marlinspike, Signal creator

Signal remains a favorite among security-minded users, among them National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. A key selling point has been Open Whisper Systems refusal to retain nearly any form of metadata  the who-how-when-where of calls and messages.

We try to have as little information as possible, Marlinspike said in an interview (over Signal, naturally).

Kaufman said the request  and Signals response to it  was a model for companies hoping to insulate themselves from the fraught process of handing over their customers data.

We hope its an example for other companies how they can continue to stand for customers privacy, he said.

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Yahoo Inc. reportedly built a program allowing the U.S. government to scan millions of customers emails for a specific phrase last year, raising questions in the tech industry about why Yahoo didnt fight the demand.

Generally, tech firms have sought to bring more transparency to government surveillance orders across the world. But Yahoo not only secretly complied with the broad demand to search all incoming messages, but also dedicated its own staff to craft custom software to help facilitate the investigation, the news agency Reuters reported Tuesday.

The report, which cited anonymous former employees and a person with knowledge of the situation, didnt identify the search term but narrowed down the searching party to either the National Security Agency or FBI.

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Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayers decision to obey the demand apparently led to a major security hole in Yahoos email system, which frustrated the companys security chief enough that he soon defected to Facebook.

Now, privacy advocates and a federal lawmaker are piling on.

It is deeply disappointing that Yahoo declined to challenge this sweeping surveillance order because customers are counting on technology companies to stand up to novel spying demands in court, Patrick Toomey, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), a member of a national security subcommittee, said private sector companies and private citizens are not an arm of law enforcement or an extension of our intelligence agencies.

Earlier this year, Apple Inc. successfully fended off a demand from the FBI that would have seen it develop software to unlock a cellphone used by one of the attackers in last years San Bernardino shooting. Apple voiced concerns about opening a security gap in its devices.

Yahoo publicly has championed similar practices to protect its users. On a website for a tech industry group calling for reform of government surveillance laws, Mayer is quoted: Recent revelations about government surveillance activities have shaken the trust of our users, and it is time for the United States government to act to restore the confidence of citizens around the world.

In a brief statement to Reuters, the company said it complies with the laws of the United States.

The report comes the month after Yahoo acknowledged that at least 500 million email accounts were comprised in a 2014 data breach.

Its not surprising for the NSA or the FBI to be asking a company like Yahoo to search incoming messages, Stewart Baker, a former NSA general counsel, said in a telephone interview. Now that more Internet traffic has been encrypted by tech companies, it makes sense that the NSA and FBI would tell firms the only way to get that information is for the firms themselves to search incoming traffic for specific terms and hand over relevant messages to authorities.

If they cant do it wholesale, they must do it retail and have a company do the search and hand over only the relevant information, Baker said.

paresh.dave@latimes.com / PGP | brian.bennett@latimes.com

Twitter: @peard33 | @ByBrianBennett

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Gordon Davidsons risk-taking attracted some of the worlds greatest stage artists to Los Angeles, but for many in the city, no collaboration was as significant as when he worked with Luis Valdez, the writer of the historical drama Zoot Suit.

The 1978 play recounted a contentious period in L.A. history: the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon case, in which a group of Mexican American men were unjustly convicted of murder, and the Zoot Suit riots that followed. Zoot Suit became one of the Mark Taper Forums landmark productions.

Chicano theater had existed for a few years but no one in the professional theater reached out to us the way Gordon did. It was a form of acceptance, Valdez said Monday. The play ran for nearly a year at the Taper and at another venue in Hollywood due to popular demand.

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It established the Taper as a theater for all Angelenos, Valdez said.

1 / 3 As founder of the Mark Taper Forum, Gordon Davidson, shown at the site in 2002, showcased new work by Anna Deveare Smith and Tony Kushner, among others. He died Sunday at age 83. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 3 Sign language interpreter Gary Charm, from left, director Gordon Davidson and actors John Rubinstein and Phyllis Frelich during rehearsal for Children of a Lesser God in 1979. (Jay Thompson / Mark Taper Forum) 3 / 3 Gordon Davidson directed more than 40 plays and produced more than 300 works for the Center Theatre Group. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Davidson, the Tapers founding artistic director who went on to direct and produce dozens of stage productions for Center Theatre Group, died Sunday at 83. As news of his death spread, collaborators and friends remembered Davidson as a generous but demanding producer who almost single-handedly turned L.A. into an important theater town  not just for well-heeled patrons but also for marginalized communities that previously saw theater as rarified territory.

Davidson sought out challenging plays with political arcs and reached out to local, relatively unknown playwrights.

He was a champion of artists who wrote little plays, and he put them on the big stage. Hundreds of people saw them  not just audiences of 99 people, said Charlayne Woodard, the actress and playwright. He was living diversity before anyone started bandying the word about.

At the same time, he was a task master capable of challenging artists. Woodard recalled that Davidson asked her to rewrite one of her plays just a few days before opening night. He never minced words. He was quite demanding  but isnt that what an artist needs for challenge? He took chances on people and changed their creative lives.

Before the Taper was founded in 1967, L.A. saw little in the way of home-grown productions of significant artistic merit, said Madeline Puzo, former dean of USCs School of Dramatic Arts. She worked for Davidson for close to three decades at CTG.

That was the big gift Gordon brought to L.A., she said. He believed theater was a crucible to explore dangerous topics that had social impact.

Davidson commissioned and produced the world premiere of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, the solo show by Anna Deavere Smith about the L.A. riots. On Monday she called him an emblem.

He not only believed in artists but also his community, said Smith, who interviewed more than 250 people for the play. She said Davidson helped her gain access to individuals including L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates and actor Charlton Heston.

Anything was possible, and Gordons reach was very long into the community, she said. He was such a civic person.

Davidson also wooed top playwrights to L.A. He worked with Christopher Hampton several times, including the commission for Tales From Hollywood, his 1982 drama about the German emigre experience in L.A. during World War II.

The play owes its existence to all those stories he told me about the German emigres who passed through his home, the Oscar-winning writer recalled. That play grew organically out of my relationship with him.

Davidson produced the U.S. premiere of Hamptons The Talking Cure, about the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, at the Taper in 2004. The play was adapted for the screen by David Cronenberg as A Dangerous Method.

As a theater director, Davidson staged Mark Medoffs Children of a Lesser God, winning a Tony Award in the process. The play about a deaf womans relationship with a hearing teacher was a commercial hit in L.A. and ran for more than a year on Broadway. It was made into an Academy Award-winning movie in 1986.

In American Sign Language he was GD, always signed with affection and respect, recalled Robert Steinberg, a cast member of the production and husband of the late actress Phyllis Frelich, who won a Tony for playing the lead role.

Some of Davidsons colleagues have gone on to lead major theatrical companies. Davidsons No. 2 in command, Robert Egan, worked as producing artistic director at the Taper for 20 years until 2003, directing plays and creating the New Work Festival. He now serves as artistic director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

Everything great that ever happened for me in the theater ties back to the day we met and I went to work at the Taper, recalled Thomas Schumacher, head of Disney Theatrical Productions in New York, in a statement sent to The Times.

Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public Theater in New York, worked with Davidson when Angels in America was produced at the Taper.

Everything Ive learned, Ive learned from him  any success I had in my career belonged to him, and it started with Angels in America, he said.

Richard Stayton, a theater critic for the L.A. Herald Examiner during Davidsons tenure at the Taper, said he didnt think the Taper and Davidson got as much credit as they deserved for nurturing Angels into the work it eventually became.

It wouldnt have been what it became with it, Stayton said of the Taper. And Gordon was the phantom behind it all.

The thing about Davidson, he said, was that he was such a maestro of bringing talent in, and I think people didnt always recognize how good he was at that.

The actor Alan Mandell, who said he had dinner with Davidson about a month ago, recalled one measure of the Taper and Ahmanson leaders reputation.

If you were in New York, as I was for a long time, if you said you were doing a play at the Music Center in Los Angeles, you didnt have to explain it to anyone, Mandell said. Everyone knew who that was and what that was: You mean Gordon Davidsons theaters.

Davidson remained active following his retirement in 2005, attending theater productions around town, teaching at USC and writing his memoirs. His wife, Judi Davidson, said his memoirs remain uncompleted.

Times staff writer Jessica Gelt contributed to this article.
Photography, from the start, has been a key tool for extending human vision. With the help of a camera  a "supereye," as William J. Mitchell called it  we can see closer and farther than our unaided eyes allow. Inquiring minds have also long enlisted the camera to access other aspects of the unseen: spirits, thoughts, auras.

Katie Shapiro dips into this tradition, but not too deeply, in "The Great Divide" at Kopeikin Gallery. The Los Angeles-based photographer traveled to Banff, Canada, last year to pursue the intangible energies on the Continental Divide. Her pictures affirm the external majesty of the lakes and glaciers there, but to invoke less overt currents of power, she overlays fragmented patches of colored gels atop the conventional landscapes.

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Typical of her process, Shapiro transforms Moraine Lake into "Green Moraine" by veiling the sky and rugged mountains with mint-colored translucent sheets and by edging the water with stretches of cyan. She interrupts and denatures the essential splendor of each of these sites, then attempts to augment or reimagine it, but her methods feel more like a graphic-design Band-Aid than a spiritual X-ray.

Part of the problem lies in Shapiro taking the process to such a sanitized, texture-less end: She rephotographed the taped and layered collages to produce clean final prints. More alive are her small, sketchy mock-ups, with their messy makings palpable and exposed. Even smaller and more intriguing are three Polaroid prints identified as Kirlian photographs, pictures of electrical fields or paranormal emanations, depending on your inclination. By giving us even less to go by, Shapiro leaves more to imagine.

Katie Shapiros Emerald Lake Cutout, 2016, archival print, colored photographic gels, archival artists tape. (Kopeikin Gallery) (Test)

Katie Shapiros Green Moraine, 2015, archival pigment print. (Kopeikin Gallery) (Test)

------------

Katie Shapiro

Where: Kopeikin Gallery, 2766 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles

When: Through Oct. 29; closed Sundays and Mondays

Information: (310) 559-0800, www.kopeikingallery.com

Follow The Times arts team @culturemonster.

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Walt Disney Studios is returning to its storied vault yet again to adapt one of its popular animated titles into a live-action movie.

On Tuesday, the studio announced that it would release a new version of Mulan, a musical about a young woman who disguises herself as a man so she can enlist in the army. The original film, which was released in 1998, grossed $304 million worldwide.

Disney has begun to transform a number of its beloved cartoons into live-action films over the past few years. Both the princess tales Maleficent and Cinderella clicked with audiences, and a remake of musical The Jungle Book was a massive hit, collecting nearly a billion dollars worldwide earlier this year.

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Jon Favreau, who directed the latter film, already has been tapped to adapt a new version of another animated musical: The Lion King. And in March, the studio will release a fresh take on Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. Anticipation is already high for the film, which will feature songs from the animated original; a trailer for the movie was viewed 91.8 million times during its first 24 hours online when it debuted in May.

The new Mulan will hit theaters Nov. 2, 2018, and is being rewritten by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the screenwriting duo who have worked on films like Jurassic World and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The movie does not yet have a director.

The studio said it soon would embark on a global casting search for the Chinese actress who will play Mulan, who was 16 years old in the animated film. Disney recently completed a similar search for the star of its November animated release Moana, ultimately casting Hawaiian newcomer Aulii Cravalho in the role.

An emotional video of Cravalho learning shed gotten the part went viral last November, so prepare for a similar outcome when Mulan 2.0 is discovered.

Disney announces a live-action version of "Mulan" for 2018. What are your thoughts on this? https://t.co/7WpIh1J87r  LAT Entertainment (@latimesent) October 4, 2016

amy.kaufman@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @AmyKinLA

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Kanye West has postponed a pair of upcoming concerts this week after his wife, Kim Kardashian, was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

West, who had to abruptly leave a performance on Sunday as part of the Meadows Music & Arts Festival in New York when he learned of the robbery, will scrap stops on his Saint Pablo tour in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Detroit on Thursday before reconvening at Chicagos United Center on Friday.

Promoter Live Nation said in a statement Monday night, Due to family concerns, this weeks Philadelphia and Detroit dates on the Saint Pablo tour have been rescheduled.

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Kardashian was ambushed early Monday morning local time by masked bandits dressed as policemen while in a penthouse apartment. According to the French Interior Ministry, robbers restrained an employee and gained information on Kardashians location. They then stormed her room, bound her and made off with millions of dollars in jewels. The perpetrators have not been caught.

West and Kardashian have remained silent since the attack, steering clear of social media and hidden from paparazzi.

Wests canceled concerts will be rescheduled for the winter. Hell play Philadelphias Wells Fargo Arena on Dec. 13 and the Palace at Auburn Hills in Detroit on Dec. 22.

Theres a lot of terrible music out there. For tips on the stuff thats not, follow Randall Roberts on Twitter: @liledit

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"Sometimes you have to hold your nose about the individuals and deal with the countries."

U.S. officials are doing their best to ignore Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's hostile rhetoric and taking comfort in the fact that he has yet to translate his words into less military cooperation.

The United States is trying not to give the new Philippine president, who recently appeared to liken himself to Hitler, a pretext for further outbursts while at the same time pressing ahead with military and other cooperation at lower levels, U.S. officials said on Monday.

Two U.S. officials said that while an open break with Manila would create problems in a region where China has grown increasingly aggressive, there are no serious discussions about taking punitive steps such as cutting aid to the Philippines.

Mindful of anti-colonial sentiment, despite the estimated 3 million people of Philippine descent living in the United States, U.S. officials do not want to say or do anything that might encourage Duterte to turn his rhetoric into reality.

"He is like Mr. Trump," a senior Southeast Asian official said, referring to U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "He craves attention, and the more he gets, the more outrageous he becomes. It is wisest to ignore him."

In the last month, Duterte has appeared to call U.S. President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch," leading the White House to cancel a planned meeting, and to liken himself to Hitler, saying he would "be happy" to kill 3 million drug users and peddlers in the country.

Duterte said he regretted using that language to describe Obama and apologized to the Jewish community for his references to the Holocaust.

In his latest broadside, Duterte on Sunday said he got expressions of support from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and from an unnamed Chinese official after he complained of ill-treatment by Washington.

While Duterte has publicly suggested he would end joint military exercises, push U.S. special operations forces out of the southern Philippines, and review a defense pact signed two years ago, U.S. officials stressed none of this has happened.

All bluster

U.S. military officials said they were well aware of Duterte's comments, but their counterparts in the Philippines had reassured them that business continues as usual.

"No one is really losing sleep over it," said one U.S. defense official on condition of anonymity.

"It is all bluster," said a second defense official, saying Duterte's remarks "have not bled over into our world."

There are about 100 U.S. soldiers in Zamboanga City, a Philippine military spokesman said, well below the 1,200 U.S. forces initially deployed to help train and advise local troops fight the Abu Sayyaf Group, an Islamist militant group.

The Philippine military spokesman said he was not aware of any plan to pull them out.

Other than Japan's 1942-1945 occupation, the United States effectively ruled the Philippines from 1898, when it acquired the island chain from Spain following the Spanish-American War, until recognizing its independence in 1946.

The two nations signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951, but their close cooperation diminished a quarter century ago, when the Philippines kicked U.S. forces out of two large military installations, including the naval base at Subic Bay.

Enhance coorporation

Two years ago, however, the two signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows U.S. troops to build storage facilities for maritime security and humanitarian and disaster response operations.

Under the agreement, two C-130 transport planes and 100 U.S. servicemen have been at an air base in the central Philippines since September 25 as part of a two-week exercise.

Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said the EDCA is an international agreement, and the United States and Philippines are bound by international law. Citing the agreement's text, Ross said it has an initial term of 10 years, after which either side may end it with a year's written notice.

The former colony is a key element of the Obama administration's policy of "rebalancing" its foreign policy toward Asia, and the two nations have begun joint patrols in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) as China asserts its territorial claims.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, its claims overlapping with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

U.S. officials are disturbed by the fact that more than 3,100 people have been killed since Duterte took office three months ago and launched a promised drugs war, yet they value the country's long-standing military ties.

"Sometimes you have to hold your nose about the individuals and deal with the countries. The United States doesn't have the luxury of writing off the Philippines, so we have to find a way to deal with this extraordinarily distasteful leader while still conveying our opposition to his human rights policies," said Frank Jannuzi, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Asia specialist now at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.

U.S. lawmakers have conveyed their concerns in repeated conversations with the Philippine Embassy, where diplomats are torn between their need to represent Duterte's government and their concerns about what he has been saying.

The United States has sent the Philippines hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and military and development assistance in recent years, making it the third-largest Asian recipient of U.S. military aid after Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Two influential senators, Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that handles foreign aid, said Congress would take Duterte's policies into account when deciding on aid for the current fiscal year.

One U.S. official said that while the Obama administration is more worried about Duterte that it is letting on publicly, there is no great concern about the defense implications of a political break because the United States has alternatives.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said these include the Navy Region Center Singapore, training facilities in Brunei, and the possibility of greater naval access in Vietnam.

Related news:

> Philippines' Duterte likens himself to Hitler, wants to kill millions of drug users

> Philippine officials seek clarity after Duterte suggests end of US exercises

> Philippines' Duterte vows to end joint US military drills
For years, Filipino cuisine was the specialty of home cooks. But recently, Filipino dishes are breaking out of the home kitchen and onto L.A.s dining scene at restaurants such as Downtowns Rice Bar and the Lasa Filipino pop-up at Alvin Cailans Unit 120 kitchen incubator in Chinatown. So what beers do you drink with all this great Filipino food? Here are suggestions for matching beers with some favorite dishes with origins in the Philippines.

IPA with adobo

Lets start with pork or chicken adobo, perhaps the best known Filipino dish. The meat is stewed in vinegar, garlic and spices until the liquid concentrates its sharp, piquant flavors. Theres a sweet/tart interplay of reduced vinegar and a richness that can easily overwhelm a light, easy-drinking brew. Look for a beer that will cut through the tongue-coating richness with a firm bitterness, lively effervescence, bright acidity or higher alcohol content. IPAs, it turns out, are a popular recommendation to pair with many Filipino dishes. A bright IPA showcasing the tropical fruit aromas of modern hop varieties  such as Amalgamator from Beachwood Brewing  will match the intensity of adobo while countering the porks richness with a three-way assault of fat-busting alcohol, balancing hop bitterness and tongue-scrubbing bubbles.

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FilipinoAmerican chef and restaurateur Andre Guerrero (Maximiliano, the Oinkster) slips some Filipino flavors onto the menu at the Hollywood location of the Oinkster. The restaurant features a pork adobo burger  a thin pork patty topped with tangy pork adobo, garlic-y aioli and pico de gallo on pandesal bun  and the chef suggests pairing the signature sandwich with the 1903 Lager from Pasadenas Craftsman Brewing. The beer is a light-bodied throwback to the way American beer tasted before prohibition. Anchor Steam, with its dry-yet-malty body and mint-like hoppy finish, is another throwback beer to try with adobo. And for a more modern match for the adobo burger, try White Dog IPA from El Segundo Brewing Co. This wheat-based IPA matches tropical hop flavors to a citrusy body that highlights the vinegar twang of the pork.

Pale lagers with pulutan

Pulutan is a category of popular bar snacks that are nearly always served alongside a chilled San Miguel lager. Theres lumpia, the cousin of the eggroll; and sizzling sisig, which is stewed and fried pig head and liver, and all manner of other pig parts fried and dressed with citrus or chiles. Both these dishes beg for a glass of beer.

The climate in the Philippines is very hot and humid, therefore the most popular beers are the lighter lager styles  and the colder the better. says Guerrero. Most of the fried dishes, such as spring rolls or the crispy fried pork, should be paired with a lager. San Miguel is the traditional choice  the ubiquitous brew from the nations oldest and largest brewing company is pale and slightly sweet, and it will quench your thirst as it washes down pulutan. But why not try a more flavorful alternative to the industrial lagers?

Craft-brewed lagers have been gaining popularity, and pilsners, helles and modern takes on century-old American lagers offer more malt character and hop aroma, and can better stand up to the intensely flavored lumpia and sisig. You get all the easy-drinking and thirst quenching qualities of San Miguel in a fresher, more characterful brew. Look for cans of Pick Six Pils from San Diegos Pizza Port Brewery, or try a Seafarer kolsch, the lager/ale hybrid style from Inglewoods Three Weavers Brewing.

Sour beers with pancit buko

Even sommeliers have a tough time with Filipino foods  all the bold flavors and condiments common on the table can challenge the pairing powers of wine. Filipino-American cook-turned-sommelier Anthony Cailan (brother of Alvin Cailan of EggSlut and Unit 120) suggests finding a wine with a mouthwatering acidity to combat rich dishes.

Today, beer does acidity too. And sour ales, from the light and refreshing Berliner Weisse to the complex oak-aged wild ales from Belgian or American craft breweries, are versatile accompaniments to Filipino dishes. Cailan says sour beers that also feature a fruit component match with what he calls the aggressively flavored Filipino foods. Guerrero seconds the sour suggestion, and recommends wood-aged sour ales alongside the savory Filipino dishes featuring coconut milk such as pancit buko  noodles made from young coconuts. Flavors of oak imbued in the beer mirror the woody, green flavor of the coconut, while the ales acidity cuts the richness of the dish. Try a lambic-inspired bottle from Beachwood Blendery, an oak-aged saison from Monkish Brewing or an imported sweet-and-sour Flanders-style red from Rodenbach.

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Commissioners stay behind to speak with crowd as closed session begins

In a rare move, two members of the Los Angeles Police Commission stayed with the public to discuss criticism of the LAPD even after the rest of the board entered closed session Tuesday.

Commissioners Cynthia McClain-Hill and Shane Goldsmith stayed with the crowd, which at times had shouted down proceedings in open session.

McClain-Hill urged the crowd to keep up the fight for police transparency but warned that statements that appear to encourage the shooting of police do more harm than good.

She was apparently referring to statements made earlier by a protester who asked if it would be fair for her to kill police officers.

Another audience member yelled out after, This is your only warning, following the womans statement that she would kill police.

McClain-Hill said that the audience needs to trust that the commission is making an effort to increase transparency. The LAPD, she said, has lost the trust of the community.

McClain Hill then said she had to go to the closed session so the closed session would have a quorum; audience members urged her to stay out of the session. She refused, however, to the frustration of the audience.
Anyone looking for confirmation of the nations cultural divide can add education and gender-neutral bathrooms to the list of proof points.

North Carolina sparked a national furor by requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates, citing risks to children in schools as a primary justification. California has been shifting the other way with little fanfare.

A gender-neutral bathroom law, Assembly Bill 1732, was one of many measures with an effect on education that Gov. Jerry Brown signed during the legislative session that ended Friday.

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Starting next March, any one-toilet bathroom in a California school  or in any other government building, public place or business  will have to be designated as all-gender, open to anyone.

Thats a real big one, said Eric Bakke, interim co-director of government relations for the Los Angeles Unified School District, of the gender-neutral bathroom law.

Its also pretty simple to accomplish, Bakke said. If you already have a single-user toilet facility, all you have to do is change the sign.

At a typical school, the greatest effect might be on faculty bathrooms, which often have one commode  and typically have been designated for use solely by men or by women.

L.A. Unified already has started to go beyond the new state law. Last spring, at the Santee Education Complex, a high school south of downtown, it designated a multi-stall bathroom gender-neutral.

Bakke said L.A. Unified also was pleased with the passage of Assembly Bill 1593, which will allow immigrant students to receive excused absences when they attend their naturalization ceremonies to become U.S. citizens. That sort of law hardly seems needed in California  or at least in liberal-leaning Los Angeles  but might be controversial in places with different attitudes toward immigrants.

One new law is designed to make it easier for high school students to enroll in a high-quality ethnic studies class. Another helps high school students earn credit for community college and meet graduation requirements through classes that provide career training. Lawmakers tried to address the shortage of instructors in parts of the state by making it easier for those trained to work with English learners to qualify to work in California.

What didnt happen on the education front this year also was noteworthy.

Some people involved in educational issues expected 2016 to be a year of contention over how best to reshape traditional teacher job protections, such as tenure and layoffs in order of seniority. A court verdict had wiped out these protections, and, had it been upheld, the Legislature would have been forced to reshape these rules. Instead, an appeals court overturned the ruling, and the Legislature accepted the status quo for now. To do otherwise would have risked a battle with the powerful California Teachers Assn.

An attempt to strengthen the states school-accountability system, favored by some reformers, also encountered a roadblock. Assembly Bill 2548 sought to align the federal and state systems for rating schools, said Bill Lucia, president and chief executive of the advocacy organization EdVoice. The bill also listed guidelines for a school-rating formula that would be more rigorous and more accessible to parents and educators, Lucia said.

Not needed, said Brown, who used his veto pen.

Another failed effort to improve accountability focused on charter schools, which are independently operated and exempt from some rules that govern traditional public schools.

Some school districts and unions backed Assembly Bill 709, which would have made charter schools abide more strictly to laws that govern public records, financial disclosures and open meetings.

While I support transparency, Brown wrote in his veto message, this bill goes further than simply addressing issues of potential conflicts of interest and goes too far.

Although closely allied with Brown, California Teachers Assn. president Eric Heins strongly objected to the veto, citing all the reports showing fraud, waste, mismanagement and unequal access to students.

The California Charter School Assn., also a powerful lobbying force, said it favored openness but opposed the particular bill.

Overall, charter backers defeated a suite of bills that would have imposed major barriers to success on the charter sector, said association president Jed Wallace.

But the association fell short on one of its major legislative goals, Assembly Bill 1198  which Brown vetoed.

It aimed to provide more affordable financing rates for charters trying to build schools.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Twitter: @howardblume

To read the article in Spanish, click here

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A 24-year-old man was arrested Monday night in connection with the fatal stabbing of his mother, authorities said.

Jesse Lucatero was booked on a murder charge and is being held in lieu of $2-million bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

Around 1 p.m., authorities said, the husband of the victim, identified as Maria Acevedo, discovered his wife with stab wounds to her upper torso inside their home in the 19500 block of Castille Lane in Saugus.

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Santa Clarita Station personnel and paramedics responded, the sheriffs department said, and Acevedo, 56, was pronounced dead at the scene.

For more California news, follow @brittny_mejia
A suspicious package at the 7th Street/Metro Center train stop in downtown Los Angeles forced authorities to shut down the station for more than three hours and reroute some trains, delaying riders during the Monday evening commute.

Two Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies on patrol in the station found the package about 6:30 p.m. in a trash can near the train platform, according to Ramon Montenegro, a spokesman for the sheriffs unit that polices Metro lines.

An explosive-sniffing dog surveyed the scene and got a positive hit on the package, prompting deputies to call in the Sheriffs Departments bomb squad, Montenegro said.

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Shortly before 10 p.m., the bomb squad detonated the item, but the contents of the package were unclear, according to Metro spokesman Paul Gonzales. Investigators later deemed the station safe from any explosive.

The 7th Street/Metro Center train stop had been closed to patrons but was reopened by 10:30 p.m., according to Metro.

During the stations closure, Metro used buses to connect riders to other stations.

The red and purple lines were traveling through the station without stopping, Gonzales said.

The blue and expo lines were stopping at the Pico station, where a bus was transporting them to Grand Avenue and Pershing Square.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

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UPDATES:

10:30 p.m.: The story was updated with details on officials detonating the package and reopening the Metro station.

The story was originally published at 8:55 p.m.
Amid an ongoing controversy in the Orange County courthouse involving accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, a new law will ratchet up penalties for California prosecutors who tamper with evidence or hide exculpatory material from the defense.

Under the law, which was introduced by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando) and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday, a prosecutor can receive up to three years in prison for altering or intentionally withholding evidence that defendants might use to exonerate themselves. Previously, those acts were considered misdemeanors.



For the record: An earlier version of this article said the California District Attorneys Assn. opposed a bill making it a felony for prosecutors to falsify or hide evidence. The group initially opposed the measure but took a neutral position on the final version.

I hear so many stories about innocent people across California, and across the country, who have been wrongfully convicted, Lopez said. I just hope that when people think the rules dont apply to them, they will think twice before they abuse their power.

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Lopez said the legislation was not specifically inspired by events in Orange County. However, the controversy surrounding the office of longtime Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas spurred the bills advocates and informed the debate on the state Senate floor.

In March 2015, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals removed Rackauckas office from one of its most high-profile cases, the prosecution of mass murderer Scott Dekraai. The judge said prosecutors repeatedly had violated Dekraais rights by failing to turn over evidence, though he did not find they had engaged in willful misconduct.

The California attorney generals office, which has inherited the case, is appealing Goethals ruling.

Dekraais attorney, assistant public defender Scott Sanders, has argued that Orange County jailers have flouted inmates rights for years with an illegal jailhouse-informant program, and that prosecutors consistently have tried to conceal it.

The scandal, which has drawn nationwide attention, has resulted in the collapse of cases against numerous criminal defendants.

Susan Schroeder, Rackauckas chief of staff, said her boss had supported the evidence-falsifying bill from very early on, adding: He believes all prosecutors should follow the law.

However, she said, Rackauckas believes the law should be extended to defense attorneys who intentionally withhold evidence. She said it would not have applied in the Dekraai case, and pointed to Goethals ruling, which found no proof that prosecutors intentionally hid evidence.

In August, the state Senate voted 36 to 1 in favor of the bill. The lone no vote came from Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa), whose district covers much of Orange County. In a speech on the Senate floor, Moorlach noted the bad publicity that has enveloped Rackauckas in recent years.

If you read his press clippings, you become pretty happy real quick that you dont have him, Moorlach said. Bottom line, I think hes lucky hes an elected official, because its just too expensive to recall and replace him, he said.

Announcing his opposition to the bill, however, Moorlach said he believed that it was just a tad too severe in calling for felony penalties against prosecutors.

In an interview Monday, Moorlach said he was very disturbed by the possibility that Dekraai  who murdered his ex-wife and seven others at a Seal Beach salon in 2011  might avoid the death penalty as a result of missteps by jailers and prosecutors. They deserve justice, he said of the victims families.

I think at the end of the day, the lawyers in the Orange County D.A.s office want to do whats right. Im giving them the benefit of the doubt, Moorlach said.

Among the bills advocateswas Obie Anthony, 42, who served 17 years behind bars after being convicted in 1995 of a murder outside a South Los Angeles brothel. He was exonerated in 2011 after it was revealed that a key prosecution witness, a pimp, had received leniency in exchange for his testimony  a deal prosecutors had not disclosed.

Im glad the governor decided to put his foot down, said Anthony who told his story to California lawmakers as they weighed whether to support the bill.

I went to talk to them about how those bad-acting prosecutors took 17 years of my life, said Anthony, who now lives in Missouri and runs a nonprofit organization, Exonerated Nation, for the wrongfully convicted.

Matthew Guerrero, president of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a legislative advocacy group that pushed for the law, said the Orange County scandal really invigorated our organization to recognize that theres a problem.

The prosecution in that situation seemed to be acting with impunity, Guerrero said. So we wanted to send a strong signal that the criminal justice system needs to do the right thing in the right way.

The California District Attorneys Assn. initially had opposed the bill but took a neutral position on the final version.

christopher.goffard@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATchrisgoffard

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All that was left of the onetime bishop was an oily ankle monitor.

What became of the ankle, and the rest of Lyle Jeffs, is a $50,000 question to the FBI in Salt Lake City.

Lyle Jeffs is brother to Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its enclave on the Arizona-Utah border. Lyle Jeffs disappeared on June 18, hours after a U.S. marshal checked his court-ordered monitor as he awaited trial on charges of orchestrating a food stamp fraud scheme.

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The earth-bound explanations for his escape are of the more mundane variety: The FBI believes Jeffs slathered his ankle with olive oil to slip off the location monitor.

His lawyer, Utah federal defender Kathy Nester, whose office serves as the public defense agency for federal defendants, offered another theory.

Jeffs is currently not available, Nester wrote in a court filing in September. Whether his absence is based on absconding, as oft alleged by the government in their filings, or whether he was taken and secreted against his will, or whether he experienced the miracle of rapture is unknown to counsel.

The miracle of rapture refers to the teaching that believers will be transported to heaven. If that is what happened to Lyle Jeffs, it would break a promise made to the remaining 10,000 residents of this small desert outpost when they entered the church as adults: If they followed the directives of the prophet Warren Jeffs, never erred in their faith, abided by the rigid dress code and did not question church authority, they would meet eternal joy when they were swept up to paradise with their prophet. But none of those residents disappeared along with Lyle Jeffs.

The FBI suspects the mechanics of Jeffs disappearance may have less to do with the criminal charges hes allegedly fleeing, and more to do with a direct order from his imprisoned brother.

There was a fracturing there of the leadership, and Lyle decided he had to get out, said Eric Barnhart, special agent in charge of the FBIs Salt Lake City field office.

The FBI believes that Lyle Jeffs in some way disobeyed his brother. Barnhart said that Texas prison officials, while monitoring Warren Jeffs communications, overheard his directive to have Lyle Jeffs sent away. Barnhart declined to say with whom Warren Jeffs was speaking.

It seems that Warren has ordered him out, and that may have to do with his status as a fugitive, said Barnhart, whose office is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to Lyle Jeffs capture. The agency also warns that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

If Lyle Jeffs was banished, such treatment would follow the pattern set by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, in the bordering towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, which form the FLDS community of Short Creek. The FLDS church is not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the formal name of the Mormon Church, which banned polygamy in 1890, though plural marriages remained a custom through the 1930s, when Mormons began to excommunicate those who took multiple wives.

Marriages in the FLDS church are arranged by the prophet, usually involving more than one young woman or girl committed to an older man, according to court documents in Warren Jeffs prosecution. As a way of controlling the leftover male population and threats to the power structure, with Warren Jeffs at its top, young men are exiled from the community.

In the most infamous episode, and one that led to a fracturing of the FLDS church, nearly two dozen men were banished at once in the mid-2000s, their wives and children reassigned to other people.

But today, even with Warren Jeffs serving a sentence of life in prison plus 20 years on convictions for the sexual assault of his child brides, and Lyle Jeffs on the run, life appears unruffled in Short Creek.

The secretive, closed society continues to shun outsiders. Colorado Citys City Hall still has smoked glass in its windows, preventing visitors from seeing inside. No one answers the locked front door. An FLDS-owned gas station is eerily silent, its windows also darkened.

Lyle Jeffs is facing allegations that he and 10 others diverted at least $12 million in federal food stamp benefits to the FLDS church, over which Warren Jeffs maintained near-absolute power.

Prosecutors wrote in court filings that church leadership ordered followers to make purchases with their food stamp cards, then turn over the goods to the church.

In another segment of the alleged scheme, food stamps were cashed at FLDS-owned businesses, no goods were turned over to the purchasers and the money was handed over to church-owned companies or used to pay for capital expenses, such as vehicles.

For years, Lyle was Warren Jeffs right-hand man as they maintained a vise grip on the lives of people here. In court documents, Lyle Jeffs is referred to as a bishop of the FLDS church, or as his brothers special advisor.

That grip was loosened in March when a Phoenix jury found that the towns of Short Creek intentionally sabotaged people considered threats and enemies to Warren and Lyle Jeffs. The jury found that the cities police departments followed, harassed and intimidated nonbelievers, and the cities denied services to new residents from outside the faith.

At some point after the verdict, Barnhart said, Warren Jeffs issued his order that Lyle Jeffs be sent away.

While changes are almost certainly coming to the community of Short Creek, in court filings prosecutors said they worried about the still-effective FLDS system of hiding and moving people across state or national borders, and opposed Lyle Jeffs release from detention pending his trial.

The FLDS has affiliated compounds in Mexico, Canada and South America, according to the FBI and interviews with former FLDS members still living in Short Creek.

Nevertheless, in February, U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart granted his release but ordered Lyle Jeffs to adhere to strict conditions, including that he live near the courthouse in Salt Lake County, Utah, until his trial on the food stamp charges, that he avoid contact with witnesses or codefendants and that he wear the ankle monitor.

The FBI suspects that in July, a month after he disappeared, Lyle Jeffs visited Colorado City and Hildale. The FBI has received tips that he has attempted to take shelter from law enforcement in Canada or Mexico.

But Barnhart is confident. Its just a matter of time, he said. We will capture him.

nigel.duara@latimes.com

Follow Nigel Duara on Twitter: @nigelduara

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The United States wont abandon its pursuit of peace in Syria after suspending direct U.S.-Russian talks on a cease-fire, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Tuesday, even as he announced no new strategy to replace diplomatic efforts with Russia.

Washington and Moscow will still discuss Syria as part of larger multilateral negotiations, Kerry said, and theyll make sure their warplanes conducting bombing missions in the Arab country dont cross paths. Explaining Mondays announcement to halt bilateral contacts over Syria, he said Russia has rejected diplomacy and chosen instead to help Syrian President Bashar Assads government achieve a military victory over rebel groups.

We acknowledge in sorrow and, I have to tell you, a great sense of outrage that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assads deplorable use of these weapons of war, chlorine gas and barrel bombs, against his people, Kerry said in a speech focused on trans-Atlantic ties at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

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Together, the Syrian regime and Russia seemed to have rejected diplomacy, he said, adding that theyve opted for a victory at the expense of the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals and traumatized children of a long-suffering land.

Mondays announcement dealt peace efforts a serious blow. Coupled with a Russian announcement to put on hold a plutonium disposal deal with the U.S., it showed chilly relations between the former Cold War foes turning even frostier.

Kerry said the decision wasnt taken lightly.

We are not giving up on the Syrian people. We are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, the secretary of State said, pointing out that Washington maintains its pursuit of a truce that grounds Russian and Syrian planes and allows aid to reach besieged, rebel-held areas of northern Syria.

The U.S. also will press on with military efforts against the Islamic State group, he said, and finding a durable political solution that allows Syrians to return home and alleviates Europes refugee crisis.

But of Russia and Syrias airstrikes on the city of Aleppo, he said, People who are serious about making peace behave differently.

On Tuesday, Syrian government forces pressed their assault on the eastern, rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo, opposition activists said, while state media reported that rebel shelling of a government-controlled part of the city left six dead, including two students killed at a university campus.

Also Tuesday, activists raised the death toll from a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in the northeastern city of Hasakah the previous night to at least 34 dead. The attack was claimed by Islamic State, which said its fighters had targeted a gathering of a Kurdish political party, without mentioning a wedding celebration.

The 5-year war has killed as many as 500,000 people, chased millions of Syrians from their homes and allowed Islamic State to carve out territory for itself and emerge as a global terrorist threat.

The Obama administration had been working with Russia for months to forge a cease-fire that ended Assads attacks on rebel and civilian areas and separated U.S.-supported, moderate groups from fighters linked to Al Qaeda. Neither side proved able to fulfill its side of the bargain. But Washington has few other options, given President Obamas opposition to using military force against Assads military.

The White House and State Department said Monday there was no point to the bilateral discussions any longer because Russia hasnt lived up to a Sept. 9 agreement that included a demand for unfettered humanitarian aid to places like Aleppo, which has been under Russian and Syrian bombardment. They pointed to Russian attacks on hospitals and on an aid convoy last month; Russia and Syria deny they were responsible for the deadly Sept. 19 strike on the convoy.

Of course I hope that there is not going to be a new Cold War, Vitaly Churkin, Moscows U.N. ambassador, said late Monday. He said U.S.-Russian differences have been overdramatized and voiced hope that cooperation on Syria could be resumed.

The U.S. hasnt ruled out restating talks with Russia, if it takes significant action to halt the bloodshed in Syria.

Russia knows exactly what it needs to do, Kerry said in his speech.

Russia intervened on behalf of its close ally Syria a year ago, joining Assads bombardment of both anti-Assad rebel groups and militant groups such as the Islamic State and the Front for the Conquest of Syria, an Al Qaeda spinoff formerly known as the Nusra Front. Russia is interested in propping up Assad in part because Russias only naval facility outside the former Soviet Union is on the Syrian coast.

If it had been implemented, the cease-fire deal would have created a joint U.S.-Russian center to coordinate military and intelligence operations. Obama had overruled Pentagon objections to such cooperation, and Kerry made the offer.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed deep disappointment about the U.S. move and blamed the diplomatic impasse on Washingtons failure to separate rebels from terrorist groups.

We are under a growing impression that in its striving for a much-desired change of power in Damascus, Washington is ready to make a deal with the devil and forge a union with terrorists who want to turn history backwards and enforce their inhuman norms by force, it said in a statement.

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Bill Clinton on Obamacare: The craziest thing in the world

Bill Clinton calls Obamacare "the craziest thing in the world." https://t.co/TMq0ymogLS pic.twitter.com/ymQielgaTz  CNN (@CNN) October 4, 2016

Bill Clinton criticized President Obamas most significant policy achievement while campaigning for Hillary Clinton this week, breaking with his wifes public practice by referring to aspects of the Obamacare system as the craziest thing in the world.

At a rally for Democrats in Flint, Mich., on Monday, Clinton said the current system works fine for seniors on Medicare, poor people on Medicaid and low-income earners who qualify for Obamacare subsidies.

But small-business owners and individuals who make just a little too much to qualify for government subsidies are getting killed in this deal, the former president said.

So youve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have healthcare, and then the people who are out there busting it sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half, Clinton said. Its the craziest thing in the world.

In their substance, the remarks werent at odds with the Democratic nominees public stand. Hillary Clinton says she wants to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it, possibly through a public option that may bring down the price of other plans through competition.

But Bill Clinton broke with Hillary Clintons fierce public loyalty to Obamacare, a split message that either showed him to be off the campaign game plan  or mercurially in sync with it.

It was the true definition of a campaign gaffe, where a politician screws up by saying what they really think, said Kevin Madden, an advisor to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

At the same time, Bill Clinton could be making a play for white working-class voters who feel they are suffering under the Affordable Care Act  feeding a suspicion in Washington that the former president could morph into a shadow candidate, saying the things the real candidate cant say.

Everyone is always quick to ascribe some sort of triangulating genius to Bill Clinton, as one strategist put it. Best way to test the theory that its some sort of signaling? Watch to see if they walk this back.

Right off the bat, the Clinton campaign did not do so.

What he was expressing was the same view that not only Hillary Clinton has, but President Obama would express as well, senior Clinton advisor Jen Palmieri told MSNBC on Tuesday. As much progress has been made with the ACA, there are still a lot of cost issues to be dealt with not just for small businesses, but for some individuals.

In his Obamacare critique in Flint, Bill Clinton offered one policy scenario.

Heres the simplest thing, he said. Figure out an affordable rate and let people use that, something that wont undermine your quality of life, wont interfere with your ability to make expenses, wont interfere with your ability to save money for your kids college education, and let people buy into Medicare or Medicaid.

It is unclear exactly what he meant, but that simple solution could be an allusion to the thing liberals most want  a single-payer system.
In this issue: interview with Nicolas Veron, and the latest podcast  on recent EU measures to tackle the energy crisis.
Responding to an emergency call, an El Cajon police officer shot Alfred Olango last week with a Taser, a less than lethal stun gun that sends electric current into the body to disable the subject. But what was the point of that, critics ask, given that a second officer simultaneously shot Olango to death with a conventional firearm? If only El Cajon police had restricted their response to the Ugandan refugee to electronic stunning, wouldnt he be alive today? And shouldnt all officers responding to reports of distraught or mentally ill people simply use stun guns?

The limits of that argument became distressingly clear early Friday with the death of Reginald Thomas in Pasadena after police shot him with a Taser, restrained him and handcuffed him. If electronic stun weapons allow police a safe alternative to bullets, then by all means they should be tried. But they are still weapons, and suspects shot with them can still die, especially if they are already weakened by drugs or physical ailments.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Police Department took delivery on hundreds of stun weapons from Taser International under a $10-million contract that was part of the response to the controversy over Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old shot to death by Chicago police. Officers responding to the scene called in for a Taser but none was available, and as the teenager walked down the middle of the street with a knife in his hand, one officer shot him 16 times.

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Police need training in more options besides shooting, Tasing and subduing.

If officers had Tasers, McDonald might not have died, so less-than-lethal force should be on the menu of options that police forces must consider when updating their practices. But as the Thomas incident shows, Tasers are not a foolproof solution.

Besides, attempts at non-lethal uses of force are still uses of force that miss the need for a strategic rethinking of official response to someone not posing a direct threat, and especially to calls for help in dealing with a mentally ill or otherwise unstable person  or anyone who does not pose an immediate danger. Thats why many criticized the Chicago police and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel for their Taser strategy.

Olangos sister called 911 because she wanted help for her brother, not because she expected him to be killed. The family members who called for help with Thomas likely wanted something similar. Dispatchers can respond only with what they have: armed police, trained to protect society from dangerous criminals.

Ideally, dispatchers would be able to send psychiatric emergency response teams with personnel specifically trained to deal with people under stress. But in many cities such teams are more theoretical than real. Building them, training them and deploying them require a level of resources that many smaller jurisdictions just dont have. Even in Los Angeles, mental health response is at an early stage of development.

Besides, mental health professionals cant know exactly whom or what they will encounter when they arrive on the scene. Video released by the El Cajon police shows Olango taking what appeared to police to be a shooting stance, as he held what could easily have been a gun  although it turned out to be simply a vaping device. In Pasadena, a caller told dispatchers Thomas had a knife.

Mental health workers cannot respond to such scenes alone, without police. Police themselves need training in more options besides shooting, Tasing and subduing. They must become experts in de-escalation, and their cities and counties must provide them the tools and training to build that expertise.

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Consider the grizzly bear, while you can. Gone from California since 1924, despite gracing the state flag. Gone from Utah the year before that, when Mormon Boy Scouts stoned to death a bear called Old Ephraim. In Colorado, the last grizzly was thought to have been killed in 1952, though one more was found and killed by a bow hunter in 1979.

Now in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho there is a move to remove  delist  endangered-species protection for the grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. These recovered bears would be subject to a trophy-hunting season should they venture  as they do  outside Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

Delisting is a terrible idea, motivated more by politics than science. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking a splashy mission accomplished victory by saving an important endangered species. Western conservatives would like to see grizzlies, and everything else on public lands, controlled by individual states: a bewildering Balkanization of nature.

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However encouraging Yellowstones slow rebound, these bears remain in jeopardy.

As to the condition of the bears, after 40 years of federal protection and intense conservation efforts, Yellowstones grizzlies may have only a little more than doubled, to 700 or so, up from population estimates that ranged from 136 to 312 when the grizzly was declared endangered in the 1970s. (About 1,800 grizzlies now survive in the U.S. outside Alaska, scattered in less than 1% of their historic range.) However encouraging Yellowstones slow rebound, these bears remain in jeopardy.

What science there is behind the delisting effort purposely avoids a full examination of the risks grizzlies still face. In even the wildest parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the bears richest food sources are vanishing. Pine nuts, the single most important food for female grizzlies with cubs, are disappearing along with the whitebark pine, a victim of the bark beetle and the warming climate. Mother bears with cubs are unable to feed on winter-killed bison, which are claimed by larger males.

Another diminishing resource grizzlies require: wide swaths of secure, wild country without roads. Better yet, wide swaths of wild country that are connected, so the small remnant grizzly populations in the contiguous U.S. and Canada can intermingle.

The Fish and Wildlife Service doesnt deny such needs so much as ignore them. It justifies delisting the Yellowstone bears based primarily on the size of the population, even though its estimates are just that  a matter of sample counts and extrapolation (bears dont sit still for a census). Nor is the agency asking how many of the bears are females, or how old they are. Its no real science at all.

Delisting proponents go so far as to suggest that grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone area have outgrown the ecosystem. The proof, they say, is that bears are showing up where they havent been seen in years. But the real reason for the grizzlies spread may be simpler. With their food and habitat ever diminishing, they are venturing into unfamiliar places, often closer to humans, where negative interactions get bears killed despite their endangered-species status.

Under these circumstances, trophy hunting should be out of the question; it is the worst of what delisting would bring. Besides the obvious threat it represents, no one seems to have thought about what to do with the wounded bears that will escape  pioneer journals remind us it takes a lot of flying lead to bring down such a large animal. Bigger bears will be most  not all  hunters prizes. What of the cubs and sub-adults that will be left behind? Younger populations are more fragile; young bears disperse widely, leading to more negative human-bear interactions.

Big-game hunters and others argue that if Yellowstones bear population falls precipitously after delisting, the federal government can come back in and declare the bears endangered again. But relisting is a lengthy process, sometimes requiring decades, and it is highly politicized. The Fish and Wildlife Service generally doesnt list a species as endangered unless ordered to do so by a court. In the meantime, grizzly bears would keep dying, and the culture of the surviving bears would be altered further.

Yellowstones bears arent the only grizzly population the federal government is willing to put at risk. In the isolated million-acre Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana, maybe 20 or so grizzlies are left  perhaps only five breeding-age females  and yet local U.S. Forest Service leadership supports creating and promoting a recreational trail in that territory. This new human highway, along the Canadian-U.S. border (and a known drug-trafficking interface), would bring thousands of legal users and countless unpermitted wayfarers into the heart of habitat that is supposedly committed to grizzly bear recovery.

The grizzly is the Wests, and the nations, most intriguing, complicated and sentient land mammal. It represents the gold standard of wildness, the intangible and spiritual resource that is the fabric of the American character, as Wallace Stegner famously wrote.

It will be a historic mistake if the federal government delists the grizzly, over the outcry of independent scientists and, indeed, even over the doubts of the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, Dan Wenk. The great bear deserves better. So does the great American wilderness, which like everything else is in swirling, fragmenting readjustment due to the onrush of global warming. Amid such turbulence, the best science should matter more, not less, than ever.

Rick Bass is a long-time Montanan, a board member of the Yaak Valley Forest Council and writer-in-residence at Montana State University. His latest book is the short story collection For a Little While. The public comment period on grizzly delisting closes on Friday.

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Nothing in the world is easier in the United States than to accuse a black man of crime, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in 1932. Nearly 85 years later, the pernicious myth that black Americans are more dangerous than other races continues to shape our approaches to public safety, even as the best research indicates that unemployment and poverty, not skin tone, can best predict violence.

For our society, the racist notion that color foretells future dangerousness is a moral problem of staggering proportions. For Duane Buck, it could mean death  unless his lawyers convince the Supreme Court on Wednesday to grant him a new trial.

In 1996, Buck was sentenced to die for the murders of two people in Houston. His capital sentence was imposed after Walter Quijano, the defense counsels expert psychologist, testified that Bucks race made him more likely to be violent in the future. As proof, Quijano cited an an over-representation of Blacks among violent offenders.

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Texas law requires juries to evaluate the future dangerousness of defendants in order to impose the death penalty

Because Texas law requires juries to evaluate the future dangerousness of defendants in order to impose the death penalty, Quijanos suggestion convinced the jury that Buck posed an ongoing threat to society, which warranted his execution despite the fact that Buck had no prior convictions for violent crimes. (Moreover, Buck has been a model prisoner for more than two decades, contrasting sharply with Quijanos assumptions about various acts of violence he might go on to commit.)

As Buck himself summarized the dynamics of his case in an interview from prison: Basically, because Im black I need to die.

Bucks observation  like that of Du Bois  speaks to a historical tendency that began almost immediately after emancipation. Whites refused to treat newly freed people as equal citizens, much less welcome them into society, instead regarding them as a distinctly dangerous population in need of control. As former slaves increasingly found themselves behind bars in northern prisons or ensnared in convict labor regimes in the south, policymakers and social welfare reformers analyzed the disparate rates of black incarceration as empirical proof of the criminal nature of African Americans.

Although the problem of crime among poor white and immigrant communities also concerned elected officials and academics at the time, it was often explained as the product of socioeconomic factors rather than biological traits. By World War II, Irish, Italian, Polish, Jewish and other European ethnic groups had for the most part shed associations with criminality. But the perception that citizens of African descent are more dangerous than their counterparts endured.

Indeed, this stereotype became even more pervasive after 1965, in the context of the civil rights movement and the newly declared War on Crime. In an attempt to prevent future unrest, police officials targeted low-income urban neighborhoods with increased surveillance. Meanwhile, the simultaneous rise of a statistical apparatus primarily concerned with measuring urban street crime  as opposed to white-collar crime or rural crime  further reinforced notions about black citizens and criminality. (If police flood black neighborhoods in an attempt to crackdown on even petty crime, of course they will find more black lawbreaking than white lawbreaking.) Racially biased data justified the expansion of the American prison system, sustained harsh sentencing practices, sanctioned racial profiling and informed decisions surrounding capital punishment in the late 20th century and into the 21st.

The fact that Duane Bucks blackness was placed before the jury as a reason to sentence him to death is a microcosm of the racial divisions in contemporary America. The Black Lives Matter movement rose precisely because we live in a country where a man can be sent to death row because of his race; the increased nationalism and white racism exposed by the current political campaign season reminds us of the fears and simmering hatreds that made the rationale behind Bucks sentence acceptable in this first place.

At least we have an opportunity to make this gross racial injustice right. On Oct. 5, NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Christina Swarns will argue Bucks case before the Supreme Court in order to convince the court to force Texas to revisit the case and, ultimately, save his life.

If Bucks death sentence stands without a new sentencing hearing, the Supreme Court will be tacitly suggesting and reinforcing the false idea that black Americans are inherently more violent than whites, are more likely to commit crimes in the future and thus are more deserving of the death penalty.

As the petitioners brief states, if action is not taken, the risk of injustice to other cases, and to the rule of law itself, is profound. The Buck case presents the court with an opportunity to challenge the weight of history, the ingrained racial attitudes that have haunted this nation from slavery, and set us on the path to realizing the egalitarian principles upon which this nation was founded.

Elizabeth Hinton is a professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America.

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To the editor: In Kent S. Scheideggers view, the only problem with the death penalty in California is that it has been sabotaged by lawyers, thereby delaying executions endlessly. (A better death penalty for California, Opinion, Sept. 29)

The fact that the death penalty is proved to be racially and economically biased is not a problem. The fact that it is more likely that an innocent person with an incompetent lawyer will be sentenced to death than a rich guilty person is not a problem. The fact that the same crime will be punished differently depending on in which county in California the crime is committed is not a problem. The fact that the death penalty costs significantly more money than keeping someone in prison for life is not a problem.

According to Mr. Scheidegger, this state should spend tens of millions of dollars more a year and hire more lawyers so California can have a better death penalty. Is this really how we want to spend our money?

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Jennifer Friedman, Los Angeles

The writer is a Los Angeles County public defender.

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To the editor: When a jury has heard and seen the evidence and facts, determines a death sentence in a capital case is appropriate and a judge upholds the verdict and punishment, our legal system has worked exactly as designed.

And I particularly endorse the authors use of sabotage when describing why Californias current law has not been enforced.

I have an old newspaper clipping about a man in New York convicted of killing a teenage girl. He served 19 years in prison, was released, and killed eight more women. Executed killers cannot kill again  not the innocent, not a prison guard and not another inmate.

Glenn Toth, Playa Del Rey

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To the editor: Proposition 66 will not speed up executions; it will increase costs and more innocents will be executed.

By limiting the state process of reviewing a death sentence to five years, Proposition 66 will simply shift the delays to federal courts. The measure would increase the number of cases in federal court from 60 to 500 in the next six years. Capital cases now pend 10 years or more in federal district court and an additional three to five years in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. There is nothing Proposition 66 can do to shorten that time.

Requiring unqualified defense counsel to take capital cases will lead to more litigation of ineffective assistance of counsel claims in federal court, lengthening the process and increasing the risk that innocent people are put to death. And the state Legislative Analyst says Proposition 66 will cost tens of millions of dollars per year with future unknown costs to the state.

Marjorie Cohn, San Diego

The writer is a professor emerita at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

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To the editor: The latest revelations about Donald Trump show that 1995 was a catastrophic year for him, as he lost close to $1 billion. That would have allowed him to use the Net Operating Loss provision in federal tax code to reduce or eliminate his income tax payments for the following 18 years, according to the New York Times. (Tax troubles threaten Trump as election day nears, and so does his own approach to campaigning, Oct. 2)

Compare that with the millions of taxpayers who suffered catastrophic losses during the financial meltdown of the late 2000s, losing jobs and homes. It would have been nice if they could enjoy the same benefits and not have to pay any income taxes for the following 18 years, but as Trump might say, they were not smart enough.

Eric Forster, Los Angeles

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To the editor: A challenge to everyone critical of Trumps taxes: Next April 15, add an extra 10% above what you are required to pay the federal government in income taxes.

Come on, show up Trump. It might hurt a little, but you can do it. For all those who have tax losses or other deductions, dont use them. Vote with your actions and show that your criticism is not just rhetoric.

Steve Hawes, Sunland

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To the editor: If Trump is so smart about taxes, why doesnt he release his tax returns so that we can all admire his business acumen and intelligence?

Kate Nelson, Manhattan Beach

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Dennis Eckart still has the sheet from the yellow legal pad where he wrote it down: Quayle thinks hes JFK!

The year was 1988. And Eckart had spent weeks reviewing videotapes of Indiana Sen. Dan Quayles public appearances, hoping to get inside the head of the vice presidential candidate.

Eckart, then a young Democratic congressman from Ohio, had been asked to portray Quayle in mock debates aimed at prepping Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the Democratic nominee for vice president.

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Vice presidential debates are seldom consequential, and Tuesdays, between Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, is unlikely to be.

But the 1988 meeting would go down as the most memorable in decades  a pop culture moment that outshined many presidential debates  all because Bentsen landed a zinger that devastated Quayle and helped cement his reputation as a lightweight that would follow his political career. Operatives from both parties still remember the camera angles on the stage that day in Omaha, Neb., the lines and pauses in the exchange, and Quayles lost look in the aftermath.

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Its a part of lore, Eckart said recently, retelling one of his favorite stories.

I remember this like it was yesterday, said Tad Devine, who served as Bentsens campaign manager and went on to help guide Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders Democratic primary campaign this year.

But it would have never happened if Bentsen had his way. The Texas senator was so nervous that he begged his staff to cancel the debate, fearing the 41-year-old Quayle had an overwhelming advantage.

Dan Quayle was the quintessential television candidate, Eckart recalled. The camera was very kind to him. He looked good. He developed quips.

Bentsen, then 67, was born before the era of television. His timing was off. He did not respond well to the lighting, Devine said in a recent interview.

Devine made a nominal attempt to call it off, knowing it was a fools errand. Then he got to work, weeks before the debate, preparing Bentsen. That included tutorials on where to position his body or shift his gaze, when to play to the camera and how to consolidate his answers into 90-second responses and minute-long rebuttals. And they practiced, over and over, using mock stage sets with mock moderators, with Eckart in the role of Quayle.

Eckart recalled the lengths the campaign went to collect footage of Quayle. This was before campaigns had full-time trackers following opposing candidates with tiny cameras or phones, before YouTube or livestreaming allowed for instant fact checks or memes. They sent crews to small cities to record Quayle giving speeches and traveled to local television stations to copy tapes of speeches they could not attend. Eckart stayed up nights in his house watching it, drawing suspicion from his 9-year-old son that he was suddenly obsessed with Republicans.

On the campaign trail, Quayle almost always faced questions about his youth and inexperience, including his service in the National Guard during Vietnam. Eckart recalls that it was in one of the Dakotas that he noticed Quayle began keeping his left hand in his coat pocket and brushing back his hair.

It was so reminiscent of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Eckart said.

When a reporter asked about his readiness to become president, Quayle pointed to the similarities between John F. Kennedys resume and his own  early 40s, a few years in Congress. It was a line Quayle leaned on increasingly.

 Mike Pence and Tim Kaine face off on the debate stage for the first time Tuesday tonight. Heres what to expect.

Quayle did not respond to a request for comment sent to his companys spokesman. Bentsen died in 2006.

When it came time for the mock debates, Eckart repeated the comparison to Bentsen.

I kept doing this and Bentsen would look at me incredulous, Eckart recalled. Just incredulous. I was clearly striking a chord with him, but he wasnt responding.

Bentsen was almost getting angry at me, he added.

After one such rehearsal in a fancy hotel conference room in Texas, Bentsens small group of staffers began critiquing his performance.

Bob Shrum, a veteran Democratic operative brought in to help, asked Bentsen whether he had known Kennedy. Shrum, long a speechwriter for Kennedys brother, former Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, had already been considering how Quayles comparison could be used as an attack line. He had urged his old boss to make a statement calling the comparison odious, but Kennedy thought Bentsen could more effectively employ the issue himself, during the debate, Shrum said.

At Shrums prodding, Bentsen unloaded: Yes, he knew Kennedy. He served with him in Congress, was friends with him, revered him.

He finished with, And there is no way he can compare himself to John F. Kennedy, Eckart said.

The four staffers in the room with Bentsen, including Susan Estrich, all agreed he needed to respond just as forcefully during the debate, and to make sure to look at Quayle when he did so, to underline the moments gravity. Bentsen remained reticent, Eckart said, worried about any whiff of opportunism at the expense of an assassinated president.

Finally, the moment came. Quayle probably sensed the trap.

During the debate, he answered questions about his qualifications several times without mentioning Kennedy. Finally, when the question was repeated again by moderator Tom Brokaw, Quayle looked annoyed.

Bentsens staff was huddled in the bowels of the convention center, watching nervously on television.

After explaining what steps he would take if forced into the presidency  and all the gravity that moment would entail  Quayle invoked Kennedy.

Bentsen responded, slowly but firmly.

I served with Jack Kennedy, he said, his tone escalating toward steady indignation. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, youre no Jack Kennedy.

Just a few feet from Bentsens staffers, Quayles were huddled behind a cloth partition, and the phones began ringing.

We knew panic was setting in, Devine said.

The Democratic campaign, with Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis at the top of the ticket, was aggressive from the get-go, using the one-liner in commercials, making the case that George H. W. Bush was putting the country at risk by choosing Quayle as his understudy.

But the victory demonstrated the limited impact of debates, especially those involving running mates. Thirty-four days later, Bush won in a landslide. And Quayle, not Bentsen, was a heartbeat away from the presidency.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence fought to move the presidential race past Donald Trumps recent stumbles and reignite Republican momentum during Tuesdays vice presidential debate, the only one of the campaign, smoothing out some of Trumps harshest assertions and even separating himself on some key issues.

His efforts were met with spirited resistance by Hillary Clintons running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, as they clashed repeatedly, often talking over each other and expressing irritation as they tried to frame the contest in their own terms.

Throughout the 90-minute exchange, Kaine, with an eye on the Democratic voters his campaign wants to mobilize, repeatedly cited inflammatory statements made by Trump. He often interrupted Pence to remind listeners of statements including Trumps attack on a federal judge who has Mexican ancestry and his demeaning comments about women.

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Pence sidestepped Kaines demands that he defend Trumps views. Instead, he tried to set out conservative positions on issues, even if that sometimes meant taking stands that sharply contrasted with those of the man at the top of his ticket.

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When Trumps well-documented admiration for Vladimir Putin came up, Pence suggested Trump has always considered the Russian president a bully. When Kaine brought up Trumps call for women who receive abortions to be punished, Pence said Trump  who later walked back the comment  would never support such a punishment.

Kaine also pointed out that Trump has said that more nations should have nuclear weapons. He never said that, Pence said. Kaine shot back: He absolutely said that.

The debate exhibited an unfamiliar side of the vice presidential nominees, staid elected officials who were recruited for the stabilizing influences they could bring to their tickets.

Pence offered no apologies for Trumps background and conduct on the campaign trail. He suggested the recent disclosure that Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for nearly two decades merely showcased his business acumen.

He went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code just the way its supposed to be used and he used it brilliantly, Pence said. Donald Trump has created tens of thousands of jobs.

Kaine responded with incredulity, noting Trump had bragged that his tax strategy showed he was smart. So its smart not to pay for our military? Kaine said. Its smart not to pay for our veterans? Its smart not to pay for teachers? And I guess the rest of us who do pay for those things, I guess were stupid.

I cant imagine how Gov. Pence can defend the insult-driven, selfish, me-first style of Donald Trump, Kaine said.

Moderator Elaine Quijano repeatedly had to play traffic cop, as neither candidate would yield and discussion descended into cross-talk.

Kaine prodded his rival the way Clinton did Trump on the debate stage last week, a face-off that appears to have caused damage to the Republicans campaign. But Pence proved a more polished debater than his running mate, expertly turning the conversation back to Clintons shortcomings and refusing to let himself be rattled.

He seized on the controversy surrounding the Clinton Foundation, accusing Clinton of using it to sidestep rules designed to keep foreign citizens and nations from wielding influence in U.S. politics.

Theres a reason why people question the trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton, Pence said. And thats because theyre paying attention.

Kaine defended the foundations work in combating AIDS and drug addiction, while arguing that Trump was the one who was compromised in dealing with foreign governments because his private business extends around the world and his refusal to release tax returns keeps Americans in the dark about potential conflicts.

The debate put on full display the animosity between the campaigns, but also their starkly contrasting ideologies.

One of the clearest examples was also one of the few in which the two candidates talked directly about their own beliefs, rather than those of their running mates.

On abortion, Kaine offered a lengthy explanation of why he feels it should be legal in most cases, though he personally opposes abortion.

We really feel like you should live fully and with enthusiasm in the commands of your faith, but it is not the role of the public servant to mandate that for everybody else, he said.

Pence questioned how people of faith like Kaine, who is Catholic, could support late-term abortions, which he called anathema to him.

Pence also took aim at Clintons and Kaines assessment that the criminal justice system is beset with institutional racism. Senator, please, enough of this seizing every opportunity to demean law enforcement broadly by making the accusation of implicit bias every time a tragedy occurs.

Kaine said such remarks reflected ignorance of a well-established societal scourge. Those who say we should not be able to bring up or talk about bias in the system will never be able to solve the problem, he said. I cant believe you are defending the position there is no bias.

Pence was relentless in amplifying the overarching theme of the Trump campaign: that Americas economy and national defense have been severely weakened by the Obama administration and Americans cannot afford more of the same.

The American people know that we need to make a change, Pence said. We see entire portions of the world  literally spinning out of control.

Kaine did not flinch from his and Clintons embrace of Obamas policies, and the role Clinton played in designing them. He said Clinton helped start the process to cut a deal to halt Irans pursuits of nuclear weapons and was a key member of President Obamas national security team when Osama bin Laden was killed.

But Kaine also repeatedly brought the conversation back to some of Trumps most unrestrained comments during the campaign, as well as during his long career as a flamboyant businessman and entertainer.

Kaine recited Trumps demeaning comments about Mexican immigrants, women and war hero John McCain, the Arizona senator. If you want to have a society where people are respected and respect laws you cant have somebody at the top who demeans every group that he talks about, Kaine said.

When the debate turned to immigration, Kaine accused Pence and Trump of planning for a deportation force  a phrase Trump has used during the campaign  that would remove 16 million people from the country.

They want to go house to house, school to school, business to business and kick out 16 million people, Kaine said.

Pence called the description nonsense. He said his and Trumps plan to strengthen the borders and aggressively enforce existing laws contrasts with the Democratic plan, which he labeled amnesty.

They have a plan for open borders, Pence said. They call it comprehensive immigration reform on Capitol Hill. We all know the routine. Its amnesty.

Clinton has laid out a plan that would expand on Obamas attempts to focus on deporting violent criminals and temporarily shield from deportation those who were brought to the U.S. as children or parents of U.S. citizens.

A strong performance by Pence was considered crucial for Trump because of his poor showing in last weeks first presidential debate and controversies that followed, including his insults of a Venezuelan American beauty queen, the disclosure of a tax filing that showed Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for 18 years and the suspension of his charity foundation announced this week by New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman.

Republicans were looking to the more disciplined and politically experienced Pence to shift the conversation to Trumps core message that the middle class and working poor have been left behind by changes in the economy. Trump had some early success in his matchup with Clinton when he hammered her for some of the economic policies implemented by Democrats, which he argued caused massive job losses. But he quickly lost any advantage he had gained as he strayed off message and into boastful tangents, personal insults and interruptions.

Trumps missteps on the debate stage proved costly to his campaign at a time he had come close to catching Clinton in the polls. She now leads by an average of nearly 4 percentage points nationally, according to RealClearPolitics. Clintons position in battleground states also has improved, with a 6-percentage-point lead in New Hampshire and a cushion of 4 points in Pennsylvania.

Trump, however, is far from knocked out. He leads in Ohio by nearly 4 points and is within striking distance in Florida, both states he almost certainly must win to take the White House.

Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden faced the same pressure Pence was under Tuesday night. Biden was tasked with reclaiming campaign momentum in his 2012 debate, after Obama turned in a poor performance that year in his first face-off with Mitt Romney.

While it cant be a reset, it can certainly be a moment of rehabilitation and putting things back on track, said Scott Mulhauser, Bidens deputy chief of staff during the 2012 campaign.

Twitter: @evanhalper, @noahbierman

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UPDATES:

9:10 p.m.: This story was updated throughout with more comments from the debate.

8:35 p.m.: This story was updated with more details from the debate.

7:35 p.m.: This story was updated throughout with details from the debate.

6:15 p.m.: This story was updated with the start of the debate.

This story was originally published at 2:45 p.m.
The nations top health officials on Monday laid out their plans for spending $1.1 billion in newly appropriated federal funds to combat the threat posed by the Zika virus.

At the same time, they vented frustration at Congress for taking so long to make the money available as the virus spread to more than 25,000 people in U.S. states and territories, including 3,600 on the mainland.

Well move the money as fast as government procedures allow, said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Much of the funding would be spent over the next three months, he added.

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To date, as many as 2,300 pregnant women have contracted the virus during their pregnancies, the officials said. And 22 babies in the United States and its territories have been born with microcephaly and other birth defects after they were exposed during gestation to Zika.

Frieden said the latest funding would allow the government to pay for long-term studies on how the virus affects exposed babies, including those with no obvious birth defects, after they are born. Already underway is Colombia-based study that will track 1,000 pregnant women and the babies they bear, he said.

Theres a lot we still dont know about the long-term problems caused by a pregnant womans Zika infection, said Frieden.

The biggest unknown in terms of the epidemiology is what will become of the infants born to mothers who dont have microcephaly at birth, Frieden said Monday. He said that in addition to causing brain abnormalities and raising the risk of stillbirth and of death within 24 hours of birth, Zika may have a range of subtler effects that arent immediately evident.

The officials comments came days after the House and Senate approved $1.1 billion in funds to fight Zika. That sum was far less than the $1.9 billion sought by the Obama administration in February, and came months after officials said they had hoped to launch a raft of initiatives that might have delayed the virus arrival in the United States or blunted its effect.

Saying that some projects could not wait, the Department of Health and Human Services several months ago switched hundreds of millions of dollars from existing programs to combat malaria, tuberculosis and Ebola virus to the fight against Zika.

The borrowed funds jump-started development of nine separate vaccine candidates, diagnostic tests to detect Zika infection quickly and mosquito-control campaigns in Puerto Rico and several southern states. But only after Zika came ashore on the U.S. mainland, in the Wynwood and Miami-Dade areas of Florida, did Congress act.

Had funding materialized earlier, scientists said they would be closer to producing a vaccine to protect women of child-bearing age and the men they have sex with. Given Congress delay, some vaccine manufacturers saw fit to walk away from negotiations with us because they werent sure if the money was going to be there, said Nicole Lurie, assistant HHS secretary for preparedness and response.

We are behind where we should be on vaccine development and diagnostic test development, Lurie added.

Calling the Zika threat too great for further delay, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said, We redirected and transferred money from other priorities to start the design of vaccine candidates, build monitoring and laboratory capacity to detect Zikas spread, and control mosquitoes, which spread the disease, in states and territories where they circulate.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, reported that five vaccine candidates, each trying a different approach to boosting immunity to Zika, are moving toward safety testing in humans. The first, a genetically engineered vaccine developed by NIH researchers, has just completed recruitment for an early trial of its safety and will start soon, he said.

Four more vaccine candidates are under development under contracts with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an office within HHS that oversees vaccine policy. With nine vaccine candidates, said Lurie, officials are confident at least one will emerge as safe and effective for widespread use.

But conducting that work on borrowed money was not without cost, Fauci said.

The money that Secretary Burwell gave us from the other institutes, namely cancer, heart disease, diabetes and mental health, none of that money is going to come back, Fauci said Monday.

The officials said the funding delay shows why its important for the country to have an emergency fund in place so that health officials can respond more quickly when threats like Zika emerge.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @LATMelissaHealy and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

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Under cloudy skies, during Sunday morning worship services, four-legged friends from the animal kingdom were gathered to participate in the annual Blessing of the Animals outside St. James The Great Episcopal Church in Newport Beach.

The Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees welcomed about 36 furry loved ones in a grassy area near the 3209 Via Lido church.

Her message was about the divine connection between humankind and beast and the loving companionship that has developed throughout history.

Voorhees gave each pet a tag of St. Francis with a dog on the front and a quote on the back, Bless and protect my pet.

Moments before she called upon the animals to for their blessing, Voorhees expressed insight about pet ownership.

Take a look into the eyes of your beloved family dog and they will show you the unconditional love of God, she said. They make us almost monastic in that they set the time of feeding them, cleaning up after them [going] for a walk, and how to love them at the end of a hard day.

Because I am a lover of nature, of animals and our wonderful pets, I prefer to embrace C.S. Lewis theology that if the creator gave us pets to take care of and love then they become a part of our very souls. We give them eternal life through our bond with them just as Christ gives us eternal life through his bond with us.
At a time when content is free, when compelling photography is a click away, National Geographic is still opening fine art galleries.

Why?

The answer is best felt.

Its the feeling you get standing in front of an ancient African elephant. Or seeing a lion peering at you from behind billowing, yellow grass. Or seeing the weary eyes of a working child in a faraway country.

Its the immediate immersion that is National Geographic, master of the breathtaking moment.

But its more than just beauty that differentiates the photos in National Geographics latest gallery at 218 Forest Ave., in Laguna Beach.

Its the implicit story behind the shot. Modern photographers are sometimes criticized for using software as a crutch to accentuate their work. But when you are in front of a life-sized National Geographic photo, software is the last thing on your mind.

National Geographic has very strict rules on the use of software, said Gabrielle Immarino, the gallerys director.

The results speak for themselves, 1,000 words at a time.

If you were to buy the custom, limited edition prints, which range from about $2,000 to $15,000, you get beautiful framing and the back story. You hear what it took to get the shot and why National Geographic stands out.

You learn, for example, that the amazing elephant was photographed by Beverly Joubert in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Joubert has won numerous awards for photography, including eight Emmys and a Peabody.

The Okavango Delta is a vast waterway with islands in between, she wrote, describing the conditions for National Geographic. We live in a tented camp. We cook on an open fire or on gas. We shower under the stars. We spend about 16 to 18 hours a day in our vehicle. Our vehicle becomes our home.

Rozy Akther, right, of Irvine talks with friend Wayne Wei about the photos in the new National Geographic fine art gallery, at 218 Forest Ave. in Laguna Beach. (David Hansen / Daily Pilot)

Most photographers at this level try to tell a bigger story, which is what visitor Rozy Akther appreciated during a recent visit to the gallery. Akther, from Irvine, is a budding photographer who was trying to learn some lessons from the photos.

I like nature and man-made combined together, she said, pointing to a simple picture of a bridge. I like the ones that tell a story.

Storytelling is embedded in multiple ways  the strength of the portrait, the impact of the expanse or the power of the action. With an emphasis on animals and nature, its hard not to find drama. But there are also a lot of urban photos.

For example, theres a mesmerizing photo by Randy Olson called Crowds at Churchgate Station that was taken in India. Its a time-lapsed photo that captures the crush of commuters and puts a spotlight on overpopulation.

Another dramatic people photo is of two young children in Nepal taken by Cory Richards. There is both an authenticity and vulnerability to the children, who are making the Namaste gesture.

I wanted to make portraits of these incredible people who are more Tibetan than any Tibetan because theres no Chinese influence, Richards told the magazine. I have a deep passion for their culture, and I try to use images to promote its preservation.

While National Geographic is known for exposing exotic locations and cultures, there are also some captivating photos closer to home. In almost all cases, there is an Americana archetype: rural, dusty and in a way, nostalgic. The photos could have been shot 40 years ago.

The General Store in Lorman, Miss., was again taken by Olson, this time in 1995, but it has a timeless quality to it. There is a dapper African-American man standing casually outside of an old, weathered store. But theres also a partial American flag waving prominently in the foreground. Together, theres an ominous feel to it, as if our unavoidable race history impacts the picture.

These images and stories are what make fine art. Its why there are galleries that can charge for content in an age when people expect everything for free.

And while local photographers often dont have the luxury of storefronts, they too appreciate something like National Geographic because it helps raise the bar.

I think its a good thing because it shows people what quality photography really is, said Cliff Wassmann, an award-winning photographer who owns a gallery on Ocean Avenue. A lot of people are not educated about art in general and especially photography.

So I think its important for people to see quality like that so then when they leave that gallery and maybe go to the Sawdust Festival or somewhere, they have something to compare. And hopefully some of us will compare favorably to what they saw in there.

Chances are there are favorable comparisons because Laguna is filled with stories.

Stories that just need to be captured and released.

For more information visit, natgeofineart.com.

---

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.
German prosecutors on Tuesday dropped an investigation of a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime.

Chancellor Angela Merkel in April granted a Turkish request to allow the possible prosecution of Jan Boehmermann for insulting a foreign head of state. German law required the government to grant permission before prosecutors could consider whether to press charges.

Boehmermann had read the poem on ZDF television, to illustrate something he said wouldnt be allowed in Germany. He contrasted it with another channels earlier satirical song that also poked fun at Erdogan and angered Turkey but was considered acceptable in Germany.

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Boehmermanns ditty started by describing the Turkish leader as stupid, cowardly and uptight before descending into crude sexual references. ZDF withdrew the passage with the poem from its archives but argued that it didnt break the law.

Prosecutors in Mainz, where ZDF is based, said in a statement Tuesday that criminal actions could not be proven with the necessary certainty.

They said it was questionable whether the poem constituted slander, given the satirical context in which Boehmermann recited it and the fact that it wasnt intended to convey his own view of personal traits of the Turkish president.

Boehmermann, it said, maintained that he had sought to exaggerate to the extent that the lack of earnestness and the lack of any seriously intended connection to the personal honor of (Erdogan) were supposed to be immediately evident to every listener.

Prosecutors said they also found no evidence of criminal behavior on the part of other people involved in Boehmermanns program.

The decision to allow Boehmermanns possible prosecution was awkward for Merkel as she sought the Turkish governments help in reducing Europes migrant influx but also expressed concern about the state of media freedom in Turkey.

As she announced the decision in April, she underlined the independence of the judiciary and said her government intends to repeal Germanys law criminalizing insults of a foreign head of state, effective in 2018.

In a separate civil case, a Hamburg court in May granted an injunction ordering Boehmermann not to repeat most of the offending poem. A full hearing on that case is due in November.
Thousands of women took to the streets of Poland to protest a proposed law that would almost totally ban abortions in this strictly Catholic country.

Wearing black, linking arms and marching under the banner #CzarnyProtest, or Black Protest, abortion rights activists on Monday also used social media to urge women across this nation of 38 million people to stay off the job, out of school and refrain from domestic duties.

According to AFP, the action was inspired by a womens strike in Iceland in 1975, where demonstrators demanded equal rights for women in an endeavor that paved the way for landmark legislation on gender parity.

The outrage centers on a bill that would allow pregnancies to be terminated only if the mothers life was at risk. The new law would criminalize abortion, and women who undergo an abortion and doctors who perform them could face up to five years in prison, according to media reports.

Thousands of workers take to the streets of Katowice, Poland, to protest a proposed abortion law. (Andrzej Grygiel/EPA) (Test)

Polands abortion law is already one of the most restrictive in Europe and these proposals are an all-out assault on women and girls and their right to make decisions about their own bodies, Kasia Staszewska, director of Amnesty International UKs Womens Rights program, said in a statement.

A woman who needs an abortion is not a criminal, and decisions about her body and her health should never be placed in the hands of politicians, Staszewska said.

The European Parliament is expected to debate reproductive rights in Poland later this week, much to the disdain of Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydo, according to Radio Poland.

Whats the history of abortion in Poland and what does the current law say?

According to the United Nation Secretariats Population Policy Data Bank, Poland generally banned abortion until 1932 when the law was modified to allow abortion when a pregnancy endangered the life or health of the woman or resulted from a crime, such as rape or incest.

In 1956, abortion laws were further liberalized permitting abortion on medical grounds, if the pregnancy resulted from a criminal act or because of difficult living conditions, according to the U.N.s Population Policy Data Bank.

In 1993, the Polish Parliament further restricted access to abortion by eliminating the difficult living conditions provision, according to the U.N. This resulted in the current law, which bans the termination of all pregnancies unless they result from rape or incest, pose a health risk to the mother, or the fetus is severely deformed.

Whats the general feeling among polls?

According to the Guardian newspaper, a poll published in September by the Newsweek Polska magazine found that 74% of Poles want to keep the existing law.

Less than 2,000 legal abortions are performed annually in Poland, according to the newspaper. But an additional 100,000 to 150,000 abortions are performed illegally or abroad on Polish women, the paper reported citing womens groups.

Romanian women in Bucharest show solidarity with Polish women protesting a proposed abortion law in Poland. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images) (Test)

It also wont stop abortions but just push them into back alleys and bathrooms, where the risks of long-term damage and death multiply, Hillary Margolis, a researcher for the Women's Rights Division wrote in a recent dispatch on the agencys website criticizing the proposed law.

But not everyone is convinced, or cares. Stop Abortion, the main group seeking stricter abortion laws in Poland, wants a total ban with no exceptions even if the life or well-being of the mother is endangered, according to the Guardian. According to the paper, the groups petition calling for a ban on abortion attracted 450,000 signatures.

The proposed legislation also has the blessing of Polands powerful Catholic Church, although its bishops have since opposed jailing women who receive abortions, the Associated Press reported.

How does Polands abortion law compare with other European countries?

According to the website abortion-clinics.eu, terminating a pregnancy is legal in nearly every European country and most allow abortion on demand during the first trimester. But there is a wide variation in the restrictions under which it is permitted, the website says.

Denmark allows abortion after the first trimester for a variety of reasons, including socioeconomic cause, but authorization is required for such an abortion, the website says.

People protest against Polands proposed near-total abortion ban in Brussels on Monday. (Emmanuel Dunland / AFP / Getty Images) (Test)

Malta is the only European country that bans abortion in all cases, not even allowing an exception when the womans life is in danger, according to abortion-clincs.eu. In Ireland and Andorra, abortion is illegal with the exception of cases in which a womans life is endangered by continuing her pregnancy, the website says.

Poland is the only former European communist country that doesnt have liberal abortion laws, according to abortion-clinics.eu.

Support for Polish women from around the world

Mondays protest in Poland, where 60 cities were reported to have participated in the action, garnered support from around the world  from England and Ireland to Taiwan, France and Russia. And the Twittersphere was ablaze with tweets, vines and photos like these:

https://twitter.com/Exen/status/782943511150813184/photo/1

https://twitter.com/PodemosBadajoz/status/779429020001792000

https://twitter.com/AniaNL/status/782866254503829504

ann.simmons@latimes.com

For more on global development news follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter

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The outer bands of powerful Hurricane Matthew drenched Haiti on Monday, flooding streets and sending people scrambling to emergency shelters as the Category 4 storm threatened to hit the hemispheres poorest nation overnight with life-threatening winds, rains and storm surge.

Matthew had sustained winds of 140 mph Monday evening, up from 130 mph earlier in the day. Its center was expected to pass near or over the southwestern tip of impoverished Haiti on Tuesday morning before heading to eastern Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba, said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the center. People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because thats where we have seen loss of life in the past.

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In the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre, officials urged shantytown residents living next to a muddy river to take shelter at a local school where cots were set up. While some went, many refused fearing their few possessions might be stolen.

If we lose our things we are not going to get them back! Toussaint Laine said as police and officials from the mayors office urged the jobless man and his family to evacuate.

People in Jamaica watch surf generated by Hurricane Matthew on the outskirts of Kingston. (Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press )

Haitis civil protection agency reported the death of a fisherman in rough water churned up by the storm. Agency chief Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste said another fisherman was missing.

The confirmed death in Haiti brought the total for the storm to at least three. One man died Friday in Colombia and a 16-year-old was killed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sept. 28 when the system passed through the eastern Caribbean.

Authorities went door to door in Haitis south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

We are continuing to mobilize teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas, Jean-Baptiste said.

There is no shortage of people with flimsy houses set up in risky places in Haiti. In an unregulated sprawl of shacks built on hillsides near the northern edge of Haitis capital, some poor families did what they could to reinforce their tin-and-tarp houses. But most were just praying they would get through the storm without getting hurt.

I know my house could easily blow away. All I can do is pray and then pray some more, Ronlande Francois said by the tarp-walled shack where she lives with her unemployed husband and three children.

Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 40 inches of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country.

In Jamaica, which discontinued a hurricane warning late Monday afternoon and replaced it with a tropical storm warning as Matthew tracked closer to Haiti, many people chose to stick it out at home. Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said all but four residents of the Port Royal area near the Kingston airport refused to board buses and evacuate.

Matthew is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history and briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

The U.S. hurricane center said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would threaten the U.S. East Coast.

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If he is to salvage a peace deal he spent four years crafting but which couldnt pass muster with Colombian voters, President Juan Manuel Santos must soon present a bipartisan plan to refashion the accord to make it more acceptable to the broader public, analysts agreed Monday.

To do that, Santos may well have to swallow a frog, his own Spanish slang for eating crow, by making amends with former president and antagonist Alvaro Uribe, whose campaign against the peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was decisive in its defeat in Sundays plebiscite.

Uribes objections, which were shared by many voters, centered on peace deal terms that limited maximum punishment for the rebels to eight years of house arrest, even for atrocities including massacres, mass kidnappings and extortion. Uribe also attacked provisions that would give rebels 10 seats in Congress without having to face voters.

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Staking his presidency on ending 52 years of conflict with the FARC, Santos apparently had no back-up plan after his defeat in Sundays plebiscite. Only 38% of eligible Colombians voted and the measure went down to defeat by a narrow 50.2% to 49.8% margin.

The nationwide vote is not binding, but Santos has said on numerous occasions that a majority of Colombians had to approve the deal for it to implemented. The deal, which called for an estimated 6,000 guerrilla fighters to give up arms, was signed by government and FARC representatives in a celebratory ceremony last week in Cartagena.

The rejection by the voters has left Santos weakened politically, and the chances of refashioning a peace deal could rest on his ability to forge an alliance with Uribe. Santos on Monday met with supporters and opposition members at the presidential palace to discuss ways of building a peace deal consensus.

But Uribe didnt attend the meeting after saying Sunday he wanted to contribute to a new peace proposal. By late afternoon, Santos had issued no statement on a possible road map, although several politicians who attended told reporters that a bipartisan commission would be set up to study ways of refashioning a peace deal .

Santos cant do it on his own, His level of credibility has been put into doubt and and will now have to strike up some kind of alliance with other sectors, said Arlene Tickner, international relations professor at Rosario University in Bogota.

Many Colombians were still in a state of shock Monday at the plebiscites loss. All major polls indicated it would coast to victory. But the yes vote was hurt by abysmally low turnout and latent voter opposition to an deal many described as confusing and overly generous to the FARC.

Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College, said the defeat showed that Santos placed too much confidence in polls and international pundits, a reference to solid backing the Colombian leader got outside his country; President Obama, Pope Francis and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were among its backers. Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said Santos underestimated how much the people hate the FARC.

It is not clear what happens now in Colombia. The ability of everyone to work together constructively will be put to a severe test, Shifter said. Uribe will be front and center. He is the main victor of yesterdays vote.

Even if Santos and Uribe are able to establish a dialogue, its far from certain that the FARC would accept terms any tougher than what it agreed to in negotiations held in Havana, said Adam Isacson, senior associate of the Washington Office on Latin America and a Colombia expert.

This is a moment where Santos needs to bring together sectors that have concerns with the peace accord and find away forward, Isacson said. But its possible it wont work out because of the gulf between what Santos has negotiated and what Uribe would like to change.

The defeat was also a blow to Obama, who had promised to increase U.S. aid for its implementation, including giving job training and land to demobilized rebels.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday said that Colombia can count on U.S. support as Santos tries to engage all parties in a broad dialogue as the next step towards achieving a just and lasting peace.

Tickner said Santos must quickly establish a framework and timeline for such a dialogue so as to maintain appearances that the peace process is still on track. For now, a cease-fire is holding between the two sides, but it may become more tenuous if the current limbo continues, Tickner said.

As time drags on, it will be harder for a cease-fire to stick. Divisions could become more acute within the ranks of the FARC and in the military, Tickner said. So what happens in the days and weeks ahead will be absolutely fundamental.

Speculation also swirled around possible vehicles that Santos could use to try to refashion the peace deal. He could convene a constitutional convention, ask the Congress to hammer out agreements on disputed peace deal points or simply restart negotiations in Havana, where talks have been held since November 2012.

Each option has risks and could take months or years to reach fruition. For example, calling a constitutional convention to incorporate peace terms into law would force all parties to participate and commit to their positions but also would open up the process to constitutional changes that have nothing to do with a peace deal.

Shifter, of the Inter-American Dialogue, said both sides pledges to maintain the cease-fire was encouraging and that he doubted that the FARC, after four years of negotiations, would return to the jungle and resume war.

The challenge is to move quickly, said Shifter. If a new process drags out over time that could complicate matters and further sour Colombians on any deal with the FARC.

Isacson said the big risk now was inaction by the government and the opposition that conveys a sense of drift.

Tickner of Rosario University agreed: This is the moment for all political groups to stand up and assume their responsibilities at this historic juncture. Time is of the essence, she said.

Kraul, a special correspondent, reported from Bogota. Times staff writer Wilkinson reported from Washington.

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Wealthy nations are shirking their responsibility to refugees and exacerbating the global crisis, according to a report published Monday by Amnesty International.

The report, Tackling the global refugee crisis: From shirking to sharing responsibility, calls on some nations to increase the number of refugees they host so that no single country is overwhelmed.

The nations hosting the bulk of refugees are Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Ethiopia, Chad, Uganda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Amnesty.

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The human rights organization said more than half of the worlds 21 million refugees live in those countries. But those nations account for less than 2.5% of the worlds GDP, the monetary value in goods and services produced by countries, creating a situation that is inherently unsustainable.

About 30 countries offer some kind of refugee resettlement program, according to the report.

Wealthier countries are not doing their fair share, said Tarah Demant, senior director of the identity and discrimination unit at Amnesty International USA. Were looking at a global crisis that affects everybody, but the burden of responsibility is falling on countries that dont have the resources.

The report does not suggest a specific resettlement number for any country. But Amnesty International was among several rights groups that supported a United Nations proposal this year to resettle 10% of the worlds refugees annually. Human rights groups lambasted wealthier nations for rejecting the target.

The Amnesty report says determining what would be a countrys fair share for resettlement could be based on criteria such as national wealth, population and unemployment numbers. Other considerations could be a countrys safety record, its existing claims by refugees seeking asylum and whether refugees would have access to the same judicial processes and protections as the host population, Demant said.

The report acknowledges that this solution probably would be condemned by some as too simplistic. But not by those countries that are hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees, the report says.

According to the report, refugees on all continents face crushing challenges such as living in makeshift shelters without adequate food, water and sanitation facilities, as well as detention and persecution.

Many are living in grinding poverty without access to basic services and without hope for the future, the report says. Not surprisingly, many are desperate to move elsewhere.

A man stands behind a blanket at an unfinished construction site near the train station in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Oct. 3, 2016. The site serves as a temporary shelter for those who seek to illicitly cross the Greek-Macedonian border. (Giannis Papanikos / Associated Press )

But as things currently stand, their chances of being resettled in wealthy, industrialized nations are slim.

Many of the worlds wealthiest nations host the fewest refugees, both in absolute numbers and relative to their size and wealth, according to the report.

The United Kingdom, for example, has accepted about 8,000 Syrians since 2011, while  according to the latest U.N. statistics  more than 670,000 Syrians are registered as refugees in Jordan. The Arab kingdom has a population almost 10 times smaller than Britain and just 1.2% of its GDP, Amnesty said.

Most of the almost 5 million people who have fled Syria since the civil war started more than five years ago live in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, according to U.N. data.

The U.S. has taken in nearly 12,000 Syrian refugees since the start of the conflict, according to U.S. State Department figures.

Roger Waldinger, director of the Center for the Study of International Migration at UCLA, said rich nations have an obligation to take in refugees because they are signatories to the U.N. convention on refugees and they have all accepted the doctrine of not sending them back.

It is in their interest to bind themselves into an agreement to take more refugees, said Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Global Development. It is in their interest to show they stand for principles of common humanity.

Protesters in London hold placards as they listen to speakers in Parliament Square during a Sept. 17, 2016, demonstration organized by Amnesty International to show support for refugees. (Jack Taylor / Getty Images )

Studies show that refugees could be economically advantageous for wealthy nations once the preliminary difficulties of resettlement are overcome and they are allowed join the labor force and contribute to society.

There is a pattern that they are a short-term burden and a long-term benefit, and the long-term benefit outweighs that initial burden, Clemens said.

Amnesty pointed to Canada, which has resettled almost 30,000 refugees since November 2015, and Germany, which accepted more than 1 million refugees last year, for showing leadership commensurate with the scale of the refugee challenge.

Some opponents to increasing the intake of refugees fear foreign terrorists would slip into their country. Others say money used to resettle refugees should be spent on domestic needs.

In some countries, citizens fear an influx of people from divergent cultures would dilute their nations culture and practices. Many insist that Middle Eastern refugees should be resettled in nearby oil-rich Persian Gulf states where the language, terrain and customs are more similar than that of Europe.

The Amnesty report says that in some countries, the population is subjected to misinformation fueled by a politics-driven narrative of xenophobia, opposition to immigration and concerns over security.

A global survey of more than 27,000 people commissioned by Amnesty this year found that 80% of people worldwide would welcome refugees in their country.

Were at a moral moment where we can either be leaders or accomplices in this crisis, said Demant. Without doing more we are contributing to that crisis.

ann.simmons@latimes.com

For more on global development news follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter
Aid groups are racing to prepare for what they are predicting will be the largest humanitarian crisis in recent memory, with a million people expected to flee the northern Iraqi metropolis of Mosul once the countrys military and its foreign allies launch their offensive to seize the city from Islamic State militants.

The planned operation to take back Iraqs second-biggest city could trigger one of the largest man-made disasters in years, Bruno Geddo, the United Nations refugee agency representative in Iraq, told reporters recently.

The conflict in neighboring Syria has affected more people, leaving 13.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance. But the Mosul offensive is unique in that aid agencies know roughly when it will start and that it will displace a massive number of people at once.

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Representatives of the various forces have said the operation will start between mid-October and mid-December, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently specifying Oct. 19.

The U.N. made an emergency appeal this summer for $284 million to deal with the crisis but so far has received less than half. The United States has pledged $130 million, said Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

Were facing this enormous tsunami coming at us, Grande said. Were racing against the clock to be as ready for it as we can be, knowing that we have funding constraints, capacity constraints, and that we still need to get more supplies into the country.

If a million people were displaced for a year, the cost of caring for them would be $1.8 billion, she said.

Islamic State seized control of Mosul in June 2014 during a campaign that soon put the militants in control of a third of Iraq and Syria. Iraqs army has been fighting to recover. Backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and tens of thousands of paramilitary fighters  some supported by Iran  Iraqi troops this year reduced the militant groups territory by a quarter, according to the group IHS Conflict Monitor.

Across Iraq, about 3.3 million are already displaced, including 1.2 million from the area surrounding Mosul. Of the more than 1.2 million who remain in the city, nearly a third are children, and a fifth are single mothers, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, Grande said.

Many are expected to flee on foot, leaving most of their possessions behind.

Matthew Nowery, Iraq country director for the U.S. relief group Samaritans Purse, compared the anticipated exodus to the flight of more than 2 million Rwandans into surrounding countries during and after the African nations 1994 genocide.

This is going to be a very large-scale catastrophe, Nowery said. A huge number of people will be moving into a system thats already stretched.

Already, 66 camps throughout Iraq house nearly 700,000 people displaced by violence.

Bruno Geddo of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees warns in Baghdad that a planned military assault to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul could precipitate a mass exodus of residents. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert / Associated Press )

Camps near Mosul are already overwhelmed as new arrivals wait in fenced-off areas to be screened and camp workers try to keep out the Sunni tribal militias that arrive with trucks to recruit child soldiers to fight Islamic State.

Dibaga, one of the larger camps south of the city of Irbil, was built to house 20,000 families and is home to twice as many.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is building three camps in the Mosul area to house 36,000 people but is unlikely to complete them before the offensive, Grande said.

With little public land in northern Iraq, it can be difficult to buy or rent space to expand camps, said Frederic Cussigh, who leads the U.N. refugee agencys office in Irbil.

There are other challenges: Cussigh said that the opening of two camps was delayed last week after the Iraqi military had to be called in to remove unexploded ordnance.

Many of the people who flee Mosul are expected to receive assistance at 20 emergency sites that the U.N. is rushing to open near the city and stock with tents, food, water and latrines for thousands of people, Grande said.

The Iraqi military wants Mosul residents to stay put when the offensive begins and has been airdropping leaflets advising them not to leave.

The thinking of the Iraqi security forces is that they will be trying to protect people in their homes, Grande said. During offensives this year in the Iraqi cities of Hit, Qayyarah and Sharqat, the military succeeded in doing just that.

But aid officials believe an exodus from Mosul is inevitable. In the aftermath of offensives during the last two years in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, more than 200,000 people were displaced.

Grande said Iraqi forces are preparing to direct civilians to escape routes and on to the camps. As they exit the city, they would be checked by soldiers for weapons and screened in an attempt to prevent Islamic State fighters from slipping away with the masses.

Aid workers plan to provide food and water along the way as well as medical assistance from mobile units on flatbed trucks.

Violence is expected, based on other mass departures this year in which fleeing civilians were attacked by Islamic State fighters. In Fallujah and surrounding areas, which saw about 100,000 people leave after an offensive in May, some were killed by improvised explosive devices and others drowned trying to escape across a river.

When the populations move, Daesh destroys the cities, Grande said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. They booby-trap and destroy them.

About 150,000 families have fled the Mosul area since fighting intensified there in June. Most forgo the camps to live together in apartments or take refuge in abandoned schools, churches and other buildings.

Becky Bakr Abdulla, a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Irbil, a hub for humanitarian agencies about 50 miles east of Mosul, said many of those families are trying to help remaining relatives escape the city and join them before the offensive.

They really want to get out before the fighting begins, but its very difficult for them to find safe routes out, Bakr Abdulla said. We are in a race against time to try to protect the civilians of Mosul.

Under Islamic State rule, Mosul residents live with the constant threat of summary execution for offenses that include using the Internet and cellphones, making it difficult to know what is happening there.

The majority of Mosul residents are Sunni Muslims, which is likely to pose its own set of problems. The surrounding area includes the semiautonomous Kurdish region where officials have said they will not accept displaced people from Mosul. The Iraqi government is dominated by Shiite Muslims.

Mayor Hussein Ali Khajem said tribal fighters and Iraqi forces will enter Mosul while Shiite militias conduct operations outside the city, although he said the militias would not screen those who flee.

The official plan is that the Shiite militias will not participate in this fight. Thats the official order from the prime minister. Still, the people inside fear that some of these militias will not agree, said Atheel Nujaifi, governor of the surrounding Nineveh province, who was forced to flee Mosul when the city fell to Islamic State but who remains in touch with former neighbors.

There is some resistance inside Mosul lately, he said, with residents raising the Iraqi flag in public squares, painting M for muqawama, Arabic for resistance, on walls and parallel stripes of red and black, for the Iraqi flag.

Nujaifi said that without assistance for 100,000 of those fleeing the city, let alone a million, it makes sense for residents to initially shelter in place.

If it is a quick fight, the people will stay for several days, he said, but if there is bombing for a long time, they will leave.

Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a fellow with Washington-based Defense Priorities, said he expects sectarian militias will complicate the offensive.

I just cant see how this is going to work well, said Davis, who recently visited the Dibaga camp and met with Kurdish officials.  Youre going to have hundreds of thousands of people just hanging out in the desert. And how are you going to feed the people?

Remaining in Mosul may be even more dangerous as Islamic State fighters dig in, he said.

Do they say this is our Alamo, we are not going to leave, were going to die in place here? Davis said.

Aleksandar Milutinovic, who heads Iraq operations for the International Rescue Committee, said he worries the offensive will become a sectarian battle that tears the country apart, leaving hundreds of thousands displaced for months in a region where winters are cold and snowy and many people already depend on aid agencies for blankets and kerosene heaters.

In Irbil, his organization has mobilized 534 staff members for the crisis and plans to hire 200 more people in the next few weeks and work round the clock to train them. But as funding is delayed, he said, its just going to get more difficult to hire people, stock our warehouses.

It is going to be too late, he said.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

@mollyhf

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The countries of Africa want partners, not patrons; they want trade, not aid. The United States is determined to be that partner, to accelerate the next era of African growth for all Africans, said President Barack Obama at the 2nd meeting of the U.S.-African Business Forum.

American investment in Africa is up 70 percent. U.S. exports to Africa have surged. In the two years since the last business forum, American and African companies have concluded deals worth nearly $15 billion, which will support African development across the board from manufacturing to healthcare to renewable energy.

The deals and commitments that were announced at this year's U.S.-African Business Forum add up to more than $9 billion in trade and investment with Africa.

So while progress is being made, it is still only scratching the surface. Despite significant growth in much of the continent, Africa's entire gross domestic product, or GDP, is still only about the GDP of France. And only a fraction of U.S. exports, about 2 percent, go to Africa.

A key to changing this scenario is to increase access to electricity for the two-thirds of sub-Saharan Africans who lack it. Three years after launching Power Africa, large portions of Nigeria, Tanzania, and Rwanda are getting access to electricity. This means than students can study at night and businesses can stay open.

The U.S. and GE just announced a public-private partnership to support energy enterprises managed by women in Africa. "I believe we can bring electricity to more than 60 million African homes and businesses," said President Obama.

In the interest of economic growth, it is critical for African countries to practice good governance. That is what ultimately attracts trade and investment.

And finally, African countries need to invest in their young people. "If Africa's young people flourish, if they are getting education, if they are getting opportunity," said President Obama, "I'm absolutely convinced that Africa will flourish as well."

If we do all these things, said President Obama, "I know we're going to be able to move our societies and economies forward. And that will be good not just for Africa, but it will be good for the United States and good for the world."
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
On September 23, at a Lake Chad Basin side event at the UN General Assembly, the United States pledged an additional $41 million in funding to meet emergency needs for conflict-affected and vulnerable households in the Lake Chad Basin. This additional funding to UN and NGO partners will ensure tens of thousands of people receive critical humanitarian assistance, including emergency food assistance, safe drinking water, and shelter support, as well as interventions to address acute hygiene, nutrition, and protection needs.

The crisis is so severe that an estimated 134 children will die every day of severe malnutrition in Nigeria's Borno State unless treated.

According to the United Nations, there are more than 2.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 169,000 refugees living in the Lake Chad Basin. During the Lake Chad Basin side event the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power highlighted the pervasive food insecurity in the region. Ambassador Power stated that the crisis is so severe that an estimated 134 children will die every day of severe malnutrition in Nigeria's Borno State unless treated. "And this is just a sliver of the consequences if we come up short [on raising enough funds], she said.

The United States has now provided more than $359 million in humanitarian aid to the region since 2015. The United States continues to be the largest donor to the area. At the recent high-level meeting, donors pledged $163 million of the $542 million needed between September and December. In addition to the U.S., major donors include Belgium, Italy, and Britain.

The United States urges other donors to fulfill their pledged contributions and consider donations of additional humanitarian assistance for the millions of people in the region whose lives have been devastated by Boko Harams senseless violence.
U.S. Ambassador to Nepal Alaina Teplitz recently met with and bid farewell to Ms. Sahri Maya Thatal, the 90,000th Bhutanese refugee to be resettled in the United States. Ms. Thatal and her four children left Nepal on September 21 to start their new lives in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. Ambassador Teplitz visited the Beldangi Bhutanese Refugee Camp in Jhapa last week where she discussed the third-country resettlement program which is close to completion.

In a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy, Ms. Thatal shared her hopes for new opportunities for herself and her children in the United States after spending over 20 years in a refugee camp. Paul Norton, Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration, the IOM, and Kevin Allen, Country Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, joined Ambassador Teplitz in bidding farewell to Ms. Thatal. The total number of Bhutanese refugees who have been resettled to third countries has reached 105,000, with 90,000 in the United States.

The United States, in coordination with the government of Nepal, UNHCR, IOM, and the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom began resettling Bhutanese refugees from eastern Nepal in 2007.

The Nepali people and government have been very gracious hosts to refugees for decades and the third-country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees is one of the most successful refugee management stories in recent memory, said Ambassador Teplitz.

However, the massive resettlement program is coming to an end. While the international community continues to ask the Government of Bhutan to repatriate those refugees who would like to return, finding a durable solution here in Nepal for those who will remain is critical.
Irans human rights record, as the U.S. State Departments most recent world-wide report noted, remains dismal, despite rhetorical changes from government officials who pledged to restore and expand freedoms for the Iranian people.

Among the violations the State Department cited were severe restrictions on civil liberties, including freedom of the press and expression; executions without due process; and politically motivated violence and repression.

In September, human rights monitors called attention to new incidents that are raising concern. On September 19, Sadra Mohaghegh, social affairs editor of the reformist Shargh newspaper, was reportedly arrested by security agents; his computer and phone were confiscated, supposedly on the grounds that he had a relationship with counter-revolutionary media.

On September 17, another journalist, Yashar Soltani, remained detained in Evin prison after he was not able to post bail for his release. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Soltani was arrested after complaints were brought against three news stories he published.

Meanwhile, prominent reformist journalist Issa Saharkhiz also remains in prison, though his sentence for the purported crime of insulting the Supreme Leader was recently reduced from three years to 21 months. Mr. Saharkhiz was part of the wave of journalist arrests that took place in November 2015 and included newspaper editor Ehsan Mazandarani, as well as newspaper columnist Afarin Chitsaz.

Whether journalists are advocating for national political reform or reporting on a local land deal, they are not safe from Iranian prisons," said the Committee to Protect Journalists Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. "We call on Iranian authorities to stop arbitrarily throwing journalists in jail and let the press do its job."

President Barack Obama has said that all nations  including Iran - are stronger and more successful when they uphold human rights:

A free press that can expose abuse and injustice makes a country strongerAn independent judiciary that upholds the rule of law, and free and fair elections so that citizens can choose their own leaders  these are all the rights that we seek for all people.

President Obama said the reason the United States speaks out for these rights is not because we think our own country is perfect  no nation is; but because we believe [human rights] are the birthright of every human being.
For over four decades, the Andreozzi family has participated in Elko as volunteers, public servants and civic leaders due to their love for the community and its people.

Delmo Andreozzi Sr. was born December 30, 1930, to Michael and Charlotte Andreozzi. Michael, an immigrant from Italy, worked for the railroad between Deeth and Wells. Growing up hearing impaired, Delmo Sr. learned hunting and fishing from his father. He later attended the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind where he was trained as a cobbler.

Delmo met Ida Mae Spader, also a former student of the Utah School. They married May 8, 1964, and raised their children, Delmo Jr. and Charlotte Irene in Elko.

Delmo Sr. worked for the Elko County Road Department and Nevada Department of Transportation. He once owned the Elko Shoe Shop.

In 1971, Delmo Sr. was injured in an accident that left him with a brain injury for the rest of his life. The communitys overwhelming support for the family impacted both of his children. In turn, they became heavily involved in community service.

The people instilled in me this great love for the community, Delmo Jr. said in an interview.

Charlotte grew up in Elko and devoted her time to various projects, including the Relay for Life. Organizing a root beer float fundraiser, the event was continued by her brother after her death from leukemia. The Charlotte Roundtree Memorial Root Beer Float fundraiser continues to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Delmo Jr. graduated from Elko High School where he was a Choralier. Today, he is a vocalist in concerts and patriotic events including the Ruby Mountain Symphony and Fourth of July Fireworks Show. Delmo also participates in musicals and theater productions.

Delmo and his wife, Annie, raised their three children in Elko, where he was employed by the City of Elko. He worked his way up to assistant city manager in his 31 years with the city. In 2014, Delmo was elected to the Elko County Commission.

An organizer of many volunteer projects, including Take Pride in Your Community, Clean Up, Green Up Day, Delmo also serves on numerous boards including Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital Governing Board and Northeastern Nevada Museum Board. He is also a member of the Elko Lions Club.
Tina Ralls traces her son's deadly heroin addiction to the cancer death of her husband in 2006.

James Ralls was 10, and the trauma he carried with him led him to drugs. After a period of sobriety lasting nearly a year, he overdosed in bed, facing a photo of his late father, Tina Ralls told a community forum on heroin Monday night at Liberty High School in Bethlehem.

The focus of the forum, befitting of the venue, was education. Tina Ralls, an attorney who is now working on a book about her son's battle, left the audience with some advice on how to address addiction in a loved one.

"Kids have it rough these days and there's a lot of things that can pull them into this addiction situation," Ralls told about 100 people gathered. "So that's really my message is to try to reach out with compassion.

"I don't believe in tough love, I think it kills more people than it ever did save. I think what we need to do is reach out with compassion, pat each other on the back and say, 'You're doing a good job. Can I get you to a meeting?'"

The statistics are alarming: Heroin deaths across Pennsylvania rose to 3,383 in 2015, up 23 percent from the prior year, police Chief Mark DiLuzio said during the forum organized by the Bethlehem Health Bureau and Bethlehem Area Public Library. The state ranks ninth in the nation in heroin overdose deaths, he said.

On the whole, the United States in 2014 set a record for drug overdose deaths recorded, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A dose is selling for $3 or $4 in the Lehigh Valley, down from $20 in the 1990s, DiLuzio said. The price makes it an attractive alternative to prescription drugs that may have sparked an addiction.

That was what ensnared Donna Jacobsen's daughter, who spiraled from Xanax first prescribed for anxiety, then to other pills and finally to heroin that, she was assured, she could start in on by snorting or smoking rather the injecting.

Lindsay Jacobsen is now five years in recovery, but only after perseverance and false starts, her mother said.

"The important thing that I like to stress to families when I speak is that there is hope," Donna Jacobsen said Monday night. "We as a family learned early on that we needed to be educated.

"If I had known even a small portion of what I know today, do I think things would have been different? Perhaps. I may have just been able to move the process along a little bit more quickly."

Bethlehem schools incorporate a look at heroin into health classes that all high school students are required to take, Superintendent Joseph Roy said. For emergencies, all district schools are stocked with naloxone, with nurses trained on delivering it to reverse the effects of an overdose on heroin or other opiate.

As elsewhere in Pennsylvania, heroin is on the rise in Bethlehem. It's the focus of about 70 percent of long-term drug investigations undertaken by Bethlehem police focus, Detective Sgt. Michael Mish said. That marks a reversal from just a decade ago when 70 percent dealt with other drugs.

Part of the problem, he said, is the Lehigh Valley's proximity to major metropolitan areas where heroin can easily be procured: Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh.

"It makes it enormously profitable to traffic heroin in this region," Mish said. "Unfortunately there's not many places in the country that can say they're sandwiched between so many major metropolitan areas, and I think that kind of works against us."

Once a user starts on heroin, the brain chemistry is altered by the rush of dopamine, a naturally occurring chemical associated with reward, said Amanda Major Foehr, recovery specialist with the Lehigh Valley Drug and Alcohol Intake Unit. That's what makes overcoming addiction so difficult, though it can be done, said Major Foehr, herself a recovering addict.

"That's not the thing that defines me today," she said Monday night. "But I'm OK with saying that. I can say it out loud because I know I'm a good employee, I'm a coworker, I'm a wife, I'm going to be a mother, I have all these other things in my life today. ...

"It's not over and done and in the past and something that's forgotten about. It's something that's very real, and that needs to be remembered on a daily basis."

DiLuzio, the police chief, was blunt in his assessment of the scope of the problem, and the risk users run:

"This is something that it's going to take us time to get out of. It took us time to get into this problem.

"And it's something that we all have to work on: rich and poor, black and white because heroin doesn't really give a rat's ass if you're white, black, Hispanic, male, female, earn 100-grand a year or $10,000 a year.

"OK? You use it, you're going to overdose, it's going to kill you. It is you might say a non-prejudicial drug."

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A nursing home chain that operates two facilities in Easton will pay $2 million to settle claims that it misled residents about the level of care they'd receive once moving into the home.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Bruce Beemer announced the settlement on Tuesday morning.

It involves Reliant Senior Care Holdings Inc., which runs 22 facilities statewide including the Easton Nursing Center and Praxis Alzheimer's Facility, both on Washington Street in Easton.

Praxis Alzheimer's Center is on Washington Street in Easton. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

Benner says in a news release that his office accused Reliant of misleading consumers by failing to provide services promised to elderly residents in what constituted a violation of state law.

Specifically, Reliant promoted the services in advertisements, marketing materials and care plans, the attorney general says. Reliant allegedly failed to deliver on what it was promoting by leaving its facilities understaffed and unable to provide personalized services.

As part of the settlement, Reliant has agreed to a series of changes devised to make sure that staffing levels and care within facilities it owns or operates match the representations it makes, the news release says.

Of the $2 million settlement, $1.25 million will go to the Department of Health to fund a plan to address Pennsylvania's regulatory oversight of nursing homes.

The attorney general's office investigation looked at services dating to 2012 and found that Reliant limited the number of certified nurses' aides at its facilities so that basic care needs of residents could not be met, the AG's office claims.

"This basic care includes activities such as eating and drinking, incontinence care, transfer from a bed to a chair, repositioning in a bed, dressing, showering, range of motion exercises and daily hygiene," the office's news release states.

The settlement requires court approval. It will go before the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas.

Reliant has since changed its name to Priority Health Care, according to its website. It is based in Eddystone, Pa. A message left for the company's CEO seeking comment about the settlement was not immediately returned.

Reliant denies that it failed in meeting adequate staffing needs and advised state officials that it is selling its skilled nursing facilities in Pennsylvania to an independent third party, according to the final judgment approved by both sides.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Matt Cartwright and Matt Connolly

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat, left, faces Republican challenger Matt Connolly in November 2016 to represent the 17th Congressional District covering parts of Northampton County. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photos)

UPDATE: Attacks, Trump and Clinton surface in 17th Congressional debate

WLVT-PBS39 is hosting live debates Tuesday and again Oct. 11 for the Lehigh Valley's congressional races.

Up first is the 17th Congressional District, followed next week by the 15th Congressional District. Both are scheduled to air live on PBS39 at 7 p.m. each night.

In the 17th District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat, faces a challenge from Republican candidate Matt Connolly, of Bethlehem Township.

Cartwright, of Moosic in Lackawanna County, is seeking a third two-year term in the House of Representatives.

An attorney, Cartwright says on his campaign website he was selected to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he is a ranking member on the Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits and Administrative Rules. Cartwright is also a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Connolly describes himself on his website as a race car driver-turned-mechanic, following the economic recession of 2008, and a real estate investor.

Much of his platform mirrors that of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, including lowering the corporate tax, repealing Obamacare and cutting environmental regulations.

"To finish up, I'm pro-Second Amendment, 100 percent pro-life, pro-school choice and don't support gay marriage (civil unions are the solution)," he says on his site.

The 17th District covers Schuylkill County; parts of Monroe, Carbon, Lackawanna and Luzerne counties; and the following areas of Northampton County: portions of Bethlehem's 17th Ward; Easton; Bangor, East Bangor, Freemansburg, Glendon, Nazareth, Pen Argyl, Portland, Roseto, Stockertown, Tatamy, West Easton and Wind Gap; and the townships of Bethlehem, Forks, Lower Mount Bethel, Palmer, Plainfield (Delabole), Upper Mount Bethel, Upper Nazareth (Eastern) and Washington.

The 15th District covers Lehigh County; parts of Berks, Dauphin and Lebanon counties; and the following area of Northampton County: Bethlehem and the townships of Allen, Bushkill, East Allen, Hanover, Lehigh, Lower Nazareth, Lower Saucon, Moore, Plainfield (Belfast, Kesslersville and Plainfield Church districts), Upper Nazareth (Western) and Williams.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican, seeks a seventh two-year term representing the 15th District and is being challenged by Democratic candidate Rick Daugherty.

Check back at lehighvalleylive.com/elections for coverage of both debates.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Two adults have been found dead of suspected drug overdoses after their 7-year-old daughter told school officials in western Pennsylvania that she couldn't wake them up.

Allegheny County police says the bodies were discovered Monday evening in the living room of their McKeesport apartment.

Authorities say a 9-month-old girl, 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old boy who were inside the home have been taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

Lt. Andrew Schurman says early indications are that the adults may have been dead for a day or two. He says they suspect the adults died from a drug overdose and that foul play is not suspected.

The bodies haven't been publicly identified.

Police say another fatal overdose happened on the same street earlier that day.

John Best is a freelance writer. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.
Hundreds of Penn State students marched around searching for a clown that campus police say existed only in their minds.

Pennsylvania has been plagued by bizarre clown sightings -- most of them hoaxes -- and Monday night's incident at Penn State seemed to be more of the same, if on a larger scale.

Penn State police Sgt. Mike Nelson conservatively estimated at least 500 students marched and chanted during a "clown hunt" that was prompted by Twitter and other social media posts.

Nelson says there was "no property damage, no injury and no violence." There were also no clowns sighted, except for one image projected onto the side of an apartment building.

Police say the students gathered in various locations in downtown State College and on campus.

Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.
ELKO  With the cold and flu season upon us, Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital has planned a free flu shot event Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon or until supplies run out. The shots will be administered at the hospital building, 2001 Errecart Blvd.

Our mission is to make communities healthier and events like this free flu shot clinic are one of the things that we host to try to achieve that mission, said Rick Palagi, CEO. NNRH has incredible staff members who truly care about the health and wellbeing of their friends and neighbors and we hope that offering these flu shots will help our community stay just a bit healthier through the cold and flu season.

The free flu shots are available to adults and children ages 4 and up (with parental consent). This year the hospital is encouraging priority for those members of the community who are uninsured and wouldnt otherwise be getting a flu shot. Insured patients should consider getting the shot from their physician or pharmacist.

The flu shots are free but the hospital is encouraging participants to bring a non-perishable food item (canned goods, etc.), an old pair of glasses, or some used clothing as a donation. These items will be donated to the Ruby Mountain Resource Center, Friends in Service Helping (FISH), and the Lions Club.

For convenience and to encourage community participation, participants will not even need to get out of their car. Participants can simply pull into the main parking lot and follow the signs to the flu shot stations. Clinical personnel will follow-up with participants from there.
A female garda and a garda sergeant were both assaulted at the weekend in Portlaoise Garda Station, by a local man who had been arrested for drink driving.

The assaults, which left both gardai requiring medical attention, took place in Portlaoise Garda Station in the early hours of Sunday, October 2.

Their assailant was a 42-year-old man from the local area, who was brought to the station to be processed for drink driving, having been arrested on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise.

While he was being processed at the station, the man assaulted the female garda by punching her to the face and kicking her legs, and assaulted the male garda sergeant by administering punches, kicks and headbutts.

The vicious attack happened at around 3.30am.

A garda spokesperson has confirmed to the Leinster Express that both officers received minor injuries, including soft tissue damage and bruises.

Fortunately, neither garda had to be hospitalised, although both received medical attention at the garda station.

The garda spokesperson has said that a file is now being prepared for the director of public prosecutions.

This is the latest such attack against the gardai, after a garda was viciously assaulted in the public office of the garda station just over a month ago.
Tributes have been paid to a Cork-based referee, who died after reffing an under-16 camogie match last Saturday.

Army Sgt Dominic (Domo) Rooney (45), who was originally from Newbridge, was married with a family in WaterRock, Middleton.

The father of four had left Kildare around 15 years ago, but still retained strong local connections. The respected GAA man died despite desperate pitchside attempts to revive him.

He is survived by his wife Margaret, children David, Adam, Cillian and Eoin, his father, Paddy; sister, Pauline Murphy and brothers Patrick and Alan.

He will also be sadly missed by extended family, neighbours and friends, colleagues within the Defence Forces and Carrigtwohill GAA Club.

Attached to the Engineering Corps at Collins Barracks in Cork, he had served with the UN in both the Lebanon and Kosovo.

His local club, Carrigtwohill GAA Club said that All club GAA matches are postponed as a mark of respect to the late Dominic Rooney. We extend our deepest sympathies to Margaret and the boys at this very sad time.

Douglas Camogie Club also offered its condolences on the club Facebook page.

Douglas Camogie offer our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and the extended GAA family of the referee who passed away suddenly. Our thoughts are with his family at this time, the club said.

The Camogie Association also expressed its condolences to his family.

Cork Camogie described him as one of the Associations most esteemed referees.

Mary Newman, secretary of Glen Rovers Camogie club, said Mr Rooney was one of natures gentlemen.

He was so nice when officiating and always looked after players so well, she said. He had a saying if a player got injured  Take yer time, the clock is stopped.

Today when the final whistle was blown and the clock stopped, our game [has] not just lost a referee but all camogie players, clubs and officials have lost a great friend, she said.

Mr Rooney's funeral takes place at St Mary's Church, Carrigtwohill on Wednesday at 2.30pm followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Writing in the Evening Standard, Nick Clegg argues that the Conservative party poses a serious threat to the long-term health of the British economy:

Mays party is now poised to inflict more damage on the British economy in one Parliament than John McDonnell could manage in a decade.

The evidence accumulates by the day: just this week the Conservatives announced a sweeping increase in business rates for many high-street companies, especially in London, having buried the business rate review initiated by Danny Alexander in the last Government. The Financial Times has reported that the Government is poised to decide in favour of Heathrow expansion but will then, weirdly, refuse to advocate it in Parliament, preferring the lottery of a free vote instead. Since when was building a runway equivalent to matters of conscience such as abortion or war, the subjects normally reserved for free votes? And Government ministers have pretty well confirmed that theyve given up seeking to protect the passporting rights of the City of London in the EUs Single Market when we quit the EU.

A Government that whacks up London business rates, fudges airport expansion again (Gatwick, incidentally, remains by far the most deliverable option) and kicks the financial sector  which has provided it with most of its donations  in the shins is not, you would have thought, a natural party of business.
COINCIDING with the release of his much anticipated autobiography, Paul OConnell will be signing copies of the book, The Battle, in OMahonys bookshop this Sunday at 2pm.

The former Munster, Ireland and Lions captain is also to make an appearance on the Late Late Show this Friday night to discuss the book which hits bookshelves this Thursday.

Paul has described The Battle, published by Penguin Ireland, as the full story. I think its very honest and I hope people will enjoy it, he said.

Extracts from the book will be published in LeaderSport, the sport edition of the Limerick Leader, this weekend.

The extracts are to focus on Pauls early days playing rugby with his beloved Munster.

In the book the 36-year-old admits that Joe Schmidt was the greatest standard setter he played under across his illustrious career.

He also speaks about the positive influence former Munster and Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery had on his game.

The Battle has been ghost-written by Alan English, former editor of the Limerick Chronicle and Limerick Leader and recently appointed editorial director of Iconic Newspapers.
PLANS to construct a budget hotel in Dooradoyle are back on the table, after owners of the Unicorn Pub and Restaurant recently applied to extend its planning permission for the development.

The business previously applied to construct a 50-bedroom hotel development, an underground car park, alterations to the Unicorn which would include the demolition of two houses, in 2011.

The old County Council, as it was, approved the development on September 27, 2011.

At the time, the cost of the development was put at 4m.

The development, it was estimated, would create 70 jobs, 50 of which would be in construction.

According to the original plans, the hotel would provide American-style semi-catering rooms, as well as a gym. While there would be a new reception area, the existing Unicorn Bar would act as the main bar and restaurant.

The plans proved to be unpopular with a number of residents, as 13 officially objected to the development. According to a Limerick Chronicle report in 2011, among the concerns expressed to the council was an increase in anti-social behaviour, the potential for a traffic hazard and a drop in the value of their homes.

On August 31, 2012, An Bord Pleanala gave the hotel development the green light. In November 2012, demolition works took place next to the restaurant and a space was cleared for the development.

Separately, in 2013, the bar was given the green light to use the vacant site as a car park for up to three years. In June 2016, the business was given a further three-year extension to use the vacant site as a car park.

Attempts were made to contact Unicorn management, but these proved unsuccessful.
NOREEN McManus has committed a quarter of a million euro to scholarships for students in her alma mater  Colaiste Nano Nagle.

It was called the Presentation School during Mrs McManuss time in Sexton Street  and it was during a ceremony to mark the name change in 2014 that the idea started.

Marion Cummins, principal of Colaiste Nano Nagle, said they invited Mrs McManus as she is a past pupil.

We got chatting and Noreen said she would like to help the school out. I then met her at the JP McManus All-Ireland scholarship awards in UL and shortly after that I got a phone call from her that she wanted to come to the school

She came in and offered us the scholarships. I was quite astonished. I didnt expect this, I knew she said she was going to help but I didnt expect that level of funding for students, said Ms Cummins.

The Noreen McManus scholarship awards has committed 250,000 in total over five years.

Three students who achieve the highest Leaving Cert results in the class and go on to study at third level will receive 3,000 each year for the duration of their course. The girl who receives the highest Leaving Cert applied programme result and goes on to study in further education will also be financially backed.

We are absolutely thrilled and cant thank Noreen enough. It is going to make such a difference to the students. We are really excited about it in the school and the parents are thrilled, said Ms Cummins.

The Noreen McManus scholarship awards will be officially launched in Colaiste Nano Nagle at 4pm on Monday, October 10, with a special ceremony featuring pupils, staff, parents and the donor.
THE announcement this week of 50 jobs at Casa Systems is the latest in a series of new IDA-backed jobs for Limerick  and there could be a further boost next week.

In the last two weeks, the agency has announced the creation of 560 new roles in four separate companies, a figure which includes the creation of the new positions at broadband firm Casa Systems this Monday.

It is the third Monday in a row that Limerick has started the week with good news on the jobs front.

And the Limerick Leader understands more jobs are on the way at a firm investing in the city, due to be announced shortly.

Niall OCallaghan, the Mid-Wests regional director of IDA Ireland has hailed a very good couple of weeks for Limerick  but emphasised these jobs have come as a result of years of hard work.

Ultimately, it comes in peaks and troughs. The underlying work in the background which goes to deliver this is important. It just so happens they all came together now, he said.

To illustrate this, he pointed out that first contact had been made with life-sciences firm Ortec  which created 110 jobs in Newcastle West  seven years ago.

Talks with other firms which have recently invested in Limerick began up to 12 months ago, Mr OCallaghan added, saying: It can really vary, the gestation period.

As well as Ortec, and Casa, Fazzi Healthcare Services has provided the biggest jobs boost in the last month, setting up a new coding and healthcare arm in Limerick, in a move which will see 300 roles over five years.

Texas technology company WP Engine also added 100 positions last Monday.

This week, Massachusetts firm Casa Systems announced plans to create 50 roles as it sets up its first European headquarters at the National Technology Park in Plassey.

The companys senior vice-president Lucy Xie said Limerick moved to the top of the list when it came to workforce talent.

Casa provides fixed, mobile and wi-fi network solutions, plus develops, manufactures and markets devices to allow cable operators to utilise interactive digital video and broadband IP services over cable networks.

Mayor Kieran OHanlon said the latest news shows Limerick is moving very swiftly in the right direction.

Im particularly pleased to hear from Casa that Limerick has a growing reputation internationally for its highly-skilled technical, logistics and manufacturing talent pool, he added.
MR GAY Limerick, who is using his reign to promote the work of suicide prevention charities, has said he no longer wants to hear a helicopter flying over our beautiful river.

Dr Christian Moretti, 32, who is a secondary school teacher in county Limerick, has again refuted some beliefs that the competition is a flamboyant, eccentric and exhibitionist manifestation, and has again stressed the opportunity of this role to highlight worthy causes.

The chosen charity of the Italian native is the suicide prevention charity, Pieta House because every single life is worth it, beautiful and important.

I do not want to hear or see anymore that helicopter flying over our beautiful river.

There has to be support for whoever needs it and we all need to become aware that we all play an important role in our society; it is never someone else's job, it is our duty to take care of each other, be kind to people, offer a good word to them, make them feel happy.

Speaking recently to highlight suicide awareness month, Dr Moretti said: Before I decided to take part in the Mr Gay Limerick competition, suicide has always upset me terribly, physically and mentally.

Thinking that someone sees death as the last resort just breaks my heart.

When I decided to take part into the Mr Gay Limerick competition I saw that there was a chance for me to vocalise my concerns and to be actively involved to fight for mental health.

Some people see this competition as a flamboyant, eccentric and exhibitionist manifestation.

To these people I would like to say that this is definitely not the case.

Winning Mr Gay Limerick is not an occasion to gain attention but a challenge to make a real difference in the community.

My choice was to try and raise awareness for mental health issues across Limerick and the country.

There is a painful silence around these issues in our society, a sort of tacit agreement not to talk about it or not to talk about it extensively and frankly. Of course the citizens are worried and try their best to raise awareness and support each other; however I feel that the institutions are implicitly silencing the peoples concerns.

He said he shivered when he read recent statistics that 50% of LGBT teenagers had attempted suicide.

To donate, see www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mrgaylimerick1617.
'WHAT did Michael Collins do after the War of Independence? Answer: 'He made a movie'.

Comedian and teacher John Caplis, who has received countless humorous answers from students in exam papers, is bringing his real-life experiences to the stage next month on the Dolan's Upstairs stage.

Entitled 12 Years A Teacher, Caplis' sketches are an autobiographical "tale of pain, stress, heartache with a good dose of laughter, which takes a satirical look at the life of a substitute teacher.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, the UL graduate explained that the show is "basically a cathartic rant", which recalls his experiences as a history teacher over the last 12 years, both here in Ireland and in the UK.

The show includes many tales from his teaching days, including his first job in Finglas, Dublin, and how he managed to get away with saying the 'f' word to a class full of first years, whilst explaining how Newgrange was built.

John also relays the challenge of teaching history as an Irishman in England, especially when his first topic was Oliver Cromwell - under the subheading Brave or Badman.

However, he said that all challenges did not come without some moments of laughter, including some of the answers that he has corrected over the years in exams.

As well as the above example, he mentioned others that stand out in his mind.

When he asked students why the 'The Stone Age, one of the earliest known periods in history, was called the Stone Age', the answer he received was: 'Because thats when stones were introduced into Ireland'.

"Overall, 12 Years A Teacher is a show which will must certainly connect with fellow substitute teachers or anybody who dares to recall their own days in secondary school," he said.

John Caplis brings his comedy show 12 Years A Teacher to Dolan's Upstairs on Thursday, October 6.

See www.dolans.ie for more information and to book tickets.
ELKO  The Elko Police Department is asking for the publics help in identifying and locating the individuals responsible for shooting the windows of businesses and cars, with what appear to be pellet or BB guns.

Since Sept. 2, this year, weve had 24 incidences where windows were shot out, said Lt. Rich Genseal.

In the past 24 hours, there have been five reported instances.

Authorities do not have any suspects at this time. However, these events appear to have the earmarks of last years shootings of car windows.

Locations include businesses on Idaho, Second, Cedar and Sixth streets, as well as residences and parked vehicles in the tree-streets.

Police have surmised these acts were potentially committed by young adults, possibly in a vehicle, who are shooting the businesses and vehicles for thrills.

Contact the police department at 777-7310, if there is any information concerning these acts, suspects or a vehicle description.
Oct 4, 2016, 5 AM

Another British color error in the Gibbons auction in September, one of seven examples known of strips of the 1973 Good King Wenceslas stamp without rosy-mauve ink, sold for $11,475.

One of 41 known examples of a British color-missing error sold for $4,950 at the Stanley Gibbons auction in September. The error has the gold color missing from the silhouette of Queen Elizabeth II on the 1967 stamp honoring painter Laurence Stephen Lowr

In September in London, Stanley Gibbons offered a cover with a rare franking: a pair of Kashmir 1a black stamps of 1867. It brought $8,400, double its estimate.

Among the Indian feudatory states offerings in the Stanley Gibbons September sale was an early stamp of Soruth on a cover fragment. The item sold for $11,475.

By Matthew Healey, New York Correspondent

Stanley Gibbons offered British Empire and worldwide stamps on Sept. 6 in London that included some rarely-seen items from Indias so-called feudatory states.

Although nominally under British control in the late 19th century, India was in reality a patchwork of princely (or feudatory) states, most of which were practically autonomous, and more than 30 of them issued their own postage stamps for local use. Many were crudely produced and lack English inscriptions which, together with their rarity, make them a challenge to collect.

Jammu and Kashmir were two of the states that issued their own stamps, beginning in 1866. Because they were ruled by the same sovereign, the two are listed together in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue.

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A pair of Kashmir 1a black stamps of 1867 (Scott 66) was tied to a gray cover by a red circular postmark of Srinagar, described as a very rare franking. The imperforate stamps, printed in watercolors on so-called native paper, show a primitive squared-oval design with inscriptions in both of the alphabets used for the Kashmiri language.

The cover more than doubled its presale estimate, selling for the equivalent of $8,400, including the 18 percent buyers commission charged by Stanley Gibbons.

An early stamp of Soruth, another of the princely states, was offered on a fragment of an envelope. The roughly separated 1a stamp, printed in 1868 in red on green paper (Scott 4) is tied to the piece by a grid of dots, with part of a Jaitpore postmark nearby. Accompanied by a British Philatelic Association certificate, the item sold for $11,475.

Away from India, the Gibbons sale offered some modern British errors, including a color-missing stamp used on a first-day cover.

Britain issued a set of three stamps in 1967 honoring painters, two classical and one contemporary. The latter, Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976), is represented by his industrial cityscape titled Coming Out of School. A silhouette bust of Queen Elizabeth II in gold and the denomination 1/6, representing 1 shilling and 6 pence, complete the design.

Forty-one examples missing the gold head in error (Scott 516c) were reported sold by the post office, but to date only two unused examples and two on first-day covers have surfaced. The FDC, accompanied by a letter from the British Post Office to the man who discovered the error, sold for $4,590.

Britains 1973 Christmas issue included a se-tenant strip of five stamps (Scott 713a) showing scenes from the legend of Good King Wenceslas, who is said to have gone out on a cold winters night to help the poor.

Some were printed without the rosy-mauve ink, affecting the designs of all but the leftmost stamp in the strip. Seven such error strips are known; the one in the Gibbons sale sold for $11,475.
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ELKO  An Idaho man was arrested on an open murder charge in the death of a Ryndon woman whose decapitated body was found by a hunter Sept. 4 in a shallow grave off Mountain City Highway.

Today wed like to announce we did find the suspect in our missing person that turned into a homicide, said Sheriff Jim Pitts.

Jose J. Segundo-Huizar, 46, of Jerome was arrested Monday evening at the murder site, after showing detectives where the womans head was buried. He is being held without bail.

He did admit to killing the victim and he also voluntarily came back to Elko and showed us where the rest of the body was buried, said Pitts.

Pitts said the head was buried approximately one mile down the road from the body. The Elko County Sheriffs Office did not originally report that she had been decapitated because it was thought to compromise the investigation.

Detectives have been working on the case since Carmen Magallanes-Sanchez, 34, was reported missing Aug. 24 by her boyfriend, said Pitts.

They followed up on information that led them to Idaho, with help from the task force and the Idaho State Police. The sheriff said the detectives gained a lead on Segundo-Huizar through Facebook and other evidence, including phone calls the family received.

A search warrant was issued for Segundo-Huizars home and executed Monday afternoon. Evidence in one of the vehicles and residence led to the suspects questioning.

Even though Magallanes-Sanchez was living with someone else, Segundo-Huizar claims the pair had had an intermittant relationship.

There is not a clear motive. Segundo-Huizars statements to authorities reveal a dispute over having sex, said Pitts, explaining the Washoe County Medical Examiners Office said the initial autopsy results showed Magallanes-Sanchez had been dead only a few days before the postmortem.

This aids detectives in creating the approximate 10-day timeline for the investigation.

The sheriff suggested there was an altercation between the pair, where Segundo-Huizar pushed the victim.

The authorities do not have an exact cause of death. It is unclear if the decapitation took place after death as the autopsy is not complete at this time.

The sheriffs office identified the body of Magallanes-Sanchez through fingerprints on Sept. 15.

The grave was approximately 30 miles north of Elko just off of Mountain City Highway. The body was exhumed from the site and sent to the Washoe County Medical Examiners Office.

The investigation is ongoing and the Washoe County Crime Unit was at the scene Tuesday, helping to recover parts of the head, which had been dug up by animals and scattered in the barren area.

Segundo-Huizars initial hearing was heard by Elko Justice of the Peace Mason Simons, who approved the defendants application for counsel and appointed the Elko County Public Defenders Office for representation.

Elko County Public Defender Kriston Hill told the judge she would be handling the case.

During the proceedings, it was stated Segundo-Huizar is a ranch hand with a wife in Idaho. His two adult sons reside in Mexico.

Chief District Attorney Chad Thompson said the State would most likely file the criminal complaint by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

Simons said it is his intention to see Segundo-Huizar after the complaint is filed to address the charge and set further court proceedings.
ELKO  A defendant in an attempted murder case claimed his trial had been compromised by racism and incompetence on the part of his appointed attorney, causing counsel to be dismissed and sentencing continued Thursday in Department II of Elko District Court.

Sean Dean, 50, was convicted by an Elko County jury on June 28 of attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon, battery with the use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, and battery with a deadly weapon, said Elko District Judge Al Kacin.

The State is seeking for Dean to be judged a habitual criminal and serve a life sentence without parole, said Kacin, explaining the gravity of this case in terms of sentencing.

Gary Woodbury filed a petition for advice and instruction with the court in which he cited a breakdown in communications between himself and Dean.

Kacin explained Deans right to remain silent. However, the defendant said his statements were too serious to remain silent and not to break attorney-client privilege concerning Woodbury. The defendant read from a four-page letter he claimed was hand-delivered to him by his former counsel.

I feel like my trial has been compromised, Dean said multiple times throughout his statements.

During his time in Elko, since 2012, Dean claims to have had some uncomfortable experiences, which included racial slurs, leading him to not want his trial to take place in Elko  a choice he said he made clear to Woodbury and asked him to relay Deans apprehensions to the judge on two occasions.

Racially slanderous language was allegedly used by Woodbury in his trial notes regarding an African-American witness, according to Dean.

Dean feared the possibility of an all-white jury as he feels the citizens of Elko stereotype African-Americans based on media portrayals. Additionally, during jury selection Dean asked for a juror to be eliminated as he seemed to create conflict.

When questioned, Dean said the man apparently remained on the jury because I (Woodbury) like him, angering Dean because the consequences of the proceedings affected him, not the attorney.

The things I wanted him to present, he never did, said the defendant, explaining there were common-sense questions delineated in a seven-page letter.

Thats a significant piece of information that could have had an  effect on the jury, because there was a specific question asked and that would have eradicated that whole question  there was more than one injury, two of them, said Dean, explaining not all of his injuries were exhibited during the trial on Woodburys recommendation.

Another instance included Woodbury telling his client he was unaware of a wound on one of the victims, Burt Minter, that was three-and-a-half inches deep and Minters need for exploratory surgery, until after the doctor had testified.

I dont necessarily oppose it. It sounds like there has been a significant breakdown in the relationship between Mr. Woodbury and his client, said Deputy District Attorney Mark Mills, explaining the States position on releasing Woodbury from his appointment to represent.

The deputy DA cited Young v. Nevada, which discusses substitution of counsel through a three-prong test: the extent of the conflict; the adequacy of the inquiry by the court; and the timeliness of the motion.

Mills said the first two instances have been shown. In addition, it further stipulates a refusal to substitute counsel, if a collapse is evident, creates a violation of Sixth Amendment rights.

Kacin has to appoint Dean another defense attorney to review the case and consult further with the defendant on how to proceed.

The judge will look outside of the immediate area as the defendant said he is not comfortable with representation from Elko.

Dean said he did not want to represent himself.
ELKO  While most people have heard about the initiatives to legalize marijuana and increase firearm background checks, many could not name the other two statewide questions on Novembers ballot.

The Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities hosted a lunch Monday to explain and answer questions on all four of these initiatives.

The Guinn Center is a nonprofit and bipartisan research center focused on providing fact-based information to decision makers, said Executive Director Nancy Brune.

You may have noticed in this election cycle theres a trend going around, primarily in the West, but also across the United States where there are a growing number of ballot initiatives, she said.

The partisan gridlock in Washington and in the state has increased the amount of initiatives on the ballot, Brune said. She said the center thought it would be important to prepare fact sheets on the ballot initiatives.

She said she was in White Pine County last week and asked people how many questions would be on the ballot.

No one could answer that question, Brune said. I think a lot of times people dont even realize it because the airwaves are being dominated by the presidential candidates or the Senate candidates and they dont even know until they go vote what theyre being asked to consider. You guys have an increasing responsibility because the Legislature is kicking these really important policy decisions back to you.

Question 3 would change Nevadas Constitution. If it is passed, it would require the Legislature to provide by law for the establishment of an open, competitive retail electric energy market that prohibits the granting of monopolies and exclusive franchises for the generation of electricity.

The Guinn center found Question 3 to be too complicated to explain quickly.

This is actually one of the ballot initiatives that we didnt do an extensive fact sheet on  reviewing in detail arguments for and against  because as you probably know if youve looked at this issue, its very complicated, Brune said. You cant explain regulation and natural monopolies in 10 or 15 pages. So were working on sort of an energy paper for the state and we will address this issue.

This initiative is going to the voters because the Nevadans for Affordable Clean Energy Choice Political Action Committee filed an initiative petition in February and collected enough signatures.

If this question passes it will appear on the ballot again in 2018, Brune said.

A yes vote means that the Legislature would be required to provide an open, competitive retail electricity market by July 1 of 2023, she said. So its a long time coming even if this does pass.

NV Energy supplies electricity to about 84 percent of the entire state. The measure does note that nongovernmental commercial and industrial end users that consume an annual average of 1 megawatt of electricity a year can still file with the PUC to exit their provider of energy, Brune said.

The other question most people do not know about is Question 4, the Medical Patient Tax Relief Act. This measure also seeks to amend the state Constitution.

If passed it would provide a sales and use tax exemption to individuals for durable medical, oxygen delivery and mobility enhancing equipment. Nevada only exempts prosthetic devices from sales and use tax.

The Coalition to Stop Taxes on the Sick and Dying put forth the initiative petition, said Guinn Center Associate Director of Research Megan Rauch.

Proponents of the issue said it would assist people living with disabilities and senior citizens.

In 2013, 197,638 unique beneficiaries filed claims with Medicare to receive a prescription for durable medical, oxygen delivery and mobility enhancing equipment, Rauch said. This works out to be about 6.8 percent of the population is estimated will benefit from this sales tax exemption.

She said the fiscal impact to the state would be nominal and no organizations have come out against the initiative.

The Guinn Center also went over Question 1 and 2, which will be covered in an article in Wednesdays Free Press.
ELKO  The overhaul of Nevadas guardianship program is not specific to Clark and Washoe counties as a local district judge is a member of the commission and has enacted a system of guardianship hearings in the county.

The Commission to Study the Creation and Administration of Guardianships  which has called for an overhaul of the States guardianship program  included Elko District Judge Nancy Porter in the position of a district judge from one of the other judicial districts.

Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice James Hardesty served as the chair of the panel.

Porter told the Free Press there are five district judges who each sit on a subcommittee. Her subcommittee specifically dealt with rewriting the statutes for the guardianship of minor children.

These statutes will be given to legislators on the committee for the next session of the Legislature.

Due to their size, Washoe and Clark counties have hired full-time compliance officers.

That persons job is to make sure that everything that is supposed to happen under the law, or pursuant to court order, is happening, said Porter, explaining many guardianship cases have been closed that have been neglected or failed to follow the statutes or stipulations of the court.

These aid in the management and reduction of the number of these cases.

There is not a local compliance officer. Therefore, Porter has taken this matter under the guidance of her office, including getting accountings filed.

When guardianship has been open for a year, guardianship of an estate  the guardian has to file an accounting once a year, she said, discussing this delineates the money taken in on the wards behalf and what was done with it.

Porter discovered upon taking on her position these things were not kept track of.

In Washoe and Clark, they had their IT (information technology) departments actually create a software program for them. We havent done that here but weve created our own system, she said.

This method continues to work on tracking cases, ensuring the accountings are filed, and dismissing guardianships if they have not and continue to not be conducted in a proper and legal manner.

Department II District Judge Al Kacin hears cases that create a conflict of interest for Porter, who had a long-time private practice in Elko.

About 95 percent of guardianship cases are seen by Porter.

Elko County now has attorneys that can be appointed for children and adults in these cases: Michelle Rodriguez, for children, and Brian Oltman of Nevada Legal Services for adults.

Financial assistance was also garnered from Washoe Legal Services to help fund the participation of Rodriguez, said Porter.

The attorneys are informed of their expectations in court. The judge also delineates a schedule of court dates and when documents are due in these procedures.

Porter said she has had conversations with the Elko County District Attorneys Office and local law enforcement concerning ways to improve the investigation and prosecution of guardianships.The County Public Guardian, Kathleen Jones, would also like to conduct a training of law enforcement.

Jones, who has been a guardian for 15 years, said the commission for reform has really been kind of a godsend to Nevada as far as the family guardians, the professional guardians  as far as accountability. There wasnt much accountability in our courts as far as that.

Looking at adult guardianships, Jones called Porter diligent, careful, very sincere on the guardianships and she is the one that makes us accountable.

Im starting to see a little bit more prosecution of these cases than I did in the past. Not necessarily where there was a guardian involved, but where someone has taken advantage of an elderly person, said Porter.

These cases sometimes involve instances where there needs to be a guardian, but there hasnt been up to that point.

Porter said she would like to see crimes against the elderly as a class at Nevada Peace Officers Standards and Training.

In the middle of 2016, there were approximately 330 open guardianship cases in Elko County, which can be comprised of more than one person.

The work of the commission included the creation of a bill of rights, changing some of the terminology, such as the use of ward, a reconciliation of medical and legal terms as well as the definitions of when a guardian should be required, stated Porter and the Associated Press.

Porter said she will follow the rules and laws handed down from the Supreme Court. She believes the work and changes to be made will carry on for a few more years.

Its really an important thing were doing, she said. These are vulnerable people and there needs to be really serious court oversight. A convicted felon in prison has more rights than a ward in a guardianship.
JEROME  Former brand inspector Justin Wayne Archer, who pleaded guilty to stealing from Producers Livestock earlier this year, violated the trust of this community and the trust of this state, Jerome County District Judge John Butler said Monday.

Archer, 31, of Kimberly was sentenced Monday to five years of supervised probation, 500 hours community service and ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in fines and restitution.

He pleaded guilty in August to a felony count of grand theft for stealing money from Producers Livestock with the help of one of that companys employees and his co-defendant, Georgina Zamora, 40, of Jerome. The pair admitted during an investigation that Zamora wrote Archer a check for $6,571.91 from her employers account. Archer said he cashed the check and they split the money.

As a brand inspector, basically youre a sworn officer, and you engaged in activity that is clearly contrary to your own oath, Butler told Archer. Its hard to believe that someone in your position could even find yourself agreeing to be engaged in this type of activity.

Archer and Zamora were both charged in May with felony counts of grand theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft, but the conspiracy charges for both were dropped as part of plea agreements. Zamora was sentenced last month to a suspended five-year prison term, three years of supervised probation, a $1,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.
Chelsea Clinton recently suggested that marijuana might be deadly when taken with other drugs. But is this really true?

Although marijuana can interact with other drugs, there do not appear to be any reports of deaths that directly resulted from taking marijuana in combination with other drugs.

While speaking in Ohio on Sept. 24, Clinton was asked whether her mother, Hillary Clinton, supports changing the way marijuana is categorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration so that it would be easier for researchers to conduct studies on the drug. Chelsea Clinton replied that her mother does support research on marijuana. Then, she added, "But we also have anecdotal evidence now from Colorado, where some of the people who were taking marijuana for those purposes, the coroner believes, after they died, there was drug interactions with other things they were taking."

A spokesperson for Clinton later said Clinton "misspoke about marijuana's interaction with other drugs contributing to specific deaths, according to The Huffington Post.

By itself, marijuana is not known to have direct lethal effects. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, no overdose deaths from marijuana have been reported in the United States.

In addition, the evidence that marijuana may interact with other drugs is limited, according to a 2007 review paper in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

Still, marijuana does appear to interact with a number of drugs, the review said. If marijuana is taken with alcohol, benzodiazepines (drugs that treat anxiety) or muscle relaxants, the combination can result in "central nervous system depression," the review said, which means that people can experience decreased breathing and heart rate, and loss of consciousness. [How 8 Common Medications Interact with Alcohol]

There also have been reports of people experiencing a rapid heart rate and delirium after using marijuana while taking older forms of antidepressants (known as tricyclic antidepressants), the review said.

Marijuana may also interact with drugs that are broken down by enzymes in the liver known as cytochrome P450 enzymes, according to the Mayo Clinic. That's because a compound in marijuana called cannabidiol can inhibit these enzymes. Therefore, marijuana may prevent other drugs from being broken down properly, and as a result, levels of these other drugs may be increased in the blood, which "may cause increased effects or potentially serious adverse reactions," the Mayo Clinic says.

One example is the drug sildenafil, commonly known by the brand name Viagra, which is broken down by cytochrome P450 enzymes. In 2002, researchers in the United Kingdom reported that a 41-year-old man had a heart attack after taking marijuana and Viagra together. This report could not prove that the marijuana-Viagra combination was definitely the cause of the man's heart attack. However, the researchers said that doctors "should be aware" of the effects of inhibiting cytochrome P450 enzymes when prescribing Viagra.

Still, Live Science could not find any scientific or news reports of people who have died as a result of marijuana interacting with another drug.

But that doesn't mean marijuana is harmless  the drug can impair coordination and slow down reaction time, and it has been linked with fatal car crashes, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). A 2011 study found that people who reported driving within 3 hours of using marijuana, or drivers who tested positive for the drug, were more than twice as likely to be involved in a car crash compared with other drivers.

The Mayo Clinic says marijuana can increase the drowsiness caused by some drugs, including diazepam (Valium), codeine, antidepressants and alcohol, and so people need to be cautious if they drive or operate machinery after using these drugs with marijuana.

People who take high doses of marijuana may experience anxiety attacks or hallucinations, according to the NIDA. In some rare cases, intoxication with marijuana has been linked with suicide. In 2014, researchers from Germany reported that two men died from heart problems that were brought on by smoking cannabis.

But marijuana may have a benefit in terms of reducing deaths from opioid painkillers. A 2014 study found that rates of overdose death from opioids were lower in states where medical marijuana is legal. Another study, published earlier this month, found that rates of opioid use decreased among younger adults in states that had legalized medical marijuana. It's possible that people are substituting medical marijuana for opioids to treat chronic pain, the researchers said.

Original article on Live Science.
NOAA's GOES East satellite on Oct. 2 at 4:45 a.m. EDT showed Hurricane Matthew's eye as the storm moved through the south central Caribbean Sea.

As powerhouse Hurricane Matthew continues on its slow but steady track across the Caribbean toward Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba, experts caution that the storm's impact could be devastating.

The 13th named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season is also the strongest storm since Hurricane Felix in 2007. Matthew briefly reached Category 5 hurricane status  with winds exceeding 157 mph (252 km/h)  on Oct. 1, NASA reported. Matthew dropped to Category 4 strength soon after, with maximum sustained winds calculated at a still-dizzying 140 mph (225 km/h) on Oct. 3. And high-speed winds are only part of the threat that the storm poses to Haiti, with storm surges and "life-threatening rain" also anticipated, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Florida. [Hurricanes from Above: Images of Nature's Biggest Storms]

The NHC describes Category 4 storms as producing "catastrophic damage" -- snapping and uprooting trees, severely damaging even well-built homes, causing sustained power outages, and rendering much of the area in the hurricane's path uninhabitable, perhaps for months.

So what's making Matthew such a beast, and what needs to happen for hurricanes to reach this level of intensity?

The perfect storm

Storms as strong as Matthew are rare in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and for hurricanes to build up to Matthew's current intensity, several conditions must be met, according to Chris Lancey, a science and operations officer at the NHC.

Lancey told Live Science that there are several key "ingredients" in the recipe for a powerful hurricane. The first requirement is warm ocean water  "the warmer the better," Lancey said. And it can't just be a shallow layer at the ocean surface, he added. Warm water provides the energy that fuels a growing tropical storm  the higher the water temperature and the more warm water there is, the more energy the storm has to tap into, and the faster its winds can blow.

Hurricane Matthew: Oct. 4, 2016, 2:15 to 9:15 A.M. ET. Satellite image is in infrared with rainbow enhancement. (Image credit: NOAA Satellite and Information Services)

Another important factor that fuels hurricane strength is an abundance of moist air. While hurricanes form in the tropics  where moist air is generally abundant  dry air originating over Africa and western Europe frequently finds its way into hurricanes and weakens them, Lancey explained.

"If dry air is sucked into a hurricane, it disrupts the thunderstorm activity and causes them to stutter," he said.

The final variables that can make or break a hurricane are wind shear  rapid changes in wind speed or direction at certain atmospheric heights  and whether it hits land. In both cases, the hurricane's structure is disrupted, which weakens it. For a hurricane to reach Category 4 or Category 5 strength, all of these variables must come together at the same time  and that simply doesn't happen very often, Lancey told Live Science.

However, much of the damage Matthew is expected to inflict on Haiti, in particular, will not be due to the high wind speeds, but rather a staggering amount of rainfall, with forecasts predicting 15 to 25 inches (38 to 64 centimeters) over the next few days.

"In Haiti, the biggest factor for loss of life is flash floods and mudslides," Lancey said. "Portions of Haiti are very deforested, which makes flooding worse. A lot of people are living in river valleys that fill up with water; there could be a lot of people hurt or killed when Hurricane Matthew comes through there."

Currently, Matthew is tracking northward and approaching southwestern Haiti, the NHC reported. The storm is expected to continue toward eastern Cuba and reach southeastern parts of the Bahamas on Oct. 5.

Original article on Live Science.
A bloody assault by Roman legions on a hill fort in Scotland around 1,800 years ago is being pieced together using the remains of Roman missile weapons that were used in the attack.

The excavations at Burnswark Hill, in the Dumfries region of southwest Scotland, have unearthed the largest cache of Roman lead sling bullets yet discovered  part of the huge arsenal of missile ammunition used by the attacking legions to subdue the native defenders of the hilltop fort.

So many sling bullets and other Roman missiles have now been found at Burnswark Hill that archaeologists think the raid was staged as a warning to anyone who resisted Roman rule: an act of "exemplary violence" designed to terrorize the Scottish tribes into submission, the researchers said. [See Photos of the Roman Sling Bullets Discovered at Burnswark Hill]

"You've got a relatively small hill fort [under attack by] a relatively large Roman force, using a relatively large amount of missile material," John Reid, an archaeologist with the Trimontium Trust, the Scottish historical society directing the investigation at the Burnswark Hill site,told Live Science. "Exemplary violence is nothing new, and it's certainly not unique to the Romans  but the Romans did it on a grand scale."

The researchers estimate that up to 5,000 Roman soldiers took part in the attack, based on the size of two Roman army camps that were built to the north and south of the hilltop fort.

The number of people in the hill fort is not known, but judging by the size of the force used to attack them it may have been between 1,000 and 2,000 armed defenders, Reid said, as well as their families and other non-combatants who had taken refuge there from the Romans.

North of the wall

Burnswark Hill lies just a few miles north of the chain of forts and ramparts known as Hadrian's Wall, which was built across southern Scotland during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117 to 138) and served for many years as the northern border of the Roman Empire.

But Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius, who reigned from A.D. 138 to 161, ordered the Roman armies in Britain to subdue the tribes north of the wall. Burnswark Hill may have been first in the firing line, according to the archaeologists.

"We think that the sling-bullet event at Burnswark Hill was part of the Roman invasion of lowland Scotland, and it may have been the opening event," Reid said.

The key to the study has been the discovery of more than 800 lead bullets buried in the ground of the ancient battlefield. The location of the bullets were mapped with specialized metal detectors and used to recreate some of the events of the assault. Similar techniques have been used by battlefield archaeologists to map battles from the early modern period, based on the distribution of lead musket balls. [7 Technologies That Transformed Warfare]

But the Burnswark Hill investigation may be the first time the technique has been used to map a battle from the ancient world.

"Normally, ancient battlefields are entirely invisible, because the projectiles are not detectable: iron will rust away and wood will disintegrate, while stone is undetectable," Reid said. "So we are lucky in that Burnswark represents one of the few places in Britain where we know that lead projectiles were used, and we've got metal detector technology that can pick up the distribution of these lead sling bullets and work out the choreography of the action."

Mapping the battle

Several different types of sling bullets have been found at the site, from small lead bullets drilled with holes that the researchers think were designed to make a whistling noise in flight and terrorize their targets, to the largest lemon-shaped sling bullets, which weigh up to 2 ounces (60 grams).

Archeologist Andrew Nicholson, who led the excavations at Burnswark Hill in September, explained that the different bullets found at different places on the battlefield hinted at the progress of the raid. [Photos: Ancient Roman Fort Discovered]

"The interesting thing is that all the whistling sling bullets are from the Roman camp on the south face of the hill fort, so clearly they are using different sling bullets for different purposes," Nicholson told Live Science.

"Our distribution plan clearly shows that the south side, where we think the final assault took place, is where the whistling bullets are, which is what you would expect for their psychological effect," he said. "[But] the north camp, which we've always seen as blocking the escape, simply has the very large, very lethal lemon-shaped bullets."

The researchers are now preparing samples of lead from the sling bullets for isotope analysis, which they hope may help them pin down the date of the Roman assault on the hill fort.

"We know that some of the Roman sling bullets found on Burnswark Hill in the past were made from the same batch of lead as some of the sling bullets found at the Roman fort at Birrens, a mile and half away  and the ones at Birrens are very tightly dated to the early Antonine period," Nicholson said.

The researchers are also studying several acorn-shaped sling bullets found at Burnswark Hill that appear to match bullets found at other Roman sites in Scotland, but nowhere else in the former Roman Empire.

The acorn-shaped bullets "might mark a particular batch of bullets that would end up being allocated to a particular unit or group of units, and this might become an identifier for tracing the movements of those units," Nicholson said.

Original article on Live Science.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

While the Nobel Prizes are 115 years old, rewards for scientific achievement have been around much longer. As early as the 17th century, at the very origins of modern experimental science, promoters of science realized the need for some system of recognition and reward that would provide incentive for advances in the field.

Before the prize, it was the gift that reigned in science (opens in new tab). Precursors to modern scientists  the early astronomers, philosophers, physicians, alchemists and engineers  offered wonderful achievements, discoveries, inventions and works of literature or art as gifts to powerful patrons, often royalty. Authors prefaced their publications with extravagant letters of dedication; they might, or they might not, be rewarded with a gift in return. Many of these practitioners worked outside of academe; even those who enjoyed a modest academic salary lacked today's large institutional funders, beyond the Catholic Church. Gifts from patrons offered a crucial means of support, yet they came with many strings attached.

Eventually, different kinds of incentives, including prizes and awards, as well as new, salaried academic positions, became more common and the favor of particular wealthy patrons diminished in importance. But at the height of the Renaissance, scientific precursors relied on gifts from powerful princes to compensate and advertise their efforts.

Presented to please a patron

With courtiers all vying for a patron's attention, gifts had to be presented with drama and flair. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) presented his newly discovered moons of Jupiter to the Medici dukes as a "gift" that was literally out of this world. In return, Prince Cosimo "ennobled" Galileo with the title and position of court philosopher and mathematician.

If a gift succeeded, the gift-giver might, like Galileo in this case, be fortunate enough to receive a gift in return. Gift-givers could not, however, predict what form it would take, and they might find themselves burdened with offers they couldn't refuse. Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), the great Danish Renaissance astronomer, received everything from cash to chemical secrets, exotic animals and islands in return for his discoveries.

Patrons often bestowed gold portrait medals with their own images, a form that survives in the Nobel medal to this day. The medal usually came on a chain that could be sold, but the recipient could not cash in on patron's image itself without offense.

Regifting was to be expected. Once a patron had received a work he or she was quick to use the new knowledge and technology in their own gift-giving power plays, to impress and overwhelm rivals. King James I of England planned to sail a shipful of delightful automata (essentially early robots) to India to "court" and "please" royalty there, and to offer the Mughal Emperor Jahangir the art of "cooling and refreshing: the air in his palace, a technique recently developed by James' court engineer Cornelis Drebbel (1572-1633). Drebbel had won his own position years earlier by showing up unannounced at court, falling to his knees, and presenting the king with a marvelous automaton.

Searching for better incentive structures

Gifts were unpredictable and sometimes undesired. They could go terribly wrong, especially across cultural divides. And they required the giver to inflate the dramatic aspects of their work, not unlike the modern critique that journals favor the most surprising or flashy research leaving negative results to molder. With personal tastes and honor at stake, the gift could easily go awry.

Scientific promoters already realized in the early 17th century that gift-giving was ill-suited to encouraging experimental science. Experimentation required many individuals to collect data in many places across long periods of time. Gifts emphasized competitive individualism at a time when scientific collaboration and the often humdrum work of empirical observation was paramount.

While some competitive rivalry could help inspire and advance science, too much could lead to the ostentation and secrecy that too often plagued courtly gift-giving. Most of all, scientific reformers feared an individual would not tackle a problem that couldn't be finished and presented to a patron in his or her lifetime  or even if they did, their incomplete discoveries might die with them.

For these reasons, promoters of experimental science saw the reform of rewards as integral to radical changes in the pace and scale of scientific discovery. For example, Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), lord chancellor of England and an influential booster of experimental science, emphasized the importance even of "approximations" or incomplete attempts at reaching a particular goal. Instead of dissipating their efforts attempting to appease patrons, many researchers, he hoped, could be stimulated to work toward the same ends via a well-publicized research wish list.

Bacon coined the term "desiderata," still used by researchers today to denote widespread research goals. Bacon also suggested many ingenious ways to advance discovery by stimulating the human hunger for fame; a row of statues celebrating famous inventors of the past, for example, could be paired with a row of empty plinths upon which researchers might imagine their own busts one day resting.

Bacon's techniques inspired one of his chief admirers, the reformer Samuel Hartlib (circa 1600-1662) to collect many schemes for reforming the system of recognition. One urged that rewards should go not only "to such as exactly hit the marke, but even to those that probably misse it," because their errors would stimulate others and make "active braines to beate about for New Inventions." Hartlib planned a centralized office systematizing rewards for those who "expect Rewards for Services done to the King or State, and know not where to pitch and what to desire."

Moving toward a more modern mode

Collaborative scientific societies, beginning in the mid-17th century, distanced rewards from the whims and demands of individual patrons. The periodicals that many new scientific societies started publishing offered a new medium that allowed authors to tackle ambitious research problems that might not individually produce a complete publication pleasing to a dedicatee.

For example, artificial sources of luminescence were exciting chemical discoveries of the 17th century that made pleasing gifts. A lawyer who pursued alchemy in his spare time, Christian Adolph Balduin (1632-1682), presented the particular glowing chemicals he discovered in spectacular forms, such as an imperial orb that shone with the name "Leopold" for the Habsburg emperor.

Many were not satisfied, however, with Balduin's explanations of why these chemicals glowed. The journals of the period feature many attempts to experiment upon or question the causes of such luminescence. They provided an outlet for more workaday investigations into how these showy displays actually worked.

The societies themselves saw their journals as a means to entice discovery by offering credit. Today's Leopoldina, the German national scientific society, founded its journal in 1670. According to its official bylaws, those who might not otherwise publish their findings could see them "exhibited to the world in the journal to their credit and with the praiseworthy mention of their name," an important step on the way to standardizing scientific citation and norms of establishing priority.

Beyond the satisfaction of seeing one's name in print, academies also began offering essay prizes upon particular topics, a practice which continues to this day. Historian Jeremy Caradonna estimates 15,000 participants in such competitions in France between 1670, when the Royal Academy of Sciences began awarding prizes, and 1794. These were often funded by many of the same individuals, such as royalty and nobility, who in former times would have functioned as direct patrons, but now did so through the intermediary of the society.

States might also offer rewards for solutions to desired problems, most famously in the case of the prizes offered by the English Board of Longitude beginning in 1714 for figuring out how to determine longitude at sea. Some in the 17th century likened this long-sought discovery to the philosophers' stone. The idea of using a prize to focus attention on a particular problem is alive and well today. In fact, some contemporary scientific prizes, such as the Simons Foundation's "Cracking the Glass Problem," set forth specific questions to resolve that were already frequent topics of research in the 17th century.

The shift from gift-giving to prize-giving transformed the rules of engagement in scientific discovery. Of course, the need for monetary support hasn't gone away. The scramble for funding can still be a sizable part of what it takes to get science done today. Succeeding in grant competitions might seem mystifyng and winning a career-changing Nobel might feel like a bolt out of the blue. But researchers can take comfort that they no longer have to present their innovations on bended knee as wondrous gifts to satisfy the whims of individual patrons.

Vera Keller, Associate Professor of History, University of Oregon

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Scientists are narrowing in on why many of us find certain foods so irresistible. In a new study, researchers in the United Kingdom found that people with a particular gene mutation have a much stronger preference for fatty foods than those without the mutation.

These same people who preferred the fatty food also showed far less desire for sweet foods compared with other study participants, the researchers found. Although the mutation is rare, affecting less than 1 percent of the population, the findings suggest that all kinds of food preferences may be hard-wired into our brain circuitry, and defined by our genetics, the researchers said. [The Science of Hunger: How to Control It and Fight Cravings]

Understanding these genetic underpinnings of food preference may lead to better appetite-suppressing drugs that could help people avoid overeating, the researchers wrote in a study published today (Oct. 4) in the journal Nature Communications.

Most people find high-fat foods appetizing. This craving likely had evolutionary advantages because fat has twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrates, and securing a sufficient number of calories was crucial for survival, according to Sadaf Farooqi of the Wellcome TrustMedical Research Council Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge, who led the new study.

"When there is not much food around, we need energy that can be stored and accessed when needed," Farooqi said. "As such, having a pathway that tells you to eat more fat at the expense of sugar [a carbohydrate], which we can only store to a limited extent in the body, would be a very useful way of defending against starvation."

A craving for fat

Previous studies in mice have shown that disruption of a particular neural pathway in the brain involving the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) can lead to mice eating a lot more fat and a lot less sugar. This led researchers to speculate that the MC4R gene may be involved in appetite control.

Farooqi's group wanted to see how this mutation might affect the foods that people choose to eat. So, they devised a straightforward study involving some people with a rare mutation of the MC4R gene, and others without that mutation. Some of the people with the mutation were obese. [11 Surprising Things That Can Make Us Gain Weight]

In a study, the researchers offered study participants an all-you-can-eat buffet of three different versions of chicken korma, a creamy curry dish. The three options in the buffet were manipulated to look and taste the same, but in fact the fat content was very different, containing either 20 percent (low), 40 percent (medium) and 60 percent (high) of the total calories.

Study participants fell into three categories: lean people, obese people and people who were obese because of the defective MC4R gene. After tasting a small sample of each dish, the participants were allowed to eat freely, unaware of the fat-content difference.

Although each group ate the same total amount of food, those with the defective MC4R gene ate about twice as much of the highest-fat option compared with the lean people. They ate about 1.5 times as much as the obese participants who did not have this gene mutation.

Then, in part two of this study, subjects were offered a dessert called Eton mess, a sweet mixture of strawberries, sugar, meringue and whipped cream. This time, the three options varied in their amount of sugar, but all had the same amount of fat.

In a caloric turnabout, the lean participants and the obese participants without the gene mutation went for the option with the highest sugar, while those with the mutation seemed to dislike that option and ate significantly less of all three desserts, compared with the other two groups, the study found.

A way to target hunger

With no perceptible difference in the look, smell and texture of the foods, the difference in preferences could only be explained by a genetic underpinning, not learned behavior, which may make it hard for some people to control their eating habits, the researchers concluded.

But manipulating this neural pathway that controls appetite in humans is proving to be difficult, according to Dr. Bradford Lowell, a professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, who led earlier research on the melanocortin-4 receptor in mice.

"The MC4R is indeed a potential drug target for treating obesity," Lowell told Live Science. "However, its activation, in addition to causing decreased hunger, also causes adverse cardiovascular effects. This is a problem made worse by the fact that individuals with obesity often are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease."

Lowell said his research team is continuing to investigate in mice the specific neural pathways that mediate the hunger-versus-cardiovascular effects of MC4Rs with the goal of activating only the appetite-control aspect of this neural pathway.

Farooqi told Live Science that there are "many other genes to explore, several of which seem to modulate the same pathways" and that she hopes to study them in the future.

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
Emotions can be tricky enough for humans to read, let alone machines, but a new system can predict people's feelings with 87 percent accuracy by bouncing wireless signals off them, researchers say.

The setup, dubbed EQ-Radio, analyzes the signal reflected off a subject's body to monitor both breathing and heartbeat. These physiological cues are commonly used to detect a person's emotions, but it typically requires hooking up the subject to a host of sensors.

Using a device smaller than a Wi-Fi router, researchers at MIT were able to monitor a person's breathing and heartbeat wirelessly. These measurements were then fed into a machine-learning algorithm that classified the subjects emotion as excited, happy, angry or sad. The accuracy was similar to state-of-the-art wired approaches, the scientists said. [5 Ways Your Emotions Influence Your World (and Vice Versa)]

The inventors say potential applications include health care systems that detect if you're getting depressed before you do, "smart" homes that can tune lighting and music to your mood or tools that allow filmmakers to get real-time feedback on their audience's reaction.

"The idea is that you can enable machines to recognize our emotions so they can interact with us at much deeper levels," said Fadel Adib, a doctoral student at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab who helped design the system.

To test EQ-Radio, 12 subjects were monitored for 2 minutes at a time while experiencing no emotion and also while using videos or music to recall memories that evoked each of the four emotions (excited, happy, angry and sad). A machine-learning algorithm was then trained on each subject's heartbeat and breathing data from each monitoring period.

According to Adib, the system intelligently combines the two and then maps the results onto a graph where one axis represents arousal and the other represents "valence"  essentially, whether an emotion is positive or negative. This is then used to classify the emotion into the four broad categories.

After training on each subject individually, the system could accurately classify their emotional states 87 percent of the time, the researchers said. A separate system trained on data from 11 participants was able to classify the emotions of the unseen 12th subject 72.3 percent of the time.

"Our emotions are continuous and it doesn't make sense for us just to assign them to one of these states," Adib told Live Science. "But it's a way to start and moving forward we can develop techniques to understand better the different classes or subclasses of emotion."

The system relies on a radar technique called Frequency Modulated Carrier Waves, which is particularly powerful because it can eliminate reflections from static objects and other humans, the researchers said. This high-precision body tracking is sensitive enough to pick up the rising and falling of the chest during breathing as well as minute vibrations caused by blood pulsing through the body. As heart contractions happen much faster than breathing acceleration, measurements are used to isolate the fainter heartbeat signals, they added.

Dimitrios Hatzinakos, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto who specializes in biometric security, said the potential for automated emotion recognition is huge. But he said the controlled nature of the experiments on the EQ-Radio device make it hard to judge if it would work in real-world situations.

"Real life is brutal in this sense. The algorithm might work fine under some conditions and fail in others," Hatzinakos told Live Science. "A thorough evaluation should be done in real-life environments if we want to talk about practical systems."

But Dina Katabi, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, who led the research, is confident the device will hold up in real-life situations. She plans to incorporate the emotion-detection capability into devices made by her company Emerald that use wireless signals to detect falls among the elderly.

The researchers also think the fact that the system relies on mechanical signals rather than electrical ones to monitor the heart could lead to significant applications in health care.

"What really tells you about functioning of the heart are the mechanical signals," Adib said. "So it will be very interesting to try to explore what are the conditions we can actually extract, given that we are getting this level of granularity."

The team will present the work at the Association of Computing Machinery's International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, which is being held from Oct. 3 to 7 in New York City.

Original article on Live Science.
Goyas Fight with Cudgels, a symbol of fraternal violence.

When Thomas Hobbes coined the phrase: Man is wolf to man  Homo homini lupus est in Latin  in the mid-17th century, man was already more of a pet than a wolf to his fellows.

Many who still quote Hobbes perhaps dont realize that chimpanzees are wolves to other chimpanzees, and even cute bug-eyed lemurs are likely to massacre their own kind under certain circumstances.

Violence has an evolutionary component but that doesnt mean its determined by genetics Jose Maria Gomez, study author

In fact, the animal kingdom is rife with this kind of violence, which appears to be just another characteristic of evolution.

Within this context, just how lethal are humans to each other? A new study by Spanish scientists published in the latest edition of the science journal Nature compares our level of interpersonal violence with other mammals by drawing on a broad base of evidence.

According to the researchers, the proportion of human deaths predicted to be caused by interpersonal violence stands at 2%. In other words, two in every hundred deaths is the result of violence. Interestingly, the researchers point out that this figure corresponds to prehistoric rates of fatalities. After that, other factors come into play, first exacerbating and then mitigating our propensity for killing one another.

The authors of the study, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universities of Granada and Rey Juan Carlos, spent two years compiling data based on their studies of 1,024 mammal species to quantify the level of intra-species lethal violence. They also gathered information on human carnage from 600 civilizations dating back 50,000 years.

Bonobos were found to have low levels of violence against one another. Nahoko Tokuyama

They discovered that 4.5% of chimpanzees are killed by a fellow chimpanzee, while only 0.7% of bonobos are killed by their own kind. Meanwhile, violent deaths among humans in medieval times accounted for around 12% of the total.

The researchers established two factors that provoke greater levels of lethal violence within a species: their sociability and territoriality, both of which are human characteristics. Besides, our ancestral family tree can be traced back to the most bloody grand order of mammals called the euarchonta, which includes primates.

Meanwhile, the most violent behavior was found to occur among meerkats, mongooses, lions and other big cats, some lemurs and baboons, wolves and other canines that move in packs, as well as sea lions, groundhogs and prairie dogs.

The 2% is more or less the percentage that corresponds to our phylogenetic roots, says Jose Maria Gomez of Granada University. But if that were our only influence, that 2% would not vary; there are cultural and contextual factors that manipulate the level of violence.

From the Paleolithic period until the Bronze Age, levels of violence remained more or less constant. But when the Iron Age came around, the bloodletting among humans escalated until the modern age, when it started to correct itself. In the last two centuries, the proportion of lethally violent deaths is noticeably lower than in previous years, according to Gomez and his colleagues.

Being highly social and territorial sparks greater levels of violence

The researchers then went on to analyze the levels of violence in relation to the type of government in power. Prehistoric tribes moved within obvious boundaries. The rule of chieftains and ancient kings produced a dramatic rise in violence while the modern political state has managed to keep the levels well below the expected 2%.

Our research can help to resolve the question of whether violence has an evolutionary component, says Gomez, speaking from Spains Arid Zones Experimental Station. But not whether there is a determining genetic element.

Gomez explains that they look at political systems because they are an obvious potential influence but there are many other factors that can alter the level of lethal violence among humans such as culture and trade.

Violence has an evolutionary component but that doesnt mean its determined by genetics, says Gomez

In recent years, the popular science author and psychologist Steven Pinker has become one of the most vocal and controversial figures on the subject after publishing books such as The Blank Slate and The Better Angels of our Nature, in which he argues that human violence has decreased over the course of history and that we are living in one of the least dangerous periods for our survival. When consulted about the Nature study, Pinker described himself as impressed with Gomez and his team. If only this study had been done when I wrote the book, he said.

Its a creative and meticulous analysis, and of course one that is consistent with my view of the history of violence,  added Pinker, who points out that many animals, not just humans, kill one another, and the fact that we are social and territorial means that a high level of violence is to be expected, although we have learned how to correct it by establishing laws and institutions.

Although I pointed all this out in The Better Angels of our Nature, they have done it with much greater precision and depth, he concludes.

English version by Heather Galloway.
The city of Flint, Michigan, is seeing a rise in cases of a bacterial illness called shigellosis, and the ongoing water crisis there may be in part to blame, according to news reports.

So far this year, there have been 85 cases of shigellosis in Genesee County, which includes Flint, according to The New York Times. That's the highest number of shigellosis cases among all counties in Michigan this year.

A statement from Genesee County Health Department in September said that cases of the bacterial illness are up in both the county and the state. In the entire state of Michigan, there were 454 cases of shigellosis this year, and there were 515 cases in 2015. That compares to 175 cases in 2013 and 249 cases in 2012.

Shigellosis is a very contagious gastrointestinal disease caused by the bacteria Shigella. There are about 500,000 cases of the illness each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain, and usually last a week, although it may take several months for people's bowel habits to return to normal after infection, the CDC said.

The Shigella bacteria are spread through contact with fecal matter. People can become infected if they eat food or touch surfaces that have been contaminated with Shigella. Careful handwashing with soap and water can reduce the spread of the disease, the CDC said. [Top 7 Germs in Food that Make You Sick]

But residents of Flint may have changed their handwashing habits as a result of the city's water crisis, CNNreported. In 2014, the city changed the source of its water supply, and that change resulted in an increase in the water's levels of lead. Exposure to this lead may have caused health problems, including rashes, hair loss and neurological issues, The New York Times reported.

Distrust in the city's water caused people to bathe and wash their hands less frequently, Jim Henry, the environmental health supervisor of Genesee County told CNN. "People have changed their behavior regarding personal hygiene. They're scared," Henry was quoted as saying.

Residents have been using baby wipes to wash their hands, but because these wipes aren't chlorinated, they don't kill bacteria, Henry said. "It doesn't replace handwashing," he said.

The Genesee County Health Department's statement encouraged residents to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds each time, particularly after using the bathroom and before preparing food.

If people do not have soap and water, they can use alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol to prevent the spread of Shigella, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Original article on Live Science.
A huge anti-corruption trial got underway in Madrid on Tuesday, with 37 suspects in the dock for their involvement in the so-called Gurtel case , a kickbacks-for-contracts scheme that has plagued the conservative Popular Party (PP) and which has become the biggest known case of party-related corruption in Spains democratic history.

Barcenas (c, top), Correa (c, below) and Pablo Crespo (second from left) in court on Tuesday. Chema Moya (EFE)

Investigators spent five years following the leads of a case involving six regional governments and nearly 200 official suspects, making it the largest pre-trial probe in the history of the High Court, Spains central criminal tribunal. Such is the scope of the case that it has been broken up into sections to facilitate the work of investigating magistrates.

On Tuesday, the court will begin looking at a key component of the web of corruption with the activities of businessman Francisco Correa from 1999 to 2005 at the center of proceedings.

The presence of former Popular Party treasurer Luis Barcenas on the bench is potentially highly damaging

Correa, whose surname loosely translates as belt, or gurtel in German, allegedly headed up the corrupt business dealings of the ring, paying kickbacks to PP politicians in the regions of Madrid and Castilla y Leon and Valencia, as well as in the town of Estepona, near Malaga.

Anti-corruption judges will now hear oral testimony on those alleged bribes and the ways in which Correa and his associates are thought to have hidden evidence of their existence via a web of letterbox companies and bank accounts in offshore tax havens. Also on the bench is Spains former health minister Ana Mato, who is thought to have unknowingly received financial benefit from the kickbacks scheme, while the Popular Party itself is a defendant.

Correa, who faces 125 years and one month in prison, has promised to cooperate with authorities, which could include admitting to some of the accusations leveled at him by prosecutors. However, Don Vito, as he is known to his associates, has on other occasions suggested he may confess without ever making good on that promise. To date he has paid 2.2 million in reparations to various civil administrations in Spain using funds from frozen accounts in Switzerland.

Another key feature of the trial  and one that is potentially highly damaging for the PP  is the presence of Luis Barcenas, former treasurer of the PP from 2008 to 2009, who is accused of financial crimes and who was also found to have amassed a fortune of 48.2 million in Swiss bank accounts, the origin of which remains unclear. His testimony will include the details of a parallel accounting system he allegedly operated on behalf of the party, a slush fund he claims to have used to make illegal under-the-table payments.

Anti-corruption investigators allege Barcenas appropriated 299,650 from the party slush fund.

In a complicated trial that judges have broken into sections, Gurtels activities in Madrid will be the initial focus. Here the regional government of then-Madrid premier Esperanza Aguirre is alleged to have given Correa hundreds of contracts to organize public events. Aguirres right-hand man at the time, Alberto Lopez-Viejo, is charged with taking a 10% cut on the cost of these events in exchange for awarding them to Correas companies.

Other sections of the trial will focus on Castilla y Leon, the town council in Majadahonda (Madrid) and Estepona in Malaga.

With nearly 200 official suspects, this is the largest pre-trial probe in the history of Spain's High Court

In the case of Castilla y Leon, judges will try and ascertain whether Barcenas, the ex-premier of the region Jesus Merino, and the former mayor of Pozuelo de Alarcon (Madrid) (who is also the ex-husband of former health minister Ana Mato), were in cahoots with Correa. Barcenas allegedly took 1.28 million in commissions, while the sum is alleged to be 331,737 for Merino.

The Gurtel investigation began in the summer of 2008 after a former PP councilor, Jose Luis Penas, filed a complaint with the anti-corruption attorney. For a year, Penas had been recording conversations with Francisco Correa, in which the latter detailed his own corrupt business dealings and his ties to PP leaders.

For months, former High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon conducted a secret investigation into the allegations and ultimately ordered three ringleaders arrested in February 2009. He also obtained extensive documentary evidence of parallel accounts kept at Correas companies showing the payment of illegal commissions to PP politicians. However, he was thrown off the court bench and barred from serving as a judge in 2012 after being convicted of breaching his duties and violating the constitutional rights of several corruption defendants by ordering phone taps of their jailhouse conversations in 2009.

English version by George Mills.
Javier Fernandez, chair of the PSOE interim management team. ULY MARTIN (EL PAIS)

While the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) agonizes over whether to let acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy form a new government, Congress is already moving to change the date of the general election that would result from its own inability to choose a leader.

Rajoys Popular Party (PP) on Monday proposed changing the election date from the highly unpopular December 25, which the political calendar currently mandates, to December 18.

I am not even considering the possibility of free votes

Javier Fernandez, chair of PSOE management team

This date switch requires a reform to voting legislation, and all parties have agreed to put the proposal through ultra-fast-track procedure to ensure that it reaches the Senate for final passage by late October.

If no governing agreement is reached by October 31, King Felipe VI will be forced to dissolve parliament and call new elections. They would be the third in a year, and pollsters are predicting a historically low turnout as Spaniards grow increasingly weary of politicians inability to strike deals.

To abstain or not to abstain?

Between now and then, the main opposition PSOE also has to pull itself together following last weekends debacle, when Pedro Sanchez resigned as secretary general after an internal rebellion that climaxed with an emergency meeting at Madrid headquarters and protests outside the building.

Pedro Sanchez resigned on Saturday as secretary general of the PSOE. Fernando Villar (EFE)

Sanchez has been an unwavering opponent of supporting a new Rajoy administration in any way, while some Socialist officials feel that the party should allow it in order to pull Spain out of the prolonged political deadlock.

But few within the party have actually come out and said it in so many words. On Monday, Javier Fernandez, the chair of the management team that is temporarily leading the PSOE until a new secretary general is found, said the closest thing: I do not want elections, and I will defend that before the Federal Committee.

Whatever the decision, all Socialist deputies must vote the same way, as conscience voting is not an option

Until now, high-level party meetings have deliberately avoided the issue. But Jose Maria Barreda, a former premier of Castilla-La Mancha, says that Socialists cannot put it off any more, and that anyone who supports abstaining at the investiture vote  a move that would effectively let Rajoy become the new PM  must come out and say so.

Supporters of abstention have been embarrassed about discussing it, said Barreda on Onda Cero radio station.

It will be up to the 290-member Federal Committee  the same one that voted Sanchez down on Saturday  to decide whether the PSOE takes the historical step of helping its traditional rival into office.

Before that, Javier Fernandez will convene a session of the Territorial Council, in which top regional leaders will decide on a common position and convey it to their grassroots. If this council greenlights abstention, it will not have an easy job of convincing the rest of the party, where Sanchezs no-to-Rajoy attitude has made great inroads.

Whatever the decision, all 85 Socialist deputies in Congress must vote the same way, as conscience voting is not an option.

I am not even considering the possibility of free votes, said management team chair Fernandez, who is also the regional premier of Asturias. Instead, he will attempt to convince fellow party members that abstaining is not the same as supporting.

English version by Susana Urra.
School & Education, Local News, Business & Finance, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 04 2016

"New York is funding public education on the back of the homeowners across this state and it has created a crisis for school districts across the state.

The Brooks Plan has several key point that will insure every school district gets the needed funding but at the same time provides some expense controls in educational funding.

Long Island, NY - October 3, 2016 - State Senate Candidate and Former Seaford School Board Vice President says the way we currently fund public education in New York is broken and beyond repair. New York is funding public education on the back of the homeowners across this state and it has created a crisis for school districts across the state.

New York State provides a total of $24.2 billion in state aid about one third of total educational spending statewide. Of those funds $12.6 billion is made available to the 699 School Districts not part of the five big cities. The end is then distributed based on formulas approved by the State Legislature. The distribution formulas have long been subject of much debate and result in challenges from various regions of the state.

Under the current funding some school districts get more than 70% of the cost of education funded by state aid while others get significantly less. In Nassau County our public schools get just 4% of the total state aid budget, which provides funding for 18% of our educational costs. Nassau School Districts must self-fund more than 80% of the cost of education locally primarily by means of property taxes. For the upcoming school year Nassau School Districts will levy a total of $4.3 billion in taxes the highest tax levy in the state. So while Nassau Schools get just 18 cents for each dollar of school funding the residents of the county are left with some of the highest property taxes in the United States. This is creating economic problems as companies and residents move from Long Island because of the high taxes.

In walking the district as part of the campaign, it is alarming how many people are telling me they are selling and moving out of the area. The homeowners in this state are funding far too much of the cost of all levels of government from police and fire services to County and Town government. In Nassau County right now the County is trying to find ways to fund government using various fees and transferring costs to other governments because they know the homeowners have reached the breaking point in taxes.

Nassau County is not alone, but is perhaps in the worst shape of all counties. Statewide school districts are making clear they do not get enough state aid and the tax burden on the homeowners is far too high. Not every home in this state has children enrolled in our schools, but every home is being called on to provide the primary funding for public education. Property taxes do not take into consideration the true financial condition of the homeowner. Far too many people across this state are dealing with various financial issues that make it difficult for them to meet these tax obligations in part because of the unacceptable level of state aid being provided.

Every child in our state deserves the opportunity of a quality education. A good education is the most important tool to prepare them for a successful life. All New Yorkers, not just homeowners have the obligation to provide then need funds for public schools. Right now, under the current system many of the richest New Yorkers do not pay their fair share in funding public education.

I am calling for a change in the way we fund public education, moving away from using property taxes as the primary funding source and providing homeowners across the state with significant tax relief making it possible for Seniors to remain in their home after retirement and making homeownership more affordable statewide. The Brooks Plan has several key point that will insure every school district gets the needed funding but at the same time provides some expense controls in educational funding.

New York will fund the cost of all special needs students and special education students. The state will approved the educational programs for these students and then provides the funding on a student basis.

All state required educational programs and services will be funded by the state taking into consideration regional cost factors and student enrollment.

School Districts will have the ability to enhance their educational programs and services beyond state requirements with the cost of those enhancements being funded by local property taxes subject to voter approval.

The plan also includes a number of programs, school districts can make use of to further reduce the cost of education and use those savings to enhance their education programs without the need of local property taxes.

This plan will ensure every school district has the needed funding without the abusive taxes we are seeing in many school districts. It makes the funding of education more equitable statewide because the funding will be based on the true financial ability to pay the taxes. We will be shifting the primary funding form the limited number of homeowners to all New Yorkers adding millions of people to the funding base rather than just the homeowners.

Because the state is monitoring the cost and making use of regional cost factors we will have better financial control. This program means the Homeowners across the state will see tax reduction of 60 to 65% making homeownership more affordable, improving economic conditions all over the state, allowing companies and homeowners to remain and making it possible for our seniors now on fixed incomes who help build our communities to remain in their homes Brooks said.

School Districts will have the ability to enhance their educational programs and services beyond state requirements with the cost of those enhancements being funded by local property taxes subject to voter approval.

The plan also includes a number of programs, school districts can make use of to further reduce the cost of education and use those savings to enhance their education programs without the need of local property taxes.

This plan will ensure every school district has the needed funding without the abusive taxes we are seeing in many school districts. It makes the funding of education more equitable statewide because the funding will be based on the true financial ability to pay the taxes. We will be shifting the primary funding form the limited number of homeowners to all New Yorkers adding millions of people to the funding base rather than just the homeowners. Because the state is monitoring the cost and making use of regional cost factors we will have better financial control. This program means the Homeowners across the state will see tax reduction of 60 to 65% making homeownership more affordable, improving economic conditions all over the state, allowing companies and homeowners to remain and making it possible for our seniors now on fixed incomes who help build our communities to remain in their homes Brooks said.
Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 04 2016

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today guilty pleas by Katia Donnelly and her durable medical equipment and supply store, Bennett Surgical Supply, Inc.

Huntington, NY - September 30, 2016 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today guilty pleas by Katia Donnelly and her durable medical equipment and supply store, Bennett Surgical Supply, Inc., for submitting thousands of false claims to Medicaid resulting in Medicaid paying them more than two million dollars over a six and a half year period. Donnelly admitted during her plea that she used the Medicaid identification numbers of Bennett Surgical customers to fraudulently bill for items she never purchased or delivered to them. She and her corporation plead guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, and it is expected that Donnelly will be sentenced to 2 to 6 years in State Prison.

This defendant helped herself to an exorbitant amount of money from the Medicaid program, a taxpayer funded program intended to help some of our most vulnerable members of society, said Attorney General Schneiderman. This case illustrates that no matter how clever the scheme, we will root out Medicaid fraud and punish those responsible.

As admitted in the pleas, the Attorney General's investigation revealed that from January 1, 2006 through June 30, 2012, Katia Donnelly and Bennett Surgical Supply, Inc., a now defunct durable medical equipment vendor located at 382 New York Avenue, Huntington, falsified thousands of claims to Medicaid causing the program to pay Bennett more than two million dollars for dispensing durable medical equipment and supplies that she had never possessed, that were not medically necessary, that her customers medical professionals never ordered, and that her customers in fact never received.

The vast majority of those bogus claims were for specialty wound dressings, ostomy supplies, custom orthotics and even high priced hospital beds. In fact, the Attorney Generals investigation revealed that Bennett was the highest biller statewide for at least thirteen products, including eight types of wound dressings, ostomy supply codes, bariatric hospital beds, and pressure-reducing mattresses.

Donnelly also admitted that she falsified hundreds of records contained in Bennetts customer files, including Official New York State Prescriptions, to make it appear that physicians and a physician assistant had ordered wound dressings and other items for their patients. In reality, the prescriptions were forged and the doctors had never heard of the patients for whom the prescriptions were written. In addition, Donnelly admitted that she altered legitimate physician orders by adding items that were never ordered by the physicians or needed by or delivered to their patients.

In order to make it appear that she purchased and paid for inventory that she billed Medicaid for dispensing to her customers, Donnelly admitted that she also falsified Bennetts books and records. In fact, a review of Bennetts suppliers records and bank account records revealed that Donnelly never purchased the two million dollars worth of inventory she claimed to have dispensed to Medicaid recipients and that the checks that she recorded as paying suppliers for that inventory were, in fact, used to pay her personal expenses such as a time share in the Dominican Republic which she visited frequently, a car loan and numerous credit cards used for travel and on-line shopping, among other things.

The pleas were entered before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins. Donnelly was arrested on August 3, 2016, and has been held on $500,000 cash bail with a $2 million bond alternative since then. The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on December 1, 2016.

The Attorney General thanks the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General for referring this matter to his Office for investigation and prosecution.

The investigation was conducted by Investigator Stephen Clarke of the Attorney Generals Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) Long Island Regional Office, with the assistance of Supervising Investigator Greg Muroff. The Deputy Chief Investigator-Downstate for MFCU is Kenneth Morgan. The audit investigation was conducted by Principal Auditor Investigator Mary Gail Kowtna. Kathleen Yoos is the Regional Chief Auditor.

This case was handled by Special Assistant Attorney General Veronica Bindrim-MacDevitt. Jane Zwirn-Turkin is the Regional Director of the MFCU Hauppauge Regional Office. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is led by Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mahoney. The Criminal Justice Division is led by Kelly Donovan.
Pets & Animal, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 04 2016

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Hauppauge, NY - October 3, 2016 - October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. The link between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse is well known and victims often delay or refuse to leave the home for fear of what is going to happen to their pets. Batterers often use a pet as a tool to seek revenge against victims.

Roy Gross, Chief of the Suffolk County SPCA said that with 68% of American households believed to have pets, and with as many as 71% of survivors of intimate partner violence reporting that their animals were harmed or threatened by the batterer as a way to intimidate, retaliate or seek revenge, animal abuse is a potent force creating additional layers of fear in domestic violence. According to researchers as well as the FBI, most serial killers had killed or tortured animals as children.
Local News, Health & Wellness, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 04 2016

NYS Senator Michael Venditto will be co-sponsoring a free Overdose Prevention & Naloxone (Narcan) Training Program at Seaford High School on Wednesday, October 26th.

Participants will learn how to recognize and prevent an overdose.

Seaford, NY - September 28, 2016 - New York State Senator Michael Venditto will be co-sponsoring a Free Overdose Prevention & Naloxone (Narcan) Training Program at Seaford High School on Wednesday, October 26th starting at 7:00 p.m. Senator Venditto

is bringing this free program to Seaford by partnering with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Legislator Rose Marie Walker, Legislator Steve Rhoads and Friends of Wantagh-Seaford. Registration is required.



Who: New York State Senator Michael Venditto, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Nassau County Legislator Rose Marie Walker, Nassau County Legislator Steve Rhoads and Friends of Wantagh-Seaford.



When: Wednesday, October 26th, from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

What: Holding a Free Overdose Prevention & Naloxone Training Program

Where: Seaford High School, 1575 Seamans Neck Road, Seaford, NY

Important Event Details:

Participants will learn how to recognize and prevent an overdose.

Individuals will learn what to do if someone overdoses on prescription drugs or Heroin and how to administer a lifesaving antidote called Naloxone (Narcan).

Participants over the age of 18 will receive a free nasal Narcan kit at the event.

Registration is required. Please register on line here

For more information call Senator Vendittos office at (516) 882-0630.

Heroin and prescription drug abuse are affecting individuals, families and communities across Long Island and New York State. For us to put an end to this growing epidemic we are tackling it head on through comprehensive legislation which provides various treatment and recovery options, insurance coverage for addiction services and treatment, and free educational programs like Naloxone training and substance abuse awareness. With these tools, we can save lives and heal our communities, said Senator Venditto.
15-Year-Old Sexually Assaulted, Police Seeking Individual in Connection to Incident

Crime, Press Releases

By divorceattorney Published: October 04 2016

LongIsland.com

Crime Stoppers and the Nassau County Police Department are seeking the publics help in locating the pictured subject in connection with a Sexual Assault in Freeport, NY.

Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the pictured subject, or any information about the crime to call our toll free hotline: 1-800-244-TIPS (8477) or contact Detective Hoovert, or any member of the Special Victims Squad at 516-573-4022.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Home & Garden, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 04 2016

Smoke alarms do NOT last forever. Changing the batteries in an alarm past its useful life creates a false sense of security, and the alarms might not work when you need them most.

Old Bethpage, NY - October 4, 2016 - For more than 25 years, media has helped remind people to change their batteries when they change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. But everyone needs to know that smoke alarms do NOT last forever. Simply changing the batteries in an alarm past its useful life creates a false sense of security, and the alarms might not work when you need them most.

The National Fire Prevention Week (October 9  16 NFPW) theme this year is Dont Wait, Check the Date. Replace smoke alarms every 10 years. To help keep Long Islanders safe, Assemblyman Charles Lavine has secured a donation of 250 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms from First Alert to be distributed to Long Islanders.



Education is so important when you consider that:

3 of 5 home fire deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms

450 people are killed from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning yearly

Smoke and CO alarms dont last forever

New types of smoke alarms have batteries sealed in the units that last for 10 years. A warning signal lets you know when the 10 year lifespan is up, when its time to take the old unit down and put up a new one. No battery change is ever needed.



Where: Plainview Fire Department, 958 Round Swamp Rd, Old Bethpage, NY

Who: Assemblyman Charles Lavine, Former Plainview Fire Department Captain Martin Pollack, Plainview Board of Directors, Gigi Lubin, Home Safety Expert, First Alert

Other: For families looking for something to do over the weekend, the For A Safer Place event will be at the Lowes of Jersey City, 727 Route 440, Jersey City, NJ 07304, on Saturday, October 8. Kids can meet and talk with firemen, see firetrucks, plan and learn escape routes and build a wooden firetruck at the Build & Grow workshop (www.forasaferplace.com).
A frame from the El Corte Ingles ad.

Following a campaign on Spains social networks by a Catholic anti-abortion organization, the countrys leading department store, El Corte Ingles, has removed an advertisement from its YouTube channel featuring a gay couple readying their adopted child for the return to school after the long summer break.

HazteOir.com, which has vehemently opposed Spains pioneering same-sex marriage laws, collected some 21,000 signatures on its website calling for El Corte Ingles to withdraw what it called an extraordinarily bad idea.

A Change.org petition in response to HazteOir garnered almost 70,000 signatures

The video for the retail giant  which has a department store in every major Spanish city, along with out-of-town hypermarkets and inner-city supermarkets  featured a male homosexual couple bickering while they try to put covers on their boys school books, with one telling the other, Darling, let me, youve got glue on your hands, as they struggle with the task. At the end of the 20-second ad, a child who is lying on a sofa watching TV with a friend, turns to him and says: See? I told you it wouldnt be quicker with two dads!

El Corte Ingles is proposing that children should lose their right to a father and a mother, said HazteOir, hailing on its website the success of its campaign, while the department store has been criticized on social networks for supposedly backing down.

The company told Verne that the video, along with seven others advertising the return to school in Spain, had been withdrawn from its YouTube channel because it no longer had the rights to the music used in the ads.

Another triumph for homophobia, reads this tweet.

It added: El Corte Ingles respects all sensibilities and doesnt wish to offend anybody. It points out that it has included same-sex couples in advertisements before.

Spain legalized same-sex marriage in 2005, despite opposition from the Catholic Church. The country is regarded as one of the most gay-friendly in Europe, although there has been an increase in the number of homophobic attacks in recent years.

HazteOir claims that the head of the communication department of El Corte Ingles got in touch personally to say the store was withdrawing the advertisements.

El Corte Ingles respects all sensibilities and doesnt wish to offend anybody Company spokesperson

An online campaign in response to HazteOirs petition garnered almost 70,000 signatures on Change.org to prevent the spot from being withdrawn and supporting all kinds of family units. It added that the advertisement shows a reality and a type of family that is an increasing reality.

A Saint Valentines Day video from El Corte Ingles called Cupido in Love, which featured a male gay couple, was widely viewed with more than 478,000 hits. The chain repeated the idea this year, with the hashtag #Siatodo (yes to everything).

English version by Nick Lyne.
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
A white flag stained blood red after Colombia's referendum. LUIS ACOSTA (AFP)

More information Colombia busca un nuevo rumbo para salvar el proceso de paz

The aftershocks of the narrow victory for the no camp in Colombias referendum on Sunday are still being felt.

The country now finds itself on the brink of a political crisis after voters rejected a peace deal hammered out by the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)  a deal that promised to put an end to a 52-year civil war.

The government believed a win for the yes vote in the plebiscite was a given, although it didnt expect that victory to be crushing and there were concerns the minimum threshold of 4.5 million votes cast (13% of the electoral roll) might not be reached.

President Juan Manuel Santos says he will work towards peace until his minute in office

The opposition Democratic Center also had modest ambitions. Their hope was that a silent majority would at least hand them an honorable defeat.

But the narrowest of victories for the no camp  it won by 54,000 votes of a total of nearly 13 million cast  has seen political figures of all stripes struggling to make sense of the new situation.

First and foremost, the peace deal brokered by the government of President Juan Manuel Santos needs an urgent rethink. Plenty of comparisons have been made between Brexit and the Colombian plebiscite in recent days, but there is one essential difference: in the Colombian conflict, there are weapons involved. And while Santos has assured Colombians the current ceasefire between the government and FARC will remain in place, the prevailing atmosphere of uncertainty must end as soon as possible.

Getting the necessary bodies around the table to find a way out of the current situation wont, however, be easy.

The deep divisions between Santos and his predecesor Alvaro Uribe  leader of the no campaign  have been all too clear since the current president began negotiating the peace deal four years ago. And while both politicians, along with FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, alias Timochenko, stressed the need for calm after Sundays vote, the way forward remains unclear.

The chief difference with the Brexit vote in the UK is that Colombia is awash with arms

In fact, Uribe rejected the offer of a place at the first meeting of the countrys political forces after the plebiscite, requesting instead an exclusive sit-down with government delegates. Some hours later, Santos confirmed a meeting between three spokespersons from Uribes Democratic Center party and government officials including chief peace negotiator Humberto de la Calle, Foreign Affairs Minister Maria Angela Holguin, and Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas.

Meanwhile, a FARC disarmament process has stalled despite the fact that a United Nations mission charged with verifying that process is already on the ground. Given this state of affairs, Colombia will need to convey a message of calm to an international community that unanimously supported the peace process.

The economic situation is worrying too, with the Colombian peso falling against the US dollar in the wake of the loss for the yes camp.

Colombia is also in need of political leadership of the first order  something that the current crop of politicians has proven incapable of thus far. Chief peace negotiator Humberto de la Calle is the exception. On Monday he offered his resignation, saying he took full and exclusive responsibility for the mistakes made. Santos subsequently rejected the officials resignation.

Disarmament has stalled despite the UN mission charged with verifying the process already having arrived

Colombias abstention rate in elections has traditionally been high  it was 59.93% in the most recent presidential elections  but the turnout of just 37.43% on Sunday shows just how little faith the countrys voters have in their political class. Even after managing to forge a peace deal with the FARC that could end a five-decade long civil war, President Santos could only rally 18% of voters.

On the other side of the political divide, the Democratic Center  the countrys most popular party and the party of Uribe, its most popular leader  did little better.

On Sunday Santos assured voters he would continue to work toward peace until the last minute of his time in office, but recent polls show his popularity has taken a battering. He was re-elected on the back of his work on the FARC deal in 2014 and is difficult to see how he will recover from here.

There is a range of ways to understand the result and we have to see where errors can be corrected FARC chief Rodrigo Timochenko Londono

But for ex-President Uribe the picture is rosier. During the referendum campaign he successfully planted the seed of fear among Colombian voters, telling people the peace deal struck by the government would mean impunity for FARC rebels and plunge the country into a left-wing nightmare.

Colombias Constitution forbids Uribe for running for the countrys highest office again but his speech in the wake of victory for the no side sounded like that of someone who has just won a presidential campaign. He spoke of the economy, of the upcoming tax reforms and of family values and education. Uribe also spoke of the need for unity although he would later reject an offer to sit at the table with FARC delegates during talks aimed at finding a way forward for the country.

FARC chief Rodrigo Timochenko Londono is also keeping his cards close to his chest. There is a range of ways to understand [Sundays result] and we have to take a close look to see where errors can be corrected, the FARC leader said from Havana, where the peace negotiation team are currently based.

Timochenko did not specify whether he thought the peace deal would now be renegotiated, and if so which points in particular were up for debate.

With the reputation of the guerrilla group in tatters in Colombia, the leftist rebels will now have to prove that a last-minute apology to its victims in the lead-up to Sundays vote was sincere and not mere political opportunism.

English version by George Mills.
Yesterday, the Taliban launched an offensive to take control of the city of Kunduz, the capital of the northern Afghan province of the same name. Taliban forces penetrated to the center of the city and raised its flag before Afghan forces could respond. Resolute Support, the NATO mission in Afghanistan, initially denied that there was fighting in Kunduz, but then it backtracked and announced it was supporting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the city. [See LWJ report, Taliban forces enter Kunduz city center.]

Earlier today, Resolute Support claimed on its Twitter account that the ANDSF control Kunduz:

ANDSF control Kunduz, Reinforcements arrived overnight. US continues to maintain robust enablers in the area and will support as needed.  Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) October 4, 2016

However, multiple press accounts contradict Resolute Supports claim that Afghan forces control Kunduz. This report, at The New York Times, indicates that Afghan forces only control half of the city, from the center of the city to the airport in the south. A police commander said that the front line begins at the governors office, which is just south of the city center:

Shafi Zakhil, the police commander for the second precinct, where the governors office is, said that the area was the front line and that United States forces were helping defend the governors compound. I am in Fatema Zahra School, which is in front of the governors office, and it is the front line, he said. U.S. forces are around the governors office and the police headquarters with their tanks. Taliban are on top of a building near the governors office and police headquarters.

This matches a Taliban claim that its fighters are fighting about 100 meters from governors office:

Fresh reports coming in of the operation said the fighting raged once again early this morning with Mujahideen intensifying their attacks close to citys police headquarters, governors compound. Fierce fighting is in progress 100 meters away from the governor house and police headquarters, forcing all the top-level officials including governor to flee towards the airfield to be flown out of Kunduz.

Additionally, Amruddin Wali, a member of Kunduzs provincial council, pulls no punches and accuses Afghan officials of lying about success in Kunduz. His account in The New York Times also supports that of both the Afghan police commander and the Taliban:

But Amruddin Wali, a member of the provincial council, said local officials were exaggerating their successes and accused them of deceiving the Afghan people and the central government. Its not the home of the police chief, or the army division commander, or the zone commander that is burning, Mr. Wali said. Its the ordinary peoples homes and lives that are ruined, and the officials are continuing with their lies. Mr. Wali said the government controlled the area between Kunduzs airport and the main city square, where it had parked armored vehicles. But, he said, You cant go past the main square without armored vehicles.

Resolute Support appears to be putting the best possible spin on the Talibans latest incursion into Kunduz City. With half of the city still occupied by the Taliban, Kunduz is far from being controlled by the ANDSF.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
On the evening of Oct. 2, the Taliban assaulted the district of Nawa in Helmand province and overran much of the district center after a suicide bomber killed the chief of police and others. Today, Resolute Support, the NATO mission in Afghanistan, claimed that Afghan forces repelled the Taliban raid and the district is under government control.

Nawa, Helmand is under government control. Taliban raid was repelled by early afternoon on 3 Oct.  Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) October 4, 2016

However, press reports from Afghanistan indicate that the district is contested at best. The New York Times notes that Afghan officials said their forces were trying to push back the Taliban from Nawa district, while the Nawa district governor who was in Lashkar Gah, said Afghan Army forces were still holed up in the district governors compound, which was surrounded by the Taliban.

Additional Afghan forces had arrived to try to break the siege, and they managed to recover the police chiefs body from the police headquarters, the district governor claimed, according to the Times.

As noted in an earlier update on conflicting claims of the status of Kunduz City, Resolute Support appears to be putting the best possible spin on a bad situation in Afghanistan.

Resolute Supports commander, General John Nicholson, has been downplaying the Talibans control of what he estimated as 10 percent of the population by stating that it wasnt a major concern since that population is in Afghanistans rural regions. As the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Nicholson should understand that the Taliban seeks to control the rural areas of Afghanistan before taking the fight to the population centers. The Taliban is able to launch assaults on the provincial capitals of Kunduz, Helmand, and Uruzgan because it controls or heavily contests the surrounding rural districts.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
What appeals tourists most in Yerevan? (video)

Tourists speak about the Armenian capital with a big smile. I have been in Yerevan several times and I see incredible progress. Every time I come here, I am filled with energy when I see the changes. I can hardly name anything that I do not like here [in Yerevan], says Victor Mukvist from Sweden. Victor was born in Denmark, later he moved to Sweden. Yerevan is a suitable place to live in; you can spend your whole life here. I like Cascade, Northern Avenue and Republic Square. I also visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial. I will take with me many memories, especially the warmth of the people and the energy that they have. This country has a great future, Victor said. Gregor and his wife arrived in Armenia from Austria. Although it was their first day in Yerevan, they managed to spot the car-clogged streets of the city. They even had difficulties in parking a car, but were eventually able to do it. Yerevan is a neat city, neither very big nor very small. Here you can find restaurants serving a generous variety of different foods, and I like it, Gregor said. Gregor is a musician. The first thing he plans to do in Yerevan is to visit a jazz club in Yerevan. I am fond of Armenian jazz, the sounds are unique. We shall also visit a market to buy nuts. We use them a lot in dishes. I even told my wife that we could move and live in Armenia for some time as I find many similarities between Yerevan and Vienna, he added. John Bale from the USA is married to an Armenian woman. They have been living in Armenia for six months now. Their daughter studies in an Armenian school. When we met John, he was sitting with a chess board in front of him. I come here almost every day. Armenians are good at chess, and I am surprised if I manage to beat any of them. When I play chess I forget everything, John added. He says Yerevan is very close to him, and the energy reminds him of that in Colorado. However, he does not like everything in Armenia. The roads outside Yerevan are often impassable, and manholes are very high in Yerevan, the guest says. John adds that Armenians do not smile very often, but once you begin to talk to the locals, you become close friends.
Culture / Art Republik

We shine the spotlight on another collaborator, Artheline , who will be coming down to Raffles Marina for the SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS.

Oct 04, 2016 | By Vimi Haridasan

We have been featuring several brands and collaborators that will be making an appearance at the SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS this month and today we bring you another, this one quite different to the others. Husband and wife duo Arnaud Nazare-Aga and Adeline Buenaventura are the creative forces behind Artheline, and they answer a few questions about their work and what is in store for visitors at the luxury lifestyle event.

1) Could you tell us a little bit more about how Artheline came about?

Arnaud Nazare-Aga: Before talking about Artheline, which is the artist signature of Adeline and myself, lets talk first about the PAJArt studio in Thailand, in Bangkok, which I created six years ago. In practice, its 1,000 square meters over four floors where nearly 30 people work that I trained and who help in the realization of the art pieces, carefully following my and Adelines instructions for the designs painted on the pieces.

The idea of creating the Artheline duo came naturally. While I was creating designs and crafting painted sculptures for other artists in our workshop, I felt like creating works with my wife Adeline. Initially the shapes were fairly simple like for example a woman, with the particularity of being round and generous, with very balanced proportions. Then paint (these shapes) with bright colors and more to give them the gaiety, beauty and a certain energy associated with each of the colors and their combination. All surfaces of the sculptures are covered with several layers of very bright marine varnish, which is sanded by hand several times between the layers to give great clarity and brightness to the surface of the piece. The originality of the work is in the aspect of finishing the piece, which looks as if it is blown glass or porcelain. This very elaborate surface is a job that often represents 50% of the time.

2) There are quite a few interesting figurines created by Artheline. How do you find your inspiration for each new sculpture?

Arnaud: Soon came the desire to make big pieces, thats when I imagined doing a huge Sumo on one leg. Asian and Western collectors immediately appreciated these first creations which encouraged us to continue to make collections with the same inspiration, which is round, generous, with clean lines, very colorful, expressive bodies and little or no relief in the face.

The shape of the hippo came to me as I wanted to sculpt an animal not overly represented artistically speaking and a mammal that is dangerous to make it nice and friendly by the interpretation of form and color that we would give him.

Collections Whale Pop and the GorilPop have been created with the same inspiration to turn a dangerous animal into a joyous, peaceful and charming representation that you would want to see close to home on a daily basis.

About the collections of the Little Prince, which was shown last year for the first time in the world in Singapore, at The Fullerton hotel and the Alliance Francaise, if the technique is very similar, the approach is very different. The principle of these two sets of 14 sculptures presented in installation, is to bring to life, for all those who knew this wonderful book, the magic of the world of the Little Prince with an interpretation that is very faithful to the original drawings of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. For this project, the motivation is still the same: to awaken joy and happiness amongst people who see our work. And for those who do not have their entire visual faculty, the installation The Little Prince in the Dark was created to allow everyone to be able to touch the pieces and so to see the drawings of the Little Prince with the fingers. These collections were then presented recently in Hong Kong at Pacific Place and in a South Korean national museum for almost five months, the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum.

3) How have the sculptures been received in Singapore?

Adeline Buenaventura: Very proud to say that the Singaporean public really loves our artworks. We are greatly blessed to share the joy we create with them, and Singapore is where Artheline got the first positive response from the public. It is also where we first showcased our sculptures so Singapore has been life changing for us.

Arnaud: The first time I went canvassing for a gallery outside of Bangkok, where we live and work, it was in Bruno Gallery near Tanglin Mall. The manager of the gallery at the time immediately wanted to buy a small sumo for himself, because he was not authorized to select artworks or artists on behalf of the gallery. As he had left it on his desk, customers wanted to buy it, and thats how we started working with Bruno Gallery. A few months later, a gallery in Bangkok offered us a small space on its stand of the AAF; it was the first time I presented and sold directly our work at a big art show. Popularity with Singaporeans was amazing! Since then we present our work on a regular basis with large solo exhibitions such as the HippopArt exhibition at the Fullerton last year and the Little Prince.

Singapore represents an important and extraordinary exhibition space for us because here we present our work to all nationalities and cultures of the world.

4) Working together as husband and wife must be rewarding. But you might have your differences as well. How has that synergy helped or affected the process of creation?

Adeline: Working as couple can be complicated and it is a difficult venture: two persons with different perceptions, two sets of needs to be considered, and two expectations which are involved. Especially, being brought up in two different worlds, combining forces from these two different cultures helped us achieve our goals and a sense of mutual accomplishment. We have worked together to serve a purpose greater than ourselves.

Clarity is very important, we both knew what each others goals were and we defined our roles and fulfilled our purpose in creating, Arnaud creates the sculptures and is in charge of technical matters while I design, draw and paint on the sculptures.

It is rewarding that even with all these differences, we were able to create and bring together our creative potential. Very rewarding indeed, to bring and share happiness through our art with the people who love and appreciate our work.

Arnaud: Adeline and I have very different origins, Adeline is Filipina and Im French. So, we dont have the same cultural background, education, or even the same religion. We got married 20 years ago when we were living in Hong Kong and we decided to create art together five years ago. For my part it was something natural to work collaboratively, it was the continuation of what I had started 18 years ago when I was building Buddhist temples in France, where I was in charge of the carved and moulded decorations.

We respect as much as possible the work of each other while providing personal touches on the work of the other.

Today we also work individually. Adeline creates abstract paintings and she is preparing for an exhibition and I realize the Little Prince projects that correspond to a very personal and spiritual project.

5) How do different cultures respond to the various sculptures and themes?

Arnaud: I think one can see in our work an expression of both genders and the influence of Western and Eastern cultures. This probably the secret of Arthelines success as we are appreciated by both men and women, and our collectors are both Asian and Westerners.

6) Are the sculptures meant to be interactive? Was it intentional and how do you feel about viewers interacting with the sculptures?

Arnaud: Our creations have always triggered a joyous emotional reaction for people who look, whatever their age, their origin, their culture and their sex. This reaction is part of the creation of the work, it is intentional when we realize the pieces. We intend for people who see the works to want to take pleasure by sight and touch, to take the pieces in their hands, see them in their arms or even to sit on them as is the case of the HippopArt or Whale POPs of larger sizes which are made to withstand the pressure despite their lightness. We want children to live with our sculptures and love them without the frustration of not being able to touch them and ride on them.

7) How has Adelines background as a florist and artist contributed to the way in which each piece is produced?

Adeline: As a self-taught artist, being a florist is the very essence of my creativity. Floral art was a big contribution in developing the artist in me and it is my stepping stone. From this background of designing, creating and arranging flowers in different aspects, mixing of various elements with graphics, and composing of different colors. This contributed to all the hippos and to all the rest of our sculptures in their playful and sometimes quirky designs and personalities with eclectic colors, which is pleasing to the eye like flowers!

8) How do you reinvent and experiment with various models?

Arnaud: Each collection of sculptures must bring or send rather different energy. Some collections are a bit similar as are HippopArt and Whale Pop, or Venus and Ballerina, but each of the forms is different enough to make our collectors want to acquire at least one piece of each collection.

9) We love the hippo sculptures, how did you come up with those?

Adeline: The idea and inspirations of Artheline sculptures is to work on the roundness and character of the sculptures.

Why Hippo? We did the hippo because it is his roundness and his aggressive character that gives us the inspiration to turn this into something lovely, attractive, colorful, happy and touchable.

Hippos are well known for their aggressive behaviour and they can lethal. The hippo is not lovable at all. Our hippos are just amazingly friendly, beautiful and happy.

10) These sculptures will be showcased at the inaugural SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS. What does it mean to you, to be part of such an event?

Adeline: For us, it is a great pleasure and a huge opportunity to be a part of this event and to showcase our artwork and surely it is a huge compliment and exposure for us as artists. After our Hippopart exhibition at The Fullerton Hotel and Marina Bay last year it will be a continuation and we hope it will be a great success!

We are very grateful to Art Porters for their initiative together with the organizers of SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS.
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Google Ad

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

Google Ad

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Google Ad

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens
Counsel at Red Lobster, Atlassian and two other companies say its hard to register descriptive terms, but that it can be worth the slog in some cases
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Editor's Note: MarketMinder does NOT recommend individual securities; companies referenced herein are merely cited as examples of a broader theme we wish to highlight.

Few things in markets are predictable, but here is a near-certitude: Investors always fight the last war. Since the Global Financial Crisis, people have looked for signs of a repeat around every corner: Dubai. Greece. Spain. Ireland. Student loans. Subprime auto loans. Community banks in the oil patch. Chinese shadow banking. Brexit. And this year, eight years and a day after Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, another potential "Lehman moment" stole headlines and hasn't left them since. Investors worry the Justice Department is about to fine Deutsche Bank out of existence to settle old claims of mis-selling mortgage-backed securities, potentially stoking a run on the bank and panic across the financial system. As with all the other 2008-redux ghost stories we've seen in recent years, however, Deutsche Bank's woes shouldn't spark a new crisis. This fear misunderstands how to measure a bank's health-Deutsche's problems center around return on capital, not return of capital.

It's fair to say Deutsche Bank isn't having a good year. Investors have feared its relatively weaker capital position since January, when the bank announced a record loss for Q4 2015. In June, its US unit failed the Fed's stress test and, while the ECB didn't grade banks in July's stress test, Deutsche's capital scores were toward the bottom of the pack. Its stock price has fallen by almost half since the start of the year, its contingent convertible (coco) bond yields are up and some hedge funds (10 of 800) are reportedly pulling transaction-clearing business (and capital). And now, the fine, which a widely cited leak said could hit $14 billion. Rumors swirled last week that the German government is prepping a bailout package. Chancellor Angela Merkel denied them, but the chatter persists.

It may seem weird that these fears are rooted in a $14 billion fine. While this is a big number, it's tiny compared to Deutsche's 1.7 trillion balance sheet. But the day the number was leaked, Deutsche Bank's market cap was-wait for it-$14 billion. Many assumed, wrongly, that paying the fine would wipe out the entire company, conflating market valuation with capital and assets. This, however, is not how banks work (nor any other company). When a bank pays a fine, it doesn't pay out of its market cap. That is not a reserve, just the market's rough estimate of what the firm is worth on any given day. Most firms set aside reserves for legal penalties and settlements. Deutsche has such a reserve. It's only 5.5 billion (~$6 billion), but that is far from the end of the bank's liquidity. It had 220 billion (~$250 billion) of liquid reserves as of Q2. It also had roughly 1.7 trillion (~$1.9 trillion) worth of assets, and surely management could carve out roughly $8 billion worth to sell if need be. Being a German bank, it also has access to a lender of last resort named the ECB if it really needs cash in a pinch. Not that Mario Draghi would lend Deutsche Bank money to pay a fine, but if it paid the fine and then eventually got into a jam, it has options. Paying will obviously hit earnings, but it won't drive the bank out of business.

Plus, Deutsche may not even have to cough up $14 billion anyway. Lost in most coverage is the fact that the DoJ didn't actually send Deutsche a bill for $14 billion. Rather, that number is supposedly the starting point for negotiations. We say "supposedly" because there was no official announcement. That's normal for these situations, where negotiations happen behind closed doors. After the DoJ makes its opening pitch, the bank gets to submit its counterproposal. Then they haggle for a while, maybe leak some more numbers, play a few rounds of Rock Paper Scissors, and finally settle on something, presumably something lower. Already there are reports that they cut a deal to drop the penalty to $5.4 billion, just under what they already have set aside. There is precedent for this. In 2014, the DoJ demanded $12 billion from Citigroup, also over alleged wrongdoing regarding mortgage-backed securities, ultimately settling for $7 billion. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and others went through similar negotiations over crisis-related settlements. Even if $14 billion ends up being the final headline number, judging from past settlements, that likely doesn't mean the bank would cough up that much instantaneously. When JPMorgan had to "pay" $13 billion to settle WaMu's alleged misdeeds, a good chunk of that $13 billion was actually mortgage relief for borrowers, allocated over a number of years.

Some people concede that the fine alone probably won't break the bank, pointing instead to its plunging share price, spiking coco yields and those fleeing hedge fund clients, worrying this is the beginning of a long and very bloody run on the bank. But bank runs are when depositors ask for their money back-money the bank doesn't have because it's tied up in long-term loans banks can't just call in. This is completely separate from what investors think Deutsche is worth, which is based on its expected future profitability. Rising coco yields also don't point to a looming run on Deutsche. These bonds are inherently riskier than traditional bonds because they may be used to "bail in" Deutsche in the event it's undercapitalized. Given paying the full fine would knock the bank's capital, it seems fairly reasonable to presume they'll have to raise some. Bailing in coco bondholders would be one way to do it. As for those fleeing hedge funds, we're talking about 1.25% of the bank's hedge fund clients deciding to clear derivatives transactions somewhere else. This isn't a repeat of investors fleeing Bear Stearns' hedge funds in 2007, widely seen as the shot heard round the world.[i] Fact of the matter is, these aren't even a viable funding source for a bank, as hedge funds are virtually constantly moving the money around. Actual deposits are staying put, as they have throughout the bank's tumultuous year.

The recent story isn't terribly unlike the fears that swirled earlier this year over Deutsche. Then and now, people conflated return on capital-whether Deutsche would be profitable-with return of capital, or whether investors would get their money back. In February, Deutsche's coco bonds plummeted after the bank announced that record loss, causing investors to fear the bank was undercapitalized. Investors feared it may stop making interest payments and might have to "bail in" bondholders by converting the debt to equity. But these fears were overstated. Deutsche never missed coco bond payments and it ended up buying back other bonds at a discount-booking a profit-to show investors it had ample liquidity. By mid-March, these bonds had recovered the bulk of the decline they experienced in January and early February. This time around, markets seem to be presuming the bank will have to issue new stock to raise capital, diluting shareholders. Fair enough. But again, that's an issue of return on investment, not return of investment.

Deutsche isn't the only bank where people have feared a 2008 repeat brewing. Bankia-a Spanish bank formed in 2010 from smaller, regional banks-was partially nationalized by Spain in 2012 to avoid its collapse. In 2014, Portugal's central bank took control of Banco Espirito Santo, the country's biggest lender, after it teetered on collapse due to mounting bad loans. More recently, Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena has been the focus of fears Italy's troubled banking system, weighed by non-performing loans, may spark another financial crisis. Each time, people feared dominoes would fall. They didn't. Fears over the potential fallout from these troubled banks are an indicator of sentiment, not fundamental problems in the banking universe, and all they show is that people continue to misunderstand what happened in 2008. Lehman's collapse didn't cause the crisis. Neither did Bear Stearns', for that matter. Their failures were symptoms of much deeper problems. Banks began writing down hundreds of billions on their balance sheets almost a year before Lehman failed, and stocks were already in a bear market. Lehman's collapse certainly stoked more panic, but it is different than today in the sense global stocks are up broadly, even with Deutsche doing poorly, and presently there is no accounting rule forcing trillions in unnecessary and exaggerated writedowns on illiquid assets. In other words, even if Deutsche were to fail, there would be no reason for markets to go looking for the next victim, or for other banks to experience a run.

None of this is to say Deutsche is in great shape. It clearly has problems, including ultralow rates and flatter yield curves. It has, like many big investment banks, multiple ongoing lawsuits against it. It is undergoing a broad-based restructuring. But it is a stretch to presume problems primarily involving future profitability are analogous to a looming crisis.
Internet Censorship as UN Intervenes into American Society

By now you have heard that the control of ICANN has been ceded to the globalists. The Wall Street Journal acknowledges that An Internet Giveaway to the U.N. is the result of this transfer. A last ditch attempt to forestall this treachery was dashed by the Court rejects Arizona lawsuit suit over US control of internet group . This ruling comes as no surprise. The pattern of systematic international integration is the hallmark of efforts to stamp out national sovereignty and independent countries. The United Nations from the very beginning of its inception has been a fraud of incalculable proportions and a nemesis on humanity.

Soon the internationalists will push into high gear censorship of voices of opposition and resistance to the consolidation of global compliance and force a climate of universal surrender to authoritarian elites. So with the Obama-UN Internet Takeover Is Just Hours Away, explain the following.

October 1 is D-Day for the start of the international takeover of the Internet, a scheme the Obama administration and the United Nations have been advancing for years. Why are GOP leaders AWOL as President Obama and the United Nations move to transfer critically important jurisdiction over the Internet to an unaccountable UN-aligned monopoly? Why are Ryan and McConnell doing nothing?

It is called business as usual by the beltway establishment, who are committed globalists.

The United States is undoubtedly the ultimate prize to impose all-inclusive capture or destroy the society completely. The United Nations is a predator of infiltration, subversion and treachery.

Silencing dissent starts with blocking the internet from voices of opposition. The unprecedented removal of Michael Savage Taken Off Air sends a chilling message to anyone even remotely concerned about free speech.

However, it does not stop with singling out a talk show pundit. With all the disinformation about Russia influencing the presidential election, the UN arrogantly attempts to pressure voting patterns by using twitter. U.N news agency scrubs tweet calling on Americans abroad to 'end Trump' is a sterling example of unconscionable intervention.

The United Nations News Centre  the official U.N. news service  tweeted, then quickly pulled, a post that called for "8 million Americans abroad" to "stop Trump."

The tweet, published at 9:14 p.m. ET on Thursday, urged American expats to share a voter registration tool on the website of the activist organization Avaaz that states, "U.S. Citizens abroad could defeat Trump ... if they voted."

Every American should be outraged over this obvious and blatant illustration of perversion from a foreign and international body of enemies. But the matter does not stop here. Examine the latest effort to strip our constitutional rights with US Signs UN Gun Ban Treaty.

Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday signed a controversial U.N. treaty on arms regulation, riling U.S. lawmakers who vow the Senate will not ratify the agreement.

The main objective of the treaty is mandatory global gun registration. It does this by requiring signatories to report all firearms transfers, down to the level of end users. This is the backstory to the current push for common sense gun laws like universal background checks, or backdoor registration.

Knowing that Secretary Kerry will sell out America is not news, but even more outrageous is President Obamas latest and last speech before the United Nations. The White House press release before the 71st secession reads like an encore to Obamas infamous apology tour.

So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions -- economic, political, and cultural -- that are caused by integration are squarely addressed.

How do you react to the video, Where is the Outrage about the Obama UN Speech?

What will it take for the public to see through the deception that comes out of the General Assembly plans for turning the United States into an occupied colony? If the answer does not come readily, try this next assault on common sense and national integrity.

UN Preparing US For Black Reparations, Racist Santa Claus Obamas Next Job gets right to the point.

As a globalist and America-hater, Obama has always perceived the legitimate power as residing not as is laid out in the Constitution but with the United Nations and a dictatorial president that implements global interests and ignores our tradition, our structure, everything about the United States as being archaic and no longer applicable. The way he ignores our immigration laws and sidesteps Congress in favor of UN approval on the Iran giveaway and the climate extortion agreements are obvious examples. He sought out and received the blessing of the UN and declared that to be sufficient. The gutless Congress, bought off or simply cowardly, has done nothing to rein in this rogue authoritarian.

Now comes word that a UN-affiliated group in Geneva has issued a report which calls for the US to hand money over to black Americans as reparations for slavery. The group of intrusive international busy-bodies is the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

You are entering the outer limits of a society that does not have the guts to remove the curse of globalism from the planet. Barak Obama has consistently fostered an agenda that advances The United Nations Just Officially Announced a Global Communist Takeover, The New World Order Reconvenes.

The UN at the seventy-first regular session has aggregated the role of the United Nations in promoting a new global human order into their agenda. In addition to the aforementioned under section A. titled, Promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences is also the plan for total Globalization and interdependence.

Obama in his final speech before the UN echoes these words. We can only eliminate extreme poverty if the sustainable development goals that we have set are more than words on paper.

So prepare for draconian methods to proliferate as the UN applies a Totalitarian Collectivism to a Political Correct internet that will soon filter out critical discourse and content. Banishing sites to the infamous Leon Trotskys vision of Marxist utopian will put new meaning to: You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on / into the dustbin of history!

With the accelerated rush to impose the final act of betrayal, the United Nations will not miss a beat when Obama is gone, according to Kurt Nimmo, If Hillary Clinton is elected in November, we can expect a seamless transition and a continuation of the CFRs agenda.

Because this continuation stares us all in the face, the November election is a National Referendum on the Globalist Establishment. The conclusion in this essay presents a monumental challenge to all Americans.

Trump is the death star en route to a collision course with an establishment super nova. He may not succeed, but as a voter; you can triumph over the corrupt political apparatus by casting a message in the only national referendum you may ever get a chance to participate within.

John Linder poses a sober alternative in Could a Trump Presidency Get the U.S. Out of The United Nations?

We should buy the U.N. facilities in New York for $3 billion provided that they use the money to build their new facilities in a developing nation. We would then auction the buildings off.

We will remain as a member of the U.N. and pay dues proportionate with the rest of the nations on the Security Council.

If the U.N. were located in, say, North Africa, the setting would be less appealing for media attention or long work sessions by ambassadors.

With declining attention by the media, nations will begin to treat the U.N. less deferentially and some will drift away as the U.S. refuses to play Sugar Daddy to the world.

Well, such rosy dreams are a sheer fantasy as long as globalists control the world. The only way to free mankind from the shackles of the elitist New World Order is to foster a planetary populist movement designed to neuter the globalist institutions of despotism. Break the chains of enslavement and the new colonialism that ultimately wants to eliminate billions of people from existence.

The United Nations boasts: Let Us Beat Our Swords into Plowshares, while promoting World Evolutionary Humanism, Eugenics and UNESCO. Brent Jessops account, on the basic objective of the UN to impose world governance will end America as an independent nation, and such history will be eradicated from the web.

As the first Director of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (1887-1975) wrote a paper entitled UNESCO Its Purpose and Its Philosophy (1946) in which he outlined his vision for the newly created international organisation (which grew out of the League of Nations Institute of Intellectual Co-operation). According to Huxley, the guiding philosophy of UNESCO should be what he termed, World Evolutionary Humanism. The following article describes this philosophy and its relation to eugenics.

SARTRE

Source: http://www.batr.org/stupid/082316.html

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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

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Deutsche Bank Could Be the Demise of Germany

The first bad news broke following the third quarter of 2015. Deutsche Bank reported a loss of $7 billion. The news just keeps coming with low or negative earnings thanks to bad loans in Germany and abroad.



In my February 19, 2016 edition of The Leading Edge, I issued a clear and stern warning about Deutsche Bank and about a second banking crisis looming. I explicitly said





The Telegraph ran an article yesterday asking if Deutsche was the next Lehman . Is there an echo in the room?Without a doubt, things are coming to a head at the bank. It's heavily exposed to the fracking industry in the U.S., which is sure to see continued rising defaults ahead. It has the largest derivatives exposure of any bank, at $54.7 trillion (and that's not a typo) out of the worldwide total of $550 trillion. And now, the U.S. Justice Department is slapping on a $14 billion fine for fraud in mortgage security sales.Deutsche's market value is now only $16 billion. How can it afford to raise capital to pay this fine or to cover future large losses?Even worse, the hard line that Merkel has taken against bailing out Italian banks (requiring bail-ins by larger depositors instead) has forced her into declaring that there can be no bail-out or assistance for Deutsche Bank, either.She's obviously between a rock and a hard place. If she helps bail out Deutsche it would damage the euro. If she doesn't it could take the country down, and her along with it.Evidence keeps mounting that Deutsche Bank could very well be the riskiest bank in the world (something I've been saying for months now).The table below shows that Deutsche only has capital that is 2.68% of its assets - the worst of all major global banks . A healthy bank requires a level of 10% or more.

So much for how well capitalized the banks are after 2008!



The best bank of this risky bunch is Wells Fargo, with capital that is 8.01% of its assets. But it faces fraud problems of its own.



The riskiest top seven banks are all in Europe.



Unsurprisingly, Deutsche Bank's stock dropped another 6% on Monday, when Merkel declined aid. That puts it down 92% from its 2007, all-time high and 66% since August 2015!

How is it possible that Deutsche Bank - and most global banks for that matter - have seen stock prices decline massively in the last year, while the broader stock markets keep edging up?



Quite frankly, it isn't!



If the U.S. large-cap markets haven't already topped in early September, I say they'll do so before year-end most likely in early December when the Fed comes back up against raising rates or losing all credibility.



And by then, Italy's 18% (and rising) non-performing loans and Deutsche Bank's $14 billion fraud fine will likely have come to a head.



Deutsche Bank and Italy look to be the most likely triggers for the next crash - one that will be far worse than the subprime crisis in the U.S. in 2008.



It won't be hard to bring down Germany given it has the worst demographic trends in the world into 2022! All we need is a trigger to reveal the underlying weakness created by the greatest debt bubble in history and the most irresponsible monetary policies ever, and this house of cards will collapse.



It looks to me like the fuse is lit

Harry

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Harry studied economics in college in the 70s, but found it vague and inconclusive. He became so disillusioned by the state of the profession that he turned his back on it. Instead, he threw himself into the burgeoning New Science of Finance, which married economic research and market research and encompassed identifying and studying demographic trends, business cycles, consumers purchasing power and many, many other trends that empowered him to forecast economic and market changes.

Copyright  2016 Harry Dent- 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.

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Are U.S. Banks Safer Today Than They Were In 2008?

Although the seeds of the 2008 financial crisis were sown at a much earlier period of time, the banking institutions continued to reap the benefits of easy money until the financial crisis of 2008 negatively impacted the economy. The damage would have been much larger had U.S. taxpayers money not been used to bail out a large number of struggling banks and companies.

It is now more than eight years since the last financial crisis has occurred and the current global situation is now beyond that of the financial crisis of 2008. The Central Banks have been able to kick the can down the road, but that has only produced such vast proportions of debt that the next financial crisis will not be manageable by the Global Central Banks.

European Banks have already begun the crisis:

The worlds riskiest bank, according to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, is the Deutsche Bank.

The Banks leverage ratio of 2.68% is far worse than that of what the U.S. banks were before the 2008 crisis.

"In 2008, the 10 largest US banks held on average 3.1% tangible equity capital-to-assets. When the financial crisis hit, these institutions experienced significant losses and required extraordinary government support," said FDIC Vice Chairman Thomas M. Hoenig, reports the Business Insider.

The recent fine of $14 billion demanded as RMBS settlement, by the U.S. authorities, is 80% of the banks market cap and twice the amount that the bank has in reserve for litigations. The Deutsche Bank is on the brink of collapsing and will need a full-fledged bailout immediately.

However, it is not only the Deutsche Bank. There are other European banks in trouble, as well. Primarily, it is the Italian banks which are under considerable pressure.

With a GDP of approximately 16.2 trillion (nominal), the European Banks have approximately 1.2 trillion of bad loans. The total non-performing loans, of the Italian banks, is around 360 billion which represents 20% of Italys GDP.

However, Italian and German counterparts both continue to spar over their struggling banks.

Recently, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told Bundesbank Chief Jens Weidmann to sort out the mess of the German banks which have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of euros of derivatives, rather than worry about the Italian banks.

The European Banking Authority said in July that the regions banks may need as much as 470 billion euros ($524 billion) in additional MREL-eligible funding. The EBA sample consisted of 114 banks representing 70 percent of the EUs banking assets, including lenders not overseen by the SRB, said Elke Koenig, Single Resolution Board Head, who is the resolution authority for 142 banks, reports Zero Hedge.

Will U.S. banks be immune to a financial crisis since their European counterparts are experiencing such a crisis?

Although the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen wants us to believe that the large U.S. banks are in a much better situation as compared to 2008, because they have put in place numerous steps and have more in the works that will strengthen these [financial] institutions, force them to hold a great deal of additional capital, and reduce their odds of failure. There will be much lower odds that a so-called systemic firm will fail, and should that occur, well have better tools to deal with it.

What is the reality? Even before the 2008 crisis, the regulators of Bear Stearns, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all kept on assuring the public that the institutions were well-capitalized, until the very end.

Therefore, we cannot accept the regulators word as final and/or factual truth.

In a recently published paper for the Brooking Institute, authors, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Harvard Ph.D. candidate in economics, Natasha Sarin found the opposite to be true!

To our surprise, we find that financial market information provides little support for the view that major institutions are significantly safer than they were before the crisis and some support for the notion that risks have actually increased, the authors wrote.

The authors analyzed the six largest U.S. banks and fifty of the largest banks, around the world.

Conclusion:

Multiple experts like Steve Eisman have pointed out that the next financial crisis will originate within the European Union. The politics of the region is unlikely to allow for a logical solution to the problems plaguing both the Italian and the German banks.

If one had believed the regulators, in 2007, they would have incurred huge losses. Similarly, if one believes that the American banks are immune to the next financial crisis, believe so at your own risk.

This is the beginning of The Great Reset, globally.

Learn more and profit from this big change in within the financial sector.

Follow along with me as I navigate the financial markets for both short term swing trades and my long term investing positions: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 7 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

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Plane carrying humanitarian aid to Syria may bring needy families to Armenia (video)

The transportation of Syrian Armenians is not so easy to organize, says Deputy Minister of Diaspora Serzh Srapionyan said on Tuesday. They are citizens of Syria and have a lot of obligations towards the state. I am speaking about the military law and bank commitments, he said. First of all, the person himself should want to move to Armenia. Today, we do not have the levers that can enable us to bring them to Armenia. If they want to come to Armenia, they can apply to relevant authorities, and we shall do our best to arrange their trip to Armenia, Mr. Srapionyan said. The official added that the first plane loaded with 20 tons of humanitarian aid left for Syria on Monday, October 3. The second plane will be sent to Syria in the coming two days. Our consul and representative of our ministry have been assigned to arrange the transportation of the most vulnerable people, who do not have any problems with documents, the deputy minister said. It is estimated that 20 000 Armenians continue to live in Syria today. Once, the country had an Armenian population of more than 250 000. The community has 19 schools  three in Kesab (a mostly Armenian-populated town in northwestern Syria), four in Damascus and twelve in Aleppo. Lessons were canceled yesterday and today given the dangerous situation in the country. Local Armenian agencies will be notified of additional decisions, Mr. Srapionyan said. So far, more than 20 000 Armenians have come to Armenia. 13 000 of them have received citizenship.
RICHMOND  Dominion Resources is keeping its controlling share of the company that proposes to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, despite a corporate consolidation by Duke Energy with its purchase of Piedmont Natural Gas.

The $4.9 billion merger of Duke and Piedmont, both partners in Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, was completed Monday, representing 55 percent of the shares of the Delaware limited liability company.

But Dominion said it will exercise its right to purchase an additional 3 percent of the companys shares to retain a controlling interest at 48 percent, compared with 47 percent for Duke. The Richmond-based company did not say how that transaction would be accomplished.

Previously, the investment was shared by Dominion at 45 percent, Duke at 40 percent, Piedmont at 10 and Southern Company Gas at 5 percent.

In connection with the closing of the Duke-Piedmont acquisition, Dominion has exercised provisions of the ACP partnership agreement which allow the company to maintain its leading ownership percentage, Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby said Monday.

The transactions represent a further consolidation of control by big energy conglomerates over the company proposing to build the $5.1 billion, 600-mile pipeline, with most of the natural gas reserved for electric utilities owned by Dominion and Duke.

The fourth partner in the company, AGL Resources, became the natural gas subsidiary of the Southern Company during the summer. AGL, now known as Southern Company Gas, owns Virginia Natural Gas, based in Virginia Beach.

Southern, based in Atlanta, owns four electric utilities in the Southeast  Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power  as well as subsidiaries for nuclear and independent power generation.

The companies proposed construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline more than two years ago to bring low-cost natural gas from the Marcellus Shale fields in West Virginia to southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina.

They say the need is driven primarily by an increase in electric generation from burning natural gas instead of coal to meet federal stringent air pollution limits in the disputed Clean Power Plan. Natural gas customers in southeastern Virginia and North Carolina also would gain a new source of fuel for homes and businesses, the company said.

But if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves the project, investors in the pipeline company would be allowed to recover their costs and a return on investment up to 14 percent through the rates it charges customers.

Currently, 96 percent of the 1.5 billion cubic feet per day capacity of the pipeline is under contract, primarily to public utility subsidiaries of Dominion, Duke and Southern.

Some opponents of the project, primarily in communities along the pipelines proposed path in Western Virginia, contend the arrangement would violate federal antitrust law.
Did rapprochement between Serzh Sargsyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan hinder HAK in local elections? (video)

In its annual conference slated for October 30, Nikol Pashinyans Civil Contract Party will answer the question why the party sustained defeats in the October 2 local elections in Gyumri and Vanadzor cities. On Monday evening, the partys Board announced its resignation. Nikol Pashinyan says the resignation does not mean that the Civil Contract lost to the Republican Party or other political forces in free and fair elections. He cannot deny that the elections were rigged at some polling stations. Levon Zurabyan, Head of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction, says the authorities used the same methods to rig the elections and a usual action took place instead of elections. At the same time, Mr. Zurabyan did not rule out that the rapprochement of Serzh Sargsyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan after the April war in Karabakh played a certain role in HAKs defeat in the Sunday vote. It might affect the outcome of elections, I do not rule out. The methods of our struggle should never pose a threat or become invitation for Azerbaijani attack, Zurabyan stressed. He says Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Serzh Sargsyan have not met for a long time. Their last meeting was the one which was reported in the press. Levon Zurabyan says it is wrong to dissolve the board after the partys defeat in local elections: it means you consider the elections to be free and fair. You struggle against them with your participation while they rig the elections and you decide to resign as a result? It is absurd, he said.
BASSETT  Close to 200 people saw themselves, friends and family members on the big screen Saturday with the premier of Myron Smiths Virginia Sweded Film Festival (VSFF).

The VSFF is a collection of six short versions of popular movies, all created locally. Four were directed by Smith, one by Chris Harding and one by William Sellari.

Three were horror/suspense movies, and in keeping with the theme as well as the events proximity to Halloween, many in the audience dressed the part. Mel Rorrer dressed in a grey suit covered in a black spider web design, while his wife Melanie Rorrer wore a black dress with black fishnet stockings, and their children also wore black.

Smith, dressed in a tuxedo, talked to the audience from the stage before the films were shown. He also called Harding on stage to talk about the production.

During a phone interview Monday, Smith echoed some of the sentiments he shared from the stage Saturday.

As it turned out, the premier was on a date significant to one of the films: Oct. 1, the date the golden ticket-holders went into the Willy Wonka factory, Smith said.

I found it interesting that Garland William Whitlow was the only actor to appear in all four films, Smith said.

Chris Dollarhite was really helpful. I could tell that he put a lot of effort into memorizing his lines and staying in character. He did that role (of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz) perfectly, and I felt like he practiced in every free moment he had. I appreciated that.

Smith brought in a few traditions of live theater into the event. He created a theater-style program, complete with photographs and biographies of the actors. After all the films were shown, the actors all went up on stage, where they bowed to the audience.

With films, the actors miss out on part of the experience of live production with audience reaction, he said later. At the Sweded Film Festival, he incorporated some of the practices to give them that experience.

Each of Smiths film, in the tradition of Sweded films, was filmed in one day. The props were made the day before filming. The chocolate river in which a boy in Willy Wonkas candy factory fell was a long brown cloth which was waved. The scene of him succumbing under water showed his face through a slit in the fabric, then disappeared.

Marcy Martin, who assisted Smith throughout the production, coordinated the dinner. Kit Hemmings was her right-hand woman. Marcy made sure that Kit knew just about everything she knew so that the dinner would be handled smoothly.

Several cast members, dressed in their movie costumes, served the dinner of spaghetti, salad and desserts.

I think it went really well. I was really happy with the turnout  I had a lot of nervous (worries) that there were so many things that had to fall into place properly. I wanted to make sure that I had all the materials printed up, programs and DVDs, make sure all the food was ready. We had to chop the lettuce the night before, so we were up until about 5 a.m. Saturday morning, he said after the event.

I think people are really happy with the films and how it turned out. It was something exciting and different. Im happy to have been a part of it.

The festival was the first time the actors, most of whom live in the area, saw the films. I think they were all happy with what they saw, he said. I did my best to make everyone look good. A lot of that is in the editing.

Before the evening event, Smith and many of his crew had a booth at Oktoberfest in uptown Martinsville. Gordon Barrett, who portrayed Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street, went to both Oktoberfest and the film festival. He was a big hit taking pictures with the crowds, Smith said.

He said he hasnt even checked into social media accounts yet to see the publics reaction, because his first goal after the film festival was trying to get my house back to normal. Thats kind of funny itself in its way. Even though Im dying to see what everyone is saying about it  Ive made a point to try to get the housework done. Every time we have an event, I live in a living room completely full of stuff from the project.

This wasnt Smiths first rodeo. He and his brother, Mat Smith, co-produced Young Blood: Evil Intentions and Attack of the Killer Cicadas. Both of those were feature-length films with original scripts.

Smith said he is entertaining the idea of trying to do one (another Sweded film collection) in the next year  Ive been sitting here brainstorming different films I think Ill do next year.

He would like for the next film festival to have more submissions from other filmmakers, he said. Anyone interested can contact him at or contact him through Facebook.

Next for this group of films might be showings in Roanoke and Greensboro, North Carolina, he said.

With this major project behind him, and before he starts the next one, Smith said hes ready to get back to things he used to enjoy, such as the Wednesday night salsa sessions at Mtn Jax, before he became constantly busy.

Its something I really enjoy doing, but I had to give it up for about a month to wrap up the project. It was one of the sacrifices I make for films.

Holly Kozelsky writes for the Martinsville Bulletin. She can be reached at Holly.Kozelsky@martinsvillebulletin.com.
STUART  A Patrick County judge has denied a request by one of Virginia's assistant attorney general to revoke the conditional release of a man deemed a sexually violent predator.

During a civil hearing in Patrick County Circuit Court Monday that lasted nearly four hours, Judge Martin F. Clark Jr. ruled that Joe Edmond King, 46, of Stuart, committed only one of the several violations alleged and that the violation he committed  lying to a probation/parole officer about his whereabouts  was not sufficient to revoke his conditional release.

Assistant Attorney General William Winters called two probation/parole officers who, between them, testified that King on one occasion reported that he was going to meet a supervisor at work when he in fact went to his girlfriends home; that he had access to pornography on several occasions but didnt always report that; that he went to the home of his girlfriend, who has young children; and that on several occasions he did not have with him his GPS monitoring equipment by which officials could track his whereabouts.

Dr. Glenn Rex Miller, a licensed clinical psychologist in Norfolk, testified he feels that all those things considered together indicate that King is likely to re-offend, that he is not suitable for conditional release, and that he would be better off receiving in-patient treatment. Miller said he feels that King has a number of risk factors, including stress, pornography and the possibility of being around children. Miller said he felt King had shown deception in not being forthright with probation/parole officers on some matters.

Miller also noted that King is struggling with an anti-social personality.

He just doesnt have internal controls, Miller said.

King testified that he had had a lot of stress, including his own health problems, his mothers health problems, among other things. He said that on the occasion when he lied to probation/parole officers about his whereabouts, that he had set up a meeting with a supervisor at work but that the meeting fell through and he went to his girlfriends house. As for the times he didnt have the GPS tracking equipment with him, he said sometimes he forgot and had trouble keeping up with it, and that when he found out he didnt have it, he usually made efforts to retrieve it or to have his girlfriend retrieve it.

The time(s) when he went to his girlfriends house, her children were not present, King said. Officials said one condition of his release was that he not be around children, though Judge Clark said there is no evidence King is a pedophile.

Kings lawyer, Matthew Clark, argued that Dr. Miller made a lot of assumptions that seemed to be unfair at best to King and that Millers assumptions were based on sparse notes from some outpatient counseling sessions. Clark said King has made progress in his treatment and counseling and in developing coping skills. Clark said King did not seek out pornography on the times in question. Clark said King had been forthright with probation/parole officials and in an outpatient counseling group about some issues.

Is he committing crimes or trying to? No, Matthew Clark said.

Matthew Clark argued that Kings conditional release should not be revoked.

Winters argued that because of the alleged violations, King is no longer suitable for conditional release, that his behavior has deteriorated and that he should receive in-patient treatment at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation.

The Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation is a secured residential treatment facility dedicated to the treatment of civilly committed sexually violent predators, according to its website.

Judge Clark noted that since King has been on conditional release, he has maintained employment, has paid fines and fees, has attended counseling sessions and substance abuse recovery meetings, that he has not committed a single crime, and that the encounters with pornography for which he was cited seemed largely unintentional. Judge Clark also said Dr. Millers opinion seemed based on assumptions and sometimes erroneous information.

Judge Clark ordered that King be sent back to the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation for 30-45 days to receive additional treatment before he is released conditionally. In the meantime, officials will review the conditional release plan.

King was convicted a number of years ago of rape in Patrick County.

Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be released at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com.
I read with great interest about Sen. Bill Stanley giving the Henry County Board of Supervisors a report about I-73. Sen. Stanley told the Board of Supervisors that the way to get money on I-73 was to speak loud and bang on pots and pans loudly. I find it very amazing that Sen. Stanley helped to not get our $8.5 million that was earmarked to spend on I-73 from the Patriot Centre to Laurel Park.

We and a group of people from Henry County worked long and hard and spent a lot of time and effort over the past 10 years to get this $8.5 million and Sen. Stanley supported our two members from Roanoke on the Transportation Board, William Fralin and Cort Rosen, to help move this money from I-73 to 220. If our money is spent where they are proposing it to be spent, it will not provide the first job for Henry County.

If this money is spent on the proposed I-73 route from the Patriot Centre to Laurel Park, it would go through one of the largest industrial parks in the state. That would bring thousands of jobs to our area. Our industrial park has everything to back our claim up, such as plenty of good land to develop, water and sewer, heavy power lines and good industrial access roads on the property. Sen. Stanley is trying to use scare tactics in front of the board of supervisors, saying that the Corps of Engineers would not approve this route. Where is his proof that they have made any kind of ruling on this road?

As to our knowledge, no request has been made for them to rule on. Sen. Stanley also says that the money may have to be paid back if it is spent on this route. We would like for him to show us one place in the entire state of Virginia that has had to pay the money back where the locality wanted the road built. Also, they are claiming that our money would come under House Bill 2. This is a bill that was passed and enacted last year. We maintain that our route comes under the grandfather clause and that our route was started some four years ago when $800,000 was spent on this route. This was before House Bill 2 went into effect. It is a shame our $8.5 million was taken away from us and the people of Henry County, as hard as we worked for it and it was plainly earmarked to be spent on this route.

We would like to thank all the rest of our elected officials who supported us. Only one did not support us and that was Sen. Bill Stanley.

Max Kendall

Axton
Laughing latinos comedy png copy.jpg

A little more than a month ago, I wrote about the success of the the Cabot Comedy Club, which featured Bobcat Goldthwaite a few weeks back.

Now the Chicopee-based club will be hosting its first show produced by Laughing Latinos Comedy, a local company that features Latino comics as well as ones from other ethnic groups.

Saturday's show will feature Marlon Randolph, Chris Grant and Barry Ribs. Randolph will headline the show. Grant, who holds has a bachelors in history and a masters in education, guarantees his smart his comedy won't waste the time of anyone in his audience.

Ribs, a 22-year veteran of the comedy scene, recently made his debut at famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.

He has shared the stage with some of America's favorite comics such as Cedric The Entertainer, Mike Epps and Paul Mooney.

The Cabot Comedy Club is located at 66 Cabot St.

Scouting report

* The Happier Valley Comedy Show will present its popular "Scripted/Unscripted" show, which features a cavalcade of improvisers and stage actors from the Pioneer Valley in a half-scripted, half-improvised, totally unique and fun show. The Oct. 8 show, which will be at The Arts Block Cafe in Greenfield, combines one actor performing from a script with one improviser making it all up on the spot. This show, which starts at 8 p.m., usually plays to a sold-out crowd, so it's a good idea to get there early. The Arts Block Cafe is at 289 Main St.

* Holyoke native current Westfield resident, Dee Reilly brings her Classic Country Show to Joanna's in Somers, Conn., on Oct. 21.

The show is a fundraiser to benefit Somers American Legion Post No. 101.

Reilly spent 25 years in Nashville performing at myriad venues as well as traveling all over the country and internationally with her Irish Country show. She has returned to her local roots performs throughout the region, recently being the featured performer at the Springfield Museums commemoration of 100th anniversary of Ireland's Easter Rising.

Tickets are $30 (tax and tip included) for a complete chicken buffet dinner, along with Reilly's show. Call (860) 508-6679 for tickets.

* Since I am mentioning one nearby Connecticut show, I might as well mention another: On Oct. 29, Black-Eyed Sally's in Hartford will welcome the Northeast Blues Harmonica Showcase. The show will feature four blues harp players, Brian Templeton, Diane Blue, Racky Thomas and Kosher Kid, as well as many other talented musicians. The show begins at 9 p.m.

Do you have a cool event or show coming up at a local club? Send me a note about it at least two weeks in advance at raconteurgeo@gmail.com and I will try to include it in this space.
East Longmeadow town hall 2015

East Longmeadow's Town Hall is seen at 60 Center Square.

(Michael S. Gordon / The Republican)

EAST LONGMEADOW -- For the second time in the month of September, the state Attorney General's office last week found a town board in violation of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law -- this time ordering town officials to release minutes for executive sessions the Board of Selectmen held between 2014 and 2016.

The ruling came in response to three complaints filed with the state by a resident in March after the resident's complaints to the town went unanswered.

In the Sept. 29 decision, Assistant Attorney General Hanne Rush described the board's violations of the law as failing to respond within 10 days to a request for minutes from a meeting held in open session; failing to respond to a request for executive session minutes; and by failing to respond to Open Meeting Law complaints.

The state did not assess any penalties, though, beyond warning that future violations "may be considered evidence of intent to violate the Law."

According to Rush's decision, the violations began when the board ignored a public records request filed by East Longmeadow resident Ralph Page.

Page filed requests on Jan. 12 seeking minutes from a Sept. 30, 2014, as well as minutes from meetings held between Oct. 27, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2015.

In a second letter that day, Page also requested minutes for executive sessions held between April 1, 2014 and Jan. 11, 2016.

Both letters were stamped "received" by the office of the Board of Selectmen, Rush found, but Page was not provided with a response within 10 days -- a requirement under the law.

On Feb. 8 filed complaints with the town over the board's failure to respond to his requests.

On Aug. 25, 2016 Town Attorney James Donahue sent Page a letter explaining that Interim Town Manager Denise Menard conducted a review of the withheld executive session minutes to determine which documents could be released. The documents were available for pick-up in Mendard's office, the letter stated.

"We find that the Board not only missed the requisite 10-day deadline to respond to the complainant's requests, it failed to respond altogether until Attorney Donahue responded on its behalf six months later," the decision reads.

Donahue only responded "after prompting by our office," Rush wrote.

The decision also lays out the timeline for a public body to respond to such complaints: "The public body must meet to review the complaint and formulate a response, or meet to delegate that authority, and respond to the complaint within 14 business days."

The letter from the Attorney General's office cautioned the town against future violations of the law.

The decision comes after the state Attorney General's office ruled on Sept. 8 that members of a search committee to select a new police chief violated the Open Meeting Law earlier this year through a procedural "misstep."

According to that decision, the violation involved a vote taken via secret ballot in February and a motion at a March 9 meeting to enter executive session. The motion should have listed specific meeting dates for which minutes would be approved.

When the group returned to open session, members explained to the audience that during a Feb. 26 executive session, the committee took a vote to recommend three candidates to the Board of Selectmen.

The Sept. 8 decision, also written by Rush, ordered East Longmeadow officials to release the votes taken during the secret ballot, and to release minutes from the Feb. 26 executive session.

Massachusetts Attorney General: East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen ruling by Greg Saulmon on Scribd
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(AGUSTIN MARCARIAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

NORTH ANDOVER -- Merrimack College became the latest victim of the creepy clown threats sweeping the country, evacuating a dorm Monday night after a tweet told of an armed clown on campus.

The tweet turned out to be a hoax. The response was very real.

Merrimack issued a shelter in place order and evacuated a dorm while authorities searched the campus. No suspicious person was found and the shelter in place called off.

"Students across New England apparently are being terrified right now by, really, one or two people on social media," Merrimack College spokesman Jim Chiavelli told Fox25. "It's shameful."

Agawam had its own, widely publicized, creepy clown scare over the weekend.

In that case, a clown, holding balloons and a "free hugs" sign, chased after a motorist who videoed the episode as it unfolded outside a local Geissler's supermarket. The video went viral, racking up more than 300,000 views, Western Mass. News reported Sunday.

Police responded, and it turned out that the clown in question was just promoting the upcoming New England Scare Fest at The Big E, which finished its centennial run on Sunday.

Not all instances of the nationwide trend have proven so benign.

In recent weeks, 12 people have been charged with making false reports or threats, or chasing people, in association with the creepy clown phenomena, according to The New York Times. In some instances, school districts have kept students indoors after reported sightings or social media murmurs involving the makeup-wearing menaces, The Republican reported.

According to Fox25, there was even a sighting in Nova Scotia, where a clown-mask-donning individual reportedly stood in the road and ran at passing cars.

It's not all hoax, either. The Associated Press reported the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy in Reading, Pennsylvania, after someone wearing a clown mask may have provoked a confrontation.
NORTHAMPTON -- The Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech have named Ralph S. Johnston as the institution's eighth president and chief executive, the school announced Tuesday.

Ralph Johnston

Johnston, of Brewster on Cape Cod, succeeds William J. Corwin, who led the organization for nine years.

"As Clarke president and CEO, I look forward to interacting with our students, families and staff to see and hear the stories of Clarke's impact first-hand," Johnston said in a press release. "I believe my business management and leadership experience will benefit Clarke from an operations and fundraising perspective. I am excited to be part of a mission that makes such a lifelong difference for those we serve."

Founded in 1867 in Northampton and known as Clarke School for the Deaf / Center for Oral Education until 2010, Clarke sold most of its Northampton campus in 2012 when it discontinued its residential programs after years of declining enrollment.

Clarke describes its mission as teaching children who are deaf or who have difficulty hearing to listen and to talk. Clarke has programs for infants to teens. Many of the younger students who work with Clarke are ready to attend their neighborhood mainstream schools by kindergarten, the school said.

Clarke said that each year more than 1,200 children and their families benefit from programs and services at its five locations in Boston, Jacksonville, Florida, New York City, Northampton and Philadelphia.

Johnston has more than 25 years of business and health care experience, according to the press release.

He helped with the start up of Infusaid, the company that produced the first

totally implantable drug delivery system. Infusaid was sold to Pfizer, where he spent more than 10 years, ultimately as vice president for worldwide sales and marketing. He was the co-founder of several start-up ventures, including Contour Medical, a specialty medical device, diagnostic and drug delivery consultancy and Intranasal Therapeutics.

As a consultant, Johnston worked for several nonprofits including the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians.

Johnston holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Eastern Michigan University, a medical laboratory technician credential following a program in molecular biology at the University of Michigan and an MBA from Suffolk University.

Clarke Board of Trustees Chair Hugh D. Babowal said Johnston was selected following a national search.
WARE -- The Planning Board wants a moratorium until December 2018 on the sale of "recreational marijuana," even though Massachusetts residents have not yet cast ballots on whether to approve the idea.

Voters will decide in the Nov. 8 election whether to legalize marijuana.

The Ware Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing on Oct. 19, when residents can express their views on the municipal initiative.

The Planning Board's advocacy for a moratorium on the sale of recreational marijuana requires Town Meeting approval to take effect, as it would amend municipal bylaws.

The board says it needs the extra time to be ready should marijuana be legalized in the state, and hopes the town enacts a temporary bylaw to allow the proposed moratorium.

Their notice to residents for the October public hearing states: "In light of the possible legalization of marijuana for recreational use - Ballot Question #4 in the November 8, 2016 election - and overlapping concerns regarding current state medical marijuana laws and regulations already in place, the Planning Board is proposing a moratorium to allow the town sufficient time to engage in the planning process to address the effects of such structures and uses in the Town and to enact bylaws in a manner consistent with sound land use planning goals and objectives."

The Planning Board is also seeking a moratorium on siting of medical marijuana treatment facilities, which if approved would be in effect until December 2017.

The public hearing will take place at Town Hall, 126 Main St., at 7:05 p.m.

2016 Proposed Bylaw Amendments- Moratorium on Medical and Recreational Marijuana by The Republican/MassLive.com on Scribd
GLOUCESTER -- Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello was fired Monday after city officials accused him of deleting text messages on his phone which might have connected him with two women who an investigator told the Boston Globe "may have been in fear for their safety."

Campanello was suspended without pay on Sept. 13, but at that time no allegations regarding his suspension had been released.

It is not clear what Campanello's connection was with the women, but investigators characterized one of the relationships as personal. Campanello is not being fired for the relationships, but rather for deleting evidence on his phone during a probe.

City officials said the mayor's office had received two strange phone calls over Labor Day weekend, one from a woman who said she feared for her safety, and the other from a woman calling in regards to another woman.

Campanello allegedly deleted 653 text messages sent to and received in one day from one of the women on a city-owned cellphone, the Boston Globe reported. Campanello reportedly lied to investigators and said the phone was stolen.

A termination letter acquired by the Boston Globe said that Campanello lied to investigators on Sept. 23 when he said his cellphone, master key, and security fob were locked in his office. Investigators checked his office and did not find his phone there.

Those items ended up in the possession of Terrence Kennedy, Campanello's attorney, through overnight mail. The chief allegedly told investigators that he did not know how those items got delivered, but security footage at the Everett post office caught Campanello delivering the package.

Campanello's attorney told the Boston Globe that the investigation was a "witch-hunt."

The chief's firing doesn't take effect until Nov. 2, and he still has the right to appear at a hearing before that date.

During his tenure, Campanello implemented the ANGEL program which allowed addicts to turn in their drugs and drug paraphernalia at the station, no questions asked. Users are then directed to treatment centers, rather than a cell.

He was just recently honored at the White House last July for his efforts to help drug abusers rather than punish them.
'Unroofed' destinies... (video)

The five-member family of Yerevan citizen Karine Hovsepyan has been living on the 8th floor of an apartment building located at 48 Nazarbekyan for nine years now. The building does not have lifts, and it has become a real ordeal for the woman to ascend the stairs to get to her apartment. I climb [the stairs] on all fours, if the child happens to be with me. I am disabled and have problems with one of my legs. My husband is completely blind in one eye, and can see only 50 percent with the other eye. Even if you force me, I cannot raise the child, because I have a hernia, says Mrs. Karine. The husbands do not hope they will receive help in hospitals. They are not welcome guests there. After several visits, they stopped attending hospital. Though they say that I have a disability and everything is free of charge, you know the laws of this country; one can never receive anything for free. We do not go to doctors because we think we can buy bread for our children with the money which we spend on transport fares. We calculate every penny, Mr. Karine said. The five-member family cannot even afford daily bread. Mrs. Anahit, the eldest member of the family, has shouldered the care of children in order to help the disabled couple in their daily chores. Mrs. Anahit has not been working for a long time because of a hand injury. "I wake up every morning, look at my children and think what I can cook for them to eat, says Karines mother-in-law. The family has been living in deplorable housing conditions for ten years. At first, they lived on the 2nd floor, but the apartment was given to someone else, and the family appeared in the street. After staying without a shelter for many months, they were offered a flat on the 8th floor of the same building. Mrs. Anahit showed us around the apartment. It is already autumn, but we do not know what we can do about these broken slates. It rained once, and the area is still wet. We cannot sleep under the sounds at night. It seems as if we are in a music school. All metals are moving and creaking, the panels on the roof are very weak, she said. Mrs. Anahit has written a letter to Serzh Sargsyan, but a reply came from the Presidential Palace advising the woman to turn to the district council. The latter did not help the family either. They asked a weird question instead. If you could not feed your family, why did you have children? I gave birth to a future soldier, a future mother, had healthy children who fall ill in turn. Our government and our authorities know about our family, but I receive help only from ordinary people like me, Mrs. Anahit says. The building is mainly inhabited with poor families. Melanya Kurghinyan, 53, lives on the 9th floor of the same building. Until recently, she lived in a trailer with her daughter and three grandchildren. I only want to have my own flat. My children are growing up and they are ashamed of our living conditions. They are ashamed when we have guests but we cannot afford to repair this flat, she says. Although the woman has four more children, she does not expect any help from them. One of them lives in a rented flat and cannot event afford to pay the rent I do not know what to say, she says. Each and every corner of the building smells of poverty. Haykuhi Smbatyan lives in a small area, which cannot be called a flat. The 31-year-old woman lives in these terrible conditions with her two-year-old son, Emanuel. She received the flat from her father but only part of the area is fit for dwelling. I came to live here after I got a divorce from my husband. This was my family home before I married. When I came here, there were no windows and doors. Only the walls were standing. I decided to put doors and windows and make a small room for us, says Haykuhi. She had to bring up her newborn baby alone, overcoming all difficulties on her way. I walked on the ice in winter to get to my workplace. I worked in a pastry workshop. After the child was born, I took him to pastry workshop where I worked the night shift. I had no husband, brother or father who would fetch me the necessary supplies, she says. Haykuhi has always felt the absence of relatives. She had to take the boy to a communal kitchen because she could not afford to feed him properly. Since he was four months old, Emanuel grew up eating meals meant for grandparents. I could not even have those meals When my son developed bronchiolitis, I had to give up work. My relatives cannot help us, because they can hardly make both ends meet," she says. Haykuhi does not even dream of moving to a rented or a newly renovated apartment. She can only buy food and medicine for her son with the money she receives. She says Emanuel developed illnesses because of their living conditions. Bronchiolitis will last until Emanuel becomes seven. He cannot live in these conditions, in dust and smoke. Winter here is tantamount to living in the street," says the mother. Unlike his peers, little Emanuel does not play in beautiful playgrounds of the Armenian capital. He spends his days in this small room on a green blanket. Haykuhi's room overlooks a district with many splendid mansions in it. She calls it 'a district of well-off people.' Whenever she wants to forget the bitter reality, she goes to the window and looks out. There are people who want to stay alone I am always alone I do not believe in miracles. Why should I? If the relevant authorities have failed to tackle the issue for many years, what can help us?" she says. The building located at 48 Nazarbekyan is known in Yerevan for its poor living conditions and desperate inhabitants. The construction of the building started in the Soviet times but the last floor and the roof were left unfinished.
ROWE -- Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station shut down in 1992, and was demolished and decommissioned by 2007, but the fenced and isolated site on the upper Deerfield River still hosts 127 tons of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste in 16 concrete casks under 24-hour security.

The tiny town of Rowe is one of about a dozen communities nationwide affected by the presence of nuclear waste, but no longer benefiting economically from the presence of a functioning reactor.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and state Sen. Paul Mark (D-Peru) toured the site as guests of the Rowe Board of Selectmen. Mark is a member of the Yankee Rowe Spent Fuel Storage & Removal Citizens Advisory Committee. Neal, who represents the state's 1st Congressional District, assured local officials that he supports bipartisan legislation in Washington that would compensate communities that are forced to store nuclear waste.

The "Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Compensation Act" would seek up to $100 million for 13 towns ranging from Zion, Illinois to Wiscasset, Maine.

"The federal government is obligated to provide mitigation costs to communities such as Rowe, considering that the Department of Energy failed to remove the waste as promised," said Neal, a Democrat.

It was never the intention of the federal government for small towns such as Rowe to host spent fuel rods forever.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 directed the U.S. Department of Energy to take ownership of the nation's nuclear waste. The plan was to build a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but the facility was never built. Capping decades of gridlock, the Obama administration withdrew support for the plan in 2011.

Various nuclear plant owners, who over the years paid into a Department of Energy Fund to handle their waste, repeatedly sued the government over the broken promise, and dozens of settlements to date have cost taxpayers a combined $4 billion.

Rowe Board of Selectmen chair Marilyn Wilson said the town over the summer heard from Illinois Republican Rep. Robert J. Dold concerning a bill that would help towns that host a "stranded spent nuclear fuel storage site." She said the proposed bill recognizes that such communities have become de facto interim nuclear waste sites.

Wilson said when Yankee Rowe was fully operational, the company paid for the town's police, fire, and emergency response budgets, on top of paying substantial property taxes. Now taxes are diminished and public safety expenses are borne by local taxpayers. The town continues to bear other plant-related costs, she said.

Event without the nuke, Rowe enjoys a solid tax base thanks to several hydro-electric facilities on the Deerfield River. With a population of 358, its own elementary school, and hundreds of acres of conservation land, the residential tax rate remains at $6.03 per thousand valuation. The commercial and industrial tax rate stands at $13.31. The tax history of the Yankee Rowe plant was not immediately available. The company owns more than 1,700 acres.

Members of the press, initially invited by Neal's office to attend Monday's tour, were blocked from attending by plant officials, who cited security reasons. A plainclothes guard with an assault-style rifle stood at the front gate. Reporters were told to point their cameras away from the facility.

Robert Capstick, a spokesman for Yankee Rowe, said he is as eager as town officials to see a solution. The company spends millions every year to host the waste that the government failed to remove, he said. In New England, other plants with stranded waste are Maine Yankee, Vermont Yankee, and Connecticut Yankee.



Meanwhile, the Department of Energy is considering privately-owned interim storage to overcome the impasse in Congress over authorizing a permanent site. Waste Control Specialists proposes an interim facility for 40,000 tons of nuclear waste in West Texas. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has said siting of interim facilities would be done under a "consent-based" model.

Moniz still acknowledges the need for an permanent, underground geological repository. About 2,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel is created every year.
SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield defense lawyer charged with sexually assaulting two clients has been released without bail with orders to stay away from his alleged victims.

James J. Martin, 40, pleaded not guilty to rape and six counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 during his arraignment Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court.

Martin neither spoke nor displayed any emotion during the arraignment, which took place in front of nearly a dozen defense lawyers waiting for their cases to be called. The formal reading of the charges was waived at the request of attorney Alan Black, who is representing Martin.

At a prosecutor's request, Judge Richard Carey released Martin with a series of conditions, rather than cash bail. He must report to a probation officer once a week by phone, and once a month in person, plus avoid any contact with the women who claim he sexually assaulted them earlier this year.

Following the session, several attorneys who know Martin said they were stunned by the charges. They described him as a skilled lawyer and a respected colleague.

The arraignment came five days after a Hampden County grand jury issued a seven-count indictment charging Martin with raping one of his clients and sexually assaulting another.

Massachusetts State Police searched Martin's home in Granby last month with a court order allowing them to seize his cell phone and other potential evidence. Investigators also obtained text messages sent by Martin to one of his alleged victims, court records show.

The case dates back to May, when Martin allegedly assaulted a court-appointed client after driving her to an alley in Holyoke, according to the indictment and a related state police affidavit.

The woman told police that Martin made sexually suggestive remarks during a meeting in his office on May 5, then picked her up outside her father's house the next night to discuss her case, according to the affidavit.

Instead, Martin drove to an alley off Lyman Street, turned off his car and "jumped on top of her," the affidavit said. The encounter ended when the woman's phone rang and she told Martin "her son fell and she needed to get home," according to the affidavit.

The woman reported the assault on Aug. 24, more than three months later, court documents show.

By then, the Hampden County District Attorney's office was investigating a Springfield woman's claim that Martin forced her to perform oral sex on him after she went to his office on June 6 to discuss her upcoming divorce.

After making sexually charged comments, Martin locked the office door and began to grope and undress the woman, who said she felt "frozen" and powerless to stop him, the affidavit said.

When it was over, Martin "pulled his pants up, opened the blinds to his office and told her she was intoxicating," the affidavit said. He also agreed to charge her only $300 an hour for his services, the affidavit said.

The woman went to Baystate Medical Center after the incident and gave a statement to police while there, the report said.

Martin is a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Western New England University School of Law. He shares a law office in Springfield's South End with his wife, Courtney, also a graduate of WNEU's law school.

In addition to representing criminal clients, Martin specializes in personal injury and family law cases. The status of his law license is listed as active and he has no history of disciplinary actions, according to the state Board of Bar Overseers' website.
springfield city hall. exterior .JPG

The Springfield License Commission will meet with management of Aquarius Nightclub in a hearing to determine if the club's security contributed to a recent stabbing there.

(THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

The Springfield City Council has passed a nonbinding resolution opposing a ballot question that would expand the growth of charter schools in Massachusetts.

The resolution was adopted at a meeting Monday evening, following a public speakout session.

"Whereas lifting the cap on charter schools would greatly worsen the problems listed above and lead to a costly and divisive two-track school system, now, therefore, be it resolved that the Springfield City Council opposes lifting the cap on Commonwealth charter schools and urges a Vote No on Question 2," the resolution said.

The debate over Question 2 has divided public officials in Massachusetts, and has seen advocates and opponents pour millions of dollars into political advertising over the issue. Charter operators and wealthy individual donors have funded the pro-charter messaging, while teachers unions have paid for a campaign against the measure.

Massachusetts law currently limits the number of charter schools in the state to 120, with exceptions for particularly low-performing school districts, and includes limits on charter school funding. The ballot question would allow the state to authorize 12 new charter schools per year.

Springfield has partnered charter school operators in its Empowerment Zone Partnership, a public-private collaboration which has taken over operations of nine of the city's underperforming middle schools. Those schools are still public, but have undergone changes in staffing and educational strategy.

Opponents of lifting the charter cap have argued that charter schools divert funds from public schools that need them. Supporters say charter schools increase choices for students and parents.
UPDATE, Oct. 4, 2016, 1:05 p.m.: At his arraignment, Martin denied the charges and was released without bail.

Read the story >>

SPRINGFIELD -- A Hampden County grand jury has indicted a Springfield defense lawyer for allegedly raping one of his clients and sexually assaulting another.

James J. Martin, 40, is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court on seven-count indictment issued last week by a grand jury.

Martin, who shares a South End law office with his wife Courtney, did not respond to requests for comment Monday. He is charged with one count of rape and six counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.

The first case dates back to May, when Martin allegedly assaulted one of his clients after driving her to an alley in Holyoke, according to the indictment and a related Massachusetts State Police affidavit.

The woman told police that Martin made sexually suggestive remarks during a two-hour meeting in his office on May 5, then picked her up outside her father's house the next night with the promise of further legal discussions, according to the affidavit.

Instead, Martin drove to an alley off Lyman Street, turned off his car and "jumped on top of her," the affidavit said. The assault ended when the woman's phone rang and she told Martin "her son fell and she needed to get home," according to the affidavit.

The woman reported the assault on Aug. 24, more than three months later, court documents show.

By then, the Hampden County District Attorney's office was investigating a Springfield woman's claim that Martin forced her to perform oral sex on him after she went to his office on June 6 to discuss her upcoming divorce.

After making sexually charged comments, Martin locked the office door and began to grope and undress the woman, who said she felt "frozen" and powerless to stop him, the affidavit said.

When it was over, Martin "pulled his pants up, opened the blinds to his office and told her she was intoxicating," the affidavit said.

He also agreed to charge her only $300 an hour for his services, the affidavit said.

The woman went to Baystate Medical Center after the incident and gave a statement to police while there, the report said.

State police searched Martin's home in Granby last month with a court order allowing them to seize his cell phone and other potential evidence, court records show.

Investigators also obtained texts messages saved by the victim in the Holyoke case, records show.

"Hey there, it's your favorite attorney," one message quoted in the affidavit reads. "I'm not texting about your case though, Lol."

"I not only want to share my dirty thoughts, I want to be wholly inappropriate and act them out with you," he wrote in a second message, according to the affidavit.

At the time of the alleged assault, Martin was serving as the woman's court-appointed lawyer. Neither the woman's age nor details of the charges against her were disclosed in court documents.

On his website, Martin describes himself as a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Western New England University School of Law.

In addition to representing criminal clients, he also specializes in personal injury and family law cases. Along with his wife, who also is a graduate of WNEU School of Law, he practices out of an office at 1145 Main St. in Springfield's South End.

Admitted to the bar in 2007, Martin has no record of disciplinary actions and his status is listed active, according to the state Board of Bar Overseers' website.
williamson's clothier.JPG

This is the inside of Williamson's Clothier on Exchange Street in Chicopee.

(Republican file)

CHICOPEE - The owner of Williamson's Clothier, an iconic store for men's clothing in downtown Chicopee, has announced he will close this fall.

No date has been set for the closing. The store on 223 Exchange St. will begin a closeout sale starting on Thursday, selling suits at as low as $200 and sport coats for $150 to $600.

Ken Williamson, who has owned the retail mainstay for 20 years, said in a written statement he is ready to retire and will sell his entire inventory.

"When I started this store 20 years ago in October, I had my eyes set on what I wanted the store to look like, what I wanted it to be, who we wanted to serve," he said. "I knew I couldn't be everything to everybody. I knew I wasn't going to compete on price and that I wanted to put an emphasis on quality, service and real value. Fortunately, it worked out pretty well."

The store has served as an anchor to the downtown area, drawing bank presidents, lawyers and business leaders from across Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, northern Rhode Island and southern Vermont.

Williamson and his employees have always provided personal service to their customers, setting them aside from retail chains.

Williamson has worked in the clothing industry for 60 years, landing his first job as a stock boy in 1956 at the same Exchange Street store he owns now. He left for 16 months to serve with the National Guard in Berlin, and then returned to learn the business.

He eventually purchased the store, renamed it, rebranded it and said business started booming.

"I just assumed business was supposed to do that. Like everything else, it's had its peaks and valleys but I couldn't be happier. We have customers who really care about how they look. As corny as it may sound, when you walk out of the store you're representing yourself and us. If it's not good, both of us are going to suffer," he said.

The store will be open will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday this week during the sale.
Maura Healey

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, center, speaks with members of the media after testifying before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

(Steven Senne)

BOSTON - Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey plans to head down to Orlando this weekend to participate in the city's Pride Parade and visit the Pulse gay nightclub, the scene of the June mass shooting that left 49 people dead.



Healey, the nation's first openly gay attorney general, talked about the scheduled trip during a Monday appearance on Boston Herald Radio, the newspaper's internet radio station.



Billed as the "Most Colorful Parade in Orlando," the parade will feature officials from the city's fire and police department, Mayor Buddy Dyer and a "Pulse Float" with nightclub employees, first responders, and family members of the victims, according to the parade's website.



Omar Mateen, the Pulse nightclub shooter, was killed by police in a gunfight. Two people with Massachusetts connections, Kimberly "KJ" Morris of Northampton, and Stanley Almodovar of Springfield, were killed in the attack, while Angel Colon of Framingham and Geoffrey Rodriguez of Leominster survived.



Healey told Herald Radio that the shooting spurred her to ask her office to review illegal sales of assault weapons and state regulations. That eventually led to her office issuing a crackdown on "copycat" assault weapons.



"We took a look at that, we looked at the statute, and realized these are actually banned, and we made clear, and we gave fair notice," Healey said on the radio. "We haven't taken action yet against any of the dealers or manufacturers because we've seen them come into compliance. And that's a good thing."



In September, four Massachusetts gun shops filed a lawsuit against Healey's office, calling the crackdown "unconstitutionally vague, invalid, and unenforceable."



Read the gun shops' lawsuit against Attorney General Maura Healey
The sentencing of Paul Nisbet implicated in the federal fraud case involving a former Missoula electronics and appliance retailer is being delayed, as not to interfere with his vacation to Alaska.

Along with former Vanns Chief Executive Officer George Manlove, Nisbet was initially accused with theft, fraud and conspiracy for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Full Story: http://www.kbzk.com/story/33307209/sentencing-delayed-for-former-vanns-ceo-to-allow-vacation
Over 2 years after the laying a bunch of solar harvesting hexagonal panels at its Idaho electronics lab, and 11 months after revealing its more powerful and more colorful third generation units, Solar Roadways has completed its first public installation. The City of Sandpoint, Idaho, is playing host to the proof of concept roll out, with 30 tiles now brightening up a town square  though not all of the panels are operational at the moment.

Paul Ridden

Full Story: http://newatlas.com/solar-roadways-sandpoint-public-installation/45723/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=1bf7470426-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-1bf7470426-92465361
Following the identification of a new COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.529) in South Africa and neighbouring countries, Government has decided to adopt the following measures with respect to: South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

1. All commercial passenger flights from South Africa to Mauritius are suspended with effect from Monday 29 November 2021.

2. Passengers who have been physically present in any of the 6 above mentioned countries within the last 14 days preceding the date of arrival in Mauritius will not be allowed entry or transit in the Republic of Mauritius.

3. Repatriation flights from South Africa for Mauritian citizens as well as Occupational and Resident Permit holders will be organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will be subject to strict sanitary protocols including quarantine.

In the meantime, between now and Sunday 23h59, any person who has been physically present in any of the 6 above mentioned countries within the last 14 days preceding the date of arrival in Mauritius will be subject to the following sanitary measures:

1. All such passengers, will be subject to a mandatory PCR test upon arrival at the Airport and should self-isolate pending receipt of the PCR result.

2. In case of a positive result, the positive person, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, will be admitted to a dedicated centre or a hospital under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

3. Passengers who have obtained a negative PCR test upon arrival, will be subject to close monitoring by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and to mandatory PCR tests on Day 7 and Day 14 following their arrival.

4. Passengers already in Mauritius and who have who have been physically present in any of the 6 above mentioned countries within the last 14 days preceding the date of arrival in Mauritius are invited to undergo a free PCR test in any Mediclinic or District Hospital. All concerned should show proof of travel.

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Sunday afternoon, more than 300 people of different races and ethnicities crowded into the First Baptist Church of Marion where they worshiped together with local law enforcement and government leaders in a celebration of unity.

Marion and McDowell Countys first ever communitywide service for unity took place at First Baptist. This special event was designed to be an afternoon of prayer and worship celebrating the opportunity and calling we share to be united together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Leaders from the city of Marion, local ministers, law enforcement and the school system and numerous other local residents took part in this event, which drew a standing room only crowd to the large and historic church building.

The service started with special music from the choirs of Addies Chapel United Methodist and Mount Zion AME churches. Mayor Steve Little welcomed all those who attended and emphasized that we are all one regardless of race and ethnic background.

McDowell High students Zoey Dean and Isaiah Burch, who is the senior class president, led the call to worship. Burch gave the invocation.

Led us draw near together to the source of all Love! said the congregation in the call to worship. Different people, different lives, different histories, let us worship the one God, in one faith, as one community!

The planners of this special service said it came out of conversations here in McDowell by local leaders about what was going on across the nation. They discussed the massacre of nine African-American people during the Charleston church shooting last year and the shooting of white police officers in Dallas, Texas in July. They also talked about the shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge, La. which came about after the killing of a black man by white officers. And then there have been the recent events much closer to home in Charlotte. They have also seen the protests and riots have taken place.

All of these tragic incidents have illustrated the amount of division that exists between the races in other communities and the mistrust and suspicion that many African-Americans and Hispanics have regarding their law enforcement. But instead of waiting for something to happen and then react to it, the planners of this service thought something proactive should be done now.

Its a beautiful and powerful thing when the people of God come together in unity, said Ray McKesson, president of the McDowell chapter of the NAACP. We are here not in reaction to some tragic event like those that have recently unfolded in cities nationwide. We are here to celebrate us and how blessed we are to live in a community where people generally care about the health, happiness, and safety of their neighbors.

When we are unified, we can work together to help solve the problems that exist, he said.

Unity is a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, which include race, ethnic origin and color, religion and creed, sexual orientation, age and ability, to name just a few, said McKesson.

As ever evolving people in an ever changing world, - all our ways of being, knowing and moving through the world - are contained in this concept of unity. As human beings, we make ourselves known to one another by infinite varieties of intelligence, language, race, values, politics, religion, service, gender presentation, philosophy and a host of other elements common to humankind. The recognition of a common humanity is the first step in the celebration of our differences - differences that form our cultures, our values, our minds and all our ways of being in the world. All of this - and more - makes unity worthy of todays celebration.

The event also contained a strong representation of local law enforcement. The idea is to maintain a good partnership between law enforcement and the local community, particularly communities of color.

In the past weeks, months and years, we have all watched unrest in places like Ferguson, Mo.; Dallas, Texas; and most recently in our own state in Charlotte, N.C., said Police Chief Allen Lawrence. The question is where do we go from here in our nation and in our own community? Today is a big step for Marion and McDowell County that leads to the answer. We are being proactive and coming together to celebrate our unity.

Lawrence said he heard a statement from the director of the FBI which said Get to know your community before they need to get to know you. As a result, his department is seeking to reach out to the local community through the Coffee with a Cop event on Friday morning at the Crooked Door Coffee House and the new Citizens Police Academy planned for next year.

My point is simply this, (police officers) are human just like everyone else in this room today, he said. We will make mistakes, but what we do with those mistakes defines us as an agency.

The Rev. Michael Smith, pastor of Mount Moriah Baptist Church, read the Old Testament lesson. He read from Psalm 133 which begins How good and pleasant it is when Gods people live together in unity.

Sheriff Dudley Greene and Terry Frank, chairman of the McDowell Board of Education, also were guest speakers.

The Rev. Armando Juarez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista Ebebezer, read the New Testament lesson (1 Peter 3:8-12) in Spanish. It was also read in English.

The combined choirs of Addies Chapel, Mount Zion AME and First Baptist came together to sing One Song.

The Rev. Walter Pegues, pastor of Addies Chapel, delivered the sermon and the Rev. Scott Hagaman, pastor of First Baptist, gave a prayer for unity.

Greg Conley sang How Great Thou Art and Mayor Pro Tem Billy Martin gave the benediction.

At the close of the service, everyone joined hands and sang Blest Be the Tie that Binds. A reception was held in the Blanton Family Ministry Center.

Many who attended said they were very proud of Marion and McDowell County and how the different ethnic groups in the local community could come together like this to promote unity and understanding. Numerous people said they hope this will be the start of an ongoing dialogue and not just a one-time event.

The McDowell County Commissioners were not in attendance. When asked why by The McDowell News, Commission Chairman David Walker said he had prior commitments. We try our best, he added.

County Manager Ashley Wooten said he and the commissioners did not receive a formal invitation like they do for the annual Martin Luther King Day service. This year, Wooten, as well as Commissioners Randy Hollifield and Matthew Crawford, were there for the MLK service.

They may have invited commissioners at their home address, said Wooten of the unity service.

Staff was not aware of the event. I would have gone if I had known about it.
Acclarent out of Irvine, California is releasing in the U.S. its ACCLARENT AERA eustachian tube balloon dilation system, the first such product for treatment of eustachian tube dysfunction. Eustachian tubes, which link the pharynx to the middle ear and are used to regulate pressure when we yawn, sneeze, and swallow food, can get blocked and result in poor hearing, discomfort, and pain. Often ear tubes are inserted to create a passage for air to flow through, but these dont actually fix the problem with the eustachian tubes, sometimes leading to further problems.

The ACCLARENT AERA can be used to deliver the deflated balloon into an eustachian tube and to carefully inflate it. The flexible distal end helps to insert the balloon component and the balloons flexibility allows it to move into the lumen. Once inflated, the lumen of the eustachian tube is dilated and its natural functionality is restored.

Some numbers from studies performed using the ACCLARENT AERA, according to the company:

Results from clinical studies demonstrated a 99.7 percent technical success rate in Eustachian tubes dilated. Studies also found a greater rate of tympanogram normalization than control subjects treated with medical management alone (51.8 vs. 13.9 percent), as well as a greater improvement in quality of life measures. Additionally, there were zero reported serious device- or procedure-related adverse events.

Via: Acclarent
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by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, October 3, 2016

The 1990s were tough for Trump businesses, with bailouts and bankruptcies plaguing his professional endeavors for years. After receiving $65 million in loans and credit in 1990 to prop up his failing real-estate investments, he declared bankruptcy just nine months later, $4 billion in the hole.



There is no evidence that Trump ever filed for personal bankruptcy, but his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City took the brunt of the shortfall, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A number of other casinos and real-estate endeavors have faced a similar fate since then.

However, mismanagement of his businesses did take a toll on his personal finances. Due to the bankruptcy in 1991, he lost 50% of his investment in the casino and had to sell assets to stay afloat.

This was all public knowledge for those who cared to check his claims of unfettered business success.

Over the weekend, The New York Times came to possess pages from Trumps personal 1995 tax return, in which they found a Trump-sized number in the personal liability row: $916 million. Thats just for one year.

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According to tax experts, through some tax alchemy only available to the wealthy, declaring a loss that size could have allowed Donald Trump to forgo over $50 million in taxable income over the next 18 years.

We dont know how much his taxable income burden may have been over the years, as he consistently refuses to release his returns, but one can assume the possibility of paying virtually no personal income tax for at least many of those years. All the while shortchanging real-estate developers, his employees and investors.

The reactions to these revelations have been much like the various reactions to Donald Trump throughout the campaign: either hes a genius or a complete farce.

Chris Christie was given the daunting task of being the first Trump surrogate to address the NYT claims. On Fox News Sunday, Christie explained that what the report shows is what an absolute mess the federal tax code is and thats why Donald Trump is the best person to fix it. There is no one who has shown more genius in their way to maneuver around the tax code.

It is incredible, that as a trained lawyer, Christie doesnt seem to appreciate that people of Trumps wealth hire armies of tax lawyers to do their taxes. It is inconceivable that Donald Trump himself came up with the plan.

Appearing on ABC, Rudy Giuliani echoed Christie: Hes a genius.  Absolute genius.

The reaction from the other side of the political spectrum looks at the revelations differently. Sen. Harry Reid released a statement that read: Trump is a billion-dollar loser who wont release his taxes because theyll expose him as a spoiled, rich brat who lost the millions he inherited from his father. Adding that Trump is an incompetent failure who managed to lose a billion dollars in a boom year.

Whichever side you fall on, two facts are clear: Trump lost almost a billion dollars in one year and appears to have no intention of releasing the entirety of his tax returns, a first in modern presidential elections.
by Chuck Martin , October 3, 2016

Consumer interest in smartwatches appears to vary across ages and countries, but the brand preferences appear to remain constant across the board.

Apple and Samsung are the top two brands consumers are likely to choose when purchasing a smartwatch, with Sony, Garmin, Swatch and TAG Heuer taking in the third spot, depending on location, according to a new study.

Overall, U.S consumers are less likely to purchase a smartwatch in the next year, compared to those in other countries.

The Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2016 was conducted by Research Now and comprised a survey of 3,000 consumers in China, Italy, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and the U.S.

Fewer than a quarter (20%) of U.S. consumers said they are likely to purchase a smartwatch within the next year, down from 31% last year.

Interest in smartwatches appears to be highest in China with more than half (59%) of consumers saying they will likely purchase a smartwatch within the next year. However, the study did acknowledge that the numbers in China may be inflated due to a potential bias in the research.

Here is the breakdown of consumers likely to purchase a smartwatch in the next year:

59% -- China

45% -- Italy

28% -- Germany

25% -- Japan

20% -- U.S.

20% -- Switzerland

In most countries, younger consumers are more likely to purchase a smartwatch, according to the study.

Nearly a third (29%) of U.S. consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 said they are likely to buy a smartwatch, but that number drops to 5% as age increases above 50.

Italy experiences a slight increase in purchase intent of consumers between the ages of 30 and 49, as does Switzerland.

Deloitte found that all countries show lower purchase intent than last year, with the exception of Japan and Switzerland, which increased by 1% and 3%, respectively.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, October 3, 2016



Heres a big idea: Launch a Snapchat channel to promote tourism and center the launch on a free concert by a country music megastar. Tickets are obtained by using codes issued via the Snapchat account linked to the new channel.

Thats what the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development (TDTD) came up with in collaboration with its agency of record VML, part of WPP.

The megastar is Garth Brooks who agreed to do the concert  set for Oct. 24 at the Ascend Amphitheatre in Nashville -- to commemorate his becoming the first recording artist in history to earn seven Diamond Certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The concert was announced today when Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam also named Brooks a Tennessee Ambassador of Goodwill in honor of the RIAA achievement. Brooks had previously been tied with The Beatles, who have six Diamond-certified recordings.

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The so-called Thank You performance will have an overflow viewing at Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville, where fans can watch the celebration live on giant video screens.

Free tickets for the concert will be available using codes issued on TDTDs new Snapchat account @Tennessee, which launched today. By following the account, fans can access the codes as well as exclusive Garth Brooks stories and surprise celebrity takeovers.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, October 4, 2016

When HookLogic announced in June that it would extend its platform by allowing advertisers to bid on product listing ads running on Google's and Bing's shopping platform and through an unnamed retargeting platform, few would have thought that platform -- which turned out to be Criteo -- would eventually acquire the company.

Criteo has been slowing teasing information about a site search strategy for years. In June, equity analysts began asking Criteo CEO Eric Eichmann for more details around its search strategy. Some thought Criteo would become the M&A target -- especially after the company's first-quarter 2016 earnings call in May, where Eichmann spoke about working on a "proof of concept" -- but that he expected to release more information later this year.

That information came Tuesday with the news that for $250 million in cash and $377 million on the balance sheet, Criteo would acquire HookLogic -- which, with its latest technology, acts as a real-time bidding ad exchange, where brands like L'Oreal, Kraft and Coca-Cola bid on Sponsored Product ads on sites such as Macys.com, Walmart.com and Sears.com.

"The combination of the engineering and data resources of the two teams should help augment existing products and innovate on new products over the coming years," wrote Raymond James Equity Analysts Justin Patterson and Aaron Kessler in a research note published Tuesday.

During the call with analysts and investors, Eichmann said it would take four-to-six quarters to integrate R&D teams and move into "a good position" to start delivering" on the benefits of integrating technologies and teams.

HookLogic allows Criteo to enter new markets for performance marketing and brand manufacturers. "Criteos core business significantly broadens Hooklogics base of retailer partners for the mutual benefit of brand manufacturers and retailers alike," Eichmann said in prepared statement.

HookLogic also brings an expertise in predictive bidding and product recommendation, which allows Criteo to build on existing products and performance.

RBC Capital Markets Equity Analysts Andrew Bruckner and Dylan Haber believe this deal makes strategic sense. "We continue to view CRTO as creating one of the largest cross-device advertising mouse-traps, which would complement advertisers ability to measure performance outside of FB & GOOG," they wrote in a research note published Tuesday.

While programmatic became a focus for HookLogic CEO Jonathan Opdyke early on, during a Q&A published in MediaPost last June the topic turned to how ecommerce continues to change the consumer products goods sector and how search fits in.

Opdyke offered up insight into how ecommerce continues to change the consumer product goods sector and how site search fits in.

While Opdyke delved into a variety of topics related to taking CPG brand products direct, one of the more interesting points covered was merchandising. The ability to create online product content and imagery that leads to complex questions like "whether to display the product in or out of the standard store packaging, in prepared versus raw form, or standalone versus being consumed by a satisfied customer," per Opdyke.

With the acquisition of HookLogic, Criteo gains a different type of thinking that helps the industry move past traditional Web site sales into online merchandising and true ecommerce.




by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, October 4, 2016

I feel really bad for Kim Kardashian. Boy, thats not a statement I ever expected to make  but whatever ones general feelings about her, the experience of being held up at gunpoint, bound and gagged, robbed, and left trussed in a bathtub had to be absolutely terrifying and traumatizing. By the same token the armed robbery in a private Paris hotel on Monday, in which five men dressed as police officers made off with around $11 million worth of the social media stars jewelry, illustrates the risks everyone (not just celebrities) takes in posting details of their lives online.

According to Paris police the assailants who robbed Kardashian targeted her after seeing the jewels on social media, particularly a new diamond ring given to her by husband Kanye West last month, with a 20-carat emerald-cut stone valued at around $4.5 million. Several days before the attack, Kardashian posted a photo of herself wearing the ring on her Twitter account, and police said the thieves demanded it specifically while threatening her. They also made off with a case of jewelry worth around $6.7 million.

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In an official statement about the robbery investigation, Paris police confirmed that the attackers were looking for possessions that had been seen and noticed via social media. As the culprits still havent been apprehended, presumably the police reached this conclusion on the basis of statements they made to Kardashian during the robbery.

Social media may also have played a role in enabling the attackers to determine Kardashians whereabouts. While she has usually been careful not to share her location via geotagging, details from some of the photos posted online just hours before the attack might have helped them deduce that she was at her private hotel apartment in Paris, whose address was previously disclosed by a social media stalker. The social media photos may also have revealed that she was alone at the time.

Kardashian, a pioneering social media celebrity, has 84 million followers on Instagram and 48 million followers on Twitter.
by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, October 4, 2016

What do relationship infidelity and consumer behavior have in common? Both are changing, thanks to technology -- or, more specifically, the intersection between technology and our brains. And for you regular readers, you know that stuff is right in my wheelhouse.

So I was fascinated by a recent presentation given by Dr. Michelle Drouin from Purdue University. She talked about how connected technologies are impacting the way we think about relationship investment.

The idea of investing in a relationship probably paints a less romantic light then we typically think of, but its an accurate description. We calculate odds and evaluate risk. Its what we do. Now, in the case of love, an admittedly heuristic process becomes even less rational. Our subliminal risk appraisal system is subjugated by a volatile cocktail of hormones and neurotransmitters. But, at the end of the day, we calculate odds.

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If you take all this into account, Drouins research into back burners becomes fascinating, if not all that surprising. In the paper, back burners are defined as a desired potential or continuing romantic/sexual partner with whom one communicates, but to whom one is not exclusively committed. Back burners are our fallback bets when it comes to relationships or sexual liaisons. And theyre not exclusive to single people. People in committed relationships also keep a stable of back burners.

Its also not surprising to learn that women keep an average of four potential relationship candidates from their entire list of contacts and eight potential liaison candidates. Men, predictably, keep more options open. Male participants in the study reported an average of over 8 relationship options and 26 liaison back burners. Drouins hypothesis is that this number has recently jumped thanks to technology, especially with the connectivity offered through social media. Were keeping more back burners because we can.

What does this have to do with advertising? The point Im making is that this behavior is not unique. Humans treat pretty much everything like an open marketplace. We are constantly balancing risk and reward amongs all the options are open to us, subconsciously calculating the odds. This is called Prospect Theory. And, thanks to technology, that market is much larger than its ever been before. In this new world, our brain has become a Vegas odds maker on steroids.

In Drouins research, it appears that new technologies like Tinder, WhatsApp and Facebook have had a huge impact on how we view relationships. Our fidelity balance has been tipped to the negative. Because we have more alternatives -- and its easier to stay connected with those alternatives and keep them on the back burner -- the odds are worth keeping our options open. Monogamy may not be our best bet anymore.

Facebook is cited in one-third of all divorce cases in the U.K. And in Italy, evidence from the social messaging app Whatsapp shows up in nearly half of the divorce proceedings.

So, it appears that humans are loyal -- until a better offer with a degree of risk we can live with comes along.

This brings us back to our behaviors in the consumer world. Its the same mental process, applied in a different environment. In this environment, relationships are defined as brand loyalty. And, as Emanuel Rosen and Itamar Simonson show in their book "Absolute Value," we are increasingly keeping our options open in more and more consumer decisions. When we're buying stuff, even if we have brand loyalty, we are increasingly aware of the back burners available to us.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, October 4, 2016



gyro Paris has switched up its management team and moved to a bigger, modernized office space. The agency cited growth and a strategic plan to integrate with its new parent Dentsu Aegis.

Effective immediately, the shops Paris office will be led by a duo including General Manager Nathael Duboc and Executive Creative Director/General Manager Sebastien Zanini. gyro Paris President Didier Stora is leaving this month to pursue other projects.

With more than 15 years of advertising agency and management experience, Dubocs promotion after leading the business development and driving growth at the agency. He was previously Deputy Managing Director & Partner at independent shop Ailleurs Exactement, and held account management roles at Hemisphere Droit, part of Havas Group.

Sebastien Zanini, who has a sack full of creative awards to his credit (including Cannes Lions, Effies, One Show and Club des DA) has worked on big household name brands like Volkswagen, Sony, Audi, Fnac, Mondelez, Nivea Men, and Oxford. Prior to gyro, Zanini held stints at FCB Paris, BBDO and DDB Paris.

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The new office combines an industrial sensibility with a like home feel-- the entrance is made through a large kitchen space, designed to allow shared moments and open discussion.

The agency, which merged with ailleurs exactement in 2014 and became gyro:ailleurs exactement, will now be referred to as gyro Paris.

Current clients include Danone, Oxford, Credit Foncier, JoueClub, Zeiss, Vivescia, MACSF, GIPHAR and Canson.

Our teams innovation, drive and dedication to our clients were critical to our growth and success in 2016, said Duboc. Were excited to settle in to our beautiful new home and continue to ignite on all fronts with our unique business-to-people positioning.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, October 4, 2016

Gawker Media is down, but its not out. The pioneering online publisher, whose sites are now owned by Univision, is building a war chest to vindicate itself in the high-profile court case brought against its now-defunct flagship site, Gawker.com, by professional wrestler and reality TV star Terry Gene Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan.

According to documents filed by Gawker Media with a bankruptcy court in New York City, and first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the publisher is asking the judges permission to set aside $5.5 million from the sale of its sites to Univision to fund its appeal against the $130 million judgment issued by a Florida jury in March.

In the court filing, Gawker Medias lawyers expressed confidence that the publisher would succeed in getting the devastating judgment awarded to Bollea by the jury overturned or at least reduced. That would obviously benefit its bottom line, thus justifying further expenditures on legal representation amid bankruptcy proceedings.

Bollea sued Gawker for invasion of privacy after it published part of a sex tape he said was made without his knowledge back in 2012. In March, the jury awarded him $115 million plus another $15 million in punitive damages, forcing Gawker Media and its founder, Nick Denton, to declare bankruptcy.

It was later revealed that Bolleas lawsuit was funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who has supported a number of legal complaints against Gawker in retribution for one of its sites, Valleywag, outing him as gay back in 2007.

Following Gawker Medias bankruptcy declaration in June, in August, Univision bought most of its properties for $135 million, including Deadpsin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel and Kotaku. However, Univision didnt buy the flagship site Gawker.com, which ceased operations on August 22.

In a post not long after the jury issued its judgment, Denton outlined a number of reasons he believes the judgment will be overturned on appeal.

Among other things, Denton disputed one of the central claims of the prosecution, namely that Hogan (real name Terry Gene Bollea) was unaware that he was being videotaped when he slept with Heather Clem, the wife of his friend, radio shock jock Bubba Clem.

According to statements Denton claims Bubba made to the FBI, Hogan was aware that Clem had wired his bedroom to record his own sexual encounters, and that he would be recording Hogans encounter with his wife. However, Gawkers lawyers were barred from presenting this evidence to the jury.

Denton also claimed that Hogans lawsuit wasnt intended to seek redress for the publication of the sex tape, but actually to prevent publication of another video, in which he is heard using racist language.
Using a new tool for probing the molecular makeup of cells, researchers have discovered that PD-1  a marker that already serves as a drug target for some cancers  may also serve as a drug target for asthma and other autoimmune disorders.

Share on Pinterest Using a new tool that maps the molecular landscape of cells, researchers identify a surface protein that is already a drug target in some cancers may also serve as a target for treating autoimmune diseases.

The researchers, led by a group from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom, report their work in the journal Nature.

Immune disorders arise because the immune system either fails  such as by not removing unwanted cells during infection or cancer  or becomes too active.

When it is too active, the immune system attacks healthy cells and tissue, giving rise to autoimmune diseases or allergies such as asthma, where the airways become swollen or inflamed.

In the new study, the researchers examine a recently discovered group of cells in the immune system called innate lymphoid cells (ILC cells). Within this group, there is a subgroup called ILC2 cells that influences immune responses during infections and asthma.

Scientists have observed that levels of ILC2 cells shoot up when triggered by pollen or toxins, causing lung inflammation.

However, as yet, they know little about how ILC2 cells develop from ILC progenitor cells in bone marrow, and whether they sport distinguishing markers once activated.
Very rare genetic mutations that disrupt the function of genes are common in patients with schizophrenia and are also associated with fewer months of formal education in healthy individuals, report two independent papers published online this week in Nature Neuroscience. However, since many cognitive, personality and psychological factors also influence educational attainment, it is unknown which of these are affected by this collection of mutations.

Genetic changes that are common in the population contribute to variation in traits such as cognitive function and also risk for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Damaging genetic changes have been made rare through natural selection, which makes it more difficult to assess their contribution to disease.

To investigate the impact of rare damaging mutations, Steven McCarroll, Giulio Genovese and colleagues and Andrea Ganna and colleagues examined the protein coding sequences of DNA (or exomes) in thousands of unrelated individuals, some of whom have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. McCarroll and Genovese's group focused on mutations that were observed only once in their sample of 12,332 Swedish individuals and never in a large collection of over 45,000 exomes of individuals without psychiatric disorders. They found that rare damaging mutations were more common in patients in schizophrenia overall and that the affected proteins were expressed specifically in the synapses of brain cells and not in other cell types or organs.

Ganna's group assessed the relationship between rare damaging mutations and years of educational attainment among 14,133 individuals from Sweden, Estonia and Finland. They focused on a set of genes that are very sensitive to changes in their DNA and do not have many mutations in the general population. Each damaging mutation in one of these genes was associated with three fewer months of education. When the authors looked at those genes expressed in the brain, the impact of one of these mutations increased to six fewer months of education.

Although the authors investigated thousands of individuals, their sample sizes are still too small to implicate any one gene with a rare mutation contributing to schizophrenia or less education. Larger studies are needed to pinpoint specific genes and specific brain processes as well as to assess the overlap between rare genetic risk for psychiatric disease and typical variation in cognitive function.

Articles: Increased burden of ultra-rare protein-altering variants among 4,877 individuals with schizophrenia , Giulio Genovese, Menachem Fromer, Eli A Stahl, Douglas M Ruderfer, Kimberly Chambert, Mikael Landen, Jennifer L Moran, Shaun M Purcell, Pamela Sklar, Patrick F Sullivan, Christina M Hultman & Steven A McCarroll, Nature Neuroscience, doi:10.1038/nn.4402, published online 3 October 2016.
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Alongside the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, alternative ideas are sometimes proposed, such as one-state solutions or a return to the Jordanian option, which involves a political connection between Jordan and a Palestinian entity, for example in the form of a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation. The stance of the Palestinian and Jordanian leaderships on this option has long been that a confederation would only become possible following the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and that any discussion of the matter at an earlier stage is harmful for the Palestinian cause.

Lately, the Jordanian option has once again become a topic of public debate in both the PA and Jordan, after Palestinian intellectual Sari Nusseibeh[1] mentioned it in a March 27, 2016 interview with the Palestinian online daily Dunya Al- Watan. Furthermore, in meetings held recently between Palestinian and Jordanian figures in the PA and Jordan, these figures express support for the confederation option: former Jordanian prime minister 'Abd Al-Salam Al-Majali referred to the Jordanian option as "ideal," though he later clarified that he had only been voicing his private opinion. Jordanian MP Muhammad Al-Dawaimeh arranged for a delegation of Palestinians from Hebron to visit Jordan to discuss a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation.

It should be noted, however, that with the exception of Nusseibeh, the figures discussing the notion of a confederation seem to be seeking publicity or have stressed that their statements represent only their private position.

Reactions to these statements in the PA and Jordan were not long in coming, most of them rejecting the idea of confederation at the present stage. Many regarded the renewed interest in this option as indicating disillusionment with the Palestinian leadership and despair of achieving the two-state solution. Both Jordanians and Palestinians argued that any discussion of this option before a Palestinian state has been established serves only Israel and harms the rights of the Palestinians and their hope for a state. They stressed that Israel, which has thwarted the two-state solution, must not be presented with alternatives that are less desirable for the Palestinians. Even those who expressed support for confederation stressed that it could only be implemented after a Palestinian state has been established and the issues of the permanent settlement have been resolved.

Given that the confederation idea found few supporters, and that even the figures who recently raised it did not present any coherent plan for its implementation - and perhaps even did not mean for it to be taken as a feasible option - it seems that conditions are not currently ripe for the promotion of the of a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation.

This report reviews the statements made recently regarding the Jordanian option and the responses to them in the Jordanian and the PA media.



"Jordan and Palestine" (image: Gazajordan.wordpress.com, May 5, 2016)

Efforts To Promote The Confederation Proposal

Sari Nusseibeh: Confederation With Jordan Is The Palestinians' Last Remaining Option

As mentioned, several Palestinian and Jordanian figures recently brought the Jordanian option back into public debate, the first of them being Sari Nusseibeh in a March 2016 interview. This is not the first time Nusseibeh has mentioned a confederation: in December 2011 he defended the idea of an Israeli-Jordanian confederation (rather than a Jordanian-Palestinian one) in an article he posted on the Maan News website.[2] In his recent interview, he spoke of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation, stressing that this was the Palestinians' only remaining option in light of the impasse in the political process. He said: "In the past I firmly opposed this option, but after many years, and especially today, we badly need this option. However, it is possible that Jordan is not yet able to bear this burden." Nusseibeh said that the solution to the Palestinian problem that he had proposed 14 years ago with Ami Ayalon, then a leader of Israel's Labor Party (i.e., the People's Voice initiative) is no longer feasible, for every proposal has an expiry date. "The solutions and proposals [we suggested then] were suitable for that period... Today no solutions or negotiations between the two sides are on the horizon, especially considering the increasing [rate of] construction in the settlements and the miniscule chance of implementing the so-called two-state solution... We have no other way out of the current situation, because we have no army with which to liberate Palestine or even half of it. [That kind of] strategy relies on power, and we have no power, especially considering the conflicts among the Arab and Muslim countries, which does not help us, strategically. If we read the situation and the future [objectively, we see that] no solution that can meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people."[3]

On May 13, 2016, a research institute affiliated with Al-Najah National University in Nablus published the results of a survey indicating that 42% of Palestinians support the establishment of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation and 39% oppose it.

Reports On Jordanian And Palestinian Figures Promoting Confederation

In May 2016, two months after Sari Nusseibeh's interview, there were reports about efforts by various figures to promote the confederation proposal. Jordanian MP Muhammad Al-Dawaimeh launched an initiative called "One Million Hebronians," as part of which Al-Dawaimeh visited Hebron, and later a delegation from the city visited Jordan and was hosted by the community of Hebronian Palestinian there (a community which, according to Al-Dawaimeh, numbers over a million people). According to a May 22 report in the Jordanian daily Rai Al-Yawm, the purpose of the delegation's visit to Jordan was to promote a confederation, and the Hebron delegation was to meet with King Abdallah to discuss this issue. The daily also reported, citing prominent figures in the Hebronian community in Jordan, that Al-Dawaimeh was acting on behalf of the king. However, Al-Dawaimeh denied this, saying that the Jordanian authorities were in no way involved in the initiative.[4]

In response to Al-Dawaimeh's initiative, prominent figures from the Hebronian community in the PA and Jordan issued a joint statement against "the attempts to revive the Village Leagues."[5] The statement harshly condemned the initiative, calling it "a plot intended to harm both Jordan and Palestine," adding that those behind it were figures with "suspicious positions" who sought to normalize relations with Israel and who frequently visited the "Zionist entity."[6]

Jordanian columnist Bassam Badarin described Al-Dawaimeh as "a controversial figure," and claimed: "Al-Dawaimeh visited Hebron only to have his picture taken with some dignitaries from Hebron and its villages and environs..."[7]

Another figure who raised the confederation option was former Jordanian prime minister 'Abd A-Salam Al-Majali. On May 21 he visited Nablus and attended a gathering of some 100 dignitaries from the city that was convened in his honor by former Nablus governor and PLO executive committee member Ghassan Al-Shak'a. In his speech at this gathering, Al-Majali said: "Personally I believe in a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation, but not right now, only after the establishment of a Palestinian state. A confederation of the two states is considered the ideal and optimal solution for [both] the Palestinians and Jordan. The [Jordanian] kingdom cannot exist without Palestine and Palestine will not be able to live without Jordan - but we must wait."[8] Al-Shak'a, for his part, called to "continue discussing the many ideas raised by 'Abd A-Salam Al-Majali."[9]

Several days later, on June 2, Al-Majali denied the existence of any plan for confederation and clarified that he had been expressing his private opinion and did not represent any official element.[10]



Al-Majali (center) speaking at the Nablus gathering (image: Maannews.net, May 21, 2016)



The Nablus gathering (image: Maannews.net, May 21, 2016)

Some suggested a connection between Al-Majali's visit to Nablus and the attempt made on Al-Shak'a's life several days later,[11] but Al-Shak'a denied this. In an interview with the Israeli Arab magazine Al-Sonara, he said: "This is not the first time 'Abd A-Salam Al-Majali has visited my home. We are friends and we honor and respect one another... [Al-Majali] spoke of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation, but the legal basis for confederation is that it involves two states, not an entity called the Palestinian Authority and an existing state [Jordan]."[12]

Negative Palestinian And Jordanian Responses To The Notion Of Confederation

The Palestinian and Jordanian leaderships refrained from responding to these efforts to promote a confederation, but these efforts did spark popular and media responses, including in the Palestinian and Jordanian press.

In The Palestinian Press: Opposition To Confederation

The Palestinian press featured many columns and articles, including by senior PA officials, attacking Nusseibeh's comments and opposing the confederation proposal, on the grounds that there it is not certain that Jordan would welcome it and that a confederation could only be formed after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the 1967 borders. Some also held that a confederation would be a prize for Israel, absolving it of the need to pursue a two-state solution. As of this writing, there have been no pieces published expressing support for the idea.

Criticism of Nusseibeh: His Ideas Emanate From Despair; The Palestinians Aspire To Put Down The Roots Of Their National Identity In Their Own Land

Hani Al-Masri, a columnist for the PA daily Al-Ayyam, wrote that in expressing his idea for a confederation, Nusseibeh had spoken out of disappointment and a sense of a Palestinian leadership vacuum, adding that this was no justification for reviving the Jordanian option. He wrote: "If [Nusseibeh's] claim that there is no leadership is accurate - and [I believe that] it is indeed partly accurate - it is necessary to examine the reason for this and [also to examine] how a Palestinian leadership can be created - unless Nusseibeh believes that this absence of a leadership is divinely decreed." Al-Masri went on to note that there was no indication that Jordan was interested in the option of a confederation and that Nusseibeh was speaking out of despair, and added: "Today Jordan is among the enthusiastic supporters of an independent Palestinian state, which is the first line of defense against the Zionists' expansionist ambitions."

Likewise, 'Omar Al-Ghoul, a former advisor to former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and a columnist for the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, responded to Nusseibeh's comments by stating that both Jordanian and PA leaders had expressed a clear and agreed-upon position that a confederation would only be formed after the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders. He added: "The Palestinian public does not respond to this option [of a confederation]... because it seeks to put down the roots of its national identity in its own Palestinian land. Despite the deep crisis in which the Palestinian political enterprise finds itself, the [Palestinian] leadership and people have not yet lost hope of realizing the goal of independence and a state."[13]

A Confederation Would Be A Prize For Israel And Create Problems With Jordan

Al-Ayyam columnist Muhammad Yaghi wrote that the Jordanian option is not aimed at restoring the pre-1967 borders, with the entire West Bank and East Jerusalem returning to Jordanian sovereignty; rather, what it really aims to do is allow Israel to return to Jordan parts of the West Bank that are densely populated by Palestinians, while retaining its control of the rest. He wrote: "Why must we facilitate the export of the occupation's problems to someone else? [If] the two-state solution has been thwarted, that does not mean [we should suffice with] autonomy in Area A [of the West Bank, i.e., the areas currently under full PA control] or with annexing [territory] to Jordan and creating a problem with the Jordanians, who aren't interested in this solution. Rather, we should adopt the one-state option."[14]

Al-Ayyam columnist Rajab Abu Suraya argued that a confederation was a bad solution for the Palestinians, as it would not meet their minimal aspirations, rights, and goals. He wrote: "It seems that Arab countries - the Gulf, Egypt, and, to some extent, Jordan - need a swift resolution of the Palestinian problem in order to open up channels for normalization and warm [relations] with Israel, which may even lead to a military or security alliance vis-a-vis the Iranian challenge... A confederation is tempting for Israel, because if Israel agrees to Israeli-Arab talks instead of Israel-Palestinian ones, it will take the Golan Heights and the right of return off the table and negotiate only on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as per the confederation approach - that is, without the condition of establishing a Palestinian state on all the land [occupied in] 1967."[15]

In The Jordanian Press: Opposition To Confederation - At This Stage

The Jordanian press featured articles by officials and columnists reiterating Jordan's official position, which is that the option of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation could only be discussed after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. According to these writers, no confederation with the PA (rather than a Palestinian state) is possible, and it could even do damage to the Palestinian people and to its demand for an independent state; even a discussion of it at this point would be harmful. Other articles rejected the idea of a confederation out of hand, arguing that the Palestinians had their own identity, and that such a move could lead Israel to abandon further implementation of the Oslo Accords and allow most West Bank residents to be transferred to Jordan.

Former Jordanian Minister: Jordan's Option Is To Establish A Palestinian State

Former Jordanian minister Saleh Al-Qallab wrote in the government Jordanian daily Al-Rai: "Jordan declared its agreement to the resolution of the Rabat Summit [i.e. the 1947 Arab League Summit] naming the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and it has [since then?] addressed all matters concerning the Palestinian problem in accordance with this resolution. [Jordan] was also the first to treat the PA as an independent state, and exchanged ambassadors with it in a format that is maintained to this day and that will likely be in place until the Oslo Accords are implemented and the occupation withdraws from the West Bank and beyond. This has been our permanent position over time, and it relies on the unshaken belief in the need to respect the will of [our] Palestinian brothers...

"With regard to the Palestinian problem, Jordan and Jordanians have no option other than to support the Palestinian people. This is our people. We are of it, and it is of us. We will support the Palestinians in every way, with everything we have, including with [our] lives, until the desired Palestinian state is established with holy Jerusalem as its capital. After that, we will decide. Even if we insist that we are one people and one nation, there can be no return whatsoever to the Jordanian option... Jordan's option is to realize the dream of the independent Palestinian state on the basis of Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank to the June 4, 1967 borders, obviously including Jerusalem."[16]

At This Point, Discussing A Confederation Only Does Harm

In another article on May 26, Al-Qallab added: "There is no dispute that the Jordanian and Palestinian peoples are one, and that the future of Jordan-Palestine relations is unity, whether [as a single] merged [entity], as it was prior to the resolution of the famous 1947Arab League Summit in Rabat that recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, or as part of a confederation or federation. In order for this transition to be safe and free of negative impact, we must ask whether Jordanians and Palestinians should take this step today, when the state of Palestinians is unstable, or [only] after Israel withdraws from all the territory it occupied in 1967 and the Palestinian people attains self-determination with the establishment of a Palestinian state with an independent East Jerusalem as its capital...

"There is a fear that Israel will take advantage of the venture in question - that is, a confederation - and of conditions in the region and the dire situation in the world to transfer most West Bank residents to the eastern shore of the Jordan River, on the pretext of sending them back to their homeland and their families. In such circumstances, it will do no good to change our minds or to run to the UN - because if the UN could have deterred the aggressor, it would have [already] implemented its resolutions and forced Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, which in 1967 was the other half of the Hashemite Jordanian kingdom. In addition, Israel, which closely follows every development in this matter, tells the world that there is no need to continue the peace process based on the Oslo Accords or any other agreement so long as a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation is on the horizon and so long as the Palestinians in the West Bank can move to the East Bank [i.e. to Jordan]...

"The world, and the Israelis, do not realize that the introduction of the [idea] of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation at this point stems only from the boredom afflicting the Jordanians and Palestinians, and that it is merely a thought exercise for those who fear mental atrophy. Reintroducing this issue now and under these circumstances could lead to very grave developments. The question is whether the 'geniuses' making this dangerous proposal in this dire situation want the PLO to abandon the resolution of the famous summit in Rabat that decreed it the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and want a delegation [representing] this imaginary virtual confederation to replace the PA, the PLO, and the Palestinians in the difficult negotiations that were halted at a certain point."[17]

Jordanian Columnist: Talk Of Confederation Prior To Palestinian Independence Is Useless And Is A Conspiracy Against The Palestinians

Rahil Muhammad Ghuraiba, a columnist for the Al-Dustour daily, wrote: "Talk of a confederation before Palestine is liberated and before the Palestinian people gain their independence is meaningless and is a kind of conspiracy against the sacrifices made by the Palestinian people and by [other] Muslims and Arabs for half a century. Furthermore, it ignores the martyrs, the blood, and the weeping wounds, and wastes years of struggle by all resistance factions and by anyone who threw a stone or lost years of his life in the occupation's dungeons... Anyone proposing a confederation before the Palestinian land and people are liberated, and before the independent [Palestinian] state is established on their land, is rushing to please [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu and [Israeli Defense Minister] Lieberman, even if they call this 'thinking outside the box'...

"When the Palestinian people is liberated and can establish its state on its liberated land, and when it attains full sovereignty and can freely make independent decisions, then we will consider proposing projects for merging or unity with the neighboring Arab countries."[18]

Jordanian Official: A Confederation Is A Zionist Idea Aimed At Circumventing Palestinian Rights - And Must Be Opposed

Former Jordanian government spokesman Samih Al-Ma'aita wrote: "Anyone who knows Jordan and the Jordanians understand that the idea of federation or confederation is not a possible [solution for] the Palestinian problem. We all know that this idea is a Zionist initiative [aimed at] circumventing the Palestinian rights and Jordan's demand for establishing a true Palestinian state on Palestinian land. It is the occupation, no one else, that needs to pay [compensation to] the Palestinian people, but we have grown accustomed to hearing in our circles occasional claims, interpretations, and rumors regarding a Jordan-Palestine confederation. Everyone in this country should perhaps treat this idea with political contempt, as it is clear that digging it up from time to time in this way is aimed at keeping it alive, at provoking us Jordanians, at sowing dissent among our social and political elements, and at causing us to open the gates to civil war... Therefore, it is our duty as Jordanians to decide on our own options and to be sure that the state, the leadership, and all Jordanians have no wish to solve Israel's problems or to realize the goals of the merchants of civil war...

"Even if for the sake of the argument we say that we enthusiastically accept confederation or federation or something similar - with whom will it be established?! With a [Palestinian] Authority that cannot control its own affairs, with a territory and a people under occupation? [An authority] restricted by agreements that prevent it from attaining even the same status as a true municipality? Would we establish a confederation or federation with a divided Palestinian territory and a Palestinian people split into all sorts of factions, with two governments whose hostility [towards each other] surpasses their hostility towards the occupation? An authority whose economy is weak and dependent on the Zionist economy[?] Even its power plants halt operations when the occupation stops providing them with fuel. [Could we establish] a confederation with a political entity that is corrupt, paralyzed, and sick - including with the malady of the coup that Hamas carried out in Gaza [in 2007]?...

"Those who spread this Zionist idea do not believe in the rights of the Palestinians but have made a decision, especially regarding the displaced and the refugees, the right of return, and the idea of the Palestinian state. Under the auspices of the Zionists, they spread the idea of confederation with Jordan, because eventually this idea will enable resettlement [of the Palestinians in Jordan] with no turning back. It will bury the right of return and the idea of an independent [Palestinian] state. And it will force Jordan to pay the price, instead if the occupation."

Al-Ma'aita added: "We should firmly oppose these Zionist ideas. We believe that all Jordanians, chiefly the regime establishment, have decided against anything that harms the identity of the Jordanian state and the right of the Palestinian people to establish its independent state in its homeland, and we believe that the occupation should pay the price for this, rather than any Arab element - [especially] not us Jordanians. There should only be a truly independent Palestinian state, though we can expect this issue [of confederation] to be raised from time to time."[19]

Al-Dustour columnist Hussein Al-Rawashdeh wrote: "I suspect that this confederation stew was set to cook in the context of regional changes. It is true that Jordan's historic position is that a confederation is conditional upon the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. But who knows what will happen if the two-state solution fails or backslides. I just want to warn our society openly. We will not be blackmailed, because if we want to we will emerge from this trap, even at a hefty price."[20]

Jordanian Journalist: Palestinians Have Their Own Identity And They Cannot Be Annexed To Another Country

Similarly, Al-Ghad columnist Fahd Al-Khitan wrote: "It has been said many times that confederation means suicide for Jordan. But no one believed or wanted to believe this. Moreover, we responded to attacks on us from a defensive position, without launching a serious initiative that ties positions to actions.

"Those who dance to the tune of confederation are generally disregarding the position of a large sector of the Palestinians, especially those who cling to their land. For the most part, these [Palestinians] adhere to the option of an independent state; they also include a stream that wants no union of any kind with Jordan, even after the Palestinians actualize their right to an independent state...

"The Palestinian identity coalesced in the course of the bitter conflict with the Zionist movement. The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are not just residents who can be annexed to another country. Despite everything that is said about Israel's position, it has recognized them as a people and has also recognized their right to an independent state. How can we, after [the Palestinians] travelled this long road awash with blood and sacrifice, again call them just 'residents,' as in the old Zionist texts?"[21]

* C. Jacob is a research fellow at MEMRI.



Endnotes:
If you have ever closely paid attention to Rana Daggubatis physique, you would agree that the mans genetically gifted. Easily sitting at about 12-15 percent body fat, Daggubati was pretty jacked in the film Baahubali. The second installment of the movie will be massive, thats expected. But nobody had expected Rana Daggubati to turn into a damn muscle tank for his role in the movie.

This is Rana from the first part of Baahubali. Already pretty massive!

 YouTube

This is Rana now, more than a year ahead, in the midst of his physical progress for Baahubali 2.

Just look at how far the man has come. Steroid usage or not, Rana has definitely been moving heavy weights. His boulder shoulders can really give an amateur level bodybuilder a run for his money. The vascularity is enviable and hes easily sitting at no more than 8-10% body fat. Before dudes with 11 inch arms and a wood plank for a chest scream steroids, please know that hard work still has to be put in to achieve such results. Cant wait to see him in action soon!
Mary Kom, Indias very own Magnificent Mary, who has won so much glory for India, wrote an open letter which is the second letter in a series of #letstalkaboutrape open letters released by the Hindustan Times. The letter contains some stark truth and she has not hesitated even a bit to lay herself bare in order to make us learn from her experiences. The letter is addressed to her sons and portrays her difficult journey as a woman in a country where women are just treated as bodies.

Here are 5 significant (much needed) lessons you can take away from her letter.

1. Its Not The Womans Fault And Everyone Needs To Get This In Their Heads

From common people to politicians, everyone in this country has taken part in blaming the women for the teasing, the molestation and even the rapes. Short skirts, tight tops, late night roamingnothing has been spared. Its high time that we digest the fact that it is not the girls fault and one of Indias most physically and emotionally powerful women has come forth to put across this point. She stated It is seldom about what we wear or at what time of day and night we are out. Why should women pause and think about venturing out? The world belongs as much to us, as it does to you.

 BCCL

2. Understanding Gender Equality

Gender inequality is one the root causes of why the women of this country perish under the clutches of the opposite gender. This cause isnt addressed often enough and results in the youth of our country being unaware of the basics of gender equality. Mary Kom thus addresses her young boys on this issue saying Remember, dear sons, like you, we too have two eyes and a nose. Some parts of our bodies are different and thats the only thing that sets us apart. We use our brains to think, like all men do, and we feel with our hearts, like you do. We dont deserve our breasts to be touched or our bums patted. You grow up in a home where we teach you respect and equality.

3. Being Called A 'Chinky' Or Anything Else For That Matter Is NOT OKAY'

We live in one of the most diverse countries in the world and isnt it high time that we just accept our diversity? And not call each other names just because we cannot fathom the fact that different people will be politically, religiously and physically diverse. Mary says to her sons, You might be walking with me one of these days to hear your mother being called a chinky. A lot of women from our State are targeted for the way they look and the way they dress. Chinkies are not fair game.

 BCCL

4. Respect A Womans Consent

We tend to overlook the value of a YES or NO. We need to understand how important a womans consent is and that we cannot just overlook the fact that consent has been not only neglected in India but also treated as a joke. When a woman says NO, it becomes a binding word against which any further action becomes illegal. This is a powerful tool which women need to understand better and men need to respect more. Mary Kom explains this concept to her sons in these clear words I would fail in my duty as a mother, if I did not tell you  all great sons of this country  that we alone have rights to our bodies. Respect women when they say No. Dont stalk them to death because they have said No'."

5. The Idea Of Taking Advantage Of Your Power Just Because You Have It Is Absurd

So many cases of rape and molestation turn ugly just because people have the power to go against the law. The police, the politicians.everyone is involved in these power games and there is urgent need for everyone to understand that it is legally as well as morally wrong to take advantage of your power and position. In the conclusion of this letter Mary Kom says, Rape is not about sex; it is only about a misplaced sense of power and revenge.

 BCCL

I know I can beat a molester to pulp and that might help me fight the deep sense of being defiled but why should it even come to that?

This letter stands as a proof of Mary Koms beautiful fighting spirit and her views on womens issue are something we should all learn from.
Sorry for the inconvenience but we are performing some redevelopment at the moment. we will be back online shortly!

 Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs & Tourism (MICAT)
BAD AXE  The second of three defendants, described as the leader of operations by prosecution, involved in stealing roughly $19,000 worth of televisions from Wal-Mart this spring is returning to prison following his sentence Monday.

Justin D. Sturm, of Ubly, was charged with single counts of conducting a criminal enterprise, possession of a controlled substance-heroin and breaking and entering connected to his crimes.

The criminal enterprise and heroin charges stem from 11 incidents between April 24 through May 19, where Sturm and his two codefendants  Brad A. Galloway and Derrick N. Grifka  stole $18,985 worth of televisions from the Bad Axe Wal-Mart. Authorities reported the men loaded up shopping carts with televisions, walked out the front door and then later traded the electronics for heroin in the Flint area.

During an investigation, deputies conducted a search warrant at Sturms home and found heroin, drug paraphernalia and a loaded handgun inside.

The breaking and entering charge was connected to a break-in at a local pawnshop.

The 28-year-old and his attorney, Dallas Rooney, appeared in Huron County Circuit Judge Gerald M. Prills courtroom on Monday to be sentenced on all charges.

Rooney noted his client has a lengthy criminal history, but upon his release from prison for Sturms most recent incident, he was doing reasonably well, adding he acquired a job, home and regularly tested clean.

Sturm was involved in a car accident after being released in 2013 and prescribed medication to ease the pain. He got hooked on the medication and it led to his addiction with heroin, Rooney said.

Rooney told the judge that Sturm was trying to get into an in-patient rehabilitation program days prior to the Wal-Mart incidents and was set to enter Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute the day of his arrest.

He knew he had a problem, Rooney said. Its the nature of addiction that people know what they need to do, but dont do it because the drug has them by the throat.

My client does regret his actions, Rooney added.  He realizes hes made bad choices. Hes ready to pay his debt to society for his crimes.

Sturm then apologized to the courtroom and owned up to his actions.

I tried getting into rehab and was set to go the day of my arrest, Sturm explained to the judge. Its a lot harder than you think to get help.

Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski recalled the month-long incidents for the court and referenced it as a racketeering case.

They were making money because they didnt have to pay for drugs, Rutkowski said.

The prosecutor asked the judge to sentence Sturm within the guidelines, but to make the minimum amount 12 to 14 years to help protect society.

Prior to imposing a sentence, Prill told Sturm the gun found in his home was taken into consideration when determining his punishment.

You are lucky to not receive charges for that, he said.

Sturm was sentenced to seven to 40 years in Michigans prison system on the criminal enterprise charge. He received two to 20 years for the breaking and entering charge and 365 days in the county jail for possession of heroin.

His three sentences will run concurrently.

Codefendant Grifka was previously sentenced to five to 25 years in prison and Galloway will learn his punishment on Oct. 24.
BAD AXE  Bad Axe High School announced it will be hosting the Huron County College Night Program on Oct. 25.

This evening will begin with a general session in the gym at 6 p.m. for announcements, directions and other information. It is important that students and parents attend the opening session at 6 p.m. to receive directions and updated information for the evening.

About 45 representatives of Michigan colleges, universities and other institutions will be on hand to answer questions and provide information about their respective schools. All area high school students considering college are welcome to attend. Parents are also encouraged to accompany their student. There will be no better opportunity to gather information from so many college and university resource people.

For more information, call the Bad Axe High School Counseling Office at 989-269-9593.
FRANKENMUTH  Frankenmuth Credit Union is one of only 23 credit unions nationwide, and the only credit union in Michigan, to receive a share of the $185.7 million in Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund grants awarded by the U.S. Treasury.

The credit union received a $1.4 million grant that will be leveraged with almost $20 million of credit union lending capital during the next three years, toward the launch of a new Michigan Development Mortgage product. The new mortgage will offer unprecedented flexibility, including up to 110 percent LTV and will waive borrower requirement for private mortgage insurance (PMI), to promote affordability to hardworking Michigan families.
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services. This segment serves consumer and small business customers through a network of branches, ATMs, call centers, and online and mobile banking channels. Its Corporate & Institutional Banking segment provides secured and unsecured loans, letters of credit, and equipment leases; cash and investment management services, receivables and disbursement management services, funds transfer services, international payment services, and access to online/mobile information management and reporting; foreign exchange, derivatives, fixed income, securities underwriting, loan syndications, and mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory related services; and commercial loan servicing and technology solutions. It serves mid-sized and large corporations, and government and not-for-profit entities. The company's Asset Management Group segment offers investment and retirement planning, customized investment management, credit and cash management solutions, and trust management and administration services for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, and their families; and multi-generational family planning services for ultra high net worth individuals and their families. It also provides outsourced chief investment officer, custody, private real estate, cash and fixed income client solutions, and fiduciary retirement advisory services for institutional clients. The company has 2,591 branches and 9,502 ATMs. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The following companies are subsidiares of Novartis: 1 A Pharma GmbH, Abadia Retuerta S.A, Admune Therapeutics, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications International SA, Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A., Advanced Accelerator Applications S.r.l., Advanced Accelerator Applications USA Inc., Aeropharm GmbH, Alcon, Alcon  Couvreur NV, Amblyotech, Amblyotech Inc., Arctos Medical, Arctos Medical AG, Australia Pty Ltd, Beijing Novartis Pharma Co. Ltd., BioMedical Research Co. Ltd., CELLforCURE, Cadent Therapeutics, Cadent Therapeutics Cambridge, Cellerys, Cellerys AG, CellforCure, Chiron Corporation, Ciba-Geigy Japan Limited, Co. Ltd, CoStim Pharmaceuticals, CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Coalesce Product Development Limited, Corthera, Development Co. Ltd., EBEWE Pharma Ges.m.b.H Nfg. KG, Encore Vision, Endocyte, Endocyte Inc., Eon Labs Inc., Farmanova Saglik Hizmetleri Ltd, Fougera Pharmaceuticals, Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc, Gyroscope Therapeutics, HEXAL AG, Hexal, IDB Holland BV, Iberica S.L.U., Ilaclari Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, JSC Sandoz, Japat AG, Kedalion Therapeutics Inc., Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d., Lek S.A., Manufacturing Pte Ltd , Navigate BioPharma Services Inc, Neutec Pharma Limited, Novartis (Hellas) S.A.C.I., Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Novartis (Taiwan) Co. Ltd, Novartis (Thailand) Limited, Novartis Argentina S.A., Novartis Australia Pty Ltd, Novartis Austria GmbH, Novartis Biociencias S.A., Novartis Biosciences Peru S.A., Novartis Bioventures AG, Novartis Business Services GmbH, Novartis Capital Corporation, Novartis Chile S.A., Novartis Corporation, Novartis Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Novartis Deutschland GmbH, Novartis Ecuador S.A., Novartis Farma S.p.A., Novartis Farma  Produtos Farmaceuticos S.A., Novartis Farmaceutica S.A, Novartis Farmaceutica S.A. de C.V., Novartis Finance Corporation, Novartis Finance S.A., Novartis Finance Services Ltd, Novartis Finland Oy Espoo, Novartis Gene Therapies, Novartis Gene Therapies EU Limited, Novartis Gene Therapies Inc., Novartis Grimsby Limited, Novartis Groupe France S.A., Novartis Healthcare A/S, Novartis Healthcare Philippines Inc., Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, Novartis Holding AG, Novartis Hungary Healthcare Limited Liability Company, Novartis India Limited, Novartis Inflammasome Research, Novartis Integrated Services Limited, Novartis International AG, Novartis International Pharmaceutical Investment AG, Novartis Investment Ltd, Novartis Investments S.a r.l., Novartis Ireland Limited, Novartis Israel Ltd, Novartis Korea Ltd., Novartis Middle East FZE, Novartis Netherlands B.V., Novartis Neva LLC, Novartis New Zealand Ltd, Novartis Norge AS, Novartis Ophthalmics AG, Novartis Optogenetics Research Inc., Novartis Overseas Investments AG, Novartis Pharma (Logistics) Inc., Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited, Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Pharma B.V. , Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma K.K., Novartis Pharma LLC, Novartis Pharma Maroc SA, Novartis Pharma NV, Novartis Pharma Produktions GmbH, Novartis Pharma S.A.E., Novartis Pharma S.A.S., Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, Novartis Pharma Schweizerhalle AG, Novartis Pharma Services AG, Novartis Pharma Services Romania S.R.L., Novartis Pharma Stein AG, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited, Novartis Poland Sp. z o.o., Novartis Portugal S.G.P.S. Lda., Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Novartis Saglik Gida ve Tarim Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Novartis Saudi Ltd., Novartis Securities Investment Ltd, Novartis Services Inc., Novartis Slovakia s.r.o., Novartis South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Novartis Sverige AB, Novartis UK Limited, Novartis US Foundation, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc, Novartis Vietnam Company Limited, Novartis de Colombia S.A., Novartis de Venezuela S.A., Novartis s.r.o., Oriel Therapeutics Inc., PT. Novartis Indonesia, Protez Pharmaceuticals, Pte Ltd, Research Inc, Salutas Pharma GmbH, Sandoz A/S, Sandoz AG, Sandoz B.V., Sandoz Canada Inc., Sandoz Egypt Pharma S.A.E., Sandoz Farmaceutica S.A., Sandoz Farmaceutica Lda., Sandoz GmbH, Sandoz Hungary Limited Liability Company, Sandoz Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Sandoz Inc, Sandoz Industrial Products S.A, Sandoz International GmbH, Sandoz K.K., Sandoz Limited, Sandoz Manufacturing Inc., Sandoz NV, Sandoz Pharma K.K, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals AG, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals d.d., Sandoz Philippines Corporation, Sandoz Polska Sp. z o.o. , Sandoz Private Limited, Sandoz Pty Ltd, Sandoz S.A. de C.V, Sandoz S.A.S., Sandoz S.R.L., Sandoz S.p.A., Sandoz South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Sandoz Ukraine LLC, Sandoz d.o.o. farmaceutska industrija, Sandoz do Brasil Industria Farmaceutica Ltda, Sandoz s.r.o., Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Shanghai Novartis Trading Ltd., Societe par actions SANDOZ, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, The Medicines Company, The Medicines Company, Triangle International Reinsurance Limited, Trinity River Insurance Co Ltd, Vedere Bio, Vedere Bio ll, Xiidra, Ziarco, and Ziarco Group Limited.

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Derwent London plc owns 83 buildings in a commercial real estate portfolio predominantly in central London valued at 5.4 billion (including joint ventures) as at 30 June 2020, making it the largest London-focused real estate investment trust (REIT). Our experienced team has a long track record of creating value throughout the property cycle by regenerating our buildings via development or refurbishment, effective asset management and capital recycling. We typically acquire central London properties off-market with low capital values and modest rents in improving locations, most of which are either in the West End or the Tech Belt. We capitalise on the unique qualities of each of our properties - taking a fresh approach to the regeneration of every building with a focus on anticipating tenant requirements and an emphasis on design. Reflecting and supporting our long-term success, the business has a strong balance sheet with modest leverage, a robust income stream and flexible financing. As part of our commitment to lead the industry in mitigating climate change, in October 2019, Derwent London became the first UK REIT to sign a Green Revolving Credit Facility. At the same time, we also launched our Green Finance Framework and signed the Better Buildings Partnership's climate change commitment. The Group is a member of the 'RE100' which recognises Derwent London as an influential company, committed to 100% renewable power by purchasing renewable energy, a key step in becoming a net zero carbon business. Derwent London is one of only a few property companies worldwide to have science-based carbon targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Landmark schemes in our 5.6 million sq ft portfolio include 80 Charlotte Street W1, Brunel Building W2, White Collar Factory EC1, Angel Building EC1, 1-2 Stephen Street W1, Horseferry House SW1 and Tea Building E1. In 2019, the Group won several awards including EG Offices Company of the Year, the CoStar West End Deal of the Year for Brunel Building, Westminster Business Council's Best Achievement in Sustainability award and topped the real estate sector and was placed ninth overall in the Management Today 2019 awards for 'Britain's Most Admired Companies'. In 2013 the Company launched a voluntary Community Fund and has to date supported over 100 community projects in the West End and the Tech Belt. The Company is a public limited company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The address of its registered office is 25 Savile Row, London,
The following companies are subsidiares of Archer-Daniels-Midland: 3 Grain Elevators, ACT Exportacao Ltda., ADGENE LABORATOIRE, ADM (Dalian) Animal Health & Nutrition Co. Ltd., ADM (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., ADM (Thailand) Ltd., ADM AGRO S.R.L., ADM Ag Holding Limited, ADM Agri Services Greece MEPE, ADM Agri-Industries Company, ADM Agricultural Commodities Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., ADM Agriculture Limited, ADM Agro Iberica S.L.U., ADM Agro Industries India Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries Kota & Akola Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries Latur & Vizag Private Limited, ADM Agroinvestimentos Ltda., ADM Alliance Nutrition of Puerto Rico LLC, ADM Americas S. de R.L., ADM Andina Peru S.R.L., ADM Animal Health & Nutrition (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., ADM Animal Nutrition (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., ADM Animal Nutrition (Xiangtan) Co. Ltd., ADM Animal Nutrition (Zhangzhou) Co. Ltd., ADM Antwerp NV, ADM Arkady Ireland Limited, ADM Armazens Gerais Ltda., ADM Asia-Pacific Trading Pte. Ltd., ADM Australia Holdings I PTY Limited, ADM Australia Pty. Limited, ADM Bazancourt SASU, ADM Besin ve Tarim Anonim Sirketi, ADM Bio-Productos S.A. de C.V., ADM Bio-Science & Technology (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., ADM Bulgaria Trading EOOD, ADM CARIBBEAN INC., ADM Chile Comercial Limitada, ADM Clinton BioProcessing Inc., ADM Czernin S.A., ADM DO BRASIL LTDA., ADM Direct Polska Sp. z o.o., ADM Dominican Holdings Inc., ADM Dominicana S.A., ADM EMEA Corporate Services GmbH, ADM Edible Bean Specialties Inc., ADM Egypt LLC, ADM El Salvador Ltda. de C.V., ADM Europe Holdco S.L., ADM European Management Holding B.V. & Co. KG, ADM Expatriate Services Inc., ADM Export Co., ADM Food Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ADM Food Technology (Pinghu) Co. Ltd., ADM France, ADM Fuels Company, ADM German Holdings B.V., ADM Germany GmbH, ADM Grain Costa Rica S.R.L., ADM Grain River System Inc., ADM Grain de Venezuela C.A., ADM Guatemala Limitada, ADM Hamburg Aktiengesellschaft, ADM Holding (Thailand) Ltd., ADM Holdings LLC, ADM Honduras S.de R.L., ADM INGREDIENTS S.R.L., ADM Inca S.A.C., ADM Industries Centers Ltd, ADM International Holdings Inc., ADM International Sarl, ADM Investments Limited, ADM Investor Services Inc., ADM Investor Services International Limited, ADM Ireland Receivables Company Limited, ADM Israel, ADM Italia S.r.l., ADM Japan Ltd., ADM Latin America Inc., ADM Logistics Inc., ADM MANAGEMENT LTD., ADM MOROCCO S.A., ADM Mainz GMBH, ADM Malbork S.A., ADM Medsofts Sarl, ADM Mexico Inc., ADM Mexico S.A. de C.V., ADM Milling Co., ADM Milling Limited, ADM Myanmar Company Limited, ADM New Zealand Limited, ADM Nicaragua SA, ADM Nutrition Holding d.o.o. Beograd, ADM Olomouc S.R.O., ADM PORTUGAL SA, ADM Panama S. De R.L., ADM Paraguay S.R.L., ADM Participacoes Ltda., ADM Poland Sp. z o.o., ADM Protexin Inc., ADM Protexin Limited, ADM Pura Limited, ADM Razgrad EAD, ADM Receivables LLC, ADM Rice Inc., ADM Ringaskiddy Unlimited Company, ADM SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., ADM STF DMCC, ADM STF Pte. Ltd., ADM STF Switzerland Sarl, ADM Services B.V., ADM Slovakia s.r.o., ADM Specialty Ingredients (Europe) B.V., ADM Spyck GMBH, ADM Sweden AB, ADM Szamotuly Sp. z o.o., ADM Trading (UK) Limited, ADM Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., ADM Trading Company, ADM Trading Cote D'Ivoire, ADM Transportation Company, ADM Trucking Inc., ADM Unterstutzungskasse GmbH, ADM Uruguay SCA, ADM Ventures Investment Corp., ADM WILD Europe GmbH & Co. KG, ADM WILD Nauen GmbH, ADM WILD Netherlands B.V., ADM WILD SEE Kft, ADM WILD Valencia SAU, ADM Wild Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, ADM Wild UK Limited, ADM Worldwide Holdings L.P., ADMEcuador CIA. Ltda., ADMIS Holding Company Inc., ADMIS Hong Kong Limited, ADMIS SINGAPORE PTE. LIMITED, AGRANIX, AIC Seguros SRL, AMT West LLC, AOR, AT Holdings II Company, Agri Port Services Brasil Ltda., Agri Port Services Investments Ltd., Agri Port Services LLC, Agricolas Madagascar SARLU, Agrinational Insurance Company, Agriserve, Agrograin Ltd., Agrograin Ltd. Sucursal Uruguay, Alfrebro LLC, Alfred C. Toepfer International Exportacao e Importacao Ltda., Alfred C. Toepfer International Netherlands B.V., Alimenta USA, Alimentos Texo SA de CV, American River Transportation Co. LLC, Ameriseed, Anco Animal Nutrition Competence GmbH, Archer Daniels Midland (UK) Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Asia-Pacific Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Company South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Erith Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Europe B.V., Archer Daniels Midland Europoort B.V., Archer Daniels Midland Korea LLC, Archer Daniels Midland Nederland B.V., Archer Daniels Midland Singapore Pte. Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Vietnam Company Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Wild Nigeria Ltd., Archer Financial Services Inc., Archer-Daniels-Midland Philippines Inc., Arinos Unlimited, Aston Foods & Food Ingredients, BIOPOLIS S.L., BQ Railroad Company, BTECH Tecnologias Agropecuarias e Comercio Ltda., Balanceados Nova S.A. Balnova, Balto Holdco LLC, Barbados Mills Limited, Bela Vista Bio Etanol Participacoes Ltda., Belize Mills Limited, Belwood Company S.A., Benson-Quinn Commodities Inc., Bern Aqua, Bifodan Inc., Biopolis, CONTROLADORA ADM S.A. DE C.V., Campa Sued GmbH & Co KG, Caribbean Agro-Industries Limited, Casablancas sweetener plant, Cattleman's Choice Loomix LLC, Chamtor, Ci ADM Colombia Ltda., Columbia & Willamette Maritime Services Inc., Comhan, Compania ADM S.A. de C.V., Crosswind Petfoods Inc., DE Holdings LLC, DP Holdings LLC, Daavision B.V., Deerland Europe ApS, Deerland Holdings Inc., Deerland Ireland R&D Limited, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes A/S, Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes Inc., Eaststarch, Eatem Corporation, Eatem Foods, Elstar Oils, Empresa de Transporte La Estrella S.R.L., English River Pellets Inc., Epicore BioNetworks Inc., Epicore Ecuador S.A., Epicore Networks (U.S.A.) Inc., Erich Ziegler GmbH, Evialis (Shandong) Co. Ltd., Evialis France, Evialis Galicia S.A., Evialis India Limited, FINANCIERE FRANCO MAGYAR POUR LA NUTRITION ANIMALE - FFMNA, FISA Andina S.A.S., FISA Aromas S.A.S., Fasco Mills Co., Federation Sahanala Vanille, Filozoo SRL, Flavor Infusion, Flavor Infusion International S.A., Florida Chemical, Florida Chemical Company LLC, Flotek Flavor & Fragrance LLC, GLOBAL COCOA HOLDINGS LTD., GP Blanching Inc., GPC Trucking Inc., GROUPE PILARDIERE, GUYOKRMA spol. s.r.o., Golden Farm Production & Commerce Company Limited, Golden Peanut Company, Golden Peanut Company LLC, Golden Peanut and Tree Nut Seed SA (Pty) Ltd., Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts S.A., Green Bison Soy Processing LLC, Group Lysac, Guyomarc'h - VCN Company Limited, Guyomarc'h Vietnam Co. Ltd., Guyovital PT, HFR Shipping Company Ltd., HI-NUTRIENTS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, HRA Shipping Company Ltd., HTI Shipping Company Ltd., Harvest Innovations, Hilltop Grain and Feed, Holding P & A Asia Company Limited, Hubei Meiweiyuan Biotechnology, Ilitchevskiy Maslo Extractionniy Zavod (IMEZ), Industries Centers EOD Trade 2005 Ltd., Invivo NSA Algerie, Invivo NSA Sanpo (Tianjin) Pet Products Co. Ltd, JDS Sarl, Jamaica Flour Mills Limited, Jamaica Rice Milling Company Limited, LANCENTER S.C.A., Liquid Feed Commodities, Logus Bar Ashdod Port Ltd., Malta Industries S.A. de C.V., Malta Texo De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Maniobras Y Servicios Del Interior S.A. de C.V., Master Mix of Trinidad Unlimited, Medsofts Company LLC, Medsofts for Import Co., Medsofts for Investment LLC, Medsofts for Trade LLC (Medsofts Trading), Mepla Comercio e Navegacao Ltda., Mezclas Biomix S.A.S., Monti Foods (Pty) Ltd., Mundo Logistics S.R.L., NEC Facilities LLC, National Enzyme Company LLC, Naviera Chaco S.R.L., Neovia, Neovia Algerie SPA, Neovia Nutricao e Saude Animal Ltda., Neovia Philippines Inc., North Star Shipping S.R.L., NutraDine, NutraDine LLC, NutriMix Feed Company Inc., Nutrilac, Olenex C.V., Olsen's Mill Inc. Four Grain Storage Elevators, P & A Marketing SA, PANCOSMA FRANCE S.A.S, PJSC ADM Illichivsk, PT ADM Indonesia Trading and Logistics, Pancosma & Associates Marketing (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Pancosma (Jiangsu) Feed Additive Co. Ltd., Pancosma (Shanghai) Feed Additives Co. Ltd., Pancosma Canada Inc., Pancosma Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pancosma North America Inc., Pancosma SA, Pedigree Ovens, Pedigree Ovens LLC, PetDine, PetDine LLC, Prairie Pride - Biodiesel Production Plant, Premiere Agri Technologies Asia Inc., Premiere Agri Technologies of Mexico Inc., Proservicios Potencial Humano S.A. de C.V., Provit Sp. z o.o., Pura Foods Limited, Rodelle Inc., SANICOOPA, SDJ Sarl, SORA Laboratories LLC, Sartco Ltda., Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann, Sermix, Servad S.R.L, Setna Nutricion S.A., Silo P. Kruse Betriebs-GmbH & Co. KG, Silo-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Societe Industrielle des Oleagineux-SIO, SojaProtein d.o.o. Becej, Sojaprotein, Southern Cellulose Products Inc., Soy Investors LLC, Specialty Commodities, Specialty Commodities LLC, Sul Mineira Alimentos Ltda., Syngenta - Dry Bean Business, Szabadegyhazai Szolgaltato es Vagyonkezeklo KFT, Terminal Stevedores Inc., Terminales De Cargas Especializadas S.A. De C.V., The Pound Bakery, The Pound Bakery LLC, Toepfer International, Toepfer International Trading (Shanghai) Co. LTD., UPSCIENCE ITALIA S.R.L., Upscience, VIA CHEM GROUP a.s. Oilseed Processing Plant, Vantage Corn Processors LLC, WILD Flavors, Wild Amazon Flavors Concentrados e Corantes para Bebidas Ltda., Wild Flavors (Canada) Inc., Wild Flavors Austria GmbH, Wild Flavors Inc., Wild Flavors International GmbH, Wild Flavors Kenya Limited, Wild Flavors Middle East FZE, Wild Flavors Polska Sp. z o.o., Wild Flavors S.A. de C.V., Wild Intermare GmbH, Wild Polska Sp. z o.o., Wild Russia LLC, Wild Tunesia Sarl, Wisium SA (Pty) Ltd., World's Finest Chocolate - New Cocoa Powder Line, and Yerbalatina Ltda..

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Intu owns and manages some of the best shopping centres, in some of the strongest locations, in the UK and Spain. Our UK portfolio is made up of 17 centres, including eight of the top-20, and in Spain we own three of the country's top-10 centres, with advanced plans to build a fourth. We are passionate about creating compelling experiences, in centre and online, that make our customers smile and help our retailers flourish. We attract around 400 million customer visits and 26 million website visits a year offering a multichannel approach that truly supports retail strategies. Our strategic focus on prime, high-footfall flagship destinations, combined with the strength and popularity of our brand, means that intu offers enhanced footfall, dwell time and loyalty. This helps our tenants flourish, driving occupancy and income growth. We are committed to our local communities, with our centres supporting nearly 130,000 jobs (representing about 3 per cent of the total UK retail workforce), and to operating with environmental responsibility. We have already met or exceeded a significant number of our 2020 environmental targets.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the 5th largest bank in the world and the largest in the U.S. The current company is the result of a series of mergers that began in the earliest days of American banking history and include more than 1,200 original banks. The oldest predecessor is The Bank Of The Manhattan Company which was founded in 1799 by Aaron Burr. At the time, The Bank Of The Manhattan Company was the 3rd oldest bank in the U.S. and the 31st oldest in the world. The Chase Manhattan Bank, a precursor to JPMorgan Chase, was later formed when The Bank Of Manhattan Company purchased Chase Bank which was established in 1877.

JPMorgan & Co came to life in 1895 in order to finance the United States Steel Corporation. Itself a result of merger, the company also financed other early American businesses as well as aided the federal government by backing a bond offering. It wasnt until the year 2000 and after several more mergers that JPMorgan Chase & Co was born. It will be four more years before the merger with Bank One which is notable because it brings CEO Jamie Dimon into the picture.

JPMorgan Chase & Co was instrumental in aiding the US government during the 2008 financial crisis. It backed the accounts of several major banks including Bear Stearns and eventually took over their operations. Today, JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide with operations on every continent and in more than 60 countries.

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates through four segments that are Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). Services are available in branches in 48 of the 50 US states and around the world. Services are available via ATM, online, mobile, and telephone.

The CCB segment offers traditional banking services to consumers that include but are not limited to deposits, loans, mortgages, and lines of credit. The CIB segment provides investment banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and governments that range from prime brokerage, insurance, corporate strategy, and access to capital markets, to lending, cross-border financing, and derivative instruments. The CB segment provides financial services for small, medium, and large businesses including commercial real estate banking of all types.

The AWM segment provides investment management solutions to institutional and retail investors. This segment also provides retirement products, brokerage, trusts and estates, and investment management products.
State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody; product accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; depotbank services; record-keeping; cash management; foreign exchange, brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors. It also engages in the provision of portfolio management and risk analytics, as well as trading and post-trade settlement services with integrated compliance and managed data. In addition, the company offers investment management strategies and products, such as core and enhanced indexing, multi-asset strategies, active quantitative and fundamental active capabilities, and alternative investment strategies. Further, it provides services and solutions, including environmental, social, and governance investing; defined benefit and defined contribution; and global fiduciary solutions, as well as exchange-traded fund under the SPDR ETF brand. The company provides its products and services to mutual funds, collective investment funds and other investment pools, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and investment managers. State Street Corporation was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
PNM Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electricity and electric services in the United States. It operates through Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) segments. The PNM segment engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The segment generates electricity using coal, natural gas and oil, nuclear fuel, solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had owned or leased facilities with a total net generation capacity of 2,168 megawatts; and owned 3,426 miles of electric transmission lines, 5,751 miles of distribution overhead lines, 5,765 miles of underground distribution lines, and 250 substations. The segment also owns and leases communication, office and other equipment, office space, vehicles, and real estate. The TNMP segment provides regulated transmission and distribution services. As of December 31, 2021, the segment owned 983 miles of overhead electric transmission lines, 7,297 miles of overhead distribution lines, 1,408 miles of underground distribution lines, and 113 substations. The segment also owns and leases vehicles, service facilities, and office locations throughout its service territory. The company serves approximately 806,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers and end-users of electricity in New Mexico and Texas. PNM Resources, Inc. was incorporated in 1882 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Army families who use some child and youth services programs may see higher fees or cuts in the coming months, officials said Monday.

"It's all about participating," said Cherri Verschraegen, chief of child, youth and school services for the Army. "We have to get that bang for the buck."

Service officials in September announced long-anticipated cuts to family programs, but said many child and youth service programs, such as daycare centers, would be protected.

Even so, some subsidized efforts such as Skies Unlimited and Edge, which offer sports, summer camps, music classes and gymnastics programs, must become self-sustaining if they want to stay open, Verschraegen told Military.com.

"What we changed on Skies this year, because Skies is not one of the core missions, is that it's got to at least make an effort to make money, to break even," she said.

The decision to cut or maintain individual family programs is made at the garrison level, based on guidance from Army Installation Management Command. Verschraegen said officials worked with commanders at each garrison to go over which programs they plan to keep -- and which they plan to cut.

Verschraegen spoke about CYS programs at the annual Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, D.C.

Family program cuts were scheduled to start with the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, Army officials said in September. Verschraegen said Skies and Edge programs at rural bases such as Fort Irwin, California, and Fort Wainwright, Alaska, will continue to receive funding regardless of whether they can self-sustain.

"In areas where it's remote and isolated, those programs are usually so small that they [are] never going to make money," she said. "So we give those money to operate because it's the only game in town."

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.
The U.S. Army has identified the heavy brigade scheduled to deploy next year to Europe to counter Russian aggression in the region.

The 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson in Colorado, will deploy in mid-January as part of the European Reassurance Initiative, according to Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, head of U.S. Army in Europe.

"That's based only on when that ship actually arrives," he said Monday during a briefing with reporters at the Association of the United States Army's annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Part of the deployment is designed to determine "how long does it really take us to move," Hodges said. "The choke point won't be how fast we can get off the ship. The choke point, I think, is going to be the rail capacity available to move out of a single port" in Bremerhaven, Germany, he said.

"The next time we do this, next September, we'll look at using multiple ports."

Hodges pushed back that there has been a delay in the effort, but underscored the importance of steady funding to carry out such deployments in response to future contingencies.

"This has been the problem for every service chief and every chairman, every year," he said. "If you don't have budget certainty, it makes it very difficult for people to plan and anticipate, especially when you have to spend that money."

In a separate presentation earlier in the day, Hodges said the gridlock in Congress over the defense budget has been holding up Army plans to boost defenses against Russia in Europe.

"Without ERI, there is no deterrence," he said of the $3.4 billion funding proposed for the ERI effort. "If Congress can't pass a budget, that makes it difficult for us to do what we need to do. It is essential for deterrence."

The White House proposed quadrupling ERI funding to $3.4 billion in the fiscal 2017 defense budget, but the recommendation stalled last week when Congress passed a 10-week stopgap funding measure, called a continuing resolution, to avoid shutting down the government. The CR continued spending at fiscal 2016 levels.

Under a fully funded program, U.S. Army Europe was to have started receiving continuous troop rotations of U.S.-based armored brigade combat teams to the European theater in early 2017, bringing the total Army presence in Europe up to three fully manned Army brigades.

By the end of 2017, program funding would have paid for a continuous presence of three fully equipped Army brigade combat teams -- one armored, one airborne and one Stryker brigade -- as well as one pre-positioned set of combat-ready equipment sufficient to support another armored brigade combat team and division-level enablers in Europe, according to a White House fact sheet.

Ambassador Daniel B. Baer, the U.S. representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, joined the panel discussion with Hodges. He said that the $3.4 billion in ERI funding "makes a difference. Diplomacy alone is rarely the solution" to the challenges posed to NATO and partner nations by the aggressive actions and threats emanating from Moscow.

By its actions in Crimea and Ukraine, Russia has shown that it has little respect for borders, Baer said. The U.S. should still offer engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a "rules-based order" in Europe, but should back up the offer with sanctions and a continuing military buildup to deter aggression, he said.

Lt. Gen. Jorg Vollmer, chief of staff of the German Army, said Russian aggression had forced his nation and NATO to focus again on a threat "we thought was long gone" with the end of the Cold War.

-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com.
The Navy's top officer wants sailors to know he's not trying to squelch tradition with his new plan to do away with Navy ratings. However, some have their doubts.

In the wake of the announcement that the Navy will discard its two-and-a-half-centuries-old rating system in favor of a set of alphanumeric job codes, some have been outspoken in their opposition to the change, and a White House petition to reverse the decision is nearing 50,000 signatures.

But at an event hosted by the Center For Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson suggested that some of the Navy's most beloved job titles and honorifics would persist.

"The idea is that the official communication would be your rank, so you'd be seaman or petty officer or master chief, etcetera," Richardson told Military.com. "But I'll tell you what: On the battlefield, all those corpsmen are called 'Doc,' right. And so how that all transpires, we'll see. I'm not here to squelch any of that type of thing."

This kind of logic, Richardson said, would stretch to other titles as well.

"There's positional titles; so no matter what rank I'm in, if I'm leading a ship, I'm called the captain," he said. "And so we're not going to change any of that. But official titles will be your rank."

Richardson said he wanted sailors to focus less on what they will be called in the future and more on the Navy's plan to make more job fields and skills experience available through the change, which will allow sailors to have more than one four-character job code and make lateral moves to different jobs easier.

The pushback over getting rid of the ratings system among the rank-and-file is not as strong as the media is making it out to be, Richardson said.

"[The concern over ratings] seems a little peripheral, but it is a deep part of our tradition and something we have to be respectful of," he said.

Old Rate to New NOS Code Conversion

There are some who would disagree. A WhiteHouse.gov petition to restore the ratings system has received more than 46,000 signatures in just four days. If the petition makes it to the 100,000-signature goal, it will receive a response directly from the Executive Branch.

Robert D. Weeks, a former Navy operations specialist who retired in 2014 as a petty officer first class after 20 years of service, is behind the petition. Weeks, 40, told Military.com he started a Facebook group for fellow operations specialists years ago and was dismayed to learn that this rating, like others, would be done away with.

"A lot of people like myself really loved their job, and the title that went along with it was part of your Navy identity," he said. "And besides that, when people start off in the Navy and strike into a rating, it is a huge sense of pride for them to be able to put on a rank badge that has a rating symbol on it."

Weeks, now a student at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, said he thought there was a good chance he'd get the 100,000 signatures he needed, but hadn't expected them to accumulate so fast.

"I've had a lot of active sailors thank me for taking up the cause, because they can't really speak out themselves," he said.

Navy officials have said the new job code system will be implemented gradually, likely over years. Some decisions, such as whether to keep traditional ratings badges featured with rank on some enlisted uniforms, have yet to be made.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.

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The Navy is gearing up to send a serious disaster-relief package to the Caribbean as Hurricane Matthew bears down on the region.

A Navy official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed to Military.com that the carrier George Washington, the amphibious transport dock Mesa Verde, and the hospital ship Comfort were all preparing to deploy from the East Coast to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as the storm bears down on the region. News of the pending deployment was first reported by Navy Times.

Cmdr. Dave Hecht, a spokesman for Navy Region Atlantic, said the George Washington was departing Norfolk, Virginia, today to be in position in the event the ship's capacity is needed after the storm. But counter to some reports, he said the carrier's deployment was a U.S. initiative, not done at the request of the Haitian government.

"No country or region has requested our assistance," he said.

The Mesa Verde will have a Marine unit aboard: an engineering element from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Southern Command, a small task force that deploys to Central America during the region's six-month hurricane season for partner training and humanitarian storm aid as needed. For the unit, which first deployed last May, this will be a first opportunity to respond to a major hurricane in the region.

The George Washington and the Mesa Verde will both deploy with medium- and heavy-lift rotorcraft aboard, the Navy official said. The ships will also carry humanitarian aid and disaster relief packages.

"They'll assess the damage and react accordingly," the official said.

The trajectory and power of Hurricane Matthew are raising alarms through Central America and up the East Coast. Military families and nonessential personnel were evacuated from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday as the storm approached the island.

The storm made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour winds, killing at least one, according to multiple media reports.

The U.S. military last provided major humanitarian aid to Haiti in 2010, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake left more than 100,000 dead.

That effort, Operation Unified Response, involved two Marine expeditionary units; the carrier Carl Vinson and other Navy ships; Coast Guard cutters; Air Force special operations and National Guard assets; and Army ground units.

-- Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify the ships' destination.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
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.
DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. is adding another covert option to its police fleet, with traffic warning lights integrated into the Police Interceptor Utility's rear spoiler.

The Dearborn automaker said Monday the option is meant to complement the factory-installed, stealth interior visor-light bars Ford revealed for the sport ute in April.

Ford said the LED lighting gives law enforcement an effective tool to alert drivers to emergency situations, while giving officers full visibility out of their rear window. The LED lights are also difficult for other drivers to detect on the police vehicles.

The lights perform a full range of blue, red and yellow flashing actions.

"Together with our front visor light bar, Rear Spoiler Traffic Warning Lights offer a fully integrated solution for agencies wishing to minimize the presence of their police vehicles," Arie Groeneveld, the chief program engineer for Ford police programs, said in a release. "While signaling to drivers of an upcoming emergency situation, it constitutes a clear safety benefit for officers and the public."

The latest-generation Ford Police Interceptor Utility was revealed a little over a year ago with the help of a police dog in Chicago:
DETROIT - It's not just that the fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Colorado ZH-2 is a silent, off-road beast that makes the U.S. Army keen on testing it.

Indeed, its powertrain will make it pretty stealth compared to petroleum-powered counterparts.

But the Chevy Colorado ZH-2, revealed this week at the fall meeting of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, D.C., also has a technology that could aid troops when electricity is needed in remote places.

The truck has an "Exportable Power Take-Off unit" that allows fuel-cell power to be taken away from the vehicle, so electric power can be used where it's otherwise unavailable.

The truck's development is part of an agreement signed last year by General Motors and the Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC.

The Colorado ZH-2 is built on a stretched-out version of the midsize Colorado pickup's regular chassis. It stands more than six and a half feet tall, and more than seven feet wide. It rides on 37-inch tires and a specifically modified suspension geared toward a variety of rugged terrain.

GM calls the Chevrolet Colorado ZH-2 the "most extreme off-road-capable fuel-cell-powered electric vehicle ever" from the Detroit automaker.

It's currently being tested at GM's Milford Proving Ground, before being turned over to the Army early next year for a year of testing.

It was developed by GM and TARDEC laboratories about 20 miles apart in southeast Michigan, and was mostly assembled at GM's Advanced Vehicle Integration facility in Warren.

The U.S. Army plans to test the truck to see how viable hydrogen-powered vehicles will be on military missions.

In general, GM said the Army will test the Colorado ZH-2 for

Near-silent operation enabling silent watch capability

Reduced acoustic and thermal signatures

High wheel torque at all speeds via electric drive

Low fuel consumption across operating range

Water by-product for field uses
5400 Plymouth Road

The 6-acre property at 5400 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor was purchased by Adam Finch and Mike Rautiola, of RFC Financial Planners, in August. Finch and Rautiola plan to move their office and six employees into the building and offer room for a new eatery or tavern-style business.

(Jessica Haynes | jhaynes1@mlive.com)

ANN ARBOR, MI - A landmark that formerly housed well-known area restaurants The Lord Fox and Roger Monk's is getting some new life thanks to the owners of a financial planning business who are reinvigorating the property.

Adam Finch and Mike Rautiola of RFC Financial Planners bought the 6-acre property at 5400 Plymouth Road in August and are working on renovating and securing a tenant to lease part of the space. The two partners plan to move their office and six employees into the building, but also offer some room for a new eatery or tavern-style business.

"It's been a restaurant since the '20s and was built in the 1880s," Finch said. "It's got a lot of really cool history there."

The building totals 5,300-square-feet and the new tenant would have 2,500-square-feet to work with, along with a large outdoor patio included in the site plan.

A proposed site plan for 5400 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor. The 6-acre property was recently purchased by Adam Finch and Mike Rautiola of RFC Financial Planners, who are moving their business into the space and looking to lease part of the building.

"We're still actively looking for a great tenant that would be good for the community," Finch said.

He and Rautiola agreed the property has a great setting, with plenty of green space surrounding the building and a nearby creek.

"The property's location is probably the most appealing to us," Rautiola said. "We really value the history of that building and location."

Renovations could last around nine months, he said, and would include reusing the wooden beams featured throughout the building. The well pump out front will remain as a reminder of the property's past.

Finch and Rautiola currently are working to get final approvals for the site plan and communicating with their real estate agent, Jim Chaconas of Colliers, on the variety of offers that have come in for the space up for lease.

There is a live auction planned for Saturday, Oct. 8 from noon to 5 p.m. Items being auctioned include kitchen equipment, furnishings, pots and pans, and dishes. For more information, visit the Joe Carli Auction Services site.
ANN ARBOR, MI - An Ann Arbor native is getting some attention for a business venture aimed at helping Latin American artisans take their textiles mainstream through a handcrafted shoe line.

Fernando Rojo, 20, is the creator of PATOS, a brand of shoes made by artisans from Peru. The name is a combination of a riff off the Spanish word for shoes, zapatos, and the shoe company's logo of a duck, or pato, in Spanish.

"This is the staple of what makes the shoe," Rojo said, pointing to the heel of a PATOS shoe, marked by colorful textiles handmade by the artisans he works with.

The 2014 Community High School graduate was inspired to start PATOS as a result of family trips to Argentina, when his sister would routinely visit an open-air market to buy shoes from an artisan named Rafael.

Rojo became interested after hearing Rafael's story as a struggling artisan, and ended up purchasing multiple pairs to bring home. Those actions led to the creation of PATOS and a subsequent Kickstarter campaign.

"I'm never without PATOS. They are my favorite pair of shoes," Rojo said. "That's what I set out to make."

The campaign currently stands at $32,080 of the $45,000 goal with 10 days left. Those interested in PATOS can pledge to buy a pair of either canvas El Primero shoes or leather El PrimeroQ, or a combination of PATOS products.

The $45,000 goal would enable Rojo to hire Latin American artisans to create the preordered products. There are currently over 415 backers who have ordered around 400 pairs of shoes, Rojo said.

If PATOS does not reach its goal, the donations would be returned and it's back to the drawing board for Rojo.

"It's all or nothing," he said. "The priority is to deliver them before growing too much. We want our base supporters to have a fantastic experience."

Rojo admits the business venture was slow-going at first, and required extensive research of export records and building communications with Peruvian artisans. It helped that Rojo speaks Spanish, and is able to communicate with his team abroad.

"We built a relationship over time," Rojo said. "For me, it's a way to combine my two cultures."

Rojo took the fall semester off from the University of Pennsylvania to concentrate on PATOS and the Kickstarter campaign, which prompted a long conversation with his parents. He is committed to going back to school, but said he wanted to focus on making progress with PATOS.

"They've been super supportive," Rojo said of his family. "I just think, right now, this is the ideal thing for me to do."

He was also able to enlist the help of two fellow students, who are assisting him with social media and communications.

The company was part of Inc. Magazine's "16 Coolest College Startups of 2016" and was featured by Buzzfeed in an article titled "25 Brands That Actually Help Struggling Latin American Artisans."

"It's definitely given us a good number of backers in the last few days," Rojo said about the Buzzfeed article. "It was a happy moment."

PATOS has been a learning experience for Rojo, who said he has been an entrepreneur since childhood. Savings from his other ventures are now invested in the company, and Rojo has also received two small grants from his alma mater.

"It's a slim operation," Rojo said. "I've put everything I've had into it. I'm not making a Plan B."

Two mini pre-orders have given PATOS a chance to get user feedback and change the design of the shoes, like adding more comfort in the sole area and the PATOS logo on the tongue.

The campaign raised $10,000 in the first four hours, and $20,000 after 10 days, figures that Rojo is happy with so far.

He isn't satisfied yet, though, with several days left of the campaign that Rojo hopes would change the fashion industry of Latin America by hiring and lifting artisans out of poverty.

"I want to become the brand that introduces the style of Latin America," Rojo said. "There's a lot the rest of the world has to offer."
Local car dealer Toyota Aye and Sons is hoping a hire purchase scheme will help boost sales of a new Toyota model, which has to compete with a sea of used vehicles in a market complicated by regulations.





Toyota has been struggling to sell brand-new cars in Myanmar despite campaigns and promotions. The market is already awash with used Toyota vehicles and other popular Japanese brands, and few customers are willing to shell out for a new ride.

Aye and Sons is now trying to market the new Toyota Vios  a model produced to be affordable for emerging markets across Asia-Pacific. Toyotas Myanmar dealer has also partnered with local lender AYA Bank to offer hire purchase in the hope of making the new vehicle even more attractive.

Myanmar customers can start with a down payment of around US$5000  less than one-third of the full cost  and chip away with $242 a month payments. But Myanmar import policy could still stand in the way of sales. Yangon is easily the biggest market for new cars, and residents have to procure a car parking recommendation letter from the local authorities in order to purchase brand-new imports.

The government has stopped issuing the letters, partly in an attempt to prevent further congestion on Yangons already crowded streets.

For Yangon customers we already know that it will definitely be difficult for them to buy, said a spokesperson from Toyota Aye and Sons. We also understand the governments side, and we have to follow regulations. So we are trying to balance between government regulation and customers.

Other international car brands operating in Myanmar face the same problem. U Kin Htun, managing director of a Ford showroom, said that when it comes to selling new vehicles he relies on other states and regions because demand in Yangon is so lacklustre as a result of import regulations.

One exception is Suzuki, which has a local production factory.





We are producing the cars ourselves in Myanmar so the customers dont need to get a parking recommendation letter from the government, a Suzuki spokesperson said. So this problem doesnt impact our market.

According to industry association figures, around 150,000 vehicles were imported during 2015  but only 4000 were brand new. Owners of showrooms like Aye and Sons and U Kin Htun are hoping this number will increase, but say it will take a shift in government policy to make that happen.
Myanmars fourth telco has a brand name and could have its licence within the next two months, according to government officials and people involved in the new firm.





The telco is a collaboration between Hanoi-based telecoms operator Viettel, a consortium of 11 local firms called Myanmar National Telecom Holding Public, and a subsidiary of military-run Myanmar Economic Corporation called Star High Public Company.

Viettel, which is owned by Vietnams defence ministry, was granted the right to negotiate with the consortium and Star High Public earlier this year, after winning a tender issued at the end of 2015.

Talks dragged on longer than a proposed timeline from the joint-venture formation committee had suggested they would. But U Zaw Min Oo, a director of Myanmar Technologies and Investment Corporation  one of the 11 local firms  said that the consortium had formally signed with Viettel and Star High Public to form the fourth telco last month.

Ministry of Communications and Transport director U Than Htun Aung confirmed the signing.

Viettel owns 49 percent of the new entity and the Myanmar partners the other 51pc, said U Zaw Min Oo. Senior management positions have been filled, with a Viettel official taking the chief executive position, he added.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told The Myanmar Times in July that decision making and the CEOs role were among the sticking points that held up the joint venture talks.





In response to questions, Le Thu Hong, a consultant in Viettels public relations department, said that details are still under negotiation and we are continuing to complete licensing procedures.

U Zaw Min Oo said the new firm would only start operations in 2017 and was still engaged in the application process. We already have a brand name but we dont want to disclose it, he added. We plan to hold a press conference very soon.

U Soe Naing, director of the ministrys Posts and Telecommunications Department, told The Myanmar Times that the fourth telcos licence application would be done in two months if everything goes smoothly.

The new telco will face stiff competition from state-owned incumbent MPT, and established foreign firms Telenor and Ooredoo. MPT has over 20 million customers, Telenor 17 million and Ooredoo over 8 million.

But government shareholder Star High Public Company has access to 1000 towers and more than 13,000 kilometres of fibre, as previously reported by The Myanmar Times. Parent firm Myanmar Economic Corporation also owns the markets current, unofficial fourth operator, MECTel.

U Than Htun Aung said the fourth telco could only start building additional towers and infrastructure when the licence was formally awarded.
For the third consecutive year, the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk managed a small showing in Yangon.





More than 30 photographers, ranging from the semi-professional to the novice, participated in the walk, which began at Maha Wizaya Pagoda and travelled around the Bahan Market before finishing at a mohinga joint, Myaung Mya Daw Cho, on Old Yay Tar Shay Street.

The event, held in hundreds of cities around the globe, raises money for the Springs of Hope Kenya Orphanage, which feeds, houses and educates young orphans in the African nation. Participants were encouraged to make a small donation.

For two hours, walk leader Rick Saint led the group, with plenty of stoppages for snapshots of Shwedagon Pagoda or portraits of Yangonites living their daily lives.

Saint, an American photographer who lives and works in Yangon, has helped organise the event since 2014.

Maha Wizaya Pagoda proved to be a photogenic start, as the unique pagoda is decorated inside to appear like a Myanmar jungle: Animals, painted as constellations, adorn the ceiling, and fake trees spread around corners. Kyee Myint, a photographer who attended the event, snapped his favourite picture at the pagoda using a fish-eye lens.





I wanted to show how epic Maha Wizaya Pagoda is, he said.

Photographers who participated are encouraged to share their best snapshots in the WorldWide PhotoWalk contest before the October 16 deadline.

Winners will be up for prizes such as DSLR cameras, gift cards, apps and camera bags from Canon, a sponsor.

The Worldwide Photo Walk is organised by Kelbyone, an online photography-learning platform.
Employing an unusual interpretation of the criminal justice system, Myanmars head of police said minor cases can be negotiated extra-judicially with a settlement for the victim, but more well-known criminal cases with nationwide repercussions should see trial.





Police Director General Zaw Win was speaking on October 1 at the 52nd anniversary of Myanmar Police Day, held in the capital.

While he did not name any particular cases, his remarks appeared to be an allusion to public outrage over the financial pittance arranged to settle the long-term abuse of two teenage domestic workers. Investigations have been launched into both the Kyauktada township police for failing to respond to initial complaints of the case, and the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission for negotiating the settlement.

Cases can be settled, U Zaw Win said. The court should decide if the settlement is an amount that is worthy of the offence if the victim decides to settle. But major cases, such as murder, rape, robbery, narcotic drug cases and human trafficking, relate not only to the individual victim but also to the public. So such cases should be executed in line with the law rather than trying to diminish the crime [through settlement].

Cases of human trafficking are a particular concern, he said, and added that the Myanmar Police Force is now not only taking care to combat cross-border human trafficking cases but is also increasingly alert for domestic human trafficking and monitoring businesses where such cases tend to occur, including the housemaid industry, employment agencies and the fisheries sector.

Vice President U Myint Swe, who also attended the ceremony, said that police need to comply with rules and regulations, as well as codes of moral responsibilities, in order to best protect the public and be free of graft. Police are one of the least trusted institutions in the country, with annual graft rankings  such as watchdog Transparency Internationals annual Corruption Perception Index  consistently rating the force as among the worlds most corrupt.

U Myint Swe added that alerting police to cases and criminal activities through social media was an effective way to report complaints.





With developing technologies, criminals are using new modus operandi to commit crimes, terrors and violence, hence the need for police forces at all levels to sustainably upgrade their abilities, the vice president was quoted as saying in state media.

The police director general added that new types of cases have been emerging since the burgeoning of the internet and social media in Myanmar. He added that the outpouring online of religiously motivated hate speech and discriminatory propaganda is especially concerning.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
After lobbying from tobacco companies, a six-month reprieve has been granted on a regulation requiring cigarette packages to carry graphic health warnings, according to a directive from the Ministry of Health and Sport.





In February, the government announced that new regulations would go into effect on September 1, requiring that health warnings and graphic photos illustrating the dangers of tobacco use must appear on all brands of cigarette and other tobacco products manufactured in Myanmar.

But on September 28, Dr Mya Lay Nwee, deputy director of the Department of Public Health in Nay Pyi Taw, told The Myanmar Times that the rules would not go into effect until February 2017.

Tobacco companies made a request to the ministry that the new laws not be applied to products which had reached the market before September 1. Therefore, the minister for health and sport has granted the tobacco companies an amnesty period of six months, during which they can retrieve products that do not contain the proper warning labels from the market, said Dr Mya Lay Nwee.

The [new] law will still apply to products manufactured after September 1 and anyone who breaks the law following the amnesty period will be punished in accordance with the legislation, she added.

One concern that has been raised by the new tobacco packaging edict is that many retailers are unaware that they could face punishment if they sell incorrectly packaged products.

We did not know about the new law, said Daw San, a retailer at the corner of 39th Street and Bogyoke Aung San Road. Tobacco companies have told us to sell our [improperly packaged] stock before the end of the six-month period and that they will then take back any unsold stock.





Daw Sans experience suggests that the governments new packaging regulations may achieve its desired outcome, lowering the smoking rate.

The demand for brands with graphic stickers on them has decreased since they started labelling the packets in this way. Before, they were best sellers, she said.

Buyers said the [graphic warning] stickers were a disgrace and changed brands to packages which did not have them, she added.

Of the nearly 50 brands of cigarettes on the market, only two  Red Ruby and Winston  have adopted the graphic warnings so far. None of the more than 100 brands of traditional cigarettes or other tobacco products has adopted the graphic warning labels at this point.

Once the new law is in full effect, anyone involved in the production, distribution or sale of tobacco products that do not contain a graphic warning label could be subject to a fine of between K10,000 (US$7.95) and K30,000 for a first offence.

Subsequent offences are to be punished with heavier fines and even possible imprisonment under the Control of Smoking and Consumption of Tobacco Product Law.
Renewed fighting between the Tatmadaw and nationwide ceasefire signatory Restoration Council of Shan State is again overshadowing the peace process and threatening to undermine recent efforts at negotiation.





The clashes erupted on October 1 and have already driven 2000 IDPs from their homes to seek refuge in Mine Kaing/Mong Kung township, Shan State.

According to an RCSS commander, the Tatmadaw has released a barrage of heavy artillery that continued as of yesterday afternoon.

Until now, the fighting has not ceased. They are shooting with heavy weapons from a position on the hill above the Pang Poi village tract, where our troops are stationed, said the RCSS commander, who asked that his name not be used. Locals do not dare to stay here anymore; they have fled to a safer area.

Since the National League for Democracy launched its incipient peace process with the 21st-century Panglong Conference last month, several battles have flared and old tensions re-emerged, with fighting in Shan and Kachin states escalating, and conflict erupting anew in Kayin State.

According to the RCSS commander, the Tatmadaw entered Pang Poi, in RCSS-controlled territory, on October 1. The Tatmadaw soldiers scoured a drug rehabilitation centre jointly operated by the RCSS and a local CSO, and then opened fired on the RCSS, he said.

The following day, October 2, 950 civilians fled to a nearby monastery. By October 3, the number of IDPs grew to 2000 staying at two monasteries in Mine Kaing township, said an officer from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy in Taunggyi who also asked to remain unnamed. The SNLD is trying to support the refugees by asking for humanitarian help from the Shan community.





The RCSS commander said that 20 villages are situated in Pang Poi, Mine Kaing township. The villages have mostly emptied while the Kyaung Jan and Kyaung Hong monasteries are providing shelter to the IDPs, who remain in need of food and other supplies.

The RCSS is one of just eight ethnic armed groups to have signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement with the previous government late in 2015. Since signing the peace deal, the RCSS has clashed with the Tatmadaw on three occasions, including once before in Mine Kaing township.

This time is the worst case of fighting, said the commander. The RCSS has already been welcomed to the peace negotiations, so there is no need for more military offensives. Only discussions can solve our differences.
Families displaced from their homes by conflict have returned  only to find themselves being sued for trespassing on their own land, they say.





The IDPs in Tanintharyi Region thought their problems were finally over when the ceasefire between the military and ethnic armed groups was finally inked in October last year, allowing them to return to their ancestral homes.

But instead they have discovered their problems may just be beginning, they told a press conference in Yangon last week.

Four villagers from Kyayzuetaw village, Yephyu township, have been slapped with lawsuits by Shwe Padonmar Production Enterprise, and two villagers from Band Mae village, Myeik district, are being sued by the Asia World company amid accusations that some villagers destroyed palm oil trees.

The villagers left in the 1990s because of the fighting [between the Karen National Union and the Tatmadaw]. Now, 20 years on, the regional minister for Karen affairs has told them they can return. But in the meantime, these companies were granted permission by the government to set up palm oil plantation projects in their villages, said Naw Pe Tha Law of the Tanintharyi Friends civil society group.

She said the Central Committee for Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land should have conducted checks on the ground instead of just relying on reports from the companies on how many acres they had cultivated.

Sa Ayeyar Win, a lawyer with the Myeik Lawyers Network, said the companies had the right to sue the villagers because they were in possession of land ownership certificates. The villagers, though they had worked the fields for years, had no documentation to support their claims of ownership.





Land confiscation problems are the biggest challenge for the new government in Tanintharyi Region, he said.

Saw Myo Min, 38, of Kyayzuetaw village, who is being sued for criminal trespass by Shwe Padonmar, said it was very hard to mount a defence.

I have no money. Were just casual workers who get paid by the day, if we work. We dont even have a motorbike to get to court. We just came back when the fighting was finished. Now were facing a lawsuit, he said.

Tanintharyi regional government discussed the future of land confiscated by the military government in the middle of August. They considered loaning land to private companies for agriculture projects, and agreed it should be taken back if it was not being used.

The state has the right to take back farmland if it has not been cultivated for four years after an initial land-lease agreement contract is signed, under the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law of 2012.

The chief minister of Tanintharyi Region announced that the regional government had been surveying unused land and had submitted its findings to the central government. The purpose of the survey was to give the land back to its original owners, or to migrant workers who wanted to return home, to allow them to cultivate small-scale farms.

U Hlwan Moe, director of the Agricultural Land Management and Statistics Department, said several complaints had been received from various states and regions.

Mistakes were made because the department didnt know the basic rules and regulations of land management. And there was a lot of bias and corruption in land management for years, he said.

The local government can seize a plot of less than 50 acres (20 hectares), but the disposition of larger plots depends on the decision of the recently formed Union-level Central Committee for the Management of Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands.

Some larger plots in Tanintharyi Region were confiscated by the military government, which ordered private companies to meet agricultural production goals in the 1990s and 2000s.

In 1999, for example, the government launched palm oil projects in Tanintharyi Region, giving permission over several years to 44 companies to develop a total of almost 1 million acres (405,000ha) in Tanintharyi, according to a recent report by Fauna and Flora International (FFI).

Read more: The fight for resources in Myanmars deep south

The villagers are calling for the lawsuits to be withdrawn, and for the authorities to verify how much land the companies have under cultivation, to restore the land to its original owners and to ensure that IDPs who are yet to return do not face the same problem.

Director of Asia World U Sai Myint Thein told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the villagers had been relocated elsewhere since the outbreak of fighting and had no claim to any specific plot of land.

We would not have charged them if they hadnt destroyed the companys palm oil plantations. But they did. We filed charges against a very few of them to ensure that the problem does not recur, he said.

U Sai Myint Thein said the company wanted to negotiate with the villagers, and that the palm oil plantation was already creating job opportunities in the course of its CSR activities.

If we can negotiate with the villagers not to destroy the plantation in the future and not to attack plantation workers, we will withdraw the lawsuit, he said.

According to the FFI report, Asia World received permission for a 10,200-acre plantation in 2015, which is complete, and Shwe Padonmar received permission for 1200 acres, of which only 18 percent was complete in 2015.

The Myanmar Times has approached Shwe Padonmar but could not find a responsible official to provide comment.
Thousands of people gathered yesterday at the symbolically important Manaw Park in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital, calling for a halt to military offensives in Kachin and northern Shan states.





Daw Nang Tu, a womens rights activist and an organiser of yesterdays demonstration, said more than 10,000 residents assembled at Manaw Park and then held a prayer service urging an end to recent fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army.

The military tension in Kachin and northern Shan states is too high. We call for the governments intervention in the Tatmadaws aggressive military activities in the states, she said.

Organisers had originally planned to stage a protest march through the state capital, according to Daw Nang Tu, but police and local administrative authorities later informed them that they needed to submit an official request five days in advance of the planned event, leading to yesterdays more subdued showing.

Renewed fighting between the KIA and the Tatmadaw flared in mid-August and persisted through last month. Shrapnel from an artillery shell allegedly launched by Tatmadaw forces fighting the KIA in Muse township killed a two-year-old girl from Pu Wang village on October 1. Two other children under 10 were also hospitalised with injuries from the attack.

Tatmadaw representatives could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The shelling has prompted both domestic and international outcry, as well as fresh calls for an end to the fighting.





Womens organisations in Kachin State sent a letter to State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi over the weekend in hopes that she would wade into the conflict to lower military tensions and to protect women and children in conflict-affected areas.

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has called for the warring parties to respect and abide by their obligations under international law by ensuring the protection of schools and hospitals from military occupation or assault.

It also called on actors in the conflict to ensure that children are not subjected to bombings or attacks of any kind, [and for] the end of their use and recruitment in armed forces of any kind.

Conflicts take a high toll on children in Myanmar, Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEFs representative to Myanmar, said in a statement yesterday. All parties to the conflict must keep children out of harms way.

For children, Mr Bainvel said, concerns about conflict extend beyond their immediate physical safety as displacement takes its own toll.

They miss out on schooling and too frequently they experience physical and emotional damage as they grow up in the midst of violence, he said.

He also said that the sufferings of children living in conflict-affected areas and their future must be of prime concern in ongoing peace talks between the government and ethnic armed groups.

The need to protect them now cannot wait for a comprehensive agreement to be reached, said Mr Bainvel.

A 17-year ceasefire agreement between the KIA and government broke down in June 2011, when Tatmadaw fighters attacked KIA positions along the Tarping River in Bhamaw/Bhamo township. Nearly 100,000 civilians have since been displaced by conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states, according to an August update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The KIA was among eight ethnic armed groups that were invited to sign last Octobers nationwide ceasefire agreement but declined, with abstainers objecting to a Union Solidarity and Development Party-led process that they said was only partially inclusive.

The successor to the USDP government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy, has faced its own criticism, with its 21st-century Panglong Conference proving to be a largely symbolic affair with little discernable impact on Tatmadaw conduct on the ground.

The Tatmadaw is not, however, under the control of her civilian leadership, with the 2008 constitution guaranteeing full autonomy to the nations armed forces.

Others have said the civilian administration is not doing enough for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in areas of active or latent conflict.

Jaw San Naw, joint general secretary of the Kachin Democratic Party, said he had never heard of any senior government leaders  at the state or Union level  visiting IDP camps.

Both the legislative and the executive branches are not saying anything about the fighting, while civilians lives are at risk amid the fighting. I think they are too afraid to raise these issues with the Tatmadaw, he said.

They should at least visit the camps to encourage the IDPs and give them moral support. They have not done so.

They are just too silent, he added.

U Khun Maung Thaung, chair of the lower houses Ethnic Affairs and Internal Peace Implementation Committee, said the government should persuade the military to de-escalate military tension in Kachin and Shan states, but that signing the NCA might go some way toward ending the conflict.

Critics of the NCA have said in some cases, however, the accord appears to have actually raised tensions between signatories and non-signatories, such as in northern Shan State, where members of the signatory Restoration Council of Shan State have clashed with the Taang National Liberation Army since the signing.

U Khun Maung Thaung said he has called a committee meeting to discuss the latest fighting between the KIA and the Tatmadaw. When asked whether any members of the committee would raise the issue in parliament, he said the meeting tomorrow would decide.
Villagers have been reprimanded over an unsanctioned protest staged outside the Mandalay Region governments office last week. The Thabeikkyin township residents were seeking a meeting with the chief minister over gold mines they allege have encroached on village territory over the last few years with environmentally disastrous effects.





The Yehtwet villagers were summoned by the police and regional minister for security and border affairs on September 30. Instead of helping assuage the contentious land feud, the officials chastised the villagers for not obtaining prior permission, or even notifying the authorities of the five-person demonstration on September 27.

We went to the governments office after we were summoned. Authorities from the administrative office, senior police officers and the region minister for security and border affairs warned us not to wage an unauthorised demonstration again. They did not tell us they will help to resolve the village land dispute, Ko Than Naing Oo, one of the Yehtwet villagers, told The Myanmar Times on October 2.

The villagers previously resorted to more extreme measures in the hopes of bringing attention to their cause. In July last year, around 100 villagers decided to occupy a military conglomerate-owned mine in a demonstration that quickly escalated after a police confrontation. Company property and vehicles were set ablaze and one protester was hospitalised with a gunshot wound.

But the more recent, and more subdued, Mandalay office protest was not completely without success. U Myo Thit, minister for natural resources and forestry, agreed to meet with the protesters and advised them to submit an official letter of complaint.

The dispute revolves around rampant gold mining the locals say has strayed beyond village property demarcation lines instituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2011. Forty-nine official mining companies and about 100 illegal mining enterprises operate in Thabeikkyin township. In Yehtwet village, military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings owns a micro gold mine, subcontracted out to Myanmar Sithu Company.

U Htay Kyaw, another resident of Yehtwet village, said the encroaching companies have now amassed around 70 acres of village land.

We have submitted an official letter to get back the village land. The minister said he will help us within the bounds of his authority, he said.





Region minister U Myo Thit told The Myanmar Times that the issue will require Union-level intervention.

They [the Yehtwet villagers] cannot continue to behave so lawlessly as they did outside our office. We will have to solve this dispute rationally, step-by-step, he said.

Ko Than Naing Oo said the region authorities would take down any fences that mining companies had erected on village land.

We were told they would help us resolve the case. We will have to wait and see. If what they promised does not materialise, we will proceed by taking matters into our own hands, he said.

We dont want these companies to get authorisation for what they are claiming is regional development. If locals had access to good job opportunities, it would lead to regional development, he added.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
Police have arrested and charged a university student suspected of destroying more than 6000 exam papers last month at the Mandalay Technological University.





On September 1, the Kyaukse district police force, along with the township fire brigade and ward administrators, responded to a fire at the university.

After breaking down the doors of the room, the police discovered that 6510 exam papers, many which had not yet been corrected, had been set alight. All the papers were destroyed in the blaze.

CCTV footage revealed a lone arsonist wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans, and riding an SZ motorcycle with stickers. After a month-long investigation, police arrested suspect Ko Thein Htet Aung at 1am on October 1.

Following a police interrogation, the student confessed to setting the exam papers ablaze. He said that he was drunk at the time, and though he believed he had done well on his exam, he decided to set fire to the examination papers as he was sad that there were people who had not done so well.

The mechanical engineering major confessed to breaking into the room, after buying petrol from a local betel nut vendor, and burning all the papers. He said he was inspired by a story about a student from Kalay University who had destroyed exam papers by dousing them in water.

Ko Thein Htet Aung has been charged with mischief by fire under section 436 of the penal code.

Translation by Khine Thazin Han
The Sagaing Region government has dispersed more than K600 million (US$478,000) to poultry breeders since an April outbreak of bird flu forced health officials to cull tens of thousands of chickens in Monywa township, according to U Kyi Lwin Oo, deputy chair of the Sagaing Region Livestock Federation.





The H9N2 avian influenza virus hit a designated poultry farming zone in Monywa earlier this year, leading officials to cull 130,000 chickens owned by 98 breeders. Support for their losses has come from Union government coffers.

Over K600 million has been given in support to date, U Kyi Lwin Oo said on September 30. There were about 160,000 chickens in the poultry farming zone but the number of chickens left is only 30,000.

U Myint Naing, who estimated that he had lost about 600 chickens, said back-to-back years grappling with the virus had left him worried about the financial viability of continuing the trade.

I have no strength to carry on this poultry farming because bird flu has occurred for two years consecutively, U Myint Naing told The Myanmar Times last week. The time invested, labour and the costs of animal feed were in vain.

He added that he was grateful for the government assistance.

I am happy to get the support ... I want to breed chickens outside the poultry farming zone if it is possible. If the virus occurs in the zone, it easily spreads because the farms are very close to one another.

Monywas chicken farming zone spans more than 120 acres. A similar area for quail breeding was not affected by the latest bird flu outbreak because it was separated from the chicken pens.





Culling after an outbreak of a different bird flu strain, H5N1, in April 2015 cost Monywa breeders more than K600 million in lost chickens and quails.

From 2006 to 2015, seven bird flu outbreaks were recorded in Sagaing and Mandalay regions, according to the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

Transmission of the virus to humans has been rare, however, with health officials citing the commonly observed kitchen practice of fully cooking meat before consumption.

Dr Ye Tun Win, director general of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, told state media that with effective handling of the bird flu outbreak, consumers need not worry.

Translation by San Layy
UPDATE: The presiding judge has accepted a request this morning for criminal prosecution of Dutch tourist Klass Haytema under criminal code section 295 for intentional insult to religious beliefs. The judge also confirmed that the verdict will be announced on October 6, The Myanmar Times has learned.





A township legal officer in Mandalay have previously submitted a formal request that Dutch tourist Klaas Haytema face a criminal trial for his actions on September 23, when he unplugged an amplifier that was being used to broadcast a Buddhist dhamma sermon.

Mr Haytema is accused of disconnecting the amplifier at about 10pm on September 23 outside his hotel near Thusarita Dhammaryone, a religious community hall in Maha Aung Myay township, Mandalay Region.

A number of preliminary arraignment hearings have been held so far in the case with witnesses, including Mr Haytema, giving evidence about the nights events.

If the court decides to go forward with criminal prosecution, the defendant will face charges under section 295 of the penal code for intentional insult to religious feelings or beliefs. He is facing additional charges under immigration laws.

Yesterday, another witness, Daw Yi Yi Win, gave evidence that seemed to corroborate the testimony of previous witnesses in the case.

According to her testimony, she was reciting the Dhamma Setkya sermon in the community hall when the incident occurred. She said Mr Haytema entered the hall with his shoes on, shouted hey and signalled to those gathered in an apparent attempt to indicate that he wanted the amplifiers sound cut. He then unplugged some cords, switching off the amplifier outside the community hall.

Following Daw Yi Yi Wins testimony, U Sithu Swe Tun, township legal officer for Maha Aung Myay township, made a formal application to the court that Mr Haytemas case should go to trial, given the weight of evidence against him in the preliminary hearings.





Since preliminary hearings in this case began on September 28, we have received the testimony of the plaintiff U Kyaw San as well as testimony from U Chit San, Daw Yi Yi Win, Daw Ohnmar Cho, Police Lieutenant Myint Lwin and Ma Zin Mar Oo, he said.

The legal officer said that the evidence given by all these witnesses, along with police records and other written statements, was sufficient to bring Mr Haytema to trial and have him answer for his actions.

It is clear that Mr Klaas Haytema entered the Dhammaryone wearing his shoes, thereby breaching section 295 of the penal code. Mr Haytema has a responsibility to explain his actions, he said.

U Sithu Swe Tun also made similar statements regarding the charges pending against Mr Haytema under section 13(1) of the Immigration Act, which require a tourists adherence to Myanmars laws and customs.

When asked by the judge through an interpreter whether he should be charged, Mr Haytema said that he had acted stupidly and did not know that it was a religious building.

The judge in the preliminary hearings will decide today whether Mr Haytemas case should proceed to trial. If it does and he is found guilty, he could face up to two years imprisonment.

Yesterday morning two officials from the Dutch embassy in Yangon were permitted to visit Mr Haytema in prison, together with his girlfriend, according to a report in the Leeuwarder Courant. It was the first time they were permitted to visit him.

Hes doing well, given the circumstances, a spokesperson for the Dutch foreign ministry was quoted as saying.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
Topics ranged from the Zika virus and climate change to womens empowerment and Myanmars own Rakhine State problems as lawmakers from throughout the ASEAN region met over the weekend for the 37th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in Nay Pyi Taw.





An agreement from the blocs female parliamentarians to better promote womens rights was one take-away from the three-day gathering, according to a Myanmar MP in attendance.

Members of the Committee on Women Parliamentarians agreed to urge their respective legislatures to enact laws and policies that will fortify womens rights in the workplace and further social protections for them.

For social protection laws or policies that can promote gender equality, we were able to agree that women lawmakers in the ASEAN region are going to urge their parliaments to revise labour laws in line with international norms, Amyotha Hluttaw lawmaker Daw Shwe Shwe Sein Latt (NLD; Bago 3), who is the leader of Myanmars delegation to the Committee on Women Parliamentarians, told The Myanmar Times at a press conference following the conclusion of the assembly on October 2.

She said female lawmakers would work in their countries parliaments to develop practical programs, such as allowing working mothers to breastfeed their babies in the workplace, and bringing maternity leave policies in line with international standards.

We came to a decision that MPs will urge [colleagues] to enact more social protections and maternity leave for woman workers, especially women who lack opportunities, said Daw Shwe Shwe Sein Latt.

Arguably the regions most familiar female face, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, opened the AIPA with a speech on September 30.

She outlined her governments priorities at the six-month mark of her administrations term, highlighting its signature peace initiative  the 21st-century Panglong Conference  and a revitalised approach to dealing with ethno-religious divisions in Rakhine State.





The situation in Rakhine is complex and it is the subject of close attention and concern outside our borders in the ASEAN region and beyond, she said, noting the creation of two separate bodies, including an advisory commission chaired by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, to address the states problems.

We are working to build understanding, harmony and trust between communities, while standing firm against prejudice, intolerance and extremism, she said.

In doing so, we ask for the constructive support of our regional neighbours. Progress in every field will not be possible overnight, but we are determined to persevere, and to bring about positive change in Rakhine State, as in other areas of our country affected by conflict.

Broadening the lens to issues on the AIPA agenda  cyber security, protecting marine resources, mitigating the effects of climate change, supporting small and medium enterprises and Zika virus prevention  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the wide-ranging nature of the docket reflected the importance of regional cooperation.

All these are issues that affect our citizens directly, and where we have a duty to work together, in a spirit of democratic collaboration, to find effective and progressive solutions, she said.

This years general assembly was the first since Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy won an overwhelming majority in last Novembers election, claiming nearly 80 percent of elected seats in the Union legislature. With the NLD boycotting the 2010 general election, parliament this year is considered a more accurate reflection of the constituencies it represents, but the class of 2016 is also largely without legislative experience.

Isra Sunthornvut, the Thai secretary general of the AIPA, told The Myanmar Times that he nonetheless had full trust in the policymaking abilities of the current crop of MPs.

The general assembly concluded on October 2 with a handover ceremony as Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than passed the gavel to a deputy speaker of the Philippines lower house, Raneo Abu.

The 38th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly will be held next year in the Philippines. Malaysia hosted the previous iteration in 2015.

A previous version of this article in print misidentified the Philippines deputy speaker at the handover ceremony as Eric Singson, who is also a deputy speaker in the Philippines' lower house. The Myanmar Times regrets the error.
A National League for Democracy MP is being investigated by police following reports of a raucous evening this weekend that ended with an allegation of intimidation at a motel in his constituency.





The manager of Motel Shwe Pyi Thar in Yangon lodged a criminal complaint against lower house lawmaker U Nyan Lin (NLD; Shwe Pyi Thar), following a disturbance on the night of October 1.

According to the police, U Nyan Lin, together with two friends, went to the motel and asked whether or not they had KTV. The motel manager, Ma Thazin, replied that they do not and refused to open the door to the trio.

U Nyan Lin then called the wards administrator. Once the ward administrator arrived, the motel manager opened the door and the men went inside where they proceeded to swear at staff and punch the motels glass door, according to the police record.

The complainants statement says that U Nyan Lin said, I will demolish your hotel.

The NLD MP disputes the complainants version of events. According to him, he was acting on reports that crimes were being committed in the motel and had come to investigate.

He said that he had witnesses who would support his case and that the CCTV footage would not show him swearing at staff.

U Win Htein, central executive member of the NLD, told The Myanmar Times that the party would not interfere with the police investigation, but instead would respect the rule of law and act on judicial findings.





I have already looked into the case. I have no reason to involve myself in the polices work. We will focus on the rule of the law. If the judge decides that [U Nyan Lin] is guilty, our party will take appropriate action in this regard, he said.
A crumpled instant-noodle bowl ground into the mud is an unlikely symbol of economic vitality. But during Chinas boom years those bowls were as ubiquitous around Chinese construction sites as the high-rise cranes above them.





That was no accident. For millions of Chinese workers, instant noodles were the convenient meal of choice, available for a few cents in every commissary and convenience store. And Chinas instant-noodle makers prospered. Between 2003 and 2008, annual instant-noodle sales expanded to US$7.1 billion from $4.2 billion.

But just as Chinas economy has slowed, so too has its appetite for instant noodles. Earlier this month, Tingyi, Chinas biggest noodle maker, was removed as a component of Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index after seeing its noodle profits drop 60 percent. Chinas instant-noodle sales are down 6.75pc this year, the fourth consecutive year of decline.

The first problem is demographics. Chinas instant-noodle makers grew in parallel with an economic boom that was fuelled by the migration of low-cost workers from the countryside. But Chinas working-age population has been in decline since 2010, and in 2015 the migrant population fell for the first time in 30 years. With more workers staying home, the incentive  and desire  to eat a prepackaged bowl of noodles was likely to decline, and it has.

Theres also the matter of the slowing economy. In 2015, sales growth of inexpensive food and consumer products hit a five-year low, according to a June study from Bain. Declines were particularly steep in products that cater to blue-collar workers, such as cheap beer and instant noodles  a phenomenon that Bain partly blames on Chinese jobs migrating to lower-wage countries.

Whats bad for noodle makers is great for many others. Rising wages have improved living standards and expectations for millions of Chinese workers. Pay a visit to a southern Chinese factory these days, and the food options are much improved. With employees becoming more scarce, benefits like better food are becoming increasingly important.

Chinas workers are also able and willing to pay more for their day-to-day needs. According to one recent survey, half of Chinas consumers now seek out the best and most expensive product. A 25-cent bowl of instant noodles doesnt make the grade.

Then there are health concerns. Instant noodles have developed a nasty reputation in China thanks to scandals and rumors and a 2012 food-poisoning incident. There are long-standing allegations that noodles are contaminated with plasticisers. Legitimate or not, scandals dont help the reputation of a down-market product thats loaded with salt and preservatives.





Even with these problems, instant noodles had the advantage of convenience. Now even that edge is being dulled. The streets of Chinese cities are swarmed by motorcycle and bicycle food-delivery men and women racing to deliver orders that are competitive in price with Chinese fast food. In 2015, the value of those deliveries was US$20 billion  up 55pc from 2014. Fast, healthier options are just an app away, even for students and factory workers.

Chinas instant-noodle makers and importers are struggling to re-start growth. But these days theres competition from South Korea, with its far superior food-safety reputation. One option is to sell noodles to other emerging Asian economies such as Vietnam, where consumption is still growing along with the manufacturing sector. That wont make up for Chinas shrinking market, but Chinas new class of consumers dont offer more enticing options.

 Bloomberg

Adam Minter is an Asia-based columnist at Bloomberg Views.
Two weeks after ASEAN health ministers agreed to step up the sharing of information on the Zika virus, the most informed and credible data about ASEAN countries is from the other side of the world. Not only are Thailands Public Health Ministry and its counterparts doling out information like it was rationed, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has better, more credible advice. This disconcerting situation is unacceptable.





Late last week, the Thai health ministry confirmed Zika infections had caused microcephaly in two newborns. This tragic defect, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads, is well known in the Americas, but is new to Southeast Asia. But as a consequence of an outbreak in Singapore, authorities promised to take control of information for the entire ASEAN region.

Two weeks ago, the 10 ASEAN ministers of health held a teleconference to address the Zika virus threat. Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn claimed the ministers would make monitoring and detection fast and accurate. Since that session, grandiosely named the ASEAN Health Ministers Special Video Conference, no results have been evident.

Here is a dramatic example of expectations deflated. Immediately after the September 19 conference, Mr Piyasakol talked tough. He would order house owners to get rid of mosquito larvae. Any failures would bring a maximum fine on charges of allowing the spread of an infectious and dangerous disease. One awaits the order, followed quickly by the first harsh example.

There is currently neither a preventative vaccine nor any type of relief or cure for the Zika virus. The same is true of other diseases carried and transmitted by the aedes aegypti mosquito. Dengue is more deadly than the Zika virus, which usually causes a few days of discomfort to its victims. But the harm of Zika is that it passes from mother to child and causes deformities. An infected woman need not even be pregnant at the time of a Zika attack, since the virus will linger as a danger for months and possibly years. The virus may also cause the Guillain-Barre syndrome and other neurological conditions.

This is why the CDC last week declared the Zika virus as endemic throughout virtually all of ASEAN. It advised not just pregnant women, but almost all women of child-bearing age to postpone nonessential travel to Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam.

But the insidious Zika virus also involves males. Men with partners who are pregnant or considering pregnancy who travel to ASEAN should talk to their medical provider on how to avoid sexual transmission of Zika infection to their partners, said the CDC.





None of the above has been passed from this government to Thai citizens. Of course, the travel industry will not face this current truth. Visitors might actually value their own health and their childrens over a holiday in Thailand. Holding back all public disclosure of the CDCs announcements certainly does not match the public promises by Dr Piyasakol and his ASEAN colleagues to share data and step up research.

The constant reaction of this government to withhold vital information has run in parallel with its refusal to consult the public on important matters. Dont panic is not an acceptable response to the Zika outbreak and to the discovery of infections in newborn babies.

An anti-mosquito campaign, complete with widespread information campaigns, is overdue, as are Dr Piyasakols threatened heavy fines on those who refuse to cooperate. The government is not prepared for this public health threat, and needs the publics help and support to fight it.

 Bangkok Post
California Pizza Kitchen is celebrating National Pizza Month with a new recipe and two sweepstakes that make use of a mobile-optimized microsite as a hub for all of the contests' information.

The two sweepstakes will be hosted through cpk.com/nationalpizzamonth2016. One sweepstakes encourages users to find hidden pizza dough stashed somewhere in the real world while the second encourages them to find virtual hidden pizza on the mobile-optimized site.

"Mobile is a central component of our marketing strategy at California Pizza Kitchen, " said Ashley Ceraolo, senior vice president of marketing at California Pizza Kitchen. "Our guests are high mobile users who regularly interact with CPK through their mobile devices, so it?s important that we make our brand and our promotions accessible, and in an engaging and convenient way, right where our guests are, on their phones or tablets."

Hidden pizza dough

California Pizza Kitchen?s Hidden Pizza Dough Scavenger Hunt is offering consumers one of two ways to earn free pizza for an entire year ? one digital and one analog ? each connected through a mobile-optimized microsite.

In the real world, the restaurant chain has hidden pizza dough in 30 select cities around the country. California Pizza Kitchen will gradually reveal hints through the accompanying microsite of each pizza dough?s location.

The first user to solve the puzzles laid out in the hints on the microsite and claim the hidden pizza dough from its hiding place will win free pizza for a year. The dough will be hidden all over the country, from Hawaii all the way to New York.

Thirty winners will be able to claim free pizza for a year if they can find the prize.

Meanwhile, users who are not inclined to go digging around in the real world can also have a chance at free pizza for a year. On the microsite, California Pizza Kitchen has hidden 10 small pizza icons.

If users can find all 10 of them, they can enter their names for a chance to also win a free year of pizza without having to find any of the real-life hidden pizza dough. The winner will be selected randomly from a pool of users who find all 10 and will receive free pizza for a year for him or her and one friend.

In addition, users will be encouraged to sign up for California Pizza Kitchen?s mobile rewards app, CPK?s Pizza Dough. New and existing users can get $10 off an order of $40 or more, incentivizing consumers who have not currently signed up for the app to do so and for existing customers who have not used the app in a while to come back to it.

"The National Pizza Month microsite is an important part of the campaign," Ms. Ceraolo said. "In general, microsites can be a great way to offer all campaign components in an easily accessible, highly interactive and visually appealing one-stop-shop for our guests ? a hub where our regular website, social, eblasts and loyalty platform connect and are fully integrated into the campaign.

"An added benefit of using a microsite is we can use it to measure various aspects of the campaign to learn and optimize future promotions based on our guests? needs and behaviors."

Power of mobile

California Pizza Kitchen?s mobile offerings have been successful in the past. The Hidden Pizza Dough Scavenger Hunt is a way to entice new customers with flashy rewards while reminding existing customers of the mobile features it currently offers.

Earlier this year, California Pizza Kitchen reported that more than 80 percent of its loyalty members engaged with the rewards program, and by extension, the brand, through mobile (see story). That level of engagement makes mobile a key part of the brand?s marketing strategy.

California Pizza Kitchen has also experimented with other limited-time mobile offers, such as its mobile personality quiz that asked consumers to test their personalities to determine which of the chain?s new house-made wine and sangria flavors is best for them (see story).

One-time promotions, which tend to have higher visibility due to their limited time frames, make for a strong way to get users to engage with the more long-term aspects of a brand?s marketing strategy, such as its rewards app. Hosting its twin sweepstakes through a mobile microsite means California Pizza Kitchen is keenly aware of the power the mobile channel presents.

"National Pizza Month is one of our favorite times of year at California Pizza Kitchen, where we get to celebrate with our guests a shared love of all things pizza," Ms. Ceraolo said. "In conceiving this year?s promotion, our biggest priority was in customer engagement ? creating a unique and memorable opportunity for our guests and pizza fans to engage with our brand."
[October 04, 2016] With New Focus, USTAR Drives Toward Key Milestones, Provides Utah Entrepreneurs with $639K in Funding Through its TAP Pilot Round

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR), Utah's premier technology-based economic development program, today announced its Technology Acceleration Program (TAP) has provided $639,000 to 12 early-stage companies throughout Utah in its pilot round, a result of the initiative's new direction in helping build a robust innovation ecosystem in Utah. USTAR also released its annual report, which explains in more detail its new direction and enhanced focus on the commercialization of science and technology ideas generated from public and private sources. USTAR addresses risk capital gaps through a number of initiatives, including its competitive pre-seed TAP fund. Through TAP, USTAR funds Utah-based science and technology startups and early-stage companies to accelerate their technical progress, while also giving established companies the opportunity to mature newly developing technologies. In just six months leading up to the time of the annual report, TAP's pilot seed round has helped numerous startups and early-stage companies hit important milestones in the viability of their companies and receive $733,000 in additional funding from federal grants and other sources to propel their missions. TAP's funding has also sparked personnel growth in these 12 micro-companies, bringing about the creation of 12.5 new jobs. "At USTAR, we support the governor's vision that Utah will lead the nation as the best performing economy and be a premier global destination in technological innovation," said Ivy Estabrooke, executive director at USTAR. "Our TAP initiative is one of the clear, effective ways that we are able to achieve this vision. TAP's competitive grant model has already been incredibly successful in supporting private sector technology development for early-stage companies and new products within our state." The companies funded in TAP's pilot round include Applied Biosensors (Salt Lake City), Farhand Wireless (Salt Lake City), G3 Engineering (Salt Lake City), Helidyne (St. George), Inertial Sense (Salem), Knudra Transgenic (Murray), KP Biosciences (Orem), Metashield (St. George), Pollen Sense (Castle Dale), T3S Technologies (Salt Lake City), Turner Innovations (Orem) and Veritas Medical (Salt Lake City).



"USTAR is a powerful platform for new companies to achieve self-sufficiency," said Christopher Hopkins, CSO and founder of Knudra Transgenics, a genome engineering company that recently received a $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. "Our recent grant was made possible by preliminary data, which was empowered by USTAR's TAP funding and SBIR-STTR Assistance Center." In commenting on the impact of USTAR on their business growth, Hopkins added, "The TAP funding, and the resulting NIH SBIR grant, is preparing Knudra for an expanded foothold in academia and will allow us to quickly dominate emerging commercial markets in genome engineering of livestock, plants and humanized disease models. We simply couldn't have leveraged these opportunities without the financial and mentoring aid of USTAR."

TAP has been able to help companies achieve such accomplishments in six months. This quick success is the product of changes made during the 2016 legislative session in response to an independent assessment of the USTAR program that indicated the need to realign programs to meet shorter-term goals. This assessment indicated USTAR's emphasis on research capacity-building at universities was incongruous with its shorter-term goals and metrics of revenue generation and job creation in Utah-based technology companies. Since then, USTAR has implemented extensive changes in governing practices, policies, organizational structure and staff, and has worked aggressively to align practices and procedures to industry best practices. These changes  outlined in further detail in USTAR's annual report  make technology development for commercialization in the state of Utah more possible. Under the new direction, USTAR has applied its resources in a more targeted way to support the success of startups and early-stage companies and new technologies within the state and to incentivize new connections and commercialization pathways between universities, companies and government labs. USTAR supports tech entrepreneurs through training, funding, incubator and accelerator programs. These additional programs include the University Technology Acceleration Grants (UTAG), which was recently launched to provide competitive funding to non-profit Utah college or university researchers for commercially oriented technology development programs; the Science and Technology Initiation Grants (STIG), which funds researchers conducting precursor research activities to prepare for federal or industry grants; and the Industry Partnerships Program (IPP), which connects industry stakeholders to university researchers to address a specific industry technical gap or challenge. Important elements of USTAR's original model still remain, including support for universities, academic researchers and incubator programs. But even these initiatives have expanded to offer more robust capabilities and ensure the progression of significant technological innovation and product development projects. For more information, please visit http://ustar.org/. About USTAR The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is the State of Utah's premier technology-based economic development program building a robust innovation ecosystem in Utah to accelerate the commercialization of science and technology ideas generated from the private sector. USTAR supports a community in which world-class researchers and innovators can access funding opportunities and state-of-the-art research and development facilities at Utah's leading educational institutions. USTAR was established in 2007 through the leadership and vision of the Utah Legislature and the Governor to leverage science and technology innovation to expand and diversify the state's economy. USTAR conducts its technology-based economic development mission through a diverse portfolio of programs and services focused in three areas: principal researchers, competitive grant programs and technology entrepreneurship services. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414860LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/with-new-focus-ustar-drives-toward-key-milestones-provides-utah-entrepreneurs-with-639k-in-funding-through-its-tap-pilot-round-300338818.html SOURCE Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative

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Accenture and Google have joined forces to introduce vertical solutions in the analytics, cloud and mobility realms.

The partnership will leverage Accentures enterprise client relationships, industry expertise and multi-cloud management platform, which it has integrated with the Google Cloud. Consumer products, energy, finance, healthcare and retail are among the verticals the companies have come together to address.

Late last month Accenture announced the launch of two industry-verticals solutions.

The Accenture Health Experience Platform consists of cloud-based services to help health insurers deliver seamless customer experiences and increase their long-term growth. It does that by providing a holistic view of each member via an agent dashboard, delivering multichannel service capabilities, and offering scripts and features to reduce handle time; enabling customers to more easily compare plans, personalize options, and get quotes; and outfitting brokers with multichannel tools to monitor automated workflows, service requirements, and sales information.

In an increasingly competitive environment, health insurers need to deliver effective interactions with consumers that are supported by personalized insights, prompt service and seamless hand-offs between personnel, said Scott Brown, managing director of payer consulting at Accenture. The Accenture Health Experience Platform will help health insurance companies effectively deploy consumer strategies, facilitate better interactions, and enhance economic outcomes.

Accentures Wealth Management Compliance Solution for Salesforce, meanwhile, helps wealth management companies comply with the U.S. Department of Labors fiduciary rule relating to retirement accounts. IT works with the Salesforce Financial Services Cloud.

Accentures latest cloud-enabled Salesforce-based solution is intended to give wealth managers some peace of mind as they scramble to understand and comply with the DOL rule, said Kendra Thompson, North American Lead for Accenture Wealth Management Services. In reality, advisors only have a few months left to choose, implement, test and deploy a solution. Given the short time frame and magnitude of the changes, most firms will need to begin executing their readiness plans immediately across every area of their business. Above all, the planned changes must be communicated effectively to both advisors and clients.

Edited by Alicia Young
President Tran Dai Quang and Iranian Ambassador to Vietnam Saleh Abidi (Source: VNA)



He expressed his belief that the visit will be a crucial hallmark and bring the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries to the next level.

Ambassador Saleh Abidi said with its strengths in nanotechnology and cell and space technologies, Iran wishes to partner with Vietnam in these fields.

Iran is determined to raise its two-way trade and economic cooperation with Vietnam, the diplomat said.

Also on the day, the President welcomed Hitoshi Kato, President of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association of Sakai city.

He said he is delighted with the enhanced cooperation between the Japanese city and Vietnamese localities, and called for the expansion of local ties.

The President underscored the Vietnamese States policy of paying heed to broadening exchanges and affiliations between the two countries localities, seeing it as an important factor to bolster the extensive strategic partnership.

He hailed Hitoshi Kato and Sakai citys Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association for contributing to accelerating economic relations and people-to-people exchanges.

He gave special estimations to the project on transferring tuna fishing techniques and equipment to fishermen in central Binh Dinh province carried out by Hitoshi Kato and the Association, suggesting expanding it to Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces.

The Japanese guest expressed his belief that when the project enters the second year, Binh Dinhs fishermen will mater tuna fishing and preserving techniques to add higher value to the fish./.
Shakiya Robertson with her kids, from left to right, Kye'Ren, Kyi'Lei, Davion, and Ky'Shaun in front of their home Nick Hagen

Last year, Shakiya Robertson was on the verge of losing her home.

Robertson discovered that she had signed a fraudulent land contract and that her homea three-bedroom bungalow on Outer Drive on the far East Side of Detroitwould be foreclosed. The stakes were incredibly high, as it would have left her, her husband, and their four children homeless.

With the help of the UCHC and a $1,000 loan an anonymous donor made available to The Tricycle Collective, Robertson was able to win a bidding war in the tax sale and reclaim her home.





Shakiya Robertson with her kids, from left to right, Kye'Ren, Kyi'Lei, Davion, and Ky'Shaun in front of their home "We ended up getting the house back, and I cried big crocodile tears of joy," she says. "If it wasn't for Michele  we wouldn't have had a place at this point in time."



Detroit's foreclosure crisis has been something of an open wound for much of the last decade.

For homeowners going through foreclosure, it's been the cause of immeasurable suffering. For others in the community, it's been a source of unease and dread, an affliction that's destabilized neighborhoods as once occupied homes have fallen into disrepair. It's also been a burden on the City of Detroit and the Wayne County Treasurer's office, who have both been overwhelmed by the staggering numbers of foreclosed properties they've found themselves responsible for in recent years.

If there's a silver-lining, it's that the crisis has also provoked of a lot soul-searching. The gravity of the situation has served as a catalyst for institutions, activist groups, nonprofits, and others to put their hearts and minds towards the task of finding solutions.



And they've come up with some innovative approaches to help deal with the crisis.

Buying homes directly

Some organizations, like the UCHC and Tricycle Collective, take foreclosures on a case by case basis.

Founded in 1973, UCHC is a nonprofit dedicated to improving, preserving and expanding affordable housing opportunities for low-income Detroitershelping people facing or experiencing foreclosure falls under its larger mission.

The assistance it provides is a combination of education, outreach, and financial help.

One of its major projects is attempting to prevent foreclosure by providing counseling on tax foreclosure, mortgage foreclosure and land contracts, working with the Wayne County Treasurer and other groups to educate people on their rights as well as potential payment programs. It also trains community groups and legal service organizations so they can assist other on these issues.

In addition to this, the group provides monetary assistance to residents in the form of zero interest loans, occasionally buying back homes sold in the county tax sale on behalf of residents, as the law prevents former homeowners from doing that directly. Last year, UCHC bought about 187 of these properties at an average purchase price of about $700, using a pool of money established through a fundraising drive and additional donations from foundations.





Ted Phillips, executive director of the United Community Housing Coalition "We purchase and pay our own money," UCHC executive director Ted Phillips says. "The deed comes in our own name, and then as soon as they pay back what we lent them, then we deed the property to them."



The Tricycle Collective does similar workraising awareness and funds to help families facing foreclosureand often collaborates with UCHC to do so. Michele Oberholtzer (who now works as a counselor with UCHC) founded the group in 2014. The nonprofit is named after a child's tricycle because

of its emphasis on helping families with young children.

Staffed by a team of volunteers, the collective offers targeted funding to help families buy homes from the Wayne County tax auction, with an average donation of about $500. UCHC assists with the bidding process, buying the homes back on behalf of the families. So far the Tricycle collective has helped about 30 families.



It's currently holding its

Detroit's first land trust

The Storehouse of Hope Community Land Trust takes a different approach to how it handles homes it purchases through the Wayne County tax auction. Rather than simply selling them back to former residents, it holds on to the land and re-sells the house.

This model, called a "land trust," is designed to keep property in the hands of community residents. A six-member board made up of three coalition members and three residents, as well as steward, oversee the land and assist the families in matters related to the property. Storehouse of Hope owns the land on behalf of the community and establishes a grounding agreement with a resident, who in turn owns the home on the property.

"The person can sell the house, deed the house to a family member, they can do all the things that a typical owner does but they don't control the land," says Rev. Joan Ross, a member of Detroit's Land Trust Coalition. "The grounding is in place to prevent speculators from taking the land, taking the houses, and just forcing us out."

This particular land trust,

Rev. Joan Ross of Detroit's Land Trust Coalition



Together these funds allowed the land trust to purchase 15 homes at different locations around Detroit from the tax sale with the express purpose of preventing families from being evicted.

The trust plans to pick up more properties at this year's auction. With this in mind, Rev. Ross is optimistic about the future land trusts might play for residents interested in creating a new relationship with land in Detroit.

"Look at the thousands of parcels of land that we have sitting around doing nothing that we could have ownership of and rebuild community," she says. "I think it's going to create permanently affordable housing, so it's a big change.



"It's brand new for Detroit."

Bold tactics

At the more radical side of the spectrum is

The coalition has a large toolbox of strategies for assisting people fighting eviction and foreclosure that includes organizing neighborhoods, tapping nonprofits for financial assistance, peaceful protests, alternative legal strategies, and even direct action.



At the rowdier end of things, their tactics might involve non-violently preventing a bailiff from throwing out a resident's possessions or picketing a buyer involved with the county tax sale in the hopes of working out a settlement with a foreclosed family.

Formed in 2011, the coalition initially focused on responding to mortgage foreclosure, but as the tax foreclosure situation escalated, it shifted focus to address that. According to Joe McGuire, an attorney who belongs to the group, DED has assisted about 50 families with their foreclosure struggles, though not all of them have succeeded in keeping their homes.

In the course of their work, members of the group try to link individual people's struggles to broader issues like calling for a moratorium on all foreclosures of occupied homes. In a state where emergency managers and the quashing of ballot initiatives have raised questions about the effectiveness of using political channels to bring about change, McGuire thinks using public pressure and media coverage has proved to be a potent alternative.

"We've seen over and over again," says McGuire. "After all these other avenues have failed, getting people on the street or inside a bank  or outside the Treasurer's office causing a ruckus is what ends up getting results."

Solutions from the city

While the

At its heart, the land bank is an entity that allows the ownership of deserted and unused city-owned properties to be centralized into one agency, as opposed to being spread out over multiple city departments.

Established through the authority of a 2003 state land bank law, the agency is charged with returning vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed properties to productive use. Sometimes that may involve demolishing blighted buildings and at other times it may mean selling off properties through

Detroit's land bank currently owns a little under 100,000 Detroit properties, the vast majority of which are vacant lots. Of the roughly 27,000 homes the organization is responsible for, it estimates about 4 to 5,000 are now occupied.

Craig Fahle, the agency's Public Affairs Director, says the Land Bank has a policy of not evicting former owners or renters from its properties. What's more, he says the authority is currently piloting an Occupy Buyback program that will give these people an opportunity to get their homes back.

Participants must pay $1,000, enroll in a homeownership counseling program, and put the equivalent of a month's property taxes in an escrow account. At the end of 12 months, if they've done that and paid their property taxes for the coming year, they are given a deed to the home. According to Fahle, there are currently about 100 people involved in the program and the Land Bank is looking into ways to get more involved.





All photos by "There are some things that people have to do to get their house back. but for the most part they seem to be pretty appreciative of the opportunity," he says. "For us, an occupied house is better than an unoccupied house. And that's important for the future of the neighborhood and the neighbors."All photos by Nick Hagen

A foreclosure crisis has gripped Detroit for over a decade. And with thousands of homes for sale in this year's Wayne County Tax Auction, the crisis is far from over. But awareness is of the problem is growing, more people and organizations are rising to address it, and a significant dip in the number of foreclosures this year represents crucial, if long overdue, progress.This article is the second in a two-part series on the people working to ameliorate Detroit's foreclosure crisis. To read the first article about understanding the crisis, click here third annual online fundraiser to raise money for its work. Storehouse of Hope , was formed when the worsening tax foreclosure crisis raised people's interest last fall. As a result, the Storehouse of Hope food pantry and other partners established Detroit's first land trust and held a Gofundme campaign that raised $108,000 in eight days. With the help of other funders, the effort raised an additional $30,000. Detroit Eviction Defense (DED)a scrappy activist group made up of homeowners, union members, people of faith, movement lawyers, community advocates, and others moved to action by the urgency of the foreclosure crisis. Detroit Land Bank Authority has been around since 2008, it didn't really get rolling until after the election of Mayor Mike Duggan in 2013. The public authority launched its own property auction two years ago, and with a little experience under its belt, it's now trying to forge a more cooperative path forward for working with people who have experienced foreclosure. direct sale or its own auction (new owners are required to renovate them, if necessary, and get them occupied in a six-or-nine-month period). Many of its properties have been acquired through default by properties that did not sell at Wayne County's annual tax auction.
Kim Kardashian West has arrived back in New York as the hunt continues for armed robbers dressed as police officers who targeted the American reality TV star in a Paris apartment.

The gang held a gun to Kardashian Wests head during the early morning robbery, before tying her up and locking her in the bathroom.

They then escaped with an estimated 10m (8.7m; $11.2m) in jewellery.

Her publicist said the star was badly shaken but physically unharmed.

The mother-of-two, who became a household name thanks to the reality series Keeping Up With The Kardashians, left France hours later, flying to New York in a private jet.

She was pictured with her mother Kris Jenner  who had been at the Givenchy show with Kardashian West on Sunday in Paris  and husband, the rapper Kanye West, outside their home in the city hours later.

Kardashian Wests mother Kris Jenner (centre, leaving the Wests New York home on Monday) was not at the apartment when the robbers broke in

Paris police are continuing to search for the gang of five, two of whom forced their way into Kardashian Wests luxury apartment at about 02:30 on Monday.

What happened is very unfortunate and those responsible must be severely punished, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told TV5 Monde. We are fully mobilised to ensure the safety of the French people, as well as all those who visit France, and in particular tourists.

A police source told the BBC the attack was carried out by five men, wearing police-style jackets, who forced the buildings overnight security guard to show them where Kardashian West was staying.

According to Reuters, the attackers first handcuffed the concierge.

Once inside, one of the men put a gun to Kardashian Wests head while they robbed her of jewellery, including a ring worth 4m. They then tied her up and locked her in a bathroom while they escaped.

According to the police officer, the men fled the scene on bicycles.

Kim Kardashian West, centre, had been in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week with her mother Kris, right, and sister Kourtney, left

They also stole a box of jewellery worth as much as 6m (5.2m/$6.7m), AP reported, citing police officials.

The robbery made headlines around the globe, and caused a storm on social media  with some celebrities, like Karl Lagerfeld, sharing messages of support with Kardashian West.

But there were also uglier posts about the television star.

TV host James Corden criticised those making light of the incident. He tweeted: People making jokes about Kim Kardashian tonight would do well to remember that shes a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend. Be nice or shut up.

Speaking in the afternoon, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was confident police would quickly identify and arrest the suspects and that the very rare incident in no way calls into question police work or security of public spaces in Paris.

She added that Kardashian West would always be welcome in Paris.

However, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a right-wing member of Paris council and a potential candidate in next years presidential election, said the robbery was proof that there is a general emergency on security in the French capital.

Regardless of all the very expensive advertising we do to promote `I Love Paris, tourism and the image of Paris, all these ads have been brutally cancelled by the Kim Kardashian case, Ms Kosciusko-Morizet told Europe 1 radio.

Kardashian Wests husband, the rapper Kanye West, was on stage at the Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York at the time of the robbery. He abruptly ended his set, telling fans: Im sorry, family emergency. I have to stop the show.

Kardashian West stayed at the luxury residence, in a discreet building behind the citys Madeleine church, with several secret entrances, at least once before, in 2014 before her marriage to West.

A stay can cost as much as 15,000 a night.

It is unclear if the couples two children, three-year-old daughter North and 10-month-old son Saint, were at the home at the time. Police were guarding the site on Monday.

The star was in Paris for the citys fashion week with her mother Kris Jenner and her sister Kendall Jenner.

Last week she was approached by a prankster who tried to kiss her bottom but was stopped by a bodyguard.

Kardashian West first rose to fame as a friend and stylist to Paris Hilton.

Like a plot twist  media reaction in France and the US

While the French media look to politicians for answers on how such a robbery could happen in Paris, already damaged by recent terror attacks, the American newspapers have turned the spotlight on Kardashian West herself.

We are in a state of emergency and five people dressed as policemen manage to break into a luxury hotel that houses a celebrity! Its pretty ridiculous, tourism expert Didier Arino told Le Figaro.

Meanwhile, Paris Match spoke to Jeanne dHauteserre, the areas mayor, who was outraged by the robbery: I am going to demand a meeting with the head of the police. I dont want the 8th arrondissement to appear in the news column each day.

But across the Atlantic the New York Daily News took its lead from social media posts which questioned whether or not the entire robbery was too good to be true. Somethings not right. This doesnt feel like a heist. It feels like a plot twist for a season premiere, wrote Gersh Kuntzman.

The New York Post turned to the reality television stars former bodyguard for insight.

Steve Stanulis, who worked for the power couple during New York Fashion Week, was not sympathetic, blaming Kardashian West for making herself a target. He told the newspaper: Kims social media and her Snapchat is her undoing. When she is posting, Here I am, and this is the $5 million ring I am wearing, heres where I am going, you are basically inviting someone to rob you.


President Tran Dai Quang and South African Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa (Source: VNA)



He expressed the view at a reception for visiting South African Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa in Hanoi on October 4th.

He called on South Africa to continue backing the candidacy of the Vietnamese Ambassador and the Presidents Special Envoy for the post of UNESCO General Director for 2017-2021, as well as the countrys efforts to run for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council during the 2020-2021 tenure.

The host suggested the African country share its experience in joining the UN peace-keeping operations, transfer technologies in areas of its strength and continue teaching English for Vietnamese officials.

President Quang noted his hope that the two countries will enhance their collaboration in managing and exploiting sea resources.

He urged South African businesses to send more teams to research the market in Vietnam as the country now hosts only three South African firms.

In reply, Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed that his visit to Vietnam aims to strengthen and expand the bilateral partnership for cooperation and development.

He informed host about the outcomes of his talks with Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, saying the two sides agreed to forge affiliation between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the African National Congress (ANC).

The guest also talked about his tour of the northern port city of Hai Phong the same day, where he suggested Vietnam assist his country in shipbuilding, maritime transportation and aquaculture.

South Africa will continue its support for Vietnam at international forums, especially at the UN, he stated./.


Apostle General Rev Sam Korankye Ankrah and Premiere Lady, Rev Rita Korankye Ankrah, the first couple of Royalhouse Chapel International, yesterday renewed their wedding vows to mark their 30th anniversary in marriage.

The Royal couple, as they have come to be known, adorned in beautiful green apparel and joined by their family and friends, walked down the aisle of the Royalhouse Chapel International, Ahenfie, where they were led by Apostle Janie Ngwee, Bishop of Conquerors Through Christ Ministries, South Africa, to renew their vows.

Apostle General Korankye Ankrah, beginning the renewal of oath, pledged to stay committed to the promise he made to his wife, Mrs Korankye Ankrah, 30 years ago.

I stand before God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and these great witnesses that the vows I renewed I'm still standing where I stood before, I have not changed my mind and I don't intend to change my mind, I will marry you to the end, he said.

Mrs Korankye Ankrah, looking into the eyes of her husband in response to the vow, said she is still committed to the promise she made to her husband 30 years ago to support, love and respect him.

I promise with all my heart that I will continue what I have been doing to bring this marriage where God has destined for us. I will continue to love you, I will continue to honour you, I will continue to submit to you and I will continue to respect you, she said amidst applause from the congregation.

Apostle Ngwale then led the couple to exchange their rings, which is a symbol of their covenant to each other, after which he exalted the crowd that had gathered to share in the joy of the celebrants.

Husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church and wives submitting to their husbands are the cornerstone of a successful marriage, he said

Apostle Ngwale said 30 years signifies a time of maturity and confirmation that one is of age to affect and transform the lives of others.

Thirty is a very critical number and I am saying your marriage has gone through tests and trials and you have upheld the principles and that today God can entrust your marriage that it should go and teach continents, he said.

Bishop Dag Heward Mills and his beautiful wife, Rev Adelaide Heward Mills, of Lighthouse Chapel International graced the occasion together with other great men and women of God who had come to witness the goodness of God in the lives of His servants.

Bishop Mills shared his joy in joining the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the couple he has known for more than 30 years.

Apostle General and the Premiere Lady, I want to say your marriage is a great example, he added.

Reading from Psalm 112 v1-3, Bishop Dag Heward Mills attributed the blessings of the couple to their fear of the Lord and delight in His commandments.

He encouraged the church to remain loyal to the vision of Royalhouse because there are great things God has in store for the church.

Mrs Heward Mills, on her part, praised God for His grace upon the lives of the couple.

I know that it was grace that has brought you this far and I want to encourage you that God who has been with you will be with you for the rest of your days.

Thank you for your lives and what you have done for this great vision in Accra and for being a tree that many has come over the years to come and make their nest in may the Lord strengthen your hands and may the years ahead be better, she said.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


MTN, Ghanas leading telecommunication company, has been crowned the Overall Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Company of the Year for the second consecutive time.

The telecom company was also adjudged the CSR Telecom Company of the Year at the 6th Ghana CSR Excellence Awards (GHACEA) held in Accra recently.

The citation presented to MTN readsMTN Ghana, over the past 20 years, has consistently contributed to national development through job creation and social investments.

MTN provides over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country and for about ten years, MTN keeps supporting diverse social investment projects spending in excess of GH22 million.

The citation continuedMTN Ghana's relentless financial inclusion drive has enabled over six million subscribers in the remotest part of the country have access to funds when they need it.

MTN Ghana's Heroes of Change project, selecting and equipping change makers across the country, has caused positive ripples of change across the country and in many aspects of the human life. For these and many other social investment projects, MTN Ghana is the CSR Company of the Year 2016.

Commenting on the award, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana, Cynthia Lumor, said, We are excited to have received these two awards in the year we celebrate our 20th anniversary milestone.

She said contributing to national development has been a hallmark of MTNs operation in Ghana, stating, Our core operations as well as the impactful and sustainable projects in which we invest speak to our commitment to Ghana.

Mrs Lumor dedicated the awards to all MTN Foundation stakeholders for partnering MTN to become the Overall Best CSR Company in Ghana.


Exotic Body Reshape & Beauty Consultancy has been named as the Best Body Therapy and Beauty Centre of the Year.

The company which has branches in Kumasi and Accra took home a plaque which went with a citation.

The occasion was the first CenBA Business Excellence Awards, organised by CenBA Graduate Institute at the Golden Bean Hotel in Kumasi.

The event which was graced by a number of personalities, including some celebrities, also witnessed musical performances from some selected artistes.

Taabea Herbal, Agyaba Jewellery, OA Travels, Success City Academy and Adonko Bitters by Angel Group of Companies were also honoured.

The Exotic Body Reshape team at the event was made up of Abigail Gedzeah, Mavis Tweneboah, Isaac Akosah Kwarteng and Portia Akorkor.

Mrs Gedzeah said the award would spur her company on to sustain their extraordinary works in future.

Stephen Fosu, Head of CenBA Graduate Institute, said the awards would push local businesses to strive for excellence in their delivery.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
Popular Ghana-based Nigerian artiste, Prince Jonathan Eze Nwadinobi Okezie, known in the Ghanaian music scene as Eze, last Friday released his latest single titled 'Gbera' on the music market in Ghana and Nigeria.

The single, featuring Nigerian superstar Dammy on Davidos music label, was produced by one of Ghanas finest music producers, Mix Masta Garzy.

The Nigerian artiste who relocated to Ghana 17 years ago and has worked with a number of Ghanaian artistes like Shatta Wale, Tinny, Jupiter, Kaakie, Abrewanana, Kese and a host of others, disclosed that 'Gbera' was released last Friday, September 30 with its video directed by Catalyst.

The artiste told BEATWAVES that 'Gbera' is a Yoruba word meaning the desire to possess something unique.

Eze throughout his musical career has consistently demonstrated excellence and creativity and an uncanny ability to connect with his fans, a unique trait that has made him a household name in Ghana.

The artiste who is also an actor, music producer, songwriter and a music consultant, has played very important roles in the development of Ghanaian music and artiste management in Ghana.

In an interview with BEATWAVES, Eze explained that his musical career has offered him the opportunity to visit and perform in a number of countries like Bahamas, Ivory Coast, Europe, among others.

By George Clifford Owusu
Attorney Tendai Biti confirmed the case dismissal, blasting the police ban as "an arbitrary infringement of people's rights". By Jekesai Njikizana (AFP/File)

04.10.2016 LISTEN

Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday upheld a police ban on anti-government street protests in Harare after weeks of demonstrations calling for President Robert Mugabe to step down, a lawyer said.

Tendai Biti, the lawyer for a coalition of opposition parties who were challenging the police order, confirmed the case had been dismissed.

The parties are set to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.

Biti blasted the police ban, due to run until mid-October, as "an arbitrary infringement of people's rights".

Police in Harare last month ordered a month-long ban on demonstrations in the capital's central business district following a string of anti-government protests.

Dozens of activists were beaten and arrested for participating in those marches.

Mugabe, 92, has often used brutal force to silence his opponents, and has warned the protesters they were "playing a dangerous game".

Opposition to Mugabe's 36-year reign has grown in recent months with a surge of public demonstrations, triggered by an economic crisis that has left banks short of cash and the government struggling to pay its workers.

Soldiers and civil servants have regularly been paid late this year, heightening pressure on Mugabe, who came to power in 1980 and has vowed to stand for re-election in 2018.

A one-day strike in July, called by trade unions and Christian pastor Evan Mawarire, shut down offices, schools and some government departments.
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Aboard the Astral (Italy) (AFP) - At least 22 Europe-bound migrants were found dead Tuesday in an overloaded wooden boat off Libya, an AFP photographer witnessed, on a day of frantic rescues in the Mediterranean.

Photographer Aris Messinis, who was able to go on board the vessel, said many of the dead had suffocated.

"It was a wooden vessel and there were about 1,000 people on three levels. I counted 22 bodies and there are still others in the hold," he said by telephone.

Messinis was travelling on the Astral, a ship chartered by Spanish NGO ProActiva Open Arms, which rescues migrants at sea.

Towards 2000 GMT the Astral rescuers moved back to allow the Italian navy to take care of the survivors and retrieve the bodies, the photographer said.

Migrants gesture towards members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO as they wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016

The deaths came after the Italian coastguard -- which is coordinating rescue efforts in international waters north of Libya -- said at least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday.

It was yet another day of drama at sea after more than 6,000 migrants, most of them Africans in packed rubber dinghies, were rescued off Libya on Monday. Nine bodies were found in those operations, including a pregnant woman.

'Panic onboard'

Migrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016

The Italian coastguard said operations had been carried out Tuesday to bring migrants to safety from some 30 packed boats.

With numerous rescue boats en route to Italy to unload the huge human cargo collected on Monday, Messinis said the Astral was left alone to deal with the overloaded wooden boat for several hours.

It was aided only by lifeboats dropped by a Spanish military plane until the navy arrived at midday.

"There was panic onboard, there were people jumping into the water," Messinis said.

The Astral's rescue operations had begun before dawn and lasted until nightfall.

The latest people to be rescued will add to a total of some 132,000 migrants who have landed at Italy's southern ports so far this year, fleeing conflict, poverty or persecution and hoping to start new lives in Europe.

The new arrivals are mostly Africans who plan to try to get to northern Europe but increasingly are obliged to seek asylum or the right to remain in Italy, where reception centres have been strained to bursting point.
Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian police shot dead two members of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of them a senior leader of the outlawed Islamist group, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry charged that Mohamed Kamal headed the military wing of the movement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, although the group has always denied having one.

It said that he and fellow Brotherhood member Yasser Shehata were killed in a firefight when police raided their hideout in the southeast of the capital late on Monday.

The ministry alleged that Kamal had founded the Brotherhood's military wing after the army's overthrow of Morsi in 2013.

It said he had been given two life sentences in absentia on charges of forming an armed group and involvement in a bombing near a police station in Assiut in southern Egypt.

It said he was also wanted on suspicion of involvement in the murder of prosecutor general Hisham Barakat in a June 2015 car bombing and the attempted murder of leading Muslim cleric Ali Gomaa in August.

The Brotherhood and its supporters have been subjected to a deadly crackdown since Morsi's ouster but it denied taking up arms in response.

Hundreds of soldiers and policemen have been killed in attacks since 2013 but most have been claimed by jihadists who have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group.
Guwahati: The city based journalists were maintaining comparatively good health and only few had complications, said Dr Amit Saha of Swagat hospital after conducting the weekly evening clinic at Guwahati Press Club on 1 October last. Over 35 scribes along with their close relatives participated in the Evening with a Doctor program which started at 5 pm and continued till 7.30 pm.

Dr Saha was assisted by health workers namely Dhanada Thakuria, Sewali Boro, Chandan Borgohain and Mrinal Thakuria from the same hospital in conducting the health camp, where the participants received free healthcare consultation and also got their weight, blood pressure and sugar checked.

It may be mentioned that the evening OPD on every Saturday at press club premises was started on 20 August 2016 with the presence of Dr Kashyap Kr Das (Department of Medicine, Dispur Hospitals) along with few health workers.

Assams well known Dispur Hospitals Pvt Ltd under the leadership of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi took the initiative to raise a doctors chamber at the press club premises.

Later the evening free healthcare programs were graced by Dr Swapnaav Barthakur (Medicine) and Dr Ruma Dutta (O& G) from Down Town Hospitals, Dr Nitin Gupta (Urology), Dr Juri Talukdar (General Practitioner) and Dr Debanga Borah (Cardiology) from Wintrobe Hospital, Dr Rajib Das (Cardiology) and Dr Bikash Rai Das from GNRC Group of hospitals and Dr Nazmul Haque (Medicine) from Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals.

The next Saturday evening OPD has been canceled due to Durga Puja. Meanwhile, many hospitals including Sun Valley Diabetic Centre, Nemcare Hospital, Apollo Chennai Hospital, Gauhati Medical College have shown their interest in attending the weekly program.
Member nations of a key global wildlife trade treaty today delivered a critical victory in the battle to save elephants from the devastating impacts of ivory trafficking by agreeing to clamp down on the sale of ivory within their borders. The United States, which recently enacted its own unilateral restrictions on the sale of African elephant ivory, called on the signatories to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to take all necessary legislative, regulatory and enforcement efforts to close their domestic markets for commercial trade in raw and worked elephant ivory. The United States has taken strong actions to impose a near-total ban on elephant ivory import, export and domestic sale, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe, head of the U.S. delegation to the treatys 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) in Johannesburg, South Africa. In September 2015, China committed to take similar actions. At this meeting, weve worked closely with Kenya and several other African elephant range states on this historic effort. The world is coming together on this issue and our goal now is to have all countries examine their domestic markets and take any and all actions necessary to ensure they are not contributing to ongoing poaching and illegal ivory trade. The illegal killing of elephants and trade in their ivory is a major problem across much of Africa. Poaching and illegal ivory trade threaten the survival of savanna and forest elephants, including those previously thought to be secure. Beyond the threat to the elephants themselves, this trade undermines the ecological integrity of African forest and savanna ecosystems, and it harms the sustainable economic development of local communities as well as elephant range states. Legal sales of ivory, including within domestic markets, increase the risk to elephant populations and local communities by creating a significant opportunity for the laundering of illegal ivory. Elephants are protected under CITES, but until each country with a domestic ivory market takes responsibility by enacting and enforcing strong laws to end the commercial trade in ivory, we wont be able to staunch the hemorrhaging of ivory out of Africa into markets around the world, said Ashe. Ivory should not have value unless its attached to an elephant. CoP17 is taking place from Sept. 24 through Oct. 5, 2016. CITES is an international agreement initiated in 1973 and since ratified by 182 countries and the European Union to protect certain wild animals and plants against over-exploitation as a result of international trade. More than 35,000 species of animals and plants benefit from CITES protection. Every two to three years, a session of the CoP is held to review, discuss and decide on changes in the implementation of CITES, including changes in protections for certain species. To learn more about the Services involvement in CITES CoP17, visit: http://www.fws.gov/international/cites/cop17.
Ms. Ann Llinde, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and Trade

The delegation which consists of 18 of the finest companies that Sweden has to offer. The visit aims to discuss innovative and sustainable Swedish solutions and investments in key sectors of importance to the Vietnamese economy, such as infrastructure and manufacturing

During the visit, Minister Ann Linde will have a very important bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The delegation will also meet with top leaders of cities, ministries and business community, to discuss Swedish-Vietnamese business relations. Notably, they will meet leaders of Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh city, Peoples Committee of Hanoi, Ministries of Trade and Industry, Transport, Foreign Affairs, Education and Training, and Science and Technology.

Ms. Ann Linde said the Swedish government has adopted an ambitious export strategy aiming at increasing trade and boost participation of Swedish companies in the global economy. Bilateral trade and investments in Southeast Asia, the growth engine of the world, forms an important part of this aim. With the implementation of the progressive Free Trade Agreement, Swedish trade with Vietnam, and Swedish companies investing in the country, would certainly grow.

There will be two high-profile events organised on this occasion. First is a joint roundtable on Fostering innovation led growth - Sharing best practices from Sweden and Vietnam. The event is jointly organised with the Ministry of Science and Technology.

It will be followed by a seminar on Creating sustainable societies - Sharing best practices from Sweden and Vietnam to discuss how Sweden and Vietnam can share best practices to mutually develop in this field. The seminar is organised in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry./.
Asawase (A/R), Oct. 3, GNA - Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has advised the supporters of the National Democratic Congress to ignore the accusations by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) their party and focus their energies in ensuring victory for President John Mahama.

He said while the NDC had already launched its national campaign team and Manifesto and it was poised for victory, the NPP, which had no Policy was rather accusing them of stealing their ideas.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur was speaking to hundreds of NDC supporters at the Campaign launch of the NDC's Parliamentary Candidate for the Asawase Constituency, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, at the Aboabo School Park in Kumasi.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said a vote for President Mahama was a vote continuity and development.

He said the Mahama-led Government had provided a lot infrastructural developments and social amenities for the Ashanti Region, such as the Community Day Senior High Schools, roads, potable water, and health facilities.

He urged the supporters of the Party to be vigilant during elections and police the party's ballots to ensure a resounding victory for President Mahama and all the party's parliamentary candidates.

Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the General Secretary of the NDC, said the Party did not discriminate against a person's ethnic or religious background but provided opportunities for all.

Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, for his part, thanked the people in the Constituency for supporting for the NDC and voting for him as MP over years.

He assured the people in the Constituency of more developmental projects for the area in terms of roads, schools health facilities, among others.

He said the Asawase Constituency would continue to remain a stronghold of the NDC because the Party did not discriminate against the Zongos in the provision of opportunities for all.

Other speakers at the function included Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, a former National Organiser of the NDC, Nii Afotey Agbo, Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Andy Osei Okrah, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Yaw Obimpeh, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC and Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Tain North.

Later, Vice President Amissah-Arthur introduced the NDC's Parliamentary Candidate for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak to the crowd.

GNA
By A.B. Kafui Kanyi, GNA

Akatsi, Oct. 03, GNA - Nana Kugbeadzor-Bakateyi II, the Chief Executive Officer, Global Action for Women Empowerment (GLOWA), a non-Governmental Organisation, has observed that Ghana's political climate is 'poisoned' with intolerant attitudes among political parties.

She said there was also an overall lack of civic education among potential voters, lack of focus on relevant policy issues, with little opportunity for free and fair dialogue among candidates and electorates.

Nana Bakateyi, who was launching a Peace Project on, 'Empowering Women and Youth to Promote Electoral Peace: 2016 and beyond,' ahead of the December polls, said the situation had resulted in the removal of political party posters by opponents, hooting at opponents and the presence of inflammatory and biased 'political rhetoric' in the local media.

She said it had also left little space for citizens to make objective election decisions freely, which could lead to voting along sectarian lines and also passionate reactions towards election outcomes.

Nana Bakateyi said the increasingly hostile political climate was putting perpetual fear in women and people living with disabilities ahead of the polls and asked stakeholders, especially young people to avoid electoral violence and preach peace.

Nana Bakateyi urged the media to be circumspect and guard against inflammatory language.

Mr Godwin Avuworda, the Akatsi South District Director, National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), asked women to lead the peace campaign by preaching peaceful coexistence at home and at public gatherings.

The five-month project, with sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development, under its Reacting to Early Warning and Response Data (REWRD), is aimed at reducing the risk of violence in the December polls.

Some Community Champions and Peace Ambassadors were inaugurated for the Akatsi South, Agotime-Ziope and South Tongu districts.

GNA
The Progressive People's Party has cited the Electoral Commission Chairperson for contempt after it held onto the party's filing fee last week despite an application for injunction to this.

Although the party was successful in filing the suit, it could not locate the EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei to serve her with the writ. The party says the Commissioner is at large.

The EC Chair seized the presidential filing fee offered her by the PPP's National Chairman Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond last week. Mrs Osei said she took the money because she thought the party had withdrawn its suit challenging the setting of the fee.

Related Article: EC 'rejects' Akufo-Addo's filing fees

She had earlier rejected the filing fee of the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (PPP) citing the PPP's court case challenging the 50,000 and 10,000 presidential and parliamentary filing fees respectively.

Answering a question about why the party offered the money to the EC despite the pending suit at the Accra High Court, Dr Brew-Hammond explained they baited the Chair and succeeded in getting her.

PPP National Chairman, Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond



He said they had expected the Commissioner to reject the money as he did in the case of the NPP leader but was scandalised when she took their money.

Related Article: EC shocks PPP; accepts 50,000 filing fee

Our suit injuncted the Electoral Commission from accepting and receiving; they have accepted and received and I think that is where we have to [look at our options], he had told Joy News.

The contempt suit is the latest twist in PPP's determination to restrain the EC from what it calls the arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable setting of presidential and parliamentary filing fee.

The party argues its decision will help instill sanity in Ghanas political landscape. It wants the EC to do the right thing in the face of the law.

-myjoyonline
The flagbearer of the Great Consolidated Popular Party has petitioned EOCO to investigate a cash gift from former Nigerian head of state, Sani Abacha, to former President Jerry Rawlings.

Mr Henry Lartey believes as a champion of probity, transparency and accountability, the former Ghanaian President owes it to himself to ensure that the suspicion about the cash gift is removed.

The full context and/or reason(s) in which the funds were issued: In particular, were these funds issued in support of killing the prominent Nigerian environmental journalist Ken Sara-Wiwa?, Mr Lartey wants EOCO to probe.

Having kept a tight-lip on the controversial gift for 18 years, former President Rawlings finally admitted to a Nigerian newspaper that he received $2 million from the former Nigerian military ruler renowned for amassing huge personal wealth at the expense of state.

Sani Abacha

The matter came to the fore recently after Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Kwaku Baako Jnr, insisted that former president Rawlings received a $5 million and not $2million as he would want the world to know.

Mr Larteys petition to EOCO, published in full below, is also asking for a full investigation into the actual amount of funds issued (as there are discrepancies regarding the amount): Did he receive $2 million, $5 million, or $100 million?

Mr Lartey suspects that the Abacha cash finanaced some investments of the Rawlingses.

Read the full petition below:

Economic and Organised Crime Office

Head Office

Accra, Ghana

Public Petition Of Inquiry/Complaint

Petitioner: Great Consolidated Popular Party (and the Ghanaian Public at Large)

Respondant(s): Mr. Jerry Rawlings, and Nana Konadu Ageyaman Rawlings

Dear Commissioner,

The Great Consolidated Popular Party is requesting a formal petition of inquiry into key dealings of former President Jerry Rawlings. The thematic areas of inquiry/complaint are the following:

1. The historic public record notes that in 1998 Former President Rawlings denied having received financial support from the then President of Nigeria, Sani Abacha. Today, he has publicly declared that he did in fact receive $2 million from the Nigerian President. This petition of inquiry seeks to ascertain:

2. The full context and/or reason(s) in which the funds were issued: In particular, were these funds issued in support of killing the prominent Nigerian environmental journalist Ken Sara-Wiwa?

3. The actual amount of funds issued (as there are discrepancies regarding the amount): Did he receive $2 million, $5 million, or $100 million?

4. What happened to the remaining 30 million loan from the initial 31.5 million that was issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland to International Generics (for which Mrs. Rawlings was the primary benefactor through a frontman named Leon Tamman) under the British Export Guarantee Facility for the construction of La Palm Hotel and Coco Palm Hotel? It has been reported by the former Deputy British High Commissioner in Ghana, Greg Murray, in his book entitled The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and Other Conflicts I have Known that only 1.5 million of the funds actually went towards the development of these enterprises, while the remaining 30 million was privately looted by Mrs. Rawlings via Leon Tamman. Is this true?

5. How did the Former First Lady Mrs. Rawlings acquire the Nsawam Cannery in light of her financial capacities at time?

6. Is it true that the Rawlings hold substantive shares within the Ghana Rubber Estate Ltd.?

7. Is it true that the Rawlings were using transporting gold to Switzerland on a regular basis?

8.The Black Star Shipping Line was sold during the Rawlings administration: What was the reason for selling the Black Star Shipping Line and its assets?

9. In 1979 the AFRC opened Account 48 for the deposit of seized funds which were deemed corrupt. What happened to the funds of Account 48?

We trust that Former President Rawlings will answer these questions honestly since he is the Champion of probity, transparency and accountability.

The full support of EoCo is herewith called upon in this petition.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey

Presidential Candidate

GCPP

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]
The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has cited the Chairperson of the Ghana's Electoral Commission, Madam Charlotte Osei for contempt.

The PPP says the decision by Madam Charlotte Osei to accept the filing fee of the PPP even though there was a court case challenging the fees is a show of disrespect for the court.

A copy of the writ cited by Citi News said take notice that this Honourable court shall be moved by lawyers of the applicant, Yaw Amoah-Owusu , praying the Honourable court for an order of Committal of you Mrs Charlotte Ama Osei, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Ghana, for defying the substance of the motion on Notice of an order pending before this Honourable court and on the basis of the Affidavit in support to this motion and for any orders the Honourable court may deem fit.
The Mahatma Ghandi statue at the University of Ghana campus, Legon, has been defaced.

This comes few weeks after some senior members of the University petitioned the institutions council to pull down the statue.

The action is believed to have taken place under the cover of darkness on Monday.

No individual or group has come out to claim responsibility for the action yet; but it is believed it may have been carried out by some unknown supporters of the #GhandiMustFall movement.

Photo credit: Emmanuel Dzivenu/Radio Univers

Photos available to Citifmonline.com shows the statue has its eyeglasses removed.

'Pull down 'racist' Gandhi's statue from Legon'

A former Director of the Institute of African Studies, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, in September started a campaign demanding the removal of the statue of Indian independence icon , Mahatma Gandhi, from the University of Ghana campus.

Prof Adomako Ampofo together with another academic at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Dr. Obadele Kambon, urged members of the University of Ghana Council to heed to the petition arguing among other things that, Gandhi was racist against black people and honoring him sets the wrong example for students.

'Pulling down Gandhi's statue unnecessary'

But, Ghana's former High Commissioner to India, Professor Mike Ocquaye, has described as unnecessary demands for the demolition of the statue .

According to the professor of political science and lawyer, a decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India.

So far, the university authorities have not commented on the matter, and have also not responded to the petitioners.

But it appears some unknown persons in support of the call, may want to take the law into their hands, by gradually destroying the statue.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Nana Akufo Addo, flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), says Ghanaians should expect several attempts by President Mahama to 'buy their votes with goodies' ahead of the December polls.

The leader of the party, who was addressing a rally in the Weija-Gbawe constituency in Accra over the weekend, said Ghanaians are no longer interested in the politics of deceit being perpetuated by the NDC.

President Mahama went to the Volta Region and told the people that he had given an order two months to the election, that nursing trainee allowances with immediate effect should be paid. Is this how a country is governed? With just two months to an election, he now sees the wisdom in restoring these allowances, Nana Addo said.

He added that, as election draws closer, expect more goodies from this government, we are going to see this and that. They are going to spend a lot of money on freebies in a way to convince you to vote for them.

The flagbearer accused the governing NDC of badly managing the countrys economy, and thereby leaving many Ghanaians in hardship.

He also said the government has failed to create jobs for the several thousands of unemployed youth in the country.

'Ignore Mahama's vote buying propaganda'

The Western Regional branch of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) earlier this year, also accused President Mahama of spewing lies and throwing dust into the eyes of fisher-folk in the Western Region for political expediency.

The party said the President while on his accounting to the people tour in the region, made false promises and did some presentations to the people to win their votes. They called on Ghanaians to ignore the NDCs vote buying propaganda .



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
A former Member of Parliament for the Odododiodio constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Reginald Niibi Ayibontey, has admonished incumbent MP for the area, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, not to be complacent but work hard to retain the seat.

According to him, Vanderpuye, who currently has a grip on the constituency could lose it if he is not careful.

Nii Lantey should be very careful; if he becomes complacent he will have the shock of his life, he said on Citi FM's election coverage programme, Campaign Trail.

Ayibontey won the Odododiodioo constituency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2000, but was defeated by the NDC's Samuel A. Mankattah.

Nii Ayibontey

Ayibontey disclosed that when I contested against Okiadja [Adamafio], I didn't spend anything more than GHc800 for the seven months that I run the elections, I didn't spend much but I won. Now in 2004, I had the resources but I lost.

He further urged Vanderpuye to ensure that he satisfies the needs of the constituents.

So he must go down to the people. You know, the very things that you think are not important to them are the things that matter, they can throw out propaganda out there and once the people accept it you are in deep trouble, he added.

I'll get 70% votes in Odododiodioo

Ayobontey's advice comes on the back of Vanderpuye's claim that he would win 70% of the votes in the constituency.

Speaking at his campaign launch in Accra on Sunday, Vanderpuye said he will work to ensure that he and President John Mahama garner 70% votes in the constituency.

Nii Lantey Vanderpuyes campaign launch

This time I am committed to making sure that we get the 70% target and the message is simple, I want John Mahama retained as president of this country. He's done so much, he's laid a solid foundation that we in this country cannot allow to be messed up and since Odododiodioo decides elections in Ghana, I want to make sure that we give John Mahama the 70% that he deserves to continue the good works, to continue changing lives and transformation in Ghana. I just want my opponent to understand that if they want to win elections, not in 2016 because there is no way they can win elections in 2016 because there is no way they can beat Nii Lantey Vanderpuye in Odododiodioo , he added.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
Geneva (ICRC)  Nourane Houas, an ICRC staff member who was abducted late last year in Sanaa, has been released and is currently in Muscat.

The ICRC would like to thank all those who have played a role in facilitating Ms Houas' release, in particular his majesty Sultan Qaboos, the Sultan of Oman.

Ms Houas was abducted by gunmen on 01 December 2015 while on her way to work. She was travelling with a colleague when a group of armed men intercepted their car. Her colleague was released unharmed a few hours later while she was heldfor over ten months.

We are relieved and thankful that Nourane is now back with us, safe and sound, said the ICRC head of delegation in Yemen, Alexandre Faite. Her abduction was a terrible ordeal for her, as well as for her family, friends and colleagues. And it has obviously dealt a real blow to our humanitarian work in Yemen.

It has taken a lot of effort, inside and outside Yemen and over many months, but finally we have a positive result, said Mr. Faite. Our priority now is Nouranes well-being and getting her home to her family. We would ask everyone to respect her and her familys privacy at this time

The ICRC will not comment on the identity of the abductors, their motives or the details of her release.

We are also grateful for the support and cooperation of the French and Tunisian governments throughout this time, said Mr. Faite. We remain committed to helping the people of Yemen, who are suffering terribly from the ongoing conflict. We hope that in due course our operations in the country can fully resume.
Protesters blocked roads in several towns in the Oromia region on Monday as the Ethiopian government declared three days of mourning to ease tensions in the region after at least 52 people were killed in Sundays chaos.

INSIDE STORY: What is triggering Ethiopias unrest?

Witnesses said many people were crushed and others fell into ditches as they tried desperately to escape the police. Shoes and clothing littered the scene of the disaster as a small group of angry residents dug for bodies in a deep ditch.

Were digging because people are buried inside the ditch. Fifty-two dead is a lie, Dagafa Dame, one of the diggers, told AFP news agency.

Oromo activists called for five days of rage after the stampede.

Live rounds

Clashes between security forces and protesters continued on Monday morning in Bishoftu and Ambo, an Ethiopian government official and witnesses told The Associated Press.

Some people tried to come out en masse this morning to protest the deaths of holiday-goers on Sunday and also demand the release of people arrested during the celebrations, said Nimona Negash, a tuk-tuk driver in Bishoftu, where the disaster occurred.

Todays protesters were peaceful but dispersed by police violently.

Negash said family members of people who died in Sundays stampede and others looking for their loved ones were flocking to Bishoftu, 45km south of the capital Addis Ababa, creating tension there.

I went to the place where the accident happened this morning, and Ive seen people being pulled out, he said. More and more people are coming out of a deep ditch. I saw seven bodies being pulled out, then left the scene as I was unable to watch more.

Not out of control

Fikadu Tessema, a spokesman for the Oromia region, said on Monday some groups were trying to continue the violence that they orchestrated on Sunday.

He said they were trying to blame the deaths on security forces who fired live rounds. I can assure you 100 percent that all the 52 victims died of a stampede and didnt have bullet wounds on their bodies, he said.

The current situation in Oromia is not out of control. We are taking measures to bring back our peace.

OPINION: The Ethiopia rising narrative and the Oromo protests

Oromia has experienced violent, sometimes deadly anti-government protests since November 2015 as people have called for wider political freedoms and the release of detained opposition figures and journalists.

Ethiopias government, a close ally of the West, has often been accused of silencing dissent and at times blocking internet access.

The US recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, calling the countrys situation extremely serious.
Students of the school sing to congratulate their teachers (Photo: quehuongonline.vn)

The simple program took place in a warm atmosphere. Wishes, songs and dances coming from the true sentiments and gratitude of students left teachers happy and moved.

During the program, teachers with outstanding achievements were presented certificates of merit by the school. Particularly, Ms. Katia Burdina, who has a strong attachment to Ho Chi Minh library and museum of the school, also received a lot of congratulations on the occasion of the foundation day of the library.

Every year, before or after the last Sunday of September, all schools in Ukraine organize activities to mark Ukraines Teachers Day to express the gratitude of generations of students and honour teachers./.
International wildlife charity, Born Free Foundation, has welcomed a decision by delegates at CITES* to reject Swazilands proposal to sell off its rhino horn.

The proposal, which would have enabled Swaziland to sell just over 300kg of stockpiled rhino horn, followed by around 20kg each year derived from its small population of white rhinos, was defeated by 100 votes to 26, with 17 countries abstaining.

Born Frees Associate Director Mark Jones, who also co-chairs the Species Survival Networks Rhino Working Group, said: Rhino poaching continues to be a big problem as criminal gangs slaughter these ancient and noble animals to supply horns into valuable illegal markets in Asia, for use in traditional medicines, as a high-end gift, or as a recreational substance for the nouveau riche. However, efforts to protect rhinos through tougher legislation, enforcement and judicial processes, and to reduce demand through public education, are beginning to show signs of working. Allowing Swaziland to trade legally would have undermined these efforts by legitimising rhino horn in the eyes of consumers, increasing demand and putting rhinos at greater risk of poaching. The worlds governments sent a clear message today that rhino horns belongs to rhinos, and is not for sale.

Born Frees President and CEO, Will Travers OBE, added: Defeat of this potentially disastrous proposal does not, in itself, mean that poaching levels will come down. It is vital that international community comes forward with resources and expertise to assist Rhino range states to better protect their rhino through a suite of measures including: higher levels of more effective protection in the field; greater investment in intelligence gathering bringing criminal networks to court; support for prosecuting authorities, backed up by deterrent sentencing; infiltration and disruption of the transport networks that are used to move rhino horn illegally from source to market; and greater efforts to drive demand reduction through education and the application of political will.

Fewer than 30,000 rhinos belonging to five species exist across parts of Africa and Asia. More than 6,000 have been killed by poachers across Africa over the past decade, mostly in South Africa, and India lost almost 100 of its one-horned rhinos between 2013-2015.

In addition to rejecting the Swaziland proposal, the CITES meeting agreed a range of measures that should help improve rhino protection and reduce demand for horn.

CITES aims to ensure that international trade in a species of animal or plant does not threaten their survival. It is an international treaty between governments and is legally binding. Every three years, the member countries (or Parties) of CITES meet to review the impact of international trade on various species at the CoP, making changes to their protection and to how the Convention operates.

Born Free will be providing key updates throughout CITES CoP17 via press releases, its website www.bornfree.org.uk, on Twitter using the hashtag #BFFCITES, Facebook, and video blogs on YouTube.

*Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
04.10.2016 LISTEN

Attempts by Zimbabwe and Namibia to secure international support enabling them to sell their ivory stockpiles to international buyers were soundly rejected by CITES* in Johannesburg.

The proposals, which would have removed restrictions associated with the CITES Appendix II listing of Zimbabwe and Namibias elephant populations that currently prevent them selling their ivory, would have required the support of a two-thirds majority of the Governments present at the meeting. In the event, they barely achieved a third of the votes needed and were defeated by a big majority of the Governments represented at the meeting.

However, a proposal put forward by members of the African Elephant Coalition, whose 29 members make up the majority of elephant range states, with the support of Sri Lanka, to transfer the elephant populations in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe back onto CITES Appendix I where they would join the rest of Africas elephants, failed because the European Union voted against.

Born Frees President and CEO, Will Travers OBE, said: The good news is CITES has maintained its fragile ban on international ivory trade, for now. However, it failed to grasp the opportunity to draw a line under international ivory trade by returning all of Africas elephants to Appendix I. The failure of the European Union to support the proposal from the majority of Africas elephant range states was a disgrace and totally out of touch with the wishes of EU citizens. It was also out of step with much of the world, including big markets for ivory such as China, Hong Kong and the USA, which now agree that only a total ban on ivory trade can secure a future for elephants. Placing all elephant populations back on CITES Appendix I would have sent a clear message that ivory belongs to elephants and is not for sale. The European Unions failure to understand this is unforgivable.

In a most welcome and unexpected move, Botswana's Environment Minister, The Honourable Tsekedi Kharma, announced that regardless of the CITES vote, his country would voluntarily treat its elephant populations, by far the biggest in Africa, as being on Appendix I, thus removing the possibility of any moves to trade ivory from Botswana for the foreseeable future.

The triennial CITES meeting has agreed a number of additional measures aimed at protecting elephants, including recommending that Parties shut down their domestic markets for ivory when they contribute to poaching or illegal trade, ending a 10-year debate about what a future ivory trade might look like; and encouraging Parties to dispose of their ivory stockpiles.

Born Free will continue to work with governments, partner non-government organisations and other stakeholders to secure the future of elephants across the African continent.

CITES aims to ensure that international trade in a species of animal or plant does not threaten their survival. It is an international treaty between governments and is legally binding. Every three years, the member countries (or Parties) of CITES meet to review the impact of international trade on various species at the CoP, making changes to their protection and to how the Convention operates.

Born Free will be providing key updates throughout CITES CoP17 via press releases, its website www.bornfree.org.uk, on Twitter using the hashtag #BFFCITES, Facebook, and video blogs on YouTube.

*Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
A tragedy of the 21st century for Dagbang, the Northern regions and Ghana as a whole, occurred today, 3rd October 2016, in the death of Dr. Abdulai Choggu. Dr Choggus death symbolizes the fall of a mighty tree or the brightest of all stars.

He grew up at a time in a country where the roads to political fame, wealth and status, were the smoothest. Instead, he chose to sweep the streets and remove filth from the gutters in his community and ended up serving not only the mentally challenged on these same streets but also the millions of poor and needy in his country.

His, is perhaps, the most memorable of the lives of the people of his generation and beyond, that chose to sacrifice personal glory, comfort and luxury for something higher: for the service of human kind. He built clinics that served and continue to serve millions of poor people in the entire north of Ghana, free of charge. He served food on daily basis to hundreds of mentally ill people on the streets of Tamale and beyond. This is how he got the title, mad Dr.

Dr Choggu lived and died in service to humanity. If we mourn his death, it is not for him but for the millions of poor people of Ghana who depended on him as their saviour. If we cant contain the news of his death, its because of the fear of the darkness and uncertainty that his demise brings upon us. If we ask why now, we are showing concern of the future of the legacy that he left us. If we weep for his death, the weeping has nothing to do with him but it is for the family and millions of dependents he left behind.

Dr Choggu lived a life that only saints, philosophers or men of understanding could live. He was more than ordinary and the best of those described as down-to-earth. His appearance never reflected his name and popularity among the poor masses of his country.

I first met Dr Choggu in the summer of 2004 as a student volunteer in his Gurugu clinic, as a way of appreciation for being one of the beneficiaries of his student scholarships. The few days that I spent as a volunteer in the clinic doing many random chores including weeding in the clinic farm and recording basic patient information, I had the opportunity of taking late morning teas with Dr Choggu and his workers.

The only thing that made me recognize him the first day I saw him was the reverence that was accorded him by his workers. His clothes was never better than any of his workers no matter the grade of the worker. He sat around and drank from the same teapot like anybody else.

The tea was plain without any milk and the bread was same as served to the patients in the clinics. It was during one these tea breaks that he told, purposely for the benefit of we, the students, how he once swept the streets and worked the gutters as a student volunteer himself.

I first came to appreciate humility by examining the personality and demeanour of Dr. Choggu, whose name was on the lips of millions of the masses of the north but whose life and appearance never reflected his popularity and fame. I left the summer job with the deepest respect for the mad Dr and that respect will remain with me for the rest of my life.

When I heard Dr Choggu was sick in Korle-bu, I prayed to be in Ghana, to appreciate him once more and to ask God to grant him a second chance if even for a month, so that he could do the things for himself that he had postponed, to serve mankind. But the truth that awaits every living being, had already become his and the second chance never came.

I did not have the chance to pray for Dr. Choggu by his sick bed but I must offer a special prayer to God for the salvation of his soul. I ask God to welcome his soul with a reception, comparable only to the prophets, saints and sages and to grant him an abode in the best of the best that He created for His best of servants.

I ask God to let Dr. Choggus humanity and goodness become the comfort, shelter and sustenance for the family and millions of dependents he left behind.

The life of Dr. Choggu, was a true manifestation of religion and humanity: he acted to take away pain, suffering and sickness and to replace these with light, hope and happiness, for millions of poor people.

If God shall grant me the fulfilment of a single wish today, that wish would be to sustain the legacy of Dr. Choggu: to keep the poor clinics open, feed the poor mad people and provide scholarships to needy students, for eternity.

Dr. Choggu lived one of the few lives that can truly be called human. He is gone but shall remain with us forever. For those that truly lived, never die.

Save journey into the underworld, dear father.

H. S. Wumpini

[email protected]
04.10.2016 LISTEN

International wildlife charity, Born Free Foundation, has stated that CITES* has failed to adequately address one of the main threats to African lions in its decision to reach a compromise agreement on controlling the trade in lion parts and products, but failing to deal with trade from captive bred lions.

Nine west and central African countries had proposed an international trade ban on lion products for consideration at CITES, by listing Africans lions on CITES Appendix I. However, despite this, negotiations between Governments present at the meeting resulted in a compromise deal, with lions remaining on Appendix II, but with a moratorium on commercial trade in bones and other products from wild lions. The captive breeders escaped the ban, with South African only required to submit an annual quota for bone exports from captive breeding facilities.

Mark Jones, Associate Director at Born Free, said: The moratorium on commercial exports from wild lions is of course welcome. However, by leaving open the door for captive lion breeding facilities to sell their lion bones, CITES Parties have failed to protect lions and other big cats from this heinous trade. Bones from hunted or poached wild lions and other endangered big cats will doubtless be laundered into trade, while captive breeders will continue to speed-breed lions and condemn them to short, miserable lives in commercial breeding facilities.

While the outcome of the listing proposal was disappointing, a number of associated actions were agreed, including the need for further studies on the scale and impact of the lion bone trade, the need for lion range states to work together to develop and implement integrated lion conservation strategies, and the urgent need to work with communities to mitigate conflicts between lions and local people.

The population of wild lions across Africa has fallen to perhaps just 20,000. However, upwards of 8,000 captive-bred lions languish in commercial captive breeding facilities, mainly in South Africa. Captive lion breeding is a cynical business. Cubs are separated at a very young age so their mothers come back into breeding condition, turning them into little more than breeding machines. Every opportunity to make money from the animals is exploited as they grow, through bogus volunteer programmes and walking with lions opportunities. When they are big and impressive enough, most of the lions are released into small fenced areas to be shot by paying trophy hunters in so-called canned hunts. Even after they have been killed, any valuable parts left over after the trophy is removed are traded. Demand in Asia for lion bones as a replacement for tiger bones in tonics and other products is rising fast; more than 3,000 lion skeletons were reported to have been shipped from South Africa to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in 2013-2014.

Born Free will continue to work for greater protection for lions across their range, and for an end to the captive breeding of lions and other big cats for commercial purposes.

CITES aims to ensure that international trade in a species of animal or plant does not threaten their survival. It is an international treaty between governments and is legally binding. Every three years, the member countries (or Parties) of CITES meet to review the impact of international trade on various species at the CoP, making changes to their protection and to how the Convention operates.

Born Free will be providing key updates throughout CITES CoP17 via press releases, its website www.bornfree.org.uk, on Twitter using the hashtag #BFFCITES, Facebook, and video blogs on YouTube.

*Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
In the Year 2000, when the New Patriotic Party was on rooftops clamouring vociferously for change I was one of the numerous Ghanaians who were swayed into thinking that something good was on the horizon ! In fact , change became synonymous with prosperity,good governance and the rule of law. Even the doubting Thomases hoped against hope that it would mark the dawn of a new era and with it , at least, things would be better than the status quo.

And so the whole nation was agog with excitement and expectation when the NPP emerged triumphant in the 2000 elections. They had run this election on a promise to reduce the prices of virtually everything and to create a nirvana of jobs for the youth. The NPP claimed they had the open sesame to making Ghana , which has been stalled by the incompetence of the NDC administration, a veritable heaven on earth !

The promises of President Kuffour in 2000 are not any different from the moonshine and frenzied promises of Nana Akuffo Addo in 2016 . The only nuance of difference , perhaps, may be the fact that there is a tinge of frustration and despondency in Nana's . The curmudgeon is racing against time and tide !

Kufour's legacy of change makes harrowing reading. To say that it was characterized by debauchery, abuse of power and economic brigandage would be an understatement of the year! It was the obverse of all the deluge of promises bandied about by the NPP during the 2000 electioneering Campaign .

During the 8 barren years under NPP, one of the flagship achievements of President Kuffour was the strangulation and asphyxiation of all the Institutions mandated by law to fight corruption and graft. Institutions like CHRAJ and the Serious Fraud office were deliberately undernourished, understaffed and financially starved to create the congenial climate for fraud and graft to flourish . Having created this arable land of corruption, the nation's kitty was at the mercy of his appointees. The pillaging and plunder of the Country's resources therefore had the de facto approval of Kuffour. Needless to say, the seat of power degenerated into a space for the reception and distribution of kickbacks and the spoils of fraud. This fact has been corroborated by the infamous Haruna Esseku tape in which he was caught grumbling about the reduction in kickbacks from the Castle.

When the Nation couldn't bear the stench of corruption any longer ,there was a great hue and cry from Ghanaians ,pressure groups and Non-governmental organizations like Integrity International. Interestingly, President Kuffour's shocking response was that Corruption was as old as Adam and that he wasn't prepared to fight corruption and collapse his government. Nana Akuffo Addo, who wants to be President today, was the Attorney general and Minister of justice under this phenomenally corrupt administration !

On the contrary , President Mahama has shown a steely resolve towards annihilating the canker of corruption. As an incorruptible person himself he showed his strong aversion for corruption by instituting legal proceedings against officials who are perceived to be corrupt under his administration. For instance , droves of employees of the National Service Scheme who were complicit in several acts of corruption and venality, were fetched out and hounded before the law after painstaking investigations initiated by government. It is common knowledge that officials of the youth and employment Scheme are also embroiled in a legal tussle with the State for alleged acts of corruption and financial impropriety.

To show his determination and zeal to staunch out the scourge of corruption, President Mahama created and implemented a National Anti-corruption Action Plan . This is the most comprehensive and coherent roadmap yet designed by any government to help avert and ferret out incidents or acts of corruption.It was also before our very noses that government appointees under the National Health Insurance Scheme including the CEO, Slyvester Mensah were picked up for alleged acts of corruption.

Apparently , Mahama has evinced a serious determination, in action and attitude towards eliminating the Cancer of corruption.

According to the celebrated Jamaican Reggae Icon, Joseph Hills, "It takes behaviour to be a saviour" . The attitude and governance style of President Mahama has brought dignity and honour to the Ghanaian Presidency. Today,Ghana is the toast of every Country because of Mahama's efforts at bringing peace in the subregion and beyond. Several European leaders have had reason to voice the confidence they have in Mahama.

As we go to the polls in December, Ghanaians should be aware Mahama is a gem of a leader needed not only in Ghana and Africa but in the world at large. His continuous stay in office would inure to the benefit of many West African Countries where there are security challenges.

Yes, it was under this selfsame NPP administration that a Minister of State who was supposed to be a resource person on abstinence and condom use, in an HIV /AIDS Conference, got one of the participants pregnant. President Kuffour had no moral guts to relieve this Minister of his job because he had gone a step ahead of Mr Anane by giving birth allegedly to Gizzele Yadzi's twins !

The NPP is a Wolf in a Sheep's clothing or skin! These are the same old people of 2000 seeking for change. Ostensibly, what they looted for the 8 years that they have been at the helm of the Nation's affairs, has been badly mismanaged or squandered in opposition and they are seeking to come back and replenish their stock. But once bitten twice shy, says Ghanaians.

Under the NPP it was avant-garde to meddle into the turf of the Judiciary. The independence,sanctity and sacrosanctity of the judiciary was not only thrown to the dogs but pooh poohed by President Kufour and his coterie of ministers including his lacklustre Attorney general and Minister of Justice at the time, Nana Akuffo Addo. We were all witnesses to the legal gymnastics and Somersaulting that President Kufour employed in getting Mr Tsatsu Tsikata incarcerated. To put it more aptly and bluntly the NPP made a mockery of the Judiciary and of course the whole judiciary process.

On the other hand, under Mahama there is no interference in the work of the judiciary. In fact, Mahama accords the third arm of government the respect and regard it deserves. Whenever it becomes necessary Mahama submits himself before any judiciary processes. This is undoubtedly the mark of true statesmanship !

To be continued...

Anuga Fortunate. 0508704434
VICE PRESIDENT Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has derided the New Patriotic (NPP) and its leader, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for not presenting the party's manifesto to the public.

When the referee whistled for round one: Launch your campaign, Akufo-Addo was not ready, while John Mahama was already at Cape Coast doing it. Round two: Launch your manifesto at Sunyani. Ever ready Mahama was on spot; Akufo-Addo's own had been stolen by Asiedu Nketia, he satirically stated.

The veep was addressing National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters at the Asawase Constituency during the campaign launch of the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, at Aboabo in the Asokore-Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region over the weekend.

Mr Amissah-Arthur stressed, We've to be extra careful and vigilant because we do not know what our opponent has under his sleeves, especially when he has not shown up for the first and second rounds.

He called for support towards the bids of Muntaka and President Mahama to ensure continuity and progress through the NDC's transformational agenda.



Propaganda Chief

Baba Jamal, NDC MP for Akwatia in the Eastern Region and known propagandist, stated that the elephant represents a sign of destruction and that a vote for the NPP with its emblem as elephant means a vote for Ghana's destruction.

The Asawase parliamentary candidate, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, appealed to the constituents not to contemplate changing him for any other person.

He touted measures and projects he and the NDC government had taken to improve the livelihoods of the constituents.

The event attracted a sizable crowd of NDC supporters and sympathizers, who defied the afternoon downpour to cheer the vice president and other speakers, including the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo.

From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Upper Denkyira East constituency in the Central Region, Nana Kofi Amoako, has stated that the largest opposition party will win the presidential poll by 54%.

According to him a comfortable win of 54% by the standard-bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo Addo, in the presidential poll would avoid any confusion and the possibility of under-hand dealings by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Hon. Nana Amoako, who is in the lead to represent his constituency in the legislature on the ticket of the NPP for the fourth time said this during a fund-raising event at Dunkwa-on-Offin, the capital of the Upper Denkyira East constituency.

The event, which brought together all the big wigs of the NPP in the constituency and some national officers of the party, was aimed at preparing the grounds to launch the parliamentary campaign of the party in that constituency.

The soft spoken legislator, who has earned the admiration of his political opponents, said although Ghanaians are calling for a change in political leadership, the NPP must work hard to clinch convincing victory from the ruling party.

He said the political battle in the run-up to December 7th requires collective efforts on the part of every person in the NPP, irrespective of ones position in the party, since the over-riding agenda is to save Ghana from further economic hardship.

The former First National Vice-Chairman of the NPP, Mr. Fred Oware, also called for unity among the rank and file of the party to ensure a united front to capture political power from the NDC.

He said although he is optimistic of a victory for the NPP in the Upper Denkyira East constituency, a wide margin in the presidential and parliamentary vote count is what the party should work for now.

Mr. Oware proudly stated that he smells the sweet scent of victory for the NPP and that the victory celebrations after December 7th would start from the Upper Denkyira East constituency.

On his part, an aid to Nana Akufo Addo, Mr. Mustapha Hamid, said the NPP should work towards capturing 16 parliamentary seats in the Central Region to ensure absolute victory for the party in the general elections.

He said the NPP won elections in 2000 and 2004 after the party captured majority of the parliamentary seats in the Central Region. In this regard, he called on members and supporters of the party to work hard to retain the seats currently held by the party and also capture the orphaned seats.

Mr. Hamid noted that it is unfortunate that Ghana, a resource-rich country, is facing massive economic difficulties. He attributed the countrys problems to lack of credible political leadership.

He is optimistic that Nana Akufo Addo is the man with the right credentials to help salvage Ghana since the standard-bearer of the NPP is one who asks what he can do for his country and not what his country can do for him.

Celebrated hip-hop artist, A-Plus, entertained the guests at the dinner event with his thought provoking political raps, that take jibs at politicians, especially those entrusted with power.
04.10.2016 LISTEN

By Hafsa Obeng, GNA

Accra, Oct. 3, GNA - Samuel Laryea, a fisherman, was on Monday arraigned for robbing one Ama Amponsaa Brich Freeman, on August 27, at the Nyaniba Estates, Osu.

Samuel was said to have robbed his victim of her IPad, two Samsung mobile phones, one Kingston Data traveler locker, 16GB pen drive, a Samsung mobile phone charger, purse containing SSNIT card, NHIS card, driver's license, Standard Chartered bank ATM card, and an amount of GH250.00.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge but was remanded by the court presided over by Mr Aboaye Tandoh to reappear on October 10.

Prosecuting, Police Chief Superintendent Duuti Tuaruka told the court that the complainant is an Administrator and lives in the Aboadze-Shama District, Takoradi, while the accused is a fisherman and lives at Chorkor Galeli.

He said on August 27, the complainant came to Accra, and went to Osu, Nyaniba Estate, Judy Foods to buy oil and alighted from her car with her handbag containing the above listed items.

The prosecution said Samuel on a motorbike snatched the hand bag from the complainant and sped off.

He said the accused person on August 29 sold the IPad to a witness in the case. The IPad was traced to the witness through a tracking device leading to the arrest of the accused person.

Chief Superintendent Tuaruka said the accused person directed the witnesses' brother to retrieve the other two Samsung mobile phones from those he gave them to.

He later led the police to his room and after a search was conducted the police retrieved, the mobile phone charger and the pen drive belonging to the complainant.

GNA
By Bajin D. Pobia, GNA

Tumu, Oct.3, GNA - The Vodafone Foundation has provided a free health screening exercise for more than 500 residents in Tumu, the capital of the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, as part of its quest to support the rural poor with quality healthcare services.

The intervention dubbed: 'Health First', saw medical personnel screening the beneficiaries for various ailments, including hepatitis and malaria, as well as giving out free drugs to those diagnosed with some diseases.

Many pregnant women were also examined and those found to have complications were referred to the hospital for medical attention to improve maternal and child healthcare.

The aged and children who participated in the exercise were given special treatment for all kinds of diseases in the one-day activity.

Mr. Daniel Asiedu of the Corporate Communications Unit of Vodafone, said the Vodafone Ghana Foundation, the charity arm of the company, was committed to complementing the Government's efforts in enhancing access to health care services.

This would be done through its pioneering 'Health' initiatives and interventions.

'The Foundation touches the life of the people by giving them free health care, especially to those who find it difficult to access health care services,' he said.

'The foundation recognised Tumu to extend the free health care service as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility, which is an all year round exercise conducted throughout the nation,' Mr. Asiedu pointed out.

Mr. Asiedu said health was key in building the family system and a great nation, hence the decision to support the health sector to enhance quality health for the people through community outreach programmes.

'Vodafone Ghana Foundation will continue to beef up the health of the ordinary Ghanaian through free medical screening and consultation, interactive mobile applications and via educative online, radio and TV programmes,' he said.

'We are excited that the provision of free and quality healthcare initiatives continues to improve the lives of various communities across the country.'

The Vodafone Ghana Foundation was established in 2009, and it has invested in creating initiatives that solve pressing health issues, ensure healthy lives and promote the wellbeing of Ghanaians in various communities nationwide.

GNA
Accra, Oct. 3, GNA - Petroleum Solutions Limited (Petrosol), a privately-owned indigenous oil marketing company, has launched a consumer education campaign dubbed, 'Full Quantity Campaign' in Accra.

The campaign, which would run for three months, would educate fuel consumers, mostly motorists and the public on what to look out for when buying fuel at all filling stations.

It is to ensure that they receive accurate or full quantity of fuel purchased.

Mr Michael Bozumbil, Chief Executive Officer of Petrosol, speaking at the launch, said the campaign was to deepen consumer awareness on the use of the visual fuel measuring container locally known as 'Ntease Kruwaa' introduced by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

He said the Can was to be at all fuel stations across the country to confirm pump delivery levels to boost consumer confidence.

The CEO said the company has been committed to delightfully serving their cherished customers with quality petroleum products in accurate quantities from their neat and environmentally safe fuel stations at competitive prices.

'The company is committed to best industry practices, ethical business conducts to ensure that consumers receive value for their money,' he said.

He said as a result of this commitment to meeting the needs of consumers, management commissioned a nationwide research to find out from consumers their key concern about petroleum products.

'Of all the issues raised, what became their top-most concern was the fact that they want to always receive the accurate quantity of fuel they purchase,' he said.

He said it was heart-warming to know that the research also found out that those consumers, who were buying their fuel from Petrosol stations, indicated that they were receiving value for their money.

Mr Bozumbil said the consumers also suggested that efforts should be made to educate other consumers to enable them make informed choices since some of them were suffering in silence due to ignorance.

He said in the next three months, Petrosol would be educating consumers on the processes and procedures for checking and verifying accurate pump delivery quantities.

He said by embarking on this important cause, together with their regulators and partners, they were helping to protect the interest of the Ghanaian fuel consumer whilst at the same time preserving the very existence of the petroleum downstream industry.

He commended the GSA and NPA for their support and co-operation over the years.

Mrs Esther Anku, Chief Inspector, NPA, applauded the company for their efforts to complement the activities of both the authority and GSA.

She said the authority would continue to provide their support to oil marketing companies to promote the interest of their consumers.

Mr Emmanuel Kwa-Kofi, Deputy Executive Director, GSA, said the campaign was in line with the mandate of the Authority to ensure industry players delivered quality service to their consumers.

He said GSA would continue to collaborate with management to promote the operations on oil marketing companies in the country.

GNA
Red Bull Racing is opposing rival Mercedes' push to move a 2017 Pirelli pre-season tyre test to Bahrain instead of Barcelona.

Mercedes insists it will be necessary to test and validate Formula 1's numerous changes for next year in a warm and dry weather environment, which the desert track of Sakhir virtually guarantees.

"We should all be trying to help Pirelli because we need warm weather," Mercedes boss Niki Lauda explained to Germanys Auto Motor und Sport.

"I do not want to lose a few days with rain in Barcelona with the brand new cars. And Pirelli needs reliable data. With 20 degrees track temperature, you do not learn anything."

Red Bull's Christian Horner begged to differ however, insisting on the financial and logistical burden associated with a Bahrain test, and which will hit the smaller teams in particular.

For Horner, Barcelona offers all the necessary requirements to put F1's new Pirelli tyres and car changes through their paces.

"Sixty percent of the teams need to save money, but testing in Bahrain will cost significantly more," Horner said.

"So to be more than an hour and a half away from the factory, at the point you are developing your car, and a new concept car as well, at a time of year when in Spain in late February, early March, is already the temperature is warming up, to me it seems irresponsible financially.

Unless there is a huge subsidy which I dont believe there is  unless Mercedes are going to pay for everybodys freight to go to Bahrain  I think it is a bit irresponsible to be honest with you to be dictating and bullying teams into making that test.

We are a team that can afford to go to Bahrain, but I believe it is better that we should test in Barcelona."

Pirelli itself has indicated that current test cars provided by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari for trialing the Italian manufacturer's new rubber do not adequately replicate the levels of downforce expected from the 2017 machines.

Any plan to test in Bahrain will in theory need unanimous support of the teams  as the current F1 Sporting Regulations state the two pre-season events can only take places at tracks in Europe.

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Gomoa Mangoase (C/R), Oct. 3, GNA - Naana Eyiah, Gomoa Central Parliamentary Candidate for New Patriotic Party, has called on politicians to ensure that the health concerns of the populace are the topmost on their agenda.

She said as leaders, they should not only look for the votes during electioneering periods but strive hard to provide quality health care delivery for the electorate.

Naana Eyiah said this when the NPP Professionals for Change' undertook health screening exercise for over 500 people in the four communities of the Gomoa Central Constituency.

The communities are Gomoa Mangoase, Gomoa Ekwamkrom, Brofoyedur and Gomoa Jukwa.

Naana Eyiah said if the people are healthy it will be easy for them to go their farms and do other businesses to improve the standard of living.

She said under the President J.A. Kufuor administration, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), free maternal care and others were introduced to reduce the financial burden on Ghanaians.

The beneficiaries were treated for blood pressure (BP), malaria, diabetics, sugar level, wounds, and others.

Naana Eyiah asked the people of the Gomoa Central Constituency to support the call for change many Ghanaians are yearning for to ensure peace, stability and development.

She said many Ghanaians are going through terrible economic hardships due to the unfavourable policies being introduced by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, hence the need to vote them out on December 7.

The Gomoa Central NPP Parliamentary Candidate appealed to the electorate to vote for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and herself to create jobs and wealth for the unemployed youth.

She said the NPP has capable men to reverse the fragile state of the economy made by the eight-year rule of the National Democratic Congress.

Madam Ewuramba Unie, leader of Professionals for Change group, said the people's health are important hence the health screening for the electorates in the Gomoa Central and Gomoa East Constituencies.

Madam Unie expressed optimism that the NPP would win the December polls to revive the National Health Insurance Scheme and introduce more meaningful policies to cater for the welfare of all Ghanaians.

She said the group also screened over 500 people in Gomoa East Constituency at Gomoa Buduatta, Amoanda, Odembo and other surrounding villages.

Madam Unie called on the beneficiaries to reciprocate the gesture by voting massively for Nana Akufo- Addo and NPP Parliamentary candidates on December, 7 elections.

GNA
Agona Swedru (C/R), Oct. 3, GNA - The Laboratory Department of the Swedru Municipal Government Hospital has ceased performing its critical functions following the breakdown of the Hematology and Bio Chemistry Analyzer machines over two months ago.

The breakdown of the two important machines has impacted negatively on the daily attendance at the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital.

Mr Andrews Adjei Annan, Head of Laboratory Department of the Hospital, said to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Agona Swedru.

He said patients mostly pregnant women and others with various diseases which laboratory tests are required are referred to private laboratories.

He said basic laboratory investigations carried out on pregnant women who are due for labour and surgery at the theater or on admission at maternity ward cannot be done.

Mr Annan said these machines are also used to check the new born babies and mothers who were in critical condition in order to refer to doctors for emergency treatment.

He said the laboratory work has become very difficult due to malfunctioning of the machines.

Mr Annan said the two machines were donated by the National AIDS Control Programme in 2009 and needed immediate replacement to care for clients of the health facility.

Mr Annan said the management of the hospital has officially written to Central Regional Health Directorate about the state of the machines.

He appealed to Non-Governmental Organizations, financial institutions and corporate bodies to come to the aid of the hospital.

GNA
04.10.2016 LISTEN

The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Minerals Commission Dr. Toni Aubynn has rejected claims that the government refused to give its full support to the partnership agreement between Randgold Resources Limited and AngloGold Ashanti to revive the Obuasi mine.

According to Dr. Tony Aubynn, government and the Minerals Commission are committed to supporting foreign investors who are ready to obey the rules of the country for win-win partnership, hence government's initial support for the Randgold AngloGold Ashanti deal.

His comments comes after the CEO of Randgold Resources Limited, Mark Bristow revealed that it abandoned its deal with AngloGold Ashanti in taking over the Obuasi Mine because the government of Ghana refused to give complete support to the deal.

Mark Bristow who made the disclosure last week Tuesday alleged that the Government of Ghana showed no support even though the social risk at the Obuasi mine was enormous.

But rebutting the assertions on Citi Business News, Dr. Toni Aubynn maintained that Ghana will not be pushed to accept any raw deal from investors.

Even though Ghana is seeking investors as a developing country we have rules and regulations, we have our pride in the way we seek investors. We do not change the rules to satisfy anybody. So the fact that one would insist that we do things through individuals, and through powerful people, we will do it through institutions and follow the rules set out by our institutions, if that means lack of support by government I don't think that is right, he said.

He explained that Ghana's laws on mineral deposits have gone through many reforms, resulting in a good legislative regime that currently provides the best for investors and Ghanaians.

Pointing out efforts made by the government to attract investors in this direction, Dr. Aubynn stated that investors have been invited from all over the world to invest in Ghana's mining sector due to benefit and peaceful relationship governments have had with mining giants.

He observed that investors have always been satisfied with Ghana's laws since it provides a fair deal for investors.

We as country we invite investors to come into the country. We are still working on attracting investors. There have been significant investors in the mining sector in Ghana, including attempt by Randgold to be here, he said.

Touching on the support given by government on the Randgold deal with AngloGold Ashanti, Dr. Aubynn stated that government and the Minerals Commission accorded the mining company the respect and support required to commence operations but to no avail.

We respect Randgold as one of the leading African companies in the mining industry, Mr. Mike Bristow himself[we respect] as one of the quite successful CEOs. Let's be very clear that nothing could be farther from the truth that government did not show interest or support, we threw out all the support available, he reiterated.



By:Norvan Acquah  Hayford/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Scores of business operators have hit hard at the Registrar General's Department over its delay in issuing certificates to businesses who have filed their annual returns.

The Registrar General's Department yesterday (October 3, 2016) begun enforcing the penalty on filing of annual returns, which will see companies slapped with a fine of 300 cedis daily if they fail to file their returns on time.

But some business operators who have been speaking to Citi Business News are unhappy with the move.

According to them, several months after filing their annual returns, nothing is to show they have indeed done so.

One of the enraged businessmen, Mr. Nunoo explained that department is not being fair to business operators.

Businesses are not doing well these days; but if the RGD requires that the businesses renew their operations, they cannot but comply with the directive. But the Registrar General's Department is not giving us any information on the delays in the documentation process, he stated.

The crowds you see around this place are not necessarily for the renewal of their tax returns, another businessman opined.

He added, Some businesses are yet to be issued with their certificates even though they have filed their documents months ago.

Despite the agitations and chaos that characterized the Registrar General's Department over the concerns, some business operators have however supported the move by the Registrar Generals' Department and say it is in the right direction.

I did not hear of it since I have not been around for some time now, nonetheless, I think it is a right decision for the Registrar General's Department to introduce penalty for businesses who fail to comply. I have equally been aware of the numerous reminders the Department has served for organizations who failed to comply with the directive, one businessman remarked.



By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
A 32-YEAR-OLD ex-convict has been gunned down by a police officer in a purported gun battle at Katamansu, a suburb of Zenu in the Kpone-Katamanso District of the Greater Accra Region.

The deceased, Richard Opoku, was said to be a member of a carjacking gang of five who allegedly snatched a new Hyundai Sonata from its owner at gunpoint at the Titanic Beach in Community 3, Tema.

Four of his accomplices managed to escape during the shoot-out but Richard was hit with bullets in his chest, leading to his death.

The vehicle has been retrieved together with a cutlass and a mobile phone; and his lifeless body has been deposited at the Police Hospital in Accra.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, spokeswoman for the Tema police, narrating the incident that led to the death of the suspect, said that police picked information that the said saloon car with registration number GN 2590-16 which was being driven by one Suraj Umar, had been snatched from him at gun point at the Sakumono Beach (popularly known as Titanic Beach) at about 7pm.

According to her, preliminary investigations revealed that Suraj was sitting in the vehicle along the beach chatting with his girlfriend when five men (two of them in masks) and wielding a locally manufactured pistol, came out of nowhere and instructed them to get out of the vehicle.

They were pulled out of the vehicle and escorted to the shore where they were abandoned, ASP obeng said.

Suraj, the police spokeswoman said, returned some few minutes later to where he left the vehicle and discovered that it was not there.

According to her, Suraj, without wasting much time, reported the matter to the Community 2 police and investigation was immediately launched into the incident.

Police patrol teams and snap checkpoints were alerted and were on the lookout for the car. A few hours later, a snap checkpoint at Katamansu intercepted a Hyundai saloon car that fits the description of the jacked car with passengers on board, she pointed out.

ASP Obeng explained that police signaled the driver of the car to stop but he failed to do so and rather sped off, adding that a police officer detailed for that checkpoint pursued the vehicle with his personal motorbike until the driver of the saloon car, in an attempt to escape, hit the motorbike and ran into a ditch and began to open fire.

The officer returned fire when he realized that his life was in danger and in the process, shot Richard Opoku, who was the driver, whiles his four other accomplices managed to escape, according to ASP Obeng.

She asserted that investigation indicated that the deceased was an ex-convict who was granted bail by a Tema court about a week ago for a similar offence which was being investigated by the Tema Regional Police Command.

From Vincent Kubi, Katamansu
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says President John Dramani Mahama is the biggest threat to Ghanas future.

President Mahama has performed abysmally during his tenure and therefore does not deserve a second term, according to him.

Nana Akufo-Addo made this known while speaking at the campaign launch of Tina Mensah, NPP's parliamentary candidate for Weija/Gbawe Constituency on Sunday at Mallam Junction.

Mahama says he has not finished with his work so Ghanaians should vote for him again but the big question is that are Ghanaians satisfied with his work as president. And what is he going to continue. Is it unemployment, bad economic management, erratic power supply and high utility tariffs? Nana Addo quizzed.

Recent comment by President Mahama that everybody recognizes that Ghana is rising and doing well in the wake of Moodys steady rating of Ghanas economy is a deception, he indicated.

I have said this before and I want to repeat it. Is President Mahama living in Ghana with us or perhaps he lives in a different country? Has he given jobs to the thousands of jobless young men and women in the country? Has he revived the large numbers of companies which have collapsed under his tenure? Are parents now able to pay the high school fees of their wards? Has he resuscitated the collapsed National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)? Nana Addo asked the gathering who responded with a deafening No.

Questions Moodys Ratings

Touching on Moody's rating, the NPP flagbearer quizzed: Did the Moody's rating take into account the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of youth who have no jobs? Have they taken into account the massive and unprecedented levels of unemployment for which President Mahama says Ghana is doing well? We beg of him (President Mahama)if he is coming to the end of his term of office, Ghanaians are urging him not to say things that will further anger them.

Ignore Mahamas Promises

Nana Addo urged Ghanaians not to allow themselves to be carried away by the sudden promises being made by President Mahama just to canvas for votes in the electioneering period.

He said President Mahama has suddenly realized the need to restore the allowances of nurse and teacher trainees.

Nana Addo disclosed that over the last four years, the NPP has advocated the full restoration of the allowances of nurse and teacher trainees.

President Mahama, in a quick response at a forum held at the University of Cape Coast on September 7, 2016, stated that for partisan politics purposes, you have your political opponent come and say when we come back we will restore trainee allowances.

For me, it's better to lose the election on principle than win it on falsehood. We will not reverse the decision.

However, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, President Mahama over the weekend told the people of the Volta Region that he had given an order for the immediate payment of the allowances of nurse and teacher trainees.

Is this how a country is governed? With two months to the holding of the elections, he now sees the wisdom in restoring these allowances. This is not the way Ghanaian people expect to be governed; they expect to be governed with truth not with lies, with honesty not with propaganda, he said.

The NPP flagbearer said, We need a new kind of politics based on principle, policy and direction. That is what I and the NPP will offer when voted into power. We are going to work hard between now and December to ensure victory.



Support for Tina

He entreated the constituents in Weija-Gbawe constituency to vote massively for Tina Mensah to ensure the NPP retains the seat.

I know after the counting on December 7, all Ghanaians would wave bye bye to John Mahama and his NDC government, Nana Addo said.

Rosmond Abra Appiah, outgoing NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Weija-Gbawe Constituency, called for support for Tina Mensah, asking the people in the constituency to vote massively for Ms Mensah and Nana Addo in the December polls.

Tina Mensah is contesting for the seat with her main challenger, Obuobia Darko Opoku of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In her remarks, the NPP parliamentary candidate, expressed optimism that the NPP would retain the Weija-Gbawe Constituency seat in the December polls.

Other speakers

Other speakers at the event included Sheike I.C Quaye, former NPP MP for Ayawaso Central, Adwoa Sarfo, MP for Dome Kwabenya, Joe Appiah, outgoing MP for Ablekuma North, Osafo Maafo, former MP of Oda, Kan Dapaah, former MP for Afigya-Sekyere West Constituency and some members of the creative art industry, led by Socrates Safo.

By Cephas Larbi

[email protected]
The NDC UK and Ireland Chapter has officially launched its campaign and the 2016 manifesto in London, ahead of the December polls under the theme Changing Lives, Transforming Ghana, on Saturday, 1st October 2016, in North London.

In attendance to grace the occasion were: The Second Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Her Excellency, Matilda Amissah-Arthur as the Guest of Honour, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu - National Vice Chairperson, Hon. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo - National Vice Chairman and Director of Elections, Hon. Kofi Attor - Director of International Relations, Dr. Ahadzi - Director of Research and Madam Catherine Deynu - Deputy Women Organiser and other dignitaries from Ghana.

The Chairman of the UK and Ireland Chapter, Mr. Kofi Kwakye in his introductory speech thanked The Second Lady and all the dignitaries for taking time out of their busy schedules to be part of the great event. He introduced the National executives, chairmen of various branches and the invited guests.

According to Mr. Kofi Kwakye, the NDC UK and Ireland Chapter has grown from strength to strength with the inauguration of more branches since he assumed office as Chairman. He also stated that the Chapter has been fortunate to host the President and the Vice President in the two main events the Chapter has organised this year. He advised members to maintain the unity and work hard to win the 2016 elections. Mr Kwakye stated that the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akuffo Addo who claim to be incorruptible couldn't declare his assets.

The Deputy Women Organiser, Madam Catherine Deynu in her speech stressed that the peace Ghanaians are enjoying in the country is as a result of good governance by President Mahama.

She encouraged members especially the women in the UK to come out with ideas to help empower our women back home. She also stated that more women have put themselves forward to contest as MPs to represent NDC in Parliament.

Mr. Kofi Attor, praised NDC for giving Ghanaians a comprehensive and workable manifesto for citizens of our country to know the direction NDC are taking Ghana.He also commended the National executives for successfully electing and completing the filing at the ECs office for all its parliamentary candidates for 2016 elections .

He stressed that the NPP have still not been able to come out with their manifesto which shows their unpreparedness to lead the country.

Mr. Attor is therefore confident of victory in 2016 elections but not complacent so he urged members to take the campaign to the doorsteps of the electorates and encouraged members to come to Ghana in December to vote massively for President Mahama.

Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu in her address expressed her excitement to be part of NDC UK & Ireland Chapter manifesto and campaign launch, the Chapter she belonged to before going to Ghana to serve as a minister. She stated that the peace we are enjoying in our country couple with massive developmental projects makes Ghana a shining star in West Africa, and that President Mahama is seen as one of the best Presidents across the African continent. He deserves a second term so we should all support him to win the 2016 elections.

Dr. Ahadzi - Director of Research threw more light on the NDC achievements and stated that Ghanaians should not trust the NPP because of their track record.

Hon. Ofosu Ampofo commended NDC UK and Ireland Chapter members for their effort despite all the challenges in the diaspora. He advised all members to use the social media to campaign for JDM. According to him, NDC under Mahama has transformed every sector of our country; Education, Health, Housing, Roads etc. In his address, he stressed that the publication of the locations of all the one hundred and twenty (123) Senior High School buildings President Mahama has completed or at various stages of completion is an indication of a government which is indeed "changing lives" and "transforming the country".

The well attended manifesto and campaign launch by members in their party paraphernalia was characterised with jubilation and merry making.

The Chapter used this occasion to raise funds to support the campaign team both here in the UK and in Ghana to ensure that our message reach the electorates to enable them make an informed decisions to retain President Mahama to continue the good work he is doing.
Ambassador Emmanuel Victor Smith, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Abuakwa North Constituency in the Eastern Region, has pledged to lobby for a new district for the people in the area to help boost development in the constituency.

Ghanas High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), who was defeated in previous election in the constituency, made the promise at the launch of his campaign at Akyem Tafo last Friday.

He reiterated his commitment to facilitating the development of the constituency if given the nod in the December general elections.

We are currently under East Akim Municipal Assembly so I am assuring you that I will fight for a new district for the good people of Abuakwa North in order to get the development we deserve, he told the gathering.

The former MP, JB Danquah-Adu defeated Mr Smith in the previous parliamentary election.

After his brutal murder, Mr Smith bounced back to push the elected NDC candidate Anthony Gyimah out of the race.

Caretaker

Kofi Adams, the National Organiser of NDC, on his part, described the current MP for Abuakwa South Constituency, Mrs Gifty Twum-Ampofo as a caretaker who would lose the seat in December.

According to Mr Adams, the NPP MP is incompetent and unfit to represent the constituents since she cannot meet the needs of the people.

He indicated that the partys parliamentary candidate, Ambassador Victor Smith, can serve the interests of the people in Parliament.

Ambassador Smith has already done and is still doing a lot to better the lives of the people in terms of education, transport, water, among others, he added.

MP Reacts

Meanwhile, the Abuakwa North MP earlier stated that she would retire Victor Smith from active politics in the upcoming polls since he has nothing good to offer the constituents.

According to her, Anthony Gyimah presented a threat to her than Mr Smith, who the National Democratic Congress (NDC) forcibly imposed on the electorate in the constituency.

She added that Dr. Gyimah, who withdrew from the contest under bizarre circumstances, was a credible opponent than Mr Smith.

As for Victor, I'll give him compulsory retirement, because he's no match for me. Gyimah looked unpredictable because he had stayed abroad for so many years and it was difficult to predict what he was bringing onboard.

According to her, Mr Smith failed to bring any meaningful development to the constituency as regional minister.

Madam Gifty Twum-Ampofo, who was optimistic of retaining the seat for the NPP in the upcoming polls, called on Ghanaians to vote massively for Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo in the upcoming general elections to win and lessen the plight of the citizens.

From Daniel Bampoe, Akyem-Tafo
Employees of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) yesterday staged a protest at the company's head office in Accra, demanding the removal of the Managing Director (MD), Robert Dwamena from office.

The workers, who were clad in red attire and held placards, said the MD had exceeded the age of retirement  60 years  and was therefore not supposed to be at post.

The MD is said to have celebrated his 60th birthday on September 28, this year.

The disgruntled workers vandalised the glass door to the office when they were denied access to the head office.

But personnel of the Ghana Police Service stormed the offices of ECG and stalled their activities on grounds that they did not have permit to carry out the protest.

The police ordered the workers go to the office of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to lodge their complaint.

At the TUC offices, the protesters gave a week's ultimatum to the leadership of the TUC to ensure the removal of MD of ECG from office.

Frank Adjetey Badu, National Secretary of the Electricity Staff Union, said we believe he has done his best, and there is nothing more he can add at this stage. So we think it's good at this point in time that he should honourably go on retirement.

The disgruntled PUWU members have in recent times protested against the privatization of ECG and demanded the review of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact which reportedly has a roadmap for massive lay-offs.

The workers told the media in Accra that they had been reliably informed that the MD had been offered a one-year extension of his term.

That is what we are not happy about, they stated.

The Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) has on several occasions downplayed assertions by the workers that the MCC compact would impact negatively on the operations of the ECG and result in massive lay-offs.

The reality is that the concession arrangement will create more jobs in the power sector, a statement from MiDA has emphasized.

[email protected]

By Samuel Boadi
Some cocoa farmers in the country have expressed disappointment in government for increasing the producer price of cocoa by 11.8 percent.

The farmers said the increase in the producer price of cocoa cannot offset the cost of production.

Government, over the weekend, increased producer price of cocoa by 11.76 percent to GH7,600 per metric tonne for the 2016/2017 season.

The new price took effect from October 1, 2016, the beginning of the 2016/2017 main cocoa crop year.

Some of the farmers, who spoke to BUSINESS GUIDE said, We had high expectations for the upward adjustment between the region of GH500 and GH600 per bag of 64 kilograms. This 11.8 percent increase can't cover our input cost.

Cassiel Ato-Forson, Deputy Minister of Finance, who announced the increase at this year's International Cocoa Day celebration at Tepa, capital of Ahafo-Ano North District of the Ashanti Region said, This year's price represented the highest cocoa prices to farmers in the history of Ghana, cocoa prices moved from GH620 in 2001/2002 crop season to GH1,632 in 2008/2009 season.

According to him, farmers would now receive GH475 for a bag of 64kg of cocoa, up from GH425 per bag for the last cocoa season.

Mr Ato-Forson explained that in arriving at the new price, the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC) was guided by the current average Free-on-Board (FOB) per tonne of cocoa price of $2,950 at the world market, representing 5.7 percent upward adjustment from $2,900.

He called on the Licensing Buying Companies to ensure that farmers are paid the new rate on the gross weight.

By Ernest Kofi Adu, Tepa-Ash
Yuzgas B.V. (the Netherlands) and its parent company, Emerstone Energy investment fund (Luxembourg), will consider the disclosure of their ultimate beneficiaries after they agree on the main provisions of the agreement on Yuzivska deposit with the government of Ukraine, reads a letter to Ukraine's Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk, promulgated by MP Viktoria Voitsytska.

"After the approval of the main provisions of the draft treaty on assignment and draft changes and additions to the agreement [the PSA on Yuzivska deposit] with the authorized representatives of the government, Yuzgas and Emerstone Energy, which owns 100% in Yuzgas, will consider the disclosure of ultimate beneficiaries at the government's request," according to the letter.

As reported, the working group set up by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has started the verification of compliance with the law when holding a tender to attract investors in the development of Yuzivska area (Kharkiv and Donetsk regions). Voitsytska participates in the work of this group.
President Muhammadu Buhari called on Nigerians to give thanks to God and pray for the founding fathers as Nigeria celebrated her 56th Independence day anniversary. In his address to the nation in the morning, Buhari said today is a day of celebration for Nigeria as she achieved the most important of all human desires, freedom and independence, 56 years ago.

I am so blown away with the forthrightness and admission of problems yet to be resolved, but most of all I think that solutions so clearly isolated and addressed openly, sets the stage on the level platform with Magufuli of Tanzania and reminds me of Museveni before he became what he is today.

Africa needs leaders such as Buhari. We need the open governance and credible managers who see the task and the bottlenecks and who can put their heads together after they have properly functioning governments to resolve the rest of the discordants and make a platform for the youth who desperately need this vision.

When I was a much younger pressure youth, my grandfather always assured me that one day our generation will reap the rewards of all the fight for independence they were fighting and rest assured we would resolve all this in our time.

Well, granddad, I am 62 this month and you were wrong. You didn't factor in the likes of the current crop of politicians we wrongly elected, but I can forgive you. We are mainly to blame and you couldn't have foreseen the lack of integrity and incompetence the pretenders to the throne have conjured.

How could you? Even me your 4th grandson am older than most of them.

But what Buhari said to his fellow Nigerians inspired me to look closely at how easy it would be to just say what is true and promise only as can be delivered. We made a big mistake in the last elections and the Supreme Court did us no favor with a contentious verdict, which now on re-read should have gone against this Government. We must learn more from those who are doing what is right and proper in this put-aside world they call the third.

So here some highlights from his speech.

On economic recession

I know that uppermost in your minds today is the economic crisis. The recession for many individuals and families is real. For some it means not being able to pay school fees, for others it's not being able to afford the high cost of food (rice and millet) or the high cost of local or international travel, and for many of our young people the recession means joblessness, sometimes after graduating from university or polytechnic. I know how difficult things are, and how rough business is. I believe that this recession will not last. Temporary problems should not blind or divert us from the corrective course this government has charted for our nation. We have identified the country's salient problems and we are working hard at lasting solutions.

On security

On Security, we have made progress. Boko Haram was defeated by last December, only resorting to cowardly attacks on soft targets, killing innocent men, women and children. Nigerians should thank our gallant men of the Armed Forces and Police for rescuing large areas of the country captured by insurgents. Now, residents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, as well as several neighboring states go about their daily business in relative safety. People can go to mosques, churches, and market places in reasonable safety. Besides Boko Haram, we are confronting other long-running security issues, namely herdsmen vs farmers, cattle rustling, kidnappings. This administration is firmly resolved to tackle these challenges and to defeat them

On Niger Delta militancy

A new insurgency has reared up its head in the shape of blowing up gas and oil pipelines by groups of Niger Delta Militants. This Administration will not allow these mindless groups to hold the country to ransom. No group can unlawfully challenge the authority of the Federal Government and succeed. Our administration is fully sympathetic to the plight of the good people of Niger Delta and we are in touch with the state governments and leaderships of the region. We have however, continued to dialogue with all groups and leaders of thought in the region to bring lasting peace.

On corruption

Corruption is a cancer, which must be fought with all the weapons at our disposal. It corrodes the very fabric of government and destroys society. Fighting corruption is key, not only to restoring the moral health of the nation, but also to freeing our enormous resources for urgent socio-economic development. In fighting corruption, however, the government would adhere strictly by the rule of law. Not for the first time I am appealing to the judiciary to join the fight against corruption.

On restructuring the economy

The third plank in this administration's drive to CHANGE Nigeria is re-structuring the economy. Economies behaviour is cyclical. All countries face ups and downs. Our own recession has been brought about by a critical shortage of foreign exchange. Oil price dropped from an average of hundred USD per barrel over the last decade to an average of forty USD per barrel this year and last. There are no easy solutions, but there are solutions nonetheless and government is pursuing them in earnest. We are to repair our four refineries so that Nigeria can produce most of our petrol requirements locally, pending the coming on stream of new refineries. That way we will save ten billion USD yearly in importing fuel. At the same time, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank have been mobilized to encourage local production of rice, maize, sorghum, millet and soya beans. Our target is to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in these staples by 2018.

On power generation

The second plank in our economic revival strategy is centred on the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. The ministry will lead and oversee the provision of critical infrastructure of power, road transport network and housing development. In the meantime, government is going ahead with projects utilizing alternate technologies such as hydro, wind, and solar to contribute to our energy mix. In this respect, the Mambilla Hydro project, after many years of delay is taking off this year. Contract negotiations are nearing completion with Chinese firms for technical and financial commitments. Hence the plan to produce one thousand two hundred megawatts of solar electricity for the country would be realized on schedule.

On road construction

Roads construction and rehabilitation has taken off. The sum of twelve billion naira was allocated to this sector in the 2015 Budget, not enough even to pay interest on outstanding unpaid claims.

On railways

We have provided our counterpart funding to China for the building of our standard gauge Lagos -Kano railway. Meanwhile, General Electric is investing two point two billion USD in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage the existing lines, including the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Line. The Lagos-Calabar railway will also be on stream soon.

On housing

We have initiated the National Housing Programme. In 2014 four hundred million naira was voted for Housing. In 2015 nothing. Our first budget this year is devoting thirty five point six billion naira. Much of the house building will be privatesector led but Government is initiating a pilot housing scheme of two thousand eight hundred and thirty eight units uniformly spread across the 36 states and FCT.

According to the president the programs outlined will revive the economy, restore the value of the naira and drive hunger from the land. Buhari commended Nigerians for their patience, steadfastness and perseverance.

Now CHRAJ owes us a duty to do more than be afraid to speak the truth. Now we have a license to do the wrong things as long as they are done unethically.

Ghana, Aha a y din papa. Alius atrox week advenio. Another terrible week to come!

Sydney Casely-Hayford, [email protected]
The women's wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Takoradi Constituency of the Western Region last Sunday organized a prayer retreat to seek God's hand in the affairs of the party and protect the rank and file.

Fervent prayers were also said for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP flag bearer, as the 2016 polls draw closer.

Madam Edna Nyame, Western Regional Treasurer of the party, explained that it was about time the women in the party rose and defended it with prayers since they would be most affected should there be any trouble in the party.

She noted that the mock burial of Nana Akufo-Addo at the manifesto launch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo Regional capital, recently was carefully planned and deliberately executed by bigwigs of the party (NDC).

Madam Edna Nyame observed, That diabolical initiative was with the full backing of President John Mahama; to ensure that Nana Akufo-Addo is killed in the spiritual realm, before it manifests in the physical.

She claimed, It shouldnt come as a surprise that Ghanaians are suffering. Why would God's eyes be on us when the leadership of this country opt for evil?

To this end, she indicated that the National Women's Organizer of the NPP, Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, had declared that the various women's groups of the party should organize the spiritual exercise to pray for divine protection for Nana Addo.

Madam Edna Nyame stressed, We will continue to fast and pray for our country. Too many demonic activities have taken place under this NDC government over the last eight years, and it is time God cleanses and heals our land.

She added, It is time women of the party rise up and cry to God for a resounding victory for the NPP. We are also praying to God to protect Nana Akufo-Addo and other NPP bigwigs.

She said the women also prayed entreated God to help the Electoral Commission (EC) to declare the correct results for the December 7 elections without fear or favour.

We in the NPP will pray to God to deliver Ghana from the hands of President Mahama and his NDC government, and install a God-fearing president in 2017 in the person of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, because our battle is still the Lord's, she pointed out.

Madam Nyame appealed to all NPP sympathizers to join the campaign to convince suffering Ghanaians to cast their votes for Nana Akufo-Addo and all the NPP parliamentary candidates.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi


Ecobank Capital Advisors Ltd., a subsidiary of Ecobank, in collaboration with MTN Mobile Money, on Thursday introduced the Ecobank TBill4All onto the Ghanaian market.

The Ecobank TBill4All, a self service, digital product that allows Ghanaians to invest in 91-day and 182-day Treasury Bills using the mobile money platform is the first of its kind in the sub-region.

It's designed to increase savings and investments, as well as mass participation in the securities market.

Every Ghanaian with a mobile phone can now invest in T-Bills anywhere with as little as GH5.

Speaking at the launch, the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Millison Narh, commended Ecobank and congratulated them for evolving the product.

He said the development of Tbill4All was a testament to Ecobank's commitment to leveling the playing field in the investment sector.

Dr Adu Anane Antwi, Director-General of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), said the product would enhance Ghana's economic growth.

Ebenezer Asante, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, in a remark, applauded the collaboration between his outfit and Ecobank Ghana, saying that that would produce wonderful packages to better serve Ghanaians in the wider space of financial inclusion.

George Mensah Asante, Executive Director at Ecobank Ghana and Head of Consumer banking for Ecobank Ghana and Anglophone West Africa, speaking on behalf of the Group Executive for Consumer Banking, Patrick Akinwuntan, said Ecobank was interested in the promotion of financial services through technological enhancement, adding that the service formed part of a series of technologically enabled platforms that would transform banking and financial services in Ghana.

The service will also be available on Ecobank internet banking, Ecobank Mobile App and eventually on all networks of the group to ensure financial inclusion across the continent.

Ecobank has grown consistently over the years to become one of the leading and most recognised corporate brands.

The bank operates in 36 countries in Africa, with representative offices in Paris, London, Dubai and Beijing to support customers who conduct cross-border business across the globe.

A business desk report
President John Dramani Mahama will today [Tuesday] commence a five-day campaign tour of the Brong Ahafo Region ahead of the 2016 general election.

He is expected to tour a number of constituencies in the region with his 'Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana' agenda to woo the electorates to renew his mandate for the second term.

Per the itinerary released to the media by the Brong Ahafo Regional Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dennis Yeboah Twumasi, the President as part of the campaign tour, will pay courtesy calls on some selected chiefs, commission projects and address party supporters at different rallies.

This is the third time President Mahama is taking his campaign to the Brong Region where at the recent NDC manifesto launch, he described as the home of my in laws, because his wife Lordina is a daughter of the region.

He has so far toured all the 10 regions of Ghana, visiting some twice and campaigning vigorously for re-election in the December 7 polls.

Bellow is the itinerary of President Mahama:

DAY 1

(Tuesday October 04, 2016)

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Yeji

*Interaction with traders at Yeji

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Prang

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Basa

*Interaction with Chiefs of the Dwan Traditional Council

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Amantin

*Rally at Amantin

DAY 2

(Wednesday October 05, 2016)

* 2016 National Best Teachers Award, Sunyani

*Courtesy Call on Omanhene of Bechem

*Rally @ Bechem

*Courtesy Call on Omanhene of Duayaw Nkwanta

* Interaction with residents at Duayaw Nkwanta

*Interaction with Chiefs and People of Abesim

DAY 3

(Thursday October 06, 2016)

*Durbar & Inauguration of Community Day SHS @ New Longoro, Kintampo North

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Jema

* Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Busunya

*Durbar & Inauguration of Krobo Community Day SHS, Techiman North

*Courtesy call on Techiman Omanhene

*Rally @ Techima

DAY 4

(Friday October 07, 2016)

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Nkwabeng, Nkoranza South

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Wenchi

*Courtesy call on Nsawkaw Traditional Council

*Rally @Nsawkaw

*Whistle stop- Sampa

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Drobo

DAY 5

(Saturday October 08, 2016)

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Dormaa Akwamu

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Amasu

*Courtesy call on Omanhene of Mim

*Rally @ Mim

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Kenyasi

*Departure from B/A

..Signed

By: Awudu Mahama/ghelections.com/Ghana
NPP Parliamentary candidate for Awutu Senya West, George Andah, says the erection of giant billboards by the governing NDC exposes the false claims about the President's achievements.

He said if the government's achievements are so tangible as it often touts, why the governing National Democratic Congress spending odious amounts of money erecting massive billboards to market its presidential candidate, John Mahama.

Why are the president's much-touted good works not enough to speak for him in the election, he asked.

He was commenting on why the New Patriotic Party has very few billboards in town compared to the NDC and compared to what it did in the 2008 election when it was in power.

Although he does not discount the contribution billboards could make to his party's success in the December polls, the former Marketing Communications guru said a lot more can be done to sway voters to the camp of the NPP.

There is a strategy for everything, billboards will come. We are a party in opposition and we have to be extremely sensitive to the feelings of Ghanaians, he told Joy FMs Super Morning Show host Nhyira Addo.

The show was discussing an article written by Joy News Manasseh Azure Awuni. In the article Where are the NPP billboards?, Manasseh wondered why the NPP seems to be lagging behind with the display of huge billboards like it did in 2008.

President Mahamas billboard at the Fiesta Royale Traffic light at Dzorwulu junction

The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the other hand, as seen in Manassehs article, is well represented with big billboards with pictures of President Mahama and its respective parliamentary candidates.

The photographs were taken in the central regional capital, Cape Coast and Accra. Manasseh believes the NDC billboards, which are huge and in the face of the electorate, give the party more visibility that the NPP.

But Mr Andah disagrees. He was of the view that a huge billboard is a waste of time if it is not backed with massive ground work.

You cannot take just one element of the marketing mix and assume that because the brand is not focusing on billboards then it means that the total marketing communication is not working.

Everywhere that we go Ghanaians are complaining to us that they do not have jobs, they are complaining about infrastructure. What impact do these billboards splashed in the face of the voter necessarily have on the decision of the target, he queried.

NPP billboard of its flagbearer with the Ayawaso Central parliamentary candidate, Henry Quartey at Alajo Junction

He said the NPP, as stipulated by its campaign manager Peter McManu, has put in place a strategy that seeks to reach the people on the grounds.

That is a message that has direct contact with the electorates, he said, insisting it cannot be assumed that merely because there are no billboards of the NPP, the message is not being sold or received.

There are different strategies for different brands at different times. There are different ways beyond billboards to create awareness and to drive connection of a message and currently, the school of thought is that there must be a balance between the big out there in your face communication and then the subtle personalized engagement, he stressed.

He wondered why the Mahama-led administration is spending so much on billboards when they claim they have improved the lives of Ghanaians.

To him, it smacks of opulence for a government that seems to be doing well when people are in poverty...If the people know that you have affected their lives what is the reason in spending so much money on billboards?

"It doesn't make sense and for me as a marketer, there is a total disconnect between the message and the execution that is happening on the ground as far as the NDC is concerned," he stressed.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
SSP (www.SSP-Worldwide.com), a leading global provider of general insurance technology systems and solutions, continues to expand its African insurer customer base, and is delighted to announce one go-live and four new deals so far in 2016. These are delivered and supported by SSP 's South African operations, demonstrating the company's continued commitment to serving the needs of the African insurance market.

In all cases, SSP has provided a new strategic solution based on SSP Pure Insurance, a flexible end-to-end core insurance system for all lines of business, with a fully integrated broker portal that supports full-cycle trading. This provides a single solution for policy administration, claims management, finance, reinsurance and product configuration, with support for e-trading across the broker community.

The mix of deals includes one existing customer migrating from their current SSP system to the new strategic solution, one returning client and three new customers, across Zimbabwe and Kenya.

SSP now works with three out of the top five insurers in Zimbabwe based on assets and four out of the top eight in terms of GWP.

One of the new customers is Resolution, a top 10 Kenyan insurer. Having begun life as a health insurer, Resolution has now adopted SSP Pure Insurance for its move into the general insurance market. This new technology, coupled with backing from a private equity firm, has enabled Resolution to forecast 25% annual compound growth for the next five years.

SSP is the partner we have chosen for the next stage of our strategic growth based on the depth of functionality available in the solution and its self-service capabilities, says Alice Mwai, Managing Director at Resolution Insurance.

Steve Lathrope, Chief Customer Officer at SSP, says, These deals demonstrate SSPs progress in the African market, and that we are committed to offering insurers in the region the rich, broad functionality required to deliver their growth and efficiency plans.

"As SSP continues to make significant investments in its systems and solutions, we offer existing and new customers the right product in the right place, enabling them to be competitive in their markets."
04.10.2016 LISTEN

When citizens leave their respective homes in search of jobs that they could be gainfully employed, their hope and aspiration often hit the bricks wall, given that many of the jobs governments across the country advertise that they have created are nowhere to be found.

This brings a statement made by Steve Jobs into focus, which is: Details matter, it's worth waiting to get it right. Without mincing word, the residents of Rivers State are waiting to see the 10, 000 jobs promised by the Rivers State Governor, Barr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, which he said are especially for the youths.

Represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Chukwuemeka Woke, while marking the coronation and prayer in admiration of Chief Mike Elechi as Obua Weze in Elele, Ikwerre local government area, Wike said that the 10,000 jobs would be created with the expansion of Resonpalm Oil Plantation in Ubima.

Wike detailed that the jobs would be through agriculture. In the voice of Wike through a statement by Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, the governors Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Aside the development of infrastructure across the state, we are working with private investors to create 10,000 jobs through key agriculture projects.

We believe that this is not a time for rhetoric. The 10,000 jobs if truly given to the people would help alleviate the vast dearth of job opportunities in the state. This is said because the Supreme Court had said that Wike was the better leader chosen by the electorates in the state, so he should not disappoint.

While we are waiting for the 10,000 jobs, the state needs more than that. However, it will be essential that Wike established those jobs on ground rather than making them media establishments. Nigerians know that minimum wage of workers in the country is always zero. And so, while creating jobs is good, it will be better if the take home of workers in Rivers State is enhanced.

We were fed up with the successive governments in the state who made the people to see them as money driven and the common man in the street was not identified in truth and honest. Many people are looking up to Wike as a peacemaker and to be one who unites, not divides. Many families in Rivers State are today losing their families to poverty and we want a governor who will not only bail out companies and parastatals but also these families and individuals whose only future is founded on hope which is elusive.

Making a good governor or leader is up to self. In an article of Friday, 16 Oct 2015, John W. Schoen, CNBC.com Economics Reporter, diagnosed the different campaigns rhetoric by the Democrats and Republicans in the USA.

In that verdict, Schoen said, "The Republicans believe that if you lower taxes  especially on business  they'll create more jobs and by creating more jobs they'll create more income," said private economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Advisors. "The Democrats think the problem isn't necessarily jobs  and the only way you get wages to rise is by forcing wages up, through support of union actions or minimum wages."

We found out from Schoen that the politicians do not live to their promises once they are elected with checks revealing that in the last 40 years, some 350 governors who have served in the 50 statehouses in the USA., Republican governors, as a group, engendered higher wages while Democrats have bred more jobs.

Schoen went further to say, Of the roughly 64 million jobs created throughout the country since January 1976, more than half have been created on a Democratic governor's watch. During periods when Republicans occupied a state's governor's mansions, overall wages posted bigger gains, in total, than the periods when Democratic governors were in office.

In spite of that, we have had some leaders in Rivers State who funded schools but allowed education and reading to totter. Wike should know that his integrity is standing on a test-tube of time being valued by the words he says and by the confidence he reposes on the people in truth and in spirit.

We know that Wike is a very intelligent person. We want him to make democracy to reign over the incessant war that the opposition All Progressives (APC) in the state wants from him. We believe that Wike, having passed through stages of life that were not rosy and cozy, he will not allow the residents of Rivers State to grumble.

The world is getting very difficult by the day and workers who do not show mettle in their work places do not get along with the people. This is applicable to leaders! People are expecting the best from Wike because he has shown some competence. Much is expected from a competent worker.

If Wike, perhaps, is yet to come to terms with the qualities expected of a governor in term of job creation, Alain de Botton's "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work" may help. The author asks a salient question, When does a job feel meaningful?

Botton later gives the answer, saying, Whenever it allows us to generate delight or reduce suffering in others. Though, we are often taught to think of ourselves as inherently selfish, the longing to act meaningfully in our work seems just as stubborn a part of our make-up as our appetite for status or money.

It is because we are meaning-focused animals rather than simply materialistic ones that we can reasonably contemplate surrendering security for a career helping to bring drinking water to rural Malawi or might quit a job in consumer goods for one in cardiac nursing, aware that when it comes to improving the human condition a well-controlled defibrillator has the edge over even the finest biscuit.

Wike should not be under any pressure to give people hope that he will not fulfill later. The residents of Rivers State need countless job opportunities. They need libraries, not amouries; they need not chaos, but peace; discrimination is not in their diary, but tolerance; they want lawlessness to be hounded away, not justice; they do not need secrecy, but transparency and among all, they do not need hypocrisy, but fairness.

Odimegwu Onwumere is the Coordinator, Concerned Non-Indigenes In Rivers State (CONIRIV). Tel: 08057778358. Email: [email protected]


L'Oreal West Africa has refurbished the hair training academy of the Mampong Demonstration School for the Deaf as part of its corporate social responsibility activity dubbed 'Citizens Day'.

The centre which was built by L'Oreal West Africa in 2009 to train pupils of the school in hair care and barbering saw a replacement of hair dryers, installation of new salon hair sinks, provision of swivel chairs and two hair care sterilisers, repairs of ceiling and roofing, painting, and landscaping at the school and presentation of hair care products.

L'Oreal West Africa also provided the school with some of its well renowned beauty products from Dark & Lovely, Maybelline New York, Blue Ice, amongst others.

Students and trainers were also given refresher courses in new trends of hair dressing and braids management using Dark & Lovely relaxers and braids and weaves products.

Speaking at the unveiling of the refurbished facility, Sekou Coulibaly, General Manager of L'Oreal West Africa, said the days when physically challenged persons were considered as a liability in the society were quickly passing as more and more people living with physical disabilities in Ghana continue to confound expectations by excelling at their chosen crafts.

He said society has a role to play in ensuring that people living with physical disabilities are empowered to pursue their personal goals and dreams without barriers, thus, calling on corporate institutions to take on the challenge of providing sustainable support for physically challenged persons through the creation of more capacity building ventures to help them become financially independent.

Corporate institutions can continue to play a role in empowering the physically challenged not just by making one off donations but by demonstrating a commitment to sustainable long-term support, he said

Mr Coulibaly assured the school of L'Oreal West Africa's commitment to providing refresher courses for the vocational teachers in modern hair trends.

The management of the Mampong School for the Deaf expressed profound thanks to the entire staff of L'Oreal West Africa for the project that L'Oreal West Africa had initiated and returned to maintain.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEAs) Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE) under the auspices of the Association of African Universities (AAU) has started a series of Webinars facilitated by TEDxAccra.

The third Webinar in the series is slated to take off on (the) 6th October 2016 at 12:00 GMT. The topic for discussion is Financing Model for Higher Education in Africa.

Peter A. Okebukola a professor of science and computer education at Lagos State University will be facilitating this session.

The purpose of these Webinars is to address pertinent issues pertaining to higher education in Africa. The presentations are geared towards achieving the major interventions and aspirations enshrined in the international and continental agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Continental Education Strategy (CESA 2016-2025), African Unions Agenda 2063 and the Science Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024).

It is hard to controvert the importance of funding in bolstering the delivery of quality higher education in Africa (Okebukola, 2010; 2015). Sadly, over the last ten years, there has been a dwindling in the availability of funds to run the operations of most African universities. The reaction of the higher education community to the depressed funding has been varied. Some managers of the system resign to fate and deploy whatever funds that are available to run the university with a resultant lowering of quality. Yet some others are creative in funds mobilisation and are able to keep largely out of budget deficit. In the coming years, with an outlook for a bleak economy for many African countries, it is imperative to build capacity of higher education managers in rising to the challenge of fund inadequacy and for governments to recognise the importance of improved investment in public higher education.

This interactive web seminar will seek to explore sustainable financing models for higher education in Africa.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Register at www.aau.org/webinars Date: 6th October 2016 at 12:00 GMT Webinar will be live streamed on the same link. Make sure you have Adobe flash player installed on your device (computer, phones etc.) Live Tweeting and Event Hashtag Join the conversation following #WGHETalks and share your comments and questions. Follow our webinar via our social media channels:

Webinar Official Twitter handles: @AAU_67 @ADEAnet @TEDxAccraGH

ABOUT

The Association of African Universities (AAU) is an international non-governmental organisation set up by universities in Africa to promote cooperation among themselves and with the international academic community. The core mandate of the AAU is to raise the quality of higher education in Africa and strengthen its contribution to Africas development by fostering collaboration among member institutions; providing support to their core functions of teaching, learning, research and community engagement; and facilitating critical reflection on, and consensus-building around, issues affecting higher education and the development of Africa.

The Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE) was established in 1989 to strengthen collaboration among African governments, development partners, and tertiary education institutions to improve the effectiveness of development assistance. WGHE draws on its extensive knowledge of the education sector to help tertiary institutions in Africa devise creative responses to challenges and promote consensus among governments and development partners around the revitalization of policies and strategies. Participants in WGHE include African higher education institutions, African governments and Ministries of Education, and development partners supporting the revitalization of tertiary education in Africa.

TEDxAccra is a social impact organization where thinkers and doers of our community gather to create and share ideas. We focus on social impact initiatives across Ghana. Our events seek to develop and leverage the TED experience at a community level, bringing together innovative thinkers to connect and discuss great ideas.

THE SPEAKER

Peter A. Okebukola is professor of science and computer education at Lagos State University. He had his higher education at the University of Ibadan where he obtained his Bachelors degree in 1973 followed by Masters and Ph.D degrees in Science Education in the same university. He had specialised science and technology training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and Harvard University, both in Cambridge, USA. He is a Fellow of the Science Association of Nigeria (SAN), Fellow and President of the Nigerian Association for Environmental Education and Fellow and past President of the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN). He is the President of GUNI-Africa. He won the prestigious 1992 UNESCO Prize for the Communication of Science. He has won several international gold medals in science and computer education. He was concurrently the Chairman of Council of four Nigerian universities. He is currently the Chairman of Council of Crawford University, Chairman, Board of Trustees of Caleb University and Executive Chairman, Okebukola Science Foundation. He has been awarded a number of honorary D.Sc degrees. He serves on a number of international organisations as Consultant including UNESCO, UNICEF, The World Bank, African Union, European Union and the UNDP. He is the immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC). He is the recipient of the National Honour of the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic- OFR. He is the current Chairman of the Advisory Council of the CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG). His current research interest is in funding models for African higher education.
MTN Ghana Foundation will be celebrating World Teachers Day on 5thOctober with a social media campaign to reward teachers.

This years World Teachers Day will be celebrated worldwide under the theme Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies, and MTN Ghana Foundation is taking the opportunity to encourage members of the public to recognize teachers who made a positive impact on their lives and reward them.

The general public is being invited to participate in the activity by making submissions on social media describing their best teachers on video or in 50 compelling words. The entries are to be submitted on MTN social media pages (Facebook  MTN Ghana, Instagram - @mtnghana and Twitter - @mtnghana). On Twitter, the general public will be required to describe their favourite teachers and add the hashtag #worldteachersday.

Entries will be shortlisted and winners selected by a panel of judges. MTN will present awards to the top two teachers and their nominators. The two winners will receive a laptop and a 4G modem each and their nominators will receive a Samsung A7 and Huawei P8 Lite device respectively.

The MTN Ghana Foundations support for World Teachers Day celebrations is an initiative to support efforts being made by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to create awareness of the significant role teachers play in education and human development .

Commenting on the celebrations, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor, said, Teachers play a key role in building human capital for national development and in creating a knowledge based society; they play an important role in all aspects of human lives. We must support such initiatives to empower and motivate teachers.

Apart from celebrating World Teachers Day, MTN Foundation has supported members of the teaching profession in diverse ways over the past eight years and has taken several initiatives aimed at motivating and empowering teachers. In 2015, MTN Ghana Foundation launched the Teacher Improvement Award Programme, a scholarship scheme to financially assist teachers who wish to upgrade their education at the first Degree or Masters level. In the maiden edition, 20 teachers were selected, with nine being supported to pursue first degree programs and eleven pursuing Masters Programs. The second edition of the Teacher Improvement Award is currently ongoing and at the shortlisting stage. The Foundation has also supported the National Best Teacher Awards scheme in the past, providing the prize package for the second position from 2007 to 2014.

World Teachers Day takes place every year on October 5 and is celebrated in over 100 countries and spearheaded by the UNESCO. World Teachers Day is celebrated with the aim of highlighting the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels, and to promote international standards for the teaching profession.
Ukraine's largest private energy holding DTEK has signed an agreement with creditor banks on a standstill on payments of liabilities, according to a press release from the holding.

The treaty, in particular, provides for the automatic extension of liabilities to the banks until January 28, 2017.

Under the standstill terms, for the period of negotiations between the holding company and the creditor banks the action of the original conditions on payment obligations is suspended without financial penalties. Instead, the banks by the end of the negotiation process will be paid on a monthly basis 10% of the accrued interest.

In addition, after the signing of the agreement the holding will pay to the banks 10% of the originally accrued interest, as well as make a one-time payment of fee equivalent to 0.25% of the bank loan portfolio.

DTEK expects that the agreement on the terms of long-term debt restructuring will be signed by the end of this year.
LUANDA, Angola, 04 October 2016,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Over the next few days Angola will play host to a series of train-the-trainer (TTT) workshops during the official build-up to SAP Africa Code Week (ACW), taking place in Luanda from 4 to 5 October.

Founded in 2015, ACW is a continent-wide initiative to simplify the face of software coding for Africa's youth. The initiative's objective is to spread digital literacy across the continent and start shaping tomorrow's skilled workforce through hands-on and playful learning. Spearheaded by SAP, world leader in enterprise software, the initiative is supported by hundreds of international partners as well as local Angola partners, including; Cod Cod Codet , the Ministry of Education in Angola , the American Embassy, the French Embassy , Vivre En Angola 's website and community, the LycAe Alioune Blondin Leye , the ONG Mulemba, Instituto Superior Tecnico de Angola (ISTA), The University of Agostinho Neto . Of particular interest is the collaboration with the school Dom Bosco , an innovative, adaptive programme working with young disadvantaged children living in urban areas in Luanda.

Last year's ACW event saw more than 89,000 youngsters across 17 African countries introduced to software coding within a mere ten days - four times the initial goal. The aim for 2016 is to double that, reaching a minimum of 150,000 youth across 30 African countries - with Angola having its first code experience of ACW.

This week's TTT workshops will provide a platform for the transfer of skills and knowledge from 'Master Instructors' to local parents, teachers and educators, enabling them to become the next expert coding teachers who can train potential students in their communities. Aimed at local school teachers, the TTT workshops will seek to train hundreds of Angola participants. The objective is to empower as many people as possible, with the long-term goal to empower more than 200,000 teachers reaching in excess of five million children and youth over the next ten years.

TTT workshops will be conducted in Portuguese and will take place in Luanda on Tuesday, 4 October and Wednesday, 5 October at the school Dom Bosco, (cf. Google map here ), in de municipe de Sambizanga. The workshops are open to all school teachers and any other parties interested in becoming part of ACW. Attendees will receive 90 minutes of software coding training based on MIT's Scratch system , a USB with course notes in Portuguese with Scratch pre-loaded and a training certificate upon completion. The objective is for participants to take the skillset back to their communities and host sessions for children during the official ACW event in October 15-23.

For more information and to register for the Train The Trainer Luanda workshops, please contact Fleur-Eve Le Foll, ACW Ambassador in Angola, on [email protected] .

Follow Africa Code Week Angola on Facebook : @AngolaACW

ACW video footage can be found here: http://africacodeweek.org/media/videos/

Follow SAP on Twitter @sapafrica
Children are more than twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty, according to a new analysis from the World Bank Group and UNICEF. Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children finds that in 2013 19.5 per cent of children in developing countries were living in households that survived on an average of US$1.90 a day or less per person, compared to just 9.2 per cent of adults. Globally, almost 385 million children were living in extreme poverty.

Children are disproportionately affected, as they make up around a third of the population studied, but half of the extreme poor. The youngest children are the most at risk  with more than one-fifth of children under the age of five in the developing world living in extremely poor households.

Children are not only more likely to be living in extreme poverty; the effects of poverty are most damaging to children. They are the worst off of the worst off  and the youngest children are the worst off of all, because the deprivations they suffer affect the development of their bodies and their minds, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. It is shocking that half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa and one in five children in developing countries are growing up in extreme poverty. This not only limits their futures, it drags down their societies.

The new analysis comes on the heels of the release of the World Bank Groups new flagship study, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality , which found that some 767 million people globally were living on less than $1.90 per day in 2013, half of them under the age of 18.

The sheer number of children in extreme poverty points to a real need to invest specifically in the early yearsin services such as pre-natal care for pregnant mothers, early childhood development programs, quality schooling, clean water, good sanitation, and universal health care, said Ana Revenga, Senior Director, Poverty and Equity at the World Bank Group. Improving these services, and ensuring that todays children can access quality job opportunities when the time comes, is the only way to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty that is so widespread today.

The global estimate of extreme child poverty is based on data from 89 countries, representing 83 per cent of the developing worlds population.

Sub-Saharan Africa has both the highest rates of children living in extreme poverty at just under 50 per cent, and the largest share of the worlds extremely poor children, at just over 50 per cent. South Asia has the second highest share at nearly 36 per centwith over 30 per cent of extremely poor children living in India alone. More than four out of five children in extreme poverty live in rural areas.

In addition, the report reveals that even at higher thresholds, poverty also affects children disproportionately. About 45 per cent of children are living in households subsisting on less than $3.10 a day per person, compared with nearly 27 per cent of adults.

UNICEF and the World Bank Group are calling on governments to:

Routinely measure child poverty at the national and subnational level and focus on children in national poverty reduction plans as part of efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Strengthen child-sensitive social protection systems, including cash transfer programs that directly help poor families to pay for food, health care, education and other services that protect children from the impact of poverty and improve their chances of breaking the cycle in their own lives.

Prioritize investments in education, health, clean water, sanitation and infrastructure that benefit the poorest children, as well as those that help prevent people from falling back into poverty after setbacks like droughts, disease or economic instability.

Shape policy decisions so that economic growth benefits the poorest children.

UNICEF and the World Bank Group are working with partners to interrupt cycles of poverty and to promote early childhood development - with programs ranging from cash transfers, to nutrition, healthcare and education.

Ethiopia specific information:

- There are 13 million Ethiopian children who live in poor households, 2 million of whom live in extreme poverty.

- Children are more severely affected by poverty (32.4 per cent) and extreme poverty (5.2 per cent) than adults (29.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively).

- The poorest children are found in households whose head is employed in the informal sector. 13.1 per cent of these children live in extreme poverty.
04.10.2016 LISTEN

By Isaac Arkoh, GNA

Assin-Fosu (C/R) Oct 04, GNA - Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has given the assurance that, if given the mandate to govern, they turn the economy around to lift the people out of poverty.

His party's government led by Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo would make sure that Ghana worked for everybody but not a privilege few.

They would keep faith with the people - live up to expectation and were not going to disappoint, he added.

He was speaking to students of the Assin-Fosu College of Education as part of his week-long campaign tour of the Central Region to win over more voters ahead of the December polls.

Dr. Bawumia mocked the Mahama Administration for poor economic performance, which he said, had led to untold hardship and widespread suffering.

'The government proven that it clearly lacks the ability to manage the resources of the nation efficiently to bring development and transform the lives of the people.'

He said the coming election was therefore an opportunity to vote out the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for messing up things.

Dr. Bawumia, an Economist and a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, indicated that the prevailing harsh economic conditions were the result of the massive corruption, wastefulness and the ineptitude of managers of the economy.

He repeated the pledge to move quickly to restore teacher trainee allowances and bring back to life collapsing social intervention programmes introduced by the NPP under President John Agyekum Kufuor.

He had earlier toured a number of communities in the Assin North, Assin Central and Assin South constituencies, where he interacted with the people, to help them to appreciate why they should trust the NPP with their votes.

He was accompanied by the regional party officers and some NPP Members of Parliament (MPs) in the region.

GNA
By Eunice Tekie Tei, GNA

Abetifi (E/R), Oct 04, GNA - The Kwahu East District Chief Executive (DCE), Nana Antwi Siaw, has led a massive clean-up exercise to rid Abetifi, the district capital, of filth.

Workers of the district assembly, joined by chiefs, traders, personnel of the security services and members of the public, cleared garbage from unauthorized disposal points and freed choked gutters of polythene bags and silt.

The exercise was concentrated on the market centre, lorry terminal, community centre and open places.

Nana Siaw reminded the people about the need to maintain clean, safe and healthy environment and said that was the way to go to avoid diseases and significantly cut down visits to the hospital.

Mr. Abraham Duodu, the Deputy District Environmental Officer, described the massive turnout as heart-warming and encouraged the people to keep their surroundings clean. GNA
04.10.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Oct 4, GNA - The Energy Commission has initiated a baseline study towards the review of the Building Code for developers of public buildings to utilise standard energy efficiency architecture and materials to conserve energy.

It is, therefore, working with the Ministry of Works and Housing and other relevant bodies to develop a strategic framework for the attainment of the goals for sustainable national progress.

Mr Kofi Agyarko, the Head of Energy Efficiency Promotion and Climate Change of the Commission, who announced this at a forum with media practitioners, said it was imperative for Ghana to progressively adopt energy conservation choices and lifestyles for the efficient and sustainable use of power.

The forum was to announce the successful execution of the Refrigerator Energy Efficiency Project, in which Ghana saved 400 gigawatts hours of electricity, 1.1 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide and recovered 1,500 kilogrammes of Chlorofluorocarbon over the three-year period, with other major benefits.

Mr Agyarko said the current trend of high rise buildings being encased in anything glass, thus necessitating the resort to too many air conditioners with the attendant rise in energy consumption would be tackled in the Commission's next project.

'Instead of using, for instance, doubled glazed glass, which has air within it and thus can repel heat, developers are using cheaper options, which rather attract heat into their buildings and lead to the demand for expensive cooling appliances,' he said.

He explained that even in advanced countries where power generation was at its peak, energy conservation practices and enforcement were not taken for granted, less Ghana, which could not meet its demand for electricity, which grew by seven per cent annually.

Mr Agyarko said the Commission would extend the standards and regulations to the real estate sector on the successful implementation of the Public Building Project, explaining that tackling problems in phases allowed for easy management and enforcement.

On the achievements of the Refrigerator Project, Mr Agyarko said Ghana now had an assembling plant in the free zones area for manufacturing energy efficient refrigerators as well as a refrigerating testing laboratory at the Ghana Standards Authority, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Under the Rebate and Exchange Scheme, 10,000 used and inefficient fridges in homes were replaced with new energy efficient ones, with their annual average refrigerator consumption dropping from 1,200kilowatt hours to 385kWh.

The project, however, sought to replace 15,000 appliances within the period.

Mr Agyarko said all appliances on the markets, however, had been affixed with a yellow label, giving the model, manufacturers name or trade mark, annual electricity consumption, energy efficiency star rating, type of refrigerant and climate class.

Additionally, 30,000 illegally imported refrigerating appliances were confiscated and dismantled during the period.

On the challenges of transforming the refrigerating market from used and inefficient ones to new and efficient ones, Mr Agyarko said some importers tried to use sophisticated means, including the guise of diplomatic cargo to perpetuate their trade.

'Some of us were even targeted for extermination, so it has been tough, but I am glad that we have succeeded in making savings both economically and environmentally,' he said.

He urged the public to be vigilant and report any fake labels or suspicious appliances on the market to the Commission to ensure the sustainability of the achievements.

Under the Global Environment Fund, the United Nations Development Programme contributed USD2.1 million, while the Government paid USD1.0 million for the implementation of the project, which started in 2012. GNA
The Regent of the Great Dagbon Kingdom and the Acting President of the Dagbon Traditional Council has expressed sympathy and condolence to the bereaved family of the late Dr Choggu David Abdulai.

Kampakuya-Na Andani Yakubu Abdulai said the people of Dagbon are mourning with the family and workers of the Shekinah Clinic in their difficult period of grief.

In a statement released Monday, a day after the passing of the late philanthropic doctor, the regent said news of the passing was "received with much pain, shock and grief in the Dagbon Kingdom. His untimely death is a great loss to his family, Dagbon, Northern Region and Ghana as a whole."

"He lived a full and fulfilled life worthy of celebrating and we are grateful to Almighty God for the gift of his life and contributions to humanity as a philanthropist who devoted his entire life and everything to provide medical care and food for the sick, mentally ill and poor persons. He gave them hope to continue living," the statement said.

The family of medical philanthropist, Dr Choggu David Abdulai, has confirmed his death to Joy News, Monday.

A family member said he passed on Sunday evening at about 7 p.m. at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) where he was receiving medical attention.

Dr David Abdulai who was battling stage-4 thyroid cancer was in May this year reported needing urgent financial assistance to take care of his medical expenses as his condition was fast deteriorating.

On the orders of President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, August 10, 2016, he was airlifted to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

He called on the chiefs, elders, citizens of Dagbon and Ghanaians to join the family to celebrate the life and good works of Dr David Abdulai who has secured a place in history as a great humanitarian and philanthropist of his time.

"I pray for the entire family, widow and children to have the strength to endure the pain of losing a very great, special and loved person as Dr David Abdulai," he said.

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com
From Alfred Adams, Takoradi

The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) desperation to retain power has got to New Takoradi in the Western Region, where the Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Isaac Adjei-Mensah and the Director of Communications of the party, Solomon Nkansah, on the matter of the commencement of road constructions in the area, have presented conflicting accounts.

The drama occurred on the same platform over the weekend, when the two politicians mounted the podium to address supporters and residents of the area at the constituencys campaign launch.

When Mr Adjei-Mensah had his turn, he told the gathering that the contract for the construction and asphalting of the road from the New-Takoradi Roundabout to the main township had been awarded to Justmoh, a construction firm.

As a result, he said the contractor would in two weeks time, from 27th September, be on the project site to begin work, a confession which attracted laud applause from the supporters and residents who had long complained about the poor road network.

However, the joy of the gathering was short-lived when Mr Solomon Nkansah was handed the microphone and he told them in plain language that what they had heard earlier was untrue.

The man, who last week urged the people of the same area to stowaway for greener pastures, boastfully claimed that as someone who took daily briefings from cabinet, he was better placed to tell them when the road would be constructed.

Mr Nkansah said although the road project would go on as said by the Roads and Highways Deputy Minister, it would not be undertaken by Justmoh Construction, neither would it begin in two weeks.

His explanation was that the project in question was within the ambit of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) Expansion Project, which meant it was the responsibility and concern of the GPHA.

The Director of Communications further explained that the cost of the road project had been factored into the port expansion project.

This rendered the people of New Takoradi completely lost, because they did not know who to believe.
From Inusa Musah, Ningo

Ghana's famous Hi-life artiste, Lucky Mensah, says Ghanaians will wail economically should they give President Mahama and his government another four years, after demonstrating their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in incompetence and lies.

He explained that the incompetence and lies of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were immeasurable and incomparable, adding that it was no wonder that they had clearly shown it in their last eight years.

Lucky Mensah said: I am glad I have come to know them and what elements they are made of and so I quietly disconnected myself from them.

Lucky Mensah was speaking to supporters of the NPP at Ningo-Prampram, where Mr Sylvester Tetteh, the parliamentary candidate was officially outdoored.

Mr. Tetteh had earlier filed his nomination forms at the district Electoral office to contest the Ningo-Prampram constituency election on the ticket of NPP.

Receiving thunderous cheers from the large supporters, Lucky Mensah said before the NDC won power in 2008, its leaders held diplomas in lies but Ghanaians did not know it.

They quickly obtained their PhD when we gave them our votes and since 2009, the NDC should tell us what single thing they have been able to manage.

The NDC's incompetence and lies have agitated public sector workers to continue to demand their salaries or provision of logistics to enhance their operations.

He said the economic hardship in Ghana was another evidence of the NDC's PhD in incompetence, yet they will tell us there is economic growth they do not go to the market with us so they say what they have mastered infamily economic lies.

Lucky Mensah said Ghana would be plunged into another period of erratic power supply should they mistakenly vote President Mahama and the NDC. The erratic power supply, he said, was not totally over.

He said an NPP government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, with support from a brainy team of Members of Parliament (MP), including Sylvester Tetteh, would get Ghana working.

Nana Addo's government, Lucky Mensah indicated, would restore any allowances the NDC government had cancelled and make import charges on goods cheaper.

Sylvester Tetteh, on his part, told the crowd that the NPP should not succumb to the intimidations of the NDC, going into the December 7 elections.

He said any development Ningo-Prampram could boast of was provided under the tenure of the NPP government and we are all witnesses to the fact that the NDC cannot touch on anything they have done in Ningo.

He called on the electorate to vote out the NDC and President John Mahama for neglecting Ningos and plunging Ghanaians into abject poverty.

He said: Your massive turn out to my official out-dooring gives me the hope and confidence that the roadmap to change has begun for Nana Addo and me.

Sylvester Tetteh said Nana Addo and the NPP would give Ghanaians selfless leadership and strong economic policies that would see Ghanaians living happier as they did when John Agyekum Kufuor was president.

The NPP will revive all the dead social intervention programmes the NPP started, which this NDC government has supervised their collapse, Sylvester Tetteh said.

He said he would soon launch his campaign.


A new group with a focus on enhancing the financial performance of businesses which will impact the economic growth of Ghana has been launched in Accra.

The group, Regulus CFO Forum, comprises of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), Financial Controllers (FCs) and Financial Directors (FDs) of companies with businesses in the various sectors of development.

The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Honorable Mona Quartey who officially launched the group as the guest speaker, expressed that the Regulus CFO Forum is the first of its kind as a function focused business professional group in Ghana whose great value cannot be overstated.

She further stated the need for professional groups to emulate the example of Regulus CFO Forum, as well as encouraged participants and members of the forum to continue to stay focused in their activities for the benefit of their various businesses and Ghana.

In a welcome address, the President and Founder of group, Mr. Hitesh Makhija said Finance officers are important leaders in making sure that businesses run successfully, and the thought of creating this forum first occurred to me when I realized the absence of a common platform wherein CFOs can discuss challenges, opportunities and strategies.

According to him, Regulus CFO Forum is aimed at managing an interactive financial executive networking group that will empower its members in Ghana and beyond. This forum will enhance the performance of CFOs through meetings, ground breaking discussions and conferences, as well as also provide immense value to its members through multiple trainings and create mentorship opportunities for new members, he added.

Mr. Makhija, who is also the current Cluster Finance Controller- Ghana &MBTN (WAF3) at Olam Ghana, explained that the theme for the maiden session: "The CFOs Role in Todays Digital Economy, was preferred due to the fact that the gap between the digital economy and the financial space was narrowing, hence, the need for finance officers to embrace the digital age to maximize their performance and results.

The forum which was mainly sponsored by Access Bank Ghana had two (2) sessions with interactive discussions on the topics: Managing Financial Risks in Todays Digital Economy and Measuring and Monitoring Key Value Drivers in Todays Digital Economy.

Participants included CFOs and FDs from PZ Cussons Ghana, Allterrain Services, SBC Beverages (Pepsi Bottlers), Stallion Group, Beiersdorf Ghana Limited, Mohinani Group, Japan Motors, Vodafone.

The remaining are Access Bank, Interplast Limited, Expro International Group, Focos Orthopedic Hospital, Right Holdings Limited, Predictive Excellence and Invest Corporation.
Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani, the President of Groupe Ideal, a leading financial institution in Ghana has cautioned loan applicants to desist from using fake and fraudulent documents with the intention of duping financial institutions or will be made to face the law when caught.

The Groupe President, Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani made this statement in an address to the media on the high incidence of the use of fraudulent documents by imposters in their attempt to access loans from financial institutions.

He mentioned that the Ghanaian financial services industry has faced an increased risk of exposure to these imposters on the issue of fake documents for loans. This he said does not boost investor confidence, dents the image of players in the industry and affects the economy as a whole.

At Ideal, we go through rigorous processes to ascertain the authenticity of documents submitted by loan applicants before a loan is processed. In the case where documents turn out to be fake and fraudulent, the culprits are handed over to the police, to press criminal charges against them Dr. Kotei Dzani noted.

As an institution, we have measures put in place to deter perpetrators and avoid such acts from happening. This we believe have gone a long way to strengthen the ties between the company and its customers.

Dr. Kotei Dzani cited one such unscrupulous person (Senanu Tsikata of Global Pot Company). Mr Tsikata, an impostor, tried defrauding Ideal Finance using deceitful and forged documents to apply for a loan facility. In the case of Mr Tsikata, all documents presented by him (Bank Statements and Land Documents) were found to be fake, after the loan was approved and a Credit Facility Agreement duly executed. He was later rounded up and handed over to the police for attempting to defraud the company.

The President of Groupe Ideal explained, that Ideal Finance Limited has a loan disbursement policy that governs the institution. He stressed that in the instance where a loan is declined as a result of fake or forged document, any processing fee paid by the supposed applicant (fraudster) is non-refundable, since the company will have fulfilled its part of the bargain. These are in full compliance with the regulations as far as our loan policy is concerned.

As a business, we have to safeguard both the short- and long-term needs of our clients. In so doing we rely on the collaterals provided by applicants as security against loans disbursed noted Dr. Dzani. Being an established and credible institution licensed by the Bank of Ghana, we have an obligation to ensure, that the industry gets rid of such perfidious characters.

He said financial institutions put in a lot of efforts to ensure that the needs of credible customers are met.

While assuring existing and potential customers of Ideal Finances commitment to serving their utmost interest, Dr. Dzani entreated all well-meaning Ghanaians to join the crusade to weed out the bad nuts and bring sanity into the financial system.
Memo with IMF allows state recapitalization of banks by UAH 151.7 bln in H2, 2016, UAH 42 bln in 2017

The Ukrainian government could in the second half of 2016 issue bonds for capitalization of banks or financing the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund with their subsequent monetization by the National Bank in the amount of up to UAH 151.7 billion and in 2017 for up to UAH 42 billion.

According to the memorandum of the economic and financial policy of Ukraine within the second review under the EFF program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), UAH 14.3 billion was allocated for these purposes in the first half of this year.

The IMF said in 2014 funding under this article amounted to UAH 26.7 billion, and in 2015 some UAH 45.3 billion was issued with the set amount being UAH 152 billion.

It is expected that in 2017 government funding for recapitalization of banks in the first quarter of 2017 will be in the range of UAH 6 billion, while the figure in the first half of the year will amount to UAH 12 billion.

According to financial market experts, the ceiling amount of budget spending on bank capitalization for 2015 and 2016 was calculated with the possibility of recapitalization of Ukraine's largest PrivatBank (Dnipro).
EDINBURGH, United Kingdom, 04 October 2016,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Some 200 African students will benefit from the chance to study at a leading university, thanks to a new package of scholarships.

The University of Edinburgh's partnership with The MasterCard Foundation will allocate $27 million over seven years. It will ensure access to education for bright young leaders who have a personal commitment to changing the world around them and improving the lives of others.

Full scholarships will be offered to 80 undergraduate and 120 postgraduate African students. The initiative will enable Edinburgh to offer opportunities to the brightest and best African Scholars.

Munini Musembi, from Nairobi, Kenya, is one of the first undergraduate recipients. Munini will take her first steps in further education and shortly begin studying mechanical engineering at Edinburgh.

Munini said: "I was so elated when I received The MasterCard Foundation scholarship to study in Edinburgh. This will be an enlightening experience for us as the first cohort of MasterCard Foundation Scholars. I hope that our experiences will also benefit future Scholars at the University. It was a long process to get here, but I am very grateful for the opportunity."

The University will work with partners to recruit talented Scholars with great potential but who face significant financial barriers to entry in higher education.

Students will receive comprehensive support to remove barriers to study in Edinburgh.

They will benefit from dynamic extra-curricular course elements including summer schools and internships. These will help them to develop their abilities and make a difference to their countries and communities when they return home.

Africa is experiencing huge youth population growth as economic and employment growth stagnates. The University hopes to educate a new generation of African leaders who will create opportunities for others.

To date, the Scholars Program has committed over US $700 million to support the education and leadership development of over 30,000 young people. Edinburgh is the first university in Europe to collaborate with The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program.

The announcement comes as part of the University of Edinburgh's Africa Week - a series of events from 3-7 October - highlighting the University's partnerships and research in Africa.

The University of Edinburgh is committed to expanding access for students from around the world.

Edinburgh welcomed 583 students from 33 African countries last year. The University's largest cohorts in 2015/16 included 124 students from Nigeria, 117 students from South Africa and 76 students from Kenya.

The University is engaged in multi-disciplinary research relating to Africa through Edinburgh's four Global Academies - Development, Health, Justice, Environment and Society.

Edinburgh's Centre of African Studies is a world leader of research on Africa and the largest research hub of its kind in Europe.

Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, said: "We welcome the University of Edinburgh, our first European partner in the Scholars Program. We are excited to work with a visionary partner who shares our commitment to ensuring that all young people, no matter their starting point in life, should have an equal chance to a quality education and pursue their aspirations. I know that the University of Edinburgh will be a tremendous resource in equipping Scholars with the knowledge and skills they need to lead their communities."

Professor James Smith, the University of Edinburgh's Vice-Principal International, said: "The University shares the Foundation's vision of positive social and economic change through educational opportunities for promising African students."

"The partnership builds on Edinburgh's long history of African engagement. Julius Nyerere and Dawda Jawara - who led Tanzania and the Gambia to independence - studied at Edinburgh, as did two Presidents of South Africa's African National Congress party.

"Our partnership with The MasterCard Foundation will ensure that the University of Edinburgh's legacy of educating Africans who helped to shape their countries and indeed their continent, will continue."

The Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea, said: "This visionary gift shows the extraordinary global impact philanthropy can have. We understand the transformative power of education and the value of a truly diverse, international campus."

"Together with The MasterCard Foundation and other generous donors, the University of Edinburgh will continue to widen access to education to the most deserving students world-wide."
From Alfred Adams, Essiama

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has assured the top hierarchy, including President John Mahama, and massive followers of the party that he would increase the difference in votes between him and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate by 16,000, to ensure massive victory for the party.

In our first term, we were able to win the election by beating the NPP by 1,400 difference. In the second term, we beat them by almost 8,000, votes. Our target in this election is to increase our votes to 16,000, and that is our goal, Emmanuel Armah Buah, who is also the Minister for Petroleum, said this last Thursday, when he filed his nomination papers to contest as parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the ruling NDC in this year's general elections.

This is the third term Emmanuel Buah is seeking to represent the people of Ellembelle on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He shot himself into the limelight in 2008, when he shockingly defeated Mr Freddie Blay, the then MP and currently the acting National Chairman of the NPP.

The filing took place at the District Electoral Commission Office at Nkroful amid musical and dance displays from supporters who thronged the place. They were clad in branded NDC paraphernalia and the MP's T-shirts to give their unflinching support to the man, seen as icon who has helped to transform Ellembelle.

Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, addressing the teeming supporters after filing his papers, told them that the major projects the government had brought to the constituency had turned Ellembelle into an oil and gas hub, and that there was the need to let it reflect in this year's general elections.

Emmanuel Buah said though a lot of work, such as the extension of electricity to remote areas and towns, building of new schools, improvement in education in the district, improvement in health by the provision of CHPS compounds in remote areas, construction of the Esiama-Nkroful road, and many other achievements, there was still more to be done.

The Petroleum Minister, who is also the Western Regional Coordinator for John Mahama, urged party supporters to reach out to floating voters and other political parties, in order to convince them that the NDC was the best government to spearhead the development of Ghana.

If you love the NDC and you mean it, and you want the NDC to win, the only way you can give meaning to that is to spend at least 3 hours every day, working to make sure we win this election, he stressed.

As a result, he urged them to reach every community, every village and every household, explaining the agenda of transforming Ghana and Changing Lives to the people.

As the Western Regional NDC Campaign Coordinator, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah pointed out that strategies had been put in place to ensure that the region votes massively for the NDC, and that all the four zones in the Western Region were being coordinated well.

I am very confident we will deliver the Western Region massively for President John Dramani Mahama, he said.
04.10.2016 LISTEN

Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is on record to have called on supporters of the party to desist from the act of insulting the vice presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

The NDC Chief Scribe called on the party supporters to rather pray for the NPPs finest economist to join the ruling party.

According to Mr. Asiedu Nketia, Dr. Bawumia could be a good person, who, unfortunately, might have found himself in a bad political party.

Hear him; Our brother Bawumia may not be a bad person. The problem is not with Bawumia himself, he may be a good person in a bad company. And let me tell you what, he is behaving like a tadpole in the same pond with tilapia fingerings.

Very soon, with the passage of time, he will lose his tail, and the legs will start forming, and he will see that the tilapia is not his brother; he will see that the pond is not his family pond.

Asiedu Nketia made the shocking revelation when he was addressing a large NDC crowd at the official campaign launch of the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini.

To cap it all, Mr. Asiedu Nketia encouraged all supporters of the NDC to pray fervently for Dr. Bawumia to join the NDC, where he truly belongs.

The Chronicle is flabbergasted about the way and manner the NDC General Secretary, who is on record to have lambasted Dr. Bawumia several times over his comments on how the Mahama-led administration is conducting affairs of the economy, has all of a sudden hit a U-turn to pretend to have fallen in love with the NPP running mate.

Five months ago, NDC communicators descended heavily on Dr. Bawumia over comments he made to the effect that there was religious imbalance at the Flagstaff House, and that an NPP administration would correct that when it wins power in December.

Addressing supporters of the NPP in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, Dr. Bawumia said; We are in this country living peacefully and nicely  Christians and Muslims. So we believe in the NPP that Christians and Muslims should work together, and that is why whenever we pick a flagbearer as a Christian, we pick a Muslim as a vice.

The National Executive Council of Zongo for the NDC joined the party's communicators and condemned Dr. Bawumia's remarks  what they termed as divisive, dangerous, reckless and highly unfortunate comments about the so-called religious imbalance at the Flagstaff House.

Also, on March 24, 2016, after delivering a paper at the Central University College on the theme The IMF Bailout: Will the Anchor Hold?, NDC communicators whitewashed the brilliant economist and called him all kinds of names.

His crime was that he (Dr. Bawumia) had called on Ghanaians to kick out the Mahama-led NDC, and replace it with a government which has good economic policies and management, coupled with incorruptible leadership to restore Ghana's economic fortunes.

Recently, Thursday September 8, 2016, when the former deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) delivered a lecture on the true state of the Ghanaian economy, hell practically broke loose, as NDC communicators and the Chief Scribe pounced on him and tore him apart.

The NDC apparatchiks did not spare Dr. Bawumia, and have, over the last few years, referred to him as throwing dust in the eyes of Ghanaians with his lies on Ghana's economic issues.

It is, therefore, amazing that all of a sudden, the General Mosquito could turn around and call on NDC supporters to pray for Dr. Bawumia to come back home, where he really belongs, which is the NDC.

Has General Mosquito now realised the huge potential imbibed in the young, handsome and intelligent running mate, and is now calling him to come back home, or is it an attempt to court the excellent economist into the NDC?

The Chronicle is advising the leadership of the ruling party and their communicators to use this as a very important lesson, and desist from the attitude where they would insult anybody who criticises their style of administration.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United Nations peacekeeping chief on Tuesday urged Sudan to shed light on allegations of chemical weapons attacks in Darfur, but Russia said the claims must not be taken seriously.

Herve Ladsous said he was "very alarmed" by an Amnesty International report that accused Sudanese government forces of carrying out more than 30 chemical attacks this year in villages of Darfur's Jebel Marra region.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in response to the report released last week that it would require further information and evidence to push ahead with a formal investigation.

Ladsous told the Security Council that Khartoum -- which has signed the Chemical Weapons Convention -- should "maintain full cooperation with any future OPCW investigation, as it has expressed readiness to do so."

Amnesty said that between 200 and 250 people including many children may have died as a result of exposure to chemical agents during the attacks.

France and Britain have said the allegations should be thoroughly investigated, but Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the report was unconvincing.

"Those allegations are not serious. There are so many reasons to believe they are not serious," Churkin told reporters.

Ladsous stressed that the United Nations had no evidence of the use of such weapons but that its peacekeepers from the UNAMID joint mission with the African Union had been barred from traveling to those areas to verify the reports.

The peacekeeping chief said UNAMID had once again asked the Sudanese government for access to the mountainous villages where the chemical attacks allegedly took place.

Following a closed-door meeting on Darfur, the Russian ambassador said the council "wouldn't mind" if the OPCW decided to open a formal investigation.

Churkin, whose country holds the council presidency this month, said a team from UNAMID could also be dispatched to the area and could "come to the conclusion that those reports were not accurate."

Up to 194,000 people have been displaced in Jebel Marra since mid-January when the Sudanese army launched a military campaign against the rebel Sudan Liberation Army - Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW) group, the United Nations says.

Darfur has been engulfed in a conflict since 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against President Omar al-Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency.

At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced, the United Nations says.
Nigerian lawmaker and business magnate, Ben Murray-Bruce, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to follow the footsteps of Ghana in prioritizing education and banning the importation of rice.

According to him, a ban on rice importation would save the Nigerian economy a whopping #2.3 billion ($75million) and boost the production of local rice.

Mr. Murray-Bruce whos the founder and co-owner of Silverbird Group in a video posted on his Facebook page on Monday titled: Common Sense Series argued that Ghana has been able to attract many Nigerian students to its tertiary institutions because the government invested in education rather than food, unlike Nigeria who rather prioritized spending billions of naira on importation of rice.

He stressed, Nigerian parents spend $1 billion educating their children in Ghana. The reason for that is because we are not investing in our education sector to keep pace with our population growth. I spend time in Ghana; I have employees and businesses there; I have friends there.

What I find interesting is that the foreign rice we like so much in Nigeria is rare in Ghana. The rice they eat in Ghana is most likely grown in Ghana. Believe it or not, Ghana is one of the largest producers of rice in West Africa and they are looking to start exporting soon.

Juxtaposing the two governments leadership ability to prioritize the need of its population, he said: Imported rice is abundant in Nigeria, but its scarce in Ghana, while there are more tertiary institutions in Ghana and we dont have enough in Nigeria.

Adding that it is such a misplaced priority of leadership that has caused Nigeria to be spending so much money on feeding our people; we are giving Nigerians rice, and in doing so, you are feeding them for a day. But the Ghanaian government is giving its people education, therefore feeding them for a lifetime.

Proffering solution to the problem, Mr. Murray-Bruce advised President Buhari to ban the importation of rice, and seize such brand of rice from market and share it to the poor, while investing the money ought to have been used in importation of rice in education sector.

He submitted that this singular act will reduce pressure on naira and eventually increase value of naira against other world major currencies.

click on the link below to watch the video

https://www.facebook.com/279327892264929/videos/517774118420304/
A former Energy Minister under the erstwhile John Kufuor administration has blamed bad governance for the rising unemployment among Ghanaian youth.

Kan Dapaah says the unbridled corrupt attitudes of functionaries of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) have resulted in the loss of money that could have been used to create jobs in the country.

Joining the campaign trail of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the first time, the former chairman of Parliaments Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says a judicious use of the resources God has endowed the country with should be enough to guarantee a decent job for the youth many of whom have remained indoors.

'I have chaired the PAC and I see people who steal our money and go without punishment. We need to change this pattern, he said in Twi language during an open campaign of the NPP at the Ablekuma West Constituency Tuesday.

The December 7 presidential and parliamentary election is gradually gathering steam with 63 days to go. Political activities are peaking among the presidential and parliamentary candidates who have filed their nomination at the Electoral Commission (EC)'s office last Friday.

The two dominating parties namely the governing NDC and the NPP have intensified their campaigns with a verbal attack on each other.

While the NDC attacks the NPP flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for dividing the party by victimising individuals who disagree with his decisions, the NPP has not failed to point out what it described as the mismanagement of Ghana's economy by the NDC.

With four days to the launch of the NPP 2016 manifesto, Mr Dapaah has urged Ghanaians to reject any form of explanation offered them by the NDC for its failure to improve their situation in the eight years of their rule.

'When we look at the things God has blessed us with things would have been better than now,' he told NPP supporters urging them not to accept their current situation replete with hardship.

'We are not poor people,' he said.

He entreated them to go out on December 7 to vote for the NPP flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his parliamentarians to take charge of the nations purse.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
GCB Bank Limited has donated office furniture and furnishings worth GH35,000.00 to the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

The items include an executive desk, chair and locker for the office of the General Officer Commanding, office desks, workstation and cabinet chairs and cabinets, conference tables and chairs for the respective offices of the Command.

The official presentation and handing over ceremony of the items was made by the Managing Director, Mr Ernest Mawuli Agbesi and received by General Officer Commanding, Brigadier-General Stanley Brian Alloh, on behalf of the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces.

Following the presentation, officers of the Northern Command and some senior and executive staff of GCB, toured the furnished offices to familiarise themselves with the facility.

The Managing Director stated that as The Bank for Life and the biggest Bank in Ghana, which will always be a development partner to the military, we are ever ready to assist as the need arises.

He made it clear to the august gathering of the Banks commitment to a meaningful corporate social responsibility that will go a long way to solidifying the Banks corporate image as a Bank with a national heritage and interest.

Brigadier-General Alloh said, it is indeed very heart-warming to have GCB Bank here to hand over the office furniture to us.

We will take good care of these items and use them to attain our security goals in the three Northern Regions that lies within our area of responsibility, he said.

He thanked the MD and entire Bank for the magnanimous gesture.

Present to witness and partake in the handing over ceremony were Mr Robert A. Adamu, Head of Support Services Department, Mr Major General Ayango, Commandant of Ghana Military Academy and Training Schools, Colonel Danso, immediate past deputy Director General, Personnel and Administration, General Headquarters Ghana Armed Forces, GCB Tamale Regional and the respective branch Managers of the Tamale area and some members of the media fraternity.

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com
By Pascal Kafu Abotsi

The Tema Police, on Saturday, killed a 32-year-old man who exchanged gun fire with them while being tracked for allegedly snatching a Hyundai Sonata saloon car from one Suraj Umar.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the Tema Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, the deceased, Richard Opoku, an ex-convict, in the company of four others, currently at large, snatched the vehicle from its owner at gun point at Sakumono Beach in Tema, around 7pm.

However, a report to the police led to the interception of the vehicle at a snap checkpoint at Katamanso.

ASP Obeng indicated that initial Police Investigations revealed that Suraj was sitting in the vehicle along the beach and was chatting with his girlfriend when five men, two of them, masked and wielding a locally manufactured pistol, came out of nowhere and instructed them to get out from the vehicle so they transact some business.

Little did Suraj know that he would not drive his vehicle home that evening as the robbers, the police spokesperson said, pulled the love birds out of the vehicle and escorted them to the shore where they were abandoned.

A few minutes later, Suraj came to check on his car and found out that the robbers were nowhere to be found and his car was also not there. He immediately lodged a complaint at the Community 2 Police Station, she narrated.

Suraj, the police chief continued, immediately lodged a complaint with the police, which caused police patrol teams and snap check points to be alerted. A few hours later, a snap checkpoint at Katamanso intercepted a Hyundai Saloon car that fits the description of the jacked car with passengers on board. Police signaled the driver of the car to stop but the driver failed to stop and rather sped off, she explained.

She said that a police officer detailed for that snap checkpoint pursued the car with his personal motorbike until the driver of the saloon car, in an attempt to escape from police, knocked down the police rider and run into a ditch.

The five occupants of the car including the driver, ASP Obeng further narrated, then got down from the vehicle and took to their heels amidst firing gunshots at him. The officer returned fire when he realized his life was in immediate danger and in the process shot the deceased, Richard Opoku, who was the driver whiles his four other accomplices managed to escape.

The police retrieved the vehicle, along with a cutlass and a mobile phone. Meanwhile, police investigations later revealed that the deceased was a leader of the gang, who was granted bail by a Tema court about a week ago for the same offence of carjacking that was being investigated by the Tema Regional Police Command.
04.10.2016 LISTEN



From Edmond Gyebi, Tamale

The popularity and dominance of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Tamale Central Constituency, Alhaji Lawyer Inusah Fuseini, was proven beyond doubt last Saturday, as his 2016 official campaign launch inarguably surpassed the partys Northern Regional campaign launch at Bimbilla a fortnight ago  perfect organisation, beautiful stage designing, and massive crowd.

Lawyer Inusahs campaign launch, which was also touted as a unity rally, brought to an end the protracted perception of disunity and antagonism between the political leadership of the NDC in the Northern Region.

Commendably, Lawyer Haruna

Iddrisu of Tamale South, Lawyer Inusah Fuseini of Tamale Central, Murtala Mohammed, Member of Parliament (MP) for Danton, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, NDC Regional Campaign Coordinator, and the Regional Chairman, Sofo Azorka, who were purportedly locking horns, were seen on the same big platform cheering, hugging, and chatting heartily with each other, to the admiration of their supporters.

The campaign was launched by the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia which was graced by the huge presence of high profile government officials, incumbents and former MPs, District Chief executives, renowned contractors and NDC regional and constituency executives.

The thick crowd, clad in NDC colours, never regretted being part of the Lawyer Inusahs campaign launch, as they were entertained to good quality sounds and spectacular musical performances from Ghanas King of Dancehall Music, Shatta Wale, and some of the top local artistes, including the famous Fancy Gadam.

In a short address, Lawyer Inusah Fuseini, who is also the Minister for Roads and Highways, slammed Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for their consistent tagging of President John Dramani Mahama as an incompetent President.

He questioned the moral justification for Nana Addo to describe Mr. Mahama as incompetent, when he had awfully failed to unite his party since his election as flagbearer.

According to him, President Mahama was the most competent of all the presidential candidates contesting the 2016 election.

Lawyer Inusah Fuseini, therefore, charged the people to vote massively for him and President Mahama, who, he said, represents the peace, unity and development of Ghana.

The Tamale Central MP cautioned NDC supporters to remain peaceful, and also rally behind him for continuity of the numerous educational, health, roads, sanitation and electricity projects he was delivering to the people.

The controversial musician, Shatta Wale, also shocked the crowd, when he spent some of his time to preach about peace.

He charged his numerous fans to sing peace, talk peace, eat peace and drink peace, since the Shatta Movement now represents peace in Ghana.
The All Progressive Party have taken a swipe at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over what it describes as their poor policies on education.

Razak Opoku, General Secretary of the APC in an interview with Citi News, said the APC as part of its plans for the country if voted into power will draw a policy on price control and a policy on education where Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) would be inculcated into our educational curriculum.

He said the Mahama-led government and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have done little to improve the standard of education in country.

What John Mahama been doing is building community senior high schools. That is the only contribution he has done to education, the NPP only promised free SHS but the educational curriculum itself, they never talk about it. We are thinking about the educational curriculum, making sure that the STEM take centre-stage in our educational curriculum.

'Manifesto launch'

The has set Thursday, October 6 as the date for its election 2016 manifesto launch.

The party, which had earlier planned to hold the launch in Tamale have moved the venue to Accra.

Razak Opoku, the General Secretary of the party, in an interview with Citi News said, the change was a strategic move to get more party supports attend the event.

He said, the campaign launch has been moved from Paga [Upper East region] to Accra. We expect people, bigger than what the NPP will gather at the Trade Fair on Sunday. We are going to make sure that the Thursday campaign launch will take the shine out of the NPP's manifesto launch on Sunday so we will see a massive crowd.

'APC submits nomination forms'

The All Progressive Party last week filed its nomination forms to contest in the upcoming general elections last week although it raised concerns over the high filing fees set by the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

The party's flag bearer, Hassan Ayariga recently selected a businessman, Emmanuel Carl Bartels as his running mate for the upcoming elections.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
PwC: Ukrainian IT service market could double with annual increase of tax burden by no more than 1%

The Ukrainian IT service market by 2020 could expand to $5.7 billion from $2.7 billion in 2015 if the tax burden for the sector grows no more than 1% a year, according to a study of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted under order of the European Business Association (EBA) spread at the Lviv IT Arena Forum last week.

According to the study, the results could be achieved if the consequent IT taxation policy is conducted and innovative solutions are introduced in the rest of the Ukrainian economic sectors.

"If the optimistic sector development scenario is realized (taxes grow by 1% every year and inscentive measures are taken by the government) 146,000 specialists will work in the IT sector and some UAH 27 billion of taxes will be paid to the budget," PwC Ukraine Director for Business Consulting Olga Andrienko-Bentz told reporters.

According to PwC, the share of IT service exports of Ukraine's GDP could grow from 3.3% in 2015 to 4.5% in 2020.

She added that with the basic scenario (unchanged tax rate until 2020), the sector will pay around UAH 21 billion of taxes to the budget. The pessimistic scenario envisages the increase of taxes to 20%, and budget payments would reach UAH 13 billion by 2020, while the number of IT specialists would decrease to 72,000.
The Omanhene of Yeji, Nana Pemapin Yaw Kagbrese has endorsed President John Mahama for a second term in office.

The chief, who doubles as the President of the Brong Ahafo regional house of chiefs called on Ghanaians to vote massively for the president in the December polls.

Nana Pemapin Yaw Kagbrese was addressing a gathering of elders and people of Yeji when President John Mahama visited the area as part of his Brong Ahafo regional tour today.

He said the President had achieved a lot in his first term of office in spite of the numerous challenges he faced.

Lets consider the many projects undertaken by the John Mahama administration. All these were achieved in just three and half years because just when he took over, he was backtracked by litigation and we all know how restless one can become with litigation, but this man with all the stress has achieved all these in three years, the chief said.

He noted that, the efforts of the opposition to make nothing out of the President's achievements did not deter the President because he was focused.

His opponents say he has not done anything. They did everything to suppress him but he was not deterred. Those saying these things were given 8 years to do what they can but he has not even had 4 years. One would have expected these people to reason to give the President another four year so that confidently analyze, whether he has done well or not, he said.

He questioned, why don't we give him another term. I'd wish we give him another four years the new can compare. In fact, we might even get to know that his three years of being in office might outweigh the eight years of others. I am sharing this because I want Ghana to develop.

President Mahama in his address described himself as a responsible leader who bites the bullet to solve nation's biggest problems.

He cited the energy crisis and other economic issues that bedeviled the country as challenges he took up and dealt with.

The told the residents, he has fulfilled his earlier promise to reconstruct dilapidated structures at the Yeji Senior High School. He also added that he has instructed the ministry of transport to station one of the newly state acquire pontoons at Yeji to facilitate that transportation of resident across the Volta River.

'Mahama on Brong Ahafo tour'

President Mahama who is currently on a 5-day campaign tour of the region expected to tour a number of constituencies in the region with his 'Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana' agenda to woo the electorates to renew his mandate for the second term.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Ghana has raked in about 36 million dollars from oil produced from the TEN oilfields, barely six weeks after the commencement of commercial production.

This is the indication from the Minister of Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah.

According to him, the oilfield has so far produced 800,000 barrels of oil since inauguration on August 18 this year.

To date, TEN has produced about 800,000 barrels of oil; TEN gas exports to the gas processing plant is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2017, he stated.

This measures to 36,280,000 dollars with the revised oil revenue price announced by Finance Minister, Seth Terkper during the midyear budget review in July this year.

The TEN oilfield currently produces 23,000 barrels of oil daily.

The lead managers for the project, Tullow Oil however says the figure is expected to ramp up as more wells are brought on board till the full daily capacity of 80,000 barrels is reached.

Mr. Armah Kofi Buah also told Citi Business News gas export from the TEN is expected to begin from the first quarter of 2017.

The TEN oilfields will deliver about 80,000 barrels of oil per day and 50 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to fuel thermal plants for electricity generation. Production from the TEN fields will complement Jubilee to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to the thermal plants.

The Minister who was speaking at a media briefing in Accra on Tuesday also touted what he referred to as government's demonstration of its commitment to a timely delivery of the Sankofa Gye Nyame project.

Presently, government has concluded the indemnity agreement between the World Bank to provide 700 million dollars security agreement for the project.

The President also in April this year, cut sod for the construction of the onshore facility at Sanzule in the Western Region, to receive lean gas from the fields.

Meanwhile a third FPSO is more than 80 percent complete in Singapore.

According to Mr. Buah, the installation of subsea infrastructure and equipment is currently ongoing.

The Sankofa Gye Nyame project is expected to produce 45,000 barrels of oil commencing in the first quarter of 2017 and 180 million standard cubic feet of gas by the first quarter of 2018.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/G
The Ghana Police Service has ordered the cessation of motor-checks on the countrys roads with immediate effect.

A wireless message from the top hierarchy of the police in Accra Tuesday said all motor checks in the country [are to be] suspended with immediate effect.

It said personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service are to be "used only for traffic management duties.

More soon...

Story by Ghana I Myjoyonline.com
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, has described the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a party with a penchant for rigging elections.

The NPP Flagbearer's jabs were in response to the NDC Running Mate, Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, warning Ghanaians to be wary of attempts at rigging from the NPP during an address at Asawase in the Ashanti Region.

Speaking during his tour through the Ablekuma West constituency, Nana Akufo-Addo said, what I know is that when it comes to rigging, they [NDC] are masters with a copyright in it. We will never do that, our party is very democratic.

He further hailed the electorates apparent resolve to the embrace the NPP during the upcoming polls.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the NDC has realised that it will lose the election. They should just accept the reality and not make Ghanains angrier. Ghanains have made up their minds to sit on the back of elephants to change the election.

NPP peddling falsehood  Kofi Adams

But the Campaign Coordinator of the NDC, Kofi Adams, responded to Nana Akufo-Addo's comments saying the NPP are only peddling falsehood and exhibiting double standards to win power.

For me, Nana Addo and his running mate want to win an election through pushing falsehood, through peddling untruths consistently, they have been saying such things on many other fronts, whether it is to do with projects we are doing, whether it is to do with even agriculture, he said on Eyewitness News.

In light of the accusations from the NPP, Kofi Adams asserted that the NDC will never rig an election. That is why anytime the election is free and fair, we will win any day any time.

That is why anytime we are in power, you will see that reforms are done, reforms that push our electoral process further and make it even cleaner are always done when NDC is in power, he added.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi

Apostle Kofi Nkansah-Sarkodie, General Overseer of Open Arms Ministries/Jesus Chapel in Kumasi, has said the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, cannot be killed as is being speculated by a section of the public.

The Kumasi-based pastor and radio evangelist debunked such claims at the September edition of a media encounter last Thursday that the NPP leader would die before the December elections.

The Minister of the Gospel, who also answers to Brother Saint Sark, said whether Nana Akufo-Addo would die today or not, is not for any man born of a woman can decide.

According to the founder and church leader, Nana Addo cannot be killed. Not even Satan can kill him, he said, and emphasised that prophecies about his death are lies, and that whenever he dies it would be natural and not any man's doing.

The man of God, who claims to be a representative of Jesus in Ghana, however, gave hints of the death of two prominent politicians and an eminent chief before the polls, something, he said, could not be reversed.

Apostle Nkansah-Sarkodie indicated that the winner of the 2016 polls in December had long been declared as far back as 2008, and that the elections cannot be rigged in any way. The winner is a done deal, he said stressing that even if President John Dramani Mahama is made to chair the Electoral Commission, he (Prez Mahama) cannot rig the elections for himself.

The church leader said vigilance at the polling stations and collation centres by political parties and their agents was enough to avoid rigging at all levels of the electoral process. No political party should accuse the EC of rigging the elections if they fail to be vigilant, since election results are declared by the EC only when parties and their agents have endorsed them.

He said the elections would be the most peaceful, free, fair and transparent in the electoral history of Ghana, and warned that those who plan evil to disrupt the smooth conduct of the elections, would be exposed before their violent activities are carried out. Those who intend to disrupt the elections risk not living to partake in the elections, he warned, saying that nobody dare joke with the destiny of Ghanaians and affairs of Ghana.

Brother Saint Sark called on the Inspector General of Police to arrest and deal with all those who indulge in violent acts, before, during and after the elections

He called on the NPP, NDC and the CPP, which he saw as the only serious political parties in Ghana, to be tolerant of each other and work to deepen democracy. He said the Presidency is not for jokers, adding, the smaller parties are joking and wasting resources, bemoaning that they are merely disturbing our ears.

The Open Arms Ministries Leader also warned politicians to stop making big and unnecessary promises, because it is not in their power to redeem those promises, except by divine direction and guidance.

Apostle Nkansah-Sarkodie said only God directs the affairs of Ghana, and that the will of God will always be fulfilled against the wishes of politicians.

According to him, flagbearers and aspiring parliamentarians, as members of secret societies, are agents of Satan, and, therefore, would not achieve their aspirations and make it to Parliament, because Satan has no authority in Ghana

He said those parliamentary aspirants who have won their primaries, but are in league with Satan, would not win their seats at the polls.

Pix: Apostle Kofi Nkansah-Sarkodie


The Appianyinasehene of Juabeng in the Ashanti Region, Nana Kwanin Kwanfo II, has presented stationery worth thousands of cedis to eight second cycle schools  Junior High Schools (JHS)  in the Juabeng Traditional Area.

The items included boxes of branded exercise books, boxes of pens and Mathematical sets.

According to the donor, the gesture was to help improve education in the area, and ultimately support Otumfuo Osei Tutus educational campaign.

He said, in a post-donation interview, This forms part of activities marking my seventh milestone as Appianyinasehene. It is to encourage and improve education in the area.

It is also in line to support the Juabeng Traditional Council, headed by Nana Otuo Serebuor II.

The beneficiary schools are Methodist JHS, Presby, Islamic, Madam Smith, Anglican, L/A, and Roman Catholic.

Nana Kwanin Kwanfo promised to make the donation an annual gesture.
Governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary says there is circumstantial evidence which shows that the NPP are architects of a microfinance crisis that engulfed the Brong Ahafo region.

Johnson Asiedu Nketia said although the New Patriotic Party (NPP) publicly sympathises with the victims of the microfinance crisis, they are, in truth, shedding 'crocodile tears'.

In what has become a clear case of a ponzi scheme, DKM Diamond Microfinance Company Limited promised to pay outrageously high interest for deposits but failed to not only live up to this pledge but also squandered depositers monies on the managers' personal businesses.

What began with DKM later engulfed several other microfinance operations like God is Love, Mckeown Microfinance Limited, City Trust, Ezi Access Microfinance, Agapet Micro-finance, First Unity Microfinance Limited and Golden Life Microfinance Limited.

God Is Love Microfinance company reportedly owes GH80 million whist Jarstar Motors and Investment owes GH90 million.

The impact of the crisis spread from the Brong Ahafo to the Upper West and Volta Regions where branches of these companies were cited. Several angry clients have rushed to court to obtain orders to sell off some of the companies' properties.

A financial crisis which began in 2015 was considered a security threat as demonstrations were held in places such as Sunyani, Nkoranza and in Berekum, towns in the Brong Ahafo Region.

But it has also escalated into a political sparring point ahead of the 2016 general elections.

Speaking to Joy News Evans Mensah on the socio-political show The Pulse on JOYNEWS channel on Multi TV, the NDC General Secretary said facts point to the NPP as being behind the crisis.

"If you open your eyes widely you will find out that it is likely they [NPP] have something to do with that DKM thing," he said.

"They are happy that somebody has extorted the money and they are congratulating the people who have extorted the money," he told Joy News Evans Mensah.

Even worse, the NPP has gone ahead to "reward" architects of the financial crisis with opportunities to enter parliament on the party's ticket, he said.

Citing examples, Mr Asiedu Nketia said the NPP parliamentary candidate for Kintampo South Alexander Gyan is a teacher and businessman who was the head of God is Love Fun club in Kintampo.

Photo: Alex Gyan

"Nana Addo has gone there to raise his [Alex Gyan] hand to say that he is a wonderful person," the popular NDC political strategist revealed.

He said the Fanteakwa North NPP Member of Parliament, Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah operated a rural bank which also went bust.

Photo: Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah

According to him, the NPP MP has promised to pay the victims if Akufo-Addo wins the 2016 general elections.

He also mentioned the Builsa South constituency in the Upper East region where the NPP parliamentary candidate Daniel Gariba operated as an agent of DKM in the region.

"He has been rewarded with parliamentary candidature and NPP is campaigning to make him a member of parliament," he said.

Daniel Gariba

"NPP's conduct seems to suggest that the people who are involved are heroes who must be rewarded with parliamentary seats," the NDC General Secretary said.

Continuing with his analysis, Mr Asiedu Nketia said the lawyer for the victims of the DKM seeking the recovery of the monies is also NPP Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman Kwaku Asomah-Kyeremeh.

"If you have such a situation and NPP is going around the region saying that they are sympathising with the customers then where is their stand?" he quizzed.

According to him, NPP parliamentary candidates are leading agitations from the victims against the NDC government demanding that their monies be recovered.

Mr Asiedu Nketia says the NPP campaign promise to recover the lost deposits to victims of the crisis could be another evidence linking the opposition party to the crisis.

Nana Akufo-Addo gave the promise during his interaction with the chiefs and people of Busunya in the Nkoranza North constituency, to end his 5-day tour of the Region in July 2016.

"Where are they going to refund the money from if it is not from the collections they have made or from the government funds?" he demanded to know.

He dismissed suggestions that the crisis will boost the NPP's chance of winning the Brong Ahafo regional vote.

According to him, the NPP is jubilating that because the hardest-hit areas of the crisis are in NDC strong districts such as the Nkoranza North and South, Techiman North and South, it will translate into votes against the governing NDC.

For the NDC General Secretary, this will not work because the victims are being conscientised to appreciate the reality that the NPP has stolen monies of NDC supporters.

"NPP is running from the DKM issue because the facts are out there that DKM has nothing to do with NDC ....and the people are now opening the eyes and seeing the true picture", Asiedu Nketia insisted.

Asiedu Nketia said angry DKM victims are "victims of misinformation". He is therefore on a personal campaign to let the affected persons know the NPP is behind the crisis.

"I will continue telling them that", he vowed.

Will they believe you, host Evans Mensah asked. "Why not? Doesn't it make sense?" he rebutted.

Listen to entire audio



Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|[email protected]
04.10.2016 LISTEN

By Gideon Ahenkorah/Racheal Dwamena, GNA

Accra, Oct.4, GNA - The Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) would lead Ghana to attain economic independence if elected to form the next government, Mr John Amekah, the Vice Presidential Nominee for Election 2016 has stated.

'If Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) attained political independence for Ghana, then the GCPP Presidential Nominee, Dr Henry Lartey will lead the country for economic emancipation,' Mr Amekah told the Ghana News Agency in Accra an interview in Accra.

The interview, was captured under the Ghana News Agency project 'GNA Tracks Elections 2016,' which seeks to educate the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions.

The project also seeks to ensure gender and social inclusion in national politics and also provide voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society to contribute to peaceful elections.

It has also created a platform to analyse the manifestoes of all political parties and provide in-depth news items on each thematic area, as captured to the electorate for them to make an informed judgement.

Mr Amekah who was GCPP former General Secretary said the party is poised with prudent approaches for liberating Ghanaian's from economic hardship.

He said: 'A GCPP government would eradicate poverty, joblessness and hunger through our domestication ideology postulated by the late Mr Dan Lartey GCPP Founder and Leader.'

He said the Party's domestication ideology is capable of resolving the economic challenges in the country.

"Domestication means producing and adding value to our local goods to make them attract good prices on the international market.'

Mr Amekah said Ghana would be safe in the hands of GCPP as the Party's domestication ideology alone could lay the foundation towards the attainment of economic independence.

He expressed optimism about the Party's chances in the 2016 polls, saying Ghanaians have accepted the domestication idea and are willing to give the GCPP the mandate to form the next government.

Mr Amekah who was also the former General Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party asserted that, Ghana needs new corps of leaders to steer the affairs and the GCPP is very ready for the task.

"Successive governments have failed Ghanaians and the GCPP is the saviour through the Party's domestication ideology, which is also predicated on improved Agriculture and functional local industries.

"Unlike that of other political parties, the foundation of our domestication ideology is agriculture."

He hinted that, if the Party is given the mandate it would bring farmers under a board, which would be mandated to champion and spearhead effective farm practices to help boost productivity in the agricultural sector.

"We would bring together all winners of the Annual Farmers Day Award from the district, regional and the national levels to form the board which will see to educating farmers on the best farming practices.

'This would result in increase production of food crops in large scale, provide job opportunities for many Ghanaians," he added.

The Vice Presidential Nominee said, a GCPP government would retool all agriculture schools and uplift them to tertiary status to improve the human resource base particularly for the sector.

"Former President Nkrumah brought Teacher Training Colleges, GCPP would establish and resource Agricultural Colleges to cater for the training in Agricultural courses.

"Here more teachers would be employed-another avenue of job for Ghanaians," he said.

Mr Amekah said, his Party would also develop Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by providing favourable local market for marketing their outputs.

"Since 2012, our Presidential Candidate, Dr Lartey has placed relevance on the creation of enabling environment for SMEs, and that agenda continues to be our topmost priority,' he observed.

He said a GCPP government would invest in the production of electric energy through solar plants, which would be resourced to have the capacity comparable to the Akosombo Dam.

"We can address the current power crisis, which has crippled our industries by finding an alternative that is solar."

He said the solar plants, which would supplement the various dams in the country to generate electric power would be located in the Ashanti and Northern Regions.

"The Dams would be catering for bigger industries while the solar would provide for the small industries,' he said.

GNA
By Samira Larbie, GNA

Accra, Oct. 4, GNA - Dr Victor Ngongalah, the Leader of the Health Sector Development Partners, has asked government to address human resource needs of Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS), to ensure effective implementation of the facilities.

He said it is critical to have properly managed and required human resources on CHPS because it is a task the sector is still grappling with.

Dr Ngongalah was speaking at the opening of the National CHPS forum in Accra.

The aim of the forum was to enable stakeholders share ideas on the implementation systems of CHPS.

He on behalf of the Development Partners (DPs) urged government especially the Ghana Health Services to look into the referral and counter referral system in order to ensure continuum of care from CHPS levels.

He said the setting up of both strategy and technical committee is important as there are many DPs engaged in CHPS but are not well coordinated thus, not making the most out of investment.

"We therefore look forward to a more functional and efficient coordination between the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service and the DPs and other stakeholders at the national and decentralised levels", he stated.

Dr Ngongalah however said DPs are impatiently looking forward to the completion of the reform of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

"We are confident that this will make funding of the most cost-effective interventions more efficient.

We strongly believe in what can be achieved in terms of health outcomes through a well-funded and efficiently managed CHPS and renew our collective and individual commitments to support the efforts of Government in this area for the realisation of the health needs of the populations".

You can count on our continues support, he said.

GNA
04.10.2016 LISTEN

By Edwina Ocansey/Deborah Apetorgbor, GNA

Accra, Oct. 4, GNA - Mr Abraham Otabil, Public Relations Officer, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has charged Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of wearing African prints.

He explained that the Ghanaian or African prints portrays the identity and promotes the local industries especially the made in Ghana goods and services.

'It is always good to be seen in a Ghanaian/African wear you have to be proud to be a Ghanaian/ African'.

Mr Otabil, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday, when he commended President John Dramani Mahama for championing the course of wearing of Ghanaian/African internationally.

'President Mahama, most often adores Ghanaian/African printI consider him as the number advocate of made-in-Ghana Campaign.

'This means that the President has certified made-in-Ghana goods to promote the local Industry,' he said.

Mr Otabil called on government to put in place a policy that would drive the wearing of Ghanaian/African wears all the time if not all days, 'by so doing, it will promote jobs for the industry and youth'.

He commended corporate entities who have developed their brand of 'Friday Wear,' to promote their corporate image.

Mrs Olivia Ashley, a staff of the Ministry of Trade and Industry told the GNA that: 'It is the duty of this Ministry to promote made-in Ghana goods, so for us, we wear customised Ghanaian/African prints every week day'.

Ms Rosetta Renner, also at the Ministry: 'I am very particular about African prints. We are allowed to wear the African prints, not only on Fridays but also on weekdays as far as it is decent and comfortable there is no prohibition.'

Madam Lydia Quarshie, of the Ministry of Works and Housing said: 'We in this ministry are also encouraged to proudly wear our officially designed Ghanaian print to work any day.'

The move to promote Made-in Ghana goods is receiving appreciable response as many city dwellers have adapted to wearing the 'Friday Wear' on Fridays.

GNA
The state could support Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers by creating equal competitive conditions with foreign manufacturers, Deputy Health Minister Roman Ilyk has said.

"There is no secret that in other countries the state supports pharmaceutical manufacturers, directly investing funds and making orders. There is no such possibility in Ukraine. We can create equal competitive conditions so that Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers have a chance to develop using market methods," he said at a meeting of the public council of the Health Ministry in Kyiv last week.

Ilyk pointed out unequal conditions for registering pharmaceuticals by foreign and Ukrainian manufacturers.

"We have facilitated the access to the Ukrainian market for imported medicines. Imported drugs enter our market under a simplified procedure, but we did nothing to help Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers so that they have a chance to freely handle the products," he said.

"If we speak about honest competition, it must be honest in all aspects. If it is dishonest competition, let's say that we put Ukrainian manufacturers in unequal conditions," he said.

In August the government relaxed the registration of imported medicines in Ukraine and narrowed it to 10 days. The registration procedure for medicines which have been registered by authorized agencies of the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada and the European Union has been relaxed.
04.10.2016 LISTEN

By Samira Larbie, GNA

Accra, Oct.4, GNA - The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with its stakeholders has organisaed a day's national forum on the effective implementation of Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS).

The idea was to ensure that proper practices are adhered to and to ensure that nobody or child dies before reaching the age of five.

Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah, the Executive Director of Ghana Health Service (GHS) speaking at the event said the success of CHPS is its ability to boast and say that all children delivered did not die at the age of five.

For this reason, he said the forum seeks to engage stakeholders to enable them deliberate and come up with compendium of ideas to better implement CHPS systems to improve health coverage.

The forum was as well used to discuss matters such as highlights of the CHPS policy, the national CHPS implementation guidelines, CHPS cost study and planning tool and best practices.

It was on the theme: " Enabling CHPS in a Resilient Decentralised Health System-Putting Communities at the Centre of Attaining Universal Health Coverage in Ghana."

Mr Alexander Segbefia, the Minister of Health commended the GHS for the programme, saying CHPS enables communities to be active participants in the provision of their own health care.

He said CHPS is not an isolated strategy for communities only but rather thrives on a robust and resilient decentralised health system where the sub-districts and regions seamlessly work together in an integrated manner.

Mr Segbefia said there is therefore the need to implement CHPS with the whole health system in view.

He urged stakeholders not to lose sight of this fact.

He said the Ministry would do all within its reach to give CHPS the needed support and commended the Development partners such as USAID, JICA, UNICEF among others for their contributions in helping government to provide close-to-client quality essential health care services to the people.

"The Ministry will continue to play its active oversight roles and mobilise the needed resources for the CHPS implementation scale up."

Mr Segbefia indicated that the country have a total of 6418 demarcated CHPS zones but 3993 were functional as at June 2016.

Out of the number 1854 CHPS compounds have been constructed by Municipal and District Assemblies together with other health development partners.

He therefore urged the stakeholders to share information on CHPS policy, strategy, implementation guidelines and other documents to facilitate CHPS scale up.

The Minister used the occasion to launch the CHPS Web page, which would allow for easily accessibility to clients, patients and stakeholders.

The website provides interaction and a sharing platform to improve healthcare and emergency situations.

Dr Victor Ngongalah, Lead of the Health Sector Development Partners, commended government for the development of a long term CHPS strategic plan with financial plan for implementation that takes in account all operational cost across the country.

He said the President's evidently strong commitment to scaling up CHPS implementation to significantly increase access to health care for in-need populations, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach-areas.

"We look forward to stronger commitment at all levels and sectors to ensure that the most needed resources could be mobilised to support CHPS for a Universal Health Coverage."

He urged government to strengthen and sustain the new momentum that CHPS is gathering to ensure more funding as the DPs' investment is not a long term.

This is because the DPs would not be funding cost effective primary interventions for a long time as they look forward to domestic revenue being ploughed into the recurrent costs to deliver quality care at the community level.

The programme was supported by USAID under its Maternal and Child Survival Programme.

GNA
04.10.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 4, GNA - The General Secretary of the National Democratic Party (NDP) Alhaji Mohammed Frimpong, on Tuesday said the media have over idolised political party manifestoes.

He described these manifestoes as 'just projections and speculations, and once in government the party gives reasons for not being able to fulfill it'.

Alhaji Frimpong said this in an interview on the Ghana News Agency election project dubbed: 'GNA Tracks Elections 2016,' which seeks to educate the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions.

The project also seeks to ensure gender and social inclusion in national politics and also provides voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society to contribute to peaceful elections.

The project has also created a platform to analyse the manifestoes of all political parties and provide in-depth news items on each thematic area, as captured for them to make an informed judgment.

Alhaji Frimpong explained that most of the leaders do not put into practice the ideas espoused in their manifestoes once elected.

He said in the Ghanaian Electoral context, elections are not won based on manifestoes promises 'but leaders with strong attitude and charisma and cited Dr Kwame Nkrumah and President Jerry John Rawlings as examples of such leaders.

'Their general success in governance was not based on their electoral manifestoes but their demonstrated ability, character, fortitude and general sense of purpose,' Alhaji Frimpong stated.

He classified Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the NDP Presidential Nominee as one of such a leader if elected to transform the country.

Alhaji Frimpong, therefore cautioned the media to tread steadily as they push for the 2016 manifestoes of political parties contesting the elections.

GNA

By Agnes Ansah/Theophania Dzadza, GNA
By Samuel Adadi Akapule, GNA

Bolgatanga, Oct. 4, GNA - Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDs) have been urged to support the implementation of the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR) exercise which is underway in the Upper East and Upper West Regions.

The GNHR, which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), is expected to be replicated nationwide after its successful implementation in the three regions of northern Ghana.

Mr Robert E. Austin, the National Coordinator of the Ghana Social Opportunities Project (GSOP), called on the stakeholders including all the thirteen Municipal and District Chief Executives and Coordinating Directors in the Region to support the implementation of the project

The forum was also attended by the Regional Minister and his deputy and the Regional Coordinating Director, a team from the Ministry of MoGCSP and the World Bank.

It was aimed at briefing the stakeholders on the benefits of the GNHR and to solicit their support in the implementation of the project.

The National Coordinator said the GNHR Project which is funded by the World Bank in collaboration with the Government of Ghana would facilitate the identification of extremely poor and vulnerable households and thus become the sole database used by all social protection programmes to identify respective beneficiaries.

'Data from the Registry will be used for social intervention programs such as LEAP, Free Health Insurance, Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW), Ghana School Feeding Programme, and the Free School Uniform Programme among others. It is important for major stakeholders like you to help in the implementation of the project to enable Ghana as a country make greater impact on poverty reduction', Mr Austin said.

The exercise would coordinate the different social protection interventions and provide data to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies that may need data in their respective endeavours as well as serve as data for development partners who want to help in the development process of the country, he said.

Mr Austin said 390 Enumerators and 180 Community Focal Persons would be engaged in the Upper East Region to help collect data for the GNHR and the districts would be tasked to assist in the recruitment of personnel to undertake the exercise which is supposed to commence fully in January 2017.

Mr Mawutor Ablo, the Director in charge of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the MoGESP, said the GNHR would help in facilitating a more effective and efficient social protection system that has the potential of contributing to the progress already made in the poverty reduction strategy of the country.

'The GNHR will require the support of all to succeed. Ghanaians must respond to the call to participate in the registration exercise to enable the delivery of a credible Single National Registry that will inure to the benefit of all', he said.

Mr Albert Abongo, the Regional Minister, pledged the support of the Regional Coordinating Council to the implementation of the project saying as one of the poorest regions in the country, it needed more social protection systems to help bridge the poverty gap.

He said there is the need for all the thirteen Municipal and District Chief Executives and the District Coordinators to pay special attention to the implementation of the project.

GNA
04.10.2016 LISTEN

By Dennis Peprah, GNA

Bui (B/A), Oct. 4, GNA - The Bui Power Authority (BPA), Managers of the Bui Dam in the Banda District of Brong-Ahafo Region, is scaling-up effort to protect the fish resource in the Bui reservoir and enhance the socio-economic activities of the local dwellers.

It has constructed 502 concrete slabs at the cost of GH1.8 million for the resettled fish folks who were directly or indirectly affected by the construction of the 400 megawatts hydro-power generation plant.

The slabs were built at the two fish landing sites constructed by the Authority at Bongase (300 slabs) in the Brong-Ahafo Region section of the Dam and Jama in the Northern Region section of the Project (202 slabs).

Mr Patrick Kwakye, the Director of Resources, Estate and Environment of the BPA, said when he inaugurated the slab allocation committee for the two resettlement communities at the plant site at Bui.

The committee comprised representatives of the BPA, assembly members, traditional rulers, market women and fish mongers.

When the Ghana News Agency visited the area, the reservoir had created artificial markets at the two resettlement communities.

It is expected to educate the fishing communities on the rationale and purpose of the slabs and also provide guidance to potential beneficiaries on the procedure to apply for the slabs.

Mr Kwakye said because of the market created by the reservoir, migrant fishermen who had been attracted from other parts of the country had started creating settlements within the reservoir area and also engaging in illegal fishing methods.

These activities, he said, threatened the Dam and its associated infrastructure, explaining the BPA was collaborating with a team of naval personnel deployed by the National Security Council to control the detrimental activities of the fishermen.

Mr Kwakye asked the committee to work assiduously as a team to help achieve a sustainable resource use and development at those landing sites.

Mr Wumbilla Salifu, the External and Community Relations Manager of the BPA, warned the fisher folks to avoid using unauthorised methods of fishing adding that perpetrators of such acts would not be spared.

GNA
By Samuel Akapule, GNA

Bolgatanga, Oct. 4, GNA - Mr Kwesi Jonah, a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Democratic Governance, has said the current 'winner takes all' political system has bred non-inclusiveness hence the need for a paradigm shift.

He said the current system was not only a threat to the country's democracy but has also entrenched non-accountability.

Mr Jonah, made the call at a Regional Dialogue forum as part of a nationwide outreach programme on 'Democratic Devolution' held in Bolgatanga.

The forum which attracted various stakeholders including political parties, civil society organisations, religious and traditional leaders, youth and women groups among others was to intensify the need for constitutional reform and to solicit the support of the stakeholders.

Mr Jonah said any political party that wins the 2016 general elections should ensure that District Chief Executives were elected and not appointed by the President as it is currently done.

'IDEG is happy that almost all the flag-bearers of the various political parties including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People's Party (CPP), the People National Convention People Party (PNC) and the Progressive People Party among others have agreed to the proposal to elect DCEs instead of appointing them. It is very crucial for the electorate to ensure that these political parties honour their promises after the election', he said.

Dr Atudiwe P. Atupare, a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, said the change had to reflect on social life and called for the reformation of the decentralization concept.

'Our current situation could be described as 'self denial'. We must stop pretending and do the right thing. We cannot deny the fact that our District Assembly Election is politicized. We need to reform the system', he said. Participants at the forum lauded IDEG and the Civic Forum Initiative (CFI) for organizing the forum and re-emphasised the need for constitutional reforms to pave way for democratic growth of the country.

GNA
By Samuel Akapule, GNA

Bongo (U/E), Oct. 4, GNA - 'Teere', a Non-Governmental Organization, is embarking upon a series of programmes aimed at promoting citizen participation in local governance in the Upper East Region.

'Teere' (in the Gurune language literally means a total and positive transformation,) recently organized its first local governance forum in the Bongo District.

The forum, which attracted a large crowd of participants, created a platform for the citizens to participate and engage with the assembly members and deliberated on the developmental challenges affecting the area.

Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh, the Chief Executive Officer of the NGO, said one of the major obstacles confronting many of the Municipal and District Assemblies was lack of effective participation of citizens in the decision making process.

He said even though effective citizen participation was key to the effective implementation of programmes, projects and policies at the decentralization level, many people did not participate in the process.

Prof Nsoh said it was to help address this concern, that Teere, with support from the Robert Bosh Stiftung, a German based organization, is embarking upon organizing the series citizens' participation in local governance forums across the thirteen districts of the region.

He said Teere and its partners including the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), would ensure that the concerns and inputs made at such forums were inserted into the medium term development plans of the respective assemblies.

'As citizens you own it a duty to ensure that you contribute by making good inputs into the deliberations when it comes to development issues in your area. Don't allow things like transportation allowances to dissuade you from participating in the development process', he said.

Mr Issahak Sagito Anow, the Board Chairman of the NGO, said it would be impossible to achieve transparency and accountability, equal and fair development without the citizens engaging the duty bearers.

Mr Gerhard Lauth, a leader of the GIZ Programme Support for 'Decentralization Reforms in Ghana' and also the Principal Advisor to the NGO, expressed regret that the Assemblies still depended heavily on the central government for funding with little involvement of the people.

He said there is a need for a paradigm shrift to create the necessary environment to allow more citizen engagements at the Assembly level. GNA
By Kodjo Adams, GNA

Accra, Oct. 4, GNA - The National Development Planning Commission has presented an award to Mr David Adjaye, the Ghanaian who designed the recently inaugurated African American Museum in Washington DC in the United States.

The Commission presented a plaque to the acclaimed architecture designer for demonstrating in his design an abiding commitment to the principles of inclusion, equity and the creativity of the Ghanaian spirit.

The award was also for his singular achievement in the iconic design of the Museum and reminding African American and all Africans through design and architecture of their rich heritage.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened on Saturday September 24, 2016 by President Barack Obama in Washington D.C with the ringing of ancient bell to signal the official inauguration.

President Obama said it took a little over 100 years to come to actualize the museum whose architect, David Adjaye of a Ghanaian heritage, chose a striking bronze design for the building - an African crown motif from the Yoruba culture.

Dr Kwesi Botchwey, Chairman of NDPC, said the creativity as exhibited by the Ghanaian designer forms part of the Commission's short and long-term development goal for the youth.

He said the brain character of the designer would be helpful to the country's development plan, hence the need to recognised his unfathomable brain works for sustainable development.

Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Executive Director of NDPC, said the Commission intends to build a new complex to capture the spirit of the country, adding that their outfit places emphasis on architecture design.

He said the Commission has factored science, technology, engineering and education as part of the country's long-term sustainable development.

Mr Adjaye thanked the Commission for recognising his effort adding that the initiative would propel him to work harder to develop a design to showcase Africa's culture and heritage for research studies.

The structure is said to be 40 per cent of the museum while 60 per cent is underground, and it is anticipated that it would receive about 10,000 visitors daily who would see nearly 3,000 objects, 12 exhibitions, 183 videos.

The event took place at the premises of Archi Africa architecture gallery designs at James Town, a suburb of Accra.

GNA
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Turboatom pays twice the market price for welded pipes used to make equipment for Energoatom

Public joint-stock company Turboatom (Kharkiv) buys welded pipes to make condensers of turbines for National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom from a foreign manufacturer at a price that is almost twice higher than their market price: some $12 per kg with the market price of around $6.80 per kg.

Director of Osada Institute of Tube Industry Radomyr Korol gave the information at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

"Today welded pipes are bought using budget funds at a price that is actually twice more than the market price," he said, adding that the wholesale batches imply the price lower than the market price.

Korol said that the lifespan of these welded pipes is around 10 years. Thus, the use of welded pipes in the conditions of permanent lack of financing of the energy sector is unviable, as seamless pipes with the market price of around $15 per kg can be used for 30 years and even 50 years.

He said that Energoatom states it saves 10% of funds when the company buys equipment from Turboatom.

Energoatom Executive Director for Production Valentyn Bulhakov told reporters that the use of welded pipes for this equipment is the decision of Energoatom. Initially in 2006 seamless pipes were proposed. Last year the equipment replacement project was changed in favor of welded pipes that their quality characteristics have been improved with their lower price.

"Welded pipes are 30-50% cheaper. This is a large sum, taking into account the cost of one kilogram of pipes," he said.

He said that their lifespan is also 30 years.

Bulhakov said that welded pipes are successfully used all over the globe. These pipes are installed only at a reactor of Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant (NPP) last year. These pipes are used in condensers of some Russian NPPs.

In addition, Korol focused on the fact that in the condition of idle facilities of Ukrainian pipe producers, the pipes are bought from a foreign producer. Representatives of Dniprospetsstal, Dnipropress, Centravis Prduction Ukraine and Oscar present at the press conference confirmed that their enterprises can produce seamless pipes for the Energoatom's order.

According to the ProZorro e-procurement system, Turboatom on September 5, 2016 signed a contract to buy welded pipes worth EUR 4.158 million with Italy's .D.Tubi Inossidabili S.p.A and on September 21 a contract to buy welded pipes worth EUR 4.058 million.

According to ProZorro, Energoatom selected Turboatom to produce equipment for turbine condensers of Zaporizhia NPPs. I&C Energo a.s., Balcke-Durr GmbH and Kralovopolska a. s. also took part in the tender. Their bids were rejected. The expected cost of equipment was UAH 530.488 million.

"The cost of pipes in the cost of this condenser (UAH 530 million) is up to 70%. This is around UA 300 million. Someone can steal a half of this UAH 300 million, using welded pipes and putting us in jeopardy for the nearest term or someone would not steal this half and we receive really safe equipment that would serve the required term," Korol said.

He said that equipment with the lifespan of 30 years (even 40 years) could be received for the same money, not changing the structure of equipment and its production budget, but only by replacing welded pipes by seamless pipes in technical conditions.
business Nifty near 8,850 looks challenging; may witness selling: Ashwani The Nifty and Sensex both ended higher than yesterday's close at 8,769 and 28,334 respectively.
Switch to insurance medicine to start in 2017, to last until 2020

The switch to insurance medicine will start in 2017 and will last until 2020, the press service of Ukraine's Health Ministry has reported, referring to Deputy Minister Pavlo Kovtoniuk.

"The switch of the healthcare system to the insurance model will start in 2017 and it will last for three years. The transformation will begin from the launch of family medicine of the European model on the basis of the primary chain of the Ukrainian healthcare system (out-patient hospitals and ambulance clinics)," Kovtoniuk said.

He said that the introduction of insurance medicine would be accompanied minor changes to legislation.

"In the past 25 years 21 bills introducing insurance medicine have been drawn up. Many of them foresaw the creation of large bureaucratic structures or the redirection of budget fund flows into someone's pockets. The goal of our team is to start launching insurance medicine in practice in 2017. We have found a way to make it with minimum and clear changes to legislation," he said.

He said that during the reform Ukrainians will be free to choose a family doctor and a pediatrician for their children and sign direct agreements with them with the clearly defined volume of services guaranteed and paid by the state.

"If patients are not satisfied with the family doctor they could select another one. Family doctors will issue health statements for kindergartens, schools and swimming pools. The pegging to the place of residence is revoked," he said.

As part of the reform the ministry proposes to accelerate the medicine practice licensing, relax sanitary rules for launching medical practices and harmonize them with European legislation.

The reform does not foresee introduction of new taxes and fees.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks have discussed the detention of Ukrainian journalist Roman Suschenko in Russia.

"In Strasbourg I met with Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks. Two main topics, among others, Suschenko and Umerov," Klimkin wrote on Twitter.

Later, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported that during the conversation the Ukrainian foreign minister drew particular attention of the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights to abuses in Russia.

"He noted that Ukraine expects the support and concrete steps from the commissioner in protecting the rights and helping free Ukrainian journalist Roman Suschenko and all other Ukrainian citizens who are political prisoners in the Russian Federation," the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported on Monday evening.

Klimkin also noted the need to monitor human rights observance in Russia-occupied Crimea and briefed Muiznieks about illegal actions of the Russian occupation authorities against Umerov.

The Russian Federal Security Service reported earlier on Monday on the detention of Suschenko, a correspondent of the Ukrainian National News Agency Ukrinform, and the opening of a criminal case on the basis of the article dealing with espionage. The Moscow Lefortovo Court arrested Suschenko for two months on October 1.

Kyiv called the journalist's detention a provocation and said the espionage accusations made against him are baseless

As reported, in May investigators from the Crimean department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case against Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Ilmi Umerov on suspicion of incitement to violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. On May 13, FSB officers imposed travel restrictions on Umerov. On August 11, a court in Simferopol granted the petition of the FSB investigator on Umerov's forced forensic psychiatric examination.

On September 7, Umerov was released from a mental hospital.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the possibility of treating Umerov in Germany.
Along with the changing leaves and cooler weather, the beginning of fall means the arrival of flu season. Doctors and health officials are urging Americans to get vaccinated to control the spread of the virus, but many are choosing to skip the shot.

According to the Centers for Disease control, less than half of people who were old enough to receive the vaccine got a flu shot during the 2014-2015 season. Some, like the 35% of people polled in one survey, believe the vaccine can cause the flu. Stephanie Michel, PA-C of Iredell Internal Medicine in Statesville, answers questions you may have about the safety of the vaccine.

Q: Can a flu shot make me sick?

A: No, you cannot get the flu from the influenza vaccine because the viruses are inactivated.

Q: Who should get a flu shot? Who shouldnt get a flu shot?

A: Everyone 6 months old and older should get the influenza vaccine. There are only very few exceptions to that rule. Children younger than 6 months old cannot get the influenza vaccine. Patients who are allergic to any portion of the influenza vaccine should not get the vaccine. They do offer a recombinant vaccine that is now egg free for those patients that have an egg allergy. If you have ever had an illness called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, you should use caution and speak with your healthcare provider before receiving the influenza vaccine.

Q: Are there any side effects from getting the flu shot?

A: Yes, there can be side effects from the flu shot, as there are side effects with any vaccine. You may experience a local site reaction from the injection. That can include arm soreness, swelling, and redness. You may also experience a low grade fever and some body aches, which are short-lived.

Q: When should I get vaccinated?

A: The CDC is currently recommending vaccination by the end of October. It will take approximately 2 weeks for your body to develop proper antibodies against the influenza. The peak of influenza season is typically in January, however, the influenza season usually begins in early fall.

Q: How can I tell the difference between a cold and the flu?

A: Symptoms of the flu tend to be much more severe than cold symptoms and tend to come on quickly. Symptoms can include a sore throat, moderate-to-high fever, shaking chills, headache, muscle/body aches, extreme fatigue, runny/stuffy nose, and a dry/hacking cough.

Q: What should I do if I think I have the flu?

A: Certain patients should contact their physician at the first sign of the flu. These include patients over the age of 65, pregnant women, children younger than 2, patients with a weakened immune system due to disease or medications, patients with chronic lung disease or heart disease, patients with diabetes, and those living in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.

Most patients do not need to contact their physician and can manage their symptoms at home. For the most part, the flu is self-limiting and will resolve spontaneously without intervention from your physician.

To make an appointment with a healthcare provider to get vaccinated, visit IredellHealth.org.
NEWTON  A Catawba County man is in custody after he reportedly stabbed his roommate to death.

Arthur Robinson, 52, of Hickory, was charged with the first-degree murder of 63-year-old Kester Hewitt after Hickory police sa id Robinson stabbed his roommate to death on Sunday.

Police had responded twice to the mens ' home in the 100 block of Eighth Ave nue Drive SE, including a call just before 3 a.m. Sunday morning regarding a disturbance between Robinson and Kester, according to reports from WSOC-TV.

Police said they had talked with Kester, but when they returned two hours later, he had been stabbed to death.

Tonya Hill, a neighbor, told WSOC-TV that she could hear the two men arguing.

I was up in the shower and they were up there arguing and he was like, Im going to kill you. Im going to kill you, she said.

Police have not released a reason for the altercation as of press time.

Robinson made his first court appearance Monday afternoon.
HILDEBRAN - The body of a woman was found behind a local business on Monday.

Sheriff Steve Whisenant with the Burke County Sheriffs Office said the body was found behind P & J Home Furnishings, located at 4114 U.S. Highway 70, on Monday.

Whisenant said the body was that of a 62-year-old woman who had been reported missing Sunday evening by family members.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, he said. The investigation has not revealed any signs of foul play.

Whisenant said the investigation into the womans death is ongoing, and more information will be released as it becomes available.

NOTE: This story has been edited to reflect that the woman's body was not found inside of a vehicle.
The United States has announced a suspension of its cooperation with Russia on the question of monitoring the truce in Syria, and stressed that it was not an easy decision.

"The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities. This is not a decision that was taken lightly," a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, John Kirby, said in a statement on Monday.

At the same time, "to ensure the safety of our respective military personnel and enable the fight against Daesh [Islamic State, a terrorist organization banned in Russia], the United States will continue to utilize the channel of communications established with Russia to de-conflict counterterrorism operations in Syria," the spokesperson said.

The U.S. will recall its staff sent earlier to Geneva, which was awaiting the opening of the Joint Implementation Center, Kirby said.

"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments - including its obligations under international humanitarian law and UNSCR 2254 - and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed," the spokesperson said.

"The United States spared no effort in negotiating and attempting to implement an arrangement with Russia aimed at reducing violence, providing unhindered humanitarian access, and degrading terrorist organizations operating in Syria, including Daesh and al Qaeda in Syria," the diplomat said.

"Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the Cessation of Hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas, targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need, including through the September 19 attack on a humanitarian aid convoy," Kirby said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland is due to visit Moscow within days, the U.S. Department of State said.

"U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland will join U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Brussels, Belgium on October 4, where he will deliver a speech hosted by the German Marshall Fund on transatlantic relations," the department said in a report.

"She will then travel to Moscow, Russia, to meet with senior Russian government officials to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine and next steps to implement the Minsk agreements in support of the Normandy countries and the Trilateral Contact Group," it said.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Valeria Lutkovska has asked Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatiana Moskalkova to control the case of Ukrainian citizen Roman Suschenko detained in Russia, Lutkovska's press service said on Monday.

"The letter sent by Valeriya Lutkovska called the attention of the Russian colleague to the fact that neither the family staying in France nor the Ukrainian consul in Russia had been informed about the detention of Roman Suschenko, which deprived him of access to consular and legal assistance prescribed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the Consular Convention between Ukraine and Russia," the press service said.

In addition, Lutkovska launched a proceeding in defense of Suschenko's rights.

Lutkovska ordered its representative to Russia, Vladimir Shreidler, to control the case, to maintain permanent contact with the defense team and to provide information to the Ukrainian commissioner's office, the report said.

Within the framework of the proceeding, Lutkovska asked the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for information about circumstances and causes of the detention of Suschenko and the provision of his rights and freedoms in Russian territory.

It was reported on Monday that Ukrinform correspondent Roman Suschenko had been taken into custody in Moscow. The Federal Security Service said he had been charged with espionage. The Moscow Lefortovsky Court ordered the two-month arrest of Suschenko on October 1.

Kyiv called the journalist's detention a provocation and described the espionage accusations as far-fetched.
Home Prices Defy Predictions, Rising 6.3 Percent Annually

Prices increases escalated again on a year-over-year basis in August according to information released on Tuesday by CoreLogic. The company's Home Price Index (HPI) was up by 6.2 percent compared to August 2015. The July annual increase was 6.0 percent and June-to-June appreciation was 5.7 percent. Price gains from July to August nationwide were estimated at 1.1 percent for the third consecutive month.

Oregon, Washington, and Colorado continue to outpace the rest of the country with annual price increases of 10.3, 10.2, and 9.1 percent respectively. Other states with outsized gains were Utah at 7.7 percent and Florida and West Virginia each with 7.6 percent appreciation. The only state in which prices are declining is Connecticut which posted a 1.1 percent annual loss.

"Housing values continue to rise briskly on stronger fundamental and investor-fueled demand, as well as lack of adequate supply," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "This continued price appreciation is contributing to a growing affordability crisis in many markets around the country."

CoreLogic is forecasting an increase of 5.3 percent over the 12-month period that will end in August 2017. Its forward looking HPI anticipates an increase of 0.4 percent from August to September. Actual month-over-month numbers have been twice or more what CoreLogic has forecast almost every month this year.

"Home prices are now just 6 percent below the nominal peak reached in April 2006," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "With prices forecasted to increase by 5 percent over the next year, prices will be back to their peak level in 2017."
Ukrainian army positions came under 32 militant attacks in Donbas in the past 24 hours, the anti-terrorist operation press center said on Facebook on Tuesday.

Six violations of the truce were seen in the Luhansk sector, the press center said, adding that militants opened fire near Novooleksandrivka and Popasna and Ukrainian army positions came under attack of grenade launchers in Novooleksandrivka.

Ten shelling incidents were observed in the Donetsk sector. Militants fired grenade launchers, machineguns and small arms in the area of Avdiyivka, Kamyanka and Zaitseve, it said.

Sixteen shelling incidents happened in the Mariupol region. Militants breached the truce near Pavlopil, Maryinka, Shyrokyne, Starohnativka and Bohdanivka by use of small arms and machineguns, the report said.
the Energy Information Administration

In an effort to increase sales of electric, plug-in hybrid and other alternative light-duty vehicles in the U.S., California is launching its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program.

Automakers are required to earn credits based on a percentage of sales for alternative fuel vehicles model year 2018 and later vehicles, according to the Energy Information Administration. The total percentage requirements starts at 4.5 percent for model year 2018 sales and increases to 22 percent for model year 2025 sales.
As most of the world focuses on how unfettered oil production will weigh on prices, a few say a rebound is on the cards as the market starts to reflect a growing risk of shortages.

OPEC's strategy of keeping its taps open is leaving a smaller cushion if there's an unexpected need for more oil. The group's spare capacity has dwindled to the least since 2008, U.S. government data show, while global spending cuts have diminished prospects for new output. Crude may jump more than 35 percent from current levels as the possibility of a supply squeeze begins to get priced in, according to Citigroup Inc. and trader Gunvor Group.

The biggest energy crash in a generation prompted the industry to cut $1 trillion in spending. That's resulted in less new production and the slowing of current output as firms scrimp on technology that lengthens the life of fields. Citigroup sees prices rising to $65 next year, while Gunvor envisions an advance to as much as $70, levels last seen in 2014.

"The move from $50 to $60 to $70 a barrel could be a lot quicker than people think," David Fyfe, Gunvor's head of market research and analysis, said in an interview in Singapore. "Everyone in the supply universe apart from Saudi Arabia is, over the short term, producing as much as they can. There's no one apart from Saudi Arabia, which has between 1 and 2 million barrels a day of spare capacity."

More for you Shale oil firms hedge 2017 prices in 'droves' after OPEC rally

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had about 1.1 million barrels a day of spare production capacity last month, the U.S. Energy Department estimates, compared with more than 4 million in late 2010.

In 2011, after unrest in Libya cut output in that nation by about 1.5 million barrels a day, OPEC members tapped into spare capacity as oil prices shot up above $120 a barrel. Angola pumped more that summer, while Saudi Arabia increased its own production by 1.35 million barrels a day.

While producers try to extract what they can from underground, supplies stored on land are ample. Global petroleum stockpiles rose to 3.1 billion barrels in June, about 360 million above the average of the previous five years, according to the International Energy Agency.

A price spike would require demand growth to be strong enough to overwhelm daily supply and eat into those inventories. The IEA on Tuesday said it doesn't see that happening until at least 2018 as growth in consumption falters and output proves resilient.

Still, while inventories are depressing prices as they remove the fear of scarcity, buyers probably shouldn't feel so secure, Seth Kleinman, global head of energy strategy for Citigroup, said in an interview in Singapore.

Stockpiles grew as OPEC reduced spare capacity and pumped at record levels. The increase in supply is effectively a transfer of oil stored in reservoirs below OPEC countries to crude stored in tanks above ground, according to Kleinman, who said that the combination of factors could push prices to $65 a barrel next year.

OPEC production rose to a record 33.7 million barrels a day in August as members followed a strategy of maximizing output to force higher-cost producers to cut supply. Both Saudi Arabia, the group's biggest member, and the United Arab Emirates pumped at record levels last month, while Iran and Iraq are adding output after declines caused by sanctions and violence, respectively.

Russia, the world's second-largest petroleum producer after the U.S., increased production to more than 11 million barrels a day, according to daily data published on the website of the Energy Ministry's CDU-TEK unit earlier this month. It's the first time that level has been reached in records dating to 1991.

As OPEC pumps more, output outside the group slid to 56.1 million barrels a day in the second quarter, down from 58.3 million at the end of 2014, data from the Paris-based IEA show. Investment in the development of oil and gas resources from 2015 to 2020 will be 22 percent, or $740 billion, lower than anticipated before prices plunged in 2014, with the deepest cuts in the U.S., Wood Mackenzie said in a June report. A further $300 billion will be eliminated from exploration spending.

While U.S. shale production has declined slower than predicted after prices bottomed out, any output increases after prices begin to rise will also take longer than expected, according to Gunvor's Fyfe.

"The low oil price is doing the work of squeezing out that excess capacity in every link in the supply chain," Kleinman said. "The problem is that it's setting us up for a bullish oil market because we're just not sanctioning any oil projects from down here."

The spending cuts extend to strategies such as in-fill drilling and enhanced oil recovery techniques that can extend life and slow production declines in older fields. Questions also remain about whether the rush to produce as much oil as possible now might lead to steeper output decreases in the future, said Eirik Waerness, chief economist for Norway's Statoil SA.

"What is really uncertain is the slightly longer-term impact of all the cost-cutting that is going on now," Waerness said in an interview in Singapore. "We've done everything we can to increase efficiency, drill as efficiently as possible and increase our recovery rates, and you can't do that for ever."
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More than 61 percent of Midland ISDs student population is Hispanic.

Yet, traditionally Hispanic turnout in elections has lagged behind other demographics.

Officials with the campaign to pass a tax rate increase for the school district are trying to change that.

Better Begins Now held a press conference Tuesday just across the street from South Elementary to get the word out about Saturdays tax ratification election, which will add another 5 cents to the maintenance and operations (M&O) portion of the districts total tax rate to help MISD deal with a deficit caused by a $50 million recapture payment to Austin and lower mineral values inside Midland ISDs taxing area.

The goal of the press conference, which included Hispanic business leaders and elected officials, was to offer a final push for the Hispanic community to go vote and approve the tax rate increase set by Midland ISD trustees in August.

Those in attendance included Mayor Jerry Morales, County Commissioner Luis Sanchez and newly appointed MISD trustee Robert Marquez. Speaking for the group was Abraham Gutierrez, a businessman who recalled attending South Elementary and being challenged by teachers including Barbara Yarbrough, who was in attendance Tuesday.

We cannot let the education system take a backward step, Gutierrez said.

Approving the TRE, Gutierrez said, would show continued support of the teachers and the community. He said businessmen also understand the importance of an educated work force. He said the community wants to recruit the best talent to Midland and other businesses, but neither will happen if the school district is not a solid performer. He also challenged residents to not only vote but to then hold everyone in the community (the school board and school officials) accountable for better results. Midland ISD has been plagued by academic issues for nearly a decade.

Morales said passing this small tax will be another sign of a community coming together. He said it is important for the district to be the best it can be for the hiring and retaining of good teachers.

We have to have a strong education system, Morales said.

The increased M&O tax rate combined with the lowering of the I&S (interest and sinking) rate will mean around a $60 increase in the total tax bill of a person who owns a home appraised at $200,000. That $2,340 tax bill from the district could end up being lower if a property owner has homestead exemptions.

Sanchez said it is important to remind the Hispanic community now because Hispanic voters dont traditionally vote early. He said Hispanics need to realize voting is a way of speaking up about changes that are happening.

He also said it is important they understand the TRE is not just another tax. It could result in too many cuts at a particular school, cuts of resources across the district and cuts of teachers.

It is something for the future of their kids, Sanchez said.

Efforts being made to reach Hispanic voters include Spanish-language direct-mailing and media.
After Melanie Horton felt a lump on her right breast last year, she delayed going to the doctor for months.

I was in a really stressful job, she said. It wasnt until this year that I made a career change.

Horton, 34, received initial testing in June at Midland Memorial Hospital. One week later, she learned she had breast cancer.

Melanie now advises other young women to consider their health above their careers.

I encourage them to put themselves first, Horton said. It could have been scary if it spread. It already spread to a lymph node.

The diagnosis came as a surprise for Horton, who doesnt have family history of the disease.

I never thought it would happen to me, she said. If it runs in the family, you might be expecting it.

The diagnosis was also unexpected because Horton is under 40, the recommended age for the first mammogram in women. Only 5 percent of women with breast cancer diagnoses in the United States are under 40, according to the American Cancer Society.

Hortons diagnosis prompted her to encourage young women to complete self-examinations.

I talk to women in the office about doing self-breast checks, Melanie said. You dont know if theres something abnormal otherwise. I wouldnt have known.

Hortons husband, Rodger, said he was uneasy when he learned his wife was diagnosed at a young age. But he eventually viewed some positivity in the situation.

There are too many fighting it, but there are not many her age fighting it, Rodger Horton said. On the other hand, shes young and in good shape, which is a blessing.

His wife also remains positive about her circumstances. She wants her attitude to inspire young breast cancer patients.

Throughout the whole process, Ive been peaceful, which is unlike other stories Ive heard, Melanie Horton said. I realized because of my faith, God has put this on me because he knows I can handle it.

But the couple has had to make adjustments. The Hortons dont have children and enjoy traveling. They now keep her upcoming treatment schedule in mind when making plans.

Looking forward, theres a potential of chemotherapy treatments, Rodger Horton said. Were discussing possible travel plans for the end of the year. We would have normally already booked them, but we have been careful in making plans.

Melanie Horton said facing medical costs has caused them to pay more attention to finances.

Its put a kink into savings for vacation, she said. We have had to make sacrifices. We have savings, but unfortunately its something no one wants to go through.

But some factors have made Hortons journey easier. Rodger, her main supporter throughout the process, accompanies her to doctors appointments and does household chores. He also took care of Horton after her double mastectomy in August.

He tells me Im beautiful, Horton said. He tells me anyway, even though there are moments when I wont feel pretty.

The Hortons work at the same company, Benchmark Mortgage. Rodger said there have been advantages, including being in the same office when Melanie receives test results.

We have so much support from our boss, he said. Weve been able to leave for appointments with no stress at all.

Support didnt just come from the workplace. Charliss Rodgers, a registered nurse at Midland Memorial Hospital, was assigned as Melanies nurse navigator to help her throughout the treatment process.

I have people without a positive attitude who look at cancer as a death sentence, Rodgers said. She never thought that way. I told her she would have her good days and her bad days.

Rodgers, a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed at age 50, said its difficult to tell Melanie and other younger women they have the disease.

Shes my daughters age, Rodgers said. I remember how my daughter felt when I was diagnosed with cancer. I did not treat [Melanie] differently than other patients, but I thought its not fair for her to have it at an early age.

Horton, a Big Spring native, said she was pleased about the attention she received from local medical professionals. The period between initial testing and the most recent surgery lasted about two months.

I grew up in West Texas, and I heard a lot of horror stories about community hospitals  you usually hear about Baylor Medical or MD Anderson, Horton said. I appreciate the care I received in Midland.

Other support came from family and friends. Many of them came to her Bye-bye Boobies party at The Blue Door before her double mastectomy.

Savannah Davis, a friend of five years, has given Horton flowers and accompanied her to a doctors appointment. She said her friends behavior after the diagnosis has been inspiring.

She tested negative on genetic testing, and shes only 34, Davis said. It was so shocking when it came back as cancer. Most people would have been angry, but she showed this other-worldly peacefulness about how it would turn out.

Davis and Horton serve together on the executive committee of Midland Need to Read, an adult literacy program. Davis said shes impressed Horton maintains her dedication to the nonprofit despite her personal situation.

She has not skipped a beat, Davis said. Right after her double mastectomy we had a board meeting, and she was on the conference call.

Though Horton has portrayed optimism, she said living with cancer is sometimes difficult. Lately, shes been too tired to spend time with friends after work. Shes also afraid of the effects chemotherapy would have on her body.

Horton said she doesnt dwell on these factors, but instead looks toward the future. She hopes being open about her medical treatments will remind young women with breast cancer that theyre not alone.

Anyone who asks, I lift up my shirt to show them what my tissue expanders look like, what my scars look like, Horton said. I want people to know what Im going through.
The Ukrainian parliament will support a visa travel regime between Ukraine and Russia, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy said.

"There are grounds for an affirmative vote [...]. There are grounds for a majority in the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada," Parubiy said in a Svoboda Slova program aired by the ICTV channel on Monday.

The speaker said he would hold consultations with the leaders of parliament factions and the Verkhovna Rada might consider a draft resolution introducing a visa travel regime with Russia on Thursday, October 6.
No Ukrainian army servicemen were killed in the anti-terrorist operation zone in the past 24 hours, but one soldier suffered injuries, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

"One soldier of ours suffered injuries over the past day. That happened in Zaitseve in the Donetsk region during an attack of the hostiles," he told a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.

In his words, militants did not use heavy weapons in the past 24 hours yet shelling incidents occurred in every traditional hotbed.
Former Berkut policeman in court admits guilt and testifies against former colleagues

Former Berkut policeman from Kharkiv Viktor Shapovalov in court has admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness, naming former colleagues who received live ammunition instead of rubber bullets (during violent demonstrations in Kyiv in later 2013 and early 2014), Channel 5 TV has reported.

Shapovalov in court said he is sorry for what happened. He said he was speaking for himself, not for his colleagues.

The former Berkut policeman, who has been held in custody for 18 months, partially acknowledged his guilt and named former colleagues, who received live ammunition instead of rubber bullets.

"I would like to note the following: pump-action weapons were given to policemen in my unit: to Serhiy Bondarenko, Rak, Mischenko, Voitenko, Bilov. This was the unit that possessed pump-action rifles. Batskykh, Biletsky, Kobets, Matsiura, Pavlenko, Robko, Shevchenko, also received them. The unit with Fort rifles was commanded by Lukash," he said.

"Those with Fort rifles, to the front, he [Lukash] gave the command," the former Berkut policeman said.

Shapovalov also said he saw how Berkut police at Kriposnty Lane in Kyiv beat people with clubs, but he did not intervene. Shapovalov said he also did not intervene when riot police fired their weapons at civilians.

"Shapovalov, who was a commander of a Berkut riot police unit, is accused of exceeding his authority. Berkut policemen from Kharkiv, we think, inflicted wounds of varying severity on more than 110 individuals [during the protests]," stated prosecutor Olekandr Kovalchuk said.

Shapovalov in detail testified how riot police from various regions of Ukraine identified themselves during protests on Independence Square in Kyiv during February of 2014. According to him, stickers of various colors were attached to their helmets.

Lawyers say this information provides an opportunity to identify those involved in wounding and killing protesters during the so-called Revolution of Dignity.

"This is important because, in addition to other distinguishing features, it is practically impossible to identify Berkut riot police, who wore helmets," defense lawyer Oleksandr Musiyenko said.

The prosecutor said that Shapovalov's testimony is very important and his testimony against other riot policemen may help prove their guilt, especially that of commander of Kharkiv company of Berkut Vladyslav Lukash, who is also accused of exceeding his authority.

Victims of excessive use of force by police are scheduled to testify in Kyiv at the Podilsky district court on October 18.
Be measured in the margins you ...
A query challenging the constitutionality of certain provisions of the law "On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (Regarding Justice)" will be sent to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the coming days, Head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Romaniuk has said.

"We haven't sent the query yet but the decision has been made. We are still working on its text, and will take into account the comments that were made today by participants of the plenum. I think it's a matter of a day or two, and it will be submitted," Romaniuk told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

He added that as soon as the Supreme Court has sent its query to the Constitutional Court, the relevant information will appear on the Supreme Court's website, and its receipt will be reported on the website of the Constitutional Court.

According to Romaniuk, the provisions of the Constitution concerning the entity, which makes a decision to liquidate the court, have been violated. "According to the Constitution, which was in force at the time of adoption of this document, and the Constitution, which is still in effect, until the end of 2017 the prerogative belongs to the president of Ukraine and not to the Verkhovna Rada," he added.

When asked if the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has an opportunity or the right to suspend the amendments to the Constitution regarding justice for the time when the Constitutional Court will be considering the Supreme Court's query, Romaniuk said: "Firstly, we do not appeal against the amendments to the Constitution as such. The amendments to the constitution came into force, and we are not against them. On the contrary we support them. You remember that there were two votings: firstly the law [on amendments to the constitution of Ukraine regarding justice] was passed and then the amendments to the Constitution were adopted. We are against the law, and not the law as a whole, but its final provisions, which lay down the procedure of liquidation of the Supreme Court."
Kyiv on October 7-8 will host an international conference entitled "Constitutional control and processes of democratic transformation in contemporary society." President of the European Commission "For Democracy through Law" (Venice Commission) Gianni Buquicchio will take part.

The press service of the Constitutional Court said on its website on Tuesday, that the Forum on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine will bring together, except for the president of the Venice Commission, representatives of the Council of Europe, European Union, OSCE, judges of the European Court of Human Rights, constitutional courts of two dozen of countries.

The Ukrainian part of the conference will include representatives of state and judicial authorities, parliamentarians and experts.
New Priest Grade Crash View Photos

Groveland, CA  The CHP has released the name of man that tragically died Saturday afternoon after his 2004 Chevy pickup truck went 400 ft. down Highway 120 New Priest Grade.

The CHP reports that 59-year-old Billy Trabucco of Riverbank failed to negotiate a westbound curve while approaching Grizzly Road and went off the side. The victim was pinned inside and pronounced dead at the scene. The crash occurred around 10am. What exactly led him to lose control of the truck is still under investigation and autopsy results are pending.

New Priest Grade was briefly blocked Saturday morning due to the crash.
Some 13,908 people are entitled to army conscript in Ukraine on October-November 2016, whereon UAH 41.6 million allocated for this purpose.

According to the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 684 dated September 22, which is released on the official website of the government, 7, 908 people will be sent to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 5,000 people to the National Guard and 1, 000 people to the State special transport service out of the total number of conscripts.

The Cabinet has allocated UAH 41.6 million for carrying out the conscript, of which UAH 23.7 for carrying out a conscript to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, UAH 14.9 million - to the National Guard and UAH 29.9 million - to State Special Transport Service.

The volume of costs per one conscript is UAH 2 thousand 993.13, out of which UAH 2,900 allocated for the payment of financial help to citizens of Ukraine, who are called to active military service; UAH 93.013- for the preparation and conduct of the conscript to active military service (excluding food and transportation means for Ukrainian citizens called up for military service from assembly places of regional, Kyiv City military registration and enlistment office to the place of the military service).

As the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported later on the official Facebook page, the conscript will finish on November 30, 2016.

At the same time, army discharge of those who have served fixed term of time military service has started. A total number of those who must be released in October-December of 2016 is 8,315 people.

"Conscripts who received a draft notice for the arrival to the draft office (regional assembly point) must arrive at the point and at the time indicated in the draft notice. If under any circumstances the notice was not received, the citizens of military age are required to appear at the draft office in ten days period from the beginning of the respective regular conscript as defined by the decree of the Ukrainian president," the report says.

Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry, the State Special Transport Service were charged to transfer until October 4, the funds to the accounts of regional, Kyiv City Military Draft Offices. The Interior Ministry and the State Special Transport Service until October 4 are to receive the funds of the Defense Ministry in the amount of UAH 1 million 383,650 and UAH 276,730 respectively for the transportation and food for Ukrainian citizens called up for the active military service to the National Guard and the State Special Transport Service.
National Park Service View Photos

A high-ranking National Park Service official is abruptly retiringshortly after her husband announced plans to leave Yosemite National Park.

We reported last week that Don Neubacher, Superintendent of Yosemite National Park, chose to retire effective November 1st. The Associated Press reports that he had been offered the chance to relocate to Denver to take a different position within the National Park Service. He had come under fire last month during a congressional hearing in Washington, DC alleging mismanagement in Yosemite National Park. 18 Yosemite staffers had complained about a toxic work environment.

The AP reports that Neubachers wife, Patty, has now announced her retirement as the Deputy Regional Director of the Pacific West Region, which covers 56 national parks in six states. Patty Neubacher has been with the National Park Service for 33 years.
Utica Power Authority Map View Photos

Sacramento, CA  Utica Water and Power Authority, serving east Calaveras County communities and the City of Angels Camp, has scored a win with the passage of a law that will help maximize its hydroelectricity revenues.

By penning his approval to Mother Lode lawmaker Frank Bigelows AB 1979 this week Governor Jerry Brown has enabled local utilities such as UWPA to tap the states renewable feed-in tariff, ensuring a reliable funding source for their hydroelectric operations. These utilities, which deliver water to communities using revenues generated from hydroelectric energy production, remain eligible for the tariff program as long as they deliver no more than 3 MW of electricity to the grid.

Bigelow states, This is a major victory for the people of Calaveras County who will now have continued access to affordable water and power. For our area that has suffered through the ongoing drought and dangerous wild fires, this bill provides much needed reliability and security. As an added bonus, he further states that the legislation advances the states goal of incentivizing small renewable energy suppliers.

Angels Camp City Councilman and UWPA Board President Bert Sobon shares this statement: AB 1979 provides much needed support to our drought-stricken community by making it possible for UWPA to continue its pursuit of efforts to maximize revenue from our Murphys Powerhouse. We still have a lot of work to do to complete this process but AB 1979 was a crucial step. Assemblyman Bigelow and his staff immediately recognized the importance of protecting the water supply provided by UWPA to Murphys and Angels Camp, which is UWPAs primary responsibility, and they really came through for us  UWPA is very grateful for their efforts.
Sonora, CA  Vote-by-mail ballots will start going out Monday in anticipation of the November 8 General Election.

Tuolumne County Clerk and Auditor Controller Debi Bautista noted at todays Board of Supervisors meeting that the elections office at 2 S. Green Street will start offering early voting next Monday, and vote-by-mail ballots should start arriving by Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. You must be registered to vote by October 24 to take part in the November election.

Tuolumne County has over 30,300 registered voters. Breaking down the numbers, there are 13,126 Republicans, 9,617 Democrats, 5,813 with No Party Preference, 1,198 American Independent members, 274 Libertarians and 179 Green Party members.

Besides helping pick the next Presidentlocal voters will weigh in on US Senate, Congress, Assembly, special districts, ballot measures, school board seats and other races.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has reiterated the U.S. stance on the Ukrainian issue and the need for joint efforts with Russia to hammer out a solution to the Donbas conflict through diplomacy.

"We have imposed sanctions, and we're insisting on a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Donbas and the illegal annexation of Crimea," he said during his speech at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Brussels on Tuesday.

The U.S. authorities stand for the observance of international law by all the parties concerned, he said.

"We remain steadfast in our support for a stable, united and democratic Ukraine," he said.
During a visit to east Central Florida on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott warned Floridians along the coast that Hurricane Matthew is a dangerous storm that has the potential to cause major damage.

If Matthew directly impacts Florida, there will be massive destruction that we havent seen in years, Scott said from the Volusia County Emergency Management office in Daytona Beach.

Scotts briefing came after he was briefed about Hurricane Matthews latest projection.

It hasnt gotten better for us, its gotten worse. We cannot rule out a direct hit on our state, Scott said.

Volusia closed its beaches to driving starting Tuesday and until conditions improve.

Andrew Hands, who owns Ocean Court motel on State Road A1A in Daytona Beach, listened to Scotts briefing when it aired live. Hands hasnt forgotten when several hurricanes slammed into the Volusia County coast in 2004.

We never expected that much damage," Hands recalled. "We had over $350,000 in damage, so you just cant forget that stuff.

Volusia County and several coastal cities are offering sandbags so homeowners can prepare for possible flooding, which Scott said is likely with such a slow-moving storm.

We live on the peninsula, and we are in a low-lying area, so were trying to prepare, said Claudette McKinnon, who is not taking her first hurricane lightly.

The governor said evacuation orders could come soon for homeowners living along the coast, and shelters are scheduled to open in the coming days. He also said 200 state National Guard soldiers have been activated, with 6,600 on standby.

After Scotts briefing, the Emergency Operations Center increased its activation level to 2 and expects full activation by Thursday.

Right now, Volusia Beach Safety is flying the red flag, warning swimmers about possible dangers with strong surf and rip currents. If conditions deteriorate, Beach Safety will fly double red flags, which orders swimmers out of the water.
Flu season has arrived and officials with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County are urging people to get a flu shot.

Flu season has begun

DOH-Orange offering flu shots at its health center in Orlando

Health officials: Flu shot can protect against flu infection and complications



DOH-Orange is offering flu shots for children and adults at its Central Health Center located at 832 West Central Blvd. in Orlando.

Shots are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on a first come, first serve basis. No appointment is necessary, health officials said. Flu shots are free for children, but there is a fee for adults.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months of age and older get vaccinated. A flu shot can protect people at higher risk of developing serious flu-related complications, including pregnant women, adults over the age of 65, those with asthma or a weakened immune system.

Getting the flu vaccine every season is important to protect yourself and your family against flu infection and its complications. It reduces absences at work, school and social events, said Dr. Kevin M. Sherin, health officer for the Florida Department of Health.

To help prevent the flu, officials recommend washing your hands often, keeping hands away from your face and covering your mouth and nose with tissue when coughing and sneezing.

For more information, visit the Florida Department of Healths website.
Dr. Laura Brandenburg has been named dean of the School of Languages and Literature at Wayland Baptist University, filling the position vacated by Dr. Cindy McClenagan, who has transitioned into her new role as vice president of academic affairs.

As dean, Brandenburg will now report directly to McClenagan who oversaw the decision to promote her to the new position.

I am confident that Dr. Brandenburgs administrative skills, even temperament, and purposeful vision will move the school forward in a positive manner, McClenagan said.

Brandenburg has taught for Waylands School of Languages and Literature for six years, first as an online adjunct instructor and then as a full-time assistant professor of English. She teaches both face-to-face and online courses, primarily in composition and rhetoric, technical communication and professional writing. Brandenburg earned her bachelors degree in English from Angelo State University in 2007. She then earned a Master of Arts in English from Texas Tech University in 2009, specializing in Linguistics. Also at Texas Tech, Brandenburg completed her Ph.D. in Technical Communication in 2012, specializing in Composition and Rhetoric.

Brandenburg looks forward to serving faculty and students alike in her new role as dean.

I love administration as much as I love teaching, Brandenburg said. My greatest interest is in students; we do administration so that we can serve our students.

The School of Languages and Literature offers undergraduate majors in English and Spanish, with English specializations available in American Literature, British Literature, and Professional Writing. Minors are offered in English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Latin, and Professional Writing. A Master of Arts in English is available online, as is a Master of Arts in Humanities, taught in conjunction with the School of Behavioral and Social Science and the School of Religion.
A residence in the 600 block of West 10th was burglarized between 7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday. Reported missing are assorted bands of wrenches, sockets and screw drivers valued at $750, 50 miscellaneous compact discs worth $200, a CD player worth $10, five Case-brand knives worth $100, a brown acoustic guitar worth $20 and a 2-liter plastic bottle filled with coins. The intruder caused $225 damage during the burglary.

--A black and yellow go-kart valued at $275 was stolen from a yard in the 1400 block of West 15th between 8 a.m. and noon Sunday.

--A 69-year-old Plainview man was arrested in the 1800 block of Walter Griffin about midnight Monday for driving while license invalid with previous conviction and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was held in Hale County jail on bonds totaling $1,700.

--A Black & Decker cordless line trimmer worth $80 and a cooking disc worth $140 were stolen from the 1700 block of West 16th between midnight-3:30 p.m. Saturday.

--Twenty dollars in cash was stolen about 4:20 p.m. Saturday in the 200 E. Carter by a known person who assaulted a disabled individual, causing bodily injury, during the crime.

--The fuel tank on a Honda was vandalized, causing $400 damage, between 9-9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 100 block of East Seventh.

--Seven dollars in fuel was stolen from a business in the 500 block of North Date about 5:05 p.m. Saturday.

--A window of a structure in the 1800 block of West 11th was vandalized about 3 a.m. Sunday, causing $75 damage.

--A 51-year-old Plainview woman was arrested at 7:34 p.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of North Columbia on an outstanding traffic warrant for speeding. She was being held in Hale County jail without bond.

--An aggravated assault with a deadly weapon reportedly occurred about 1 a.m. Monday in the 900 block of North Date.

--A family violence assault involving bodily injury reportedly occurred in the 2200 block of Independence between 9:30-10 p.m. Sunday.

(Anyone with information on crime in Plainview and Hale County may contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 293-8477 or 293-TIPS.)
Lawyer files appeal against arrest of Ukrainian national Suschenko charged with espionage in Russia

A lawyer has challenged the arrest of Ukrainian citizen Roman Suschenko, who is under arrest in Russia on espionage charges, the press service of Moscow's Lefortovsky District Court told Interfax.

"We have received an appeal from a lawyer against the court resolution on the preventive measure against Suschenko in the form of custody. The lawyer requests [the court] to cancel its resolution and select a softer preventive measure against his client," Yekaterina Krasnova, spokesperson for the court, said.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Monday that "Ukrainian military intelligence career officer Col. Suschenko had been detained in Moscow when gathering intelligence."

The FSB opened a criminal case on espionage charges. An investigation is underway. The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that the detainee was in Russia without a journalist accreditation.

The Moscow Lefortovsky Court ordered a two-month arrest of Suschenko.

Kyiv said that the detention was an act of provocation and the accusations of spying were groundless.
Santa Clara community activists are throwing flags on what they call a behind-the-scenes effort by allies of the San Francisco 49ers to oust City Council members who are questioning the teams lease agreement at Levis Stadium.

This is not the way politics should be done, said Burt Field, a spokesman with Stand Up for Santa Clara.

At the center of the controversy is the handoff of $49,265 from Blupac, a nonprofit civic education group, to a Long Beach political consulting outfit running an operation called Citizens for Economic Council. The money is funding a mail campaign aimed at helping City Council candidates Ahmad Rafah, John McLemore, Mohammed Nadeem and former Mayor Patty Mahan in the Nov. 8 election.

We normally dont do this sort of thing, but we saw it a chance to be a force for good government, said Bluepac founder Doug Chan.





Field notes that Chan works at a law firm with Rich Robinson, whom Field calls a close friend and consultant for the 49ers.

Chan is a member of the San Francisco Civil Service Commission and onetime member of the citys Police Commission, and has long been involved in Bay Area politics. He confirmed Bluepac as the source of the $49,265 for the mail campaign, but declined to confirm or deny the 49ers involvement.

Our funders come from a wide variety of business and civic interests. Chan said.

He did deny that Robinson works with the 49ers. On his website, however, Robinson lists the pro-stadium campaign in the 2010 Santa Clara elections as one of his numerous clients.

Robinson himself was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

As for the Niners: Typically we do not comment on political matters or rumors, said team spokesman Bob Lange.

Field and other members of Stand Up for Santa Clara called the $49,265 contribution dark money, and said the true source of the funds is being hidden.

This is not the kind of politics we want in Santa Clara, Field said.

All this comes after Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor and City Council members Debi Davis and Kathy Watanabe have called for an audit on how much city money is being used for stadium operations. Davis and Watanabe are running for re-election in November; Gillmors term isnt up yet.

The audit, which is now under way, is aimed at finding out if any city money is improperly being used in Levis Stadium operations  and whether the city is receiving our fair share of revenue coming in to the stadium.

All of this is rotating around the 49ers request for $5 million annual rent reduction for the remainder of the teams 40-year stadium lease.

So were talking about hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the lease, Gillmor said.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
The dramatic sinking of San Franciscos Millennium Tower has not compromised the buildings ability to withstand a strong earthquake, according to a report released Tuesday by an engineer for the high-rises developer.

The report, which analyzes settlement data through June, says the foundation mat of the 58-story condominium tower at 301 Mission St. has experienced minor yielding in a few locations, but not to an extent that compromises its ability to safely support the building.

We determined that the effect of settlement on the building elements is negligible, said the report, which was prepared by structural engineer Ron Hamburger of the firm Simpson Gumpertz and Heger.

The developer, Millennium Partners, has blamed the sinking on construction at the neighboring Transbay Transit Center, where hundreds of millions of gallons of water have been pumped out of the ground. Millennium Partners says the dewatering has compressed and weakened the soil under the building, prompting it to sink deeper into the bay mud.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which is building the transit center, says the Millennium Tower is settling more than expected because it was built atop piles that were driven 60 to 90 feet into bay clay, rather than the 220 feet that would have been necessary to reach bedrock.

Hamburgers investigation used sophisticated computer modeling to determine whether the skyscraper is likely to suffer heavy damage during a quake. It concluded that most of the buildings elements, despite the lopsided settlement, would meet the standards of similar high-rises popping up around the city.

Hamburger said the buildings structural elements do not experience appreciable stress as a result of these settlements. This includes bearing walls around the building core, which provide most of the buildings resistance to earthquake loads, as well as the floor slabs, most columns and beams.

The report did highlight cracking in several parts of the building, including a basement shear wall in the north stairwell, the northwest corner of the basement, and the northwest corner of the elevator pit. It said the towers pile cap  a 10-foot-thick slab of concrete that sits above the towers 900 piles  is highly stressed in several areas.

None of the settlement-related demands on these elements are at levels that indicate impending failure, the report said.

The reports release comes as Millennium Tower Homeowners Association enters week two of its own investigation into the luxury tower, which has settled 16 inches since 2007 and is leaning 2 inches to the northwest. The homeowners associations geotechnical engineers are digging three holes down to bedrock and will investigate groundwater levels, soil conditions and settlement rates.

In a statement, the homeowners association said Hamburgers report clearly states that the building is safe for occupancy, and that settlement conditions have not compromised the buildings ability to withstand a major earthquake.

But not all Millennium condo dwellers were comforted by the report. One, Jerry Dodson, said the report raised as many questions as it answered.

Its a report that in a way is welcome because it has a level of rigor that no other report has had to date, he said. But it really does require a lot of peer review to test these assumptions.

Dodson, an attorney and engineer, has sued Millennium Partners, claiming the developer engaged in fraud by not disclosing the buildings sinking when he bought his 42nd-floor unit in 2012. More than a dozen other Millennium condo owners have joined the lawsuit.

Parts of the new report are at odds with a draft version that Hamburger wrote in 2014, which found that some limited elements of the tower were under significant stresses as a result of the settlement and were more susceptible to damage from an earthquake.

The new report included a supplemental analysis to determine the effect of additional settlement as well as a nonlinear analysis of the buildings ductility, or the ability of a structure to withstand excessive loading without failure.

We are not trying to spin the report one way or another, said Millennium Partners spokesman P.J. Johnston. The investigation led to the conclusions that are encapsulated in the report.

The Millennium Partners spokesman did use the release of the report  along with another report on the effect of the Transbay Transit Center dewatering program on the tower  as a chance to take a shot at the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which has said it would continue to dewater into 2017.

The agencys years of dewatering, which it continues to this day, have drastically dropped the water table beneath 301 Mission St. and has caused excessive settlement, Johnston said.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority called the charges a distraction from the exclusive cause of the tilt to the west/northwest and the excessive vertical settlement of the tower: the towers inadequate foundation.

The agency said that the fact that the tower sank 8.3 inches before construction began on the transit center proves that the problem is the foundation, not the water pumping.

Also on Tuesday, a Department of Building Inspection advisory panel discussed beefing up the level of geotechnical review that high-rise developments will face. The agency has been criticized for not looking more closely at the Millenniums foundation plans when the project was being reviewed more than a decade ago.

Right now no building in San Francisco undergoes a focused geotechnical review, said Stephen Harris, a structural engineer and chairman of the advisory panel.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @sfjkdineen
The Don Pablos restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy today in San Antonio, the third time this year that dining establishments managed by the same local company have sought refuge from creditors.

FMP SA Management Group, an affiliate of Food Management Partners Inc. of Hollywood Park, manages Don Pablos chain of 16 restaurants. FMP also manages Zios Italian Kitchen, a 15-store chain that filed for bankruptcy last month, as well as the Buffets all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant chains across the country. Buffets, which entered bankruptcy in March, ran more than 300 restaurants in 35 states under the names Ryans, HomeTown Buffet, Old Country Buffet, Country Buffet, Tahoe Joes Famous Steakhouse and Fire Mountain.

As with the other bankruptcies, attorneys for Don Pablos Mexican Kitchen blamed the depressed casual dining environment as the primary cause for the chains financial troubles, according to a court papers. Competitive pressures from other so-called fast casual Mexican restaurant chains, including Moes Southwest Grill, Pancheros Mexican Grill and Chipotle Mexican Grill, as well as such chains as Applebees, Chilis and TGI Fridays, also were cited.

In addition, Don Pablos has been unable to reverse the decade long decline brought on by prior management and ownership.

Don Pablos also hasnt generated enough revenue to sustain the rents its pays, especially in combination with increased costs of goods, services and employees, the court filing added. An attorney for Don Pablos didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Don Pablos was founded in Lubbock in 1985. In the late 1990s, it was the second largest full-service Mexican restaurant chain in the country with as many as 120 locations, the court filing said. FMP, a private multiconcept developer and operator of independent restaurant chains, has managed Don Pablos since 2014.

The chain has no San Antonio locations but operates locations in Fort Worth, Grand Prairie and North Richland Hills, according to its website. It also has locations in Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia.

Don Pablos reported assets and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million each. Also filing bankruptcy was the operator of Hops Grill and Brewery, which has one location. The location wasnt reported in the filing. There is a Hops that operates in Colorado. Rita Restaurant Corp., which used to own Don Pablos, also filed for bankruptcy in San Antonio.

Lawyers for all three bankruptcies have filed court papers requesting the cases be jointly administered by the court.

pdanner@express-news.net

Twitter: @AlamoPD
Suspects were arrested in a violent robbery in Orinda that left a school board member shot and her husband pistol-whipped in front of their home last week, authorities said Tuesday.

Orinda Police Chief Mark Nagel confirmed that arrests were made by the Contra Costa County district attorneys office in connection with the robbery in his city and a string of similar crimes throughout the East Bay.

Barry Grove, a Contra Costa County deputy district attorney, said six people were arrested, but did not release additional details, including the names of the suspects or where they were taken into custody. A spokesman for the district attorneys office said more information will be made public as the investigation progresses.

Orinda Union School District board member Carol Brown, 70, was shot in the confrontation in the driveway of her Claremont Avenue home on Sept. 26. Browns husband, Tom Spalding, was pistol-whipped during the robbery.

Paul Chinn

Police responded to reports of gunfire in the couples driveway around 9:09 p.m. when Brown and Spalding were unloading groceries from their car. They told police two assailants confronted them, and one brandished a pistol demanding Spaldings wallet and Browns purse, Nagel said.

Although the couple complied with the demands, one of the attackers pistol-whipped Spalding, Nagel added. Spalding stumbled into his home to dial 911 when he heard two gunshots. The muggers shot Brown twice before fleeing the scene, police said.

Detectives are investigating whether a rash of similar robberies, including one in Antioch, are connected to the six people arrested.

Last Wednesday, two men robbed a female victim of her purse at gunpoint in Antioch. The robbery took place in the driveway of the victims home on the 3100 block of Ashley Way at about 9:30 p.m., said Antioch police Sgt. Tom Fuhrmann.

Its too premature to say that they are definitely connected, said Fuhrmann. There are some similarities, but we have to confer with the other agencies and look at the descriptions and details to see if these are possibly related.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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A robber wearing a cap reading Cal was being hunted by police after he held up a Livermore bank at gunpoint.

Police officials are asking for the publics help in identifying the bandit who robbed a U.S. Bank at 2125 Second St. in Livermore on Saturday, police said.
New allegations surfaced Tuesday during a court hearing for a former Livermore police officer implicated in a far-reaching sexual misconduct scandal involving members of several Bay Area law enforcement agencies.

Daniel Black, 49, was charged with five misdemeanors for having sex with a teenager and providing her with alcohol in his motor home while it was parked in public lots in Berkeley and Albany, prosecutors say.

On Tuesday, an arraignment was scheduled in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, but Black was not present. His lawyer filed a waiver that did not require him to be in court due to the charges being misdemeanors  two counts of lewd conduct, two counts of engaging in prostitution and furnishing alcohol to a minor.

Black is one of five current and former law enforcement officials charged in Alameda County stemming from their alleged involvement with a sexually exploited 19-year-old woman who previously went by the alias Celeste Guap but has discarded the pseudonym. Her attorneys have asked that she be referred to only by her first name, Jasmine, to protect her privacy because shes the victim of crime.

Jasmine has said she had sex with 29 law enforcement officers in the Bay Area in the past two years. Some of the interactions allegedly happened when she was 17, too young to legally give consent. She said some of the officers paid her, while others tipped her off about prostitution stings or ran the names of people she knew through law enforcement databases. In Blacks case, he paid for her dinner and gave her alcohol in exchange for sex on two occasions in April, prosecutors say.

During arguments in court Tuesday over Blacks bail, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Sabrina Farrell revealed that Black had been the subject of past complaints from women, including some while on duty.

Black had recorded someone without her permission while they were having sex, and in another instance had sex with someone under the influence, Farrell said.

Prosecutors accused Black of reaching out to Jasmine through Facebook and setting up meetings with her. On April 8, he told Jasmine, Just to be clear, Im not going to pay you, but I will buy you dinner, according to court records. Later that night and the next morning, they engaged in oral copulation and sexual intercourse inside his recreational vehicle, visible from a public street, according to records.

Black told Jasmine that she could drink his alcohol, prosecutors say. Go ahead and help yourself. Im going to turn my back, Farrell said in court, quoting what Black allegedly told Jasmine, who is the daughter of an Oakland police dispatcher.

Five days later, Black paid for Jasmines dinner at an Albany restaurant before they again engaged in oral copulation near the waterfront and Interstate 80 in his motor home.

Black resigned from the department last month, shortly before the charges became public. On Tuesday, his attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Efforts to reach Black were not successful.

When Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley last month announced the impending charges against seven current and former officers  two of whom have yet to be formally charged  she emphasized that prostitution does not necessarily involve paying for sex.

It doesnt have to be money. It can be food, OMalley said. We have to look at our laws in the context of the reality of what human trafficking and sexual exploitation look like.

At the time his involvement with Jasmine came to light, Black was on desk duty at the Livermore Police Department because of a complaint from a different female victim, Farrell said. He had also faced complaints from volunteers at the police station, she said.

The allegations were compelling enough that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Tara Flanagan considered Black a threat to public safety and ordered him to surrender to the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin by 5 p.m. Tuesday and pay $14,000 in bail  the highest thus far of the officers arraigned in court.

Farrell declined to comment on the case outside of court, except to say she intentionally left out details in her arguments to the judge because she knew reporters were in the courtroom.

Blacks attorney, Fatima Silva, also declined to comment to reporters. She said in court that Black, who was a Livermore police officer for 22 years, was neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community. Black lives in the Bay Area with his family, and his daughter attends school here, Silva said.

Silva called the allegations against Black inflated and described his relationship with Jasmine as a consensual one between adults. Black being a police officer wasnt relevant to the charges or whether he should be booked in jail, she argued.

This was a private relationship, Silva said in court. There was constant contact and friendship throughout this process.

Michael Rains, a criminal defense attorney whose firm typically represents Oakland, Richmond and Livermore police officers but isnt handling this case, said some of the charges were overreaching. He also said that Jasmine instigated contact with officers by sending them friend requests on Facebook and that she was the victim of a lack of parental control.

I think that the charging decisions were hasty, and I think they were perhaps driven by politics rather than a real sincere look at what the conduct is that is at issue in these cases, Rains said.

A pretrial hearing for Black was scheduled for Oct. 24. Another man charged in the scandal, Leroy Johnson, formerly of the Oakland Police Department, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, but it was put off until Oct. 19 because his attorney had a scheduling conflict.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov
A former San Francisco YMCA camp counselor accused of molesting his child charges and sending 12-year-old girls unsolicited nude pictures of himself via Snapchat pleaded not guilty to 13 charges prosecutors brought against him Tuesday morning.

As shaken parents of the victims looked on inside a courtroom in San Franciscos Hall of Justice, Evin Devin Blanchard, 24, was arraigned on 10 felony and three misdemeanor charges, including child molestation and producing child pornography.

Officials at the Embarcadero YMCA, where Blanchard worked for nine weeks, fired the counselor on Aug. 1 when the allegations first surfaced, a spokeswoman said. But its unclear whether Blanchard  who authorities said has an active case stemming from a November 2015 arrest for carrying a concealed firearm  should have been hired in the first place.

The spokeswoman, Jane Packer, declined to discuss Blanchards hiring process, citing employee privacy concerns, but said all YMCA camp counselors undergo a rigorous screening process that includes criminal background checks through the California Department of Justice and the FBI.

That helps screen out individuals with backgrounds that could jeopardize the safety of the youth with whom we work, said Packer, though she could not immediately explain how Blanchard made it through the screening process in light of his 2015 arrest.

Its troubling because we work so hard to protect our kids, Packer said.

Blanchard was arrested in Phoenix in late September and extradited. Superior Court Judge Edward Torpoco set bail at $5 million.

Max Szabo, a spokesman for the San Francisco district attorneys office, called Blanchards conduct very concerning.

One of the three 12-year-old female victims told investigators she blocked Blanchard on Snapchat after he used the app to send her a message asking whether she was in bed, which made her very uncomfortable, according to a charging document in the case.

The two other victims said their then-camp counselor sent unsolicited photos of his penis to them, as well as a nude video, and asked the victims to send him nude images of themselves in return, according to the document.

In a number of incidents dating back to early July, the victims said Blanchard inappropriately touched them in a sexual nature on field trips during the YMCA summer camp, including groping them in a swimming pool and at a park, prompting the preteens to try to escape his advances.

Blanchards attorney, Allison Margolin, declined to comment on the specific charges, beyond saying that Blanchard has been a client of hers for some time and has always been only respectful to me and polite in all my interactions with him.

In dozens of Snapchat messages obtained by police, Blanchard repeatedly badgered one of the victims to send him nude photos, asked her if she had given oral sex and bombarded her with naked images of himself.

One victim told investigators it became awkward at camp after she refused Blanchards request to send him nude images, according to the charging document.

When the victim refused to send nude images to Blanchard, he asked her to keep things between me and you  according to a Snapchat exchange included in the charging document.

You just cant ever talk about it and neither will I, he wrote.

The victim wrote back, Asking a person that is 10 years younger then you is wrong.

Blanchard replied, Go to your settings and erase this conversation.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley
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HUDSON  A Queens man was arrested Tuesday at Rikers Island Correctional Facility in New York City in the investigation of the death of a Columbia County woman last month.

Rasheem Cotman, 32, was charged with felony concealment of a human corpse relating to the heroin overdose death of Halle Schmidt, Columbia County Sheriff David P. Bartlett said.

Schmidt, 21, of Copake was reported missing by family members on Sept. 4 and her body was found Sept. 10 near Old Post Road in Kinderhook.

Upon being notified of Schmidt's disappearance, deputies and investigators interviewed her friends and acquaintances and handled numerous leads, Bartlett said. He said they spent hours reviewing area surveillance footage, which helped create a timeline on Schmidt's whereabouts up until the time she went missing.

Authorities were not specific about where Cotman allegedly fit into their timeline or how Cotman and Schmidt interacted.

On Sept. 9, investigators traveled to Queens to speak with individuals who were believed to have information about the disappearance. At that time, investigators interviewed Cotman, who they said admitted his involvement, ultimately leading to the discovery of Schmidt's body the next day.

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An autopsy found that she died as a result of a heroin overdose, Barlett said.

Cotman was taken to Columbia County by investigators, arraigned in Kinderhook Town Court and sent to the county jail without bail pending his next court appearance.

 Staff report
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NEW HAVEN - A judge sent former Danbury nightclub owner Ian Bick to jail Tuesday, citing the young entrepreneurs willful disregard of conditions of his bond since his conviction on fraud charges last fall.

Mr. Bick, the party is over, Judge Jeffery Meyer told Bick before ordering him handcuffed and led from the court. You will be remanded at this time.

A jury convicted Bick last fall of six counts of mail fraud and money laundering after he bilked investors out of $500,000. The money was supposed to go for concert promotions and to underwrite online sales of electronics, but prosecutors said he spent the money on lavish trips and other personal expenses.

Bick had been free on $250,000 bond while awaiting sentencing in the case.

Prosecutors argued Tuesday that Bick continued to take money from an investor and spend it on himself, include taking six trips to a casino in New York despite a bond condition barring him from leaving the state.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser rejected Bicks explanations and excuses for his activities.

The same story we are hearing today is the same story we heard at trial, Schmeisser said. He stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from people by repeatedly lying to them.

Bick told the investor that the money would be used to promote an upcoming Zomboy concert, Schmeisser said, but emails the government obtained show that he knew the group was not available to play in Danbury when he said it would.

We have concerns that Bick continues to be a danger to the public, Schmeisser said in court.

The federal prosecutor also claimed that Bick lied to probation officials about not leaving the state even though he had visited the New York casino.

Bicks attorney, Jonathan Einhorn, said this was a youthful error in judgment.

There is absolutely no excuse, Einhorn said. He admits it was wrong. He shouldnt have left Connecticut, especially to go to a casino. But he didnt use anyones money, except for his fathers.

Einhorn said Bick traveled to the casino to withdraw cash for a business expense the next day, and that the casino ATM has no withdrawal limit.

Couldnt he have gotten the money from the bank the next day? Meyer asked.

He needed the money at 6 a.m. the next day, Einhorn replied.

Meyer also questioned why Bick would make so many trips to the casino knowing full well that he needs to make restitution of up to $500,000 to his victims.

What strikes me is, it was kept secret, Meyer said, noting that Bick lied about the travel on paperwork for probation officials. If the government didnt do some sleuthing we still wouldnt know.

Einhorn noted that Bick has been working at Whole Foods in Danbury since August and that all of his wages are going for restitution efforts.

Meyer noted at the end of the hearing that Bick had been given more than enough opportunities by the court system to abide by his conditions.

I have no confidence that Bick wouldnt continue to engage in fraud, Meyer said. The government uncovered some stuff, but what Im concerned about is what they didnt find.

Einhorn argued for house arrest rather than prison, but Meyer noted that Michael Bick, the former club owners father and his custodian upon release, was complicit in Bicks recent activities.

He was aided and abetted by his father, Meyer said.

Meyer added that he hopes to schedule Bicks sentencing as early as next week.

Dperrefort@newstimes.com
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GREENWICH  Local legislators and school officials predict state funding for New Lebanon School construction will not be impacted by a judges landmark ruling on public schools in Connecticut delivered last month.

Were very confident that were going to be able to see our application move forward in the process in a positive manner, said state Rep. Mike Bocchino, R-150th, a former New Lebanon PTA co-president, who has worked closely with town and school officials and the state on funding for the project. I do not anticipate any change in the direction of New Lebanons application.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawshers Sept. 7 decision gave state officials six months to overhaul public education in the state, including the way money is portioned out to Connecticut towns and cities.

Moukawsher devoted much of his 90-page decision to criticizing the states practice of funding, in his estimation, nearly every school construction project brought before it.

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While statewide enrollment has been declining over a decade, spending on buildings has increased, Moukawsher wrote.

Months prior to the judges ruling, Greenwich budgeted more than $37 million to build a new, larger New Lebanon School. Local officials are counting on more than half of that amount being reimbursed by the state.

The state devotes $1 billion to school construction every year, when the rest of its basic education aid totals roughly $2 billion.

This happens while experts for both sides in this case rated physical facilities at the bottom of their list of things that help students learn, the judge wrote. A recent international study says the same thing, rating buildings impact on education of very low or no impact.

The decision highlighted Greenwich twice, pointing out its high amount of taxable property and thus its wealth of revenue to draw on for public school funding, and its high graduation rate.

Attorney General George Jepsen filed an appeal of the decision on Sept. 15, claiming Moukawsher embarked on an uncharted and legally unsupported path with his ruling. The state Supreme Court will hear Jepsens appeal although no date has been set for arguments.

Bocchino said the appeal process may delay any impact of the ruling for years, so the 61.5 percent reimbursement town officials are anticipating from the state is probably safe. The project has already received the internal approval of the states Office of School Construction Grants. The General Assembly will make the final ruling about the reimbursement in June.

Board of Education Chair Laura Erickson, who also serves on the New Lebanon Building Committee, said it was good that the plan for the new school project was submitted to the state before the ruling.

I know that all of our legislators have been very diligent in advocating for the project, she said. I expect that to continue.

Building Committee Chairman Stephen Walko said the ruling will not impact how the committee proceeds as it prepares to break ground on the new school in July 2017.

All of this is outside of our control. I dont think this changes what we are doing, said Walko, addressing the committee about the ruling at a recent meeting. However, if state approval is not granted by June or in June, the BET has made the entire amount subject to release and we would have to have a discussion with them. To say that that discussion would be easy would be not true.

He added, There are people who have said as long as we are getting this grant money, they are supportive of the school. The implication of that is if we do not get state approval, they would not be supportive of the project.

Last week, in one of the many signs that the building committee is pressing forward, a public presentation was held to reveal design plans for the new school to community members.

Community members had plenty to say.

This is the main entrance of the building. Why does it look so cheap and unfinished? asked Tatiana Tuthill, a Byram resident, about the two bridge-style walkways leading to the front of the new school. For $37 million, it should be something better.

Byram resident and teacher Alex Popp worried about the noise levels an open-style cafeteria, proposed for the new school, would generate.

Im just wondering did we learn anything from Glenville Schools open classrooms and noise? he asked. What happens if in a few years ... we realize that it is too noisy? This is really going to be a problem I think.

Walko said the comments would be discussed with the schools architects and other professional as the committee continues in the design development phase of the project.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; @emiliemunson
(Xinhua) 09:21, October 04, 2016

MELBOURNE, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Australia could soon have its own 1,000-kilometer per hour train running from Melbourne to Sydney.

The U.S. company which has developed a futuristic high-speed rail link has identified Australia and the route between its two largest cities as an ideal etc etc etc (think we need a bridging par between intro and Elon Musk ....)

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, could pioneer his Hyperloop project, a futuristic high-speed rail, in Australia.

Musk released the blueprint of his idea in 2013 to competing firms hoping that one would be able to bring his idea to life while he continued to work on Tesla's self-driving cars and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Alan James, the vice-president of Hyperloop One, a Los Angeles-based firm which has publicly demonstrated the most promising concept for the rail network yet, said the Melbourne to Sydney corridor is amongst the company's top preferences for testing.

"We're very keen to explore the potential for doing proof of operations in Australia and the reason for that is there's a clear long-term need for ultra-fast transport on the Australian east coast," James told News Limited on Tuesday.

"Melbourne to Sydney is the third busiest air corridor in the world and we can give you Melbourne downtown to Sydney downtown in 55 minutes.

"So we would be looking, either in New South Wales (NSW) or Victoria, or possibly the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), to develop the first section of that route, to prove the operation of Hyperloop, to get regulatory approval."

James said that Australia never having had an attempt to build a high-speed train makes it a perfect candidate for Hyperloop, which he said could be operational by 2017.

"There's no sunken investment in high-speed rail and nobody has yet committed themselves to that technology, so the field is open for a better and more strategic solution," he said.

"We will have it fully operational at full scale at our test site in the Nevada desert in the first quarter of 2017.

"This is not a ten years away story', this is not a five years away story', and literally months from now the world will be able to touch, smell and see an operational Hyperloop."

Victoria's Minister for Trade, Innovation and Small Business, Philip Dalidakis, did not share James' optimism for the project being operational in such a short time frame.

"I think with a project this size and scale you'd have to involve federal government in it. Nearly every piece of major infrastructure, especially transport, has at some stage received significant funding from the government," Dalidakis told News Limited.

"I think Hyperloop has extraordinary potential but at the same time I think we're still a few years away from looking at the technology in a meaningful way."

Musk has already moved to get students involved in the project, introducing the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition, which has drawn entries from 1000 applicants, only one of which from the southern hemisphere, VicHyper, remains in contention.

Zac McClelland, a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) student and leader of the VicHyper team, said he is hopeful that his team's prototype will win the competition, decided by which pod achieves the highest speed.

"Our team is now up to 28 people and we've just finished the design and we're about to start building it," McClelland told News Limited on Tuesday.

"We'll have a three meter long prototype we'll transport to Los Angeles and test on a specially designed test track there.

"We have all the resources to build this; the expertise, the people, the minerals.

"Hyperloop will happen. It'll revolutionize the way we travel. I can't wait to see Hyperloop in Australia."
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HARTFORD  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday threatened legal action if the Rhode Island-based AAA Northeast discontinues drivers license services for non-members in its eight Connecticut offices.

This is unacceptable, Malloy wrote in a letter to Mark A. Shaw, president and CEO of AAA Southern New England, Inc. in Providence. AAA Northeasts decision to stop servicing non-members is rather shocking since Connecticut has always valued our working relationship with AAA.

The organization serves nearly 600,000 members through branches in Fairfield, Norwalk, Milford, Danbury, Waterbury, Stamford, Branford and Hamden.

In a late-afternoon response, AAA Northeast said it hopes to continue its relationship with the state, but in recent years, transaction times have lengthened in time and number.

Shaw said AAA Northeast will now allow members to also use their offices for vehicle registration services in addition to licensing. But dues-paying members have been inconvenienced by the long lines.

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I am hopeful that the State will demonstrate a willingness to work with AAA on this matter, Shaw said in a statement. After working so closely with the DMV for all these years, and completing well over a million registry transactions at no cost to the state, I remain optimistic that we will find a way to move forward that allows our long-standing partnership to continue.

Malloy warned that the existing contract with AAA requires a 60-day notice before its termination. If AAA Northeast continues to maintain its position that it will refuse to serve non-members, I will direct DMV to take any and all necessary legal steps to resolve this matter, the governor wrote.

The DMV and AAA Allied Group, in a joint statement, said the latter organization, which is not affiliated with AAA Southern New England, will continue to accept public walk-ins who are not members in their offices in Hartford, Middlesex, New London, Tolland and Windham counties.

kdixon@ctpost.com;
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After his sister was killed by a drunken driver in Albany last year, Tom Stock visited the junkyard to see for himself the mangled remains of her car.

"You see how traumatizing the crash was. You see how out of control someone gets in a state like that," he said. Standing there, he decided he "couldn't let this go to waste."

A memorial for his sister Amy Stock  which will also be a teaching tool about the dangers of drunken driving  will be unveiled next week outside Cooperstown in Otsego County.

Stock, a 48-year-old environmentalist and professor, was killed July 19, 2015, by a repeat drunken driver who slammed his Dodge Charger into her car on Henry Johnson Boulevard. He was driving at 65 mph when the impact occurred.

The memorial is an educational mobile trailer that includes her mangled car and audio and visual documentation to tell her story. It is located at the county Office of Emergency Services garage on County Highway 33 south of Cooperstown. The Stock family made a video for her memorial. "It starts out with Amy's last words, recorded on a voicemail to my other sister," Tom Stock said. Amy talks about the beautiful Sunday ahead of her, laughing about celebrating the sunshine.

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"It ends with her saying, 'See you later,' and of course, you don't," he said, his voice breaking.

The family's first thought was to display the trailer at Gloversville High School, where all seven Stock children graduated, ceremony organizers said. But once they saw the vehicle, it was clear that would be too traumatic for the family to have the reminder so close to home.

As a Gloversville student in the early 1980s, Amy Stock organized a school-wide Students Against Drunk Driving presentation. "She put on a big assembly and had speakers talk about the hazards and the trauma of drunk driving," her brother said. "It kind of foreshadowed the future."

Stock remembered his sister as a woman always fighting for a cause, whether she was encouraging sustainable solutions, recycling plastic bags or championing rain forest preservation.

"She was a true environmentalist and educator," Stock said. "I see this as her final teaching moment."

At the time of her death, she was working on her Ph.D. in education and curriculum development at SUNY Albany.

Her sister, Eileen Anania, administrator of the estate, reached out to her local sheriff and STOP DWI/Coordinator Richard Devlin Jr in Otsego County and he agreed to take the car and display.

The trailer will be unveiled at 1 p.m. Tuesday, the day Amy Stock would have turned 50 years old.

The 9-month, $30,000 project will be displayed at the news event.

The exhibit will travel throughout the state, including high schools and colleges via STOP DWI coordinators and county sheriffs' offices. The narrative of Amy' Stock's life and death is accompanied by DWI statistics and alternatives to drunken driving.

"Maybe we'll have a few people wake up before it's too late," her brother said.

emasters@timesunion.com  518-454-5467  @emilysmasters
SCHENECTADY  The Schenectady County Legislature will consider a proposal to move Department of Motor Vehicles offices to a vacant IHOP on 2025 State St., Schenectady.

The new site would have advantages over the current 267 State St. site in downtown, officials said. Work will have to be done on the building, said Ray Gillen of Metroplex Development Authority chair. It would open in late 2017.
John Davenport/San Antonio Express-News

AUSTIN -- Women have been registering to vote at a faster pace than men in Texas while people with Hispanic surnames represent about one fourth of the newly registered voters across the state. That's according to an analysis of new voter information done by a veteran Republican data consultant.

The Texas Secretary of State's Office recently told lawmakers that there are now roughly 14,853,000 registered voters up from 14,238,000 during the primary. The state is on track to potentially have more than 15 million registered voters this cycle, the Secretary of State's Office told the Texas House Elections Committee.
SHANGHAI - Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered a major fast food chain supplier and its parent company to pay fines for producing and selling substandard products.

According to the authority, Shanghai Husi Food Co and OSI Group's China office were fined approximately 17 million yuan ($2.5 million) and 7.3 million yuan respectively.

The district market regulators have also added the two companies to a blacklist of those who have committed serious legal violations, meaning stricter regulations in the future.

In a statement, the two companies accepted the punishment and promised to pay the penalty on time.

Husi is a subsidiary of US-based global food processor OSI Group and a former supplier to major fast food chains including McDonald's and Yum! Brands KFC and Pizza Hut.

The case was first exposed after a local TV station reported in July 2014 that Shanghai Husi had supplied products tainted with reprocessed, expired meat to a string of fast food chains and restaurants across China.

A Shanghai court in February ordered Husi's Shanghai and Hebei plants to pay fines and sentenced 10 people to prison terms.v
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Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Heavy rains from the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew drenched Haiti and Jamaica on Monday, flooding streets and sending many people to emergency shelters as the sprawling Category 4 storm steamed toward the two Caribbean countries.

Matthew had sustained winds of 140 mph as it moved north, up from 130 mph earlier in the day. The center was expected to pass near or over the southwestern tip of Haiti Tuesday morning before heading to eastern Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

"We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba," said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the center. "People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past."

Airlines serving Carribean destinations from Albany International Airport have begun issuing travel advisories as Hurricane Matthew approaches those destinations.

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"Passengers that have booked airline tickets to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic should closely monitor their airline websites for timely information," the airport said Monday afternoon.

In Jamaica, many took that advice before the island's government discontinued a hurricane warning and replaced it with a tropical storm warning as Matthew tracked closer to Haiti. More than 700 people packed shelters in the eastern parish of St. Thomas and the Salvation Army said there were about 200 people at its shelters in Kingston as it put out a call for mattresses and cots.

Many people chose to stick it out at home. Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said all but four residents of the Port Royal area near the Kingston airport refused to evacuate.

In Haiti, authorities experienced a similar problem in some flood-prone areas. In the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre, officials urged shantytown residents living next to a muddy river to take shelter at a local school where cots were set up. But many refused, fearing their possessions might be stolen.

"If we lose our things we are not going to get them back!" Toussaint Laine said as police and officials from the mayor's office urged the jobless man and his family to evacuate.

Haiti's civil protection agency reported the death of a fisherman, bringing the death toll to three.

Authorities went door to door in Haiti's south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.

"We are continuing to mobilize teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas," Jean-Baptiste said.

There is no shortage of people with flimsy houses set up in risky places in Haiti. In an unregulated sprawl of shacks built on hillsides near the northern edge of Haiti's capital, some poor families did the best they could to reinforce their tin-and-tarp houses. But most were just praying they would get through the storm in the shanty metropolis of Canaan.

"I know my house could easily blow away. All I can do is pray and then pray some more," said Ronlande Francois. She lives with her unemployed husband and three children.

In Port-au-Prince, schools were closed and people lined up at gas stations and cleared out shelves at supermarkets as a light rain fell.

Some worried the crowded city might not fare well. "We are not prepared," unemployed mason Fritz Achelus said as he watched water pool on a downtown street.

Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 40 inches of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country where many families live in flimsy houses with corrugated metal roofs.

Matthew is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history and briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007.

The hurricane center said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would threaten the U.S. East Coast.

"Although our track is to the east of Florida, interests there should remain vigilant and we can't rule out the possibility of impacts," Pasch said.

A hurricane warning was posted for the central Bahamas, where the storm was expected to move along the eastern length of the island chain starting early Wednesday.

As of 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 225 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. It was moving north at 7 mph.

Cuba's government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces.

Matthew's center was expected to make landfall in Cuba about 50 miles east of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities evacuated about 700.
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Hurricane Matthew struck southwest Haiti on Tuesday, bringing sustained 145 mph winds and weather that killed at least seven people over the past few days.

We lost communication with one of them, Frentz Neptune told reporters of his family in Port-au-Prince and cousins living by the water, in an interview at Gift of Hope Boutique in downtown Midland on Tuesday afternoon.

We dont know if hes alive or not.

Frentz and Mallery Neptune are the founders and directors of the Haiti Foundation Against Poverty (HFAP). They opened the Gift of Hope Boutique last December. The store operates under the umbrella of Gift of Hope, a Haitian job creation program for mothers who, due to poverty, feel threatened to give up their children to orphanages. Items sold in the store, from handbags and Ipad cases to dolls and necklaces strung with recycled bottle caps from Haiti and Midland, benefit the cause.

Now, the couple is leading local efforts to send aid to the impoverished country.

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Mallery said the Foundation has Haitian staff members cooking hot meals for those displaced. Haitian contacts have told her roofs have been torn from houses, and that theres flooding and floating cemeteries in Jeremie, a western coastal city about 55 miles northeast of the Tiburon Peninsula, where the hurricane hit.

Jeremie is also Frentzs hometown. He later moved to Port-au-Prince for better opportunities, but remembers being in a hurricane when he was little.

I can tell you about being hungry, being in a hurricane. Its horrible, he said. Its one of the most painful feelings. Youre soaking wet for days.

No gas, food  not even a roof, he added.

In Haiti, Frentz said he was a translator and made jewelry. He met Mallery through HFAP and they were married in 2010.

Farther east near Port-au-Prince is Cite Soleil, a slum where the HFAPs Les Bours School of Hope opened in 2008. Mallery read a text from a contact sent around 1 p.m. Tuesday that said pounding rain had started and there was flooding and trees snapping. The facility still had power. She anticipates it may still be standing, but that there will be damage.

It could be a huge blow to our school community, Mallery said.

Because much of the island is deforested, Mallery said Haitians have nowhere to run when hurricanes hit. Many homes are made of sticks and wood without strong roofs.

We honestly havent slept in days, Mallery said. Its going to be a mess for a long time.

Frentz said he started helping Haiti after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in 2010. He said hell fly back to the country Tuesday to help with current efforts, and again in November.

Its a privilege, Frentz said. To be able to give back to my country is this feeling you cannot describe.

For those in Midland interested in helping with Hurricane Matthew relief, the Neptunes suggest making monetary donations to grassroots and nonprofits established in the country that employ local Haitians, including Christian Veterinary Mission and Haiti Bible Mission. Locally, people may donate at Gift of Hope Boutique downtown at 135 Ashman St. Online, there is an option to donate at www.haitipoverty.org

Hopefully this will create more awareness for Haiti, Mallery said.

Added Frentz: Its a reminder for us. Youre always wondering if theres going to be another earthquake or hurricane.

The storm is forecast to head toward eastern Cuba later today and early Wednesday, approaching Floridas east coast Thursday morning. Gov. Rick Scott issued a state of emergency for all the states counties on Monday.
Washington

The United States formally suspended talks with Russia about the protracted Syria conflict on Monday because of the Russian military's role in the assault on the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo.

The U.S. also shelved plans with Russia for the joint military targeting of jihadis in Syria, the State Department said in a statement.

The U.S. step reflected aggravated tensions with Russia on a range of issues and raised new challenges over how to resolve the Syria war, which has left roughly half a million people dead since 2011.

"The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities," John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said in the statement, referring to the agreement on Syria reached with Russia on Sept. 9.

The decision was announced less than a week after Secretary of State John Kerry threatened to suspend the talks with Russia aimed at reviving the cease-fire agreement.

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That deal collapsed after a few days, with each side blaming the other, as Syria and its Russian ally intensively bombed rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the northern Syrian city that has become a focus of the war.

Roughly 275,000 civilians are trapped in those areas, including an estimated 100,000 children. Hundreds of people there have been killed in the past week, international aid groups say.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly," Kirby said. "The United States spared no effort in negotiating and attempting to implement an arrangement with Russia aimed at reducing violence, providing unhindered humanitarian access, and degrading terrorist organizations operating in Syria," including fighters of the Islamic State and the Levant Conquest Front, an affiliate of al-Qaida also known as the Nusra Front.

"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments," the statement added. "Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the cessation of hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas, targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need."

When Kerry first threatened a suspension, he asked for more time to continue his discussions with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. The two diplomats talked a few times by telephone but did not resolve the matter.

The Russians have said the U.S. has not lived up to its side of the agreement because it did not persuade moderate opposition fighters to dissociate themselves from the radical jihadis in Syria that both the Americans and Russians have sought to target.

Even though talks have been broken off, the U.S. military will continue to "deconflict" its air operations with the Russian military, the State Department said.

The formal suspension of the talks left the troubled diplomatic efforts to halt the war in further disarray.

The suspension came as France was pushing the United Nations Security Council to adopt a toughly worded resolution that calls on the Syrian government to halt aerial bombardments and let in humanitarian aid, even as proposed language in the resolution promises accountability for war crimes, diplomats said.

The draft resolution avoids references to Russia's role in the aerial bombardments, diplomats said, but it still appears unlikely to win over Russian support.

The gulf between Russia and the Western powers on the Security Council over Syria now appears to be as wide as it has been in years.

The cease-fire agreement was never given much chance of success. It was especially undermined after an accidental American bombing of Syrian forces on Sept. 17  for which the U.S. apologized  and then the Sept. 19 bombing of a U.N. aid convoy.

The Americans have blamed the Russians for the convoy attack, which the Russians have denied. The British have accused Russia of war crimes.

Some diplomats at the U.N. suggested that the French resolution would corner Russia and ultimately force its veto.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, the Russian deputy foreign minister, Gennadi Gatilov, on Monday called the French draft resolution "one-sided" and said it was designed to put "additional pressure on Syria and Russia," according to a report by the Tass news agency.

The draft measure proposes to set up a "monitoring mechanism" to track a would-be cease-fire, and asks the U.N. secretary-general to propose what form that would take within five days.

Negotiations were underway on Monday on the draft resolution. It is unclear whether or when it will be circulated for a vote. Russia has some say in that question, since it presides over the Security Council in October, as part of a monthly rotation.
(Xinhua) 14:33, October 04, 2016

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has released a plan on scientific and technological (S&T) cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road.

China plans to set up joint labs, research centers, tech transfer centers and S&T parks with countries along the Belt and Road in the next three to five years, according to a document issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce.

The government also aims to bring over 150,000 S&T personnel from those countries to China for exchanges or training, and expects to receive more than 5,000 young scientists during the same period.

Basic cooperation plans should be made with key countries, and memorandums or agreements signed, the document read.

According to a mid-term objective set in the document, the government will expand S&T cooperation from surrounding countries to a larger region in the next ten years, assisting cooperation platforms and major projects to make progress.

The Belt and Road initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.
A Chinese tourist takes a selfie in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.[File Photo]

With more Chinese seeking diverse experiences overseas, some uncommon destinations are receiving attention, reports Zhu Wenqian

Chinese tourists are increasingly preferring high-quality hotels and memorable experiences when they travel abroad, reflecting their rising purchasing power and evolution of taste, travel agencies said.

For this year's Oct 1-7 National Day holiday, when Chinese tourists' outbound travels peak, prices of overseas travel packages are same as, or slightly cheaper than, last year's.

This year, in addition to traditional tourism hotspots, some exotic destinations have become attractive for Chinese. Those countries or regions include Morocco, the Middle East, East Europe and Sri Lanka, according to several travel agencies.

"Combined with the increasingly sophisticated preferences of Chinese, the National Day holiday is a perfect opportunity for travelers to head to destinations that are not possible to visit during shorter holidays or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which is usually a time for family reunions or other obligations," said Alex Yan, COO of Tuniu Corp, an online travel agency based in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand have emerged as the top destinations for Chinese this month. Typically, travelers squeeze in a few days more to have extended vacations like 10-day trips, according to Qyer, a Beijing-based Chinese travel information website.

"Many Chinese travelers choose to take advantage of the long holiday and go to some countries that are relatively far from China. The United States and Oceania countries are preferred by independent visitors, as they are suitable for self-driving travel," said Zhang Qi, vice-president of Qyer.

The number of Chinese who visited the U.S. during this year's National Day rose threefold on the back of the easing of tourist visa procedures.

A report by Lvmama, an online travel service provider, attributed the rise to the fact that China and the U.S. had agreed to grant each other's citizens 10-year multiple-entry visas.

Du Ni, 27, an office worker in Beijing, said she plans to go to Hawaii during the break as she would like to go to a tropical island for vacation, and found that the flight and hotel package of Hawaii seemed cost-effective.

"I'd also like to take this opportunity to apply for a 10-year U.S. visa, so that it would be easier and more convenient for me to go there again in the future," Du said.

Japan, South Korea and some Southeast Asian countries remain popular among Chinese travelers, thanks to their geographical proximity, cheaper packages and favorable visa policies.

In recent months, the Chinese yuan's depreciation against the Japanese yen increased the cost of Japan trips for Chinese travelers. Still, Japan remains one of the hottest destinations for Chinese.

"Tourists travel to a place because they are interested in that place, and they are able to find a package within their budget. While currency exchange rate changes do affect the cost of a trip, their impact is marginal. And tourists intent on visiting a particular country will do so, no matter what," Yan said.

With more and more Chinese travelers seeking diverse experiences overseas, some uncommon destinations are receiving attention.

For instance, Hakone in Japan and Panay Island in the Philippines will host a large number of Chinese tourists during the National Day holiday, according to TripAdvisor, a leading travel review website.

On the other hand, terror attacks in Europe and elsewhere have dented sales of tours to destinations there. In particular, France, Germany and Turkey are expected to receive fewer Chinese travelers in October.

During the May-July period, online searches by users of Qyer for France and Turkey declined sharply year-on-year.

In July alone, sales of Qyer's tours to Turkey tumbled 59 percent year-on-year. But the impact of each new terror attack on travel sales is decreasing.

Although Chinese travelers are turning cautious on certain trips, travel agencies said they are confident that Europe will remain as a popular destination in the long term, given its rich culture and unique travel resources.

In the first half of 2016, Chinese people made 59.03 million individual trips abroad, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

Those aged between 25 and 34, followed by those aged between 35 and 44, accounted for about 80 percent of the outbound Chinese tourists. Most of them preferred self-guided or free-and-easy tours, and focused on a few sites rather than visiting a lot of places, a report of the China Tourism Academy said.
Li Guiying, her husband, and their five kids

Li Guiying received the verdict for the last two of her husbands murderers on September 30, 2016. One received a life sentence and the other got 15 years of jail time. Li and her family released the decision publicly on October 4th. At this point, all five of the murderers of Lis husband have been arrested, thanks to leads she gave to police.

Approaching 60 years of age and as a mother of five, Li Guiying has spent almost a third of her life searching for the five men guilty of murdering her husband.

Li Guiying and her kids

17 years ago, Lis husband Qi Yuande was a schoolteacher in a small village in central Chinas Henan province. Li was a village official. One day a fellow villager named Qi Xueshan suspected Li of conspiring to report him and his family for breaching the then effective one-child policy. In a fit of rage he beat Li with a brick, eventually calling upon his four male siblings to help attack her with daggers and cleavers. Qi Yuande, enraged, came to his wifes help with a sickle. The five men overpowered Qi Yuande, stabbing him to death. Li was severely injured and hospitalized. That night, the killers fled town.

Over the next 17 years, Li dedicated her life to finding the men and ensuring they were locked up. The journeys brought her to over a dozen provinces and cities across China, as she searched for clues to give police. Her methodology was simple: she asked around. She asked her fellow villagers, and once she had any clue about the suspects' whereabouts, she set out with their photos and headed to the place without hesitation. When she get there, she would begin another round of listening to the local grapevine for clues.

Plain and simple as the methodology may seem, it worked. Two of the five suspects, Qi Xueshan and Qi Baoshan were captured in Beijing and Shanxi shortly after the murder. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison. A third suspect, Qi Jinshan was captured in Urumqi, Chinas northwestern Xinjiang province, in the spring of 2011. Qi Jinshan originally received the death sentence, but a provincial-level court overrode the decision while reinvestigating the case. He appealed and the case is still being heard. This June, the final two suspects Qi Haiying and Qi Kuojun were arrested and charged with premeditated intentional homicide.

Li Guiying is waiting for the final verdicts.

Li Guiying

Looking back to her legendary quest, she remembered the first time she went to the police station. Its like finding a needle in a haystack. Do you have any clues? If you do, well go arrest them was the only reply she got from local officers.

I didnt know. I thought arresting murderers would be like those TV dramas. The criminals flee, and the police officers blare their way through in a police car chasing them. It turned out I needed to find the leads myself, Li Guiying said.

The train tickets Li Guiying collected in her 17-year quest

Li has her doubts about whether the police have done their part. One doubt resides in the fact that one of the killers has changed his name from Qi Haiying to Qi Haoji, registered exactly by the same local police station around the year 2000. Qi Haiying had his photo taken there, and left unrecognized with a new ID card.

According to a Beijing News report, the police station cited a heavy workload as a reason for failing to identify a culprit changing identification. In fact, Han Baocheng, previously known as Qi Jinshan, had also successfully evaded authorities when registering to change his name in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Many believe Lis search spanning almost two decades to be a consequence of police incompetence. Had she herself not dedicated her life to the case, it would surely have gone unsolved.

This kind of institutional incompetence has trigged heaps of online criticism. The top-voted comment on thepaper.coms most recent article reads, Those responsible for handling the case-the police, the police captain, the head of District Public Security Bureau, and the head of the Municipal Public Security Bureau-should all resign. Dont they feel such a loss of face?

The quest, however, has not yet ended. My next step is to comb through who assisted with the fleeing of the five suspects, Li Guiying said. Who hid them when they ran, who saw them off, who changed their names on their ID cards. And the police, why dont they take the initiative to pursue them? Its a dereliction of duty. Anyone who should be held responsible in this will not be able to escape.

Lis only regret is that the quest for avenging her husbands death robbed her of time with her five children.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.4

Trend:

US supports a negotiated settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Elizabeth Trudeau, spokeswoman of the US State Department, said during a briefing.

"We continue to engage actively with the sides. Our longstanding policy shared by the Minsk Group co-chairs is that a just settlement must be based on international law, which includes the Helsinki Final Act, the principle of non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity", she said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
The FBI is seeking the public's help in identifying a potential suspect in a corporate espionage or theft case amid warnings that the oil and gas industry has become a target by competitors and foreign governments.

Agents said the man, who was captured on video inside the Houston offices of an unidentified Fortune 500 energy company, is believed to have left the offices with a backpack and shoulder bag stuffed full of company secrets.

RELATED: Man with backpack was a throwback to old-school security concerns





Economic espionage and trade-secret thefts against U.S. oil and natural gas companies are on the rise, joining an estimated $400 billion lost by U.S. companies to foreign competitors because of theft, according to FBI Special Agent Michael Morgan.

"The financial downshift of companies leads the bureau to assess that there is more of a vulnerability for potential inside threats or economic espionage on behalf of foreign adversaries or governments," Morgan said.

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READ MORE: Future for oil and gas workers gets darker

The man is seen visiting the building at 3 a.m. on June 25, 2015, after entering the building through a door that wasn't locking properly. He is seen about at 5 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2015, but was unable to enter the employee offices on that visit and instead took a security radio from the lobby's security area, agents said.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 in the case. Anyone who has information about the theft is asked contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477 or at www.crime-stoppers.org.

Read more details about this brazen crime at HoustonChronicle.com.
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After an uptick in unconfirmed mountain lion sightings in the Stone Oak area, officials are asking area residents to stay calm.

A possible mountain lion was spotted during the weekend, KENS 5 reported. On Tuesday, another reported sighting occurred near Canyon Ridge Elementary School and Barbara Bush Middle School.

But, as of Wednesday afternoon, there have been no confirmed sightings, said Jessica Alderson, an urban biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Most of the calls Alderson has received have been made by residents who have heard of possible sightings from others.

"We have not talked to anyone who's actually seen the animal, which makes it difficult to say what this animal is," Alderson said.

Mountain lions typically reside in "remote mountains, canyonlands, or hilly areas," according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In Texas, they mostly reside in far West Texas as well as the brushlands of south Texas and portions of the Hill Country.

According to Parks and Wildlife, 98 mountain lion attacks occurred from 1890 to 2001, 17 of which were fatal.

"You're more likely to get bitten by a domestic dog than a mountain lion," Alderson said.

To avoid possible confrontations with a mountain lion, Alderson advised residents to feed their pets indoors to avoid attracting wildlife and to stay aware of their surroundings when walking outside.

If residents encounter the lion, they should stand their ground, make themselves appear larger and face the animal until it backs down.

Stone Oak property manager Meg Lorente said residents are familiar with rattlesnakes, foxes, coyotes and other wildlife in the area, but said a possible mountain lion sighting is something new.

"This is the first time I've heard about a mountain lion," Lorente said.

jfechter@mysa.com

Twitter: @JFreports
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Neighborhoods across San Antonio on Tuesday hosted National Night Out gatherings that drew thousands for games, food and camaraderie to celebrate the events 33rd year.

Mingling with attendees at the neighborhood parties  more than 700 groups in San Antonio registered for the National Association of Town Watch event in recent years  were members of law enforcement and city officials.

National Night Out, which is marked on the first Tuesday of October in Texas, aims to strengthen the relationship between community members and law enforcement, a cause that could be considered especially important in a year of several high-profile incidents of alleged police brutality.

RELATED: New FBI data shows safest cities. suburbs in San Antonio area

Maverick neighborhood

Leo Miera leaned on a counter of coolers, doling out soda to residents and showing the little ones his vampire Mickey Mouse, which walked when its hand was pushed.

Im a clown at heart. My wife is always getting after me for being a baby, Miera said, revealing a goofy smile under his blue shark hat.

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A Maverick neighborhood resident since 1992, his face turned serious when he spoke of the importance of having neighborhood events like the one on Tuesday.

Weve gotten away from knowing our neighbors, he said. We get busy taking kids to swimming and all that stuff and we forget our community. This brings us together.

A few stands down from Mieras was a more somber one: the missing persons unit of the San Antonio Police Department. Next to a poster of the missing people in the area, Patricia Dominguez and Margie Montez, agents with the unit, encouraged passers-by to pick up their pamphlets.

They said they hope to educate the public about human trafficking and missing persons and also hope to break down some misconceptions of police that have come up as of late.

This is a chance to soften the image, Dominguez said. This is letting you know were here to help you. Were here to offer you the services you need  I think thats gotten lost here in the conversation.

Dominguez said she personally felt the antagonism of the public toward the police at a Walmart recently when a woman began blaming her for what a police officer did to her son.

Theres people that dont respond well to us, but what can you do?

Downtown senior center

Toni Botello, 91, and her daughter Mary Valdez, 72, were two of more than 50 people just getting started with a game of bingo at the Commanders House.

It was their first time attending the event at the senior center, which many seniors there called a second home, when they were greeted by San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, City Manager Sheryl Sculley and Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti.

This is the one night of the year that we have the chance to formally get together with members of the community  to send a message that were not going to tolerate crime, McManus said.

The San Antonio Fire Departments Technical Rescue Team, which responds to incidents such as high water rescues and others requiring further expertise, displayed their equipment and trucks as classical tunes blanketed conversations.

I think there are more people celebrating tonight than any other night  the community seems to be more engaged, Sculley said, having stopped at several gatherings.

Jay High School

More than 100 people celebrated at Jay High School, the first time the school has hosted the event, according to officials.

Stands representing school and community organizations lined the front of the school, and the food was plentiful: chicharrones, chilito straws, flechazos and more.

Northside Independent School District officers Rick Mendoza and Zachary Castillo stood at the periphery of the crowd, talking between themselves and with the occasional resident.

The way the world is today, the way people view police officers, some appreciate what we do and some are timid to come up to us, Mendoza said.

He said the night was about showing people that hes just like them  a guy doing his job, which in his case is to help prevent crime.

We need the community to be the eyes and ears, Mendoza said. Its not about race or color, were here to keep people safe.

East Side

Food, dancing and games encouraged more than 125 people to get to know one another at Lily of the Valley Baptist Church, 134 Cardiff Ave.

We tried to mix people up  you sit over here and you sit over there, Pastor Steven Owens said.

Jeannette Stinson, 69, said they played a game of bingo with questions instead of letters and numbers that required them to mingle.

We had a little  bingo card, and on that card you had to go around and ask different ones, Stinson explained.

The Knights of Columbus and SAPD officers were among the guests who joined the event, which was topped off with dancing and food.

Owens said this years night was bigger than last as they hosted it both in and outside the church.

Next year were gonna do something bigger and better, Owens said.
Steven Senne /Associated Press

The Fair Housing Council of Greater San Antonio is getting a $375,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fight discriminatory housing practices in its jurisdiction.

The funds are part of $38 million that HUD awarded to various fair housing organizations nationwide to confront violations of the federal Fair Housing Act.
David Molak's story, one cut short at at the age of 16 by a suicide prompted by alleged cyberbullying, has transformed into a legacy that a group of San Antonio film students is taking to a New York City film festival this week.

Ten St. Mary's Hall students enrolled in Will Underwood's Advanced Digital Cinema class are participating in the All-American High School Film Festival, an invite granted to the school for their work on a 4-minute documentary on David Molak, whose family said became a victim of cyberbullying last year and ultimately led to his death in January.

RELATED: Alamo Heights student was a victim of bullying before committing suicide, family says

Though David Molak attended Alamo Heights High School then San Antonio Christian School for a brief period before his death, Underwood told mySA.com some of his participating St. Mary's Hall students were childhood friends of the late teen.

"They were visibly upset and struggling with how to deal with the tragedy, that put them in motion to create some films and hopefully do good in the world," he added.

Underwood said his students put their hearts into the month-long production, which included research, speaking with counselors and the Molak family, who he said have given the project their full backing.

RELATED: David Molak's 17th birthday to be honored with benefit concert organized by teen

"(The Molaks) believe, as we do, that putting this out there and getting more people involved can only help in reducing this kind of thing from happening," he said.

Underwood's team and 30 others from across the country will be challenged to complete a "fictional narrative" in 48 hours in New York this week, as part of the festival's AT&T Film Invitational. The invitational, in conjunction with the anti-bullying nonprofit the Tyler Clementi Foundation, is working to "raise awareness about the damaging effects of cyberbullying," according to a release. He said the new film will most likely "draw very closely" from the Molaks' experiences.

RELATED: Exclusive: Fellow students threatened violence, insulted David Molak online before his suicide"

"We're trying to take what's happened and make art that's going to have some impact and hopefully be a catalyst for change," he added.

The winning team will be announced on Oct.9 at the "Teen Indie Awards," where teams can win up $26,000 in cash and prizes according to a release. Underwood told mySA.com he and the students would be traveling to New York on Tuesday and would be there until Oct. 10.

"There's gotta be some good that comes out of something so devastating," Maurine Molak, David Molak's mother said in the documentary. "[...] If we can help another child with this issue, bring awareness, pass a law, teach kids that there's a soul behind that screen and when you say something mean you don't know what kind of a day or whats going on in that child's life or how much of an impact that it can have on somebody."

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
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A third mosquito has tested positive for the West Nile Virus in Bexar County, officials said Tuesday.

In the last 30 days, three mosquitoes have tested positive for the sometimes-deadly virus, officials said in a news release Tuesday. All three confirmed reports were found north of Loop 1604 in an unincorporated area off Shaenfield Road.

The second mosquito to test positive for the virus was found Sept. 30 in a trap placed by the county.

The county maintains nearly 30 traps around the county to check for disease-bearing mosquitoes.

RELATED: Second mosquito with West Nile found in Northwest Bexar County

The county, which has been spraying in unincorporated areas since spring for disease-bearing mosquitoes that carry Zika and West Nile viruses, will continue to hit the area with an array of mosquito abatement efforts and treatments, officials said.

The efforts usually continue through breeding season and when overnight temperatures start dipping into the mid-60s. Spraying is concentrated in unincorporated areas  on 4,200 acres of public ditches, public rights-of way, drains and county parks.

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First responders have gone door-to-door in the area to share information about the mosquito-borne diseases.

RELATED: Metro Health confirms two new cases of Zika in San Antonio

Health officials urge the public to protect themselves against mosquitoes and to discourage their breeding by removing standing water.

In August, Texas Department of State Health Services said Bexar County was one of about four dozen Texas counties with confirmed West Nile virus activity.

RELATED: West Nile-bearing mosquito found on far West Side

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are no medications to treat or vaccines to prevent West Nile infection, which often has no symptoms.

About 1 in 5 people who are infected will develop a fever with other symptoms. Less than 1 percent of infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, neurologic illness, the CDC said.

Staff writer John Gonzalez contributed to this report.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
The numbers are in and Whataburger and customers raised $40,000 in two hours across San Antonio last month during an initiative to beat hunger.

Whataburger donated the proceeds from its Oh Whata Night event Sept. 20 to the San Antonio Food Bank Tuesday, the company announced in a news release. Whataburger's donation also included $25,000 to the food bank from a presenting sponsorship.
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Police have located a Kerrville man who absconded Sunday from the San Antonio State Hospital, where he was committed nearly a decade ago for the grisly slaying of his wife in 1990.

Gary C. Ligon, 62, was found in the 8200 block of City Base Landing about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday and was being returned to the hospital at 6711 South New Braunfels Ave, about two miles away, said San Antonio Police Department spokeswoman Sandra Pickell.

RELATED: Barber shops helped move millions of dollars of heroin into San Antonio area

Ligon was found not guilty of muder in the killing of his wife, Rebecca Becky Ligon, by reason of insanity at a trial in 2007 and was ordered sent to a secure mental hospital.

Authorities said Ligon killed her, dismembered her body with a circular saw, left her torso in fields near their home and then burned her head in a washtub on the back porch of their home outside Kerrville.

His unauthorized departure was revealed by Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer, who cautioned, Youd have to consider him dangerous.

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Christine Mann of the Texas Department of State Health Services said Ligon left the facility about 10 a.m. Sunday.

MORE: Drive-by shooting near Lanier High School leaves 1 dead, prompts large police response

Our hospital staff attempted to communicate with the patient and attempted to get him to stay, but ultimately the patient successfully left the grounds and San Antonio police were contacted, she said Tuesday.

Mann said no public announcement was made concerning Ligon's departure.

When there are patients who leave our campus grounds, we typically notify local law enforcement and it's in their hands, she said.

An SAPD spokesman said the agency normally sends out an all-points bulletin to its officers but not outside Bexar County.

Hierholzer said state health officials notified him Monday that Ligon had again walked away from the facility on the South Side.

Hes done it at least once before. He was found wandering the streets of San Antonio, said Hierholzer who, as a deputy, had investigated Rebecca Ligons slaying.

Becky Ligon was killed June 1, 1990, after picking up her husband at the Kerrville State Hospital, where they both worked. He also had been a patient at the hospital who had checked out about one week earlier.

RELATED: Meet the armed patrol members who carry assault rifles around their Bexar County subdivision

At his trial there, a court-appointed psychiatrist said Ligon was in the throes of schizophrenic delusions during the crime.

It appears he believed he was doing the right thing at the time, Dr. John Sparks, the psychiatrist, testified. He was suffering from a severe mental disease and, as a result, did not know his conduct was wrong.

The state did not contest the insanity defense because, prosecutors said, a murder conviction would have resulted in Ligon getting credit for the 16-plus years he had spent as an involuntary mental patient after the slaying and before trial.

State District Judge Steve Ables found that Ligon had committed the murder, but was insane at the time.

The sentence upset members of the victims family.

I guess they know that was the only outcome they thought they had to keep him locked up, Judy Clark, one of Becky Ligon's sisters, said at the time.

Ables, reached by phone Tuesday, declined comment on the seeming ease with which Gary Ligon escaped. Hierholzer was not as circumspect.

I would say security is definitely lacking at our state hospital, Hierholzer said. People who are found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity should not be able to just walk away. Some of these people are extremely dangerous and there should be better security than that.

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SAN ANTONIO  A 48-year-old man will be charged with murder in the death of a man whose remains were found on the Padre Island National Seashore, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Gregorio Barrera faces a first-degree murder charge for the death of Andres Marquez Barrera, 46, whose skeletal remains were found Sept. 25 in the northern area of the seashore in the dunes, according to SAPD and a previous mySA.com report.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

Trend:

The OSCE is expected to monitor the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops Oct. 5, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry Oct. 4.

The monitoring will be held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative along the line of contact near Gulustan village of Azerbaijans Goranboy district, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring will be held by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, and by Hristo Hristov and Peter Svedberg, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the opposite side, the monitoring will be carried out by Klaus Keller, representative of the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ghenadie Petrica and Simon Tiller, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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SAN ANTONIO  A trio arrested for their roles in the abuse of eight children, some of whom were found tied up in a Northeast Side backyard in April, now face up to life in prison, the Bexar County Criminal District Attorneys Office announced Monday.

Porucha Phillips, 34, Deandre Dorch, 36, and Cheryl Reed, 30, now face first-degree felony charges of injury to a child  serious bodily injury and a second-degree felony charge of child abandonment, according to a news release issued by the district attorneys office.

RELATED: 3 indicted in 'horrific' San Antonio child abuse case involving tied up children

The three suspects had previously been charged with injury to a child  bodily injury, a third-degree felony charge that poses a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, the news release said. The new charge poses a penalty of five to 99 years or life in prison for the three suspects. The second-degree felony charge has a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar

Further investigation gave prosecutors evidence of serious bodily injury, allowing the charges to be upgraded, the release said.

The trio allegedly was responsible for the abuse of eight children, two of whom were found tied up in a backyard with a dog chain and leash. Meanwhile, the other children, ranging in ages from 10 months to 10 years old, roamed a residence in the Camelot II subdivision on the Northeast Side on April 28 without adult supervision.

RELATED: Sheriff: 8 children rescued, woman arrested after 'horrific' abuse discovered at San Antonio home

Reed, who was in California when authorities discovered the children, is the mother of the two toddlers  a girl, 3, and a boy, 4  who were tied up in the backyard. The additional six children, ranging in age from 10 months to 10 years old and belonging to Phillips  were found inside the home at 8105 Chipping Drive after a neighbor called 911.

"It's sickening," Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Keith said at the time. "To call this horrific would be an understatement. If it wasn't for our deputies and this caller who tipped us off, we know that this could have had an even worse outcome."

RELATED: Manhunt ends for insane wife-killer who escaped S.A. mental hospital

Reed came to San Antonio after being tracked down by authorities in the days after the arrest of Phillips, who was left in charge of Reed's children, was arrested. Dorch, the father of some of the children inside the home and Phillip's common-law husband, turned himself in in May.

Staff writer Kolten Parker contributed to this report.

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Gun buyers at Roy Bennett's Lone Star Gun and Indoor Range in Lumberton are required by law to fill out a form for a federal background check.

The check is to ensure the applicant has no criminal convictions that would bar gun ownership.

The process can take anywhere from a few seconds to three days, according to Bennett, who estimates he gets two or three rejections a year.

Any applicant tempted to lie on the form to pass the check stands to lose more than a new gun. He or she could face up to a decade in a federal prison.

As the number of people requesting background checks to buy firearms is at an all-time high, the number of people charged with lying on the form has dropped significantly over the past dozen years, according to a review by the Department of Justice.

Federal prosecutors nationwide, between 2004 and 2015, charged an average of 32 people a year with knowing they were forbidden from owning a gun but still trying to sneak past a background check, the Office of Inspector General report released this week shows.

That compares with 166 people charged in 2003, when the drop began.

The issue hits home in Texas, which is among the top states for requests.

Alice Tripp, of the Texas Rifle Association, said that such a low number of prosecutions speaks to a system in which authorities aren't going after the people who they know are breaking the law. That weakens the argument to expand the system.

"They are not prosecuted, and that drives me crazy," she said. "Criminals rejected by (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) are not being penalized, not getting the equivalent of a traffic ticket pinned on them," she said. "Why would we have any confidence in a system stopping crime that is not punishing the criminals it catches now?"

Inspector General Michael Horowitz notes that in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, in which 20 students and six adults were killed, President Barack Obama called on the Department of Justice to maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

Obama also called for other initiatives, including strengthening background checks and requiring them for all gun sales as part of his Now Is The Time plan to reduce gun violence.

The inspector general found "no significant" change in the number of prosecutions for lying on the background checks since Sandy Hook.

>> See 12 reasons why the federal government won't let people buy guns in the slideshow above.

A record 23 million background requests were made last year in the U.S., including 1.5 million in Texas, which ranked second, just behind California.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System is administered by the FBI, which forwards the information to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine whether more investigation is needed and criminal charges might be warranted.

About 1 percent of the requests are denied each year. The most common reasons for denial include having a felony conviction punished by more than a year behind bars, being a fugitive from justice or having a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence.

Horowitz noted in a videotaped message on the agency's website that the number of prosecutions for lying to get a gun has decreased, but the number of prosecutions for other gun crimes has increased in recent years.

The report does not include those numbers, and they weren't readily available from the Department of Justice and local U.S. attorney's office, both of which declined comment.

Between 2008 and 2015, the ATF referred 558 persons to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution, and prosecutors accepted 254 of them, according to the report.

"We are a small organization with a big mission, but we will continue to do our best with the resources we have," said Mary Markos, a spokeswoman for the ATF. "Our agents will continue to do their job to investigate the denials sent to them.

"We will work closely with (federal prosecutors) as they determine if they will prosecute each case."

John Malcolm Bales, the U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said he doesn't prosecute as many background check cases as he previously did. He said the ATF's emphasis has shifted in recent years toward keeping guns out of the hands of those who have committed violent offenses.

"You want to be very careful you spend your time and your resources on cases that matter," Bales said.

The Office of Inspector General gave federal agencies high marks for how the background check system worked but said the agencies have room for improvement.

States need to be more efficient about quickly sharing information for the database, such as a person's criminal record or whether a court has found them to have mental illnesses that would prohibit gun ownership.

Texas attorney and former federal prosecutor Philip Hilder said it is no secret prosecutors face an increased workload and have to make tough choices.

"This is obviously hitting close to home here," he said. "We just had a mass shooting in the Houston area, and there seems to be an endless parade of these mass shootings. It is a red-hot political issue right now whether to enforce some of the laws that are on the books."

Hilder noted that some of the shooters passed the background checks, but others, like the man charged with shooting several church parishioners in South Carolina, would have been denied permission to buy a gun if state authorities had sooner submitted information about his background to the database.

"It seems like the only thing keeping it from being enforced is a resource drain," he said. "Cases have to be prioritized, and the U.S. attorney has very limited resources given the amount of cases that come their way."

Dane.Schiller@Chron.com

NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/nkrebs
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 West Haven Police Show More Show Less 2 of 5 West Haven Police Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 West Haven Police Show More Show Less 5 of 5









West Haven police have released photos of a suspect who committed a burglary at Dive Bar and Dominics Resturant last month.

The photos show a distinctive backpack with multiple zippers and tread pattern on the sole of these shoes. Any information can be confidential., West Haven police said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

Trend:

Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) hope for the consent of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to hold the next meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported citing the OSCE Minsk Groups US co-chair James Warlick.

The date and place of the next meeting have not been determined yet, said Warlick.

He noted that the OSCE MG co-chairs continue work with the parties on the conflicts settlement.

During the UN General Assembly in New York, the co-chairs held separate meetings with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, as well as to discuss future steps, added Warlick.

During our visit to the region by the end of the month, we plan to hold meetings and discuss issues with the parties, he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

Trend:

Germany supports the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means, Michael Kindsgrab, German ambassador to Azerbaijan, told reporters in Baku Oct. 4.

Germany, currently presiding the OSCE, is a member of the organizations Minsk Group, he said, recalling that Frank-Walter Steinmeier, OSCE chairman-in-office, German foreign minister, visited Azerbaijan this summer.

Of course, Germany is making efforts to resume the negotiation process on the settlement of the conflict, Kindsgrab said.

We understand that the status quo is unacceptable in the current situation, he said. We are in a constant contact with Azerbaijan and Armenia and we try to involve them in goal-oriented negotiations for the conflict to be resolved and not to flare up again."

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.
7-Eleven Canada chose to move forward with early implementation and extend nutritional information to its customers across the country.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Improved calorie labeling is live at all 7-Eleven stores across Canada, with calorie counts now on price tags and menu boards for non-packaged food and beverage products, including hot and cold beverages, crispy chicken, hot foods and fresh bakery products.

7-Eleven Canada was quick off the mark voluntarily posting calorie labels nationwide on September 1, 2016. The introduction of Canada-wide calorie labels coincides with the lead-up to Ontario's new menu labeling requirements in the New Year. 7-Eleven Canada chose to move with early implementation and extend this nutritional information to its customers across the country.

"7-Eleven Canada is committed to providing our customers with the information they need to make more informed choices," says Raj Kapoor, vice president and general manager, 7-Eleven Canada. "We're proud to take a leadership role to be among the first retailers to implement calorie menu labeling in Canada."

7-Eleven Canada has gone above and beyond Ontario's menu labeling regulations, having also posted a Nutrition Quick Reference Guide in stores to provide customers with comprehensive information on calories and 13 core nutrients for more than 300 food and beverage entries.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

TPP/TTIP/TISA

Hillary Clinton kept up her attack on the TPP in a speech Monday in Toledo, Ohio, repeating that she opposes TPP now and in the future because it is one-sided and unfair to American workers. The Democratic nominee didnt go into an extended critique of the agreement, but criticized investor-state dispute settlement provisions that she said favor large corporations over everyone else' [Politico]. Such mushy language; ISDS is a surrendur of national sovereignty; thats really not the same as favoring large corporations. Then, in an interesting juxtaposition, she attacked the pricing practices of pharmaceutical companies. Were going to have to protect ourselves against that too, Clinton said. And lets finally import safe alternatives from other countries like Canada and speed up approvals to get more generics on the market. And it is long past time to allow Medicare to negotiate for better prices for drugs and get the cost down for Medicare recipients. But implement Medicare for All so the public has the absolute strongest position to negotiate for better prices? Never, ever!

2016

Days until: 36.

Debate Wrapup

Next presidential debate: Sunday, October 9.

The Voters

Shunning is mostly performative and the left has usually opposed it [Carl Beijer]. The Dordrecht Confession of Faith, a central text of the Radical Reformation, advocates shunning so that the offender may be made ashamed, be affected in his ways. In other words, shunning was supposed to have two practical consequences: 1) to engineer wokeness in the community, and 2) to shame the offender into rehabilitating. Both of these rationales emerge time and time again in modern liberal-left advocacy for shaming and ostracization as tools of social engineering and personal discipline. And yet strangely enough, anyone at all familiar with the standard left critiques of shunning should have rejected both long ago. To take the second point first, there is little reason to believe that shunning actually has any kind of rehabilitative effect on its target, and considerable reason to believe that it can actually amplify the problem. See under Irredeemables. If Hillary Clinton wins the White House, GOP fortunes will hinge in part on people willing to vote for Republicans down ballot even if they cant bring themselves to vote for Donald Trump for president [Wall Street Journal]. That calls for reversing a steep, 40-year decline in ticket-splitting. With All Eyes On Haiti, Its Diaspora In Florida Could Swing A Close Election [HuffPo]. Among Haitians, Clinton has at least two obstacles to overcome: there is deep skepticism about the work the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has done on the island after a devastating earthquake there in 2010, according to interviews with community leaders. Compounding the problem for Clinton, the Obama administration last month suddenly lifted a six-year pause on deportations to Haiti it had implemented in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. That [post-debate] surge in Democratic enthusiasm has translated into gains in the battleground states. The bounce is most obvious in Sun Belt states like Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and even Nevada, where Democrats are most dependent on nonwhite and irregular voters to win elections. In general, the post-debate polls in these states are among Mrs. Clintons best polls of the year [New York Times].

Policy

The next American president and Haiti [The Gleaner] (Jamaica). Clinton, Kaine go too far in touting a nuclear deal with Russia [WaPo]. Factchecking. But wait, I thought Putin was the Antichrist?

Corruption

Donald Trump VP Mike Pence Pledged To Limit Gaming, Then Helped Casinos After Campaign Donations [International Business Times].

Money

From 2011 through 2014, Trump harnessed his eponymous foundation to send at least $286,000 to influential conservative or policy groups, a RealClearPolitics review of the foundations tax filings found. In many cases, this flow of money corresponded to prime speaking slots or endorsements that aided Trump as he sought to recast himself as a plausible Republican candidate for president [RealClearPolitics]. Of course, $286,000 is peanuts.

Realignment

Nearly 95% of those who first gave to his GOP primary opponents are sitting out the general election, and of those who are still giving money, many are lining up behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton instead, according to a Times analysis of donations over $200 [Los Angeles Times].

The Trail

In taking that $915 million loss in 1995, and carrying it forward to shelter future income, Donald Trump did nothing wrong. By both his family and his business, he did everything right [Patrick Buchanan, RealClearPolitics]. In a famous 1947 dissent, Judge Learned Hand wrote: [T]here is nothing sinister in so arranging ones affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible.  Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant. Amazingly, Buchanans father was a tax accountant. He goes on: One wonders: Do Americas reigning elites believe the Trump movement is but a passing phase? Do they believe that the rise of populist and nationalist parties across Europe is but a seasonal epidemic of the flu that will die out, after which we can all get back to building the New World Order of Bush I and Barack Obama? Donald Trump might have been able to avoid paying taxes on as much as $916 million in income over an 18-year period, according to documents the New York Times published over the weekend. The figure is a sensational one, but the Republican presidential nominee would be far from the only real-estate magnate to find ways of exploiting the rules to cancel tax bills [WaPo]. Shorter WaPo: Times story is a nothingburger. Trumpchant in B flat [Language Log]. [H]is normal style of delivery often involves almost-chanted sequences of level or nearly-level pitches. With pitch diagrams! See also Trumps Prosody.

Stats Watch

Gallup US Economic Confidence Index, September 2016: Although the August and September monthly economic confidence averages represent an improvement from the indexs recent slump, they remain below the post-recession high of plus 3 recorded in January 2015 [Econoday]. The September outlook score reflected 38 percent of Americans saying the economy was getting better, and 57 percent saying it was getting worse.'

Light Vehicle Sales: Based on a preliminary estimate from WardsAuto, light vehicle sales were at a 17.65 million SAAR in September. That is down about 2% from September 2015, and up 4.3% from the 16.92 million annual sales rate last month [Calculated Risk]. After increasing significantly for several years following the financial crisis, auto sales are now moving mostly sideways. And: Light-vehicle sales sputtered in the U.S. last month despite generous Labor Day holiday deals, with most of the markets biggest sellers reporting declines from the prior September [Wall Street Journal, U.S. Auto Sales Slip in September]. The average vehicle was marked down more than 10% during the month, TrueCar Inc. estimates, which exceeds what it typically has been and reflects ample inventory sitting on dealer lots.

Housing: The number of Manhattan real estate sales fell 19 percent in the third quarter compared with the prior year, as wealthy individuals from the U.S. and overseas pulled back their spending [CNBC]. The overseas rich are no longer buying like they were a year ago, as Chinas economy slows, oil prices hurt Russia and the Middle East, and Latin America suffers recessions. Meanwhile, American buyers are nervous about the November elections and the unsteady stock market.

The Banks: Ten billion has become a big number in banking since the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. When banks assets exceed that threshold, they face considerably heightened supervision and regulation, including exams by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, caps on interchange fees, and annual stress tests [Liberty Street]. There are plenty of anecdotes about banks avoiding the $10 billion threshold or waiting to cross with a big merger, but weve seen no systematic evidence of this avoidance behavior. We provide some supporting evidence below and then discuss the implications for size-based bank regulationwhere compliance costs ratchet up with sizemore generally. Of course, $10 billion banks are not considered systemically important, but our evidence at that threshold is consistent with the notion that size-based regulation might lean against size at higher thresholds.

The Banks: What Sarin and Summers highlight [(here)] is that, compared with their pre-crisis readings, a range of market measures of bank risk do not show improvement despite the rise of reported bank capital [Money and Banking]. One doesnt need to agree precisely on the reasons for the warning signs emanating from market indicators of bank risk. These warnings are sufficient to warrant continued close scrutiny from regulators and sustained efforts to increase the resilience of the financial system. We share the Sarin and Summers view that enhanced regulation, including Dodd-Frank, has made the system safer than it was before the crisis. We also agree that these improvements are insufficient, and that among other things, banks need more equity capital than they have today.

The Banks: On Monday, there was a spike in the price of insuring against a default in Deutsche Banks senior debt, which could only happen if it went bankrupt. More importantly, its now more expensive to buy this insurance for one year into the future than for five years, figures from FactSet show, measured by derivatives called credit-default swaps [Wall Street Journal, CDS Markets Add to Deutsche Bank Gloom]. But this is a first for Deutsche Bank. For all its problems in the recent past and doubts about its profitabilityand that of the banking sector more generallyinvestors never seemed to truly believe things were this dire. Now, faith on the German behemoth is being tested.

The Banks: Morgan Stanley was charged with dishonest and unethical conduct by Massachusetts top securities regulator on Monday for having pushed its brokers to sell loans to their clients [Reuters]. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin alleges that the bank ran high-pressured sales contests in Massachusetts and Rhode Island where brokers could earn thousands of dollars for selling so-called securities based loans.' Coffees for closers

Commodities: Cattle and hog prices hover near the lowest levels in years as U.S. meatpackers produce the largest volume of meat in history [Wall Street Journal, 71 Million Hogs Are Crushing U.S. Meat Prices]. The buildup has stoked concerns over a glut of meat, poultry and other agricultural products in the U.S. Producers are on track to send a record number of hogs and chickens to slaughter this year, and beef production is rapidly increasing. Dairy farmers are spoiling excess milk in their fields as warehouses pile up excess cheese. Also, corn, soybean and wheat growers are preparing for a fourth consecutive year of bumper harvests this fall.

Shipping: Holiday hiring is expected to be flat at package-delivery giants FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. [Wall Street Journal, FedEx, UPS Gear Up for Holiday Season With More Sorting Hubs, Technology]. Both companies have also invested in automation so they can process more packages over the holidays while keeping staffing levels relatively steady. If their projections hold, FedEx and UPS will have kept the number of seasonal workers steady for two years running, at over 50,000 and 95,000 workers respectively, after sharply ramping up holiday hiring earlier in the decade.

Shipping: The Hanjin Shipping situation again illustrates the fragility of todays supply chains. Shippers would be mistaken if they think they only need to be on guard for such issues on the seas. Supply chain disruption is becoming increasingly common across all modes [Journal of Commerce]. A broader issue for BCOs [Beneficial Cargo Owner] is the increasing fragility of the supply chain and its transportation suppliers in general. The steamship lines have been the poster children of disruption lately, whether it be the 2014 to 2015 International Longshore and Warehouse Union slowdown on the US West Coast or the Hanjin meltdown, and the International Longshoremens Associations September 2018 contract expiration is on deck. But shippers also need to keep a wary eye on their land carriers, their local and long-haul truckers, and railroads. [T]ransportation suppliers are much less resilient than they used to be. Supply chain disruption can take many forms, be it financial distress, operational mistakes, natural disasters (an ever-growing threat thanks to climate change), or an unexpected uptick in demand.

Shipping: The trucking industry must prepare, whether we like it or not, for the arrival of self-driving, or autonomous, commercial motor vehicles, the new president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) [Chris Spear] said today in his first State of the Industry address at the groups annual management conference in Las Vegas [DC Velocity]. Spear emphasized, however, that truck drivers will remain the most qualified to navigate the cities and towns, make that pickup and delivery happen safely, and perhaps most importantly, secure that cargo.' Big last mile problems, then. Note that if the claims of Musk, Kalanick, et al for Level 5 self-driving cars were true, there would be no last mile problem, since their use cases involve cities.

Supply Chain: Blue Apron. The San Francisco-based company has been a venture capital darling with its plan to upend the industrial food system and disrupt the dinner table with fresh ingredients delivered ready to prepare a meal. But former employees describe a chaotic, stressful workplace marked by violence, high turnover and injuries. The report follows similar examinations this year of abusive working conditions at distribution sites for some U.K. retailers, and one last year on severe conditions at Amazon.com Inc. warehouses. The cases are a reminder that for all the investment disruptive business models are drawing, the drive to move goods faster and better can carry a human cost [Wall Street Journal]. When you factor in Uber, Its enough to make you think that venture capitalists regard abusing workers as a feature, not a bug.

Fiscal Policy: In the global struggle to boost growth, a Canadian experiment in fiscal spending is providing a test case for some of the worlds biggest economies [Wall Street Journal, Canadas Big Bet on Stimulus Draws Global Attention]. Mr. Trudeaus big infrastructure spend will be largely financed by a bigger deficit, which is projected to reach C$29.4 billion this fiscal year, or about 1.5% of gross domestic product. Thats a sharp turn from the balanced-budget promise of his Conservative predecessor, who hewed the austerity path Mr. Trudeau is now shunning. Canadas efforts stand in contrast to many of the worlds economies, whose finance ministers and central bankers meet this week in Washington for semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The Bezzle: Rover announces $40M round for pet sitting and dog walking [TechCrunch]. The company expanded from pet sitting to dog walking last year. It now says that it has more than 65,000 sitters and walkers in its network, and that its seeing an average of 1 million bookings each quarter.

The Bezzle: Johnson & Johnson is telling patients that it has learned of a security vulnerability in one of its insulin pumps that a hacker could exploit to overdose diabetic patients with insulin, though it describes the risk as low [Reuters]. Jay Radcliffe, a diabetic and researcher with cyber security firm Rapid7 Inc, said he had identified ways for a hacker to spoof communications between the remote control and the OneTouch Ping insulin pump, potentially forcing it to deliver unauthorized insulin injections. The system is vulnerable because those communications are not encrypted

The Bezzle: City officials in Summit, N.J., have introduced a pilot program that allows commuters to use the ride service known as Uber to the local New Jersey Transit train station, according to news media reports [Progressive Railroading]. The initiative is aimed at freeing up parking spaces in the crowded station lot. The program also means the city wont have to pay millions of dollars to build a new parking lot. The six-month pilot is limited to 100 riders.

Concentration: A closed-door unveiling of the forthcoming Google Home smart speaker platform included the nakedly anticompetitive news that vendors whose products support Amazons Echo will be blocked from integrating with Googles own, rival platform [Boing Boing].

Todays Fear & Greed Index: 44 Fear (previous close: 45, Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 45 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed).Last updated Oct 4 at 11:31am.

Health Care

A comprehensive, coherent roadmap to universal health care [Minnesota Senator John Marty, MNHealthPlan.org]. PDF download of Martys book; excerpts. Encouraging to see this at the state level.

If twenty-first century progressives had been leading the nineteenth century abolition movement, we would still have slavery, but we would have limited slavery to a 40-hour work week, and we would be congratulating each other on the progress we had made.

Ouch!

Two former Tenet hospitals plead guilty to Medicaid kickbacks; $514M settlement finalized [Modern Health Care]. Of course, nobody goes to jail.

One of Obamacares central pillars, the individual mandate, boils down to a crude ultimatum. Buy health insurance or pay the price  a tax penalty of the greater of $695 or 2.5 percent of income, to be exact [The Hill]. But what if its essentially impossible to buy health insurance  because no insurers are selling it? In several states  including Wyoming, Arizona, West Virginia, and South Carolina  thats a real concern. Six Republican senators just introduced a bill that would exempt people from the individual mandate if they live in a county where theres only one insurer  or where there are no insurers  selling coverage through their states Obamacare exchange. That such a reform is even necessary is remarkable.

Police State Watch

Compared to the previous year when [body] cameras were not worn [by the police], complaints across the seven regions fell by 93% over the 12 months of the experiment. The study encompassed nearly 1.5 million officer hours across more than 4,000 shifts [Quartz].

The executive director the Kansas City library system says he is outraged that prosecutors continue to pursue charges against a man who was arrested after asking pointed questions during a library discussion about the Middle East peace process and an employee who tried to intervene [ABC]. R. Crosby Kemper III, executive director of the citys library system, said were going to be living in a different kind of country if people can be arrested for asking questions at a library. If this kind of behavior is unacceptable to the police, then I guess were going to have to shut the library down.'

Black Injustice Tipping Point

African Americans are still being paid less than whites at every education level [Economic Policy Institute]. [T]his gap persists even after controlling for years of experience, region of the country, and whether one lives in an urban or rural area. In fact, since 1979, the gaps between black and white workers have grown the most among workers with a bachelors degree or higherthe most educated workers (original study).

Gaia

Rift Speeds Up Across Antarctic Ice Shelf [Climate Central]. [In August,] satellites could once again peer at a rift that has been wending its way across the white expanse of the Larsen C Ice Shelf on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. To the surprise of scientists, satellite images revealed that the fissure had grown by about 13 miles over just a few months  much faster than its previous pace For now, none of the scientists who are keeping a close eye on Larsen C expect it to go the way of Larsen A or B anytime soon. So, optimism!

A global agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is all but certain to enter into force in November, after European Union environment ministers agreed on Friday to speed up the blocs ratification of the agreement [Wall Street Journal, Paris Climate Deal Seen Taking Force This Year as EU Speeds up Ratification].

Unexpected rewards induce dopamine-dependent positive emotionlike state changes in bumblebees [Science].  Our findings present a new opportunity for understanding the fundamental neural elements of emotions and may alter the view of how emotion states affect decision-making in animals.

Imperial Collapse Watch

Obama Worries Future Presidents Will Wage Perpetual, Covert Drone War [The Intercept]. Help me.

Class Warfare

Consider todays leading tech companies: Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple. They are not stuck in silos or hemmed in by a single business model. Instead, they compete intensely among themselves [Hal Varian, Financial Times, No hope of a quiet life in the age of disruption]. Well, except when they form an illegal wage-fixing cartel. But The writer is chief economist at Google, so what do I know?

News of the Wired

How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016 [Hackernoon]. Must-read for the techie portion of our commentariat.

* * *

Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. And heres todays plant (AB):

AB writes: This plant was given to us by a neighbor who moved away but we neglected to ask for an identification. We just call it a Dr. Seuss tree. Could you ask your readers what it is?

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Yves here. In preparation for the Vice Presidential debate tonight, we thought wed give you a heaping serving of political posts.

By Karin Kamp, a multimedia journalist and producer. She has produced content for BillMoyers.com, NOW on PBS and WNYC public radio and worked as a reporter for Swiss Radio International. She also helped launch The Story Exchange, a site dedicated to womens entrepreneurship. Originally published at Bill Moyers website

As part of our election series focusing on the 2016 political issues that have been underreported by the mainstream media, we asked Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, to weigh in with her thoughts on issues related to race and racism in America today.

Black Lives Matter started as a hashtag in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. It has since grown into a global organization with dozens of chapters and other affiliations. In August, the Movement for Black Lives, a collective of 50 racial justice groups and individuals working under the Black Lives Matter umbrella, revealed its in-depth policy platform, A Vision for Blacks Lives.

In this email exchange, Garza talks about the challenges facing the movement, Donald Trumps recent outreach to black voters and how people of all races can best support the goals of Black Lives Matter. But first, she responds to the latest deadly police shootings of black men.

Karin Kamp: Can you start by giving us your reaction to the recent police shooting deaths of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa and Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte?

Alicia Garza: My reaction to the shootings of Terence Crutcher and Keith Scott is one of complete dismay and disgust. My prayers go out to their families and loved ones, who are having to watch the death of their loved one over and over again on multiple news stations. I am also heartened by the response. This Black Lives Matters movement is alive and well, and working together, I believe we can build a world where no other family has to deal with this kind of trauma and violence.

Kamp: The Movement for Black Lives recently unveiled its policy platform. What are you demanding?

Garza: We are demanding an end to the war on black people, in this country and around the world. The platform is centered around ending the seemingly endless onslaught facing black communities globally. The policy platform clearly states what we want  reparations, an end to the war on black people, economic justice, an investment in our futures and a divestmentin our destruction, community control and political power.

Kamp: As Black Lives Matter has evolved from hashtag to movement to a full-fledged political advocacy organization, what challenges are you facing?

Garza: I think our challenges now are building and sustaining infrastructure for the long haul. One big challenge is that there are more than 50 organizations and even more individuals and institutions that comprise the Movement for Black Lives, and yet still everything and all of the very powerful and diverse work get invisibilized under Black Lives Matter. Im concerned about that because it signals to me that even though this powerful movement is growing and evolving more than three years after its emergence, the media still isnt doing enough to understand the diversity of the movement.

Another thing that feels important here is that Black Lives Matters evolution is not as simple as hashtag to movement to advocacy. Black Lives Matter evolved from a hashtag to an online social network to an on-the-ground political network that now spans the globe. Again, the simplification of Black Lives Matter is problematic because it demonstrates that there is a lot of work to be done for both the media and the public to understand the facets of this movement. Political advocacy has been present since the beginning. Whether it was the Dream Defenders and Power U taking over the Florida state capitol [and] demanding an end to stand-your-ground laws, or leaders from Ferguson meeting with President Obama to demand action on racial and economic justice, that has been happening for quite some time.

The biggest misconception about Black Lives Matter is that BLM is just one entity; Black Lives Matter is an organization and a network. We are a part of the movement, but we are not THE movement. This movement is diverse and flourishing, and there is a lot of important work inside of it that people need to know about. We need the media that is reporting on the work we do to be more careful and nuanced in its descriptions of who we are and what we do.

Kamp: What do you think of Donald Trumps recent efforts to win over black voters?

Garza: Donald Trump is involved in a lot of stunt work right now to appeal to black voters  but in doing so demonstrates his racism. He consistently refers to black people as those people, or otherwise others  black people as being different from him and his supporters. All in all, Donald Trump appeals to people who want to be seen the way that Donald Trump sees them. But overall, I would say that Trump has not been and will continue not to be successful in winning over black voters.

Kamp: Some in the Black Lives Matter movement say they will not vote to show dissatisfaction with presidential choices. Do you agree with that decision?

Garza: One of the beautiful things about a movement is that there are many strategies and many tactics contained within it. Not every participant in a movement is required to do exactly the same things. I completely understand why some say they wont vote because they are dissatisfied with the presidential choices. Thats not the decision that Im making, but I understand why people feel dissatisfied with the so-called choices in front of us. And, while I understand that position, I see it differently.

I think that building political power has to come from the outside and from within. Meaning, we have to build political alternatives to the existing system, and we have to try to impact what is happening in the existing system. For me, the existing system is not what we ultimately want, nor will it ever substantively meet the needs of black people. Nonparticipation in a system doesnt automatically mean that it will crumble. Work has to be done to make sure those systems are transformed, or that new systems are built. In the meantime, while we build what we ultimately want to see, millions of our people still participate in the existing system. So our work is to make sure that our people influence and impact what happens  in the system that exists and in the systems we are building as alternatives. So my approach is a both and, not an either or.

Kamp: Black Lives Matter has been described as not your grandfathers civil rights movement, to distinguish its tactics and its philosophy from those of 1960s-style activism. How is your movement different?

Garza: These are much different times than those of the last period of civil rights. That doesnt mean that we abandon the ideas, the tactics or the strategies of that period. We reject strategies and tactics that left some people behind  women, queer people, trans people and even poor people in some regards. Yet I think many of us embrace and have helped to advance the vision not just from the last period of civil rights, but from the generations of movement building that black people have been at the forefront of.

Kamp: In April a Gallup poll found that 35 percent of Americans are worried about race relations in the US, up from 17 percent in 2014. What would you like to see people of other races do to support the movement?

Garza: I would like to see people of other races avidly support this movement by pushing their legislators to take action on the Vision for Black Lives, to actively uproot racism, homophobia and transphobia in their homes, workplaces, schools and places of worship. That would do a lot to help advance this movement.
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Yves here. Um, this presupposes that Clinton wants votes of Millennialsbeyond the graduates of elite schools and children of the top 5% whose parents have paved the way for them securing upper middle class jobs. By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. Originally published at at Down With Tyranny. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny The cost of college compared to other consumer costs, 19852011 (source; click to enlarge) I feel like a lot of the stuff Hillary does, you can see when she is trying to, like, earn the youth vote, and it just doesnt work, Nick Chanko, 20, who goes to school in Montreal but votes in New York, told the New York Times. [source]

Its not news that Hillary Clinton is struggling, struggling mightily in fact, to attract millennials in sufficient numbers to put the election out of reach:

The youth vote was one of the pillars of the Obama coalition. But thus far its proven perhaps the most difficult one for Clinton to rebuild. Polls show the nominee failing to earn the confidence of young votersonly 33 percent of those between ages 18-29 told Gallup this month that they approved of herand running far behind where she would hope to be against her Republican opponent. The polls also show Clinton currently winning under half their votes, while Obama got over three-fifths of that demographic in both of his campaigns.

Many people in the Dem establishment are asking the question: How can we get millennials to vote for us?

There are a lot of plans that dont work and wont work, like appearing on an impossibly awkward edition of Between Two Ferns (awkward for both her and the host; Clinton actually had the best ad-lib), or rolling out Bernie Sanders at colleges. Regarding Sanders, Bernie stood for what Bernie stood for, and people, not just millennials, loved him for it. Will they love Clinton if the solution is Bernie Sanders now saying, Hillary Clinton is a strong progressive too?

Millennials wont be swayed if Sanders says it, true or not. In this transaction, it has to start with the candidate. Clinton has to make it true. In other words, no matter what changes the DNC makes to, say, its super-delegate rules, or (god forbid they should even consider it) the way they go about raising money, if Hillary Clinton wants to attract Sanders supporters, the move must be hers to make.

The good news is, there is a plan that will work. In this plan, Hillary Clinton gives the following speech about four simple issues. I picked these four. She could have picked others. But either way If I heard as speech like this, I would find it very convincing.

Do you agree? Read on.

Hillary Clintons Pitch Speech to Millennials

How would you respond if Hillary Clinton gave the following address?

Good evening. Tonight Id like to lay out four proposals that I think are important, both for the nation and for the nations young people, the next generation for whom we are preparing the world. These are the people who will inherit the world were building  indeed who are starting to inherit the world even as we speak. These are the people in our nations colleges  the youngest people in the nations workforce  the youngest in our countrys military. And yes, sadly, these are also the youngest people among the millions suffering from joblessness. Im keeping this  conversation  to just four issues this evening because I dont want to focus on too many at once. Ill address other critical issues, like climate change and racial justice, in due time. But the ones I will focus on tonight should give everyone watching a very clear idea of where I stand  on jobs, on justice for economic criminals, and on the burden of student debt. I know these are issues of critical importance to everyone tuning in. Please hear me out.

Issue One  TPP.

Clinton is still speaking:

There is no question that our jobs are going overseas, and no question that unfair trade deals are one of the major causes. Ive already said NAFTA didnt work, that it was a disappointment. For the same reason, Ive already announced that I oppose TPP as its currently written, and I said publicly that changes need to be made in it to protect the future of jobs in America. I still think that. So heres what I will do about TPP as your president: First, if Congress passes TPP and President Obama signs it, I promise to invoke Article 30.6, called the Withdrawal clause, and immediately withdraw from the TPP. I will then order that it be renegotiated  under the public eye, in full transparency  so that the higher standards Ive already set for this treaty are met. Next, if Congress does not pass TPP before the election  and I strongly urge them not to  I will start renegotiations as soon as I take office; again, in full view of the public. Finally, whether Im the president-elect or not after November 8, I promise to vigorously lobby Congress members not to pass TPP as written if it comes up in the lame duck session. You can watch me do it.

From the TPP Agreement text:

Article 30.6: Withdrawal 1. Any Party may withdraw from this Agreement by providing written notice of withdrawal to the Depositary. A withdrawing Party shall simultaneously notify the other Parties of its withdrawal through the overall contact points designated under Article 27.5 (Contact Points). 2. A withdrawal shall take effect six months after a Party provides written notice to the Depositary under paragraph 1, unless the Parties agree on a different period. If a Party withdraws, this Agreement shall remain in force for the remaining Parties.

Issue Two  NAFTA.

Clinton is still speaking:

What I said I would do about TPP, I will do about NAFTA as well. Were all disappointed with the result. As your president I will act on that disappointment and force it to be renegotiated, as I promised to do in 2008, by threatening to use Article 2205, the Withdrawal clause, in order to start immediate renegotiations. I gave my word in 2008. I will keep my word in 2017.

From the NAFTA Agreement text:

Article 2205: Withdrawal A Party may withdraw from this Agreement six months after it provides written notice of withdrawal to the other Parties. If a Party withdraws, the Agreement shall remain in force for the remaining Parties.

Issue Three  Bankers and Fraud.

Clinton is still speaking:

Next lets look at justice, for now just one aspect  evenhanded criminal justice. I know that many people are frustrated with what has seemed to them my overly close relationship with Wall Street. Im here now to prove those people wrong. I also know that may people think that much of what has been going on in the run-up to the 2008 crash and afterwards is fraudulent, in many cases, fraudulent on its face. Many Wall Street firms and other major banks have paid heavy fines for their actions  for example, the HSBC money-laundering case in 2012; the Standard Chartered Iran sanctions case, also in 2012; the Barclays case in 2010; and the Credit Suisse case in 2009. But fines are not enough. If similar actions were performed by the small business women and men of middle America, theyd be facing criminal charges and would be forced to defend their their in court, as is their right, and would face jail if found guilty. So I promise to you, the days of Wall Street executives  or indeed, executives of any powerful firm  not having to appear in criminal court for actions that would put any ordinary American citizen in court  those days are over. I will start, as soon as I enter the Oval Office, with a criminal investigation of Wells Fargo and its executives conducted by the Department of Justice. Yes, I said criminal investigation.

Issue Four  Student Debt and a Debt Jubilee.

Hillary Clinton is still speaking:

I want to close with this, how I will address the unconscionable magnitude and weight of student debt. Both Senator Sanders and I agree that the burden of student debt in this country is beyond unbearable. Student loan availability drives the cost of tuition in this country, which has sextupledsince the 1980s. Sextupled! In fact, tuition in the U.S. has risen at almost twice the rate of medical care, more than twice the rate of gasoline, at three times the rate of most consumer goods  all while the incomes of most Americans are essentially flat. Student debt also drives the rate of despair among our young people, who leave college with what feels like a mortgage, but without the house, and often, without a job in the career they prepared for. And they see no hope in sight, not from their president, nor from their Congress. This is unacceptable. As president, I will not only address the whole issue of student loans and college tuition  as I said I would do in my platform  but I will do one more thing. This may not endear me to the bankers some say Im too close to, but it must to be done. We must free this generation of young people  and I mean to do it. To the greatest extent I can, using the power of the executive branch, I will announce and implement a policy of debt forgiveness  a student loan jubilee. And I will challenge every lending institution in this country to follow my example. This will happen within the first 90 days of my administration. You can watch if you like.

Me again. Four simple issues, four of many I could have chosen, all of great importance to prospective millennial voters, especially given their popularity during the Sanders campaign. And note  no hedging, no loopholes, no equivocation. Language like this would be a direct challenge to the voters; they will either believe her or dismiss it completely. Language like this would leave no middle ground.

Dont you think, if millennial voters heard this stark, plain speech, theyd give her candidacy a second chance, their serious consideration? I do.

Donna Brazile and the folks at the DNC, you might give this approach some of your own serious consideration. Its so direct and clear, its almost guaranteed to work. Its certainly better than whats been going on lately. And no one wants The Donald to win this race.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will participate in the European Unions (EU) conference on Afghanistan that will be held Oct. 4-5 in Brussels, Belgium, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

Mammadyarov will address the conference and hold bilateral meetings.

Azerbaijan made and continues to make a major contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction process.

The country supports Afghanistan in the field of defense and security, as well as in the restoration of infrastructure.

In the future, Afghanistan will be able to take advantage of the large-scale transportation and energy projects carried out in the region on the initiative and with the participation of Azerbaijan, said Mammadyarov previously during his meeting with the Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, US.

Rabbani praised Azerbaijan's support on a bilateral and multilateral basis to his country.
New study shows that iron oxide nanoparticles inhibit tumour growth

(Nanowerk Spotlight) The intravenous iron-replacement product ferumoxytol and other iron oxide nanoparticles are being used for treating iron deficiency, as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, and as drug carriers.

In a new study, for the first time, researchers have shown an intrinsic therapeutic effect of ferumoxytol on the growth of early mammary cancers and lung cancer metastases in liver and lungs. They showed that ferumoxytol can activate the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"This is the first description of an intrinsic therapeutic effect of iron oxide nanoparticles against cancer," Saeid Zanganeh, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Radiology, Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford University, and first author of a paper on this work (Nature Nanotechnology, "Iron oxide nanoparticles inhibit tumour growth by inducing pro-inflammatory macrophage polarization in tumour tissues"), tells Nanowerk.

"Our data have broad implications for diagnostic and therapeutic nanoparticle applications," says Morteza Mahmoudi, an assistant professor at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, who heads the Laboratory of Nano-Bio Interactions, and co-author of the paper. "Since ferumoxytol is FDA-approved for intravenous treatment of iron deficiency, it could be applied 'off label' to protect the liver in patients from metastatic seeds and potentiate TAMs-modulating cancer immunotherapies."

Combining ferumoxytol and macrophages leads to cancer cell apoptosis through the Fenton reaction. RAW264.7 macrophages were co-cultured with MMTV-PyMT cancer cells in a transwell system for 24 h, with or without ferumoxytol (2.73 mg ml 1 ). Macrophages in the upper chamber and cancer cells in the lower chamber were separated by a 0.4-m-sized microporous membrane, which allowed for exchange of molecules, but not cells. Cancer cells in the lower chamber were stained for caspase expression using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-conjugated antibodies against active caspase 3 (green). F-actin and the cell nuclei were counterstained with phalloidin rodamine (red) and DAPI (blue), respectively. Images show that co-culture of cancer cells, macrophages and ferumoxytol leads to increased caspase-3 expression of cancer cells. Co-incubations of cancer cells and macrophages only or cancer cells and ferumoxytol only do not lead to significant apoptosis induction. Scale bars, 20 m. ( Nature Publishing Group) (click on image to enlarge)

Previous studies have described the use of iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted delivery of therapeutics (see for instance our previous Nanowerk Spotlight: "Smart cancer nanotheranostics"). In these studies, the nanoparticles served as carriers of therapeutic drugs to the tumor microenvironment.

Conversely, in this new study, the scientists observed an intrinsic therapeutic effect of iron oxide nanoparticles themselves.

"Our proposed approach to suppress liver metastases by repetitive systemic ferumoxytol administrations should be achievable without significant impact on iron load or liver toxicity," notes Zanganeh.

He adds that, due to the large surface area and chemically defined surface structure, iron oxide nanoparticles such as ferumoxytol can be conjugated or functionalized to numerous ancillary molecules to further amplify the desired immune-modulating properties.

The scientists explain that ferumoxytol could be locally delivered to unresectable tumors via interventional procedures, to micrometastases in confined spaces  e.g. peritoneal seeds. Or to tumor resection margins at the end of a tumor surgery with positive resection margins, in order to induce a pro-inflammatory reaction against cancer cells and suppress tumor growth in the interval between a tumor surgery and initiation of postsurgical chemotherapy or irradiation.

On the other hand, patients with primary tumors that typically metastasize to the liver could receive protective ferumoxytol medications to prevent early metastatic seeds.

In the next stage of their study, the researchers will be more focused on the evaluations of nanoparticle-drug combinations. Potential clinical applications of ferumoxytol-mediated pro-inflammatory immune responses could entail potentiating the efficacy of other M1-activating cancer immunotherapies, such as anti-CD47 mAbs or antibodies blocking IL-4 or IL-13 signaling.
Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
We record a number of recent deaths in Tipperary. May they all Rest in Peace

The late Theresa Roche

The death has occurred of Theresa Roche, Upper Cahir Abbey, Cahir.

Very sadly missed by her loving brothers Paddy and Liam, sister-in-law Patsie, nephews, nieces, relatives neighbours and friends.

Reposing at Costigan's Funeral Home, Cahir on Thursday evening from 6.00oc to 8.00oc. Arriving at St. Mary's Church, Cahir on Friday for 11.00am Funeral Mass followed by cremation in the Island Crematorium, Cork with service at 2.00pm.

The late Kathleen Marks

The death has occurred of Kathleen Marks (nee Griffin), Rosemount, Roscrea.

Reposing in Maher's Funeral Home, Roscrea on Wednesday evening from 6.00 with rosary at 8.00. Removal on Thursday morning at 11.30 arriving in St. Cronan's Church, Roscrea for Funeral Mass at 12.00. Burial afterwards in Clonoghill Cemetery, Birr, Co. Offaly.

The late Margaret Lawless

The death has occurred of Margaret Lawless (nee Minogue), St. Conlon's Home and formerly of Ormond Street, Nenagh, peacefully, in the loving care of the staff of St. Conlon's Home, Nenagh, in her 103rd year. Beloved wife of the late John. Deeply regretted by her nephews, nieces, stepchildren, relatives and friends.

Reposing on Tuesday at Ryan's Funeral Home, Nenagh from 5.30pm until 7pm followed by removal to St. Mary of the Rosary Church, arriving at 7.30pm. Funeral Mass on Wednesday at 10am with burial afterwards in Lisboney Old Cemetery.

The late Selma Ryan

The death has occurred of Selma Ryan (nee O'Leary), Monkstown, Dublin and formerly of Beechwood, Nenagh, peacefully at home. Predeceased by her husband Jim, daughter-in-law Elaine and brother Bob. Deeply regretted by her children George, Stephanie Hunter, Valerie Grogan, Hilary, James and Killian, sons and daughters-in-law Monty, Clar, Lily, Maeve, Hilarys partner Andy, 21 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren, brothers George and Pierce, sisters-in-law Bridget and Nora, friend Carmel, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Reposing in Carnegies Funeral Home, The Crescent, Monkstown Tuesday afternoon from 2pm. prior to her Removal to St.Patricks Church, Monkstown arriving at 6pm. Funeral on Wednesday (5th Oct) after 10am Mass to Terryglass, Co. Tipperary, arriving for reception and prayers at 3.30pm. family flowers only please, donations, if desired, to Blackrock Hospice or Irish Cancer Society.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

The UAE proposed to Azerbaijan to introduce a mutual visa-free regime for citizens of both countries, Dashgin Shikarov, Azerbaijani ambassador to the UAE, told Trend Oct. 4.

Currently, there is a visa-free regime for holders of diplomatic and service passports, he said. The UAE citizens have been visiting Azerbaijan via a simplified visa system since 2015.

A visa-free regime has been proposed to be introduced for citizens of both the UAE and Azerbaijan, he added. The issue is being considered.

Azerbaijan simplified visa regime for citizens of a number of Gulf countries, including the UAE, on Nov. 10, 2015.

The UAE citizens get visa upon arrival in Azerbaijan at any international airport of the country. This visa is valid for 30 days.

This simplified visa system with the UAE has led to a significant increase in the number of tourists coming from the UAE to Azerbaijan.

The number of the tourists, coming to Azerbaijan from UAE, increased by 10 times in January-August 2016 as compared to the same period of 2015, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and Tourism said earlier.
Utah-based lenders Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. and SecurityNational Mortgage Co. have agreed to pay a total of nearly $10 million in separate settlements with the Department of Justice.

Primary Residential Mortgage agreed to a $5 million settlement, while SecurityNational consented to a $4.25 million agreement. Neither company admitted liability in agreeing to their respective settlements, according to the announcement Monday, and the settlement did not impact their Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved mortgage status.

The settlements address allegations that the two companies violated the False Claims Act by originating and underwriting roughly 200 mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration that did not meet certain requirements. The Department of Justice noted in its press release that HUD "incurred substantial losses" after paying insurance claims on these loans.

"Todays settlements resolve allegations that these lenders, entrusted by American taxpayers to abide by FHA rules, failed to comply with certain FHA origination, underwriting and quality control requirements," HUD's Inspector General David Montoya said in a news release. "The settlements demonstrate a continued commitment to address the failures and halt the business practices that potentially harm the FHA program and its participants."

The government claims that Primary Residential Mortgage did not document the income or assets used to qualify borrowers for an FHA loan. The company also allegedly did not verify the borrower's earnest money deposit or whether they were delinquent on a second pre-existing FHA loan.

In the case of SecurityNational, the government alleges that the lender originated loans that should not have received FHA insurance, including to one borrower who was delinquent on federal debt and had an unpaid court judgment and to another borrower who was four months' delinquent on the underlying mortgage prior to an FHA refinance.

"We are pleased to reach a resolution of this matter and believe it permits us to move forward with our business confidently," Primary Residential Mortgage CEO and President David Zitting said in a news release.

The company also originated a loan where the mortgage amount exceeded HUD's loan-to-value requirements. Similar to Primary Residential Mortgage, the Department of Justice claims the company failed to document income used to qualify borrowers and failed to analyze the borrower's delinquent credit history.

SecurityNational General Counsel Jeffrey Stephens said in an email that the company "made a business decision" to resolve the matter "in order to avoid the extended distractions and expenses associated with protracted litigation."
There are a lot more apartments available for purchase these days in Manhattan. And fewer people are buying.

Sales of previously owned condominiums and co-ops fell 20% in the third quarter from a year earlier as potential buyers grew cautious amid more choices, according to a report Tuesday from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. There were 5,290 resale apartments on the market at the end of September, 53% more than the number available in late 2013, the lowest point for listings.

The swelling inventory is providing an opportunity to New Yorkers shut out of a market in which construction has been dominated by ultra-luxury condos aimed at the wealthiest buyers. Resales, particularly those priced at less than $1 million, were in chronically short supply in recent years, and those that made it to the market sparked bidding wars. Now, more owners are listing apartments to profit from climbing values, and theyre finding lots of company.

"Rapidly rising prices over the years have pulled more sellers into the market hoping to cash out," Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, said in an interview. "But buyers are more wary. There isn't the same intensity of activity to burn through the new supply."

Buyers agreed to pay more than the asking price in just 17% of all condo and co-op deals that closed in the third quarter, down from a record 31% a year earlier, according to Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman. Consumers also are taking longer to make a decision. Previously owned properties that sold in the period spent an average of 72 days on the market, up from 67 days a year ago.

The median price of all resales in the quarter climbed 2.6% to $950,000, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman said. That's a step down in a three-year period in which annual price growth once reached 18%. Many sellers have yet to accept that they can no longer name any price, and the disconnect between their expectations and what buyers are willing to pay is contributing to the drop in overall sales, Miller said.

"We're clearly seeing a slowdown," Miller said. "This era of aspirational pricing is coming to an end. Buyers get the message first."

Quick Sale

When Connie Lam wanted to sell her Chelsea studio, she knew that curbing her exuberance would help her sell it fast. Lam, who bought the 441-square-foot unit in 2013 for $555,000, listed it for sale in June, just one month before a planned move to California. Working with Douglas Elliman broker Rachel Altschuler, Lam priced her apartment at $625,000 after seeing that another studio of the same size on her floor was already on the market for $650,000.

"There were people who were interested immediately," said Lam, 28, an attorney now living in Redwood City. "My goal was to get out and have a buyer who was really solid and wasn't going to back out on me at the last second."

The listing drew three offers, and was under contract at the asking price within two weeks. The deal closed in August, while the other apartment on her floor, on the market since May, is still without a buyer. Its price has since been cut to $635,000.

More Choices

"There used to be a lot of fighting for very few apartments, but now there are plenty of choices," said Pamela Liebman, chief executive officer of brokerage Corcoran Group, which also released a report on the Manhattan market Tuesday. "We're experiencing a certain level of disconnect now between what buyers are willing to bid and what sellers are willing to sell for."

Corcoran reported a 17% decline in completed apartment sales, with 3,418 homes trading hands in the third quarter. Contracts fell 18% to 2,589, the lowest in almost five years, indicating that sales will continue to be down.

Sellers remain optimistic. The median condo asking price reached a record $2.3 million, according to a separate report today by Compass. The median for condos that went into contract, meanwhile, was $1.6 million  about 18% less than the peak of $1.94 million reached at the end of 2014, the brokerage said.

"Prices have been going up in double digits for so many quarters now that it's natural that the market needed to take a pause," said Liebman of Corcoran. "It just can't keep going up, up, up forever."
When the commercial real estate market crashed late in 2007, the worst loans went bad early.

Since then property values have largely recovered and underwriting has loosened, putting many borrowers in a better position to refinance when their loans came due. Yet other borrowers are treading water; they continue making payments, but their property values have not fully recovered, and they have not paid down much principal or boosted cash flows.

Their day of reckoning is fast approaching.

The sheer volume of loans maturing this year and next  $232.4 billion, according to data provider Trepp  leaves some borrowers scrambling for funds to refinance their loans, which repay most of their principal in a final balloon payment.

By comparison $70 billion of CMBS loans matured in 2015 and just $37 billion in 2014.

The wall of debt is coming due at a particularly bad time, as lenders who underwrite loans to be sold to securitization conduits are grappling with new regulatory requirements to hold on to the economic risk in their deals. Several conduit lenders have exited the market this year. Underwriting is also tightening again as lenders rein in the most questionable practices, such as underwriting to projected (as opposed to current) income.

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase estimate that net issuance of commercial mortgage bonds was negative $57 billion in the first nine months of the year. Some of the underlying loans that came due were refinanced by other kinds of lenders, such as commercial banks or insurance companies.

Others are in default or headed there. In September 4.78% of commercial mortgages in CMBS were behind on payments, an increase of 10 basis points from August, according to Trepp. The September jump represents the sixth time in the last seven months that the rate has increased, after hitting a post-crisis low in February of 4.15%.

The majority of troubled loans were taken out in 2006 and 2007, just before the real estate bubble burst, when property values and investor confidence were both high. "The underwriting was a little shoddy, to say the least," said Steve Kuritz, a managing director at Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Many are suburban office buildings, which are losing big tenants as large corporations relocate to central business districts.

In April a $165.5 million loan backing the former headquarters of CA Technologies in Islandia, N.Y., was shifted to a special servicer that handles troubled commercial mortgages on behalf of bondholders. Though CA continued making contractual lease payments after vacating the building in 2014, it appeared unlikely that the owner would be able to refinance and make the final balloon payment in August. So the loan, part of the collateral for the $4.24 billion Goldman Sachs Mortgage Securities 2006-GG8, is designated an "imminent monetary default" by Trepp. (In late August, CA agreed to a sale-leaseback agreement to new private-equity investors headed by CRIC Capital and Prudential Real Estate Investors.)

Also of concern is a $265 million loan secured by an office tower in Stamford, Conn., that formerly housed part of UBS' wealth management business. The property, 400 Atlantic Street, is 73% occupied and the loan is still current, but it is an unlikely candidate for refinancing when it matures in 2017 because it is so far underwater. The property has a loan-to-value ratio of 198.19%. The loan makes up 5.39% of another Goldman deal, the $7.56 billion GS Mortgage Securities Trust 2007-GG10.

UBS's departure from another Stamford building, 677 Washington Street, is responsible for putting a $165 million loan in special servicing in January. The borrower, CWCapital Management, is reportedly seeking a workout for the 700,000-square-foot building. The building's loan balance is five times larger than the property's value, and the debt service is covered by UBS lease payments that cease at the end of 2017.

The loan was securitized by the former Lehman Brothers and UBS in LBUBS 2004-C1.

All told, 37% of CMBS loans backed by office properties that mature over the next two years are poor candidates for refinancing, according to KBRA, because they have LTVs of 85 or greater, as calculated by the rating agency.

Regional malls are also vulnerable to tenant turnover; many have lost anchor tenants as retailers succumb to competition from e-commerce. KBRA has weak refinancing outlooks on 27% of loans backed by retail properties. Kuritz said that regional malls, in particular, "scare" CMBS investors.

Even a strong, iconic mall backed by a national owner can run into trouble.

Philadelphia Mills (formerly Franklin Mills), a mall owned by Simon Property Group that occupies more than 1.18 million square feet, has been in special servicing since 2012. The loan was modified, splitting it into two separate notes. The senior, $112.9 million A note is listed by Trepp as an imminent maturity default though it is current, 91% occupied and has a debt-service-coverage ratio of 168%. However, it has an LTV of over 144%.

Struggling malls pose outsize risks to mortgage bond investors because the loss severities can so high. The liquidated loans on 30 malls that have gone under since 2008 lost 75% of their principal on average, according to Moody's Investors Service. That is almost twice as severe as the 45% average for all CMBS loans liquidated over the same period.

"Very few of the top tenants in malls 20 years ago are still strong performers  or even still in business  today," the rating agency stated in an August report.

To be sure, the majority of CMBS loans coming due this year are well-positioned to be refinanced. More than 80% have a debt-service-coverage ratio above 140%. And at today's rates, interest payments would be much lower than at the 6% coupons prevalent in 2006 and 2007.

But there is no mistaking that both the outstanding 2006 and 2007 vintage loans are of lesser credit quality than CMBS loans made today, according to Mark Gallagher, a senior strategist with CBRE. "A lot of these were full-term, interest-only loans" that did not amortize, he said. Many were underwritten with "fairly aggressive pro forma assumptions" about future rents that did not materialize.

Gallagher said that CBRE has grown "quite a bit more pessimistic" in the ability to refinance 2007 CMBS vintage loans, in particular. "In our study, we came up with a figure of 29% of [deals maturing in 2017] that could face some sort of challenge to refinancing."

Loans that ran into trouble immediately after the credit crisis were often modified because at the time there was little appetite among real estate investors for distressed properties. Typically a loan was split into two notes, an A note that the borrower could repay under existing cash flows, and a subordinate B note with a deferred payment. (These B notes were often called "hope notes"; investors hoped that they could avoid a loss on the notes if the property's value or tenant revenue eventually increased.)

More recently, rising property values have made it easier to liquidate troubled loans. This allows mortgage bondholders to recover at least some of the principal right away.

A property that goes through what is known as a "discounted payoff," or principal reduction, may be difficult to refinance in the conduit market. "It's tainted," said Ilan Bensoussan, sector specialist and trader at Semper Capital Management.

Instead, the borrower needs to get a bridge loan, which typically has one- to three-year tenor and can be securitized in commercial real estate collateralized loan obligations (CRE-CLO). "Some [bridge lenders] will finance at 50, 60 or 70 LTV.  The borrower makes payments for 6-12 months and then refinances the loan into a conduit," he said.

Bensoussan thinks that the CRE-CLO market is poised to grow in the next year, partly because of the number of 2007 vintage loans coming due and partly because this market is well prepared to comply with risk retention. CRE-CLO issuers retain as much as 30-35% of the risk in a deal, so the impending requirement to hold 5% is not a problem.
"Why do we want to pay you x amount of dollars when we can get three workers in India for the same price without paying any benefits?" a Bank of New York Mellon manager is said to have told a back-office worker who, along with some veteran co-workers, was laid off in late August.

The manager could speak freely because the about-to-be-laid-off operations staffers were under a gag order  if they spoke to the press, their entire severance package would be revoked, the ex-worker recently told me on the condition his identity be protected. Company officials deny any recent layoff but say some jobs may have been lost to attrition, though documents supplied by the worker say 69 employees were subject to a layoff.

Offshoring and layoffs, of course, are nothing new, nor probably are conversations like the one related by the worker. Banks were early participants in the offshoring movement, which started about 20 years ago. They have been under pressure from activist investors and other shareholders to cut expenses even as regulatory costs are on the rise, and sending work to India, the Philippines and other locations where salaries are still lower than in the U.S. and exchange rates are favorable is a means to that end.

Yet the two decades of experience with offshoring has shown that shifting operations work from knowledgeable, local workers to people in another country with oftentimes limited training comes with risks  of errors, of misunderstandings and of security lapses.

"I'm not sure offshoring is the greatest long-term macrostrategy, because as they offshore services, they become harder to manage," said Larry Tabb, the chief executive of Tabb Group, a New York consulting firm.

The custody banks are under as much pressure as any financial services organization to rein in costs. State Street in Boston has announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers by 2020, and Bank of New York Mellon has been engaged in a multiyear cost-cutting plan.

Samir Pandiri, global CEO of asset servicing at BNY Mellon, can testify to the advantages of offshoring but acknowledges that there are some challenges, too. About 40%-45% of the operations he supervises are in the United States, and the remainder are distributed equally between Europe and Asia

BNY Mellon has been outsourcing work to India for 10 years; it has operations in the cities of Pune and Chennai. Its goal is to have a "follow-the-sun modelso you could get more work done around the clock, so you're much more responsive and you can reduce the time to do a transaction," Pandiri said.

Geographic dispersion also mitigates risk. During Hurricane Sandy, for instance, work that normally would have been done stateside was done in Europe and Asia without interruption. And international clients sometimes ask to have work done locally, in their own time zone, Pandiri said.

Time differences do present a challenge, he noted. If a European client's work is being done in Florida or in India, "the disadvantage is if the client needs to talk to somebody right away, you may not be able to get to them unless you're doing a night shift," Pandiri said. "The advantage is you can continue to do the work even after the client has gone to sleep."

Other things can be a problem, too, some sources point out.

One downside to shipping work overseas is the potential for errors as newbies try to decipher shorthand instructions from long-term clients.

In one case told by the ex-BNY Mellon worker, the bank's India outpost received an order from a shareholder who wanted to withdraw $20,000 from an account and requested that 100% of that amount be removed from a certain fund, but an India-based worker misunderstood the instruction and redeemed 100% of the account, or $100,000. The bank had to purchase that back at no penalty to the shareholder.

"A lot of times, they have that lack of comprehension because it's not black and white," the ex-BNY Mellon worker said. "If it's not written so it's understandable by them, they will make a mistake on it."

The misunderstandings brought on by language can be comical. "We had an ongoing issue where one of [the workers in India] kept saying to some of the women in our group, 'Hey, babe,' because he'd heard that on TV," the ex-worker said.

In addressing the general problem of errors, Pandiri acknowledged that understanding client preferences can be an issue for new workers at a foreign location who speak another language, especially for call center work. But whether domestic or foreign workers involved, a learning process is involved, he said.

"Call centers have been around for almost 20 years and almost everybody does call centers in every location  in Asia, Latin America and Canada," Pandiri said. "It's a pretty well-established routine. But the training and how you run the place are going to be critically important when you start the process."

Another issue is that offshore workers tend to conduct their own form of labor arbitrage. They can come to a bank, take the training, gain experience, and then go to the next outsourcer and double their salary.

"Once you've finally taught somebody what to do, they leave," Tabb said. "Then you're stuck with another person who just came out of school."

Data security is another concern.

When custodian banks open accounts for clients, the information they gather can include Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, next of kin, job titles, salaries and other types of personally identifiable information.

"If you're transferring this kind of information, as a general rule, the more people see it, the less secure it becomes," said Siddharth Kalla, chief technology officer at Acupay System, which provides software to global custodians. It's one more place where data can be exploited.

"Security definitely is an issue that has to be addressed within a good contract," said Simon Tarsh, a director with Deloitte Consulting and leader of its business process outsourcing advisory practice. "There are regulations around where original source documents need to be kept. And equally, physical security has to be addressed within these offshore centers. Many have secure doors and don't allow flash drives or cameras."

The benefits to keeping certain types of complex operations work in house with experienced U.S. staff are clear.

"The local people understand the business much better, they're much less likely to make a mistake, they can do it faster and more efficiently," Tabb said. "I think banks take a big risk in firing all their domestic people and hiring people overseas. That said, I don't know that they have much choice."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

The Embassy of Germany in Azerbaijan hosted a reception Oct. 4 on the occasion of the German Unity Day, which is celebrated Oct. 3.

Germanys Ambassador to Azerbaijan Michael Kindsgrab said it is his first appointment as an ambassador. The diplomat said he easily found a common language with the people of Azerbaijan.

The ambassador also said he is grateful to the government of Azerbaijan for the good reception.

Germany can do much for diversification of Azerbaijans economy and supports the strengthening of relations, he said.

Kindsgrab also noted that he was astonished by the large number of young people who speak German. This will further strengthen the ties between the two countries, he added.

The ambassador also said he was amazed by Bakus beauty.

Germany is close to Azerbaijan in economic, historical and cultural aspects, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Min Az ister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said at the reception.

Mammadguliyev congratulated the people of Germany and said the relations between the two countries are developing dynamically and will continue to develop in the future.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Germany are developing especially dynamically in the economic sphere, said the deputy FM, adding this is important considering the fact that major economic reforms are underway in Azerbaijan.

Mammadguliyev also emphasized the importance of Berlins recognition of Azerbaijans territorial integrity.
Rector of the Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) Elmar Gasimov received Director of the International Permanent Secretariat of the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN) professor Eden Mamut. Elmar Gasimov greeted the guest and expressed his satisfaction with the meeting. He noted that BHOS is a member of BSUN since 2013 and told Eden Mamut about activity of the Higher school.

Speaking about the BHOS activity and reforms implemented within a short period of time, Elmar Gasimov informed the guest about teaching process at the BHOS, conditions created for students and the schools international contacts. He also told about measures taken for establishing, strengthening and widening BHOS cooperation with various higher educational facilities around the world including organizations and associations. The Rector expressed his confidence that close and successful cooperation between BHOS and BSUN will continue developing in the future.

In his turn, the Director of the International Permanent Secretariat of the Black Sea Universities Network professor Eden Mamut expressed his sincere gratitude for the meeting. He said that BSUN is now comprised of more than 100 universities of the states of The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), namely Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. Speaking about BSUN work on developing relations with universities for scientific cooperation, Eden MAmut also told about activities aimed at strengthening this cooperation and about its future prospects.

After the meeting, the guest was given a tour at the BHOS new campus. He also learned about its structure and conditions in details.

The Baku Higher School was admitted as a member of the Black Sea Universities Network at the session of BSUN Executive Board on 7-8 November 2013 in accordance with the organizations Charter. The Black Sea Universities Network was established upon a recommendation by the BSECs Parliament Assembly at the Second Conference of the Black Sea Universities Rectors held on 9-12 July 1998 in Constanta, Romania.
YARAT Contemporary Art Space has said that the participatory performance called Front by Danish artist Christian Falsnaes was held in Baku.

The presentation of a unique project took place at YARAT Contemporary Art Centre on October 1, at 14:00.

Performance is at the heart of the work of Christian Falsnaes. His actions are presented live or filmed, with or without an audience, and with man as study object and material. The theatrical, often absurd situations he creates with the active participation of the audience, are accompanied by cheers such as, This is happening right now, this is the moment weve all been waiting for!

Front" is a participatory performance in which a large scale structure is continuously spray painted, torn down, paraded through the city and subsequently rebuild into new forms. The artist takes on the role of a director, who, through his instructions to the viewers, dissolves the aesthetic boundary between the stage and the audience.

YARAT creates a platform for the audience to participate and take part in the creation of the work. The resulting sculpture is a collective piece, which remains at its place of origin as a document of the collective performance.

The actions create an ambiguous feeling or experience that gives rise to questions about the relations between the individual and the group and those between the artist and his audience. Falsnaes engages in penetrating, physical explorations of a wide range of issues of social codes, group dynamics, power relations, authorship, gender roles and more. One of the forms this exploration has crystallized in, are the series of unannounced performances in which the artist took on several roles to direct the audience: from didactic artist to actor, from authoritarian leader to entertainer, clown, hooligan, and outcast. Increasingly, however, Falsnaes develops performative formats in which he himself is not physically present, making use of a telephone connection or stand-in. In other instances, he examines how the particular situation of a performance may facilitate the creation of an autonomous video piece.

CHRISTIAN FALSNAES

Christian Falsnaes was born 1980 in Copenhagen, Denmark, currently lives and works in Berlin. He graduated from University of Copenhagen in 2003, and then in 2011 from Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Falsnaes has been widely exhibited internationally including solo shows at the Castlefield Gallery, Manchester; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen; 1646, The Hague; Juan & Patricia Vergez Collection, Buenos Aires; Kunstverein Braunschweig; KIOSK, Ghent; Bielefelder Kunstverein; PSM, Berlin;

Art Basel Statements, Switzerland; KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin; DREI, Cologne; 21'er Haus, Vienna; PSM, Berlin; OSLO10, Basel; Skanes Konstforening, Malmo, Sweden; Kunstraum Niederosterreich, Vienna.
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will participate in the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan organized by the European Union in Brussels, on Wednesday 5 October 2016.

Mr. Stoltenberg will address the conference and will meet with Afghan President, H.E. Mr. Ashraf Ghani and other high level officials.

Media Advisory

08:40 - Secretary Generals doorstep at Justus Lipsius Building  European Council

11:30 - Statement by the Secretary General at the conference

The doorstep and the conference will be available live from the NATO website.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
"Google should fix this. It shouldn't give quarter to conspiracy theorists."





Coughing, I wrote, is simply not evidence enough of any sort of major illness that Clinton is assumed to be hiding. Neither, of course, is feeling "overheated." But those two things happening within six days of each other to a candidate who is 68 years old makes talk of Clinton's health no longer just the stuff of conspiracy theorists.Washington Post reporter Chris Cillizza



Prediction: Trump wins partly because people who don't even like him want to inflict punishment on the mainstream media. Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) September 13, 2016

(NaturalNews) Given the fact that I'm not a Trump supporter, a few people have informed me that my recent coverage has been very one-sided against Clinton. This is unquestionably true. Since I'm always trying to question myself and my motivations, I had to ask myself: Why is this the case?(Article by Tyler Durden, republished from ZeroHedge.com Beyond the incredible torrent of factual revelations that have emerged which should disqualify her from being considered President, there's something else going on. That something else is the mainstream media.It all began during the Democratic primary when I noticed a very disturbing trend emerge. A trend which has only gotten worse in the subsequent months. As I noted in February's piece, A Detailed Look at The New York Times' Embarrassing, Deceitful and Illogical Endorsement of Hillary Clinton So I already had a bone to pick with the New York Times for its key role is defeating the far more decent and genuine candidate in Bernie Sanders. Then a few months later, after Sanders had been successfully disposed of, the paper went ahead and printed a gushing pro-Hillary op-ed piece written by a former CIA director without disclosing the fact he currently works for Hillary Clinton's "principal gatekeeper," Beacon Global Strategies. See: New York Times Fails to Disclose Op-Ed Writer's Ties to Hillary Clinton's 'Principal Gatekeeper' While all of this was bad enough, things didn't really get out of hand until "fringe" bloggers started asking questions about Hillary's health. Sure, plenty of crazy stuff got floated around (this is the internet after all), but it became very clear, very quickly that asking questions about her health was not simply " conspiracy theory."Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson recently penned a perfect summary of the egregious journalistic malpractice committed by the mainstream media in that regard. Here's her excellent piece, The News Media's Miscalculation on Hillary's Health I covered this exact episode in the post: Questioning Hillary's Health is Not Conspiracy TheoryTo see these organs, which have destroyed this country by keeping the people uninformed for decades, now rally around a sickly, corrupt, oligarch coddling politician as the empire enters the collapse stage is simply too much to stomach. Although I'm still voting 3rd party, it's now become obvious that if my sentiments are widely reflected across the country, Donald Trump will win the election handily. As I tweeted earlier today:The only positive thing to happen during this election season is the death of mainstream media.Read more at: ZeroHedge.com
(NaturalNews) The Canadian city of Montreal passed a vote to ban the ownership of all "pit bull-type dogs" this past week, and outrage from dog-lovers across the world has certainly followed.The ban somehow managed to pass by a 3723 majority.reports that the ban was proposed in response to the controversy caused by one, single dog attack."My duty as mayor of Montreal is making sure I am working for all Montrealers. And I am there to make sure they feel safe and that they are safe," stated Montreal's mayor, Denis Coderre. Supporters of the law insist that this somehow prioritizes human safety over dog safety. Meanwhile, the law's detractors say that this new law unfairly punishes innocent dogs and good dog owners. Asreports, "[T]hey say a combination of education, regulations and strict penalties for irresponsible owners is the best strategy to ensure public safety."Montreal's breed specific legislation , or BSL, goes into effect on October 3, 2016.With the new law in effect, no new pit bull-type dogs will be allowed to enter the city, and none of the thousands of pit bulls in the city's shelters will be able to be adopted. Pit bull owners will have until December 31 to get a special permit from the city, otherwise their dogs too face euthanasia. That's right: The city has granted themselves the right to take your dog and kill it.Fortunately, many people seem to agree that this BSL business is every bit as crazy as it sounds. Lawyer Julius Grey told CBC Montreal's, "I think it would be a shame if people allowed Montreal to get away with this. This is very serious. It's not an object, it's not the right to seize a car  it's a right to take a member of your family and that should not [be] permitted."The list of dogs that will be banned includes Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers. Any mix with these breeds and any dog that presents characteristics of one of these breeds will also be subject to the scrutiny of Montreal's newly minted BSL. The latter criteria is of particular concern, since most people can't accurately identify dog breeds. For example, one of the events that prompted this legislation was the vicious dog attack that led to the death of 55-year-old Christiane Vadnais. Despite claims that the police classified him as a "pit bull-type dog," the dog's registration revealed that he was registered as a boxer. So, why are they banning pit bulls The SPCA of Montreal has said, "If the city of Montreal truly wanted to ensure public safety, it would not have forced a rushed adoption of controversial legislation which is unfair, unenforceable, and, most importantly, ineffective." The animal rescue organization has also threatened to end their dog-control services in response to the ban. Executive director, Benoit Tremblay, has also said, "We're not going to participate in euthanizing of thousands of healthy dogs. It's against our values.''Director of Animal Advocacy, Alanna Devine, also commented that the dog involved in Ms. Vadnais' death had already previously bitten someone and sent them to the hospital. Ms. Devine adds that there was already legislation for those kinds of incidents, and "had it been enforced, that dog likely would have been seized and that tragedy would have been prevented." She also commented that perhaps the city of Montreal should have tried enforcing the legislation that was already in place before instigating BSL.There are many reasons why BSL is an unjust practice. First and foremost, any dog can bite. A dog's individual history is far more important than its breed when it comes to issues such as this. Secondly, any dog could "look like a pit bull" to someone. Would you tell a person that because they looked a certain way they could not enter a city? No, you wouldn't.More importantly though, cities and states are wasting money on BSL instead of targeting the actual problems, which are irresponsible dog ownership and animal abuse. How much good is BSL going to do when some other breed becomes popular?
Medical marijuana could alleviate the nation's opioid crisis

Bad news for Big Pharma

(NaturalNews) Opponents of medical marijuana laws have often claimed that legalizing marijuana use would lead to rampant drug abuse and have an adverse effect on society. Now that these laws have been instituted in some states for a few years, however, evidence is mounting that the opposite is actually true.In fact, it turns out that medical marijuana is so effective at treating pain that it's keeping many patients off prescription painkillers, which are a bigger threat to society than marijuana use, medical or otherwise, could ever be.In a recent study, researchers discovered that Medicare reported savings of $165.2 million in 2013 on the prescription medications that are used to treat some of the conditions that can also be treated with marijuana. These included depression, pain, seizures, nausea, glaucoma, anxiety , spasticity and sleep disorders. You may recall that 2013 was the year that 17 states put medical marijuana laws into place, along with the District of Columbia.These impressive savings accounted for half a percent of the Medicare Part D budget for that year. In the study, all of the claims for prescriptions filed for the medications in question from 2010 to 2013 by Medicare Part D patients were reviewed.Decreases were noted in the number of prescriptions that were written for medications other than marijuana for most of the conditions studied. For example, in states with legal medical marijuana, the prescriptions for pain medications were lower by a remarkable 1,826 daily doses compared to the states where medical marijuana is not legal. The researchers estimate that Medicare could have saved $468 million on prescription drugs if every state had a medical marijuana law in place.The sole exception was glaucoma, and this could be due to the fact that marijuana's effects on the condition tend to only last for about an hour. Prescriptions for medicines that marijuana is not used for, such as blood thinners, did not drop.Researcher Ashley Bradford of the University of Georgia, who was the study's lead author, said: "The results suggest people are really using marijuana as medicine and not just using it for recreational purposes."This is good news for those suffering with these ailments, with marijuana proving to be a safer alternative to conventional medicine. Take the example of opioids, a type of painkiller that has been responsible for a slew of deadly overdoses. A University of Michigan study found that patients with chronic pain who used medical marijuana reported a drop in their use of prescription opioids amounting to 64 percent. They also reported experiencing fewer side effects , and a 45 percent improvement in their quality of life since turning to cannabis for pain management. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40 people die each day from overdosing on these drugs.Anything that can steer people away from death-inducing prescription painkillers and other dangerous medications is a very positive step, no matter what your personal feelings are about marijuana. Of course, Big Pharma does not share this view, as it threatens their profits, which also explains why they are hoping people won't catch on to the benefits of CBD oil from hemp for issues such as epilepsy.Not only is marijuana very effective for many people, but it carries very few side effects, and is often more affordable than the pills Big Pharma is trying to push on people. This latest study showing that marijuana is replacing dangerous pharmaceuticals for many people might be bad news for Big Pharma, but it's good news for everybody else.
A new study from the University of Washington revealed that the shorter sea ice season in the Arctic brought about climate change can negatively impact 19 separate polar bear populations living throughout the arctic.

The study, published in the journal The Cryosphere, suggests that trend of earlier snowmelt in the spring and later ice growth in the fall could negatively influence the feeding and breeding capabilities of the polar bears.

"These spring and fall transitions bound the period when there is good ice habitat available for bears to feed," explained Kristin Laidre, a researcher at the UW's Polar Science Center and co-author of the study, in a press release. "Those periods are also tied to the breeding season when bears find mates, and when females come out of their maternity dens with very small cubs and haven't eaten for months."

For the study, the researchers analyzed 35 years worth of satellite data provided by NASA. These satellite data show sea ice concentration each day in the Arctic. The researchers found that the total number of ice-covered days across the nineteen populations of polar bears in the Arctic have declined at the rate of seven to 19 days per decade between 1979 and 2014. Additionally, sea ice concentration during summer months have also declined in all regions by 1 percent to 9 percent per decade.

Furthermore, the researchers observed that spring melting occurs three to nine days earlier per decade, while fall freeze-up occurs three to nine days later per decade.

The arctic sea ice is considered to be the "platform for life" of polar bears. When the daylight appears and warms up the region during springtime the ice sheets retreat. In the fall months, the temperature drops once again, making it possible for the ice sheets to build. Polar bears spend most of their winters and springs roaming in the sea ice looking for food. Polar bear's favorite source of nutrition is seals. However, polar bears are not built for a chase. This is why they prefer to stand in wait in a platform and ambush seals at breathing holes or break through the ice to reach the seals' den.

READ MORE:

Climate Change: Polar Bear Population Shrinking Due to Arctic Sea Ice Melt

Polar Bears to have Shorter Hunting, Breeding Season, NASA Says

Meet the World's Saddest Polar Bear Kept in a Chinese Shopping Mall for Selfies
Is San Andreas Fault set to wake up in any minute? Following 200 earthquakes which happened in a single day last week, officials in California issued an earthquake alert for residents of Southern California, prompting anxiety among the Californian residents.

To keep the residents well-informed about the impending earthquakes, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a legislation ordering the development of a statewide warning system. The legislation includes rules about informing the residents through telecommunication devices, Fox LA reported.

According to LA Times, the swarm of earthquakes, which began rumbling under the Salton Sea and rupturing near Bombay Beach, gained concern among seismologists and officials because the tremors occurred at the tail end of the mighty San Andreas fault, California's "sleeping giant."

Geoscience News and Information describes San Andreas Fault as the sliding boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The series of quakes might have added stress to the San Andreas Fault which has not ruptured since 1680, making it way overdue for a significant earthquake.

"It's kind of like when you snap your fingers, you know, you load them up and then at some point it exceeds the strength of the interface and it slips," Ramon Arrowsmith, a professor of geology at Arizona State University explained to Arizona's local news site.

As noted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the risk of an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater in Southern California increased to between 1 in 300 and 1 in 100 over the weekend. That heightened probability will last through Tuesday.

Quoting experts, Inquisitr writes that if San Andreas Fault wakes up with 7.8 magnitude earthquake, it will be nothing but catastrophic --- at least 2,000 dead, 50,000 injured and $200 billion property damaged.

How can small quakes trigger the awakening of the San Andreas Fault? As explained by Live Science, tiny earthquakes amplify the overall earthquake frequency on a given fault. In this case, it's the San Andreas Fault.

Although official warnings have been raised only to last until Tuesday, the seismic risk is still not over and seismologists warn that everyone should still be wary.

READ MORE:

Alert Raised! 200 Quakes Hit California; More Big Quakes to Come

Scientists Develop New Method to Prevent Man-Made Earthquakes Caused by Fracking

New Study Suggests the Moon Triggers Enormous Earthquakes

Awakening the Giant! Iceland's Largest Volcano Might Erupt After Unusual Big Quakes
The Rosetta mission may be over, but the European Space Agency (ESA) has other missions to launch in years to come. These include two smaller comet proposals--Castalia and Core (Comet Rendezvous Explorer)--which will be submitted to ESA next week for consideration.

Castalia will send a spacecraft to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to probe an object that exhibits comet-like behavior. Core, on the other hand, will put a lander on another comet. But unlike Rosetta's Philae lander, which did not land as smoothly as expected over comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, this new lander would intentionally hop from one place to another to study the varying conditions across the comet's icy surface.

According to Nick Thomas, one of Core's proposers from the University of Bern in Switzerland, they would like to maintain the Rosetta legacy.

"When Europe's Giotto probe visited Halley's Comet in 1986, it gave Europe a lead in cometary science that lasted for the next 15 years. And Rosetta is going to do the same for the next 15 years," Thomas told BBC.

"And what you do is put in a proposal now so that in 15 years' time we can send the next mission and continue that leadership."

However, if Castalia and Core will be chosen by ESA, the two missions will not launch until the late 2020s, BBC reports.

ESA's attention is now focused on the ExoMars mission, which will attempt to put the Schiaparelli lander on the surface of Mars in a couple of weeks. Schiaparelli will test the technology needed for the landing of the ExoMars rover on the Red Planet in 2021.

There is also the much-delayed BepiColombo mission, which is a European-Japanese mission to Mercury set to arrive by 2024, and JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer), which will send a probe to Jupiter and its moons and arrive by 2030s. ESA is also set to launch the Solar Orbiter satellite, which will launch in 2018 to explore the Sun in unprecedented detail.

The 12-year Rosetta mission ended on Sept. 30 when the spacecraft was deliberately crashed on the surface of comet 67P.
Not a lot of people knew that in 2008, the song "Across the Universe" was beamed into space that traveled 186 miles per second. And that's not even the weirdest thing to be sent to space. Recently, a Swedish sex education group launched the Swedish Space Condom, a petition to urge NASA to bring condoms to outer space.

Non-governmental organizations (NGO) and various educational groups rely heavily on raising awareness to spread the importance of the causes they support. Recently, NASA has been a subject for a group of sex educators who are urging the agency to bring condoms to space, as they consider it to be one of man's greatest invention.

Requests to send weird stuff to space are nothing new for NASA. In April this year, the Telegraph in the UK published a report entitled '100 Weird Stuff Sent Into Space' and most people won't be able to guess some of the items on the list. The latest of these weird items fortunate enough to go off-Earth are the three Lego mini figurines called "Legonauts" aboard the Juno spacecraft currently orbiting Jupiter. The legonauts were sent to space to commemorate Roman Gods Jupiter and Juno and the last one for Galileo Galilei.

Usually, despite how weird the objects are, they do represent something deeper. The video petition launched by Riksforbundet For Sexuell Upplysning (RFSU), a Swedish group for sexual enlightenment and education, teases the mind of viewers by stating that aliens should be aware of man's greatest invention, the condom. It may appear funny to some, but RFSU's goal is not to educate the "little green beings" about condoms but to actually educate Earthlings about contraceptives.

RFSU claims that since a lot of things that represent humanity has already been sent to space, it's time for condoms to be recognized because, according to the organization condom saves lives. The petition is in line with the organizations "World Contraceptives Day" campaign.

"A day dedicated to contraceptives that give humans the option to decide if and when to have kids, one of the most important decisions a person can make," an RFSU official said in a press release. "The condom might look simple, but it is the single contraceptive that offers protection against both unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. It is also the only contraceptive available for men," the official added.

So whether or not NASA agrees to the petition, it is important to note the real meaning behind the campaign. Some took the campaign literally and mocked the video that's suggesting aliens must learn about the wonders of condoms when it fact, the real target of the campaign is to educate humankind about contraceptives and women's will power to be able to decide whether or not to have children.
Nearly 300 years ago, Daniel Defoe wrote a novel about the fictional Robinson Crusoe's adventures as a seafarer and castaway. Wildly imaginative and new at the time it was published, the novel prompted people to be curious about the inspiration behind the titular character.

According to a report from Spiegel, a Scotsman named Alexander Selkirk is widely recognized as "the real Robinson". Compared to the fictional character's 28 long years stranded in an island, his true-to-life counterpart merely spent just over four years on the Mas a Tierra island, which is part of the Juan Fernandez archipelago.

Although many people claim -- or at least believe -- that Robinson Crusoe is directly inspired by Selkirk, scholars disagree. In a report from National Geographic, Andrew Lambert, author of "Crusoe's Island", said that there isn't a single "real" Crusoe. Instead there are a lot of different ones.

Lambert described the famous novel as "a complex compound of all the other buccaneer survival stories."
The embassy of the Republic of Korea hosted an official reception of the 4348th anniversary of National Foundation Day on October 3.

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Kim Chang-gyu presented the self-esteemed and peace-loving spirit of South Korea, which has contributed to peace and stability of the world, and requested the international communitys support for a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem.

Noting the successful launch of the South Korea-Azerbaijan Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in June, and the dynamic cultural exchange between South Korea and Azerbaijan, ambassador Kim was confident in further development of relations between the countries. He also expressed his sympathy and solidarity with internally displaced people in Azerbaijan.

On behalf of Azerbaijani government, Iltimas Mammadov, Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies and co-chair of the South Korea-Azerbaijan Joint Commission, wished the South Korean people progress, prosperity and peace.

The deputy minister said developing cooperation between two countries in the fields of science and education, information and communication technologies, culture, tourism, energy and other spheres.

Government officials, MPs, the members of the diplomatic corps, public representatives joined the celebration.
Is the 'big one' happening soon? Some say it is as heightened alert was issued in areas near the San Andreas Fault.

Reports saying that an imminent earthquake from the San Andreas Fault will occur that is why a heightened alert was issued. The alert was issued after 142 temblors were recorded starting Monday, Sept. 26 near Bombay Beach. The potential earthquake could be 1.4 to 4.3 magnitude based on the reading by the U.S. Geological Survey. While scientists estimate a 7.0 or even higher magnitude on the San Andreas Fault line.

Officials say that residents of Southern California should remain alert and vigilant until Oct. 4 due to an imminent threat of an earthquake. The Governor's Office of Emergency Services issued the warning after earth movements were recorded under the Salton Sea, located within the San Andreas Fault line.

Typically, these warnings are only issued once or twice every year, according to the deputy director of crisis communications for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Kelly Huston. The chance of the earthquake hitting the area is as high as "1 in 100" and as low as 1 in 3,000. The projected heightened alert will last until Oct. 4, Tuesday. But despite not experiencing the projected earthquake until today, residents remain alert as the big one may hit anytime.

History may suggest that devastating earthquakes from the San Andreas Fault usually occur every 300 years. "There is significant stress stored on the southern end," geophysicist from USGS Morgan Page said in an interview with Bloomberg.

To enable quick response, relocation and warning system Gov. Jerry Brown and the authorities signed a formal law to enable statewide warning system that will benefit the residents of California. The system uses hand phones, radios, and other devices to disseminate alert and information.

The authorities added that, given the imminent danger that the fault line poses, everyone, especially those living near San Andreas should remain vigilant at all times with heightened alert warning and even without.
A man was arrested Saturday in connection with the fatal beating of a Canadian actor who was found inside a Hollywood Hills home.

The man, whose name was not released, was arrested Saturday out of state by Los Angeles Police Department West Bureau Homicide detectves, said Lt. John Radtke of the Los Angeles Police Department. He was described as a drifter or a homeless person, and detectives believe he was only in Los Angeles for a few days.

He has a criminal history outside of Los Angeles County, but does not have a local criminal history, Radtke said. He is waiting to be extradited.

The death was reported at 2:17 a.m. Sept. 23 in the 6700 block of Milner Road, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The man, identified as 41-year-old Candian actor Richard Hong, was found dead at the scene and appeared to have been beaten, according to police.

The burglary call came in at about 2 a.m.

"On their arrival, they found a male deceased victim of what appeared to be a homicide," said Lt. Chris Ramirez.

The suspect was in the Hollywood Hills doing "door knocks" and "door checking" looking for doors left open, Radtke said. It is possible that Hong may have left the door to the home open or unlocked.

Some items taken from the home where Hong was staying have been recovered, Radtke said.

Home security video played a large role in the investigation, Radtke said. There was no indication that the man had an accomplice.

Witnesses saw a man run from the location.

The Whitley Terrace Association homeowner's group told NBC4 the man police are looking for was seen casing the area for weeks before the killing.

The association turned over surveillance video to the LAPD showing the suspect in the area.

The case was presented to the district attorney's office to be filed on charges of felony murder in the course of burglary, according to Radtke.

George Stroumboulopoulos, Canadian TV talk show host, owned the home Hong was staying in while he was away. He said Hong was a "dear friend" of his.

Stroumboulopoulos had a show on Canadian broadcaster CBC from 2005 to 2014.

Toni Guinyard contributed to this report.
Six people have been arrested in connection to violent home invasions across the Bay Area, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

It appears the suspects may also be linked to the recent string of armed robberies in Contra Costa County, including an Orinda shooting involving suspects wearing Halloween masks.

In that case, Tom Spalding and his wife, Carol Brown, had just returned home from the supermarket on Sept. 26 when they were held up at gunpoint on their driveway in Orinda. The two suspects pistol-whipped Spalding and shot Brown twice before fleeing the scene with a wallet and purse in hand.

Spalding, 63, said that he thought the mask-wearing suspects, who police believe followed the couple home, were playing an early Halloween prank until guns were brandished. The barrel of one of the weapons was used to strike Spalding in the forehead before shots were fired, hitting Brown in the arm and pelvis.

The California Highway Patrol, K-9s, air support and other law enforcement agencies were utilized to hunt down the suspects after the attack, but police were unsuccessful.

Both victims are doing OK, but Spalding says his wife, the Orinda Union School District board vice president, will likely have a long recovery.

The affluent city in Contra Costa County is routinely among the top 10 safest towns in California.

Authorities say the suspects may be linked to other armed robberies in Contra Costa County. In each case, the victims were robbed at gunpoint while sitting in their own cars parked in their driveways at night.

"It does seem very suspicious that they happened the same way," said Micah Spaulding, the victims' son.

For now, Micah Spaulding is focusing on his mom. The Orinda school board member is still in the hospital trying to recover.

"She got shot in the arm, bone shattered and then she has a bullet caught in her chest area," Micah Spaulding said.
Jammed traffic is nothing new for Bay Area drivers, but there's a new stretch of roadway that has been flagged as the region's busiest.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission released a report Monday signaling that eastbound Interstate 80 headed out of San Francisco during evening rush hour is the most snarled piece of pavement.

Traversing that six-mile-long roadway from the U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate 280 interchange to Treasure Island can take drivers up to one hour to accomplish, according to the report.

Before Monday's announcement, westbound I-80 from Hercules to San Francisco was the king of headache commutes. That route is now ranked as the second-worst commute in the Bay Area, but it still made history for being the only chunk of freeway to experience clogged congestion from morning until night.

The northbound morning commute on I-280 from San Jose to Cupertino rounded out the top three busiest stretches of pavement, according to the report.

A spike in new jobs in the Silicon Valley is at least partially to blame for the growing congestion in the South Bay.

"The problem is when you grow jobs like we are in the Silicon Valley at a rate of 10,000 to 15,000 jobs a month, when it comes to traffic we are paying the price right now," Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese said.

Southbound I-680 near South Jackson Avenue was named the third-most congested area in Santa Clara County. The area is a bottleneck drivers dread.

"Yes the traffic is bad," San Jose-resident Aris Lambiris said. "It's ridiculous."

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission put together its report by defining busy or congested traffic as traveling at or below 35 miles per hour.

Local lawmakers on Monday discussed ways to help commuters spend less time stuck in their cars. They believe Measure B is the answer. The proposed sales tax measure could generate more than $6 billion.

"In addition to the money, it will give to BART and Caltrain," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said. "It will also fix interchanges where we have horrible congestion now."
A package thief in San Francisco is pretending to be a mother by pushing a baby stroller as she cases the neighborhood.

The theft was caught on home security video on Saturday by a Bernal Heights resident when they noticed their package missing. Video shows the woman pushing a dog in a stroller along Bennington Street, checking stops and then scooping up Ilan Jacob's package.

Jacob's wife, Ausra Shtarka, said the woman did not look suspicious because she had the stroller.

"You feel certain things toward a woman with baby carriage, so it was disappointing," Shtarka said.

Jacob installed the cameras because he works in the industry and because his street seems to attract criminals.

"We are tired of stuff happening on our block," Jacob said. "We talk to neighbors and they've had cars broken into. Another neighbor had stuff stolen."

A growing number of neighbors are now setting up surveillance.

Jacob handed his video over to police and sent it to the neighborhood blog, hoping someone will recognize the woman and call police before she fills her stroller with another person's belongings.

The package stolen from Jacob included souvenirs a relative visiting from Lithuania planned on taking back home.
A former YMCA camp counselor in San Francisco pleaded not guilty to accusations of child molestation on Tuesday.

Evin Blanchard has been charged with 10 felony counts and three misdemeanors of child molestation and lewd acts upon a child. Investigators say the crimes occurred this summer while Blanchard worked as a camp counselor at the Embarcadero YMCA and went on field trips with the victims.

On Tuesday, parents were shocked, but the YMCA defended itself saying it conducts thorough background checks on all employees.

One parent, who asked to remain anonymous for the sake of her daughters safety, said at the arraignment that Blanchard used Snapchat to talk to her child.

Her daughter said that she had been pushed inappropriately on the swings and tried to be contacted by social media at 11 oclock at night on a Saturday asking if she was in bed, the woman said.

According to Maz Szabo, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorneys Office, a stay-away order has been issued for three 12-year-old victims and one adult.

Bail is set at $5 million and Blanchard is due back in court on Nov. 4.
San Francisco police on Monday announced the arrest of five people in an alleged child pornography distribution ring.

Police said the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit initially began investigating San Francisco residents Gary Waite, 38, and Danica Morais, 34, in March of this year on suspicion of having uploaded and distributed child pornography online involving children under the age of 10.

Waite and Morais were arrested in June on suspicion of possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.

Through their arrests, however, investigators were able to uncover three additional suspects.

Investigators determined that Waite was distributing child pornography to San Francisco resident Lorenzo Brown, 36, and that Brown was saving the material sent to him, according to police.

Brown, who was already in custody in San Mateo County on an unrelated matter, was arrested on Aug. 3 on suspicion of possession of child pornography.

Investigators also determined that Morais had been distributing the child pornography to residents in two other counties, police said.

On August 16, Los Angeles police served a warrant in connection with the case and arrested 35-year-old Justyn Tomblyn on suspicion of possession of child pornography.

And in mid-September, Sacramento police served a search warrant and arrested Sacrament resident Michael Brown, 42, on suspicious of possession of child pornography.

Anyone who feels they may have been a victim or had any suspicious contact with the subjects is asked to call the Special Victims Unit at 415-558-5500.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

Azerbaijans Zaminbank OJSC has been declared bankrupt, said Azad Javadov, executive director of the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF).

Javadov made the remarks Oct. 4 at a press conference in Baku.

We completed the assessment of Zaminbanks assets and were forced to appeal to a court for the banks recognition as being bankrupt, he said commenting on the sale of the banks assets in the countrys insurance sector.

Zaminbank has a 24-percent share in Bashak-Inam insurance company.

Since Zaminbank has assets worth 1.7 million manats (1.6138 AZN/USD on Oct. 4) in the insurance company, and there is a similar amount of money on Bashak-Inams deposit account, we have offered the company to make mutual settlement, explained Javadov. However, the bank was already declared bankrupt. Therefore, currently, the insurance company must firstly fulfill its obligations to the liquidator and its requirements [on the bank deposit] will be dealt with in order of priority.

The license of Zaminbank was cancelled as its assets were not classified in line with the law, it didnt create adequate reserves and the aggregate capital of the bank doesnt meet the minimum requirements [50 million manats]. In general, he bank hasnt fulfilled the regulators instructions.

Temporary administrator was appointed to Zaminbank on July 22, 2016.

Zaminbank started to operate on Nov. 16, 1992 in Azerbaijan.
What to Know Five people were victims of homicides in San Francisco since Friday.

Of those, four were shot and one was stabbed. Four other people were wounded by gunfire in the city over the weekend

The violence happened throughout the city, from the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods to Visitacion Valley.

Five people were victims of homicides in San Francisco since Friday, police said Monday.

Of those, four were shot and one was stabbed. Four other people were wounded by gunfire in the city over the weekend.

The violence happened throughout the city, from the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods to Visitacion Valley.

The victim of a fatal shooting Friday morning has been identified as 24-year-old Mitchell Warren of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco medical examiner's office.

Warren was found suffering from gunshot wounds round 4:30 a.m. near Polk and Ellis streets, police said. No arrest was made and a description of the armed male suspect was not immediately available.

Later that night, around 8:15 p.m., another homicide occurred in the 900 block of Ellsworth Street in the Bernal Heights area, police said.

There, police found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital, where he died, according to police.

The victim has been identified as 43-year-old Demetrius Jones, medical examiner's officials said.

On Saturday, an early morning shooting in the unit block of Sixth Street in the South of Market neighborhood injured a 33-year-old man, according to police.

Officers responded to the scene around 2:25 a.m., where they found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg.

The victim said he initially heard a loud sound before realizing he had been shot. He was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, police said.

The suspect, described as a man between 18 and 20 years old, fled on foot on Market Street, toward Fifth Street. Officers were unable to locate him and no arrest was made.

Later that day, around 2:05 p.m., the San Francisco Sheriff's Department altered police that a 19-year-old shooting victim had arrived at the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Officers determined the shooting occurred in the 200 block of Hahn Street, in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood. No arrest has been made in that shooting and a description of the suspect was not immediately available.

Then around 4 p.m., officers responded to a report of another shooting in the unit block of Burr Avenue, also in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood, police said.

There, officers found a 37-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, according to police.

The victim has been identified as 36-year-old San Francisco resident Giovanni Hernandez, according to the medical examiner's office.

Early Sunday morning, around 2 a.m., officers again responded to a report of another shooting in the South of Market neighborhood, this time at Sixth and Bryant streets, police said.

Three people were found suffering from gunshot wounds. The three male victims were taken to a hospital. Two of the victims suffered injuries not considered life-threatening.

The third victim died at the hospital. He has been identified as 26-year-old Stockton resident John Sanyaolu, according to the medical examiner's office.

The suspects, who were not apprehended, were described as two men between the ages of 25 and 30, police said.

Later that afternoon, around 4:45 p.m., officers responded to the 2600 block of California Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, according to police.

There, they found a woman in her 60s suffering from a stab wound.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died, police said.

The victim's identity has not been released, pending notification of her family.

A 59-year-old man was arrested in connection with the stabbing, according to police. His name was not immediately released.

Aside from the stabbing homicide, police have announced no arrests in this weekend's violence.

Anyone with information about any of the incidents is encouraged to call the police department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with "SFPD" in the message.
The routine "Taco Tuesday" just jumped up a notch.

As it happens every year, Oct. 4 is firmly penciled in as National Taco Day. What makes this annual celebration ever tastier this go around is that it just happens to fall on the day of the week famously referred to as "Taco Tuesday."

Whether you plan to satisfy your cravings at a beloved taco truck or dine-in at the neighborhood taqueria, a few establishments will be celebrating with you.

On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is offering its spread of mini tacos for a price of just two quarters, according to its Twitter page.

Chipotle Mexican Grill joined in the festivities by rolling out chorizo, a spicy pork sausage, to its menu nationwide, CNBC reported.

While you treat yourself Tuesday, just know that you certainly won't be alone.

The National Taco Day website estimates that Americans downed over 4.5 billion tacos in 2015. Putting that number into astronomical proportion, 4.5 billion tacos lined up would reach to the moon and back.
Authorities say a suspect in the brutal murder of a Richmond mother 33 years ago is finally behind bars.

Single mother Marsha Carter was stabbed to death inside her bedroom while her four boys were home, with one of them hiding under a bed during the attack, according to Richmond police.

"The kids went into the mom's room and they didn't find mom there," Richmond Police Lt. Felix Tran said. "All they find is blood on mom's bed. Of course as children they don't know what to do."

Carter's body was found in the trunk of her car in a west Sacramento parking lot a week and half later, but a suspect was never identified until recently. Police took another look at the case and finally got what they need to arrest 54-year-old Sherrill Smothers, Carter's former boyfriend.

Smothers is out of custody after posting $1 million bail and a trial date has yet to be determined, officials said.

Brian Donleavy, who now owns the house where the brutal attack happened, says one of Carter's sons came by the home serveral years ago. The son then had just produced a rap album called "Who Killed My Mama?"

"Her son was here and I said 'I wish you well.' I hope they catch whoever did this and they finally did. It's a heartbreaking story," Donleavy said.
San Francisco police are investigating a deadly shooting at a SoMa district nightclub.

Police Chief Toney Chaplin on Monday said his homicide team is looking into connections between Sunday's shooting at The EndUp club and another fatal shooting at the club from this past summer.

Police said a fight inside the club spilled out on the street, leaving a Stockton man shot dead and two others wounded.

Meanwhile, two suspets from another shooting at the club were released Friday. The June 5 shooting took the life of a 19-year-old San Francisco man.

Prosecutors said the two suspects had gang ties.

"That case did have gang overtones," Chaplin said.

Both suspects were released because surveillance video from the club showed the victim was shot with his own gun -- a gun he brought into the club, cocked and stuck in his waistband.

"We became aware that perhaps this was a case of self defense," District Attorney George Gascon said.

Gascon said his office dropped the charges during Friday's preliminary hearing.

Chris Santana, who lives a few blocks down the street from the club, describes The EndUp as a popular spot with some problems.

"A lot of drugs going around, alcohol and a lot of DUIs," Santana said.
Antioch, Fairfield and Oakland police stepped up patrols on school campuses on Tuesday after people  posing as clowns  made threats against several schools on Twitter.

In one of the more violent warnings, clowns on social media promised to shoot at Dallas Ranch Middle School on Tuesday, prompting Antioch police to rush there. Officers searched the school and surrounding areas, and spoke with administrators. Although the threat was deemed a hoax, police said they are continuing to investigate the post and determine who is responsible for it.

Meanwhile, in a letter posted on the Fairfield-Suisin Unified School District website, Grange Middle School Principal Christine Harrison told the public that police found no credible threat to the campus, but that officers would be on hand as a precautionary measure.

Fairfield Police Sgt. Jeff Osgood told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that two school resource officers are on each campus, and that parents shouldn't worry. "Your children are safe," he said.

Fairfield we coming,Grange Middle School and Fairfield High School get ready Tuesday(Oct 4th) At 10:30 am.Happy Clowning hehe  ClownGanng (@ClownGanng1) October 4, 2016

Osgood also urged students interacting with the person behind the now-deleted Twitter handle, ClownGanng1, to stop.

"These threats would qualify as terrorist threats under California Penal Code, and that will make them a felony," he said.

One of the tweets, sent at 5:40 p.m. on Monday said: Fairfield we coming, Grange Middle School and Fairfield High School get ready Tuesday(Oct 4th) At 10:30 am. Happy Clowning hehe.

On Tuesday evening, Osgood pointed out that it was "well past" 10:30 a.m. and there were still "no signs of clowns."

Someone from the account has tweeted 11 times this month, and has 233 followers. Its profile picture shows a clown in yellow pants clutching balloons in a dark parking lot. However, a search for the account around 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday indicated that it doesn't exist and may have been taken down.

Prior to that move, the author or authors had unleashed several Im coming to get you statements to various schools in the district, including Fairfield High, Rodriguez High and PSA, referring to the districts Public Safety Academy. And they tell the recipients to Be Reday. The language used is also profane, and sounds like it comes from a teenager.

Fairfield High School senior Miguel Cervantes said on Tuesday that he is scared.

"I don't want some crazy guy to walk into my classroom and do God knows what," he said.

Most threats have been ruled hoaxes, and district officials insist that the school is safe and have sent parents letters to that effect. However, students like Miguel didn't want to take any chances.

"I called my mom and said, 'Mom, I really don't feel safe right now,'" he said.

Similar threats had the Oakland Unified School District also on edge.

The social media messages allude to violence, prompting school officials to seek the help of Oakland police, who have bolstered their presence on campuses and launched an investigation, according to a letter sent to the district's parents. Officials also made a robocall to parents about the clown threats.

The security of our students and staff is our top priority," Jeff Godown, the school district's police chief, said in the letter. "We will be monitoring the situation closely and providing extra patrols to the schools named in the rumors and all schools in general." He added that he called in the FBI to help.

Meanwhile, the director of the Clown Conservancy at the Circus Center in San Francisco said the creepy clown scare puts an ugly face on a noble professoon.

"It has nothing to do with what we as human cartoons are doing with our careers," said Sara Moore. "Clowns go to hospitals and make people feel better. It's annoying to us as real clowns and makes us sad."

In San Mateo, clowns promised on Instagram that they would be at two high schools, but did not make any outright threats, police said Wednesday. Police are investigating the issue and have bolstered their presence in the San Mateo Union and San Mateo Foster City school districts.

Also on Wednesday, a woman said a man dressed as a clown tried to snatch her 1-year-old daughter while they waited at a Concord bus stop. Police are searching for the suspect, who fled the scene.

The threats-by-tweets in Northern California  which have also targeted a number of schools in Sacramento County  are the latest in clown hysteria sweeping some of the nation, including in Fairfield, Connecticut.

On Monday, police in Philadelphia announced a 13-year-old girl was behind some of the social media posts threatening violent "clown attacks" at her school. And police in New Jersey arrested a 13-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy for allegedly making similar threats.

Most recently, the creepy clowns began appearing in August in South Carolina, when children started telling police that a group of clowns had offered them money to accompany them to their home deep in the forest, NBC News and others have reported.

But Slate has also reported that these clown threats have been a "thing" since 1981, and crop up every few years.

Since the summer, clown sightings have sprung up in about 30 states, leading to arrests, warnings and a flurry of media reports crying hoax or mass hysteria. Each city has a different clown account. In Kentucky, for example, the Twitter handle is @Clownclann.

Halloween is at the end of this month.

NBC Bay Area's Jean Elle contributed to this report.
At first glance, the old naval weapons station in Concord looks like little more than a barren field. Brown, dead weeds and grass span almost 5,000 acres in every direction. The land is so nondescript, one would hardly guess that it has been Silicon Valleys best-kept secret for years.

Since 2014, the space has quietly been ground zero for GoMentum Station, a testing arena for some of Silicon Valleys most talked about self-driving cars. Uber-owned Otto, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda have all tested their new tech on the property, and documents have shown that Apple was in talks to check it out in 2015.

Now, California lawmakers are hoping to lure more big-name brands to with the help of Assemblybill 1592. Signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, the legislation lifts a slew of restrictions overseeing the types of cars operating on the disused space.

Heres what we know about the bill, and how it could affect Contra Costa County.

What the bill does:

AB1592 authorizes the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to test a pilot project allowing for cars without brakes, steering wheels and gas pedals to drive on GoMentums roads at speeds of up to 35 miles an hour.

Whats more, it nixes the requirement that all cars must have an operator inside, a precaution that Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, who introduced the bill, said it would be unnecessary given that the station is blocked off to the public.

Paramount for everyone is safety, Bonilla said in a phone interview with NBC Bay Area. The worst thing for innovation would be is if we dont proceed with consumer safety as our number one concern.

According to the bill, private companies can take advantage of the lifted restrictions, provided they pony up proof of $5 million in self-insurance to the DMV, and, of course, shell out big bucks to GoMentum. For companies such as Honda, that costs a cool $250,000. Clearly, this is not a bill intended to help fledgling startups.

AB1592 is also narrow in scope: It only applies to machinery driving at GoMentum and is not meant to override DMV policy on public roads. So, dont expect to see a driverless car pull up beside you on Concord Boulevard.

Why Companies Come to Concord:

For some, the high costs associated with the test space may be worth it: Barbed wire fences and a military presence still line the property, keeping the prying eyes of the public and competitors at bay.

Theres a reason thats such a huge incentive: For tech-turned-car makers, testing beta products away from public scrutiny allows them to avoid a similar fate that befell Google in February, when the brand faced backlash after its self-driving Lexus tried to swerve around sandbags and smashed into a city bus. In short, it gives companies room to try new things, while also shielding them from possible criticism.

Perhaps the biggest draw, however, is the infrastructure remaining from the bygone era in which the site was a bustling naval base. Remnants include secluded roadways, highway overpasses, and roads that twist and turn.

Companies looking to test out their products without getting DMV approval for public roads might find driving at GoMentum to be a more convenient loophole.

Specifically, we can simulate complicated conditions that are hard to come by on the highway, which is an incredibly valuable exercise, a representative from Otto told NBC Bay Area. (When asked what that value, costs Otto, the representative had no comment.)

What, if anything, the site brings to Contra Costa:

For Concord residents hoping to see GoMentums tech-friendly presence pour money into the East Bay and raise its national profile, like Silicon Valley did for the South Bay, the reality may be disappointing. According to Willis and Bonilla, the money isnt coming back to locals just yet.

It goes into a fund, a separate fund, and the partners in GoMentum station determine how those dollars get spent on improvement or features for testing added to the base, Willis said.

Still, Assemblywoman Bonilla is hopeful that it could mean big things for the future of Contra Costa County, a region of the Bay that has largely escaped the tech boom happening in other parts of the coast.

It had just been sitting there, completely unused, and its an incredible resource, Bonilla said. "It's been really exciting to see what's happening to the space."

Aside from GoMentum, there is currently a reuse plan to develop the rest of the land that makes up the old weapons station.

Bonilla conceded that the economic benefit is still in the offing, describing the station as a potential magnet to attract other businesses. The hope, she said, is that companies who test at the site may want to have headquarters or factories nearby.

If were able to attract not only the businesses that are going to come and test there, but other associated industries  the ones manufacturing  thats going to be the real economic benefit.

Gillian Edevane covers Contra Costa County for NBC Bay Area. Contact her at Gillian.Edevane@NBCUni.com.
New Hampshire's U.S. Senate candidates faced off Monday in the first televised debate of the hotly-contested campaign. And two of the most memorable exchanges involved their parties' respective presidential nominees.

Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte and Democratic challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan touched on a wide range of topics, including Super PACs, ISIS, the state's opioid crisis and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's tax returns.

Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and challenger Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan faced off Monday night in the New Hampshire Senate debate.

One of the most noteworthy moments came when Ayotte was asked if she would tell a child to look up to Trump as a role model.

"I think that certainly there are many role models that we have and I believe he can serve as president and so, absolutely, I would do that," she said.

But less than three hours after the debate had ended, Ayotte issued a statement saying that she "misspoke" when asked about Trump.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a Conn. store owner decided to have fun with his gourds

"While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldn't hold up either of them as role models for my kids."

Ayotte did say later in the debate that Trump should release his tax returns. She also pointed out that while she is voting for Trump, she has stood up to him "on multiple occasions" in the past and argued that Hassan "is lock-step with Secretary Clinton."

But the damage may have already been done. The Hassan campaign issued a release of its own Monday night, including some of the numerous tweets reacting negatively to Ayotte's "absolutely" comment. The campaign has already scheduled a Tuesday morning media call in an effort to focus even more attention on the remarks.

Ayotte, Hassan Debate in NH

Hassan was also asked to defend her party's nominee on Monday, and said she finds Hillary Clinton to be "honest and trustworthy," after three times failing to answer that question in a previous interview. "I certainly didn't give my best answer," she acknowledged. She added that national security and foreign policy experts in the GOP also find Clinton more qualified than Trump.

"What I find very concerning is that at a time when our country faces so many evolving national security threats that my opponent is supporting Donald Trump, who members of her own party say poses an absolute danger to our country's vital interests," Hassan said.

The Ayotte-Hassan race is seen as one of the tightest Senate races in the country. Tens of millions of dollars have flooded the airwaves as the two sides fight for ground in the key swing state.

Monday's Senate debate at New England College was the first of two debates being aired by necn this week. The governor's debate between Republican Chris Sununu and Democrat Colin Van Ostern will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. The debates are co-sponsored by the Concord Monitor, WGIR-AM 610, WKXL-AM 1450 and New England College.

Below is some of the reaction to Monday's Senate debate on Twitter:
As Seen On
Eric Trump, son of Republican presidential candidate and oft-scrutinized business mogul Donald Trump, said in an interview Monday morning that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is Trump's running mate, is from Illinois.

Pence is from Indiana.

His track record in his home state in Illinois, Trump said on Fox News Americas Newsroom, seeming to stumble over the words. His home state, is exactly why we picked him and why my father picked him.

Trump then continued to tout Pences performance as governor.

News anchor Bill Hemmer, after letting Trump finish, addressed the gaffe.

Im assuming you meant Indiana, not Illinois, correct? Hemmer asked.

I did mean Indiana, Im sorry for the slip of the tongue, Trump conceded.

Thats alright, Hemmer said before asking if Trump wished his father would refrain from tweeting a 3 a.m.

A tweet on the verified Americas Newsroom page includes a quote from Trump excluding the Illinois faux pas.
Two Chicago coffee shops are transforming themselves into the place that dominated Gilmore Girls.

Fans can channel their inner Lorelai and Rory Wednesday as Osmium Coffee Bar in Lakeview and Elaines Coffee Shop turn themselves into Lukes Diner from the cult TV classic.

The first 250 fans after each locations 7 a.m. opening will get free coffee as part of the promotion.

Gilmore Girls returns to Netflix next month.
Details added (first version posted at 17:28)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The Azerbaijani Finance Ministry has approved a state guarantee for Central Banks loan of 460 million manats (official rate on Oct. 4 is 1.6138 AZN/USD) to the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF), the ministry said.

The decision was made at an extraordinary board meeting of the ministry, chaired by Samir Sharifov, Azerbaijani finance minister.

The CBA appealed to the Finance Ministry in accordance with the Law on Deposit Insurance and President Ilham Aliyevs decree dated March 1, 2016.

The loan, allocated by the CBA to the ADIF, is meant for returning Bank Standards deposits.

Earlier, it was reported that the Azerbaijan Financial Market Supervisory Body will revoke the Bank Standards license on Oct. 1.

The decision was made upon the appeal of the new management of Bank Standard, as well as AzerTurkBank, which has acted as a bridge bank for Bank Standard since July 4.

Individuals deposits in Bank Standard total 603 million manats, including 568 million manats of insured deposits.

Bank Standard was founded in 1995. It was one of the largest private commercial banks in Azerbaijan and one of the market leaders in terms of deposits.
Dozens of schools across the Chicago area are leasing their property to telecom companies to erect cellular towers and antennas on school buildings and grounds, NBC5 Investigates has discovered. Until now, radiation from cell towers has not been considered a risk to children, but a recent study raises new questions about possible long-term, harmful effects.

Terrence Fagan says he will never forget the day he walked his son into kindergarten for the first time at Sutherland Elementary.

I looked up and I saw these two towers that Id never seen before, he said.

The towers in question were cell phone antennas, mounted on the buildings smokestack. Fagan says he immediately started doing research, hoping that he would find that scientists had conclusively proven that phone towers pose no risk.

I tried to prove the other side of this argument, he said. The proof thats been offered does not equate to safety, in our estimation.

Fagan quickly learned that he was not alone with his concerns. Parents from Sutherland and a second school in the Beverly neighborhood, Mount Greenwood, had mounted a petition asking for answers about potential risks from the phone towers.

I dont feel that I got the reception as far as taking the issue more seriously, parent Jeff Simms said. I believe the parents deserve the right to limit the amount of radiation in the classrooms.

NBC5 Investigates filed Freedom of Information Act requests with 409 public school districts across the Chicago area, and found that 139 local schools rent space on their grounds, buildings and smokestacks for cellular antennas. Over 90 of those are Chicago Public Schools  most of them elementary-level -- where kids may attend for as many as nine years. CPS reaps about $5 million in rental fees from those towers every year.

Both the American Cancer Society and the Federal Communications Commission have stated that so-called RF radiation from cell towers does not pose a risk to people on the ground, because the transmissions are line-of-sight from the antennas, which are traditionally mounted high in the air. But NBC5 Investigates spotted many antennas mounted far lower, close to the roof line and even the windows of some CPS buildings.

Fagan questions what scientists know about living in even lower levels of RF, below the towers, for long periods of time.

Our kids are sitting in these classrooms for seven hours a day for nine years, 180 days every school year, he notes. Nobody knows what happens if you get a very low dose for nine years.

The Beverly parents were especially alarmed by news of a recent study from the National Toxicology Program, which seemed to show a direct link between cell phone RF and cancer. Fagan said no parent would allow a Starbucks to be located in the school offering free coffee, if it would mean constant exposure to caffeine.

Parents would descend on that school with torches and pitchforks, he said. I dont know why microwave radiation gets a free pass when theres way more evidence to support that it causes disease than caffeine does.

It turns out the National Toxicology Study was done in Chicago at the Illinois Institute of Technology. And its findings were reported worldwide.

This is by far the largest study thats ever been done in the world by at least a factor of three on cell phone radiation, said Dr. David McCormick, who ran that project. We built a special laboratory for the program, at a cost of about $10 million.

During the study some 3,000 rats and mice were continuously exposed to high levels of RF for two years. McCormick says about 8 percent of the animals developed brain tumors and other complications.

I think this is a signal, McCormick said. I dont think this study is definitive in saying yes we have a smoking gun here. However, its a signal that something may be going on.

And the concerns of the Chicago parents?

I dont blame the parents for being concerned, he said. My first question would be, does your child use a cell phone? Because if your child uses a cell phone, the exposure is very likely to be substantially larger than the exposure from the cell tower.

That said, McCormick said his research would seem to indicate that the location of the antenna should be given careful consideration, noting that RF radiation drops off dramatically the further one gets from the tower.

If this is at the level of the roof that antenna could be pointing more or less directly into a classroom or an occupied space, he said. You know, 25 feet from the tower is an awful lot different than if its 100 feet or 200 feet away from the tower.

The Beverly parents are hardly alone in their concerns. School systems ranging from south-suburban Tinley Park and west-suburban Naperville, to the entire Los Angeles Unified School District, have said no to cell towers because of similar worries over long term exposure to RF. And the International Association of Fire Fighters has long opposed the mounting of cell antennas and towers at its members fire stations, citing similar concerns about low-intensity RF radiation.

More than anything, the Sutherland and Mount Greenwood parents say they are frustrated by a lack of response from the Chicago Public Schools. Fagan says one CPS staffer, in fact, told him he should call 3-1-1. And when NBC5 made an inquiry, a CPS spokesman refused  repeatedly -- to provide anyone for an interview, issuing only a written statement:

National health and communication experts, including the American Cancer Society and the FCC, have said there is no credible health threat posed by cellular equipment, the statement said. And CPS allows Local School Councils to lease space if it meets the needs of their school community.

When NBC5 asked why CPS was not willing to have a more thorough discussion about the issue of cell towers at its schools, on-camera, the CPS spokesman repeatedly refused to comment.

NBC5 Investigates has compiled both a list and an interactive map, showing all of the schools that we found, throughout Chicago and the suburbs, that have cellular antennas on their property. Click here to see if your childs school made the list.
A 43-year-old man died Saturday night after falling off a skateboard on the Near West Side.

Ryan Boser fell off a skateboard and struck his head on the curb in the 1600 block of West Jackson about 3 p.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiners office.

Boser was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:11 p.m. Saturday, according to the medical examiners office.

An autopsy Sunday ruled his death an accident.
A church in Chicagos Pilsen neighborhood was vandalized with hate-themed graffiti over the weekend.

Rev. Emma Lozano says her church, Lincoln United Methodist in the 2200 block of South Damen Avenue, is being targeted.

Swastikas, Nazi symbols, this time even more threatening saying to burn down my church and to kill people of my church, Lozano said. Were a church of mostly Mexican immigrants but also a church of refugee children in Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvador.

Lozano said she found the vandalism on the church's door about 10 a.m. Sunday when she came to the church for bible studyand the discovery brought her to tears. It's the sixth time in the last year the church has been hit, she said.

Its hard to go through worship service with all the people that you love and come to church to be safe, she said. But theres people on the outside who hate us so much.

Now, Lozano is asking the Chicago Police Department to find the people who desecrated her church.

We want a thorough investigation and we want these terrorists taken and arrested and perpetrators and they need to keep us safe, Lozano said.

Lozano is also asking anyone else with information to come forward.

Police said no one was in custody and detectives will be investigating.
A clown-sighting at the University of Illinois at Chicago prompted a response from campus police, but the scare turned out to be something far more innocent.

University police said they received calls about a clown on the campus Tuesday afternoon.

Officers responding to the scene ultimately found a student working on a performance art project.

The student was initially questioned but no arrests were made, authorities said.

The sighting comes as frightening clown encounters and social media threats flood police departments and schools nationwide.

Earlier Tuesday, a number of northwest Indiana schools were on high alert after threats appearing to be from clowns were made against students at several schools in Hammond, Indiana.

A school in Waukegan was locked down Tuesday afternoon after three people dressed as clowns threatened children at the school.

In Hobart, Indiana, a social media threat involving a clown targeted Hobart Middle School. The school is planning extra security to be in place Wednesday due to the threat.

In Mokena, Lincoln-Way Central has reported Instagram clown threats, prompting school officials to cancel recess Wednesday.
A far north suburban school was on lockdown Tuesday afternoon after children told school staff that three people in clown masks, two of them possibly armed, threatened to kill them while they were at recess, police said.

According to the Waukegan Police Department, children at the Greenwood elementary school told staff just before 2 p.m. that three people dressed in clown masks stood at the edge of the schools property and taunted them.

The children reported that one person had a knife, another had a briefcase and a third had a gun in his pocket. They also claimed the clowns threatened to return on Friday and "kill them."

Police said it was not clear if the knife was real or if a clown was armed with a handgun. The suspects may have left the scene in a black SUV but no suspect descriptions were available, according to atuhorities.

The school was briefly placed on lock down until officers could check the area.

Waukegan police said it plans to provide extra watches during shifts at all area schools for the time being and said the incident is being taken seriously.

The incident is one of several clown incidents reported across the Chicago area Tuesday.

Anyone with information is being asked to call the CID Tip-Line at (847) 360-9001.
A man changing his tire on the side of I-65 in Indiana was killed when another vehicle struck him during the early morning hours on Monday, authorities confirmed.

Gregory G. Davis, 55, of Gary, Ind., was struck and killed about 1:14 a.m. approximately 3 miles north of State Road 2s Lowell/Hebron exit, Indiana State Police said in a news release. He was found a distance down the road from a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero, which was parked on the right shoulder and had its hazard lights flashing.

Police said a 58-year-old man was driving a 2012 Ford Focus southbound on I-65 when the Focus, for unknown reasons, drifted over the fog line and sidewiped the Alero and Davis, who was kneeling and attempting to change the front drivers side tire on the Alero, state police said.

When troopers arrived on the scene, they spoke to a female who was walking away from the scene, police said. Police later determined she was the passenger in the Alero at the time of the cash. Police said she was uninjured and uncooperative. She was looking for Davis who was discovered about 150 feet from the Alero and was pronounced dead, police said.

It was not immediately clear if the man driving the Focus would be charged or cited.
Several northwest Indiana schools were on high alert Tuesday after a series of Facebook threats involving clowns, authorities said.

Hammond police said concerned parents and citizens alerted authorities about threats made against City of Hammond schools by persons representing themselves as clowns.

Threats made via Facebook posts targeted several schools in the area including Hammond High, Eggers, Gavit, Scott and Morton.

Hammond Police

While we do not have any information about specific threats against individual students, we are taking the information seriously and currently are investigating the matter, Richard Hoyda with the Hammond Police Department said in a statement.

Police said there have been no reports of clown sightings in the area so far.

Hammond police officers who work off-duty at area schools are on the lookout for any suspicious activity.

Hammond Police

The threats are the latest in a series of clown incidents nationwide.

Most recently, two suburban Chicago middle schools were the subjects of a "social media hoax involving a clown persona," school officials said Monday.

Scores of Frightening Clown Sightings, Threats Reported Across the Country

A clown threat was also made against Philadelphia schools over the weekend. Philadelphia police said Monday afternoon that their investigation, along with tips from the public, helped them to identify a 13-year-old girl who they say was involved in the social media posts about clown attacks at schools.

Another 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were arrested for allegedly making similar threats against students in New Jersey.

Two people were arrested and some Ohio schools were closed last week amid a rash of reported threats involving clowns against students in three suburban Cincinnati districts.

Police in northeastern Pennsylvania about two weeks ago said they were investigating in Pottsville after receiving a report that a 12-year-old girl and her friends were chased by a clown, who then threw a stick at them and yelled obscenities before running back into the woods. Also last week in Reading, Penn., police said a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death after someone in a clown mask may have provoked a confrontation.

Reports of clown sightings have also surfaced in Lower Macungie, Easton, and New Jersey and South Carolina over the last several weeks.

Police in Pasco County, Fla., told NBC News they were warning young people to not dress up as clowns.

Anyone with information on the Hammond threats is being asked to call the Hammond Police Department at (219) 852-6326.
Two west suburban middle schools were the subjects of a social media hoax involving a clown persona, school officials said Monday.

School District 308 in Oswego investigated claims that posts on social media involving a clown directed toward Thompson Junor High School and Traughber Junior High School.

We ask parents and students to be cautious of what they share via social media, the district said in a news release. We appreciate students and parents alerting the schools to any potential threats.

An email to district officials was not immediately returned.

The Illinois "hoax" comes amid recent reports of menacing-looking clowns across the country. A clown threat was also made against Philadelphia schools over the weekend. Philadelphia police said Monday afternoon that their investigation, along with tips from the public, helped them to identify a 13-year-old girl who they say was involved in the social media posts about clown attacks at schools.

Police in northeastern Pennsylvania about two weeks ago said they were investigating in Pottsville after receiving a report that a 12-year-old girl and her friends were chased by a clown, who then threw a stick at them and yelled obscenities before running back into the woods. Also last week in Reading, Penn., police said a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death after someone in a clown mask may have provoked a confrontation.

Reports of clown sightings have also surfaced in Lower Macungie, Easton, and New Jersey and South Carolina over the last several weeks.

Police in Pasco County, Fla., told NBC News they were warning young people to not dress up as clowns.

"We are warning teens and young adults not to get involved in this fad, of dressing up as clowns to cause fear," Christopher Nacco, the sheriff of Pasco County, Florida, told NBC News in an email Saturday. "Because eventually someone is going to perceive their actions as a threat and take justice in their own hands."
Hundreds gathered for a vigil Monday night at Curie High School to remember slain student Naome Zuber.

Zuber, 17, was killed early Saturday morning when she was hit in the head by a stray bullet in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicagos South Side.

Thank you for all the peoplethanks for all the people who came out to show love to my sister, said Enrique Alvarez.

Allison Tingwall, the principal at the Archer Heights neighborhood high school, also spoke.

We say oh this happened, she was at the wrong place, the wrong timewhen its a kid whos doing everything right, there should not be a wrong place, wrong time, she said. You guys deserve better.

Zuber was a senor at Curie and was excited to graduate in the spring, Tatiana Torres, a teacher, told NBC 5.

She wanted to go to college, she wanted to study criminal justice because she believed in justice for everybody in Chicago, Torres said.

Classmates and family lit candles in honor of Zuber at the school Monday night.

Seeing all these candles makes me know shell always be around in somebodys thoughts, stepfather Ernesto Alvarez said. As long as youre thinking about hershell be with us.

Chicago police are investigating the shooting. There is a reward for informationg leading to an arrest in the casenow at $3,000.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with Zubers funeral expenses and has already raised $7,500.
The Central Connecticut Health district is hosting a flu shot clinic in Wethersfield Tuesday.

The event is scheduled at the Pitkin Community Center, located at 30 Greenfield Street, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Attendees should bring their insurance information. Shots are free for those with insurance through Aetna, Anthem, CIGNA Healthcare, ConnectiCare, and certain Medicare plans and Medicare Part B insurance. Shots are $25 for anyone not covered by those insurance plans. Organizers said everyone planning to attend should wear loose-sleeved shirts.

No one will be denied vaccination for inability to pay.

There are no residency requirements but shots will only be given to attendees at least 4 years old.

The Health District is hosting a series of clinics in October. For a full list visit their website.

Residents of Berlin, Newington, Rocky Hill or Wethersfield who cannot leave their home can call the Health District at (860) 721-2818 to arrange a home visit.
Libyas oil production rose to 500,000 barrels a day and will further advance by the end of the month as the country was exempt from an OPEC accord to limit production, Bloomberg reported citing an official of Libya's state oil company.

The countrys production will reach 600,000 a day by the end of October, said Ibrahim Al-Awami, head of Libyas National Oil Corporations oil measurement department.

Oil capped the biggest monthly gain since April after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed during a meeting in Algiers last week to trim supply for the first time in eight years. While quotas will be decided at the groups official meeting in November, Libya, Nigeria and Iran have said they are exempt and Iraq has said it doesnt accept OPECs estimates of its production levels.
The Office of the Child Advocate has released a review of the handling of the case of a boy found near starvation after being removed from a foster home in Groton. The report points to multiple institutional failures and omissions on the part of the Department of Children and Families and questions the agencys ability to fulfill their duty to protect the safety and well-being of children.

(The childs) near-death from starvation and abusea stunning event in a state-monitored placement for a childcould occur only as a result of the utter collapse of all safeguards.  the report said.

On November 11, 2015, family members brought 18-month-old D* to the hospital. Doctors said the child was seriously underweight and unable to walk, talk or feed himself.

The OCA report details Ds condition and injuries, which included broken bones in both arms, a healing burn on his wrist and injuries in the inside of his mouth. Doctors also found evidence of a a retinal hemorrhage and old bleeding into Ds brain.

According to the OCA review, doctors concluded Ds condition and the fact that his caregivers did not provide care for his obvious injuries constituted gross neglect, and his pain, suffering and condition should have been obvious to caregivers.

Following an investigation, Groton police arrested the boys foster mother Crystal Magee, 32, of Groton, on Feb. 4, 2016. She was charged with felony risk of injury to a child and intentional cruelty to a child. She plead not guilty to both charges and is next scheduled in court on Oct. 6, 2016.

Magee is a relative of the boys biological mother. DCF had placed D in Magees care in June 2015 after he and his siblings were removed from his mothers care.

The OCA investigation revealed that in that time period DCF should have been aware of multiple red flags that should have led them to question Magees suitability as a foster parent, including claims she had a substance abuse problem and once called police to ask if she could get in trouble for letting D cry all the time.

According to the report, D missed several scheduled appointments and meetings with his family during his stay with Magee. When a provider raised concerns about this to DCF, it took a caseworker 11 days to visit the home.

Records also reportedly stated that a caseworker visited D seven times between June and November 2015, and that the child was "asleep" for five of those visits.

The review from the OCA states that more than a dozen DCF employees were responsible for different parts of Ds case over the five month period he was in Magee s care. The report claims that employees failed to follow agency protocols, which lead to D's near-death experience.

DCF said that all staff involved accepted responsibility for the missteps, and that three employees were subject to disciplinary action following a human resources investigation. A forth employee involved retired from the agency.

Additionally, D was given a state-appointed lawyer whose job was to investigate, identify and advocate the childs needs. Yet the report says that between June and November 11, 2015 there were no filings or motions by the childs attorney regarding any concerns about Ds care or placement.

That so many eyes were on Ds case and none pressed the alarm strongly on his behalf is a cultural warning sign that bears urgent attention by the public. The repeated failure to follow agency protocols, almost leading to the death of this child, raises concerns about the underlying reasons for these failures, how workload concerns or staffing may affect the quality of work, and how well agency protocols and expectations are monitored and enforced, the report states.

DCF Commissioner Joette Katz released a statement that read in part,

The Department is taking all possible steps to ensure that the problems identified have been addressed, and we will continue to evaluate and adjust these actions to achieve our goal of safely maintaining children in care with kin whenever possible. In addition, the work with this family was transferred to other offices.

While I am disappointed by our work in this instance, I remain committed to the overall direction of keeping more children with their relatives and other kinship families. National research shows that outcomes are improved for children in kinship homes. For this reason, Department staff have worked hard to increase the use of kinship homes, and the percentage of Connecticut children in care who are living with relatives or kin is now above 40 percent  doubling since 2011.

OCA continues to investigate DCF's assessment and licensure of relative foster homes to determine whether the current practices comply with state law and best practices.

*Note: The childs name is not being used to protect his identity.
Rumors of creepy clown sightings and a flood of related social media posts have several Connecticut communities on edge.

North Haven schools are adding police presence at all six schools and Supt. Robert Cronin said he called parents last night to let him know.

School officials in Newington said there is extra police presence at Martin Kellogg Middle School after a student forwarded an Instagram post about clowns. They said it's a hoax and they do not want to cause alarm, but the extra police presence in a precaution.

In New Haven, the school district is prohibiting clown costumes during Halloween in response to several menacing social media posts.

Unfortunately, clown-themed posturing has been a growing trend throughout the country, particularly on social media. At this time there is no indication this incident poses any real or substantial threat to New Haven Public Schools or Students. We do however take these incidents very seriously, the district said in a statement.

Cronin said he is considering banning clown costumes in North Haven as well, but has not made the decision yet.

In Naugatuck, authorities are also investigating social media posts that referenced the towns school district and extra security was on hand at schools Tuesday as a precaution.

Rumors of sightings swirled around social media Monday night. Some claimed that the UConn campus was on lockdown Monday night after someone spotted an armed clown on campus but school officials stressed that campus was never on lockdown and there were no confirmed clown sightings.

Mayor Mark Boughton of Danbury took to Twitter to assure residents that there have been no clown sightings in the city.

Quinnipiac University also took to twitter to assuage fears when social media began buzzing with reports of clowns on campus. The reports were false and QU was never on lockdown.

The University is secure and is NOT in lockdown. All campus operations are running normally.  Quinnipiac University (@QuinnipiacU) October 4, 2016

Sightings of clowns creeping in the woods were first reported in South Carolina back in August. Children reported that the clowns showed them money and tried to lure them in to the woods.

The reports spread to North Carolina and began to make rounds in other states. At least a dozen people have been arrested in various states for either participating in the menacing stunt or falsely reporting clown sightings.

Cronin said this has consumed his whole day and it's an example of how social media can be disruptive.
Essex transplant Amy Rinehart reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds after receiving a $433 bill from the cell phone carrier she left two months prior.

"I was being charged for a phone I had returned," said Rinehart.

When she called customer service, an agent told her one of the devices didnt fall within the appropriate time frame for returns and that they couldnt accept it. Rinehart said, had someone brought that up when she canceled her service, she never would have sent it.

I was thinking, well, if (they) return the phone to me, Ill pay for it, said Rinehart. Just on principle, Im not going to pay for something I dont possess.

The agent then told her theyd be in touch, but days went by without an update.

I just had no faith that anything was going to happen, said Rinehart. I was just going to have to end up paying for a piece of property I didnt own, (one) that I didnt have in my possession.

The NBC Connecticut Responds consumer team contacted a Sprint spokesperson. A few hours later, they told us they were able to resolve the issue, thanked us for bringing it to their attention, and said they spoke with Rinehart regarding her statement.

And they just said, your balance is zero, said Rinehart.
Law enforcement officials from nearly half a dozen states met in New Haven to discuss the investigations into the Middletown woman Linda Carman, who disappeared during a fishing trip with her son, and the murder of her wealthy father in 2013.

There is a joint investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the disappearance of 54-year-old Linda Carman last month, according to police.

On Monday, police from two Connecticut communities joined forces with states attorneys from Hartford and Middlesex counties, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, along with Rhode Island Police, the Coast Guard, ATF and the FBI and met at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven.

They are working to figure out who will investigate what.

Coast Guard officials dont believe Linda Carman,who spent 14 months in the Connecticut Air National Guard, survived when her sons boat, the Chicken Pox, sank at sea last month.

In 1985, Linda Carman was an Airman First Class and was honorably discharged, a spokesman said.

She disappeared with her 22-year-old son, but Nathan survived and was found after eight days, floating on a raft. He told Coast Guard officials he lost sight of his mom.

The Windham County Sheriffs Department in Vermont served a search warrant on Nathans Vernon, Vermont, home last week at the request of investigators in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. They believed they would find evidence to support a charge of quote operating so as to endanger resulting in death, citing witness accounts from the marina in Point Judith, Rhode Island that questioned whether Nathan Carman took proper boat maintenance before he and his mother set out to sea.

The shooting death of Nathan Carmans maternal grandfather, real estate mogul John Chakalos of Windsor, in 2013 remains unsolved.

The 87-year-old Chakalos led a modest life in Windsor at an Overlook Drive home, but also maintained a five-bedroom mansion in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire once known for its holiday lights display.

A source close to that investigation told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters Nathan Carman is a person of interest in his grandfathers murder.

The former attorney of Nathan Carmans mothers said Linda was also a suspect in her dads murder.

Attorney Gerry Klein said the pair got in a fight over his money five years ago at Mount Sinai in Hartford.

Her insistence that she take the polygraph -- 'Thank you Attorney Klein for your advice but I think I better just do it 'cause I want them to know that I had nothing to do with the death of my father. And She indicated that she could never do anything to harm her father, Klein told NBC Connecticut on Friday.

Nathan Carman denies wrongdoing in either case and his father Clarke Carman defends him as well.

Boston-based attorney, Dan Small of Holland and Knight, represents Linda Carmans three sisters and issued a statement to the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters

The family is deeply thankful for the rescue team who put their lives on the line at sea in the extensive effort to find our sister Linda and her son. As we continue our search for answers, the family has faith that our state and federal investigators are bringing maximum resources to bear, so that the family can have some degree of closure and an opportunity to heal," the statement says, in part.

The daughter NBC Connecticut spoke with by phone is also executor of John Chakalos' estate, which records state is worth an estimated $43 million, is not including an undisclosed trust in his name.
New Haven Public School district is prohibiting clown costumes and any other "symbols of terror" during this year's Halloween season because of the fear a creepy clown craze sweeping social media is instilling.

Officials from the district said Monday they are working with the New Haven Police Department to investigate the authenticity of a number of clown-related Instagram posts that they learned about that day.

While there is no indication these posts pose any real threat to the city's school district, administrators said they are taking the incidents very seriously.

"We are considering this to be nothing more than a prank and harassment fueled by social media and upcoming Halloween," Supt. Garth Harries said during a news conference Tuesday. "Working with the police department and our own security team, we have no evidence that there is a credible threat to students or schools in the district."

During the news conference, the superintendent was asked about any incidents in town and he said some students were playing with a clown mask near a school and the administrator took the mask and contacted the students' parents.

New Haven students are being told to avoid wearing clown costumes or clown masks, even as a joke, to avoid even the perception of a threat.

"Any incident in which a student is found with clown-like apparel or other costumes that are perceived to be threatening given this context will be handled on a case-by-case basis," Harries said. "We are encouraging and asking parents to be our partners in this and help ensure that students are not getting clown masks or going to school with clown masks or wearing clown-like attire for their own safety and also for their overall school climate."

Harries said local school officials have no reason to believe these incidents are organized or connected with similar incidents around the country, but they have reached out to Instagram about getting the concerning account removed.

Various U.S. towns have been stepping up patrols as the creepy clown craze stays steady. In August, children in South Carolina reported seeing multiple clowns lurking in the woods and showing them money.

Twelve people were arrested across Georgia, Alabama and Virginia in the past two weeks for making false reports of clown threats or chasing people while costumed, authorities said on various county police Facebook posts, NBC News reports.

Sightings and hoaxes have spread to more than a dozen states, including New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania in September and have led to elementary, middle schools and high schools being shut down in Ohio and added police patrols in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, according to NBC News.

On Monday, two teens in New Jersey were arrested for allegedly making threatening social media posts about clown attacks at students and residents in the town. Another 13-year-old girl, on the same day, was posting threatening comment with a clown account.

Harries said they believe that the incidents happening in New Haven are teen pranks, copycats or a hoax that's gotten out of hand.
A federal judge has tossed out a $40 million civil rights lawsuit that alleged police used excessive force against protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, after the 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown.

U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey, in a 74-page ruling Friday in St. Louis, found that the nine plaintiffs "completely failed to present any credible evidence" proving crowd-control tactics by police in the days following Brown's August 2014 death in the St. Louis suburb involved malice or bad faith.

Autrey also concluded that the protesters ignored "repeated warnings" to disperse and that the officers named as defendants were entitled to immunity from the lawsuit.

"The record is clear that at the time of the events detailed herein, the atmosphere surrounding the arrests was extremely intense and had turned violent," Autrey wrote. "Participants in what had turned from a peaceful assembly to unlawful assembly were advised to disperse," but they failed to heed warnings that they be arrested for failing to leave the area as police tried to quell the unrest.

The protesters on Monday filed a notice of their plans to appeal Autrey's ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The death of 18-year-old Brown, who was black and unarmed, by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson led to months of sometimes-violent Ferguson protests and became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which rebukes police treatment of minorities.

A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict Wilson, who later resigned. The U.S. Justice Department concluded that evidence backed Wilson's claim that he shot Brown in self-defense after Brown tried to grab the officer's gun during a struggle through the window of Wilson's police vehicle, then came toward him threateningly after briefly running away.

In the days immediately after Brown's death, local police in riot gear fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who refused to disperse and, at times, broke into nearby stores.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit included a clinical social worker who said she and her 17-year-old son were roughed up and arrested after not evacuating a McDonald's quickly enough. Others were a 23-year-old man who said he was shot multiple times with rubber bullets and called racial slurs by police while walking through the protest zone to his mother's home, and a man who said he was arrested for filming the disturbances.
Clouds will continue to decrease across Connecticut heading into Wednesday as high pressure builds in.

An equal blend of clouds and sunshine is expected today with temperatures in the upper 60s.

High pressure takes control by midweek, resulting in sunny skies on Wednesday with highs rising into the 70s.

Thursday and Friday look glorious with full sunshine and highs in the lower 70s.

All eyes are on Hurricane Matthew, and its track will determine Connecticut's weather this weekend.

The most likely solution for New England takes the storm south of the state, bringing beneficial rain late in the weekend.
The Texas Department of State Health Services issued an alert to doctors Monday, urging more Zika virus testing along the Texas-Mexico border and Gulf Coast.

Less than a month ago an NBC 5 Investigation revealed only handfuls of people had been tested in some south Texas counties with the highest risk.

The alert asks doctors to increase testing for Zika in six border counties, including Hidaglo County, along with Webb, Cameron, Starr, Willacy and Zapata counties. Specifically, the alert recommends doctors test all pregnant women in those counties if they have two or more Zika signs or symptoms, even if they have no history of traveling to other countries where Zika is actively transmitted.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine in Houston, told NBC 5 Investigates Monday the alert is a good start, but more south Texas counties may need to be added.

"I might consider expanding the area where we are going to do expanded Zika testing to Harris County as well as possibly Bexar County as well," said Hotez.

All of those counties in south Texas have historically seen more mosquitoes that can carry the Zika virus, one reason health officials have long feared the Rio Grande Valley could be one of the first places hit by Zika in Texas.

In September, NBC 5 Investigates traveled to the border region and found few people had been tested for Zika.

The investigation found just 25 people had been tested in Hidalgo County, which is home to more than 800,000 people. In Webb County just four people had been tested in mid-September.

NBC 5 Investigates shared those numbers with Dr. Hotez last month, who was concerned not enough was being done

"It means there's no active surveillance. We are not doing any active detection of Zika transmission," said Hotez.

He fears a lack of testing in some south Texas counties could cause dangerous delays in detecting the first cases of local transmission of Zika.

"A key point here is that we may already have transmission underway in Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast," Hotez told NBC 5 Investigates last month.
Lougho Dorsainvil moved to Dallas more than 20 years ago, but his heart  and much of his family  will always be in Haiti.

As the island nation braced for Hurricane Matthew Monday night, Dorsainvil went to the only place he could think to go: church.

He prayed for his 76-year-old mother, his sister and brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. He said he told them to get to safety, knowing in the back of his head there is no safe place for them to go.

"No place to go and nowhere to hide, just have to take what comes and do the best you can," he said.

The National Hurricane Center listed winds at 140 miles per hour as of 9 p.m. Monday evening, with "life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge expected in parts of Haiti." Some parts of the island are expected to get up to 40 inches of rain.

The center of the storm was expected to pass just east of Jamaica and near or over the southwestern tip of Haiti early Tuesday before heading to eastern Cuba, the NHC said.

Dorsainvil said his sister told him the water is rising and the wind is getting stronger.

"When I go home tonight, and go to sleep, there's not going to be any sleep. I will just wait to see," Dorsainvil said.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown retires Tuesday after 33 years in law enforcement and six years at the helm of one of the largest police departments in the country.

"It's hard taking the uniform off. It's an emotional roller coaster," Brown said. "But the time is right. I feel like I've accomplished laying the groundwork for building upon community policing."

Brown spearheaded the community policing initiative, and many across the country will remember him for his strength and leadership after the ambush on officers that left five dead on July 7.

But there is so much more to his story.

Before he wore the badge, Brown was a boy growing up in southern Dallas.

"Very smart and intelligent, and we knew he was going to be somebody," said Teresa Steward, a former classmate at South Oak Cliff High School.

Brown's classmate, Joe Colbert, says he was quiet and focused.

"It's rare that someone as quiet would be as popular," Colbert said. "He always had that commanding presence. You knew when David Brown was in the room."

In 1979, Brown headed to the University of Texas at Austin to pursue law. But summers spent back home in Oak Cliff opened his eyes to the crack cocaine epidemic. And he turned his gaze on police work.

"Some of our friends were becoming hooked on drugs at that time," Colbert said.

Brown wanted to be part of the change. He joined the police department in 1983 before becoming a SWAT sergeant.

From sergeant to lieutenant to chief, the people who know him say he never forgot where he came from. Brown made community policing his priority, bringing it back to his neighborhood.

Thirty-three years of service later, his friends say he'll be remembered as a man who stayed close to home to make it better.

"He had the intellect to make a difference in our city, here in Dallas, and so we're not surprised," Steward said.

Brown hasn't announced what he will do after he leaves the police force.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR plans to build the new platform #18 at the Bulla Deniz offshore gas field, the company said in a message Oct. 4.

The platform will be designed for drilling of one exploration and four development wells.

The platform will be installed on the seabed at a depth of 21 meters, the message said. Residential and industrial blocks, the most modern drilling equipment, helicopter and mooring sites, a biological treatment rig, cranes, a fire fighting system, diesel generators and other necessary equipment will be installed on the platform.

It is planned to produce 2.5 million cubic meters of gas and 500 tons of condensate per day at the new platform, read the SOCAR message.

Earlier, SOCAR Vice President Khoshbakht Yusifzade said the company planned to install five new platforms designed to drill 26 wells at the field.

The operation of the Bulla Deniz field started in 1975. More than 62 billion cubic meters of gas and 12 million tons of oil and gas condensate have been produced at the field since then.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
A 17-year-old man has been given an automatic sentence of life in prison after a jury found him guilty of capital murder in the killing of an acquaintance in a drug-related robbery in 2015 in Central Texas.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that Joshua Joyner of Converse was found guilty Monday. Since the state didn't seek the death penalty, the charge carried an automatic sentence of life in prison. Because of his age, he'll be eligible for parole after 40 years.

Joyner had been certified to stand trial as an adult. Joyner was 15 on July 24, 2015, the day 19-year-old Albert Nelson III was shot in the parking lot of a Bexar County elementary school.

Prosecutors said Joyner plotted to rob Nelson of a $75 bag of marijuana.
Stanford University is investigating a female student's claim that she was sexually assaulted by another student on the Peninsula campus.

The reported sexual assault occurred in the suspect's dorm room on the eastern edge of the campus early last Friday, according to the university.

A medical professional reported the attack to police after treating the victim, but law enforcement authorities say the victim has yet to offer a statement and no arrests have been made at this time.

Frustration on behalf of investigators has grown because they do not yet know details pertaining to the identity of the suspect, but they say they will work patiently with the victim.

"The university does not tolerate any acts of sexual violence, sexual assault, however, we have to respect the victim's right to be confidential and process whether she wants to come forward and provide additional information," Bill Larson from Stanford Police said. "But, we encourage the reporting. It's very important."

The reported assault comes on the heels of the highly-publicized case involving Brock Turner. The former Stanford swimmer was convicted of sexual assault and served three months of a six-month jail sentence before being released in September, a decision that set off a firestorm of protests across the country. Turner has since returned home to Ohio and registered as a sex offender.

Just last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills into law connected to the fallout from the Turner case. One of those mandates stipulates that perpetrators convicted of assaulting an unconscious victim receive state prison time instead of a shorter jail sentence.
A lamb has gone missing from a preschool near Santa Clarita, leaving teachers and staff worried about her safety.

The 6-week-old lamb named Clover was being hand-fed with special milk, so teachers are hoping they can find her as soon as possible.

The lamb's mother rejected her the day she was born, so one teacher, Denise Vail, started taking the lamb home with her at night and would bring it to school during the day.

Denise Vail

Vail said the three and 4-year-olds in her class were close with Clover, who would come to class and take naps.

She is "really a piece of our family here at the school," Vail said.

When school workers arrived at the preschool Monday morning, they discovered the lamb was missing from her pen.

Vail said they believe Clover was stolen, although they do not know for sure. She does not think it was an animal attack because the hay in the pen was not scattered, and there was no fur or blood found in the pen.

The lamb shared its pen with a miniature goat, and the goat was still in the pen on Monday.

[2016 UPDATED 12/20] 2016 Southern California Year in Photos

A family who lives next to the school said they heard voices and sounds of gates Sunday night around 7:30, Vail said. Initially, the neighbors thought it had been the owners of the school feeding the animals, but the owners had left by 5:30 that night.

Vail said she told her class the lamb was missing, but no official announcement had been made by staff to the students

Anyone with information about Clover's disappearance or her whereabouts was asked to call Town & Country Farm School at 661-255-2601.
The owner of a 150-pound dog said she was forced to let her pup Rupert drown after he got caught in a storm drain in Orange County.

The horrific drowning came Sept. 29 at the Santa Ana river jetty - a place where dog owners bring their pups to play in the water, but is not a designated "dog beach."

That doesn't stop dog owners from splashing in the water, playing fetch.

Madi McNaughton said she had taken Rupert, a 3-year-old Mastiff mix, to where Newport Beach and Huntington Beach connect. She said she had four other dogs with her, and they weren't at the beach for more than 10 minutes when tragedy struck.

She tossed the ball in the water, and a high-tide wave swept Rupert toward the storm drain. McNaughton said she jumped in after him, landing one hand on his collar. She said the water was so deep and the current so strong, that she had to let go, knowing he would die.

Viewer reached out to NBC4 to report the story and to say there were reports of other dogs getting caught in the water. NBC4 couldn't independently verify those reports.

The purpose of the jetty, which is flanked by slabs of concrete, is there to prevent the flooding of homes by allowing water out of the tunnels. The openings are supposed to have a "tidal gate."

McNaughton said she wants to spread awareness so other dog owners don't go through what she did.

The Orange County Department of Public Works released a statement to NBC4 following the incident.

"We're looking into this. This is tragic news. And while we need to assess what happened, we don't want any additional safety incidents to occur. We want people and animals to be safe," spokeswoman Shannon Widor said.

Mike Glenn, a candidate for Newport Beach City Council, has been working to make the jetty area an official dog beach.

Glenn and his colleague Jon Pedersen have worked for about a year contacting local, county, state and federal governments, he said in an email to NBC4. He expects that the beach will be designated as a legal dog beach on Oct. 25.

A candlelit vigil is set up for Rupert at the jetty on Thursday.
The nationally-recognized police chief of Gloucester, Massachusetts, has been fired amid an investigation into "disturbing allegations" regarding certain relationships with women, the city announced Monday.

Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken said Police Chief Leonard Campanello's termination resulted when it was revealed that he was lying to investigators and tampering with evidence, specifically with his city-issued cell phone.

Calling his actions "unethical and completely unacceptable," Theken said Campanello lied about possible relationships with women while under investigation and about his cell phone, which had been wiped clean before being sent to his attorney.

Campanello, who was honored by President Barack Obama earlier this year for his innovative program in the national fight against opioid addiction, was placed on paid administrative leave Sept. 13.

Campanello's attorney, Terrance Kennedy, who previously said the investigation had nothing to do with his client's role as chief, denied the allegations, and called his client's termination "a witch hunt," vowing to fight it.

The city of Gloucester alleges that Campanello tampered with his city-issued cell phone, which he had said was inside his locked office at the police department. Investigators could not find it, and Campanello's attorney informed the city that the cell phone and other items had been sent to his Everett office, according to the city, which adds that the cell phone had been wiped.

When he was questioned by investigators, Campanello allegedly suggested that someone from inside the department removed the phone without his permission.

The city of Gloucester says investigators later discovered that Campanello himself mailed the package containing his cell phone to his attorney from the Everett Post Office.

Gloucester officials say their investigation is ongoing, and that Campanello will have a chance to present evidence at a hearing in the future.

Meanwhile, John McCarthy continues as acting police chief at the Gloucester Police Department.
The same day police announced a 13-year-old girl was behind some of the social media posts threatening violent attacks on Philadelphia schools, another 13-year-old girl as well as a 14-year-old boy were arrested for allegedly making similar threats against students in Washington Township, New Jersey.

Washington Township Police told NBC10 a 13-year-old girl who attends Bunker Hill Middle School in Washington Township had made threatening social media posts about clown attacks at students and residents of the Washington Township community. The threats warned people that they should be scared and should not walk by themselves. The threats also mentioned specific targets, according to officials.

The teen girl was arrested and charged. Police say the girl's family is also cooperating with the investigation. Investigators say the girl made the threats because it was a popular trend around the country and she thought it would be funny.

Police also told NBC10 a 14-year-old boy was also arrested in Washington Township for making similar threats in a separate incident. The boy attends Washington Township High School, according to police.

Similar clown threats were made against Philadelphia schools over the weekend. Philadelphia police announced Monday afternoon that their investigation, along with tips from the public, helped them to identify a 13-year-old girl who they say was involved in the social media posts about clown attacks at schools. Police did not identify the girl, but said she is a student at a local school.

"This juvenile indicated that this 'prank only' was committed with a friend at her school and she never had any intent to harm anyone," a release from police said.

Instagram

Police said they're forwarding the information in the case to the district attorney's office for review. Criminal charges could potentially be brought if the D.A.'s office decides to prosecute.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Monday sent a letter to parents regarding the threats, which also mentioned Ss. Neumann and Goretti High School in at least one post.

"All schools will operate on a normal schedule this week unless otherwise noted. Schools that were specifically named in threats have been in direct contact with law enforcement and will have police presence as needed," the letter read in part, adding that added police would be strictly a precaution.

The Archdiocese told parents they and their children should not respond to any of the posts on social media.

The unsettling and creepy clown posts surfaced on several Instagram accounts over the weekend and named Philadelphia schools specifically, threatening violence, including shootings and kidnappings, at the schools at certain times throughout the week.

Instagram

Instagram

The posts quickly garnered attention, stoking fear among parents and students and prompting police and the School District of Philadelphia to issue a joint statement on Sunday assuring the public that they were investigating the threats and taking them seriously.

The posts came on the heels of a number of reports of clown sightings across the country that surfaced in recent weeks, including several in the Philadelphia area and surrounding counties.

Police in northeastern Pennsylvania about two weeks ago said they were investigating in Pottsville after receiving a report that a 12-year-old girl and her friends were chased by a clown, who then threw a stick at them and yelled obscenities before running back into the woods. Last week in Reading, police said a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death after someone in a clown mask may have provoked a confrontation.

Reports of clown sightings have also surfaced in Lower Macungie, Easton and New Jersey over the last several weeks.
SCHOOLS

Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale: The school will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Broward County School District: closed Thursday and Friday; all Wednesday evening classes, after-school activities, clubs and events are canceled.

Palm Beach County School District: Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday. All district events at any school or campus facility are canceled until Sunday.

Miami-Dade County School District: closed Thursday and Friday.

American Heritage School: The Plantation private school will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Archdiocese of Miami Catholic schools: All schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

Barry University: The university is closing the main campus in Miami Shores and all other campuses in Florida and the Bahamas at noon Wednesday.

Broward College: Classes and normal business operations are canceled on all campuses beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday and not expected to resume until Monday.

Diocese of Palm Beach schools: All schools in Palm Beach County will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Florida Atlantic University: All campuses: All classes are canceled through Sunday, Oct. 9; any instructional time missed during these days will be made up later in the semester.

Florida International University: The Miami-based school is closed through Friday.

Keiser University: All classes canceled through Friday. Classes will resume Monday, October 10.

Lynn University: Classes are canceled and will remain closed through Friday.

Miami Dade College: All campuses will remain closed through Sunday, will resume normal operations Monday.

Miami International University of Art and Design: The university will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Nova Southeastern University: The Fort Lauderdale-based university is closed Thursday and Friday.

Nova Southeastern University's University School (private prep school) will reopen Monday

Pine Crest School: Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Palm Beach Day Academy: School is closed Thursday and Friday.

Palm Beach State College: All campuses will remain closed through Sunday.

St. Andrew's School: The Boca Raton school is closed Thursday and Friday.

Government/Facilities

Boca Raton: City facilities a will remain closed until Tuesday. There will be no sanitation services Wednesday through Sunday. Regularly scheduled pickups will resume Monday

Boynton Beach: City Hall, city facilities, parks and programs, including the beach and golf course, will be closed all day Thursday. Thursday trash pickup has been canceled. The city-run Schoolhouse Children's Museum & Learning Center will be closed Thursday.

Broward County bridges: All will be locked in the down position at 8 p.m., Wednesday. They will be open to vehicular traffic but not boat traffic.

Broward County Courts: Closed, reopening Monday.

Broward County government meetings: The county's Marine Advisory Committee, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Tourist Development Council have canceled meetings scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Broward County Transit: Regular bus and paratransit service throughout the county will be suspended at midnight Wednesday, through Thursday. Plans are to resume service Friday as soon as weather and road conditions allow.

Broward Health: The north Broward health system will be accepting trauma and emergency patients only; all elective and outpatient procedures have been canceled for Thursday and Friday.

CareerSource Broward Offices: All office locations are closed Thursday.

CareerSource Palm Beach Offices: All office locations, in West Palm Beach, Belle Glade and Boca Raton, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program office in West Palm Beach, will be closed through Friday.

Cleveland Clinic: The hospital system's offices across Broward and Palm Beach counties will be closed Thursday, except for the 24-hour emergency department located in Weston.

Coconut Creek: Garbage and recycling service will stop when winds reach a sustained 40 mph. If service is suspended, garbage and recycling will be collected on the next scheduled collection day. Thursday garbage will be collected Monday. Thursday's recycling will be collected Oct. 13.

Cooper City: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Coral Springs: Parks are closed through Friday. The city's Artoberfest scheduled for Friday has also been canceled.

Dania Beach: All city-affiliated events have been canceled through Friday. No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Davie: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Deerfield Beach: The city's underwater camera has been pulled out and viewing is suspended until the storm passes, due to possible heavy wave action.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport: Airport will close at 10:30 a.m., Thursday.

Florida state offices: All state offices have been closed Thursday and Friday in a number of coastal counties including Broward, Martin, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: The commission has closed wildlife management areas.

Fort Lauderdale: City Hall is closed Thursday and Friday. Residential trash collection, bulk trash collection and recycling services will be suspended for Thursday and Friday. All parks and community centers closed Thursday and Friday. All after-school programs are canceled Thursday and Friday. Sun Trolley service has been suspended.

Hallandale Beach: City offices will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Lauderdale Lakes: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Lighthouse Point: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Memorial Healthcare Systems: The south Broward hospital system has canceled all elective and outpatient procedures at its facilities. Emergency and trauma patients only.

Miramar: City Hall will be closed Thursday and Friday. No city bus service Thursday or Friday. Thursday garbage collection has been suspended. Resumption of services will be evaluated after the storm. The Latin Heritage Celebration scheduled for Saturday has been postponed until Oct. 15.

Nicklaus Children's Hospital: All elective procedures on the main campus will be cancelled on Thursday. The outpatient and urgent care centers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties also will be closed Thursday.

Parkland: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Pompano Beach: City offices will remain closed Thursday and Friday, to reopen Monday. Thursday garbage pick-up has been canceled.

Palm Beach County Courts: Jury duty Thursday is canceled. Those whose licenses were due to be suspended Thursday will have another business day to make payment. Foreclosure auctions scheduled for Thursday are canceled.

Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Facilities: All facilities, including boat ramps and beaches, will be re-opened when county officials deem it safe to do so.

Palm Tran: Palm Beach County bus service will be suspended after noon Thursday. Once roads are safe to travel, the Palm Tran service will resume.

Pembroke Park: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Pembroke Pines: No garbage pick-up Thursday. The street-naming ceremony for Private Juan Restrepo, who was killed in action, has been postponed from Friday and will be rescheduled. The antiques show at the Southwest Focal Point Community Center scheduled for Saturday and Sunday has been canceled. And Bow Wow Ween has been rescheduled to Oct. 15.

Plantation: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Port of Palm Beach: The Riviera Beach facility will be closed until further notice.

Sea Ranch Lakes: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

South Florida Water Management District: The district's Water Resources Advisory Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday has been canceled.

Tamarac: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Tri-Rail: All trains are suspended Thursday and Friday.

Wellington Golf Classic: The event, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been rescheduled for Nov. 13.

Weston: City administration will remain closed through the week. Parks will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

West Palm Beach: City offices will remain closed Thursday, when a decision on whether to reopen Friday will be made.

Wilton Manors: No garbage pick-up Thursday.

Events:

Artists of Palm Beach County on the Park Gallery: The Lake Park art space will be closed through Monday and has postponed Friday's opening reception for the "Abstract" exhibit until Oct. 14.

ArtServe: The Fort Lauderdale gallery and performance space will be closed Thursday and Friday. Normal activity is expected to resume Monday.

Alzheimer's Community Care: Centers throughout Palm Beach County will be closed Thursday. Further updates are available by calling 800-394-1771.

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge: The area in unincorporated Palm Beach County will be closed Thursday and remain closed until the hurricane threat is over.

Aventura Mall: The mall will be closed Thursday.

Bailey Hall: The Davie performing arts center has postponed Thursday's screening of the movie, "Donald Cried," and Saturday's performance of the Delray String Quartet. New dates have not been announced.

Boca Raton opening: A ribbon-cutting to open the Watergate Estates Park on Saturday has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Boca Raton Museum Art School: Art classes are canceled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Friday's opening reception for the exhibit of paintings by Philip Glick has been rescheduled for 6 to 8 p.m., Oct. 14 at 801 W. Palmetto Road.

Boynton Beach Mall: A holiday job fair scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until 4 p.m., Oct. 20.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County: All clubs throughout Palm Beach Countywill reopen Monday.

Broward Center for the Performing Arts: The Fort Lauderdale performing arts center has postponed Thursday's Henry Rollis spoken word tour and Friday's Taiko drum ensemble performance. All Thursday classes at the Rose Miniaci Arts Education Center have been canceled.

Clematis by Night: Thursday's Clematis by Night has been canceled.

Everglades National Park: The park will remain closed until after the storm passes or projections of the storm's path warrant reopening. Dry Tortugas National Park is expected to be out of the path of the storm, and to remain open.

Festival Flea Market Mall: The mall will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Grassy Waters Everglades Preserve: The preserve will remain closed until normal West Palm Beach city operations resume.

Gulfstream Park West: The Hallandale Beach attraction has canceled horse-racing Wednesday through Friday.

House of Horror-Haunted Carnival: The Miami attraction will be closed Thursday and reopen Friday. Thursday night's concert with the Chainsmokers, Daya and Zara Larsson has been rescheduled until Nov. 4. Tickets to the original concert will be valid.

Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park: The Pompano Beach attraction will close Thursday until it is safe for both customers and employees to visit the property.

Jungle Island: The Miami zoological park will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts: has canceled performances scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, "Goodnight Moon" and "The Runaway Bunny" and "Songs of Freedom."

Miami Children's Museum: The MacArthur Causeway facility will be closed on Thursdayand will reopen when conditions have become safe within the community.

Museum of Contemporary Art: The North Miami museum is closed Thursday. The opening reception of the exhibit, "SYZYGY," has been postponed until Oct. 13.

Norton Museum: West Palm Beach's Norton Museum of Art will be closed Thursday. Patrons are asked to check the museum website at www.norton.org for re-opening date and time.

Palm Beach Zoo: The zoo will be closed Thursday.

Panthers: Thursday's preseason professional hockey game against Tampa Bay Lightning has been postponed.

Pembroke Lakes Mall: The Pembroke Pines shopping facility will be closed Thursday.

Professional Bowlers Association Xtra Frame Tour: Event scheduled for this weekend at Sawgrass Lanes in Tamarac has been canceled.

Riverwalk Bacon Bash: The festival and food truck event scheduled for Friday has been rescheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. at the Esplanade Park on Jan. 22.

Run/Walk: The National Stroke Association has postponed its Saturday Fort Lauderdale Comeback Trail 5K walk/run at Huizenga Plaza to November.

Sun Sentinel Career Fair: Event scheduled for Monday at the War Memorial Auditorium has been canceled.

The Jewish Museum of Florida-Florida International University: The Miami museum will be closed Thursday and Friday.

University of Miami off-campus art gallery: An art talk and reception for the "6X6" exhibit scheduled for Saturday at the Wynwood art gallery, has been postponed to a date that has not been announced.

Wolfsonian  Florida International University: The museum will be closed Thursday and Friday. Thursday night's scheduled preview party for "The Pursuit of Abstraction" at the has been postponed until Thursday, Oct. 13.

Other:

Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens: The West Palm Beach attraction is closed Thursday and Friday.

Fifth Third Bank: Locations in Broward and Palm Beach counties will be closed on Thursday and potentially Friday. Website to access online is www.53.com and customers may access using mobile banking.

Impact Broward's Luncheon: The Plantation event has been canceled and rescheduled for November 4.

South Florida Science Center and Aquarium: The West Palm Beach center will be closed Thursday and Friday and any scheduled activities are canceled

Tropical Financial Credit Union: All nine of its locations  five in Broward County, three in Miami-Dade County and one in Palm Beach  will be closed Thursday. A decision will be made the next morning whether to open Friday.

Check back with NBC 6 for updates
While Hurricane Matthew is expected to be a bigger threat to Haiti, the danger to Cuba is severe enough that storm preps are being supervised by Raul Castro.

The Cuban leader visited the eastern parts of the island Monday, including the province of Santiago De Cuba. This area is filled with farms and smaller cities. Castro ordered the installation of speaker systems to keep people informed about the approaching storm.

Residents who live in low-lying areas and offshore islands are moving into temporary shelters in government buildings.

Cuban officials say as many as 225 thousand people may have to evacuate if Hurricane Matthew maintains its intensity.

The U.S. Navy has already evacuated 700 spouses and children from the military base in Guantanamo Bay. Those remaining behind are the personnel who protect the base and the detention facilities housing terror suspects.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Energy cooperation with Azerbaijan will open up great opportunities for Turkey in terms of the countrys becoming an energy hub, Salihe Kaya, research assistant at Turkish Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), told Trend Oct. 4.

She said Turkey, due to its geographical location, plays a role of a bridge between exporters and importers of energy resources.

The expert believes the 23rd World Energy Congress, to take place the next week in Istanbul, will become an important event in connection with the start of liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivery from the US and the limitations put by OPEC on oil production.

Ankara wants to sign an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on the Turkish Stream following the congress. Discussions may also be held on other countries joining the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Kaya said.

Kaya added that new agreements may be signed at the congress between Baku and Ankara on investments in Turkeys energy sector.

The World Energy Congress is the triennial flagship event of the World Energy Council.

The 23rd World Energy Congress will be held in Istanbul Oct. 9-13 at the initiative of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak under the auspices of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Heads of SOCAR, TANAP, TAP AG, DESFA, BP, Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, General Electric, Total, Saudi Aramco, Lukoil, Engie and others are planned to address the event.

In addition, the energy ministers of oil and gas producing countries, as well as managers of high-tech companies, international financial institutions, agencies of the UN and the EU will take part in the congress.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker and former Florida State University star Nigel Bradham has been arrested in South Florida again, this time after allegedly bringing a loaded gun to a Miami International Airport security checkpoint, officials said Monday.

Bradham, 27, was arrested at MIA Sunday morning on a concealed weapon charge, according to an arrest report. He was booked into jail and later released. No attorney information was available.

According to the arrest report, Bradham placed his backpack on an X-ray machine, and TSA workers found a loaded firearm inside. Bradham said he has a concealed weapons permit and forgot the firearm was still in the bag, the report said.

Bradham had the permit but was arrested due to his being out on bond for a recent charge related to his arrest in July for allegedly assaulting a worker at a Miami Beach hotel.

"It was clear that there was no criminal intent on his part to carry the weapon into the secured area of the terminal," the report stated.

"We are aware of the report regarding Nigel Bradham. We have been in communication with Nigel and the authorities regarding the situation. As it is a pending legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time," the Eagles said in a statement to CSNPhilly.com.

Bradham was an All-ACC linebacker during his senior season at Florida State before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2012. After four seasons, Bradham signed a two-year deal with the Eagles earlier this year.
Police released the sketch of a man who brutally attacked and raped a woman on Miami Beach.

The attack happened Sunday around 10 p.m. as the woman walked to work along the 2100 block of the beach.

Detectives say the woman was suddenly punched several times by the unknown man. The suspect placed the woman in a choke hold and then slashed her face with sharp object.

Miami Beach detectives say the man then sexually assaulted the victim. She was able to fight back and managed to escape from her attacker. The woman ran to a nearby hotel where she called for help.

A witness told NBC 6 he saw the victim running covered in blood.

Police say the suspect was wearing a faded green short sleeve T-shirt with unknown type of white logo with triangular shapes and light colored long shorts or folded pant legs. He is slim built and about 5'7"- 5'8" tall.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
President Barack Obama is teaming up with actor Leonardo DiCaprio to push for action on climate change.

The two appeared together Monday on the White House South Lawn as part of a festival of technology and music meant to re-create the spirit of the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

Obama said the world is in "a race against time" to combat climate change, but the good news is that "there's still time to pass the test" and make real progress on the issue.

DeCaprio, joined by climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, told the White House crowd that the scientific consensus about the dangers of climate change is in, and "the argument is now over."

The actor said anyone who doesn't believe that "should not be allowed to hold public office."

"South by South Lawn," or SXSL, rolled out on Monday, bringing together artists, innovators, musicians and entrepreneurs for the equivalent of a giant White House block party for tech nerds.

The president made a midday visit to the South Lawn to check out booths and vendors promoting everything from virtual reality technology to fake tattoos.

In an email promoting the event, Obama wrote that SXSL was "at its heart, a call to action. The folks out on the lawn today are artists, creators, entrepreneurs, and innovators who will share how they've used their unique skills to engage their communities in making the change they want to see -- whether it's curing cancer, fighting poverty, empowering women, and so much more."

DiCaprio's documentary film on climate change, "Before the Flood," got its domestic premier on the lawn later in the day.

Tech blogger and entrepreneur Anil Dash said the South Lawn event was a way to connect the dots between SXSW, with its ideas for changing the world, and the people who are "doing the actual work" to use technology to improve worker rights, civil rights and more. Panel discussions included topics such as "feeding the future" and "fixing real problems."

The White House tech fest also featured a student film festival, a wall of art made of Post-Its, Lego statues, demonstrations on the science of food and using technology to help the disabled and lots of music. Among those performing: the Lumineers, Gallant, Black Alley, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and DJ Bev Bond.
What to Know Officials say one of the black box data recorders found in the Hoboken train wasn't functioning during Thursday morning's crash

They're hopeful that a second black box that has yet to be retrieved will contain information like the train's speed and brake usage

The black box was manufactured by Quantum Engineering

The so-called black box" recorder that failed to capture data about last week's crash of a NJ Transit train was manufactured by a company called Quantum Engineering, whose devices also failed to capture key details about another train accident in 2006, the I-Team has learned.

In 2006, when two locomotives derailed near Baxter, California, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board sought to extract data from two the onboard data recorders.

According to the NTSB investigative report, "both locomotive units had Quantum event recorders," but "neither recorder had recorded anything." Authors of the report also noted, that the event recorders "had not been serviced since 1996," a full decade before the derailment.

Coincidentally, 1996 is the same year one of the black boxes failed on board a NJ Transit train that crashed near Secaucus, killing three people. The accident report does not say if the inoperative black box was made by Quantum, but another data recorder on the train did capture information about the crash.

Siemens now owns the Quantum brand.

Annie Satow, a spokeswoman for Siemens, declined to answer questions about how the data recorder may have malfunctioned in Hoboken, instead emailing a short statement: "The event recorder from the rear of the train was manufactured by Quantum, a company acquired by Invensys in 2008. Siemens subsequently acquired Invensys in 2012. As the NTSB's investigation is ongoing, please coordinate directly with the agency for further information."

The locomotives involved in both last week's Hoboken crash and the 1996 Secaucus crash were refurbished  converted for passenger use in the 1990s after years pushing and pulling freight cars in previous years. That makes the locomotive that crashed in Hoboken more than 22 years old.

Neither NJ Transit nor the NTSB nor the Federal Railroad Administration would say whether data recorders were upgraded on dozens of other freight locomotives that were also converted for passenger use in the 1990s.
A blind woman was attacked and robbed as she walked into her apartment in upper Manhattan over the weekend, authorities said.

Surveillance footage shows the assailant punching Evelina Calcano in the face and ripping at her hair inside the vestibule of her apartment in Washington Heights.

Calcano, who has been blind since she was 15, let out screams during the attack, prompting neighbor Melinda Rodriguez to come to her aid. Rodriguez is seen on the surveillance footage rushing into the frame just before the robbber makes off with two of Calcano's gold necklaces.

"That's when I yelled at him and I did a couple of curse words and, you know, 'I'm goning to call the cops,'" Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said that she thinks that Calcano was targeted because she was blind.

"Not only a woman that could have been your mother, that could have been your sister, that could have been your wife," she said. "The fact that she has a disability and you preyed on her."

The suspect hasn't been identified, and witnesses told NBC 4 New York that he didn't look familiar.

Calcano, who only speaks Spanish, wasn't seriously injured in the violent robbery.

Anyone with information on the robber should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
The two men arrested on marijuana possession charges in connection with the illegal grow farm that blew up last week, killing a firefighter, are now facing new charges in the firefighter's death.

Julio Salcedo, 34, and Garivaldi Castillo, 32, already faced marijuana possession charges for allegedly running a marijuana grow garm in the Bronx apartment that blew up. On Tuesday, prosecutors added charges of first-degree assault resulting in the death of FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Fahy and second-degree assault that resulted in an injury of a fire lieutenant on the scene.

Fahy, 44, was killed by flying debris in the blast.

Dozens of Fahy's colleagues in the FDNY streamed out of the Bronx courtroom Tuesday, encouraged by the new charges.

FDNY Battalion Chief Dan O'Donnell said, "It's a very emotional thing to lose a member, so it's a sad day. We'd rather be at City Hall watching him get a medal."

Both defendants declined to testify before the grand jury.

Salcedo's attorney refused to comment to NBC 4, but Castillo's lawyer said his client deserves a fair shake.

"He's got two young daughters who miss him very much, we're going to continue to fight this case," said lawyer Francisco Serrano. "We will continue to seek justice for him."

On Saturday, thousands gathered in Yonkers to mourn Fahy, a father of three young children, ages 6, 8 and 11. He became a firefighter in 1999 after practicing as a lawyer for nine months and served through 9/11. He ascended through the ranks to become battalion chief in 2012 after 13 years of service, making him the second fastest to ever do so in FDNY history.

Two days after his death, Fahy was posthumously promoted to deputy chief, the highest civil service promotional achievement in the FDNY, by Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Nigro.

Fahy was the 1,145th firefighter to die in the line of duty since the FDNY's inception in 1865. He is the first member of the department to die since 2014.
What to Know Edwin Rivera has been arrested for the third time, authorities say

He's accused of posing as an immigration lawyer to bilk poor customerse out of thousands

He faces jail and has to pay restitution, the AG's office says

A Bronx man has been arrested, accused of posing as an immigration attorney in order to bilk money from impoverished and desperate individuals, authorities say.

It's the third time Edwin Rivera has been arrested for allegedly bilking clients seeking permanent residency in the U.S., working out of a storefront in the Bronx, prosecutors said.

Complaints about Rivera to the New York Attorney General's office are familiar: Rivera has been under a state court order since 2005 barring him from being an attorney, and in 2008, barring him from all immigration work.

Roberto Lebron of the attorney general's office says prosecutors hope this time Rivera will serve up to six months in jail: "We're hoping this will serve as a deterrent."

Investigators also say Rivera has to pay more than $36,000 in restitution.

One victim who wished to remain anonymous said his own immigration problem remains unresolved and he is now out $10,000, which he borrowed from his family.

"Some of my family is angry about me," the man said. "It really stress me out, put a lot of anxiety on me. It also tells me how you could be robbed by any individual."

NYCourts.gov does list the name of legitimate attorneys registered to practice law in the state, a smart first step for anyone seeking legal counsel.
What to Know A group of U.S. military veterans rallied outside Trump Tower on Tuesday to denounce comments Trump made about PTSD

While speaking to a group of retired military supporters on Monday, Trump seemed to suggest that veterans with PTSD aren't as strong

The comment drew both condemnation and support for Trump, with some calling it offensive and others saying it was taken out of context

U.S. military veterans are rallying outside Trump Tower in New York City after Donald Trump seemed to suggest that veterans returning from war with post traumatic stress disorder are not as strong as others.

A small group of veterans turned out early Tuesday morning at the Fifth Avenue tower where the Republican presidential candidate has a residence and office. They started by sharing their personal stories of being wounded in combat, suffering from nightmares and losing battle colleagues to suicide.



Stressing the importance of treatment, some held signs that read: #VETS AGAINST TRUMP; one held a banner that read: Sacrifice is NOT weakness.

Trump made the controversial comments about PTSD while speaking to a group of retired military supporters during the Retired American Warriors conference in Herndon, Virginia, on Monday.

"When people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it," he said.

Trump's statement came during questions about veterans and suicide and the care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.



It prompted a quick response on social media and a statement from Jon Soltz, an Iraq War veteran and the chairman of VoteVets.org.

"These comments, as horrible as they are, are not shocking," he said. "We're talking about a person, in Trump, who believes that POWs aren't real heroes, and that he's made sacrifices akin to Gold Star Families who lost their loved ones in war. The constant disrespect Donald Trump shows towards our veterans and service members is sickening, and completely and totally disqualifying."

Hillary Clinton's campaign said in a statement: "Its no surprise that someone who attacked a Gold Star family, who insulted prisoners of war, and who dismissed the impact of IED attacks on soldiers in armored vehicles would diminish the suffering some veterans face after serving our country."

But one of Trump's advisers, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, said Trump's words had been taken out of context.

"Mr. Trump was highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country," Flynn said. "He has always respected the service and sacrifice of our military men and womenproposing reforms to Veteran Affairs to adequately address the various issues veterans face when they return home."

And the veteran who asked the question, former Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, also defended Trump.

"I think it's sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trump's comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda," said Robichaux, president and founder of Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs. "I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them."
An 18-year-old man accused in a shootout that left an 8-year-old girl dead in Camden, New Jersey faced a judge and the young victim's family in court on Tuesday.



NBC10's Cydney Long was in court as Tyhan Brown appeared for an arraignment on murder and related charges. Brown is accused of participating in a shootout on the 900 block of South 8th Street in Camden Aug. 24 as little Gabrielle Hill-Carter rode her bike outside her home.



The little girl was caught in the crossfire and died two days after being wounded during the shootout.



Authorities say Brown fled to his uncle's home in Tennessee in the aftermath of the shooting, with help from his mother, Shakia Land, and girlfriend, Natasha Gerald. U.S. Marshals tracked Brown down in Tennessee and arrested him there for extradition back to New Jersey, and prosecutors have charged both Land and Gerald with helping the accused child killer to flee and providing police with false statements about him.

Gabrielle Hill-Carters mother cried openly in court Tuesday during Tyhan Browns murder arraignment. Brown, 18, is accused in the shooting death of 8-year-old Gabrielle, who was shot in the head while riding her bike in front of her Camden home in August. She wasnt the intended target, but caught in the crossfire when a group of men opened fire on...

Gabrielle's mother openly wept in court as Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah read the gut-wrenching details of the case.



The judge set bail for Brown at $1.5 million, agreeing he's a serious flight risk after he fled the state once already. The young man has no adult criminal record, but a lengthy juvenile record, NBC10's Cydney Long reports.



Gabrielle, who went by Gabby, has been mourned by family members and neighbors since her tragic death. Her stepfather said her family was happy with the high bail set by the judge and hopes to see justice served for the little girl, but that Tuesday's court hearing aggravated the open wound left by her death.

"It still hurt like hell watching," Gabby's stepfather told NBC10 outside court. "She was very much loved ... she will be always remembered."



Police have not identified any of the other suspects in the shootout, but additional arrests are expected.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

Azerbaijans Ministry of Communications and High Technologies will sign an agreement on cooperation in the field of communications and information technologies with Russias Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, the ministry said in a message Oct. 4.

The ministry said that the document will be signed within the 22nd Azerbaijan International Exhibition and Conference BakuTel-2016.

BakuTel 2016 - International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference will be held on Nov. 29 - Dec. 2, 2016 in Azerbaijans capital.

Meanwhile, within the exhibition, Azerbaijans Ministry of Communications and High Technologies is also expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the sphere of e-government with Singapores Communications and Information Ministry.

Moreover, the agenda of BakuTel-2016 includes the holding of the 4th meeting of the High Level Working Group on the Development of Information Society of the RCC (Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications), the first meeting of the working group, a ministerial meeting on ICT of member countries of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council), the Azerbaijan-UK forum on high technologies and the 4th regional forum on Internet governance.

The BakuTel exhibition brings international ICT companies, government and media together under the same roof. Covering many vertical industries, including logistics, tourism, education, healthcare BakuTel is the right platform to maximize profitability, reduce costs and manage risk. Every year, the exhibition attracts the main players, experts and industry professionals as it offers a platform for presenting the achievements of the telecommunications and information technologies sector. It also showcases innovative ideas and projects and acts as a venue to hold discussions and establish valuable business relations.
What to Know Officials in Burlington Township sent letters to parents warning of threats made to schools involving clowns.

It comes after two teens were arrested in for a clown threat in another Garden State town.

It appears to be part of a nationwide trend of reports of people dressed as clowns to scare children.

On the heels of the arrests of two New Jersey teenagers in connection with creepy clown threats posted on social media, authorities in another local township say they're investigating similar threats there.

Burlington Township police and school district sent a letter to parents Monday night about clown threat posts circulating on social media specifically mentioning township schools.

"The district immediately alerted the police upon learning of the disturbing social media posts this evening," the letter read. "The safety of our children and our community is a top priority for us and we are taking this matter seriously."[[395916081, C]]

Burlington Township Police are investigating the posts, and "pursuing those responsible for them," the letter continued, adding that police have found no credible threats, but planned to increase presence at schools as an extra precaution.

The Burlington Township alert came a day after police in Washington Township said they arrested two teenagers for their involvement in posting similar threats against schools in that township. Both teens were charged with cyber harassment and other crimes, authorities have said.

In Philadelphia, police said they forwarded information to prosecutors on a case involving similar threats made to specific schools throughout the city on social media over the weekend. In that case, police say a 13-year-old girl admitted to making some of the posts as a "prank" and told them she and a friend also involved had no intent of harming anyone. It's unclear whether the District Attorney's Office will file charges.
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A Pennsylvania man must spend nine years in federal prison for supplying fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in two overdose deaths.

Thirty-five-year-old Homestead resident Romar Watts apologized at his sentencing Tuesday, saying he hopes the families of his victims forgive him.

Watts and two other men have pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute the drugs that killed Stacey Shaw, who overdosed in the rest room of a Cambria County convenience store in March 2015, and Ray Smith, who died at a home in Munhall in April 2015.

A co-defendant, 40-year-old Ebensburg resident Brian Borruto, was sentenced to eight years in prison last month. He was linked only to Shaw's death.

Thirty-two-year-old Andre Higgs, of Pittsburgh, has also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Nov. 1. Federal prosecutors have agreed to a 15-year sentence for Higgs.
Another South Jersey teen was arrested for allegedly making clown threats on social media.

On Monday Hamilton Township Police received a report of threats on Instagram being made against William Davies Middle School in Mays Landing. Police say the threats were similar to the recent wave of "clown threats" that have occurred on several social media sites over the past week across the country.

After an investigation, police arrested a 13-year-old boy from Mays Landing in connection to the threats. The teen is charged with terroristic threats and causing false public alarm. He was released to his parents pending juvenile court.

Burlington Township police and the school district also sent a letter to parents Monday night about clown threat posts circulating on social media, specificically mentioning township schools. Police in Washington Township also said they arrested two teenagers for their involvement in posting similar threats against schools in that township. Both teens were charged with cyber harassment and other crimes, authorities have said.

In Philadelphia, police said they forwarded information to prosecutors on a case involving similar threats made to specific schools throughout the city on social media over the weekend. In that case, police say a 13-year-old girl admitted to making some of the posts as a "prank" and told them she and a friend also involved had no intent of harming anyone. It's unclear whether the District Attorney's Office will file charges.
Piano virtuoso Geoffrey Keezer lives right here in San Diego, but like other internationally recognized touring artists, he rarely plays a hometown gig. Thats a curious and unfortunate fact that earned some degree of relief on Sept. 24, when Athenaeum Jazz at the Scripps Research Institute presented Keezer in a stunning series of duets and trios with vocalist Denise Donatelli, vibraphonist Joe Locke, vocalist Gillian Margot and Hawaiian slack-key guitarist Keola Beamer.

Duets are an exquisite method to experience Keezer, who is a keen listener and a master accompanist, made immediately clear when he and Donatelli launched into All or Nothing at All, balancing clear enunciation with irresistible groove. That commitment to groove continued with rollicking walking bass on Benny Carters When Lights Are Low, which is also the title of Donatellis latest album. She hit the gates running with pliant phrasing and daring passages of scatting, trading off against Keezers rhythmically solid phraseology.

For her last tune, the pianist brought out Locke for a sober reading of Stings Practical Arrangement, with each instrumentalist trading bluesy asides in support of Donatellis precise and aching interpretation.

Daly Avenue, reveled in the tightly arranged and intricate theme that leapt straight into a viscous left-hand swing and blurred-stick solo from Locke, who attacked his instrument with such force that a mallet flew out of his hands and into the front row of the audience. Keezer accepted the challenge and proceeded with a dense exposition that might have contained bits of Flight of the Bumble Bee, if Im not mistaken.

Most impressive was Lockes heart-felt tribute to the recently departed vibraphone icon Bobby Hutcherson, titled Make Me Feel Like Its Raining, full of pensive tremolo and swollen, gauzy harmonies.

Gillian Margot made the duo a trio for a kind of fusion-ish look at Black Butterfly, which produced an amazing vibes exposition and some wonderful wordless vocals with just the right touch of melisma. Next up was an energetic romp through K.T. Tunstalls Suddenly I See, featuring powerhouse gospel-tinged grooving from Keezer and an amazing range from Margot. Margot seemed most naturally connected to Stevie Wonders Power Flower, which proved a perfect vehicle for both her limber virtuosity and Keezers uncanny ease with pop-related material.

For me, the concert highlight came when Keezer invited slack-key guitar virtuoso Beamer to the stage for a drop-dead gorgeous reading of Roberta Flacks disarmingly intimate First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, which toggled between flowing arpeggios and the deep, smoky alto of Margot, which took my breath away.

The collaboration with Beamer was most satisfying simply because it felt so out of the box. The guitar masters music is simple and unrepentantly diatonic, seemingly at odds with the constantly modulating propensity of Keezer, who was wandering far outside his bebop comfort zone.

But it worked, and it proved to be a wonderfully chill method to transition from density to a more meditative experience, especially on Shiny Shell Lullaby, which exuded a subdued melodic joy and Kananaka, which benefitted from the native Hawaiian percussion of Moanalani Beamer, who narrated and harmonized with her husband all while swinging an overhead orb connected to a taut cord with Keezer tinkling softly in the background.

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.
National City has gotten a sweet sign: a new Dunkin Donuts location, complete with a full-service drive-thru window, will soon open up shop in the area.

Part of the popular chain of eateries headquartered in Massachusetts, this new Dunkin Donuts store is located at East Plaza Boulevard and Interstate 805, and is highly visible from the freeway.

Boardwalk Development, Inc., signed a lease with Dunkin' Donuts to create the new restaurant. The site has been under construction for several months.

Recently, a shiny new sign went up at the site, symbolizing the opening of the shop is so close, locals can practically taste it.

In late July, Ron Bamberger, president of Boardwalk Development, Inc., told NBC 7 a fall debut was expected for the Dunkin Donuts location. He said the store planned to host a grand opening celebration when it officially opened for business.

He confirmed Tuesday it was not yet open.

Bamberger said the shop's proximity to the freeway is a substantial benefit and will be convenient for morning commuters who want to pop in and out of the location quickly as they grab a doughnut on their way to work.

Bamberger said the business is on the morning side of the freeway -- the side of the street where the bulk of morning rush hour traffic occurs.

"The expectations are that it will be a very busy location," said Bamberger.

According to Sonya Modi, public relations specialist from Havas Formula, the company representing the project, this store will be the second Dunkin Donuts drive-thru in San Diego County. She too said a grand celebration was in the works for the big opening day.

The first Dunkin Donuts drive-thru is in Ramona, though that location is a Dunkin Donuts and Baskin-Robbins combo store, so this National City shop will be the first freestanding local Dunkin Donuts drive-thru in San Diego County.

In late July, Modi told NBC 7 the National City location is expected to create about 100 new jobs for local residents. Bamberger said positions would include front and back-of-the-house, as well as management.

The new restaurant is locally owned and operated by a disabled U.S. veteran who lives in San Diego County, Modi said.

Two years ago, Dunkin Donuts announced it planned to open its first traditional restaurants in California over the coming years. This plan included 14 restaurants San Diego County, with the first opening in 2016.

Modi told NBC 7 that after the National City location opens, there are two other San Diego County Dunkin Donuts slated to open this year: one in El Cajon and the other at Naval Air Station North Island.

Currently, San Diego County is home to four Dunkin Donuts locations: an outpost at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown San Diego (601 Pacific Highway); a shop at Naval Medical Center San Diegos Building 1 (34800 Bob Wilson Dr.); a shop at MCAS Miramars Building 5305; and the Ramona Dunkin Donuts/Baskin-Robbins location (1410 Main St.).

Dunkin' Donuts was founded in 1950 by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. Today, the company has a cult following as the world's leading baked goods and coffee chain, serving more than 3 million customers daily and selling 52 varieties of doughnuts.
A former inmate got a chance to say thank you to the deputies and nurses that helped save her life after her heart stopped in her cell.

On Sept. 5, 2016 Christina Livingston fell to the floor of her cell at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee.

"She had no pulse," recalled San Diego County Sheriff (SDSO) Deputy Janelle Joseif. "She wasn't breathing, she was colorless and pretty cold."

Three Sheriffs deputies and two nurses quickly came to her aid, giving her CPR continuously for 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

Livingston later discovered she had an undiagnosed abnormal heart rhythm which caused her heart to abruptly stop.

Doctors told Christina that with her condition, she would not have survived with anything less than ten minutes of CPR.

Livingston and her mother, Jane Evans, were so grateful to Deputies Janelle Joseif and Monika Pamerin, Corporal Lauren Gillis, and nurses Anabelle Jensen and Joan Thomas that they requested a meeting with them so that they could thank them in person.

"Thanks for saving my life and for acting so fast," Livingston said. "If they hadn't, I wouldn't be here."

As Livingston and her mother met the people who helped bring her back to life, they shared hugs and tears and reflected on what happened.

Livingston's mother said she felt so thankful that the deputies were able to come and save her daughter, and said the entire family sends their love.

"She's my only daughter and I don't know what would have happened if she (the deputy) wasn't here," she said.

Livingston gave all the deputies and nurses key chains with a puzzle piece that read "piece of my heart" to thank them for their kindness and help.

"You truly are a piece of my heart," she said as she hugged the deputies.

Deputy Monika Palmerin said there was never any question in her mind that she should keep performing CPR as she waited for emergency personnel.

"To me, it's a true miracle," said Palmerin. "When I saw Christina, she was dead, she was dead under my arms. So this is the first time I see her alive, talking to me. It's a true miracle."

Since learning of her condition, Livingston has a defibrillator, much like a peacemaker.

Much like that defibrillator, Livingston says she will keep these deputies close to her heart for the rest of her life.
Every kid in foster care has a story. But it would be challenging to find one that started with the severe level of abuse and exploitation that one San Diego young person survived and which transformed with a remarkable rise to adulthood, even being appointed by the president as a White House adviser.

His name is Suamhirs and his childhood memories are horrific, camouflaged in an upper-middle-class family with a doctor as a father.

Behind closed doors, my father was a different man. He was an abusive person, enjoyed seeing others in pain. He would hit us on a daily basis," he said. "I have 57 scars on my body. 

In one attack when 9 years old, a terrified Suamhirs says he tried to get his father to stop hitting his mother along her lower back whom he said was now silent and motionless on the floor.

He grabbed me by the neck, dragged me down to the kitchen and he tried to cut my eye out," he said.

With his mother no longer able to walk and care for him, Suamhirs was sent to live with his godmother in San Diego. It would at least be a safe haven. Or so he thought.

She was someone I put my trust in but I quickly realized something was really wrong. In fact, I became someone she took advantage of. I was being sold. People were paying and they came to the room for one purpose: to rape me. I was basically a prisoner there and a victim of the sexual commercial exploitation of children."

Seeing no way out or any hope, Suamhirs attempted suicide. From the San Diego hospital where he was treated, he was informed he was entering San Diego Countys Foster Care system, which would shuffle him 13 times through foster homes and group homes.

Two days before my 18th birthday, the secretary of the group home comes in and says your C.A.S.A. is here! I didnt know what a C.A.S.A. was."

It stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. They are everyday volunteers trained by the nationally recognized local organization called Voices for Children to make sure the housing, educational and medical needs of a foster child are being met. Suamhirs didnt realize it at first but his new C.A.S.A. Marco was about change his life for the better.

I thought this guy was old and boring and that we would have nothing in common but we started talking and he genuinely wanted to know about me," he said. "Still, my idea was this guy will come back one more time but hell be like everyone else in my life. Here today, gone tomorrow. But that wasnt the case.

It began with little but meaningful things: Suamhirs lived in San Diego but had never been to the beach so Marco arranged to take him. And Marco took Suamhirs to a nice restaurant for his 18th birthday.

At first, Suamhirs felt a bit anxious at the site of a nicely set table with multiple utensils, something not in his foster care experience. Marco noticed and offered reassurance.

In a group home, they give you a spork.' We laughed about it. Marco truly cared and helped me. I have never been with somebody who took the time to explain something so simple to me as using a fork," he said.

And that was just the beginning. The C.A.S.A. volunteer learned everything about Suamhirs needs from education to housing to emotional. And he helped chart his future and build his confidence.

My C.A.S.A. told me something very simple. Dont let what happened to you in the past define you.

Suamhirs took the ball and ran. He finished his high school education with an A." He landed a great job, while securing a nice home and car before someone from the Obama Administrationcame calling. A White House representative asked Suamhirs, now 26, if he would serve on the Presidents U.S. advisory council on human trafficking.

This young man continues to thrive: through his perseverance, strength and the transformative help of a Voices for Children volunteer who cared.

Everything started when this one person first asked me how are you? Now I work for the President! Its all because someone planted a seed and said, you can become someone great," he said.

C.A.S.A.s come from all walks of life. No legal background is required and typically only 10-15 hours per month is required to change the future of a child who has been through so much. There is a big need for Spanish speaking volunteers like Marco to serve the hundreds of children waiting for a C.A.S.A.
Jury selection begins Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of killing a woman at a hotel in downtown San Diego and leaving her body in a common shower area.

Jason Lewis, 41, a registered sex offender with a criminal history that includes sexual battery and felony domestic violence, is accused of killing Jhordann Rust, a 26-year-old woman from Wisconsin, in December 2015 at the 500 West Hotel and Hostel.

Police found the womans body in a common shower area on the second floor of the hotel. A witness told NBC 7 that the day before Rusts slaying, she and Lewis had gotten into an argument in front of the hotel. The pair had met just before her killing.

At a preliminary hearing last December, prosecutors said Lewis took steps to conceal Rust's body, including purchasing a suitcase to apparently move the womans body into a community shower area.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel said Lewis has a criminal record of violent crimes.

Vasel said the circumstances of the slaying of Rust began with the woman and her boyfriend checking into the hotel in downtown San Diego on Dec. 12, 2015. Soon thereafter, Rust's boyfriend was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

Just after midnight on Dec. 13, 2015, Rust's mother called the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) from her home in Wisconsin. She told police her daughter had called her that night, saying she was being attacked by a man named Jason. The mother could overhear a struggle in the background.

Officers performed a welfare check, but could not find Rust.

Two days later, Vasel said police received a report of a womans body found at the 500 West Hotel and Hostel. Investigators determined the victim was Rust, and said she had died from strangulation, blunt force trauma or a combination of the two, Vasel said.

They also found a phone belonging to Rusts boyfriend and a bloody mattress pad near the body.

Officers said evidence led them to zero in on Lewis: witnesses said they saw Lewis and Rust together the night of Dec. 12, 2015, at a 7-Eleven store. That was the last time Rust was seen alive.

After searching Lewis room at the hotel, investigators found a bloody mattress and a bloody suitcase.

Police later tracked down surveillance video taken on Dec. 14, 2015, of Lewis purchasing a suitcase at a local store. Vasel said it appeared Lewis used that suitcase he bought to move Rust's body to the shower area.

Lewis has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Rust. If convicted, he faces 56 years to life in prison.
Space Micro Inc. said it plans to develop a radiation-hardened astrophysics instrument under a recently awarded contract from NASA.

The value of the deal was not disclosed. The federal funds are a small business innovation research contract. SBIR grants top out at $125,000 for phase I and $750,000 for phase II, according to information from NASA.

This NASA R&D contract will expand our portfolio of space products to support NASA missions, David Strobel, Space Micros CEO, said in a prepared statement.

The Mira Mesa-based company teamed up with Arizona State University to do the work. Specifically, the partners plan to develop a kinetic inductance detector (KID) and associated readout electronics. The detector will be useful for many future NASA missions, Space Micro said.

Space Micro is employee owned.

Additional stories from the San Diego Business Journal are available here. Sign up for their free daily email newsletter.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Rashid Khalikov, UN assistant secretary general for humanitarian partnerships with Middle East and Central Asia, exchanged views on the issues of the international agenda in Ashgabat, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message.

According to the message, Turkmenistans active humanitarian support for the Central Asian countries and beyond was stressed.

Khalikov expressed interest in further intensification of the partnership, the message said.

According to the message, the issues of further consolidation of the efforts through the exchange of experience, as well as learning from the various practices of rendering humanitarian aid were also discussed.

Turkmenistan has a long border with Afghanistan. Afghanistans economy was virtually destroyed due to the civil war.

Ashgabat put forward a number of proposals to the UN for the restoration of Afghanistan.

As an active participant in the implementation of the program of activities as part of the Istanbul Process, Turkmenistan offers to host the seventh regional economic cooperation conference on Afghanistan in 2017.

Turkmenistan has worked out a program to provide Afghanistan with humanitarian aid.

The program envisages a set of measures, including the construction of social facilities in Afghanistan, the opening of the shopping mall, the supply of humanitarian goods.

Turkmen electricity is supplied to the northern Afghan provinces on preferential terms. Ashgabat also initiated a number of large projects related to Afghanistan, in particular, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT) railway project.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday against a proposition that would make recreational marijuana legal in California.

Proposition 64  the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative  would legalize recreational marijuana and hemp in the state for people over 21 years old. The measure would also allow California to establish sales and cultivation taxes by 15 percent.

On Tuesday, San Diego leaders  including County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore and San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis  held a meeting at the County Administration to voice their concerns against the measure.

The opponents believe Prop 64 will lead to more people driving under the influence of marijuana, which could end in more deaths at the wheel. The group also fears the passing of Prop 64 may lead to more marijuana easily getting into the hands of those under 21 and the emergence of more drug cartel activity.

The opponents site public safety as their main concern against the prop.

The group hoped the Board of Supervisors would pass a recommendation to oppose the prop -- and they did.

Meanwhile, supporters of Prop 64 say the measure would raise $1 billion in annual taxes that can fund drug education and treatment programs aimed at teenagers.

Ultimately, it will be in the hands of California voters to decide if marijuana is legalized.
A hurricane warning was issued in South Florida Tuesday as Hurricane Matthew roared toward the southern Bahamas with its dangerous winds early Wednesday, leaving behind widespread damage and human suffering in Haiti's poor, rural southwestern peninsula where the hardest-hit area was cut off by flooding.

At least 11 deaths were blamed on the storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean. At 5 a.m., Matthew had top sustained winds of 125 mph and was heading north at 10 mph as it was starting to take aim at the Bahamas. Forecasters reported tropical storm conditions were already spreading over the southeastern Bahamas early Wednesday, with hurricane conditions expected there in coming hours.

Forecasters said Matthew could menace Florida toward the end of the week and push its way up the East Coast over the weekend.

"We do not know yet whether the center of Matthew will actually come ashore in Florida. That's possible," said Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center. "It also could go to the right and stay farther offshore. The farther offshore it is, the lesser the impacts will be, but the impacts are going to happen no matter what."

Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued a state of emergency for every county in the state on Monday and urged residents along the state's Atlantic Coast to prepare for the possibility of a direct hit. The Red Cross put out a call for volunteers in South Carolina, where a mass evacuation of the coast was planned for Wednesday, and there were states of emergency in Georgia and North Carolina as well.

The hurricane watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning Tuesday for Golden Beach in northern Miami-Dade to the Volusia/Brevard County line and includes all of Broward. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Seven Mile Bridge to Golden Beach.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Haiti, the Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma and Las Tunas, the southeastern Bahamas, central Bahamas and northwestern Bahamas.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said winds had slightly decreased overnight as Matthew dropped from a Category 4 to a still powerful Category 3 storm. But forecasters warned such fluctuations in intensity were to be expected and that Matthew remained a potent and dangerous storm.

"The storm will be close to our state and a small deviation from the expected track could mean a catastrophic storm would hit your part of the state," Scott said at a news conference Tuesday in Daytona Beach.

Some South Florida stores were already running low on water and other supplies as residents stocked up ahead of Matthew.

The hurricane center said Matthew could create dangerous beach conditions along the East Coast later in the week.

As of Tuesday evening, no evacuations had been ordered for Miami-Dade, Broward or Monroe Counties. Over 40 combined flights have been cancelled at both Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.

Deadly Progress in Caribbean

The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in a corner of Haiti where many people live along the coast in shacks of wood or simple concrete blocks. Two deaths in Haiti were confirmed as of Tuesday afternoon, with four in the Dominican Republic, one in Northeast Colombia and one in the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines islands.But with a key bridge washed out, roads impassable and phone communications down, the western tip of Haiti was isolated and there was no word on dead and injured in that area.

Matthew was inflicting major damage, though the extent was not immediately known, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the country's Civil Protection Agency.

"It's much too early to know how bad things are, but we do know there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed or damaged in the south," Jean-Baptiste said.

Many streets were flooded or blocked with fallen trees throughout the southwestern peninsula. Rivers surged with muddy water as heavy rain fell. Local radio reported that the water was shoulder high in parts of Les Cayes, near where Matthew came ashore.

Milriste Nelson, a 65-year-old farmer in the town of Leogane, said his neighbors fled when the wind ripped the corrugated metal roof from their home. His own small yard was strewn with the fruit he depends on for his livelihood.

"All the banana trees, all the mangos, everything is gone," Nelson said as he boiled breadfruit over a charcoal fire in the gray morning light. "This country is going to fall deeper into misery."

Haitian authorities had tried to evacuate people from the most vulnerable areas ahead of the storm, but many were reluctant to leave their homes. Some sought shelter only after the worst was already upon them, making their way through debris-strewn streets amid pounding rain.

"Many people are now asking for help, but it's too late because there is no way to go evacuate them," said Fonie Pierre, director of Catholic Relief Services for the Les Cayes area, who was huddled in her office with about 20 people.

Matthew was expected to bring 15 to 25 inches of rain, and up to 40 inches (100 centimeters) in isolated places, along with up to 10 feet (3 meters) of storm surge and battering waves.

"They are getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm was moving along the Windward Passage between Haiti and Jamaica, where it was dumping heavy rain that caused flooding. It was headed for southeastern Cuba and then the Bahamas. The center of the storm was projected to pass about 50 miles northeast of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Cuba's government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces, and workers removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to keep them from falling.

As dawn broke, people in the Haitian tourist town of Port Salut described howling winds and big waves slamming the beaches and washing over the coastal road.

"The winds are making so many bad noises. We're just doing our best to stay calm," said Jenniflore Desrosiers as she huddled with her family in her fragile cinderblock home, which had sprung numerous leaks from pelting rain.

Haiti's civil protection office said a number of coastal towns partially flooded overnight. Landslides and downed trees on roads prevented movement in numerous areas. The few places that were on the electrical grid had apparently lost power, and cellphone service was spotty.

Haitian officials spent Monday trying to persuade shantytown residents to take advantage of shelters being set up, but many refused.

"If we lose our things we are not going to get them back!" said Toussaint Laine, an unemployed man who lives with his family in a shack in Tabarre, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, the capital.
San Diego Explained

Examining issues affecting San Diego with our media partners at VoiceOfSanDiego.org
A new batch of timed passes for the National Museum of African American History & Culture will be released Wednesday morning after technical glitches hampered the process for would-be museum goers earlier this week.

The passes -- which will grant access for visits in January, February and March -- will become available online and via phone starting at 9 a.m.

The passes for those months should have become available Monday, but instead the online reservation system showed passes for October, November and December, all of which previously had been snapped up, the museum said in a release.

"A result, 64,000 passes have been issued for days between January and March that may not be convenient for the visitor," museum officials said in a release. The museum has sent pass holders a message asking if they want to exchange passes or return them.

A new set of passes will be available online here or via phone at 866-297-4020.

The newest Smithsonian opened Sept. 24 on the National Mall. It has been using a timed pass system to control crowding. All passes are free, but visitors are required to have them, and they've been getting snapped up quickly.

The museum has been releasing passes in batches for the coming months.
Taco fans, rejoice! Not only is it Taco Tuesday, but it's also National Taco Day. Celebrate the holiday with these taco deals all around D.C.

District Taco

Various locations

District Taco announced on Instagram that anyone who makes a video of themselves yelling "I love District Taco!" in public and posting it on social media will receive a free taco. Just tag District Taco in your video and show it to the manager at any D.C. location. District Taco just asks that no one yell in the actual restaurant.

ABC Canteen

9528 Lee Highway, Fairfax, Virginia

ABC Canteen announced via Twitter on Tuesday that you can get four tacos for only $8 all day in honor of National Taco Day. Taco lovers can choose from chicken, fried cod, chorizo and more.

Agua 301 Restaurant

301 Water St. SE

Agua 301 Restaurant will be upgrading their happy hour on National Taco Day with $2.50 tacos from 5 p.m. until closing. Their happy hour also regularly offers margaritas, flatbreads, guacamole and other Mexican dishes.

Fuego Cocina y Tequileria

2800 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, Virginia

Fuego Cocina y Tequileria always celebrates Taco Tuesday, meaning you can enjoy two tacos for just $5 not just on National Taco Day, but also every week. Choose from chicken, shrimp, chorizo, veggie and more.

On the Border Mexican Grill and Cantina

Fair Oaks Mall, 11947U Fair Oaks Mall-G213, Fairfax, Virginia

This restaurant chain will be offering 50-cent mini-tacos all day in participating restaurants. You can choose from beef, chicken tinga, or veggie. Feel free to order as many mini-tacos as you'd like -- there's no limit!

California Tortilla

Various locations

California Tortilla will be offering buy one, get one free tacos all day long for National Taco Day. They have locations all over D.C., including in Cleveland Park, Verizon Center/Chinatown, Bethesda and more.

Don Tito's

3165 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia

If you're craving late-night tacos, check out Don Tito's in Arlington. This restaurant offers a weekly Taco Tuesday special with half-off tacos on their rooftop lounge in addition to hookah, cocktails and a DJ starting at 9 p.m.

El Chucho DC

3313 11th St. NW

El Chucho might not be celebrating National Taco Day, but they do celebrate Tequila Tuesday. They're offering 20 percent off all tequila and mezcal all night.

Republic Taco

It must just be a coincidence, but Republic Taco launched their breakfast taco delivery service Tuesday via UberEats. Users can now order a breakfast taco to be delivered daily from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. to start their day off.
Police in Maryland and Virginia were involved in a carjacking and chase Monday night, resulting in one person arrested.

Montgomery County, Maryland, police said they were called to Silver Spring for the report of a carjacking shortly before 9 p.m. Officers pursued the car into Washington, D.C., before it fled to Virginia.

Arlington, Virginia, police said the car left Interstate 66 and crashed into another car on Lee Highway near North Highland Street. One person was taken into custody.

There were no reports of injuries at the carjacking location in Silver Spring, but two people were injured in the crash in Arlington.
An SUV jumped a curb in Arlington, Virginia, Tuesday afternoon, injuring two women on a sidewalk.

The pedestrians were hit on the 3100 block of Clarendon Boulevard about 3:15 p.m., Arlington police said.

A woman using an ATM was trapped under the SUV, police said. She was rushed to George Washington University Hospital with serious injuries.

The other woman was hurt less seriously. She was taken to Virginia Hospital Center.

Both women are expected to survive.

The crash occurred outside Mad Rose Tavern, near where Clarendon Boulevard, Washington Boulevard, Wilson Boulevard and N. Irving Street intersect, west of the Clarendon Metro station.

The driver, a man, remained on the scene and was being interviewed by police. Information on why he jumped the curb was not available immediately.

No charges had been filed against him as of Tuesday night.

Mad Rose Tavern was closed Tuesday night. Workers there were said to be shaken by the crash.

Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.
What to Know Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti Tuesday morning before heading north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida.

Matthew could be over the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay by Sunday, or it could be moving out to sea.

This far out, Storm Team4 meteorologist Chuck Bell says the most you can do is hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

While there is still a great deal of uncertainty about Hurricane Matthews path, people in the D.C. area can prepare for any effects the region may see.

The dangerous Category 4 storm made landfall in Haiti Tuesday morning and then headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida.

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for South Florida late Tuesday morning.

The storm will likely move along the U.S. coastline throughout the week.

Matthew could be over the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay by Sunday -- or it could be moving out to sea.

This far out, Storm Team4 meteorologist Chuck Bell says the most you can do is hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Heres what you can do now to be ready:

Keep your travel plans flexible

Storm Team 4 meteorologist Chuck Bell says Hurricane Matthew could bring dangerous conditions to a large portion of the Atlantic Coast, from Miami to the Outer Banks. Efforts to protect life and property in those areas need to begin Tuesday, Bell says.

The storm will most likely be very close to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by Thursday evening; just off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, by Friday evening; and approaching land near Wilmington, North Carolina, by Saturday evening. So, if you have plans for a weekend trip to Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas, be prepared to have to cancel. The storm could also lead to canceled flights and unsafe driving conditions.

Check on properties early

In the D.C. area, Matthew is most likely to affect the Eastern Shore in southern Maryland and the lower Chesapeake Bay. The storm could be within 100 miles of Ocean City, Maryland, late Saturday into Sunday. If you have property in the area, Bell says the best time to prepare is before the storm gets that far north. He suggests heading to the area Wednesday or Thursday and returning Friday before Matthew hits.

Clean your gutters and drains to prepare for potentially heavy rain.

Clogged gutters can create a mess and lead to damage if Matthew brings heavy rain. Make sure theyre clean just in case, and work when its safe. Also, check your sump pump to prevent flooding.

Move or secure your lawn furniture.

If you're within Matthew's forecast cone, the storm could bring strong winds in addition to rainfall. Move or secure outdoor furniture to prevent costly damage.

Stay with Storm Team4 for updates throughout the week.

Bell says the track and timing of the storm will likely change in the coming days.

Stay with NBC Washington and Storm Team4 for the latest on Hurricane Matthew. Updates will be available at NBCWashington.com and in the NBC Washington app.
A Pennsylvania man shot by the Secret Service at a White House gate earlier this year after he refused to drop a gun was sentenced to eight months confinement.

Jesse Olivieri, 31, of Ashland, Pennsylvania, was shot May 20. He pleaded guilty in September to a charge of "resisting or impeding certain officers or employees with a dangerous weapon."

Judge Royce C. Lamberth sentenced Olivieri Tuesday to a total of eight months of confinement. Olivieri will get credit for the time he has been in custody and serve the rest of his sentence in home detention, in his case at a medical facility. He will serve three years of supervised release.

No one responded immediately to a telephone message left with his attorney Tuesday.

Surveillance footage from May 20 shows Olivieri walking toward the south entrance of the White House with a gun on his right side. Officers ordered him to stop, but Olivieri ignored those commands.

A Secret Service special officer shot Olivieri and his gun  identified in an affidavit as a loaded .22-caliber semiautomatic  was kicked away from him. Officers surrounded him with their guns drawn, then begin rendering medical aid.

Before Olivieri was taken to a hospital, a Secret Service officer asked him why he went to the White House. "I came here to shoot people," he replied, according to court documents.

A spent .22-caliber shell casing was found near a Camry on Constitution Avenue, and more ammunition was found in the car.

The incident occurred within view of tourists outside the White House, near sidewalks crowded with families, school groups and government workers.

The White House was on lockdown for about an hour after the incident. President Barack Obama was not at the White House at the time, but Vice President Joe Biden was inside the building, administration officials said.
Police are looking for the person who shot a man near a 7-Eleven convenience store in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Officers were called to the 7400 block of Sheriff Road at 9:40 p.m. Monday for a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body.

The man's condition is not known at this time.

No arrests have been made, but police say this does not appear to be a random act.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 4

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

Uzbekistans delegation led by the countrys Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov will participate in the interregional ministerial meeting Central Asia-European Union and in the international conference on Afghanistan, the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service said Oct. 4.

The meeting will be held on Oct. 4-5 in Belgiums capital.

During the visit, the Uzbek delegation is going to hold negotiations with officials of the European Union (EU).

The strategy of cooperation in the Central Asia-European Union format was approved in 2007.

Regional programs within the strategy are effective in the field of stability and security, sustainable economic development and poverty reduction, as well as regional cooperation both within the region and between the EU and Central Asia.

Energy and water resources, transportation, small and medium businesses, border management and fight against drugs, education and science, as well as environmental protection are among priority directions of cooperation between the EU and five countries of Central Asia  Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Since 2007, the EU has allocated more than one billion euros for the implementation of various regional programs and projects in concrete countries.
A Virginia woman is facing felony charges after authorities say she left her three daughters home alone while she vacationed in Mexico with her boyfriend.

Aida Stovall, 30, of Henrico is charged with three counts of child abuse/neglect, WWBT-TV reports.

Court records say Stovall left her 11-year-old and twin 8-year-old daughters alone for two days in September, while she and her boyfriend traveled to Cancun, Mexico.

A judge revealed in court Friday that authorities launched an investigation after Stovall's oldest daughter told a school principal that she and her sisters had been left alone.

Stovall was arrested by U.S. Customs agents when she returned to the country in Florida. She was extradited back to Virginia and has been denied bond.
Dozens of community members, many wearing purple, gathered for a ceremony outside the Prince Georges County courthouse in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to promote Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Attendees were given purple light bulbs, provided by Pepco, and asked to place them in a front porch light or window. Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks revealed some surprising information about the impact of domestic violence on the county's overall crime rate.

"As we've seen, overall violence decline in Prince Georges (County), Alsobrooks said. We were surprised to learn so many instances of domestic violence, family violence has remained steady."

The head of the county's Office of Health, Human Services and Education, Betty Hager Francis, talked about a new program aimed at teenagers.

"We know that some of the violence we see in adults certainly started in adolescents, said Francis. Many times, these young people have seen this in their homes, and they think it is normal.

The event was organized by the office of Prince George's County Sheriff Melvin High. His agency is on the front lines of the battle against domestic violence.

About a third of our force is devoted to this issue of domestic violence prevention, and were making headway, High said.

The evening ended with a ceremonial lighting of the nearby Family Justice Center in purple. Municipal buildings throughout the county will be illuminated in purple throughout the month to symbolize the commitment to domestic violence awareness.
A court in Boston rejected Dennis Dechaine's final federal appeal in his longstanding attempt to clear his name in the 1988 death of a 12-year-old girl in Maine.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued Monday indicates Dechaine failed meet the requirement for transferring the case to federal court. Dechaine's lawyer, Steven Peterson, said there could be another state appeal, but he acknowledged Tuesday that the case is "getting pretty close to the end."

Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber said nothing that has happened in the 28 years since Dechaine was charged with murder to shake prosecutors' view that he committed the crime.

"It's time that he lets the family put this behind them, to the extent that they can," Macomber said Tuesday.

Dechaine is serving a life sentence for the murder and sexual assault of Sarah Cherry, who was abducted while baby-sitting in Bowdoin in July 1988. Dechaine was convicted the following year.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has denied three requests for a new trial. In the latest, the court concluded new DNA evidence wouldn't have changed the outcome of the original trial.

Evidence in the case included a car repair bill bearing Dechaine's name that was found outside the home where Sarah disappeared, and rope used to bind her that matched rope found in his truck and barn.

The farmer from Bowdoinham, who was then 30, became lost in the woods on the day Sarah went missing, and eventually emerged, unable to locate his truck. Police found it near Sarah's body.

The most recent appeal was based on DNA evidence using technology that wasn't available at the time of trial. It indicated that a partial DNA profile recovered from one of the victim's fingernails didn't match Dechaine but it also didn't match any of the alternative suspects.

Peterson, the defense lawyer, said previously that there was circumstantial evidence but no actual evidence showing that Dechaine was in the victim's home or that she was in his truck. He said a new jury should have the benefit of hearing all of the evidence in the case.
Hurricane Matthew has taken center stage in both the weather community and the world at large over the last couple of days, making landfall in Les Anglais, Haiti, Tuesday morning, shortly before 8 AM, as an estimated Category Four Hurricane. With the storm motion continuing north, the lashing wind and rain associated with the well-defined and tightly wound eyewall - or center wall around the core - of Matthew will impact the eastern tip of Cuba before moving into the Southern Bahamas. Thereafter, though the forecast track in the coming days surely maintains some uncertainty, there are also some very clear signals:

The Bahamas will be hit hard by rain and wind as the storm turns north-northwest, running most of the island chain including Nassau

Matthew will likely pass close enough to the eastern shore of Florida to deliver lashing wind and rain to the Sunshine State, requiring Hurricane Warnings as we close in on Matthew's arrival

Matthew is likely to closely parallel the U.S. East Coast heading into the weekend, moving alongside the South and North Carolina coast, passing near or over the Outer Banks by Saturday night

Around a foot of rain and strong wind are likely in the Carolinas as Matthew passes there Saturday

Here in New England, as of this Tuesday writing, there is a 70% chance we see some impact - at least in terms of rain - from Matthew

High surf and beach erosion seems probable in New England, even if the storm were to pass well southeast of us, owing to wave action from the storm

Let's dig in a little deeper...



Matthew has been moving north in a very favorable environment for tropical cyclone growth and maintenance, which has explained his continued status as a major hurricane. Water temperatures beneath the eye of Matthew are exceptionally warm, and winds aloft have been light surrounding the storm, which is necessary for a hurricane to maintain its structure. As a result, Matthew has exhibited characteristics classic to a powerful hurricane - a tight, concentric eye at the center; cyclical replacements of the eyewall structure; and excellent outflow, or evacuation of air aloft. All of these assets contribute to the incredible satellite presentation seen here.

The water ahead of Matthew will continue to be warm - in fact, as Matthew encounters the Gulf Stream, the waters actually get warmer on approach toward the U.S. East Coast, and taken alone, this is a very concerning fact, especially for the Bahamas. By Thursday morning, winds aloft will start to change a bit, introducing what's known as "shear" in the meteorological world - changing wind direction and speed with height that can degrade a hurricane. Having said that, Matthew will continue to be so strong, that changing the wind conditions aloft Thursday morning will only start a very slow weakening process - Matthew will still be an extremely strong hurricane as he moves northwest near the Florida eastern shore late Thursday into early Friday.

While the Southeastern United States will probably take a beating from wind, waves and rain as the storm moves parallel to the coast Friday and Saturday, here in New England we'll see a busy week of waves on the water from unrelated storm centers moving to our south, north of Hurricane Matthew, building our seas 3-6 feet through midweek. Long period swell will begin arriving to New England's South Coast by the end of this week, and just how high our waves build heading into the weekend depends upon Matthew's eventual track, but seas of 25 to 35 feet over the waters south of New England seem quite likely by late this weekend. While waves that big won't make it directly to our New England beaches unless Matthew's track shifts west for a direct hit, surely large waves will result in pounding surf and beach erosion this weekend for New England.

New England's rainfall totals will also depend upon the track of Matthew, but at this point we foresee a swath of heavy rain transitioning to the northwest side of the storm, meaning a path south of New England could still deliver inches of much-needed rainfall, particularly to Southern New England - on the order of one to two inches northwest of Boston, and three to five inches on Cape Cod. Again, a change to forecast track would result in changed rainfall amounts, but this appears the most likely scenario at this early juncture.

One viable question is: what is the remaining uncertainty with this storm, and how does that impact the forecast or what we should do, if anything to prepare? There are a couple of ways to answer that. One method is to quantify the chance we'll see rain out of the storm, and a (largely objective) analysis in-house by our NECN Weather Team puts the chance of rain in most of the Eastern half of New England at about 70%. Of course, this means there is still, as of this Tuesday writing, a 30% chance we don't see any rain at all from Matthew. When it comes to wind or storm surge impact, the stakes are much, much higher. A track southeast of New England would keep the core of damaging wind over the waters south of us, as there are already some indications the wind field around Matthew may weaken on the northwest side of the storm as it makes its closest pass to us. Keep in mind, this is a hypothesis rooted in fiction to some extent - that is, while we're defining what we believe to be the most likely scenario, we are cautiously very aware of the potential for a more northwest track that would expose New England to more significant wind and potential storm surge. As such, while we're posing our most likely, favored scenario at this time, we also are quick to point out the potential for deviations in the coming days.

Finally, we've heard from many: what can or should we do to prepare for Matthew? At this point, even if the core of the storm isn't a direct hit to New England, there are some easy, actionable suggestions we passed along at the start of the hurricane season, and frankly, are helpful actions for any weather wise New England resident, regardless of season:

Many New Englanders keep batteries, flashlights, bottled water, canned food or dried fruit on hand

Coastal residents at exposed shores often keep plywood handy if ever a short-notice need to board up windows. Better making room to store them year-round than face a sold-out hardware store when a storm approaches!

Many inland residents have generators for home, knowing downed trees can take out power for days - remember those 11 days without power for some in our big ice storm!

Always a great idea to have photos of property - home and otherwise - in case damage is done. These could be used for insurance purposes.

Naturally, we'll continue to keep you posted on-air on NECN and online at NECN.com. We'd encourage one and all to download our mobile app for push notifications to get the very latest, as well.

Matt and the NECN Weather Team
A dog tag belonging to an American World War II veteran from Pennsylvania will soon be returned to his family in East Lyme, Connecticut.

An Australian woman wading in a reservoir in New South Wales actually found Angelo Calla's tag 18 years ago.

The woman, Tamara Heinjus, told The Day of New London he recently came across the tag again while cleaning and decided to do a little internet research.

She tracked down some family members last month and plans on returning the tag to Calla's niece, Christine Firman, of East Lyme.

Calla, of Johnsonburg, died in 1969.

How the tag ended up in Australia is a mystery. It was found in an area used by the military during the war, but there's no evidence Calla's unit was stationed there.
A man's body was pulled from a pond in Wellesley, Massachusetts, after crews searched for him Tuesday afternoon.

Wellesley police confirm an overturned canoe was found in Morses Pond near College Road.

The search started just before 2 p.m.; the man, whose name was not released, was found dead about 40 to 50 feet from the shore.

Police said the 35-year-old man, who worked for a private nearby landscaping company, had taken the canoe onto the pond during a break from work. After a short time on the pond, the man fell into the water.

Authorities said a co-worker on the shoreline noticed the man was in distress and called for help.

First responders from Natick also responded to the water search.

Neighbors said it was a frightening scene at the pond when fire and rescue agencies arrived.

The pond is only about 10 to 15 feet deep, but the water is murky and there are 4 to 5 foot weeds at the bottom, according to a neighbor.

Police said the man was not wearing a life jacket at the time.
While Hurricane Matthew rages in the Caribbean, the pattern looks increasingly mild and quiet in New England.

Other than a few sprinkles - and lots of clouds - in the air this morning, we are looking at a bright and stable setup for the middle and latter half of the workweek.

High temps will stumble a bit Tuesday - a good 7-10 degrees cooler than Monday - but we're expecting them to surge back to the 70s from midweek into the weekend.

The biggest wildcard remains Hurricane Matthew as it rampages through Haiti and Eastern Cuba Tuesday and Wednesday. Storm surge, howling winds and inundating rain (up to 20-30 inches) will ravage the island nations in the coming days.

Even as it weakens slightly in the Bahamas, it will be both deadly and historic. The effects of the storm on the Eastern Seaboard are still somewhat in question and depend heavily on the steering currents in the upper atmosphere. As you might expect, they are nebulous this far out.

It seems that just as it approaches the Southeastern United States, the forecasts spread out and the storm can take multiple paths. Yes, there is a chance the storm could creep up the Eastern Seaboard, but there's also a chance it could stall off the Southeast Coast and eventually drift out to sea. But will it? That's the ten thousand dollar question. Unfortunately, right now all we have is a $10 answer. We will know more by tomorrow or Thursday.
Police say they have made an arrest in a bank robbery in Manchester, New Hampshire, shortly after the crime occurred.

Thirty-nine-year-old John Faucher was arrested Monday afternoon.

He's accused of robbing the TD Bank on Franklin Street shortly after noon on Monday. Police say he passed a note to a teller saying he had a weapon and demanded cash and then made off with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police say three minutes after a description of the suspect was broadcast to police, an officer saw a man walking who fit that description. Faucher was arrested. Police say he's also charged with an attempted armed robbery of a Seven Eleven store on Sept. 28.

It was not immediately known if Faucher, who is homeless, is being represented by an attorney.
A Worcester, Massachusetts, man police say went on an hour-long rampage in August that included a rape and an armed robbery has been held on $250,000 cash bail.

The Telegram & Gazette reported that Antonio Damon pleaded not guilty Monday in Worcester Superior Court to nearly two dozen charges including aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, carjacking, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The 35-year-old Damon was arrested Aug. 9 after a woman called police to say a man with a knife had entered her business and raped her. Over the next hour, police received reports of a carjacking, a sexual assault, a hit-and-run accident, and an armed robbery allegedly committed by Damon.

Damon's attorney previously told a judge that his client denies the charges.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Iran has started the gas condensate (ultra light crude oil) sell to BP in the form of spot cargo, Mohsen Ghamsari, director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), said.

First 1-million-barrel condensate cargo was delivered to the British company recently, Ghamsari said, Mehr news agency reported.

He further said that Iran has already sold a crude oil consignment to Royal Dutch Shell Company as well, based on a spot cargo deal.

Ghamsari added that talks are underway with UK companies for signing long-term oil contracts.

Shell purchased one million barrels of crude oil from Iran last June.

Before the sanctions, imposed in 2012, Iran was exporting 800,000 barrels per day of oil to Europe.

According to Ghamsari Irans crude export to European countries currently stands at 600 to 650 thousand barrels a day.

Irans August crude oil exports jumped 15 percent from July to more than 2 million barrels per day. The volume is close to Tehran's pre-sanctions shipment levels in 2011.

The strong demand in Irans crude in Asia and Europe has enabled it to raise its oil output to just over 3.8 million bpd, still below the 4 million bpd level termed by Tehran as a precondition for discussing output limits with other oil producers.
A man who was shot and killed by police officers in Massachusetts on Monday has been identified.

Police officers in Lynn shot and killed Robert Dapkus, 57, during an attempt to execute a search warrant at an apartment complex.

Dapkus was a suspect in an armed robbery at the Porthole Pub in late September.

The investigation is still underway. The names of the officers involved in the shooting have not been released.

No other details were immediately available.
A Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to scamming more than a dozen military veterans out of more than $500,000 by promising to get them benefits that they never received.

Federal prosecutors said Monday that 69-year-old John Simon Jr., of Stafford Springs, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and structuring currency transactions.

Authorities say Simon, a Vietnam veteran, told veterans that if they paid him he would help them get new or increased benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Social Security Administration. Instead, he kept the money for personal use.

Prosecutors say many of the veterans scammed suffer from service-related disabilities and chronic illnesses.

Simon defrauded 15 veterans and one non-veteran out of more than $525,000.

He faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing on Jan. 10.
Students at Merrimack College were advised to "shelter in place" Monday night following a report of a suspicious person on the North Andover, Massachusetts campus that turned out to be a hoax.

The students received a text alert reading" All students are to shelter in place... Suspicious person dressed as a clown may be armed. Await further instruction from college."

School officials said one residence hall was briefly evacuated and searched but nothing suspicious was found. Students were let back into the hall at 10 p.m., about 30 minutes after the initial alert was issued.

A college spokesperson said the reported clown sighting was actually a hoax. A Twitter user sent out a tweet and then a staff member alerted authorities, leading to the lockdown.

The incident is the latest in a string of creepy clown sightings around the country in recent weeks.

Over the weekend, police in Swansea, Massachusetts said they received several calls from people reporting that there was someone dressed as a scary clown walking around the Swansea Mall parking lot. There were no reports of criminal behavior.
A man sent to prison for murdering a woman 25 years ago, made his third attempt at parole in a Massachusetts court on Tuesday afternoon.

Thomas Maimoni, 71, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Martha Brailsford, 37, of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1991.

Maimoni was eligible to seek parole after serving 15 years of his sentence.

At the hearing on Tuesday, he first apologized for Brailsford's death then changed course.

"I alone am responsible for the death of Martha Brailsford," he said. "I did not attack Martha. There was no fight on the deck, no beating."

Brailsford was beaten unconscious on Maimoni's sailboat and her body was thrown overboard, also tied to an anchor.

Maimoni said a rove wave was to blame.

Brailsford's family was at the hearing on Tuesday at the parole board's headquarters in Natick. The family said they are tired of attending the hearings and listening to Maimoni changing his stories.

"It would be really good to not take this every 5 years," said Brian Brailsford, Martha's husband. "He should be in prison for the rest of his life."

Maimoni did not have anyone to speak on his behalf. He will remain in prison until the parole boards decision, which is expected in the next few months.
Consumers are projected to spend $8.4-billion on Halloween celebrations this year, according to a new survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.

While much of that spending will be on costumes, decorations, and candy, some shoppers are getting creative with their trick-or-treat giveaways.

James Kochalka, a well-known cartoonist and graphic novelist who works from Burlington, Vermont, said he plans to give out copies of his new mini-comic featuring his cute ghost character, Johnny Boo.

"It's just to get kids excited about comics and reading," Kochalka told necn.

Packs of 25 mini-books of "Johnny Boo and the Pumpkin Tiger" are hitting select comic book stores nationwide for about $5, as a sort of alternative gift for trick-or-treaters, the artist said.

"It's not like the kid is not going to get any candy when they go trick-or-treating," Kochalka chuckled. "They'll get tons of candy. And then hopefully, a comic book, too, somewhere along the line!"

According to the National Retail Federation's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, more than 171-million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween.

Mike Lizotte's Shelburne-based plant seed and flower bulb company, American Meadows, aims to reach a niche market with its Halloween offerings: folks who don't want to hand out junk food.

"I think it was a no brainer," Lizotte said, showing his companys packets of pumpkin seeds with Halloween graphics. "It was a nice, healthy alternative to getting a candy bar or piece of gum as a Halloween snack."

Lizotte said kids could roast the seeds with their parents, or put away the packets until spring, to start growing 2017's jack-o-lantern. The packets sell for $.75, with bulk discounts for large orders.

The $8.4-billion projection from the National Retail Federation survey is an all-time high in the 11-year history of the analysis, the group said. Those planning to celebrate told the researchers they would spend an average of $82.93, up from $74.34 last year.

"It's going to continue expanding," said Champlain College marketing professor Francisco Valle, who attributed an increase in Halloween spending in recent years in part to the rebounding economy.

Because the popularity of Halloween appears to be at a fever pitch, Valle predicted that more companies, even ones not typically associated with the holiday, will embrace spooky graphics and marketing approaches. Those companies may see the holiday as a good way to introduce themselves to shoppers, Valle said.

"Halloween presents a great opportunity for businesses to show people they're a fun organization; they have fun brands," Valle added.

While some people's Halloween giveaways may be more creative, such as the mini-comics or pumpkin seeds, candy is still king. The NRF survey said 94.3 percent of consumers planned to buy candy, spending an estimated $2.5-billion on it.
Noah Blanchard was on the side of his home in Barrington, New Hampshire, when he heard the gunshots Sunday evening.

"You can hear the ripping through the leaves," Blanchard said. "I'm thinking, 'Someone doesn't realize there is a house down range.'"

Blanchard's home surveillance camera captured what happened next. With shots going off, Blanchard runs towards the front of his Barrington house and ducks down.

"I could hear the bullets through the trees in my direction," he said. "It was a different noise."

One of the bullets hit Blanchard's home, went through the master bedroom and into a hallway wall. Blanchard's wife had been in the master bedroom 20 minutes before the shooting.

"Thankfully we are not talking about a fatality," Barrington Police Chief Robert Williams said.

Barrington Police officers were in the neighborhood and responded to a nearby clearing near Blanchard's home.

Chief Williams says the man who fired the shots was still on the scene when officers got there. He says there doesn't appear to be any criminal intent, but criminal charges still possible.

All of this an important reminder with hunting season starting.

"To the people who are out discharging their firearms, please identify your backstop, your backdrop and know your geography and area that you are shooting," Chief Williams said.

Soon after, Blanchard, who is a merchant marine, met with the man.

"Once he found out he was incredibly apologetic and felt very awful that he hadn't looked at the area before," Blanchard said. "People need to be aware of their surroundings, and situational awareness is imperative when target practicing or hunting."
Federal authorities say a member of an international criminal gang has pleaded guilty in connection with the stabbing of a rival gang member last year.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz's office says 29-year-old Mauricio Sanchez of Chelsea, Massachusetts, was one of 61 individuals named in a January indictment targeting the alleged criminal activity of MS-13 gang members in the state.

Authorities say Sanchez admitted Friday that he and other MS-13 members stabbed a gang rival near Bellingham Square in Chelsea in December 2015. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.

He's facing up to 20 years when he's sentenced on Dec. 22.

MS-13 has over 6,000 members in the U.S. and over 30,000 members internationally, mainly in El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.
The school superintendent in Wilmington, Massachusetts, has resigned after revelations she was arrested and charged with driving under the influence more than a month ago.

Mary Delai was arrested for OUI on August 25 in Salem.

As a result she lost her license for 45 days and, is now on probation - standard procedure, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office.

Delai recently began her third year leading Wilmington Public Schools. Several weeks ago she made headlines when she allowed a longtime gym teacher accused of domestic violence back on the job.

She explained the decision to allow him back was based on his tenure and record of performance in the district.

She added in a statement that she hopes "people respect that he is owed his day in court and his right to privacy."

It's not clear when school committee members first learned of Delai's arrest.

The committee is expected to speak Tuesday.
Opponents of Republican U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte launched a new round of attacks Tuesday following a debate gaffe where she said she "absolutely" considers Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a role model, a comment she later took back.

Ayotte's opponent in the Senate race  Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan  put out a new web ad on Tuesday morning that included Ayotte's "absolutely" remark followed by a series of some of Trump's controversial statements about women.

Hassan's campaign also held a press call on Monday morning in an effort to keep the focus squarely on Ayotte's debate night mistake.

Former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan said on the call that she is "still picking her jaw up off the floor" following Ayotte's debate miscue.

"Kelly Ayotte should explain to the people of New Hampshire exactly what about Donald Trump she thinks the children of New Hampshire should emulate," Sullivan said.

State Sen. Donna Soucy added that she was "appalled" by Ayotte's remarks. She said Ayotte has been "trying to tiptoe around what exactly her support of Donald Trump really means. Now we know."

Sullivan said she doesn't believe Ayotte "misspoke," as she said in a statement issued about three hours after Monday night's debate. She said she thinks Ayotte walked back her comments about Trump only after seeing all of the negative reaction on social media.

"There was no confusion on her part," Sullivan said. "In the follow up, she said exactly what I think she meant."

"She had a second chance at the question," added Soucy. "She essentially doubled down. It's really clear where she stands."

The New Hampshire Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America  a group started by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg  also issued a statement Tuesday morning in response to Ayotte's comments about Trump.

"Its no surprise that Kelly Ayotte has called Donald Trump a role model because both of them adhere to the extreme agenda of the NRA leadership  guns everywhere, at any time with no questions asked," the statement read. "Ayotte may try to distance herself from Trump and her own record on guns, but Granite Staters know the truth: Ayotte consistently votes with the gun lobby and against her constituents  80 percent of whom support criminal background checks for all gun sales."

Analysts Ayotte's gaffe could cost her the race, but some New Hampshire voters seem to be more forgiving. Denise Coglin of Nashua said Ayotte can successfully clarify what she said and move on.

Its done all the time, I think you can, some people do misspeak, Coglin said.

Ayotte, speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, reiterated to reporters she misspoke.

New Hampshire political analyst Scott Spradling says Ayottes answer is a misstep.

I presume the polls will show the needle moving in Hassans favor following this debate, Spradling told necn Tuesday.

But he says in a senate race this tight, one comment wont decide the outcome.

This will remain competitive, it will stay close, this one moment has not cost her the US Senate race, Spradling said. It underscored the challenge Republicans have throughout the ballot throughout the country.

That challenge Spradling is referring to, is walking the fine line where Republicans say theyre supporting Trump but will not endorse him. Its a confusing campaign tactic that got Ayotte into trouble.

Ayotte and Hassan will face off in four more debates prior to the general election.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Dalga Khatinoglu  Trend:

Iran signed the first heads of agreement (HOA) based on the newly designed contract model, called the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), with a domestic company on Oct. 4, IRNA reports.

Irans Oil Ministry signed a $2.2 billion worth agreement with Tadbiri Energy Group, affiliated with the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), for increasing the recovery rate of three fields based on the IPC.

The HOA represents the first step on the path to a full legally binding agreement or contract, and serves as a guideline for the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in a potential partnership before any binding documents are drawn up.

Under the Iran Petroleum Contract, Iranian companies should choose foreign partners for developing projects based on IPC. IRNAs report, however, didnt say anything about the contract terms.

The report said the EIKO should increase the recovery rate at the Yaran field as well as the Asmari and Bangestan layers of Kupal and Bangestan layer of Maroun fields.

Iran has developed the first phase of the North Yaran field by 89 percent and production of 30,000 barrels per day (b/d) of oil from this field will start in coming months. At South Yaran, Iran produces 5,000 b/d of oil and plans to double that figure in the framework of the first phase.

Iran prioritizes the development of West Karoon block, including North and South Azadegan, Yadavaran and North and South Yaran fields, with 64 billion barrels of in-situ oil reserves, which currently share about 6 percent of the country's total crude oil production.

All of the mentioned fields are joint ones with Iraq.

Iran also produces 94,000 b/d of oil from the Kupal field.

During the sanctions period, which started in 2012, Irans oil production decreased from 3.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) to around 2.8 mb/d, but the figure reached 3.65 mb/d during the post sanctions period, which started in January 2016.

Iran needs about $62 billion of investment in energy sector annually from 2015 to 2025, including in up/mid/downstream and energy optimizing projects.

Iran plans to increase the oil output to 5.2-5.7 mb/d by developing 49 oil and gas projects in coming years.
Sell-out audience expected for the West Berkshire Business Awards at racecourse

IN a little over six weeks time, hundreds of people will gather to toast the very best businesses in the district at a glittering black-tie awards ceremony at Newbury Racecourse.

Tickets are selling fast for the hottest night in the West Berkshire business calendar and people are being advised to book now to avoid disappointment.

The awards, sponsored by the , recognise and celebrate the success of the local business community.

Judges visited applicants throughout July and the list of finalists competing for the prestigious prizes has been announced.

There are nine individual awards to enter this year, covering all aspects of business and charity.

The winner of each category will be in with a chance of taking home the coveted 2016 West Berkshire Business of the Year Award.

The awards will be handed out at the gala dinner and ceremony at Newbury Racecourse on Friday, October 14.

The finalists are as follows:

Greenham Common Trust Community & Charity Award: Home-Start West Berkshire, Newbury Riding for the Disabled, The Bruce Trust.

PBA Accountants Small Business Award: Bravo Hairdressing, Michael Pagliaroli Architects, Terptree Ltd, VICI Language Academy.

Newbury Racecourse Rural Award: Cobbs Farm Shop and Kitchen, Newbury and District Agricultural Society, Wasing Park and Estate.

Santander Entrepreneur Award: Charter Travel, RS Catering and Events, VICI Language Academy

Appleprint New Business Start Up Award: Abley Letchford Partnership, Heritage Legal Estate Planning, Snug Kitchens, TruGreen.

Newbury Business Improvement District Independent Retail Business Award: Cow and Cask, Natures Corner, Snug Kitchens.

The International Taste Solutions Business Innovation Award: Bigger Brighter Bolder, Generate UK, Trellisworks.

The Mercedes Benz Customer Care Award: Floating Point Wellness, Jones Robinson, Wasing Park and Estate, West Berkshire Brewery.

To book tickets and secure your place at this not-to-be-missed event, visit http://www.westberkshirebusinessawards.co.uk/buy-tickets/
Tehran, Iran, October 4

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

The state-owned Indonesian oil company Pertamina is seeking to import oil from Iran.

The company plans to increase its oil and gas output three fold by 2025 by tapping fields in Iran, Malaysia, Iraq, and Algeria, Pertamina spokeswoman Wianda Pusponegoro said, IRNA news agency reported October 4.

Pertamina is currently carrying out primary studies on two big oil fields in Iran, namely Ab Teymour and Mansuri, with a combined reservoir of 5 million barrels.

The studies will take six months, after which the company will offer its development plans to Iran.

Pertamina and the National Iranian Oil Company in July signed an agreement on the two fields development, accompanied by a confidentiality pact.
By PTI

TORONTO: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian special forces will be "extremely marginal".



Addressing a gathering at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Jaitley said that any impact that had been felt on the markets and the rupee had been "temporary", and that foreign direct investment into India "continues to increase".



"Even recently, when the news came that India had made certain surgical strikes at the launch pads where the terrorists used to cross into Indian boundaries, there was obviously a certain amount of speculation as far as the markets were concerned. The impact was not what it would have been years ago," he said.



Economic impact arising from recent tensions will be "extremely marginal", he said.



Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan last week after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India.



The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists stormed an Army camp in Kashmir's Uri, killing 19 soldiers.



Pakistan has denied India's claim of surgical strikes and termed it as "cross-border" firing.

TORONTO: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian special forces will be "extremely marginal". Addressing a gathering at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Jaitley said that any impact that had been felt on the markets and the rupee had been "temporary", and that foreign direct investment into India "continues to increase". "Even recently, when the news came that India had made certain surgical strikes at the launch pads where the terrorists used to cross into Indian boundaries, there was obviously a certain amount of speculation as far as the markets were concerned. The impact was not what it would have been years ago," he said. Economic impact arising from recent tensions will be "extremely marginal", he said. Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan last week after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India. The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists stormed an Army camp in Kashmir's Uri, killing 19 soldiers. Pakistan has denied India's claim of surgical strikes and termed it as "cross-border" firing.
ENS Economic Bureau By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL) has secured an order worth Rs 284.4 crore from the Centre under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme to be executed in Karnataka.

The company said on Tuesday that as per the order, it will implement one 24x7 water supply project each in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts in Karnataka, at a value of Rs 201.83 crore and Rs 82.6 crore, respectively.

These projects will be designed and executed over 2-3 years and operations and maintenance will be taken care of for 60 months.

JISL will also provide piping expertise and solutions to cater to smart and AMRUT cities, it said. Jain Irrigation, so far, has successfully commissioned 24x7 water supply projects in four major cities of Karnataka  Hubli, Dharward, Belgaum and Gulbarga. It has also commissioned a similar project in Haliyal town in the Uttar Kannada district. The company also said that it is in the final stage of commissioning the project in Gokak and Nippani in Karnataka, and is executing similar projects in other parts of the country.

NEW DELHI: Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL) has secured an order worth Rs 284.4 crore from the Centre under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme to be executed in Karnataka. The company said on Tuesday that as per the order, it will implement one 24x7 water supply project each in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts in Karnataka, at a value of Rs 201.83 crore and Rs 82.6 crore, respectively. These projects will be designed and executed over 2-3 years and operations and maintenance will be taken care of for 60 months. JISL will also provide piping expertise and solutions to cater to smart and AMRUT cities, it said. Jain Irrigation, so far, has successfully commissioned 24x7 water supply projects in four major cities of Karnataka  Hubli, Dharward, Belgaum and Gulbarga. It has also commissioned a similar project in Haliyal town in the Uttar Kannada district. The company also said that it is in the final stage of commissioning the project in Gokak and Nippani in Karnataka, and is executing similar projects in other parts of the country.
By Reuters

MUMBAI: India's central bank will be firm yet pragmatic in tackling the bad loans of commercial lenders, Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel said on Tuesday, adding that more work was needed to resolve the issue of stressed assets.

Bad loans at Indian banks have doubled in the past year after a clean-up ordered by the central bank under Patel's predecessor, Raghuram Rajan, last November.

Investors feted Rajan's efforts to chip away at a mountain of bad debt in India's financial system, but critics say an excessive focus on asset quality scared banks from lending and is partly why credit growth hit a near two-decade low.

"The non-performing assets situation is an important issue for the RBI in India," Patel, a former central bank deputy who succeeded Rajan last month, told a news conference after presiding over his first monetary policy review, in which a panel delivered a surprise 25 basis point cut in the key rate.

"We will deal with the situation with firmness but also with pragmatism, so that the economy does not feel any lack of credit to support growth."

The RBI was working with the banks and the government to resolve the issue of non-performing assets.

"The identification, the recording and reporting of this particular subject has been done satisfactorily. But the resolution, which is the fourth leg, is something that we need to work on more," he said.

MUMBAI: India's central bank will be firm yet pragmatic in tackling the bad loans of commercial lenders, Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel said on Tuesday, adding that more work was needed to resolve the issue of stressed assets. Bad loans at Indian banks have doubled in the past year after a clean-up ordered by the central bank under Patel's predecessor, Raghuram Rajan, last November. Investors feted Rajan's efforts to chip away at a mountain of bad debt in India's financial system, but critics say an excessive focus on asset quality scared banks from lending and is partly why credit growth hit a near two-decade low. "The non-performing assets situation is an important issue for the RBI in India," Patel, a former central bank deputy who succeeded Rajan last month, told a news conference after presiding over his first monetary policy review, in which a panel delivered a surprise 25 basis point cut in the key rate. "We will deal with the situation with firmness but also with pragmatism, so that the economy does not feel any lack of credit to support growth." The RBI was working with the banks and the government to resolve the issue of non-performing assets. "The identification, the recording and reporting of this particular subject has been done satisfactorily. But the resolution, which is the fourth leg, is something that we need to work on more," he said.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: In his own words, Yusuf Arakkal through his work has sought a definition of human situations. From his early abstract paintings on city life to his later works on urban poor, the Bengaluru-based painter who passed away on Tuesday stressed the importance of a conflict free society through his work.

His friends and contemporaires recalled his contributions following his demise in the city.

Anil Kumar H A, Chairman, Department of Art History, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, said that Yusuf described his life as a 'from riches to rags and rags to riches'. "He is one of the most popular artists from Karnataka who was internationally recognised. He was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, muralist and also a poet," he said.

Noting his lineage - as his mother was from a royal family - he said that Yusuf graduated from Chitrakala Parishath in 1973. "After completing his studies, he went to New Delhi and learnt printmaking at Garhi Studios, New Delhi. He used to work in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), before he quit his job and settled down as an artist," he recalled.

Many monographs have also been published about the artist, who also encouraged young artists by buying their work, he added.

Noted artist M S Murthy, noted that Yusuf was active socially and worked to bring awareness on several issues. "He also enjoyed his work thoroughly. He promoted a lot of young artists, after he started his

own gallery - Galerie Sara Arakkal - a few years ago," he said.



Yusuf was bestowed with many international and national awards for his work, including the prestigious Lorenzo De Medici Gold Medal, at Florence Internazionale Biennale in Italy He was also honoured with

Karnataka Lalithkala Academy award in 1979 and 1981, a national award in 1983, a special award at the third Asian Art Biennale Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1986, Karnataka Lalithkala Academy honor in 1989 and K

Venkatappa Lifetime Achievement Award and others.



He has held hundreds of individual and group exhibitions around the world. His last exhibition ('Faces of Creativity') comprised a series of 135 portraits of contemporary Indian artists.



He is survived by his wife Sara Arakkal, a curator and Shibhu Arakkal, well-known photographer.



Quote

"There is an anguished being, disturbed and in distress somewhere deep inside me. A human being who yearns for a meaningful existence. It is the human presence that arouses my attention and stirs my creative

inner space. I have been committed through my work, seeking a definition of human situations," Yusuf is quoted as saying in his website.

BENGALURU: In his own words, Yusuf Arakkal through his work has sought a definition of human situations. From his early abstract paintings on city life to his later works on urban poor, the Bengaluru-based painter who passed away on Tuesday stressed the importance of a conflict free society through his work. His friends and contemporaires recalled his contributions following his demise in the city. Anil Kumar H A, Chairman, Department of Art History, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, said that Yusuf described his life as a 'from riches to rags and rags to riches'. "He is one of the most popular artists from Karnataka who was internationally recognised. He was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, muralist and also a poet," he said. Noting his lineage - as his mother was from a royal family - he said that Yusuf graduated from Chitrakala Parishath in 1973. "After completing his studies, he went to New Delhi and learnt printmaking at Garhi Studios, New Delhi. He used to work in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), before he quit his job and settled down as an artist," he recalled. Many monographs have also been published about the artist, who also encouraged young artists by buying their work, he added. Noted artist M S Murthy, noted that Yusuf was active socially and worked to bring awareness on several issues. "He also enjoyed his work thoroughly. He promoted a lot of young artists, after he started his own gallery - Galerie Sara Arakkal - a few years ago," he said. Yusuf was bestowed with many international and national awards for his work, including the prestigious Lorenzo De Medici Gold Medal, at Florence Internazionale Biennale in Italy He was also honoured with Karnataka Lalithkala Academy award in 1979 and 1981, a national award in 1983, a special award at the third Asian Art Biennale Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1986, Karnataka Lalithkala Academy honor in 1989 and K Venkatappa Lifetime Achievement Award and others. He has held hundreds of individual and group exhibitions around the world. His last exhibition ('Faces of Creativity') comprised a series of 135 portraits of contemporary Indian artists. He is survived by his wife Sara Arakkal, a curator and Shibhu Arakkal, well-known photographer. Quote "There is an anguished being, disturbed and in distress somewhere deep inside me. A human being who yearns for a meaningful existence. It is the human presence that arouses my attention and stirs my creative inner space. I have been committed through my work, seeking a definition of human situations," Yusuf is quoted as saying in his website.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Warning Delhi government against playing any blame game, the Supreme Court today directed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain to hold a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung by tomorrow to chalk out a strategy for curbing vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya in the national capital.

"There is no question of playing any blame game. You have the responsibility to look after the people of Delhi. You may be great but you have to do something to maintain that stature. Nothing digging of the past should happen. You have to look at the future," a bench of justices M B Lokur and L Nageswara Rao said.

It refused to go into the allegations and counter- allegations over power tussle between the LG and Kejriwal-led government and said "no substitute" should attend the meeting with LG, except whose names have been proposed.

The court also asked Union Health secretary P K Mishra, Chief Secretary K K Sharma, commissioners of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and New Delhi Municipal Council, CEO of Delhi Cantonment Board to attend the meeting with LG.

Apart from the officials and office bearers of civic bodies, the court also asked Amicus Curiae Colin Gonsalves, Chairman of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and General Manager of Northern Railway and Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority to attend the meeting to discuss the steps to be taken to check the menace in the city.

The bench expressed annoyance after senior advocate Chirag Uday Singh appearing for Delhi government and Health Minister Satyender Jain alleged that officials are not reporting to the minister and not coming to the meetings.

"There cannot be two Delhi governments. Officials are not reporting to us they are not coming to the meeting. We should know with whom we should sit and talk," Singh said.

To this, the infuriated bench said, "Don't beat around the bush. Do we tell you with whom you should sit and talk. Who is the elected government? There cannot be two elected governments. The elected government has responsibility to look after the people." The apex court further said that whatever has happened are things of the past and the Delhi government has to look at the future and take steps for the betterment of the city.

"You have to tell us how you can work in harmony. It can't be like you are in a closed set of mind. Both of you sit together and work for the betterment of Delhi. What has happened has already happened. Look at the future," the court said after the Delhi government counsel told it that they are helpless in the prevailing situation.

During the hearing, the Delhi government counsel further alleged that civic bodies are not under its jurisdiction and they allocate funds to them for sanitation and cleanliness of the area falling in their jurisdiction.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar appearing for Delhi Chief Secretary opposed the contention and said that it's good to say for them that civic bodies are not under their jurisdiction but they do have jurisdiction over the local bodies as per statute.

Kumar said that the affidavit of health secretary and minister are not at variance and they are not "at issue" with each other and what needs to be done to check the dengue and chikungunya menace has been outlined.

During the hearing, the court rejected the plea of waiving Rs 25,000 as cost imposed on Jain yesterday for failing to file the affidavit disclosing the names of non-cooperating officials after he claimed that he had actually complied with the directions.

"The health minister is the head of department. He doesn't need anyone's permission to file an affidavit. When no one came forward, the minister filed the affidavit. What was wrong in it? The facts needs to be looked into entirety. He has actually complied with the directions of the court," the Delhi government counsel said.

To this, the bench said, "If that is your argument then you need to answer several other questions. Your plea for waiving of cost is rejected."

The court, then asked Jain what steps he proposes to take to check the menace of dengue and chikungunya in the national capital.

"You tell five steps that you want to take to prevent dengue and chikungunya from spreading in Delhi," the bench said.

Delhi government counsel then listed five steps saying they have given contract for 300 fogging machines, 1,000 beds in three hospitals have been reserved under fever management programme, number of mohalla clinics to be increased to 1,000 as against 107 at present, awareness programme, funds to be released to civic bodies for sanitation and cleanliness.

Amicus curiae Gonsalves suggested that work has come to a standstill and both the parties needs to sit together to chalk out strategy for making things better in city.

He said that accountability needs to be fixed on the person responsible for bringing the situation to such a level when people are dying due to vector-borne diseases.

Gonsalves sought court's intervention and direction for cleaning of garbage as figures are "very alarming" and policy of fogging should be reviewed as several harmful chemicals are used in it and even European Union has banned the process.

The apex court had yesterday imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Jain for failing to file an affidavit disclosing names of officials whom he had alleged of not cooperating in checking the menace of dengue and chikungunya in the national capital.

It had last year taken suo motu taken cognisance of the death of a seven-year-old boy due to dengue last year after being allegedly denied treatment by five private hospitals and subsequent suicide by his parents, and sought response from Delhi government.

The matter was taken suo motu cognisance after the couple -- Laxmichandra and Babita Rout, both natives of Odisha, committed suicide by jumping from a four-storeyed building in South Delhi's Lado Sarai after their only son Avinash died of suspected dengue.

Five hospitals -- Max hospital in Saket, Moolchand Khairatiram Hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Aakash Hospital in Malviya Nagar, Saket City Hospital and Irene Hospital, Kalkaji, were issued show cause notices to explain why their registration should not be cancelled for allegedly refusing to admit the boy.

NEW DELHI: Warning Delhi government against playing any blame game, the Supreme Court today directed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain to hold a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung by tomorrow to chalk out a strategy for curbing vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya in the national capital. "There is no question of playing any blame game. You have the responsibility to look after the people of Delhi. You may be great but you have to do something to maintain that stature. Nothing digging of the past should happen. You have to look at the future," a bench of justices M B Lokur and L Nageswara Rao said. It refused to go into the allegations and counter- allegations over power tussle between the LG and Kejriwal-led government and said "no substitute" should attend the meeting with LG, except whose names have been proposed. The court also asked Union Health secretary P K Mishra, Chief Secretary K K Sharma, commissioners of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and New Delhi Municipal Council, CEO of Delhi Cantonment Board to attend the meeting with LG. Apart from the officials and office bearers of civic bodies, the court also asked Amicus Curiae Colin Gonsalves, Chairman of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and General Manager of Northern Railway and Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority to attend the meeting to discuss the steps to be taken to check the menace in the city. The bench expressed annoyance after senior advocate Chirag Uday Singh appearing for Delhi government and Health Minister Satyender Jain alleged that officials are not reporting to the minister and not coming to the meetings. "There cannot be two Delhi governments. Officials are not reporting to us they are not coming to the meeting. We should know with whom we should sit and talk," Singh said. To this, the infuriated bench said, "Don't beat around the bush. Do we tell you with whom you should sit and talk. Who is the elected government? There cannot be two elected governments. The elected government has responsibility to look after the people." The apex court further said that whatever has happened are things of the past and the Delhi government has to look at the future and take steps for the betterment of the city. "You have to tell us how you can work in harmony. It can't be like you are in a closed set of mind. Both of you sit together and work for the betterment of Delhi. What has happened has already happened. Look at the future," the court said after the Delhi government counsel told it that they are helpless in the prevailing situation. During the hearing, the Delhi government counsel further alleged that civic bodies are not under its jurisdiction and they allocate funds to them for sanitation and cleanliness of the area falling in their jurisdiction. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar appearing for Delhi Chief Secretary opposed the contention and said that it's good to say for them that civic bodies are not under their jurisdiction but they do have jurisdiction over the local bodies as per statute. Kumar said that the affidavit of health secretary and minister are not at variance and they are not "at issue" with each other and what needs to be done to check the dengue and chikungunya menace has been outlined. During the hearing, the court rejected the plea of waiving Rs 25,000 as cost imposed on Jain yesterday for failing to file the affidavit disclosing the names of non-cooperating officials after he claimed that he had actually complied with the directions. "The health minister is the head of department. He doesn't need anyone's permission to file an affidavit. When no one came forward, the minister filed the affidavit. What was wrong in it? The facts needs to be looked into entirety. He has actually complied with the directions of the court," the Delhi government counsel said. To this, the bench said, "If that is your argument then you need to answer several other questions. Your plea for waiving of cost is rejected." The court, then asked Jain what steps he proposes to take to check the menace of dengue and chikungunya in the national capital. "You tell five steps that you want to take to prevent dengue and chikungunya from spreading in Delhi," the bench said. Delhi government counsel then listed five steps saying they have given contract for 300 fogging machines, 1,000 beds in three hospitals have been reserved under fever management programme, number of mohalla clinics to be increased to 1,000 as against 107 at present, awareness programme, funds to be released to civic bodies for sanitation and cleanliness. Amicus curiae Gonsalves suggested that work has come to a standstill and both the parties needs to sit together to chalk out strategy for making things better in city. He said that accountability needs to be fixed on the person responsible for bringing the situation to such a level when people are dying due to vector-borne diseases. Gonsalves sought court's intervention and direction for cleaning of garbage as figures are "very alarming" and policy of fogging should be reviewed as several harmful chemicals are used in it and even European Union has banned the process. The apex court had yesterday imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Jain for failing to file an affidavit disclosing names of officials whom he had alleged of not cooperating in checking the menace of dengue and chikungunya in the national capital. It had last year taken suo motu taken cognisance of the death of a seven-year-old boy due to dengue last year after being allegedly denied treatment by five private hospitals and subsequent suicide by his parents, and sought response from Delhi government. The matter was taken suo motu cognisance after the couple -- Laxmichandra and Babita Rout, both natives of Odisha, committed suicide by jumping from a four-storeyed building in South Delhi's Lado Sarai after their only son Avinash died of suspected dengue. Five hospitals -- Max hospital in Saket, Moolchand Khairatiram Hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Aakash Hospital in Malviya Nagar, Saket City Hospital and Irene Hospital, Kalkaji, were issued show cause notices to explain why their registration should not be cancelled for allegedly refusing to admit the boy.
S Subhakeerthana By

Express News Service

Bakkiyaraj Kannan, the director of Remo, starring Sivakarthikeyan and Keerthy Suresh in the lead, is confident that his decision to make the Maan Karate actor play a nurse will pay off handsomely.

Having assisted Atlee in Raja Rani (2013) and Sundar C in Kalakalappu (2012), he tells CE, People like the idea of a man playing a woman. They dont get bored of watching such characters onscreen. I cant say why, but I think men being sloppily dressed as women and their funny mannerisms appeals to everyone. For example, Kamal Haasan in Avvai Shanmughi (1996), Prashanth in Aan Azhagan (1995) and Vivekh in Guru En Aalu (2009)...audiences still remember these films because of the lady get-ups.

He is debuting with this film as a director. Is he not nervous as October 7 will have Rekka and Devi (l) releasing alongside? Absolutely not! You cannot categorise Remo under a particular genre. As a team, we are sure of the films success because of Sivakarthikeyan. The trailer had clocked over a million views in less than 24 hours of its launch. His fan base is such. Also, his last release Rajini Murugan was a sensational hit especially in the B and C centres. In fact, hes a saleable mass hero, who has immense support from the family audiences. As long as youre giving variety to the audience within that commercial framework, it will work. We were particular that nobody should feel that Siva is in disguise, he smiles.

However, Bakkiyaraj quickly adds he did feel the pressure because of the big-budget. Veterans like cinematographer PC Sreeram, sound engineer Resul Pookutty and Hollywood make-up artist Sean Foot supported me. We spent a lot of time in pre-production and we knew what we were doing. There was a lot of positive energy around.

It was Atlee who introduced the director to Sivakarthikeyan. When I told Atlee about the idea of Siva playing a female character, he liked it and put me on to him. Though initially, Siva was apprehensive if he could take this decision at the growing stage of his career, he was eventually convinced by the script. Everyone, including music director Anirudh wanted him to give it a shot as it would be different from what all the roles he had essayed before,

he explains.

While Sivakarthikeyan plays a nurse and a drama artiste (guy-next-door), Keerthy Suresh is a doctor. Actually, we wanted to have some other heroine because we thought repeating Keerthy in Remo after Rajini Murugan wasnt a good idea. Then, PC Sreeram suggested that we have her. Moreover, the team wanted someone who could be well-versed in Tamil, he says.

The filmmaker could not stop gushing about Sivas professionalism. No actor could have done Remo except Siva. For more than 60% of the film, he is seen as a nurse. We had test shoots, and 15 different make-up and styling for that role. We zeroed in on the one you see in the movie.

The make-up was so thorough that even traffic cops did not recognise the actor! One night, we asked him to walk up to a traffic constable to ask for directions. The cop told him that women arent supposed to go out late. He didnt recognise Siva! When we were shooting in Vizag, a passer-by asked who this new heroine was (looking at Siva) we told him that she was Anushka Shettys sister. He believed it, he laughs.

Bakkiyaraj Kannan, the director of Remo, starring Sivakarthikeyan and Keerthy Suresh in the lead, is confident that his decision to make the Maan Karate actor play a nurse will pay off handsomely. Having assisted Atlee in Raja Rani (2013) and Sundar C in Kalakalappu (2012), he tells CE, People like the idea of a man playing a woman. They dont get bored of watching such characters onscreen. I cant say why, but I think men being sloppily dressed as women and their funny mannerisms appeals to everyone. For example, Kamal Haasan in Avvai Shanmughi (1996), Prashanth in Aan Azhagan (1995) and Vivekh in Guru En Aalu (2009)...audiences still remember these films because of the lady get-ups. He is debuting with this film as a director. Is he not nervous as October 7 will have Rekka and Devi (l) releasing alongside? Absolutely not! You cannot categorise Remo under a particular genre. As a team, we are sure of the films success because of Sivakarthikeyan. The trailer had clocked over a million views in less than 24 hours of its launch. His fan base is such. Also, his last release Rajini Murugan was a sensational hit especially in the B and C centres. In fact, hes a saleable mass hero, who has immense support from the family audiences. As long as youre giving variety to the audience within that commercial framework, it will work. We were particular that nobody should feel that Siva is in disguise, he smiles. However, Bakkiyaraj quickly adds he did feel the pressure because of the big-budget. Veterans like cinematographer PC Sreeram, sound engineer Resul Pookutty and Hollywood make-up artist Sean Foot supported me. We spent a lot of time in pre-production and we knew what we were doing. There was a lot of positive energy around. It was Atlee who introduced the director to Sivakarthikeyan. When I told Atlee about the idea of Siva playing a female character, he liked it and put me on to him. Though initially, Siva was apprehensive if he could take this decision at the growing stage of his career, he was eventually convinced by the script. Everyone, including music director Anirudh wanted him to give it a shot as it would be different from what all the roles he had essayed before, he explains. While Sivakarthikeyan plays a nurse and a drama artiste (guy-next-door), Keerthy Suresh is a doctor. Actually, we wanted to have some other heroine because we thought repeating Keerthy in Remo after Rajini Murugan wasnt a good idea. Then, PC Sreeram suggested that we have her. Moreover, the team wanted someone who could be well-versed in Tamil, he says. The filmmaker could not stop gushing about Sivas professionalism. No actor could have done Remo except Siva. For more than 60% of the film, he is seen as a nurse. We had test shoots, and 15 different make-up and styling for that role. We zeroed in on the one you see in the movie. The make-up was so thorough that even traffic cops did not recognise the actor! One night, we asked him to walk up to a traffic constable to ask for directions. The cop told him that women arent supposed to go out late. He didnt recognise Siva! When we were shooting in Vizag, a passer-by asked who this new heroine was (looking at Siva) we told him that she was Anushka Shettys sister. He believed it, he laughs.
By ANI

Washington D.C.: Looks like a ray of hope to cure HIV patients is here.

Researchers at National Institute for Health Research are hopeful of a cure after treating the first patient with a promising new treatment that could kill all traces of the virus.

A partnership sparked by NIHR is behind this collaborative UK effort for the new treatment, which is a first-of-its-kind.

Six years ago this month, a meeting took place between five leading UK research establishments which resulted in a shared commitment to find a cure for HIV.

A partnership sparked by the National Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI), part of the NIHR, identified in that meeting that while there is research into treatment of HIV, as there is for many chronic conditions, there was no research into eradication of the disease.

Each of the British research institutions present- Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, King's College London and University College London- agreed that they could provide a part of the jigsaw needed to find the cure, but could not achieve this in isolation.

Managing Director of NOCRI Mark Samuels said, This was a meeting of some of the UK's top medical research leaders and it was a privilege to encourage joining forces.

"We understand the power in brokering crucial relationships to pioneer health breakthroughs, and this meeting was a prime example of that, he continued. Together, we identified a research need which could only be achieved by creating a collaboration between these leading establishments.

"The competitive nature of the relationship between Oxford and Cambridge, spanning 800 years, is widely known, but there is also competition running across all these leading universities, particularly in terms of vying for research funding, he added.



Samuels further said, Yet here was an opportunity to put that competition aside, and collaborate on a global health challenge. As a result, the Medical Research Council awarded one of the first joint grants to these five leading biomedical research institutions.

And in return each research centre provides its expertise to complete the jigsaw needed to find a cure for HIV- from patients, to the right doctors, the right diagnostic technology, the mathematician to analyse results and so on. CHERUB was born.

CHERUB (Collaborative HIV Eradication of viral Reservoirs: UK BRC) is a new approach to HIV therapeutics in the UK.

It is one of the first co-operatives of UK Biomedical Research Centres to engage internationally in one of the most exciting new fields of biomedical research, that of HIV cure.

CHERUB brings together, amongst others, clinicians, virologists, immunologists, molecular biologists and mathematical modellers under the umbrella of the NIHR.

Over 30 medical researchers attended a kick-off meeting, and it was acknowledged that so many world-leaders in the field had never been in one room together, even on the conference circuit.

This collaboration is the most significant attempt to find a cure for HIV in the UK.

And in the six years since, great progress has been made. The 'Kick and Kill' study will recruit 50 HIV study participants, in which researchers activate HIV infected cells which are 'asleep'.

By waking them and treating them with an HDAC inhibitor drug, the body's own immune system is encouraged to fight the disease.

HIV is a virus infection that is treatable using Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). ART works by stopping HIV from copying itself and spreading. ART reduces the amount of virus in the blood stream to such low levels that it prevents the virus from being passed on to others, and gives the body's immune system a chance to recover.

But ART alone cannot cure HIV. This is because it only works on HIV infected cells that are active, and most cells infected with HIV in the human body contain resting or sleeping virus. These cells represent an invisible reservoir of HIV, and are one of the reasons it is so difficult to cure the infection. If ART is stopped, usually the virus returns.

There is a strong interest amongst people living with HIV, as well as researchers, to look at different ways that could help to cure HIV and allow people to remain healthy without needing lifelong medication.

Sarah Fidler, the co-Principal Investigator on the study, said, This first participant has now completed the intervention and we have found it to be safe and well tolerated. Only when all 50 study participants have completed the whole study, by 2018, will we be able to tell if there has been an effect on curing HIV. Professor John Frater's lab in Oxford will lead on the tests and assays to determine if the trial has had an effect.

Professor Jonathan Weber, Chair of CHERUB Scientific Steering Committee and Director of Research for the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, said, CHERUB has made great progress since it was born six years ago. We are now actively recruiting patients to test the 'Kick and Kill' theory.

NOCRI was instrumental to this research starting. We are all thoroughly committed to finding a cure for HIV, but if the collaboration between this set of HIV researchers had not been prompted at that meeting six years ago, this simply would not have happened, Weber added.

The NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI) brings world-leading investigators, scientific industries and research facilities together, acting as a catalyst to make vital research happen.

By brokering crucial relationships, NOCRI helps deliver pioneering health breakthroughs, bringing drugs, devices and diagnostics to patients faster.

Washington D.C.: Looks like a ray of hope to cure HIV patients is here. Researchers at National Institute for Health Research are hopeful of a cure after treating the first patient with a promising new treatment that could kill all traces of the virus. A partnership sparked by NIHR is behind this collaborative UK effort for the new treatment, which is a first-of-its-kind. Six years ago this month, a meeting took place between five leading UK research establishments which resulted in a shared commitment to find a cure for HIV. A partnership sparked by the National Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI), part of the NIHR, identified in that meeting that while there is research into treatment of HIV, as there is for many chronic conditions, there was no research into eradication of the disease. Each of the British research institutions present- Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, King's College London and University College London- agreed that they could provide a part of the jigsaw needed to find the cure, but could not achieve this in isolation. Managing Director of NOCRI Mark Samuels said, This was a meeting of some of the UK's top medical research leaders and it was a privilege to encourage joining forces. "We understand the power in brokering crucial relationships to pioneer health breakthroughs, and this meeting was a prime example of that, he continued. Together, we identified a research need which could only be achieved by creating a collaboration between these leading establishments. "The competitive nature of the relationship between Oxford and Cambridge, spanning 800 years, is widely known, but there is also competition running across all these leading universities, particularly in terms of vying for research funding, he added. Samuels further said, Yet here was an opportunity to put that competition aside, and collaborate on a global health challenge. As a result, the Medical Research Council awarded one of the first joint grants to these five leading biomedical research institutions. And in return each research centre provides its expertise to complete the jigsaw needed to find a cure for HIV- from patients, to the right doctors, the right diagnostic technology, the mathematician to analyse results and so on. CHERUB was born. CHERUB (Collaborative HIV Eradication of viral Reservoirs: UK BRC) is a new approach to HIV therapeutics in the UK. It is one of the first co-operatives of UK Biomedical Research Centres to engage internationally in one of the most exciting new fields of biomedical research, that of HIV cure. CHERUB brings together, amongst others, clinicians, virologists, immunologists, molecular biologists and mathematical modellers under the umbrella of the NIHR. Over 30 medical researchers attended a kick-off meeting, and it was acknowledged that so many world-leaders in the field had never been in one room together, even on the conference circuit. This collaboration is the most significant attempt to find a cure for HIV in the UK. And in the six years since, great progress has been made. The 'Kick and Kill' study will recruit 50 HIV study participants, in which researchers activate HIV infected cells which are 'asleep'. By waking them and treating them with an HDAC inhibitor drug, the body's own immune system is encouraged to fight the disease. HIV is a virus infection that is treatable using Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). ART works by stopping HIV from copying itself and spreading. ART reduces the amount of virus in the blood stream to such low levels that it prevents the virus from being passed on to others, and gives the body's immune system a chance to recover. But ART alone cannot cure HIV. This is because it only works on HIV infected cells that are active, and most cells infected with HIV in the human body contain resting or sleeping virus. These cells represent an invisible reservoir of HIV, and are one of the reasons it is so difficult to cure the infection. If ART is stopped, usually the virus returns. There is a strong interest amongst people living with HIV, as well as researchers, to look at different ways that could help to cure HIV and allow people to remain healthy without needing lifelong medication. Sarah Fidler, the co-Principal Investigator on the study, said, This first participant has now completed the intervention and we have found it to be safe and well tolerated. Only when all 50 study participants have completed the whole study, by 2018, will we be able to tell if there has been an effect on curing HIV. Professor John Frater's lab in Oxford will lead on the tests and assays to determine if the trial has had an effect. Professor Jonathan Weber, Chair of CHERUB Scientific Steering Committee and Director of Research for the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, said, CHERUB has made great progress since it was born six years ago. We are now actively recruiting patients to test the 'Kick and Kill' theory. NOCRI was instrumental to this research starting. We are all thoroughly committed to finding a cure for HIV, but if the collaboration between this set of HIV researchers had not been prompted at that meeting six years ago, this simply would not have happened, Weber added. The NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI) brings world-leading investigators, scientific industries and research facilities together, acting as a catalyst to make vital research happen. By brokering crucial relationships, NOCRI helps deliver pioneering health breakthroughs, bringing drugs, devices and diagnostics to patients faster.
Tehran, Iran, October 4

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Irans Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has said that the OPECs recent decisions have laid good impact on the international oil market.

As much as agreements push toward implementation and oil is drained from the market, the situation will improve, he said, Mehr news agency reported October 4.

The cooperation of non-members with members of OPEC will also be of great help, the Iranian minister said.

OPEC oil baskets price stood at $44.63 per barrel on Sept. 30, or $0.29 more than on Sept. 29.

Oil capped the biggest monthly gain since April after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed during a meeting in Algiers last week to trim supply for the first time in eight years.

While quotas will be decided at the groups official meeting in November, Libya, Nigeria and Iran have said they are exempt and Iraq has said it doesnt accept OPECs estimates of its production levels.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Raveesh, the main accused in the 2015 Dadri mob lynching case on Tuesday succumbed to death at a Delhi hospital. He was in police custody.

Though Police is claiming that Raveesh died of vector-borne disease Dengue or Chilungunya. However, informed hospital sources said that reports are yet to confirm the disease.

Raveesh was reportedly suffering from kidney disease and diabetes complaint followed with respiratory problems after which he was shifted from prison in Noida to a hospital in Delhi this morning.

More than a year ago, Mohmadd Akhlaq was mob lynched in Bisara village of Dadri for alleged cow slaughter. The mob dragged the family outside. Akhlaq and Danish, his son were repeatedly kicked, hit with bricks and stabbed. During the incident, Akhlaq's elderly mother and wife were also attacked. Though family's neighbors tried to stop the mob but could not succeed.

Police arrived on the spot only after an hour, by then Akhlaq was dead.

The accused have been arrested under section 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 458 (house-breaking), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code.

However, in complete turn of events, soon after the forensic report of the meat sample came out stating that it was cows meat and its progeny and not the meat as claimed by Akhlaqs family a case of cow slaughtering has been slapped on his family.

The case is still progressing before the court.

NEW DELHI: Raveesh, the main accused in the 2015 Dadri mob lynching case on Tuesday succumbed to death at a Delhi hospital. He was in police custody. Though Police is claiming that Raveesh died of vector-borne disease Dengue or Chilungunya. However, informed hospital sources said that reports are yet to confirm the disease. Raveesh was reportedly suffering from kidney disease and diabetes complaint followed with respiratory problems after which he was shifted from prison in Noida to a hospital in Delhi this morning. More than a year ago, Mohmadd Akhlaq was mob lynched in Bisara village of Dadri for alleged cow slaughter. The mob dragged the family outside. Akhlaq and Danish, his son were repeatedly kicked, hit with bricks and stabbed. During the incident, Akhlaq's elderly mother and wife were also attacked. Though family's neighbors tried to stop the mob but could not succeed. Police arrived on the spot only after an hour, by then Akhlaq was dead. The accused have been arrested under section 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 458 (house-breaking), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code. However, in complete turn of events, soon after the forensic report of the meat sample came out stating that it was cows meat and its progeny and not the meat as claimed by Akhlaqs family a case of cow slaughtering has been slapped on his family. The case is still progressing before the court.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A special court in city convicted Imran Jalal, 40 years, a member of Lashkar-e-Toiba on Tuesday. The accused had conspired to target IT companies like Wipro, Infosys, ITPL, Vidhana Soudha, etc in bengaluru. The city police arrested him in 2008.

The Judge Kotrayya M Hiremath convicted the accused under different sections of IPC, Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Wednesday. The five others who conspired with him are still absconding.

BENGALURU: A special court in city convicted Imran Jalal, 40 years, a member of Lashkar-e-Toiba on Tuesday. The accused had conspired to target IT companies like Wipro, Infosys, ITPL, Vidhana Soudha, etc in bengaluru. The city police arrested him in 2008. The Judge Kotrayya M Hiremath convicted the accused under different sections of IPC, Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Wednesday. The five others who conspired with him are still absconding.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH:After over three months of verbal sparring between Indian and Pakistan, the National Security Advisors of the countries  Ajit Doval and Nasir Khan Janjua  had a telephonic conversation on Monday morning even as an intelligence report talked about a massive Pakistani military build-up on the border.

Though the Pakistan Prime Ministers Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said the NSAs talked about reducing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, he didnt reveal who called whom.

And despite the high-level contact, the situation didnt appear likely to be defused anytime. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after chairing an all-party meeting on the border tension, continued his Kashmir rhetoric. Kashmiris and Pakistanis are inseparable. We will leave no stone unturned to highlight Kashmiris plight across all international forums. The meeting was convened after India announced that its Special Forces had carried out pre-emptive strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir targeting terrorists waiting to infiltrate into India. Pakistan has denied any such surgical strikes, instead said it was just cross-border firing.

Also on Monday, the Army, IAF and Navy chiefs met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at South Block and briefed him on the security situation.

Intelligence agencies have submitted to the Ministry of Defence a report about a massive military build-up on the Pakistani side of the border, sources said. A detailed report prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency in coordination with the Intelligence Bureau said Pakistan was moving its infantry and mechanised infantry units towards the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The report is said to have also stated that the Pakistan army had loaded heavy artillery and tanks on rail wagons. And to oversee his armys preparedness, Pakistani army chief General Raheel Sharif visited the headquarters of Strike Corps at Mangla in PoK on Monday. Sources claimed that the report also stated that some formations which were defensive in nature had been converted into offensive units.

Meanwhile in Punjab, the BSF foiled a intrusion bid in Gurdaspur district early in the morning. Sources said the firing took place at the Chakri outpost of the paramilitary force on the international border in the district. An officer said BSF troops had detected suspicious movements with the help of handheld thermal imagers. The intruders had crossed the border but were behind the barbed fence. When challenged and they started firing at the BSF outpost, the officer said.

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH:After over three months of verbal sparring between Indian and Pakistan, the National Security Advisors of the countries  Ajit Doval and Nasir Khan Janjua  had a telephonic conversation on Monday morning even as an intelligence report talked about a massive Pakistani military build-up on the border. Though the Pakistan Prime Ministers Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said the NSAs talked about reducing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, he didnt reveal who called whom. And despite the high-level contact, the situation didnt appear likely to be defused anytime. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after chairing an all-party meeting on the border tension, continued his Kashmir rhetoric. Kashmiris and Pakistanis are inseparable. We will leave no stone unturned to highlight Kashmiris plight across all international forums. The meeting was convened after India announced that its Special Forces had carried out pre-emptive strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir targeting terrorists waiting to infiltrate into India. Pakistan has denied any such surgical strikes, instead said it was just cross-border firing. Also on Monday, the Army, IAF and Navy chiefs met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at South Block and briefed him on the security situation. Intelligence agencies have submitted to the Ministry of Defence a report about a massive military build-up on the Pakistani side of the border, sources said. A detailed report prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency in coordination with the Intelligence Bureau said Pakistan was moving its infantry and mechanised infantry units towards the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The report is said to have also stated that the Pakistan army had loaded heavy artillery and tanks on rail wagons. And to oversee his armys preparedness, Pakistani army chief General Raheel Sharif visited the headquarters of Strike Corps at Mangla in PoK on Monday. Sources claimed that the report also stated that some formations which were defensive in nature had been converted into offensive units. Meanwhile in Punjab, the BSF foiled a intrusion bid in Gurdaspur district early in the morning. Sources said the firing took place at the Chakri outpost of the paramilitary force on the international border in the district. An officer said BSF troops had detected suspicious movements with the help of handheld thermal imagers. The intruders had crossed the border but were behind the barbed fence. When challenged and they started firing at the BSF outpost, the officer said.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Veteran actor Om Puri on Tuesday landed in a soup after expressing support to Pakistani artistes performing in India and going on to make remarks about Indian Army soldiers that lent themselves to interpretation.

A police complaint has been filed against Om Puri. Mumbai deputy commissioner of police Ashok Dudhe confirmed the complaint and said an inquiry was going on.

Puri's remarks came during a TV debate on fellow actor Salman Khans statement of support -- they are artists, not terrorists -- to Pakistani artistes working in India. You want India and Pakistan to be turned into Israel and Palestine and indulge in a fight for centuries?" asked Om Puri. I dont give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan. Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors) visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan. The actor went on to say, Who asked the soldiers to join the Army? Who told them to pick up weapons?

The 65-year-old star said he was the son of a soldier. The complaint against Om Puri was filed by the president of a local organization at the Andheri police station. The complaint alleged that the actor insulted the Indian Army and the nation and demanded that a FIR be registered against Om Puri him for sedition under Section 124 (A) of the Indian penal Code.

Fellow actor Anupam Kher questioned Om Puri's remarks. Kher tweeted, Dear #OmPuriji. Main aapki bahut izzat karta hoon. Lekin kal tv per desh ke sainik ke baare mein aapki baat sunkar bahut DUKH hua. #VerySad."

Ashoke Pandit, chairman of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), which has imposed a ban on Pakistani actors working in Bollywood, weighed in on Twitter: #OmPuri Ji, PakArtistsBanned isnt a solution bt show of solidarity 2 our martyrs. V can't b lighting pyres while cont. 2 perform with them,

Bollywood personalities have been running shy of expressing their thoughts on the question of Indo-Pakistan relations and particularly the question of actors from across the border working here. On Tuesday, veteran lyricist-writer Gulzar bristled when asked about the current tensions between the two nations at a film function. Gulzar, 82, told reporters, "Is this relevant to the programme for which we have come? Aap agar shaadi may jaayein, aur baat frontier ki karne lage, theek lagega?."

MUMBAI: Veteran actor Om Puri on Tuesday landed in a soup after expressing support to Pakistani artistes performing in India and going on to make remarks about Indian Army soldiers that lent themselves to interpretation. A police complaint has been filed against Om Puri. Mumbai deputy commissioner of police Ashok Dudhe confirmed the complaint and said an inquiry was going on. Puri's remarks came during a TV debate on fellow actor Salman Khans statement of support -- they are artists, not terrorists -- to Pakistani artistes working in India. You want India and Pakistan to be turned into Israel and Palestine and indulge in a fight for centuries?" asked Om Puri. I dont give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan. Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors) visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan. The actor went on to say, Who asked the soldiers to join the Army? Who told them to pick up weapons? The 65-year-old star said he was the son of a soldier. The complaint against Om Puri was filed by the president of a local organization at the Andheri police station. The complaint alleged that the actor insulted the Indian Army and the nation and demanded that a FIR be registered against Om Puri him for sedition under Section 124 (A) of the Indian penal Code. Fellow actor Anupam Kher questioned Om Puri's remarks. Kher tweeted, Dear #OmPuriji. Main aapki bahut izzat karta hoon. Lekin kal tv per desh ke sainik ke baare mein aapki baat sunkar bahut DUKH hua. #VerySad." Ashoke Pandit, chairman of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), which has imposed a ban on Pakistani actors working in Bollywood, weighed in on Twitter: #OmPuri Ji, PakArtistsBanned isnt a solution bt show of solidarity 2 our martyrs. V can't b lighting pyres while cont. 2 perform with them, Bollywood personalities have been running shy of expressing their thoughts on the question of Indo-Pakistan relations and particularly the question of actors from across the border working here. On Tuesday, veteran lyricist-writer Gulzar bristled when asked about the current tensions between the two nations at a film function. Gulzar, 82, told reporters, "Is this relevant to the programme for which we have come? Aap agar shaadi may jaayein, aur baat frontier ki karne lage, theek lagega?."
Express News Service By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: After drought, the Marathwada region in Maharashtra is experiencing floods. According to government sources, nearly 50 per cent of kharif crop has been washed away. Marathwada, which was reeling under a drought, received good rains throughout this season and we were expecting a good yield. However, heavy rains in the past three days have destroyed crops in all eight districts of Marathwada, including Osmanabad and Hingoli districts. As per reports received till Monday morning, over 1.4 million hectares of crops are affected, Agriculture Minister, Pandurang Fundkar told Express.

Cotton and soybeans are the two cash crops that have received the maximum damage, he said, adding, but, the rains have filled all the reservoirs to the brim and that will help the rabi crop.

The State cabinet, which is to meet in Aurangabad on Tuesday, was to discuss some 40 proposals of pending development projects in Marathwada including the development of the water grid system, on the lines of Telangana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, to overcome scarcity of drinking water and the development of second and third phase of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor.

However, the State cabinet is likely to announce several short and long-term flood-relief measures instead of announcing the development projects.

MUMBAI: After drought, the Marathwada region in Maharashtra is experiencing floods. According to government sources, nearly 50 per cent of kharif crop has been washed away. Marathwada, which was reeling under a drought, received good rains throughout this season and we were expecting a good yield. However, heavy rains in the past three days have destroyed crops in all eight districts of Marathwada, including Osmanabad and Hingoli districts. As per reports received till Monday morning, over 1.4 million hectares of crops are affected, Agriculture Minister, Pandurang Fundkar told Express. Cotton and soybeans are the two cash crops that have received the maximum damage, he said, adding, but, the rains have filled all the reservoirs to the brim and that will help the rabi crop. The State cabinet, which is to meet in Aurangabad on Tuesday, was to discuss some 40 proposals of pending development projects in Marathwada including the development of the water grid system, on the lines of Telangana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, to overcome scarcity of drinking water and the development of second and third phase of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor. However, the State cabinet is likely to announce several short and long-term flood-relief measures instead of announcing the development projects.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav to undergo 25-year jail term each for their roles in the sensational kidnapping and killing of Nitish Katara in 2002. The apex court, however, modified the award of 30-year jail term, handed down to the Yadavs by the Delhi High Court, saying that the 25 year imprisonment for the offence of murder and five year jail term for causing destruction of evidence would run concurrently and not consecutively

A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan also scaled down the jail term of 25 years to 20 years to be awarded to third co-convict Sukhdev Pehalwan in the case.

The SC had concurred with the findings of the High Court that the offence fell under the category of honour killing, deserving harsh punishment, in order to send across a strong message to the possible offenders in its 93-page ruling. In the instant case, the High Court has thought it appropriate instead of imposing death sentence to impose the sentence as it has done. Therefore, the sentence imposed by the High Court cannot be found fault on that score, the Bench said.

Though the High Court treated the murder as honour killing, yet regard being had to other factors, did not think appropriate to impose extreme penalty of death sentence. We may hasten to clarify that we have highlighted the factum of honour killing, as that is a seminal ground for imposing the fixed term sentence of 25 years for the offences under section 302/34 IPC on the two accused persons, who though highly educated in good educational institutions, had not cultivated the ability to abandon the depreciable feelings and attitude for centuries, the Bench said.

One may feel My honour is my life but that does not mean sustaining ones honour at the cost of another. Freedom, independence, constitutional identity, individual choice and thought of a woman, be a wife or sister or daughter or mother, cannot be allowed to be curtailed definitely not by application of physical force or threat or mental cruelty in the name of his self-assumed honour.

That apart, neither the family members nor the members of the collective has any right to assault the boy chosen by the girl. Her individual choice is her self-respect and creating dent in it is destroying her honour. And to impose so called brotherly or fatherly honour or class honour by eliminating her choice is a crime of extreme brutality, more so when it is done under a guise. It is a vice, condemnable and deplorable perception of honour, comparable to medieval obsessive assertions, it said.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav to undergo 25-year jail term each for their roles in the sensational kidnapping and killing of Nitish Katara in 2002. The apex court, however, modified the award of 30-year jail term, handed down to the Yadavs by the Delhi High Court, saying that the 25 year imprisonment for the offence of murder and five year jail term for causing destruction of evidence would run concurrently and not consecutively A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan also scaled down the jail term of 25 years to 20 years to be awarded to third co-convict Sukhdev Pehalwan in the case. The SC had concurred with the findings of the High Court that the offence fell under the category of honour killing, deserving harsh punishment, in order to send across a strong message to the possible offenders in its 93-page ruling. In the instant case, the High Court has thought it appropriate instead of imposing death sentence to impose the sentence as it has done. Therefore, the sentence imposed by the High Court cannot be found fault on that score, the Bench said. Though the High Court treated the murder as honour killing, yet regard being had to other factors, did not think appropriate to impose extreme penalty of death sentence. We may hasten to clarify that we have highlighted the factum of honour killing, as that is a seminal ground for imposing the fixed term sentence of 25 years for the offences under section 302/34 IPC on the two accused persons, who though highly educated in good educational institutions, had not cultivated the ability to abandon the depreciable feelings and attitude for centuries, the Bench said. One may feel My honour is my life but that does not mean sustaining ones honour at the cost of another. Freedom, independence, constitutional identity, individual choice and thought of a woman, be a wife or sister or daughter or mother, cannot be allowed to be curtailed definitely not by application of physical force or threat or mental cruelty in the name of his self-assumed honour. That apart, neither the family members nor the members of the collective has any right to assault the boy chosen by the girl. Her individual choice is her self-respect and creating dent in it is destroying her honour. And to impose so called brotherly or fatherly honour or class honour by eliminating her choice is a crime of extreme brutality, more so when it is done under a guise. It is a vice, condemnable and deplorable perception of honour, comparable to medieval obsessive assertions, it said.
By Express News Service

Bengaluru: Karnataka Government has on Tuesday told Supreme Court that it has already started complying with its order by releasing 6000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from Monday night. SC had directed the state to release 6000 cusecs every day from Oct 1 to 6.

Apart from releasing 36,000 cusecs till Oct 6 as directed by the Apex Court, the state government has also expressed its readiness to release 1500 cusecs on daily basis from October 7 to 18. Special session of the state legislature had on Monday authorized the government to appropriate decision on release of cauvery water for irrigation purposes to protect the interests of farmers and the state.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Government has on Tuesday told Supreme Court that it has already started complying with its order by releasing 6000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from Monday night. SC had directed the state to release 6000 cusecs every day from Oct 1 to 6. Apart from releasing 36,000 cusecs till Oct 6 as directed by the Apex Court, the state government has also expressed its readiness to release 1500 cusecs on daily basis from October 7 to 18. Special session of the state legislature had on Monday authorized the government to appropriate decision on release of cauvery water for irrigation purposes to protect the interests of farmers and the state.
Sumit Kumar Singh By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: After two and half years, Delhi Police on Tuesday realized that they will not be able to probe the financial irregularities into the now defunct Indian Premier League team Kochi Tuskers related to the mysterious murder of the socialite and Congress leader Shashi Tharoors wife Sunanda Pushkar.



The Delhi Police have written to the Enforcement Directorate to investigating the financial motive behind the murder.



Sources said that RP Upadhyaya, Joint commissioner of Delhi, heading the Pushkar murder case has written a letter to Enforcement Directorates director Karnal Singh to investigate the financial aspect and it is may spread across several countries.

So far, Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police was probing the financial aspect. Strangely, Delhi Police top investigators realized the handover the financial aspect probe to Enforcement Directorate after a lapse of two years.



To probe IPL angle in murder, Delhi Police had examined three TV journalists whom she allegedly contacted before her death in January 2014. Sources said that Sunanda had contacted Barkha Dutt, Rahul Kanwal, Prema Sri Devi, Sagarika Ghosh and Nalini Singh, and had also planned to hold a press conference on the issue.



In most of the phone calls, Sunanda claimed that she would reveal everything she knew about Tharoors role in the IPL controversy in 2010.



Last year, the then Commissioner of Police BS Bassi had given Economic Offence Wing to probe the financial angle into the murder.

Strangely, even after a lapse of two and half years, the police is still not clear how she died.

Though, police have registered a murder case last year after AIIMS declared that death was not natural, they are still knocking doorstop forensic units to gets the conclusive autopsy report. The police even visited the US twice and also sought help from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), yet they are not clear about viscera report.



Rather focusing on viscera report for last two years, the police have ignored the basic investigation into a murder case as it initially claimed that it was a suicide case.



Though the final a medical report from AIIMS, which analyzed findings on her viscera sample by a Federal Bureau of Investigations lab in Washington, stated that her death was not natural, police still went to the US and sought further clarifications.

Interestingly, the FBI in its report had endorsed the AIIMS report given by Dr Sudhir Gupta of poisoning as the cause and also saying that a dangerous chemical was present in her body that may have killed her.



The police had formed a Special Investigative Team to probe the case but all the officers constituted initially have been transferred eventually.



Sunanda, who married Tharoor in 2010, was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside a room at the Leela Palace Hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014. Police registered a murder case on January 1, 2015. Prior to her death, Sunanda was embroiled in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, whom she accused of stalking her husband.

NEW DELHI: After two and half years, Delhi Police on Tuesday realized that they will not be able to probe the financial irregularities into the now defunct Indian Premier League team Kochi Tuskers related to the mysterious murder of the socialite and Congress leader Shashi Tharoors wife Sunanda Pushkar. The Delhi Police have written to the Enforcement Directorate to investigating the financial motive behind the murder. Sources said that RP Upadhyaya, Joint commissioner of Delhi, heading the Pushkar murder case has written a letter to Enforcement Directorates director Karnal Singh to investigate the financial aspect and it is may spread across several countries. So far, Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police was probing the financial aspect. Strangely, Delhi Police top investigators realized the handover the financial aspect probe to Enforcement Directorate after a lapse of two years. To probe IPL angle in murder, Delhi Police had examined three TV journalists whom she allegedly contacted before her death in January 2014. Sources said that Sunanda had contacted Barkha Dutt, Rahul Kanwal, Prema Sri Devi, Sagarika Ghosh and Nalini Singh, and had also planned to hold a press conference on the issue. In most of the phone calls, Sunanda claimed that she would reveal everything she knew about Tharoors role in the IPL controversy in 2010. Last year, the then Commissioner of Police BS Bassi had given Economic Offence Wing to probe the financial angle into the murder. Strangely, even after a lapse of two and half years, the police is still not clear how she died. Though, police have registered a murder case last year after AIIMS declared that death was not natural, they are still knocking doorstop forensic units to gets the conclusive autopsy report. The police even visited the US twice and also sought help from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), yet they are not clear about viscera report. Rather focusing on viscera report for last two years, the police have ignored the basic investigation into a murder case as it initially claimed that it was a suicide case. Though the final a medical report from AIIMS, which analyzed findings on her viscera sample by a Federal Bureau of Investigations lab in Washington, stated that her death was not natural, police still went to the US and sought further clarifications. Interestingly, the FBI in its report had endorsed the AIIMS report given by Dr Sudhir Gupta of poisoning as the cause and also saying that a dangerous chemical was present in her body that may have killed her. The police had formed a Special Investigative Team to probe the case but all the officers constituted initially have been transferred eventually. Sunanda, who married Tharoor in 2010, was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside a room at the Leela Palace Hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014. Police registered a murder case on January 1, 2015. Prior to her death, Sunanda was embroiled in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, whom she accused of stalking her husband.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The BJPs central leaders were touched to the quick again on Tuesday by demands for proof that surgical strikes were indeed carried out by the Indian Army against Pakistan-supported terror launch pads across the Line of Conrol [LoC] in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir [PoK] on Sept. 29.

After Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals clever dig on Monday that evidence of the strike may kindly be furnished to scotch international skepticism, it was Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam who went a step further and called the strikes "fake".

"Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. Politics over national interest [sic]," Nirupam tweeted.

The tweet provoked stinging criticism from the BJP and his own party hastened to "totally dissociate" itself from his remarks.

Union minister Uma Bharti hit back at Nirupam and suggested the Congress leader might consider taking Pakistani citizenship. "Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about the surgical strike they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan," Bharti told reporters in Pune.

Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP.

Politics over national interest pic.twitter.com/4KN6iDqDo5  Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) October 4, 2016

In New Delhi, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the party has taken serious note of Nirupam's tweet and distanced the party from it. "The Indian National Congress disagrees completely with the statement of Sanjay Nirupam," Surjewala said, adding that the party has "full faith" in the Indian armed forces.

Another Union minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad trained his guns at Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, who lauded the Prime Minister for ordering the decisive action, but also added the rider that evidence of the action should be furnished to convince naysayers internationally.

If he believes in the exemplary valor of the armed forces, then why is Kejriwal getting swayed by Pakistan to ask for proof of the operation? asked Prasad.

It was very unfortunate that Kejriwals insinuation made headlines in Pakistan, Prasad added. If the Pakistani media is saying something, why is an Indian chief minister being influenced?

As for Chidambarams remarks, also seeking proof of the surgical action, the minister asked whether Congress president Sonia Gandhi - who had herself issued a statement congratulating the Prime Minister Narendra Modi - subscribed to the skepticism.

Now that Chidambaram is suggesting that its up to the government to provide proof, Soniaji should clarify if his statement is the official line of the Congress, asked Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Here are the top reactions:

Uma Bhartis retort

"Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about the surgical strike they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan."

Randeep Surjewalas retreat

"The Indian National Congress disagrees completely with the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. The Congress has full faith in the Indian armed forces.

Kejriwals praise

I have supported the Prime Minister, applauded the Army. I only said Pakistan is spreading false propaganda in the world that surgical strikes did not happen. We all believe that surgical strikes took place.

Ravi Shankar Prasads reaction

If he believes in the exemplary valour of the armed forces, then why is Kejriwal getting swayed by Pakistan to ask for proof of the operation?

Anna Hazares criticism

"I condemn it [Kejriwals statement]. This concerns the country, its people. We must trust the Army's words. We should not doubt what the Army has said."



NEW DELHI: The BJPs central leaders were touched to the quick again on Tuesday by demands for proof that surgical strikes were indeed carried out by the Indian Army against Pakistan-supported terror launch pads across the Line of Conrol [LoC] in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir [PoK] on Sept. 29. After Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals clever dig on Monday that evidence of the strike may kindly be furnished to scotch international skepticism, it was Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam who went a step further and called the strikes "fake". "Every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. Politics over national interest [sic]," Nirupam tweeted. The tweet provoked stinging criticism from the BJP and his own party hastened to "totally dissociate" itself from his remarks. Union minister Uma Bharti hit back at Nirupam and suggested the Congress leader might consider taking Pakistani citizenship. "Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about the surgical strike they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan," Bharti told reporters in Pune. Every Indian wants #SurgicalStrikesAgainstPak but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by #BJP. Politics over national interest pic.twitter.com/4KN6iDqDo5  Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) October 4, 2016 In New Delhi, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the party has taken serious note of Nirupam's tweet and distanced the party from it. "The Indian National Congress disagrees completely with the statement of Sanjay Nirupam," Surjewala said, adding that the party has "full faith" in the Indian armed forces. Another Union minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad trained his guns at Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, who lauded the Prime Minister for ordering the decisive action, but also added the rider that evidence of the action should be furnished to convince naysayers internationally. If he believes in the exemplary valor of the armed forces, then why is Kejriwal getting swayed by Pakistan to ask for proof of the operation? asked Prasad. It was very unfortunate that Kejriwals insinuation made headlines in Pakistan, Prasad added. If the Pakistani media is saying something, why is an Indian chief minister being influenced? As for Chidambarams remarks, also seeking proof of the surgical action, the minister asked whether Congress president Sonia Gandhi - who had herself issued a statement congratulating the Prime Minister Narendra Modi - subscribed to the skepticism. Now that Chidambaram is suggesting that its up to the government to provide proof, Soniaji should clarify if his statement is the official line of the Congress, asked Ravi Shankar Prasad. Here are the top reactions: Uma Bhartis retort "Those leaders who say that if Pakistan is demanding evidence about the surgical strike they should be given the evidence, such people should take the citizenship of Pakistan." Randeep Surjewalas retreat "The Indian National Congress disagrees completely with the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. The Congress has full faith in the Indian armed forces. Kejriwals praise I have supported the Prime Minister, applauded the Army. I only said Pakistan is spreading false propaganda in the world that surgical strikes did not happen. We all believe that surgical strikes took place. Ravi Shankar Prasads reaction If he believes in the exemplary valour of the armed forces, then why is Kejriwal getting swayed by Pakistan to ask for proof of the operation? Anna Hazares criticism "I condemn it [Kejriwals statement]. This concerns the country, its people. We must trust the Army's words. We should not doubt what the Army has said."
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The woman separatist leader and chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Asiya Andrabi, was arrested by police in Srinagar on Tuesday.

A police official said Andrabi was arrested by police during a raid in Kralakhud area of Habba-Kadal in downtown Srinagar this afternoon.

He said Andrabi, who organized and lead anti-India protests by women in different parts of the Valley after an outbreak of unrest on July 9, was evading arrest.

Three top separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF are spearheading the ongoing agitation in the Valley, which was triggered by the killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by an encounter with security forces on July 8.

At least 90 people including two policemen have been killed and over 12000 civilians injured in over two month-long unrest in Valley, which has been witnessing curfew, restrictions, and shutdown since July 9.

Dukhtaran-e-Millitat general secretary Nahida Nasreen confirmed the arrest of Andrabi.

She said Andrabi was not keeping well for last few months and her health was continuously deteriorating.

She would participate in pro-freedom programs at different places and police was after her throughout these months to curb her movement. She would change her locations continuously to evade the arrest. However, for the past many days, police had intensified the raids to arrest her, she said.

Nasreen said Andrabi was arrested along with her colleague Fehmeeda Sofi and taken to an unknown location.

The arrest of Andrabi will not break our resolve, she said, "Adding arrests and detentions are part of the struggle and these wont weaken the freedom struggle of people."

SRINAGAR: The woman separatist leader and chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Asiya Andrabi, was arrested by police in Srinagar on Tuesday. A police official said Andrabi was arrested by police during a raid in Kralakhud area of Habba-Kadal in downtown Srinagar this afternoon. He said Andrabi, who organized and lead anti-India protests by women in different parts of the Valley after an outbreak of unrest on July 9, was evading arrest. Three top separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF are spearheading the ongoing agitation in the Valley, which was triggered by the killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by an encounter with security forces on July 8. At least 90 people including two policemen have been killed and over 12000 civilians injured in over two month-long unrest in Valley, which has been witnessing curfew, restrictions, and shutdown since July 9. Dukhtaran-e-Millitat general secretary Nahida Nasreen confirmed the arrest of Andrabi. She said Andrabi was not keeping well for last few months and her health was continuously deteriorating. She would participate in pro-freedom programs at different places and police was after her throughout these months to curb her movement. She would change her locations continuously to evade the arrest. However, for the past many days, police had intensified the raids to arrest her, she said. Nasreen said Andrabi was arrested along with her colleague Fehmeeda Sofi and taken to an unknown location. The arrest of Andrabi will not break our resolve, she said, "Adding arrests and detentions are part of the struggle and these wont weaken the freedom struggle of people."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Two senior Iranian officials have called off their scheduled meetings with the visiting German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani cancelled their meetings with the German minister on Oct. 4, Tasnim news agency reported.

The Iranian officials, so far, have not given any reasons for calling off their meetings.

Gabriel, who is on a two-day visit to Tehran aimed at boosting business ties, had earlier stressed the need for reforms in the Islamic Republic.

Ahead of his Tehran visit, the German also urged Iran to normalize ties with Israel.
Sumit Kumar Singh By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Central government has identified a bungalow in Lutyens Delhi for President Pranab Mukherjee after his tenure gets over in July 2017. As per President's Pension Rules, 1962, a retired president is entitled to have an accommodation that too rent free anywhere in the country with free water and electricity for his entire life.

The Centre has zeroed in the bungalow of former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Agitok Sangma, a politician from the Northeast and who died of a heart attack at the age of 68 in march this year, currently occupied by his son Conrad, who is Lok Sabha MP from Tura in Meghalaya.

The Ministry of Urban Development has requested Conrad to vacate the 34, APJ Abdul Kalam Road bungalow, which is the type-VIII. The Ministry has written him to vacate the house since the first time MPs are not entitled to a type-VIII bungalow.

This will become the new address of President Pranab Mukherjee after his tenure gets over in July 2017, hinting that he may not get a second term in office. Interestingly, Mukherjee had defeated Sangma to become the 13th President of India.

The step was taken after, the source said, President's Secretariat had requested the Ministry to look for a suitable accommodation for Mukherjee. President's Secretariat officials were also shown the bungalow and they have agreed to it.

NEW DELHI: The Central government has identified a bungalow in Lutyens Delhi for President Pranab Mukherjee after his tenure gets over in July 2017. As per President's Pension Rules, 1962, a retired president is entitled to have an accommodation that too rent free anywhere in the country with free water and electricity for his entire life. The Centre has zeroed in the bungalow of former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Agitok Sangma, a politician from the Northeast and who died of a heart attack at the age of 68 in march this year, currently occupied by his son Conrad, who is Lok Sabha MP from Tura in Meghalaya. The Ministry of Urban Development has requested Conrad to vacate the 34, APJ Abdul Kalam Road bungalow, which is the type-VIII. The Ministry has written him to vacate the house since the first time MPs are not entitled to a type-VIII bungalow. This will become the new address of President Pranab Mukherjee after his tenure gets over in July 2017, hinting that he may not get a second term in office. Interestingly, Mukherjee had defeated Sangma to become the 13th President of India. The step was taken after, the source said, President's Secretariat had requested the Ministry to look for a suitable accommodation for Mukherjee. President's Secretariat officials were also shown the bungalow and they have agreed to it.
SRINAGAR: Two days after militants launched a deadly attack on army base in Uri, close to Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir, there was ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in Uri sector on Tuesday.

There has been a ceasefire violation in Uri sector. The Pakistani troops breached the border ceasefire, an army official said.He said further details are being ascertained.

A heavily armed group of four militants had on Sunday attacked fortified army base in Uri town. At least 18 soldiers were killed and 29 others injured in the militant attack, which was one of the deadliest attack on army in the Valley.

All the four attackers said to be members of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad were also killed in the over three-hour long gunfight.

Army said the weapons and items recovered from the militants were Pakistan-made and subsequently DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh took up the matter with his Pakistani counterpart.

SRINAGAR: Two days after militants launched a deadly attack on army base in Uri, close to Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir, there was ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in Uri sector on Tuesday.There has been a ceasefire violation in Uri sector. The Pakistani troops breached the border ceasefire, an army official said.He said further details are being ascertained.A heavily armed group of four militants had on Sunday attacked fortified army base in Uri town. At least 18 soldiers were killed and 29 others injured in the militant attack, which was one of the deadliest attack on army in the Valley.All the four attackers said to be members of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad were also killed in the over three-hour long gunfight.Army said the weapons and items recovered from the militants were Pakistan-made and subsequently DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh took up the matter with his Pakistani counterpart.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: In 1996, Umesh Reddy raped and killed a 16-year-old girl in Chitradurga. Now, 20 years later, the Supreme Court confirmed his death penalty. He was convicted in 21 cases, including rape and murder.



Police officials who have investigated the cases involving Umesh said that he targeted housewives. He would visit houses in the afternoon, when the husbands were away at work, and gain entry on the pretext of asking for water or an address. He would then threaten the women at knife-point, rape and kill them. In some cases, he would even tie up the women before raping them. Umesh also took jewellery the women were wearing before escaping to make it look like a robbery.



B A Umesh or Umesh Reddy was born in 1969 in Basappa Malige village in Chitradurga district. He joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and was posted in Jammu and Kashmir as a guard at the house of a commandant. While being stationed there, he attempted to rape the commandants daughter. Though he was arrested, he managed to escape and returned to Chitradurga.

Incredibly enough, in 1996, he joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police. The state police were unaware of his criminal background.



Umesh has been accused of killing 18 women and raping 20 women across Karnataka, Maharasthra and Gujarat. He was convicted in nine cases, one of them being the rape and murder of Jayashree Subbaiah, a housewife in Peenya in 1998. He was, however, acquitted in 11 cases due to lack of evidence.



During the course of investigation, police found that several crimes committed by Umesh were not reported as victims feared social stigma. On October 26, 2006, Judge K Sukanya of the Bangalore city fast track court ordered multiple sentences, including a death sentence, a seven-year sentence, `25,000 fine and a 10-year sentence plus Rs 25,000 fine.



Victim identifies Umesh



In November 1996, Umesh had attempted to rape a high school girl in Chitradurga. The girl managed to escape by hitting him with a stone. A month later he raped and murdered 16-year-old Roopa in Chitradurga. In January, 1997, the girl he attempted to rape identified him at a Republic Day police parade and he was then arrested and dismissed from service.



A court ordered that he be shifted to Bellary jail from Chitradurga. Umesh managed to escape from police custody while he was being handed over to Bellary jail. After his escape, he killed an income tax officers wife in Bengaluru, a girl in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, two girls in Vadodara, Gujarat, and a widow in Kunigal, Tumakuru district. Umesh managed to escape from police custody six times.



Peenya murder

On February 28, 1998, Umesh raped and murdered 37-year-old Jayashree Maradi Subbaiah, a widow, in her house in Peenya. When her eight-year-old son Suresh returned from school, he found Umesh in the house and his mother tied to a window grill. Umesh told the boy that an evil spirit had entered his mothers body. He escaped from the scene by saying that he would come back with a doctor. Soon after the incident, Umesh attempted to rape a woman in the same locality. When the woman raised an alarm, he jumped from the first floor of the house to escape and injured his ankle in the fall. He was caught by neighbours and handed over to the police.



Psychopathic behaviour



During investigations, it was found that Umesh had a habit of stealing undergarments of the women he raped. On July 7, 1997, he was arrested by Peenya police for stealing clothes. In 2002, when he was arrested in Bengaluru, he was found wearing womens lingerie under his clothes. When police checked his bags, they found 18 pairs of panties, 10 bras, eight churidars, six saris, four blouses and two nighties. After the trial, he was awarded the death sentence by a fast track court in Bengaluru in 2006.

BENGALURU: In 1996, Umesh Reddy raped and killed a 16-year-old girl in Chitradurga. Now, 20 years later, the Supreme Court confirmed his death penalty. He was convicted in 21 cases, including rape and murder. Police officials who have investigated the cases involving Umesh said that he targeted housewives. He would visit houses in the afternoon, when the husbands were away at work, and gain entry on the pretext of asking for water or an address. He would then threaten the women at knife-point, rape and kill them. In some cases, he would even tie up the women before raping them. Umesh also took jewellery the women were wearing before escaping to make it look like a robbery. B A Umesh or Umesh Reddy was born in 1969 in Basappa Malige village in Chitradurga district. He joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and was posted in Jammu and Kashmir as a guard at the house of a commandant. While being stationed there, he attempted to rape the commandants daughter. Though he was arrested, he managed to escape and returned to Chitradurga. Incredibly enough, in 1996, he joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police. The state police were unaware of his criminal background. Umesh has been accused of killing 18 women and raping 20 women across Karnataka, Maharasthra and Gujarat. He was convicted in nine cases, one of them being the rape and murder of Jayashree Subbaiah, a housewife in Peenya in 1998. He was, however, acquitted in 11 cases due to lack of evidence. During the course of investigation, police found that several crimes committed by Umesh were not reported as victims feared social stigma. On October 26, 2006, Judge K Sukanya of the Bangalore city fast track court ordered multiple sentences, including a death sentence, a seven-year sentence, `25,000 fine and a 10-year sentence plus Rs 25,000 fine. Victim identifies Umesh In November 1996, Umesh had attempted to rape a high school girl in Chitradurga. The girl managed to escape by hitting him with a stone. A month later he raped and murdered 16-year-old Roopa in Chitradurga. In January, 1997, the girl he attempted to rape identified him at a Republic Day police parade and he was then arrested and dismissed from service. A court ordered that he be shifted to Bellary jail from Chitradurga. Umesh managed to escape from police custody while he was being handed over to Bellary jail. After his escape, he killed an income tax officers wife in Bengaluru, a girl in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, two girls in Vadodara, Gujarat, and a widow in Kunigal, Tumakuru district. Umesh managed to escape from police custody six times.Peenya murder On February 28, 1998, Umesh raped and murdered 37-year-old Jayashree Maradi Subbaiah, a widow, in her house in Peenya. When her eight-year-old son Suresh returned from school, he found Umesh in the house and his mother tied to a window grill. Umesh told the boy that an evil spirit had entered his mothers body. He escaped from the scene by saying that he would come back with a doctor. Soon after the incident, Umesh attempted to rape a woman in the same locality. When the woman raised an alarm, he jumped from the first floor of the house to escape and injured his ankle in the fall. He was caught by neighbours and handed over to the police.Psychopathic behaviour During investigations, it was found that Umesh had a habit of stealing undergarments of the women he raped. On July 7, 1997, he was arrested by Peenya police for stealing clothes. In 2002, when he was arrested in Bengaluru, he was found wearing womens lingerie under his clothes. When police checked his bags, they found 18 pairs of panties, 10 bras, eight churidars, six saris, four blouses and two nighties. After the trial, he was awarded the death sentence by a fast track court in Bengaluru in 2006.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

BENGALURU/ NEW DELHI : In a complete U-turn, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that forming of the Cauvery Water Management Board falls under the ambit of Parliament and no court can have the jurisdiction to issue any direction to the government on it.

As the apex court ordered the Karnataka government to apprise it by Tuesday afternoon whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as per its directions of September 30, the Centre urged the court to review or recall the order asking it to set up the Board.



During an urgent mentioning, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi submitted before a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, The constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board requires the consent of both Houses of Parliament and that it cannot be formed on the orders of the apex court.



The court will hear the plea in detail on Tuesday. The AG brought to the notice of the bench that it should not have asked it to set up the Board as the main civil appeal on the issue was still pending, and it was not a party before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal which had sought the establishment of the Board.



Since the central government was not a party to the proceedings before the Tribunal, it did not have opportunity to submit to the Tribunal that the Tribunal will not have any power of recommending to create a

Board as suggested. Setting up of a Board is part of legislative exercise...

It is submitted that constitution of a Board as suggested by the Tribunal and ordered by this Court on September 20 is not contemplated by the statute. By setting up of a Board of this nature, the Central Government is denuded of its power under the Act of 1956 to frame a scheme based on an award which goes through a legislative process by placing thereof before the Parliament and the final say is vested in the Parliament, the government said in its plea.



The petition contends that the Centre is conscious that the sanctity of the court orders must be upheld, besides dignity and majesty of the judicial system.

The Centre further stated, It would be in the fitness of things that a high-powered technical team is appointed by the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee who is the secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and the team will inspect the entire Cauvery basin and make an assessment of the entire issue and prepare a report.



On hearing these submissions, the bench questioned the Centre as to how these things are being pointed out now and said, When the meeting of setting up of Cauvery Management Board has already been done, and all orders passed by the bench are in consultation with the Centre, then why there is confusion now.

BENGALURU/ NEW DELHI : In a complete U-turn, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that forming of the Cauvery Water Management Board falls under the ambit of Parliament and no court can have the jurisdiction to issue any direction to the government on it. As the apex court ordered the Karnataka government to apprise it by Tuesday afternoon whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as per its directions of September 30, the Centre urged the court to review or recall the order asking it to set up the Board. During an urgent mentioning, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi submitted before a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, The constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board requires the consent of both Houses of Parliament and that it cannot be formed on the orders of the apex court. The court will hear the plea in detail on Tuesday. The AG brought to the notice of the bench that it should not have asked it to set up the Board as the main civil appeal on the issue was still pending, and it was not a party before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal which had sought the establishment of the Board. Since the central government was not a party to the proceedings before the Tribunal, it did not have opportunity to submit to the Tribunal that the Tribunal will not have any power of recommending to create a Board as suggested. Setting up of a Board is part of legislative exercise... It is submitted that constitution of a Board as suggested by the Tribunal and ordered by this Court on September 20 is not contemplated by the statute. By setting up of a Board of this nature, the Central Government is denuded of its power under the Act of 1956 to frame a scheme based on an award which goes through a legislative process by placing thereof before the Parliament and the final say is vested in the Parliament, the government said in its plea. The petition contends that the Centre is conscious that the sanctity of the court orders must be upheld, besides dignity and majesty of the judicial system. The Centre further stated, It would be in the fitness of things that a high-powered technical team is appointed by the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee who is the secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and the team will inspect the entire Cauvery basin and make an assessment of the entire issue and prepare a report. On hearing these submissions, the bench questioned the Centre as to how these things are being pointed out now and said, When the meeting of setting up of Cauvery Management Board has already been done, and all orders passed by the bench are in consultation with the Centre, then why there is confusion now.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: With pressure mounting from the Supreme Court, Karnataka finally decided to release water for farmers, after ensuring the drinking water needs are met. A resolution to this effect was passed by both Houses of the State Assembly on Monday. Though it made no mention of Tamil Nadu, the resolution drops clear hints of releasing water to the neighbouring State.

Earlier, on September 23, Karnataka had passed a resolution saying the Cauvery could be used only to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other towns in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka. The new resolution helps Karnataka comply with the Supreme Court order to release 6,000 cusecs of water for six days to Tamil Nadu. Replying to a debate on the resolution in the Assembly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clearly conveyed the governments intention to comply with the Supreme Court order. The Special Leave Petition of Karnataka challenging the final award of Cauvery Tribunal is coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on October 18. That is the main battle, which we have to win if we want to protect the future of our farmers. To win the main battle, a few conciliatory gestures are needed in the ongoing mini-battle he said.

The Supreme Court, earlier in the day, sought a report from Karnataka by Tuesday afternoon on compliance of its September 30 order to release of 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from October 1 to 6. On this, the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu said, Karnataka has not obeyed any order and no water has been released.

Meanwhile, in a complete turn of events, the Union government told the Supreme court that the setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Board falls under the domain of the Executive and the court has no jurisdiction to issue any direction to the government. The court will hear the plea in detail on Tuesday. Earlier, on September 30, the Centre had agreed to the courts direction to form the Board.

The constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board requires the consent of both houses of Parliament and it cannot be formed on the orders of the apex court, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued. Citing examples of how other water boards were constituted, the Centre said that the setting up of the board is part of legislative exercise.

NEW DELHI: With pressure mounting from the Supreme Court, Karnataka finally decided to release water for farmers, after ensuring the drinking water needs are met. A resolution to this effect was passed by both Houses of the State Assembly on Monday. Though it made no mention of Tamil Nadu, the resolution drops clear hints of releasing water to the neighbouring State. Earlier, on September 23, Karnataka had passed a resolution saying the Cauvery could be used only to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other towns in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka. The new resolution helps Karnataka comply with the Supreme Court order to release 6,000 cusecs of water for six days to Tamil Nadu. Replying to a debate on the resolution in the Assembly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clearly conveyed the governments intention to comply with the Supreme Court order. The Special Leave Petition of Karnataka challenging the final award of Cauvery Tribunal is coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on October 18. That is the main battle, which we have to win if we want to protect the future of our farmers. To win the main battle, a few conciliatory gestures are needed in the ongoing mini-battle he said. The Supreme Court, earlier in the day, sought a report from Karnataka by Tuesday afternoon on compliance of its September 30 order to release of 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from October 1 to 6. On this, the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu said, Karnataka has not obeyed any order and no water has been released. Meanwhile, in a complete turn of events, the Union government told the Supreme court that the setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Board falls under the domain of the Executive and the court has no jurisdiction to issue any direction to the government. The court will hear the plea in detail on Tuesday. Earlier, on September 30, the Centre had agreed to the courts direction to form the Board. The constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board requires the consent of both houses of Parliament and it cannot be formed on the orders of the apex court, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued. Citing examples of how other water boards were constituted, the Centre said that the setting up of the board is part of legislative exercise.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Striking a conciliatory note, both Houses of Karnataka legislature adopted a unanimous resolution on Monday to release Cauvery water for farmers after ensuring adequate storage to meet drinking water needs. The resolution, which is a modification of the earlier resolution passed on September 23, enables the state government to comply with the Supreme Court order to release 6,000 cusecs of water on a daily basis for six days to Tamil Nadu.

Minister RV Deshpande with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a special legislature session on the Cauvery water issue in Bengaluru on Monday | NAGESH POLALI



The September 23 resolution had mandated the state government to utilise the 27.6tmcft available water in four Cauvery reservoirs only to meet drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other towns in Karnatakas Cauvery basin.



The new resolution, while making no mention of releasing water to Tamil Nadu, drops clear hints of the release.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, during his reply to the debate on the resolution in the Assembly, clearly conveyed the governments intentions to comply with the SC order on releasing water to Tamil Nadu.

Explaining the compulsions of the state government to amend the earlier resolution of the House, Siddaramaiah said it is imperative to release water keeping in mind the long-term interest of Karnataka in the Cauvery water dispute.



The Special Leave Petition of Karnataka challenging the final award of Cauvery Tribunal is coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on October 18. That is the main battle, which we have to win if we want to protect the future of our farmers. To win the main battle a few conciliatory gestures are needed in the ongoing mini-battle he said.



Leader of the opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy too stressed the need for taking appropriate decisions to win the main legal battle in the Cauvery dispute.

Earlier, in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that it cannot be directed to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board as the main civil appeal on the issue was still pending. While Karnataka filed a review petition in the apex court on Monday morning against SC orders on release of water and formation of the Cauvery board, the court ordered the Karnataka government to apprise it by Tuesday afternoon whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as per its directions of September 30.



During his reply in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah repeatedly said that Karnataka had highest respect for the SC and never had any intentions to defy its order. Referring to non-compliance of earlier order, Siddaramaiah said he was bound by the House resolution not to release water for non-drinking purpose, and the constitutional mandate to give top priority for drinking water.

BENGALURU: Striking a conciliatory note, both Houses of Karnataka legislature adopted a unanimous resolution on Monday to release Cauvery water for farmers after ensuring adequate storage to meet drinking water needs. The resolution, which is a modification of the earlier resolution passed on September 23, enables the state government to comply with the Supreme Court order to release 6,000 cusecs of water on a daily basis for six days to Tamil Nadu. Minister RV Deshpande with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a special legislature session on the Cauvery water issue in Bengaluru on Monday | NAGESH POLALI The September 23 resolution had mandated the state government to utilise the 27.6tmcft available water in four Cauvery reservoirs only to meet drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other towns in Karnatakas Cauvery basin. The new resolution, while making no mention of releasing water to Tamil Nadu, drops clear hints of the release. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, during his reply to the debate on the resolution in the Assembly, clearly conveyed the governments intentions to comply with the SC order on releasing water to Tamil Nadu. Explaining the compulsions of the state government to amend the earlier resolution of the House, Siddaramaiah said it is imperative to release water keeping in mind the long-term interest of Karnataka in the Cauvery water dispute. The Special Leave Petition of Karnataka challenging the final award of Cauvery Tribunal is coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on October 18. That is the main battle, which we have to win if we want to protect the future of our farmers. To win the main battle a few conciliatory gestures are needed in the ongoing mini-battle he said. Leader of the opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy too stressed the need for taking appropriate decisions to win the main legal battle in the Cauvery dispute. Earlier, in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that it cannot be directed to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board as the main civil appeal on the issue was still pending. While Karnataka filed a review petition in the apex court on Monday morning against SC orders on release of water and formation of the Cauvery board, the court ordered the Karnataka government to apprise it by Tuesday afternoon whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as per its directions of September 30. During his reply in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah repeatedly said that Karnataka had highest respect for the SC and never had any intentions to defy its order. Referring to non-compliance of earlier order, Siddaramaiah said he was bound by the House resolution not to release water for non-drinking purpose, and the constitutional mandate to give top priority for drinking water.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of demands by the Opposition to bring down fees in merit seats in private medical colleges in the state, the Kerala Private Medical College Management Association (KPMCMA) said a final decision would be taken on the matter after an association meeting on Tuesday.A meeting has been called on Tuesday where the demand for reducing the fees would also be discussed, said KPMCMA secretary Anil Kumar. While a few self-financing private medical colleges have agreed to reduce their fees, Kumar said the association has not taken any formal decision on reducing the fees.



The issue would come up for discussion in the meeting, only after which a decision can be taken, he added. Kumar also said neither the Chief Minister nor the Health Minister had called them for any discussion.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, who met CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, said the CM had a positive approach to demands of talking to colleges on bringing down the fees.

The Opposition is also of the opinion that no protest is needed if the managements are ready to reduce the fees. The government has been asked to hold discussions with the college managements to settle the issue, he said. As of now, the deadlock over self-financing private college fees issue is likely to ease in the coming days.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of demands by the Opposition to bring down fees in merit seats in private medical colleges in the state, the Kerala Private Medical College Management Association (KPMCMA) said a final decision would be taken on the matter after an association meeting on Tuesday.A meeting has been called on Tuesday where the demand for reducing the fees would also be discussed, said KPMCMA secretary Anil Kumar. While a few self-financing private medical colleges have agreed to reduce their fees, Kumar said the association has not taken any formal decision on reducing the fees. The issue would come up for discussion in the meeting, only after which a decision can be taken, he added. Kumar also said neither the Chief Minister nor the Health Minister had called them for any discussion. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, who met CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, said the CM had a positive approach to demands of talking to colleges on bringing down the fees. The Opposition is also of the opinion that no protest is needed if the managements are ready to reduce the fees. The government has been asked to hold discussions with the college managements to settle the issue, he said. As of now, the deadlock over self-financing private college fees issue is likely to ease in the coming days.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

The South India module of Islamic State had some high-profile names in its hit list, including political leaders, judges and police officials. Places of worship too on the IS radar. Officials say Nice attack inspired the group

KOCHI: The growing tentacles of the Islamic State (IS) in Kerala, which finally transformed into action mode from recruitment phase with a hit list targeting top BJP state leaders, High Court judges and a senior police officer, has forced both state police and central agencies to launch an intense counter operation in the state.

Led by the NIA, the state police and IB will chalk out a detailed operative strategy to counter the rising activity of the IS which came to light after the missing of 21 people who reportedly went to Syria to join the terror outfit. Officials said a joint meeting of the enforcement agencies would take place soon and special operative groups would be in place to deal with the situation.



BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekaran, BJP leader K Surendran, two High Court Judges and SP P N Unnirajan were in the IS South India module hit list. They had also prepared a list of 12 targets to strike, including religious places like the Jewish Synagogue in Fort Kochi and mosques in North Kerala to disrupt communal harmony.



According to NIA officials, Kummanam and Surendran were targeted by the IS as they believed these leaders were instrumental in the growth of BJP in the state. HC judges were targeted for their verdicts in some sensational cases while they were serving as judges in sessions courts. Unnirajan became a thorn in their flesh for being a part of the investigation in cases like the palm chopping incident in Muvattupuzha.

NIA recovered these details from the Telegram group maintained by the accused. NIA officials said this group was functioning in different names in social media. They changed group frequently to evade suspicion from the security agencies monitoring cyber space.



We had given the alert to the state police to beef up the security level of the police officials after evidence in this regard was received. Apart from propagating IS ideology, the accused were looking to disrupt religious harmony and spark off riots by carrying out attacks at religious places, including mosques, in north Kerala, NIA official said.

NIA officials said the members were inspired by the IS attack at Nice, France, by driving a truck into a public gathering. They had plotted a similar attack in Kochi in September. However, this plan was dropped as security was beefed up following intelligence alerts. After the failure of the operation, they were planning to procure explosives and master the technique of bomb making, the official said.

The NIA team and local local police had arrested six persons on Sunday.

NIA takes four more persons into custody

NIA on Monday took four more persons into custody who were part of the IS southern module which was busted following the arrest of six persons from Kannur and Kozhikode on Sunday.

Officials said residents of Tamil Nadu and Kerala were among the arrested

The six persons, who were arrested on Sunday, were produced before the NIA Court in Kochi.

The accused were sent to NIA custody for 12 days till October 14

The South India module of Islamic State had some high-profile names in its hit list, including political leaders, judges and police officials. Places of worship too on the IS radar. Officials say Nice attack inspired the group KOCHI: The growing tentacles of the Islamic State (IS) in Kerala, which finally transformed into action mode from recruitment phase with a hit list targeting top BJP state leaders, High Court judges and a senior police officer, has forced both state police and central agencies to launch an intense counter operation in the state. Led by the NIA, the state police and IB will chalk out a detailed operative strategy to counter the rising activity of the IS which came to light after the missing of 21 people who reportedly went to Syria to join the terror outfit. Officials said a joint meeting of the enforcement agencies would take place soon and special operative groups would be in place to deal with the situation. BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekaran, BJP leader K Surendran, two High Court Judges and SP P N Unnirajan were in the IS South India module hit list. They had also prepared a list of 12 targets to strike, including religious places like the Jewish Synagogue in Fort Kochi and mosques in North Kerala to disrupt communal harmony. According to NIA officials, Kummanam and Surendran were targeted by the IS as they believed these leaders were instrumental in the growth of BJP in the state. HC judges were targeted for their verdicts in some sensational cases while they were serving as judges in sessions courts. Unnirajan became a thorn in their flesh for being a part of the investigation in cases like the palm chopping incident in Muvattupuzha. NIA recovered these details from the Telegram group maintained by the accused. NIA officials said this group was functioning in different names in social media. They changed group frequently to evade suspicion from the security agencies monitoring cyber space. We had given the alert to the state police to beef up the security level of the police officials after evidence in this regard was received. Apart from propagating IS ideology, the accused were looking to disrupt religious harmony and spark off riots by carrying out attacks at religious places, including mosques, in north Kerala, NIA official said. NIA officials said the members were inspired by the IS attack at Nice, France, by driving a truck into a public gathering. They had plotted a similar attack in Kochi in September. However, this plan was dropped as security was beefed up following intelligence alerts. After the failure of the operation, they were planning to procure explosives and master the technique of bomb making, the official said. The NIA team and local local police had arrested six persons on Sunday. NIA takes four more persons into custody NIA on Monday took four more persons into custody who were part of the IS southern module which was busted following the arrest of six persons from Kannur and Kozhikode on Sunday. Officials said residents of Tamil Nadu and Kerala were among the arrested The six persons, who were arrested on Sunday, were produced before the NIA Court in Kochi. The accused were sent to NIA custody for 12 days till October 14
Express News Service

MALAPPURAM : Safwan P, one of the six persons held by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for plotting IS-inspired terror strike, works for a regional language daily in Kozhikode, was an active member of the National Development Front (NDF), which transformed into Popular Front of India (PFI), and an accused in an attack on the police station at Kottakkal here.

The crime records at the Kottakkal police station show that Safwan was named as accused number 11 in the charge-sheet. Over 100 men vowing allegiance to NDF had barged into the station on March 26, 2007, following the arrest of two of their leaders for their involvement in the murder of a RSS activist.Reports suggested that a large number of weapons, some of which appeared to be imported, were confiscated from the attackers.

A few policemen were hurt and the station was vandalised during the late-night strike. Meanwhile, relatives and neighbours of Safwan said that he was an active member of the NDF, and despite their strong objections, he continued to work with the front. But they all said he maintained a good relationship with all of them.It is the ill-fate that befell on us. I cannot believe that he would engage in such a grievous crime. He never behaved badly with us. It was Safwan who fed the family when his father had died, said his mother after hearing the new about Safwan.On the night before he was caught by the NIA, he had called her up and said he was going on a tour. Safwan behaved normally. There was nothing wrong about him, his mother said adding the news came as shock to her.

In a late night development, PFI, Tanur division, removed Safwan from the front for engaging in activities against the party lines.

MALAPPURAM : Safwan P, one of the six persons held by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for plotting IS-inspired terror strike, works for a regional language daily in Kozhikode, was an active member of the National Development Front (NDF), which transformed into Popular Front of India (PFI), and an accused in an attack on the police station at Kottakkal here. The crime records at the Kottakkal police station show that Safwan was named as accused number 11 in the charge-sheet. Over 100 men vowing allegiance to NDF had barged into the station on March 26, 2007, following the arrest of two of their leaders for their involvement in the murder of a RSS activist.Reports suggested that a large number of weapons, some of which appeared to be imported, were confiscated from the attackers. A few policemen were hurt and the station was vandalised during the late-night strike. Meanwhile, relatives and neighbours of Safwan said that he was an active member of the NDF, and despite their strong objections, he continued to work with the front. But they all said he maintained a good relationship with all of them.It is the ill-fate that befell on us. I cannot believe that he would engage in such a grievous crime. He never behaved badly with us. It was Safwan who fed the family when his father had died, said his mother after hearing the new about Safwan.On the night before he was caught by the NIA, he had called her up and said he was going on a tour. Safwan behaved normally. There was nothing wrong about him, his mother said adding the news came as shock to her. In a late night development, PFI, Tanur division, removed Safwan from the front for engaging in activities against the party lines.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Six students from the state will get a chance to view a full-fledged space mission from the Sriharikota spaceport in November. All the expenses of the expedition will be borne by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The six students are winners of an all-Kerala quiz contest conducted by the ISRO units in Thiruvananthapuram as part of this years World Space Week (WSW-2016) celebrations. Their visit will be a first for ISRO, as this is the first time that the space agency is extending a formal invitation to school students to witness a launch, ISRO officials said.



The winners are: Deviprasad V R and Vismal S Kumar, Marygiri EMHSS, Kudappanakkunnu (South Zone); Arun T A and Sujith M S, PMGHSS, Palakkad (Central Zone); and Nandan B and Rohith N, St Michaels AIHSS, Kannur (North Zone). They will be taken to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, to witness the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C 36 (PSLV-C 36) mission slated for November this year. This is the first time that the ISRO chairman, A S Kiran Kumar, is issuing an invitation to school students for a mission, VSSC spokesperson S R Vijayamohana Kumar said. The PSLV C-36 mission will place the Resource-2A satellite in orbit in November. The satellite is a follow-on project to the Resource-2 satellite, and has the same configuration.

Organised jointly by VSSC, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), the quiz competitions were conducted at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode. The winners were presented with cash prizes and certificates at a function here. Around 500 students participated in the event.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Six students from the state will get a chance to view a full-fledged space mission from the Sriharikota spaceport in November. All the expenses of the expedition will be borne by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The six students are winners of an all-Kerala quiz contest conducted by the ISRO units in Thiruvananthapuram as part of this years World Space Week (WSW-2016) celebrations. Their visit will be a first for ISRO, as this is the first time that the space agency is extending a formal invitation to school students to witness a launch, ISRO officials said. The winners are: Deviprasad V R and Vismal S Kumar, Marygiri EMHSS, Kudappanakkunnu (South Zone); Arun T A and Sujith M S, PMGHSS, Palakkad (Central Zone); and Nandan B and Rohith N, St Michaels AIHSS, Kannur (North Zone). They will be taken to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, to witness the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C 36 (PSLV-C 36) mission slated for November this year. This is the first time that the ISRO chairman, A S Kiran Kumar, is issuing an invitation to school students for a mission, VSSC spokesperson S R Vijayamohana Kumar said. The PSLV C-36 mission will place the Resource-2A satellite in orbit in November. The satellite is a follow-on project to the Resource-2 satellite, and has the same configuration. Organised jointly by VSSC, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), the quiz competitions were conducted at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode. The winners were presented with cash prizes and certificates at a function here. Around 500 students participated in the event.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Turkey does not want Russia and the US to have a conflict of interests on the Syrian issue, Fikri Isik, Turkish defense minister, said, Anadolu Agency reported Oct. 4.

The minister added that Turkey intends to protect its own interests in case of serious contradictions between the US and Russia over the Syrian issue.

Earlier, John Kirby, spokesman for the US Department of State, said the US suspends the use of "bilateral channels" with Russia, created to maintain the ceasefire in Syria.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives. Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The IS, YPG and PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
Express News Service By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has gathered evidence, including emails sent by members of the IS module busted the other day, showing that they were making arrangements to procure explosives.

It was found that the IS operatives had been taking online lessons on bomb-making when they were arrested from various places in Kannur and Kozhikode.According to NIA officials, first accused Manseed alias Omar Al Hindi had been in touch with dealers to source explosives, and the process was in its final stage. It was also found that Manseed used to share bomb-making techniques with the other members through email and the Telegram App, after downloading information from the internet. The NIA is checking whether Manseed had maintained direct contact with IS operatives in Syria and Iraq, seeking tips to carry out attacks in South India.

We have not recovered any explosives. It is suspected that Manseed, who was working in Qatar earlier, had initiated procedures to procure explosives even before returning to Kerala, said an NIA official.

The Kerala module of the IS - formed after taking inspiration from activities of the terrorist organisation in other parts of the world - had targeted major cities in Kerala for carrying out attacks.

Seized gadgets to be handed over to C-DAC

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered several mobile phones and tablet computer during raids conducted in various parts of the State as part of the crackdown against the Islamic State (IS) module.

The agency will hand over the 12 gadgets seized from the accused, comprising 11 mobile phones and one tablet computer, to the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in the coming days, with a request to have them examined in 48 hours. The devices, which were produced at the NIA Court earlier, were retrieved on Tuesday based on a petition.

The accused used the mobile phones and tablet computer for communicating with each other through the Telegram App about their activities in South India, including terrorist attacks. The devices were also used for creating fake Facebook profiles and for propagating the IS ideology, said an NIA officer.

KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has gathered evidence, including emails sent by members of the IS module busted the other day, showing that they were making arrangements to procure explosives. It was found that the IS operatives had been taking online lessons on bomb-making when they were arrested from various places in Kannur and Kozhikode.According to NIA officials, first accused Manseed alias Omar Al Hindi had been in touch with dealers to source explosives, and the process was in its final stage. It was also found that Manseed used to share bomb-making techniques with the other members through email and the Telegram App, after downloading information from the internet. The NIA is checking whether Manseed had maintained direct contact with IS operatives in Syria and Iraq, seeking tips to carry out attacks in South India. We have not recovered any explosives. It is suspected that Manseed, who was working in Qatar earlier, had initiated procedures to procure explosives even before returning to Kerala, said an NIA official. The Kerala module of the IS - formed after taking inspiration from activities of the terrorist organisation in other parts of the world - had targeted major cities in Kerala for carrying out attacks. Seized gadgets to be handed over to C-DAC The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered several mobile phones and tablet computer during raids conducted in various parts of the State as part of the crackdown against the Islamic State (IS) module. The agency will hand over the 12 gadgets seized from the accused, comprising 11 mobile phones and one tablet computer, to the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in the coming days, with a request to have them examined in 48 hours. The devices, which were produced at the NIA Court earlier, were retrieved on Tuesday based on a petition. The accused used the mobile phones and tablet computer for communicating with each other through the Telegram App about their activities in South India, including terrorist attacks. The devices were also used for creating fake Facebook profiles and for propagating the IS ideology, said an NIA officer.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A delegation of AIADMK MPs led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, M Thambidurai on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office seeking his intervention in removing the bottlenecks in forming the Cauvery Management Board as directed by the Supreme Court.

The AIADMK MPs submitted the memorandum at PMs office as they could not get an audience with the Prime Minister. The MPs urged the Prime Minister to direct the Union Ministry of Water Resources to withdraw the Interlocutory Application filed on October 3 challenging the SC directive on forming CMB forthwith.

The memorandum also urged the Centre to immediately comply with the orders of the SC on September 30 and constitute the CMB at once and render justice to the lakhs of farmers dependent on Cauvery water and the people of Tamil Nadu.

Recalling the developments and the directives of the SC during the past couple of months directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, the memorandum said the SC had directed the Centre to form the CMB within four weeks and produce the notification to the court in this regard.

The memorandum also recalled that the highest law officers of the Centre had been repeatedly assuring the Apex Court that the Cauvery Management Board would be formed. However, we were shocked to hear that the Centre had filed an Interlocutory Application on October 3 praying that the directions of the SC to set up CMB be recalled. This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Centre has been taking thus far. We are at a total loss to understand what caused this sudden reversal, said the memorandum

The memorandum also said the Centres stance in the latest Interlocutory Application filed was at total variance with the stance taken in the SC and it also went against Tamil Nadu and its farming community.

In Indias federal polity, the Government of India is expected to be neutral and fair to all the States of the Union. It is also duty bound to uphold the majesty of law and the decision of the SC and Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, the memorandum added.

The AIADMK MPs also recalled that the Central Ministers belonging to Karnataka had been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. This is against the Constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two States, as they are Union Ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union Ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu, they pointed out.

Stating that they were not sure whether the Prime Minister was aware of the volte face of the Ministry of Water Resources before the SC, the AIADMK MPs expressed confidence that t the Prime Minister would direct the Centre to act in a fair manner and uphold the rule of law in the country.

CHENNAI: A delegation of AIADMK MPs led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, M Thambidurai on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office seeking his intervention in removing the bottlenecks in forming the Cauvery Management Board as directed by the Supreme Court. The AIADMK MPs submitted the memorandum at PMs office as they could not get an audience with the Prime Minister. The MPs urged the Prime Minister to direct the Union Ministry of Water Resources to withdraw the Interlocutory Application filed on October 3 challenging the SC directive on forming CMB forthwith. The memorandum also urged the Centre to immediately comply with the orders of the SC on September 30 and constitute the CMB at once and render justice to the lakhs of farmers dependent on Cauvery water and the people of Tamil Nadu. Recalling the developments and the directives of the SC during the past couple of months directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, the memorandum said the SC had directed the Centre to form the CMB within four weeks and produce the notification to the court in this regard. The memorandum also recalled that the highest law officers of the Centre had been repeatedly assuring the Apex Court that the Cauvery Management Board would be formed. However, we were shocked to hear that the Centre had filed an Interlocutory Application on October 3 praying that the directions of the SC to set up CMB be recalled. This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Centre has been taking thus far. We are at a total loss to understand what caused this sudden reversal, said the memorandum The memorandum also said the Centres stance in the latest Interlocutory Application filed was at total variance with the stance taken in the SC and it also went against Tamil Nadu and its farming community. In Indias federal polity, the Government of India is expected to be neutral and fair to all the States of the Union. It is also duty bound to uphold the majesty of law and the decision of the SC and Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, the memorandum added. The AIADMK MPs also recalled that the Central Ministers belonging to Karnataka had been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. This is against the Constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two States, as they are Union Ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union Ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu, they pointed out. Stating that they were not sure whether the Prime Minister was aware of the volte face of the Ministry of Water Resources before the SC, the AIADMK MPs expressed confidence that t the Prime Minister would direct the Centre to act in a fair manner and uphold the rule of law in the country.
M Sathish By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The mastermind behind the IS-inspired module that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed to have busted on Sunday was allegedly operating from Qatar through a WhatsApp group, to keep in touch with other members of the group. The NIA believes that 30-year-old Manseed alias Omar Al Hindi, a native of Kerala and employed in Qatar, had devised plans to carry out terror attacks in India.

Manseed was on a short four-day visit to his native Kannur and had asked other members to come there for a meeting when the NIA sleuths were believed to have got a tip-off and acted swiftly to arrest him and five others.

The members of the module, who were residing in different places, had reached Kannur on October 1 for the meeting.

Though he was in Qatar, Mansheed was operating a WhatsApp group with him as the admin to keep in touch with other members of the module, sources said.

Interestingly, two of the seven arrested suspects were residing in Tamil Nadu. They were Swalih Mohammed alias Yousuf and Abu Basheer alias Rashid.

Mohammed, a native of Thrissur district in Kerala, was residing at M G R Nagar in Kottivakkam in Chennai with his family for the last two years. It is said that he married a woman residing in Chennai, after which he shifted to the city. He has a three-year-old child.

According to NIA sources, Mohammed studied only up to Class X and had completed a few computer courses. He was working in a tourist agency located on the Patullos Road here as an executive.

Whoever who saw him would never imagine that he can be someone with terrorist links, said M Gunasekaran, 55, in whose house Mohammeds family has been staying for the last three months.

After the news of Mohammeds terror link spread, Gunasekaran found it difficult to handle people who thronged the place. The sleuths from the NIA and police also inspected the house. The NIA officials seized phones, tablets and other things from the house.

After inspecting the place on Sunday, the officials, while leaving the place, had informed Gunasekaran about Mohammeds arrest and instructed him to convey this to his wife only on Monday morning.

K Mirshad, 27, who was a friend and former roommate of Mohammed, said he had no idea about Mohammeds terror link. He stayed with us and moved to a separate house after marriage. But we were not aware about his links with terrorists, Mirshad said.

Mirshad said that before leaving for Kerala a few days ago, Mohammed called him and requested him to take care of his family as he was going out of station.

CHENNAI: The mastermind behind the IS-inspired module that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed to have busted on Sunday was allegedly operating from Qatar through a WhatsApp group, to keep in touch with other members of the group. The NIA believes that 30-year-old Manseed alias Omar Al Hindi, a native of Kerala and employed in Qatar, had devised plans to carry out terror attacks in India. Manseed was on a short four-day visit to his native Kannur and had asked other members to come there for a meeting when the NIA sleuths were believed to have got a tip-off and acted swiftly to arrest him and five others. The members of the module, who were residing in different places, had reached Kannur on October 1 for the meeting. Though he was in Qatar, Mansheed was operating a WhatsApp group with him as the admin to keep in touch with other members of the module, sources said. Interestingly, two of the seven arrested suspects were residing in Tamil Nadu. They were Swalih Mohammed alias Yousuf and Abu Basheer alias Rashid. Mohammed, a native of Thrissur district in Kerala, was residing at M G R Nagar in Kottivakkam in Chennai with his family for the last two years. It is said that he married a woman residing in Chennai, after which he shifted to the city. He has a three-year-old child. According to NIA sources, Mohammed studied only up to Class X and had completed a few computer courses. He was working in a tourist agency located on the Patullos Road here as an executive. Whoever who saw him would never imagine that he can be someone with terrorist links, said M Gunasekaran, 55, in whose house Mohammeds family has been staying for the last three months. After the news of Mohammeds terror link spread, Gunasekaran found it difficult to handle people who thronged the place. The sleuths from the NIA and police also inspected the house. The NIA officials seized phones, tablets and other things from the house. After inspecting the place on Sunday, the officials, while leaving the place, had informed Gunasekaran about Mohammeds arrest and instructed him to convey this to his wife only on Monday morning. K Mirshad, 27, who was a friend and former roommate of Mohammed, said he had no idea about Mohammeds terror link. He stayed with us and moved to a separate house after marriage. But we were not aware about his links with terrorists, Mirshad said. Mirshad said that before leaving for Kerala a few days ago, Mohammed called him and requested him to take care of his family as he was going out of station.
Express News Service By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: You dont expect references to Candy Crush at an education fair. But for close to a thousand students hoping to pursue higher studies in Sweden, inspiration was anything but textbook on Monday.

Somewhere there is a customer lying at home, crying at night, because they dont have what you have to offer, said Donnie SC Lygonis, Technology Transfer Manager at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Thats one of the eight universities reaching out to Indian students as part of the 6th annual edition of Sweden Education Day. The event was organised by Business Sweden along with the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish institute.

The seminar on innovation and how to convert your project ideas into a business covered everything from Candy Crush to Skype to True Caller  all start ups that hail from Sweden.

And in course of the seminar, Lygonis who himself has started a wide range of companies covering everything from healthy ice cream to animation to online fitness training covered how to filter a good idea and the dos and donts of execution. To further illustrate the appeal of Sweden on grounds of innovation, he pointed out that Sweden was now considered second biggest tech hub in the world on a per capita basis. Not bad for a country with a population of 10 million. Thats roughly how many people there are in Bengaluru! he surprised a few folks in the audience.

The universities represented at the fair included the Stockholm School of Economics.

As part of other collaborative events of the Swedish Embassy this week, There is also a Nobel Memorial Wall at Express Avenue and a Swedish Film Festival at the Russian Cultural Centre, said Niklas Eriksson, Frist Secretary - Environment, Climate and Energy, Embassy of Sweden in India.

CHENNAI: You dont expect references to Candy Crush at an education fair. But for close to a thousand students hoping to pursue higher studies in Sweden, inspiration was anything but textbook on Monday. Somewhere there is a customer lying at home, crying at night, because they dont have what you have to offer, said Donnie SC Lygonis, Technology Transfer Manager at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Thats one of the eight universities reaching out to Indian students as part of the 6th annual edition of Sweden Education Day. The event was organised by Business Sweden along with the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish institute. The seminar on innovation and how to convert your project ideas into a business covered everything from Candy Crush to Skype to True Caller  all start ups that hail from Sweden. And in course of the seminar, Lygonis who himself has started a wide range of companies covering everything from healthy ice cream to animation to online fitness training covered how to filter a good idea and the dos and donts of execution. To further illustrate the appeal of Sweden on grounds of innovation, he pointed out that Sweden was now considered second biggest tech hub in the world on a per capita basis. Not bad for a country with a population of 10 million. Thats roughly how many people there are in Bengaluru! he surprised a few folks in the audience. The universities represented at the fair included the Stockholm School of Economics. As part of other collaborative events of the Swedish Embassy this week, There is also a Nobel Memorial Wall at Express Avenue and a Swedish Film Festival at the Russian Cultural Centre, said Niklas Eriksson, Frist Secretary - Environment, Climate and Energy, Embassy of Sweden in India.
By Express News Service

TIRUCHY: Condemning the Centre's stand that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to direct the constitution of Cauvery Management Board, a demand that Tamil Nadu has raised consistently, a group of farmers staged a protest on Tuesday morning, with a symbolic noose around their neck on a bridge across Cauvery.

"While Karnataka is keeping on increasing its cultivation area relying on Cauvery water, the area is drastically reducing in Cauvery delta districts of Tamil Nadu. At such a juncture, instead of showing an impartial approach in am inter-state dispute, the Union has been siding with Karnataka for political reasons, probably for the ensuing assembly elections there. We are left with no other option than to hang ourselves," P Ayyakannu, president of Farmers' Association for Interlinking of National-South Indian Rivers told Express.

Meanwhile, a group of 36 farmers including a woman staged another protest - this time, it was rolling over Mambazhasalai, a busy stretch that connects Srirangam island with Tiruchy city. This led to traffic jam for a while, before police personnel forcibly removed and detained them.

The sloganeering farmers came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent over the Cauvery river water sharing dispute, instead of constituting the management board as insisted by Supreme Court for facilitating prescribed share of water to Tamil Nadu farmers.

TN asks Centre to withdraw stand on CMB

Tamil Nadu chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao shot off a letter to union water resources secretary, urging him to withdraw the stand on the apex court's jurisdiction. The ministry, he added should constitute the Cauvery Management Board on or before October 4 as directed by the Supreme Court.

TIRUCHY: Condemning the Centre's stand that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to direct the constitution of Cauvery Management Board, a demand that Tamil Nadu has raised consistently, a group of farmers staged a protest on Tuesday morning, with a symbolic noose around their neck on a bridge across Cauvery. "While Karnataka is keeping on increasing its cultivation area relying on Cauvery water, the area is drastically reducing in Cauvery delta districts of Tamil Nadu. At such a juncture, instead of showing an impartial approach in am inter-state dispute, the Union has been siding with Karnataka for political reasons, probably for the ensuing assembly elections there. We are left with no other option than to hang ourselves," P Ayyakannu, president of Farmers' Association for Interlinking of National-South Indian Rivers told Express. Meanwhile, a group of 36 farmers including a woman staged another protest - this time, it was rolling over Mambazhasalai, a busy stretch that connects Srirangam island with Tiruchy city. This led to traffic jam for a while, before police personnel forcibly removed and detained them. The sloganeering farmers came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent over the Cauvery river water sharing dispute, instead of constituting the management board as insisted by Supreme Court for facilitating prescribed share of water to Tamil Nadu farmers. TN asks Centre to withdraw stand on CMB Tamil Nadu chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao shot off a letter to union water resources secretary, urging him to withdraw the stand on the apex court's jurisdiction. The ministry, he added should constitute the Cauvery Management Board on or before October 4 as directed by the Supreme Court.
By AFP

BRUSSELS: The United States is committed to the collective defence of NATO members, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday in a bid to reassure European allies worried by comments by Donald Trump.

Republican presidential hopeful Trump spooked fears in eastern Europe earlier this year when he questioned Washington's adherence to NATO's key Article 5, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

"In the United States, we will never forget that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty was triggered for the first time after 9/11," Kerry said in a speech at a think-tank in Brussels, Belgium.

"And I can assure you, that whatever you may have read in recent times, the United States will never fail to meet its own Article 5 obligations should any NATO member come under attack."

Kerry insisted however that Russia had nothing to fear from NATO, despite rising tensions between Moscow and the West over the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the Syria war.

"NATO is a defensive alliance. The Russian people, in particular, should know that despite what their leaders sometimes tell them, our alliance does not seek to weaken, contain, or divide their nation," Kerry said.

He said he had "probably spent as much time with the Russian foreign minister (Sergei Lavrov) as I have with any other foreign diplomat."

NATO leaders agreed at a summit in July to boost their defences in the east to face an increasingly assertive Russia. Moscow has accused NATO of provocation and of trying to encircle it.

Trump said in July that in the event of a Russian attack on the Baltics, NATO's newest members, Washington might assess whether those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us" before deciding to come to their aid.

BRUSSELS: The United States is committed to the collective defence of NATO members, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday in a bid to reassure European allies worried by comments by Donald Trump. Republican presidential hopeful Trump spooked fears in eastern Europe earlier this year when he questioned Washington's adherence to NATO's key Article 5, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. "In the United States, we will never forget that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty was triggered for the first time after 9/11," Kerry said in a speech at a think-tank in Brussels, Belgium. "And I can assure you, that whatever you may have read in recent times, the United States will never fail to meet its own Article 5 obligations should any NATO member come under attack." Kerry insisted however that Russia had nothing to fear from NATO, despite rising tensions between Moscow and the West over the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the Syria war. "NATO is a defensive alliance. The Russian people, in particular, should know that despite what their leaders sometimes tell them, our alliance does not seek to weaken, contain, or divide their nation," Kerry said. He said he had "probably spent as much time with the Russian foreign minister (Sergei Lavrov) as I have with any other foreign diplomat." NATO leaders agreed at a summit in July to boost their defences in the east to face an increasingly assertive Russia. Moscow has accused NATO of provocation and of trying to encircle it. Trump said in July that in the event of a Russian attack on the Baltics, NATO's newest members, Washington might assess whether those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us" before deciding to come to their aid.
By The Daily Telegraph

Vladimir Putin has scrapped a key nuclear control agreement over the "unfriendly" actions of the United States towards Russia, in the latest rupture between the two countries.

In an extraordinary series of ultimatums issued on Monday, the Kremlin said it would suspend an agreement to turn weapons-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel unless Washington cancel all sanctions and slash its military commitment to Nato allies.

In a presidential decree, Mr Putin froze the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PDMA) because of "a drastic change in circumstances, the appearance of a threat to strategic stability due to unfriendly actions of the United States toward Russia".

The document claimed that Washington was "unable" to meet its obligations under the terms of the agreement and that Moscow "must take urgent measures to defend Russian security". A draft of the law published later said Russia will freeze the deal until the US drops all sanctions, pays compensation for the damage they have caused, and reduces its military infrastructure and manpower in other Nato states to the same levels as when the deal was signed.

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement was an arrangement for reprocessing weapons-grade material into fuel for nuclear reactors. The original plan was to irradiate plutonium to produce so-called Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX), but the US scrapped its plans for a MOX facility because of soaring costs and safety fears.

The harsh language of the decree reflects a collapse in trust between Moscow and Washington since the breakdown of a jointly-brokered ceasefire in Syria last month.

However, it is unclear whether the move will have a significant impact on arms control or Russia's nuclear weapons programme.

The decree signed by Mr Putin states that plutonium left unprocessed as a result will not be used for bomb making or other military purposes.

And it seems likely that Russia will continue to process its own plutonium into nuclear fuel outside the treaty, said Pavel Podvig, a researcher at the UN Institute on disarmament research and expert on Russian nuclear weapons.

Vladimir Putin has scrapped a key nuclear control agreement over the "unfriendly" actions of the United States towards Russia, in the latest rupture between the two countries. In an extraordinary series of ultimatums issued on Monday, the Kremlin said it would suspend an agreement to turn weapons-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel unless Washington cancel all sanctions and slash its military commitment to Nato allies. In a presidential decree, Mr Putin froze the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PDMA) because of "a drastic change in circumstances, the appearance of a threat to strategic stability due to unfriendly actions of the United States toward Russia". The document claimed that Washington was "unable" to meet its obligations under the terms of the agreement and that Moscow "must take urgent measures to defend Russian security". A draft of the law published later said Russia will freeze the deal until the US drops all sanctions, pays compensation for the damage they have caused, and reduces its military infrastructure and manpower in other Nato states to the same levels as when the deal was signed. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement was an arrangement for reprocessing weapons-grade material into fuel for nuclear reactors. The original plan was to irradiate plutonium to produce so-called Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX), but the US scrapped its plans for a MOX facility because of soaring costs and safety fears. The harsh language of the decree reflects a collapse in trust between Moscow and Washington since the breakdown of a jointly-brokered ceasefire in Syria last month. However, it is unclear whether the move will have a significant impact on arms control or Russia's nuclear weapons programme. The decree signed by Mr Putin states that plutonium left unprocessed as a result will not be used for bomb making or other military purposes. And it seems likely that Russia will continue to process its own plutonium into nuclear fuel outside the treaty, said Pavel Podvig, a researcher at the UN Institute on disarmament research and expert on Russian nuclear weapons.
By AFP

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on October 10, the Kremlin said Tuesday, as the countries mend ties shattered by Ankara's shooting down of a Russian warplane last year.

"The visit will be on October 10," Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov as saying. "There will be a speech at the World Energy Congress and a bilateral meeting."

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on October 10, the Kremlin said Tuesday, as the countries mend ties shattered by Ankara's shooting down of a Russian warplane last year. "The visit will be on October 10," Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov as saying. "There will be a speech at the World Energy Congress and a bilateral meeting."
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: It was an unusual request from the head of the state of one of the biggest Asian economy but has the sign of being a practical man he is. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made some heads roll as he chose a chartered bus as his official vehicle during his three-day visit to India. Loong was traveling along with his contingent in the bus instead of hopping on a long cavalcade.

It has been easier for us from the point of view of protocol and security to manage one bus instead of 20 cars in a cavalcade, an MEA official said.

This shows how humble and practical he is, the official added. Prime Minister Loong, who is accompanied by his wife Ho Ching and a delegation comprising key ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials. They were received by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Statistics and Programme Implementation, Planning and Defence Rao Inderjit Singh upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

The Singaporean Prime Minister attended a Lunch on hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will leave for Udaipur on October 5 where he will meet Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. In

Udaipur,

Lee will attend the launch of Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training as part of skills development collaboration under the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership signed in November 2015.



NEW DELHI: It was an unusual request from the head of the state of one of the biggest Asian economy but has the sign of being a practical man he is. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made some heads roll as he chose a chartered bus as his official vehicle during his three-day visit to India. Loong was traveling along with his contingent in the bus instead of hopping on a long cavalcade. It has been easier for us from the point of view of protocol and security to manage one bus instead of 20 cars in a cavalcade, an MEA official said. This shows how humble and practical he is, the official added. Prime Minister Loong, who is accompanied by his wife Ho Ching and a delegation comprising key ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials. They were received by Minister of State (Independent Charge) Statistics and Programme Implementation, Planning and Defence Rao Inderjit Singh upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. The Singaporean Prime Minister attended a Lunch on hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will leave for Udaipur on October 5 where he will meet Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. In Udaipur, Lee will attend the launch of Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training as part of skills development collaboration under the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership signed in November 2015.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: After lending its support to Indias fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe arrived in the national capital on Tuesday.

He met Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. His visit has come at a time when Sri Lanka along with other member states of the

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) boycotted the Summit scheduled in Islamabad condemning terrorism in the region.

The majority pull out of the countries have been unprecedented in the history of the regional grouping. The Indian quest to isolate Pakistan regionally came after the attack masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammad on the Army base resulted in the death of 19 soldiers.

The pull-out has been a strong statement of support by the South Asian countries and that they see their future with India. Earlier in the day while speaking at the New Zealand Parliament House, Wickramasinghe said that after the failure of SAARC to deliver "acceptable results" for all members it would compel Sri Lanka to find other "viable options".

"This year's SAARC Summit is in jeopardy due to the war prevailing on the border. However, as the SAARC plays an important role, carrying out the Summit is a matter of great importance. I explained that while the failure of SAARC to deliver acceptable results for all members would spell out a bleak future, it would also compel Sri Lanka to look towards other viable options," Wickramasinghe said in his speech in New Zealand.

During his three-day visit, Wickramasinghe will also hold meetings Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

Before leaving for Colombo, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister will be attending the plenary session of India Economic Summit. This is Wickramasinghes second visit to India after taking over as the Prime Minister of the Southern neighbor.

Prime Minister Modi had visited Sri Lanka as his governments focus has been Indias immediate neighborhood. Modi had announced on e-visa on arrival for Sri Lankans apart from a $318 million Line of

Credit for upgradation of Sri Lankan Railways and to develop Trincomalee as petroleum hub.



NEW DELHI: After lending its support to Indias fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe arrived in the national capital on Tuesday. He met Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. His visit has come at a time when Sri Lanka along with other member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) boycotted the Summit scheduled in Islamabad condemning terrorism in the region. The majority pull out of the countries have been unprecedented in the history of the regional grouping. The Indian quest to isolate Pakistan regionally came after the attack masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammad on the Army base resulted in the death of 19 soldiers. The pull-out has been a strong statement of support by the South Asian countries and that they see their future with India. Earlier in the day while speaking at the New Zealand Parliament House, Wickramasinghe said that after the failure of SAARC to deliver "acceptable results" for all members it would compel Sri Lanka to find other "viable options". "This year's SAARC Summit is in jeopardy due to the war prevailing on the border. However, as the SAARC plays an important role, carrying out the Summit is a matter of great importance. I explained that while the failure of SAARC to deliver acceptable results for all members would spell out a bleak future, it would also compel Sri Lanka to look towards other viable options," Wickramasinghe said in his speech in New Zealand. During his three-day visit, Wickramasinghe will also hold meetings Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan. Before leaving for Colombo, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister will be attending the plenary session of India Economic Summit. This is Wickramasinghes second visit to India after taking over as the Prime Minister of the Southern neighbor. Prime Minister Modi had visited Sri Lanka as his governments focus has been Indias immediate neighborhood. Modi had announced on e-visa on arrival for Sri Lankans apart from a $318 million Line of Credit for upgradation of Sri Lankan Railways and to develop Trincomalee as petroleum hub.
The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that the US army had carried out strikes in Syria against the Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham leader Abu Faraj al-Masri and that the military was assessing results of the operation, Sputnik International.

US Department of Defense spokesman Matthew Allen said that the US Army was targeting a prominent al-Qaeda member.

Earlier reports emerged that a senior leader of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, Abu Faraj Masri, died in a strike in Syrias Idlib province.
By Associated Press

YORK: A town council in Pennsylvania approved a motion Monday night to censure the town's mayor over racist posts on his Facebook page, including two depicting apes with captions referring to President Barack Obama and his family.

PennLive.com reported the West York Council unanimously approved a motion Monday night to censure Republican Mayor Charles Wasko.

"We will send a message to the mayor that his legislative body rebukes him in every way," said council president Shawn Mauck. "He has embarrassed all of us. Not just this table but everyone in this room. Everyone in West York. Everyone in York County, everyone in this Commonwealth."

The council also approved a motion to give the borough solicitor the authority to look into any legal means necessary to remove Wasko as mayor.

"We are on to you," Mauck said, urging the mayor to do the right thing and resign.

One image from June on Wasko's Facebook page showed a wagon full of orangutans and referred to "moving day" at the White House. Another referred to lynching.

Wasko, who is white, did not attend Monday night's meeting, although some council members had indicated earlier that he might show up. He told The Associated Press last week that he's the victim of a "witch hunt," and would provide more details at a later time.

Wasko was elected in 2013. Running unopposed as a Republican, he tallied 202 votes, against 78 write-in ballots for other candidates.

He isn't paid as mayor and votes only to break ties on the council. He also oversees the police department in the borough of 4,500, which is about 100 miles west of Philadelphia.

Before council members approved the two motions, residents of the West York community spoke, at times emotionally, about why Wasko did not represent them.

"He is not just distasteful, he is dangerous," said Carla Christopher, a member of Put People First, York County. "He is dangerous to Hispanics, he is dangerous to African Americans. He is dangerous to women, to our Muslim friends and neighbors. ... He is dangerous to the economic stability and future of this borough."

YORK: A town council in Pennsylvania approved a motion Monday night to censure the town's mayor over racist posts on his Facebook page, including two depicting apes with captions referring to President Barack Obama and his family. PennLive.com reported the West York Council unanimously approved a motion Monday night to censure Republican Mayor Charles Wasko. "We will send a message to the mayor that his legislative body rebukes him in every way," said council president Shawn Mauck. "He has embarrassed all of us. Not just this table but everyone in this room. Everyone in West York. Everyone in York County, everyone in this Commonwealth." The council also approved a motion to give the borough solicitor the authority to look into any legal means necessary to remove Wasko as mayor. "We are on to you," Mauck said, urging the mayor to do the right thing and resign. One image from June on Wasko's Facebook page showed a wagon full of orangutans and referred to "moving day" at the White House. Another referred to lynching. Wasko, who is white, did not attend Monday night's meeting, although some council members had indicated earlier that he might show up. He told The Associated Press last week that he's the victim of a "witch hunt," and would provide more details at a later time. Wasko was elected in 2013. Running unopposed as a Republican, he tallied 202 votes, against 78 write-in ballots for other candidates. He isn't paid as mayor and votes only to break ties on the council. He also oversees the police department in the borough of 4,500, which is about 100 miles west of Philadelphia. Before council members approved the two motions, residents of the West York community spoke, at times emotionally, about why Wasko did not represent them. "He is not just distasteful, he is dangerous," said Carla Christopher, a member of Put People First, York County. "He is dangerous to Hispanics, he is dangerous to African Americans. He is dangerous to women, to our Muslim friends and neighbors. ... He is dangerous to the economic stability and future of this borough."
By IANS

Berlin: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday via a videolink in Berlin announced that his organisation will release fresh documents on the upcoming US presidential election before November 8.



"We hope to be publishing every week for the next ten weeks, we have on schedule...all the US election related documents to come out before November 8," said Assange.



He made the announcement during the celebration marking the tenth anniversary of the whistle-blowing website.



Assange also promised to publish about a million documents related to at least three governments before the end of 2016, adding that the organisation is evolving and planning to expand its collaboration with media outlets beyond the 100 it is already working with.



Although he did not offer great detail when taking questions from the audience in Berlin, Assange said the US presidential election information would be "significant". He, however, denied rumours that he sought to damage the US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's reputation.



The video claimed that the Wikileaks has published more than 10 million documents in 10 years, exposing details on Guantanamo Bay, alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the US Democratic Party e-mail scandal, among others.



Assange also promised to release documents on war, oil, Google, and mass surveillance.



He called on his followers to join the newly-founded WikiLeaks Task Force in order to "help defend WikiLeaks against attacks".



Assange continues to remains in asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where authorities want to question him over rape allegations.



He fears this would lead to a further extradition to the US, where he could face a military court for publishing state secrets through Wikileaks.

Berlin: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday via a videolink in Berlin announced that his organisation will release fresh documents on the upcoming US presidential election before November 8. "We hope to be publishing every week for the next ten weeks, we have on schedule...all the US election related documents to come out before November 8," said Assange. He made the announcement during the celebration marking the tenth anniversary of the whistle-blowing website. Assange also promised to publish about a million documents related to at least three governments before the end of 2016, adding that the organisation is evolving and planning to expand its collaboration with media outlets beyond the 100 it is already working with. Although he did not offer great detail when taking questions from the audience in Berlin, Assange said the US presidential election information would be "significant". He, however, denied rumours that he sought to damage the US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's reputation. The video claimed that the Wikileaks has published more than 10 million documents in 10 years, exposing details on Guantanamo Bay, alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the US Democratic Party e-mail scandal, among others. Assange also promised to release documents on war, oil, Google, and mass surveillance. He called on his followers to join the newly-founded WikiLeaks Task Force in order to "help defend WikiLeaks against attacks". Assange continues to remains in asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where authorities want to question him over rape allegations. He fears this would lead to a further extradition to the US, where he could face a military court for publishing state secrets through Wikileaks.
PK Balachandran By

COLOMBO: The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), headed by the former Maldivian President Muhammad Nasheed, has welcomed the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Groups (CMAGs) decision to place the Maldives on its formal agenda.

A statement issued by MDPs Colombo-based spokesman, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, said on Sunday that the MDP also called upon the Yameen government to immediately sit for talks with the opposition, as stipulated by the CMAG.

In placing the Maldives on its formal agenda, the CMAG expressed deep disappointment with the state of affairs in the Maldives and cited a clear lack of progress in the six areas it had previously identified at an extraordinary meeting in February 2016.

The MDP calls upon the Government to immediately engage in political dialogue with all stakeholders to resolve the current political crisis. The MDP urges the Government to take steps to uphold human rights of all citizens, and for the urgent restoration of democracy in the country, through strengthening of democratic institutions and the release of all political prisoners. The MDP urges the Government to fulfill these steps in order to avert suspension from the Commonwealth, Ghafoor said.

The people of Maldives rely upon their livelihood from trade in an interconnected world. It is in the interest of all stakeholders that the country doesnt slide towards suspension. Alienation from the Commonwealth family and the international community would be to the detriment to all Maldivians, and the MDP urges the Government to immediately implement the reforms recommended by the CMAG.

President Yameen must immediately halt his devious designs to consolidate absolute power. He must prevent the suspension of the Maldives from the Commonwealth, and return to the community of democratic nations, Ghafoor said.

COLOMBO: The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), headed by the former Maldivian President Muhammad Nasheed, has welcomed the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Groups (CMAGs) decision to place the Maldives on its formal agenda.A statement issued by MDPs Colombo-based spokesman, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, said on Sunday that the MDP also called upon the Yameen government to immediately sit for talks with the opposition, as stipulated by the CMAG.In placing the Maldives on its formal agenda, the CMAG expressed deep disappointment with the state of affairs in the Maldives and cited a clear lack of progress in the six areas it had previously identified at an extraordinary meeting in February 2016.The MDP calls upon the Government to immediately engage in political dialogue with all stakeholders to resolve the current political crisis. The MDP urges the Government to take steps to uphold human rights of all citizens, and for the urgent restoration of democracy in the country, through strengthening of democratic institutions and the release of all political prisoners. The MDP urges the Government to fulfill these steps in order to avert suspension from the Commonwealth, Ghafoor said.The people of Maldives rely upon their livelihood from trade in an interconnected world. It is in the interest of all stakeholders that the country doesnt slide towards suspension. Alienation from the Commonwealth family and the international community would be to the detriment to all Maldivians, and the MDP urges the Government to immediately implement the reforms recommended by the CMAG.President Yameen must immediately halt his devious designs to consolidate absolute power. He must prevent the suspension of the Maldives from the Commonwealth, and return to the community of democratic nations, Ghafoor said.
Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (UAC) has earlier announced the start of the development of a fifth-generation Husky class nuclear submarine to replace the existing Yasen class boats, Sputnik reported.

"The work on the preliminary design of a fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarine is currently underway; the results of this work will determine the construction schedule," Borisov said in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Some media outlets have indicated that the new multipurpose subs would be equipped with Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.
Earlier in the day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Hussein called for the UN Security Council to limit permanent member states' veto power as a way to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Sputnik reported.

"I would like to remind everyone that having the veto is not a privilege but an issue of using one's powers in one's interest. It is an issue of the balance of power. The unique instrument was devised when the United Nations was created and has for over 70 years ensured that the world does not lose its strategic balance," Zakharova said.

The Kremlin has also voiced its opposition to limiting veto powers.

Aleppo has been a battlefield between Syrian government forces, jihadists, as well as numerous oppositions groups throughout most of the country's five-year civil war. Fighting in Aleppo has escalated over the past few weeks, with the Syrian army and local militia forces having managed to encircle large groups of militants in eastern districts of the city.

In 2015, French President Francois Hollande proposed to limit the use of veto by the five permanent members of the UNSC, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States in case of the mass atrocities.

In October, 2016, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault expressed hope that the draft resolution on ceasefire in Aleppo would not be vetoed in the UNSC.
Air pollution in China dampened the week-long holiday for National Day. (Photo : Getty Images)

For the first time this year, Chinese officials raised the yellow alert on Sunday because of heavy smog. The yellow alert is the third highest alert.



The municipal environmental monitoring center said that the amount of particles in Beijing reached 187 micrograms of the article PM2.5 in the air in Beijing. This is the second to the highest in air pollution in the city's index.



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There was heavy smog detected in Hebei Province and Tianjin that affected many tourists who are enjoying the Golden Week.



"Besides, the PM10 reading climbed fivefold over the year-on-year level, indicating that construction site controls did not work well, generating large quantities of dust in the region," according to a statement from the Ministry of Environment Protection.



According to independent research group Berkeley Earth, "Air pollution is killing an average of 4,000 people a day in China as if every man, woman, and child in China smoked 1.5 cigarettes every hour."



The main cause of pollution in the country is the massive production of coal. In 2015, Beijing and nearby provinces have to issue a red alert on smog.



In 2011, two Chinese provinces, Hebei and Shandong, consumed more coal than India.



Greenpeace said, "...more coal [was] consumed [in 2011] within 600 kilometers of China's capital than in the entire United States."



According to a study released in 2013, people in northern China may be dying five years sooner due to high levels of air pollution.



The government is addressing environmental issues and air pollution through the 2013 Air Pollution Prevention Action Plan. China has been aggressive in addressing the problems.



To date, China is the biggest contributor to global efforts for environment protection.


Its Official: Our Future Climate will be Terrible with Breaking of 400 ppm CO2 Threshold

Carbon dioxide moves permanently above 400 ppm. (Photo : Scripps Institute of Oceanography/Mauna Loa Observatory)

The world's climate will change for the worse in the future -- perhaps for hundreds of years -- with news confirming carbon dioxide emissions for all months in 2016 will exceed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time.



This dubious first was made certain when atmospheric ppm, which usually falls in September, remained above the critical 400 ppm threshold. October to December normally see high concentrations of carbon dioxide.



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This bleak forecast all but ensures 2016 will be the year that carbon dioxide officially passed the symbolic 400 ppm mark. This record will never fall below 400 ppm in our lifetimes, according to scientists.



Records dating back over half a century confirms that for the first time, daily and weekly values of CO2 in our atmosphere have remained above 400 parts per million, said Scripps scientist Ralph Keeling, keeper of his father's "Keeling Curve," the longest continuous record of atmospheric CO2 on Earth.



Ralph Keeling and his late father Charles David Keeling have kept CO2 measurements at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1958.



"We won't be seeing a monthly value below 400 ppm this year -- or ever again for the indefinite future," said Keeling in a recent blog post.



"By November, we will be marching up the rising half of the cycle, pushing toward new highs and perhaps even breaking the 410 ppm barrier," said Keeling.



Scientists have long pointed out the increase in gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide is fueling climate change. It's also making the Earth "more dangerous and inhospitable for future generations," said the World Meteorological Organization.



Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases are enhancing the planet's natural greenhouse effect.



Scientists noted that based on evidence, the last time carbon dioxide reached 400 ppm was millions of years ago. A 2009 report in the journal Nature Geoscience found evidence of CO2 levels of 365 ppm to 415 ppm some 4.5 million years ago.



Scientists also said CO2 levels were around 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s when large amounts of greenhouse gases began to be released by the burning of fossil fuels.



And why is 400 ppm a dangerous ceiling to have broken?



The website 400.350.org dedicated to monitoring the harmful effects of increasing CO2 concentrations said the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million.



"The only way to get there is to immediately transition the global economy away from fossil fuels and into into renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable farming practices."



The last time CO2 levels were this high at 400 ppm, "humans did not exist. Our dependence on fossil fuels is fundamentally changing the nature of the planet -- and it's time to act."



It noted that in March, global levels of CO2 passed 400 ppm. It said this was "the first time since record keeping began that CO2 levels were above 400 ppm globally for a month.



Already we're seeing the deadly effects of climate change in the form of rising seas, monster storms, wildfires, and extreme weather of all kinds. Passing 400 ppm is an ominous sign of what might come next -- and it sends a clear signal that the world must act ahead of the UN climate talks in Paris this December"


Android 7.1 Nougat: Google Pixel, Pixel XL will get 6 exclusive Android N features (Photo : YouTube / Google)

Google has finally unveiled its new smartphones, Pixel and Pixel XL. The arrival of these phones indicates that the company has killed the Nexus series entirely.



Google Pixel, Pixel XL Specifications

The Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones come with similar specs and come with aluminum unibody design along with polished glass. The Pixel comes with a 5-inch full HD resolution whereas the Pixel XL supports quad HD resolution on their AMOLED screens. Both the displays are protected by Gorilla Glass 4.



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Google Pixel and Pixel XL are powered by Snapdragon 821 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. Both the phones come in two storage options of 32 GB and 128 GB.



The lowest storage is meant for users who have most of their data online on Google Photos and Google Play Music. The 128 GB variants are meant for users who prefer to keep their data offline. Both the smartphones come with unlimited Google Photos storage support.



Both the devices come loaded with Android 7.1 Nougat OS and carries support for Daydream VR that will be available to the users in November. The Pixel and Pixel XL come with 12-megapixel rear camera with 1.55m pixels and f/2.0 aperture lens. It is enabled with features like electronic image stabilization, Smartburst and HDR+, GSM Arena reported.



Both the phones offer Pixel Imprint fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm audio jack and USB Type-C port. The Pixel is powered by 2,770 mAh battery whereas the larger Pixel XL features a 3,450 mAh battery. Both the phones carry support for Quick Charge 3.0.



Google Pixel, Pixel XL price, release date

The Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are available for purchase in countries like the U.S., the U.K, Canada, Germany and Australia. In India, it will be available for purchase from Oct. 13. The Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones come in color choices such as Quite Black, Very Silver and Really Blue (limited edition).



The 32 GB and 128 GB Pixel are priced at $649 and $749, respectively. The 32 GB and 128 GB Pixel XL are priced at $769 and $869, respectively. In the U.S, 32 GB and 128 GB variants of Pixel can be purchased through Verizon with monthly payments of $27 and $31, respectively. The 32 GB and 128 GB models of Pixel XL can be availed through monthly payments of $32 and $36 through the carrier.



The smartphone can be purchased unlocked through Google Store and these phones can be also used on Project Fi network, Phone Arena reported.



Here is an introduction video of Google Pixel:






To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry.

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Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes.
An official Egyptian delegation arrived in Athens on 2 October for a meeting with Greek officials for preliminary talks on a water demarcation agreement between Egypt and Greece.

An Egyptian source in Athens told Ahram Online that this is neither the first nor necessarily the conclusive meeting on the ongoing Egyptian-Greek discussion on demarking water borders in the Mediterranean between the two countries.

According to the source, the meeting should provide Cairo officials with an elementary assessment of a demarcation proposal submitted by the Greek side and which will be discussed in Cairo on 9 October during an Egyptian-Greek summit. The news was confirmed by a government source in Cairo.

This is one of many issues that Egypt and Greek have to discuss, [including] the borders, the natural gas fields in the Mediterranean and the Egyptian properties on Greek islands, the source said.

A delegation from Egypts Ministry of Religious Endowments left for Greece on 26 September to inspect Egyptian properties owned by the ministry on two Greek islands dating back to the rule of Mohamed Ali under the Ottoman Empire.

These properties have been subject to controversy as an official in the ministry had complained about the failure of Greece to honour Egyptian legal and financial rights regarding these properties.

Prominent historian Khaled Fahmy explained that it was in the 19th century that Egypts ruler at the time, Mohamed Ali, first acquired Egyptian properties on the island of Thassos.

Mohamed Ali, who was born in Kavala, a mainland city opposite the Aegean Sea island, had asked the Ottoman sultan to give him the land there so that he would establish a soup kitchen and have it run as a charity; this is what waqf is about, Fahmy said.

The Ottomans had incorporated Thassos into their empire during the second half of the 15th century.

Egypt also had properties in Kavala dating back to the 19th century.

Egypts former ambassador to Greece, Maguida Chahine, explained that since the mid-1990s, Egypt had rented the largest building on Thassos to a Greek entrepreneur who turned it into a very impressive hotel and who had been promptly paying the due rent.

Fahmy agreed that Anna Missirian, also from Kavala, had done exemplary work with the restoration of Eimarat, the original large building of the soup kitchen that was established by Mohamed Ali in the 19th century and which was later enlarged and annexed with extra buildings that hosted those providing the charitable services.

And according to Chahine, the quality of work that was done in the restoration of this building had been the answer to its preservation because otherwise it could have been so rundown, as the case is with some other waqf properties that are not carefully attended to.

Chahine insisted that there is no need to confuse the files  not with a country like Greece that has always been exceptionally friendly with Egypt and supportive of all basic Arab rights especially the Palestinian cause.

Chahine argued that it would not be difficult at all for Cairo and Athens to settle mutually consensual agreements on the matters of waqf administration, water demarcation or the management of gas fields that are have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean.



The complaint about the properties has however has prompted legal action.

Lawyer Ali Ayyoub is hoping to have the administrative court set a date for the first session of a lawsuit that he says would rectify the confused situation regarding Egyptian state-owned properties on an island in the Aegean Sea under Greek sovereignty.

Ayyoub said that it was in the early days of August that he and a group of other lawyers who are closely following matters related to Egyptian borders and Egyptian properties overseas learned that the Greek side had suddenly ceased to pay the monthly rent for some Egyptian properties there.

Ayyoub said that this happened for just one month  the month of July.

He added that he learned about the situation through sources at the Ministry of Religious Endowments, which administers the properties. A ministry official also made a statement to a private television channel in August.

The lawsuit, Ayyoub explained, aims to provide evidence from all concerned official bodies in Egypt and Greece on the full list of Egyptian properties in Greek cities and islands and all relevant details. We started the legal process late August and we are hoping that the first session will be no later than October, Ayyoub told Ahram Online.

Our information suggests that it is a more complex story and our sources elsewhere suggest that this is related to the possible border demarcation that is anticipated between Egypt and Greece, he said.

He argued that the objective of the lawsuit is twofold: first, to get all official bodies to provide full and documented details on the matter of endowment ministry properties in Greece in a transparent fashion, which has not been taking place.

Ayyoub, who is part of the legal team working to reverse the Red Sea island deal that saw Egypt acknowledge Saudi sovereignty over two islands, argued that the lawsuit may start with Thassos but will not end there, because according to the constitution all matters of sovereignty cannot be passed by the executive authority without a public referendum as stipulated in Article 151 of the 2014 constitution.

However, Ayyoub denied reports that he was attempting to regain Egyptian sovereignty over the island. This is not the case, the matter is about the properties, and of course about transparency, which is lacking.

Egyptian and Greek diplomats argue that such an incident would never jeopardize the warmth of the relation between the two Mediterranean countries.

Cairo- and Brussels-based European diplomats say that the unconditional support that Greece has been offering to Cairo in all EU meetings cannot just be attributed to warm historic bilateral relations.

It is true that Egypt and Greece had traditionally had close relations and it is also true that Egypt had sided with Greece against Turkey, all the way through almost, on the matter of the division of Cyprus into a

Greek side and a Turkish side, said one, who requested anonymity.

Recently, like during the last year, it has really been above average; Greek almost blindly wants to stop any meeting either here (in Cairo) or in Brussels to discuss anything that some of the EU members might think of as contradicting the Egyptian obligations to the association agreement signed between Cairo and the EU in 2001  and yes this is especially the case about human rights, he added.

Also speaking on condition of anonymity, an Egyptian official source said Egypt and Greece have been establishing a much closer rapport due to expanding strategic interests.

One obvious side to these interests has to do with the rough relations between Cairo and Ankara  the latter being an arch-foe of Athens.

Another is the growing opportunities of a wealth of natural gas with many fields expected to be located at the eastern Mediterranean.

According to the same source, Egypt had been showing considerable flexibility on the chances of sharing potential gas wealth not just with Greece but also with Cyprus and Israel.

The four-way cooperation is not a secret, the same source said. He added that what is hidden behind closed doors still are the details of this potential cooperation, which will start with the final phase of negotiations of the water demarcation between Egypt and Greece, expected after the Eid holidays, maybe in three or four weeks.

Greece, according to Chahine, had been pressing upon Egypt to pursue water demarcation. This has been going on even before my post which started in 2001.

A former Egyptian diplomat said that Greece has been pressuring Egypt on the matter since 1997.

Egypt, he added, had been reluctant on the matter because this demarcation would have to include two disputed points between Greece and Turkey and Cairo was waiting for the Athens-Ankara settlement to be settled first.

Today, concerned Egyptian officials who insist that the finalisation of the demarcation would not be a matter of a few weeks are not necessarily concerned about this dispute at least for now.

They insist that the priority for Egypt now is to pursue the avenues of gas discoveries in order to provide Egypt with its needed supplies and also in order to allow Egypt to access foreign currency by expanding exports of natural gas.

Meanwhile, concerned government bodies are not worried about the lawsuit that Ayyoub is pursuing. Some argue that this suit will actually end up being shelved by the administrative court for lack of any substantial evidence.

Ayyoub is determined that it will not be shelved. This is the whole point; we are going to court to get the government to provide the evidence that would support our case in order to prevent the executive authority from giving up Egyptian rights either to properties in Greece or to shares of Mediterranean water.

An Athens-based anonymous official said that there is no quarrel whatsoever between Greece and Egypt and we are working closely on the economic, legal and political interests of both countries.

He added that in preparation for the demarcation agreement with Cairo, Greece has been conducting exhaustive talks with Turkey on contested islands in the Mediterranean.

The issue will be addressed during a three-way summit between the leaders of Egypt, Greece and Cyprus that is scheduled for the second week of October in Cairo.



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Queen Maxima of The Netherlands attended the opening of the European Congress on Nursing Care for the Elderly held by European Nursing Congress Foundation at the Rotterdam City Hall on October 04, 2016 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Fifth European Nursing Congress 2016 Care for Older People: Are We Doing the Right Things Right? has four tracks: Science, Practice, Education and Management. Queen Maxima wore a new dress by ZARA
What if one blood test could screen for more than 50 types of cancer?
Two members of the Muslim Brotherhood were killed in a police shootout on Monday, including a senior leader in charge of the group's "armed wing", according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry early on Tuesday.

The statement said that Mohamed Kamal, 61, a member of the group's the Guidance Bureau, and Yasser Shehata, another leader, were killed when police raided an apartment in Cairo's southern Bassateen neighbourhood that was used by the leaders as a headquarters to plan their armed attacks.

Security forces were met with gunfire from inside, prompting them to shoot back, the ministry added. It said that forces obtained a permit from the state security prosecution prior to the raid.

Kamal had been sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases in absentia for sponsoring "armed groups that attack state institutions."

Shehata was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for "assaulting a citizen and forcibly detaining him in the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice party," the Brotherhood's political arm of the organisation, the ministry added.

The Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and most organized political group, has suffered one of the toughest crackdowns on its 88-year history following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the group.

The group says it is a peaceful organisaton.





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Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Areas of patchy fog early. Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia.

Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) summary The full CMI on the next page has more details. If you are worried about using this medicine, speak to your doctor or pharmacist.

Why am I using ALPROLIX?

ALPROLIX contains the active ingredient eftrenonacog alfa (recombinant coagulation factor IX fusion protein). ALPROLIX is used for the management of haemophilia B (congenital factor IX deficiency). For more information, see Section 1. Why am I using ALPROLIX? in the full CMI.

What should I know before I use ALPROLIX?

Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, use any other medicines, or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. For more information, see Section Do not use if you have ever had an allergic reaction to ALPROLIX or other factor IX replacement factors, or any of the ingredients listed at the end of the CMI.For more information, see Section 2. What should I know before I use ALPROLIX? in the full CMI.

What if I am taking other medicines?

Tell your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre if you are taking or using any other medicines including any that you get without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket, or health food shop. For more information see Section 3. What if I am taking other medicines? in the full CMI.

How do I use ALPROLIX?

Your doctor will decide how much ALPROLIX you use. This will depend on your individual need for replacement factor IX therapy. Your doctor may change the dose you use during your treatment. ALPROLIX is given by slow injection directly into your veins. ALPROLIX comes in a vial of sterile powder to cake and a pre-filled syringe containing solvent, also known as diluent. These need to be mixed before use. More instructions can be found in Section 4. How do I use ALPROLIX? in the full CMI.

What should I know while using ALPROLIX?

Things you should do Tell your doctor immediately if bleeding is not controlled after using ALPROLIX. If you become pregnant while on treatment with ALPROLIX, immediately tell your doctor. Tell any other doctors, dentist, or pharmacist you visit that you are using ALPROLIX. Keep all your appointments with your doctor and any blood tests. Things you should not do Do not give your medicine to anyone else, even if they appear to have the same condition as you. Do not stop using your medicine or change the dosage without checking with your doctor. Looking after your medicine Keep your ALPROLIX in the pack until it is time to use it. This medicine should be protected from light. Keep ALPROLIX in the refrigerator at 2C to 8C. For more information, see Section 5. What should I know while using [insert medicine]? in the full CMI.

Are there any side effects?



A serious side effect is an allergic reaction with symptoms of shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing, chest pain or discomfort, swelling of the face, lips tongue or other parts of the body rash or hives.

For more information, including what to do if you have any side effects, see Section Some common side effects are headache, tingling or numbness in your mouth (paraesthesia), breath odour, fatigue, dizziness, taste disturbance or loss of taste (dysgeusia), pain or redness at site of infusion, easily bruising or bleeding due to factor IX inhibition, low blood pressure (symptoms include dizziness or feeling lightheaded), fast or irregular heartbeats, also called palpitations, pain in your side with blood in your urine (obstructive uropathy).A serious side effect is an allergic reaction with symptoms of shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing, chest pain or discomfort, swelling of the face, lips tongue or other parts of the body rash or hives.For more information, including what to do if you have any side effects, see Section 6. Are there any side effects? in the full CMI.

Why am I using ALPROLIX?

ALPROLIX contains the active ingredient eftrenonacog alfa (recombinant coagulation factor IX fusion protein). ALPROLIX is used for the management of haemophilia B (congenital factor IX deficiency). People with haemophilia B lack sufficient factor IX to control bleeding. ALPROLIX works by replacing factor IX to enable blood to clot. ALPROLIX is used to control and prevent bleeding episodes routinely prevent and reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes reduce bleeding before, during, and after surgery. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why this medicine has been prescribed for you.

This medicine helps to control your condition but does not cure it.

Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason.

What should I know before I use ALPROLIX?

Warnings

Do not use ALPROLIX if: you are allergic to eftrenonacog alfa or other factor IX replacement factors, or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Always check the ingredients to make sure you can use this medicine.

Check with your doctor if you: have any other medical conditions take any medicines for any other condition During treatment, you may be at risk of developing certain side effects. It is important you understand these risks and how to monitor for them. See additional information under Section 6. Are there any side effects

Pregnancy and breastfeeding Check with your doctor if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. There is no information on the use of ALPROLIX during pregnancy. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of taking it if you are pregnant. Talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding or intend to breastfeed. It is not known whether ALPROLIX passes into breast milk. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of taking it if you are breast-feeding.

What if I am taking other medicines?

Tell your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre if you are taking any other medicines, including any medicines, vitamins or supplements that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre have more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while using this medicine.

How do I use ALPROLIX?

How much to use Follow all directions given to you by your doctor carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. Your doctor will decide how much ALPROLIX you use. This will depend on your individual need for replacement factor IX therapy. Your doctor may change the dose you use during your treatment. Do not stop using ALPROLIX or change the dosage, without checking with your doctor unless you have an allergic reaction.

How to use ALPROLIX ALPROLIX is given by slow injection directly into your veins. ALPROLIX is for single use in one patient only. Dispose of all unused solution, empty vials, and used needles and syringes into a sharps bin.

Preparing ALPROLIX Refer to the leaflet in the pack for step-by-step instructions about how to prepare and inject ALPROLIX. ALPROLIX is provided as a powder and sterile sodium chloride solution 0.325% (diluent) which need to be mixed together before use. It is important to not shake ALPROLIX when mixing it. Shaking can damage this medicine. Mix the ALPROLIX powder with the diluent provided only when you are ready to use it. If you mix the powder and diluent and are interrupted, you can keep the mixed product for a maximum of 6 hours when stored at room temperature (below 30C). Do not put it in the freezer. Always inspect ALPROLIX before use and after it has been mixed.

Inspecting ALPROLIX The medicine should be clear to slightly opalescent and colourless. Do not inject if the solution is discoloured or cloudy or contains particles.

How long to use ALPROLIX Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you. If you have any questions about how to use ALPROLIX, talk to your doctor, or Haemophilia Treatment Centre, or telephone 1800 818 806 (In Australia) or 0800 283 684 (In New Zealand).

If you forget to use ALPROLIX Use your dose of ALPROLIX as soon as you remember and resume your normal dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose you missed. This may increase the chance of you getting an unwanted side effect. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre.

If you use too much ALPROLIX If you think that you have used too much ALPROLIX, you may need urgent medical attention. You should immediately: contact your doctor, or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital. phone the Poisons Information Centre for advice

by calling 13 11 26 if you are in Australia or by calling 0800 764 766 if you are in New Zealand You should do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning.

What should I know while using ALPROLIX?

Things you should do Always talk to your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre before taking any other medicine while you are using ALPROLIX. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are using this medicine. If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you are using ALPROLIX. Keep all of your doctor's appointments so that your progress can be checked. Your doctor may do some blood tests before you start your treatment and from time to time during your treatment to monitor your progress.

Call your doctor straight away if you: Tell your doctor immediately if: Your bleeding is not controlled after using ALPROLIX. You become pregnant while on treatment with ALPROLIX, immediately tell your doctor.

Things you should not do Do not use more than the recommended dose. Do not use ALPROLIX to treat any other complaints unless your doctor tells you to. Do not give your medicine to anyone else, even if they appear to have the same condition as you. Do not stop using your medicine or change the dosage without checking with your doctor.

Driving or using machines Be careful before you drive or use any machines or tools until you know how ALPROLIX affects you.

Looking after your medicine Keep your ALPROLIX in the pack until it is time to use it. This medicine should be protected from light. Keep ALPROLIX in the refrigerator at 2C to 8C. Do not freeze ALPROLIX. If necessary, you can keep ALPROLIX out of the refrigerator for a single 6-month period. If out of the refrigerator, store the sealed carton in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 30C. The date that the product is removed from the refrigerator should be recorded on the carton. Do not use any ALPROLIX that has been out of the refrigerator for more than 6 months (refer to Disposal below). Once reconstituted, you can keep ALPROLIX at room temperature (below 30C) for up to 6 hours. Protect the product from direct sunlight. Follow the instructions in the carton on how to take care of your medicine properly. Keep it where young children cannot reach it.

Getting rid of any unwanted medicine If your doctor tells you to stop using this medicine or it is out of date, ask your Haemophilia Treatment Centre what to do with any medicine that is left over.

Are there any side effects?

All medicines can have side effects. If you do experience any side effects, most of them are minor and temporary. However, some side effects may need medical attention. See the information below and, ask your doctor, Haemophilia Treatment Centre, or pharmacist if you have any further questions about side effects.

Less serious side effects in previously treated patients Less serious side effects What to do headache tingling or numbness in your mouth (paraesthesia) breath odour fatigue dizziness taste disturbance or loss of taste (dysgeusia) pain at site of infusion low blood pressure (symptoms include dizziness or feeling lightheaded) fast or irregular heartbeats, also called palpitations pain in your side with blood in your urine (obstructive uropathy). Speak to your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre if you have any of these less serious side effects and they worry you.

Less serious side effects in previously untreated patients Less serious side effects What to do redness at site of infusion Speak to your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre if you have any of these less serious side effects and they worry you.

Serious side effects in both previously treated and previously untreated patients Serious side effects What to do Factor IX inhibition easily bruising or bleeding due to factor IX inhibition Allergy related swelling of your face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body, rash or hives shortness of breath, wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest pain or discomfort. Call your doctor or Haemophilia Treatment Centre straight away, or go straight to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital if you notice any of these serious side effects. ALPROLIX may increase the risk of formation of abnormal blood clots in your body if you have risk factors for developing blood clots. Your body can make antibodies called inhibitors against ALPROLIX, which may stop ALPROLIX from working properly. Tell your doctor, Haemophilia Treatment Centre or pharmacist if you notice anything else that may be making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed here may occur in some people.

Reporting side effects After you have received medical advice for any side effects you experience, you can report side effects as follows: For Australia: Therapeutic Goods Administration online at www.tga.gov.au/reporting-problems For New Zealand: Medsafe online at https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/safety/report-a-problem.asp By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine. Always make sure you speak to your doctor, Haemophilia Treatment Centre or pharmacist before you decide to stop taking any of your medicines.

Product details

This medicine is only available with a doctor's prescription.

What ALPROLIX contains Powder in a vial Active ingredient (main ingredient) eftrenonacog alfa Other ingredients (inactive ingredients) sucrose histidine mannitol polysorbate 20 Solvent in a pre-filled syringe Active ingredient (main ingredient) Not applicable Other ingredients (inactive ingredients) sodium chloride water for injections Do not take this medicine if you are allergic to any of these ingredients.

What ALPROLIX looks like ALPROLIX consists of: 1 vial of sterile ALPROLIX white to off-white powder to cake 1 pre-filled syringe containing solvent also known as diluent 1 sterile vial adapter for mixing powder and solvent ALPROLIX is available in 6 strengths: 250 IU, 500 IU, 1000 IU, 2000 IU, 3000 IU and 4000IU. ALPROLIX 250 IU - AUST R 209227 ALPROLIX 500 IU - AUST R 209223 ALPROLIX 1000 IU - AUST R 209224 ALPROLIX 2000 IU - AUST R 209225 ALPROLIX 3000 IU - AUST R 209226 ALPROLIX 4000 IU - AUST R 315497
NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia.

Dimethyl fumarate Consumer Medicine Information

What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about TECFIDERA. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. This leaflet was last updated on the date at the end of this leaflet. Speak to your pharmacist or doctor to obtain the most up to date information on this medicine. You can also download the most up to date leaflet from: www.biogen.com.au/products/tecfidera-CMI.pdf All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you taking TECFIDERA against the benefits they expect it will have for you. If you have any concerns about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Keep this leaflet with the medicine. You may need to read it again.

What TECFIDERA is used for TECFIDERA is used to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). TECFIDERA slows down the progression of physical disability in people with relapsing forms of MS and decreases the number of flare ups (relapses). Some people feel better when they start to take TECFIDERA. However TECFIDERA cannot repair damage that has already been caused by MS. When you start TECFIDERA you might not notice an improvement, but TECFIDERA may still be working to help prevent your MS from becoming worse. The cause of MS is not yet known, MS affects the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the body's immune system reacts against its own myelin (the 'insulation' surrounding nerve fibres). In relapsing forms of MS, people have 'exacerbations' from time to time (e.g. blurred vision, weakness in the legs or arms, or loss of control of bowel or bladder function). They are followed by periods of recovery. Recovery may be complete or incomplete. If it is incomplete there is 'progression of disability'. TECFIDERA contains the active ingredient dimethyl fumarate. Dimethyl fumarate decreases the inflammation in your brain that is caused by MS and thereby reduces nerve damage. TECFIDERA works by reducing inflammatory responses in cells and helps to protect the central nervous system cells against attack. Inflammation of the brain is an important part of the MS disease process. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why this medicine has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason. TECFIDERA has not been studied in patients with chronic progressive MS. Safety and effectiveness in children younger than 18 years have not been established. This medicine is not addictive. This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription.

Before you take TECFIDERA

When you must not take it Do not take TECFIDERA if you have an allergy to: any medicine containing dimethyl fumarate any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include: shortness of breath wheezing or difficulty breathing swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body rash, itching or hives on the skin. Do not take TECFIDERA if you are being treated with other medicines containing fumaric acid (creams or tablets/capsules). Do not take this medicine after the expiry date printed on the pack or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. If it has expired or is damaged, return it to your pharmacist for disposal. If you are not sure whether you should start taking this medicine, talk to your doctor.

Before you start to take it Tell your doctor if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes. Tell your doctor if you have or have had any of the following medical conditions: liver problems kidney problems infection recently received a vaccination. Tell your doctor at your earliest opportunity if you suspect you have any symptoms of shingles. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. There is no information on the use of TECFIDERA during pregnancy. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of taking it if you are pregnant. Tell your doctor if you are breast-feeding or planning to breast-feed. It is not known whether TECFIDERA passes into breast milk. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of taking it if you are breast-feeding. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell them before you start taking TECFIDERA.

Taking other medicines Tell your doctor if you have previously taken or are currently taking medicines containing fumaric acid (creams or tablets/capsules). You should not take TECFIDERA together with these medicines. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you get without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines and TECFIDERA may interfere with each other. These include: medicines which affect immune function including other medicines to treat MS such as fingolimod, natalizumab or mitoxantrone or some other commonly used cancer medicines medicines which affect the kidneys, including some antibiotics (used to treat infections), "water tablets" (diuretics), certain types of painkillers (such as ibuprofen and other similar anti-inflammatory medicines and medicines purchased without a doctor's prescription) and medicines that contain lithium live vaccines. These medicines may be affected by TECFIDERA or may affect how well it works. You may need different amounts of your medicines, or you may need to take different medicines. Your doctor and pharmacist have more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while taking this medicine.

How to take TECFIDERA Follow all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. If you do not understand the instructions on the box, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help.

How much to take The recommended starting dose of TECFIDERA is 120 mg taken twice daily. After 7 days the recommended dose is 240 mg twice daily.

How to take it Swallow each capsule whole with a glass of water. Do not crush, divide or dissolve the capsule or its contents.

When to take it Take one capsule twice a day. Taking it at the same time each day (e.g. at morning during breakfast and at night during dinner) will help you remember when to take it. TECFIDERA can be taken with or without food. For those patients who experience gastrointestinal side effects or flushing, taking TECFIDERA with food may help reduce these effects. Your doctor may tell you to take TECFIDERA with aspirin or may temporarily reduce your dose. Do not reduce your dose unless your doctor tells you to.

How long to take it Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you. This medicine helps to control your condition, but does not cure it. The positive effects of TECFIDERA may not be seen immediately. It is important to keep taking your medicine even if you feel well. It is important not to interrupt treatment with TECFIDERA unless your doctor tells you to.

If you forget to take it If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the dose you missed and take your next dose when you are meant to. Otherwise, take it as soon as you remember, and then go back to taking your medicine as you would normally. Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose that you missed. This may increase the chance of you getting an unwanted side effect. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you have trouble remembering to take your medicine, ask your pharmacist for some hints.

If you take too much (overdose) Immediately telephone your doctor or the Poisons Information Centre (in Australia telephone 13 11 26, in New Zealand telephone 0800 764 766) for advice, or go to Emergency at the nearest hospital, if you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much TECFIDERA. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention.

While you are taking TECFIDERA

Things you must do If you are about to have any blood or urine tests, tell your doctor that you are taking TECFIDERA. Blood and urine test results may be affected by treatment with TECFIDERA. Before you start TECFIDERA, your doctor will do a blood test to check the number of your white blood cells. Your doctor may also test these periodically during treatment. Before you start TECFIDERA, your doctor will make sure you have results from a recent urine test to check your kidney function and may repeat the test periodically during treatment. TECFIDERA may cause proteins (such as albumin) to be detected in a urine test. TECFIDERA may also cause increases in the level of liver enzymes that will show up in a blood test. Take TECFIDERA exactly as your doctor has prescribed. Tell your doctor if you are going to be vaccinated. Tell your partner or caregiver about your treatment. If you are about to be started on any new medicine, remind your doctor and pharmacist that you are taking TECFIDERA. Tell any other doctors, dentists, and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine. If you become pregnant while taking this medicine, tell your doctor immediately.

Things you must not do Do not take TECFIDERA to treat any other complaints unless your doctor tells you to. Do not give your medicine to anyone else, even if they have the same condition as you. Do not stop taking your medicine or lower the dosage without checking with your doctor.

Things to be careful of Tell your doctor straight away if you think you have an infection, have fever, or feel like you have the flu. TECFIDERA may decrease lymphocyte (white blood cell) counts. White blood cells fight infection. You may get infections more easily while you are taking TECFIDERA. Any infection that you already have may get worse. Infections could be serious and sometimes life-threatening. If you have a serious infection, your doctor may recommend that you stop taking TECFIDERA until you recover. Tell your doctor straight away if you think you are experiencing symptoms similar to an MS relapse, new or worsening weakness on one side of the body; clumsiness; changes in vision, thinking, or memory; or confusion or personality changes lasting for more than several days. These could be signs of a rare and very serious brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The symptoms of PML may be similar to an MS relapse. Having low lymphocyte levels, particularly for a long period of time, can increase your risk of PML. Keep all of your doctor's appointments so that your progress can be checked. Before you start TECFIDERA, your doctor will do a blood test to check the number of your white blood cells. Your doctor may also test these periodically during treatment. Before you start TECFIDERA, your doctor will make sure you have results from a recent urine test to check your kidney function and may repeat the test periodically during treatment. TECFIDERA may cause proteins (such as albumin) to be detected in a urine test.

Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking TECFIDERA. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical attention if you get some of the side effects. Do not be alarmed by the following lists of side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you: reddening of the face or body feeling warm, hot, burning or itchy (flushing) loose stools (diarrhoea) feeling sick (nausea) stomach pain or stomach cramps inflammation of the lining of the intestines (gastroenteritis) being sick (vomiting) indigestion (dyspepsia) inflammation of the lining of the stomach (gastritis) gastrointestinal disorder burning sensation hot flush, feeling hot itchy skin (pruritus) rash pink or red blotches on the skin (erythema) runny nose (rhinorrhoea) hair thinning. The above list includes the more common side effects of your medicine. If any of these persist or worsen, talk to your doctor as some of them may also be due to an infection or allergic reaction. Tell your doctor as soon as possible if you notice the following: signs of infection (e.g., unexplained fever, severe diarrhoea). The above list includes serious side effects that may require medical attention. Serious side effects are rare. If any of the following happen, stop taking TECFIDERA and tell your doctor immediately or go to Emergency at your nearest hospital: swelling of your face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body shortness of breath, wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest pain or discomfort symptoms similar to an MS relapse, new or worsening weakness on one side of the body; clumsiness; changes in vision, thinking, or memory; or confusion or personality changes. The above list includes very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation. These side effects are very rare. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything that is making you feel unwell.

After taking TECFIDERA

Storage Keep your capsules in the pack until it is time to take them. If you take the capsules out of the pack they may not keep well. Keep your capsules in a cool dry place away from light where the temperature stays below 30C. Do not store TECFIDERA or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it on a window sill or in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep it where children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.

Disposal If your doctor tells you to stop taking this medicine or the expiry date has passed, ask your pharmacist what to do with any medicine that is left over.

Product description

What it looks like TECFIDERA capsules are available in two strengths: 120 mg and 240 mg. The 120 mg capsules are green and white printed with 'BG-12, 120 mg' in black ink on the capsule body. Available in blister wallet cards containing 14 or 112 capsules packed in a box. The 240 mg capsules are green printed with 'BG-12, 240 mg' in black ink on the capsule body. Available in blister wallet cards containing 14 or 56 capsules packed in a box. Not all pack sizes may be available.

Ingredients TECFIDERA contains dimethyl fumarate as the active ingredient. Other ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose (E460) croscarmellose sodium (E468) purified talc (E553b) colloidal anhydrous silica (E551) magnesium stearate (E572) triethyl citrate (E1505) methylacrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer methacrylic acid-ethyl acrylate copolymer simethicone sodium lauryl sulfate (E514) polysorbate 80 (E433) gelatin titanium dioxide (E171) brilliant blue FCF CI42090 (E133) iron oxide yellow CI77492 (E172) iron oxide black CI77499 (E172).

Further information You can obtain more information from your doctor, pharmacist or the MS Society in your State, or by telephoning the MS Alliance on 1800 852 289 in Australia or 0800 852 289.
A study led by investigators from the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard finds evidence that antibody protection may help control infection with the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB). In their study receiving online publication in Cell, the research team describes finding consistent differences in both the structure and function of antibodies targeting the TB bacteria between individuals with active TB disease and those with latent TB, which neither produces symptoms nor can be transmitted. The findings may lead to better ways of distinguishing between active and latent disease and to a more effective vaccine against a disease that kills more than 1.5 million people each year.

"Ending tuberculosis by 2030 is one of the targets of the World Health Organization's newly adopted Sustainable Developmental Goals," says Lenette Lu, MD, PhD, of the Ragon Institute and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Medicine, a co-lead author of the Cell report. "A more effective vaccine against TB could substantially contribute towards that goal, impacting the nearly one in three people worldwide who are infected and addressing the leading killer of individuals infected with HIV."

The only currently available preventive against infection with the TB bacteria - the BCG vaccine - has been available since the 1920s; but its effectiveness against pulmonary TB, the most common form of the disease, has always been uncertain. BCG is believed to work by stimulating cellular immunity, which is carried out by specialized immune cells including T cells and the macrophages that are directly infected by TB bacteria. Previous investigations into a possible role for antibodies in the immune response to TB have had conflicting results, but the Ragon team - led by Galit Alter, PhD, of MGH Department of Medicine and Sarah Fortune, MD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health - used a novel approach.

In addition to binding to their target pathogens and marking them for destruction by the immune system, antibodies also directly stimulate pathogen-killing cells of the innate immune system by binding to a cell-surface protein called the Fc receptor. The Ragon team profiled TB-specific antibodies from 22 individuals with latent TB and 20 with active TB for 70 different features associated with Fc-mediated antibody function. They first identified nine characteristics that differentiated between antibodies of the two groups of participants, and further investigation identified the biomarker that best distinguished between them.

A key regulator of Fc-mediated immune function is the addition to antibodies of compounds called glycans, made up of sugar molecules; and distinct differences in glycosylation patterns were found to clearly distinguish latent TB antibodies from active TB antibodies. To confirm these results in the initial group of participants, who were from South Africa, the team conducted a similar analysis of antibodies from 20 individuals from Texas and Mexico - half with latent and half with active TB - and had the same results. Further experiments revealed that application of latent TB antibodies to TB-infected human macrophages not only increased the activation of several antimicrobial processes but also reduced the survival of the TB bacteria.

Co-lead author Amy Chung, PhD, now at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia - a joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital - explains, "This is a completely new area of immune research in tuberculosis, since these antibodies don't just recognize the infection, they also recruit immune cells to target it. People with latent infection have inactive disease for a reason, and if antibodies are playing a role in controlling the infection, the mechanism they use could be harnessed for future vaccine development."

Alter, an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, adds, "The diagnostic potential of these findings should not be overlooked. The detection of Fc-related modifications of TB-specific antibodies could be easily translated into a rapid, inexpensive point-of-care diagnostic that could have enormous public health impact, particularly in those parts of the globe where TB is endemic."

"These findings - which could lead to major advances in the fight against one of humanity's oldest diseases - would have been impossible without visionary philanthropists like Terry and Susan Ragon, whose major gift created the Ragon Institute in 2009, and Mark and Lisa Schwartz, whose long-term support provided seed funding for Dr. Alter's work," says Peter Slavin, MD, president of Massachusetts General Hospital, where the Ragon Institute is administratively based.
On the parliaments agenda, is a celebration of 150-years of parliamentary life on 9 October, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh

Egypt's parliament will begin its second legislative session on Tuesday in Cairo after concluding a one-month summer recess.

On the parliaments agenda, is a celebration of 150-years of parliamentary life on 9 October, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Over 16 regional and international parliament speakers will attend the event, where President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is scheduled to speak.

Also in the second legislative session, the parliament could pass the long-awaited press bill and a contested civil service law that was approved in principle and was referred to the State Council to assess its constitutionality as a final step before passing the law.

Parliament's first legislative session concluded in the first week of September after ratifying the long-delayed value added tax (VAT) and church building law.

According to the Egyptian constitution, each elected parliament has five legislative sessions, with each session lasting a minimum of nine months.

The parliament convened for the first time in January 2016, ending a four-year legislative vacuum brought about by political turmoil and legislative amendments to the parliaments election laws.



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Prof. Adrian Martineau THOUGHT LEADERS SERIES ...insight from the worlds leading experts

Why has there been growing interest in the potential role of vitamin D in asthma management?

In the past vitamin D was just thought to be important in regulating calcium homeostasis and bone health as vitamin D deficiency is best known for causing rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

Then, in the 1980s it was first found that the vitamin D receptor is expressed not just in bone, but in a whole range of other tissues, 35 to date and, in particular, white blood cells and respiratory epithelium. This raised the possibility that vitamin D could modulate immune function as well as bone mineralization.

A series of map studies then followed to characterize how vitamin D modulates immune function. In particular, two functions were highlighted. First, was the ability of vitamin D to induce immunity to respiratory virus infection.

The second was the ability of vitamin D to suppress inflammatory responses, particularly by induction of the regulatory cytokine interleukin 10.

On top of that, observational, epidemiological literature then started emerging that linked lower vitamin D status to poor asthma control, both in children and in adults. These associations were found to be independent when adjusted for confounders.

They were found to operate in a very diverse range of settings and ages and so a compelling hypothesis emerged that vitamin D could have a role in protecting against asthma exacerbation.

How much evidence is there that low blood levels of vitamin D could be linked to an increased risk of asthma attacks?

There's extensive evidence from observational studies that there are associations which are independent when adjusted for potential confounders, but the evidence that comes from this Cochrane review is all from double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized trials.

We identified nine such studies that have been conducted to date. This Cochrane review focuses on the results of those nine trials.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the Cochrane Collaboration and the studies you looked at in this review?

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international, independent network of researchers, health professionals, patients and carers who are involved in identifying and summarizing the best available evidence to guide patients and doctors on evidence-based treatments for disease.

They have a very rigorous approach whereby a very strict set of standards is used to identify the most robust and methodologically sound studies and then standard statistical tests and assessments of quality of evidence are applied to get an overall readout of whether an intervention is effective for a given condition or not.

We searched through 81 studies to identify the nine that were of the highest quality. By high quality, I mean that they were all double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized trials.

Double-blind means that neither the participants nor the people conducting the trial were aware of whether the participants were taking vitamin D or placebo during the study. The reason this is important is that it minimizes the risk of generating biased results.

By randomizing patients to receive one or the other, we end up with two groups of patients who are, as far as we know, similar to each other in every respect except that one gets vitamin D and one gets placebo.

Therefore, when we see a difference between them, we can confidently say that the difference is going to be due to the treatment they received, as opposed to any potential confounder.

We extracted data from these trials on a primary outcome, which was severe asthma exacerbation. We define that as worsening of asthma symptoms that become severe enough to either require treatment with oral corticosteroids, and/or precipitate attendance at an emergency department, and/or precipitate hospital admission. That's a pretty standard definition of a severe asthma exacerbation.

We also looked at a range of other outcomes relating to asthma control, in particular a test called the asthma control test which is a very well validated questionnaire that evaluates people's symptom control day-to-day in asthma. We also looked at other outcomes such as lung function, exhaled nitric oxide and other biomarkers of airway inflammation.

What were your main findings?

The headline finding was that we found vitamin D had significant protective effects against asthma exacerbations severe enough to precipitate emergency department attendance or hospitalization. There was about a 50% reduction.

Vitamin D also reduced the rate of asthma exacerbations that were severe enough to require treatment with oral steroids. That analysis was actually based on just three of the nine trials that were included in the review because the other six trials either didn't report that outcome or no patient experienced that outcome in either arm of the trial.

This reflects the fact that those other trials tended to enroll patients with milder disease, so the finding relating to exacerbations requiring oral steroid treatment was restricted to these three trials that included patients with more severe disease and even they included quite a lot of patients with mild-to-moderate disease as well.

The hospitalization finding was related to a broader range of the trials, in fact seven of the trials, so that's more generalizable. The interesting thing was that, although we saw a protective effect of vitamin D on the asthma attack outcome, we didn't see significant effects on the other outcomes we looked at such as day-to-day symptom control, lung function or other biomarkers of airway inflammation.

Were your surprised by the results?

We were quite surprised actually because we, ourselves, conducted one of the larger trials to be included in this review. When we analyzed it on its own, although it showed a trend towards protection against exacerbation, this wasn't statistically significant. Similarly, other trials published in the area individually have tended not to show protective effects, certainly not in adults.

What the review really brought to the table was increased statistical power. By pooling trials that individually hadn't yielded a statistically significant effect but had all actually shown a trend toward protection, we were able to show an effect that was both statistically and clinically significant.

What potential mechanisms could explain the findings?

First, we think vitamin D may be working by boosting innate immune responses to viral respiratory pathogens such as rhinovirus, which we know are common precipitants of asthma exacerbations. So it may be that vitamin D is upper respiratory infections such as colds and flu, which would otherwise trigger exacerbations.

The second potential mechanism (and these mechanisms are not mutually exclusive; there could be a complementary mode of action) is that vitamin D may be inducing anti-inflammatory responses.

For example, it may be inducing secretion of interleukin 10 and other regulatory cytokines, which can also serve to dampen down symptoms of asthma because a lot of exacerbation symptoms relate to uncontrolled airway inflammation. If you can put a brake on that, then you can attenuate, terminate or prevent an exacerbation.

These observations are really based on lab work that suggests these mechanisms and also on other trials of vitamin D to prevent upper respiratory infection that haven't necessarily been done in asthmatics.

What further research is needed to improve our understanding of the role of vitamin D in asthma?

Although this finding is exciting, it doesn't actually take us quite yet to a point where we can make a clinical recommendation and include it in guidelines.

This is because we did what's called aggregate data analysis; that is, we used summary statistics from individual papers to reach our conclusion. We weren't able to test whether vitamin D helped everybody or whether it just helped people who started off with low vitamin D levels.

We suspect, from a biological perspective, a priori, that vitamin D might be more likely to be beneficial if you happen to be vitamin D deficient, but we weren't able to test that hypothesis because we didn't have access to individual patient data.

Now, we've contacted all the principal investigators of the trials. We've formed a consortium and they're now contributing individual patient data on a collaborative basis; that's raw data that we're putting together and pooling in a single database.

That gives us a series of rows of data, with each row representing a single patient. We can then do sub-group analyses to see whether there is a threshold vitamin D level below which patients benefit from vitamin D, and above which they dont.

We anticipate that, by doing this exercise, we'll be able to establish if there is a vitamin D threshold below which supplementation confers benefit or not. Once we've got to that point, I think we will be in a position to make a more concrete clinical recommendation.

Another point is that only about half of asthma sufferers actually experience severe exacerbations of the sort that we're reporting on. Our review doesn't suggest that vitamin D will benefit the group who doesn't suffer these exacerbations.

For example, we haven't found an effect on day-to-day symptoms or lung function or any of the rest of that. Our review suggests that the non-exacerbator population may not get much benefit from vitamin D; the benefit seems to be restricted to the people who get these attacks.

Finally, Id like to emphasize that these trials investigated the effect of vitamin D when it was given in addition to standard asthma treatment. We are certainly not advocating that vitamin D be a replacement for that treatment and nobody should stop taking their asthma medication and replace it with vitamin D. This is an adjunctive therapy, an add-on.

The bottom line is that this is an exciting finding. We're not quite in a position yet where we can make a strong clinical recommendation. It's unlikely that vitamin D is going to benefit everyone, but it might have very significant potential benefits for deficient people and we're trying to answer that question at the moment.

Where can readers find more information?

The full paper can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD011511.pub2/full

For more information on the Cochrane Collaboration, please visit their website: http://uk.cochrane.org/

About Professor Adrian Martineau

Adrian Martineau is Professor of Respiratory Infection and Immunity at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London (http://www.blizard.qmul.ac.uk/staff/51-centre-for-primary-care-and-public-health/333-martineau-adrian.html).

He is a respiratory physician with a research interest in the effects of vitamin D on human health. His work combines laboratory investigation of the effects of vitamin D on the immune system with a series of multi-centre clinical trials conducted in the UK, South Africa and Mongolia, investigating the potential for vitamin D supplementation to prevent and treat tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections and exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Adrians work is funded by the MRC, the NIHR, the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health among others. He is a member of the NICE Public Health Advisory Committee on implementation of measures to eliminate profound vitamin D deficiency in the UK population.

He is Principal Investigator for the MRC-funded ViDiKids Study, a n=5,400 randomised controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent tuberculosis in Cape Town primary schoolchildren (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02880982).
According to the American Cancer Society approximately 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers are diagnosed each year. Yet, the sun does contribute to the production of Vitamin D, which is necessary for bone health, and perhaps even useful in preventing some cancers. So how does one know how much sun exposure is enough? Andrea M Armani, the Fluor Early Career Chair and Associate Professor and doctoral candidate Michele E. Lee in the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have developed a color-changing wearable that can notify users of their total exposure, allowing them to achieve a balance.

A user wears the 0.5" by 0.5" millimeter sized flexible patch and is notified of total UV exposure by the change in color. When the sensor turns orange, the user has reached the World Health Organization recommended daily dose of Vitamin D.

Because the sensor patch is less than half a millimeter thick and is extremely flexible, it is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts and athletes. Unlike app predecessors on the iPhone or Samsung watch, it does not require a power source. In addition, the sensors created by the Armani Lab, still work when wet and will function and adjust their responses when sunscreen is applied. Furthermore, the sensors can be stored for a period of up to five weeks. These sensors are made of material patented by Armani and Lee and were constructed of FDA-approved non-toxic polymers for human use and food contact.

Their innovation is documented in "Flexible UV Exposure Sensor Based on UV Responsive Polymer," in the journal ACS Sensors.

Researchers Armani and Lee indicate that this sensor addresses the unique challenges of trying to gauge sun exposure in the face of the varying geographical and environmental influences as well as the bio-chemical make-up of individual users. In the future, the researchers can adjust sensor performance and optimize the sensors for different skin types through the use of additional coatings and tailoring of the color-changing active layer.
Due to a lack of appropriate support in the community, unpaid carers are reluctantly taking their loved ones to A&E, according to new research published today by Carers UK. The charitys report comes as the NHS prepares for its annual challenge of increased A&E visits and hospital admissions during the winter months.

Carers identified serious difficulties accessing primary and community support services, with 1 in 5 saying they had no option but to take their loved one to A&E because it was impossible to see a district nurse or a GP out of hours, and 1 in 10 saying they didnt know where else to go.

The report, Pressure points, found that the majority of carers who have taken their loved one to A&E in the past 12 months believe their admission could have been prevented with more (55%) or higher quality support (50%) for the person they care for, more local support for them as a carer (32%) or access to a district nurse (25%).

A reduction in the provision of local care and support services is contributing to a rise in A&E visits and hospital admissions, as families say they have nowhere else to turn. Indeed, there were over 500,000 more visits to A&E in the first quarter of 2016 than the same period last year.

This growing demand on the NHS is forcing many people to be discharged from hospital too early, often without the right support in place at home and without proper consultation with their family. Over half of carers (58%) said that the person they care for had been discharged from hospital too early; with 12% saying their loved one had to be readmitted at a result. Not only is this counterproductive for the health of the person being cared for but it also causes undue stress and anxiety for families and friends who are often unprepared to take on caring responsibilities or coordinate aftercare themselves.

A lack of community health and care support is not only resulting in more people being admitted  or readmitted  to hospital, but it is also leading to many people having to stay in hospital for longer than necessary as they wait for an appropriate care package to be put in place to enable them to go home. Whats more, the cost to the NHS of delays in discharging older patients alone is 820 million a year; with the number of delayed discharges, and therefore costs, continuing to rise.

Helena Herklots, Chief Executive of Carers UK, said:

The majority of care provided in England is not by doctors, nurses or care workers, but by family and friends. These carers have told us that they arent able access the support they need, when they need it, from community health and care services, so they are reluctantly having to turn to A&E. Whats more, a lack of consultation, support and information at the point their loved one is discharged from hospital means that many families are taking on a caring role in a crisis and feel unprepared. This isnt sustainable and is leading to many people being readmitted to hospital shortly after theyve been discharged, piling more pressure on an already stretched NHS. With more and more families picking up caring responsibilities and older people with care needs being encouraged to stay at home for longer, a step-change is urgently needed to boost investment in community services and involve carers in decisions about the support they, and their loved ones, need to manage at home.

Carers UK is calling for:
The Registration Committee today announced that conferee registration is now open for Pittcon 2017, the worlds premier annual conference and exposition for laboratory science. The event will be held March 5-9, 2017, at the West Hall of McCormick Place, Chicago, IL.

What Pittcon Can do for You Play

The discounted registration fee of $190 is available through February 18, 2017. ($325 after 2/18). This affordable price includes unlimited week-long access to the exposition, technical sessions, Conferee Networking sessions, the Wallace H.

Coulter Lecture, Employment Bureau, and all amenities of the event. New this year, Pittcon offers an Expo Only pass for $100 giving the attendee unlimited access that is restricted to the expo floor. Discounts are available for groups, students and short courses.

Pittcon typically attracts many different confereesall with different goals for attending. In an effort to try to accommodate the needs of our conferees, we are pleased to offer an Expo Only pass for those individuals who come to Pittcon who want to visit only the expo floor. Fu-mei C. Lin, Registration Chairman.

Pittcon is also pleased to introduce a new recent partnership with Experient, a leading company in the Meetings & Events Industry as one of the best-known and most respected brands in the world.

When asked to comment on the move to a new registration company, Pittcon Registration Coordinator Shelley Simpson-Forget remarked,We are able to offer our attendees an advanced and more interactive registration experience.

She added, The new registration system has features such as recommending short courses and technical sessions based on an individuals interest, searching functionality and building a customized schedule that syncs across all devices.

All of us at Experient are thrilled to be working with Pittcon, said Michael Guerriero, Experients division president. As Pittcon seeks to provide remarkable event experiences to their conference conferees, exhibitors, sponsors and stakeholders, Experient will be supporting them with our unified suite of services and technology in the areas of registration, lead retrieval, session tracking and mobile app technologies.

All of these industry-leading solutions will deliver more data and analysis than Pittcon has received before. It will truly be a situation where all conference stakeholders win.
Recent work has shown that Zika virus persists in semen for up to 6 months after infection. In a correspondence published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers, in addition to confirming its long persistence in semen (in this case for more than 130 days, i.e., over 4 months), reveal the presence of the virus even within spermatozoa. This work results from collaboration between researchers from Inserm, CNRS, and academic practitioners from University Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier and Toulouse University Hospital.

Spermatozoa infected by Zika virus (green; arrowhead).  Elsa Suberbielle, CPTP / Inserm

In this letter, the scientists report the case of a 32-year-old man returning from French Guyana with symptoms suggestive of Zika virus infection, namely, moderate fever, rash, and muscle and joint pain. Zika virus was detected in the patient's plasma and urine 2 days after the onset of these symptoms. Samples of semen (11 samples), blood (10) and urine (5) were taken and analysed over a total period of 141 days.

Upon analysis, Zika virus was found to be present in all samples up to the 37th day. Beyond that point, the virus was found only in the semen, where it persisted for over 130 days, while the patient was in good health. This result was confirmed in two other patients, in whom the virus persisted for 69 and 115 days in the semen. For the moment, the factors responsible for this variation in persistence amongst individuals are unknown. From the time of diagnosis, however, these patients were advised to use protection during sexual relations.

The research team subsequently analysed the semen from the patient and examined the spermatozoa it contains using various microscopy techniques.

We detected the presence of Zika virus inside approximately 3.5% of this patients spermatozoa, explains Guillaume Martin-Blondel, Inserm researcher at the Toulouse Purpan Pathophysiology Centre (Inserm/CNRS/University of Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier) and physician at the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department of Toulouse University Hospital.

The researchers explain that for other sexually-transmitted viruses, such as HIV, the virus remains stuck at the surface of spermatozoa. For purposes of in vitro fertilization, it is therefore possible to wash the spermatozoa from HIV-infected patients, whereas this seems to be excluded for patients positive for Zika virus. However, the active nature of the Zika virus present in spermatozoa remains to be determined, as well as the ability of these spermatozoa to transmit infection (since the virus is also present outside the spermatozoa, in the seminal fluid).

In conclusion, analysis of this case has important implications for the prevention of sexual transmission of this virus, by means that remain unknown at present. These observations also raise many questions on the need to include screening for Zika virus in the testing of sperm donations in fertility centres.
Researchers have discovered a gene region that raises the risk a child will have a middle ear infection, known to doctors as acute otitis media (AOM)and known to parents as one reason for a screaming, unhappy preschooler. The finding may offer an early clue to helping doctors develop more effective treatments to prevent one of the most common childhood illnesses.

"Parents and pediatricians are all too familiar with this painful childhood ear infectionit's the most frequent reason children receive antibiotics," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Although microbes cause this condition, it's been well known that genetics also plays a role. This is the first and largest genetic study focused on risk susceptibility for acute otitis media."

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Hakonarson and colleagues from CHOP collaborated with Dutch researchers led by Gijs van Ingen and colleagues from the University Medical Center, Rotterdam, in the study published online Sept. 28 in Nature Communications.

The researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on two discovery cohorts with DNA samples from 11,000 children. They found that an association between AOM and a site on chromosome 6 containing the gene FNDC1, and then replicated the finding in an independent pediatric cohort with data from 2000 children. Co-first author Jin Li, PhD, of CHOP, was the lead analyst on the study.

In further studies, the scientists showed that the mouse gene corresponding to FNDC1 was expressed in the animal's middle ear. "Although the gene's function in humans has not been well studied, we do know that FNDC1 codes for a protein with a role in inflammation," said Hakonarson.

Hakonarson added that learning more about the biological interactions between genes and pathogens involved in AOM, researchers hope to develop more specific therapies for the childhood infection, while learning which children are most susceptible to the disease. "As with many other diseases, early medical intervention may offer the greatest benefits," he said.
In a study appearing in the October 4 issue of JAMA, Paul S. Chan, M.D., of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, and colleagues evaluated the association of hypothermia treatment with survival to hospital discharge and with favorable neurological survival at hospital discharge among patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Therapeutic hypothermia, or targeted temperature management, is recommended for comatose patients following both out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrest. Nevertheless, therapeutic hypothermia has only been shown to improve overall survival and rates of favorable neurological survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. Whether this treatment improves survival for patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest is unknown. As in-hospital cardiac arrest affects approximately 200,000 individuals annually in the United States, there is a need to understand whether therapeutic hypothermia is associated with improved survival for these patients.

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With the use of the national Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation registry, the researchers identified 26,183 patients successfully resuscitated from an in-hospital cardiac arrest between March 2002 and December 2014, and either treated or not treated with hypothermia at 355 U.S. hospitals.

Overall, 1,568 of 26,183 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest (6 percent) were treated with therapeutic hypothermia; 1,524 of these patients were matched to 3,714 non-hypothermia-treated patients. After adjustment, therapeutic hypothermia was associated with lower in-hospital survival (27.4 percent vs 29.2 percent), and this association was similar for nonshockable cardiac arrest rhythms (22.2 percent vs 24.5 percent) and shockable cardiac arrest rhythms (41.3 percent vs 44.1 percent). Therapeutic hypothermia was also associated with lower rates of favorable neurological survival for the overall study group (hypothermia-treated group, 17 percent; non-hypothermia-treated group, 20.5 percent) and for both rhythm types.

When follow-up was extended to 1 year, there remained no survival advantage with therapeutic hypothermia treatment.

"Collectively, these findings do not support current use of therapeutic hypothermia for patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest," the authors write.

"These observational findings warrant a randomized clinical trial to assess efficacy of therapeutic hypothermia for in-hospital cardiac arrest."
Antibiotics save millions of lives. But their tendency to kill helpful and harmful bacteria alike, coupled with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, means that they are not without their downside.

Probiotics consisting of beneficial microorganisms, meanwhile, have the potential to deliver the benefits of antibiotics minus the pitfalls. Yet up until now, evidence of their efficacy has been largely anecdotal, their mechanisms of action poorly understood.

Thanks to a pair of papers recently published in Science and Science Immunology by researchers at The Rockefeller University, however, that is beginning to change.

The studies demonstrate that an enzyme produced by a common intestinal microbe can protect the guts of worms and mammals alike from attack by harmful bacteria, and offer important insights into how it does so. Together, their findings could lead to the development of probiotics for use against such dangerous pathogens as Clostridium difficile, a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.

A bug with therapeutic potential

The researchers set out to investigate the probiotic potential of the microbe Enterococcus faecium in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. Although E. faecium has long been used as a probiotic in livestock, its mode of action has never been clear. And it is far from being an ideal probiotic for use in humans: According to Kavita Rangan, first author of the Science paper and a member of Howard Hang's Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Microbial Pathogenesis, E. faecium readily acquires antibiotic resistance in hospital settings and can lead to dangerous infections in people with compromised immune systems.

Yet in a series of experiments, Rangan and her colleagues demonstrated that when fed E. faecium, C. elegans was better able to resist the harmful effects of infection by Salmonella typhimurium, an intestinal pathogen that in mammals invades the thin layer of epithelial cells lining the gut. "Salmonella was still able to colonize the intestine," says Rangan, "but it didn't cause the same tissue damage to the worms, and it didn't kill them."

What's more, they discovered that a particular enzyme called SagA, which is secreted in abundance by E. faecium, was sufficient to protect both worms and mice from Salmonella. And they showed that SagA worked its magic in mice even when produced by a different microbe called Lactobacillus plantarum--an entirely innocuous bug that is commonly used as a probiotic for human intestinal diseases, and which naturally inhabits environments ranging from sauerkraut to the human gut.

Making good bacteria better

In a series of complementary experiments, Virginia Pedicord--first author of the Science Immunology paper, and a postdoctoral fellow in both the Hang lab and Daniel Mucida's Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology--and colleagues also showed that E. faecium protected mice against S. typhimurium. In addition, they demonstrated that E. faecium prevented the pathogen from passing through the epithelium and invading other organs such as the liver.

Those experiments proved that E. faecium did not protect the mice by attacking S. typhimurium directly or by changing the balance of other microbes in the gut. "It doesn't kill the bacteria, and it doesn't deplete the microbiota, either," Pedicord says. "It just prevents them from causing disease." And it accomplishes this, she explains, by stimulating the production of specialized proteins that prevent pathogens from coming into contact with the epithelial layer in the first place--proteins that are generated by the epithelial cells themselves.

The team confirmed that, as was the case with C. elegans, SagA was by itself sufficient to protect the mice from the ravages of S. typhimurium. And it also identified a clutch of receptors and antimicrobial peptides related to the innate immune system that must be present for the enzyme to do its work.

But perhaps most strikingly, Pedicord and her colleagues showed that, when delivered by L. plantarum, SagA also protected the mice against C. difficile, a pathogen that causes debilitating and sometimes fatal gastroenteritis in human beings.

C. difficile sickens nearly 500,000 people in the United States each year and kills more than 29,000. Long-term antibiotic therapy for other conditions actually heightens the risk of infection, and treatment of C. difficile with antibiotics often leads to relapse.

As a result, the prospect of a benign probiotic that could defend against C. difficile while avoiding the problems associated with antibiotic treatment is welcome news.

"This is something that might really help people," says Pedicord, who is already conducting experiments in mice to see if SagA has an effect on C. difficile recurrence.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on belligerents in Syria to allow for the immediate and safe evacuation of the sick and wounded from all areas affected by the conflict, including eastern Aleppo. The Organization is also calling for a halt of attacks on health care workers and facilities.

The situation is heart rending and enraging, says WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. With the relentless attacks on health workers and hospitals, the handful of doctors still alive cannot possibly cope. Hospital beds are too few, equipment has been destroyed, and essential medicines, including anaesthetics, are running out. Many patients needing emergency trauma care are children. 

More than 270 000 people are trapped in east Aleppo with dwindling supplies of food, water and fuel. Humanitarian organizations have not been allowed to deliver aid, including medical supplies from WHO since the besiegement of the city on 7 July. Within the past week, over 840 people have been injured, almost a third of them children, while the health facilities that would treat them are crumbling and understaffed. Fewer than 30 doctors remain in the east of the city, and only 6 partially-functional hospitals are in service.

WHO is calling on all parties in the conflict to:

allow the immediate evacuation of the sick and wounded from all areas affected by the conflict, including eastern Aleppo;

allow access to provide medicines, medical supplies, fuel and health personnel, to support overwhelmed staff in Aleppo;

immediately halt all attacks on health workers, facilities and supplies;

respect the safety and neutrality of health workers and health facilities;

cease removal of critical supplies from deliveries of medical supplies.

Attacking health care is both illegal and barbaric, says Dr Pete Salama, Executive Director of WHOs health emergencies programme. Blocking whole populations from access to medical care, food and water is intolerable. It is inexcusable cruelty.

WHO and partners have positioned medical supplies for delivery into eastern Aleppo, but they have not been granted access. The organization has also developed strategies for medical evacuations as soon as this becomes possible. In the meantime, WHO will train first responders on trauma care via telephone and video calls.
Ferrari unveiled a number of planned new liveries to mark its 70th anniversary in 2017. (Photo: AFP Relaxnews)

In 2017 the Ferrari marque turns 70 and to celebrate this achievement it took the wraps off the LaFerrari Aperta soft-top hypercar and also detailed plans to build 350 limited edition takes on its current supercar lineup at this year's Paris Motor Show.While competitors like Lamborghini and Bentley chose to skip over this year's Paris motor show, Ferrari has decided to throw a party, for itself. And the biggest guest at the bash in turns of sheer force of character is the new LeFerrari Aperta. Like its hardtop sibling, this new hypercar offers hybrid hyper performance, thanks to an electric motor and V12 engine working in perfect harmony  0-100km/h in under 3 seconds plus a top speed of 350+ km/h  but dials the drama up to 11 by taking the roof off, something that was a very, very complicated process.Removing the roof means robbing the car of structural rigidity and aerodynamic prowess. However, Ferrari's engineers and designers have done everything within their powers to ensure that there is no noticeable difference between the hard top and soft top versions. And this is important because most buyers are expected to already have the standard' LaFerrari in their garages.The car will come with a fabric soft top as standard or a carbon fibre removable hardtop can be specified as an option.As well as a new hypercar, Ferrari also detailed plans to build 350 limited edition cars, 70 examples of each vehicle in its series production range  one for each year of the company's existence  to mark its anniversary.However, each of these special models will stand out visually but not in terms of performance. Ferrari's Tailor Made Atelier (which usually handles ground-up bespoke commissions) has created 70 individual liveries inspired by the most iconic Ferraris in history, some of which, but by no means all, were on show.The California T "Steve McQueen," for example, is inspired by the 250GT Berlinetta lusso the actor and racing driver once owned. Like the original car, it's finished in a deep brown and has a camel leather interior. The company has also looked to racing success for ideas, including the 1961 Tourist Trophy winning 250GT Berinetta SWB. Applied to an F12 Berlinetta on the stand, it boasts Blu Scuro racing livery, a number roundel and a white horizontal stripe across the hood.
A Cairo criminal court issued a preliminary death sentence on Tuesday to two people for "joining a militant organization" in a trial known in the media as "The returnees from Libya."

The court has sent its decision to the country's grand mufti, a senior Muslim cleric, for a consultative review as required by Egyptian law. A final verdict is set for 5 November, for the two defendants as well as 14 other defendants in the same trial.

The grand mufti's opinion is not binding upon the court's decision.

In February 2015, the prosecutor general referred 16 people arrested at the Egyptian-Libyan border to criminal court, accusing them of involvement in terrorist acts outside Egypt and planning to attack buildings and properties inside the country.

Egypt launched a strike against ISIS militants in Libya in February 2015 as retaliation against the killing of 21 Egyptian Copts by the radical group.



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Volkswagen AG (VW) has confirmed that it will make $1.21 billion in payments to 652 U.S. brand dealers as part of its $16.5 billion diesel emissions settlement to date.VW's dealers will receive an average of $1.85 million each on average over 18 months under the settlement that was first announced in principle in August.Separately, the U.S. Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission and lawyers for owners of 475,000 polluting diesel cars filed legal papers late Friday asking a federal judge to grant final approval to buy-back offers and diesel remediation efforts at an Oct. 18 court hearing.A filing by lawyers for company dealers says Volkswagen won't sell any U.S. diesel vehicles for the 2016 and 2017 model years. The company, which has been barred from selling all diesel vehicles in the United States since late 2015, said earlier this month it is uncertain whether it will ever sell diesel vehicles in the United States again.As part of the settlement with VW brand dealers, the company will continue making some incentive payments to dealers, buy back diesel vehicles that dealers can't sell and suspend capital improvements for two years that it wanted dealers to make. A federal judge must still approve the settlement.Volkswagen still faces billions of dollars in potential civil and potential criminal U.S. fines for violating emissions laws, as well as a possible costly buy-back of 85,000 vehicles equipped with 3.0-litre diesel engines if it can't convince regulators that they can be fixed.The Justice Department said Friday in a court filing that regulators are still working on "a technical solution that reduces the emissions of these vehicles."Reuters reported that Volkswagen has held talks in recent months with the Justice Department about settling the criminal investigation. "The United States will continue to vigorously pursue its claims for civil penalties to fully hold (Volkswagen) accountable," the Justice Department filing said Friday.VW has admitted it installed improper software that deactivated pollution controls on more than 11 million diesel vehicles sold worldwide.In June, VW agreed buy back 475,0000 U.S. vehicles equipped with 2.0-litre engines at a cost of up to $10.03 billion or offer fixes if regulators approve. To date, about 311,000 owners have already registered to take part in the settlement and only about 3,300 owners have opted out.VW also agreed to spend up to $5.3 billion to address claims by federal regulators and 44 U.S. states. VW is still in talks with the Justice Department about winning approval for proposed fixes for the 2.0 vehicles.Under the Justice Department deal, VW will provide $2 billion over 10 years to fund programs to promote construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, development of zero-emission ride-sharing fleets and other efforts to boost sales of cars that do not burn petroleum.VW also agreed to put up $2.7 billion over three years to enable government and tribal agencies to replace old buses or to fund infrastructure to reduce diesel emissions and award states about $600 million.The Justice Department said it received nearly 1,200 comments on the proposed consent decree but said it was making only some minor mostly technical changes to the agreement.
Aliya - I was concerned about your well being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain. https://t.co/9QyeMQfRwy  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 3, 2016

@SushmaSwaraj @AliyaHarir What an amazing sentiment in today's divided world... humanity above all else.  RahulBalyan (@rahul_balyan) October 4, 2016

@SushmaSwaraj @AliyaHarir you are setting new standards each day madam.  Kaushik Banerjee (@kaushikbanerje5) October 3, 2016

@SushmaSwaraj @AliyaHarir ## V true, we applaude ur work Maam. Proud of U  Ravi Kumar (@Ravi171059) October 3, 2016

@SushmaSwaraj @AliyaHarir great to see effort of madam Sushma swaraj  Pradeep Nair (@pcnair12) October 3, 2016

By ensuring the safe return of nineteen girls from Pakistan who were in Chandigarh to participate in the 11th Global Youth Peace Festival, External Affairs Minster Sushma Swaraj set an example of humanity above all.The girls who had reached the city last Tuesday, left for home on Monday after conclusion of the event, "overwhelmed" by the Indian hospitality.After Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC, parents of the girls had expressed concern about their welfare here and the event's organisers had indicated that they may head back home earlier than scheduled.Pramod Sharma, the event's organiser, said after the Indian authorities including the Ministry of External Affairs assured them that they should not worry about the girls while they are here, their trip carried on as per schedule."Today, the Pakistani girls and one male member of the delegation left for home. They were sent back home in a bus from here and the crossed over to Pakistan from the Wagah border," Sharma said.On October 1, head of the delegation Aliya Harir who runs a cross-border peace initiative Aghaz-e-Dosti had spoken to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who assured them all help."Extremely overwhelmed. Spoke to @SushmaSwaraj ji who assured that Pakistani delegation of #GYPF2016 will reach Pakistan back safe," Aliya said in a tweet.In her reply, Swaraj tweeted, "Aliya - I was concerned about your well being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain (... because one's daughter is everyone's)."Swaraj's efforts were highly appreciated by social media users.According to Sharma, the girls also visited Shimla during their trip."The Pakistani guests said they felt at home here and were overwhelmed by the Indian hospitality," he said.After the surgical strikes, Chandigarh police had further strengthened the security of the Pakistani girls. For most of the girls, who had come under the banner of Pakistan's Girls for Peace Group, this was their first visit to India.With input from PTI
New Delhi:The head of Border Security Force (BSF) KK Sharma has clarified that BSF lost its constable in the attack on the Rashtriya Rifles camp in Baramulla on Sunday night after terrorists lobbed grenades at him, rubbishing speculation that there was a case of friendly fire.



"Constable Nitin was on duty on one of the morchas of 46 battalion RR camp where the BSF was also staying for road-opening duties and therefore they were also securing the area. On that night, BSF constable Nitin felt there was some movement outside. He went out to check and was fired upon and one of the grenades hit him in the groin. There was blood loss because of splinter injury and he succumbed," Director General of Border Security Forces (BSF) KK Sharma told CNN-News18.



Sharma said even though there was no independent eye witness account of what really happened, Nitins BSF colleagues on duty that night had told BSF officers the sequence of events.



It was pitch dark at night around 10:30 p.m. when the firing began. It was a day after Amavasya, so it was a moonless night. In these circumstances it is very difficult to say where the fire came from, Sharma said.



"There is no truth in allegations of friendly fire or fire from Indian army killing Nitin. As usually happens in a situation like this there is a lot of running around, lot of confusion. So no one is in a position to say exactly where the fire came from or who were the terrorists," he said.



The morning after the Baramulah attack, Union Home Ministry spokesperson K Dhatwalia had told news agency PTI that two terrorists were killed during the operation. However, he later said that the report of the killing of two terrorists was a "claim" and it was being "verified".



BSF chief Sharma said that he cannot confirm how many terrorists had attacked the RR headquarters, if any were killed or the circumstances under which they fled from the area.


New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 2000 cusecs of water per day from Oct 7-18 thus ending a stalemate which lasted several days.



The SC also deferred the formation of Cauvery Management Board till further orders and formed an expert committee to go to the Cauvery basin and prepare a status report on the ground reality.



The committee has been instructed to submit a detailed report by October 18.



Earlier, Karnataka's lead lawyer Fali S Nariman informed the SC that in order to comply with its earlier orders the state would release 1500 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu till October 18.



The SC increased the quantum of water to 2000 cusecs per day.



After Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi expressed Centre's objections to the formation of Cauvery Water Management Board saying that only Parliament can decide that, the SC agreed to defer the matter.



By agreeing to release water, the Karnataka government has avoided a confrontation with the highest court.



Karnataka's legal team led by Nariman told the SC that the state government had already started releasing water to Tamil Nadu from last night.



Earlier the SC had ordered Karnataka to release 6000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu which was opposed by the state on the grounds that it had no water to spare.



On Monday, after sitting on an SC order for days, the Karnataka government started releasing water to farmers in Tamil Nadu. The Karnataka legislature, which held an emergency session through the day, advised the government to take appropriate decision in this regard.



After this, the Karnataka cabinet headed by Siddaramaiah decided to release water for irrigation, but the chief minister had refused to specify the quantity.



Karnataka said it decided to release water to its own farmers to save standing crops in Mandya and Mysore districts - the outflow will reach farmers in Tamil Nadu as well.



The state government also moved a resolution in the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly saying: "It has been brought to our notice that standing crop in the Cauvery basin is suffering and there has been pressure from farmers to release water. The government can now take appropriate decisions on the release of water from dams, after ensuring drinking water requirements are met and water for drinking is set aside.


Mumbai: Fauzia Ansari is inconsolable. As tensions between India and Pakistan escalate, hope dims for her son, who even after serving his term is still languishing in a Pakistani jail.



Hamid Ansari, 31, an IT professional, has been in a Pakistani prison for about four years now after he allegedly crossed over to Pakistan without valid documents to meet a female friend he met online.



"I am so crushed and devastated. Its as if a volcano erupted and Im trapped under the debris, said Fauzia Ansari, a resident of Versova.



The aggravating Indo-Pak situation has shattered the hopes of Ansari family who have been fighting relentlessly to get their son back. Ansari has already served his three-year-prison term.



"My heart breaks when I watch the news. There seems to be no end in sight to this war-like situation. My son is a civilian, and I hope they consider such humanitarian cases with an open mind in between all the diplomacy and politics, said the mother.



There was a ray of hope for the Mumbai family after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently assured that all efforts are being made to bring back Indian soldier Chandu Chavan, who had strayed across the Line of Control last week.



"I have tweeted to Minister Parrikar requesting him to take up my son's case as well. We were holding a Twitter campaign to appeal to Pakistani and Indian authorities for Hamid's release. We have toned down the campaign after Uri attacks and the surgical strike," added the mother.



Ansari has been seeking consular access for her son but has so far met with failure.



"We are unable to even communicate with my Pakistani lawyers, on a regular basis, because of the current situation. We hope his safety and security is not compromised, considering the number of times he was attacked in jail in the recent past," said Ansari.



According to his mother, Hamid left home on November 5, 2012, to hunt for a job in Afghanistan.



It is alleged that the Mumbai boy crossed over to Pakistan with false documents to look for a woman whom he had befriended online.



Subsequently, he was arrested by the local police and intelligence agencies at Koht - in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province - and was in the custody of the Pakistan Army.



He was subsequently court-martialled, after which he was sentenced to three years for espionage.



A petition was filed by Hamid in the Peshawar high court seeking the inclusion of his period of detention (of over 3 years) prior to his conviction by a military court in his jail term.



The court had sought information of his release from Pakistan Government and the hearing has been getting pushed inordinately. The next hearing is on October 13.


Jammu: Intensifying attacks, Pakistani troops again violated ceasefire on Tuesday by resorting to mortar shelling and firing on Army posts and civilian areas along the LoC in

three areas of Noushera sector in Rajouri district.



"Pakistan troops resorted to unprovoked firing in three areas of Noushera Rajouri district from 05:15 hours on Tuesday," Defence Spokesman Col Manish Mehta said.



They fired mortar bombs, automatic weapons and small arms, he said, adding that Indian troops gave a befitting reply.



There has been five ceasefire violations in over 24 hours along the Line of Control (LoC).



On Monday, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire four times and restored to heavy firing and mortar shellingin Saujian, Shahpur-Kerni, Mandi and KG sectors in Poonch district, injuring 5 civilians, including five women.



Several shops were burnt down after a shell triggered fire in oil containers at a security force camp.



On October 2, Pakistan resorted to firing and shelling from 19:15 hours along LoC in forward areas in Pallanwala belt of Jammu district.



On October 1, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs, RPGS and HMGS amid small arms firing along LoC this sector.



On September 30, Pakistani troops had opened fire from small arms along the LoC in Pallanwala, Chaprial andSamnam areas of Akhnoor sector of Jammu district.



On September 29, Pakistan troops had resorted to firing in Balnoie area of Mendhar sector,



The Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire on September 28 by opening fire on Indian army posts along LoC in Sabzian area Poonch sector.



On September 6, Pakistani troops had fired on Army posts along the LoC in Pooch sector. Pakistani troops had also violated the ceasefire on September 2 by firing on forward army posts along the LoC in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district.



Last year, 16 civilians were killed and 71 others injured in 405 incidents of cross-border firing by Pakistan.
New Delhi: Nawazuddin Siddiqui has refuted the allegations made by his sister-in-law that the actor beat her for dowry, saying she has done it for the publicity.



The 42-year-old star, who has come under the scrutiny for reportedly harassing his younger brother's wife, Afrin, on September 28, claimed she has deliberately charged him with the allegations because he appeared to be a soft target to her.



"I'm falsely charged by my sister-in-law because I'm a soft target for her and she could have easily made the news out of me. I'm an actor so, that could also be a reason for her allegations.



"Had it happened with a common man, it would not have made the headlines on television and newspapers," Nawazuddin said during a press conference here.



The actor also clarified that he has never asked for any dowry and in fact it was Afrin's uncle, who tried to mint money from his brother Minazuddin on a regular basis. Nawaz presented a CCTV footage of September 28, which shows that he was in high fever that night.



The actor explained the whole incident through the clip, saying, "On the night of September 28, My sister-in-law's uncle and his wife came at our place with a proper plan of robbery. They entered Minazuddin's room to meet her. Then we heard a noise in a while and we all ran to see what exactly happened.



"The moment I reached, I saw my sister-in-law's uncle was rushing towards the main door with Afrin. I didn't have any conversation with her nor I touched her."



Nawazuddin said police are still investigating into the case and he is glad that he had the CCTV footage with him to prove his innocence.


New Delhi: Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra's attack on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti at a press conference in the city asking her opinion on Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru left her in tears.



Directing his comments at Mufti, Mishra said: It cant be that you dont accept Burhan Wani as a terrorist and then expect tourism to increase."



An emotional Mehbooba launched a counter attack making strong statements on increasing number of rapes in Delhi.



Girls are very safe in Kashmir than any place in the world including Delhi, countered Mehbooba.



Mishra questioned how are we to fight Pakistan if people are going to give shelter to terrorists in J&K.



"We can fight Pakistan, but how do we fight with people who give shelter to terrorists in J&K, Mishra asked.







In response, Mebooba said: Kashmir needs you, I don't know whether you need us. Biggest confidence building measure is if you visit our state; it will show that you trust us.



Mishra left the venue, saying he does not want to share the dais with her after he was forced to stop his address following strong protests from some in the audience and officials accompanying Mufti.








Multiple sources close to the PM told News18 that Modi could attend the Aishbagh Ram Lila in Lucknow. The PM is expected be present at the valedictory session of the 10-day long re-enactment of the life of Lord Ram which ends with the burning of effigies of Ravana.



He accepted our invite and was the chief guest at Ravana Dahan (burning of the effigy). After the next general elections he was the prime minister of the country, said Dwivedi who has been associated with the organizing committee for many years.



: In a move that will have larger political overtones ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be the chief guest this year at one of the oldest Ram Lilas in Lucknow.Traditionally, prime ministers of the day  from AB Vajpayee to Manmohan Singh  have attended the famous Ram Lila function oganised near Red Fort in Old Delhi.The move assumes significance in the wake of the heightened Indo-Pak tensions following Indian Armys surgical strike across the Line of Control last week. The prime minister is also likely to address the gathering on the occasion.We have been requesting the PM to grace the occasion. I had in the past spoken to the city Mayor and BJP leader Dr Dinesh Sharma about it. It seems almost certain that the PM will be coming here for Vijayadashmi, said Aditya Dwivedi, chief organiser of the Aishbagh Ram Lila, which he claims, has its origins in the 15th century.This would be the first occasion that an incumbent PM would attend Ram Lila function in Lucknow. In the past, BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee was invited by the same Ram Lila committee as the chief guest.Vajpayee was then only an ordinary MP representing Lucknow in the Lok Sabha.BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak refused to elaborate much on the political timing of PMs visit but said his partys leaders have been going to Ram Lilas as these are "social and cultural gatherings."Opposition Congress has already accused BJP of seeking to politically exploit the surgical strikes, especially, in UP that is going to polls next year. On Monday, posters came up in various parts of the state put up by local BJP leaders congratulating the PM for the surgical strikes.Indias most politically significant state had underwritten the Narendra Modi wave in the previous Lok sabha polls and gifted 80 of its 84 Lok Sabha seats to the party. Modi himself represents the Varanasi constituency while Lucknow is represented by his home minister Rajnath Singh.
The Moto Z and Moto Z Force, which are Motorola's first modular smartphones, will let people snap on additional equipment called "Mods" to the back of the phones. After their preview at IFA 2016, they are finally launched in India. The Moto Z is priced at Rs 39,999 while the Moto Z Play is priced at Rs 24,999The Moto Z offers a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels at a pixel density of 535ppi. It also has Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. It has a 5-megapixel wide angle f/2.2 front camera with LED flash along with a 13-megapixel f/1.8 rear camera with dual LED Flash and OIS. It is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor with Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage with support for up to 2TB microSD cards. The device is backed by a 2,600mAh battery, and Motorola claims a day of battery life.Also Read: Moto Z First Impressions Review: The Best of Motorola Powered by Moto Mods Other features include fingerprint sensor, 4G LTE support, USB Type-C, and dual SIM support. The device is made from military aircraft-grade aluminium and stainless steel. The device comes with water-repellent coating and can withstand spills.The Moto Z Play on the other hand, comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, runs on Android Marshmallow OS and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor backed by 3GB RAM. The device will come with 32GB internal memory that is expandable up to 256GB. The Z Play will sport a 16-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera with dual LED Flash and a 5-megapixel front camera with LED Flash. For connectivity, there will be USB Type-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The battery on the Z Play will be at 3,510mAh.Along with the phones, the company has also launched the Hasselblad True Zoom Mod that offers 10X optical zoom with Xenon flash that transforms the phone into a superzoom camera, a movie projector, boombox, and more.The Moto Z will be available starting October 17, 2016 in India on Motorola's e-commerce partners.
Egypt signed a framework agreement with China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) to develop the second and third phase of construction in the new administrative capital east of Cairo with an investment of $20 billion, the cabinet stated on Monday.

In its statement, the cabinet said that the first and second phases aim to draw in foreign investments of $15 billion by June 2020.

The agreement, signed by Egypt's housing and investment ministers, states that the Chinese company will "manage, develop and market" more than 14,000 acres in phase two of the megaproject including all relevant infrastructure, accommodations and work facilities, while the government would provide it with all necessary permits.

The construction of the first phase, executed by local construction companies, started in April this year and is expected to be completed in two years.

The new capital, which is part of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis plan to boost the Egyptian economy through a series of mega-projects, is estimated to cost $45 billion.

The megaproject's first phase will include the construction of 12 ministries and a number of other governmental institutions, a residential area that will have more than 25,000 housing units, and the world's biggest park.

Per the agreement, CFLD will organise a conference for 3,000 partner companies in China to attract investments to Egypt.

In January, the Egyptian government announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Cairo a finance package from China worth $15 billion  including commercial and soft loans  for FX reserves to support and projects in energy, transport and sanitation. Part of this package is expected to be invested in the infrastructure of the new capital.

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Washington: Hillary Clinton is leading her Republican rival Donald Trump by four percentage points after their first head-to-head debate, a latest national poll has said.



In the CBS News/The New York Times poll, the Democratic presidential nominee has the support of 45 per cent of eligible voters as against 41 per cent supporting Trump.



In the same poll conducted last month the two were tied at 42 per cent.



In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump by three percentage points.



According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton on an average of recent national polls has maintained a lead of 3.1 percentage point.



The CBS News/The New York Times poll said the first presidential debate has had a more positive impact for Clinton than for Trump.



Likely voters who watched the first presidential debate are twice as likely to say the debate made them think better of Clinton (32 per cent) than worse (16 per cent), it said.



As per the poll, Trump (49 to 38 per cent) continues to lead among men, while Clinton (51 to 33 per cent) leads among women.



Meanwhile, a poll released by the Quinnipiac University said that Clinton is leading in Florida (five points), North Carolina (three points) and Pennsylvania (four points).



However, she trails by five points in Ohio.



All four are battleground states, also known as swing states, in which both Democratic and Republican candidates have a good chance of winning.






Bamako: Attacks targeting a camp in northern Mali operated by the United Nations peacekeeping mission on Tuesday killed one soldier from Chad and wounded eight others, UN officials said.



Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, said Monday that after a mortar attack on the camp in Aguelhok, in the northern Kidal region around 2 PM, two vehicles hit improvised explosive devices.



According to preliminary information, four different attacks targeted UN personnel at the camp in Aguelhok, according to a statement released by the secretary-general's spokesman. It said a peacekeeper from Chad was killed and eight others injured.



No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.



Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks and called for "swift action to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice, the statement said. It added that attacks against UN peacekeepers "constitute war crimes under international law."



Islamic extremists took control of northern Mali in 2012, prompting a French-led intervention that drove them from cities and towns in 2013.



However, north and central Mali remain unstable, and attacks by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and linked groups against peacekeepers and security forces are common.
RUSTBURG  An early role teaching poor kids changed the career path of Nan Carmack.

As a student teacher at the College of William and Mary, hoping to make a difference in an impoverished area of Williamsburg, she was just launching an education career when she was struck by a desire to pursue social change.

Carmack, now director of Campbell County Public Library, recalled what may have been her big turning point  watching one day as police brought a young boy into her class whose family had just been evicted from their home.

She remembered reflecting that if the child had just been thrown out of his home, Of course he cant sit there and learn how to add.

The experience nudged Carmack to enter counseling instead, a move that would also involve social services for at-risk kids  which also led her back to the Lynchburg region.

That was a crucial first step that eventually led to her dream role of running a public library system.

Her efforts culminated recently in Carmack, 48, being named the first Donna G. Cote Librarian of the Year by the Virginia Library Association.

The award comes at a frenetic time for Carmack, who while running the libraries has been juggling roles in several professional groups and has just completed her doctorate. These challenges are all worth it for Carmack, who said she views enlightening and helping people as the crucial twin pillars of libraries.

Libraries exist at the intersection of intellectual curiosity and social justice, she said, and its the perfect place for me.

Sitting down for an interview in her office tucked inside Campbell Countys main library in Rustburg, Carmack talked about big ideas for the taxpayer-funded system. These information centers, which also get grant money, should be a hub for not only educating but helping people and providing key community services, she said.

That means a lot more than keeping books.

The needs are myriad: Job-seekers use the library to craft and polish resumes; home educators use its spaces as classrooms; senior citizens get help with computers and online services, Carmack said.

She said everyone is welcome to take advantage of the vast array of library products and services that taxpayers and others are funding. Everybody who walks in the door is treated with the same respect.

Considerable benefits accrue from well-managed public libraries, which are reasons to promote libraries at the state, regional and local levels, she said.

Carmack has tackled numerous roles on behalf of the profession, statewide to nationally, including just recently, the 2016 Virginia Library Leadership Academy chair.

Locally she was already known as quite the workhorse, and as someone who instills a culture of community service in the public library.

One of Nans great contributions is how embedded that service philosophy has become in every element and staff person at the library, said Frank Rogers, Campbell County administrator.

Rogers added that Carmacksinfluence really has lasting benefit.

Driven to succeed

After deciding to shift careers, Carmack, who was born and grew up in Campbell County, found herself back in Central Virginia to study counseling at Lynchburg College.

She also got involved in social services, with organizations such as CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Central Virginia.

At the same time, she was beginning to raise a young family but realized that it turns out I was a terrible stay-home mother and yearned for a full-time career. Thats what ultimately led me to library land.

Carmack opened a bookstore and ran that business for about four years until an opportunity opened up in the Bedford Public Library System in 2004, working on community relations, development and programming.

Thats when I realized this was it, this is where I could serve, she said.

In 2008, she moved to the Campbell County system and her career in library administration really took off. She earned a masters degree from Drexel University before then turning to her doctorate from Lynchburg College, which she just completed this year. All the while, she was ramping up her participation in statewide professional groups.

This year, she earned the first-ever Donna G. Cote Award, which, according to the VLA, recognizes a working Virginia librarians exemplary achievement and contributions in the nomination period, which was 2015.

Promoting libraries

Campbell Countys system runs on a roughly $1.3 million budget  $900,000 in local taxpayer funds and the rest in state aid and grants.

Its enough funding to keep up what Carmack described as fantastic facilities, but the desire for more resources will always be there.

It has helped that the regional library systems often work together, she said, citing as an example the book-borrowing partnership among Campbell and Bedford counties and Lynchburg. That creates volume discounts for the libraries, along with the benefits to members, she said.

Still, one aspect of the job that took her slightly aback was that it could become politicized, especially during the budget process.

I had no idea how political libraries were, but as an arm of local government, its inherently so, she said. Over time Carmack said she has learned to work on her poker face amid the inevitable back-and-forth over issues that affect the library.

Funding is a perennial concern. Carmack started with the Campbell County Library in the midst of recession, when local tax revenues began falling. With a library system you dont know how much is going to come in revenue-wise, she said.

Carmack in turn promotes what she called the crucial role of public libraries in building quality of life and driving economic growth.

Locally the library also uses funds effectively, she said. I feel we are a, excellent stewards of taxpayer dollars and b, excellent innovators.

Rogers said he agreed with Carmacks view of public libraries regional contributions.

Libraries are absolutely critical to establish a qualify-of-life experience, and that extends to economic development, he said. The value of a library cant be understated.

While its hard to project future funding levels, Rogers said, obviously the value of the library is understood in the community and will continue to be a factor in our future planning.

Balancing acts

All through these professional pursuits, Carmack has still managed a bustling family life, raising a daughter and two sons with her husband, Todd Crytser.

Their children are grown now: Rachel has entered the work force; older son Ford attends Christopher Newport University and younger son Will, James Madison University.

This year, the whole family will make time for a holiday trip to Iceland  Its as close to the North Pole as were going to get, she quipped.

Carmack and her husband Todd, who works in operational excellence at Teva, just got back from a trip to Ireland. As empty nesters now, they would love to travel more in the next decade, she said, though they also enjoy living at home in the Evington community, which straddles Campbell and Bedford counties.

When she can, Carmack makes time for knitting, painting and yoga.

Not that she has much spare time. Getting her doctorate done recently was its own challenge, for example, because of a heavy lift in collating all the data she needed for her dissertation.

That paper, which she hopes will be published soon, involves a study of how prepared new librarians coming out of degree programs are for the work force. The answer: not very.

It was the same way for Carmack when she started in the library profession, she said.

It became abundantly clear as a brand new director  I definitely didnt know enough, she said.

That could partly explain her lengthy academic career. Carmack said she had a strong sense that her role demanded knowing more about everything from information science to politics.

Today, as the profession and community take notice of her longtime efforts in the field, shes hoping people stay engaged in libraries, realize just how much they have to offer, and indeed, participate more.

She has many ambitions for the county library system, from launching software coding classes to expanding what it has to offer for local history and genealogy. Much of it depends on resources, she said.

At the same time Carmack plans to continue her robust involvement in library advocacy at all levels.

Staying involved in groups like the VLA fits into a larger life philosophy of remaining engaged and working with others, she said.

Its very easy to become isolated, instead of seeing the wider view of the profession and community, Carmack said. All people have a responsibility to one another to share. Were only enriched by our relationships with others.
In the little more than two months since getting their parties vice presidential nominations, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence have been virtuoso second fiddles.

While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump wage a bitter and polarizing fight for the White House, Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, and Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, have mostly stayed out of the headlines. Both readily admit to being the boring half of the ticket.

They'll have their biggest audience since the party conventions on Tuesday night when they take the stage for the only vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. It's unlikely that anything they do or say will substantially improve the standing of their running mates, two historically unpopular presidential candidates, but their main task will be to do no harm.

Both of these guys could end up with higher popularity ratings than their running mate,' said Bob Shrum, who was a senior adviser to Democrats John Kerry and Al Gore in their presidential campaigns, But I don't think it will have a big impact on the election unless something startling happens in the debate."

Pence and Kaine have embraced their often obscured roles in the campaign.

I recognize I'm kind of a B-list Republican celebrity, so thank you for coming out tonight, Pence said during his first solo campaign appearance in late July.

During a June appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, before Clinton announced him as her running mate, Kaine responded to criticism that he's boring by agreeing. I am boring, he said. But boring is the fastest-growing demographic in this country.

The vice presidential candidates still have some room to shape the way the American public views them. According to a CNN/ORC poll conducted Sept. 1-4, 12 percent of likely voters have never heard of Pence, while 16 percent have never heard of Kaine. Another 14 percent said they have no opinion of Pence, while 21 percent said the same of Kaine.

For weeks, the candidates have been preparing for their one and only debate of 2016. During a news conference in mid-September Kaine said that he was reviewing policy briefings when he found out that Clinton had nearly collapsed at a 9/11 memorial event in New York City. Robert Barnett, a Washington lawyer, is playing Pence in mock debates for Kaine.

Pence and his advisers have been preparing for the debate since he was named vice president, said his press secretary, Marc Lotter. Pence visited Wisconsin last week for a final set of mock debates with Gov. Scott Walker acting as the stand-in for Kaine.

Both candidates will have to show they are well prepared and able to deftly defend their presidential nominee's record. But Pence faces the added challenge of entering the debate following a week in which Trump extended a controversy over demeaning remarks he made about a former Miss Universe in a series of interviews and early morning tweets and questioned whether Clinton had been faithful in her marriage. Potentially more damaging, amid Trump's refusal to release his tax returns, the New York Times reported late Saturday that the Republican presidential nominee recorded a $916 million loss in 1995 that potentially allowed him to eliminate his federal income-tax bill for almost two decades.

Tim Kaine is articulate, smart, knows the issues, and I suspect will have been very well prepared for the debate as Hillary Clinton was for the debate, Shrum said. Pence will obviously do more preparation than Trump, but his problem is he's going to have to answer for a lot of what Trump has been saying.

The Indiana governor's debate dilemma mirrors the larger challenge of his campaign: how to counter-balance Trump without contradicting him or echoing his more controversial statements. Pence has taken on the role of reaching out to Republican leaders and, at times, following campaign conventions Trump has rejected. Though Trump has declined to release his tax returns, Pence released his. When Trump said he wasn't ready to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, Pence endorsed him, calling him a strong, conservative leader.

For Republicans wary of Trump, his campaign and surrogates are presenting Pence as the voice of calm and experience in a Trump administration, said Dan Senor, a Republican strategist who opposes Trump. The problem is when he uses some of his credibility to defend some of the crazy things that Trump has said, Senor said.

A vice presidential candidate is supposed to reinforce the ticket's agenda. But at times that has put Pence in difficult positions and will be especially true for him after the past week.

The question is which are we going to see more of? Senor said. Pence that's sort of the smart, experienced wise guy that'll be next to Trump governing and having an influence and being a check on him, or the Pence that's just basically a rubber stamp for things Trump says.

On the trail, Kaine and Pence are playing the traditional role of vice presidential candidates, echoing their running mates policies in competitive states. Since last July, Pence has focused on battlegrounds North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania and held at least four rallies or town halls in each state.

Kaine, meanwhile, has held at least five events in North Carolina and eight in Florida. He was also one of several surrogates, along with Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, dispatched to make the Clinton campaign's case to millennial voters.

Kaine has received good marks from Democrats for being competent, if not particularly inspiring.

For the most part, VP is pass/fail, said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist based in Florida. He said that Kaine has proven to be an effective surrogate in terms of laying out the differences between Clinton and Trump, but added that the key feature of a good pick is someone who is qualified to be president, and who's not going to make news in their own right.

Kaine has also started to win over some of his more vocal critics on the left, who advocated for a bolder, more progressive choice like Warren.

Charles Chamberlain, the executive director of Democracy for America, said that despite his earlier policy doubts about Kaine-particularly on Kaine's vote for fast-track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership-he was reassured by seeing Kaine echo Clinton's policies on the trail.

He added that Kaine still isn't the best choice to excite supporters of Clinton's primary challenger, Bernie Sanders, but it helped when he told a crowd at Iowa State University that one of his children backed the Vermont senator.

He should talk about it more because that definitely helps Sanders supporters see that Tim Kaine understands on some level what it is that Sanders supporters are fighting for, and why it is that they didn't support his candidate during their primary, he said.

While both campaigns would like to see the vice presidential nominees provide a boost for their campaigns, the debate is unlikely to be memorable. Both Pence and Kaine were chosen because of, not in spite of, their low-key presence and demeanor.

Christopher Devine, an assistant political science professor at the University of Dayton, and co-author of The VP Advantage: How Running Mates Influence Home State Voting in Presidential Elections, said they both fit the criteria of a candidate who doesn't harm the ticket, who can serve as a good surrogate, and offers a steady influence on the campaign, Devine said. These are pretty responsible picks, people who could actual, plausibly be vice president and even, if needed president, Devine said.
The decision by an Egyptian court to overturn a previous court ruling that blocked the handing over of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia has no legal standing, a constitutional law professor told Ahram Online, adding that only the country's top administrative judicial authority can decide on the matter.

Last week, Egypt's Court of Urgent Matters ordered the suspension of an administrative court ruling in June freezing the controversial deal, which had provoked protests when announced earlier this year.

The court said in its ruling that the agreement represents a sovereign decision that should not be subject to judicial supervision.

It added that the blocking of the deal has encroached on the mandate of the [country's] executive power and annulled a decision that preserves the country's sovereignty and protects its supreme interests.

The Higher Administrative Court will give on Saturday its verdict on the matter by ruling on a formal appeal lodged by the Egyptian government against the annulment of the deal.

The reasoning of the Court of Urgent Matters was dismissed by legal expert Fouad Abdel-Naby, a constitutional law professor at Menoufiya University, who says the Court of Urgent Matters was not qualified to rule on matters related to public administration.

According to Egyptian law, only the highest administrative court can suspend the implementation of a lower administrative court's verdict, Abdel-Naby said, adding that the ruling should be treated as if it were never made.

Article 190 of the Egyptian constitution states that the administrative judiciary has sole jurisdiction in settling administrative disputes and is the only authority that can rule on a challenge to a lower administrative court ruling.

Abdel-Naby believes that even though the court has no jurisdiction in this matter, the ruling was made so as to create a legal debate ahead of the administrative courts ruling on Saturday.

The Court of Urgent Matters is tasked with looking at cases that need quick resolution and cannot afford to be stalled by the lengthy process of the regular court system. The court has, however, in recent years, started ruling on cases involving other matters including bans of political groups.

Egypts decision to transfer the two strategic islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the southern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba into Saudi hands sparked widespread public outcry in the country, with some critics accusing the government of selling the islands.

Dozens of people have been arrested and put on trial for protesting the deal, though many have since been released.

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Hawk Claus spreads Christmas cheer in DC's Grifter Got Run Over By a Reindeer first look

Take a look at two stories from the DC holiday special including the titular chapter and a Hawkwoman and Hawkman tale
MP Ilhami Agina demanded that girls must undergo a 'virginity test' in order to be admitted to university

The speaker of Egypts parliament Ali Abdel-Al referred on Tuesday maverick independent MP Ilhami Agina to the ethics committee for investigation after Agina said that any woman who wishes to join university must first undergo a virginity test.

Agina, an MP from the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya, had said in a press interview last week that "this measure is necessary to stem the tide of Urfi marriages on campuses."

Urfi marriages  civil unions that do not require official registration with the state  though legal, are often considered improper by many in Egyptian society due to their usually secretive nature.

Abdel-Al told MPs in a plenary session Tuesday he made the decision to refer Agina to the ethics committee after I received many complaints against MP Agina in the last few days.

Abdel-Al's announcement came after MP Salah Hassaballah, the head of the Freedom Party, seized the morning session to accuse Agina of directing "grave insults to Egyptian women and society and offensive remarks against its deep-rooted traditions and values."

"Article 20 of parliament's internal bylaws is clear that MPs who issue remarks against society's religious, moral and social values should face investigation before the House's ethics committee," said Hassaballah.

Hassaballah argued that "MP Agina has so far issued five statements and remarks that were all offensive to Egyptian society and its conservative values and as a result I and many of my colleagues ask that he be referred to the ethics committee."

Youssri El-Moghazi, another MP from the Daqahliya, told MPs in Tuesday's session "I am sorry to say that a colleague MP used my phone to tell the media that I support Agina's remarks and this is a big lie."

MP Mona Mounir Rizk told Ahram Online that the pro-government parliamentary bloc Support Egypt has officially filed a complaint with speaker Abdel-Al, demanding that Agina be referred to the ethics committee.

The official complaint, signed by around 200 MPs, accuses Agina of repeatedly making offensive remarks and statements that represent a violation of society's conservative values, not to mention they direct open insults to women in Egypt, and lead to tarnishing the image of the country's parliament.

The complaint said "Agina's statement on virginity tests were not the first in a list of shocking remarks."

"Agina has previously accused female MPs of wearing seductive dress, rejected the new law that made genital female mutilation a felony by arguing that this law would cause harm to Egyptian men who are sexually weak."

"Agina also asked that penalties against adultery be stiffened under the claim that Egyptian women are the main reason behind the proliferation of these crimes."

The complaint, written by Rizk, said Agina's most recent comment "directs a big insult not only to university women, but to all Egyptian families, not to mention that it violates society's deep-rooted conservative manners and traditions."

What made things worse is that the Western media showed a lot of interest in covering Agina's shocking statements in a sensational way and as if they reflect the official viewpoint of the Egyptian parliament, which is the voice of the Egyptian people.

As a result, the complaint said, "we  the major political coalition in Egypt's parliament  recommend that you refer MP Ilhami Agina to the ethics committee to be investigated, taking into account that the National Council for Women has also lodged a complaint against MP Agina with the prosecutor-general, asking that Agina be questioned on the charge of directing insults to Egyptian women, society and parliament."

The complaint was corroborated with documents listing all of Agina's controversial statements. 

The newly-elected head of the Support Egypt coalition Mohamed El-Sewedi told reporters that he is in favour of referring Agina to the ethics committee.

"His statement was a direct insult to Egyptian women and society and I vow that he will be referred to the ethics committee to be disciplined," said El-Sewedi.

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Trinis in Jamaica hunker down for Matthew

Jeffrey told Newsday yesterday that he was in touch with nationals and students who were registered with the high commission in Kingston. Our nationals, who are registered with us, are safe. Our students on Mona campus are in good hands, he said.

He was assured, he said, that nationals have stocked up on essential supplies including water.

Yesterday and into today, he said, they would be riding out the hurricane or storm indoors. They were all hunkered down in their homes.

Jeffrey was also at his residence.

The concern, he said, was that even though the eye of the hurricane had moved eastward of the island, it was moving at a slow pace which meant that the powerful winds could wreak havoc in one place the longer it takes to move.

Jeffrey, a graduate of UWI Mona Campus, and who rode out a less powerful hurricane while he was a student said, he was in contact with the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Student Association of the UWI Mona Branch Brigitte Affonso.

Meanwhile, Affonso told Newsday they were in constant contact with the TT High Commission and the university administration.

She said the buildings at Mona were built to withstand hurricanes.

At the time she spoke, she said, there was no need for students to move to shelters. She said they had also stocked up on supplies and were following the advice given to them by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
Chamber wants institutional reform

In such an environment providing more money or even the same as the previous year will not add value. Doubling the amount of money allocated to one ministry is not likely to lead to a double in value to the citizens.

We have seen this to be true in the case of crime, in the case of our health sector, in the provision of local government services like garbage collection.

You name it...more money does not mean more value, Trestrail said during the Chambers annual post-Budget review yesterday at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain.

Specifically tackling crime and lawlessness, Trestrail noted, is value for money. Under current governance and operational structures, successive governments  regardless of party  have proven themselves institutionally incapable of effectively addressing crime, he added.

One of the major issues which continues to affect business confidence is crime and criminal activity. Organized crime appears to be gaining a stronger hold on our society, he said.

With over $20 billion spent on crime fighting in the last 2 years and $7 billion in this budget, Trestrail wondered if citizens were truly getting any returns on investments, especially as the countrys ranking in the Global Competitive Index fell from 89th last year to a disturbing 94th.

Trestrail did commend the government on its commitment to divestment, diversification and innovation but noted that underpinning any attempt to achieve these goals was a reform of the Public Service.

The cumbersome machinery that currently exists has severely impeded successive administrations, and negatively impacted upon doing business in T&T, diminishing our attractiveness as an investment destination, he said.
The law was approved by parliament after it was initially rejected in January

Egypt's House of Representatives passed on Tuesday a controversial civil service law which it had approved in July but was referred to State Council for revision.

After the start of the second legislative session, 401 out of 433 MPs approved the law, while 26 MPs rejected it and six abstained, according to parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al.

The law will now be referred to the president for ratification and publishing in the official state gazette in accordance with the constitution and parliaments bylaws.

The new law, proposed by government, is meant to reform civil service and regulate the performance of around 6.3 million employees in state departments and public authorities.

However, many state employees, labour unions and rights activists say the legislation would destroy long held rights such as job security and can put thousands of government workers out of work.

The law had been rejected by parliament in January and was returned to the parliamentary committee on labour issues so it can be reviewed and have its controversial articles modified.

The articles mostly contested in parliament were those regulating salaries. The articles were then modified to increase annual salaries of state and government employees from 5 to 7 percent.

The law as approved, however, remains controversial outside parliament.

Many state employees and labour unions organised protests against the law since it was initially proposed.

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The Egyptian and Russian parliaments said Tuesday that they must take a unified stand against the forceful changing of Middle East regimes by foreign powers.

A statement by Egypts parliament said on Tuesday that Egyptian-Russian relations have achieved significant progress in recent years, and that the two parliaments will coordinate together during the coming round of meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva.

"We decided that we should rally support among as many world parliaments as possible against intervention in the internal affairs of Middle East countries and reject any attempts aimed at changing regimes by force in this region," said the statement.

The statement also indicated that the agriculture committees in Egypt and Russias parliaments will forge greater contacts in the coming period to help eliminate any obstacles that might stem the flow of Egyptian agricultural exports  especially potatoes  into the Russian market.

The statement was issued after a meeting between Egyptian parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al and a Russian parliamentary delegation led by deputy speaker Ilyas Umakhanov on Tuesday.

The statement said Egypt and Russia have historic relations that go back to the era of late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

"We decided that these relations must be further strengthened in the coming period in order to eliminate any obstacles that might stand in their way," said the statement.

Parliament speaker Abdel-Al said Egypt highly appreciates Russian president Vladimir Putin's support of the 30 June revolution of 2013, which led to the removal of the regime of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Speaker Abdel-Al said that he has high hopes that a high-profile delegation from the Russian parliament will join celebrations intended to mark the 150th anniversary parliamentary life in Egypt at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on 9 October.

Abdel-Al said Tuesday that speakers from as many as 16 countries will attend next week's celebrations in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Russian deputy parliament speaker Umakhanov said a high-profile Russian delegation will attend the Sharm El-Sheikh celebration.

"We also invited the Egyptian parliament to attend the coming meetings of the parliamentary assembly of the newly independent states as an observer," said Umakhanov, adding that he also asked speaker Abdel-Aal to send a young parliamentary delegation to participate in the 2017 Festival of Youth and Students which will be held in Russia, aiming to host 120,000 young people from 190 worldwide countries.

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(Newser)  German outlet Der Spiegel has published an in-depth investigative piece on the sprawling network that's bringing illegal African migrants across the Mediterranean and into Europe. Focusing on the operation of one man targeted by Italian and Libyan authorities, the paper traces the long, dangerous path migrants must cross before they can cross the porous borders into Europe. More than 10,000 migrants have drowned while following that path since 2013, and meanwhile, the smuggling trade is a multi-million dollar industry.

Notorious smuggler Ermias Ghermay is the most-wanted migrant smuggler across the globe, but no photo of him existsjust an artist's rendering. Libyan authorities say they know where Ghermay is living, but do not have the personnel to apprehend him. His operation runs like a well-oiled machine, smuggling tens of thousands of African migrantsmostly from Eritreainto the European Union, particularly Germany; the "inaction" of German officials has caused tension with investigators in Italy, where many of the migrants initially land. The full piece of reporting at Der Spiegel is well worth a read. (Read more migrants stories.)
(Newser)  Toyota has introduced an odd new product, and no, it's not a car. The Japan-based automotive manufacturer just unveiled the Kirobo Mini, a small, humanoid robot designed to "invoke an emotional connection," according to chief design engineer Fuminori Kataoka. Toyota's robot is one of a "growing list" of companion devices coming out in the country, which is suffering population contraction due to a plethora of social factors, including a general lack of interest in marriage and children among young Japanese, Reuters reports. With a lack of caretakers for an increasingly elderly population, the country is turning to robots to fill the gap.

The Kirobo Mini itself doesn't offer any functionality beyond companionship, though the palm-sized robot "wobbles a bit, and this is meant to emulate a seated baby, which hasn't fully developed the skills to balance itself," Kataoka says. It also comes with a "cradle" of sorts, designed to fit in the cupholder of one's car. According to Digital Trends, the Kirobo Mini was inspired by a larger robot Toyota made as a companion for a Japanese astronaut aboard the ISS. Toyota's betting the concept will be a hit down here on Earth, too, and it must be confident, as the device is priced at a whopping 39,800 yen (roughly $392), plus a $3 monthly subscription. The device will go on sale next year in Japan. (Robots tried to write a Beatles song, and kind of pulled it off.)
(Newser)  A 3-year-old boy lost for 20 hours in a cornfield where stalks reached 7-feet tall has been found safe and sound in Wisconsin. Dyton Logalbo was playing outside near his home around 2pm Saturday when his mom saw him wandering into the cornfield north of Antigo, reports the Wausau Daily Herald. She alerted authorities when she couldn't find him on her own. Policewho searched with helicopters, drones, and K9 unitsdidn't even need to ask for volunteers, per the Antigo Times. Unprompted, some 500 people signed up to search before Dyton was found Sunday morning, police say. Tom Andraschko says he was searching a section of the cornfield with 70 others around 10:30am when he found the toddler sitting cross-legged on the ground.

He was cold, wet, and scared, but otherwise in good health, though he was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. "I asked my wife if she thought I should come this morning, if they need any help," Andraschko, a father of 2-year-old twins, told WAOW on Sunday. "She said, 'Well, if it were your kids, how many people would you want to come?' So I came right away." A sheriff praised the "caring and compassion" of the community for helping get Dyton home safely. Just as Dyton was found, however, authorities in Waukesha, Wis., began searching for a 10-year-old boy with autism who also disappeared into a cornfield. He was found safe about a mile into the field by two high school students on Monday morning, reports Fox 6. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
(Newser)  A Georgia father left his 22-month-old son to die a lonely, agonizing death in the back of a hot SUV because he was unhappy with his family life and wanted to have sex with other women, a prosecutor alleged at the start of what is expected to be a grueling, month-long murder trial. Prosecutor Chuck Boring told the court that Justin Ross Harris was "cool, calm, and collected" after finding the body of Cooper Harris strapped into his car seat, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Harris, who left the boy in the vehicle outside his metro Atlanta workplace, told cops he forgot to drop him off at day care, but Boring said there is "overwhelming evidence this was not an accident."

Boring said Harriswho was allegedly having illicit online chats with up to six women during the seven hours Cooper was in the vehiclelived a "double life" and killed his son "in one of the most unimaginable, horrible ways," per the AP. The prosecutor said that during his lunch break, Harris opened the vehicle to throw in a bag of light bulbs. He drove several miles to a shopping center after work despite what police described as the reek of "sweat, a dirty diaper, the smell of death" inside the SUV, reports CBS. The 35-year-old's defense team will deliver an opening statement on Tuesday. (Harris also faces charges of exchanging nude photos with underage girls.)
The Women of Brewster Place" is Naylor's self-described "love letter" to a community of African-American women in a housing project

An author whose debut novel, "The Women of Brewster Place," became a best-seller, a National Book Award winner and a TV miniseries released through Oprah Winfrey's production company has died. Gloria Naylor was 66.

Naylor's death was confirmed Monday to The Associated Press by Cara Reilly, an assistant at the literary agency Sterling Lord Literistic. Reilly provided no other details about Naylor's death.

"The Women of Brewster Place" is Naylor's self-described "love letter" to a community of African-American women in a housing project. It was published in 1982 and won the National Book Award for best first fiction. The miniseries came out in 1989 with a cast including Winfrey, Cicely Tyson and Robin Givens.

Naylor's other books include "Linden Hills," ''Mama Day" and "The Men of Brewster Place."

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(Newser)  An Atlanta-area woman threw away a 27-year career as an educator in the seconds it took her to make ugly comments about Michelle Obama online. Forsyth County Schools says paraprofessional teacher's aide Jane Wood Allen was fired after calling Michelle Obama a gorilla on Facebook, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "I admire a gorilla more than I admire her. (Wait, I forgot. She is a gorilla)!" Allen wrote, sharing an article about the first lady topping a list of the most admired women in the world. "If she was a real First Lady, she would not have used and abused her title, by thinking that she is entitled to go on all the trips that she takes every other day," Allen wrote.

"This poor Gorilla. How is she going to function in the real world, by not having her luxurious vacations paid for anymore," Allen posted when sharing another article last week. Forsyth County News reports that Allen made anti-Muslim and anti-Hispanic remarks when sharing other stories. She "has been relieved from duty and is no longer an employee of Forsyth County Schools," a spokeswoman for the district said in a statement. "Racism and discrimination are not tolerated in our school district." (Read more Michelle Obama stories.)
(Newser)  The towns and villages of Haiti's southwestern peninsula battened down as best they could early Tuesday for a nightlong lashing by life-threatening winds, rains and storm surge unleashed by powerful Hurricane Matthew. The dangerous Category 4 storm ,with maximum sustained winds of 145mph, was also dropping heavy rains on other parts of Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest country, where many people live in flimsy shacks in areas prone to flooding, the AP reports. Heavy rain also fell on Jamaica and dangerous rainfall was a threat for the Dominican Republic, which adjoins Haiti.

Haitian officials spent Monday trying to persuade shantytown residents to take advantage of shelters being set up. Some people took up the offers, but many refused, saying they feared their meager possessions might be stolen. After passing over western Haiti, the hurricane is expected to make landfall again in eastern Cuba early Tuesday, 50 miles east of the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities flew out out about 700 spouses and children of service members. The US National Hurricane Center says that after crossing Cuba, the storm will probably move northward through the Bahamas, but it is too soon to say whether it will threaten the US East Coast. (Read more hurricane stories.)
(Newser)  Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump aren't just two of the most unpopular presidential candidates in history, they're two of the oldest, adding extra importance to Tuesday night's debate between VP candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, which the AP describes as a clash between "two low-key, middle-aged guys." Analysts say both men will likely focus on their rival's running mate and the debate probably won't be packed with surprisesbut there could still be some memorable moments. A round-up:

Politico's list of debate details notes that it is scheduled to start at 9pm EDT at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., and last for 90 minutes. Elaine Quijano of CBS News will be the moderator. To prepare, Pence has been debating Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, while Washington attorney Robert Barnett has been working with Kaine.

The two men are so overshadowed by their running mates that this will be "one of the least consequential vice-presidential debates ever staged," according to the Guardian. With Trump's recent stumbles, Pence is likely to be under more pressure than Kaine. "If Pence does well, he can stop the bleeding and set up Trump for Sunday night. If Pence is mediocre or is seen to have lost, it will be a long few weeks for Trump," says Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institution research fellow who helped Mitt Romney prepare for the 2012 debates.

The Hill lists five things to watch for, including efforts by Kaine to defend Clinton's record and by Pence to shift the conversation away from Trump's tax returns.

Politico reports that Pence blasted Kaine's record as governor of Virginia during a speech in the state Monday, but signaled that he plans to spend most of his time targeting Clinton. "Clintons record on foreign affairs alone could take up the whole 90 minutes," he said. "And it wouldnt be a pretty picture."

The Washington Post takes a look at what makes running for vice president such a "terrible job"and it includes the "nationally televised gaffe obstacle course known as the vice-presidential debate." Viewers won't be casting their vote based on the debate, the Post notes, but they'll be looking out for blunders and for moments like Lloyd Bentsen's famous "You're no Jack Kennedy" line to Dan Quayle.

Polls show that around a third of Americans either don't know who the vice presidential candidates are or have no opinion, notes the New York Times, which has devised this quiz to help tell them apart.

(Read more vice presidential debate stories.)
(Newser)  It was all in the teeth. Scientists have identified an entirely new extinct shark based on the ancient species' chompers gathered in the US, Japan, and Peru, UPI reports. A study of the "elusive" sea swimmer published Monday in the Historical Biology journal describes the great white-like Megalolamna paradoxodon as likely having lived in shallow coastal waters and, based on its tooth size, averaged about 13 feet in length (though some may have grown as large as 24 feet). And Kenshu Shimada, the lead author of the study out of DePaul University, is calling it "remarkable that such a large lamniform shark with such a global distribution had evaded recognition until now," a press release notes. The teeth, which were up to 1.8 inches long, were found in California and North Carolina, as well as overseas.

The shark lived about 20 million years ago during the Miocene era, scientists believe. And because its teethwhich consisted of "grasping" teeth in the front and "slicing" teeth in the backresembled not only those found on other Otodontidae sharks (of which the also-extinct megalodon shark was also a member), but also seemed to be larger versions of those of lamniform sharks (which include today's mako sharks and great whites), the scientists created an entirely new species just for this creature. Science Daily explains that's why "paradoxodon" is part of the shark's name, as its teeth are "paradoxical." The scientists' other taxonomical conclusion: the super-predator megalodon should be moved from the Carcharocles genus to the Otodus genus. (Whales blew up in size after the megalodon went extinct.)
(Newser)  Anyone who's struggled with mood swings while on hormonal birth control may not be surprised to hear that a new study suggests using such birth control could increase the risk of depression. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen looked at more than a million women ages 15 to 34, about 55% of whom were using hormonal contraception or had been on it during the past six months. (Often, people who quit birth control due to depressive symptoms aren't included in such studies, and the scientists wanted to make sure that wasn't the case for this one, Health.com reports.) The scientists theorize that progesterone, as well as the synthetic version of the hormone, progestin, has something to do with the development of depression. They found that women on a progestin-only pill were 34% more likely to have been prescribed an antidepressant than women who weren't on hormonal contraception, and women who were on a pill containing both progestin and estrogen were 23% more likely.

In addition, women who were using a progestin-only IUD were 40% more likely, women using a vaginal ring containing hormones were 60% more likely, and women using a patch containing hormones were 100% more likely, the researchers report in their paper, published in JAMA Psychiatry. The numbers are even more striking when teens are isolated: Teenage girls who were on progestin-only pills were 120% more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant than non-users, or 80% more likely if they were on a combined pill; for those on non-oral hormonal contraception, the risk was multiplied by three. This is possibly because teens are already more susceptible to depression, the New York Times reports. "Doctors should ensure that women, especially young women, are not already depressed or have a history of depression" before prescribing hormonal birth control, the lead author tells Health.com. (Another study finds that most antidepressants don't work for kids and teens.)
(Newser)  Two Vermont teachers have found themselves in a very embarrassing situation, publicly exposed as unable to draw a dinosaur. Oh, also they were arrested on suspicion of vandalism. Windsor police say 29-year-old Abigail Howard and 35-year-old Jennifer Rist were told to stay away from wet concrete that had been poured for a new sidewalk. Instead, the teachers at a nearby school for students with special needs allegedly defaced it, drawing the initials "JR" and what looked like a rat, WCAX reports.

Rist and Howard were arrested and charged with unlawful mischief, with police saying they did approximately $1,500 in damage. "It retrospect, it was pretty stupid," Howard admits, adding that the rat was actually supposed to be a dinosaur. The people of Vermont need to take a serious look at the caliber of educator teaching their childrena dinosaur looks nothing like a rat. (Read more teachers stories.)
(Newser)  The Farmer's Fair is the biggest event in Aurora, Ind., each year, but this time around it also produced the biggest commotion. Per WCPO, a float in the festival's parade featured a person dressed as Hillary Clinton in an electric chair, with another portraying Donald Trump at the ready to execute her. Also included on the float: a replica of an Easter Island head, in blackface, meant to depict President Obama. "Could have had Donald Trump in the electric chair. It was a tossup," the float's maker, Frank Linkmeyer, says in his defense, noting he didn't mean to offend anyone and that he's poked fun at other people before in his parade creations. But not everyone agrees with his take.

"Who thinks this is appropriate for a fair parade where children, some of them minorities and girls, are marching ... and watching? Who thinks this is something to laugh at or be proud of?" a local mom posted on Facebook, adding the display was "disgusting." Another mom tells WLWT she's not sure she'll let her daughter march in the parade next year because of this incident. The Aurora Lions Club, which runs the festival, said on the fair's site that it "regrets" the float, which "does not reflect the views" of the group. "We hope the political circus of this year's election stays with the national media," it states. Meanwhile, Linkmeyer, who tells WCPO he's a Democrat, says next year he may make fun of the media instead. And if you're offended? "Don't come to the parade next time," he advises. (SeaWorld's float took some flak a few years back.)
(Newser)  Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer secretly ordered email engineers to write surveillance software for the NSA, Reuters revealed today, citing information from three former Yahoo employees and another person aware of the events. The software was designed to analyze all incoming e-mail messages for a certain phrase or string of characters, although Reuters was unable to determine what the exact phrase being targeted was. The directive to create a surveillance system was issued directly to engineers, bypassing Yahoo's own internal user security team. When the user security team discovered the software in May 2015, weeks after it was installed, they actually thought it had been placed there by hackers. Yahoo's response was brief: "Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States."

Two other big email providers, Microsoft and Google, said they had never conducted such searches. Microsoft: "We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo." Google: "We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'No way.'" Reuters says former Yahoo Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos left the company in June 2015 over the issue. While surveillance programs have been well-known since Edward Snowden leaked details of many classified NSA programs, security experts say this may be the first confirmed case of a service provider scanning all incoming mail, instead of doing spot searches on stored files. The case is also unique because it required Yahoo engineers to create a custom tool for the data collectionan issue reminiscent of Apple's refusal to create a custom tool to unlock the iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooters. (Read more NSA stories.)
The alleged revelation of the real name of best-selling author Elena Ferrante has led to a wave of criticism and to a surge in sales for her acclaimed quartet of "Neopolitan" novels.

One of literature's most talked-about mysteries appeared to have been cracked Monday with the unmasking of the identity of the Italian publishing sensation Elena Ferrante.

In its wake, a literary row erupted over journalistic ethics and writers' right to protect their identities and the personal back stories that may, or may not, inform their work.

Claudio Gatti, an Italian investigative journalist, says he has seen evidence of royalty payments that establish that Ferrante is a pen name for Anita Raja, a Rome-based translator who is married to a well-known novelist.

Reacting angrily to Gatti's revelation, Ferrante's publisher did not deny his claim.

Instead it railed against the perceived breach of the writer's right to privacy.

"It is disgusting to see a great Italian author, loved and celebrated in our country and across the world, treated like a criminal," Edizioni E/O said in a statement.

"What higher public interest could the investigation led by Claudio Gatti have served?"

Ferrante's best-selling novels, particularly her Naples-based quartet, have been acclaimed for their intricate, compelling storytelling and insights into the nature of female friendship.

Her success has been fuelled by media interest in the mystery over the author's identity with the until-now anonymous Ferrante having granted only a handful of interviews conducted via emails passed on by her publisher.

Gatti's scoop was based on leaked records of payments made by Ferrante's publishers, for whom Raja also worked, which appear to correspond to the royalties the best-selling novelist would have been due.

Assuming that Raja is Ferrante, it appears that the author of "My Brilliant Friend" has been complicit in misleading the literary world and her millions of fans into thinking she was the daughter of a Neapolitan seamstress familiar with the backdrop of post-war poverty against which her most famous novels are set.



Gatti defended his story, published Sunday by the New York Review of Books and outlets in Italy, France and Germany, on the grounds that Ferrante was a public figure and that she had "lied" about her life story.

"When millions of books are bought by readers -- in a way I think readers acquire the right to know something about the person who created the book," the journalist told BBC Radio 4.

Gatti argued this was particularly true in light of Ferrante's publication in 2003 of "Frantumaglia", an ostensibly autobiographical collection of non-fiction writings which the reporter described as "full of untruths".

"As a journalist I don't like lies and I chose to expose them," Gatti said.

While Raja was born in the southern city, she was raised from the age of three in middle class comfort in Rome by her magistrate father and a mother of Polish Jewish heritage who had escaped the Holocaust as a young girl and never lost her German accent.



British academic Katherine Angel claimed the reporter had gone after Ferrante as if she were "a corrupt politician hiding tax evasion" when in fact she had done nothing to deserve such intrusion.

"A writer does not owe their reader anything beyond their work," Angel told the BBC.

Novelist JoJo Moyes weighed in on Twitter. "Maybe Elena Ferrante has very good reasons to write under a pseudonym. It's not our 'right' to know her," she wrote.

Italian novelist Erri de Luca agreed. "To whom does it matter a jot the real identity of Elena Ferrante?" he said. "As a reader the identity of a writer is of no interest to me."

Novelist Matt Haig added: "Think the pursuit to discover the 'real' Elena Ferrante is a disgrace and also pointless," he tweeted. "A writer's truest self is the books they write."

Being economical with biographical details is not exactly unprecedented in literary history.

Ferrante herself revealed in a 2003 interview that she liked her compatriot Italo Calvino's warning to a student of his work: "Ask me what you want to know, but I won't tell you the truth, of that you can be sure."

The writer's unmasking will inevitably reignite speculation that Raja's husband, Domenico Starnone, a Neapolitan who has also written about the city's post-war period, may have had a hand in the Ferrante books.

A decade ago, experts at Rome's La Sapienza University employed text analysis software to try and establish who Ferrante might be.

They concluded there was a "high probability" Starnone had written them.

Several other literary figures were linked to the books in the intervening years but no one had, until now, produced the kind of back-up evidence Gatti has acquired.

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New Delhi:

After persistent reminders and orders from the Supreme Court, Karnataka released some water from the River Cauvery to neighbouring Tamil Nadu late on Monday night.

The court will hear the case on Tuesday. Karnataka previously has ignored the Supreme Courts decree to give water to Tamil Nadu for its farmers. However, Siddaramaiah government cites its own farmers demands for not being able to comply with the orders of the apex court.

Irrigation Minister MB Patil on Mondy night said that some water will be released for farmers in Karnataka and across the border. The chief minister said that the interests of the state will be protected, while he also stressed that its important to obey the SC.

The top court had last week asked the centre to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board but centre on Monday said it cannot create this board and needs Parliamentary nod for the same.

When asked why it did not disclose this earlier, the centre said it was a mistake. Earlier, in September, when Karnataka released some water it impelled riots in Bengaluru and other cities.

In 2007 the Supreme Court had set up a tribunal to decide how the water from River Cauvery should be shared between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the states of Kerala and Puducherry.

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At least 10 civilians were killed Monday, including six children, when an artillery shell hit a busy street near a popular market in Taez in southern Yemen, the UN said Tuesday.

The United Nations rights office also said 17 people, including six more children and three women, were injured in the attack on Monday evening in the Bir Basha area of Taez, allegedly carried out by affiliates of the Huthi rebels.

Military and medical sources had previously put the civilian toll from the attack at six dead and eight wounded.

UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville cited witnesses saying that "the street where the market was located was crowded with people at the time of the attack."

The witnesses, who spoke with UN rights office staff, had insisted "there had not been any armed confrontations between warring parties in the Bir Basha area prior to this terrible incident," he said.

Taez, Yemen's third largest city, is almost completely surrounded by the Iran-backed Shiite rebels and their allies, backers of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

For months, forces loyal to the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have been trying to break the rebel grip on Taez.

Colville said the artillery shell fired Monday appeared to have come from the al-Taiziyah district, where the Popular Committees affiliated with the Huthis and army units loyal Saleh are positioned.

The UN says the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led Arab coalition backing Hadi's government launched operations in March 2015.

Colville said that from March 2015 through September 30, 4,014 civilians had died, and nearly 7,000 had been injured.

Casualties had climbed steeply in August and September, following the collapse of a ceasefire, with the Saudi-led coalition held responsible for six times as many civilian deaths and injuries as the rebel forces, Colville said.

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New Delhi:

Pakistans Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani said that Pakistan is targeting all terrorists indiscriminately. Jilanis statement comes at a time when a petition seeking White House to designate Pakistan as a terrorist state has received more than 600,000 signatures already.

Despite several attempts to force Pakistan to uproot terrorism from its soil officials in Islamabad continue to harbor dreaded terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim.

Jilanis statement also comes out at a time when Pakistan has been engaged in committing terror attacks against India by sending suicide terrorists- the latest being Uri and Baramulla attack.

Also Read: (US urges India and Pakistan militaries to keep their lines of communication open to help diffuse tensions)

While Obama is getting ready to demit office in January next year, so no major action is expected to be taken against Pakistan as the president would most likely leave it for the next president to deal with.

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Jammu:

Pakistani troops violated ceasefire again on Tuesday and resorted to mortar shelling and firing on Army posts and civilian areas along the LoC in three areas of Noushera sector in Rajouri district.A

"Pakistan troops resorted to unprovoked firing in three areas of Noushera Rajouri district from 05:15 hours today," Defence Spokesman Col Manish Mehta said. They fired mortar bombs, automatic weapons and small arms, he said, adding that Indian troops gave a befitting reply.A

A

Unprovoked firing by Pak Army started around 5 AM at 3 locations in Naushera. No reports of any casualty: Manish Mehta, Defence PRO pic.twitter.com/4QCoWXyEG1 a ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

We're giving befitting reply.They targeted 3 locations,ceasefire violations at 2 locations have stopped,at 1 location it is still on-M Mehta a ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

There has been five ceasefire violations in over 24 hours along the Line of Control (LoC). Yesterday, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire four times and restored to heavy firing and mortar shelling in Saujian, Shahpur-Kerni, Mandi and KG sectors in Poonch district, injuring 5 civilians, including five women.A Several shops were burnt down after a shell triggered fire in oil containers at a security force camp.

On October 2, Pakistan resorted to firing and shelling from 19:15 hours along LoC in forward areas in Pallanwala belt of Jammu district.A On October 1, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs, RPGS and HMGS amid small arms firing along LoC this sector.A

On September 30, Pakistani troops had opened fire from small arms along the LoC in Pallanwala, Chaprial and?Samnam areas of Akhnoor sector of Jammu district. On September 29, Pakistan troops had resorted to firing in Balnoie area of Mendhar sector.

The Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire on September 28 by opening fire on Indian army posts along LoC in Sabzian area Poonch sector. On September 6, Pakistani troops had fired on Army posts along the LoC in Pooch sector.A

Pakistani troops had also violated the ceasefire on September 2 by firing on forward army posts along the LoC in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district. Last year, 16 civilians were killed and 71 others injured in 405 incidents of cross-border firing by Pakistan.A

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New Delhi:

The modern day military warfare has seen rapid progress in how combat doctrines have evolved over a period of time to engage and combat the enemy.

Conventional warfare seems to be one for the ages as the modern day armies have to encounter local militia and counter insurgent groups who are masters at adopting guerrilla warfare techniques.

It can be rightly attributed that the modern day defence forces have adopted the credo 'Fight the Guerrilla like a Guerrilla'.

The recent Surgical strikes by the Indian army are testimony to the fact that what a pivotal role 'Special Forces' play in carrying out such kind of covert operations with clinical precision.

While on one hand the Indian army has its Para Commandos who are highly specialised in conducting counter insurgency operations, the Indian Air Force and Navy have been equal to the task in raising such forces which have proved their mantle by conducting special operations to thwart enemy aggression coming by way of sea or air.



MARCOS, previously known as Marine Commando Force , is the special forces unit of the Indian Navy. created for conducting special operations such as Amphibious warfare, Close Quarter Combat Counter-terrorism, Direct action, Special reconnaissance, Unconventional warfare, Hostage rescue, Personnel recovery, Combat search and rescue, Asymmetric warfare, Foreign internal defence, Counterproliferation, Amphibious reconnaissance including Hydrographic reconnaissance.

The MCF is specially organised, trained and equipped for the conduct of special operations in a maritime environment.

MARCOS is short for Marine Commandos. The force has gradually acquired experience and a reputation for professionalism over the three decades it has been in existence.

Here is a sneak peak into the MARCOS

Active: 1987  present

Type: Special Operations Forces (Indian Navy)

Role: Amphibious warfare, Counter-terrorism, Direct action, Special reconnaissance, Unconventional warfare,Combat search and rescue, Asymmetric warfare



Regimental Centre: Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Goa, Kochi and Port Blair.

Nickname: Magarmach (Crocodile)

Motto: "The few the fearless"

Operation: Cactus, Operation Leech, Operation Pawan, Kargil War, Operation Black Tornado, Operation Cyclone, Counter- terrorist operation in Kashmir.

Also Read: Rashtriya Rifles: Know more about counter insurgency force of the Indian army

Also Read: Para Commandos: 'Surgical Strikes' with clinical precision, forte of 'Special Forces' unit of Indian Army

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Washington:

Donald Trump often confuses leadership with dictatorship, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said as she accused her Republican rival of having a weird fascination with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He (Trump) gets confused between leadership and dictatorship. He has a hard time remembering who our friends are and who are adversaries are. He has a weird fascination with dictators like Putin, Clinton, bashed Trumps relationship with the Russian president, at an election rally in Akron, Ohio, a key battleground State.

We have a lot of people living in this part of Ohio who, either themselves, their parents, or grandparents, came from countries that were under the yoke of oppression. And we are never going to let that happen again, she said.

The former secretary of state addressed several rallies in Ohio.Clinton said if she becomes president, Trump will be the last major party nominee to keep his taxes largely under wraps.

If Im fortunate enough to be president, were going to pass a law requiring anybody who is a nominee of a major, national party to have to release their taxes, she said.

At another election rally in Ohio, Clinton slammed the business record of Trump, who is a billionaire real estate mogul from New York.

This is Trump to a T. Hes taken corporate excess and makes a business model out of it. He abuses his power, games the system, puts his own interests ahead of the countrys. Its Trump first and everyone else last, she said.

Not a single not a single CEO of a Fortune 100 company supports Trumps campaign. Think about it. Ive been endorsed by very successful people Warren Buffett, Mike Bloomberg, Mark Cuban.

I loved what Mark Cuban said when he endorsed me. He said, Look, Ive been successful. He actually is a real billionaire. And you know what? He used profit-sharing to help his employees, not bankruptcy to fire people. And when he sold his first company, he shared the profits with his employees, and 300 of them became millionaires. Thats the kind of business practices I want to see more of in our country, the 68-year-old said.

Clinton said she is going to use the White House and every tool at her disposal to make the case that patriotism is profitable. Standing up for America, investing in America will pay off. Now, we have always had innovators and entrepreneurs who build great companies and create real value. But we should not and we will not respect those who get rich by cheating everybody else, she said.

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Washington:

A 24-year-old Bangladeshi national in the US has been accused of providing material support to the dreaded Islamic State militant group regarding a plot to kill American service members, the US said on Tuesday.

Nelash Mohamed Das is currently resident of Hyattsville in Maryland. On conviction he faces 20 years in prison. "Nelash Mohamed Das is alleged to have plotted to kill a US service member on behalf of ISIL," said Assistant Attorney General John P Carlin. "Individuals intent on carrying out violence in the name of foreign terrorist organizations pose one of the most concerning threats that law enforcement faces today and stopping these offenders before they are able to act is our highest priority," Carlin said in a statement.

Das, who has permanent residency status, had an initial appearance at a US District Court in Maryland. The court has ordered Das to be detained pending a detention hearing, which is scheduled for October 6. The affidavit alleges that from September 28, 2015 to early 2016, Das used social media to express his support for Islamic State militant group, including support for terrorist attacks in Paris, France, and San Bernardino, California.

On October 26, 2015, Das tweeted the name of an individual and the city where they lived, stating that the individual "aspires to kill Muslims". Das knew that the individual hoped to become a member of the US military. The Islamic State members and supporters have posted identifying information about US military personnel in hopes that those inspired by the Islamic State would carry out attacks against them.

The affidavit alleges that Das was advertising the individual's identity and whereabouts in order to inspire violence against that individual. On January 30, 2016, Das tweeted a picture of an AK-47 assault rifle along with the text, "This is more than just a gun. This is a ticket to Jannah (paradise)."

According to the affidavit, on April 30, this year Das attended the Handgun Qualification License class at a firing range in Maryland. After the class, Das told another individual that he wanted to buy a Glock 9mm handgun and an AK-47. Over the next five months, Das returned to the firing range to practice firing weapons, and submitted his fingerprints to obtain a handgun permit. During May 2016, Das met a confidential human source (CHS) working for the FBI.

On July 23, Das told the CHS that he wanted to kill a particular military member who lived in Prince George?s County, Maryland, and whose identifying information Das had obtained the prior year from a list posted online by ISIL.

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New Delhi:

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in Delhi on Tuesday morning on a five-day visit during which he will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and top brass on the Indian government on an entire gamut of issues including security, trade and investment.

Lee will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee and attend a reception for Singaporeans based in India. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on him.

During the visit, he will be hosted for lunch by Modi and the two leaders will hold bilateral talks to explore ways to bolster ties between the two countries. Both Lee and Modi will tomorrow witness the signing of an MoU on cooperation in industrial property between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and Singapore's Intellectual Property Office.

Besides that, two more MoUs will be signed on cooperation on establishment of a North East Skills Centre in Assam between the Assam Government and the Institute of Technical Education Education Services, and cooperation in skills development between the National Skill Development Corporation and Singapore's Institute of Technical Education Education Services.

Lee is accompanied by his wife Ho Ching, a number of key ministers and senior officials. The delegation also includes Minister of Trade and Industry S Iswaran, Acting Minister of Education and Senior Minister of State for Defence, Ong Ye Kung, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Maliki Bin Osman, the External Affairs Ministry of Singapore said. Members of Parliament Denise Phua and Vikram Nair are also part of the delegation. Lee will also visit Udaipur on October 5-6.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will call upon him and also host him to a lunch. In Udaipur, Lee will attend the launch of Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training as part of skills development collaboration under the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership signed in November 2015. Besides that, he will also witness the signing of an MoU on cooperation on tourism and urban solutions between Rajasthan government and Singapore's International Enterprise.

An agreement on a Capacity Building Programme in tourism and hospitality between the state government and Singapore's Cooperation Enterprise will also be signed. Lee last visited India in December 2012 to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.

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United Nations:

The UN Security Council has not been discussing the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Russias envoy to the UN and Council president for October said, in a clear snub to Pakistan which had raised the Kashmir issue and surgical strike by India in the world body.



I dont want to go there, dont want to go there. No no please, I dont want to go there, Russias Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said as he quickly interrupted a question on India and Pakistan tensions during a press briefing at United Nations on Monday.



Churkin was addressing the media as Russia assumed the Presidency of the 15-nation Council for the month of October.When asked why he would not comment on the issue, Churkin said because I am President of the Security Council. The Security Council has not been discussing it (the India-Pakistan situation).

Also read: Russia backs India after surgical strike; says every country has right to defend itself



Sorry sir, I dont want to go there. No comment, no comment, sorry please, Churkin said.



When asked again why he and Russia were so reluctant to discuss the India-Pakistan situation, Churkin said, Im sure you know. There are so many other things.



Churkins remarks come as a clear snub to Pakistan, which had approached the Security Council just last week on the surgical strikes conducted by India to target terror launch pads across the Line of Control as well as on the Kashmir issue.



Earlier in the day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moons Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq was asked what the UN position is on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs remarks in her address to the UN General Assembly that Pakistan should abandon its Kashmir dream since Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.



We have issued a statement on the situation between India and Pakistan. I would refer you back to that, Haq said.



When asked again why the UN did not say anything to Swarajs remarks that Pakistan should stop dreaming about Kashmir, Haq said, We dont comment on every speech made in the General Assembly, but we have been commenting on the situation on Kashmir, and like I said, we issued a statement on that just last Friday.



Pakistans envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had met New Zealands UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, president of the Council for the month of September, and had raised the issue of the surgical strikes in informal consultations of the Council.



She had also met UN Secretary General Ban on the issue but the UN Chief had called on the governments of India and Pakistan to address their outstanding issues, including Kashmir, peacefully through diplomacy and dialogue.



Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had last week said that Pakistan approaching the UN Chief and the Security Council over the surgical strikes in PoK has not found any resonance at the world body.



Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too had tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, raising it with almost every world leader he held bilateral talks with on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly last month.

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New York:

Kim Kardashian returns to United States after a very bad experience of robbery at gunpoint in Paris.

The 35-year-old model's husband Kanye West and mother Kris Jenner came to receive her in New York following the robbery, confirmed sources.

The couple returned to their Manhattan apartment flanked by a swarm of security. "The scene was out of control. There were police barricades, a couple of police cars, secret service and 15 big, black Cadillac Escalades.

"Wests rushed in. (Kim) seemed very subdued. They've been staying in the residence for a long time and she's seemed more animated and taken selfies with fans, but today was straight in. Kanye West looked very concerned. Kris Jenner was also in the motorcade in support of her daughter," a source said.

Also read: Kim Kardashian West robbed at gunpoint by masked men dressed as police officers

Kardashian was robbed of approximately USD 6.7 millions at gunpoint at a luxury residence in Paris by five masked men dressed as police officers.

As per the police, there were at least two gunmen. They tied Kardashian up in the bathroom.

The robbery took place at about 03:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Monday, reported BBC quoting local police.

Her rapper husband abruptly left the stage at Meadows Music & Arts Festival in Queens mid-song on Sunday night, telling fans, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Family emergency, I have to stop the show."

Kardashian was in Paris to attend the fashion week.

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London:

Amnesty International criticized rich nations on Tuesday as it claimed that only ten countries accounting for 2.5 per cent of world GDP hosted more than half of the world's refugees.

In a report on the plight faced by the world's 21 million refugees, the London-based human rights body lamented that countries immediately neighbouring crisis zones bear the brunt of the global refugee problem.

Fifty-six per cent of refugees are being sheltered in 10 countries, according to the report, in which Amnesty proposed a solution whereby the world's countries find a home for 10 per cent of the planet's refugees every year.

"A small number of countries have been left to do far too much just because they are neighbours to a crisis," said Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty, presenting the report entitled "Tackling the global refugee crisis: from shirking to sharing responsibility".

"That situation is inherently unsustainable, exposing the millions fleeing war and persecution in countries like Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq to intolerable misery and suffering. "

It is time for leaders to enter into a serious, constructive debate about how our societies are going to help people forced to leave their homes by war and persecution."

Amnesty said the top refugee hosting country was Jordan, which has taken in more than 2.7 million people, followed by Turkey (more than 2.5 million); Pakistan (1.6 million) and Lebanon (more than 1.5 million).

The remaining six nations listed in the top 10 each hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees: Iran (979,400); Ethiopia (736,100); Kenya (553,900); Uganda (477,200); Democratic Republic of Congo (383,100), and Chad (369,500).

The statistics are based on figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Amnesty said many of the world's wealthiest nations "host the fewest and do the least". "

It is not simply a matter of sending aid money. Rich countries cannot pay to keep people 'over there'," it said.

The "self-interest" of such countries meant the international refugee crisis was set to get worse, not better, Amnesty claimed. "

If every one of the wealthiest countries in the world were to take in refugees in proportion to their size, wealth and unemployment rate, finding a home for more of the world's refugees would be an eminently solvable challenge," said Shetty.

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Mumbai:

Food is capable of blurring borders and Indian 'chicken tikka masala' is heavily popular even in far off Sweden, say 'Nobel' chefs from the European nation.

The two chefs, who are in charge of the prestigious Nobel Dinner, the culinary showcase after the Nobel Prize ceremony held inside the Stockholm City Hall, were here recently to give India a taste of Sweden. "Swedes love Indian food...the most popular one is by far chicken tikka masala.

It's the one Indian dish every Swede knows and loves, but people are definitely beginning to explore more and some Indian vegetarian restaurants have also become really popular," Swedish Chefs Mark Phoenix and Fredrik Forsell told PTI. "Also, both India and Sweden have a very strong culinary heritage. Like Indians, we Swedes also use a lot of potato in our cooking. When it comes to differences, I think Indians love their spicy palate, but Swedes go a bit easy on that front and our food is a bit mild," Forsell said.

The Consulate General of Sweden recently hosted an exclusive tete-a-tete cum tasting at Palate Culinary Studio in Mumbai with chefs Phoenix and Forsell, aimed at creating awareness about the rich and diverse culinary heritage of Sweden.

"Sweden's cuisine is based on a simple cooking style, often mild and not very spicy, salt and black pepper have been the everyday spices for many Swedes. This has of course changed with international trade facilitating imports of various spices, vegetables and fruit, but salt and pepper are still the basic spices in Swedish cuisine," Phoenix said.

"We drink milk and use dairy products in our cooking to a greater extent than Indians. We also use Grddfil, which is made of regular cream with lactic acid. It has a similar taste to yoghurt, but it is not as sour. Swedes are also fond of using different kind of fish in their cooking like salmon, herring and cod," he said.

Giving an insight into the food of his country, Forsell said Swedes also eat plenty of root vegetables like red beetroot, yellow beetroot, carrot, celeriac, artichokes and cabbage. Traditionally, Swedish cuisine had to adapt to a harsh climate with long and dark winters. To provide varying and nutritious food throughout the year, Swedes had to pickle and preserve meat, fish, vegetables and fruit.

Even with new technology and increased trade this tradition has stayed with the Swedes. "Swedish cuisine is therefore significantly saltier than for example the Mediterranean cuisine as theyve had access to more fresh food," he said.

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Pope Francis arrived on Tuesday in Amatrice in central Italy, in a surprise visit to the town that bore the brunt of the August 24 earthquake that killed nearly 300 people, the Vatican said.

On Sunday, the pontiff had confirmed his intention to visit the quake-hit area, though he did not specify when he aimed to go. He said he wanted to make his visit "privately, alone, as a priest, a bishop, a pope. But alone," in order to be "near the people."

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday and discussed strengthening of ties between both the Asian nations.

PM Modi called Prime Minister Loong a strong well-wisher of India and reminisced about his first visit to Singapore. He further claimed that the bilateral relationship between the two nations had been upgraded to the level of a strategic partnership.

Singapore earned huge praise from PM Modi due to its huge gains in sectors such as manufacturing, innovation, technology, public services and environment amongst others. He also said that Rajasthan was partnering with Singapore in the fields of urban development and waste management.

Further, he praised Singapore as it is helping India to develop Amravati, Andhra Pradeshs new capital.Moreover, both PM Modi and PM Loong welcomed the issuance of corporate Rupee bond in Singapore.

Defence and security cooperation was given huge importance by PM Modi who called them a key pillar of the strategic partnership between both the maritime nations.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong condemned all sorts of terrorism.While heavily criticizing terrorism and the rise of radicalization, PM Modi claimed them as the biggest challenges to our security. He also directed his ire on cross border terrorism and discussed enhanced cooperation between both the nations regarding the security domain.

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Chennai:

Official release with regard to the health condition of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at a hospital since September 22, will reduce the anxiety of the people, the Madras High Court observed on Tuesday while asking the government to get back on the issue by Wednesday.



The oral observation was made by a division bench while hearing a PIL by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy, who has sought a detailed report from the government on the health condition of Jayalalithaa.



The court asked Tamil Nadus Additional Advocate General C Manishankar to get back to it after consulting the government on the health condition of the chief minister by tomorrow.



Manishankar told the court that the corporate hospital had been issuing medical bulletins daily on her health conditions and describing the treatments given to her.



But the court said though the hospital was releasing bulletins, being the chief minister of the state, some official release with regard to her health condition will reduce the anxiety of the people.



The petition has also sought release of photographs of the meeting she is said to have had with her cabinet colleagues and officials in the hospital.



The bench said that it is not passing any order on the PIL but directed the additional advocate general to consult the government on the matter.

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Mexico:

A Mars traveller robot has been designed by 10 university students of Mexico. The invention has now been recognised by NASA and the International Astronautical Federation.

"It is a completely Mexican design," Bryan Perez, one of the members of the team, told Xinhua on Saturday.

The nine university students are pursuing engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and one team member is from the Nationbal Polytechnic Institute.

"We are convinced that Mexico has the knowledge, the drive and the power to innovate in aerospace, which is just beginning here," said Perez.

The robot is said to have two stereoscopic cameras to plot terrain and a third one located below its body, in order to check the samples collected by a hook.

The robot has additional qualities of artificial vision, terrain plotting, path selection abilities. It can also search, gather and reserve samples from the surface of Mars.

The team of the university students has been commended for its achievement at the Sample Return Robot Challenge in 2014 and 2016, a NASA organised competition for universities and firms that work on Mars travellers, said Perez.

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Mumbai:

Actress Radhika Apte has shown her consent on the Pakistani artistes that they should be allowed to come here and work and not get banned from working in the Indian film industry.

The 31-year-old actress is the latest to join the the debate that whether Pakistani actors should be allowed to work in India after the Uri attack.

When asked about the issue at the launch of a popular watch brand, Radhika told reporters, "I think if a Swiss watch can come to the country and have their own corporate stores, I think a Pakistani actor should come here and do a film here in India. That's my statement."

In the wake of Uri terror attack, MNS had asked Pakistani artistes like Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan to leave India, failing which it had threatened to stall their film shoots. They also demanded a ban on Pakistani artists working in the Indian film industry.

Subsequently, Indian Motion Pictures' Artists Association (IMPAA) came out with a resolution to ban all Pakistani artistes and technicians till the relations between the two neighbours normalise.

Bollywood has been divided on the issue of ban on Pakistani artistes. Superstar Salman Khan, filmmakers Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta, Nagesh Kukunoor and veteran actor Om Puri are among those who have opposed the ban while celebrities like Randeep Hooda and Sonali Bendre have backed it.

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Hyderabad:

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is all for Indian start-ups, saying they have entered an 'exciting phase' with focus on India-specific problems and opportunities, and domestic money is fuelling risk appetite. "I am very bullish on the Indian start-up scenario", the brain behind Aadhaar told PTI in an interview.

"I think we are entering a new phase where we are seeing breadth and depth of start-ups". On several start-ups shutting shop, Nilekani said it's the nature of the business. "The very nature of start-ups is that many ideas get funded; some ideas succeed; and some have to be revisited or pivoted...that's the nature of this whole venture economy".

He said that in the start-up business, some companies would succeed and some would not. Some companies will start with an idea but then pivot couple of times before they stabilise on a sustainable idea. "So, that's the nature of the activity. That does not bother me the least," he said. Nilekani also said that many start-ups would not succeed but entrepreneurs gain tremendous experience and can to go to another start-up.

"They can learn from the experience of the previous failed start-ups. I see it as part of that," he said. According to him, while there might be some challenges on follow-on funding for very large firms, its an exciting time if one looked at the larger scenario. He said more and more start-ups are being set up and their quality is also increasing with players doing "very interesting things".

There is a huge buzz on college campuses, which themselves are becoming pro-startups and encouraging their graduates to start companies, Nilekani said. "Lot more Indian money is also coming into the start-up world. So, people like us who already built a company are now providing funding and being mentors and all that", he said.

Painting a positive picture, Nilekani said Indian money flowing into the sector is meant to build companies in the country and people with operative experience having already served in companies can chip in with advice for start-ups. "It's private money (Indian money) so they (start-ups) are not obligated to their LPs (limited partners), or exits or returns to other shareholders...nothing of that type. So, they can take longer term risk. So, it's good stuff," he said.
New Delhi:

Congress on Tuesday dissociated itself from its leader Sanjay Nirupam's remarks on surgical strikes, saying it has full faith in the armed forces even as it asked the government to use "all information and evidence" at its disposal to call "Pakistan's bluff" and expose its false propaganda.

The party said it has taken serious note of Nirupam's remarks calling the surgical strike "fake", signalling trouble for the Mumbai Congress chief. It also claimed that similar surgical strikes had been undertaken in the past too but the information had not been made public in interest of national security.

Party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala, however, steered clear of questions whether Nirupam and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh who had also raised some doubts over the action of the armed forces, would be served show cause notices.

"Indian National Congress disagrees completely from the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. It has taken a serious note", Surjewala said insisting that the party has "full faith" in the bravehearts of Indian armed forces.

Nirupam had tweeted that "every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by BJP. politics over national interest(sic)." Nirupam had later told reporters in Mumbai that it is up to the government to prove the surgical strikes did take place.

Surjewala noted that party chief Sonia Gandhi has unequivocally supported Indian armed forces and the government on the issue of surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan as also in taking all steps for demolishing terror infrastructure against India. "We reaffirm the same," he said.

Insisting that there never has been a reason to raise a question or doubt on the statements by the DGMO on surgical strikes, he, however, said that government needs to "call the Pakistani bluff and false propaganda" on the issue.

This, he said, should be done by the government using "all information, evidence and instruments at the disposal of Indian state". "We are proud that even in the past our forces have successfully conducted such surgical strikes on numerous occasions," the Congress spokesperson said.

He said that forces had taken such action on September 1, 2011, July 28, 2013 and January 14, 2014 while "giving befitting reply to the enemy". "In its maturity, wisdom and in the interest of national security, Congress government avoided making loud claim for the effective response and action of Indian Army, which had the full support of political leadership", he said in the backdrop of BJP projecting the strikes as symbol of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "strong" leadership.

Also Read: Sanjay Nirupam calls surgical strikes 'fake

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New Delhi:

Aam Admi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday defended his statements on the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the LoC after the BJP lashed out at him and protests were held against him.

Kejriwal took it to Twitter to clarify that he asked for proofs only to counter Pakistans propaganda of denial of the surgical strikes.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had attacked Kejriwal. He had said that the AAP leader should not fall prey to Pakistan's false propaganda. He also told him not to question the valour of the armed forces.

"Arvind Kejriwal ji, you are now in the headlines in Pakistan. They are saying an Indian leader, that too a Chief Minister, is asking questions of the operations and preparations of the Indian Army," Ravi Shankar Prasad had said.

ALSO READ | Sanjay Nirupam calls surgical strikes 'fake', asks for 'proof'



"He should not be politicking over questions of India's security. He should not have raised such questions. Even yesterday (Monday), a BSF personnel has been killed. My appeal to Mr Kejriwal would be that politics is separate. But please don't do anything whereby our armed forces are facing doubt," he had said.

ALSO READ | Arvind Kejriwal blames BJP of playing politics over surgical strikes

BJP, I m convinced that strikes took place. But intl media publishing Pak propaganda that no strike took place. Lets expose Pak propaganda https://t.co/oIGa2yLhO0  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 4, 2016

"BJP, I m convinced that strikes took place. But intl media publishing Pak propaganda that no strike took place. Lets expose Pak propaganda," Kejriwal tweeted in response to the BJP.

This false propaganda needs to be effectively countered. No point attacking me. I am wid u. Lets together expose Pak https://t.co/hOoKnYRbij  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 4, 2016

Madhya Pradesh: BJP workers stage a protest against Sanjay Nirupam and Arvind Kejriwal in Bhopal pic.twitter.com/cRC2hr181A  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

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New Delhi:

In an exclusive interview with Newsnation.in, actors Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher get candid about their upcoming debut movie Mirzya. The film, directed by veteran filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, is an intense love story.

The actors were in the national capital to promote the film that is slated to release on October 7.

Talking about the film, Harshvardhan said, It is a very unique film and is inspired by the Punjabi folklore of Mirza-Sahiban. The movie deals with very complex human emotions and certainly has the potential to be remembered for a very long time.

The film is an interpretation of eternal love story of Mirza-Sahiban and features two parallel worlds, one real and one fantasy. The melodious tracks of the film are composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.

Speaking about the intense training and preparation for the film, Harsh said, The training was very intense. We trained for 18 months to learn mounted archery, polo and also learnt bike riding on sand.

Apart from the rigorous physical transformation, Harsh said, we had to go through a lot of emotional preparation for both the characters. It was a consuming process to learn everything from the scratch, said Harsh.

On asking about the experience of working with Saiyami Kher, he said, It was amazing working with Saiyami. She is a very talented actress and we are planning to work on another film together soon.

He added, My father (Anil Kapoor) has really loved the film. I would also love to work with Sonam in the future if good offers come.

Saiyami is all excited about the movie and feels privileged to have received such a good script for her debut film. She said, It was fun shooting for Mirzya. The movie is all the more special to us as Gulzaar Sahab has written for the film after 15 long years. The music is also incredible.

Mehra has given excellent films like Rang De Basanti (2006) and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013). He said, the actors, after the intense training sessions, were confident to perform all the stunts on their own. I had the time of my life working with these two talented people. It was amazing to see the lights through their eyes, Mehra said.

I had an idea to share an eternal love story, whether love can be eternal or not. This film is all about that and is a modern day love story that draws inspiration from Mirza Sahiban. It is not the traditional Mirza-Sahiban but is the contemporary version of the folk tale, the director said.

Harsh appealed to the viewers to watch the film and said it is a very different movie and a cinema experience that one should not miss.
Lucknow:

A Shiv Sena worker on Tuesday threw ink on party MP Sanjay Raut as rival factions in the party clashed in Lucknow.

A Shiv Sainik threw ink on Raut in front of the VVIP guest house here this afternoon, party sources said, adding that though the workers largely shielded their leader, some of it fell on his clothes.

The offender, identified as Suryabhan Vishkarma, and his accomplice were, however, overpowered and beaten up by the workers.

The MP, who was in Lucknow to meet Sena members and take stock of the situation ahead of assembly polls next year, said that he has come to know of some problems in the party and will look into them.

Both of the men have been taken into custody. One of them received injuries in the incident and has been hospitalised, sources said.

Besides, according to sources, rival factions in the party came to blows over brewing discontentment and one-upmanship in the presence of their leader.

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Ahmedabad:

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday admitted for final hearing the appeals filed by 16 of the 24 convicts in the 2002 Gulberg society riot case.

Sixty-nine people including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri were killed in the violence at Gulberg society here during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The appeals of these 16 convicts will now come up for final hearing before the division bench of justices Anant S Dave and B N Karia. Others have not filed the appeals yet.

On June 17, the special court for the riot cases sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment, 12 persons to seven years jail term and one person to 10 years in jail. The court acquitted 36 others.

VHP leader Atul Vaidh and Mangilal Jain (who is the only convict to get 10 years jail term) are among those who have filed the appeals.

The Gulberg society massacre took place on March 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident which led to communal riots in Gujarat.

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Beltone Financial, Egypt's largest asset manager, said on Tuesday it had acquired 60 percent of New York-based brokerage firm Auerbach Grayson & Company.

Beltone has 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.38 billion) in assets under management and has executed over 100 billion pounds in M&A and capital markets transactions. It was acquired by billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris's Orascom Telecom Media and Technology in 2015.

"The Auerbach Grayson acquisition is a natural extension for our businesses and is the first step in our strategy to create a major Middle East-based global investment bank," said Sawiris.

After the OTMT takeover, Beltone tried to buy investment bank CI Capital from Egypt's largest listed bank, Commercial International Bank (CIB), but the deal fell through when it failed to win regulatory approval.

Sawiris said at the time he planned to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial to create one of Egypt's largest investment firms. He said in March the deal was being held up by national security concerns and criticised the state for meddling in business, saying this would discourage investors.

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The film is a joint production between United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand

Zawya cinema will screen The Light between Oceans starting Wednesday 5 October.

The film is a romantic period drama directed by Derek Cianfrance, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by M. L. Stedman.

With a cast of multi-award winning actorsMichael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weiszthe film tells the story of a lighthouse keeper in Western Australia and his wife who longs to have children. They rescue an infant girl adrift at sea, only to cross paths with her biological mother years later. Faced with a dilemma, the couple must make choicesdramatically affecting the future of all those involved.

The Light between Oceans Premiered at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in September, competing for the Golden Lion.

Zawya launched in 2014 as Cairo's first initiative bringing art-house and alternative films to downtown Cairo's Odeon Cinema.

The venue hosts talks, special events, retrospectives, film discussions and master classes, and in November will launch their annual Panorama of the European Film Festival.

Programme:

Wednesday 5 October: 12pm, 2.30pm, 5pm, 7.30pm, 10pm

Zawya, behind Cinema Odeon, 4 Abdel-Hamid Said Street, off Talaat Harb Street, Downtown, Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Directed by Sherif El-Bendary, the film is written by Nura El-Sheikh and co-produced by Claudia Jubeh (Germany) and Hossam El-Ouan (Egypt)

Egyptian short film Dry Hot Summers won the Best Short Film Award at the 6th Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden (30 September - 5 October), sharing the award with Kongdom Garbage by Iraqi filmmaker Yasir Karim.

Dry Hot Summers won the Robert Bosch Stiftung Film Prize for International Cooperation at a gala held during Berlinale Talents, a six-day creative summit for up-and-coming filmmakers at the Berlin Film Festival. It also scooped up the main award in the Short Films category at Algerias ninth Oran Arab Film Festival.

Last August, it won best film at Omans Dhofar Arab Film Forum, the top prize of the forum.

The 30-minute film captures the chance meeting of two lonely Egyptians on a bustling and hot summer day in Cairo; a cancer patient and a bride anxious to get her photo taken in the white dress. The day's journey disturbs the stifling routines of the two characters, taking them on an expedition of self-discovery.

The film had its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival's 13th edition, 2016.

The 6th Malmo Arab Film Festival runs between 30 September and 5 October. Egyptian actress Menna Shalabi won the award for best actress at the same festival, for her role in Nawara, a film by Egyptian director Hala Khalil.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Opposition politicians and activists in Tajikistan have accused the government of orchestrating lynch mob-style attacks on their families as part of a broader crackdown on dissent by President Imomali Rakhmon.

The Dushanbe government has denied directing the attacks and said it would investigate them.

Tajik authorities last year outlawed the opposition group, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), and have since jailed most of its senior officials on charges of staging a failed September 2015 coup.

Now, politicans say, their families are being targeted by mobs acting with impunity.

"Threats, pogroms, arsons and stone-throwing attacks have begun against the homes of the relatives of opposition members and those who have spoken at this conference," Mukhiddin Kabiri, the leader in exile of IRPT, told a conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Warsaw on Wednesday.

Kabiri, who addressed the conference by Skype, said there had been at least six such attacks across the Central Asian state over the preceding three days, including those against his relatives.

U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch also cited several cases of mob attacks, in one of which the crowd assaulted a 10-year-old niece of a political activist, hitting and kicking her.

Circumstances "suggest that the attacks were orchestrated and coordinated by Tajik authorities", the group said.

"Tajikistan is in the midst of the worst political and religious crackdown since the end of the country's 1992-1997 civil war."

The official Tajik delegation had walked out of the same conference on September 23, protesting that the OSCE had allowed opposition activists to take part and describing them as criminals.

Tajikistan's Interior Ministry said on Thursday it had not received any requests from the alleged victims of the attacks but would investigate them.

President Rakhmon enjoys sweeping powers amid a flourishing personality cult, and strengthened his position even further this year through a referendum that amended the constitution, allowing him to run for an unlimited number of terms.

Mostly Muslim Tajikistan, which borders volatile Afghanistan, is the poorest former Soviet republic with per capita gross domestic product of just $2,780, according to World Bank data. Almost one-third of the population officially lives in poverty.

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The man never stood a chance. The overwhelming power of the corrupt left-wing demigods delivered a knock out blow to one of our most promising governors. And they did it with smiles and smirks that would make Hillary appear pouty.

When Gov. John Rowland launched his highly popular, conservative radio talk show program several years back, the piranhas came, circling and waiting to strike. And strike they did.

When the governor enlightened the public on the great commuter bus boondoggle the piranhas swarmed; how dare he challenge their right to spend taxpayer money!

After all, the state of Connecticut only had to cough up about $60 million, while the Feds were going to kick in $500 million! What a deal. All for a nine-mile stretch of highway from New Britain to Hartford that would benefit only a handful.

The Democratic machine wouldnt, couldnt, allow a conservative right-wing ex-governor to challenge their bloated, under thought out, over indulgent, spending philosophy.

No siree Bob, er uh, John.

Never mind that someone who deleted 30,000 emails and used a private unsecured server was not disciplined, but rather was allowed to run for president of the United States. Never mind that Al Sharpton owed and still owes millions of dollars in back taxes and is now a close ally of President Obama.

Never mind that the heroin epidemic is raging right here in Connecticut, and that veterans cant get proper health care.

Never mind all that. What was important to our democratic politicians was to bury a man who told the truth, because, after all, the truth hurts.

A man who by all accounts tried his very best to better the lives of Connecticut residents.

They sent the wrong man to prison. A commuter bus should pull up to the state Capitol, and load up all of our Demigods. The buss banner should read,  Next Stop, Otisville.

And the return bus should carry only one person back to the state that he loves.

Tony Spera

New Milford
FAIRFIELD  Southport Village charmingly straddles its maritime history and this modern era. It is tied to the past with its numerous vintage houses, many of which were the homes of notable sea captains and some of Fairfields founding families, while it also looks to the future with the modernization of historic homes.

Among them is the white antique colonial with dark shutters at 187 Westway Road just a block and a half away from Southport Harbor and easy walking distance to the train station, Pequot Library, and the shops in the village. While it retains much of its vintage charm, this house, which was built in 1790, has a wealth of modern amenities, not the least of which is an elevator.

The house has recently undergone a complete renovation in the capable hands of noted local architect Jack Franzen. The house is now considered a colonial revival. It is located on a level property of 1.23-acre, an over-sized lot compared to many others in the village.

The house can be traced back to one of the towns earliest families. Thomas Dimon, or Dimond in some records, came to Fairfield from England sometime before 1650. He died more than a century before this house was built presumably by his ancestors. According to a friend of the current owner, the Dimon oak tree that stands on the front lawn is about 300 years old.

More Information ABOUT THIS HOUSE TYPE: Antique Colonial/Colonial Revival ADDRESS: 187 Westway Road PRICE: $4,200,000 NUMBER OF ROOMS: 16 FEATURES: elevator, a block from Southport Harbor and Village, easy walk to train station and Pequot Library, 1.23-acre level property, semi-circular driveway, privacy fencing, balcony, exterior lighting, patio, porch, nine fireplaces, insulated windows, storm windows, audio system, central vacuum system, some window treatments, front and rear staircases, detached three-car garage, attic, ridge vents, workshop; room for a pool, seven bedrooms, seven full and two half baths SCHOOLS: Mill Hill Elementary, Roger Ludlowe Middle, Fairfield Ludlowe High ASSESSMENT: $2,084,530 TAX RATE: 25.45 mills TAXES: $53,051 See More Collapse

The 8,062-square-foot, 16-room house is grand in scale and detail and has a mix of elegant formal rooms and casual spaces. The level of detail is evident before entering the house. The wood flooring of the covered front porch is arranged in a herringbone pattern, and in the center hall foyer the staircase has decorative millwork. An arched passageway from the foyer to the living room has a coffered effect and a keystone. This passageway has a niche for display of sculpture or a floral arrangement.

The parlor, or receiving room, has the first of this homes nine fireplaces. The formal living room has a fireplace, built-in bookshelf, and window seat. Two separate doors open to a long gallery at the back of the house, an ideal entertaining space that has a red brick herringbone patterned floor, bead board ceiling, and three sets of French doors to the backyard.

Off the hall that connects the center hall to the gallery there is a wet bar room with a hammered nickel sink, wood counters, cabinetry, a dishwasher, and a wall of glass shelving for storage of stemware.

In the formal dining room there is a huge red brick and quarried stone fireplace, exposed beams, French doors to the covered front porch, wide-planked wood floor, and another set of French doors to the gallery. At the back of the dining room is the elevator, which has walls of wood with grain that is so lush it almost resembles velvet fabric wallcovering.

The new wing of the house includes the cavernous gourmet kitchen and family room on the main level and a cavernous library or recreation room and a luxurious guest suite on the second floor. Features in the kitchen include a butlers pantry area, white lacquered cabinetry with interior lighting, Travertine backsplash and flooring, and a long two-tiered center island topped in marble with a beveled edge. There is also a red brick fireplace. Appliances include a Sub-Zero refrigerator and Thermador four-burner range.

In the family room there are four sets of casement windows topped with arched transoms, each with a keystone. French doors lead to a red brick patio. The fireplace is flanked by built-in bookshelves.

Upstairs, the library/rec room gives the sense of being on a ship. It has a vaulted ceiling, two built-in desk areas, shelving, and unusual flooring in a mix of natural woods of varying colors. The guest suite has a pale pink marble fireplace, the same wood flooring but arranged in an inlaid square pattern, and a marble master bath. Four other bedrooms on this floor, including the master suite, have fireplaces. The master bath comprises tumbled marble and pale pink marble counters on the separate vanities. Its barrel ceiling is painted to resemble a blue sky with puffy white clouds.

On the third floor there are two more bedrooms.

For more information or to set up an appointment to see the house contact Liz Flavin of On the Harbor Team at Al Filippone Associates, William Raveis Real Estate, at 203-615-3834 or lizf@afahomes.com.
Dhaka cafe attackers got weapons hidden in mango baskets: Report

Bangladesh,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Terrorism, Tue, 04 Oct 2016 IANS

Dhaka, Oct 4 (IANS) A month before the terror attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital, a consignment of AK-22 rifles and some small arms reached the militants in Dhaka hidden inside mango baskets, a media report said on Tuesday.

Of these arms, three AK-22 rifles were used in the attack on the Dhaka cafe, while another rifle was used for the security of cafe attack 'mastermind' Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who was also the head of New Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror outfit.

Investigators say they have finally been able to trace the route of the smuggled arms, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Sources in police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit said these arms came from outside Bangladesh and the members of New JMB outfit used them in terror attacks, in Bogra and other northern districts.

"We have finally learned the source of the AK22s supply and have been also able to identify the group primarily," Monirul Islam, chief of CTTC, told the Dhaka Tribune.

"A drive is underway to arrest this group's members."

The CTTC chief said these AK22 rifles, recovered at different times in drives, mainly entered Bangladesh through the Chapai Nawabganj border, located on the north-western part of Bangladesh. The consignment was received there by an arms smuggling group, which later sent it to Dhaka inside mango baskets, he said.

Missing New JMB leader Nurul Islam Marjan, who was the field-level coordinator of the July 1 cafe attack, received the consignment in Dhaka and delivered it to the militant den in Bashundhara Residential Area.

"A large amount of mangoes came to Dhaka from Chapainawabganj in baskets at the time and the militants took advantage of that to elude law enforcers," added the CTTC chief.

An arms expert in the CTTC, requesting anonymity, said the recovered AK22 rifles were not originals.

"The New JMB members use modified versions. They do this to carry the rifles around easily," the official said.

"We have also come to know that the modification of these arms was done in Munger city in Bihar state of India and then they came to Chapainwabganj border," said the official.

"A seal from a factory in Bihar was found on the three AK22 rifles recovered after the Gulshan terror attack," he said, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Gulshan attack killed 23 people, including 17 foreigners and two police officials, on July 1.

--IANS

rn/vm
New York state's top legal official on Monday ordered the charitable foundation headed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to immediately stop soliciting contributions because it was not registered to seek public donations.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that unless the Trump Foundation files the required paperwork in the next 15 days it would consider the foundation to be "a continuing fraud upon the people of New York."

For different reasons, Trump's foundation and the one operated by Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have played key roles in the 2016 presidential campaign.


MONTREAL, Oct. 3, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and Montreal International invite media representatives to attend a press conference at which a study on the 11 universities of the Greater Montreal will be revealed.

Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.



Who: Mr. Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of

the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

Mr. Hubert Bolduc, President and CEO of

Montreal International

Mr. Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal Location: Marriott Courtyard

Jackie Robinson Room, 11th floor 380 Rene-Levesque Boulevard West Montreal

About the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has over 7,000 members. Its mission is to be the voice of Montreal's business community and to promote the city's prosperity. It is involved in key areas of economic development, advocating a philosophy of action based on engagement, credibility, proactivity, collaboration and innovation. The Board of Trade also offers a range of specialized services to individuals and to business of all sizes to support them in their growth at home and abroad.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chambremontreal

Twitter: @chambremontreal

Follow the discussion: #ccmmqcca

SOURCE Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

For further information: Guillaume Berube, Advisor, Media Relations, Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4042, [email protected]
LONDON, ON, Oct. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) partners with donors, MD Financial Management and Canada's 17 medical schools to recognize young leaders who exemplify qualities of CMHF laureates: perseverance, collaboration and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Students completing their second year of medical school, who demonstrate leadership through community involvement, superior interpersonal and communication skills, academic excellence and an established interest in advancing knowledge, were invited to apply.

"We set out to establish a medical student award of excellence that would hold the kind of recognition that membership in the CMHF does for our 119 laureates," said CMHF Board Chair Dr. Bryce Taylor. "The demonstrated knowledge, skill and extraordinary commitment of our Award recipients are truly outstanding, and these 17 future leaders are genuinely deserving of this prestigious honour."

Applicants submitted a 1,000 word essay describing why they should be considered for the Award and the qualities and impact of the CMHF laureate who inspires them most. Canada's faculties of medicine/health sciences facilitated the review of applicants and each recommended one award recipient.

"Inspiring and investing in Canada's future health leaders fits well with our mandate to honour excellence, preserve history and connect generations," said Lissa Foster, CMHF Executive Director. "We are grateful to our donors and MD Financial Management for their commitment to Canada's future health leaders."

"MD is proud to once again support the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Awards, and would like to congratulate all of the winners selected for 2016," said Allison Seymour, MD's Executive Vice President of Member and Community Engagement. "MD understands the financial challenges students can face as they progress through medical school, which is why we support an award that assists students financially, while also recognizing their leadership achievements. The winners of last year's inaugural awards were a testament to the level of achievement amongst Canadian medical students, and we are committed to doing our part in supporting these students on their journey to becoming Canada's future health leaders."

Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award recipients receive a significant cash award and a travel subsidy to attend The 2017 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in May 2017 in Quebec. They will have the opportunity to meet CMHF Laureates and interact with health leaders from across the country.

Recipient bios, photos and quotes available: www.cdnmedhall.org/2016awardrecipients

The 2016 recipients of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award for Medical Students:









DANIEL RAFF SARAH SILVERBERG The ICF Films / University of British Columbia The Mary & Brendan Calder / University of Toronto CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD in honour of Dr. Bryce Taylor in honour of Dr. Paul Bernick



JULIANNA DEUTSCHER ADAM MOSA The University of Alberta The Queen's University CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD



MARGUERITE HEYNS HEATHER MCDONALD The Marty Kelman & Gilda Tanz / University of Calgary The Marty Kelman & Gilda Tanz / University of Ottawa CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD in honour of Saul & Mildred Kelman in honour of Saul & Mildred Kelman



DYLAN GINTER DOULIA HAMAD The Anthony S. Fell The Marty Kelman & Gilda Tanz / McGill University CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD in honour of Dr. Nizar Mahomed in honour of Saul & Mildred Kelman (University of Saskatchewan)



XIYA MA DOROTHY YU PRIX  Mary et Brendan Calder / Universite de Montreal  The ICF Films / University of Manitoba TEMPLE DE LA RENOMMEE MEDICALE CANADIENNE CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD en l'honneur du Dr Paul Bernick in honour of Dr. Bryce Taylor



SARAH HEBERT-SEROPIAN ANGELA CESCON PRIX  Tony et Vita Altomare / Universite de Sherbrooke  The Tony & Vita Altomare TEMPLE DE LA RENOMMEE MEDICALE CANADIENNE CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD en l'honneur du Dr Bryce Taylor in honour of Dr. Bryce Taylor

(Northern Ontario School of Medicine) JADE CHENARD-ROY

PRIX  Tony et Vita Altomare / Universite Laval  AMANDA SAUVE TEMPLE DE LA RENOMMEE MEDICALE CANADIENNE The Marty Kelman & Gilda Tanz / Western University en l'honneur du Dr Bryce Taylor CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD

in honour of Saul & Mildred Kelman ALLAN KEMBER

The Charles Tabachnick PETRA HROCH CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD The Anthony S. Fell (Dalhousie University) CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD

in honour of Dr. Michael Baker ANTHONY MAHER (McMaster University) The Charles Tabachnick

CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME AWARD

(Memorial University of Newfoundland)





ABOUT THE CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME

Established in 1994, the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a national charitable organization that fosters future generations of health professionals through the celebration of our country's rich medical history, scholarship and awards programs, and the delivery of both local and national education programs for youth. Annually, up to six individuals are recognized for their extraordinary contribution to improving the health of Canadians and people world-wide. This enduring tribute to Canada's medical heroes is showcased on the CMHF website www.cdnmedhall.org and in a portrait gallery, exhibit hall and media theatre located in downtown London, ON.

ABOUT MD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Owned by the Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management's only business imperative is to enhance physicians' financial outcomes by focusing on their distinctive needs and operating in their best interests. MD has more than $40 billion in assets under administration and is dedicated to serving Canada's physicians and their families. MD provides financial products and services, the MD Family of Funds and investment counselling services through the MD Group of Companies. For a detailed list of these companies, visit md.cma.ca.

SOURCE Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

For further information: Lissa Foster, Executive Director, 519.636.0660, [email protected]
TSX: ELD NYSE: EGO

VANCOUVER, Oct. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - Eldorado Gold Corporation will release its Q3 2016 Financial and Operational Results after the market closes on Thursday October 27, 2016. Paul Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will host a conference call on Friday October 28, 2016 at 8:30 am PT (11:30 AM ET). The call will be webcast and can be accessed at Eldorado Gold's website: www.eldoradogold.com

Conference Call Details Replay (available until November 11, 2016)





Date: Friday October 28, 2016 Toronto: 416 849 0833 Time: 8:30 am PT (11:30 am ET) Toll Free: 1 855 859 2056 Dial in: 647 427 7450 Pass code: 89716276 Toll free: 1 888 231 8191



About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado is a leading low cost gold producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkey, China, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Brazil. The Company's success to date is based on a low cost strategy, a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, and long-term partnerships with the communities where it operates. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO).

SOURCE Eldorado Gold Corporation

For further information: Krista Muhr, Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, Eldorado Gold Corporation, 604 687 4018 or 1 888 353 8166, [email protected], www.eldoradogold.com
Near 70 per cent of business owners may have to freeze or reduce wages

OTTAWA, Oct. 4, 2016 /CNW/ - The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) was disappointed by today's announcement by the BC government that it has signed on to a mandatory expansion of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which comes with added costs for small businesses and their workers. BC now joins the federal and provincial governments  outside of Quebec  in giving the green light to CPP expansion across Canada.

"Given the federal budget commitment to consult before expanding CPP, small business owners expected an opportunity to express their views prior to a final decision. Unfortunately, only the government of British Columbia, soon to be joined by Quebec, gave their residents that opportunity," said CFIB president Dan Kelly.

Most Canadians don't know how the CPP works or what proposed expansion would mean. When presented with the details about the size of the proposed CPP tax increase, 69 per cent of business owners said they may need to freeze salaries and benefits to accommodate the hike, and more than a third said they may have to eliminate jobs.

Canadians don't know what CPP changes will mean for them

According to an Ipsos poll of more than 2,000 employed or retired Canadians conducted in late August, 39 per cent of Canadians falsely believe the government pays for part of their CPP, only 26 per cent know it will take approximately 40 years to fully phase in expanded benefits, and 71 per cent do not realize current retirees get nothing. "While we fully appreciate that Canadians support the concept of additional CPP benefits, no one has informed them that there is likely to be a secondary effect on their wages," Kelly added. The Ipsos poll reveals Canadian workers overwhelmingly oppose CPP expansion if it results in a cut  or even a freeze  in their wages.

Now is not the time for a payroll tax hike

"With a flat economy and yesterday's announcement of five years of increasing carbon taxes/pricing, I'm not sure where our governments think small business owners and employees will find the money to pay for seven years of CPP hikes," Kelly concluded.

CFIB is concerned that increasing CPP will make it even more difficult for SMEs to continue to grow Canada's economy. CFIB is calling on the federal government to reinstate its promise to cut the small business corporate tax rate to nine percent. CFIB is asking the federal and provincial governments for further actions, including a freeze in the minimum wage and lower payroll taxes like Employment Insurance and workers' compensation premiums.

CFIB is Canada's largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000 members across every sector and region.

SOURCE Canadian Federation of Independent Business

For further information: To arrange a media interview with Dan Kelly, please contact Kiara Morrissey at 416-222-8022, 647-464-2814 or [email protected] More information about CFIB is available at www.cfib.ca.
More than $45 million raised over two decades in support of a future without breast cancer

TORONTO, Oct. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - CIBC (TSX: CM) (NYSE: CM)  Yesterday nearly 100,000 Canadians, including 15,000 members of Team CIBC came together to honour friends and family affected by breast cancer in communities across Canada for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) CIBC Run for the Cure.

This year marked a significant milestone for CIBC  20 years of partnership, raising nearly $3 million for CBCF in support of innovative breast cancer research, treatment and support services for the estimated one in nine women in Canada who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

"On behalf of Team CIBC, I want to thank the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation for 20 great years of partnership and all the work they do to make a difference in the lives of those affected by breast cancer," says Christina Kramer, CIBC's Executive Vice-President and its Executive Run Sponsor. "It's through the commitment and passion of Team CIBC together with our clients, employees and thousands of Canadians that individuals touched by this disease are living longer, healthier lives after diagnosis."

Over the last 20 years, CIBC and CBCF have worked hand-in-hand, with clients, communities and volunteers across Canada to grow the CIBC Run for the Cure into the largest, single-day, volunteer-led event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research. CIBC's involvement started with a handful of dedicated and passionate employees, and has since grown to be one of the bank's largest employee driven fundraisers.



"For the past two decades, CIBC has been our strongest and most dedicated partner. In 20 years, Team CIBC has raised an extraordinary $45 million for the cause," said Lynne Hudson, CEO, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. "Thanks to their unparalleled commitment to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, we have been able to help reduce breast cancer mortality rates by 44 per cent by investing in groundbreaking research and programs to improve the lives of those affected by breast cancer."

This year, Team CIBC helped CBCF raise an estimated $17 million through pledges, donations and fundraising initiatives.

About the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is the largest, single-day, volunteer-led event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research. On October 2, 2016, this national movement will bring together participants and volunteers in more than 60 communities across the country to create a future without breast cancer. Register, donate or learn more at CIBCRunForTheCure.com and follow the conversation using the hashtag #CIBCRunfortheCure



About CIBC

CIBC is a leading Canadian-based financial institution with 11 million individual, small business, commercial and institutional clients. CIBC and its employees invest in the social and economic development of communities and in 2015, CIBC contributed more than $65 million to support community initiatives across Canada, including the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, CIBC Miracle Day and United Way. This year, CIBC marks 20 years as title sponsor of the CIBC Run for the Cure and over two decades of support for breast cancer research and treatment. For more information, follow on Twitter @CIBC, Facebook (www.facebook.com/CIBC) and Instagram @CIBCNow.

About the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) is a national community-driven charity. As the largest charitable funder of breast cancer research in Canada, CBCF's vision is to create a future without breast cancer. Since its inception in 1986, the Foundation has invested over $360 million in breast cancer research, funding more than 1,400 scientific and community grants. CBCF's investments in vital research, education, health promotion, support and information programs have led to progress in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. For more information, visit cbcf.org.

SOURCE CIBC

Image with caption: "Victor Dodig, President & CEO, CIBC and Christina Kramer, Executive Vice-President and Executive Run Sponsor, CIBC are joined by Lynne Hudson, CEO, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation along with CIBC Run for the Cure participants. (CNW Group/CIBC)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161003_C7500_PHOTO_EN_787366.jpg

Image with caption: "Thousands of Canadians participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure in 60+ communities across the country. (CNW Group/CIBC)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161003_C7500_PHOTO_EN_787387.jpg

Image with caption: "See how twenty of years of partnership and millions of Run dollars raised have helped change what it means to live with breast cancer in Canada. (CNW Group/CIBC)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161003_C7500_PHOTO_EN_787389.jpg

For further information: Olga Petrycki, Director, External Communications, 416-306-9760 or [email protected]
UK ministry of Defense has a crowdsourcing competition to find a system that would allow a single solider to control up to 20 drones at once, allowing a group of drones to track targets, map out unfamiliar areas for soldiers, run surveillance missions, or provide communications links between soldiers and their central command.

The system should work for drones of different sizes, be relatively affordable to execute (less than 100,000, or $130,000), and new and radically improveed ways for drones to work together.

Ultimately, we want more than 10 UAS to operate in a co-ordinated and closely coupled way to achieve military effect across the electro-magnetic (EM) spectrum (in other words ranging from visible frequencies through to low frequency radio waves), in a contested environment, and all managed by a single operator.

Were interested in the application of swarming UAS to missions in complex urban and littoral environments. For example:

tracking individuals

tracking vehicles

area mapping

area surveillance

communications relay

They are looking for proposals to develop sensing concepts and associated outline concepts of how these systems may be employed by the military across the EM spectrum including:

communications relay

electronic surveillance

jamming/electronic attack

novel low size and weight and power sensing solutions suitable for swarming concept

These could include for example:

low-cost sensing techniques

novel multi-platform sensing techniques

sense and avoid

more accurate navigation due to swarming

multi-platform co-ordination

multi-source, multi-modal data fusion

low-cost novel power sources

low-cost secure data storage

The ministry is looking for submissions by Nov. 3, with an ultimate delivery goal of October 2018.

The US military and Navy are working on similar drone swarm projects.

SOURCES- UK Ministry of Defense, Youtube
By Olivier Ferret 4 October 2016 - 21:08





Fernando Alonso

"Japan is an incredible place and a country I always love visiting. The support we receive is phenomenal and makes the whole experience even more special. I love the people, the food and the culture, and our few days there for the Japanese Grand Prix are something I look forward to each year. I hope we can start the weekend on a positive note and keep pushing forward  weve maximised our package well over the past few races and it would be fantastic to finish in the points again at the teams second home race."

"Like me, many drivers love going back to Suzuka every year and its easy to see why. Its a classic drivers circuit and its configuration is unusual, demanding and very unforgiving, so putting together a good lap is really satisfying, and all these characteristics make it really popular with both drivers and fans. Its a difficult circuit to set up the car perfectly for because the track temperatures change so much with the unpredictable weather, but we know this circuit well and will use the Friday sessions to dial the car in to the conditions and get the most out of it."

Jenson Button

"The Japanese Grand Prix is always one of my highlights of the year. I love going back to Japan and the fans there make it incredibly special. They give us 110% support throughout the whole week, right from the minute we arrive in Tokyo, and as drivers we really feed off that enthusiasm. As its another home race for us, well be very busy in the lead up to the weekend itself, and its an important grand prix for the whole team, so I hope we can fight hard and get the best result we can to give something back to the enthusiastic fans."

"The Suzuka circuit is incredible  almost in a class of its own on the calendar. Its as close to a perfect track as you can get in terms of having all of the different elements you would want as a driver. Its fast, technical, difficult, rewarding, and really fun to drive, so its up there among the best. My win there in 2011 is definitely one of my favourites because to do well there you have to put so much into it, and when you get a good result its the best feeling."

Eric Boullier

"I know I can speak for the whole team when I talk about the Japanese Grand Prix being one of the most important milestones in the Formula 1 calendar for everyone at McLaren-Honda. It marks the end of the sequence of races in east Asia and, with Silverstone, a venue that very much feels like a second home.

"Suzuka circuit is steeped in a huge amount of racing history, and one that McLaren-Honda has played a significant part in, both as one team and as individual entities. Its fast, flowing corners and technical demands mean it fully deserves its legendary status and, combined with the unrivalled support we receive from the ever-enthusiastic Japanese fans, the warm hospitality and fascinating culture, its easy to see why we look forward to returning to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix each year.

"Our double points finish in Sepang was great encouragement and reward for the relentless hard work happening behind the scenes in Woking and Sakura, and well take this motivation to Suzuka, where we hope to achieve similar results. The race itself is sure to be dramatic  it often is at this prestigious circuit  so we hope to maximise the potential our package has shown recently and put on a good show for the incredible fans."

Yusuke Hasegawa

"Suzuka is a very special place and an important race weekend, of course for Honda but also for me personally  I have great memories of racing there with Formula 1 in years gone by. I am thankful for all the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic F1 fans, who expect a lot from us, but are very understanding at the same time. I hope that our teams progress encourages more spectators to join us at Suzuka and help increase McLaren-Hondas fan base.

"Suzuka is a track highly rated by the drivers for its technical and complex nature. In order to succeed there, there must be a good balance between the power unit and chassis. We will do our utmost to set up the car to hopefully score more points and be within reach of the top three teams. I hope that we can have a race that we can be proud of, and that our fans can be proud of, too."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he will not send a letter of apology to victims of wartime sex slavery for the Imperial Army.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, Abe said Seoul and Tokyo must fully implement a landmark deal struck last December and made clear that an apology letter was not included in the agreement.
A British man could become the first person in the world to be cured of HIV using a new therapy designed by a team of scientists from ...

A British man could become the first person in the world to be cured of HIV using a new therapy designed by a team of scientists from five United Kingdom universities.The unnamed 44-year-old is the first of 50 people to complete a trial of the ambitious treatment, designed by scientists and doctors from five of Britains leading universities.The Managing Director of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure, UK, Mark Samuels, said the treatment was the first therapy created to have tracked down and destroyed HIV in every part of the body, including in the dormant cells that evade current treatments.The scientists told The Sunday Times of London that presently the virus is completely undetectable in the mans blood, although that could be as a result of regular drugs.However, if the dormant cells are also cleared out it could represent the first complete cure.Samuels said, This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV. We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and its still early days but the progress has been remarkable.The trial is being undertaken by researchers from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, London, University College, London and Kings College, London.HIV is so difficult to treat because it targets the immune system, splicing itself into the DNA of T-cells so that they not only ignore the disease, but turn into viral factories which reproduce the virus.Current treatments, called anti-retroviral therapies, target that process but they cannot spot dormant infected T-cells.The new therapy works in two stages. Firstly, a vaccine helps the body to recognise the HIV-infected cells so it can clear them out. Secondly, a new drug called Vorinostat activates the dormant T-cells so they can be spotted by the immune system.A consultant physician at Imperial College, London, Prof. Sarah Fidler, said the new therapy was specifically designed to clear the body of all HIV viruses, including dormant ones.Fidler said, It has worked in the laboratory and there is good evidence it will work in humans too, but we must stress we are still a long way from any actual therapy.We will continue with medical tests for the next five years and at the moment we are not recommending stopping ART but in the future, depending on the test results, we may explore this.Only one person has ever been cured of HIV. He is Timothy Brown, also known as the second Berlin patient, who received a stem cell transplant from a patient with natural immunity to HIV in 2008.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has found Godsday Orubebe, former minister of Niger Delta affairs, guilty of false declaration of asset.

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has found Godsday Orubebe, former minister of Niger Delta affairs, guilty of false declaration of asset.Danladi Umar, chairman of the tribunal, delivered the judgment convicting Orubebe of the offence.However, he gave him a light sentence.I hereby seize, on behalf of the federal government, the property known as plot 2057, he ruled.The prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and all evidence tendered are admitted.He held that Orubebe committed an offence for not declaring a piece of property in Abuja, which he claimed he had sold.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has stated that contrary to certain insinuations, the current challenges in th...

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has stated that contrary to certain insinuations, the current challenges in the power sector are man-made, not technical.This was as the Minister disclosed that some of the key challenges came as a result of the debt owed contractors in the sector.A document by Vanguard quoted the minister as saying, indebtedness to contractors, lack of project supervision and discipline in managing contracts that were not budgeted for or if budgeted for, were poorly funded.The Ministry had evolved clear roadmaps that were already being implemented to achieve sustainable solutions to the problems in the three critical sectors.Blaming the situation in the sector on insufficient power to distribute, Fashola listed projects currently being implemented to increase availability of power to include: the 450MegaWatts (MW) Azura Power Plant in Edo State, the 700MW Zungeru Hydro Power Plant in Niger State, the Gurara Hydro Power Plant in Kaduna, the Kashimbilla Plant and the 115MW Kaduna Plant.He also listed areas where transmission expansion projects are currently ongoing to strengthen transmission to include: the Eastern Axis where the Ikot-Ekpene-Alaoji transmission project takes off up to Enugu from where it would boost power all the way to Makurdi, adding that the local issues that earlier hindered work have been resolved.Disclosing some of the projects at the transmission line, Fashola stated that work is currently ongoing at the Kano-Kaduna Transmission Station, Lambe Transmission Station, Kumbotsu Transmission Station and the Alagbon Transmission Station in Lagos, while the Okada transmission station in Edo State has been completed.Recall that the former Lagos State governor had in September while saying there will be no power shot down , said debt in the power sector was a continuous thing..debts were not incurred by this administration, and that debt and settlement are continuous events in the power value chain, bills are served, claims are made, they are verified and settled, Fashola had said.
The Federal Government plans to spend N150 billion as regular and normal intervention for public universities, polytechnics and colleges...

The Federal Government plans to spend N150 billion as regular and normal intervention for public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education this year.The government, which disclosed that tertiary institutions in the country were eligible to access the fund, said the cash would be disbursed to all beneficiary institutions in the country.The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Dr. Abdullahi Baffa, spoke in an interview with reporters at the 7th TETFund interactive forum jointly organised by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) in Lagos with the theme: Sustaining Education Tax Collections and Disbursements under a Depressed Economy.He explained that the cash would be released to the beneficiary institutions in trenches after they have met the conditions to access the funds.Dr. Baffa added that private universities would not benefit from the disbursement of the cash.He said: We are proposing to spend N150 billion as regular, normal intervention and this is the one that is shared among the beneficiary institutions on equality of Universities, equality of Polytechnics and equality of Colleges of Education.All our beneficiary institutions are going to benefit; for all Universities, it is the same amount, for Polytechnics, the same amount and all Colleges of Education, the same amount.Private Universities will not benefit; no and not through the intervention of TETfund because TETfund is for public tertiary institutions defined by the law to mean public Universities, public Polytechnics and public Colleges of Education. There is no plan in the pipeline and not in the near future for public funds to be extended to private Universities.It is not about application, they are entitled to TETfund intervention and allocation is given to them. And so, it is only left for all beneficiary institutions to meet the requirements and conditions for access and they can draw. These conditions of access are very straightforward but the key thing is transparency and accountability.You cant draw subsequent intervention until you account satisfactorily for the previous one. It is as simple as that. We have an excellent monitoring and evaluation system. We dont release these funds 100 per cent. We release them in three trenches. If you meet certain conditions, we give you first trench. If you utilise that, we go to the field, monitor. And if we are satisfied that the money has been used judiciously and it has reached the level that it is expected, then we treat your request for second trench.We process your second trench releases, you go and utilise it, when you are done with using the second trench, you notify us. We come to the site, monitor and evaluate what you have done and then we will process your application for the last and final trench. So, it is all about transparency and accountability and judicious use of public funds in public interest.He stated that the oil sector accounts for 80 per cent of education tax collection in the country.According to him, the FIRS has a major role to play by ensuring the improvement in the education tax collections that are made available to TETFund for disbursement to the public tertiary institutions.Baffa said: At the moment the oil sector accounts for about 80% of education tax collection. We are optimistic that when the non-oil sector is harnessed and developed, the economy would be a lot healthier with the attendant implication of national prosperity and development. We are very positive about the implication of this to education tax collections.We shall continue to keep our tab on all TETFund beneficiary institutions by ensuring all our guidelines and processes for accessing and utilization of interventions are strictly adhered to.We shall continue to be guided by our establishment Act in disbursing and distributing interventions equitably among the beneficiary institutions. And in all these, we shall continue to remain committed to protecting the public interest by ensuring that there is optimal value for money for every project in every beneficiary institution.He said President Muhammadu Buhari was deeply concerned about the low ranking of Nigerias university globally.Mr. President is deeply worried about the low ranking of Nigerias tertiary education institutions and so TETFund has been challenged to reverse the trend.To achieve this would require among other things focused and targeted inflow of funding in our beneficiary institutions through the fund.We also intend to work closely with regulatory bodies in the education sector such as the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) to ensure that quality and standard are improved and sustained, he added.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Nigerias economy will be out of recession in 2017, growing by 0.6 percent that y...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Nigerias economy will be out of recession in 2017, growing by 0.6 percent that year.According to the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on Tuesday in Washington, the fund projects that the current economic recession will outlast 2016, with a gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of 1.7 percent.Sub-Saharan Africas largest economies continue to struggle with lower commodity revenues, weighing on growth in the region, IMF said.Nigerias economy is forecast to shrink 1.7 percent in 2016, and South Africas will barely expand. By contrast, several of the regions non resource exporters, including Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Senegal, are expected to continue to grow at a robust pace of more than 5 percent this year.IMF also forecasted a GDP contraction and subsequent recession for Russia and Brazil throughout 2016.The fund added: Growth in emerging Asia and especially India continues to be resilient. Indias gross domestic product is projected to expand 7.6 percent this year and next, the fastest pace among the worlds major economies.Maurice Obstfeld, IMF chief economist and economic counsellor, who spoke on the outlook, said global economic growth would remain subdued in 2016, following a slowdown in the United States and Britains vote to leave the European Union.Obstfeld also stated that the fund forecasted a slight pickup in 2017 and beyond, driven mainly by emerging market strength.Taken as a whole, the world economy has moved sideways, he said. We have slightly marked down 2016 growth prospects for advanced economies while marking up those in the rest of the world.Nigerias economy was earlier projected to contract by 1.8 percent in 2016, but the October version of the WEO has seen that reviewed positively to a contraction of only 1.7 percent.The country has recorded a 0.36 and 2.06 percent contraction in the first and second quarter of 2016 respectively, plunging into its worst recession in 29 years.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, painted a gloomy outlook for Nigerias economic fortunes, as it disclosed ...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, painted a gloomy outlook for Nigerias economic fortunes, as it disclosed that the countrys crude oil and gas reserves were fast depleting.The NNPC in a statement in Abuja, therefore, begged oil and gas exploration companies, professionals and other stakeholders to focus on increasing the nations oil and gas reserve base to match national aspirations to increase oil production.Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, who disclosed this when the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, hosted him in Abuja, also expressed readiness of the NNPC to partner with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to grow the nations fast depleting reserves in order to increase productivity in the petroleum sector.He said: Our national gas demand forecast to year 2020, domestic plus export, indicates a rapid growth to 15 billion Standard Cubic Feet per day (bscfd), meaning current reserves level can only sustain that production for 35 years, if we do not increase the 2bscfd gas reserves base which require three trillion cubic feet (tcf) to replace production yearly.It was also revealed that the countrys drive for industrialization risks being truncated, as Baru stated that the countrys aspirations were to increase oil production to four million barrels per day and meet gas demand of 15 billion standard cubic feet per day, bscfd, by 2020, required for industrialization and consumption.He further lamented that less than three per cent of all oil wells drilled in the Niger Delta Basin, both onshore and swamp, were deeper than 15,000 feet, adding that a greater number of these wells had not gone beyond the 10,000 feet as a high pressure regime seemed to be a limiting factor. However, he stated that some of our earlier drilled non-commercial holes could be turned around if we deploy requisite technologies; we need to change our perspective of risk as technology is advancing.Baru further explained that the 2016 national average oil production of 1.9 million barrels was low, partly due to oil infrastructure vandalism.He stressed the need for stakeholders to share data and use common available resources to reduce cost of operations in the area of rig-sharing, vessel sharing and synergy in projects development, adding that this had become even expedient in this era of low oil prices and security challenges. On frontier exploration, Baru said the NNPC was progressing in exploration efforts in the Chad Basin, the Benue trough and other frontier basins to shore up the reserve base of the country. In his own presentation, NAPE President, Mr. Nosa Omorodion, said the association was ready to support NNPC in its drive to grow reserves towards increased production in all the frontier basins.
The police have arrested six suspected members of the gang that abducted the wife of the Central Bank Governor, Margaret Emefiele, last Th...

The police have arrested six suspected members of the gang that abducted the wife of the Central Bank Governor, Margaret Emefiele, last Thursday.The suspects, who were arrested at their hideout in Edo State over the weekend, are being held at the state command headquarters, Benin.Sources informed our correspondent on Monday that the suspects were apprehended by the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Monitoring and Intelligence Team, led by CSP Abba Kyari.This brings to seven the number of suspects arrested in connection with Mrs.Emefieles abduction, which occurred along the Benin-Agbor Road.Our correspondent had reported that Kyari and his team were on the trail of the gang members.The team had relocated to Edo State after the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, directed them to go for the criminals and rescue their victims, which included a driver and three women.The gang had demanded N100m ransom, but they were forced to release their victims following pressures from the police, army and Department of State Services.It could not be confirmed if any ransom was paid, but the hostages were released early Saturday morning, while the security agencies arrested one suspect shortly afterwards.Meanwhile, the Interpol on Monday in Abuja, organised a cyber-crime training workshop on Email investigation, open source, online profiling and deep web investigation, for police officers from Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana.The acting Head of Training Unit, Digital Investigative Support, Cyber-crime Directorate, Interpol, Wei Tee, stated that the workshop was meant to make the web safe for business and living.He described cyber-crime as a trans-atlantic crime, noting that the Interpol was working with local law enforcement agencies to combat the menace.Tee said, Interpol has achieved real success working with the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.We have to be ahead of the criminals to make the web safe for business and living.The IG, Idris, in his welcome address, said due to the international nature of most cyber-crime offences, his administration had set up and deployed a dedicated high-tech and cyber-crime unit within the Interpol National Central Bureau in Nigeria.He added that there were efforts to equip the unit with the tools and techniques to boost its capacities in fields such as Internet Protocol crime inquiries, identity fraud, online tracking of suspects, electronic crime scene investigation and the forensic examination of computers, computer networks and mobile devices.The IG, who was represented by the Deputy Inspector-General, Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Hyacinth Dagala, explained that in future, experienced members of the unit would be deployed in state police commands to pioneer the diffusion of policing capacity.
At least 12 countries have reduced ties with North Korea this year, Voice of America reported last Friday.

They include Mongolia, Vietnam and Uganda, who had been part of a ragtag band of allies of the repressive regime.

Mongolia has canceled the registration of 14 North Korean ships that flew the Mongolian flag of convenience since the UN Security Council adopted a fresh resolution against the North in March.

Vietnam, which marks the 66th anniversary of diplomatic relations with the North this year, in April expelled the chief and deputy chief of North Korea's Tanchon Commercial Bank, which was blacklisted by the UNSC.

Uganda used to receive military and police training from the North but has now severed military ties with Pyongyang after a summit with South Korea in May.

In a report on its implementation of the sanctions on July 25, Angola said it was keeping a close eye on two North Koreans, including a diplomat.

In a similar report to the UN on June 8, South Africa said it stopped weapons deals and severed ties of military cooperation with the North.


The Police Command in Kaduna State on Tuesday, confirmed the kidnap of the immediate past Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurentia Mallam an...





The Police Command in Kaduna State on Tuesday, confirmed the kidnap of the immediate past Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurentia Mallam and her husband, Mr Pius.The Commands spokesman, ASP Aliyu Usman, in Kaduna that the two were abducted along Bwari/Jere axis on Kaduna-Abuja highway on Monday evening. Laurentia Mallam Usman said that the abductors took away the former minister and her husband, but spared their driver unharmed.He assured that the Police was tracking down the perpetrators and would ensure the release of the victims unharmed. Sources indicated that the abductors had reached out to the ministers family demanding for ransom.The commands spokesman, however, said the police was not aware of any demand by the abductors. All what we are doing is to see that the victims are freed from captivity and returned to their home unhurt, Usman said.
A cement factory of Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man and Nigerian business tycoon, has been attacked by protesters in Ethiopia'...

A cement factory of Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man and Nigerian business tycoon, has been attacked by protesters in Ethiopia's Oromia region, the regional government has said in a statement.The protests were in response to the deaths of at least 55 people in a stampede at a religious festival of the Oromo people on Sunday.The protesters burnt trucks and machinery at the Dangote Cement Factory in Ada Berga, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports.A pro-opposition Amharic-language website, ZeHabesha.com, also covered the story saying protesters allegedly freed prisoners after setting ablaze a police station in the Bule Hora area.A court and government-owned vehicles were also torched, it adds.Activists say the security forces opened fire at the festival, causing the stampede.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has initiated a fresh move to neutralisehis trial before the the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Senate President Bukola Saraki has initiated a fresh move to neutralisehis trial before the the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).He has filed a new suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja seeking among others, to restrain CCT and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) (who are listed as respondents) from proceeding with his trial.The suit marked was filed by Timipa Jenkins Okponipere, who claimed to be suing as attorney to Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki.The suit, a fundamental rights enforcement application, is one of the various attempts by the Senate President to stop his trial before the CCT for alleged corruption and false assets declaration.Saraki had challenged his trial up to the Supreme Court and lost. He has also lost past fundamental rights enforcement applications, the last being the one dismissed on April 15, 2016 by Justice Adamu Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja.In the suit, the applicant seeks the courts declaration that the plan to resume the trial of Senator Abubakar Saraki at the CCT is a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).He also seeks an order compelling the CCT and AGF to suspend indefinitely, any plan to resume the trial at the CCT.Among the grounds relied on by the applicant, include that the trial at CCT was commenced at the wrong time, four years after Saraki allegedly committed the offences.Having regard to the aims and objectives of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and its functions in sections 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal (CCBT) Act, Senator Saraki ought to have been prosecuted by the respondents long before he returned to public life again in 2015 as an elected Senator.Indeed, the CCBT Act never contemplated that an incumbent public office holder was already corrupt before he attained public office, otherwise, people like Senator Sraki, who had a case to answer regarding his activities between 2003 and 2011 would not have been permitted to return to public life.However, four years later in 2015 4enator Saraki not only returned to public life as a Senator, he went on to become the President of the Senate, Chairman of the National Assembly and Nigerias number three citizen.It is nobodys fault that the 1st and 2nd respondents were not vigilant enough to stop or prevent Senator Sarki from attaining public office. If truly the respondents were proactive institutions of government, they ought to have prosecuted Senator Sarki immediately after he left office as Governor of Kwara State in 2011, but they never did.The failure, refusal and/or negligence of the respondents to prosecute Senator Saraki for the offences he allegedly committed between 2003 and 2011 before he returned again to public life as a Senator, vitiated all his past alleged misdeeds such that, as of June 8, 2015 when he was inaugurated as a Senator, he was assumed to be a public office holder without blemish in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of the respondents, otherwise they would have long since initiated proceedings against him.The subsequent attempt to put Senator Saraki on trial over offences allegedly committed between 2003 and 2011 are not only tainted with political mischief and desperation, they constitute a breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing, Okponipere said.However, the AGF, in a notice of preliminary objection, has faulted the suit and urged the court to dismiss it for lacking in merit.The AGF noted that the subject matter of the suit did not fall within the provisions of chapter four of the Constitution, containing the guaranteed fundamental human rights.The appellant lacks the locus to institute this suit on behalf of Senator Saraki in the absence of any legal basis which prevents him (Saraki) from deposing to the affidavit accompanying this application himself.The grant of the applicants reliefs will constitute an abuse of court/judicial process having regard to the fact that the subject matter of this suit has been determined by the Supreme Court, the AGF said.When the case up for mention on September 29 before Justice Gabriel Kolawole, neither Okponipere nor his lawyer was in court, following which the judge adjourned it to November 16 for hearing.Meanwhile, the CCT will tomorrow deliver ruling on an application by Saraki seeking that the tribunal Chairman, Danladi Umar withdraws from his trial on the grounds that Umar made some remarks in the course of the trial, which Saraki considered prejudicial to his case.Sarakis lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN)  a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF)  had in an application filed on June 13, accused Umar of making remarks that purportedly betrayed his bias against his client during the June 7, 2016 proceedings.Umar had, while expressing his displeasure at the delay tactics employed by Sarakis legal team (comprising over 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria) warned that the delay strategy would not reduce the consequences the defendant will meet in this tribunal at the end of the trial.At the hearing of the application on June 21, Sarakis lawyer Argued that by his statement, the tribunal Chairman had already concluded that his client would be guilty and thereby exposed to consequences.In a counter arguement, prosecution lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) faulted Sarakis lawyers interpretation of the tribunal Chairmans remarks.That I am aware that the Chairman of this honourable tribunal on the said June 7, 2016 stated clearly that his mind is open to do justice to this matter and that he has no prejudice against any of the parties.The statement allegedly made by the Chairman of the honourable tribunal was quoted out of context without referring to the statement made by the Chairman to the effect that his mind was open to do justice to this matter and that he has no prejudice against any of the parties, Jacobs said.




Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday, October 3rd, played host to Super Eagles captain and Chelsea midfielder, Mikel John Obi.Saraki wrote: "Had the pleasure of hosting @mikel_john_obi yesterday & nice to get to know him off the pitch. Assures of a great game against Zambia."See photos:
HAMILTON -- A 61-year-old bicyclist was struck and killed by a car Tuesday morning along Route 40 in Hamilton, Atlantic County, police said.

A bicyclist from Mays Landing was struck and killed by a car this morning, Hamilton police said.

Michael Daregentile of the Mays Landing section of Hamilton was pronounced dead after being hit at 6:17 a.m. near New York Avenue while riding east on the Black Horse Pike, according to a news release from police.

The eastbound car was being driven by a 25-year-old Newfield man who was not hurt, Hamilton police said.

Daregentile was wearing a helmet. The investigation is continuing.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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A Coast Guard boat returns to the Coast Guard station on Sandy Hook in this 2011 file photo.

(Star-Ledger file photo)

ATLANTIC CITY -- A 50-year-old man having seizures out in a boat off Atlantic City was rushed to the hospital by the Coast Guard Monday afternoon.

The U.S. Coast Guard was called out for an ocean rescue just after 2 p.m. for a crew member who was experiencing seizure-like symptoms, according to a news release. The man was aboard the commercial vessel the Jamaica, which makes port in Brielle.

A Coast Guard 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew took the man safely to Station Atlantic City, where he was airlifted to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, the release said.

"The crew did a great job passing his medical information to us so we could conduct the medevac quickly " Petty Officer 2nd Class Charles Vogel said in a release. "We want to remind mariners to carry their medical prescriptions with them before leaving the dock to help ensure a safe day at sea."

Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Standoff in Ventnor ends with gunfire, 1 injury, report says

VENTNOR -- A large presence of state and local authorities were reported around a home just outside Atlantic City Monday evening.

Residents in the area of Burghley Avenue in Ventnor reported hearing gunfire at around 7:45 p.m., according to The Press of Atlantic City and social media reports.

Trooper Lawerence Peele told NJ Advance Media State Police were assisting the Ventnor Police Department in an incident at a city home, but could not provide any further details.

The Ventnor Police Department referred all questions to the New Jersey State Police or U.S. Attorney's Office.

The U.S. Attorney's Office could not be reached late Monday. The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office was also on scene and did not respond to calls.

Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
millers.jpg

A Paramus man claims security staff attacked him in the bar at Miller's Ale House on Route 4 West in Paramus. (Wikipedia Commons)

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PARAMUS - A borough man has filed a lawsuit against Miller's Ale House and four bouncers he claims attacked and seriously injured him in the bar two years ago.

Ryan Bentz, 26, claims he was a patron when four men working security for the establishment "struck, beat and assaulted" him, leaving him permanently injured, scarred and unable to work.

The incident occurred Sept. 14, 2014 at the business located at 270 Route 4 West, according to the lawsuit filed in Bergen County Superior Court.

The suit accuses the bouncers of "intentional, reckless and/or negligent actions (to include) striking and touching" Bentz.

Bentz claims Miller's Ale House management was negligent in its hiring and training of security staff.

Representatives for Miller's Ale House in Paramus and the corporate office in Orlando, Fla. could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

According to court documents, Bentz pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated assault following a 2011 bar fight at the Orange Lantern pub in Paramus.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CAMDEN -- From the onset, authorities said 8-year-old Gabrielle "Gabby" Carter was not the intended target of the Aug. 24 shooting that claimed her life.

On Tuesday, Camden County prosecutors outlined the ongoing feud between Gabrielle's alleged killer -- Tyhan D. Brown, who fled to Tennessee immediately after the shooting and is charged with first-degree murder -- and an Amir Dixon, whom authorities declined to elaborate on.

"A couple of times I wanted to walk out (of court)," Gabrielle's step-father, Williams Phillips, said after Brown, 18, of Camden, was ordered held on $1.5 million bail during an emotional arraignment that saw the young girl's mother wiping away tears at times. "It still hurts like hell."

Camden County Prosecutor's Office Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah explained that Gabrielle was riding her bicycle on a warm summer night when shots rang out. She dropped the bike and tried to get inside a nearby house and was "very close to making it," Shah said.

At the same time, the intended target -- who was identified through surveillance footage -- was attempting to evade the bullets by entering the same home. Gabrielle was struck in the head and died less than 48 hours later, Shah said.

The Aug. 24 shooting was only the latest in a series of taunts allegedly carried out by Brown. According to Shah, an Aug. 20 Facebook video directed at Dixon was followed by Brown flashing at a gun at the man on Aug. 23 as he rode an ATV by what would be the scene of the fatal shooting.

On the day of the shooting, someone allegedly shot out the rear window of Brown's mother's vehicle.

"Just a few hours later, multiple shooters descended on South 8th Street and

attempted to shoot Amir Dixon, but instead killed Miss Hill-Carter," according to a probable cause statement provided by the prosecutor's office.

A cell phone warrant eventually placed Brown at the scene of the shooting, according to Shah.

Plans were then made to fly to Tennessee, where U.S. marshals would eventually arrest Brown on Aug. 29 on a parole violation stemming from a juvenile conviction out of New Jersey. Brown's mother, Shakia Land, and girlfriend, Natasha Land, provided false alibis to police to cover for him, Camden County police officials previously said. Both were charged with hindering an investigation days before Brown's arrest.

Brown, shackled and dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, said very little to Superior Court Judge Edward McBride beyond his plans to hire a private attorney.

"I can't hold him responsible for what other people in the family do," McBride said, still agreeing to Shah's request of $1.5 million bail, cash or bond.

Phillips, pausing to talk outside the court house as Gabrielle's mother and other family continued on, disagreed.

"I see his family is going to try and protect him as much as they possibly can ... It was emotional. Very emotional," he said.

Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Korea's car exports fell from third to fourth place in the world this year after the country was overtaken by Mexico.

The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on Sunday said Korea's car exports in the first eight months of this year totaled 1.69 million vehicles, down 14.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Mexico exported 1.82 million cars over the same period, down 2.7 percent but still ahead of Korea.
Strong winds and up to 250 mm of rain are forecast for Jeju Island and southern parts as it comes under the direct influence of super typhoon Chaba.

It is the first time for this year that the country is being hit directly by a typhoon.
How can a criminal record haunt you? Take our quiz to test your knowledge
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP)  Survivors of Hurricane Ian face a long emotional road to recover from one of the most damaging storms to hit the U.S. mainland. For those who lost everything to disaster, the anguish can be crushing to return home to find so much gone. Grief can run the gamut from frequent tears to utter despair. The Lee County medical examiner says two men in their 70s even took their own lives a day apart after viewing their losses. Experts say suicides climb after disasters and more funding for mental health should be provided as climate change makes storms and fires more frequent and devastating.
Music 'is a language,' and the Masakowskis find their own tunes
The Children's Bureau of New Orleans has a long history of helping children in distress
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House Jan. 6 committee plans to unveil "surprising" details at its next public hearing about the 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. The session Thursday afternoon is likely to be the last public hearing before midterm elections next month. The panel is expected to include new evidence from the U.S. Secret Service about its actions with Donald Trump that day. Ahead of a report later this year, the panel is summing up its findings. The committee says Trump, after he lost the 2020 presidential election, launched an unprecedented attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory. They say the result was the deadly mob siege of the Capitol.
Coast Guard: Search on for boater who went missing near Lake Charles
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Melbourne Storm winger Marika Koroibete has taken an early quilty plea after he was charged by the NRL match review committee for a high tackle in his side's 14-12 Telstra Premiership Grand Final loss to the Sharks.

Koroibete collected Cronulla halfback Chad Townsend with a high shot just six minutes into the decider at ANZ Stadium, an action that was deemed careless with a grade one charge.

Koroibete will escape suspension with his early guilty plea (78 points), however the flying Fijian has already signed with Super Rugby club the Melbourne Rebels and will no longer be at the Storm in 2017.
Three of Franciscan Alliances Northwest Indiana hospitals have a new leader.

Patrick Maloney, who currently heads two hospitals in the western suburbs, has been named president and CEO of the Franciscan Health campuses in Dyer, Hammond and Munster effective Oct. 31.

Patrick Maloney is the perfect blend of everything that we look for in a visionary leader, Kevin Leahy, president and CEO of Mishawaka-based Franciscan Alliance, said in a statement.

He has a proven ability to implement an initiative without ever losing sight of what is truly important  the health and welfare of the patients that we are privileged to serve.

Maloney is currently CEO of West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, and Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois, which are both owned by for-profit hospital system Tenet Healthcare.

Franciscan said it chose Maloney because, during his time at the helm, those hospitals saw growth in obstetrics, acute rehabilitation and bariatric surgery volume, a rise in patient satisfaction and safety and a decrease in re-admissions.

Maloney takes over for Dr. Matthew Teolis, who had been the interim president and CEO of the three Franciscan hospitals since May and will return to his job as vice president of medical affairs. Teolis predecessor, Michael Stenger, had left for personal and family reasons after starting in July 2015.

Mission-based health care was what I was seeking  and found  at Franciscan Health, Maloney stated. This is an organization that embraces the same values I do: respect for life, fidelity to its mission, compassionate concern, joyful service and Christian stewardship.
Jonathan Arizzola, a Navy veteran who deployed to Pakistan on a humanitarian mission, had suffered an electric shock in a separate accident at Gary Works the week before his death and had frequently told his wife it was getting dangerous there.

Arizzola died Friday night in an accident while working in a four-man crew assigned to troubleshoot a crane at the U.S. Steel slab storage yard in Gary. The 30-year-old Valparaiso resident was an electrician who worked at the mill for about four years, but was concerned with the deterioration of working conditions at the mill in Gary, his widow Whitney Arizzola said.

He was constantly complaining about McKinsey group cutting back workers, she said. There was always some kind of close call with someone he worked with. I never imagined that something would happen to Jon, he was always the safest guy I knew.

The United Steelworkers union has been protesting layoffs and the demotion of maintenance workers to labor gangs, including with a rally outside the mill gates. USW officials say the cuts have made the mill less safe, such as by having roving labor gangs work in parts of the 7-mile mill theyre unfamiliar with.

Our company has decided that, to save a dollar, theyll farm people out all over this mill which only increases the chances for accidents like these happening, USW Local 1014 President Rodney Lewis said in a Facebook post to steelworkers. They should instead be asking themselves if its high time they started listening to what weve been saying all along. Moving people all around a mill like chess pieces only promises to result in something tragic. Shutting down training when you need it the most is just bad business when you consider that we are the companys most important asset.

Bare-bones crews at Gary Works put steelworkers at risk for more accidents, Lewis said.

Bad news is not an if, but a when, he said. As terrible as it sounds, havent we been saying that something was coming?

U.S. Steel declined to comment on safety criticisms.

Arizzola had an 8-year-old son and a son who turns 5 this week. He had served as an electrician on the USS Peleliu amphibious assault ship and was very proud of the military, even recently buying a soldiers meal at El Salto.

All they care about is making money, Whitney Arizzola said. They dont care that it affects other people. He has a 4-year-old whos turning 5. They keep cutting when they should have a safer environment for people. It shouldnt be all about the money.

His loss has been hard on their family.

I have no husband now, my children have no father, she said. I have no idea how Im going to pay for my house or my car, any of our bills, I was a stay at home mother. I have no experiences, Jon was everything to me.

A GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/2s8p4s2c has been set up to help his family.
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PORTAGE  Someone apparently thinks theyre being funny, but theyre not, according to local officials.

School and police officials in the Region have been receiving reports of clowns posting threats against schools on Facebook.

One threat targets Hobart Middle School today, and another threatens Portage High School on Nov. 14.

We are obviously monitoring the activity, said Portage Police Chief Troy Williams. We think it is kids looking to stir the pot.

Williams said school resource officers are looking into the threats at Portage. While they are taking it seriously, Williams said parents should not be overly concerned.

The threat against Portage High was posted on a page with the name Izzy Wood Jr. It read: Im coming for all you (racial slur) in portage.

Hobart Middle School also was mentioned in a post.

Hobart Police Chief Rick Zormier said in a Facebook post Monday night that his department had learned the middle school was the target of one of many cyber-threats made via social media to schools around the country.

The vague threat alleges to cause harm during the school day on Oct. 5. Other area schools such as Portage and Hammond are believed to have received similar vague threats from scary clowns on social media. The Hobart Police are investigating and taking precautions. When the identities are learned of those making threats in our schools, we will prosecute to the fullest extent possible, Zormier said.

He asked anyone to call the department at (219) 942-3406 if they have any additional information.

Valparaiso Police Department Sgt. Mike Grennes said Tuesday morning the Valparaiso school system has not been a target of the threats as far as he knows.

Hammond police also acknowledged the threats on their Facebook page Tuesday morning.

We have been forwarded Facebook information recently by concerned parents and citizens about threats made against City of Hammond schools by persons representing themselves as clowns, reads the Hammond post accompanied by screen shots of various clown pages.

The Hammond Schools specifically mentioned in the Facebook posts were Hammond High, Eggers, Gavit, Scott and Morton. So far there have been no reports of confirmed clown sightings in the City of Hammond and at this time the information appears to be solely based on Facebook. Hammond Police Officers who work off-duty at Hammond Schools. Anyone with information about this matter may contact the Chiefs Office at the Hammond Police Department 219 852 6326, reads the post.

Schools across the country have received similar threats in the last few weeks, according to news reports.
LAPORTE  A LaPorte man was seriously hurt when he was run over and dragged underneath a car early Tuesday.

The driver, Alec Krcilek, 21, was being held in the LaPorte County Jail on a felony charge of operating while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury.

The incident happened in the parking lot of Lucky Bar at Lincolnway and Madison Street, LaPorte police said.

The bartender asked Krcilek to leave, police said.

Michael Cox, 31, and his friend, David Walczak, 33, had never met Krcilek until they engaged in small talk at the bar.

They followed him to his car, and Krcilek started backing out, police said.

Cox was knocked to the ground by the open drivers side door, then run over. While underneath the car, he was dragged for about 30 feet.

Walczak said he was punching the driver to get him to stop while Michael was still underneath the moving car.

Seeing your friend run over is not the greatest thing. He was scraped up pretty good, Walczak said.

According to police, Krcilek had a blood alcohol level of 0.153. The legal limit is 0.08.

Cox was treated at LaPorte Hospital for a possible dislocated shoulder along with a severe abrasion and laceration to his forehead.

Walczak said he took Cox home after his release from the hospital several hours later.

Hes a tough little guy. Hes a roofer. He roofs all day, said Walczak, a bricklayer.
PORTAGE  A Valparaiso man was arrested early Tuesday morning after he told police he was driving like an idiot to test a probationary member of a motorcycle club that he belongs to.

An officer spotted a car driving at a high rate of speed, followed by a motorcycle, also driving south at a high rate of speed about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday on Willowcreek Road. The officer began following the two.

The motorcycle driver began to slow down, but the driver of the Pontiac Sunfire, later identified as David Underwood, 48, continued at a high rate of speed, disregarded a traffic light at Lute Road, turning and almost striking a curb, then pulling into a parking lot of a nearby apartment complex.

According to the report, Underwood told police he was messing around with the motorcycle driver, a 27-year-old South Haven man, who was a new probationary member of a motorcycle club. The younger man was assigned to escort Underwood home and Underwood said he was testing his loyalties and ability to complete the task.

Underwood also allegedly told police the two had been drinking at a local bar and were on their way to the clubhouse in Wheeler.

Underwood registered a 0.16 blood alcohol level in a breath test, twice the legal limit, and failed field sobriety tests. He was taken to Portage Hospital for a blood test before being transported to Porter County Jail.

The motorcycle driver apologized to police, according to the report, and was released at the scene.
INDIANAPOLIS  Robert Lewis III, of Gary, will serve 88 years in prison for the 2011 rape and murder of Jennifer Kocsis, a 37-year-old Griffith school teacher.

The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday ended a years-long legal dispute over whether Lewis, 43, was properly sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by exercising its appellate authority to instead sentence

Lewis to a term-of-years. In its 5-0 decision, the high court found that Lake Superior Judge Diane Ross Boswell should have ordered a new penalty phase of Lewis trial after the jury was unable to determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, whether Lewis crimes warranted a life sentence.

Boswell instead claimed she had the authority to unilaterally sentence Lewis to life in prison, and did so.

She affirmed that sentence last year after the Supreme Court directed Lewis be re-sentenced due to a procedural error.

Justice Mark Massa, writing for the Supreme Court, said Lewis judge-imposed life sentence is unconstitutional because the Sixth Amendment requires a jury sentencing verdict to deny Lewis the possibility of parole.

While prosecutors could demand a new sentencing phase of Lewis trial to try to again to win life without parole, Republican Attorney General Greg Zoeller conceded to the justices a term-of-years sentence is appropriate in this case.

As such, Massa ordered Lewis to serve 65 years for Class A murder, 20 years for Class B criminal deviate conduct and three years for Class D resisting law enforcement, all to run consecutively due to the depravity of the crimes.

With credit for good behavior and time served, Lewis potentially could be released from prison in 2057 when he will be 85 years old.

According to court records, Lewis met Kocsis on April 2, 2011, when she offered to give him a ride home from a Griffith bar-restaurant.

Instead of going home, Lewis directed Kocsis to a secluded area behind the closed Riley Elementary School in Gary where he punched, strangled and stomped on her before sodomizing and beating her to death.
ARMVILLE, Va.  In their only debate faceoff, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will try Tuesday night to carry forward a fresh burst of Democratic momentum in the presidential campaign while Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seeks to steady Donald Trump's White House bid after one of the Republican's worst stretches of the race.

Pence and Kaine, Hillary Clinton's running mate, seem unlikely to dramatically change the way voters view the top two, who are among the most well-known figures in the country. Still, the nationally televised debate will be a spotlight opportunity for the longtime politicians to introduce themselves to Americans, energize party loyalists and potentially sway the shrinking pool of undecided voters.

For the earnest and easygoing Kaine, that means defending Clinton's character and reputation, her Achilles' heel throughout the campaign. And it means blocking any attempts by Pence  an equally genial politician  to make Trump's controversial statements and policy proposals seem more palatable.

"When it comes to the issues, it's hard to tell them apart," Hillary Clinton's campaign said of Trump and Pence in a video released ahead of the debate. "From the alt-right racists supporting their ticket to women's health to immigration to LGBT equality to global warming to the minimum wage, it's no wonder that Donald Trump picked Mike Pence."

The 90-minute showdown at Virginia's Longwood University will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News. While last week's first presidential debate was watched by a record-setting television audience of 84 million people, Tuesday's contest is expected to have smaller viewership given Pence and Kaine's lower profiles in the campaign.

In a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, more than half of registered voters said they didn't know enough about Kaine to venture an opinion about him and about 44 percent said the same for Pence.

Trump said he would be live-tweeting the debate. During a rally in Arizona, he said the contest would be "a contrast between our campaign of big ideas and bold solutions for tomorrow versus the small and petty Clinton campaign that is totally stuck in the past."

Clinton, campaigning in Pennsylvania, said she'd been keeping in touch with Kaine over email about his debate preparations.

"I think America is going to be very impressed and really feel positive about Tim Kaine as our next vice president," she said.

Clinton was widely viewed as the winner of her opening debate with Trump, rattling the real estate mogul with jabs about his business record and demeaning statements about women, and responding to his attacks with calm rejoinders. New public opinion polls have showed her improving her standing in nearly all battleground states.

At least some of Clinton's bounce is likely attributable to Trump's conduct coming out of the debate. He redoubled his criticism of a beauty queen and her weight, one of the topics Clinton raised in the debate, and went on a pre-dawn Twitter tirade trying to disparage the former Miss Universe.

That firestorm was deflected only by revelations that Trump suffered more than $900 million in losses in 1995 that could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times.

In Tuesday's debate, Pence will likely find himself trying to clean up Trump's controversies, as has often been the case since he joined the GOP ticket this summer. The governor signaled that he would frame the matters as attempts by Clinton to obscure her own record.

"The media is so busy parsing every word that Donald Trump said in the past 30 minutes, they've been ignoring what the Clintons (have) been up to the last 30 years," Pence said during a campaign stop Monday night.

Pence was picked as Trump's running mate in part because he has the conservative credentials the businessman lacks. His addition to the ticket was cheered by conservative leaders in Washington, and Trump's supporters are hoping his debate performance will be similarly appealing for Republican voters who may still be skeptical of Trump's ideology.

Kaine, who served as Virginia's governor before becoming senator, is largely in step with Clinton on key issues. While he voted to give President Barack Obama fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership, he's since joined Clinton in opposing the final version of the trade pact.

Both Pence and Kaine are deeply religious, which could bring faith to the forefront of the debate, a rarity in this campaign.

Pence was raised Catholic, but is now a Protestant evangelical. His signature line is: "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican  in that order."

Kaine speaks frequently about how his Jesuit mission work in Honduras shaped his life. At times, his Catholicism has run up against his governing choices. After opposing gay marriage in his 2005 gubernatorial run, he later broke with the church to support it. He says he's personally against abortion but has consistently voted in favor of abortion rights.

___

Pace reported from Washington. AP writer Jonathan Lemire in Prescott Valley, Arizona, contributed to this report.

_

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Thomas Beaumont at http://twitter.com/TomBeaumont
HARVEY  Ingalls Health System and University of Chicago Medicine have officially merged, in a move officials say will improve the quality of health care delivered by both organizations.

The south suburban hospital system and Chicago-based academic medical center announced plans to join forces last November, after Ingalls concluded its search for a strategic partner in the hopes of boosting physician recruitment.

"It became obvious, as we got to know University of Chicago Medical Center better, they were the obvious choice for us," said Ingalls President and CEO Kurt Johnson. "They're a world-class medical center. They had all the attributes of a partner we were looking for in terms of producing well-trained physicians. University of Chicago Medical Center has a center of gravity that's south of the city. We relate to many of the same communities, stretching from Northwest Indiana, all the way west to Naperville."

The merger comes at a time of increasing consolidation in the health care industry, brought on by changes to provider reimbursement in the Affordable Care Act and a growing physician shortage caused by the aging population. In Northwest Indiana, Methodist Hospitals announced in June that it was seeking a strategic partnership. Jasper County sold its hospital in 2015 to Franciscan Alliance. And for-profit hospital behemoth Community Health Systems purchased LaPorte and Starke hospitals earlier this year.

Johnson noted that no money changed hands in the merger, which includes no plans for layoffs or a new hospital, and that Ingalls wasn't seeking the arrangement out of financial desperation. A review of the hospital's IRS 990 filings shows that to be the case, with the health facility having an average operating margin of 7.9 percent from 2011 to 2014.

Johnson said the organizations should be able to save money by having increased purchasing power. Both systems are retaining their names.

University of Chicago Medical Center is now Ingalls' corporate partner, though Ingalls, based in Harvey, will retain a local board of directors and have representation on the University of Chicago hospital board.

The move gives Ingalls access to University of Chicago's prestigious physician education pipeline and widens University of Chicago's footprint in the south suburbs. The university medical group is already building an 108,000-square-foot ambulatory facility in Orland Park, and has outpatient offices in Northwest Indiana. Like many hospital systems not located in big cities or wealthy suburbs, Ingalls has struggled to recruit physicians at a fast enough clip to replace its aging workforce.

"From a philosophical and a values standpoint, we were aligned," said Dr. Kenneth Polonsky, executive vice president of medical affairs for University of Chicago Medicine. "We both live in areas where there is an underserved community around us, and both organizations are committed to serving the surrounding communities."

While less than 1 percent of Ingalls' patients live in Northwest Indiana, about 10 percent of University of Chicago's patient base is from the Region, given that it is the nearest academic medical center. "Northwest Indiana is a very important marketplace for us," Polonsky said. "We have a number of very exciting relationships in Northwest Indiana that we would like to expand. We're thinking very carefully of how best to do that, but it's a little premature to share specifics."

Region residents who travel to Hyde Park may in the future only have to go to the south suburbs because Ingalls may have an easier time recruiting specialists being part of the University of Chicago's recruitment network. The same might be true if the academic hospital decides to locate some specialties further south, closer to its new corporate partner.

Johnson said, of the merger: "I think it will be of long-term benefit to the Southland region and Northwest Indiana."
HAMMOND  An Amber Alert was issued Monday afternoon and canceled a short time later after a report of an alleged abduction of a mother and her infant son.

Hammond police had received a report that a 20-year-old woman, Yolanda Walker, and 2-month-old son, Raphael Beniveau, were abducted at gunpoint from their home Sunday night by the child's noncustodial father, Ralph Bevineau. The mother and son were said to be last seen at 7 p.m. Sunday.

The Amber Alert went out at about 1 p.m. Monday, with the message "Hammond, IN AMBERAlbert-Raphael Beniveau-Gold Chev Trailblazer or similar, Check local media" being sent as a push notification to smartphones in the Region.

Shortly after, Walker called police to say she and the baby were safe at a residence in Calumet City, according to Hammond Police Lt. Richard Hoyda. Police confirmed the two were safe. Neither had any injuries.

As of Monday evening, police were still searching for the father and no criminal charges had been filed.
CROWN POINT  Joseph Raymond Harris has spent much of his adult life in and out of jail for convictions, including murder in 1980, for which he received a 35-year prison sentence.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Clarence Murray ruled Monday that the 55-year-old Gary man will remain in Lake County Jail on $100,000 bond for allegedly shooting a man on July 23 in Garys Brunswick neighborhood. To get out jail, Harris would need to post 10 percent of that bond, or $7,500 in cash.

Harris, also known as Joseph Ray Harris, was arrested July 27 and charged with felony level 1 attempted murder for shooting Antonio Reeves, 47, in the abdomen.

In addition, Harris is facing charges of aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

Reeves underwent surgery to remove the bullet at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus and was told by medical personnel that he would have periodic numbness in his left leg, according to the probable cause affidavit.

In seeking a bond reduction to $20,000 or $2,000 cash, defense attorney Adam Tavitas told Murray that Harris cares for his fiancee who has cancer and presented a letter written by the woman to the judge.

Tavitas acknowledged that Harris also faces charges in a level 5 felony drug offense case in Porter County.

Court records indicate Harris had a prior conviction in federal court for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine in 2000.

In citing Harris long criminal history, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Keith Anderson said, Mr. Harris just doesnt get it. He is a danger to the community.

After considering both arguments, Murray ruled Motion denied. Bond remains at $10,000 cash.

Harris returns to Murrays court for another hearing on Nov. 7.
Community activists have raised questions about the ethical practices of some attorneys representing or looking to represent residents at an East Chicago public housing complex where the soil is highly contaminated with lead and arsenic.

A video posted Aug. 31 on Facebook by community group Calumet Lives Matter shows limousines parked in the neighborhood. Member Sherry Hunter said she recorded the video and has been urging residents to talk to attorneys working pro bono, that is, without charge.

Hunter also has been advocating on behalf of housing complex residents and those living in the middle part of the Calumet neighborhood, which is part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site.

You want someone thats got your best interests at heart, Hunter said.

The Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct say an attorney should not solicit prospective clients in person if the lawyers motive is financial gain, unless the person contacted is a lawyer or has a family, close personal or prior professional relationship with the lawyer. The rules also say any written solicitation should be clearly marked as an advertisement.

In the video, a woman referred to Alvarez, and Hunter said the limos were sent to take residents to a lawyers office in Crown Point.

Attorney Walter Alvarez, whose office is in Crown Point, said everyone picked up that day previously had contacted his office seeking a legal consultation.

Access to legal resources

Alvarez issued a statement that said, Routinely, when fighting for justice, in behalf of disadvantaged persons  such as our neighbors in East Chicago, I find that the very corporations and government entities that harm such good people, in this case, those who poisoned the men, women, and children of the neighborhood, work hard to prevent access by the victims to medical, political, and yes, legal resources. When such resources do reach the victims, allegations such as this are vollied by my detractors.

Along with the statement, Alvarez released a copy of a form he said each client he represents has signed. The form says, in part, that the client was not solicited by Alvarezs office regarding lead in East Chicago and that they had a pre-set meeting.

As the number of calls grew, a common problem emerged: a lack of transportation to seek the legal representation desired. Transportation was made available solely to efficiently hold a group meeting of citizens, without obligation, Alvarezs statement said.

David J. Chizewer, an attorney at Goldberg Kohn, in Chicago, said sending a limo to pick up someone whos requested legal consultation doesnt violate the text of the Rules of Professional Conduct, but it does send up a red flag.

The whole idea behind the rule is you dont want to create undue influence on someone, he said. Thats why you cant solicit someone in person when you dont have a proper prior relationship with them.

Chizewers firm is working pro bono for a couple of the community groups that have formed in response to the lead cleanups. His firm also has offered to talk to individuals about the possibility of filing claims on a pro bono basis, he said.

Its a significant upfront investment for a law firm to sue polluters, and hiring a lawyer is often how people get access to legal services, he said.

What you want to avoid is hiring a lawyer who is interested in making a quick hit without making the commitment, he said. Without telling you how they are going to bring all of the required resources to bear.

Lawyers have right to free speech

Barry Rooth, of Theodoros & Rooth PC, has held a news conference regarding his firms work on behalf of West Calumet residents. He said Sept. 23 his firm currently represents about 100 children who live or used to live in the West Calumet Housing Complex.

Rooth said his firm has not sent limos to pick up any clients.

When asked if he thought sending limos to pick up clients raises a red flag, Rooth said, We cant comment on how other attorneys obtain their clients.

Ivan Bodensteiner, professor emeritus of law at Valparaiso University School of Law, said if an attorney is brought before the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission because of an alleged violation of the solicitation rule, the lawyer could raise the constitutional right to free speech as a defense. Each case depends on the circumstances, he said.

One wouldnt want to draw too many conclusions from the limos being there, Bodensteiner said, adding he had no knowledge of the circumstances in this case.
HAMMOND  Bishop Noll Institute senior Liliana Mendez has a passion for medicine and joined other high school students from around the country who aspire to become the next generation of leaders in the medical field.

Mendez represented Bishop Noll and Indiana at the National Leadership Academies Congress of Future Medical Leaders, which was in June in Boston, Massachusetts.

The East Chicago resident was taught by some of the greatest minds in medicine including winners of international prizes, prominent medical school academic leaders and prodigies who are leading the future of medicine.

My favorite part of the congress was listening to the speakers and their stories for us. The main message to us was that it is OK to fail, we need to fail in order to succeed and realize our potential, she said.

Mendez, who attended St. Marys School in Griffith, was nominated to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum: Medicine in summer 2015. After participating, she was invited to attend the June gathering by one of its presidents/program directors.

The senior plans to study medicine to become a doctor with multidisciplinary care in the trauma unit, she said. At the congress, she met top physicians in different fields and learned the challenges that helped them discover their specialties.

Attending the congress amongst my peers who had the same difficulties, dedication and drive for medicine as I did helped establish my passion for medicine. Ive always known I wanted to help people. As I grew older I realized I wanted to go into the field of medicine.

Liliana and her grandmother, Lupe Mendez, enjoyed visiting Boston and had a few hours to tour the historic city.

We were able to walk the Freedom Trail and visit some amazing historical landmarks such as the Boston Massacre site and the Old State House.

Michele Arnold, Bishop Nolls director of guidance, said Mendez is conscientious, friendly, focused and determined. She consistently seeks out challenges.

She expects a lot of herself and isnt satisfied unless she knows that she did her best, Arnold said, adding that Mendez transitioned well into BNI.

Rebecca Dostatni, Noll Class of 2000, is Mendezs Honors Biology teacher and said she is a serious, pensive and mature student.

I hope that Liliana follows her dreams and continues to work diligently at everything she chooses to do in her life. She pays great attention to details and will become an excellent professional in the medical field.

Next up for Mendez is a trip to Washington, D.C., in January to attend the Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit. She is working hard to raise enough funds to pay for the trip.
HAMMOND  A 2012 Highland High School grad, who was in the first class of students in the Multimedia Broadcast Academy at the Hammond Area Career Center, told students Monday his career center experience helped him land a job in television news.

Daniel Zar, 23, is a weekend morning show news producer for Fox 17 News in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Zar told students he sat in the same chairs they are in today when he was a student in the Multimedia Broadcasting program at the career center. He said Robert Love was the instructor then, and Zar said he still keeps in touch with him. Stephanie Reiser has been the instructor for more than two years now. She has 25 students in the Multimedia Broadcast Academy I and II.

After high school, Zar went on to Columbia College in Chicago and earned a bachelors degree, with a concentration in multimedia news reporting and writing. He graduated in December 2015.

The skills that I learned in this classroom still help me out today, he told students in the Multimedia Broadcasting Academy at the Hammond Area Career Center.

I write and produce a four-hour morning show, update the Web with new content each hour, listen to the police scanner and follow breaking news and assign photographers and editors to stories, he said.

Zar also did a six-month internship at WGN in Chicago writing news and video editing. He worked almost a year at Blue Island TV writing and producing the news while in college.

When you produce the news, youre writing what the anchors read, he said. You have to make sure your writing is crisp and clear. Photos are really important.

We want people to stay with us. Its important to write so that people can relate to each other, and its funny, he said, adding that its important the anchors are relatable to the audience.

Zar encouraged students to look for a college that offers internships. He told them to be willing to volunteer to get the experience they need to build a good resume.

Senior Erica Guevara, 18, plas to attend Columbia and will focus on editing.

I could major in several areas, because I have learned so much here, she said. We write the news, then give it to the on-air talent. They add or delete things and we rewrite it when we get them back. We have to know how to work the camera and the camera shots.

Senior Ashley Stenger intends to attend Columbia or DePauw University and major in film with a concentration in direction.

This class has given me knowledge in the equipment, and I understand the industry standards, she said. Im used to working in a team environment. What he told us was interesting and helps. His talk showed us how he got internships and got his foot in the door.
CROWN POINT  Declaring the defendant a flight risk, Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell denied a bond reduction for Deandre Dwone Stribling, one of three Chicago men charged with the September armed robbery of a north Hammond gas station.

The 27-year-old Stribling is being held in Lake County Jail on a $75,000 bond and made his formal appearance Monday before Boswell with public defender James Woods. Of that bond amount, 10 percent or $7,500 cash must be paid to bail the defendant out of jail.

I stay with my girlfriend in Merrillville, Stribling told the judge during the bond reduction hearing. When Boswell asked the defendant why he gave a Chicago address when arrested, he shrugged.

Stribling is charged with the level 3 felony in the Sept. 17 armed robbery of the Mobil gas station at 1440 Indianapolis Blvd. Police have issued arrest warrants for the other two Chicago men  Anthony Lavelle Adams, 23, and James Burgess, 24.

According to court records, one of the men pointed a handgun at the gas station clerk while another grabbed cartons of cigarettes and all the money in the cash register. The GPS tracking device in the pack of money helped police locate the men in Chicago.

In arguing against any bond reduction, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Judith Massa pointed to Striblings extensive criminal history in Illinois. In 2009, he was convicted of hijacking a vehicle and aggravated robbery and sentenced to nine years in Cook County Jail, Massa said.

Hes currently on parole in Illinois for DUI, Massa said.

The prosecutors office is adding habitual offender to the charges against Stribling, she said.

Boswell noted that Stribling isnt eligible to post any bond until Oct. 11. He is due back in her courtroom on Nov. 21.

When arrested, Burgess will be jailed on a $40,000 bond, while Adams will be held without bond, court records state.
A Porter woman is dead and a Valparaiso woman is in the hospital after a Friday afternoon car accident, in Mendon, Michigan, a Michigan television station is reporting.

Mendon officers said the crash happened around 5:45 p.m. Friday at the corner of M-60 and M-66 after Alexis Schroeder, 19, of Valparaiso, failed to stop for oncoming traffic and drove in front of a semi, according to reports by WWMT Channel 3 TV, a CBS affiliate based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Corrine Johns, of Porter, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the news report.

Schroeder was traveling south on M-66 when she failed to yield to oncoming traffic traveling in the westbound lane of M-60, the report stated.

Schroeders vehicle was struck by a semi on the drivers side entrapping both her and her passenger, Johns.

Schroeder was cut from the vehicle and taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital, in Kalamazoo, and Johns was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report.

The semi was driven by Aaron Good, 28, of Union City, Michigan, who did not suffer any injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
VALPARAISO  The citys Central Park Plaza has been recognized as one of the nations best public spaces by the American Planning Association.

The park on Monday was named one of five Great Public Spaces on the organizations list of Great Places in America.

The park on Lincolnway and bisected by Lafayette Street, is joined by Golden Hart Plaza in Fairbanks, Alaska; Findlay Market in Cincinnati, Ohio; Guthrie Green in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. City planning and park officials are planning a formal announcement and recognition at 11:30 a.m. today at the park.

The award is of great importance and highlights an asset in Northwest Indiana and gets us in the national spotlight, said Taylor Wegrzyn, Valparaisos assistant city planner. It speaks a lot to our local planning efforts.

Central Park Plaza, which includes the Porter Health Amphitheater and the popular Orville Redenbacher statue, sits on the site formerly occupied by a parking lot and shuttered former department store. Urschel Pavilion, across Lafayette Street to the west, occupies a space that used to be a Social Security office and before that a grocery store.

Planning for the park started about 2008, Wegrzyn said. Central Park Plaza opened in 2011. The Urschel Pavilion opened in 2015.

The award is designed to represent and recognize the gold standard of public places designed to improve the quality of life and promote opportunities of lasting value, said Roberta Rewers, senior communications coordinator for the Chicago-based APA.

Since launching the Great Places in America program in 2007, APA has recognized 260 neighborhoods, streets, and public spaces.

As part of National Community Planning Month, APAs Great Places in America program has recognized streets, neighborhoods and public spaces in the country the demonstrate character, quality, and planning that enrich communities and facilitate economic growth, Rewers said.

Public spaces are essential as gathering places and recreational venues in our communities, and designing them to be innovative, multifunctional, and culturally beneficial requires thoughtful collaboration and planning, said Carol Rhea, FAICP, president of APA, in a press release. The Great Public Spaces of 2016 illustrate how to effectively create spaces that enhance the lives of residents and visitors alike, and we commend them on this tremendous achievement.
Thats why the roughly 101,000 employers that call Indiana home should consider voluntarily taking action themselves.

Businesses have a powerful role to play in giving individuals with criminal records a second chance. The easiest step they can take is to ban the box.

Right now, most employers require job seekers to check a box on an application if they have any criminal record. Too often, this can function as an automatic application denied for individuals who have any blemish in their past.

Nationwide, some 650,000 incarcerated individuals rejoin society every year, and they desperately need jobs to help them transition back into society and to provide for themselves and their families. But the criminal record box often shuts them out of the job market before they can get a foot in the door. A 2009 study by Harvard and Princeton researchers showed individuals who checked the box reduced their chances of a callback by 50 percent, with blacks hurt twice as much as whites.

Sure enough, unemployment among those with a criminal record remains staggeringly high: A third of men without jobs between the ages of 25 and 54 have a criminal record.

Ex-offender unemployment not only holds back individuals working to improve their lives. It also stifles our economy.

A 2010 study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated the annual lost economic value at between $57 billion and $65 billion.

These are a few of the reasons why my employer, Koch Industries, officially banned the box on our job application last year, including for applicants in Indiana.

Now we delay the question until later in the hiring process. This allows us to consider a candidates past record in the context of their other life experiences.

Companies big and small have made the same choice because it makes sense from a business perspective. With an estimated one in three adults in the U.S. having some sort of criminal record, its shortsighted for an employer to potentially eliminate one-third of the available applicant pool. We should seek the best talent period  with or without a record.

Over the years at Koch, individuals hired with a past record have been dedicated employees who have succeeded at the company.

We recognize banning the box may not make sense for every business, which is why a government mandate isnt the solution. Each employer needs to make its own decision on this issue.

If the roughly 101,000 employers in Indiana voluntarily considered banning the box, the social and economic landscape could be defined by more opportunity and prosperity, especially for the least fortunate.

Thousands of Hoosiers with criminal records try to rejoin society every year, and they want to contribute to their communities and improve their lives. Indiana businesses can help them by breaking down barriers that stand in their way. No one should be judged forever based on what they did on their worst day  and everyone deserves a second chance.
While vice presidential debates generally get second billing and have rarely affected the course of a presidential race, they have produced their share of iconic moments. Bobby Cuza takes a look back at the most lasting impressions from vice presidential debates past.



The first vice presidential debate in 1976 is best remembered for a line delivered by Democratic nominee Walter Mondale against his opponent, Bob Dole.



"Senator Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight," Mondale said.

Another zinger from the 1988 VP debate may be the most memorable takedown of any debate in modern political history.



After Dan Quayle said, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency," Lloyd Bentsen said, "Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, youre no Jack Kennedy."

But Quayle and George H.W. Bush would go on to victory, of course, underlining just how inconsequential VP debates can often be. But they can serve a purpose. After President Barack Obama's lackluster debate performance in 2012, Joe Biden steadied the ship with a spirited showing against Paul Ryan.

Biden: That's a bunch of malarkey.

Ryan: And why is that so?

Biden: Because not a single thing he said is accurate.



In 2004, Dick Cheney gave George W. Bush a boost, memorably highlighting John Edwards' Senate attendance record.



"I'm up in the senate most Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight," Cheney said.

In 1992, Admiral James Stockdale, running mate to third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot, was ridiculed for appearing out of his depth in a three-way VP debate.



"Who am I? Why am I here?" Stockdale said.



In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro, the first female on a major-party ticket, won cheers for an exchange with then-Vice President Bush.

When Bush said, "Let me help you with the difference, Ms. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon," Ferraro responded, "I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy."



And Republican Sarah Palin, facing big question marks, performed capably in 2008, beginning with a disarming introduction where she asked Joe Biden, "Can I call you Joe?" It turned out the move was due to Palin's tendency to mispronounce her opponent's last name "O'Biden."


A city police officer is out on bail a week after he was indicted for allegedly shooting a man to death in an alleged road rage incident in Brooklyn.



Wayne Isaacs, 37, is accused of killing Delrawn Small in East New York on July 4.

He was indicted on manslaughter and murder charges last Monday.

Police say Isaacs and Small got into a dispute at a red light before the shooting.

The off-duty officer initially said Small punched him through his car window before he fired his gun, but surveillance video shows the unarmed Small was shot immediately after walking up to the window.

Isaacs is currently suspended without pay.


Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson has been diagnosed with cancer and is taking sick leave as he undergoes treatment. NY1 Criminal Justice Reporter Dean Meminger first broke the story and has the details.

News that Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson is temporarily stepping aside is a shocker for many in the city.

But Thompson says he's battling cancer and needs to take a sick leave. In statement Tuesday afternoon, Thompson said:

"Recently, I was diagnosed with cancer. As a man of intense faith, I intend to fight and win the battle against this disease. I humbly seek your sincere prayers as I confront this challenge and respectfully ask that you honor my familys need and wish for privacy during this time."

In 2014 Thompson was sworn in as Brooklyn DA after a contentious political battle against longtime incumbent Charles Hynes.

He vowed to protect the people of the borough but said he wouldn't prosecute young men of color for minor offenses like marijuana possession. In the last two and half years, he has also exonerated several people who were wrongfully imprisoned.

But the fiery lawyer has been entangled in controversy as well. In August, the city fined Thompson $15,000 for having employees pay for his meals and reimbursing them from the offices expense account.

Many people were outraged with Thompson after he successfully prosecuted Police Officer Peter Liang in the shooting death of Akai Gurley in a Brooklyn stairwell. But after the charges were downgraded to criminally negligent homicide, Thompson recommend probation, not prison time.

Although Thompson is used to fighting in court, those close to the situation say he's cancer is aggressive and the 50-year-old is battling for his life.

During Thompson's treatment and recovery, Chief Assistant Eric Gonzalez will lead the day-to-day operations of the Brooklyn district attorney's office.

Thompson's statement says he looks forward to returning to the battlefield of justice. But of course  first he has to beat cancer.
Handguns were used in more than 80 percent of gun murders each year, but gun control advocates had failed to interest enough of the public in a handgun ban. Handguns were the weapons most likely to kill you, but they were associated by the public with self-defense. (In 2008, the Supreme Court said there was a constitutional right to keep a loaded handgun at home for self-defense.)

Banning sales of military-style weapons resonated with both legislators and the public: Civilians did not need to own guns designed for use in war zones.

On Sept. 13, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an assault weapons ban into law. It barred the manufacture and sale of new guns with military features and magazines holding more than 10 rounds. But the law allowed those who already owned these guns  an estimated 1.5 million of them  to keep their weapons.

The policy proved costly. Mr. Clinton blamed the ban for Democratic losses in 1994. Crime fell, but when the ban expired, a detailed study found no proof that it had contributed to the decline.

The ban did reduce the number of assault weapons recovered by local police, to 1 percent from roughly 2 percent.

Should it be renewed, the bans effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement, a Department of Justice-funded evaluation concluded.

Still, the majority of Americans continued to support a ban on assault weapons.

One reason: The use of these weapons may be rare over all, but theyre used frequently in the gun violence that gets the most media coverage, mass shootings.
LONDON  Amanda Levetes architecture studio is lodged in an old transport depot on a street neighboring Pentonville Prison here. One is tempted to step in through sliding glass windows, but an overlaid pattern of Ben-Day dots spells out This Is Not a Door and directs visitors instead to a portal lacquered in neon orange, set centrally on a graphite gray wall. Theatrical but not grandiose, with an edge of humor, its a cannily judged introduction to the work of Ms. Levete and her practice, AL_A.

On Oct. 5, AL_A will unveil its Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology building in Lisbon, the first in a number of major projects to be realized by the studio in coming years. Among the more notable are a new wing for the Victoria and Albert Museum here and a fundamental redesign of the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris.

From above, the Lisbon museum, known as MAAT, resembles a germinating seed: a plump ovoid structure with a tendril-like bridge connecting the site to the city center, with a walkway along the Tagus river forming its root. The building is low and its roof functions as a plaza. I think in our society now, public spaces  places where people can meet, exchange, socialize and gather  are so significant, said Ms. Levete, looking over a model of the site in her studio recently. People go to galleries because thats where like-minded people will be.

Now 60, Ms. Levete said she first pursued architecture as a means to satisfy her own obstinacy. She left high school at 16 to go to the Hammersmith School of Art (now part of Chelsea School of Art), but eventually graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, after deciding that the discipline has built in resistance: regulatory, historical, budgetary, technical, she recalled. I thought: Its perfect  thats for me!
In No Tomorrow, some Jane the Virgin team members put their twist on another South American import  this one about the end of the world. Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trumps running mates debate the issues. And Dheepan, Jacques Audiards tale of survival, is almost prophetic in its portrayal of the European refugee crisis.

Whats on TV

NO TOMORROW 9 p.m. on CW. Evie Callahan (Tori Anderson), a strait-laced warehouse manager striving to climb out of her rut, throws caution to the wind after encountering Xavier Holliday (Joshua Sasse), a dreamy hunk whose carpe-diem attitude holds dark roots. He believes that an asteroid will crash into Earth and wipe out humankind in eight months and 12 days. And he has a lifetimes worth of things left to do. (The story line is spun from a Brazilian series by some of the team behind Jane the Virgin, which was loosely adapted from a Venezuelan telenovela.) Youre left with the distinct impression that the series will fill out its weekly schedule by checking items off that list, and the ickily cheerful scene in which Evie and Xavier do so by going off-roading is the one real dead patch in the pilot, Mike Hale wrote in The New York Times.

2016 HIP HOP AWARDS 8 p.m. on BET. Snoop Dogg receives the I Am Hip Hop award at this ceremony hosted by DJ Khaled and taped last month in Atlanta.

THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 9 p.m. on ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, C-Span, C-Span 2, Fox, Fox Business, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, NY1 and PBS. No fireworks are expected when Hillary Clintons running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia faces the running mate to Donald J. Trump, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. Elaine Quijano of CBS News will moderate.
Gloria Naylor, whose debut novel, The Women of Brewster Place, won a National Book Award and was adapted into an acclaimed mini-series that starred and was produced by Oprah Winfrey, died on Wednesday near her home in Christiansted, V.I. She was 66.

The cause was heart failure, her niece, Cheryl Rance, said.

Ms. Naylors novels addressed social issues including poverty, racism, sexism and gay rights, usually through intricately drawn black female characters.

The Women of Brewster Place (1982) presented seven interlocking narratives, each centered on a different woman living in a decrepit housing project. The women struggle together against an indifferent and hostile world, surviving in the face of rape, homophobia and a childs death.

Just as she went to reach for the girls hand, she stopped as if a muscle spasm had overtaken her body and, cowardly, shrank back, Ms. Naylor wrote of a neighbor trying to comfort the dead childs mother. Reminiscences of old, dried-over pains were no consolation in the face of this. They had the effect of cold beads of water on a hot iron  they danced and fizzled up while the room stank from their steam.
Not paying taxes makes me smart, Donald J. Trump said last week. His surrogates called him a genius for his recently revealed tax avoidance strategies.

Well, if they are right, the executives running corporate America are absolute virtuosos.

An exhaustive study being released on Tuesday by a group of researchers shows in detail how Fortune 500 companies have managed to shelter trillions of dollars in profits offshore from being taxed. Mr. Trumps efforts pale by comparison. Worse, the companies have managed to hide many of their tax havens completely, in many cases reporting different numbers to different government agencies to obfuscate exactly how theyve avoided Uncle Sam.

And, yes, it is all legal.

The immediate response from many readers may be ire for the companies avoiding taxes  or for Mr. Trump. But thats not the goal of this particular column. In this case, that kind of thinking may even be counterproductive.

Instead, the study  which notes that 58 Fortune 500 companies would owe $212 billion in additional federal taxes, equal to the entire state budgets of California, Virginia and Indiana combined, if they were taxed properly  should be a five-alarm call to voters and lawmakers to finally fix the tax system. If all the attention on Mr. Trumps tax bill (or lack of one) isnt enough to inspire a complete rewrite of the tax code, this study may be.
In the United States, there were 10.6 road fatalities per 100,000 population of all ages in 2013, the W.H.O. said, compared with 19.0 in Guatemala and 26.2 in Ghana.

And while the number of American students who die in vehicle accidents abroad is not tracked, the State Department says road crashes are the top killer of healthy Americans of all ages who travel abroad. The total is about 750 deaths in the last three years.

Travelers may know that the environment may be different in foreign countries, but they do not realize how different, said Will Cocks, of the State Departments Bureau of Consular Affairs.

Ms. Nuths father says such differences were a factor in her death. Whats most upsetting for me is Im pretty sure that if the bus had had seatbelts, she would have been wearing one, he said. She always wore a seatbelt.

He said American Embassy staff in Guatemala City told him that private companies often buy small tourist buses and minivans with seatbelts but later install an extra row of seats and remove the unmatched belts. Effectively, Mr. Nuth said, all those companies are compromising passenger safety for profit.

Administrators recognize that young Americans abroad are vulnerable. Many young adults feel invincible, so they tend to be carefree travelers, said Gary Rhodes, associate dean and director of the Center for Global Education at California State University at Dominguez Hills.
Terrorism, infectious disease, crime and plane accidents are typical worries when students travel abroad. But road crashes are the biggest threat by far.

Safety specialists recommend that students and parents conduct research before any trip and that students practice good safety habits while abroad.

Learn about the local road culture. The United States Department of State (with a special section for students) and the Association for Safe International Road Travel provide country-specific safety information, including detailed road conditions, dangerous highways to avoid and the safest mode of transportation.

A 2015 global report by the World Health Organization on road-traffic safety has country-by-country profiles and an interactive map that are worth consulting before you travel and include data on traffic deaths per 100,000 population.
What to expect from Paris Fashion Week, Day 8. Here, a look at past collections.

Credit... Top left and bottom right, Landon Nordeman for The New York Times; top right, Patrick Kovarik/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images; bottom left, Firstview
The New York Police Department once seemed poised to be an early adopter of body cameras. A federal judge thought the technology could curb unwarranted stops and searches of black and Hispanic men. So in 2013, after finding the departments stop-and-frisk practices unconstitutional, the judge ordered that a pilot program be established in at least five precincts.

Three years later, not one of the departments approximately 35,800 officers is wearing a body camera, even as the devices have become a staple for officers elsewhere.

The Police Department says it is committed to outfitting officers with body cameras, and on Monday said that a company had been chosen to supply up to 5,000 over the next five years. But a contract has yet to be signed, and a rollout of the cameras would not begin for months.

The halting pace of its effort is striking for an agency that has pledged to make itself a model of technology-driven policing and a leader in improving police-community relations.
Its safe to say Tuesdays vice-presidential debate wont rival the Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump rumble for great television moments. It features two middle-aged, white, Midwest-raised politicians who call themselves boring (Tim Kaine) and B-list (Mike Pence). And running mates play an even smaller role than usual in 2016, given the outsized personalities at the top of the tickets. But if these two men are willing to seriously engage the issues (and the rest of us are willing to stay awake), they could provide useful insights into their sharply contrasting plans for the future.

Such an exchange would be particularly illuminating on the Republican side.

Even to many in his own party, Mr. Pence, a former congressman and the sitting Indiana governor, struck a Faustian bargain by joining the Trump ticket. But he has tried to articulate a different set of principles, in contrast to dead-enders like Rudolph Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie. If Mr. Trump loses, Mr. Pence will likely be part of a rump of Republican leaders left to pick up the pieces and focus the party in a more positive direction.

Left largely on his own while the Trump inner circle fights fires (and each other), Mr. Pence has been trying to reassure conservatives and evangelicals that hell represent them. A social conservative, his anti-abortion, anti-gay stances are deeply at odds with many Americans views. At the same time, he has rejected Mr. Trumps attacks on the family of an American Muslim soldier killed in Iraq, and distanced himself from Mr. Trumps birther campaign.

Though he says hes against Obamacare, as governor he backed the Medicaid expansion that was central to it. He has waffled on the legal fate of 11 million undocumented immigrants, but he has not come out in favor of deporting them. He can legitimately claim firsthand experience and some successes confronting the hollowing-out of the American manufacturing economy. Mr. Pence may in fact be in a better position than Mr. Trump to reinforce the tickets appeal to working-class voters, given Mr. Trumps recent preoccupation with personal attacks and bizarre tweets.
KAKHIN BIMILE, Bangladesh  Kismat Ali is a 33-year-old mason living in Kakhin Bimile, a village a few hours drive from Dhaka, Bangladeshs crowded capital. He lives in a large brick home on a dirt road with his wife, son, parents and five brothers. This semirural area is off the main electrical grid, so residents rely on kerosene lamps and electricity from wires strung across the village to a noisy privately owned diesel generator. It runs about five hours each night.

But Mr. Ali has a new source of electricity he can turn to: solar panels on his corrugated metal roof. In his home, he flicks a light switch and a bare bulb glows from the ceiling. Mr. Ali proudly switches on a fan that stirs the stultifying summer air. He says he wants to have a television one day, but is waiting for an LED TV that would consume less energy than models available now.

Solar energy is reliable, clean and cheaper in the long run than kerosene and the villages generator. It costs about 3,000 taka ($38) a month for the diesel generator to light a three-room house. But for the solar equipment, Mr. Ali pays 1,355 taka ($17) in monthly installments after a down payment of 6,500 taka ($83) on a loan he expects to pay off within two years.

In rural Bangladesh, especially the coastal southwest, it is common to see tiny solar panels embedded even in humble thatch-roofed huts. This is mostly the work of Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Idcol), a government-backed Bangladeshi energy and infrastructure group that claims more than 90 percent of the countrys booming home solar market.
For more than a year, Donald Trump has said his genius as a businessman makes him uniquely qualified to fix the countrys problems. We can dispense with that fiction now that we know that he claimed a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns. Such a mammoth loss amounts to an epic failure, not runaway success.

It is not clear how Mr. Trump racked up this gigantic loss, worth about $1.4 billion in todays dollars, because he refuses to release his tax returns. It probably had something to do with disastrous business ventures like his bankrupted Atlantic City casinos and the ill-fated acquisition of the Plaza Hotel.

What we do know is that this loss, reported by The Times this weekend, could be used to cancel out taxable income from other sources for up to 18 years, and therefore allow Mr. Trump to get out of paying federal and state taxes. Without more information, we cant know if he paid nothing in income taxes for nearly two decades, but neither he nor his campaign have denied that he did this.
While the deal was hailed abroad, many Colombians thought the government of President Juan Manuel Santos had offered too many concessions to a weakened insurgency that is widely loathed. Some questioned whether the FARC would simply morph into small criminal organizations that would continue to play a role in the drug trade and extortion rackets.

Mr. Santos, who appeared shocked at the referendum result on Sunday, said the cease-fire with the FARC, which has held for more than a year, would remain in place. He said he would convene all political groups, including the opponents of the deal, to discuss how to move forward. I will continue to seek peace until the last minute of my time in office, he said in a televised address, because that is the path to leaving a better nation for our children. In a statement, the FARC said, We know that our challenge as a political movement is even bigger and will require more strength in order to build a stable and durable peace. Under the deals terms, the group had agreed to abandon its camps and hand over its weapons to the United Nations.

The challenges to getting the process back on track are formidable. Mr. Santoss predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, the chief critic of the deal, argued that it offered amnesty to war criminals. The deal would grant amnesty to most rank-and-file fighters while fighters who admitted to grave crimes before a special tribunal would be required to perform community service and be subject to restrictions of movement for a number of years. They would not, however, face jail time.

Critics also objected to the guarantee of legislative seats to FARC leaders in the 2018 election for a four-year term as a way to help them make the transition from armed group to political party.
You dont learn much from tax returns, Donald J. Trump said last week in the first presidential debate. That line may become as famous a gaffe as Gerald Fords claiming in a 1976 debate that Eastern Europe wasnt under Soviet domination.

Mr. Trumps 1995 tax return, portions of which were published over the weekend by The New York Times, shows that he had such huge losses in the early 1990s that, thanks to incredibly favorable tax laws, he could have potentially avoided paying federal taxes for up to 18 years. We dont know how much tax he did avoid, since Mr. Trump wont release his other returns, and there is no law requiring him to.

Mr. Trump isnt the only candidate who says well just have to trust him. Across the country, there are laws that restrict access to information about public officials financial holdings and connections. The result is a veil of secrecy that shields government officials from public scrutiny of potential conflicts of interests and self-dealing.

Mr. Trump did file a mandatory financial disclosure form with the Federal Election Commission that showed he earned at least $615 million in income in 2015. But as Hillary Clinton, who did release her tax returns, argued in the debate, the disclosure forms dont give you the tax rate. They dont give you all the details that tax returns would.
But as for the legality of publishing the tax returns  which Mr. Trumps campaign has claimed were illegally obtained  Mr. Barstow says they were confident of their legal footing. I lost zero sleep over that, Mr. Barstow says. And I believe that our lawyer lost zero sleep.

In the episode, I also speak with Stuart Stevens, the chief strategist to Mitt Romney, about why the 2012 Republican nominee was so reluctant to release his tax returns. Looking back, Mr. Stevens acknowledges that Mr. Romney could have  and perhaps should have  disclosed more.

Finally, I talk to my Times colleague, Alex Burns, about how the latest tax revelations are reshaping the last few weeks of the presidential campaign  and rattling Mr. Trump, whose behavior has grown more erratic over the past few days on the campaign trail.

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This he proceeded to do with remarkable success, often reversing the one-way creative flow from Broadway to Los Angeles. Plays that were developed at the Taper or had their premieres there include In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, The Shadow Box, Children of a Lesser God and Tony Kushners Angels in America. All transferred to the Broadway stage to great acclaim, often with Mr. Davidson directing.

In 1977 he received a Tony Award for directing The Shadow Box, Michael Cristofers play about three groups of people facing death at a large hospital. That same year, the Taper was honored with a Tony for best regional theater.

I believe it must be the job of theater to take hard looks at life, at issues people dont always want to confront, Mr. Davidson told The New York Times in 1979. They will listen to what is said to them from a stage. That is the power of theater. I respect it. I am in awe of it.

Gordon Davidson was born on May 7, 1933, in Brooklyn. His father, Joseph, was a well-known speech and drama teacher at Brooklyn College whose students included the humorist and television host Sam Levenson, the actor Alfred Drake and the film director Paul Mazursky. His mother, the former Alice Gordon, gave up a career as a concert pianist to raise her children.

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, where he was class valedictorian, Mr. Davidson enrolled as an electrical engineering student at Cornell. He switched his major to drama before graduating with a bachelors degree in 1956. A year later he earned a masters degree in directing for the theater from what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
 Mr. Kaine unleashed a blistering attack on Mr. Trumps trail of contentious comments during the campaign, ticking off his remarks about Mexicans, women, African-Americans, an Indiana-born judge with Mexican heritage and Senator John McCain of Arizona. I just want to talk about the tone thats set from the top, Mr. Kaine said. Mr. Pence said his running mates statements were small potatoes compared to Mrs. Clintons remark last month that half of Mr. Trumps supporters fit into a basket of deplorables. Mr. Kaine replied that Mrs. Clinton had apologized for her remark  though, as Mr. Pence pointed out, her apology focused on the half, not the descriptor. Mr. Trump, Mr. Kaine said, has refused to apologize for any of his comments.

 Mr. Kaine condemned Mr. Trumps foreign policy credentials, saying that the Republican nominee cant start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot. Mr. Pence suggested that Mr. Kaine sounded rehearsed. Did you work on that one a long time? he asked. Mr. Pence said that America was less safe today than it was when Mr. Obama took office.

 Sparring over refugee policies, Mr. Pence and Mr. Kaine fiercely defended their running mates approaches, with Mr. Pence arguing that Mrs. Clinton would expose the country to heightened risks. Mr. Kaine framed it another way: We want to keep people out if theyre dangerous, he said. Donald Trump said, keep them out if theyre Muslim.

 Mr. Pence, seizing on recent comments from Bill Clinton that appeared to be critical of the Affordable Care Act, said that even former President Bill Clinton calls Obamacare a crazy plan. (Mrs. Clintons team has moved this week to clarify his remarks, with her husband saying that he always supported the measure and still does.) Mr. Kaine did not immediately respond to the remark, setting off on an answer about Mrs. Clintons own economic plans.

 After Mr. Kaine mentioned Mr. Trumps frequent praise of Vladimir Putin and the Trump campaigns shadowy connections with pro-Putin forces, Mr. Pence blamed the Obama administrations weak and feckless foreign policy for Russian aggression. Theres an old proverb, Mr. Pence said, that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates.

 Mr. Kaine, turning repeatedly to Mr. Trumps tax avoidance, sought to frame the issue as a matter of national security importance. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Kaine said, young men and women signed up to serve in the military to fight terrorism and Mrs. Clinton fought for constituents as a New York senator. Donald Trump was fighting a very different fight, he said: skirting tax payments that might have boosted American defenses.
Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the rebels had made concessions, too, including dropping longstanding demands for radical land and economic reforms as a condition for peace. They also agreed to a six-month timetable to abandon arms, despite concerns that they might be hunted by paramilitary groups.

In the FARCs view, they gave up a lot of ground, Mr. Isacson said.

Pollsters struggled to explain why the result had defied the forecasts. Cesar Valderrama, the director of Datexco, who had predicted a double-digit win for the agreement, said the no vote had risen in reaction to the celebratory signing ceremony that took place before Colombians went to the polls, an act of political stagecraft that apparently backfired on the government.

Many yes supporters also believed the referendum was coasting to victory, so they did not feel the need to vote, Mr. Valderrama said.

They already felt like winners, and as winners, it wasnt necessary to vote, he said.

Even those who backed the no campaign said they were stunned by the result.

I always said that the difference wasnt going to be much, but I never thought we were going to win, said Santiago Valencia Gonzalez, a right-wing Colombian congressman representing the northern Antioquia region, which voted against the agreement.

Mr. Valencia said the Colombian right would begin pressuring the government to pursue peace on new terms. I think its a great opportunity for Santos to listen to us, he said in an interview in Medellin.

Some who voted for the deal said they liked the idea of peace a lot better than the specifics of the agreement. Jose Barbosa, the owner of a bakery in northern Bogota, recalled fleeing a region of central Colombia because his neighbors sons were being recruited by rebels and he feared that the same would happen to his children.
RIO DE JANEIRO  It was not a banner day for Latin Americas leftists.

Colombia rejected a peace deal with Marxist rebels on Sunday, delivering a very public victory to the conservative former president who campaigned passionately against it. On the same day, voters in Brazil handed a resounding defeat to the leftist party that once controlled their country, knocking it down in municipal elections.

It was just another sign of the shift to the right in Latin America. In less than a year, voters have thwarted the leftist movement in Argentina and elected a former investment banker as president of Peru, while lawmakers impeached the leftist leader of Brazil.

Put simply, conservatives are on the rise in Latin America, said Matias Spektor, a professor of international relations at Fundacao Getulio Vargas, a university in Brazil.

Many factors are feeding the trend. The sharp drop in commodities prices has eroded economic growth around Latin America and the support leftist governments once drew from it. The clout of evangelical Christian megachurches is expanding, and they are confronting socially liberal policies and channeling widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo.
PARIS  It is not too hard to explain the love affair between the Kremlin and the National Front, the far-right party in France. They share positions on a wide range of issues  national sovereignty (for), the European Union (against), Russias annexation of Crimea (for) and an American role in Europe (against).

There is also the noteworthy fact that the National Front received a 9 million euro loan, about $10.1 million at current exchange rates, in 2014 from the Moscow-based First Czech Russian Bank, now defunct, which had ties to the Russian elite.

That makes for a cozy relationship, not unlike the Kremlins rapport with other far-right groups across Europe.

More difficult to explain is the infatuation among members of Frances mainstream conservative party not just with Russia, but specifically with its leader, Vladimir V. Putin.
Jason Rezaian, The Washington Posts former bureau chief in Tehran whose 544-day imprisonment in Iran during the nuclear negotiations aggravated tense relations with the United States, filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Iranian government, accusing it of hostage-taking, torture and terrorism.

The 68-page lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, contained many previously undisclosed details of Mr. Rezaians travails in the Iranian penal system, including a 50-pound weight loss, thoughts of suicide and threats by his captors to dismember him and his wife, and throw him off a cliff.

The suit, which also lists his family as plaintiffs, essentially accused the Iranian authorities of having used Mr. Rezaian as leverage in the nuclear negotiations because they regarded him as a high-value prisoner who could be swapped for something they wanted.

It is at least the second federal lawsuit against Iran filed by Americans who were released by the Tehran government when the nuclear agreement took effect in January. The pact relaxed some sanctions on Iran in exchange for reduced nuclear activities.
Anne Nguyen is a French b-girl and choreographer. In her home country, shes gained a reputation for rethinking the conventions of hip-hop dance and how the form might best be transferred from street to stage. Shes hardly the first choreographer to address these issues, but over the past two weeks, the Crossing the Line Festival offered New Yorkers their first chance to see what new ideas Ms. Nguyen might have  both on the street and on the stage.

First came the street test  in the Bronx, no less. Next to the construction site for the future Roberto Clemente Plaza, on a Friday afternoon, some 20 hip-hop dancers assembled on the asphalt. They arranged themselves into the circles that they call cyphers and took turns in the middle, showing off specialty moves or playfully responding to another dancers challenge. Every once in a while, they all synced up into a short shared routine, but even those moments could have been spontaneous outbreaks at a block party. Except that this wasnt quite a block party.

It was a kind of performance, called Graphic Cyphers, presented in collaboration with the Bronx organization Dancing in the Streets. Ms. Nguyens idea was to open the cypher. Normally, if youre not part of a cypher, youre closed off from the action, outside the circle. But here, during the periodic routines, the dancers turned outward, addressing the crowd with gestures of welcome. They invited the public into the center, to dance or watch or take photos with their phones.
Monroe and Mr. Barris had been friends for almost a decade, having met in New York in 1954 on the set of The Seven Year Itch, in which she starred with Tom Ewell. The story he always told was that he was discreetly photographing her derriere while she was leaning out a window. When she caught him, she cheerfully said, Ill take a dozen of those.

Monroe telephoned him two days before her death, he told The Los Angeles Daily News in 2012.

She called me on Friday, and I was in New York, and she wanted to know if I could come to see her that weekend and that it was urgent, he recalled. But he had plans to see his family that weekend, so he begged off and promised to visit her on Monday instead. Her body was found by her housekeeper early Sunday morning.

Mr. Barris told numerous interviewers over the years that he did not believe that Monroes death was a suicide. Caroline Barris said on Monday that he never shared whatever he knew about the death, not even with his family. A lot of things he kept secret, she added.

George Barris was born on June 14, 1922, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He was the youngest of nine children of Joseph and Eva Barris, immigrants from Romania, who lived on Delancey Street but soon moved to the Bronx. According to Mr. Barriss website, George was 6 when his brother Willie gave him a box camera; his fascination with photography was born.

Image George Barris at a memorial service in 2012, on the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroes death. Credit... Krista Kennell/Reuters

Mr. Barris served in the Army during World War II, working as a photographer. One of his last assignments was to cover Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhowers homecoming victory parade in New York in June 1945.
Mr. Gatti said in an interview that he did not understand the strong reactions.

I wasnt going after a woman, I was going after a mystery, he said. I would like to ask the people who didnt want to know, Explain what work of art in the history of art has been ruined or damaged by knowing who the artist is? I can name many, many cases where the art is enhanced.

Hugh Eakin, editor of The New York Reviews blog, which published the English-language version of Mr. Gattis report, said the occasion for the piece was the forthcoming English-language release of an expanded version of a book of Ms. Ferrantes nonfiction writings, in which the author says she grew up in Naples as the daughter of a seamstress.

Now that an expanded version is about to be published in English, it seemed there was a legitimate occasion to inquire about the relation between the book and its author, Mr. Eakin wrote.

Ms. Raja was born in Naples, but grew up in Rome, the daughter of an Italian father and, as Mr. Gatti said in a deeply reported sidebar, a Polish Jewish mother who fled Nazi Germany for Italy. Ms. Rajas husband, the novelist Domenico Starnone, has said in interviews that he grew up in Naples and that his mother was a seamstress. He has spent years saying that he is not Ms. Ferrante. Ms. Raja has also denied authorship of Ms. Ferrantes books.

Mr. Eakin added of Mr. Gattis reporting, Though it amasses considerable evidence its also worth noting the article does not make a conclusive statement.

(Mr. Gatti had approached The New York Times several weeks ago about possibly publishing his research, but the newspaper decided not to pursue the arrangement, which would have involved coordinating with multiple journalistic partners.)

Over the years, there have been other attempts to unmask authors, such as Joe Klein, who wrote Primary Colors, a roman a clef about Bill Clintons 1992 campaign, or Anne Desclos, who used a pseudonym when she wrote the 1954 erotic classic The Story of O. But the effort to unveil Ms. Ferrante seemed to hit a deeper chord, perhaps because she has said in interviews that anonymity was crucial to her writing process.
What do you do if you are IBM, supposedly one of the most reliable of blue-chip companies, and you want to acquire another company that is, shall we say, a little more ethically and morally challenged? You convince everyone that the new acquisition will allow IBM to advance the practical applications of the supercomputer named Watson, its mysterious and envelope-pushing entry into the exploding world of artificial intelligence.

That is the impression conveyed last week with IBMs announcement it would acquire the Promontory Group, a consulting firm made up of scores of former Washington financial regulators, for an undisclosed amount. Added to IBMs suite of consulting services, Promontory is somehow going to put Watson in a position to help financial institutions grapple with the millions of pages of new financial regulations its many executives put in place during their former careers as regulators in Washington.

According to an IBM news release, more than 20,000 new regulations were created in 2015 alone, and the complete catalog will exceed 300 million pages by 2020, rapidly outstripping the capacity of humans to keep up. IBM estimated that complying with these regulations costs financial institutions $270 billion a year. This is a workload ideally suited for Watsons cognitive capabilities intended to allow financial institutions to absorb the regulatory changes, understand their obligations, and close gaps in systems and practices to address compliance requirements more quickly and efficiently, IBM wrote.

Other than defeating Jeopardy champions, what Watson can do is not exactly obvious to the layman, but I am willing to give IBM the benefit of the doubt that Watson can do something or other to help big banks deal with their extraordinary regulatory requirements.
The case to be heard on Wednesday, Bassam Yacoub Salman v. United States, is similar to the issue in the Newman case  Mr. Salman was convicted of trading on confidential information that he received from an intermediary who got it from an insider. Mr. Salman apparently did not know or speak with this insider or know if the insider had received any benefit. Among Wall Street cognoscenti, interest in the Salman case is high as shown by supporting briefs filed by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Cato Institute and the businessman Mark Cuban, who won his own six-year battle over civil insider trading charges. Mr. Cubans lawyers argue in his brief that no one should be prosecuted for conduct that Congress is either unwilling or unable to define.

Having studied a number of these cases in some detail, and having participated in numerous legal panel discussions over the years, I will be surprised if Mr. Salman loses his appeal. The tell is the courts willingness to let stand the reversal of Mr. Newmans and Mr. Chiassons convictions and its willingness to hear a similar case with only eight justices. I doubt the court would take Mr. Salmans case if there was a chance of another tie or a decision inconsistent with the appeals court decision in the Newman case. Tha ruling said that to be convicted, a trader must know that a benefit of pecuniary or similarly valuable nature had passed between tippers and recipients, known as tippees.

For more than 40 years, the S.E.C. and the Justice Department have frequently overreached in their zeal to impose on noninsiders the same obligations as true insiders  officers and directors, lawyers, investment bankers and journalists  who steal confidential information from their employers or defraud their customers. The governments rationale is the need to protect the publics confidence in the markets and maintain a level playing field. Both are absurd notions.

Inside information is to Wall Street what blood is to a vampire  the essence of its existence. Every trader at every hedge fund and on every trading desk at every Wall Street firm knows where the bright line is between legal and illegal trading. They also know how to finesse that line. As the author Michael Lewis pointed out in his book The Big Short, to cheat someone in the stock market, you really had to work at it. Bond traders could exploit inside information without worrying that they would be caught.

The idea that the securities markets should be level is fairy-tale morality in a business where traders earn obscene bonuses for finessing that line and customers are referred to as muppets. I suspect that the sum of all the money made by people accused of insider trading would constitute a fraction of the profits made on the trading desks of big Wall Street banks based on knowledge unavailable to the rest of us.
If they succeed, from next year to 2030 they will have added a cumulative total of at least 620 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air, according to calculations by the Partnership for Public Integrity, an energy policy analysis group, based on a model used by the governments Energy Information Administration to assess the impact of the Clean Power Plan.

That amounts to 48 million additional tons of carbon dioxide a year, on average, about three-quarters of what was produced by forest fires in the lower 48 states in 2013. It makes for a big hole in a plan that is supposed to cut annual emissions from the power sector by some 250 million tons between now and 2030.

The proposal not to count carbon from biomass is the work of Maines two senators  Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent  who introduced it into the Senate version of the energy bill passed earlier this year. It has broad support, and passed by a unanimous voice vote, according to those speaking for the chairman and ranking member of the Senates energy committee.

The Senate has strongly supported the benefits that biomass utilization can have, including instances in which it is a carbon-neutral source of energy, they wrote in a statement. Conversations about the amendment are expected to continue among the bill conferees, the amendment sponsors and other congressional colleagues as the energy bill moves through the conference process.

While it is hard to handicap its chances, the biomass proposal could become law within weeks. Members of Congress are now working to reconcile the Senates bill with the one that passed in the House, which does not include this provision. Even if it fails to make it through, similar language has been attached to appropriations bills for the Interior Department, passed by both chambers and now undergoing reconciliation.
PARIS  I cannot believe what a fabulous front row is here, Alber Elbaz, the former artistic director of Lanvin, said on Monday as he drew some of the biggest names in the industry to a gilded room in the Palais Royal. Here I am, inviting you to a show with no dresses. It was difficult, but dont you find it original?

They had gathered  the heads of Vogue, W and Harpers Bazaar, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, fellow designers, former colleagues and a few famous fans, including Demi Moore and Kristin Scott Thomas  to see Mr. Elbaz appointed an officer of the Legion dHonneur. It was an elevation of his rank; he had been made a chevalier in 2007.

I think hes part of French culture, said Pierpaolo Piccioli, the creative director of Valentino. Hes contributed to the joyfulness of French fashion.
PARIS  Brionis brief experiment with radical reinvention has ended. Justin OShea, the former buying director and rebel in a pinstripe suit who was hired with great fanfare by Brioni in March to become its creative director  despite having no design experience  has left the Italian mens wear brand after just six months, the company confirmed on Tuesday.

The fall 2017 collection will not be shown on the runway; instead, it will be presented to buyers at the brands Milan showroom from mid-November, a Brioni spokesman said.

Mr. OShea, 37, is the bearded and heavily tattooed former fashion director of the German e-commerce giant MyTheresa, who commands an avid street style following. He had unveiled his debut designs for the house to just 95 guests during Paris Couture Week in July.
NEWARK  The man who has admitted orchestrating the mysterious lane closings at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 testified on Tuesday that he was told that Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York had agreed to falsely explain the closings as part of a traffic study to try to put an end to a growing scandal surrounding them.

The confessed culprit, David Wildstein, testified that he had heard from two top Christie appointees at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, that the governors had hoped to stop the catastrophic traffic jams caused by the lane closings from hurting Mr. Christies re-election campaign.

Mr. Wildstein, who is cooperating with federal prosecutors in the trial of two former Christie aides accused of approving and directing the lane-closing scheme, agreed that Mr. Cuomo had told the Port Authoritys executive director to stand down from trying to publicly blame Mr. Christie and his aides for the closings, at least until Mr. Christie had won re-election in November 2013.

A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo issued a statement sternly denying that the governor and Mr. Christie had discussed a false story and denouncing Mr. Wildsteins motivations.
Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, said on Tuesday that he had recently learned he has cancer and would take a sick leave.

Mr. Thompson said in a statement that his chief assistant, Eric Gonzalez, would take over as interim district attorney during the absences occasioned his treatment and recovery.

As a man of intense faith, I intend to fight and win the battle against this disease, Mr. Thompson said. I humbly seek your sincere prayers as I confront this challenge and respectfully ask that you honor my familys need and wish for privacy during this time.

Mr. Thompson has been absent from his office for about two months, and had received the cancer diagnosis around August, according to colleagues who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Neither his spokesmen nor several of his friends would disclose what type of cancer Mr. Thompson has.
From a cone-shaped mold used in sugar refining to an oversize oyster, a 7,000-year-old spear tip to a 19th-century Transferware teapot and a bone from a passenger pigeon, which was once the most abundant bird in North America but was declared extinct in 1914, New York City has cataloged and digitized a vast archive of its buried past.

On Wednesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission is opening the Nan A. Rothschild Research Center, which the commission says is the first municipal archive devoted to a citys own archaeological collection, a repository in Midtown Manhattan of more than one million artifacts open to researchers and scholars by appointment. A digital archive is already available.

In many cases, the objects are portals of discovery into the citys history, opening hidden doors to untold stories that began  or, perhaps, ended  with a childs broken teacup abandoned in Battery Park or a glass seal that identified a wine bottle waiting to be refilled at a local tavern with a familys favorite vintage.

Were curating what scholars may want to study and what may be exhibited, said Amanda Sutphin, the commissions director of archaeology.
We are a big family, Fabrizio Govi, a consultant for PRPH, said. We have quick channels through which we can communicate to each other. This is the first big mistake. The second is you steal books from a gallery from the Upper East Side with cameras? And you give your name to the people who work there? This is to me, it looks very weird.

Mr. Hundiashvili, who confirmed he was the person the Police Department identified on Twitter, said there had to be some misunderstanding. If I had ill intentions of doing anything to this company, would I provide them with my real name, my phone number, my email? he said. Obviously there is video footage of me all over that store, all over that building and whatnot. Why would I do that?

Images of Mr. Hundiashvili were posted in September to the Twitter account of the 19th Precinct, which covers the Upper East Side, with a request to the public for tips on his whereabouts. The Police Department declined to explain why the bulletin was issued since the store says it is aware of Mr. Hundiashvilis identity. Shortly after a reporter contacted the police, a bookshop employee said workers were told by the police not to share the video footage.

The two books stolen were a humanist text valued at $15,509 and palm reading text worth $4,900. Most books in the gallery are stored in cases, but these two pocket-size volumes were on display in a sculptural bookcase that is also for sale. Shortly after the theft, a man resembling the person seen in the video entered an antiquarian bookstore a few blocks away and tried to sell the two books, claiming that he had stumbled upon them. Suspicious of their provenance, the bookseller refused, according to Mr. Govi, who spoke with the other shopkeeper.
So when in September the Russian justice ministry declared the Levada Center a foreign agent, Mr. Gudkov was not surprised. He had been warning about a dark turn in Russian politics longer than anyone else had.

As far back as 1994, he and his colleagues at what was then the Russian Public Opinion Research Center were challenging the narrative of a smooth transition from the Soviet system to a democratic one. By the early 2000s, Mr. Gudkov was writing about the need to revisit the concept of totalitarianism, which Kremlinologists had long retired: He thought that Russia was beginning to show symptoms of the old disease.

Totalitarian regimes have a conflicted relationship with sociology. On the one hand, they have no elections or free media from which to learn about the public mood, so they need sociologists even more than democratic governments do. On the other hand, their fear of information is directly proportional to their need for it. They fear that sociologists, if allowed to work freely, will obtain knowledge about the vulnerabilities of the regime. An ideal totalitarian regime would find a way to obtain sociological data without the sociologists.

This push-pull relationship with sociology kept playing out throughout the Soviet period. For decades, sociology was effectively a banned discipline. Even Karl Marx, in official Soviet scholarship, was stripped of his sociological credentials, retaining the title only of founder of scientific communism, teacher and leader of the international proletariat. But starting in the 1950s, a little bit of sociology was allowed, under the auspices of philosophy  Marxist philosophy, of course.

Mr. Gudkov first encountered sociology in the late 1960s, when he was a journalism student at Moscow State University. He signed up for an elective taught by Yuri Levada, a pioneering Soviet sociologist. Mr. Gudkov fell in love with the discipline and began begging Mr. Levada for a job.
Americans are deeply divided on the causes, cures and urgency of climate change, and party identification is one of the strongest predictors of individual views, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

Just over a third of Americans say they care a great deal about climate change. Among them, 72 percent are Democrats and 24 percent are Republicans; both numbers include independents who say they generally lean toward one party.

On other questions on climate change, Americans remain starkly divided: Nearly seven of 10 Democrats believe climate change is mainly a result of human activity; fewer than a quarter of Republicans believe that. A similarly worded question that appeared on surveys from 2006 to 2015 found comparable gaps on the perceived causes of climate change.

According to some scientists who study public perceptions of climate change, the United States is unusual in its relatively low level of public interest and engagement. In a poll conducted last year, around the time that world leaders gathered in Paris to negotiate a climate agreement, Pew found that among the 40 countries surveyed, a median of 54 percent of people considered climate change a serious problem. Among Americans, the figure was 45 percent, that poll found.
Three physicists born in Britain but now working in the United States were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for research into the bizarre properties of matter in extreme states, including superconductors, superfluids and thin magnetic films.

David J. Thouless of the University of Washington was awarded half of the prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or about $930,000, while F. Duncan M. Haldane of Princeton University and J. Michael Kosterlitz of Brown University shared the other half.

The scientists relied on advanced mathematical models to study theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter, in the words of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

Their studies may have major applications in electronics, materials science and computing. In an email, Michael S. Turner, a physicist at the University of Chicago, described the work as truly transformational, with long-term consequences both practical and fundamental.
The documents made public show that the government asked Open Whisper Systems to turn over data associated with two telephone numbers, including web browsing histories and data stored in the tracking cookies of the web browsers attached to those accounts. But one of Signals biggest draws is that it does not collect most of that information.

The Signal service was designed to minimize the data we retain, said Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of Open Whisper Systems. Mr. Marlinspike said Signal uses a technology called end-to-end encryption that kept the service from gaining access to the contents of its users messages. The company also does not store information on those with whom its users are communicating.

Civil liberties lawyers argue the Justice Department request fell well outside the bounds of what is typically covered by a subpoena, including basic subscriber information. Additional information, such as computer logs or content, would require a search warrant under the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

The Justice Department is pushing the envelope, said Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society. Big companies like Apple and Microsoft have the wherewithal to push back, she said. But smaller companies may cave, rather than risk an expensive fight.

The Justice Department came to Open Whisper Systems with a menu of information needs, including subscriber details, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and method of payment. The request went on to demand information on internet addresses, browsers and internet providers that the account holders could have used, according to court records.

One of the phone numbers the government was investigating was not a Signal user after all. For the other phone number, Open Whisper Systems turned over the only pieces of data it could: the time the users account had been created and the last time it had connected to the service  far less than the government sought.

In other circumstances, the government has tried to force companies via court order to re-engineer their services to collect missing pieces of information, as it did with Apple earlier this year and in a similar case in 2013 against Lavabit, a small encrypted messaging service used by the former defense contractor Edward J. Snowden.
For Ms. Shindle, the journey is not as odd as it might seem. As Miss America, in 1998, her cause was AIDS activism, and she used the visibility that came with her stature to champion disease prevention through safe sex and needle exchange programs. Now, by leading the cast of Fun Home, she is helping to introduce a musical about the sexual awakening of a lesbian, and the simultaneous unraveling of her gay father, to the nation.

The juggling is not without precedent  Actors Equity is administered, on a day-to-day basis, by a paid staff; the elected officials, like Ms. Shindle, are not paid, so, as she said, a girls got to make a living. Ms. Shindle, who was elected last year to a three-year term as president, and who this year led the union as it endorsed a presidential candidate (Hillary Clinton) for the first time, said she would participate in meetings by phone, fly back to New York as needed and continue to focus on priorities like gender parity and racial and ethnic diversity. Among the most pressing issues facing the union: Off Broadway actors are agitating for better pay, Broadway actors are looking to share in profits from shows they help develop, and Los Angeles actors are battling new union rules that affect the thriving small-theater scene there.

Ms. Shindle grew up in Moorestown, N.J., and found herself drawn to the stage in seventh grade, when she wrote a paper about theater. (It was a terrible paper, she said. I got a bad grade on it.) Undaunted, at her tiny Roman Catholic high school she took on multiple roles  in one production of Fiddler on the Roof, she played the violin in the pit while also performing as Fruma-Sarah.

She enrolled at Northwestern University to study theater, but was also competing in pageants, which were familiar to her because, when she was a child, her family had volunteered with the Miss America pageant.

During her junior year, she was chosen as Miss Illinois and then as Miss America, and she took a year off for her reign, during which she traveled the country talking about AIDS, a subject that had piqued her interest after a family friend, and two theater professors at Northwestern, died of the disease.
Antitrust law will probably never be the subject of breathless campaign coverage, at least not in this election year of a beauty queen and a leaked tax return. But it is one of the more powerful ways a president can shape the playing field of the United States economy.

Thats what makes Hillary Clintons new comments about corporate power and antitrust law important.

Her campaign has embraced an emerging line of thought in left-of-center economic circles: that a big part of what ails the United States economy are policies that have allowed the biggest companies to become too big and too powerful, resulting in less competition, less opportunity for entrepreneurship, and lower levels of investment and compensation for workers.

Notably, this is an area of economic policy in which the president has great leeway to act. If you want huge spending on public infrastructure or subsidies for college, Congress needs to agree; if you want more aggressive antitrust enforcement, you need only appoint the right people to key jobs at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

In a speech in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, Mrs. Clinton assailed recent bad behavior by major companies. (She mentioned Wells Fargo  which opened millions of bank accounts without customers permission  five times.) An accompanying fact sheet posted to her website outlined her priorities for antitrust law.
Residents of Flint, Mich., affected by the contaminated-water crisis have added a new complication to their lives: an outbreak of shigellosis, a bacterial illness that is easily transmitted when people do not wash their hands.

Health department officials in Genesee County, where Flint is the largest city, said there has been an increase in the gastrointestinal illness, which can lead to severe diarrhea, fever, nausea, vomiting, cramps and stools containing blood and mucus, according to a statement issued last month.

From the beginning of the year through the week ending Oct. 1, that county had 85 cases, the highest number in the state, according to the latest data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Neighboring Saginaw County was next, with 49 cases.
HAVERFORD, Pa.  The teenager leaned into the microphone, pausing for a beat. She had a question for Hillary Clinton, about her high school and Donald J. Trump.

At my school, body image is a really big issue for girls my age, began the girl, Brennan Leach, 15, who had a red bow in her hair. I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look.

How, she asked, could Mrs. Clinton help girls understand that they are so much more than just what they look like?

Briefly, Mrs. Clinton appeared ready to rocket out of her seat.

Thank you! the candidate shouted, as the crowd cheered Brennan. Thank you!
The comedy writer Owen Ellickson sent hundreds of tweets this summer as he pushed the boundaries of the years definitive comic genre: political parody, in miniature.

Mr. Ellickson, 38, who wrote for NBCs The Office and CBSs The King of Queens and currently works on NBCs Superstore, has turned his caricature of Donald J. Trump into imagined dialogues he calls Trump Leaks.

The scenes purport to be snippets of conversation among Mr. Trump and other well-known Republicans, including Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.
SAN FRANCISCO  One of the immigrants appearing before Judge Dana Marks in a crowded court here was a boat worker from the former Soviet Union who stared in silence as a prosecutor asked about his criminal history. Another was a mother who started praying after testifying that she had fled Honduras because her husband beat her. She sought divine rather than judicial intervention.

In all, 336 people from 13 countries and even more ethnic backgrounds appeared in San Franciscos immigration court recently over three days. All of them were facing possible deportation, because they were in the United States illegally or had committed crimes serious enough to jeopardize their legal presence as noncitizens. One challenge facing Judge Marks was deciding whether to deport some of them immediately after they had testified. Another challenge was her own biases.

You have to go through some hypotheticals in your brain, said Judge Marks, wrestling with the weighty decisions she must make, the little time she has to make them and all the impressions she and her judicial colleagues form from the bench about the immigrants before them.

Would I treat a young person the same way Im treating this old person? she said. Would I treat a black person the same way Im treating this white person? This situation of rush, rush, rush as fast as we can go, its not conducive to doing that.
The voters of the world have had quite a year: They rejected Colombias peace deal; split Britain from the European Union; endorsed a Thai Constitution that curtails democracy; and, in Hungary, backed the governments plan to restrict refugees, but without the necessary turnout for a valid result.

Each of these moves was determined by a national referendum. Though voters upended their governments plans, eroded their own rights and ignited political crises, they all accomplished one thing: They demonstrated why many political scientists consider referendums messy and dangerous.

When asked whether referendums were a good idea, Michael Marsh, a political scientist at Trinity College Dublin, said, The simple answer is almost never.

Ive watched many of these in Ireland, and they really range from the pointless to the dangerous, he added.
In the town of Kay Coq on the remote island of Ile-a-Vache, a fishing community of 2,000 people about six miles off the coast of Les Cayes, the hurricane left a scene of chaos.

Right now there is no more Kay Coq, said Carobert Altema, 58, a fisherman. Houses are down, people are screaming. We have no updates about which people are missing.

Mr. Altema said household belongings had been washed out to sea. At my age, this is the first time I have experienced something like this, he said.

Aid organizations in Haiti said rescue efforts were focused on evacuating people from houses threatened with collapse.

People have been leaving their homes under the full force of the storm to find shelters, said Jean-Claude Fignole, a program manager in Haiti for Oxfam, the international charity.

Mr. Fignole said the storm had hit Haiti just as farmers in the south were about to harvest plantains, a staple in their subsistence diet. There will be real hunger in the weeks ahead, he said.

Image Hurricane Matthew appeared to have largely spared Port-au-Prince, the capital, with few signs of the flooding elsewhere. Credit... Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

Other charitable groups doing work in Haiti also expressed alarm about the storms effect on food production in the country, which has been struggling to recover from a prolonged drought.

John Hasse, national director for World Vision Haiti, said that the storm destroyed avocado trees and that at least two communities had lost their entire banana crops.

We have gotten good rain this year. We were starting to see progress in malnutrition, he said, because families were able to prepare healthier food for their children. We think this is going to destroy a lot of it.

The National Hurricane Center had projected 15 to 25 inches of rain for southern Haiti and in the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic, warning that as much as 40 inches of rain might fall in some areas.

Some streets in Port-au-Prince flooded, and public transit was paralyzed. But by late afternoon, the storm appeared to have spared Port-au-Prince the worst of its wrath. Moderate rain was falling, residents reported, with no sign of the catastrophic flooding that was affecting areas farther south.

Although the sea level rose at the edge of Cite Soleil, the citys harbor slum, the water did not breach the central wharf. Residents in the most vulnerable part of the slum, a low-lying shantytown called Deye Chabon, piled logs and garbage into barricades that kept the water from spilling into the narrow streets.

Nonetheless, residents of Deye Chabon were keeping a wary eye on the sea. They say if it keeps rising, they will have to go find another place to be, said Sherby St. Louis, 16, a student.

Melanie Jean Pierre, 32, a street vendor, said she was riding out the storm in Port-au-Prince with her children. She said the only damage had come from a leak in the roof that soaked her bed.
KABUL, Afghanistan  Afghan officials said on Tuesday that their commando forces had reclaimed the main city square in Kunduz from the Taliban and were making gains elsewhere in the vital provincial capital, where the insurgents overran central neighborhoods on Monday.

Residents and local police officers reached by telephone said that clashes were continuing, with the insurgents focusing on the police headquarters and the governors compound.

Ahmad Javed Salim, a spokesman for the Afghan Army special forces in Kunduz, said a small team of American forces was on the ground near the governors compound to guide airstrikes if necessary.

They are not fighting the Taliban; they are here to manage the air support, Mr. Salim said. We asked the United States forces for air support, and now we and the U.S. forces are in the planning stage.
WASHINGTON  A member of the American military was killed in Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan on Tuesday while on a mission against Islamic State fighters, the Pentagon said.

Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said the service member had been killed by an improvised bomb that exploded during a foot patrol. Mr. Cook declined to identify the person or provide the branch of the military in which he or she served, pending notification of family.

He did say that this was a combat situation.

No other American or Afghan service members were killed in the explosion.

It was the third death of an American soldier in hostile fire in Afghanistan this year, as the United States military mission there has been reduced to a smaller advisory role.
MANILA  President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines complained on Tuesday that Washington was refusing to sell weapons to his government and said that President Obama can go to hell.

Mr. Duterte, who has been angered by Washingtons criticism of his deadly campaign against drug users, threatened to turn to China and Russia for weapons purchases.

Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department, Mr. Duterte said in a speech to local officials. So you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell.

Mr. Duterte, who took office on June 30, began a war on drugs that has claimed about 3,000 lives, the Philippine authorities say. Many of those killed were people suspected of dealing drugs who were gunned down by unknown assailants and left in the streets. The police say they have killed more than 1,200 drug sellers and users who resisted arrest.
HONG KONG  It began as a day at the races in Malaysia. But for a group of Australians who stripped down to briefs that featured Malaysias flag  including an aide to a cabinet minister, according to news reports  it ended in arrest.

The nine men, all in their 20s, were arrested on Sunday after celebrating an Australian drivers victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix by shedding their clothes to reveal the flag-themed budgie smugglers, as Australians call tight swimwear, according to news reports. They were still in custody on Tuesday.

We open our doors to tourists. We try to treat them as, you know, as well as we can, even sometimes better than our own people, Malaysias deputy home minister, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, said at a news briefing on Tuesday in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya. But when they come here with the intention to, you know, commit indecent acts to embarrass us, I think thats not how visitors should respond to our good treatment, especially if there is a political motive behind it.

Abdul Aziz Ali, an official with the police in Sepang  the city where the race was held, south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital  said the men would be investigated on suspicion of intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, according to the state news agency, Bernama. The Malaysian penal code lists the maximum sentence for that offense as two years.
BERLIN  In the end, German prosecutors decided that a satirical poem was just that, an act of hyperbole in the name of art  not a criminal attempt to insult a foreign leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

An announcement Tuesday by state prosecutors in the western city of Mainz that they were dropping charges against Jan Bohmermann, who read aloud a profanity-laced poem about Mr. Erdogan on late-night TV in March, brought to a partial close an international dispute over freedoms of speech and artistic expression that had threatened to unravel a major diplomatic deal and drove the German comedian underground for weeks.

In a lengthy statement, prosecutors said their investigation, begun in April, had failed to turn up sufficient evidence of criminal intent on the part of Mr. Bohmermann, 35, an award-winning voice of Germanys millennials. Instead, they determined that it is characteristic of the art form of satire and caricature to work with exaggeration, distortion and disassociation.

Mr. Bohmermann, who returned to the screen in May after a hiatus  albeit without further mention of Turkey, or Turkish politics  said on Twitter that he would respond to the ruling on Wednesday. His lawyer, however, criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel for initially calling his poem deliberately offensive.
BRUSSELS  Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Russia on Tuesday for pointedly ignoring the Syrian governments use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs against its own citizens, and he left little hope for an early resumption of talks with Russia about a cease-fire.

Speaking here before the opening of a conference on Afghanistan organized by the European Union, Mr. Kerry said that the United States would continue efforts to end the fighting in Syria through the United Nations, but that Washington had little hope of persuading Russia to give up its unqualified support of the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

The Obama administration announced on Monday that it was suspending bilateral talks with Russia on a cease-fire.
BERLIN  Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, promised on Tuesday to release significant material over the next 10 weeks about arms, Google, mass surveillance, oil, the United States election and war.

Speaking via a video link at a news conference in Berlin to mark a decade since the inception of WikiLeaks, Mr. Assange vowed that his organization would continue to provide a platform for the release of classified documents held by the United States and by other governments and institutions in positions of global power.

We hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks, we have on schedule, and its a very hard schedule, all the U.S. election-related documents to come out before Nov. 8, said Mr. Assange, who made his announcement from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been living since 2012. Our upcoming series includes significant material on war, arms, oil, Google, the U.S. elections and myself.
ROME  When Amatrice and several other small Italian towns were ravaged by an earthquake six weeks ago, Pope Francis made a promise to the residents there.

On Tuesday, he kept it.

Catching even local officials by surprise, the pope made an unexpected trip to the region, following through on a pledge to visit residents so that they could all pray together.

From the first moment, I felt that I needed to come to you. Simply to express my closeness to you, nothing more, the pope told locals in the area, where a total of nearly 300 people were killed on Aug. 24. And I pray, pray for you. Solidarity and prayer: This is my offering to you.

Francis explained that he had postponed his visit to the area because he feared it would be more of a hindrance than a help, Vatican Radio reported. I didnt want to be a bother, so I let a little time pass, so that some things could be resolved, like the school, he said, before offering a blessing.
ANKARA, Turkey  The Turkish authorities on Tuesday suspended 12,800 police officers accused of having links to Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in the United States, as Turkey pressed ahead with its sweeping crackdown on a network it says was behind the countrys failed military coup.

A pro-Kurdish television station also said the police had raided its headquarters in Istanbul and forced it off the air after an order last week for it to be shut down.

One day earlier, Turkey announced that it was extending by three months a state of emergency it had declared after the coup attempt on July 15. The existing declaration has aroused fears that the government is using its emergency powers to clamp down on critics.

In a brief statement posted online on Tuesday, the Turkish police said the suspended officers were in cohesion with or connected to Mr. Gulens movement. It said 2,523 of them were police chiefs.
TEHRAN  Iran, which puts more people to death every year than any other country in the world but China, is debating a measure that could significantly cut the number of executions, local news outlets reported Tuesday. But the bill seems certain to face considerable opposition from hard-liners in the judiciary.

A newly installed Parliament, thought to be more liberal than its predecessor but, until now, unwilling to take any unorthodox steps, is considering a bill that would abolish the death penalty for drug smugglers, who account for a large majority of those executed. While the government does not release figures on capital punishment, the local news media said that 950 people had been hanged in 2015. Human rights groups say the total could have been as high as 1,500, and the United Nations put the number at nearly 1,000.

Possession of as little as 30 grams of heroin is enough under Iranian law to face execution by hanging. Nevertheless, drug addiction and smuggling are rampant, officials acknowledge.

We want to eliminate the death penalty for those criminals who act out of desperation, Yahya Kamalpour, a reformist lawmaker, told the semiofficial ISNA news agency. We need a scientific and not an emotional approach to this problem.
The idea came to Mr. Hendershott while he was helping a friend move furniture out of a U-Haul. He noticed sunlight on his friends face and had a brainstorm: Had anyone ever taken head shots in the back of a truck before? Google said no.

Teaming with his business partners, William Harper and Zac Hardy, he bought an old bread truck and raised $25,000 on Kickstarter to revamp it. The truck roamed West Hollywood and Burbank, Calif. It was successful enough to enable the owners to buy out a competitor who started after Mr. Hendershott was already up and rolling  a truck called the Best Little Headshot Truck in Texas, Yall.

The decision to try their hand in New York was an easy one. We wanted to be in a city thats as vastly different than L.A. as possible, Mr. Harper said. New Yorks clientele is much more varied.

Mr. Hendershoot added: It seems like people are just more sure of themselves here. In L.A., everybody is looking for that approval of the casting director and the agent. The actors here seem to just come in and go: This is who I am. Lets shoot this.

Hannah Bush was one such new New York customer. Ms. Bush, a dancer, said the industry today requires you to dabble in everything, so she needed a head shot for jobs like commercial and print modeling. She learned about the Headshot Truck through Actors Connection, an educational and networking studio in the city.
As temperatures drop and Canada geese catch thermals, ones thoughts turn to redecorating for the indoor months ahead. This falls crop of home design books offers the usual inspiration and escapism.

In Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair: A Natural History, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25), Witold Rybczynski chronicles a genre of furniture we never stop fussing over. Given astonishing form by the ancient Egyptians and perfected by the ancient Greeks, chairs eventually stretched, rocked and rolled. Designing an effective chair is never easy. Any culture that decides to sit on chairs, Mr. Rybczynski writes, must come to terms with a challenging reality: human posture.

The title and lists of Parisian vendors notwithstanding, there is nothing particularly French about Sarah Lavoines Chez Moi: Decorating Your Home and Living Like a Parisienne (Abrams Image, about $25). Except maybe the easygoing way in which Ms. Lavoine, a French design celebrity, appears to throw a room together with a bold stripe of wall paint here and a mosaic of floor tiles there. This book is most endearing when she gives etiquette advice  for example, never burden a hostess with flowers when you arrive at a party, but send a bouquet ahead of time.
Brian Methe, an artist who lives in Cincinnati, had a thought. Wouldnt it help the chances of his preferred presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, if he were to design a simple, powerful image that could have the same effect as the Hope poster made by Shepard Fairey for Barack Obamas 2008 run?

So Mr. Methe, 41, who has done graphic design work for the bands Wilco and the Avett Brothers, among others, created a rendering of Hillary Clinton that shows her in profile, with the slogan Im With Her in the upper right corner. The color scheme is red, white and blue.

He was proud of what he had made, but when the image hit social media, the reactions from fellow adult males on Facebook were often angry:

Does it come with darts?

I want the orange jumpsuit version.

Ill use it as toilet paper.

He should not have been surprised. As Mr. Methe said, being a white male Clinton supporter is not a popular position, something many polls have found as well. A New York Times/CBS News poll released on Sept. 15 showed that Donald J. Trump had the support of 57 percent of white males, while 33 percent supported Mrs. Clinton.

Within the white male demographic, 37 percent of those who are college-educated support Mrs. Clinton, versus 48 percent for Mr. Trump, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. Among white men without college educations, Mr. Trumps lead is even greater: 76 percent to 17 percent.
Objectively I was one of the luckiest humans ever born. In 1954, Britain was a stable postwar liberal democracy, at peace, with a cradle-to-grave welfare system that worked efficiently, with all dread diseases conquered, with full employment for our parents, with free and excellent education from the age of 5 for just as long as we merited it.

We had no bombs falling on our houses, and no knocks on our doors in the middle of the night. No previous generation ever had all of that, not in all of history, and standards have eroded since. We were very lucky.

But it was very boring. Britain was gray, exhausted, physically ruined and financially crippled. The factories were humming, but everything went for export. We needed foreign currency to pay down monstrous war debt. Domestic life was pinched and austere.

Not that we knew. We didnt miss what wed never had. Worse for us was a kind of mental and emotional deadness that we felt all around. There was nothing left for us. There was nothing in the future. It was all in the past. History was over. Britains finest hour had been 1940, and now the clock was slowly winding down.
In the decades that followed, the feminist movement redefined employment for women as a ticket to independence and fulfillment, and a revolution in womens economic status took place in the United States, as the Harvard economist Claudia Goldin writes. But American politics lagged far behind. It took nine attempts, and Bill Clintons election, to enact the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, granting many employees the right to take 12 (unpaid) weeks off to care for a new child or a sick family member. But the working mother label could still be a scarlet letter. When Marcia Clark led the prosecution of O.J. Simpson, she was in the middle of a custody battle over her two young sons. Simpsons lawyer Johnnie Cochran accused her of strategic delay when she said she couldnt stay for a late court session one night, while her estranged husband filed papers claiming that her long workdays hurt their children. Clark felt compelled to issue a statement: I am devoted to my two children, who are far and away more important to me than anything.

Today the arguments about working mothers that persisted into the 1990s feel as dated as the eras shoulder pads. As do the mommy wars that pitted stay-at-home and working mothers against each other, especially over how to raise children. Only 35 percent of Americans now agree that a pre-school-age child is likely to suffer if his or her mother works, a big drop since the question was asked in 1985. Indeed, the upshot of dozens of studies, conducted over the past 50 years, is that in general, children whose mothers worked when they were young did not have significant problems with learning or behavior. In fact, theyve tended to do well in school and experience relatively low levels of depression and anxiety. So much for the stunted emotional growth that Mike Pence, Trumps choice for vice president, said in 1997 that he saw in children with two working parents. In September, Pence disavowed that view on Face the Nation. Weve all had changing attitudes about this, he said.

Perhaps his conversion has something to do with the ascent of conservative stars like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann (who fostered 23 children), who became political celebrities by refusing to follow their partys prescriptions. They helped create a new ideal: the Supermom who has it all and does it all. Before giving the Republican response to Barack Obamas 2014 State of the Union address, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a U.S. representative from Washington who has given birth to three children while serving in Congress, posted a photo of herself on social media holding a copy of her speech with her 2-month-old daughter in her lap. The caption read: It really doesnt get much better than this! Theres no babysitter, or dad, in sight.

Like most Instagram posts, the image cropped out a lot. Supermoms cant operate without a superstructure of support, which makes their status as out of reach for low-income or single mothers as the housewife role once was. Even attainable versions of working parenthood require constant attention to domestic arrangements, frequently rearranged as kids grow up or elderly relatives falter. Caregivers make the lives of two-earner couples and single mothers possible, and they dont always themselves earn a living wage.

Today, serious discussions about all of this  paid leave and sick days, flexible work schedules, affordable child care and equal pay for women  are typically, and strategically, framed not just in terms of working mothers but of working families. When these issues were regarded as only womens issues, they were on the back burner, the Connecticut congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, sponsor of a bill that closely tracks Clintons proposals for paid leave, points out.

The shift to working families also acknowledges the increasing role fathers play at home as well as the economic pressures on the family as a unit. The culture wars cast the debate over whether mothers should work in terms of personal choice. But for years now, it has more often been a necessity: Many families rely on two incomes to stay afloat, let alone prosper, and single mothers lost most of their access to welfare back when conservatives preferred stay-at-home motherhood for everyone else. About 70 percent of mothers in the United States now work full or part time. If motherhood unnecessarily diminishes womens earning power or potential for promotion, or if child care costs a small fortune, its not just career aspirations that suffer. Contending with these challenges requires far more effort, and imagination, than an offer of a few blocks and toys.
Getting a great cocktail at a great bar is a wonderful experience. But getting a cocktail of noted repute, at the bar where it originated or from the bartender who created it, contributes a certain extra level of special. There arent that many places where you can pull off this trick, but the modern cocktail revival has added to the number of such destination bars. For the intrepid boozehound with some frequent flier miles to burn, heres a list of a few to hit.

Attaboy, New York City

Penicillin et al.

The most potent portal into modern cocktail history is a hole-in-the-wall on Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side. Its currently called Attaboy. But its the addresss former name that makes the tiny hall so hallowed among cocktail fans. For this was the original home of Milk & Honey, the neo-speakeasy from whose playbook dozens of other bars tore a page. Its also the birthplace of more modern classic cocktails than any other bar in the world. The Gold Rush, a honeyed update of the whiskey sour, was created here. So were the smoky-sweet Penicillin, invented by the Attaboy co-owner Sam Ross, and the Greenpoint, a Chartreuse-laced Manhattan created by the co-owner Michael McIlroy. 134 Eldridge Street, New York.

Black Pearl, Melbourne, Australia

Death Flip

This drink sounds like a dare: tequila, yellow Chartreuse, Jagermeister and a whole egg. But plenty of Black Pearls patrons have met the challenge. It may be the best-known new drink to come out of Australia during the cocktail revival. 304 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia; blackpearlbar.com.au
Californias broad landscape suggests endless possibility, a chance to realize your dreams. You can backpack in the Klamath National Forest within Siskiyou County. You can find a slice of Denmark in the Santa Ynez Valley. Or you can immerse yourself in the glittery landscape of the Hollywood hills, the place that has applied a practicality to its dreams by making an industry of them.

You tend to forget about reveries, though, when the 101 freeway slows to a crawl, as it did when I began to navigate the road in Hollywood this spring. Time on my hands, I looked up and caught a glimpse of the 73-story U.S. Bank Tower, referred to as Library Tower by many locals for the 90-year-old actual library and architectural gem across the street that it dwarfs.

Completed in the late 1980s, the iconic Bank Tower is one of those structures that sneak up in vistas to remind you that yes, youre in Los Angeles, in case you were wondering. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi for 27 years, until the Wilshire Grand Centers spire was added this year. Designed by the architect Henry N. Cobb, the building is topped with a distinctive crown that hints at downtowns Art Deco past. Despite its size, it is not exactly the first building that comes to mind when people think of Los Angeles.

Some cities have a single architectural identity but Los Angeles is known for many. It was an incubator of the American Craftsman style, and it embraced Beaux-Arts, as well as Spanish Colonial Revival and Mayan Revival, which found a powerful advocate in Frank Lloyd Wright. But then Art Deco arrived and proliferated during the decades when movie studios became the cornerstone of an economy that had previously relied primarily on oil. It left a stunning cache of public buildings in its wake.
Who doesnt like the idea of a luxury vacation? Ponying up the money for an upscale getaway, on the other hand, isnt nearly as appealing as going on one. Fortunately, says Joel Widzer, an expert on saving money on travel and the author of the book The Penny Pinchers Guide to Luxury Travel, there are ways to cut the cost of a fancy trip. Here, he shares tips for a lavish getaway on a limited budget.

BE A HOTEL LOYALIST. Favoring one hotel brand, such as Marriott, Starwood, Hilton or Hyatt, has major saving benefits, according to Mr. Widzer. Hotel brands reward frequent guests who sign up for their loyalty programs with room upgrades, free hotel nights and free breakfast, and they even waive annoying fees such as the cost of valet parking, he said. Loyalty pays off at independently owned properties, too. If youre a traveler who returns to the same destination often, say Paris or Lake Tahoe, its a good idea to keep staying at the same hotel there. Mr. Widzer, for example, used to stay at the same luxury boutique property on his frequent trips to Santiago, Chile, and by his third visit, he was treated to freebies such as a minifridge stocked with his favorite snacks, free airport transfers and upgrades to a one-bedroom suite  perks worth several thousand dollars over time.

USE CREDIT CARD POINTS ON HIGH-END CHAIN HOTELS. Those points you accumulate every time you put a charge on your card arent just good for buying airline tickets, Mr. Widzer said. With certain credit cards, travelers can redeem the points they earn for accommodations at luxury hotels, like using points earned on a Chase Ultimate Rewards card toward stays at Ritz-Carlton properties around the world.

TRAVEL WHEN OTHERS ARENT. When destinations have fewer travelers, prices are lower. Head to Sardinia in August, for example, and sky-high hotel rates and inflated prices are in store. But a trip in October means mild weather and prices at hotels and on services such as boat rentals that are up to 50 percent lower than during peak season.
Top DGGI officials said that it is the complexity of GST laws, and the rates that keep changing, that the builders or real estate agents have used to their benefit.
The last week has been an interesting time in the 2016 presidential election with the first presidential debate and the news coverage and alternative media satire that followed.

However, political commentators often fall into the trap of over-analyzing every event as the critical event. Debates are rarely the event that determine an election and are better thought of as an event that helps voters, the media, and the campaigns highlight themes for which the campaigns have laid the groundwork for quite some time.

For voters, debates are often viewed through partisan lenses. Regardless of how well a candidate does, Republicans are more likely to view the Republican as the winner and Democrats are more likely to view the Democrat as the winner. We always root for our team and complain about the refs whenever something goes wrong for our side.

That is why debates have minimal impact on which candidate the majority of the voters will support. Most of us have already made up our minds.

Debates can impact the vote choice of the undecided voters and they can influence enthusiasm for the partisans. Hillary Clinton was viewed as the winner of the first debate by most observers and by all scientific polls. After a few weeks of troubling signs and nervousness for Clinton supporters, the performance seems to have increased enthusiasm among her supporters and, perhaps, increased the level of voter turnout by some groups, which she needs to turn out to the polls.

The debate was a perfect example of a strategy being developed and implemented. Clintons campaign laid the groundwork for questions about Donald Trumps temperament throughout the campaign. In the debate she tried to get under his skin from the very beginning with her statement about his business success being due to inheriting wealth from his father. She kept trying to get under his skin until he took the bait and devolved into nearly every caricature of himself that the Clinton campaign argued is the real Trump.

During this time, Clinton was setting even more of a trap with a planned introduction of the Miss Universe story and tying it into a long-running narrative by Trump opponents that he is misogynistic and too undisciplined for the presidency.

The Clinton campaign prepared for this line of attack and was ready to go with material designed to set the tone for the media coverage and the campaigns for the week following the debate.

Fortunately for Clinton and unfortunately for Trump, Trump helped the Clinton campaign by not being able to let the story go. For example, Clinton has been vulnerable on the issue of her emails. The issue came up in the debate and Trump tried to put Clinton on the defensive on this issue. Clintons response was very simple, to the point, and very short. It is not an answer that will satisfy critics but instead of continuing that conversation, she refused to get into a back-and- forth with Trump on an issue that is not a winning issue for her.

That approach is in direct contrast to Trump, who should have spent this last week focused on the trade issue, which was his strongest part of the debate. He could have taken that line of argument and put Clinton on the defensive in important Rust Belt states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Instead, he decided to continue arguing about Miss Universe and to try to aggressively bring up the issue of Clintons response to her husbands marital infidelities.

It is almost as if he and his advisers forgot the lessons of the late 1990s.

During the impeachment proceedings, the Republicans lost seats in Congress during the 1998 election and the approval ratings of both Bill and Hillary Clinton went up.

People didnt like the affair or the lying but they also seemed to think that it was little more than a distraction. Instead of working on issues that impacted peoples lives, the GOP was fascinated by a story that people found interesting, amusing, disgusting, but not relevant to their lives.

Trump could have spent this week talking about trade, manufacturing, and the economy. Instead, he entered this critical stage of the campaign talking about the weight of a former Miss Universe and a scandal from 18 years ago when some first-time voters were born.

It is difficult to know if this wasted opportunity by Trump or this good week for Clinton will have long-lasting effects on the outcome of the election. Vice-presidential debates rarely change the narrative or direction of a campaign and there is no reason to think Tuesdays will.

Clinton and Trump will engage in two more debates so there are opportunities for Clinton to stumble and Trump to do better. The next presidential debate will be a good test. Because it is a town-hall debate, it will be more difficult for the candidates to attack each other without appearing to disrespect the voter asking the question.

Each candidate should strive to be on their best behavior to avoid risking what could be a devastating moment for their campaigns. Based on the performance from the first debate, this will be more challenging for Trump than for Clinton. If he goes off- message into a verbal version of a late-night Twitter storm, he may never recover.
As many as 15,000 steel cargo boxes leased or owned by the failed Hanjin Shipping Co. have nowhere to go.

Since the company collapsed at the end of August, the orphaned containers have piled up in and around the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles  and no ones sure what to do with them. They cant stay here; the real estate is too scarce, especially ahead of the busy holiday season.

Some people were hinting to take (the boxes) out in the desert and abandon them, said Dan Monnier, who sits on the board of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association, which arranges transportation for retailers. It sounds cute, but remember (the containers) still belong to the bankrupt company Hanjin.

Lawyers for Hanjin could not be reached.

Hanjin, the seventh-largest shipping company in the world, failed to secure funding from the Korea Development Bank on Aug. 30, then abruptly ended services, leaving ships and crews stranded and billions of dollars worth of cargo in limbo. As the courts slowly unwind the finances of the company and work to get creditors paid, the companys assets and leased property  including the steel containers  are scattered around the world.

Container company Seaco Global Ltd., based in London, leased about 50,000 containers to Hanjin that it cannot account for, said Neil B. Klein, an Irvine-based attorney representing the company. Klein is trying to find where those boxes are.

At the local ports, there may finally be a solution on the way. On Friday, Alex Chernin, a spokesman for logistics company Total Transportation Services Inc., confirmed the company is hammering out a plan to open up a 100-acre facility in Ontario where the containers can be stored. The specific location has not been disclosed, Chernin said.

Asked whether the opening of a yard was good news, Klein replied: We would like to think so. I want to know if our boxes are there so we can collect our boxes, he said.

Those 40-foot-long industrial orphans are a linchpin to global trade, moving millions of dollars worth of goods from the ports to retailers across the country. Freight handlers, retailers and others said local yards have filled up in the past few weeks, and the ports wont accept Hanjin-owned containers.

Complicating matters is that some of the containers are leased, and some of the leased containers are being accepted.

Another pressing issue is a shortage of the trailers that hold the containers. Many of the containers that the ports are rejecting are going to storage yards near the ports, but many yards dont have the equipment needed to remove the containers from the chassis.

That means chassis, critical and somewhat scarce pieces of equipment, are being held hostage, Monnier said.

Industry experts worried that if a solution is not found soon, there could be a shortage of chassis  a situation that caused major disruptions in 2015 when a breakdown in labor contract talks led to slowdowns and major congestion.

But the Hanjin failure caused a shortage in chassis because so many were taken out of the system at one time.

There is light coming through the tunnel, but this is not a wide-open solution, Monnier said. He warned there are still many questions, including how the chassis will be moved to the port, where truck drivers usually pick them up.

Local port officials, however, welcomed Fridays development.

This depot will put containers into a safe, secure location, which frees up chassis for use in the San Pedro Bay port complex during our busiest season, said Gene Seroka, CEO of the Port of Los Angeles. Its an example of supply-chain partners stepping up to improve logistics in Los Angeles.

A day earlier, Mario Cordero, the head of the Federal Maritime Commission, which regulates the maritime industry, issued a statement urging players across the supply chain to find ways to cooperate and collaborate.
Orange County could readily house its homeless population by funding its own 10-year Plan to End Homelessness enacted in 2010, according to a detailed analysis released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

The report explores the question of why a wealthy region such as Orange County has fallen so far behind in housing the homeless and the poor.

A key conclusion in the 42-page report: The county has been stingy with its own money, relying almost strictly on stagnant federal and state funding to solve its homelessness crisis.

If the county does not allocate significant local funds to the issue, homelessness will continue indefinitely, says the report, titled Nowhere to Live: The Homelessness Crisis in Orange County & How to End It.

The report recommends that the county create its own locally financed housing trust fund to secure both permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless and affordable housing for others living on the street and in shelters.

Eve Garrow, a homelessness policy analyst with the ACLUs Orange County office who authored the report, said Tuesday that she had emailed a copy of her findings to each of the county supervisors in the afternoon.

I encourage them to read it and invite them to work with us on real solutions for ending homelessness, she said.

In response to a query about the report from the Register to members of the Board of Supervisors, Chairwoman Lisa Bartlett said in an email that ending homelessness is a complex challenge that will take the collaboration of the county, its 34 cities, and numerous public and private groups.

I thank the ACLU for providing its perspective on potential solutions, Bartlett said, adding that she is committed to working with community partners to solve this issue and looked forward to comparing the ACLU report with a strategic plan that Susan Price, the countys director of care coordination, is developing.

Bartlett also pointed to increased efforts to provide more housing for the homeless.

I agree that affordable housing is one of the greatest needs in the county, Bartlett said. That is why the board recently approved a $5 million Mental Health Services Act allocation to be used for permanent supportive housing.

The Mental Health Services Act money is from the state, generated by a 1 percent income tax on millionaires in California.

Garrow said that representatives from the ACLU and other homeless advocates that include Anaheim Poverty Task Force, Project Homelessness, Legal Aid Orange County and the Civic Center Roundtable plan to attend the Oct. 11 Board of Supervisors meeting and present officials with hard copies of the report.

Orange Countys homelessness problem is quite solvable, Garrow said.

The reason homelessness persists and is actually increasing in Orange County is simply because the county itself has failed to contribute funding to the implementation of its own plan to reduce homelessness.

A countywide survey from January 2015, the most recent count, found nearly 4,500 homeless people living on the streets. Based on that number, county officials had estimated that last year 15,300 people would experience homelessness for at least one night.

Homelessness has increased dramatically since then in such areas as Santa Anas Civic Center and parts of the Santa Ana River Trail.

Garrow acknowledged in an interview that homelessness has risen throughout Southern California over the past decade. But Orange County lags behind in taking a more proactive stance to address its homeless population and a housing crunch driven by an unaffordable market, she added.

Some areas have made more progress than others, Garrow said, citing the recent willingness of officials in Los Angeles to consider tax measures and ballot initiatives to deal with its huge homeless population and the longer-term policies in places such as Utah that involve a commitment of local money.

We feel that Orange County is really behind the curve when it comes to this.

The countys 10-year Plan to End Homelessness is actually a good roadmap, Garrow said in the report and on the phone.

Its just not been implemented because of the lack of resources, she said.

Asked why she thinks the countys 10-year plan is underfunded, Garrow said: Part of it might be that the Board of Supervisors feel the county cant afford to fund the plan and end homelessness. To that we respond, you cant afford not to.

County officials have taken more decisive steps since last year to address homelessness, including approval of a year-round shelter in Anaheim, expected to open in late 2017; hiring Price to serve as a so-called homeless czar in May; and designating the old bus terminal in Santa Ana as a service center and shelter for the homeless that will open this week.

But Garrow said opening shelters is only an intermediary step.

The ACLU report estimates that it will take $55 million annually to permanently house the countys current homeless population, an amount Garrow said is two to three times as much funding as the county receives in federal and state dollars for housing the homeless.

Garrow said she arrived at that figure by calculating the cost of housing for the number of people recorded in the countys last homeless count. That dollar amount might seem large, her report says, but it would be a small fraction of the countys general fund and its discretionary funding.

For Orange County, Garrow said, $55 million is just a drop in the bucket.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7793 or twalker@ocregister.com or on Twitter @TellTheresa
MEDELLIN, Colombia  Laura Solano, a 25-year-old graphic design student, is the kind of young urbanite who Colombian leaders had hoped would support a peace deal with the countrys largest rebel group.

But when she went to vote this weekend, she could not get past a searing question: How could she allow the rebels, who had terrorized her family when she was an infant, to rejoin society without facing prosecution?

There were so many benefits for the people who hurt this country so much, Solano said of the peace deal. She joined nearly every voter in her 50-member family in rejecting it in a referendum on Sunday.

The narrow defeat of the deal shocked Latin America, where the end of Colombias 52-year war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had seemed all but guaranteed.

Months of polling had predicted a wide margin of victory for the agreement, creating such a sense of confidence that the government had already held a public signing in front of world leaders before the vote took place.

Now, Colombias humbled leaders are asking: What happened?

Lulled by the polls, the government failed to drive Colombians to the ballot box, resulting in anemic turnout in places that favored the deal. President Juan Manuel Santos had staked his legacy on achieving peace, but his approval ratings were so low that his endorsement may have actually hurt the deals chances.

Then came Hurricane Matthew, which drenched the northern coasts supportive of the peace deal, leading many to stay home.

But for many others, the reason the deal failed was an emotional one. The agreement had always been a tug of war between peace and justice, and in the end, the demand for justice won.

Sometimes, it even seemed like they knew they got off easy, Diana Hurtado, 37, a dog walker in the capital, Bogota, said of the rebels. When you see photos from Havana, they are laughing.

In some ways, Santos may have been a victim of the countrys success against the rebels. Before running for president, he served as defense minister, pursuing the FARC in every corner of the country and even into Ecuador, where he launched a raid that killed a rebel leader in 2008.

As president, Santos said that those successes, and his continued military campaigns against the FARC, had created the pressure that pushed the rebels to the negotiating table and kept them there.

So why, many Colombians demanded, did the government accept a deal in which most rank-and-file FARC fighters would be able to walk free? Even worse, they argued, was the fact that those who committed war crimes would face reduced sentences under the agreement.

Government negotiators repeatedly insisted that the rebels would leave the discussions before accepting harsher terms. The talks dragged on for four years in Havana. Even the transitional justice system in which FARC leaders would either be granted amnesty or given reduced sentences took 18 months to sell to the rebels.

Humberto de la Calle, Santoss chief negotiator, said in an interview before the vote that it would be impossible to negotiate a deal to include prison time for FARC fighters, a demand made by many of the deals opponents.

Its honestly the worst option  its not possible, he said. I dont think the FARC will say, OK, no, Ill accept prison. Thats a joke.

Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the rebels had made concessions, too, including dropping longstanding demands for radical land and economic reforms as a condition for peace. They also agreed to a six-month timetable to abandon arms, despite concerns that they might be hunted by paramilitary groups.

In the FARCs view, they gave up a lot of ground, Isacson said.

Pollsters struggled to explain why the result had defied the forecasts. Cesar Valderrama, the director of Datexco, who had predicted a double-digit win for the agreement, said the no vote had risen in reaction to the celebratory signing ceremony that took place before Colombians went to the polls, an act of political stagecraft that apparently backfired on the government.

Many yes supporters also believed the referendum was coasting to victory, so they did not feel the need to vote, Valderrama said.

They already felt like winners, and as winners, it wasnt necessary to vote, he said.

Even those who backed the no campaign said they were stunned by the result.

I always said that the difference wasnt going to be much, but I never thought we were going to win, said Santiago Valencia Gonzalez, a right-wing Colombian congressman representing the northern Antioquia region, which voted against the agreement.

Valencia said the Colombian right would begin pressuring the government to pursue peace on new ter

I think its a great opportunity for Santos to listen to us, he said in an interview in Medellin.

Some who voted for the deal said they liked the idea of peace a lot better than the specifics of the agreement. Jose Barbosa, the owner of a bakery in northern Bogota, recalled fleeing a region of central Colombia because his neighbors sons were being recruited by rebels and he feared that the same would happen to his children.

But Barbosa, 59, said he had been pragmatic at the ballot box. They got too many concessions, but the rebels arent going to give up arms if their backs are against the wall, he said.

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange and the St. Thomas More Society of Orange County continued a centuries-long tradition of seeking blessings for judges, lawyers, law professors and students on Monday evening.

The Red Mass, held at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, has been celebrated in Orange County for 28 years. Its roots can be traced to Paris, where the first such Mass took place in 1245.

It got its name from the brilliant scarlet vestments worn by the Mass celebrants and Lord High Justices in England. In France, the Red Mass was held for centuries in the chapel of the Order of Advocates, La Sainte Chapelle, built by Louis IX.

In certain regions of France, the Red Mass was celebrated in honor of St. Ives, the patron saint of lawyers. In England, the tradition began around 1310, during the reign of Edward I.

In Washington, D.C., members of the U.S. Supreme Court join the president and members of Congress in celebration of the Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

It was celebrated for the first time in Orange County in 1988.

The Red Mass in Orange County is an honored tradition that brings the legal community together, said Fabio Cabezas, president of the St. Thomas More Society of Orange County. It reminds us of the lawyers duty as a servant to his client and to justice and equity in the law.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com
The first and only debate between the vice presidential candidates  Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine  may not generate the record viewership or fireworks of last weeks presidential faceoff. But what tonights VP debate lacks in theatrics, it could make up for in substance, political analysts say.

It will actually be the kind of debate that I wouldnt be embarrassed to have my kids watch, said John J. Pitney Jr., professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont. Youve got two well-qualified individuals talking about honest differences on the issues. What a concept.

Both men boast extensive experience in government, on the state level and in Congress. Pence is governor of Indiana and Kaine is the former governor of Virginia. Pence served more than 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, holding a key Republican leadership position.

Meanwhile, Kaine represents Virginia in the U.S. Senate, where he serves on two prominent committees  Foreign Relations and Armed Services.

As infidelity allegations, unpaid taxes, name-calling, email problems and health woes dominate headlines about presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Pitney said the two VP candidates experience is one of the bright spots in the 2016 presidential race.

The quality of the vice presidential candidates is the sole reassuring element of this entire election, Pitney said.

Kaine and Pence share something else in common besides lengthy political resumes.

These two individuals have similar upbringings. They were both born Irish Catholics, said Renee Van Vechten, associate professor of political science at the University of Redlands.

As a young man, Kaine served as a Catholic missionary in Honduras, and he speaks fluent Spanish. Pence once worked as a Catholic youth minister. He is a born-again Christian and attends an evangelical church in Indianapolis.

But the debate will most likely highlight their differences, not their similarities.

You have Pence, on the one hand, who is extremely conservative. He calls himself a Christian first, then a conservative, then a Republican, Van Vechten said. Pence is much more ideologically driven in that hes known for his strict anti-abortion views.

Last year, Pence signed into law a bill he said was designed to protect religious freedom, but critics maintained it would allow businesses to refuse services to gay couples. After an outcry from Tim Cook, the openly gay CEO of Apple, the NCAA and celebrities including Star Trek alum George Takei, Pence backtracked.

He had to amend it or there would have been an economic boycott of a lot of businesses in Indiana, said political analyst Bill Schneider, visiting professor in communications studies at UCLA.

Kaine, meanwhile, is closer to the other end of the political spectrum.

In terms of ideology, he is typically seen as a liberal-leaning centrist, and thus may have more appeal to swing voters, Jennifer Merolla, political science professor at UC Riverside said via email.

Hes liberal but relatively moderate, Schneider agreed.

Pence and Kaine will likely spend most of the debate arguing not about their own positions but about those of the presidential candidates: Democratic nominee Clinton and Republican nominee Trump.

The debate wont particularly be about Pence and Kaine, Schneider said. I think Kaine will be very aggressive against Trump. Thats the Hillary Clinton line, Schneider said. The best thing the Democratic ticket has going for it is dislike of Donald Trump, so I think that Kaine will join in with that.

Pitney believes the Republican VP candidate will find a way to deflect attacks on Trump.

I think what Pence will do on every such question is try to pivot to the areas where (his and Trumps) positions are similar and where he can talk about substance rather than the freak show, he said.

Still, many political experts say regardless of what happens, the event is unlikely to influence many voters.

You dont see much impact of a vice presidential debate on a presidential campaign, Schneider said. Its a sideshow.

But there is at least one significant reason to pay attention to Kaine and Pence.

In terms of age, this is the oldest matchup in presidential history, so it may be more important to focus on the VP candidates than in past presidential elections, Merolla noted. Trump is 70 and Clinton is 68. At age 57, Pence is a year younger than Kaine.

Van Vechten offered another reason to carefully consider Trumps running mate.

Hes going to have a lot of power, she said.
Fed up with unwanted phone calls at home, Long Beach resident Lynne Clarke registered her landline on the national Do Not Call list roughly a decade ago.

It didnt work. The deluge of unsolicited calls from telemarketers has only grown worse. Voices purporting to be carpet cleaners, repairmen, housekeepers  even IRS agents  ring her line an average of 10 times a day.

Sound familiar?

Clarke is far from alone. Thirteen years after the launch of the Do Not Call list, exasperated federal regulators are applying pressure on major phone carriers and tech companies to come up with ways to rein in the worsening volume of robocalls. Combined, telemarketing calls and robocalls  prerecorded sales messages delivered by computerized autodialers  are now the No. 1 complaint that the Federal Communications Commission receives from the public.

In fiscal 2015, residents in the 714, 949 and 562 area codes filed nearly 70,000 complaints over violations of the federal Do Not Call rule  more than double the total five years ago, data show.

In a time when spam email is actually falling (mainly due to technological advances), junk phone calls continue to be a nuisance and, often, a crime.

SCOURGE

Consumers Union, an advocacy group, estimates phone fraud led to $350 million in financial losses in 2011, the most recent figure available. Nationwide, taxpayers who reported being victimized by scammers masquerading as IRS officials lost more than $31 million from October 2013 to March of this year, federal figures show.

Victims often are elderly. The Federal Trade Commission found that 80 percent of some telemarketing scams target people 65 and older. Various studies have shown that seniors are often targeted because they are more likely to pick up the phone, engage in conversation and be worried about their financial future.

And todays phone schemes are becoming increasingly pervasive and sophisticated.

Improved technology and cheaper, easier-to-make international phone calls placed over internet lines have allowed scammers to broaden their reach and mask their identities and locations.

One recent tactic involves deploying technology that sends voicemail messages into inboxes without allowing the call recipient to decline.

The widespread phone-scam issue  which experts partly link to a lack of innovation and cooperation from U.S. phone carriers  prompted FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to convene a task force in August comprising 30 telecommunications and technology firms including AT&T, Verizon, Google and Apple. Their report with ideas for fighting robocallers is due Oct. 19.

This scourge must stop, said Wheeler at the first task force meeting.

PHONE WHACK-A-MOLE

Maureen Mahoney, a policy analyst at Consumers Union, is pleased with the first step but says it remains to be seen if the group can produce real, meaningful solutions.

So far, AT&T has made general commitments to the cause, such as complying with emerging  caller ID verification standards once theyre available, and investigating and adopting global phone system solutions tied to web-based phone calls where viable, according to ideas outlined in an AT&T public policy blog post. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson chairs the robocalling task force.

Mahoney says such promises are rather vague  allowing them a lot of leeway.

In the past, telecommunications companies have said they lack the technology and authority to crack down on nuisance calls. Last year, at the urging of several state attorneys general, federal regulators tried to clear up any confusion, saying phone companies not only have the legal authority to offer call-blocking tools, theyre also encouraged to do so.

CTIA, a trade group that represents AT&T, Verizon and other U.S. wireless communications players, did not respond to requests for comment.

However, 2015 comments from the trade group to the FCC warn the commission about unintended consequences and significant logistical and technical challenges that may arise from blocking calls.

The comments, penned by CTIA leadership, also say mandating phone carriers to decide which phone numbers should be blocked or let through could result in the blocking of calls that customers would have wanted to receive.

The wireless industry group also noted that the task of identifying robocallers today has become increasingly difficult with the use of phone spoofing  the practice of falsifying the data transmitted through caller ID to disguise ones identity. If one number is blocked, scammers can easily and cheaply purchase another.

CTIA argues the fleeting nature of todays robocallers makes maintaining call-block lists a massive undertaking, adding the utility of this effort would be easily negated by the use of number spoofing.

FIGHTING BACK

Its been more than a year since federal regulators have made clear that phone companies can and should offer customers robocall-blocking tools. So far, Time Warner Cable is the only major telecommunications company that has taken steps to do that, said Mahoney, of Consumers Union.

Time Warner directly offers its customers a third-party service called Nomorobo, among the startups trying to fill the robocall-blocking demand left by the major phone carriers. With one click, those customers can turn on the free service.

How it works: After a user activates Nomorobo, when a call is received, the companys server checks to see whether its a known robocaller.

If it is, then the service answers and your phone will typically stop ringing after one ring. The intent is to let legitimate calls go through.

The brains behind the operation is founder and self-described serial entrepreneur Aaron Foss, who developed the idea in response to the Federal Trade Commissions first robocall challenge to build a call-blocking service. The startup claims to have stopped more than 143 million calls for 675,000 users nationwide.

The service is free for landlines but is only available on Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, carriers. Foss said an iPhone version is in the works, to be priced at $1.99 a month.

I really pushed the issue of developing call-block technology, Foss said. The carriers were not being truthful when they said it cant be done.  We can block calls.

Clarke, the Long Beach resident, installed Nomorobo about a year ago and says she is a fan of its easy setup and effectiveness in blocking unwanted calls.

Occasionally one slips through, said Clarke, a retiree.

Andrew Wilson, a stay-at-home dad in Fountain Valley, says ever since he began using Nomorobo six months ago, practically no unwanted calls get through.

Wilson found it strange his phone service provider, Time Warner, did not actively advertise Nomorobo on customer bills or elsewhere. He said he found out about the call-filtering service only while he was on Time Warners website to add telemarketing numbers on his call-block list.

Why arent they advertising this? Wilson said.

Mahoney, of Consumers Union, says more carriers should either develop their own call-blocking technology or offer third-party services like Nomorobo directly to their customers.

What we dont want is to have consumers track down third-party apps themselves, she said. The phone companies should offer them.

U.S. phone carriers could also try to mimic Primus Canada, an independent internet and phone provider, Mahoney said. Since 2007, the company has offered its customers a free call-filtering service that spots suspicious calling patterns and screens unwanted calls through a system that harnesses user feedback, a 2015 report from Consumers Union states.

A NEW LIST?

Consumers Union, the advocacy group, has also recommended the development of a Do Not Originate list, an idea from Henning Schulzrinne, who was recently appointed the FCCs senior adviser for technology.

The list would allow commonly spoofed entities such as the IRS and banks to register their outbound numbers in a database. Calls from those numbers originating from certain providers or gateways would raise red flags and likely be blocked, according to Consumers Union. The consumer watchdog group says phone carriers have the tools to execute something like this.

Huahong Tu, a robocall researcher and doctoral student at Arizona State University, said such a list sounds like a great short-term solution, but he sees some potential hurdles. A Do Not Originate list, he says, would also require all the carriers to work together to figure out where each caller ID should originate.

It seems like we are going back to the idea of creating more lists, that creates more administrative and compliance headaches for the telephone companies, Tu said. It doesnt fit the future trend of democratizing telephone carriers. Only one bad apple is needed to circumvent the list.

He added that services such as Nomorobo may not be good long-term solutions because their systems wont be able to keep up with spoofers.

Tu says the solution lies in bolstering phone verification. Internet browsers, he said, must verify the identities of websites typically with a green lock icon next to web addresses to ensure their authenticity. Theres no equivalent process for phone lines, which makes spoofing possible in the first place, he added.

Tu and his team at ASU filed a provisional patent outlining such a process, but he acknowledges that bringing something like this to life would require either consensus in the telecommunications community to accept such a standard or the creation of a commercial product.

The team is pursuing both paths.

With phone lines, theres a lack of accountability, Tu said.

Contact the writer: lleung@scng.com
It was a big, and ultimately doomed, proposal from a small country at a U.N. wildlife conference in South Africa: legalize the international sale of rhino horn because a 1977 ban on its trade has failed to stop the scourge of poaching.

The African kingdom of Swaziland, which has 73 rhinos, said Monday that it could use funds from the sale of its stockpile of 330 kilograms (727 pounds) of rhino horn to pay for wildlife protection. Its presentation included an appeal from delegate Ted Reilly, whose voice broke with emotion as he recalled rangers who have been killed across the continent while protecting rhinos and elephants over the years.

We all know the ban is not working, Reilly said at a committee meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

Delegates, however, rejected the Swazi proposal by a vote of 100 to 26, with 17 abstentions. Conservationists said they expected the decision to be confirmed at a plenary session on Tuesday or Wednesday, the last day of the meeting.

Most delegates disagreed with the Swazi stance that a regulated trade would undermine poachers who have slaughtered rhinos in record numbers to meet demand in parts of Asia, particularly Vietnam. Some consumers believe rhino horn in powder form can cure illnesses, although there is no evidence that the horn, made of the same substance as human fingernails, has any medicinal value.

South Africa, home to most of the worlds rhinos, has been hit particularly hard by poaching. It had considered making a similar proposal at the CITES meeting to sell rhino horn but decided more preparation was required. Nevertheless, it backed the Swazi proposal, as did Namibia and Zimbabwe, which also have significant rhino populations.

The three southern African countries also spoke in support of selling ivory on the basis that their elephant populations are stable, even though poachers across Africa have killed elephants by the tens of thousands in recent years. But delegates at the wildlife conference rejected proposals to allow the sale of ivory. China, the worlds biggest consumer of ivory, has said it will close its domestic market.

Countries opposing the Swazi proposal included Indonesia, Nepal, Bhutan and India, all of which have rhino species. Indonesia said a Swazi sale could have grave effects on its critically endangered Javan and Sumatran rhinos if poachers target them more aggressively.

Swaziland has had success in protecting its rhinos, even as neighboring South Africa struggles to protect its far bigger population of roughly 20,000. The two countries say they struggle for resources to protect their threatened species and sometimes bristle at international suggestions about how to handle their wildlife.

The underlying issue is, who pays for it? said Tom Milliken of the TRAFFIC conservation group.
California college educators, students and the Secretary of States office are joining forces in hopes of getting more young people to the polls under a new set of agreements announced Sept. 20.

We need to collectively embrace our responsibility in educating those young people for their civic responsibility, which begins with registering and voting, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said during a meeting of the Cal State University Board of Trustees.

Padilla appeared at the trustees meeting, which took place at the CSU Chancellors Office in Long Beach, to speak on a new agreement between his office, the California State Student Association and CSU Chancellor Timothy White.

Although Padilla asserted every voter is a lawmaker  and thats particularly true with 17 ballot measures set to appear on the November ballot  he also said a mere 8 percent of California young people ages 18 to 24 voted in the November 2014 election.

Elements of the agreement:

 Each of the CSUs 23 campuses will host voter registration activities on days when students move in to dorms and graduate.

 All campuses will deliver at least one email blast to encourage students to register.

 Cal State Student Association volunteers will aid nonpartisan voter registration and education activities.

 The Secretary of States office will schedule campus visits where Padilla will encourage students to vote.

There are similar agreements for the University of California and California Community College systems, said Padilla and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a trustee by virtue of his office. Padilla also said hes not aware of any other states creating similar get-out-the-vote programs for their respective college systems.

Also on Sept. 20, CSU trustees government relations committee voted to endorse Proposition 55, which would keep tax increases on high-income earners on the books in order to finance K-12 schools, community colleges and Medi-Cal.

The tax hikes, which voters previously approved by passing Proposition 30 in 2012, are currently scheduled to expire in 2018. If the new ballot measure passes, they would remain in effect until 2030. The states nonpartisan Legislative Analysts office estimates the measure could generate $4 to $9 billion in annual income tax revenue, depending upon economic conditions and stock market performance.

Contact the writer: aedwards@scng.com
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps comments Monday about veterans mental health set off a fiery debate about how post-traumatic stress should be discussed. But many veterans, including some who have suffered from the condition, say they continue to support him.

Trump, speaking to a group of veterans in Reston, Va., was asked whether he would support boosting the roles of chaplains and faith-based programs to promote mental resiliency among service members and veterans. He indicated he would, and then shifted quickly to opine on problems he sees in the care veterans receive.

When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and youre strong and you can handle it, Trump said. But a lot of people cant handle it. And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldnt see in a movie, nobody would believe it.

The comments were greeted by critics as clumsy at best, and offensive at worst. Phillip Carter, an Army veteran who previously served in the Obama administration, tweeted that they were uncaring, unprofessional and unpresidential, and pointed to some of Trumps previous controversial comments about veterans, including criticizing the Gold Star parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim soldier who was killed in Iraq.

But Trumps supporters who have served quickly said his remarks were being exaggerated for effect in the media. Former Marine Staff Sgt. Chad Robichaux, a combat veteran who served in Force Reconnaissance units and asked Trump the question, defended him in a statement released to news organizations.

I think its sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trumps comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda, said Robichaux, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress. I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them.

Others defended him online, saying he was drawing attention to veterans issues that need to be discussed. Trump, who has polled well with veterans, has often said that 22 veterans commit suicide each day, and did so again Monday. Thats based on 2013 data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but new statistics released in July show that 20 veterans are still lost to suicide daily.

Thomas Brennan, a Marine combat veteran who has written about his own post-traumatic stress and has misgivings about both candidates, said in a Facebook post that he thought Trump was well-intentioned but used some words that show evidence of ongoing, far-reaching failures in discussing mental health.

When youre struggling you do need support. You dont feel strong. You feel your weakest, Brennan wrote. On the flip side, the moment you ask for help is when youre at your strongest despite feeling as though youre at your weakest. It just takes time to see that. And because its incredibly embarrassing most survivors wont talk about it.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Trump adviser, released a statement through the campaign that blamed the media for taking Trumps words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans. He suggested Trump was simply highlighting the challenges veterans face when returning home after serving their country.

Numerous groups supporting veterans challenge the concept that those who seek treatment cant handle trauma they have experienced. In fact, its often now described as an injury that must be treated rather than as a mental disorder, to the point that the D in PTSD often is dropped.

PTS, long thought to be a mental disorder is now increasingly looked on as an injury to be treated, the American Legion states in its brochure on the condition. The American Legion feels that this change in focus will more effectively assist veterans and service members who are suffering from the effects of traumatic experiences.

The veterans website Task & Purpose has labeled post-traumatic stress being a sign of weakness as its No. 1 myth about the condition. The Department of Veterans Affairs suggests that seeking help for post-traumatic stress is a sign of problem solving, not a sign of weakness, and notes that many people recover fully from it with treatment.

Paul Rieckhoff, the chief executive officer of the non-profit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, called in a series of tweets Monday for an educated dialogue about the subject, urging media organizations to add light rather than just heat and for people to be careful with the words they choose.

Every national leader has a responsibility to use accurate and appropriate language when talking about mental health and suicide especially, Rieckhoff said.
Vets in Chennai, India, were recently stunned to discover two miracle puppies that had survived a 25-day, 3,000-kilometer journey from China to India, sealed in a shipping container without food or water.

When workers at the Salcomp electronics factory in Sriperumbudur opened a sealed container on Friday, they found an unexpected surprise  a couple of frightened puppies hiding behind the spare parts that they had ordered from China. Seeing that the animals were in bad shape -dehydrated famished and sick  and realizing that the container had been sealed in China on September 5th, security at Nokia telecom park quickly contacted a local animal shelter.

The puppies ended up at The Blue Cross of India animal shelter, where it was determined that they were about three months old. They both had fever and required serious medical attention. However, everyone agreed that the mere fact that they were still alive after their long journey was a miracle. Upon searching the container the puppies arrived in, workers and animal activists found no trace of food or water, which makes their survival a medical impossibility, especially at such a young age.

It is a miracle that the puppies survived without food or water for over three weeks, veterinary college professor Shafi told The Times of India. Generally, they can go without feed or water for about a week. This seems to be an extraordinary exception.

At this point, nobody knows for sure how the puppies wound up in the shipping container, but The Blue Cross of India offers to possible explanations, on their Facebook page. They might also have been packed up by someone who was trying to get rid of them and this cruel and twisted method for some reason appealed to them, or someone might have attempted to smuggle them into India.

Ever since the Indian Government banned breeders from importing dogs from other countries, breeders have been looking for ways to smuggle fresh stock into India, the Blue Cross post states. Perhaps the crate was originally supposed to have been intercepted and released of its suffering cargo before proceeding to Salcomp, and that particular phase of the operation did not take place due to some unknown reason.

The two miracle puppies remain in the care of The Blue Cross of India animal shelter, and despite being in a stable condition, workers there said that their survival is still not assured. If they do manage to recover, they will have to be quarantined for a fortnight to ensure that they are not carrying any viruses, after which they will hopefully be adopted.

Photos: The Blue Cross of India/Facebook
Bell Pottinger, the UK-based multinational PR firm known for its roster of controversial clients, for years worked alongside the U.S. military in a covert propaganda campaign in Iraq, according to a report filed over the weekend by London-based nonprofit news organization the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in conjunction with News UK flagship The Sunday Times.

Bell Pottinger was reportedly paid more than $500 million for the work, which began in 2004 and continued until 2011. Hired as a contractor under the Information Operations Task Force, the firm worked alongside U.S. military intelligence operations in Iraq for the purpose of promoting democratic elections, which allegedly included creating TV commercials that portrayed Al-Qaeda in a negative light as well as short video segments made to resemble regional news footage.

The firm also allegedly created phony Al-Qaeda recruitment videos, which the military would reportedly leave on CDs in raided areas. Those CDs contained encrypted data, so that when the video was played, the users IP address would be transmitted, allowing the military to know where the videos were being watched.

At one point, BP employed nearly 300 British and Iraqi staff for the work, according to the Bureaus report, which interviewed a half-dozen former officials and contractors involved in IOTF work in Iraq. The firm also reportedly carried out work under the Joint Psychological Operations Task Force.

Bell Pottinger reported to the CIA, the Pentagon and the National Security Council, according the Bureaus report. The firms work was reportedly signed off by then-U.S. Army General David Petraeus, and on at least one occasion, the White House, the report said.

The Pentagon confirmed with the Sunday Times Bell Pottingers work for IOTF, and BP former chairman Tim Bell also confirmed with the newspaper his former firms operations in Iraq.

The Bureau accounted for BPs Pentagon work by analyzing army contracts, Defense Department reports, federal procurement transition records and corporate filings submitted by BP itself. In total, The Bureau identified $540 million in transactions between BP and the Pentagon on contracts issued between 2007 and 2011, and another contract for an annual rate of $120 million in 2006.

BPs work was just one instance of the Defense Departments sweeping contracts for PR operations in Iraq that followed the U.S.s 2003 invasion of that country. The Bureau reported that between 2006 and 2008, more than 40 companies were hired for video production work and TV and radio placement, as well as advertising and opinion polls. These included US companies like Lincoln Group, Leonie Industries and SOS International as well as Iraq-based firms such as Cradle of New Civilization Media, Babylon Media and Iraqi Dream, the Bureau reported.

That first agency, the Lincoln Group, was the Pentagons go-to PR firm for Iraq wartime communications operations after U.S.-led forces invaded that country in 2003. In 2005 it was reported that the Lincoln Group, amid a PR salvo to inform the Iraqi people of the U.S.'s objectives for that country, had paid Iraqi press outlets to run pro-U.S. news stories. Now-defunct Lincoln Group, which was formerly known as Iraqex, later became Fulcra Worldwide before changing its name once again to Strategic Social.

The Bureau reported that the largest contracts during the period it analyzed were given to Bell Pottinger.

Bell Pottinger, which has performed PR work for the government of Sri Lanka, Venezuelas national oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, and repped the United Nations in war-torn Somalia, is known for aiding embattled and sometimes unsavory foreign clients such as the governments of Belarus and Bahrain, the Palestine Liberation Organization, former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet and Asma Assad, wife of Syrian president Bashar al Assad.

BP in 2012 was divested from UK-based marketing group Chime Communications, and Chime last year was acquired for $580 million by WPP. Tim Bell left the firm earlier this year to start a new PR consulting venture.
On the heels of signing several high-profile contracts with Glover Park Group and Squire Patton Boggs in September, Saudi Arabia has continued its lobbying push on Capitol Hill, hiring law firm King & Spalding as well as public affairs powerhouse Podesta Group.

King & Spalding is representing Saudi Arabias Ministry of Commerce and Investment, the body that regulates and develops domestic and foreign trade in Saudi Arabia. King & Spalding is charged with providing MCI advocacy and legal services related to the recent veto override of S.2040, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act documents filed on September 26.



S.2040 is the recently-passed bill that amends the federal judicial code to allow the families of terrorist attack victims to sue foreign governments. Sponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Cornyn (R-TX), the bill passed both chambers of Congress on September 9 before it was eventually vetoed by President Obama on September 23. The bill made headlines nationwide when Congress overwhelmingly voted to override the Presidents decision, marking the first veto override of Obamas presidency.

Fees and the duration of King & Spaldings agreement with Saudi Arabias MCI are still undetermined, according to FARA documents. King & Spalding maintains an office in Saudis capital, Riyadh.

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, the national oil and natural gas company directed, owned and financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has hired Podesta Group to provide counsel regarding U.S. policies of concern, activities in Congress and the executive branch, and developments of the U.S. political scene generally, according to FARA documents filed on September 30.

Podesta will also conduct research and communicate relevant issues (and may conduct meetings) with members of Congress and executive branch officials.

Acting as a third party-client in the agreement, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company is working through international law firm White & Case LLP. The pact, which was inked between Podesta and White & Case, shows services beginning on September 21 and terminating on October 21. White & Case will pay Podesta $30,000 for the month-long campaign in addition to expenses.

Saudi Arabia picked up its Washington spending shortly after the September 9 passage of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, with Saudi Arabias Royal Embassy quickly hiring Glover Park to provide communications and government relations support on matters related to general foreign policy, and as well as legislative, public policy and media-related activities of interest, according to FARA registration documents.



Squire Patton Boggs, meanwhile, was picked up on September 19 by the Saudi Royal Court to advise the country on legal and strategic policy advice and advocacy on foreign and related issues in the U.S. government.
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MORE JEEP CREEP COLUMNS

Jeep Tips: Lockers, O2 Sensor Codes, Axle Conversions and More

Jeep Recall Update, Manual Hubs, JK Wrangler Lift Kits

Jeep Q&A: CB Antenna Fix, Hi-Lift Jack Mounting, Scrambler Pickup



CONTACT INFO

Two Jeep recalls from NHTSA this month

(www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/monthlyreports.cfm)

16V-529: Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Jeep Cherokee and 2015 Chrysler 200, Jeep Renegade, RAM ProMaster, and 2016 Fiat 500X vehicles equipped with nine-speed automatic transmissions. The transmission sensor clusters may have insufficient crimps in the transmission wire harness, and as a result, the transmission may unexpectedly shift to neutral. On August 29, 2016, Chrysler added the 2016 Fiat 500X vehicles to this recall. If the vehicle unexpectedly shifts to neutral, there is an increased risk of a crash. Chrysler will notify owners, dealers will update the transmission software to prevent the transmission from shifting into neutral due to a faulty crimp, free of charge. The remedy is currently unavailable. Interim notices were mailed to owners on August 24, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when the remedy becomes available in September 2016. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 800-853-1403. Chryslers number for this recall is S55.

16V-545: Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Jeep Renegade vehicles manufactured August 25, 2014, to June 25, 2016, equipped with a factory-installed optional trailer hitch package. The trailer hitch assembly may have been attached with only a single fastener per side, not three per side as required. Without the proper amount of fasteners, the trailer hitch assembly may separate from the vehicle, and any towed vehicle may no longer be properly connected, increasing the risk of a crash. Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will install two additional fasteners per side, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 800-853-1403. Chryslers number for this recall is S62.

Transmissions: Auto vs. Stick

I drove a Hummer in the Army and Ive been missing it lately so Im looking at Jeeps. I dont want the size of a Hummer, but I really like the four-door Wranglers because of the size and towing capacityIm also looking at small tent trailers because were a family of fisher-folk too. Even though Ive decided on the four-door, I need some advice. First, is the Rubicon option package worth the extra money? Which gear option should I chose if I buy a new one? Hardtop or soft top? And, lastly, should I pick an automatic or a manual transmission?

Mike Sellars

Scottsdale, AZ

First of all, Mike, if youre going to be towing, choose the lowest gear ratio you can. Itll ease towing and accommodate larger tires if and when you decide you need them. In Arizonaespecially in the Phoenix areait makes more sense to go with a hardtop. Its cooler in the summer, more secure when parked, and warmer in the winter, and you can always pick up a soft top later on if you decide to go lidless once in a while. In my opinion, its always better to go with the Rubicon option in a Wrangler. Almost the entire drivetrain is stronger and more reliable, you get electronic sway bar disconnect (in the JK models2007 to current), you get 4:1 low range for better creeping and crawling, you get locking differentials, and you should get back most of the extra cost should you ever sell. Again, in my opinionand this discussion has occupied many hours around the campfire all over the countryan automatic is far superior to a manual when off road (in fact I drove my first stick since before the turn of the millennia last week). Look at the above photo: when youre trying to crawl over rocks like this, with an automatic all you have to do is gently apply a bit more throttle until the Jeep climbs up and over. With a stick, youve got to keep your right foot on the brake and throttle, slip the clutch with your left foot, and try to ease over the rock without stalling the engine or breaking something. Modern automatics will also hold you back on the steep downhills without stalling the engine. Theres only one down side to an auto, it can fail unexpectedly, but thats never happened to me.

Air Horns

Hey, Jeep Creep, Jeep horns suck! I dont think theyve been improved in Jeeps 75-year history. They were weak in the slow speeds of the 1940s and they are still weak today. Way too weak for our noisy cities or speedy freeways! I was almost hit twice today coming back from a run and the drivers never heard my horn because their stereos were cranked up. What can I do to improve mine?

Don Prince

Calabasas, CA

Youre right and I agree with you completely, Don. Ive never been satisfied with a stock Jeep horn, even in the 68 Waggoneer or in the 74 J20 we owned, and Wrangler horns are even worse. The solution to your dilemma, however, is fairly simpleelectric air horns. Air horn kits are available from your local auto parts stores, 4-Wheel Parts, and Quadratec. Prices run the gamut between around $25 to over $1,000, depending upon on how many horns there are and sound. The more expensive kits will scare the pants off your club members because they sound more like a train horn than a car horn. Youll be able to choose a kit that matches your wallet and fits your Jeep.

Communications

My club members want me to buy a two-way radio for my Jeep. Some of them suggest a CB; some keep telling me a ham radio would be better. Can you explain the differences to me?

Patrick Spencer

Ventura, CA

Basically, Patrick, the two major differences are power and number of users. Citizen band radios (CB) are limited by the FCC to a 5-watt output, which in turn limits the radios range. A CB doesnt need a license so there are millions of users, which can fill up the 40 channels rather quickly. However, most Jeep clubs use CB radios to enhance the family experience while on trail rides and in caravans to four-wheeling areas. Theyre easy to use and easy to install. Ive been using CB since the 60s when they only had 23 channels and vacuum tubes. I still have one mounted in my LJ; however, I also have a handheld ham radio and an FCC license (KF7SCT). Ham radios (FCC license is required to use them) can have output power up to 50 watts or more, there are so many channels I dont want to give a number here, and repeaters can assist you to contact radios literally anywhere in the world. Repeaters are self-contained antennas with powerful transceiversusually maintained by local radio clubsthat bounce your transmission onto other repeaters. These repeaters are placed in high spots all over towns and cities so that an individual radios range is literally unlimited. As with CB radios, ham radios can be handheld, vehicle mounted (12VDC), and in-house base stations (120VAC). Im currently evaluating a pair of Rugged Radios RH-5R kits (shown here), so Ill be able to tell you more about them in the near future. For now I tell you the RH-5R can operate on both VHF and UHF bands, and comes pre-programmed with over 40 popular channels including Best In The Desert, Baja Pits, Weatherman, BFG Relay, Rescue, Checkers, GMRS channels, and several other organizations. If youre into racing, this radio is for you, and it also has up to 128 programmable channels.



Bushings

I own a 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ 2WD and want to replace the suspension bushings. Does the 4WD XJ use the same bushing as the 2WD? Im looking at a bushing kit for the 4WD and wondering if it will fit my 2WD.

Clark Pearlman

El Paso, TX

Clark, I really dont think so; however, stop by the closest auto parts store or a Jeep dealer and ask them to look up the part numbers to both bushings. Thatll tell you.



Broken Bolts

I have a 99 Cherokee. We were installing a 2-inch budget lift yesterday and were removing the rear shocks. But since the Jeep is nearly 20 years old, we snapped off three out of four upper mounting bolts. And, of course, we sprayed Kroil on all the bolts and let it set in before we carefully attempted the removal. We ended up using an air hammer and popped out the rusted nuts that were welded in place, leaving a hole for us to use. We then inserted a 1-inch, 10mm, grade 8 bolt, and fastened it in place with lock washers; thereby creating new mounting studs. Voila! We got our shocks mounted and are driving the Jeep today.

Mac Martinson

Des Moines, IN

Good job! Im publishing your letter so other folks can see what Jeep ingenuity can do.



No 4WD

I have a 91 Cherokee Sport, 170,000 miles, Command Track, four-speed automatic transmission, and a 4.0-liter engine. The problem is that the four-wheel drive will not engage. The handle will move into 4-high but the front differential does not seem to engage. Where should I start looking?

David Hill

Seattle, WN

Dave, some 91 Cherokees had an axle interlock in front. Its a vacuum-actuated unit. It has failed. The vacuum line has become disconnected or is leaking, or the inside handle has become disconnected.

Cherokee Chevy

I have a 1987 Cherokee Chief and Im wondering what type of engine mods can I do to it. I want to drop in a Chevy 350 V8, if that is possible. If yes, then is it wise?

JC Smith

San Jose, CA

Basically, you can put any engine you wish in the Cherokee; however, you need to check with your local DMV office to ascertain what the current California law is concerning engine transplants on street-legal vehicles (unless you want to green sticker it and trailer it to your play areas). The last time I checked, DMV required it be the same year or newer engine, specified for an SUV, and must include all smog equipment, including the computer and all sensors, and youll probably need to see an umpire. For the necessary modification equipment, visit www.advanceadapters.com.



Surging Automatic

I have a 1987 Jeep XJ two-door. I have the Renix fuel injection with my 4.0 engine. I removed the Peugeot transmission and replaced it with a 700R4. Many dollars later the transmission was installed but does not appear to shift properly. We had to find a custom fix for the crank position sensor, which the person who sold me the transmission failed to mention, as there is a distinct difference between the kits made for the Mopar and Renix fuel injection systems. That aside, the transmission seems to shift inconsistently. It often shifts hard but does not accelerate well, or under heavy acceleration, the engine revs but the transmission starts to surge. Do you have any advice or recommendations?

Jon Jay

Reston, VA

Im thinking your fuel injection computer is not compatible with the 700R4. It will have to be reprogrammed. A good transmission shop should be able to do that and that should correct the shift problem and the acceleration problem. It may also need a shifting reprogram kit in the valve body or its not getting the proper signals from the EFI to operate correctly.

In your Jeep Creep questions, please list your first and last names, your hometown, and your state/province/country, so that we can publish that information here. If you dont provide this information, we may not be able to publish your question and answer. Dont forget to be as complete as possible with the description of your Jeep and its problems, too. For some reason the questions have fallen off, and I know we havent answered all your Jeep technical questions. There are no dumb questions; only unasked questions. Send them in and try to stump us.Jim Brightly

As usual, each month, Im shouting out a huge THANK YOU to Paul Schupp at Rock Lizard 4x4 in Kingman, Arizona, for his invaluable assistance in answering many of the Jeep Creep questions.
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When it comes to job growth over the past year theres a widening gulf between regional manufacturers and non-manufacturing businesses.

As makers of products like farm machinery dial back operations to get more in line with demand from a cash-poor agriculture sector, industries further removed from the farm economy have grown.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show manufacturers in the nine-state region stretching from North Dakota to Arkansas shed 20,000 jobs, or 1.4 percent of their employment base, in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, non-manufacturers have added 109,000 jobs, an increase of 1.1 percent.

Weakness among manufacturers linked to agriculture and energy continue to weigh on regional economic conditions, said Ernie Goss, a Creighton University economist. Due to the heavy dependence of the region on these two sectors, I will expect to see the regional economy to continue to underperform the national economy.

Creightons Mid-America Business Conditions Index for September showed regional manufacturers are still struggling to right-size their operations to adjust to subsequent sluggish demand wrought by low-priced commodities like grain and oil.

The index, which uses a scale of 0 to 100 to indicate economic growth, fell to 45.5 in September, down from 47.8 in August. Readings below 50 indicate economic decline.

September marks the third consecutive month of lousy economic conditions among manufacturers in Midwestern states, including Iowa and Nebraska, where state-level readings were 48 and 44.6, respectively. Respondents to the Goss survey in each state again reported dwindling employment last month.

Significant declines in exports of machinery manufacturing, an important Iowa export, has had a negative impact on Iowas manufacturing sector, including metal producers, Goss said.

The Creighton economist made similar comments about companies in Nebraska, noting that signs of improving conditions in some areas could be tempered by continued weakness in international trade.

Supply managers reported the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy reduced both exports and imports for the month, Goss said, referring to the collapse of one of the largest international shipping companies in the world in early September.
SIDNEY, Neb.  Gov. Pete Ricketts emerged from a meeting with officials here Tuesday saying its time to persuade Bass Pro Shops to keep jobs in Nebraska after the Missouri company announced that it would buy local retailer Cabelas.

I think weve got some work to do to present the case, but thats why Im here today in Sidney to talk to the mayor and others to put together the team that will approach Bass Pro with all the things we have to offer here, Ricketts said.

Cabelas employs about 2,000 people in this town of 6,800. Bass Pro announced Monday that it would buy Cabelas and consolidate the combined companys headquarters in its hometown of Springfield, Missouri, a city with a metropolitan area population of about 460,000.

Bass Pro didnt announce any job cuts Monday, but Wall Street watchers say that when one company buys another, typically the acquiring company makes big cuts to the acquired. Theres no need for two accounting departments, two marketing departments and so on, for instance.

The deal is set to close in the first half of next year, when analysts say the picture will become more clear on any possible job cuts.

Certainly we know theres going to be disruption and uncertainty, Ricketts said Tuesday. But were going to work with local officials and state officials on how we can minimize that disruption as much as possible.

State economic incentives will be part of the pitch presented to Bass Pro by a transition team of local and state officials, the governor said. Amenities in Sidney also will be touted. Those, he said, include a dedicated and educated workforce, a new hospital and a host of businesses that support Cabelas.

Ricketts said he had talked with Bass Pro founder and Chief Executive Johnny Morris for 20 to 30 minutes on Monday and was encouraged by what he heard.

I told him about my personal experience, that when you hire Nebraskans you get someone whos well-educated, whos got a great work ethic and is loyal and customer-focused, Ricketts said. We want to make Nebraska a partner with Bass Pro as they grow their business.

Morris, he said, didnt make any commitments. But Ricketts said the Bass Pro founder appreciates and respects Cabelas brand and wants to make it part of the long-term growth of his company.

A statement released Monday by Bass Pro said the company would continue to maintain important bases of operations in Sidney and Lincoln, where the companys credit-card operation is based. The statement didnt detail what the employment picture would look like in either of those locations.

Jack Wlezien, a Bass Pro spokesman, said in response to a question from The World-Herald that Bass CEO Morris had a nice visit with the governor (Monday), reiterating his personal respect and appreciation for Cabelas and his intentions to maintain a presence in the state.

Ricketts met for nearly a hour Tuesday morning with a contingent of local officials, including Sidney Mayor Mark Nienhueser.

Nienhueser said he was pleased by Ricketts quick response to the community following Mondays announcement that Bass Pro was acquiring Cabelas. That, he said, included the talk with Bass Pro CEO Morris and the trip Tuesday to Sidney.

Were pleased that hes been so proactive, Nienhueser said. We want to keep as many jobs and, if possible, get more jobs in Sidney. Weve got a lot to offer.

Anxiety was running high Tuesday in this city about six hours west of Omaha. Townspeople used words like scary to describe their feelings over the prospect that hundreds  or even thousands  of jobs could be lost when Bass Pro takes over and Cabelas World Headquarters is no longer in a huge, green-roofed building  opened in January  along the Interstate.

One woman, a clerk at Cabelas retail store, choked back tears when asked for her reaction to the sale.

Ricketts, a former executive with his familys business, TD Ameritrade, said his familys company made acquisitions in which it actually increased employment at the home of the acquired companies.

Perhaps some Bass Pro operations could be moved to Sidney, Ricketts said. He cited the purchase by TD Ameritrade of a New Jersey-based competitor, Datek Online Holdings, in 2002.

We left the technology office there, and eventually it expanded, he said. Theres certainly opportunities here.

World-Herald staff writer Paige Yowell contributed to this report.
TORONTO (AP)  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that Canada will impose a tax on carbon emissions starting in 2018 as part of its efforts to meet targets set by the Paris climate change accord.

Trudeau made the announcement in Parliament on Monday as debate started over whether Canada should ratify the Paris accord. The House of Commons is expected to approve the Paris accord in a vote on Wednesday.

There is no hiding from climate change, Trudeau said. It is real, and it is everywhere. We cannot undo the last 10 years of inaction. What we can do is make a real and honest effort  today and every day  to protect the health of our environment, and with it, the health of all Canadians.

Trudeau argued that taxing carbon pollution will give Canada a significant advantage in building a cleaner economy, compel businesses to develop innovative ways to reduce emissions, and create thousands of clean technology jobs.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall blasted Trudeau for unilaterally announcing his plan and not working with the provinces on a collaborative proposal. Provincial environment ministers were meeting with their federal counterpart when Trudeau made his announcement. The level of disrespect shown by the Prime Minister and his government his stunning, Wall said in a statement. This new tax will damage our economy.

Canadas most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, are joining in a cap-and-trade program. British Columbia already has a carbon tax.

Copyright 2016 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LINCOLN  An inmate convicted of assaulting a prison guard during last years riot at the Tecumseh State Prison was sentenced to serve an additional 10 years in prison.

Johnson County District Judge Daniel Bryan on Monday sentenced Roger Weikle for his role in a chain of events that left two inmates dead and more than $2 million in damage to the Tecumseh prison.

A jury in August found Weikle, 60, guilty of assault by a confined person.

During the trial, prosecutors played a videotape recording of the prison yard at the beginning of the riot that showed Weikle charge at a corrections corporal, Joe Hatzenbuehler.

The tape showed Weikle stomp on the officers head as Hatzenbuehler wrestled on the ground with another inmate, who had just punched him in the face.

Hatzenbuehler, now a police officer in Schuyler, testified at the trial that Weikle scraped his forehead with his shoe, resulting in a painful injury.

No one has been charged in the riots two slayings, but six inmates have been charged with assault or arson in connection with the riot, the worst prison uprising in six decades in Nebraska.

Weikle was already serving 72 to 218 years in prison for a variety of offenses, including first-degree murder and escape. Bryan ordered the new sentence to be served after the previous sentences.

Among the four other inmates charged with assault:

Fredrick Gooch, the inmate prosecutors say threw the initial punch at Hatzenbuehler, has been granted a competency examination. John Zalme, who is accused of striking another corrections officer in the initial melee, is set to stand trial on Nov. 14.

Ian Yelton and William Harris both pleaded guilty to reduced charges. Yelton was sentenced to 20 to 60 months for an attempted Class 3 felony and Harris to one year in jail for a misdemeanor assault.

A sixth inmate, Justin Busch, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree arson. No trial date has been set.
A 35-year-old Kentucky man was arrested in his home state last week on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of a Council Bluffs man.

Arthur J. Crum of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, was arrested Sept. 25 by the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. He is awaiting a hearing on whether he should be sent back to Iowa to face charges, said Sgt. Mark Stuart of the Council Bluffs Police Department.

Crum is accused of fatally shooting Larry J. Scott, 39. Scotts body was discovered Aug. 30 at 4:20 a.m. when Bluffs police responded to a report of a man lying in the middle of Avenue B just west of North 10th Street.

A preliminary investigation indicated that Scott was a gunshot victim. Detectives and crime-scene investigators collected evidence at the site and canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses.

Its unclear what led police to issue an arrest warrant for Crum.

Anyone who may have been in the area and seen or heard anything at the time of this incident is asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728.
Daniel L. Jones had a tumultuous childhood and was only 16 years old when he helped stab Scott Catenacci to death in a Bellevue park in 1998.

Those factors didnt make up for the heinousness of what Sarpy County District Judge David Arterburn called an execution. The judge on Monday handed down a sentence that gives Jones, 34, the possibility of parole but puts it decades down the road.

Arterburn sentenced Jones to 80 years to life. Under state law, most sentences are cut in half. Jones will be eligible for parole after 40 years. He was given credit for the 18 years and three days hes already served.

Six people were ultimately convicted of charges stemming from the death of 19-year-old Catenacci in September 1998. Catenacci was stabbed almost 60 times after being lured by his friends to Bellevues Haworth Park.

One of the defendants later told Sarpy County Sheriffs Office investigators that Catenaccis screams were so piercing that she thought it was a woman. Catenacci fought so hard he dislocated his hip.

The teenagers initially said they killed Catenacci as revenge for him roughing up Niccole Wetherell during group sex. Authorities said later that the rough sex was just an excuse and that the killing was the culmination of increasingly bad behavior.

Jones was 16 when he was arrested and 17 when he was sentenced. He did not stand trial. Instead, Jones pleaded no contest to a first-degree murder charge and was sentenced to life.

Wetherell and James Hargett also pleaded no contest to first-degree murder charges in connection with Catenaccis death. Wetherell and Hargett were not minors at the time and are both serving life sentences in prison.

The other three people convicted in the case were given lesser sentences and have completed their prison sentences.

Jones had to be resentenced because of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Miller v. Alabama, which said automatic life terms without parole for juveniles are unconstitutional. Under the ruling, judges can still impose life sentences on juveniles, but that cannot be the judges only option.

In Nebraska there are 27 people who were under age 18 when they received mandatory life sentences. Jones resentencing was the second and final case out of Sarpy County.

Last month Jason L. Golka was given two terms of 45 years to life for a 2004 double murder in Gretna that occurred 16 days before Golkas 18th birthday. Hell be eligible for parole about age 63.

Before the sentencing, Jones told the court he was deeply sorry. He apologized to Catenaccis family and friends, the Sarpy County community, the prosecutor and the judge for his actions as a 16-year-old.

Every day in prison, Jones said, he tries to better himself for his sisters.

Sarpy County Chief Deputy Attorney Tricia Freeman said the crime was planned and premeditated. There was a knife-sharpening party, she said. And Catenacci was lured to the park under the guise that someone wanted to buy his laptop.

Jones would later tell a witness that he carved something on Catenaccis head that would show up in the autopsy, Freeman said.

So were not dealing with someone who just got carried away with what other people were doing and he went along with the crowd, Freeman said. He was party. He was complicit. He was an actor who had equal culpability with the other two people who are serving forever life sentences because they were 18 at the time of the murder.

Julie Bear, Jones attorney, pointed to her clients age at the time of the killing and brain science that says a persons brain is not fully developed at that age. Bear also pointed to Jones tumultuous childhood, his decreasing number of misconduct reports while in prison and his IQ at the time of the crime.

At an Aug. 5 mitigation hearing, Jones older sister, Rachel Luna, testified that Jones had no true male role model and had a rough childhood as the family moved several times before settling in Bellevue.

Jones had behavioral problems, struggled in school and often appeared to be just following the lead of friends, Luna said.

Arterburn said while that might be the case, Jones has two sisters who are not standing in front of the court convicted of first-degree murder.

It might not have been Jones idea, but he was in on the planning and was a very willing participant, the judge said.

This is a very heinous crime, the judge said. And while I consider your age and so forth at the time, its just a situation where that any lesser sentence would detract from the seriousness of the crime.
A newborn baby who died after being tossed from a second-story apartment on Friday was female, weighed 2 pounds and was 14 inches long, police said Monday.

Based on those dimensions, the child likely was 27 to 28 weeks gestational age, said Dr. Ann Anderson-Berry, director of the neonatal intensive care unit at the Nebraska Medical Center. The survival chances of such a child born outside a hospital setting, Anderson-Berry said, are very low.

The infants mother, Antonia Lopez, 16, was booked into the Douglas County Youth Center on Saturday on suspicion of one count of felony child abuse resulting in death. The charge, which treats Lopez as an adult, is expected to be filed this week, authorities said.

Early Friday, police have said, Lopez was alone in her bedroom at the Kellom Knolls Apartments near 25th Avenue and Cuming Street when she went into labor. After delivering the baby she threw the newborn out the window of her apartment, police said, and told her mother what she had done. Her mother went outside and found the infant in the grass, called 911 and performed CPR on the infant until medics arrived, police said.

Fire Department paramedics indicated that the newborn was dead by the time they transported her to nearby Creighton University Medical Center. There, the baby was pronounced dead.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said last week that the child was not stillborn. To be booked on that count, he said, the child would have had to have been born alive.

Anderson-Berry, who has no direct knowledge of the Lopez case, said that in general if a child of that gestational age were born in an Omaha hospital, the survival rate is near 100 percent, in the high 90s, with good outcomes. She noted the child likely would need to spend eight to 12 weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit.

But being born outside a hospital lowers an infants chances of surviving.

Every baby is different at that gestational age, Anderson-Berry said. But at that gestational age, its an extreme disadvantage to not be born in a hospital.

The mothers size  Lopez was listed in an arrest report as 5-foot-1 and 100 pounds  wouldnt have affected the infants growth, Anderson-Berry said. At this gestation, infant growth is usually stable and independent of maternal (body size), she said.

Anderson-Berry did not say what an infants chances of survival would be if emergency responders arrived immediately afterward and got the baby to a hospital. The apartment where Lopez lives is a bit more than a half mile on city streets from the Creighton hospitals emergency room.

I think it would be very low, she said. But not zero.

It is not clear exactly when the baby was born. At 3:40 a.m. Friday, about 30 minutes before police were called, Lopez posted on Facebook, Who can do me a huge favor and has a car? Three crying emoji faces followed the request.
The next Omaha Public Schools board will take on a huge  and unexpected  job: Hiring a superintendent to lead the states largest school district.

OPS Superintendent Mark Evans, who inherited a school district in flux when he was hired nearly four years ago, will retire at the end of the school year.

Evans, 57, made the announcement at Monday nights school board meeting after a brief closed meeting with the board.

Evans said retirement would permit him and his wife, Stacey, to spend more time with their elderly parents, including his mother-in-law, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimers disease.

Please understand how difficult this decision is, he said. Stacey and I love this community and consider Omaha our adopted home. I cannot thank the staff, the board or OPSs community supporters enough.

Stepping down at the end of June will allow a school board that will look different after this falls election to hire and unite around a new superintendent, he said.

Five of the nine seats on the school board are up in November.

Several school board members said they were disappointed to see Evans go, given the districts progress during his tenure.

They thanked him for his service and the long hours he spent on the job overseeing changes that board President Lou Ann Goding said have resulted in a major cultural shift in the district.

Weve implemented a lot of change over the last four years under your leadership, and I think we can all feel good about that, said board member Katie Underwood.

Board Vice President Yolanda Williams was emotional, saying Evans had a visible presence across OPS classrooms and in the community.

Thank you for being an inspiration for the 52,000 students in our district, she said.

Evans said he would leave a school district that now has a tighter focus and improved student achievement. State test scores for OPS are on the rise, and the districts lowest-performing schools, in particular, showed growth when state test scores were released last month.

I was hired approximately four years ago, and where we are today, now versus then, the progress is incredible, Evans said.

Urban school districts like OPS frequently experience superintendent turnover. According to data from the American Association of School Administrators, the average tenure of urban superintendents is about three years, compared with six years for rural and suburban districts.

Bridget Donovan, the teachers union president, said the prospect of a new superintendent offers the administration a chance to turn the page on its relationship with staff.

The morale has been really low in OPS, and as the leader, hes been perceived as responsible, Donovan said.

Evans, a Kansas native, was hired in December 2012 and started in July 2013.

He arrived at a district in the midst of instability.

After 15 years heading the district, Superintendent John Mackiel retired in August 2012. The woman picked as his replacement, Des Moines Superintendent Nancy Sebring, was soon caught up in a scandal over sexually explicit emails and resigned, one month before she was to start working in OPS.

An interim superintendent, Virginia Moon, took charge.

The Legislature passed a law to shrink the OPS board from 12 members to nine, and after a highly competitive election, a largely new board was elected in May 2013.

Evans began working several months later, vowing to pull together a district that he said lacked long-term goals and a common vision.

Under his tenure, the board adopted a five-year strategic plan to lay out its top priorities, passed a record-breaking $421 million bond measure to renovate and rebuild aging schools and put into place executive directors meant to supervise principals and guide school improvement.

More technology is making its way into the classroom, and the district started a virtual school program with online classes this fall.

Evans and the entire school board never quite jelled, though, and observers noted a board that sometimes split 5-4 on big votes.

Several board members have minimized any suggestion of a divided board and said voters wanted a school board that would ask tough questions and hold the OPS administration accountable.

The board voted 7-2 this summer to renew and extend Evans contract through 2019. Board member Marque Snow, one of the no votes, said the district, under Evans, hadnt done enough to move the needle on suspension and expulsion rates that disproportionately affect black students.

Evans and the district have also faced criticism from parents and teachers over a 2015 decision to lengthen the school day without collecting much input from staff and parents; the districts response to the drowning death of a Nathan Hale Middle School student in 2014; a controversial update to the health and sex education curriculum; and this year, widespread busing problems.

Im a reformer that came in from the outside, Evans said. Being the reformer means I have taken some slings and arrows.

With the coming election, Evans said, there will be an opportunity for a new board to start fresh with a new superintendent, though he hoped the board would hire someone who will build on the districts momentum.

I couldnt be more pleased with where we are at, he said. I dont think the district needs to be blown up.

Goding said replacing Evans will be no easy task. A team will be formed to determine the next steps for a search.

We have some heavy lifting to do to replace Mr. Evans, whos been a phenomenal leader in this district, she said. We have a challenge ahead of us, but were up to the task.

Donovan said teachers will want a seat at that table.

Its really important that the board looks forward and doesnt dwell on any past disputes, she said. They need to put their effort into finding a worthwhile replacement.

Evans will be paid a base salary of $281,139 this year.

His contract also includes a 14 percent contribution to his annuity, a car allowance of $12,000, and medical and retirement benefits. The total cost of his compensation package this year is $384,744.40.

Evans said hes not sure what his next steps will be, but he does not plan to seek employment as a school superintendent again. He may do some consulting work.

He previously served for eight years as superintendent of the Andover Public Schools, a suburban district outside Wichita, Kansas. He also spent 20 years, including 17 as an administrator, at the Wichita Public Schools, an urban district whose demographics closely mirror OPS.
Catholic schools located within the Archdiocese of Omaha educate more than 19,000 students in 17 high schools and 53 elementary schools. In January of each year, schools and parishes throughout the archdiocese submit nominations for Educator of the Year Awards. Nominations are reviewed by an Honoree Selection Committee which selects eight teachers and administrators who demonstrate a strong personal commitment to Catholic education and give service above and beyond the ordinary. The eight selected educators are honored at the Archbishops Dinner for Education the following fall.
LINCOLN  The gray lion of the Nebraska Legislature will soon have a big cat on his compact car.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said Tuesday he was pleased with the artistic rendering selected for the new mountain lion specialty license plate, which resulted from a bill he sponsored this year in the Legislature.

It was so well done I dont know that I could have come up with something so good, said Chambers, who also is a capable artist. The 79-year-old lawmaker has served in the Legislature for more than 40 years.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles charges $40 extra for mountain lion plates adorned with custom messages or $5 more for assigned letter-and-number combinations.

Portions of those fees will go to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to help fund wildlife conservation education. A fiscal analysis predicted the plates could raise about $20,000.

As of Monday, 62 motorists had ordered mountain lion plates, said Rhonda Lahm, director of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The artwork on the plate was created with computer software using two photos: a reclining mountain lion and a landscape in the Nebraska Panhandle, Lahm said.

Chambers said he was provided an advance copy of a plate listing his first name. He has since submitted the paperwork and paid the extra fees to have a plate stamped with the message CUGR 1, which he plans to affix to his car.

Chambers formerly opposed all efforts by lawmakers to authorize specialty plates, saying they detracted from the intended purpose of identifying vehicles for law enforcement. But he relented after former State Sen. Charlie Janssen suggested the idea of a cougar plate in 2014.

Although no senators voted against the license plate bill, Game and Parks testified against it at a public hearing. The commission said a plate featuring a more popular species, such as a sandhill crane, could raise more money for conservation. Most cattle ranchers see cougars as a threat to their livestock, while still others view them as a threat to rural Nebraskans.

Chambers also has tried unsuccessfully to outlaw mountain lion hunting in the state, saying their numbers are too small to withstand hunting pressure. Game and Parks officials have argued they need hunting as an option to help control the growth of the cougar population, particularly in northwest Nebraska.

Hunters killed four big cats in 2014, the only hunting season for mountain lions so far. The commission has delayed setting another season until wildlife biologists can get a more accurate idea of the cougar population.

Senators also passed a bill this year creating breast cancer awareness licenses plates, which will be available in January. A new standard plate with a design featuring the iconic sower statue also will come out in January.
Bellevue Mayor Rita Sanders has tapped the Columbus city administrator to be the new city administrator in Nebraskas third-largest city.

Joe Mangiamelli, 67, has been the city administrator in Columbus since 2005 and has about 40 years of experience in various city government positions throughout Nebraska, according to a press release from the City of Bellevue.

The Bellevue City Council will have to approve the choice at its Oct. 10 meeting. If it approves, the city will start contract negotiations with Mangiamelli. At that time, salary would be discussed, Sanders said. Dan Berlowitz, the former city administrator, was paid a base salary of $143,977.

Joes interviews for this position confirmed that he is a great choice and will move Bellevue forward with integrity, respect and most of all experience, Sanders said in the release.

Mangiamelli was one of four finalists interviewed for the position. Allen May, David R. Forrest and Brett R. Baker were the other finalists.

Sanders said she wanted someone with credentials, experience, trust and ethics and who had the best interest of the community at heart.

Of all the candidates, Sanders said Mangiamelli had the most qualifications. She also noted he had previously served on the citys Planning Commission and lives in Bellevue, so he has the pulse of the city.

Mangiamelli has a house in Bellevue that he has owned for 40 years and spends his weekends there. He commutes to Columbus for the week. To work in the community he calls home was an opportunity not to pass up, Mangiamelli said Monday.

Before his position in Columbus, Mangiamelli worked for the City of Omaha in several positions for 29 years, including as Mayor Hal Daubs executive assistant. When he retired from the City of Omaha, he got a $3,932.24 monthly pension.

He also has worked in Sarpy County on the Sarpy County and Bellevue Planning Commissions and on Bellevues Solid Waste Task Force.

Mangiamelli has a bachelors degree in business administration and a masters degree in public administration, both from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He also served in the Army during the Vietnam War.

He is a member of the International City Management Association and is on the League of Nebraska Municipalities Larger Cities Legislative Committee. In the past he has been president of the Nebraska City Management Association.

Mangiamelli would replace Berlowitz, who was fired by the city in August. Mangiamelli and Berlowitz were both finalists for the position in 2011, when Berlowitz was hired.
In the little more than two months since getting their parties' vice presidential nominations, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence have been, as Bloomberg News described them, virtuoso second fiddles.

While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump wage a bitter fight for the White House, Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, and Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, have mostly stayed out of the headlines. Both admit to being the boring half of the ticket.

Tonight Kaine and Pence take the stage at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, for their only vice presidential debate. Political pundits agree that it's not likely that anything either one does tonight will substantially improve their running mates' popularity or standing. Trump and Clinton are historically unpopular with voters, despite being their political parties' standard-bearers.

The main goal of Pence and Kaine will be to do no harm to Trump and Clinton's campaigns.

The two vice presidential candidates likely will spar over their running mates' honesty, temperament, qualifications, records and previous comments. The highly polarizing nature of this year's presidential campaign could draw more attention to tonight's bout than usual.

In the past, vice presidential debates have drawn more interest and have made headlines, such as in 2008, when Republican Sarah Palin squared off against Democrat Joe Biden and, memorably, in 1988, when Democrat Lloyd Bentsen took on Republican Dan Quayle at Omaha's Civic Auditorium and uttered his famous zinger to Quayle: Youre no Jack Kennedy.

Here's the full exchange between the two:

Quayle, responding once again to a question about his qualifications, had said: "I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency."

Bentsen turned and looked directly at Quayle. "Senator," he said, "I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

Quayle: "That was really uncalled for, senator."

Bentsen: "You're the one that was making the comparison, senator, and I'm the one who knew him well. And frankly, I think you're so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well taken."

Gasps were heard from among the nearly 2,600 people in the arena watching the debate, according to The World-Herald's C. David Kotok.

The question: Will tonight's televised debate produce any quoteable one-liners? Before that debate, relive Omaha's moment in the political spotlight:

This report includes material from Bloomberg News.

* * * * *

Vice presidential debate

Time: 8 p.m. Central

Moderator: Elaine Quijano, anchor for CBSN and correspondent for CBS News

Location: Longwood University, Farmville, Virginia
The number of workers needed in the Omaha-area construction sector from 2010 to 2020 is projected to increase by 27 percent. About 5,300 positions will be needed, The World-Herald has reported.

At the same time, a survey by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed that more than 25 percent of respondents said their growth prospects are limited by a lack of adequately skilled job applicants.

Nebraskas community colleges have a crucial role to play in filling that gap. Its encouraging to see how Metropolitan Community College has stepped forward with a well-designed initiative to help meet this need.

As The World-Heralds Rick Ruggles explained in a recent article, Metro is in the middle of a $90 million construction project that will place three new buildings on the south side of the Fort Omaha campus to meet workforce needs in our area in a long-term, strategic fashion:

 Center for Advanced and Emerging Technology. In a growing number of cases, workers in modern manufacturing need to understand computer and technology-related tasks in addition to basic operation of equipment. This center is geared to train students for such tasks.

 Construction Education Center. This facility will provide a range of real-world experiences to students once they literally clock in. Students can practice welds in a lab or high-tech simulator, work on construction projects in a large collaborative workspace or coordinate team work schedules in a huddle room. This center  covering disciplines including architectural drafting, civil engineering, electrical technology and plumbing  will devote significant attention to information technology, to prepare students directly for real- world needs.

 Academic Skills Center. Students will receive various supports to help them learn foundational math and technology skills.

This Metro initiative also includes an entrepreneurship component. To help the formation of startup businesses, Metro is partnering with Omaha IT firm Aviture to create a business accelerator called Innovation Sandbox.

An impressive aspect of these efforts is that Metro will be working in close collaboration with private industry.

About half of the $90 million cost of this initiative will be covered by Metros property-tax revenue, cash reserves and student facility fees, with the rest to be covered by fundraising among private donors.

Metro leaders have shown forward-looking vision in designing this multi-faceted initiative. Our areas economy should see the benefits for many years to come.
Bank holidays in November 2022: Here is the full list of non-working days

Happy Chhath Puja 2022: Wishes, quotes, Facebook status, WhatsApp messages to share with your loved ones

Caught on camera: 17-year-old teenager stabbed to death for protesting sister's harassment in Delhi

DU's second list of seat allocation for UG courses out

AIADMK MPs march to PMO, demand a Cauvery board

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Oct 4: A delegation of the AIADMK's parliament members on Tuesday marched to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) here and submitted a memorandum to constitute a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

"Today (Tuesday) we handed over the memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cauvery Water Management Board will be constituted quickly," AIADMK parliamentarian M. Thambidurai told reporters after meeting Modi.

The march came a day after the central government told the Supreme Court that it does not have the jurisdiction to direct it to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board as it was just a recommendation of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal and not binding on the government.

The central government earlier on September 30 had told the apex court that it has no objection in forming the CMB.

IANS
Gujarat Elections: Amit Shah meets BJP leaders, seeks suggestions to win all 52 seats in Central zone

Home Minister Shah to address Chintan Shivir of Home Ministers with focus on internal security

Amit Shah to chair two-day 'Chintan Shivir of Home Ministers'; Mamata to skip the meet

In India terror down by 34%, civilian deaths by 90% since Art 370 scrapped: Shah

Amit Shah holds meeting with Gujarat BJP leaders

India

oi-PTI

Ahmedabad, Oct 3: BJP president Amit Shah today met the core committee of Gujarat BJP here to review preparations for the next year's Assembly elections.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani, among others, said BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya.

"Party leaders discussed the programs that can be offered during Garib Kalyan Varsh celebrations which are being held as a part of centenary year of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya," said another state BJP spokesperson, Harshad Patel.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also visit Gujarat to attend programs of Garib Kalyan Varsh celebration, Patel said.

Shah and other leaders also discussed various other programmes that can be launched in the run-up to the elections and reviewed the political situation in Gujarat, Patel added.

Ways of reaching out to the people to highlight the Central and state government's schemes were also discussed, he said.

PTI
DUSU president's picture with guns kicks up row

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Oct 3: A photograph of Delhi University Students' Union president Amit Tanwar and few others, showing them 'posing' with guns on the varsity premises, surfaced on social media today, kicking up a row.

NSUI demanded a probe into the matter involving Tanwar, who represents Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) affiliated to RSS. University authorities, however, refused to comment. The pictures were alleged to be from a 'memorial service' for Tanwar's brother, organised in the DUSU office.

Tanwar claimed the guns belonged to "security officers" of one of the guests who had come to pay homage to his "social activist" brother Pradeep. He claimed the picture was clicked against his wishes.

"At the memorial service, few guests wanted to click a photo and they laid the guns on the table. I refused to get clicked but they went ahead and uploaded them without my knowledge," Tanwar said. Demanding probe into the matter, NSUI accused ABVP of vitiating the atmosphere of student politics in Delhi University.

"ABVP has vitiated the atmosphere of student politics in DU. NSUI will stage a protest and we demand an inquiry against this and an FIR should be lodged by the university," Vivekananda Pathak, national secretary, NSUI said.

PTI
Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership

Reforms in India being done by conviction, not compulsion: PM Narendra Modi

BJP leaders pay tribute to former minister Arun Jaitley on his third death anniversary

Economic impact of India-Pak tensions will be marginal: Jaitley

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi/Toronto, Oct 4: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that any economic impact arising from recent tensions with Pakistan and incidents like the surgical strikes undertaken by Indian special forces will be "extremely marginal".

Addressing a gathering at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Jaitley said that any impact that had been felt on the markets and the rupee had been "temporary", and that foreign direct investment into India "continues to increase".

"Even recently, when the news came that India had made certain surgical strikes at the launch pads where the terrorists used to cross into Indian boundaries, there was obviously a certain amount of speculation as far as the markets were concerned.

The impact was not what it would have been years ago," he said. Economic impact arising from recent tensions will be "extremely marginal", he said.

Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan last week after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India.

The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists stormed an Army camp in Kashmir's Uri, killing 19 soldiers. Pakistan has denied India's claim of surgical strikes and termed it as "cross-border" firing.

PTI
African Swine Fever: 16 more pigs die in Mizoram; Toll rises to 770 in two months

Governor flags off first flight of Spicejet in Mizoram

India

oi-PTI

Aizawl, Oct 4: Mizoram Governor Lt General Nirbhay Sharma today said more flights in the northeastern sector will be helpful in the implementation of the Centre's Look-Act East policy.

Sharma flagged off the first flight of Spicejet Airlines at the lone Lengpui Airport near Aizawl and hoped that the airlines would start morning flights for people flying to Delhi.

With the entry of Spicejet, three airlines are now operating flights connecting Lengpui Airport. The other two are Air India and Jet Airlines.

Spicejet Airlines officials said that a 78-seater Q400 aircraft will fly on the Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati route on a daily basis from today.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 18:37 [IST]
How these brave sons of India foiled a breach into the Baramulla security camp

India

oi-Vicky

The attack on the security camp in Baramulla could have been worse had it not been for the valour of these two brave soldiers and very concrete intelligence inputs. The two Border Security Force constables, Nitin Kumar and Varun who were guarding Bunker Number 11 picked up movements by the terrorists.

Both the brave soldiers came in the line of fire from the terrorists who also hurled a grenade into the bunker. When Kumar came out, terrorists hurled another grenade which hit him. This hit was a fatal one.

The terrorists, however, continued to fire. Other soldiers, Varun then engaged the terrorists. The army then came in and engaged in a gun fight with the terrorists for about an hour. Although the terrorists managed to escape, the valour of these brave soldiers ensured that the camp was not breached.

Intent to breach

The investigations that have been conducted post these attack suggest that the intention of these terrorists was not just a hit and run mission. They had come with the specific intention of replicating an Uri, in which 19 soldiers lost their lives.

During the course of investigations, wire cutters and GPS sets were found. The wire cutters clearly suggest that they were trying to enter into the camp and kill the soldiers. Officials say that there was a high alert and intelligence bureau officials had warned about possible attacks.

There is a similar alert issued in respect of every security camp in Jammu and Kashmir. The alert warns of suicide strikes on the army camps.

Investigations also reveal that these terrorists were already in the Valley. These terrorists are not part of a fresh wave of infiltrations. Due to heightened alert and heavy security along the border, there have been no fresh infiltrations that have been reported.

OneIndia News
Why 2018 was a year of exits in the banking sector

Banking sector on course to recovery: RBI

Urjit Patel wanted to step down months before resignation, says PM Modi

RBI was slow to take timely measures, admits Urjit Patel

News flash: Ink thrown at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Bikaner

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Oct 4: RBI Governor Urjit Patel's first monetary policy will be announced on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe will arrive in New Delhi, today, will hold bilateral talks with PM Modi during his 3-day visit.

Get all the latest news updates of the day:

11:15 pm: God bless those who threw ink at me, I wish them well: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

11:00 pm: Ink thrown at Arvind Kejriwal in Bikaner.

10:30 pm: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan: Firing continues intermittently in Naushera sector

10:15 pm: Pak PM condemned surgical strikes before denying it; if our leaders speak in same way,it's insult to our soldiers: Maha CM

9:40 pm: India wants peace with neighbours: Venkaiah Naidu

9:20 pm: We saw today some political leaders speaking the language of Pakistan: Venkaiah Naidu

9:10 pm: Petrol price go up by 14 paise per ltr while diesel up by 10 paise.

8:30 pm: Search operation carried out in RS Pura sector.

8:15 pm: Himachal Pradesh: Over 20 children injured as jeep falls into gorge in Mandi.

8:00 pm: Terrorists attack a police station in Yaripora, Kulgam; more details awaited.

7:40 pm: I am not questioning her (Mehbooba Mufti) election; I'm questioning her stand on this sensitive issue: Kapil Mishra

7.11 pm: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Kalsian in Naushera sector (Jammu and Kashmir).

7:03 pm: 1 army jawan injured in Pak shelling & firing in Chhanni Dewano in Pallanwala sector.

6:52 pm: Pak hands over a dossier to US on ''grave human rights violations'' by India in Kashmir & seeks the country's intervention in the matter.

6:49 pm: We should not mistrust army; I will condemn those who speak against army or doubt the army: Anna Hazare.

6:37 pm: Compared to any place in the world, including Delhi, women & girls are safest; there is no fear of getting raped in a car: Mehbooba Mufti.

6:20 pm: Biggest confidence building measure to build normalcy is tourism in Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti.

6:15 pm: Separatist leader Asiya Andrabi has been arrested by police in Srinagar's Kral Khud area for instigating youths for stone pelting.

6:00 pm: Delhi: J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti breaks down after hearing her father's voice in a video clip on Kashmir tourism.

5.55 pm: Uproar during Kapil Mishra's speech at Bharat International Tourism Bazaar function in Delhi.

5.52 pm: Congress doesnt agree with the statements made by Sanjay Nirupam, we have taken a serious note of it: RS Surjewala.

5.51 pm: Its time that GoI unmasks Pak's false propaganda by revealing & making public the evidences we have: RS Surjewala.

5.45 pm: CBI registers case against Income Tax officer Abhishek Kumar Meena for demanding  3 lakh for himself and  5000 for his staff in Mumbai.

5.30 pm: TN CM Jayalalithaa who is undergoing treatment continues to improve. Same line of treatment is being continued: Chief Operating officer.

5.10 pm: Roopa Ganguly (known for playing Draupadi in TV series Mahabharata) nominated to Rajya Sabha.

5.00 pm: Rain lashes different parts of the Delhi.

4.45 pm: Andheri police station received application; enquiry is on: Mumbai Police PRO Ashok Dudhe on Om Puri controversy.

4.36 pm: Trains cancelled and diverted due to derailment of 11078 Jammu Tawi-Pune Jhelum Express train between Phillaur & Ladhowal stations.

4.35 pm: I am trying to find out what happened, we have to look into who it was who threw the ink: Sanjay Raut.

4.15 pm: SC directed Karnataka to release 2000 cusec water per day from 7th-18th October.

4.10 pm: Chairman of Central Water Comm will lead a team to survey ground realities & submit a report on 18th Oct, when the next date of hearing is.

4.04 pm: Madras HC cancels notification for Tamil Nadu local body polls. Court orders fresh notification and conduct of polls before December 30th.

3.56 pm: A Shiv Sena party worker attempts to throw ink at Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).

3.50 pm: Union Minister Mahesh Sharma at the 'International Buddhist Conclave' going on in Varanasi. 40 countries participated in the event in UP.

3.48 pm: Every child of the nation believes in our Army, whatever the Army has done until now has been well respected: HM Rajnath Singh.

3.47 pm: 2 dead after a car rammed into an electricity pole in Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand).

3.32 pm: The money belongs to the state associations and if they are not being paid how can they run cricket and host matches, says Anurag Thakur, BCCI Chief.

3.14 pm: It has at the same time raised the question that whether BCCI is autonomous enough to run the cricketing activities in India: Anurag Thakur.

3.12 pm: SC also asked all the parties concerned not to blame each other & try to find possible measures to control spread of Chikungunya and Dengue.

3.10 pm: The meeting would also be attended by central govt's concerned officials. The SC fixed the matter for further hearing till Thursday.

3.03 pm: People residing in villages within 10 kms of the International Border were asked to shift to safer places (press note of Punjab Govt) in Punjab.

3.01 pm: Supreme Court asks what quantity of water it can release to Tamil Nadu daily between October 7 and 17.Karnataka seeks one hour to respond.

3.00 pm: Your mathematics are not enough. Be aware of the ground reality also, Nariman shoots back at Justice Dipak Mishra. Nariman asked the judge on what logic was he deciding the quantum of water to be released. The judge said maths.

2.59 pm: SC asks Karnataka counsel: What quantity of water can you release daily from Oct 7 till Oct 17, gives counsel a few minutes to respond.

2.58 pm: It is possible that the IMF meet this week could further downgrade global growth, would be surprised if it doesn't, says RBI Guv Urjit Patel.

2.42 pm: SC adjourns the matter in connection with SBI loan default case, likely to hear the matter on Oct 18 in Vijay Mallya case.

2.40 pm: 354 Maoists surrender before police in Sukma, 18 weapons recovered in Chhattisgarh.

2.38 pm: Karnataka tells SC that it will implement order to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu from October 1 to Oct 6.

2.37 pm: The Supreme Court does not have any jurisdiction to direct union government to set up the Cauvery Management Board.

2.30 pm: RBI cuts repo rate by 0.25 percent to 6.25 percent.

2:26 pm: By october 6 We would have released the aggregate quantity of 36,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu Karnataka tells SC.

2:23 pm: Karnataka tells Supreme Court that it will implement order to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily to TN from October 1 to 6. We have already released 9,000 cusecs last night and will release 12,000 cusecs today and tomorrow.

2.10 pm: BJP workers protest outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence.

1.55 pm: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam criticises army, terms the surgical strikes as "fake".

1.36 pm: Singapore is a firm believer in India, we continue to contribute where we can: Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong.

1.22 pm: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu at foundation stone laying of Kanpur metro project.

1.16 pm: Army, Navy and Air force have adequate capability to take any challenge, says IAF Chief Arup Raha.

1.10 pm: Delegation level talks between India and Singapore in Delhi.

1.00 pm: Really unfortunate that all BCCI accounts have been frozen, there can't be any tournament without money: Anurag Thakur, BCCI Chief.

12.54 pm: Terrorists snatched 5 Self-Loading Rifles from minority police picket in Samnoo village of DH Pora (Kulgam, J&K) (Oct 3).

12.47 pm: Pathankot attack was a setback for the Indian Air Force: IAF chief Arup Raha.

12.46 pm: Any Air force will be proud to have an aircraft of Rafale class. Proud that the contract has been signed, says IAF Chief Arup Raha.

12.45 pm: TN Chief secy writes to water resource ministry to withdraw interlocutory application filed stating that it cant constitute Cauvery mangement board.

12.35 pm: British pound slumps to 31-year low versus US dollar: AFP

12.34 pm: Want to ask him (P Chidambaram) is he also joining the bandwagon of doubting capacity of our jawans in conducting Surgical Strike: RS Prasad.

12.28 pm: If yes, then why are you (Arvind Kejriwal) getting influenced by the false propaganda of Pakistan?, says RS Prasad, BJP.

12.27 pm: I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal whether he believes in the extraordinary valour of our Army or not in conducting on SurgicalStrike?: RS Prasad.

12.26 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh pays tribute to soldiers at war memorial in Drass.

12.07 pm: Supreme Court reserves its order on Subramanian Swamy's petition seeking to lift the ban on Chennai Super Kings.

12.05 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets PM Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore in Delhi.

12.00 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain reaches Income Tax Office along with party leader Sanjay Singh.He was summoned by Income Tax department.

11.45 am: Madras High Court instructs concerned Tamil Nadu state officials to inform court about TN CM Jayalalithaa's health by tomorrow.

11.30 am: Delhi: AIADMK MPs march towards PMO over

11.08 am: Punjab police carry out search operations in Shikar Mashia area (Dera Baba Nanak) of Gurdaspur sector after suspected movement were seen.



10.40 am: Directives which we issued to BCCI y'day in our e-mail is confined to disbursement of large funds to State Associations: Justice RM Lodha.

10.05 am: Gun salutes being paid to BSF jawan Nitin who lost his life in Baramula Attack during his last rites ceremony.

9.40 am: J&K Govt relaxes Protected Area Permit (PAP) regime for allowing the foreigners to visit the hitherto restricted areas in district Leh.

9.09 am: Srinagar (J&K): Shutdown & restrictions at various critical places continue for the 88th day

Srinagar (J&K): Shutdown & restrictions at various critical places continue for the 88th day pic.twitter.com/uoKQpF2BJF  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

8.45 am: Pakistan violates ceasefire again; resorts to firing, shelling along LoC in Nowshera sector of J&K.

8.15 am: Nine bogies of Jhelum Express derail between Jalndhar and Ludhiana in Punjab, two injured

#SpotVisuals Nine bogies of Jhelum Express derail between Jalndhar and Ludhiana in Punjab, two injured pic.twitter.com/oFqxnfHyW3  ANI (@ANI_news) October 4, 2016

8.10 am: PM of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong to hold bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi, exchange of agreements to take place, today.

8.00 am: Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to arrive in New Delhi, today, will hold bilateral talks with PM Modi.

OneIndia News
Lack of development in J&K for decades was one of the reasons behind rise of terrorism: Rajnath Singh

40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley

Militants snatch weapons from cops guarding minorities in Kashmir

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Srinagar, Oct 3: Militants in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Monday snatched five service rifles from guards of a minority picket, police said.

According to the details, five SLRs, 10 magazines and 250 rounds of ammunition have been taken away form the guard room of a minority picket in Samboo D.H. Pora village.

"A manhunt has been launched to trace the militants and the guards posted at the minority picket are being questioned", a senior police officer said here.

Minority pickets are security pickets posted in villages in the Valley where members of the minority Kashmiri Pandits still continue to live.

Pakistan yet to respond on release of captured Indian soldier

The majority of the local Pandit community migrated out of the Valley when the ongoing separatist armed struggle started in the Valley in early 1990s.

IANS
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan: When and where to watch Asia Cup 2022 Final Match live online?

India to stop providing further financial aid to crisis-hit Sri Lanka? Indian embassy reacts

Sri Lankan to meet PM Modi in Delhi

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Oct 4: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day official visit to India.

"Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives in New Delhi; he will hold talks with top leaders including PM Narendra Modi," state broadcaster Doordarshan tweeted.

Wickremensinghe will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi here on Wednesday, according to the External Affairs Ministry.

His visit assumes significance as India, citing Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism in the region, last week pulled out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.

The Indian move came after the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 19 soldiers.

Following India's move, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan also followed suit, citing the same reason, virtually isolating Pakistan in the region.

Sri Lanka has not pulled out but has said that a Saarc Summit would not be possible without the presence of India.

On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe will also hold meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways & Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

Later in the evening, he will call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister will attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday along with Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman.

Wickremesinghe will leave for Colombo on Thursday evening.

IANS
10 civilians killed in rocket attack on Yemen's Taez: UN

International

oi-PTI

Geneva, Oct 4: At least 10 civilians were killed, including six children, when an artillery shell hit a busy street near a popular market in Taez in southern Yemen, the UN said today.

The United Nations rights office also said 17 people, including six more children and three women, were injured in the attack yesterday in the Bir Basha area of Taez, allegedly carried out by affiliates of the Huthi rebels.

Military and medical sources had previously put the civilian toll from the attack at six dead and eight wounded. UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville cited witnesses saying that "the street where the market was located was crowded with people at the time of the attack."

The witnesses, who spoke with UN rights office staff, had insisted "there had not been any armed confrontations between warring parties in the Bir Basha area prior to this terrible incident," he said.

Taez, Yemen's third largest city, is almost completely surrounded by the Iran-backed Shiite rebels and their allies, backers of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. For months, forces loyal to the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have been trying to break the rebel grip on Taez.

Colville said the artillery shell fired yesterday appeared to have come from the al-Taiziyah district, where the Popular Committees affiliated with the Huthis and army units loyal Saleh are positioned.

The UN says the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led Arab coalition backing Hadi's government launched operations in March 2015. Colville said that from March 2015 through September 30, 4,014 civilians had died, and nearly 7,000 had been injured.

Casualties had climbed steeply in August and September, following the collapse of a ceasefire, with the Saudi-led coalition held responsible for six times as many civilian deaths and injuries as the rebel forces, Colville said.

AFP
Pak off the FATF grey list doesn't mean it's not under scrutiny anymore: MEA secretary

Pak hands over dossier to US on 'rights violations' in Kashmir

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, Oct 4: Pakistan has handed over a dossier to the US on 'grave human rights violations' by India in Kashmir and sought the country's intervention in the matter.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani yesterday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson at the State Department and handed over a dossier containing information on the "gross human rights violations" by the Indian security forces in Kashmir, Foreign Affairs Ministry said here.

Jilani said that the international community, especially the US, should take note of the "inhuman and degrading treatment" being meted out to the innocent civilians in Kashmir.

The US, being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, should impress upon India to immediately end the "state-sponsored terrorism", the Ambassador was quoted as saying by the Ministry in a statement.

It was also emphasised during their meeting that the right to self-determination was granted to the people of Kashmir by the United Nations which "could not be unilaterally denied by India", according to the statement.

Pakistan resorts to heavy shelling on LoC in Rajouri district

Jilani further underscored that the international community must ensure that India as a member of the United Nations, should allow access to international human rights and humanitarian organisations to assess the factual situation in Kashmir.

PTI
Trump unqualified for the Presidency: Biden

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Oct 4: US Vice President Joe Biden has assailed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's ability to lead America, branding him as "dangerously uninformed" and "unqualified" while making a strong pitch for Hillary Clinton as the next president.

"Donald Trump is dangerously uninformed... His unabashed admiration for Vladimir Putin, one of the most disruptive and dangerous leaders in the world today, his lack of awareness that Russia has already invaded Ukraine, occupying Crimea  to his credit, he financially realised, that Crimea is part of Ukraine," Biden said at an election rally in Florida.

"I've known every major world leader for the past 37 years personally. I have never in my career seen as many foreign leaders with such anxiety about the possibility that Donald Trump could be elected president," he said.

"I was in Australia with the prime minister talking about China and our rebalance policy toward the Pacific. And I got a call from a friend who happens to be the prime minister of Latvia," he said.

"Would I get in the plane and travel to the Baltic States to meet with the three leaders of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to assure them  this is not a joke  to assure them that Trump does not speak for the nation, does not speak for Republicans, because when he said that he was not sure he would keep the sacred commitment the US made in NATO if Russia invaded unless they had paid 2 per cent of their GDP  when he said that, he literally shook all of Eastern Europe.

"He's not even close to the president yet, and he's doing enormous damage to our reputation," Biden said. Biden alleged Trump's "cavalier talk about a nuclear arms race" in Asia is playing into the hands of Hezbollah and ISIS.

"But if being the most uninformed candidate in presidential history is not enough to disqualify him, his lack of any sensibilities to what the American spirit is, the way he comports himself, the words he utters, are truly beneath the office of the presidency," he said.

Biden said Trump's policy proposals are equally as erratic and ill-suited for a country that is on the verge of the most exceptional renaissance that the US has had since the end of World War II.

"While Hillary Clinton's are designed to lift up the middle class, move the country forward so that we can  and we will  own the 21st century," he said.

The outgoing Vice President also called Trump's record on domestic policy unacceptable, noting Trump rooted for the collapse of the housing market, bragged that not paying federal taxes made him "smart," and stiffed small businessmen who worked for him.

Biden praised Clinton's policies to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top; including her commitment to achieve debt-free college and the need to eliminate tax loopholes that have no positive impact on growth.

But those policies can only be implemented with a large voter turnout this November, Biden said, adding, "We got a lot more to do. And Hillary knows what we have to do to seize this immense opportunity."

PTI
Theresa May wants to expand ties with Turkey before Brexit

Turkey suspends more than 12,000 police officers in coup probe

International

oi-PTI

Ankara, Oct 4: Turkish authorities suspended more than 12,000 police officers over alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of masterminding the July failed coup, the police headquarters said today.

Of the 12,801 suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, 2,523 were police chiefs, the police authorities said in a statement. In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers.

They were suspended over suspected links to the Gulen movement which Turkey blames for the attempted putsch which tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Ankara's accusations.

Tens of thousands of people in the judiciary, civil service, military and education sector have been suspended while 32,000 suspects have been placed under arrest on charges of links to to the movement.

Who is Fethullah Gulen- the man accused of the Turkey military coup

The government's crackdown has alarmed Turkey's Western allies who have warned Ankara that it must act within the rule of law.

Turkey yesterday extended the state of emergency introduced after the failed putsch for another 90 days starting on October 19. Erdogan previously suggested that it might be necessary for the state of emergency to be kept for at least 12 months.

(AFP)
Trump is convinced Russia didnt interfere in 2016 polls; blames US for sour ties with Moscow

US Presidential Election: Donald Trumps tax mess; Hillary Clinton leads post-debate

International

oi-Maitreyee

It's now just over a month to Election Day in America! A daily round-up of all that's happening as Hillary Clinton goes head to head with Donald Trump. They may not be on the same page on any issue anywhere, but here, they are:

Trump & Taxes

The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is in the midst of another political crisis. According to a report published by The New York Times, the Republican presidential nominee reported a $916 million loss in 1995. Thus Trump could have gone 18 years without paying federal income taxes.

Associated Press predicts a challenging week for Trump after his past tax evasion report has come into light.

However, a defiant Trump tweeted and asked his supporters to join him in Reno, Nevada on Wednesday at 3:30pm.

Join me in Reno, Nevada on Wednesday at 3:30pm at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center! #MAGA

Tickets: https://t.co/DJ7JJUkkz7 pic.twitter.com/rys0Qu5Tw8  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2016

When is the election?

Citizens of the United States will elect their next President on November 8th 2016. Know more about who is going to be the likely successor of Barack Obama as reported by Mirror here.

OneIndia News
Bharat Jodo Yatra much bigger than Lord Rama's padyatra from Ayodhya: Raj minister

Suspicious bird with rings on its legs caught near India-Pakistan border

BJP govt betraying youths, farmers: Sachin Pilot

Jaipur

oi-PTI

Jaipur, Oct 4: Congress' Rajasthan President Sachin Pilot today accused the BJP government in the state of "betraying" youths and farmers.

Before coming to power, BJP made several promises to the people, especially youths and farmers, but it did nothing after assuming office, he told reporters in Ratangarh.

The government has failed to keep its promises and is "betraying" youths and farmers, he said.

The state Congress chief said the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state and police failed to apprehend notorious criminal Anandpal Singh.

"People of the state are experiencing bad governance and are disappointed," he said.

Pilot asserted that there was no differences among Congress leaders and the party was united.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 16:03 [IST]
Bank holidays in November 2022: Here is the full list of non-working days

Cauvery row: Karnataka cites compliance, says has started releasing water to TN

New Delhi

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Oct 4: Karnataka on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it will comply with the order that directed it to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Making submissions before a Bench comprising Justices Dipak Mishra and U U Lalit, Karnataka said that it will implement the order that directed it to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu between October 1 and 6.

Karnataka also said that it had already released 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu on Monday night. A quantum of 12,000 cusecs each on Tuesday and and Wednesday will also be released, Karnataka submitted to the court.

Further the counsel for Karnataka also submitted by October 6, the aggregate quantity of 36,000 cusecs of water would be released to Tamil Nadu.

Also read: Centre challenges constitution of Cauvery Management Board, says it is legislative function

Karnataka cited compliance of the order after the court had on the last date of hearing come down very heavily on the state. The court had said either comply of the wrath of the law will fall on you.

Karnataka had last time cited a resolution of the legislative assembly which decided against the release of water. However, the court said it cannot cite a resolution to disobey the orders of the court.

On Monday, the Karnataka legislative assembly passed another resolution to release water.

OneIndia News
Kerala CM accuses Gov of 'acting as RSS tool' on his order to VCs to resign

Kerala Catholics look forward to Pope Francis visit to India

Thiruvananthapuram

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 4: Catholics in Kerala are excited at the news that Pope Francis has indicated that he "almost certainly" would visit India and Bangladesh in 2017.

The Pope said this in his interaction with the media on Sunday.

Speaking to IANS, the head of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) here said on Tuesday: "We are all happy and excited to hear the news, but it's early days yet."

Cardinal Moran Mar Baselios Cleemis said, "Last year itself we (CBCI) extended an invite to the Pope to consider a visit to India. Now as he has expressed his interest, an official invite from the Indian government would be required to be forwarded."

"The Vatican state will then hold talks with the Indian government. Once that's done, then the itinerary will be drawn up," said Cleemis, who is the head of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church here and part of the electoral college of cardinals that elected Pope Francis.

If the visit materialises, Pope Francis would become the third pope to visit India.

Pope Paul VI was the first to make a papal visit to India when in 1964 he came to Mumbai (then Bombay) to take part in the 38th Eucharistic Congress.

Pope John Paul II came to India twice -- first to Kerala in 1986 for two days to beatify Sister Alphonsa and Sister Kuriakose Elias Chavara. He visited Delhi next in November 1999.

"It's too early to say whether the visit would materialise and whether the Pope would visit Kerala. Of course, each and every Catholic would definitely want to see the Pope if he comes to our state. Let us wish and pray that he comes to Kerala," said Cleemis.

A top Catholic priest on condition of anonymity told IANS that he is quite certain that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government would only be glad to extend an invite to the Pope.

"If you look back, the Communists had an anti-Christian outlook when they started off, but today they do not have any such notions. Likewise the BJP, which is trying to build bridges across minority communities, will be only glad to get the Pope to India," said the priest, adding that at present none of the three Catholic churches has any major programme lined up for 2017.

IANS
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Opalesque Industry Update - APX Settlement Pty Limited, the Sydney Stock Exchanges joint venture with Bit Trade Labs to develop a blockchain based settlement solution, has successfully prototyped its blockchain smart register for real-time issuance and allocation of equity securities. This marks the first step towards the objective of building an instantaneous settlement-and-transfer-upon-trade (T-based DvP) platform. APXS announced the blockchain settlement and registration initiative in May this year, initially for application at APXS sister company the Sydney Stock Exchanges equities and private markets platforms. APXS distinguishes itself by taking a collaborative approach with industry and market participants. Demonstrating this open approach, the development has been done in collaboration with BoardRoom Pty Limited, a Sydney based share registry service. APXS intends to extend the smart register beyond equity securities to commodities markets, opening up opportunities for government and industry to transform markets currently hampered by antiquated structures and technology. APXS is now evaluating the appropriate infrastructure for its production environment and is now working with leading industry assurance and cyber security experts to develop verification methodologies to address systemic risks. APXS CEO David Lawrence said, We are working with government, regulators, the Australian Digital Currency and Commerce Association (ADCCA) and our expanding group of industry partners to deliver innovative solutions using new technologies. Our ongoing program of development highlights the need for a technology agnostic regulatory environment to fully maximise the value of the emerging technology and competition. Jonathon Miller, Director of Bit Trade Labs, said Even at the early stages of this project we have found that taking a bold approach to development and working closely with collaborators is yielding exciting results. The scale of value and efficiencies that can be achieved through the use of a smart register promise to far exceed our initial expectations. Tony Sacre, CEO of Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX), said SSX is looking to be a leader in the provision of markets for emerging technology companies, filling the void for this sector being exacerbated by ASX changes to its listing rules. We think the adoption of an innovative settlement and smart register service is well aligned with this objective. APX Settlement (APXS) is a joint venture between the Asia Pacific Group Holdings Pty Limited, owner of the Sydney Stock Exchange, and Bit Trade Labs.
Opalesque Industry Update - Multifonds, the leader in single-platform, multi-jurisdictional investment fund software, has announced the go live of its partnership with The Great-West Life Assurance Company, a leading Canadian insurer, with over C$400 billion in assets under administration. The Canadian investment operations of Great-West Life, including its subsidiaries London Life and Canada Life, has adopted the Multifonds Global Accounting platform, bringing together more than 1,000 different funds in over 12,000 unique share classes under a single accounting platform, consolidating the accounting for bond and stock investments for its Canadian segregated fund and general account portfolios onto a single technology solution. Great-West Lifes use of the Multifonds Global Accounting platform marks one of the first times an insurance company in North America has consolidated its legacy systems onto a single platform, which could see the start of a wider movement by North American insurers in upgrading their technological capabilities. Many insurance companies in North America still use outdated discrete accounting systems to support their different lines of business, separating segregated funds and insurance general account portfolios. By maintaining two accounting systems, insurers continue to duplicate activity and complicate accounting and regulatory reporting. By consolidating two legacy systems into one, Great-West Life has been able to improve operating efficiency by removing duplication and harmonizing the processing and accounting for bonds and stocks across segregated fund and general account portfolios. Multifonds was selected following a six way competitive evaluation process, and just 13 months after signing the implementation of the 900 segregated funds went live, with the insurance general account portfolios added to the platform thereafter  marking the completion of the project. Previously Multifonds has implemented consolidation projects for major asset management and insurance firms across many jurisdictions. Ken Jack, Senior Vice-President, Finance, Investments, Great-West Life, comments: Our selection of Multifonds reflected our belief that they were the best fit for us in terms of our particular business requirements, as well as in terms of organizational culture and overall value proposition. We are very pleased with the outcome of this project and the strong partnership that we have developed with the Multifonds team. Joe Brekelmans, Assistant Vice-President, Information Services - Investment, Great-West Life, comments: We are very happy with the implementation and transition to the new system. The benefits of having one modern, powerful accounting system provides us with new capabilities that will allow us to deliver on our business needs more efficiently. Great-West Life is one of the first insurance companies in North America to consolidate and I am certain we wont be the last. Lior Yogev, Head of Multifonds in North America, comments: We could be witnessing the start of a powerful trend, as insurers in North America increasingly recognize the huge operational and cost benefits of migrating to a single platform. Using Multifonds gives Great-West Life the strategic advantage of becoming one of the first insurers in North America to bring together all of its funds and insurance assets onto one platform, serviced by a single team.
Lahiri represents both fund sponsors and institutional investors in connection with the formation, capitalization and restructuring of private investment funds within the United States and around the world.

His sponsor-side experience encompasses credit funds, buyout funds, long-short equity funds, funds of funds, risk and merger arbitrage funds, and funds having private equity, hedge fund and hybrid fund features. His experience includes funds investing in unusual assets such as gold, carbon credits, water rights and film financings. He also represents asset managers on a variety of corporate transactional and regulatory matters.

Lahiri will be director of DLA Pipers Institutional Investor practice. His investor clients have included sovereign wealth funds, state pension plans, insurance companies and corporate pension plans.

Yashos expertise will complement and diversify our fund formation and corporate capabilities, providing additional depth to serve domestic and international fund sponsors and investors and enhancing the firms global platform, said David A. Goldstein, who heads DLA Pipers Investment Funds practice.

Richard Hans, managing partner of DLA Pipers New York office, said, Yasho will be an outstanding addition to our Corporate practice in New York. His deep background advising a full range of funds, fund sponsors and institutional investors will be an asset to our clients around the world.

Lahiri joins DLA Piper from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Earlier in his career, Lahiri was general counsel at Quantitative Financial Strategies, Inc. He received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and his B.A. from Emory University.
Reprinted from Our Future

"Multinational corporations' use of tax havens allows them to avoid an estimated $100 billion in federal income taxes each year," says a new report just released by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (U.S. PIRG).

That report, "Offshore Shell Games 2016," explains how "U.S.-based multinational corporations are allowed to play by a different set of rules" when it comes to paying taxes.

Congress -- for obviou$ rea$on$ -- refuses to stop this "deferral" loophole. And then these same companies fund "think tanks" and other propaganda mills that tell us we have a huge budget "deficit" and "debt" problem and therefore need to cut spending on things that make people's lives better.

From the report's executive summary:

"Most of America's largest corporations maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014. "-All told, these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries. "-The 30 companies with the most money officially booked offshore for tax purposes collectively operate 1,225 tax haven subsidiaries."

Some of the key findings from the report:

-- Fortune 500 companies now hold nearly $2.5 trillion in earnings offshore and we estimate that they are avoiding $718 billion in taxes on these earnings.

-- More than 73 percent of Fortune 500 companies maintain at least one subsidiary in a tax haven.

-- Apple has booked $215 billion offshore on which it owes $65.4 billion in taxes.

The solution is for Congress to end the "deferral" loophole and make these companies just pay the taxes they owe.
This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Reprinted from Alternet

Posing as a non-political solidarity organization, the Syria Campaign leverages local partners and media contacts to push the U.S. into toppling another Middle Eastern government.



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On September 30, demonstrators gathered in city squares across the West for a "weekend of action" to "stop the bombs" raining down from Syrian government and Russian warplanes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo. Thousands joined the protests, holding signs that read "Topple Assad" and declaring, "Enough With Assad." Few participants likely knew that the actions were organized under the auspices of an opposition-funded public relations company called the Syria Campaign.

By partnering with local groups like the Syrian civil defense workers popularly known as the White Helmets, and through a vast network of connections in media and centers of political influence, The Syria Campaign has played a crucial role in disseminating images and stories of the horrors visited this month on eastern Aleppo. The group is able to operate within the halls of power in Washington and has the power to mobilize thousands of demonstrators into the streets. Despite its outsized role in shaping how the West sees Syria's civil war, which is now in its sixth year and entering one of its grisliest phases, this outfit remains virtually unknown to the general public.

The Syria Campaign presents itself as an impartial, non-political voice for ordinary Syrian citizens that is dedicated to civilian protection. "We see ourselves as a solidarity organization," The Syria Campaign strategy director James Sadri told me. "We're not being paid by anybody to pursue a particular line. We feel like we've done a really good job about finding out who the frontline activists, doctors, humanitarians are and trying to get their word out to the international community."

Yet behind the lofty rhetoric about solidarity and the images of heroic rescuers rushing in to save lives is an agenda that aligns closely with the forces from Riyadh to Washington clamoring for regime change. Indeed, The Syria Campaign has been pushing for a no-fly zone in Syria that would require at least "70,000 American servicemen" to enforce, according to a Pentagon assessment, along with the destruction of government infrastructure and military installations. There is no record of a no-fly zone being imposed without regime change following -- which seems to be exactly what The Syria Campaign and its partners want.

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The White House Monday (Oct 3) stopped accepting signatures for a petition of the Indian-Americans that sought to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, saying it has been archived as it did not meet the "signature requirements".

The announcement by the White House comes days after the petition gained a record half a million signatures, five times the number needed to get a response from the Obama Administration.

The petition was created on September 21 by a person who identified himself by initials RG and the petition needed 1,00,000 signatures in 30 days to get a response from the White House.

The benchmark was reached in less than a week, and in less than two weeks, the petition crossed half a million signatures.

An initiative of the US President Barack Obama, "We the People" online petition at the White House website provides a window to American citizens to campaign before the administration on a particular issue.

Meanwhile, another petition saying that India is "involved in spreading terrorism in it's adjoining countries" has been submitted on the White House website.

Pakistani-Americans are now campaigning for a signature campaign to support the anti-India petition on the White House website.

"India is involved in spreading terrorism and in bloody proxy wars against it's adjoining countries particularly Islamic Republic of Pakistan," the petition said.

The petition which was created by an individual who identified himself with initials SS has received nearly 64,000 signatures. It needs another 36,000 signatures to become eligible to get a response from the Obama Administration.

Anti-Pakistan bill in US congress

Interestingly, the anti-Pakistan petition came a day after Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, introduced H R 6069, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act in the House of Representatives.

The bill has been sent to House Foreign Affairs Committee for necessary action. Simultaneously the US-India Political Action Committee has launched a nationwide effort to canvass Indian Americans to get their local legislators' support to H R 6069.

"It is time we stop paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is, a state sponsor of terrorism," Congressman Ted Poe said after introducing the bill in the US House of Representatives.

"Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years. From harboring Osama bin Laden to its cozy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror. And it's not America's," Poe claimed.

If passed, the bill will require the US President to issue a report within 90 days of passage detailing whether or not Pakistan has provided support for 'international terrorism.'

Thirty days after that, the Secretary of State must issue a follow up report containing either a determination that Pakistan is state sponsor of terrorism or a detailed justification as to why Pakistan does not meet the legal criteria for designation.

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Priyanka Chopra Is Coming To India After Three Long Years And We Are Excited For Malti's First Visit
Kamdhenu Limited is poised to move forward with smart city project in Bihar

Patna: Kamdhenu Limited has organized a dealers meet at Hotel J. P. Palace in Agra, with the objective to motivate the Kamdhenu Dealers from Bihar in view of impending development in Bihar under Smart City Project. This Dealers Meet was attended by more than 350 Kamdhenu dealers from Bihar. In the spirit of lending support to the infrastructural development, the speakers of Company have given useful tips regarding growth and marketing strategies.The leading steel and infrastructure sector company, Kamdhenu Limited is prepared to boost its role in the Development of Bihar. Company is making the dealers from the state ready for the Smart City Projects. In the Smart City project list 3 cities of Bihar namely; Muzzafarpur, Bhagalpur and Bihar Sharif are included and in these 3 cities the large scale infrastructural and industrial development is going to take place. During the Annual Dealer Meet organized at Hotel J. P. Palace, Agra it was discussed that, for these developments a huge volume of steel products and construction materials would be required, particular in the markets of these 3 cities.During the event the Company put focus on the trust and quality aspects of Kamdhenu Products. Kamdhenu Limited as a complete construction solution provider, manufacture and market TMT rebars, structural steel, colour coated roofing sheets, paint products, PVC pipes and plywood etc. Company has a robust marketing network spread all across India and many overseas markets. The Company is organizing similar meets at regular intervals to motivate the dealers to continuously increase the demand of these superior product ranges towards making good quality constructions in Bihar.The Director, Kamdhenu Limited, Mr. Sunil Agarwal said at this annual channel partners meet, In the growth of brand Kamdhenu is Bihar the quality of these products and contributions of the Dealers from the state have played equal role. With the support and good performance of dealers we are today a big brand of Bihar and still growing ahead on the path of progress. Now we are putting a collective effort to set a new standard of good quality infrastructural development.On this occasion the Director of M/S Dadiji Steels Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Ramesh gupta said, We are attached with Kamdhenu for over 11 years. We are happy to announce that we are attached to a brand which never compromise on quality. For its superior quality Kamdhenu has become the first choice of the customers across the country while being a leading Brand in Bihar. Kamdhenu is contributing in the development of the state by providing very high quality products. I have full confidence that in the future too we will keep contributing.In this grand event the many personnel of Kamdhenu limited have participated, which include; Mr. S. B. Sharma, Sr. GM, Ms. Arati Sarkar, AGM, Sr. Manager and Brand Promotion Mr. Chandan Goswami. The Directors of M/S Dadiji Steel Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Ramesh Gupta, Mr. Vijay Gupta and Mr. Binay Singh were also made their presence in this event.About Kamdhenu Limited:Kamdhenu Limited is a leading company of Kamdhenu Group which manufactures, market, brand & distributes all products related to building construction such as steel, paints, plywood & etc. ISO 9001:2008 certified & listed in BSE & NSE, company has done the business value of Rs. 885 cr. in the FY 2015-16. But put together all the brand value of Kamdhenus product is more than Rs. 8,000 cr. The company is having more than 60 franchisee manufacturing units and 4000 dealers of paint division and 4500 dealers & distributors of steel, spread across the country.About Kamdhenu Limited:Kamdhenu Limited is a leading company of Kamdhenu Group which manufactures, market, brand & distributes all products related to building construction such as steel, paints, plywood & etc. ISO 9001:2008 certified & listed in BSE & NSE, company has done the business value of Rs. 885 cr. in the FY 2015-16. But put together all the brand value of Kamdhenus product is more than Rs. 8,000 cr. The company is having more than 60 franchisee manufacturing units and 4000 dealers of paint division and 4500 dealers & distributors of steel, spread across the country.B-121, Sector-71 ,Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Global Private LTE Network Ecosystem Investments To Surpass US$800 Million By The End Of 2016

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With private LTE networks filling the gap associated with the limited bandwidth of narrowband land mobile radio and security concerns of commercial LTE networks, the global private LTE network ecosystem currently faces high-value opportunities. This is the key conclusion of a new report added to the database of MarketResearchReports.biz. The report is titled, The Private LTE Network Ecosystem: 2016 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts. According to the report, global investments in the private LTE network ecosystem will surpass US$800 million by the end of 2016. Between 2016 and 2020 alone, the private LTE networks market is expected to log a strong CAGR of 32%, the reports findings show.Much of the growth that lies ahead for the global private LTE network ecosystem market will be brought about by widespread rollouts in sectors such as energy and public safety, the report states. The trend of choosing private LTE networks to deliver mobile broadband is increasingly catching on, and will act as a high-impact growth driver for the market, the report further states. The 370-page report, which studies three submarkets, six regional markets, and five vertical markets, presents a forecast for investments in private LTE networks from 2016 through 2030.From the standpoint of leading regions, the private LTE network ecosystem market is projected to witness robust growth in North America  the region will attract nearly 35% of all investments made in the world by 2020. Asia Pacific will also be an important market for companies targeting wider geographical growth. In APAC, South Koreas investments in LTE networks catering to the critical communications needs in railway, public safety, and maritime security will have an evidently positive impact on the growth of the market.For Sample Copy, click here:Companies vying to secure a steady area of growth in the private LTE network ecosystem market have rolled out exclusive mobile broadband services for energy sector players. Examples of such companies include Texas Energy Network and Infrastructure Networks. However, since investments in private LTE networks can be prohibitively expensive, European countries are using private mobile core platforms in conjunction with LTE networks to allow public safety organizations to subscribe to prioritized mobile broadband services.The competitive landscape is also seeing a change with new partnerships being forged between conventional LMR industry players and established LTE infrastructure OEMs. Examples of the latter include Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung; these companies are tapping into this emerging opportunity by offering end-to-end solutions for private LTE networks.Numerous companies have been profiled in the report to assess their strategic moves, revenue growth, and presence across the entire ecosystem. Likewise, the report also studies the opportunity that lies in the private LTE network ecosystem in every key country. By doing so, the report serves as a tool to give vendors and systems integrators in the private LTE network ecosystem insights into remaining relevant and competitive.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Breast Cancer Awareness Month - LINEIJ & ABI FERRIN for the AiRS Foundation of Dallas

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASELINEIJ x ABI FERRINLuxury Handbags Arrive at the ABI FERRIN Flagship StoreLos Angeles, California September 22, 2016  LINEIJ designer Kipenzi will be holding her first trunk show appearance in Dallas at the ABI FERRIN flagship store located at 3699 McKinney Ave #103, Dallas, Texas, 75204, from Oct 14th to Oct 16th 11am to 7pm - to kick off the Fall /Winter collection and celebrate breast cancer awareness month. A portion of the proceeds benefiting the Alliance in Breast Reconstructive Surgery Foundation (AiRS), a local breast cancer charity based in Dallas, Texas. LINEIJ, a luxury accessories company, is partnering with boutiques across the United States, Europe, and Middle East. ABI FERRIN will be the first retail partnership for LINEIJ in Texas.A press preview event will be held on Friday, October 14, 2016, with designers Kipenzi Chidinma and Abi Ferrin 1pm to 6pm. In support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, on Saturday, October 15th, ABI FERRIN will donate 20% and LINEIJ will donate a portion of their sales from Saturday to the AiRS Foundation  a non-profit organization dedicated to providing breast reconstruction surgery, after a mastectomy, to women who cannot afford this procedure.The collaboration between the two designers creates a unique in-store experience for women to meet the designers and have one-on-one style consultations about Fall trends. and what's new for Spring 2017.About LINEIJ: LINEIJ is a luxurious, sustainably sourced, bespoke, handcrafted accessories company with Caribbean influences, and global appeal. We exist to empower all who were told no they cant create the bag of their dreams. The collection is comprised of portfolios, attaches, totes, handbags, weekend bags, and clutches - made from materials that were designated food sources first. LINEIJ is certified through C.I.T.E.S., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, so your new staple accessory can be worn guilt free.About ABI FERRIN: ABI FERRIN is the versatile and sophisticated fashion brand that offers expertly designed pieces in easy-to-care-for fabrics providing a chic solution for women of all ages and body types. ABI FERRINs effortless essentials inspire women to feel confident and beautiful. Celebrated pieces include the renowned Nikki 5-Way Dress that creates five entirely new looks depending on how the garment is draped and the Jan Cape that easily transforms from work meeting to date night. ABI FERRIN is designed and produced in the USA.About AiRS Foundation: The AiRS Foundation grew out of a 40-year friendship between Janet Denlinger and Morgan Hare, women whose success in business motivated them to find a way to give back to our community. Since their skin care company, Eraclea, was focused on helping women feel and look good, they were searching for a cause to which they could contribute that would help women with their self-esteem. To that end, they asked Dr. Rod Rohrich, the founding Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, to suggest ways he felt they could make a difference. He told them about the issues related to breast reconstruction surgery after mastectomy, and that led to the beginning of establishing the AiRS Foundation.LINEIJ MEDIA CONTACT:Roger SanchezLINEIJ, Brand StrategyE: roger@lineij-atelier.com###About LINEIJ: LINEIJ is a luxurious, sustainably sourced, bespoke, handcrafted accessories company with Caribbean influences, and global appeal. We exist to empower all who were told no they cant create the bag of their dreams. The collection is comprised of portfolios, attaches, totes, handbags, weekend bags, and clutches - made from materials that were designated food sources first. LINEIJ is certified through C.I.T.E.S., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, so your new staple accessory can be worn guilt free.LINEIJ MEDIA CONTACT:Roger Sanchez1619 Poydras St.New Orleans, LA 70127LINEIJ, Brand StrategyE: roger@lineij-atelier.com
New Access for All Program Changes the Future of Online Disability Training

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Buena Park, California (September 2016) Fulfilling a long-standing need for convenient and cost-effective training for professional organizations and agencies that serve job seekers with disabilities, Human Solutions, LLC is gearing up to create a new standard in online disability training. To meet this need head-on, the company will soon be launching its Access for All (AFA) Online Disability Training program, designed to address the current concerns that many job-placement providers face in todays employment market.Scheduled for launch in October 2016, the AFA program () is the first of its kind in staff development training geared towards Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) providers and their partners. Requiring only a computer and internet access, the AFA online training prepares agency staff to address the needs of customers with disabilities of all types. The program also teaches participants how to identify programmatic and physical accessibility issues in service delivery, and meet critical compliance and regulatory requirements.Lisa Jordan, President and CEO of Human Solutions LLC states, Services to customers with disabilities have taken a front seat. Offering top-notch customer service to everyone who walks through your doors is a top priority. We are very excited to launch the Access for All Online Disability Training program, which we believe will bring providers even closer to ensuring a high level of services is provided to all of their customers.Over a year in the making, Human Solutions AFA program is comprised of 10 interactive learning modules, providing real world scenarios that tie in daily work responsibilities. This unique approach makes for a practical and memorable learning experience. Other key features include:-- Convenient  Training is available 24/7, 365 days a year and can be accessed anytime, anywhere (for the length of the course subscription)-- Cost-effective  eliminates the time and expenses associated with live training; no new hardware or software installation needed-- Targeted  Interactions focus on changing behavior leading to improved on-the-job performance-- And, much moreLearn more about the Access for All Online Disability Training, and join the AFA community to receive special launch updates by visiting the Human Solutions website ator contact the company directly at info@human-solutions(dot)net.Human Solutions LLC is a California-based company that develops innovative programs for workforce development organizations and their clients, nationwide. The companys primary focus and experience lies in designing and implementing staff capacity-building training programs, from the development phase through the delivery of live training. Human Solutions is also a virtual Employment Network, serving Social Security beneficiaries in over 30 states. Lisa Jordan, President and CEO, has extensive experience providing both technical assistance and training to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funded programs and their partners. For more information visit Human Solutions atLisa JordanHuman Solutions, LLC8424 Galaxy CircleBuena Park, CA 90620
Latest Report On New Zealand Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation Market Outlook to 2022

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"The Report New Zealand Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation Market Outlook to 2022 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalDatas new report, New Zealand Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market Outlook to 2022, provides key market data on the New Zealand Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market segments - Distraction Systems and Plate and Screw Fixators.Note: This is an on-demand report and will be delivered within 2-3 business days of the purchase (excluding weekends)The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for the market category, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular category and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology and capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Download Sample copy of this Report at :Scope- Market size for Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) market categories - Distraction Systems and Plate and Screw Fixators.- Annualized market revenues (USD million), volume (units) and average selling price ($) data for each of the market categories. Data is provided from 2008 to 2015 and forecast to 2022.- 2015 company shares and distribution shares data for Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation market.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the New Zealand Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) market.- Key players covered include DePuy Synthes, Inc., Stryker Corporation, KLS Martin, Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. and others.Reasons to buy- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.Follow us on LinkedIn:Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 42 Introduction 52.1 What Is This Report About? 52.2 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market Segmentation 52.3 Definitions of Markets Covered in the Report 63 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand 73.1 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), 2008-2015 73.2 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), 2015-2022 93.2.1 Distraction Systems Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2008-2015 113.2.2 Plate and Screw Fixators Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2008-2015 133.2.3 Distraction Systems Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2015-2022 153.2.4 Plate and Screw Fixators Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2015-2022 173.3 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), 2008-2015 193.4 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), 2015-2022 213.4.1 Distraction Systems Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2008-2015 233.4.2 Plate and Screw Fixators Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2008-2015 253.4.3 Distraction Systems Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2015-2022 273.4.4 Plate and Screw Fixators Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2015-2022 293.5 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Average Price ($), 2008-2015 313.6 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Average Price ($), by Segment 2008-2015 333.7 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Distribution Share by Revenue ($m), 2008-2022 353.8 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market, New Zealand, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2015 364 Overview of Key Companies in New Zealand, Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market 384.1 DePuy Synthes, Inc. 384.1.1 Company Overview 384.2 Stryker Corporation 384.2.1 Company Overview 384.3 KLS Martin LP 384.3.1 Company Overview 384.4 Medartis AG 384.4.1 Company Overview 384.5 Medtronic plc 394.5.1 Company Overview 394.6 Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. 394.6.1 Company Overview 395 Cranio Maxillofacial Fixation (CMF) Market Pipeline Products 40MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global New Zealand Knee Reconstruction Market Outlook to 2022 Examined in new market research report

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The report analyzes and presents an overview of " New Zealand Knee Reconstruction Market Outlook to 2022 " worldwide.GlobalDatas new report, New Zealand Knee Reconstruction Market Outlook to 2022, provides key market data on the New Zealand Knee Reconstruction market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market segments - Primary Knee Replacement, Partial Knee Replacement and Revision Knee Replacement.Note: This is an on-demand report and will be delivered within 2-3 business days of the purchase (excluding weekends)The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for the market category, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular category and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology and capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Download Sample copy of this Report @Scope- Market size for Knee Reconstruction market categories - Primary Knee Replacement, Partial Knee Replacement and Revision Knee Replacement.- Annualized market revenues (USD million), volume (units) and average selling price ($) data for each of the market categories. Data is provided from 2008 to 2015 and forecast to 2022.- 2015 company shares and distribution shares data for Knee Reconstruction market.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the New Zealand Knee Reconstruction market.- Key players covered include Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., Stryker Corporation, DePuy Synthes, Inc., Smith & Nephew Plc and others.Reasons to buy- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.Table of Content :1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 42 Introduction 52.1 What Is This Report About? 52.2 Knee Reconstruction Market Segmentation 52.3 Definitions of Markets Covered in the Report 63 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand 73.1 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), 2008-2015 73.2 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), 2015-2022 93.2.1 Primary Knee Replacement Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2008-2015 113.2.2 Primary Knee Replacement Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2015-2022 133.3 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), 2008-2015 153.4 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), 2015-2022 173.4.1 Primary Knee Replacement Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2008-2015 193.4.2 Primary Knee Replacement Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2015-2022 213.5 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Average Price ($), 2008-2015 233.6 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Average Price ($), by Segment 2008-2015 253.7 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Distribution Share by Revenue ($m), 2008-2022 273.8 Knee Reconstruction Market, New Zealand, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2015 284 Overview of Key Companies in New Zealand, Knee Reconstruction Market 304.1 Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. 304.1.1 Company Overview 304.2 Stryker Corporation 304.2.1 Company Overview 304.3 DePuy Synthes, Inc. 304.3.1 Company Overview 304.4 Smith & Nephew Plc 314.4.1 Company Overview 315 Knee Reconstruction Market Pipeline Products 326 Financial Deals Landscape 336.1 Partnerships 336.1.1 OrthAlign Enters into Distribution Agreement with Smith & Nephew for KneeAlign 337 Appendix 347.1 Research Methodology 357.1.1 Coverage 357.1.2 Secondary Research 357.1.3 Primary Research 367.1.4 Company Share Analysis 367.1.5 Distribution Share Analysis 367.1.6 Benchmarking 367.2 GlobalData Consulting 377.3 Contact Us 377.4 Disclaimer 38MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E : sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Orthobiologics Market Analysis, Status, Opportunities, Market Forecasts to 2022

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MarketResearchReports.Biz presents this most up-to-date research on " New Zealand Orthobiologics Market Outlook to 2022 "GlobalDatas new report, New Zealand Orthobiologics Market Outlook to 2022, provides key market data on the New Zealand Orthobiologics market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market segments - Bone Graft and Substitutes, Viscosupplementation and Bone Growth Stimulators.Note: This is an on-demand report and will be delivered within 2-3 business days of the purchase (excluding weekends)The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for the market category, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular category and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology and capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Download Sample copy of this Report at :Scope- Market size for Orthobiologics market categories - Bone Graft and Substitutes, Viscosupplementation and Bone Growth Stimulators.- Annualized market revenues (USD million), volume (units) and average selling price ($) data for each of the market categories. Data is provided from 2008 to 2015 and forecast to 2022.- 2015 company shares and distribution shares data for Orthobiologics market.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the New Zealand Orthobiologics market.- Key players covered include Medtronic plc, Arthrex, Inc., Sanofi, DePuy Synthes, Inc. and others.Reasons to buy- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.Follow us on LinkedIn:Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 42 Introduction 52.1 What Is This Report About? 52.2 Orthobiologics Market Segmentation 52.3 Definitions of Markets Covered in the Report 63 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand 73.1 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), 2008-2015 73.2 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), 2015-2022 93.2.1 Bone Grafts and Substitutes Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2008-2015 113.2.2 Bone Grafts and Substitutes Market, New Zealand, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2015-2022 133.3 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), 2008-2015 153.4 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), 2015-2022 173.4.1 Bone Grafts and Substitutes Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2008-2015 193.4.2 Bone Grafts and Substitutes Market, New Zealand, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2015-2022 213.5 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Average Price ($), 2008-2015 233.6 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Average Price ($), by Segment 2008-2015 253.7 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Distribution Share by Revenue ($m), 2008-2022 273.8 Orthobiologics Market, New Zealand, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2015 284 Overview of Key Companies in New Zealand, Orthobiologics Market 304.1 Medtronic plc 304.1.1 Company Overview 304.2 DePuy Synthes, Inc. 304.2.1 Company Overview 304.3 Seikagaku Corporation 304.3.1 Company Overview 304.4 Patterson Medical Holdings, Inc. 314.4.1 Company Overview 314.5 Baxter International Inc. 314.5.1 Company Overview 314.6 Sanofi 314.6.1 Company Overview 314.7 Stryker Corporation 324.7.1 Company Overview 324.8 Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. 324.8.1 Company Overview 324.9 Arthrex, Inc. 324.9.1 Company Overview 325 Orthobiologics Market Pipeline Products 346 Appendix 376.1 Research Methodology 386.1.1 Coverage 386.1.2 Secondary Research 386.1.3 Primary Research 396.1.4 Company Share Analysis 396.1.5 Distribution Share Analysis 396.1.6 Benchmarking 396.2 GlobalData Consulting 406.3 Contact Us 406.4 Disclaimer 41MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
ZESTRON South Asia expands its team

ZESTRON South Asia is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Arkadius Maciollek (Copyright ZESTRON)

ZESTRON, the worldwide leading provider of high precision cleaning products, services and training solutions for the electronics manufacturing industry, is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Arkadius Maciollek to its South Asian Team.We are excited to welcome Dr. Arkadius Maciollek. We strongly believe that his extensive and vast knowledge in preparative and analytical chemistry is able to contribute significantly to the Research and Development initiatives for our South Asian customers. says Executive Director, Mr. James Yeoh.Dr. Maciollek completed his PhD Studies in Preparative Polymer Chemistry at the Institute for Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University of Duesseldorf, Germany. After graduating, he was a Project Manager in development of soil-release-polymers in laundry formulations at the WFK-Cleaning Technology Research Institute in Krefeld, Germany.Since January of 2016, Dr. Maciollek continues to lead the Research & Development activities in South Asia, working closely with various local teams and partners to create innovative solutions to address the latest trend and challenges in the precision cleaning industry.Headquartered in Ingolstadt, Germany, ZESTRON  a business division of Dr. O.K. Wack Chemie GmbH, is the globally leading provider of high precision cleaning products, services and comprehensive solutions in the electronics industry. With seven technical centers worldwide, cleaning trials can be replicated to the processes conducted on customer sites.It is ZESTRONs philosophy to develop cleaning products that are innovative and unprecedented in the industry, thereby ensuring that our customers always remain one step ahead. More than 20% of ZESTRONs staff is dedicated to our extensive research and development programs, with more than 10% of profit reinvested in this sector. As the innovation leader, we are fully committed to providing the most cost-effective and environmentally sound solutions while meeting all other aspects of cleanliness, reliability and safety requirements.Franz WutzZESTRON Europe...a business division of Dr. O.K. Wack Chemie GmbHBunsenstrae 685053 Ingolstadt, GermanyTel: +49 0841 635-176Fax: +49 08 41 635-40Email: franz.wutz@zestron.com
RDH Global Confirm Intentions to Open Fourth Office Location in Early 2017

http://www.rdhglobal.com

RDH Global have recently confirmed that they intend to open their fourth office location as early as the first quarter of 2017.This had long been rumored to be happening but the firm confirmed their intentions at their head office in Brussels last week.Currently we have a very well planned structure in place for our expansion plans in 2017 and we believe that a fourth office location would enable these plans to be achieved much sooner. There have been discussions of a fourth location for some time now and we feel that 2017 would be the best time to ensure that this new location is established, said Reuben Rosenthal, RDH Globals founder and CEO.Presently, we are discussing at least 3 or 4 possible locations that are available to us and that we feel would fit well with our current locations, whilst giving the firm greater exposure in regions that we have yet to cement a presence. All I can say at this moment is that the locations we are currently considering are in regions that we believe have enormous growth potential for the services that we offer, Reuben Rosenthal added.RDH Global currently have offices in Brussels, Hong Kong and Dubai to allow them to offer complete client services to Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle-Eastern based clients.Furthermore, we feel that this fourth location will also enable our staff to utilize and develop their skills even further by gaining first-hand experience of market conditions in other regions. This in-turn will allow our clients access to this information that we currently are unable to advise on.We anticipate that our decision will be made before year end and we look forward to announcing the decision in the coming weeks, Reuben Rosenthal concluded.We are RDH Global, established by Reuben Rosenthal, Marc Dumont and Samuel Hansen, who with their considerable personal experience in multiple platforms, each covering various classes, afford every client, at every level, the ability to find the right product and solution for their personal goals.RDH GlobalBlue Tower,Avenue Louise, 3261050 BrusselsBelgium+32 2 342 0279info.eu@rdhglobal.com
India: 4G, Fiber Network Expansion and Auction of Technology-Neutral Spectrum to Drive Telecom Growth | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "India: 4G, Fiber Network Expansion and Auction of Technology-Neutral Spectrum to Drive Telecom Growth" to its huge collection of research reports.India will be the third largest telecom services market in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in 2016. Pyramid Research estimates telecom services revenue to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% during 2016-2021, primarily driven by the growth in fixed and mobile data revenue. Mobile data will be the fastest-growing segment with a CAGR of 13.6% over the 2016-2021 period, owing to the launch and expansion of 4G and increased adoption of smartphones. In addition, ongoing investment in mobile network rollout and expansion will enable operators to monetize the growing demand of data services.Key FindingsThe overall telecom services revenue in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% during 2016-2021, mainly driven by data segments (mobile and fixed).Mobile revenue will account for 82.7% of total telecom revenue in 2021, and mobile data will be the fastest-growing segment over 2016-2021.Whilst majority of the subscribers are still using 2G, we expect the contribution of mobile data to mobile services revenue to rise strongly; driven by smartphones proliferation and availability of 4G services (aided by the release of more spectrum by the regulator).Bharti Airtel will continue to be the leading operator over 2016-2021. Operators will continue to invest in mobile and fixed networks to compete effectively in the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Synopsis4G, Fiber Network Expansion and Spectrum Auction to Drive Telecom Growth provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in India today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into Indian telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: Telecom market size and trends in India compared with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.Economic, demographic and political context in India.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, fixed Internet, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2014 to 2021.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Indias telecommunications market.Make an Enquiry of this report @Reasons To BuyGain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of the telecommunications market in India, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in India mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customers demand.Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of the telecom market in India.Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve the market share.Explore novel opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in India.About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global IVF Market is expected to reach $11.3 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2015 to 2021

World In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) 2021

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IVF procedures have emerged as a preferable choice for the fertility treatments in clinical industry. The market is poised to witness a remarkable growth, primarily due to the related technological advancements such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and three-parent IVF procedures. The global IVF market is expected to reach $11.3 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2015 to 2021. Reduction in conception rates mainly in women aged 40 years or above, delayed pregnancy in women suffering from gynecological conditions, changing lifestyle and fertility disorders are the major factors that drive the market growth. Other factors responsible for the market growth are favorable reimbursement scenario and the delayed parenthood opted by couples due to professional and financial constraints.Check Complete Report @On the other hand, ethical concerns in particular countries, high cost of the IVF procedures and low awareness, especially in under-developed economies such as Nigeria are likely to restrain the market growth. The rising initiatives towards commercialization of cost-efficient treatments and emerging medical tourism, mainly in developing nations would offer lucrative growth opportunities for IVF service providers in future. Further, the growing clinical research initiatives for the development of novel IVF technologies would provide a platform for growth of the global IVF market. To provide a detailed market assessment, the report segments the global IVF market on the basis of end-users and geography. The end-users IVF market is categorized into fertility clinics, hospitals, surgical centers and clinical research institutes. Fertility clinics and hospitals were the leading end-user segments globally, accounting for around three-fourths of the market in 2014.Geographically, the market is segmented across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and LAMEA regions. In terms of number of IVF cycles performed, the Asia-Pacific region dominates the global IVF market. Asia Pacific IVF market is set to grow at a promising CAGR of 8.9% from 2015 to 2021, due to the factors such as wide availability of IVF clinics, high IVF success rates and the rising trend of fertility tourism. In Asia-Pacific region, China is the leading country accounting for majority of the market share and is expected to maintain its position during the analysis period. In terms of revenue, North America dominates the global IVF market, owing to the favorable reimbursement scenario. The market is expected to reach around $4.0 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 7.9% over the forecast period.Get Sample Brochure of the Report @KEY MARKET BENEFITS: The report provides an in-depth analysis of the IVF market across twenty major countries with a cross sectional analysis of the number of IVF cycles performed, and total revenue generated during the forecast period The report helps in understanding the strategies adopted by various IVF clinics and hospitals in particular countries, in order to gain market share in the global IVF service market Region-wise and country-wise IVF market is comprehensively analyzed in the report The projections in the report are made by analyzing the current market trends and highlighting the market potential for the period of 20142021, in terms of value and volume Extensive analysis of the market is conducted by closely following key product positioning and monitoring the top contenders within the market frameworkKEY MARKET SEGMENTS: The global IVF market is segmented on the basis of end-users and geography: By End Users: (Value and Volume)Fertility Clinics Hospitals Surgical centers Clinical research institutesBy End User: Country Level Analysis (Value and Volume) United States Canada Mexico United Kingdom Germany France Italy Spain Denmark Russia Others Europe China India Japan Australia New Zealand Korea Thailand Others APAC Latin America Middle East AfricaBy Geography (Value and Volume) : North America United States Canada Mexico Europe United Kingdom Germany France Italy Spain Denmark Russia Others Europe Asia Pacific China India Japan Australia New Zealand Korea Thailand Others APAC LAMEA Latin America Middle East AfricaAbout us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Mayur SSales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statessales@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
Some Good announce launch of 3 new super foods

Some Good

www.some-good.com

Some Good, the fast rising start up of the health supplement world today announced an ambitious plan to launch 3 new products to compliment their hugely successful Lingonberry Powder.Some Good co-founder Peter Irving stated, "We were overwhelmed with the success of Lingonberry, and did significant research into our next products, as we wanted them to have complimentary benefits, that would delight our existing customers as well as attracting new ones"The new products are: Some Good Cacao Powder, Some Good Moringa, and Some Good Pea Protein. Its a bold move from the company who carved their way into the market through a powerful brand, early celebrity advocates, and a very visual presence at trade shows."We are yet to specify an exact launch date, but if they aren't out by end of October, something significant has gone wrong. Its an exciting time, to be launching products you really believe in and think can be both successful and beneficial is a warm feeling."As well as new products, fans of Some Good can expect a new website, and lots more informational content.Some Good was founded in 2014. Known for their Lingonberry Powder, bright pink branding, and alternative approach to health and trade shows, Some Good continue to live their ethos of bringing super foods and berry powders to market that they hope will do Some Good to you and the environment.Some GoodEgan Lodge, 145 Haverstock HillBelsize ParkLondon,NW3 4RUPress Contact: Pete Irvinginfo@some-good.com
Supplier of Stainless Steel Seamless pipe for Qatar Stadium, Great Steel and Metals at ADIPEC 2016

Supplier of Stainless Steel Seamless pipe for Qatar Stadium, Great Steel and Metals at ADIPEC 2016

www.greatmetal.com

www.greatmetal.com

Great Steel and Metals, the renowned name in the stainless steel industry and leading manufacturer of Duplex and Super Duplex Flanges and Buttweld fittings in India is participating at ADIPEC 2016 starting from 7th to 10th November 2016 at Abu Dhabi, Dubai.It is important to note that Great Steel and Metals already, has a good client base in UAE and there are a number of good projects in its portfolio including the recent project of Qatar Stadium, where the company supplied stainless steel seamless pipes. In this project, the main contractors were CCC (Consolidated Contractors Company) and TCC (Teyseer Contracting Company). Since, the material was of premium quality and supplied within the stipulated time period, the company even got recognition for its quality products and services.It is important to note, with over 30 years of experience, Great Steel and Metals has built up and maintained that position that is really very hard for most of the companies to even imagine. With quality services, the company understands how important it is to maintain good relations with its customers and that is the reason why the company invests a good amount of time and money on improving customer relationship. With other things, Great Steel and Metals keep a check on its prices to enable its customers get quality products at highly affordable prices. This is what makes Great Steel and Metals a premium company ahead of other companies in the related segment.Great Steel and Metals is well equipped with all the latest technologies and works with the highly skilled manpower in the industry. The company even holds the finest infrastructure that makes it possible to complete its projects within the stipulated time frame. Being ISO 9001:2008 certified company, it works on a complete transparent approach, wherein the buyer is made aware of the progress of his project right from the beginning. The company has good customers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iran and a number of over Middle East companies and that can be seen as a motivating factor for the company to exhibit at ADIPEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference). The company also invites its present and prospective customers at its stall which is at International Pavilion i.e. Hall No 13, Stand 13171.Great Steel and Metals is all set to increase its client base and expand its operation in the gulf and so invites everyone to visit them at ADIPEC 2016. The company is also considering this event as a good opportunity to meet its existing customers at Abu Dhabi, Dubai. So, this can be seen as a great opportunity to form new relations and cherish the existing ones.About the company: Great Steel and Metals() is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company with over 30 years of experience in the Steel Industry. The company specializes in manufacturing and merchandising export of Stainless steel pipes, Duplex and Super Duplex Flanges, Fitting and Buttweld Fittings.GREAT STEEL & METALS1st Parsiwada,New Hira Building,1st floor,office No 15.N.D.RoadMumbai:400004 IndiaTel : +91-22-23868818/23854314Fax : +91-22-23878403, +91-22- 23850329E-mail ID : mehta@greatmetal.comexport@greatmetal.comWebsite :
Frank Owens Limited Advisory Services Tokyo Japan on Capital Raising Services

www.frankowenslimited.com

Our extensive capital sourcing services cover the following: Strategy Review and Planning Assistance: Evaluation of the projected participation to determine its acceptability by Australian investors and their Asset Advisors. Likewise, we will provide unbiased advice on the appropriate scheme vital to realize the capital sourcing and assure that the objectives of the transaction are optimized, together with selecting the proper marketing approach with the client. Documentation Preparation: Guidance in the creation of the package needed to assure the capital is enhanced viable, including the submission to investors, funding scheme, due-diligence program and private-placement agreement.Key Decision Marker Support: Determination and liaising with crucial Investor and Asset Advisors/Managers to secure their assistance at the start of the fund-sourcing process. Placement Service: Coordination and management of meetings and attendance of transactions with investors and their advisors. Likewise, we will meet and discuss with the prospective investors on their due diligence process and final resolution, to achieve proper and prompt feedback. Investor Communications: Upon completion of fund sourcing process, the provision of through collaboration with the Asset Advisors and Fund Investors and other essential players in the Australian Wholesale Investment Sector.Frank Owens Limited holds a successful track record of sourcing funds for capitalizing businesses from investors in the wholesale sector for global and local non-conventional investment funds. Our current objective include expert world-class finance managers who offer global investment instruments in real estate, currency, private equity, hedge funds and bonds.Frank Owens Limited provides a broad range of professional financial advice to entrepreneurs and business managers with respect to the most appropriate steps in acquisition, disposition and funds sourcing, based on the present market conditions.Frank Owens Limited Advisory Services Tokyo JapanAddress: 17F, Gotenyama Trust Tower, 4-7-35, Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 140-0001, JapanTelephone:+81343301948Telefax: +81367000965Email: admin@frankowenslimited.comWebsite:
Biopower in Spain, Market Capacity, Generation, LCOE, Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles Outlook to 2030

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"The Report Biopower in Spain, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz""Biopower in Spain, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles" is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the Biopower market in Spain.The report provides an in-depth analysis on global renewable power market and global Biopower market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in Spain (includes conventional Hydro, nuclear and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes Wind, small hydro, biopower and renewable) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in Spain Biopower market. A detailed coverage of energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to Biopower market development is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.Get the Free Sample copy of this Report @ScopeThe report analyses global renewable power market, global biopower (Biomass and Biogas) market, Spain power market, Spain renewable power market and Spain biopower market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2015 (unless specified) and forecast period 2015-2030.- Renewable power sources include wind (both onshore and offshore), solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydropower (SHP), biomass, biogas and geothermal.- Detailed overview of the global biopower market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major biopower countries in 2015 and key owners information of various regions.- Power market scenario in Spain and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on Spain renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2015.- Detailed overview of Spain biopower market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming biopower projects.- Deal analysis of Spain biopower market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and biopower in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Reasons to buy- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in Spain biopower market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for wind power market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.Read our latest Press Release atTable of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 51.2 List of Figures 62 Executive Summary 72.1 Government Support in Conjunction with Technology Development Driving Global Renewable Power Installations 72.2 Global Biopower Generation Expected to Reach 864 TWh by 2030 72.3 Thermal Power is the Dominant Source in the Power Mix 82.4 Spain Promoted Renewable Power Sources in the Total Power-mix 93 Introduction 103.1 Carbon Emissions, Global, 2001-2015 103.2 Primary Energy Consumption, Global, 2001-2025 123.3 Biopower Market, Technology Analysis 143.3.1 Biopower Market, Feedstock Conversion Processes 153.3.2 Biopower Market, Primary Energy Conversion and Recovery Technology 163.4 Report Guidance 204 Renewable Power Market, Global, 2006-2030 214.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Overview 214.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 224.2.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity by Source Type, 2006-2030 224.2.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity Split by Source Type, 2015 and. 2030 244.2.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Comparison among Various Sources, Cumulative Installed Capacity, 2015 - 2030 264.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-2030 284.3.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation by Source Type, 2006-2030 284.3.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, Source Comparison Based on Power Generation, 2015-2030 304.4 Renewable Power Market, Global, LCOE Comparison of Power Generating Sources, 2014-2015 325 Biopower Market, Global, 2006-2030 355.1 Biopower Market, Global, Overview 355.2 Biomass Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 365.2.1 Biopower Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Region, 2015 and 2030 385.2.2 Biopower Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Country, 2015 and 2030 405.3 Biopower Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-2030 425.3.1 Biopower Market, Global, Generation Share by Region, 2015 and 2030 445.3.2 Biopower Market, Global, Generation Share by Country, 2015 and 2030 466 Power Market, Spain, 2006-2030 486.1 Power Market, Spain, Overview 486.2 Power Market, Spain, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 496.2.1 Power Market, Spain, Cumulative Installed Capacity by Fuel Type, 2006-2030 496.2.2 Power Market, Spain, Share in Cumulative Installed Capacity Split by Source Type, 2015 and 2030 526.3 Power Market, Spain, Power Generation, 2006-2030 547 Renewable Power Market, Spain, 2006-2030 567.1 Renewable Power Market, Spain, Overview 567.2 Renewable Power Market, Spain, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 577.2.1 Renewable Power Market, Spain, Cumulative Installed Capacity by Source Type, 2006-2030 57MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Market Research Report On Netherlands Arthroscopy Devices Market Outlook to 2022

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"The Report Netherlands Arthroscopy Devices Market Outlook to 2022 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalDatas new report, Netherlands Arthroscopy Devices Market Outlook to 2022, provides key market data on the Netherlands Arthroscopy market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market segments - Arthroscopes, Arthroscopy Fluid Management Systems, Arthroscopy Visualization Systems, Arthroscopy Implants, Arthroscopy Radio Frequency Systems, Arthroscopy Radio Frequency Wands and Arthroscopic Shavers.Note: This is an on-demand report and will be delivered within 2-3 business days of the purchase (excluding weekends)The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for the market category, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular category and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology and capital equipment-based models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Capital equipment-based forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.Get the Free Sample copy of this Report @Scope- Market size for Arthroscopy market segments - Arthroscopes, Arthroscopy Fluid Management Systems, Arthroscopy Visualization Systems, Arthroscopy Implants, Arthroscopy Radio Frequency Systems, Arthroscopy Radio Frequency Wands and Arthroscopic Shavers.- Annualized market revenues (USD million), volume (units) and average selling price ($) data for each of the market categories. Data is provided from 2008 to 2015 and forecast to 2022.- 2015 company shares and distribution shares data for Arthroscopy market.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the Netherlands Arthroscopy market.- Key players covered include Arthrex, Inc., Smith & Nephew Plc, DePuy Synthes, Inc., Stryker Corporation and others.Reasons to buy- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.Follow us on LinkedIn:Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 42 Introduction 52.1 What Is This Report About? 52.2 Arthroscopy Market Segmentation 52.3 Definitions of Markets Covered in the Report 63 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands 83.1 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Revenue ($m), 2008-2015 83.2 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Revenue ($m), 2015-2022 103.2.1 Arthroscopy Implants Market, Netherlands, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2008-2015 123.2.2 Arthroscopy Implants Market, Netherlands, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2015-2022 143.3 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Volume (Units), 2008-2015 163.4 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Volume (Units), 2015-2022 183.4.1 Arthroscopy Implants Market, Netherlands, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2008-2015 203.4.2 Arthroscopy Implants Market, Netherlands, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2015-2022 223.5 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Average Price ($), 2008-2015 243.6 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Average Price ($), by Segment 2008-2015 263.7 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Distribution Share by Revenue ($m), 2008-2022 283.8 Arthroscopy Market, Netherlands, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2015 294 Overview of Key Companies in Netherlands, Arthroscopy Market 314.1 Arthrex, Inc. 314.1.1 Company Overview 314.2 Smith & Nephew Plc 314.2.1 Company Overview 314.3 DePuy Synthes, Inc. 314.3.1 Company Overview 314.4 Stryker Corporation 314.4.1 Company Overview 314.5 ConMed Corporation 324.5.1 Company Overview 324.6 B. Braun Melsungen AG 324.6.1 Company Overview 325 Arthroscopy Market Pipeline Products 336 Appendix 346.1 Research Methodology 356.1.1 Coverage 356.1.2 Secondary Research 356.1.3 Primary Research 366.1.4 Company Share Analysis 366.1.5 Distribution Share Analysis 366.1.6 Benchmarking 366.2 GlobalData Consulting 376.3 Contact Us 376.4 Disclaimer 38MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Air Compressors Market: Expanding Industrial Sector to Ensure Steady Demand Till 2019

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3096

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/air-compressor-market.html

The global air compressors market is driven primarily by the expanding industrial sector across the world, according to a report from Transparency Market Research (TMR). The report examines the historical development trajectory of the global market and provides a detailed look at the markets current condition. Analysis of the same using industry-standard tools and techniques is used to provide reliable forecasts regarding the markets development in the coming years.Get Free Report Brochure PDF:Air compressors are a device that use externally sourced power to compress air and store the compressed air. The compressed air can be released according to the requirements of the specific application, with the kinetic energy of the pressurized air serving as a power source. Construction machinery is commonly powered by air compressors, particularly in remote regions where grid power may be absent or intermittent. Industrial machinery is another common consumer of air compressor power.The growing industrial and manufacturing sectors across the world is thus one of the key drivers for the global air compressors market. Due to the growing supply-demand gap in various industries, the industrial sector in developed as well as developing nations is expanding rapidly. The government support being provided to the industrial sector and consistent introduction of technological advancements that necessitate an expansion in the ambit of the industrial sector are other key drivers for the global air compressors market.The booming construction industry is another key driver for the global air compressors market. Due to the increasing purchasing power of consumers in emerging economies and the need for redevelopment and renovation in existing construction in developed regions, the global construction industry has promising growth prospects in the coming years. This bodes well for the air compressors market, as air compressors are commonly used to power construction equipment.On the other hand, the high manufacturing costs of air compressors may become a significant restraint on the global market for the same. In developing regions, the air compressors market may suffer in the short term due to the inability of many customers to afford air compressors. However, the booming construction industry in developing regions holds significant promise for the air compressors market.By product type, the air compressors market is segmented into reciprocating compressors, turbo compressors, and rotary type compressors. The reciprocating compressors segment comprises single stage, two stage, diaphragm, and rocking piston air compressors, while rotary air compressors include scroll compressors, rotary sliding vane compressors, and rotary helical screw compressors.The report also examines the operations of leading companies in the global air compressors market. Key players profiled in the report include Oasis Manufacturing, Grainger Company, Bauer Group, Best Aire LLC, Ingersoll Rand, and Sullair.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Autologous Cell Therapy Market - Global Forecast, Share, Size, Growth And Industry Analysis upto 2018

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http://bit.ly/2doGbAX

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Autologous cell therapy is a therapeutic procedure which uses the cells of an individual, which are well-bred and nurtured outside the body and then reintroduced at the site of the disease of the individual. Autologous cell therapy is a new breakthrough in the field of medical history. Autologous cell therapy (ACT) is one of the most rapidly evolving fields due to the revolution in the bioengineering sector since the last few decades.Download Exclusive Sample of this Report:Previously diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinson's were thought to be incurable; however the invention of Autologous cell therapy has changed this belief. The efficient capability of Autologous cell therapy has helped cure many patients recover from such deadly diseases. Owing to its effective treatment procedure, Autologous cell therapy is becoming popular across the globe.Autologous cell therapy is one of the better alternatives to allogenic stem cell therapy as it avoids any viral infection from a donor. The allogenic cell therapy is a procedure which involves the transplantation of cells from a donor into the patients body, which makes the patient vulnerable to the viruses that may be transmitted from the donors body.As there is no necessity to find a donor and hardly any risk associated in cross checking the compatibility with the patients body, Autologous cell therapy is the most preferred therapy by medical practitioners. Autologous being less risky as compared to allogenic cell therapy is mostly preferred by patients all over the world. This is one of the major driving factors pushing this therapy way ahead.Diseases like diabetes if treated inappropriately leads to side effects resulting in blindness. Autologous cell therapy proves effective in treatment of such diseases minimizing the risk almost to a negligible level. Medical practitioners across the globe prefer ACT owing to its outstanding results. A few diseases are still incurable by ACT restraining its global market to a certain extent. Such diseases are curable by chemotherapy methods. Most of the B-cell malignancies are not curable and when tested by Autologous cell therapy resulted in failure.The MCG BMT Autologous Stem Cell Program has been accredited by the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, opening new horizons for the ACT market across the globe. A few debates were under consideration including the curability of neurodegenerative diseases. Such diseases were incurable which were based on the fact that neurons cannot be regenerated in adulthood. This has been proven wrong by certain laboratory experiments carried out in the University of Florida.ACT has evolved effectively, treating various parts of the human body. The segmentation of ACT depends upon the body parts being treated which include ACT for knees, ACT for arthritis and ACT for hair. ACT may be also segmented based on autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative conditions, cancer and skin transplantation, cardiovascular, and infectious disease treatments.Browse Research Report:The North American ACT market is evolving at an effective growth rate of 18.4% owing to the treatment of various diseases like Ischemic heart failure, Myocardial infarction and diabetes. The ACT market in Latin America is gaining popularity as a result of various skin transplantation procedures and diabetes being effectively cured.Similarly certain other regions like Europe and France are performing research and development in ACT to formulate new techniques in curing diseases which are still not curable. Asia Pacific and Australia are some of the potential markets fuelling the ACT market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Luxury Furniture Market Expand Their Businesses With New Investments

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11614

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11614

The global luxury market consist of nine segments including personal cars, personal luxury goods, luxury hospitality, luxury cruises, fine food, fine wine and spirits, luxury furniture, private jet and yachts. Out of these segments, luxury furniture has showcased boom all over the world. Luxury furniture enhances the artistic value of homes, offices, restaurants and hotels in addition to various outdoor and indoor spaces. Over the past few years, the significant growth in real estate industry fostered the growth of luxury furniture market. Movement of people from rural to urban areas, globalization and inclination in the personal disposable income is strengthening the growth of the global luxury furniture market. Rising environmental consciousness among people will lead to rising demand for eco-friendly luxury furniture all over the world till 2025. Besides this, rising penetration of online retailing all across the world is expected to further stimulate the global luxury furniture market. Change in the lifestyle along with rising disposable income would provide substantial opportunities in the global luxury furniture market over the period 2016-2024.Download Sample of this report @The global Luxury Furniture market is segmented on the basis of type of materials which include wood, metal, plastic, glass, leather and others. Wooden furniture segment contributed the highest share in the overall global luxury furniture market in 2014. Over the past few years, furniture manufacturers are introducing products including materials such as leather, metal, leather, glass in order to replace wood. The global luxury furniture market is also divided on the basis of end use which include commercial and domestic use. The commercial segment is further sub-segmented on the basis of hospitality, office and others. Whereas the domestic segment is sub-segmented by living and bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, lighting, outdoor and others. In 2014, the domestic luxury furniture segment contributed the highest share in the overall revenue of global luxury furniture market. Bedroom and living room segment marked substantial share in the global luxury furniture market in 2014. The global luxury furniture market is also segmented on the basis of unorganized and organized sector.Inclination in the online retailing and higher media penetration are some of the major factors driving the growth of global luxury furniture market. Apart from that, rising impact of globalization, organized retailing, and robust growth in real estate sector is anticipated to foster the growth of global luxury furniture market. Rising demand of eco-friendly luxury segment is also expected to bolster the growth of global luxury furniture market. Apart from this, rising trend of modular kitchen is also strengthening the demand for global luxury furniture market and will impel the market from the period 2016-2024.Geographically, the Global Luxury Furniture industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Amongst all the regions, Europe captured the highest share in the global luxury furniture market in 2014. China is expected to be the biggest and rapidly growing furniture market in future which will drive the overall Asia luxury furniture market. Latin American region is also anticipated to showcase fast growth over the next few years till 2024. The requirement of luxury furniture especially in the hospitality sector in Middle East region and African region is expected to drive the market of this region in future.For more detailed information (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report @The major players identified across the value chain of global Luxury Furniture market include Muebles Pico, Valderamobili, Scavolini, Laura Ashley Folding Plc, Nella Vetrina, Henredon Furniture Industries Inc., and others. It has been noticed that furniture manufacturers are concerned about reduction in carbon footprints and initiated offering eco-friendly furniture. The global luxury furniture market is highly competitive with large number of players (both small and big) dominating the industry. In the next few years, various furniture manufacturers are anticipated to enter in this market.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, and applications.The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Global Luxury Furniture Market SegmentsGlobal Luxury Furniture Market DynamicsHistorical Actual Market Size, 2013 - 2015Global Luxury Furniture Market Size & Forecast 2016 to 2024Supply & Demand Value ChainGlobal Luxury Furniture Market Current Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedTechnologyValue ChainGlobal Luxury Furniture Market Drivers and RestraintsRegional analysis for Luxury Furniture Market includesNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia Pacific & JapanThe Middle East and AfricaReport Highlights:Shifting Industry dynamicsIn-depth market segmentationHistorical, current and projected industry size Recent industry trendsKey Competition landscapeStrategies of key players and product offeringsPotential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growthA neutral perspective towards market performanceAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Price Slider Extension for Magento 2: Replacing Price Ranges with a Slider

Magento 2 Price Slider

https://www.mconnectmedia.com/price-slider-m2.html

https://www.mconnectmedia.com/pdf/priceslider-extension-m2-user-guideline.pdf

https://www.mconnectmedia.com/magento-theme-design/

https://www.mconnectmedia.com/

There are many customers who prepare a budget for shopping and then buy the products accordingly. People also look for the products of a certain price range to suit their style or convenience. However, to make your customers shop effortlessly within the defined price range, M-Connect Media has released a Price Slider Extension for Magento 2.Kennesaw, Georgia, 4rd October 2016  M-Connect Media recently declared a new extension for Magento 2 platform, Price Slider. This extension displays a slider under the price filter instead of various defined price ranges to make the customers select the range as per their convenience.M-Connect Media, as an eCommerce and Magento Service Provider always try to create something for Magento platform which improves the performance of the eCommerce businesses.The Price Slider extension will help the shop owners to create effortless shopping experience for their customers.The most common issue which a user faces with the product price is that they dont get the proper options to select a range to search the products. Some eCommerce companies do offer this feature but they manually create some range with a tick box. It is helpful to some of the customers but not to every population. It may happen that the desired range within which they want a product, is not added in the options. So, there should be some solution to it.After adding this extension to your Magento 2 based store, you can activate the extension from the backend. And a slider with a minimum and maximum price value will appear under the Price filter. This extension automatically selects the minimum and maximum value for slider as per the products lowest and highest price. The customer just need to slide the bars to adjust their range on the slider and the products within that range will appear in the search results.On the release of the Price Slider extension, we asked the spokesperson to throw some light on this extension. He said, With large number of products under a category, it made difficult for the customers to search for their desired products from that pool. We have seen that either they got the option of sorting the search results either starting with lowest/highest price or checking the box for a price range mentioned. We thought what if they need a product within a defined price range which is not mentioned in the filters, they still have to search lot of products. So, we designed the slider for the price filter using which the customers can manually select the minimum and maximum price range for product search.To get more information about our Price Slider extension for Magento 2, please visit the below link:You can configure and get the other details of the extension from the user guideline:The products on the search results will appear without making the page reload. Once you select the price range on the slider, the Ajax technique will make the products appear with any redirect or reload.M-Connect Media is an eCommerce service provider which designs and develops websites and extension with Magento platform. The company is full of experienced, certified and knowledgeable Magento designers and developers. To know more, visit their official website:M-Connect Media353 McCook Cir NW,Kennesaw, Georgia 30144,United States.E-mail: info@mconnectmedia.comPhone: +1 319 804-8627Website:
Flip Chip Technology Market - Recent industry trends and developments Competitive Landscape Scenario

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http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/flip-chip-technology-market.html

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The flip chip technology market is presently experiencing a high growth due to the advancement in copper pillar and micro bumping metallurgy and its extended use in consumer electronics products and mobile phones. The most advanced packaging technologies are being served by new bumping solutions thus in turn flip chip technology is able to adapt to meet new challenges. Because of its increased performance capabilities flip chip technology has become a widely accepted technology in mid-range and high-range applications. Increasing demand for mobile-wireless, computing and consumer applications is driving the market for the flip chip technology market.To obtain the integration of diverse chips 2.5D IC packaging technology and 3D IC packaging technology are becoming the typical trend these days. Consumer electronics market holds the largest market share for flip chip technology market and it is expected to grow at highest rate. Flip chip technology market is further driven by its application in automotive market and it is expected to grow at higher CAGR rate. Demand for raw materials has been significantly increased by the manufacturers producing new technologies for bumping process. This leads to the aggressive growth in this business among the raw material market players.Get More Information:Based on the Wafer Bumping Process the flip chip technology market is segmented into: Copper (Cu) pillar Lead-free Tin/lead eutectic solder Gold stud+ plated solderBased on the Packaging Technology the flip chip technology market is segmented into: 2D IC 2.5D IC 3D ICBased on the Packaging Type the flip chip technology market is segmented into: FC BGA FC PGA FC LGA FC QFN FC SiP FC CSPBased on the Product the flip chip technology market is segmented into: Memory LED CMOS Image sensor RF, analog, mixed signal, and power IC CPU SoC GPUBased on the Product the flip chip technology market is segmented into: Consumer electronics Telecommunication Automotive Industrial sector Medical devices Smart technologies Military & aerospaceIn terms of geography, the flip chip technology market has been divided in to five key regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. The global flip chip technology market is expected to register healthy CAGR during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the dominant market for flip chip technology market followed by North America and Europe. The flip chip technologymarket in Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at highest CAGR over the forecast period. Countries like China and India are major manufacturing hubs and are likely to provide abundant opportunities for the growth of the flip chip technologies.Browse The Full Report:Some of the key players in the global flip chip technology market are Amkor Technology Inc., Ase Group, Faraday Technology Corp., Flipchip International Llc, Gigpeak Inc., Globalfoundries Inc., Ibm Corp., Intel Corp etc.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections done using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, type, machine size and end use.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
P3 connect Mobile Benchmark to test UK mobile network experience

In London, P3 will examine how operators are meeting the challenge of providing coverage in a very large city with high population

www.p3-group.com

www.connect-testmagazine.com

P3 communications, the international consulting, engineering and testing services company is currently conducting its industry-leading set of benchmark tests on the UKs mobile networks EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.P3 today announced that the final benchmark will be published in early November, revealing how each operator is performing in key areas to meet growing consumer expectations and highlighting where there are gaps that need to be addressed with further investments.The tests, which have been conducted by P3 in the UK since 2014, have grown to become the most trusted benchmark amongst UK operators. Covering a comprehensive range of metrics, the results allow the operators to compare the ordinary users experience of each network through a series of measurements taken while driving, walking and indoors, covering major metropolitan areas and smaller towns, their connecting roads and major highways.In London, P3 will examine how operators are meeting the challenge of providing coverage in a very large city with high population density and will compare the results with the rest of the country. The outcomes will be vital to any assessment of the capitals progress towards being a smart city, establishing whether the networks are fit to embrace the many opportunities the UK government, city planners and businesses have to capitalise on connected devices and Internet of Things technologies.As with last year, when EE emerged as the winner of the best in the test accolade, the 2016 mobile benchmark will measure voice and data performance on the UKs 3G and 4G networks, using LTE-capable smartphones. Test metrics include voice-call quality, success-rates, file upload and download speeds, website access and mobile video performance. Data services will involve browsing popular web pages, transferring files and playing HD YouTube content.Our tests show whats technologically feasible today and if operators major infrastructure investments deliver significant improvements for their customers, says Hakan Ekmen, CEO P3. We are looking forward to revealing how network operators are faring and how well they are meeting the increasing demands of consumers in a marketplace that is both highly competitive and vital to the development of the modern connected economy in all regions of the UK, including the capital.The independent benchmark methodology of P3 has become the leading resource for operators internationally and is highly anticipated by the operator community. Assuring a fair, transparent and neutral evaluation of the networks across consistent test environments, the benchmark will span voice and data services establishing a clear test ranking and overall test winner.At the same time, it allows a quantitative drill-down into each of the categories, with P3 using its own experience of scoring and reporting from other international benchmarks.Walking tests are conducted using a trolley with battery pack and smartphones, while the driving tests involve two cars, each equipped with smartphones. Data and voice tests are conducted with separate phones, while telephony is tested mobile-to-mobile, from one car to another. The tests are as realistic as possible, with for example, background data traffic generated on smartphones during voice calls.About P3P3 is a leading international consulting, engineering and testing services company with a rapidly growing team of more than 3,000 consultants and engineers working to develop and implement innovative solutions to todays complex technology challenges. In 2015, P3 posted a turnover of more than 300 million EUR. Offering a broad portfolio of services and proprietary tools to the automotive, aerospace, telecommunications and energy industries, P3 adds tangible value that helps clients succeed at every stage, from innovation to implementation. In the telecommunications sector, P3 communications provides independent technical and management consulting services including network planning, end-to-end optimization, security, QoS and QoE testing, international benchmarking, device testing and acceptance services. P3s clients include network operators, equipment vendors, device manufacturers, public safety organizations and regulatory authorities around the world. For more information, please visitAbout connectconnect () runs its own smartphone testing laboratory with test sites for OTA (over the air) measurements, endurance measurements and speech quality measurements to review smartphones in depth and detail. connect is a publication of the WEKA MEDIA PUBLISHING GmbH, the largest publishing house for technology in Germany and part of the WEKA group. The group consists of 20 media ventures in five European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Swiss) and several service companies.Press Office P3CREAM COMMUNICATIONBettina LeutnerSchauenburgerstrae 37295 HamburgT +49 40 40 113 10 10p3@cream-communication.comWhiteoaksTom Lee24 West StreetFarnhamSurreyGU9 7DR+44 (0)1252 727313toml@whiteoaks.co.uk
Global and China Thermal Protective Gear Consumption Report with Detailed Analysis of Competitive Landscape

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http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-and-china-thermal-protective-gear-industry-2014-market-research-report.htm

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/category/defense-and-security-market-reports-139.htm

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

Global and China Thermal Protective Gear Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.The intelligence report on the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market presents a comprehensive analysis of the market and helps in identifying the key market dynamics influencing the Thermal Protective Gear market in a negative and positive manner. The research study presents insights into the market, highlighting the scenario of the Thermal Protective Gear market across the globe, in terms of current scenario and the expected market size and growth rate in the next few years. The research study also throws light on the historical data concerning the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market, coupled with the forecast statistics between 2016 and 2021.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report has presented responses to numerous questions related to the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market. Some of them are stated below:What is the estimated growth rate of the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market in the next few years?What is the expected share and size of the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market in the near future?Which application segment of the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market is estimated to grow rapidly in the next few years?Which are the key products in the Thermal Protective Gear market across the globe?What are the key growth drivers and potential opportunities for the growth of the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market?How is the competitive landscape of the Thermal Protective Gear market across the globe?Who are the prominent players engaged in the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market?The research study further analyzes the competitive landscape of the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market, emphasizing on the profiles, inception details, product portfolio, financial status, and recent developments of key players. The research study has further included the key strategies adopted by the key players in the Global and China Thermal Protective Gear market in order to guide the new players to take appropriate decisions in the next few years.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One Thermal Protective Gear Industry Overview1.1 Thermal Protective Gear Definition1.1.1 Thermal Protective Gear Product Pictures & Product Specifications1.2 Thermal Protective Gear Classification & ApplicationChapter Two Thermal Protective Gear Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 Thermal Protective Gear Raw Material & Equipments Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 Thermal Protective Gear Labor & Other Cost Analysis2.3 Thermal Protective Gear Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.4 Thermal Protective Gear Manufacturing Process AnalysisChapter Three Thermal Protective Gear Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Thermal Protective Gear Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Thermal Protective Gear Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Thermal Protective Gear R&D Status and Technology Sources3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Thermal Protective Gear Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four Thermal Protective Gear Production by Regions, Technology and Applications4.1 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Production by Regions(such as US, EU, China and Japan etc)4.2 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Production by Product Type & Application4.3 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Price by key Manufacturers4.4 2010-2016 US & China Thermal Protective Gear Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.5 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Thermal Protective Gear Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.6 2010-2016 US and China Thermal Protective Gear Supply Import Export Consumption4.7 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Thermal Protective Gear Supply Import Export ConsumptionChapter Five Thermal Protective Gear Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions5.1 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Sales by Regions (such as US, EU, China & Japan etc)5.2 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Sales Revenue by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.3 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Sales Price by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.4 2010-2016 Thermal Protective Gear Demand by ApplicationsRead More @About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Market 2016 - GreenHunter Resources, Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Ovivo, Schlumberger, Veolia, Aquatech

http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/5370/request-sample

http://www.fiormarkets.com/report/europe-water-management-services-for-oil-and-gas-5370.html

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Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of Water Management Services for Oil and GasRevenue, means the sales value of Water Management Services for Oil and GasRequest for sample report atThis report studies sales (consumption) of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas in Europe market, especially in Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Russia, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringGreenHunter ResourcesNuverra Environmental SolutionsOvivoSchlumbergerVeoliaAquatechLayneRidgeline Energy ServicesSevern Trent ServicesMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Europe into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Access full report atTable of Contents1 Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas1.2 Classification of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Applications of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Market by Regions1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Water Management Services for Oil and Gas (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.3 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2021)2.2.2 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2021)2.3 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2021)2.3.2 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2021)2.4 Europe Water Management Services for Oil and Gas (Volume) by ApplicationFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Geosynthetics Market Global Industry Analysis, size, share and Forecast 2015-2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-475

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-475

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Geosynthetics is a class of synthetic products that are used mainly in construction and geotechnical engineering applications. These are versatile, highly durable materials and serve as cost-effective alternatives in geotechnical, environmental and hydraulic applications. Geosynthetics are made up of durable polymers such as High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyester, these Geosynthetics are incorporated in order to act as separators, filters, reinforcements, drainage facilitators and as liquid and gas barriers. As such, Geosynthetics, owing to their favourable physical properties includes strength, stiffness, durability and many others it is widely used in civil engineering, road industry,soil reinforcement, mining, among others.Geosynthetics Market: Opportunities, Drivers & RestraintsOver the recent past, the growing adoption of Geosynthetics across the globe has resulted in a steady growth of Geosynthetics. Moreover, increasing investments in infrastructure and environmental projects by both, developing and developed countries are likely to drive the growth of Geosynthetics market. Also increasing demand from waste treatment applications, transportation sector and regulatory support on account of enhancing civic amenities, several projects were taken by national government which has continued to fuel the growth in the Geosynthetics market. However, volatility of raw material prices used in manufacture of Geosynthetics is a major restraint to the growth of Geosynthetics market.Request Free Report Sample@Geosynthetics Market: SegmentationGlobal Geosynthetics market can be segmented into various key segments depending on the type of product, material types and on the basis of region. Based on type of product, global geosynthetics market can be segmented into geotextiles, geogrids, geocells, geomembranes, geocomposites, geosynthetic foams and geosynthetic clay liners. Geotextiles are geosynthetics made up of woven (fibers on cloth like material) and non-woven (randomly oriented fibre) materials; geogrids are used for stabilization and reinforcement of waste masses, geocells are used in earth retention applications, rail road support, for protecting bunkers and walls. Geomembranes are an impermeable membranes which are used for canal lining, tunnel lining and land fill linings. Geocomposites combine features of two or more geosynthetics and find applications in drainage among others. Geofoams are lightweight blocks which act as void filling materials in certain construction applications. Lastly, geosynthetic clay liners are fabric-like materials used for lining of landfills.On the other hand, by material types, global geosynthetics market comprises following segments HDPE, polypropylene, polyester and other polymeric alloys based geosynthetics. Lastly, depending on the geographic regions, global geosynthetics market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa.Geosynthetics Market: Region-wise OutlookAsia Pacific accounts for the largest share of global geosynthetics market and is expected to emerge as the fastest growing market for geosynthetics during the forecast period. Countries like India, China and Russia in particular, are expected to witness robust growth in adoption of geosynthetics in construction and geotechnical projects. Among the product type based segments of global geosynthetics market, geotextiles segment accounts for the largest share in market value.Visit For TOC@The global Geosynthetics market growth is driven majorly by their increased adoption in a variety of applications in construction sector, emergence of these as viable alternatives in waste and water applications has further bolstered global geosynthetics market growth. Moreover, increasing number of infrastructure development projects in developing countries and increasing demand of geosynthethics in roadways and rail construction applications across the globe has resulted in a steady growth of global geosynthetics market.Geosynthetics Market: Key PlayersSome of the participants in global Geosynthetics market are NAUE GmbH & Co. KG, GSE Environmental, Low & Bonar PLC, TenCate Geosynthetics, GEO Synthetics LLC, Huifeng Geosynthetics, Tenax Corporation, Polymer Group, Inc. and others.About Us:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
CloudQast business development secret: poems generate business boom

The leadership communications specialist CloudQast has hit on an unusual, highly creative and successful business strategy to bring it customers: it writes poems.CloudQast director, Damian Gaskin, explained, When we encountered the credit crunch, in 2008, a number of our customers reduced their budgets and that affected CloudQasts activity and income-generation.Rather than become a nuisance contacting organisations and asking them to spend money they hadnt got, my fellow CloudQast director, Lindsey Mack, and I hit on the idea of writing poems. We then sent these to CloudQasts customers and potential customers instead.According to Damian, writing the poems was fun. He said, We felt that we were not only feeding our creativity skills but also giving our clients something to smile about in tough times. Distributing the poems on a regular basis meant that CloudQast could give something back to its clients and keep its name in front of potential clients without annoying them.Initially, we kept up the process for ten months, sending out one or two poems each month  and the exercise was successful in that it generated business, said Damian.The very first poem that CloudQast sent out attracted the attention of two organisations that had previously used CloudQast.Prompted by the poems, these organisations got back in touch with CloudQast, said Damian. The subsequent conversations resurrected relationships  and these began to move CloudQast from being an organisation that provided merely face-to-face learning experiences to one which provides video-based learning materials as well.So, all in all, it was a great initiative for us  and a strategy that CloudQast would recommend to any business that wants to grow but doesnt have much money to spend!CloudQasts current clients include multi-national companies such as AECOM and the chemical firm, Scott Bader, as well as charities including The Magistrates Association.About CloudQastEstablished in 2010, CloudQast addresses organisations needs for fast, authentic, precise and inspiring communication  especially in the fields of leadership as well as compliance, along with learning and development. Working with companies around the world, primarily  but not exclusively  via Cloud-based, interactive video, CloudQast provides creative, intelligent and flexible solutions for leaders to share their voice, mind and vision and, so, engage and inspire their people.CloudQastThe Silver Birches6a Back LaneWymondhamNorfolkNR18 0QBUKContact: Damian GaskinPR contact: Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405; email bob.little@boblittlepr.com
Natural Le Coultre Interviews SGS Art Services Expert Yan Walther

In a wide-ranging interview with Natural Le Coultre, Yan Walther provides an overview of SGSs services for the art industry and encapsulates what SGSs 138 years of experience, as the worlds leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, bring to the art market.SGSs use of cutting-edge technology to prepare condition reports and provide scientific analysis of artworks has received a positive reaction from the art world. By creating systematic, thorough and standardized reports for clients, SGS is using its global experience of delivering high-quality testing and inspection services, to have a positive impact on the art world  an industry which has traditionally lacked recognized global standards.Yan Walther further explains how SGS works with carefully selected conservators in the key art capitals of New York, London, Geneva, Paris and Brussels, with plans to expand into the Asian market. By creating a win-win situation with these local experts, clients benefit by having access to a global network and standardized reports, conservators benefit from SGS-developed software allowing reports to be prepared more efficiently and, the global identification of SGS as name clients can trust, brings in more work.Read the Natural Le Coultre interview in full (falnlc.com/condition-reporting/)Art Services from SGSSGSs services for the arts and culture sector help clients to analyze and date works of art, and to gain in-depth knowledge of their materials, techniques and condition. The company acquires the data needed by experts for their authentication of artworks or to uncover unknown masterpieces; to provide an inventory of art collections; and to document and verify the condition of artworks before and after any logistical operation.About Natural Le CoultreNatural Le Coultre has been providing logistical support for artworks since 1859. They provide specialist transportation and storage services, including advanced planning encompassing continuous security measures, while respecting museum standards and globally recognized best practices.For further information contact:Stephanie Meyer-PionchonGlobal Marketing Manager, Art Servicest: +33 4 42 61 64 46About SGSSGS is the worlds leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 85,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,800 offices and laboratories around the world.1, Mons CalpeChitcombe RoadBroad OakRyeEast SussexTN31 6EU
Global Textile Chemicals Market is Expected to Reach USD 25.5 Billion in 2020

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The report covers predications and analysis for the textile chemicals market on a worldwide and regional level. The analysis provides significant information of 2014 beside a forecast from 2014 to 2020 sustained volumes (kilo tons) and profit (USD million). The study includes drivers and restraints for the textile chemicals market together with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast amount. In addition, the report includes the study of opportunities out there within the textile chemicals market on a worldwide level.In order to convey the users of this report a comprehensives read on the textile chemicals market, we have included a detailed value chain analysis. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the textile chemicals market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Get a copy of free Sample Report @The study provides a decisive view on the textile chemicals market by segmenting the market based on applications. All the application segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2014 to 2020. Key product segmented market covered under this study includes coating and sizing chemicals, colorants and auxiliaries, finishing agents, surfactants, desizing agents, bleaching agents, and yarn lubricants. Key application market covered under this study includes home furnishing, apparels, industrials, and others. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S., China, Japan, India, Germany, and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for textile chemicals based on individual applications in all the regions and countries.The key players in textile chemical market that stood as most promising industries which use to give the strategic activities includes Huntsman Corporation (Singapore), BASF SE (Germany), The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Bayer Material Science AG (Germany), and Lubrizol Corporation (U.S.), Lonsen (China), Archroma (Switzerland).Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @Textile Chemicals Market  Product Segment AnalysisCoating & Sizing ChemicalsColorants & AuxiliariesFinishing AgentsSurfactantsDesizing AgentsBleaching AgentsYarn LubricantsTextile Chemicals Market  Application Segment AnalysisHome FurnishingApparelIndustrialOtherTextile Chemicals Market  Regional AnalysisRead Report TOC:North AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKFranceAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaAbout A to Z ResearchA to Z Researchis a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. A to Z Researchis the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact US3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMTTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-465Email: martin@atozresearch.comWebsite:
Prenatal Testing Market: Outlook Continues to Remain Positive by 2016 - 2022

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11725

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Prenatal testing is a critical set of procedures during pregnancy in which screening tests detect the risk of possible health issues in the baby and a diagnosis test which affirms its presence. Prenatal tests are the routine tests with non-invasive screening and invasive procedures for the definitive prenatal diagnosis. In modern perinatology there are many challenges such as chromosomal abnormalities, congenital heart conditions, and malformed kidneys and therefore to overcome the risks during prenatal pregnancy testing is conducted. There are different types of prenatal tests which can be categorized as the first trimester, second trimester, and third-trimester screening and diagnostic tests. These tests are scheduled according to the days during pregnancy such as nine weeks to thirteen weeks and fourteen to eighteen weeks. Rapid evolving area of pregnancy care has led to the development of new and upgraded screening methods and diagnosis tests. Companies are more focusing on developing tests by a non-invasive approach to aid in detecting of increased number of abnormalities, allowing physicians to charge less.Download TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2012 the U.S. the rate of perinatal mortality was stable, stillbirth affects about 1% of all pregnancies and each year about 24,000 babies are stillborn. Medical care during pregnancy has improved over past decades but some issues regarding prenatal care are unchanged such as the rate of early stillbirth has remained about the same over time. Creating awareness among countries about prenatal testing will aid in lowering the number of prenatal disorders shortly.With an increasing number of stillbirths, the prenatal testing market is expected to have sizeable growth opportunity during the forecast period (2016-2024). The major factors driving the growth of the prenatal testing market are increasing awareness about prenatal testing in developing and developed countries, increasing healthcare accessibility in major countries and increasing the disposable income of the population in emerging economies. While the factors hindering the prenatal testing market are hemorrhage, increasing the number of unsafe abortion, age during pregnancy, obstructed labor, obesity, smoking and more. Noninvasive prenatal genetic testing (NIPT) is gaining popularity in emerging economies which aids in the detection of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies in pregnant women, it has been proved more effective and is encouraged in all countries.By region presence, the prenatal testing market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America dominates the global market for prenatal testing due to high adoption rate and diagnosis rate, followed by Europe. The prevalence rate of stillbirths and perinatal mortality is comparatively declining since 2006 due to increasing awareness about prenatal testing. However, factors such chromosomal abnormalities and infections are still causing health problems as observed by the researchers. The prenatal testing market in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa is expected to register high growth due to developing healthcare infrastructure and rising prenatal issues shortly.Request Sample Report@Some of the major market players in prenatal testing market globally include Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Sequenom, Quest Diagnostics, Illumina, Inc., GeneDx., Ariosa Diagnostics, Natera, Inc., Ravgen, Counsyl, Inc., Eurofins NTD Inc., PREMAITHA HEALTH and Prenatal Paternities IncAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Bone Metastasis Therapeutics Market by treatment type(Drug, Tumor Ablation Therapy) 2016 - 2024

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11731

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11731

Increasing investment by multinational companies in cancer research is expected to drive the growth of global bone metastasis therapeutics market during the forecast period. Based on treatment type, the global market for bone metastasis therapeutics has been classified as drug treatment, Tumor ablation therapy, and surgery. Drug treatment segment is foreseen to lead the market owing to easy availability of drugs and better reimbursement policies. Targeted therapeutic agents sub-segment of drug treatment segment is expected grow rapidly due to increasing acceptance of biological therapy owing to lesser side effects.Download TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:By end user, the global bone metastasis therapeutics market has been segmented into hospitals, Clinics, cancer rehabilitation center and ambulatory surgical centers. Hospital end user segment is anticipated to contribute the maximum share among end users owing to the requirement of advanced healthcare infrastructure for management of bone metastasis symptoms. According to a study conducted by Amgen Inc., average hospitalization stay of cancer bone metastasis patients is 5.9 to 11.6 days, and almost 59% of the inpatient cost is attributed to skeletal-related events (SREs) such as radiation to the bone, spinal cord compression, pathologic fracture, etc.By regional presence, bone metastasis therapeutics market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America will continue to dominate the global bone metastasis therapeutics market for due to high prevalence of malignant neoplasm. Europe is expected to hold second largest market share in global bone metastasis therapeutics market.Request Sample Report@Some of the major players in global bone metastasis therapeutics market include F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Bayer AG, Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc. Novartis AG, Amgen Inc., Pharmalucence, Inc., Fresenius Kabi AG, Omega Laboratories Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company, and others. The majority of the key players are involved in development of new methods for treatment of cancer bone metastasis in collaboration with cancer research institutes such as M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, etc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizesContactPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
PopChar Win 7.4 supports Unicode 9.0

PopChar Win 7.4 supports Unicode 9.0

https://store.ergonis.com

http://www.ergonis.com

Perg, Austria: October 4, 2016 - Ergonis Software today announced PopChar Win 7.4, an improved version of the company's award-winning tool for efficiently exploring fonts and inserting special characters on Windows.PopChar Win 7.4 supports Unicode 9.0, the most recent major update to the Unicode Standard. Unicode 9.0 adds 7,500 characters, for a total of 128,172 characters. These additions include six new scripts and 72 new emoji characters, such as new smilies and people, animals and nature, and food and drink. The new Unicode standard has been defined only recently, and fonts that support it have yet to be developed, but PopChar Win 7.4 is already prepared for releases of fonts that contain the new characters.Importing of favorites has been enhanced as well and now supports all Unicode transformation formats. Furthermore, PopChar Win 7.4 contains updated descriptions for German Emoji characters, an improved Scripts and Symbols layout, and a couple of improvements and fixes for user-reported issues. Visit Ergonis Software's website to learn more about the changes in this release and to download a trial copy.PopChar solves a problem faced by every technologist and multi-lingual worker. Inserting special characters into application documents can be frustrating and results in a steady loss of productivity. With PopChar, thousands of special characters are only a few clicks away. Just pop up the PopChar window, click the desired character, and the character appears in your current document right away. Web designers especially will enjoy the ability to insert HTML symbols.Availability and Ordering:PopChar Win 7 runs on XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.PopChar Win can be purchased securely on the Ergonis online store at. The upgrade to PopChar Win 7.4 is free for anyone who owns a license for PopChar Win 7 or purchased a license for PopChar Win 6 on or after October 1st 2014. Upgrade paths are available for customers who purchased their license before that date. For information about purchases, including enterprise licenses, volume discounts, and upgrade pricing offers, seeAbout Ergonis Software:Ergonis Software develops ergonomic and intuitive software that boosts the productivity of Mac and PC users. Ergonis Software, a privately held company founded in 2002, is headquartered in Perg, Austria.Ergonis Software GmbHHerrenstrae 204320 PergAustria
Bone Staple Systems Market - Global Industry Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15209

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https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/

A bone staple is conceptually a single fixation device made up of 2 or more points of entry into bone that are joined to each other. By design, it is fabricated as a fixed metal device of single construction and variable thickness made up of 2 or more legs of varying length with sharp tips joined by a bridge of varying width that is driven directly into bone typically with a hammering motion. The bone staple essentially represents simplicity in design and use. In the standard application, the bone staple is simply pounded into the bone to help stabilize a fracture or osteotomy to promote bone healing. Bone staples can be used as adjuncts to other forms of fixation or as single or multiple bone staples at one site.Browse Research Report with Full TOC:The increasing evidence of the accident, increasing geriatric population, rising cases of osteoporosis will drive the market of bone staple system. The large variety of bone staple systems are available in the market. These products are used for the fixation of broken bone. The system comprises pins like a stapler, the pins are fixed or drilled in the body by surgery for certain period or permanently depends on the medical condition.The basic use of a bone staple is in neutralization. Bone staples are also utilized in terms of application to support loose fragments to help prevent their movement or migration. By placing a pre-insertion compression force at the fracture or osteotomy surfaces; stabilizing opposite a side of compression as a tension band; or inserting the staple with divergent legs, compression forces can be achieved across the fracture or osteotomy surfaces even in the absence of mechanical or metallurgical mechanisms.The bone staple system market is segmented as product type, End User, and Geography. The product type market is further segmented into four types such as, table fixation staples, osteotomy fixation staples, regular fixation staples and Krackow HTO staples. The fixation staples are used for a variety of applications such as knee ligament repair, ankle fracture, triple arthrodesis, epiphysial growth arrest, arthrodesis of the ankle and wrist and others. The osteotomy fixation staples are highly used in high tibial osteotomies to recover valgus deformities. For fixing soft tissue to bone including anterior cruciate reconstruction regular fixation staples are widely used. They are also convenient for fragment fixation, ligament, and tendon fixation and in controlling bone growth. The Krackow HTO staples are most useful in high osteotomies.By End User, the bone staple system market is segmented in hospitals, orthopedic centers, ambulatory surgical centers and clinics. Hospitals segment hold largest market share in overall bone staple market was owing to increasing number of emergency patients and patients suffering from orthopedic disorders. The orthopedic centers comprise the second rank after hospitals as an increasing number of orthopedic centers in economically growing countries.By geographically the bone staple system market is segmented in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa. The North America is the most lucrative market for bone staple system as the availability of facilities and products in the region is more. The awareness among the population of North America and Europe about the product is more hence the demand is more in the region. The increasing medical tourism in countries like India, China, Japan will also drive the bone staple system market in Asia Pacific.The increasing evidence of osteoporosis after post menopause in women's is the major driving factor of bone staple system market. The increasing competition in the market players for bone staple market as the acceptability of products are more due to increasing knowledge of product among patients. Some of the major companies in bone staple system market are Stryker, Arthrex, Smith and nephew, Instratek, Nextremity Solutions, Inc., Neosteo, Synthes, Wright Medical Technology and Zimmer Holdings.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Vacuum Assist Biopsy System Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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In a Biopsy procedure tissue samples are taken for study and diagnosis of the suspicious lesions in the for cytology or histopathology studies. Breast biopsies are done through various techniques like Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy, Core Needle Biopsy and Surgical Biopsies. Among which Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies are the conventional ones. In case of Core Needle Biopsies tissue samples are collected through the core of the needle, this technique is currently used at many places.Browse Research Report with Full TOC:Vacuum Assist Biopsy is a type of core needle biopsy which uses Vacuum for collection of tissue sample. In Vacuum Assisted Biopsy the needle is introduced percutaneous to the lesion sight either by stereotactic or image assisted (Ultrasound or MRI) approach. Due to the clinical advantages of this technique for the sampling of nodular lesions, better samples combined with least procedure time, non-invasive, less scaring for patient Vacuum Assist Biopsy is gaining acceptance among the physicians. In this procedure the probe / core needle is inserted through skin under image assistance or stereotactic guidance to the lesion. One it reaches the lesion vacuum is applied which draws the lesion / tissue inside the core, after which the cutting device cuts it from the breast tissue by rotation. By repeating these steps multiple tissue samples could be collected. On required sample collection, radiologist / physician can take out the probe/needle and a small bandage can be placed on the insertion site. This procedure doesnt need a sterile setup and is performed under local anesthesia. Due to the availability of large core probes/needles these systems are finding the place in removal of small benign lumps and resection of palpable or non-palpable breast lesions.Global Market for Vacuum Assist Biopsy Systems can be segmented based on the technique used for Guiding or Positioning Technique, End User and Geography:Segmentation based on Guiding TechniqueStereotactic Vacuum Assist Biopsy SystemImage Guided Vacuum Assist Biopsy SystemSegmentation Based on End UserHospitalsClinicsDiagnostic CentersPositioning and guiding of the probe / needle is the critical stage in any biopsy technique and for Vacuum Assist Biopsy it needs a skillful user. Based on the guiding technique these can be categorized into Stereotactic Vacuum Assist Biopsy Systems and Image Guided Vacuum Assist Biopsy System. For Stereotactic systems mammography is used as a reference for positioning the probe whereas image guided systems could be based on Ultrasound imaging or MRI. Among them Ultrasound guided systems are getting widely used and are having large acceptance in future. Due to some limitations like short availability of the procedure period window, difficulty in accessing the far lesions MRI guided systems got set back but with new developments they are getting acceptance for specialized procedures which are not possible with stereotactic and US guided techniques.As this procedure is non-invasive and is undertaken with local anesthesia, it doesnt need a complete sterile environment and so can be done in mini operating rooms or physicians office where the MRI Guided Vacuum Assist Biopsy System is a limitation. Due to the shorter procedure time and less complications involved these procedures are done on day care basis also. Based on the End Users the market can be segmented into Hospitals, Clinics and Diagnostic Centers.On the basis of regional presence, global Vacuum Assist Biopsy Systems market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Breast Cancer counts 25% of the lethal cancers female population face and overall it contributes to around 12% of the cancer cases in a year globally. In America it is estimated that around 12% of the female population with have the breast cancer in their lifetime. In UK and Belgium around 15% of breast cancer cased are diagnosed every year. As per studies females of age more than 45 Years are susceptible to breast cancer or some breast disease. Asia Pacific region comprising countries like Indian and Chine are among the most potential markets after North America and Europe due to growing population with mid or old age and rising awareness for healthcare.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Global Dental X-ray System Market 2016 - Danaher, Sirona, Planmeca Group, Vatech, Yoshida, Carestream, FONA, MORITA, ASAHI, Villa, Progeny, Newtom, Fujian Meisheng

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Notes:Production, means the output of Dental X-ray SystemRevenue, means the sales value of Dental X-ray SystemRequest for sample report atThis report studies Dental X-ray System in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringDanaherSironaPlanmeca GroupVatechYoshidaCarestreamFONAMORITAASAHIVillaProgenyNewtomFujian MeishengAir techniquesRunyesQingdao Zhonglian HainuoQingdao YakangJinggong MedicalMednovaActeonMeyerMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Dental X-ray System in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Dental X-ray System in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Access full report atTable of ContentsGlobal Dental X-ray System Market Research Report 20161 Dental X-ray System Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Dental X-ray System1.2 Dental X-ray System Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Dental X-ray System by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Dental X-ray System Segment by Application1.3.1 Dental X-ray System Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Dental X-ray System Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Dental X-ray System (2011-2021)2 Global Dental X-ray System Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Dental X-ray System Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Dental X-ray System Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Dental X-ray System Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Dental X-ray System Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Dental X-ray System Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Dental X-ray System Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Dental X-ray System Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Dental X-ray System Production by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Dental X-ray System Production Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Dental X-ray System Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.4 Global Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 North America Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 Europe Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 China Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Japan Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 Korea Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.10 Taiwan Dental X-ray System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Matrix to Showcase its Industry-Leading Telecom Solutions at MyBroadband Conference 2016, South Africa

Matrix, a well-known manufacturer of Telecom and Security Solutions, is participating in MyBroadband Conference on 20th October, 2016. Since latest solutions and technologies are discussed at the conference, it is considered as one of the major ICT events in South Africa. Matrix has a strong history of unveiling innovative products and solutions in the IP telephony market regularly. This year at the conference, Matrix will highlight its newly launched Next Generation Unified Communication Server and Client along with its range of IP-PBXs, Converged Voice and Data products, Gateways and User Terminals.Matrix will also showcase its latest business grade products: SARVAM UCS and VARTA WIN200. Matrix SARVAM UCS  Unified Communication Solution for Modern Enterprises streamlines communication amongst employees working on different locations by allowing them to connect from a common platform. VARTA WIN200  A UC Client for seamless collaboration is improving communication infrastructure at different organizations. The product offers features like Video Calling, Presence Sharing, Instant Messaging and more. The solution allows employees to use the same extension number from desktop computers and remain connected with their colleagues irrespective of the location.Matrix will also highlight its award-winning NAVAN CNX200 - Office-in-a-Box Solution. NAVAN CNX200 is a single box solution that caters to small businesses need of voice, data, internet, wireless, mobility and messaging. The solution is ideal for improving collaboration in the businesses with up to 24 employees. NAVAN CNX200 offers advanced IP-PBX functionality, high-speed internet, wireless voice and data access, data routing and virtual private networking from a compact and converged platform.MyBroadband Conference 2016 is one of the ground breaking events in South Africa that will help people know how the latest telecom and IT technologies can influence business processes. We are looking forward to meet key service providers and business professionals to explain our business solutions, said Marketing Team, Matrix Telecom Solutions.Matrix cordially invites you to visit us at MyBroadband Conference, Gallagher Convention Centre, South Africa on 20th October, 2016 and have a glimpse at the latest Telecom solutions.Established in 1991, Matrix is a leader in Telecom and Security solutions for modern businesses and enterprises. An innovative, technology driven and customer focused organization; Matrix is committed to keep pace with the revolutions in the telecom and security industries. With more than 40% of its human resources dedicated to the development of new products, Matrix has launched cutting-edge products like Video Surveillance solutions, Access Control, Time-Attendance, IP-PBX, Universal Gateways, Terminals, Convergence solution, VoIP Gateways and GSM Gateways. These solutions are feature-rich, reliable and conform to the international standards. Having global foot-prints in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa through an extensive network of more than 500 channel partners, Matrix ensures that the products serve the needs of its customers faster and longer. Matrix has gained trust and admiration of customers representing the entire spectrum of industries. Matrix has won many international awards for its innovative products.Matrix Comsec394 GIDC, Makarpura, Vadodara -390010
Global Artificial Kidney Consumption Market 2016 - Medtronic, Baxter, Cochlear, Fresenius, SynCardia

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The Global Artificial Kidney Consumption 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Artificial Kidney market.First, the report provides a basic overview of the Artificial Kidney industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.Request for sample report atSecondly, the report states the global Artificial Kidney market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed.Third, the Artificial Kidney market analysis is provided for major regions including USA, Europe, China and Japan, and other regions can be added. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the Artificial Kidney industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Access full report atTable of Contents1 Industry Overview of Artificial Kidney1.1 Definition and Specifications of Artificial Kidney1.1.1 Definition of Artificial Kidney1.1.2 Specifications of Artificial Kidney1.2 Classification of Artificial Kidney1.3 Applications of Artificial Kidney1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Artificial Kidney1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Artificial Kidney1.5.1 Industry Overview of Artificial Kidney1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Artificial Kidney1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Artificial Kidney1.7 Industry News Analysis of Artificial Kidney2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Artificial Kidney2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Artificial Kidney2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Artificial Kidney2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Artificial Kidney2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Artificial Kidney2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Artificial Kidney2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Artificial Kidney3 3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales and Sale Price Analysis of Artificial Kidney3.1 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Artificial Kidney 2011-20163.2 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Artificial Kidney by Regions 2011-20163.3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Artificial Kidney by Types 2011-20163.4 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Artificial Kidney by Applications 2011-20163.5 Global Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Artificial Kidney by Companies 2011-20163.6 Global Sale Price of Artificial Kidney by Regions 2011-20163.7 Global Sale Price of Artificial Kidney by Types 2011-20163.8 Global Sale Price of Artificial Kidney by Applications 2011-20163.9 Global Sale Price of Artificial Kidney by Companies 2011-2016Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Ecosmob Technologies Announced To Offer WebRTC Client Solution for Travel Agencies

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The company is known for its contribution in the VoIP industry. They have a strong hand in the different VoIP technologies such as Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, OpenSIPS, Kamailio, WebRTC. As per the recent announcement made by the spokesperson of the company, they are going to offer the custom WebRTC Client Solution, specifically, for travel agencies.Traveling is increasing so much due to different reasons. For example, business professionals travel across the world for business events, expo, etc. At the same time, people prefer to go for holidays with their family after having hectic months of work. This has given rise to the travel agencies. At the same time, it has also given rise to the competition. That is why it is important to furnish the travel agency with modern technology and infrastructure. The WebRTC client solution is one of the solutions, a travel agency can integrate into their business. This solution offers all the required features to offer advanced customer support services and collaboration tool for them., stated the spokesperson of Ecosmob Technologies.The WebRTC Client solution for travel agency can have one or more features from below feature list:- Voice calling- Video calling- Image share- File Share- ChatGenerally, travel agencies take care of each part of the tour of a customer including his ticket booking, hotel accommodation, local transportation, tourist guide booking, etc. Using webRTC client solution the travel agencies can make sure to be in touch with the customers and provide them all necessary documentations and other details. This solution will also help to improve the brand image on mindset of the customer. For example, the video call feature of the WebRTC Client solution can be used to offer more enhanced communication support to customers. The webRTC client solution can also be used by the staff of the travel agency to communicate with each other. For example, if a travel agency has a branch in India and another branch in the USA, then the staff can communicate via audio or video call or Instant Messaging with each other using the WebRTC client solution. This solution uses the SIP for communication, which is cheaper compared to other communication mechanism. Thus, it decreases the communication cost as well.We understand different travel agencies may have different communication requirements. For example, some might not need the video calling feature. Thus, we offer custom WebRTC client solution. The features can be chosen by the customer., stated the spokesperson of the company.Ecosmob Technologies is a known name for its innovations. The company is situated in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.Ecosmob Technologies Pvt. Ltd.2nd Floor, D Block,Satyam Corporate Square,Sindhu Bhavan Road, Bodakdev,Ahmedabad-380059,Gujarat, INDIA.
Taiwan: Declining Revenues Spur Operators Toward Converged Fixed-Mobile and Media Platforms

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Taiwan: Declining Revenues Spur Operators Toward Converged Fixed-Mobile and Media Platforms, a new Country Intelligence Report by Pyramid Research, offers a precise, incisive profile of Taiwans mobile and fixed telecommunications and mobile markets based on comprehensive proprietary data and insights from our research in the Taiwan market. Published annually, this presentation-quality, executive-level report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband and mobile sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.View Full Report at:Key FindingsIn 2015, Taiwans telecom market generated service revenue of US$13.9bn, or 2.63% of the countrys GDP. The mobile voice and mobile data segments were the most important contributors to telecom service revenue, accounting for 53.1% of service revenue in 2015. However, despite increasing demand for high-speed data services, service revenue will decline gradually over the forecast period. Pyramid Research projects Taiwans revenue from telecom services will sink to $12.9bn by 2020. The decrease in both mobile and fixed voice services continues to be a drag on telecom service revenue.We project overall service revenue to decline at a 1.4% CAGR from 2015 to 2020. The fixed/mobile revenue split will be inclined toward mobile services over the forecast period. Increasing competition in the mobile data space will drive operators to offer innovative bundled services at competitive prices and to invest in network upgrades to increase their subscriber base.Taiwans telecom market has remained stable over the past few years. Chunghwa Telecom is the market leader in IPTV, fixed and mobile markets, while China Network Systems (CNS) leads the cable TV segment. The telecom market is expected to remain highly competitive over the next five years as operators enter into strategic partnerships to strengthen their market position.Over the forecast period, operators will be concentrating on providing an integrated platform of mobile Internet, broadband and multimedia-on-demand (MoD) services in line with the Digital Convergence Policy Initiative from the regulator. Operators are positioning themselves to serve the growing demand for data by building strategic partnerships with vendors. For instance, Chunghwa Telecom partnered with Alcatel-Lucent to use their G.fast and GPON technology to deploy FTTx infrastructures and promote near-gigabit services. Additionally, operators are in the process of launching OTT services to add value through content.SynopsisThis report provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Taiwan today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into Taiwans telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Taiwan compared with other countries in the region.Economic, demographic and political context in Taiwan.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice and mobile data markets.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2012 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Taiwans telecommunications marketsReasons To BuyThis Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Taiwans telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Accompanying Pyramid Researchs Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Taiwans mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Taiwans telecommunications markets.The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Taiwan.Download Sample Copy of This Report at:MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports.MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients.We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated researchreports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and typesof companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn:
Ghana: Growth in Overall Revenue Expected Despite the High Concentration of Players in the Market

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The telecommunications market in Ghana generated revenue of $1.1bn in 2015. Overall services revenue will grow at a CAGR of 1.0% over the 2015-2020 period, mainly aided by the growth in the mobile data segment, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 14.7% over the forecast period. We expect mobile subscriptions in Ghana to grow at a CAGR of 7.0%, over 2015-2020. Going forward, operators should leverage opportunities existing in mobile broadband services, while vendors should position themselves to support operators 3G and 4G network expansion plans to cater to the rising data demands by end users.View Full Report at:Key FindingsThe overall telecom services revenue in Ghana decreased by 12.6% over 2014 to reach $1.1bn in 2015.From 2015 to 2020, the telecom market in Ghana will see service revenue grow at a CAGR of 1.0%, boosted by the mobile data segment.Mobile revenue will account for 97.2% of the total telecom market in 2020. Mobile data will be an important driver of this trend, as it will expand at a CAGR of 14.7% between 2015 and 2020.We expect the contribution of Internet access to fixed services revenue will increase from 38.9% in 2015 to 55.2% in 2020.Ghana is one of the most competitive markets in West Africa with six mobile network operators, two fixed operators (Vodafone and Airtel) and various ISPs. MTN Ghana will continue to lead the telecom market despite increasing competition from other players.SynopsisGhana: Growth in Overall Revenue Expected Despite the High Concentration of Players in the Market provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Ghana today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into Ghanaian telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: Telecom market size and trends in Ghana compared with other countries in the Africa & Middle East region.Economic, demographic and political context in Ghana.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, fixed Internet, mobile voice and mobile data.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2013 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Ghanas telecommunications market.Download Sample Copy of This Report at:Reasons To BuyGain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of the telecommunications market in Ghana, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Ghanas mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customers demand.Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of the telecom market in Ghana.Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve the market share.Explore novel opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Ghana.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports.MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients.We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated researchreports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and typesof companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn:
Italy: Broadband Initiatives and Enhancement of Service and Content Offerings Are Key to Driving Revenue Growth

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The telecommunications market in Italy will generate $26.6bn (25.3bn) in service revenue in 2016. Telecom service revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.1% during 2015-2020, driven by growth in mobile data, fixed VoIP, fixed broadband and pay-TV. Mobile data will be the fastest-growing segment, registering a CAGR of 8.1% over 2015-2020, followed by fixed broadband (7.4%). To offset the decline in traditional fixed and mobile voice and messaging services, operators are focusing on increasing broadband penetration and mobile data, which will be driven by increasing adoption of mobile broadband services, paving the way for potential growth areas including M2M and mobile payment services. Going forward, operators should focus on fixed/mobile convergence to retain customers and increase spend per household. Increasing investments by operators on high-speed networks will offer opportunities for network and equipment vendors. Increasing consolidation in the market will further intensify competition, unlocking new revenue streams for operators.View Full Report at:Key FindingsThe overall telecom service revenue in Italy will decline by 6.1% over 2015-2016 to reach $26.6bn (25.3bn) in 2016. From 2015 to 2020, the telecommunications market in Italy will see service revenue grow at a CAGR of 2.1%, boosted mainly by mobile and fixed data segments.Mobile revenue will account for 56.9% of total telecom revenue in 2020. Mobile data will be an important driver behind this trend, as it will expand at a CAGR of 8.1% during 2015-2020.We expect the contribution of Internet access to fixed services revenue to reach 46.4% in 2016 and increase to 58.3% in 2020.The Italian telecom market will be dominated by Telecom Italia as the leading mobile and fixed line operator, followed by Vodafone Italy and WIND Italy. The presence of alternate operators and M&A activity in the country will further intensify competition.SynopsisItaly: Broadband Initiatives and Enhancement of Service and Content Offerings Are Key to Driving Revenue Growth provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Italy today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into the Italian telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: Telecom market size and trends in Italy compared with other countries in the Western European region.Economic, demographic and political context in Italy.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, fixed Internet, mobile voice and mobile data and pay-TV.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2013 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Italys telecommunications market.Reasons To BuyGain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of the telecommunications market in Italy, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Italys mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets and pay-TV markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customers demand.Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of the telecom market in Italy.Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve the market share.Explore novel opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Italy.Download Sample Copy of This Report at:MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports.MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients.We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated researchreports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and typesof companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn:
Mexico: AT&T and Televisa Emerge as Viable Challengers to Telmexs Leadership in the Telecom Services Market

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With revenue of US$21.5bn, or 1.9% of GDP, the telecom services market in Mexico was second only to Brazil in Latin America in 2015. Over the next five years, Pyramid Research expects Mexicos total market revenue to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% to reach $26.5bn in 2020, making it the fastest-growing market among Latin Americas largest markets. Growth will be underpinned by the entry of new players and consolidation among existing operators, which will contribute to lower prices and enhanced geographic coverage, helping to increase Mexicos currently low penetration levels. We expect mobile data, fixed broadband Internet and pay-TV to be the main drivers of top line revenue growth over the 2016-2020 period.View Full Report at:Key FindingsDespite the governments claims that more than $10bn has been invested in Mexicos telecom industry since the new law went into effect, the overall impact on service revenue has thus far been muted. In local currency, telecom services growth over the past two years has been relatively flat, while in US dollars, the market is down 21.0% as a result of the devaluation of the Mexican peso.Of an estimated $21.5bn in total service revenue, 46.3% came from voice services, both fixed and mobile, in 2015. Though voice remains the largest revenue generator, the service is under significant pressure given the combined impact of the elimination of long-distance tariffs, the application of asymmetric interconnection rates on America Movil, the elimination of international roaming and long-distance fees on North America-bound traffic, and rising competition, particularly from low-cost MVNOs.In 2015 we saw companies take important steps to challenge America Movil's leadership. AT&T acquired mobile operators Iusacell and Nextel, giving it 8.0% of mobile subscriptions (and 18.0% of mobile services revenue). Televisa acquired cable operators Cablecom and Telecable, bringing its broadband Internet and pay-TV market shares to 18.6% and 60.4%, respectively. With competitive pressures rising, operators have announced ambitious investment plans for 2016-2018.Pyramid Research expects M&A activity in Mexico and the US to continue in 2016, with Televisa, Movistar and AT&T all looking for assets in Mexico that can accelerate the availability of quad-play offerings as well as cross-border synergies. Potential targets include the Alestra/Axtel tie-up, Maxcom and Megacable. America Movil, for its part, may look for additional assets in the US to counter AT&Ts expansion in Mexico.Opportunities for equipment manufacturers and software providers will be plentiful in the near term. We expect the new 700MHz wholesale LTE network to represent one of the most attractive LTE equipment opportunities in Latin America in the near term, helping to explain why vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei have expressed interest in participating in the tender. In addition to LTE deployments, operators will also be focusing on fiber-optic network buildout, SDN/NFV opportunities and the launch of IT and cloud-based services for enterprise customers.SynopsisMexico: AT&T and Televisa Emerge as Viable Challengers to Telmexs Leadership in the Telecom Services Market provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Mexico today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into the Mexican telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Mexico compared with other countries in the Latin American region.Economic, demographic and political context in Mexico.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to national broadband plans and other infrastructure developments.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data segments.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2013 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in the Mexican telecommunications marketReasons To BuyGain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of the Mexican telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in the Mexican communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customers demand.Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of Mexicos telecom market.Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve market share.Explore novel opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Mexico.Download Sample Copy of This Report at:MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports.MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients.We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated researchreports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and typesof companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn:
Solid Tumor Market - An insight on the important factors and trends influencing the market

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Solid tumors are formed due to aggregation of a group of abnormal tissues that do not comprise of any cyst or liquid areas within. Solid tumors can be of both types, i.e. benign (non-cancerous) as well as malignant (cancerous) in nature. Solid tumors majorly comprise of lymphomas, carcinomas, sarcomas and melanomas; whereas, all forms of leukemias usually do not cause solid tumor formation. The treatment of these solid tumors is a complex task and it requires coordinated actions of many healthcare professionals, such as, radiologists, surgeons, oncologists, radiation specialists, nurses and other professionals. Hence, most of the solid tumors are treated via radiotherapy, chemotherapy and/or surgery. However, at present, surgery is the most preferred choice of treatment for cancerous solid tumors. Chemotherapy is often utilized along with other modes of solid tumor treatment i.e. radiation and/or surgery. Several chemotherapeutic drugs are available along with a ripe pipeline of drugs that will soon be commercialized in the global market. Solid tumor market can be classified into five major segments, based on the site of origin, namely, prostrate cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer and other cancers.Download exclusive Brochure of this report:Some of the major driving factors for the growth of this market include increasing incidences of several cases of solid tumors, rising prevalence of different forms of metastatic cancers, increasing demand for highly effective chemotherapeutic agents and ripe pipeline of drugs which is available in the global market. According to World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 8.2 million people died due to different types of cancers worldwide in 2012. Among them lung, colorectal, breast and liver cancers were among the leading causes of cancer deaths. Most common forms of solid tumors include brain tumors (medulloblastoma and glioma) and neuroblastoma; other less common solid tumors include rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma.Some of the major drugs that available in the global market are Avastin (bevacizumab), Afinitor (everolimus), Jevtana (cabazitaxel), Sutent (sunitinib), Tarceva (erlotinib), Taxotere (docetaxel), Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), Carboplatin, Cisplatin, Doxorubicin, Gemcitabine and Paclitaxel among others. Also, major promising drugs that are in different stages of clinical trials include Abraxane (albumin-bound paclitaxel), AMG 386 (trebananib), Votrient (pazopanib) and Xtandi (enzalutamide) among others. These drugs will soon be commercialized in the global market, which will further boost this market in future.Geographically, North America holds the leading position in solid tumor market followed by Europe. Major factors responsible for their dominance in this market include high incidence rate of various solid tumor cases along with very well developed healthcare infrastructure of these regions. These regions also comprise of high geriatric population, which contribute heavily towards the solid tumor patient population in the region. However, Asia Pacific is considered to be the most lucrative market for solid tumor market due to recent advancements in healthcare infrastructure and growing medical tourism in these regions. The region also accounts for high cancer patient population and increasing awareness and affordability of the people of this region will contribute heavily towards the future growth of this market in the region.Some of the major players operating in this market are AstraZeneca plc, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Amgen, Inc., Biogen Idec, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Baxter International, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., and Sanofi among others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Thermal power plants increasing on Hau River

VietNamNet Bridge - Why are coal-run thermopower plants located on the Hau River? Why do the plants all use Chinese technology? Will there be another Formosa on the Hau River?

The map of projects in the southwest part of the Hau Rivershow a dense network of coal power plants, including Duyen Hai coal power plant in Tra Vinh province, and Lee & Man, Can Tho and Ca Mau gas power plant.

These are questions raised by environmental experts about the appearance of many coal power plants believed to threaten the environment in the Mekong River Delta.According to Le Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Can Tho Citys Institute for Climate Change Studies, the map of projects in the southwest part of the Hau River, show a dense network of coal power plants, including Duyen Hai coal power plant in Tra Vinh province, and Lee & Man, Can Tho and Ca Mau gas power plant.No one knows why the plants are located at the Hau river mouth.Tuan commenting that coal-run power plants have been mushrooming in Mekong Delta, believes that loopholes in law enforcement are the reason.Mekong Delta is not a coal basin. Why do the investors still want to develop coal power plants there, not in Quang Ninh province, where there is a large coal mine? he asked.The reason why investors choose Mekong Delta instead of Quang Ninh must be shown clearly in their reports on possible impact on the environment, he said.In the future, the coal power plants will have to import coal, possibly from China, Australia and Indonesia. As for sustainable energy, Vietnam would face problems in energy security due to reliance on coal imports.All the power plants in Mekong Delta use Chinese technology which is considered unsafe.Investors, while explaining the reason for them to choose Chinese technology, say the technology is cheap, but do not talk about its efficiency and possible impact on the environment.However, the investors reports about possible impact on the environment are unreliable.The investors of four coal power plants in Tra Vinh province all wrote in their reports that the impact on the environment will be inconsiderable.Will the impact be inconsiderable if four exhaust pipes all discharge waste into the environment? Tuan asked.Experts cited examples to show that reports on possible impact on the environment are made just for form's sake.The reports for the Duyen Hai 1 and Duyen Hai 3, for example, did not show concrete solutions to minimize the impact on the coastal mangrove ecosystem and the communitys livelihood.The reports all mentioned MIKE Steam-Prof models of thermal flow to assess air pollution, but did not prove the accuracy of the measure in local conditions.

Nam Lich
Ascension, the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. and the worlds largest Catholic health system, has announced a significant transformation of its national structure and local identity to better connect every aspect of care and innovation across its care sites and subsidiaries.

As part of this national integration, the organizations sites of care in Michigan, including St. Marys of Michigan in Saginaw and Standish, will be among the first to adopt the unified name of Ascension. In addition to St. Marys, the hospitals and other sites of care that are part of the current systems of Ascension Michigan  Crittenton in suburban Detroit; Genesys in the Flint/Grand Blanc area; St. John Providence in metro Detroit; Borgess in Kalamazoo; and St. Joseph in Tawas City  will adopt the Ascension identity as part of their names. Specific names will be determined over the next several months.
To the editor:

As someone who has worked in public education, I know how vital good representation in Lansing is to our local school districts.

Roger Hauck will make the best advocate for our local schools in Lansing. Roger understands that our education system needs more funding from top to bottom. We need greater local control of our districts so that local teachers, administrators and parents can make decisions on whats best for their students.

Roger Hauck knows that its vital to our economy, our states future and the futures of our students that we make sure every student has the opportunity to go to college. Roger also knows that college isnt right for every student and he supports expansion of skilled trades education.

Michigan is in great need of more welders, plumbers, mechanics, computer programmers, electricians and more. These jobs dont take a four-year degree, but they provide a great living to residents.

We cant let politicians in Lansing tell us whats best for our kids and their futures. We need to send someone to Lansing who will fight for our students. Please vote to send Roger Hauck on Nov. 8.

BONNIE WESTERVELT

Midland
The United States and its Asian-Pacific allies reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen defense cooperation in areas including maritime security and counterterrorism, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in Hawaii.

Defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met Friday in Kapolei, Hawaii, where they deepened their countries' partnership and renewed pledges to address shared security challenges, Carter told reporters following the talks. Opening Remarks Defense Secretary Ash Carter provides opening remarks at the U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense forum, in Kapolei, Hawaii, Sept. 30, 2016. DoD photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley Photo Details / Download Hi-Res

"We all recommitted our militaries to keeping the region's waterways open and secure and to help all our nations see more, share more and do more in Southeast Asia's vital waterways," he said.

The ministers, Carter said, had productive discussions.

He said the Asian-Pacific nations' cooperation with the U.S., as well as among themselves, will further enhance regional security.

"We discussed the path forward for the Asia Pacific's principled and inclusive security network, which will help us all to connect, to cooperate and to contribute to regional security," he said.

'Certain and Lasting Defeat' for ISIL

The ministers spent a considerable amount of time discussing the threats posed by terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as well as from returning foreign fighters and other extremists in the region, Carter said.

The secretary said he briefed participants on efforts of the counter-ISIL coalition.

"I was able to share with the ministers the accelerating campaign to deal ISIL a certain and lasting defeat in its parent tumor in Iraq and Syria and everywhere it might metastasize around the world, including Southeast Asia," Carter said.

US-ASEAN Partnership 'Stronger Than Ever'

Carter applauded ASEAN for its enduring commitment to peace and stability over the years, saying it has helped provide the security and uphold the principles that have benefited nations and the entire region.

"ASEAN will be just as central to the Asia Pacific's principled future as it has been for the last half century," Carter said. "The United States looks forward to partnering with ASEAN and its member countries for decades to come."

The U.S.-ASEAN partnership is now "stronger than ever," according to Carter, who noted the ministerial meeting built upon the ASEAN summit held in Laos in September. He thanked Laos for its contributions to both meetings.

Rebalance to Asia Pacific

Carter said he shared with his counterparts the U.S. plans and commitments of the third phase of the rebalance to the Asia Pacific, which is meant to cement the progress of the previous phases that enhanced and improved the U.S. military force posture there.

As part of the third phase, the Defense Department will take steps to "help catalyze our shared principles and inclusive security network," he said.

That will happen, Carter explained, even as the U.S. qualitatively upgrades its force posture in the region and prioritizes investments and advanced technologies.

"The U.S. rebalance and the burgeoning security network are important at a time of regional change and challenges," he said.

Coordination within and among the militaries will be improved as well, he said. He announced a number of upcoming events, including an ASEAN maritime dialogue and a maritime domain awareness exercise both hosted by the U.S.

In addition, he said, he invited his counterparts to visit the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South in Florida to see how U.S. military law enforcement agencies work there with partner countries.

To build on these discussions, Carter said he asked the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a DoD institute, to host a workshop next year to identify and address any gaps in U.S.-ASEAN cooperation.

(Follow Lisa Ferdinando on Twitter: @FerdinandoDoD)
A Republican Senator from New Hampshire Done Went and Stepped In It

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | October 4, 2016 |

Right now, the NYTimes suggests that the Democrats have a 52 percent chance of taking over the Senate this fall. Nate Silver gives them a 61 percent chance.

However, during a debate between Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte and her Democratic challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan last night, Ayotte not only may have cost herself a chance at reelection, but she may have helped Democrats design the perfect playbook for defeating other Republican Senators this fall.

Put this one simple question to them: Do you think that Donald Trump is a good role model for children?

If youre a Republican, theres no good answer here, especially in a swing state full of moderates. If you say Yes, you alienate swing voters who know that Trump should never be considered a positive role model, and if you say no, you alienate the Republican base who aspire for their children to grow up, take advantage of the tax system, become famous on a reality show, espouse bigotry, and run for President.

A flustered Ayotte initially gave this answer during her debate with Hassan last night:

I think that certainly there are many role models that we have, and I believe he can serve as President, and so absolutely, he is a role model to children.

That answer didnt sit well on social media. In fact, Ayotte immediately regretted it and tried to take backsies in a statement she released soon after the debate.

I misspoke tonight, Ayotte wrote in a statement. While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldnt hold up either of them as role models for my kids.

In other words:

Ayotte: Trump is a good role model. Absolutely.



America: OMFG lol



Ayotte: I mean he's NOT a good role model. Not. That's what I meant.  Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) October 4, 2016

Hassan pounced, quickly releasing a new ad tying Ayotte to Trump.

In NH-Sen, Hassan camp already has a digital ad on Ayotte calling Trump a role model (later backed off) https://t.co/dFQpGIgRxd  Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) October 4, 2016

Rinse, repeat in Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, and Missouri. And that, folks, is how Democrats can take back the Senate.





Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.
NORMAL  As Thomas Metcalf School students left an assembly Monday afternoon, they weren't just shaking the hand of award-winning children's book author and illustrator Patricia Polacco.

They were shaking the hand of the great-great-granddaughter of a man who shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln, a man who inspired her book, Pink and Say, about two young teens caught up in the Civil War.

Like nearly all of her 115 children's books, Pink and Say is based on events from Polacco's childhood and stories she grew up hearing in her family.

She visited Metcalf to share some of those stories as well as her own personal story of growing up with learning disabilities and sometimes being bullied in school.

She brought The Keeping Quilt, to tell pre-kindergarten through second-grade students about a family quilt passed down through generations.

She brought a piece of a meteor that landed on her grandparents' farm in Michigan that is the centerpiece of The Meteor, her first picture book, and let them touch it.

And she brought a message of hope and kindness.

I come from a family of great storytellers she told sixth- through eighth-graders who gathered in the school's Imaginarium.

They sat on the carpeted floor or on large foam cubes, listening raptly as she read the story about her great-great-grandfather Sheldon Russell Curtis, who went by Say and once shook the hand of Lincoln, and how he was saved by a former slave, Pinkus Pink Aylee, who died in Andersonville Prison after they were both captured.

As she read the emotional story, there was no hint of the challenges she has overcome.

After completing the reading, she told the students, I am a learning disabled student who grew up.  My nightmare was having to read in front of my class.

Diagnosed with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, Polacco described how she would shake as she tried to read, comparing it to standing in front of a firing squad.

Here's what made it a million times worse  every student laughed, she said.

I am begging you, please don't laugh  even if they pretend it doesn't hurt them, said Polacco. Go out of your way, kids, to be kind. You'll never regret your kindness.

She talked about other friends who were bullied or teased, including a boy named Frank who had glasses, braces and a high-pitched voice, and a boy named Tom, who was poor and had holes in his shoes.

We were the losers, the geeks, the white trash, said Polacco.

That's not how they are described today: Frank Oznowicz is now known as Frank Oz, one of the original Muppet performers, and Tom is Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, she said.

Please remember the greatness that is in you, Polacco told the students. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will.

Metcalf Principal Amy Fritson-Coffman said Polacco's stories are just as moving for adults as for children.

By sharing her struggles in life, Fritson-Cofffman said, Polacco teaches empathy, which I think is very important.

Her daylong visit to Metcalf also included lunch with teachers.

Language arts teacher April Davenport said Polacco's visit came at the perfect time, as she is teaching her students to write short narratives based on their own experiences  much like the stories Polacco writes. A few of them asked her about her writing process and filling in the blanks when they don't remember a whole story.

Polacco left behind a few sketches she drew during her visit and joined with students who gave her a musical sendoff, which included the lyrics, When it comes to writin' books, there ain't none betta. Patricia is an awesome author. She is we call a trend setta.
BLOOMINGTON  Restaurant owners deserve a break from the county's 3 percent annual increase in the cost of a food service permit, several County Board members argued Monday during a review of the health department's budget.

Carlo Robustelli, a member of the board's health committee, said he would oppose the increase included in the 2017 health department budget.

"This is an an opportunity for us to say we're not going to increase the cost of doing business" for restaurant owners, said Robustelli.

The committee reviewed the $8 million health department budget as part of the county's annual budget process. Answering budget questions was health department fiscal officer Cathy Dreyer, who was sitting in for Administrator Walt Howe, who is on medical leave.

The majority of the seven-member committee agreed that the health department with its reserves of $2 million can more than afford to forgo the $6,000 the permit increase would generate.

The hike would mean an average of about $12 more to business owners.

"Some are really struggling to stay in business," member Victoria Harris said of some eateries.

Tom Anderson, director of the agency's environmental programs, said the annual 3 percent hike started in 1992 after business owners sought a stable increase to avoid higher, irregular spikes. The fees for food permits cover about 54 percent of the cost of the program, said Anderson.

The county currently collects fees from 693 permit holders.

Harris also questioned the amount of public money spent on advertising by the health department.

Dreyer said the goal of the $22,000 advertising budget is to raise awareness of health services services.

"The cost of the advertising seems to be enormous," said Harris.

The lack of useful information on specific programs on the health department's website was a concern for member Laurie Wollrab.

"It troubles me. I just don't feel we're reaching people who really need the services," said Wollrab.

Wollrab listed many of the topics highlighted on the website, commenting that the average user of programs would not be able to tell when and where services were available. The county website offers no information to Spanish speaking residents, she said.

Committee member Carlo Robustelli said a health department fund holding almost $900,000 from three federally programs may raise questions from the public.

"That's an awful lot of money to have in reserves. Why aren't we spending it on some of our community programs?" said Robustelli.

Dreyer explained that the county is able to provide some of the programs at a lower cost through efficiency, allowing funds to be set aside for other programs. In 2010 the health department began putting the money in a single account to allow better tracking of how the money was used.

The federal funds are used during lean months to cover costs while the county is waiting for federal reimbursement that may take up to 18 months, she said.
BLOOMINGTON  U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis and Darin LaHood agreed often Tuesday, but not on what might happen next to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"The rhetoric of the presidential election has tainted this proposal," said LaHood, a Dunlap Republican. "I'm still optimistic that after Nov. 8, in the lame duck session (before inauguration), we'll have an opportunity to vote on this."

"I'm not as optimistic as you," said Davis, a Taylorville Republican.

Both men said they favor the deal during a breakfast meeting with the McLean County Chamber of Commerce.

They also came together on overtime rules and health care, two issues chamber members said they're very concerned about. Davis and LaHood have pushed back on measures in those areas from President Barack Obama's administration.

Davis said the overtime rule is personal because his father worked his way up to operate a McDonald's restaurant, and that may not have been possible under the new rule that requires employers to pay overtime to employees making up to $913 per week, rather than $455, as of Dec. 1.

"We met with the administration and said, 'Why don't we take a more tiered approach,'" said LaHood. "This is going to hurt the people it purports to help. ... It might make sense in New York or San Francisco, but it doesn't make sense in Bloomington-Normal."

LaHood, a former federal prosecutor, said he looks forward to the resolution of a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas against the regulation on behalf of 21 states, not including Illinois. That could lead to an injunction that delays any changes.

Davis referred to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as "an abysmal failure." LaHood touted an alternative proposal in House Speaker Paul Ryan's "A Better Way" plan  one of several times he mentioned the Wisconsin Republican.

"I think it's going to collapse under its own weight. That's the trajectory that it's on," LaHood said of the law. "We have to make this a more market-based, competitive system."

Davis said replacing the law is a key reason Republicans need to win back the White House.

Both Davis and LaHood have offered lukewarm endorsements of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in his heated battle with Democrat Hillary Clinton.
BLOOMINGTON  The scary clown phenomenon apparently made its way to Central Illinois this week as most local law enforcement agencies have been asked to investigate clown sightings.

In the past week, there have been reports in up to 10 states of people having frightening encounters of subjects dressed as clowns, Bloomington police said in a statement Tuesday. The clown trend isnt funny. Its an attempt to create fear in the community.

There have been no substantiated claims locally of anyone dressed as a clown committing any crime as of Tuesday, but police note it takes officers' time to investigate them.

At Eureka College, all evening classes and activities scheduled to start after 4 p.m. Tuesday were canceled as a safety precaution after officials were made aware of a social media threat involving people dressed as clowns. activities were scheduled to resume Wednesday.

Extra patrols were sent to Bloomington Junior High School on Tuesday morning after a social media report that clowns were going to cause trouble, said Bloomington Police Sgt. Henry Craft.

We determined that there was no real threat, he said. But obviously we have to take extra precautions when we receive that kind of information. This was probably a situation of kids playing jokes on each other.

Bloomington District 87 school Superintendent Barry Reilly said a parent of a student informed district officials about the threat early Tuesday.

A resource officer at the high school worked with our junior high school resource officer, our director of safety and security, Bloomington police and our administration, he said. We discovered that it wasnt credible and they will continue to track down the source of this.

"I hope they find them so they can be held accountable.

In an incident Monday night in Normal, two Illinois State University students told police they saw two men in a car wearing clown masks.

They were walking and reported that a car drove by and the men used some weird voices to ask them to get into the car, said Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner. They didnt, but notified authorities and we located the vehicle a short distance away.

"The occupants said they were just out goofing around," he said. "The victims didnt want to pursue charges, so we just admonished them to knock it off.

On Sunday night, DeWitt County deputies were called to the spillway near the Clinton Lake dam after receiving a report of a clown who had jumped out at a male.

No clown was ever found, said DeWitt County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Mike Walker and investigators believe the call may have been a hoax.

This all seems like a lot of nonsense, and I guess the point is just to scare people, he said. It doesnt make sense to me.

Illinois State University Police Chief Aaron Woodruff said there have been no other reported clown sightings on campus, aside from the one investigated by Normal.

What we often see in situations like this is that someone heard it from a friend who heard it from someone else who saw it on social media, he said. We investigate every report, and if there is a credible threat, we will issue a campus alert. But, the problem is that it takes time away from investigating other matters.

Clown sightings and threats have been reported across the country and appear to be increasing each day. Several area departments sent out statements Tuesday morning, informing the public that they will continue to investigate all reports.

Its not illegal to wear a mask in public, Craft said. However, if you are using it while committing a crime, then it compounds the crime.

Bleichner said if someone uses a mask to alarm or disturb someone, they can be arrested for disorderly conduct.

This behavior isnt funny, he said.

Bloomington police are asking the public to help by not sharing reports of clown sightings on social media.

Do not share these stories, the department said in its news release Tuesday. Doing so just adds to the volume of work already being created from existing posts.

"Current posts and reports have already impacted our operations as well as other local organizations.
BLOOMINGTON  A McLean County judge convicted a 21-year-old Bloomington man Tuesday of the 2014 armed robbery and attempted murder of another man who was shot three times.

Deonte Jordan faces up to two consecutive life sentences when he is sentenced Dec. 9 in the shooting of Joshua Corbert.

Judge Scott Drazewski ruled that the state met its burden to prove the attempted murder, armed robbery and aggravated discharge of a firearm charges. The judge heard closing arguments Tuesday following a bench trial last week.

A finding by the judge that Corbert's injuries met the legal threshold for great bodily harm and serious bodily injury makes Jordan eligible for two consecutive life sentences for the crimes committed with a firearm.

McLean County State's Attorney Jason Chambers said his supports two life sentences.

Chambers credited Assistant State's Attorney David Spence, who joined the office from his post as a prosecutor in Macon County, and the work of Bloomington police detectives in putting together a solid case involving "the willingness of the witnesses to testify truthfully in a difficult situation."

Spence said in his closing argument that Jordan meant to kill the victim over gambling losses when he fired three bullets into his torso.

"His intent was to murder Mr. Corbert," said Spence.

Video from a Bloomington police security camera captured Jordan and several others coming and going ahead of the incident.

Corbert is seen staggering, leaning on a trash can, and then falling into the street after the shooting on Dec. 21, 2014, in the 800 block of West Washington Street, Bloomington.

Jordan was on the losing end of several dice games played over two days, said Spence.

Drazewski noted that Corbert was unable to provide police the suspect's name immediately after the shooting but he picked him out of a photo line-up the following day.

Defense lawyer Ron Lewis said identification was the key issue in the case.

"The state is still guessing at who is the shooter," said Lewis, claiming that video recordings were unclear as to who entered victim's home before the incident.

The judge said Tuesday that he could not consider the testimony of witness Corey Jackson, one of the dice players, who was less than cooperative with police.

Jackson's testimony was "totally incredible and not worthy of belief," said the judge.

Drazewski said he could tell when the witness was lying because "his lips moved."
CLINTON  The agency that had been DeWitt County's largest provider of outpatient mental health services is selling one building and the agency's executive director has stepped down as the agency continues to wind down its operation.

DeWitt County Human Resource Center (HRC) is still owed money by the state and so is continuing a reduction in operations that began July 1.

"We're very disappointed that we are having to close HRC as a service to the community," HRC board Chairman Gary Gullone said Monday.

"But we were just getting by each month and you can do that for only so long."

Remaining open is HRC's developmental training/day program, which serves about 40 people with developmental disabilities, said developmental training director Stephanie Coonce. Some of those clients work in HRC's Encore Thrift Store, which remains open.

"Hopefully, we can be self-sufficient at HRC East, where Encore is located," Gullone said. If that doesn't work out, HRC would transition those clients to other agencies and sell the building, he said.

Meanwhile, HRC's crisis intervention services have been assumed by Decatur-based Heritage Behavioral Health and substance abuse prevention and early childhood addiction intervention have been taken over by Piatt County Mental Health.

Kleeman Village  14 apartments for low-income adults with mental illness  will be taken over by another agency, Gullone said.

Because the agency no longer needs its HRC West building on Illinois 54, the building is being sold to the City of Clinton, Gullone said.

The city is paying HRC $175,000 for the building, said City Administrator Tim Followell.

"The plan is to market that prime piece of real estate and to get it on the tax rolls," Followell said.

As the agency that served 500 people last year scales back to 40, Executive Director Lynn Scoville decided it was a good time to leave the organization.

"My last day was Friday," she said Monday. "It was a tough decision but they need to move in the most financially prudent way possible and there is no longer a need for an executive director."

"She helped us out by stepping down," Gullone said.
Jordana Brewster is no stranger to the concept of sibling rivalry. In fact, her young sons are currently getting a dose of what minor sibling rivalry is.

Brewster and her husband, film producer Andrew Form, have two sons, 3-year-old Julian and 3-month-old Rowan. The "Lethal Weapon" star recently talked to People about her elder son competing for attention at the Alliance of Moms Presents Raising Baby event in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday, Sept. 24.

"But then if it's time for Mommy to feed the baby at 9 p.m., Julian wants to be there. Julian wants to be picked up. He's definitely gunning for attention right when the baby needs attention. It's tough," Brewster said, as quoted by People.

Despite this little issue, Julian is a "really good" and "very, very sweet" big brother to baby Rowan, Brewster revealed in an interview on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in September. She recounted how Julian immediately asked for his baby brother when the couple went home from the hospital.

The 36-year-old actress also opened up about the challenges of juggling parenthood and her career at the same time. Brewster admitted that she becomes forgetful nowadays, which is a stark contrast from what she used to be when she was still studying and working.

The "Fast & Furious" franchise star recounted how she used to be so organized with her schedule -- complete with different colored highlighters and markers and all that. Now, it's "really easy for things to get out of hand because there's so much to juggle," but Brewster still thinks that her new life is "awesome."

In her interview with "LNSM," Brewster also shared that Julian learned how to say the F-bomb and uses the inappropriate word a lot of times. The American-Brazilian beauty admitted that her older child got the habit from her own potty mouth.

Like many young boys his age, Julian is a fan of superheroes, particularly Wonder Woman. The child has also requested for a Batman villain Bane costume for Halloween.

Brewster did not reprise her role as Mia Toretto in "Fast 8," which recently wrapped filming. "I am not in it so far, but we will see," the actress said, as quoted by Cinema Blend.

Brewster's character is tied to the late Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner, who obviously cannot return, so it makes sense that Mia will be missing from the action as well. "Fast 8" will feature returning cast members Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, and Dwayne Johnson, SlashFilm reported.
The most anticipated show "Prison Break" Season 5 is coming back and with the whole gang coming to save Michael Scofield. While the show will be a sequel and will be a continuation to where the series left off but it is still uncertain on whether the show will have a new name title.

Fox Co-Chairman and CEO Dana Walden talks about "Prison Break" Season 5 and Fox' plans to about the upcoming show. According to Walden, the show will be more of a sequel and will pick up years after Season 4.

Wentworth Miller who plays Michael Scofield will be back with Dominic Purcell who plays Lincoln Burrows. They will also be joined by other cast favorites such as Sarah Wayne Callies, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper and Wade Williams.

However, people are also wondering how they would introduce Michael Scofield being alive since on Season 4, he had a tumor and he was even electrocuted. Although, "Prison Break" did not show if Scofield died but most are assuming that he is already dead because of how the show ended.

To not confuse the fans, "Prison Break" Season 5 will not go to that plot point, will just ignore his death as if it did not happen on Season 4, and will just concentrate on how to free Michael from prison. According to Hulu Mag, the Fox CEO will provide a plot for Michael's survival that is logical and believable.

The first episode of "Prison Break" Season 5 will begin with T-Bag discovering that Michael is alive. He informs Michael's brother, Lincoln that Michael is in a Morocco prison. With the help of the Fox River Eight, they will form a plan to help Michael escape from the Morocco prison.

However, it is not just going to be one prison they are escaping. This time, Michael and his friends will need to escape a country where most are hunting them.

"Prison Break" Season 5 is still in production with Dominic Purcell updating their fans on Instagram about the development of the show. It is expected, however, that "Prison Break" Season 5 will be aired on 2017.
A teenager opened fire at an elementary school in South Carolina after he killed his father, resulting in three more people injured, two students and one teacher. Accordingly, the suspect will be facing more charges after one of the victims, a 6-year-old boy, died from his gunshot wound.

USA Today reports that the teenager, 14-year-old Jesse Osborne, faces more charges such as attempted murder and murder. He opened fire at the Townville Elementary School. He also faces one more attempted murder charge for a previously unknown victim. The 6-year-old boy who succumbed to his injuries was identified as Jacob Hall.

The official charges against Osborne are two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and five counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

The other victims have been identified as his father, 47-year-old Jeffrey Dewitt Osbourne; first-grade teacher with the Townville Elementary School, Meghan Hollingsworth; and two more students aside from Hall. The suspect reportedly drove a pickup to the school after allegedly killing his father. It remains unclear if Jesse will be tried as an adult.

Accordingly, Jeffrey was laid to rest at Oakdale Baptist Church. He owned a poultry farm and it remains unknown what the motive of Jesse was in allegedly killing his father.

As for the funeral of the 6-year-old, it will reportedly take place on Wednesday and it will be superhero-themed memorial. The service will be at 11 A.M. at Oakdale Baptist Church, ABC News reports. The family encourages those who will attend to wear costumes.

The mother of Hall, Renae, said in a statement, "I don't want suits and ties and all that. There will be a lot of children there and I don't want it to be scary for them."

Classes at the Townville Elementary School will resume on Thursday and teachers are to report for Tuesday to offer counseling services.
Despite the age limitations and appropriate age recommendation for creating a social media account, the reality is that children below the age of 12 are already on Facebook and similar sites. Unfortunately, some K-12 schools in America have yet to set up specific social media policy to help the students make use of the platform better.

So, does your child's school have such guidelines or are planning to come up with one? What should the social media policy in K-12 schools entail?

Mashable cites of the social media policy set up at a New Hampton School, which provides students and teachers with iPads. Chief of their concern is that the students and teachers must never become friends or follow each other on social media. The line has to be clearly drawn.

The school also encourages students to join Facebook groups to fuel their interests, such as sports. However, they are asked to mind their social media's privacy controls, as well as consider what they post publicly.

"Sometimes we'll find a student, whose profile is public, who's raising a bit of a red flag with their posts or tweets," Hans Mundahl of the school's technology and integration department told the news outlet. He added, "We'll normally update the student's adviser."

A teacher shares, via E-School News, that social media is a great tool for enhancing students' learning, as well as connecting or collaborating with the students' parents. But as a matter of policy, the teachers are to never tag the students in posts or photos, even if these are related to the lessons. The teachers have to respect the kids' privacy at all times.

According to Edutopia, schools in America have basic guidelines on internet use. However, social media policies in K-12 schools are different because the landscape is ever evolving, thus the rules have to be specific. The social media policies might also need continuous research and evaluation.

Additionally, it must ensure that the students' rights are not invaded or violated. Should the school consider coming up with the guidelines, it's best to consult the parents, the community and legal experts as well.
The North Carolina girl who was adopted by her relatives is believed to have been killed long before she was reported missing. It was confirmed by authorities that the adoptive parents of the young girl helped investigators to find her remains.

Rowan County Sheriff Kevin Auten said in a statement that a dialogue with the adoptive parents of Erica, Sandy and Casey Parsons, led the detectives to where they could find the 13-year-old's remains. Officials said that they believe Erica had died even before she was reported missing in 2013. Although nobody has been charged in the death of Erica, the adoptive parents were sentenced last year for inflicting years of abuse on the teenager. She reportedly ate dog food or no dog food at all and was excluded from joining family activities, CBS News revealed.

Sandy and Casey are spending time behind bars on charges related to tax fraud. Casey is serving a 10-year sentence while Sandy is saving an eight-year sentence, Time Warner Cable News reports.

The cause of the girl's death remains unknown and authorities are still waiting until after a medical examiner completes an autopsy in order to bring charges linked to the case. Potential suspects have not been dealt with by authorities as well. Auten said, "There have been no pleas, no agreements, no promises to anybody who may become a suspect in this case."

Erica has been living with Casey and Sandy since the year 2000 until she disappeared in 2011. One of the children of Casey and Sandy reported Erica missing two years after she was last seen in Rowan County. Accordingly, her adoptive parents told her adoptive brother that she went to South Carolina to be with her biological grandmother. However, the name given by Casey and Sandy was said to be not a real person.

The child of Casey and Sandy, 21-year-old James, said last year that he and his other siblings had abused Erica. He had admittedly abused the girl by breaking her arm when she was only 5. When he reached 16, he decided to no longer hit or harm the girl. Casey reportedly encouraged the other children to hurt Erica. In 2013, the home of the Parsons was investigated and they found traces of blood, saliva or urine inside a closet belonging to Erica.

The investigation is ongoing.
Known car-maker from Japan, Toyota, just released a tiny robot that serves like as a child for those who would like to be a parent. Its name is Kirobo Mini and it is wowing a lot of people since it offers companionship to the lonely.

According to Geek, this robot is so tiny that it is almost just the size of a person's hand. People could bring it anywhere and even place it in their pockets. The goal of this mini robot is not like the usual who does chores or operates by command. Kirobi Mini is now man's new best friend. Toyota originally designed this tiny robot to accompany astronauts. It worked for more than a couple of months and now Toyota decided to rebrand it and make it available for people here on earth.

Times Union said that this robot by Toyota could not only repeat what you tell it, but it could also talk back. This new Toyota mini robot also known as Kirobo Mini costs $390 and it has the cognitive equivalence of a five-year-old. This is perfect for those who would love to have someone to talk to, but are too busy to actually go outside and socialize. This tiny robot by Toyota is also ideal for women who would like to get a feel for what it is like to have a child.

A photo posted by El Siglo de Torreon (@elsiglodetorreon) on Oct 3, 2016 at 8:26pm PDT

Those who would like to practice their parenting skills could use this 4-inch Toyota tiny robot. Its specs include a camera and a Bluetooth. It also has a microphone and one could even link it to their smartphone. There is an app that would allow you to do it upon purchase.

Toyota's general manager Fuminori Kataoka said that the company is pushing more on the emotional value of their product since, over the years, they have been known in producing valuable cars. Do you see yourself purchasing this tiny robot by Toyota? Tell us what you think in the comments box below.
"Timeless," which stars Chad Rook, Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter premiered on NBC. "Timeless" is NBC's newest drama series with time traveling concept.

"Timeless" is created by Eric Kripke (Supernatural) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield). "Timeless" kickstarted revisiting the past, the fall of Hindenburg.

The pilot episode of "Timeless" started with the fall of Hindenburg in 1937 due to the current on the ground while it was arriving. Due to the water and steel infused with current collaborating its contents, the Hindenburg crashed with massive fire while arriving. A lot of people died in the crash.

Meanwhile, in the present, "Timeless" kicked off with ex-NSA asset Garcia Flynn (played by Goran Visnjic) stealing a time-machine from the present to revisit the fall of Hindenburg in 1937. Due to the chaos he created, Homeland Security hired Lucy (played by Abigail Spencer), Delta Force soldier Wyatt (played by Matt Lanter) and a scientist named Rufus (played by Malcolm Barrett) to help the Homeland Security find Flynn.

The three main cast of "Timeless" traveled through time back in 1937 to stop Flynn from interfering with Hindenburg phenomenon. Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus headed to a bar where Wyatt met a famous reporter, Kate, who's about to cover the Hindenburg's arrival.

"Timeless" main characters were not supposed to change anything except to catch Flynn and find out what he was after. Fortunately, the Hindenburg did not explode like what the history says.

The confusion of Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus led to the conclusion and theory that Flynn was not trying to destroy the Hindenburg's arrival, but its departure. Flynn's motive is to kill several important American people during its departure instead by putting a bomb inside Hindenburg while it's departing.

Unluckily enough, Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus got arrested. It was not long enough for them to escape and head to the Hindenburg to try to find the bomb. The three created chaos by posing as Anarchist Black Cross members and demanded the ship to be grounded. Wyatt tries to defuse the bomb and save Kate's life.

From the brilliant minds behind The Shield and @Supernatural, get ready for something #Timeless.



Don't miss @NBCTimeless TONIGHT 10|9c. pic.twitter.com/eKoim8HsZX  Esquire Network (@EsquireNetwork) October 3, 2016

Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus saved a lot of lives even when Hindenburg was set to the ground on fire. When Flynn's attack became unsuccessful, he found Lucy and showed her that she wrote, but she didn't, yet. There is one thing he told her, about Rittenhouse, which was not clear at all. Wyatt came to save her life, but after a little battle, Kate, the famous reporter was shot and died within a few minutes.

"Timeless" ended their first episode with Lucy's confusion the moment they came back to the present time. History has changed about the Hindenburg, but that's not the only thing that has changed. She went home to her mother, who's supposed to be ill, but clearly healthy. A surprise that made her happy. However, that happiness changed when she found out that her sister was erased in the present.

Homeland Security denied about Lucy's question about Rittenhouse. However, Rufus recorded Lucy and Wyatt with a motive that is unclear as of the moment. Another trip to another time will be taken on Episode 2 of Timeless.

"Timeless" has a plot-twist ending that is unexpected. Due to Timeless' concept of time traveling, a lot more twists are to be expected. NBC's "Timeless" series changes the perception of its viewers in relation to mystery, time and history.

However, "Timeless" is not the only TV series that is related to time travel. Doctor Who is one of the TV series that focuses on the same concept. The difference of "Timeless" TV series in comparison to others is its historical and futuristic aspects and perception.

"Timeless" sets its vision to every important event that changes everything, as speculated. The group of actors have achieved the scenes' balance on their actions. A few more episodes might lead to more clarity about Timeless' motive as a TV series.

"Timeless" is scheduled to air its second episode on Monday at 10PM on NBC, according to TV Guide. Episode 2 of "Timeless" is set to focus on "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" which is to look forward to.

The main cast of "Timeless" and a summary suffices on IMDB and NBC for reference. Do you think "Timeless" is a new NBC hit?
It is already public knowledge that Ben Affleck will play, co-write and direct an upcoming solo Batman movie, but the buck stops there. All other things about the movie still linger beyond the Bat-Signal, and fans have yet to see a rather vivid picture of what's going to happen. And for most of them, the next Batman movie still remains "a solo Batman movie" for the time being.

Recent Batman rumors, however, want to keep the hype up. Lazy Gamer has it that the upcoming film will involve a bevy of villains, particularly "many, if not most, members of Batman's rogue's gallery" in an effort to create a "definitive Batman film". The website added that Batfleck and co-write Jeff Johns aims to come in par, or even to "finally replace Tim Burton's 1989 masterpiece". Be that as it may, Joe Manganiello will have his hands full when he suits up Slade Wilson, or better known as Deathstroke. He may not be the entire Rogue's Gallery, but Deathstroke is the only bad guy Affleck hinted as of this moment.

But then again, Affleck came with a rather trinket. While talking with the Associated Press, Batfleck stated that they might just call his upcoming superhero flick as The Batman.

"The movie I think is going to be called "The Batman". At least that's what we're going with right now," he said, adding that there's still a possibility that he "might change it". Also, Affleck confirmed they are "working on a script" and that it "is going well, I'm really excited about it."

In other news, Affleck's Batman in another superhero film, "Justice League" has been reported to don a "tactical suit". The alleged change in drab was teased last month, and while it does look "tactical", it also mimic's Nite Owl's costume in one of Snyder's not so acclaimed "Watchmen" movie. In a separate interview, Affleck said that Batman will have "two suits in Justice League, one that we've seen before and then one that he augments because of the nature of the... mission, which I can't give away."

Sure enough, we will see Batfleck as The Batman in two upcoming superhero movies. There's no telling whether it's going to be a blockbuster hit, or something torn in between just like Batman v Superman. Either way, it'll be worth the wait.
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In one of the three post-concussion Gay Catholic Whatnot interviews Ive done so far, my interlocutor asked me, So what do you think about pride?

Me, probably getting a little bit too much Jeeves in the face: Pride, the mortal sin? Or Pride, the thing where they throw beads?

But no, its in fact a great question, because it implies an underlying question of what a Christian model of gay (and I think also womens) lib would look like. Pride, the thing where they throw beads, is something I have deeply mixed opinions about. I dont think the word choice is really a coincidence. Pride is envisioned as the opposite of shamebut is it the only opposite? Pride, and urban Pride parades in particular, often combine community solidarity (yes, this I love and need) with celebration of gay entrance into the halls of power.

Pride with its Absolut ads and political candidates offers a vision of gay normalcy and gay empowerment, and I dont think those are frameworks for Christian communal action. I do basically think our churches should be there, in a spirit of welcome and reconciliation. I think orthodox Christians should be at Pride to apologize for the harms our churches have done LGBT people. We should be there as an invitation to return to your hearts home, in Christan invitation to ask whether you can deepen your relationship with the God Who loves you. We should be there to hold out the possibility that you can be open about your sexual orientation and orthodox in your sexual discipline. And we should be there because, you know, we also are part of the lgbt/queer community. Queerer than most! Some would say, unnecessarily queer, but I say, still not queer enough!

Anyway, my dull point is that Christians should be at Pride but maybe we can also offer a framework for political action and community formation that goes beyond Pride. What if our goal as a community were not empowerment but peacemaking? Not increased choice, but honored surrender?

What if we genuinely offered humility as an opponent of and medicine for shame?

(Side note: Ive read various attempts to rescue the concept of shame and I remain super unpersuadedthis is still my positionbut if you disagree with me on that, groovy, just accept for now that shame here means something like, the belief that one is unusually or even uniquely degraded and worthless, set apart from human community and especially from membership in the Body of Christthat your unworthiness is not shared by the whole church, but isolates you from it. Shame is the thing that makes you terrified of being fully known by yourself, God, and your loved ones.)

I dont have answers to these questions. Ive asked them in less-pointed forms before but I think the framing in this post does some interesting stuff to challenge both our churches and lgbt communities. I guess I will close by asking if any of you all have participated in lgbt/feminist movement work that did strike you as peacemaking rather than striving for empowerment. What does that look like on the ground? How would you assess it now?
Today the Italian region of Piemonte came on pilgrimage to honor the patron saint of Italy, Saint Francis. Each year, a different region presents the oil that will burn at the tomb of the saint. The Archbishop of Turin, Cesare Nosiglia, celebrated the 10am Mass at the Upper Basilica and the Mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino, presented the oil, asking for it to be blessed.

After Mass, various authorities addressed the crowd from a balcony, including the Mayor of Assisi as well as the Bishop.

The memory of Francis continues to inspire Italians and the world to seek peace and to respect Gods creation. As we all know, Francis inspired not only our current Popes name, but the tone of his pontificate. Rumor has it that Pope Francis will make an unannounced visit to the Sacro Convento this afternoon for Solemn Vespers. He unexpectedly left Rome this morning by car to visit the area damaged by the earthquake last month, primarily the town of Amatrice. On his way back, he may stop by to pray at the tomb of Francis.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
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Blockchain and payments have come to go hand-in hand since it emerged to power bitcoin, but the real pain financial institutions are looking to solve is enhancing global currency transactions and shortening settlement cycles.

With the World Bank estimating that global payment volumes are increasing at nearly 5% per year worldwide, an estimated $601 billion in 2016, there are still tremendous efficiencies to be gained from a centralized network with a straight through process for easier, cheaper and faster operations that would also minimize the need for liquidity reserves.

Global financial institutions thinking through their payment infrastructures should consider the following:

Remittances and the last mile: In remittances, banks can add value if they solve the last mile issue where money transfer operators and their global network of agents charge 10% to get cash in hand. Why should my fees be so high using Western Union to send money home to the Philippines? Blockchain-enabled payments can help create the infrastructure to transfer money more directly to the intended party while minimizing fees.

Currency conversion: Intra-bank currency conversions use a fragmented internal and external network of market makers for the currency conversion. Typically, cross currency transactions can cost the remitter on average 9%. However, by using trust lines and automated market making for the best rates, and eliminating 3rd parties like correspondent banks and Swift, the cost can be reduced to anything up to 3%. A 6% savings on all global remittance amount could be incredibly significant.

Real-time settlements: Why should a person, business or government organization in New York who wants to send Euros to Amsterdam have to wait multiple days for a transaction to settle? In todays on-demand world, everyone else is working on real-time settlement for intra-bank payments. Whether for payroll applications where issuing payroll on the 13th to hit on the 15th means money is gone for 2 days or creating a better system than real-time gross settlement systems (RTGs) for central banks and other organizations to pay large, economy-impacting sums of money same-day  there is an opportunity to speed settlement cycles for significant operational and liquidity management advantages. With real-time settlements, banks would be able to better manage capital and liquidity across global operations.

The unbanked and underbanked: Blockchain can effectively address the unbanked segment and help to catalyze financial inclusion in 3rd world countries. In the same way MPesa did it in Kenya using mobile phone credit, blockchain can create a global comparative which is not tied to any one telecom provider to support domestic P-to-P payments.

Loyalty points: Being able to use loyalty points and air miles as transferable currency is a major focus for U.S. and Canadian banks. Blockchain would enable these organizations to ascribe value to these points and pay with them as if they were currency.

KYC, AML and Compliance: Blockchain could also be used to achieve enhanced know your customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance with on-demand, verifiable information available across the entire value chain, from the initial money transfer request from the sender to the final verification and payment of funds.

The future of global banking will be one where payments occur instantaneously, anytime, anywhere and with anything. The internet of things will allow one smart object to pay another in new ways. Devices will be able to autopay each other in small amounts. Moving value will be as simple as sending an email. And while blockchain wont be the only technology used for many of those applications, it will play a part in transforming the payments network that moves and converts currencies across countries for individuals and companies  whether they want to send money across the globe to relatives with the click of a button or effectively manage working capital.

There will be winners and losers. Those who dont innovate will see start-ups take over the role that banks and intermediaries have played. Regulators will hold banks accountable to heightened compliance standards in this new world order, and customer banking relationships will be impacted so that people bank with banks they like rather than staying with a bank because its too much hassle to change. Improving these services with blockchain payments will help put one more puzzle piece into that future reality.

Selwyn Halbertsma is U.S. business consulting practice lead for Synechron.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Push Harsh Prison Sentences for Activists

10/04/16

Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Cases Expose Judiciarys Lack of Independence



Iranian Civil Activists (L to R):

Omid Alishenas, Aso Rostami, Fatemeh (Atena) Daemi and Ali Nouri





In another example of the Iranian Judiciarys lack of independence, an Appeals Court has upheld disproportionate prison sentences against four civil rights activists following pressure by the Revolutionary Guards, the activists told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Fatemeh (Atena) Daemi and Omid Alishenas have each been sentenced to seven years in prison while Aso Rostami and Ali Nouri have each been sentenced to two years in prison.

Our case was not judged fairly by any means, Daemi said in an interview with the Campaign on September 29. In fact, it was the Revolutionary Guards agents who were mostly in charge of prosecuting us. My lawyer and I were not given a chance to present a defense during the preliminary trial and we saw a letter from the Revolutionary Guards addressed to the Appeals Court asking for the maximum punishment against us.

Also speaking to the Campaign, Alishenas said: When my mother asked the judge why he had issued such a harsh sentence, he said we are under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards.

The sentences were handed down under the influence of security forces, Rostami told the Campaign. We did not see any signs of a fair trial in any of our court sessions. The first trial lasted barely 10 minutes. The lawyers were not allowed to have a copy of the indictments and they werent given a chance to present a defense.

According to the ruling by Branch 36 of the Tehran Appeals Court delivered to Daemis lawyer on September 29, 2016, guilty verdicts were upheld against the four activists for assembly and collusion against national security and insulting the supreme leader.

Based on Article 134 of Irans New Islamic Penal Code, the activists would become eligible for release after serving the prison term for the heaviest punishment (five years for Daemi and Alishenas, and a year and a half for Rostami and Nouri).

The four are currently free on bail.

These judges all have one thing in common: hatred for good, humanitarian young people, wroteAlishenass mother, Simin Eyvazzadeh, on her Facebook page. If they were thieves and had stolen billions, would they have gotten the same punishment? I should have wished my son were a thief to be shown mercy. No, I would never wish such a thing. I have a lot to say when the time is right.

Alishenas, Daemi, Rostami and Nouri were arrested in August and September 2014 by the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization for their peaceful protest activities including engaging in campaigns against the death penalty, condemning the mass executions of political prisoners in the 1980s, meeting the families of political prisoners, and criticizing official corruption.

Their joint preliminary trial, which lasted less than half an hour, was held on March 5, 2015 at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Mohammad Moghisseh. Daemi was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison, Alishenas to 10 years in prison, and Rostami and Nouri were each sentenced to seven years.
My wife, imprisoned in Iran for six months and counting

10/04/16

By Richard Ratcliffe (source: Amnesty UK Blogs)



Nazanin and Gabriella Zaghari-Ratcliffe

 Richard Ratcliffe



Sign the petition to Boris Johnson: ask him to speak out for Nazanin

Today marks six months since my wife, Nazanin, was taken and put in an Iranian prison. It marks six months since Gabriella, our two-year-old daughter, had her passport confiscated so that she would be kept in Iran.

Nazanin is a charity worker in the UK. Nazanin and Gabriella were in Iran on holiday, visiting Nazanins parents. On April 3, while on their way home, Nazanin was arrested at the airport check-in desk. Since then it has been another world.

Nazanin was transported 1,000 km from her family to Kerman prison. There she was kept isolated in solitary confinement, subject to relentless interrogation by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, without access to a lawyer or her family. Alongside this interrogation, the Iranian press was full of accusations that she was the ringleader of a spy network for the UK and other foreign governments attempting the soft overthrow of the regime. She went in healthy, weeks later she was unable to walk.

After they interrogated her officials promised Nazanin that she would be released. Instead, she was transferred to the notorious Evin prison, where she was told (and later we were also told) that she was being kept as a political bargaining chip, and would be released if the British government reached an agreement with her jailors.

Last month, Nazanin was sentenced to five years imprisonment following a secret trial by the Revolutionary Court. She was convicted of secret charges, relating to national security. We are awaiting an appeal, though again the authorities will not tell anyone where the appeal will be.

Gabriella, our daughter, has now been separated from us for a quarter of her life. She had her second birthday away from both her parents. Of all the things Nazanin is going through, she said this separation from Gabriella is by the hardest part.

Today marks six months. In that time, the Iranian authorities have never even been willing to meet with me to discuss why they have detained my family.

Equally, it has been a shock how little the UK government has been able to protect them, or to stand up for a British mother and baby held in this way. At the Conservative Party conference yesterday, the Foreign Secretary said the UK should become a global campaigner for promoting democracy and human rights alongside promoting free trade around the world. While the Government has expressed concern - but never criticism - of Nazanins and Gabriellas treatment, it has never stated that the allegations are nonsense and called for their release.

Nazanin is one of a number of UK nationals with Iranian passports held in Iranian prisons for political reasons (dual nationals). She is part of a new wave of people from a number of Western countries who have been arrested recently while visiting their families, on accusations of national security.

While some countries have had more success in securing their citizens release, for the UK, there is a new policy on Iran - to promote trade and trips, and show Brexit Britain is open for business. The government has reopened the embassy in Tehran and is encouraging new links. There is a risk that more families could go through what were going through.

The Foreign Secretarys commitment yesterday coincides with a new phase of our campaign with Amnesty: we have a petition asking for the new Foreign Secretary to do more. If government policy is to encourage more travel and trade with Iran, if it is to stick up vigorously for human rights, it needs to do a better job at protecting its own citizens from abuse.

The Foreign Secretary needs to be clear in public - this abuse by the Iranian authorities needs to stop. He needs to push harder to bring Nazanin and Gabriella home - as other countries have started to manage with their citizens.

In the meantime, he also needs to ensure that Nazanin is treated fairly. Now we have a new British Ambassador to Iran, I have asked if he can visit Nazanin in prison personally. I have asked that he deliver a letter to her from me, as other Ambassadors have managed in other cases.

Around all the big politics and bargain chip waiting - it is simple things that have significance in Nazanins life - a visit from Gabriella, or a phone call to me, having a message from the outside as a reminder.

One of Amnestys most important powerful messages has always been the reminder amongst this overwhelming experience of cruelty, that there is kindness out there, there is light, and that she is not alone.

Thank you for being our - and the governments - reminder.





Call on the UK government to speak out for Nazanin





Our blogs are written by Amnesty International staff, volunteers and other interested individuals, to encourage debate around human rights issues. They do not necessarily represent the views of Amnesty International.
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WikiLeaks is promising to release secret documents relating to the U.S. election, at a time when there are already questions over whether Russian hackers are feeding the site information.

WikiLeaks will publish the documents every week for the next 10 weeks and the topics include the U.S. election, war, arms, Google, and mass surveillance, site founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday in a press conference.

All the U.S. election documents will be released before Nov. 8, when voters cast their ballots. The leaks pertain to U.S. power factions and how they operate, Assange said. However, he denied deliberately trying to sabotage Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons election chances.

Theres been a lot of misquoting of me and WikiLeaks publications, he added.

Youtube WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks at a video press conference.

The upcoming leaks will come as cybersecurity experts worry that hackers  possibly backed by the Russian government  are trying to shape media coverage of this years presidential election.

For the past months, websites claiming to be from hacktivists have leaked stolen emails and documents taken from political committees and U.S. officials  some of which may be painting Clinton in a harsh light.

WikiLeaks may also be playing a role. In July, the site published more than 19,000 emails, taken from the Democratic National Committee, that threatened to derail voter support for Clinton.

WikiLeaks hasnt revealed its source for the stolen emails. But the DNC was the recent victim of a high-profile data breach that officials blamed on Russian state-sponsored hackers.

Although the FBI is investigating the breach, U.S. intelligence officials are reportedly confident the Russian government was in some way involved. Clinton herself has also said Russia hacked the DNC.

But in an interview earlier this year, Assange said there was no proof supporting that claim. Of course, this is a diversion pushed by the Hillary Clinton campaign, he said.

On Tuesday, Assange didnt mention whether the upcoming leaks would only deal with Clinton or also her rival Donald Trump. But WikiLeaks is also recruiting an army of internet users to defend the site from pressure the site is facing from critics.

The first publication of the documents will start this week, Assange said.
The acrimony continues in Californias 31st Congressional District, with the campaign of Democratic incumbent Pete Aguilar trying to link Republican Paul Chabot to Donald Trump and Chabot accusing Aguilar of using Chabots children in a smear attempt.

On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the Aguilar campaign announced the final installment in a serious of revelations that shed light on the disturbing similarities between Donald Trump and Paul Chabot and how those shared values could affect San Bernardino County families.

Among the examples cited by the Aguilar campaign:

 Like Trump, Chabot is strongly anti-choice and opposes abortion in all cases, even if a woman is a victim of rape or incest.

 Chabot cant be trusted with our Social Security and supported a budget that would cut public school funding by 20 percent, totaling $19 billion.

 Paul Chabot supports Donald Trumps extreme anti-immigration policies including building a wall on the border with Mexico.

 Like Trump, Paul Chabot wont level with the public about his personal finances. A House Ethics complaint and a Federal Election Commission complaint have been filed against Chabot over a shady $50,000 campaign loan and a blatant attempt to conceal his financial interests from public view.

Aguilars district is friendly to Democrats, and Hillary Clinton is widely expected to win Californias electoral votes in November.

The FEC complaint, which was announced by the San Bernardino County Democratic Party, alleged that Chabot raided his childrens savings in order to make an excessive loan to his campaign, and then misrepresented the source of those funds.

In an emailed response, Chabot wrote: Pete AguLIAR is an absolute disgrace and known liar. He has now attacked my children ages 3, 6, 7 and 9 in a false claim about their college savings and other repeated lies from his 2014 race.

A candidates children are off limits, but not to AguLIAR. We are pursuing libel and slander charges against him.

Chabot also urged voters to read Dishonest: How Pete Aguilar was Elected to the United States Congress, which is available on Chabots campaign website.

San Bernardino was attacked by terrorists and violent crime has surged, Chabot said. AguLIAR voted for the Iran deal and has accepted over $1 million dollars from special interest groups while at the same time telling voters he wants to do away with special interest money.

AguLIAR is a clown and has no business in public office. Hes about as honest as Hillary. No wonder hes her super delegate. AguLIAR will be defeated by the good people of the Inland Empire.

Aguilar, a former Redlands mayor, and Chabot, a naval reserve intelligence officer who served in Iraq, are running for the right to represent the 31st, which includes the city of San Bernardino along with Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Loma Linda, Rialto, Colton and Grand Terrace. Its a rematch of the 2014 race won by Aguilar for an open seat.
A middle-of-the-night visit landed a 25-year-old ex-husband in jail, say Murrieta police.

Hemet resident Frank Patrick Webb was arrested at 1:59 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, near Morning Star Drive and Holly Leaf Lane and booked for investigation of being a felon in possession of a concealed weapon, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and being a felon in possession of a gun, jail records show. His bail is $90,000.

Webbs ex-wife summoned police at 1:46 a.m., saying people were ringing her doorbell.

Within minutes, officers spotted a truck parked in front of her home and approached the trucks four occupants, police said in a written statement. A records check showed that Webb was wanted on a burglary arrest warrant. And a loaded gun was found where hed been sitting in the truck.

Webb was also found to have an extensive criminal history in California, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Oregon, according to the statement.

His ex-wife had recently sought a restraining order against him, police learned, but the stay-away order had not been served on him.

Webbs three companions and their vehicle were released.
Imagine a breathtaking canoe race or rowing competition featuring some of the worlds greatest athletes cutting a wake across Riverside Countys Lake Perris.

It could happen. For real.

Promoters of Los Angeles bid to host the 2024 Olympics have reached an agreement with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the Lake Perris State Recreation Area near Perris and Moreno Valley.

Jeff Millman, a spokesman for the LA 2024 Exploratory Committee, said the group has selected the reservoir as its proposed site for those events.

If Olympic events are held at the lake, it wouldnt be the Games first appearance in the Inland area. In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, shooting events took place at the 44-acre Prado Olympic Shooting Park in Chino.

Millman said no other Inland venues are under consideration for 2024 events.

LA 2024 is excited by the prospect of hosting canoe-sprint and rowing competitions at the beautiful Lake Perris, which is an ideal venue for athletes, fans, media and the Olympic Family, LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman wrote Tuesday, Oct. 4, in an email.

The choice continues LA 2024s strategy of integrating the best of Southern Californias existing world-class sports, leisure and tourism infrastructure and stunning natural beauty for our fiscally responsible, low risk and sustainable Games plan, Wasserman wrote. Most importantly, Lake Perris will provide a breathtaking setting to inspire athletes and deliver the perfect conditions for the performances of a lifetime.

Gloria Sandoval, spokeswoman for California state parks in Sacramento, said the pact is not binding and does not guarantee Lake Perris will be an Olympic host, should Los Angeles get the nod.

A decision on where the 2024 Olympics will be held is expected in about a year.

Even if Los Angeles is selected, the agreement does not guarantee a site selection, Sandoval said.

And the agreement is contingent on dam repairs wrapping up there.

Assuming that happens, Millman said, the restored water level will be ideal for Olympic and Paralympic competition.

In 2005, state engineers concluded the dam could liquefy in a large quake, unleashing water onto sprawling surburban neighborhoods below. That prompted officials to drop the lake 40 vertical feet, to its lowest level since opening in 1973, and launch a $125 million project to fortify the dam.

Joe Royer, an engineer with the California Department of Water Resources, said the project got underway in October 2014 and is expected to end by December 2017.

Royer said the most substantial part of the project could be completed by next June.

Its a berm, essentially, that sits on the downstream side of the dam, he said.

Royer said the state could begin adding water to Lake Perris as early as summer, depending on availability, though it likely will take a while to refill.

We want to get it filled as soon as possible, from a project standpoint, because we want to see how it performs, he said.

Royer said the fortified dam should be able to withstand a magnitude-7.5 earthquake on the San Jacinto fault, which is 5 miles away.

The lake has long been a center of recreational activity, including boating and fishing. It is one of only a few Riverside County lakes that permit human body contact.

If Lake Perris were to host Olympic canoeing and rowing, it would be a boon for the economies of next-door communities, Perris Mayor Daryl Busch said.

The Olympics always draw a crowd of people for their events, Busch said.

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley, who represents the area, agreed.

I think itd be wonderful to bring the Olympics to Riverside County, Ashley said. That would be quite a thrill.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9699 or ddowney@scng.com

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Ignorance can be fixed. Theres tons of data available on both medical and recreational marijuana today.

California voters should have had access to medical marijuana for 20 years, yet our San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors continue to deny patients the right to grow a few plants or have access to a walk-in pharmacy because they want to decide what is good for us without any regard of the will of the voters.

Arent they supposed to be figuring out a way to facilitate what the people want instead of deciding for us what we want?

What happens when the voters decide to legalize recreational marijuana? Will the board still limit our access to it? Instead, they should educate themselves, like Adelanto Mayor Richard Kerr did after 17 months extensive research.

He now realizes that marijuana is not the evil the federal government led us to believe with its wrong, failed War on Drugs.

Jim Blackburn

Apple Valley

Debate moderator needs a mute button

Re: Did the Clinton-Trump debate change your thinking? [Editorial, Sept. 27].

I, like many others, thought Lester Holt lost control of the debate. The talking over and interrupting was rude and distracting. Given the personalities Lester had to deal with, I doubt any other commentator could have done any better.

I am of the camp that does not like either candidate but will choose after all debates are concluded. My suggestion would be to simply wire a mute button into each candidates microphone. The moderator could then cut off the offender when their time expired or when they got too out of control. This would save a lot of time and frustration.

Ronald T. Smith

Rancho Cucamonga
Mobile banking innovator, WIZZIT International, recently collaborated with International Commercial Bank to launch the first ever mobile payment platform in Albania. The launch of Zing marks a critical turning point for the traditionally cash-rich nation and is surprisingly being adopted and implemented by one of Albanias smallest banks.



International Commercial Bank, also known as IC Bank, ranks 14th in size on the list of Albanias 16 national banks. Though seen by some as a risk for a smaller financial institution, its the fact that IC Bank is smaller than other Albanian banks  but more forward-thinking  that allowed them to seamlessly adopt the WIZZIT software, says IC Bank CEO, Gideon Van Den Broek.



A subversive solution



According to Van Den Broek, to achieve their desired growth, IC Bank needed to adopt disruptive thinking. They needed to transform the current financial services model and up-end traditional banking habits in Albania to endear themselves to a new generation of post-Millenial bankers.



Van Den Broek and his consumer banking head, Paul Wild, identified a niche for a simpler payment solution. There was a need for easier access to more convenient banking  for example, simplifying the process of insurance renewal. Albanians are required to renew their car insurance annually, by physically going into a branch. A better solution, Van Den Broek ventured, would be a digital platform to process the same requests.



After exposure to other successful WIZZIT implementations in various African countries, we began discussions with them in February 2015, explains Van Den Broek. As soon as we understood the immediacy and flexibility of the platform, and the progressive vision they have for the future of banking, we knew it was the right fit for IC Bank.



Payment transformation



It required the work of a dedicated WIZZIT development team to quickly and accurately tailor the mobile banking solution for IC Banks needs in just six months. Working with an electronic point of sale (POS) provider in Albania, WIZZIT and IC Bank developed a mobile in-store payment method, never before seen in the country.



This allows customers to pay for transactions via a token sent to their mobile phone, protected by a security code, and accepted by the POS machine, thereby eliminating the need to carry cash. It makes shopping quick, convenient and safe.



David beats Goliath



At a national banking conference shortly before the launch of Zing, IC Bank were lauded for fearlessly pioneering an unprecedented financial services system  and recognised for outperforming their competitors in the mobile payments sector.



Its essential for us to be nimble in a market largely dominated by staid and conservative banking behaviours  and crucial to work with an equally forward-thinking and flexible partner in implementation, explains Van Den Broek.



IC Bank will be marketing the service through social media, particularly targeting students wholl likely be most receptive. The collective approach of IC Bank in implementing the cutting-edge system will fundamentally change the way young Albanians bank  and complete financial admin, like license renewal  to support a new generation of conscious, contemporary financially savvy citizens.



WIZZITs collaboration with IC Bank is indicative of how simple it is to introduce a cost-effective mobile banking solution in a matter of months  if banks partner with the right people, says WIZZIT co-founder and CEO, Brian Richardson.



Transforming the way people bank to be safer and more inclusive doesnt have to take years, and it doesnt have to be an administrative nightmare. It can happen quickly and seamlessly, to create the mobile banking systems of the future.

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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Government is glad to learn that, the IMF Board is satisfied with the developments made by Ghana and has approved the third review of the ECF programme. The approval is a further confirmation of the economic turnaround story.



Hon. Seth Terkper, Minister for Finance said after the IMF Executive Board met on Wednesday 28th September, 2016 and approved Ghanas economic performance under the Third Review.



1.The Hon Minister added that, the Government would like to express its gratitude to all Ghanaians and especially the Parliament of Ghana for their continued support during this time.



2.Looking forward, he said, Government will continue its effort at fiscal consolidation and not be complacent with the present good news. In this vein, Government will continue to contain expenditures whilst mobilising domestic revenue.



3.The prospect ahead is even brighter with the coming on board of the utilisation of the Policy Risk Guarantee to bring investments into the economy especially the oil and gas sectors. The use of the integration of the oil and gas to the other sectors of the economy especially, fertiliser development for the agriculture sector and bitumen production for road infrastructure the Hon Minister added.



4.This approval comes after the IMF Mission to Ghana in April/May 2016, the effort to meet the prior actions before the IMF Board date, and the Follow up IMF Mission from 29th August to 2nd September, 2016 to update the data used in the review.



5.To expedite action towards the ultimate completion of the Third Review by satisfying these new prior actions, several of which are structural in nature, Government gave the completion of these activities its top priority.



6.Prior to this development, the Government had secured an oversubscribed Eurobond  One of the only sovereigns in Africa to have done that in 2016. This attracted global investors amidst the successful tender offer with the utilisation of the balances in the Sinking Fund account.



7.Following this achievement, is the successful Ghana COCOBOD raising of US$1.8 billion bond from the international market.



8.Not surprising to this development, the Moodys Rating Agency affirmed Ghanas ratings to B3 with a stable outlook just this week.

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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Ecobank Capital Advisors Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecobank in collaboration with MTN Mobile Money has introduced the Ecobank TBill4All to allow Ghanaians to invest in 91 day and 182 day Treasury Bills using the mobile money platform.



According to the Head, Cards and E-Banking, Ecobank Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Owureku Asare, the Ecobank TBill4All service is the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, designed to increase savings and investments as well as mass participation in the Securities and Capital markets by all Ghanaians.



Using their phones, individuals can now invest in Government of Ghana Treasury bills anytime anywhere and with as little as five Ghana Cedi {Ghc5}. Ecobank TBill4All has the added benefit of providing financial inclusion and convenience...it is presently designed to operate on the MTN Mobile Money platform, which currently offers the widest coverage with the highest subscriber base in Ghana, he averred.



The product will also remove the perception that Treasury Bills is an elitist product and position it as an investment vehicle for all. As a self-service platform, subscribers have absolute control of their transactions. It is therefore an excellent means for encouraging the culture of savings and wealth creation in Ghana and indeed has the potential of becoming a key catalyst of socio-economic growth through sustained interest and participation by all Ghanaians in the savings drive, he added.



Speaking at the launch at the Accra Movenpick Hotel, the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Millison Narh commended Ecobank for staying close to their customers and coming up with such an innovation which focuses on including customers in financial transactions.



Ecobank has been at the forefront of digitally driven initiatives for financial service. The development of TBill4All is a testament to Ecobanks commitment to levelling the playing field in the investment sector. Ecobank should be applauded for its efforts in this direction, and for once again, taking the lead, and setting the pace for a new investment agenda, he lauded.



Speaking on behalf of Mr. Patrick Akinwuntan, Group Executive for Consumer Banking, Mr. George Mensah Asante, Executive Director at Ecobank Ghana and Head of Consumer Banking for Ecobank Ghana and Anglophone West Africa indicated that Ecobank delights in being at the forefront of encouraging an all-inclusive savings and investments culture within Ghana.



He added that Ecobank was interested in the promotion of financial services through technological enhancement and that this service forms part of a series of technologically enabled platforms that would transform banking and financial services in Ghana.



The service will also be available on Ecobank internet banking, Ecobank Mobile App and eventually on all networks of the group to ensure greater financial inclusion across the continent, he assured.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A well-known Ghanaian medical philanthropist Dr David Abdulai, has passed on after battling stage-4 thyroid cancer.



He died on Sunday at the Tamale Teaching Hospital at age 65.



Dr Abdulai, who left behind a wife and three children, was operating a private clinic where he provided medical care for the poor and mentally ill at no cost.



"Services in this clinic are aimed primarily at the poor and destitute. Purely for love of God and neighbour and are ABSOLUTELY FREE. We depend unconditionally on divine providence," says a signage at his Shekhina Clinic in the Northern region.



President John Mahama had to step in to cover his medical cost at the Ghana Sweden Medical Centre and the 37 Military Hospital when it became evident that his family could not bear his medical bills.



At a point his friends had to launch an online appeal for funds known as Go fund me to raise money for his upkeep and medical treatment.



Choggu, as he was affectionately called, remained positive and will give out money to a relative even on his sick bed, I learnt, a respected nurse and blogger Kobby Blay wrote about the deceased whose life has always been about giving.



He manned the Shekhina Clinic at Gurugu since 1989 with another health centre at Wamale, both in the Northern region.



He has saved the lives of patients with hernia, persons living with HIV, the mentally ill and the destitute.









Source: starr FM









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 Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) has officially petitioned the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to investigate former President Jerry John Rawlings, who has confessed to receiving $2 million from Nigerias Sani Abacha after years of silence on the matter.

Ex-president Rawlings admitted in an interview with Nigerias Guardian Newspaper that, he had received the money from Nigerias leader in 1998, although he denied the amount was five million dollars as alleged initially. But just when the matter appeared to have died down, GCPPs flagbearer, Henry Herbert Lartey, has resurrected it.

In his petition, he is asking EOCO to among others, ascertain the full context and/or reason(s) in which the funds were issued to Mr. Rawlings.

Below is the full petition:



Economic and Organised Crime Office



Head Office



Accra, Ghana







Public Petition Of Inquiry/Complaint



Petitioner: Great Consolidated Popular Party (and the Ghanaian Public at Large)



Respondant(s): Mr. Jerry Rawlings, and Nana Konadu Ageyaman Rawlings



Dear Commissioner,



The Great Consolidated Popular Party is requesting a formal petition of inquiry into key dealings of former President Jerry Rawlings. The thematic areas of inquiry/complaint are the following:



The historic public record notes that in 1998 Former President Rawlings denied having received financial support from the then President of Nigeria, Sani Abacha. Today, he has publicly declared that he did in fact receive $2 million from the Nigerian President. This petition of inquiry seeks to ascertain:



The full context and/or reason(s) in which the funds were issued: In particular, were these funds issued in support of killing the prominent Nigerian environmental journalist Ken Sara-Wiwa?



The actual amount of funds issued (as there are discrepancies regarding the amount): Did he receive $2 million, $5 million, or $100 million?



What happened to the remaining 30 million loan from the initial 31.5 million that was issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland to International Generics (for which Mrs. Rawlings was the primary benefactor through a frontman named Leon Tamman) under the British Export Guarantee Facility for the construction of La Palm Hotel and Coco Palm Hotel? It has been reported by the former Deputy British High Commissioner in Ghana, Greg Murray, in his book entitled The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and Other Conflicts I have Known that only 1.5 million of the funds actually went towards the development of these enterprises, while the remaining 30 million was privately looted by Mrs. Rawlings via Leon Tamman. Is this true?



How did the Former First Lady Mrs. Rawlings acquire the Nsawam Cannery in light of her financial capacities at time?



Is it true that the Rawlings hold substantive shares within the Ghana Rubber Estate Ltd.?



Is it true that the Rawlings were using transporting gold to Switzerland on a regular basis?



The Black Star Shipping Line was sold during the Rawlings administration: What was the reason for selling the Black Star Shipping Line and its assets?



In 1979 the AFRC opened Account 48 for the deposit of seized funds which were deemed corrupt. What happened to the funds of Account 48?





We trust that Former President Rawlings will answer these questions honestly since he is the Champion of probity, transparency and accountability.



The full support of EoCo is herewith called upon in this petition.







Yours faithfully,









Source: Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey / Presidential Candidate GCPP









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The CPP Youth League has expressed disappointment in the report issued by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) after its investigation on the Ford gift saga involving President Mahama.



In a statement, they described the report by CHRAJ as a simple compilation of interviews with stakeholders in the case and running the interview scripts by available relevant legislation, albeit selectively in some instances



Below is the full statement:



CHRAJs Ford Gift Report  78 Pages of Blind Faith in Mahama



The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on September 29, 2016 came out with its report on investigations of President John Dramani Mahama, regarding his controversial acceptance of a ford car gift from a Burkinabe Businessman.



The CPP Youth League (Fighters), being the first petitioner in this case, welcomes the efforts of the commission on the matter. However, after careful study of the 78 page investigative report, it is clear that the presentation of findings cannot be accurately described as an exhaustive investigation. It appeared more like a simple compilation of interviews with stakeholders in the case and running the interview scripts by available relevant legislation; albeit selectively in some instances.



Approach to the Investigation:



While CHRAJ has the prerogative to determine how it conducts its investigations, the Fighters find the exercise very opaque and casual. We make this assertion due to a number of observations.



Firstly, after submitting the petition and following up with further evidence requested by CHRAJ, the only time we heard from the commission again was when their final report was published. One would have expected that after forwarding our petitions to the respondent, the commission would have reverted to us; to allow for a cross examination of the evidence presented by both parties. However, this did not happen and the commission went ahead to derive its conclusions mostly on the responses of the respondent and officers who work under him.



It is clear from the report that, apart from submission of particulars, the petitioners were confined in the dark about the whole process. Again, the Star witness presented to the Commission by the Fighters was not interrogated any further than taking recordings of his work, which formed the basis of the petitions.



The CHRAJ report also did not indicate any third party independent verification of the validity or otherwise of documents presented as evidence to the commission by both parties. Concerning the information submitted by stakeholders interviewed (some of who work at the presidency), it appears the commissions report assumed their validity without any efforts at verification. If there were any efforts at cross-checking their validity, the report does not say.



Blas Interrogation of Respondent:



One would expect that the CHRAJ report would provide unambiguous answers to the questions that plagued the minds of the Youth League and many Ghanaians, hence our submission of the petition. However, we realize that the final investigative report is pithy, regarding probing of the respondent. It has also left some submitted evidence still unaddressed. Below are some of the lingering confusions that the investigation failed to address.



When and where was the Ford Gift Cleared?



The CHRAJ report relied on the date of the vehicles entry into Ghana and clearance on October 29, 2012; and its delivery to the Presidency - November 2, 2012; as factual. However, it either consciously or unconsciously turned a blind eye to a piece of evidence, captured on Page 4-5, which stated that the said Ford Gift was cleared by one Quedraogo Sheik Mohammed, with the Customs declaration given as 420130771843/0. This clearance is said to have occurred on February 13, 2013.



The question that immediately comes to mind is, why would a vehicle, which went through Customs at the Paga border and has been already delivered at the Flagstaff House be cleared once more at the Tema Harbour? Interestingly, CHRAJ did not address this contradiction; neither did it set to verify the authenticity or otherwise of the said piece of evidence. The only objection to this piece of evidence was on page 17 of the report. Here, a feeble defense was put up by the Respondent that;



the customs documents exhibited by The National Youth League of the Convention Peoples Party in support of its complaint, were not in the name of the respondent 



So if the respondent claims the vehicle clearance document does not bear his name, on what basis did CHRAJ decide to work with one of two clearance documents; both bearing the name of the same importer of the said vehicle? Interestingly, the commission upheld and accepted that Mr. Quedraogo sheik cleared the vehicle at Paga, but failed to investigate why he would be clearing the same vehicle on a later date after it had been delivered to the Flagstaff house.



The Commissions failure to interrogate the validity of this piece of evidence of clearance at the Tema Port brings a number of questions to bear:



a. Why would the Commission uphold only one of two pieces of evidence submitted without a fair investigation of the validity of both?



b. Doesnt it sound curious that the piece of evidence upheld was the very same one corroborated by the respondent or persons who worked closely with him in receiving the so called gift?



c. Wouldnt CHRAJs investigation into conflict of interest have taken a different dimension if the second clearance was investigated and found to have occurred as well?



How Thorough was the Inspection of the Ford Expedition?



We are told in the CHRAJ report, on page 42, that one Mr. Abbam;



provided access to the CONFIDENTIAL records on all Ford vehicles on the computer. The Ford Expedition Vehicle in question is listed as number 34 on the list.



We would want to know what CHRAJ meant by ACCESS to CONFIDENTIAL records in this instance;



a. Did the said ACCESS mean visual inspection of a list of vehicles and just noting that the Ford was listed as the 34th? If that is the case, then our concern of lack of thoroughness has been displayed once again. Because it must be said that a lot of time elapsed from when the news broke to when CHRAJ began their investigation. It doesnt take more than a minute to insert a piece of information in a computer file, so it is clear that a simple visual confirmation of the Ford in the records is no guarantee that the said information was recorded as claimed.



b. For transparency and proof of authenticity, every file in a computer has a stamp date indicating the date of entry and modification, if any. Did CHRAJ have enough access to confirm the date on which the said vehicle was added to the official list? Do they have a printed copy of any such query of the computer as confirmation? Did they take note of the specifications of this computer?



It is important to note that the only point CHRAJ employed in clearing the President of Conflict of Interest is the claim that he added the said vehicle to the Presidential Pool. Therefore one would expect CHRAJ to look for incontrovertible evidence; showing that the vehicle was actually added to the Presidential Pool on November 2, 2012, and not just taking the respondents word for it in essence.



c. Also, CHRAJ said it had verified that the Ford was re-fitted for security purposes as claimed by the respondent. That notwithstanding, did the CHRAJ investigation team obtain the trail of invoices of vendors and experts who did the re-fitting? Were questions such as who, where and when the said re-fitting was done with receipts to confirm dates answered? Does CHRAJ have copies of these receipts as an appendage to a fuller report?



d. Again, we are told in the report that the Commission was given videos and pictures depicting the use of the said vehicle. Once again, questions arise that are not captured in the report:



i. Apart from the vehicles colour and fittings which can be immediately determined visually through pictures and a video, how did the commission ascertain that it was the same vehicle in question that was in the pictures and videos?



ii. If the commission went further than just visual confirmation, do they have any technical report on the forensic verification conducted



Determination of Conflict of Interest



Article 284 of the Constitution provides that;



 A public Officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office



The facts as presented by CHRAJ in this case clearly set the President and his receipt of the Ford Gift in the domain of conflict of interest. The relationship between the President and the Burkinabe Contractor, Mr. Djibril Kanazoe, is a personal one. Not once has the President denied this Personal friendship with Mr. Kanazoe. Also in the interrogations of Hon. Mark Woyongo by CHRAJ, he revealed this:



 According to Mr. Woyongo, the President asked if he could call Djibril Kanazoe, so that he (the President) could thank him.  He readily called Djibril Kanazoe, and the President duly thanked him.



The account above shows a clear exchange of a gift between President Mahama and his personal friend. Nothing at this moment shows that the State was involved. At this juncture, the President evidently did set himself in the domain of conflict of interest; unless the Commission is able to prove that the said gift is not LIKELY to conflict with the performance of the functions of the Presidents office.



Obviously, CHRAJs determination was limited to whether the said Gift influenced the Embassy Wall and EU funded road project undertaken by Mr. Kanazoe. This determination is however limited to only one aspect of the section of Article 284 quoted above.



CHRAJ focused selectively on the part of the composite sentence in Article 284 above, which conveys that;



A public Officer shall not put himself in a position where HIS PERSONAL INTEREST CONFLICTS with the performance of the functions of his office;



While totally disregarding the aspect which says that;



A public Officer shall not put himself in a position where HIS PERSONAL INTEREST IS LIKELY TO CONFLICT with the performance of the functions of his office



So giving CHRAJ the benefit of the doubt that they did properly investigate the embassy wall and the road projects and found no wrong doing, did they also consider the following:



a. That the President took an unacceptable gift to the tune of an estimated USD100,000.00 from his personal friend;



b. The said gift was delivered to the President through his appointee



c. Meanwhile this personal friend was earlier awarded a contract by this same appointee who took the gift on behalf of the President.



d. And in fact, this personal friend had bided for another contract from an appointee of the President, but curiously pulled out when the investigations into the gift issue came up.



Upon a preponderance of the facts above, is it the position of CHRAJ that this scenario is UNLIKELY to bring about any influence on the business relationship between these appointees of the President, the President himself and the said contractor? Unfortunately, the report does not make any such determination.



In any case, how would CHRAJ describe the reputational damage brought to bear on the Presidency just by the single act of the President taking this gift, an act determined as unacceptable by CHRAJ itself? Is that not basis enough to establish conflict of interest?



It therefore remains very questionable that CHRAJ managed to extricate the President from the domain of Conflict of Interest.



While CHRAJ found that the President violated the gift policy, and thus should not have taken the gift, they were unable to ask the President to return it. This would have meant wading into the waters of addressing conflict of interest, a verdict CHRAJ was clearly unwilling to arrive at. As such, CHRAJ essentially makes the case that, it is wrong for the President to accept the gift, but it is alright for his Office to use this same unacceptable gift. So effectively, CHRAJ determined that, it is okay for the State to eat the fruits of the poisoned tree. This determination is extremely PROBLEMATIC, as aptly captured by their former boss, Mr. Emile Short.



Lastly, the code of conduct which the President is said to have breached is certainly meant to prevent public officers from finding themselves in situations of conflict of interest. As such, abiding by the code means protecting oneself from conflict of interest; so how can President Mahama breach the gift policy and by extension the code and still remain immune from conflict of interest?



On the Matter of President Mahamas Violation of the Gift Policy



Whereas many sympathizers of the President may want to treat lightly his violation of the Gift Policy, we must be advised to take such an action rather seriously. The point must be made clearly that, the differences between laws and policies are really thin de facto and only material de jury. Most often, policies are made into laws, and every policy reflects the spirit of an existing law. Therefore, the only difference in violating one of the two is that, for laws, there are prescribed penalties, whereas for policies there are no predetermined punitive measures.



However, the effects of breaching a policy and breaking a law cannot be of radically different consequences for the society or institution in question. Where leadership is concerned, breaching a policy has more serious consequences than we seem to apprehend currently in the wake of the Presidents breach. The essence of the Gift Policy is to ensure that Public Officials are not unduly influenced by overly lavish gifts. Now that the President of the land has breached this policy with impunity, what incentive is there for other public officials to adhere to it? Is it the precedent that now public officials can take extravagant gifts, once they register it in the name of their office?



Again, we find that leaders with integrity across the world do resign from office due to Policy breaches. They do this not because it is a prescribed punitive measure. But violating a policy simply means you have done something wrong but there is no set punishment for you. So resignation is a signal from these leaders that they have ethical principles by which they lead; and that their violation of those principles will mean a loss of confidence in them by the people. Therefore holding onto office after violating a set of principles or guidelines agreed on by a leader to guide him and his charges towards a set of goals can only mean that such a leader is unprincipled, unreliable and definitely undisciplined.



Consequently, in the investigations by the CHRAJ, while they found no prescribed punitive measure for the policy violation by the President, we found it worrying that they did not fall on best practice in their recommendations. Just recently, the Prime Minister of UK, David Cameron resigned when he failed to live up to his proposed policy of keeping his country in the European Union. On this continent, in South Africa, though a judicial verdict on the interference of Thabo Mbeki in the investigations of Jacob Zumah was overturned, the latter heeded the call of his Party and went ahead to resign from office; due to the confidence deficit the whole spectacle created around the Presidency.



In Ghana, it is obvious that the Ford Saga has not only cast the image of John Dramani Mahama in bad light, but it has also painted an image of him being undisciplined and incapable of adhering to a policy crafted to guide the conduct of himself and the officers over whom he superintends. However, we find it unlikely (based on their disposition on the matter) for the NDC to call for John Mahamas resignation in order to protect the integrity of the Presidency of Ghana.



Nonetheless, we find no reason why an independent State body such as CHRAJ could not go ahead to make such a recommendation. It is the duty of institutions such as CHRAJ to protect and enhance the sanctity of the State. It therefore remains unedifying for the Commission to remain mute after it had determined that the President had violated a documented Policy of State.





In Conclusion, our study of the report and involvement in the petitioning process does not give us an impression of a transparent investigation. Also, the report does not provide a clear picture of a thorough investigation process; apart from running responses garnered from stakeholders by constitutional provisions. It is our belief that a more thorough investigation and a bolder determination by CHRAJ could have yielded outcomes beyond just the breach of the Gift Policy by President John Dramani Mahama.





Further Action  We shall seek advice from the legal department of the Youth League on whether there are any more constitutional avenues by which we may bring closure to Ghanaians on this matter; which is fast becoming an indelible taint on the image of the President and Presidency of Ghana.



Recommendations:



Beyond the recommendations of CHRAJ, we further propose that:



a. Government (paradoxically ) must commit to sponsoring and or supporting to be passed a piece of legislation that excludes all Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) from bidding for public contracts. PEPs shall include the immediate associates and family members of politicians; such as siblings, cousins, uncles, aunties, nephews and nieces as well as parents and close friends. This will go to strongly check many instances of real or perceived conflict of interest



b. Public Officers who take Gifts on behalf of their superiors or colleagues (whether in their knowledge or not) shall remain equally liable to the charges that may occur as a result of receiving such gifts.



c. We strongly recommend that funding for judicial and quasi-judicial bodies such as CHRAJ should be completely delinked from the Executive arm of government. When these institutions have to depend on the Executive for funding, we clearly see that they are not resourced enough in order to carry out first rate forensic investigations. Currently, their independence from Executive influence or pressure cannot be guaranteed under prevailing circumstances.



God Bless you all, and God Bless Our Homeland Ghana.



Revolutionary Regards;



CiC Ernesto Yeboah

National Youth Organizer, CPP Youth League (CiC  Fighters)



Commander Jason Tutu

Head, Communication and Student Command - Fighters



Commander Hardi Yakubu

General Secretary  Fighters

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.

Featured Video
President John Dramani Mahama will today [Tuesday] commence a five-day campaign tour of the Brong Ahafo Region ahead of the 2016 general election. He is expected to tour a number of constituencies in the region with his Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana agenda to woo the electorates to renew his mandate for the second term.

Per the itinerary released to the media by the Brong Ahafo Regional Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dennis Yeboah Twumasi, the President as part of the campaign tour, will pay courtesy calls on some selected chiefs, commission projects and address party supporters at different rallies.

This is the third time President Mahama is taking his campaign to the Brong Region where at the recent NDC manifesto launch, he described as the home of my in laws, because his wife Lordina is a daughter of the region. He has so far toured all the 10 regions of Ghana, visiting some twice and campaigning vigorously for re-election in the December 7 polls.

Below is the itinerary of President Mahama:

DAY 1

(Tuesday October 04, 2016)

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Yeji

*Interaction with traders at Yeji

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Prang

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Basa

*Interaction with Chiefs of the Dwan Traditional Council

*Courtesy call on the Omanhene of Amantin

*Rally at Amantin

DAY 2

(Wednesday October 05, 2016)

* 2016 National Best Teachers Award, Sunyani

*Courtesy Call on Omanhene of Bechem

*Rally @ Bechem

*Courtesy Call on Omanhene of Duayaw Nkwanta

* Interaction with residents at Duayaw Nkwanta

*Interaction with Chiefs and People of Abesim

DAY 3

(Thursday October 06, 2016)

*Durbar & Inauguration of Community Day SHS @ New Longoro, Kintampo North

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Jema

* Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Busunya

*Durbar & Inauguration of Krobo Community Day SHS, Techiman North *Courtesy call on Techiman Omanhene

*Rally @ Techima

DAY 4

(Friday October 07, 2016)

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Nkwabeng, Nkoranza South

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Wenchi

*Courtesy call on Nsawkaw Traditional Council

*Rally @Nsawkaw

*Whistle stop- Sampa

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Drobo

DAY 5

(Saturday October 08, 2016)

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Dormaa Akwamu

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Amasu *Courtesy call on Omanhene of Mim

*Rally @ Mim

*Interaction with the Chiefs and People of Kenyasi

*Departure from B/A .



Signed









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
An eloquent open letter alleging staff at a Priceline store in Melbourne racially profiled a customer has sparked an conversation about the apparent prejudices some people still face, even while doing something so harmless as buying make-up.

Hiwot Birhane co-wrote a letter that was posted on her friends Twitter account last night. In it, she alleges herself and a group of her friends were subjected to bag checks at Pricelines Highpoint store last month based solely on their race.

We had just watched as not one, not two but three non-black women were allowed to exit from the premises without being searched before a black girl who wasnt with us was searched Calling extra security on a group of black girls for no apparent reason other than the colour of their skin is unjustifiable.

The letter says not only were they treated differently to other customers by staff, but that Birhanes complaints about Pricelines security procedures were met with an inadequate response.

Head Office and the regional manager failed to investigate the matter at all. CCTV footage was not checked at all which means it is impossible for your company to ascertain what exactly happened Is this how Priceline customers with complaints are usually treated?

It also states Birhane will be boycotting Priceline until the company issues an apology and acts to atone for their consistent and unofficial racial profiling policies.



Since being posted last night, the letter has been shared nearly 1000 times, with readers adding their own experiences with racial profiling at Priceline and other retail stores.

@hxlina @PricelineAU I wrote a similar letter this year about a incident at Bourke st,all I got was half assed apology from manager  anotherjessica (@gurljessica) October 3, 2016

@hxlina @PricelineAU they have once searched me because I had a few extra bags in my hand & no one else got searched before or after me. I  Jassie Skaf (@jassie6) October 3, 2016

@hxlina @PricelineAU also did buy something. Now I hardly go to that particular one. Sorry that this happened to you, so frustrating, but a  Jassie Skaf (@jassie6) October 3, 2016

Priceline have issued a response to the letter, calling it a regrettable series of circumstances and apologising for the experience the customers had.

The company states our preferred way of dealing with this is to work with our store team to ensure that this wouldnt occur again, and mentions itll look into education instead of punitive action, but stops short of referencing the CCTV footage or any proposed changes to bag-checking policy.

The experience of these customers is what matters most and a direct apology will be conveyed.

This incident comes after a video showing a similar case of unwarranted racial profiling in an Aussie shopping centre went viral late last year, indicating this is still the sort of thing far too many of us are still dealing with.

Source: @hxlina / Twitter / Supplied.

Photo: @hxlina / Twitter / @insincerelyher / Instagram.
I hate to be the its current year!!! guy, but, I mean, its 20-goddamn-16 and Australia is still flailing around uselessly about marriage equality like its some impossible dream.

Despite polls showing that the majority of Australia supports same-sex marriage, and also that it would likely pass if put to a free vote in Parliament, were still umm-ing and ahh-ing about putting it to a non-binding, inflammatory, expensive popular vote.

Why not just have the vote and be done with it, you ask? Because, frankly, the plebiscite fucking sucks and its embarrassing that we should have to go through it.

When then prime minister John Howard decided it would be awesome to reword the Marriage Act in 2004 so as to specifically define marriage as being between a man and a woman, it wasnt put to the people for a vote, so why should we have one now?

Not only is it degrading having the whole of Australia vote on whether or not you deserve rights, its also potentially very harmful. Both the Greens and Labor have stressed the risks of encouraging widespread debate on the issue, saying that likely it will only make already catastrophically high rates of self-harm and suicide among LGBTIQ teens even higher.

While the Libs have brushed these claims off, insisting that the debate will be respectful, that has already been shown not to be the case. Between national newspapers comparing the same-sex marriage movement to Nazis, and others using the change of consent laws for anal sex in Queensland to compare gay men to pedophiles, it has been pretty shit so far  and it hasnt even started yet.

Its hard to believe, but these people really think that the at-risk teens who already feel ostracised and scared wont be negatively impacted by TV ads and constant debate about whether they should be treated like 2nd class citizens.

Lifeline Australia seems to be taking the issue a little more seriously than the government are, with Buzzfeed today reporting that theyve added a category to the national suicide hotline specifically for the 2016 Marriage Equality Plebiscite.

The categories are used to track the main reason for emergency calls so they can track what issues are having an impact in Australia and adjust their services accordingly  added alongside the plebiscite were things like the dairy farmers crisis and the greyhound racing ban.

A spokesperson for Lifeline Australia said they remain apolitical but will provide all the help they can to those affected:

Lifeline has no view about the plebiscite itself  that is a decision for our society and its democratic processes. As with community conversations on suicide, Lifeline encourages safe and respectful communication regarding marriage equality. Lifeline Australia is very carefully listening to the community and our help-seekers about the same-sex marriage debate and how LGTBI and other people may be affected. Based on the evidence we see, we will ensure that our service delivery does all it can to help people who may be impacted.

Theyre encouraging anyone who has been distressed or affected by the debate to contact them on their 24/7 crisis line (13 11 14) or their nightly Crisis Support Chat Service.

Source: BuzzFeed.

Photo: Torsten Blackwood / Getty.
Millions of women across Poland (some news outlets put the number at as many as 6 million country-wide) have gone on strike to protest an absurdly archaic legislative proposal to blanket-ban abortions.

You read that right: if the proposed law is passed, women who seek abortions under any circumstance  even if theyre impregnated through rape or incest  could face jail time of up to five years for illegal activity, as could the doctors who provide them.

Thousands of demonstrators braved wet weather to gather in the main square of Warsaws Old Town, wearing black as a sign of mourning for their reproductive rights.

Black Monday protests were also organised in 60 other cities, including major ones like Poznan, Wroclaw, Szczecin and Gdansk, which has wreaked havoc on productivity.

Restaurants, cafes and other small businesses across the country either closed out of necessity or in solidarity of the strike action  a massive show of defiance against Polands conservative government and the Catholic Church, both of which back a new law.

In Czestochowa, home to the countrys most revered Roman Catholic shrine, 60 women employed by City Hall either called in sick or wore black to work.

Abortion is currently legal in Poland but only in certain cases i.e. when the life of the foetus or pregnant woman is under threat, or when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

Critics of the proposed changes to the already-restrictive laws fear that  if passed  women who suffer painful miscarriages and stillbirths will be subject to police investigation as if they were common criminals, while doctors might be put off conducting even basic procedures on pregnant women to avoid being accused of facilitating an abortion.

Whats clear is that the majority of Poles dont support more restrictive abortion laws, with a recent opinion poll showing only 11% of the population is in favour of the change.

We live in hope.

Source: Independent.

Photo: Getty / Pacific Press.
Everyone loves a bloody good pop-up. They give you a lil taste of the good life before fading back into the ether, because nice things arent allowed to stay in your life for any lengthy period of time.

And, sure, weve all seen pop-up food joints or pop-up retails stores or even pop-up bars come and go into our comfy inner-urban lives with reasonable frequency. But this one just about takes the cake, and its all thanks to a little quirk of geography.

The super rare mystery beach at Sydneys Mackenzies Bay has returned once again, with a super nice-lookin sandy inlet taking over from its usually rocky terrain.

For visual reference, this is what the tiny little area normally looks like:

Get me in it that water #mackenziesbay #tamarama #ilovesydney #seeaustralia #summer A photo posted by Nick Willox (@nickwillox) on Feb 10, 2016 at 7:24pm PST

But this is what it looks like at the moment:

The infamous Mystery Beach. Once every ten or so years, a beach appears at Mackenzies Bay. Perfect for a swim today. ??#MackenziesBeach #MackenziesBay #MysteryBeach #MaccasBeach #Tamarama #BondiLife A photo posted by Darren Collins (@darrencollins) on Oct 3, 2016 at 3:20am PDT

The beach is on a small, tucked away bay just north of Tamarama, is ordinarily super popular with bodyboarders due to its consistent swell. But locals estimate the remarkably pleasant and sheltered beach appears once every seven to ten years or there abouts, making its current appearance a pretty dang rare one.

No one seems to know exactly why the beach appears, but local lifeguards wager it has something to do with smaller swells, meaning the sand builds up on the rocks and creates the beach. Geomorphology experts assert that, while that does have a little bit to do with it, its largely due to global climate patterns and, more specifically, the meteorologically calmer conditions of an El Nino.

The beach generally lasts as long as the weather holds out, with one decent storm capable of wiping the beach away once again. So if youre keen to get involved with one of Sydneys rarest phenomenas, time is absolutely of the essence.

Better still, the temporary beach appears to be one of the few in the area thats dog friendly, because its mostly unpatrolled and rangers have been lenient on owners taking their furry pals for a dip.

Sydneys forecast to cop a string of super nice weather from Wednesday right through till at least Sunday, so nows your chance to get yoself some super rare sand.

Hop to it!

Source: News.com.au.

Photo: DavidJayWeiss/Instagram.
Didya watch Westworld on Sunday? The show is clearly amping up to be the Game of Thrones replacement of our dreams  another bloody and violent HBO entry, except this time its a sci-fi western! Hooray!

But the show is already being confronted with the same unease as Game of Thrones got, specifically around sexual violence against women. Basically, the show  based on the 70s Michael Crichton film  is about a futuristic western theme park in which rich guests interact with lifelike androids and can live out whatever deranged fantasy crosses their mind. The original film was like Jurassic Park except 20 years earlier and with murderous robo-cowboys instead of dinosaurs.

The first ep  spoiler alert!  strongly implies that a gunslinger played by Ed Harris is implied to have sexually assaulted the android played by Evan Rachel Wood. It seems that a big part of the plot is that these robots retain memories of their past trauma, even though theyre supposedly wiped at the end of each day.

This has caused concern, especially after Game of Thrones copped so much flak for using its female characters as mere narrative props to be beaten and sexually assaulted so the plot could progress. Obviously its not like these kind of things ought to be off-limits  they are things that happen, duh  but its episode 1 and were already seeing it as something seemingly used for shock value. Which is not only potentially offensive but also booooring.

Wood says that theres definitely more to it, though  we just need to wait a lil bit:

Its absolutely very rough. I dont like gratuitous violence against women at all, but I would wait for the context in which its being used. As the show progresses, the way its being used is very much a commentary and a look at our humanity and why we find these things entertaining and why this is an epidemic, and flipping it on its head. The roles for the women on this show are going to be very revolutionary. Its very gender-neutral. I would ask, as somebody who is an advocate against any kind of abuse or violence and is outspoken about it, to give it a chance and wait to see where its going. I think it will surprise people.

The show looks pretty good so far, even if it is basically stock-standard ponderous Christopher Nolan-esque fare. Which is unsurprising, given that his brother wrote it.

Lets see how it goes.

Source: Uproxx.

Photo: Westworld.
Look, weve just got ourselves the second best Hamish & Andy prank in recent months. After the infamous Best Bloke In Australia gag, theyve followed up with an admirable reverse prank effort on X Factor judge Jason Dundas.

Basically, they challenged Dundas to call Guy Sebastian and confide that he thinks he has a mutual crush on fellow judge Iggy Azalea. Ive got something kind of random to ask you, he asks Guy.

I felt like, and you could just say this is totally whack, but I felt like there was a bit of a vibe with me and Iggy. I think she likes me and I kinda like her. So Im not sure whether its my place to ask her on a date but I actually really like her.

Little does he know, but Sebastian is in on the gag:

This one is worth it for the utter shock on Dundas face when he realises Guy might be confiding something super, super confidential, gossipy and personal on radio.

Its only when Andy intervenes that Dundas realises hes been taken for a bit of a ride, and asks whether Guy is in on this scheme. It looks like Hamish & Andys pranks are so ubiquitously known now that theres no choice but to pull multi-layered reverse pranks to score points on unsuspecting punters.

Source: Hamish & Andy.
As expected  based on a not-so-subtle countdown clock  everyones favourite Canadian pop boy Justin Bieber is arriving on our golden shores in 2017. The countdown was obviously for a tour, with the close runner-up possibility being a full-scale ground invasion of Australia and New Zealand by Canada.

The Purpose World Tour kicked off earlier this year, and fans have been frothing at the bit for it to come here. Hes landing in March 2017, and its probably gonna be a doozy  reviews and visual of this tour suggest its a massive one. If you like the Biebs, youll like this.

bieber havin a dip at bondi. yep its bondi i promise

Hell be supported by Dutch DJ sensation Martin Garrix, so its gonna be a real huge night for kiddie EDM. You like your EDM synths huge and pumping, like slurping down litres and litres of Fanta? This. Is. Your. Night.

The dates are as follows, and tickets go on sale on the 12th of October. Just a hunch, but I reckon these will sell out quick.

Mon 06 Mar

nib Stadium (All Ages)

Perth, WA

ticketmaster.com.au





Fri 10 Mar

Etihad Stadium (All Ages)

Melbourne, VIC

ticketmaster.com.au





Mon 13 Mar

Suncorp Stadium (All Ages)

Brisbane, QLD

ticketek.com.au

Wed 15 Mar

ANZ Stadium (All Ages)

Sydney, NSW

ticketek.com.au





Photo: Getty Images.
PHOTOS: Downtown Petoskey Halloween 2022

Check out some photos from downtown Petoskey's Halloween celebrations on Saturday.
#KBO Landers looking to go wire-to-wire for Korean Series title over Heroes After running the table in the South Korean baseball regular season, the SSG Landers will now try to cap off the historic journey by winning the championship series starting Tuesda...
Big Whites President, Peter Plimmer

Plimmer

Big White Ski Resort has officially started constructing a world-class, lift-served mountain bike trail network with 100's of acres of gravity fed trails, terrain parks, pump tracks, and freestyle training facilities. In June, Alpine Bike Parks began trail design and construction started in early August. Alpine brought on local riders Tom and Bas van Steenbergen and started carving out trails for Big Whites master plan developed by Brent Harley and Associates. For 2017, there will be a spectrum of trails for all ability levels, including pro-level trails designed by Tom and Bas.For over 50 years, Big White has been consistently ranked as Canada's top family ski resort. Located in British Columbias Okanagan Valley, the resort village is a 45-minute drive from Kelowna, 5 hours from Vancouver and 6 hours from Seattle.Bike Big Whites goal is to create a unique asylum for the mountain biking community. At full build out, this family-friendly trail network will include more than 30 trails (70% flow and 30% technical) to explore for years to come.Working around the clock to build world-class downhill trails before the snow flies, Alpine's team has just scratched the surface of the resorts wild alpine terrain. Everyone is psyched to make Big Whites ride-in, ride-out alpine trails legendary. The collaboration process between the resort, the builders, and the hometown hero's has created something special that Big White is very proud to release. The bike park opens in the summer of 2017., said. Tom and Bas scheme on the optimal line with Alpine's PM Morgan Benbough.Dustin Gilding, Alpine's lead trail designer and excavator operator, points out the line to ReBull Media House producer Harrison Mendel. Harrison has brought together an all-star crew to capture the magic up on the mountain this summer. Be on the lookout for some great content dropping in the coming months.It would be an understatement to say that there are BIG things to come from Big White.The dirt at big white is prime right now.A couple trails on the lower mountain are complete and Tom and Bas took some time out to test ride them...There are multiple lips and wide landings aplenty.Alpine's owner Judd de Vall brought his kids out to test out the trails... 9-year old Anthony Shelly with the big no-footer!Smiles all around from the groms - Big White is Li'l Shredder approved.Thank you Dustin Gilding for all that you do - Good luck to you and Carson at Rampage in the weeks aheadUp and comer Kelowna rider Ben Schleith... Thanks for your shovelling and filming.Canada, Eh!Thank you to the awesome crew. We could never have planned for this and we are so proud to have been able to get this park off to such a great start! adds. .For more information visit bikebigwhite.com
The agency has always been answerable to the public, but indirectly, through the medium of elected representatives and national delegations. ESA has also conducted consultations in the past, looking for new ideas from stakeholders, such as in the Green Paper of 2003. But asking the public directly offered the opportunity to find out what people were thinking in regions where space is not something that wins or loses votes at the local or national ballot box. Although the European Union (through this report, PDF) and private space companies have surveyed the public in Europe about space in the past, this face-to-face meeting with the promise of open access to the results was a giant leap.

On the anniversary of his arrival in office, Dr Worners vision for openness was being fulfilled as ESA announced the plans for the Citizens Debate. The idea was to conduct qualitative research into the public opinion of space and space exploration.

Participants received some information in advance, and a video primer, and were then given the opportunity to discuss their ideas and give feedback in words, pictures, and ideas. While some questions were tightly structured, others left open answers. The debate was based around six different sections  themed from warming up through space and me, Europes role in space exploration and exploitation, the global governance of space, preparing the future of space for Europe, and conclusions.

The people involved were clearly self-selecting and many already had an interest in space, but the activity still had value for Worner and for ESA. Preliminary results began to appear online within a day, and results are still being uploaded  you can see what questions were asked and how responses varied from country to country. The organizers will also upload resources for replica debates so that schools, universities, or other groups can try out the topics and questions for themselves.

Answers in several sections are straightforward  such as whether it is acceptable for international institutions to exploit space resources through mining (80% thought yes) or whether it is all right for an individual country to claim sovereignty over areas of space (79% thought no). However, questions such as the prioritization of different parts of the space program will need clarification as the results are finalized. The results of the debate are being returned to each member state, and should inform the next ESA Council at Ministerial Level in early December. While the general public are not the only stakeholders  national governments, industry, and academia, are vital to ESAs programs and plans  publishing what the public is interested in is a brave move. If it should lead to any change in ESAs budgeting priorities it would be truly revolutionary.
The act of a slain St. Petersburg police officers widow inspired Tampa lawyer Steve Yerrid.

Two months ago, Lorraine Yaslowitz-Marino donated stronger-but-lighter armor to the St. Petersburg Police Departments SWAT team. Her husband, K-9 Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz, and another St. Petersburg officer were killed in a deadly 2011 confrontation with an armed fugitive hiding in an attic.

Yerrid said he wanted officers at the Tampa Police Department to have the same protection. Through his Yerrid Foundation, he donated about $28,000 to the Rise Tampa Our Police Foundation to purchase 75 Point Blank Active Shooter Response Kits.

Former Tampa police Chief Jane Castor launched the Rise Tampa foundation shortly before she retired to raise money from the private sector to purchase equipment and pay for training the department cant cover in its own budget.
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The bad polling news for Donald Trump kept pouring in on Monday night as the latest CBS News/New York Times poll has Hillary Clinton opening up a four-point lead over the spray-tanned GOP nominee.

The numbers:

Thats a four-point swing in the Democratic nominees direction as last months CBS poll showed the race between the two candidates deadlocked at 42 percent.

When the choices are narrowed down to just the two major party candidates, Clinton expands her lead to six points over Trump, 49-43.

Another troubling sign for Team Trump is that, according to the poll, enthusiasm among Democratic voters  recently considered a concern for the Clinton campaign  has surged by seven points following the first presidential debate.

The percentage of Clinton voters who are very enthusiastic about voting has risen seven points since before the first debate  from 39 percent to 46 percent  which now matches the 46 percent of Trump voters who are very enthusiastic, according to the survey.

Rising Democratic enthusiasm paired with the well-oiled Clinton ground game should have the Trump campaign worrying not just because its October, but also because voters across the country are beginning to cast their early ballots.

The poll also notes that Clinton beats Trump with all age groups except for one: voters 65 and over.

The Democratic nominee is also demolishing Trump among minority voters, women, and white voters with college degrees  a group that former Republican nominee Mitt Romney won by double digits four years ago.

Overall, Clinton now leads Trump nationally by an average of six percentage points, according to HuffPost Pollster.

If the Republican nominee keeps having weeks like this, its hard to see how he can reverse these trends with such little time left in this campaign.
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First George H.W. Bush said he would vote for Hillary Clinton; now it turns out a daughter of George W. Bush, Barbara Bush, attends a Clinton fundraiser in Paris  with Huma Abedin no less.

Abedin, much hated by Republicans as some sort of alleged Muslim fifth columnist, hosted the event along with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

The photo above was posted to Instagram with the hashtag #imwithher.

Thats two Bushes apparently now with her, while Jeb Bush has said he wont vote for either candidate and Barbaras father has not yet revealed for whom he will vote.

Trump is rapidly running out of big name Republican allies, as hardly a day goes by without one Republican or another endorsing Clinton, including several prominent conservative newspapers. The Trump cause appears to be sinking, and he has only himself to blame.

Conservative pundit S.E. Cupp noted that conservatives like Bush dont recognize their conservatism in Trump, but that Trump doesnt think he needs conservatives like the Bushes.

Of course, all Trump has in his corner at this point are racists and other bigots, and a few stragglers like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who embody all the ugliness preached by Trump.

Barbara Bush has shown in this single classy gesture, that you can hold your head up high as a conservative show you still want whats best for this country, rather than whats best for Donald Trump.

Photo: Instagram
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Today, Donald Trump suggested that veterans returning from combat who are struggling with PTSD arent strong and cant handle it.

Vice President Joe Biden was having none of that at a Hillary Clinton campaign event earlier today in Florida where he lashed out as Trump as thoroughly and completely uninformed.

Video:

.@VP slams Trump over PTSD comments: He wasnt trying to be mean, hes just so thoroughly, completely uninformed https://t.co/kPCaHsPLPg  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 3, 2016

Biden said:

Where in the hell is he from? No, no, no, no, this is deadly earnest. My son spent a year in Iraq, came back a highly decorated veteran, bronze star and a lot else. Ive been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan over 29 times. I found myself in Iraq being askedto pin a silver medal on a young captain who had pulled someone out of a burning humvee, risking his life, and when I went to pin it on him in front of the entire brigade, he stood and looked at me and said, Sir I dont want the medal, I dont want the medal. You know why? He said, He died, Mr. Vice President, I dont want the medal. How many nights does that kid go to sleep seeing that image in his head, dealing with it?I dont think [Trump] was trying to be mean. He is just so thoroughly, completely uninformed.

Having a son who has personally experienced overseas combat, Biden is uniquely positioned to deliver this blow against Trump, who consistently disparages members of the military and spent his younger adult life doing everything he could to avoid military service.

During a week in which it was revealed that Trump likely avoided paying taxes for decades and as the candidate himself goes on angry tirades about Clintons marriage, the Republican nominees latest comment about military members is just fuel to the raging dumpster fire of the Trump campaign.

With less than a month to go, Trump is running out of time to turn things around.
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As Donald Trumps campaign continues a catastrophic stretch following last months debate, Hillary Clinton has stormed ahead of the Republican nominee in a poll that showed him leading last month.

According to the survey, the Democratic nominee has pulled ahead of Trump by five points  47 to 42  in a contest that includes third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. In a head-to-head match-up, Clinton wins a majority of the vote  51 percent to Trumps 45 percent.

Last month, Trump was beating Clinton in a four-way race by two points, 45 to 43.

The latest numbers are great for Clinton with just a month left before the election and as many voters are already voting, but the timing of the poll suggests they could get even better for her.

Since the survey was conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 (the day the huge New York Times story broke), its likely that Trumps numbers could worsen as the tax story continues to play out, particularly given voters opinions of paying taxes.

Almost all voters believe that paying their fair share is the patriotic thing to do.

According to CNN, Voters are in near-universal agreement, though, that paying taxes is every Americans civic duty. Nearly 9-in-10 feel that way while just 12% say they see taxes as an unnecessary burden to be avoided.

Even among Trump supporters, about 80 percent feel that paying taxes is the right thing to do  something their own candidate likely avoided doing for decades.

While the CNN poll is reflection of Hillary Clintons strong debate performance, its also a ticking time bomb for Trump as it still has yet to fully absorb Trumps trainwreck of a few days.
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Republicans love to blame Donald Trump on the Democrats  on liberalism and progressivism. But Donald Trump, as should be plain, is a product of the Fox News Bubble. He is the answer to all the fake problems and fake scandals that bubble has ever created.

As President Obama told New York magazine, I see a straight line from the announcement of Sarah Palin as the vice presidential nominee to what we see today in Donald Trump.

Voters would seem more likely to agree than disagree. Gallup reveals that more voters see Trump as conservative (47 percent) than liberal (19 percent).

It is true that Trump is seen as less conservative than previous Republican presidential nominees, but the truly shocking statistic is that 22 percent of those polled view Trump as a moderate.

It is less of a surprise to learn that, Republicans and Republican leaners (33%) are three times as likely as Democrats and Democratic leaners (11%) to describe Trump as a moderate. Which really tells you where conservative heads are at.

For comparisons sake, here are voters views of Hillary Clinton, whom, as you can see, is roughly on par with Barack Obama:

Gallup reports that,

Roughly equal proportions of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (51%) and Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (47%) perceive the GOP candidates views as conservative or very conservative.

If you look at the issues and at Trumps rhetoric, you dont see a liberal and you dont see a moderate. InsideGov.com used the VoteMatch political philosophy quiz developed by OnTheIssues.org to create the following graph, where Scores between -10 and 0 generally mean that a candidate has a more liberal viewpoint on a certain issue, while scores between 0 and 10 mean a candidate has a more conservative viewpoint.

It is clear that based on all the observable data, votes, excerpts from speeches, press releases, and other public statements, that Hillary Clinton is a liberal and Donald Trump is a conservative. If the Gallup data suggests Trump is, at least in the eyes of voters, less conservative than previous Republican presidents, that is hardly any surprise.

There are a couple of possible reasons for this. Those Fox News Republicans horrified by Trump have generally blamed him on the Democrats for Trumps rise, even though Trump can trace direct decent from Fox News.

And conservatism itself has changed, from a party in maintenance of the status quo to a party of white identity politics, a white Christian provincial party for those same Fox News white Christian Americans.

Vox reports that one conservative intellectual, Samuel Goldman of George Washington University, believes the GOP and conservative movement has embraced a vision of America  Sarah Palins Real America, more or less  that cant appeal to anybody but white Christians.

The facts are the facts. No liberal candidate would say, as Donald Trump did to Iowans,

Raise your hand if youre NOT a Christian conservative. I want to see that. Theres a few of them. Should we keep them?

President Obama has made clear that change is up to the Republican Party, saying to New Yorks Jonathan Chait,

Whether that changes, I think, will depend in part on the outcome of this election, but its also going to depend on the degree of self-reflection inside the Republican Party.

Self-Reflection is, however, a rare commodity on the right. As Matthew Sheffield wrote at The American Conservative in speaking of Donald Trumps populist conservatism,

The American Right has become willfully disengaged from its fellow citizens thanks to a wonderful virtual-reality machine in which conservatives, both elite and grassroots, can believe anything they wish, no matter how at odds it is with reality.

Little Green Footballs put together a scientific Venn diagram to illustrate the point:

Which means, of course, that as a practical matter, the GOP is resistant to change. Rather than take stock of their failures, with a nod to an America that exists only inside their own heads, they have, instead, after every failed election, doubled down on the divisive rhetoric.

You can see the problem for Republicans. Donald Trump is their creature, or rather, they have become his creature. And until they exit their wonderful virtual-reality machine  which we might also think of as fertile ground for populist demagogues  and take stock of our shared reality, they are going to continue to be a provincial, or regional party in thrall to petty dictator wannabes like Donald Trump.

And they have only themselves to blame. All this goes to show: the Republicans can still fool themselves, but they cant fool the rest of us. And its the rest of us they need if they ever want to put another president in the White House.
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Donald Trump has a new excuse for why he didnt pay taxes for decades. At a rally in Arizona, Trump claimed that his tax dodging is all Hillary Clintons fault.

Video:

https://youtu.be/DKhO96tN9FY?t=1h3m23s

Trump said:

First, Trump blamed Hillary Clinton for his birtherism. Now, he is blaming Hillary Clinton for his decades-long cheating of the tax system to avoid paying his personal income taxes for decades.

Every time Trump opens his mouth about his taxes, he makes the situation worse.

Pointing the finger and blaming Hillary Clinton for something that no single US Senator can change is childish and ridiculous. If Trumps defense at the next presidential debate for dodging taxes for who knows how many decades is going to be to blame Hillary Clinton it is going to be a very long night for Republicans.

Trump wants to be President Of The United States, but he cant responsibility for any of his own actions. Trump has not held himself accountable for anything that he has said and done during the presidential campaign.

Donald Trump is a seventy-year-old man with the maturity and emotional development of a toddler.

It is not Hillary Clintons fault that Trump cheated the American people out of millions of dollars. The American people arent buying the blame Hillary excuse, so Trump better own it or start getting ready for defeat on Election Day.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

Donald Trump has spent no small amount of time lying to American manufacturing workers in the so-called Rust Belt and promising to bring back their jobs that he claims were lost to international trade deals. It may sound good on the surface, but like every other utterance out of Trumps mouth it is a lie and he is a flaming hypocrite. Trump particularly singles out China for his fake wrath and accuses them of everything untoward under the Sun including stealing American jobs.

What Trump never revealed to workers in the steel and aluminum manufacturing industry is that they likely dont have jobs in part because he abandoned using American made steel and aluminum in his construction projects and secretly dealt with the Chinese through a maze of offshore businesses to conceal his tactics  tactics designed to enrich Donald J. Trump at the expense of American workers.

Although not a bombshell story like the revelation that Trump likely hasnt paid taxes for at least 18 years, it is big news that Trump took extraordinary measures to, as Newsweeks Kurt Eichenwald wrote:

Stiff American steel workers on his own construction projects for years, choosing to deprive untold millions of dollars from four key electoral swing states and instead directing it to China  the country whose trade practices helped decimate the once-powerful industrial center of the United States.

According to a Newsweek investigation, in at least two of Trumps last three construction projects he purchased both aluminum and steel from China instead of American manufacturers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. In other jobs, Trump just used much-cheaper concrete instead of steel and dealt with firms intricately linked to the Luchese and Genovese crime families. It is important to note that Trump is not under investigation and has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but its true the Mafia has long controlled much of the concrete industry in New York. The point is that Trump will go to any length, including helping Chinas economy, dealing with Mafia-related firms and killing Americans jobs to enrich Donald Trump. As Eichenwald noted, Trump cannot claim he is using cheap Chinese steel and aluminum to save money to satisfy investors lust for profit; he is helping communist Chinese firms, banks and government and killing Americans jobs solely for his own profit.

Mr. Eichenwald does a nice job of detailing how Trump surreptitiously bought Chinese-manufactured construction materials, but it wasnt a simple task to track the purchases which is all the more suspicious because there is no law against buying Chinese products. In a very simple explanation, to conceal his purchase of Chinese steel and aluminum, Trump goes through various entities, including holding companies, registered off-shore that exist only as legal documents to limit potential liability of the real businesses while obscuring their true owners.

The true steel manufacturing company owners in one of Trumps Las Vegas projects was eventually tracked to China. As the Newsweek article pointed out, Trumps purchases not only provided financial benefits to many Chinese companies and raw material providers, it also profits the communist Chinese government and Chinese banks that are arms of the communist state and tightly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Also, those communist-owned banks in turn provide financial aid to other Chinese companies that are in direct competition with American manufacturers. The only winners in Trumps deals are Chinese workers, Chinese manufacturers, Chinese banks, the communist Chinese government and fascist Donald Trump. Conversely, the losers are American workers and manufacturers who cant compete with foreign companies that are more than willing to absorb losses on manufactured goods to drive American companies out of business.

An example of the devastation Trumps actions caused American aluminum producers is the construction of one of his buildings that used tons of aluminum. Instead of purchasing that important construction material from American companies such as Alcoa, Trump instead turn[ed] to a subsidiary of a Chinese aluminum manufacturer willing to sell at reduced prices to kill American competitors. And, because many other American businesses are using cheaper overseas aluminum, the American aluminum-manufacturing industry and the living-wage jobs it provides, is collapsing. In states such as Ohio, West Virginia and Texas over half the aluminum smelters have completely closed their doors due to being undercut by overseas competition of which Trump is complicit in aiding and abetting their demise.

There is no law against buying foreign manufactured goods even though it is killing American jobs and industries, and of course Donald Trump is not the only guilty party. However, he is the only lying hypocrite going around the country condemning international trade deals, criticizing Communist China and promising American manufacturing workers whove lost their jobs to overseas competition that only he, Donald J. Trump, is going to bring back those lost jobs.

It is important to reiterate that Donald Trumps businesses are not publicly-held and he has no obligation or responsibility to make money for shareholders. So, this idea of abandoning American manufacturers products and American blue-collar workers for cheaper Chinese goods has nothing whatsoever to do with producing higher returns to satisfy investor obligations; it is only about producing higher returns and profits for Donald J. Trump personally. Those jobs he promises blue collar workers to bring back to America are the same jobs that he secretly helped destroy.

H/T Kurt Eichenwald
Bring your dancing shoes and your appetite. The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota 's Southeast Chapter is hosting a barn dance complete with food, fun and a new way of looking at agriculture.

Chris Gamer, a member of SFA board of directors, said the association invited more than 130 members but also hopes to see the public  consumers  show up to have a good time from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at Four Sisters Farm in northeast Rochester.

"Anyone is welcome to come," Garner said. "I strongly recommend it. My sister is an awesome caller. If you like to square dance, it'll be fun."

The regional chapter's board is looking to reach out to those consumers, said Erik Harris, a member of the Southeast Chapter. While SFA is a farmer-to-farmer network, Harris said the connection between farmers and consumers has been growing over the years, and that's something the association tries to nurture.

"We'd like to have consumers be a part of the agricultural process," he said. "The better connection there is between the consumer and the farmer, the more secure a food system we have."

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While there will not be a formal presentation at the barn dance  it's a dance, for goodness sake  those farmers in attendance will be happy to talk shop with consumers.

"We will have a contact sign-up sheet for our upcoming education events," Harris said. That means everything from making a connection between that farmer and consumer looking for a perfect community supported agriculture fit, to chatting with the farmers you find at the local farmers market.

A big part of that connection is education, Gamer said, and SFA has some plans to change agriculture for the better. That starts with making a fundamental change toward permaculture: "Global climate change is a threat to us, and agriculture plays a role in how much carbon we put into the atmosphere."

Permaculture, where farmers plant trees and other perennials once and harvest for years, reduces the use of fossil fuels by farmers, lessens the need for constant tilling  "Carbon is released every time you turn the soil," Gamer said  and increases carbon sequestration by trapping it within the growing plants themselves.

Gamer said he would like to work with farmers  and encourage consumers  to change their habits and replace annual crops such as soybeans and corn with chestnuts and hazelnuts. "They have a similar food profile," he said. "And it doesn't take much to get people to go for hazelnuts. It's largely going into confections.  There's not enough of it being produced."

One of the hurdles farmers face in making the change to permaculture is financial. Harris said that once trees are planted, it can take three or four years before there's a significant harvest. "We're trying to get them placed in border strip lands," he said.

But one of the positives of this kind of agriculture is it allows for mixed crops on the same lands. Nut tress would be planted along with berry bushes, mushrooms, herbs and climbing vines. "It's important to have diversified planting," Harris said. When a farmer plants a single crop, those crops are susceptible to disease. Mono-cropping has also led to the rise of super bugs and super weeds that have become resistant to pesticides and herbicides.

Whether you're looking to learn more about a new farming movement or just looking for a fun time, Gamer said he hoped folks would come dance, eat and, maybe, learn a little. "We'll provide the meat and a vegetarian dish," he said. "It'll be great. Our members came up with the food."
Rochester Community and Technical College is now accepting nominations for local high school seniors or first-year RCTC students "who have overcome significant odds to become personally and academically successful."

RCTC's Beat the Odds Scholarship Award program is open for nominations through Oct. 31 with the goal of raising awareness of "the struggles of youth in our community and recognize their ability to overcome these challenges."

Students will be honored with a $2,500 scholarship to attend RCTC at the January 12, 2017 scholarship award ceremony, which will also be an opportunity to recognize the support networks and mentors who helped the recipients. A video featuring the students and their stories will be presented at the award ceremony.

To be eligible, a student must be:

1. A high school senior who is on track to graduate in June 2016 and has plans to attend Rochester Community and Technical College for Fall of 2017.

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OR

2. A current RCTC first-year student, who is currently enrolled and plans to continue at RCTC for Fall 2017.

Student application and nomination forms are available on the RCTC Foundation website at www.rctc.edu/foundation/html/beat_the_odds.html or by contacting the RCTC Foundation at 507-281-7771.

The completed submission must include a nomination form with a letter of recommendation and the student application, which includes an essay and transcripts. Applications must be submitted by Oct. 31 to: RCTC Foundation Beat the Odds Program, 851 30th Avenue SE, Rochester, MN 55904.
A real estate developer very familiar with Rochester is back with another multifamily housing project, this time proposing a 135-unit complex on the site of the current Wicked Moose Bar and Grill .

Nate Stencil, of South Dakota-based Stencil Group, presented plans Monday at a Rochester City Council meeting to transform the site into a four-story, 135-unit apartment building called Eastgate Apartments.

An attractive feature of the development in the eyes of council members was Stencil's proposal to apply for housing tax credits and rent 80 percent of the units at an affordable rate.

The council voted to approve a zone change for the site's three acres from B-4 general commercial district to B-1 commercial restricted district. The council also approved a preliminary incentive development plan for the project.

The site at 1201 Eastgate Drive is in a primarily commercial area but the developer saw the pieces in place for a housing project  access to pedestrian trails, public transportation and amenities.

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"We know that as the site sits today, it's a little hard to envision this multifamily use," Stencil said. "But I think that bringing this to the area will hopefully trigger some further development  "It is kind of in the middle of the commercial use right now but if you look just a little beyond it, we feel that this is a good fit for the neighborhood."

Stencil said he would in January apply to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit . If granted, the credit would offer a 10-year reduction in tax liability in exchange for capital to build affordable units. Stencil planned for 20 percent of the units to rent at market-rate and 80 percent to rent at 60 percent of area median income.

The developer proposed a mix of unit sizes: six studio apartments, 76 one-bedroom apartments and 53 two-bedroom units, according to the application.

Rochester Area Foundation Housing Initiative Director Steve Borchardt spoke in support of the project during a public hearing Monday night. Borchardt provided council members with a list of 4,405 rental units in Rochester that were planned, already approved, under construction or already leasing.

Just 130 or fewer of those units would rent at the rate Stencil was approving, Borchardt said.

"He's not asking us for local money. He's doing this with state money and he's making it work," Borchardt said. "I think it's a pretty attractive use for that intersection given the demand that we're facing here."

Council member Mark Bilderback called the proposal "a very promising project" despite some concerns from Rochester-Olmsted Planning Staff, who had reviewed the project based on the city's zoning and land use manual codes.

"It's something that we need in this city, it looks good, and I understand some of the concerns  but I think we can make this a good area and a safe area and that's what I'm looking for," Bilderback said.

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The project will return for another public hearing when the developer forms a final incentive development plan.

Also at the meeting:

The council approved a special district amendment requested by development group Riverfront Investors, represented Monday by Jeff Brown. The developer has planned a 103-unit extended stay hotel on a site nearby an under construction luxury housing complex.

The amendment allowed for greater total square footage and building height. The request also extended the hours of operation for a restaurant on the site. It would be allowed to operate until 12:30 a.m. on Thursday through Saturday evenings.
If you see some Minnesota Department of Transportation workers playing with a remote-controlled car along the side of the road, thank them for saving your tax dollars. Really, they are hard at work.

Robert Coughlin, hydraulic infrastructure coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Transportation's District 6, is just out running his HIVE. That's the Hydraulic Inspection Vehicle Explorer, a custom-built radio-controlled car developed by Coughlin and some of his MnDOT coworkers to more easily and efficiently inspect culverts throughout the district.

Coughlin and his team recently were recognized by MnDOT with an award for "innovative work that enhances financial effectiveness."

It's not that remote inspection devices do not exist, Coughlin said. Go to the Twin Cities metro area, and the MnDOT district has a fancy device that costs $80,000 to inspect culverts and storm sewers.

"I thought, why couldn't we make something small that can do it," he said.

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And HIVE was born. Its mission: to inspect culverts too small to enter using lights and a camera to send back images from inside the under-the-road tunnel. The price tag: about $1,500 for the whole kit including car, table computer and controller.

MnDOT District 6 Spokesman Mike Dougherty said Coughlin took the idea to his boss, Kris Langlie, who enthusiastically told Coughlin to work with folks in the inventory department to figure out what a device might cost. That's where a good idea slammed into good luck like peanut butter meeting chocolate.

As it turned out, two coworkers in inventory are RC  radio-controlled  enthusiasts, and they had the expertise to take Coughlin's idea and supercharge it.

"We totally changed our design," Coughlin said. Servos were added to swivel the camera and LED lights to shine brightly on the pipes and joints that make up the insides of the culverts. They even made it waterproof. "I've had it submerged before underwater. The camera has a waterproof case."

Nothing stops HIVE, Coughlin said. Well, almost nothing. While it can climb over some good-sized rocks inside a culvert, a pipe filled with sand and silt might need to be flushed before the car takes a look inside. And any serious holes caused by breaks in the culvert might get the car bogged down. Fortunately, a thin metal cable attached to the back of the car has helped fish HIVE out of some holes.

Before HIVE came along, Coughlin  along with his co-creators, Chade Trupe, who builds the vehicles, and Mark Hill, who keeps the plans and list of off-the-shelf pieces needed to assemble the car  would inspect culverts the old-fashioned way. He'd shine a flashlight down the pipe, stick his face at the entrance and look as far as the beam would allow.

"We'd use our eyesight from one end to the other," he said. "About 30-40 feet in, we couldn't tell if there was anything wrong at all."

Considering a culvert for a two-lane road is about 80 to 90 feet, that's not too bad. But a four-lane road might go 160 to 200 feet across. The HIVE has a range of about 260 feet, he said.

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"The longest pipes are 500 feet. Ones that big are generally wide enough we can walk through."

Now, he can inspect each joint, look for cracks in the pipe that might signal a coming problem, the kind of problem that might mean a major road repair.

Other MnDOT districts have taken notice, and the District 6 crew is building them cars when they can find the time. In fact, Coughlin showed off the HIVE at a recent conference, and word has spread beyond MnDOT.

"At least one to two times a week, we get calls from around the country," Dougherty said.

Coughlin, though, said he is just happy to help MnDOT and make his own job a bit more efficient in the process.

"There are 13,000 pipes just in our district," he said. "Our database will be booked up with solid information in the next couple of years."

That's information that can save a road before it gets carved up by rushing water that gets diverted because of bad culverts, Dougherty said. And that saves money.

"And it makes our jobs a little easier," Coughlin said.

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WINONA  A Wisconsin man is facing multiple felony charges for an armed confrontation that occurred over the weekend in rural Winona County.

Tyler Duane Henry, 32, of La Crosse, Wis., was charged Monday in Winona County District Court with making threats of violence and obstructing the legal process/interfering with a peace officer.

According to the criminal complaint, authorities responded to a home on Winona County Road 12 near Nodine after receiving reports of man shooting a shotgun in an area where it was prohibited.

The incident began when a neighbor informed Henry that he couldn't shoot there because of hunters in the area, according to the complaint. The incident escalated to the point where the neighbor retrieved a handgun for protection and told Henry to leave.

Henry refused to comply, instead running at the man with his hand on the trigger of the shotgun, according to the complaint. The man ran inside and called police.

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The responding deputy was forced to draw her sidearm when Henry rushed out of a nearby trailer. Henry initially complied with the request to get on the ground, but ran back toward the trailer when the officer attempted to handcuff him, according to the complaint.

As backup arrived, Henry became more agitated and retreated inside the trailer. Officers pursued and tackled him to the ground as two females inside the trailer tried to assist Henry. The arrival of the Minnesota State Patrol helped secure the scene.

Upon being placed in the back of a squad car, Henry repeatedly slammed his head against the cage, causing a cut on his head and a black eye. An ambulance was called for medical care and he's now being held in Winona County Jail.
A majority of residents in communities along U.S. Highway 14 between Rochester and New Ulm would support a gas tax increase to pay for the project, according to recently released survey.

Nearly 700 people took the survey, sponsored by the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership . Of those polled, more than 64 percent said they would support a gas tax increase to make sure the project gets finished. At a press conference last week, the group's leaders called on voters to press legislative candidates on what they will do to make sure the project gets completed.

"With only five weeks left before the election, it's time for voters to speak up about the need to fix Highway 14 and demand that our candidates listen," said New Ulm Mayor and Partnership President Robert Beussman in statement.

Efforts have been underway for decades to expand U.S. 14 from two lanes to four lanes between New Ulm and Rochester. Two stretches remain undone  Dodge Center to Owatonna and New Ulm to North Mankato. In the final hours of the 2016 legislative session, it appeared the project would be getting a multi-million dollar boost. A $1 billion public works bill set aside $200 million for specific projects, including U.S.14. But everything fell apart in the final minutes of the session after the House passed one version of the bill and Senate Democrats amended it to include funding for light rail in the Twin Cities.

Survey respondents were asked if they would support allowing the metro area to fund light rail transit if it is paid for solely with metro-area funding, such as a local sales tax. Of those polled, 76 percent said yes. More than 62 percent of those surveyed also opposed the idea of shifting general fund money used for things like education and health and human services to transportation.

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Carolyn Jackson, a lobbyist for the group, said the survey's results are not scientific. However, she said the group was impressed by the strong response rate they received and she said it highlights the passion people who live along the highway have for seeing it get completed. The group is releasing the results in the hopes of encouraging voters to ask legislative candidates what they will do to make sure U.S. 14 gets expanded.

"What we are saying to voters is look, we have evidence that people care very passionately about this and it is OK to raise the gas tax to finish Highway 14," Jackson said. "How are you going to hold your candidates responsible for this?"

Vice presidential debate

Can't get enough of debates? Then this is your week. On Tuesday night, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine will square off against Republican Mike Pence beginning at 8 p.m. Rochester-area Democrats are sponsoring a debate-watching party beginning at 7:30 p.m. at their campaign headquarters, 1500 First St. NE, Suite 100 in Rochester.

Walz vs. Hagedorn

First District DFL Rep. Tim Walz and Republican Jim Hagedorn have three debates in a row this week. The first is tonight in Mankato. That is followed up with a debate at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Winona City Hall, sponsored by the League of Women Voters Winona. Can't make it to Winona? Follow me on Twitter at @pbhcarlson as I live tweet it.

Walz and Hagedorn will also sit down for an hour-long debate on Wednesday in the KAAL-TV studio. Half of that debate will air at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on ABC 6 News, and the other half will air at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
MINNEAPOLIS  Thousands of nurses at five Allina Health hospitals in Minnesota have rejected the company's latest proposal, pushing their strike into its fifth week.

The results were announced Monday night following an all-day voting session.

The Minnesota Nurses Association says negotiations will continue, but no further bargaining sessions have been scheduled.

Union officials didn't direct its 4,800 members on how to vote Monday, as it had in two previous votes. The strike began on Labor Day.

In a statement, Allina Health says it's disappointed in the outcome. The company says the proposal was "eminently fair" and addressed many of the issues the union raised during negotiations.

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The hospitals affected by the strike are Abbott Northwestern and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United in St. Paul, Mercy in Coon Rapids and Unity in Fridley.
As Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana face each other tonight, they will likely seek to outline what they will do if they become vice president.

However, it's just as important to consider what they have done.

That's why we're publishing a pair of reports on their congressional voting records.

Prepared by Voterama in Congress, the reports compare the candidates' votes with counterparts at the time.

Pence's House votes from 2007 to 2012, the last half of his 12 years in Congress, are compared to votes cast by current House Speaker Paul Ryan. Issues addressed in the report include the Affordable Care Act, bailout and stimulus bills, climate change and Medicare.

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Kaine's record from 2013 to 2016 is compared to the voting record of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who faced Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Issues addressed in the report include abortion limits, government surveillance, immigration overhaul and the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement.

While these two comparatively laid-back politicians won't likely provide the bluster seen in last week's presidential debate, it's important to realize that whoever becomes vice president will have the ear of the commander-in-chief and could become president one day.

As we look forward to Election Day, it's important to have as much information as possible.
Congressional candidate Jim Moylan will not let truth or distortions stop him from saying anything to get elected. It is up to political analy Read morePolitical ploys at the last part of election?
The Obama administration is set to use an obscure Treasury Department fund to bail out big insurance companies that were complicit in the presidents illegal effort to save Obamacare. So reports the Washington Post, though not in these terms. It took Christoper Jacobs at the Federalist to explain whats really going on.

Most readers will recall that in 2013, millions of Americans received notices informing them that their existing health insurance plan would disappear once Obamacares major provisions took effect. President Obamas if you like your health care plan you can keep your health care plan mantra was exposed as a lie.

In response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) agreed to ignore the requirements of Obamacare and allow people to keep their prior coverage. Insurers could permit individuals who purchased coverage after the laws enactment but before October 2013 to keep their plan for a few more months (later extended until December 2017).

But, as Jacob explains, this move, in addition to being unlawful, placed insurers in an untenable financial position. Healthy individuals kept their existing plans and stayed out of the Obamacare risk pool, while sicker individuals signed up for Obamacare in drove. Because insurers hadnt anticipated the Obama administrations rule change that produced this phenomenon, they had substantially underpriced their Obamacare products.

To induce insurers to maintain existing plans, CMS stated that the risk corridor program should help ameliorate unanticipated changes in premium revenue and that it intend[s] to explore ways to modify the risk corridor program final rules to provide additional assistance to insurers. As Jacobs puts it:

The administration conjured a political bailout. It pledged not to enforce the law [requiring cancellation of polices], so people could keep their plans, and President Obama could get off the hook for misleading the American people. This necessitated a financial bailout through risk corridors. Actuaries can debate how much of the unpaid risk corridor claims stem from this specific policy change, but there can be no doubt that the like your plan fix increased those claims. CMS itself admitted as much when announcing the policy.

The risk corridor money has proved to be grossly inadequate to cover the losses of insurers. Several health plans have sued the U.S. to collect the shortfall. According to the Post, the Justice Department has signaled its willingness to settle the claims and, indeed, to offer payments to approximately 175 health plans selling coverage on ACA marketplaces.

The money would come from the obscure fund mentioned above, known as the Judgment Fund. In this way, the recent congressional ban on the use of Health and Human Services money to pay the insurers would be avoided. The Obama administration would, in effect, collude with the insurers by rolling over in lawsuits (and encouraging additional lawsuits in which to roll over) in order to bail out insurers

This raises the following question, posed by Jacobs:

Why should the executive be allowed to break the law [which didnt allow the continuation of non-Obamacare compliant plans]. . .and then force. . .taxpayers to pay the tab for the financial consequences of that lawbreaking?

It is not a sufficient answer to cite the needs of insurance companies. They are not victims. Jacobs points out:

They could have cancelled all pre-Obamacare plans regardless of the presidents announced policy, demanded the opportunity to adjust their premium rates in response, pulled off the exchanges altogether, taken legal action against the administration  or all of the above. They chose instead to complain behind closed doors, get their lobbying machine to work, and hope to cut yet another backroom deal to save their bacon.

If there is, nonetheless, a case for bailing out insurers, let that case be made to Congress. If Congress finds it persuasive, the bailout can proceed.

But Congress has already rejected that case. So, in effect, the case will be made to a judge (or judges) who will be asked to approve collusive settlements between insurers and the Obama administration, to be funded by American taxpayers. Any judge confronted with such a settlement should think long and hard about approving it.

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are doing what they can to head off the bailout. Among things, they have obtained two memo from the Congressional Research Service. The essence of both is that the fund Obama wants to use for the bailout cannot be put to that purpose.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Well, now the Obama administration reportedly has reversed itself and is contesting the lawsuits filed by two big insurers. It has filed motions to dismiss their lawsuits on Friday on the grounds that the federal government isnt responsible for the insurers losses.

Why the reversal? Its possible that the action taken by congressional Republicans, including the two Congressional Research Service letters described above, made an impact.

Or maybe the administration is trying to improve its position in settlement negotiations with insurers in the hope of obtaining a settlement it can present to the court[s] as the product of genuine negotiations in seriously contested litigation.

However, Christopher Jacobs, quoted extensively by me in this piece, calls the administrations motions a meaningful development. And if the administration has really presented a compelling case that the insurers have no claim, it may be difficult to turn around and get a substantial settlement agreement approved in court.

Perhaps Team Obama has decided to let the insurance industry go down in flames as a prelude for a push by the Clinton administration for single payer.

As I said, stay tuned.
PR-Inside.com: 2016-10-04 08:33:01

October 4, 2016 - Aker Solutions secured two contracts worth at least NOK 900 million from DEA Norge to deliver the subsea production system, maintenance and services at the Dvalin natural gas development offshore Norway.

The first order is for a production system encompassing a manifold, four subsea trees and a 15-kilometer long umbilical that will connect to the adjacent Heidrun platform. It also covers wellheads, controls, tie-in and workover systems and options for further subsea production tie-back connections to Heidrun. Initial deliveries are slated for the first half of 2018.

The companies also agreed on a five-year framework contract for maintenance and servicing of all subsea production systems ordered under the first agreement, including installation and commissioning services. The contract may be extended by three-year periods.

"Dvalin is DEA's first development as an operator in Norway and we look forward to working together to sustainably maximize the full potential of this field," said Luis Araujo, chief executive officer of Aker Solutions.

The value of the subsea production system as well as related installation and commissioning services is about NOK 900 million and will be booked in fourth-quarter orders. The size of the framework agreement depends on the amount of work necessary and orders will be booked as they come in.

The work will primarily be carried out in Norway, with management, engineering and procurement for the subsea production system handled at in Fornebu. Subsea trees will be delivered from the plant in Tranby, manifolds from the Egersund yard, the umbilical from the factory in Moss and controls systems from Aberdeen, in the UK. Maintenance and services will be provided by the company's service base in Agotnes, Norway.

The Dvalin field, formerly named Zidane, will be developed as a subsea tieback to the adjacent Heidrun platform in the Norwegian Sea. Gas from the field will be transported via Heidrun through the Polarled pipeline to the Nyhavna processing plant before being sent to the European market.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Media:

Bunny Nooryani, Chief Communications Officer, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 59 42 71, Mob: +47 480 27 575, E-mail: bunny.nooryani@akersolutions.com

Anne Cecilie Lund-Andersen, Media Relations Manager, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 22 94 74 52, Mob: +47 99 62 12 13, E-mail: anne.cecilie.lund-andersen@akersolutions.com

Investors:

Per Christian Olsen, Analyst, Investor Relations, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 51 36 58, Mob: +47 900 29 077, E-mail: per.christian.olsen@akersolutions.com

Aker Solutions is a global provider of products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry. Its engineering, design and technology bring discoveries into production and maximize recovery. The company employs approximately 13,000 people in about 20 countries. Go to http://akersolutions.com for more information on our business, people and values.

This press release may include forward-looking information or statements and is subject to our disclaimer, see http://akersolutions.com

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Aker Solutions ASA via Globenewswire


Born on a Tuesday, Elnathan Johns well-received first published work, is a story of Northern Nigeria  that remarkable geography yet unfortunately drawn into the grip of religious violence and carnage into more contemporary times  as seen through the eyes of a young man. Applauded as a triumph of craft, opening up under-told vistas of the human experience, it serves up a reality not only peculiar in its forcefulness, but one woven competently enough to find company in the privileged fellowship of the three final works contesting for the 2016 NLNG Nigeria Literature Prize. In this Interview with PREMIUM TIMES, author Elnathan John  lawyer, Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellow, twice shortlisted candidate for the Caine Prize for African Writing  speaks of his fortunate journey towards literary reckoning.

As a first published effort, Johns Born on a Tuesday has garnered auspicious critical commentary, including those of Elliot Ackerman, author of Green on Blue, who describes thus that,[] Elnathan John has penned a coming of age novel worthy of Twain. At times tragic, at times humorous, Born on a Tuesday is the story of those who find the courage to transcend violence even when born to its confines.

Equally, Molara Wood, literary critic and author of Indigo, observes that, Elnathan John delves into the minutiae, the small beginnings of larger realities confronting our world today. This is the Northern Nigerian narrative we have been waiting for. It will stand as a testimony to these times.



Today, there is more writing of stories in Hausa than there is in any other Nigerian language. We must factor in writing in Hausa when we think of Nigerian literature. I believe that with investment in translation, we will begin to see more of these Northern Nigeria narratives.



PREMIUM TIMES: Most debut novels almost predictably reveal much of the facts and situations of the authors lived experiences. How true is this with regards to Born On A Tuesday and Elnathan John?

Elnathan John: Born on a Tuesday follows the life of an almajiri as he looks for direction and purpose; I have never been an almajiri, however, having grown up in Kaduna where there were a lot of almajirai, there are things I have seen and heard which made it into the novel.

PREMIUM TIMES: If its possible to compute the degree of the mix, how much of fact and of fiction does Born On A Tuesday contain?

Elnathan John: Born on a Tuesday is a work of fiction about a situation and region in Nigeria that receives far less nuance and attention in fiction (or in non-fiction) than it deserves. Fiction may draw inspiration from real life but it does not make it less of fiction.

PREMIUM TIMES: How is it possible to invent fiction when reality itself has overawed fiction? That is, in the sense of realitys remorseless fictionality? How do you create fiction at the very point of realitys unremitting unrealness?

Elnathan John: In a country where life is stranger than fiction, it can be challenging to be imaginative. But fiction is not mere fabrication. It is how we make sense of the world, and make sense of ideas. And in this there is a lot of work to be done. Once one scratches the surface of the strangeness all around us, there are stories lurking, begging to be told; to be dragged out from beneath the shadows. It is serious work and for a people struggling against misrepresentation in both fiction and non-fiction globally, black writers and writers of colour, especially, have a huge job to do re-telling stories and taking control of their own narratives.

PREMIUM TIMES: Would you say your eponymous protagonist is really typical of his ilk as an almajiri, in real life? What made you draw up this character?

The hangover of colonialism is this bad headache called English, which 170 million people are forced to speak or be deemed illiterate. This had led to the death of other systems of education. It might be an easy fix to just educate the almajirai, but it is certainly better to find means of retaining that system of Quranic education side by side with secular education.

Elnathan John: His name is Dantala. Whether or not it is a proper name is a matter of opinion. The theme of names and identity runs throughout the novel symbolising the continuous erasure from sight and consciousness that happens to people like Dantala. An almajiri in Nigeria is at best a statistic and at worst the subject of extreme abuse. In the epigraph of Born on a Tuesday, there is a Rumi poem that aptly summarises this. Rumi speaks about a star without a name moving across the night sky with anonymous lights.

PREMIUM TIMES: The major character in Born On A Tuesdays ability to use the English language made a difference in the sense of helping to liberate him from the surrounding darkness. Beyond fiction, are you recommending this to those who govern in Northern Nigeria  to educate Almajiris to set them free?

Elnathan John: English did not liberate Dantala from the surrounding darkness. Yes, it opened up new worlds, as did Arabic, but it was only one point in his evolution. His liberation, if indeed there was such, flowed from the entire journey to knowledge, from his curiousness, from his resilience. Liberation is a process, a long one, especially for Dantala; it is a journey rather than a destination. Dantalas education did not begin with English. It began with Hausa and Arabic. Sadly, there isnt any serious attempt to adapt the education that the almajirai already receive to the real world. An education in Arabic or Hausa, formal or otherwise is, at least in theory, as valid as an education in English. Dantala was not illiterate before he learnt English. The hangover of colonialism is this bad headache called English, which 170 million people are forced to speak or be deemed illiterate. This had led to the death of other systems of education. It might be an easy fix to just educate the almajirai, but it is certainly better to find means of retaining that system of Quranic education side by side with secular education.



PREMIUM TIMES: Specifically, how did your growing up in Kaduna, North-West Nigeria, impact on the fictive world you created in Born On A Tuesday? Do you see yourself as a Kaduna-born writer who must tell the Kaduna story? Or, do you see yourself as a voice of Northern Nigeria?

Elnathan John: Growing up in Northern Nigeria certainly placed me in a good position to understand the issues, but for any in-depth or nuanced commentary, being from a place is not enough. One must dig deep with tools other than the fact of being from a place. Many things lie beneath the surface, even for people in the mix. I am particularly interested in stories that do not have as much coverage in English. This interest leads me into spaces I have not been before, and shows me lives the way I have not seen them before. I am not anyones voice. To say that would be presumptuous. I am telling stories, or more accurately, I am adding to stories being told.

PREMIUM TIMES: Looking back, can you compare the Kaduna of your childhood years and that of your adulthood? Is it like comparing the idyllic and the bleak times? Having trained as a lawyer, why and when did you decide to become a fulltime writer?

Elnathan John: I became a full-time writer in 2012 when it became clear to me that nothing else gave me the fulfillment that came from telling stories.



I am wary of labels and categories. I tell stories through fiction and non-fictive modes, through narrative prose, while also deploying satire in some forms. I ask questions. I look for answers. The process of finding meaning or adding nuance itself is political. The act of telling ones own stories is political.



PREMIUM TIMES: Born On A Tuesday is your very first published work. How has your journey towards being a published author been?

Elnathan John: Born on a Tuesday is my first novel. Being traditionally published was not as difficult for me as I know it is for many writers in Nigeria. I am thankful to have become better acquainted with the wonderful owners of Cassava Republic Press at exactly the time I had just finished the first draft of my novel. Once they accepted the manuscript for publication, it became easier  much of it with their assistance  to find everything else, from a literary agent in the UK to publishers in the US, Germany and France. Publishing is tough in Nigeria, for the publisher and the writer. We all swim against the tide of poor infrastructure, poor distribution, an educational system that does not encourage broad reading, and an economy that makes buying books a luxury for most people.

PREMIUM TIMES: You seem so concerned about the state of affairs in your country that you have deployed your weekly column in Sunday Trust newspaper to satirise some of the ills you have spotted in public life. Do you consider yourself a politically committed writer?

Elnathan John: I am wary of labels and categories. I tell stories through fiction and non-fictive modes, through narrative prose, while also deploying satire in some forms. I ask questions. I look for answers. The process of finding meaning or adding nuance itself is political. The act of telling ones own stories is political.

PREMIUM TIMES: Who are your favourite authors, from the ancients to the contemporary? Did any of them influence your first work?

Elnathan John: I dont have favourite authors. I read everything, including authors whose work I do not necessarily enjoy. I wasnt thinking of any one writer when I was writing Born on a Tuesday but I realise that my work benefits from all of the things I have read.

PREMIUM TIMES: Most people will agree with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies statement that I think we dont have as many stories coming from Northern Nigeria as we do from Southern Nigeria, and if we are going to make any sense of Nigeria as a nation, we need more storiesMore human stories. Do you really think Northern Nigeria has not really measured up in literary and artistic production? And, what do you think is responsible?



I do not believe in luck. Only one person can win any one prize. Perhaps they exist, but I do not know of any writer who writes for prizes. I try not to think of it. I have such a long journey ahead of me, many more books to write, many more stories to tell and this will happen as long as there is life and health, whether I ever win a prize or not.



Elnathan John: While Northern Nigeria does have its peculiar challenges, it is not strictly true that there are not as many stories coming out of Northern Nigeria. Monthly, Hausa writers churn out stories read by thousands of people in the North. Today, there is more writing of stories in Hausa than there is in any other Nigerian language. We must factor in writing in Hausa when we think of Nigerian literature. I believe that with investment in translation, we will begin to see more of these Northern Nigeria narratives.

PREMIUM TIMES: Elnathan John, on a very personal note, this must be the third time you have been nominated for a major prize. You came close in the last two previous ones. The NLNG Prose Prize is also being awarded to Prose narratives for the third time since its inception in 2004, twelve years ago. Do you have a feeling that you will be lucky on this double third stint?

Elnathan John: I do not believe in luck. Only one person can win any one prize. Perhaps they exist, but I do not know of any writer who writes for prizes. I try not to think of it. I have such a long journey ahead of me, many more books to write, many more stories to tell and this will happen as long as there is life and health, whether I ever win a prize or not.

PREMIUM TIMES: Will winning the NLNG Nigeria Literature Prize 2016 validate your decision to dump law practice for fiction?

Elnathan John: Being able to complete a novel that has received international and Nigerian interest, being respected as a professional, earning a living, albeit meagre, from doing what I love  these are the things that have already validated my decision to quit the practice of law for writing.

Another of the compilation by Contributing Editor on Arts & Culture, Chiedu Ezeanah, after an earlier Prologue and then an Interview with Chika Unigwe, the coming and last instalment will focus on what the third shortlisted author for the 2016 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature has to say about his art and craft.

Image credit: The Guardian (UK).
Just like the Hammam Al-Andalus, some of the historical edifices in Madrid still bear the hallmark of Andalus. These include the famous Almudena Cathedral, having a name clearly resembling that of one of the holiest cities of Islam, Madina Al Munawwara.

Historical accounts suggest Almudena was originally a mosque but was later converted into a Church after King Alfonso reconquered Madrid. Another historical site of interest in Madrid is Palacio Real (the Royal Palace) of the King of Spain, which however is more of a museum now. The King no longer lives there, and it is utilised for ceremonies and visit by tourists.

After visiting some of the remarkable historical sites in Madrid, my attention returned to Cordoba  that magnificent city representing the intellectual hub of Andalusia. I visited Cordoba twice during our study period between 2014 and 2015. The first was with my friend and colleague, Muhammad Ahmad Bello. After experiencing the aura of Cordobas historical significance, we agreed that we should bring our family with us on a subsequent visit, so that they could equally witness this interesting adventure. We decided to do this after our graduation ceremony.

The visit to Cordoba was made more interesting by the surprising appearance of my friend and brother, Suleiman Baba Suleiman. Before departing for Madrid, I had called to inform him of my being away for my graduation ceremony. Suleiman noted that he would also be on holiday in the United Kingdom about the same period. I shared many stories with him on my previous visit to Cordoba.

A few hours after defending our final project at the IE business School, Muhammad Bello and I went back to the hotel to have some rest and prepare for the graduation ceremony scheduled for the following day. Guess who was there on our arrival at the hotel lobby? It was Suleiman and his wife checking in at the hotel. That was awesome. A pleasant surprise.

On Saturday December 19, 2015, about five different families embarked on the journey to Cordoba, primarily to visit the most historic site in the city, the Mosque-Cathedral. There is something unique about the Mosque-Cathedral; perhaps, it is only in Cordoba where the mosque means a church, and vice versa. If you meet any resident of Cordoba, ask him about Mezquita (mosque), and he would refer you to the Umayyad mosque, although it is operating as a Church and tourist site at the moment.

During our first visit in 2014, we walked from the train station to Mezquita. There we asked a lady for a description of the Mosque-Cathedral. You mean the mosque? she asked, and went on to tell us what Mezquita means to the people of Cordoba. Everyone here calls it the mosque, she added.

The Mezquita is a huge building situated in the old city of Cordoba. It is adorned by the minaret, which historically was used by the Muezzin for the call to prayer. Inside the premises, surrounded by a huge wall, partially resembles ancient city walls that you find in Hausa city-states like Kano and Bauchi. While some beautiful orange trees are planted in different parts of the inner wall, there are also several entrances to the Mosque from different alleys surrounding the mosque.

There are numerous shops and restaurants around the building, some of them managed by North African Arabs. The premises was full of tourists from different countries, when we were there, with a number of visitors traveling in groups led by a tour guide providing explanation in different languages.

On arrival at the Mosque-Cathedral, we purchased tickets and security officials at the entrance gave brief guidelines about the dos and donts of the tour.

Are you a Muslim? one of the guards enquired. You are welcome to make the tour, but please no prayer should be said aloud. He advised.

We then asked if there was a tour-guide who could take us through the mosque and explain the historical monument in English. The security guard looked at the officer next to him, and spoke in Spanish. He walked away briefly, and then returned with a lady named Christina, most likely in her late 40s or early 50s.

I am a private-tour guide, so you have to pay me, she said with a smile. How much we asked. It is 50 Euros she answered. Without hesitation, we asked her to lead, and within seconds we set our foot into the Mezquita.

To be continued

Muhammad Jameel Yushau is an ex-BBC journalist and public affairs commentator.
A cement factory in Ethiopias Oromia region owned by Nigerias Aliko Dangote was on Tuesday torched by angry protesters, the government said.

Local media said the protesters were angered by the death of over 50 people during a stampede at a religious festival by the Oromo people on Sunday. Several others were injured during the incident.

Thousands had gathered for the religious festival in Bishoftu, 40 kilometres from the capital Addis Ababa.

During the attack on the factory located in Ada Berga, reports said the protesters descended on factory trucks and machinery at the cement factory and burnt them.

A pro-opposition Amharic-language website, ZeHabesha.com, was quoted by the BBC as reporting that the protesters even freed prisoners after setting ablaze a police station in the Bule Hora area.

A court and government-owned vehicles were also torched, the report said.
Contrary to President Buharis figures, American industrial giant, General Electric, planned to invest $150 million on development projects in Nigeria by 2017, a report by Reuters said on Monday.

The newswire reported that Jay Ireland, GEs chief executive in Africa, disclosed the amount involved in the investment during an interview in London.

Mr. Ireland said the $150 million earmarked for Nigeria was part of about $2 billion GE planned to invest in Africa in the foreseeable future.

The amount marked a sharp contradiction of what Mr. Buhari told Nigerians in his Independence Day speech.

On railways, we have provided our counterpart funding to China for the building of our standard gauge Lagos  Kano railway. Meanwhile, General Electric is investing two point two billion USD ($2.2bn) in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage the existing lines, including the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Line. The Lagos-Calabar railway will also be on stream soon, Mr. Buhari said.

Presidential spokesmen Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES request seeking clarification.

Over the years, GE has carried out infrastructure projects across the country.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said it does not use students checklist in determining applicants preferred schools, contrary to a news report.

PREMIUM TIMES had on Monday, published a press release from Economic Confidential, which named the University of Ilorin as the 2016 most preferred university among student applicants.

According to Economic Confidential, Unilorin had the highest student applicants of 103,238 (males  51, 082 and females  52, 156).

The report said that academic stability, popularity, affordability, available facilities and quality of lecturers were factors students considered before choosing their preferred institutions.

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, said the students checklist as outlined in the report was not determined by JAMB.

JAMB has no way of determining these factors from information available to us through the frequency of schools chosen by Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates, Mr. Benjamin said.

What we do each year, is to roll out data on the institutions with the highest number of applicants.

For some years now, the University of Ilorin has been topping that chart, this does not mean that the school is the best in the country. It just shows students preferences, he said.

Unilorin goes on Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike actions, a problem that plagues many federal universities in the country.

Also, Unilorin was said to have one of the fastest academic calendars of all institutions in the country.

However, in the 2016/2017 global ranking carried out by Times Higher Education (THE), University of Ibadan was the only Nigerian university that made the list at 801.

Teaching, research citations of scholarly publications, industry income and international outlook were the factors for determining the ranking. Yet, for 2016, Unilorin surpassed the University of Ibadan in preferred student choices.

As for the determinants earlier mentioned by Economic Confidential, Mr. Benjamin said JAMB was not in a position to know why students choose their institutions.

We only have access to the number of students who choose these schools. We cannot determine why they do so. UTME candidates are not asked why they choose schools, he said.

For instance, if we have 1.6 million candidates applying through JAMB and 120,000 candidates choose University of Ilorin as first choice, automatically it becomes the most popular choice for that year, that is how we arrive at our data, he explained.

He however said every other data as presented by the magazine were accurate as the figures were gotten directly from JAMB.

According to the report by magazine, University of Ilorin, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Bayero University, Kano were the most popular federal university choices for 2016.

Also, Nasarawa State University, Imo State University, Kaduna State University, Delta State University and Adekunle Ajasin University were the most popular state university choices for 2016.

While Covenant University, Afe Babalola University, Babcock University, Igbinedion University and Bowen University are the most popular private university choices for 2016.
President Muhammadu Buhari will surrender more airplanes in the presidential air fleet to the Nigerian Air Force, his spokesperson said Tuesday after the presidency put up two aircraft for sale.

Reducing the number of airplanes in the outsized presidential air fleet was one of Mr. Buharis promises before taking office in 2015. The plan was intended to cut cost and save scarce resources.

But the president retained the same size he inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan  10 jets, including the two advertised for sale  more than a year into his presidency, drawing criticisms.

On Tuesday, the Office of the National Security Adviser advertised the sale of a Falcon 7X executive jet and Hawker 4000.

Mr. Buharis senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said the decision to sell the two aircraft was in line with President Muhammadu Buharis directive for the Presidential air fleet to be reduced drastically.

This exercise is by no means complete, he said in a statement.

Apart from the two aircraft being advertised for sale, Mr. Shehu said the Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet will any time from now  hand over some other aircraft to the Airforce for their operations.

He said President Buharis directive to a government committee on reducing the presidential air fleet was to see a compact and reliable aircraft for the safe airlift of the President, the Vice President and other government officials that go on special missions.

Mr. Shehu had hinted in September that the number of aircraft in the fleet would be reduced.

The advertorial on Tuesday detailed the specifications of the planes as well as their performance levels, indicating that they were in fairly good condition.

Interested buyers were advised to inspect the Falcon at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

On the other hand, the Hawker 4000 could only be inspected at Cessna Zurich Citation Service Centre, Zurich, Switzerland. The bids are to be quoted in dollars, the notice said.
The proposed sale of national asset to raise funds to be spent towards economic recovery has pitched Nigerians into two broad groups  supporters and opposition.

Different categories of Nigerians have stated their stance on the proposed sale with many of them justifying their position.

PREMIUM TIMES brings you a summary of the stance of some Nigerian elites and groups.

SUPPORTERS

A hint of the proposal was first given by Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, during the session to present the 2017 federal budget details in Abuja.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, also spoke about it in her first meeting with finance correspondents in Abuja last month.

A formal pronouncement about the plan came at the end of the inter-ministerial retreat in Abuja.

Mr. Udoma said sale of some national asset was one of the resolutions at the retreat for government to raise funds for a $15 billion (N4.72 trillion) fiscal stimulus plan to reflate and pull the economy from recession.

The other ways, he said, included advance payment by joint venture operators for license renewals, infrastructure concessioning, use of recovered funds etc, and long term, low interest loans.

The National Economic Council (NEC), consisting the 36 state governors and the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and chaired by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, also gave a seal of approval on the proposal.

On September 20, the first day of the resumption of the National Assembly from its annual recess, Senate President Bukola Saraki also urged the federal government to raise capital from asset sales to shore up the nations foreign reserves.

The Executive must raise capital from asset sales and other sources to shore up foreign reserves, Mr. Saraki told members in his address.

This will calm investors, discourage currency speculation and stabilize the economy.

He spelt out measures government must consider, namely part sale of NLNG Holdings; reduction of government share in upstream oil joint venture operations; sale of government stake in financial institutions like Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and privatization and concession of major/regional airports and refineries.

About 72 hours earlier, Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had told a South African television, CNBC, that the federal government needed to sell its asset to save the country from its current economic woes, rather than resort to foreign loans.

Mr. Dangote had argued the country could reap $15 billion from such sales, instead of borrowing to revive the ailing economy.

He said the action could also boost the countrys foreign reserve.

My suggestion was that government should even sell 100 per cent of the Nigeria LNG. I dont think government should be in any business of investing in the liquefied natural gas sector.

A company like that, with earnings of $1.5 billion on the average, should fetch anywhere between $12 billion and $15 billion, he said.

Apart from his views at the NEC, CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, who has been a long time sympathiser of the view that government needs to divest from some JVs in the oil and gas sector, also spoke in favour of the proposal.

Addressing media executives during an interactive session in Lagos later in the week, Mr. Emefiele disclosed the process had begun for the sale of about 15 per cent of asset held by NNPC.

He said the exercise was expected to yield an inflow of $10 billion for the country.

Already, he said, a team of consultants had been commissioned to carry out a study to recommend modalities for the proposed sale.

Mr. Emefieles predecessor and current Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, also lent his weight to the proposal.

We need to consider the sale of some of our oil asset and some refineries in a transparent manner that gives you value and does not hurt our strategic interest, he said.

We can even add a buy-back clause if we want to ensure when the situation improves, government can re-purchase them. But basically it will help raise revenue.

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, also backed the proposal.

Mr. Obasanjo, who was addressing the National Council on Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED) in Abeokuta, Ogun state, said the proposed sale of under-utilised asset and shares of NNPC, NLNG and other national asset was a right step.

He however added a caveat. They (asset) should not be sold to kiths and kins as well as cabals.

Many people thought selling was a bad thing. No! You are reorganizing the sector, he said.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said it was wholly in support of the call for the sale of national asset by the federal government.

President of MAN, Frank Jacobs, hailed Mr. Dangote for speaking the minds of its members.

We are not saying government should sell its shares completely in the NLNG, worth $15 billion. They can sell part of it and still maintain some level of ownership, he said.

By so doing we will generate money to beef up our foreign reserves and engender confidence in the investing community, both domestic and international.

Former Chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Atedo Peterside, also said sale of government stake in all the oil and gas joint venture operations was one of the ways to avert economic meltdown.

Mr. Peterside, who is also the Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, said government must quickly sell down its stake in the JVs from 55-60 per cent to no more than 40 per cent each.

Anyone in his right mind will gladly pay a premium to attain 51 per cent (stake in the JVs) and move away from the clumsy and unwieldy structure where they are junior partners in a joint venture with a historically meddlesome and value-destructive Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), he said.

Mr. Peterside said all the four refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna should be sold outright as NNPC has never been able to run them.

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said it was in support of the proposal if proceeds from the sale would be properly channelled into reviving the economy.

President of the Chamber, Tony Ejinkeonye, described the proposal as quite apt.

We truly support the call for the sale of the countrys national asset only if transparency is key in the entire process. If the right people acquire the asset, it will be better for the country and Nigerians by extension, Mr. Ejinkeonye said,

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry Mine & Agriculture (NACCIMA) said there was nothing wrong in the proposal to sell national asset that are no longer useful or efficiently operated by government.

THOSE AGAINST

But acting Chairman of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Shettima Gana, opposed the proposal to sell NLNG to save the economy.

Citing a NEITI extractive industry audit and financial report of 2013, Mr. Gana said it was improper to sell a company that paid about $12.9 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from its operations over an eight-year period.

It is the considered view of the Commission that Nigerias asset like NLNG and other strategic national resources should not be sold to meet short-term financial obligation, the commission said.

Rather than dispose of NLNG, the Commission said it was strongly in support of borrowing from international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others.

A former Director in the Budgetary Department of CBN, Titus Okunronmu, said sale of the countrys asset to boost the economy would further restrict income, as only very few would be able to buy them.

Mr. Okunronmu said in Ota, Ogun state, that rather than restrict income, the government should redistribute income through untapped resources.

Also, a development economist, Odilim Enwegbara, condemned the proposal.

He said government should rather review all the oil blocks previous administrations handed to some local and foreign cronies, fronting for past leaders.

We should not only end there, President Buhari should go as far as hiring some of the worlds best auditors to come after the asset acquired as a result of the oil blocks.

This will lead to the recovery of over $50 billion in cash, while government should expect not less than $300 billion asset it can easily confiscate, Mr. Enwegbara said.

Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, said calls for sale of national asset to raise funds to rejuvenate the economy out of recession was illegal, while those involved in the proposal were engaging in asset stripping.

Sale of national asset is a big disservice to the nation, Mr. Falana said. Those clamouring for it are looking for opportunity to cherry pick the asset at giveaway prices.

It is pertinent to point out, the suggestion is in total conflict with Section 16 of the constitution prohibiting concentration of the nations wealth in the hands of a few people or a group.

Rather than sell off the national asset, he urged government to recover the ones sold under the Obasanjo administration, because they were grossly undervalued.

Labour too has condemned the idea, saying it will make a few to amass the wealth of all and deepen the seeming despair in the land.

Although Senate President and some of the senators support the proposal, others in the Senate were opposed to it.

Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and All Progressives Congress (APC) senator from Benue state, George Akume, condemned the asset sale proposal.

I have heard about the issue of selling of our asset. I need to caution that other countries are not doing the same. The United Arab Emirate does not even allow you to get to their oil wells, let alone selling them.

If we must sell, we have to sell the non-performing asset, so that people can turn them around and create employment.

We need to amend section 162, especially from sub-sections 3,4,5,6, where every money in the Federation Account is shared among the other levels of government, Mr. Ekweremadu said.

Mr. Akume (APC, Benue North-West) said it did not make economic sense to sell the countrys oil asset at this time global oil price was in decline.

The thing is very straight. If you want to dispose of your oil asset at this time when the price of oil has crashed, precisely how much are you going to realise?

We are making a mistake here. What we intend doing is very unpatriotic. We will ensure those who are within the bracket of the stolen dollars to still come to buy.

I believe that this is not the time to sell these asset, Mr. Akume said.

For Ovie Omo-Agege (Labour Party, Delta Central), sale of the NLNG, which generates over $22 billion per annum would be the biggest mistake of the century.

Former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa Division, Obiageli Ezekwesili, said what Nigeria needed was economic reform and better management, not sale of national asset.

Managers of the economy must resist our wonderful politicians now chorusing quick fixes, like asset sale, Mrs. Ezekwesili said.

There are no easy options here. It seems the default instinct of our political class is sell and spend. It wont work, she warned.

Any asset sale at all should be within the context of an empirically guided, deliberated and deep structural reform of the sector of the said asset.

The former Minister of Education said rather than selling the asset, government should embark on key structural reforms such as petroleum sector deregulation and liberalisation, civil service reform and increased investment in agriculture.

A former governor of the Central Bank, Chukwuma Soludo, described NEC and Senate leaderships recommendation for the sale of some national asset to raise funds to reflate the countrys economy out of recession as dangerous and troubling,

Mr. Soludo, who dismissed the proposal as largely self-serving and convenient, said the scheme would only be a win-win for both government and its private sector collaborators, with Nigerians and the economy as the only losers.

Mr Soludo said the proposal was fundamentally flawed and was based on a false foundation.

The Managing director, Financial Derivative Limited, Bismarck Rewane, also said the NLNG was a cash cow and should not be sold.

I believe in the sale of national asset in a strategic manner. That is, you sell and go into a simultaneous repurchase agreement, so that when the prices go up, you can buy it back and pay a carrying cost. But, I am against selling the NLNG, because it is a cash cow.

You can sell a non-strategic asset at this time. But, even if you sell the strategic asset, you cannot even lock down. So, we must have a simultaneous option to repurchase when the prices improve, he said.

The chief consultant of B. Adedipe Associates, Biodun Adedipe, said: I am not in support of the sale of the nations oil asset because of recession. That will amount to a desperate move to weather the storm. What are we going to use the money for?

All the major labour unions, NLC, TUC, PENGASSAN, and NUPENG described those calling for the sale of national asset as enemies of Nigeria.

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, described those behind the proposal as economic vampires government must beware of.

PENGASSAN also labelled the recommendation as a self-destructive move Nigerians must resist.
The West African regional court is to deliver judgment on a suit filed by a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, against the Nigeria government.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice will rule on Mr. Dasukis petition that his rights had been violated by the Nigerian government.

Mr. Dasuki has been held by the government since December 2015, despite being granted bail by three courts.

Mr. Dasuki asked the ECOWAS Court to award him N500 million in damages for the alleged violation of his fundamental human rights.

Justice Friday Nwoke postponed the judgement originally scheduled for June 29 as judges went on vacation.

Proceedings in the case ended with the conclusion of oral evidence by two officials of the State Security Service, SSS.

Lawyers who represented the federal government, Williams Obiora and Alu Agbi, told the court that Mr. Dasuki was detained for his own protection.

Mr. Agbe said Mr. Dasukis release from detention would constitute a threat to national security.

They told the Court that considering that national security superseded individual security, the law permitted the SSS to restrict the movement of any citizen when his life was in danger.

They also argued that Mr. Dasuki was illegally in possession of firearms.

The lawyers cited section 3 of the Firearms Act, CAP F28 LFN 2004 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which prescribes arms that cannot be licensed to individuals.

The counsels also argued that the seizure of Mr. Dasukis property was allowed under the law under which the countrys Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established.

They dismissed the argument that Mr. Dasuki was granted bail by Nigerian courts of competent jurisdiction, saying there was no evidence to show he fulfilled the bail conditions for his release.

However, Mr. Dasukis lawyer, Robert Emukperuo, had urged the Court to disregard the defendants submissions on the grounds they were at variance with the documents filed.

Mr. Emukperuo asked the court to grant his clients application, arguing that the submissions of the first witness alluded to safety and possibility of escape and not national security, contrary to one of the documents tendered by the defence.

He urged the Court to grant all the 13 reliefs sought by Mr. Dasuki, as there was no contestation he was in detention.

The Nigerian government, he said, had arraigned him before three different high courts on corruption charges, which granted him bail before he was rearrested on December 29, 2015 and has since remained in detention.

According to him, the critical issue needed to be addressed was to whether there was any legal basis for the detention other than the recourse to national security in the light of the sensitive arms or high caliber arms found in his house.
The Court of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, on Tuesday declared the arrest and detention of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, as unlawful and arbitrary.

The court also held that the further arrest of Mr. Dasuki by government on November 4, after he was granted bail by a court of law, amounts to a mockery of democracy and the rule of law.

Mr. Dasuki is facing multiple trials for alleged diversion of $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms in the immediate past administration.

He is also accused of illegal possession of fire arms.

He approached the ECOWAS court after he was rearrested by members of Nigerias State Security Service shortly after meeting his bail conditions in November last year.

He has remained in the custody of the SSS since his arrest.

On Tuesday, a three-member panel led by Justice Friday Nwoke said Nigerias government was wrong in arresting Mr. Dasuki without a search warrant, adding that the pattern of arrest negates the provisions of Section 28 of the Nigerian Police Act.

According to the said section, a superior police officer may authorise the search of a resident belonging to a suspect assumed to be in illegal possession of an item, if the officer so authorised has a search warrant.

The court also noted that Section 143 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, allows that where such a search is proposed by the police or other authorities, an application must first be made to a court of law and and granted after due consideration of the said application, in compliance with section 144 of the ACJA.

The court further said the submission of Nigerian government that it came with the search warrant to Mr. Dasukis house but could not give it to him, because officers at his residence resisted the security operatives, was ineffective in proving its points.

Acording to the judge, the search warrant presented before the ECOWAS court was not certified and therefore lacks verifiable authenticity.

The court said government failed to prove its reasons for arresting and detaining Mr. Dasuki, as documents presented before it only emphasised the allegations of fraud and illegal possession of arms.

It added that the ECOWAS court was not set to determine whether or not the possession of arms by Mr. Dasuki amounted to an offence or not.

It however decided that the arrest was unlawful, arbitrary and a violation of local and international rights to liberty.

The court ruled that Federal Government should pay a sum of N15 million as damages to Mr. Dasuki.

It also decided that the cost of litigation will be summed up and charged against the Nigerian government.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, on Tuesday found a former Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Godsday Orubebe, guilty of false declaration of asset.

The tribunal, chaired by Danladi Umar, declared its judgement, seizing the asset said to have been exempted in Mr. Orubebes declaration form, but placed no other penalties against him.

Mr. Orubebe was accused of failing to declare an asset he acquired while in office as minister of the Niger Delta.

The asset, plot 2057, Asokoro district, Abuja was aquired barely a month before the end of his tenure and traced to him, but exempted in his asset declaration form.

Mr. Orubebe said he had put the said asset up for sale before the expiration of his tenure.

But the tribunal found Mr. Orubebe guilty of possession of the said plot, stressing that prosecution proved its case beyond doubts.

In his ruling, Mr. Umar decided that the arguments put forward by the prosecution were valid and thier documents admitted in envidence.

I hereby seize, on behalf of the federal government, the property known as plot 2057.

The federal government had in October last year filed a three-count charge against, Mr. Orubebe but reduced them to one in March, this year.

The former minister is known for his ardent support for former president Goodluck Jonathan.
A former Chief of Air Staff, Adesola Amosu, who was accused of stealing from the Nigerian Air Force bank account to buy personal properties worth billions of naira, is still in plea bargain talks with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, his lawyer told a federal judge Tuesday.

Norrison Quakers, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, told Justice Mohammed Idris of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court that the plea bargain talks between his client and the EFCC were still ongoing.

Mr. Amosu, a retired Air Marshal, was arraigned in June alongside Jacob Adigun, an Air Vice Marshal, and Gbadebo Olugbenga, an Air Commodore, on a 26-count charge of stealing N50 billion.

Also arraigned with the trio were their companies  Delfina Oil and Gas Ltd; McAllan Oil and Gas Ltd; Hebron Housing and Properties Company Ltd; Trapezites BDC; Fonds and Pricey Ltd; Deegee Oil and Gas Ltd; Timsegg Investment Ltd; and Solomon Health Care Ltd.

On July 8, the defence team, made up of Mr. Quakers, Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), Kemi Balogun (SAN) and A. Etuokwu informed the court of their clients intention to enter plea bargain.

The members of the team, who had earlier told the judge that their clients had returned colossal sums to the federal government, sought an adjournment to perfect their N500 million each bail condition and to smoothen their talks with the EFCC.

According to the charge sheet, Mr. Amosu and Mr. Adigun, a former Head of Accounts and Budgeting at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), allegedly removed sums running into billions of naira from NAFs bank account to purchase properties for themselves in choice locations in Abuja, Lagos, and London.

They include N400 million to renovate and purchase medical equipment for Solomon HealthCare Ltd, 24 Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja; N500 million to purchase a property at No. 1 River Street, Wuse 2, Abuja; N240 million to purchase a property at No.61A, Lake Chad Street, Maitama, Abuja; and N370 million property at Agadez Street, off Aminu Kano Crescent, Abuja.

Others are N440 million to purchase a property at Salt Lake Street, Maitama, Abuja; N1.7 billion for property at Agobogba Street, Parkview, Ikoyi; N750 million to purchase Cappadol Mall at Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Wuse 2, Abuja; N1.5 billion for property at Sinari Daranijo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos; and N900 million to purchase a property No. 40A, Bourdillon, Ikoyi.

Outside Nigeria, the duo allegedly withdrew N660 million from the NAF account to purchase two properties at No. 50-52 Tenterden Grove, London (NW4 1TH) and No. 93B Shirehall Park, London NW4 2QU, United Kingdom.

On Tuesday, Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, said he had brought two witnesses and was ready to invite them to the dock.

But Mr. Ayorinde objected, arguing that the matter was adjourned for mention and not trial.

Other members of the defence team aligned with Mr. Ayorinde, adding that their clients were still in plea bargain talks with the Commission.

In a short ruling, the judge agreed that the courts records showed the matter had been, indeed, adjourned for mention.

He adjourned till October 20, 21 and 24, 2016 for trial.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Oyegun, has reacted to the call by a former Lagos governor and a leader of the party, Ahmed Tinubu, that he should resign.

Mr. Oyegun said the national chairman of a party cannot be removed on the pages of newspapers.

He said Mr. Tinubus letter accusing him of highhandedness and being a mole in the party, was a bit too harsh, but said the two politicians merely had a difference of opinion.

Mr. Tinubu came down hard on Mr. Oyegun in a lengthy statement last week, accusing the party chairman of betrayal and fraud.

Evidently, some errant members believe promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken.

Chairman John Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display, Mr. Tinubu said. In doing so, Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira.

Mr. Oyegun responded on Tuesday at the presidential villa after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The method of getting rid of a national chairman if that is what I will call it, are spelt out in the constitution. They dont take place on the pages of newspapers, Mr. Oyegun told journalists.

He however insisted that there was no rift with Mr. Tinubu.

We have differences of opinion, differences of perception and I think that is normal. Yes, I agree that the nature of the statement was a bit harsh, he said.

Asked whether the party would reverse its decision on the Ondo election primaries, since it was causing crisis in the party, Mr. Oyegun said, It is only INEC that can make U-turn on Ondo.

Mr. Tinubu had faulted Mr. Oyeguns refusal to heed the recommendation of the partys panel to cancel the Ondo primary that produced Rotimi Akeredolu as the partys candidate.

He called for Mr. Odigie-Oyeguns resignation.

Mr. Odigie-Oyegun, who refused to go into details of what happened in the Ondo primary, told journalists that the report was with the Jigawa State Governor, Badaru Abubakar, the chairman of the primaries committee.

The two party leaders had met on Monday at President Muhammadu Buharis book launch in Abuja. It was their first meeting since Mr. Tinubu issued the statement on Mr. Oyegun.

On allegations that he sponsored some youth who protested at the partys headquarters against the alleged highhandedness of Mr. Tinubu, the APC national chairman said, God forbid, anybody who knows me knows that that is not my style. Im equally shocked and Im going to look into it and find out why and who is behind it.

Asked if the handshake and pleasantries shared with Mr. Tinubu at Buharis book launch were genuine, he replied, Do they know how far back our association goes? Do they know that we were in the trenches together in the NADECO days? Why cant people who have mutual respect for each other have different opinions? All we had was difference of opinions, yes it was expressed a bit harshly but that doesnt remove the basic fact that we have worked together for a very long time.
The Federal Government is demanding $406.75 million from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and its subsidiary, Shell Western Supply & Trading Limited, over alleged crude oil theft.

The amount, according to court documents presented in Lagos on Tuesday, represents the shortfall of the money the multinational oil firm paid into the Federal Government account with Central Bank of Nigeria.

The money was said to be for crude oil lifted in 2013 and 2014.

Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, Government Counsel, had accused the Anglo-Dutch company of not declaring or under-declaring crude oil shipments during the period, following forensic analysis of bills of laden and shipping documents.

Mr. Ajogwu, armed with sworn affidavits of three U.S.-based professionals, claimed that Shell cheated Nigeria of the revenue.

The professionals included Prof. David Olowokere, a U.S. citizen and lead Analyst at Loumos Group LLC, a technology and oil and gas auditing firm.

The others are Jerome Stanley, a Counsel at Henchy &Hackenberg law firm and head of the legal team engaged by Loumo Group LLC and Michael Kanko, founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Trade Data services Company.

According to the documents, the consortium of experts tracked the global movements of the countrys hydro-carbons, including crude oil and gas.

They identified the companies engaged in the practices that led to missing revenues from crude oil and gas export sales to different parts of the world.

They also revealed discrepancies in the export records from Nigeria with the import records at U.S. ports.

The undeclared shipments between January 2013 and December 2014 brought the total value of the entire shortfall to $406.75 million dollars, according to the documents.

The defendants were said to have failed to respond to a Federal Governments letter through its legal representative, seeking clarification to the discrepancies.

The Federal Government is therefore, seeking a court order to compel the two companies to pay $406.75 million, being the total value of the missing revenue and interest payment at 21 per cent per annum.

In addition, the government is also asking Shell to pay general exemplary damages in the sum of $406.75 million and the cost of instituting the legal action.

However, the Presiding Judge, Mojisola Olatoregun Isola, has adjourned the matter to Oct. 20, for the mention of the case.

Meanwhile, the Federal government has also sued Chevron, Total and Agip, asking for a total of $12.7 billion over alleged non-declaration of 57 million barrels of crude shipped to the U.S. between 2011 and 2014.

They are among 15 oil majors targeted by the government for the recovery of 17 billion dollars in deprived revenue, the News Agency of Nigeria learnt .

(NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja called for stronger global alliance in intelligence and information sharing to halt the scourge of terrorism that currently haunts both developing and developed countries.

The President made the call at the State House while receiving Letters of Credence from the Ambassadors of Republic of Tunisia, Jalel Trabelsi; Federal Republic of Germany, Bernhard Schlagheck; Kingdom of Sweden, Inger Ultvedt and the High Commissioner of Canada, Christopher Thornley, at separate meetings.

President Buhari told the Canadian High Commissioner that countries must always be on alert, and be willing to share information on activities of terrorists.

The President said Nigeria received support from several countries to fight Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, after the invitation to the G-7 meeting in Germany in 2015, recording remarkable progress in degrading the group and saving many lives.

The terrorists are all over the place; and we must be more watchful. If a developed country like France can be attacked by terrorists to the point of killing about 130 people, then what more of developing countries.

We need to build, and keep increasing our capacities to network and stay ahead. We need to build these capacities across borders because terrorists operate across borders, he said.

President Buhari said the rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the North East also received attention from some countries, who were quick to render services and material support to alleviate the humanitarian crisis that followed the overpowering of Boko Haram.

The President said his government had instituted reforms in various sectors of the Nigerian economy to ensure stability and integrity in operations, promising to create a more enabling environment for new partnerships and attractions for Foreign Direct Investments.

In his remark, Mr. Thornley said the reforms in the Nigerian economy were necessary to build global confidence and deeper relationships that will benefit the country.

We want you to know that Canada stands by you as a friend to Nigeria, and your government, he said.
A National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member serving in Zamfara State, Shorunke Lukmon Olayiwola, has been declared missing.

Lukmon is a former student of the University of Ilorin and 2015 batch B Stream 1 Corps member serving in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State with code number ZM/15B/1100.

He was declared missing on September 21after he left his home in Abeokuta to board a night bus to Zamfara for his final clearance.

Sources disclosed that he was on his way to Zamfara in preparation for the NYSCs batch B Passing Out Parade (POP) scheduled for October 6.

According to a sibling of the missing Corps member who simply identified herself as Laide, Lukmon informed his relatives that he would pass the night in Ibadan if he couldnt find vehicle to Zamfara.

In a chat with PREMIUM TIMES, Laide explained that Lukmon reportedly told a friend who chatted with him that the vehicle he boarded was held up in traffic at Sango area of Ibadan. He has since then not been reachable as his phones have remained switched off.

A friend of the Corps member who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, Owoseye Oluwayomi, explained that some of his colleagues and relatives have since reported the incident at the Oyo State Police Headquarters and the state command of the State Security Service, SSS.

Report has since been forwarded to the Nigerian Police Force, Oyo State Command, the Director General of NYSC through the Zamfara State Coordinator of NYSC, Department of State Security Service, Oyo State Command, and Oyo State NYSC Coordinator, he said.

Hammed Murtala, another friend of the missing Corps member, lamented the situation, describing it as terrible.

Till this moment no one knows his whereabouts, it is a terrible incident, he said.

Attempts to speak with the Oyo State NYSC coordinator was futile as the phone number was not reachable.

Meanwhile, Lukmons friends and former colleagues at the University of Ilorin have taken to social media to appeal to the Federal Government, security operatives and other well-meaning Nigerians to assist in finding their friend and reuniting him with his traumatised family.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday said Turkish authorities should apologise for their ongoing crackdown on Nigerians in tertiary institutions there.

The lawmakers said Nigeria has had enough of Turkeys victimisation of her citizens and warned that the Middle East country risks indiscriminate arrest of her citizens in Nigeria as a retaliation for the unjustifiable assault on Nigerians.

Solomon Maren, a lawmaker from Plateau State, raised the motion under matter of urgent national importance shortly after the House resumed plenary on Tuesday.

Nigerian students in colleges across Turkey have cried out in recent months that they were being unfairly targeted by the police and other security agencies in Istanbul, Ankara and other major cities in that country.

The aggression followed the ill-fated coup detat in the country on July 15, 2016.

Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip-Erdogan, blamed the coup on anti-Turkey elements in foreign countries and responded by demanding the immediate closure of all Turkish colleges in Nigeria and other countries.

The Nigerian government rejected the call and said it would pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Turkish schools in Nigeria also denied links to the coup.

Within the last one week, no fewer than 50 Nigerians have been arrested in Turkey and summarily deported.

The students alleged breach of their fundamental rights and urged a response and thorough investigation into their ordeal.

Contributing to the motion, Rotimi Agunsoye from Lagos, said Nigeria should openly reprimand Turkey for its actions and demand formal apology.

In his contribution, a lawmaker from Kaduna State, Adams Jagaba, said the House should weigh in on the crisis with caution.

Mr. Jagaba suggested that it would be counterproductive for the lawmakers to preempt the actions of the executive which has the traditional duty of diplomatic relations with foreign nations.

The speaker, Yakubu Dogara, ruled that the matter should be forwarded to committees on tertiary education, foreign affairs, interior and diaspora in support of the majority.
The Nigerian Senate has expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in the North East ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency, despite funds and supplies released to ameliorate conditions of the internally displaced persons.

Following a motion sponsored by Baba Garbai (APC-Borno) and 17 others, the Senate resolved to constitute an eight-man ad hoc committee to investigate utilisation of funds released to the Presidential Initiative on the North East, PINE.

The committee will also investigate alleged diversion of grains and other food items from the strategic grains reserves, National Emergency Management Agency and other sources for the IDPs.

PINE, Mr. Garbai told the Senate, is yet to show tangible result on ground with over half of the money appropriated to it released.

It was inaugurated last year by President Muhammadu Buhari to manage the North East crisis.

On the 17th of November 2015, the Senate in recognition of the dire situation in the North East by its resolution raised the amount proposed by the Executive in the budget for the IDPs from six billion naira to N10 billion, said Mr. Garbai.

Mr. Garbai quoted UNICEFs Chief of Nutrition in Nigeria, Arjen de Wagt, as saying We havent found the right words to describe the magnificence of the crisis.

According to Mr. Wagt, 4.5 million people are in dire need of assistance out of which 1 million are danger of extreme malnutrition.

The UNICEF Chief also said over N2 million people were still trapped in areas controlled by Boko Haram and could not be reached for assistance due to security reasons.

Thousands of children also stand risk of starvation to death of something urgent is not to assist them, UNICEF said.

Notwithstanding the huge budgetary allocation by the National Assembly, and various releases by the Executive, including significant donations from many sources, the situation on ground is not cheering, Mr. Garbai lamented.

He listed 21 contract awards by PINE which should be investigated.

For instance, he said Limex International Ltd was paid N117 million to supply temporary shelters but with no record of these shelters anywhere.

Members of the ad hoc committee to investigate the alleged diversions are Shehu Sani, Yahaya Abdullahi, Theodore Orji, Ben Bruce, and Oluremi Tinubu.

Others are Tayo Alasoadura and Solomon Olamilekan and Ali Wakili.

The committee will work for two weeks during which public hearing will be convened, Senate President, Bukola Saraki ruled.

Mr. Saraki described the situation in the North East as outcome of poor coordination, slow response and massive monumental corruption.

In additional resolution, the Senate resolved its members should contribute N300 thousand each to help the IDPs.

It also resolved anybody indicted after the investigation would be prosecuted.
Dozens of physically challenged people, destitute, and civil society activists Tuesday protested the forced evictions and demolition exercises of the Lagos State government.

The placard-bearing protesters, who marched down Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, also kicked against the governments ban on street trading.

Our position is that the government is not only for the rich, the government is for the rich and the poor, said Maurice Fangnon of the Centre for Defence of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa.

The poor are the ones who voted for government. In the days of the elections we saw the rich people crossing the borders, flying out of airports because they said the nation will be on fire.

But the poor remained behind, voted massively to see a new change, this is the change we are seeing, contrary to the expectations of our people.

The Lagos State government had embarked on a massive destruction of properties as well as forced evictions across the state for causing environmental nuisance, traffic snarls and security threat to the neighbourhood.

Last July, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode announced his decision to enforce the ban on street trading in the state. The law stipulates a N90,000 fine or six months imprisonment for both buyers and sellers.

On Tuesday, the protesters called on Mr. Ambode to reverse his decision.

We are telling the governor to withdraw his order today and forever because the order is anti-people, the order is anti-democratic, the order is anti-human being, the order is anti-social, Mr. Fangnon said.

The poor have the right to dwell, do business, trade on the land. If you ask them to live without doing anything, you are asking them to die. The government is for the people, the government should remain for the people, not for the rich alone.

The protesters assembled at the Falomo Roundabout in Ikoyi on Tuesday morning, as half a dozen Black Maria vans manned by police officers loomed large behind them.

The Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation, the organizers of the gathering, called on the government to abandon its hardline policies that do not solve social problems.

We are the urban poor. We are organized. We are together. And we have a right to the city, the group said in a statement.

Lagos is part of us and we are part of Lagos. We contribute to the economy and the social life of Lagos; without us the economy will fall and Lagos as we know it will be no more.

In January, the Lagos State government launched a campaign to declare its zero tolerance for street beggars and destituts in the state, saying it had reached an alarming dimension.

Mohammed Zaman, one of the protesters, said the failure of government to plan for the physically challenged people forced them into street begging.

They have families, they have children, they need to take care of them, they need to send their children to school. Everybody leave them to their disability, how can they do that? They cannot do that without support, said Mr. Zaman.

Instead of making a law that criminalizes them, that sends them to prison, let these people be taken care of, let them be empowered, let them be given skills to that they can equally contribute to the development of their society and the country at large. There is ability in disability. Disability must not be a crime. We cannot live in a land like this.

Gbenga Komolafe, General Secretary, Federation of Informal Workers Organization of Nigeria, said the government had demolished over half a dozen markets this year.

If you go to all these markets, youll notice that all the traders are outside while the land of the market that was destroyed is fenced, they fenced the traders out, said Mr. Komolafe.

They have put the traders on the street, the traders are forced to operate on the street. Now the same government that pushed the traders on the street is the same government that is going around to arrest the same traders and jail them in Kirikiri.
The Attorney- General of the Federal and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday inaugurated a 24-member committee on Constitution and Electoral Reform.

The minister, who inaugurated the committee, said he was directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to set up the committee.

He said that President Buhari had in his inauguration speech stated his desire to deepen the countrys democracy and entrench the culture of an enduring electoral system.

It is important to evaluate our democratic journey thus far with a view to fashioning out a more enduring system that will serve present and future generations, he said.

He said recent judicial decisions have shown that there is urgent need to scale up confidence in the electoral system in Nigeria.

Mr. Malami said that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Mahmoud, had decried the widespread distortion of binding judicial precedent with conflicting judgments

He decried a situation where electoral officials were killed or kidnapped and where politicians make the environment for elections a war theatre.

He said that the committee was expected to look into possible amendments to the Constitution and Electoral Act and come out with a more robust and generally acceptable electoral system.

The committee is also advised to take a holistic look of the recommendation of Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee, he said.

Mr. Malami advised the committee to consult far and wide, and in particular with National Assembly and judiciary in order to make recommendations that would stand the test of time.

He expressed the hope that the committee would turn in a report which depth and quality would resound for years to come and would facilitate the re-engineering of the electoral practice.

He said the terms of reference of the committee are to review recent judicial decisions on election petitions as they relate to conflicting judgments and absence of consequential orders.

Others are review of the laws impacting elections in Nigeria, including relevant provision of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2012(as amended).

The Chairman of the committee, a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, said he was confident that Mr. Buhari would enhance democratic structure s in Nigeria.

The issue of inconclusive election in the country affect national election which leads to loss of lives and the best way to handle it is to stop inconclusive election.

The best way to stop it in advance is to support the government in implementing what will make Nigeria have a non-violence election, Mr. Nnamani said.

The members of the committee are Oluwole Uzzi, O. O. Babalola, Mr Duruaku Chima, Mrs Musa Maryam, H.A Tahir, Ike Udunni, S.O Ibrahim, and Esther Uzoma,

Others include Muiz Banire, Eze Philip, Bashir Ibrahim, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Utum Eteng, Ejike Eze, Mamman Lawal, A.C Ude and E. Ifendu,

The remaining are Francis Bullen, Anike Nwoga, Cecilia Adams, Clement Nwankwo, C. Jude, Mohammed Tukur and Juliet Ibekaku. (NAN)
Some youth on Tuesday protested at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, demanding that one of the partys leaders, Bola Tinubu, stop harassing its national leadership.

The youth under the aegis of APC Youth Democratic Frontiers asked Mr. Tinubu to leave the National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, alone and concentrate his political activities in Lagos State where he (Tinubu) was governor.

Mr. Tinubu recently demanded the resignation of Mr. Odigie-Oyegun for his alleged role in the choice of Rotimi Akeredolu as the APC governorship candidate in the November governorship election in Ondo.

Alleging that Mr. Odigie-Oyegun was perpetrating injustice, the former Lagos governor said the development showed that there was an evil and regressive force within the party using the national chairman to derail the partys democratic and progressive tenets.

While the deputy spokesperson of the APC, Timi Frank, also demanded the resignation of the national chairman thus indicating a crack within the leadership of the party, a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, asked the leadership to live by the rules of democracy and respect democratic consensus.

During the protest, the APCYDF asked Mr. Tinubu to limit his political empire to the South-west region because Nigeria is bigger than a region or Lagos State.

The groups National Coordinator, Salahudeen Lukman, who addressed journalists, said its members could no longer fold their arms and allow party feudal lords to expropriate its ethics simply on regional nomenclature aimed at usurping the national interest.

It should be stated categorically that we are no longer comfortable with the whims and caprices of an orchestrated Jagaban resident in Bourdilion, Lagos and directed at misdirecting our progressive party simply to achieve egocentric empirical relevance, he said.

Let us state on a sad note that this overbearing tendency on the part of Tinubu is not limited to the federal level alone, he meddles in the affairs of even states that are not his home states.

Mr. Lukman also accused the APC national leader of undermining the position of the president of the country by incessantly sponsoring the spurious ridicule of his anti-corruption fight.

He said each time fake stories of impropriety were written about these presidents appointees, paid critics and activists on hire were always quick to accuse President Muhammadu Buhari of fighting corruption while surrounding himself with corrupt people.

What we learnt is that Tinubu is attacking these aides of Mr. President because he believes he should have been the one who makes appointments into those positions as opposed to what happened when Mr. President acted in national interest and cohesion to appoint tested and trusted individuals, the coordinator alleged.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, says 99 per cent of rice smuggled through the land borders is not fit for human consumption.

Mr. Ali, a retired Colonel, said this at a joint news conference on illegal rice importation to Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said samples of some of the rice seizures made over a period were referred to NAFDAC to ascertain their condition.

He said the test reports certified that smuggled rice through the borders was unfit for human consumption.

Importation of rice into the country is not banned but restricted on the point of entry to seaports only.

`We remain firm in our resolve to enforce the restriction of rice imports only to our seaports.

We have re-organised our anti-smuggling patrols to provide additional capability and bite, Mr. Ali said.

Mr. Ali said that during his recent trip to Benin Republic to engage with colleagues in customs on effective management of the borders, some delegations from groups came giving commitments to pay all charges applicable if customs relaxed the policy on borders.

According to him, there has been a significant increase in seizures in the first three quarter of 2016.

He said 117,034 (50kg) bags of rice seizures had been made at a duty paid value of N774.2 million.

He said customs seizures had revealed several ingenious but devilish ways of smuggling into country what Nigerians consumed as food.

We have seen rice conveyed in open wooden canoes across our creeks and water ways with generous amount of dirty waters splashing on them.

We have seen some mixed with other grains bags to deceive customs; some are stuffed inside any available crevice and compartments of vehicles, including the engine area.

The concealed rice is thereafter re-bagged half cooked and presented in our markets for sale as imported rice.

Bags of rice meant for Nigerians consumption (are) being conveyed in coffins inside make shift ambulance vehicles.

Often time, importers in the borders have to wait for months for the green light from corrupt customs officials before they gamble their ways across the borders.

Rice being a perishable product, lose valuable shelve life in non-conducive storage conditions.

We have strong evidence linking some reputable importers to cases of re-bagging expired rice to prolong their shelve life, he added.

He said that promoters of the economic subterfuge were seeking a re-introduction of quota system to import 1.5 million tonnes through the entry point

We will be waiting for them.

Mr. Ali said that many state governments had injected massive investments in local production of rice.

He added that the Federal Government, through the intervention by CBN and Bank of Industry, was also investing to give momentum to rice revolution.

Mr. Ali said Kebbi State Government, in 2016, harvested over 700,000 tonnes from irrigation farming while 800,000 tonnes were projected from rain-fed rice farming with similar projection from other states across the country.

He said that customs was inundated with periodic intelligence about ship loads of parboiled rice that offloaded regularly in the neighbouring port of Cotonou.

Mr. Ali added that Benin Republic did not eat parboiled rice, adding that the imports were ultimately destined for Nigeria by smuggling through the land borders

He said that with the support of patriotic Nigerians, we will not only achieve national self-sufficiency of rice in 2017 but be in pole position to clamp a total ban on its importation in the years ahead.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, recalls that in April 2016, customs re-introduced the ban on importation through the land borders.

However, the reversal of the policy introduced in October 2015, was informed by high level of non-compliance by rice importers who resorted to large scale smuggling of the product.

(NAN)
The wife of the Borno State Governor, Nana Shettima, has said that the government of Borno state cannot effectively manage the welfare needs of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) without external support.

The Borno first lady made this remark while on a visit to some of the IDP camps on Tuesday to monitor a special feeding programme for minors.

The programme is being financed by a N2 million personal donation made by members of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs led by Oluremi Tinubu. The committee visited the camps in Maiduguri last week. The donation was meant to help the children below 7 years feed properly.

Mrs. Shettima said feeding the IDPs has been a heavy responsibility for the state government and may even become a burden in the days to come; especially now that the state government is pulling all resources together to ensure that liberated communities are rebuilt.

She, therefore, called on more support from well meaning Nigerians and international NGOs to support the state and federal governments efforts in making sure that the IDPs live and feed well in their respective camps.

Of all the states in the Northeast, Borno is one of the states that suffered worst devastation due to attacks by insurgents in the last six years, she said. So we will continue to plead to all well meaning citizens of the world to support us providing support towards the needs of the displaced people.

Mrs Shettima who spoke to journalists at Dalori IDP camp as well as at another camp run by the Christian Association of Nigeria, said she was impressed with the quality of beans being cooked for the minors as part of their breakfast.

My mission here is to visit the camps to monitor how the beans that was purchased with the N2 million donated by Senate committee on Women Affairs and officials of the Future Assured for feeding of our children in camps. We all know that beans have a high rate of protein, which is good to the health of our children.

I want to sincerely thank this committee for not only visiting our state to see our IDPs, but for also initiating weekly feeding of our children in camps with protein supplement. I am much satisfied with the quality and quantity of the beans being served in all the camps, and I want to assure that, this initiative is going to be a continuous one.

I am appealing to individuals and corporate organizations to assist Borno State Government with cash or kind to enable it cater for our IDPs because government is doing enough to see that all our destroyed communities are being reconstructed for displaced people to go back home, she said.
Shehu Koko, the Aide-de-camp (ADC) to former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, on Tuesday, explained to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry how he disbursed N680.2 million to security agents in the state during the 2015 general elections.

Mr. Koko told the Commission in Katsina that the funds were disbursed in cash.

He said it was his former boss, Mr. Shema, who asked him to summon a security meeting on March 26, 2015.

The money was disbursed as logistics and allowances to various security personnel during the Presidential and Gubernatorial Elections in 2015.

I invited the then Deputy Commissioner of Police who stands for the CP, the then Commanding Officer of the 35 battalion, Nigerian Army, the Director, Department of State Security (DSS) and the Deputy Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), he said.

He explained that the money was provided by the then Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sani Makana, on March 27, 2015.

According to him, the SSS was given N158 million, Nigerian Army; N68.2 million, Customs; N8 million, Immigration; N10 million, and Prisons Service: N8 million.

Others were Federal Road Safety Corps, N8 million; NSCDC, N24 million; the present Commissioner of Police who was in the state for election duties got N10 million, former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), N4 million and DCP operations; N3.5 million.

The ADC said each of the three police area commanders received N4 million, while N95 million was disbursed to the 34 Divisional Police Officers, where each DPO got N2.5 million, among others.

He added that the present ADC to Gov. Bello Masari collected for himself and on behalf of the Non-Commissioned Officers serving in the state.

Mr. Koko submitted documents on the disbursement which were registered and marked as evidences.

The Chairman of the Commission, Justice Muhammad Surajo, adjourned sitting until October 26 for adoption of addresses by the counsel.

The current state Governor, Bello Masari, had constituted a commission of inquiry to investigate how funds were allegedly diverted during the tenure of Ibrahim Shema and advise government on what to do.

(NAN)
Benin City, the capital of Edo State, was last Saturday thrown into jubilation as faithful and supporters of the All Progressive Congress, APC, thronged the Oba Ovoramwen Square in the heart of the state capital to celebrate the victory of the party in the September 28 governorship election.

It was a night in which the Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and the Governor-elect, Godwin Obaseki, showed their dancing skills to the admiration of all.

Both the governor and his incoming successor had, on Thursday, after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, announced Godwin Obaseki as the winner of the election, held victory procession round the town, in what turned out to be a carnival of sorts.

The victory party held on Saturday, coinciding with Nigerias 56th Independence Anniversary, was in keeping with the tradition of the APC in the state which uses such occasions to thank the people for their support for the party.

Although both the Governor and the Governor-elect had shown their dancing skills during rallies and campaigns of the APC, new skills which were perhaps kept in the bag were unveiled at the victory party which charged the atmosphere.

With top artistes, including Timaya, Franchise, K-Cee, Patoranking, Osayomore, Young Bolivia, Akobayan, Maleke, Efex the Entertainer, Pikolo, A go Dye, Gordons, among others dishing out melodious songs and jokes to the admiration of the youths and not-so-young who filled the Oba Ovoranmwen square to capacity, the Governor led his incoming successor, the incoming Deputy Governor and their wives to the dance floor to show off his excitement on the victory of the APC.

After thrilling the audience with his skills, the Governor addressed the mammoth crowd and thanked them for always supporting the APC in the state.

I am happy to be out of a job if the job is taken by Godwin. Always remember, Edo people are the greatest. We are the heartbeat of the Nigerian nation. And with Godwin Obaseki, the heart will beat even stronger.

The victory party provided a suitable atmosphere for people to unwind, dance and enjoy themselves with good music and hilarious comedy provided by professional musicians and comedians.

Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Governor Adams Oshiomhole and his wife, Iara, the governor-elect, Godwin Obaseki and his wife Betsy; the Deputy Governor-elect, Philip Shaibu and his wife Maryann; Anselm Ojezua, APC Chairman in the state and other leaders of the party; members of the State Executive Council, members of the State House of Assembly, among other top dignitaries.
Bernie Sanders is coming to Dearborn on Thursday to campaign for Hillary Clinton in her presidential bid.

Sanders will discuss Hillary Clintons plan to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, and Donald Trumps plan, which would benefit himself and other millionaires and billionaires, Clintons campaign said in an announcement Tuesday.

At the event, Sanders will say lets raise the minimum wage to a living wage, lets combat climate change and move to sustainable energy, lets make public colleges and universities tuition free, lets end a broken criminal justice system. Most importantly, lets defeat Donald Trump and make Hillary Clinton our next president.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for the 10:30 a.m. event at UAW Local No. 600, 10550 Dix Ave. Advance tickets from the Clinton campaign are required to attend.

Sanders also is set to visit Ann Arbor, East Lansing and Grand Rapids.
NEWARK  A onetime top ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the governor and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo discussed releasing a false report to tamp down questions over the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal, the prosecutions key witness testified Tuesday.

David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty in the gridlock scheme and is cooperating with prosecutors, said former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chairman David Samson told him the governors discussed the idea in October 2013. The report would have attributed the lane closings to a traffic study, covering up the true reason for the closures: political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee for failing to endorse Christies 2013 re-election, Wildstein testified.

The report was never issued.

Instead, Bill Baroni testified before lawmakers in November 2013, two months after the lane closings, that they were part of a traffic study.

Baroni, who served as Christies top appointed staff aide at the Port Authority, and Bridget Kelly, Christies former deputy chief of staff, are on trial facing wire fraud and civil rights charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

The idea for the report came as news reporters began to ask questions about the lane closings, which gridlocked Fort Lee for four days.

My understanding was that (Republican) Gov. Christie and (Democratic) Gov. Cuomo had discussed this, Wildstein said under cross-examination on Tuesday, according to the Record, adding he was told the information by Samson.

My understanding at the time was that it would put an end to this issue.

A message left with Samsons attorney hasnt been returned. Samson pleaded guilty in another case to using his role as Port Authority chairman to influence United Airlines to reinstate a money-losing route closer to his vacation home and is awaiting sentencing.

Messages left with Christie and Cuomos offices were not immediately returned.

Wildstein testified earlier that Baroni told Christie about the traffic jams as they were happening and said the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee wasnt happy that he wasnt getting his calls returned.

Christie has not been charged and says he did not authorize the closures or play a role in covering them up.
Yard sales can be a great way to make extra cash and get rid of some clutter. But professionals say its not as easy as throwing a blanket down on your front yard.

Preparing for a yard sale takes time and planning.

Dianne Duncan, owner of Duncans Estate Service, based in the Marmora section of Upper Township, has been in the business of selling other peoples stuff since 1998. She said her first foray into yard sales began nearly 40 years ago.

I bought my first thing at a yard sale in 1977 and I still have it, so Ive always been interested in antiques, she said.

She and her husband, Ron, host estate sales in Atlantic and Cape May counties twice a week all year long.

Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt is the president and owner of Suasion Communications Group, a company she founded nine years ago.

Adelizzi-Schmidts Somers Point company focuses on branding, marketing and public relations in South Jersey.

She said people hosting a yard sale can use professional marketing tips to make the most of their sale.

Yard sale tips

Advertise: You can sell whatever you want, you just have to advertise well. You have got to get people there, so you have to have something thats appealing, Duncan said.

She said to use all the resources available.

Its so much easier because we post photos, we use Instagram, Facebook, Duncan said.

Adelizzi-Schmidt said to start a Facebook event and invite friends, post to various Facebook groups and use hashtags.

If you really want to get aggressive, you can boost your post, geo-target your immediate area for as low as $5 for the day, Adelizzi-Schmidt.

Duncan said to list the items you have for classified ads.

Costume jewelry, tools, those are things that get people in the door, she said.

Start early: Adelizzi-Schmidt recommends starting one month in advance, but no less than a week.

Ask people to come: Every person knows at least 100 people, so getting your message out and telling people and asking them to spread the word is really important, Adelizzi-Schmidt said.

She said to reinforce the invitation on the day-of with a text reminder.

Reasonable hours: Duncan said not to open too early and not to open earlier than you advertised.

Know your prices: Theres nothing worse than going to a yard sale and nothings priced. It doesnt matter what you price it, Duncan said.

She said to keep prices close to what you want to get.

Everybodys going to ask for a better deal, she said.

Curb appeal: Adelizzi-Schmidt said its all about optics.

Take a look at it with a critical eye and say, Do I have my best merchandise out toward the front? Look at the overall packaging of it, she said.

Take a cue from retailers and organize items, Adelizzi-Schmidt said.

They cant just throw a blanket on the floor. Those yard sales most people just drive by and dont even stop, Duncan said.

Signage: Duncan said to put up signs that are legible for cars driving by. She said to use arrows to direct customers to the sale.

And be a good neighbor.

Put your sign up in the morning and take it down at night. Dont leave it up there for a week. Put the signs up the day of, she said.

Adelizzi-Schmidt said that signs should be placed at major intersections where traffic is going to be slower, like a stop sign or traffic light, and within a half-mile radius of the sale.

You dont want to cram a ton of information on them, she said. Use the word big.

Adelizzi-Schmidt said to make sure the signs have the relevant information like address, hours and an arrow pointing in the direction of the sale.

Drive along and act like youre someone who has never been to your house, she suggested.

Carry proper permitting: You have to know where you live and what the ordinances are. A lot of areas require permits, and you really should go get the permits, Duncan said.

Group think: Think about joining with your neighbors. It makes it more fun, it makes it more community-oriented. Obviously, the bigger the better, Adelizzi-Schmidt.

Duncan said community yard sales are always busier.

People make it an outing. They spend the whole morning. You have more competition, but you have a lot more people, she said.
Eddie Obropta went from Middle Township High School to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he majored in aerospace engineering. After he graduated from MIT, he started back there working on a Ph.D., but then left school to co-found Raptor Maps, a startup company that works with drones.

Now Obropta travels the country using that unmanned aircraft system technology on agriculture. But as he thinks about where he grew up, he sees South Jersey as a perfect place for many drone-based businesses to set up shop.

Boston, his home now, has great technology and engineering resources, as do other major cities. But to actually test-drive a new drone feature, it takes him a good hour's trip out of Boston to reach a "really remote airfield," unless he can find friendly property owners who don't Raptor Maps' chief technology officer flying drones at their places.

"If you're at the Cape May County Airport or in that area, you can open your door and do what you need to do," Obropta said Friday, from eastern Washington state, where his company's drones help analyze minute details of the fall potato harvest.

Plus he sees the Federal Aviation Administration's William J. Hughes Technical Center, in Egg Harbor Township, and the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May as other resources this area provides drone entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their businesses.

South Jersey is busy these days trying to turn its remote, rural character  which has historically held the region back from attracting job-creating industries  into an asset as the area works to become a hub for drone companies.

"Our overriding mission here is economic development. The flying part is cool, but this is about jobs," says Joe Sheairs, the executive director of the Stockton Aviation Research & Technology Park. The aviation park is a neighbor of the FAA's Tech Center, and it works closely with Cape May County Airport and other local agencies and institutions to draw drone businesses to South Jersey.

A drone-industry umbrella group, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, estimated in 2013 that drone-based businesses would generate an economic impact of $82.1 billion nationwide in the decade between 2015 and 2025.

AUVSI put New Jersey's share of that pie at about $1.6 billion, and projected that drones would create about 2,000 new jobs in the state over those 10 years. So different regions are trying hard to get their share of those jobs and dollars.

The Delaware River and Bay Authority, which runs Cape May County's airport, and the county itself are set to sponsor a second Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference Oct. 13 and 14 at Cape May Convention Hall.

Plus for more than a year, the county has hosted a monthly "innovation forum" for people in the drone field. Carole Mattessich, Cape May County's economic development director, says an average of 35 people show up to talk about new developments and challenges in the science and business of drones.

"We try to follow what we consider the (early) Silicon Valley model ... where innovators used to get together and swap ideas in a collaborative manner," Mattessich said.

And Atlantic Cape Community College has made a push of its own into drones, including starting classes to train operators to fly under new FAA rules announced in June.

Jim Taggart is an ACCC professor in information science, and the faculty advisor to the college aviation program. He says the first drone class opened last winter.

"We were hoping we'd get 10 (students) so we didn't have to cancel the course," he says. "On the first day, we had 24 people show up."

This semester, the teachers decided to limit the drone-flying class to 15 seats.

"But we ended up signing in a couple of extra students, because they begged us," Taggart said. "One is driving down twice a week from Paramus (Bergen County). And five students, this is the first (ACCC) course they ever came to."

So he's excited about the growth possibilities for drones  "It seems like every time you turn around, somebody has a new idea or a new use," Taggart says, but he knows that South Jersey is hardly the only area of the country where officials and institutions are getting together and trying to draw drone jobs.

He went to a University Aviation Association conference in Nebraska last week, and the same group's convention a year earlier.

In 2015, he went to sessions on drones with six or so other people, "but this time there were about three times as many people in the same meetings," Taggart said.

Back at Stockton's aviation center, Sheairs doesn't expect drones to be the magic fix for South Jersey's economy. But he knows the region is getting noticed, because his center has missions booked this month with the Red Cross, which plans to use drones to make maps of dangerous areas of the world, and the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.

"We have," Sheairs says, "some serious customers coming to the table."
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Morganne Schafle, 20, of Sicklerville, wants to be a school counselor and chose Stockton University because she loves the rural atmosphere.

I walk past Lake Fred every morning, she said.

As president of the universitys Pride Alliance she also appreciates the acceptance she feels on campus as a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning  or LGBTQ+  community.

We have a great community here, she said of Stockton, where about 50 people came out Monday to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with the raising of a rainbow flag on campus.

The role of college is more than just provide academic instruction. For most students it is their first time living away from home, meeting new people, and hearing, if not always agreeing with, different viewpoints and lifestyles.

Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said Stockton has always embraced diversity and respect.

He recalled at the flag-raising that the first Gay Peoples Union on campus was approved by the Stockton Student Activity Board in 1975.

Student Laurel Hester, who formed the group, went on to a career in law enforcement in Ocean County and later became nationally known for her fight while battling cancer to allow her partner to get her pension benefits after she died in 2006.

It took a heck of a lot of courage for her to come out in the 1970s, Kesselman said. She lost her battle with cancer, but won her legal battle.

He also cited Stockton alumnus Kevin Cathcart, who became executive director of Lambda Legal, where he fought for LGBT rights.

There is still work to be done by all of us, Kesselman said.

Speaker Mayor Don Guardian said it is important today to address injustices to all people.

There are others today we have to protect, he said. We were them, the people no one was sticking up for, no one was defending. Its what we need to do.

Stockton alumnus Mico Lucide, a former president and now the adviser of the Pride Alliance, said they must continue to celebrate the victories, but also recognize the battles such as the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Florida.

There is still bigotry, rejection and violence, he said. There is still family rejection and bathroom policies.

He called the flag-raising a message that students are loved and accepted at Stockton. He said university Safe Zone workshops help raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and share how to address them.

At a reception after the flag raising, students said their goal is greater understanding. Some said they grew up with little understanding of why they were different and Stockton and the Pride Alliance have helped them find acceptance.

Lucide said Stockton is developing polices to address housing and use of pronouns that reflect a students identity, but each person should be accepted as an individual.

Society is evolving, he said. But I would like everyone to have a common base of understanding.

Josue Mass, 19, a sophomore from Camden, is comfortable enough to wear a Soy Queer Latino(a) T-shirt at the LGBTQ table in C-wing.

I came out senior year in high school because I had a boyfriend and just said, Lets do it, he said. No one had a problem in school, but I still have not told my grandmother. Your environment dictates how comfortable you are.

He said growing up he had no concept of what being gay meant, so that even though he knew at a young age that he was different, it took him a long time to understand and come to terms with it. But he sees progress every year.

Even the freshmen are more open, he said.

Michelle Makar, 19, a sophomore from Woodbridge, is a straight ally of the Pride Alliance.

I think it is more accepted here than in high school, she said. People are not so afraid to be themselves at college.

She said she tries to spread the message that the Pride Alliance is for everyone.

I think Micos speech was a call to action, she said.

Makar is Schafles roommate. She said they became instant friends when they met over the summer.

This college and community have taught me that I dont need to be afraid, Schafle said. I love this school for accepting me. I want others who may be scared to know that its OK to be themselves.
WASHINGTON D.C.  Timing is everything.

The National Gallery of Art opened an exhibition Tuesday featuring a rare 17th-century painting by Caspar Netscher that it acquired only last week. The 1666 work, A Woman Feeding a Parrot, makes its U.S. debut in a exhibition of Dutch landscapes and still-lifes on view through early next year.

The museum, which formally announced the acquisition Tuesday, acquired the painting through a gift from the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund. The painting, the first by Netscher in the NGAs collection, will hang next to a compositional study of the same scene that is on loan from the British Museum. It marks the first time the two works have been displayed side by side, thanks to the British Museums expedited loan.

This is totally off the charts, curator Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. said of the Sept. 29 acquisition. Usually months in the making, the transaction was completed within a week. The painting is in perfect condition, and we have this incredible situation where we can feature it, he added.

Wheelock said he had had his eye on the work for several years but was unable to secure it because of its troubled provenance. The painting was bought by a Belgium family in the 1930s and deposited in a Brussels museum in 1939 for safekeeping. But in 1942, during the German occupation, the work became part of Nazi leader Hermann Goerings collection. It was donated to the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, Germany, in 1952, where it remained until it was returned to the heirs of the Belgium collector in 2014.

The work sold in 2014 at a Christies auction for $5.1 million, and the National Gallery acquired it from the London art dealer who had bought it. Its restitution, and subsequent sale, provided a window of opportunity that no one expected, the curator said.

Its the most beautiful thing practically that youve ever seen, Wheelock said. Its an incredibly engaging, seductive painting. It is in incredible condition, by an important artist and a great masterpiece of the 1660s.

Wheelock said the drawing on loan from the British Museum was thought to be a preliminary study of the painting, but research by the National Gallery has revealed that it was done later. Artists would sometimes create copies of their paintings for their records, he said.

One of the nice things of doing an exhibition is these totally unexpected discoveries, Wheelock said.

Drawings for Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt is on view through Jan. 2, 2017.
FARMVILLE, Vir.  Tuesdays vice presidential debate is putting this small college town in Southside Virginia on the map  and illuminating a part of Virginias history that is arguably more important to remember.

Just outside the border of Longwood University  and now cordoned off by tight security and 8-foot-high black metal fencing  is what used to be Robert Russa Moton High School, where in April 1951, Barbara Johns, a 16-year-old African-American, led a walkout to protest the unequal conditions caused by school segregation in Prince Edward County.

The school is now home to the Moton Museum, dedicated to Johns efforts. Prince Edward became part of the case that led to the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

Joan Johns Cobbs was a frightened 13-year-old at the time of her big sisters speech to students leading to the walkout.

I thought, Oh my God, we are going to get in trouble, Cobbs, now 78, and living in New Jersey, recalled Monday during an interview at the museum.

My sister was the most courageous, bravest, fearless person. She stood up for what we believed, Cobbs said. It was a scary time.

It is a story that is becoming better known thanks to Longwoods hosting of Tuesdays debate between Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the GOP nominee.

Its a historical moment, but I think that Farmville has a history that is shameful because of the fact that schools were closed from 1959 to 1964, said Cobbs, who spent her career working for the U.S. Marshals Service in New Jersey.

This debate being here will shine some light on what happened in Farmville and perhaps people across the nation will finally understand ... and come to the museum to learn about what happened.

Kaine is likely to invoke Farmvilles historical significance in the nations civil rights movement during the debate, which is being covered by media from across the nation and around the world.

The school has given its 5,000 students an extended fall break to accommodate the influx of thousands of reporters, security and politicos from both parties who will transform the college town into the center of the political universe  at least until this Sundays presidential debate in Missouri. The media center has 590 seats.

Its a once in a lifetime experience, said Longwood freshman Emily Davis, 18, from Gloucester  one of several hundred students who stayed in town to volunteer for the event.

Davis had to leave her hi-rise dormitory and relocate across campus Monday to accommodate security concerns surrounding the event, but still saw Longwoods time in the spotlight as well worth it.

It really shows the spirit of students  citizen leadership is important to us, and having the opportunity to host a part of history is a great opportunity.

On Sunday night on Stubbs Mall, Longwood representatives drew the names of 100 students who won the ticket lottery and will get to attend the debate inside Willett Hall.

The town of 7,000 seems freshly scrubbed, and red, white and blue bunting adorns shop windows. A smattering of political signs can be seen along the main routes into town.

Most of them trumpet Republican Donald Trump and his running mate, Pence. One sign  strategically located in a yard directly across the street from campus, reminds people that Libertarian Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor who failed to qualify for the first presidential debate, is also running.

Tow truck operators on Monday were also doing a brisk business hauling away cars with New York license plates from what would normally be sleepy strip mall parking lots.

On campus, inside a heavily policed perimeter, Longwood has been transformed into a media campus and giant soundstage.

There is a cavernous media center and spin alley in a fitness center, a special section of risers to interview political officials and celebrities just like the Oscars, as well as open space for protesters and concerts, in addition to the debate hall that will host Pence and Kaine.

What if we had gotten this attention in 1959? wondered Dorothy Holcomb, chair of the Moton Council that helps run the museum.

She was a 4th grader who saw her Prince Edward elementary school closed in 1959 as the county continued to resist the Supreme Court ruling that found school segregation unconstitutional.

Barbara Johns did something very profound, and it took years and nobody recognized and realized it, she said.

The history of Prince Edward and Farmvilles hosting of the debate, said Holcomb, is a reminder that we need to be mindful of our politics  and our decisions matter.

To both women, while progress and history has been made, the nation has not realized true racial reconciliation.

Holcomb, now 67, recalled the words of her teacher in the basement of the makeshift school she attended after her own school was closed so many years ago.

She said Laws can dictate that we desegregate, but only in changing hearts can we truly integrate. 

Just across the street from the university, the debate was already underway  at the local McDonalds.

Thats where retirees to the area congregate every morning to discuss the issues of the day over reduced-price, senior coffees and egg McMuffins.

And on the eve of the debate, aside from a story in the local paper that said most people dont die of old age, the topic du jour defaulted to politics  not without some regret.

Oh, Im thrilled, said a sarcastic senior named Ronald, a retiree from New Jersey. Oh, I mean its good for the town and the businesses, but Im still trying to figure out how we got it.

Retiree Bob Jefferson, a Delaware native, said he expects to be in Richmond Tuesday, when Kaine and Pence square off.

Ronald, a Democrat, describes Bob as a conservative stuck with (Donald) Trump.

Bob says Ronald is a liberal stuck with Hillary Clinton.

Let the debate begin.
BRIDGETON  South Jersey Ice and Cold Storages building appeared to be in such bad structural condition in June that it was an accident waiting to happen, current and former Vineland construction officials testified Tuesday.

An inspection of the building revealed rusted metal stairs, rotted floor planks and corroded steel support beams, Kevin Kirchner, Vinelands former construction code official, told the Cumberland County Construction Board of Appeal in Bridgeton.

Derek Leary, Vinelands current construction code official, also testified to seeing main steel support beams being held up by temporary scaffolding and walls left unsupported after being broken through to provide room-to-room access.

The board continued until next month the companys appeal of a notice of unsafe structure issued by Vineland on July 7. That appeal is also the focus of a lawsuit the company filed recently in Superior Court, board Solicitor Edward Duffy said during the hearing.

The company wants the court to overturn what it considers to be an existing denial of its appeal, Duffy said. The company contends in its lawsuit the denial became automatic through the boards slow action on the appeal, he said.

Duffy said he disagrees with the companys contention, as the board in September granted a delay so Vineland could get additional expert reports. South Jersey Ice and Cold Storage agreed to that delay, he said.

The Superior Court action also involves another appeal, this one involving a Sept. 13 notice of imminent hazard issued by Vinelands Fire Department, according to Duffy.

The board was considering an appeal of the notice of unsafe structure issued by Vineland on July 7 after an inspection of the building in the 500 block of East Pear Street by Kirchner. The notice lists the reason for the finding as floor, roof, walls not stable. It gave the owners until July 10 to comply with the demand to either vacate or tear down the building, make repairs or provide an engineering report that shows the building is structurally sound.

Kirchner and Leary said the company has yet to provide that engineering report.

In his testimony to the board, Kirchner also said his inspection of the building revealed 2 to 3 feet of ice built up on some ceilings.

The extra weight that was on that ceiling, if it ever came down on the employees, it would be a catastrophe, Kirchner said. It was not a building I felt safe in.

The board never got to question the next witness, Vineland Fire Chief Robert Pagnini, before it had to adjourn because the county administration building, where the hearing was being held, was closing.

The hearing will resume Nov. 2.

Allegations about the buildings structural integrity arent the only problems the company faced this year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent $500,000 to prevent what it said was the possible release of ammonia gas from the plant.

The work began July 2 and lasted until late August. It forced a two-week relocation of 31 residents who live near the plant and prompted shelter-in-place and single-day evacuation orders for other residents in the neighborhood.

The EPA said it took action after discovering a refrigeration system in a very serious state of disrepair. Excessive ice and frost accumulated on the cooling coils through which anhydrous ammonia flowed. Anhydrous ammonia is considered a toxic material that can irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts with short-term exposure.

The EPA said it also removed 37,000 gallons of brine solution from a machinery-room tank that was in danger if imminent collapse.
ATLANTIC CITY  The citys deadline to comply with terms of a $73 million state loan came and went Monday with no action from the state.

The cash-strapped city had until Monday to adopt an ordinance initiating dissolution of the Municipal Utility Authority, the valuable water system used as collateral for the loan.

City Council failed to approve the authority-related measures last month, putting the city at risk of defaulting on the loan.

But a state spokeswoman said Monday that she didnt have information on what the state plans to do. And a spokesman for Mayor Don Guardian said he hadnt heard from the state on the loan violation.

The state can now demand immediate repayment of the $62 million loaned thus far, seize the citys collateral or withhold state aid, according to the agreements terms.

City officials tried to prevent the state from doing that last week.

City and authority officials unveiled a plan to have the authority buy Bader Field for at least $100 million. The proceeds would pay down the citys roughly $500 million debt.

The plan was touted as a way to make money off the prized water works without privatizing or dissolving it. Officials also used the announcement to pressure the state to accept the sale, which is part of the citys fiscal recovery plan to avoid a state takeover.

Other than vengeance, theres no reason to try to stop this deal, Guardian said Sept. 26. Other than if youre on the payroll of one of the water companies that are trying to buy it.

Theres also a pending lawsuit that seeks, in part, to void the loan agreement all together.

Liberty & Prosperity, a tea party group represented by former city Councilman Seth Grossman, claims Councils approval of the loan violated Local Budget and Sunshine laws. A hearing was recently rescheduled to Oct. 14.

Grossman has said its premature for city and state officials to assume the loan is valid and enforceable.
VENTNOR  Authorities on Tuesday identified the man shot and killed by police during a standoff in Ventnor Heights.

John H. Fetter III, 49, who lived with his parents in the 700 block of North Burghley Avenue, was armed with a handgun when he was shot by members of the Atlantic County Emergency Response Team on Monday night, according to the state Attorney Generals Office.

The shooting followed a standoff that officials believe started with a domestic violence incident, the office said.

Earlier in the day, Fetter threatened his father with a shotgun, which escalated to an altercation between the two men and an argument over the gun, authorities said.

Neighbors watched the drama unfold through their windows. Some said they were still shaken up a day later.

Officers responded to the home at 6:22 p.m. after an incomplete call from the home was placed to the Ventnor Police Departments non-emergency line. Once police arrived, a 911 call was placed from the home, where yelling could be heard in the background, the Attorney Generals Office said in a statement.

Officers heard shots fired from inside the home, and police blocked off the area. Fetters parents were removed from the home, and shots were fired out of the residence, striking a home across the street, the statement said.

Police tried to get Fetter to leave the home. He eventually stepped out of the house at 7:38 p.m. pointing a handgun at SWAT team members while standing on the front porch, the statement said.

One shot was fired, and the county Emergency Response Team fatally shot Fetter. He died at the scene. Police recovered a .22-caliber handgun nearby, the statement said.

Fetters parents sued him in August 2015 in Superior Court in Atlantic County for allegedly failing to repay more than $14,000 in loans, court records show. The lawsuit was amicably resolved and dismissed in December.

On Tuesday morning, caution tape still surrounded the area near Fetters home.

Jeff Ebert, 53, who lives across the street, said he was sitting in his house while his two young daughters played a game on the living room floor when they noticed a police car.

Ebert said he got up to look out the window. Police yelled for him and other neighbors to stay inside.

They had their guns up. They said, John, put the gun down. Come out, he said.

Ebert and his wife made sure their daughters were safe and continued watching from the window. He said he saw Fetter come out of the home, fire the gun and get shot by police.

Ebert added he has seen police cars respond to the home in the past, but never with guns drawn or in an incident like Monday nights. Hes lived in the area for about 50 years, and nothing like this has happened on his block.

My concerns today are for the aftermath the children will have to experience after being so close to this tragedy right in their backyard, said Mayor Beth Holtzman.

Frances Toosie DelBrocco, of Margate, said she was heading to her friends house on Marshall Avenue for a Rosh Hashana meal just before 7 p.m. Police stopped her from entering the street she normally turns onto.

While DelBrocco was never able to get to the house, which is adjacent to Fetters home, she said she stayed on the scene for about three hours.

The night was horrendous, all you heard was bang, bang, bang, she said. I didnt sleep all night. I feel like I was in a bad dream.

The Attorney Generals Shooting Response Team is investigating.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested after authorities said he made threats against a Mays Landing middle school through a creepy clown social-media account, Hamilton Township police said Tuesday.

The arrest came as reports surfaced throughout South Jersey, including in Middle and Lower townships in Cape May County, that mirror nationwide pranks and threats, some involving threats on social media, others in which people reported others in clown costumes trying to scare them into the woods.

Hamilton Township police said they received reports Monday of threats made on Instagram targeting the William Davies Middle School.

They used a name referencing clowns, Detective Frank Schalek said. It (the post) indicated that they would come to cause some type of harm.

The boy, who was from Mays Landing, was charged with making terroristic threats and causing false alarm. Police did not release the specific message posted online.

Hamilton Township school Superintendent Frank Vogel posted the police press release and a letter to parents on the district home page, asking them to review use of social media with their children. He said officials dont know if the student intended the post as a joke, but parents and students must understand that all threats are taken seriously.

Part of our job is to teach students how to use social-media tools appropriately, he said. The fact that the student was identified and charged sends a message.

He praised the police and school staff for their quick response and coordination in helping to quickly identify the student.

Capt. William Adams, of Middle Township police, said his department is working with Lower Township police after multiple reported sightings of creepy clowns in the area and children being harassed by people claiming to be clowns on social media.

Were trying to hope parents get on board to monitor their kids stuff (online), Adams said.

We just hope it doesnt get out of control, he added.

Adams said people created Facebook accounts and messaged people through them.

Lower Township police were alerted of a reported clown sighting in the Villas section of the township. And Middle Township police Chief Christopher Leusner said his department received two reports Monday night  one from Whitesboro and one alleged sighting on Indian Trail Road.

Police didnt find any clowns after the reports, though Adams said the department keeps getting tips.

Weve just received some tips about possible people involved, he said.

Elsewhere, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were charged in Washington Township with cyber-harassment connected to separate clown-themed social-media accounts.

Police in Philadelphia said a 13-year-old girl has been implicated in what theyre calling scary clown threats on social media, and she told them the posts were a prank.

The Pleasantville Police Department said in a Facebook post there have been no clown sight-ings in the city, adding that though the object is obviously humor, these posts of clown sightings are causing an undue stir.

Were taking it seriously, because its serious across the country, Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor said.

Adams said the Middle Township incidents have included messages sent to local students from clown Facebook accounts telling them to come to a certain part of the woods.

We saw a couple of screenshots, he added. Kids are talking about it.

Staff Writer Diane DAmico and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
As a participant in an armor combat league, Andre Sinou has seen axes go through helmets. Hes seen hands get crushed during fights, and hes seen swords go through eye slots.

But he hasnt seen anyone die. And as a person who builds armor for these types of leagues, he can take a little bit of the credit for that.

Sinou owns the largest armor business in the United States, located right in Buena in Atlantic County. IceFalcon Armory requires the same kind of jobs as any other small business: checking emails, shipping out orders by 4 p.m. and pounding stainless steel into helmets and breast plates.

Sinou is also the founder of the Armor Combat League, so he often will travel to other armor events to promote his equipment, which he says is more durable than the stuff made by most of his competitors.

You can have armor from Eastern Europe but its often lower quality, said Sinou, 50, of Alloway Township in Salem County. Ive seen broken bones from being hit by an axe or mace or a sword.

Despite the injuries hes seen in competitions all over the world, Sinou still participates himself. Why? Being in the Marines for 31 years taught him the satisfaction of competition and of leading people.

I love the tactics, and I love being able to go out on that field. For me its both mental and physical, he said.

The league has different kinds of combat competitions: one-on-one combats are judged by counted blows. Five-on-five and 10-on-10 exhibitions end via submission or when opponents start dropping.

The Armor Combat League has only 29 members when it was founded in 2011. Five years later, the league now has over 300 members and six teams.

To Sinou, the popularity is pretty simple to explain.

All little boys want to be knights someday, he said.

One of those men living the role of a 16th century knight is Logan Greer. Greer is a senior at Rowan University who recently decided he wanted to join the ACL.

He was told Sinou was the man to see about getting armor. So he visited his Buena shop, got fitted and competed in his first event just a few weeks ago.

His advice to those who want to compete? Keep your helmet on a swivel.

I had tunnel vision for parts of the fight, and I picked out one target and lunged at him and went down with him, which isnt good for your team, said Greer, 21, of Glassboro.

But Greer had a few more matches that day and he got better with each match. He even had a couple take downs of his own.

I had a decent amount of anxiety at first, Greer said. I thought I was going to get beaten to a pulp.

But his first tournament was a success, and he gives part of the credit for that to his helmet. After taking a couple of big hits, he only suffered a few dents.

He said he was thinking of Sinou during that first battle.

I went over and thanked him afterwards, Greer said.

The little boys who dreamed of being knights are now men, carrying 60 pounds of armor and swinging axes at each others necks.

But its all in good fun, Sinou said. A night at an ACL match usually ends with everyone grabbing a bite to eat afterward.

Every year a few people from the league will head overseas to compete in France, Poland or other countries. Sometimes Sinou and his team will even fight at historic locations such as Marienburg Castle in Germany.

Last year, Sinou and the USA team came home with gold and silver medals in multiple competitions.

We had all U.S. players heading home on the airplanes with metals and smiles, Sinou said.

Sinou loves his craft, something thats apparent when he heads into the office every day.

IceFalcon Armory definitely isnt your ordinary shop. There are helmets hanging on the walls. Body armor and limb armor rest on tables. Its not a showroom, though. Its an active workshop with plenty of tools lying around.

At first, Sinou hand cut his steel and then pounded and shaped it into the final product. Due to a rise in demand, he now uses a laser to cut the armor pieces.

Its an odd calling, but by now Sinous family and friends dont even worry when he heads out to battle.

Im a tough old marine. Im not gonna get hurt any time soon, Sinou said. Plus, I know the product.
A proposed $55 million plan to protect beaches spanning the Wildwoods and coastal Lower Township for 50 years would also protect one of the areas most historic buildings, a 142-year-old lighthouse.

Tourism in the area is dependent on the beaches, so its important to protect that industry and the lighthouse, said Steve Murray, chairman of North Wildwoods Friends of the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, which was almost lost after severe erosion during a 1913 storm.

If theres no beaches, theyre not going to come, he said.

The beach-replenishment project has received the $55 million authorization from the federal government, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, announced Thursday.

However, it does not yet provide funding.

Jason Galanes, spokesman for LoBiondo, said it allows the congressman to seek the funding through the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee in a future budget.

The estimated cost of the initial construction is $22 million, which includes federal, state and local funding. It includes a 50-year commitment to renourish beaches every few years and create a new dune from North Wildwood through Diamond Beach in Lower Township.

North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello called it the most important infrastructure project in the history of this island.

Rosenello said the project provides the Wildwoods with a 50-year insurance policy from the federal government.

The mayor said the project calls for a continuous dune system from North Wildwood to Diamond Beach.

He said the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to use a process called backpassing, in which sand is taken from the beaches in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest instead of the ocean via dredge.

Every other beachfront in New Jersey has been engineered and designed by the federal government through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rosenello said. This project has been in the works for literally decades.

According to the Army Corps fact sheet on the Hereford Inlet to Cape May Inlet project, these municipalities are vulnerable to storm damage all year round from a combination of hurricanes and noreasters.

North Wildwood has lost about 1,000 feet of beach during the past five to 10 years, the factsheet says. It says that, in contrast, sand accretion in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest is causing extensive maintenance problems and health hazards with their stormwater-management system.

Construction is expected to begin in 2018, the factsheet states.

In addition to the beach-replenishment authorization, the 2016 Water Resources Development Act provides for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program to create a strategy to coordinate restoration and protection activities across the basin.

The U.S. Senate passed its version of the 2016 Water Resources Development Act earlier this month. Both versions will now be reconciled for differences.
ATLANTIC CITY  The last time Willer Thertulian spoke to his father, Selane, in Haiti was late last week.

I havent talked to him yet, but I think hes in a safe place. But this weather, this hurricane is bad for everyone there, Thertulian said.

Thertulian, who emigrated to the United States in 2003, said theres no power where his father is. The electricity is cut off in the country when a hurricane is coming.

Hurricane Matthew slammed into the southwestern coast of Haiti early Tuesday, unleashing 145 mph winds and torrential rains that threatened to wreak devastation across a country still rebuilding from an earthquake in 2010.

Thertulian said he is watching the news and the images of Matthews destruction in his native country. He is also receiving photos from friends in Haiti of the damage the country has suffered so far.

If anything, with this, now I think I would know by now if something bad has happened. But you can never really prepare for a hurricane, he said.

The eye of the category 4 storm made landfall about 7 a.m. near the coastal commune of Les Anglais, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported. Matthew was headed north toward the eastern tip of Cuba  site of the U.S. Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and military prison  en route to a possible rendezvous with the eastern coast of Florida by Thursday.

Will Hurricane Matthew impact South Jersey this weekend? Hurricane Matthew continues to churn the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean as a powerful 

Thertulian last visited Haiti in January. Before he moved to the U.S., he survived the destruction of a hurricane there in 1994. People lost families in that storm, he said.

Anything is possible with a hurricane in Haiti because youre on an island out in the middle of the ocean and they say its 160 mph winds, he said. How do you prepare for that?

Thertulian said his father also lived through the 2010 earthquake. Selane Thertulian was outside in the street when the quake hit.

The Rev. Collins Days of Second Baptist Church in Atlantic City remembers the aftermath of the quake because he helped rebuild homes in the country.

Tens of thousands of people still live in tents after losing their homes in the quake, which killed more than 200,000.

We are organizing now, and I have been on the phone with partner churches in South Carolina to prepare a response and go back to Haiti, Days said.

He said he has tried to call some of the churches he works with in Haiti, but the line doesnt even ring.

Second Baptist partnered with about 100 churches in Haiti to assist in work on the ground and to pool resources. Challenges volunteers from the church face when responding to natural disasters in Haiti have included deforestation, a language barrier and finding clean water.

Here's what the rest of the week will hold before Hurricane Matthew Over the last few days, weve been teased with breaks of sunshine, a few minutes or perhaps 

He said funding from the church for assistance in Haiti goes directly to housing costs and the people who live there.

We have about four Haitian families in the church and many Dominican families, and they are all concerned about family members in the Caribbean, Days said.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP  After her second child was born this spring, Elyce Loper thought she would stay home with her children.

But the potential downsides of only one parent working provided too much insecurity, so she decided she had to go back to work.

It was just a little bit too nerve-wracking for my husband and I, Loper said. Even though like an entire paycheck goes to day care.

Lopers situation is similar to that of families across the country and South Jersey.

In Atlantic County, the cost of day care can consume nearly 18 percent of a familys income for just one infant, according to a 2013 report by Child Care Aware of New Jersey.

The annual cost of center-based child care in Atlantic County for one child under 18 months old was $9,620, the report said. Results were similar in Cape May and Cumberland counties. The cost is similar to in-state tuition at Stockton University this year, state data show.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, child care is considered affordable if it is less than 10 percent of a familys budget.

Loper said she was shocked at some of the prices.

I couldnt find a lot that took infants and then pretty much that ones that did were extremely expensive, she said.

Loper said she pays $310 a week for both her children, or $16,120 a year.

The issue affects thousands of New Jersey families.

In the state, there are 251,540 children under the age of 6 in two-parent families where both parents work, according to Child Care Aware of America. An additional 160,491 children under 6 are part of single-parent families where the parent works, the organization states.

Child care, much like education, is a labor-intensive service, which is a large factor in the cost, officials said.

Jean Sidway, director at English Creek Academy in Egg Harbor Township, said local facilities are trying to stay competitive while providing a safe, educational environment.

Theyre learning through different experiences just everything that they need to know to get them ready for kindergarten, Sidway said.

At English Creek Academy, the full-time cost for a 3-year-old, potty-trained child is $10,556 a year.

We remain competitive with area schools, and we try not to raise our tuitions too often, probably every other year. Were doing a minimal, maybe 3 percent raise when we do that, Sidway said.

For children who are not potty-trained, the cost increases slightly depending on age. For infants, the cost is $13,468 a year.

Sidway said a large part of the tuition goes to keeping a low ratio of children to caregivers. There are about 160 children at the center on any given day, Sidway said, adding the ratio of children per teacher increases as the children get older.

For infants, there must be one teacher for four babies. The ratio increases to one teacher per 10 children for 2.5- and 3-year-olds.

At One Love Daycare II in Egg Harbor Township, which can care for up to 28 children, the cost for a child over 12 months old, full-time, is $140 a week for potty-trained or $160 a week for nonpotty-trained. Under 12 months old is $170 a week, she said. Thats between $7,280 and $8,840 a year.

Owner Nicole Mistroff said she focuses on providing an all-natural experience for the children, including the use of organic and green products, while keeping ratios and costs down.

Mistroff said her facility accepts almost all forms of payment to make it convenient for parents, including credit cards and state subsidies.

In New Jersey, the Department of Human Services offers a Child Care Subsidy Program for low- to moderate-income working families and for Work First New Jersey recipients.

Locally, the programs are administered through Rutgers. For a family of four, the maximum allowable gross annual income to be eligible for subsidies is $48,600.

Nicole Brossoie, spokeswoman for Human Services, said the subsidy helps parents maintain steady incomes by allowing them to work.

Recently, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have proposed plans to reduce the cost of child care for families across America.

Trumps proposal includes a rebate of up to $1,200 per year for low-income families, tax deductions for child care costs for up to four children for families making less than $500,000 a year and incentives for businesses to provide child care to employees.

Clinton proposes capping child care costs at 10 percent of a familys income, access to child care on campuses, doubled investment in Early Head Start programs, universal preschool for all 4-year-old children and better wages for child care employees.

Local parents say the cost of child care needs be addressed.

From going from one to two kids in day care, our budget is really tight now, Loper said. I couldnt even imagine what people with more kids do.

Loper said she doesnt follow politics but was happy to hear proposals are being put forward to help working families.

It seems like the only programs are for people at the lowest income bracket, and I feel like there needs to be more options for working-class people like myself, she said.

Monica Coffey, of Margate, said she was lucky to find a nanny to watch her children in her home while she is at work. The married mother of four used Care.com to find a child care provider.

Now that her daughters  ages 14, 14, 11 and 6  are all in school, Coffey uses a nanny for after-school care. She pays $13 an hour.

Coffey said she had considered staying home to care for the children.

But for us it was more financially beneficial for me to return to work, she said. In this area, its a hard decision to give up a good job even if the difference is that meaningful.
For over 30 years, an unlikely legume has been drawing visitors and residents to West Cape Mays Wilbraham Park.

Its like, my most fun festival that Im involved in, said Susan Lotozo, owner of Flying Fish Studio and a vendor for the festival. Its such a quirky thing.

Lotozo is, of course, referring to the boroughs annual Lima Bean Festival, which returns to the park Saturday.

Lima beans are such a contentious vegetable, so many people really despise them, or they really, really like them, she said. But theres not a whole lot of in between.

As it turns out, West Cape May loves them, as the borough has a rich history of celebrating its agricultural delights.

In spring, West Cape May hosts an annual strawberry festival. And a tomato festival is held at the end of the summer.

The Lima Bean Festival was started to celebrate the agricultural heritage of West Cape May and the lima beans being front and center. At that time, it was still being highly grown here, said Pam Kaithern, mayor of West Cape May.

The festival is sponsored through the Shade Tree Commission. All proceeds from the event help support the community, the park where it is held, and other beautification projects throughout the borough.

At one point and time it was the lima bean capital. I guess the majority of the farms were lima bean, but I think were down to one farm in West Cape May, said Brooke Dodds, owner of Empanada Mamas, who has been participating in the festival for several years.

Her participation in the festival led her to research its beginnings on the side. Dodds echoed Lotozos sentiments of the festivals quirkiness, and that its something the community embraces.

Over the years, Kaithern said vendors have gotten creative with the lima-centric offerings. From lima-inspired cuisines to wears, she said guests can expect anything from lima bean earrings, attire pottery, chili and more.

Lotozo, who has been participating for the past 20 years, is bringing back an back an old design from 1994  one that decorated hats, T-shirts and more  as well as a new design to commemorate this years festival.

Its called, Eat your beans and its a copper pot filled with lima beans, she said of the throwback design. They really have become collectors items over the years. Which is a bizarre thing, but true.

This years new design features a lima bean on a bicycle.

Its just silly, everybody who is there at the festival is generally just enjoying themselves and having a bizarre time. Like, I cant believe Im at Lima Bean Festival, she said. Im one of the vendors that goes all out for Lima Bean (Festival).

The festival also has a tradition of appointing a Lima Bean Queen and King. The winners are asked to ride in the West Cape May Christmas Parade.

In 2001, Lotozo herself was lima bean royalty when she was dubbed queen. Her daughter, Izabela, was crowned a few years earlier in 1999. Family and friends helped build a float for her daughter to ride on in the parade.

To her knowledge, that was the very first time the Lima Bean Queen was in the parade. In subsequent years, she said a car and driver were provided to the lima royalty.

Its a big thing when youre the queen or the king, she said.

Vendors typically get very inventive with food. One year, Lotozo said she tried her hand at making lima bean ice cream, flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon and folded into vanilla ice cream.

She sold out, though Lotozo noted some people enjoyed it, while others were not as thrilled with the inventive flavor.

During the festival, Dodds restaurant also offers a variety of lima-inspired empanadas. This year, shell offer something for vegan, vegetarian and meat eaters alike.

Some of her flavors, such as the sweet lima bean empanada, are only served at this particular festival.

Down the street from the park, Bella Vida Restaurant will also be serving up lima dishes.

Co-owner Chris Monge said they plan to offer several lima bean-infused dishes. Monge said he can remember going to the festival as a kid.

Although the festival is fun and quirky, Monge said, The best thing about the lima bean festival is it brings the community together.
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.




TORRANCE, California, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Agile-1, a global workforce management solutions company, is proud to announce that its recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) division has been named in HRO Today Magazine's 2016 Baker's Dozen in two categoriesEnterprise RPO providers and Healthcare RPO providers. This is the second year the Agile-1 has been included in this prestigious list and the first year to be named in the Healthcare category.

"Agile-1 has become a top tier competitor, moving from the top of our mid-size deal provider list in 2015 to the enterprise provider list for the 2016 HRO Today Magazine RPO Bakers Dozen Customer Satisfaction Survey. This shows that Agile-1 is able to handle RPO programmes of increasing size and complexity while still maintaining excellent service and customer outcomes," according to Elliot Clark, CEO of HRO Today Magazine.

"We could not be more pleased with the results of this year's survey," states Peter Carvalho, President of Agile-1. "As we continue to expand into global markets, our RPO programmes and our delivery also continue to grow and evolve. This comes as a direct result the trust our clients have placed in us to lead them to the next level of talent acquisition. These close partnerships with our customers enable us to better understand their unique needs and provide customized solutions."

Tracey Richardson, Vice President of Agile-1's RPO practice, provides greater insight into how the company has increased its presence in the healthcare sector, "This success is the result of a combination of strategic changes including: optimizing our service delivery model, recruiting talent with significant healthcare experience, and incorporating a proprietary programme assessment model. This allows us to better discuss process ownership, changes and risks before implementation."

The rankings are not based on the opinions of HRO Today Magazine, but solely on the feedback from customers, collected via online surveys. Editors of the magazine utilize a mathematical algorithm to weigh questions and then analyze results across three subcategories: service breadth, deal size and quality of service. Rankings are based on these scores as well as an overall score.

About Agile-1

Agile-1 RPO is a trusted recruitment outsourcing partner with expertise in the practice areas of: manufacturing, healthcare, retail, energy, and contact centers. Our scalable solutions effectively augment, compliment, or transform the way companies hire talent. Follow us on LinkedIn, and Twitter @Agile1Global.

Related Links

http://www.agile-1.com/



SOURCE Agile-1
ASKER, Norway, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The advanced RAS (re-circulating aquaculture system) facility is expected to commence construction in 2017 and will incorporate Aqua Maof's proprietary, world leading, RAS technology. Project investment is estimated at $60M.

Grieg NL, one of the world's leading fish farming companies specializing in Atlantic salmon has selected AMG Norway, a subsidiary of the Aqua Maof Group, to build its state-of-the-art hatchery and nursery facility in Marystown, Newfoundland.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412738 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412739 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412740 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412741 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160928/412742 )



The facility, which will deploy Aqua Maof's cutting edge RAS technology, will produce 7 million smolt ranging up to 1500 grams. Grieg NL will stock 11 sea-cage sites for the subsequent grow out and harvest of 33,000 annual tons of Atlantic salmon. The overall project investment is estimated at $200M.

Aqua Maof's proprietary technology has proven to be the most efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly articulation of RAS. The new facility in Newfoundland will be the largest and most advanced in the world for salmon. This construction will join other advanced RAS facilities around the world that the company has built and deployed using the company's technology platform. All facilities are demonstrating impressive production results. In addition to the Newfoundland facility, Aqua Maof is in the advanced planning process for 7 more facilities in locations across the globe. About 70% of the planned future facilities will be dedicated to salmon, leveraging Aqua Maof's proprietary technology and efficient cost of production.

Construction of the hatchery will be completed in 2017 with construction of the grow-out sites set to begin in 2017 as well. The companies expect the facility's annual production to reach 33,000 tons by 2023. This will more than double Newfoundland and Labrador's current production of Atlantic salmon.

David Hazut, CEO of Aqua Maof: "We are happy and honored to be chosen by Grieg NL to build the world's most advanced RAS facility that leverages both our company's technology and aquaculture experience. Indeed, our advanced solution for indoor fish production is sustainable, environmentally responsible (green) and cost efficient. This facility will be another confirmation that our technology is the best solution to the aquaculture industry's challenges and the growing demand for seafood in all markets."

Knut Skeidsvoll, General Manager of Grieg NL: "We are happy to collaborate with AMG Norway and Aqua Maof to build the world's most advanced RAS facility. Aqua Maof's technology will protect our project's values of sustainability, maintain the highest environmental standards and also achieve the most efficient cost of production, thus contributing to the project's overall success. We see great potential for salmon farming in Newfoundland and Labrador and plan to leverage Aqua Maof's experience and technology to deliver the best production results and become a leading producer of fresh salmon products."

About Grieg NL:

Grieg NL is part of the Grieg Group of Companies, headquartered in Bergen, Norway. With over 2000 employees in 15 countries, its main activities, in addition to salmon farming, are deep sea shipping, logistics and advisory services. Grieg has been involved in salmon farming for 23 years in Norway, Shetland and British Columbia, Canada.

For more information please visit: http://www.griegseafood.no/

About the Aqua Maof Group:

The Aqua Maof Group is a world leader in indoor aquaculture technology. With over 30 years of experience, Aqua Maof's team of technology and aquaculture experts have been providing research and development, as well as comprehensive production, systems and operations solutions for aqua farming in over 50 locations around the world. Aqua Maof's unique indoor fish production facilities offer the world's most advanced, sustainable and environmental friendly solutions to today's industry's needs and goals. The company has in operation several facilities and is currently in advanced planning to build 7 additional facilities in locations around the world.

One of these advanced facilities will facilitate Blue fin tuna broodstock spawning for an associate company's fingerling production.

For more information please visit: http://www.aquamaof.com

Contact:

Yoav Dagan, VP

yoavd@aquamaof.com

SOURCE Aqua Maof Group
LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Analysing Cardiac Rhythm Management, Prosthetics, Interventional Cardiology, Heart Monitoring and Diagnostics, also Assessing Pacemakers, Defibrillators, Ventricular Assist Products, Stents, Artificial Heart Valves, Catheters, Angioplasty Balloons, Guidewires, Electrocardiography, Cardio Output Monitoring and Accessories, Covering the US, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Russia and Europe (EU5)

Cardiovascular Medical Devices - How to Discover That Technology's Rising Commercial Potential

What is the future of devices for the human circulatory system? In visiongain's updated study you discover technological and commercial predictions from 2016. See what is possible.

That way you stay ahead for data, benefiting your work and authority. For those medical devices you explore sales results, developments, opportunities and revenue forecasts to 2026. Succeed through discovering companies' trends, progress and potential gains.

Forecasts and other analysis showing potential revenues from those cardio products

Discover how to help your reputation for commercial insight. Our study's purpose is showing you cardiovascular device revenues to 2026 at overall world, submarket and national level.

That way you reduce struggles to find information on devices for controlling and monitoring blood circulation. Hear what is possible for developers, makers and marketers. Besides revenue predictions, our new analysis shows recent results, growth rates and market shares.

Our 166 page study gives you 46 tables and 76 charts. See what the future holds for those products and their makers. The following sections explain how our investigation helps.

Predictions for the cardio devices market and its segments - assess sales prospects

What potential does that biomedical industry hold? And what secrets underpin its progress? Discover in our report overall world revenue to 2026 for cardiovascular medical devices.

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com

There you also find individual revenue predictions from 2016 to 2026 at world level for four main submarkets:

 Cardiac rhythm management

 Prosthetic devices

 Interventional cardiology products

 Monitoring and diagnostics.

You also gain world revenue forecasts from 2016 to 2026 for 11 deeper market segments:

 Cardiac pacemakers

 Defibrillators

 Ventricular assist devices

 Coronary stents

 Artificial heart valves

 Catheters

 Angioplasty balloons

 Guidewires

 Accessories

 Electrocardiography products

 Cardiac output monitoring equipment.

That way you assess revenue expansion, seeing where you could gain. You also investigate competition among developers and producers of those cardiac products. Explore marketed brands, emerging technologies and fields with the fastest-rising sales. See what is possible.

Our work also divides its overall world market into geographical revenue predictions.

Sales in leading national markets - what future demand is possible?

Our analyses show you individual revenue forecasts to 2026 for 11 leading countries:

 United States

 Japan

 Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain (EU5)

 Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

You find countries with highest revenues, demand and potential increases in those devices' use. And you understand competitors, users' needs and commercial opportunities. That way you explore trends, progress and potentials, discovering what gains the future holds.

And how do events, challenges and advances in cardiac technology affect that medical device sector? Our study explains.

Forces affecting developers and producers of those cardio products

Our report explains issues, progress and other events affecting that market. Those forces influencing the sector from 2016 include these:

 Incidence and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)

 Approval and regulatory systems - explore US FDA and EU regulations

 Effects of US excise tax on medical devices and their sellers

 Expanding market for remote monitoring devices for the blood circulatory system.

And you explore these trends and influences affecting that human healthcare, among other forces:

 Minimally invasive techniques for heart valve replacement, bioabsorbable stents and other product development - assess R&D trends

 Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and other innovations

 Reducing the gap between cardiac devices and MRI scans

 Mergers and acquisitions - explore deals consolidating that medical industry.

With that information in our report you explore progress, trends and advances. You discover what benefits and what restricts participants in that industry, affecting its results.

Prominent companies and 2020 world market value

What does the future hold? Our study predicts that overall market will reach $63.4bn in 2020, more than doubling in revenues from 2015 to 2026. Discover what the future holds.

And our study examines activities of prominent companies:

 Medtronic

 St. Jude Medical

 Boston Scientific

 Biotronik

 Abbott

 Johnson & Johnson

 Edwards Lifesciences

 Terumo

 LivaNova

 CR Bard

 Integer Holdings.

In that work you discover profiles of leading organisations, assessing their activities and potentials. Our new survey explains forces affecting that industry's present and future, revealing trends, opportunities and predictions.

That market gives many opportunities. See where those potential gains lie, discovering how that industry can succeed, benefiting companies, patients and healthcare providers.

Ways Cardiovascular Medical Devices Market and Forecasts 2016-2026 helps your work

In particular our new investigation gives this knowledge to benefit your research, analyses, plans and presentations:

 Revenues for cardio devices, to 2026, at world level and for 15 submarkets - explore prospects for development, production, marketing and investments

 Forecasts, to 2026, for 11 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia - assess developed and developing national markets for demand and predicted revenues

 Prospects for established firms and rising companies - examine product portfolios, research and development, results, strategies and outlooks

 Analyses of what stimulates and restrains that industry's participants - investigate challenges, strengths and competition affecting organisations' success.

Information found nowhere else, benefiting your insight, work and influence

That study, done in-house by our UK-based analysts, gives independent analysis. There you gain competitive intelligence found only in our report, finding where progress and money lie.

With that data you are less likely to fall behind in information or miss opportunity. See how you could save time and effort. And, through your choice, benefit your plans, decisions and authority, helping you gain competitive advantages.

Data to help your knowledge of products for the human circulatory system - benefit now

Our analysis suits professionals investigating cardio devices for healthcare. With that study you discover trends, results and revenue forecasts. Avoid missing out - instead stay ahead by getting our new report here now.

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com

To request a report overview of this report please emails Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com or call Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 6100

Or click on https://www.visiongain.com/Report/1733/Cardiovascular-Medical-Devices-Market-and-Forecasts-2016-2026

Organisations Mentioned in the Report

3M Company

Abbott Laboratories

Agencia Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria (ANVISA), Brazil

American Heart Association (AHA)

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Biosense Webster Inc

Biosensors International Group

Biotronik

Boston Scientific Corporation

CardiAQ Valve Technologies Inc

Cardinal Health Inc

CardioInsight Technologies Inc

Cardiological Society of India (CSI)

CaridianBCT

Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), US

Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), India

Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)

Comite Economique des Produits de Sante (CEPS), France

Cordis Corporation

Corventis Inc

Covidien PLC

CR Bard Inc

Cyberonics Inc

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

EHRA Europace-Cardiostim

European Council

European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)

European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

European Union (EU)

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

French Government

Gemeinsame Bundesausschuss (G-BA)

Government of India (GOI)

Greatbatch Medical

Haute Autorite de sante (HAS), France

Institutional Review Board, US

Integer Holdings Corporation

Italian Government

Johnson & Johnson (J&J)

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

Lake Region Medical

Livanova PLC

Medicon Inc

Medtronic

Meril Life Sciences Pvt Ltd

MicroVention Inc

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India

Ministry of Health, Brazil

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), Japan

Ministry of Industry and Trade (Minpromotorg), Russia

Moody's Investors Service

National Heart Institute - US

National Interventional Council (NIC)

NHS Commissioning Board

Preventice Inc

Roszdravnadzor

Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN)

Siemens AG

Silk Road Medical Inc

Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS)

Sorin Group

St Jude Medical Inc

Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC

Tendyne Holdings Inc

Terumo Corporation

Thoratec Corporation

Twelve Inc

UK Department of Health

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

US Federal Government

US Patent Office

Vascular Pathways Inc

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Heart Federation

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com

SOURCE Visiongain Ltd
PEORIA, Illinois, October 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT/Euronext: CATR) informs its stockholders that today, in accordance with Section 16(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, 13 Forms 4 (the report on Form 4 being a statement of beneficial ownership of its officers, directors and 10% owners) were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

Caterpillar files electronically with the SEC required reports on Form 8-K, Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 11-K; proxy materials; ownership reports for insiders as required by Section 16(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and registration statements on Forms S-3 and S-8, as necessary; and other forms or reports, as required. All of the forms and reports filed electronically with the SEC are available on the SEC Internet site (www.sec.gov).

Caterpillar also maintains an Internet site (http://www.Caterpillar.com) and copies of its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished with the SEC are available free of charge through Caterpillar's Internet site (http://www.Caterpillar.com/secfilings ) as soon as reasonably practicable after the relevant document has been filed with the SEC.

CONTACT: Rachel Potts, Corporate Public Affairs, +1-309-675-6892

This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.
HR leaders drive business impact by optimizing decision-making around workforce planning and talent needs

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Anaplan, the world's leading planning and performance management platform, today announced that its workforce planning apps continue to gain traction among HR departments within leading global businesses. Through preferred partnerships with Deloitte, PwC, Accenture, OpenSymmetry, and Workforce Insight, in addition to the introduction of succession planning and compensation and equity modeling apps, the number of customers using Anaplan's suite of workforce planning apps has more than doubled since the suite launched a year ago. The Anaplan platform and portfolio of workforce planning apps will be on exhibit during this week's HR Technology conference in Chicago, IL, at the Anaplan booth #2020.

Some of the top businesses in the world, including American Express Global Business Travel, Lacoste, Pasona Tquila, Tableau, and TELUS, have chosen Anaplan for Workforce Planning to optimize human resource decision-making.

Tableau first selected Anaplan for sales quota planning and sales forecasting before deciding to also adopt it for workforce planning. "They love the tool," said Roya Williams, Senior Manager, Business Operations, describing the sales planning team as devoted Anaplanners. "And we liked that we could broaden the use of a successful platform already implemented within the company. We quickly realized the agility that Anaplan offered."

"Anaplan for Workforce Planning is the only solution on the market that is capable of tying functionally specific, operational bottom-up workforce planning with the strategic, top-down planning process," said Scott Guinn, Anaplan Product Line Leader, Workforce Planning Apps. "With Anaplan, our customers can accelerate and adapt the planning process to the needs of the business in any department and for any industry."

Anaplan's suite of workforce planning apps has expanded from traditional headcount and payroll planning to a broad array of use cases. The Anaplan App Hub offers 140 planning apps, 24 of which are new additions to the workforce planning suite. These include:

Succession Planning : Gain insights into skills and talent gaps of teams to help guide decision-making around internal promotions or external hiring needs.

: Gain insights into skills and talent gaps of teams to help guide decision-making around internal promotions or external hiring needs. Compensation and Equity Modeling : Identify the right total compensation mix to attract and retain top talent, while staying within budget. Scenario plan the optimal salary, bonus, equity, and benefits mix by role and immediately see the impact throughout the organization.

: Identify the right total compensation mix to attract and retain top talent, while staying within budget. Scenario plan the optimal salary, bonus, equity, and benefits mix by role and immediately see the impact throughout the organization. Global Compensation for Banking : Model and optimize bonus pools and deferral calculations across the entire organization, benchmark employees' performance, run "what-if" scenarios, analyze results, and gain full transparency on the compensation model.

: Model and optimize bonus pools and deferral calculations across the entire organization, benchmark employees' performance, run "what-if" scenarios, analyze results, and gain full transparency on the compensation model. Call Center Planning : Use the industry-standard Erlang-B and Erlang-C traffic model functions to plan and optimize staffing at call centers.

: Use the industry-standard Erlang-B and Erlang-C traffic model functions to plan and optimize staffing at call centers. Facilities Management: Plan, optimize, and manage your offices around the world based on current and forecasted headcount and legal requirements per country.

"Many HR leaders realize that workforce planning can no longer be conducted in a silo or black box since data transparency and alignment to other parts of the businessparticularly financeare essential to an organization's overall success," said Holger Mueller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research. "The continued innovation in cloud platforms will disrupt and ultimately replace legacy systems and processes while empowering enterprises to truly integrate planning and forecasting across all lines of business."

Anaplan solves a wide range of workforce planning and optimization challenges that can scale to large and complex organizations. With the Anaplan platform, HR leaders have visibility into the planning needs and objectives of other departments, including Finance, Sales, Supply Chain, Marketing, IT, and Operations, enabling truly integrated business planning.

About Anaplan:

Anaplan is the leading planning and performance management platform for smart businesses. Anaplan delivers an unrivaled planning and modeling engine, predictive analytics, collaboration in the cloud, and a simple interface for business users. Anaplan is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with offices in 15 countries. To learn more, visit anaplan.com. Follow us on: Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.

Press Contact

Anaplan  Consort Partners (North America)

(210) 382-2165

press@anaplan.com

Related Links

http://www.anaplan.com



SOURCE Anaplan
Individual and institutional investors as well as advisors invited to attend interactive real-time virtual conference

WALTHAM. Massachusetts, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EuroSite Power Inc. (OTCQX: EUSP, the "Company"), an On-Site Utility solutions provider, offering clean electricity, heat, hot water and cooling solutions to healthcare, hospitality, housing and leisure centers in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe, reminds investors that Paul Hamblyn, Managing Director, will present live at the OTCQX Virtual Investor Conference at 10:30 am Eastern Time today - October 4, 2016.

Link to Join Our Live Virtual Presentation: http://tinyurl.com/10otcpre

During the presentation Mr. Hamblyn will provide a summary of the Company's unique on-site utility business model, discuss recent progress following the implementation of the Four Pillars growth plan (including European expansion strategy), and outlook for the remainder of the year. This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time.

It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to save time and receive event updates. The event will be recorded and the on-demand archive will be available for 90 days for those unable to attend the live presentation.

The OTCQX Virtual Investor Conference is made possible by a partnership between OTC Markets Group Inc. and VirtualInvestorConferences.com, a cooperative venture of PR Newswire and BetterInvesting (NAIC). Learn more about the event at VirtualInvestorConferences.com.

On-Site Utility

EuroSite Power sells the energy produced from an onsite energy system to an individual property as an alternative to the outright sale of energy equipment. On-Site Utility solution customers only pay for the energy produced by the system and receive a guaranteed discount rate on the price of the energy. All system capital, installation, operating expenses and support are paid by EuroSite Power.

About EuroSite Power

EuroSite Power Inc. is committed to providing institutional, commercial and small industrial facilities with clean, reliable power, cooling, heat and hot water at lower costs than charged by conventional energy suppliers - without any capital or start-up costs to the energy user - through On-Site Utility energy solutions. For more information about our unique efficient power solutions please visit www.eurositepower.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Investor Contact: Media Contact: Ariel F. Babcock, CFA Paul Hamblyn EuroSite Power Inc. EuroSite Power Inc. +1 781.466.6413 +44 792.085.9540 ariel.babcock@eurositepower.co.uk paul.hamblyn@eurositepower.co.uk

Related Links

http://www.eurositepower.co.uk



SOURCE EuroSite Power Inc.
DUBAI, UAE, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

GEZE a global leading player in building technologies continues to meet architectural demands by providing solutions for doors and windows that monitor and regulate various tasks such as heating, air conditioning, lighting, environmental variables, security and appliances. When integrated in a building, these solutions can contribute to lower operational costs and a smaller carbon footprint in the long run.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160209/331044LOGO )



Since the company's formation in 1863 in Germany, GEZE pioneered the manufacturing and development of automated doors, windows and facades across the world. GEZE has thus provided automation solutions for just about any infrastructure across various industries, and for residential and commercial units for well over 153 years. This earned the company a leading footprint in the field of Doors, Windows and Facades Engineering.

GEZE's distinctive Research and Development deliverables are translated into proven decisive edge technologies that have influenced the project specifications, supply and service of Automation of Doors, Windows and Facades Engineers in the Middle East through innovative solutions covering:

Climate and Ventilation Engineering

Accessibility of buildings and facilities

Safety and Security

Comfort and Elegance

Design Contribution

Sustainability Progress

Architects will find GEZE products ideal for commercial use due to their versatility in terms of application, multiple customizable features and ease of operation. GEZE also offers a comprehensive and thorough solution package right from the consultation phase all the way through to after sales support.

"A proactive call out by providing a reliable, competent and highly efficient customer service is absolutely fundamental," said Charles Constantin, Managing Director of GEZE Middle East. "A fully comprehensive contract covers consultation to meet the demands of our clients by specifying the right GEZE products, timely delivery and project support required in the early stages of the project, servicing of automatic systems maintained by qualified GEZE technicians to ensure long-term safety of clients and care of the systems employed through regular maintenance. In particular, this is just as important to us as acquiring the client itself," Constantin concluded.

More recently, GEZE was appointed to provide automation solutions for the Dubai Opera House and Qatar National Museum adding to their already burgeoning repertoire of projects in the Middle East.

For more information on GEZE products, please visit http://www.geze.com/

About GEZE

GEZE GmbH is one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of construction systems for door, window and safety technology. GEZE offers a comprehensive range of products including automatic door systems and door technology, glass systems, smoke and heat extraction systems, safety technology as well as window and ventilation technology.

As one of the market, innovation and design leaders, the independently-managed family company has decisively influenced facility engineering and building technology with pioneering developments. These developments are constantly being driven onwards in the company's technology centre. The highest of quality standards means that GEZE products contribute towards some of the most innovative building concepts in the world and ensure convenience and security in building technology.

SOURCE GEZE
PORTLAND, Oregon, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "World High-Voltage Cable Market by Type and End User - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022," the global high-voltage cable (HVC) market is expected to garner $47.1 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2016 to 2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )



Summary of the High-Voltage Cable Market Report can be accessed on the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/high-voltage-cable-market

HVCs operate at a voltage greater than 66KV, and are used for electric power transmission and distribution over long distance with minimum power loss. The HVC market is largely driven by increase in investments in renewable energy projects and growth in urbanization, industrialization, and infrastructure in developing countries such as India, China, and Brazil.

HVCs are segmented into three types, which include overhead, underground, and submarine. The underground HVC segment holds a significant revenue share in the world HVC market, owing to the applications of these cables in various industries such as power utilities, mining, paper & pulp, and cement industry among others. However, submarine cables are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period, with a CAGR over 8%. The growth would be driven by their applications in offshore power projects and oil & gas industry and their various competitive advantages over other cables such as presence of extra shield, armour, and protection & bedding.

Among the end user segment, industrial segment held the highest revenue share in 2015, owing to growing energy demand in industries such as oil & gas, mining, power utilities, and chemicals among others. Renewable energy segment also contributed a significant revenue share of over 36% in the overall market in 2015. However, infrastructure segment is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period due to increase in urbanization in developing countries such as China and India.

According to Bhawna Kohli, Manager Research at AMR, "Proliferating infrastructure projects, growing industrialization and expanding power production capabilities of developing nations is expected to navigate the demand of HVCs. Underground cables are extensively used as they inculcate the properties of enhanced safety, reduced land consumption and abridged radio interference. Further, recently discovered river basins and expanding offshore power projects in developing countries have fostered the demand of submarine cables. These superior properties and broadening applications of both the cables have collectively contributed in the growth of overall HVC market".

Asia-Pacific is the largest revenue-generating region in this market, followed by Europe and North America. Among the countries of Asia-Pacific, China is the largest market with nearly 60% revenue share of the overall Asia-Pacific market due to its strong layout of transmission plans. Furthermore, the market in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to exhibit a notable growth, registering a CAGR of over 7% during the forecast period.

Key findings

Underground cables would lead the market throughout the analysis period, with over 50% revenue share throughout the analysis period.

Segment of submarine cables is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during forecast period.

In 2015, industrial segment contributed the highest revenue share, accounting for around 52% of the overall market revenue.

Infrastructure segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific held the largest market share of about 42% of the total market value in 2015 and is projected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period.

Key players in the market have heavily invested in R&D activities to develop high-quality and affordable HVCs to cater to the growing energy demands in various industries such as oil & gas, mining, and power utilities among others. Further, the market is concentrated, as top five leading players, namely ABB, Prysmin Group, General Cables Technologies Corporation, NKT Cables, and Nexans occupy around 60% of the overall market revenue. The key strategies adopted by these leading players are product launch, expansion, acquisition, partnership, and agreement; to strengthen their market position and expand their geographical presence.

Summary of Similar Reports can be viewed at

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/energy-and-power/equipment-and-devices-market-report

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

Dhananjay Potle

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Direct: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)

Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975

E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com



Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com













SOURCE Allied Market Research
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Banking & Finance Review Honored HotForex With the Best New Forex Broker South Africa 2016 Award

Online forex and commodities broker, HotForex added one more trophy to its large and expanding collection by winning the Best New Forex Broker South Africa 2016 accolade.

HotForex was honored by leading financial portal and print magazine, Global Banking & Finance Review with an award that recognizes the broker's expertise and reflects its top position in the financial markets achieved through its policy of providing the best possible trading conditions to its clients.

The award follows only few months after HotForex obtained a financial service provider license by the Financial Services Board (FSB) of South Africa, through HF Markets SA (PTY) Ltd.

Commenting on the award, a HotForex spokesperson said that the distinction verifies the company's esteemed position in the competitive forex industry, and added, "Securing the Best New Forex Broker South Africa 2016 title is a huge honor for us - especially since the HotForex brand is now licensed and regulated by the country's FSB. The whole African continent remains a market of great importance for us and given this opportunity we would like to reiterate our commitment to providing unparalleled services to traders, both locally and internationally."

Global Banking & Finance Review is one of the industry's many respected awarding bodies that recognized HotForex's eminence among other players in the global financial community, as the broker has over the years been privileged to receive numerous, highly-prestigious titles and was also selected to join the ranks of the World Finance Top 100 Global Companies. To learn more about HotForex's credentials, click here.

Notes to Media:

About HotForex

HotForex is a leading, global FX broker that offers both retail and institutional trading services to clients from around the world. Since its foundation, the company has consistently won coveted titles from respected finance industry bodies for its innovative Forex trading service provision. For more information about HotForex visit https://www.hotforex.com.

Risk warning:

Trading Forex and CFDs carries a high degree of risk to your capital.

Media Contact:

HF Markets Ltd

Tel: +44(0)2033185978

Email: marketing@hotforex.com

SOURCE HF Markets Limited
LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

ICIS, the leading provider of energy market intelligence, on Monday 3 October 2016 launched a new price series for the wholesale natural gas market in Spain.

At the start of October the Spanish gas grid operator introduced new balancing rules, fundamentally reforming the country's market. The change aligns the Iberian gas hub with wider European standards and is set to increase liquidity.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160408/353056LOGO )



Reflecting this key market development, subscribers to European Spot Gas Markets, the benchmark report published daily by ICIS, will now have access to closing over-the-counter price assessments for this new market, known as the PVB.

A rise in liquidity even ahead of the introduction of the PVB has led ICIS to launch a daily Day-ahead assessment for the new gas hub, as well as a weekly assessment for the Weekend. Other daily contracts will include the front two months, front two quarters and the front calendar year.

Tom Marzec-Manser, ICIS Editor of European Spot Gas Markets, said:

The launch of the new PVB prices, in line with Spain's own market developments, again shows that ICIS is the industry leader in providing transparency to Europe's natural gas hubs.

The launch of the PVB prices builds on ICIS's strong presence in the Spanish wholesale gas market, where it has been providing transparency for almost five years to the out-going market known as the AOC.

Regulatory authorities in Spain and the wider region have long used AOC prices from ICIS to highlight the relative premium the Iberian market holds over other markets in northwest Europe.

The new balancing rules for the PVB mean gas suppliers hold a greater responsibility in matching their daily supply and demand. This consequently drives trade and keeps wholesale prices competitive.

Rob Songer, Iberian Gas Expert at ICIS, said: "Gas trade in Spain has been growing for a number of years. The launch of the PVB hub is likely to accelerate that rise."

On Monday, the inaugural PVB Day-ahead closed at 16.75/MWh. This placed it a premium of 4.188/MWh to the same contract at the Dutch market, known as the TTF. The cost of gas for delivery throughout November '16 was assessed at the PVB at 17.225MWh, putting it 1.775/MWh above the same product in the Netherlands.

The TTF is Europe's most actively traded natural gas market, in which ICIS holds the leading natural benchmark.



Find out more < http://www.icis.com/energy/hub/spanish-pvb/ >

Additional resources

AOC balancing reform trade boost sparks venue debate



Gas demand surge leads to spoke in Spanish pipeline imports



Spanish LNG imports plunge to new low in August

About ICIS

ICIS is the world's largest petrochemical market information provider and has fast-growing energy and fertilizer divisions. Our aim is to give companies in global commodities markets a competitive advantage by delivering trusted pricing data, high-value news, analysis and independent consulting, enabling our customers to make better-informed trading and planning decisions. We have more than 30 years' experience in providing pricing information, news, analysis and consulting to buyers, sellers and analysts.

With a global staff of more than 800, ICIS has employees based in Houston, Washington, New York, London, Montpellier, Dusseldorf, Karlsruhe, Milan, Mumbai, Singapore, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Yantai, Tokyo and Perth. Some 350 of ICIS's staff are journalists engaged in reporting market prices and news, and ICIS is fully committed to upholding the highest journalistic principles of verification, corroboration and authentication. ICIS has a compliance framework that along with its methodologies and business processes adheres to the requirements of the IOSCO PRA Principles.

ICIS is a division of Reed Business Information, part of RELX Group.

About Reed Business Information

Reed Business Information provides information, analytics and data to business professionals worldwide. Our strong global products and services hold market-leading positions across a wide range of industry sectors including banking, petrochemicals and aviation where we help customers make key strategic decisions every day. RBI is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional customers across industries.

http://www.reedbusiness.com

About RELX Group:

RELX Group is a worldleading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs approximately 30,000 people of whom half are in North America. RELX PLC is a London listed holding company which owns 52.9% of RELX Group. RELX NV is an Amsterdam listed holding company which owns 47.1% of RELX Group. The shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX and RENX. The total market capitalisation is approximately 29.1bn GBP / 33.8bn Euro / 37.8bn USD.

http://www.relx.com

SOURCE ICIS
LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

- Lipid formulated ibuprofen (BC1054) at total daily dose of 1200 mg shown to be non-inferior to standard soft gel ibuprofen capsules at total daily dose of 2400 mg in treatment of patients with episodic knee arthralgia

- Phase III study IFH-2014-002 of BC1054 met primary endpoint confirming non-inferior efficacy of low dose (1200mg daily dose) lipid formulated ibuprofen versus high dose (2400mg daily dose) standard soft gel ibuprofen capsules in patients with flaring knee pain

- Lower number of GI events observed with BC1054 with otherwise similar safety and tolerability profile

Infirst Healthcare today announced top line results from its Phase III study IFH-2014-002, investigating the effectiveness of a low dose (1200 mg total daily dose) of lipid formulated ibuprofen capsule in comparison with a low dose (1200 mg total daily dose) and high dose (2400 mg total daily dose) standard soft gel ibuprofen capsules.

The study met its primary objective which was to determine if 1200mg/day of BC1054 lipid formulated ibuprofen was non-inferior to standard soft gel ibuprofen capsules (1200mg /day or 2400mg/day) in reducing pain over a 5-day treatment course in patients with flaring knee pain. The safety and tolerability profile of BC1054 lipid formulated ibuprofen was similar to the standard soft gel active comparators. Gastrointestinal events were the most commonly reported adverse event in all treatment groups, with a lower number being reported in the BC1054 group.

"Continuing the development of safer and more effective anti-inflammatory treatments is an important goal for drug development," said Karen Stoner, Infirst's Head of Drug Development. "Infirst Healthcare believes that more effective treatments can be found by taking a closer look at existing medicines and lipid formulated ibuprofen is an excellent example of this. By maximising efficacy at the lowest dose and for the shortest duration of treatment, we aim to improve the benefit risk profile for patients. Low dose (1200 mg daily dose) lipid formulated ibuprofen will provide an important new treatment option for patients and healthcare professionals. We are pleased with the positive outcome for our lipid formulated ibuprofen in this Phase III trial."

Ibuprofen is the most commonly used and most frequently prescribed NSAID[1] which is widely used in the management of numerous inflammatory, musculoskeletal and rheumatic disorders[2],[3]. Musculoskeletal pain is common in the community[4] and up to 25 per cent of adults may experience knee pain over the course of a year. As the prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions and joint pain increases with age[5], this will put an additional burden on our health systems as the ageing population continues to grow.



Additional analyses of these data are ongoing and will be submitted to a future medical meeting and for publication.

Contact

Hume Brophy

Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur, Hollie Vile

Tel: +44 207 862 6475

infirst@humebrophy.com





-ENDS-



About the IFH-2014-002 FLARE study

The FLARE study (IFH-2014-002) evaluated BC1054 soft gel capsule of Ibuprofen lipid formulation (total daily dose 1200 mg) versus a standard soft gel Ibuprofen capsule (total daily dose 1200 mg and 2400 mg) in the treatment of patients with episodic knee arthralgia/flaring knee pain. The study was a 3-arm, double-blind, randomised, multicentre study conducted in primary care sites in the UK and the Netherlands. The primary objective was to determine if a 5-day course of lipid formulated ibuprofen capsule (1200 mg total daily dose) was non-inferior to standard soft gel ibuprofen capsules (1200mg /day or 2400mg/day) for the pain subscale of the WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index).

About BC1054

BC1054 is an oral soft capsule containing 200 mg of lipid formulated ibuprofen for the relief of rheumatic or muscular pain and pain of non-serious arthritic conditions to help stop pain, and to relieve swelling and ease stiffness of the joints. BC1054 is uniquely formulated in a lipid excipient matrix and derives from infirst's portfolio of patented technologies. BC1054 has been granted marketing authorisation in the UK and comes in packs of 30 soft gel capsules. Regulatory approvals in other geographies are being pursued.

About INFIRST HEALTHCARE

Infirst Healthcare is a UK-based healthcare company which spun out of the SEEK drug discovery group in 2012. Its developments aim is to build on the trust and safety of well-known drugs and to develop formulations that result in a genuinely perceived difference in performance. The ultimate goal is improved and highly effective health management at an early intervention stage, involving patients, clinicians and payers as well as pharmacists.



References:



[1] Abraham P, Indirani K, Desigamani K. Nitro-arginine methyl ester, a non-selective inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase reduces ibuprofen-induced gastric mucosal injury in the rat. Dig Dis Sci. 2005;50(9):1632-40.

[2] Tan SC, Patel BK, Jackson SH, Swift CG, Hutt AJ, Ibuprofen stereochemistry: double-the-trouble? Enantiomer. 1999;4(3-4):195-203.

[3] Russell TM, Young LY. Arthritic disorders: gout and hyperurecemia. In: Koda-Kimble MA, Young LV, Kradjan WA, Guglielmo BJ, Alldredge BK and Corelli RL editors. Applied therapeutics: the clinical use of drugs. 8th ed., Lipponcott William and Wilkins A Wolters Kluwer company Philadelphia New York. 2005:42-45.

[4] Urwin M, Symmons D, Allison T, et al. Estimating the burden of musculoskeletal disorders in the community: the comparative prevalence of symptoms at different anatomical sites, and the relation to social deprivation. Ann Rheum Dis 1998;57:649-55.

[5] Loeser RF. Age-related changes in the musculoskeletal system and the development of osteoarthritis. Clin Gereatr. Med.2010;26:371-86.

SOURCE Infirst Healthcare
The Brand New Management Tool for the EonStor GS

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495) has released EonOne, the new management tool for the EonStor GS. Besides guiding users to quickly and easily complete all storage related setups and configurations with initial setup wizard and workflow, it also offers a range of features for central management of multiple systems such as Storage Resource Management (SRM), system monitoring, access authorization, and event notifications.

With emphasis on friendly and intuitive controls, workflow can integrate storage controls such as storage provision, scheduling backup as snapshot, and cloud into one easy and simple step-by-step procedure by grouping similar functions and settings into one streamlined page. This makes it much faster and easier to configure new systems while avoiding all the hassle of complicated navigations.

For maintenance, Storage Resource Management allows IT personnel to analyze performance and capacity usage status to optimize system resources with quota management and improve return on investment (ROI), while complete event notifications for system monitoring ensure users are fully informed of various events.

"We developed the intuitive user interface EonOne to reflect the comprehensive approach of our unified storage EonStor GS, as it provides simple access to multiple systems and features." Commented Thomas Kao, Senior Director of Product Planning at Infortrend

EonOne also supports the EonStor GSe. For more information about EonOne, click here. For more information about EonStor GS, click here. For more information about EonStor GSe, click here.

About Infortrend

Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more Information, please visit www.infortrend.com

Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc., other trademarks property of their respective owners.

Contact:

Infortrend Europe Ltd.

Agnieszka Wesolowska

Tel:+44-1256-305-220

E-mail:marketing.eu@infortrend.com

Related Links

http://www.infortrend.com



SOURCE Infortrend Technology, Inc.
LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Following the acquisitions of Invent Farma and neuraxpharm (the "Group") by funds advised by Apax Partners, Stephan Walz has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. He will assume the newly-created role of Group CEO and will be leading Invent Farma's and neuraxpharm's activities across all markets.

Until 2015 Mr Walz was the CEO of Aristo, a Germany-headquartered, multi-country pharmaceutical company co-owned by the former Hexal founders. During Mr Walz's 14 years at the helm of Aristo the company grew significantly, both organically and through a series of acquisitions, to become one of Germany's leading generics and OTC pharma companies.

Claudio Albrecht, former Actavis CEO and member of the Board of the Group, said: "We are extremely pleased to have Stephan join our team. He comes with an impressive track-record at Aristo and crucial experience in both pharma manufacturing and marketing. In addition, he has many years of M&A experience, which will be a real asset as we grow our European footprint."

Stephan Walz commented: "I am excited by the opportunity to create a leading European specialty generics player. Both Invent Farma and neuraxpharm have a long history of success in their respective markets and it will be a pleasure for me to continue that journey with such talented management teams in Spain and Germany. Thousands of patients and doctors across Europe use our products and it is our prime responsibility and duty to honour the trust they place in us every day."

Notes to editors:

About Invent Farma

Located in Barcelona, Invent Farma develops, manufactures and markets generic drugs. It owns and operates manufacturing plants in Spain and comprises three divisions:

Inke, a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients ("APIs") which has a unique expertise in the respiratory area;

Lesvi, a highly flexible manufacturer of finished dosage forms ("FDFs") that has capabilities across multiple therapeutic areas; and

Qualigen, which markets generic drugs in Spain and has a leading and rapidly growing franchise in the central nervous system ("CNS") field.

About neuraxpharm

Located in Langenfeld near Dusseldorf, neuraxpharm is a leader in generic pharmaceutical products for the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Founded in 1985, the company is a trusted brand for neurologists, psychiatrists, pharmacists and patients. It has a portfolio of 100 predominantly differentiated products to serve the needs of CNS patients.

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners LLP is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 30 year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of $38 billion*. Funds advised by Apax Partners invest in companies across four global sectors of Healthcare, Tech & Telco, Services and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. In the healthcare sector they have completed more than 80 investments, including in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare services. For further information about Apax Partners, please visit http://www.apax.com

Apax Partners LLP is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the UK and is subject to the FCA's rules and guidance. Apax Partners' registered office is 33 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6DN, UK.

* Funds raised since 1981, commitments converted from fund currency to USD at FX rates as at December 2015.

Contact:

Georgiana Brunner, Matthew Goodman or Annabel Clay

Greenbrook Communications

Tel: +44-20-7952-2000

Email: apax@greenbrookpr.com



SOURCE Invent Farma and neuraxpharm
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Italtel - a leading telecommunications company in all-IP communication, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) - today announced it will demo both its SDN application Netwrapper and the enhanced version of its Session Border Controller NetMatch-S Cloud Inside with Virtual Network Function (VNF) Manager at SDN & OpenFlow World Congress.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130429/612742 )



Netwrapper - part of Italtel's Dynamic Admission Control (DAC) solution - allows the smart allocation of network resources according to business critical applications' requirements. The application has been certified as "Cisco Compatible" with Cisco APIC-EM Enterprise SDN Controller and Cisco Unified Communication Manager (CUCM). Netwrapper assures quality of experience (QoE) for enterprises adopting a single or multi-technology environment by optimizing network resources, as explained in the video "Netwrapper in 1 minute". The demo will show how the DAC solution can be applied to Unified Communication & Collaboration services.

"Netwrapper understands each service's need for bandwidth and determines the right allocation of network resources for the best QoE," said Stefano Boero, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer - SDN at Italtel. "We are delighted to be showing the application for the first time at SDN & OpenFlow World Congress and how it forms a key part of the DAC solution."

Also on show will be the NetMatch-S Cloud Inside Session Border Controller, which has been enhanced with the new Italtel VNF Manager. The demo will show how the software architecture of the Italtel virtualized SBC is able to respond to NFV requirements such as easy instantiation, rapid elasticity and high availability.

"The Session Border Controller is a key element for the evolution of all-IP communication networks", commented Giuseppe Monteleone, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer - NFV at Italtel. "Our NetMatch-S Cloud Inside is a full featured SBC and it is implemented as virtualized network function in line with the process of network transformation based on the progressive adoption of the NFV paradigm".

In addition to the demos, Italtel representatives will be presenting at both the Technology and Business Forums on Wednesday, October 12. Monteleone will speak about network functions for RTC, while Boero will present on increasing the value of NG-VPN and SDN-WAN services for end-users.

Italtel designs and provides all-IP communication solutions; Managed Services; IT System Integration Services; Network Migration. More

SOURCE Italtel
MUNICH, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Chinese tourists now can pay with mobile Alipay Barcode Payment in four Lufthansa WorldShop stores

Pilot phase started 1st of October

The Wirecard Group is to enable Miles & More GmbH to accept Alipay barcode payments in their Lufthansa WorldShop stores via the new 'Scan Alipay' iOS app. Alipay is China's most popular mobile payment solution. The pilot phase started on 1 October in four stores located in Munich and Frankfurt am Main airports in Germany - right in time for the start of the 'Golden Week', a holiday period during which millions of Chinese tourists head over to Europe to shop. Wirecard will provide Alipay acceptance and process the entire payment transaction within the framework of this partnership.

In the exclusive Lufthansa WorldShop Stores operated by Miles & More GmbH, high quality luggage and accessories, electronics and lifestyle products from many renowned brands are on offer. These are of great interest to Chinese tourists. In 2015 alone, affluent Chinese tourists spent USD 292bn on their trips abroad - more than any other country.

"We are looking forward to offer Chinese customers in cooperation with Wirecard the Alipay barcode payments in the Lufthansa WorldShop Stores. Now the shopping experience will be even easier and more convenient for these customers," says Roland Adrian, Managing Director of Miles & More GmbH. "We are certain that the new payment method will be well-received. The next step, which will follow at a later date, would be to integrate Alipay in our till system and continue its rollout further."

Dr. Markus Braun, CEO at Wirecard: "The number of Chinese tourists has risen massively. As surveys reveal, Germany is their preferred destination for European travel. Moreover, Chinese tourists like to splash the cash on holiday, meaning that they represent a significant source of income for retailers. We are therefore delighted to support the Lufthansa WorldShop Stores in offering mobile Alipay payments via the new Scan Alipay app. We are sure that many more joint ventures in this field are in the pipeline."

Its ease of use means that the app is attractive for all retailers: customers making a cashless payment via the Alipay app simply need to show the retailer the barcode on their smartphone display. All the retailer is required to do is enter the amount payable in the relevant currency into the Scan Alipay app on the mobile end device and then scan the QR code on the customer's smartphone. This is all that is necessary to complete the transaction. Payment processing is then handled by Wirecard Bank. Retailers can conveniently download the app from the App Store free of charge. Following a short, uncomplicated registration process, users can quickly begin making payments via the app. Wirecard's ConnectedPOS technology is used for direct Alipay till system integration. For more information, please visit: https://www.wirecard.com/alipay/

About Wirecard:

Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard.

Miles & More press contact:

Miles & More press office

Tel.: +49 69 719168-159

Email: presse@miles-and-more.com

About Miles & More

Miles & More is Europe's leading frequent flyer bonus programme. With more than 20 years' experience and in working with over 300 partner companies, Miles & More GmbH, which operates the programme from its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, have become experts in the field of successful customer retention.

Participants in the programme can collect Miles & More status miles from flights, but also from purchasing premium brands across all major retail sectors. These miles can be redeemed at partner companies operating in the shopping and lifestyle sector, telecommunications and electronics industry as well as at hotels and car rental companies, for example. Miles & More offers a foot in the door of an exclusive world with selected products and premium offers, including in the Lufthansa World Shop, highly sought-after air miles which can be redeemed against flight tickets and the Miles & More credit card as a secure payment method. Partner companies in the core markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland especially benefit from access to a select target group and use Miles & More premium miles for the purposes of customer retention.

The frequent flyer bonus programme was launched on 1 January 1993 in Germany with a total of seven partners. Since September 2014, Miles & More GmbH has operated as an independent company and wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa AG. Further information can be found on http://www.miles-and-more.com and http://www.miles-and-more.com/presse

About Alipay:

Launched in 2004, Alipay is the world's leading third-party payment platform. It currently has over 450 million active registered users and more than 200 financial institution partners. During the 2015 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, China's equivalent of Cyber Monday, Alipay processed RMB 91.3 billion worth of transactions from Alibaba's marketplaces. In addition to online payment functions such as online shopping payments, money transfer, and utility bill payments, Alipay is expanding to offline payments both inside and outside of China. Over 600,000 brick-and-mortar merchants and over one million taxis now accept Alipay as a payment method across China. As of December 2015, Alipay was accepted in more than 50,000 retail stores outside of China, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions, including South Korea, Germany and France. More than half of the transactions processed by Alipay are conducted on mobile devices. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, or buy movie tickets directly from various modules within the app and purchase wealth management products such as Yu'e Bao.

Wirecard press contact:



Wirecard AG

Jana Tilz

Tel.: +49(0)-89-4424-1363

Email: jana.tilz@wirecard.com



SOURCE Wirecard AG
DUBAI, UAE, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

International hydroponic experts Pegasus Agriculture have announced plans to construct a large hydroponic facility in Florida, U.S.A. The company has purchased a 15 year lease on 77 acres of land, with an option to extend the lease by an additional 15. The move will give the company access to North American markets, which have exploded in recent years as local populations are shifting demand to more sustainable, locally produced goods.

The local effects of climate change, of which rising sea levels is a major issues for the state, are being felt by residents, and recent polls indicate that roughly 80% of Florida's population now believe in its existence.

Additionally, Florida's agriculture sector has been showing significant signs of growth over the last few years, with some 1.56 million people being employed in the State's agriculture and natural resources sectors in 2014, which is the latest year for which there is data.

Ultimately, this makes Florida an extremely attractive location for international hydroponics companies like Pegasus Agriculture. In fact, Mahmood Almas, the company's Group Chairman is quoted as having said that "it is one of the most ideal locations to press the advantages of hydroponics available worldwide, at the moment."

About Pegasus Agriculture

Pegasus Agriculture is one of the leading owners and operators of hydroponic farming facilities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Their head office is strategically located in Dubai, U.A.E. and serves as the headquarters for their global growing and distribution network.

With over 150 years of combined market experience, Pegasus Agriculture leads the MENA region in its goal to attain independent food security.

For more information, please visit http://pegasusagriculturegroup.com

Pegasus Agriculture Contact

info@pegasusagriculturegroup.com

Dubai Office:

+971 4 818 8300



SOURCE Pegasus Agriculture Group
NEW YORK, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Global sales of welding equipment is estimated to be valued at US$ 10.5 Bn by the end of 2016, witnessing a CAGR of 7.9% from 2016 to 2024. In a new report titled "Welding Equipment Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016 -2024", Persistence Market Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the global welding equipment market and offers insights into the key factors and trends likely to shape the market in the next eight years.

The global welding equipment market is likely to witness sustained growth in the next eight years owing to a burgeoning automobile and construction industry especially in emerging economies such as India and China. Rapid growth in the transportation industry and an increasing demand from the oil and gas industry is also driving the growth of the global welding equipment market. Market growth is likely to be further augmented by an increasing number of end-use applications that utilize different types of welding equipment and techniques. Slow adoption of advanced welding technologies in developing countries such as India is likely to hamper market growth over the forecast period.

Browse Market Overview and Research methodology at: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/welding-equipment-market.asp

The global welding equipment market is expected to witness key trends in the coming years. One of the major trends likely to be observed is an increasing need for welding automation technology in the fabrication industry.

The global welding equipment market is segmented on the basis of Welding Technology (Arc Welding, Resistance Welding, Oxy-Fuel Welding, Laser Beam Welding, Others), Level of Automation (Manual, Semi-Automatic, Automatic), Application (Automobile & Transportation, Building & Construction, Marine Application, Others), and Region (North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa). In the welding type category, the arc welding segment is estimated to be valued at US$ 4,979.1 Mn by 2016 end and is expected to reach US$ 8,580.0 Mn by the end of 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 7.0% over the forecast period. The laser beam welding segment is anticipated to create incremental dollar opportunity of US$ 1,772.9 Mn between 2016 and 2024.

In the level of automation category, the automatic segment is estimated to account for 65.9% value share of the overall welding equipment market by 2016 end, followed by the semi-automatic segment with 25.4% share.

Request for Sample Report: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4702

In the application category, the automobile & transportation segment is estimated to reach 394.2 thousand units by 2016 end and is anticipated to increase to 603.7 thousand units by 2024, exhibiting a volume CAGR of 5.5% over the forecast period. The building & construction segment is estimated to reach 345.4 thousand units by 2016 end and is anticipated to increase to 491.9 thousand units by 2024, exhibiting a volume CAGR of 4.5% over the forecast period.

Among regions, Asia Pacific is the largest market for welding equipment and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. The welding equipment market in the APAC region is expected to expand 1.9X in terms of value between 2016 and 2024. The APAC welding equipment market is estimated to be valued at US$ 3,441.0 Mn by 2016 end and is expected to represent incremental dollar opportunity of US$ 3,146.5 Mn between 2016 and 2024. The MEA welding equipment market is slated to be valued at US$ 1,640.4 Mn by 2024 end, expanding at a CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period.

Download Report Table of Contents, Figures, and Tables: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/welding-equipment-market/toc

The report profiles some of the leading companies operating in the global welding equipment market - voestalpine AG, Colfax Corporation, The Lincoln Electric Company, Obara Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Illinois Tool Works Inc., Fronius International GmbH, Rofin-Sinar Technologies, Sonics and Materials, Inc., Arcon Welding Equipment, DAIHEN Corporation, Amada Miyachi, Inc. and Nelson Stud Welding (Doncasters Group Ltd.) Major market players are consolidating the global market through strategic mergers and acquisitions and are investing in technological innovations to cement their market foothold and expand customer base.

About Us:

Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.

Contact

Persistence Market Research

U.S. Sales Office:

305 Broadway, 7th Floor

New York City, NY 10007

United States

USA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353

Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Blog: https://pmrblog.com

SOURCE Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.
LA PLAINE SAINT DENIS, France, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Consolidation of position in Italy , a market with a strong outlook, where Saldi Privati is a key player with a turnover of 44 M

Acceleration of the international expansion, with international activities to represent more than 20%1 of the group's sales

An additional driver of value creation for the Group with a strong potential for synergies

Showroomprive, an innovative European player in the online private sales industry, specializing in fashion, will acquire 100% of the capital of Saldi Privati, a subsidiary of the Milanese group Banzai. This transaction makes Showroomprive the 2nd actor in online private sales in Italy, a strategic country due to the size of the fashion industry and its strong development potential given a penetration rate of eCommerce that is lower than the European average.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151124/290566LOGO )



It will allow Showroomprive to make a considerable step forward in the deployment of its mult-local international strategy, initiated at the end of 2015. This is also part of a constant effort to improve the quality of service and of the offer proposed to its members and to its brand partners, in France and internationally. After the completion of this acquisition, Showroomprive will achieve more than 20%[1] of its turnover abroad.

The transaction amounts to a total of 28 million euros, payable at the closing of the operation. Subject to the fulfilment of performance conditions tied to the 2018 results, the price of the transaction could be supplemented by a maximum sum of 10 million euros, payable in 2019. This acquisition is in line with the financial discipline criteria set by the company for external growth. The Group maintains a very comfortable financial situation with a net cash position reaching 54.8m post-operation (based on pro forma figures as of 30th June 2016).

Showroomprive expects to complete the acquisition of Saldi Privati in the course of November 2016.

Saldi Privati, created in 2007 in Milan, is the second largest actor in the online private sales in Italy, boasting 2.7 million members and a turnover of 44 million euros in 2015.

Like Showroomprive, Saldi offers a large range of brands with a focus on fashion and mainly targeted at women customers. The site caught on to the mobile transition early on and now generates more than 50% of its sales through this channel.

The integration of Saldi Privati will allow Showroomprive to have access to a broader range of brands and to offer the leading fashion brands at the best prices to its members in all of its markets. It will benefit from the strong attractiveness of Italian brands, which make up over 70% of Saldi Privati's revenues.

In addition to the enhancement of the Group's offer across its markets through the pooling of its portfolio of brands, important synergies are expected in logistics, technology and marketing.

In the context of the acquisition, Showroomprive has established a partnership with Banzai to benefit from its logistics platform in Italy. It will be able to access a unique network of over 400 pickup points in around 200 cities and to offer 48 hour delivery to its members.

Showroomprive will rely on Saldi Privati's teams to accelerate its development in Italy. Bruno Decker, founder and CEO of Saldi Privati, remains at the head of the company and joins Showroomprive's management team.

Thierry Petit and David Dayan, co-founders and co-CEOs at Showroomprive declare: "This transaction constitutes an important stage in Showroomprive's international expansion. It will reinforce our presence in Italy, an important market for fashion and offering strong prospects for e-commerce. Saldi Privati is an actor whose DNA is close to that of Showroomprive. We will count on its teams and its founder Bruno Decker, with whom we share the same vision of the business."

Bruno Decker, founder and CEO of Saldi Privati states: "We are pleased to join Showroomprive, one of the leaders in online private sales in Europe. The access to Showroomprive's portfolio of brands, its clout and its innovation capacity will allow us to accelerate our growth."

An analyst and investor conference call (in English) will be hosted on October 4th 2016 from 11:00 am (Paris time). Journalists will only be able to listen to the conference.

Speakers:

David Dayan Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer Thierry Petit , Deputy Chief Executive

, Deputy Chief Executive Nicolas Woussen, Chief Financial Officer

Thomas Kienzi , Head of Investor Relations and M&A

Dial-in to listen to the conference LIVE

From France : +33 (0) 1 76 77 22 22

: +33 (0) 1 76 77 22 22 From the UK: +44 (0) 20 3427 1919

From the US: +1 646 254 3360

Access code: 1219602

---------

[1] Based on results for fiscal year 2015.

This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire.

SOURCE showroomprive.com
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eight public health and medical groups, and several individual pediatricians, today filed suit in federal court in Boston to force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a final rule requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and advertising, as mandated by a 2009 federal law.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Truth Initiative and several individual pediatricians.

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act required graphic warnings covering the top half of the front and back of cigarette packs and 20 percent of cigarette advertising and gave the FDA until June 22, 2011, to issue a final rule requiring such warnings. While the FDA met that deadline, the specific graphic warnings required by the FDA were struck down in August 2012 by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which ruled 2-1 that the proposed warnings violated the First Amendment. That ruling only applied to the specific images proposed by the FDA and did not address the law's underlying requirement.

Ruling in a separate case in March 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the law's requirement for graphic warnings, finding that this provision did not violate the First Amendment. That court found the warnings "are reasonably related to the government's interest in preventing consumer deception and are therefore constitutional." The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a tobacco industry appeal of this ruling.

Taken together, these two federal court decisions mean the FDA is still legally obligated to require graphic health warnings, and the agency is free to use different images than those struck down by the D.C. Circuit in 2012.

The FDA stated in March 2013 that it planned to issue a new rule requiring graphic warnings, but has yet to act. Several of the groups that filed today's lawsuit have repeatedly written the FDA to urge that it do so.

The Administrative Procedure Act, which governs federal agencies like the FDA, gives federal courts the power to "compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed." The lawsuit filed today alleges that the FDA's failure to issue a new rule requiring graphic warnings is "agency action unlawfully withheld" and seeks a court order requiring the FDA to proceed with a rulemaking proposing a new set of graphic warnings. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

"The FDA has been in violation [of the 2009 law] for more than four years. During that time, over three million Americans, the vast majority of them minors, have begun to smoke on a regular basis. Half of them will die prematurely as a result of tobacco-related disease," the lawsuit states.

The graphic warnings were mandated by a large, bipartisan majority of Congress, which relied on an extensive scientific record demonstrating the need for the warnings and their effectiveness. That record showed the current, text-only warnings  which are printed on the side of cigarette packs and haven't been updated since 1984  are stale and unnoticed.

Studies around the world have shown that graphic warnings are effective at informing consumers about the health risks of smoking, preventing children and other nonsmokers from starting to smoke, and motivating smokers to quit. Because of this evidence, more than 90 countries now require large, graphic cigarette warnings.

The 2012 D.C. Circuit ruling striking down the FDA's proposed warnings was based, in part, on the court's judgment that the FDA had not provided sufficient evidence that graphic warnings would reduce the number of Americans who smoke. But the evidence of the public health benefits of graphic warnings has grown even stronger since that ruling. A 2013 study based on Canada's experience with graphic warnings found that if the U.S. had implemented such warnings in 2012 as planned, the number of adult smokers in the U.S. would have decreased by 5.3-8.6 million in 2013.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans and costing about $170 billion in health care expenses each year.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080918/CFTFKLOGO

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Accion announced today the appointment of Kevin Saunders as General Counsel. Saunders had previously served as Accion's Deputy General Counsel and interim General Counsel.

"I've had the chance to work closely with Kevin on a number of complex issues over several years and I have a very high regard for his thoughtful advice and judgment," said Accion President and CEO Michael Schlein. "Kevin has a deep understanding of our work and the complex environments in which we operate. I'm excited to work with Kevin in his new role."

Kevin joined Accion in 2007 and was promoted to Deputy General Counsel in 2013. Throughout his tenure with Accion, he has provided essential guidance on many different aspects of the organization's work advancing inclusive finance. He has served as the primary counsel for the more than 30 Accion Venture Lab and Frontier transactions and investments in bold, disruptive fintech startups; helped close Accion Investments in Microfinance, SPC; coordinated the capital raise and restructuring that improved and expanded Accion's microfinance work in China; led Accion's investment in Myanmar's DAWN; and served as the Secretary to Accion's Board of Directors.

Outside of Accion, Kevin has taught a class on financial inclusion at Boston University School of Law since 2010, and is a founding member of the Impact Investing Legal Working Group. He serves on InsideNGO's Legal Advisory Council and is active in the NGO Counsel Forum. Most recently, Kevin has been invited to participate in a United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group.

Prior to joining Accion, Kevin served as a law clerk with Boston University's Office of General Counsel, a private law firm, the international health non-profit Partners in Health, and the Arkansas Department of Human Services. He had also provided legal services to veterans and homeless individuals and conducted research with the International Consortium for Law and Development. Kevin holds a B.A. and M.A. from Arkansas State University, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the bar of the state of Massachusetts.

About Accion

Accion is a global nonprofit dedicated to building a financially inclusive world with economic opportunity for all, by giving people the financial tools they need to improve their lives. We are building the next generation of top-tier microfinance institutions, and over more than 50 years have helped build 65 such institutions in 32 countries on four continents that today reach millions of clients. Our impact investing initiatives are pushing beyond microfinance to catalyze more than 30 innovative start-ups dedicated to improving the efficiency, reach, and scope of financial services for the poor. And our Center for Financial Inclusion is helping to build a stronger industry with high standards and broad engagement. Currently, our work spans nearly two dozen countries, including the U.S., where we are the nation's largest nonprofit microfinance network. For further information, visit http://www.accion.org.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120320/NE72531LOGO

SOURCE Accion

Related Links

http://www.accion.org


LAS VEGAS, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Las Vegas Injury Attorney Adam Kutner has teamed up with another local charity, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, to deliver food and other goods to hungry families in Las Vegas.

Team members from Adam Kutner & Associates gathered recently to participate in the delivery of over $500 in non-perishable food and other necessary items to the Catholic Charities main campus in downtown Las Vegas. Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada delivers aid of many kinds to local families in need, including housewares, toiletries, children's items, clothing, food, and housing assistance. The donation marks another effort by Mr. Kutner to help local families in Las Vegas.

Kutner and his employees are already in discussions with Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada about taking part in a post-renovation showcase for the Hands of Hope Food Pantry and the St. Vincent Lied Dining Room and Kitchen. The event takes place in late October and will feature a gourmet meal prepared for over 1,300 Las Vegas men, women, and children in need.

"This is just another opportunity for us to give back to those in need," said Adam Kutner of the recent effort. "Obviously the goal here is to showcase ways for members of the Las Vegas community to get involved in giving back," Mr. Kutner continued. "There's not a better charity out there than Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, so we're very happy to be working with them."

Adam S. Kutner & Associates is the leading personal injury law firm in Las Vegas NV. With over two decades of proven results in the state of Nevada, Kutner has become a household name around the Las Vegas Valley. In addition to the donations Kutner makes directly to organizations in the community, he has created a scholarship program to further assist students in need. More information about Mr. Kutner and his community contributions can be found on his website: http://adamkutnercares.com/

SOURCE Adam S. Kutner & Associates

Related Links

http://adamkutnercares.com


SAN DIEGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Affirmed Housing is pleased to announce that the San Diego City Council unanimously approved Civic San Diego's recommendation to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Affirmed Housing for a proposed development at the corner of Hilltop and Euclid in the Encanto neighborhood of San Diego. This approval, which came on Tuesday, September 27, 2016, allows Affirmed and Civic San Diego to move forward in reaching an agreement for the development of the site. Affirmed was selected through a competitive Request for Proposals process to develop a high quality, mixed-use project that provides retail and much-needed affordable and market-rate homes. The proposed development at the currently vacant property will feature further community outreach and will contribute to a sense of identity for the neighborhood.

Affirmed Housing's development at Hilltop and Euclid will be a mixed-use project including market rate single family for-sale homes, 84 affordable apartments for families who earn 50%-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), 8,300 square feet of retail space, and a park that can be used for local events such as a farmers market. The existing arroyo that bisects the site will become the focal point, uniting the east and west sides into a cohesive place via a pedestrian bridge. The development will also feature drought-tolerant landscaping and facades designed to seamlessly blend with the surrounding community. The development will focus on revitalizing and driving new retail to the local area, and creating a sense of economic prosperity for the neighborhood.

James Silverwood, President & CEO of Affirmed Housing, says, "Our team put a lot of thought into the design and program of this new development, and we believe that it will enrich and regenerate the local community while advancing the goals of the Encanto Neighborhood's Community Plan."

Headquartered in San Diego, Affirmed Housing is dedicated to improving and sustaining the viability of California through the development of affordable housing. The company aims to enhance communities and our environment by building dynamic, professionally-managed, high-quality, green multifamily housing. Areas of expertise include site selection, engineering, architecture, construction, relocation, and marketing. Affirmed also has extensive knowledge in public finance, low-income housing tax credits, and tax-exempt bond financing. For more information, visit www.affirmedhousing.com.

Contact: Beth Binger

BCI

(619) 987-6658

[email protected]

SOURCE Affirmed Housing

Related Links

http://www.affirmedhousing.com


BANGALORE, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Gartner's Market Guide on IoT Service Providers Helps Organizations to Optimize Business Decision Making and Select the Right Technology Partner to Support Their IoT Projects

Altimetrik was acknowledged as a representative vendor in Gartner's 'Market Guide for IoT Service Providers'. The report includes Altimetrik's industry-best IoT capabilities including its engineering expertise, IoT metrics, domain models, analytics and an in-built IoT security model as part of the solution stack in the market guide.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414877LOGO )



According to Gartner, "Skills and resources to build, deploy and run IoT solutions are often scarce for many businesses. IT leaders in manufacturing, healthcare delivery, transportation and retail organizations should use this Market Guide to select the right IoT service provider to support their IoT projects." Having worked with several global enterprises on cross-industry connected solutions, Altimetrik is capable of providing superior technology consulting, physical product design and solution implementation. The company has been lauded for its connected healthcare platform as well as its pioneering focus on industrial IoT solutions (IIoT) that aim to improve operations, optimize assets and enhance overall productivity.

Altimetrik's state-of-the-art IoT solutions for the manufacturing sector include connected furnaces, network of odorization pumps, fuel cell generator monitoring, digitalized assembly line and air quality monitoring. These solutions can effectively improve operations, optimize assets, enhance services, increase engagement and conserve resources for the manufacturers. In the healthcare segment, Altimetrik offers operational insights into medical equipment sterilization, besides its care management platform, which according to the company is a comprehensive wellness management platform redefining population health management. Gartner subscribers can access the report here: https://www.gartner.com/doc/3418845/market-guide-iot-service-providers

"Internet of Things represents the future of many industries and Altimetrik is committed to pushing the limits of this technology and its ability to transform businesses and touch lives. This recognition motivates us to continue focusing on our high-end R&D efforts and build solutions that are beneficial to business entities and beyond" - Madhavan Satagopan, CTO, Altimetrik

Disclaimer:

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Altimetrik:

Altimetrik is a business transformation and technology solutions partner to global enterprise customers in areas of digital, connected solutions and consumer technologies. We work with enterprises on latest trend adoption through outcome engineering, hand-hold them through the entire value realization cycle and realize this transformation through advanced technologies, design-led engineering principles and our unique capabilities. Altimetrik strongly believes that experience-led consumer behavior will lead the way in the future transformation of enterprise businesses and is thereby investing heavily in researching and building solutions and capabilities which are likely to catalyze this transformation. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Altimetrik has its technologists mapped across the globe including USA, Uruguay, India, Singapore and UAE.

Additional information can be found at Altimetrik or connect with Altimetrik on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.



Altimetrik Media Contact:

Devaashish Savant

Altimetrik

+91-9611752244

[email protected]

Shobana Sekhar

Edelman India

+91-9742389733

[email protected]



SOURCE Altimetrik
NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

kicked off Advertising Week New York with the First Annual Legacy of a Lifetime Awards. Advertising professionals spent the evening celebrating four industry superstars for their commitments to Diversity, Creativity, Leadership and Education.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415197

The Legacy of a Lifetime Awards were created in memory of the first female chair of the American Advertising Federation and Advertising Hall of Famer, Patricia Martin. Pat Martin spent her life strengthening the advertising industry by working tirelessly on the American Advertising Awards, National Student Advertising Competition and Diversity Achievement Awards. Helen Lavelle, Chair of Legacy of a Lifetime said, "Not only was Pat my mentor and friend, she was a role model to many within our industry, including the first ever, Legacy of a Lifetime Award Recipients."

The Pat Martin Diversity Award went to Louis Carr, President of Media Sales of BET Networks. Michele Thornton, Senior Vice President of Media Sales at Centric TV, emphasized Louis's commitment to diversity. While accepting his award, Louis left the audience with inspiring advice. He said, "No matter what industry you are in, whatever you choose to do with your life, remember to make it bigger than you." One of his many accomplishments is the Louis Carr Foundation that provides paid internships to students of color throughout corporate America.

Gino Grillo, President & CEO of The Advertising Club of New York and Madhu Malhan, Vice President/Director of Creative Branding at Publicis, presented Leslie Winthrop Co-Founder of AAR Partners, with the Pat Martin Education Award. Leslie is well known throughout the industry for her 30-year commitment to the National Student Advertising Competition. Students and faculty from Marist College and The University of Scranton attended to show their appreciation for her decades of service.

John Osborn, CEO of BBDO New York received the Pat Martin Creativity Award for his powerful work for the agency's clients including FedEx, GE, CVS, and Mars. Jim Norton, Global Head of Media Sales at AOL and Immediate Past Chair of the American Advertising Federation presented John with his award. The BBDO table was charged with energy and enthusiasm as John's colleagues and team members celebrated him on the dance floor.

David Bell, Chairman of Gyro, received the Pat Martin Leadership Award for his numerous leadership roles in the industry. Christoph Becker, one of David's many mentees and CEO and COO of Gyro shared with the audience a piece of advice he received from David. He said, "You have to act like a kite, fly free, but always have an invisible line that takes you to the ground." In addition to being the only industry executive to lead all four industry organizations, including the AAF, David also served as CEO for the industry's three largest companies, Bozell Worldwide, True North Communications, and Interpublic.

BBDO New York, BET Networks and Interpublic Group generously sponsored Legacy of a Lifetime. The American Advertising Federation is comprised of over 200 chapters and 5,000+ students across the United States. All proceeds from the evening benefit, District 2 advertising clubs from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Delaware and Maryland. Funds are used to promote Diversity, Education, Leadership and Creativity through professional development programs.

Industry professionals from companies including Gyro, Omnicom Media Group, Double Verify, Dstillery, The Advertising Club of New York, Spotify, iHeart Media, Time, Inc., Dashbid, and Saatchi & Saatchi gathered at The Pierre to enjoy a fun, unconventional evening that featured dancing to music provided by The Rhythm Shop.

To be involved in the 2nd Annual Legacy of a Lifetime Awards, or join District 2 of the American Advertising Federation, contact Doreen DeFabio Duska, Governor, at [email protected].

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SOURCE District 2, American Advertising Federation

Related Links

http://www.aafdistrict2.org/


DENVER, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) has announced the publication of the EPIC (Evaluation of Pimobendan In Cardiology) study by Royal Veterinary College (RVC), University of London in its Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (JVIM), which is an open-access publication. The original findings of the study, which highlight the need for a significant shift in how veterinarians approach the diagnosis and management of mitral valve disease (MVD) in dogs, were presented at the ACVIM Forum in June, to overwhelming interest.

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The groundbreaking results demonstrate that earlier treatment of preclinical MVD delays onset of heart failure in dogs. Such findings will be welcome news to thousands of veterinarians and dog owners across the world, as heart disease  and MVD in particular  is one of the more common causes of death in canines. The vast majority of older, small breed dogs with a characteristic heart murmur are likely to have preclinical MVD, many of which will also have cardiomegaly secondary to the disease and may benefit from early treatment.

Adrian Boswood, MA VetMB MRCVS DVC, Professor of Veterinary Cardiology at the RVC, led the research and described it as a major breakthrough:

"Thanks to the EPIC study results, vets no longer have to adopt a 'watch and wait' approach to suspected preclinical cases of MVD. When a typical mitral valve murmur is detected, vets should now investigate further to look for cardiac enlargement. If demonstrated, this suggests the patient will probably benefit from treatment with pimobendan before the onset of clinical signs."

Eighteen of the investigating centers used in the study were based in North America, with Sonya G. Gordon, DVM, DVSc, DACVIM (Cardiology), Associate Professor at Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, serving as one of the lead investigators.

EPIC is the largest prospective veterinary cardiology study carried out to date, pushing best practice in evidence-based veterinary medicine to a new level, while the quality of the EPIC data rivals that of human clinical trials. The prospective study was double-blinded, placebo-controlled, and randomized, taking seven years to complete and involving 360 dogs across 11 countries and four continents.

Dogs were recruited to the study if they had:

Systolic heart murmur with maximal intensity over mitral valve area (>3/6 grade)

Echocardiographic evidence of MVD

Evidence of cardiomegaly (demonstrated radiographically and echocardiographically)

In light of the findings, veterinarians should now consider testing early for signs of preclinical MVD, and in dogs with cardiomegaly secondary to preclinical MVD, veterinarians should consider the use of pimobendan to delay the onset of congestive heart failure and extend the asymptomatic period.

To learn more about the study, please contact Shannon Stevens, Fetching Communications at 1-877-703-3824, x. 107 or [email protected]. Additional information regarding the results, investigators, and centers involved in the study can be found in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

About the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM)

The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of animals and people through education, training and certification of specialists in veterinary internal medicine, discovery and dissemination of new medical knowledge, and increasing public awareness of advances in veterinary medical care. ACVIM is the certifying organization for veterinary specialists in cardiology, large animal internal medicine, neurology, oncology and small animal internal medicine.

ACVIM hosts the ACVIM Forum, an annual continuing education meeting where cutting-edge information, technology and research abstracts are showcased for the veterinary community. More than 3,300 veterinary specialists, veterinarians, technicians and students typically attend.

ACVIM is also a collaborator with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons on a recently launched website www.VetSpecialists.com, to provide a unique resource to animal owners about veterinary specialty medicine.

About The Royal Veterinary College (RVC)

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a constituent College of the University of London. The RVC offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences, being ranked in the top 10 universities nationally for biosciences degrees. It is currently the only veterinary school in the world to hold full accreditation from AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC.

A research-led institution, in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) the RVC maintained its position as the top HEFCE funded veterinary focused research institution. The College also provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals; the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in central London, the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (Europe's largest small animal referral centre), the Equine Referral Hospital, and the Farm Animal Clinical Centre located at the Hertfordshire campus.

SOURCE The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine

Related Links

http://www.acvim.org


WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Hurricane Matthew makes landfall in Haiti, the American Red Cross is preparing for the most powerful hurricane in the Atlantic since Hurricane Felix in 2007 to reach the United States later this week. The American Red Cross is warning the storm has the potential to impact multiple states, threaten millions and potentially force thousands to seek emergency shelter.

Caribbean Response Efforts Underway

In Haiti, high winds, heavy rains and a strong storm surge blasted the southern coast early Tuesday morning. After the storm passes, the American Red Cross team in Haiti will begin conducting needs and damage assessments in preparation for delivering prepositioned response stocks in partnership with the Haitian Red Cross.

In addition, the Haitian Red Cross has more than 3,000 volunteers and staff working to help impacted communities with health, sanitation and emergency response. Emergency supply kits have been prepared and shipped out to warehouses in affected areas, including cholera prevention kits, hygiene kits, and kitchen sets. Community Intervention Teams (CITs) made up of volunteers trained in search and rescue and first-aid have been mobilized and equipped.

Throughout the Caribbean, Red Cross teams have been readied to assist more countries in Matthew's path, including Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. The IFRC regional office in Panama is closely monitoring the storm and actively adjusting response plans as the storm's path evolves. The IFRC is planning to deploy disaster professionals and assessment teams to the areas that are most severely affected  and the American Red Cross is supporting where it can.

U.S. Military Families Evacuate from Guantanamo Bay

More than 700 U.S. Military personnel, spouses and children from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay are seeking shelter at Naval Air Station Pensacola after being evacuated on Sunday. As of Tuesday morning, the Red Cross has distributed 1,000 meals and snacks, as well as comfort kits and diapers, and provided nearly 50 cots. Remaining military personnel in Cuba are being provided disaster preparedness support by the Red Cross in conjunction with the U.S. Military.

East Coast Bracing for Multistate Impact

Hurricane Matthew could affect the United States later this week, and the American Red Cross is getting ready now for a potential multistate response. From Florida to New England, the Red Cross is finalizing shelter plans and preparing vehicles and supplies. Trained Red Cross disaster relief workers are being mobilized across multiple states.

The Red Cross is urging people in the potential path of Hurricane Matthew to stay informed about the storm and take steps to get prepared now. The Red Cross recommends taking these three steps: 1) build a disaster kit; 2) come up with an emergency plan; and 3) be informed about how local authorities will notify you during a disaster, whether through local media or NOAA Weather Radio stations or channels. Stay informed by downloading the free Red Cross Emergency App which puts real time information and hurricane safety tips as your fingertips. The Emergency App is available in app stores by searching for the American Red Cross, texting GETEMERGENCY to 90999 or going to redcross.org/apps.

Blood Donations Needed

Depending on the path and impact of the storm, Hurricane Matthew may force the cancellation of some Red Cross blood drives along the East Coast. Additionally, fewer donors will likely come out to donate at drives in affected areas due to poor weather conditions. The Red Cross is closely monitoring the potential hurricane path of Hurricane Matthew and plans to send additional blood products to areas likely to be impacted by the storm to ensure patient needs continue to be met.

It's important to remember that it's the blood already on the shelves that helps during a disaster. We encourage eligible donors to please give blood or platelets before the storm arrives to help ensure we have a readily available blood supply for patients in need. All eligible donors in parts of the country unaffected by Hurricane Matthew are also urged to schedule an appointment.

HOW TO HELP The work of the American Red Cross starts long before a hurricane makes landfall in the United States. For example, we have warehouses stocked with disaster relief supplies, thousands of trained workers, and more than 320 mobile response vehicles on standby year-round to be ready to help people in need. If we didn't maintain these resources 24/7, we couldn't get help to people in a timely fashionbut we depend on donations from the American public to be ready.

Help people affected by disasters like hurricanes, floods and countless other crises by making a donation to the Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small across the United States. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Even before the threat of Hurricane Matthew, there was an urgent need for donors of all blood types, especially type O. Appointments can be made to donate blood or platelets by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

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SOURCE American Red Cross

Related Links

http://www.redcross.org


Aqua Maof's proprietary technology has proven to be the most efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly articulation of RAS. The new facility in Newfoundland will be the largest and most advanced in the world for salmon. This construction will join other advanced RAS facilities around the world that the company has built and deployed using the company's technology platform. All facilities are demonstrating impressive production results. In addition to the Newfoundland facility, Aqua Maof is in the advanced planning process for 7 more facilities in locations across the globe. About 70% of the planned future facilities will be dedicated to salmon, leveraging Aqua Maof's proprietary technology and efficient cost of production.

Construction of the hatchery will be completed in 2017 with construction of the grow-out sites set to begin in 2017 as well. The companies expect the facility's annual production to reach 33,000 tons by 2023. This will more than double Newfoundland and Labrador's current production of Atlantic salmon.

David Hazut, CEO of Aqua Maof: "We are happy and honored to be chosen by Grieg NL to build the world's most advanced RAS facility that leverages both our company's technology and aquaculture experience. Indeed, our advanced solution for indoor fish production is sustainable, environmentally responsible (green) and cost efficient. This facility will be another confirmation that our technology is the best solution to the aquaculture industry's challenges and the growing demand for seafood in all markets."

Knut Skeidsvoll, General Manager of Grieg NL: "We are happy to collaborate with AMG Norway and Aqua Maof to build the world's most advanced RAS facility. Aqua Maof's technology will protect our project's values of sustainability, maintain the highest environmental standards and also achieve the most efficient cost of production, thus contributing to the project's overall success. We see great potential for salmon farming in Newfoundland and Labrador and plan to leverage Aqua Maof's experience and technology to deliver the best production results and become a leading producer of fresh salmon products."

About Grieg NL:

Grieg NL is part of the Grieg Group of Companies, headquartered in Bergen, Norway. With over 2000 employees in 15 countries, its main activities, in addition to salmon farming, are deep sea shipping, logistics and advisory services. Grieg has been involved in salmon farming for 23 years in Norway, Shetland and British Columbia, Canada.

For more information please visit: www.griegseafood.no/

About the Aqua Maof Group:

The Aqua Maof Group is a world leader in indoor aquaculture technology. With over 30 years of experience, Aqua Maof's team of technology and aquaculture experts have been providing research and development, as well as comprehensive production, systems and operations solutions for aqua farming in over 50 locations around the world. Aqua Maof's unique indoor fish production facilities offer the world's most advanced, sustainable and environmental friendly solutions to today's industry's needs and goals. The company has in operation several facilities and is currently in advanced planning to build 7 additional facilities in locations around the world.

One of these advanced facilities will facilitate Blue fin tuna broodstock spawning for an associate company's fingerling production.

For more information please visit: www.aquamaof.com

Contact:

Yoav Dagan, VP

[email protected]

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SOURCE Aqua Maof Group

Related Links

http://www.aquamaof.com


SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Apttus, a category-defining Quote-to-Cash solution provider, and Comptel Corporation, today announced the launch of a new end-to-end offering for the consumer communications segment. As CSPs (Communications Service Providers) evolve to meet the demands of modern business, they've turned to leading cloud solutions to complete their customer-centric transformations. This joint solution, developed by Comptel and Apttus, was built on the recently announced Salesforce Communication Industry Framework. It empowers CSPs to enable personalized customer journeys and provides an analytics-driven, contextually-aware, self-service experience to their customers.

The Salesforce Communications Industry Framework helps CSPs accelerate their transitions to the cloud and improve customer engagement across channels. The framework includes assets such as data model specifications; a white paper with entity- relationship diagrams and usage patterns; API and process documentation; and much more. Built in accordance with TM Forum Frameworx, the framework empowers communications companies to implement the world's #1 CRM solution to address key business processes, such as managing accounts, ordering services or handling billing inquiries, faster than ever before.

At Dreamforce 2016, attendees will have full access to the "Enabling the Personalized Customer Journey" demonstration in which Apttus' CPQ, CLM and E-Commerce, along with Comptel's FlowOne, Monetizer, Fastermind and Data Refinery products, interoperate via the Salesforce Communications Industry Framework. The transformative solution, targeted at the consumer market will provide:

Self-service configuration and order provisioning

Real-time network usage tracking and smart service upgrade recommendations

Product interoperability to streamline the entire Plan-to-Provision flow

Transparent catalog-to-order flow, orchestration and fulfillment

Service usage monitoring and analysis

"The telecommunications industry understands the pressing need to provide customer-centric, cloud-based utility and intuitive self-service to all of its consumers," said Andy Baer, Andy Baer, SVP, Salesforce Industries, Communications and Media. "Our Communications Industry Framework gives our partners, such as Comptel and Apttus, an opportunity to deliver best-in-breed solutions and successful business outcomes to help our customers succeed and thrive."

"Generation-cloud consumers want to be treated as individuals by using a service that meets their expectations and aligns to the way they live their lives," said Juhani Hintikka, CEO, Comptel. "Service providers have to identify product opportunities, design and commercially publish new service offerings faster than ever. Only then will they be able to seize the increasing new opportunities for data, content, applications and service monetization. The Salesforce Communication Industry Framework has helped to enable that opportunity."

"Success in the Telecommunications field requires a more dynamic, cloud-based approach than ever before, and this joint solution, powered by Salesforce's Communications Industry Framework Solutions, represents another huge step in that evolution," said Gopkiran Rao, Vice President of Vertical Markets at Apttus. "The Apttus team brings over a decade of experience transforming CSPs into agile, efficient industry leaders, and we're proud to continue that tradition by partnering with Comptel and Salesforce on this new offering."

Learn more about the Salesforce Communications Industry Framework here.

Salesforce and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.

About Apttus

Apttus, a category-defining Quote-to-Cash software company, drives the vital business process between the buyer's interest in a purchase and the realization of revenue. Utilizing a patented combination of SaaS-based applications, the Apttus Intelligent Cloud maximizes the entire revenue operation by driving behavior and providing prescriptive data to company decision-makers. Apttus offers enhanced Configure Price Quote (CPQ), E-Commerce, Contract Management, Renewals and Revenue Management solutions on the world's most trusted cloud platforms, including Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. Apttus is based in San Mateo, California, with additional offices located across the globe. For more information visit: apttus.com.

About Comptel Corporation

Life is digital moments. Comptel perfects these by transforming how you serve, meet and respond to the needs of "Generation Cloud" customers.

Our solutions allow you to innovate rich communications services instantly, master the orchestration of service and order flows, capture data-in-motion and refine your decision-making. We apply intelligence to reduce friction in your business.

Comptel has enabled the delivery of digital and communications services to more than 2 billion people. Every day, we care for more than 20% of all mobile usage data. Nearly 300 service providers across 90 countries have trusted us to perfect customers' digital moments.

For more information, visit www.comptel.com.

Comptel Media Contact

Jukka Janonen, Global Communications Manager

+358 9 700 1131

[email protected]

Press Contact: Alex Cohen

[email protected]

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SOURCE Apttus

Related Links

http://apttus.com


LAS VEGAS, Nev., Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, American Trucking Associations thanked the ATA members who contribute to the federation's image and outreach campaigns.

"Every year, millions of Americans are exposed to the message of safety and essentiality by our America's Road Team and Share the Road professionals," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. "The work of these fine individuals in telling our industry's story is only possible through the generous support of their carriers, but also the support of our sponsors and supporters and we are grateful for both."

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight.Trucking Moves America Forward.

The Share the Road highway safety program reaches millions of drivers each year to convey the message of how to safely and responsibly drive around large trucks. The program is sponsored by Mack Trucks Inc., and is supported by Hyundai Translead, OmniTracs, SmartDrive, Spireon, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Mack Leasing, TA/Petro and PrePass.

The Share the Road truck, which is used to educate the public and deliver charity and relief goods, is featured in this new safety instructional video.

America's Road Team is exclusively sponsored by Volvo Trucks. This team of professional drivers share the message of safety and essentiality of the trucking industry with millions of people each year, including students,

Interstate One, ATA's image show truck, is pulled by a Volvo VNL 780 and travels the country with its mobile classroom and simulator, giving the public an up-close look at the trucking industry. It is sponsored by Volvo Trucks, and supported by Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Omnitracs, TA/Petro, and U.S. Legal Services.

"The work of our Road Team and Share the Road professionals would not be possible without the assistances of our sponsors and supporters," said Elisabeth Barna, ATA COO and executive vice president for industry affairs. "They, along with our drivers' employers, allow ATA to reach millions of Americans with a message of safety and essentiality and we thank them for their contributions."

The America's Road Team, sponsored by Volvo Trucks, is a national public outreach program led by a small group of professional truck drivers who share superior driving skills, remarkable safety records and a strong desire to spread the word about safety on the highway. Follow America's Road Team on Facebook or Twitter.

Share the Road is a highway safety program that delivers life-saving messages to hundreds of U.S. cities and reaches millions of motorists annually, designed to educate automobile drivers about sharing the roads safely with trucks. The program, sponsored by Mack Trucks Inc. and Michelin North America Inc., is represented by an elite team of professional truck drivers with millions of miles of accident-free driving. Follow Share the Road on Facebook or Twitter.

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Trucking Moves America Forward

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SOURCE American Trucking Associations

Related Links

http://www.trucking.org


TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AudioEye, Inc. (OTCQB:AEYE) ("AudioEye" or the Company") today unveiled the company's refreshed brand identity. From inception, AudioEye has been driven by the goal of transforming how the world experiences digital content by building revolutionary technology to make all digital content easier to consume and also compliant with accessibility standards. As the company has evolved and expanded its capabilities, the brand has also evolved. The new brand identity emphasizes inclusive design and making digital content more usable, and more consumable, for more people.

"As a company, we are consistently making our tools and services better for our customers and their clients. It was time to extend the same effort to our brand," said AudioEye Executive Chairman Dr. Carr Bettis. "We've incorporated new visual elements that emphasize a connection with true inclusion and unity and chosen a color palette that is more accessible to more people."

In today's digital world, five to ten percent of the population is not able to fully engage with the digital content many brands deliver to their audiences. AudioEye's technology and tools cover nearly all user accessibility issues for individuals who have vision, hearing, motor and intellectual (cognitive) disabilities, those who are color blind, dyslexic, learning to read, learning a second language, or may prefer listening instead of reading. There is no other single solution available that can deliver a fully customizable and compliant solution.

"One of the best parts of my job is being a part of an amazing technology led by an innovative team," said Todd Bankofier, CEO of AudioEye. "I'm particularly thrilled about our new brand because it represents the company as much as the product."

Through a collaborative effort with Tallwave of Scottsdale, AZ, the new branding captures and demonstrates the concept of inclusive design and bringing together a fully diverse population of people needing access to all digital content.

AudioEye also announced that so far this year they have a 100 percent renewal rate for Ally and Ally+, their core SaaS products. The company has also increased its growing industry reach to include large universities as well as national shoe retailers. In addition, the company launched a new website and the AudioEye nClusion Blog. Available at blog.audioeye.com, the blog provides web accessibility industry news and insights.

To learn more about please visit https://www.audioeye.com.

About AudioEye, Inc.

AudioEye transforms how the world experiences digital content. AudioEye's software enables every enterprise, from corporations to government agencies, to make their content more consumable through technology. Unlike the alternatives, AudioEye provides a comprehensive set of tools that allows digital content providers to create experiences that are more accessible, and more usable, for more people.

AudioEye's common stock trades on the OTCQB under the symbol "AEYE". The Company maintains offices in Tucson, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about AudioEye's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, prospects, financial condition, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined under the federal securities laws. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe", "anticipate", "should", "intend", "plan", "will", "expects", "estimates", "projects", "positioned", "strategy", "outlook" and similar words. You should read the statements that contain these types of words carefully. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. There may be events in the future that AudioEye is not able to predict accurately or over which AudioEye has no control. Other risks are described more fully in AudioEye's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements reflect management's analysis as of the date of this press release and AudioEye urges you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. AudioEye does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to such forward-looking statements to reflect events or uncertainties after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For further information, please contact:

David Kovacs

Strategic Advisor

AudioEye, Inc.

520-308-6143

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SOURCE AudioEye, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.audioeye.com


VANCOUVER, Wash., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Banfield Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, today announced the launch of two new grant programsDisaster Relief Grants and Flea/Tick Grants. Both grant programs will enable qualifying nonprofit organizations and/or local or state governments to provide much needed veterinary care to pets in need. The Banfield Foundation will begin accepting applications for these new grant programs beginning today.

Disaster Relief Grants

The Disaster Relief Grant will be available to nonprofit animal organizations and/or local or state governments whose communities suffer the impact of natural or other disasters (or organizations who are helping another organization in need, such as with the rescue and intake of animals). Already this year the Banfield Foundation has supported the American Humane Association's response to natural disasters in West Virginia and Louisiana and provided funding to local organizations within Louisiana to help with the relocation of pets.

Grant funding can be used for medical supplies and veterinary care treatment for pets; pet food, pet supplies, including crates; temporary shelter or boarding costs for rescued or at-risk pets; other immediately needed materials including cleaning supplies, tarps, bedding, blankets and the like to keep pets safe and comfortable; transportation costs to rescue or relocate pets; and other expenses related to providing temporary shelter for rescued pets including overtime salaries, rental equipment or facilities and cleanup costs.

"Disaster response is becoming increasingly more importantand sadly, more in demand. I am so proud that the foundation is making our commitment to disaster relief an official one," said Marta Monetti, President and Chairman of the Banfield Foundation Board of Directors. "If we can truly demonstrate our passion for helping pets and the people who love them during every day circumstances as well as during difficult times, then we've accomplished what we set out to do."

Flea/Tick Grants

The Flea/Tick Grant is the result of a generous donation of First Shield TrioTM from both Banfield Pet Hospital and Ceva Animal Health, the manufacturer of First Shield TrioTM. The product is available for dogs 2.5 to 20 pounds and is a monthly, topical spot-on product which delivers safe and effective protection against 4 types of ticks, 3 types of mosquitoes, lice, mites, sand flies and all stages of fleas on dogs. It can be used on dogs as young as 7 weeks of age for year-round treatment and prevention of these insects. Grantees can use this product for dogs under their care that have yet to be adopted and/or for owned dogs in their community.

"We are constantly looking at how we can better support and partner with nonprofit organizations in providing much needed veterinary care for pets in need," said Dr. Kimberly-Ann Therrien, Midwest regional medical director for Banfield Pet Hospital and the newest member of the Banfield Foundation's board of directors. "I deeply believe flea and tick prevention and treatment is one of the critical elements of preventive care and I am certain this grant program will help provide a great solution for many shelters, specifically those with a high population of small dogs."

In addition to the new grants, Banfield Foundation routinely offers a Veterinary Assistance Grant, which provides financial support to fund veterinary care programs for qualifying pet owners, and Pet Advocacy Grants, to support nonprofit organization programs designed to keep pets healthy and in loving homes. In the past year, the Banfield Foundation has granted 94 Veterinary Assistance Grants and 27 Pet Advocacy Grants to nonprofit organizations.

Banfield Foundation was established by Banfield Pet Hospital in September 2015 and, since that time, has granted more than $1.5 million to 150 nonprofits in 40 states, impacting the lives of more than 50,000 pets. While it is a separate nonprofit entity, the Banfield Foundation shares a similar mission and vision with Banfield Pet Hospital in its focus of improving the well-being of pets, communities and the science of veterinary medicine. Through grants and service programs, the Banfield Foundation focuses on elevating the power of the pet-human bond, strengthening the pet welfare community, providing disaster relief for pets and advancing the science of veterinary medicine through fostering innovation and education.

Information about the Banfield Foundation's new or existing grant programs can be found at BanfieldFoundation.org.

Learn more about the Banfield Foundation by visiting BanfieldFoundation.org or following the foundation at Facebook.com/BanfieldFoundation.

About the Banfield Foundation

Founded in 2015 by Banfield Pet Hospital, the Banfield Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to improving the well-being of pets and communities. Our mission is to elevate the power of the human-animal bond, strengthen the pet welfare community, provide disaster relief for pets and advance the science of veterinary medicine through fostering innovation and education. We also offer support for all aspects of veterinary care and provide grants to nonprofit organizations in order keep pets healthy and in loving homes. For more information visit BanfieldFoundation.org or follow us at Facebook.com/BanfieldFoundation.

Media Contact:

Kate Greenberg

[email protected] ; 202-944-1940

Banfield Pet Hospital Media Hotline, 1-888-355-0595

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SOURCE Banfield Foundation
Dr. Macaulay received his medical degree from the University of California at San Diego. He completed his residency in radiology and fellowship in abdominal imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Dr. Macaulay is a member of multiple professional associations, including the American Medical Association, American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, American College of Radiology, Washington State Radiological Society and King County Medical Society. He has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles in industry journals, and has held appointments as a clinical associate faculty and as an acting instructor at the University of Washington.

The following physicians were also elected as officers at the association's annual meeting:

Dr. Donna Smith, Seattle pediatrician, president-elect; Dr. Tom Schaaf, Spokane family physician, 1st vice president; Dr. Bill Hirota, Tacoma gastroenterologist, 2nd vice president; Dr. Nathan Schlicher, Tacoma emergency physician, secretary-treasurer; Dr. Mika Sinanan, Seattle surgeon, assistant secretary-treasurer. The seventh officer of WSMA's Executive Committee is past-president Dr. Ray Hsiao, Seattle child psychiatrist and addiction specialist, who will serve as committee chair.

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SOURCE Washington State Medical Association

Related Links

http://www.wsma.org


SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Colors of the Sun and Moon, the second bilingual picture book from the new multicultural, multilingual children's press, SundanceKid Press is an English/Spanish STEM book which depicts a conversation between an inquisitive young girl and her grandmother. The bright illustrations engage children and illuminate the science of the horizon with vibrant colors.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414992

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414991LOGO

Colors of the Sun and Moon by Talia Aikens-Nunez

Colors of the Sun and Moon, by author Talia Aikens-Nunez and illustrated by Amy Caringella, has a forward by Spencer Christian, Weather Anchor for ABC 7/KGO-TV, San Francisco. Colors is written in both English and Spanish, includes a companion audio recording to assist readers with pronunciation, and is available for purchase at a discount from the SundanceKid Press website. Colors of the Sun and Moon is a beautifully illustrated, multigenerational, realistic children's picture-book which clearly and simply explains a complex subject: atmospheric science.

Author Info/Dedication/Acknowledgement/Illustrator Info



Colors of the Sun and Moon is dedicated to Talia Aikens-Nunez's little guy, her "sun." Talia Aikens-Nunez wanted to be a meteorologist, a politician and a lawyer. She started writing after the birth of her daughter. Raising her bilingual children inspired Talia to write multicultural children's books. Talia's family loves nature so much that she and her husband vowed to always live near the water. They live on a river in Connecticut. Additional information about Mrs. Aikens-Nunez can be found on her author website: http://talia-aikens-nunez.vpweb.com/. Illustrator Amy Caringella grew up in the San Gabriel Valley drawing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.



Publisher Info

Colors of the Sun and Moon is the second book from the new multicultural, multilingual children's press, SundanceKid Press. Each SundanceKid Press publication is written in two languages and includes a companion audio recording in both languages. Our books are available at bookstores, from online booksellers, or direct from the publisher at www.SundanceKidPress.com. Orders by trade bookstores and wholesalers please contact Lightning Source Inc., Tel: (855) 867-1920 Fax: (615) 213-4735 or visit www.LightningSource.com.

Contact SundanceKid Press, telephone (408) 823-7774; e-mail

SOURCE SundanceKid Press

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http://www.sundancekidpress.com


CHICAGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Juanita Broaddrick, who says Bill Clinton raped her while he was campaigning for Governor of Arkansas, told AM560 "The Answer" hosts Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson, for Upstream Ideas, a media company based in Chicago under the leadership of Proft, that Hillary Clinton needs to be held accountable for her comments about the women who have accused her husband of sexual misconduct.

Broaddrick, a former nursing home administrator in Arkansas who worked on Clinton's campaign, claims the former president raped her in a hotel room in Little Rock in 1978.

She said she was speaking out because Clinton had tweeted that sexual abuse victims had a right to be heard and believed.

"I did not set out to do this; I did not start out supporting Donald Trump," Broaddrick said. "I was only responding to a tweet Hillary Clinton sent out about all victims of sexual abuse should come forward and be believed."

"That's why I tweeted when I did. Shame on her. Her of all people should not make that comment. And then after all that she removed 'you should be believed' from her website."

Broaddrick said she met Bill Clinton when he visited the nursing home she owned and managed. Later on a visit to Little Rock, she contacted him, believing he was genuinely interested in the problems facing the nursing home industry.

They agreed to meet in a hotel coffee shop, but then Clinton invited himself up to her room. In the room, Broaddrick claims he raped her, then afterward appeared to think it was "no big deal."

Before a fundraiser at a later date, Broaddrick said Hillary Clinton came up to her.

"She grabs my arm, very deliberately, and looks at me very angrily and says in a low voice that no-one else can hear, she says, 'Do you understand everything you do,'" Broaddrick claims.

Asked what she thought about Hillary Clinton's reported remark describing her husband's accusers as "rodeo queens," Broaddrick said, "It's degradable...she needs to be held accountable for all of the things she did to us."

About Upstream Ideas

Upstream Ideas, under the leadership of Dan Proft  one of Illinois' sharpest political minds, provides expository content with new information and fresh perspectives meant to inform policy discussions, debunk faulty premises and challenge accepted orthodoxies. Proft is one of Chicago's most-respected talk radio personalities and a senior fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute, a free-market think tank. He is also a frequent editorial contributor to the Chicago Tribune.

SOURCE Upstream Ideas

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Biometric sensors integrate physical traits of the human body with digital technology in order to provide biometric security. Semiconductor devices like biometric security systems contain algorithms and template database in order to match live biometric samples with the already stored samples in the database. Face metrics, fingerprints, and vein structures in hands among others are some of the physical traits used to prepare desired templates. Increasing concerns of privacy and security along with growing demand for smart gadgets with biometric security systems are some of the major driving factors for the market. A biometric sensor is a transducer that converts a biometric treat such as voice, face, and fingerprint etc. of a person into an electrical signal. Sensors generally measure temperature, pressure, light, electrical capacity, and speed. Biometric sensors are lightweight and compact in design. Furthermore, they can be installed in devices very conveniently. Some key attributes of biometric sensors include fast verification and identification. Biometric sensors are a breakthrough technology, which weed out various security-related issues from different domains.

Factors such as increasing emphasis on better security and safety, application of fingerprint scan, facial scan, hand scan, and voice scan are expected to see positive growth during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. Increasing emergence of mobile and online financial transactions, biometric security solutions have found a huge opportunity in the financial sector. Biometric sensors technology can be used in a wide number of applications such as automotive, consumer electronics, commercial centers, and hospitality industries. In the sectors where safety, privacy, and security are of primary concern, biometric sensors are expected to find opportunities in applications such as making transactions and operations.

Biometric and fingerprint sensors have become a standard feature in consumer electronic products. Sensing the consumer preference for security and privacy, the key manufacturers of smartphones and other gadgets have started offering fingerprint sensors as a part of certain products. The demand for biometric security technology is on the rise due to the fact that the users of smartphones and other smart gadgets have become more familiar and comfortable with using tools such as fingerprint identification for gaining access. Growing demand for tablets, smartwatches, wearable devices, and other consumer electronic products is acting as one of the major drivers for this market. Furthermore, some of the factors acting as restraining factors for the market include limitation of application in different geographical regions due to cultural barriers and lack of standardization in the process of implementation and development of technical standards. However, graphene enable sensors are the future of the biometric sensors market.

Based on type, the market is segmented into capacitive sensors, optical sensors, thermal sensors, ultrasound sensors, and electric field sensors (eField). In terms of application, the market is segmented into voice scan, finger scan, hand scan, facial scan, iris scan, vein scan, and others. Furthermore, by end use, the market is segmented into consumer electronics, commercial centers and buildings, defense and security, medical and research labs, banking and financial services sector among others.

Geographically, the global biometric sensors market is categorized into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The scope of the report offers an insight into biometric sensors market in these regions based on revenue (USD million) and volume (million units).

The report also includes competitive profiling of leading players in the industry and their market share to aid in strategic decision making. The market attractiveness analysis and company market share analysis included in the report provide insight into market dynamics, industry competition and strategies adopted by market leaders.

The report also breaks down and reviews the various factors impacting the market growth, which can be appropriately described as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. These factors help to determine the various existing trends and their impact on the market growth. Overall, taking into consideration the various factors affecting the biometric sensors market, the report includes a holistic analysis of the global biometric sensor market, and provides an estimate of growth for the period 2015 to 2023.

Some of the leading players in the biometric sensors market are CrossMatch Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Fulcrum Biometrics (U.S.), Infineon Technologies AG (Germany), 3M (U.S.), ZKTeco Inc (China), NEC Corporation (Japan), Safran (France), Precise Biometrics Ab (Sweden), Suprema Inc. (South Korea) and IDEX ASA (Norway) among others.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03999198-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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SOURCE Reportlinker

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"Our drinkers know that when hunting season rolls around, they can expect a strong showing from Busch, a beer that pairs perfectly with their favorite outdoor pursuits." said Chelsea Phillips, Senior Director, US Value Brands, Anheuser-Busch. "Hunting is more than just a hobby for many folks, it's a true passion and part of their lives. Now in our third year of the campaign, we're bringing back our hunting platform to engage and reward fans with exclusive hunting excursions for our drinkers to win."

This year, the promotion will feature updated packaging with four unique hunting game cans and a brand new golden camouflage trophy can. Can graphics will represent game from different geographic regions of the U.S.

Along with the limited-edition hunting packaging, Busch beer will also be bringing to life the hunting campaign through an integrated 360-degree marketing plan for organic social, retail, racing experiential and earned media.

How to Enter

For entry into the "Hunt One. Win Big." promotion, legal-age drinkers (except residents of California) who find a gold trophy can inside specially marked packages of Busch and Busch Light can take a photo of themselves with it and submit it on Busch.com. Consumers can also download a can wrap to enter without a purchase. This year, every valid entry receives one Busch beer hunting coolie (foam beer sleeve). Once entered, consumers are eligible for weekly premium prizes like hunting day packs and solar recharging kits. Five lucky grand prize winners will experience an epic once-in-a-lifetime, all-expense-paid adventure to hunt some of the best game available in the country. Go to Busch.com for details.

Available now and running through December 1, 2016, fans will notice Busch and Busch Light packaging brought back familiar blaze orange packaging, ever so fitting with the hunting season. A total of 100,000 gold trophy cans will be randomly seeded in 18-, 24- and 30-packs of 12 oz. Busch and Busch Light cans.

Non-Stop Action at the Midway

Busch is planning a race day takeover on October 8 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to celebrate the launch of its racing platform. On the track, race-goers can expect to see the No. 4 Chevrolet SS schemed to mimic the Busch hunting cans  featuring classic Busch logos, along with blaze orange throughout and green silhouettes of deer, elk, pheasant and ducks in a wilderness setting. Enlarged versions of the ever-elusive gold trophy can graphics will appear on both the driver and passenger sides. Harvick will also be outfitted in a camo fire suit to round out the hunting look and feel on the track.

"As an avid outdoorsman myself, I'm going to feel right at home behind the wheel of the blaze orange No. 4 car this weekend," said Harvick. "While the fans are hunting for a gold camo trophy can, our team will be working hard for a trophy of our own on Saturday. Hopefully we'll celebrate with a Busch beer shower in Victory Lane when it's all said and done."

Off the track, the brand will have a large, 4,000 square foot footprint to quench fans' thirst for more Busch hunting engagements at the track. Aspects of the fan hospitality activation include a shooting gallery experience, tire change competition, hunting-themed Busch bar, premium giveaways and on-stage events, including an appearance from Harvick himself on Saturday before the race.

For more information on Busch or its involvement with racing, visit www.Busch.com, www.Twitter.com/BuschBeer or www.Facebook.com/Busch.

About Busch Beer

Busch was introduced in 1955, holding a noted place in Anheuser-Busch history as the first new brand after the repeal of Prohibition. Busch Light and Busch are currently the sixth and seventh best-selling beers in America, respectively.

About Anheuser-Busch

For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch and its world-class brewmasters have carried on a legacy of brewing America's most-popular beers. Starting with the finest ingredients sourced from Anheuser-Busch's family of growers, every batch is crafted using the same exacting standards and time-honored traditions passed down through generations of proud Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and employees. Best known for its fine American-style lagers, Budweiser and Bud Light, the company's beers lead numerous beer segments. Budweiser and Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita were named Brands of the Year for the Beer and the Spirits, Malt Beverages and Wine categories, respectively, by Ace Metrix in 2014. Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev and operates 17 local breweries, 21 distributorships and 23 agricultural and packaging facilities across the United States. The company committed to investing more than $1.5 billion in its U.S. brewing, agriculture, packaging and distributing operations by 2018. Its flagship brewery remains in St. Louis, Mo., and is among the global company's largest and most technologically-capable breweries. Visitor and special beermaster tours are available at its St. Louis and five other Anheuser-Busch breweries. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Weser Nick Eickemeyer [email protected] (312) 396-4397

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414499

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414500

SOURCE Busch

Related Links

http://www.busch.com


MIAMI, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to prevent drug use while educating youth, the National Family Partnership (NFP), invites families and schools across America to participate in its 6th Annual National Red Ribbon Week Photo Contest. The contest, which is co-sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will be held in conjunction with the 31st Annual Red Ribbon Week (October 23-31, 2016). Photo contest entries are accepted until November 2. This year, $20,000 will be awarded to schools in ten regions across the country and 20 individual/family winners will receive an iPad.

"Students will spread the Red Ribbon Campaign prevention message in their homes, neighborhoods and schools as part of this contest," said NFP President Peggy Sapp. "Parents and schools can use this fun and engaging opportunity to educate children about the dangers of drug use while they decorate their homes and schools using this year's theme, 'YOLO. Be Drug Free.'"

How to Enter:

WATCH here  https://youtu.be/cIvvcCf41FY

READ below 

Home Decoration Entrants must take an original photograph of a home mailbox, front door or fence decorated with this year's theme: "YOLO. Be Drug Free." and a double-looped red ribbon.

School Decoration Entrants must take an original photograph of a school decoration with this year's theme: "YOLO. Be Drug Free." and a double-looped red ribbon.

Photo entries must be uploaded to RedRibbon.org/contest from October 1 ( 12:00 am ET ) to November 2 ( 11:59pm ET ). You must be 18 years or older to upload the photo and can do so from any desktop or mobile device.

( ) to ( ). You must be 18 years or older to upload the photo and can do so from any desktop or mobile device. Ask family and friends to vote for your entry beginning November 3 ( 12:00am ET ) to November 17 ( 11:59pm ET ); winners will be announced December 2 .

( ) to ( ); winners will be announced . Two winners in each of the 10 regions (a home decoration winner and a school decoration winner) will receive an iPad. National Family Partnership will also donate $1,000 to the school (must be K-12) of the winner's choice, which was indicated in the original entry. The money is to be used towards drug prevention.

Be inspired: Watch the reaction of one of the previous young Red Ribbon winners for inspiration!

New this year, through a generous donation from ARCpoint Labs, an extra $1,000 prize will be awarded to a school entry with the most votes in one of the over 100 ARCpoint Labs franchise locations across the US. To see if your school is eligible for this special bonus prize, click here to find out if there's an ARCpoint Labs location near you.

THE NATIONAL FAMILY PARTNERSHIP was established in 1980 and is a national leader in drug prevention, education and advocacy. Its mission is to lead our nation's families and communities in nurturing the full potential of healthy, drug-free youth. Red Ribbon Week is the nation's largest and oldest drug prevention campaign. NFP created the campaign in response to the 1985 abduction and murder of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. In addition to the Red Ribbon Campaign, NFP sponsors the Lock Your Meds Campaign to prevent prescription drug abuse. Learn more about Red Ribbon Week at www.redribbon.org and NFP at www.nfp.org.

SOURCE National Family Partnership
VANCOUVER, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Web Hosting (www.canadianwebhosting.com), the leading provider of web hosting, cloud hosting and infrastructure services in Canada, announced that they have released their upgraded Virtual Private Server plans that significantly reduce the cost for end-users and utilize cutting-edge cloud infrastructure with no single points of failure. All the plans include SSD storage that give customers at least 2.5x more performance.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414747

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414748

Customers can now easily deploy a range of standard and high performance VPS SSD servers through a single interface with options for different availability zones including Vancouver, BC and Toronto, ON, one-click application installations, managed support options and enhanced security services, including malware scanning and firewalls. These new Canadian VPS servers start at as low as $5.00 a month and each server can be upgraded in real time when customers' requirements change.

With new pricing and expanded locations and all SSD storage, the new Virtual Private Servers give Canadian Web Hosting customers geographic flexibility that allows them to meet a wide range of web hosting requirements. This includes high performance website hosting, application hosting, and database hosting. Customers also have integrated tools like cloud DNS, backup snapshots, and every server is backed by Canadian Web Hosting's highly redundant infrastructure guaranteeing 100% availability. Canadian Web Hosting is SSAE 16 compliant and all services meet Canadian privacy and regulatory requirements for data.

"Our customers have continually asked us for more performance and plans that are competitive with other leading cloud providers. Every VPS plan delivers the highest performance and supports even the most demanding applications without comprising performance," said Matt McKinney, Chief Strategy Officer at Canadian Web Hosting. "We have also continued to look at the geographical requirements of our customers and added another availability zone for these VPS Servers to now include Toronto, ON and Vancouver, BC. Our best-in-class web hosting exceeds industry benchmarks and exceeds other SSD Cloud server providers with lower price point and more guaranteed resources."

It is easier than ever to move to Canadian Web Hosting's cloud hosting infrastructure now. The company offers SSD Cloud servers and dedicated servers with SSD drives, industry-best 24/7 support, and safety and security of Canada's privacy regulations with their 100% Canadian-owned and operated service. Every customer gets access to free planning and migration services and potential customers can learn more by visiting www.canadianwebhosting.com or calling 1.888.821.7888 for more information.

About Canadian Web Hosting

Since 1998, Canadian Web Hosting has been providing on-demand hosting solutions that include Shared hosting, Virtual Private Servers (VPS), Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for Canadian companies of all sizes. Canadian Web Hosting is SSAE 16 Type II SOC 1 certified ensuring that their processes and business practices are thoroughly audited against industry standards. Canadian Web Hosting guarantees a 100% network uptime, and a total money back guarantee that backs everything they do. Customers can get help by calling 1-888-821-7888 to get 24/7 support. For more information, visit them at www.canadianwebhosting.com, or get the latest news by following them on Twitter at @cawebhosting or by liking their Facebook page.

Media Contact:

Sheila Wong

888-821-7888

Email

SOURCE Canadian Web Hosting

Related Links

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Every 1.5 seconds, a car2go member takes a trip in one of the service's 14,000 vehicles serving car2go members in nine countries on three continents.

"car2go has a unique growth story," said Olivier Reppert, Global CEO of car2go. "car2go was first to market with one-way free-floating carsharing in 2009, and since then we have been able to captivate more people in more cities. We are planning for consistent growth."

Globally, car2go has enjoyed significant 43-percent year-over-year growth. This underscores the huge and growing potential of the carsharing sector. According to an August, 2016 carsharing report1 by Frost & Sullivan, the global carsharing market is expected to grow from 7.9 million people in 2015 to over 36 million people by 2025.

"car2go is clearly leading the carsharing market when it comes to member levels and the number of cities they've launched the service," said Martyn Briggs, Principal Mobility Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "car2go's growth illustrates the scalability of carsharing as a global mobility business model, especially with the recent successes the service has seen in Chongqing, China. The rise of carsharing can be attributed to a changing paradigm of demographics, social preference shifts towards usage of vehicles instead of ownership, and technology that enables the seamless short term rental of vehicles. Vehicle manufacturer-backed global carsharing services like car2go are providing an attractive new, innovative urban mobility solution that blurs the lines between private and public transport."

The introduction of four-door Mercedes-Benz CLA and GLA vehicles to car2go's European fleet helped to drive increased membership. car2go continues to operate a very popular four-door Mercedes-Benz pilot program in select Canadian locations.

Free Registration for New Members

To celebrate its two million member milestone, car2go is offering free registration (regularly $35) to new U.S. and Canadian car2go members for a limited time. Simply visit www.car2go.com to register using the promo code JOINC2G to become a member today. Members are encouraged to keep up-to-date on all the latest member events and promotions by following @car2go on Twitter and connecting with car2go on Facebook.

car2go's free-floating car-sharing service does not use fixed rental stations or require reservations. Instead, vehicles are spread throughout a city. car2go members simply use the car2go app on their smartphone to unlock, drive and park their car2go in any legal parking space within that car2go location's Home Area.

Independent Research Confirms car2go, one-way carsharing takes cars off the road and reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Recent research highlighted the power one-carsharing has to improve quality of life in increasingly dense North American cities. In July, a research team from The University of California Berkeley released the findings of the first-ever impact study of one-way carsharing in North American cities. The study found that car2go removed up to 11 vehicles from urban roads in the five cities studied and helped to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers estimated that in 2015 alone, car2go removed up to 28,000 personal vehicles from the streets of Calgary, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.

To download a PDF of UC Berkeley TSRC's one-way North American carsharing study, please visit http://innovativemobility.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Impactsofcar2go_FiveCities_2016.pdf

About car2go N.A. LLC

car2go N.A., LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, offers an innovative mobility solution in rapidly growing urban areas via a carsharing network of eco-friendly smart fortwo vehicles around the world. A flexible and "on demand" mode of transportation, car2go complements existing public transportation by bridging the gaps between the "first and last mile" of a member's commute. Today, car2go's global operation is the largest, fastest-growing carsharing program in the world with more than 2,000,000 registered members and a fleet of over 14,000 vehicles in 30 locations across the globe.

The innovation and environmental sustainability of car2go have earned international acclaim, including TripAdvisor's 2015 "Travelers' Choice" award, "Best Carshare" from the Vancouver Courier, "2015 Best CarSharing Service" from Best of D.C., "2014 Best CarSharing App" from Best of D.C., recognition from the Austin Chamber of Commerce with the "Greater Austin Business Award" for its positive impact on the city's traffic, and the prestigious "2010 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award" from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Further information on car2go is available at car2go.com and car2go.com/NA/en/press/.

1 "Future of Carsharing Market to 2025", published August, 2016 by Frost & Sullivan

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414407

SOURCE car2go N.A. LLC

Related Links

https://www.car2go.com


LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Analysing Cardiac Rhythm Management, Prosthetics, Interventional Cardiology, Heart Monitoring and Diagnostics, also Assessing Pacemakers, Defibrillators, Ventricular Assist Products, Stents, Artificial Heart Valves, Catheters, Angioplasty Balloons, Guidewires, Electrocardiography, Cardio Output Monitoring and Accessories, Covering the US, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Russia and Europe (EU5)

Cardiovascular Medical Devices - How to Discover That Technology's Rising Commercial Potential

What is the future of devices for the human circulatory system? In visiongain's updated study you discover technological and commercial predictions from 2016. See what is possible.

That way you stay ahead for data, benefiting your work and authority. For those medical devices you explore sales results, developments, opportunities and revenue forecasts to 2026. Succeed through discovering companies' trends, progress and potential gains.

Forecasts and other analysis showing potential revenues from those cardio products

Discover how to help your reputation for commercial insight. Our study's purpose is showing you cardiovascular device revenues to 2026 at overall world, submarket and national level.

That way you reduce struggles to find information on devices for controlling and monitoring blood circulation. Hear what is possible for developers, makers and marketers. Besides revenue predictions, our new analysis shows recent results, growth rates and market shares.

Our 166 page study gives you 46 tables and 76 charts. See what the future holds for those products and their makers. The following sections explain how our investigation helps.

Predictions for the cardio devices market and its segments - assess sales prospects

What potential does that biomedical industry hold? And what secrets underpin its progress? Discover in our report overall world revenue to 2026 for cardiovascular medical devices.

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on [email protected]

There you also find individual revenue predictions from 2016 to 2026 at world level for four main submarkets:

 Cardiac rhythm management

 Prosthetic devices

 Interventional cardiology products

 Monitoring and diagnostics.

You also gain world revenue forecasts from 2016 to 2026 for 11 deeper market segments:

 Cardiac pacemakers

 Defibrillators

 Ventricular assist devices

 Coronary stents

 Artificial heart valves

 Catheters

 Angioplasty balloons

 Guidewires

 Accessories

 Electrocardiography products

 Cardiac output monitoring equipment.

That way you assess revenue expansion, seeing where you could gain. You also investigate competition among developers and producers of those cardiac products. Explore marketed brands, emerging technologies and fields with the fastest-rising sales. See what is possible.

Our work also divides its overall world market into geographical revenue predictions.

Sales in leading national markets - what future demand is possible?

Our analyses show you individual revenue forecasts to 2026 for 11 leading countries:

 United States

 Japan

 Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain (EU5)

 Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

You find countries with highest revenues, demand and potential increases in those devices' use. And you understand competitors, users' needs and commercial opportunities. That way you explore trends, progress and potentials, discovering what gains the future holds.

And how do events, challenges and advances in cardiac technology affect that medical device sector? Our study explains.

Forces affecting developers and producers of those cardio products

Our report explains issues, progress and other events affecting that market. Those forces influencing the sector from 2016 include these:

 Incidence and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)

 Approval and regulatory systems - explore US FDA and EU regulations

 Effects of US excise tax on medical devices and their sellers

 Expanding market for remote monitoring devices for the blood circulatory system.

And you explore these trends and influences affecting that human healthcare, among other forces:

 Minimally invasive techniques for heart valve replacement, bioabsorbable stents and other product development - assess R&D trends

 Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and other innovations

 Reducing the gap between cardiac devices and MRI scans

 Mergers and acquisitions - explore deals consolidating that medical industry.

With that information in our report you explore progress, trends and advances. You discover what benefits and what restricts participants in that industry, affecting its results.

Prominent companies and 2020 world market value

What does the future hold? Our study predicts that overall market will reach $63.4bn in 2020, more than doubling in revenues from 2015 to 2026. Discover what the future holds.

And our study examines activities of prominent companies:

 Medtronic

 St. Jude Medical

 Boston Scientific

 Biotronik

 Abbott

 Johnson & Johnson

 Edwards Lifesciences

 Terumo

 LivaNova

 CR Bard

 Integer Holdings.

In that work you discover profiles of leading organisations, assessing their activities and potentials. Our new survey explains forces affecting that industry's present and future, revealing trends, opportunities and predictions.

That market gives many opportunities. See where those potential gains lie, discovering how that industry can succeed, benefiting companies, patients and healthcare providers.

Ways Cardiovascular Medical Devices Market and Forecasts 2016-2026 helps your work

In particular our new investigation gives this knowledge to benefit your research, analyses, plans and presentations:

 Revenues for cardio devices, to 2026, at world level and for 15 submarkets - explore prospects for development, production, marketing and investments

 Forecasts, to 2026, for 11 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia - assess developed and developing national markets for demand and predicted revenues

 Prospects for established firms and rising companies - examine product portfolios, research and development, results, strategies and outlooks

 Analyses of what stimulates and restrains that industry's participants - investigate challenges, strengths and competition affecting organisations' success.

Information found nowhere else, benefiting your insight, work and influence

That study, done in-house by our UK-based analysts, gives independent analysis. There you gain competitive intelligence found only in our report, finding where progress and money lie.

With that data you are less likely to fall behind in information or miss opportunity. See how you could save time and effort. And, through your choice, benefit your plans, decisions and authority, helping you gain competitive advantages.

Data to help your knowledge of products for the human circulatory system - benefit now

Our analysis suits professionals investigating cardio devices for healthcare. With that study you discover trends, results and revenue forecasts. Avoid missing out - instead stay ahead by getting our new report here now.

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on [email protected]

To request a report overview of this report please emails Sara Peerun at [email protected] or call Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 6100

Or click on https://www.visiongain.com/Report/1733/Cardiovascular-Medical-Devices-Market-and-Forecasts-2016-2026

Organisations Mentioned in the Report

3M Company

Abbott Laboratories

Agencia Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria (ANVISA), Brazil

American Heart Association (AHA)

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Biosense Webster Inc

Biosensors International Group

Biotronik

Boston Scientific Corporation

CardiAQ Valve Technologies Inc

Cardinal Health Inc

CardioInsight Technologies Inc

Cardiological Society of India (CSI)

CaridianBCT

Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), US

Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), India

Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)

Comite Economique des Produits de Sante (CEPS), France

Cordis Corporation

Corventis Inc

Covidien PLC

CR Bard Inc

Cyberonics Inc

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

EHRA Europace-Cardiostim

European Council

European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)

European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

European Union (EU)

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

French Government

Gemeinsame Bundesausschuss (G-BA)

Government of India (GOI)

Greatbatch Medical

Haute Autorite de sante (HAS), France

Institutional Review Board, US

Integer Holdings Corporation

Italian Government

Johnson & Johnson (J&J)

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

Lake Region Medical

Livanova PLC

Medicon Inc

Medtronic

Meril Life Sciences Pvt Ltd

MicroVention Inc

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India

Ministry of Health, Brazil

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), Japan

Ministry of Industry and Trade (Minpromotorg), Russia

Moody's Investors Service

National Heart Institute - US

National Interventional Council (NIC)

NHS Commissioning Board

Preventice Inc

Roszdravnadzor

Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN)

Siemens AG

Silk Road Medical Inc

Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS)

Sorin Group

St Jude Medical Inc

Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC

Tendyne Holdings Inc

Terumo Corporation

Thoratec Corporation

Twelve Inc

UK Department of Health

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

US Federal Government

US Patent Office

Vascular Pathways Inc

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Heart Federation

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on [email protected]

SOURCE Visiongain Ltd
HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CareCentrix, an industry leader in making the home the center of patient care, today announced the launch of HomeBridge, a proprietary cloud-based platform that enables patients to heal and age in their homes, and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and readmissions. Built on Salesforce Health Cloud, HomeBridge connects patients to the providers and care they need on their paths home. CareCentrix developed HomeBridge to provide a complete view of a patient's data, track clinical events over time, and collaborate to provide exceptional care. Health Cloud's powerful engagement features also allow CareCentrix to connect patients and care teams to facilitate continuity of care as patients heal at home. HomeBridge delivers new accountability and access to care in the home that leads to lower costs and higher patient satisfaction.

Home is the unknown, underutilized setting of care that can help appropriately accelerate the transition from high cost fee-for-service models to value-based care. Not only do patients prefer to heal or age in the comfort of their home, but doing so also safely and effectively reduces the reliance on higher-cost settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and legislators are increasingly focused on care in the home, as evidenced by the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model and proposed mandatory bundled payments for cardiac care.

"Patients deserve better care and coordination. Too often healthcare providers play their position, but do not have the tools to work as a team to help patients transition home. With our HomeBridge platform, we align patients with the right providers and support those providers to work as a team to guide the path home and then continue to provide patients the support they need," said John Driscoll, CEO of CareCentrix.

According to CareCentrix data, 69% of patients leaving the hospital have a new prescription at the time of discharge, but just above half of those on a new medication understand the potential side effects of it. Nearly a quarter of discharged patients are suffering from depression, and 25% don't have a follow-up appointment with their doctor. For a patient with significant health conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure, these statistics potentially translate into dangerous gaps in care after a hospital stay.

With the real-time, continuous HomeBridge connection between patients, providers, centralized nurse teams, telehealth providers and community resources, the patient's entire care team will be able to see a daily record of information like blood pressure and heart rate, and intervene when needed.

The HomeBridge platform will be presented live by John Driscoll and Christina Mainelli at the Dreamforce 2016 conference taking place in San Francisco, Oct. 4-7.

"In this digital era, healthcare providers need to engage their patients in new ways to not only create strong and meaningful relationships, but also to improve quality and lower costs," said Joshua Newman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, GM, Salesforce Healthcare and Life Sciences. "We are excited that CareCentrix is using Health Cloud to build a stronger bridge between patient and provider that will help improve outcomes and allow patients to heal in the comfort of their own homes."

The HomeBridge platform is expected to produce an active ecosystem of users, collaborators and integrations.

About CareCentrix

CareCentrix partners with providers and payers in the transition to value-based care with home health management solutions and services that support improved outcomes and efficient care delivery. Headquartered in Hartford, Conn., CareCentrix connects patients with the care they need at home through a national network of over 8,000 credentialed provider locations. CareCentrix provides optimal access to quality home care for more than 23 million lives by connecting providers with patients and helping them navigate the complex home care system. CareCentrix's extensive range of services provides support and coordination for patients and their families in every step of the healing process, including home health, durable medical equipment (DME), home infusion, sleep management and care management services, which ultimately improve care transitions and reduce unnecessary readmissions and emergency room visits. For more information, please visit http://www.CareCentrix.com.

Media Contact

Vincent Grippi

[email protected]

860-519-3786

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SOURCE CareCentrix

Related Links

http://www.carecentrix.com/


"At a time when rhinoceros are more under threat than ever from poachers due to rapidly increasing black market prices in their horn, this decision by Parties to deny Swaziland's request to trade in white rhino horn  is to be applauded," said Kelvin Alie, IFAW Director Wildlife Trade.

Swaziland was seeking to alter the existing annotation on the Appendix II listing of its white rhino population so as to permit a limited and regulated trade in white rhino horn.

Rhino poaching has increased dramatically in recent years, notably in South Africa. In 2007, 13 rhinos were recorded poached in South Africa. By 2011, 448 rhinos were poached and in 2014 poaching killed 1,215 rhinos in South Africa  a 9,000 per cent increase in less than ten years.

"The notion that demand for rhino horn can be furnished through legal sales is nonsense, and unsubstantiated. On the contrary legal trade will simply increase demand, and thus the pressure on wild rhino populations. Swaziland's proposal flew in the face of global efforts to protect remaining rhino populations, and IFAW is delighted that Parties to CITES have denied their request," said Alie.

By 1977, all African rhinoceros species were listed on CITES Appendix I, giving them the highest level of protection from international commercial trade either as live animals or as rhino products. In 2004, Swaziland's southern white rhinos were transferred to Appendix II but only for live export and for limited export of hunting trophies according to specified annual quotas.

Rhinos are poached for their horn, demand for which is primarily to supply medicinal and luxury goods markets in Asia. Current poaching rates have effectively stalled growth in rhino population numbers at the continental level, while illegal trade in rhino is at its highest since the early 1990's. In 2014 an estimate 2,000 horns found their way into illegal trade.

The proposal was submitted by Swaziland. It was rejected by an overwhelming 100 votes against and 26 votes in support.

About IFAW

Founded in 1969, IFAW rescues and protects animals around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals, and advocates for the protection of wildlife and habitats. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Photos are available at www.ifawimages.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415023



SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare

Related Links

http://www.ifaw.org


SAN FRANCISCO, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The global clinical microbiology market was valued at USD 8.4 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach a value of USD 16.1 billion by 2024. Key factors driving the market growth include constant introduction of advanced products coupled with increasing demand in pharmaceutical, and clinical applications for investigation and diagnosis of various infectious diseases.

Grand View Research Logo (PRNewsFoto/Grand View Research_ Inc_)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )



The market is rapidly growing due to the increasing adoption of automated and advanced technologies for laboratory instruments and analyzers in developed countries. Growing geriatric population and thereby rising prevalence of infectious diseases is one of the major factors boosting the adoption of clinical microbiology in healthcare sector for disease diagnosis and monitoring. In addition, industry is gaining high momentum with launch of innovative products such as MALDI Biotyper, GeneXpert and Myla IT performance management solutions. Moreover, with the U.S. FDA approving the Xpert Carba-R, commercialization of clinical microbiology devices is expected to increase significantly over the next few years.

In North America, the government authorities and private companies have significantly contributed toward technology development, research funding, and commercialization of clinical microbiology associated devices.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Clinical Microbiology Market Revenue Analysis By Product (Laboratory Instruments, Microbiology Analyzers, Reagents) By Application (Respiratory, Bloodstream Infections, Gastrointestinal, Sexually Transmitted, Urinary Tract Infections, Periodontal), And Segment Forecasts To 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/clinical-microbiology-market

Further Key Findings from the Study Suggest:

Rapid adoption of technology and automation of laboratory work flow, laboratory instrument segement is expected to be the fastest growing segment with CAGR of 8.6% over the forecast period.

Reagents is the largest segment with market share of 34.7% in 2015. Repeat purchase of reagents contribute to its growth thus it is the largest growing segment in market.

In 2015, North America dominated the global market with largest revenue share of 41.0%. The continuous research on infectious disease treatment, and subsequent grant from government healthcare agencies are contributing to the development of a strong ecosystem for the expansion of clinical microbiology in the region.

dominated the global market with largest revenue share of 41.0%. The continuous research on infectious disease treatment, and subsequent grant from government healthcare agencies are contributing to the development of a strong ecosystem for the expansion of clinical microbiology in the region. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region during the forecast period. The growing geriatric population in India , China and Japan leading to increase in the prevalence of re-emerging infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera and typhoid in this region are expected to promote the utilization of clinical application of microbiology in healthcare.

is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region during the forecast period. The growing geriatric population in , and leading to increase in the prevalence of re-emerging infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera and typhoid in this region are expected to promote the utilization of clinical application of microbiology in healthcare. The clinical microbiology Industry is presently dominated by a few key participants such as bioMerieux S.A., Cepheid Inc., Danaher Corporation and Bruker Corporation. Some of the prominent players operating in the market include but are not limited to Becton Dickinson & Company, Hologic Inc., Roche Diagnostics and Alere Inc. Introduction of automated systems and innovative designs, is expected to intensify the competition by changing the market dynamics over the forecast period.

Grand View Research has segmented the clinical microbiology market by product, application, disease and region:

Product Outlook (Market revenue in USD Million, 2014 - 2024) Laboratory Instruments Incubators Gram Stainers Bacterial Colony Counters Autoclave Sterilizers Microbial Air Samplers Petri Dish Fillers Culture Systems Microbiology Analyzers Molecular Diagnostic Instruments Microscopes Mass Spectrometers Reagents

Application Outlook (Market Revenue in USD Million, 2014 - 2024) Respiratory Infections Bloodstream Infections Gastrointestinal Infections Sexually Transmitted Infections Urinary tract Infections Periodontal Infections

Regional Outlook (Market Revenue in USD Million, 2014 - 2024) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany Asia Pacific Japan China India Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East and Africa South Africa



Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Airway Management Devices Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/airway-management-devices-market



Insulin Delivery Devices Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/insulin-delivery-devices-market



Peripheral Intervention Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/peripheral-intervention-market



Portable Medical Electronics Products Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/portable-medical-electronics-products-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Read Our Blogs - legalworkshop.org, grandviewresearch.com/blogs/healthcare

Contact:

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Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

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Phone: 1-415-349-0058

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SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
MIAMI, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Council of the Americas (COA) will host the Symposium and 22nd BRAVO Business Awards, October 28 in Miami. The conference will gather over 400 business and policy leaders to discuss energy, the economic landscape, innovation, entrepreneurship, gender equality, and social impact in the Americas.



"We are thrilled this year's innovative program will gather top representatives from the public and private sectors to exchange ideas and create solutions to the region's most pressing issues," said Susan Segal, CEO and President of Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA). "This prestigious event deepens our commitment to the Miami community and our engagement with the leaders shaping the Americas."



The program will include keynote conversations with influential leaders, including Mexico's Secretary of Finance and Public Credit Jose Antonio Meade, Mayor of Medellin Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga, Miami Dade College President Dr. Eduardo Padron, and Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibarguen. Panels will focus on energy, the economic landscape, and innovation.

Energy in the Americas



The opening discussion will address the changing landscape of the energy sector in the Americas. Panelists include: Jack Broodo, The Dow Chemical Company; Miguel Angel Gutierrez, YPF; Ali Moshiri, Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company; Hamilton Moss de Souza, CAF  Development Bank of Latin America; and Leo Rodriguez, Emerson Latin America. AS/COA Chairman Andres Gluski from the AES Corporation will lead the panel.



Moving beyond Borders: New Markets in an Uncertain Economic Landscape



CEOs from major Latin American companies will discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by a global economy. Panelists include: Francisco Garza Egloff, Arca Continental; Fernando Iraola, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; and Thilo Mannhardt, Ultrapar. Jorge Becerra from The Boston Consulting Group will chair the panel.

"Going Digital" Latin America's Innovation Challenge



Leading global executives will discuss digital strategy as a means of strengthening business operations, efficiency, and sustainability. Panelists include: Cesar Cernuda, Microsoft Latin America; Claudio Muruzabal, SAP Latin America & The Caribbean; Laxman Narasimhan, PepsiCo, Latin America; Luiz Ros, Inter-American Development Bank; and Blanca Trevino, Softtek. Xavier Serbia host of CNN Dinero will lead the panel.



The daytime Symposium will close with sessions on gender equality, social impact, and entrepreneurship in the Americas.



The Symposium is organized in partnership with the IDB.



The following leaders will be honored at the 22nd BRAVO Business Awards:



Fernando Henrique Cardoso , Former President, Brazil , BRAVO Legacy Award

, Former President, , Jose Antonio Meade , Mexico's Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Innovative Leader of the Year

, Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Ali Moshiri , President, Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company, Lifetime Achievement

, President, Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company, Marcos Galperin , Founder and CEO, MercadoLibre, Inc., Visionary CEO of the Year

, Founder and CEO, MercadoLibre, Inc., Francisco Garza Egloff , CEO, Arca Continental, CEO of the Year

, CEO, Arca Continental, City of Medellin , Transformational City of the Year , accepted by Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga , Mayor of Medellin

, , accepted by , Mayor of Medellin Eduardo J. Padron , President, Miami Dade College, Civic Leader of the Year

, President, College, Patricia Villela Marino , President, Humanitas360 Institute, Humanitarian of the Year

Sponsors include: HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Burson-Marsteller, AES, CAF  Development Bank of Latin America, The Boston Consulting Group, Bombardier, Chubb, Emerson, Microsoft, and Softtek. Partners include CNN, the Financial Times, Knight Foundation, and ProMexico.



For more information please visit: bravobusiness.com



Follow the conversation via: #BRAVObiz



Council of the Americas (COA) is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation.



SOURCE Council of the Americas

Related Links

http://www.as-coa.org


SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CREDO, the mobile carrier with a conscience, announced that it will donate more than $150,000 to Bold, NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and Other98. Throughout October, CREDO invites its members and the public to vote on the distribution of funds at CREDO Donations.

Since 1985, CREDO has donated more than $81 million to progressive organizations fighting for women's rights, economic justice, voting rights, the environment and more. By choosing CREDO products and services, members generate donations for these causes. Their everyday acts of commerce support CREDO Action, a social change network with 4 million activists, and CREDO Donations, the company's philanthropy program.

In 2014, CREDO introduced monthly donations and voting in order to support nonprofits when action is most critical. This month, voters can take a stand for the environment, civil rights and economic justice. CREDO will fund three nonprofits that can make an immediate difference for these causes.

"In October, we're supporting three courageous organizations that confront injustice in America," said Ray Morris, CEO of CREDO. "Bold has stopped powerful companies from trampling on landowners' rights, LDF has won historic legal cases against voter discrimination, and Other98 has taken clever steps to prevent Arctic drilling. Just by choosing CREDO products and services, our customers support these important causes."

Bold's unlikely alliance of farmers, progressives, and Tribal Nations stands against risky fossil fuel projects. The small but mighty group helped stop Keystone XL and is now fighting to protect land and water from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The DAPL would undermine U.S. climate change goals, further desecrate sacred Tribal lands, and jeopardize the Missouri River, a source of drinking water for more than 18 million Americans. CREDO funding will help Bold combat this dangerous and unnecessary pipeline.

LDF fights for racial justice and equality by protecting the right to vote, promoting policing reform and defending civil rights. In July 2016, the LDF won a three-year case against Texas's discriminatory photo ID law, which would have prevented more than 600,000 people from voting in the upcoming fall elections. With access to polls at considerable risk for people of color due to many new discriminatory state and local election laws, LDF will devote more of its resources to voter education and voter protection activities. A CREDO grant will ensure that LDF has the resources and staff to protect voters' rights.

Other98 is a unique storytelling and direct action force that reaches and engages millions of people every day. The organization is committed to peacefully smashing the corporate stranglehold that Big Banks, Big Pharma and Big Oil have on our democracy. A CREDO grant will help Other98 grow the Mosquito Fleet, the organization's "kayaktivism" group. The Mosquito Fleet has helped thwart Shell's Arctic drilling plans by blockading its tanker fleets in both Seattle and Portland. With additional funding, Other98 will have the resources and equipment to train more paddlers and open kayaktion to anyone, regardless of income.

"When the fight against Keystone XL was simply a local issue in Nebraska, CREDO was there for us to ensure farmers and ranchers voices got amplified at the national level," said Jane Kleeb, President of Bold. "CREDO took this local fight and helped turn it into a national political issue. We are proud to partner with CREDO to show that small but mighty groups on the ground connected to national allies beat the Big Oil suits any day of the week."

"LDF is grateful to CREDO Mobile and its members for supporting the historic work we do to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, achieve racial justice and protect the civil rights of each and every American," said Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of LDF.

"CREDO is a progressive powerhouse with a unique understanding of the interconnectedness of struggles for social, economic and environmental justice. When it comes to winning campaigns, they're second to none," added John Sellars, founder of Other98.

About CREDO

Founded in 1985, CREDO gives individuals the power to make positive social change every day. Whenever members use a CREDO product or service, they generate critical donations for progressive causes (at no extra cost) and fund vital activism work. Since 1985, CREDO has donated over $81 million to progressive nonprofits, and the company has built a network of over 4 million activists. Visit CREDO Mobile, CREDO Action and CREDO Donations to learn more.

SOURCE CREDO

Related Links

http://www.credomobile.com


SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Bioscience, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crown Bioscience International (TWSE: ticker 6554) and a global drug discovery and development services company providing translational platforms to advance metabolic disease and oncology research, brings to market a continuum of in vivo platforms for renal disease research.

These platforms include a range of models and help address clinical translation of several renal disorders such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and diabetic nephropathy.

"CrownBio's unique end-to-end preclinical support of renal disease research enables us to become a strong strategic partner for pharmaceutical companies. Presently there is no cure for PKD and there is a dire need for preclinical models that can enable better clinical translation of drug discovery efforts," said Jim Wang, M.D., senior vice president of cardiovascular and metabolic disease (CVMD) research at CrownBio.

CrownBio provides conventional models that spontaneously develop PKD and closely correlate with human disease, making them an excellent choice for efficacy testing and comparison to existing historical data.

CrownBio also provides unique diabetic nephropathy models that develop kidney disease as part of diabetes complications, a situation reminiscent of the kidney complications arising in diabetic humans, and a major cause of renal failure in Type 2 diabetes patients. CrownBio's models are unparalleled in their translatability and enable clinically translatable evaluation of therapeutics that target not only kidney complications, but also hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. This makes these platforms unique in their ability to solve multiple aspects of the complexities of metabolic disease.

"This breadth of in vivo models to support various arms of preclinical renal disease research positions CrownBio as a leader in this field," said Van Jackson, Ph.D., general manager and CSO at PreClinOmics, a Crown Bioscience company.

CrownBio will be presenting this renal disease platform at the upcoming Kidney Week 2016 conference, Nov. 15-20 in Chicago. For more information on CrownBio's growing portfolio of models and services for cardiovascular and metabolic disease research drug discovery, visit www.crownbio.com.

About Crown Bioscience Inc.

Crown Bioscience is a global drug discovery and development service company providing translational platforms to advance oncology and metabolic disease research. With an extensive portfolio of relevant models and predictive tools, Crown Bioscience enables clients to deliver superior clinical candidates. For more information, please visit www.crownbio.com.

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SOURCE Crown Bioscience Inc.

Related Links

http://www.crownbio.com


LONDON, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Cohort continues to successfully execute on its strategy of building a specialist defence technical advisory company, with innovative, flexible and specialist subsidiaries able to focus on organic opportunities. Strategic acquisitions such as the recently acquired EID augment growth, and extend reach both technically and geographically. The combination is delivering increasing shareholder returns. Our fair value stands at 439p, implying significant potential for shareholders.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130417/608168 )



We now calculate fair value as a simple average of a calendar year 2017 peer group based sum-of-the-parts (SOP) and a capped DCF. This currently provides an implied fair value of 439p, compared to 387p previously. That is equivalent to a 9% P/E ratio premium to the UK aerospace and defence peers. We believe this to be warranted as Cohort continues to deliver above-average returns and pursues its growth strategy.

Click here to view the full report.

All reports published by Edison are available to download free of charge from its website http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com.

About Edison: Edison is an international equity research firm with a team of over 110 analysts, investment and roadshow professionals and works with both large and smaller capitalised companies, blue chip institutional investors, wealth managers, private equity and corporate finance houses to support their capital markets activity. Edison provides services to more than 420 retained corporate and investor clients from offices in London, New York, Frankfurt, Sydney and Wellington. Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Edison is not an adviser or broker-dealer and does not provide investment advice. Edison's reports are not solicitations to buy or sell any securities.

Contact details: Learn more at http://www.edisongroup.com and connect with Edison on:

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/edison-investment-research

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SOURCE Edison Investment Research
PORTLAND, Oregon, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

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A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Electrophysiology Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022", states that the global electrophysiology market was $3,420 million in 2015 and is expected to reach $8,271 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2016 to 2022. Electrophysiology (EP) ablation catheters is expected to dominate the global electrophysiology market throughout the forecast period. North America accounted more than one-third share of the global electrophysiology market in 2015.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )



Summary of the High-Voltage Cable Market Report can be accessed on the website at

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/electrophysiology-devices-market

The market is driven by growth in incidence of atrial fibrillation (one of the most common heart rhythm disorder or cardiac arrhythmia), growth in baby boomer generation with high-risk of targeted diseases, and increase in adoption of EP catheter ablation. Rise in focus of the key players toward innovative EP technologies (such as 3D mapping systems, bidirectional duodecapolar diagnostic catheter, remote steering systems, and irrigated-tip RF catheters), and growth in EP labs further drives the market growth. However, stringent government regulations, high cost of the treatment of complex arrhythmias, preference to pharmaceutical interventions (drugs) over, and dearth of skilled & experienced electrophysiologists restrain the market growth.

EP ablation catheters (such as cryoablation EP catheters, radiofrequency ablation catheters, microwave ablation systems, laser ablation systems and navigational advanced mapping accessories) was a leading segment and accounted for more than 35.0% of total share in 2015. Ablation catheters is preferred due to its diversified use in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias with lower risk and high success rate. Cryoablation EP catheters market is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 15.1%, owing to benefits such as less thrombogenic effects compared to RF ablation catheters, high success rate, and faster recovery. Advanced EP diagnostics catheters market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.2%, due to technological advancements in the segment.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) indication segment is expected to maintain its lead in the overall electrophysiology market due to its high incidence rate, especially in the developed economies. Although, the AF cases are prevalent in the developing economies, the low awareness, less initiative for preventive care, and unmet medical needs at economical cost has restricted the market growth. Conversely, the growing demand of electrophysiology devices in the developed economies such as North America and Europe has further boosted the market growth due to the high incidence rate of AF, rapidly increasing ageing population, and growing number of EP labs. Furthermore, atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) indication is anticipated to exhibit the highest growth, with a CAGR of 14.8%. The aforementioned is due to the most common regular supraventricular arrhythmia in humans. Nevertheless, despite the smaller target market, it is expected that the cryoablation procedures performed for the treatment of AVNRT will increase at a moderate rate attributable to the physicians adoption of the product and an increase in the number of AVNRT procedures worldwide.

Key Findings of the Electrophysiology Market

In 2015, EP ablation catheter was the leading product type, and is projected to grow at a high CAGR of 14.4%.

Cryoablation EP catheters is expected to grow at a remarkable CAGR of 15.1%.

Irrigated-tip RF ablation catheters is projected to grow at a high CAGR of 14.6%.

U.S. was the highest market shareholder with over 80% in the North American region in 2015.

Japan is the major shareholder, accounting for around half of the Asia-Pacific electrophysiology market.

is the major shareholder, accounting for around half of the electrophysiology market. North America is expected to dominate the EP market followed Europe , during the analysis period.

North America accounted for the major share in 2015, and is expected to maintain this trend throughout the forecast period. This is due to the rise in prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias coupled with increase in geriatric population, high adoption rate of technologically advanced electrophysiology devices, and high awareness regarding the benefits of electrophysiology devices. In addition, presence of highly sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, rising interventional procedures for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias especially atrial fibrillation, and favorable reimbursement scenario has propelled the market growth. However, Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to grow rapidly attributed to the presence of ample growth opportunities in terms of unmet medical needs for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in this region and quest for improved quality of life in emerging countries.

Some of the key companies profiled in the report are St. Jude Medical, Inc., Biosense Webster, Inc. (A Johnson & Johnson Company), Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., GE Healthcare (Division of General Electric Co.), Siemens AG, Medtronic plc, Philips Healthcare (A Division of Koninklijke Philips N.V.), Biotronik SE & Co.KG, Microport Scientific Corporation, and Abbott Laboratories.

Summary of Similar Reports can be viewed at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/life-sciences/medical-devices-market-report

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

Pankaj Kumar

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Direct: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)

Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975

E-mail: [email protected]



Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

SOURCE Allied Market Research
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Envision Creative Group continues to experience tremendous growth through 2016 with a 45% increase in revenue and a 70% increase in staff.

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The expansion continues a trend of growth kick-started by a 45% increase in revenue in 2014 and a 20% increase in 2015. This year, the company is expected to grow by 20% to 30%.

Envision has also added employees to staff a new division dedicated to digital and inbound marketing.

The quickly expanding department builds on Envision's existing branding, design, and web service offerings. David Smith, President and CEO at Envision, explains the decision:

"In order to better serve our growing client base, we determined that we needed to be able to provide more strategic, ongoing services outside of the core branding, design, and web-based initiatives we were known for. While we've always had a very strategic approach to branding and design, growing our services beyond traditional marketing allows us to create a much greater impact. We can now see each client's results through to the very end. Building a digital marketing division has also opened up new creative avenues that can easily be supported by measurable, metric-driven strategies."

Since launching its marketing division, Envision has been recognized for its work, including a Marketing & Tech Innovation Award for social strategy and several local and regional American Advertising Awards for campaigns in the social media category. Envision also obtained Agency Partner Gold Certification status from HubSpot, an industry-leading marketing automation and inbound marketing software platform.

About Envision Creative:

Founded in 2001, Envision Creative Group takes a deliberate, holistic approach to branding and marketing. Housing experts in digital and social strategy, graphic design, web development, and traditional advertising, Envision helps clients evolve and unite every element of their brand. With Envision's partnership, notable brands like Hilton Hotels, University of Texas, Night Hawk Frozen Foods, and Make-a-Wish Foundation have exceeded their marketing goals and transformed their brand presence. For more information and to view their portfolio visit www.envision-creative.com.

Contact:

David Smith

5122921049

Email

SOURCE Envision Creative Group

Related Links

http://www.envision-creative.com


CHICAGO and ST. LOUIS, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 19th Annual HR Tech Conference -- Equifax Workforce Solutions, a leader in human resource, analytics and verification services, and a business unit of Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), announced, today, the launch of its ACA Management Essentials Solution. Offering the same powerful capabilities as its enterprise-level ACA Management Platform, Essentials is a self-service solution to help businesses of all sizes maximize compliance with Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations.

"The implementation of the ACA has fundamentally changed the way employers look at compliance and benefits," said Kristin Lewis, senior director of Product Management for Equifax Workforce Solutions. "No matter their size or complexity, businesses need to leverage tools to help them determine employee healthcare eligibility, achieve compliance and deliver effective reporting. Implementing an ACA solution was previously out of reach for many small to mid-size businesses due to the cost and complexity associated with such a project. Essentials removes those barriers, allowing companies to adopt a compliance solution that fits their needs."

Having managed more than 37 million employees on its enterprise solution, Equifax is familiar with the challenges HR professionals face around managing ACA, and developed Essentials to help them overcome these obstacles. In introducing Essentials, the company provides businesses with a streamlined experience to help them manage ACA compliance and meet IRS reporting deadlines. Essentials also demystifies the complexity around ACA and enables employers to get up to speed quickly and make well-informed business decisions to maximize compliance.

An intuitive configuration wizard empowers users to easily set up Essentials and be up and running quicklyusually in a matter of hours or minutes. Designed for use by HR or benefits professionals, it is easy to implement, complete with a user-friendly interface to provide maximum benefit from its first day in use. The result is an advanced capability that enables businesses to foster a more efficient, data-driven approach to ACA compliance.

Created to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses, key features of the ACA Management Essentials Solution include:

Data Management: Easily upload and validate pay, benefits and leave data from any number of source systems to instantly view calculations. The data quality dashboard makes it easier than ever to identify and troubleshoot potential data quality issues  the most common challenge employers face when it comes to ACA management.

Easily upload and validate pay, benefits and leave data from any number of source systems to instantly view calculations. The data quality dashboard makes it easier than ever to identify and troubleshoot potential data quality issues  the most common challenge employers face when it comes to ACA management. Eligibility and Affordability Calculations : The solution automates complex ACA calculations so employers can determine employee eligibility for benefits affordability of coverage.

: The solution automates complex ACA calculations so employers can determine employee eligibility for benefits affordability of coverage. Enhanced Reporting and Analytics : Essentials offers a broad library of reports designed to help clients easily understand and distribute ACA-related information.

: Essentials offers a broad library of reports designed to help clients easily understand and distribute ACA-related information. Ongoing Compliance Monitoring and Alerts : Compliance dashboards and automated alerts help identify potential risks so that users can proactively take action to avoid penalties.

: Compliance dashboards and automated alerts help identify potential risks so that users can proactively take action to avoid penalties. Form 1094/1095 Distribution: Essentials populates and sends Form 1095 to employees and enables electronic consent and access through the Equifax Tax Form Management portal. It also manages the submission of Forms 1094 and 1095 to the IRS.

"As employers face numerous changes and challenges introduced by the ACA, more companies of all sizes have come to rely on our organization to help them in their efforts to reduce costs, minimize risk and emerge successfully," said Erik Trusler, senior vice president of Marketing for Equifax Workforce Solutions. "With the ACA Management Essentials Solution, we continue to stay ahead of our clients' needs, introducing an industry-first innovation to transform how companies of any size manage the crucial workforce tasks necessary for ACA compliance. The introduction of Essentials is the latest step in our growth plan to identify the most pressing challenges facing businesses today and create the innovations to meet those needs."

Additional information about the ACA Management Essentials Solution can be accessed at: http://www.equifax.com/assets/WFS/aca_management_essentials_solution_ps.pdf.

About Equifax

Equifax powers the financial future of individuals and organizations around the world. Using the combined strength of unique trusted data, technology and innovative analytics, Equifax has grown from a consumer credit company into a leading provider of insights and knowledge that helps its customers make informed decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its databases include employee data contributed from more than 5,000 employers. Equifax Workforce Solutions, an Equifax business unit, is a leading provider of human resource compliance, analytics and verification technology and services.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,200 employees worldwide.

Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Ranked 13 on the American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2015); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2015); named one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes' World's 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015). For more information, visit www.equifax.com/business or www.equifax.com.

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SOURCE Equifax Inc.

Related Links

http://www.equifax.com


ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Poultry Concerns is the plaintiff in a federal Kaporos lawsuit filed by San Diego attorneys Bryan W. Pease and David R. Simon on September 29, 2016 against Chabad of Irvine, Orange County, CA. The suit seeks to establish that Kaporos violates California Penal Code 597(a) which prohibits "maliciously and intentionally" killing an animal. It also seeks a temporary restraining order prior to October 10, 2016 to prohibit the ritual from being conducted this year by Chabad of Irvine, which, if granted, could be used to convince authorities in other jurisdictions to enforce the law.

"For more than 20 years, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. have mistakenly believed they cannot enforce basic animal cruelty laws against the religious sacrifice of animals. Nothing could be further from the truth. While states and local government are constitutionally prohibited from specifically targeting religion, laws that apply to everybody apply equally to those motivated by religion." Pease added, "The California legislature knows how to create an exception for religion, as it has done for Kosher and Halal slaughter. However, there is no exception in the California Penal Code for intentionally killing an animal not for food and disposing of that animal, based on religious belief." Read the lawsuit here.

Karen Davis, PhD, founder of United Poultry Concerns (UPC), based in Machipongo, Virginia, said, "I founded the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos, a project of UPC, in 2010 after witnessing years of horrors. During Kaporos, certain Jewish practitioners wave chickens, held by their legs or wings pinned backward, around their heads while chanting verses about transferring their sins and punishment symbolically to the bird in the name of religion." She added, "As more and more animal rights activists get involved, and with legal challenges in the works, many Orthodox rabbis are publicly condemning Kaporos on grounds of animal cruelty and sacrilege."

Davis pointed out that many other laws are being violated at the Kaporos sites. "Some of the laws that are blatantly not enforced include animal nuisance laws which prohibit sellers of live poultry from leaving chicken blood, feces and feathers on the sidewalk and street," she said. Davis added that it is illegal to pile up dead animals on the street prior to their disposal. Photos exist of thousands of dead chickens awaiting disposal in trash trucks in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and New York. Davis added, "The chickens need mercy from us. We ask Kaporos observers to show mercy and use money instead of chickens."

About UPC

Founded in 1990 by Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns is the world's foremost non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the respectful treatment of domestic fowl. To learn more about UPC, please visit www.upc-online.org, Facebook and twitter @upcnews and @kindkaporos.

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SOURCE United Poultry Concerns

Related Links

http://www.upc-online.org


SMYRNA, Ga., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Students at Fortis College in Smyrna are preparing for careers in health care and professional trades in new surroundings. In the process, they're also enjoying a dramatic "Wow!" experience.

Fortis College recently moved into a new campus in Cobb Center, adjacent to the International Academy of Smyrna. In this new setting, students and staff benefit from classrooms designed to enhance learning, updated laboratories with the latest equipment and healthcare technology, and a brand new Dental Clinic where students and staff provide no-charge or discounted services to the community.

"Our new location provides an environment that's intended to make students feel special, which they are. The facilities are designed to stimulate and encourage them to become successful graduates who have all the tools to reach their full potential, both professionally and personally," says campus President Henok Tirfe.

Tirfe believes the new campus creates an environment that helps students bridge to success, while also enriching available technology and faculty teaching options, and reinforcing "The Fortis Difference," a measurable approach to providing students the highest quality education experience.

Fortis College's new Atlanta-area campus is located at 2140 South Cobb Drive in Smyrna. Although a little more than three miles from its former location, the campus offers a new world of educational opportunities and a more engaging learning experience.

"Our Cobb Center campus offers plenty of parking and easier access than our old location," Tirfe adds. "We chose this new campus location in order to better serve the community and our student population."

A key element of the campus' community outreach is making its Dental Clinic even more accessible to a new cross-section of the community. The Dental Clinic's goal is to ensure children in the community get the care and education needed for happy smiles through dental cleanings, fluoride treatments, x-rays, sealants and more because nothing's more joyous than a child's smile.

Approximately 500 students currently are enrolled at Fortis College-Smyrna, studying a variety of healthcare specializations from Medical Assisting to EMT and Dental Hygiene, and preparing for skilled trades in HVAC/R and Welding. From its new Smyrna campus, Fortis College expects it will be able to serve the growing Atlanta market and offer a variety of programs that prepare area residents for careers in dental, allied health and skilled trade fields well into the future.

About Fortis College-Smyrna

A post-secondary network of colleges and institutes that engages students in a powerful learning and training experience, Fortis delivers focused individual career education experiences: Your Life. Powered by Learning.

Located in Smyrna, Ga., Fortis College-Smyrna provides comprehensive career training so graduates can prepare to meet the ever-changing demands of the workplace and contribute to the community. Fortis College offers diploma and Associate Degree programs in the areas of health, trades and technology. The campus has Associate of Occupational Science Degree programs in Dental Assisting, Medical Assisting and Medical Office Administration, along with an Associate of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene. The campus also offers Basic, Advanced and Paramedic Emergency Medical Technology (EMT) programs, as well as diploma programs in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC/R), Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technology and Welding. For additional campus-specific information, call 770-980-0002.

SOURCE Fortis College

Related Links

https://www.fortis.edu/


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NC4, a leader in revolutionizing safety and security and an innovator in public safety and emergency management solutions, is pleased to announce that the Fulton County Police Department (FCPD) has chosen NC4 Street Smart to help fight crime in the county. Fulton County, located in Georgia, has an authorized strength of 150 sworn officers and serves a population of 120,000. This solution will supplement their efforts to reduce overall crime within the county and help keep the citizens and officers in their communities safe.

The mission of the FCPD is to preserve life, protect property, and maintain order through a partnership between the Department and the citizens. NC4 Street Smart will assist the officers of the FCPD in supporting that mission by arming them with critical crime related information and intelligence. This information is available in near real-time and will provide real-time analytics and reporting for the officers on the streets.

"Having researched all available software solutions to assist with our crime analysis and intelligence- led policing efforts over the last three years, I am extremely pleased that we have been able to purchase NC4 Street Smart for our officers and citizens," said Fulton County Police Chief Gary Stiles. "I look forward to implementing this unique tool to assist with the efforts to curb crime in my jurisdiction."

NC4 Street Smart organizes all information within the department and delivers it in a simple easy-to-use interface for the front line officers. It maximizes policing effectiveness with continuously updated crime maps, bulletins and blogs, allowing officers to naturally communicate. Because data is updated in real-time instead of waiting for traditional reporting, it enables real-time crime fighting, which in turn enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of policing with the ability to take criminals off the streets faster.

"We are thrilled to expand the NC4 Street Smart solution into Georgia and help FCPD in their crime fighting efforts," said Rob Wolf, Vice President, NC4 Public Safety. "NC4 Street Smart is the perfect collaborative tool to help solve crimes more quickly and help reduce criminal activity in Fulton County."

NC4 will be showcasing NC4 Street Smart at the IACP Conference from Oct. 16 - 18 in San Diego, CA. Stop by Booth #2211 to learn about NC4 Street Smart's successes and the reasons why an increasing number of agencies are choosing NC4 Street Smart to fight crime.

About NC4

NC4 delivers safety and security solutions for both business and government organizations. We revolutionize how organizations and communities collect, manage, share and disseminate information to reduce cyber threats, fight crime, mitigate risks, and manage incidents. NC4 also provides secure communication and collaborating solutions for public and private sector communities.

NC4 solutions are used by private sector companies involved in financial services, high-tech, insurance, manufacturing, aerospace and defense, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, as well as other industries. In the public sector, NC4 solutions are used by federal, state and local agencies in homeland security, emergency management and law enforcement disciplines. NC4 takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to safety and security by providing: cyber threat exchanges that drive the development of a sharing culture and circles of trust; global security and travel intelligence, analysis, traveler tracking, and relevant real-time threat alerting to mitigate enterprise risks; and a common operating picture for fighting crime and managing emergencies. For information about NC4, visit www.NC4.com or call toll-free, 1-877-624-4999.

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SOURCE NC4

Related Links

http://www.nc4.com


"Parents and pediatricians are all too familiar with this painful childhood ear infectionit's the most frequent reason children receive antibiotics," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Although microbes cause this condition, it's been well known that genetics also plays a role. This is the first and largest genetic study focused on risk susceptibility for acute otitis media."

Hakonarson and colleagues from CHOP collaborated with Dutch researchers led by Gijs van Ingen and colleagues from the University Medical Center, Rotterdam, in the study published online Sept. 28 in Nature Communications.

The researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on two discovery cohorts with DNA samples from 11,000 children. They found that an association between AOM and a site on chromosome 6 containing the gene FNDC1, and then replicated the finding in an independent pediatric cohort with data from 2000 children. Co-first author Jin Li, PhD, of CHOP, was the lead analyst on the study.

In further studies, the scientists showed that the mouse gene corresponding to FNDC1 was expressed in the animal's middle ear. "Although the gene's function in humans has not been well studied, we do know that FNDC1 codes for a protein with a role in inflammation," said Hakonarson.

Hakonarson added that learning more about the biological interactions between genes and pathogens involved in AOM, researchers hope to develop more specific therapies for the childhood infection, while learning which children are most susceptible to the disease. "As with many other diseases, early medical intervention may offer the greatest benefits," he said.

The National Institutes of Health (grant HG006830), the EU 7th Framework Programme (grant 247642), and the Kubert Estate family supported this research.

"Genome-wide association study for acute otitis media in children identifies FNDC1 as disease contributing gene," Nature Communications, published online Sept. 28, 2016.

http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12792

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu

Contact: John Ascenzi

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

(267) 426-6055

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414932

SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Related Links

http://www.chop.edu


NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- About the education sector

Over the years, the education sector has built IT infrastructure to be able to seamlessly employ educational technologies. This development in educational institutions is contributing to the gradual transformation of the traditional classroom structure. The latter is being replaced with other modes of education such as blended learning and collaborative learning.



Technavio's analysts forecast the global classroom displays market to grow at a CAGR of 30.04% during the period 2016-2020.



Covered in this report

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global classroom displays market 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of display devices to the education sector that includes K-12 schools and higher educational institutions.



The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:

- North America

- Europe

- APAC

- ROW

Technavio's report, Global Classroom Displays Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.



Key vendors

- BenQ

- Promethean

- Seiko Epson

- Smart Technologies

Other prominent vendors

- Acer

- Hitachi

- LG Electronics

- Sony

Market driver

- Advances in technology

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market challenge

- High implementation costs

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market trend

- Gamified learning experience

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Key questions answered in this report

- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?

- What are the key market trends?

- What is driving this market?

- What are the challenges to market growth?

- Who are the key vendors in this market space?

- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



You can request one free hour of our analyst's time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04188495-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

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HOUSTON, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hastings Equity Partners (Hastings), a private equity firm focused on investing in lower middle-market energy services and equipment companies, is excited to announce the sale of Southern Petroleum Laboratories, Inc. (SPL) to Industrial Growth Partners (IGP). A San Francisco-based specialist private investment partnership, IGP focuses exclusively on investing in middle-market companies in the industrial sector. The company has raised $2.2 billion of equity capital since its inception in 1997.

Based in Houston, Texas, SPL is the leading independent provider of outsourced hydrocarbon measurement, analysis and reporting services for oil and gas production. With a 70-year history of consistent operational excellence, SPL is a trusted provider of laboratory, field and production allocation services across its 14 strategic locations.

"We couldn't be more appreciative of the experienced and talented senior management team at SPL. Thanks to the hard work and energy of the entire SPL team, the business prospered during an extremely challenging time in the energy sector," said Ted Patton, managing director of Hastings. "Management and employees consistently demonstrated why SPL is the best in class service provider. We feel IGP is the ideal partner to continue growing the SPL platform."

"The Hastings team guided my third generation family business into a new era," said Christopher Brown, shareholder of SPL. "With their support, the business expanded over the last two years despite a market presenting unlimited challenges. I'm proud of what we accomplished and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for SPL and IGP."

Hastings purchased a majority interest in SPL in the summer of 2014, in addition to various funds advised by Jordan/Zalaznick Advisers, Inc. and The Edgewater Funds. The 2014 sale was the first exit from Hastings Fund III, which closed on $172 million in late 2014. Hastings is pleased with the results of this investment, which generated nearly a three-time cash-on-cash return with a gross IRR1 of 75 percent. The sale of SPL marks one of many successful exits in 2016 by private equity funds in the energy services sector.

Harris Williams & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to SPL for the transaction, and Locke Lord, LLP served as legal counsel to the shareholders of SPL in the transaction.

1 The gross IRR is calculated using actual monthly cash flows to the Fund from the investment beginning with the month of initial investment and continuing through the exit date, plus the estimated value of future payments. Hastings does not present net IRRs for individual investments because carried interest, management fees and fund expenses (all of which are substantial and will have the effect of lowering the gross IRR return shown above) are calculated based on the overall performance of the fund and not on a deal-specific basis

About Hastings Equity

Hastings Equity Partners is a private equity firm focused on investing in lower, middle-market energy services and equipment businesses. Hastings' approach is to leverage the extensive operational experience of the firm's managers and investors, many of whom are active or former CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies. In addition, due to the firm's expanding portfolio of oilfield services companies, it is able to share best practices, technology trends and contacts across its platform to ensure that all of its investments benefit. Hastings strives to help its portfolio companies create sustained value for their employees, customers, and investment partners. Learn more at www.hastingsequity.com.

About SPL, Inc.

Headquartered in Houston, TX, SPL is recognized globally as the industry leader in laboratory analysis, measurement, and allocation services of hydrocarbon products for the oil and gas industry. Learn more at www.spl-inc.com.

About IGP

Industrial Growth Partners, founded in 1997, is a San Francisco-based specialist private investment partnership with $2.2 billion of equity capital raised since inception. The firm invests exclusively in middle-market companies in the industrial sector in partnership with management teams.

SOURCE Hastings Equity Partners
Heavenly Organics, manufacturer of 100% organic, raw, pesticide and antibiotic free honey from wild beehives independently lab tests its honey and has been scientifically proven to be clean and contaminant free of pesticides, including glyphosate, and chemical antibiotics. Heavenly Organics is pioneering public education on how these impacts are affecting our food system as well as honeybee colonies nationwide. Heavenly Organics has partnered with Care2, the world's largest community for good with more than 37 million members, to mobilize action to address and amend these critical health and environmental threats. The Care2 petition creates a call to action directly to the EPA and FDA to ban harmful pesticides and chemical antibiotics contaminating the food supply and destroying bee colonies worldwide.

The Clean Bee campaign, created by Heavenly Organics, was launched via a series of educational and satirical videos starring Benny to Bee and showcasing the negative effects these pesticides and chemical antibiotics are having on not only the bees themselves, but also the contaminated honey people are consuming every day. The second phase of the campaign is where the strategic partnership with Care2 has come into play to turn education into action through their community of concerned citizens. The petition garnered over 60,000 signatures in less than four days and continues to grow.

"We couldn't be more excited to have partnered with Care2 in raising awareness for the Clean Bee campaign," said founder and CEO of Heavenly Organics, Amit Hooda. "We know that through this partnership, people will stand with us in fighting against the use of pesticides and chemical antibiotics to prevent the negative impact they are having on human health, the environment, and bee colonies worldwide. We need to make this change before it is too late."

"When Heavenly Organics reached out to us and explained their mission, it was an easy decision for us to partner up," explains VP of Strategic Partnerships, Justin Perkins. "The honeybee epidemic has been a growing concern for our community of 37 million members, and with the recent FDA findings of the Monsanto chemicals in the honey they tested, now is the time to stand together and lobby for change."

In contrast to the honey being affected by these pesticides and chemicals, Heavenly Organics sources their raw and organic clean honey from wild beehives in the untouched forests of Central and Northern India for the absolute purest and most delicious honey on the market. In a recent analysis report on Heavenly Organics honey, there was zero trace of glyphosate in the 40,000 lbs tested. Heavenly Organics Raw Honey is 100% organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, which is unattainable in most regions today. Since these naturally occurring, wild beehives are found in such remote areas, the bees are far from the reach of pesticides and other pollutants.

Heavenly Organics 100% organic, raw, pesticide & antibiotic free and sustainably sourced honey is available in three rare and unique varietals: White, Neem and Acacia.

Heavenly Organics was founded in 2005 to help sustain the economic and cultural survival of indigenous people located in remote and conflicted areas of Northern and Central India and parts of the Himalayas. The company was built on the belief that the only way to eliminate conflict is to provide ethical job opportunities. Heavenly Organics' products not only provide healthier alternatives that taste amazing, but that are changing people's lives, transforming the supply chain and offering a unique business model that can help foster peace in conflict areas.

Link to sign the Care2 petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/235/298/456/

To view the "Clean Bee" video staring Benny the Bee click here.

'Like' Heavenly Organics on Facebook here.

To view a video on the company's unique honey harvesting method, please click here.

For more information about Heavenly Organics, please visit www.HeavenlyOrganics.com.

About Heavenly Organics

Founded in 2005, Heavenly Organics produces and distributes organic, non-GMO, fair trade and kosher certified Chocolate Honey Patties, Raw Honey and Whole-Cane Sugar. Heavenly Organics Chocolate Honey Patties received the 2016 NEXTY award for Best New Sweet/Dessert. Flavors include Mint, Pomegranate, Almond, Peanut, Double Dark and Ginger. Heavenly Organics was created as a way to help sustain the economic and cultural survival of indigenous people located in remote and conflicted areas of Northern and Central India and parts of the Himalayas. The company was built on the belief that the only way to eliminate conflict is to provide ethical job opportunities. Heavenly Organics has created worker-owned cooperatives that have been leading the authentic fair trade movement and creating big change for over ten years.

About Care2

Care2 (www.Care2.com) is a community of 37 million standing together for good. People are making world-changing impact with Care2, starting petitions and supporting each other's campaigns to help individuals, animals and the environment. A pioneer of online advocacy since 1998, Care2 is a B Corporation, or social enterprise, using the power of business as a force for good.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414581

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1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html

SOURCE Heavenly Organics

Related Links

http://www.heavenlyorganics.com


CHICAGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fashion is at the forefront this fall as Her Campus Media, the #1 new-media brand for the empowered college woman, electrifies Chicago with its high impact, fully integrated fashion show featuring local college women of all shapes and sizes as the models. The multi-city College Fashion Week tour stops at 1st Ward on October 15th.

"College Fashion Week is about celebrating real women's bodies and highlighting fashion as a form of self-expression," said Windsor Hanger Western, cofounder and President of Her Campus and the mastermind behind the event. "We are thrilled to be able to give our models and attendees an unparalleled, empowering experience that will leave them looking and feeling confident and inspired."

The diversity of the College Fashion Week tour is seamlessly aligned with its official media partner, StyleWatch, the go-to millennial style resource dedicated to making fashion and beauty trends accessible, affordable and fun to women of all types, regardless of shape, style, size or budget. StyleWatch Market Director Marissa Rubin will be co-emceeing the events alongside Hanger Western.

College Fashion Week 2016 will be showcasing top talent from the next generation of young female fashion designers and entrepreneurs. Selected College Fashion Week honorees are: My Social Canvas, Foray Collective, Ali & Ariel, Frill Clothing, and Bow & Drape. Rebecca Minkoff and Vince Camuto serve as the tour's fashion patrons, offering their designs to complement these new designers' collections and complete the runway looks. Enhancing the stylish runway collections, models will be accessorizing with Fitbit Flex 2, the newest activity tracker from wearables leader Fitbit.

The evenings' events will also include photo booths, a Browfection Bar courtesy of European Wax Center, light bites and beverages, fabulous giveaways and goody bags full of luxurious swag  all thanks to College Fashion Week's amazing sponsors.

Official College Fashion Week 2016 sponsors include StyleWatch Magazine, Rebecca Minkoff, Vince Camuto, Drybar, European Wax Center, Perfumania, Hanes Hosiery, Maidenform Hosiery, Maidenform Shapewear, Bertha Watches, Fitbit, KIND Healthy Snacks, SkinnyPop Popcorn, Boxed Water, Sparkling Ice and Sweetgreen.

For tickets visit collegefashionweek.com

Contact: Elaina Featherstone

339-203-5065

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160907/405208LOGO

SOURCE Her Campus Media

Related Links

http://www.collegefashionweek.com


Located in the unique Water Hill area close to the prestigious University of Michigan campus, the charming home features an all-new interior and exterior with touches that make it a hot property for sustainable urban living at its best in this trendy neighborhood.

"HGTV recognized Ann Arbor as a small, friendly town with big-city sophistication and selected the location based on its proximity to the city's most popular restaurants, shops and art galleries, close to schools, community parks and year-round activities," said Ron Feinbaum, General Manager of HGTV Home Promotions.

Decorated by interior designer Brian Patrick Flynn, the approximately 1,500-square-foot, two-level home features two bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths with an open concept living area. HGTV Project Manager Scott Branscom oversaw all the renovations, which included the addition of an entirely new second-floor master suite. Designed by Studio Z and fully renovated by Maven Development, the feel of the home is best described as cozy, comfy and Craftsman-style, tweaked for the modern-day family. Landscaping was provided by staff and students of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

With a fresh take on classic Craftsman colors historically appropriate to the architecture, the home also features handmade elements infused with hip, classic modern and midcentury touches. The light-textured floors offer a perfect backdrop for the home's gray-greens, rich pine tones and tranquil spa-like watery hues. The variety of green shades throughout blend beautifully with the outdoor landscaping, which sets the stage for a massive screened porch just off the completely rebuilt two-car garage. The home is designed and decorated for the lucky winner to enjoy the temperate seasons while staying snug in the winter months.

The HGTV Urban Oasis 2016 sponsors include Quicken Loans; Overstock.com, Inc.; Clopay; Kohler; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Bona US; Ellia by HoMedics; Jam Audio; and Pure Michigan.

About HGTV

HGTV delivers the superstar experts, fascinating families, compelling renovations and stunning transformations that make all things home fun. America's favorite way to get entertaining, relatable and inspirational home and lifestyle content, HGTV offers: a top 10 cable network that is distributed to more than 92 million U.S. households; a website, HGTV.com, that attracts an average of nine million people each month; social media platforms that engage nearly nine million users; HGTV Magazine, a monthly publication that reaches more than one million readers and exclusive collections of home-oriented products through the HGTV HOME consumer products line. Viewers can become fans of HGTV and interact with other home improvement enthusiasts through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., HGTV is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc., which also owns and operates Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414678

SOURCE Scripps Networks Interactive
"This is an exciting opportunity for Honor to work with the world's largest retail company to offer families access to information about high-quality home care as well as ways to help Dallas-Fort Worth residents grow older in their own homes with joy, comfort and grace," said Honor CEO and Co-Founder Seth Sternberg.

Customers can visit the two pilot stores located at 9101 North Tarrant Parkway in North Richland Hills and 4800 US 287 Highway in Arlington. Honor will serve as an education center where families can learn more about home care and receive wellness and safety tips for their loved ones.

Background:

In Dallas-Fort Worth, the population of baby boomers age 65 and older is now 320,000 and growing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Surveys show 9 in 10 prefer to age in their own homes. This community is welcome to visit the Honor Care at Home storefront locations - open every day. In stores, customers can:

Get a brief in-store mini care and safety consultation with take-home report

Purchase [and schedule] a full in-home care and safety modification assessment

Learn about Honor-recommended home care products

Receive a demonstration of the Honor Family Care app

*TODAY: Press is invited to capture visuals at the Walmart North Richland Hills store location from 11:00am to 1:00pm at 9101 N. Tarrant Parkway. Honor GM Kathryn Parsons is also available for interviews.

"As a resident, I am excited that I can help my neighbors and provide a valuable service in a space that is convenient, comfortable, and full of information for families who have busy lives and passion about caring for their aging family members," said Parsons. "They can shop for products in Walmart geared toward aging adults and visit our care consultants who can help create tailored care plans. In addition, Honor is now hiring local Care Pros to help our community of baby boomers stay in their homes as they age."

Honor Care Pros are offered:

W2 employment

Higher than industry average pay

Training, benefits, stock options

Honor proprietary Care Pro app to allow greater ease of scheduling, communication, payment, and professional growth

About Honor

In 2015, Honor launched service in the San Francisco Bay Area. Honor has grown in Los Angeles and is now opening in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company, which recently announced a $42M Series B funding round, has developed a model that allows it to provide high-quality care - while driving down costs for families and driving up wages for care professionals through W2 employment. Honor also has partnered with the best and brightest industry advisors and organizations, including the American Cancer Society and National Parkinson Foundation.

For more information, please visit www.JoinHonor.com.

Please follow Honor on facebook, twitter, and linkedin.

*PHOTO IMAGES AND VIDEO HERE*:

bit.ly/HonorPress

Honor Press Contact:

Sue Kwon [email protected]

415-515-2508

*Press kit*: bit.ly/HonorPress

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414871

SOURCE Honor

Related Links

http://www.JoinHonor.com


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Behind every effective local government website is a team of dedicated IT and communications professionals who often face an uphill battle convincing city leaders to invest in online resources and digital service delivery. This, despite evidence like a recent Accenture study in which 92 percent of citizens said "improved digital services would positively impact their view of government."

So how do municipal professionals overcome naysayers who question the value of local government building a strong digital presence? Vision, the company dedicated to empowering local government leaders to serve, inform and engage their communities, sought answers from hundreds of government leaders across North America and published the results in a new eBook called "In Their Own Voices: How to Build Buy-In for a Strong Digital Presence." It is now available for free download at http://info.visioninternet.com/buy-in-survey-ebook.

"The community of local government professionals has a long history of freely sharing what works and what doesn't," said Ashley Fruechting, Vision's senior director of marketing. "Experience is the best guide in finding strategies and tactics to convince local leadership that the time for new thinking and digital transformation is now. To that end, we asked municipal leaders to share the best piece of advice they would give to someone struggling to demonstrate the importance of the web to their leadership."

Though Vision received a wide range of responses, the advice boiled down to one overarching message: Focus on resident expectations. Drilling down, respondents offered four key tactics to support this mission:

Use data to drive decisions Focus on transparency Connect to your community Save time and money

Local government leaders like Brett White, digital media coordinator for the City of West Hollywood, Calif., study the cold, hard data and leverage analytics to prove their case. He recommended obtaining metrics from peer cities on how their websites are performing.

"We're a city of only 35,000 people," White said. "Our website gets 2,000,000 page views per year and our social media activity has a reach of over 300,000 per month. It's really hard to argue against the numbers."

Municipalities that focus on transparency view their websites as invaluable channels for building trust.

Jeanne Villa, information analyst for California's Novato Fire District, said. "We have to be as transparent about our revenue, expenditures and services as possible. The public demands it. The best way to meet that demand is to have an easy to navigate website. A side effect is that we receive fewer phone calls about general information because we have made it easily accessible to the public on our website."

Cities with a strong digital presence recognize that an effective website allows residents to connect with government where and when they want, which means creating mobile-ready platforms.

"For local government, a website is the No. 1 most important piece of communication that exists," said Erin Bryce, community outreach manager for the City of North Port, Florida. "In today's digital age, people rely on website searches to get the answers that they need. And, in many cases, they are using their mobile phones to conduct that search. You can't search Facebook for information about obtaining a permit to put a fence around your back yard; you can't search Twitter. But you can search Google - or even ask Siri - and find information on a city's website."

A strong website is "the workhorse of your organization," concluded Peggy Flynn, communications manager for the City of Novato, Calif. "It provides your organization with the platform to embrace transparency, customer service and open government. A robust online presence reduces customer frustration and ultimately staff time."

To download Vision's "In Their Own Voices: How to Build Buy-In for a Strong Digital Presence," and other featured eBooks, visit www.visioninternet.com/resources/ebooks-new. For more insights, call Vision at 888-263-8847.

About Vision

Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Vision is a national leader in government website development with more than 700 government, non-profit and education clients in U.S. and Canadian communities with populations that range from less than 1,000 residents to more than 5 million. For more than 20 years, Vision has created cost-effective solutions that increase government efficiency, transparency and interactive communications with citizens. The company's powerful, easy-to-use visionLive content management system continues to evolve with feedback from hundreds of municipal clients. In 2016, Vision was named to Government Technology magazine's GovTech 100, a listing of leading companies developing innovative or disruptive offerings to improve or transform government. The company also was named a top 10 company serving local government by Engaging Local Government Leaders in its 2016 ELGL Choice Awards.

CONTACT:

Ashley Fruechting

310-656-3100

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160328/348411LOGO



SOURCE Vision

Related Links

http://www.visioninternet.com


Across the automotive industry there is a drive to reduce emissions and odor generating impurities from seating foams, to improve passenger comfort and the overall driving experience. Huntsman's automotive team developed a unique MDI system, novel polyol and formaldehyde 'scavenger' technology. This innovative chemistry enabled BMW to reduce total emissions from its seating foams by a factor of ten  without compromising comfort or quality. Huntsman is the only supplier to meet the BMW Group's ambitious requirements for molded foams.

Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman's Polyurethanes division, accepted the award at a ceremony on September 29 at the BMW Welt in Munich.

"BMW is well known for its exacting performance standards and Huntsman has been a long-term technology partner to the business, assisting in its drive for improved safety, performance, comfort and sustainability," Hankins said. "We are incredibly proud of this award and the difference that our technology will make to BMW customers worldwide."

About Huntsman:

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals with 2015 revenues of approximately $10 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 100 manufacturing and R&D facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 15,000 associates within our 5 distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com

Social Media:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Huntsman_Corp

Facebook: www.facebook.com/huntsmancorp

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/huntsman

Forward-Looking Statements:

Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations. The forward-looking statements in this release are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances and involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's operations, markets, products, services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Huntsman companies' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Significant risks and uncertainties may relate to, but are not limited to, financial, economic, competitive, environmental, political, legal, regulatory and technological factors. The company assumes no obligation to provide revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by applicable laws.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414870

SOURCE Huntsman Corporation

Related Links

http://www.huntsman.com


MUNICH and NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2016 IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled a $200 million USD investment in the new global headquarters for its Watson Internet of Things (IoT) business in Munich, new IoT capabilities around Blockchain and security and an array of clients that are driving real outcomes by using Watson IoT technologies to draw insights from billions of sensors embedded in machines, cars, drones, ball bearings, pieces of equipment and even hospitals.

Schaeffler and IBM Sign Watson IoT Partnership for New Industrial Era IBM Invests to Lead Global IoT Market with $200M for Munich Watson IoT HQ Aerialtronics Commercial Drones Give IBM Watson Internet of Things a Bird's Eye View Based in Munich, Germany - the heart of the Industry 4.0 Initiative - IBM's new Global headquarters for its Watson IoT business is quickly becoming a global hotbed for collaborative innovation

As part of a global investment of $3 billion USD designed to bring Watson cognitive computing to IoT, IBM has allocated more than $200 million USD to its global Watson IoT headquarters in Munich. The investment, one of the company's largest ever in Europe, is in response to escalating demand from customers who are looking to transform their operations using a combination of IoT and Artificial Intelligence technologies. Currently IBM has 6,000 clients globally who are tapping Watson IoT solutions and services, up from 4,000 just 8 months ago.

The Watson IoT headquarters will be home to the first ever cognitive IoT Collaboratories  hands-on industry labs where clients and partners can work together with IBM's 1,000 Munich-based researchers, engineers, developers and business experts to drive collaborative innovation in the automotive, electronics, manufacturing, healthcare and insurance industries. Together, they will tackle the toughest challenges of their respective industries; apply new concepts and technologies to build IoT solutions; develop and test new business models, solutions and services; and push the boundaries of what is possible with IoT.

"IBM is making tremendous strides to ensure that businesses around the world are able to take advantage of this incredible period of technological transformation and develop new products and services that really change people's lives," said Harriet Green, Global Head of IBM's Watson IoT business. "Germany is at the forefront of the Industry 4.0 initiative and by inviting our clients and partners to join us in Munich, we are opening up our talent and technologies to help deliver on the promise of IoT and establishing a global hotbed for collaborative innovation."

Schaeffler, Aerialtronics and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Drive Success with IBM Watson IoT

Companies around the world continue to demonstrate real business outcomes through Watson IoT. New engagements include:

Schaeffler, German industrial heavyweight and one of the world's leading automotive and industrial suppliers, has signed a multi-year strategic partnership agreement with IBM to accelerate the digital transformation of its entire operations and customer solutions using Watson's cognitive intelligence and insight from billions of sensors. Schaeffler's goal is to be the world's leading manufacturer of cognitive solutions which keep the world moving. Tapping the connectivity and analytics capabilities of IBM's cloud technologies and Watson IoT platform, Schaeffler will analyze huge amounts of data from millions of sensors and devices across its operations and provide insight to help it to be more flexible, make faster decisions and optimize the performance of equipment in the field. WATCH VIDEO

German industrial heavyweight and one of the world's leading automotive and industrial suppliers, has signed a multi-year strategic partnership agreement with IBM to accelerate the digital transformation of its entire operations and customer solutions using cognitive intelligence and insight from billions of sensors. Schaeffler's goal is to be the world's leading manufacturer of cognitive solutions which keep the world moving. Tapping the connectivity and analytics capabilities of IBM's cloud technologies and Watson IoT platform, Schaeffler will analyze huge amounts of data from millions of sensors and devices across its operations and provide insight to help it to be more flexible, make faster decisions and optimize the performance of equipment in the field. Aerialtronics , a Netherlands -based designer and producer of unmanned aircraft systems for industry, has announced the first commercial drones featuring cognitive computing capabilities from the IBM Watson IoT Platform on IBM Cloud. Aerialtronics vehicles can provide high-quality inspection services for global organizations across multiple industries, from monitoring city traffic patterns to inspecting wind turbines, oil rigs and cell tower optimization. Now, rather than climbing towers, inspecting key areas and reporting back findings, teams can deploy Aerialtronics drones from the ground and, through high definition cameras and Watson Visual Recognition analytics, immediately gain a complete 360-degree, high resolution overview while understanding what it's seeing. WATCH VIDEO

, a -based designer and producer of unmanned aircraft systems for industry, has announced the first commercial drones featuring cognitive computing capabilities from the IBM Watson IoT Platform on IBM Cloud. Aerialtronics vehicles can provide high-quality inspection services for global organizations across multiple industries, from monitoring city traffic patterns to inspecting wind turbines, oil rigs and cell tower optimization. Now, rather than climbing towers, inspecting key areas and reporting back findings, teams can deploy Aerialtronics drones from the ground and, through high definition cameras and Watson Visual Recognition analytics, immediately gain a complete 360-degree, high resolution overview while understanding what it's seeing. Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Inc., three facilities with more than 900 acute care beds and part of Jefferson Health located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , is working with IBM to launch cognitive hospital rooms powered by IBM Watson IoT that enhance the patient experience and help bring deeper levels of personalized, agile and responsive care. With the ability to interact with in-room speakers that are connected to the IBM Watson IoT Platform, patients can take control over their hospital stay and the overall experience -- operating lights, window blinds, asking questions about hospital facilities or even getting background information on their physician.

IDC Cites IBM as an IoT Industry Leader

IBM's leadership in the Internet of Things was recently highlighted by industry analysts IDC who surveyed over 4,500 business decision makers in 25 countries around the world for their Global Decision Maker Survey:

"With 55% of respondents stating that IoT is strategic to their business, we can see that the market is pivoting away from proof of concept projects to scalable deployments that are incorporating cloud, analytics, and security capabilities," said Vernon Turner, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Systems and IDC Fellow for the Internet of Things. "In our research, IBM came across as a major player in nearly every aspect of the IoT market with clear leadership for its IoT platform, software and systems integration. IBM's investment to bring its Watson cognitive computing technologies to the IoT is clearly gaining traction with companies around the world which are launching their own IoT solutions."

New Watson IoT offerings

IBM is also announcing a number of new offerings to benefit IoT customers and developers:

Watson IoT and Blockchain: a new capability that connects Internet of Things data to Blockchain through the IBM Watson IoT Platform. Businesses can share IoT data in a secure, private blockchain to reduce the costs and complexities of doing business across a network of people and goods. This capability is fully integrated into IBM Blockchain. Kouvola Innovation (Kinno), an economic development company based in Finland , used the IBM Watson IoT Platform to connect devices to a blockchain. Using the technology, Kinno is developing a solution that tracks, monitors, and reports on container status and location, and optimizes packing and transfer of shipments through shipping lanes.

a new capability that connects Internet of Things data to Blockchain through the IBM Watson IoT Platform. Businesses can share IoT data in a secure, private blockchain to reduce the costs and complexities of doing business across a network of people and goods. This capability is fully integrated into IBM Blockchain. Kouvola Innovation (Kinno), an economic development company based in , used the IBM Watson IoT Platform to connect devices to a blockchain. Using the technology, Kinno is developing a solution that tracks, monitors, and reports on container status and location, and optimizes packing and transfer of shipments through shipping lanes. Security Solutions and Services: A new set of IoT Security Solutions and Services that help companies proactively identify potential risks and protect their devices from compromise. Enhanced security features in the Watson IoT Platform will provide visibility to possible exposures across the IoT landscape, alerts for immediate notification, and automatic operational responses tailored to individual customer environments. The service offerings will also include advanced security assessment, threat intelligence to identify anomalies, and data anonymization to ensure data privacy while maximizing data utility.

A new set of IoT Security Solutions and Services that help companies proactively identify potential risks and protect their devices from compromise. Enhanced security features in the Watson IoT Platform will provide visibility to possible exposures across the IoT landscape, alerts for immediate notification, and automatic operational responses tailored to individual customer environments. The service offerings will also include advanced security assessment, threat intelligence to identify anomalies, and data anonymization to ensure data privacy while maximizing data utility. Natural Language Interface: New offerings which enable customers to tap the Watson IoT platform to develop new voice interfaces for customers  in homes, cars, stores, hotels and offices. For example, Local Motors uses a Watson powered Natural Language Interface for Olli  one of the world's first self-driving vehicles capable of a natural language interaction with its passengers.

New offerings which enable customers to tap the Watson IoT platform to develop new voice interfaces for customers  in homes, cars, stores, hotels and offices. For example, Local Motors uses a powered Natural Language Interface for Olli  one of the world's first self-driving vehicles capable of a natural language interaction with its passengers. Cognitive IoT Cookbook: A new resource that includes new recipes for developers containing code and best practice approaches for solving cognitive IoT challenges using Watson's Natural Language Application Program Interfaces (APIs).

About IBM Watson IoT

Within two years, the Internet of Things will be the single greatest source of data on the planet, generated by billions of interconnected sensors and devices embedded into the world's physical systems. IBM's Watson technologies use machine learning and natural language processing to reveal insights from this data, helping to transform businesses, lives and societies. IBM is an established leader in the Internet of Things with more than 6,000 client engagements in 170 countries, a growing ecosystem of over 1,400 partners and more 750 IoT patents.

For more information about IBM Watson IoT, please visit: www.ibm.com/iot

For an infographic which visualizes how IBM is investing to lead the global IoT market, please visit: http://bit.ly/2dLMSyL

Contact(s) information

Jonathan Jessop Batty

IBM Watson IoT (Europe)

[email protected]

+44 7880 086571

Erica Topolski

IBM, Watson IoT (US)

[email protected]

+1-617-803-7665

Hans-Jurgen Rehm

IBM Germany

[email protected]

+49-171-5566940

Jasmin Loffler

Vice President Corporate Communications, Schaeffler AG

[email protected]

+49 (0)9132-82-85594

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx4dygJY_7U

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCKxL6rIiO0&feature=youtu.be

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWDfP_udMA0&feature=youtu.be

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414769-INFO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO

SOURCE IBM
COCONUT CREEK, Fla., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IHO-Agro International Inc. (IHO-Agro), an innovative international fertilizer company, announced today it has concluded an initial sale of product to a key South American distributor.

Mr. Ioan Hossu, President and CEO of IHO Agro international, commented, "We are pleased with the demand for our product in Guatemala, which is a very important agricultural country in South America. This is a true recognition of the IHO Agro products' effectiveness." Guatemala is the second country in Central America that will be using our highly effective natural plant supplements and micronutrients for sustainable agriculture. Once again, independent tests and production usage have yielded positive results." Mr. Hossu further commented that "we are encouraged by these results in sales to other partners and anticipate continued positive revenue in 2017."

Mr. Mario Rene Valenzuela Martinez, Administrator Unico of Agroindustrias Bionaturales, commented, "We are proud to introduce IHO-Mineral and IHO-Bio products in Guatemala. This is a first step towards ecological agriculture in our country."

Additionally, IHO- Agro confirms that further sales have been made to its business partners in Panama and Romania. In Panama, where IHO-Agro obtained certification and a license over 3 years ago, the product as now seen repeat demand in multiple seasons with existing and new growers. In Romania, product has been sold for new distribution opportunities. Romania remains one of the largest agricultural markets with over 9 million hectares of arable land.

About IHO-Agro: IHO-Agro is an international fertilizer company with its head office in Florida, USA and regional offices in Canada and Panama. IHO-Agro sells and markets its product in various regions around the world. IHO-Agro prides itself on marketing truly all-natural fertilizers that will change the way plants are grown around the world. IHO-Agro products are FiBL certified.

About IHO-Mineral: IHO-Mineral is a natural mineral micronutrient supplement used in normal fertilization to be applied via foliar application in water dilution of the concentrated product.

About IHO-Bio: IHO-Bio is a natural supplement which contains all the micronutrients present in IHO-Mineral, together with amino acids, vitamins, and various natural plant hormones. It contains everything crops need throughout all stages of development, from seed to maturity. Therefore it shall be used via foliar application on water dilution with significant reduction (up to no fertilization) of classical products.

For more information on IHO-Agro please visit: www.ihoagro.com. IHO-Agro is a fully reporting publicly listed company on the OTC in the US under the stock symbol IHGO.

About Agroindustrias Bionaturales: Agroindustrias Bionaturales is a lead distributor of natural products for agriculture in Guatemala and key contacts in the South American region.

SOURCE IHO-Agro International Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ihoagro.com


ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States rates No. 1 in the nation for breast cancer screening, controlling high blood pressure and five other quality measures, according to the newly released 2016 National Committee for Quality Assurance's (NCQA) Quality Compass data.

The annual Quality Compass data assesses the performance of more than 1,000 health plans nationwide spanning all lines of business on critical clinical quality and service standards.

According to the 2016 NCQA Quality Compass data for Private/Commercial plans, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States achieved the highest rate in the nation for:

Adult BMI Assessment

Breast Cancer Screening - Total

Comprehensive Diabetes Care - Blood Pressure Control (<140/90)

Comprehensive Diabetes Care - Eye Exams

Controlling High Blood Pressure - Total

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) for Female Adolescents

Weight Assessment and Counseling for Nutrition and Physical Activity for Children/Adolescents  BMI percentile (3-11 years)

"Kaiser Permanente's excellent care is rooted in having an organized, physician-led medical group that consistently practices evidence-based medicine," said Bernadette Loftus, MD, associate executive director, The Permanente Medical Group. "Kaiser members are cared for almost exclusively by Permanente physicians, which ensures a consistent level of excellence across the board; most other health plans draw from an identical pool of community-based doctors who deliver varying quality and results. These 2016 NCQA ratings demonstrate how the Kaiser Permanente model delivers higher quality care."

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States has more national No. 1 ratings and regional No. 1 ratings than any other health plan available to residents in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. This is the fifth year in a row that Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is No. 1 in the U.S. for breast cancer screening.

"I am honored to help lead an organization that provides its members best-in-the-nation care and am particularly proud of our strong record in making sure our members receive the medical care they need to screen for cancer and minimize risks for heart disease and stroke caused by high blood pressure," said Kim Horn, president of Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States.

"We are proud of these ratings because they show that Kaiser Permanente is helping people live fuller, healthier lives."

The NCQA Quality Compass data shows that Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States rates significantly higher than other organizations in many of the measures. For example, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States provided timely mammograms to nearly nine in 10 age-appropriate women whereas, on average, nearly three in 10 age-appropriate women across the U.S. failed to have a mammogram in the past two years. Likewise, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States minimizes the risk for heart attack and stroke by controlling the blood pressure within national guidelines for more than 90 percent of members while the rate nationwide for hypertension control is only 57 percent.

This is the latest national recognition Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States has received from NCQA.

Last month, NCQA's ratings revealed Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States to be the only Private plan available through employer-sponsored health coverage in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia  and one of only 13 Private health plans available nationwide  to earn a five out of five rating from the 20162017 NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings. In addition, Kaiser Permanente has the highest rated Medicare plan in the Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

These ratings place Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States in the top three percent of commercial plans and top 10 percent of Medicare plans nationwide.

The annual Quality Compass database includes scores from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, or HEDIS, a tool that is used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service, including medication management, maternal care, and respiratory conditions.

The source for data contained in this publication is Quality Compass 2016 and is used with the permission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Quality Compass 2016 includes certain CAHPS data. Any data display, analysis, interpretation, or conclusion based on these data is solely that of the authors, and NCQA specifically disclaims responsibility for any such display, analysis, interpretation, or conclusion. Quality Compass is a registered trademark of NCQA. CAHPS is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

About Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States region, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, provides and coordinates complete health care services for more than 670,000 members through 29 medical centers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is a total health organization comprising Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, P.C., an independent medical group that features more than 1,300 physicians. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is the only Private plan available through employer-sponsored health coverage in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia  and one of only 13 Private health plans available nationwide  to earn a five out of five rating from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Health Insurance Plan Ratings 20162017. In addition, Kaiser Permanente has the No. 1 Medicare plan in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more information about Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, visit kp.org or follow us on Twitter, twitter.com/KPMidAtlantic, or Facebook, www.facebook.com/kpthrive.

About the National Committee for Quality Assurance

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes clinicians in key clinical areas. NCQA's HEDIS is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's Web site (www.ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices. The measurement tools used by NCQA are among the most comprehensive, comparable across plans and widely respected in the nation, and cover a wide range of clinical and service measures, including women's reproductive health, immunizations and cancer screenings, as well as clinical treatment measures for the management of chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart disease.

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States

Related Links

http://www.kp.org


REDi  was developed by Arup with contributions from a diverse group of external collaborators. The system outlines holistic design and planning criteria within a resilience-based framework for architects and engineers to enable owners to resume business operations and provide livable conditions for tenants quickly after an earthquake. This goes beyond the building code's "life safety" approach which is intended to allow building occupants to exit the building safely but does not consider a building's functionality or even reparability.

"We sought to develop a blueprint for designers and owners who wanted to achieve higher resilience targets, with the ultimate intention to promote community resilience. This aligns with Arup's mission to shape a better world," said Ibrahim Almufti, SE, LEED AP, the leader of the development team for the REDi Rating System and Project Manager for 181 Fremont.

As part of the design verification for REDi, Arup has also developed a methodology to predict the downtime of an organization whose buildings have been damaged by earthquakes. This has been utilized to estimate seismic risk for owners, hospitals, academic institutions, and corporations.

For 181 Fremont, Arup served as the structural engineer, geotechnical engineer, and resilience consultant on the project, shepherding the design team and owner through the resilience-based design process. This involved critical engagement with the developer (Jay Paul Company), architect (Heller Manus Architects), other engineering consultants, and the contractor (Level 10). The owners and designers pursued a REDi Gold Rating which included enhanced structural and non-structural design to limit damage, improved egress systems, contingency plans to reduce post-earthquake recovery times, and development of a tenant's resilience manual of recommendations to keep their space earthquake-ready.

These design measures helped reduce the expected repair costs by approximately 10 times compared to a code-designed building and in conjunction with contingency planning, reduces the expected functionality downtime from 18 months to less than a few weeks. As the structural engineer, Arup developed innovative design solutions to achieve these objectives, including the incorporation of viscous dampers (similar to vehicle shock absorbers) within the steel megabraces and uplifting megacolumns to significantly reduce the potential for earthquake damage. Not only do these measures significantly reduce seismic forces and wind vibrations, they also resulted in material savings of approximately 3,000 tons of steel and allowed the removal of a tuned mass roof damper (the common technology to mitigate wind vibrations for occupant comfort) which freed up the entire penthouse floor for occupancy.

"Jay Paul Company strives to construct the highest quality buildings. This ideal has been instilled throughout all of our previous projects in the Bay Area and it is something we continue to pursue for 181 Fremont," said Jake Albini, Senior Manager of Real Estate Development at Jay Paul Company. "Given 181 Fremont's location in a seismic zone, building height and mixed-use nature, we felt strongly the expenditure of extra dollars to achieve a REDi Gold Rating resulted in a safer and higher quality product. 181 Fremont will offer class A commercial space and the highest quality luxury condominiums on the market. REDi Gold enables us to also offer this real estate as the most resilient in San Francisco, allowing commercial tenants continuity of business and condo owners immediate re-occupancy of their homes after a large earthquake."

The design of 181 Fremont was subject to a rigorous seismic peer review process required by the City of San Francisco, including review of Arup's advanced earthquake computer simulations of the tower. An additional voluntary peer review was pursued by Jay Paul Company to ensure that the design complied with the REDi criteria. The additional review was conducted by Professor Greg Deierlein of Stanford University who approved that the design satisfied the criteria to achieve a REDi Gold Rating. And in another important sign of industry acceptance, the USGBC has developed new Resilient Design Pilot Credits for the LEED Rating System which reference REDi by name.

"Projects like this are great to show the value in thinking about what it means for buildings to have their own post-disaster continuity in place which helps expedite and contribute to a speedy recovery for the larger city," said Patrick Otellini, Chief Resilience Officer for the City and County of San Francisco.

The framework has extended beyond its original seismic focus. Arup is now in the process of creating a version of REDi for flooding and has been approached by a leading university to investigate an application for hurricanes and tornadoes.

With its work at 181 Fremont, Arup continues its world leadership in seismic engineering; the firm has contributed its specialized expertise in the field to such landmark projects as the CCTV (Beijing) building, Beijing National Stadium, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Mexico City Airport.

About Arup

Arup provides planning, engineering, design, and consulting services for the most prominent projects and sites in the built environment. Since its founding in 1946, the firm has consistently delivered technical excellence, innovation, and value to its clients, while maintaining its core mission of shaping a better world. Arup opened its first US office more than 30 years ago and now employs 1,300 people in the Americas. The firm's employee-ownership structure promotes ongoing investment in joint research to yield better outcomes that benefit its clients and partners. Visit Arup's website, www.arup.com, and the online magazine of Arup in the Americas, doggerel.arup.com, for more information.

About Jay Paul Company

Jay Paul Company is a San Francisco-based privately held real estate firm. Over the past 35 years, the company has developed more than 8 million square feet of prime office and research space throughout Californiawith an additional 6 million square feet in active developmentfor the high tech, bio science, defense and retail industries. Led by industry leader Jay Paul, the company specializes in the acquisition, development and management of large scale, environmentally sustainable projects for such companies as Boeing, Sun Microsystems, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Google and Amazon. For more information, visit www.jaypaul.com.

Contact: Tami Hausman

[email protected]

646.742.1700

Contact: Rebecca Maloney

[email protected]

617.412.6632

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SOURCE Arup

Related Links

http://www.arup.com


FAIRFAX, Va., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- InfoComm International, the trade association representing the commercial audiovisual industry worldwide, has signed an agreement with the Secretary of Education of the District of Bogota, Colombia, to offer AV education to 400 students in Bogota's public schools.

The District of Bogota currently has 827,615 students enrolled in its 383 public schools. Students in 10th and 11th grade, focused on mathematics, engineering, and information and communication technologies, will be selected by the Secretary of Education of the District to enroll in the AV education program. Students will have access to InfoComm's two online courses Quick Start to the AV Industry (Inicio Rapido en la Industria AV) and Essentials of AV Technology (Los Fundamentos de la Industria AV para Profesionales Tecnicos y de Ventas) and the InfoComm-Recognized AV Technologist Certificate exam (examen RAVT: Tecnico Audiovisual Reconocido). The courses and exam will be available in Spanish.

"We learned about the student-engagement programs that InfoComm has been doing in Mexico and thought this partnership would be a perfect match for our educational goals," said Laura Diaz, Private Sector Affairs and International Relations, Advisor to the Secretary of Education. "Students enrolled in our AV program will be better prepared to pursue their passion in this field after they graduate high school. This is our first partnership of this kind with an international organization, and we have very high expectations for its impact on our students."

"This program will provide students with the foundation for their professional development in the AV industry," said Scott Wills, CTS-D, CTS-I, Senior Director of International Member Services, InfoComm International. "Students will enrich their resume and have the opportunity to obtain a certificate recognized by members of the pro-AV industry. InfoComm is enthusiastic about this partnership and is looking forward to continuing to develop the AV workforce in Colombia and Latin America."

InfoComm is heavily focused on building partnerships with educational organizations to continue developing the future AV workforce. In 2013, InfoComm's Mexico Advisory Group partnered with the Instituto Poliecnico Nacional (IPN) to develop a student outreach program. IPN students are invited to attend TecnoMultimedia InfoComm Mexico for a tour of the trade show floor. Students are then selected to enroll in the two online courses Quick Start to the AV Industry and Essentials of AV Technology and can take the InfoComm-Recognized AV Technologist Certificate exam.

"For me, InfoComm's program for students is more than online courses or an internship; it's a process of discovery and growth," said Sofia Arreola, Application Engineer for Almacenes Audiovisuales of Colonia Juarez, Mexico. "When I finished my training, the company Grupo Niza offered me and other students internships. After my internship, and with the support of my mentor, Oscar Lopez, CTS, I applied for an opportunity to work in the sales and design for Almacenes Audiovisuales. I've been working there now for almost a year as an application engineer."

For more information on the association's workforce development, visit infocomm.org/icif.

About InfoComm International

InfoComm International is the global trade association representing the commercial audiovisual and information communications industries. Established in 1939, InfoComm has more than 5,000 members, representing over 70,000 AV professionals worldwide, including manufacturers, systems integrators, dealers and distributors, independent consultants, programmers, rental and staging companies, end users and multimedia professionals from more than 80 countries. InfoComm International is the leading resource for AV standards, market research and news. Its training, certification and education programs set a standard of excellence for AV professionals. InfoComm International is the founder of InfoComm, the largest annual conference and exhibition for AV buyers and sellers in the Western Hemisphere. InfoComm also produces trade shows in China, Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East. Additional information is available at infocomm.org.

CONTACT:

Krystle Murphy, Communications Manager, InfoComm International

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1.703.279.6366

SOURCE InfoComm International

Related Links

http://www.infocomm.org


TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495) has released EonOne, the new management tool for the EonStor GS. Besides guiding users to quickly and easily complete all storage related setups and configurations with initial setup wizard and workflow, it also offers a range of features for central management of multiple systems such as Storage Resource Management (SRM), system monitoring, access authorization, and event notifications.

With emphasis on friendly and intuitive controls, workflow can integrate storage controls such as storage provision, scheduling backup as snapshot, and cloud into one easy and simple step-by-step procedure by grouping similar functions and settings into one streamlined page. This makes it much faster and easier to configure new systems while avoiding all the hassle of complicated navigations.

For maintenance, Storage Resource Management allows IT personnel to analyze performance and capacity usage status to optimize system resources with quota management and improve return on investment (ROI), while complete event notifications for system monitoring ensure users are fully informed of various events.

"We developed the intuitive user interface EonOne to reflect the comprehensive approach of our unified storage EonStor GS, as it provides simple access to multiple systems and features." Commented Thomas Kao, Senior Director of Product Planning at Infortrend

EonOne also supports the EonStor GSe. For more information about EonOne, click here. For more information about EonStor GS, click here. For more information about EonStor GSe, click here.

About Infortrend

Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more Information, please visit www.infortrend.com

Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc., other trademarks property of their respective owners.

Contact:

Infortrend Corporation

Bill Chen

Tel: +1-408-988-5753

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Infortrend Technology, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.infortrend.com


ATLANTA, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of each of the Invesco closed-end funds listed below today declared the following dividends.

EX-DATE 10/12/16 RECORD DATE

10/14/16 REINVEST DATE

10/31/16 PAYABLE DATE

10/31/16 Name of Closed-End

Management Investment Company Ticker Monthly

Dividend

Amount Per Share Change From

Prior Distribution Invesco Advantage Municipal Income Trust II VKI $0.0547 - Invesco Bond Fund VBF $0.0690 - Invesco California Value Municipal Income Trust VCV $0.0535 - Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund VTA $0.0750 - Invesco High Income Trust II VLT $0.09301 - Invesco Municipal Income Opportunities Trust OIA $0.0344 - Invesco Municipal Opportunity Trust VMO $0.0678 - Invesco Municipal Trust VKQ $0.0614 - Invesco Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust VPV $0.0551 - Invesco Quality Municipal Income Trust IQI $0.0635 - Invesco Senior Income Trust VVR $0.02351 - Invesco Trust for Investment Grade Municipals VGM $0.0636 - Invesco Trust for Investment Grade New York Municipals VTN $0.0571 - Invesco Value Municipal Income Trust IIM $0.0620 -















1 A portion of this distribution is estimated to be from a return of principal rather than net income. The Section 19 notice referenced below provides more information and can be found on the Invesco website at www.invesco.com.

Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year will report distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund's annual report to shareholders will include information regarding the tax character of Fund distributions for the fiscal year.

The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of all distributions in 2016 will be made after the end of the year.

In order to comply with the requirements of Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, each Fund will provide its shareholders of record on the record date with a Section 19 Notice disclosing the sources of its dividend payment when a distribution includes anything other than net investment income. The Section 19 Notice is not provided for tax reporting purposes but for informational purposes only. If applicable, this Section 19 Notice information can be found on the Funds' website at www.invesco.com

The amount of dividends paid by each fund may vary from time to time. Past amounts of dividends are no guarantee of future dividend payment amounts.

Investing involves risk and it is possible to lose money on any investment in the funds.

For more information, call 1-800-341-2929.

About Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. is a leading independent global investment management firm, dedicated to helping investors worldwide achieve their financial objectives. By delivering the combined power of our distinctive investment management capabilities, Invesco provides a wide range of investment strategies and vehicles to our clients around the world. Operating in more than 20 countries, the firm is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IVZ. Additional information is available at www.invesco.com.

Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the U.S. distributor for Invesco Ltd.'s retail products. Invesco Distributors, Inc. is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd.

Note: There is no assurance that a closed-end fund will achieve its investment objective. Shares are bought on the secondary market and may trade at a discount or premium to NAV. Regular brokerage commissions apply.

NOT FDIC INSURED l MAY LOSE VALUE l NO BANK GUARANTEE

Invesco

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SOURCE Invesco Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.invesco.com


SEATTLE, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Kineta, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the translational development of novel antiviral and immune modulating therapies, announced that its CEO, Dr. Shawn Iadonato, will participate on a panel presentation on immuno-oncology at the 15th annual BIO Investor Forum.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/414757/Kineta_Logo.jpg

Dr. Iadonato will highlight Kineta's Immuno-oncology program and be joined by leaders from other biopharmaceutical companies to discuss the development of new therapies in this emerging therapeutic area. The session entitled "The Intersection of Inflammation and Immuno-Oncology: Risks and Opportunities" is scheduled on October 18 from 9:00-10:15 PST. The conference is being held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Dr. Iadonato will be available for questions immediately following the presentation.

The BIO Investor Forum is an international biotech investor conference focused on early and established private companies as well as emerging public companies. The event features plenary sessions, business roundtables and therapeutic workshops, company presentations, and One-on-One Partnering meetings.

Kineta, Inc. is an emerging and sustainable biotech company that fills a void in the biopharmaceutical industry by efficiently advancing therapies from discovery to clinical proof of concept. We actively collaborate with a broad array of private, government and industry partners to advance our innovative research in chronic pain, immuno-oncology and infectious diseases. Kineta has established and is expanding on a diverse pipeline of novel life improving therapies that address critical unmet patient needs. For more information on Kineta, Inc. visit our website, www.Kinetabio.com

NOTICE: This document contains certain forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding Kineta's plans for pre-clinical and clinical studies, regulatory filings, and anticipated drug effects in human subjects. You are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties inherent in Kineta's business which could significantly affect expected results, including without limitation progress of drug development, ability to raise capital to fund drug development, clinical testing and regulatory approval, developments in raw material and personnel costs, and legislative, fiscal, and other regulatory measures. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Kineta undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the issuance of this press release.

Contact Jacques Bouchy

Email

(206) 378-0400

SOURCE Kineta, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.kinetabio.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines invites all travelers to come learn more about the airline and experience its innovative and customer-centric approach to service and design at a special pop up in San Francisco's Union Square. The KLM Pop Up will showcase the airline's leading amenities and service by offering visitors the opportunity to experience the World Business Class, a virtual reality simulation of the KLM Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the chance to win roundtrip tickets to Amsterdam. The pop up will be open October 14-22, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 445A Sutter Street.

"The KLM Pop Up embodies the helpful, friendly, and innovative values of the airline, bringing to life the high standards of customer service KLM is committed to offering across all passenger touch points," said Eric Caron, Vice President and General Manager, Air France-KLM USA. "The Bay Area and West Coast are important and rapidly growing markets for the company, and we look forward to animating how KLM design and digital innovation offers our passengers best-in-class service and travel experience."

Visitors of the pop up will have the opportunity to earn up to five entries for KLM ticket giveaways with an RFID bracelet that allows them to check in at five interactive stations throughout the pop up. Each station highlights signature KLM features including: 24/7 social servicing, sustainability, vast global network and best-in-class products. Visitors will also be able to relax in a lounge and enjoy coffee and Dutch stroopwafels on special days. Parents are invited to bring their kids to enjoy a Kid's Corner featuring games and KLM's cartoon plane mascot Bluey.

Starting October 10th, San Franciscans can also be on the lookout for KLM throughout the city with the launch of a Helpvertising campaign that will include free water bottle distribution, KLM crossing guards and billboards that help people take a great selfie or even find their lost pets. The campaign is aimed at creating awareness of KLM's focus on customer service and how much KLM cares about its customers.

KLM, the world's oldest airline still operating under the same name, is the definitive leader in social servicing and sustainability. Recently, KLM became the world's first airline to offer full customer service on Facebook Messenger and launched bio-fuel flights from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. KLM offers daily direct flights between San Francisco and Amsterdam and recently added more capacity to the route in May with the addition of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. KLM currently services eight gateways from the United States to Amsterdam, and will introduce service from Miami on November 1, 2016.

To find out more about the KLM Pop Up, please follow #KLMcares on social or visit popup.klm.com.

CONTACT:

Helen Ames/ Sarah Mahaney

Finn Partners

212-715-1600

[email protected]

SOURCE KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
"We are extremely passionate about staying on the forefront of the issues that impact independent financial advisors," said Pat Sullivan, Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer of Private Advisor Group. "With the impending DOL rule and the constantly evolving regulatory environment, we owe it to our network of 600 advisors to ensure we are staying ahead of the curve to provide a voice in Washington and solutions they can use in their practices."

As part of the firm membership, Private Advisor Group will provide complimentary membership to all of their independent financial advisors. Membership includes access to advocacy in Washington and other services such as the FSI Covered Advisor Benefits, client-ready materials required by the DOL, complimentary webinars, conferences and much more.

"Private Advisor Group is widely known as a visionary leader for hybrid independent advisors," said FSI President and CEO Dale Brown. "John Hyland and Patrick Sullivan have been involved with FSI for years, and we are very pleased to welcome all of their home office employees  and their advisors  into FSI membership. We know our members will benefit greatly from their knowledge, vision and leadership. We look forward to seeing them get involved."

To start, Abby Salameh, Private Advisor Group's Chief Marketing Officer, will participate in the FSI Marketing and Growth Council. Other executives of the firm will be volunteering their services in councils, study groups and advocacy efforts. The membership will commence immediately.

About Private Advisor Group

Private Advisor Group (www.privateadvisorgroup.com) is today's hybrid solution built to support successful independent financial advisors. Our unique organization is designed to provide world class customer service, in depth risk management and forward thinking solutions. Advisors can expect extraordinary, personal support backed by the industry's largest independent broker-dealer, enabling them to stay focused on their business.

About Financial Services Institute (FSI)

The Financial Services Institute (FSI) is the only organization advocating solely on behalf of independent financial advisors and independent financial services firms. Since 2004, through advocacy, education and public awareness, FSI has successfully promoted a more responsible regulatory environment for more than 100 independent financial services firm members and their 160,000+ affiliated financial advisors  which comprise over 60% of all producing registered representatives. We effect change through involvement in FINRA governance as well as constructive engagement in the regulatory and legislative processes, working to create a healthier regulatory environment for our members so they can provide affordable, objective advice to hardworking Main Street Americans. For more information, please visit financialservices.org.

Focus KW: Financial Services Institute Members

Meta Title: Private Advisor Group Joins Financial Services Institute

Meta Description: Private Advisor Group joins Financial Services Institute as a firm member to advocate for independent financial advisors

Media Contact:

Abby Salameh

[email protected]

Phone: (973) 867-1354

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SOURCE Private Advisor Group

Related Links

https://www.privateadvisorgroup.com


DALLAS, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lennox International Inc. (NYSE: LII) today announced it plans to report third quarter 2016 financial results before the market opens on Monday, October 17, 2016. A conference call is scheduled for the same day at 8:30 a.m. Central time. All interested parties are invited to listen as Chairman & CEO Todd Bluedorn and CFO Joe Reitmeier comment on the company's financial results and outlook, followed by Q&A.

To listen, call the conference call line at 612-288-0340 at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and use reservation number 403686. The conference call also will be webcast on Lennox International's web site at www.lennoxinternational.com.

A replay of the conference call will be available from 11:00 a.m. Central time on October 17 through October 31, 2016 by dialing 800-475-6701 (U.S.) or 320-365-3844 (international) and using access code 403686. This call also will be archived on the company's web site.

Lennox International Inc. is a global leader in the heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets. Lennox International stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol "LII". Additional information is available at www.lennoxinternational.com or by contacting Steve Harrison, Vice President, Investor Relations, at 972-497-6670.

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SOURCE Lennox International Inc.

Related Links

http://www.lennoxinternational.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- National real estate investor/developer Lightstone announced today the appointment of Lauren Levin as Senior Vice President, Moxy Hotels Brand and Marketing. Ms. Levin will be responsible for setting the strategic marketing direction and overseeing all marketing initiatives for Lightstone's portfolio of Moxy hotels, the newest boutique hotel concept from Marriott. Ms. Levin's role will include brand management, partnership marketing programs, digital marketing, public relations, and marketing communications. She will report to Lightstone President Mitchell Hochberg and divide her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Lauren Levin was appointed Senior Vice President, Moxy Hotels Brand and Marketing for Lightstone

Lightstone has partnered with Marriott to develop seven Moxy hotels in the United States. Four hotels  including the U.S. flagship  will be located in New York City, with one in Miami's South Beach, one in downtown Los Angeles and one in Hollywood.

Moxy is a fresh, bold, energetic lifestyle hotel with smartly designed and technologically advanced rooms coupled with amplified and energized socially activated public spaces. It's affordable with the soul of a boutique hotel; where affordability is not a sacrifice of style or comfort.

Prior to joining Lightstone, Ms. Levin was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at lifestyle hospitality management company sbe in Los Angeles. In this role, she oversaw all marketing and public relations across sbe's global portfolio of hotels, residences, restaurants and nightlife venues. Ms. Levin was integral in developing and executing a total rebrand and digital marketing overhaul at sbe, for which the company won 13 industry marketing awards. She was named to the "Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality Marketing, Sales and Revenue Management" list by Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International.

Before sbe, Ms. Levin was the Brand Director of Interactive Development at Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants. She also served as the Director of Online Marketing for Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Tel Aviv, developing and managing online marketing campaigns for the nine Sheraton hotels in Israel. Ms. Levin earned a Bachelor's Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Business Administration, with a concentration in Sales and Marketing, from Cornell University.

"We created this position specifically to manage our entire Moxy brand across the U.S., and Lauren truly brings unmatched talent to this new role," said Lightstone President Mitchell Hochberg. "Lauren's extensive experience in global hospitality marketing will be a great strength for Lightstone as we continue to grow the Moxy's footprint, and we are delighted to have Lauren join our team."

About Lightstone

Lightstone, founded by David Lichtenstein, is one of the most highly-regarded and diversified private real estate companies in the United States. Operating in all sectors of the real estate market, Lightstone's $2 billion portfolio (in 26 states) currently includes over 6 million square feet of office, retail and industrial commercial properties, 11,000 residential units and 3,800 hotel keys. It also owns over 12,000 land lots across the country. Headquartered in New York City, Lightstone continues to grow its local presence with $2.5 billion worth of projects currently under development in the residential and hospitality sectors.

Contact:

Christopher Bastardi

212-729-2495

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414671

SOURCE Lightstone

Related Links

http://www.lightstonegroup.com


LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Louisville hosts The Bridge Forum (www.thebridgeforum.com), a national gathering of police chiefs, law enforcement and community members, Fri., Oct. 28, 9am, led by Dr. Kevin W. Cosby, president, Simmons College; David W. Tandy, president/CEO, Kentucky Diversity Chamber of Commerce and Alan "AP" Powell, Checkered Flag Run Foundation (CFRF).

Powell is a Westend Louisville native and entrepreneur, and founder, The Bridge Forum. Powell also is founder of CFRF, which seeks to ensure every student & veteran crosses the finish line.

Said Powell: "After having a conversation with childhood friend, Troy L. Gray, CFRF board member and Executive Director of PEAK Community Supports Inc. in Louisville, I knew I had to bring this conversation back to the city I grew up in. To see my hometown make national news for violence was so disheartening. I knew I had to tap into my resources and take a stance by bridging the gap between community and law enforcement."

The Bridge Forum, Louisville, features:

Chief of Police Steve Conrad , Louisville

, Dr. Cedric L. Alexander , past president of NOBLE, director of public safety, DeKalb County, Ga. ; CNN Analyst

, past president of NOBLE, director of public safety, ; CNN Analyst Chief of Police Regina J. Price , Darby-Township , Delaware County, Pa.

, , Chief of Police Cecil E. Smith , Sanford, Fla.

, Assistant Chief of Police Mattie M. Provost , Houston, Texas

, Deputy Chief of Police U. Renee ' Hall, Detroit, Mich.

The Bridge Forum is a model to exchange concepts to solve inner-city challenges.

Lamont Robinson, VP Supplier Diversity, Nielsen: "I am excited to represent Nielsen at this very important event. It is the quintessential community experience connecting local elected officials with the stakeholders they represent and serve. I come from an underserved community run by the same small businesses you can find in any disadvantaged community nationwide. Our small businesses can't be successful if we destroy them in our anger; and my purpose is to educate people on the link between these very vital entities and to the economic growth of underserved communities whether local or national."

Johnny C. Taylor Jr., Lawyer, Author, president & CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund moderates; and Tandy, who also served as 7th and 10th president of Louisville Metro Council and is 4th District councilman and attorney, Bingham, Greenebaum & Doll, LLP, emcees.

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SOURCE Checkered Flag Run Foundation

Related Links

http://www.thebridgeforum.com


Yuan Longping is awarded the inaugural LUI Che Woo Prize 2016 in the Sustainability category, with the Specific Area of Focus on "World Food Supply: Safety and Security", for his scientific achievement in developing high-yielding hybrid rice which has contributed significantly to the enhancement of the security of world food supply. Professor Yuan said, "I am very pleased to be awarded the LUI Che Woo Prize. It is a source of encouragement and motivation that drives and inspires me to reach higher heights."

Medecins Sans Frontieres ("MSF") is awarded the inaugural LUI Che Woo Prize 2016 in the Welfare Betterment category, with the Specific Area of Focus on "Treatment and/or control of epidemics, infectious diseases or chronic illnesses", for its indispensable contributions to the treatment and control of the cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010 and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014. "MSF is honoured to be one of the recipients of this Prize. We are particularly pleased that the LUI Che Woo Prize chose the field of the treatment and control of epidemics and infectious diseases as a critical focus for this first award. That shows a real awareness of the importance of improving treatment options and emergency response capacities for people in the most exposed parts of the world. MSF's experience of fighting against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has hugely reinforced our view that much more needs to be done by the world community to minimize the very big risks that still exist," said Dr Liu Chen-kun, President of Medecins Sans Frontieres - Hong Kong.

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is awarded the inaugural LUI Che Woo Prize 2016 in the Positive Energy category, with the Specific Area of Focus on "Individuals or organisations whose behaviour and achievement inspire, energise and give hope to others", for all the good work that he and The Carter Center that he established in 1982 have done, which has contributed significantly to the promotion of positive life attitude and enhancement of positive energy in the world. "Well, first of all, I am very honoured to be considered by this wonderful benevolent man. And secondly, it's a pleasure and honour to be associated with others who have been given the same prize. We find that this gift will make it possible for The Carter Center to expand its own programs considerably and I intend to give and make the prize money go to The Carter Center not for me personally," Mr. Carter said.

Each awardee will receive a cash award of HK$20 million (equivalent to approximately US$2.56 million), a certificate and a trophy.

Dr LUI Che Woo added, "The inaugural laureates come from different countries, different backgrounds, comprise individuals and organisations, reflecting the international, diversified and extensive nature of the LUI Che Woo Prize. I believe that harmony is of prime importance, and represents the best way to reduce the incidence of world conflicts. I sincerely hope that the LUI Che Woo Prize, as a seed of truth, goodness and beauty, will grow across the land and add a little colour to our world."

Officiating guests included Mr Tung Chee-hwa, Prize Council Member and Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Mr CY Leung, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and Mr Zhang Xiaoming, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR. Around 800 government officials, academics, religious leaders, elites from business sectors, local and international media, and more than thirty consuls attended the ceremony to witness and congratulate the achievements of the three laureates. In addition, African Children's Choir from Uganda, Mr Trey Lee, a well-known cellist, Ms Yim Wan, a pianist, and Ms Michelle Siu, an artist with disabilities, were the honoured performance guests at the ceremony, bringing positive energy and harmony to society, and helping to build a peaceful and loving world.

The LUI Che Woo Prize is an international, cross-sector, innovative prize. In order to address ever-evolving global needs and challenges, each year the Prize will set a Specific Area of Focus under each Prize Category.

The 2017 Specific Areas of Focus for each Prize Category as follows:

Prize Category 2017 Specific Areas of Focus Sustainability Prize Prevention of Climate Change Welfare Betterment Prize Alleviation of Poverty Positive Energy Prize Promotion of Harmony among Diverse Groups

For media inquiries, please contact Ruder Finn Asia:

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SOURCE LUI Che Woo Prize Limited
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Magenic, a global business technology consulting company, today announces the opening of its New York City office. The New York City office is Magenic's eighth office, and its opening further demonstrates the increasing demand for Magenic's expertise and services.

Magenic, which also has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Southern California, and Manila, Philippines, is well known for solving business problems through technology and empowering businesses to transform into digital enterprises. The New York City office, located at 28 Liberty Street, in the heart of Manhattan's Financial District, will serve Magenic's existing clients, provide Magenic an opportunity to deliver its business technology offerings to a wide range of clients in the New York City area, and enable the company to further leverage its financial services expertise among the vast array of banking, wealth management and insurance firms located there.

"The opening of our New York City office is another sign of the demand we're seeing for Magenic's technology-driven business transformation services," said Don Kvam, vice president of Market Development for Magenic and general manager of the New York City location. "With numerous clients already in the greater New York metropolitan area as well as recent growth within our Financial Services practice, New York City was a natural choice for our next office location."

Kvam added that Magenic has experienced significant growth in the last 12 months, including the opening of its Southern California office and a near 25 percent company-wide increase in employees.

"We're proud of our reputation for providing unparalleled technology expertise and services that truly drive business and of the growth that has resulted. We're excited to have a local presence in New York City and to serve a wide range of clients and industries there," said Kvam.

About Magenic

Over the past 20 years, Magenic has earned a reputation as a leader in business technology consulting. The firm is recognized for its premier technical talent as well as its proven project management and delivery processes. Magenic prides itself on transforming businesses through technology, moving companies forward with quality and speed. To learn more about Magenic, visit magenic.com.

Contact: Patty Gibbs

Patty Gibbs & Company

651.653.7302

[email protected]

SOURCE Magenic
Ms. Chew previously served as MSCI's head of ESG Research for Asia-Pacific

TORONTO, BOSTON and HONG KONG, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Manulife Asset Management has named Emily Chew as Global Head of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) Research and Integration. The appointment was effective September 2. Ms. Chew is based in Hong Kong and reports to Peter Mennie, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Investment Risk and Quantitative Analytics.

"In this new role for our firm, Emily will serve as the primary lead on ESG. She will engage with companies in which we are invested to discuss ESG issues, report on conclusions to portfolio managers, and articulate our approach to ESG with clients," said Mr. Mennie. "In addition, she will be responsible for oversight of ESG research globally, setting strategic direction for Manulife Asset Management."

Ms. Chew's appointment follows Manulife Asset Management becoming a signatory to the United Nations-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2015, as well as hiring Frederick Isleib as ESG Analyst, North America, who works with portfolio management teams on ESG risk identification in portfolios, and produces thought leadership on ESG trends. Mr. Isleib reports to Ms. Chew.

Most recently, Ms. Chew was Head of ESG Research for Asia-Pacific at MSCI Inc. Her team had oversight into research quality and issue identification for approximately 1,200 stocks, and under her leadership produced original research on the relevance of ESG to Asian and emerging markets. Prior to that, she was a capital markets lawyer with Baker & McKenzie in Melbourne, Australia, with a focus on funds management, capital raisings, and REITs.

Ms. Chew is a member of PRI's Listed Equities Outreach Subcommittee. She holds an MBA from the University of Oxford, and Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.

About Manulife Asset Management

Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife, providing comprehensive asset management solutions for investors. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of public and private asset classes, as well as asset allocation solutions. As at June 30, 2016, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$435 billion (US$334 billion, GBP252 billion, EUR303 billion).

Manulife Asset Management's public markets units have investment expertise across a broad range of asset classes including public equity and fixed income, and asset allocation strategies. Offices with full investment capabilities are located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, Manulife Asset Management has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. The public markets units of Manulife Asset Management also provide investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. John Hancock Asset Management and Declaration Management and Research are units of Manulife Asset Management.

Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group providing forward-thinking solutions to help people with their big financial decisions. We operate as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2015, we had approximately 34,000 employees, 63,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20 million customers. At the end of June 2016, we had $934 billion (US$718 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made more than $25.4 billion in benefits, interest and other payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. Follow Manulife on Twitter @ManulifeNews or visit www.manulife.com or www.johnhancock.com.

SOURCE Manulife Asset Management

Related Links

http://www.manulife.com


PARIS and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext: MKEA, OTCQX: MKEAY) inventor of Cellvizio, the multidisciplinary confocal laser endomicroscopy platform, is pleased by the announcement of the creation of the International Society for Endomicroscopy (IS4E).

The Society was developed from the growing need of healthcare professionals and researchers worldwide to connect and share knowledge in this ever-expanding domain. The society will serve to advance education, research and collaboration among a multi-disciplinary group of professionals. The first activities of the Society will soon to be announced.

Dr David Carr-Locke, Chief, Division of Digestive Diseases, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, first President of the IS4E declared "Endomicroscopy is either already or soon-to-be common practice in multiple specialties within gastroenterology, pulmonology, urology, surgery and research in the field of real-time digital in-vivo and ex-vivo microscopy. The creation of this professional community became a necessary step for cross-communication and we can already see membership growing to include experts, daily-users and future practitioners."

Sacha Loiseau, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mauna Kea Technologies, said, "There is growing momentum in the adoption of endomicroscopy driven by new clinical data, medical society support, and advances in technology. The creation of an international society is a clear tribute to the importance taken by endomicroscopy in medicine and surgery and its relevance for a growing number of applications. The IS4E will play an important role in bringing together a diverse group of experts to advance the field of endomicroscopy, particularly as it continues to expand into new applications. We congratulate the founding members of the IS4E and look forward to close collaboration in the near future."

The IS4E is an independent organization that welcomes industry support. Mauna Kea Technologies is providing the IS4E with a grant to support the formation and initial activity of the society.

About Mauna Kea Technologies

Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company focused on eliminating uncertainties related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer thanks to real time in vivo microscopic visualization. The Company's flagship product, Cellvizio, has received clearance to sell a wide range of applications in more than 40 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. For more information on Mauna Kea Technologies, visit http://www.maunakeatech.com.

Mauna Kea Technologies

Benoit Jacheet

CFO

[email protected]

United States

Zack Kubow / Lee Roth

The Ruth Group

646-536-7020 / 7012

[email protected]

[email protected]

U.S. Media

Christopher Hippolyte

The Ruth Group

646-536-7023

[email protected]

France and Europe

NewCap - Investor Relations

Florent Alba

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

[email protected]

This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire.

SOURCE Mauna Kea Technologies
"Vantiv is a payments technology leader with a full range of solutions for our members," said Basil Buchanan, vice president of lending at McCoy FCU. "The reason we partnered with Vantiv is simple, they have the technology and the view into everyday spend of our cardholders, which can help us to better serve our 60,000 members."

Through Vantiv, the credit union will now provide an integrated debit and credit platform and a new way to combat fraud: MobiMoney. MobiMoney is a mobile app that gives members control of card functionality resulting in lower fraud losses and safer spending habits. The app allows cardholders to turn cards on and off, and receive instant alerts on their mobile devices for all card activity. The app can help build trust and increase card usage by giving cardholders the control and instant access they desire.

"We wanted a mobile app to provide our members increased security and more control over their money, and Vantiv had an excellent one ready to go," added Buchanan. "MobiMoney has all the features we needed, giving our members an improved way to fight fraud."

Under the agreement, Vantiv will provide a comprehensive suite of payment processing solutions including debit, ATM and full service credit card processing solutions. In addition to MobiMoney, members will also have enhanced security in OmniShield, a real time fraud detection product that works around the clock to minimize fraud losses.

"When we talked to McCoy, one of their goals was to enroll more members and increase the credit union's wallet share," said Bill Hampton, senior vice president and general manager of financial institution services at Vantiv. "Through our partnership we will provide McCoy with the innovations, technology and resources necessary to help them become the preferred, top of wallet choice for more of their members."

To learn more about McCoy Federal Credit Union, visit http://www.mccoyfcu.org/. For more on Vantiv's payments processing solutions for financial institutions, visit https://www.vantiv.com/FI.



ABOUT MCCOY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Headquartered in Orlando, FL, McCoy Federal Credit Union is one of the largest credit unions in Central Florida with over 61,000 members, assets over $530 million and 14 locations. McCoy is a full-service financial cooperative, assisting consumers and small business owners with achieving their financial goals since 1954. Their focus is to serve their members with all of their financial needs. McCoy Federal has a variety of financial products and services including: checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, new and used auto loans, mortgages, home equity lines of credit, business loans, and more. Visit http://www.mccoyfcu.org/ and learn more.

ABOUT VANTIV

Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE: VNTV) is a leading payment processor differentiated by an integrated technology platform. Vantiv offers a comprehensive suite of traditional and innovative payment processing and technology solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all sizes, enabling them to address their payment processing needs through a single provider. We build strong relationships with our customers, helping them become more efficient, more secure and more successful. Vantiv is the second largest merchant acquirer and the largest PIN debit acquirer based on number of transactions in the U.S. The company's growth strategy includes expanding further into high-growth channels and verticals, including integrated payments, eCommerce, and merchant bank. Visit us at www.vantiv.com, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.

 2016 Vantiv, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks, service marks and trade names referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Vantiv and other Vantiv products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Vantiv, LLC in the U.S. and other countries.

CONTACTS

Lori Stafford-Thomas

Director, Public Relations

970-335-4904

[email protected]

Aryma Braga

Corporate Communications

513-900-6471

[email protected]

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SOURCE Vantiv, Inc.

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Christopher Dean  (Cleveland and Chicago) Member, Litigation Department

Don Orlandoni  (Detroit) Member, Litigation Department

Jayson Ruff  (Detroit) Member, Business Restructuring Department

"This year we are privileged to recognize and promote four attorneys for their expertise and consistently high-level of client service," said Shawn M. Riley, president of McDonald Hopkins.

Christal Contini (Cleveland) has significant experience providing general corporate counseling to a variety of businesses, business owners, boards of directors, management teams and investors on matters relating to corporate governance, commercial contracts, compliance and operational issues. Her practice is also focused on representing private equity funds, search funds and both strategic buyers and sellers in various types of transactions, including complex mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, leveraged buyouts, distressed acquisitions and dispositions, financings, and investments. Contini's industry experience covers a wide array of industries such as quick-service and full-service franchise restaurants, healthcare, polymers, manufacturing and software. Contini has also served in an in-house counsel capacity for a software service provider, a polymer manufacturer, an energy services company, and an international manufacturer and distributor of household and commercial products.

Contini earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 2008 and served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law and Health. She received a B.A., cum laude, from Ashland University in 2003.

Christopher Dean (Cleveland and Chicago) has extensive commercial litigation experience in a broad array of industries and involving a wide variety of issues, including contract, partnership, fiduciary duty, professional negligence, white collar, bankruptcy, antitrust, unfair competition, intellectual property and energy-related disputes. He is well-versed in all aspects of trial and appellate preparation, as well as managing complex discovery processes.

Selected for inclusion as an Illinois Rising Star (2014) and Ohio Rising Star (2016 and 2017) by Super Lawyers, Dean co-chairs the Bankruptcy/Environmental Claims Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Environmental and Energy Litigation Committee, is a member of the Cleveland Bar Association's Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, and serves as on the Board for the North Union Farmers Market.

Dean earned a J.D. with high honors from George Washington University School of Law in 2007, where he was managing editor of The Law Review and elected to the school's Moot Court, Mock Trial and Alternative Dispute Skills Boards. Before joining McDonald Hopkins in 2014, he received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Denison University in 2000, worked as an IT consultant in New York City, for a large law firm in Washington, D.C., and with a well-respected commercial litigation boutique in Chicago.

Don Orlandoni (Detroit) represents companies and individuals in complex business and commercial matters. He has a record of achieving positive outcomes for his clients in pre-lawsuit negotiations, state and federal court litigation, arbitration, and other forums of alternative dispute resolution. Orlandoni has successfully represented clients across a wide range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, and other manufacturers; wireless and wireline telecommunication service providers; supply-chain logistics companies; temporary staffing companies; food manufacturers; and various private equity portfolio companies.

Recognized by Super Lawyers as a Michigan Rising Star from 2010 to 2015, Orlandoni worked in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries before becoming an attorney. Earlier, he served as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps.

Orlandoni earned a J.D., cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Wayne State University Law School in 2007 where he was assistant editor of The Wayne Law Review. He received a Bachelor of Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1995.

Jayson Ruff (Detroit) is an accomplished business restructuring attorney with extensive experience in a wide variety of industries from automotive to healthcare. His practice is focused on the restructuring of privately held businesses, in and out of bankruptcy, assisting secured and unsecured creditors in creditors' rights issues, and selling assets in distressed M & A deals. Ruff also has worked for clients in general business matters such as the formation of a new corporation and the sale of existing entities.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Ruff spent seven years in the IT industry supporting the automotive and finance industries in Detroit.

Ruff earned his J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2006, and his Bachelor of Arts from William Tyndale College in 1997.

About McDonald Hopkins

Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. With more than 50 service and industry teams, we have the expertise and knowledge to meet the growing number of legal and business challenges our clients face. Our subsidiary, McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies LLC, is based in Washington, D.C. McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com.

CONTACT:

Deborah W. Kelm

McDonald Hopkins LLC

600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100

Cleveland, OH 44114

Phone: 216.348.5733

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE McDonald Hopkins

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SULPHUR, La., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Two local educators recently were chosen to participate in ocean voyages aboard the E/V Nautilus as part of the CITGO and Ocean Exploration Trust's initiative to inspire science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) based education. E.K. Key Elementary fifth grade teacher and Ocean Exploration Trust Ambassador Tiffany Hill who traveled aboard the exploration vessel, the E/V Nautilus, in August, sailed off the coast of British Columbia in Canada to Los Angeles on an expedition. McNeese Assistant Professor Amber Hale also voyaged aboard the E/V Nautilus as a Science Communication Fellow in June.

The Ambassadorship and Science Communication Fellowship that Hill and Hale participated in are part of the Ocean Exploration Trust's Community STEM Program which CITGO funds in Lake Charles, Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas as well as in Lemont, Illinois. As part of their ocean going adventures, Hill and Hale were able to interact with students across the U.S. via live video feed from the ship. The live interactions in Southwest Louisiana that included E.K. Key Elementary School and the McNeese Kids' College, are made available through the ongoing community support of CITGO to engage students in STEM education.

The CITGO-OET partnership extends support for the E/V Nautilus Ambassadors Program that Hill participated in, which brings educators and students aboard the E/V Nautilus to travel with and learn from deep-sea exploration experts. The 2016 Science Communication Fellowship, the initiative of OET that Hale participated in, will bring seventeen formal and informal educators together from around the world as a part of the Nautilus Corps of Exploration this year. Fellows are charged with the responsibility of engaging students and the public in the wonders of ocean exploration, sharing discoveries from the 2016 mission, as well as aspects of daily life aboard a working exploration vessel.

When asked about her experience as a Science Communication Fellow aboard the E/V Nautilus, Hale said it is a wonderful way to bring real STEM careers, experiences and inspirational people home to our community. "Students are impressionable and when they see something like this, it's exciting to them." Hale said most students lose interest in the STEM field between the ages of 12 and 14. "It's important for us to sustain their interest in STEM education before the junior high years."

Hill had an exceptional experience as well and commented on how exciting the adventure was. "The staff of OET was very easy to work with and they gladly pulled in us teachers for some hands-on experience. Everyone has a specific job and it's not only biologists who are on the ship to make this experience a positive one!" The E/V Nautilus is a great opportunity for educators to learn about how they can get their students excited about oceanography and the importance of teamwork in any type of work situation, Hill said.

An equally important aspect of both the Ambassadors and Fellows programs is for them to bring the expedition and excitement of ocean exploration back to their home communities after they have returned from sea through informal educational opportunities. Both teachers are now sharing the knowledge they gained through their experiences with local students.

Tomeu Vadell, CITGO Vice President and General Manager, Lake Charles Refinery, said STEM education programs like the Ocean Exploration Trust introduces students to knowledge that will prepare them for many types of careers including industry. "It is our goal at CITGO to lead the next generation workforce to successful careers through education and to give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams. STEM education does just that  it introduces students to the endless possibilities of the creativity and power of science, technology, engineering and mathematics."

Hill has more than a decade of experience teaching science in different grade levels and integrates innovative technology and science curriculum in the classroom and works to collaborate with her peers. She is a Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Team Leader, social studies/science fair liaison, a teacher representative for the Earth Keepers Club and the Technology Showcase Teacher for 2016 Showcase.

Hale is from Friendswood, Texas. She earned her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas) in 2007. In fall 2007 she began her Ph.D. in molecular biology and transgenics at Texas A&M University. Within the year the lab moved to the University of Kentucky where she followed and finished her graduate study. Amber has been an Assistant Professor of Biology at McNeese State University since 2014 where she teaches undergraduate biology courses.

The public can watch the real-time action of the E/V Nautilus via live streaming video and participate in live interactions with shore-based audiences via http://www.nautiluslive.org/, a 24-hour portal bringing expeditions from the field to future explorers on shore via telepresence technology. The public can also follow the expedition on social media and through in-person live interactions at partner schools, museums, aquariums, science centers and public events around the world.

About CITGO

CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information, visit www.CITGO.com.

SOURCE CITGO Petroleum Corporation

Related Links

http://www.CITGO.com


NEW YORK and PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced that it continues to grow its equity derivatives marketplace with the addition of the MIAX Options Exchange (MIAX Options) to the IPC Financial Markets Network. MIAX Options is a fully automated electronic options exchange for the trading of OCC issued standardized options on equities and ETFs.

Options play a significant role in risk mitigation, particularly tail risk management, since they can potentially generate substantial returns in times of market duress. The recent volatility in the markets and increasing frequency of black swan events are stoking demand among institutional investors, asset managers, hedge funds and dealers for trading options on equities and ETFs. Reliable and secure connectivity throughout the trade lifecycle and access to an established ecosystem of market participants continue to be pivotal in trading of derivatives in the current market environment.

"MIAX Options is pleased to become part of the network of trading venues offered by IPC to its clients," said Douglas M. Schafer Jr., Chief Information Officer and EVP at MIAX Options. "IPC's ability to provide efficient and reliable access to the MIAX Options markets enables its clients to take advantage of the unique functionality, protections and industry leading performance MIAX Options has brought to the equity derivatives marketplace."

"It is our mission to provide the global buy-side community with reliable and secure access to liquidity venues so that they can successfully generate alpha, manage beta, diversify and protect portfolios," said David Brown, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Financial Markets Network, IPC. "We are excited to welcome MIAX Options to our flourishing equity derivatives ecosystem."

The IPC Financial Markets Network service portfolio includes the Connexus Financial Extranet, Direct Connect and MPLS WAN data services, as well as Trader and Enhanced Voice connectivity services. IPC's Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries.

About MIAX Options and MIH

MIAX Options is a fully electronic options trading exchange. MIAX Options has assembled a team with deep rooted experience in developing, operating and trading on options exchanges. Its trading platform has been developed in-house and designed from the ground up for the unique functional and performance demands of derivatives trading. MIAX Options now lists and trades options on over 2,400 multi-listed classes. MIAX Options' unparalleled system throughput is approximately 38 million quotes per second. The average latency for a single quote on MIAX Options is approximately 16.21 microseconds for a full round trip. At the 99th percentile, the latency on MIAX Options is approximately 23.90 microseconds. At the 99.9th percentile, the latency on MIAX Options is approximately 53.71 microseconds. The executive offices and technology development center as well as the National Operations Center for the MIAX Options are located in Princeton, New Jersey.

MIAX Options, Miami International Technologies, LLC (MIAX Technologies), MIAX Global, LLC (MIAX Global) and MIAX PEARL, LLC (MIAX PEARL) are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH). MIAX Technologies is MIH's technology subsidiary for the sale and/or license of the trading technology developed by MIAX Options. MIAX Global focuses on merger, acquisition and joint venture activities of MIH. MIAX Global also provides technology and other services outside of North America, with its initial concentration being on Europe and Latin America. MIAX PEARL will be MIH's second fully electronic options trading exchange and will leverage the industry leading technology and infrastructure developed by MIAX Options to employ a price-time allocation model. MIAX PEARL is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2017, pending approval from the SEC. www.miaxoptions.com

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the everchanging requirements for advanced data networks, compliance and collaboration with all counter-parties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should" or "will" or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Media Contacts: Khurram Mirza Victoria Perlak IPC Systems, Inc. Finn Partners for IPC +1 201-253-2285 +1 646-202-9782

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SOURCE IPC Systems, Inc.

Related Links

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AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CognitiveScale, a provider of industry-specific machine intelligence software, today announced a strategic investment from Microsoft Ventures to support the development of new AI-powered product experiences on Microsoft HoloLens and Microsoft Azure for consumers and businesses. Microsoft joins previous investors Norwest, Intel, and IBM. The combined Series B investment totals over $25M.

"We are entering a new era of immersive computing in which the world is our browser and we are the cursor," said Akshay Sabhikhi, CEO of CognitiveScale. "Our goal is to embed cognitive systems of intelligence into a whole range of new personal computing applications and business processes, from customer engagement, to procurement and regulatory compliance, using hyper-personalized holographic projections and mixed reality (MR)."

Through the investment by Microsoft Ventures, CognitiveScale will explore MR applications for cognitive commerce, enabling retail shoppers to engage with a virtual closet or showroom tailored specifically to their needs and preferences, as well as transform workforce productivity and business processes through contextual, cognitive insights. By working together, both companies aim for customers around the world to power augmented MR experiences on HoloLens and take advantage of Azure.

These new mixed reality experiences will be integrated into CognitiveScale products focused on cognitive commerce and workforce productivity. CognitiveScale and Microsoft will also partner on go-to-market for sales into enterprise and business networks.

"CognitiveScale products can be deployed on hybrid cloud environments to meet the requirements of our customers, including the ability to bring their own data lake and allow our Cognitive Cloud technology to securely access sensitive data. We are seeing more requirements to use Microsoft Azure due to its scalability, rich set of tools, cost effectiveness, and flexibility for customers to control access to their sensitive data sources," said Matt Sanchez, Founder and CTO of CognitiveScale.

"With our investment, we aim to propel the development of new mixed reality experiences enabled by cognitive computing  CognitiveScale's products and team of experts are great partners to bring new offerings to market," said Nagraj Kashyap, corporate vice president, Microsoft Ventures.

About CognitiveScale

CognitiveScale enables businesses to win with machine intelligence. The company's productsCognitiveScale ENGAGE and CognitiveScale AMPLIFY help enterprises transform customer engagement, improve decision-making, and deploy self-learning business processes. CognitiveScale has successfully deployed its industry cognitive clouds with Global 500 companies in financial services, healthcare, and commerce.

CognitiveScale was founded in 2013 by highly successful serial entrepreneurs and senior executives with deep expertise in vertical enterprise software, cloud computing, and machine learning. The company has won numerous awards and featured in prominent research and publications. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in the United Kingdom and India, and has strategic partnerships with IBM, Deloitte and Microsoft. To learn more, please visit www.cognitivescale.com or follow @cognitivescale.

SOURCE CognitiveScale

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ATLANTA, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Moe's Southwest Grill, a leader in the fast-casual Mexican restaurant space and recently announced by the Harris Poll as the Fast Casual Mexican Restaurant of the Year, today announced it is looking for new partnerships with experienced multi-unit franchise owners as the brand continues its expansion into Ohio.

"With multiple locations in neighboring states, Ohio represents an important part of Moe's growth strategy and we're excited about the brand's expansion into the region," said Peter Ortiz, Moe's Vice President of Franchise Sales. "The Moe's brand has become a top choice for some of the most successful multi-unit franchise owners in the country, so we're excited to watch the brand grow here due in large part to the talent of our franchisees."

As the company looks to open locations throughout the area, they are actively seeking qualified franchisees to develop in the areas in and around Dayton. Moe's currently operates 17 locations in the statein the Cincinnati, Columbus, Akron and Cleveland areas, as well as in Chillicothe.

Moe's had a successful year of franchise growth in 2015 with $641 million in system-wide sales, the opening of 68 new restaurants  some in significant markets, including San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Southern California  and nearly 186 new franchise deals. This growth is fueled by both existing franchisees as well as new partnerships with experienced multi-unit franchise owners with notable portfolios.

Moe's currently operates more than 650 franchised locations in the U.S., across 39 states. The company has attracted a record number of franchise inquiries in recent years due to its quality leadership, healthy sales-to-investment ratio, and exceptional company performance.

About Moe's Southwest Grill

Welcome to Moe's! Founded in 2000 in Atlanta, GA, Moe's Southwest Grill is a fast-casual restaurant franchise featuring fresh, handmade, customizable southwestern food in a welcoming environment that rocks. Moe's is committed to serving only the highest quality ingredients 100% of the time at all of our locations in the U.S and abroad. While Moe's is best known for its burritos packed with a choice of more than 20 fresh, flavorful ingredients, the menu also features kid's, vegetarian and low-calorie options, all served with free chips and salsa. Check out Moe's online at www.moes.com.

About FOCUS Brands Inc.

Atlanta-based FOCUS Brands Inc., through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of more than 5,000 ice cream shoppes, bakeries, restaurants and cafes in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 60 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel, Cinnabon, Schlotzsky's, Moe's Southwest Grill, Auntie Anne's and McAlister's Deli, as well as Seattle's Best Coffee on certain military bases and in certain international markets. Please visit www.focusbrands.com to learn more.

Media Contact: Lauren Tweet, Allison+Partners, (214) 975-8784, [email protected]

SOURCE Moe's Southwest Grill

Related Links

http://www.moes.com


CHICAGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MyEyeDr. announced today its entrance into the Chicago market by welcoming the Chicago-based Spex Optical brand into its growing family of trusted local eye care professionals. Offering quality eye care services in 300 communities east of the Mississippi, MyEyeDr. maximizes benefits for each and every patient, welcomes all insurances, and provides a wide selection of eyewear.

"My vision for bringing quality eye care and eyewear through your trusted community doctor began 15 years ago, and I am so excited to now be offering the full-service MyEyeDr. patient experience to new customers in Chicago," said Sue Downes, chief executive officer for MyEyeDr. "We have partnered with community-based optometry practices, like Spex Optical, so that families can enjoy all the benefits of eye care right in their neighborhoods, while also welcoming all insurances and providing access to an expanded selection of eyewear and services."

According to the Vision Council, more than 75 percent of American adults need some vision correction, and over 64 percent wear eyeglasses and 11 percent wear contacts. Everyone should get their eyes examined regularly, as early detection of eye diseases can preserve vision and prevent vision loss. MyEyeDr. has 23 new Chicagoland locations, where local employees are ready to help with all of your eye care and eyewear needs.

When looking to schedule an appointment, consider the many advantages listed below that MyEyeDr. can provide you:

Enhanced office layouts, new products and a broader range of eye care services

Expanded customer service and online portals to manage and book appointments

The same trusted, local optometrist who previously operated under the Spex brand

All vision insurance plans and major health insurance will be welcomed to maximize affordability and accessibility

Wider selection of eyewear including the same luxury and designer brands originally found at Spex Optical, but also additional options ensuring all customers get the trendy frames they want at prices that fit their budget

Eyewear Consultants who will help customers find eyewear solutions that best fit their lifestyle, personality and budget, so that everyone leaves feeling comfortable and stylish

To celebrate the brand's 15 year anniversary, MyEyeDr. will be offering 15% off of RubyX glasses for the month of October! Visit www.myeyedr.com to learn more about MyEyeDr. and to find the nearest location.

About MyEyeDr.

MyEyeDr. is a network of more than 300 local optometry practices in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Each MyEyeDr. office offers comprehensive eye care services, a wide selection of designer and value prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses and standard and specialty prescription contact lenses. By welcoming all vision insurance plans and providers, MyEyeDr. makes vision health attainable for all individuals. The full-service eye care management company is headquartered in Vienna, VA. For more information about MyEyeDr., visit https://www.myeyedr.com/ or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

CONTACT:

Amy Nadler

Zeno Group for MyEyeDr.

312-396-9757

[email protected]

SOURCE MyEyeDr.

Related Links

http://www.myeyedr.com


WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK is scheduled to launch its sixth mission to the International Space Station at 9:13 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 13. Live launch coverage will begin at 8:15 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for mating with the Antares rocket in preparation for its Oct. 13, 2016 launch. Dubbed the S.S. Alan Poindexter, in tribute to a space shuttle veteran, this Cygnus spacecraft will carry about 5,100 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. CREDIT: NASA

NASA TV also will air two prelaunch broadcasts Wednesday, Oct. 12. At 1 p.m., scientists and researchers will discuss some of the investigations to be delivered to the station, and at 2 p.m. mission managers will provide an overview and status of launch operations. The briefings also will be streamed live on the agency's website.

Cygnus will launch on Orbital ATK's upgraded Antares 230 rocket from Pad 0A of Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Coverage of the spacecraft's solar array deployment will begin at 10:30 p.m., and a post-launch briefing from the launch site will begin approximately two hours after launch.

Under the agency's Commercial Resupply Services contract, Cygnus will carry to the space station more than 5,100 pounds of science and research in support of dozens of research investigations, as well as crew supplies and hardware.

The new experiments will include an investigation that looks at fuels that burn very hot at first, and then appear to go out, but actually continue to burn at a much lower temperature with no visible flames. A second planned large-scale fire inside Cygnus will be ignited after it leaves the space station to help researchers understand how fire grows in microgravity and design safeguards for future space missions. Cygnus also is carrying a new station research facility that will enable a new class of research experiments by allowing precise control of motion in the microgravity environment aboard the station.

The spacecraft will arrive at the station on Sunday, Oct. 16. Expedition 49 astronauts Kate Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will use the space station's robotic arm to grapple Cygnus about 6:45 a.m. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and grapple will begin at 5:45 a.m.

After Canadarm2 captures Cygnus, ground commands will be sent to guide the station's robotic arm as it rotates and attaches the spacecraft to the bottom of the station's Unity module. Coverage of installation will begin at 8:45 a.m.

Cygnus will remain at the space station until Nov. 18, when the spacecraft will be used to dispose of several tons of trash during its fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere, and conduct the spacecraft fire experiment.

This will be the first resupply mission to launch on the upgraded Antares 230 vehicle, and the first launch from Wallops since an Antares rocket and its Cygnus resupply vehicle were lost seconds after liftoff in October 2014. Since the accident, two Cygnus resupply missions launched on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets to the station from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Dubbed the S.S. Alan Poindexter, this Cygnus spacecraft is a tribute to a space shuttle veteran who flew on two missions to the International Space Station, one as a shuttle commander. Poindexter died in an accident in July 2012.

Learn more about Orbital ATK's mission at:

http://www.nasa.gov/orbitalatk

Keep up with the International Space Station, and its research and crews, at:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter:

http://instagram.com/iss and http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415013

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


AMSTERDAM, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has introduced an online, retroactive credit tool to make it easier for frequent flyers to keep their account balances up-to-date. Already available across most of SkyTeam's 20 members, the tool works in real-time to validate retroactive requests for eligible flights in a matter of clicks.

The new tool eliminates the need for manual processing of post-travel claims such as when a Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) number has not been entered into a reservation. Customers simply log into their FFP account, enter their flight details and the system validates the request in seconds. Eligible flights are credited to their account automatically and retroactive requests can be made as little as one week after the date of travel  the shortest time frame in the industry.

"We are offering a fast, simple and seamless way to claim missing miles across the alliance for our more than 200 million frequent flyers," said Michael Schutzbank, SkyTeam's Director for Customer Loyalty. "Uncredited flights can make a difference when it comes to a customer's status level or being able to claim an award ticket, but this quick and easy solution ensures our frequent flyers benefit from every mile flown."

"SkyTeam's new retroactive credit tool is another example of how our alliance is leading the industry in customer-centric innovation," said Perry Cantarutti, SkyTeam's CEO and Managing Director. "Loyalty is a key focus for SkyTeam. We greatly value our frequent flyers and our ongoing investment in technology will continue to deliver value both for customers and our member airlines by enhancing every aspect of the travel experience."

Offering aligned customer benefits alliance-wide is a priority for SkyTeam and the remaining airlines will be implementing the new tool over the coming months. SkyTeam was also the first airline alliance to deliver a consistent series of airport benefits across its network, when it launched SkyPriority in 2012.

About SkyTeam: SkyTeam is the global airline alliance with 20 member airlines working together to offer seamless travel on an extensive global network. From top hubs around the world, SkyTeam members provide reliable and comfortable journeys to over 1,060 destinations. SkyTeam customers can unwind in 672 lounges as they travel, earn and redeem Frequent Flyer Miles. SkyTeam Elite Plus customers are eligible for SkyPriority services. The 20 members are: Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. SkyTeam welcomes 665 million customers each year on more than 17,340 daily flights to 1,062 destinations in 177 countries.

www.skyteam.com / www.facebook.com/skyteam / www.youtube.com/user/skyteam

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 180 million customers each year. In 2016, Delta was named to Fortune's top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fifth time in six years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented five consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 319 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, and Facebook.com/delta.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101123/CL04792LOGO

SOURCE Delta Air Lines

Related Links

http://www.delta.com


OBERLIN, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Synapse Biomedical Inc. (www.synapsebiomedical.com) announced today that it will be rolling out a new ALS trial for its NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS). The PARADIGM study will look at the safety and benefit of on-label Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) use of the NeuRx DPS in patients with ALS on non-invasive ventilation (NIV).

There have been 5 studies previously looking at the use of NeuRx DPS in ALS. Two smaller studies in Europe were stopped prematurely. Two larger US trials reported a survival benefit in ALS patients. The US studies, IDE (n=85) and PAS (n=60), showed a median post-implant survival of 19.7 and 21 months respectively. A third US study, the NEALS randomized-control trial, has not yet provided analysis of its data.

The UK study has come under scrutiny from ALS experts in the US. They have questioned the study design and authors' conclusions. The US experts argue that the UK results did not show pacing was harmful, rather that the use of DPS should be used in conjunction with NIV. The other European study, conducted in France studied newly diagnosed patients. This patient group would be considered off-label in the US.

"We have always maintained, diaphragm pacing is for a select group of ALS patients that already have chronic hypoventilation but have intact lower motor neurons with loss of upper motor neuron control," commented Dr. Ray Onders Interim-Chair of Surgery and Remen Chair in Surgical Innovation at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Professor of Surgery at Case Western Reserve University. "This study reaffirms this position and further supports our FDA approved indication; ALS patients with documented chronic hypoventilation and clinical confirmation of intact phrenic nerves."

The PARADIGM study will compare patients on NIV to patients that initiate NIV and elect to have the new NeuRx DPS implanted. Additionally, the investigators will use a virtual control arm as a second comparator. The virtual control is based on an advance predictive model, developed by Origent Data Sciences, and has created a lot of interest among researchers.

"We are encouraged by the previous US study results in ALS and believe there is a place for this technology," stated Dr. Miller. "The PARADIGM study will be unique in that we will be comparing the survival of patients on non-invasive ventilation (NIV) who receive DPS to patients on NIV without DPS, historical controls, and virtual controls. We hope to determine which ALS patients will benefit the most from the technology and how to best incorporate this into our treatment algorithm."

Please contact Synapse Biomedical directly (440-774-2488 ext. 137) or via email at [email protected] to find a participating study site near you.

About NeuRx DPS Technology

The NeuRx DPS received FDA approval for ventilator dependency from spinal cord injury on June 17, 2008. The NeuRx DPS was approved September 28, 2011 by the FDA for treating chronic hypoventilation from ALS. The NeuRx DPS has demonstrated that it can help people with ALS live longer and sleep better than the current standard of care alone. For more on current indications for use, visit www.synapsebiomedical.com/products/patientInfo.shtml

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SOURCE Synapse Biomedical Inc.

Related Links

http://www.synapsebiomedical.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "We are urging construction or skilled trades workers with mesothelioma anywhere in New York state or their family members to call us anytime at 800-714-0303 to ensure they are talking directly with some of the nation's premier mesothelioma attorneys. Without the most skilled and experienced mesothelioma lawyers assisting with the compensation claims process-chances are the ultimate financial settlement will not be as good as it could have been.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414518

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414519

"Aside from skilled construction workers or skilled trades workers such as plumbers, welders, carpenters, or electricians, we also specialize in assisting Navy Veterans or former factory workers in New York state who now have this asbestos exposure form of cancer. Our number one goal is very simple-we want people like this to receive the very best possible compensation." http://NewYork.MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

The New York Mesothelioma Victims Center specializes in financial compensation for diagnosed victims of mesothelioma. High risk work groups for exposure to asbestos in New York include US Navy Veterans, power plant workers, maritime workers, manufacturing, or industrial workers, welders, insulators, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, machinists, miners, railroad workers or construction workers. Typically the exposure to asbestos occurred in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s. http://NewYork.MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

Vital Compensation Tip for skilled trades workers, former factory workers or Navy Veterans with mesothelioma anywhere in New York State from the New York Mesothelioma Victims Center: "If a diagnosed person with mesothelioma in New York State does not have the most skilled and experienced mesothelioma attorneys there is a very good chance they will not receive the very best possible financial compensation. If you have mesothelioma and you live in New York State or this is your family member- please call us at 800-714-0303 so that we can make certain you really are talking directly to the nation most qualified lawyers-who do not get paid unless there is a settlement." http://NewYork.MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

The New York Mesothelioma Victims Center's unsurpassed services for a diagnosed person are available anywhere in New York State including communities such as New York, Rochester, Albany, Yonkers, Syracuse, Schenectady, Utica, and Buffalo." http://NewYork.MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

For the best possible mesothelioma treatment options in New York the New York Mesothelioma Victims Center strongly recommends the following three heath care facilities with the offer to help a diagnosed victim, or their family get to the right physicians at each hospital.

* New York City's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Clinic: http://www.mskcc.org/

* New York City's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital: http://hiccc.columbia.edu/

* New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital:

http://www.mountsinai.org/lung-cancer/about-lung-cancer/about-mesothelioma/

According to the CDC the states indicated with the highest incidence of mesothelioma include Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon. However, based on the calls the Mesothelioma Victims Center receives a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma could live in any state including New York. http://NewYork.MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

For more information about mesothelioma please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mesothelioma.html

Media Contact:

Michael Thomas

Email

800-714-0303

SOURCE New York Mesothelioma Victims Center

Related Links

http://NewYork.MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com


WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) is proud to announce the 2016 John S. Martinez scholarship recipients. Each recipient will receive a $3,000 scholarship upon graduating high school and admittance into a college or university. These students will also receive the opportunity to meet with their local Hispanic legislator and be recognized within their communities for their achievements in educational excellence.

"As public servants, our highest duty is to create a better future for our constituents. I can think of no better way to do that than to ensure that the ladders of opportunity created by education are available to all our youth. The brilliant Latino students who are the recipients of this year's John S. Martinez scholarship awards deserve those same opportunities as well. NHCSL is proud to invest in our future by opening the doors of opportunity to these outstanding individuals," NHCSL President, Representative Angel Cruz (PA), said.

NHCSL received a vast number of applications from various states, territories, and commonwealths throughout the nation. It was a privilege for NHCSL members to see so many Hispanic children not only excelling academically, but also giving back to their community, participating in school events, receiving academic awards, striving for success, and being leaders within their communities.

NHCSL's collaboration with Comcast Foundation has made and continues to make the John S. Martinez scholarship possible. "At Comcast, we believe investing in young people is one of the best investments we can make in the future of our country, and we are proud to increase learning opportunities for the next generation of Latino leaders," said Frank La Fontaine, Deputy Compliance Officer & Assistant General Counsel, Comcast Cable.

The 2016 John S. Martinez Scholarship recipients include: Sophia Sinesio Helfand (CA); Aracely Fuentes Vega (CO); Olivia Leyva (CO); Araceliz Gomes (CT); Austin Regalado (FL); Sydney Millerd (HI); Felix Juan Galarza III (NJ); Myrella Gonzalez (NM); Gustavo Guevara (MD); Adrian J. Rivera (TX); Monserrat Garcia-Porras (TX).

This November, students may begin to apply for the 2017 scholarships through NHCSL's website, at: http://nhcsl.org/jsm-scholarship-program-2016.php.

NHCSL and all of its members are extremely proud of all of these students and the potential that they have already exhibited. With maintaining a focus on closing the achievement gap, Hispanic students can continue to develop into successful leaders of the future.

The NHCSL is the premier national association of Hispanic state legislators working to design and implement policies and procedures that will improve the quality of life for Hispanics throughout the country. NHCSL was founded in 1989 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to be the most effective voice for the more than 340 Hispanic legislators. For more information visit www.nhcsl.org.

Related Links

http://www.nhcsl.org



SOURCE National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL)
HILLSDALE, Mich., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College honored four distinguished alumni at its 65th Annual Awards Banquet, held in the Searle Center on Friday, Sept. 23. Beth Deer Walker and Kevin Shinkle, both graduates of the class of '87, received awards for outstanding professional achievement. Hans Zeiger '07 was recognized with the young alumnus award. David Rambeau Hough received the honorary alumnus award for his philanthropic service to the College.

"Hillsdale College instilled in me a real commitment to service  whether it's public service, service to your family or a particular institution," said Walker. "I've been lucky to watch the college grow and change since I graduated. The transformation has been incredibly positive and incredibly inspiring. It makes me really proud to be a Hillsdale graduate."

"At Hillsdale you're taught how to think, how to meet challenges and exceed them," Shinkle added. "The chance to spend four years immersed in learning and becoming a better human and the focus on the soul and the body is irreplaceable. That has helped me my entire career."

Beth Deer Walker graduated summa cum laude from Hillsdale College in 1987 with dual majors in English and political science with a minor in history. She served as senior class president and was a member of Chi Omega. Walker earned her law degree from The Ohio State University where she was articles editor for The Ohio State Law Journal. After graduation, she joined the West Virginia law firm Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love, focusing her efforts on labor and employment law and mediation. Most recently, Walker was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the state's highest court, in a statewide election, and will take office Jan. 1, 2017. She lives in Morgantown, West Virginia, with her husband, Mike, and stepdaughter.

Kevin Shinkle graduated from Hillsdale College in 1987 with majors in history and political theory. During his time at the College, Shinkle served as editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, The Collegian, and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He also participated in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship program, working for then-U.S. Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ). Shinkle is currently senior vice president and chief communications officer at Delta Air Lines. He is responsible for external communications, media relations, and employee and cross-divisional communications throughout Delta's global system. He and his wife Barbara have two daughters and reside in Ewing, New Jersey.

Hans Zeiger was an American studies major at Hillsdale College and graduated in 2007. He was elected senior class president, Homecoming King, and selected to be Outstanding Senior Man. He hold a master's degree in public policy form Pepperdine University, and undertook further graduate studies in political science at Claremont Graduate University. Zeiger was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 2010, where he is currently serving in his third term representing the state's 25th district. He was named Legislator of the Year by the Associated General Contractors in 2013 for his work to complete Highway 167 from Puyallup to Port of Tacoma, Washington. Zeiger is married to Erin and has a daughter and two stepsons.

David Rambeau Hough received his undergraduate degree from MacMurray College and graduate degree in divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary. He then began his ministry in Michigan, where he met his future wife, Bonnie, who then attended Hillsdale College. After many years in ministry, Hough decided focus on helping people with serious illnesses, and earned a degree in counseling. He now works as a private psychotherapist specializing in terminally ill adults and children, and in marriage and family therapy. He and his wife have two children, Trevor and Hilary, who graduated from Hillsdale College in 2010. The Houghs are members of the College's The President's Club and helped to establish Hillsdale's Frederick Douglass Scholarship fund.

Photos of this year's awards banquet can be viewed here.

Those interested can view videos of individual recipients at the links below:

Beth Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9OgjDUayN0

David Hough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT2W_8bWOQo

Hans Zeiger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms1cgM0psww

Kevin Shinkle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LSK4hafNKo

About Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College, founded in 1844, has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 3.5 million.

SOURCE Hillsdale College

Related Links

http://www.hillsdale.edu


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced today that it has concluded several transactions to improve its access to a long-term supply of natural gas.

Nucor has purchased 49% of Encana's leasehold interest covering approximately 54,000 acres in the South Piceance Basin. Further, Nucor and Encana also terminated the two Carry and Earning ("C&E") drilling agreements entered into in 2010 and 2012, and Nucor sold its 50% equity interest in Hunter Ridge Energy Services LLC to Encana. Hunter Ridge is a gas gathering and water service provider formed by Nucor and Encana in 2012 to support the joint well development in the North Piceance Basin.

Under the new structure, Nucor has acquired 49% of Encana's leasehold interest in certain mineral leases to all depths, compared to the limited contractual commitments to participate in drilled wells that the company had under the original C&E agreements. This ownership structure provides Nucor full discretion on its participation in all future drilling capital investment. By canceling the C&E drilling agreements, Nucor has eliminated all future carry capital and all contingent liabilities associated with those contracts, which should result in lower unit cost for any future drilling. Nucor retains all existing producing wells it currently owns.

To support Nucor's operating wells and potential future well developments on the 54,000 acres, Nucor has entered into long-term agreements directly with existing third party gathering and processing service providers.

"These transactions give both companies capital flexibility. In addition, they preserve Nucor's long-term access to low cost gas resources in support of Nucor's raw material strategy. We think this transaction is a win-win for both companies," said John Ferriola, Chairman, CEO and President of Nucor.

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. The words "believe," "expect," "project," "will," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (1) competitive pressure on sales and pricing, including competition from imports and substitute materials; (2) the sensitivity of the results of our operations to prevailing steel prices and the changes in the supply and cost of raw materials, including scrap steel; (3) market demand for steel products; and (4) energy costs and availability. These and other factors are discussed in Nucor's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in Nucor's fiscal 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 1A. Risk Factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and Nucor does not assume any obligation to update them.

SOURCE Nucor Corporation

Related Links

http://www.nucor.com


BROOKFIELD, Wis., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- To have a voice in their profession, nurses must first know the most relevant discussion topics.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414540

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414541

In their new book, "The Power of Ten, 2nd Edition: A Conversational Approach to Tackling the Top Ten Priorities in Nursing," OnCourse Learning's Jennifer Mensik, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, and national nurse leader Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, provide a road map for those conversations to begin.

"Our hope is that everyone reads this book and takes one action item from it that they feel passionate about and helps to make that change occur," said Mensik, the executive director for nursing, medicine and pharmacy education programs for OnCourse Learning. "We believe that this will be very influential in advancing our profession."

Mensik will be signing books and greeting attendees from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 7 at OnCourse Learning's CE Direct booth (#1502) during the American Nurses Credentialing Center's National Magnet Conference in Orlando.

"Nurses do want to have a voice," said Hassmiller, who serves as senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "If nurses want to be part of the solution with issues such as healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, health insurance or better staffing, they need to understand the context that's really important for nursing."

The authors surveyed more than 50 national and international nurse leaders on the issues most impacting the nursing profession. From that feedback, they presented the top 10 issues through essays, quotes, action items, discussion points and data.

The top 10 priorities include the following:

Education reform

Academic progression

Diversity

Interprofessional collaboration

Systems thinking

Voice of nursing

Global stewardship

Practice authority

Delivery of care

Professional handoff

"All of these things are critically important to being a professional nurse," Hassmiller said. "It's part of our role. I want to make as much progress as possible with nurses having a voice."

The book was published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, and is available for purchase online. The authors will donate royalties from the book equally to American Red Cross nursing programs and the American Nurses Foundation.

For media inquiries, contact:

Barry Bottino, Communications Director

847-908-8007

Email

About OnCourse Learning

OnCourse Learning delivers licensure, regulatory and compliance education solutions throughout the nation's leading industries including financial services, healthcare and real estate. Through trusted industry expertise, compliance management and technology solutions, OnCourse Learning focuses on advancing the e-learning environment for individuals and businesses to help to build new careers, empower employees through knowledge and identify efficiencies in corporate training management. OnCourse Learning offers a full suite of educational products including state and federally approved prelicensing and continuing education programs, accredited course content, exam prep tools, publications, e-books, events and a sophisticated and customizable learning management system and course-authoring tool. To learn more, visit OnCourseLearning.com.

SOURCE OnCourse Learning
LAKEWOOD, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Onix is pleased to announce the appointment of Marc Berman as its Head of Search. Marc is responsible for the company's strategic search vision, which empowers Onix to help customers navigate the post-Google Search Appliance world and deliver business value to their organizations. Marc is also responsible for leading the sales team and guiding the services and marketing departments' efforts for all search matters.

Marc joins Onix after spending nine years with Google where he was an enterprise account manager selling Google Enterprise Search as well as Google's cloud offerings. He also worked previously for Postini and Adobe.

"Marc is a long-time friend of Onix. While he was at Google, we worked with him for years to help hundreds of companies achieve business results through search, including Whirlpool and Stryker Instruments. We are excited about the search expertise he brings to our world-class team," said Tim Needles, Onix CEO.

"With the deprecation of the Google Search Appliance the market is in a state of flux, but there are excellent alternative options available," said Mr. Berman. "I'm happy to be a part of the Onix team and look forward to helping prospects and customers assess their needs and deploy the best solutions that drive top and bottom line results for their organizations."

To meet Marc and learn how Onix can help you navigate the Google Search Appliance transition, please join us for the webinar: Migrating from the Google Search Appliance? Get The Blueprint on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. EDT. Find out more about the webinar!

About Onix

Onix (Onix Networking Corp.) has been providing enterprise search consulting, deployment planning, implementation and support services to corporate, education and federal, state and local government organizations for 15 years. Onix has been a Google Premier Partner since 2001 and has earned many Google Search awards over the years, such as Global Partner of the Year  Enterprise Search as well as Operations and Deployment Partner of the Year  Americas. Onix also partners with other search technology providers, including Mindbreeze, Lucidworks and Expert System so that customers can deploy the right solutions that drive maximum value. Onix is headquartered in Lakewood, OH. For more information, visit www.onixnet.com.

Media Contact

Karen Masuga

Marketing Communications Manager

Onix Networking Corp.

216-529-3043

[email protected]

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SOURCE Onix

Related Links

http://www.onixnet.com


SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) has launched an online system that makes it easier for employers to file appeals of Cal/OSHA citations. The new OSHAB Appeals Scheduling and Information System (OASIS) allows employers to file appeal documents electronically, receive instant confirmation of a successful submission and track the status of their appeal.

"OASIS brings employers the added convenience of online filing of appeals without the paper and mail process of the past," said OSHAB Chairperson Art Carter. "The new system makes the appeals process easier to navigate and allows filers to track their appeals electronically."

OASIS users will create an account in the system's secure environment before filling out and submitting required forms and uploading supporting documents as part of an appeal package. Filers can save their work in progress and complete it at their convenience.

"DIR is pleased to implement the OSHAB systemit is part of an overall department strategy to be efficient and effective," said DIR Director Christine Baker. OSHAB is one of the boards within DIR.

OASIS notifies an employer if their appeal is missing any information before submission. Once the appeal is filed, the employer receives details about next steps in the process, updates on their case, and can view the OSHAB calendar to see when hearing dates are scheduled.

More information on OASIS is posted on the OSHAB website, including FAQs and tips. Assistance is available by contacting the Appeals Board by phone at (916) 274-5751 or toll free at (877) 252-1987 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

OSHAB is a three-member judicial body appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate which handles appeals from private and public-sector employers regarding citations issued by Cal/OSHA for alleged violation of workplace safety and health laws and regulations. The mission of the Appeals Board is to fairly, timely and efficiently resolve appeals and to provide clear, consistent guidance to the public, thereby promoting workplace safety and health.

Members of the press may contact Erika Monterroza or Peter Melton at (510) 286-1161, and are encouraged to subscribe to get email alerts on DIR's press releases or other departmental updates.

https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDIR

https://twitter.com/CA_DIR

http://www.youtube.com/CaliforniaDIR

http://www.dir.ca.gov/email/listsub.asp?choice=1

The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. For general inquiries, contact DIR's Communications Call Center at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734) for help in locating the appropriate division or program in our department.

SOURCE California Department of Industrial Relations
CALGARY, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - PENN WEST PETROLEUM LTD. (TSX  PWT; NYSE  PWE) ("Penn West", "we", "us" or "our") is pleased to announce that David French will be joining the company as President and Chief Executive Officer and will join the Board of Directors with effect from October 24, 2016 succeeding Dave Roberts who has been in the role since June, 2013.

Mr. French, 47, most recently served as President and CEO of Bankers Petroleum Ltd., a Calgary-based publicly-traded oil and gas company with operations in Southeastern Europe. Mr. French successfully led the operational and commercial growth of the enterprise over his tenure. He has worked a wide range of reservoir rock types, and primary, secondary and tertiary development throughout Canada, the lower 48 United States and Europe. Prior to joining Bankers in 2013, Mr. French held several executive roles at Apache Corporation including Regional Production Manager for the western Canadian business, and Global Vice President of Business Development. Earlier in his career Mr. French worked for McKinsey & Co. in energy consulting and built his career in the Permian Basin for Amoco Production Company (now BP). Mr. French holds a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

"I am thrilled to have this opportunity to join Penn West and help deliver the promise of our new core business. This is an exciting time for the company as we focus on the future and build an engine for growth", says Mr. French. "Penn West has an enviable position in the Cardium play that is enjoying a technological renaissance through well completion design and application of water flooding, and there are exciting opportunities in the Alberta Viking that I expect to provide attractive investment options. I look forward to joining the team at Penn West as we focus on setting the standard for what's possible in our assets."

Rick George, Chairman of the Penn West board comments "We are extremely pleased to have David French join us as our new CEO. David has the right combination of technical, executive management and business development skills to lead Penn West in its evolution into a best in class light oil growth company with a solid balance sheet."

Mr. Roberts will continue to lead Penn West in October working with Mr. French and the Board of Directors to ensure a seamless leadership transition.

In commenting on the transition, Mr. George said, "For the past three years Dave Roberts has brought his broad industry experience, energy, and a tremendous will to the reshaping and repositioning of Penn West. He is leaving us with a highly focused company and a strong talented team. Dave also had the vision to begin discussing with the Board some time ago the need for the smaller, more nimble "new" Penn West to have new leadership to take it forward into the future. We are grateful to Dave for his service during a time of extremely difficult industry conditions."

Mr. Roberts added, "People have said that we could write a book about our experience over the past three years here, but words couldn't capture the affection I have for the people of Penn West who never lost heart and never quit on our journey. Penn West is on solid footing with a sensible balance sheet, very good oil growth assets and importantly, a deep and talented team of people in all facets of the company from our management team to our technical disciplines, support functions, and critically, our field operations personnel. I look forward to watching David and the Penn West team take the baton and surge forward to a bright future."

About Penn West

Penn West is a conventional oil and natural gas producer in Canada. Our goal is to be the company that redefines oil and gas excellence in western Canada. Based in Calgary, Penn West operates a significant portfolio of opportunities with a dominant oil position in the Cardium, Viking and Peace River areas of Alberta.

Penn West shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "PWT" and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PWE".

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements or information (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the "safe harbour" provisions of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "budget", "may", "will", "project", "could", "plan", "intend", "should", "believe", "outlook", "objective", "aim", "potential", "target" and similar words suggesting future events or future performance. In particular, this document contains forward-looking statements pertaining to, without limitation, the following: that Mr. French will join the company as President and Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors with effect from October 24, 2016 and that Mr. Roberts will continue to lead Penn West in October working with Mr. French and the Board of Directors to ensure a seamless leadership transition.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this document, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this document as there can be no assurances that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause our actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could affect Penn West, or its operations or financial results, are included in the Company's public filings with applicable securities regulatory authorities (including our Annual Information Form), which may be accessed in Canada at www.sedar.com and in the United States at www.sec.gov . Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date of this document. Except as expressly required by applicable securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Penn West

Related Links

http://www.pennwest.com


SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) will hold a conference call for members of the financial community on November 4, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its third quarter 2016 results. The public can access the conference call via a simultaneous webcast. The link is provided below and will also be available from the PG&E Corporation website.

What: Third Quarter 2016 Earnings When: Friday, November 4, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time Where: http://investor.pgecorp.com/news-events/events-and-presentations/default.aspx How: Live over the Internet  log on to the web at the address above

If you are unable to participate during the live webcast, the call will be archived at http://investor.pgecorp.com/news-events/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

Alternatively, a toll-free replay of the conference call may be accessed shortly after the live call through November 18, 2016, by dialing (866) 415-9493. International callers may dial (205) 289-3247. For both domestic and international callers, the confirmation code 1659# will be required to access the replay.

Please contact Investor Relations at (415) 972-7080 if you have any questions.

PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) is a Fortune 200 energy-based holding company, headquartered in San Francisco. It is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, California's largest investor-owned utility. PG&E serves about 16 million Californians across a 70,000 square-mile service area in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.pgecorp.com.

SOURCE PG&E Corporation

Related Links

http://www.pgecorp.com


MADRID, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

PharmaMar (MCE: PHM) has announced today a licensing agreement with Boryung Pharm to commercialize the marine-derived anticancer drug Aplidin (plitidepsin) in South Korea. Under the terms of the agreement, PharmaMar will receive an upfront payment along with royalties and additional remunerations upon achieving regulatory milestones with Aplidin. PharmaMar will retain exclusive production rights and will supply the finished product to Boryung Pharm for commercial use.

Pharma Mar SA (PRNewsFoto/Pharma Mar SA)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150203/727958-b )



Aplidin is PharmaMar's second anticancer drug is currently under development for the treatment of multiple myeloma along with relapsed or refractory angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. The company announced in March 2016 that plitidepsin has shown positive results in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial (ADMYRE) for multiple myeloma[i].

"The partnership with Boryung Pharm will help in the commercialization in South Korea of plitidepsin, developed to tackle cancer. This will be our third licensing agreement in Asia," said Luis Mora, Managing Director of PharmaMar's Oncology Business Unit. "We are looking forward to working with our partner in Korea and to advancing in the upcoming regulatory steps that will lead to future sales of Aplidin," he added.

Boryung Pharm Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tae-Hong Choi said, "We look forward to working with PharmaMar to ensure this valuable multiple myeloma therapy is available as soon as possible to patients in Korea." He added, "Despite remarkable advances in oncology over recent years, multiple myeloma has still remained an incurable illness. Therefore Aplidin may be highly valuable as a new curable guideline for this difficult cancer."

About APLIDIN (plitidepsin)

Plitidepsin is an investigational anticancer agent of marine origin, originally obtained from the ascidian Aplidium albicans. It specifically binds to the eEF1A2 and targets the non-canonical role of this protein, resulting in tumor cell death via apoptosis (programed death). Plitidepsin is currently in clinical development for hematological cancers, including a Phase Ib trial in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma as a triple combination of plitidepsin, bortezomib and dexamethasone, and a Phase II study in relapsed or refractory angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. A Phase III trial in multiple myeloma relapsed or refractory has been completed. Plitidepsin has received orphan drug designation in the European Union and the United States of America.

i. https://www.pharmamar.com/2016/03/31/aplidin-shows-positive-results-in-pivotal-phase-iii-clinical-trial-for-multiple-myeloma/

Paula Fernandez

Media Relations (+34-638-79-62-15) and Investor Relations (+34-914444500)



SOURCE PharmaMar
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, has appointed Arturo Corrales as Special Envoy to the United States. The former Foreign Minister is tasked with developing a greater dialogue and cooperation between the Republic of Honduras and the United States Government.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414640

Gobierno De La Republica De Honduras

"Arturo Corrales has the full confidence and trust of my Administration and has a comprehensive understanding of Honduran policy positions and initiatives," said President Juan Orlando Hernandez. "Given his experience and his commitment to international diplomacy, the appointment of Mr. Corrales will strengthen our working relationship with United States policymakers."

Mr. Corrales has served with distinction as a public official in Honduras for more than 15 years and his positions held include Secretary of Foreign Relations and International Cooperation, and Secretary of Security. Most recently, Mr. Corrales has served as Advisor to the President.

Mr. Corrales stated that he is "honored and humbled that President Juan Orlando Hernandez has given me this important Honduras assignment," and that he "looks forward to working with the United States Government to insure that the Republic of Honduras and the United States have excellent bilateral relations."

Contact:

Sandra Ramos

(202) 471-4228, ext. 115

Email

SOURCE Gobierno De La Republica De Honduras
NEW YORK, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Rising demand for propylene and its derivatives from automotive and packaging sectors to drive global propylene market through 2025

New Age TechSci Research Logo (PRNewsFoto/New Age TechSci Research)

According to TechSci Research report, "Global Propylene Market By Application, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025', global propylene market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of around 6% during 2016-2025, on account of increasing industrialization and commercialization, and growing emphasis on development of fuel-efficient cars by government. Global automobile production stood at 79.88 million in 2011 and reached 90.78 million by 2015. Government associations across the world have laid down strict regulations regarding greenhouse gases emissions from vehicles in order to control pollution. Additionally, increasing disposable income levels of people in BRIC nations is propelling growth in global propylene market. Some of the major propylene manufacturers includes Sinopec, CNPC, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell and Royal Dutch Shell.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 )



Browse 6 market data Tables and 73 Figures spread through 144 Pages and an in-depth TOC on

"Global Propylene Market"

https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-propylene-market-by-application-polypropylene-acrylonitrile-acrylic-acid-propylene-oxide-cumene-others-by-region-north-america-asia-pacific-europe-south-america-and-middle-east-africa-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2025/798.html

Additionally, propylene is also witnessing huge demand from the global packaging industry on account of increasing demand for high quality and safe packaging material from the food & beverage, chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors. Rising demand for propylene derivatives such as acrylonitrile (ACN) and acrylic acid can be attributed to increasing demand from the paints and coatings industry. Global paints & coatings industry stood at USD122.52 billion in 2011 and is forecast to reach USD168.55 billion by 2017, on account of increasing industrialization and demand for low VOC emitting, water based decorative paints from the commercial and residential buildings.

Download Sample Report

@ https://www.techsciresearch.com/sample-report.aspx?cid=798

Customers can also request for 10% free customization on this report.

"New product developments are projected to boost growth in global propylene market during 2016-2021. Additionally, increasing awareness about environment protection and stringent government regulations has led to the launch of new refrigerant grade propylene, that serves as an excellent alternative against harmful fluorocarbon refrigerants or synthetic refrigerants. Some other companies are also focusing on production of bio-based propylene, which is used as a raw material in manufacturing bio-based polypropylene and other derivatives. Development of innovative propylene derivatives is anticipated to augur well for the global propylene market in the coming years.", said Mr. Rishi Srivastava, Research Manager with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.

"Global Propylene Market By Application, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025" has evaluated the future growth potential of global propylene market and provides statistics and information on market size, share, structure, forecast and future growth potential. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in global propylene market.

Browse Related Reports

Global Pet Coke to Chemicals Market By Derivative (Propylene, Ethylene, Oxo Chemicals, Methyl Acetate, Acetic Acid, Acetic Anhydride, etc.), By End Use Application, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025

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Global Masterbatch Market By Type (White, Black, Color and Additive), By End User (Packaging, Construction, Automotive, etc), By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2011 - 2021

https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-masterbatch-market-by-type-white-black-color-and-additive-by-end-user-packaging-construction-automotive-etc-by-region-competition-forecast-opportunities-2011-2021/606.html

GCC Construction Chemicals Market By Type (Concrete Admixtures, Waterproofing, Protective Coatings, Adhesives, etc.), By End User, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021 - Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman & Bahrain

https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/gcc-construction-chemicals-market-by-type-concrete-admixtures-waterproofing-protective-coatings-adhesives-etc-by-end-user-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2021-saudi-arabia-uae-qatar-kuwait-oman-bahrain/613.html

About TechSci Research

TechSci Research is a leading global market research firm publishing premium market research reports. Serving 700 global clients with more than 600 premium market research studies, TechSci Research is serving clients across 11 different industrial verticals. TechSci Research specializes in research based consulting assignments in high growth and emerging markets, leading technologies and niche applications. Our workforce of more than 100 fulltime Analysts and Consultants employing innovative research solutions and tracking global and country specific high growth markets helps TechSci clients to lead rather than follow market trends.

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SOURCE TechSci Research
CORAL GABLES, Fla., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Widespread publicity that revealed the names of 20 Florida hospitals that markup patient charges by more 1,000% above costs did not lead to lower charges according to a study just released by the University of Miami School of Business Administration. In fact, the study, just published in the Journal of Health Care Finance, found those hospitals continued to increase their charges after they were named.

The Florida hospitals were among 50 U.S. hospitals found to have the highest markup of charges - markups averaging more than 10 times their cost  in research released nationally in mid-2015. Those findings received widespread media coverage and public scrutiny. This new University of Miami study compared the charges at the 20 Florida hospitals in the quarter one year before the media publicity to the charges in the same quarter following the publicity. The analysis found no evidence that the hospitals responded to the negative publicity with a reduction in charges. Rather, the study found, charges were significantly higher after the publicity than in previous quarters.

"As hospital charges continue to rise and the best answer to price transparency eludes policy makers and stakeholders, it is important to recognize that hospitals may not respond quickly to public exposure and these initiatives," said Karoline Mortensen, associate professor of health sector management and policy at the University of Miami School of Business Administration. "Perhaps the way to move the needle on this issue must include regular, public, transparent hospital check-ups over longer periods of time," added Mortensen, who conducted the study with the School's Steven Ullmann and Michael French, as well Tianyan Hu at Florida International University.

In addition to looking at charging behavior surrounding the 2015 report, the University of Miami study analyzed other aspects of Florida's highest cost-to-charge hospitals and found:

All are for-profits : The hospitals are geographically dispersed but belong to one of two for-profit health systems - 70 percent are part of the HCA health system, the largest health system in the state; 30 percent are affiliated with Community Health Systems. Only 1 of the 20 is a non-profit hospital.

: The hospitals are geographically dispersed but belong to one of two for-profit health systems - 70 percent are part of the HCA health system, the largest health system in the state; 30 percent are affiliated with Community Health Systems. Only 1 of the 20 is a non-profit hospital. All are in urban areas: All 20 hospitals are affiliated with a health system located in urban areas, as are 88 percent of the other hospitals in the state.

All 20 hospitals are affiliated with a health system located in urban areas, as are 88 percent of the other hospitals in the state. All but one received low quality ratings : Only one hospital received three or more quality stars, compared to 52 percent of the other hospitals in the state.

: Only one hospital received three or more quality stars, compared to 52 percent of the other hospitals in the state. All are high-charge hospitals overall: These hospitals are not only high charge-to-cost hospitals, but also high charge hospitals in general.

"Patients might assume that paying more for hospital services at a higher markup indicates they would be getting better care," said Mortensen. "Our research indicates that is not necessarily the case."

The University of Miami study can be found at: http://www.healthfinancejournal.com/~junland/index.php/johcf/article/view/93

About the University of Miami School of Business Administration

The University of Miami School of Business Administration is a leader in preparing individuals and organizations to excel in the complex, dynamic, and interconnected world of global business. One of 12 schools and colleges at the University of Miami, the School offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive education programs. With its location in a major center for international business, the School is acclaimed for its global perspective, student and faculty diversity, and engagement with the business community. More information about the University of Miami School of Business Administration can be found at www.bus.miami.edu.

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SOURCE University of Miami School of Business Administration

Related Links

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ATLANTA, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With all the officer-involved shootings, and video evidence of excessive and deadly force, one may ask, "Are these rogue police officers racists, abusers, or both?" This is an uncomfortable question that requires examination. Progress and growth sometimes requires discomfort. So let's get uncomfortable.

Just because someone is in the privileged position to not experience racism or bias, does not mean that these injustices are not happening. To deny this issue is dismissive and disrespectful to those that have encountered it.

De-Escalation Workbook for Police Officers

This is why police departments must hire diverse trainers from all racial backgrounds to facilitate honest discussions about race and culture. To neglect this issue would be a disservice to police departments and would only prolong improvement.

De-escalation training should include the topic of "Symbolic Opponent Syndrome" within the curriculum. This is when an officer has a preconceived notion that places a suspect into a "criminal" category because of appearance, nationality, grooming or mode of dress. Please note that Symbolic Opponent Syndrome can affect officers of all races. Stereotyping and having bias can lead to wrongful arrest, death, and public humiliation.

Excessive force and its correlation with domestic violence is another topic that needs to be examined. Domestic violence is defined as abusive behavior that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, emotional, sexual, economic, psychological actions or threats. According to this definition, there are similarities between domestic violence and an officer's abuse of power. Due to this, it is of great importance that police departments screen applicants thoroughly, by means of polygraph testing, personality assessments, and collateral information to identify potential abusers.

Abusive police are similar to domestic abusers because they freely exercise power and control and have the ability to intimidate, beat, or possibly kill a citizen. Institutional power makes abusive officers extremely dangerous in the line of duty and in their intimate relationships.

Police officers that engage in abusive behavior are more dangerous than most abusers. Police officers are privileged to advanced training, investigative techniques, and have a more in depth knowledge of the law compared to most citizens. They know how to justify use of force and have a better chance of avoiding criminal charges.

Due to social conditioning, an abusive officer can feel entitled and have less tolerance and patience. Disagreements with an intimate partner, children, or a stranger on the street can easily escalate. Citizens who lawfully assert their rights to an abusive officer may be perceived as disrespectful. This can lead to citizens being unlawfully arrested, beaten, or worse.

Some police officers have inferiority complexes, personality disorders, or a history of un-resolved trauma or abuse. They join the police force for the wrong reasons and can unjustly take out their frustrations on citizens.

Let's be clear. All police officers are not abusers or racists. Americans should demand an ethical police force that is free of bias. De-escalation training that directly address these uncomfortable issues will help reduce officer-involved shootings, rioting, and lawsuits.

Police departments that are interested in de-escalation training that examine mental health, anger management, emotional intelligence, community policing, symbolic opponent syndrome, abuse of power, and cultural sensitivity can contact the Diversion Center in Marietta, GA. They have online and live training options available.

http://www.thediversioncenter.com/de-escalation-training-for-police-officers.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYdnqOJcZjo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-collins-m-ed-ladc-ii-cams-iii-cstas-a5753697?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RbWstWl7Lk

Media contact:

Cindy Han

Email

404-552-3572

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414353

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SOURCE Diversion Center

Related Links

http://www.thediversioncenter.com


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranir LLC, a leading global manufacturer of store brand oral care products and value branded oral care products under the Plackers and REMBRANDT trademarks, today announced it has acquired BrushPoint, a Toronto-based manufacturer of store brand manual and power toothbrushes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition of BrushPoint is highly complementary to Ranir's current portfolio of products and allows Ranir to leverage its innovation platform in the development, manufacture and marketing of store brand oral care products. The combined organization will have a more robust offering of products and services, enhanced manufacturing capabilities, and a broader distribution reach covering the U.S., Canada and Europe.

"I am extremely pleased to announce this acquisition  one that blends perfectly with our company's mission to work with our established retail partners in providing consumers access to quality, affordable oral health solutions," said Rich Sorota, president and chief executive officer of Ranir. "Our strong retail partnerships, complementary geographies and combined product and service strengths make this acquisition a natural fit for Ranir. Both of our organizations are dedicated to delivering our retailers the very best store brand oral care products, and we are excited to bring the Ranir innovation and product development model together with BrushPoint's strong portfolio positioning in the value category."

BrushPoint's operations will be folded into Ranir's headquarters within the next six months. Over time, Ranir expects the acquisition to result in revenue growth, expansion of operations and the addition of positions in West Michigan in the areas of marketing and quality.

Sorota concluded, "Our Company's acquisition of BrushPoint is a clear indication that we are executing against our strategic plan focused on product and geographic expansion, and continuing to pursue opportunities that fit with our organization's purpose of delivering affordable, healthy smiles, every day. We are proud of the growth that our team has accomplished, and to be a Michigan-headquartered company with products distributed and marketed around the globe."

About Ranir

Ranir is a leading global manufacturer of store brand private label consumer oral care products, including power and manual toothbrushes, teeth whiteners, dental floss and flossers. Founded in 1979, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Ranir serves retail customers globally and is committed to delivering affordable, healthy smiles in millions of households every day. Its products, which include some of the world's largest oral care store brands, can be found at major retailers in more than 40 countries. The consumer and customer insight driven company also owns, manufactures and markets the Plackers and REMBRANDT brands and proudly employs more than 750 associates worldwide. For more information, visit www.ranir.com.

About BrushPoint

BrushPoint a power and manual toothbrush manufacturer focused on the private label and personal care market. Its toothbrush and dental accessory products can be found at major retailers throughout North America. With over 20 years of management experience in sourcing materials and finished product manufacturing, BrushPoint has built its reputation on flexibility and value.

SOURCE Ranir LLC

Related Links

http://www.ranir.com


ORPINGTON, England, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

BritNed Development Ltd has selected Real Asset Management's specialist software to assist with the transition towards a paperless maintenance management process. It had developed a spreadsheet-based system to manage all facets of the work that is carried out by its own engineers and by external contractors.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160201/327800LOGO )



The company was formed as a joint venture between two separate organisations, TenneT and National Grid Plc. It owns and is responsible for operating the high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector between the Isle of Grain in the UK and Maasvlakte in the Netherlands. It provides crucial power inter-connectivity between European countries.

Prior to implementing RAM's computerised maintenance management software (CMMS), BritNed used its spreadsheet system to track its work order information. Moving over to RAM's software has allowed BritNed to have all maintenance work information systemised on an easy-to-use, customisable solution that will provide users with a complete history of all maintenance information for each asset. RAM hosts the system, making access available at all office and site locations.

One of the main objectives of moving over to RAM's CMMS was to transition to a paperless maintenance management system. For routine work, BritNed will use the mobile app, which will be configured so that alerts are sent directly to the relevant operator's tablet. Nigel Wood, Operations Manager at BritNed comments, "We will download the work order app onto our tablets. The alerts will be particularly handy as they will ensure that up to date information with regards to the routine work that needs to be completed is always available. The app will also improve communication between the main office, sites and operators out in the field, as we will be able to instantly update the status of all jobs using our tablets.

"We are also looking forward to taking advantage of the in-built PPM planner which is calendar driven. High availability is crucial at BritNed, therefore, we do not envisage there being much reactive maintenance. We will predominantly use RAM's system to manage routine jobs and planned outage work effectively, as well as for stock control. Having the ability to schedule all of these tasks into the calendar and to receive alerts when jobs are overdue will allow us to plan more effectively.

"The new CMMS will allow us to collate all maintenance information in one place. Having this data centralised will provide a far higher level of traceability with regards to the company's asset maintenance. The software's KPIs on the bespoke dashboards will offer a huge benefit. We can check these graphics extensively, using the available data to assist with setting performance targets."

When discussing why BritNed selected the software, Nigel comments, "RAM's system ticked all of the boxes for what we wanted to achieve. We were looking for something cost effective with comprehensive functionality". Nigel continues, "Our working relationship with RAM has been really positive and everybody at BritNed is happy with the system."

ENDS

Real Asset Management (RAM) is a leading provider of fixed asset management and logistics software & services. Over the last 30 years, its products have been implemented by more than 3,000 organisations in over 70 countries.

RAM, the leading supplier to the UK public sector, has successfully implemented software across 1000 Commercial companies, 180 Housing Associations, 100 Local Authorities, 150 Central Government sites, 200 NHS Trusts, 90 Educational Establishments and over 250 MoD sites worldwide.

The company has developed a powerful range of software modules around a central data repository that enables organisations of any size to manage every aspect of the asset lifecycle. Its Series4000 solution offers fixed asset accounting, capital project control, lease accounting, asset budgeting, asset tracking (utilising barcode/RFID/NFC technology) and computerised maintenance management.

For further information, please contact:

Miki Wardell

Real Asset Management

Tel: +44 (0)1689 892137

Email: [email protected]

@RealAssetMgt



SOURCE Real Asset Management
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Reily Foods Company is proud to announce that after 6 successive years of receiving the top "A" rating on the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit, the New Orleans, LA manufacturing facility recently received the newly established "AA" rating.

BRC Food logo Reily Brands logos includes Luzianne Tea, New England Coffee, French Market Coffee, Blue Plate Mayonnaise, Swans Down Cake Flour, Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit, Wick Fowler's, JFG, Tiger Sauce and CDM

The new "AA" rating level was established with the release of BRC's updated Issue 7 audit protocol. The "AA" rating replaces the "A" rating as the highest audit score that can be achieved. This "AA" rating was also achieved recently at Reily's Knoxville, TN facility. Both facilities have achieved the highest audit ratings for 7 years in a row. Reily's recently acquired Malden, MA manufacturing facility had its first ever BRC audit this month and received an "A" rating. All Reily Foods' manufacturing facilities have achieved top food safety audit scores under the exacting BRC standards.

The BRC is an internationally recognized accreditation body for the audit and certification of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). This certification recognizes that Reily Foods' manufacturing facilities are committed to achieving worldwide best practices in the food and beverage manufacturing industry.

"Reily Foods promotes a culture of Food Safety First and these consistently high certification scores are the result of our continuous investment in systems and training. We are very proud of our employees and their commitment to producing the safest food products," said David T. Darragh, President and CEO of Reily Foods Company.

Reily Foods' New Orleans, LA facility produces a number of packaged beverage brands including Luzianne Tea and Coffee, as well as French Market Coffee. Reily Foods is also a significant contract manufacturer.

"This certification shows that our manufacturing operations continue to be among the safest and most reliable in the industry. We are extremely proud of this continued achievement at the highest level, and what it says about Reily's commitment to maintaining the highest food safety manufacturing standards," said Reily Foods' New Orleans Plant Manager James Keith.

Reily Foods Company manufactures and packages coffee, tea, condiments, cake flour, and sauce products. In addition to its iconic brands which include Luzianne, Blue Plate, New England, French Market, Swans Down, and Tiger Sauce, Reily Foods is also a contract manufacturer for some of the country's largest private label brands and industrial customers.

"At Reily Foods we know we must earn the right daily to be the brand and supplier of choice for our customers," said Duane Montague, Reily Foods' Vice President of Operations.

"These accomplishments continue to demonstrate our company's commitment in providing our customers a dedication to the food safety and quality of our products," said Steve Woullard, Director of Quality & Regulatory Compliance.

If you would like to do business with one of the safest food manufacturers in the world, contact Duane Montague, Vice President of Operations, at 504-799-1570 or at [email protected].

About Reily Foods Company

Established in 1902, Reily Foods Company is a family-owned business based in New Orleans, one of the world's great culinary centers. Reily Foods manufactures and markets a wide range of quality food products sold in grocery stores and restaurants throughout the United States including Luzianne Tea, New England Coffee, Blue Plate Mayonnaise, French Market Coffee, JFG Coffee, JFG Mayonnaise, Swans Down Cake Flour, Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm and Carroll Shelby's Chili Kits, La Martinique Salad Dressings, Tiger Sauce, and No Pudge! Fat Free Brownie mixes. Visit www.reilyfoods.com.

About British Retail Consortium

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is the lead trade association representing the whole range of retailers, from the large multiples and department stores through to independents, selling a wide selection of products through center of town, out of town, rural and virtual stores. The BRC is the authoritative voice of retail, recognized for its powerful campaigning and influence within government and as a provider of excellent retail information.

About Global Food Safety Initiative

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is collaboration between some of the world's leading food safety experts from retailer, manufacturer and food service companies, as well as service providers associated with the food supply chain. It is coordinated by The Consumer Goods Forum, the only independent global network for consumer goods retailers and manufacturers worldwide. The GFSI vision is once certified, accepted everywhere.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414508LOGO

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414506LOGO

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414507

SOURCE Reily Foods Company

Related Links

http://www.reilyfoods.com


The latest addition to the popular San Elijo Hills masterplan, The Summit is aptly named for its prime location at "the highest point in North San Diego." The community boasts inspired ranch- and two-story floor plans with 3 to 7 bedrooms and up to approximately 4,650 sq. ft., priced from $1.1 million.

Located in the brand-new Double Peak K8 School district, The Summit at San Elijo Hills is just miles from the Pacific Ocean, offering easy access to masterplan amenities, such as parks, trails and an energetic town center. The impressive new community offers buyers a choice of five elegant floor plans, including the Reilly, Rockwell and Melbourne plans, which are now modeled for tour.

Impressive home features

Richmond American prides itself on offering popular standard home features, and new homes at The Summit at San Elijo Hills are a prime example of this practice. They include:

Maple cabinetry

Granite kitchen countertops

Stainless-steel appliances

Deluxe master baths

And more!

The wide array of lavish personalization options at the community includes:

Courtyards

Casitas

Club rooms

Game rooms

Wine rooms

Professional kitchens

Pet spas

The builder also provides complimentary design assistance, and its affiliates, HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation and American Home Insurance Agency, Inc., offer a streamlined homebuying experience.

The Summit at San Elijo Hills is located at 558 Ledge Street in San Marcos. Call 760-230-4663 or visit RichmondAmerican.com to learn more about the community, the Grand Opening Celebration and other upcoming events in the San Diego area.

About M.D.C. Holdings

Since 1972, MDC's homebuilding subsidiary companies, which operate under the name Richmond American Homes, have built and financed the American dream for more than 185,000 homebuyers. MDC's commitment to customer satisfaction, quality and value is reflected in the homes its subsidiaries build. MDC is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. Its subsidiaries have homebuilding operations across the country, including the metropolitan areas of Denver, Northern Colorado, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Riverside-San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Northern Virginia, Orlando, Jacksonville, South Florida and Seattle. MDC's subsidiaries also provide mortgage financing, insurance and title services, primarily for Richmond American homebuyers, through HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation, American Home Insurance Agency, Inc. and American Home Title and Escrow Company, respectively. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDC." For more information, visit MDCHoldings.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415073

SOURCE M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.richmondamerican.com


SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A California federal judge has ordered that merchants may move ahead with their antitrust, conspiracy, and related claims against MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover. On Friday September 30, 2016, United States District Court Judge William H. Alsup denied the credit card networks' motions to dismiss in B & R Supermarket, Inc., et al. v. Visa, Inc., et al., No. 3:16-cv-01150-WHA, a case pending in the Northern District of California. The order allows the suit to proceed and permits the plaintiffs to pursue discovery, including depositions of credit card network company officials. The lawsuit was filed in March by two Florida retailers, suing on behalf of U.S. merchants, against the four largest credit card networks and some of the country's biggest banks for conspiring to shift the liability for billions of dollars in fraudulent credit card charges away from those financial giants and onto the merchants.

The lawsuit centers on the changeover from magnetic-stripe payment cards, to newer cards containing a computer chip, known as EMV cards. (EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, the companies that created the chip cards nearly 20 years ago.) When the changeover happened, plaintiffs contend that defendants conspired to make merchants shoulder the costs of certain chargebacks that had for years been the responsibility of the financial behemoths. Chip cards have been adopted in much of the world, but the liability shift implemented in the United States differed from its adoption elsewhere where it was typically staggered and made with various accommodations to merchants such as reduced interchange fees and additional time to adopt the EMV technology. Specifically, the liability shift occurred and merchants became liable for certain fraudulent charges; however, merchants continued to pay for fraud protection through interchange fees but no longer received that protection. Moreover, the chip cards used in other parts of the world are the more secure "chip and PIN" technology as opposed to the less secure "chip and signature" cards adopted in the United States.

"The amended complaint sufficiently alleges a context that raises a plausible and reasonable suggestion of collusion," Judge Alsup wrote in a 22-page opinion. "Plaintiffs have sufficiently pled the basic evidentiary facts as to involvement in Visa, MasterCard, and American Express in the alleged conspiracy." The Order also concludes that the suit properly alleges Discover's involvement in the scheme. Although the banks were dismissed from the lawsuit for now, Judge Alsup ordered them to preserve and produce documents and left open the possibility of bringing them back into the case if newly discovered evidence showed the banks' complicity.

"We are, of course, pleased and gratified at this result," said Patrick J. Coughlin of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. "Judge Alsup's order means that we can now move into the phase of this case where the evidence of the card networks' wrongdoing can be revealed. In the end, our hope is to secure some relief for the millions of merchants  many of them small businesses  who have suffered and continue to suffer enormous losses from this conspiracy."

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150415/198876LOGO

SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Related Links

http://www.rgrdlaw.com/?utm_source=PRNewswire&utm_medium=Press%20Release&utm_campaign=Site%20Preview


The program, inspired by the Tyler Clementi Foundation's #Day1 Campaign, is designed to set a tone for students, athletes and workers at the beginning of their tenure that bullying, harassment and humiliation are unacceptable and encourage students to speak up and intervene when they witness aggression of this kind.

"We are excited to roll out these Day1 boxes at a big ten school; the school Tyler attended. We hope next year to have a dozen colleges on board," said Sean Kosofsky, Executive Director for the Tyler Clementi Foundation.

"During their first month on campus, students are adjusting to many exciting and stressful changes: challenging coursework, new and unfamiliar living spaces and exchanges with peers from many different backgrounds. The #Day1 Welcome Package is a unique way to welcome students, highlight a major point of pride- our ranking as the most diverse institution within the Big 10 Network, and to introduce important university resources like campus counseling services, health services, victim assistance, public safety, etc. The Tyler Clementi Center is proud to be leading the way on this effort and we encourage universities around the country to participate."

"Chegg is honored to be part of the Rutgers #Day1 campaign," said Danielle Malloy, Director of Marketing Solutions at Chegg. "For years, we have included back-to-school items and offers from our brand partners in the textbook boxes we send to students. We know that these types of surprise and delight moments get their attention. The #Day1 box is special because it sends a powerful and affirming message while also helping students transition to independence. We want to extend a special thanks to our brand partners for providing items to help students get the best start from day one."

Tyler Clementi died by suicide in September 2010, only weeks after arriving as a freshman, following online ridicule and humiliation by his roommate.

About the Tyler Clementi Foundation:

The Tyler Clementi Foundation works to end online and offline bullying in schools, workplaces and faith communities. For more information, please visit www.tylerclementi.org. The #Day1 Campaign tool has been downloaded over 1700 times and the campaign has been seen by over 107 million people through different traditional and social media channels.

About The Tyler Clementi Center:

The Tyler Clementi Center is a research institute at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. A collaborative effort between Rutgers University and the Tyler Clementi Foundation, the Center draws from academic disciplines across the university and throughout the nation to create new scholarship and interventions to address issues that confront young people  specifically LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable student populations making the transition from home to college. Through research efforts, symposia and lecture series, curricular development and digital engagement, this Center provides support to students and professionals across the United States.

About Chegg:

Chegg puts students first. As the leading student-first connected learning platform, the company makes higher education more affordable, more accessible, and more successful for students. Chegg is a publicly-held company based in Santa Clara, California and trades on the NYSE under the symbol CHGG. For more information, visit www.chegg.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415098

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415099

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140116/NY47534LOGO

SOURCE Chegg

Related Links

http://www.chegg.com


The award was presented by Brigadier General Raymond F. Shields Jr., commander of the New York State Army National Guard. The Patriot Award is sponsored by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families and granting leaves of absence if needed.

Taylor was nominated by Justin Hall, a materials and supply specialist in the Saint Rose Facilities Department and a sergeant in the New York State Army National Guard.

In his nomination letter, Sgt. Hall wrote, "Since I have been employed with the College of Saint Rose, Mr. Shawn Taylor has gone out of his way to accommodate my drill schedule and also goes out of his way to accommodate any changes that may occur no matter how short of notice. Shawn is a proud supporter of the U.S. military, and demonstrates that by his encouragement and the support he shows to me and my unit when I am called for duty. I have never received this much support or cooperation to both work a civilian job and serve my country. Mr. Shawn Taylor exemplifies what this award is for! Shawn is a true patriot, and is someone I look up to."

"The folks who serve our country are the ones who deserve the accolades. I just try to honor Justin's service and do the next right thing by giving him the time he needs and making sure he has a supportive work environment," Taylor said. "It's easy to be nominated for an award when you have such a great staff and a great institution to work for. I'm very surprised and humbled by this award and grateful for the service Justin provides both to our country and to The College of Saint Rose."

"The New York State Army National Guard, like other Guard units across our country, relies on the service and sacrifice of Citizen Soldiers, and we recognize and appreciate the vital role that employers and families play in supporting our individual service members," Brig. Gen. Shields said. "Institutions like The College of Saint Rose and supervisors like Shawn Taylor make it possible for our men and women to serve our country while contributing to their communities, by creating an atmosphere that honors and affirms their service and makes clear that, no matter when or where their service takes them, there is a job waiting when they return."

"The College has a well-earned reputation for providing the academic and support resources necessary to help our veteran and active-duty military and reserve students succeed, and it is extremely gratifying to know that our efforts on behalf of staff members are being recognized as well," said Saint Rose President Dr. Carolyn J. Stefanco, who was joined at the ceremony by several members of her cabinet. "All of us at Saint Rose are proud of Shawn for the example he sets and the leadership he provides to his staff, as exemplified by this tremendous honor. It was an inspiring event, and we are thrilled to have been a part of it."

For six consecutive years, Saint Rose has been named a "Military Friendly School" by Victory Media, publisher of the premier publications for military personnel transitioning to civilian life. The "2016 Military Friendly Schools" honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America's military service members and veterans as students. According to Victory Media, these schools embrace America's military service members, veterans and spouses as students to ensure their success in the classroom and after they graduate.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415217

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415218LOGO

SOURCE The College of Saint Rose
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SandRidge Energy, Inc. ("SandRidge" or the "Company") (NYSE:SD) today announced it has emerged from Chapter 11, having satisfied all the necessary provisions of its Plan of Reorganization (the "Plan"). SandRidge received approval to relist on the New York Stock Exchange in conjunction with its emergence and resumed trading of newly issued common stock on October 4, 2016, under the ticker symbol "SD".

Combining its unrestricted cash balance with the availability under its first lien credit facility following emergence, SandRidge exits its restructuring with approximately $525 million in total liquidity.

New Capital Structure Summary

SandRidge's new capital structure consists of a $425 million first lien revolving credit facility ("RBL") (maturing in 2020) and approximately $282 million in mandatorily convertible notes, bearing no interest and converting at any time at the option of the holders or mandatorily at the earlier of certain events or four years from the effective date of the Plan. As previously disclosed, SandRidge's pre-petition second lien secured and general unsecured claim holders receive 100% of the newly issued common equity in the reorganized company. A summary of the Company's new capital structure is presented below:

Unrestricted Cash

$100 million pro forma for emergence payments (including expected post-emergence repayment of RBL)

New Revolving Credit Facility

$425 million borrowing base

borrowing base Undrawn (after expected post-emergence repayment with cash on hand) 1

No financial covenants or borrowing base redeterminations for two years

LIBOR (100 bps floor) + 475 bps rate

Mandatorily Convertible Notes

$281,780,873 in principal amount of 0.00% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2020 (the "Convertible Notes") which gives effect to the election of certain holders to receive common stock on the effective date instead of the Convertible Notes

in principal amount of 0.00% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2020 (the "Convertible Notes") which gives effect to the election of certain holders to receive common stock on the effective date instead of the Convertible Notes Initially convertible at the option of the holder based on an initial conversion rate of 0.05330841 shares of the Company's common stock per $1.00 principal amount or 15,021,291 shares, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments

principal amount or 15,021,291 shares, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments The Convertible Notes will mature and mandatorily convert into the Company's common stock on October 4, 2020 . In addition, the Company is required to convert all outstanding Convertible Notes upon certain events.

. In addition, the Company is required to convert all outstanding Convertible Notes upon certain events. No interest

Upon the occurrence of certain events, including any acceleration, repayment or prepayment of the Convertible Notes (including any optional redemption), the Company will be required to pay a make-whole amount of $0.783478 (the "Make-Whole Amount") for each $1.00 in principal amount. The conversion rate will be automatically adjusted such that the Convertible Notes convert into the same percentage of common stock before and after such event.

Building Note

$35 million note secured by mortgages on the Company's headquarters facility and certain other non-oil and gas real property, with interest payable in kind through the earlier of August 4, 2020 or events related to the refinancing or repayment of the New First Lien Exit Facility

Common Equity

19,371,229 shares of common stock issued at emergence, including 971,231 shares issued and outstanding to give effect to the election of certain holders to receive common stock on the effective date instead of the Convertible Notes

Warrants

4,913,251 warrants to purchase common stock at $41.34 strike price expiring on October 4, 2022

strike price expiring on 2,068,690 warrants to purchase common stock at $42.03 strike price expiring on October 4, 2022

1) Excludes approximately $10 million of letters of credit

Pro Forma Capital Structure Details

In accordance with the Plan, approximately $3.7 billion in pre-petition funded debt has been eliminated, in large part, through the equitization of debt. Details of the Company's pro forma capital structure and liquidity are outlined here below:











Pro Forma Capital Structure after Emergence $ Millions



Debt at Principal Value as of Jun 30, 2016 Restructuring Pro Forma

as of Oct 4, 2016















Building Note1 $ - $ 35 $ 35 8.75% Second Lien Secured Notes due 2020 1,328 (1,328) -







Unsecured Notes:





8.75% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 $ 396 $ (396) $ - 7.50% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2021 758 (758) - 8.125% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022 528 (528) - 7.50% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2023 544 (544) - Sub-Total Unsecured Notes $ 2,225 $ (2,225) $ -







Unsecured Convertible Notes:





8.125% Senior Unsecured Convertible Notes due 2022 $ 41 $ (41) $ - 7.50% Senior Unsecured Convertible Notes due 2023 47 (47) - Total Debt (Excl. RBL)2 $ 3,641 $ (3,606) $ 35







0.00% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes Due 20203 $ - $ 282 $ 282 Total Debt (Excl. RBL) and Mandatorily Convertible Notes and Building Note $ 3,641 $ (3,324) $ 317







Liquidity





RBL Borrowing Base4 $ 500 $ (75) $ 425







RBL Available - 425 425 Cash 634 (534) 100 Total Liquidity $ 634 $ (109) $ 525











1) Secured by mortgages on the Company's headquarters facility and certain other non-oil and gas real property



2) $3.7 billion of total debt reduction includes $89 million of accrued interest not presented above net of new $35 million Building Note and $10 million of cash consideration



3) Make-Whole Amount applicable if note accelerated following an event of default or redeemed at the option of the Company



4) Excludes approximately $10 million of letters of credit

New Board of Directors

Pursuant to the Plan, SandRidge has appointed a new Board of Directors effective today. The new Board of Directors consists of five members including: James Bennett, Michael Bennett, John Genova, William (Bill) Griffin, and David Kornder.

Listing on the NYSE

In connection with its emergence, SandRidge also received approval from the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") for its common stock to be listed for trading on the NYSE. The common stock began trading on the NYSE on October 4, 2016. The trading symbol for the common stock is "SD," which is the same trading symbol used for the Company's common stock when it previously was listed on the NYSE. In connection with its application to list on the NYSE, the Company relied on adjustments to its historical financial data, which were included in its application and are available to the public upon request.

Details of the restructuring, the securities issued pursuant to the Plan and the debt and other agreements entered into as part of the Plan will be provided in a Form 8-K and other filings filed or to be filed with the Security and Exchange Commission. You can get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR at the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

In addition, court filings and other documents related to the restructuring are available on a separate website administered by the Company's claims agent, Prime Clerk, at https://cases.primeclerk.com/sandridge.

About SandRidge Energy, Inc.

SandRidge Energy, Inc. is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with its principal focus on developing high-return, growth-oriented projects in the U.S. Mid-Continent and Niobrara Shale.

For further information, please contact:

Duane M. Grubert

EVP  Investor Relations and Strategy

SandRidge Energy, Inc.

123 Robert S. Kerr Avenue

Oklahoma City, OK 73102-6406

(405) 429-5515

Forward-Looking Statements

In this press release, all statements that are not purely historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "estimate," "intend," "potential" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available business, economic, financial and other information and reflect management's current beliefs, expectations and views with respect to future developments and their potential effects on SandRidge. Actual results could vary materially depending on risks and uncertainties that may affect SandRidge and its business. SandRidge's actual actions and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by these statements due to a variety of factors, including (a) the ability of SandRidge to perform well and compete effectively upon its emergence from bankruptcy, (b) the impact of restrictions in SandRidge 's exit financing on its ability to make capital investments and pursue strategic growth opportunities, (c) the ability of SandRidge to continue to attract and retain qualified employees following emergence, and (d) other risks and uncertainties listed from time to time in SandRidge's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SandRidge assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement made in this press release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances or actual outcomes.

SOURCE SandRidge Energy, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sandridgeenergy.com


FAIRFIELD, Conn., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm, slammed the southern coast of Haiti on Tuesday morning with winds of 145 mph, flooding and extensive damage.

Save the Children is deploying an emergency response team to work with staff and partners on the ground to help the children and families affected by the storm. The organization pre-positioned a stockpile of non-food items, including hygiene kits, baby items, household kits, mosquito nets and jerry cans, which will be used in coming days. Additional necessities will be supplied after the response team conducts an initial evaluation.

"Our thoughts and hearts go out to the Haitian people, many of whom had yet to fully recover from the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010," said Carolyn Miles, President & CEO of Save the Children. "We have worked in Haiti for more than 30 years and will coordinate closely with the Haitian government to help those most affected by the disaster."

Save the Children supports 131 schools in Haiti, including 27 in the area of south Grand'Anse and 39 in Port-au Prince. The organization also provides technical assistance in water, sanitation and hygiene and newborn health to the Ministry of Health.

"Children are often most vulnerable during disasters such as this," Miles said. "Our emergency response team will be carefully evaluating how we can best help children, including getting them back into school as soon as possible."

Part of Save the Children's emergency response will likely include setting up "child-friendly spaces" at evacuation centers, which will provide children with a safe place to be engaged in educational play with other children, while giving parents a much-needed opportunity to go out and assess the damage.

To support Save the Children's emergency response in Haiti, visit: savethechildren.org/Matthew.

Spokespeople are available for comment.

Contact: Erin Taylor ([email protected]); (267) 250-8829 to arrange an interview.

Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood  every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contacts: Erin Taylor ([email protected]); (267) 250-8829

Negin Janati ([email protected]); (203.212.0044)

SOURCE Save the Children

Related Links

http://www.savethechildren.org


WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), today announced $18.85 million to support export growth among American small businesses. The funding was awarded through SBA's competitive State Trade Expansion Program (STEP).

Contreras-Sweet heralded the news as a boon for America's small businesses: "Exporting provides tremendous opportunities for America's small businesses and entrepreneurs. Two-thirds of the world's purchasing power can be found outside of the United States, but only about one percent of America's 28 million small businesses are reaching customers beyond our borders. Exporting is an important growth opportunity for our small businesses that are ready to expand their reach into new and increasingly borderless global markets. These STEP awards, in addition to SBA's export loans and U.S. Export Assistance Centers, help small businesses across our nation have the tools, resources and relationships they need to take their businesses global."

STEP awards were created to advance key priorities identified in the President's National Export Initiative, namely to expand the base of small businesses that become exporters and to make the exporting process as easy as possible for small businesses.

These awards are granted to U.S. states and territories to support programs that help small businesses expand their export-related activities. This includes participation in foreign trade missions, foreign market sales trips, subscription services for access to international markets, as well as the design of international marketing campaigns, export trade show exhibits, export training workshops and more.

STEP funds allow small businesses the opportunity to meet foreign buyers face-to-face at trade shows or on trade missions, and complement SBA's export loan guaranty programs, which can finance the working capital needed to complete export orders and in turn help finance the expansion of production facilities due to export success. Loans are available up to $5 million. More information can be obtained from SBA's Export Finance Mangers located at 21 U.S. Export Assistance Centers across the country.

Recipients of STEP awards in the first three rounds (FY 2011, 2012, 2014) reported a strong return on federal taxpayer investment, generating $22 in U.S. small business export sales for every $1 awarded.

FY2016 (Year 5) STEP Awards

Awardees were determined via a competitive process, as required by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.

Awardee Amount Alabama $125,987 Alaska $194,000 Arizona $299,903 California $844,214 Colorado $186,140 Connecticut $244,000 Delaware $282,636 Hawaii $700,000 Idaho $388,500 Illinois $850,000 Iowa $130,000 Kansas $383,000 Kentucky $467,000 Louisiana $160,000 Maine $145,000 Maryland $777,579 Massachusetts $504,478 Michigan $820,000 Minnesota $155,736 Mississippi $509,760 Missouri $634,134 Montana $364,969 Nebraska $261,340 Nevada $283,000 New Hampshire $213,000 New Jersey $750,000 New Mexico $200,000 New York $602,115 North Carolina $850,000 North Dakota $231,045 Ohio $750,000 Oklahoma $464,900 Oregon $562,500 Rhode Island $427,950 South Carolina $333,364 South Dakota $116,250 Texas $800,000 Utah $365,700 Vermont $286,439 Virginia $359,461 Washington $850,000 West Virginia $186,500 Wisconsin $631,000 Wyoming $158,400 TOTAL $18,850,000

The SBA Office of International Trade resource page can be found here. Additional information on STEP can be found here.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012 has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. www.sba.gov

Contact: Terry Sutherland, 202-205-6919

Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/

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Release Number: 16-76

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SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

Related Links

http://www.sba.gov


HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of State Pedro A. Cortes today reminded Pennsylvanians they have one week left to register to vote in the November election. He encouraged citizens to take advantage of new registration options that are available.

Eligible citizens have until Tuesday, October 11, to apply for a new voter registration or make changes to their existing registration.

"Voting is one of our most fundamental rights," Secretary Cortes said. "That's why Governor Wolf and the Department of State have made it a priority to implement innovations that make registration more convenient, secure and accessible."

The state's online voter registration (OVR) application can be found at register.votesPA.com. In addition to applying for a new registration, the OVR system can also be used to make updates to an existing voter record, such as a change of name, address or party affiliation. Since the OVR launch in August 2015, more than 665,000 eligible Pennsylvanians have used the site.

New this year is 2Vote, a voter registration text messaging service. Simply text "PA" to "2Vote" (28683) on a smartphone. The user will receive a link that provides direct access to the online voter registration application. Also included are links to check voter registration status, locate your polling place and find contact information for county offices and the Department of State.

Voters planning to vote by absentee ballot are advised to pay close attention to important deadlines. Although the deadline to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday, November 1, the voted ballots must be received in the county election office by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 4.

Due to the 3-day time frame and cutbacks in service by the U.S. Postal Service, voters are strongly urged to mail their absentee ballot request no later than October 21, two weeks before the voted ballot must be received by the county office.

Voters may deliver their voted absentee ballots in person to county election offices or mail them if there is adequate time for delivery. A postmark is not sufficient for the ballot to be counted.

Pennsylvania voters will elect the U.S. President and Vice President, one U.S. Senator and 18 U.S. House members, as well as the statewide offices of attorney general, auditor general and treasurer. Odd-numbered state Senate districts and all state House seats will also be on the ballot.

Individuals wishing to register to vote in the November 8 general election must be:

A citizen of the United States for at least one month before the election.

for at least one month before the election. A resident of Pennsylvania and the election district in which the individual desires to register and vote for at least 30 days before the election.

and the election district in which the individual desires to register and vote for at least 30 days before the election. At least 18 years of age on or before the date of the election.

Eligible voters also can register by mail or apply in person at a county voter registration office; county assistance offices; Women, Infants & Children (WIC) program offices; PennDOT photo and driver's license centers; Armed Forces recruitment centers; county clerk of orphans' courts or marriage license offices; area agencies on aging; county mental health and intellectual disabilities offices; student disability services offices of the State System of Higher Education; offices of special education in high schools; and Americans with Disabilities Act-mandated complementary paratransit providers.

Applicants using the OVR system must complete and submit their application by 11:59 p.m. on October 11. Traditional paper application forms must be received in county voter registration offices or postmarked by October 11.

Electors who do not receive confirmation of their application within 14 days of submission should contact the voter registration office in their county.

The Department of State's website votespa.com, available in English and Spanish, offers printable voter registration applications, a polling place locator and county boards of elections contact information. It also includes tips for first-time voters and members of the military.

In addition, voters can familiarize themselves with the voting system they will use in their home county on Election Day.

For more information on voter registration, call the Department of State's toll-free hotline at 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772) or visit VotesPA.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Wanda Murren (717) 783-1621

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State

Related Links

http://www.votespa.com


TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SiteZeus, the leader in location intelligence technology for emerging and established brands, brokers and developers, today announced a location data collaboration with INRIX, the global leader in transportation analytics and connected car services, to bring roadway traffic information to retail site selection and real estate.

INRIX incorporates information from its massive crowd-sourced network of more than 300 million connected vehicles and devices to deliver real-time and predictive traffic and parking data to agencies, companies and governments around the world. By making data-driven decisions via the Olympus Data Exchange, companies can gain a more holistic understanding of potential customers by utilizing the proprietary data stack exactly how they please. Every data partner added to the Olympus Data Exchange enhances the flexibility, diversity and power of the technology and its artificial intelligence.

"We are proud to announce a collaboration with INRIX that brings Olympus Data Exchange to the forefront of the commercial real estate industry," said Hannibal Baldwin, Co-CEO and Founder of SiteZeus. "SiteZeus can now provide the long-awaited, granular solution that's necessary during the retail site section decision-making process."

"Leveraging INRIX roadway data, SiteZeus gains insight into true transportation patterns across the entire U.S. road network," said Kevin Foreman, General Manager of GeoAnalytics at INRIX. "The ROI is generated through the power of additional knowledge surrounding key data points that can be specific towards each user's needs, leading to more informed location-based decisions."

To learn more about the importance of mobile and GPS data, and how SiteZeus' platform can work with you, register for the upcoming webinar: "Does data have a seat at your table: INRIX Series." The webinar, which will take place on October 20, 2016 at 12:00pm EDT, will discuss how real-time data should be a fundamental part of the site selection process. Hannibal Baldwin of SiteZeus and Kevin Foreman of INRIX will be co-hosting. For more information and to register, visit this link: www.sitezeus.com/webinar-inrix.

In the next few months, SiteZeus will also be announcing new partnerships, including one with UberMedia. To learn more about SiteZeus, visit www.sitezeus.com, or contact [email protected] or call (800) 611-0738.

About SiteZeus

SiteZeus is the new evolution in location intelligence, driven by exceptionally engineered big data systems and unparalleled data visualization technology. SiteZeus is establishing the science behind a Powerfully Accurate Location Intelligence process for emerging and established brands, brokers and developers alike. All completely user-driven through state of the art web-based technology. The company's flagship offering, SiteZeus Synergy, enables brands to grow their existing business with a confident and calculated approach. For more information, visit www.sitezeus.com.

About INRIX

INRIX is the global leader in connected car services and intelligent movement, a new approach that leverages big data and the cloud to help manage urban mobility. By aggregating a variety of sources and applying intelligence, INRIX delivers comprehensive data and solutions to help move people, cities and businesses forward.

Our partners are automakers, governments, mobile operators, developers, advertisers, as well as enterprises large and small. We are literally everywhere with over 450 customers across 60 countries.

SOURCE SiteZeus

Related Links

http://www.sitezeus.com


ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SkylineDx today announced it has been awarded a multi-million euro Horizon2020 grant from the European Commission to develop a new, and novel gene-expression profiling technology, which is intended to predict the most effective treatment strategy for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). The consortium of European partners includes Erasmus MC (EMC, Rotterdam), Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE, Brussels), University of Turin (Unito, Turin) and the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA, Rotterdam). The announcement comes as SkylineDx prepares for their sponsorship and support at the European School of Haematology's 3rd International Conference on Multiple Myeloma in Milan, Italy on October 7-9, 2016.

SkylineDx has also developed and is currently offering MMprofiler with SKY92, a gene expression-based risk identification signature that determines the level of risk for patients with multiple myeloma by classifying them into a "high" or "standard" risk group. The performance of the SKY92 gene signature to risk stratify these patients exceeds that of standard clinical parameters that include FISH, and earlier gene expression signatures utilized in myeloma.1-2 Research will be conducted to expand MMprofiler technology to include the prediction of treatment effectiveness in individual patients based on Gene Expression Profiling (GEP).

"SkylineDx appreciates all of the support of our partners and is looking forward to expanding the portfolio to help physicians personalize treatment options for those who receive a diagnosis of multiple myeloma," said Dharminder S. Chahal, Chief Executive Officer of SkylineDx. "Helping healthcare professionals make precision medicine treatment decisions for their patients has always been the forefront of SkylineDx's mission and we believe that this test will give patients the chance to improve their survival and quality of life."

As MM is a very heterogeneous disease, not every treatment will be suitable for each patient. The availability of multiple (>20) treatment options complicates treatment decision-making even more, and treatment strategies are often based on trial-and-error.

"We need to incorporate tools like the MMprofiler in order to best identify those patients who may benefit from a more aggressive treatment regime versus those who may benefit from a less aggressive treatment," said Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the University of Chicago's myeloma program. "Tools like the MMprofiler are absolutely important to help us not to lose sight of what's best for our patients."

About Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer that arises from plasma cells, a type of white blood cell made in the bone marrow. In patients with MM, the plasma cells become abnormal, multiply uncontrollably, and release only one type of antibody  known as M-protein  which has no useful function. It is often through the measurement of M-protein that MM is diagnosed and monitored. Most medical problems related to MM are caused by the build-up of abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow and the presence of the M-protein in the blood or urine. The most common symptoms of MM include bone pain, recurring infection, kidney damage, and fatigue. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, an estimated 114,000 people around the world are diagnosed with MM annually, and the disease represents 0.8% of all cancers globally.

For more information about MM, visit www.hematon.nl/myeloom (information available in Dutch only), www.themmrf.org , www.myeloma.org.uk, www.mpeurope.org, or www.myeloma.org

About MMprofiler

MMprofiler with SKY92 is the only gene-based signature proven superior to the biomarkers currently used to risk stratify newly diagnosed and relapsed multiple myeloma patients into a "high" or "standard" risk category. The MMprofiler is CE-IVD registered and available in Europe and is coming soon as a laboratory developed test (LDT) in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmprofiler.com .

About SkylineDx

SkylineDx is a commercial-stage biotech company based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Originally a spin-off of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the company specializes in the development and marketing of innovative gene signature-based diagnostic tests to assist healthcare professionals in making personalized treatment decisions for individual patients. These tests are designed to accurately determine the type or status of the disease or to predict a patient's response to a specific treatment. Based on the test results, healthcare professionals can tailor the treatment to the individual patient. MMprofiler is the company's lead product. To learn more, please visit www.skylinedx.com.

1. Van Beers EH, et al. SKY92 GEP, iFISH, and ISS comparisons for risk stratification in multiple myeloma. Poster p661 presented at 2015 European Hematology Association Congress.

2. Kuiper R, et al. Prediction of high- and low-risk multiple myeloma based on gene expression and the International Staging System. Blood. 22 October 2015, Volume 126, Number 17, Pages 1996-2004

SOURCE SkylineDx

Related Links

http://skylinedx.com


"The People of Southwest Airlines display the ultimate model of consistency, having earned this award every year for the past two decades," said Matt Buckley, Southwest Vice President of Cargo and Charters. "It's abundantly clear that our Cargo, Ramp, and Operations Teams' commitment to Customer Service are withstanding the critical test of time."

Logistics Management's Quest for Quality Award is regarded as the standard to measure customer satisfaction and performance excellence. The award is chosen upon the following attributes: performance, value, information technology, equipment and operations, and customer service.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CARGO

Southwest Airlines' relentlessly reliable Employees offer Cargo Customers award winning expedited air cargo service to destinations across the map, including complimentary Road Feeder Service and interline destinations. With our extensive domestic network and over 3,900 flights a day, we have the flights you need to meet your shipping requirements. Learn more about how Southwest Cargo can help you with your shipping needs by visiting swacargo.com.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

In its 46th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 52,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest operates more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season across a network of 98 destinations in the United States and seven additional countries with service to three airports in Cuba expected to begin later this year, subject to governmental approvals.

Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. The Company operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, the majority of which are equipped with satellite-based WiFi providing gate-to-gate connectivity. That connectivity enables Customers to use their personal devices to view video on-demand movies and television shows, as well as more than 20 channels of free, live TV compliments of our valued Partners. Southwest created Transfarency, a philosophy which treats Customers honestly and fairly, and in which low fares actually stay low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some airlines may allow free checked bags on select routes or for qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. The airline proudly unveiled a bold new look: Heart. A new logo, aircraft livery, interior design featuring a new seat and Flight Attendant galley, Employee-designed uniforms, and an updated airport experience all showcase the dedication of Southwest Employees who connect Customers with what's important in their lives.

From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic whenever the carrier enters new markets. With 43 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2015 Southwest Airlines One Report can be found at SouthwestOneReport.com.

Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

Related Links

http://www.southwest.com


Customers may also book flights to international destinations with some of Southwest's low international fares starting at $99 one-way to select destinations today through Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, 11:59 p.m. in the respective time zone of the originating city. Seats and days are limited.

See below for examples of these great low fares and for restrictions and exclusions.

"This winter, Customers can get away with Southwest Airlines' low fares, no change fees* and up to two bags that fly free*," said Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "With low fares, an expanding list of international destinations, and an incredible Rapid Rewards program, you can't afford to not take advantage of this sale. Say Yes to low fares with nothing to hidethat's Transfarency."

** There are never change fees, though fare differences might apply; first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply; free live TV where available for a limited time.

To see the full list of available cities and prices, and to take advantage of Southwest's special fares, visit Southwest.com.

Examples of Southwest Airlines' domestic low fares include (see fare rules below):

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Atlanta and Chicago (Midway)

one-way nonstop between and (Midway) As low as $79 one-way nonstop between Denver and Los Angeles (LAX)

one-way nonstop between and (LAX) As low as $99 one-way nonstop between Milwaukee and Orlando

one-way nonstop between and As low as $129 one-way nonstop between Houston (Hobby) and Phoenix

Fares are available for travel on nonstop, domestic flights, except for Fridays and Sundays, from Nov. 30 through Dec. 20, 2016, and Jan. 4 through Feb. 15, 2017. (Travel to Florida and Nevada and from Florida to Nevada is valid only on Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Florida and Nevada and from Nevada to Florida is valid only on Tuesdays through Fridays. Travel to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico is valid Monday through Thursday. There are no blackout dates; check fare rules below for restrictions and exclusions). Seats are limited.

Examples of Southwest Airlines' international low fares include (see fare rules below):

As low as $99 one-way nonstop from Orlando to Aruba

one-way nonstop from to As low as $129 one-way nonstop from Los Angeles (LAX) to Puerto Vallarta

Fares are available for travel on nonstop flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning Nov. 30 through Dec. 13, 2016 and Jan. 10 through March 2, 2017. Check fare rules below for restrictions and exclusions. Seats are limited.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

In its 46th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 52,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest operates more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season across a network of 98 destinations in the United States and seven additional countries with service to Cuba expected to begin later this year, subject to governmental approvals.

Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. The Company operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, the majority of which are equipped with satellite-based WiFi providing gate-to-gate connectivity. That connectivity enables Customers to use their personal devices to view video on-demand movies and television shows, as well as more than 20 channels of free, live TV compliments of our valued Partners*. Southwest created Transfarency, a philosophy which treats Customers honestly and fairly, and in which low fares actually stay low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some airlines may allow free checked bags on select routes or for qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. The airline proudly unveiled a bold new look: Heart. A new logo, aircraft livery, interior design featuring a new seat and Flight Attendant galley, Employee-designed uniforms, and an updated airport experience all showcase the dedication of Southwest Employees who connect Customers with what's important in their lives.

From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic whenever the carrier enters new markets. With 43 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2015 Southwest Airlines One Report can be found at SouthwestOneReport.com.

Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES SALE FARE RULES

Purchase Oct. 4-6, 2016, 11:59 p.m. in the respective time zone of the originating city. Domestic travel is valid Nov. 30 through Dec. 20, 2016, and Jan. 4 through Feb. 15, 2017. Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico is valid Nov. 30 through Dec. 8, 2016, and Jan. 17 through March 2, 2017. International travel is valid Nov. 30 through Dec. 13, 2016, and Jan. 10 through March 2, 2017. Domestic travel is not valid on Fridays and Sundays. Travel to and from both Florida and Nevada is valid only on Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Florida and Nevada and from Nevada to Florida is valid only on Tuesdays through Fridays. Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico is valid Monday thru Thursday. International travel is valid only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fares are valid only on nonstop service. Displayed prices include all U.S. and international government taxes and fees. Points bookings do not include taxes, fees, and other government/airport charges of at least $5.60 per one way flight. Seats and days are limited. Fares may vary by destination, flight, and day of week and won't be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Travel is available for one-way Wanna Get Away fares. Fares may be combined with other Southwest Airlines combinable fares. If combining with other fares, the most restrictive fare's rules apply. Sale fares may be available on other days of week, but not guaranteed. Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines, as long as reservations are canceled at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled departure of the flight. Failure to cancel prior to departure will result in forfeiture of remaining funds in the reservation. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the Anytime fare. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Offer applies to published, scheduled service only.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

Related Links

http://www.southwest.com


ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO) announced that it will report financial results for the third quarter 2016 on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 after the market closes. Management will hold its quarterly conference call the next day, on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Pacific Time).

A live webcast of the call will be available via the Investor Relations section of the Sunstone Hotel Investors website at www.sunstonehotels.com. A replay of the webcast will also be archived on the website. Alternatively, investors may dial 1-800-723-6604 (for domestic callers) or 1-785-830-7977 (for international callers) to listen to the live call. The conference ID for all callers is 2290393.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors:

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that, as of the date hereof, has interests in 28 hotels comprised of 13,666 rooms. Sunstone's hotels are primarily in the upper upscale segment and are generally operated under nationally recognized brands, such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Fairmont. For further information, please visit Sunstone's website at www.sunstonehotels.com.

For Additional Information:

Bryan Giglia

Chief Financial Officer

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc.

(949) 382-3036

SOURCE Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sunstonehotels.com


AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This month marks the 20th anniversary of Superior Access, the nation's leading online insurance Market Access Provider. The company is an innovator in harnessing the power of the internet to offer rating technology to provide independent agents access to competitive online products from over 50 carriers.

Superior Access has rapidly evolved into the leading online insurance distributor, providing instant access to a multitude of insurance products, and giving independent agents the ability to efficiently quote, bind and issue policies across the country. Online products include, but are not limited to auto, homeowners, condo, renters, motorcycle, dwelling fire, general liability, BOP, commercial auto, and worker's compensation.

"When I started, our turn-around times were measured in days. Today, Superior Access is quoting, binding, and issuing insurance policies in minutes," said Keith Curry, senior vice president, Superior Access. "Superior Access started as one of the first online commercial comparative raters. Since then, we've led industry transformation and, now, offer a holistic service that delivers independent agents a universal market network of products to meet more of their customers' needs, more of the time. It's no longer about providing just quotes. We are helping agents serve their customers with specific products to meet their insurance needs. In turn, we help our agents build their business."

Superior Access is breaking new norms every day in order to deliver process improvement through technology. There are few providers in the space that offer the speed of transaction, accuracy of transaction, and depth of products that Superior Access does.

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Superior Access opened its vault to offer insights gleaned from two decades of revolutionizing the way independent agents do business. In this time, the industry has changed in five major ways:

Evolved from comparative rating to selling insurance through digital channels

Integrated traditional and digital channels

Established a vast market network of P&C insurance products

Became customer-centric as opposed to delivering product-focused services

Automated administrative tasks, freeing independent agents to focus on selling and customer service

While Superior Access has a storied history in transforming the insurance industry, long-time industry veteran Curry is most looking forward to the future of the insurance industry.

"I have never been more excited to be in the industry than I am today. The speed of technology change is transforming our industry, and we provide the tools to ensure independent agents are successful," said Curry. "I can't wait to see what the next 18 months brings to the insurance industry."

About Superior Access

Superior Access is the largest insurance Market Access Provider enabling fast access to a variety of insurance products at competitive rates. Through leading-edge online tools and a vast market network of products, Superior Access helps insurance agents effectively find, quote and bind business faster and more successfully than ever before. With a full service team of underwriters and seasoned, licensed professionals at the ready, Superior Access is dedicated to expanding opportunities and improving business results for independent agents. For more information, please visit superioraccess.com.

Contact:

Michelle Lyng

Novitas Communications

[email protected]

202-380-7114

SOURCE Superior Access
CENTERVILLE, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Superior Dental Care (SDC) has named a new CEO as the company celebrates their 30th anniversary.

SDC veteran Traci Harrell succeeds founding CEO Rebecca (Becca) York, who now serves as the company's corporate advisor. York led the company as CEO since its inception in 1986 with the mission of providing employers and their employees the best value in dental benefits.

Traci Harrell, CEO of Superior Dental Care

York stepped into the corporate advisor role as SDC celebrated their 30th anniversary this year. At the recommendation of York and SDC's Board of Directors, Traci Harrell was named as SDC's new chief executive officer.

"I was very happy to recommend Traci as my successor in the role of CEO. Traci's innovative vision, keen business instinct and passion for what SDC stands for as a company will ensure our original mission of providing superior dental care to our members will continue," York said.

Harrell joined SDC in 1994 as an account executive. Since then, she has held several key roles at the company including director of sales and chief marketing officer. Harrell is a member of Health Underwriters and has previously served on industry boards at both state and local levels.

In recent years, Harrell has led the creation and implementation of multiple new initiatives at SDC including a national network expansion more than 40 times larger than SDC's original regional network, free second opinions on proposed dental treatments, Superior Wellness Bundles that combine SDC's dental plans with other ancillary group benefits from SDC, and much more.

"I'm honored to follow in Becca's footsteps as the staff and I work to continue what she and the founding dentists started 30 years ago when they launched the first dentist-owned dental care company in this region. I'm proud to help lead SDC into the next chapter of our company's history, keeping our original mission at heart as we continue to make dental care and other ancillary benefits viable components of employee benefit packages. I hope to bring as much passion and spirit to the company as Becca did over the past 30 years and will continue her commitment of keeping the best interests of our members, dentists and clients at the core of all we do here at SDC," said Harrell.

About Superior Dental Care:

Superior Dental Care (SDC) was founded in 1986 by a group of dentists to create the first dentist-owned dental plan as an alternative to less effective and inferior plans. Rather than focusing on earning profits for stockholders, SDC's founding dentists were committed to promoting a synergistic relationship among employers, members and dentists. This synergy drives a successful dental care delivery system that has served Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana for 30 years. For more details about SDC, visit www.superiordental.com or call 800-762-3159.

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

Krista Frederick, Manager of Corporate Communications

(800) 762-3159

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414360

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414361LOGO

SOURCE Superior Dental Care

Related Links

http://www.superiordental.com


FLORAL PARK, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Susan D. Malpiedi is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Professional in the field of Consulting. Susan is a Legal Nurse Consultant with Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP.

Recognized by both the bench and bar as a leader in the areas of medical defense and professional liability, Martin Clearwater & Bell is the oldest and largest medical defense firm in New York. Headquartered in Westchester County, the firm has five locations throughout the state with hundreds of knowledgeable and experienced attorneys and legal professionals on staff.

As a Certified Legal Consultant and Registered Nurse, Susan merges her dual expertise to assist attorneys with cases as they pertain to healthcare. For the past fifteen years, Susan has worked at the firm of Martin Clearwater & Bell where she helps solve complex medical issues so they can be easily understood on a legal platform.

On a daily basis, Susan utilizes her skills in the areas of case management, litigation support, medical records, and trial work; as well as coordinating between experts and setting up medical exams for clients.

A member of the Women's International Association and National Association of Professional Women, Susan prides her success on her perseverance and communication skills.

Throughout the course of her studies, Susan attained her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Franconia College in addition to her RN licensure and Legal Nurse Consultant certification.

For more information, please visit www.mcblaw.com

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com


DUBAI, UAE, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The prestigious World Travel Awards has voted The Oberoi, Dubai as the 'Middle East's Leading Luxury City Hotel' for the third year in a row at a ceremony held in Dubai, UAE on 29th September, 2016.

General Manager, Mr Karim Bizid at the World Travel Awards (PRNewsFoto/The Oberoi Hotel)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414892 )



Hailed as the 'Oscars of the travel industry', World Travel Awards celebrates its 23rd anniversary this year and is acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade. The brand aims to celebrate those organisations that are pushing the boundaries of industry excellence.

The coveted awards are chosen by travellers and hospitality industry professionals across a variety of categories. The Oberoi, Dubai competed against several luxury city hotels across the Middle East and Dubai, winning the award as a result of its all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service.

The Oberoi, Dubai is part of the internationally famed Oberoi Group and represents its first property in the UAE, having successfully opened in June 2013. The World Travel Awards are the latest addition to the hotel's increasingly expanding collection of awards including Best Business Hotel by the readers of Business Traveller Middle East 2015.

Talking about the recent accolade for The Oberoi, Dubai, Mr. Karim Bizid, General Manager, The Oberoi, Dubai, said, "We are proud yet humbled at having been voted Middle East's Leading Luxury City Hotel for the third consecutive year. The Oberoi, Dubai brings an ethos of service without compromise to the UAE. This international recognition from World Travel Awards, Middle East shows that we have consistently upheld the promise of unparalleled levels of service for which the Oberoi brand is renowned worldwide. This award is a testament of the entire team's hard work to ensure that every guest's experience is truly memorable."

Further notes to the Editor:

About The Oberoi, Dubai

Located at The Oberoi Centre, The Oberoi, Dubai is a contemporary luxury hotel that embodies height, light and space. The hotel overlooks the iconic Burj Khalifa and each of the 252 rooms and suites have floor to ceiling windows which afford spectacular views of the city's skyline. The hotel enjoys a central location in Business Bay and is a few minutes' drive from Downtown Dubai and The Dubai Mall. http://www.oberoidubai.com

About Oberoi Hotels & Resorts

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts are synonymous across the world for providing the right blend of service, luxury and quiet efficiency. Internationally acclaimed for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts have received innumerable awards and accolades.

A distinctive feature of the Group's hotels is their highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides exceptionally attentive, personalized and warm service. The Group's luxury hotels have established a reputation for redefining the paradigm of luxury and excellence in service amongst hotels around the world.

For further information, please contact: Alisha Arora, Director of Marketing and Communications, [email protected], +97(1)559664131

SOURCE The Oberoi Hotel
NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance (PSSCRA) today announced the opening of applications for its Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research. The prize of $200,000 per year for up to three years is awarded annually to at least five New York City-based scientists, enabling them to continue to pursue explorative and high-risk/high-reward research at a stage when traditional funding is lacking.

Now entering its fourth year, the highly competitive Prize aims to help bridge the gap between academia and the business community while supporting young scientists at a formative stage in their careers. In order to facilitate these collaborations, each Prize winner is given a mentor in the pharmaceutical industry and the opportunity to present his or her work to scientific and business audiences.

"As we head into a fourth year of the Prize, we are continuously impressed with the excellence of the research performed by our Prize winners, and their commitment to bringing about catalytic change for the detection and treatment options for cancer patients," said Olivia Tournay Flatto, Ph.D., President of the Pershing Square Foundation and Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. "It is a great honor to be able to fund groundbreaking research where traditional funding is lacking and we are so excited to learn about the 2017 candidates and their amazing work."

In May 2016, PSSCRA awarded the Prize to seven new winners: Omar Abdel-Wahab, M.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Uttiya Basu, Ph.D., Columbia University Medical Center; Christopher Mason, Ph.D., Weill Cornell Medicine; Agnel Sfeir, Ph.D., NYU School of Medicine; Samuel Sidi, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Christopher Vakoc, M.D., Ph.D., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Andrea Ventura, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Due to the number of high-caliber applicants, in addition to six winners fully funded by the Alliance, 2016 marked the formation a unique partnership with The New York Community Trust ("NYCT"), which provided the funding to support Dr. Samuel Sidi. This partnership, which paves the way for future collaborations, is a testament to the quality of research funded by the Prize.

"I am honored to be part of this esteemed group of early-stage investigators who are working towards understanding the basis of cancer," said Agnel Sfeir, Ph.D., a 2016 prize winner. "With support from the Pershing Square Sohn Prize, my lab and I are pursuing risky approaches to identify all molecular players in cancer and highlight novel ways to treat this disease."

In order to apply for the Prize, applicants must have between 2 to 8 years of experience running their own laboratories and must have a PhD, MD or MD-PhD (or equivalent). The deadline to submit the Letter of Intent is November 7, 2016. For more details on the application process, including the full eligibility criteria, and for more details on the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, please visit: www.psscra.org.

About The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance was formed in 2013 through a $25 million commitment by Bill and Karen Ackman and The Pershing Square Foundation, which partnered with The Sohn Conference Foundation. The Alliance is dedicated to playing a catalytic role in accelerating cures for cancer by supporting innovative cancer research and by facilitating collaborations between academia and industry. Annually, the Alliance awards The Pershing Square Sohn Prize to young New York based scientists who are engaged in cutting-edge cancer research. For more information, visit http://psscra.org/.

About The Pershing Square Foundation The Pershing Square Foundation is a private family foundation, based in New York, founded in December 2006 by Karen and Bill Ackman. The Foundation has committed $400 million in grants and social investments to support exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important social issues and deliver scalable and sustainable impact. Bill is the CEO and portfolio manager of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. For more information visit: www.pershingsquarefoundation.org.

About The Sohn Conference Foundation The Sohn Conference Foundation is dedicated to supporting innovative initiatives to cure and treat pediatric cancer. Identifying specific areas of need, the Foundation funds groundbreaking research, state-of-the-art technology, and programs to target cures and improve patient care. For more information visit: www.sohnconference.org/

Pershing Square Foundation Press Contacts:

Lauren Condoluci, Rubenstein Communications

212-843-8943 / [email protected]

Hillary Karsten, Rubenstein Communications

212-843-9313 / [email protected]

SOURCE The Pershing Square Foundation

Related Links

http://www.pershingsquarefoundation.org


DETROIT, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Word Network, the largest African American religious network in the world, will be broadcasting "A Call to Peace" LIVE on Friday, October 7, 2016. We will cover topics on faith, politics, racism and economics and will feature local, state and national community leaders, activists and religious leaders in a town hall meeting setting.

MEDIA CONTACT: MORT MEISNER ASSOCIATES, MORT MEISNER 248-545-2222

SOURCE The Word Network
ATLANTA, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Triad Advisors, Inc., the hybrid advisor-focused independent broker-dealer, today announced that it raised more than $45,000 for Operation FINALLY HOME at its 19th annual National Conference held in September in Austin, Texas. Operation FINALLY HOME is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to bring together homebuilders, the military and communities to build custom, mortgage-free homes for wounded, ill or injured veterans, surviving spouses and their families.

Based in New Braunfels, Texas, Operation FINALLY HOME draws upon a network of experienced builders, builder associations, suppliers, corporate sponsors, developers, individual contributors and volunteers to fulfill its homebuilding mission. Since its founding in 2005, Operation FINALLY HOME has completed or is in various planning stages for over 180 homes across more than 30 states.

Jeff Rosenthal, President and CEO of Triad Advisors, said, "We are honored to help support the exceptional work of Operation FINALLY HOME. By providing custom-built, mortgage-free homes to both wounded veterans and the widows of those who have lost their lives defending our country, Operation FINALLY HOME helps to provide a strong foundation for these worthy Americans, better enabling them to move forward with their lives."

Triad's fundraising event for Operation FINALLY HOME continued the firm's longstanding tradition of supporting charitable organizations that serve and assist members of America's military in the communities where Triad's National Conference is held. In addition to setting up a booth at its conference to help publicize the work of Operation FINALLY HOME and encourage donations, Triad hosted a 5-kilometer run during the conference for attendees, staff and strategic partners to raise additional funds for the cause.

Dan Wallrath, President and Founder of Operation FINALLY HOME, said, "We are tremendously grateful for Triad's efforts to engage its advisors, business partners and employees in so generously supporting our cause. Their efforts will provide vital assistance in enabling us to continue in our mission of helping those who have done so much  and who have given so much  to defend our nation and its freedoms, and to help them get their lives back on track after the hardships they have faced."

About Operation FINALLY HOME

Operation FINALLY HOME was established in 2005 as a nonpartisan/nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Its mission is to provide custom-built, mortgage-free homes to America's military heroes and the widows of the fallen, who have worn America's uniform and sacrificed so much to defend America's freedoms and values. Operation FINALLY HOME partners with corporate sponsors, builder associations, builders, developers, individual contributors, and volunteers to help America's military heroes and their families transition to the home front by addressing one of their most pressing needs  a home to call their own. To find out more, visit www.OperationFinallyHome.org.

About Triad Advisors

Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Triad Advisors, Inc. is a national, independent broker-dealer and multi-custodial SEC-Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) that is an early pioneer and continued leader in the Hybrid RIA marketplace. The company provides a comprehensive platform of products, trading and technology systems, as well as customized wealth management solutions. Recognized as one of the most successful and fastest-growing independent broker-dealers in the industry (including being named the leading broker-dealer for Hybrid RIAs seven years in a row by Investment Advisor Magazine), Triad Advisors is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE MKT: LTS). For more information, please visit www.triad-advisors.com.

Media Contact:

Joseph Kuo / Matthew Griffes

Haven Tower Group LLC

424 652 6520 ext. 101 / 424 652 6520 ext. 103

[email protected] or [email protected]

SOURCE Triad Advisors, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.triad-advisors.com


ZUG, Switzerland, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Turing Pharmaceuticals today announced a sponsored research agreement with Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL) to investigate novel treatments for toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasmosis is a potentially life-threatening infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii  one of the most commonly found parasites worldwide. Researchers are seeking new treatments that specifically target the parasite with minimum impact on its human host, in addition to showing activity against the chronic form of the disease. One highly regarded avenue of exploration is Calcium Dependent Protein Kinase 1 (CDPK1) inhibition.

"If we can suppress CDPK1 in the parasite, we reduce its ability to invade, and after replicating to exit from, the cells of its host, which are paramount to parasite survival," said David Sibley, Ph.D., the Alan A and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and principal investigator at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "The kinase is absent in mammals, including man, and this enables a parasite-selective treatment paradigm with low potential for mechanism-based toxicity in patients. Furthermore, early evidence supports the possibility of leveraging this mechanism of action to clear chronic T. gondii cysts."

"Dr. Sibley and his colleagues at WUSL are leaders in CDPK1 inhibitor development and experimental models of toxoplasmosis," said Eliseo Salinas, MD, MSc, President of R&D at Turing. "This collaboration further strengthens our commitment to developing much-needed new treatments for a serious condition that has been largely ignored by our industry for more than 50 years."

Dr. Sibley and his lab will also aid in providing additional preclinical support for Turing's dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor program, which recently entered IND-enabling studies. Dr. Sibley has access to some of the world's most advanced and unique models of toxoplasmosis, and has published over 200 scientific articles on toxoplasmosis genetics, pathogenesis and molecular biology.

About Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is a potentially serious, sometimes fatal infection caused by the Toxoplasma gondii (T gondii) parasite. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers toxoplasmosis to be one of the five neglected parasitic infections. It is estimated that 10-15% of residents in the USA and as much as one quarter of the world's human population are chronically infected. Although many people are infected, only a small number may experience serious complications. Most suffer no more than passing flu-like symptoms until the parasite is controlled by the immune system. The organism can, however, be reactivated in people, including those with compromised immunity. Active infection can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), blindness and death. In some cases, a mother can transmit the infection to her fetus, who might suffer serious and sometimes irreversible complications.

About Washington University in St Louis

Washington University School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the United States and currently is ranked sixth by U.S. News & World Report. The school's 2,100 faculty physicians make up the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. Through its affiliations with the hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

About Turing

Turing Pharmaceuticals AG is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company with offices in Zug Switzerland and New York, NY. Turing focuses on developing and commercializing innovative treatments for serious diseases and conditions across a broad range of therapeutic areas, for which there are currently limited or no treatment options.

www.turingpharma.com

For media inquiries, please contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Turing Pharmaceuticals AG

Related Links

https://www.turingpharma.com/


CHICAGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Chicago Medicine and Ingalls Health System have joined forces in an alliance that combines a top community hospital in Chicago's Southland with one of the country's leading academic medical institutions.



Harvey-based Ingalls is now part of the UChicago Medicine brand, which comprises the University of Chicago Medical Center, Biological Sciences Division and Pritzker School of Medicine. The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) becomes Ingalls' corporate parent, and Ingalls will remain under the direction of President and Chief Executive Kurt E. Johnson.



"This partnership underscores our shared values in quality, innovation, superior outcomes and commitment to the communities we serve," Johnson said. "It will enable Ingalls to continue to reinvest in our existing clinical facilities, expand our outpatient services and bring innovative new technologies to patients at a much faster pace."



The merged health systems will improve access across the spectrum of care -- be it for a routine, preventative checkup or a complex, life-sustaining treatment such as organ transplantation. "In the near future, our patients will be able to tap a wider array of services from a larger pool of physicians in various locations," Johnson added.



Both organizations will retain their names and operating licensure, and Ingalls will maintain a local board of directors and have representation on the UCMC Board. No money was exchanged under terms of the merger. The transaction joins assets to create a hospital system that is stronger combined than each institution is individually. That includes Ingalls' five outpatient centers, as well as UChicago Medicine's main medical campus in Hyde Park, planned ambulatory facilities in Orland Park and the South Loop, and expansive network of physicians.



"UChicago Medicine has vast expertise in highly complex care and research studies such as clinical trials, and Ingalls has expertise in quality care in the community hospital setting," said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, executive vice president of medical affairs and dean of the Biological Sciences Division at the University of Chicago. "Once fully integrated, this union will provide an array of services and choices for patients that encompass convenient, community-based health care and world-class academic medicine."



Integration planning of the two organizations will begin in the coming days. Johnson and University of Chicago Medical Center President Sharon O'Keefe, both of whom will report to Polonsky, will co-chair an integration committee. They will work with leadership from both hospitals to find better ways to deliver care to patients and communities that they collectively serve.



"Our common core values in patient care and community will guide our future. We will focus on creating a system that unlocks the strengths of academic and community medicine," Polonsky said. "While the integration will take some time, we will make sure all our patients have access to the physicians, services and treatments they need and that they continue to get the same level of care they've come to expect at both Ingalls and UChicago Medicine."



The merger news comes after more than 10 months of exclusive negotiations, regulatory approvals and other due diligence. The two organizations announced in November 2015 the decision to sign a letter of intent to pursue a combined system that would complement and enhance health care throughout the South and Southwest area of Chicago.



The merger follows Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approval and Federal Trade Commission review. Ingalls' Board of Directors voted Sept. 22 to approve the terms of the merger agreement, followed a week later by UCMC's Board of Trustees.



Founded in 1890, the University of Chicago opened its first hospital in 1927 and has added facilities to its Hyde Park campus since then, most recently in February 2013 with the Center for Care and Discovery. Ingalls, which has been serving patients since 1923, is UChicago Medicine's first community hospital.



"Ingalls has a 93-year history of caring for all people regardless of their ability to pay and remains committed to that value," Johnson added. "From the very beginning, Ingalls sought a partner with a similar mission and values and a like-minded vision for health care in the Southland. We are extremely proud that partner is the internationally renowned and respected UChicago Medicine, and we look forward to working together to improve the health of the communities we serve."



About Ingalls Health System



Ingalls Health System offers a regional network of top-rated outpatient services in modern settings close to home. It features innovative service offerings, such as macular degeneration treatment from retinal specialists, spine surgery from renowned experts, and more oncology clinical trials than any other community hospital in the region. Ingalls shows its community stewardship in myriad ways, such as free screening events, educational programs and health fairs that reach thousands of south suburban residents. Ingalls has a 473-bed hospital in Harvey, Ill., with 450 physicians in 30 medical and surgical specialties, plus Ingalls Center for Outpatient Rehabilitation in South Holland, Ingalls Care Center in Crestwood, and Family Care Centers in Calumet City, Flossmoor and Tinley Park. Within this system, it also has Ingalls Cancer Care, Ingalls Advanced Orthopedic Institute, Ingalls Heart Care Center and Ingalls Home Care & Hospice.



About the University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences



The University of Chicago Medicine, located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, is one of the nation's leading academic medical institutions. It includes the Medical Center, Pritzker School of Medicine and the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division. The Medical Center comprises the Center for Care and Discovery, Bernard Mitchell Hospital, Comer Children's Hospital and Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine and offers a full range of specialty-care services for adults and children through more than 40 institutes and centers including an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It has 805 licensed beds, nearly 850 attending physicians, about 2,500 nurses and over 1,100 residents and fellows. Off-campus affiliations and partnerships include Silver Cross Hospital for cancer care, Little Company of Mary Hospital for specialty pediatric care and Edward-Elmhurst Health for specialty pediatric care.

CONTACT: Ashley Heher, 773-834-8089, [email protected]



This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE University of Chicago Medical Center

Related Links

www.uchospitals.edu


ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On the surface, undecided voters appear to be perplexed over who to vote for due to negative perceptions of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump; however, their subconscious tells a different story. According to a new study by the Center for Emotional Marketing (www.centerforemotionalmarketing.com), a pioneering brand strategy and innovation firm, Trump has far more negative associations in the mind of the undecided voter than Clinton has. Moreover, national security is emerging as a lynchpin of the campaign pushing undecided voters into Clinton's camp.

Twenty years of brand projects has revealed vast networks of positive and negative associations in the brain that exert the dominant influence on people's choices without their awareness. Using its proprietary research techniques to tap into the subconscious mind, the Center for Emotional Marketing conducted in-depth projective exercises with dozens of undecided voters in Columbus, Ohio and Tampa, Florida last week following the first presidential debate. The Center for Emotional Marketing found that while voters do not trust Clinton, they associate more negative character traits  volatility, unpredictability, bombastic personality-- with Trump and these negatives are subconsciously undermining his image as the stronger national security candidate.

Surprisingly, in spite of Trump's strong emphasis on destroying ISIS and building a wall, voters' visualizations of the future reveal that safety and world peace are actually now more associated with Clinton. This represents a change from historical party positions in recent presidential races.

"Clinton's lack of trustworthiness and Trump's volatility prevents voters from forging an emotional connection with them. Like an array of caution signs and flashing lights, these negative associations alienate voters, signaling to them: 'stay away,'" said Leslie Zane, founder and president, Center for Emotional Marketing. "Voters ultimately make their decision based on character traits and value alignment, not on accomplishments. Trump's greater number of negative character traits alienate undecided voters even more than Clinton's perceived deceitfulness.

By analyzing each candidate's network of associations, using the same in-depth, projective research techniques it has used for Fortune 100 brands for over 20 years, the Center for Emotional Marketing has assessed the viability of each candidate's personal brands, the keys to alleviating their negative perceptions and the strategy for winning over undecided voters.

The Wall Has Backfired for Trump

The Center for Emotional Marketing's immersion in the mind of the undecided voter discovered that Trump's promise to build a wall to keep Mexican immigrants out of the U.S. has become a major negative symbol of his campaign. While Trump may believe the wall sends a message of enhanced security, in fact, undecided voters view it as racist, anti-American and childish.

"It is the exclusionary and impulsive nature of a wall that has made it a negative symbol," said Tom Gosline, vice president, Center for Emotional Marketing. "Voters are very concerned about security, but they long for a doorway with enhanced vetting procedures rather than a solid wall."

While undecided voters maintained that they haven't yet made up their mind, the Center for Emotional Marketing's projective techniques revealed their true affinity. Specifically, voters imagined two different countries led by Clinton versus Trump. For the Trump world, they envisioned abundant jobs with everyone, from rich to poor, thriving and advancing. In Clinton's world, where healthcare and education were free, there was an unmistakable aura of peace and tranquility not present in the Trump world. Undecided voters revealed that Trump's financial success was alluring, but they felt that Clinton's world would be safer for their children and the country.

Addressing Clinton's "Untrustworthy" Associations

Clinton's experienceher years as a Senator and Secretary of State is her greatest positive association according to the Center for Emotional Marketing's research. Although voters could not identify any specific accomplishments, they have a generalized sense that she knows the system and will deal with foreign leaders diplomatically. However, Clinton's perceived deceitfulness casts a vast negative halo over her years of hard work. This web of mistrust in voters' subconscious has been years in the making  comprised of multiple negative memories from scandals in Arkansas and Benghazi to deleted emails and most recently her health. Projective exercises revealed that Clinton's character was often expressed with imagery of duplicity  snakes, masks and two-faced creatures. According to Zane, "the remedy that emerged for alleviating Clinton's negative associations was astonishingly simple: take off the veil."

Clinton Must Present Herself as a Unifier; Trump as a Composed CEO and Leader

"Because the human brain is always making new associations, both candidates can still change perceptions but they must create new positive associations and take down the barriers between themselves and voters," said Zane. One of the most effective ways to do this is to match voters' positive memories of the candidates from the past. "Much like consumer brands, the key to winning over undecided voters is often to return to their roots and tap into subconscious associations that are highly positive but currently dormant."

For Clinton, this means reclaiming her heritage as a builder of communities and unifying force, articulated clearly 20 years ago in "It Takes a Village." For Trump, this means returning to his image as a level headed CEO who is passionate about helping both his company and his people succeed.

By projecting herself as a unifier, Clinton would provide a sharp contrast with Trump's divisiveness. According to Zane, "Clinton has a remarkable opportunity to play a unifying role on three levels1- pulling Republicans and Democrats together, 2- creating harmony between minorities and law enforcement and 3- forging closer relationships among the nations of the world. True to Clinton's own background, this positioning would not only address voters' strong desire for bipartisanship and peace, it would be authentic."

As for Trump, he must resume the more balanced, even-tempered persona he presented years ago prior to his overexposure in the Presidential campaign. A poised and measured CEO would be a good model. Changing his rhetoric from "I" to "we", Trump must explain how he will share his business acumen with all the American people. Importantly, like any good CEO, Trump must present comprehensive plans that are thoughtful and implementable. These plans should include details on how he will cut the federal budget, renegotiate trade agreements and bring back manufacturing jobs. Undecided voters are still open to Trump but only if they receive new information that addresses their concerns.

Polls Not Predictive; Subconscious Associations Drive Choice

Unlike traditional polling that only captures what people say they're going to do, the Center for Emotional Marketing's approach uncovers the network of subconscious associations that drive what they're more likely to do in the voting booth. Its proprietary process revealed that while undecided voters say that they're still deciding, Trump's abundance of negative associations are more concerning and are pushing these voters towards Clinton.

Background on The Center for Emotional Marketing's Framework

The Center for Emotional Marketing's breakthrough study delved into the subconscious minds of undecided voters. An extension of the work it has conducted for Fortune 100 brands over the past 20 years, the Center for Emotional Marketing discovered the vast web of subconscious associations that exert the dominant influence on voters' decisions.

The Center for Emotional Marketing's Brand Network framework, with roots in behavioral economics, neuroscience and psychology, reveals a brand's positive and negative associations in consumers' minds. Its proprietary Brand Triggers process assists in building more positive networks in the brain by introducing new cues, or Triggers, that spark positive recognition and ultimately change brand preference.

About The Center for Emotional Marketing

Founded in 1995, the Center for Emotional Marketing (www.centerforemotionalmarketing.com) is a pioneering strategy and innovation firm with the only proven framework for managing and elevating brand perceptions in consumers' minds. It enjoys a 20-year track record of helping Fortune 100 companies achieve unprecedented growth and increased ROI. From Snickers and Pepsi to Ragu and Sabra, CEM has delivered over a billion dollars in incremental growth for its client over the past 20 years.

Triggers, Brand Triggers, Emotional Triggers, Package Triggers, Product Triggers, Image Triggers, and Precise Positioning are registered trademarks and Brand Network is a trademark of Leslie Zane Consulting, Inc.

Editor's Note: Center for Emotional Marketing's visual representation of Clinton and Trump's verbal and visual associations in undecided voters' minds is available in animated b-roll video or high resolution images upon request.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/414941LOGO

SOURCE Center for Emotional Marketing

Related Links

http://www.centerforemotionalmarketing.com


PITTSBURGH, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today launched an awareness campaign to educate union members after Kurt Eichenwald's investigative report for Newsweek exposed Donald Trump's use of Chinese steel and aluminum for several recent, high-profile construction projects.

In light of the report, which outlines how Trump purchased the steel and aluminum from China using shell companies in the British Virgin Islands to cover his tracks, USW International President Leo W. Gerard called the Republican candidate's statements about foreign trade and the need to create and maintain jobs in America's manufacturing sector "hypocritical" and "fundamentally dishonest."

"Trump desperately tries to appeal to Midwestern working class voters with promises to stand up for American workers and bring manufacturing jobs back to Ohio and Pennsylvania," Gerard said, "but he sold out those very workers, their families and communities to save a few dollars on cheap building materials from Shanghai and Guang-Dong."

"With 13,000 people laid off in the steel industry and another 6,000 out of work in Aluminum, Trump personally profited from his scheme to cheat American companies and workers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in sales that went to China instead," Gerard said. "How can he make America great if he refuses to make anything in America?"

Hundreds of USW activists and volunteers are already spreading the message that Trump cannot be trusted to protect American jobs. The union also will continue to educate its members about the GOP candidate's anti-union, anti-worker record  from supporting so-called "right-to-work" legislation to the way he's refused to negotiate employees at his hotels and casinos.

The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.

More information, contact:

Tim Waters  (412) 999-3587; [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


FARMINGTON, Conn., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) will issue its third quarter 2016 earnings press release on Tuesday, October 25, prior to the stock market opening. A conference call will take place at 8:30 a.m. ET.

A presentation corresponding with the conference call will be available on the company's website at www.utc.com for downloading prior to the call. To listen to the call by phone, dial (877) 280-7280 between 8:10 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. ET. The conference operator will take your name and place you on hold until the conference begins. Please limit your use of the phone's speaker mode as much as possible to optimize the audio quality of the call for all participants.

Analysts who wish to ask a question following the prepared remarks should press "1" on their push button phone during the call. Your name will be placed in queue. If you want to remove yourself from the queue, press "#". Please note this capability is only possible when using your handset. If you need assistance, press "star zero" on your touch tone phone to reach the conference operator. Reporters with questions should call (860) 728-6515.

The call also will be broadcast live on www.utc.com. A recording will be archived later on the site and will be available for replay by phone from 11:00 a.m. ET Tuesday, October 25, to midnight Sunday, October 30. For a replay, dial (404) 537-3406. At the prompt for a conference ID number, enter 93766675.

UTC-IR

Contact: Katherine Ruppar, UTC

(860) 728-6515

Investor Relations, UTC

(860) 728-7608

SOURCE United Technologies Corp.

Related Links

http://www.utc.com


OREM, Utah, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- University Place today held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the grand opening of The Orchard, an outdoor community gathering space, as well as the Kid's Place, an indoor/outdoor children's play area. The ceremony featured musical performances from local schools, and speakers included Randy Woodbury, owner of University Place, and Orem Mayor Richard Brunst.

"The changes happening at University Place are helping to lift our entire city to new levels of revitalization and refreshment," said Brunst. "Residents of not only Orem, but all of Utah County will enjoy this park for years to come. This will bring a new sense of community to the area and a place to gather for our families."

The Orchard is located in the heart of University Place (formerly University Mall). This new community gathering place will be programmed with year-round events, such as an annual tree lighting for the winter holidays. It features open green grass, a show fountain choreographed to water and lights that will play throughout the day, three shaded pavilions with cushioned lounge-style furniture, and many covered seating areas, and more. The Orchard is accessible through the north entrances of the shopping center, and from the newly completed road Park Avenue that connects State Street and 800 East.

Connected to the Orchard is the outdoor Kid's Place play area, which connects to the indoor play area by set of hydraulic doors for a seamless playing experience. The indoor Kid's Place play area can be accessed through the north end of the shopping center. With design elements that reflect the natural beauty of the Wasatch Mountains  including two photographic murals by local photographers Eric Reeder and Willie Holdman  the play areas include wooden tree houses, a log climbing structure, monkey bars in the trees, a see-saw, a climbing wall, interactive water fountains, and more.

"We are so happy that the public will now be able to come and enjoy The Orchard and Kid's Place play areas, and this is only the beginning stages of what we have planned for University Place," said Randy Woodbury, president of Woodbury Corporation, which owns and is developing the University Place revitalization project. "On the horizon we have additional office buildings in design and are committed to bringing in the best shopping and dining possible, and we will continue to look at ways we can help fill community needs."

The grand opening celebration will continue throughout the rest of the week with a schedule of free family-friendly events. For a detailed schedule of grand opening activities, and for information on all future events planned for the Orchard, please visit http://www.universityplaceorem.com/events/.

About University Place

Developed in the early 1970's in Orem, Utah, University Place (formerly University Mall) is a 112-acre development that initially only included retail, and recently began a $500 million revitalization project that is adding residential, office and green space to what has been Utah County's premiere shopping destination for over 40 years. University Place was first developed and is still owned and operated by Woodbury Corporation, a 4th-generation Utah family business, and one of the oldest and most respected full-service real estate development and management companies in the Intermountain West. For more information about University Place and updates on the project, visit http://www.universityplaceorem.com/. For more information about Woodbury Corporation, visit http://www.woodburycorp.com/.

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SOURCE University Place

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PUNE, India, October 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "UV Adhesives Market by Resin Type (Acrylic, Cyanoacrylate, Epoxy, Silicone, Polyurethane), Application (Medical, Electronics, Glass Bonding, Packaging, Transportation, Industrial Assembly) and Region - Global Forecast to 2021", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 1,222.5 Million by 2021, at a CAGR of 9.15% between 2016 and 2021.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 64 market data Tables and 81 Figures spread through 270 Pages and in-depth TOC on "UV Adhesives Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/uv-adhesive-market-161648812.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The growth of the UV adhesives market is expected to be fueled by the rising demand from end-use industries due to rapid industrialization and expansion of installed capacities.

Medical Application: The fastest-growing application segment of the UV adhesives market, in terms of value

Medical is expected to be the fastest-growing segment of the UV adhesives market, in terms of value. The rising demand for adhesives in the medical application segment is fueled by the growth in the medical and surgical devices market to meet the growing demand. Research and development for adhesives, specifically for use in the medical application has led to the introduction of products with enhanced functionality, higher purity, and unique properties.

Electronics was the largest application segment for UV adhesives, in terms of volume, in 2015. The demand for various electronic devices is increasing in developed as well as emerging regions, which is consequently expected to lead to high demand for UV adhesives, as they are used in the manufacturing of several electronic systems.

Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=161648812

Asia-Pacific to witness highest growth in the UV adhesive market

Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth in the UV Adhesives Market. The increase in demand from domestic and international markets and increase in the use of UV adhesives across medical, glass bonding, and electronics applications is expected to drive the growth of the Asia-Pacific UV adhesives market in the coming years. Countries such as China, South Korea, and Taiwan, which are major hubs for the production of electronic components, are expected to drive the growth of the market in Asia-Pacific.

Key market players in the UV adhesive market

Key players operational in the UV adhesives market are Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany), H.B. Fuller (U.S.), Ashland Inc. (U.S.), Dymax Corporation (U.S.), The 3M Company (U.S.), and Permabond Engineering Adhesives (U.K.).

Browse Related Reports:

UV Curable Resins & Formulated Products Market by Composition, by Application, by Chemistry, Application by Composition, and by Region - Global Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/uv-curable-resins-market-1324.html

Structural Adhesive Market by Type (Epoxy, Polyurethane, Acrylic, Methyl Methacrylate, Cyanoacrylate & Others), Application (Building & Construction, Bus & Truck, Automotive, Aerospace, Marine, Wind Energy & Others) - Global Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/structural-adhesives-market-209974695.html

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MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.

M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Valpak is excited to announce its participation in this year's United Way Suncoast Annual Day of Caring, which will take place on Friday, October 7. So far, about 80 Valpak volunteers have signed up to assist the Florida Dream Center (FDC) with clearing an unsafe area that 47 children walk through every morning from Duval Park to their school bus stop. This overgrown area poses serious risks to these schoolchildren.

Every year, United Way designates one day in October to uniting organizations for the common goal of improving their communities. Workplace teams across DeSoto, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties form to bring volunteer groups together with projects most non-profit agencies could never undertake on their own.

"Helping our local communities is the foundation of our business," said Michael Vivio, President of Valpak. "For decades, Valpak has supported local businesses with targeted marketing, but we take it a step further  we know it is equally important to support the families and children who live in these neighborhoods, too."

The Duval Park complex near the Lealman area in St. Petersburg is a community for veterans with disabilities and their families. Volunteers will focus on moving and disposing material after the Dream Center team starts removing the trees, brush and debris from the stretch of land that borders the park.

"Our intention is to create a cleaner and safer path for these children, and we are very excited to share this goal with Valpak," said Steve Cleveland, Adopt-A-Block Director of the Florida Dream Center. "This area has become a priority of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, so they brought it to the Florida Dream Center Adopt-a-Block program. Partnering with Valpak on this project will assure our Lealman children a safer place to live."

Every year, the Blue Crew, Valpak's community service committee, and Valpak employees take part in Day of Caring, joining hundreds of volunteers with local companies, community agencies, schools and other organizations. This is part of Valpak's ongoing effort, Valpak Saves, to serve communities across the country. Valpak Saves is a national campaign to support and inspire play and healthy living within our communities, part of its effort to help neighborhoods thrive.

For more information, see Valpak's Community page on valpak.com, which highlights its nationwide nonprofit partnerships and volunteerism.

For additional questions or to learn more about volunteering with Adopt-a-Block, please contact Florida Dream Center at 727-240-0734 ext. 235 or by email to [email protected].

ABOUT VALPAK

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Valpak is one of the leading direct marketing companies in the U.S. and Canada. We provide print and digital advertising through a network of 160 local franchises. From mailbox to mobile phone, Valpak brings exciting local business offers and opportunities to millions of consumers. Each month, our well-known Blue Envelope of savings is mailed to about 39 million demographically targeted households in 45 states and in four Canadian provinces. Our digital suite of products, including valpak.com, reaches more than 110 million users. Founded in 1968, Valpak is owned by Cox Target Media, a subsidiary of Cox Media Group in Atlanta.

Media Contact:

Samantha Rego

727.399.3139 office

[email protected]

SOURCE Valpak

Related Links

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SAN DIEGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCyte, Inc., a privately-held regenerative medicine company with the first pluripotent stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy for the treatment of type 1 diabetes in clinical-stage development, today announced a presentation at the 2016 Cell and Gene Meeting on the Mesa. ViaCyte's President and CEO, Paul Laikind, Ph.D., will provide a corporate update on Thursday, October 6 at 1:15 pm PDT. The conference will be held October 5-7 at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa in La Jolla, California.

ViaCyte is advancing two novel cell replacement therapies as potential long-term type 1 diabetes treatments. The Company's potential breakthrough treatment for high-risk type 1 diabetes, called PEC-DirectTM, which recently received a $3.9 million grant from CIRM, is expected to begin clinical trials early next year. ViaCyte's PEC-EncapTM (also known as VC-01TM) product candidate is the first pluripotent stem cell-derived islet cell replacement therapy for the treatment of type 1 diabetes in clinical-stage development.

Both the PEC-Direct and PEC-Encap product candidates deliver the same PEC-01 pancreatic progenitor cells as the active ingredient. The primary difference between the product candidates is the delivery vehicle. The PEC-Encap product candidate delivers the cells using the Encaptra drug delivery system which is designed to protect the cells from the patient's adaptive immune system. In contrast, the PEC-Direct product candidate delivers the PEC-01 cells in a device designed to allow direct vascularization of the cells.

With PEC-Direct, the direct vascularization is expected to allow for robust engraftment and cellular performance similar to the anatomy of a normal islet. Given the open nature of the device, patients implanted with PEC-Direct, as with organ transplants, will require chronic immune suppression. Thus it is being developed to treat patients with type 1 diabetes that are at high risk for acute complications such as severe hypoglycemic episodes, including patients with extreme glycemic lability and/or impaired awareness of hypoglycemia.

Patients with this type of high-risk type 1 diabetes can be eligible for a cadaver islet transplant procedure, which is often highly effective, but is limited by a severe lack of donor tissue. We believe the PEC-Direct product candidate could overcome the limitations of islet transplant by providing an unlimited supply of cells, manufactured under cGMP conditions, and a potentially safer, more optimal route of administration.

Dr. Laikind said, "The PEC-Direct product candidate further leverages the extensive work we have done with PEC-01 cells and benefits from information gained during the ongoing clinical evaluation of the PEC-Encap product candidate. We believe that PEC-Direct development will advance more quickly due to the nature of the product candidate and the likelihood for accelerated conditions, given the breakthrough nature of the approach, and the severe patient need."

Clinical development of the PEC-Encap product candidate is continuing with sub-therapeutic dosing. The product candidate has thus far been safe and well-tolerated, the Encaptra Device appears to be protecting the delivered cells against rejection by the immune system as intended, and long-term cell viability has been demonstrated. Further preclinical and clinical work is underway to improve engraftment with a focus on making it more robust and consistent.

Dr. Laikind noted, "If approved, we expect that the PEC-Direct product candidate will be a first-generation treatment, indicated for high risk type 1 patients, while the PEC-Encap product candidate will follow as a second-generation therapy that expands the functional cure that we believe these product candidates can deliver to the larger population of all patients with type 1 diabetes."

The presentation will be webcast live at: http://www.meetingonthemesa.com/webcast/.

About ViaCyte

ViaCyte is a privately-held regenerative medicine company developing novel cell replacement therapies as potential long-term diabetes treatments to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes-related complications. ViaCyte's product candidates are based on the derivation of pancreatic progenitor cells, which are then implanted in a durable and retrievable encapsulation device. Once implanted and matured, these cells are designed to secrete insulin and other regulatory factors in response to blood glucose levels. ViaCyte has two products in development. The PEC-Direct product candidate delivers the pancreatic progenitor cells in a non-immunoprotective device and is being developed for type 1 diabetes patients that have severe hypoglycemic episodes, extreme glycemic lability, and/or impaired hypoglycemia awareness. The PEC-Encap (formerly VC-01) product candidate delivers pancreatic progenitor cells in an immunoprotective device and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 trial in patients with type 1 diabetes who have minimal to no insulin-producing beta cell function. ViaCyte is headquartered in San Diego, California with additional operations in Athens, Georgia. The Company is funded in part by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and JDRF.

For more information on ViaCyte, please visit www.viacyte.com and connect with ViaCyte here: www.twitter.com/viacyte and www.facebook.com/viacyte.

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SOURCE ViaCyte, Inc.

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RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- An idea to prepay college tuition. A vision to reward and encourage saving. A plan to make higher education affordable. Since 1996, Virginia529 College Savings Plan (Virginia529) has been helping people prepare for the future. At the start of its third decade, Virginia's 529 is the nation's largest, entrusted with 21 percent ($57 billion) of total 529 savings.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414645

In celebration of its 20th anniversary and first program, the agency is giving away a Virginia529 prePAID contract covering four years of tuition at a Virginia public university. It also is sharing Saving Success Stories, videos and testimonials from families and individuals who have benefited from Virginia529 programs.

The agency's own success story began with legislation by the Virginia General Assembly in 1994 establishing the Virginia Higher Education Tuition Trust Fund as an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Two years later, the agency that would become Virginia529 launched the Virginia Prepaid Education Program (now known as Virginia529 prePAID), selling 16,000 contracts for future college tuition in the first enrollment period. In the same year, Congress passed legislation creating Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, which gave the industry its name and allowed earnings in 529 accounts to grow without being subject to tax.

Over the next 15 years, Virginia529 added three savings programs to complement the prePAID program, providing families with more choice and flexibility in managing the rising cost of higher education:

Virginia529 inVEST (originally Virginia Education Savings Trust) offers investment portfolios that can be used to save for all qualified higher education expenses, including housing, meals and textbooks (1999);

CollegeAmerica, a partnership with the American Funds, one of the largest mutual fund companies in the country, allows families to work with a financial advisor to develop an investment strategy for higher education planning (2002); and

CollegeWealth, which introduced FDIC-insured bank savings accounts to the 529 program line-up through partnerships with Union Bank & Trust (2007) and BB&T (2009).

To further expand its mission to make college more affordable and accessible, in 2010 Virginia529 established SOAR Virginia, a scholarship program offered in partnership with college access providers. The program prepares low- and moderate-income high school students across the Commonwealth for future success with a combination of individual advising, encouragement and up to $2,000 in a Virginia529 inVEST scholarship account.

State and federal legislation through the years increased the appeal of saving for higher education in a 529 account, from Congress in 2001 making qualified distributions tax free to Virginia's annual state income tax contribution deduction of up to $4,000 per Virginia529 account. Most recently, in January 2015 Congress expanded qualified higher education expenses to include computers and related equipment.

Mary G. Morris has been Virginia529's CEO since 2007, but her involvement with the agency extends to its earliest days. Morris, as a Senior Assistant Attorney General, was part of the team who developed and launched the first program.

"In 1994, everything Virginia529 is now was just a great idea waiting to take off," noted Morris. "It has been a great honor to be a part of Virginia529's success and to serve the millions of people across the country saving to achieve their higher education dreams."

Learn how you can dream, save and achieve your higher education goals at Virginia529.com/20years.

About Virginia529 College Savings Plan:

Virginia529 makes higher education more accessible and affordable for families and individuals. With more than $57 billion in assets under management and 2.4 million accounts as of August 31, 2016, Virginia529 is the largest 529 plan available. Four flexible, affordable, tax-advantaged programsVirginia529 prePAID SM (prePAID SM), Virginia529 inVEST SM (inVEST SM), CollegeAmerica and CollegeWealthand early commitment scholarship program SOAR Virginia assist students of any age in reaching their higher education goals. For more information on Virginia529's college savings options, visit Virginia529.com or call 1-888-567-0540 to obtain program materials. These include information on Virginia529 programs, investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other important information; read and consider them carefully before investing. All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Virginia529 encourages prospective participants to seek the advice of a professional concerning any financial, tax or legal implications related to opening an account. For residents of states other than Virginia: your state or the beneficiary's state of residence (if different) may sponsor a 529 plan that offers state income tax and other benefits not available to you through Virginia529 College Savings Plan. 2016 Virginia College Savings Plan. All Rights Reserved.

For more information, contact

Kelley Hope

Communications Manager

804-225-2452

Email



SOURCE Virginia529 College Savings Plan
Workplace bullying primarily by other women and sexism has affected about 20% of young women, too.

The survey highlights challenges facing young women in the workplace and could affect companies' attempts to increase diversity and lure Gen Z and Millennial women, said Christie Garton, founder of the 1,000 Dreams Fund.

"A growing number of companies say they want more diversity in their ranks with more females in key leadership roles. That is the good news. However, if young female employees aren't being properly supported in the early stages of their careers, they will seek other paths like entrepreneurship," Garton explained.

"Diversity is now one of the primary elements that candidates look for when seeking out great companies to work with. If young women continue to unfairly face challenges as a result of their age and gender in their careers, then employers will find it difficult to hire nearly anyone for their teams. We need to change the conditions within which young women work once and for all  which is exactly what the 1,000 Dreams Fund is achieving," says Miles Jennings, CEO and Founder of Recruiter.com.

The survey, conducted by Toluna Quicksurveys, is part of a larger series of reports the 1,000 Dreams Fund will release this fall called #StateofTheGirl, which is aimed at uncovering the biggest challenges facing young women in the U.S. today. Additional topics the series will report on this fall include:

State of young women's politics (to be released in early November 2016 )

) State of young women's finances (released in August 2016 )

ADDITIONAL SURVEY FINDINGS

The Entrepreneurial Spirit is Strong

More than a third (31%) consider their dream job to be working for themselves at their own company

Young Women have Workplace Woes

21% have been the victim of sexism in the workplace

20% have been the victim of workplace bullying (more so from other women! 18% vs. 12%)

77% say that being too young has hindered their ability to get an interview or employment

It Ain't (All) About the Money

While 22% chose their major to make money, more than half (58%) chose their major to follow their dream

32% would or have taken a job for 5 years JUST to pay off college debt

Not Enough Prep Work

Only 25% of respondents are "very confident" in their interviewing skills. So three-quarters are not

Having your resume ready to go at all times is very important, but more than half (57%) only update their resume when on the hunt for a new job

The full survey report is available upon request. To see all the findings, please contact DavEllePR at [email protected] or at 917-370-6016.

About the 1,000 Dreams Fund:

The 1,000 Dreams Fund (1DF) is a national scholarship fund for American girls in high school and college. The 1DF believes that big expenses should never stand in the way of big dreams. Since its launch in 2015, over $40,000 in funding has been granted to talented young women in need, helping them pay for the "extras" in school like study abroad, tech devices for the classroom and travel to conferences and seminars. 1DF has been featured in NBCNews.com, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Entrepreneur, TODAY, etc. To learn more about their work, visit http://1000dreamsfund.org/.

About Recruiter.com:

Recruiter.com, Inc., is an online global recruiting service that offers an industry-leading job market technology platform. With a highly engaged membership base, Recruiter.com works with hundreds of clients and employers and manages a social media following of more than 4.4 million people. Recruiter.com was voted Top Tech Company to Watch in 2014 by the Connecticut Technology Council, cited as one of the Top 35 Most Influential Career Sites in 2014 by Forbes and listed by Inc. as one of the 9 Best Websites for Finding Top Talent. The career, HR, and recruiting experts of Recruiter.com have been cited and featured in hundreds of sites and publications, including: Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Mashable, Business Insider, Inc., Fox Small Business, Time, The Next Web, Yahoo Small Business, US News, Business2Community, Bloomberg and SmartBrief. Visit https://www.recruiter.com or follow Recruiter on Twitter @RecruiterDotCom.

About Toluna Quicksurveys:

This survey was run with SmartSelect, a respondent selection methodology used to promote sample representativeness. SmartSelect relies on statistical matching rather than probability sampling and selects respondents based on demographic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics that match those of the target population. SmartSelect weights on age, gender, region, ethnicity, race and education. To learn more, please visit: https://www.quicksurveys.com/.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414363-INFO

SOURCE 1,000 Dreams Fund

Related Links

http://1000dreamsfund.org


The truck was generously donated by Rick Hendrick. This is the third vehicle the auto dealer and NASCAR team owner has donated this year to be redesigned and sold at auction to support Camp Southern Ground. Rick was given an early sneak peek of the truck stating, "If someone wants a rugged, one-of-a-kind piece, this is an incredible opportunity. You won't ever find a truck like this again. Zac Brown Customs has done an amazing job, and the work is going to benefit a great cause. Zac has created a special place at Camp Southern Ground."

Designed with the outdoor enthusiast in mind, the interior of the truck has been outfitted with Mississippi Hornback Alligator skin on the seats, center console and steering wheel. The floor mats and sun visors liners feature Brazilian Bovine hair-on-hide, while also being equipped with knives courtesy of Zac's metal works shop, Southern Grind. On the outside you'll notice immediately the rugged off-road accessories generously donated by Greg Adler of 4 Wheel Parts, and the hand-painted Kryptek Camo rear truck bed, which also features a hidden tailgate step. Most notably on this truck is the front grill, which features 33 GranDaddy knives, also from Southern Grind.

"It's very generous of Rick to donate the truck, and I think anyone who truly appreciates something that is totally unique is going to like this a lot. The team at ZB Customs really outdid themselves this time. It's always amazing to see a project like this come together in support of Camp Southern Ground," said Zac.

Camp Southern Ground is located on over 400 acres in Fayetteville, Georgia. Its focus is on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), such as Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD including Dyslexia, and children with family members serving in the military.

To register to bid on the Zac Brown 2015 Ram 2500 when it goes to auction, click here.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160929/413583

SOURCE Southern Ground
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, October 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Most important development for the Company since inception says Chairman

The company to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to discuss the alternatives regarding the amounts due to the government

Customers will benefit from new innovative services

Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain Saudi Arabia) confirms that the High Order announced today grants the Company a 15-year extension to its License, a unified telecommunication license that allows the Company to provide all telecommunication services, and enables the Company to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to discuss the alternatives regarding the amounts due to the government.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161004/415135LOGO )



Commenting on the announcement, HH Prince Naif bin Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Saudi Arabia offered his gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Minister of Interior, and HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Deputy Crown Prince Minister of Defence.

"This is clearly the most significant development for the Company since inception," said Prince Naif, he continued, "This decision aligns with the Kingdom's "Vision 2030", to diversify the economy and to significantly increase the contribution from private sector companies. Telecommunications is core to every economy around the globe, in fact it is often referred to as a 'lifeblood' industry which enables the digital connectivity requirements of a modern knowledge based economy. As the third mobile operator we have a crucial role to play in the economic transformation of the Kingdom, our role is to benefit all citizens of the Kingdom through bringing innovation and change to our industry. Only through effective competition will this occur. To play our role effectively, the Kingdom needs us to be strong. Therefore on behalf of Zain Saudi Arabia and its shareholders, I sincerely thank our government for their vision and leadership in reaching this decision."

Hassan Kabbani, Chief Executive Officer, of Zain Saudi Arabia said, "I would like to join our Chairman in thanking the government for their support. This is a landmark decision that will accelerate the transformation of the Company."

Mr. Kabbani continued, "There are three elements to the decision, all of which are very beneficial to the Company.

Firstly, the extension of the Company's License by 15 years will save SAR 433 million per year because the amortisation charge associated with our License will be lower as we amortise the remaining balance of the SAR 23 billion originally paid for the License over a longer period. The Company's License has been extended from an original 25 years to 40 years, ending at 21/03/1469H correspondent to 18/01/2047G. During the 15 year extension period the Company will pay an annual fee equivalent to 5% of net profits at that time.

433 because the amortisation charge associated with our License will be lower as we amortise the remaining balance of the originally paid for the License over a longer period. The Company's License has been extended from an original 25 years to 40 years, ending at 21/03/1469H correspondent to 18/01/2047G. During the 15 year extension period the Company will pay an annual fee equivalent to 5% of net profits at that time. Secondly, the Company was granted a unified License, which means that the Company can offer the full range of telecommunications services, including fixed voice and data services. Over time we plan to introduce a range of new innovative services to the market. Naturally we remain open to partnerships to expedite this process.

Thirdly, the Company will enter discussions with the Ministry of Finance to discuss alternatives regarding the dues to the government."

"This is very positive news for the Company and for the telecommunications industry in Saudi Arabia. This decision brings our goal of reaching sustainable net profits significantly closer."

Mr. Kabbani concluded, "I would also like to thank all those who contributed to this decision, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, CITC, Zain KSA Chairman and board members, as well as the combined efforts of all of the Zain team."

https://www.sa.zain.com/autoforms/portal/site/zainsa/news/news195?AF_language=en

SOURCE Zain KSA
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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Jammu, Sep 29 : The army on Thursday launched a search for terrorists along the Loc in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district after the Indian and Pakistani militaries exchanged fire.

"Search operations have been started in Mendhar sector following the ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army," a police official said here.

He said the searches were mounted to find out if terrorists had sneaked into India under the cover of Pakistani fire.

The Pakistan Army resorted to firing and mortar shelling at Indian positions in Mendhar sector of the Line of Control around 4 a.m.
Manila, Sep 29 : Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wants to end joint military drills with the US to emphasise his country's independence from that country, the presidential spokesperson said on Thursday.

Duterte on Wednesday announced his intention to put an end to the regular military exercises between the US and Philippine armed forces in a speech in Vietnam where he is on an official visit, EFE news reported.

"(Duterte) wants to mark the course of a free and independent Philippines ... He sees it as something that will bring well-being and prosperity to the nation," spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.

Although Abella seemed to be hinting at a shift in the country's foreign policy, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay had clarified after the speech that Duterte was referring to joint patrols in international waters.

Duterte said the drill between the US and the Philippines starting from October 4 and 12 in Luzon and Palawan regions, with the participation of around 2,000 soldiers, will be the last ones.

In recent weeks, Duterte has been reaching out to Russia and China, and moving away from the US, a country that has historically been one of its major allies.

So far, both countries have maintained the same strategy against Beijing in the South China Sea territorial dispute, with Washington supporting Manila in modernization and training of its armed forces.

Although Duterte has assured that he will respect the military agreements that allow the US to use Philippine bases and increase its presence in the region, he has also expressed on numerous occasions his desire to seek a more independent foreign policy.

Bilateral relations have deteriorated since Duterte assumed presidency in June and began a violent campaign against drug trafficking, which has left more than 3,500 dead.

The President has come under severe criticism for his aggressive anti-drugs campaign from Washington and others.

In a counter-attack, he had denounced the hypocrisy of the US and protested against the massacres the latter allegedly carried out in the early 20th century in southern Philippines, which was once an American colony.
Washington, Oct 1 : The United States has said it is sending out a clear, direct message to Pakistan to cut out "rhetoric" and be a "responsible" nuclear state, taking strong exception to the comments of some top officials in Islamabad that they will not hesitate to use such devices against India and "destroy" the country.

The comments by the US State Department, in response to a question during a briefing on Friday, came after Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif said in Islamabad that his country's "tactical devices" were not showpieces and would be used against India if its security was threatened.

"To answer your question about some of the rhetoric from the Pakistani government and the possibility of using nukes or nuclear weapons, I would just say nuclear-capable states have a very clear responsibility to exercise restraint regarding nuclear weapons and missile capabilities," US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said.

"That's my message publicly and that's certainly our message directly to the Pakistani authorities."

The blunt statement by Pakistan Defence Minister Asif has evoked concern within the US administration. "We have not developed devices (nuclear weapons) for as item of showpiece, if there will be a requirement, we will destroy them," Asif told Pakistani TV channel Samaa.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also reportedly said at a cabinet meeting that his country was capable of carrying out surgical strikes in India.

Toner was also posed a question regarding US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also voicing concern about Pakistan resorting to the nuclear mode.

Question: Today, New York Times published an article based on leaked audio of Secretary Clinton's fundraiser in which she is heard as saying - expressing concerns about the security of Pakistani nuclear weapons, and she also talks about a nuclear suicide bomber kind of thing. Do you agree with her assessment? Do you have concerns about Pakistan's nuclear security?

Toner: Well, I think I just attempted to speak to that concern about some of the rhetoric, as I said, we've seen coming out of Pakistan, regarding its nuclear weapons or - with regard to - I haven't seen her remarks, honestly. I just haven't seen them, so I can't speak to them. Sorry.

The question to the State Department pertained to Clinton's remark in February. "Pakistan is running full speed to develop tactical nukes in their continuing hostility with India," she was quoted as saying at a party fund-raiser event in Virginia.

"But we live in fear that they're going to have a coup, that jihadists are going to take over the government, they're going to access to nuclear weapons, and you'll have suicide nuclear bombers. So, this could not be a more threatening scenario."

India on Thursday said it carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir the day before, inflicting "significant casualties". This came after the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an Indian Army camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 19 soldiers.

India has blamed the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack.

On Tuesday, New Delhi also pulled out of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November. The summit has been postponed.
Kochi, Oct 1 : With no end to the impasse between lawyers and the media at various courts in Kerala, a Supreme Court Judge on Saturday said that he would again intervene to settle issues.

Since July 19, the media has been virtually banned by lawyers in several courts, including the High Court, for covering legal proceedings.

On Friday, things again went haywire at the High Court, even when the damage control exercise initiated by the new Kerala High Court Chief Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar failed after a group of journalists, who had come to the court for reporting, was chased away by the lawyers.

"I will intervene again in this issue, as this happened in a court where I was a Judge. Wounds take time to heal and the media should lie low for some more time. I will again take up this issue," said Kurian Joseph to a TV channel.

Joseph presently is a Supreme Court Judge and in July had made an effort to settle the issue between the media and lawyers.

He pointed out that in the apex court accredited journalists were allowed to the court room.

"The media has the right to know from the court and not from the Judge," added Joseph.

Reacting to the incident that took place at the High Court, leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala blamed the Kerala government for not resolving the issue when it occurred first.

"The statement of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the media in July was, 'don't go to get beaten and to beat', this is what has happened. Instead of resolving the issue between the media and lawyers, no action came from the state government. It is the duty of the government to see that things fall in place," said Chennithala.

State Congress President V.M. Sudheeran said that the Kerala Governor should intervene to find a solution to the present impasse.

"What happened on Friday was nothing but 'goondaism' by a section of the lawyers. Action should be taken against these lawyers by their associations. What now shows is the attitude of the state government towards the media. This should change," said Sudheeran said.
Gurdaspur (Punjab), Oct 3 : A search operation was launched in the border belt of Gurdaspur district of north Punjab on Monday morning following an unsuccessful infiltration bid along the international border with Pakistan.

Punjab Police sources said the search operation was being conducted in villages around Chakri border out post (BoP), 30 km from here, following the movement of suspected persons in the area.

Firing was reported at the Chakri BoP of BSF along the international border with Pakistan early on Monday as Border Security Force troopers repulsed an intrusion bid by 8-10 people in the counter offensive.

According to the sources, the firing started around 2 a.m. after the alert troopers, using Hand Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI), noticed movement of 8-10 people near the international border.

The intruders, who had crossed the border but were behind the barbed wire fencing, were challenged.

"They fired at the BSF post. Our troopers immediately retaliated the firing. The intruders retreated back to Pakistan. A search operation has been launched in the area today (Monday) morning," a BSF official said.

Tension has been escalated between India and Pakistan following the recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Nearly 1,000 villages in six border districts of Punjab, located within 10 km from the IB, have been ordered to be evacuated following the tension between the neighbouring nations. The evacuation was ordered as a preventive measure.

Terrorists, suspected to be from Pakistan, had attacked the frontier Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Pathankot town of Punjab on January 2 this year, leaving seven security personnel dead.

The Pathankot attack was preceded by a terror attack by Pakistani terrorists in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district on July 27 last year.